Tag: shikaku nara

Hey there. Would you ever write a story where Shikako has to travel to the Land of HotSprings and see the damage she’s caused and the amount of lives she helped took? cause, ya know, I like when Shikako is in despair lol. I love Shikako but it can be argued, she has done more bad than good, for, uh, existing. However, I won’t change anything about Shikako, flaws and all.

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Yes… maybe? Well…

My immediate thought was to make it related to this ficlet aka, post-canon Kankurou and Shikako hanging out and trying to be less traumatized together.

And like, it would be sort of… Shikako goes to hang out in Sand ostensibly to research the Gelel phenom (and blow up shit in the desert and make a glass canyon) and Kankurou hangs around and is a Theatre Nerd and then when she finally is more at peace with herself, the two of them go back to Konoha and stop by Land of Hot Springs on the way…

Except then I checked the Naruto world map and that makes no geographic sense for Kankurou and Shikako to stop by Land of Hot Springs on their way back from Sand because it is on the opposite side of Land of Fire so…

I mean, I guess they could just be traveling around together for funsies? Like… she’s also been researching other places and Kankurou probably produced an international hit and there’s some pyrotechnics in his show which he might as well have Sparky do anyway…

But that’s kinda… I mean, don’t get me wrong. A lot of my favorite DoS ficlets are the canon-ish semi-compliant chapter responses / future speculation but I think what I just described above is more about Shikako getting closure from the whole shinobi lifestyle as opposed to specifically the Land of Hot Springs (although that is, in its way, the first unstoppable horror).

So I think for something more Land of Hot Springs centric… OH!

So you brought up how Shikako’s existence has done more harm than good in the world and combined with just the whole celestial back and forth of Jashin vs little god that occurred during that arc and also the whole vibe of this asx box event, especially yesterday’s post about mobius stories, I guess what I’m leading into is:

What if Shikako were Jashin?

Or, maybe, not Jashin specifically, but a god of chaos/destruction/suffering. (Although, the thought of little baby Shikako being born with the mark of Jashin on her forehead and it fading as she grows such that she doesn’t know about it, is pretty fun. Because then there’s the cool opportunity of Shikaku RECOGNIZING the symbol when Tsunade brings him in on the situation and it’s kind of this balance in which Shikaku the father and Shikaku the jounin commander are at odds. I mean, of course his father side is going to win–but still. Internal conflict and outside POV for unknowing literal god Shikako is GREAT)

The main problem with Shikako returning to Land of Hot Springs is that I’m pretty certain that everyone with even the slightest inkling of her mission and the aftermath take great pains to ensure that she NEVER HAS TO GO BACK THERE. So either she’s going behind everyone’s back to do so which… hm… canon Shikako would not want to any time soon, but perhaps literal-god-of-chaos-destruction-and-suffering!Shikako feels compelled to do so (either as a Jashin version, to go with that mobius vibe, in which she returns to the beginning and the end or as a non-Jashin version in which the god within her surveys the place of her victory against an older god and also one of her “greatest” acts) or this is, again, a post-canon future fic where people aren’t guarding her against herself as much.

I… would very much like to write this, hbkmzk, but I think I need. Hm… if you’re interested in this ‘verse, please send in a follow up prompt of maybe three or four other outside POVs or maybe a few details you’d like to add to this ‘verse or even a cool title/quote? Or, like, just ask me a few questions about this ‘verse and me coming up with the answers should be able to do the same. It’s like… this fic is almost there but I just need a few more pieces for that final push.

~

Help me out with this ficlet/check out the Ask Box Would You Ever!

Smile At The Stars — Yoshino, Shikaku and their grandchildren

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A/N1: … like a Yoshino&Shikaku!POV of Our Share of the World?

I mean, I guess I could try to come up with a plotty brainstorm of Yoshino&Shikaku with their grandchildren, but this just seems like a collection of five scenes of Y&S with their grandchildren.

Sorry this took so long, but since this isn’t really a fake fic title prompt, I just tried to fill it like a regular prompt. Enjoy!

~

Shikaku is the last to find out about his first grandchild, heading home after work to find his wife and daughter surrounded by piles of storage scrolls.

“This is archaic, Mum,” Shikako says, unsealing a scroll, glancing over the contents, then resealing them again. “Toddler clothes.”

“Oh, set those aside, dear, he’ll need them soon enough,” Yoshino instructs, going through her own set of scrolls–linens, hideous, but an heirloom of the clan head’s line–and putting them away.

“How are you supposed to find anything like this? I can make you a new set of sealing scrolls–or a custom Hammerspace!”

“These work just fine still, Shikako, it’d be a waste to get rid of them–ah! I think this is it.” From Yoshino’s scroll appears a crib, sturdy and steady and capable of withstanding a D-rank jutsu, the same one that carried all three of their children.

That seems like just yesterday, surely it’s not already time to pass it down?

“What’s going on here?”

He can’t possibly be that old already.

His wife and daughter both turn to him before glancing at each other, Yoshino’s expression clearly urging Shikako to explain.

“Well… Dad… um…”

His sons enter the hallway, Kinokawa making silly faces at the baby in Shikamaru’s arms. The red-haired baby in Shikamaru’s arms who reaches out towards Shikako upon spotting her.

He passes the baby over to his sister almost reluctantly and Kinokawa follows, adoringly.

“This is Kareru Uzumaki, he’s my son.” Shikako says, steeling herself unnecessarily; both of Shikaku’s sons take after him.

///

Shikako’s pregnancy is a frustrating, frightening time for all within her vicinity–nothing inspires crankiness and bizarre seals like consecutive nights of sleeplessness. Yoshino remembers being much the same during her own time with the twins, so she is patient.

Still, there comes a point when a mother is done indulging…

… which just so happens to be the same point as when said mother finds her pregnant daughter on the roof of the house in the middle of the night armed with buckets of paint and a brush.

It takes promises of hot cocoa and secrecy to coax her down, safely bundled in a blanket on the sofa, but Yoshino feels much better now that she’s on the ground.

“I’m so tired,” Shikako says, voice cracking with desperation, and so Yoshino tops up her mug.

“You can rest here, sweetheart, you’re safe.” She remembers the paranoia of her daughter’s earlier teen years, perhaps her hormones have kicked it into overdrive.

But Shikako just shakes her head. “I can’t, I can’t,” she repeats, “She needs me, she needs my chakra, I can’t go to sleep. She needs me.”

Yoshino feels a chill go down her spine.

“How does everyone else do this? I’m so tired.”

Pregnancy is supposed to be difficult, yes, but not like that. Not so consciously, actively, impossibly involved.

No more indulging, no more patience.

It takes more than hot cocoa to get Shikako to go to the hospital, but Yoshino knows best.

///

They do not often see their grandchildren from Sand, almost never altogether–that one trip to Wind Country aside, of course–and so it’s a pleasure to have the house full again.

Shikaku enjoys having extra sets of hand to feed the deer–especially ones that still find novelty in the chore, awed at the shy creatures and their forested homes–and Yoshino enjoys having victims to run through her morning stretches.

It’s unfortunate for them, of course, as they are not as flexible as their Konoha siblings and cousin, but they complain far less. Or perhaps are far quieter about it.

Shinki, at least, seems to take it as an opportunity to improve himself–never mind that his almost literal iron spine makes it more difficult–but Araya and Yodo spend more time trying to push each other over while Yoshino looks away.

Not that she isn’t aware of their little competition, but why not let them have their fun?

Shikaku is the one who rescues them and gives them a tour of the village, no better guide than the retired former Jounin Commander after all, before bringing them back to the Nara Clan compound where both their parents await them.

Which is still an odd thought–if anyone had told them that the Kazekage would one day be father to three of their grandchildren, well, the future is an interesting place, indeed.

~

A/N2: … so, um, it’s been a while everyone. Sorry about how long it took. Holidays then being ill and then three days of overtime which caused me to relapse… I’m not fully satisfied with this–much fonder of the original Shikadai’s POV, but hopefully it’s still nice.

Also, since December is approaching and I’ve got a few more prompts in the ask box, instead of sticking with the Ask Box Fake Fic Titles I might as well segue into the Ask Box Advent Calendar so send in those prompts! 😀

“No Shadows (Without something to cast them)” … I swear I had a pithier title when I thought the concept up (it’s spiraling from the musing on eeveelutions, but you don’t need to keep it to that universe). The idea that … you know, shadows don’t exist unless something else does? I swear I had a, like, three-word title for it right up until I started typing it out.

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

No worries, anon, I get you. Like, yes, shadows require light, but JUST light alone won’t lead to a shadow. There needs to be an object for the light to be blocked by…

Unfortunately… I’m not sure what else you’re looking for with this prompt? Obviously it’s a Nara focused story, but not necessarily in the Arm in Arm ‘verse?

… this title very much reminds me of “Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.” – Abraham Lincoln.

Or, rather, the DoS Switch variant of it “Family is like a tree and life is like a shadow.”

So along with your title suggestion, that would mean no family, no shadows?

Which would be a story about… how a lone Nara dies, but the pack survives kind of vibe? Or maybe extended further out–the Nara clan alone would die without the Akimichi and Yamanaka as allies? Or EVEN further out in which the Nara are in every department of Konoha’s administration contributing to the village as a whole because the strength of the village means the strength of the clan?

… I think that’s too far out.

Maybe a nice “behind the scenes” Nara members, supporting the main family as best they can (even when they cause irritation headaches that Kofuku-oba would have sworn she stopped having after Shikaku settled down).

But would anything ever be as sweet and heartening as Silver Queen’s own Sunshine Sidestory Chapter 21?

Eh, the clan is big enough, I can do other members and their tales. Tails? Heeeeeey deer herders. Or how the Nara clan changed over time?

Like, I don’t know if this is fanon or my own headcanon, but I claim that the ANY alliance was originally the Akimichi as landowners/nobles and the Nara and Yamanaka as their servants which then became allies then friends. So that journey of clan politics?

I’m floundering, anon, sorry.

Shikaku with Leafeon and Yoshino with Umbreon, tho. ‘Cause Leafeon requires a stone (costs money), but Umbreon only requires friendship and the night. And … well, what if the eeveelutions they ended up with only clicked after they met each other?

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

OOOooooOOOOoooOOh!! (☆▽☆)

I like this idea very much, anon.

TWO Eeveelutions in the family watching over the Nara kids and being cuddle partners. And while neither of the twins ended up with an Eeveelution themselves, maybe Kinokawa has one (OR TWO?)

I just found your pokemon au and it’s so cool! can’t believe I didn’t see it earlier! for eeveelutions, (bc everyone’s gotta have one, y’know? lol) I was thinking of a leafeon for kako because gelel = nature? maybe the gelel stone acts sorta like the leaf stone that leafeons need to evolve and so she gets a leafeon after the gelel incident!

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donapoetrypassion:

jacksgreysays:

jacksgreysays:

😀 Thanks!

The Eeveelutions also have a place in my heart (there was once I time I was considering doing a series of embroideries for them before… well… embroidery is very time intensive and I’m still not yet done with my second project) and IRL I would probably be a crazy cat lady but with Eeveelutions if it were possible, but alas…

Seeing as how there isn’t a Rock-type Eeveelution (yet…) I agree that Leafeon would be the most suited for Shikako or maybe just the Nara clan in general? What with the colour scheme and the medical expertise and forests and such. Frankly the only person who is better suited to Leafeon would probably be Tenzo/Yamato…

But while I agree that Leafeon is the best suited Eeveelution for Shikako, I don’t think Shikako would have an Eeveelution in my particular PokemonxDoS ‘verse.  I’m fairly satisfied with my choices for her team.

Although, now that I consider it some more, you want to know what would be hella cute? Shikaku having a Leafeon. Like. This battle experienced yet still adorable leaf fox/cat thing just following the twins around while they’re children. It’s there when they first learn to walk (“little cat foot” anyone?), lazes about in the sun beside them while they nap, an ever present guardian until they’re strong and old enough to be on their own (or, at least, until they have Pokemon of their own).

Ino-Shika-Cho Dad Edition all having Eeveelutions would be the CUTEST thing, I think: Leafeon for Shikaku, Espeon for Inoichi, and I’m thinking either classic Eevee or Sylveon for Chouza. I mean, I don’t know who their jounin sensei was, but I feel like whoever they were gave each of them and Eevee after their graduation so their respective Eeveelutions have been with them for a long time.

AAAAAAAAH! I AM SO FOOLISH!

UMBREON

-_- what was I thinking?!

I mean… unless everyone THINKS Shikaku is going to turn his Eevee into an Umbreon, but surprises everyone by going with Leafeon instead

After all, he’s not very big on doing what’s expected of him…

I like Shikaku’s surprise!Leafeon 🙂

Leafeon v Umbreon is the only dilemma that matters O_O

Yeah, the more I think about Chouza with Sylveon the more I like it. Because it goes with the same ethereal and beautiful butterflies but also HEAVY HITTING DRAGON SLAYERS. 😀

I just found your pokemon au and it’s so cool! can’t believe I didn’t see it earlier! for eeveelutions, (bc everyone’s gotta have one, y’know? lol) I was thinking of a leafeon for kako because gelel = nature? maybe the gelel stone acts sorta like the leaf stone that leafeons need to evolve and so she gets a leafeon after the gelel incident!

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

😀 Thanks!

The Eeveelutions also have a place in my heart (there was once I time I was considering doing a series of embroideries for them before… well… embroidery is very time intensive and I’m still not yet done with my second project) and IRL I would probably be a crazy cat lady but with Eeveelutions if it were possible, but alas…

Seeing as how there isn’t a Rock-type Eeveelution (yet…) I agree that Leafeon would be the most suited for Shikako or maybe just the Nara clan in general? What with the colour scheme and the medical expertise and forests and such. Frankly the only person who is better suited to Leafeon would probably be Tenzo/Yamato…

But while I agree that Leafeon is the best suited Eeveelution for Shikako, I don’t think Shikako would have an Eeveelution in my particular PokemonxDoS ‘verse.  I’m fairly satisfied with my choices for her team.

Although, now that I consider it some more, you want to know what would be hella cute? Shikaku having a Leafeon. Like. This battle experienced yet still adorable leaf fox/cat thing just following the twins around while they’re children. It’s there when they first learn to walk (“little cat foot” anyone?), lazes about in the sun beside them while they nap, an ever present guardian until they’re strong and old enough to be on their own (or, at least, until they have Pokemon of their own).

Ino-Shika-Cho Dad Edition all having Eeveelutions would be the CUTEST thing, I think: Leafeon for Shikaku, Espeon for Inoichi, and I’m thinking either classic Eevee or Sylveon for Chouza. I mean, I don’t know who their jounin sensei was, but I feel like whoever they were gave each of them and Eevee after their graduation so their respective Eeveelutions have been with them for a long time.

“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…

Changeling, Shikamaru, The Nara are not like the ninja clans that must pay the Fae in blood, or gold, or a child from their clan: whenever a Nara child is stillborn, the parents are bound to foster a Fae child their place.

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

donapoetrypassion:

jacksgreysays:

A/N: Hm… I kinda want to both brainstorm and write a ficlet for this prompt, because the idea is very lovely (as per usual, dona) but the brainstorm I have is different than the ficlet I want to write?

Like the ficlet is just a straight up narrative prose exploring the idea of some Nara children being changelings and why their clan are the exception, etc. etc. Whereas the brainstorm is a more expansive plotty thing about how having a changeling character would affect the story.

Hm, I guess they’re not necessarily exclusive to each other so let’s do both… ficlet first!

~

To say that the Shodaime Hokage created the forests around what would become the sight of Konohagakure is an exaggeration at best and an outright lie at worst.

It’s true that the Hashirama trees are the first type that villagers learn to identify as children–prevalent in most parks and training grounds, a protective ring around the walls–but the forest itself is far older than that; far greater.

Far less human.

///

Yoshino is in labor for a grueling forty six hours–more blood, sweat, and tears than even the worst battle–but she knows it’ll be worth it, prays to every god she can think of that it’ll be worth it.

When finally it’s done, that last exhausting push, she can barely catch her breath, barely stay awake, and yet she claws at consciousness desperately.

Why is there only one baby crying?

///

The Nara clan live close to the earth: their herds and their trees and theirs shadows upon the ground. They are intelligent, taking their own time and space, and for that they are looked upon fondly.

Most of the time, that’s a good thing.

///

There is a tree, deep within the Nara clan compound, old and gnarled and kept secret.

In that tree, there is a hollow, cleaned monthly but left empty.

Tonight, with Kasuga and Sembei at his back, Shikaku places the small, shrouded bundle inside.

///

It has been a long time since the Nara clan were given a gift from the other side.

An honor and risk, both.

The rest of the village has no idea what they’re in for.

—

OKAY! So, now it’s brainstorm time.

I made it vague because I wasn’t sure if, because you specified Shikamaru, you wanted him to be the changeling or if you wanted his POV of changeling!Shikako… or, I guess, now that I think of it, if you even wanted DoS? Whoops.

Anyway! The ficlet above would be the prequel basically laying down the groundwork of your prompt for a much larger story. What that story is, I’m not entirely sure…

Actually, I’m thinking something like Danzo has somehow gotten to the other side and that’s where a lot of his ROOT soldiers are from–changeling children that weren’t so blessed to be placed with the Nara clan, which sort of explains the affinity Shikako has with Sai, etc. etc–and the Fae kind of point Shikako in that direction and just, go wild, dispense our wrath…

… but I’m worried I’m focusing too much on Danzo as the big bad. I mean, the Fae could also be GREATLY DISPLEASED with the giant evil bijuu eating statue and that’s another task the whispers in Shikako’s mind point her towards.

I do like the idea that while the Nara are the only ones who get changeling children as a sort of active, deliberate exchange, there are other places (including outside of Konoha) where changeling children appear where there isn’t any established and known protocols for it. And so, like how Naruto has his not-so-secret society of jinchuuriki, Shikako has a slightly-more-secret society of changelings.

Sai is one, definitely. I’m thinking also Juugo? And maaybe Isaribi to incorporate her more into the story… I don’t think there’d be any overlaps in changelings and jinchuuriki (the only exception might be Sora at the Fire Temple who is only a partial jinchuuriki or something like that?)

Hm…

I mean, this would be in Shikamaru’s POV so as to match your prompt and also him as an outsider but close observer of this phenomenon would lend itself well into the whole–changelings LOOK human, but they aren’t, kind of thing. Yes, they’re mostly taught how to interact in a socially acceptable way, but they’re still Other.

Actually, now I wonder if even the bijuu are a little scared of the Fae (and, by association, the changelings) because chakra is a relatively new power in the world. The bijuu aren’t that old in comparison to the Fae. SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT FURTHER 😀

~

Ask Box Event Now Open!

Awesome! A brainstorm AND a ficlet! I love this so much- I totally hadn’t thought about the ROOT thing. …Man, the Fae could be PISSED about that. And …not concerned, but irritated at the instruction of the Juno. Yes, irritated. (Your suggestion also now has me wondering about the au of this au, where Shikamaru finds out HE’s the changeling. Oooh.) But I love the Shikako-Sai connection you did there. And for some reason I am thinking about the logistics of hiding this from the hospital. (Either the Nara blatantly take over that wing of the hospital, or Tsunade is left affronted that the Nara never go to the hospital for childbirth. Which makes one wonder if other clans try to take over one aspect of village administration/services in order to conceal/uphold their dealings with the Fae.)

…Wow, imagine if BOTH twins were Fae. Brings the ‘and one looks like the mother and one looks like the father’ to a whole new creepy level, right? Some Fae thing they do so that the babies blend in- maybe it involves a blood sacrifice from the parents. Or- no. Just the little bundle at the root of the tree. That’s enough to work with.

I think it makes more sense if Shikako alone is the Fae, though. Does she even know it? Maybe not. She tries very hard to be ‘normal,’ for a chageling.

…I kind of wonder if Orochimaru was a changeling. And maybe that was what got Danzo interested in them.

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Shikamaru as the changeling would be absolutely fascinating. Because Shikako is the “weird” one as compared to Shikamaru who is very traditionally Nara. But is he really? Or, rather, what is it to be Nara as compared to Fae?

After all, they do have the favor of the Fae, have had previously received changeling children as a gift. Perhaps it’s because they’re so similar?

There’s a post going around about how changeling children from the past were most likely autistic children which society at the time couldn’t put into any other words but having been swapped with a Fae child. And, well, the Nara are very… hm… the new Maori word for autism is “his or her own time and space” which I feel does describe the Nara clan as a whole.

They let their members grow as they feel, don’t push them to think one way or another, they’re very supportive when a member finds their calling, used to members switching between hyper-focus and scattered distraction. Cloud watching could very well be a way to reduce stimuli…

I think there are probably enough Nara who work in the hospital that whenever one is pregnant and giving birth, it’s not at all difficult to swap Nara nurses and medics into the delivery. Especially when it’s the clan head’s wife giving birth? It wouldn’t at all be suspicious for any Nara hospital staff to involve themselves in such a clan critical pregnancy, so then it wouldn’t be necessary to take over the maternity ward (just borrow it, for a little while).

Ooh, Orochimaru as a changeling… that makes a lot of sense, actually! Unfortunately for him, the Nara clan head at the time of his childhood hadn’t been as observant, or perhaps thought the stillborns for changelings swap was a myth, or was very clannish and didn’t consider it his responsibility to help. And it would, as you said, give an interesting spin on his relationship with Danzo and also his defection from Akatsuki. He’s definitely a Dark Fae, or a Fallen Fae, or whatever the terminology might be for a changeling that has broken so many Rules that the Fae no longer claim him as their own. Although maybe he redeems himself in their eyes (which explains better why he’s still walking around doing whatever he wants in Boruto)?

I’m a little hesitant about Gaara being a changeling as well as a jinchuuriki… maybe he’s of Fae descent? Like, Karura could’ve been a changeling… which explains why she died in childbirth (the bijuu chakra sealed into the as of yet unborn Gaara seeped into her own system, weakening her) but also how she was able to imbue her protection/love into his sand even after her death. And how cool would it be if that’s where Temari’s EXTREME WIND BADASSERY came from?

Shikaku is a very tolerant father, I feel like. Or, rather, accepting the fact that his clan has a weird trading system with the Fae means he’s just a very tolerant, not-easily-shaken man.

Changeling, Shikamaru, The Nara are not like the ninja clans that must pay the Fae in blood, or gold, or a child from their clan: whenever a Nara child is stillborn, the parents are bound to foster a Fae child their place.

jacksgreysonLeave a comment

A/N: Hm… I kinda want to both brainstorm and write a ficlet for this prompt, because the idea is very lovely (as per usual, dona) but the brainstorm I have is different than the ficlet I want to write?

Like the ficlet is just a straight up narrative prose exploring the idea of some Nara children being changelings and why their clan are the exception, etc. etc. Whereas the brainstorm is a more expansive plotty thing about how having a changeling character would affect the story.

Hm, I guess they’re not necessarily exclusive to each other so let’s do both… ficlet first!

~

To say that the Shodaime Hokage created the forests around what would become the site of Konohagakure is an exaggeration at best and an outright lie at worst.

It’s true that the Hashirama trees are the first type that villagers learn to identify as children–prevalent in most parks and training grounds, a protective ring around the walls–but the forest itself is far older than that; far greater.

Far less human.

///

Yoshino is in labor for a grueling forty six hours–more blood, sweat, and tears than even the worst battle–but she knows it’ll be worth it, prays to every god she can think of that it’ll be worth it.

When finally it’s done, that last exhausting push, she can barely catch her breath, barely stay awake, and yet she claws at consciousness desperately.

Why is there only one baby crying?

///

The Nara clan live close to the earth: their herds and their trees and their shadows upon the ground. They are intelligent, taking their own time and space, and for that they are looked upon fondly.

Most of the time, that’s a good thing.

///

There is a tree, deep within the Nara clan compound, old and gnarled and kept secret.

In that tree, there is a hollow, cleaned monthly but left empty.

Tonight, with Kasuga and Sembei at his back, Shikaku places the small, shrouded bundle inside.

///

It has been a long time since the Nara clan were given a gift from the other side.

An honor and risk, both.

The rest of the village has no idea what they’re in for.

—

OKAY! So, now it’s brainstorm time.

I made it vague because I wasn’t sure if, because you specified Shikamaru, you wanted him to be the changeling or if you wanted his POV of changeling!Shikako… or, I guess, now that I think of it, if you even wanted DoS? Whoops.

Anyway! The ficlet above would be the prequel basically laying down the groundwork of your prompt for a much larger story. What that story is, I’m not entirely sure…

Actually, I’m thinking something like Danzo has somehow gotten to the other side and that’s where a lot of his ROOT soldiers are from–changeling children that weren’t so blessed to be placed with the Nara clan, which sort of explains the affinity Shikako has with Sai, etc. etc–and the Fae kind of point Shikako in that direction and just, go wild, dispense our wrath…

… but I’m worried I’m focusing too much on Danzo as the big bad. I mean, the Fae could also be GREATLY DISPLEASED with the giant evil bijuu eating statue and that’s another task the whispers in Shikako’s mind point her towards.

I do like the idea that while the Nara are the only ones who get changeling children as a sort of active, deliberate exchange, there are other places (including outside of Konoha) where changeling children appear where there isn’t any established and known protocols for it. And so, like how Naruto has his not-so-secret society of jinchuuriki, Shikako has a slightly-more-secret society of changelings.

Sai is one, definitely. I’m thinking also Juugo? And maaybe Isaribi to incorporate her more into the story… I don’t think there’d be any overlaps in changelings and jinchuuriki (the only exception might be Sora at the Fire Temple who is only a partial jinchuuriki or something like that?)

Hm…

I mean, this would be in Shikamaru’s POV so as to match your prompt and also him as an outsider but close observer of this phenomenon would lend itself well into the whole–changelings LOOK human, but they aren’t, kind of thing. Yes, they’re mostly taught how to interact in a socially acceptable way, but they’re still Other.

Actually, now I wonder if even the bijuu are a little scared of the Fae (and, by association, the changelings) because chakra is a relatively new power in the world. The bijuu aren’t that old in comparison to the Fae. SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT FURTHER 😀

~

Ask Box Event Now Open!

Indelible, a Dreaming of S(oulmates) tangent (2017-08-27)

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A/N1: So psych_girl commented on the ao3 version of Dreaming of S(oulmates) about expanding on the different soulmate AUs, and I gave permission to write double recursive ficlets based on them (hopefully I’ll be able to reblog/post links here), but it put my mind on the subject and I hope I’m not swooping a ficlet out from under them.

So this one in particular is based on the AU (two: inkblot skin).

~

Shinobi will try to weaponize anything, a subconscious mindset more than active strategy: the symbiotic relationship of Aburame and their kikaichu, Inuzuka and their ninken, are just two examples of such.

Fuinjutsu had originally been created to transport Uzushio’s limited, but varied resources across their islands.

Even something as innocuous as flowers–the Yamanaka as much feared for their poisonous arrangements as their mind jutsu.

Soul marks–the transfer of ink and scars and blood from one soulmate to the other–are not exempt either.

///

The main issues preventing soul marks from monopolizing intel communications is that they’re not comprehensive and they’re not immediate.

Sometimes, something as insignificant as scraped knees or absentminded grocery lists will transfer over, while death blows and I love you’s remain on only one half. There doesn’t seem to be any correlation in emotion or strength of bond to explain what gets send and what doesn’t. And so something as important as mission specs or front line movements could never be entrusted to soul marks.

On top of that, any of them may transfer in minutes, in hours, in days–the longest recorded gap being three weeks. Again, nothing explaining the inconsistency: not distance, or age, or emotion.

But still, that doesn’t mean that soul marks don’t have very real, very dire consequences.

///

When his children are almost four years old, they both begin to wear headbands and refuse to take them off in front of anyone.

It doesn’t take a Nara to figure out the why, but the what, exactly, he will later admit to being… hasty.

In his defense, soulmates tend to be born near each other and there’s only one forehead mark in Konoha that is regularly covered up. Given that Shikaku has heard about what ought to be an internal Hyuuga clan matter–the marking of Neji Hyuuga at an abnormally young age, cruel even for a clan that habitually enslaves their own members–it’s a fairly logical assumption to make.

What he does afterwards is less logical and more… fiercely protective.

///

The Byakugan may not have been as storied as the Sharingan, but the Hyuuga’s dojutsu was more dependable and with the decline of the Uchiha–in both numbers and reputation–the Hyuuga enjoyed a loftier, more lenient position than many other clans. Even the other noble clans.

In comparison to the Aburame–whose southern apiaries had been decimated during the Kyuubi attack–and the Akimichi, who spent as much time cultivating their financial and political enterprises as they did their martial prowess, the Hyuuga were more invaluable to Konoha.

But invaluable does not mean immune.

///

They meet, once, while they’re both still at the Academy.

It’s difficult. They’re in different years, which is part of it, but primarily it’s because all of Konoha is keenly aware of the political cold war happening between the clans and all of the teachers are taking measures to prevent any incidents from happening.

Further incidents, that is: a spar turned hostile in the graduating class, resulting in suspensions for the Akimichi and Hyuuga involved. Invisible lines drawn amongst the students from clans, rearranging friendships and even future genin team proposals.

As the pair at the heart of the problem, they are especially monitored. But just once, just for a short time, they manage to meet.

Neither of them will reveal what was said, but afterwards Neji goes without a headband: baring his cursed seal provocatively, almost incendiary.

Shikako becomes all the more paranoid about hers.

///

Eventually, it’s revealed that Shikamaru’s forehead is as blank as the day he was born but, one twin or both, that doesn’t alter the path Konoha is already on.

In contrast, the Uchiha clan, sensing the winds of change, circumvent their fate entirely: allying themselves with the enemy of their enemy and integrating back into, at least, half of the village. Hundreds of lives are spared, though only Danzo, thwarted, and Shikako know.

Not all is good, though: Hinata, already shy and secluded, is deliberately isolated. Where Ino leads, the other girls of the class follow; even though Shikako tries to mitigate the issue, Ino is ruthless in defending what she considers hers.

The mood of Konoha is fraught, tensions high enough for even the civilians to notice, streets of peace and prosperity now dangerous opportunities for public altercations.

Such a small action leading to such far reaching consequences.

Time marches on.

///

Konoha puts on a pleasant face for the Chuunin Exams, united only on the surface in front of foreign shinobi.

Team Seven meets the Sand siblings, Shikako sees the match to her soul mark.

She hesitates.

~

A/N2: I’m not very satisfied with the ending–I had the greater idea but not an actual plot, as you can see–so I kind of just… mreh?

I guess another reason for this ficlet is that I wanted to explore how even things that are supposed to be romantic–like soulmates and soul marks–have non-romantic consequences. So even if this is set in a Shikaara soulmate AU, this ficlet is gen.

I was actually considering some other repercussions of the misunderstanding: Hiashi possibly buckling under external and internal pressures and disavowing Hinata as his heir early on and marking her with the seal–which further splinters the already divided Hyuuga clan–but that seemed VERY CRUEL to Hinata who I already had shunned by everyone in class.

And also, would Sand and Sound still invade Konoha if the Uchiha clan isn’t killed? The Sand Siblings would still be at the Chuunin Exams, of course, but I don’t know if they’d be there as part of the invading force. Konoha isn’t as outwardly weakened, after all.

It seems more likely that if Orochimaru were to invade still, he’d probably have Danzo and ROOT make up the other part of the invading force, but even then if in this AU “I’m a pacifist” mass murdering kin-slayer Itachi is less of a giant hypocrite, I wouldn’t mind him being seriously considered for Hokage which would seriously deter both Orochimaru and Danzo, right?

I don’t know. They were vague thoughts at best.