#kinokawa nara

[jacksgreysays]

I’m feeling nostalgic for the childrens book The Moorchild by Eloise McGraw (changeling pov by a child who didn’t ask to be swapped out with someone else, the kid eventually goes in to faerie to get the kid back and due to the slow time in Faerie the kid is like, two). So… Changeling!verse where the Nara’s agreement with the fae to raise changelings whenever pregnancy ends in a stillbirth was hammered out by someone who didn’t think to expressly keep the fae from taking the living twin and replacing them as well. (Because hey, technically they ARE the produce of a pregnancy that ended in a stillbirth, and the fae are grabby). In other words, Shikako is a changeling who replaced a baby who never drew breath, Shikamaru is a changeling who replaced the boy baby who DID draw breath, and in this verse eventually baby Kino was Un-kidnapped from faerie by Shikamaru (with Shikako joining in with the force of a speeding bullet). There’s nothing in the ancient contract that stops the changelings from independently kidnapping their sibling back! (They checked) I’d be happy with just an exploration of the dynamics pre-Kino rescue as well. Shikako replaced a dead baby, as in line with the clans traditions. Shikamaru replaced a living one, who might still be out there. The Nara are obliged to raise both ‘as their own.’ How does the clan react?

Oooh, dona, you’ve brought yet another interesting facet to changeling!verse OoO

I’m wondering about the naming of characters and if there’s a bit of a… sort of shuffling? Like, obviously the twins are named Shikamaru and Shikako because Shikaku is unimaginative and also the heir should have a Shika name. But… if the “real” Shikamaru is the non-still born baby, does that mean the rescued child that is younger due to time flow weirdness is genetically Kinokawa and would have been named Shikamaru had he not swapped out? Or is that baby genetically Shikamaru and so the twin brother that Shikako grows up with is genetically Kinokawa?

… not that it would affect the plot, per se, but it’s fascinating the think of. Because if the “firstborn” is supposed to be the heir, then rescued child—as the only actually “born” child—would be heir over his seemingly “older siblings.”

… and then NOW I’m thinking about the stillborn other!Shikako. Like… what DO the fae do with those stillborn babies? What if they revive that other!Shikako? So then that means there’s a set of “human twins” in the fae world and a set of “changeling twins” in the human world? And what do call other!Shikako? In which Shikaku and Yoshino end up with four children, lololol (I should probably stop before I end up in Invincible Kimmy Schmidt “Olson quadruplets, octuplets” bit territory)

I think the clan reaction is ultimately tertiary to 1) Shikaku’s reaction and then, based on (1) 2) Yoshino’s reaction. And I should say, actually, 1) is Shikaku and Kasuga and Sembei’s reactions since they’re the ones who were with Shikaku when they placed the shrouded bundle into the hollow of that old, gnarled tree

Because… do the fae put TWO babies in that hollow? Does Shikaku, confused, rush home to find an empty crib which held the breathing baby boy? Do Kasuga and Sembei figure out what’s going on? Does the history have a precedent for this situation, this loophole taking which strains the agreement between the Nara clan and the fae? Or is it just the one baby in the hollow and no one notices that the baby boy in the crib is different (babies are weird squashed things anyway, who could tell the difference? Or IS there a difference, a series of differences, little details which don’t mean much but do feel… uncanny?)

And, depending on how Shikaku, Kasuga, and Sembei react—what they can dig from the clan’s lore, what they can sense in the shadows, what the Honored Sika Tribe can advise—do they even tell Yoshino? How can they? The exchange was meant to prevent her heartbreak, would she understand as someone new to the clan? Would she blame them? Resent them? (Would she still love these children, even if they are not hers by blood?) ((The answer is yes, of course she would love them, they are her children regardless of blood. The answer is yes, even for the somewhat silly scenario in which she has two sets of twins of differing ages))

I would like to think that Shikaku would tell Yoshino, because their marriage is built on trust and love… but this wouldn’t be the first time I have them keep secrets from each other (ie Yoshino in Stars Also Dream, hiding her Jedi past) Although I’m pretty sure this is a more egregious secret than Yoshino’s secret Jedi past…

Anyways, if Yoshino doesn’t know that “Shikamaru” got switched then the clan also doesn’t know. Both Yoshino and the clan probably know that “Shikako” is a changeling, but the “Shikamaru” switcheroo is probably a secret until the rescue mission happens. And—I’m not even joking now—it would be FASCINATING if there was an other!Shikako. Because the clan could be like, ah fuck, there’s TWO of them. Before realizing that “Shikamaru” is just quieter about his rebellions, so actually, ah fuck, there’s FOUR OF THEM. And I don’t know HOW human children are raised in the fae world, but I imagine they’re kinda feral or at the very least have extremely different priorities/morals from the changeling children raised in a militaristic society.

So other!Shikamaru—whether or not he is genetically Shikamaru or Kinokawa—would be named Kinokawa. But what is other!Shikako named? VagabondDawn did post an absolutely fantastic fic recently shadow of the future (at least we have each other) which included, honestly, one of the greatest Nara names: Inei (ie shadow and shadow) which I think would be very applicable here… OR, is Yoshino equally as efficient-yet-unimaginative as Shikaku when it comes to names (which, I mean, she might be considering she agreed to Deer Boy and Deer Girl and then named her third child her maiden name) and so the boy is Kino and the girl is Kawa? (lol)

The clan truly is just like… the idea that some of them are “we don’t like these clan heirs, we want a different one that doesn’t argue with us” and then they get two feral/fae-raised children so they immediately about face and go “actually, we love the clan heirs that have dragged us kicking and screaming into progress and success, we will keep those ones.” And Shikaku and Yoshino are just like, lol, we’re keeping all of them.

In terms of plot, I feel like the way to actually do this would be to reframe the god interactions as fae interactions so, for example:

—

They got the idea from Orochimaru.

“Probably not the best way to start,” Shikamaru says with a grimace. He, at least, has the decency to act contrite in front Ibiki.

Shikako, disregarding the fact that they are on the wrong side of a T&I interrogation, just rolls her eyes. “We didn’t get the idea from Orochimaru. Technically the Sandaime was the one who opened the portal, and it’s not like he has a monopoly on fuinjutsu or fae studies. If anything, he stole the seal from the Yondaime, and the Yondaime probably built his seal based on Uzumaki mythology. Although, since the fae predate the Elemental Nations as we know it, and we have definitive proof that the Gelel Empire used a form of fuinjutsu, it could be argued that—”

Thankfully, Shikamaru kicks his sister’s ankle to head off the rant. She kicks him back.

Ibiki sighs. “When I said start at the beginning, I don’t need you to get into ancient history. Try again.”

Minimally chastised, the Nara twins begin again:

During Orochimaru’s invasion of the Konoha Chuunin Exams, the Sandaime does not summon the Shinigami. He opens a portal to the fae world, in hopes that the chaotic, magical, anti-chakra energies of the fae world will disrupt the his student’s techniques—either by thwarting the summons of his dead teachers, or by weakening the barrier enough for reinforcements to come through.

In many ways, the Sandaime was a foolish man. In this particular way, his foolishness costs him his life.

The fae energies do not weaken his student at all. Or, at least, not before it weakens and, ultimately, kills the Sandaime. Then, goal achieved, Orochimaru simply uses the portal as an escape route.

For most, it would be perilous. For those originally created in the fae world, for those changelings who are exchanged with human children, it is merely going home.

So, no, they did not get the idea from Orochimaru… not really.

— And then I would go into something like… releasing Gelel sort of gives them the hint that the “human Shikamaru” is still alive and in the fae world. Changeling!Shikamaru doesn’t really want to pursue it, because he feels weird ways about things and if Changeling!Shikamaru is in fact canon!Shikamaru, then he doesn’t really do any internal self-reflection until he’s absolutely pushed to it by someone else and also motivated by protecting his loved ones (either his sister or his teammates)… Changeling!Shikako is fascinated by the idea, but ultimately has SO MUCH on her plate that she can’t really prioritize a dangerous excursion into the fae world (even though she does, from time to time, tweak the original seal array just because it COULD be MORE EFFICIENT if it was LIKE THIS instead)

Then fighting Jashin is some kind of corrupted archfey or something and Shikako getting yoinked out of Land of Hot Springs by the Sika Tribe actually brings her into the fae world, so actually changeling!Shikamaru’s original quest is to rescue Shikako (since time flows differently, what is, like, a day to her is a few weeks to him) meanwhile Shikako meets “human Shikamaru” (aka, Kinokawa. And MAYBE “revived human Shikako” aka… Inei? Kawa? Mystery child) and she can’t possibly LEAVE them, so when Shikamaru (and, let’s face it, a good chunk of Konoha Twelve) come to “rescue” Shikako, they also rescue the new/old Nara sibling(s).

Anyway, the Nara clan will just have to accept that their options for next clan head are all WEIRD AS HELL and REFUSE TO LISTEN TO THE ELDERS :D

#jacksgreyson #donapoetrypassion #changeling #dreaming of sunshine #shikamaru nara #shikako nara #kinokawa nara #ask box advent calendar #prompt response #brainstorm #fanfiction #writing

[eztouringjp]

#touring #japan #日本 #ツーリング #モトブログ #drive #eztouring #bike #car #japan trip #japan travel #Youtube

[kmichiedreams]

#inktober2019 Day 15: Siblings

That Nara hair.

Shikako, Shikamaru, and Kinokawa Nara from Dreaming of Sunshine by @dosbysilverqueen!

#I had so much fun with this one #I love Kino #I love the Nara siblings #I love the Nara hair #them good genes yknow #kmichieart #inktober #inktober2019 #dreaming of sunshine #shikako nara #shikamaru nara #kinokawa nara #naruto fanart #naruto #my art

[dosbysilverqueen]

Doesn’t anyone else want kakashi to meet little kino chan and see all the awkward fluff that will ensure? I do. All paakun time please

I can’t imagine Pakkun being particularly delighted to be summoned to babysit. XD He’s a very grouchy old man in the body of a dog.

-Silver Queen

#dreaming of sunshine #silver queen #anonymous #asks #pakkun #kakashi hatake #kinokawa nara #submission

[wafflelate]

So in the Hokage Shikaku verse Shikako knows about Kanatoko? Shikasai is heir? Is Ikoma still alive? How did things go down with that? Does Shikako get to play with her cousin? Will she realise he'd be Sai in another world? Basically please tell me anything about this I'm super nosy.

Man it’s been so long since I plotted this out uhhh let’s see if I can remember this off the top of my head / come up with some decent bullshit lmao:

Shikako was born in y43 (year dates assigned per usual by SQ’s rough timeline) and was a whoops baby for sure. Yoshino, idk, got hit by a jutsu that messed up her contraceptive jutsu. Had surgery that messed with it. Whatever.Nara drama happens and it’s even worse than in canon because Shikano is VERY sure that this clanless kunoichi is honeypotting his son and those accusations fly free and thick.

Shikaku gets disowned and marries Yoshino and loves her and fuck the clan anyway.Yoshino is kind of dazed? She cried on her mom for like three hours when the pregnancy test was positive because she thought there was no way in hell Shikaku would believe it was an accident or be serious enough about her to tie the knot and raise the kid together.But it’s y43 and he’s 20 and she’s 18 and Shikaku was just getting started on revolutionizing Nara clan jutsu and his father can’t take his bloodline away from him and now everything he creates will be a Kinokawa technique.

In September Shikaku says the Nara can’t stop them from naming their kid whatever they want and Kinokawa Shikako is a beautiful, loud little girl.The war is still happening, though, and maternity leave means Yoshino can stay home with Shikako but Shikaku is a jounin and not a clan heir anymore and needed dearly to win the war. The Sandaime is sympathetic, though — Hiruzen’s oldest is 16 that year and Asuma is 10 and Hiruzen is starting to realize he’s not been the best father — so Shikaku gets rotated back as much as possible so that he can work on his techniques and see his infant daughter.

Here’s the thing: when he was Nara clan heir, Danzou knew he’d never be Hokage. He’d be Jounin Commander at best, like his father. Sure, he’d come up with new jutsu, but he’d have clan heir responsibilities keeping him from making a name for himself, anyway.Now, though... now he’s Kinokawa Shikaku. Now he’s out in the war, on the ground, throwing around new shadow jutsu and turning battles. That’s dangerous. That needs to be stopped because Danzou can’t lead a Nara Hokage around by the nose.

So, Kinokawa Yoshino needs to die. Make the man a grieving widow, disowned by the clan that would have otherwise kept him grounded. Only spare the kid — barely old enough to be a toddler, it’s late y44 or early y45 — because being a single father is another burden to keep him down. Imply strongly that it was Iwa, or Kumo pretending to be Iwa, or Kiri pretending to be Kumo pretending to be Iwa, because obviously you don’t want Shikaku looking around the village for enemies.

Oops, though, you motivated a Nara, Danzou. Shikaku gets some time off to grieve because Hiruzen isn’t yet at second-term levels of brain dead and he uses that time to get even more dangerous.

Shikano isn’t a total asshole and he does love his son and he asks Shikaku to come back to the Nara. But Shikaku can’t. He can’t. That would mean giving up the Kinokawa name. That would mean raising his daughter around people who had called Yoshino a gold digging slut, a social-climbing honeypot. It would mean entrusting Shikako’s care to those people while he’s away at war.Shikano says some more shit, though, because sticking with the Kinokawa name and the memory of his dead wife is to Shikano’s mind pretty much equivalent to spitting on the history and tradition and clan pride that Shikaku was raised with. 

Thank god for Inuzuka Tsume, because Shikaku isn’t going to let Shikako set foot on Nara clan lands while Shikano is alive.

Meanwhile Ikoma had all this clan heir stuff dumped on him way earlier than in canon but he’s making it work. Getting a handle on it. In canon he comes into things with fresh eyes and an adult’s confidence but here he’s a little younger and less experienced and when he’s pulled out of the war to do more in-village work and learn the ropes, he lets himself be guided away from all those things he found and was killed over in Shadows Inked in Black.But he still meets Kanatoko. And he still loves her. And things crashed and burned for Shikaku and Yoshino but at least they got to be together publicly and watching Shikaku’s grief drive him, Ikoma doesn’t even really consider keeping things with Kanatoko secret once they’re sure they’re serious.

He tells his brother first. He says, “I figure Dad only has so many sons, right?” and laughs.Shikaku doesn’t laugh, he doesn’t laugh much anymore, but he says, “Yoshino and I registered the Kinokawa as a new clan. You could always join us if you don’t want to be a Kurama.”(And Ikoma and Kanatoko do talk about that and absolutely Kanatoko thinks that if they can’t be Nara they should be Kinokawa. Fuck the Kurama.)

But in the end Ikoma is pretty much right. They don’t have any other siblings and no one else has been trained to be clan heir and it’s notoriously difficult to get Nara to take more responsibility, so Shikano can have a clan heir and welcome a Kurama into the clan, or he can have no clan heir and no sons.Maybe he learned something from all that shit with Yoshino because he keeps his mouth shut and pays for the wedding, at which point Kanatoko isn’t even pregnant with Sai yet because Ikoma was really on top of this.

Shikano’s outpost isn’t overrun. It isn’t overrun because near the end of the war Shikaku is on the cusp of S-class and he’s not even stationed anywhere near Shikano (War Operations practically does backflips not to put them near each other) but just having him be that strong changes the shape of the war.So Shikano comes home from the war and is still clan head and things are awkward with Inoichi and Chouza, who are both now clan heads. His granddaughter is four and they have never met. His granddaughter is four and he has never apologized.

Kanatoko spends the year before the Kyuubi attack being a new mom. She and Ikoma come over to Shikaku and Shikako’s apartment with little Shikasai sometimes, but babies just look like babies. Maybe she’ll figure it out down the line, though.

Shikaku makes Hokage after the Kyuubi attack. Shikano votes him in, however that works, and then immediately steps down as Jounin Commander and clan head so that Ikoma can take over both. 

Eventually Shikaku and Shikako will get to have dinner with Kanatoko and Ikoma and Shikasai in the Nara main without Shikano dying, though, because Ikoma strongly encourages him to take lots of trips to check up on out-village Nara resources. The conversation goes something like:Shikano: “I’m not the one keeping him from bringing the girl here.”Ikoma: “Do you want Shikako-chan to grow up knowing nothing about the Nara, except possibly that you hated her mother?”

#hokage shikaku verse #hokage shikaku ask #shikaku #shikako #ikoma #shikano #kanatoko #yoshino #to someplace else #asks

[goalhofer]

2020 Tokyo Yakurutosuwarozu Roster

Pitchers

#12 Ishiyama Taichi (Akita, Japan)

#13 Nakao Hikaru (Nagoya, Japan)

#14 Takanashi Hirotoshi (Mobara, Japan)

#15 Oshita Yuma (Hiroshima, Japan)

#17 Noboru Shimizu (Tokyo, Japan)

#18 Terashima Naruki (Ibaraki, Japan)

#19 Ishikawa Masanori (Akita, Japan)

#20 Kazuki Kondoh (Sagamihara, Japan)

#24 Hoshi Tomoya (Nasu, Japan)

#25 Gabriel Ynoa (La Vega, Dominican Republic)

#26 Koshiro Sakamoto (Tokyo, Japan)

#28 Daiki Yoshida (Tokyo, Japan)

#29 Ogawa Yasuhiro (Tahara, Japan)

#33 Matt Koch (Cherokee, Iowa)

#35 Koki Sugiyama (Tokyo, Japan)

#37 Scott McGough (Plum, Pennsylvania)

#38 Umeno Yugo (Saga, Japan)

#43 Albert Suarez (San Felix, Venezuela)

#44 Hiroki Onishi (Tokyo, Japan)

#47 Takahashi Keiji (Kameoka, Japan)

#53 Igarashi Ryota (Rumoi, Japan)

#69 Konno Ryuta (Miyagi, Japan)

#90 Hasegawa Hiroki (Kodaira, Japan)

Catchers

#30 Akihasa Nishida (Kyoto, Japan)

#32 Naoki Matsumoto (Tokyo, Japan)

#45 Motohiro Shima (Kaizu, Japan)

#52 Nakamura Yuhei (Ono, Japan)

#57 Yudai Koga (Tokyo, Japan)

Infielders

#00 Okumura Nobuyuki (Konan, Japan)

#1 Yamada Tetsuto (Toyooka, Japan)

#2 Alcides Escobar (La Sabana, Venezuela)

#3 Nishiura Naomichi (Nara, Japan)

#10 Araki Takahiro (Oyabe, Japan)

#36 Hirooka Taishi (Osaka, Japan)

#55 Murakami Munetaka (Kumamoto, Japan)

#66 Taisei Yoshida (Tokyo, Japan)

Outfielders

#8 Nakayama Shota (Osaka, Japan)

#9 Shiomi Yasutaka (Sagamihura, Japan)

#23 Aoki Norichika (Hyuga, Japan)

#31 Yamasaki Kotaro (Kinokawa, Japan)

#41 Takai Yuhei (Kawasaki, Japan)

#42 Tomotaka Sakaguchi (Akashi, Japan)

#51 Taiki Hamada (Tokyo, Japan)

Coaches

Manager Takatsu Shingo (Hiroshima, Japan)

Bench coach Miyade Ryuji (Uwajima, Japan)

Pitching coach Saito Takashi (Sendai, Japan)

Assistant pitching coach Hirotoshi Ishii (Ichihara, Japan)

Hitting coach Shigeru Sugimura (Kochi, Japan)

Assistant hitting coach Daniel Matsumoto (Sao Paulo, Brazil)

Assistant hitting coach Atsushi Kinugawa (Takarazuka, Japan)

Infield coach Morioka Ryosuke (Joto-Ku, Japan)

Outfield coach Kawada Yusuke (Tokyo, Japan)

#Sports #Baseball #Japan #Celebrities #Dominican Republic #Iowa #Pennsylvania #Venezuela #Brazil

[jacksgreysays]

Primadonna Girl (fills the void up with celluloid), a DoS recursive fic (2023-01-26)

Grandfather refuses to teach him any more shadow jutsu. “At least not until you’re a little older,” he says, “you’ve already made so much progress. No need to push yourself too hard.” He smooths a hand over Shikadai’s head, warm and full of affection, but he’s not looking at Shikadai.

Not really.

Shikadai understands. He does. Shikadai has been told his entire life that he has his mother’s eyes but… somehow… still looks just like his father?

Personally, Shikadai doesn’t really see the resemblance. Or, rather, he sees the resemblance everywhere in so many other Nara clan members that it doesn’t seem particularly noteworthy. If anything, Shikadai thinks he looks more like Uncle Kino than his father.

He even says as much to Uncle Kino later, even though he knows observations like that—flat and without sentiment for a father he never got to meet—tend to make his family uneasy.

Uncle Kino doesn’t say anything in response, just raises an eyebrow and waits: Uncle Kino is next in line to be the clan’s spiritual leader after Kasuga-jiisan. Uncle Kino is invited every year to the Fire Temple as a guest lecturer on the matter of serenity and internal balance. Uncle Kino willingly takes shifts at the missions desk.

“I just—I know it’s not enough. I’m not. I mean. I’m not… I… I’m just frustrated,” Shikadai crumples, unable to outlast his uncle in a matter of patience and more than a little ashamed of his own behavior.

Uncle Kino nods, acknowledgement and forgiveness both. Nara are very efficient like that.

Shikadai sighs. “I want to learn more—no, I need to learn more—and I know I can’t push too hard or I’ll fall. But I just… I need to be ready.”

At that, Uncle Kino’s gaze sharpens, analytic and searching. “Ready for what?” he asks, with almost the same look Grandfather gave Shikadai but Uncle Kino has always been honest about seeing Shikadai as his own person, not an echo of his father.

Shikadai thought he understood. But what if—

“Ready for what?” Uncle Kino asks, searching, seeking.

—it’s not almost the same look Grandfather gave Shikadai. It is the very same look.

Shikadai shrugs, turns away. “I don’t know,” he answers, but his mind is already flying in a different direction.

If it’s not Shikadai’s father they’re seeing, then who?

—

Shikadai’s mother is the greatest wind jutsu user in the Elemental Nations, maybe even the world.

Thankfully, that’s fact and not opinion because Shikadai is understandably biased.

It could be argued that Shikadai is a momma’s boy—by default, what with only having the one parent—but he thinks he’d have to see her more often to make that true. She’s a being of wind, happiest traveling around the Elemental Nations. She loved his father enough to settle down and start a family. Even after his father died, she stayed long enough to make sure that Shikadai had a good childhood—a better childhood than the one she had, certainly. A better childhood than he would have had without her—waiting until he was old enough for the academy’s E-rank missions before she started taking longer and farther missions. And when she returns, it’s that much sweeter.

She loves him and when she loves, she loves fiercely; as fierce as the wind.

And because she loves as fierce of the wind, she will never go back to Sand for what they’ve taken from her.

—

There are many fascinating aspects of the elemental natures of chakra. To begin with, there are five primary elements to which most people’s chakra might align to—Fire, Lightning, Wind, Water, Earth—which is the level of understanding needed to pass an Academy exam but not much else. Like many things in the world, it’s not actually that simple but for the sake of brevity today’s discussion will focus on this particular aspect:

Sometimes, if there exists a precise and balanced ratio, rather than one element reigning supreme over the others, or the elements staying strictly separate, there can be a mixture so thoroughly blended and potent that it creates a new element.

For example, the previously thought long lost Yuki clan are not the only ones who can control ice and snow with their chakra but members of that bloodline are able to do so without the extra step of ninjutsu controlling the mix of wind and water chakra (see the confirmed list of ninjutsu from the Snow Village of Land of Spring in the appendices.) In contrast, the Shodaime Hokage was renowned for his Mokuton, an ability that was not seen in any of his siblings or his children. Records are sparse—except for the Nidaime, nearly as famous for his talents with water—but those immediate relatives tended to be either water natured, earth natured, or both separately, but not unified.

The appearance of Mokuton in the anecdotal case of Yamato Tenzo—who underwent extensive gene therapy as a child—is a reflection of the Shodaime Hokage’s elemental nature unaffected by the subject’s original elemental expression. This implies—though does not prove—that the elemental nature of chakra, the Mokuton in particular, is a consistent phenotypic representation (studies into elemental natures of genetically identical twins are currently underway, the sample sizes are not large enough to be conclusive.)

Thus it is entirely possible that the so called extinct Mokuton can be revived—or, perhaps, replicated is the more accurate term—in a child with the previously mentioned precise and balanced ratio of its two progenitor elements.

—excerpt from the transcript of Nara Satori’s “Lectures on Elemental Chakra”

Classification level 3. For access, contact Nara Shikaku, Nara Kasuga, or Nara Kinokawa.

—

Shikadai’s mother will never go back to Sand, but she goes to the Garden sometimes to meet with her brother, the Kazekage.

Shikadai is not allowed to go. He thinks it’s strange that he has an uncle who he’s never met and will very likely never meet, if his mother has her way, or at least not until he’s a full chuunin. And by then what is Shikadai supposed to call him? Uncle Kazekage? Kankuro-sama? Man who I’ve never met, but unless you have a child I’m your heir?

Weird.

There’s a lot of things that are strange about his relationship with the Hidden Sand Village—or rather, his very deliberate non-relationship with the Hidden Sand Village—considering the person who is most invested in keeping him away from there is also the reason why he even has a connection to it.

But his mother always gets a pinched look on the rare occasions when it comes up, a furrow in between her eyebrows, mouth pressed into a tight line. She’ll teach him wind jutsu and even how to use her war fan to augment them, but he’s not allowed to actually have a war fan of his own—he’s not a member of Sand’s Wind Corps, after all.

Which means he’s definitely not allowed to sign the weasel summons.

—

There aren’t many pictures of his father in the house. To be fair, there aren’t many pictures of anyone in the house: most of the interior decoration is traditional paintings of the forest and the deer and back when technology was scarcer photographs were mostly used for medical and/or official purposes.

But there is one of his father as a teenager, unsurprisingly seated at a shogi board. What is surprising are the people across the board from him. Or, rather, one person across the board from him in particular is surprising: a young Uzumaki Naruto, Nanadaime Hokage.

Obviously Shikadai knows that even the Hokage must have been a kid, too, at one point—a kind of stumpy looking one at that, given how much shorter he is than the rest of the people in the photo—but to see him in a picture with Shikadai’s father? In this house?

There was nothing particularly overt, but Shikadai had always gotten the feeling that his family didn’t like the Hokage. Even Aunt Ino who, as the head of her department, would have to work closely with the Hokage didn’t seem to like him; coldly professional to a tee. Even Uncle Chouji—who likes everyone!—would always go blank and stoic. Both of Shikadai’s grandparents would just look sad, gaze turning away, distant, and Uncle Kino would try and fail to smile, then shake his head and say, “don’t worry about it.”

So why have a picture of him in the house?

No, that’s not the right question: what’s so important about this picture that they’d tolerate the Hokage in it? If they just wanted a picture of his father as a teenager, they’d probably use a better one of him with Aunt Ino and Uncle Chouji. And while it’s interesting to see a younger version of Sarada’s father, it’s more likely that the reason is the Nara girl in the center.

Shikadai doesn’t recognize her, but given the decades between now and then she could very well be a clan member he sees every day without knowing it. Though that wouldn’t explain why this picture, why she would be that important then. Or, rather, if she’s that important why would Shikadai not remember meeting her? Why wouldn’t she visit this house where she is so clearly treasured?

Unless she can’t. And maybe the reason why she can’t is the same reason why his family is so uneasy with the Hokage.

—

So. His progress is stalled on shadow jutsu until he gets older. The earth jutsu he does know is already at the upper limits of his chakra capacity. Wind jutsu is limited to what his mother can and is willing to teach him. And he really shouldn’t be experimenting with anything else without supervision. Shikadai could branch out from ninjutsu but genjutsu is really more Inojin’s specialty, and taijutsu is Chouchou’s.

He really wants a summon.

The most common Nara clan summoning contracts are the blackbirds and bats which makes sense—small, flying messengers for a clan whose specialty is information as much as shadows—but they’d be buffeted by his wind jutsu, not riding the gusts like the weasels have been trained to, and he wants something a little more combat oriented anyway.

Maybe he could try reverse summoning himself and see where he ends up? But there are enough cautionary tales about that: not just the dangers of being in the summoning realm, but the possibility that the creatures to whom you appear might already be contracted to a different clan or village or may just be hostile to humans.

There are other contracts within the Nara clan, though those ones aren’t as easy to sign as the blackbirds and bats. And he knows there are personal contracts that some members of the Nara clan have, but Shikadai is worried that if he asks they might feel obligated to let him sign since he’s clan heir.

Although… why don’t they have a deer contract? It would make sense, but Shikadai has never heard of anyone using deer in the field.

“There is a deer contract,” Uncle Kino answers, slowly, carefully, like he’s vetting each word before he says it. “The previous holder passed away before you were born.”

Shikadai thinks he recognizes the look on his uncle’s face. “Was it my father?” he asks, although now Shikadai thinks this look isn’t about his father at all.

“No,” Uncle Kino says easily. “The previous holder was Sembei-obaasan. She was fairly old even when I was born.”

There’s something he’s not saying, but what? If the previous holder of the deer contract was that old when Uncle Kino was born, then she had to have known what would happen eventually. She would have prepared an heir for the scroll at least, if not the contract itself.

“If the previous holder was Sembei-obaasan,” Shikadai says, just as slowly, carefully, “then who is the current holder?”

Affectionate pride flashes across Uncle Kino’s face before he says, out of nowhere, “Let’s go watch a movie.”

—

A few months before Shikadai was born, the Godaime Kazekage disappeared.

No trail, no explanation, nothing.

Understandably, the Hidden Sand Village panicked. Something that could take out their Kazekage—their jinchuuriki Kazekage—must be impossibly powerful and so they prepared for the worst. No threat appeared. However, there was still no sign of their missing Kazekage.

It gets worse.

The nature of succession in Sand is such that the Kazekage can only come from the clan of the Kazekage. Thus the only options were his siblings: Wind Mistress Temari and Kankurou the Puppeteer, both of them formidable in their own right but neither of them having the fabled Magnetic Release their bloodline was known for.

The choice should have been clear since Temari had married into a different clan—and a different village’s clan at that!—but, of course, politics complicate even the simplest matters.

Kankurou was the only sibling who remained in Sand. He had proved himself as leader of the Puppet Corps. Clever, skilled, and charming in his own way, there should have been no objections amongst the council.

But this was still too soon after Gaara’s disappearance: puppeteers, though immensely respected, are known more for their finesse than their power. Strangely charismatic does not necessarily translate to diplomatic; in his efforts to be as contrary to the council as possible, most of Kankurou’s connections were on the civilian side, nobles and merchants, patrons of the arts.

In contrast, while Temari held no official authority within the Wind Corps, it was no secret that she was their strongest member. Her chuunin career had been filled with diplomatic missions to the other hidden villages, where her cunning and martial prowess could serve Sand best. And, unfortunately, there were those who considered her Sand’s best chance to revive the lost Magnetic Release.

Perhaps, in a less fraught situation, the council might have rallied behind Kankurou—a Kazekage focused on bringing the traditions of Sand to the present, ushering in economic and cultural prosperity. A Kazekage for an age of peace the likes of which the Hidden Sand Village had never before experienced.

Perhaps a less panicked council might have approached Temari with a proposal—become the Kazekage, be the pillar of strength that the village needs. Bring your husband and have your family in Sand where you are vital, the breath and heartbeat of your people. Protector and champion of the desert.

Of course, those would have been very different stories.

—

One of the weirdest parts about the Nara clan library is the movie collection. Most of it is comprised of documentaries that various Nara have created as part of their research, or other documentaries that various Nara referenced in their research, or yet other documentaries that Nara Takatori thought should be included. Then there’s the fiction section but that really ought to just be called the Kako Heijo section, because the only movies in the fiction section are those in which Kako Heijo starred in, wrote, directed, choreographed, or produced.

When he was younger, Shikadai thought it was Uncle Kino’s one instance of pulling rank and using his position to ensure he had easy access to his favorite celebrity’s movies. Now that he’s older, Shikadai knows that, firstly, the Nara librarians can not be intimidated or coerced or charmed in any way that would risk their curation of knowledge. Secondly, it’s the library that requests the internal clan missions for retrieval of Kako Heijo’s movies, not Uncle Kino who has his own personal collection.

Shikadai doesn’t really get it: she’s cool and all for a civilian actress—everyone knows she does her own stunts—and it’s not like her forays into writing and directing aren’t also international hits even when she isn’t the one in front of the camera. But that doesn’t explain why the Nara librarians and his uncle are so fixated on her specifically and not any other celebrity.

They even have a copy of her first major role: a Princess Fuun spinoff which didn’t flop, per se, but was praised more for the action scenes and special effects than the bland narrative. The whole premise was a pretty big reach considering her character’s role was so minor in the last Princess Fuun movie she didn’t have a name.

So it’s weird that, of all the Kako Heijo movies he could choose, it’s that one Uncle Kino has them watch. The last Princess Fuun movie, that is, not the spinoff. Except Uncle Kino isn’t actually watching it even though booking the soundproof viewing room in the Nara library is tedious. To be fair, they keep making references to previous Princess Fuun movies that neither of them have seen, and its plot is slow and weird until suddenly it isn’t because then there’s a real shinobi battle happening and Shikadai recognizes three of the combatants because they’re the same teenagers in the photo with his father.

“We have a photo of a teenage Kako Heijo in our house,” Shikadai says, baffled. “Was she a foster cousin?” Sometimes that happens. If a clan member from outside the village wants to go to the Academy, they’ll be fostered with relatives within Konoha. Not usually with the clan head, though, but maybe since she was similar in age to his father?

Then Shikadai remembers. “Kako Heijo is the current holder of the deer summon?”

And even though they’re in the soundproof, dimly lit viewing room, Uncle Kino still covers his mouth and murmurs almost too low for Shikadai to hear.

“Her name was Nara Shikako. She’s my older sister, and your father’s twin.”

—

The assassins very specifically not from Sand are killed in action, but not before the names of their employers are ripped out of them: a coalition of five councilors who preferred Temari for Rokudaime Kazekage, the leader of which preferred an unmarried Temari in particular for his son with earth natured chakra.

Unsurprisingly, this did not work. The recently widowed Temari had even less inclination to return to Sand, digging her heels in and formally renouncing her ties to the Kazekage position and clan.

Now the literal only choice, Kankurou was quickly sworn in as Rokudaime, his first action being to arrest the coalition and offer them up to face Konoha’s justice and hopefully preserve their alliance. A smart move which, to some extent, fixed the issue.

For Sand, that is.

In Konoha, it got worse.

Because the Nara clan, with their Akimichi and Yamanaka allies at their side, were baying for blood--none more so than the victim’s twin sister.

Had it been the Godaime Hokage—raised with the importance of clan politics, understanding how concessions must be made for peace—there would have been no problem. Had it been the Rokudaime Hokage—less concerned with village policy, but more familiar with the grief of being unable to protect those closest to him—there would have been some hesitation, before he turned the prisoners over to face the wild-eyed wrath of his student.

Of course, those would have been very different stories…

… how unfortunate that neither of those were the case.

It was the Nanadaime Hokage, fresh into his reign, who received the offered prisoners from Sand. The Nanadaime Hokage who refused to kill and expressed disappointment toward those who did. The Nanadaime Hokage who had lost his jounin commander, knew that his closest friends were proponents of vengeance, and was known as much for his stubbornness as his dislike of the death penalty.

For their safety, he sentenced them to multiple life terms in the highest security prison.

Against one particularly motivated Nara?

Not a chance.

—

Now that Shikadai has been read into the existence of his secret yet also simultaneously incredibly famous aunt, he also gets to learn that Uncle Kino’s yearly invitation to the Fire Temple is a cover. Well, he is actually a guest lecturer on the matter of serenity and internal balance, and it is a legitimate sabbatical for him in order to one day succeed Kasuga-jiisan as the clan’s next spiritual leader.

The fact that one of the yearly attendees is an incognito Kako Heijo is coincidence. Plausibly deniable coincidence.

Now that Shikadai is in on the secret and of an age where he can go on clan training outside of the village, he also gets to attend. And if he happens to meet the incognito Kako Heijo, well, what a plausibly deniable coincidence that would also be.

He’s more than a little nervous to meet her. For a lot of reasons. Out of just practicality, he hopes she finds him worthy enough to sign the deer summoning contract because that’s what led to this venture to begin with.

Less logically, he hopes he doesn’t embarrass himself because she seems really cool. Kako Heijo the civilian celebrity was already cool on her own, but adding that she’s a secret maybe undercover shinobi, or maybe blacklisted but not a missing nin. The mystery is cool. And Uncle Kino showed him her old Bingo Book entries and she was definitely S-rank. That’s so cool.

But ultimately, in a squishier, emotional sense he hopes she likes him because… that’s his aunt. And, sure, Shikadai didn’t know she existed for basically his entire life, but still… he hopes he’s someone that she would be proud of.

He hopes she sees him for himself and likes him.

—

A/N: Sometimes you just have to write a hyper specific, meandering, and bleak future fic AU that still somehow doesn’t hit all the issues you poured onto this world and also decide you don’t want to do any dialogue except for Kino who had such a huge role in this for some reason?

What a niche scenario this is! I don’t even have that many feelings about Shikadai, he’s just a good vessel/POV for this fucked up future fic.

Like, I have some Thoughts™ about what the ANY clans in general, and Ino and Chouji in particular, are doing in this ‘verse (understandably they are very pissed, but they are biding their time.)

I probably should have done a section about how Shikako killing those Sand councilors basically almost kicked off a civil war which is why she's out there being international superstar Kako Heijo but I figured I should end on a Shikadai section and I hope the implication is there?

I also don't know how clear I was that Shikadai has Magnetic Release but doesn't really know it and also doesn't want to experiment with it by himself because unlike his aunt, he likes to learn new things in a safe and controlled environment.

I would love to answer questions about this AU so if you have any, send those my way!

#jacksgreyson #writing #fanfiction #dreaming of sunshine #primadonna girl (says no thank you) #naruto #shikadai nara #shikaku nara #kinokawa nara #sabaku no temari #sabaku no kankurou #shikako nara

[jacksgreysays]

Primadonna Girl (sounds through the earth and skies), (2024-03-23)

For some lighter bleak!primadonna AU brainrot (ah, the juxtaposition) I present to you the following:

~

Primadonna Girl (fills the void up with celluloid)

~

There is a castle on fire. An unsettling number of civilians, slightly singed but otherwise unharmed, are staring at them. The mayor—who called them here in the first place—is cursing them out from his tied up position on the ground, fake monster costume in pieces around him.

Isahiko is trying to settle the crowd with mixed success—they are, perhaps, only calming down because he seems to be increasingly more nervous as the danger dissipates—while Kazuto grins widely, chattering at their indulgent client with an unwarranted air of accomplishment. In contrast, Kumayoshi silently meets eyes with Kako Heijo’s manager and tries not to consider how much trouble they’re all going to be when they head back to Konoha.

—

Considering none of them have the corresponding names, they are an almost stereotypical example of the Ino-Shika-Chou arrangement: which is to say, straight down the middle average, no specialized skills pointing them in the direction of any particular department, and only remembered—if they ever are—as a team not as individuals.

Which is fine. None of them are especially ambitious—or, well, not in the way that would make Kazuto’s clan worried—and they would much rather stick together as a run of the mill team of chuunin than be separated…

But it would be nice, sometimes, if the clan heads would stop assigning blame to the three of them when, really, it’s only one person at fault and it’s not like they have any ability to control her when the Hokage couldn’t.

—

Kumayoshi stares at his beer, betrayed. He does not look up to meet the deceptively kind eyes of his clan head, not even when a hand lands on his shoulder, equally deceptively comforting, trusting. Kumayoshi keeps looking at his betrayal beer.

What an honor, said Kumayoshi’s parents, Chouji-sama has invited you for drinks. He wants to talk to you in person. You must have done so well on your last mission.

Kumayoshi did not do well on his last mission. They set a castle on fire on his last mission. They upended the local government in less than a week. Kazuto has developed a worrying fascination with explosions!

“We would appreciate it,” Chouji-sama says, “if you continue to accept mission requests from that particular client.”

We? Oh no, that’s not even an order from the head of his clan alone. That’s from all three heads of the alliance.

“I, personally, would be indebted if you kept her as safe as she will allow you.”

A personal debt from the clan head. Kumayoshi’s parents would be over the moon. They don’t know the cost. They wouldn’t understand. He is a broken man.

Kumayoshi closes his eyes and doesn’t audibly sigh. He nods. “Of course, it would be my honor.”

—

Isahiko cracks almost immediately.

To be fair, Ino-sama’s slit pupil stare is far less kind than Chouji-sama’s.

She also doesn’t bother with the pretense of drinks or the Yamanaka equivalent of it which is to coincidentally share a shift in the greenhouses and have a sideways conversation about something unrelated but which somehow, pointedly, conveys the exact message required.

No, he is not treated so nicely. Instead, Ino-sama summons Isahiko to her office in the depths of T&I and stares at him as he fidgets in the seat across from her. There is a bouquet featuring delphiniums and zinnias on her desk. The smile on her face is simultaneously grim and victorious.

“Okay! Yes, okay! I’ll do it, I promise!” Isahiko yelps, only vaguely aware of what he’s agreeing to, but swearing all the same.

“Thank you,” she says, a rare moment of soft honesty, before she turns to the paperwork on her desk. “You can go now.” She waves a hand dismissively.

Excused, Isahiko scrambles to leave, but before he can reach the door, Ino-sama adds.

“Does your, hmm, what’s his name?” The hum is a lie. The uncertainty is a lie. It’s always mind games with this clan. It’s why he has anxiety. “Does Kazuto still not know who she is?”

Isahiko cringes, this time in embarrassment rather than fear. “No, he does not.”

—

“So I read the report from your last mission,” says Kinokawa to Kazuto. They are in the Nara library viewing room, watching a movie that is mostly explosions. Takatori despairs of them both.

“Pretty rad, right?”

“… you had fun?”

Kazuto doesn’t hesitate. “Hell yeah, man, it’d be cool to work with Kako Heijo again. Did you know she really does her own stunts?”

Kinokawa looks at Kazuto. Kazuto looks back.

“Yes. I did know that.”

“Right, right, you giant fanboy. Hey, if I work with her again, I’ll see if I can get an autograph for your collection.”

“… you’re a good cousin, Kazuto.”

“Yeah, I am.”

—

The next time a mission request comes from the suspiciously blandly named civilian manager of Kako Heijo, the equally blandly named mission desk nin does not put it in the general pool of C-ranks, but instead sets it aside for a team of not particularly memorable, run of the mill chuunin.

~

A/N: I just really wanted to make an “unimpressive” ANY team that Shikako (or, rather, Kako Heijo’s totally a civilian manager) keeps requesting to do, like, the film crew stuff that is too dangerous for actual civilians and I also really wanted the Nara member of the team to not know who she actually was. I like to think that Nara are geniuses in most things and can also be oblivious in equal measure to other things—like Shikako’s lack of awareness of how powerful she is. I also like to think that Kazuto’s explosions are not seal based at all but, like, him trying to manipulate wind and fire natured chakra. Understandably it is less controlled and thus more concerning than to do the same with seals It probably wasn’t clear, but during the mission at the beginning, the mayor had invited Kako Heijo to film at the castle and wanted to do some kind of insurance fraud/crime framing thing, a la Scooby Doo but worse because maybe some dissenting townspeople had been trapped in the basement which was set to explode. This installment is because sometimes even I have to change things up from getting TOO sad/politically charged—although, you know, I’m still going to sprinkle in some hinted politics in my comedy relief.

#jacksgreyson #fanfiction #writing #primadonna girl (says no thank you) #dreaming of sunshine #naruto #chouji akimichi #ino yamanaka #kinokawa nara

[jacksgreysays]

Primadonna Girl (this and that and everything, etc), (2023-03-15)

Primadonna Girl (fills the void up with celluloid)

~

As head of the Nara clan’s R&D, Takatori has the authority to approve sabbaticals, training trips, and other long term research projects of those nature by himself. Normally, he wouldn’t bother pushing it further up the chain, but this application has one particularly glaring detail he’d rather not deal with.

So now it’s Kinokawa-kun’s problem.

“Ah,” says Kinokawa-kun upon reaching the part of Nara Souichi’s application that also gave Takatori pause. There is a long moment of considering silence before he asks, pointedly, “Is he… motivated?”

The old adage that word references used to be more joke than threat: after all, a focused Inuzuka, an angry Aburame, and a motivated Nara were so rare that it would be more likely to be struck by lightning. Without the use of ninjutsu, that is. But since the professional debut of the generation between Takatori and Kinokawa-kun, that idiom has transformed fully into the warning it always seemed. For the Nara it has also become a precautionary tale.

Nowadays the clan as a whole is motivated, a grim and bitter spite-fueled sort of motivation, but it’s when individual clan members become noticeably motivated that the situation becomes… concerning.

Takatori mentally runs through what he knows about Nara Souichi: Eighteen years old. Chuunin rank as of two years ago. Born out-village, originally from the eastern indigo farm. For the Academy, he was fostered in-village with Shingon Ritsu—one of the Seal Research Group’s more prolific members—it’s from her that Takatori knows the more interesting anecdotes.

Like the time Souichi petitioned the Academy to give boys the option to join the kunoichi lessons. Or how he spent three weeks pestering the various bat summoners of the clan so that he could survey the different species’ calls. Or the way he invented a code based on the Seal Research Group’s founder’s original notes and mostly used it to play word games with his peers.

Intelligent? Yes, even amongst the clan. Passionate? Almost frustratingly so. Determined? Undoubtedly.

But… the specific, concerning type of motivated that caused their members to push too hard, too fast and lose themselves?

“No,” Takatori finally answers, “he should be fine.” Glancing at the section of the application specifying location, he continues, “If it were anywhere else, I’d have approved without bothering you, but as it is…”

“Yes, I understand,” Kinokawa-kun says. There is a pause before he adds, “I’ll ask Temari-nee, if she thinks it’s safe enough we can approve him for a short trip at least.”

Takatori nods, accepting the acting clan head’s decision. He is simultaneously relieved that the matter has been taken out of his hands, curious as to what the outcome will be, and worried.

It will be the first time in over a decade that a Nara goes to Sand.

—

He is not allowed to stop being the Kazekage—his heaviest, least wanted role—but when he goes to the Garden, at least he can also be Kankurou again.

“… it wasn’t the worst performance, but most of the charm is lost when you replace the puppets with actual people,” he says, the kind of incessant chattering that would have once made Temari threaten to suffocate him, or lament not having done so when they were kids.

Now she just rolls her eyes and ignores him, perusing through the files of Suna personnel he brought for her. Is this treason? Maybe. But if he has to be the Kazekage, then he’s going to make it work for him.

Or for his understandably cautious sister as the case may be.

Absence really does make the heart grow fonder.

“Why’s this one here?” Temari says, pulling out one file in particular: Kiriue Tomoyo, nineteen years old, special jounin, medic nin.

Kankurou barks out a laugh, he knew she’d go for that one.

“I asked for jounin,” Temari complains even as she goes through the file more thoroughly. None of the other files received more than a cursory glance.

“She’s more than qualified, certainly would have kicked my ass at that age. She’d be a jounin already if she weren’t so misanthropic.” Kankurou says. Then, with another laugh, he adds, “Hell, I’d make her Kazekage if I thought I could get away with it.”

Temari purses her lips. The moment of silence is old, well worn, absent echoes of her retaliation and his frustration.

“… how misanthropic are we talking?” Temari, ever the diplomat, breaks the silence.

Kankurou, more appreciative of such things, jumps to answer. “Above average,” he says, because even he has to admit that the shinobi of Suna are far from friendly. “But not, you know, Sasori levels.”

No murdering people to make human puppets, thank god.

“But she’s a medic nin?” Temari prompts.

“She’s mostly in research since her bed side manner sucks. She thinks people are annoying and stupid.”

“And you think she’s fit to bodyguard a Nara for a month?”

Kankurou shrugs. “If it doesn’t all end in disaster, I can probably use this to promote her to jounin,” he says, and doesn’t bring up the fact that Temari also hasn’t taken a second look at any of the other files. “I’ve got a good feeling about this.”

—

Seikou Houshi is lucky. Or, at least, that’s what they’ve been told.

From the outside, it’s not a great look that a descendant of one of the excommunicated councilors is in the Poison Corps, but Houshi’s reputation is pretty harmless and more about research than combat. The only reason why they’re in the Poison Corps in the first place is because they’re fascinated by the conservation and maintenance of the most poisonous and venomous creatures in the world rather than any desire to use said poisons or venoms against another human being.

And, also, most other corps and departments have a soft ban on Houshi… for the whole “their grandfather was part of a conspiracy that nearly sent Suna into war with the literal most powerful village in the continent.” So no combat roles for them. That’s fine.

The fact that Houshi could even achieve chuunin rank is testament to that supposed luck, though they would argue that effort definitely went into it. After all, the eclectic mixture of seemingly noncombat skills wouldn’t normally make an effective shinobi, but that’s perhaps the point.

Houshi will likely never be sent out on missions. Houshi will probably never achieve a higher rank. Houshi will never be given any amount of authority in Suna.

But, unlike the rest of the Seikou family, they’re not dead. So Houshi is lucky.

They have a fulfilling job in a lab in the Garden of Life from Death studying the various once-extinct-but-no-longer flora and fauna that live in the oasis. Every so often, when the Academy sends a class on a field trip to the Garden, they’re in charge of teaching the students about lesser known poisons and venoms. And nobody looks too closely at the fact that Houshi has been desperately, heartbreakingly alone since they were six years old and their grandfather risked the entire family line on a stupid political maneuver that failed utterly.

But Houshi is lucky, right? They don’t know enough to think otherwise.

~

A/N: I had an idea to set up these three for a B-sides outsider POV for the bleak!Primadonna AU--but then I didn't really know what to do with them, I don't know if they would be finding out what happened to Gaara or if they become a support system for Shikadai, Kako, and Kankurou to secretly train in the Gardens or what... But by the time I realized I had no idea what to do with them, I was already two thirds of the way through and I just figured let's finish it, post it, and future me can always come back and use them for whatever.

Also, part of it is that similar to Shikako's genin students in vows under the auspices (only shooting stars) these characters are not entirely OCs in that they are just adapted into the Naruto world. I even made stats for them. Unfortunately, they are real people from a podcast that I listen to and I then got weird about it.

#jacksgreyson #fanfiction #writing #primadonna girl (says no thank you) #dreaming of sunshine #naruto #takatori nara #kinokawa nara #sabaku no kankurou #sabaku no temari

[jacksgreysays]

hullo! I've been rereading your Sakako fics, because all your DoS stories are comfort fics but I do have a particular fondness for Sasuke and Shikako's quiet ghost-seeing daughter, and I realized she has a very warm relationship with Kareru. So I wondered: what does Boruto think of Uzumaki Kareru, as another Uzumaki and his father's sort-of first child? Especially since Boruto has all those hangups about Naruto...

Thank you for this ask! I've also been (re)reading a lot of DoS recursive fics lately, so this ask is a fun bit of serendipity. I'm still so pleased whenever others look fondly upon Sakako, so thank you for that as well :D

Even before getting into the Boruto part of your ask, I think I have to put some things into context (for myself, mostly, because now I want to figure out what I was thinking):

I'll be honest, at the time of writing the Walking Around 'verse (aka the Sakako 'verse) I largely forgot about Kareru. Or, well, I remembered he would exist sometimes but then fail to factor that into the, like, Uchiha heiress/ghost medium vibe that Sakako had going on. Because if I had remembered him more frequently--or incorporated him, rather-- then I doubt she would be as lonely or as poised as she came off to be. In part because if Sasuke was serious about being a co-parent then he would have figured out a lot of the inheritance/tradition stuff with Kareru several years earlier even if he is nominally an Uzumaki and not an Uchiha. Which would take a lot of the stress of being the Uchiha heiress rebuilding her heritage from the ground up away from Sakako.

But also, if Kareru is as benignly haunted by the ghosts of Uzushio as I would suspect he is then 1) he would definitely be in on the secret of Sakako being able to see ghosts which would make her less lonely and 2) if ghosts can see other ghosts--which, in order for the Uchiha clan ghosts to avoid the Itachi ghost must be true--then that means Uzushio ghosts can hang out with Uchiha clan ghosts and it wouldn't be as stark/intimidating as I made it out to be.

Basically, Kareru would have inherently brought literal color into the gothic/noir vibes that is the core Walking Around 'verse which would have changed the tone if not the entire genre of that series. Which is not why I didn't include him--again, I kinda forgot about him.

In all fairness to past-myself, I guess he's significantly older than Sakako to the point where their schedule availability doesn't really match up too well. Like he was probably nearly/done with the Academy when she would have been born/toddler age. Then he would have been a chuunin or higher and primarily on away missions during her own Academy/early genin years. With that sort of timeline, he might very well be closer in age to Kinokawa than to Sakako actually?

And speaking of, with Shikako being his primary parent before any sort of romantic and/or platonic cohabitation that would probably mean that Kareru would have lived with the Nara clan for most of his childhood where he would have the most support structure available to him.

Which then almost brings us back to your actual question, anon, in that, weirdly enough--even with me failing to have incorporated Kareru as much as I should have--he is kind of "more" Sakako's sibling than Boruto's. Because, hm, I know this isn't how it actually works, but let's say Shikako is 50% Kareru's parent, while Sasuke and Naruto are each 25% his parents. If Sakako is 50% Shikako and 50% Sasuke, versus Boruto who is 50% Naruto and 50% Hinata, then Kareru's parental overlap skews more in favor of Sakako than Boruto.

Adding on top of that, with how I've written Sasuke and Shikako's future careers, occasionally Sakako stays with her Nara grandparents which is also where Kareru lives. Again, versus Boruto's parents: Naruto who--I have to hope wouldn't be as neglectful in a DoS future--is the Hokage and thus isn't leaving the village for weeks at a time and Hinata who... probably also isn't leaving the village for weeks at a time? Or at the very least, if Boruto and Himawari are staying with their living relatives would be with the Hyuuga; whether that means Neji, who I have to hope lives in the DoS future, or Hanabi, or the clan itself. (Is Hinata the clan head in the Boruto series? I have to be honest, I do not consume it)

If anything Kareru might be more like an Uzumaki cousin to Boruto than an older brother? Another if anything, Shikadai might have a closer relationship to Kareru than Boruto does given that they both are beloved grandsons of Yoshino and Shikaku (by which I mean were regularly, gently bullied into morning stretches and chores for feeding the deer.)

But that doesn't actually answer your question, anon, so let's circle back: Sakako does have a, somehow simultaneously, distant but warm relationship with Kareru... which is the whole vibe of the Walking Around 'verse anyway--that moments with her loved ones are rare and fleeting, and all the more cherished for it.

Unfortunately for Boruto, he didn't even really have that much with Kareru. Like, if Sakako gets to see him a few times a month, Boruto sees him maybe a few times a year? And even that would be in larger group settings--ie big birthday celebrations instead of the more close-knit morning wake up routine at the Nara household--where they aren't interacting with each other one on one.

Also unfortunately for Boruto--if the DoS version of Hokage Naruto is even a fraction as neglectful/absent/depressed as the Boruto canon Hokage Naruto--then it very well could be that Naruto was more present/more of a father to Kareru than to Boruto. Because Kakashi is Hokage when Kareru is a child. I don't know when that gets switched over to Naruto, but even if its after Boruto is born... if its within the first five years of his life then he wouldn't really remember a time when Naruto isn't the overworked Hokage and thus absentee father. Like... I have to hope that a DoS version Hokage Naruto is better, right? But even so... if Naruto was a good father to Boruto as a toddler that's not going to be when Boruto is cognizant.

So ultimately, a third unfortunately for Boruto, a relationship with Kareru via their "shared father" Naruto is extremely unlikely. Not only would they have vastly different concepts of what Naruto is like as a father, but I'd be honestly concerned that Boruto would, if not resent Kareru, then at the very least be jealous of what he had. Am I saying that they can't ever have a relationship? Of course not. I'm also not saying that they can't ever have a good relationship either.

I just don't think they will ever be "brothers," which is, again, unfortunate. Maybe they'll connect because of sealing. Maybe they'll connect because Kareru is technically the Uzumaki clan head and Boruto, for all his hangups about Naruto (and special Byakugan? is that right?), is still an Uzumaki. Maybe they'll connect because Sakako is Boruto's teammate and/or Boruto is Shikadai's crush (which hurts Kareru's brain if he thinks too long about how many of that generation he considers little cousins and how many of them are romantically interested in each other) and that's a convoluted relationship, but at least its a relationship.

I haven't actually seen Boruto so I don't super know what's going on there, but I think, even without the issue of what kind of father Naruto may or may not be, that Boruto as a preteen/early teen would be jealous of Kareru. A combination of adolescent insecurity and longing for the kind of confidence/freedom that Kareru inherently has or at the very least has developed over the years. Its hard not to compare the parallels between them--Uzumaki boys, full of potential, expectations high--without contrasting the absolute gulf that also is between them:

Ironically, like his father before him, Boruto is desperate for affection and can have an abrasive personality because of it. The version of what little I wrote of him is a little arrogant and somewhat self isolating as a defense mechanism--he can't be disappointed in being neglected/ignored if he didn't care what others think anyway--which, is a tragic self fulfilling prophecy. Kareru, from the beginning, was adored by many without having to do anything and so, in turn, gives love freely.

... hm, I think this got away from me anon. But I hope that answered your question!

#jacksgreyson #anonymous #asks #answers #brainstorm #fanfiction #dreaming of sunshine #naruto #sakako uchiha #kareru uzumaki #boruto uzumaki #you and me and baby (makes fifteen) #walking around (like regular people) #our share of the world #charcter analysis #meta analysis

[jacksgreysays]

Reverse!Gardens, DOS!Shikamaru & DOS!Kino and Care!Kako and Care!Kamaru: After losing his original universe to Jashin, fourteen-year-old Shikamaru doesn't take Kako's injuries from the Kumo kidnapping attempt all that well. (Bonus points baby!Kino and toddler!Kamaru bonding, or Shikamaru stubbornly holding onto the original Shadow Arm seal with Shikako's calligraphy).

A/N: Hello again, dona! Thank you for this prompt! So… I’m gonna be honest… I don’t know what you mean by the Kumo kidnapping attempt. I mean, I assume there was a Kumo kidnapping attempt during the thenabouts timing of the Hinata attempted kidnapping, except instead of the highly protected Hyuuga heiress the Kumo nin went for the less protected would-have-been Nara heir, aka Kamaru? But, again, I have no idea and I’m not sure which installment/ficlet in particular you’re referring to so instead I’m gonna focus more on the DoS!Shika & Kino go to Care!Kako &Kamaru’s verse.

So… also… I did want to do a variation of your prompt wherein it’s still the adult!Konoha Thirteen go after younger versions of Shikako in various universes, but I also like your version where the ages match up, so I guess what I’m saying is… I’m going to try to do both?

~

one hope then another (bring me home)

Kako (& Kamaru) & Shikamaru (& Kinokawa)

The boy with a shadow arm and a toddler on his hip is suspicious, of course. His claim is literally incredible, but what is more so impossible is how everything else he says checks out. Weeks of interviews and tests and everything still checks out.

He has mastered all of the clan’s shadow jutsu as well as newer, powerful techniques. He is the oldest son of an alternate universe Shikaku. He is every bit as intelligent, tactical, and skillful as his father was. He was raised since birth as clan heir.

A miracle, Kofuku thinks, a convenient one. Now, someone else can be in charge of the clan, and she can go back to her research.

Speaking of, “The shadow sight and your arm,” Kofuku asks the boy–Shikamaru, one of the blander clan head names, but another convenience that they don’t have to come up with one for him–“Did you create them?”

“No,” Shikamaru shakes his head, eyes never lifting from the pile of backlog paperwork that is the clan’s administration. His month of effort has put a dent in it, but the task ever grows.

The toddler by his side–Kino, not a common Nara name, but harmless enough–quietly mimics his brother, bright crayon scribbles on scratch paper. When a streak of bright red draws a bit too close to official papers, Shikamaru gently guides his brother’s hand away before resuming his own work easily.

Kofuku waits for clarification.

“My father designed shadow sight,” he says, “but my arm…” At this, Shikamaru pauses in his work. Raises his flesh hand to touch the seam between skin and shadow. His mouth tightens, and little Kino silently puts his crayons down to reach out to his brother in comfort. It works a little.

“Our sister made it for me.”

“Your sister,” Kofuku repeats, an inkling of dread making its way through her purely academic curiosity.

Shikamaru said he was the oldest son.

That doesn’t mean oldest child.

—

They weren’t lying, technically. And it’s not as if they were actively hiding the truth either.

It’s just that it’s old news, old scandal, old grudges, and why would they tell their new clan head about matters that have nothing to do with the clan?

Shikamaru clearly doesn’t agree.

He asks where the Kinokawa siblings live–the toddler called Kino on his hip, as if Shikamaru doesn’t trust the clan not to tear the child from his arms. And how could she ever consider the toddler harmless, his name!–and no one answers. Not out of a desire to hide the truth further, but because they honestly don’t know.

Why would they need to know?

Frustrated, Shikamaru walks out, brother at his side, and all Kofuku can think is: not again.

—

The boy with a shadow arm and a toddler on his hip is suspicious, of course. They both wear the Nara mon, clad in the grays and greens of the clan, and the last time Kako had to interact with her relatives in any meaningful manner they were berating her for almost endangering the bloodline and nearly causing a political scandal while she lay in a hospital bed and ignored them.

So it’s not exactly a joy to see these two, never mind their slightly off reflections of each other–her with Kamaru on her hip–would otherwise be an amusing sight.

“Shikako?” the boy with the shadow arm asks. He’s hesitant, perhaps aware of her displeasure, taken aback by her obvious frown or maybe the scars cutting across her face. In contrast, the toddler on his hip smiles brightly at her, silently reaching out.

“It’s Kako. Kako Kinokawa. You should know this, Nara.”

The boy with the shadow arm flinches, while the toddler on his hip seems to smile brighter.

How weird.

“I’m Shikamaru.”

~

~

~

Kako & Kamaru & Shikamaru & Kinokawa (Kinokawa)

Kako Kinokawa is grudgingly released from the hospital a week after the Cloud incident poorer in patience, richer in scars, and, somehow, head of a clan. Thankfully, it’s a newly created minor clan and not the clan that would be the absolute worst (the clan that should be hers by birthright) but frankly being head of any clan is troublesome.

She goes to pick up Kamaru from the Akimichi compound–a little guilty to have imposed on Chouza-san and Setsuko-san for so long, but relieved that her little brother would certainly be well protected and well fed–only to be met with an uncomfortable amount of bowing, overly respectful suffixes, two slyly grinning pseudo-uncles, and a staring man who, for one heart-stopping second, she mistakes for Dad.

Arranged as he is between Chouza-san and Inoichi-san, it’s hard to shake the likeness, but she blinks it and the incoming tears away with teeth-gritting desperation: this man is too young to be Shikaku Kinokawa. Not enough scars, and more delicate facial features besides, one arm somehow a dark shadow from elbow down. But its close, so close. Close enough that he can only be a–

“Nara,” Kako greets coolly, hands deliberately loose at her side. Technically, given the alliance of the Ino-Shika-Cho, she’s the trespasser here, so she’s not going to be the one to start shit.

Chouza-san and Inoichi-san exchange amused glances and she would feel a lance of betrayal except for how the man between them immediately drops to a knee and so all she can feel instead is shock.

“Not quite,” the man says, and that, too, is different enough from Dad’s voice (or what she can remember of it, it’s been so long) that it keeps her grounded in the presence. “I’m not a Nara,” he says, and his stare hasn’t wavered at all since the beginning, “I’ve renounced them. I’ve chosen to be part of the Kinokawa clan.”

Reflexively, Kako denies, “There is no Kinokawa clan.”

“There wasn’t a Kinokawa clan,” Chouza-san corrects, voice ringing with mirth for all that he means to be gentle.

“Establishing a clan requires three active-duty shinobi who share a bloodline and sponsorship from two other clan heads,” Inoichi-san clarifies, practically preening.

She looks at the three of them doubtfully, “Kamaru’s a toddler. Even if I wanted this, where would we get our third?”

Coincidentally (or, perhaps more likely, with deliberately planned timing) a boy her age carrying a slothfully limp Kamaru in one arm and an affably squirming Chouji in the other approaches them, smile brighter than the shiny Konoha headband plate tied around his neck.

He, too, has a very obvious Nara look to him, though it’s tempered with something else, something she vaguely recognizes, but can’t place immediately (something she sees every time she looks in the mirror.)

“Kako-nee!” the boy exclaims with a disconcerting level of familiarity given she’s never met him in her life, he practically skips closer before, after considering the situation, taking a step back, “Oh, uh, are we doing the thing first?” He asks. 

The self proclaimed non-Nara man, still on his knees, finally breaks his gaze with her by rolling his eyes. Exasperated but fond, “Yeah, we’re doing ‘the thing’ first.”

Kako is bewildered.

The boy shrugs, the toddlers in his arms giggling at the movement, before lowering to a matching kneeling position. Kamaru and Chouji, close enough to the ground now, get their feet beneath them and waddle towards their respective guardians.

Chouza swings his son up into his arms easily, and Kako, confused but never too distracted to properly care or show affection for her brother, does the same to Kamaru.

Baffled, she can only hold her brother close and witness as her clan officially forms itself in front of her.

“I do swear,” says both of her would-be clan mates, not quite in sync, but practiced enough, “to protect my family, my team mates, the clan, those allied with us, and Konoha, I will become the bark of the tree.”

Kako has never heard the oath that new genin of the Nara clan make (why would she? She’s not a Nara) but this rings of something similar, something familiar. Something Dad used to say with furrowed brows when he couldn’t understand why the Nara were being so antagonistic:

Family is like a tree and life is like a shadow.

The shadow is what we make of it, the tree is the real thing.

Kamaru’s hands clumsily but gently bat at her face. She thinks at first it’s curiosity over her new scars, but no. It’s because she’s crying.

Because family is the real thing. The most important thing. And even if its been years and she should have gotten used to it, it still hurts that her Nara relatives don’t realize it.

But these two do. They want to be her clan. They want to be her family.

Kako closes her eyes and presses her face to Kamaru’s head, hiding her expression and holding him near and dear.

“Okay,” she says, pulling herself together. “Okay,” she repeats, “Yeah, let’s be a clan. Let’s be family.”

Her new clan mates–her new family members–get to their feet and while the boy bounces over to her immediately, the man doesn’t hesitate to draw close either.

Behind them, Chouza-san and Inoichi-san grin, relieved.

For a moment everything is, if not perfect, then as close to it as reality will allow them to get. Until–

“… what are your names?” Kako asks, far too belatedly considering she has just accepted these two into her family and newly created clan.

The boy’s smile grows, somehow, impossibly wide and full of mischief while the man sends him another heavy lidded look of fond exasperation.

In the background, Chouza-san and Inoichi-san can barely stifle their laughter.

—

(“I take it back,” Kako says, once her brain has restarted, “No more clan, I can’t allow this.”

“No take backs,” Shikamaru admonishes childishly, for all that he is the oldest of their family.

“Kinokawa Kinokawa is a great name!” Kinokawa insists, his blinding cheeriness enough to attract Kamaru’s attention. In easy toddler logic, Kamaru smiles and babbles cheerfully in response. “See,” Kinokawa says, “Even the clan heir agrees with me.”

“Kamaru, you traitor,” Kako says without any heat, “How dare you endorse this travesty.”

Kamaru pats her cheek again, “Ki-no-kawa,” he pronounces, syllables parsed out like presents.

Kako sighs, looks at her brothers, looks at the clouds in the sky, then back at her brothers. “Alright, fine. No take backs.”)

~

A/N: Thanks for being patient with me, dona! Hopefully it’s obvious that these two versions are separate worlds–I’ll probably make these separate chapters when I cross post onto ao3, but I wanted to put them in the same post since they’re both a fill to the same prompt.

So, uh, I can (and would love to) explain my reasoning for why the two ficlets are so different despite having basically the same premise if anyone’s interested.

Also, I went with the more thematically appropriate interpretation of the name Kinokawa = tree bark instead of 紀 + river especially since I still absolutely love Mercy of Baal’s “shamelessly twisted” version of the Abraham Lincoln quote used in Dreaming of Sunshine Switch. Also, also, obviously the oath is just a tweaked version from the DoS Nara oath Shikako swears in chapter 6

#jacksgreyson #donapoetrypassion #ask box advent calendar #prompt response #fanfiction #writing #one hope then another (bring me home) #dreaming of sunshine #naruto #shikako nara #shikamaru nara #kinokawa nara #kofuku nara

[jacksgreysays]

Friendship is a (mutual) con. 20) things you said that I wasn’t meant to hear

Friendship Is A (Mutual) Con, 20) things you said that I wasn’t meant to hear

He doesn’t mean to trip.

Hardly anyone means to trip, but he especially didn’t mean to do so now, back stepping as quickly as he could after listening in on his sister’s conversation with her weird friends.

Mum sent him to the shop to bring some things for Shikako and remind her about family dinner on Saturday. He didn’t really think much about the closed sign or the locked door: Shikako’s been teaching him lockpicking, on the off chance he might want to follow her in her business and because it’s a handy skill to have, or so she says, and he knew she was there and thought maybe it was a test because it’s not as if business hours mean anything to family, right? Except she didn’t appear when the bell above the door jingled, and he heard yelling coming from the back room and so he went further into the shop (after locking the door behind him, of course) but when he got close enough to actually hear the words more clearly–to understand them–he realized it wasn’t an argument.

Well, it was an argument only in the sense that there was a lot of shouting and disagreements.

Mostly, it was a plan for a heist.

And at first it didn’t make any sense because… because Shikako’s supposed to build vaults and locks and safes not break into them! But there was her voice, logical and methodical, painting such a clear and feasible picture that eventually the argument–the planning–simmered down into agreement.

And in that silence, Kinokawa realized what he heard. And he tried to back away, so as not to get caught, but Shikako only ever trained him in lock picking not any of her other, apparent, criminal inclinations and so in his hurry, he tripped…

… and knocked over the stand of antique keys Shikako keeps to build custom modern locks for fun.

Naruto is the one who gets to him first–or rather, leaps over him to get between Kinokawa and the exit–but Sasuke is the one that pulls him to his feet. Roughly, at first, until he sees Kinokawa’s face, hands gentling almost immediately.

Kinokawa flinches anyway. Not so much out of fear but out of shock. Has everyone Kinokawa known his entire life secretly been criminals this whole time?

Shikako finally follows, her weird pale and quiet friend in her shadow, and the air suddenly goes taught like a string about to snap.

He wants to blurt out excuses, wants to wipe his memory, wants to undo time and just wait in the front of the shop where there weren’t secrets and criminal plans being flung about for little brothers to hear. He wants to apologize.

Shikako gets to it first.

“Ah, I should fix this,” she says, before kneeling down and beginning to pick up the scattered antique keys on the ground.

Reflexively, he does the same. Slipping out of Sasuke’s loosened grip and picking up keys. Shikako glances up, gives her friends–fellow criminals?–a look, and the three of them leave.

It’s quiet but for the soft clinking of keys in cupped palms, the stand being brought back upright, and the somewhat out of tune low humming Shikako does as she works.

It is weirdly soothing, organizing the keys by their labeled tags back onto the stand, that Kinokawa almost startles when his sister speaks again.

“I’m sorry, Kino,” she says, elbow lightly jostling his shoulder as she puts another key in its place. “You weren’t supposed to hear any of that.”

For a moment, Kinokawa pauses. He knows Shikako would never do anything bad to him, but that thought still flashes across his mind–Nara quick and prone to paranoia.

“I hope we didn’t scare you,” Shikako continues. Kinokawa feels relieved followed immediately by bubbling guilt at feeling such.

“No!” Kinokawa denies, assures, “I wasn’t–I’m not scared.”

Shikako smiles, but it’s a kind of sad, disbelieving smile. “You weren’t supposed to find out this way. Although, I guess there are worse ways.”

Another thought comes to Kinokawa, “Were… were you ever going to tell me?” And another, left unasked: am I the only one who doesn’t know?

Shikako answers both, sighing, “I don’t know. A part of me wanted to tell you–all of you, Shikamaru and Mum and Dad–about what I really do–I do so much good, Kino, I can’t even count how many people we’ve helped–but it’s not like I can just say it during family dinner.”

No, certainly not. Definitely not with their dad being the governor’s chief of staff, or Mum being a police sergeant, or even Shikamaru’s own budding career as a behavioral analyst with the FBI.

Kinokawa can see why Shikako would keep her job–hobby?–a secret.

“I can keep it,” Kinokawa volunteers, because he knows his sister wants to ask but doesn’t think she can. But he’s not a baby anymore, “I can keep it secret,” he repeats, “Until you’re ready to tell them,” he adds.

From the shaky smile on Shikako’s face, it’s her turn to feel relieved, and she pulls him into a hug.

#jacksgreyson #anonymous #prompt response #writing #fanfiction #ask box things you said #dreaming of sunshine #friendship is a (mutual) con #kinokawa nara #shikako nara

[jacksgreysays]

I'm a trans woman and I _Can't_ be out. It's not safe. So about the only concession I can make is to grow my hair long. And I caught a glimpse of my shadow out of the corner of my eye today, with long hair just curling up at the ends and ... I dunno, my heart just about broke from Want. Would you mind accepting a prompt for a world where Shadows Show the Future? Or something like that?

A/N1: Hey sister, I’m sorry it took so long for me to respond and I’m even more sorry that you are unable to be yourself. But I’m glad that you have reached out, that you have that small comfort to revel in your identity, and I hope that someday soon you will be able to do so completely.

Be strong, be safe, and know that we are here for you. I would love to fill this prompt for you; thank you for bringing it to me.

~

1) Shadows Also Dream: Or, Eerin Nara* is Not a Jedi

There is no Light side, there is no Dark side, there is only the Force.

Eerin breathes, lets the waves of natural chakra wash over him, meditates and centers himself. The sun is only beginning it’s climb into the sky, cold air damp with dew.

This is nothing compared to his Mum’s morning stretches.

Around him he can feel the other students do the same, can feel them harmonize their chakra to each other, to their teacher’s…

… all except for one.

He opens his eyes and meets someone else’s–Ben Organa, Master Luke’s nephew, though that’s not really how he’s supposed to be considered.

Just another student like everyone else.

The sun is still rising, casting long shadows across the ground. His family would consider it strategically ideal.

Ben’s eyes widen in surprise, before he turns away, red creeping along his cheeks. Embarrassment more than anger, but not without the latter.

Eerin closes his eyes–quick so as to avoid Master Luke’s attention, but long enough for what really matters.

A figure in armor, helmet, and cloak. A lightsaber held high over fallen bodies.

There is no Light side, there is no Dark side, there is only the Force. But even then: Eerin doesn’t need to be a user of Light to save lives.

~

2) Counterclockwise (Sundials Don’t Rust): Or, Leanne Peridot Apparently Has More Than One Sister

There are three things about the future Regina knows to be true:

Galileo will never betray her.

Her visions are never wrong.

She will one day kill her father.

That last one has less to do with her abilities and more to do with her determination.

Of course, whose to say how any of that will come to pass.

Perhaps Galileo will never betray her because he will die long before he ever could–their line of work far from safe, and him in the thick of things.

Perhaps her visions are never wrong, but her interpretation of them–lacking context–may very well be.

And perhaps instead of killing her father, he will end up killing her instead. Or perhaps he’ll drink himself to death, or he’ll have a heart attack, or he’ll slip on a wet sidewalk and crack his head open.

She’ll never have that problem, at least. Her eyes are always on the ground, always steps ahead of everyone else just by looking at their shadow.

Until, one day, her father’s shadow changes.

Ah, so she really will kill him one day.

Unless he has another daughter who will beat her to the punch.

~

3) Walking Around (Eyes Wide Open): Or, Sakako Uchiha Does Not See Dead People

In a family of shadow manipulators, it’s easy enough to ignore.

At first.

For the Nara, silhouettes are less about physics and more about discipline and creativity. Despite her name, the Nara genes run strong, and there is no harm in that.

By itself.

But she is still the Uchiha heiress, and whether or not curse of her bloodline is fact or superstition, it still flows through her veins.

The Sharingan. Once it sees something, it can never forget.

But maybe, if she doesn’t understand–if she chooses not to–then it doesn’t matter. Just strange shapes upon the ground instead of messages from beyond.

Mum doesn’t often speak about her younger years–it is in the past, she says, to be learned from but not drag us down–but Sakako understands enough:

Knowledge is both power and responsibility.

Once she takes that step, she can never go back.

~

A/N2: Three different fills! Just trying to get a feel for this ability, because it seems very cool but I don’t know if I fully understand it as a mechanism yet. I might come back to it in the future! :D

So “Eerin Nara” is the Stars Also Dream equivalent of Kinokawa Nara. Going with the idea that the closest thing SAD!Yoshino had to family was her Jedi Master Bant Eerin, not the Kinokawas who, while very nice, didn’t really understand her.

I have some ideas for what kanji the name Eerin would use, but I’m not sure which is the best. Not that his kanji is important in a writing sense, given I write in English, but I like having that little tidbit of ~flavoring~. Kanji possibilities under the cut for anyone else interested.

Ask Box Advent Calendar is on!

Ee慧 (wisdom, enlightenment, insight)影 (shadow, reflection, image, light, trace)映 (reflect, harmonize, to project, to cast [a shadow])栄 (glory, prosperity, to shine/glow)

Rin倫 (ethics, morals)臨 (to peek through, to examine, to face)理 (reason, truth, justice)

#jacksgreyson #prompt response #anonymous #ask box advent calendar #writing #fanfiction #original fiction #dreaming of sunshine #naruto #star wars #stars also dream #kinokawa nara #ben organa #counterclockwise #regina monarch #walking around (like regular people) #sakako uchiha

[jacksgreysays]

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?

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?)

#jacksgreyson #anonymous #asks #answers #brainstorm #shikaku nara #yoshino nara #kinokawa nara #pokemon #dreaming of sunshine #naruto #arm in arm (no better team than you and me)

[jacksgreysays]

"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.

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.

#jacksgreyson #prompt response #anonymous #brainstorm #fanfiction #dreaming of sunshine #naruto #shikaku nara #yoshino nara #shikamaru nara #shikako nara #kinokawa nara #ask box fake fic titles #no shadows (without something to cast them)

[jacksgreysays]

Fic: 'light the way' for Stars Also Dream verse

This isn’t related, anon, but can I just say that this choice of title resonates so nicely with me? More specifically, with my own OC, Tetsuki Kaiza from Trailblazers. Hey? Lighting the way~

Eh, anyway, this title seems like not within the SAD timeline, if that makes any sense. Within the same ‘verse, of course, but some time after the events of SAD (which is Yoshino getting involved in Episode IV, at least).

Maybe Light the Way is the title for the Episode V equivalent? But that seems like a bit of a cop out for this ask box event…

Unless this isn’t Yoshino’s story at all… maybe it’s Shikako’s?

OR MAYBE IT’S KINOKAWA’S?! (☆▽☆)

… I mean, timing-wise, Kinokawa would be about the same age as Poe Dameron–a little older than Rey and Finn–which means he could be the Yoshino equivalent for the sequel trilogy.

And given SAD starts while Yoshino is pregnant with Kinokawa, it’d be thematically appropriate for him to be her most Force sensitive child and, depending on if she reveals her heritage, the one she trains in its ways?

But he’s definitely not a Jedi. He just happens to know how to use the Force, is all.

I really do like that idea, but I don’t know what else I can say about it without two out of three of the sequel trilogy…

Kinokawa, Space Shinobi!

… oh no… did he know Ben when they were younger? Is he the Naruto to Kylo Ren’s Sasuke? O_O

~

Ask Box Event Now Open!

#jacksgreyson #brainstorm #fanfiction #prompt response #anonymous #ask box fake fic titles #dreaming of sunshine #naruto #stars also dream #yoshino nara #kinokawa nara #ben organa #kylo ren #light the way