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jacksgreysays · 6 months

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i saw this and this is SO perfect for shikako: "ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem" (with the sword, she seeks peace under liberty) - maybe something with the shikabane-hime in the gardens-verse?

Okay anon, I did learn a few things about this phrase, specifically: The phrase is often loosely translated into English as "By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty." The literal translation, however, is "she seeks with the sword peaceful repose under liberty." The "she" in question refers to the word manus from the full phrase manus haec inimica tyrannis ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem, which means "this hand, an enemy to tyrants, seeks with the sword peaceful repose under liberty."

Which, you know, is VERY in flavor of my usual “let’s murder Danzo, that’ll take care of at least 95% of the world’s issues” as seen within the Shikako Nara’s Guide To Delinquency and Military Insurrection series which is basically where I put all of my messing around in the Gardens-verse.

But I find myself interested in the, hm… steps of translation for the phrase… like, the original specifically saying “this hand, an enemy to tyrants” which is then removed from the final phrase. However, the final phrase does still keep the sword and also specifically says peace ONLY under liberty.

So my interpretation of this is: once “this hand, [she who is] an enemy to tyrants,” goes away, all that remains is the sword, ie violence, and the prioritization of liberty over peace. Which actually makes me wonder if… hm… I wouldn’t necessarily say a “dark turn AU” but a… pessimistic version of the “let’s murder Danzo, that’ll take care of at least 95% of the world’s issues.” What happens to Konoha as an institution after Danzo is dead and all of his machinations are brought to light?

ESPECIALLY considering how much he claimed to be merely following the Nidaime’s vision. Imagine the repercussions! The implication that Konoha has been so twisted and rotten from its founding. And I’m not saying it’s a return to the Warring Clans Era, because it’s not as if the clans would necessarily rekindle any issues with each other, but how much of the village infrastructure is suspect? How many people did Danzo influence either with the ROOT seal or with Shisui’s eye?

How many clans then think, we are not free under Konoha?

For example, the twins vows when becoming genin prioritize clan, then allies, then teammates, then the village. (I know they had different vows, but I think that’s roughly the order of priority for both of them?) But I can’t imagine—given Hatake Sakumo’s treatment by Konoha when he saved his teammates and “started the war” (although I do have Danzo-related headcanons for that, of course)—that vow would prevent a court martial or disciplinary action.

So if being a good soldier of Konoha contradicts being a good member of the clan, then the existence of Konoha itself is a contradiction to a clan’s existence—I am, of course, exaggerating for the sake of the premise, and I guess what I’m saying is that the premise is:

Shikako killing Danzo does solve a lot of problems, but then unleashes a whole lot of other problems which, unfortunately, a single murder will not solve. Might be multiple murders. Or maybe a war. Whoops.

Because! The fact that the phrase wasn’t shortened to just “Peace [Only] Under Liberty,” the fact that the “by the sword” part was kept is interesting. But a sword without a hand behind it, a sword without an enemy to target, is just an unsheathed weapon that could harm allies or yourself.

So that is the premise, but I don’t know what the plot would be, per se…

OR maybe this is a universe in which someone that ISN’T multiverse-traveling Shikabane-hime clocks Danzo’s rancid vibes and kills him but without a plan to deal with the fall out or a way to deescalate the situation. Like… if it were Shisui and/or Itachi who killed Danzo but in a kind of panicked way. The Uchiha clan is already SO SUSPICIOUS to the rest of the village (at least, that’s the impression they’ve been given) so they can’t come out with a laundry list of Danzo’s crimes and everything will be fine.

Okay, this isn’t the prompt necessarily, but the idea of two freaked out teenage Uchiha just panic whispering to each other over the corpse of Danzo who they just killed while Shikako watches from the shadows, bemused, because… well… they beat her to the punch, but also they have no idea what they’re doing. It’s very funny.

#jacksgreyson #anonymous #ask box advent calendar #ask box latine dictum #dreaming of sunshine #the many gardens of shikabane-hime #shikako nara's guide to delinquency and military insurrection #danzo shimura #shikako nara #shisui uchiha #itachi uchiha #ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem

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duron1ar · 4 years

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Or, no matter the universe, one thing holds true:

Danzou is the absolute worst and must be stopped.

#naruto #dreaming of sunshine #fanfic of a fanfic #nara shikako #dimension travel #time travel #fanfic recs

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jacksgreysays · 2 years

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Title remix prompt: more to the air than to him : not necessarily my favorite favorite line but it stuck out as a title possibility.

A/N: Hi anon! Thank for the prompt. I’m still not entirely sure what differentiates a title remix prompt from a fake fic titles prompt, but I’ll do my best!

Okay, so if I’m checking correctly, I think this particular phrase comes from this post which is part of Shikako Nara’s Guide To Delinquency and Military Insurrection and in which Shikako meets a young Ibiki who is very suspicious of her. The fun thing about this prompt—and I’m sure you had this in mind when you prompted it, anon—is that for the majority of the ficlet, Ibiki suspects Shikako of being either a spy, a genjutsu, or a torture-induced hallucination, but the phrase makes it seem like Shikako is the one talking to someone who isn’t actually there.

So using that and the fact that this is a title remix as opposed to a fake fic title, I suppose the story would have to be something like… Ibiki is trying to gain the trust of a Shikako who isn’t quite sure of what is real or not. Which, given the plethora of ROOT!Shikako fic, is a concept that is, if not canon, then definitely canon adjacent and full of delicious tropes.

But I don’t think I want this one to be ROOT!Shikako, specifically, so let’s see…

The Council Killer. That’s what the public is calling her. This slip of a girl with shadowed eyes and a tendency toward soft, wry smiles. The only blood on her hands is figurative.

Ibiki has been pulled in for this because, unlike a majority of his higher ups, he is not affiliated with any clans. More specifically, unlike forty percent of his coworkers, he is not affiliated with the Yamanaka or Nara clans.

That’s one of the few things they know about the Council Killer—and even that is more assumption than fact. The way the shadows swirled around her as she systematically took down each of the council members, one by one by one, in the middle of the street. The way the sun itself seemed to flicker, day turning to night. The way, within the impassible barrier she raised with a flick of her hand, she was calm, in control, a death god in the center of her very own world.

Behind the mirrored window, the Council Killer waits with her soft, wry smile. Her eyes are closed but she still turns her head to face Ibiki when he walks through the door as if the chakra limiting seals were nothing more than childish scribbles.

Before Ibiki can even start, the Council Killer says, “Morino Ibiki. How is your brother? No. Is he still a student? Watch out for his teacher.” The eery shadows that lingered over her face during the assassinations and subsequent arrest are no longer there, but her eyes remain closed.

“Going after our academic faculty next?” Ibiki asks, unnerved but pushing through nonetheless.

“Hm,” hums the Council Killer as if in consideration.

“That was a joke,” Ibiki says.

“Hm?” hums the Council Killer in response.

“Don’t kill our teaching staff.” Ibiki says.

“Hm,” hums the Council Killer a final time. “Children should be safe,” she says, which isn’t actually an answer.

It is also, arguably, one of the other few things they already know about her: after the council members fell, one by one by one, certain seals around village ceased to function. Seals of hiding, seals of secrecy, seals that were keeping dozens of children underground in increasing stages of brainwashing and depersonalization. Children previously presumed missing or dead.

“Yes,” Ibiki agrees, because this is something that should be easy but isn’t. “Children should be safe.”

And the Council Killer, who can’t be older than fourteen if even that old, nods.

She still does not open her eyes.

—

The village is in chaos in the days that follow the council’s assassination. This is to be expected. The councilors were pivotal points within the administration, despite their crimes. Of which there were many. Misallocation of funds for their secret child army the least of it, going all the way up to the methods of creating said secret child army, including the cause of the most outrage: bloodline theft and theft of clan secrets.

T&I members find remnants of clans previously thought wiped out from the Kyuubi Attack, blank faced orphans unknowing of their lost heritage. They find bastard children, deliberate results of honeypot missions against shinobi foreign and domestic. They find clanless children whose only sins were doing too well in school.

Ibiki wonders which one the Council Killer would identify as.

There’s a theory amongst some of his coworkers—because members of T&I are better at uncovering secrets than keeping them, and gossip is the most valuable currency—that the Council Killer is one of those stolen, secret ROOT children who finally had enough. And if her Nara heritage is true, then it certainly would be in line with that old saying. What could be more motivating than survival?

Ibiki doesn’t think so, though—neither does Inoichi, even though he’s not officially supposed to be involved with this case at all. That wasn’t an abused child lashing out, or even a soldier refusing orders and turning coat. No, that was an experienced tactician in a carefully controlled scenario. A higher power meting out justice.

And talented as some of the ROOT agents may be, none would have been able to take out three of the Sandaime’s peers, decorated war veterans each of them, surgically enhanced with stolen bloodlines.

—

“I have one last question for today,” Ibiki says to the Council Killer’s closed eyes.

One week and she has yet to open them within anyone’s vicinity.

“I might even have an answer,” she says with her soft, wry smile.

“How did you know?” Ibiki asks, leading and vague.

“Know what?” she asks, not falling for it whatsoever. He’s not at all surprised.

“How did you know where the Sharingan eyes were being kept?” Sensing the children, the councilors, even their stolen bloodlines he could, perhaps, understand. Ibiki isn’t a chakra sensor or senjutsu user, but he has worked with them. Mostly what he’s gathered is that both require active chakra use or living targets. A seal can hide something the same way a genjutsu does, an obfuscating layer over top like a veil. Even the chakra limiting seals in the interrogation rooms are noticeable as a gap in space—or so the sensors say.

But inactive Sharingan eyes stored in scrolls almost haphazardly piled in the macabre parody of an operating room? That should be impossible.

The soft, wry smile flattens, disappears. If he weren’t a goddamn professional, Ibiki would almost say a chill went down his spine. A moment of silence stretches, tense and full of potential.

“Let’s just say I had help,” the Council Killer says. Then, in a reversal of a wink, she briefly opens one eye.

—

Members of T&I are generally better at uncovering secrets than keeping them, but Ibiki has always been an exception.

A/N: I couldn’t figure out if I wanted this to also be after the Uchiha Massacre and Shikako was getting help from ghosts or if there was some kind of eyeball tax like in Determined Clairvoyant, Misguided Knight or what

I basically figured that if the other councilors were more active in Danzo’s bullshittery then that would be TERRIBAD and Shikako would have to take a more firm stance in her Danzo removal. I also am not sure if she has a Sharingan or if one of the councilors did a Kotoamatsukami-esque nonsense and so she’s paranoid about eye contact?

Anyway, thanks again for the prompt anon and thanks to everyone for sticking with me this past year(s) but hopefully this new one will be better. <3<3<3 YEAR OF THE WATER TIGER!

#jacksgreyson #anonymous #ask box advent calendar #title remix #ask box fake fic titles #writing #fanfiction #dreaming of sunshine #naruto #shikako nara's guide to delinquency and military insurrection #ibiki morino #shikako nara

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jacksgreysays · 4 years

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Determined Clairvoyant, Misguided Knight brainstorm, (2020-05-29)

A/N: So I had a weird sleepless brainstorming/outlining binge last night, passed out and woke up to this chunk of nonsense...

I’ve been reading a lot of DCMK (Detective Conan and Magic Kaito) fic but also I am always a little bit thinking of DoS so my brain went:

Hey, Shisui and Shikako have very similar personalities to Kaito and Shinichi...

But Shisui is the detective and Shikako the thief.

And on the one hand, I was considering just translating it into the in Friendship Is A (Mutual) Con 'verse, such that Shisui is Interpol/FBI and ends up helping the crew because what they do is morally right even if it's not legal...

But it just wouldn’t be the same!

Also, for those who don’t know anything about DCMK, I’m not really using the Detective Conan premise (in which a famous teenage detective gets shrunken into a 6 year old and has to keep his identity secret while finding/dismantling the criminal organization that did this to him. In their defense(?) they were trying to kill him but used an “experimental poison.” They’re not going out of their way to randomly turn teenagers into kids... although there is another teenager that got turned into a kid by that same poison)

But it is interconnected to the Magic Kaito ‘verse (in which a teenager discovers that his dad didn’t die in an accident but was murdered by a mysterious criminal organization (possibly the same one as in Detective Conan? we’re not sure) because he used to be Phantom Thief KID who was searching for a magical jewel called Pandora that supposedly grants immortality because said mysterious criminal organization wants it for nefarious means. Also the teen and his dad are stage magicians and make their heists very flashy and fun)

Anyway, personality wise I was really feeling the Shikako = paranoid/logical Shinichi vs Shisui = flamboyant genius Kaito contrasting with their arguable respective roles as Shikako = chaotic neutral regular rule breaker and Shisui = lawful good believer of systems if not authority.

I was considering whether or not I wanted to transplant the characters into the DCMK setting, but seeing how that’s just (arguably) modern day Japan I was a little... the adapting would be more work than its worth when really all I wanted was thief!Shikako and detective!Shisui and I also, as previously mentioned, didn’t want to just insert Shisui into the Fia(M)C ‘verse.

So then I remembered this ficlet in which Danzo successfully became Hokage but a mysterious figure (ie Shikako) is working against him and I was like. Okay, but reluctant detective!Shisui having to try to capture insurrectionist thief!Shikako is hilarious. And I know Shisui isn’t actually KMP in canon, but Danzo is Hokage which means the situation is bleak and I kinda explain everything below anyway, so...

Enjoy?

shisui is one of the oldest uchiha in the village because everyone older than him was executed by danzo for their (supposed?) attempted coup

doesn't particularly want to be a detective, but he's the only one left

sharp-eyed shisui? it is both mocking his singular eye but also he does end up being pretty good at investigation

Itachi is clan head and also one of danzo’s busiest anbu (because danzo is creepy and weird) and he’s being run so ragged that shisui stepped up to do it since he vaguely remembers the KMP’s protocols and also, with one eye short, his combat effectiveness isn’t as reliable

He hates not being able to be back up for itachi, but until he figures out the depth perception thing, he’d be a liability

Itachi is the only one with both eyes (again, because danzo is creepy and weird)

every time one of his younger cousins activate their sharingan, they are forced to undergo surgery because danzo harvests one eye from each of them

sasuke is the next upcoming kid

hikaku/sai was the most recent

Shikako is working reverse chronologically to restore eyeballs because they’re not exactly labeled but she knows the newest eye goes to the most recent activator.

This is how she gets hikaku/sai’s immediate loyalty (he has both eyes, but still hides one under his eyepatch/headband because if you can’t passive aggressively use danzo’s tricks against him then what’s the point? )

((also, it’s a real good dramatic reveal of how shikako gets shisui to trust her because he’s like “you’re stealing my family’s eyeballs and turning my little cousin into your spy” and then hikaku/sai just flips up his eyepatch and blinks both eyes at shisui and he just. “well, that was literally the only argument i had”))

Oh, the age of graduation is lower in canon because danzo doesn’t believe in coddling kids and also “back in my day” nonsense, so sasuke is maybe around 8?

kakashi is, like, a weird sticking point. he's the only non-danzo adult that has a sharingan and, hey, he's also only got just the one, but shisui also remembers the elders being a little weird about him so :shrugs:

I should figure out what to do with him, tbh

i mean, i know Shikako helps Naruto escape/evade ANBU capture because Danzo was going to turn him into a “proper jinchuuriki weapon” so maybe she throws him at Kakashi and is like “BABY SITTING DUTY FOR YOU, SAD STRING BEAN”

and there’s also Tenzo/Yamato to consider here

at first the thefts are random but escalating: old mission reports, the sandaime's novelty(?) crystal ball, the hokage's hat, the sword of the thunder god, etc, etc

then it becomes directed: sharingan eyes

Shadow Thief Shikako is here to make things real difficult for danzo

while shisui is trying really hard not to get smitten (even though she’s stealing his family’s eyeballs! but he guesses better than in danzo’s possession? he’s very conflicted emotionally and very stressed and also a teenager), shikako is recruiting allies for her coup

She needs to make a deal with the devil… Kabuto? For the medical expertise in how to re-implant all the sharingan she’s stealing?

He does spy on behalf of who he thinks is the strongest, and shikako is v strong by this point

Although, the whole concept of “you were the first person i ever wanted to murder” “you flatter me” is kind of funny

What is going on with orochimaru in this timeline?

For that matter, what’s going on with the other sannin?

hyuuga have weird feelings about the whole one eye stolen thing, branch family in particular because on the one hand: DOJUTSU/BLOODLINE THEFT is literally their big nono. But they do like being the strongest clan in the village now.

Is neji’s dad still alive? When did danzo become hokage? Is it before or after Hinata’s near kidnapping?

Ibiki, anko, aoba -- gotta figure out what’s going on there

Does aoba not have the crow summons since shisui is still alive?

Is aoba a surprise half uchiha?

Unsure how bleak i want things to be for the Nara clan. They definitely don’t like things, but i’m not sure if they’re also largely killed off, just shikaku, or just yoshino…… unless Shikamaru has been taken as Danzo’s apprentice/ROOT?

Something also has to have happened to the akimichi and yamanaka tho, in order to justify/reflect it

Team 10 is essentially being held hostage. Shikako has to “steal” them from Danzo in order to get the ANY clans’ cooperation

they’re allowed to visit their family once a week in order to get clan training, but it’s on different days from each other so the other two are still within ROOT’s grasp and the one who is visiting their family knows not to step out of line

Shikamaru has been trying really hard to help him and his teammates escape, but he’s only eight years old. I’m but a boy. I’m just a boy

There is a war.

I’ve decided this.

It’s the only way to make sense of why danzo is still in charge without him having killed a ludicrous number of people (more than he’s already killed, that is)

There is a war and that’s where the majority of the loudest dissenters are sent (inuzuka, aburame, gai, etc) and because they are always out on the front lines they don’t know how bad it actually is at home

Mist rebellion peeps?

Zabuza and Haku are still alive at this time, i guess

Terumi Mei--is there even a mist rebellion at this time or are they too busy with the war, too?

… Gelel/Sand?

look, magical gems are the crux of Magic Kaito and I know I’ve replaced them with Sharingan eyes, but still. If there’s a magical gem I feel like I’m obligated to at least mention it

also, Shinichi in Detective Conan ends up with, like, the most ludicrous allies over the course of the series. He is a--as far as anyone else knows--a 6 year old Japanese boy with connections to the American FBI. That’s nuts! So Shikako having allies with Mist or Sand isn’t too far outside feasibility in comparison

A/N: So... in theory I would like to come back to this and actually write it--because as far as sleepless brainstorming sessions go, this one is fairly coherent--but just in case I don’t, I figure people would enjoy this mess of an outline anyway. And it’s nice to have notes for later.

Title is, unsurprisingly, my attempt to make the letters DCMK apply to Shikako and Shisui. On the one hand, I know the quote is “and angry Aburame, a focused Inuzuka, and a motivated Nara” but I kiiiinda misremembered wrong and thought it was “determined,” fell in love with Shisui as the “misguided knight” and then only after went back to check and realized that it should’ve been “motivated”

Ah well

#jacksgreyson #fanfiction #brainstorm #outline #incomplete #dreaming of sunshine #detective conan #magic kaito #shikako nara's guide to delinquency and military insurrection #determined clairvoyant misguided knight #shikako nara #shisui uchiha

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jacksgreysays · 4 years

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I don't have a perfect lens on your fandom engagement, but a while back there was a sort of "capstone" placed on Wafflelate's Gardens verse where Shikako essentially sends herself into every world Gelel can reach that doesn't already HAVE a Shikako. It's called the "Split", and the basic idea is that instead of wandering forever, ONE of her gets home ... at the cost of every Shikako who doesn't land there knowing they can't go back, because that space is already filled

I know of this “capstone” but I didn’t know it had an official name. I actually kind of wrote the fifth installment of Shikako Nara’s Guide To Delinquency and Military Insurrection with a post-Split Shikako in mind. In the sense that (SPOILERS?) Shikako is almost resigned to living in this village founding era and, more specifically, making sure Madara doesn’t ruin things for everyone but especially himself?

(And if that’s a parallel for her own internal conflict then, well, she’s got a lifetime in this world to come to terms with it)

The hope is that she can redirect Madara from the villain track the same way she did Sasuke, not by tricking him but by giving him something to focus his rage toward. Ie Zetsu and Kaguya.

I may do more installments of SNGTDaMI (god it’s such a long title even as an acronym) with a post-Split Shikako. One less melancholy, preferably.

#jacksgreyson #lionheadbookends #asks #answers #prompt response #ask box advent calendar #brainstorm #shikako nara's guide to delinquency and military insurrection #madara uchiha #shikako nara #dreaming of sunshine

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jacksgreysays · 5 years

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Shikako Nara’s Guide To Delinquency and Military Insurrection, 5/? (2019-10-12)

(Rule Five: Know your enemy, know yourself)

"Did you mean to do that?" a voice asks, cutting through the strange, noiseless haze filling Madara's ears.

The forest in front of him can no longer be called such, a still-smoldering wasteland of ash and smoke. His throat hurts. All he can taste is blood and burning and regret. All he can see is red.

But he blinks and he coughs and he turns to face the voice.

His clan know better than to approach him when he's like this. His clan are the only ones who even vaguely care what happens to him.

They fear him. As they should.

Madara blinks and coughs and turns and behind him is a girl who looks unafraid. Unimpressed. How unusual.

"Well?" she asks, eyebrow raised, as if he were the unruly child and she the disappointed elder.

"You think I lack control?" he rasps out, mouth dry and empty, "You think I am ignorant of my own actions?" Who is this girl that she thinks she has the right to question him? Who is this girl to dare stand up to him?

She purses her lips, expression turned frustrated but still not frightened. Her eyes are nothing like Izuna's, and yet...

She looks at him with familiarity. She looks at him with expectation, not just the ever powerful, ever mad head of the Uchiha.

"You lack direction. You are ignorant of the consequences of your actions," she says, far too mild to be accusations. Far too factual to be arguments. Then she turns her eyes away, gazing at the flat grey expanse that was once a forest. It could be dismissive, additional causes for Madara to bristle with offense, but it seems almost as if she is aiming her words at herself.

"It's easier to destroy than it is to create."

---

The members of the clan do not say anything when Madara returns. They never say anything when Madara returns. They definitely do not say anything now when Madara returns with a girl in tow who doesn't flinch away from his harsh words and harsher silence. And even when Madara and the girl disappear into the clan head's house, they do not say anything.

But they watch, afraid. Always afraid. And they wait.

They do not know what they are waiting for.

---

"What are your intentions here?" Madara asks the girl after a long, dragging silence. She has not offered her name and it feels like conceding if he were the one to initiate introductions.

She shrugs. The silence settles once more.

"I am not going to forgive him," Madara says, because that makes the most sense. An envoy for peace, even if a strange one at that.

She shrugs again, "Don't," she says, "I wouldn't," she adds. A careless response to a concept that could have been monumental.

"Why should I care for what you would do?" Madara asks, biting and belittling, as if to punish her for making him be the one to bring up the idea.

She shrugs again.

Infuriated, Madara shouts, "Then why are you here?" The sound echoes through the empty house, ghosts of his rage laughing and mocking him.

She rolls her eyes. "I'm not here to be your conscience, Uchiha Madara. Do what you will," she says, getting to her feet. "Your actions have consequences," she adds, heading for the door. Take care that one of those consequences don't be me, she doesn't need to say.

Then, for the first time since appearing to him, she leaves his line of sight.

---

The members of the clan say nothing when the girl leaves Madara's house. They say nothing when she approaches the orphanage.

They cut themselves off when she approaches one orphan in particular, a little boy with curly hair and bright eyes. His name is Kagami, they will say later.

She crouches to match his height and pokes him twice high on each cheek, below his eyes. There are barely concealed hisses from the clan members watching, but still no words are said.

"Be safe," she says, simply, before standing once more.

"Okay," Kagami says, young and unafraid, smiling up at her, "Thanks, aneki!"

The girl blinks, before returning with a small smile of her own. "You're welcome," she says before leaving the clan compound completely.

---

One day, years later, Madara walks out of the village and does not come back. There is no place for him anymore, the powerful, ever mad head of the Uchiha. He leaves the clan to Hikaku, gives his empty house to the orphanage, and goes out into the expanse of forest he has not yet burned.

He is flame, all consuming, but she is shadow--patient and inescapable.

"I cannot forgive," he says, and feels the shame of even considering it burn in his blood. I cannot forget, he does not say, because it is unnecessary.

"You don't need to," she responds, appearing amongst the trees which stand, tall and still alive.

There is no silence in the forest, alive as it is, but still he hears his heart beating in his ears.

"It is easier to destroy than it is to create," she says, an echo of their conversation long ago, "There is no shame in that. You destroyed the tradition of war amongst the clans. Let others build the peace that follows."

"That simple?" he asks, almost challenging. To leave the dream he once held, once strived for tirelessly. The dream that had soured as time passed on.

She shrugs. "Is anything ever?"

---

The Sandaime Hokage has an unafraid smile and bright eyes.

A/N: So this one was a little... weird... melancholy? The idea is that this is after the big, I dunno what it's called, where one of Shikako is sent to every possible universe so this Shikako knows this is the only world she's going to get.

And then, like, weird parallels between her and Madara. About how stepping away might be the best thing she can do for this universe (after making sure Kagami's eyes are UNSTEALABLE).

Also, the idea of Madara and Shikako reluctantly becoming partners in hunting down Zetsu and stopping Kaguya’s bullshit (because what better weapon against a plant man than someone who burns down forests when he’s too emotional?)

:shrug:

#jacksgreyson #writing #fanfiction #dreaming of sunshine #the many gardens of shikabane-hime #naruto #madara uchiha #kagami uchiha #shikako nara #shikako nara's guide to delinquency and military insurrection

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jacksgreysays · 6 years

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Shikako's Guide to Delinquency and Military Insurrection: Really, Danzo had this coming.

Shikako Nara’s Guide To Delinquency and Military Insurrection

(Rule Four: No place is invulnerable. Keep your guard up, even at home.)

The sky has turned dark, the view from the tower’s top now of your village in its nighttime wear. The lights of businesses and houses twinkling bright, people overly loud as they go from restaurants to bars, interrupting the tranquility.

Disorderly.

Despicable.

This lack of discipline is what Hiruzen has allowed to fester Konoha. Weakness. No longer. You will have to make changes. Curfews and and harsher penalties.

You turn away from the window, the sight of your village still so tainted sickens you, enrages you, and so you must look away. But as you turn, you think you see a face in the glass. Behind you?

No, you dart a glance through your office, only your ROOT guards–all under chameleon jutsu and masked besides. When you turn back the face is gone.

Only a reflection, surely.

You put the thought from your mind, put the hat back on–though the veils often limit your peripheral vision and there is no one significant to see. You have much to do in order to make your village great again.

Nothing can stop you now.

—

The second time, night again, you are waiting for one of your teams to come back and report.

They are only ANBU, not ROOT, and while you were not expecting much, you are disgusted by how long it is taking them.

It should not be this difficult to apprehend one child, jinchuuriki status or not.

Another matter you must correct, Hiruzen’s indulgence of the creature. It should have been handled and trained properly from the start–even the strongest of weapons can rust from poor handling–but instead that foolish monkey had it pretending at a normal life. As if a jinchuuriki could ever be normal.

One of the proximity sensors sounds off, the ANBU team returning, finally, but when they appear…

“Where is the boy?” you ask, the sheer incompetence of these agents causing you to bite the words out, irritated. The four ANBU stand in front of you in various states of bruised and battered, filthy, not even bearing a single blonde hair from the creature.

They shuffle silently, nervously, uselessly in front of you before the captain utters, “He disappeared. We lost him in the sewers.”

“It was as if the shadows just swallowed him whole!” one of the others says inanely, before hunching down from the sharp glance of their captain.

If this is the quality of ANBU that Hiruzen’s administration produced, then it is no wonder that all their nukenin have been walking the Elemental Nations unharmed.

Displeased, you activate the seals on their arms, watch as they try not to scream, grip futilely at themselves before dropping to the floor of your office. A modification of the old design, incorporating what you could reverse engineer of the Hyuuga’s Caged Bird.

You summon another team–ROOT this time, though lately they’re running thin on the ground which is why you had to resort to standard ANBU to begin with–have them remove the bodies and assign them the incomplete mission.

For ROOT agents there is only success or death.

—

The jinchuuriki is never found.

You are running out of ROOT agents.

The village, frail from decades of mismanagement, crumbles under your steady hand.

This is not how your tenure as Hokage is meant to go.

—

You are returning to your office after dealing with Yuuhi’s idiocy–the man is too used to dealing with genin, clearly unable to handle the role of jounin commander as he always claimed he could–when you stop just inside the doorway.

Someone is in your seat.

Someone is in your seat, feet propped up on your desk, looking for all the world like she belongs there and not like she is committing the highest form of disrespect and treason.

“Guards!” you yell, and the fact that you must call for them just compounds the sheer frustration of this situation. Four masked and hooded ANBU appear.

They do nothing else.

“Seize her!” you add, enraged that you must instruct them on this most obvious order.

They turn towards you, instead.

It is at this point you realize you do not sense either ROOT or the updated ANBU seals on them. It is at this point you realize your shadow is stretching far longer than it should. It is at this point you realize you cannot move.

You realize all this too late.

The door slams shut behind you, a second shadow tendril snaking past you and returning to the girl.

The girl who casually removes her feet from your desk, gets up from your seat, and saunters around so she is standing in the center of your office, in the center of the four masked shinobi who are not yours.

The masks come off.

Still you cannot move.

“Honestly,” says the girl, “what were you expecting?”

A/N: … ugh, writing from Danzo’s POV is the worst. But also, like, I could not think of any other way to fill this prompt, lionhead. It’s a little bit spin-off-y of Ascendant, though not necessary. Just the sheer delusion of a man who has gotten what he wants and still can’t understand why things aren’t going the way he planned. :/

Anyway, hope you enjoyed!

Ask Box Advent Calendar is now open!

(seriously, i’ve got nothing in my ask box. I might start cross posting brainstorms onto ao3–for safety reasons–so if there’s any old brainstorm (like from all of the ask box fake fic titles event) that you want to, er, re-prompt in some way, they’re open season too)

#jacksgreyson #prompt response #lionheadbookends #ask box advent calendar #fanfiction #writing #dreaming of sunshine #naruto #shikako nara's guide to delinquency and military insurrection #danzo shimura #shikako nara #prompts please

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jacksgreysays · 6 years

Note

I re-read the Primadonna Girl (Says No Thank You) tag 'cause of the recent prompt fill, and I have got to see more of the Shikako and Ibiki partners in crime scenario, so, uh *rolls dice* 24?

Shikako and Ibiki partners in crime, 24) things you said with clenched fists

Shikako Nara’s Guide To Delinquency and Military Insurrection

(Rule Three: Look underneath the underneath)

Ibiki refuses to look back. Eyes forward with the occasional check of peripheral vision because tunnel vision is stupid and deadly, but otherwise he only looks ahead.

He knows she is following–a strange, suspicious shadow–but he refuses to acknowledge her.

All that matters is the mission.

All that matters is getting back to Konoha.

“I could heal you,” the shadow offers, maintaining a constant distance between the two of them. Closer, he gets testy. Further, he gets wary. This exact distance is irritating, but bearable.

Ibiki does not respond.

“I promise I won’t do anything bad,” the shadow continues then, after a considering pause, “Though I guess that’s what I’d say if I were going to do something bad, so how could you tell?”

“I could tell,” Ibiki answers, automatically defending his abilities, before grumbling at himself. New chuunin rank obviously doesn’t mean new maturity level. He’ll have to work on that, later. In the village. If he gets a later.

The shadow smiles, pleased at finally getting a response. She skips a bit, drawing nearer, but at Ibiki’s increased grumbling, she slows down again, hands raised in acquiescence.

“Didn’t I prove myself in that last skirmish?” the shadow asks, more to the air than to him. He wouldn’t trip up again so soon, and so she’s certainly not expecting him to respond.

In more than one way, she’s right: the team of Cloud nin would have easily killed him had he been alone. Should have easily killed the two of them, really, outnumbered as they were. In terms of battle prowess, she’s definitely proved herself.

The fact that he’s still standing and not bleeding out slowly in the middle of contended territory also proves that she’s real and not just a pain induced hallucination like he had assumed for the first few hours of their interaction.

Of course, that doesn’t disprove the possibility that this is a genjutsu. And a particularly sadistic one at that, given the face that the shadow is wearing.

Eyes forward. Complete the mission, get back to Konoha. Nothing else matters now.

But retreating is one matter, avoiding the truth is another.

Internally, he sighs. Out loud, he says, “Cloud has made many enemies.”

She blinks, surprised that he’s answered even if belatedly, before tentatively offering, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend?”

“You sound uncertain,” Ibiki responds, “And that’s reductive. Wars can and frequently do have multiple sides.”

Rather than immediately argue, the shadow hums. “Well, you’re not wrong,” she concedes, before letting them return to a casual silence.

That’s not how Yoshino would have responded.

Forward. Mission. Konoha.

The shadow is young, though. Younger than Ibiki despite her skill. She takes his words as a learning opportunity, never mind that she must be more experienced than he is.

If she really wanted to sabotage his mission, she would have already done so, and easily. If this were a genjutsu, then he’s already failed. Either way, stubbornly letting his head wounds remain untreated is just stupid.

Ibiki sighs, stops, and eyes the shadow.

She slows to a stop at a respectful distance away.

“What do you know about this?” He asks, lifting the box. Seals cover the outside, an active array, so he hadn’t been able to put it in a storage scroll, but it’s small enough as not to be unwieldy.

“Enough,” she says with a shrug, noncommittal, and he’d almost admire it if it weren’t currently counter to his goals. “If you let me heal you, I’ll tell you more.” She punctuates this with an overly bright smile and a playful flourish of her hands.

“That’s poor negotiation,” he says, because if he’s apparently committing treason by colluding with the shadow then he might as well do so thoroughly and continue their teaching moments. “But I’ll take it.”

Her smile softens, turns more genuine, as if understanding the decision he’s made. She heals him and even gives him supplies to clean up the blood, before lackadaisically swiping a finger across the top of the box.

Ibiki tenses. The sealing array glows briefly before going inert. It unlocks.

“Look inside,” the shadow says, and for the first time she sounds like the battle hardened shinobi she really is, “If you think Danzo should get that, then you’re not Morino Ibiki.”

Ibiki never gave her his name. Somehow, he’s unsurprised.

A/N: Finally filled all the things you said prompts! The longest ask box event that just slow bled across literal MONTHS. Sorry for taking forever lionheadbookends!

I’m reluctant to start a new ask box event–or, at least, since it’s mid-November and December is coming up, I’ll probably just do another Ask Box Advent Calendar again in two weeks anyway so a different ask box event now is kinda excessive so… I guess what I’m saying is save ask box prompts for December and I will try to figure out what else to do instead over the next two weeks?

#jacksgreyson #lionheadbookends #prompt response #writing #fanfiction #ask box things you said #shikako nara's guide to delinquency and military insurrection #dreaming of sunshine #naruto #Ibiki Morino #shikako nara

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jacksgreysays · 6 years

Note

shikako's guide to deliquency & milatary insurrection, shikako+mikoto, 28) things you said but not out loud

Shikako Nara’s Guide To Delinquency and Military Insurrection, 28) things you said but not out loud

The girl is from the future. The future of a different dimension, she is quick to clarify, before going into a somewhat rambling and convoluted explanation of paradoxes and time travel.

Kushina, for all that she graduated from the Academy dead last, seems to pick it up immediately nodding along and asking questions about fuinjutsu techniques and something called causal stability conditions and relativistic spacetime. Hizashi doesn’t understand anymore than Mikoto, thankfully, but he appears to be content to just accept it as fact.

“She isn’t ROOT,” he dismisses with an affable shrug–a statement they had already confirmed by seeing the pile of corpses the girl had left behind, “And she looks… familiar enough that I’m certain she is also telling the truth.”

Mikoto frowns, “Just because she’s telling the truth doesn’t mean we can automatically trust her. ROOT soldiers is one thing, killing Danzo is another.”

Hizashi raises an eyebrow at her, “We don’t exactly have the luxury to turn away allies, even if she might not be as skilled as she claims.”

Mikoto bites back a surly response, surely no one could be as skilled as the girl claims, settling instead for a suspicious stare. Precaution as much as indulging her paranoia–the stare from an Uchiha is equivalent to an unsheathed blade from anyone else.

But she ends up not needing it, at least for the following days they travel with the girl, headed toward Land of Rain. The girl–Shikabane, she introduces herself with a resigned sigh–tells them what she knows of the organization called Akatsuki the current ruling force of the Land of Rain and how they, too, had a grudge against Danzo. How they, at least in the dimension she came from, welcomed missing nin–especially those formerly from Konoha. How they were led by an Uzumaki.

But she cautions them about their awful deeds. Their worrying ambition. “They went after the jinchuuriki,” she says, mindfully not looking at any of them. Still, Mikoto and her teammates exchange glances, “But they can’t go out of order, so you should be safe for a while… and hopefully the common goal of killing Danzo will be enough to divert their attentions.

“And plus,” Shikabane continues, as if she weren’t giving back and forth warning and reassurances, “Danzo did more to cause war and suffering than any other single person in history so that, at least, is in line with their original dream.”

“Have you worked with them before?” Hizashi asks.

Shikabane hesitates, “Not… this particular iteration, no.”

Mikoto asks, “Have you fought against them?”

“Yes,” Shikabane answers without pause. “My teammate was the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi,” she says, again, very deliberately not looking in Kushina’s direction. Just as well, a conflicted expression blooming on her face.

In contrast to Mikoto or Hizashi–jaded by the clan systems as they were–Kushina had always wanted family. But the only reason for the Kyuubi to be transferred between vessels would be if the previous jinchuuriki were unable to contain it…

Still, Kushina was never one for shying away from something and so rather than continuing the somewhat worrying description of their new possible allies, Shikabane dutifully answers questions about Kushina’s successor–her son, Naruto–with as sparse details as she can get away with.

But not sparse enough.

“Who is Sasuke?” Mikoto interrupts as Shikabane is in the middle of an anecdote about her genin team.

Shikabane blinks, “He’s… your son.”

Mikoto can’t help the grimace that invokes, the idea that she had capitulated to the clan elders’ demands in some other life. Another thought crosses her mind and, with trepidation, she asks, “He’s not–was he the Uchiha clan heir?”

Bemused, Shikabane shakes her head slowly, “… No. Sasuke was never clan heir.”

Good, Mikoto thinks, at least that other version of her hadn’t fallen so far. Much easier to think she might have found someone she actually wanted to be with rather than end up brood mare for Fugaku Uchiha.

A/N: WELL. This certainly jumped around in places. I don’t think I had a real concrete idea about what exactly I wanted the things Shikako doesn’t say out loud to be, so I kind of just sprinkled a lot of different options in there.

#jacksgreyson #anonymous #prompt response #ask box things you said #writing #fanfiction #naruto #dreaming of sunshine #the many gardens of shikabane-hime #shikako nara's guide to delinquency and military insurrection #shikako nara #mikoto uchiha #kushina uzumaki #hizashi hyuuga

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jacksgreysays · 6 years

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Shikako Nara's Guide To Delinquency and Military Insurrection, 2/? (2018-02-03)

(Rule Two: those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash)

Mikoto is checking the perimeter.

Checking the perimeter--ha! what an unnecessary thing to do with a Hyuuga on her team. The last time she actually checked the perimeter was probably during practice missions in the Academy, before she got assigned on a team with one of strongest Byakugan users and a chakra sensor whose range is only rivaled by her insane capacity.

Even with the near endless amount of ROOT teams after them, blank porcelain masks to match their blank emotionless faces, there's no real reason for Mikoto to check the perimeter.

As if it weren't just an excuse to get some space from her teammates, just a moment of manufactured solitude to breath and enjoy the cool, quiet night air and internally freak the fuck out over her life choices.

Defect from Konoha?! What the fuck was she thinking? She spent YEARS proving her worth to her assbackwards, misogynistic clan elders--clawing her way up to a jounin ranking despite their opinions about retiring at chuunin to bear children and contribute to the clan--and... well, actually, put like that it's maybe more of a surprise that she didn't defect earlier.

But she was willing to put up with all that bullshit because she did, despite the elders, love her clan and her village. She loved being a shinobi of Konoha.

But she loves her friends more.

Even when it's been nearly a month on the run from Creepy Councilor Shimura's hunter-nins trying to drag them back for, no doubt, imprisonment and torture and experimentation and, eventually, execution.

For her and Hizashi, at least. Konoha's not going to execute their only Uzumaki and jinchuuriki.

But just because Konoha would never kill Kushina, doesn't mean they would never hurt her. Or haven't ever done so before.

And Hizashi may be one of the strongest Byakugan users in the village, one of the Hyuuga clan head's sons even, but he's not the right son. Not the one who lucked into the Main Family, free from a slavery seal that could and would be used against him. By his own clan.

By his own twin brother.

And of course, Kushina couldn't leave that alone. And no one has ever built a seal that a trained Uzumaki didn't consider absolute child's play.

But every action has its consequences--it seems like these past few months have been nothing but dealing with consequences--and now they're on the run from creepy Councilor Shimura's minions in the middle of nowhere chasing some rumors about some other Uzumaki in the hopes that...

In the hopes of what?

This other Uzumaki will see Kushina and fall over themselves to welcome a long lost relative? Haven't they just escaped from a village full of awful relatives?

And even if this other Uzumaki were the welcoming sort, whose to say they'd even be powerful enough to protect them from the full wrath of Konoha?

Mikoto loves her village, she does, even now, but Konoha--for all their reputation as the friendly one--is not one for mercy.

A part of her foolishly, futilely, wishes for their jounin sensei. Wishes that Kiyoshi-sensei were still alive to make everything better--to sweep in and make the problem go away with a few select whispers in certain ears and a convoluted exchange of favors amongst the village's different departments.

But they are far from Konoha, further still from being those silly little genin trailing admiringly in their sensei's wake, and anyway how selfish is she? She should be wishing that Kiyoshi-sensei were still alive for little Kakashi's sake, not to cover up for their own grown-ass mistakes.

Although, if Mikoto is being honest, she'd probably do the same exact thing because she does, actually, love her friends.

It's a presence more than a sound that catches her attention, and her hypervigilance has her activating her Sharingan immediately.

The girl who steps into her line of sight is not a ROOT agent--or if she is, she's a level higher than the rest--because her facial features shift into an actual human expression. Bizarrely, that expression is an almost sheepish resignation.

Mikoto spots Hizashi lurking in the trees behind their visitor ready to pounce while Kushina comes barreling in with all the subtlety and grace of a wounded water buffalo.

The girl just sighs as if she weren't surrounded by three Konoha jounin.

Sorry, three former Konoha jounin.

"Okay..." the girl says, not bothered whatsoever, "I was supposed to be on my way to Wind Country right now, but the three of you seem to be in some kind of trouble..."

Mikoto catches the brief flicker of annoyance on Hizashi's face before he shrugs and drops down to the ground, no use in hiding if she already knows he’s there.

"... and given that I just killed a team of ROOT flunkies who were headed in this direction, and all of your headbands have those super fashionable lines across the leaf, I'm pretty sure I know what the problem is, and I thought I should at the very least offer my services," the girl rambles on, ignoring the surprised and confused glances Mikoto exchanges with her teammates.

"What are you even talking about?" Kushina asks, patience finally giving way to frustration.

Now it's the girl's turn to look surprised and confused. She looks at them like they should already know:

"The assassination of Danzo Shimura, of course."

A/N: Shikako just barging and dropping cool one liners and breaking the minds of everyone around her. So hip.

Anyway, just a little personal headcanon for Team... uh... I dunno, Pretty Long-haired Parents. Specifically, Mikoto Uchiha, Hizashi Hyuuga, and Kushina Uzumaki. The timing probably doesn’t work--and Kushina was probably not on a team or Hizashi was on a different team or whatever whatever--but according to SQ “the timeline is made up and facts don’t matter” so I can do whatever I want.

I mean, not as much as Shikako can do whatever she wants, but still.

Speaking of, not that it much matters (I probably could have deleted that paragraph, tbh, but I just wanted it so much) but their jounin sensei is my (In)Difference OC Kiyoshi Utsugi who is also Kakashi’s mom--hence why I tagged it here even if it’s not canon for that either.

I dunno! I just wanted cool team combos!

I’ll probably do a Character Stats post for this bunch also.

#jacksgreyson #writing #fanfiction #dreaming of sunshine #the many gardens of shikabane-hime #naruto #mikoto uchiha #kushina uzumaki #hizashi hyuuga #shikako nara #shikako nara's guide to delinquency and military insurrection #(in)difference #kiyoshi utsugi

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jacksgreysays · 6 years

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Character Statistics: (In)Difference, Team White Fang

Genin

--- Chuunin

--- Jounin

--- Sakumo Hatake

Hozue Kedouin

Atsumi Kurama

A/N: So I wrote this thing about that mission that Sakumo went on that was doomed to fail and thus start a war and I had to make teammates for him, and I already headcanon-ed that his teammates on that doomed mission were also his genin teammates (which is why he was especially reluctant to let them die for the mission). And then I got very fond of the OCs I made for Sakumo’s teammates and what kind of people they must have been (and why they distanced themselves from him after he saved their lives). And while I haven’t written for (In)Difference recently, I figured it would be a good idea to make the teammates more concrete, hence these stats.

So, introducing Hozue Kedouin of an anime-only clan of face copiers/shape shifters and Atsumi Kurama of another anime-only clan of genjutsu specialists.

I thought it would be interesting if, part of the reason why Sakumo was so famous individually--along with him just being a VERY good shinobi, that is--was if both of his teammates just specialized in essentially being invisible. His role on the team is as the obvious tank-y heavy-hitter while his teammates are more behind the scenes and sneaky. Unsure if this makes them a Team Two or a Team Five, according to my list of Konoha Team Designations, but I quite liked the set up and I think I’m going to keep it as such until otherwise disproven by canon (and even then, I may just ignore canon).

I mean, he IS a consistently “better” shinobi than both of his teammates and (if you’ll compare to the character stat posts for the Sannin and Team TenChiKoku) others in his generation as per canon (he individually had a reputation as strong as the Sannin during the Second War) but mostly because he’s very well rounded. He doesn’t fall into the trap of “specializing” in any given direction and also he's just very good physically.

#jacksgreyson #fanfiction #brainstorm #character statistics #naruto #(in)difference #shikako nara's guide to delinquency and military insurrection #sakumo hatake #hozue kedouin #atsumi kurama

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