- a random Gardens encounter! slightly contrived but oh well!
- kimchi because yakiniku has hella Korean routes and obviously this was not a yakiniku restaurant but i figure it was like… adjacent? also kimchi is delicious idk i should go to bed
- word count: 826
She’d been concerned to find so many of her friends’ chakra signatures missing from the village when she’d dropped by. It was irregular for all of them to be out on missions, especially just a week or two after Naruto probably left with Jiraiya, but… everything else in the village had seemed normal. Less security than back home, but Shikako has found that her Tsunade is like the superior Tsunade in that (and every other) regard.
Shikako had decided that they were probably all fine and, indeed, it seems like they are – because she’s found everyone who was missing while on her way to the Dead Wastes. An elaborate Chuunin Exam is set up in River, the festival parts set up on wide boardwalks spanning a particularly scenic river.
It would be smartest to just avoid it… but it’s been a long time since Shikako’s gotten to go to a festival. She gives in. She even changes into something a little more appropriate when she stops to sketch out a seal-anchored transformation jutsu on her arm.
Shikako finds something sweet and fried and devours it while she watches the people going along, always in groups. She tracks the chakra of people she knows and then, eventually, she feels three signatures peel off from the group. Two of them are Kurenai and Asuma. The third Chouji.
It’s probably the best chance she’ll have. Kurenai and Asuma will distract each other with their whole… thing… so they might not note her as suspicious.
They stop at a barbecue place and minutes later Shikako slides into the stool next to Chouji. Asuma and Kurenai are talking and keeping half an eye on Chouji each (more than enough for two jounin, really) and when Chouji glances at her, Shikako smiles.
Chouji brightens, because the only thing he enjoys more than good food is good company.
“Hi,” he says when he’s swallowed. “I’m Chouji.”
“Amago,” Shikako says. The birthname of the Nara clanhead who’d named herself life-or-death when she had to pick out a Shika- name. She wouldn’t mind Shikako borrowing it.
“I know it’s a barbecue place, but you should try the kimchi,” Chouji confesses. “The meat is good. The kimchi… I have cousins who’d marry the chef into the clan for the recipe.”
It’s such a perfectly Chouji thing, offering menu advice to someone who only sat down a few moments after you did. But Chouji does have a serving of kimchi in front of him and he’s never steered Shikako wrong before. Or, her version of Chouji never has – but this one feels just the same.
“Sure, thanks,” she says, and orders the kimchi as well as the grilled chicken she sat down for.
“You won’t regret it,” Chouji promises.
I know, Shikako almost says. But instead, she asks if he’s competing.
“Nah, I lost already,” Chouji says. “You must’ve seen.”
“I just got here,” Shikako says. “Sorry about your loss.”
“Nah,” says Chouji. “It was fine. They put me up against this older genin from my own village, you know, and he’s really strong. He was nice about it, though.”
Shikako had looked at the tournament roster when she arrived, of course. Chouji had fought Rock Lee today. Shikako’s never considered whether Chouji and Lee would get along before… but now that she’s thinking about it, it makes a lot of sense.
“Sounds like a friend to hang on to,” Shikako says.
“What do you mean?”
“That’s the kind of sparring partner you need to really push you,” Shikako says.
“Well, even losing to him was pretty encouraging,” Chouji says thoughtfully. “Maybe I’ll look him up for a spar when we’re done here.”
“Don’t wait that long to ask him,” Shikako advises.
Their food arrives and for a few minutes they eat in companionable silence. But then, almost idly, Shikako says, “You know… your new friend is fighting that one from Grass, Muku, right?”
Chouji nods, mouth full.
“I think he’s from the clan that runs the Blood Prison,” Shikako says. “Your friend should look out for having his chakra sealed.”
Oops, now she has Kurenai and Asuma’s attention. Shikako smiles brightly at them. “Just some friendly advice,” she assures them.
“Thank you,” Chouji says. Neither jounin-sensei looks very impressed with that, but Shikako appreciates it.
“No problem,” Shikako says. She snatches up her chicken and kimchi, which like everything else here is served in the sort of thing you can take away from the food stall in question. “Wish your friend good luck from me, Chouji, I think he’s going to do amazing.”
“I will!” Chouji promises. As she weaves away in the crowd, she hears him calling, “Bye, Amago!” before Asuma starts in on him about making friends with strange ninja.
Naruto probably would have managed to pry her entire life story out of her and maybe a cool jutsu, though, so Asuma should count himself lucky that Chouji is just regular amounts of friendly.
Tag: Dreaming of Sunshine
“Shikako has found that her Tsunade is like the superior Tsunade in that (and every other) regard.” OKAY so I know this was Chouji Time but this means a lot?? to me?? Tsunade and Shikako are – not friends, but comrades, and they’ve had a lot of quiet moments in conversation, especially since after the Hot Springs biz. And just. I love Shikako being HELLA loyal to her Tsunade, the obviously superior version. Shikako & Tsunade Feels 2kAlways
Her loyalty is def influenced by Dark Fire Tsunade being SO terrible and from then on like. Other Tsunades are okay but only the original, the Classic, will really do.
Gardens aside, I also love Shikako and Tsunade’s post-Hot Springs comradeship. Tsunade bein SO careful and sympathetic when she’s telling Shikako she can’t go out on missions again…. Shikako imagining if she and Tsunade and Sasuke were on a team together Back In The Day…. I love them and I’m emotional
Hey, remember that one time DoS!Naruto brought over a cactus as a gift for the nara’s and Yoshino was reminiscing about Kushina’s pregnant mom cravings.
eh, Dos!Sasuke is stuck in-village anyway
Reshuffle the Deck: Or, Five Genin Teams Shikako Wasn’t On (2016-08-15)
Four of a Kind
(The Ino-Shika-Cho is a good combination, but it’s never good to let genin teams become predictable–it makes them vulnerable to enemy action, and considering who makes up the roster of this year’s new genin? Vulnerability is to be avoided at all cost.
The idea behind the trio is still sound, shouldn’t be abandoned completely, and so the Hokage and Academy teachers build the new teams with that in mind.
It’s not their fault that it completely throws off a good chunk of her foreknowledge.)
“This is…” Shikako says, words drifting off to look at her two teammates.
“Uh, sensei?” Ino picks up, immediately “I think you’ve gotten it wrong–it’s Ino-Shika-Cho, not Ino-Shika-Inu.”
Akamaru barks, Kiba does too. “What you’ve got a problem with dogs?” Smirk easily changeable into baring of teeth.
“Only the ones that haven’t bathed in three days,” Ino says, sharp smile of her own, “Aren’t you supposed to have a good sense of smell?”
Shikako cuts in, brings the tension down but adds to the teasing as well. “Not all of us can smell like a flower shop all the time, Ino.”
(With a steady jounin sensei and normal missions, they would have become strong, solid shinobi in a few years.
With Anko as their sensei, in a matter of months they become the first genin team with the bingo book orders Flee On Sight)
—
Full House [of Queens]
“They didn’t even try for subtle, did they?” Shikako asks Kurenai-sensei, mouth an opposite slant to her raised eyebrow.
Her jounin sensei shrugs, “You could argue that’s what this entire team is for–given the tenets of kunoichi and all that.”
“Don’t you think this will be fun, Shikako?” Sakura asks, stars in her eyes–the disappointment at not being on the same team as Sasuke quickly passing at the excitement of being on a team with her two best friends.
“And anyway,” Ino adds, “Who needs a bunch of boys messing up our missions?”
(Despite the tenets of kunoichi, their team does not maintain subtlety for too long. Oh, their missions succeed, no doubt about that, and they’re never actually caught; but rumors of a group of girls capable of slipping in unnoticed and completely destroying any opposition spreads.
They become known as the Three Beauties of Konoha, though mostly, all enemies can remember about them is the color of their hair and the scent of fresh flowers)
“Someone asked me to punch them today,” Sakura says to her teammates, bemused.
Although the three of them have long since been promoted from genin, they tend to team up with each other regardless. Why mess with success?
“Oh, yeah?” Shikako adds absentmindedly, writing in one of her eternally present journals even as Ino begins to pull it away, “Me, too, a couple of days ago.”
“Did you?” Sakura asks, watching in amusement as Ino and Shikako begin playing tug of war with the journal.
“Yeah, he wouldn’t leave me alone until I did and by that point he was being so annoying it was a relief to do it.”
“I made mine pay for it,” Ino says, to which both of her teammates look up at her smug face in confusion. Pulling the journal from Shikako’s slack hands is easy; her expression only becomes more pleased. “He clearly wanted it for some reason, and why do something for free when you can get paid for it?”
“And?” Sakura prompts, while Shikako bemoans her lack of initiative.
“It bought me a new dress,” Ino brags. And because she’s always a well of information, she explains to her teammates. “Apparently there’s some kind of superstition going around that if someone gets punched by all three of us they get good luck.”
—
Two Pair
(She pulls back too late. The teachers have already spotted her talent; genius, prodigy, legend-in-the-making they murmur to each other. She gets accelerated, graduates among students several years older than herself.
When her genin team is called, she swallows down bile.)
“Shikako-chan,” Kabuto says, mild smile on his face. All of his smiles are mild, she wants to punch him in the face.
“Yes?” She chirps back, slipping into her role of over-eager kouhai. She’ll admit he knows an awful lot of tricks that’ll be useful in the future.
Let him think he’s converting the Jounin Commander’s daughter, she’ll feed him lies and bleed him dry.
“You’re always so curious,” he says, ever so patronizing, “it’s a good thing to have in a student.”
“Well, you’re a good teacher,” she says back–always flattering, always sweet–she needs to appear as a book smart genius, not an actual threat.
“It’s not so much a virtue when it comes to espionage,” Kabuto amends, voice still pleasant but suddenly sharp and deadly.
She can feel the blood freeze in her veins. Literally.
“W-what are you talking about, Kabuto-senpai?” she chokes out through the clawing in her throat, her rapidly stiffening lungs.
“Don’t worry,” he says as her vision goes blurry, then dark, “It’s time for you to get a real teacher.”
(When she wakes up, she’s almost relieved to see Orochimaru’s face.
Better him than Danzo, she thinks even as the abomination of mutated natural chakra burns through her. The Curse Seal.
Kabuto won’t need to convert her if a piece of Orochimaru is literally looking over her shoulder.)
—
Straight
The night of graduation, Shikako faints while walking up the stairs.
It’s also the first time the Kyuubi’s malevolent chakra has been felt in over a decade.
The two events are not unrelated.
Needless to say, Shikaku will not be having his daughter on the same team as someone whose chakra can render her unconscious. He knows the Academy teachers think he is just pulling rank, getting his child off a team with That Monster, but Shikaku’s always been more practical than that: it’d be like having someone allergic to dogs on the same team as an Inuzuka, illogical and troublesome.
And anyway, he remembers Kushina and Mito-sama before that, neither of them were monsters. How could their legacy ever be one?
(Shikako looks at her teammates and feels nothing but conflicted, guilty relief.
A part of her had wanted to be on a more integral team, to better alter the course of future events. But another part of her had always been afraid of taking on such a daunting task.
Better to be on a team with these two–childhood bullies though they may be–than, god forbid, Naruto and Sasuke. She’d constantly be in the crossfire of powerhouses, pushed further and further to a breaking point that she doesn’t know where it will lead.
Jiro and Youbirin are blank slates as far as she’s concerned. She doesn’t need to worry about them, doesn’t need to watch over their destinies. They could die for all she knows, and plotwise it’d still lead to a good ending.)
“Fuck!” She shouts, turning to her fallen teammate who has crumpled to the forest floor. Youbirin gives a bloody cough in response, hands shakily going for the sword through his chest. “Jiro get over here!”
“I’m a little busy!” He shouts back, sending a bolt of lightning towards his opponent before retreating. They’re fighting Rock nin, with an Earth Pillar it becomes useless.
“I can’t heal this on my own,” Shikako says, hands futilely glowing green anyway. “Why would you do that? You could probably heal something like this.”
Youbirin gives another wet cough.
“Don’t die, please,” she begs, “You matter to me, don’t die, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it, don’t die, don’t die,” she chants, hoping and pushing herself to her limits.
That’s the problem with genin teammates–they’ll always be important, no matter who they are.
—
Royal Flush
(On the one hand, traveling through time to meet the Nidaime Hokage is pretty cool. Getting to compare fuinjutsu notes with him is practically a dream come true.
Somehow being stuck randomly appearing at various points in his life? She’d rather not.
But, well, there’s a silver lining to everything.
She just has to find this one.)
Team Tobirama is a seven person team.
Except for when it’s an eight person team.
Tobirama-sensei only briefly introduces the girl before they’re off on what will undoubtedly be a difficult mission.
Cloud shinobi. It won’t be anything but difficult.
She’s a stranger and it shows, their team falling into the familiar grouping–Kagami, Danzo, Torifu and Hiruzen, Homura, Koharu–while sensei single-handedly destroys his own opponents. It leaves her alone, and for a moment Kagami worries, before he realizes that she’s holding her own.
More than, even.
(The Kinkaku Force should have overpowered them, forced the genin to flee while their sensei sacrifices himself.
Eight instead of seven.
Nobody dies that day. The hat does not get passed on quite yet)
She’s not a permanent member of their team, which confuses Kagami because as far as he can tell she’s not on any other team either.
“I don’t recognize her,” Torifu says in a hush, which is especially worrying. It’s not an admission, it’s a clue: if Torifu can’t recognize someone wearing Nara sigils, something is going on.
“She keeps staring at me,” Danzo adds, before his face flushes with a sudden realization, “Not–not like that!” he says, embarrassed, while Kagami and Torifu share a smirk.
“She is rather pretty,” Kagami teases, Torifu nodding in solemn agreement, because an opportunity to fluster Danzo is always something to take advantage of. And besides, it’s not as if they don’t trust her–Tobirama-sensei trusts her, and more besides she’s risked her life alongside them–but this is a mystery that needs solving.
(They never do figure it out.)
~
A/N: A little late but still respectable, I think. Also it’s not really my fault since tumblr appears to be having technical trouble–is that everyone or is it just me? I do have somewhat sporadic wi-fi right now.
I’ll try to meet the midnight deadline properly tonight, anyway.
So the first two are from a conversation I had with @unfortunatehatlessness, the third one was just a haunting idea I had–though, highly influenced by @donapoetrypassion’s In Which Someone Attempts To Kidnap Shikamaru, Instead. Fourth is the anonymously prompted AU of @kuipernebula’s and mine Team Medic!AU (uh, sorry for the bleak ending on that one, it works out okay in the end?) And fifth is kiiinda a response to Linnypants’ comment on ao3 about Shikako’s POV of my Semi-Phenomenal, Nearly Cosmic ficlet.
Wow, okay, that’s a pretty impressive sweep if I do say so myself 😀 Also, happy belated birthday to myself.
I’ll post this to ao3 in a bit
what are your dos ships? (I’ve been lookin for a Neji/Shikako ship since forever)
… am I allowed to answer this? I kind of have this notion like, because I run the dosbysilverqueen blog, I’m contractually obligated to stay neutral. I mean, that’s a silly feeling, so I’m going to ignore it, but that’s my first gut instinct.
Let’s see, for DoS ships… I have to admit that I greatly enjoy how DoS is gen–more about friendship and family than romance–because I’ve always been the type of fan who prefers what the fandom comes up with for ships than what the original does? Or rather, that the original work picking a specific ship almost ruins the magic of it–it makes it real in a very specific way and it can’t be undone. Or un-canon-ed… if that makes any sense.
From a fan’s point of view I am, obviously, quite fond of GaaraxShikako (unsurprisingly, given that my Dreaming of S(omething) series revolves around the first Dreaming of S(erenity) that was inspired by their Grass Chuunin Exam battle), and I do think it is my most favorite? In the sense that, if something had to become “canon DoS” then I would mind that the least–because there have been multiple moments of creating a foundation for a romantic relationship. Not immediately of course, but if–for some odd reason–SQ did a sudden time skip straight to the epilogue and showed ShikakoxGaara then I wouldn’t be all that surprised or disappointed?
Same with KibaxShikako, though I find that less feasible only because I feel that Shikako views a lot of the Konoha-nin (especially the Konoha Twelve/Thirteen) as, well, assets? Or… characters. Well, no, but I’m unsure about how to say this… like, Shikako can’t view any of them in a romantic sense because she knows too much about them from her own reader’s POV that there might be… not necessarily a consent gap but like a… knowledge disadvantage.
And there’s also the Westermarck effect which, technically, only applies to children raised together from birth to six years old and so doesn’t actually apply to Shikako and the rest of the Rookie Nine. But I feel like it’s something that would linger with Shikako–they are characters, they are children, they are assets that need to be kept alive–and so she wouldn’t be able to view any of them romantically (at least, not for a long while).
Which is probably why I’m fond of a conflicted/unrequited!SasukexShikako; because not only is she basically the first girl to befriend him as himself (and not the school idol) but she’s also the closest thing he has to family? So, like I’ve mentioned before, there is no doubt that Sasuke loves Shikako but I don’t think even he quite knows in what way–romantic or platonic. And Shikako for sure loves him platonically, but I feel like the consent/knowledge disadvanatge applies to him especially–seeing as how Shikako has literally changed his fate on multiple occasions. She has way too much power over him–and way too many secrets she’s hiding from him–for her to ever feel like she can be in a romantic with him.
And with InoxShikako. Well, that ship is complicated not because Ino’s feelings are complicated for Shikako–I kind of feel like Ino would be okay with either a romantic relationship with Shikako or maintaining their platonic friendship, unlike Sasuke who is unsure what he wants–but because Shikako has also changed Ino’s fate for the worse (at least, given her latest feelings about damaging Team Ten…). So not only is there a power disparity and secret-keeping there’s also guilt on Shikako’s part–which there isn’t really with Sasuke.
That being said, I am now wondering about the SakuraxShikako ship. But like, way after everything in canon has been settled; like when everyone’s nineteen or so. Because Shikako has definitely changed Sakura’s life–majorly, considering she’s not on Team Seven anymore–but not necessarily for better or worse and not even on purpose. So Shikako would be free from any guilt or secrecy because any differences with Sakura–she’d have such different formative experience than the one canon Sakura had–aren’t really Shikako’s fault. It would remove a little of that consent/knowledge disadvantage because while Shikako knows what canon Sakura would be like it’s not some kind of benchmark that she keeps in her head about how she’s failed/succeeded (not like with Sasuke and Ino, probably). It’s just… different. Yeah, I think that’d be interesting.
As for the members of Team Gai. Well. If I had to ship one of them with Shikako I probably would have originally gone with TenTenxShikako given the steps between acquaintances to friends to lovers isn’t so off. But then thinking about it further (and also keeping in mind that Shikamaru and TenTen are dating, and it’d be really weird to date one twin then the other) that’s kind of… boring? Like… where’s the spark? The passion? And also I’d be a little worried about TenTen’s self-esteem? Like it’s one thing to be friends with a kunoichi who is from a clan and a prodigy at sealing and already a tokubetsu jounin at age thirteen etc. etc. But it’s another thing to date one? Like… ouch–I’d be torn between jealousy and guilt over being jealous constantly.
Given Lee’s eternal, unwavering love for Sakura and also his very disconcerting first/second impression of Shikako (post-Orochimaru battle in the Forest of Death, right after she totally demolished the Sound Genin even though she was so injured and tired and probably concussed) I don’t really think a romantic ship could form between them? Definitely not for a long time. Because Shikako is very clearly not what Lee is looking for–and because Lee is oddly sexist? Like, he doesn’t have anything against kunoichi being shinobi but his “ideal woman” is essentially a damsel in distress whose affection can be won by defeating Sasuke in battle (that’s straight up canon) or by rescuing her from the Sound Genin. And Lee’s continued crush on Sakura (in canon) is because she’s so overtly feminine, or his idea of femininity–pretty and passive–that it always made me very uncomfortable whenever his crush on her was brought up. Especially when she made it clear that she liked Sasuke and he’d still try to pursue her/impress her by trying to defeat Sasuke. I DUNNO. He grows out of his crush on Sakura (eventually) but I have no idea if he’s grown out of that weird idealized femininity, but either way Shikako wouldn’t want that. Like… at all.
And now for Neji. I’ll be honest, anon, until you brought it up I hadn’t ever really thought about it? But now that I do I’m just like… hm… yeah… yeah? Alright! Because Neji is one of the few of the Konoha Twelve that isn’t really in Shikako’s sphere of influence nor someone whose life she feels obligated to improve. Mostly because… she can’t do anything about his life. There’s no way she could have saved his dad, she can’t affect Hyuuga Clan politics, and Naruto has already changed his view on life/Hinata. So… it’s, much like the GaaraxShikako ship and the SakuraxShikako ship, something different and… freeing?
Now as for the specifics of the NejixShikako ship–I do enjoy how Neji’s first/second impression of Shikako is basically the same as Lee’s but instead of being discomfited, Neji is… impressed? He respects her ability and her decisions even if he doesn’t necessarily agree, or maybe because they are so different. Two points that I’d want to see addressed in this ship would be the topic of fate and the Caged Bird Seal–because these are both things which are vital to Neji’s character and which Shikako could possibly change. Because her very existence proves that fate can be changed… and given her reputation as Konoha’s newest budding fuinjutsu master. Well, it wouldn’t make any sense for her not to at least be curious about the Caged Bird Seal.
But these two matters would also be very… Okay so, it’s canon that Neji dies. And Shikako has already gotten in trouble with her fuinjutsu. I almost feel like Shikako would be, at least subconsciously, reluctant to be in a relationship with Neji–at least, before the whole Madara/Kaguya madness. Because then he’d be one more person she’s responsible for. And she’d put so much pressure on herself to prevent his death which would just… it’s a lot for her to juggle and it would absolutely wreck her if she failed. Of course, if this relationship starts after the whole Madara/Kaguya madness then that’s a different story. And, because she’s already been through the end of the world, she’d be more willing to get involved in the politics of the Caged Bird Seal. What does clan politics matter to her anymore? She can do whatever she want… essentially, timing is very important.
It is absolutely hilarious that Shikako didn’t realize Sasuke moved in–that’s the best thing I’ve ever heard! ^_^ :D I’ll admit, I’m not sure why Naruto was resting moving in somewhere? What was going on there?
Thanks! 🙂 Shikako’s hyperawareness of danger versus her obliviousness to the most benign things is one of my favorite things of DoS.
I think it was more like, people kept trying to offer places to Naruto for free–and in the humble way of heroes, he didn’t want to accept it–and this kept happening because, hey, hero of the world or something like that, that he didn’t have time to find a place for himself…
Or, I just wanted a reason for all of them to end up in the warehouse… 😛
team 7 living together scenario, 22) things you said after it was over
Team Seven Living Together, 22) things you said after it was over
They walk slowly, father and daughter, a leisurely pace through the warehouse district of Konoha. Members of the Nara clan walking slowly is not and unusual sight in the village, except that these particular members happen to be Nara clan head and his internationally acclaimed war hero daughter. Those who do recognize them stare in awe, some even stand at attention, saluting or bowing.
Shikako tries not to flinch each time, tries to hold her head high instead of ducking behind her father like the shy little girl she once was, but it’s difficult. Luckily, it doesn’t happen too often; the warehouse district is mostly empty save for the genin runners from the merchant district tasked with hauling scrolls of stock back and forth.
The streets empty further as they go deeper into the district, smaller warehouses less used or possible even fully abandoned. It’s here that Dad finally comes to a stop, nicking his thumb and swiping the blood over a fuinjutsu array on one such warehouse door.
The security seal recognizes him–or his blood, at least–and unlocks. Dad pulls the door open with a creak of metal, the sound echoing. Though loud, it almost seems more of a yawn than a roar, a long slumbering beast stretching to awake.
The warehouse is empty of all but dust and rust, in great need of cleaning and modernizing, but there’s something about the space that still stirs something within her.
“Wow,” Shikako breathes, a smile stretching across her face.
Dad, quietly triumphant, asks, “So you’ll take it?”
“It’s perfect.”
—
Naruto comes home from the battlefield not quite a conquering hero, but a beloved figure nonetheless and a practical shoo-in for Nanadaime Hokage.
Of course, it could also be said that he doesn’t come home from the battlefield at all because, as it turns out, Naruto is technically homeless.
He laughs and smiles, hand scratching sheepishly at the back of his neck, but he emphatically refuses every offer of hospitality whether it be guest room, couch, or–alarmingly, three different times–a more innuendo laden offer of hospitality.
It’s not that Naruto is refusing out of pride–Shikako knows better.
“Can you help me with something?” she asks, a casual head tilt to her warehouse. In only a few short weeks, it’s already become the best place to find her at any given time.
“Of course, Shikako-chan!” Naruto agrees without even asking for details, ever so trusting and eager to give a hand to those who need it. She’d never betray his confidence in her, but a worse person would find it easy to do so.
The main space of the warehouse has been converted to a workshop, the main table covered with notes and a prototype of her newest project: a natural chakra circuit.
“You’re the only other sage I could ask about this,” Shikako explains, pointing out the flow of natural chakra and how it’s drawn in, cycled through, then emitted by the circuit. Naruto may not understand her notes, but when he syncs his chakra to the natural energy of the world around them he can feel it clearly. “And it’s just that I’ve got a mission starting tomorrow but I don’t want to leave this project unmonitored.” She pauses, as if considering, “I guess if you’re busy, I could just shut it down and try again when I come back–but then I’d have to restart, and–”
“No way! I can look after your stuff, Shikako-chan, believe it!” Naruto interrupts, grin wide and practically glowing at the prospect.
Shikako smiles back, “Thanks, Naruto,” she says and doesn’t feel at all guilty that she specifically created the circuit so she could bring him here, “It’d be best if you could stay with it overnight, too,” she instructs, guiding him to the back of the warehouse. It was originally meant for only basic amenities, but Shikako has fixed it up to be a fairly comfortable living space. “Sometimes when I have intense projects, I just sleep here instead of going all the way back to the Nara clan compound.”
Naruto’s grin begins to grow strained, a flicker of that same hesitance appearing.
“But I get it’s kind of messy,” she continues even though she knows for a fact that Naruto’s apartment was far messier, “So if you just want to use the loft, I’d understand. I was thinking about maybe starting a small garden up there, but you know me,” her shrug is casual, self-deprecating, and entirely calculated, “I’m not that good with plants.”
An almost devious gleam makes its way into Naruto’s eyes.
A week and a half later, Shikako returns from her mission and is only outwardly surprised to find that the loft has become a veritable forest. “I picked these for you,” Naruto says, showing off the flowerbed of snapdragons in a multitude of colors.
Really, Shikako is more pleased to spot the actual bed and other furniture hiding among the plants, along with the rest of Naruto’s things.
—
In contrast, Shikako doesn’t actually notice when Sasuke moves in.
She would have sworn that the walled office space was still filled with the unused lab equipment that she had found in the beginning–equipment that she didn’t want, but couldn’t bring herself to throw away given the name on the labels. Except during a particularly rambunctious attempt at creating three dimensional shogi with a set of Naruto’s clones and earth pillars, the both of them freeze at the sound of shattering.
Eyes wide, Shikako exchanges a glance with Naruto. Or, at least, the Naruto wearing the white Hokage robes. “Shit,” she mutters, leaping down from her pillar to the walled off space.
Instead of the shattered beakers she expected, she finds a shattered teapot… along with a completely furnished bedroom designed in blues and reds.
“What?” She asks, turning, blinking, checking to see if perhaps there were a genjutsu active. “When did this happen?”
“Like two weeks ago,” says a Naruto in a black chuunin vest, looking at her skeptically.
“Yeah, Sasuke asked if he could use this room,” continues a Naruto wearing a henge of Kakashi-sensei, vest and headband in white.
Shikako strains her memory for that conversation. Mostly what she remembers from two weeks ago was not sleeping for a few days, then finally making headway on her glacial translation of the Gelel shrine photos from Sand, then eating what must have been her own weight in gyouza, and then maybe passing out?
A set of Narutos, all in henges to be younger versions of himself in either black or white, cluster around the shards of the teapot. As if they really were his twelve year old self, one of them loudly whispers to another, “Maybe if we hide the pieces, he won’t realize it’s broken.”
“As if, dobe,” says Sasuke’s voice from behind the crowd of shogi clones.
Almost in unison, the clones begin to blame each other, which Sasuke ignores with the air of long practiced poise. Shikako is still baffled that he lives here, frankly.
Sasuke rolls his eyes and shoos away the genin clones, all of whom make childish faces back. He sweeps up the shards with a broom Shikako has never seen before, discarding them in a rubbish bin Shikako has also never seen before.
“It’s okay, I bought multiple,” Sasuke assures her, pulling out an exact replica teapot from a set of shelves on the wall. “Yoshino-san told me I should be prepared for something like this.”
“You told my mom you were moving in?” Shikako asks him, bewildered.
It’s Sasuke’s turn to look at her skeptically, “She helped me design my room.”
~
A/N: I have no idea why this took me so long, anon. I’m terribly sorry, but I hope you enjoy! I kind of wanted to play with this idea I used in Painted Red (To Fit Right In)–except, of course, fluffier given the lack of zombies–in that different MBTI designations have different ways of saying “I love you.”
DEER DEER DEER O3O
I like deer XD
Here’s a cosmic one!
With world’s in his antlers~
Deer God ❤
LOTS OF ORIGINAL STUFF LATELY
Hope you guys are enjoying ^^
Cheloneuniverse 