Ttran2323 Obviously the most mundane thing possible. And she definitely wouldn't mention that she recreated the legendary "bloodline" in her spare time. It would then come up in a random combat scenario some few months after she got the basics and afterwards while everyone is boggling she just casually admits, "Oh yeah I figured out how to replicate it, like, a couple months ago?" #18,691

essex2 There is actually a fic with some rather interesting speculation on Mokuton techniques. Retrograde Motion by Crunchysunrises on AO3 has Sakura being forcefully sent back in time. Stuck in mind numbingly boring academy classes, she spends chapter five honing her abilities with the Earth and Water elements while improving her ability to sense Chakra and Nature energy. It doesn't really go anywhere from there since it is the most recent chapter (posted last February). It also takes Sakura's backstory in a really interesting direction, positing that Konoha actually had a thriving population of Uzushiogakure refugees living in the village until they mostly got wiped out during the Sand/Sound invasion, and that Sakura was from that part of the village. #18,692

skie89 @Cadalie Thanks for the tip. As luck would have it I accidentally found one of those links yesterday. Sadly nothing had been added to the collection but it was certainly fun to reread! #18,693

Thegodofsky Rereading through the index is surprisingly fun. Thanks for leading me to the 7th page too rereading the memories!verse was amazing. #18,694

Eidole Shinigami Could she use the trees as support for the sealing (aligning them to form the seals)? Then she could create The Sealing Forest - the best tool to capture and incapacite big chunky stuff - like a rabbit lady or plant buddies. Wait no, could she work around White Zetsu with this since they're actually weird babies formed from Hashirama's and Black Zetsu's cells ? . Edited 9/10/2018 #18,695

wafflelate @skie89 I'll get back to writing Lone Wolf and Art of Losing eventually, but because I've started posting things as fic I have to catch up to the start of LW before I can do that. You can find some new Gardens stuff on my account here or my account on AO3. #18,696

Lionhead Bookends @wafflelate I just finished reading the fanfic dumps you slid over to google docs while at a friend's house (for some reason, I can't access google docs from my home network? weird-ass firewall issues or smthn), and I have to say that Shadows Under Water has some really choice bits of writing in it. If anyone here hasn't read it yet, I highly recommend you do. I really love your ability to take the characters and imply the deeper, inner realities that we the readers can see, but from the perspective of another character. I think that reading about characters watching and inferring things about other characters is really, really interesting, and you do it very well. #18,697

wafflelate @Lionhead Bookends Thank you!! Oh gosh I'm blushing and I wish I could use emoji here. I'm sorry to hear that gdocs doesn't work for you. I hope to get around to editing and posting it all soon but it will take time -- I mean, just look how long and what's changed with EIOT! #18,698

Jondera Started this quite a while back, finally got around to finishing it. I'm sure everyone will appreciate the extra motivation to hate Danzo. Excerpts from the Training and Personnel files of ROOT division, written by Shimura Danzo, as pertaining to subjects from the Nara clan. With the unfortunate loss of Nara Tenkawa, I find myself without any operatives within Root division capable of using Shadow techniques. While several other operatives have gained a basic understanding of the techniques, they have been unable to progress past an academy student's level of proficiency with them. Some discrete inquiries determined that the Nara clan bloodline possesses some form of spiritual nature that makes the techniques more powerful; I will need to recruit another member of the clan. None of the currently active members of the Nara clan are willing to join Root; possibly as a result of Tenkawa's death. It may be for the best; our training facilities are now operational, and a Nara operative raised to be Root will be more reliable than an operative recruited as an adult. The delay in accessing the techniques is unfortunate, but unavoidable. Recruitment efforts with the Nara have given results. Nara Kanna's husband was recently crippled in a mission, and is still in the hospital, and their son was due to start at the academy next year. As minor branch members of the clan, their support from the main house was minimal, and she was only too happy to agree to my offer of special training for her son; that she wouldn't need to pay for any of his supplies and that he would graduate and be able to take missions - and thereby help support them - earlier made it an offer she couldn't afford to refuse. The boy - Sen - has been enrolled in the primary training facility, and seems to be responding well to the initial efforts. He will make an excellent addition to Root. Operative Sen's progress has been frustrating. At first he seemed to respond excellently, taking the discipline of the training to heart in his determination. But while his discipline has been excellent, the results of the trainers' attempts to teach him Shadow techniques have not. He grasped the basics of the techniques quickly, and, as expected, proved more capable with them than those without Nara blood. Unfortunately, he has thus far proven unable to control any but the most basic shadow techniques, and his attempts to use more powerful ones have thus far met with failure. Operative Sen's training has failed. After several weeks of training and attempts to use more complex shadow techniques, his resolve failed. The determination that drove him earlier in the training was gone, and he was passive; he would follow orders, but take no other action of his own volition. It is a curious state, and I have instructed the trainers to make note of it and try to foster similar attitudes in the other trainees, if they can. Unfortunately, his next attempt to use shadow techniques resulted in a terrible failure; when he attempted to push his chakra into his shadow, he collapsed, unconscious. It has now been three days, and he has not woken or responded to any medical techniques. Two more days, and we will be disposing of the body and informing his family of the training accident. It took some weeks of delicate investigation and sending several operatives to peruse the Nara clan medical records, but I have finally determined the likely cause of Operative Sen's failure. The Nara refer to the state as "falling into the black" and consider it a dangerous state of spiritual imbalance, which renders shadow techniques unsafe to use. Some other records were located suggesting that some Nara have, in the past, weaponized this state to become perfect, ninja, pursuing their mission to the exclusion of all else. This is obviously the intended purpose for this state, and their failure to achieve it reliably is lamentable. I need to acquire additional trainees from the clan and attempt to solve this problem for them. Operatives Tai and Bon have both also failed. Operative Kan showed promise, proving capable of manipulating shadow techniques while in the Black state, but on his first assignment to remove a threat to the village, his resolve failed. According to the report from the other operatives assigned to the mission, Kan prepared to use his shadow techniques to immobilize the target, but the technique backfired and killed Kan. The rest of the operatives were able to complete the assignment, and have returned Kan's body for study. Today when visiting the Nara clan to inquire after another possible recruit, I was met by Nara Shikano, who informed me that, per his instructions, no more members of the Nara clan would be participating in my training. This is unfortunate, and means I will have to seek other avenues to acquire trainees with the clan's spiritual affinity. Luckily, the clan is large and wide-spread, there should be enough illegitimate children and distant branch members to serve my needs until I can demonstrate success at fixing the black state. Four more failures. Being forced to rely on by-blows and distant cousins does not help the training pursue at a good pace. Their potential and spiritual affinity is weakened by civilian blood, leaving them to take longer at the training for less capable results. I have several more leads on possible trainees, but recruiting in this way is a delicate process. A stroke of luck; Nara Ikoma had an affair with one of the Kurama clan, without informing Shikano. He confided in me that the woman is pregnant, and that he intends to ask for a marriage between the two clans. While such a partnership would strengthen Konoha, I cannot pass up the opportunity presented by the child. I will make arrangements for Ikoma to have a high-priority mission out of the country and place several of my operatives on his team. They will ensure he does not return, and then I can take an inconvenient child off the Kurama's hands without anyone having to know. Waiting for the child to get old enough to begin training will be annoying, but caring for the brat won't be difficult. Given the child's probable potential, I will have to hold off on using them in the Black state training until my other efforts show progress, but I should have at least eight years before that becomes an issue. Still nothing. Since Shikaku took over the Nara and has continued his father's refusal to permit my training of clan youth, it has become more difficult for me to find appropriate recruits. If the man weren't so good at his job as Jonin Commander, I might be tempted to have him removed to clear the way for a more aggressive recruiting drive. As it is, his skill and ability make him to valuable to remove, and he is observant enough that I need to avoid expressing interest in any of the main clan children, so that he doesn't turn his attention more thoroughly in my direction and cut off my access to the strays entirely. The lack of progress means that I will not be able to have Operative Sai train in Shadow techniques at all for the foreseeable future. Instead, some of my senior operatives have developed a variant of the Kurama techniques that should be more appropriate for combat, and will be training him in those. #18,699

Lionhead Bookends I once read a quote in a fanfiction of Naurto that went like, "And Orochimaru was twisted enough to think the high casualty rate was a feature rather than an unfortunate necessity," and this, @Jondera makes me understand how those two bastards can get along. Also, my reaction while reading your piece wasn't muffled screaming, but only because people like Danzo mean that your terror and your panic have to be quiet, or they find you. Very well done. I can really see all the horror of what he's doing, without it feeling like you're rubbing it in, since you've managed that detached sense of 'oh well' very neatly. #18,700

Dinner Madara : What have I to fear?

What have I to fear? Sai : The lucky sevens. It's what we call ourselves. Sorta like a team. Protectors of Konoha type thing.

The lucky sevens. It's what we call ourselves. Sorta like a team. Protectors of Konoha type thing. Madara : Yes. I've met them

Yes. I've met them Sai : Yeah, takes us a while to get any traction I'll give you that one. But let's do a head count here. Me, former ROOT-agent. The pettiest Kunoichi of our age, living legend who kinda lives up to the legend. An Uchiha with family issues. A Jinchuuriki friendly with his detainee and YOU, big fella, you've managed to piss off every single one of them.

Yeah, takes us a while to get any traction I'll give you that one. But let's do a head count here. Me, former ROOT-agent. The pettiest Kunoichi of our age, living legend who kinda lives up to the legend. An Uchiha with family issues. A Jinchuuriki friendly with his detainee and YOU, big fella, you've managed to piss off every single one of them. Madara : I have the Juubi!

I have the Juubi! Sai : We have a rule

We have a rule No dying. #18,701

runeofluna Dinner, that was hilarious XD #18,702

Dinner Thanks, somehow DOS takes control of me during weekends with time to spare... #18,703

Dinner An AU in which another SI (Yuuroki) was there before Shikako. They stood in front of eachother, their words cutting deeper than Kunai could. "I became a Mission Desk shinobi, to exert as much influence as was needed to steer this world in the right way." The man said in rushed words. "I had to when I found out YOU had ruined the perfectly good ending we were going to have." "You're blaming me?" Shikako put down her missionscroll. "You assigned me a mission which cost my brother his arm. And you're saying I was the one screwing up canon?" "Everything was going perfectly. And now we're at war. So excuse me if YES; I am blaming you. You blew up a freaking country!" He eyed the open window, held out his hand to silence Shikako and closed it. "And now look at us… There's no way B is going to train Naruto now. And without that we stand no chance against Madara, let alone Kaguya!" His lips thinned into an ugly smile. "I should have killed you when you were still a child." #18,704

Catflower Queen This almost makes me wonder if Yuuroki and Shikako actually saw different versions of Canon before reincarnating into this world. Like, Yuuroki saw one and reincarnated, then tried to change things, and Shikako then saw the result of the changes before reincarnating herself and starting to make changes to Yuuroki's changes. Which then begs the question of how supremely awful things were before Yuuroki got there... #18,705

Dinner Wow, SI INCEPTION :P That would be something I'd like to read! #18,706

haruaji11 Damn ,that premise sounds really good! What if Yuuroki watch the whole Naruto series and then tries to explain Shikako the madness of things she didn't know because she thought Madara was the ultimate boss of this series.And see the reactions both of them would have when the fourth ninja war happens and neither of those things happen. #18,707

winterofholidays This is where my self insert meets Shikako idea went. Italics is English Sometimes, Shikako wanted to get a normal day, something average, boring, and dull. Except her dream in this life was to be special, and it seems she got the wish granted in spades. As she was eating a bowl at Ichiraku, wishing Naruto were around, a civilian man sat down next to her. Still not too unusual, if a little uncommon for civilians to be willing to be near her these days, or around ninja in general. Then he turns to her and says 'Nara Shikako-san, I am Fuyu Yukimaru. Nice to meet you.' And the world stopped. 'You...' He just spoke English. That means that he knows English. So either there are people in this world that speak it and he learned it from them, or he came from another world that speaks English like me. He obviously did that to test me, and get a reaction out of me, and the pause is too long for a natural response of ignorance. But I do not know who he is, his friends, or his abilities. I stand up and reply 'Sorry, I just lost my appetite.' and begin walking away. Meanwhile I am focusing on his chakra as hard as I can, memorizing it, feeling it carefully, and thoroughly. I don't ever want to be caught off guard by him showing up anywhere. The moment I round the corner, I slip into an alley, and put up my full anbu stealth techniques, and begin waiting and tracking this guy. It seems that he finishes out the meal before remarking scornfully to himself 'Yeah, that went well. Why don't you always approach young girls and introduce yourself? Seems like a wonderful way to make friends.' By this point I have eyes and ears on him. He pushes his palms together and against his face and takes a deep breath before continuing. 'Alright, I don't know how long I've got to live, but the clock is ticking. Time for the next plan. Go to Yamanaka, get mind read, and then disposed of... or Go to Hokage, get interrogated, then mindread, then disposed of... or Go home, and die in a week... Seriously, this girl was about the only chance I had of getting to next month, and I blew it at the first line.' Listening to this guy talk, made it fairly clear he was either a reincarnate like me, and had already blown his cover. Or had been trained in how to act like a reincarnate who had blown his cover. So... now I know that there is at least one more like me, and this guy is one or knows one. I can't let anyone else have him. That's way too dangerous. It's worse than a smashed open gold transport on main street. He stands up, and starts toward the tower. He doesn't make it to the corner. As he walks, I stun him with a tag, and grab him into an alley, and then spirit him away. I have to take him out of the village through an Anbu gate. Then continue on to the rocky training field where Sasuke learned Chidori, and I learned to control storage seals, and manipulate earth jutsu seals. I set up a walled off area with walls slanted in about 8 meter radius. Plenty of room, and if he really is a civilian, he can't get out unless I let him. I set him down, remove the knockout tag, and wake him up. 'Good morning.' He smiles at me while still laying on the ground. 'Who are you?' I begin. 'I am Fuyu Yukimaru. I was born in Oto-futugai 18 years ago. Before that, I was enlisted in the United States Army. Then we went in for a mission, and I came out here. I cannot use chakra. I have no access to sealing knowledge, and cannot activate seals. I can use knives and swords and bows no better than any bandit. I know what is coming, and have no way to stop it. Until you that is.' 'Who do you think I am?' I continue. 'Nara Shikako. A young clan heiress. You know and use English. You are a major point of disruption from the author's plot. You are also my greatest chance of surviving another month.' 'Why are you convinced that you will die so soon?' 'I have a coworker with ninja friends. He might be a Konoha informant, or some other nation. You can never tell. He found my English books. He stole my journal of recollections of my former life history and lessons. Soon, the ninja will connect the writing to your sealing, and then come for me. I fled the moment I found the journal missing. I buried the rest of my books in the woods, and came to Konoha to out myself before I found out who wanted me most.' 'Why me?' 'I was there when Jiraiya and Naruto came. I watched you and Sasuke come to town, and Itachi and Kisame. That was when I took careful notice of you and began to seek information about who you were. Eventually, I got the chance to attend the Grass Chuunin exams, and heard your name, and saw your techniques. When you used that earth manipulation jutsu and mixed explosives into Gaara's sand, I knew that you were the same as me. Only placed better. Or did better.' 'You talk too much' I tell him '...' He doesn't seem to have a come back for that. I back off and sit down to think. He is obviously a security leak. He knows too much, and might be terrible at keeping secrets. Worse, he knows my secrets. So this has everything to do with me. It would be so much easier if he didn't exist. He can ruin everything. I could make him disappear. No matter what I do, he cannot be allowed to be taken by Danzo, and I want to keep him away from my friends, family, everyone really. I look over at where he is still laying down, now staring at the clouds. Am I really going to kill this man for knowing too much about me? Even if he came to me to confess it and ask for help? 'Were you really unable to find anything you could learn to defend yourself properly?' He looks over at me, looks back up, crosses his hands under his head, and sighs 'I don't know anything. I am certain of nothing. This world is a living illusion of conflict so that the real us can be at peace. I've tried many times, to no effect. You ninja are impossible to learn from.' 'Why don't we give it a try?' He sits up, and says okay. I run him through several different chakra control exercises while keeping a diagnostic jutsu on him. His chakra... just does not move. He does the actions, the attempt to focus, but the chakra ignores it all. I guess he really can't manipulate it. I have him do some physical exercise. Then keep watch again. His chakra does not repair him, and did not strengthen him doing the exercises. Just, nothing. 'Huh, I guess you were right. I can't see how you would be able to do anything at all. That's a shame, if you could do something I could see a few ways I could save you, but if you can't do anything...' Honestly, this guy was a little hopeless. Completely restricted to civilian level ability. Trying to make him safe from Danzo, Akatsuki, Konoha, all of the many villians would be impossible. He would never see them coming. Unless... if he'll die anyway... 'Hey... honestly, I don't think I can save you. You will die. And there is nothing I can do about that. However, there is a way you could still be useful and be safe from Danzo.' 'Yeah? What, you are going to Edo Tensei me or something? I guess with the loyalty seals, that would be effective.' 'Hmm, close to that yeah. Not Edo Tensei, Mind-Body Separation Seal. You will become an invisible ghost restricted to a limited area.' And that is how I got myself a loyal ghost spy minion. I really hope he's not a perve, not that it'll matter since he's dead, and no one outside of myself will ever meet him again. #18,708

clmineith Waho, that was a bitch move. loyal ghost spy minion? I'm surprise he doesn't betray her on the principle. Congrat Shikako, way to sjow that you forgot all morality... #18,709

winterofholidays @clmineith That may have been the influence of a Voldemort fic I read this last week. But I really could not see anyway for a SI civilian with blown cover to survive. So, ghosting it is. And anyway with that seal, the person with access to the seal has control over whether he is visible or not, and active or inactive. So once in the seal, there is no route for betrayal excepting if she ever makes him visible to anyone else. #18,710

Dinner hah, i love that snippet :D Great use of the ghost tablet arc #18,711

haruaji11 Hey, new idea: What would have been if instead of being born as the heir of the clan Nara, Shikako was still a Nara but from the civilian part of the clan? #18,712

winterofholidays @haruaji11 Okay, I may need some time to put something together for that idea. Shikako as a civilian no chakra oversensitivity not a sickly child still shy as all get out motivated by fear of the Kyuubi? no, she wouldn't feel it so strongly without the sensor ability so then, a lazy Nara who cannot use chakra and is healthy or a motivated Nara for whom using chakra is too painful and is sickly would she be content as a Nara farmer tending herds of deer, researching medical uses of plants, making ointments? would she be a writer? entertainment stories for kids, teenagers, adults medical literature, scientific treatise would she open a shop? selling books, food, and coffee? I don't know yet which incarnation of Civilian!Kako would show her character best. Maybe the combination of writer and coffee bookshop owner. I know that there are posts around here about her publishing works from our world selectively. However I would like her to be imagined as someone not copying over our works, but creating her own stories, telling important themes for their world. #18,713

donahermurphy The divide between in-village Nara who have gone to the Academy and out-village civillian Nara who run the local farm is probably pretty big. Actually, I wonder if there are smaller Nara libraries (and some opportunities to learn certain techniques with the medical herbs) associated with the various farms. If Danzo bothered to think about all the out-Village connections/opportunities the Nara have, I don't think he'd like it very much at all. #18,714

Mac Ceallach Hey, new idea: What would have been if instead of being born as the heir of the clan Nara, Shikako was still a Nara but from the civilian part of the clan? From Chapter 1, when they're discussing whether or not to send Shikako to the Academy: "Why don't you stay here for a moment, so we can go down to Shogakko to fill in your enrollment." "Shogakko...?" I repeated blindsided. Shogakko. The civilian elementary school. It was... very very rare for a Nara to go there. Even those of the clan that didn't go on to be ninja usually went through the Academy. "I'm... not going to the Academy?" The Nara are a ninja clan. Even if they don't actually wind up working in the shinobi forces, they get the basic training. And she had the option of being a civilian, and seriously considered it, and decided against it because she didn't want to be helpless in the face of what she knew was coming. Civilians died easily in the story. I don't think the daughter-of-the-clan-head thing really impacted her decision. She could have been a branch Nara born to non-ninja parents, or even born to non-clan civilians, and she'd still have become a ninja. To get her to choose to not fight, you'd probably have to write her as not knowing the future at all. Which could be an interesting story, don't get me wrong. What would Shikako have been if she'd never read Naruto, but was born into the story anyway? #18,715

Slab I got the impression that there were several "branch families"That at the very least owed fealty to the Nara that lived around the Land of Fire. At the very least that what I'm imagining SHiako probably still figures out how to manipulate chakra while she's young. What is the protocol then? She has the skill to become a Ninja and is a Nara so it's likely that she's at least partially expected to go to Konoha, but it is also likely that traditionally people in situations similar to her are trained by the Fire Temple. Where does she go? Better than that does her family have the clot to take her to Konoha and its' amazing hospital or are they forced to find another answer? Shikako has less cultural propaganda pushing her to be a ninja and even less opportunity to become one but she still has her future knowledge and her Chakra sense that makes manipulating it easier. I have so many questions! What are her options? How are the civilian Nara seen by other civilians? Does she still have a twin to pace herself with or does she accidentally out herself as a 'genius'? I like this. #18,716

Devil-O-Angel I imagine her being a writer. At first it started as a way to remember the stories she loved back home so much and so as not forget, but someone found it and managed to get it to a publisher... as a rough draft so she involuntarily became a writer under a fake name. She might have lost trust with that person along the way. But she then started to write more and maybe wrote 'fairy tales' based on the Naruto characters. Like you know the one where she is in Root and came up with the ogre story and trials. So she gives 'hints' but the thing is that they are fairy tales and may or may not be related to real life people the shinobi know. I remember that some OC/SI did this and somehow had her found and her family killed because of the stories... but no one should really connect anything because they are obscure and can not be a spy or something. Stories from our world along with fairy tales based on Naruto characters and events that can be anything, not connected to them at all. #18,717

haruaji11 Wow,so many great ideas got here! Like the first chapter said, even the Nara's who are civilians go to the ninja academy but if in this scenario she would still be chackra sensitive ,i think ,so instead of giving her a chance they would refuse and just put her in the civilian school? Idk.One thing I'm worrying about is Shikako's personality since we know during her 'baby years" she only copied what Shikamaru or her parents do so how Shikako would be if instead of that, she was borm from,least say,as a single baby froma single mom who doesnt have enough time to expend with her daughter, without a sibiling Shikako would act more mature for her age and would be even more shy around people. #18,718

haruaji11 I love the idea of bookwriter! Shikako! In fact, I love any idea that involves Shikako bringing cultural things from her past life like food or stories so she can try to make a little better the complicsted and sometimes exhausted that may is living in a ninja village. #18,719