#ABOUT: SHIKAMARU NARA.

[girls-with-boys-names]

Redrew that one scene from Princess Mononoke with Shikamaru and Temari bc I fucking love them 🙈

I also had to make an meme bc we all know how he’d really respond 😂

[imsosleepyofyourbull]

I firmly believe that Kabru is autistic but masks so hard that he’s convinced himself and (almost) everyone around him that he’s neurotypical.

That man’s special interest is people and how they work, but he just thinks it’s him Being So Good At Socializing — like he doesn’t spend 95% of his time people watching and adjusting his personality in response to the traits he witnesses and obsessing over the intricacies of human interaction while mapping an ever growing relationship chart in his head. For fun. He even admits it in the manga!

Like, look at him!!!

It’s such a shame that — because he’s the narrative foil to Laios and his interest is generally considered more “socially acceptable” in both their world and our own — more people don’t realize this about him. He’s constantly misinterpreted as a horribly manipulative person who only acts the way he does to use the people around him, when that’s explicitly shown to not be the case at all. Kabru is naturally empathetic and is almost always thinking about other people, regardless of whether or not they’re right there with him or a thousand miles away.

I mean, his most defining motivation is his desire to do everything he can to avoid another tragedy like the one at Utaya. Someone who doesn’t care wouldn’t have a goal like that, and they most certainly wouldn’t go about it the way he does. He’s constantly working to help people who can help everyone else and tries so hard to make sure that anyone who seems like a threat is actually someone he needs to worry about before doing anything about it. His supposed aversion to Laios is only because of the ridiculous trolley problem he’s set up in his own head.

Outside of that, he (rather justifiably) hates monsters but is desperate to understand Laios’ love for them and his apparently most selfish goal in getting close to the guy was literally just to become friends with him.

When he’s interacting with the canaries and they imply that they’re going to take him and all of his friends to the West, his first thought is of Rin and how much she’d hate to be stuck in the place that gave her so many bad memories.

He helps Kuro learn Common when Mickbell is asleep and firmly looks forward to the day that the half-foot and Kuro can communicate properly so that their relationship can get properly started without any miscommunication.

And he understands Mithrun with only a handful of weeks AT BEST interacting with him, getting enraged when the elf seems to give up and immediately trying to help him find a new motivation for life.

I’m excited just thinking about the day that Kabru starts unmasking more and more around his friends — both new and old — because if being with my current friend group has taught me anything, it’s that hanging out with anyone so unabashedly themselves is bound to make you more comfortable with yourself too. It’s part of the reason why I like Labru so much! There’s something nice about imagining them hanging out in the throne room or laying in the grass outside and talking for hours on end about their special interests. They might not strictly understand what the other finds so fascinating about monsters or people, but they can grasp that shared feeling of love.

They probably influence each other in really good ways too, with Kabru helping Laios figure out what people are thinking even when it doesn’t make sense or Laios helping Kabru understand that not everyone and everything needs to be analyzed a thousand times over. They both get to learn that there are people like them and people who will love them without them ever having to change a thing about themselves. They deserve to know that they’re fine the way they are.

[leiandroid]

yakuza au

ok fam this au is now separated from my previous inohina yakuza/bratva au. had to fly the girls back to japan and they got a whole new backstory ! big wall of text incoming ↓↓↓

-- uchiha clan

a clan that was once powerful but was slowly eating itself from the inside. rife with internal conflict and distrust, key figures sought to strengthen the clan and each had an idea of how to bring about that change, though no two could come to an agreement on a single method. tensions amongst the ranks began to fracture the uchiha.

taking advantage of the power struggle, madara, with the hopes of seizing total control, ignites a spark that quickly turns into a bloodbath. many low level thugs employed by the uchiha flee the compound as each key figure and their loyal followers battle it out until so few are left standing it could barely be called a clan anymore.

the power vacuum left behind by the dissolution of the uchiha has created an extremely volatile environment in the crime world as different yakuza families seek to claim the uchiha’s previously held operations and territory.

-- hebi

sick of the endless politics and weakening bonds amongst the clan, sasuke left to forge his own path. as punishment for leaving the clan itachi takes his eye.

he had never expected that the power struggles within the uchiha would lead to a massacre. so when he heard about the bloodbath occurring inside the uchiha compound, he rushed home to save his parents from a grim fate. but was too late when he witnessed itachi kill them by his own blade.

sasuke quickly enacted revenge by killing itachi and when the dust settled and madara emerged as victor, sasuke turned his blade on him too and snuffed out the flame of the uchiha forever.

karin is an ex-cop that was the uchiha's informant within the police. she brokers deals and negotiations on behalf of sasuke. she is his mouthpiece, so to speak.

sasuke is also seeking two who were once allies/friends. suigetsu who had always dreamed to join the seven swordsmen's guild, and juugo a talented and brutal fighter who dominates the underground fighting scene.

together he hopes to form a small mercenary group for hire.

-- inoshikacho alliance / inoshikacho rengo

one of the first yakuza family alliances ever made going back generations. inoshin yamanaka, chosuke akimichi and shikanazai nara where the first of each clan to join the families into an alliance that has since become one of the strongest and long-lasting alliances in yakuza history.

at the age of 25 each member of the alliance is to have at least two children to ensure the next generation of the inoshikacho alliance grow up together and are trained to take on the mantle for the sake of the alliance's future. this also ensures that at least 3 generations are alive at any one time (if they don't meet an early grave that is).

the yamanaka run brothels, which act as a communication and information network. every girl is hand picked by ino or by trusted subordinates and trained in the art of seduction and information gathering. the yamanaka have large underground garden operations that cultivate plants for poisons with all kinds of effects and traceability, from the quick and painless to the slow and destructive.

akimichi control entertainment districts, money laundering operations and run the largest underground fighting scene. money flowing in and out of casinos and other avenues are fully controlled by the akimichi.

the nara are drug traffickers that control market price and distribution.

-- hyuuga clan / hyuuga kai

the strongest and most notorious yakuza in all of japan. their efficiency in all that they do make them a fierce clan. when the clanhead was found dead, many other groups thought this was finally the crack in the hyuuga shield and made moves to try and see if they could challenge their authority. but the second daughter stepped into place and ordered everyone in within a certain radius of the hyuuga estate dead.

if they thought hyuuga hiashi was a ruthless leader, hanabi, in one day alone, managed to put herself up as one of the deadliest and horrifying yakuza leaders in recent history.

their efficiency in the business and economics sector, as well as having ties within governmental and political bodies, makes them a very powerful clan with many branching factions reaching far and wide across the country.

someone, somewhere, always answers to a hyuuga.

-- neji hyuuga (tian)

after hizashi failed to protect the hyuuga leader's eldest daughter, he had to pay with his life in front of his only son.

watching his father commit seppuku and then swiftly beheaded by hiashi in front of the elders and close family, stuck with neji his whole life. he made a silent vow to exact revenge on hiashi. the bitterness in his heart made living amongst the hyuuga a slow acting poison. his hate for hiashi became stronger than his love for his father and he could never look upon a picture of hizashi anymore because his face was the face of his enemy.

neji bided his time for years and years until one fateful night he murdered hiashi in cold blood and fled the hyuuga estate. he made his way towards mainland china with some aid from a contact in the chinese triads. he disappeared for many years living amongst a guild of killers and started going by the name tian.

his next order of business was to find the abducted daughter that caused the death of his father and kill her himself.

-- hinata hyuuga (makoto)

the abducted hyuuga heir, taken from the hyuuga clan at a very young age. makoto lives her life as a simple woman, adopted by an elderly couple in the countryside, unaware of who she is or where she comes from.

when a 'chinese' man that bears an uncanny resemblance to her shows up at her cottage one day, calling her a name that does not belong to her, her life is flipped on its head and she finds herself plunged into the underbelly of society.

-- chinese triads / pirates

tenten is a weapons smuggler. though she is affiliated with the chinese triads, she smuggles and trades weapons for anyone that buys them, as her true loyalty is to money.

tenten's operations are done by sea and she has control over a small fleet of boats that answer to her. other than a port owned by the triads, she has claimed a small remote island as her home and base of operations.

she was also neji's contact that helped him sail the seas to mainland china after he murdered hiashi.

-- korean mafia

kiba is an animal trafficker. he acquires exotic animals for their ivory/fur/leather as well as selling them alive to the wealthy for their collections and keeps.

he has sold exotic birds to the yamanaka for their gardens. gathered all manner of cervidae antlers from around the world for the nara's collection. has captured the most venomous snakes known to mankind for several organisations, including certain individuals of the uchiha family. has also sold a number of species of animals for tenten for her island.

he is generally in good graces with all kinds of people/groups due to his connections and ability to acquire the even the most endangered and rare species in the world.

-- suna siblings

kankuro and temari own a small medical clinic. kankuro is a general family doctor. people come to him for check-ups and simple treatments and minor operations. temari handles all the logistics, and appears as the clinic's secretary. they have 3 nurses: matsuri, yukata, mikoshi.

kankuro is also a certified surgeon and operates on all sorts of gang members in the hidden basement operation room. matsuri has been trusted to help kankuro with these operations when needed. their practice offers complete discretion and the clinic has become off-bounds for any gang violence, even if rivalling groups happen to meet each other on the premises. they enter a truce for as long as they are within a certain radius of the clinic.

the brother and sister duo are a respected, unaffiliated group, and they also use their operations to get clues on their brother's whereabouts.

gaara was kidnapped at a young age and was tortured to the point that psychosis was induced. he is held in the same place as juugo and both are used in fights that many come to pay dearly to watch and bet on.

-- police

with his parents killed and taken from his home, naruto was raised by a gang who kidnaps boys to beat and torture, and train them into savage fighters. he dreamed for a life where he could see the sun and the sea, to eat a hot bowl of ramen once again.

when a police investigation finally bore fruit, naruto was rescued from the place. he was taken in by iruka, one of the cops, and eventually followed in his footsteps. he made a promise that he would find and save the redhead that had once clung to him down in those dark cells.

tsunade is chief of police. sai is a detective. lee is a chinese detective commissioned by the chinese police to go to japan to work alongside the tokyo metropolitan police dept to follow the chinese triads operations in japan. (or is it the hosting country that commissions?? anyway) a number of jonin from naruto are also police including: kakashi, yamato, genma, anko, etc etc.

-- sakura

sakura is the head of a large hospital that was once tied up with the uchiha who used her as an in for smuggling medical supplies. she was called upon as their emergency doctor to treat key figures when needed.

upon hearing about their massacre she felt total relief that the family threatening her life were finally gone. she thought she was free from them when a certain uchiha and 2 others showed up at her door demanding treatment.

she can't say she was happy to be back in such a predicament but it seemed that this uchiha didn't have a penchant for threatening her life as his family did. and for selfish reasons, she was okay with this arrangement.

-- the aburame

a family of assassins. their efficiency and untraceable methods make them a highly coveted group of hitmen whose services are sold to the highest bidder. the aburame have close ties with the yamanaka of the inashikacho alliance as they outsource some of their poisons from the yamanaka gardens.

even though the yamanaka, akimichi, and nara families formed an alliance generations ago, this agreement between the yamanaka and aburame remains a secret from the rest of the alliance.

the aburame are a completely neutral party and the yamanaka understands this. to pay for their secrecy and treachery towards their sworn brothers, the yamanaka accept that if a hit were ordered against their own, it wouldn't affect their business with the aburame.

if u read all this many hugs and kisses mwah

[rokudaimeplease]

"Maybe... Next time... We can... Go get a bite to eat." "You mean a date?" "Huh?!"

[pikiikimaro]

Posting here cause um >_< shameless self promo

I have preorders in my shop rn..! Some gaalee things and some other character things!! Yay💕

My shop closes Nov. 29 so I can have these all made and shipped out hopefully before February! And to anyone outside the us… sorry about shipping,,,

[parawhore-mp3]

Recognise the movie?

Don't mind me, I'm just on my way to rewatch this movie while imagining them in it instead.

[theylovevenus]

Doing an artstyle study in the funniest way imaginable

[tora-the-cat]

Shikadai: So what's the deal with my dad and that Sasuke guy you're obsessed with? Boruto: What? Shikadai: Yeah like. I think my dad hates him. Boruto: What! Why! Sasuke's awesome! HEY UNCLE SHIKAMARU! YOU DON'T LIKE SASUKE??? Shikamaru: Hm....He's not my favorite person, I suppose, but I understand his position in the village and respect his friendship with Naruto. Shikadai: Okay, but why don't you like him? Shikamaru, trying not to think about Sasuke's traitorous ass being the reason all of his friends almost died: He was the cause of some severe complications I faced on my first mission as a chunnin, and I guess I've never had reason to talk to him since his return. It really isn't that big a deal, kids. Temari: Oh, now this I've gotta hear, come on. I've been curious about your avoidance of the Uchiha anyway, haha. Shikamaru, suddenly remembering that Gaara ALSO almost died on that mission: Um. I think the hokage needs me for. something. Actually

[ymir8kin0]

shikatema x 10 things i hate about you au‼️

I confess that I didn't really like this drawing and I tried to improve it as much as possible, but that's it (isn't shikamaru reminding me of suguro geto?!?!

[littlest-god]

A-hem, It's important for everyone to know that, Following the naruto worlds rules of reincarnation, I truly believe Shikamaru is Tobirama senjus reincarnation.

[rainyleafy]

Some doodles ft. Lil Sasuke

[jajajaquefunny]

I feel like sometimes we forget about the age difference between Shikamaru and Temari, I mean even though it's only 3 years, I feel like Temari was 100% getting made fun of by Kankuro and Shikamaru definitely got some comments from Naruto and Kiba. (They wouldn't dare say something in front of Temari though)

[watermelonsloth]

naruto was the hokage but shikamaru was the one running konoha all the time, so it was like naruto wasn't really the hokage but the face. he was there to fight and play the hero but never to run anyone. he would just say “put the police at my house on watch” but nothing else (he's the ninja with the best sensory abilities in the world but the poor guy couldn't handle it).

a hokage needs to be someone outside to protect the village like the trump card. no one chooses a weak hokage no matter how good a leader he may be, he needs to have some defensive skills. that's why they even have two assistants/advisors. for naruto it was shikamaru the main one and then shizune who lived for two reigns, but shizune was removed to put her as sakura's assistant instead.

a hokage needs to be a konoha shinobi and needs to go through all ninja stages genin (beginner), chunin (team leaders above average ninja) and jonin (military large scale leaders and elite ninja). naruto left, he's good a talk-no-jutsu and he wanted to surpass the other kage and be acknowledged and he did.

shikamaru, sakura, rock lee, neji (rip), temari and hanabi, the main konoha jonin have these skills. team ebisu too but they're frauds who are very weak.

shikamaru made it to jonin which means he's cut out for military level leadership, so hundreds and thousands of people. he is made to lead others to victory, to save people if his friends help him with their combat capabilities. that is why he is an excellent advisor, he relies on others while he's the mastermind.

idk if you read boruto but having a weak hokage is the reason why konoha is doing so extremely bad right now. shikamaru is an amazing leader, the best in konoha, but he is physically weak and in real combat he is useless unless he already knows his enemy's abilities and has some good teammates to help him. he should have stayed as advisor and have the hokage be kakashi again or better sakura, who has the most powerful defensive ability in the world with katsuyu (the village will be destroyed pain level).

sasuke is a good choice. he has been a good leader of taka, he's the strongest shinobi in the world next to naruto and he's also leader material but only in battle. sasuke doesn't have the patience to talk to daimyo or do business, inaugurate a building, take pictures, etc. he fights for others but he is not cut out to lead an evacuation without jumping right into the action. he's not cut out for a chair either, neither were naruto or kakashi for that matter (kakashi always begged to leave his office). they're men of action.

he would be great if he also wasn't too haunted by his previous ideals of what hokage meant and moved forward (kishimoto's sasuke would move on) but he's also the kind of man that wouldn't do it alone unless it's with naruto or his teammates, like he does now as shadow hokage.

and while sakura is also a woman of action, she's more cut out to be hokage. not just because her two masters are hokage, but also because her training and her lifestyle are more suited for combat and office duties. she's used to working in a hospital since she finished her training with tsunade and was already vaunted as the top 3 as a teenager, to handling tsunade's paperwork while she was hokage, to being present in the office when important matters had to be discussed and giving her opinion, she founded her own mental health clinic so she knows how to handle for the public, etc.

she also made it to jonin, the only k12 with shikamaru and rock lee, which contrary to her chunin comrades who lead small teams of 4 to 5 shinobi, the three are military leaders. sakura is one of 4 (counting temari) who can lead and protect a village. they're large scale leaders and sakura was already aiding shizune handle the several injured in her camp, and when she was promoted she was already leading teams of medics she chose on her own. she's currently the head of a whole department and a hospital full of people. she's leading a mini konoha inside the walls of the hospital, inside her office but also acting on her duties herself.

also, kishimoto said of team 7 sakura would be the best instructor.

I’m gonna assume that this is a response to my post about Naruto not being a good leader and that you sent this as an ask because you wanted a response of some kind. If not, feel free to ignore this.

Here are my ramblings about the Hokage and what I think makes a good one.

Just to make my thought process easier to understand, I’m gonna do a quick rundown of what I interpret the responsibilities of the Hokage to be. (Keep in mind, I’m taking this from the Naruto manga, a little from Boruto, and nothing from the novels.) Because I’m American and this is the easiest way for me to wrap my head around how the village works, I think of the Hokage as being a mix of the shogun from when Japan had shogunates and the president. So, basically: they have full or mostly full control of the military, they (theoretically) answer to the daimyo, they don’t make or pass laws but they play a large role in enforcing them, they aren’t diplomats but they are expected to maintain relations and support major political alliances, they are public figures both to represent Konoha/the Land of Fire and to act as deterrents to war (and thus can’t be pushovers in skill or personality), they decide how dissenters are dealt with, they’re responsible for maintaining national security, they command forces during war time, they stay in the village to protect it against threat, etc. etc. etc.

TL;DR A good Hokage is someone who’s good at politics, a skilled military commander, and isn’t someone people want to fuck with.

For the most part, the Hokage fit this well.

Hashirama is a charismatic leader who was commanding the Senju clan for who knows how long before building the village, and he’s so strong that he can get away with his goofball antics. Plus, we know from his fight against Madara at the Valley of the End that he is not a pushover, knows when it’s time to get serious, and is absolutely not afraid to be ruthless.

Tobirama is Tobirama. He’s far from being a pushover, seems like a Lyndon-Johnson-esque political leader who’s willing to step on a few toes and use intimidation if he deems it necessary, has about as much experience as a shinobi as Hashirama and likely acted as a general during the warring states era, and even if he isn’t as strong as his brother, he’s still smart enough and has enough variety in his skillset that most shinobi aren’t gonna want to fight him.

Hiruzen is liked by the people of Konoha (and probably the daimyo) and is strong enough to protect the village in case of an emergency. However, it also seems like he isn’t a good leader and doesn’t bring the intimidation factor a Hokage should (at least from what we’ve seen, this could’ve been different when he was in his prime). I think he got away with lacking in those areas for three reasons: 1. Konoha had many jounin/rising shinobi who were more competent leaders than him (the three sannin, Sakumo, Minato, Fugaku, Shikaku, etc.) who could cover for his failings on the field. 2. Hiruzen was following Hashirama and Tobirama (two stronger and much more intimidating Hokage), so villages would’ve been hesitant about messing with Konoha even if Hiruzen wasn’t a walking deterrent like they were. 3. Danzo covered his weaknesses (say what you want about him, but Danzo was the head of anbu, knew how to get what he wanted, and had enough of a presence that even Tsunade didn’t want to get in his way too much).

I think I’ve made my point enough that I don’t need to get into Minato and Tsunade, so let’s get back on topic and talk about the characters you brought up.

I’ve already mentioned that I don’t think Naruto would make a good Hokage. He’s definitely strong enough that defending the village/intimidating other nations wouldn’t be a problem and with some more maturing I can see him being able to act as a political figure, but I’ve already said that he isn’t much of a leader and I doubt he’ll ever not get restless being cooped up in the village doing the day-to-day work.

When it comes to Sasuke, I think that he could be Hokage since he meets all of the requirements, but he wouldn’t be the best because of his personality. I think he could be a reasonably good public figure and handle the more tedious parts of being Hokage fine, if he thought they were important. If he thought they were necessary or would have a positive impact, he could do all of those things fine; but he probably wouldn’t bother with them at all if he didn’t see the point. There’s also a problem with what he would find important because, like Naruto, he tends to treat important matters as personal responsibilities. That’s fine if he’s off wandering the world alone or if he’s on a small team, but that doesn’t work if he’s supposed to be running an entire system’s worth of people.

Shikamaru and Sakura would make bad candidates for similar reasons. Yes, they both meet certain requirements and I can see why people think they’d work—both can be very charismatic when they need to be and they take charge when the situation calls for it or they’re personally motivated to, Shikamaru is probably the best strategist in the series, and Sakura has the strength and skills to protect the village in case of emergency—but people also tend to overestimate how much charge they actually take. Shikamaru only acts as a leader when he’s ordered to and when Asuma died; Sakura only acts as a leader when nobody else can or will. They also both tend to abandon those leadership positions as soon as someone they think is more qualified steps up to the plate. Basically, they’re both too much of pushovers to act as Hokage (hence why I think they work much better as enforcers or advisors). If either were to be Hokage, it would have to be a Hiruzen situation where they have someone right next to them to cover their blind spots.

(Also, I’m not sure why you brought up Kishimoto saying that Sakura would be the best teacher of team seven because that’s a fundamentally different career path.)

As for Kakashi, I’d actually say that he makes a damn good Hokage. He has years of experience working closely with previous Hokage and leading different teams, he has the notoriety to act as a deterrent, he has the skill to protect the village, he knows how to get (very important) people to listen to him, he knows when and how to make difficult decisions, he takes charge at a moments notice, he maintains self control and levelheadedness under pressure, he asks for second opinions and knows when he can/should rely on others, he is stubborn in his beliefs but he still knows how to compromise, and he’s incredibly smart. He knocks it out of the park in all categories, even personality. If I had to choose someone to be Hokage in Naruto’s place, it would be Kakashi. The main issue with him being Hokage is that he doesn’t want to be the Hokage.

[fruitsalad03]

Naruto No.312 | The Impending Menace!!

[southside-otaku]

Do yall ever just have an unexpected anime character like SAVE you? Like they’ve become your comfort in a way you never expected and also like a spirit guide?

I know we’ve all got our comfort characters and husbando/waifu characters but like a character that is like your spiritual hubby/wifey/just overall comfort character? I am a no judgement zone so please don’t be afraid to say anything fr!

[juhihuji]

hi hi! silly question! i was going through your blog as one does looking for choji art and i saw your old shikamaru sprites! i was wondering what happened with that project you were doing? : )

oooh I'm glad you asked!! I redid the sprite cuz I didn't like it before and I'm diligently working on finishing the VN it's for! Well as much as I can .w. it'll be free for everyone to read when I'm done but it's gonna take a bit!