#i think anko would hate her actually

[mixelation]

tori being all "i'm not like other girls. i don't need orochimaru's approval. maybe everyone else does but i'm better than that" and then sabotages his entire lab and leaves behind a completely unnecessary dramatic break up note ("dear sensei, i'm afraid this relationship is no longer mutually beneficial and i've outgrown you <3") because very unfortunately she DOES want his attention

[acrid-wondrland]

Random TokyoRev Headcanons

🔑Mikey's favorite flavor is anko(red bean). Taiyaki, dorayaki, mochi, etc. It doesn't matter, it has to have anko filling. Fave ice cream flavor? Anko. What does he ask for on his halo halo when he and Izana go visit the Phillipines? Extra red bean.

🔪Yuzuha Is an unofficial member of Toman. The uniform she wears isn't her school's uniform, it's a custom one in Toman colors that Mitsuya made for her. She doesn't wear the ribbon around her neck anymore because once when she got in a fight someone grabbed it and nearly cost her the fight. The only reason she isn't an official member despite Mikey insistence, since she's a pretty decent fighter, is because she hates violence due to her childhood.

😵Shion is afraid of heights.

🚚Kisaki can't smoke because he has asthma. Every time he went to the Valhalla Arcade to talk strategy, he always made Hanma come outside to the back of the building so he doesn't die from the secondhand smoke. Hanma thinks it's funny.

🚬Hanma is left-handed. Also didn't get his Sin and Punishment tattoos bc of the Dostoevsky novel but because of the Nintendo 64 game lmao.

🎴Izana wants to learn how to play every Gackt song on his acoustic guitar.

💤Ran has dated more foreign girls than Japanese girls. Mostly Singaporean(a lot of rich Singaporeans club in Roppongi), Russian(a lot of Russian models come to Japan for work), and Korean(A lot of Korean tourists due to proximity) girls. He wants to try and date a French girl someday (he romanticizes Paris and France like a lot of young Japanese ppl do). He's enamored with foreign pop culture and is in his Passport Bro era lmaoooo, it's why he wants to be a foreign celebrity. And it's easy for him to find foreign girls to date bc Roppongi is popular with foreigners in general.

🎶Rindou is secretly a huge romantic and feels extremely pressured to be a playboy bc of his and his brothers' reputation. A lot of things most boyfriends would find a pain in the ass to do, Rindou actually looks forward to doing for his future girlfriend one day.

💊Sanzu: "While u were out partying w da Haitanis, I studied the blade."

jk jk but I hc that's he's actually a chuunibyou, he just hides it really well. Has whole shonen manga monologues in his head.

🐉Draken dawg HATES anko w a passion and can't stand it. Mikey's love for it is torture to him.

👠Inupi i saw a hc once that his red flag is that he's rude to the waitstaff and I laughed for 5 min straight because why can I see it???? lmao???

That aside I hc that he loves swimming and water in general. Like, in the timelines he ends up being a Yakuza he definitely made sure his penthouse had the fanciest infinity pool complete with custom lights, heating, a built in stone wall on the side that has a flatscreen TV, different connected sections w different elevations, etc.

💴Koko is half Chinese, from his mom's side. She's from the mainland, specifically Henan province and born in it's capital Zhengzhou. He's very proud of his heritage.

---

Anyone got any matching hcs lol?

[mandiips]

BORUTO-VERSE RE-IMAGINING

Fourth War Casualties

New Konoha

Hello Boruto fandom, Never once watched Boruto, never even got past the Kazekage Rescue Arc, personally I think Ikemoto is a bit off his rocker because- how in the world did you manage to make this world even MORE sexist but y'know

so I'm having fun with what i would have liked to see in the next gen, as an original fan, and I am desperately trying to get rid of the ninja brainworms that have gripped me before workflow picks back up. (I'm actually going crazy on Milanotes)

I did some other rough brainstorming in the past and this is kinda building off that: Boruto Hinata

Thoughts:

It strikes me as really odd, for how catastrophic and world-ending the fourth war was, that there were seemingly no major repercussions or casualties. That's just not realistic to me. More than one main character should've died. It gives more emotional weight to someone like Kiba, who doesn't have any big role beyond the War, and thus gives his character a purpose that isn't just "Im gonna be Hokage #57"

The front lines weren't the only places being targeted, villages and safe houses were under siege, resulting in countless civilian, genin, and chunin deaths.

Mei stays Mizukage instead of that spineless, random guy.

I have some ideas for the injuries that the "crippling wounds" category sustains, but it's important to mention that "crippling" only means "not fit for active shinobi duty" since that's the bread and butter job of ninja society, so the severity of the injuries varies greatly.

I'm also aware that medical ninjutsu is like a magic eraser when it comes to stuff like that, but I rationalize that medics were more concerned about helping their patients survive rather than making sure their patients will be able to fully recover. Everyone in the injured category went too long without the proper surgery because they wanted civilians and lower ranks to have access first. Even then, the medical team was stretched extremely thin, so- consequences.

Retired: again, in context of "retired from shinobi duty". Majority still have active jobs. Alongside T&I, Ino still runs her flower shop; Tenten sets up a weapons shop right next to it; Shizune is the volunteer hospital head, meaning she doesn't get paid much, and tutors/helps/does paperwork (Sakura is a top medic who occasionally visits for emergencies- she's mostly busy with medical-related missions); Kurenai and The Boys™ teach at the academy; Karui's teammate, Omoi, moved with her to Konoha and he is now the best babysitter in town- though really he mostly looks after Chōch�� and Shikadai when their parents are busy. He lives with Karui and her family, they're like siblings.

Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon were all trained under Naruto during the blank period. However, Moegi was the only one able to reach her full potential because she managed to escape the War with no major wounds. She is now currently stronger than Canon Konohamaru Sensei was.

Marriages:

Nara Shikamaru & Nara Temari

Akimichi Choji & Akimichi Karui

Yamanaka Ino & Yamanaka Sai

Uchiha Sasuke & Haruno Sakura

Shinki, Mitsuki, and Kagura were all part of a Transfer Student Project. All willingly went, All are now full citizens.

I really didn't see Metal or any of the other evicted teammates serving a purpose to the Narrative.. Maybe Metal still exists in the future, the others I do not care about I'm sorry.

I just fucking hate Inojin

Kawaki was adopted when Boruto was around one (1) and a half. Himawari wasn't conceived yet.

Jonin Sensei and Teams:

Team Four (4): Shino, Sarada, Kawaki, Boruto

Team Eight (8): Karui, Iwabe, Kagura, Shikadai

Team Seven (7): Anko, Sai, Shinki, Sumire, Chōchō, Mitsuki

[sporksaber]

If hiruzen (and danzo bc if he was alive itd be him or a puppet hokage he controlls) did die two decades earlier who would become the fifth hokage after Minato died? Like, Kakashi would be too young and inexperienced, they couldn't allow a clan head to do it, and the sannin had all dipped.

Depending on the timeline you use (bc I think there was retconning/unreliable information) orochimaru could have still been around. (If you use anko's age, he had to of been in the village when naruto was born. Anko is 24, was a genin between the ages of 10 to 12, and didn't catch orochimafu's attention until her first chunin exam. So it was at most 13 years before the start of naruto when she recieved her curse mark.)

Orochimaru becomes hokage and raises naruto au.

Cannon plays out with orochimaru still in the village until naruto is born, at which point there's some bullshittery that leads to hiruzen dying. As he dies he names orochimaru his heir under the condition he raises naruto (this condition may or may not be secret blood/soul binding jutsu enforced. Whichever ends up being funnier).

Orochimaru looks at little infant naruto and is like, I hate you and your father, and then carries him off to go claim his hat.

Now, I headcannon orochimaru as being kind of shit at administrative work entirely because he's never done it before and obviously none of hiruzen or Minato advisors want to support him. So he's not having a great time.

Cue his secret root research buddy danzo popping up to try to blackmail him. This lasts about two hours of orochimaru playing along before he kills him and is done with it.

At some point durring the early days of orochimaru settling into his position and dealing with the work that goes into rebuilding a destroyed village mikoto pops up at his house like where is my godson. And orochimaru let's her in and then she's like oh my madara you built him an actual nursery, I expected to find him in a closet. Orochimaru wats to be offended, but he did try that at first.

It is a number of months until orochimaru is able to properly get back into root, at which point, much to his disgust, naruto has started crawling. Orochimaru is still a shit person but he's been distracted away from his immortality bullshit. I'm going to say he was definitly dabbling in curse marks before this but whether or not he put one on anko yet is hard to decide.

Regardless, Anko is frequently forced to babysit naruto and is pissed about it.

But back to root, orochimaru has a moment where he decides that he's not hiruzen or Minato and the nice village act is unnecessary. So he just folds all the parts of root into the corresponding legitimate divisions of the village. Hiding shit is unnecessary when you're a military dictator. Are there division heads who are horrified by all the shit that was going on that they didn't know about (but they know hiruzen and most likly Minato did)? Yep. But what are they gonna say about it? (Especially when it's decades old?) So orochimaru does continue his experiments and some are genuinly horrible, although there is less done on orphans as a side affect of it not being as hidden anymore.

[A note before I continue, I'm not considering the madara rabbit goddess stuff here. It's too complicated and the kind of arc I personally always skip.]

Back to the Uchiha. The lack of people actively trying to screw them over means their social status in the village is much better than it was before. Itachi is probably still pulled into anbu very young, and I think he'd eventually become orochimaru's apprentice. He also hates orochimaru, but that's besides the point. Orochimaru allows it because he still doesn't like administrative shit and eventually plans to go back to his experiments full time. If he didn't have a point to prove he'd of bailed already. Itachi ends up in the assistant position fanon sakura often ends up in for tsunade and Kakashi where they make sure the paperwork is actually done and no extreme diplomatic issue pops up due to their sensei's shit personality.

Speaking of tsunade, she defs comes to visit after the first few years. She kind of ends up just getting into constant arguments with orochimaru (who probably uses toddler/very young child naruto to mess with her often) and reorganize the hospital before leaving again. Jiraya takes longer to visit. He probs had an argument with orochimaru early on, and jiraya is being stubborn while orochimaru knows he'll crawl back eventually.

What else do I need to cover? Naruto loves his wierd pale dad (who does not let him call him dad under any circumstances). He ends up living a very comfortable life. Orochimaru's parenting style is very science based so he never needs anything physically and all the emotional needs are met by mikoto and to a lesser extent anko and Kakashi (who was put on guard duty fir like a week when there was a kyubi kidnaping threat and then just never left). He gets to grow up besties with Sasuke, and does very well in the restructured academy (because the Canon academy doesn't really teach shit and orochimaru made it include harder and more spread out topics with the option of specialization) as he now has a support network to work with his needs.

Anyone who knows me knows sakura is my favorite character. She thrives under the new academy and is able to have all her strengths worked on to the point she's on par or better than naruto and Sasuke when they're put on a team together. (I imagine teams are planned I'm advance to a certain extent. I always find reasoning people give for sakura to be on their team really fun.)

Sasuke is still a dick, but without the trauma and with his mom to put him in his place. Also, like in the manga, he has a bit of reciprocation for sakura's crush (which isn't as strong here), but idk if they'd be endgame.

Orochimaru does come to care for naruto. Because it's naruto. But he is never really affectionate outright. (Naruto knows he loves him though. Which he does in his own way.)

I think im one for now. Enjoy.

[madara-fate]

How can you say that Sakura is the only girl who's strikingly beautiful in Naruto, where you have to do a double take? I'm sorry but that's ridiculous, and your overall bias for Sakura was made very evident. And then bringing up canon moments where she was called beautiful as if that is supposed to change the viewer's perspective of her beauty. Bella Hadid was named the most beautiful woman in the world by scientists but I know plenty of people who find other women like Adriana Lima and Margot Robbie more beautiful.

There are scenes like Ino's introduction during Sasuke shinden's anime adaptation (she looked much more beautiful than sakura), hinata during her talk with iruka in the sunset, or even the introduction of the raikage's assistant mabui. Yes, beauty is very much subjective but I feel that you should at least try to not be biased for once lmfao. I can't believe you can't call Ino beautiful without reducing her beauty to "sex appeal" all because you hate that Sakura's character design is simply not better or prettier than hers. Then you went on and made that thread where you talked about genin sakura's (a 12 year old) ass..ugh. gross. look up sakura haruno boruto settei sheet, she's flat in the butt. you can try and catch her at an angle but who tf cares, in reality her character's design doesn't have a big butt. Tall and lean is fine too.

When did I ever say that Sakura is "the only girl who's strikingly beautiful in Naruto"? I dare you to highlight exactly where I said that. I am very aware of what I have or haven't said, and I know that not once did I ever say that Anon, so don't make shit up. This is the one and only time I'm even gonna bother putting any effort into answering bullshit like this, because an Anon like you who can't even speak publicly isn't even worth the time to prove this nonsense.

Now then, let me educate you on a few things about me since you clearly just have an agenda against me, and don't know what the fuck you're talking about.

Firstly, I have said many times, that I actually think that Kurenai was the most attractive woman in the series, or at the very least, the one who was mostly my type. And yet you're here claiming that I apparently said that Sakura is "the only girl who's strikingly beautiful in Naruto"? Get your facts straight.

In this post, I clarified that I didn't have a straight answer for who I thought the most beautiful girl was, but I then revealed that Kurenai was the one who was most my type, and how I was also fond of Anko and Konan's designs, not Sakura.

I only reiterated this point during this post, where I also revealed that Anko and Konan were in 2nd and 3rd places respectively. So again, not Sakura.

I gave further explanations for the above during this post.

In this post, I answered that if I were to date someone in the Narutoverse, it would again be between Anko, Konan and Kurenai, but I ultimately went with Anko at the time due to her personality.

In this post a little over 3 years later, my opinion had somewhat changed, and when asked who I would marry, I selected either Kurenai or Hanabi. Again, not Sakura.

And yet, you're here claiming that I have some form of apparent deep bias for Sakura? Know who you're talking to before making these stupid assertions. Otherwise, if the person you're accusing actually knows and remembers what they say, they'll very easily be able to expose your ignorance, as I have just done.

Secondly, not once did I ever reduce Ino's beauty to sex appeal. I'm assuming you're referring to this post. In which case, not only did I once again reiterate that I actually found Kurenai to be the most attractive woman in the series because she was mostly my type, but I did not say that Ino's sex appeal was all she had. I clarified that if we were ranking them based solely on their sex appeal, then Ino would top my list. But that clearly does not mean that I don't find her beautiful or that she had nothing other than her sex appeal. I literally only said that I probably found her to be the sexiest woman in the series, that's it. It's actually amazing how you can take what is very clearly me giving Ino a very big compliment, and desperately try to twist it into something negative due to your juvenile agenda against me. It's not going to work.

Thirdly, during that same post, I clarified that in terms of the written material, I found Sakura's depictions specifically from Sakura Hiden, to be the most beautiful depictions of any woman in the series. That was my opinion on the matter. I still find Kurenai to be the most attractive, but I cannot deny that Sakura was drawn beautifully for Sakura Hiden.

I reiterated that during this post, where not only did I list Ino first among the list of kunoichi who I found to be really beautiful (shocking right???), not only did I reiterate once again that I found Kurenai to be the most attractive because she was the one who was most my type, but I clarified that the most beautiful portrayal of a female character I had seen in the series, were Sakura's specific depictions for Sakura Hiden, nothing more.

I said the same thing during this post.

And what do you glean from that? That I apparently said that "Sakura is the only girl who's strikingly beautiful in Naruto!". Fucking hell man.

Fourthly...

And then bringing up canon moments where she was called beautiful as if that is supposed to change the viewer's perspective of her beauty.

When did I say anything about how that should change anyone's opinions on the matter? Especially when as I have already proven multiple times above, I find Kurenai, Konan and Anko to be personally more attractive than Sakura? You're just spouting such nonsense, and you're ignoring the context of why I brought up who was stated to be beautiful in the series. It's because it is the only objective metric we have to see who's physical attractiveness was highlighted the most in the series. Therefore, in terms of the amount of compliments to their physical attractiveness, canonically speaking, Sakura ranks 2nd in the series, behind only Sasuke. Does that change the fact that I consider Kurenai, Konan and Anko to be more attractive? No.

Lastly, with regards to the post I made highlighting Sakura's ass, the Anon sent me that ask in response to this ignorant Anon trying to put Sakura down while elevating Hinata, and said that Hinata had more of an ass than Sakura, and tried to further put Sakura down by claiming that she apparently has a flat ass, just like you're trying to do here. So I made that post proving that yes, Sakura does have an ass, and catching her at angles isn't necessary to prove that. I also love how you tried to shame me by saying how I was talking about a 12 year old's ass (as if the majority of it wasn't about her Part 2 and adult self), while completely missing the entire point of the post. I was simply proving a point, so blame the Anon (and others like you) who try to put Sakura down by claiming how she's flat in all areas. Because without such ignorant posts, then a post like my response would have never been needed.

Now then, I'll say this once more - know your audience before accusing them of anything, because I always know what I say, and I can always prove it. So you're not gonna get away with accusing me of bullshit. Now I don't know what kind of agenda you have against me, or why you were so triggered by me praising Sakura's depiction for Sakura Hiden, but get over it because I always found Kurenai, Konan and Anko to be the most attractive women in Naruto.

[ridiasfangirlings]

What kind of parents do you think mikorei, sarumi, izuseri, and kuroshiro would be to their respective children?

Mikorei are absolutely the couple where one parent is very strict and careful and has a whole educational plan set up for their kid and the other is like sure eat paste whatever it’s fine. Like you know Munakata would be such an involved parent, he babyproofs the house to a ridiculous degree the moment they bring the kid home and he studies up on nutrition and what music the kid should listen to in order to help grow their mind, the whole thing. Meanwhile whenever he leaves Mikoto to watch the kid while Munakata is at work the child starts like climbing on bookshelves and Mikoto’s just like ‘try not to break anything’ (because then Munakata would yell at him), Mikoto is a very hands off parent. Though even then of course Mikoto is protective in his own way, like can you imagine if someone tried to bully their kid and suddenly found themselves face to face with the Red Monster. Mikoto is also the one who gets Munakata to tone it down as needed, especially as their kid gets older and starts to chafe a bit at the extreme doting Mikoto is the one to remind Munakata that kids need some level of independence.

Sarumi, Yata is the eager and excited parent and Fushimi is the really cautious one who has no idea what he’s doing constantly and worries that he’s screwing something up. Actually in this case at least when the kid is young I wonder if Yata would have to be the one administering any discipline, since Fushimi would obviously be the one to take it harder if the kid gets upset about it (can you imagine the first time their kid says ‘I hate you,’ Yata’s upset but realizes this is a thing kids do while Fushimi is quietly having a spiral and Yata has to reassure him that no, this isn’t like when you said you hate your dad, your dad deserved hating). I think Fushimi might be an unexpectedly gentle parent just because he knows what shitty parents are like and he doesn’t want to be that way. Yata meanwhile is also super involved, I see him being really excited by every milestone and bragging about how cool their kid is. 

Izuseri are proper normal parents, though hopefully their kid likes anko (imagine Kusanagi’s face the first time their kid asks for a glass of milk with anko). I think they’d be good with splitting duties parental-wise, like some days Kusanagi takes the kid to the bar and some days Awashima takes the kid to work for Uncle Munakata to have a playdate with. Awashima I could see as the slightly stricter parent, I bet it’s hard for the kid to lie to her because she’ll just stare at them until they tell the truth. Kusanagi is the looser parent but only until the kid does something really bad and then they’re in trouble, like for Awashima and Kusanagi’s kid Mom is scary but when Dad is mad he’s even scarier. Otherwise the two of them are very supportive of their kid though and do their best to let the kid grow up healthy and well adjusted.

Kuroshiro are definitely another one of the couples where one is strict and the other is like hey do you wanna do a science. Kuroh I could see being a very involved housewife, he absolutely will not let their kid grow up without any life skills and is probably dedicated to raising the child as Master Ichigen raised him (Shiro is fine with this but please wait until the kid can walk before you teach them to fly a helicopter). Shiro is somewhat looser as a parent, I can just imagine Kuroh like coming home to their apartment to find Shiro, Neko and the kid all happily fingerpainting on the walls with no regard to who will be cleaning that up. I feel like Shiro would be sort of excited to have a kid though, just with everything he’s been through and now he has a family and even a little kid, like it really hits him here how his time is moving again and he doesn’t mind that at all, he can’t wait to watch his kid grow happy and strong.

[felsenbluete]

Fixing the Chunin exams arc

While I do think that the first two rounds of the exams are nearly perfect in narrative execution (except that Anko afterwards ceases to be relevant even though her backstory is so intriguing and could mirror Sasuke in so many ways, but I’m getting already off track here...) - I have some gripes with regards to the duels, especially Naruto’s, which is a fucking pity, given that he is the main character. 

So this is my attempt to fix the mess that Kishimoto made of the last two rounds (concerning Naruto’s duels and the narrative around them, we don’t have the time for Kishi’s misogyny and whatever Sakura/Ino is):

1) Naruto vs. Kiba: In @margalotta​‘s wise words:

Imo, it doesn’t benefit Naruto at this point in his story to win out of dumb luck. He is teamed up with Kiba, who pretty much suffers the same weaknesses as Naruto, mostly bad rage control. So seeing Naruto actually staying in control and outsmarting Kiba would have been such a great character moment for him! Especially given that his lack of any strategy already gave him a pretty humbling defeat from Lee in the very beginning.

> Fix #1: Let Naruto outsmart Kiba, keep the fart joke for a filler.

2) Chouji vs. Dosu: While disliking the outcome of the Naruto-Kiba duel, I do think that the point of “one can win with nothing but luck” is one worth making. So looking at the other duels of the preliminaries, I find Chouji vs. Dosu most fitting. We have already seen Dosu being completely brutal in the Forest and him losing would give him an extra reason to challenge Gaara before round 3 - him thinking he got cheated out of this encounter.

> Fix #2: Let Chouji win against Dosu through luck, let Dosu be bitter about it.

3) Naruto vs. Neji:

This actually get my blood boiling, because - as many have pointed out over the years - Naruto winning only because of the Kyuubi just proved Neji’s god damn point about predetermination. But (even though I like seeing Naruto lose) I don’t think Neji should win either. My solution is to scrap that entire duel. 

> Fix #4: Let Neji fight against Shikamaru, let him lose

I am dead serious. While I like the ShikaTema interactions as much as anyone else, I think Shikamaru could have pulled his stunt with basically everyone else. The only difference is, that with Neji, it would have an impact. Because Neji technically losing only for Shikamaru to throw the whole thing out would have impacted Neji’s world view much more than losing against a jinchuuriki. In my very humble opinion.

> Fix #5: Neji vs. Naruto - talk-no-jutsu, the Hinata brawl

Between the preliminaries and round 3, a whole month passes. And I am aware that Naruto as a shounen protagonist has to change everyone’s path personally. So why not between the rounds? Let him be enraged about what Neji did to Hinata, so fucking livid that he doesn’t wait patiently for a month, but corners Neji the minute they are out of the arena and Hayate isn’t looking.

I have no idea, when Kishimoto decided on NaruHina as endgoal, but that would have set up that whole thing as well! Just a thought!! And you can have the Talk and maybe even Naruto actually catching Neji off-guard, if you want to. Idk, Masashi, you’re the Big Mangaka, you figure that out.

BONUS > Fix #6: Let Naruto fight against Temari, let him have a realistic chance, let him lose (?)

Surprisingly, I don’t have a strong opinion how this match should go. I think there is something for the idea of Naruto encountering someone with years worth of experience and losing and realising that even though he has grown a lot, he still has so much more to learn, which fuels his training under Jiraiya. But as a Proper Shounen Protagonist, I also have no issue if he has to win this fight. Maybe, to make it more spicy, have the Kyuubi come out and actually wreck Temari. Like, obliterate her to such a degree, that he is horrified. Show him and the audience in the arena why the village hates the jinchuurikis. I actually quite like this turn, because it mirrors the brutality Temari employs to win against Tenten.

BONUS BONUS: Actually I do have time to fix Ino vs. Sakura

> Fix #7: Keep the fight, throw out Sasuke and make Ino status-obsessed

Popularity aside, the main difference between Sakura and Ino during their academy years is that Ino has an inkling of her abilities, while Sakura is only aware that she can control chakra in the vaguest of ways. Ino is born into a clan, Sakura’s family isn’t mentioned in the canon. So why not make Ino think that she will get the best team (................... *sigh* and best team mates aka The Uchiha), while treating Sakura as an amusing puppy, but not really competition. If I remember correctly, Sakura has the best academy exam scores after Sasuke, so why not let her evolve into a real threat for Ino, maybe having their falling out be an actual duel on the training field that mirrors the duel during the chunin exams.

I think I am done now.

[depressedhatakekakashi]

Veterinarian gai au

Kakashi comes in A LOT bc he has so many dogs. Dogs that enjoy going to the vet bc gai is great

Ohhh, i love the idea of Vet Gai. He’d be so sweet with all of the animals and a lot of people underestimate his skill but he’s one of the best around

Gai has a special bond with Bull, who will only cooperate when it’s Gai caring for him because every other vet is too rough (the assume they have to be because of his size, but Kakashi usually steps in to sooth Bull while he gets his check-up/medication/whatever it is he needs)

Pakkun refuses to be looked at unless he has a paw on Kakashi’s hand and Gai thinks that is adorable. If there was an award for most loyal dog he’s certain it would go to Pakkun (he’s convinced of it when Kakashi brings Pakkun in one day with a big big on his side. Kakashi explains that Pakkun got between him and a large dog running up to attack him, and while pakkun sustained one really bad bite he’s pretty sure the other dog lost both its eyes before finally letting Pakkun go, at which point pakkun went for the throat bite. The other dogs owners try to sue Kakashi, but it goes no where cuz Pakkun was the one protecting his human)

Gai see’s all sorts of animals of course. He also cares for Yamato’s cat who seems to hate everyone but Yamato, but will at least sit nicely while Gai does the check up.

Anko’s snakes are some of his more interesting guests. He actually doesn’t know a lot about reptiles until Anko brings one of her snakes in, then he makes it a goal to learn as much as he can so he can give them the same care he gives all the other animals.

Kakashi usually visits once a week because with Eight dogs injuries are common. Gai teaches him how to care for some of the basic injuries (which he admits Kakashi learns fast.)

One year for Gai’s Birthday, Kakashi actually gifts him a book of short stories centered around dogs. It’s not until he reads it a year later that he finds out it’s a first print of Kakashi’s first book ever released. He quickly starts to treasure that book a lot more than he already did (and there’s even a story including a vet in it! A vet that seems to be oddly similar to Gai)

Gai doesn’t often make house trips, but he does head out for emergencies where the owner can’t get the pet to him.

This poor man has held far too many animals in their last moments and he can’t help but cry as soon as he gets home. Sometimes the animal was old and already dying, but sometimes it’s due to an accident (car, other animal) and he mourns the loss of s life gone far too soon.

Yamato’s cat comes in once a year, but Yamato visits once a week with treats from the nearby bakery. Gai’s a little confused about it, but he does like treats so he doesn’t complain. It takes him five months to learn that the bakery belongs to Yamato and is run by him, Kakashi (accountant) and Yoshino.

[hellcifrogs]

As someone who has to find a ship with my oc and canon character, who would you ship with Team Shinichi and Team Kenshi is terms on canon characters?

I haven't thought about it for all of them... Kenshi would totally have a thing going on with Kakashi and Gai. (A love/hate balance/support thing). He would also look so nice with Shizune!!

I've been thinking I want Shinichi to date (or marry) someone, I haven't decided who or even if it will be another oc or a character... So he's on hold.

Kaen could work with literally anyone. (Anyone who wants her and can keep up with her)

Now that I think about it Homura and Neji could make a good pair. Long haired dumbass with long haired genius, loud and quiet, but both responsible and dependable.

I feel like Anko or Genma would match Ashi's energy really well.

Sweet and soft Sho, she's like my precious daughter, no one is good enough for her but the one that she loves. I have no ideas for her right now ;-;

Sasuke would be a good match for Miyu actually. I can almost see her being convinced to turn against the village. Almost.

I can't really pick anyone for Naoki... I can only imagine someone with a strong personality, but also very kind.

[hotmonkeelove]

Naruto Tag Game (New Addition)

(I did this years ago and my opinions have evolved)

Tagged by: no one, I saw it here.

How far are you in the series?: I never got past Ino-Shika-Cho and Kakashi fighting Hidan and Kakuzu. It was tiresome.

Do you prefer the anime or manga?: I don’t really read the manga, but it’s definitely better as far as Boruto is concerned, since the anime is so bent on making Mitsuki simp for Boruto.

Favorite movie: Road to Ninja

Least Favorite Movie: Of the ones I’ve seen, The Stone of Gellel was kind of dull. Couldn't follow it.

Favorite filler episodes: Most any of the ones with Lee, the Bikochu beetle arc, and Ino Screams: Chubby Paradise!

Least favorite filler episodes: The Land of Tea arc is boring! Though Aoi was cool.

Favorite male character: Orochimaru

Favorite female character: Anko

Second and third favorite male character: Gaara, Mitsuki

Second and third favorite female character: ChoCho, Tenten

Character(s) you Dislike or Hate: Boruto, Danzo, Hiruzen.

Favorite Village(s): Otogakure

Least Favorite Village(s): Konohagakure

Favorite and second favorite clan: Akimichi, Inuzuka

Favorite Sannin: Orochimaru

Least Favorite Sannin: Tsunade, but I actually love them all. I used to hate Jiraiya, but he grew on me. The pervy bastard... Now I'm hot for him! Heeheehee!

Favorite Kage: Gaara

Favorite Hokage: Tsunade

Least favorite Hokage: Kakashi himself said he was the worst, though Hiruzen was an arse.

Favorite Jinchuuriki: Gaara

Favorite tailed beast: Shukaku

Favorite Summoning: Manda

Favorite Jutsu: Orochimaru’s permanent tongue stretching jutsu. So hot and so much potential!

Favorite kekkei genkai: Either Haku’s or Kimimaro’s.

Favorite ability of Pein’s: Almighty pratfall, heehee!

Favorite Jounin or Anbu: Gai

Favorite Filler Character(s): Suzumebachi

Least Favorite Filler Character(s): Those ninja postal carriers. They’re creepy!

Favorite canon couple(s): Choji x Karui

Favorite almost canon couple(s): Orochimaru x Anko, Mitsuki x ChoCho, Zabuza x Haku, Gaara x Matsuri, Neji x Teten.

Worst canon couple: Sakura's parents are pretty lame.

Least favorite fanon couple(s): Boruto x Mitsuki, Anko x anyone other than Orochimaru (though especially Kakashi).

Favorite yaoi couple(s): Zabuza x Haku

Favorite yuri couple(s): Oddly enough, I don’t really ship any yuri pairings from Naruto. Tsunade x Mei is pretty hot, though. And sometimes Sakura x Ino.

Couple(s) that you ship romantically and as friends: Orochimaru and Tsunade

Favorite protagonist: Gaara

Favorite antagonist: Orochimaru, though I consider him the real hero!

Favorite Akatsuki member: Orochimaru!

Favorite Akatsuki couple: Sasuke x Karin, if they count?

Favorite member of Team Taka Hebi: Juugo, though the retcon his character creates really irritates me.

Least Favorite Member of Team Taka Hebi: Sasuke

Favorite member or weapon of the 7 Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist (including Zabuza and Raiga): Zabuza and his kubikiribocho!!!

Which character do you think deserves more appreciation: Anko, the real Anko. Not the ridiculously sanitized version shallow fans have to make her more palatable.

Which character do you think deserves less appreciation: Kakashi, he's way too op.

Which character(s) didn’t deserve to die: Neji, Asuma, Jiraiya.

Someone who should have died or you would not change their death: Gaara’s father. My god, did he have it coming!

Who do you ship Naruto with: Hinata; they’re boring as a married couple, but I imagine they have a secret kinky side.

Who do you ship with Sasuke: Karin, because all the biting is hot. Mmm, hurt me! Also, I like their chemistry.

Which character do you think looks good with everybody: I don’t ship characters because they “look good together.” That’s fucking stupid.

Which character out of Teams 7(don’t forget Sai),8,10, Gai would join the Akatsuki: Um, didn’t Sasuke join?

Hottest female character: Though I think Kurenai’s the prettiest, I’ll go with Mei. I will not say Anko, because that just feels like wanking.

Hottest male character: Orochimaru

Would you eat Ramen: I have. Dango is better.

What would be your ‘ninja way’: To serve a great master.

What is your opinion of the ninja world (like how Jiraiya discusses in his book): It’s cruel and corrupt.

Which character would you have liked to see drunk: Always Lee! More drunk Lee!

What do you think Kakashi’s book Icha Icha really says?: Whatever nasty filth Jiraiya wrote.

Pro-ending or anti-ending: It could’ve been better, but there are some good points.

How would your version of Naruto ending and Boruto play out (don’t be shy, make it VERY LONG, out touch the smallest details):  Orochimaru and Anko reconcile and marry, we get some backstory for Choji and Karui’s love, as well as Lee and Metal’s mom, Log gets more scenes, Mitsuki is the main protagonist, and Boruto gets the shit kicked out of him till he learns to behave. And maybe we could bring Jiraiya back to life…?

Tags: Ugh, do I have to?

[bluehairlaunch]

Goddamn Kishimoto is sexist, like I didn't realize how bad until rewatching with friends

Reviewing the girls of Naruto

Sakura and Ino are both useless and boy crazy. After her dramatic haircut, Sakura immediately reverts back to exactly how she was, like legit same or following chapter, and basically stays that way or displays growth then reverts for the rest of the series. Sasuke attacks and hates her and she still marries him. Ino marries the guy who looks just like Sasuke even tho I dont think she and Sasuke ever canonically spoke. Props to Sakura for at least being a rare female close range fighter. Her fight against Sasori alongside Chiyo was a high point for Naruto women

Anko was cool but underused. How is Orochimaru's apprentice so irrelevant to the plot??? Even her filler sucked

Kin Tsuchi loses and then dies. The anime extends her fight so she's less pathetic.

Temari is aight but another long range fighter. Same with TenTen.

My gf called Sakura and Ino tying in the preliminary, because if one of them won it would mean they were the strong one, and Kishi can't have strong women.

Kurenai is useless. She's a stealth assassin relying on genjutsu, so basically picked the worst class in the entire anime. Honestly fuck Hinata too, yea she's a close range fighter for a change, which I like in my naruto women, but simping for Naruro all show isn't a good look. Her little sister seems cool tho, hopefully she isn't trying to marry anyone or w/e in Boruto

Tsunade is punch-y but scared of blood (lotta cisgirl doctors scared of blood mhmm). She's probably the best the show gets tho. Shizune is a long range doc.

Tayuya legit gets men to fight for her and fights at long-range w/genjutsu.

Karin is obsessed with Sasuke, is weak, and is a healing juice box. She sucks

The Mizukage is obsessed with marriage, because god forbid she's 30 and not married

I remember Pakura being cool. Don't ruin her for me if she's not or she's filler, because girls can actually do things in filler

Konan doesn't do anything but support the men in her life and Obito hax his way through their fight. Still probably the second or third best girl behind Tsunade

Kaguya doesn't have a character and doesn't count, let's be honest

I don't remember much about Samui, except that she wasn't as bad as all the other girls. Maybe close range? I do recall her losing and needing to be saved by Darui tho

Actually I have no problems with Chiyo at all. Rare Kishi W for making a badass woman, and a grandma at that, with basically no downsides. Legit, she's the best naruto girl and an overall underrated character. I stan a Chiyo bae

[watermelonsloth]

While I do think that some parts of this stem from standard fandom misogyny, people projecting their own body image issues, and Sakura just getting a lot of blind hate in general, I also believe that a story makes its fandom (as in people are naturally attracted to pieces of media that align with their beliefs and avoid media that makes them uncomfortable, so fandom will often reflect ideas and parts of that media for better or for worse).

I’d say Naruto (the manga specifically) doesn’t have much fanservice of the actual female characters. Outside of one or two bad taste comments from Jiraiya about Tsunade and Konan, all of the fanservice came from the sexy jutsus. And even then, those moments were either to characterize Jiraiya as falling prey to the shinobi vices (women specifically) or to get a laugh from the readers. Even when the female cast aren’t the best written, you won’t really find any characters defined by or known for their body (an extremely low bar but one shows like Fire Force still managed to trip on). The manga never leers at the female characters’ bodies and I’d say that only four female designs from the manga (Tsunade, Mei, Anko, and Ino) could even be considered revealing.

The best example of this lack of sexuality in the manga is Konan. According to the third databook, Konan was supposed to have a sexy design. In pretty much any other shounen, that goal would be reason enough for the mangaka to overly sexualize and objectify her. In the Naruto manga, she is given no more sexualization than the male Akatsuki members. First, she’s pretty much exclusively shown in her Akatsuki cloak. Her cloak is not altered or unzipped or any more revealing/appealing than any other Akatsuki members’ is. Secondly, if you look at her outfit under the cloak, it isn’t really any more “sexy” than any other Naruto character (I’m putting sexy in quotes because a lot of what I’d consider a design made for the sake of sex appeal has a lot more to do with my cultural biases than the design itself). Again I’d argue that Tsunade, Mei, Anko, and Ino’s designs are all more revealing or “sexy” than hers. Hell, the other Akatsuki members have designs that would look more made for fanservice on paper (Sasori and Hidan have excuses, by why are Kisame and Pein/Nagato shirtless???). Lastly, how she is portrayed in the manga doesn’t make her any sexier than her outfit. She isn’t flirtatious, she isn’t in any active romantic/sexual relationships or love interests outside of flashbacks, she doesn’t have any fanservice-y gimmicks or jutsu, and she doesn’t even fall on the opposite side of the spectrum by being all blushy and shy. And again, the manga never stops to bring attention to her body in the hopes of titillating the audience. (Which is a good thing because this was targeted to young boys.)

Since I want to get back on the subject of Sakura, I’m gonna stop this part here. Just know that the well of sexuality in Naruto is much deeper.

Here’s my theory as to why Sakura’s figure is commented on/insulted more often than the other female characters: Sakura’s body/body image issues is introduced to us with her character. Obviously other characters’ bodies are brought up in the manga (Jiraiya makes gross comments, Rock Lee and Guy are insulted for their appearances, Sasuke is repeatedly complimented, Kushina’s whole thing with her red hair, etc), but Sakura is the only one who’s appearance is both a sore spot for her character and actively tied to her femininity/womanhood. And I’m not just talking about her insecurity surrounding her forehead or her long hair symbolizing her prioritizing her appearance/crush on Sasuke over her career as a ninja. I’m also talking about her directly thinking about her “sex appeal”, chest, and rear in chapter three and her referencing starving herself during the bell test.

Whether this be a result of Kishimoto still getting into the swing of writing female characters or something else, the manga does bring attention to her figure and appearance overall. Sure her appearance isn’t the most important part of her character or anything, but it is relevant enough for people to associate her with it. Especially since (as far as I remember) her appearance is the one mentioned most frequently in the manga.

My experience isn’t universal, but from what I’ve seen people also tend to insult characters most frequently based on that character’s insecurities or flaws explicitly mentioned by the narrative. Again, I think this is in part due to the audience’s attention naturally being drawn to those things when they’re brought up. If their attention is drawn to it often enough, they begin to associate that with the character. The other part of why I think this happens is because people tend to blur the line between fictional character and real breathing human beings when discussing characters (this is probably because of complicated psychological stuff about our brains being bad at identifying humans that I’m not qualified to delve into). If you’re trying to hit someone where it hurts or say something upsetting, aiming for a sore spot is a good way to do it. If you’re insulting a character like you would a person, you’re gonna aim for a sore spot.

The waifu wars are also important to mention here. The most popular Naruto waifu war is Sakura vs Hinata. One of the most misogynistic frequent points of comparison between the two is their femininity. Hinata is seen as being more traditionally feminine. She’s reserved, she’s kind, she’s cute, she’s shy, she acts as support from the background, you get the point. While I’d argue that Sakura is just as feminine as Hinata (even more so depending on what standard of “feminine” we’re working off of), it all comes down how they present these traits. Hinata presents very cliche traditional ideal housewife and Sakura doesn’t.

So, people on the Hinata side of the battlefield will make Sakura more traditionally masculine to insult her or make her out to be the “worse option”. They will get rid of her curves, exaggerate things like her muscles or jawline, and especially emphasize her temper. I’m not saying Hinata fans are the only ones guilty of this since I’ve seen Sakura fans make Hinata less curvy, a slob, and creepy for the same reasons. It all comes down to the competition of which Naruto girl is more fuckable.

TL;DR Sakura’s appearance is mentioned more often in the canon manga than any other female character (often in reference to her femininity or appeal to men), so the fandom is influenced to reference her appearance over other female characters and the least appealing thing a girl can be is too much like a boy.

I find it interesting that when it comes to the discussion of the Naruto female characters’ bodies (which shouldn’t even be a discussion to begin with, esp bc they were adolescents for most of the series), Sakura tends to be the only one who’s body is masculinized in addition to being sexualized.

Not to say this doesn’t happen with other female characters, but I’ve noticed it mainly happens with her. Also, masculine =/= bad; it’s just that I’ve seen many people use it as a means to demonize Sakura.

If you want more of my thoughts on this, I uploaded a video about this topic last month, which you can find here!

[demonslayedher]

An update on how that sword post is going, kinda

I live a half-hour bus ride from the birthplace of Haganezuka-san's favorite treat, so why not go make a pilgrimage?

Follow me below for dumplings!

I know I seem lazy with Kimetsu Kitchen lately. I am cooking stuff, even though I hate cooking, okay? There's an ingredient I'm practicing with before doing it for another Kimetsu recipe but so far my results suck.

That said, I did choose to go buy Ohagi instead of making it, and I was almost so lazy that had I found loquats at the grocery store, I would have brought one home and taken a picture and said "it's Nakime, get it? It's a biwa."

To my credit, I have made mitarashi dango. It was pretty easy, too. The problem is that you can make so much mochi with a single small bag of mochi flour. It was years ago, I was trying it out with one of my siblings and we had so much mochi that we ran out of anko and quickly had to resort to looking up a mitarashi dango recipe to do something with all that other mochi. And it was good! It had a nice mix of saltiness and sweetness. But we had plates and plates and plates of the stuff, even in a household bigger than a certain ninja clan we couldn't find enough people to eat that stuff and finish it off. No thanks. I'm not repeating that. Here, here's an English recipe, you do it. I'm just here to be a dorky nerd.

I am a perfectly presentable human being. Not to worry, that's not the mask I actually went out in. This one was frustratingly made with the pattern upside down but it's got a spot more Haganezuka style, so I made it work.

The UNESCO World Heritage site referred to is Shimogamo Shrine (which you might know from another anime, Eccentric Family/Uchouten Kazoku, as the home of the titular tanuki family), one of the two major Kyoto shrines associated with the Aoi Festival. If you think I used the KnY cast for mnemonics in studying this festival for a Nerd Test, you are correct. One of the rituals of this festival is when the Sai-Ou, the shrine maiden whom this whole procession is centered around, cleanses her hands at this pond on the shrine grounds. This ritual handwashing is called "Mitarashi". Literally, (honorific)-hand-washing: 御手洗. Since Mitarashi Dango (みたらし団子) is typically written with the 'Mitarashi' in phonetic hiragana, I was stunned when I first read about the ritual (before knowing the origin of the sweet), for I thought the sweet was named like this because you have to wash your hands after eating something so sticky.

Unsurprisingly, the religious ritual is performed at a place called Mitarashi Pond, and there is a place for offerings next to it. The two paper lanterns on either side were contributed by the nearby tea house, Kamo Mitarashi Chaya.

The tea house is just across the street from the shrine grounds. Like many sites popular with religious pilgrims throughout history and all around the world, there are restaurants and gift shops lining the way to the sacred grounds to cater to all the visits, and in Japan's case, this is how many sweets become famous and carry an eternal tie with those religious sites even if the connections are tenuous. Some sweets you can only get by visiting the generations-old shops in person, other sweets are spread throughout the country and anyone can make them. This is what happened in the case of Mitarashi Dango, this tea house had a hit with their addictive sweet and salty sauce and now you can find it ready made in grocery stores across Japan.

Even Aoi, who is talented and can do anything, even cooking (she has my respect) says to Inosuke that she'll "go out and buy some" later because it's just that easy. Plus, my girl Aoi knows better than to make a giant batch of that stuff if she doesn't have to.

It's a very typical little tea house selling a typical array of traditional sweets. When I walked in the first thing they did was pitch their shaved ice to me. A fun fact: in their garden, they have a little temple dedicated to Kishimojin, literally, "demon baby mother god," who is a deity who had 500 children whom she loved and cared for but would steal unrelated children to eat them. A Buddhist monk hid her baby one day and she saw the evil of her ways, repented, studied Buddhism and become virtuous. Yeah, Muzan would probably sneer if he heard a story like that.

Anyway! That pond back on the shrine has another famous practice: washing away paper dolls which have soaked up the impurities and bad influences of the world on behalf of human beings. The simple paper dolls have a vaguely human shape, like Shikigami. I bring this up because while most people picture dango coming in sticks of three big dumplings (though the one Aoi gave Haganezuka had four), it's made here at Kamo Mitarashi Chaya with five small dumplings, to more vaguely represent a human form.

NOM.

I really like my mitarashi dango small instead of huge, it makes for a more generous sauce-to-mochi ratio, and while it can be troublesomely sticky and dripping to eat (I broke my toothpick trying to get them off the skewer and be neat), it is indeed as addictive as anything with a base of sugar or soy sauce might usually be. The small mochi is chewy and soft with a nice crispy texture on the charred bits.

This was a perfect amount to say "mm, that's tasty, I want more, more!! Okay, that's enough."

This tea house offers them for both eat-in and take-out, and having eaten them both ways, I strongly suggest eating them in person. With time to sit, the mochi gets firmer, and the silky sauce begins to harden so that all the dango gets stuck together, and it get even harder to have any delicacy as you eat them. If it wasn't bad enough trying to get my family to eat them all, the time I had these as take-home they were a gift to my office, and I had to force people to hurry and eat them before they were hopelessly stuck not only to each other, but to every surface in the office.

Now, having said all that about rice flour dumplings covered in a sugary soy sauce coating, what does this mean for Haganezuka-san? What connections are there to dive into?

I theorize nothing.

I think he just plain likes Mitarashi Dango.

[cosmicrhetoric]

Anko's one of my favorite characters honestly! I love this hyperactive ninja lady tormenting children, it's great and so is she.

like literally she's. im not going to critically analyze naruto cause lets be real what is the point of wading in this shallow of a pool but i just think if you introduce a character and the first thing the audience hears about her (via sakura) is that she's just like naruto and reminds everyone of naruto. and also she was orochimaru's apprentice and got a curse mark and was able to continue functioning after she got her curse then MAYBE. maybe i would expect her to have one second of screentime during sasuke retrieval arc. anko even felt sidelined during the chunin stuff like you cant just have one scene of her trying to murder suicide orochimaru and then pretend she's no longer in the picture after the dust settles and sasuke has to figure out how to use his curse mark. she has functional knowledge that no one relied on.....like maybe get the lady who did actually turn away and go back to konoha to get this kid to do exactly the same thing

i heard she gets screentime in shippuden and i didnt hate her filler arc but like man come on

[waffliesinyoface]

putting various thoughts on this under a readmore because its my blog and i do what i want

team members include!!

SIOC - an inuzuka, because maybe i like princess mononoke, okay. she is, not great, at a lot of ninja arts, but she is stubborn and also there is not much else TO do when you're born into a ninja clan. tempted to either give her a water nature or an earth nature simply because then i can make "wet dog smell" or "good at digging holes" into jokes at her expense. the inuzuka dont explicitly have a kekkei genkai but chakra is such weird bullshit that i'm headcanoning their noses are, in fact, genetic bullshit. being able to SMELL people well enough to track them never stops being weird whenever she stops to think about it. She is not allergic to chocolate but also remembers "dogs eating chocolate = bad" that she is too nervous to test it. eventually kiba realizes this and laughs at her for days. (kiba is her cousin, in this universe. not like, super close family, but like. they got lumped together for family playdates as kids. they have blackmail on each other.) Fuuinjutsu is complicated bullshit and she HATES that she cannot get it to work right, ever.

-Teammate #1 - a nara, but far less distantly related to shika than SIOC is to kiba. Does not have a name that starts with shika because im borrowing the DoS!headcanon of that being a tradition for the clan head. She does not have enough chakra to use Shadow Possession for very long, but she can still do it. Instead of Shikamaru's method of manuevering opponents into disadvantageous situations she kind of. cheats. Yes, the jutsu makes you copy her movements so reaching into a kunai pouch also gives *you* a kunai, but... not if she wears it in a completely unorthodox position. :) Do YOU have a kunai pouch on your bicep? She does. :) Also she has a habit of walking around the nara clan forest. She's a nara, so the deer leave her alone. She watched a poacher wander in and get gored to death by a ninja deer as a kid though and it stuck with her, so she's like. slight serial killer vibes. Also even though shadow possession isnt her strong suit, the way it connects to chakra makes it a really good conduit for genjutsu. Someone familiar with nara bullshit will assume shes using Shadow Paralysis, and trying to fight THAT off means theyre not fluctuating their chakra to break genjutsu, which is useful!!

-Teammate #2 - hyuuga. very distantly related to the main branch, and is much less bitter about the whole thing because of it. Yeah the main family and the elders suck ass but he literally never has to worry about bloodline theft. Im headcanoning that the byakugan kinda varies in strengths for each member, which is why neji is lauded for his range AND accuracy, and can be trained to emphasize certain qualities. So hinata, on a tracking team, is good at long distance and bad at detail, and neji is good at detail and range because he's on a front line combat squad. OC here has really really good detail but fucking dogshit range. He can read a book that's still closed but he could not tell you what's going on in the immediately adjacent room. But thats okay, because he has decided to eschew training the gentle fist (where he would always fall short) for training to be team medic. Who needs an xray machine when you can literally look at someone's organs?? The clan elders would probably consider it improper but also he's like 6 branches removed from the line of succession and doesnt draw much attention to himself so they literally don't even remember he exists unless he's in the same room as them.

Sensei - okay i actually dont have much of a concept for this. I know i kind of want them to be. Somewhat of an asshole. But I also want them to be an Actual Canon Character? If I decide to go full self indulgence I might just go "in this AU anko was promoted to jounin, fuck it" but who knows.

Key factors - they do not take part in the chuunin exams. Whether that's because their sensei is like "you've done all of 1 c-rank and the konoha teams ALONE this year are full of prodigies, fuck no" or because one member is on medical leave is up in the air. They DO, however, go on a month-long C rank to the middle of nowhere like 2 weeks before the finals, and come back to konoha half destroyed and down one hokage though, which means their sensei goes "hahaha yeah okay I'm doubling down on your training immediately what the FUCK".

The next chuunin exams take place during the timeskip though, so i can send them to literally any other country and have fun. This chuunin exam will, almost certainly, include Sakura punching an opponent through a wall at some point. Possibly in the finals, while tsunade sits in the stands and acts INCREDIBLY smug. Not sure what i would do for a roster here because like. Obviously the main canon characters would kick ass given they all got to the semi finals in the exam 6 months earlier... but konoha cant completely steal the show...??

part of me still wants to write a self indulgenty SIOC naruto fic of my own. i have no idea what i want to do plot-wise or timeline wise or anything, but i DO know that i've put lots of thought into fantasizing about my dumb OCs.

[wittyno]

I like Boruto, and while I’m not finished, I think I figured out one of the reasons. It shows us that the kids turned out alright in the end. Not Boruto and Sarada but their parents.

The end of shippuden shows us a bit of this but I love how ok, if overworked, they are. They have conquered their demons and we get to see that pay off.

One of the core themes of the original run is naruto through his talk no jutsu getting people to connect not only to him but the ideas of friendship to not be a tool that the ninja world made them. That emotions aren’t weakness but a strength. The purpose of fighting is not for power but other people. To have someone precious to you and to be someone precious to someone else.

Sasuke is no longer he’ll bent on revenge but he’s still that socially awkward a bit emotionally stunted but growing. He’s in a good place because of his connections. His full personality gets to shine through because he’s not repressing it under a layer hot topic boy rage. A boy who lost his entire family in one night now has a family of his own. Naruto not only became hokage but he’s got the family and friends he’s always wanted. He earned everyone’s respect. Sakura finally learned to believe in herself and stand on her own to feet. To the point were she’s got an intense full time job which she is a badass at but also raising a kid full time. She’s gotten what she knew she wanted from an early age. She’s realized her dreams and is so happy.

Kakashi who spent so much of his life in anticipation of death and filled with regret and guilt now gets to retire and be at peace. A man who spent so long in darkness now gets to take field trips to Filming location of his favorite movie. Doesn’t that warm your heart?

Sure Boruto isn’t perfect. It meanders a lot. I wish naruto would actually mentor Sarada in hokage-ness. The villains are not as memorable. But you see so much pay off and I love that.

There is a quote by Jk Rowling (I know eww) about how true heroism is in rebuilding. That it’s not about flashy battles but about coming together about growing and recuperating after tragedy. That’s what Boruto is a culmination of. Do I wish we got more blank period content? Sure.

There are other things to like: I really like the redesigns / designs of a lot of the characters, except Anko. What did they do to my girl’s face? Naruto and sasuke learning to be fathers after having spent so much time without family. Sometimes they fuck up, but it’s heartwarming.

Boruto as a character is really interesting because he doesn’t come from a broken sad background like so many of the original run characters. He’s a brat and insolent but still a lot like his father. But he doesn’t have that main character drive that his father had, which I like. He has to earn that. I like that he cheats in the chunin exams. That’s something naruto would have never done but it makes total sense for his character.

Sarada doesn’t have sakuras insecurity but does have a need for approval (you don’t want to be hokage if you don’t have a need for approval on some level) she’s not perfect in social situations like her father. I’d love for her to learn more about her father’s past and reckon with his bad actions in comparison to the loving father she has. Sasuke as a character is interesting because he consistently fucks up. Naruto is always on the right path and is the light that changes peoples minds, but that comes with main character energy. Sasuke on the other hand made some real bad calls. I think Sarada reckoning with that would be cool.

I feel like people either hate or love the fact that the old generation is a part of Boruto. But remember a lot of the original run is about generations and generational trauma and dealing with the shit of the generation before you. The first naruto arc is in part about the old way and the new way of shinobi. Having their parents choices impact the current issues that the new generation is facing is a really interesting concept. Because the people are still alive and have to answer for it.