#shinobi of the sand
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Temari of the Sand🌪🍃
#nonoel art#fanart#anime#my art#naruto#naruto shippuden#digital fanart#naruto fanart#digital art#naruto temari#temari#temari fanart#temari no sabaku#temari x shikamaru#shikatema#shinobi of the sand#sand siblings#kunoichi#gaara#kankuro#shikamaru nara#shikamaru#temari of the sand#wind jutsu#sasuke#sakura#kakashi#naruto uzumaki#shikadai#shinki
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Kankuro: They don't make them like me no more. I'm the last of my kind.
Temari: Thank goodness.
#incorrect quotes#naruto incorrect quotes#incorrect naruto quotes#incorrect quotes naruto#kankurou#temari#gaara#sand siblings#shinobi of the sand#naruto#naruto shippuden#naruto uzumaki#sakura#sasuke#kakashi#shikamaru#kankuro
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Sabaku No Gaara ❤️ Gaara was one of those characters that I loved from the first moment and who accompanied me throughout my life. I started drawing when I was little to feel closer and make real those characters that populated the books and comics that kept me company. I wanted more than anything that they could speak to me, that they would continue to live outside of the pages they read. As a teenager I must have drawn Gaara a million times, and as I grew older I think I drew him every time I felt I had made a little progress in my technical ability. Today I feel I have made some progress, and for the first time on the canvas I see something that reflects what I imagine when I think of this character. I feel a little moved, as if a circle has been closed.
(in the last photo, an obscene portrait of Gaara taken during my first year of concept art, if I'm not mistaken. Let's say three-four years ago)
#gaara#gaara of the desert#gaara of the sand#sand siblings#suna no gaara#sabaku no gaara#naruto#naruto fan art#naruto shippuuden#gaara shippuden#kazekage gaara#kazekage#shinobi#ninja#screencaps#screencap redraw#temari#kankuro
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Some more amazing Images of our Kazekage!
Sorry for spaming them, but I can't get enough of this man. And I want to share my Addiction with you. 👀
#gaara#gaara of the sand#gaara of the desert#sabaku no gaara#kazekage#gaara forever#sand#sunagakure#naruto#kazekage gaara#boruto naruto next generations#Naruto Shippuden#Shinobi War#Commander General Gaara#Sorry for Spaming#BUT I'M ADDICTED#Have a Taste of my Addiction#Hehe
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taijutsu practice...?
#kayrart#my art#myart#naruto#gaara#these damn names man#cant with this girl#gaara of the desert#gaara of the sand#my beautiful girl godd i love you gaara my genderfuck lesbian girl ilove you forever#i will draw rock lee also btw#this is all real and happened in my head#lowkey post 4th shinobi war gaalee is liek peak#like thats wher eits at#i think more peopel should fw gaalee#theyre lesbians som uch oh goddd#i liek them so much.#okayu#trust#anyways yeah this is one half of the thingy#mhmmm mhm#sabaku no gaara
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I cannot express how much I love the pose they chose for Sasori here.
Like why. Why have him hunched over, grasping his head in his hands like he's sobbing into them or he feels like he's going crazy or he wants to die. Itachi and Kakuzu are standing normally; sad, yes -- at least Itachi looks like he is -- but they're standing normally. He could have been standing normally with his back turned, too. But no, this was a deliberate decision.
My eternal thanks to whoever created/approved this ♡
#he is SO SAD#like. you can't look at this and tell me he isn't so overwhelmed with suffering#he feels so much that his only answer was to turn himself into a puppet in order to make it stop hurting i can't T_T#gaa//ra expresses himself in much the same way when he's having his own crisis of being#round of applause to su//na for doing trauma like that lmao#like ki//ri is bad and kon//oha is bad but damn. sand shinobi who have been broken by the system are on a whole other level imo#sasori#naruto
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Naruto re-read XXVI
Chapters covered: 209 - 217 Twentyfourth Volume of the manga
Site used: https://manga4life.com/manga/Naruto (VIZ translation of the manga)
Disclaimer: This is intended as a list and simple observations of the topics that particularly interested me in the aforementioned chapters, in that sense, do not expect a linear -or totally deep- analysis.
Tumblr’s update doesn’t allow me to attach more than 10 pictures, therefore, all of them will be LINKED. Apologies.
306) Hinata appears on the Chapter’s cover, her hands are dispositioned in her usually anxious manner but she’s seen smiling, she seems to be waiting. It’s unclear what she has to do with it.
307) Shikamaru states that it’s “against his code” to strike a lady (x), despite her being a kunoichi and the one that’s confronting him and keeping him from reaching and helping Naruto. Yet, because Tayuya doesn’t fit the “definition” of what a woman is (she’s on her Lv2 stage, which shapes her human form to something more monstrous), he’s okay with using violence to defeat her (she blocks his attempt regardless).
Now, I know that this particular aspect of his character is, as I’ve said before, to establish Temari as his romantical interest (x), she doesn’t break his preconceived notions, as some believe, she simply becomes the sole exception to his mentality, yet having a shinobi not willing to take an enemy seriously nor strike them down for the sole premise of their gender it’s strategically dangerous, and a person with such “moral code” can’t be leading an entire platoon of people (x).
308) Shadow Paralysis consumes a big portion of the user’s chakra, and again, it works by how much chakra the enemy possesses (x), as Tayuya increases her horns’ size (she increments her chakra by accessing further stages of the seal) and his shadow-strangle-technique is forced back.
309) Sasuke’s body, which has been sealed inside a dark fog to prevent him from dying after taking Seishingna Pills, seems to be ready and re-emerges (x):
“Seishingan pills (x), apparently, the Curse Mark Orochimaru gave his pupils (including Anko, likely she never took Seishingan pills and that’s why we never see her transformed into a “monster-like” figure like the Sound Four or Sasuke) boosts their strength but it’s only in the First Stage. This medication awakens the Seal’s power, raising it to its Second Stage, but the moment the Seal develops, the Curse eats away the user’s body, which if left unattended will surely kill them. To prevent this from happening, the user must acclimatize their body to the Seal’s power and Cursed effect for an extended period of time; the Sound Four want to prevent Sasuke from dying using a barrier Jutsu to control the side effects -inducing him into a comma of sorts.” (x)
310) When Sasuke wakes up, he ignores Naruto’s attempt to return to Konoha. Naruto, remembering Sakura’s plead, tries to follow (x), gets almost killed by Kimimaro and saved by Lee (x), whose shinobi career was saved by Tsunade (x).
311) Ino is the next one, appearing on the cover of CH 210 (x).
312) Kimimaro states that Lee isn’t as “easy” as the others, it’s unknown if he’s referring to the rest of the team or to Naruto specifically (x)
313) A little explanation of how a Jönin squad lost against the Sound Four (x), Tsunade sent an entire group of Gënin (with no backup) against a team that she was told won against full-fledged shinobi. She even attaches Sasuke’s value as a Sharingan Wielder (she doesn’t even mentions him by name, but the doujutsu he possesses); Jönin and Chünin were sent either to missions to gather wealth for the realm or to Konoha’s border to monitor possible dangers to avoid war –strange how a village decimated by destruction and whose numbers dwelled considerably after the invasion relies on small groups of shinobi keeping guards to avoid armed conflict instead of trying to solidify a political nexus in between Konoha and potential invaders. It’s likely more a plot device introduced by Kishimoto to give the gënin squad a chance to fight strong enemies without Konoha’s elite interfering but it doesn’t change the fact that, bureaucratically, Tsunade made a mistake as not only she sent gënin with immense potential (the Hyuga prodigy, the Nara and Akimichi heirs and the nine tails Jinchuuriki) to a dangerous situation that goes beyond their capabilities but also compromised further Konoha’s military and political situation.
314) Lee escaped Konoha’s hospital and found Naruto fighting Kimimaro (x) so following the trail of the team is possible and more gënin could be sent as support to guarantee a better success rate at recovering “the Sharingan”, is Tsunade unaware of how many gënin Shikamaru took? Lee consumed Tsunade’s alcohol which makes him particularly violent (x).
315) Kimimaro is very beautiful (x) and his Kekkei Genkai is incredible: It gives him complete control over his osteoblasts and osteoclasts (x); while the human body is composed of two hundred bones, Kimimaro can grow more from every part of his body and pierce his skin in order to use them as weapons against his enemies or defend his organs against attacks; it appears that his skin regenerates as he’s seen without open wounds after the bones disappear. Apparently, according to Kabuto, the Kaguya clan was whipped out by the nation of Kirigakure and Kimimaro was the last survivor (x), Orochimaru states that the clan never left behind the prototypical behaviour of the families during the Warring States Period (x) and when trying to go against a “well-governed body” that likely surpassed their numbers, they found their demise. It’s unclear why they went against Kiri, albeit it wouldn’t be strange if it was a response against the Kekkei Genkai cleansing.
Kimimaro’s death is all the more tragic when we learn he thought Orochimaru will keep him alive by remembering him and having him in his heart (x), yet that turns out to be a wish he will not have, as Orochimaru doesn’t care for him (x). Later on, it’s Juugo the one who keeps his memory alive, as he follows Sasuke when he becomes a cage for him, reminding him of Kimimaro.
316) Continuing from point 314. Tsunade did send reinforcements when she asked for the Sand siblings (x) and they were able to reach all of them in time to save them: Kiba, Shikamaru, and Lee did not win against the Sound ninja, rather, they lost and were saved by the siblings; and while them three are particularly strong as all of them reached the third stage of the Chünin Exams, while the rest of the Konoha Gënin didn’t, why rely on someone at least three days away?
317) “I owe Konoha a great debt.” (x) Considering Shinobis’ nationalistic mindset and how the individuals are linked to their village of provenance it’s not strange that Gaara associates the place of origin of the one that actually saved him to Naruto himself, so by helping Konoha, he helps Naruto by direct association. He likely ignores the fact that hadn’t been for Hashirama, he wouldn’t have become Shukaku’s jinchuuriki, as it was Konoha’s first Hokage the one that decided to cage the tailed beasts inside vessels to distribute their power amongst the newly formed ninja villages.
Temari admits that her actions during the invasion (and her actions now) weren’t of her choosing nor personal preference, as she was/is simply “following orders” (x). It’s established that shinobi do not compromise their moral parameters when performing a mission, as they simply justify their conduct by establishing another person in a higher rank or the structure in place as directly responsible for everything they do; in the same manner, these principles are never to compromise the village’s political gain and military power, so they either morph to fit Konoha’s, get repressed as to them not interfering with the mission at hand, or grow to become a direct opposition to the village’s.
Gaara’s sentence about “how sad it is” that Orochimaru brainwashed Kimimaro (x) is paradoxical considering how his devotion to the Sannin is no different from his devotion to Naruto, Suna, or even Konoha. He gloats about how an entire kin will cease to exist as he’ll kill the last member in lieu of the mission he was given; Kimimaro dying regardless as a consequence of his disease (x, x) –and he did as they admitted they won by mere luck, does not modify Gaara’s overall antithetical behavior as he did not eliminate nor reduced his manners but rather he modified his violent conduct to be in favour of his village and those he considers allies (x) while Naruto, on the other hand, refuses to use killing force.
318) Temari has a summon: a kamaitachi (x) –The kamaitachi, translated from Japanese as the sickle stoat; is a Yōkai from Japanese folklore with a mustelid-like appearance and extraordinary speed. "Kama" is a kind of Japanese sickle, also used with some modifications as a weapon by the peasants of the time. Itachi means weasel. He is always armed with a sickle or according to other versions of such shaped claws, occasionally inflicted cuts or scratches on people for no reason.
Summoning: Quick Beheading Dance (Kuchiyose: Kirikiri Mai)
Ninjutsu, B-rank, Offensive, All ranges User(s): Temari
Roaring whirlwind!! The rampaging and slashing dance of the Kamaitachi!!
Temari of Sunagakure controls the wind with a massive fan!! She whips up a tempest, and summons a Kamaitachi that rides the winds slashing through everything it touches!! The effects of the jutsu stretch outwards for several hundred metres. The swirling winds also whip up the mowed-down trees and boulders which rain down on the helpless enemy!! It is highly effective when surrounded on all sides or when the enemy is hiding behind a shield. The sole weakness of the jutsu is that it exposes the user’s position.
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#naruto re read#anti gaara#anti sabaku no gaara#anti sand siblings#anti shikamaru#anti shikamaru nara#anti tsunade#anti tsunade senju#anti konoha#anti wof#anti will of fire#anti shinobi syste#kimimaro#anti shikatema
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Does anyone else think Sunagakure (Village Hidden in the Sand) could closely resemble Mesopotamian culture?
Im trying to make cultural links between the Naruto World and ours since im not finding a lot of canon exploration in customs or socialization of villages/countries.
Currently in the Naruto wiki, its referenced that Suna's buildings are most likely made up of Stucco. Which is an architectural technique used across a good bit of cultures but generally it was used in Egytian, Minoan and Etruscan architectural sculptures. BUT- besides maybeee Egypt, the geography doesnt quite fit.
Other cities that use/used Stucco were Iraq, Arabia, Afghanistan, Northern Pakistan and around Southern India. Which btw i think fits CLOSER to what we see of Suna in the anime. But im not sure if there was any place that was specifically quoted as the inspiration behind Suna's anthropolgy if there was any.
Im thinking perhaps Mesopotamian culture and locations could be used in reference to expand upon the finer details of Suna's culture and society cause i refuse to think of them as just 'Aggressive Sand Village' yknow?
Please feel free to mention any other aspects you think should be explored since i just got hyperfixated on the mention of a real world historical technique in the Naruto wiki. It was probably just a comparison the writer made but thats good enough for me.
#im way overthinking this#i was just drawing gaara how did i end up here?#ah...i wanted to give him stretched earlobes cause it looked cool#im still gonna do it regardless of cultural significance#if pein can have piercings we can have other body mods too#fandom#naruto#worldbuilding#details#asking#sunagakure#village hidden in the sand#sabaku no gaara#gaara of the desert#gaara of the sand#gaara#naruto gaara#sand siblings#sand shinobi#culture#history#historical#information#overthinking#help
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Hey, Shiranui— Found your file while digging around in the archives the other day, and it made me wonder what your genin days must have been like, since you're two years older than Ebisu and three years older than Gai. I'm guessing that's when the mother hen instincts started?
Jeez way to make me feel like a fossil. Actually, I got most of the mother hen traits from my dad. He was the reason I graduated at twelve rather than earlier like my genin teammates. There were whispers of war all throughout my childhood and my dad point blank refused to let me become a child soldier. He begged the academy to hold me back as long as they did.
It stung, at first. Made me think I wasn’t good enough in his eyes. Now as an adult having fought in two major wars, I almost wish I had waited longer still. And when I see genin nowadays trying to grow up so quickly they miss their own relative safety in youth… I think dear old Dad had the right idea. Kids should be kids.
#The third shinobi war was full of child soldiers anyways#it was part of why lord fourth made the 12 year age limit mandetory except in special cases#Sorry I haven’t been posting I’ve had THREE BACK TO BACK C RANKS#WHO DID I PISS OFF?#SUNA AND THE FAR END OF IRON COUNTRY AND ESCORTING SOME DAIMYO’S SECOND COUSIN TWICE REMOVED#I have sand everywhere#and a cold at the same time#and if ONE MORE POLITICIAN ASKES WHAT MY OPINION IS ON THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LAVENDER AND MAUVE#IM LOSING MY SHIT
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#naruto#temari#hidden sand#sunagakure#shinobi#art#my art#kunoichi#credit to kishi too#naruto shippuden#naruto art#anime#sketchbook#artwork#do i count as an artist on tumblr???#artists on tumblr
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I love how grim was the original Naruto.
I really miss when adults were portrayed like that, like actual soldiers who had to indulge in several vices to control their PTSD. They smoke or do drugs or read porn or drink or become addicted to work or physical exercise. They are all perverted in their own ways, broken, traumatized, damaged.
I miss when they had big ass scars and when you could tell they were shinobis used to killing for a living just by looking at them.
I miss how Kishimoto used the kids view to make everything look kinda innocent at first, but slowly turned everything worse the more that they lived to reveal to real shinobi world, not how the kids dreamed it to be.
There was something so appealing to it, to the contrast of innocence vs a world submerged in war and violence.
Kakashi starts the Land of the Waves arc being a funny dude with hearts in his speech bubbles and it progresses to Kakashi putting his hand through Haku's heart with a chidori. There's suicide and there's extortion and there's old men molesting Sakura and people being crucified and genocide and corruption and—
There are moments when you can feel the reality of their violence, like when Orochimaru appeared on The Forest of Death. He showed Sasuke and Sakura with a genjutsu how he'd decapitate them. Like when Hiruzen gave his soul to a demon to try and seal Orochimaru's soul too. Like when Gaara started killing people by exploding them with his sand. Like when Rock Lee was told that if he went along with the surgery he could die and if he did not he would never walk again. Like Orochimaru experimenting with kids or like when Neji revealed the secondary branch of the Hyuugas were slaves marked like cattle that would only find freedom if dead. Like Itachi forcing Sasuke to live again and again the Uchiha massacre with a genjutsu.
Shippuden has a lot of it. It is brilliant at times, but doesn't have the consistency of the original.
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Ino: Do you mind if I slyly mention that you're single?
Shikamaru: Do not do that.
Ino: You won't even notice!
Temari, entering: Ino, you wanted to see me again?
Ino: Shikamaru's single.
Shikamaru: ...
#incorrect quotes naruto#incorrect naruto quotes#naruto incorrect quotes#incorrect quotes#naruto#naruto anime#naruto shippuden#yamanaka ino#ino#ino yamanaka#shikamaru#shikamaru nara#nara shikamaru#shikatema#temari x shikamaru#shikamaru x temari#temari#temari no sabaku#sand siblings#shinobi#inoshikacho#ino shika cho#team 10#team asuma#sakura#sasuke#kakashi#choji akimichi#gaara#kankurou
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Asashi my Naruto oc. He is the son of Sasori and Hiroke (another oc in the works).
Asashi is a shinobi of Sunagakure, he is a dragon born and a master puppeteer. I’m still working on his story.
#digital art#original character#oc#procreate#my art#oc naruto#naruto#naruto oc#naruto shippuden#dragon art#dragon#scorpion#red hair#hidden sand village#sunagakure#myartstyle#my artwork#digital drawing#shinobi#sand shinobi#trans man
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Could I request a Gaara X reader. Please
He sees her admiring his tattoo while at a neighbouring village, decides that noone will mind him taking her home with him. Gives her a matching tattoo somewhere on her body only he'll be able to see.
tw: dub/noncon, kidnapping, scarification, womb marking, possessiveness, power imbalance, breeding, obsession, abuse of power
All characters depicted are 18+
Gaara is somewhat insecure about his kanji shaped scar, having had it since he was a young boy, and he's never once been complimented on it, only pitied and mocked. So when he's visiting a small village on official business and a very cute villager girl expresses her admiration of his 'tattoo', it awakens something within Gaara.
Gaara is the Kazekage, and a respected one at that, so surely this tiny village wouldn't mind him taking a little souvenir with him, so that's exactly what he does. The red haired Sand shinobi feels a sense of contentment as he makes his way back home with his prize tucked snugly underneath his arm.
Despite his unconventional means of acquiring her, Gaara treats her rather kindly, doting on her and not letting her leave his side, and nobody bats an eye at the fact that the Kazekage suddenly has a woman they've never seen before at his side at all times. Gaara thinks it's fate, she complimented his biggest blemish, the mark of 'love' on his forehead, and he wants to give her one to match.
Gaara already knows exactly where he wants to leave his mark on her. He won't do it anywhere too visible, he wants it to be somewhere only he can see, so that it's a special secret just between the two of them, although it will hurt quite a bit.
"This mark means 'love', something very important to me... I'll give you the same mark right here, on your most precious spot, then we'll be bound together by our love forever... It only hurts for a moment..."
He'll use his sand to leave the kanji shaped scar just above her pussy and directly over her womb, marking her precious womb as his property and his alone. Gaara will even gently hold her hand in a comforting manner until the pain and her tears subside, although it doesn't take long before he finds himself getting a bit excited.
Now that he's marked her womb, he wants to fill it as well, claiming her body both inside and out. He needs an heir anyway, and he can't think of anyone more qualified to be the mother of his children then such a sweet and perfect girl who was able to see the beauty in something as nasty as a scar.
Gaara will be gentle despite the fact that he's practically forcing himself upon her, easing his cock in and out of her tight pussy, his face buried in the crook of her neck and he pants heavily and murmurs words of praise and love to her, his hips firmly yet gently grinding against her own.
This will go on for a very long time, taking hours until he's completely sure that he's thoroughly bred her full of his offspring before he finally pulls out of her, leaving her pussy leaking with his semen as he looks down at her with a gentle smile, a rare expression from the usually stoic Kazekage.
"Th-There... You did a great job, my love... I'm sure our children will be just as sweet and caring as their mother..."
Gaara is glad that he has found what he believes to be true love at long last after so much yearning for love, and he's not going to let her go anytime soon, and if she does get away, he wouldn't mind giving her another mark, just somewhere much more noticeable.
#naruto#naruto shippuden#boruto#naruto x reader#naruto smut#headcanon#x reader#naruto headcanons#gaara#gaara x reader#gaara smut#kazekage gaara#sand siblings
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I love Chiyo- and I kind of headcanon her as a Witch of the Woods (Sands???) archetype- a bitter old woman who has sacrificed too much, experienced and committed more atrocities than anyone can imagine, and who knows the truth about what lies in the hearts of men to live among the villages anymore.
In my AU she's got a pretty dark backstory. Back in time when Villages were just getting established, women weren't allowed to be shinobi in the same capacity as men. There was too much warring and death among the clans to risk women, so they were only ever allowed to serve as spies or medics. (Chiyo started off as a medic).
And like any military/fascist dictatorship, serving the state was more important than anything else- so women who were kunoichi were given missions to steal and return with powerful bloodlines. Even before villages, this was a common fear among clans (which is why so many of them have protective measures and inbreed/arrange matches very carefully).
Chiyo was one such woman, who took a X-rated mission in her youth because she was told it would 'serve her nation'. There was a powerful bloodline whose Kekkei Genkai could harden sand to something akin to Steel- something Suna very desperately wanted.
Chiyo succeeded in her mission, but despite the veneer of 'serving your nation', when she returned, she was considered, in her words, "Just another whore."
Then when her son didn't manifest the bloodline- it was worse, but Chiyo was happy because that meant her son was HERS. (This is when she met Enji, and he saved her son's life at great cost- so Chiyo owes him a blood/life debt.)
Then the war came, and they needed women to fight so now serving the nation meant something different, and Chiyo became a full fledged 'shinobi' and turned her healing towards poison and death- especially when she had to fight the Salamander.
Then she sealed Gaara and that was the atrocity straw that broke the camel's back and she dipped out Suna and retired to an oasis. She's still a healer, but adamantly refuses to serve shinobi.
Once again, thank you so much for these asks and all the support for this AU?
@youngpeacearbiter
#naruto#haruno sakura#granny chiyo#coven!sakura#nations always celebrate serving the military but no support for anyone who comes back#veteran's aid? what's that and we all know how they would see women like this#there's no more xrated missions in villages and its like a shameful secret they all gloss over#you never air the dirt out when you've gotta indoctrinate your next wave of children into child soldiers#also chiyo is a pretty cruel woman IMO#first thing she did when she learned Sakura stepped between two attacks was to laugh so hard she started crying#Chiyo has both HEAVY internalized mysogyny but also really wants to protect women- its a balancing act#queen of tough love throw em in the deep end no floaties#trial by firing squad#also chiyo just HATES the hypocrisy of being venerated as a war hero when its convenient for the nation- she just hates shinobi villages#thank u kishimoto for keeping Chiyo's backstory vague as hell so i can play#chiyo as an embodiment of female rage
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Happy birthday! Could you continue the naruto daughter of the homage series?
a continuation of 1 2 3 4 5 6
Naruto doesn’t feel comfortable going back to the tower until the Suna kids have collected their scroll and arrived. Gaara had killed nine people – three teams total – in that time. None of them Konoha, thankfully, but that’s mostly due to her team and Itachi engaging in some creative luring and misdirection. The Konoha Twelve can be redirected outright by one of her clones, but the other leaf genin that she doesn’t know as well have to be lured rather than instructed. Getting their own scroll is more an afterthought than anything else.
They probably should have thinned the herd a little more. Now they’re having preliminary matches, which is just another chance for Gaara to kill one of her shinobi.
Great.
“Is that Orochimaru?” Sakura hisses, looking up at the spectator box. “Isn’t he a missing nin?”
Naruto flickers her glance upward, but she’d already known he was attending. What does surprise her are the two people by his side. “Yeah, but he’s also the Otokage, and one sort of trumps the other. Dad gave up on that one a long time ago, and Sarutobi still likes him besides. That’s not the interesting part.”
Jiraiya sends intelligence back to the village frequently enough, but she’s never thought she’d seen Tsunade back in the village.
~
Orochimaru is already bored.
He barely attends chunin exams when they’re in his own village. But Kabuto had given him an interesting report, and he hasn’t seen Minato in something like fifteen years, so he figured it couldn’t hurt. Besides, Anko is proctoring a portion of the exam, and she always complains that he doesn’t visit.
Jiraiya found out, somehow, which was bad enough, but then the traitor told Tsunade, and the two idiots insisted on coming with him for some reason.
Probably because they were worried Minato might try to arrest him, which is frankly insulting. He can and will kick that kid’s ass if he has to.
Hm. Maybe that’s what they’re intending to prevent, on second thought.
Minato’s daughter has her father’s coloring and her mother’s bone structure.
“I’m surprised she’s made it this far,” Jiraiya murmurs.
Kushina throws him an irritated glance, but the white knuckled grip she has on her armrests seems to imply she agrees with him. Minato doesn’t look at either of them, not that he’s looked at Kushina at all. There’s really no point in them playing the part of happy couple in front of foreign ninja if they can’t commit to the deception.
“She’s got a solid stance,” Tsunade says. “Don’t need working chakra coils for that, I suppose.”
Minato’s lips thin, but he keeps his silence.
“Gaara of Suna versus Rock Lee!” shouts Hayate, pausing to cough halfway through.
Orochimaru leans forward now that something interesting is finally happening.
It’s not as immediate of a bloodbath as he thought it’d be. Lee holds out, demonstrating a mastery of taijutsu truly can make up for an awful lot. He fiddles with the weights on his wrist, but then he glances up. It seems as if he’s looking at his sensei, who’s shouting encouragement, but standing just to the left of them is Team Seven.
Naruto’s lips tug down at the side and she shakes her head just slightly, the movements so small thar Orochimaru wouldn’t notice them if he wasn’t focusing on her.
Lee’s shoulders droop even as he backflips to avoid another deadly arm of sand. He’s not even close to exhausted, and he’s lasted longer against Gaara than anyone else has, but he raises his arm and says, “I surrender.”
Everyone is stunned, an air of disbelief surrounding them.
Gaara acts like he hasn’t heard, more sand barreling for Lee. Hayate moves to interfere, but he’s a lot slower than that sand is.
There’s a smudge of yellow across the arena, there and gone, taking Lee with it.
Orochimaru turns, expecting to see Minato’s seat empty, but he’s still there, eyebrows raised.
He frowns, looking back down, and Naruto is back out of the arena, putting Lee back on his feet. “It seems you didn’t hear him!” she shouts, grin so wide her eyes are slits.
“I didn’t know you taught her the Flash,” Jiraiya says.
Kushina stares between her husband and her daughter, eyebrows pushed together.
“Yes,” Minato says stiffly, “well.”
Interesting.
It appears Kabuto’s report was accurate.
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