#zakuro yuuhi

[callmepyrus]

Another version of 月光 (Gekkou) cover that I found underrated.

Song: Gekkou (月光)

Original artists: Tatsuya Kitani, Harumaki Gohan

Covered by: 柘榴 (Zakuro), ゆうひ (Yuuhi)

[jacksgreysays]

Incidental Equilibrium, 1/? (2020-06-18)

Incidental Equilibrium

In which Ringo is proactive, Zakuro is stubborn, and Tetsuki needs a little help with some legal matters. 

The whole friendship thing? That kind of just happens.

(Or, the Counterpoise and Externality mashup that literally nobody asked for)

~

1) on the matter of becoming genin

It could have gone like this:

The Uzumaki twins attempt the Academy's graduation exam two years before their age mates. Naruto is ambitious, Konran is anxious, and neither of them get what they want.

That's because the Uzumaki twins do not pass the exam. They do not graduate:

She does. He doesn't.

Konran gets put on a team with two boys practically slated for the corps and a jounin who has to be literally dragged into the role of sensei. Ringo and Zakuro are known for not getting along with strangers, but this time they're willing to take the risk. Somehow, perhaps out of spite, the newly formed Team Five actually passes Riichi-sensei's ludicrous test and make him face the consequences.

They are, if not happy, then paving their way toward it.

Naruto gets sent back to the Academy, placed in the class who are slated to graduate next year. Nobody knows him, but they already don't like him--the rumors and Yanagi-sensei's cold demeanor the only information they have to work with. He meets Tetsuki who, even though kindness doesn't come naturally to her, takes a chance and helps him graduate.

They get put on a team with Komadori, a neutral classmate which is the best they can get really, under the command of a displeased Kakashi-sensei.

Like the formation of Team Two, their happiness, if it exists, is temporary.

Ringo and Zakuro help Konran find herself despite everything working against them all. Naruto and Tetsuki learn enough from each other before their divergent destinies tear them apart.

... But becoming genin is only the start.

---

It should have gone like this:

There are no Uzumaki twins. (Perhaps that night of the Kyuubi it was otherwise. Or perhaps a few years later, even, until an ambassador from Cloud saw an unprotected child with bright red hair. Or perhaps it was always as such.) Regardless, there is only Naruto.

Ambitious, he attempts the Academy's graduation exam two years before his age mates and fails.

Ringo and Zakuro, assigned a third teammate they're incapable of cooperating with, also fail their jounin sensei's test. They go to the corps as expected and must learn to become content.

Naruto is placed in Yanagi-sensei's class where nobody knows him or likes him. That stays true the entire year. When it comes time for the graduation exam, he fails again.

Maybe he would have passed with a little help from a classmate, even one ill-suited for kindness, but none take that chance. (And if Yanagi-sensei vaguely remembers a missing student, an orphan who held her own even against clan kids until her mysterious disappearance years ago, well. Orphans disappear in Konoha all the time.)

Naruto is placed in Iruka-sensei's class where destiny finally sinks its teeth into him and doesn't let him go.

Sometimes he's happy, he thinks. He must be.

---

But it actually went like this:

On a random morning a few months before graduation, Ringo's parents talk over breakfast about his future.

"Your cousin Suzuka is due for a promotion soon," Ringo's mom says while he blearily chews on egg and rice. He's not the best after just waking up, true, but he has time still before he needs to train the weakness out of himself.

"She could have an apprentice" she continues, as if he answered verbally. "I can ask her next time I'm on shift with her."

"Would be better than wasting time by going through the corps' prerequisite classes," his dad says, "Honestly, why they don't allow exemptions or testing out of those--so inefficient."

Ringo's dad is of the opinion that simply being part of the Nohara clan means they are naturally better at being medics than outsiders: as if medical knowledge and jutsu were akin to other clans' blood limits or secret techniques.

Maybe they're a little better at memorization and chakra control, but Ringo thinks his advantage has more to do with being raised by and amongst an entire clan of medics than anything he was born with--wait a second...

"Ask Suzuka what?" Ringo asks, belatedly, quickly shaking awareness into his head.

"Ask her to take you as an apprentice, of course," Ringo's mom answers easily, "I won't have you squandering your time in the Medic Corps or, heaven forbid, the Genin Corps."

Ringo blinks, uncomprehending. "I could end up on a jounin led team," he says, mildly.

His parents' response are less mild: his mom's light smile immedately twisting into a harsh frown, while his dad's hands clench into fists.

"No, no, no," his mom says, almost horrified at the idea.

"They'll try to put you on a team with That Man," his dad says, warningly. "It's what happened to your older cousins."

"They failed purposefully, of course. They know better than to trust their safety--much less their education!-- to That Man. But still," Ringo's mom closes her eyes, as if pained by the very thought, "Why the Hokage even tries to put a heartless creature like that in charge of young shinobi--and at the expense of our clan! Oh, no, Ringo, I couldn't lose you, too."

Then she reaches out for his hand, for comfort, and he tries to do his best.

Ringo's not stupid. He knows who That Man is: Comrade Killer Kakashi Hatake. Aunt Rin's murderer.

He doesn't think the Hokage would allow an actual psychopath to teach children, genin though they may be, so Kakashi Hatake can't still be a comrade killer. But he knows better than to bring it up in front of his parents.

It's not a battle he will win and honestly, not one he particularly wants to win. He doesn't want to be on a team lead by the man who killed his aunt--whether murder or manslaughter--and bore no consequences. If anything, and here his mom might have a point, the Hokage's continuous attempt to make a Nohara one of his students has prevented Ringo's cousins from following any career path but the Medic Corps or, apparently if the timing is right, an apprenticeship from another cousin.

But that's not what Ringo wants for himself. If he enters the Medic Corps, or apprentices under cousin Suzuka, then he won't be able to be on a team with Zakuro.

Maybe a compromise is in order.

...

On a random morning a few months before graduation, Zakuro tries to sneak out of the house only to be caught.

"Zakuro," says Uncle Shinku behind him, and Zakuro tries his best to hold in the annoyed sigh that desperately wants to escape. Last time he didn't, Uncle Shinku lectured him for thirty minutes about how disrespectful and ungrateful he was.

He turns around, "Yeah?"

Uncle Shinku glares. Well, that's just his default face, but it gets more glare-y. "Yes, Uncle," he says flatly, pointedly.

Zakuro holds in another annoyed sigh, "Yes, Uncle Shinku."

The man hums. Zakuro has no idea if that's approval or not.

"You will be graduating from the Academy soon," Uncle Shinku says, which is... true? Obvious? Not something Zakuro knows how to respond to.

He nods. "Yes, Uncle Shinku," he says, because maybe if he just repeats himself, the conversation (does this count?) will be over faster.

"I will not have you shaming us..."

Which is, wow. Thanks for the vote of confidence.

"Our arrangement with the Kurama clan still holds, for all that their heiress remains... reclusive. I will not have you embarrassing the Yuuhi clan," Uncle Shinku continues.

Great. Cool. This is why Zakuro needs to work on his stealth.

"When you join the Genin Corps, I will turn you into a shinobi worthy of our name, unlike your mother."

He sees an opening. "Thank you, Uncle," Zakuro says swiftly, bowing deep enough so as to hide his scowl. "I will go train so as to improve myself! Please excuse me!" Then, without waiting for a dismissal, Zakuro leaves.

If Uncle Shinku responds, he can't hear it. Not over the angry rush of blood pounding in his ears. He meets eyes with cousin Kurenai, her equally red eyes wide with a complicated mix of relief and guilt.

Why is she even here? She has an apartment. If Zakuro could live away from his asshole of an uncle, he would never set a single foot inside this house.

"Zakuro," she says, quietly, "I wanted to--"

Meanly, he interrupts with a loud, "Good morning cousin!" He spitefully enjoys the twist of annoyance on her face before bolting for the Academy.

It's early still but it's not here and that's all that matters.

If he's lucky, maybe Ringo will be there, too.

...

On a random morning a few months before the end of her fifth Academic year, Tetsuki sits alone in a room in T&I.

She's been here since yesterday afternoon, so by this point any adrenaline and fear have long since been replaced by bitter exhaustion.

And anyway, this is not her first time in T&I, so the novelty has worn off.

Although, at least, the room is nicer. Last time it really felt like an interrogation room: stark walls, hard chair, cold lighting. This time, they've put her in something almost comfortable. There's still an obvious viewing window, though it has a tasteful decorative frame, and she could almost fall asleep in the cushioned seat she's in.

Almost.

She hasn't slept since they brought her here and, ostensibly, she's alone right now. But still, she resists. She can sense at least two other people watching her from the observation room on the other side of that fake mirror--three, maybe. There's two distinct rectangles of body temperature metal standing about a meter apart. Forehead protectors, if she's interpreting it correctly, each with a matching pouch of kunai and assorted weaponry. And while she can't sense a third one, the door knob in that room opened and shut nearly thirty minutes ago with neither of the other two leaving.

So someone who doesn't carry metal on them, maybe? Unless it was just someone delivering a message... better to err on the side of caution.

She sits, exhausted eyes half-lidded, and waits for her fate to be decided.

Last time she was here, she thought no one would care if she disappeared. No one to miss her or notice--certainly no one to speak up if they did--just one of many Konoha orphans who mysteriously vanish.

This time, she knows it to be true.

She knows why she's here, this time around--or, at least, she can make an educated enough guess. Yesterday, Yanagi-sensei and Hinoura-sensei had distributed elemental chakra paper wearing nonconductive gloves. Gleefully, everyone in class grabbed at their papers, eager to find out their elemental nature in hopes that this would lead to lessons in ninjutsu.

Tetsuki didn't have particularly high hopes--such things hardly led to anything as exciting as her classmates would hope, probably just more lectures--but she certainly hadn't expected it to go this badly.

For the most part, everyone's paper reacted in an expected way. A lot of ash from the fire natured people, some crumbled to pieces or soaked through entirely--earth and water respectively. She thinks she saw one or two slice in half; wind natured, which is rare but highly appreciated in Land of Fire.

Hers crinkled.

She thought maybe that just meant she didn't have an elemental nature, there were some classmates whose papers did nothing--Neji Hyuuga for example, but everyone knows that Hyuuga chakra is weird--it wasn't too out there.

That was, perhaps, too optimistic.

Lightning natured chakra isn't unheard of Konoha. That alone would not have gotten her here, surely.

But that combined with her previous visit--where she was interrogated on whether or not she knew Cloud nin and if the light haired, dark skinned boy she used as her henge model was a real person that she knew--probably doesn't look that good.

Her paper crinkled, Yanagi-sensei dismissed everyone for lunch, and Hinoura-sensei brought shinobi wearing the T&I uniform to take her away.

They took her blood, put her in this room, had a sweetly smiling old lady ask her a bunch of questions, and then left her here.

The door to her room opens up. The person that enters is not someone she recognizes.

He's in his fifties maybe, quite old for a shinobi which he must be considering he's in this room and not a prisoner. She's not much of a danger to anyone, given she's only an Academy student, but they wouldn't bring a civilian in. Not that she would have a chance--for him to have survived to his age, he must be quite skilled.

He stares at her and says nothing, so she stays silent as well.

"You are Tetsuki, yes? Of the... Ryokushoku orphanage?" He asks almost hesitantly.

She doesn't know why, he clearly has access to her file. And it's not like a hesitant old man will get them any other answers than the sweetly smiling old lady did.

She nods in response.

"I'm Kunugi Mokume, conservator of the Utsugi clan holdings," he introduces himself. She nods again, because she doesn't know what else to say. "The Utsugi clan has been largely believed to be wiped out during the Night of the Kyuubi. Clearly, that is not the case," he says with a small smile.

She doesn't smile back.

Perhaps chagrined, perhaps not, Kunugi Mokume continues, "Unfortunately, we're under something of a quandary and a deadline on top of that: The decade of reservation is nearly up before the Utsugi clan holdings reverts to Konoha's possession. You are the sole heir but, unfortunately, due to your legal status as a minor your guardian would be the one to receive your inheritance."

Her guardian being the Ryokushoku orphanage, which just goes back to Konoha. Unless...

"Given the news of your possible inheritance, any applications for your adoption would be denied at this time. For your protection," he says.

Sure. Okay then.

"So I started with nothing and I will continue to have nothing," Tetsuki says with a nonchalant shrug.

Kunugi Mokume flinches. She doesn't know why. It's the truth. What is a clan name if there is no family to go with it? And anyway, she has long since abandoned the hope of having one.

"There is one possibility," he says, as if this were some kind of planning session and not just some stranger telling her nonsense after she's spent hours in Konoha's T&I, "If you become a legal adult before this October, you can inherit without any issue."

"Ah, of course. I'll just age a few years right now then," she snipes because she's tired and angry and something in her hates this man more than she's ever hated anything in her life for giving her this hollow, useless hope.

Weirdly enough, that makes Kunugi Mokume smile. "When you become a genin, you become a legal adult in the eyes of Konoha."

Tetsuki stares at him in confusion. "I'm only in my fifth year at the Academy," she says slowly, which, given how frequently her teachers have ratted her out to T&I as a potential spy is frankly a miracle.

He looks back at her, equally confused. "It's been a while since I've been at the Academy," he admits. 

That's fair. He's old. And she knows during wartime the length of Academy schooling is shorter.

"I have another year before my class is up for graduation," she explains. "It won't be in time for this October." She doesn't know why she's bothering, this is all nonsense.

"Maybe your class won't be ready," he argues, "but you could be. If you take the upcoming graduation exam and pass..."

He doesn't need to say any more, but he does anyway. "You have nothing, right? So what do you have to lose?"

~

A/N: I saw this post and I don't know why my brain responded by immediately smashing together two (arguably three? if you include (In)difference) still incomplete concepts as a response but I guess I wanted it enough to write the above.

I may continue this? I don't know.

[jacksgreysays]

One of my favorite fandom things is to see the protagonists of other stories as the background characters in fanfic for a completely different story. An example would be, say, the Inuyasha cast as the background ninja manning a border outpost. Not as protagonists in their own rights, but as obviously enough themselves that you can fill out their stories, lol. Do you have any characters you think would be great for that? Even OCs! And how would you need to adapt them to not be protagonists?

I also enjoy that trope! I don’t see it as often as I like? Or, well, I don’t see it often as more than just “I needed five names and I might as well use these names” as opposed to a more integrated “these five characters would work well in this universe, here’s a little easter egg for my readers”

I do something similar in Naruto/DoS fic… maybe not “protagonists” of other stories but definitely would-have-been secondary characters in other stories are still around.

For example, the teammates of my other Naruto fic. In Counterpoise it’s Ringo Nohara and Zakuro Yuuhi who graduated two years before the Rookie Nine and then in Externality it’s Komadori Ouba who graduated the same year as Team Gai. And then, I guess, arguably Kiyoshi Utsugi who is the main character in (In)Difference and possibly Kakashi’s mom?

All three of them are alternate universes but the first two–Counterpoise and Externality, that is–are alternate universes in a different way from (In)Difference. Because Counterpoise and Externality are “what if X character existed and were relevant to Naruto/Naruto’s story” ie Konran, Naruto’s twin sister or Tetsuki who helps Naruto graduate a year early and thus becomes his genin teammate. 

Whereas (In)Difference is an AU of “what if Kakashi’s mom was an SI!OC/had knowledge of canon” even though, when I was first building her I didn’t make her with being Kakashi’s mom in mind. I made her to be a kunoichi of an age with the Sannin and then had to figure out what would make a good teammate for Dan Katou (aka Tsunade’s boyfriend) and That One Guy who was on the same mission as when Dan died and who ACTUALLY HAD A NAME? aka Kunugi Mokume. So, like… with those two in mind, who would make a good teammate abilities-wise and then… it just kind of… grew into well, I guess she’s Kakashi’s mom.

I’m getting off track. So… even through (In)Difference is an AU, Kakashi obviously still exists so his mom must still exist so I just generally use “Kiyoshi Utsugi” as his mom whether or not it’s the (In)Difference version who has canon knowledge or not. But in Counterpoise and Externality, that’s the only instance in which Konran Uzumaki and Tetsuki Kaiza exist [in the Naruto world]. But their would-have-been-teammates still exist without them, so I use them pretty frequently as like. “Oh, I need a character who’s approximately this age and would be in the RnD department. Let’s use Komadori” Or “Hey, this person is going to the hospital but it’s not a major injury so they’d have a baby medic look at it, here’s Ringo.”

I actually designed Ringo and Zakuro to be the “those two guys” for the Konoha Twelve? Like, not part of the group, obviously, but a background sort of… like Izumo and Kotetsu?

So, I guess, the how do I do it for these characters is more of a… well… I took away their genin teammate so they didn’t pass their assigned jounin-sensei’s test so they went into Genin Corps/Medic Corps/had an apprenticeship or whatever… which I guess is kind of bleak.

Um…

I also had a fairly recent almost-use of this concept. In more of a fleeting daydream-y than a full brainstorm-y way and it had more to do with a reaction to a BnHA fanfic I read that then spun wildly out of control…

I should try to make a proper post out of it since it’s the advent calendar:

Fake Fic Summaries, 25/? the Alternate Lightning edition (2019-12-17)

Strikes But Does Not Roar

Izuku never gets One For All. He doesn’t go to UA. He doesn’t become a Hero.

But heroism isn’t just for the professionals. Neither is happiness or Family.

It’s a vigilante!Izuku, basically. But, specifically, a KHR!vigilante!Izuku.

I’m talking a reverse Tetsuki Kaiza ‘verse!

Just kidding, knowledge of Tetsuki Kaiza is not needed (ALTHOUGH)

The idea actually came to me as a weird knee-jerk response to bakudeku fic Just Like The Comics by brichibi which I do recommend if you A) like bakudeku fic, B) like AUs, and C) like screaming at your screen when fictional characters are having mutual pining romantic drama but also legitimate relationship issues and not just RomCom-esque misunderstandings 

It’s a very complex set of feelings.

And without getting too much into spoiler territory, there was a lot of discussion of Achieving Your Dream versus Being Happy and because I still have conflicting feelings about the bakudeku ship, part of me was like… okay, but what if an AU of this fic in which Izuku decided, well, just because I can’t be a hero doesn’t mean I can’t help people still in the most dangerous way possible.

And then I also thought, a little bit, how… not funny… but a greater slap in the face to Bakugou if Izuku started dating someone who, on the surface, was very much like him but on the surface a worse version. Like, on paper that is. Because Bakugou is probably very handsome, if he weren’t always so >:(, and very smart and successful and devoted to being a hero. Great, fantastic, Bakugou will probably achieve his dream of being the number one hero with or without Izuku.

But will he be happy?

Versus, Izuku in this AU will never achieve his dream. Has, actually, given up on his dream or, at least, the original version of his dream. But he can still help people. And if he happens to find happiness with a loud, pale-haired, bright eyed, muscular vigilante whose punches can kind of explode things then… well… Ryohei Sasagawa is not the smartest of dudes, but he is a good sunshine boy who I and Tetsuki love very much.

So this AU takes the brichibi’s theme of Achieving Your Dream vs Being Happy and twists it into an unhappy ending (for Bakugou, at least) because instead of both of them getting both, each of them only get one.

Well, that’s the origin of the AU, but it kinda took a life of its own when I decided to use KHR characters and this is where this weird fake fic summary finally becomes relevant to your ask, lionheadbookends, because it wasn’t just the idea of Ryohei vaguely looking like Bakugou and rubbing salt in a broken up bakudeku’s wound. It also wasn’t even the fact that IZUKU IS COVERED IN GREEN LIGHTNING WHENEVER HE USES OFA. It also also wasn’t even the whole “Vongola started off as a vigilante group” thing, though all of these did help, of course.

But the cold, brutal thought that in this world of quirks–where Izuku’s misery comes from being quirkless–that another boy who had been so bullied and ridiculed and given a cruel nickname would also be quirkless… and still, eventually, find happiness despite it. That’s right, I’m talking about Dame-Tsuna.

And, okay, I suppose I have to decided whether or not Dying Will Flames exist. I do know they are independent of quirks if they do exist. And while I would love to stick with the theme of “you don’t need powers to be a hero” I have no idea how Tsuna’s Guardians would have formed around him (specifically, Gokudera, Mukuro, and Lambo… although as an Actual Child, he will not be holding the Guardian title… if they even do still structure themselves that way)

Anyway, Tsuna is quirkless as well and all of his “Guardians” have weak quirks or quirks that aren’t applicable to being a hero but they still go out and be vigilantes anyway. Like, for example, Ryohei probably has a minor healing quirk. He did not want to be a doctor. But he likes helping people, even if its not through his quirk, and he wasn’t going to not help people just because his quirk didn’t match up to his methods. (Kyoko also has a minor healing quirk, and while she did go into the medical field she decided to be a NEUROSURGEON where her quirk isn’t exactly useless but doesn’t really apply during the main part of CUTTING PEOPLE’S BRAINS).

And Izuku probably falls into this group because he, I dunno, decides to take some self defense classes finally and Ryohei’s either the teacher or an assistant or something and that’s their meet cute but really it’s the introduction to Izuku being like… the friendly boy who I maybe like has way more bruises on his face than class sparring explains? WTF? He’s going out at night and fighting crime illegally with a bunch of his friends? (With or without Dying Will Flames) and then Izuku is just like… I WANT IN.

Anyway, because this is from Izuku’s POV, it does make the KHR squad into the non-protagonists. Not necessarily “background” characters, but secondary characters for sure. Although if we focus on the unrequited bakudeku aspect of it, then the vigilantism does become the “background” for the “childhood friends and former high school sweethearts dichotomy drama of Achieving Your Dream vs Being Happy…”

Tetsuki might exist here but definitely as a background character. She does a lot of undercover stuff as in canon for Trailblazers

… this probably isn’t what you wanted, lionheadbookends…

[jacksgreysays]

Counterpoise (2019-10-11)

"Happy Birthday," Konran whispers in the early dawn-lit silence of their apartment. It's a futile wish--has been every year--but at this point a personal tradition that she just can't seem to shake.

Her morning ablutions are quickly taken care of, hair braided and wound around and around her head before being pinned and wrapped up beneath bandana and hood, and so is the routine of waking up her brother so he can start his day while she scrounges up some semblance of a breakfast for the both of them.

Today should be no different from any other day.

But still, at the door as they both leave--Naruto to the Academy and Konran to meet her team--she grabs at his sleeve and murmurs, another futile personal tradition, "Be safe today."

And if his grin goes brittle, his eyes conflicted, well: at this point in their lives, she's the only one who knows him enough to tell.

---

A decade on from the night of the Kyuubi attack. A decade on from the death of the Yondaime Hokage. A decade on from massive loss of lives.

A decade on. It's not like she remembers--obviously--it's not as if Naruto's classmates or even her teammates will remember. But the adults remember. The village remembers. And that trickles down.

The village is in a strange mood, in mourning but determined to carry on. A little too determined, maybe, to prove that today is just like any other.

Maybe she's doing the same. It's their first birthday apart.

Naruto will be safe at the Academy. On the wrong side of glares and snide comments, maybe, but safe. 

Konran's the one who will be going on missions today. D-ranks, yes, easy grunt work. But she's the one who will probably have to interact with the general populace.

Maybe she'll be lucky for once and they'll spend all day in the forest looking for a cat.

---

"Grocery shopping," Riichi-sensei says, eyes flat and unimpressed. But, hey, a mission is a mission after all.

Zakuro groans before muttering displeased and cuss-filled things under his breath. Ringo refrains, but it's easy to tell he agrees.

Konran huffs a short sigh. Well, there goes that idea.

"Oh, what's this?" Zakuro says, honing in on weaknesses the way sharks do blood, "Coupon Queen disappointed?"

Ringo, too, looks mildly concerned, "You usually like shopping missions."

Usually, yes. Because of the D-ranks it's the one that has a straightforward goal--here's the list of items, find them, purchase them, return to client. And if she happens to use a lot of sales and coupons, well, the excess budget usually becomes a tip for the team. It's like a really mundane scavenger hunt.

Usually, it's fine because usually people forget that the quiet kid with the bandana and hood was once the loud red-headed brat who happens to be twins with the loud blonde brat who everyone hates.

They're always more attentive today.

"I'm sure that'll be very impressive on my bingo book page," she deflects.

Ringo shrugs and accepts, "Coupon Queen Konran, it's got a nice ring to it."

Zakuro laughs, "That'll strike terror into the hearts of our enemies for sure."

"Alright you brats," Riichi-sensei says, holding out the list, "We're not getting any younger."

~

A/N: Ugh, I dunno. This would probably continue into, like, the boys give her gifts unknowing that it's her birthday and Riichi-sensei, who does know it's her birthday but definitely lost some people, treats them all to, like, meat buns or something.

It's the best birthday Konran's had yet and she feels guilty because Naruto was not involved with it whatsoever.

[jacksgreysays]

Character Statistics: Counterpoise, Team Five

Graduation

— Kiri Chuunin Exam

— Konoha Chuunin Exam

— Shippuden

— Riichi

Konran

Ringo

Zakuro

~

A/N: Here is Team Five aka the “Retrieval” Team from my series Counterpoise.

In this series, my main OC Konran takes the Academy graduation exam two years early (because Naruto has somehow canonically failed the graduation exam three times but is still in the same class as his agemates?) and somehow barely passes. She, along with two other OCs–Ringo Nohara and Zakuro Yuuhi–become a genin team under the jounin Riichi who is a minor canon character that I have co-opted as my own and tweaked slightly (or, rather, conflated with a different unnamed minor canon character) to give a cool backstory.

They end up taking the first Chuunin Exam which, because it’s two years earlier than canon, is not in Konoha but in Mist (I’m unsure about how much of a disaster Mist infrastructure was before Mei took over, but I imagine it’d be a HUGE faux pas if any of the big five shinobi villages passed up their year to host the exam. The smaller villages can get away with doing so, which is probably how Akatsuki stayed under the radar as leaders of Rain for so long, or rather it’s not as much of a surprise if they pass it up, but one of the big five? That’d just be embarrassing).

The Konoha Chuunin Exam is just a really good marker of time–since it’s not as if their team has changed Orochimaru and Sand’s plans, so the invasion is still on–and then ambiguous Shippuden point in time just to round it out.

[jacksgreysays]

Counterpoise Remix (2017-03-20)

Your first night in Konoha, you do not cry.

Still, you sit up and clutch at your face, desperately trying to stay quiet, so keenly aware of how close your bedroom is to that of the Namikazes' and how thin the walls.

Despite having had a largely nomadic lifestyle, you are overcome with homesickness.

---

Iruka normally finds the hour before classes soothing. The warm sunlight streaming through the windows, preparing for the day's lessons, and appreciating the calm before the storm that is a day of teaching preteens how to be soldiers.

Normally, he's fond of the time before classes begin. Now the silence is dragging, suspenseful and ominous, and he both dreads and hopes for the clock to move faster.

The Uzumaki princess will be joining his class today.

He's not starstruck or anything like that--almost half of his class are the clan heirs or seconds--one of his students is the Hokage's son!

He has long since gotten used to instructing the children of the elite. It's hard to be intimidated by their family name when you remember them as six year olds with snot running down their noses.

Which might explain why he's nervous about the Uzumaki princess, though he knows that only contributes part of the reason.

His grandmother had been from Uzushio.

His dad frequently reminisces about childhood visits to Uzushio, family reunions dozens of members strong. Iruka would have grown up the same, had the islands not fallen before he was born. As it is, all he has are the stories that his parents pass down to this day.

Uzumaki Konran is princess of an intangible kingdom--memories and legacies--which makes her all the more intimidating.

---

On the back of every Konoha flak jacket is a spiral the same bright red of Uzumaki hair, an oath of alliance given form.

This is not a coincidence.

---

Konran's first morning in Konoha went as thus:

Following silently, uncertainly, in the trail of the Hokage's son. Watching the villagers turn to him, like flowers to the sun, smiling and calling out greetings that he easily returns: he grew up surrounded by so many people, loved; the village steeped with his presence, familiar places as much part of him as his very body.

This is his home, and she is a stranger.

At the Academy--and how strange, such formal education; she learned around a campfire, the road was her classroom--Naruto's friends call him over. At first, he goes toward them, but his steps falter, he hesitates and looks back at her.

Her, the intruder in his life.

She waves him off, perhaps more dismissive than she intends, and steels herself. Umino-sensei has her introduce herself, she struggles to match the stares of thirty different faces. They have known each other for years, have developed friendships and histories all without her. She finds an empty seat close to the window.

An outsider looking in.

---

Uzumaki Konran meets Nohara Ringo and Yuuhi Zakuro entirely by accident. Hatake Kakashi meets her deliberately.

Her decision after graduation shouldn't have been a surprise to any party involved.

And yet.

---

Dear reader, know this:

There is no fate, there are no soulmates, no guarantees or warrantees; but in this vast, infinite universe there may be something that ties us together.

Something like resonance.

I did not love her at first sight, nor second, nor third. I did not even like her immediately; though that is not to say that I disliked her immediately, either. She was interesting, and fascination became fondness became affection.

Once I loved her, I could not stop.

~

A/N: Okay, that should be it by now... thanks for being patient and humoring me, everyone :)

[jacksgreysays]

Counterpoise drabble (2015-10-22)

Zakuro is the fastest on their team. So it's unsurprising that, after the explosion, he's the first by her side--slowly helping her sit up from where she had been thrown.  

"You idiot," Zakuro says, half fond, half worried, before smacking the back of Konran's head. The blow is cushioned by three layers of cloth and hair so she hardly feels a thing, not that it was terribly strong anyway.

Konran coughs in response, a puff of thick, dark smoke leaving her mouth. Her face and the front of her jacket is likewise covered in soot, making her grin a bright sickle of white in contrast. She tries to talk, but only succeeds in agitating her lungs--she coughs again.

"Stop it," Ringo admonishes, before gently laying a chakra covered hand on her chest. The first time he had hesitated and Zakuro had nearly turned purple with laughter, the implications obvious even if she hadn't hit puberty yet. But they've been a team for years, and even if her chest isn't as flat is it once was, Ringo's her medic.

That strange contradictory sensation of cold warmth seeps into her skin, her muscles, her ribs, her lungs, repairing the damage she's done to herself.

"Now exhale," he orders, and she obeys, pleased to find her breathing restored.

"Thanks," she says, as they both absently reach a hand out to Zakuro, who easily pulls them off the ground. She looks down to check over the state of her jacket and frowns, "I don't think this one's salvageable." Even if she washed it, there would still be stains in the fabric--where it isn't completely incinerated, anyway--and the zipper teeth are fused together.

"Sweet. Can I have it?" Zakuro says, because he's kind of an jerk, "I've been meaning to make some kind of dummy trap, and I was considering using some of my stuff, but if that's wrecked then I might as well use it," he explains, because at least he's a productive jerk.

Ringo punches his arm anyway, which leads to a short scuffle between the two boys. "We should head to my place," he suggests, casually, as if he didn’t have Zakuro in a headlock, "I got some more clothes for you," he adds with a shrug.

For some reason, Ringo occasionally receives girl's clothing as gifts. Which he then re-gifts to Konran because, well, he doesn't want it and she's always up for getting free stuff.

As they head towards the unofficial Nohara clan neighborhood, Konran chattering away about how she's sure next time the one-touch barrier seal will work, Zakuro suddenly stops. Turns around. Stares at an innocuous looking patch of road. Then reaches out and shatters an area genjutsu so strong it makes his two teammates shut their eyes lest they become nauseated by the chakra backlash.

When they open their eyes, they see what Zakuro uncovered. There's a hatch in the road.

~

A/N: Yup. I have no idea where this is leading, or if it leads anywhere at all. Is it an ANBU tunnel? A ROOT tunnel? An abandoned Senju secret base filled with cool stuff?

I dunno.

Shout out to @cheloneuniverse who sort of reminded me about this series by liking all of the previous installments.