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starstuffduster · 6 months ago

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OP's tags: #potentially this means that izuna gets to keep his dick when he joins the harem but tobirama doesnt....

oh NO. all of this sounds absolutely fascinating and also RIPE FOR DRAMA, TRAGEDY AND MANY SHENANIGANS.

I wonder how Tobirama and Izuna would end up getting entangled back? particularly after that incredibly auspicious start...

Although, once I started reading this, I started wondering if Tobirama wouldn't be -- not happy or glad, but maybe a bit relieved, to end up in the cold palace, away from all the scheming and politicking he's clearly not suited for, and having to compete for the favor of people he couldn't care less about pleasing. this Tobirama seems to either not have had the means to develop ways to deal with people to certain standards of excellence, or just didn't bother to.

so maybe he'd be be, honestly, happier just... not having to manipulate his way into favor and/or deal with several very socially able and dangerous people, isolated at the cold palace, and, tbh, I kind of immediately thought...

the cold palace is usually a problem because it's isolated, has no resources, and is sort of... forgotten.

except Tobirama would actually LOVE to be isolated and sort of forgotten while he works on his many inventions and researches, and otherwise writes a hundred theories and arguments and whatnot. he's ALSO a bit of a workaholic, and working on the resourceless cold palace such so that 1. it'll survive autonomously, so he can stop depending on the outside, and 2. he'll be able to acquire the resources he needs for further research and inventions; why, that might just sound like the sort of intensive longterm administrative project he could get lost in for a long time.

so, y'know, after some years, Izuna might meet Tobirama again under the assumption that he's suffering and bitter and in need of the most basics of the basics, and can be bribed with heat sources and clothes and even food --

only to find out that Tobirama would like forbidden books instead. the lastest research papers. glassware. certain seeds...

(on the other hand, the entire state of the cold palace, though an open secret, is now nonetheless a potential point of blackmail.)

au where tobirama and izuna both end up married to the emperor but for very different reasons.

Izuna is married to him because hes such a clever manipulator that his dad decided this was their best shot at improving the uchiha clan's standing in the entirety of Fire. he's not able to bear children but with careful strategic wording and action he can woo the emperor, convince him they're equally besotted with eachother, and ensure that the Uchiha are elevated in status and treated better than any other clan in the country. a change like that can last generations beyond the couple that causes it, and besides, if Izuna gets enough trust he'll probably be allowed to babysit the emperor's the kids (As a "nonthreat" unable to bear his own heirs) and become a beloved sensei type to whoever the future emperor is too....

Tobirama is married to him because Butsuma had six kids and counting and he cannot afford to pay for all of them to get married and have kids, ugh. So he picked a couple of less the fruitful ones and married them off to various other people, somewhat cementing their connection but mostly just ensuring their care is somebody elses problem.

what follows tobirama's induction to the harem is some truly machiavellian scheming on izuna's part to get the man banished to the cold palace...and unfortunately for him the development of his first actual crush.

#doveywovy #naruto founders #naruto founders fic

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starstuffduster · 8 months ago

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ooohhh I'm glad you got to distract yourself then! if it was voluntary then that's okay.

believe me, that you're struggling really doesn't show hahaha. though I'm curious about why you're feeling that way!

so Tobirama is going to apply it to himself backwards with no practice because it’s got to be done and whether he can is irrelevant.

honestly I LOVE THAT and find it maybe even cooler than if he WERE just assuming he can do it. somehow this hits very hard and very right. (even when he fails hahaha.)

ooohhh Tobirama with ADHD is certainly something I've never seen before! sounds interesting, I hope to see what else you do with it.

the tunnel vision DOES sound very like him hahahaha. and your explanations are so cool! of course he ends up hiding the moment he actually becomes aware of things so as to camouflage a potential weakness, that's just reasonable and sensible.

"Tobirama's insane sensing as a Senju bloodline limit with huge vulnerabilities" is another -- actualy, TWO other things I've never seen anywhere! what vulnerabilities would those be??? :o

I think Tobirama is very direct and focused on practicalities, which is part of why he often seems rude, but also sometimes comes off as polite/thoughtful.

good point, good characterization point. a lot more focused on the results of interaction than the often annoyingly intricate path to get there "correctly", except people put a lot of stock on the "correct" path of behavior and WILL react weirdly if you don't follow enough of it.

thank you for the songbirds link hahaha omg of COURSE the Uchiha are great at fine arts. ...although, now I kinda want Izuna and Hikaku to want to sing for Tobirama. >:3

which actually made me realize, scenes I wonder if you're thinking of writing in the future:

if they're stuck this long on the island, they probably gotta train some to keep in shape right? how are they dealing with that?

...do Izuna and Tobirama decide to spar nonlethally at some point "for the sake of training and keeping themselves sharp"?

how are they dealing with keeping the kids from sharing potential clan secrets? did they have one or two talks with them about how they're all going to look out for each other, and some knowledge sharing is necessary but some is too secret? or are they just looking the other way and pretending they aren't listening when normal kid's conversation inevitably reveals more than it should?

re: your and @domoz's headcanons about the cultural differences in how the Uchiha and Senju define jutsu and their philosophies and culture surrounding that: holy shit that's FASCINATING. I am absolutely in love with this headcanon.

I do hope they end up working out the difference and talking about it, although it WOULD reveal strategically relevant knowledge, seeing as the Senju philosophy means they're all automatically capable of altering jutsu they know well, which is something the Uchiha apparently didn't know about. poor Tobirama, he's giving away so many secrets by accident! ...makes me wonder what he's getting from the Uchiha in turn.

love the point made about seals tho. and it makes a lot of sense, I see I see.

which actually reminds me, I have a headcanon of my own about the Hiraishin, specifically about why not every single seal user is using it, since it's an insanely useful and dangerous seal-jutsu, and it's not like either Tobirama or Minato hide the homing seals they use.

my headcanon is that using the Hiraishin (solo) requires the user to hold the complex concepts and equations leading to the teleportation in their mind at the moment of activation, understanding them fully and perfectly. it's not enough to solve the equation by rote, you must comprehend the deeper meaning and Truth of the equation.

thus basically requiring a level of study, intelligence, and slight insanity, that most seal users can't just summon up at will in a split moment, much less midbattle.

anyway! re: the fish god thing, that sounds hilarious. and I can't believe Tobirama is now looking for an excuse to bring an even BIGGER fish, even tho he was so ~Unimpressed~ at their reaction. ...are you trying to show off for the pretty guys, Tobira? >__>

Usually Tobirama doesn’t put much effort into being hard to track, because he’s a living nightmare and most enemies will avoid him if they can. So if his presence is known, everyone is spared a fight.

v pragmatic of him! and also rather merciful. but understatedly so, and still super super pragmatic. v ic of him really.

thank you so much for basically explaining what's going on at the start from Tobirama's side to me, that makes the reread even better!

@starstuffduster You are SO right about needing distractions, unfortunately I am working overtime so it will be even later than usual before I can write

(Do send me lots of asks though! I'm off tomorrow so I can write plenty then)

In the meantime, have a couple of incomplete later scenes from Typhoon Island (which will probably get rewritten but they're fun for now)

Hikaku finds Tobirama sitting under the ledge, where the rain is blocked but some light still filters in. His eyes are closed, and his face is perfectly blank as he traces ink blindly over his face and throat. A seal, clearly, though what it’s meant to do, Hikaku can’t imagine.

Tobirama is too skilled not to have noticed him, even rapidly bouncing his heel against the floor the way he seems to do when deep in concentration. How Tobirama managed to train his skills so that he is always aware of the people near him, but has missed sunrise, sunset, food placed beside him, and being rained on, all in the few weeks they’ve been here, Hikaku still hasn’t figured out. But a surprised shinobi reacts violently, and Tobirama is no exception, as proven by the times a sudden movement has startled him.

So Hikaku knows Tobirama is ignoring him for several minutes. As Tobirama is currently placing the most intricate seal Hikaku has ever seen on his own face, and doing it blindly, that’s more than reasonable.

Tobirama stops abruptly, his heel landing sharply on the stone. Hikaku doesn’t glimpse the handseal that pulls rain into a bubble over Tobirama. The bubble bursts and splashes over Tobirama’s face, blurring most of the seal and drawing the ink in distracting trails down his throat.

Hikaku sets that aside for later. “Difficulties with the seal?” he asks.

“Obviously,” Tobirama says shortly. He wipes some of the water off of his throat, smearing the sealwork there further.

Hikaku still doesn’t know whether Tobirama is aware of his own rudeness. He has learned that ignoring it is usually enough to end it. “Would a mirror help?”

Hikaku doesn’t have a mirror, and neither does Izuna. But they could probably work out something adequately reflective, if the seal is important.

“Hmm. Unlikely,” Tobirama decides. He unfolds from the rock he was sitting on and starts back toward the main cavern, and he’s still somehow taller than Hikaku remembers. “The seal is meant to be used in groups, applied to each other. The difficulty is in applying it backwards. Seeing it would likely be a distraction.”

Hikaku will never comprehend the Senju mind. “What sort of seal is it?”

Tobirama hums. It takes several seconds for him to answer, and they get close enough for Izuna’s voice to reach them, slightly distorted, singing a children’s training song. Several of the children have joined in, with a much larger range in skill than Hikaku expected children so old to have.

Mostly in the direction of less skill. Do other clans teach their children nothing except to fight?

“It is a snorkeling seal,” Tobirama says. “By drawing on the user’s chakra, it draws air from the surface into their lungs, and allows them to remain under water indefinitely.”

An incredibly useful seal, then. It would be a deeply concerning one as well, except that most of its uses are pointless in Fire Country. Fire Country has many streams and creeks, but even the Nakano, which is the largest river in the country, is only rarely deep enough for a person to truly hide in its depths. Mostly, a submerged shinobi would only look like a fool, trying to hide a few feet below the surface of clear water.

But in a place like Water Country, much less these Whirlpool islands… Hikaku is glad that the Uchiha so rarely venture outside of Fire Country.

Still, it gives him an idea. “If it is not given chakra, does it do anything?”

“No.”

“So it’s safe?”

The question earns a quick flick of Tobirama’s eyes in his direction, before they return to the tunnel ahead. “Children use it.”

“If you were to draw it on me, then,” Hikaku says, and even having concluded there would be no danger, his heart rate picks up, “Izuna could watch, and draw it on you.”

Tobirama pauses, a fractional delay in his steps as he glances in Hikaku’s direction again, this time longer, almost actually looking. But he shakes his head. “It is an Uzumaki seal.”

“I have not yet found a limit on the complexity of what the sharingan can copy,” Hikaku says.

“The Uzumaki are protective of their secrets.”

Ah. A different issue than Hikaku assumed. The Uzumaki are Senju allies, but it’s not a seal for war. “Is it that valuable? I can’t see it being used often in Fire Country. I’ve never seen a river or lake large enough to hide in.”

“Fire Country doesn’t have lakes; we only have ponds,” Tobirama says, as if reciting the opinion. “Every seal is valuable. If not for its own effect, then for what it will teach about sealing.”

“I see.”

Izuna stops singing the moment they reach the cavern, and most of the children break off after him, uncoordinated. Kagami continues alone, his voice clear until he finishes the verse.

“Izuna-san is teaching us Uchiha music!” [Uzukid] announces. Izuna’s face goes strained.

“Is it very similar to Uzumaki music?” Tobirama asks, apparently interested, which sets all the kids off. Uchiha music isn’t much like Uzumaki music at all; the [idk water bloodline] have some similar music but it’s not [waterkid]’s favorite; the Hyuuga have the same song, with only a few different words. Tobirama listens with solemn interest.

As soon as every child has shared their comparisons, Tobirama focuses on [Uzutween]. “[Uzutween], are you familiar with the snorkeling seal?”

She nods, looking slightly confused by the question.

“Good,” Tobirama says. “Come with me; I am going to use it to go fishing, and I am not able to apply it to myself.”

“Look! Abalone!”

[Uzukid] is grinning when Hikaku glances over, holding up a palm-length, brown shell with six holes in a line and oddly triangular spots. She, of course, is looking at Tobirama, who pauses in his demonstration of prying mussels off the rocks to seriously examine the shell she hands over.

“Very good,” Tobirama says, and hands the shell back to her. “Your family works with abalone, don’t they?”

“Yeah!”

Tobirama nods again, and turns to include the other children in his explanation. “We likely won’t find many abalone here, but they’re valuable and harmless, so collect any that you see. [Uzukid], would you like to explain how to identify them?”

“Yeah!”

The rest of the kids cluster around and [Uzukid] holds up the shell, pointing out the shape, colors, and shiny interior. The Uzumaki eat the snails, and make the shells into all kinds of jewelry and decoration.

Tobirama listens, but his eyes keep sliding away, scanning the pool and the area nearby. Izuna glances over, sharingan flicking on to catch the image of the abalone’s shell, and then goes back to hunting through a pool closer to the water. Hikaku listens while he keeps prying mussels off of stone and tossing them up the beach toward dry land.

The kids spread out again, now mostly ignoring the abundant mussels as they stick their faces in the water and peer under rocks in search of abalone. [Uzukid] turns rocks over a little more strategically, and keeps chattering. “An’ when you grind the shells up really good, you mix ‘em in with ink and make star seals! That’s what my family does, for the whole village!”

“What are star seals, [Uzukid]?” Tobirama asks.

“You’ve seen them! On the roofs!”

“I have, but not everyone here has,” Tobirama says. “Kagami, do you know what star seals are?”

“Not yet!” Kagami chirps.

“They’re sparkly! And bright!” [Uzukid] gestures, hands flying out in a burst of implied light. “We put ‘em on the edges of the roofs so the old shinobi don’t fall at night!”

[Uzukid]’s descriptions make it sound as if every day is a festival in Uzushio. It’s a shame, Hikaku thinks, that he won’t get to see it. But the Uzumaki have been the Senju’s allies almost as long as the Uchiha have been their enemies. Hikaku will no more be allowed to see Uzushio than Tobirama’s bedroom.

“What if they’re too bright?” Kagami asks.

“They’re not!” [Uzukid] declares indignantly. “They’re star seals, not… not sea-glare seals, or something!”

Kagami nods seriously.

“Seals that create a bright light as their primary effect are called flash seals,” Tobirama says.

“Yeah! They’re not flash seals!”

“But flash seals are one of the primary types of seal which Uchiha encounter,” Tobirama says. “So it’s reasonable for Kagami to think of them.”

“And fire seals,” Kagami adds.

“Explosive tags,” Tobirama corrects.

“Izuna-sama hates those,” Kagami shares. “He says fire’s ours so it’s not fair Senju can fake it without learning real jutsu.”

Tobirama smirks, a flicker at the corner of his mouth that vanishes before he raises his voice enough to make it carry. “Well, next time he says that, you may tell him that Senju use fire jutsu, too; he just hasn’t seen. And he should know better than to make assumptions like that.”

Kagami grins and nods. A few other children giggle.

Izuna looks thoroughly annoyed, but he turns away instead of saying anything. He’ll have plenty to say later, Hikaku is sure, once Tobirama and the kids are out of hearing, but for now he tosses his hair back and peers deliberately into the water.

“Are there lots of kinds of seals, Senju-sensei?” Kagami asks.

“More than I can list at once,” Tobirama says. “Seals are even more varied than jutsu, only less commonly used. Now, how many mussels have you found?”

The Uchiha are collectors of jutsu. Every jutsu that any Uchiha has seen since the beginning of the clan is recorded, both in written form and in memories passed down across the generations. Many of those jutsu are useless—there are dozens of campfire-lighting jutsu, invented by different clans in different countries and different generations, and the Uchiha only need one. But they are kept anyway, for any who want to study jutsu creation, or in case an Uchiha needs to disguise themselves as a member of another clan.

Among those jutsu are thousands that have no use at all in war. Jutsu to make food more flavorful, to shape wood and metal and stone with greater precision than a handheld tool, to send messages, to embellish dance, to amplify music or sensation. Most Uchiha learn a handful of them. Jutsu for singing and sex are the most popular, and those that are useful with various crafts. Hikaku has at least glanced through most sections of the library, looking for interesting options. Each recorded jutsu also records the source, and every Senju jutsu Hikaku has ever seen is for war. Hikaku used to be sure that meant the Senju simply didn’t know or use jutsu for anything other than battle, sabotage, and the like.

But once this season is over he’s going to have to go home and add an entire new section to the library for jutsu that heal. Not merely by shaping a needle out of a broken blade or pulling gravel out of wounds, but actively. It’s still technically for war, but it’s an entire category of jutsu that the Uchiha didn’t even know were possible, which the Senju seem to have been using for generations, the way Tobirama acted about it.

So maybe, being a Senju, Tobirama doesn’t know the full variety of uses jutsu can have. Or maybe the Senju are very good at keeping secrets, and seals can do things Hikaku hasn’t even imagined.

It really is a shame that he’ll never see the Uzumaki compound.

Hikaku pries the last mussel worth eating off the rocks, tosses it into the pile with the rest, and straightens. The children are enthusiastic, but very distracted by all the unfamiliar creatures in the pools, and Tobirama is similarly distracted by watching and teaching them all.

Hikaku and Izuna, then, will have to do most of the foraging. Which isn’t worrying, really; Hikaku is no longer concerned about starving while they’re trapped on this island. But he’d rather not eat every meal from the same single fish for a week again, nor would he like to see what bigger fish Tobirama could possibly find.

[this is followed by Hikaku picking up a blue ringed octopus, and Tobirama being Totally Rational And Calm And Not Panicking in response. As he always is, of course]

#parafic #naruto fic: typhoon island

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starstuffduster · 8 months ago

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oh no, I'm so sorry to hear you had to work overtime on top of such A Day! however, thank you so much for sharing these pieces of fic -- they were great fun to read, and distracted me thoroughly from the tailspinny thoughts of this morning.

your fic is SO fascinating and worldbuildy, and you take so much care making sure the characters are IC and working alongside their own aims! I find it so wonderful to read.

a bit of hopefully not too incoherent screaming about the scenes you shared:

I love Tobirama, that madman, trying to ink seals on himself basically blind -- and he notices that he's gone wrong wtf he's so competent. and then the details that he always notices people, but basically misses anything else...! that's so fun omg, do you have any further thoughts on that???

I also find Tobirama's "rudeness" and how Hikaku has learned to take it in stride, and work around it, despite acknowledging it as Very Rude, hilarious. sorry Hikaku, that's just what he's like! :')

I find it amazing that Hikaku offered himself up for Tobirama to seal...! yes he was worried but ahhhhh IS THAT BABY STEPS TRUST I AM LOOKING AT.

tbh I found the way Tobirama is treating the Uchiha re: exclusive secrets extremely good?! I might be reading this wrong, but to me it felt very genuine and respectful, pretty much -- he clearly tells them what's a secret, and why he's not sharing it, and then doesn't make any other effort to hide or dissimulate the information other than not outright handing it to them... it really felt, to me, as though he's honestly and genuinely treating them as allies. trustworthy allies, even.

the "Uchiha music" scene was also really cute, both for Tobirama dealing so well with the kids (I am a SUCKER for Tobirama that's great with kids!!!), for the culture worldbuildy bit, and for Izuna going "oh fuck does this count as a clan secret. did I just teach a bunch of brats something I shouldn't have" lmao.

so of COURSE in the next scene Tobirama is basically taking care of the WHOLE PACK OF KIDS and making me awwww

I love how he's such a good teacher, and makes sure the kids understand each other and play well alongside each other, it's so cute.

Hikaku's musings on the wide variety of jutsu, and how Tobirama so easily said that seals are more varied, with such calm certainty, was fascinating. I think that Tobirama has no idea about the breadth of jutsu the Uchiha keep knowledge of, and would be a little more impressed if he did know -- but I also think Tobirama is probably ultimately right? both because you've established he's already a jutsu inventor, capable of altering them on the fly (a REALLY FUN tidbit I hope Izuna and Hikaku learn of at some point, or that you put in an AN or something, because that's So Extra and realizing I might have never learned it if Domoz hadn't shared it was V Sad), so Tobirama would know the limitations and structures of jutsu better than most; and because you've already established the Senju do have their own secrets.

...omfg did Tobirama come back with a Huge Fish which fed everybody for a week straight. that's amazing.

can't wait to see the Extremely Dangerous Tiny Sea Creature shenanigans!!! and Tobirama very calmly and rationally losing his mind over Hikaku's safety >:3

AND THE START OF THE FIC. SO GOOD SO MUCH TENSION

why IS Tobirama trying to be so hard to track???

but yeah I go feral WONDERING (what are you THINKING Tobirama) but also LOVING the extremely tense and excellent start.

I'm pretty sure he consistently prioritizes Izuna because he knows Izuna is the more dangerous fighter, so he's trying to allow them a greater sense of safety through giving them back their greater weapon? + knowing Izuna better and knowing how to read him and how he'll react better?

but oh wow the chilling conclusions Hikaku came to while waking up from Tobirama knocking them out, and how very plausible and realistic they read... (until Hikaku could look around and realize that no, Tobirama hadn't, and wasn't going to!!!) and the ways Hikaku was readying himself to get out of there no matter what, do whatever it took... ;__;

I also sorta kinda suspect that Tobirama chose to offer to work with Izuna and Hikaku only because Izuna approached him first. idk. it kinda feels like that. for some reason.

but damn if once they ARE working together Tobirama doesn't seem to go hard on treating them as allies worthy of respect, although he doesn't seem to expect THEM to do it back

...see: suspecting them of poisoning him :'D

though, I honestly can't tell whether he honestly suspected them, or if he just wanted an excuse so they'd have to eat more. he did sorta make a big deal about how they needed to eat after iryoninjutsu application.

the scenes about planning the assault were super cool too, with all the little fiddly details and the personality clashes and sorta getting to know each other on a working capacity -- how do you work around this other person, what kind of preferences do you have, will you trust me on this, if not me will you trust him, will you listen when we both agree?

and then... THE REVEAL THAT HIS HEADPIECE HIDES HIS EXPRESSIONS?! WHAT THE HECK. Tobirama!!!