#To be fair it might just be a side-effect from having read Uzumaki at age 12/13 and never recovering from it

[jacksgreysays]

"Hail to the Queen: She Who Has Divine Right" is interesting, because there are, again, a couple ways this could happen.

The one that first comes to mind is actually her marrying Gaara, and them co-ruling Suna together. After all, her actions with Gelel were what saved their economy. I could definitely see them worshipping Gelel or Shikabane-hime for that. She falls in love with and marries Gaara, only realizing what was going on religiously afterwards. (Though if I'm reading you right, you're more of a Sasuke/Shikako fan and might not be interested just bc of the ship, which is valid)

Another idea that could work would be if the Land of Hot Springs/Ash incident went differently. Maybe Gelel reaches for a dragon vein (right underneath the temple bc that could be part of what made the ritual work) and uses that, along with Shikako, to drive Jashin out and slam the door. That has some sort of side effect that makes it clear that some sort of godly activity took place there. The villagers see Shikako stumble out from the temple, jump to some (correct) conclusions, and start worshipping Shikabane-hime. It spreads from there. Now that it's happened twice, Shikako has access to more of Gelel's power. So this stuff starts to keep happening. Eventually people catch on.

Maybe she goes to the past/different dimension and her 'divinity' starts showing again. People start considering her the patron deity of the Nara. Then they join Konoha and she starts to reveal more of her skills. This is usually because they just weren't needed before, but because they happen to be skills that tend to show up more in other clans (ex: sealing & the Uzumaki), they start thinking that maybe she's growing to be the patron deity of Konoha instead. The fact that she showed up out of nowhere and stopped aging when she turned 21 only supports this theory, to her great frustration. She eventually gives in to the idea when the Mangekyo Sharingan recognizes her as Shikabane-hime. Hashirama is just happy to have a clear successor that everyone is in favor of.

Just some thoughts :)

Hello again aryaokayfriend!

I’m going to say, first of all, I am very surprised that’s the vibe I give off considering my first ever DoS recursive was a Shikaara fic of serene, uncomplicated affection while every time I have to consider Shikako and Sasuke dynamic for a fic I have to go through a checklist of

1) how platonic can the relationship be in order for this to work/be entertaining 2) obviously if there’s any romance it is from Sasuke’s side but does Shikako even reciprocate or is she 2a) going with the flow, or 2b) entirely unable to view Sasuke as romantic due to 2bi) knowing who Sasuke as a character could have turned out to be in canon (an asshole), 2bii) knowing Sasuke as a person since they were little kids 2biii) knowing that she has way more information about the machinations that ruined his life than he does and that she 2biii-) didn’t do anything to stop (even by telling an adult who probably wouldn’t have believed her, but still, no attempt was made) 2biii=) continues to keep it a secret from him even though the literal mastermind behind the murder of his family is walking around the village without any consequences

In all fairness it is probably because of that drama that I write more Shikasuke fic and the ANBU Red Team dynamic is fantastic, so I can see why I might give off that vibe. Whereas because my Shikaara feelings are so uncomplicated and serene I feel like I’ve written all of my Shikaara fic many moons ago (and, admittedly, before I figured out a good tagging/ao3 uploading system so they’re kinda sprinkled around and hard to find T_T)

I am, of course, a multishipper. :D

All that being said, I don’t know if your first idea really meets the brief of She Who Has Divine Right since it seems like her ascension to become “queen” (aka the Kazekage’s consort in this case? Because I can’t imagine Suna’s council would be okay with a Leaf nin co-ruling their village) is more about her marrying Gaara than the Divine powers given to her by Gelel.

Like, if anything, a more “She Who Has Divine Right” adherent take would be if, because she has melded with Gelel, she automatically becomes the leader of Haido’s… country? nation? castle?… or I guess what was actually Temujin’s before Haido killed his parents and etc. ESPECIALLY since according to the wiki “only the royal blood of his clan could forge stones from the ore” and we definitely know that Shikako has her own Gelel stone.

Oh, and it could double for a She Who Leads The Armies since I think they were an invading force that was going to mess with the Elemental Nations (starting with Land of Wind) before Shikako and co. stopped them.

So it would appear that not only did Haido’s invasion fail to, like, six teenagers and a ferret, BUT also the god/divine presence that fuels their literal heart stones also REJECTED Temujin—who is 1) Haido’s heir and 2) the actual original royalty—in favor of one of said six teenagers by fusing with her.

So, you know, now Shikako is the leader of a country/nation outside of the known continent that tried to invade lol. This is just her upping the ante of turning attempted invaders (Sand Siblings) into allies. ;)

~

People earnestly worshiping Shikabane-hime in such a way that it becomes a feedback loop of power -> miracles -> worship -> more power is very entertaining to me because Shikako would also find it entertaining or at least fascinating if it were happening to LITERALLY ANYONE ELSE. As is, the idea of a reluctant burgeoning god is pretty fun. Although part of me is wondering if this would necessarily count as a Hail to the Queen since BEING divine and HAVING divine right are separate things? And of course a lot of my Hail to the Queen series doesn’t necessarily have her become Hokage explicitly—sometimes they are more about being the power behind the throne or the circumstances that push her towards becoming Hokage even though she wouldn’t want to take that from Naruto nor would she want that at all for herself—so it’s not like a governmental leadership role is necessary for the series. But I feel like just becoming a god kind of takes out the intricate… maneuvering? legalese? puzzle?… of becoming queen/queen equivalent.

ALTHOUGH, ALTHOUGH, nothing says that she can’t become QUEEN OF THE GODS.

(I mean, she did pretty handily smack down Jashin as a little god with almost no worshipers to her name and still in a mortal form. That’s pretty embarrassing for him, honestly.)

Or, for a slightly less megalomaniacal take, there was that Changeling ficlet in which I imply that changelings are sent across to the shinobi world to learn and grow and prove themselves and then come back (with or without mortal Knights) to fight in the Courtly Wars and maybe become the new Fae Monarchs

So, you know, she doesn’t need to be human to be a queen.

~

As for the last part of your ask, I don’t know if it matches exactly what you wrote, but I did have She Who Makes The Crown in which Shikako time travels/is summoned by a young Tobirama and is, like, an un-aging advisor to the Nidaime all throughout his reign and helps him build Konoha

It kind of hits on some of the things you mentioned (not exactly, of course) but close enough that I think it might be repetitive if I went that route.