#canon is pretty much dead by the time Chunnin Exam hit

[toomanyplotbunnies-sendhelp]

Hello and welcome to Day 7 of "Let's Explore My Plot Bunnies"

Sorry for posting this a bit late today, I was busy, and the idea was a bit complicated to put in words. (Don't you love when your brain gives you only vivid images but abandons you when you need to describe them? Yeah, me too)

The fic idea I wanna explore today is actually a collab fanfic between me and my friend @yokomisaki.

This is a Canon Divergence AU for Naruto that both of us came up with around *checks notes* July 13th, 2023. It actually started with me saying that "Shiranui Genma is definitely a motherhen to anybody that he deems in need of motherhening" and that evolved into "Shiranui Genma would make a great Jounin Sensei" before it settled into "Make Shiranui Genma a Jonin Sensei and then throw Naruto at him cause god, does the kid need someone like him in his life".

I came up with a title for this fic, and we already started writing it. I have done a small part of the prologue so far, but we have chapters planned out (just not written out yet).

Title of the fic:

"The late dog always barks at the closed door"

(Yes, it is a jab at Kakashi's habit of being late. Is it mean of me to do this? Yes. Do I care? Not really. I feel he needs a bit of a reality check for that; like, you can be late for your own personal meetings but NOT FOR A FREAKING OFFICIAL MEETING)

Synopsis/Description:

Shiranui Genma is many things, but he is not a teacher. At least not until the Hokage decides that, in the wake of one Jounin Sensei's death, he is to take a team of 3 freshly graduated children under his wing. The good news is that he is not obligated to pass them. The bad news is that he actually likes the brats - despite the fact that he knows only headaches will follow him now.

In the one year he had the brats for a lot changed, including what one of his students wanted to do with her life as a shinobi. Now, Genma is required to get a new Gennin to make up for the student (and she is still his student dammit; no official paper will ever change that) that decided to pursue the career of "not-battle active medic-nin".

When it was time for him to choose, he recognized a certain hyperactive blonde as part of the rooster he could choose from - which is weird since Hatake seems to want him. So then why was not the kid already spoken for?

After some consideration, Genma came up with his answer.

"Hokage-sama, I want to take Uzumaki Naruto as the new member for Team 3."

Some details:

I know Team 3 is supposed to be Might Guy, Neji Hyuuga, Tenten, and Rock Lee; however, I have always believed them to be team 9, so it is really hard for me to correct that belief. Thus, just for the sake of my brain, Genma's team is Team 3, while Guy's team is team 9.

This fic will have (so far) 4 OCs: Kawamura Chizuru (Part of Team 3 - retires from active duty but is still considered part of the team by Genma); Nomura Akira (Part of Team 3); Higashi Kyoka (Part of Team 3); Sakaki Ichirou (the boy that takes Naruto's place in team 7)

Yes, at Naruto's graduation team, because he also got to graduate, there was one person that would have to be put in another team as the numbers wouldn't add up (think instead of 21 kids aka 7 teams of 3, there are 22 kids that graduated)

We have most of the plot for the OG series already thought out; the Shippuden part is more complicated (because of what we do with the pervious part)

Naruto is getting the darn support system that he is in need of in this AU

And I am not overlooking Sasuke either. Without Naruto around to push him, Sasuke will realize that he is pretty much isolated (thank you Konoha Elders and Teacher from the Akademy (Not Iruka), you did a fantastic job *note the sarcasm*). Cause really, the main reason why it didn't look like Sasuke was isolated by others (and instead it showed he chose isolation) is because Naruto is like 10 people in one presence-wise. And because I am taking Naruto away from the picture, I raise you this idea: Get Raidou (or any competent adult) to interact with Sasuke. Sasuke needs more competent adults in his life at this point

Everyone - and I mean EVERYONE - is getting character development. Even just some characters that appear for a few times. And I am dragging Kakashi from his brooding corner, kicking and screaming if I have to. (And yes, that includes villains, too. *looks at my brain planned storyline* And summons get the same treatment as well)

Another thing: Political Sub-plot. Ya think that with all the importance they put on, not only rank but missions that get you in different countries, this show would have more political talk; but no. So we are bringing Naruto into politics. Inter-village Politics, to be precise. Naruto, prepare your Talk no Jutsu.

Also, Fuuinjutsu Made-Up Theory Stuff. Just because I can and I will (I am in charge of Fuuinjitsu stuff). Genma is making Naruto learn them from scratch.

We are addressing the fact that the Shinobi Academy of Konoha was turned into a "civilian playground" because of the Konoha Elders. (It's way worse than you can think if Genma makes Naruto re-learn stuff from zero) - there is no way any fight will have some bullshit pop-quiz about History or Chakra Theory. How in the world are those kids alive?

We also have Orochimaru Plot™️. A whole ton of it too.

We also get into the "Preparation to Take a Life on the Battlefield" thing. Because people there seem to not do it anymore. Like, get the kids to kill animals in the wild after catching them. Is it hard? Yes. But THEY NEED THE DAMN EXPERIENCE SO THEY DON'T FREEZE UP AS BADLY IN COMBAT.

Get Naruto into the Tactical Thinking. Not because he is Shikamaru Level at it; but because he is good at surprising the enemy. So Naruto's shenanigans + some tactician lessons = Perfect Combo for Ambush.

Naruto and Kurama interact earlier. And, while it won't be that much better than the beginning of their friendship in the anime, we are getting the friendship a lot faster this time.

Finally, Team 3, being trained by Genma, starts to pick up having Senbons on them. It's like their "mark" as Genma's kids. (Genma is so proud)

This is all I have currently (mostly because it's late at night here, and I am losing my thought process). I will also post what I have written from the Prologue after this is posted, so look forward to that.

So, what do you think? Good? Bad?

I will see you guys later. Take care and have a great day/night!

- TooManyPlotBunnies-Send Help

[dailysuna]

Hello, yes, I heard requests are open!! I would like to know your thoughts on the economic repercussions of Suna losing the battle of the chunnin exams? I thought they were already in a depression before and I think I remember that things ere pretty dire to have them need to make Gaara, but the loss at the Leaf must have hit even harder. What do you think some likely strategies were, and by whom, to stave off complete economic ruin and widespread starvation among their citizens? Thank you!

Okay first off thank you so so so much for sending these in! I kid you not we were overjoyed at seeing them because they are just the type of content we like to see!!! We think about these types of things in depth so its great to see others thinking about them as well. Now let me separate these questions and answer them for you.

Question One

You are very right! Canonically Sunagakure never had great economic standing, but during Rasa’s reign as Kazekage it got worse. Now, this has nothing to do with Rasa’s way of ruling himself, but rather that the Wind Daimyo, ruler of their specific country, not Suna, started giving shinobi missions to Konohagakure instead of Suna. So, Rasa used his abilities to extract precious metals to sell so Suna didn’t collapse; however, their economy never really got back onto their feet because of many reasons I will not get into at this moment. The economy was already suffering under Rasa’s leadership, which was good even if he sucked as a father, so the sudden absence and loss of the battle during the exams would cause much chaos. 

Rasa was killed meaning the country lost their best source of procuring income as well as their main leadership position (although the fact they have a council means they won’t be thrown into complete chaos without a kage good job Suna). His death alone would cause much turmoil and trouble. With the added loss of ninja, supplies (any war requires supplies and loss only means losing all that effort put in), and already strained relationships would not help. How can they even come back from this?

Well first, who is the one implementing the methods? The way we see Suna formatted almost seems to be based on a democracy where the kazekage is but one voice amongst that of the council, thus, the kazekage and the council would be the ones to brainstorm and make the changes necessary. We think that their main method in fact is to lower wages. When shinobi cash in on their missions, they take some of the profit and the government takes the other amount. They would need to start taking more from their already small amount of missions. (In fact in a discussion us mods had about similar situations one time I, mod K, have an oc family I have based in Suna that we figured would be the first to have wages cut.) In consequence I believe they would order local businesses to drop their prices. Suna has no fertile land in sight, their small plot of land in the Land of Fire they acquired years ago their only place where growing is possible, so they rely heavily on importing goods. The government would likely prioritize trying to keep the country running, while reforming relationships with Konoha. I could see them purchasing larger quantities of non-perishable food or ingredients to give out rations. They are also going through a change in power which most likely made the situation very difficult and required the council to do most of the work while Gaara listened and learned.

The important thing to remember is Suna shinobi are extremely patriotic and loyal, so here at dailysuna we think the village as a whole would do their best to cooperate and help one another should it mean the success of Sunagakure, aka a more stable economy.

Question Two

I briefly addressed some of these questions at the end of the last one, but yes we actually have planned a lot of this out in varying degrees of depth. As for the change in power, I already established Suna was facing ruin and shifting power creates another hard element in harsh times. Sometimes it is what you need but sometimes it doesn’t help in the slightest. In the case of Suna, the job of the kazekage isn’t one where someone can jump in after assassination and immediately change it all. The council is there to provide checks and balances for the kazekage as well as advice, its no coincidence we see council members mostly i their middle ages or later. This abrupt shift in power from the dead fourth kazekage to his 12-13 year old son is just a crazy change. Gaara is continuously not trusted by the council, in Shippuden they even discuss his death being beneficial in a meeting, so Gaara needs to not only learn the ropes in his young emo preteen years but to foster a better relationship with the council and the citizens as well. I don’t believe it is actually ever confirmed when Gaara officially took the seat of kazekage, so there could be a few months or even years in there where there was no official fifth kazekage. During this time, the council likely ran Suna, as they have the power to do so. Even a bit into Shippuden I believe the council was still pulling a majority of Sunagakure’s puppet strings as Gaara simply lacked the life experience for certain decisions. As far as for Gaara, we are told that he had a very rough time gaining everyone’s trust but had started doing so before being stolen away by sparky sparky boom boom man and Suna’s original angsty emo preteen, but they never really explain it? Either way, its clear based on everything I said so far that Gaara’s main focus in his transition was mostly on building those relationships others had decided to break out of fear. He is very successful and everyone loves Gaara now including us mods!

Baki. I love this man so so dearly. In an old rp discord server that no longer exists, may it rest in peace, I actually role played Baki so I workshopped an entire backstory for him based on our millions of Suna headcanons that us mods have all accepted as our canon (you’ll find we all share the same exact headcanons). As far as his ascent to council member, I thought long and hard to develop it. Everyone starts out as a basic ninja, and, without going into my headcanons for his childhood, Baki was the same. He slowly rose with his skill, as he is extremely skilled - his stamina is awful but I am convinced its because he is so good none of his battles last long and thus no need for it anyways - and became a trusted aide to Rasa. In our collective brain that contains headcanons we have also determined this is due to the personality we gave Baki, which is he is so dedicated to the village he doesn’t stop to take care of or think of himself. In other words, he can be a pushover when it comes to doing work because he only wants to be of use. This makes him the perfect target for paperwork which we believe is how he got closer to Rasa. Baki and Rasa are never explicitly said to be close or anything of the sort, but the fact that he is entrusting his precious children, one of which has a giant chaos beast inside of his little emo body, plays to the fact that he is familiar with Baki in some regard. Serving as the Kazekage’s aid, aka errand boy in this case, Baki would gain experience with paperwork, the jobs of the council and kazekage, form connections, and display his skill in all assets. 

Now, there are some nasty little children needing to be taken care of. Who better to send than the man who you know will do anything for you, for the country? I am convinced very few ninja would willingly teach preteen Gaara, I mean, I don’t think I would even want to, so no one would be willing to have such an assignment and would do anything to get out of it. Even Baki was likely wary of it and for the longest time debated quitting, although, after some time, the siblings likely began to realize he cared about them (this is something I would love to talk about in more depth some other time) and weren’t as awful towards him. Hence a successful team. Did being the kazekage’s children’s sensei help Baki? Because he was their teacher? No. Because he was able to gain their trust and lead them? Most definitely. This experience likely helped him gain prestige and respect for his abilities which is how we mainly believe he got his position on the council, as that is what the council members seem to have as well as dedication to the village.

As far as being kazekage goes, we love Bakikage! This is what I mentioned earlier about a role play server. What happened is we had a plan for Rasa to be taken out of power in this AU but we didn’t wish for Gaara to suddenly be ripped from the rest of the role play by being stuck with kage duties. So, we sat down to think and realized Baki would actually be a great person to wear that fancy greenish hat. As stated earlier, he has the respect, the strength, the intelligence, the ability to prioritize things, as well as many other necessities for a good leader. The big thing that stood in his way was Gaara’s character development because the angsty emo preteen needed to turn soft boy cottage core obviously. But in all seriousness, I believe what stood between him and his theoretical throne - which he deserves - was honestly himself. Baki serves the village. Baki loves the village. Baki wants the best for the village. Baki is, as we call it, villagesexual. He only desires to be of use, not to gain power or prestige, they just happened to be given to him along the way. His own lack of drive, as well as care for Gaara, because of course if his adopted son wants those fruit snacks he will get them for him. Please Baki, you spoil them too much. So yes, Baki could be the kazekage, he has all the equipment for it, but Gaara’s own desire to be something no one expected and show them he wasn’t a monster was all Baki would have cared about. Even in our rp AU Baki was going to be reluctant about taking the power. Even if he did have that desire and drive, his care for Gaara would likely win out. 

Honestly, it might be best he didn’t have that drive. You know, all the kazekages are assassinated and Baki is not an important enough of a character to Kishimoto to be brought back to life. I will gladly hold onto council member Baki if Bakikage means he dies. But its nice to think how Gaara would actually get to be a kid while Baki gets a hard earned role, huh?

I hope you enjoyed my very very long winded answers - believe it or not I tried to keep it short - and that they actually answered your questions. We all look forward to more submissions/asks from you as well as others! And we’re working on getting those lovely drawing requests planned out.