Archive of Our Own ^beta

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When I was writing Escape and Evade, I found that I had a lot of background that was living in my head.

Little snippets of scenes, back stories, characterisation, what the characters were thinking when it wasn’t their point of view, world building about how the village was formed, how the social structures of the clans worked, the economies, the politics…

And the kind, lovely, amazing people who chose to read my little story kept asking me questions.

And I kept answering.

It definitely helped my writing to have all these bits out of my head and on the page where I could look at them, and many readers said that they enjoyed them.

Enjoyed them enough that I volunteered to collect them all in one spot.

This is that spot.

I hope you enjoy them.

Warning: Profanity. I swear a fair bit.

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For this particular seal, there is actually a back story behind it. I have no idea if I'll ever include it in the story (though there are at least a couple of points where it could be relevant... hm...) so you get it here:

This seal was actually one of his 'peace through conquest' plans.

His line of reasoning went like this:

1. Anija wants peace
2. Anija wants no death
3. Anija has no idea how to do this apart from asking Madara for it
4. Madara isn't giving it to Anija
5. I will do it
6. Peace = no fighting (It's very literal. This is why he thought peace was as simple as making a treaty when he was a kid. In fact he still thinks that. You stay on your side of the river, we'll stay on our side, nobody fights = peace. Madara has a much more nuanced view involving how people think, but then he's actually the people person in this pairing (cue shock). Then again, he was trained to be.
7. Uchiha won't fight if they're dead but can't kill (see: no death allowed by Anija)
8. Uchiha can't fight if they're immobilised - ah ha!

His plan was to sneak around and slap the seals on as many Uchiha as he could, activate the seals when they were isolated (using his sensor abilities to lock on to them), grab them, bring them back to the Senju compound, confine them, and then repeat the process ad infinitum until he'd got them all except Madara and Izuna. He figured he could slap one on Izuna when they had skin to skin contact as they were fighting and Hashirama could reverse pickpocket one onto Madara somewhere. Then, when he had all of them in a room somewhere, probably piled up in a stack like sticks of mitarashi dango, he would present them to Hashirama like a cat presenting it's owner with a mouse and say "Here, Anija! Peace! Just like you wanted!"

Needless to say, when he presented Hashirama with this plan upon the death of Butsuma and Hashirama's ascension to clan head, Hashirama was horrified. (Mito, who married Hashirama the year before, thought it was appropriately ruthless but showed a lack of understanding of human nature - which, you know, fair. Also she really enjoyed the mental image of the men threatening her husband and brother falling over on the battlefield. There was a reason she was willing to help Tobirama with the Run this year.)

Poor Hashirama had to gently walk his brother through the chain of logic about how it would feel to have peace made like that. He even let Tobirama slap the seal on him and let Tobirama watch as his beloved Anija fell over unconscious and concussed himself. (Tobirama would have been analytical about his own responses but his reaction to Hashirama being hurt has always been a big fat NO.) The seal was not as well developed then and it was really rough on Hashirama. Tobirama, having felt what that was like and how he immediately wanted to stab whatever did that to his Anija came to understand that his plan would work to force peace, but it wouldn’t be able to keep peace.

This, Hashirama explained, is why he had to ask. It was all about consent. One cannot make peace unless both sides want it. One cannot rule unless the ruled consent. (A totally new idea to Tobirama who always followed Butsuma because his training said so and Anija couldn’t. I have a lot of head cannon about their relationship BTW.)

Thus the seal was declared kinjutsu and Tobirama abandoned it.

Then the village is formed and Tobirama gets a new family - Anija's Will of Fire (Tobirama thinks the name is stupid but he uses the capital letters out of respect) explicitly declares that the village is a giant family. And, as always, Tobirama will protect family with everything he has. He will not lose more children (cue the trauma from Itama and Kawarama's deaths).

So he goes back into his kinjustu list (it's huge) and his unfinished projects list (also huge) and starts sorting through it with Mito's help to see what might be relevant.

Then he comes across this and figures, well why not? They'll eventually have people trying to infiltrate the village and sabotage it and he doesn't want that. This will prevent that and allow them to obtain information to boot! The Uchiha won't even need to perform a genjutsu, the Sharingan always knows when you lie. So they can grab any shinobi they don't recognise, slap this seal on them, interrogate them, and they'll know if they're friendlies trying to join or enemies trying to sabotage!

Mito and he bring it to Hashirama who says they can proceed with development but it needs to be tested first. He's not having people die from lack or chakra or fall unconscious if they're planning on using it on possible friendlies. Also, Hashirama will decide who they can use it on once it's finished - no Tobirama slapping it on people he thinks are suspicious! And it must work on civilians without hurting them! If they grab a civilian they suspect is a shinobi, put the seal on them and it turns out it was a civilian after all then what? What happens when a civilian is chakra drained? Nobody knows - Tobirama adds it to his list of things to investigate.

So they develop the seal. Izuna knows about it because he's the head of T&I and participates in the testing. They slap it on everyone they can think of, from people who have barely any chakra to powerhouses like Hashirama. It works just fine. They test it on a civilian volunteer and he falls unconscious. Take the seal off and he wakes up after a few hours. No concussion and he's put into hospital for observation. After a week they release him - he seems okay but they'll keep an eye on him via checkups.

Because of this, Hashirama says the seal is not ready for public use. He also says they need to test out the chakra drain on the caster. Tobirama says that he's fine with being drained. Everyone rolls their eyes. Hashirama says that's impractical (he knows Tobirama will listen to 'practical' - if he says he doesn't want his brother hurt Tobirama will say it's a viable sacrifice for the village) and they need Tobirama to be at full strength or nearly in case there's a threat.

Tobirama insists of figuring out the limits of the chakra drain - he's a big proponent of the test to destruction philosophy - but they don't have enough people who are in on the development. It's a small R&D team at T&I plus people in the know that they all trust. Even if he applies it to everyone already in the know that's like 10 to15 people and he's carrying the load easily.

Izuna has a light bulb moment - do it on the Run.

Hashirama and Mito are confused - what has the Uchiha festival got to do with anything?

Tobirama realises exactly what Izuna is thinking. Logistically perfect, everyone can be secured in the Uchiha compound - if they do it before everyone spreads out into the woods / scatters themselves ask over the village.

Izuna says it's possible and argues for it. Tobirama says he's not sure about this - too many variables! People doing things he can't predict! This is not Science! Can't he just ask for volunteers?

Izuna says no way - this is going to be the best Run EVER. He's salivating just thinking about it. He says the magic words "You'll finally get the chance to see my brother fall over like a poleaxed tree!"

Mito is instantly on board. Hashirama is dubious - applying the seal to Madara seems like a bad idea.

Izuna says "and you can make sure all the kids graduate!" Tobirama is swayed. He agrees if Izuna helps him to make sure all the Uchiha will be safe. They tell Mito and Hashirama to go away and then they sit down and net it out. They work through plan after plan until neither of them can see a hole in it.

They take it to Mito who volunteers her help to seal off areas for increased safety. (Nobody got in there because Tobirama took them all out first, but the whole Forest of Death was locked up by Mito.)

They take the plan to Hashirama who is super dubious. What?! This sounds more like one of Izuna's pranks than a Festival. And people are just going to consent to having a seal sprung on them? No way!

Izuna says they will. He’ll prove it. He drags Madara into Hashirama's office the next day and says to tell Hashirama that anything goes on the night of the Run if it isn't death or disabling. Madara confirms - he figures that Tobirama and Izuna must be planning something and want to reassure Hashirama that Uchiha won't be dying all over the village, plus Hashirama has the right to be disturbed that Uchiha are running all over in stealth mode doing stuff they won't tell him about, so this is fair. Usually the Uchiha are fairly low key but he's guessing this is Izuna's way of giving him a head's up that whatever they're planning is going to be big. So he tells Hashirama not to worry, nobody's going to die, it's like a massive free for all sparring session, the worst that will happen is a bunch of Uchiha won't be at work the next day. Don't freak out if they throw around a bunch of ninjutsu, usually that doesn't happen but - stares at Izuna - this year may be different. Izuna looks innocent.

Hashirama realises that Madara really is okay with it and agrees with Izuna that this is a massive prank. And he's in on it! Totally on board.

Mito and Hashirama spend the night of the run secretly (they're not supposed to know anything!) at Tobirama's house monitoring him and feeding him chakra as necessary. Mito and Hashirama also spend their time poking him occasionally and asking if the Uchiha are doing anything stupid.

Poor Tobirama spends the night being 1. chakra drained 2. using his sensor abilities to keep track of everyone 3. annoyed by his family.

The End.

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… You're right about this changing the Uchiha clan's perspective of Tobirama. Should he become Nidaime, they won't feel like he doesn't care about them or wants to exclude them from the village because they have this history now.

His actions in the first year proved that he was stronger than they thought but his actions in the second year gave them actual evidence that he cared enough about the clan as a whole to train a group of their young adults into full adults, and protect the reputation of their strongest fighters when he defeated them.

He even went all out with the really over powered ninjutsu - they can't argue anymore that he's not a worthy opponent. He also demonstrated a style of subterfuge that they respect.

But it’s the way he took care of all of them that will really make an impact.

Can you imagine their responses as Tobirama uses the Hiraishin - the terrifying technique that nearly cost them their beloved young heir - to bring in paralysed young adults with his own hands and place them on futons under the supervision of the elders? Healing minor injuries from falling over? They expect Prey to hurt them to get away. Prey that organises his fellows to make them comfortable and safe is a total shocker.

It's not just about power. It's about how he uses it. He's so reticent that they assumed he didn't like them or had it in for them - just because he's so quiet and introverted compared to their noisy exuberance.

Izuna and he are a classic example. You'll note that I always try and give Izuna the lion's share of any dialogue in their conversations, although this chapter is extreme even for them. Izuna is noisy (all the italics for Izuna - no italics for Tobi), swearing, flailing, physically demonstrative (lots of hand gestures - I actually debated having him move Tobirama's hands around as he flailed while they held hands but figured Tobirama wouldn't put up with that so I made him literally shove Tobirama through the halls instead) and takes no shit.

I wanted to portray Tobirama as a quietly competent person who cares a lot about the people he thinks of as his and loves children. Even though they're so different, Tobirama doesn't reject Izuna's gestures of affection - he lets Izuna hold his hand (I liked the idea that he'd let Izuna hold his hand even when he wanted to pull away, to the point of letting his hands go limp and trusting Izuna to do whatever), dress him, and shove him around.

I didn't write it in because it was irrelevant to both of them, but there were people in those halls watching them and Tobirama didn't even consider stopping Izuna.

Because of that, I grabbed at the opportunity to prove the Uchiha wrong about Tobirama. As Izuna points out, it's his choices that make them honour him. He's now moved into the 'honourable enemy' category for the older ones who he faced in the wars and edging into the 'friendly ally' for most of the younger group. They won't be able to demonise him anymore.

Izuna is surprised by Tobirama's concerns because he's used to playing by the rules he grew up with. By those rules Tobirama is really going above and beyond - something Izuna explicitly states. But Tobirama doesn't play by those rules. I wanted to show that, for Tobirama, they are all Konoha shinobi. He thought it in chapter one - fellow Konoha shinobi - when referencing Seto who had been placed in the daimyo's court for years and had only recently moved to Konoha to join his clan. Of all the Uchiha in the village, Tobirama knows him the least and yet he automatically classifies Seto as an allied shinobi because he's an Uchiha clan member. To him, they're not old enemies - they're part of this bigger village that he's in the process of dedicating his life to.

And you're totally right. Izuna is so done with his Tobi's worry that people won't like him. He will be determined to show his BFF that his clan will love him. (cue the hilarity of Izuna attempting to show Tobirama that people like him while Tobirama's brain keep going "does not compute. Error, Error!”)

And yes, Madara has just been hit over the head with the idea that Tobirama is powerful, deadly, attractive, and cares enough to protect his reputation and his family. Then Tobirama made it worse by putting hands all over him (I really wanted to write Madara's internal monologue - hands! on his thigh! - but couldn't figure out how to get it in) before wrapping Madara up in his iconic fur.

Madara spent the whole night breathing in Tobirama's scent and alternating between freaking the fuck out and enjoying every bit of it. There was no way he was going to show up at Tobirama's house / their office (he's already wigging out at the idea of being in the same room even through he never cared before) to return Tobirama's fur collar without blushing, flailing, and making himself look like an idiot. He knows it, owns it, and will thus get Izuna to do it instead.

Joke's on him because now Izuna's figured it out and will give him no peace about it. At all.

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Yes, just like you, Tobirama is my favourite character but it’s always seemed so sad that the village was broken apart so soon after it’s beginnings. In my view, the root of it was always Izuna’s death, followed by Madara’s revenge crazed war which led to an internal break within his own clan. When the Uchiha consent to form the village, they don’t come from a position of strength but of weakness. By the time the village is formed, the cracks are already there and ready to be exploited.

By the time Tobirama becomes Nidaime, the break is so obvious that he takes steps to prevent a civil war because he sees no other options. I wanted to give him those options. To give him a chance to build the future without the pressure of having to protect it from internal threats. To me, he never came across as a warmonger but rather someone who was impelled to protect what was his. His students, his clan, his village. His life and reputation are things he will happily sacrifice for that.

That’s why I wrote his desire to protect his fellow Prey winning out over his concerns about how the Uchiha clan as a whole will view him. They are his too, if only for the night. And then being personally responsible for the runners he paralysed - he’d considered it and made contingencies for it (he was so careful to explain his contingency planning to Madara because he was unsure if his plans would work. Izuna approved but Madara is the clan head. What will be do if Madara doesn’t like it? And then Madara swears at him for two minutes straight. Argh.) but it was also a step taken with their well being in mind. He was protecting them too. Basically, to the Uchiha, Tobirama adopted a big chunk of the clan (the majority of their frontline warriors plus their upcoming fighters), made himself responsible for them, and took care of them in a giant sleepover. They’re not getting over that anytime soon.

I wanted to bring that commonality with the Uchiha to the fore. They’re canonically portrayed as endogamous. They marry within the clan, they don’t play well with others outside the clan, they view Obito’s gifting his Sharingan to Kakashi as eye theft (historically reasonable given their experiences with bloodline thieves) because he’s not part of their clan (Kakashi being part of their village doesn’t make an impact), they’re suspicious enough to attempt a coup because they feel persecuted... it all comes from the idea that their clan (family) is constantly under threat and must be protected at all costs. The Sharingan only makes that worse. When they activate it on the battlefield, they see and memorise the horror of war and violence to their clan. It lives within them always. How can you believe in the goodness of out-clan members when your deepest, most intense memories are all of your family being attacked?

But, what happens when that fear is given actual evidence to be unfounded? When they feel strong enough not to be paranoid? When they’re given evidence that the non-clan members of the village will protect them - at cost to themselves?

This is what happens to Setsuna. I wanted him to use his Sharingan to see something good. Something that he would not be able to forget. Something that would balance the moment of horror and fear that caused him to develop his Sharingan in the first place.

He’s not ready to go and befriend Tobirama by any means. He’s not ready to confront his trauma like that. But he also knows, because he can see it that Tobirama loves Izuna like he loves Izuna, like his clan loves Izuna. It’s a familial love, but that only makes it more powerful for him. Tobirama is reacting to Izuna like a clan member would. Tobirama has just jumped categories in his head from ‘demonic enemy who almost killed my family and I’m terrified of’ (that’s why I wrote him referring to Tobirama by the name bestowed on the battlefield, even though I don’t think I’ve ever written the word Demon so many times in my life...) to ‘terrifyingly strong protector of my kōhai and senpai / family’ because of the evidence that he has seen for himself.

Now Setsuna has to work out how to reconcile both versions of Tobirama. This is what makes him talk to Ichika. The evidence of his eyes won’t let him do any less. That’s why he’s so careful when he approaches her. And to his surprise(!), it works out. She is his first out-clan friend, and a Senju to boot.

What makes Setsuna change his mind is also why I think Izuna never accepted peace in cannon. Izuna always saw Tobirama on the battlefield. They were rivals - respected, honourable rivals - and close in the way wuxia style warriors get with personal enemies. Izuna knew Tobirama so well that he could predict his actions in battle but not in peace. He would have had to see Tobirama at peace to believe it, and he never got the chance to. *cries*

Here, once the village was formed, Izuna got that opportunity. He saw it for himself. (Plus it’s hard to be suspicious when Tobirama’s everywhere making things better and being generally adorable with kids.) So he had to resolve that tension within himself (your comment has given me an idea on how to write that) and then he decided to adopt his Tobi for his own. He can’t adopt Tobirama into the clan, that’s not his place, but the affection he feels for his friend means he wants Tobi as close as he can get him. And he’s very protective to boot. Even in cannon, these two fought one-on-one the way Madara and Hashirama did and, while I’m sure that was because it was easier to draw, an actual battlefield wouldn’t work that way. It would only have been practical to arrange for the opportunity to tag team one of them unless one or both made it known that they were to fight alone. Now that they’re actual friends, the possessiveness is so much worse.

And yes, I do write Izuna as a brat. The dichotomy between his high rank in the clan (given his birth and his abilities) and his unrepentant refusal to take things seriously is fun to play with.

I also deliberately gave him a triad where his lovers were good enough to beat him in combat together but not alone, and they don’t outrank him in the clan. They always refer to him as Izuna-sama, even in intimate moments, because he is actually their superior in rank within the clan, even though he is also Hikaku’s kōhai. (In this story, Hikaku is only a year older than Izuna but he graduated to runner a long time ago. Seto is quite a bit older than both of them - a bit older than Madara even - but he’s always been absolutely devoted to Hikaku and now Izuna.)

But they beat him together and asked for the right to court him as a forfeit. This means that the power dynamics put Izuna above them in some ways, but not in others and makes things a little more equal all around.

Of course Izuna was all “go ahead and seduce me then!” so that worked out for them. Several years of pining / foreplay was probably enough I figure.

Now they, Tobirama, and Madara are all Izuna’s ‘too serious’ people. He figures it’s his responsibility to give them shit, play pranks on them, and force them to lighten up a little. Peace gives him the opportunity to play and man is he taking it. (To all of them - even Tobirama - Izuna’s a cinnamon roll even when he’s being a little shit.)

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Basically my head cannon for all three of these points ties into two very simple anthropological concepts plus the Sharingan.

Let's take the Uchiha first. They're probably more familiar because they're really dwelled upon in cannon, plus I already covered some of this in a comment thread with Thri_here on Chapter 9. However, I didn't go into it as it's relevant to lineage so I'm going to repost the relevant bit and then expand on it.

They’re canonically portrayed as endogamous. They marry within the clan, they don’t play well with others outside the clan, they view Obito’s gifting his Sharingan to Kakashi as eye theft (historically reasonable given their experiences with bloodline thieves) because he’s not part of their clan (Kakashi being part of their village doesn’t make an impact), they’re suspicious enough to attempt a coup because they feel persecuted... it all comes from the idea that their clan (family) is constantly under threat and must be protected at all costs. The Sharingan only makes that worse. When they activate it on the battlefield, they see and memorise the horror of war and violence to their clan. It lives within them always. How can you believe in the goodness of out-clan members when your deepest, most intense memories are all of your family being attacked?

To be endogamous is to practice marriage within a specific social group, caste, or ethnic group, rejecting those from others as unsuitable for marriage or other close personal relationships.

Basically the Uchiha marry in and not out. This is necessary because the Sharingan is a bloodline limit. If potential Sharingan users depart from the clan and marry out into other clans the Sharingan is no longer under sole Uchiha control. The Sharingan is their identity so them marrying out is literally bloodline theft. Someone from another clan has stolen their children / potential children. A big no-no.

This cannon has a few logical ramifications that were never really explicitly stated in cannon as far as I can tell.

Most obviously, the Uchiha clan must be huge - they'd have to be to prevent genetic mutations due to inbreeding, especially given their canonical desire to marry strong Sharingan uses to each other for strong Sharingan babies (can I say ‘ew’). Secondly, and more relevantly, their courting customs must be very tricky.

Say an Uchiha falls in love with an out clan person (like Madara does in this fic) - they have to somehow convince this person to give up their home, family, lineage, entire history, and chance for the continuation of their family line and marry them to become a Uchiha - a clan that is traditionally perceived to be hostile to outsiders. Good luck with that. (This is another reason for the Uchiha to marry in and not out BTW, it's generally the easier option.)

In a traditionally patriarchal society like Japan, women were supposed to do this but it was often tricky. Some women even resorted to marrying dead men in order to live their lives free of patriarchal control. (An actual thing, still practiced in some east asian cultures, and fictionalised wonderfully by drelfina in Ghost Bride.) In Peranakan culture, where I’m from, there’s a sneaky matriarchal culture that works to actively subvert the patriarchal ‘these children have my name / carry my lineage’. Basically, women will use whatever agency they have, to get what they want. Fear them.

So how is it done? Well the usual version in a patriarchal society is bribery. Give the father of the woman some gifts, compensate the family for the loss of her labour, she’s not going to carry the family name - hey presto you have a wife, her consent not required.

But this is a world with ninja. You might be able to do that with a civilian female who has no clan and only a nuclear family to pacify but try to get a shinobi female like that? They will laugh at you. These girls are warriors. Try anything without their consent and they will stab you in the groin.

This applies to male shinobi too of course except you also have the added complication that they are also the carriers of their line (this is an east asian thing about ancestor worship and continuing your family name / reputation as separate from your clan, and a whole bunch of other stuff that’s implied here but I won’t really go into unless I have to. For an exploration of that go to a symbol of subjugation by evocates, it’s awesome) and they will have even less incentive to marry said Uchiha.

You can try to coerce consent by threatening her family / clan or bribing them into forcing a shinobi for you (all non-con & dub-con tropes in this fandom) but you have to sleep sometime. And then it’s groin stabbing time. (see To Live in a Time of War by Lilili_cat for an excellent - and terrifying - example of how a forcibly feminised and bound Tobirama seduces and then undermines his enemies) I mean, unless you want to do the really crazy serial killer style stuff like kinky bondage, or keeping people in a sex dungeon, or using genjutsu to brainwash them, etc. etc. but then you have a sex slave / blow up doll and not a wife. (Check out When All is Said and Done by drelfina if that’s your thing. It terrified me and gave me nightmares - they're amazingly convincing at getting you to eat the dead dove, love it, and then be horrified at yourself later. Or maybe that’s just me.)

So, leaving out the non-con / dub-con stuff because I don’t want to write that, you have the classically fannon Uchiha answer - love. The kind of capital ‘L’ love that makes people in Japan commit Shinjū (lovers who commit suicide together, still considered highly romantic in Japanese theatre and literary tradition). ‘The World Well Lost’ kind of love. Romeo and Juliet style love (though I think those two were dumb - they could have made things work out for themselves rather than die dramatically. Bah, humbug). The kind of love that makes Carton go to his death on the guillotine for the woman he loves in A Tale of Two Cities. That love.

This is how the Uchiha do it:

First they have to prove they are worth it. They have got to be able to show that the trade is fair. Giving up everything you’ve ever known for this person who has flashed a Sharingan at you. This is a terrifyingly high bar to clear and it’s only the first step.

This is where you have all the ‘I show I am a fantastic provider and will give you everything you have ever wanted’. Basically, it’s still bribery but of the person and not the family. The family will have no future relationship with the Uchiha clan (unless that’s part of the bribery step - you must adopt my nuclear family and take care of them too!), it’s the person that this random Uchiha wants.

Second step is for the Uchiha to coax this out clan person into returning their feelings. Demonstrations of sincerity, romance, and seduction all feature prominently here.

Third step is to bring this out clan person home and convince the rest of the Uchiha clan to accept them. Which is - see suspicious, paranoid, traditionally endogamous, PTSD prone clan - about as difficult as step one. The Uchiha will face all usual the questions - what does this person bring to the clan? What makes them so special you’d abandon our tradition of endogamy? Will your babies have the Sharingan? Question after question, like a verbal barrage at this poor person that the Uchiha has brought home. Now it’s the out clan person’s turn to prove themselves worthy of being an Uchiha.

It has to be a strong relationship to withstand something like that.

But then, given the fannon Uchiha obsession with love (both romantic and familial - they separate the two easily - see Setsuna in Missing Scene - Hokage Tower - which is also why Madara isn’t jealous of the TobiIzu bromance), any couple that achieves all three steps has - by default - the best kind of love there is. They have weathered the storm and won. It’s the Uchiha equivalent of the Gate of Judgement in Ah! My Goddess - the test that proves your love true.

Thus, this kind of ‘outsider marrying in’ situation is both terrifying and wonderful. The potential gain is huge, but so is the potential failure. And when failure means the Curse of Hatred, Uchiha are rightfully wary.

Which, you know, feeds into their wariness of outsiders and - in particular - looking at outsiders with their Sharingan. I imagine it as the kind of scary story told to Uchiha kids, “look with the Sharingan, fall in love, and then die horribly! *evil laughter*”

So that’s the hardest version.

Within the clan is a lot easier.

Now here’s where we have the issues of consent - for out clan marriages, the person consents by leaving their family for the Uchiha. Thus, if they’ve come back to the clan - they’ve consented.

The Sharingan is, by definition, a horrendous ball of issues for consent considering its genjutsu capabilities. On the other hand, any Uchiha with the Sharingan is also a natural reader of micro expressions and honesty (if they can predict reactions on the battlefield, they can see micro expressions - all they need is training / experience identifying what means what. Head cannon alert - this is why Seto is a terrifying diplomat). When your Clan Head can asses you for truth at will, you quickly learn not to lie about anything that will piss them off.

(Side note: I really want to see a female Clan Head. Uchiha Sarada is nice but I don’t like that she’s Clan Head because everyone else is dead. That’s, like, European royalty levels of sexism Kishimoto! Same with Tsunade! Argh! And Tsume, the only canonical Clan Head (of the Inuzuka), was apparently responsible for scaring Kiba's Dad away! Thus implying that a strong female character was unlovable because she was intimidating! Kishimoto!!!)

So, if you genjutsu someone within the clan, you’d better have a good goddamn excuse or be so good that genjutsu will never break and reveal what you have done. Since the Sharingan can detect genjutsu, that’s never gonna happen unless you go the scary serial killer route and then you have to explain a missing person and, and, and… it’s all just too hard.

Thus short term abuse via genjutsu is possible as is physical violence, but as soon as the genjutsu wears off or you’re asleep… well then, groin stabbing is once again a possibility.

Even non-shinobi clan members can just go to the Clan Head, make an appeal, the abuser is assessed with the Sharingan and whoops! There goes the head of the abuser, lopped off like a bunch of bananas from a tree. Too bad, so sad. Not.

Basically, unless your Clan Head is a terrible person and strong enough to force everyone into compliance (active and passive resistance is a thing that shinobi can do, people!), there are a fair number of safeguards against abuse in the clan.

Still, there have probably been a few incidents - being human - and everyone knows it could happen, so everyone is very sensitive about it and all “I would never!” (See Izuna's reaction in chapter 30 of Escape and Evade (Omake - Escaping and Evading).)

Here’s the problem for high ranking Uchiha. Just by rank alone, they’re under suspicion of coercion - just like the way most militaries insist people in the same chain of command can’t date. Plus, really strong Sharingan users are kind of scary and the potential for abuse is bad. Combine the two in one person and it gets worse and worse - anyone in their chain of command is under their power in two ways - social and dojutsu. The steeper the rank gap, the worse it looks.

So high ranking Uchiha can court lower ranked ones, but not only do they have to be above board, they have to look like they’re above board. We’re talking ‘Caesar's wife must be above suspicion’ levels of above board here. Tricky!

So the most common way it’s done is for Uchiha juniors to court up the hierarchy. Think the Anime trope of the kōhai confessing to the senpai - like that. They do all three steps of the Uchiha-out clan courtship but the bar is a lot lower.

Or rather they still have to prove their worthiness, and romance their intended into romantic feelings, but they don’t have to convince the rest of the Uchiha clan to accept them since they’re already Uchiha. Two steps, not three, and proving themselves is easier too since they’re not trying to convince their intended to leave their lives behind. Instead they’re only up against the rest of the competition.

So if you, a junior ranked Uchiha, set your sights on a higher ranked Uchiha, can convince your intended that you’re worthy of their attention and seduce them before you actually have any competition… then you’re done.

Note the similarities to the Izuna/Hikaku/Seto triad here. That is exactly what Hikaku and Seto did.

Some head cannon here: Hikaku and Seto romanced Izuna for years, very sneakily and slowly getting under his defences, then tried to pounce as soon as soon as Izuna showed an interest in romance (see Madara’s POV on it in Chapter 11 of Escape and Evade (After the Run (Again) - Madara)) only to be foiled by the formation of the village and Madara keeping Seto at court for longer to solidify the position of the Uchiha. If Madara had any other reason for keeping Seto away (*cough* attempting to protect his 18 year old brother by giving them a shovel talk and telling them to wait another year as a test *cough cough*) he’s not saying it, not even in his head.

If you’re a high ranked Uchiha, then you do the same three steps too - but not at anyone specific. It’s more like the way ladies used to attempt to attract men during the Regency era in England - show off like mad and hope someone (hopefully the one you actually like) takes an interest.

So, instead, they prove their worthiness to be courted, and indicate interest in the person they like - usually by looking at them with the Sharingan (it shows that they’re examining the person of interest for signs of attraction) - in the hopes that they will be offered a courtship.

Alternatively, they can declare open season on themselves but that attracts a lot of interest. Like floods of really low ranked Uchiha coming up with marriage proposals. And I’m talking like 5 year olds showing up at their knee to say how nice their big brother/sister/father/mother are levels of interest. It’s uncomfortable.

So this is what Madara is doing. He did the big display in chapter 6 (Time to Run (Again)) to prove that he was a worthy partner, and then hopefully examined his love interest only to have his hopes dashed.

Now Izuna is going to tell him that he can stare at Tobirama as much as he wants with his Sharingan, and he is totally going to take advantage.

Izuna is watching all of this, recognising the signalling, and waiting for his BFF to either catch a clue or somehow become attracted enough to move Madara from the category of ‘Boss’ to ‘potential romantic interest’. Only then will he make his move to match make.

Right now Tobirama is oblivious and has totally gotten the wrong end of the stick so both of them are stuck.

Now we have the Senju. (I say 2.5K words later. WTF brain, why must you do this to me…)

Okay! The Senju are much, much simpler!

They’re the opposite to the Uchiha - my theory is that they’re exogamous which means to marry outside the tribe.

This is to fit the cannon that they literally disappear from the village within three generations from the founding. Only Hashirama’s line is still Senju. No one else.

This means that either they were all killed - never mentioned and unlikely, or they disbanded as a clan - effectively cultural genocide.

'a symbol of subjugation’ by evocates creates a situation when Hashirama actually deliberately causes this to happen due to an extremely messed up clan history but I wanted something a little more voluntary for my fic.

Thus exogamous marriage.

Here’s how it goes:

If the Senju prefer to find partners outside the clan, anyone who marries in brings a new set of skills - cue their name as the clan of 1000 skills. Anyone who marries out is no longer a Senju.

Their family lines and their clan identity are two separate things and they’re accustomed to balancing both. The Senju clan works more like a giant co-op of shinobi and civilians who came together to work the land (civilians) and protect the resources they were creating (shinobi).

Or perhaps a better analogy would be the Irish. When the Irish emigrated to America they were still culturally and by family name Irish but they assimilated and within a generation were American-Irish, even more generations later, they’re more American than Irish. Thus you get Irish names on Americans who don’t know anything more Irish than Saint Patrick's Day. Family and Culture (Clan) are separate categories.

They have no bloodline limit to hold them together as a group. (One Mokuton user is not a bloodline limit! It’s a genetic aberration! Or possibly a mystical intervention considering the whole reincarnation thing…) They field females on the front line - see: Toka. Females hold leadership roles in their clan - see: Mito who is not even a born Senju. But she’s a Senju by self chosen cultural appropriation and they consider that good enough. (Hashirama could have stepped down and gone to live in Uzushio with Mito but he was too determined to save everyone in both clans with PEACE!) Females are not restricted to making babies who will be Senju - Anyone can be Senju if they’re willing to take the oaths of loyalty.

In my head cannon, they are the only clan to accept immigration like this. It is crucial to the formation of the village.

So when they’re at war, the only people who stay are the Senju willing to fight - either to protect the civilians / families they feel responsible for, or because they have a personal investment in killing Uchiha.

Anyone who doesn’t want to fight, votes with their feet and goes off to join the clan of their partners / relatives (you might have a Hatake aunt who’d be willing to take you in, that kind of thing).

The only people who don’t have a choice are the unmarried people and the children - culturally and historically the same thing in East Asian culture. I have cousins who are 25 + and treated like teenagers at Chinese New Year because they have not achieved the significant milestone of adulthood - Being Married.

When Hashirama ascends to Clan Head, he decrees that the Senju are now pro-peace but must still fight for the civilians they offer protection to.

This is a big switch from Butsuma, though probably not unexpected given Hashirama’s pro peace stance since Kawarama’s death when he was 9 (!!!). They all knew it was going to happen someday.

So the anti-Uchiha but not willing to fight Hashirama about it leave. The pro-peace lobby gets reinvigorated (some of the pro-peace shinobi who left during Butsuma’s time return), and the war hawks who still want to stay Senju and fight either resist passively and attempt a campaign of sabotage or challenge Hashirama / Tobirama, are defeated and forced to leave the Senju. They become missing nin and attempt a guerrilla war on the Uchiha and, without Senju support, are quickly killed.

Tobirama also feeds their names, descriptions, and locations to Izuna during their fights. These people are no longer Senju, do not enjoy his protection, and are a threat to his brother’s goals. Hashirama will not let him kill them but Izuna will take them as a sign of his willingness to make peace. Izuna organises strikes to take them out and is impressed with a) how far Tobirama is willing to go (giving up potential fighters - the lifeblood of a Shinobi clan), b) ruthlessness (protecting his clan from deliberate sabotage - Izuna and Madara would have killed them post-challenge, since you don’t challenge an Uchiha Clan Head lightly - that’s basically saying you’re starting a coup), and c) Tobirama’s ability to rules lawyer around Hashirama.

Once the village is formed, the Senju no longer have a reason to stay so tightly knit as a clan and, endorsed by Hashirama’s Will of Fire, they become Konoha nin rather than Senju nin.

I like to think of it like a mere change of name. in my version, the village continues the Senju tradition of welcoming any outsiders who can make the oath to be true to the Will of Fire and any who cannot are welcome to leave and make their own way in the world - see Senju Tsunade, a Senju who actually left the village without repercussions or being declared a traitor / missing nin. The Uchiha would not stand for that. If you have Uchiha DNA then you're a Uchiha. The end.

The Senju simply replace 'Senju' with 'Konoha' because Hashirama knew that asking other clans with a strong clan identity to assimilate culturally would create resentment - look at what happened to the Uchiha in cannon. Instead he took advantage of the Senju tendency for flexibility and let them become the 'village with 1000 skills' rather than the 'clan with 1000 skills'. They grow, adapt, and change rather than die out. Like how Canada is multicultural.

Thus the only people who will still hold onto the Senju name (both because they have no other identity but also because they are proud of their father) are Hashirama’s kids - the last Senju.

Chapter Text

My head cannon for the run is that it was originally a very positive experience.

It was supposed to be a night where young, newly graduated shinobi got to experience what it was really like to be the shadow in the night, the silent ambusher, the sneaky trapper - all those scenes from cannon of the ninja leaping through the trees or over roof tops? Those wuxia tropes of people flying though the air, sword first? That's what it was supposed to be.

The practical side of things was a test to see if they were able to evade their senpai and the heavy hitters, but if they were caught it was no big deal.

If you liked or were friends with the person who caught you, you'd yield and do either a mildly embarrassing / mildly onerous task or accept a request for company / intimacy. If you didn't yield you get placed in an easy genjutsu (a chance for the runners to practice on a friendly and an indication that they had graduated to become a person worthy of that responsibility) and wake up the next morning with a headache. (If they Prey has worse than that or complains about the genjutsu, the runner goes back to training and doesn't get to run again until their sensei says so - effectively, the runner failed their responsibility.)

The heavy hitters were supposed to take down the Prey who were either over confident and needed to be prevented from graduating, or the Prey who were so weak they shouldn't be allowed to graduate at all. No shame in being put down hard at the beginning of the night by your own sensei right? Then the forfeit would have been a choice of assignments to improve their skills.

So that was training, but it also had another role.

It was also a little flirting ritual - since teenagers are walking balls of hormones, that was probably inevitable.

So runners would chase the people they were into, catch them and then they'd know how the Prey felt about them from the three choices:

Refuse to yield: Totally not into you, dude
Yield, favour forfeit: I like you but not that way, sorry
Yield, intimacy forfeit: I welcome your attention

So runners who like their Prey - be it romantically or platonically - actually have incentive to create nice forfeits. If the prey you caught refuses to yield, the runners can actually try and prove their worthiness by creating a really detailed but pleasant genjutsu - a beautiful Japanese garden, floating in the night sky, night at the beach with the sound of the sea, etc. etc. It's basically a chance to prove they can provide both competence and caring.

Since runners are automatically higher ranked, it is socially unacceptable to offer courtship to their juniors (see the long courtship customs post for details on why) and this is their once a year chance to make an offering of interest.

Waiting a year to ask shows that they are genuinely invested - they wouldn't waste the time otherwise. Waiting multiple years is a sign of real commitment - pining basically.

Side note on Izuna's triad:

After Hikaku didn't ask for anything more than a kiss for his second intimacy forfeit Izuna figured that the kiss was like a friendly kiss or some mild hazing - since Izuna got the teasing of his life for giving his first kiss to Hikaku the year before.

So, since this was the second year Hikaku's been waiting to ask - why nothing more than a kiss? He didn't realise it was Seto in the mix and Madara cock blocking him that was slowing things down.

So when Seto and Hikaku caught him the third year he was like - oh well, friendly kisses for you both, I guess I'm not getting any sex this year either! - only for Hikaku to ask for permission to make out as a triad - hands above the waist, no clothing removed - Madara had to approve it and they both figured asking for anything more was suicide. Seto's intimacy offering was permission to present a formal offer of courtship. Izuna was like "Screw that, I'm taking you both to bed right now! I could have had this last year!"

Nobody has mentioned it yet, but Seto was actually stalking Izuna, NOT Tobirama that first chapter. Tobirama was a target of opportunity. Seto recovered well didn't he? Nothing he said was a lie but...

Then things changed.

There was lots of encouragement by Tajima and the elders to make it into a torturous experience to awaken the Sharingan. That meant the runners were traumatised, the Prey were traumatised, Sharingan awoken all around at the cost of PTSD for everybody and the clan members trust in each other was broken.

Madara changed it as soon as he became clan head, but that was when he was 17. So the clan had one year of abusive running, Madara said hell no and made new rules for the next year. Then everyone is really tentative and expecting Madara to loom out of the shadows to police the Run when he's instead off chasing Izuna (Way to abdicate your responsibilities Madara... also that was the year Hikaku was away so tracking Izuna down took the whole night).

Then the village is formed and it's a new start for everyone. Izuna teaches the Prey more stuff to prepare them (he's paranoid the Senju will get them), Madara yells at everyone to follow the rules beforehand, Hikaku and Madara grab Izuna right out of the gate and then run off to actually police the runners and prevent misbehaviour, Izuna is left in confinement the whole night fuming that he's going to end up giving his first kiss to Hikaku (who he thinks of as his best friend, who has been lording that he's only one year older but graduated years ago, and has been working with his brother to catch him since he was 12 - what an asshole!).

The next year is a holding pattern - everybody gets used to the new rules and Izuna is disappointed that he didn't get more than a kiss. He can't court Hikaku - even though Hikaku is really hot - because Hikaku is in a formal courtship with Seto. (Hikaku and Seto are in the same rank but different tracks - no chain of command issues there.)

The year after that is the year Izuna tricks Tobirama into running and everyone gets the surprise of their lives. *mic drop*

Zanahoria: Seto setting up inside Tobirama's/Madara's office because he figures that's where Izuna will feel safe... and then HE got ambushed, lol.

This is a really interesting point so I'm going to give away a small spoiler (partially because it's on my mind since I just wrote a chapter on it this evening). It's about 6 chapters away and I'll expand on it then but I figure you'd rather have it now.

I head cannon that almost all of the canon shinobi are sensors in at least a small way. They wouldn't be able to feel killing intent in cannon otherwise.

Very few people are like Tobirama and Madara, able to feel shinobi doing nothing in particular who are crazy far away, but almost all shinobi have some ability at it.

And that ability can be improved. You can't improve your range, but you can improve your accuracy.

It's a mirror of reality. Ask someone to stare at you randomly through out the day and you'll slowly get a sixth sense of when they're watching. It feels creepy, especially when you don't know who is watching. It's also one of the methods people use to gaslight their victims.

So here you have a whole clan of shinobi who have all been playing a giant game of tag through the woods for years, either as runner or Prey. Izuna, for example, has been doing it since he's 7 - that's 10 years. Seto's been doing it since he was 10 and he's 26 in this chapter.

How good do you think he's gotten?

He knew Izuna was somewhere around but not exactly where and was basically hiding in the shadows wasting for Izuna to move and give away his position.

Then suddenly Tobirama appears and his combat instincts take over.

In effect, they ambushed each other.

I wanted to write this dramatic scene like in those wuxia movies when two friends cross swords on instinct because they think the other is an enemy, but Tobirama wouldn't co-operate.

He didn't even think about dissecting Seto's responses because his priorities were elsewhere, and Seto covered so well - told the truth, nothing to feel with your sensory abilities here Tobirama - that it just went over his head.

Zanahoria: That all came across later. When Tobirama senses Hikaku near his labs, I took it to mean they were all hunting him, just as HE does, but once we get to Izuna's forfeit it becomes obvious Izuna was very conveniently near where Seto was lurking. As the friendship is shown to us, it also becomes clear that Tobirama's places are safe havens in Izuna's mind, and his clan knows it, which gives me so many feel, let me tell you.

Chapter Text

Ah ha! You are totally right to pick up on that! He had two motivations for that, both unconscious:

The first was that it was instinct. It's what he would have done in a real fight.

Sparring between clans is tricky right now. Most people are willing to let things slide in daily life although a significant minority - like Setsuna - have PTSD and constantly lash out, see the way he instinctively adopts a defensive an hostile posture (the use of 'Senju' rather than a name, the way he wants to defend himself / intimidate with the Sharingan). In sparring, everyone defaults to their battle instincts unless they have very good control - Izuna & Tobirama, or are so unlikely to feel threatened that they never had a defensive response - Hashirama & Madara (instead those two have ingrained aggressive responses - they pursue each other and don't back off unless forced). Basically, everyone spars with their own clan, with cross clan matches being Izuna vs random Senju and Tobirama vs random Uchiha.

(Of course Tobirama and Izuna take advantage of this for Tobirama to be super nice the whole time - offering compliments and tips on how to improve - being a sensei basically. So all the Uchiha sparring with Tobirama have Sharingan memories of him being an awesome teacher, thus Kagami.)

The second is because of the Uchiha courting customs. The long version is about 2.5K long and you can find it on the comment thread I left for Miray on Chapter 9 (see: World Building - The Uchiha and the Senju), but the relevant portion is this - the Uchiha place great value on being a 'worthy' partner.

This is Madara's courtship display.

It's partly why he's so desperate for Tobirama not to leave. If Tobirama leaves, Madara is not worthy.

He doesn't even realise it but he's already crushing. It's only thinking back on it later that he realises that his desperation was all out of proportion and goes "uh-oh."

By the timeline I worked out (my reply to Miray on Chapter 11 has the whole history of the war as it relates to these four crucial players if you want to see exactly what was happening where) the village was founded when Madara was 19 and he's only 22 here. It was 3 years ago - that's not long at all.

(Side note: Ages are a real head trip for this because modern day people look at Madara at 19 and go "WTF are you doing leading a clan" but the cannon / fannon for the WCE is that Uchiha are considered adults as soon as they master the Great Fireball and Senju kids are running courier missions before they're 10. And you can't take the images of the Madara / Hashirama confrontation just before the village is formed because that was another 10 years of war after Izuna's death. My cannon for this fic is that 40 is old for a shinobi so 20 is like the year you peak.)

Chapter Text

Yes! Thank you so much for this comment! I'm so glad you agree about the Sharingan!

I've had the same thought as you more times than I can count and I know it's a metaphor about pain bringing growth but the Sharingan takes that to the extreme.

A comment by Thri_here on chapter 9 inspired me to actually lay out actual reasons for their actions in cannon during Tobirama's time as Nidaime and Sharingan PTSD plus cultural endogamy played a big part in it.

Setsuna let me play with that a little but he's too young and too junior to do a lot with him on this topic. His perspective didn't have the experience and weight I needed. He's only been on one battlefield and he hasn't used his Sharingan much.

Madara gave me the chance to really explore it. I wanted to put in all the bits that drove him to insanity in cannon and how, without them, Zetsu has no openings. Madara is armoured in his love for family and clan. Peace is best for his clan and he sees that clearly and explicitly. He sees the trade offs and considers them worth it. It's not an idealised concept, it's food, clothing, water, and medicine (totally inspired by 'a symbol of subjugation' by evocates).

And I had to give him a reason to fall in love with Tobirama. By the timeline I worked up for this (Kishimoto's timeline is a mating ball of worms, I can't do anything with it), they've been sharing an office for 3 years and see each other almost everyday, plus Izuna claimed Tobirama as a rival 4 years before that, so there's no way Madara can suddenly go 'he's hot, I want him' and be believable. There must be a catalyst for the emotion and the Sharingan was right there.

If seeing terrible things with it traumatises them, seeing good things with it makes them feel positive emotions. My theory is that seeing something amazing with the Sharingan should be enough of a catalyst to bring on the most positive emotion an Uchiha can feel - love.

(I deliberately didn't let Madara see Tobirama’s face with his Sharingan except when fighting by the way. I'm saving that for later so I can blow his poor mind with it.)

It's actually based on an idea from cognitive behavioural therapy - if it person has a problem, it may be due to maladaptive pattern of thought. In this case, the Uchiha are paranoid and fearful. Changing those patterns leads to change in behaviour and affect. In regular humans changing maladaptive thinking is really tricky and most therapists advise changing the relationship with those thoughts since that's easier. But for this fic, the Sharingan acts like a shortcut to the brain. It literally forces evidence for a new pattern of thought.

Combine that with the mere-exposure effect (it posits that repeated exposure to a stimulus increases perceptual fluency, the ease with which a stimulus can be processed. Perceptual fluency, in turn, increases positive affect) and you get Uchiha who gradually grow used to the idea that not everyone is out to get them and their paranoia decreases.

(And yes, I had to look those definitions up - It's been a loooong time since I did Psych 101 in university...)

When I saw the description of the Curse of Hatred in cannon I immediately started yelling in my head about why didn't people try this!

Well, I guess they did since all three of the characters who were redeemed from the Curse of Hatred (Sauske, Obito, and Madara himself) basically had best friends who were yelling at them to give up their Evil Plans for the Power of Love the entire time they were fighting... It took so long though! So I wanted to come up with something better.

Chapter Text

YES! I wanted him to see the situation clearly.

I mean, the Uchiha are a big clan, lasting hundreds of years (looking at you mythical ancestor Indra), there's no way they were led incompetently or they'd have died out by now.

Which means that they must actually have some sort of system for training their youth (that's partly what this story is about - the Fireball to show they've masted ninjutsu, then the Run to show they're able to survive on their own and get back to their clan - basic ninja stuff I'm guessing) and their heirs. They can't just throw any young person into the clan head position and expect them to do a good job, the whole clan would fail miserably within a generation or two of a bad leader (came to the headship unprepared, did a bad job, didn't train their successor, whoops the clan had another bad leader, so on and so forth). And since, you know, they're shinobi - they're all one bad day away from the pointy end of a kunai and that doesn't stop just because you're a clan head.

So I figure the heirs were trained their whole lives, sitting in on their parents meetings (not allowed to talk but made to listen in one of the traditional East Asian gestures of respect for elders), showed the expectations that would be made of them, listened to discussions about which decision to make, etc. etc.

I figure this is the point of the elders - they're the accumulated voice of experience made available to the clan head as a resource. But it's the clan head that makes the decisions - it an autocracy not a democracy. But that doesn't mean they (and the clan) can't passively resist. Telling a bunch of shinobi to do something they all think is suicidal or will cost them their lives unnecessarily is a good way to end up dead. This is why balancing the needs of the clan and costs to the clan is so important.

So when Madara becomes the leader, he knows exactly how he needs to do the job. He just has a radically different opinion of what the clan needs - in part because he can't help but place Izuna so high on his personal scale of things he's not willing to risk. He thinks the clan needs resources to survive, the elders think the clan needs vengeance for the dead. The clan is torn. He needs to break the deadlock.

I don't think Madara could be trained to think rationally about politics and leadership like this, and still not see when he's not putting the interests of the clan first. He doesn't state it explicitly in his head - partly because I don't think he can bear to look at it that way - but he is implying that he is willing to let someone less competent than Izuna fail at a mission that Izuna might complete with ease.

Think about that.

He is willing to deliberately sacrifice another member of his clan so his brother will live.

Can you imagine how that must feel when he is - effectively - the patriarch of the clan?

Every mission he diverts away from Izuna, is a mission that may cost someone he is responsible for their life or sanity. This is the dark side of his thinking in this chapter.

And his clan see it too. They see what he is doing. It's a publicly performed manipulation of the rules.

The Run is meant to teach and Madara is not teaching. Madara is abusing it for his own purposes.

Logically, this must have created resentment. Each clan member who dies has grounds to think "why my brother/sister/father/mother/lover/partner and not Izuna?” It's not an irrational question.

Effectively, Izuna becomes the king on the chessboard - a piece to be protected at all costs because to lose it means to lose the game.

Izuna must then have had to earn his place on this pedestal that Madara has placed him on. By holding Izuna precious and above the clan, Izuna has to become precious and above the clan. He must perform in such a way that they come to agree with Madara that he is worthy of it.

This is why I always portray Izuna as beloved. Because he must be.

Izuna must be a good enough fighter that the clan stands in awe of him. Izuna must be a resource so valuable he can't be sent on random missions. The clan must see that their two strongest warriors, the ones who stand firm and defend the clan can only work together as a pair. To risk one is to risk both and they are too valuable to lose.

(As side note - if Madara loves him like this, his death in battle would be a risk. But Izuna must fight or the clan won't respect him. Solution: He must fight someone Madara doesn't consider a risk. This is my reasoning for why Madara must trust Tobirama.)

But the clan must be brought to realise that if Izuna and Madara aren't there, they have no protection against Hashirama and Tobirama. They will be slaughtered. They don't trust Hashirama about this peace thing, what does that even mean? A ceasefire until the next death starts up again? Possibly without the two strongest fighters in generations? No, thank you. Better to fight a war of attrition and hope for a lucky shot to take out either Hashirama and Tobirama.

By pushing for peace, Madara has defaulted them to a defensive position and the war hawks don't like it. Their entire plan relies on aggressive tactics or assassination and Madara won't let them do it. No wonder they resisted.

This is why Izuna is key in my opinion. Izuna is both reward (Izuna's life and the continuation of their line) and risk (Izuna is a spokesperson for the vengeance camp).

He could have always been a protected civilian, but the moment Izuna became a shinobi this was inevitable.

(This is a big part of my characterisation for Izuna if you couldn't already tell. Thank you for inspiring me to articulate it!)

By his own choices, Madara has brought this on himself. Peace and the village is literally his only option. Hashirama saved his bacon. (Possibly literally if they are farming pigs. Something to think about.)

Chapter Text

A really big yes on how Tobirama fights vs how Madara fights!

In the way I wanted to portray him here, Tobirama doesn't really think about emotion or physical sensations when he's fighting because it slows him down. He's trained himself to disassociate in order to achieve maximum efficiency. It's what makes him lethal in close combat (he's doesn't slow down or back off when he's hurt), intimidating (he just keeps coming), and a tactical genius (he uses his sensor abilities to simultaneously read the chakra of whoever he's fighting and navigate the terrain). It looks effortless from an outside viewpoint, but it's really the result of lots of effort and training on his part.

Tobirama's had to put in all of this effort because he doesn't have the giant chakra reserves of Hashirama and Madara. He's not like them and able to pull giant terrain altering jutsu out of his ass and keep doing it. He can do them, but he can't maintain them, or produce multiples of them. Instead he has to be the finger on the scale, the distraction at the crucial moment, the tiny jutsu that makes you drop whatever you're doing and become vulnerable. If you look at the fight scene, all of his jutsu are either necessary (the water dragon and the water wall because he had to counter the fireballs and the overwhelming sea of fire - overkill thy name is Madara) or really small (water senbon to the eyes, raiton on the hand). It's just enough to give him the opening he needs to do the seals because he's conserving chakra and waiting for the opportunity to pull it out. He's manipulating events with tiny pushes so that things fall just right for him to do a simultaneous KO across the field. That's his strategic thinking at work.

I figure that sparring like this is actually a nice little logical problem for him because he knows what to expect ahead of time. He has a mission objective, gathers the resources he'll need, and then makes contingency plans about what to do. This means that he can snap between plans because he has the whole decision tree in his head. There is no 'thinking about it' moment - it's all 'if x happens then my best option is y' - and his opponents freak out because there is no pause. He's just continuously in their faces until he pulls out the whup ass (because he'd never do that unless he was sure it would work since that would reveal his advantages) and then they're defeated. All done and he just walks off the field because there's nothing left for him to do.

As a side note - This is why Izuna loves fighting him. Because Izuna is exactly the same. To Izuna, when he has his Sharingan activated, the world is moving in slow motion. He can see everything before it happens. Tobirama is the only one who is still moving at his speed. They can get in each other's faces and give each other HELL and it is FUN.

Battle is different for Tobirama. The risk to his clan and - especially - Hashirama makes everything much more visceral and harder to disassociate from. Plus his opponents are unknowns, and he doesn't have time to gather resources or play circumstances to his advantages. It's a lot trickier.

So I wanted to show that he's awesome but he doesn't think of himself that way. There is no triumph for him in winning - it's just what must be done to survive. You can see it in the way he dresses for his second Run - he looks like he's going on the battlefield because, to him, he is.

Madara on the other hand is a chakra powerhouse. He thinks nothing of pulling out the draining ninjutsu because he has chakra to burn - literally. The multiple giant fireballs are a distraction. He pulls out a ninjutsu called the Great Annihilation as an attempt to convince Tobirama to stay and fight him. It's not meant as an attack or a defence - it's a display of power. He's acting like a peacock spreading its tail and saying "hey baby".

It is an incredible waste of chakra and he doesn't think twice about it. He doesn't regret it either. If it makes Tobirama stay, it's worth it.

For Madara, there is no strategy. He looks at history, names his objectives and then goes with animal instinct from there. It's all "beat it into the ground" and "kill it with FIRE".

It was why his Eye of the Moon plan was so full of holes. (Apart from Zetsu.)

Chapter Text

Your whole comment is absolutely accurate for the cannon formation of the village - Hashirama was voted in as Hokage, Madara and Tobirama became his advisors, and he was the boss of both of them. Tobirama became the default head of the Senju.

But this isn't cannon. A whole bunch of things that happened in cannon didn't happen here - most crucially, Izuna didn't die.

That means that Madara didn't cause a civil war in his clan by switching from a pro-peace to a war hawk stance, lead them into a war that they could see was for his own personal revenge, and cause Uchiha to either defect or die in a war against a united and more powerful Senju clan. You can see in cannon that the Uchiha are defeated. Madara is kneeling on the ground and only lives by the mercy of Hashirama and Tobirama.

They don't form the village from a position of strength but of weakness. And when the vote is held, despite the Uchiha being the larger clan, Hashirama wins. That means that some of the Uchiha must have voted for him.

That's why the Uchiha are paranoid and untrusting. They were forcibly absorbed. Madara is their leader only because of his undeniable strength as a warrior. They don't trust his judgement anymore.

So by changing Izuna's death, I had the chance to wipe that all clean.

All those extra years of war - gone. The civil war in the Uchiha - gone. Madara's Curse of Hatred - gone. Forcible assimilation - gone. Forcible attempt at cultural assimilation - gone. The Uchiha distrust of Madara - gone.

All gone.

Instead here's my head cannon for what happened in this fic (and be warned it's a lot of timelines - I have a whole spreadsheet listing the relevant events in each year for Madara, Izuna, Hashirama, Tobirama, Hikaku, Seto, Kagami, and Setsuna since Izuna was 4.)

Tajima dies when Madara is 16 and he ascends to Clan Head. He's young and inexperienced despite being well trained. The elders use social politics to make him listen to their advice and he realises that he can't decree peace without losing the support of a lot of his clan. He realises that he must wait until he has more backing. He starts a pro-peace faction and begins to argue for it on economic grounds as well as a preventative measure against the ongoing loss of life.

Butsuma dies the next year and Hashirama ascends to Clan Head. Hashirama starts offering peace - letters, treaty proposals, gifts, anything and everything - but Madara refuses. His clan won't back him so he can't agree to peace. Tobirama proposes the paralysis seal and kidnap plan (see: Story - The Background Behind the Paralysis Seal) and is shot down by Hashirama. He starts work to finalise the Hiraishin instead, while simultaneously trying his 'present myself to Izuna as an honourable and trustworthy enemy before convincing him that I and the Senju clan as a whole are dominated by the desire for peace while also trying not to let him kill me' plan.

The year after that, when Madara is 18 and Izuna is 16 (A two year gap is - I believe - a narrow as you can reliably do, while still remaining healthy as a female if you want to sustain multiple pregnancies, and their mom had 5 kids. Given what short lives shinobi live, I figure she stacked all her kids as close together as she could.) Tobirama performs the Hiraishin for the first time and doesn’t kill Izuna. Instead he aims the point of his sword just over Izuna's left shoulder (I'm working off cannon images from the Anime here) and hits Izuna in the throat with the guard (really small on a katana, not like those European swords with the huge guards that look like brass knuckles).

Izuna come off the field with a throat injury and some cracked ribs. Message: 'I could have killed you but I didn't. All those times I said I wanted peace? This is me proving it. But I'm not a pushover and I won't let you kill me either.'

Izuna smiles. Message: 'I totally get you, you vicious bastard. Fine, I believe you and I'll throw my support behind peace.'

Tobirama smiles too. Message: 'I look forward to trouncing you at the peace negotiations.'

Izuna smiles with narrowed eyes. Message: 'Bring it.'

And then Madara calls the retreat.

Hashirama is all "what happened??????" and Tobirama (who doesn't have full confidence that Izuna can bring it off but hopes that he will and doesn't want to get Anija's hopes up) replies all vague "Izuna and I have come to an understanding... Madara might be more receptive to your overtures for peace in the future but give it some time before you send another one."

So there goes 6 months with no fighting. The Senju use Tobirama's sensor abilities to keep tabs on the Uchiha. All the Uchiha are being called back unless they are on crucial missions. Their compound is a hive of activity but nothing else is happening. The Senju wait with bated breath. Hashirama nearly chews his fingernails down to the quick (he's impatient) and is forcibly distracted with candy and children (Tobirama) or sex (Mito).

Also, Tobirama takes the opportunity to draw up plans for village infrastructure. Just in case this whole thing comes to pass, he doesn't want to live in one of Anija's tree houses with no plumbing.

Then Madara sends a request for peace, being all magnanimous and shit about it to make himself look good to his clan. Hashirama doesn't care about looking good, the Senju will do what he says or walk (see: World Building - The Uchiha and the Senju), so he accepts.

They meet at the riverbank where they used to play and compete as boys and water walk to the middle of the river (a total shinobi intimidation move / boast of chakra control - they can do this for hours even while doing negotiations). Everyone negotiates. As referenced in chapter 13 (After the Run (Again) - Hashirama and Tobirama) Hashirama makes use of Tobirama and Mito's sensor abilities to read the emotions of the Uchiha, Mito's diplomatic skills to ferret out what the Uchiha really want / need, and Tobirama's contingency planning to present the Uchiha with reasonable compromises as soon as they start complaining. The Uchiha get everything they want without having to complain more than the bare minimum about it (Mito makes it look like the Senju are falling all over themselves to compromise), are presented with a whole heap of economic benefits, plus the promise of a shiny new village on land that hasn't been torn up by war and the destructive duo (Hashirama and Madara). They accept with dignity. Izuna's respect for the Senju goes up even further. He realises that Mito is bad ass at diplomacy and his rival has skills other than killing.

The village is formed but has no governing structure. Mostly, everyone is willing to go along to get along (except for the PTSD stricken Uchiha warriors who hold a prestigious position in the clan) but they have no idea how to merge into a single village.

So Izuna, Kikiyo, and Mito come up with a plan - all the high ranking members of both clans will be given administrative / important jobs. Hashirama and Madara will co-rule. Only things they both agree on will be done. Neither can overrule the other. They must compromise. Kikiyo and Tobirama will be their minders (neither Hashirama or Madara are administratively minded) and keep them on track / pick up any dropped stitches / tell them things they need to know / make decisions in their absence. Effectively, they are secondary commanders / decision makers. The teams work out to be 'Senior Uchiha-Junior Senju' and 'Senior Senju-Junior Uchiha'. It fosters trust between them. In Hashirama's absence, Kikiyo will make his decisions. In Madara's absence, Tobirama will make his decisions. They must all trust that there won't be a lot of Madara-Kikiyo / Hashirama-Tobirama decision making. They are forced to trust that they won't backstab each other. Mito forces Hashirama and Madara into separate offices so that they will bond with their junior assistants from the opposite clan. This is also referenced but not explicitly spelled out in chapter 13 (After the Run (Again) - Hashirama and Tobirama).

Effectively, Madara really is Tobirama's boss. Tobirama is in his chain of command within the village just as he's also within Hashirama's chain of command for the Senju clan. Same for Kikiyo. Everyone has incentives to make sure the loyalties align.

Side note: For things that are too sensitive to be handled communally (mostly the military and external diplomacy), they have separate systems for each clan. Thus Mito is the diplomat for the Senju and Seto is the diplomat for the Uchiha. Hikaku is the Jōnin commander for the Uchiha and Tōka is the Jōnin commander for the Senju.

Izuna is the man behind the curtain, playing the fool and pulling all the strings. (People think. Actually he's the head of T&I.)

Tobirama is absolutely NOT the regent for the Senju - between the Academy, R&D, plus assisting Madara he has no time. Mito is the Matriarch of the Senju which is not an issue as the Senju are pretty egalitarian gender-wise.

Madara is clan head. The Uchiha won't accept anything else.

Chapter Text

Zanahoria: Izuna is an all-around sneaky little shit that always wins even when he looses and it's priceless.

Phlebas: Izuna is indeed super sneaky and will do his best to work his way into a win-win situation whenever he can. He has no qualms about manipulating people and is pretty good at it. Tobirama still hasn't realised that Izuna set him up for his first run, and - if Izuna has his way - he won't ever. Of course, if he does figure it out, Izuna will say that it was to prove to the Uchiha that Tobirama an awesome shinobi and they should respect him more and that Tobirama wouldn't have responded naturally if Izuna had told him first. It would have biased the results! Like in science! And Tobirama, having the morals of the shinobi and a scientist would shrug and agree.

Zanahoria: Paired [Madara observing Tobirama in chapter 11] with the previous 'what does attraction rate in the face of protection' bit, it shows that Madara hasn't been oblivious, just thinking a lot more seriously and with more depth and attention to detail than expected.

Zanahoria: Hot damn, he'll take a whole year for one question. No one does drama and over-kill like an Uchiha, huh? The fact that it's kinda justified is like the cherry on top, lol

Phlebas: Madara is Love with a capital L and he knows it. Culturally, he also can't pursue Tobirama since he's higher ranked. So he has to wait and hope. He keeps looking for any sign of interest - anything at all - but there's nothing.

Phlebas: My theory is that observer bias is a Thing for the Uchiha. They're not endogamous that they don't trust outsiders on principle. They also trust their eyes implicitly. There's normally no conflict - Sharingan off when not fighting = suspicious Uchiha, Sharingan on when fighting, views violence = Uchiha whose suspicions have been validated. Tobirama has turned that on it's head and now they're scrambling to pick up the pieces. He has shown and they have seen (with the Sharingan) that he is Trustworthy.

Phlebas: Now Madara is looking hard to validate his own hopes. He's not oblivious to his own emotions and he knows what flirting looks like within his clan so he's looking for all the little details that an Uchiha would use to show attraction and receptiveness to intimacy. I wanted to create that sensation that he's actively wanting / hoping to see them. (And Uchiha are all about the seeing. If they didn't see it, they have no evidence it happened and they'll be suspicious as hell about it.) That's why he's looking so closely. But Tobirama is not an Uchiha and he is not reacting like one. He has his own issues and his clan does things differently.

Phlebas: And yes, I wanted this to be like the whole Thing with Izuna - it had to be justified by his culture and its rules. He's made his choices and now he has to lie in the bed he made. Effectively, he's played himself into a corner.

Phlebas: Note that it's not just him - Seto and Hikaku did it too. The whole 'wait and see', power dynamics, giving the option for not just explicit consent but enthusiastic consent - it's a Thing for them.

Phlebas: (And Madara is the King of Overkill and Drama. So. Much. Drama. Izuna will give him so much shit for this.)

Zanahoria: Between observation bias, and the hints that Tobirama has no idea how to deal with physical demonstrations (as exemplified by him just... leaving his hands go limp in Izuna's grip), it strikes me that their love languages are so different: service for Tobirama, likely physical for most Uchihas. To exacerbate the issue, Hashirama is very much a physical and verbal type, so I don't think it even occurs to Madara that he's looking for something that just... doesn't manifest like that where Tobirama is concerned.

Phlebas: Yes! Like in the Omake with Hashirama, I just had him stand there and be hugged. He has no idea what to do with it. My head cannon for this story is that Hashirama has been flailing all over him dramatically for his whole life and he just stands there. Anija wants to hug him, he'll let it happen. Anija wants to lean on him, okay he will be supportive. Anija bestows physical affection all over him and he's like okay cool, I'll just passively accept it until you get sick of it or we have somewhere else to be. And Hashirama just never got sick of doing it so he kept letting it happen. He gets that it's meant in affection and it feels nice, but that's not how he communicates affection. He appreciates the intent more than the action.

Phlebas: You are absolutely right about that being part of the reason Madara isn't seeing anything he'd recognise as flirting.

Phlebas: Tobirama just doesn't show love that way. Instead he fixes things and makes everything better. When he starts bringing you helpful objects / concepts you know he likes you. Also he accepts physical affection. That's why the kids are key. He needs to be physical with them. They're small and need to be picked up. They come to him and try to express physical affection (hands up! = I want to be hugged) and he knows the cues that mean he needs to touch back. Also, their chakra and their presentation align. They feel, say, and act in a congruent way. Adults don't. They say they're fine when they're sad, act sad when they're mad, feel bored but pretend to be enthusiastic... It's a total head trip for him and he never learned to read the micro expressions that show what people mean vs what they say. To him adults are just stupid. He said it when he was a kid and still thinks it. They know he's a sensor so why won't they just come out and say what they really mean? He can't piece together angry/sad + determinedly happy face + "I'm fine" to make anything other than lying. Do they want him to go away? Fix their problem? What even is their problem? Does he need to ask?

Phlebas: So he comes across as this blunt instrument that goes around digging at things people want to hide and then he's all sad that people feel negatively when they see him (because they're dreading he's going to ask them another uncomfortable question).

Phlebas: My theory is that this is partly the reason why Hashirama is straightforward and loudly emotive. He is literally broadcasting his emotions via every avenue he can - verbally, exaggerated facial expression, physical gestures, and chakra. He got used to it when he was young and just never stopped. Since he married a sensor who is also a diplomat, that helps her too. With Hashirama, Mito can rest the part of her brain that is constantly analysing people's expressions and their chakra to deduce what they want based on her polite but incisive conversation. She can do it, and is great at it, but she doesn't want to have to do it with her own romantic partner! So the three of them are happily living together in a little nuclear family of total honesty and bluntness.

Phlebas: The Sharingan is great at reading people BTW, I head cannon that anyone with it is like a savant at reading people so the whole deducing people thing. And the Uchiha are a passionate people anyway, so they mostly don't bother hiding their emotions. Cue Madara's dramatics which are partly a cover for his softer emotions. But he really feels the bluster when he says it so they match too. When they do want to hide it's physically - they'll hole up somewhere and be alone for a bit. I suspect it may be why so many of them have long hair, they can hide behind it if they really need to. And even the sneaky, manipulative Uchiha (looking at you Seto and Izuna) are pretty upfront about being sneaky. Izuna constantly radiates this adorable little boy I have a SECRET and I'm not TELLING you….! vibe and Seto radiates I am so smooth, you're just going to do what I want (I really want to write that triad, these two manipulative shits and Hikaku and one (1) sane Uchiha, I have like four ideas already, but I promised myself I would't until I was done with the main plot.)

Phlebas: This is why I think Madara and Hashirama get along and why I really want to stick Tobirama in with the Uchiha. They will make sense to him even of they don't speak his language because he's already fluent in it from Hashirama. It's just the slightly more abrasive dialect. They just haven't learned his language. They haven't realised that taking care of them so carefully was the Tobirama equivalent of a great big "you are my family and I will protect you" hug.

Phlebas: This is all part of the plan. I actually wrote a whole chapter featuring this from Izuna's perspective today but it's not the next step in the plot so you won't be seeing it for a while. *cackles evilly*

Zanahoria: I kinda looooove how consistent you are in your atypical Tobirama portrayal. And the idea that Hashirama is like that on purpose gives me feels (also, now I need a bit where we see all these shenanigans from Mito). The idea that Uchihas are actually over-dramatic and flail is half because they can not hide at home, and half because they use it to hide is perfect too.

Zanahoria: And given the reassurances disguised as explanation-after-the-fact chat Izuna had with Tobirama, I think he's ready to induct him into the clan and the run was his way (like, he had even MORE objectives with his one trolling, this guy is impossibly sneaky). If he ever cottons to the fact that Madara is not suffering from a crush but a full on thought out and considered case of deeply in love, nothing and no one in the whole village will be safe from his plotting.

Phlebas: I think it's a side effect of thinking about why the characters would have acted the way they did in chapter 1 (since that was supposed to be a one shot, haha, that totally didn't end up happening) that I ended up with these huge head cannons about how and why they react the way they do. I ended up having to write all out and I keep adding to it as I discuss stuff in the comments and realise that - whoops - I didn't write down why they do this, that, and the other. That document is currently, uh, *checks document* 9000 words...?

Phlebas: And yes, Izuna is massively manipulative! The run had so many goals from his perspective, and he was like "how can I achieve them all with the same thing...?" Getting his whole clan to love his Tobi was definitely one of those objectives but it wasn't the only one... Tomorrow's chapters will reveal yet another goal that he has achieved with it.

Phlebas: He hasn't realised that his beloved Tobi could be his actual brother (or sister in this case, since he'd be Madara's wife) but once he does there'll be no stopping him!

Phlebas: Mito will definitely be making an appearance! She is actually crucial to the resolution of the MadaTobi plot line as the one (1) sane Senju (by adoption) who has actual people skills. I'm going to put her in a conversation with either Hikaku - as the one (1) sane Uchiha - or Seto - a fellow diplomat and let them figure out the cultural clash and all the confusion it's caused.

Phlebas: In that chapter I posted today (After the Run (Again) - Izuna & Tobirama) you get more insight into Izuna's head since it's in his POV.

Phlebas: (Side note: I always put the person whose POV I am working from first in the chapter headings and - in traditional Japanese light novel style - things like nicknames and honorific use are big clues too)

Phlebas: In that chapter you can see Izuna going "Time to match make? No, not yet."

Phlebas: In my characterisation, this is what makes Izuna a master manipulator. He doesn't just manipulate based on what he wants to happen without regard for the wants of anyone else (classic evil villain and usually their downfall), he actively measures his environment to see if his plots will work and other people can be lured into working with him (often by thinking it's their own idea) and adapts on the fly to achieve as many of his objectives as possible.

Phlebas: This is why he and Tobirama make a great team. Tobirama does it on the battlefield, Izuna does it for politics and interpersonal relations. Together they could RULE THE WORLD! (Izuna would be Pinky. Because he's funnier. He'd say that Tobirama is too serious to do Pinky PROPER JUSTICE.)

Zanahoria: "Son Pinky, son pinky y Cerebro bro bro bro..." (yeah, south-american... now I can't unhear it)

Zanahoria: Izuna being a genius of the interpersonal and using it as a link and translation to Tobirama's very scientific big brain is awesome and scary at the same time, lol.

Zanahoria: I forgot to mention it before, but all the social standing constrains and how they weight on all these crazy undertakings are an amazing detail. They LOOK crazy because their culture backgrounds leave them little other options that don't look/could be skeevy, and that's IMPORTANT.

Phlebas: That is what makes Izuna an interpersonal genius - he's a chameleon who changes to meet everyone he meets on their own ground but remains unapologetically himself.

Phlebas: And thank you for the compliment! The social structures had to be tight so that the characters had boundaries to play around in. If I didn't have it down you, as a reader, would be constantly going "what?"

Phlebas: This way it feel consistent and you know there's something behind it but you don't know exactly what.

Phlebas: And people within their culture are terrible at explaining their culture to anyone outside it. It makes so much sense from the inside that you can't see the forest for the trees, so I couldn't explain it all right off the bat either. I was resigned to waiting until the characters get fed up and confronted each other but then you lovely readers started nerding it out in the comments and I went "Yes! Someone is asking why this works! Let me ear bash you with my head cannon!" and it just kept happening. Wow.

Phlebas: This way, I can be subtle and wait for you guys to pick up my hints and scream joyfully when you do. 💕❤️

Phlebas: And it's good to see you all appreciating the work I put in. I had to figure out exactly why and how their cultures would work, and put them together in a logical way so that they'd make sense. To work out an actual system for the Uchiha took about 2 hours and then typing it up took most of day so I'm glad you're enjoying it ! 😊

Phlebas: You know the worst part?

Phlebas: The Uchiha don't think about it - it's just how they are. So they have no way to describe it. They so rarely take in out clan people and make them members that they just kind of look confused while the new person flails around until they absorb it though some kind of crazy cultural osmosis.

Phlebas: Thank god the Senju have an actual formalised system. They have to because they have to explain it to all the new members - they talk about it so much it's become a ritual. I head cannon that the less clan bound Konoha nin several generations down will be doing it that way.

Phlebas: Now I really want to write recent immigrant Iruka waving the Konoha courting customs handbook at clan bound Hatake Kakashi when he comes a courting and watch the culture clash explode.

Phlebas: Damnit.

Chapter Text

Madara was difficult to work with initially but I find that just letting him get as dramatic as he wants works for me. Especially since a lot of the things that really form him in cannon won't happen here so he's quite different. Lots of the trauma has been removed so I have much more of a blank slate to play with. This characterisation is really an evolution of those bits of his childhood that we see + his teen years on the battlefield + founding the village. So I took them and worked out what his motivations would have to be to match all of that, plus not letting Izuna be a runner, plus his training to be a responsible clan head, then added canonically appropriate amounts of drama. And this is what came out. 😝

Tobirama less tricky for me to characterise. He has so many descriptions in cannon - sensor, stoic, stern but loving teacher, creator of jutsu and seal master, the guy who built so many of the village institutions... I just had to break down what it would mean for his personality to give those impressions to people, be able to do all that, and why he would want to. I'm so glad this version of him works for you! For him, my difficulty is trying to figure out what he will notice and what will just fly right by him. How he reacts from there is generally pretty logical - just go with the most obvious thing that will give the biggest reward regardless of cost to self and difficulty. This is the guy who invented a whole new branch of sealing just so he could teleport to defeat his personal rival...

Chapter Text

You are absolutely spot on. Madara's official minder and future bride was placed on him as a spy by his future sister-in-law.

The thing that people (and I mean the characters in this story) often forget about Mito is that she's as much a shinobi as any of them. She's a diplomat, a princess, raised with all the training of a future ruler, the quintessential lady, poise, grace, yes, yes, yes. But she's also a shinobi and ruthless with it when she needs to be.

Also, underneath all that poise, she's feral in the brain. Just like Hashirama.

(I must admit that I stole the 'feral in the brain' description from Called Dibs by drelfina.)

The instinctive and visceral urge to hunt down and kill anything that threatens what is theirs is something they both feel.

They just know the ethics that say they shouldn't and that people won't trust them as leaders if they go berserk so they don't.

But should the gloves ever need to come off... well, they'll come all the way off.

In his own way Tobirama is just as bad or worse. He has no brakes the way they do. In fact, they are his brakes.

But his version leans more towards self-sacrifice rather than 'kill!'

Which doesn't mean that he's any less dangerous.

Hashirama is a very hard character to work on, just like Madara in fact, because his outside presentation doesn't match his inner monologue.

Unlike Tobirama whose inner monologue is exactly the same, just less visible.

Tobirama is an iceberg - ice all the way through but a lot bigger than you thought.

Hashirama is the Forest of Death pretending to be a garden. Because it is also a garden. From the right perspective.

The closest that I ever found to what I wanted to write was the Hashirama in Eyestealer, also by nirejseki, but that version was a lot happier in his head than mine.

Hashirama can be terrifying. He just chooses not to be. He wants to be the sunshine shrub, but that's not what's in his head - unless he makes it that way.

It would be so easy for him to go darkside - what must he do to prevent it in himself? That's the core of this characterisation for me.

Chapter Text

Yes, Hashirama's love for sweets is unparalleled.

My theory is that chakra and physical activity burn calories like crazy and thus why Naruto can consume a literal tower of ramen in one sitting and never gain weight - he expends it all just containing Kurama. (Which would, of course, make his canonically terrible childhood even more traumatic. Imagine being that hungry all the time) Chakra is energy after all and all energy must come from somewhere - so sayeth the law of conservation of energy - so shinobi must consume enormous amounts of food. It thus explains why the Akimichi must eat so much to gain weight.

So a powerhouse like Hashirama must, by default, consume dense high energy foods constantly - thus candy - and he would have whined as a child when he was hungry. So my head cannon is that Tobirama got used to constantly sealing away large amounts of sweet food anytime they passed a seller and they had the money to buy some. So his pockets are literally always full of candy and snacks.

Is it any wonder the kids love him and treat him like an easy mark?

Chapter Text

The whole point of Izuna's experiment on himself was to see if it would work to create a positive association with Tobirama instead of a negative one.

In effect, Tobirama and Izuna were using Izuna's Sharingan to repeatedly memorise Tobirama when Izuna was feeling positive emotions (amusement, happiness etc.) to see if they could make enough of a positive association to counter Izuna's PTSD from the war.

This is why Tobirama followed up on a declaration of honesty with humorous stories about his family doing stupid things.

Chapter Text

LOL!

Well, I don't think that would fit in here but...

Maybe I can put in something about them being awesome at copying seals even though they have no idea what they're doing. Or doing counterfeit letters! Yes! Izuna would love that for T&I!

I head cannon that Izuna's T&I is actually pretty small - half Uchiha and half Senju like all the departments.

He got his doton affinity Senju to blow out a bunch of tunnels and they hide out down there running analysis, counterfeiting documents, taking in intel, doing chemical analysis on poisons, and generally having a ball.

Their public front is an Aziraphale (Good Omens) style bookshop that has weird hours, stocks out of print books and cheap romances, shuts when it sees the wrong person coming, and is purportedly run by an old ex-assasin obaasan kunoichi who keeps poisoned senbon in public view in a pen holder for intimidation purposes. Her real threat is the seals all over the floor, walls, and ceiling, plus the ninja wire up her sleeve. She also has a brace of kunai and a tantō under the counter in case she needs to do close combat.

The tunnels are accessible from both the Senju and the Uchiha compounds so that's how his people get to work. They haven't managed to capture anyone to torture and interrogate yet, but Izuna has hopes that someone will do recon on them soon so he named their department with faith that it would eventually happen. He knows that they'll be public eventually and wanted an intimidating name.

Izuna and Tobirama both run two different R&D departments BTW.

Tobirama runs the public, general purpose, open military use, R&D that also sells jutsu and seals as an export commodity. (Izuna thinks the name is boring. Tobirama says that's the point.) It brings in good money for the village, and is actually one of the reasons the Senju clan was well off before the village formed.

Izuna runs the hidden poisons & antidotes, secret spy stuff, covert military use lab down in T&I that specialises in chemical analysis and explosions. His people really like their explosions. It's also partly why their bookshop front smells funny. When people ask obaasan why everything smells burnt and weird, she pretends to be deaf or tells them that she boiled her kettle dry. Then she offers to make them tea. They tend to leave quickly after that.

This is actually the reason Izuna looks like he's running around trouble shooting - he needs plausible deniability for his real job.

(Tobirama says explosions should come from exploding seals and not chemicals - they're more precise and don't go off when you accidentally shake them. Izuna says he WANTS his explosives to go off when shaken - they're good traps for civilians in high places who won't activate a chakra based seal and they keep his people on their toes. Tobirama says that's against Anija's Safety Directives. Izuna says screw the Safety Directives, this isn't SCIENCE - it's ESPIONAGE. That's the point where it usually devolves into scuffling. They've had this argument several times now and it shows no signs of being resolved.)

Furthermore, both Izuna and Tobirama want to recruit Kagami to come work for them.

Tobirama says that Kagami is friendly, nice, good with people, follows the scientific method and the Safety Directives rigorously, and he needs more Uchiha in his department (most Uchiha have been kind of wary of working for the White Demon - he's ended up mostly hiring people that he mentored as Prey after he kicked everyone's ass in the second year he ran. They're great, but junior. He wants someone who can think more independently and won't need his hand held.)

Izuna says that his department also does Science(!), can offer Kagami potentially more field exposure, friendly charming niceness is an advantage in a spy, being good with people ditto, and Kagami's is the kind of devious that would fit right in - look at what he did the year he graduated!

Tobirama counters that Izuna has more than enough Uchiha, he's doesn't need to add one more to his collection.

Izuna says that nii-san says it's okay.

Madara says not to get him involved with this, he doesn't want to hear about their plans for his beloved student. Hashirama backs away anytime Izuna and Tobirama start going on about anything to do with Science/Kagami but likes to pet Kagami's hair - it's curly and adorable. *pets*

Meanwhile Kagami is basking in the attention from everyone.

Chapter Text

Zanahoria: Izuna you dissembling little shit *cackles* He's not saying nothing that is not strictly verbatim. He not saying nothing that is not how WE would interpret in translation. He's NOT saying it in the context or with the meaning Tobirama did (in all his stunted, straight, explicit glory).

Phlebas: Isn’t he great?? I love writing manipulative Izuna! It's all true but at the same time not.

Phlebas: Tobirama is like the perfect straight man for Izuna. It's wonderful.

Phlebas: I just wrote a really, really serious chapter between them (it's about 4 chapters away, and I'm letting it marinate while I consider if I want to make any changes to it before posting) and there you'll see the other side of the Izuna/Tobirama BroTP. A less funny, but more caring side I guess.

Zanahoria: Also, it was not after I shot my comment on the whole "Madara will suffer so much when Tobirama thinks it's all the experiments fault" that I realize the other possibility was "Madara will suffer so much when he thinks his mind is all twisted and it's the experiment's fault"

Phlebas: And yes, somehow both are true! Tobirama thought Madara's freakout was the fault of his experiment and made Madara suffer, and now Madara knows that his brand new infatuation is the result of Izuna’s experiment - and it's the same experiment!

Phlebas: Am I a bad author for doing this?

Zanahoria: Madara getting all ready to flirt via chakra. He did not quite get it when Hashirama mentioned it, but Izuna going "he likes it", and there goes Madara... I kinda hope he totally forgets HOW MUCH Tobirama can pick up, it'll be glorious. Conversely, Tobirama will pick a lot of things he has no contrast sample for and be all "what what?”

Phlebas: Check out the chapter I just posted for Madara flirting via chakra - if these are your ideas you're going to love it.

Zanahoria: Teasing author sama.

Zanahoria: About that future conversation, I need one where IZUNA seats with Tobirama all worried about how much of what he does goes over Tobi's head, and if he's being a bad friend for taking advantage of it by manipulating... stuff. I'm thinking Tobirama would be his ridiculously uber pragmatic self and take it as "manipulate for happiness and peace=good", though bad Izuna for not following Anija's rules properly.

Zanahoria:... Of course, all that would hinge on whether Izuna has any shame in his methods, which is VERY doubtful given the whole 'having to take being the king as his own mantle and live up to it' schtick he had to rapidly do when he was VERY young for his clan stability. This guy built his whole identity... that's...

Phlebas: You've absolutely put your finger on the key point of Izuna's character. He's had to build himself into the man Madara needs him to be. He likes himself and has fun with it, but he's chronically insecure that he's not awesome enough to fulfil the role Madara has unintentionally laid out for him. It's also why he's a terrible overachiever.

Phlebas: And Izuna would never tell Tobirama that he worries about things going over Tobirama's head because he knows Tobirama would take that as a criticism and find ways to try and fix it. Just like Tobirama would never resent Izuna for being manipulative because that's just how Izuna is, he got into this friendship knowing it and appreciating it - it would be stupid to try and change his friend into a different person. Tobirama is happy for Izuna to manipulate him because it will take them further than they could achieve otherwise. Izuna is fine with Tobirama being manipulable because he brings other strengths to the table and Izuna can get a handle on him. If Izuna has a concern that Tobi is / will be manipulated into doing something detrimental to either of them or his plans, it's on Izuna to take steps to prevent it.

Phlebas: And no, this does not violate Anija's safety directives - Tobirama has consented to anything Izuna chooses to do and Izuna has done the same.

Phlebas: They respect each other's agency and methods.

Phlebas: Their friendship is actually based in absolute trust and knowledge. They both trust the other to act exactly like who they are and they know who that person is. They may not be able to predict all the things that person will do, but they can predict that the other will be doing something.

Phlebas: They also trust each other with themselves. These are the same two kids who grew up, respected each other as enemies, then rivals, then friends and chose not to kill each other. They know they won't hurt each other - they've proved it to themselves and each other over and over again.

Phlebas: And finally, they trust that their objectives align. They want to keep their families alive and prospering. That's it.

Phlebas: They've never talked about it in detail and they won't ever.

Phlebas: Their deep and meaningful discussions are all about reassuring the other person and building them up, both because they love each other, but also because they're partners - they both have to be strong for this to work.

Phlebas: EDIT: I've changed my mind. They definitely will talk about this in future because it's too touching not to use, and I spotted a space in the plot where it would work. You've just added another chapter onto this monster, I hope you know that, Zanahoria!

Zanahoria: Hah! Score!! Somehow their chats are the most illuminating in this thing (if I think about it, I reckon IZUNA's chats are the most illuminating... likely something to do with the fact that he might be the only that does not suck at this rare skill that is communication and verbalization)

Phlebas: They are! Deliberately so because they are the two characters who are the most honest with each other. Tobirama and Hashirama don't tell each other everything - they're trying to protect each other. Same with Izuna and Madara. Hashirama and Madara are literally incapable of communicating with each other without hysterical results (it's why either Kikiyo or Tobirama sit in on all their meetings - they hear both sides, figure out all the salient points and put together a comprise before presenting it at the next meeting). Hashirama and Mito are painfully honest with each other (they have to be to make their arranged marriage work), but we don't see them in this fic.

Phlebas: Izuna and Tobirama are the only two characters that we regularly see actually communicate.

Phlebas: Izuna's chats in general are always illuminating though because you can see him he advancing his personal campaign in whatever he's aiming for at any given time😝

Zanahoria: Now for my evil side:

Zanahoria: I kept reading and the thought that kept intruding upon me was that Izuna is the dom in their 24/7 non/sexual dynamic and I died.

Zanahoria: And I can't even say it is something that would even raise an eyebrow given the whole team dynamics in canon (first example: Pain's team)

Phlebas: You... would not be wrong to say that.

Phlebas: It's not quite power play but it's very close.

Phlebas: I guess it would be closer to say that Izuna is the dominant one in this arena and we see that clearly here. There are other areas where Tobirama is the dominant one and that's fine with both of them.

Phlebas: What makes it almost power play is both the trust in each other and the submission of Tobirama to Izuna's will.

Phlebas: In other contexts, as an example say when Tobirama applies the seal to Izuna and renders him both non-verbal and paralysed, the power direction is reversed.

Phlebas: That's why it's not a 24/7 non/sexual dynamic. It's entirely context based and they both seamlessly pass the power between them as needed for their goals.

Phlebas: Perhaps an analogue to switches who role play both roles exclusively with each other might be the best comparison.

Zanahoria: Izuna translating everything into terms Tobirama can quantify and accept while testing for further development is... damn, but it's fair that Tobirama will get embroiled into another's questionable-science.

Phlebas: Tobirama is the king of questionable science. You can literally bait him into it by just painting him a picture of what you want and asking him for his opinion on how it could be done. If he thinks it's an actual thing that would be good or he likes you, you will shortly be presented with a hacked together but working solution with the promise of a better one in the works. Izuna knows exactly how to play him. But Tobirama also considered it fair because Izuna is doing Science with him - That's why they're like Pinky and the Brain. Only, you know, competent.

Zanahoria: Izuna making the whole thing into a cognition-recalibration-via-sharingan thing will have no bad consequences at all, like AT ALL, even taking into account a sharingan using very in love clan head...hot damn, Tobirama will think Madara is in love with him because they have been conducting experiments with the sharigan, this is a disaster in the making. Madara will flail and suffer soooo much, till he can point out to Tobirama that he realized he was fucking GONE when he saw him lie almost nose to nose with his very much chackra-bound-no-sharingan-possible (and how he wished he had it for memory bank for posterity purposes) immobilized body.

Phlebas: And yes, that is one possibility. But Tobirama, Izuna, and Madara all know one thing about looking at things with the Sharingan - everything you see is true. It's the called the "Eye of Insight" for a reason. So Tobirama might freak out that Madara wasn't given the opportunity to choose to look at him but he won't freak out about Madara falling in love with him because of it.

Zanahoria: The chakra chat. OMG, that chakra chat. Madara seeks for Izuna's chakra when distressed. Like a blankie. And Tobirama likes and misses it. And totally misses Izuna's tease, like a proper straight-thinker, what is double speak or ironic tone anyway?.

Phlebas: Yes! The teasing question went right over Tobirama's head. And of course Izuna would use it to both troll and gather data at the same time.

Phlebas: And Madara seeking out Izuna's chakra was like a little extra nod to Madara's sanity resting on Izuna's safety (see After the Run (Again) - Madara). My theory is that - since Madara is a sensor too, if not of the phenomenal range and power of Tobirama (and I have entire chapters plotted out in my head about that) - he's been seeking out the chakra of his family members since he was a little kid. I imagine it like sonar but for chakra - expand sensory ability, get ping back, know where everyone is. So can you imagine the trauma for both Madara and Tobirama when all those little bright point of light, that mean family, love, and safety, all dim and go out? Sometimes violently? *cries* The trauma! It's no wonder they're both fixated on their brothers! This is their last remaining light!

Phlebas: Also yes, I had to have Tobirama like Madara's chakra. It's a nod to KeanBlade's work but also had to be for the MadaTobi pairing to work. Since they're both canonically sensors, they have to like each other's chakra in order to be together. Otherwise they's no way they could share a house, let alone a bed.

Zanahoria: The idea of Tobirama talking about mundane and personal, even embarrassing, little stuff while frantically parring blows amidst a battlefield in too good for words.

Phlebas: But it's perfect for the experiment. It's not dangerous to the Senju - like who cares that Hashirama adopted a hedgehog? Totally not relevant. - and it will definitely evoke a positive response in Izuna. I head cannon that he kept a daily diary of all the little stupid stuff his clan was doing and would review it at the end of the week looking for the bits he thought Izuna would like the best.

Zanahoria: His might-as-well take on it finish driving the point through.

Phlebas: His other best option - the seal plan - had been short down by Hashirama as unworkable and his Hiraishin wasn't ready yet - he was still crashing into things when he folded space - so why not try a little psychological experiment? Not painful, didn't require a lot of resources, opportunity already present - it fit all of Hashirama's Safety Directives except for consent. And when he said to Hashirama "Can I tell Izuna that you adopted a hedgehog? Will that violate the Safety Directives?" Hashirama was like "No! That's fine! He can come pat it if he wants! Maybe Madara will want to visit it???"

Zanahoria: Izuna might be glad for it, but now is taking on the project for his own... tremble Uchiha and all of Konoha, these guys are an unholy alliance, lol.

Phlebas: See previous Pinky and the Brain characterisation 😝

Zanahoria: Except for the romantic tangle mess they are making with their experiments, of which only Izuna is cognizant of it's existance... though I seriously doubt the... let's say, intensity? (then again, silly Izuna, did he ever reckon any Uchiha, let alone Madara, could ever indulge in anything as mild as "a crush"?). Cue Mito, Hikaku and Seto head-palming SO HARD at these over-focused cookies.

Phlebas: Okay, this comment was so tricky that I actually had to go and check my timeline document for exactly what month in the year this took place in to figure out what Izuna knows and when, so go you!

Phlebas: Izuna is actually not responsible for Madara falling in love here. He didn't even know that was a possibility. For a long time though, he's been hoping for Tobirama to be liked, deemed trustworthy and basically become an honorary Uchiha. Basically, he wanted to move Tobirama from 'Evil bogeyman that causes nightmares for everyone' to 'Trusted Ally'.

Phlebas: Izuna doesn't do long term plots. Instead he spots opportunities and takes advantage of them to advance towards his goals. Think less grand master chess player and more the guy in the park who plays 20 guys at once by making the best move on the board at each moment. In effect, he's playing the odds.

Phlebas: Thus the whole plan with the run was to do step three of the unspoken Uchiha courtship - prove the person petitioning for entrance to the clan to be worthy.

Phlebas: The whole plan with looking at Tobi with the Sharingan was the same thing on a smaller scale - to prove Tobi trustworthy to a small select group of people whose word would be trusted by the clan. After all being worthy doesn't have to mean ally. This is the ally part of the plan.

Phlebas: The whole thing with getting Tobi to be the unofficial sensei of the younger Uchiha was several basic motivations rolled into one.

a) troll the elders who don't trust Tobi
b) get the younger Uchiha some proper training - they need it
c) get the younger generation to stop fearing Tobi and trust him (ally)
d) prove that Tobi has something to offer the clan (worthy again)

Phlebas: There are a few more, but these are the main ones that were relevant to Tobirama.

Phlebas: So this is what Izuna is working with in the months leading up to the second Run.

Phlebas: Post run, it looks like everything he planned for has been achieved - he swept the board.

Phlebas: Three months later, you get Hearts in Your Eyes and After the Run (Again) - Madara - Madara knows he's been in love since the Run, Izuna thinks it's physical attraction.

Phlebas: Hashirama and Tobirama / Omake - Conversation / After the Run (Again) - Izuna & Tobirama / After the Run (Again) - Madara & Izuna all take place within about 24 hours.

Phlebas: By the end of it, Izuna knows this is actual LOVE and sets out to help Madara seduce Tobi into the Uchiha clan and get both his brother and his BFF their happy ending.

Phlebas: I hope that helps!

Zanahoria: I'm laughing my evil laugh (I didn't intend to prompt so much work, but its delicious)

Zanahoria:'Three months later, you get Hearts in Your Eyes and After the Run (Again) - Madara - Madara knows he's been in love since the Run, Izuna thinks it's physical attraction.'

Zanahoria: This. This is the moment I'm talking about. To be fair, till reading it from Madara's very though out and tortured pining, not even WE knew it was THIS. And the moment that makes it click is not even a sharingan induced one. I just find hilarious that Izuna did not see what showing off how wonderful and honourable his friend was to his physically attracted brother could lead into.

Phlebas: This is actually a very good thought! And it plays directly into the Izuna-Tobirama power play observation you made.

Phlebas: They trust each other absolutely and know each other - as they see themselves.

Phlebas: Tobirama doesn't see himself as a romantic object = Izuna not seeing Tobirama as a romantic object

Phlebas: Effectively, they both see Tobirama as aromantic and asexual because he never had a romantic or sexual awakening.

Phlebas: (Tobirama has a whole bunch of issues related to sex and romance and I'll be heading into that territory pretty soon so prepare for a bumpy ride on that front.)

Phlebas: This is why it never occured to either of them that Madara might be romantically attracted to Tobirama. They might as well have assumed that he'd be romantically attracted to a chair.

Zanahoria: He's an effective manipulator, no one said nothing about him having to be WISE (now I'm picturing Hashirama yanking on his hair and realizing he'll be the morality chain of yet another beast, he's supposed to be the impetuous idiot, how does he always end up with the job)

Phlebas: No, Izuna is NOT wise. He is the King of Bad Ideas (yet another reason for Tobirama to despair at the idea of Kagami in Izuna's T&I labs - he knows what they get up to down there!).

Phlebas: And it's not Hashirama OR Madara who holds Izuna's leash. It's actually Seto and Hikaku. 😊

Phlebas: Now go enjoy that mental image.

Zanahoria: *ahem* right. Sense and Sanity for Izuna. And you keep dropping hints about writing their story and I keep dying (same with immigrant!Iruka clan!Kakashi, I love the romance through culture clashes theme)

Phlebas: Exactly! They are perfect for him. in BDSM terms, he'd be their bratty sub who's always acting out and needs to be put lovingly in his place. With kisses.

Chapter Text

He's been denied an actual courtship so he's instead doing this crazy reversed version where he's silently asking for a return of affection in every way he can think of and desperately trying to prove himself worthy (steps 1 & 2 of the unspoken Uchiha Courtship Customs) without actually ASKING. Because, by his own culture, he's forbidden to ask. Even doing this much, he's bending the rules into a pretzel and you can bet Izuna's watching this with a terrible mixture of amusement and horror. Madara's only getting away with this because it's (by his design) entirely in their shared office and Izuna and Kikiyo are covering for him with the rest of the Uchiha. Basically, he's banking on plausible deniablity.

Madara is also indulging himself with his own (silent) version a traditional Japanese marriage proposal. Basically, one of the old ways that a Japanese person could apparently propose (though I have no idea how popular this was or is) is to say something about how they want to do something domestic with the other person everyday. Like "I want to make you breakfast every morning" or "I want to see you when I fall asleep every night". I got this from 'A Proposal' by dahtwitchi - so good by the way. Additionally, there is this East Asian idea that by performing a role, you are the person who should be performing the role. Both 'Ghost Bride' and 'A Symbol of Subjugation' work with this idea really explicitly. So I took both ideas, merged them and came up with this.

So Madara is performing the role he wishes he had in the hopes that either a) Tobirama will catch a clue and start courting him or b) just get so used to doing it that they somehow fall into a life together without talking about it. He has no idea how to achieve either (see my previous rant about Madara failing at strategy and operating entirely on instinct) so he's just hoping the middle step falls into his lap somehow. Also, he can't resist fantasising about what it would be like to do this act with Tobirama in their house and this is as close as he can get to it. If he can't have what he wants - Tobirama is not picking up any of his hints - he will take this instead as the closest substitute he can manage. Cue the pining.

Chapter Text

No, you're doing great!

The whole thing makes no sense! I can barely comprehend how it's supposed to work! They're three generations away from feudalism and they have electricity, stoves and fridges? Office towers? 1990s STYLE PCs??????

Just WHAT.

I had to give Tobirama sealing and stasis scrolls (like they later use in cannon for LIVE SHARKS - WTF Kishimoto) just so I could write him feeding his family without having to either a) put a refrigerator in his kitchen, b) invent the food pill - because NO, or c) send him to the market EVERY DAY (technologically and culturally appropriate, but I have better things for him to be doing).

I gave up on Kishimoto's timeline and just made my own because I can keep that straight but can't figure out his at all.

I wanted to make a story that would have a slightly more consistent world building, not just socially, but also technologically.

That's why I decided to give the Village not just one, but two R&D labs.

(They’ll keep calling it The Village until the new immigrants claim it's undignified BTW - because they all know exactly what they're referring to, and it disguises what they’re doing from everyone else. When they use the phrase in conversation, it could be any village.

To everyone else outside the village, the official name is ‘the Uchiha-Senju Economic Alliance and Trade Compact. Uchiha comes first so they feel more important - that was one of Mito’s ‘easy giveaway’ concessions during the peace talks because it didn’t actually give away anything important and it made the Uchiha feel better - so it’s the USEATC which only makes them sound like more of a joke. Izuna pronounces it as “You see T.C.” and it stuck. Now all the diplomats say it that way.)

At this point in the story, there's been four years of peace and nobody has fought anybody. Only now are they reaching out to the other clans - not to get them to join, but to establish diplomatic ties along the lines of "This is not a military alliance to attack anyone! Want to trade?" - Mito and Seto are very good at making themselves look unthreatening and chaotic, it's a deliberate strategy to make themselves look so stupid that nobody is afraid of this bunch of powerhouses putting together a military alliance. (Plus nobody can make Hashirama and Madara behave in a dignified manner so why not take advantage of it?) Basically it's an enormous version of what Tobirama did to Izuna - make them laugh so they don't see you as a threat.

They’re all over the place trading-wise, but their military is all at home. Mostly defensive, with covert actions for recon. They're very careful to only take missions that will put them in a good light with everyone else - mostly commerce protection and body guarding.

It doesn't pay all that well, but that's what export industries are for.

They're also working hard to develop enough resources to create a self sustaining economy. Basically the idea is to eventually create an internal market like the European Union or Canada - they don't need to trade outside because they can feed/water/clothe/heal themselves at home. Madara deliberately implies this in chapter 11(After the Run (Again) - Madara). Self sufficiency is the name of the game here people - they need it in case they're ever attacked and their trade routes close down. The hope is that trade will be for luxuries and diplomacy - not necessary stuff but good to boost their economy. See Tobirama talking about with expanding trade routes for hothouse flowers when Madara complains the village needs more export industries in chapter 20 (Omake - Flowers from the Heart).

Selling their R&D products is also a good business and advertising - who's gonna feel afraid when these guys keep selling useful small stuff? So not threatening. The daimyo's court doesn't see intimidating shinobi - they see idiots corralled by calm diplomats who shove them out of the room and traders who bring innovative luxuries. They want to keep that coming.

This is why R&D is so important and I deliberately gave Tobirama only three roles - Academy, R&D, plus assisting Madara - even then he's flat out and he has no time for anything else. I'm actively working to retire him from assisting Madara and transition him to the R&D section. He'll take on the Matriach of the Uchiha role officially and socially, but the actual meat of that work will be handled by Seto and his team of diplomats - unlike Mito who handles that all herself and has no other role. Tobirama will found the Academy, shape it, develop it, love it, but never be an actual Jōnin sensei.

Don't be sad though!

Instead he will be everyone's unofficial den mother with Team Tobirama as his special ducklings that follow him around, just like Kagami is now. Sensei is their title for him because they can't call him MOM. Shishou is their title for Madara because they can't call him DAD. Madara and Tobirama have an ENORMOUS house in the Uchiha compound BECAUSE THERE IS ALWAYS SOMEONE THERE.

Madara gets no privacy, ever. His whole clan is already used to seeing him wander around under caffeinated looking unbrushed. Now his clan's children plus Tobirama's ducklings get to see him wake up and wrap himself around Tobirama in his sleep Yukata and try and coax Tobirama back to the futon while Tobirama says he has to shepherd children to the academy on his way to R&D and didn't Madara need to prepare for that meeting....?

(I will totally deal with how they actually manage to have privacy for sex - that is an entire THREE CHAPTERS IN MY PLOT OUTLINE, OMG)

So now Tobirama has lots more time than in cannon. And this was the wonderfully inventive guy who managed to invent the Hiraishin while in a clan war and then the Kage bunshin plus a whole bunch of cool jutsu while he he was dealing with Madara defecting, Hashirama dying, the Uchiha clan imploding, etc. etc.

Given that, what do you think Tobirama and Izuna have done with 4 years of peaceful R&D?

You are going to be seeing civilian style adaptation of shinobi tools everywhere + a whole bunch of new cool shit (both military and espionage) is what I'm saying.

Technological & ninjutsu development up the wazoo.

So now nobody can complain when I expand on cannon to give me useful technological plot devices 😝

Chapter Text

YES! When Mito and Hashirama say they're going to try and kill Madara, they really mean it.

To be honest, neither of them would be bothered by Tobirama getting gifts of Providing from random people. Not even repeated ones from the same people after they've been turned down.

He's attractive, a great warrior, with awesome genes, and highly ranked in his clan.

He's received them before (notably, from many an Uzumaki) and turned them all down. He doesn't think a romantic relationship is something he'd be successful at.

People can keep Giving, but if he doesn't Accept - it means nothing.

So that's not what they're freaking out about. Madara being persistent and forceful is not the problem - lots of Uzumaki were much more persistent forceful than this. (By Uzumaki standards Madara is being shy.)

It's that it's Madara.

Madara keeps Providing but he's not saying the right phrases!

They're stuck! They can't tell Madara to go away, Tobirama doesn't Accept him because... Madara hasn't officially gifted Providing!

That's what Hashirama is freaking out about!

That's why he wants to threaten Madara.

In effect, Madara's actions have bound their hands behind their backs too.

Oops.

Mito on the other hand can see exactly what's happening. But she knows that - by Senju rules - the first two steps are between the person doing the courting and the person being courted. It's their choice and not the place of the Senju Clan Head to say ANYTHING. Anything she says would look like either pressing the Senju in question to leave or stay - and that wold be against the rules.

Additionally, she wants Tobirama to stay. She knows Madara will never leave his clan (See: Sharingan) and she doesn't want to loose her younger brother to another clan. 😔

Honestly, her preferred preference would be for Tobirama to wed a nice Uzumaki who'd force him into therapy and acting like a civilised (or at least what Mito thinks of as civilised) human being.

But he's already turned them all down.

Chapter Text

No, ANBU does not exist yet.

As far as I have heard, ANBU was created by Tobirama when he was Nidaime, as an internal security force to spy on the Uchiha as they were formatting a rebellion.

This is obviously not going to happen.

ANBU won't exist for a long time yet, and deliberately so.

The Senju and the Uchiha are attempting to live together for the first time and are deliberately making themselves equally vulnerable to each other - equal number of the clan in each department, joint Hokage, etc. etc.

Given that attitude, there is no way either of the Hokage would have a bodyguard, let alone an assassination squad. Big no-no.

Instead, at least more generation down - like when Izuna's kids are grown - people from the other clans will start immigrating in larger number. Not whole clans, but a number of small family groups.

Then the Hokage will get a bodyguard.

There will also be a black ops squad before that, but they will be very publicly named. Indeed they will not be truly 'black' at all.

Here's how the shinobi structure will be worked out by about 5 years from the end of this story.

External Missions, managed by the Jōnin Commander, missions assigned only with the approved by the Hokage
Jōnin only, runs standard shinobi missions of commerce protection, body guarding, courier.

Anything outside the village is done by pairs of Jōnin. The village is very selective about what they take, for both resource conservation and political reasons.

Internal Defence, headed by Jōnin Commander
Small Chūnin teams lead by a single Jōnin each, small squads that patrol throughout the territory claimed by the village (Senju + Uchiha lands, basically plus any extra resources they felt they needed to grab to become self sufficient), village patrol, typical Japanese police force (not internal security), recon within the village territory.

Reconnaissance, headed by T&I
Spying outside the village territory. Jōnin only. They look the most similar to ANBU simply because they wear the ANBU uniform when heading out. For very good reasons, their identities are protected. Tobirama mentions in chapter 22 (Omake - Revelation) that the existing Senju reconnaissance teams have the same system already.

Heavy Combat Team, headed by Jōnin Commander, but managed by the team leads
There will only be two of these, each with their permanent team lead.

They are reserved for long distance strikes on big targets, unauthorised shinobi incursions into village territory that can't be handled by the internal defence Chūnin/Jōnin teams, and most importantly - rescue.

When a Konoha shinobi gets into trouble and sends up a flare / chakra spike, these are the guys who land on their location like a bomb going off and get them home. Managed by the Jōnin commander (because let's face it, they're all Jōnin), but daily management of each team largely falls to the team lead. Missions assigned only by the Hokage.

Sensor Division, headed by the best sensor in the village
Only one job. Sensory sweeps of the entire territory twice daily. Sensory tracking of specific targets as assigned. These guys are the reason Konoha is always ready.

Seals Division (T&I)
Traps, tricks, and trouble is their motto. These guys are half of the T&I labs. Their job is to booby trap the hell out of anything T&I thinks needs protecting. They also run the barrier that protects the village. (There is also a Seals division in R&D for public seal development. Both departments tend to share employees.)

Finally, assassination and honeypot, headed by and handled by... the Diplomatic Service.

As you can see, the jobs ANBU takes in cannon are split up here, and very deliberately so.

Because ANBU isn't healthy. You get unstable, burned out shinobi who then go on killing sprees or defect.

So assassination and honeypots are split off. They're only done because a politically important person is a threat to Konoha. Never for hire.

All infiltration into enemy territory is done by Reconnaissance, high risk or not.

Dealing with extremely strong shinobi is done by the Heavy Combat Team.

Tracking and surveillance is done at a distance by the Sensor Division, up close by Internal Defence.

Interrogating enemy shinobi to learn information is done by T&I.

All jobs split up, more resources assigned, people are better trained for their roles, given choices about what missions to take = less burnt out murderous / suicidal shinobi.

A good result all round I think.

Chapter Text

She did! And here's how:

To understand Mito, you have to understand the Uzumaki.

So we’ve covered the Uchiha and the Senju (sort of, I am currently holding off on Senju Courting Customs - both because nobody has asked for it earlier, and also because they will be Dramatically Revealed in the Course of The Plot in chapter 41 which I am currently writing).

The Uzumaki are dramatically different from either of those two clans.

The Uzumaki are exogamous just like the Senju, but they are also physically isolated (as opposed to the Uchiha who are culturally isolated).

The other thing that has a big impact on the Uzumaki is that they live in a port city.

Think about that.

Imagine every single book, film, history, that you have ever read about port cities in the Age of Sail.

That’s Uzushio.

They are a physically isolated island with a deep harbour, perfectly positioned for defence or trade as necessary - thanks to the suiton users who live there and can calm or stir the sea at will.

(Singapore would be a real world example, only it’s not protected by whirlpools. Instead it’s protected from storms by other islands which makes it less isolated, and… yeah, let’s move back to the fictional world building okay?)

This makes them a trading nation.

When things are peaceful, all are welcome to Uzushio.

The port is filled with ships vying for the best docking spaces, goods are being loaded and unloaded all over the docks, merchants are haggling for goods, people are having yelled conversations about what their ships need before they can leave again, sailors are running all over making chaos and getting drunk while they enjoy their shore leave…

Basically, it’s chaos.

And then you have the sexual mores. (See: the main theme of this fic)

Sailors are a diverse bunch. They’re come from every nation in the world and they work closely with other people who are so foreign to them, they might as well have come from another planet (This specifically refers to trading ships as opposed to military ships who obviously have more cohesive crews.) So their rules when it comes to sex are all going to be radically different and everyone must learn to adapt - hands off unless specifically invited, lots of conversations at the first sign of interest so that everyone is on the same page.

Now - in our world - male sailors on shore leave who have just been paid, finding paid female company in a port city is a recipe for dubious consent. Add money to misogyny in a patriarchal society in a chaotic situation and stir. Yikes.

But in this world, there are several different things happening.

Firstly, the Uzumaki are matriarchal.

When you have lots of random sperm entering your population and you want to keep track of bloodlines - the only people you know are definitely the parents of a kid are the moms.

Mito is Uzumaki because her mom is Uzumaki.

Mito had to give up her place in the line of succession to marry Hashirama. More than that, she had to give up her family line as an Uzumaki. Their children will be Senju. She will never produce an Uzumaki.

Ever.

This has obvious impact on their decision to have children. Add Hashirama’s trauma relating to fatherhood and it was a mess they had to carefully sort out between them. (And yes, it’s being sorted, and yes, I will talk about it in The Plot.)

Secondly, they are shinobi.

Kunoichi are, as I have specifically described before, Bad Ass.

Trained fighters all, stabbing someone in the groin for attempting to sexually assault them is the least of what they are willing to do to protect their own agency and autonomy.

So sailors in the port city of Uzushio tread carefully and lightly when it comes to sex and asking for it.

On the other hand, they do actually want it. So they ask a lot.

So the Uzumaki are not prudes. At all.

Random sailor asks for sex with care for consent?

After some negotiation about exactly what is being requested, what is going to actually be offered, and a strict warning about what will happen should the boundaries be breached, the Uzumaki in question will have no qualms about riding said random sailor through the bed and onto the floor.

The Uzumaki are the Free Love Clan of the shinobi world.

This has ramifications for their politics too.

For such a physically small city, the Uzumaki are dominant in Uzushio. Partly this is because they have a lot of kids, partly it’s because they’re rich (see: trading nation), partly it’s because they mange their resources well - fresh water, food, and sanitation are the usual pitfalls of a small island nation but that’s all an easy fix when you have suiton and take some care with your environment.

So the Uzumaki are socially strong, politically strong, and strong in ninjutsu.

How do they figure out who will be the Uzumaki leader to lead Uzushio?

Answer: they vote. (How Tobirama knows about democracy in cannon is never explained as far as I know. It’s a concept with greek origin - how’d that even get to a culture based on feudal Japan? So this is my answer.)

But it’s not voting as you and I know it.

First, they start at sunrise with a massive gladiator style contest. It is a massive no-holds-barred Battle Royale. You can’t kill and you can’t cause permanent disability. That’s it. That’s the only rule.

All the heavy hitters in the clan show off their combat skills.

Everyone in the city who is of age watches and takes careful notes: Uzushio will need a strong combat fighter to defend the city if it is ever attacked, and the best fighters will form the core of the new Uzumaki leader’s military arm.

When only one fighter remains, they all go down to the harbour and anyone who still has the strength shows off their ability to stir or calm the sea.

Everyone takes notes again: Should war come to Uzushio, it may not be a short battle. They may be put under siege. They have defensive seals yes, but their leader must also be able to defend them after extended combat. (An idea totally borrowed from Stormborn by blackkat)

Massive tidal waves, giant whirlpools, enormous storms - everyone pulls out all the stops.

This is a giant announcement all the countries surrounding them: Uzushio is choosing a new leader and they are strong. Come against us at your peril.

Then everyone sits down on the beach, lights fires against the dark…

And argues.

Loudly and passionately argues.

About who is the best administrator in the clan.

Who has the best business sense? The best negotiation skills? The best at interpersonal politics? The best ability to delegate? The best ability to manage resources?

Long into the night, shouting can be heard.

Once you feel your point has been made, you go to sleep.

If you’re passionate enough, you can stay up until dawn and argue some more.

When everyone has finally given up yelling and become quiet, there is a consensus.

They have three lists:

The best close combat fighters. The fighters best suited to long range defence. The best social leaders.

Anyone on these lists steps aside. They are now candidates.

(The candidates are not all female either, BTW - there are male Uzumaki. If your mom is Uzumaki, then you are Uzumaki. Your children may or may not carry the name, but you do. This is my head cannon for Naruto. Yes, I know it’s not cannon. This is my version.)

Anyone who is on all three lists is immediately called forward.

The clan fires questions at them:

What would they do in this situation? In that one? What if this happens? What resources would they use here? Which policies would they implement? How would they prioritise things in an emergency?

(Think Westminster parliament Question Time, with less grandstanding, no rules, and more actual interest. Also louder. See: Uzumaki)

Everyone takes notes again.

When there are no more questions, another candidate comes forward.

This keeps going until all the candidates have been questioned.

Then the candidates make an announcement:

They announce if they wish to stand as leader, or not.

Those who wish to become the leader position themselves equidistant around the room, and all the Uzumaki go and stand with who they think is best.

Then there is more arguing.

Uzumaki try and convince each other that they are wrong, wrong, WRONG!

MY candidate is better than YOUR candidate!

Everyone keeps going until there is no more movement or everyone has lost their voices, whichever comes first.

Whoever has the largest backing is the leader.

If it’s close, they lead as a group and only what all agree on goes forward. They must compromise with each other to achieve anything. (see the similarities with the co-Hokage system Mito got Hashirama and Madara to agree to?)

All other candidates form the nucleus of the new government, roles tailored specifically to the skills and passions they have shown.

And that’s how you become the leader of the Uzumaki.

Then what do you do about all the hurt feelings from the yelling and disagreements?

The answer: Therapy. Loud, intensive therapy.

No disagreements are allowed to fester in the Uzumaki clan. They are bound too tightly for that. They need to be united to stay strong.

So their conflict resolution and therapy, while non-traditional, is the BEST IN THE WORLD.

BELIEVE IT.

So what does all of this tell us about the Uzumaki?

They are free with sex, think more information is better than less information, will sacrifice time and effort to make the best choices possible in the current circumstances, respect strength, think females are the progenitors of family lines (they think everyone else’s logic has completely failed their clans - there must be something wrong with their brains), make decisions based on evidence, will go though a lot of effort to convince other people of their points of view, think therapy is a non-negotiable follow on to disagreement, and they are LOUD.

Also, they generally have massively twisted senses of humour.

Not always, but mostly. For them inappropriate humour dissolves tension. You can’t be mad when you’re laughing. (See where Tobirama got the inspiration for his experiment on Izuna?)

See a problem, adapt to it, and fix it is pretty much their modus operandi.

The US marine slogan “Improvise, Adapt, and Overcome” is pretty much made for them.

So how does this all relate to Mito?

Mito is tricky.

She’s an Uzumaki by birth, with all that entails, BUT she’s a Senju by marriage.

The contract between the Uzumaki and the Senju binds her as closely to the to Senju as if they had birthed her (see what I did there when thinking like Mito? Birth is the key word - see: matriarchal. Hashirama would have said ‘planted’ or ‘grown’).

Then she married Hashirama and he needed her. He needed everything she could give him.

He was a broken, terrified young man, only 15 to her 18 and in a war with only the dubious support of a clan ruled over by a domestic abuser with an iron fist.

He gave her an even more traumatised younger brother who was the strongest suiton user she had ever seen, an unparalleled sensor, and the finest tactician she had ever beheld.

She immediately realised that these two were her best resources and set about making them viable leadership options to the rest of the clan.

She isolated them from Butsuma, applied as much basic therapy to them as they would tolerate, devised a plan to kill Butsuma with Hashirama, convinced Tobirama that Hashirama’s village was the best political option when he couldn’t visualise it and made it his mission objective, sent them off to war, prepared the peace faction of the clan to build the village, demonised the war hawks to the rest of the clan, established contact with any of the pro-peace faction that had left due to alienation by Butsuma to entice them to come back upon Hashirama’s ascension…

When Hashirama steps down and makes her Onna Zokuchō, she’s taking on a role that she’s been performing, with his consent, since they married.

Basically, she’s the leader of the Senju.

(And if anyone asks, Mito was a candidate. A strong one who appeared on all three lists. She wasn’t chosen as the leader - that was one of her cousins - but she had a role to play in their government as a diplomat and a close range combatant in their military arm.

This makes ‘Hime’ not just a term of respect, rank, or lineage - it’s a term that alludes to actual political power.

She’s not a princess by birth. She’s a princess because her skills and efforts have earned it.)

So she loves them. She’s acculturated to them. But she will always see them with the eyes of an outsider.

Always.

So when you refer to Mito as a Queen - she is. She's the Queen of the Senju.

Chapter Text

Quote from Chapter: “Tobi doesn’t need to talk when he knows Izuna will see."

Zanahoria: The way you write the friendship between these two slays me.

Phlebas: Thank you!

Phlebas: This is actually a more blatant version of what Izuna does in chapter 15 (After the Run (Again) - Izuna & Tobirama) because it's a more intense situation and Izuna actually needs the Sharingan to explicitly see Tobirama's responses. You'll note that Izuna's language changes with the Sharingan activated - he doesn't need to think to read Tobirama, and his language gets more certain - he knows instead.

Phlebas: It goes from 'looks like' to 'is'.

Phlebas: Another note on language - this is the first chapter from Izuna's POV where he speaks in present tense. He's living in the present now.

Phlebas: From the beginning of the story, Izuna and Tobirama were the only two characters who used past tense in their POVs. It showed they were thinking, analysing, detached from their environment. I wanted to use it to subtly pair their world views and ways of thinking.

Phlebas: I've only written Tobirama's POV three times so far - the first Run, the second Run, and the conversation with Izuna after the second Run.

Phlebas: Now Izuna has switched tenses.

Phlebas: Want to guess when Tobirama will switch tenses?

Quote from Chapter: “Do you love him?”

Quote from Chapter: There is no response. Tobi has frozen again. He’s disassociating from his emotions, jumped ahead to trying to work out solutions for something he has no context for. He’s also hyperventilating.

Zanahoria: Precious stunted bae. The way Izuna makes it into a though exercise because he knows. And damn, Phlebas, that's a very shinobi way of sexual awakening, and poor Tobirama, having to come to terms with THIS AND that description of how Uchiha think of love. No pressure. Like, you are functionally a very aro/ace cookie, and suddenly your most trusted friend deliberately shows to you the grey so you can have an informed answer to the most passionate person on the continent... suddenly, that little "time to match-make yet?" line takes so much more weight. He was waiting so patiently to explain, he tried to be so careful, to lay the options and the fact that he should not go into it for nothing but his own wish and...

Phlebas: You're absolutely right.

Phlebas: This is what I had in mind the whole time we were talking about the relationship between these two.

Phlebas: Izuna knows that Tobirama and Madara together would be the best thing for their ultimate objective. But he love his BFF and wants the best for him and will not sacrifice that on the alter of their shared goal.

Phlebas: This is Izuna, proving once again, that he's worthy of Tobirama's trust.

Phlebas: This is Izuna loving Tobirama and carefully, gently, leading him to a place where he can actually think about things. As best he can. Because they're shinobi and manipulation comes naturally to them.

Zanahoria: Madara is not subtle. Izuna is not as excellent at this people reading deal as he thinks.

Phlebas: I think I might have mentioned this before but - the Uchiha are only good at reading people when their Sharingan is activated.

Phlebas: Izuna never used his to look at Seto or Hikaku when they were courting him so he never noticed it. Seto because he was absent and Hikaku because they were fighting and he has other things to worry about.

Phlebas: Plus Hikaku is capable of disassociation about as much as Tobirama - he's a tough read even for Uchiha, just like Tobirama is.

Phlebas: Izuna deliberately didn't look at Hikaku with the Sharingan as much as possible actually - he knew Seto and Hikaku were courting and was kind of broken up about it. He had a crush on Hikaku for about a year and then tried to get over it in the year after. He wasn't quite over it enough to the point of getting into another relationship when Seto and Hikaku grabbed him, so that was a nice surprise for him and probably explains some of enthusiasm. Definitely some mutual pining there.

Phlebas: I should make a note though. Tobirama is the exception for Izuna. They literally dedicated their teen years to learning everything about each other, and know each other really well as a result.

Phlebas: So Izuna reads Tobirama better than he reads anyone else.

Phlebas: Assuming Izuna reads everyone else as well as he reads Tobirama, is like assuming I eat broccoli as well as I eat chocolate. 😝

Zanahoria: Just starting: You warned about the present tense equal no dissociation, totally here thing for Izuna and Tobirama. You put it in concise terms, because what I'm reading now is Tobirama totally lost on how to deal with the internal, vs how he usually deals with the external: battles, problems and questions (that are assessed and attacked with the Art of War as handy manual). I notice that family is not on either of those headers... hum, that'll suck. So, internal, emotions, he has no clue, and he is present and experiencing for that.

Phlebas: Exactly. He is stuck, left floundering, and has no idea what to do.

Phlebas: All his coping mechanisms are dead, and he's up shit creek without a paddle.

Phlebas: He cannot disassociate or detach (his primary way to cope) because he is overwhelmed by emotion and has no context to understand any of it.

Phlebas: This is why Mito wants him to get therapy.

Phlebas: He doesn't have the skills necessary to do self reflection. Telling him to do it just leads to THIS.

Zanahoria: Conversely, Izuna is present for emotional purposes too, but it's about being all here when dealing with his two most precious people (and likely Seto and Hikaku at some point, but we haven't seen it yet, and I suspect he was avoidant for quite a while even in his own mindscape narrative). Everyone else gets the far Izuna. Healthier approach, but I love that it means that guy might be more ruthless than Tobirama, and no one would likely see it coming. Presentation means fuck shit with shinobi... and I went into essay and I'm just a couple sentences in... Back to it

Phlebas: Spot on again!

Phlebas: If you check out his tenses in chapter 4 (After the Run - Izuna/Hikaku/Seto), you'll see the he was using past tense there too.

Phlebas: He was analysing even as he was being seduced.

Phlebas: He wasn't overwhelmed with passion.

Phlebas: He made the deliberate choice to go to bed with the guy he'd been trying to get over for a year, and the guy his crush had been courting for four years. Without activating his Sharingan to check if they really did want him permanently like they were promising.

Zanahoria: I retroactively noticed that, when he tells Tobirama that to look with the sharingan is to know, and I realized there was no looking during the hunt. Persuade him indeed. They are all hesitant, careful babies, and I love that all these natural disaster murder machines are so soft in the heart.

Phlebas: Izuna pines just like Madara. He protects himself from hurt just like Madara.

Phlebas: And he takes chances just like Madara.

Phlebas: They’re different. But not that different.

Phlebas: And yes, Izuna is really, really, ruthless. Like crazily so, even for an Uchiha.

Phlebas: He hides it because he thinks his clan wouldn't like to see it in him and he needs to be the friendly face of the Madara-Izuna clan leading team.

Phlebas: Just like Tobirama, he's sacrificed his life to Duty to the Clan.

Phlebas: They make sense to each other they way.

Phlebas: So Izuna uses past tense most times, except in times of high emotion. The difference between him and Tobirama is that he processes emotion far, far better. He's excellent at it, while Tobirama is shit at it. It's one of the reasons Tobirama goes to him for emotional analyses - he's consulting his trusted local expert. 😝

Phlebas: Izuna'll start using present tense full time when he lets go of his fear of inadequacy - again, just like Tobirama will. They won't need to disassociate and analyse the world to protect themselves - because they'll know that they're enough for the world.

Phlebas: They won't need that extra layer of protection anymore. They can be vulnerable and trust they won't be hurt.

Phlebas: Four years post peace and they aren't there yet, but my goal is to get them both there by the end of this fic.

Phlebas: It may be a MadaTobi pairing, but it's the Izuna-Tobi platonic pair that the other love story here.

Quote from Chapter: "It is ironic he supposes, that after all those years avoiding the Sharingan, after escaping every attempt to catch him in a genjutsu, Izuna has finally managed to implant an image - an emotion - in his mind without the use of the Mangekyō. His best friend is worthy of respect indeed."

Zanahoria: That paragraph did not end with the emotion one presupposed it started and, Tobirama, your mind. Also, the wonderful and baffling way your friendship with Izuna works.

Phlebas: He really thinks sideways doesn't he? It's this crazy Alice in Wonderland logic which while objectively TRUE, flies in the face of COMMON SENSE.

Phlebas: To Tobirama common sense is a strange beast from another land that prevents logical deduction. 😳

Phlebas: This is also why you get a power play vibe from the Izuna-Tobirama friendship. The level of trust is just crazy.

Quote from Chapter: "To want Madara-sama sexually is possible. Izuna certainly managed to guide him into the correct emotional response and he is sure that he can create it on his own, with time. In fact, he suspects that he may be partially there already."

Zanahoria:*face palm* Tobirama! That's not... OMG. Also, he's going through this item by item, I...

Phlebas: Yeah. It's the way he thinks again... He's just laying it out as the next obvious steps as he sees it, going from one fallacy to another, balancing precariously on his own insecurities while we're all going "STOP! DON'T DO IT!”

Quote from Chapter: “His original plan was to ask Izuna to place him under genjutsu, to create the emotion so that he might be able to re-create it in himself, just as Izuna guided him into feeling sexual desire for the first time."

Zanahoria: AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!... Ok, I'm Ok, I... aaaaaAAAAAHHHHHH!!!! IZUNA YOU CAN NOT BE ABSENT ON MISSION AFTER IGNITING THIS MESS. You can be excused for not see it coming, because, holy hell, but...

Phlebas: Actually, he did see it coming.

Phlebas: Sort of.

Phlebas: Like I said to Sylcian_SPH_Legacy:

Phlebas: "There is a kind of seductive logic to it - like all of Tobirama's worst ideas.

Phlebas: 'Izuna made me feel sexual attraction, and I can now do it on my own... so maybe if he can make me feel romantic attraction, I can do it on my own…'

Phlebas: Of course, that doesn't take into account the terrible idea of forcing oneself to get over trauma without actual healing but placing duty and self-sacrifice over personal health is very much this Tobirama's modus operandi."

Phlebas: And the best/worst thing is Izuna WOULDN'T have been willing to use genjutsu to make Tobirama BE in love with Madara, but he WOULD have been okay with using genjutsu to make Tobirama FEEL what being in love with Madara might be LIKE. They're closely linked, but there's a distinction.

Phlebas: Izuna would have been perfectly happy with the latter, definitely not the former.

Phlebas: But there there would have been so much more DRAMA with Madara being all upset that his brother used genjutsu to make someone feel love, even if it was with consent as an experiment and definitely not permanent, and, and, and... (See: issues Uchiha have with consent, especially with the Sharingan)

Phlebas: It would only have been so much worse BECAUSE Izuna has the Mangekyō AND he's phenomenal at genjutsu.

Phlebas: I mean - who could even TELL if he'd done anything?

Phlebas: He could deny it till he was blue in the face, and it would have meant nothing.

Phlebas: So Izuna took himself out of the equation.

Phlebas: He figured no one else would be willing to help Tobirama do it or anything else like it.

Phlebas: His worst case scenario was that Tobirama would freak out about it for a week, fail to imagine it, freak out some more, and come see him when he got back.

Phlebas: Then he could talk Tobirama through another round of deep breathing and more introspection. They still have at least a month until the Run and Tobirama has to give Madara an answer. If they figure out exactly what's in Tobirama's head before then - great! If not, Madara gets a gentle rejection and pines for another year.

Phlebas: Not too terrible.

Phlebas: Maybe they can even work out a way for Tobi to sweep the Run again and whet nii-san's appetite for another year...

Phlebas: Instead they got THIS.

Phlebas: Instead of just freaking out, Tobirama gave himself a flashback and unearthed a bunch of trauma he hadn't healed from.

Phlebas: And Izuna definitely didn't see THAT coming because... TOBIRAMA didn't see it coming.

Phlebas: It's like in Inception when the dead!Mal only knows what Cobb knows.

Phlebas: Izuna can only know what Tobirama knows and vice versa.

Phlebas: Tobirama thinks he's going to react in a sane way, Izuna takes that as read.

Phlebas: Tobirama suppresses it = Izuna doesn't know it exists.

Phlebas: Whoops.

Zanahoria: I caught that Tobirama side, yeah, and like you said, it has some seductive logic. He's even implicitly considering the fact Izuna laid out about the sharingan seeing truth, so, no genjutsuing himself in order to pass, he has to build it inside himself on his own. He just needs the building block template, honest!. It's bonkers, and I can't even verbalize why, lol. And then there is the unaddressed sexual trauma. Which apparently is a concrete enough barrier to what he wants to accomplish that now he'll get help.

Zanahoria: zuna's side I did not see coming. As in, he kinda realized Tobirama miiiight come to ask for an example, and took himself off the equation. Gives extra flavour to Madara asking if he used the sharingan and Izuna puffing up all "Of course not, who do you take me for". Specially since that same omake shows he's a shitty liar (that's funny as hell, because he'll pretzel the truth till it suits his purposes, but direct questions are his downfall... which aligns with the whole 'Uchiha's can not hide inside their compound').

Phlebas: You'll never convince Tobirama that the scientific method and getting control samples does not work for emotions. Never.

Phlebas: And yes, Tobirama will get help - when he considers that it's a high enough priority item. *headdesk*

Phlebas: And you are spot on with Izuna! This is how you lie to a bunch of lie detectors - you tell the truth!

Quote from Chapter:"The only Senju talented in genjutsu is Tōka-ane and she has already refused to assist."

Zanahoria: OMG, one sane woman! Tell me she went to get counsel and assistance!

Phlebas: Actually no, she didn't.

Phlebas: She's Tobirama's adopted big sister and one of the few people who knows the whole Miu story, but no.

Phlebas: Because he said "I need to know what's it's like to be in love. Use genjutsu on me please."

Phlebas: And she went "Otouto, that's so crazy! Why don't you just try spending time with them and see what happens?"

Phlebas: It's tremendously hard to see Tobirama's damage from the outside.

Zanahoria: FFS! He's trying to push by force over sexual trauma because he feels he's a failure for being unable to command himself into love, I... *flail* *flail MORE* I got nothing.

Phlebas: Hole in one. You summarise it perfectly.

Zanahoria: No, wait, yes, I do have something: NO WONDER he dissociates. When he thinks 'I', he has to look at himself and assess, and... He treats himself as an experiment and exercise. One he's failing at. *painnnnn*

Phlebas: It's so sad the way he thinks of being unable to do something as a failure isn't it? That's a legacy of Butsuma, most definitely.

Zanahoria: Blast, also: Remember that stealth implementation thing, and that whole "taking the roll is the same as being suited to the roll"? Yeah, Tobirama is setting to do the same shit with even less chill and stealth than Madara, and I'm fucking dying.

Phlebas: Exactly! You spotted his insistence on placing himself in the role of yome, and his duty to place Madara in the role of goshujin-sama.

Phlebas: He doesn't get that the roles are labels on things that you do, not how you feel.

Phlebas: Even Madara gets that.

Chapter Text

This is kind of a tricky question so let me take it in steps. I'm gonna quote here:

'The most common words used to refer to a husband are otto(夫), shujin(主人) and danna(旦那). Again, let’s look at the kanji construction. The word otto, as mentioned earlier simply means husband and is used mostly for legal documents. The word shujin literally means “owner,” or “master.” It is the same character used for the master of a dog, or a landlord. The word is supposed to be a reference to the man’s role as “provider” but even that is troublesome to many people in the 21st century. It implies that the man is the master and owner of the house, which simply is not the case in many modern households. Because this word includes implicit humility as the person who serves the husband, it is not appropriate to use in reference to another person’s husband. The word danna is not much better. This word is a carryover from ancient times when it was used to refer to high-ranking, dignified guest and customers. It was especially used by geisha to refer to male patrons. This is title is even more elevated than shujin, or master.'

(https://japandaily.jp/how-to-refer-to-your-spouse-in-japanese-1541/)

Even though Otto is probably the most egalitarian to modern sensibilities, it's actually the least common - even in modern usage.

So Tobirama would definitely not have used Otto. He would use either shujin or danna. For reasons that will be explained in chapter 30 - when I reveal the incident with Miu - he never even considered danna as a option even though it would probably have been the most appropriate for the time period.

So all he's left with is shujin.

Goshujin-sama on the other hand is super respectful. It's literally something akin to 'My lord husband/master' and it places the speaker in a deeply submissive role ranking wise.

In a modern context a wife might use it when fending off a salesman - "I need to ask Goshujin-sama" = I can't do this without my husband's permission. (In Japanese society wives often control the household finances in which men hand their pay checks to their wives, who then sort out the bills and hand the husbands back an allowance - so this is actually a subtle culturally coded 'fuck off')

Basically, it implies that Tobirama is submitting himself to Madara's inspection / will.

Which he is actively considering and worried about doing.

Additionally, there is the issue of fandom characterisation.

In a symbol of subjugation by evocates - a story that has great influence on this fic in terms of both aesthetics and characterisation, though not world building and I differ on characterisation at several points (to the extreme with Hashirama, Izuna, and Mito in particular) - Goshujin-sama is used by Tobirama because he is Madara's concubine and the imbalance of status between them drive Madara to do everything he can until he can claim Tobirama as yome - bride.

Yome is actually one of the more common ways to refer to a wife in Japan as far as I can tell from the surveys I've been able to access, even though it literally means 'daughter-in-law'.

As in, the person who is going to be the new daughter of this household and fulfil those responsibilities.

So, to be perfectly literal, only the parents-in-law should use it.

But it's commonly used anyway. *shrug*

(This article has some pretty interesting information on why this is the case and how the word has changed in usage over time.)

So, in this story, the aim is indeed for Tobirama to submit himself as yome to Madara as Goshujin-sama for inspection that he loves Madara enough to be accepted (Uchiha style courtship) while AT THE SAME TIME Madara will court and prove himself to Tobirama in the Senju courtship rituals (which Tobirama's made some allusions to here, but will be explicitly discussed in chapter 41).

They are both bending to the other is what I'm aiming to do here.

They are both willing to change themselves to grow together as a partnership.

Chapter Text

See, this is where my head cannon votes with East Asian ancestor worship / shinto / buddhism and trumps Naruto cannon.

Normally, this wouldn't be a thing - totally not relevant - EXCEPT that this fic is literally all about FAMILY, and CLAN, and CUSTOMS.

*deep breath* Let’s go!

So Kishimoto actually did both the Pure Lands and reincarnation if you think about it - that's basically what the whole Asura reincarnates as Hashirama and Indra reincarnates as Madara is after all.

And Orochimaru's main motivation in human experimentation is to live long enough to see his parents reincarnated.

So I kind of have to do it.

I just wanted to do it East Asian style. Because - you know - JAPAN.

So here, have some head cannon:

Now, this depends on how much you know about East Asian culture as a general rule.

There are lots of variations (like a CRAZY amount + fusions abound) but there is usually a common thread somewhere in there and in this case the one I've grabbed is ancestor worship combined with buddhism / christianity that I know from personal experience.

Let me quote:

“Family is viewed as a closely united group of living and dead relatives.

Ancestor worship is a religious practice based on the belief that deceased family members have a continued existence, that the spirits of deceased ancestors will look after the family, take an interest in the affairs of the world, and possess the ability to influence the fortune of the living.

Unity of the group is reinforced through ancestor veneration, offering of various kinds help to keep the ancestors happy in the spiritual world, who, in return, will bless the family.

Ancestor worshipping is not asking for favours, but to fulfil one’s filial duties. The act is a way to respect, honour and look after ancestors in their afterlives guaranteeing the ancestors’ well-being and positive disposition towards the living, as well as possibly seeking the ancestors’ wisdom, guidance or assistance for their living descendants.

One has to pay respect and homage to the ancestors, honour the deeds and memories of the deceased, since the ancestors are the ones having brought the descendants into the world, nourished them and having prepared the conditions under which the descendants grew up, hence ancestor veneration is a pay back of spiritual debts.

Being an important aspect of the Chinese culture, the social or non-religious function of ancestor worship is to cultivate kinship values like filial piety, family loyalty, and continuity of the family lineage.

Ancestor worship is a family affair, it is held in homes and temples and consists of offering joss stick, serving as communication and greetings to the deceased, prayers and offering items before tablets.

In homes, the shrines can be a shelf on the wall, a table or an altar like architectural structure, integrated in the structure of the house or even an entire room, depending on the financial status of the family.

The shrine will show a tablet with the ancestor's name inscribed on it, as well as a picture or photograph. Most likely, the patrilineal ancestors and their wives will be honoured. The shrine will have an incense stick holder, at times with a Golden Flower, and plates for food offerings, some might feature glasses or a set of tea cups for quenching the ancestors’ thirst. Some shrines show symbolic objects or objects honoured by the deceased. Flowers offerings, most likely fresh ones or sometimes in form of a garland, can be found as well.

Small offerings are always placed throughout the year to honour deceased family members.”

(https://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/Chinese_Customs/taoism_ancestor_worship.htm)

You’ll note that there is no mention of heaven.

That’s because all dead people, apparently, go to Hell. Heaven is where the Gods live.

Thus, as far as I can tell, Kishimoto’s idea of the Pure Lands? Is CHRISTIAN.

Whoops.

BTW for added hilarity and disturbing mental images, you can actually visit a THEME PARK in Singapore which will take you on a TOUR of HELL.

It still exists. I've been there. I was 8 and the sculptures depicting the area of hell where liars get their tongues torn out at the root were particularly disturbing to me. You can find more information here: https://www.hawparvilla.sg

Then you have the idea that the DEAD can VISIT THE LIVING.

Yes, indeed.

They can visit in dreams.

So when you have a dream of your dead grandma it means either that she is visiting from hell to tell you something important, is a hungry ghost who somehow never went to hell and you need to feed her ASAP while also getting a priest to say prayers for her soul and send her to the after life, or she's achieved immortality / ascension to heaven and become some sort of minor god / enlightened heavenly being. (For example, the Yellow Emperor was said to have ascended directly to heaven in plain sight, while the thaumaturge Ye Fashan was said to have transformed into a sword and then into a column of smoke which rose to heaven.)

Needless to say, most people don't go with the last one.

People generally don't go with the second one either unless the dreams keep reoccurring or weird shit keeps happening to you in which case - you're being haunted by a hungry ghost who (if Japanese) might turn into a Yokai or (if South East Asian) is already a supernatural being that you don't want to mess with. So then it's back to the priest option with lots of pacification in the meantime and probably for a while after the priest is done because you don't want this kind of shit happening to you and some extra food laid out for ghosts who may or may not exist is a small price to pay, yo.

So mostly, people go with the hopeful first version.

See: “the spirits of deceased ancestors will look after the family, take an interest in the affairs of the world, and possess the ability to influence the fortune of the living.”

Full Circle.

There's also a tradition in South East Asia where the seventh month in the lunar calendar is when the dead are released from hell and come visit the living for the WHOLE MONTH.

I’ll quote again:

“The 15th day of the 7th moon in the lunar calendar is called Ghost Day and the seventh moon in general is regarded as the Ghost Month, in which ghosts, including those of the deceased ancestors, and spirits come out from the lower realm: the gates of hell are opened to free the hungry ghosts who then wander to seek food on Earth.

On Ghost Day, the deceased visit the living.

During the Ghost Festival, the elder ancestors and older generations are worshipped.

Rituals are preformed to transmute and absolve the sufferings of the deceased, offerings reaching the ghosts should comfort the ghost’s life. A satisfied ghost will not harm the living, but rather protect them, acting as a ‘guardian angel’.

Important during the Ghost Festival is the fulfilment of one’s filial duties, filial piety and to calm spirits.

Activities during the month include preparing ritualistic food offerings, giving a feast to the ghosts, burning incense, joss paper, spirit money and papier-mâché objects of material items. The burning of the joss paper and papier-mâché objects allows for the object to be transferred to the ancestors and ghosts, materialising in the afterlife and even increase in value. Joss paper and objects are used as a symbol of transformation, increase in reproduction, and are payments of spiritual debts.

In some areas, stage performers perform entertainment shows only for ghosts.

Elaborate meals will be served in front of empty seats, each single seat reserved for one of the deceased in the family, treating the deceased as if they were still living. All offerings are supposed to please the ghosts and to ward off bad luck, to gain or enhance good luck.”

(https://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/Chinese_Customs/taoism_ancestor_worship.htm)

I have seen people go crazy with the ritual offerings - burning hell money (the currency used in hell apparently - purchased from real world merchants for a small fee! $50 real world dollars to several hundred dollars worth of hell money! The exchange rate this year is crazy isn't it???) in chalk circles drawn in the ground (don't step in them or the ghost the money was offered to will know you intruded on their territory) and paper replicas of real world items which will then appear in Hell for their dead relatives. Paper mobiles, paper notebooks, paper laptops, paper gameboys, paper cars, paper boats, paper MANSIONS. Paper DENTURES and TOOTHBRUSHES. Burn it all and somehow the act of burning sacrifices it so it can APPEAR IN TAOIST HELL TO IMPROVE THE LIVES OF YOUR DEAD FAMILY.

Seriously. One year I saw a family burn a HOUSE BOAT, with SLAVES, that was BIGGER THAN THEIR CAR. In a PUBLIC PARK.

(I'm actually very much a mildly agnostic Christian by Default and generally sit around puzzling at my relatives’ behaviour going "what is going on in your BRAIN????” when I see all of this.)

Apparently the version of the Hungry Ghost Festival practised in Japan is Obon which I have never been to and know nothing about, but is apparently much more family friendly, fun, and more sane in general. Also it only lasts a few days.

So, given all of this crazy and how Christianity was officially banned in Japan until 1873, I've decided to eject the cannon interpretation of the Pure Lands idea as yet another a bizarre choice on Kishimoto's part.

Instead I'm doing a less crazy version of my own South East Asian upbringing that involves ancestor worship:

Shrines, incense, talking to the dead, dreaming of the dead - yes
Being haunted by the dead / yokai - also yes, but less common and won't actually happen in this story
Taoist hell - hell no, replaced by the Pure Lands - it's a nicer place to wait to be reincarnated
Buddhist style reincarnation - yes
Obon - yes
South East Asian style Hungry Ghost Festival - HELL NO

So in my version of this crazy afterlife here's what happened to Butsuma:

He died, his funeral was held, his tablet was carved and Hashirama decreed that no one was to worship it.

It was put to one side of the shrine and no one burns incense for it or prays for intercession on his behalf.

No one.

His family line would continue in Hashirama and Tobirama, but Butsuma gets no care in the afterlife.

Hashirama pays for a priest to come and do a yearly cleansing to prevent themselves from being haunted just in case but that's it.

Butsuma in the Pure Lands is outraged by all of this, until he gets reincarnated as a cockroach. Then he gets stepped on. Then he's reincarnated as a cockroach. Then he gets stepped on.

The cycle repeats ad infinitum.

Butsuma never gets the chance to become a Hungry Ghost or a Yokai.

He's a cockroach being stepped on. Forever.

The End.

Chapter Text

I didn't previously mention that Kikiyo and Seto were siblings! I wanted it to be a surprise.

They have a lot in common as you can see. Also, they share a profession...

One of the themes that runs through this story (and probably this series since I have plotted quite a few more stories in this AU), is the difference between outward presentation and the inner mind landscape.

It's actually a very Japanese idea, to have a 'face' for the outside world and one of the reasons Geisha and the Flower and Willow World have traditionally been a very necessary escape for the Japanese society. However, it's prevalent as a general concept in most East Asian societies, to the point where you can use the term 'save face' in much of South East Asia to describe preventing embarrassment and shame - as in to literally save the 'face' or persona from being destroyed.

So in this case you have the outside 'face' of Kikiyo, which is calm, composed, uber competent, slightly cool in demeanour, polished, poised, occasionally seductive. Basically, she's portraying the perfect 'honeypot' style kunoichi - just like her brother portrays the male version. Both of them are diplomats - and assassins.

Inside her head - she's a brat.

It's not Seto - she's always like this.

So while she's gently reprimanding Hashirama for not doing his paperwork and playfully slapping him on the hand before sending him back to work, inside she's moaning about being saddled with this idiot who can't seem to stop himself from slacking off.

In much the same way, Izuna's outer persona is a feckless good for nothing, who's happy to run around manipulating people for shits and giggles but is also a combat heavy hitter and, as such, too valuable to discard. When inside he's a scientist and a cool, ruthless, manipulator who takes advantage of any opening he perceives to nudge people toward achieving his goals.

Cannon tried to do this with Sakura but with varying levels of success…

I really like playing with the way she and Seto both present themselves in the stereotypical kunoichi style even though Seto is a man and dresses like one. They dress to code themselves as male and female, but so much of their public personas are the same that they often come across as twins and they transgress gender lines in their behaviour.

In a work context, Kikiyo is as assertive as a man but softens it with kunoichi presentation. Seto does the same thing.

Seto is as sexually forward as a man but uses kunoichi presentation to appear seductive. Kikiyo does the same thing.

Even their insistence on teasing formality is the same.

They're both trained diplomats and assassins and they ran the same kind of missions for years.

It's that twin gender duality that makes them fun to play with.

Also, Kikiyo always refers to Tobirama as 'Tobirama-dono' and not 'Senju-sama'. She is one of only three Uchiha not to refer to him as 'Senju-sama.

Madara refers to him as Tobirama - sign of closeness and of his high rank since Tobirama refers to Madara as 'Madara-sama'.

Izuna and Tobirama call each other by first name only - a sign of great intimacy, signifying their BFF status.

Tobirama and Kikiyo are slightly different.

Tobirama asked Kikiyo to call him Tobirama-san since there were too many Senju to call him Senju-san.

She refused and called him Tobirama-dono: -dono is the honorific you use when you're the same rank BUT you respect the other person more than yourself.

By asking her to call him -san, Tobirama was indicating an equality of rank with her. She retaliated by placing him above her in a sneakily polite way.

He then did the same and called her Kikiyo-dono when she asked him to call her Kikiyo-san for exactly the same reason - too many Uchiha.

Basically they're both saying "you're senior to me!" "no, you are!" every time they say each other's names.

I told you - brats.

Hashirama would refer to Kikyo as Kikiyo-kun since she's junior to him. Not -chan since he doesn't dare imply that she's so cutesy - she might stop feeding him and then where would he be?

Chapter Text

Kikiyo's sensory range is decent but not extravagant.

So the way I characterise sensor abilities is sort of like a Venn diagram.

You've got the distance limit - that's absolute and inborn, and it can't be changed. Kikiyo's is about the length of a soccer oval - she can stand in the middle and sense anyone coming into the field. Tobirama's is about the size of Hi No Kuni.

Then there's the sensitivity, how well you can identify things inside your range, and that is absolutely a matter of practise. Tobirama mostly picks up presences, and the stronger they are then the better he picks them up. Kikiyo is also very good at this, and possibly better than he is since she's concentrating on a much smaller area. This is why Hashirama would absolutely be picked up - he's too bright and dense. On the other hand, remember how Seto surprised Tobirama back in chapter 1 and Izuna in chapter 2? He cut off his chakra with a seal.

Finally, there's what you sense - the emotions. Tobirama sucks at this. He feels them but he has no idea what he's feeling. Kikiyo, on the other hand, is a pro at this. She's like an empath - she feels it, understands it, and can combine it with the micro facial expressions and body language that her Sharingan picks up to discern intent and predict an opponent's next moves. It's one of the things that makes her (and Seto) an excellent assassin and a diplomat.

But here's the caveat - not only do you have to be kneading chakra to use your sensory abilities, you have to concentrate to do all of the above.

Most shinobi only pick up killing intent, because it's focused on them - that's the sensitivity, triggered by being targeted. And they only pick it up if it's close because their distance limit is small. They only sense killing intent because it's blatant and they don't train to identify other emotions. Simply by the way all shinobi can pick up killing intent, they automatically have sensory abilities by this definition.

Similarly, Kikiyo and Tobirama will pick up on things in their ranges, focused on them, much faster than anything else.

If someone inside that area is thinking about them intensely enough, the emotional content will trigger something for them - but proximity is an issue, as is the emotion.

Let's try an analogy. The distance capability is what you can see in any direction. Someone thinking about you is someone waving to attach your attention. The urgency of the emotion is shown by how desperately they're waving and/or yelling your name.

So you can stand in a really busy train station, and you can see all the people around you, but it's a wash. It doesn't mean anything to you. Your brain will filter it out as non-essential.

You see it but you ignore it. Your friend could walk by on the other side of the platform from you and you might not notice them, because you're not concentrating on looking and they're not attracting your attention.

On the other hand, if your friend is waving - your chances of noticing them go up. If they start yelling your name, you'll definitely notice them.

Sensory abilities are like that.

If Kikyo is not concentrating, all she feels is a general wash of people in her range. Totally ignorable.

But if someone is thinking about her, that's a wave to attract her attention.

If someone is thinking about her with emotions that she has trained her brain to register as urgent, that's like someone yelling in her ear.

She will totally pick that up.

Since Tobirama's range is so big - he's usually ignoring it.

If you're in Tokyo central station, you can see everyone on the platform but you're ignoring them.

Even if someone was waving at you, it'd probably be lost in the wash of movement. Even yelling you might miss it. But the closer they get, the more likely you are to notice.

Similarly, Tobirama can sense all of these people, but he won't notice people thinking about him unless they get close enough / feel an intense enough emotion / think about him hard enough or some combination of the three.

I make a point of noting the difference in the ranges between Tobirama and Kikiyo simply because Tobirama has so much more to ignore that he's more likely to ignore his sensory abilities in general. Like the way city people generally practice avoidant behaviours, Tobirama mostly ignores what his sensory abilities are telling him so he doesn't get overwhelmed.

Let us return to the analogy:

If you are in the train station and looking for someone, you are actively scanning the platforms.

Similarly, Tobirama would be pulsing his chakra through the village, looking for someone.

This is what he does in chapters 25 and 26. (About to Run (for the Third Time) - Tobirama and Missing Scene - Kikiyo and Seto)

Since, by the definition of the concept that I'm using here, all shinobi have sensory abilities to some degree, they would sense someone trying to find them... if the combination was strong enough and their range was big enough.

For most shinobi, it would go by so fast they would only feel a ripple of unease if it was a strong pulse of chakra.

If it was a weak pulse, they would't register it at all. (tiny wave in a crowded train station = unnoticed)

As for the difference between Tobirama and Kikiyo in sensing emotion - Tobirama senses the same things Kikiyo does.

She's just better trained. She knows and can classify what the emotions are.

He isn't trained. It's a confusing blur.

Like an artist - they can name all the shades of colour and can tell you the difference between mint green and quaking aspen. But to a two year old - they're both green.

They both see the same thing, and one just has words for it while the other doesn't.

Kikiyo is the artist in this analogy. Tobirama is the two year old. (And I don’t get to say that about him often.) Once he's better trained, he will have the words for it.

So Kikiyo and Seto are stronger and better trained sensors than than any of the other Uchiha except Madara and Izuna.

(Even Hikaku doesn't have as wide a range, though Izuna's is comparable to theirs. Madara's range is about as much as Mito's. And all three of their abilities to read emotion are focused primarily on 'threat', just like Tobirama's were before he went up to Uzushio - two year old recognition of colour, remember - although they're all better than Tobirama at talking about what they sense. Like being able to tell the difference between light green and dark green even if you can't describe emerald and teal.)

That's why Seto and Kikiyo feel Tobirama's chakra pulse first.

They sense it approach. (This is the bit where Kikiyo compares it to a Tsunami.)

They feel it wash over them at the same time all the other Uchiha do.

They sense it continue outwards. ("Then it’s over. He’s moved on.")

Only then does the rest of the compound start shouting.

They felt it before everyone else, because they have a bigger range.

They can identify his emotions because they're better trained.

To the rest of the Uchiha, it came and went so fast, and they just know that it felt wrong.

They freak out.

Regular Senju shinobi felt it as a moment of bad deja vu.

Chapter Text

That's a definite part of it I think!

In the case of this story, it grows out of his White Demon persona.

On the battlefield he's disassociating furiously, stripped down to the absolute essentials for maximum efficiency. Add that to his speed, relentlessness, unflinching determination to protect / achieve his mission, and refusal to back down and you get a very intimidating picture.

That sense of the inhumane lingered for a long time. Even in the second year he ran, younger Uchiha like Setsuna were still referring to him as the White Demon - even in their heads.

But it would have been impolite to refer to him like that in public after the founding of the village, so they just called him Senju-sama - trying to distance him basically. Constantly reminding themselves he was an enemy. Like the way Setsuna calls Ichika 'Senju' at the start when he doesn't want to trust her. So Senju + his high rank = Senju-sama.

Kagami references it in Missing Scene - Kagami all the way back in chapter 3:

All around, the excitement and anticipation of being able to hunt a Senju - the Senju even - dies down.

But the second year he ran things changed. He became a trusted ally.

He might be a Demon but he was a Demon that protected them.

And as he's shown his softer side (see: the kids in 'Omake - Hearts in Your Eyes") they've gradually moved him from trusted ally to one of their own.

Now Senju-sama has become a term of affection. He may not be one of them, a Uchiha - but he's their Senju. Senju-sama.

You can tell I like playing with the multiple meanings of language can't you?

Chapter Text

Actually, Hashirama would really like to go.

He'd have liked to take Tobirama and fuck off to Uzushio and live the life of Mito's consort actually.

They'd have had a long happy life and Tobirama would have become the sperm donor for a whole branch of the Uzumaki and the Mokuton would have started randomly appearing in the Uzumaki clan and they'd both have been prince consorts + been dragged into the Uzushio military / administrative branches.

But the Uchiha and the Senju would have killed each other in the wars and both clans would have been extinguished.

And his sense of Duty to the Senju and Madara was too strong to let him run away.

So, instead, here you have Hashirama, plugging along, doing a job that he knows he's really not the best at and just trying to do the best he can.

His whole life in the village is basically him trying to hand off responsibility to others so that he can leave the village he founded and go off to Uzushio for a break.

But only after he knows his village is in good enough shape for it.

Until then, he'll make do with short breaks and Mito will make sure HE doesn't break.

But I don't want you to be sad for Hashirama!

He doesn’t hate being in the village, he just doesn’t want to be Hokage.

Here's what's going to happen to him:

When the village expands to be more than the USEATC, he's going to hand the sole hokage role to Madara.

Then he'll retire.

He won't take up the Clan Head of the Senju again - that will still be Mito.

Instead, he will be the house husband.

He will look after the kids and be the most indulgent dad EVER.

Between Tobirama and Hashirama those kids will want for NOTHING.

Every day will be CANDY and TREEHOUSES.

It will be like living in the Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory only for NINJA.

If it weren't for Mito and Madara, those kids would be monsters.

As it is - they're adorable, manipulative little shits.

(Just like their Uncle Izuna.)

And every year, when Tobirama has to go up to Uzushio to protect it from the winter storms, Hashirama will go with him and they'll take their not-so-little caravan of kids.

Because…

Izuna’s triad married a woman and had 6 kids.

Hashirama and Mito had three boys.

Tobirama had 4 kids by two different women - one Uchiha and one Uzumaki, two each - and Madara had a pair of twins with the same Uchiha woman who was the surrogate for Tobirama.

(So they have 6 biological children. Which would be a lot for two dads who also work, except that Team Tobirama is constantly in and out of their house, and half the time Kagami is trailed by the Triad's kids... It's a lot but their big family helps is what I'm saying.)

And Tobirama is obliged to take the two Uzumaki kids up to Uzushio when he goes up for storm season so they can see their mom, grow up Uzumaki, and decide if they want to be Senju/Uchiha/Uzumaki when they come of age - but all the rest of the kids went "NOT FAIR!" so he ended up taking them all.

And Hashirama was all "seriously Otouto, we can definitely manage - we are bad ass kid wranglers" and Tobirama allowed himself to be convinced.

So there they are on the road and he goes - "wait. I can feel my team."

Who immediately leap out the trees, throw themselves on his mercy and beg to come.

Because they want to see Uzushio too.

And they don't want to be separated from the kids.

(Also, Koharu wants to consult with the Uzumaki seal masters.)

So Tobirama says they can come if they help manage the children.

And that's how they all show up on the Uzumaki doorstep and Team Tobirama become unofficial Uzumaki.

Until Homura marries an Uzumaki and leaves the Village.

(But that's another story.)

So that will be Hashirama’s yearly dose of therapy and time off.

Tobirama will teach all the kids Suiton and Fuuton.

The kids will swim with dolphins, cook fish on the beach, and stow away on boats and have to be dragged back whining by either Tobirama or Hashirama, walking on water the whole way back to Uzushio.

Hashirama isn't the head of a clan OR the Hokage of a village.

He's the dad/uncle/godfather of an enormous parcel of children.

That's Hashirama's happy ending.

(Oh, and he's also one of the members of one of the Heavy Combat Teams - because you don't get a heavier hitter than THAT.)

Chapter Text

Actually, he won't find out.

Butsuma is something he knows nothing about and will not discover in the course of this fic.

Butsuma has gotten two mentions so far - one in chapter 13 (After the Run (Again) - Hashirama and Tobirama) and one in chapter 23 (About to Run (for the Third Time) - Izuna and Tobirama). That's it. His name is not otherwise mentioned.

He is Sir Not Appearing in this Fic.

And, although his influence pervades Tobirama's life, Tobirama doesn't even think about it.

He will never come out and say "my father was an abusive asshole" - he even smiles faintly when Hashirama gets angry about the treatment Tobirama was subjected to by Butsuma's actions in chapter 13, and it's an "oh look isn't my Anija being overprotective and cute" smile.

Tobirama might say something like "the time Butsuma broke my arm" but Madara will likely assume he means in training and not think anything more of it and Tobirama won't think to say anything about it either.

Because he doesn't think about it on a day to day basis.

So, no, Madara will never find out about it unless Hashirama tells him.

Chapter Text

In answer to a comment from YumiStar on Chapter 28

Mito, no! He has issues he needs to work throu and not be punished for! D:

Don't worry she's not punishing him.

She is PRANKING him.

See, there's two ways you can do therapy in Uzushio.

The slow way, which is lots of conversations and angst, takes time, and you make progress very slowly. This approach brings you closer to 'normal' and is mostly taken by civilians.

Then there is the UZUMAKI way, which is much faster, full of pranks and humour, totally off the wall, and individually tailored to the therapist-patient relationship and the patient's needs.

You don't come out of Uzumaki therapy more SANE. You're just better adjusted to whatever path in life you've chosen to take.

Needless to say, most shinobi take the Uzumaki version.

I head cannon that most of the Konoha shinobi in the future have done Uzumaki style therapy, at least a little, and it partially explains how WIERD they all are.

Guess which version Mito has just volunteered Tobirama for…?

In answer to a comment from greenchair on Chapter 28

“fend off nosey Uchiha” sounds like fending off house cats investigating your laptop when you are working on it.

That's pretty much how Mito thinks of it too.

She's not intimidated by all of these Sharingan wielding maniacs who are charging up her garden, demanding to know what's happened to their Senju-sama.

She shoos them away with all the aplomb of a cat owner scruffing a nosey kitten.

In answer to a comment from senroh on Chapter 32

I'm really not a fan of Mito in this either. Who reacts to someone having a panic attack and going to get help with revenge? Not anyone I would want anywhere near me. I already have enough issues as it is without the added anxiety that if I freak out near her I'll pay for it.

I'm still not there with Mito's reaction because everything I've read so far indicates that she didn't actually know what he was going to the Uzumaki for since Tobirama only told Hashirama that he was going to the Uzumaki "for assistance" and he never actually said what that assistance would entail. What I did read of Mito's reaction can be summed up as:
How dare he-
have a chackric panic response right next to me
leave me to deal with the Uchiha, who care about him as much as my own clan does, by myself
and go home early without me
-I'm telling teacher, and she's gonna make him pay!
(which honestly sounds like a spoiled brat telling their mom that their sibling took the last cookie that they had no claim on anyway to try to get them in trouble, and definitely not the response of an adult who can deal with their own problems)

Yes, I left things deliberately unclear.

I couldn't figure out how to put in the things I wanted the reader to know in a manner that actually worked with the stream of consciousness thought patterns that the characters were thinking.

So I had to sprinkle hints through the story and HOPE desperately that I was a good enough writer that it would be visible, in retrospect, at least.

But since I'm posting this live, I knew that things in my head cannon which were not going to be visible for several chapters yet, left the current chapters I was posting open to interpretation.

I was prepared for a reaction like yours.

It's why I've tried to be clear with my warnings, post backstory and world building in the comments, and respond to every comment thread at least once.

I want comments like yours.

Thank you for trusting me enough to tell me when things looked wrong for you.

So let me unpack this a little.

Mito is complicated.

Mito rarely appears in this story. She's vey much a side character, and these letters give us a very abbreviated look into her relationship with Tobirama.

Before chapter 28 (Run Away - Mito) the only time you actually see her interact with someone (as opposed to be referenced) is in chapter 21 (Omake - Cooking) and there she has the tiniest role - just enough to say a few sentences that reference the Senju courtship rituals and why nobody in the Senju clan interferes with the first two steps of courtship. (Explaining that single sentence took me several hundred words to expand on in the comments.)

So you don't see her, don't understand her, and have no window into her.

Chapter 28 is the first time, and she is - most definitely - a BRAT.

Because she is.

Her internal monologue is cheeky, irreverent, and puckish. Her inner thoughts are deliberately modelled on Naruto and Kushina's behaviour at their most childish and silly.

Under that, is a competent political thinker who deeply loves her adopted family.

But that never makes it into the story.

Because she doesn't think about that.

It's a background fact of her life.

It informs all of her decisions. But it's not how she forms thoughts.

She doesn't think "Tobirama is finally going to get therapy - YES!"

She thinks "My beloved brother is a first class idiot and when he asks for something so stupid we're going to have to give it to him and he's going to be so uncomfortable! At least it will be funny. I wish I was there to watch!”

ALSO - She had no idea, until Hashirama got home and told her, that Miu had sexually assaulted Tobirama.

As a Kunoichi who lives and works outside Uzushio, she’s had this experience herself. Many times.

The number of men who’ve tried to put a hand on her is - literally - innumerable.

So when Hashirama come home and says "Koi, Otouto has decided to go to Uzushio and get therapy because he said 'Madara-sama has indicated that he wishes to court me, but I am unable to reciprocate as long as she haunts me. I intend to go to Uzushio and seek assistance from Aneue’s family.'” she is AGHAST.

Then she reads the letter he left her and is even more HORRIFIED.

(I couldn't figure out how to work in a mention of it - she just didn't want to think about it. She was too busy planning to FIX IT. The letter literally said something along the lines of 'Dear Aneue, am finally going to get sensory training in Uzushio like you've been pestering me to do for years, will ask your Sensei to teach me how love feels. Sincerely, your Otouto')

This adds fuel to her feelings about Tobirama’s ‘benchmark’ idea.

She thinks it’s dumb and he’s attempting to force himself to get over trauma in a hurry.

Her dismissiveness towards the Uchiha is actually possessiveness - he's her brother and they are interfering!

Her annoyance with his chakra spike is "How dare he run away without letting me fuss over him!"

Her grumpiness that he's gone home early is that she's going to have to pick up the slack and has left without a word of planning (pretty similar to what Kikiyo is thinking)

She doesn't mention in her head that she knows Tobi's gone up to Uzushio to have therapy because she already knows. She's had 8 years of knowing. (And if he DIDN'T go up there to FINALLY get therapy that she'd REALLY LIKE TO KNOW what he THOUGHT HE WAS DOING! *gentle throttling*)

As a side note: everyone knows what a shinobi going to Uzushio is doing. They're getting therapy - it's assumed by everyone, including the Uchiha. That's why Madara can be calm and do paperwork instead of chasing Tobirama. (Again, something I talk about in the comments, but will explicitly be discussed by Madara in... chapter 47. Long time more.)

I hope this reframes chapter 28 somewhat.

[Discussion of the Uzumaki in general]

Now, Mito has been hearing Tobirama go on about all of this for years.

She thinks he should have gone to get therapy years ago and not posted up to Uzushio and try and do it all in a rush while fixated and on a self-set timeline.

But she recognises that he will refuse to do things any other way, because she has tried all the other ways.

He won't accept them.

The Uzumaki are invested in Tobirama.

He goes up to see them every Storm Season and protect them from the typhoons (an idea borrowed from a symbol of subjugation by evocates).

They want him to be healed.

As such, Mito and her Uzumaki family have been conspiring to offer Tobirama therapy - Uzumaki and traditional - for YEARS.

Every year, they make offers.

"While you're here..." they say. "It will help..." they say. "Perhaps you might try..." they say.

Every year, he turns them down.

No. No. No.

It's like a ritual that started when he was 12 and he's now 20.

You can imagine the frustration all around.

And now, here's the guy they've been trying to gently coax into therapy because they've adopted him as an honorary member of the family and they love him - the guy they've been seeing emotionally stab himself over and over for duty - show up on their door step posthaste with an idea that violates all common sense and they can't talk him out of it!

And he wants to be done with it in 4 MONTHS?!

This is their 'revenge'.

He wants it - they'll do it.

So, this isn't revenge or punishment for Tobirama having a panic attack.

This is them giving him everything he has explicitly asked for, and knowing it is not the best way to go about things but doing it anyway.

BECAUSE THEY LOVE HIM.

(And they'll take their amusement where they can get it while they can.)

Chapter Text

No, Kikiyo is not trying to seduce him. 😝

OMG, she wouldn't even try.

Kikiyo and Seto both do it actually.

They love to poke him in the most polite and seductive fashion they can manage just so that he will give them the "I see what you just did there and it's not working on me" look.

It's their version of fun. 😬

Told you they were twisted. (Or at least I said that Seto was.)

They'd love to do it to Mito too but they're too intimidated.

Also she treats them like rambunctious children.

Chapter Text

Madara's laundry is terrible.

He never takes care of his clothes, half of them are singed - and I mean half of each piece of clothing, not half of all the items he owns - he wears his good clothing to do dirty jobs because he forgets to change first, he wears his training clothing to important events because he can't find his good clothing or it's not usable anymore...

And - remember - this is feudal Japan. There are no washing machines.

Remember our grandparents and the wooden board?

That's how they do laundry.

It's awful.

(When Tobirama shows the Uchiha how he does his laundry with Suiton it will be a REVELATION.)

This is why Madara’s so bad at taking care of his clothing.

So when we see the Uchiha before the formation of the village they're generally in that iconic mantle.

It's the big coat with the giant turtleneck collar (except it's way too wide to be a turtle neck, they duck their whole faces into the collar to hide sometimes...) and the Uchiwa on the back.

They all wear it.

But it's never black.

It's dark blue, grey-black, brown almost black, purple almost black.

But never black-black.

So this is my idea.

I'm gonna quote from this article I found on a Japanese fashion designer because it says really well what I could't figure out how to express:

"The aesthetic attributes of traditional Japan and contemporary culture, as well as the role black plays in fashion, can be seen in the color's association with poverty. For some observers, black is an illusion of-or perhaps an allusion to-rusticity, simplicity, and self-restraint. In Japan, black dyes may connote rural origin as well as noble warrior status."

(https://fashion-history.lovetoknow.com/fashion-clothing-industry/fashion-designers/yohji-yamamoto)

This fits perfectly with the Uchiha.

Rusticity, simplicity, self-restraint, rural origins, noble warrior status.

It ticks all the boxes.

Then you have the next part, and I'm gonna quote again:

"Black was an extremely expensive color to produce. In fact, most “black” fabric was actually more of a grayish or even bluish or brownish color than a true black. Black dyes were commonly taken from bark, roots or fruits. But the best way for a dyer to get a great black was to use the oak apple. An oak apple is a small, spherical growth found on the leaves of certain oaks – the leaves on which insects deposit their eggs. After the eggs are deposited, the tree’s sap exudes a material that gradually envelopes the larvae and encloses it in a kind of shell. This is an oak apple. The oak apple had to be collected before summer, then allowed to dry slowly. It took an enormous quantity of oak apples to produce a small amount of dye. And the very best oak apples came from eastern Europe, the Near East or Africa. As you can imagine, this dye was extremely expensive to produce and when things are so expensive, there’s usually someone out there who wants to possess it... As the demand for the dye increased, so did the skill of the dyers. They became more skillful at developing beautiful, brilliant solid blacks. The dyers were able to create vibrant blacks even in wools and silks – rivaling the most beautiful furs worn by the nobility. The beautiful blacks did not go unnoticed by the rest of society. They were so beautiful and had become symbolic of virtue and political authority that even the nobility classes of Europe took to wearing black. By the end of the 14th century, the fashion for black extended from Italy to foreign kings and princes and black became the color of choice for princely young men for centuries."

(https://www.designsponge.com/2014/04/past-present-when-black-became-hip-black-must-haves.html)

So I take these two idea and smash them together and here's what I get:

The Uchiha dress in black because it's easy.

Dye from bark, fruit, roots - the materials are easy to obtain.

But it's not true black.

And the all wear the same thing because...

They have a tendency to set it on fire.

Katon Users! Who live in traditional Japanese wooden houses! Whose kids must master a fireball to become shinobi!

Fires abound.

The clothing must be a constant casualty.

Imagine Izuna and Madara sparing - those flowing cloaks must be constant targets.

But they need to wear something flowing and concealing - it helps hide their moments, hide the hand signs, make them harder targets (can't stab if you don't know where the torso is in that thing), plus it looks intimidating.

So my theory is that the Uchiha have several sizes of the same thing, and they all wear it - like a uniform.

A sign of solidarity. (I played with this idea a little in the second run that Tobirama did, only there he mentions it as camouflaging Izuna among all the other Uchiha.)

But it's also easy.

Their weavers make an abundance of the mantle, in a variety of sizes, and you just grab one.

This makes it easy to get replacements, but also means that people don't become attached to their clothing.

Because it's effectively a communal object.

It's like the uniforms in the army.

No one gets possessive about those.

It's yours - you wear it, take care of it, launder it - but it's also totally replaceable and impersonal.

Madara treats his mantles in exactly the same way.

This is why he never takes care of them properly and the hems are always singed.

This also allows me to create a scene where Izuna and Madara used to share a closet / chest of clothing when they were young (as many siblings do) and - as Madara got broader and stockier - he went up a size but Izuna didn't.

So you'd occasionally get Izuna grabbing Madara’s mantle and looking like he's drowning in it, and Madara grabbing Izuna’s mantle and wriggling uncomfortably because it's just that little bit too tight.

But what about the Uchiwa?

That's white and red. Red is, historically, notoriously difficult to dye and white picks up dirt like nobody's business.

So if every mantle has the Uchiwa on it, you'd think they'd take better care of it, clan symbol that it is plus how hard it must be to make.

Not so.

Because the Uchiwa is a PATCH.

An embroidered patch the seamstresses make separately.

They tack it onto the mantle after it's clean, and take it off before washing.

(European nobility used to do this to embroidery too - embroider strips of cloth and attach them to clothing to alter the 'look' as necessary.)

That way the Uchiwa always looks fresh.

(Also, it explains why the Uchiwa is always the same size in the images I've found even when the mantles are obviously smaller or bigger.)

The placement of the Uchiwa patch does mean the it does't get hit very much and that it's clearly visible. Win-win.

And the difference in shades of colour in the mantles?

Partially, it's because the dye isn't consistent.

But also, it's because the mantles all show different degrees of wear. Some are newer and darker, other older and more brown-ish.

Madara and Izuna always get the new ones and their old ones are handed off to less prestigious members of the clan.

(Again a reference to European nobility who used to give cast offs to lesser nobility who were waiting on them and servants.)

So there's some pressure to make sure Madara's clothing at least survives long enough to hand it on.

Except that he trashes it.

Cue the frustration.

And nobody would go and tell Madara off about it.

But they will go to whoever is doing his laundry and complain to them about it.

So for the length off time Izuna is doing Madara's laundry he is subject to "can't you get your brother to take better care of his mantle?" lectures every time someone spots him carrying one.

Yet another reason for Izuna to hate it.

And the cost of constantly replacing Madara's mantles, while considerable, isn't prohibitive.

It is a significant chunk of his income however.

(Everyone will be glad when Tobirama shows Madara how to do laundry.)

(Everyone will be glad when Tobirama shows ALL THE UCHIHA how HE does HIS laundry.)

Oh, and one more thing: guess who is the only founder who regularly wears black-black clothing?

Tobirama.

That turtleneck and long pants? That makes him look like sex on legs?

Black-black.

"black became the color of choice for princely young men for centuries"

Works for him doesn't it?

And it's his under armour wear! He doesn't even treat it as a privileged piece of clothing!

He wears it every day!

Why?

Because of Hashirama.

"the best way for a dyer to get a great black was to use the oak apple. An oak apple is a small, spherical growth found on the leaves of certain oaks – the leaves on which insects deposit their eggs"

What does Hashirama grow spontaneously with with Mokuton? What is the species of tree that inspires Madara’s nickname for him?

Oak trees.

(Yet another reason why the Senju are rich. I have a whole head cannon about how that plays into the Yamanaka penchant for flowers, but that's another story.)

Chapter Text

The funny thing is that Izuna doesn't feel responsible for the Prey the way Tobirama does.

Partly it's the way they think about it - Tobirama is always about the teamwork.

Even on the battlefield during the war, he was the strategist where Hashirama was the warrior.

But Izuna's a lone wolf. He's not a pack animal.

Maybe it's the way Madara isolated him so early by deifying him, but he doesn't think of himself as Prey. He's Izuna who happens to play that role.

That's why he could sacrifice Tobirama so early on in year one of Tobirama's Run.

That's why he always does the Run alone.

So he does the briefing because it's his responsibility, and he works out the contingencies with Tobirama because he doesn't want to get his clan mates hurt.

But he'll never actually sit down with the rest of the Prey and work out a team strategy - he doesn't think that way.

Unless it's a good prank.

Then he's ALL IN.

Chapter Text

At first the Hokage was a shared position.

Hashirama and Madara shared it for years, until the village was stable and other clans were slowly immigrating, one small family at a time.

They waited, and then Hashirama announced that he was stepping down, called for a vote and publicly endorsed Madara as the sole holder of the Hokage position.

Nobody stood against him.

Uchiha Madara was the Nidaime.

When Madara wanted to retire, he endorsed Kagami as his chosen successor.

Again the village voted, and agreed with his choice.

Uchiha Kagami was the Sandaime.

When Kagami decided to retire, he publicly endorsed two candidates, suggesting they hold the position together: Hatake Sakumo and Orochimaru.

Orochimaru was not a protege of Tobirama.

Instead he was a protege of Izuna.

He was personally recruited into the poisons / chemistry section of T&I as soon as he made Chūnin and just never left.

Eventually he ended up heading the T&I labs when Izuna retired and he's in a poly relationship with Sakumo, and Sakumo's wife who heads the Hatake Clan.

So Orochimaru bowed out, wanting to devote his time to (ethical) research.

Again the village voted, and agreed with his choice.

At the time of Iruka and Kakashi’s love story, Hatake Sakumo is the Yondaime.

He is starting to look around for a successor to groom into the Godaime.

Chapter Text

Tobirama basically holds down three jobs - assisting Madara, Public R&D, and developing the Academy.

At this point the Academy has been up for three years, and is basically self-sustaining.

The first year was a crapshoot of hit and miss, the second year was making sure all the solutions put in place the first year actually worked, the third year was taking sure all the infrastructure / governance structures were in place and self sustaining, and this year was supposed to be Tobirama's year to tweak the curriculum based on the results of what was and wasn't working. Needless to say he'll be absent for a bunch of that, but they're more or less used to it - he goes to Uzushio every year for Storm Season after all.

So Tobirama will take care of all of that when he gets back - it's backlog for him.

When Tobirama's away for Storm Season every year, his R&D labs should work independently - and they do. BUT all the Uchiha employees are very junior compared to the Senju employees. The work doesn't suffer, but there's the potential for bad feelings and a loss of morale so Izuna steps in as the Big Boss to replace Tobirama. The Uchiha employees have nothing to worry about then.

So Izuna basically runs both labs for Storm Season every year. It adds about a third onto his already busy workload.

And now - as his forfeit - he's assisting Madara until the end of Storm Season.

Ugh.

Don't get me wrong - Madara's pulling his share. He's taking on stuff that he'd normally have left to Tobirama to make the decisions on, partly because he knows Izuna's still finding his feet on it and partly because he trusts Tobirama's decision making skills more than Izuna's on some things.

So it’s more like 1/3 of Tobirama’s paperwork is split between them.

But it's still a LOT of extra work for Izuna.

On R&D:

R&D basically requires Izuna to show up and glad hand. Social stuff, not paperwork stuff. That’s an existing arrangement between him and Tobirama that predates this forfeit.

Tobirama’s too possessive of his lab to let Izuna approve anything. He trusts Izuna but he wants to keep that fun for himself.

As such, all the R&D paperwork is being bounced back and forth between his team and Uzushio through Izuna's message box.

Then Izuna gets to ride herd on the monkeys and remind them - in person - to please not explode anything that doesn't need exploding.

They all laugh at him - they know he's the KING OF UNNECESSARY EXPLOSIONS in his own T&I labs.

He says these are not his labs. They are TOBIRAMA'S LABS. And that means everyone needs to follow the ANIJA SAFETY DIRECTIVES.

Everyone nods and goes back to work.

The Anija Safety Directives started out as a list of what NOT to do in SCIENCE, handed down by Hashirama to Tobirama every time he did something ill advised when they were young.

The tradition continues.

Every time someone in the lab does something that is very clearly a BAD IDEA - it goes up on the Anija Safety Directives as a rule not to do it again.

The Anija Safety Directives paper the wall and include things like "do not store biological samples in unlabelled sealing scrolls" and "do not prank your colleagues by feeding them unknown biological samples" and "all explosive tags are to be clearly labelled as such".

If you can read the whole list without running screaming - or even better, laugh at it - then you can work in Tobirama's labs.

Izuna's labs do not have the Anija Safety Directives. His lab monkeys do not believe in them. Neither does Izuna.

Instead, they trust in their own ingenuity and shinobi reflexes to keep themselves out of the worst of the disasters.

FEAR THEM.

Chapter Text

You make some really good points about fan service and have actually picked up on something that no-one else has yet.

Let me unpack this:

This fic is crack.

The prompt that incepted me - Ninja tag? - is crack.

But because it's told from Tobirama's perspective, at least initially, it has to be taken seriously.

Those were some of the very first tags I put on this story. Under additional tags, the first two are 'Crack Treated Seriously' and 'Because Senju Tobirama takes everything seriously'.

So all the world building was to justify the CRACK that is CANNON.

Look at the characters I'm working with:

Tobirama, the guy who canonically sprouts glowing blue flames and threatens Sauske with a pinky finger, is my romantic lead.

Madara, Mr. Will Perch on a Hill to Silhouette Himself Against the Sky and Shout Down at His Enemies, is his romantic interest.

Hashirama, who canonically sprouts a GIANT WOODEN BUDDHA, is his overprotective big brother and ethical compass.

Mito, Ms. Will Think Nothing of Sealing a GIANT FOX MADE OF FLAME into her Body, is his overprotective Sister-in-law and source of romantic advice.

AND...

Izuna, his MORTAL ENEMY and the guy he KILLED IN CANNON, is his BFF and platonic soulmate.

Cannon is crack of the highest order, but I wanted to make it as plausible as possible. (Because, let’s face it, nothing could make it really plausible.)

So there are head cannons about how clans work, social structures, politics, technology, economies, and lots and lots of characterisation.

And fan service.

Because that's what this is.

Naruto has fan service. A lot of it. The Oiroke no Jutsu is purely there for the fan service as far as I can tell. Jiraiya alone is a huge source of fan service moments.

So this fic had to have some if I could put it in.

I put in the most harmless bit of it I could think of.

A character who is unthreatening patting the butt of a character who is unthreatened by it.

And the comments EXPLODED. (By my standards anyway. Probably not anyone else's.)

GOOD.

Because that's - in a large part - what this whole fic is about.

When I wrote it, I wanted to laugh at the absurdity but be able to read it again later and trace the world building that made it work within the story.

So Tobirama doesn't get his butt patted DESPITE his sexual trauma.

He gets his butt patted BECAUSE of his sexual trauma.

The butt patting must serve a plot function.

And it does.

It may not be to everyone's taste, and it looks like a bunch of people are freaking about it, and that's fine.

Because they're thinking about it.

Chapter Text

You are exactly right!

This is why I put so much thought into exactly how they'd expand their economies.

a symbol of subjugation by evocates specifically talks about how 'peace is won and held through neither power nor love, but food, water, clothes, and medicine' but it's really more about social and structural change than economic change.

As far as I can tell, the only thing they 'sell' outside the village in the end is the 'clownfish' jutsu.

Which is cool, that's not the focus of their story, it's an awesome fic and absolutely seminal in this fandom, I love it to pieces and you can absolutely tell.

But that's not the story I wanted to tell.

I wanted to figure out exactly how they could structure an economy to make themselves as self sufficient at home - because, let's face it, they're a military run city/state and defence is always going to be a priority for them - and still have enough surplus to fund their economies to the point where they can make ethical choices about how they spend their military assets.

Because, if they go around taking shady looking missions publicly, they come across badly politically.

The general public will always regard them dubiously, and shinobi will develop a bad reputation. (As if their existing reputation as crazy, bloodthirsty warriors who kill each other at the drop of a hat wasn't already bad enough!)

Then the only people who will deal with them will *want* them to take the shady missions and the cycle will repeat.

Mercedes Lackey tackles a problem very like this in her novels featuring the family of Kethry, Tarma, and Kerowyn in her Heralds of Valdemar universe and I decided to steal her solution - they have to make ethical choices about which jobs to take and how that will impact their reputation.

Which, in turn, means that they won't make as much money as mercenaries.

Which then means that all the missions they do take should - as much as possible - serve both to make them look good, and be as highly paid as possible.

That means lots of hostage rescue missions, SAR, commerce protection, highly visible body guarding of politically important people (gives them an in on spying too!), highly visible small teams used to guard important locations like palaces / temples / embassies, stolen artefact recovery, diplomacy, bandit extermination...

They can't afford to have paid assassinations, family exterminations, or crime traced back to them.

And they have to do small good deeds everywhere they go.

If they can take a day to clear out a group of bandits while they're coming back from another mission - they do it for the locals at a cheap price, whatever the local government can afford.

If a local mom says her kid is missing in the woods around the village, Konoha shinobi passing through will volunteer to take half a day to use their sensing abilities to check it out.

If a small temple says their artefact is missing, the Konoha shinobi will promise to keep an eye out for it.

This sort of thing builds good will.

They must also guard all the civilians within their territory.

All.

If they demonstrate that they're the local government and civilians will treat them like it.

They can then gradually claim tribute in resources.

Slowly, so as not to infringe on the daimyo's prerogatives, but the village territory is closely held, it's pretty mysterious, and as long as the daimyo is getting taxes from someone in the area he won't care if it's a bunch of farmers or a bunch of shinobi representing the farmers.

As long as they don't grab anything noticeable like a valuable mine, nobody will care.

So they can terraform with doton, irrigate with suiton, fertilise with katon, and adjust the weather with fuuton to make their small amounts of arable land achieve maximum production to feed themselves. They can claim rivers as needed, grab forests that nobody else knows how to make productive, perhaps even some land along the coastline to establish a trading port to facilitate trade with Uzushio.

Then they use all their clan specialities to make low volume luxuries that are incredibly highly priced to achieve the surplus cash needed to make up for the shortfall in mission funding.

Just as you suggest, I'd planned for Uzushio to be their initial entry into the world market - sending their trade goods all over the world and making them famous for the rare and the beautiful.

Hashirama, especially, is a godsend for this. If the Uzumaki can get him rare seeds, he can establish flourishing plants from which Konoha can breed a stable population.

If people want out of season plant anything - to Konoha they go.

Hard to get medicinal plants - Konoha.

Difficult to obtains dyes - Konoha.

Rare vegetables like truffles - Konoha.

And the seal teams will ensure everything arrives in peak condition, escorted by Jonin teams doing commerce protection.

People will pay ridiculous prices for luxuries like that.

The Uchiha will specialise in objects of art and armour. Glass, armour, ornate metal work anything. Metalwork for palaces, temples, religious items, weaponry for the samurai.

Anything involving fire.

Enormous mirrors (incredibly expensive) - Konoha.

Jewelry - Konoha.

Enormous metal bells for temples - Konoha.

And again, they arrive with pomp and ceremony, exactly on time, escorted by Konoha shinobi.

They develop, over time, a reputation for the rare and the beautiful - presented perfectly and reliably.

With prosperity, other small families with Senju ancestors will want to immigrate.

Once Hashirama retires or passes away, the Yamanaka will take over his plant nurseries and expand them. They become his successors in the business.

Any Nara who arrive end up hiring out mostly as tacticians in military efforts, but a lot of the retired ones or ones who prefer a non-combat role end up being tutors to highly placed children. They teach history, politics, martial arts, and tactics and make great mentors as well as excellent body guards. They also specialise in medicine production, another highly valuable export commodity.

The Akimichi open restaurants and make delicious food. Important people will pay a lot to hire an Akimichi chef for a wedding or festival.

The Aburame use insects to pollinate and accelerate the fertilisation of crops and hire out to agricultural areas for such uses. They also act to deter plagues of insects as necessary. Any item involving the production of an insect - silk and the oak apple dye are two obvious examples - would absolutely be in their wheelhouse.

The R&D department is to keep fuelling innovation and keep speeding up the pace of change. Their job is to keep coming up with adaptations of shinobi skills and techniques for the civilian market and inventing new ones.

In the end, most shinobi clans end up developing at least one non-combat skill and - even though they're all trained in combat - only those who truly feel that it's the best fit for them go into a full time combat role.

This means that, when they retire, all those combat trained shinobi will also have a non-combat skill to practice.

This is my end goal for their economy.

Chapter Text

Yeah, it always annoyed me that the elders in Naruto are respected simply for being old.

In my experience, Asian people generally respect their elders, but not to that extent. Not to the point of letting their elders overrule their own good judgement, and definitely not to the point of allowing the elders to hold that much political power.

It's a social respect. Not a "I will let you send me to my death" respect.

How do they manage to actually overrule Hiruzen so often?

Is it they survived? A lifetime of accumulating political favours?

Is it just that they're a plot device so he doesn't look like a bad guy? (My personal opinion, honestly)

Add that to how I did world building so that the government of the village actually cares for the shinobi in their village / clans - because these guys are basically your most valuable and highly trained resource and why would you throw them away carelessly? Also, they're FAMILY! - and I suddenly had a whole bunch of elderly shinobi to play around with plot wise.

So I wanted to play with the veneration of age in the shinobi world by giving them lots of retirement roles that they can hold until death.

Civilian style jobs that don't require them to be as spry as they'd need to be a combat role, but will still allow them to contribute to the village and support themselves if they wish.

Of course, they can always retire to leisure and live with their kids who will support them in the traditional Asian social structure for the period if they prefer that option instead.

But - like you said - I wanted them to have options.

This [chapter 30 of The World Building of Escape and Evade] isn't the only one either.

They can also go into the Diplomatic Service, village administration, use their ninjutsu to do farming or weather control, run shops that offer household chores / products (suiton users who do laundry! ration users who sell batteries!), or Recon - especially in the long term surveillance section. Recon is always looking for more kind and genial Obaachan and Ojiisan to run their bathhouses / ryokan / tiny bookshops / tiny tea shops / tiny knick knack shops or simply publicly sit in the sun and bother the young with questions while handing out candy.

They make great spies. 😊

Chapter Text

It’s been a while since I first alluded to the Senju Courting Customs - all the way back in chapter 21 of Escape and Evade (Omake - Cooking) - and it’s been twenty chapters since then.

Also, I was fairly oblique there, so here - have some world building for background!

Let’s talk about the way Senjiu court.

Step one is Providing. This can be a gift of anything. It basically shows that the person doing the courting can provide financially and expresses intent.

Step two is the Declaration. Traditionally hanakotoba, it declares affection and pleads for a return.

But there’s a trick to it. If the person being courted doesn’t Accept, then both of the above steps are nulll and void. Essentially, nothing is happening.

(I adapted this concept from Courtship Confusion by trulywicked)

Mito explains both of these steps to Seto in chapter 41 of Escape and Evade (Omake - Make a Deal (with the Devil)), and she alludes to the consequences of a lack of acceptance, but I wanted to state it explicitly.

Step three is the Contract which involves telling the Clan Head that you want to marry someone from their Clan. In the case of Tobirama and Madara, that’s Mito because Hashirama decided he wanted to focus on the village and stepped down from the position. So she’s the Onna Zokuchō and Madara will have to deal with her if he wants to marry Tobirama.

This is where the lawyers come out.

Remember that long comment thread with Miray back on Chapter 9? (It can now be found in a slightly more coherent format in chapter 5 of The World Building of Escape and Evade, World Building - The Uchiha and the Senju.) About how the Senju just walk away if they need to and there’s no enforcement apart from personal loyalty to stay?

Well the contract is how that’s formalised.

Basically, the contract details exactly what all the parties bring to the marriage, what they can take away if it dissolves, and how much claim each party has on the children.

Senju contracts typically allow for the right to leave the clan and don’t hold on to the children as a matter of course - they’re not big on slavery (see the chapter 5 again on how consent is a Thing with ninja). Basically, your membership in the clan depends on your willingness to swear fealty to the current Senju clan head. You can revoke that oath but then you’re not a Senju anymore and your clan head doesn’t protect you. (Think Tsunade in cannon.)

But what Senju contracts do enforce are property rights - material, financial, alliances, the option for children to choose their clan when they come of age, everything. Essentially, it’s a prenuptial agreement worked out by shinobi diplomats doubling as lawyers. Who are happy to stab their counterparts. Because ninja.

Fun times!

Who negotiates agreements among shinobi? Diplomats. They have to have the skills to create and enforce contracts, or they’d be at a significant disadvantage.

As such, Mito, Seto, and Kikiyo are the politest, gentlest, most charmingly deferential, and seductive shinobi in either clan. They are always perfectly presented and gorgeous. They are also shinobi lawyers with minds like steel traps and an eye for openings left by their opponents, both contractually and in a fight. Plus, they are also assassins whose grace and poise allow them to move amongst the highest ranked people in Hi no Kuni.

It’s a testament to Seto’s skills that he was posted at the daimyo’s court for so long. Because, even though he’s scary as fuck, they loved having him there. He was an ornament to the court.

Who also happened to kill people occasionally.

Because ninja.

The future Konoha Diplomatic Service will be TERRIFYING.

Mito and Hashirama’s contract was the longest the Senju clan had ever seen, because she was a Princess of Uzushio and Hashirama holds the Mokuton.

I state it explicitly in chapter 23 of The World Building of Escape and Evade (World Building - The Uzumaki and Uzushio) but I’ll reiterate it here:

Mito was a candidate to be the leader of Uzushio. A strong one who appeared on all three lists of potential candidates. She wasn’t chosen as the leader - that was one of her cousins - but she had a role to play in their government as a diplomat and a close range combatant in their military arm.

That makes ‘Hime’ not just a term of respect, rank, or lineage - it’s a term that alludes to actual political power.

She’s not a princess by birth. She’s a princess because her skills and efforts have earned it.

Mito had to give up that place in the Uzushio government and the Uzumaki line of succession to marry Hashirama.

(The Uzumaki line of succession is not based on order of birth. It’s closer to the way the USA government has a formalised list of who takes over when bits of their government becomes incapacitated.)

More than that, she had to give up her family line as an Uzumaki. Their children will be Senju.

She will never produce an Uzumaki.

Her personal family line dies with her.

The Uzumaki will never gain babies who carry the Mokuton.

So why?

Why did they give this beautiful, trained diplomat who is also a combat powerhouse and a leader in their island nation and all the babies she could have given them - to the Senju?

Two reasons.

Tobirama and Butsuma.

Tobirama is an amazing suiton user.

Again, from chapter 23 of The World Building of Escape and Evade (World Building - The Uzumaki and Uzushio):

“He gave her an even more traumatised younger brother who was the strongest suiton user she had ever seen, an unparalleled sensor, and the finest tactician she had ever beheld.”

The key words in that sentence are:

“the strongest suiton user she had ever seen”

He’s the best.

The best that Mito - who personally witnessed her cousins’ accession to leader of Uzushio - has ever seen.

He’s unparalleled. Uzushio calls him the Stormbreaker. Because he is.

(This is yet another tribute to naruto short fic tumblr fills by nirejseki, in this case chapter 61: Eye of the Storm. The same idea also appears in a symbol of subjugation by evocates, though - in my version - the people of Uzushio do not actually treat him like a god. Instead they treat him like beloved family - Uzumaki style, irreverent pranks and all. Just like Mito treats him.)

As part of Mito’s marriage contract with Hashirama, Tobirama goes up to Uzushio for Storm Season and redirects the typhoons.

He protects their arable land.

He saves the lives of sailors and the ships that are their homes.

He keeps trade open for those months when they would otherwise be forced to shut down.

He prevents storm damage from lashing their beautiful city.

And Butsuma was killing him.

You see, the Senju and Uzumaki are traditionally aligned.

They seal their alliance with an arranged marriage when they can.

Negotiations between the Senju and the Uzumaki for an arranged marriage started with Hashirama’s birth and just never stopped.

When Tobirama’s potential in suiton became evident, the negotiations took on an added urgency.

And when Hashirama wrote to the Clan Head of the Uzumaki that Butsuma had assigned Tobirama to kill Hagoromo Miu, the Uzumaki were horrified.

Words cannot describe their emotions.

They had to protect him.

So they negotiated a contract favourable to the Senju on all points.

They sent wealth and resources to fund Butsuma’s war.

They gave up a beautiful jewel of the Uzumaki to become an ornament to Butsuma’s family.

As soon as Hashirama was plausibly old enough, they married Mito to him.

And, in the process, they sent their most accomplished and devious kunoichi to save Tobirama.

She was his rescue mission.

And she succeeded beyond their imagination.

So that’s how Mito became Hashirama’s wife and a Senju, and why their marriage contract is so long, tangled, and crazy.

It was an enormous distraction. For Butsuma.

(See: Uzumaki. FERAL in the BRAIN.)

SO, BACK TO THE SENJU!

Really, it’s the social pressure that keeps the Senju clan together, but even that’s a fairly loose hold. The pressure of fighting a war to the death was what really made them a Clan with a capital ‘C’. ‘Fight or let the people you love / feel an obligation towards die’ is a pretty strong motivator. Without that, they’re mostly bonded to their family groups.

So when Hashirama and Mito said they were going to try and kill Madara in chapter 21 of Escape and Evade (Omake - Cooking), they were indicating that they plan to apply social pressure to make sure that Madara keeps their otouto happy or else. Tobirama may leave their clan but they will still be watching over him. It will be the most intimidating shovel talk they can muster.

Believe it.

Chapter Text

This is an explanation of exactly what Izuna was proposing in Omake - The Shovel Speech and how it works out in the end.

When Tobirama and Madara's marriage contract is negotiated, it includes an option for other clans to bear Tobirama's children (not Madara's) if Tobirama wishes to negotiate for a separate surrogacy contract.

Basically, Tobirama can have kids outside of the Uchiha if he wants. He doesn't have to, but his marriage contract specifically allows for him to have that option.

It also sets out how those children might be raised and in which clan because... they'd be Madara's kids too.

And it specifically states that any contracts the Uzumaki put on the negotiating table must be considered first. Before surrogacy contracts from either the Uchiha or the Senju. Tobirama does't have to say yes to the Uzumaki, but he has to think about it before he thinks about his other options.

So if an Uzumaki offers to be a surrogate, their marriage contract allows for the kids from that surrogate to claim their mom's clan - the Uzumaki are matriarchal - if they wish.

And to facilitate that, the contract also specifically agrees that those kids will be raised in Uzushio (and potentially away from Madara if he doesn't want to leave the village) for as much as 4 to 6 months of every year - Storm Season.

So when an Uzumaki does offer, and Tobirama does agree, and they negotiate a surrogacy contract - the Uzumaki grab that option with both hands.

The DNA of the strongest Suiton user they know in Uzumaki kids? A blood alliance with the USEATC?

Yes please!

So the kids all go up to Uzushio every storm season with Tobirama and Madara is left behind in Konoha, kid free, for several months.

Lots of letter writing, and missing each other, but also - kid free! for months!

(He's usually excited at the start - sleeping in! not having to herd toddlers around! - but soon starts pining. And then Izuna teases him. The message boxes get a LOT of use.)

And the contracts - both surrogacy and marriage - specifically state that any kids of an Uzumaki mom, have the option to make a choice of clan when they come of age.

They can be Senju like their biological dad, Uzumaki like their biological mom, or Uchiha like their adopted dad.

UNLESS... they manifest the Sharingan.

Then they're Uchiha.

Madara put that in to cover all his bases, but - without his DNA in the mix - the chances of that are low.

Chapter Text

I’ve talked a lot in The World Building of Escape and Evade about how the Senju and the Uchiha have different marriage customs and how that affects everything from the way they court to their social customs and their psychology.

But we never covered what it means for the internal social and political structures for resolving conflict within the clan.

Because we never saw it.

The closest I ever got was when writing Madara’s perspective in chapter 11 of Escape and Evade (After the Run (Again) - Madara) and he alludes obliquely to the problems that he’s unintentionally created within the Uchiha Clan by placing a higher priority on Izuna’s life than the lives of the rest of his clan mates.

I also alluded to it a couple of times in the comments of Escape and Evade and in The World Building of Escape and Evade as well, most notably in chapter 5 (World Building - The Uchiha and the Senju) and chapter 9 (Characterisation - Madara in Chapter 11).

However, this chapter of world building was meant to be posted concurrently with chapter 3 of Caught and Captured, in which Madara has an argument with a clan elder and is specifically meant as background to that.

And some readers might have come directly from there.

So, just to recap, we’ll state the basics upfront again and please bear with me.

Just for consistency, I’m going to go with what I wrote in chapter 5 of The World Building of Escape and Evade (World Building - The Uchiha and the Senju), and then I’m going use it as a jumping off point to go in a different direction.

The Senju are exogamous, which means to marry outside the tribe.

They prefer to find partners outside the clan, and anyone who marries in brings a new set of skills. Anyone who marries out is no longer a Senju.

They have no bloodline limit to hold them together as a group. They field females on the front line. Females hold leadership roles in their clan. Females are not restricted to making babies who will be Senju - anyone can be Senju if they’re willing to take the oaths of loyalty. Even people who appear to be completely unrelated. We will see why when I talk about the marriage contracts.

In my head cannon, they are the only clan to accept immigration like this. It is crucial to the formation of the village.

So what happens when the Senju Clan Head makes a decree they don’t like and they can’t convince the Clan Head to change their mind?

Well, they vote with their feet.

They leave. They go off to join the clan of their partners / relatives.

The only people who stay Senju are the ones who agree.

This is exactly what happened when Hashirama ascended to Clan Head.

All the pro-peace shinobi who left when Butsuma was Clan Head came back and all the war hawk shinobi who preferred Butsuma’s policies left.

Within a year, the membership and policies of the Senju Clan changed dramatically without much changing from an external point of view.

But, internally, it was a huge change.

And the Senju have the social structures to make it work.

For one thing, their family lines and their clan identity are two separate things and they’re accustomed to balancing both. The Senju clan works more like a giant co-op of shinobi and civilians who came together to work the land (civilians) and protect the resources they were creating (shinobi).

So their families have ties to lots of other clans. Lots. They have relatives amongst almost every other clan in Hi no Kuni.

This means that Senju shinobi have places to go if they wish to leave, but also that the other clans have an ‘in’ with the Senju as a whole. They can leverage that for favourable trades, alliances, political horse trading, and a whole bunch of other things.

Effectively, the other clans act like in-laws to the Senju.

It’s a trade off.

Additionally, there are the marriage contracts.

Those prevent a lot of the acrimony involved when a Senju wants to leave. They have a document that says exactly what they’re entitled to if they do, right down to the clan membership of the children.

And one of the fixtures of a Senju marriage contract is that any child of a Senju, no matter how far down the line, can claim Senju membership if they wish.

If your great-great-great ancestor was a Senju and you have the documents to prove it - welcome home! You’re a member of the clan if you want to be.

If Tobirama has kids and none of them claim Senju membership, his marriage contract will allow for that.

If, six or seven generations down the line, one of those kids decides they want to be a Senju, his marriage contract will allow for that too.

That Yamanaka family which was first mentioned in chapter 19 of Escape and Evade (About to Run (for the Third Time) - Madara)? One of their ancestors was a Senju.

That’s why they came.

When the families of Team Tobirama join the village? Some of their ancestors were Senju.

Hashirama’s contract is a different thing. All his kids will be Senju by default because they can’t be Uzumaki - his contract with Mito specifically disallows that option. (Check out chapter 41 of The World Building of Escape and Evade, World Building - The Purpose of Senju Marriage Contracts for more on that if you wish.)

This is another consequence of all the ancestor worship in the background of Escape and Evade - the dead literally have an impact on the living. (And you can check out chapter 26 of The World Building of Escape and Evade, World Building - Why Butsuma is a Cockroach. Forever. for more on ancestor worship in this AU if you want that.)

The only people who don’t have a choice to leave or stay are the unmarried people and the children.

This was another reason why the rest of the Senju didn’t challenge Butsuma on his treatment of Tobirama.

Tobirama belonged to Butsuma’s family.

Tobirama was his.

His to punish according to the standards of Butsuma’s family.

The Senju had no policy on family violence, because Butsuma didn’t set one.

In the absence of that, the Senju chose to believe that Butsuma was disciplining a child of his family as he saw fit, and Butsuma took care not to escalate beyond what would have been considered culturally acceptable in public.

(Needless to say, these policies exist now. Hashirama and Tobirama have made sure of that.)

And finally, there is the Challenge.

If they wish, a Senju shinobi can challenge the Clan Head or their representative in personal combat to dispute their decision on any topic.

(Again, this happened when Hashirama ascended to Clan Head. He and Tobirama faced down a bunch of challengers and you can check out chapter 5 of The World Building of Escape and Evade, World Building - The Uchiha and the Senju to find out what happened with that.)

If they lose, then they can be killed, exiled, or publicly chose to accept the Clan Head’s decision.

If they win, the Clan Head must forcibly reconsider. They may keep their policies, but they must publicly reconsider their choices.

In effect, it’s trial by combat.

It displays that a shinobi is so uncomfortable with a decision that they are willing to put their lives on the line to protest it.

That may or may not sway other shinobi into agreeing with them, but it will definitely start a debate on the topic.

And the consequences of that, may mean other shinobi choose to leave the clan.

So, to sum up, the Senju Clan Head can be as authoritarian as they want to be, if they’re willing to take the chance a significant number of their clan will leave them.

That’s it. That’s the consequence.

It’s the only thing that means a Senju Clan Head can’t be a dictator.

Because if they become a dictator, then they’ll be a dictator of their own family only.

Everyone else will leave.

Now, onto the Uchiha! (I say 1K words later. WTF brain, you did it to me again…)

The Uchiha are even more complicated. Because of the Sharingan. (Because the Sharingan makes everything more complicated.)

The Uchiha are endogamous, which means to practice marriage within a specific social group, caste, or ethnic group, rejecting those from others as unsuitable for marriage or other close personal relationships.

Basically the Uchiha marry in and not out. This is necessary because the Sharingan is a bloodline limit. If potential Sharingan users depart from the clan and marry out into other clans the Sharingan is no longer under sole Uchiha control. The Sharingan is their identity so them marrying out is literally bloodline theft. Someone from another clan has stolen their children / potential children. A big no-no.

This cannon has a few logical ramifications that were never really explicitly stated in cannon as far as I can tell.

Most obviously, the Uchiha clan must be huge - they'd have to be to prevent genetic mutations due to inbreeding, especially given their canonical desire to marry strong Sharingan uses to each other for strong Sharingan babies (can I say ‘ew’). Secondly, their courting customs must be very tricky which is basically what chapter 5 of The World Building of Escape and Evade (World Building - The Uchiha and the Senju) covers.

But here, we are going to talk about how this works to resolve internal disputes.

The first, and most obvious, point to make is that Uchiha cannot leave the clan.

A Senju like Tsunade, who actually left the village without repercussions or being declared a traitor / missing nin, would not be tolerated by the Uchiha. If you have Uchiha DNA then you're an Uchiha. The end.

Any Uchiha who leaves is automatically declaring themselves a traitor to the clan.

This is why, in chapter 42 of Escape and Evade (Omake - The Shovel Speech), Madara makes explicit that any child of his marriage who manifests the Sharingan will automatically be an Uchiha - even though he has no intention of ever having a child with a surrogate that isn’t a Uchiha.

He’s claiming Tobirama’s children. Just in case.

And he’s doing it so reflexively that it’s instinctive.

In the middle of a close combat fight, after just being strangled, he coughs out the demand straight away.

He doesn’t even consider that the chances of one of Tobirama’s kids having the Sharingan is pretty low.

It’s just the way he thinks.

(Ultimately, their marriage contract actually states that any child Tobirama has with an Uchiha surrogate is an Uchiha without the ability to claim any other clan affiliation. It will be one of the very few Senju marriage contracts that don’t allow descendants to claim membership as a Senju.

In the end, Tobirama will have four kids - two Uchiha girls, one Senju boy, and one Uzumaki girl.

They’re like a United Colors of Benetton ad. Yay for diversity!)

The effect of this is that the Uchiha must be able to resolve disputes without splitting people off or causing a civil war.

This is why you get leaders like Madara and Fugaku who go along with their clan’s desires even when they don’t agree - they have to in order to preserve clan unity, unless they want to split the clan (see: Madara’s in cannon insanity causing Uchiha to defect during the Clan Wars).

So how does that work?

Being the Uchiha, it’s a lot of politics and unspoken rules.

Basically, if the Clan Head can’t convince a majority of their clan to back them - they’re stuck.

They have to keep going with the status quo, nudging things along towards their preferred outcomes as they can, constantly convincing their clan mates to work with them.

Respectful disagreement is encouraged amongst the Uchiha.

Everyone has an opinion and the option to voice it.

In the end, there tend to end up being little groups of people with similar views who must be convinced or pacified as necessary.

It’s a constant balancing act with lots of compromises, and - ironically, because that’s how I roll - is much closer to how modern politics works.

If you want to check out exactly how Madara and Izuna achieved it during the Clan Wars in this AU, you can find that in chapter 11 of The World Building of Escape and Evade (World Building - How the Village was Formed in this AU).

So, once the Clan Head knows that they can carry the majority opinion with them, they announce their decision and it is calmly accepted.

Unless it’s not.

The Uchiha also have the Challenge.

Just like the Senju, it’s a trial by combat.

But there’s one big difference.

Any challenger who loses is killed.

Thanks to the Sharingan, exile is not an option.

Neither is public acceptance of defeat.

Because challenging an Uchiha Clan Head is a coup.

Whoever wins is the leader of the Uchiha.

Whoever loses is dead.

So an Uchiha Clan Head who makes a decision that the majority of their clan doesn’t like can be challenged by all of them. One by one, until someone - finally - kills them.

I did this because I wanted to match this AU to cannon. In cannon, Madara is still the leader of the Uchiha once the village is formed, even though the rest of the clan doesn’t seem to like him very much.

So why?

Because he’s strong enough in a fight that no one could have taken him out. He was the leader purely because might makes the leader.

But, while the Clan Head is officially the final word on everything - it is an autocracy not a democracy, after all - that doesn't mean the elders and the clan can't passively resist. Telling a bunch of shinobi to do something they all think is suicidal or will cost them their lives unnecessarily is a good way to end up dead.

By prioritising Izuna’s life above the life of his clan mates, Madara was opening a whole can of worms.

He knew it and his clan knew it.

He just couldn’t stop himself.

This is why balancing the needs of the clan and the costs to the clan is so important in Madara’s thinking in in chapter 11 of Escape and Evade (After the Run (Again) - Madara). Chapter 9 of The World Building of Escape and Evade (Characterisation - Madara in Chapter 11) explicitly describes the costs of this decision to both Madara and Izuna.

This is the whole reason that internal compromises must be made.

No one wants a powerful shinobi in charge of the Uchiha who doesn’t put the clan’s interests first, but no one wants to lose a strong Uchiha shinobi either.

This is why Izuna and the Uchiha Clan actively work together to make up for the choice Madara can’t help making.

Izuna becomes the beloved of the clan, the anchor for Madara’s sanity, and the two of them together are the most powerful combat unit the Uchiha have every had.

Izuna ties Madara’s interests to the clan - they rely on him to advocate for them to Madara.

In turn, Madara does his best to be scrupulously fair and even handed.

To - very publicly and obviously - compromise with his clan when they disagree with him.

This was why taking Tobirama into the clan as Onna Zokuchō would have been a huge fight except for one thing:

Tobirama had already proved himself worthy of their trust.

He proved that he was a strong protector of them.

The loved him and trusted him before Madara married him.

Just like Izuna, he’s the beloved of the clan. He is their Senju-sama.

But there are consequences.

Should Madara ever go crazy, lose control, or in some other way become a threat to the clan - everyone knows what must happen.

The Uchiha will rely on their two strongest members - Izuna and Tobirama - to challenge him.

To challenge and kill the man who is the brother to one and husband to the other.

That’s the deal.

Even Mito and Hashirama know.

By marrying Tobirama, Madara has gained Mito’s help in keeping his clan calm and agreeable to his decisions. She will actively help him politically.

Because she never wants to see Tobirama have to kill Madara.

Chapter Text

This is going to be long because it's unpacking a whole bunch of East Asian stuff that's easy to dismiss as strange oddities but is also foundational to certain social structures that I've adapted for this story.

If you're East Asian yourself, a lot of this will be familiar, but the way I've adapted it to the story will be novel so please bear with me. (It's like the ancestor worship chapter all over again!)

Here we go:

Firstly, neither the Uchiha nor the Senju care who is having sex with who.

Have sex all you want, it's your private business, they don't care.

What they do care about is the continuation of the CLAN.

What their individual families (the parents / ancestors / cousins / siblings of the person in question) care about is the continuation of their LINE. Their DNA / family lineage being passed down. (This is due to the ancestor worship I covered in chapter 26, World Building - Why Butsuma is a Cockroach. Forever.)

In the case of the Senju Clan who only care that their people make the oaths to the Senju main line, they care even less than normal.

As long as you bring resources, are trustworthy, and will follow orders - you could be a monkey.

The only descent they care about is the Senju line - Hashirama's.

Because he is the Senju.

Without him, they're just a bunch of people working together. Their entire claim to being a Clan rests on his line.

(And he's not even an actual Senju - 'Senju' is a nickname for their clan because they're so diverse. If you buy into the Asura and Indra backstory - which I am absolutely doing - his line was originally Ōtsutsuki.)

This is why Hashirama having heirs is a Big Deal, and why one of Mito's concessions in her marriage contract was to agree to bear children only to him and his line.

The Uchiha are different. They care, but they only care that the children are Uchiha. Because of the Sharingan. (It's always because of the Sharingan.)

If you have sex with someone inside the clan, the resulting kid is Uchiha. If you have sex with someone outside the clan, the resulting kid is Uchiha. If you have sex with anyone - the resulting kid is Uchiha.

So Madara's kids must be Uchiha.

And the Uchiha in general practice ancestor worship and the kids take care of the parents, so it's important that the family LINE not die out. But the kids can be adopted into the line so it's fine. As long as there's someone to look after the old, and burn the offerings for the dead, they can carry the family DNA or not. All good.

Now we come to the issue of the Uchiha Clan Head.

And it's a non-issue.

Because the Uchiha practice a system of internal governance that includes the potential for regicide.

If the Uchiha Clan Head goes crazy, whoever disagrees with them enough can challenge them and try and kill them.

Challenging an Uchiha Clan Head is a coup.

Whoever wins is the leader of the Uchiha.

Whoever loses is dead.

(I have a whole chapter of world building about this that I was going to post along with Caught and Captured, the direct sequel to Escape and Evade, since Madara actually talks about it there - but I am going to post that today since it links with a lot of the stuff I’m talking about here. You can find it at World Building - Why the Senju Clan Head can be More Authoritarian than the Uchiha Clan Head in The World Building of Escape and Evade.)

Madara is leader because Tajima trained him well, nobody in his clan cared enough to challenge him upon his ascension, he hasn't made decisions that have pissed off the other Uchiha enough to challenge him, and he's a total combat badass.

That's it.

So Madara's children being Clan Heads is really up to their decision making - don't piss of your clan mates enough to challenge you - and combat strength.

Madara wants kids for his LINE and not his CLAN. (Also, he likes kids.)

All of this results in a few things which look bewildering to modern eye, but - reading your comment - it looks like the biggest issue in this case is surrogacy.

So let’s tackle that.

Since the Senju and Uchiha don’t care about sex but care about children (lineage / DNA being passed down / the presence of future generations who will take care of them in life and death… I’m just going to say children okay?), surrogacy is the obvious solution for same sex couples.

It’s normal and normalised.

The people that don’t like it are the clans that insist on heterosexual marriages.

It’s a natural effect, one implies the other.

In the case of the Senju, Uchiha, and the Uzumaki, no one is freaking out about the same-sex couples = surrogacy is okay.

The Shimura representative is freaking out = he or his clan must insist on heterosexual marriage. Or at least not approve overmuch of homosexual ones if they don’t forbid them outright.

Surrogacy is literally the only way to get kids with your DNA if you don’t marry a female.

Now this is the feudal era so no, there is no in vitro fertilisation! But people have been doing surrogacy for hundreds of years before modern medical science.

Usually, it was sex - impersonal, procreative sex.

But there have been other options - I know of a lesbian couple who successfully used a turkey baster - and I figure shinobi would be at least that creative.

In my head, I imagine a little glass jar of sperm, carefully applied to the cervix by an Iryō nin who then encourages fertilisation over the next few hours.

Not too hard, no more invasive than a pap smear for a female, and no more invasive than jerking off into a cup for a male.

Plus the hilarity of Hashirama carefully carrying a jar of Tobirama’s sperm through the hospital while everyone else makes faces and both he and Tobirama are perfectly nonchalant about it all. Honestly, I would have done it for that alone.

Now, in a patriarchal clan or civilian family, the females might be happy to give up rights to their kids to the couple who made a surrogacy contract with them (the Shimura would totally do this). But the specific options here are the Senju, the Uzumaki, and the Uchiha and every single one of them counts the kids born to females as theirs.

Born to a Senju mom - you can claim membership in the Senju Clan.

(Again, I cover this in World Building - Why the Senju Clan Head can be More Authoritarian than the Uchiha Clan Head in The World Building of Escape and Evade.)

Born to an Uchiha mom - you’re an Uchiha, no arguments. Because Sharingan.

Born to an Uzumaki mom - Uzumaki! (Unless you can convince them to give up the kid. And then you’re really going to have to bribe them.)

So, none of these clans are going to give up any kids born to the clan females without a serious fight. You need to convince them somehow.

Now we come to Tobirama's kids!

Now Tobirama wants children - of his DNA or adopted he doesn't really care. He is a chronic adopter of any child who will stand still long enough for him to ask if they have a responsible adult looking after them. (See: Kagami and Team Tobirama)

But his DNA is hot property.

Everyone wants it.

They all know they're going to get surrogacy offers.

And the Senju believe in nailing all this stuff down way ahead of time so there are no arguments later.

Which is why Mito brings it up.

Madara immediately shoots it down.

He doesn’t want to give up the DNA of his future husband to the Uzumaki.

(He doesn’t say anything about the potential offers of Senju surrogacy contracts)

He accuses Mito of acting in the best interests of her former clan - the Uzumaki - instead of her current clan - the Senju.

(This is the kind of behaviour that started the firefight by the way.)

Mito disagrees vehemently and defends her position physically.

Izuna chimes in with a compromise that allows all three clans to offer surrogacy contracts, but for Tobirama to look at the Uzumaki one first before the Senju and the Uchiha.

It’s Tobirama’s decision which contracts he picks.

To specifically cater to the Uzumaki Clan’s matriarchal nature, the children of an Uzumaki surrogate will pick their clan allegiances when they come of age.

This is a particularly nice bit of negotiating on Izuna’s part since it appeals to the traditional Senju philosophy of ‘clan by choice and oath’. Very clever of him - Mito is bound to accept. She can’t disagree without betraying the Senju official policy, even though it forces her to disagree with the matriarchy practiced by her former clan.

It also doesn’t give up anything for the Uchiha - No Uchiha blood goes into a Tobirama and Uzumaki surrogacy.

Madara traps her even more by pressing for any child of such a surrogacy to be placed with the Uchiha if they manifest the Sharingan. Which anyone, with a little thought, should know is so extremely unlikely as to be almost an impossibility.

This is why she agrees so ungraciously - she recognises she’s been played.

Everyone agrees this is a viable option to present to Tobirama for approval.

Chapter Text

I’m assuming here that you are referring to how ‘a symbol of subjugation’ by evocates specifically uses the clownfish jutsu / Oiroke no Jutsu to have children?

If you are, the answer is less about world building and more about authorial choice.

Basically, it boils down to me wanting the characters to have the jutsu they created in cannon.

Tobirama creates the Hiraishin in cannon - it’s his here too. Same with the Kage Bunshin.

Hashirama’s giant buddha - his here too.

Mito’s chakra chains - hers here too.

Minato reworks the Hiraishin to work for him - it’s his.

Kushina seals the Kyūbi into her body, leaving it accessible in a mindscape - I’ve given her a seal that does something similar.

Naruto invents the Oiroke no Jutsu - it’s his. No one else will create a sex change jutsu before him.

My own authorial choices about characterisation forbid Tobirama to invent the clownfish jutsu. He is reduced to more traditional methods.

Chapter Text

The way Senju negotiate the marriage contract goes like this:

Weapons are removed when the representatives lay out the initial contract.

They then take that agreement back to the Primaries, who make changes and send it back so the representatives can negotiate again.

No weapons again at the negotiation.

The weapon removal is symbolic. It displays a promise not to use physical aggression.

It does not disallow retaliation if aggression is applied to a representative. They’re shinobi after all. They would never agree to be defenceless.

You will note that Seto did not lay down his weapons in chapter 41 of Escape and Evade (Omake - Make a Deal (with the Devil)).

It’s customary but not necessary.

Mito is doing it as a promise that she is negotiating in good faith - it gives her extra social capital going into the negotiation.

Tobirama is absolutely doing the back and forth thing - he has a list of things he wants and Mito is holding onto it. If she can’t get them for him, she has to go back to him and they need to work it out. Anything that Madara negotiates for, she will take back to him.

When Mito and Hashirama say ‘agreed’ what they mean is ‘we agree to add this to the version we are currently editing and will send it up to Uzushio for Tobirama to inspect’. They are agreeing to convey it to him, not agreeing for him.

In chapter 44, Tobirama will inspect the final version and give it his approval.

However, the primaries also have the option to take up their concerns directly with the opposing representative, something Mito explicitly (and maliciously) laid out as an option in chapter 41.

By doing that, the primary is making clear that they are so offended at the proposed stipulation that they must negotiate in person.

The representative is allowed to fight back. By any means appropriate to the level of offence delivered upon them by the opposing primary.

By taking his concerns directly to Mito, Madara has opened himself up to personal negotiating on his own behalf.

All it took was for him to scream at her, allowing her to yell back.

Then Madara took offence and laid a physical hand on her.

She laid one back.

Cue the firefight.

The representatives are supposed to prevent stuff like this.

Madara didn't ask around enough to know the consequences according to Senju courtship customs.

Just like he didn't ask what Senju courtship customs actually were. (And you can see Mito's displeasure about that in chapter 41.)

He screwed himself over.

(This is a big thing in the plot when Izuna's triad courts their Senju fourth. They all know not to make this mistake. Seto is taking careful notes from this courtship on whatnot to do. Madara is his guinea pig.)

Lastly, this is Mito and Hashirama’s version of a shovel talk.

Instead of threatening to hurt Madara if he hurts Tobirama, they are doing two things:

1. Performing violence upon his person in an effort to demonstrate their physical capability to hurt him
2. Listing all the things they expect Madara to do for Tobirama in his marriage.

Their initial list was deliberately extreme.

Dinner with Tobirama every other day? It showed that they were going to be checking up on him extremely often.

So it is a threat.

Hurt Tobirama and we will come after you with everything we have, and let us show you how bad it will get.

Mito specifically manipulated the contract negotiations so that she and Hashirama could do this.

Because she doesn’t trust Madara with her beloved brother.

I could have called it a shovel demonstration, but I’m not sure anyone would have gotten the joke.

Chapter Text

A lot of things that we take for granted in our modern social structures have evolved with us and either do not exist in the world of Escape and Evade, are warped because of shinobi culture, or haven't developed yet. (The way the Uzumaki practice democracy is a prime example.)

This is a big part of the humour of the story!

From puns to stand up comedy, humour is transgressive. When the characters do something that we regard as weird we either laugh or feel threatened. I try to err on the funny side of the line, but sometimes things upset the reader.

It's something I was told when studying anthropology:

"If you think it looks wrong, it's because the topic is rubbing up against the social structures of your own culture. Take a deep breath, don't freak out, and try and trace the disconnect. You are the human barometer of the pressures of social constructs. Analyse your own responses carefully."

This is a direct quote from my mentor and it stuck with me.

(This is also why anthropologists never study their own cultures, by the way - everything feels right to them. They need the internal conflict to see the external differences.)

So when a reader tells me something looks wrong - I pay careful attention because it means that something I wrote is rubbing up against their social instincts and I've done a good job with building a world foreign enough that shinobi could actually exist and do the (problematic to us) things they do in cannon, or I've missed a trick and fallen down on the world building.

Thank you to all the readers who tell me what they think.

Chapter Text

Lovely! A very good description of how Tobirama ends up conceptualising it by the end of the story!

But that's not Tobirama's perspective in chapter 44 - it's too obviously subversive for him.

So he doesn't come up with it.

He was prepared to have a touching goodbye with his brothers and be broken hearted, remember.

This is a part of the the culture that goes along with the family lineage / clan / ancestor worship mindset that I used when doing the world building. Strictly speaking, becoming a daughter (or a 'daughter' in this case) to the husband's family means leaving everything behind. So, I had to deal with that for Tobirama - it would have been culturally expected. One can't be of two lines, so becoming one means leaving the other.

But her MITO weaponises her own cultural background against those ideas.

When she says:

“Tama-chan, Kawa-chan! Your Nii-chan is being silly. Of course he will still be your Nii-chan! He is not leaving you or our family.”

“Though one may move a plant between gardens, it is still the same plant.”

“Nii-chan will still talk to you here, and he will bring your pictures with him to the Uchiha - just as he does every year to Uzushio so that you can see the sea and watch the dolphins play.”

She uses the traditional Senju philosophy of ‘clan by choice and oath’ to point out that - since his children are potentially of the Senju, even once he becomes an Uchiha (something he just approved in his marriage contract) - there's no reason that his dead brothers cannot still be part of his family line. She then backs it up with a metaphor that would be inherently appealing to a Senju - that of a plant and gardening.

(Side note: you can see that all the characters use metaphors related to their clans. Hashirama and Tobirama use plant analogies, as does Mito since she's a Senju by adoption. But Mito also thinks in analogies relating to birth and the sea because of her upbringing as an Uzuamaki. The Uchiha, obviously, use flame as a metaphor for almost everything, but always compare Tobirama's chakra to water because of his suiton affinity - you can tell a lot about the way various Uchiha think about him by which types of water metaphors they use.

Tobirama is the only character to use a metaphor that isn't related to a clan at all. Although he uses plant metaphors when talking about clan matters and his relationship with his family - he thinks of himself as a badly forged sword.

Because Butsuma. *squashes him like a cockroach again*)

She then concludes with a reminder that he already brings Itama and Kawarama everywhere he goes (he carries their pictures in his sleeve) and burns incense to them daily while he's away in Uzushio, so this is not that different.

Even though, strictly speaking, it is - in Uzushio he was still Senju, he's now becoming Uchiha.

But she frames it so carefully in the context of the familiar that she slips this logical fallacy right past him as behaviour that he already finds perfectly normal.

Once again, Mito saves Tobirama.

It's her last act in the rescue mission that her clan assigned to her and she took on of her own will when she was 18. Now, at 25, she no longer needs to save him. He has the tools to save himself.

"her beloved Otouto who no longer needs her protection. He has grown beyond it."

Her mission lasted 7 years, and brought her a beloved brother who she doesn't want to give up, but knows that she must - he is not hers to control.

No wonder the moment is bittersweet for her.

Chapter Text

You're absolutely RIGHT about the feeling of violation causes by unwanted sexual contact - NO MATTER THE INTENT OF THE PERSON DOING TO TOUCHING.

100%.

This is not how therapy is done in the real world.

AT ALL.

If my writing has made you feel bad or triggered negative emotions / memories of any kind, I am most sincerely sorry.

Totally sorry.

Having said all of that, please allow me to explain the approach I have taken here.

Here goes:

Therapy can only be done with the consent of the patient. If the patient doesn't want to be there, all the therapy in the world will not help.

Therapy must be presented in a form the patient will accept. If the concepts presented are rejected by the patient, it doesn't work.

Here, in this story, Tobirama went up to Uzushio for one thing only:

He wanted training in his sensory abilities to get a benchmark. A data sample.

Just like in chapter 25 (About to Run (for the Third Time) - Tobirama), he's fixated on the idea.

He hasn't given up on it.

And he won't.

He specifically wants a sample of:

a) sexual attraction with care for consent (as a contrast to the sexual attraction without care for consent that he's already experienced)
b) romantic attraction (he has no idea what this is and no one has been able to explain it in words for him to his satisfaction)

He wants to feel them with his sensory abilities so he can replicate them in himself.

He's stuck, he can't do it on his own, no one in the Village will help him, but he knows that Mito's teacher taught her how to identify them. Ergo, she can do the same for him.

So the Uzumaki know that he's come for help with this.

He's stubborn as hell and won't listen to anything they say.

How do they help him?

They give it to him.

Remember: The canonical approach to Therapy by the Uzumaki is performed by NARUTO and he PUNCHES people into better mental health.

My version is based on a different world building, but still alludes to the cannon approach in it's bizarre and unpredictable nature.

This is what they are doing WITH TOBIRAMA.

Because he is Tobirama and his mind works in weird and wonderful ways.

It is not how they would approach things with ANYONE ELSE.

So they actively allow him to sense their emotions.

He wants to feel sexual attraction with care for consent?

He can have it.

From a source that they believe he will find unthreatening.

Thus what Mito's Sensei is doing.

She is carefully allowing him to sense her very mild sexual attraction to him, with care for his consent.

She can sense - with her own abilities - when she is making him uncomfortable. And she will back off.

Tobirama does not have the same ideas about physical contact being sexual that most readers will.

Remember: He underwent a physical exam to prove his virginity without a qualm. To him, that was completely non-sexual.

And so is this.

It is weird.

It is strange.

But it is not sexual - in his head.

And Sensei can tell.

So, to sum up.

Intent wouldn't matter to us, but it matters to Tobirama because he can feel it.

She doesn't intend to sexually assault him, and he can feel THAT.

She doesn't sexually assault him, because he doesn't FEEL it as sexual. Not conceptualise it or classify it - he doesn't feel it. It has nothing to do with sex TO HIM. It's like patting a two year old on the butt. Not sexual to them.

She is carefully leading him into the idea that actions he doesn't interpret as sexual can be to others, and actions he does interpret as sexual might not be to other people.

(Kunoichi honeypot training here. Presentation, intent, and the reception of the target are key.)

Her age is a factor, not because old people aren't sexual beings (they absolutely are), but because she is physically NOT A THREAT to him. He can physically / use ninjutsu to overpower her at any point.

They aren't at the point where they can cover romantic love. (That will be covered in chapter 37)

Between this chapter and then, they will need to work on his sensory abilities so that he will have the fine chakra control to experience the nuances of the emotion for himself.

He won't believe in it otherwise.

I hope this explains their approach.

If it doesn't make sense to you in the context of this story, I'm sorry.

If I've made you feel bad in any way, I'm even more sorry.

In either of those cases, I feel regret for my actions and apologise.

Chapter Text

Firstly, let’s talk about what Mid-Autumn Festival is.

It’s a festival associated with moon worship held on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Han calendar—essentially the night of a full moon—which falls near the Autumnal Equinox.

To the Japanese people, this is what happens. Let me quote:

”Tsukimi (月見) or Otsukimi (お月見), meaning, "moon-viewing", also known as Jugoya (十五夜), are Japanese festivals honoring the autumn moon, a variant of the Mid-Autumn Festival

The custom is thought to have originated with Japanese aristocrats during the Heian period; influenced by the Chinese custom of Mid-Autumn Festival, they would gather to recite poetry under the full moon of the eighth month of the solar calendar, known as the "Mid-Autumn Moon." On the evening of the full moon, it is traditional to gather in a place where the moon can be seen clearly, decorate the scene with Japanese pampas grass, and to serve white rice dumplings (known as Tsukimi dango), taro, edamame, chestnuts and other seasonal foods, plus sake as offerings to the moon in order to pray for an abundant harvest. These dishes are known collectively as Tsukimi dishes (月見料理, tsukimi ryōri).

Members of the aristocratic class would hold moon-viewing events aboard boats in order to view the moon's reflection on the surface of the water. The writing of waka poetry was also an element of such mid-autumn moon viewing festivities.”

So it was a cultural occasion - special food, sake, poetry, and moon viewing in a beautiful location.

In my AU, this is what the daimyo’s court does.

But it is not what the Uchiha do.

Instead they do the Run, which is heavily influenced by several themes that I remember from the Mid Autumn Moon Festivals of my childhood in South East Asia.

(And yes, I know that I've just screwed up my graduating qualifications for becoming a runner because the full moon is always up all night during the Mid Autumn Moon Festival so waiting for moonrise is totally irrelevant. Call it poetic licence okay? *reorients the moon for my convenience, just like Naruto cannon*)

The first one is that of family - In China, the Mid-Autumn festival symbolises the family reunion and on this day, all families will appreciate the moon in the evening, because it is when the moon is at its fullest. The second one is thanksgiving, to give thanks for the harvest, or for harmonious unions. The third is prayer, such as for babies, a spouse, beauty, longevity, or for a good future.

All three of these seemed appropriate to me for a group on shinobi who were starting a new year.

They’re thankful to have survived another year, they gather to support each other as family, and they offer their hopes for the future - their children - to the night and the full moon.

For a clan that worships Amaterasu, it is the only time of the year they worship Tsukuyomi.

Finally, there are two other bits of cultural context to take into account:

The first is a popular legend concerning the Han Chinese's uprising against the ruling Mongols at the end of the Yuan dynasty (1280–1368 CE), in which the Han Chinese used traditional mooncakes to conceal the message that they were to rebel on Mid-Autumn Day.

The second is that the Mid-Autumn moon has traditionally been an occasion to celebrate marriages.

Simply put, the combination of the traditions of courtship and war made it too perfect to resist.

Chapter Text

I’m going to trace the first ideas behind the ranking system and how it evolved, until it stabilised somewhere around the time the children of the founders started attending the Academy.

Initially, it was pretty simple.

If you could master the signature ninjutsu of your clan, you were an adult. This eventually became the idea behind Genin, the most junior rank of shinobi. Basically, it meant that the chakra coils had stabilised enough for the shinobi in question to master ninjutsu, a fundamental requirement for being a shinobi. During the war, this was the Great Fireball for the Uchiha, and whatever basic ninjutsu you had the affinity for among the Senju.

Then the Uchiha introduced the idea of the Run to the rest of the village. At its core, the Run is a ritual designed to ensure shinobi can evade pursuit and escape capture - effectively, SERE training. Once passed, the Uchiha considered the shinobi a full adult, capable of taking on regular missions. Shinobi capable of taking missions, but not ones of unusual strength of prowess. This was the inspiration for the Chūnin rank. It allowed the village to restrict missions away from the younger shinobi who had less training and could not prove themselves.

Finally, there were the senior members of each clan - the ones everyone in the clan knows are the heavy hitters. These became the inspiration for Jōnin. Senior shinobi, capable of mounting rescues of others and the ones to watch out for on the battlefield.

At the start of Escape and Evade, all the characters are already using these terms although they are new and unfamiliar to them. The village had only existed for three years at that point, and the Academy had been founded two years before.

It was pretty simple and basic. Especially when you know everyone in your clan. It also works in a society when everyone starts out as a child soldier and simply tries to survive for as long as they can.

My head cannon is that - before the formation of the village - shinobi who lived until 40 were considered to have lived full lives. Shinobi who lived to 60 or more were a great rarity, thus creating the idea of the ‘elders’, old shinobi who would offer their experience to the next generation of leaders.

But once the village was formed and the Senju and the Uchiha started living together and taking missions together, things became more complicated.

For a start everyone needed to have a common understanding of what is a basic set of shinobi skills. For the Uchiha Clan who only accept mastery of the Great Fireball as a requirement for adulthood, the Senju penchant for releases other than fire would have been problematic.

Then there’s the problem of familiarity. You may know everyone in your clan, but how well do you know the people in the other clan? How well do you know their skills? Their ability to lead?

It all became incredibly problematic quite quickly.

Finally, there is the issue of the motivations of the founders.

Hashirama and Madara initially conceived the idea of the village for their younger brothers. For Tobirama and Izuna, specifically. (These familial relationships are a strong theme in this series, I talk as much about them as I do the official romantic pairing.)

In Madara’s case the village is a solution to the problem he created when he put Izuna’s life above the rest of his clan, leading to dissatisfaction and potential resistance to his leadership. The village and the peace it represents were the only solution he could figure out. It’s a tangled mess and his inner monologue specifically talks about this in chapter 11 of Escape and Evade (After the Run (Again) - Madara. I explore it in even more detail in chapter 9 of The World Building of Escape and Evade (Characterisation - Madara in Chapter 11).

For Hashirama, it’s even simpler.

Tobirama was abused by their father Butsuma, partly in an effort to control him. Tobirama was held hostage to Hashirama’s behaviour. (I explore that The Dark Underbelly of Escape and Evade, but please read with care. It’s very dark.) The village is his chance to give Tobirama the childhood he never had, complete with child playmates, candy, treehouses, and a BFF.

Following on for those personal motivations, all of the four male founders (but not Mito), were child soldiers - as were most of the Senju and Uchiha.

It was normal for them.

All the founders, including Mito, are determined that the pattern not continue.

Thus the creation of the Academy so soon after the creation of the village.

They all agreed on it, worked on it, planned for it - but it was Tobirama who claimed it as his personal project. He is the official founder, in charge of its development, and its curriculum is heavily influenced by his world view. In effect, it’s how he thinks children should be raised in a world of shinobi.

Developing the Academy is how he spends a third of his working life at the time of Escape and Evade.

The first year was a crapshoot of hit and miss, the second year was making sure all the solutions put in place the first year actually worked, the third year was taking sure all the infrastructure / governance structures were in place and self sustaining, and the fourth year was supposed to be Tobirama's year to tweak the curriculum based on the results of what was and wasn't working. Needless to say that got a spanner thrown into the works when Tobirama had a bunch of drama explode in his personal life and he booked it up to Uzushio to finally get some therapy but he’ll get back to it.

Eventually, this is how it all shakes out.

Firstly, and most shockingly, Academy education is universal. It is not restricted to shinobi. All the children in the village must attend.

Children start the winter after they turn three. This is deliberate. Winter is the time kids are - by virtue of the weather - cooped up inside anyway. In an agriculturally based economy, it’s a quiet time. Civilian parents are desperate to get their kids off their hands and doing something. Free childcare is a godsend - the parents resist sending their children off to school less.

As for shinobi, clan kids start training around that age anyway. The basics of breathing, meditation, and physical conditioning are best started early so they become ingrained in the mind and muscle memory. It’s normal for them.

The Academy teaches basic literacy, mathematics, a smattering of history and the local politics, enough manners that you can actually talk to people who aren’t your social rank without offending anyone, and a basic introduction to the scientific method - the last was not deliberate, but Tobirama talks so much about science when he’s there that the kids all picked it up and the tradition just continued.

Most importantly, it teaches self defence.

To everyone.

All the civilian kids get the basics of taijutsu and some weapons training.

Not the chakra enhanced stuff, they can’t do that, but all the physical conditioning is definitely within their wheelhouse.

They aren’t held to as high a standard as the shinobi kids, but they can do enough to defend themselves and get away from a stronger opponent.

This is a legacy of Butsuma and how he formed Tobirama.

His own childhood fuelled his determination to do better by the next generation. It also shaped his world view that - particularly in combat - the best defence is a strong offence. (I shaped him like this to match his reputation as war hawk in cannon.)

He grew up physically weaker than those he considered his opponents - Butsuma, Miu - and then fought on a battlefield with two shinobi far stronger than himself - Hashirama and Madara. Thus, he will always be on the lookout for an opening where cunning and leverage can overpower someone stronger in a fight.

You can see it in the way he fights Madara in the second year of the Run in chapter 6 of Escape and Evade (Time to Run (Again)) - he uses terrain to his advantage, lays a trap, has escape routes prepared in case his trap doesn't work, and goes for the kill strike as soon as he can.

In a fight, and on the battlefield, his instinct will always be to strike first.

In the Academy, this is the way he does it - he preempts the problem of child abuse by creating the conditions for children to fight back.

He has no intention to create child soldiers - in fact, he’s very much against the idea - but he wants them to be able to defend themselves.

In cannon, this line of thinking would have lead to the conscription of Genin during the Shinobi World Wars. I don’t plan for that to happen here - mostly because I intend for the first Shinobi World War to the the last Shinobi World War - but I wanted to allow for the world building that made it canonically possible.

So all the kids get taijutsu and weapons training, which allows the teachers to pick out talented kids early on. Anyone who shows a talent for combat gets the option to move onto shinobi training if they want to. Even if they have no chakra.

In the world of Escape and Evade, Rock Lee would not be alone. He would not even be unusual.

He would be the hero of all the civilian born kids who train without chakra and they cheer wildly for him when they see him beat his fellow shinobi into the ground without internal chakra release.

He is their champion and the peak of what they all aspire to be.

(Gai becomes the head of taijutsu training at the Academy. Surrounded by passionate youth everyday, teaching what he loves, mentoring his beloved student. It’s his happy ending.)

Eventually, the civilian kids graduate and the Academy is left with kids who need shinobi training if they have chakra or want it despite not having chakra. This generally happens by about age 9, although children don’t graduate by age - they graduate by skill. If a child has trouble with any of the skillsets, they graduate later. The bar is set fairly low - especially for self-defence - so civilian kids who master it all often graduate early. The child of a family of merchants who grows up in a culture that takes literacy and mathematics as given will graduate earlier than the child of a farmer whose parents don’t own a book. It’s perfectly natural, and normalised.

Shinobi teachers with ears like bats don’t tolerate bullying unless they want to be sternly lectured by Tobirama with Izuna looming threateningly in the background because he wants to take his BFF away for Science and resents how much time the Academy is taking. And nobody wants that.

This is when the Academy really starts in on the advanced education and the ranking system comes into play.

The kids then get a more advanced version of all the basics. This stuff is aiming to prepare them for life not just outside their families, or in civilian life, but life with clans not their own - to interact with people outside the village.

Advanced literacy, enough mathematics to figure out stuff like weapon trajectories, a deeper understanding of history and the clan wars specifically, local politics throughout Hi no Kuni - that’s often taught by disguised Recon shinobi in short briefing style classes as it gets potential shinobi used to how field shinobi work, manners so that you can interact with other clans and the heads of civilian villages - taught by the Diplomatic Service in briefing style again.

Skills for shinobi life are taught too.

How to take care of your weapons and armour, how to survive in the wild, how to negotiate with people of all ranks and classes, how to move, how to hide, how to disguise yourself when you don’t actually have the equipment you’d like to have, how to escape capture, how to evade pursuit, how to run for home and when you should make that decision, tactics, strategy, how to make contingency plans, the hand signal language. The list is almost endless.

If they have the chakra for it, the kids are taught the ninjitsu to back all of this up.

The shunshin, the bunshin, how to tree walk, how to water walk, how to climb walls, how to roof walk, how to conceal yourself with chakra (Izuna teaches this, and Recon later continues the tradition), how to manipulate your chakra to give false impressions (taught by Seto and Kikiyo initially, but later by the Diplomatic Service), how to spike your chakra in patterns to communicate or call for a rescue, how to use your chakra to overwhelm others and how to project killing intent deliberately for intimidation. (Madara teaches that one personally and the whole class always freaks out. Tobirama needs to wash his chakra over all of them after to get them to calm down and they all pile onto him for cuddles. Madara stands in the corner and pouts that he’s not allowed in the cuddle pile with his husband.)

Everyone does weapons handling.

Kunai, senbon, shuriken, makibishi, and ninja wire are all required masteries. Students don’t graduate until they have them all down. Kids who show an aptitude for other, more specialised weapons are passed on apprentice style once they’ve mastered the basics. Tōka takes anyone who wants to learn the naginata or any other pole arm. Tobirama, Izuna, Seto, and Kikiyo take the kids who want to learn kenjutsu. Madara offers to teach fūma shuriken, gunbai, kama, and the kusarigama, but most kids try, can barely lift any of them, and give up. The only weapon he teaches with any consistency is the kusarigama right along with Mito who also teaches the kusari-fundo.

Hashirama is always the target for graduation tests and laughs joyously while he’s being attacked.

None of the kids ever score on him.

(They all get very used to dodging his vines though.)

Then there’s the ninjutsu.

The students get sorted by affinity and apprenticed to shinobi who can teach it. All the basic releases for their affinities have to be mastered, and the list was decided by the founders all together. Tobirama and Izuna did lots of research in the archives to work out exactly which releases were used most often on missions and made sure to include them.

If the student is taking a specialised weapon, they have to master the associated ninjutsu for it too. Their teacher decides when they’re good enough.

Only after they have all of this down, can they become Genin.

This is the founders answer to ‘no child soldiers’.

When the village was formed, there were lots of shinobi who had been doing missions for years who the founders believed were not ready to take on the missions the village planned to take. They only wanted to take the highest paying missions which would bring them the greatest social and political capital.

Even some of the Uchiha runners weren’t seen as ready.

So how did they convince all of these existing shinobi to hang around the village and stop taking missions?

They announced that the pressure to graduate shinobi young was due to the demands of the war. Without that pressure, they offered to expand the skillsets of all shinobi as much as possible - particularly through cross training - and announced that, ultimately, the village would only end up sending Jōnin on missions outside of the village territory.

If you want to take the high paying missions again - you make Jōnin.

Everyone went back to training.

(Things like the Run only made the social capital you could gain even more valuable.)

Once students become Genin, they’re directly apprenticed to a Jōnin.

Jōnin are obligated to offer their skills for this.

They must do it.

But they also have jobs.

This is the other reason why the training is so comprehensive before a student can make Genin - they must not be a burden on their Jōnin.

They will follow their Jōnin everywhere. (Unless they don’t have clearance. Then it’s the responsibility of a Jōnin to find them something else to apprentice at in the village while they’re taking a classified mission.)

It’s not a random match up either.

The skill sets must match.

If you’re a fuinjutsu master, you get a student who has a talent for seals. Students with an affinity for fūton get paired with a fūton user. If the student has the intent to go into science, they get matched with someone in either of the village labs.

There’s a reason Minato gets mentored by Jiraiya while Orochimaru gets mentored by Izuna. They match in at least some ways.

Tsunade is mentored by Mito for diplomacy and Hashirama for Iryō ninjutsu. (Everyone is terrified.)

The Genin-Jōnin apprenticeship is also shorter than in cannon. They have less skills to learn, are basically adding refinements to what they already know, and it’s really about gaining field experience in the safest way possible.

Generally, it lasts less than two or three years.

(Iruka was a real outlier. Kushina kept him as a Genin for over five years because they were having too much fun together. By the time he became a Chūnin, they were the Terror Twins and Prank Masters of Konoha and he knew everything she did. Everyone else had been begging her to put Iruka forward for the Chūnin exams for years. Literally begging.)

Then the Genin takes the Chūnin exams. Tests of skill, endurance, survival, combat. They’re not that different to cannon.

All Chūnin start out with the Mission Desk.

This is traditional from the very first years of the founding because it integrates the new field ready ninja into the shinobi community.

That’s how Setsuna is introduced in chapter 9 of Escape and Evade (Missing Scene - Hokage Tower). He’s at the mission desk. It’s his first assignment after he makes Chūnin.

You meet everyone (except Recon), learn the mission ranking system, and read all the reports about all the shit that can go wrong. Plus, as Mission Desk staff, you learn how to do the report writing and file things in the archives correctly (Tobirama), form a bond with your fellow staff about all these slackers who can't seem to do paperwork to save their lives even when it might one day LITERALLY SAVE THEIR LIVES (Mito), and - if you display the right aptitude - T&I might come and poach you for the Intel department (Izuna).

Once you complete your mission desk assignment - usually about two to three years, unless a department poaches you early - you can specialise.

Chūnin are the backbone of Administration, T&I, Intel Department, Research Labs, Internal Defence, Sensor Division, Seals Division… the list goes on.

You can find a list of what some of the less obviously named departments do in chapter 22 of The World Building of Escape and Evade (World Building - How will ANBU work in this AU?)

Lots of these areas have Chūnin who don’t have chakra. Pretty much the only department that requires Chūnin to have chakra is the Sensor Division, for quite obvious reasons. There are teams within the various departments that require Chūnin with chakra only - the Barrier team within the Seals Division is a classic example - but the departments as a whole are generally open to them. If they can’t perform the ninjutsu, they do theoretical development. If they can’t make explosive seals, they go to the T&I covert labs and make chemical explosions there instead. T&I Chūnin who can’t perform genjutsu specialise in verbal interrogation techniques. That kind of thing.

Chūnin take missions outside the village but not outside the territory claimed by the village.

For that, you need to be a Jōnin.

You can make Chūnin without chakra, but you can’t advance to Jōnin.

Jōnin are the heavy hitters.

Their combat skills must be top notch.

It is the primary test to be a Jōnin - how do you do on the battlefield? You have to be able to fight your way out of whatever trouble you’re in and get yourself home, or be able to send up a big enough chakra flare that the sensor team knows that someone needs to go get you.

Jōnin work in all the same departments at the Chūnin, often at supervisory levels since experienced Jōnin often retire out of the field into administrative roles - the Jōnin Commander is one such role.

However shinobi don’t have to be Jōnin to take on supervisory roles. That’s down to experience and training. Thus, there is no such thing as a Tokubetsu Jōnin. You either have the combat skills or you don’t.

Once a shinobi makes Jōnin, they are assigned to Internal Defence. There they will be assigned a small Chūnin team, with whom they will perform various duties. These include but are not limited to: patrolling throughout the territory claimed by the village, patrolling the village itself, doing the stuff a typical Japanese police force does (they do not cover internal security - that belongs to T&I), and recon within the village territory.

Once the Jōnin has done their time in Internal Defence they can stay or choose to specialise.

There are three departments which only take Jōnin:

External Missions
Managed by the Jōnin Commander, missions assigned only with the approved by the Hokage

Jōnin only, runs standard shinobi missions of commerce protection, body guarding, courier.

Anything outside the village is done by pairs of Jōnin. The village is very selective about what they take, for both resource conservation and political reasons.

Reconnaissance
Headed by T&I

Spying outside the village territory. They look the most similar to ANBU simply because they wear the ANBU uniform when heading out. For very good reasons, their identities are protected. Tobirama mentions in chapter 22 of Escape and Evade (Omake - Revelation) that the existing Senju reconnaissance teams have the same system already.

Heavy Combat Team
Headed by Jōnin Commander, but managed by the team leads, missions assigned only with the approval by the Hokage

There will only be two of these, each with their permanent team lead.

They are reserved for long distance strikes on big targets, unauthorised shinobi incursions into village territory that can't be handled by the internal defence Chūnin/Jōnin teams, and most importantly - rescue.

When a Konoha shinobi gets into trouble and sends up a flare / chakra spike, these are the guys who land on their location like a bomb going off and get them home. Managed by the Jōnin commander (because let's face it, they're all Jōnin), but daily management of each team largely falls to the team lead.

This is actually one of the least demanding jobs as a Jōnin since they’re very rarely called out. They mostly stay in the village and train. Many of them have other jobs or are semi-retired.

Hashirama and Sarutobi Hiruzen are good examples. Hashirama is a dad and home maker. Hiruzen runs the academy.

Both are in different Heavy Combat Teams but neither one runs their team.

Diplomatic Service
Headed by T&I, missions assigned only with the approved by the Hokage

Diplomacy, assassination and honeypot missions.

Other than External Missions, each of these departments require specialisation.

The Diplomatic Service and the Heavy Combat Team have obvious requirements.

Reconnaissance has only two - shinobi must be able to do their jobs alone and without chakra. At all. Not even internal release.

Because they’re spies.

The identities of Recon must remain hidden or they can't be used again.

So the first time they bust their way out of trouble as themselves, they are effectively retired from Recon, unless the mess they make is deniable.

Thus the Heavy Combat Team who everyone knows about. They're the big threat of Konoha. When they land, everyone knows that something was going on and they might know what, but they shouldn't know who.

Recon is the hardest job in Konoha.

They are the shinobi’s shinobi.

Just like ANBU.

It is widely accepted that one cannot be a Jōnin without external chakra release.

Until Rock Lee becomes the star of Recon.

(But that is another story.)

Chapter Text

Izuna is damaged.

He's insecure, worries about his place in the clan, and is a chronic overachiever because of it.

He's also utterly ruthless with himself and will do what he believes is necessary for the good of his clan. Whatever that is.

But he also knows that his clan needs to see the fun, happy, Izuna that they love so much, and bring them a lighter side to the leadership team of Madara & Izuna.

He's under a lot of strain.

You just don't see any of that in Escape and Evade because that is Tobirama's story. Not until the very last chapter - and then you’re hit with half of his happy ending.

So this is what is going on with Izuna before that:

Izuna grew up in a large family. Five kids, two parents.

Then three of his siblings and their mom died. All that was left was Tajima, Madara, and him.

Three of them rattling around in that huge house, all alone.

And Tajima, burdened with grief and the responsibilities of being Clan Head, raised his last two sons like child soldiers - because they wouldn’t have survived the Clan War otherwise.

So Izuna grows up hard. His family and his clan expect a lot of him.

And then the river incident happens.

His brother almost abandons their clan. Madara chooses family in the end, yes - but the decision is so painful that his Sharingan is awakened.

Izuna knows now that Madara wants things neither the clan nor Izuna can give him.

He fears this.

It drives him.

He’s already talented - he achieved the Grand Fireball only a year after Madara despite being two years younger.

But when Madara makes his debut on the battlefield at 13, Izuna wants to be there too.

And he can’t be.

To join the battlefield, you have to be a runner. A full adult.

You can run courier missions as Prey, but you can’t be a warrior.

Izuna tries and tries. But every year, he’s Caught - by Madara.

He gets good enough that he almost escapes Madara, and then - the year after Hikaku becomes a runner - they join forces.

Now he has to escape both of them.

And they never let up. Never.

He fights, he yells, he accuses them of cheating.

Madara closes his ears - he’s doing this for his brother’s protection! Izuna will never fight on the battlefield if he can help it! Never take the kind of missions runners take! No, no, NO!

Hikaku agrees - it’s unfair, it sucks, he’s stuck. But Hikaku wants to protect Izuna too. Maybe in a few years, Madara will agree? Then Izuna can graduate.

Izuna spends six (!) Runs as Prey in total - four facing Madara alone, two facing both Madara and Hikaku - before Tajima says that he’s too good to be kept at home. He’s on the battlefield in violation of clan rules. Clan Head’s orders.

There’s lots of controversy in the clan, but Izuna is overjoyed.

Finally! Izuna now has another avenue to prove himself.

No longer is he struggling against two of the strongest Uchiha shinobi of his generation, he can prove that he’s good enough on the battlefield.

He can finally protect Madara, have his back, kill Senju, and everything will be great.

He will finally be an adult.

(He’s 13 - his thought patterns are pretty juvenile.)

And then, in his very first battle, he faces Tobirama.

He’s stalled again.

He can’t protect Madara.

Madara’s off fighting the plant monster and there’s no way anyone can get to them.

He can’t protect his clan either.

Every move he makes is countered or blocked by this white haired bastard in blue.

He wants to explode with frustration. But he can’t. He’s the heir.

Throwing a screaming tantrum about any of this would undermine confidence in his line and the leadership.

Oh, he can whine about small stuff, be silly - that’s fine, humanises them - but he can’t question Madara or Tajima’s decisions.

Stuck again. (It’s becoming a theme.)

So he tries, and he tries. He trains harder, gets stronger, learns more ninjutsu, activates his Sharingan.

But nothing works.

Tobirama grows right along with him.

They are perfectly matched.

Their push-pull feels like it’s never going to change.

He develops an obsession with Tobirama.

Everyone calls Tobirama the White Demon.

Fine, he will defeat the White Demon!

Alone!

The White Demon is his rival.

No one else is to interfere.

Then everyone will see him.

See that he’s finally good enough to be an adult. A full member of the clan.

He will never trust the Senju.

He will never believe an offer of peace coming from the plant monster.

What do the Senju know of peace?

They kill his clan mates, and prevent him and Madara from saving their lives.

Madara and he must fight to take the plant monster and the White Demon out.

If Izuna and Madara aren't on the battlefield, the clan will be naked and vulnerable to those two.

They will be slaughtered.

What does peace even mean? A ceasefire until the next death starts the war up again?

Possibly without Madara and himself - the two strongest Uchiha warriors in generations?

No, thank you.

Better to fight a war of attrition and hope for a lucky shot to take out either the plant monster and the White Demon.

He is 15 and he will never give up.

He will die for his clan.

And then the White Demon starts talking to him.

At first, he’s suspicious - it’s got to be a trick.

But it keeps happening.

And the White Demon is actually supplying valuable intel.

He’s got some good thoughts actually…

And, after several talks on the battlefield, Izuna realises that Tobirama is actually serious about this whole Peace thing, has a bunch of ideas about how it’s supposed to look, is actively working on a Peace Treaty, and is willing to offer proof in the form of dead bodies about how serious it is…

He realises that Peace is actually a possibility.

It’s actually something that he can see as working.

And it will make him an adult.

He will have brought PEACE to the CLAN.

So they knuckle down to it.

Under cover of all the fighting - which is mostly sparing at this point - they talk, make plans, bitch about their brothers who are also their Clan Heads, and try and figure out how to sell this idea.

By the time the Hiraishin incident actually happens - one year and three months from their first conversation - they have more blackmail material about the other clan than any sane person would be comfortable with.

Izuna and Tobirama are happy with that. They’ll do anything to get their way.

They are both ruthless in pursuit of their objectives.

They will both do anything to protect their clans.

They don’t trust each other, but they understand each other absolutely.

And then Tobirama performs the final act - he doesn’t kill Izuna when he could.

Izuna is convinced. Tobirama is trustworthy. He will advocate for everything they’ve planned within the Senju.

In return, he’ll publicly advocate for peace within the Uchiha.

The clan is convinced.

Peace talks proceed.

The village is formed.

But Izuna is still NOT AN ADULT.

WTF.

The peace treaty is seen as the product of their BROTHERS.

It’s said to be the brainchild of MADARA and HASHIRAMA.

He wants to throw that tantrum again.

Fine! He will throw himself at the next impossible objective.

He will make the village WORK.

He will convince the Uchiha to let go of all that paranoia and work with the Senju.

He will rope Tobirama in as his consultant.

He will finally be enough.

(Besides, it will be the best prank EVER.

No one said that being a grown up had to be BORING.)

Chapter Text

I know exactly what you mean about western influences - probably unavoidable given how the end of the Second World War affected Japan, plus how most authors write in English. I cannot tell you the number of times that I almost sat my Madara on a kitchen chair before realising that his kitchen wouldn't have chairs. I still had to give them chairs and desks for Hokage tower because I couldn't figure out they'd do that much paperwork without it, but Mito and Seto work off low tables at home while sitting seiza on tatami and every house has an irori. Everyone heats houses with wood. All houses have a genkan and an engawa. The Uchiha compound is surrounded by a wooden wall and has a mon. So is the village.

Hokage tower is the real outlier.

I'm not Japanese, but I am Asian and I've tried to draw on as many common elements of that plus what Japanese culture and history I know to create as much of an Asian feel to the story as I can.

For me, the Founders Era is set very much in some sort of mythical Edo period (they have pants, but also fight with swords, Obon still happens in the summer and is only 8 days after Tanabata, everyone still uses the lunisolar calendar, no electricity, no appliances, everything still shuts down at night unless it's lit by lanterns), and the First Shinobi war moves them - socially and technologically - into the Meiji era.

So all the founders kids, Madara's time as Nidaime, Kagami's tenure as Sandaime - all of that happens during a time of great change and upheaval.

By the time Sakumo becomes the Yondaime, Konoha is technologically similar to the post war boom but it's socially not there. Thus, they have electricity and apartments and kotatsu, but they also think in the terms of clans, alliances, and feudal power politics. It also explains the clothing.

(And yes, I know this means that I have vastly compressed the Meiji, Taishō, and Shōwa periods. Sorry! It was 80 years of history and I covered it in 50 or so years! I figured I could use Zetsu as an excuse 😝)

Chapter Text

This one is tricky.

Tobirama gets it - you're right - but Izuna doesn't get it.

Because he doesn't see that all of the changes that occured to the Uchiha since he brought Tobirama in on the Run are BECAUSE OF HIM.

He's the guy that's working the odds, playing the numbers, making a hundred different moves on a hundred different chess boards - each one is its own nudge.

When he actually achieves his objective - it's a surprise to him.

And he often doesn't recognise his achievements, because they weren't what he intended.

With the first run, he figured it was a FAILURE with some NICE SIDE EFFECTS (e.g. his boyfriends) because HE DIDN'T MAKE IT TO SUNRISE.

Experiment objective: not achieved = failure.

Everything after that gets assessed on its own merits.

Each is its own thing.

Izuna is not introspective.

For all that he disassociates (you refer to it as 'far' Izuna which is an excellent description), he always thinks about what is happening NOW and how to make it work to his advantage.

Tobirama is the one who is self critical and analytical, who looks to the past to predict the future. Tobirama sees the impact Izuna has had and appreciates it. Izuna sees a new day to fuck shit up in.

Chapter Text

YES! It's totally their MO!

Even in the lab!

Tobirama is the one who has rules and keeps track of his experiments and figures out what went wrong - SO. WRONG. - so that no one ever does it again.

Thus the Anija Safety Directives.

Whereas Izuna is all "Explosions! Doge the results! Didn't work! Apply more chemicals for a different result! Whoops! Bad smells... What did I actually change that made that happen? No idea."

Thus the importance of good reflexes when working in the T&I labs.

Tobirama was totally the planner for Hashirama and he makes contingency plans on reflex for everything.

Izuna loves planning with him for the Run because he can sit there and poke holes in all of his plans and watch Tobi twitch before he redirects off in a new direction.

It's when *neither* of them see it coming that their plans explode in their faces. See: Miu.

Also, it's what made Izuna so susceptible to Tobirama during the war.

All Tobirama had to do was put forward a plan with a hole and Izuna would poke it on instinct.

Like this:

Tobirama: When we build the village -

Izuna: *stabs at Tobirama* NOT WHEN. I never said we were going to do that!

Tobirama: *deflects* Fine. If we build the village, we cannot let Anija build all the houses.

Izuna: *attempts a leg sweep* Why not? The mokuton seems like it would be good for buildings.

Tobirama: *flips away* He forgets taps. And toilets.

Izuna: !!!

Izuna: I'm not living in a village with no toilets.

Tobirama: *flings a barrage of kunai* Yes. We will need to set aside an area for the night soil collectors to pool the waste before it can be transported out to the farmers.

Izuna: *leans sideways, barely dodges them* And the water system?

Tobirama: *uses water on the ground to grab at Izuna's feet* I believe that Edo has a very elegant system that uses gravity to direct water to all corners of the city.

Izuna: *jumps out of the puddle* Do you already have the plans?

Tobirama: *backs off* No. But I believe that your diplomats are better placed than ours.

Izuna: *throws shiruken* Hello! We are ENEMIES. I'm not giving you access to our diplomats.

Tobirama: *leaps sideways out of the path* No, but it would be valuable information for your clan to have. And, should we not be enemies in the future, it would be a valuable resource at any peace negotiations.

Izuna: Point.

Result:

Seto gets a request to obtain the maps for the pipe water systems of Edo. He's bewildered but does it anyway. His not to question why...

From the summer that Seto is 21 until the summer that he is 22, he continues to get a lot of very strange requests for information about infrastructure.

And then he meets Tobirama in person when he's courting Izuna after Tobirama's first Run (but he's had suspicions since Hikaku told him about how Izuna was now BFFs with the White Demon).

The meeting just confirms everything he was thinking. 😝

Chapter Text

I agree that it's really sad. One of my irl polyamorous friends looked over my plot outline for the Triad story and told me that clear communication, boundary negotiation, space for people to have arguments and work through differences etc, aren't polyamory specific but are often needed. I think BDSM is like that too.

The higher the stress level and the greater the risk - the more you need to communicate.

It's just that Izuna and Tobirama have very unusual methods of communication. They trust and communicate based on evidence and a past history that only they can / will see. It makes for a very private relationship. Which is only funnier because it has such public results.

I like the idea that from the outside it looks bewilderingly like nothing is happening, but on the inside there's a whole unheard conversation.

Talk about coded language!

I've been thinking about this a lot because I'm currently writing the triad’s story (To Tempt a Target or T3 for short) and I can see where Seto needs to build up to something like that.

He has this conversation with Hikaku about the different ways Izuna trusts people, and how he rarely trusts all of himself to anyone. Instead, he sections off all these bits of himself, and then trusts different people with different things.

His mind, his body, his life, his heart, his reputation...

He's a complicated guy, is our Izuna.

But I think the amount of stress in a relationship also applies to most shinobi in this world.

In our world we hold hands and think "Closeness! Aw!"

In this AU, the characters hold hands and think "I'm defenceless! I need to trust this person to defend me/us!"

All those combat instincts make for a minefield in relationships.

You need a higher level of trust just to start getting anywhere.

I had to take a day off writing and review the first 20 chapters of T3 yesterday just so I could make sure that Hikaku always had a hand free.

For example, he’ll hand Seto a parcel and then wrap one arm around Seto’s waist and it looks like a gesture that a modern couple might do. But really it’s Hikaku making sure that they each have a hand free to form seals / grab a weapon. Thank god I made Seto ambidextrous all the way back when I wrote chapter 2 of E&E so I don’t have to calculate dominant weapons hands for both of them.

Madara actually describes the literal hand games kids play in chapter 11 of E&E:

"It had been more akin to the games the younglings play than any true fight, both of them slapping and grasping for each other’s wrists, hands, and forearms. Looking back, he is sure he must have looked absurd, especially as he remembers grinning maniacally with the thrill of the fight.”

Fun times for shinobi kids, plus training to make sure they know how to break a hold on their wrists / hands.

There’s no sleeping on the engawa either. Not unless someone is keeping watch - and how relaxing would that be?

They sleep inside, behind shoji with seals painted on the paper.

(They do use mosquito nets in the summer though - they had those during the Edo period.)

The Triad does sit / lie in each others' laps, but it's a gesture of trust.

For example, in one scene in T3 when the triad is just starting to court, Izuna lies down and puts his head in Hikaku's lap (not Seto's, he's not ready for that yet) - but Madara is right on the opposite side of the room glaring at them.

It's an act of trust on Izuna's part, but not a big one because Madara is there to guard his back.

Hikaku, as the one being sat / lain on, also has his hands free to defend the Izuna despite a reduction in mobility. So it's a mutual thing. A sacrifice of mobility for closeness, with contingency planning to ensure the potential for defence isn’t compromised too much.

And they tend not to sit exactly... More lie down on the tatami and put their heads in each others laps. It’s easier to roll off and grab a weapon, plus all parties have their hands free unless they choose to hold hands too.

The trust element is more about letting someone else put their hands so near your face / neck.

And the dominant weapons hands!

Izuna is right handed, Hikaku is left handed (I wanted to make him non traditional) and usually uses the kunai / shiruken / senbon set - he's mostly a medium-long range fighter, medium with thrown weapons and doton for his long range attacks. So their non-dominant hands match. They can hold hands okay - Izuna's left in Hikaku's right. Seto is ambidextrous since I wanted him to simultaneously Catch Izuna with two hands in chapter 2 of E&E - seal in the left, kunai in the right - so he's okay too.

Tobirama and Madara are both right handed.

Thank god they both a) use mouth attacks and b) are ridiculously overpowered so they don't fear much - especially when they're together.

But for Madara to hold both of Tobirama's hands during his confession - while he was holding his sword and happuri, palm up - and kiss them was a Big Thing (wrist kissing on the heel of the palm again). Madara's neck was literally over his sword. When Madara kisses him, the Raijin no Ken - the symbol of their martial past - is crushed between them.

There was no way for either of them to do anything. They were both defenceless then.

And then, of course, Tobirama drops everything to touch Madara's face.

(I like to think it's the only time in his life he's treated a weapon so disrespectfully.)

And neither of them cared enough to think about any of it - so I never got to describe the picture I had in my head!

Chapter Text

It's all about the confidence.

In cannon, they were panicked and desperate. Tobirama sacrificed himself to give his students - his children basically - a chance to live.

Here, they don't just want to live. They want to capture these guys and find out WTF is going on. They want to drag these guys before the Raikage and yell about how his internal politics are putting their sensei at risk.

That's why Kagami wants both Heavy Combat Teams - he wants these guys trussed up like geese and made to tell all they know.

Tobirama is the best placed to get that request to the village ASAP. With anyone else, there'd be a chance they would be captured or killed instead. With the Hiraishin, Tobirama is guaranteed to succeed in summoning help.

Team Tobirama is very confident that they can stall these guys. No problem, Sensei. We will be RIGHT HERE when you get back. And so will these idiots.

They are his mentorship lineage, his students who will carry his teachings into the future. And they know it. They work actively to live up to his name and his teachings. That's why they are 'Team Tobirama'. They're his shinobi family.

Side note:

Kagami is only 23 in Escape, Evade, and Ensnare and he's the oldest of Team Tobirama. Hiruzen is 20 and he's the youngest. (You can sort of figure it our from clues scattered all over - particularly in chapter 49 of Escape and Evade but I decided not to make you hunt for it.) They've only just made Jōnin and this was their first big mission outside village territory. Under Tobirama's wing, a diplomatic mission to peace talks - it was supposed to be a MILK RUN.

That's not how it works out.

The peace talks are disrupted, the Raikage is injured, they have to flee home to report on the diplomatic incident and how the USEATC might face opposition from a new Raikage if the coup succeeds... and then these guys choose to chase them.

This is their first time up against a group of enemy Jōnin and it's the Kinkaku Force.

This is why Tobirama is so concerned. He knows his team is good. But are they this good?

And yet... he lets Kagami run the briefing. He takes Kagami's orders. Kagami is taichō for this mission - he's the protected party, and by sending him to safety Kagami is actually fulfilling his mission objectives as head of the Escort team to keep Tobirama safe at all costs - and he won't step in unless he has to.

He's proud that he doesn't have to.

Kagami has gown beyond him. As should be the case.

Just like in cannon when he leaves the future of the village in Hiruzen's hands, here he leaves the future of his legacy in Kagami's hands.

They've graduated.

And, just like in cannon with Hiruzen, Kagami will be the next Hokage.

On a less emotion filled topic...

Team Tobirama send him away from and welcome him back home - to the battlefield.

It's their home too.

They are perfectly at home there, and they have total confidence in themselves.

The Kinkaku Force won't know what hit them.

Chapter Text

Team Tobirama will not include Danzo.

The Shimura do not join the village until very late in the game. Same with the Hyūga. They may not ever join. Neither of those two clans have an interest in the village other than trade.

I have only mentioned them once each in Escape and Evade and those representatives were merchant factors. Not members of the main families. They were not even shinobi. They were civilian merchants who were associated with the Shimura and Hyūga clans.

(That’s why I always described them as representatives, and not Shimura or Hyūga.)

Those clans think of themselves as too dignified, and the village too silly, for them to lower themselves to be associated with it.

Additionally, they're scandalised by the idea that one of the Hokage would marry a man.

His line! His Lineage! They shake their heads and make "tut tut" noises. (They're both patriarchal and conservative.)

So no. that doesn't happen.

Instead, Danzo shows up as the diplomat for the Shimura when he's an adult - after the USEATC proves themselves worthy in the eyes of the Shimura by their performance in the First Shinobi World War.

He makes friends with Team Tobirama, but he's clearly an Outsider, and doesn't have much of an influence with them.

Kagami trains two Genin teams and continues Tobirama’s mentorship legacy. They jointly name themselves Team Kagami and he cries when the last of them graduate. He becomes Hokage after Madara retires. He will be the Sandaime.

Hiruzen goes on to lead the Academy. His nickname of ‘The Professor’ proves to be true and he dedicates himself to nurturing the minds, bodies, and hearts of the youngest children in the village. Not shinobi. Children. All the children.

When Naruto enters the academy, he calls Hiruzen ‘Jiji’. Everyone is amused, except for Minato who is terribly embarrassed at his son’s lack of decorum. Hiruzen shrugs and says that decorum is not a virtue associated with the Uzumaki and they leave it at that.

Torifu eventually retires from shinobi life and has a long and illustrious career as a chef. People pay top dollar for his food to be sent to them in sealing scrolls - a great luxury export for the village - and getting him to actually cook for them in person occasionally is a privilege the daimyo’s court pays through the nose for.

He becomes a celebrity chef.

As for Homura and Koharu - both of them are driven to war hawk policies by war.

Like Tobirama, they believe that the best defence is a strong offence.

Put the enemy off course, divert them, intimidate them, tip them off balance - and then kill them if you can, get them away if you can't.

But the second (and third, and fourth) Shinobi World Wars won't happen here.

Instead, Zetsu is discovered just after the peace talks with Kumo to prevent the First Shinobi World War happen.

Then a strike is organised on Zetsu by all the elemental countries jointly.

They make an alliance to deal with an outside threat FROM THE MOON.

In effect, ZETSU BRINGS THE SHINOBI - WORLD PEACE.

(or WHIRLED PEAS if you prefer the plant joke.)

Homura and Koharu are part of that strike team.

Their aggressive instincts to deal with a threat are directed there, and afterwards - in peace - they settle down.

They have no reason to fight anymore.

They go back to their lives.

Chapter Text

So the dead animals and the demonstrations of stalking - it’s probably the most problematic part of Kakashi’s behaviour up to this point.

He wasn’t hiding himself, he was deliberately making Iruka feel watched, it was making Iruka’s life difficult.

Why did he do it?

Partially, it was because Kakashi is nuts about Iruka, and he was desperate to get attention any way he could. His behaviour was the Hatake equivalent of a little boy pulling on the pigtails of a girl that he likes until she snaps at him.

Then, there’s the way Iruka challenged him to prove himself as a better shinobi than Genma.

Challenge accepted: he was proving himself as a Hatake. A predator who provides.

(Genma never brings Iruka food. Kakashi feels smug about that.)

Thirdly, he was doing the equivalent of a dog peeing on a tree. He was publicly marking his territory.

Finally - and most importantly - he was not allowed to get in Iruka’s face about any of this. Hatake rules forbid it. If he had, he’d have been admitting it was him and infringing on Iruka’s right to accept.

He had to preserve deniability - for Iruka.

The way he’s doing all of the crazy stuff just out of Iruka’s sight is not a bug - it’s a feature.

It’s Kakashi having care for Iruka’s consent.

It is - in the most twisted, warped, and trolling of ways - an act of love.

He’s laying himself out there, making himself vulnerable in an incredibly public fashion, giving Iruka every possible indication that it’s him doing the courting - while never getting into Iruka’s personal space.

He never goes into Iruka’s house.

He never touches Iruka’s stuff.

He never touches Iruka.

He doesn’t even speak to Iruka.

Iruka couldn’t hunt him back, if Kakashi confessed. He had to leave space for Iruka to publicly refuse him.

Which Iruka then does.

(Most Hatake do not go to this extent. They take the passive refusal to hunt back and move on. There are other potential mates out there. Kakashi is unusual. Wait till you see what Sakumo did. Both times.)

On the other side of things, everyone telling Iruka that Kakashi was courting him? That was them, in various ways, trying to explain all of this to him.

Iruka just didn’t believe it.

He didn’t trust a word anyone said on the topic.

“KAKASHI IS NOT A VULNERABLE PINING ROMANTIC, ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? HE’S AN ASS!”

oops.

All the way back in Chapter 20 of Escape and Evade, peacefully_violent asked me if there was some sort of enormous culture clash and miscommunication going on. They pointed out that Madara and Tobirama looked like they were speaking languages that seemed more or less the same at first glance, but are full of false friends on both sides so there's this huge misunderstanding.

I told them they were right.

The differences between the Senju being exogamous while the Uchiha are endogamous had huge impacts on their clan views of marriage and courting, and the whole of Escape and Evade was those differences being being smashed together in those two people.

“Watch them speak completely different languages about marriage.” I said.

That still holds true for this entire series.

Chapter Text

Hashirama’s first exposure to procreation was with plants.

He grew them from seeds and, quite reasonably, wanted to know where the seeds came from.

So he asked.

And the trees told him.

It wasn’t until he was fifteen and about to married to Mito that he realised that people procreate differently.

He’d just thought that women carried their seeds in their bellies. Babies were bigger and more complicated, they needed more resources to germinate, it made sense in his head.

Butsuma gave him a very short talk about how he needed heirs that included very oblique metaphors about planting seeds in fertile ground and he got the hell out of there as soon as he could.

He’s never wanted to take Butsuma’s advice on anything. Plus, half of what Butsuma said was so wrong. You don’t plant seeds like that!

So he asked Mito.

On their wedding night, Mito gave him a very practical and clearly worded talk about sex and human procreation.

She asked if he wanted a demonstration. He very quickly said no. He was overwhelmed by the information. It was so different to what he’d thought! And human bodies were much more complicated than plants. There were nerves for a start.

Then he thought about it. At eighteen, she was older than him. Did she need it? He was willing if she did.

Then Mito explained consent and care for comfort. She didn’t want it if he didn’t. Nobody should want it if their partner didn’t.

This was a revelation.

He’d known that what Butsuma was doing was wrong, but he didn’t know why. He’d just known that Butsuma was hurting them. He didn’t have the words for it.

Now he understood. It was wrong because they didn’t want it.

Consent was the key.

That was the night that Hashirama and Mito planned out how to kill Butsuma together.

He would die, and Hashirama would head the clan with care for their consent.

If he ended up leading a clan of just them and Tobirama that would be fine. They could all go and live with the Uzumaki right?

Mito assured him that they could. The Uzumaki would welcome them with open arms.

So they did it.

And it worked.

Butsuma died. The war ended. The village was formed. Otouto got married.

But Hashirama never lost his initial impressions about sex.

(Even when he has it. Mito finds it very amusing.)

Sex is just how you get pollen from one part of the flower to another.

He still thinks of sperm as pollen. The penis is a stamen. The vagina is a stigma. Women even officially have ovaries! Fetuses are fertilised seeds! It’s not that different! They just grow in people instead of the ground!

This really comes to the fore when he’s handling fertilisations in surrogates.

Normally, Hashirama narrates everything that he’s doing as he heals. Just like Tobirama cooking with suiton, it helps him keep track of everything that he’s handling all at once, and the patients generally find it reassuring since they can’t tell what’s happening like he can.

Or, if they can see, they often find it reassuring to hear about exactly why their organs are moving like that.

It’s calmed down more than one panicking shinobi with an open gut wound.

But almost no one wants to hear Hashirama baby talking to sperm.

As he coaxes the sperm into the fallopian tube, there is a lot of encouragement about how the pollen can absolutely do this - he has faith in them! Look at how hard they’re working! There is a seed right there, ready to be fertilised! And there, they’ve done it!

Then he’ll comfort the new mother with the thought that she just has to stay in the hospital for another day so that he can make sure the seed is properly settled into the soil and then she can go home.

Most women are aghast at hearing their uterus referred to as soil.

But not everyone.

The Uzumaki surrogate for Tobirama thinks that it is hilarious. She loves it and refers to the baby as a seed in her soil for the entire pregnancy.

Instead of coming down to the village for her second fertilisation, she asks Hashirama up to Uzushio instead and he does a whole bunch of fertilisations while he’s there too.

It becomes a thing.

Hashirama’s services as a medical doctor who specialises in fertilisation are in high demand - if you can stand the bedside manner - because he never fails.

You always get a baby.

As for their daughter, she gets called ‘Seedling’ by her mom and Hashi-oji until she goes to the Academy and insists that it’s too silly to use anymore.

Tobirama is very respectful of her choices and he’s always called her dolphin anyway.

But Hashirama still calls her that in private.

She will always be his seedling.

Chapter Text

Hashirama’s first exposure to procreation was with plants.

He grew them from seeds and, quite reasonably, wanted to know where the seeds came from.

So he asked.

And the trees told him.

He realised that seeds were baby plants. The potential for life, all tucked away in a small space, ready to grow.

He loves them.

Then he saw how Butsuma treated his children, and he hated that. He resolved never to be like that, and lives in terror of becoming his father once he has children of his own.

So he practised. First on his brothers and then, when the village is formed, on any child that he can lay his hands on.

As a shinobi, he knows that you don’t get anywhere without practice and lots of effort, even if you have a natural talent in something, and he knows that his line is prone to violence so he works even harder.

He practises being kind, patient, and loving. Being gentle and empathetic. Being everything that he sees in all the good parents around him.

And he comes to realise that it’s just like being a gardener.

He offers the plants love and care, encouragement and help, corrects them when they hurt themselves or each other, but otherwise gives them the space to grow into their own individual beings. They grow wild and love him in return.

He brings this revelation to Mito.

She smiles at him and he can see their future flower in her eyes.

He’s ready to be a father.

Chapter Text

Kunoichi lessons aren't called that anymore. Seto showed everyone that it wasn't just kunoichi that could use it.

In fact, Koharu dresses like a man at the daimyo's court.

They're called lessons in diplomacy - because that's what they are.

How to talk to people from all over, how to present, how to charm, how to appear charmed, how to read people... it's all there.

Only if you do well in that at the Academy are you assigned to an existing diplomat whose skill set you are to adopt for your own.

Like fuinjutsu, a genin-jōnin apprenticeship in diplomacy is often significantly longer than any of the others.

Diplomacy is being an expert in people, followed up by a very specific disguise based on your existing talents.

It takes a while to develop the persona.

Chapter Text

You basically said everything his parents are thinking. They have no sympathy for him. None. They just hope that his potential in-laws won't actually drown him.

The problem is that - of all the characters in this AU - Kakashi has a bigger dichotomy between his inner self and his outer 'face' than anyone else.

He actually has two faces: Hound, the work personality, and 'Kakashi', the scarecrow designed to throw people off the scent and scare off interaction with people outside of his Pack.

They're both fake.

‘Kakashi’ - the personality that is a facsimile of a human being - can’t help poking at people. He can't not do it. If it's interesting, he pokes it. He's like those puppies that keep nosing cats who scratch them. It’s his regular personality set to TROLL and turned up to ELEVEN on a scale of TEN.

Hound - hilariously, the personality actually named for a dog - is a serious, competent operative. It’s nearly silent, does its job well, completes all its mission objectives, and never talks back to its superiors. It only cares about the work. It wants nothing except to do it’s job and come home. It’s not a human. It’s barely a personality. It’s the only reason he still has a career in Recon.

The real Kakashi isn’t a dog or a scarecrow.

It’s a wolf.

The real Kakashi is the one who gave himself the pep talk. The guy who was at the mercy of his instincts, and running wild on them without a control. The one who couldn't stay away from Iruka, was desperate not to be hurt, and had to protect Iruka all at the same time.

The vulnerable one who was desperate to protect, provide, and prove himself.

He's totally feral and the fake personalities are the collars he chokes himself with so that he can function as a human.

It's no wonder they're so extreme.

Sakumo is like Kakashi too.

He's a wolf pretending to be a tame dog.

It's just that he's very upfront about it with everyone and so he comes across as more feral than Kakashi when he's actually less.

Kakashi has hidden his true self like this long before he was assigned to Recon. He’s done it since he was a child. It’s because his personal pack is mostly not Hatake. His parents are the only official Hakate members. Gai, Minato, Obito, Rin. Then Iruka, Kushina, and Naruto - especially Iruka and Naruto as his Mate and Cub. They're all outsiders. They’re not Hatake. They’re not safe within the embrace of his clan. He has no official claim on them.

They’re all members of other clans.

He feels that he must appear more human to keep them. He’s terrible at it.

Sakumo, on the other hand, grew up among the Hatake Clan. He only moved to Konoha when he was 20, and spent almost all of his personal time among the Hatake until Kagami made him Yondaime. His personal pack has only one non-Hatake in it - Orochimaru - and they’re bonded as closely anyone can be. He’s secure in himself and knows that it's perfectly fine to follow his instincts - screw being human, he's a wolf and he'll act like one. He'll pretend to be tame for politics, but he's as wild as they come and none of the village had better forget it.

It's one of the reasons he starts the investigation into the Hyūga - they smell wrong.

Kakashi would so much rather be a wolf like his father, but he thinks that he should be a human - it's what the rest of his pack is after all.

But it goes against all of his instincts.

Watching everyone else in his pack get hurt tells him that humans are vulnerable.

Obito and how he’s looked at with suspicion by the rest of the Uchiha makes him growl and bare his teeth. Seeing Rin with her civilian family who love her but don't understand her. It hurts her and makes him whine in sympathy. Remembering Gai and the way his father sacrificed himself makes him howl at the moon.

Being human SUCKS.

'Kakashi' - the scarecrow - is his attempt at humanity and he knows that it's wrong. But he doesn't know how to fix it.

At least Hound is about as invulnerable as a human can be.

The sad part is that - unknown to Kakashi - the rest of his pack would be fine with him being a wolf.

It's only after the way he goes feral when he sees Iruka in Kiri that convinces him that being a wolf is okay.

He saved his mate.

He blew his cover.

He was fired from Recon.

His mate and pack love him anyway.

It’s a relief.

Chapter Text

Uzushio is complicated.

I’ve always conceptualised it as north of Hi no Kuni - I have no idea why - and it has a much later than usual typhoon season.

Typhoon season in Japan is usually around late summer and extends into autumn.

Uzushio’s storm season is in mid autumn and extends all the way into winter.

Their summers are warm and balmy, almost humid.

Their winters are freezing, full of icy rains and screaming gales.

So their summers make them sound like they’re somewhere around Okinawa, which would make them a good spot for trade since the Ryukyu Islands were on one of the three major routes used by Japanese missions to Tang China (630–840).

The polities of the Okinawa Islands were unified as the Ryūkyū Kingdom in 1429. At its peak, it also subjected the Amami Islands to its rule. In 1609, Shimazu Tadatsune, Lord of Satsuma, invaded the Ryūkyū Kingdom with a fleet of 13 junks and 2,500 samurai, thereby establishing suzerainty over the islands. They faced little opposition from the Ryukyuans, who lacked any significant military capabilities, and who were ordered by King Shō Nei to surrender rather than to suffer the loss of precious lives. After that, the kings of the Ryukyus paid tribute to the Japanese shōgun as well as to the Chinese emperor.

In 1872, the Japanese government established the Ryukyu han under the jurisdiction of the Foreign Ministry. In 1875, jurisdiction over the Ryukyus changed from the Foreign Ministry to the Home Ministry. In 1879, the Meiji government announced the annexation of the Ryukyus, establishing it as Okinawa Prefecture and forcing the Ryukyu king to move to Tokyo.

Even better, the Ryukyu Islands were an actual stop on Perry's first visit to Japan.

All of this history would make the Ryūkyū Kingdom a logical analogue to Uzushio.

But the geography doesn’t fit. They have the summers, but not the winters. Their winters are mild. The sea in Okinawa is never cold. Their maximum temperatures in winter are around 15 °C, and their minimum temperatures around 10 °C.

They’d have no need for Tobirama.

Instead, I’ve chosen to locate Uzushio in Hokkaidō.

Hokkaidō only starts to get summer weather in July, and August is beach weather. This would be the time when Mito would be swimming in the bay in the afternoon sun and basking.

By November, it’s snowing. It keeps snowing until the middle of April which is when they cherry blossoms start to bloom.

Tobirama would go up to Uzushio after the Run which is the full moon near the autumn equinox - 23 September in Japan. Since the lunisolar calendar moves around all the time, that can be as early as September 10 and as late as October 6. He’s in Uzushio until just before the Lunar New Year anywhere between 22 January to 19 February. Basically, he’s away from the middle of October until the middle of January every year - about three months.

Uzushio claims the whole island, but their port is actually the real world port of Hakodate, which (like many other parts of Hokkaido) was originally populated by the Ainu.

Now I’m going to quote:

[The Ainu] lived in the Oshima Peninsula. The name "Hakodate" might originate from an Ainu word. Another possibility is that it means "box" or "building" in Japanese which refers to the castle built by the Kono (Kano) clan in the fifteenth century.

Hakodate was founded in 1454, when Kono Kaganokami Masamichi constructed a large manor house in the Ainu fishing village of Usukeshi (the word for bay in Ainu).

After his death, Masamichi's son, Kono Suemichi, and family were driven out of Hakodate into nearby Kameda during the Ainu rebellion in 1512 and little history was recorded for the area during the next 100 years. There was constant low-level conflict in the Oshima peninsula at the time with the Ainu, as armed merchants like the Kono family, established bases to control trade in the region. This conflict culminated in an uprising from 1669 to 1672, led by Ainu warrior Shakushain after which the Ainu in the region were suppressed.

Hakodate flourished during the Hoei period (1704–11), and many new temples were founded in the area. The town's fortunes received a further boost in 1741 when the Matsumae clan, which had been granted nearby areas on the Oshima Peninsula as a march fief, moved its Kameda magistracy to Masamichi's house in Hakodate.

In 1779, the Tokugawa shogunate took direct control over Hakodate, which triggered rapid development in the area. Merchant Takadaya Kahei, who is honoured as the founder of Hakodate port, set up trading operations, which included opening the northern Etorofu sea route to the Kuril island fisheries. He is credited with turning Hakodate from a trading outpost into a thriving city. A Hakodate magistracy was established in 1802. By 1807, the power of the Tokugawa government extended to the entire region. However, in 1821, the central government relaxed their control of the area and restored the Matsumae clan to the full powers they had before.

Hakodate was Japan's first city whose port was opened to foreign trade in 1854, as a result of Convention of Kanagawa, and used to be the most important port in northern Japan. Also, the city had been the biggest city in Hokkaido before the Great Hakodate Fire of 1934.

In my AU, none of this happened.

The Ainu fishing village of Usukeshi is Uzushio.

The people of Uzushio are Ainu who use ninjutsu and successfully pushed the mainlanders off their island.

They remain free and proud, and bow their heads to no one.

They did open their port to foreign trade, but not in 1854 - they did it right after the Ainu rebellion in 1512.

They’ve been the only port city in the Elemental Countries open to the world since then, and have kept themselves open despite the isolationist foreign policies of the Edo period.

They’re cosmopolitan, politically savvy, and militarily powerful - but fundamentally defensive.

They’re just the people who want to be left alone, to fish and trade in peace.

Chapter Text

Okay! Since I got myself into this by setting this AU in actualfax Japan, I now have to actually figure out where everything is.

Bear in mind that Kishimoto never intended the Elemental Countries to be set in Japan. The continents in his world seem to have never really separated and the whole world had Japanese culture? I don’t really know what was going on there.

So mapping the Elemental Countries to Japan is going to be very - very! - dodgy.

Please, suspend your disbelief okay? Take it as artistic license or something.

(I already rotated the moon to change moonrise on the mid autumn moon festival, this should be nothing in comparison.)

The Land of Fire

The Land of Fire is the prefecture of Kansai. I picked it because it’s central - just like Hi no Kuni - and has the right climate.

The capital where the daimyo holds court is Kyōto.

The village is hidden somewhere in the nearby Kitayama Mountains north of Kyōto. They get snow but are about 20 hours walk away from Kyoto according to google maps, an easy journey for shinobi.

I used the village of Ashiu as my mental scenery for the village, but really, it could be anywhere that’s densely forested enough, has a handy mountainside, a river, and gets slightly more snow in winter than Kyōto.

There’s a nice article with pretty pictures here.

Land of Lightning

The Land of Lightning is the prefecture of Tōhoku.

I picked it because of it’s mountains, and I’ve located Kumogakure on Mount Iwate in the Ōu Mountains.

There were two photographs that made me pick it, there you can find them here and here.

Land of Earth

The Land of Earth is the island of Shikoku and I picked it for two reasons.

Firstly, it’s historically more isolated. Secondly, it has the Iya Valley.

Vine suspension bridges between mountains!

Needless to say, that’s where I’ve placed Iwagakure.

Land of Wind

There is only one place in Japan which could conceivably be the Land of Wind - Tottori Prefecture.

That’s because of the Tottori Sand Dunes.

As far as my research could tell me, it’s the only sand dune system in Japan. It’s tiny compared to Kishimoto’s Land of Wind, but there’s no where else in Japan that has a sand system anything like a desert.

By default, Sunagakure would be Tottori city.

Land of Water

Finally, the Land of Water.

I’ve left this for last because it’s not officially in Japan at all.

I’ve located the Land of Water in the Kuril Islands, a volcanic archipelago in Russia's Sakhalin Oblast that stretches approximately 1,300 km northeast from Hokkaido, Japan to Kamchatka, Russia, separating the Sea of Okhotsk from the north Pacific Ocean. There are 56 islands and many minor rocks.

All the islands are currently under Russian administration but Japan claims the four southernmost islands, including two of the three largest ones (Iturup and Kunashir), as part of its territory as well as Shikotan and the Habomai islets, which has led to the ongoing Kuril Islands dispute.

The name Kuril originates from the autonym of the aboriginal Ainu, the islands' original inhabitants: kur, meaning "man". It may also be related to names for other islands that have traditionally been inhabited by the Ainu people, such as Kuyi or Kuye for Sakhalin and Kai for Hokkaidō. In Japanese, the Kuril Islands are known as the Chishima Islands (Kanji: 千島列島 Chishima Rettō, literally, Thousand Islands Archipelago), and are also known as the Kuriru Islands (Katakana: クリル列島 Kuriru Rettō, literally, Kuril Archipelago).

The Kuril Islands form part of the ring of tectonic instability encircling the Pacific Ocean referred to as the Ring of Fire. The islands themselves are summits of stratovolcanoes that are a direct result of the subduction of the Pacific Plate under the Okhotsk Plate, which forms the Kuril Trench some 200 kilometres east of the islands. The chain has around 100 volcanoes, some 40 of which are active, and many hot springs and fumaroles. There is frequent seismic activity. There are continual fumes and steam above the islands from volcanoes.

The climate on the islands is generally severe, with long, cold, stormy winters and short and notoriously foggy summers - apparently created when a warm current meets a cold current. Precipitation is heavy, a large portion of which falls as snow, and permafrost completely absent. It is characterised by mild summers with only 1 to 3 months above 10 °C and cold, snowy, extremely windy winters below −3 °C.

Kirigakure is the southernmost island in the chain, specifically Kunashir.

Kunashir Island (Japanese: 国後島, Kunashiri-tō; Ainu: クナシㇼ or クナシㇽ, Kunasir), possibly meaning Black Island or Grass Island in Ainu, is visible from the nearby Japanese island of Hokkaido, from which it is separated by the Nemuro Strait. They’re just 24 km apart. It’s formed by four volcanoes which were separate islands but have since joined together by low-lying areas with lakes and hot springs. All these volcanoes are still active: Tyatya, Smirnov, Mendeleev (Rausu-yama), and Golovnin (Tomari-yama). The island is made up of volcanic and crystalline rocks.

The climate is humid continental with very heavy precipitation especially in the autumn and a strong seasonal lag with maximum temperatures in August and September. According to Russia Travel, their winter has a lot of snow at shallow subzero temperatures and spring begins slowly with the occasional frosts in May. The summer is cool and the best weather is in the autumn, which has warm, dry weather.

The island is dominated by monsoons, with the humid climate guaranteeing frequent rains. Precipitation fills small short island rivers that cover the island with a dense network.

The south of the Island looks like subtropics with coniferous and deciduous forests, bamboo jungles and magnolias. Further north, the forest turns into dense cedar woods. Conditions are so favourable that the plants are able to grow to a greater height than typical.

There is a unique Hot Beach – a part of the Pacific ocean shore with hot sand. The sand always keeps the heat due to hot volcanic steam close to the surface. It is even possible to bake crabs and cook eggs in this hot sand.

Crabs, shrimps, trepangs, octopuses, scallop and many other products are available on Kunashir. You can go fishing in the Pacific Ocean and catch a flounder or Far Eastern bullhead. The Pacific salmon spawn off the coast.

Today, in the real world, there’s a port and an airport.

In this AU, that port is Kirigakure.

Chapter Text

Seto and Kikiyo are both complicated and simple.

Simple because their family line and history are straightforward. Complicated because they are nothing like the rest of the Uchiha.

Seto and Kikiyo come from a matrilineal line. Their mother was a kunoichi whose job it was to spy on the daimyo’s court. She did this by posing as a geisha in an okiya (a house for geisha, run by geisha, usually a kind of geisha family) and acquiring an important person in the daimyo’s court as her danna - the term geisha use for a patron.

It was through this relationship that she managed to preserve her relative anonymity as an Uchiha shinobi (only the okā-san of the okiya knew her real name, most geisha use stage names), know the doings of the court, and attend parties at ochaya (tea houses) where she could meet important and high ranking people to exchange gossip and acquire information.

In return, she had sex with him. She was his mistress.

This is not something all geisha do with their danna. Many geisha do not. Many danna do not ask it of the geisha they support. She did it to bind them closer and have more intimate access to him so she could gather more information. Also, in case she needed to kill him quietly.

Seto and Kikiyo are his biological children.

Eventually, he lost his position at court, couldn’t afford her anymore, and she retired as a geisha to go home to the Uchiha.

While she was away from the clan, she met a man who she brought home with her. He was a smuggler, and is her husband. Seto and Kikiyo both consider him their father. Neither of them thinks of their mother’s danna as their father. To them he is a sperm donor at best.

(When Seto says he doesn’t want to know where his father gets the fancy sake from - he really means it.)

They faced very stiff opposition when she brought him home. He only became an Uchiha after offering access to his contacts and network of fellow smugglers for the benefit of the clan.

Because of this, Seto and Kikiyo are in a completely different line of work to most Uchiha.

Their whole line is based around sex, pleasure, entertainment, and death.

(I have a whole story in my head about how an Uchiha shinobi climbed into what he fondly thought was the empty bedroom of an important noble during the Heian period, only to discover a tayū ranked oiran who was being abused by her danna. Over the course of an afternoon, they sorted out how she would conceal him and help him escape, and in return he would kill her danna and take her away from the Floating World. She was the progenitor of their line.)

They grew up knowing that they were expected to be the epitome of beauty and grace, and trained from childhood in skills that hold no value to the rest of the clan.

They can sing, dance, play instruments, write poetry, have beautiful calligraphy, make conversation with anyone, keep secrets, perform fantastically in bed, and are professionally charming.

They speak differently, gesture differently, have different posture, everything.

They stand out. Everyone in the clan notices them. It’s not always a good thing.

Seto trained in kenjutsu because it’s a skill belonging to the nobility.

He uses the kunai, senbon, ninja wire, and shuriken because they're assassin’s weapons.

He’s never used any other shinobi weapon.

Even his seals are pretty. They’re disguised either as calligraphic artwork if they’re kanji, or as backgrounds in ukiyo-e style abstracts and landscapes.

This makes Seto the perfect diplomat to the daimyo’s court.

He counterfeits a noble with aplomb. He’s beautiful enough that people want to talk to him just to admire him, charming enough that people tell him things they shouldn’t, and presents himself well enough that people will give him access to places he shouldn’t be allowed into.

But being at court means that all his real skills are dismissed and his superficial ones are admired.

It also means that he has to face his biological sperm donor every day.

He has to listen to this man recount his glory days, and how much influence he wielded, and how he once was danna to a gorgeous geisha who was a celebrity in her hanamachi.

He hates it.

He hates being surrounded by power plays, social politics, and people trying to climb over each other to win favour.

He’s an Uchiha.

He values what his clan values - family, clan, the ability to protect each other.

Instinctively, he wants to be at home on the battlefield, skewering Senju. That’s what it means to be Uchiha.

But he’s not.

Instead he’s at court speaking honeyed words and flirting urbanely.

This is what he must do to protect his clan.

He’ll grit his teeth and endure it.

Kikiyo only trained in kenjustu because she wanted to keep up with her brother.

Left to her own devices, she uses kunai, senbon, shuriken, makibishi, and ninja wire. All subtle, easily concealed, and assassin’s weapons.

The same skills that make Seto a diplomat makes Kikiyo a courtesan.

The daimyo’s court is patriarchal. They will never accept a female diplomat.

She doesn’t want to be a courtesan. She doesn’t want to be a geisha. She doesn’t want to use sex to spy.

She wants to find a different way to protect her clan.

Seto wants to help her but has no idea how.

The village saves both of them.

Now they are both diplomats - she to the Senju through Hashirama-sama, and he to the outside world. Their skills are necessary. No longer do they just passively bring in information - they act on the information brought in by others and negotiate contracts and contacts.

So their careers are doing well.

The problem is their love lives.

Ever since puberty, people have been offering them courtship based on their beauty and charm.

But having beauty and charm means nothing to them. It’s expected. It’s their job to be beautiful and charming. It’s about as enticing as being offered courtship because they happen to have black hair.

Seto is now in love with Izuna.

A man who is the heir of the clan, socially ranked above him, a warrior in every sense, a practitioner of the over powered ninjutsu that both he and Kikiyo were deliberately never taught so that they wouldn’t use it accidentally and give themselves away as shinobi, and a brilliant tactician.

None of Seto’s skills are going to help him.

In fact, they actually hinder his courtship.

Izuna is wary of professionally charming people - they might be trying to manipulate him as the Uchiha heir.

Izuna doesn’t care about his beauty.

Izuna doesn’t care about any of his skills at entertainment. (Although he can make Izuna laugh with bad puns.)

Izuna does like having sex with him, but that only goes so far.

He has to win Izuna the hard way.

Through love.

Worse, if Seto does somehow convince Izuna to fall in love with him and Hikaku, he faces another issue.

Izuna is the senior line. He and Hikaku will become part of Izuna’s family, not the other way around.

His own line will be left without a son.

That means that Kikiyo will need to provide children.

And Kikiyo is aromantic and asexual.

She will need to marry a man who is willing to give her children and nothing else. Or obtain sperm some other way.

It’s a problem.

Chapter Text

Hikaku is a nice guy.

He’s essentially civilian born. His parents are trappers who trade in furs and meat. His brother is two years older and will inherit the business. His two sisters - 3 years younger and 6 years younger - will both become shinobi but never advance beyond chūnin. They will mostly run courier missions within the village territory and be happy with that.

He’s the only Jōnin in the family, and he’s only a shinobi because he has too much chakra to be anything else.

Left alone he’d probably have joined his brother in the business.

As it is, he will end up leading a team that specialises in tracking and retrieval.

He’s good in combat but his reserves are average and his kenjutsu isn’t outstanding. He’s okay at all of the weapons stuff, and his doton is useful, but he’s really kind of boring as a combatant.

Where he stands out in his career is administration.

He does paperwork really well, he’s detail oriented, and he has a mind like a steel trap for mission information and personnel files. He’s also really calm under fire - often literal fire - and disassociates really well. He’s got his priorities straight.

It’s why he eventually becomes Jōnin commander for the Uchiha Clan.

Because he’s a paperwork fiend and he trains Genin well.

The fact that he puts out fires on the training field all the time is a bonus.

He’s like a less overpowered, less science obsessed version of Tobirama, and they actually end up getting along really well once he moves in with Izuna.

The problem for him is his love life.

He has a massive crush on Seto.

A man who is higher ranked than him, gorgeous, talented, witty, charming, has so much more experience outside the clan, and is highly sought after.

Seto has been offered courtship by almost everyone of his generation and younger.

It’s like a rite of passage - have a crush on someone of Seto’s line.

Their parents did it with his mom, and everyone of Hikaku’s generation has a crush on either Seto or Kikiyo depending on which gender they prefer.

So how does Hikaku convince someone like Seto that he’s worthy of being considered?

Simple. He persists.

Seto is away at court. After the mess his parents faced, he is not likely to be bringing home a lover from outside the clan.

So all that means is that Hikaku just has to be the last man standing.

He has to stay so constant, so true, that Seto cannot doubt his love.

He also has to negotiate entry into Seto’s family.

Seto’s line is senior - hard for it not to be, they’ve been shinobi for generations - so Hikaku is going to become yome, the wife who marries in.

He has to get them to like him enough to adopt him as a son.

He’ll go the traditional route - bribery.

Chapter Text

Izuna and Hikaku have been best friends since they were toddlers.

Hikaku is a year older, but they mastered the Grand Fireball together when Izuna was 7.

Izuna’s family has always felt cold to Hikaku so he just brought Izuna back home with him.

By the time Hikaku becomes a runner when he is 12, his parents treat Izuna like an adopted son.

They don’t do the same to Madara - they don’t know him or have any contact with him, but Hikaku drags Izuna everywhere.

They’re on the training field together, stealing food from the kitchen together, teasing Hikaku’s sisters together, trapping rabbits together - they’re inseparable.

And then Hikaku stopes being Prey and becomes a runner.

And then he starts Catching Izuna.

Izuna stops talking to him.

Izuna stops coming around.

Everyone tries to offer advice, help, even ask Izuna about it - but nothing works.

Izuna is stubborn. Hikaku cheated, Caught him with Madara and they are no longer friends.

Suddenly, Hikaku’s family is missing their adopted son.

Hikaku feels like he’s missing a limb.

And then, six months after Izuna stops being his friend, in spring when the cherry blossoms are falling, Hikaku falls in love.

With a man five years older than him.

It will change his life.

Seto and he will figure themselves out eventually, and then he will fall in love with Izuna.

It will change his life again.

Chapter Text

You might notice that I make a distinction between the two entrances into the house - the genkan and the engawa.

The genkan is the entrance (and exit) at which visitors are welcomed. It's effectively a front door and is the more formal entrance. Important people like Madara and Izuna would definitely use it and there's an actual ritual for how that's supposed to happen.

You can find images of old fashioned genkan and the etiquette for entering in this article here. A genkan like the one they describe are rare in Japan today.

On the other hand, the engawa is the veranda that runs along the side of the house. You see people use it a lot in anime. For example, the scene in which Itachi cooks eggs for Sasuke shows the engawa of the house very clearly - in fact, the chicken that Itachi chases is pecking at the ground just a step down from the engawa.

This article shows an example house plan for a traditional Japanese house and how an engawa fits as part of the architecture.

If you're interested, the house that Seto, Hikaku, and Kikiyo all share with Seto's parents has a Nure-en or a wet-en. It's unprotected and gets wet when it rains or snows.

The engawa is the entrance and exit used by family. It's distinctly informal.

The fact that Hikaku's family uses it shows that they're over at Seto's family home so much that they're part of the family. The way Hikaku's sisters helped to clean the house shows the same thing, as does the way Hikaku's mom feels free to bitch at Seto for carrying her oden. No guest / host politeness there!

I'm going into this in great detail because it's important to the plot. Izuna will gradually become welcome to use the engawa, as will Madara.

Just like the names that people use for each other, it's a symbol for a developing relationship.

With regards to the engawa / genkan distinction, you can also try these two articles:

This one is really about gardens but also has a very clear description of how the genkan and engawa are used differently.

This one is a study of the engawa as a architectural feature and contains a historical overview of the engawa as it developed, plus some great pictures from medieval times all the way through to the modern day adaptation of the concept.

If you read all the articles, you'll come to realise that the houses that I describe in this story are really different to those in modern day Japan.

There are no streets in front of the houses. It's not a suburb or a town like you see in the anime of modern day Konoha.

Instead, the Uchiha compound is walled off, there is a gate to demarcate the inside from the outside, and all the houses inside the compound are laid out as part of a giant family unit. There are no roads. The whole thing is landscaped (especially with Hashirama as Hokage) to within an inch of its life into a giant garden. Each house is set a little apart with paths leading between them.

The clan is a family after all, so I didn't feel that it was a stretch for them all to live together so communally.

I've been to Katsura Rikyu Imperial Villa in Arashiyama, and that's pretty much what I'm aiming for. A lot more crowded, but that atmosphere of houses in a giant garden is what I'm trying to achieve, which makes sense because those gardens are actually based upon the fictional compound that the prince builds for all of his lovers in the Tale of Genji!

So it's actually a full circle from fiction to reality and back to fiction again.

Chapter Text

Food and cooking play a really big part in To Tempt a Target, as a family bonding activity and as a gesture of care and love, both in courtship and friendship.

I also use it to subvert some traditional assumptions about the ‘female’ role in the family and contrast it to the public and private roles played within the triad.

As such, I thought I’d describe how they cook their food, and exactly who does the cooking.

Japanese kitchens during the Edo Period were surprisingly modern.

I’m going to quote from Wikipedia here:

By the early 17th century, the beginning of the Edo period, large stoves with several cooking holes were common in the kitchens of the upper-class house as well as in large restaurants. […]The stove was low, meaning cooks had to squat to cook. In the larger kitchens, especially those of palaces and temples, raised kamado that could be operated while standing up were developed in the Edo period (1603–1867).

Irori (囲炉裏、いろり) appeared in the Kofun period and served as a secondary stove. A section of wooden panels were removed from the floor and a lacquered square wooden frame was fitted in the place. The frame was filled with sand and an iron hook was lowered from the ceiling. Foods were reheated or cooked over in an iron pot hung from a hook and the fire served as a heat source. This type of stove became common in many homes by the early Nara period and a smaller irori is the center piece of a tea house.

[…]

In the Edo period (1603 to 1868), daidokoro came to mean "kitchen" and became an integrated part of the house. It was, however, more common to call it katte (勝手) which is used to mean the "back door." The pantry room was called ozenntate (御膳立). Upper-class houses were well stocked and extremely large by today's standard. The country house of Tokugawa Mitsukuni, known as a gourmet of Edo period, had kitchen spaces at least 34 jyou or about 53 square metres. This is more than one-third of the entire house and does not include the sake storage room or the pantry. Some kitchens had running water by having bamboo shafts connected to the water source extend into the kitchen; users of less well equipped kitchens fetched water from a common well. A separate kitchen within the house had become customary and all but the smallest single-room houses had one.

Storage in kitchens was provided by mizuya tansu. These are Japanese style chests, often with a mix of compartments behind sliding doors and drawers of varying sizes. These are still available today as antiques, or altered reproductions tailored to a more modern/western style of kitchen.

Text taken from this article which also has some good photos: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_kitchen

The houses of Madara, Seto’s family, and Hikaku’s family all have integrated kitchens with running water. So does the house that Tobirama used to share with Hashirama. In fact, all the houses in the village have running water thanks to the plans of the pipe water systems of Edo that Seto obtained while he was with the daimyo’s court.

(If you want to know how that happened, you can check out chapter 55 of The World Building of Courting Culture Confusion, Characterisation - How Izuna Thinks versus How Tobirama Thinks IN THE LAB.)

All those houses have an irori too, though only Madara really uses it for cooking - he likes to grill. The other families mostly use it for heat and light.

There’s a nice picture of people cooking on an irori at this website: https://e-ikeda-e.jp/en/experience/dining-around-a-japanese-hearth-irori/

When it comes to eating though, they all carry their food into the main room and eat around the irori. If it’s warm enough, they carry their food out to the engawa instead.

As for the subversion, you’ll find that I describe all of them cooking - it’s not a female role.

I started this off with Tobirama cooking a bento lunch for Hashirama back in Escape and Evade (Chapter 21, Omake - Cooking), and have continued it all through the series. Seto’s mother and Hikaku’s mother may be the premier chefs in their generation, but Hikaku’s father cooks too - mostly preserves. Izuna and Hikaku are like Madara - they grill food, and can feed themselves but they’re not gourmet chefs. Tobirama actually cooks in the kitchen, but makes simple dishes - donburi usually.

Donburi did exist during the Edo Period, but they weren't called that.

I’ll quote again:

Later, at the time of Edo (1603-1867), restaurants called “kendon-ya”, specialized in this unique dish served in a bowl which was named “kendonburi-bachi” then was shortened to donburi-bachi then simply changed to "donburi". The city of Edo (future Tokyo) then had a large community of often single artisans and this became a very popular dish because it was very hearty and inexpensive but also because it was quick to prepare and consume, workers did not spend too much time in restaurants!

Quote taken from this article.

Seto is the chef of the triad. He’s the gourmet chef, the inheritor of all of his mother’s recipes, he re-creates recipes from food that he’s eaten at the daimyo’s court, and he loves to cook. He appreciates the aesthetics of presenting a beautiful meal, and everyone loves his food. He and the Akimichi get along very well, in a competitive kind of way.

He’s also the most dominant of the triad in bed.

And the senior wife in public.

He doesn’t fit neatly within any of the boxes is what I’m saying here.

None of them do, and that’s a deliberate authorial choice on my part.

Because Izuna loves to sow chaos and I didn’t see why he should have boring lovers either.

Chapter Text

The Land of Iron is the Kantō region.

Why?

Because samurai.

Let’s talk about that.

Samurai in real world Japan and in Naruto serve completely different roles.

Let me quote wikipedia on samurai in real world Japan:

Samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the 12th century to their abolition in the 1870s. They were the paid retainers of the daimyo and had high prestige and special privileges such as wearing two swords. They cultivated the bushido codes of martial virtues, indifference to pain, and unflinching loyalty, engaging in many local battles. During the peaceful Edo era (1603 to 1868) they became the stewards and chamberlains of the daimyo estates, gaining managerial experience and education. In the 1870s samurai families comprised 5% of the population. The Meiji Revolution ended their feudal roles, and they moved into professional and entrepreneurial roles.

Sounds okay, pretty much what we all know about from history.

The samurai in Naruto are completely different.

Let me quote Narutopedia on Samurai:

Samurai are a military power similar to shinobi, though not nearly as widespread. In Gaara Hiden, samurai and shinobi are noted to have first diverged in how they received the teachings of ninshū: samurai were more spiritual and idealistic, while shinobi focused on using their chakra to keep people's bonds alive. Only the Land of Iron continues to use samurai, with all other countries having since opted to use shinobi.

Thus the Land of Iron must be the Kantō region because that was the region traditionally dominated by samurai thanks to the Tokugawa clan who governed Japan from Edo Castle in the eastern city of Edo (Tokyo) along with the daimyō lords of the samurai class for the entirety of the Edo Period.

But the Land of Iron is also described as ‘an icy, snow-covered country located among three mountains called the Three Wolves (三狼, Sanrō)’.

So I have a problem.

I’ve chosen to reconcile the two by placing the headquarters of the samurai on Mount Nikkō-Shirane, a strato-volcano in Nikkō National Park, a national park in the Kantō region, which spreads over four prefectures: Tochigi, Gunma, Fukushima, and Niigata.

Standing at 2,578 m high, it's the highest mountain in north eastern Japan and is surrounded by the mountains of the Shirane volcano. It is often hidden by clouds throughout the year which would have made it perfect for the Land of Lightning except that it’s in the Kantō region which I was saving for the Land of Iron.

So you have the Land of Iron, whose military force are samurai who live on a snowy mountain surrounded by other mountains.

Since the Land of Iron has had little involvement with the shinobi world and is traditionally neutral, hosting at least one Kage Summit, the Continental Summit, and the Shinobi Union in cannon, the fact that the Emperor of Japan moves his court from Kyōto in the Kansai region - the Land of Fire - to Edo (Tokyo) in the Kantō region - the Land of Iron after the Meji Restoration only reinforces his desire to remain a neutral force among the Elemental Countries.

Chapter Text

I wrote this because chapters 32 to 37 of To Tempt a Target occur concurrently with chapter 6 of Escape and Evade.

Since there may be some confusion about how the two plot lines intersect, this is a mini omake so you can see exactly what is going on in both locations at the same time.

Be aware that it’s just a brief summary with some quotations so anyone who is interested can track exactly which parts of each chapter the script is up to.

*First gong, Prey released*

*Second gong, runners released, Madara's team, Hikaku, and Seto all leave the compound together*

Madara: heads towards the training field

Hikaku and Seto: head towards the river

Madara: Great Fireball

Tobirama: Water Dragon

Hikaku and Seto: track Izuna across the river

Madara: attacks with gunbai

Tobirama: retaliates wth water senbon, uses raiton to force Madara to release the gunbai

Madara and Tobirama: speed taijutsu engagement while they're surrounded (this takes a while)

Hikaku and Seto: continue to track Izuna using their sensory abilities (Chapter 32 of To Tempt a Target, Seto’s POV)

Tobirama: engages the Hiraishin but does not teleport

Izuna: stops running and puts his back to a tree (chapter 33 of To Tempt a Target, Izuna’s POV)

Madara: Dragon fireballs

Hikaku and Seto: Come into view of Izuna

Tobirama: Water wall

Izuna: Flame barrier

Madara: Fire of Annihilation

Tobirama: Checks on Izuna with chakra - "Izuna, Seto, and Hikaku had all converged into a single blazing point and, by the taste of their chakra, were well on their way to being distracted by each other.” — chapter 6 of Escape and Evade

(He’s right - they are focused on each other. Izuna is defiantly waiting behind his flame barrier, and Hikaku and Seto are debating what to do about it. All three of them are gearing up for a fight because Seto and Hikaku have no idea when the paralysis seal will be activated and Izuna wants a fight to prove himself.)

Tobirama: activates paralysis seal

Madara: Falls over

Izuna: Falls over

Tobirama: talks contingency plans at Madara

Hikaku: checks Izuna for injuries

Hikaku & Seto: guard Izuna

Madara: asks Tobirama to threaten Izuna on his behalf

Tobirama: “You can tell him yourself as you will certainly see him before I will. From the feel of his chakra, I believe that he will soon be getting a good night’s rest on a real futon and will probably not wake until quite late in the morning.” — chapter 6 of Escape and Evade

(Tobirama did not actually check on Izuna at this point, but was instead going by what he’d previously felt - he’s saving his chakra as much as possible because the drain of holding this many seals is huge, plus he’s going to have to use the Hiraishin to get everyone to safety.)

Tobirama: 'Tobirama considered his mental map of the runners around Konoha and their proximity to his Hiraishin markers as he stood up and prepared to leave. He chose a marker and reached out, rubbing his fingers together thoughtfully.'— chapter 6 of Escape and Evade

(The marker that Tobirama chooses is the one closest to Izuna. He's teleporting as close as he can to the runner who his mental map indicates is right on top of Izuna's previous position. He wants to get that runner away to give Izuna more privacy.)

Tobirama: Teleports away from the training field.

Tobirama: Teleports into the clearing by the river and finds Izuna paralysed.

Tobirama: !!!!

Izuna: *mentally* About time you got here!

Tobirama: *sheepishly* Sorry.

And that brings you up to the end of chapter 35.

As you can see, there are definite parallels between Izuna and Tobirama. They run at the same time, they decide not to run at the same time, they put up barriers at the same time.

But it’s Izuna and Madara who fall over at the same time.

Because Tobirama gets them both.

oops.

Chapter Text

In my head cannon for this AU, the Forest of Death is numbered Training Ground 44 because it’s a pun.

The number 4 in Japanese can be pronounced as ‘shi’, which sounds like the word for ‘death’. It’s why the number 4 is often pronounced as ‘yon’ instead, which is how it’s pronounced in cannon - ‘Daiyonjūyon Enshūjō’.

In Mandarin, 44 would be written as 四十四, four (四) groups of ten (十), and four groups of 1, and would be pronounced as ‘sì shí sì’. The pronunciation sounds very similar to ‘death’ (死) which is pronounced as ‘sǐ’. Basically, saying 44 in mandarin sounds like you’re saying ‘die, die, die’.

As a side note, all the accent marks in Hanyu Pinyin, the official romanisation system for Standard Chinese in mainland China and Taiwan, indicate tones, since Mandarin is a tonal language. This makes Mandarin a great language for puns, because a slight change in tone can completely change the meaning of a phrase. My mandarin name means ‘a sacrifice to God’, but a change in tone meant that my childhood nickname was ‘salted pig’. I got bullied a lot.

Japanese is not a tonal language, and Japanese speakers can form different meanings with a high or low distinction in their inflections without having a certain tone for each syllable. Pitch may impact the meaning of some words, but the general context will allow for clear communication. Instead, Japanese pitch accent distinguishes words by accenting particular morae in most Japanese dialects. The nature and location of the accent for a given word may vary between dialects, Kansai versus Kantō for example.

I know that the characters for 44 in Japanese are the same - 四十四 - but I suspect that it the full pun doesn’t work in Japanese since 10 in Japanese is pronounced as ‘jū’. I don’t speak Japanese, so any Japanese speakers should feel free to correct me.

Despite that, any number with 4 in it is considered an unlucky number in Japan because of the association with death. Thus, the Forest of Death has a number with two fours in it. Double death!

On a personal level, this is even more funny to me since I spent my early years in Singapore, and ‘die’ in Singaporean slang (locally known as Singlish) means to be doomed and is often used in a comically exaggerated fashion. For example, someone might be told that they have to do something they don’t want to do and collapse across their desk dramatically exclaiming “Die, lah!” I’ve also seen people chanting “die, die, die” when they’re facing something that is going to suck, a really tough exam for example.

Interestingly, if die is repeated only twice, i.e. ’die-die’, it actually means that one will definitely achieve something, even if they will die in the doing of it. The most common use of the paired ‘die-die’ phrase is in the compound phrase “die, die, must try” which means that you have to try it even if it kills you or is awfully hard to do. It’s a phrase most commonly used in the context of a food recommendation, for example “Don’t care how long the queue! Die, die, must try!” which shows how much Singaporeans love their food.

So when the characters say ‘Training Ground 44’, I think of the genin being tested running away from poisonous centipedes screaming about being doomed, but also Naruto’s determination to succeed no matter the cost to himself. It all collides in my head in a mixture of personal experiences and multiple language puns that sends me into giggles.

It probably doesn’t affect anyone else the same way though.

Chapter Text

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has an essay ‘Japanese Weddings in the Edo Period (1615–1868)’ which can be found here

I based the wedding in this chapter on that essay, but I made a number of changes.

For a start, a lot of it wasn’t applicable.

Let me quote:

The social structure of the Edo period (1615–1868) developed under the strict control of the Tokugawa military regime. During this period, the families of the shogunate and provincial leaders (daimyo) arranged marriages based on political interests, and the consent of the shogunate was necessary for a daimyo wedding. The betrothed always came from the same social strata. Formal wedding ceremonies held in the Edo period were based on Muromachi-period (1392–1573) conventions.

No shogunate means that a lot of this social structure is a lot looser in this AU. It still evolved from the Muromachi-period conventions, but the rules aren’t enforced by the daimyo in the same way the shogunate did in the real world.

Technically, since the Uchiha Clan is noble, I could have made them have to apply to the daimyo for permission to marry - effectively, treating the relationship between the daimyo and the Uchiha in this AU like the relationship between the shogunate and the daimyo - but I decided not to.

For a start, the USEATC has been left largely alone to do their own thing, and I wanted that to continue.

For another, the whole of the shinobi world is about to experience a large number of changes in the next few decades.

This chapter takes place in 1826. The Kinkaku Force attacks Tobirama and Zetsu is discovered in the spring of 1834. That sets off the First Shinobi World War which ends in 1835. Perry lands in Japan in 1853, and the Meiji Restoration takes place in 1858 - I moved it up because there was no shogunate for the clans to fight against. The daimyo system ends and Konoha is tapped to run Hi no Kuni (the entire Kansai region) under the divine guidance of the Emperor.

In just over thirty years, the entire daimyo system will be gone.

These are the years leading up to its eventual death.

My characters are building towards the new future, and their lack of respect for the daimyo’s court - especially with the way Seto has described it - is evident.

Madara wouldn’t have bowed to his decree even if he’d said they couldn’t get married.

So I decided not to make him ask.

Thus, the marriage for shinobi in my AU is quite different from the one described in the essay.

I kept the Edo Period custom of having the ceremony during the day, but skipped the wedding trousseau and the specially furnished “wedding room” - I figured shinobi would be more practical. They need to move quickly at need, and they’re not rich enough to fund unnecessary expenses like that. Madara was rhapsodising about just having enough food for his clan every winter the year before this. Hundreds of pieces of clothing and furnishings would be utterly beyond him.

The Senju, being merchants, might have been able to afford something like that - especially with Tobirama being the bride - but it would have been politically fraught to offer. Also, they’re shinobi. Practical.

So the only material thing they offer is the most beautiful shiromuku the Uchiha have ever seen, and the personal possessions Tobirama brings with him.

Other than that, the only thing Tobirama brings to the marriage is himself.

It’s more than enough.

Madara and the Uchiha are ecstatic to have him.

I also kept the white kosode kimono (the shiromuku), and the ritual drinking of sake, but left off the more elaborate clothing like the uchikake and the tsunokakushi as too cumbersome for a martial culture that prized the ability to move freely.

So, really, the marriage is simple.

The right clothing, the sake, and the ritual before the gods, performed under the gaze of the sun. Very appropriate for a clan that worships Amaterasu.

The ritual of san-san-kudo literally means "three, three, nine.” and several sources that I’ve found said that it was in use during the Edo Period, though they may be apocryphal since none of those sources were academic ones. It’s still used as part of the Japanese Shinto wedding ceremony today even though that is a modern invention.

(The first mention of a wedding in a Shinto manual was in 1872 and weddings were not reported until the 1880s. These weddings were limited to the families of Shinto priests. It wasn’t until Crown Prince Yoshihito - later, Emperor Taisho - took a bride in 1900 that they became popular. It would have been unknown during the time that my characters are living in.)

Instead of vows, the bride and groom take turns drinking sake from three different cups called sakazuki, each one larger than the next. One does not drink the sake like a 'shot' but rather tilting the cup up very gradually and sipping lightly. Each person takes three sips of each of the cups, with all of the sips having a unique meaning - although I found several different versions about exactly what those meanings are.

For Madara and Tobirama, this was easy, but the triad was more tricky.

They are not all marrying each other.

Instead both Seto and Hikaku are marrying Izuna.

They are both yome to him and his family - they are his ‘wives’.

You can see that Hikaku knows this, but Seto is still shujin (husband) to him. He entered into Seto’s household as yome when he was eighteen (chapter 11) and he’s thought of Seto as his husband since then - even though Seto was still in the capital at the time and not physically present.

As such, they take it in turns to marry Izuna. Seto goes first, as he is the senior line, and then Hikaku.

Next, their parents take sips, which represents sealing the bond between the two families.

For this, I had some difficulty since none of the founders have any living parents. So I decided that Hashirama and Madara, as heads of their lines would do it.

That’s why Hashirama and Madara drink after Madara and Tobirama do - they’re binding their families together.

From here on out, Hashirama will be Hashirama-sama to Hikaku. He will only be Hokage-sama in public.

He’s now family.

This is the moment that the village truly becomes one.

Chapter Text

During the Edo Period, it was uncommon for people to eat meat due to the way religious Buddhist and Shinto principles had influenced Emperor Tenmu into putting a ban on meat in place in 675 A.D.

However, this rule had become relatively relaxed by the time the Edo Period was about to end, and Emperor Meiji himself became an eater of meat after the Meiji Restoration, effectively ending the ban.

If you want to know more about the meat ban, you might want to check out this article here.

Still, it was a relatively taboo act, so why does Tobirama do it?

Basically, it’s because he’s not religious and shinobi don’t follow the rules.

Shinobi in this AU need a huge amount of calories and protein to fuel their ninjutsu (see chapter 15 of The World Building of Courting Culture Confusion, World Building - Why Hashirama is Always Hungry if you'd like to know more about this) and they can’t afford to be picky about it. With the way they were waring against each other constantly and trying to cut off each other’s food sources, obeying the ban would have been stupid and suicidal.

They’re shinobi. Practical.

There is one big consequence of this - there are no priests in the village.

A priest living in a village of murderers?

No way.

They couldn’t even get a priest for Tobirama’s wedding.

Chapter Text

This is a great question!

Here's how it works in this AU:

Your affinity is the element that you most naturally manipulate. You do it on instinct, you want it, it happens - very much like accidental magic in Harry Potter or water bending in Avatar. Katara doesn't need the motions to heal the first time, she puts her hands in water, wants it enough, and it happens. Your limits are your strength and your imagination. It's like the Force - if you say you can't do it, then you can't. If you believe, then you can.

The problem is the fine control.

You want water, you get water.

But where does the water come from? Condensation? The water on the ground? Whatever is closest? Is it pure water? Or do you get a muddy stream? Does it come neatly to your hand? Or does it slap you in the face?

This is where the hand signs come in.

They're a formal system taught to help people focus. They describe the whole process exactly and show you exactly what you're supposed to get. Perform these hand signs, each one associated with a specific component, and hey presto, you get the same result every time! It gives you fine control and precise results.

Let's try an analogy:

Using hand signs is like following a recipe. You perform the steps, you get delicious cake. (mmm. Cake.) But you can also only make what the recipe describes.

Using chakra to call upon your affinity without knowing what you're doing is like baking a cake without a recipe when you have no idea what you're doing. You put it whatever you think looks about right, and you get a sludgy, half burnt mess. (The cake is a LIE!)

But! If you're good enough, know enough about how cooking chemistry works, and have a background in cooking, plus lots of practice, you can approximate the amounts you need and come up with something brand new and interesting that is also delicious!

This is what Tobirama does.

He's put in the effort to gain the fine control needed to manipulate his chakra affinity without hand signs. He uses gestures instead, especially when it's something simple, or it's something that there's literally no jutsu for. This is why his domestic use of suiton is all done without jutsu - there is no jutsu for soaking clothing and then yanking the water back out of the clothing. It's also why he talks to himself - it helps him focus. That's all it is - precisely controlled visualisation with gestures and speech to keep the mind on track and prevent distractions.

It's also why he can innovate. He knows all the hand signs inside out, and is willing to experiment with putting them together in new ways to refine what he wants to achieve. It means he gets a lot of terrible results initially, but it also means that he can come up with new jutsu if he works at it enough.

Izuna is not like this.

Izuna's experimentation involves working out new and innovative ways to apply existing techniques. He's also far more interested in violence than Tobirama is. There's a reason that he runs the T&I labs, and not the R&D labs.

When Izuna uses ninjutsu, it's with hand signs. But not with Amaterasu - that's a dojutsu ability and he's worked hard to refine it and use it without hand signs. He doesn't want to give the game away, since being able to set his enemies on fire with a flame they can't put out without warning them with a hand sign is a Good Thing.

You'll never see him doing a fireball without a hand sign. But the hand signs are usually a fairly short series, and they're done on instinct, so Izuna won't think about using them. He's far beyond the stage where he'd think 'Boar. Dog. Ram.' or anything like it. He'd just think 'katon' and do it. In fact, he'd usually be thinking about his next move and the implications of the ninjutsu that he's currently doing than think about how to use a jutsu. So, when it's his POV, he just describes what he's doing and not how he's doing it. He thinks "This barrier that I'm doing will intimidate and announce that I'm Bad Ass" and not describe how he set the barrier up - except for the dramatics that he deliberately incorporates which are not actually part of the ninjutsu at all. They're to communicate a message and he will absolutely think about that because he's calculating how to frame it.

The person who does do ninjutsu like Tobirama is actually Hikaku.

That's because there is no one in the Uchiha Clan who has a natural doton affinity. No one.

Hikaku is entirely self taught.

After he manifested his affinity, he went around the whole clan and got every single doton jutsu that had been copied by a Sharingan user, and then practised them until he figured out how to manipulate his chakra to achieve the results they said he should get.

Then he deconstructed the hand signs and experimented until he found out which ones worked to do what, and started developing his own through experimentation. He had to do this because his initial library of doton jutsu was pretty megre and not enough for him to really use in a fight.

As a result, his doton is distinctly non-standard, and involves a fair amount of gestures that are straight up affinity manipulation. In effect, he made his own - personal - library of hand signs.

This was very useful when fighting another doton user like Tōka, since she didn't recognise more than half of what he was doing. It made him unpredictable as hell and terribly frustrating, but also totally intriguing.

One of the first things she did after they had established a rapport, shortly after they started working closely together, was sit him down and pick his brain about what exactly he was doing. They ended up trading justu and expanding their personal lists of jutsu by about half each. A good deal all around and very much in the spirit of peace between the clans.

There is one other person who does ninjutsu like this as well - Hashirama - and for exactly the same reasons that Hikaku does. There was no one around to teach him how to use the mokuton and he had to make it all up on the fly.

Because the mokuton is mythical.

Chapter Text

I must admit that I never watched the anime beyond the return from Wave so I never saw the scene you describe. As such, I never actually made plans to give the characters a chakra nature beyond what you see in cannon.

Since it's canonical that Tobirama mastered all five chakra natures late in life, as did Madara and Hashirama, but Izuna only mastered katon and inton before he died, I'm writing this story to show that they only have their most basic affinities at the moment. Remember that they're still only in their twenties! So Tobirama has suiton and raiton (necessary for the Raijin no Ken) which means that he's also capable of ranton and he's working on mastering that, Hashirama has the mokuton which means that he automatically has doton and suiton, Madara and Izuna both have katon and inton since those are dominant traits amongst the Uchiha.

Just as a side note on the Mangekyō Sharingan, I've only given that to Madara and Izuna. No one else in this generation is going to manifest it. Izuna's eyes give him Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu, while Madara's eyes give him Tengai Shinsei and Amaterasu. And any Uchiha can perform Izanagi if they're willing to go blind in the eye they use for it - it's not a Mangekyō ability as far as I can tell. Additionally, since both of them have the Mangekyō in both eyes, they can both use Susanoo.

So, in a way, I guess you could say that all the founders are capable of using two chakra natures at the moment.

Here's how chakra natures work in this AU:

Everyone who has chakra starts with an affinity for one of the basic nature releases - katon, fūton, raiton, doton, suiton - unless you're Hashirama who starts out with two because of the mokuton.

An affinity means that this is the nature element that comes naturally to your call. When you knead chakra, the natural shape your chakra forms matches an element and that's what you get.

If you want to use other chakra natures, then you have to manipulate your own chakra to match the element. Otherwise, all the hand signs in the world will only get you wonky results.

To return to my cooking analogy, using the hand signs for a suiton jutsu with suiton chakra would be like baking a cake with the ingredients listed in the recipe. Using the hand signs for a suiton jutsu with katon chakra would be like baking a cake with salt instead of sugar, maple syrup instead of milk, and sand instead of flour. Even if you followed all the steps exactly, you wouldn't get cake. You'd get something but it wouldn't be what the recipe says you should get.

So learning another nature transformation is not as easy as memorising the hand signs, you have to shape your chakra to match as well. This is one of the things that makes Kakashi so awesome - he masters all five nature releases, at least enough to use basic jutsu in all five, when he's still quite young. In this AU he will never have a Sharingan, but he still does it by manipulating his own chakra to match the basic jutsu that are taught in the Academy. (He does it because he was bored doing Mission Desk work and Internal Defence.) It's one of the reasons his promotion to Jōnin happened so quickly, and a reason for him to be recruited to Recon.

In the Warring Clans Era, it was less important to have flexibility than it was to have combat capability - everyone specialised so as to get the biggest, most destructive ninjutsu they could manage. Thus, learning another chakra nature is mostly something done during peace. Most of the Jōnin from this generation will never do it, they will keep refining their combat skills instead. The exceptions will, of course, be Tobirama, Madara, and Hashirama, but for completely different reasons.

Tobirama will do it for curiosity, the love of learning, and the ability to make new jutsu. He's, fundamentally, a scientist and an innovator and using all the chakra natures will become essential to his work. Madara will do it to keep up with Tobirama. The first time Tobirama uses a doton on him in a spar, Madara will memorise it and work on flinging it back in his teeth - that's his competitive nature at work there.

Hashirama will do it for the children. He will be the dad of three boys and the uncle / godparent of twelve (!!!) more, all of whom have different nature affinities, and he'll want to be a part of their lives in every way. Hashirama will take great joy in working with all of them on their affinities and will pick it up just to be a better parent. As for his children, none of them will have the mokuton as naturally as he will, but one will have doton, one will have suiton, and one will have both. That boy will eventually master the mokuton.

Izuna will never master more nature chakras than those that come to him naturally. He has enough to do thanks, and why would he want to? It doesn't matter if he can do it himself, as long as he can lay his hands on someone who can do it for him - he tells Tobirama that it's called DELEGATION. He's much less of a control freak than Tobirama who doesn't trust things unless he can replicate them for himself. Izuna is comfortable in chaos and with unexpected results. Tobirama views chaos as what happens when he's not around to organise it.

As for how genetics works in this AU, I'm going to say that the basic nature releases are inherited, though you do get recessive genetics. For example, Iruka has katon even though both of his parents are water natured. However, some of his ancestors were fire natured and that's where he gets it. Both his parents carried the genetics for it even though they didn't manifest it, and he got the 1 in 4 chance of being a fire user. And yes, I know this means that I've made the genes for suiton dominant over the genes for katon. Water puts out fire after all.

This is also yet another reason why the Uchiha are so wary of outsiders marrying in - they get nature releases other than fire.

Also, in this AU, Madara's gunbai is a nod to his clan's symbol - the Uchiwa. It's not an indication that he has a hidden fūton affinity.

Wind affinity is less common than doton in the Senju clan at the moment, but it's not all that rare. It comes from the Uzumaki who have wind and water as their most common affinities. About a fifth of the Senju are Uzumaki descendants, and about a third of those are wind natured. So it's about 6% of the shinobi in the clan or about 10 shinobi.

If this AU followed cannon, after the fall of Uzushio, wind affinity would have become a lot less common since it's recessive too. Suiton is dominant over fūton.

Naruto gets it from both his parents - Kushina (wind and water) and Minato (fire, wind, and lightning). So, since he gets wind from both, he won the genetic lottery and got wind.

I worked it out using punnet squares and this is how it goes:

Fūton is recessive to Suiton
Katon is recessive to Suiton
Doton is recessive to Suiton
Doton is recessive to Katon
Fūton is recessive to Doton

So the most dominant is suiton - it dominates the other three. Then katon dominates doton and doton dominates fūton.

Mito carries the genes for both fūton and suiton, just as Hashirama carries the genes for both doton and suiton which - in him - express as the mokuton rather than suiton dominating the doton gene. I'm going to say that's some super rare genetic quirk that allows for the expression of both at the same time since adding his cells to other people seems to produce the mokuton too (Tenzo, Madara, Danzo). So he has the mokuton because of the intersection of three genes - doton, suiton, and the gene that says he can combine them for the mokuton. Someone who only has suiton and the third gene would't be able to do anything with it, though they might pass it down to their kid.

So his kids will have the following options:
Fūton / Doton = Doton
Suiton / Doton = Suiton
Fūton / Suiton = Suiton
Suiton / Suiton = Suiton

So his kids have a three in four chance of having a suiton affinity.

This is how it actually shakes out:

The one suiton user = Suiton / Suiton = Suiton
The one doton user = Fūton / Doton = Doton
The mokuton user = Suiton / Doton = Mokuton

I still haven't figured out how lightning works as a dominant or recessive gene, but I won't have to deal with that until I get to Slither and Stalk so I can leave it for a bit!

Chapter Text

Yes, this AU has no Jinchūriki.

The bijū in this AU are mostly treated like the fictional Japan treats Godzilla - a natural disaster that everyone hopes will stay away, they all run away from it if it shows up, and they clean up after it with resignation.

There's nothing that anyone can do with the bijū unless you happen to have a Sharingan, but no one in this AU actually attempts anything like what happens in cannon so they never figure that out.

The shinobi world is just very grateful that they mostly stay out of human settlements.

It does mean that much more of Japan actually stays a nature preserve by default though - no one wants to encroach on what they may consider their territory.

Thankfully, the bijū don't like humans much and they generally stick to unpopulated areas.

Chapter Text

The handbook!

Right after the First Shinobi World War ended in 1835, the village was flooded with refugees.

Suddenly they had a whole bunch of child soldiers, traumatised civilians and paranoid shinobi who claimed Senju heritage but didn't actually grow up in a Senju clan.

And since the Senju practice 'clan by choice and oath' the village does too.

So there was a lot of confusion in general and the whole courting issue got put aside.

Until it slapped them in the face when several people were being unintentionally courted and got upset about it and they all realised that it was more important than they'd thought.

So they put out a handbook.

The handbook that Iruka was waving in fact.

The clans all agreed to use it - and the Senju Courtship Customs in it - unless they were courting within their own clans.

Since all the new people were claiming to be Senju, and their Senju heritage was what they had in common, they could play by Senju rules.

But that was only a few years after the First Shinobi War ended and it was published in 1839.

Kakashi is doing this in 1891.

It's been years since the handbook was actually generally relevant - everyone has gotten used to each other, and most of the clans have gone back to using their own traditions.

Including the Hatake.

oops.

Chapter Text

Madara only had one year of being Prey - he actually recalls it in chapter 11 of Escape and Evade:

And then… to feel his chakra draining away and all the strength going out of his limbs… he has never experienced anything so terrifying. Even when he was young and taken his turn as Prey, bound and gagged, taunted by members of his own clan - still thankfully his only experience of capture - he was still able to resist. Still able to struggle and fight, even if only in small ways. Tobirama’s seal prevented even that.

In the same chapter Madara also thinks about his suspicions regarding Tajima:

It is unworthy of him, but he has always had a quiet suspicion that his father encouraged runners to terrify their Prey in the hopes of activating the Sharingan in more of the clan, something that he put an immediate stop to upon becoming clan head.

He mastered the fireball in the summer that he was 8, and then was Prey that autumn. He was caught, and that's the time that he and Hikaku were both thinking of when they decide to team up to Catch Izuna. His next Run, the only Run that both he and Izuna were Prey, he graduated. He was 10.

That's what happened to him the year he was captured. Nothing worse than that happened, but it's not something that he enjoys remembering.

The same thing happened to Hikaku - he did 4 Runs as Prey and graduated on his fourth try.

The group of runners that caught Madara were notorious for their behaviour during the Run and he put a stop to it as soon as he could but it took a while - the first two times the Run was held under Madara's leadership were a little problematic.

Chapter Text

Hikaku's version produces exactly the same results as what Kakashi did to Sasuke, but he mostly doesn't travel underground. The first year that he Caught Izuna, he made a trap with his doton in advance and Izuna fell into it. He wasn't as good with his ninjutsu then as he becomes later. By the time we see him in Escape and Evade, the earth just opens right up under his target and then closes up again immediately for capture. He still needs line of sight to the area he wants to effect though.

Kakashi learned most of his ninjutsu from other people. Hikaku is entirely self taught through experimentation. As a result, his ninjutsu is non-standard and can be less polished than Kakashi's. He's worked hard on it though and his fine control is very good.

Izuna did end up just like Sasuke - buried up to his neck in the dirt and whisper shrieking at both Hikaku and Madara. He was whisper shrieking because they were still at war with the Senju and none of them wanted to attract attention. Hikaku still felt like he was being yelled at though, loud volume or no.

Even after the village is formed, they try not to yell too much. They're supposed to be operating in stealth mode and don't even tell Hashirama what's going on at first - in chapter 5 of Escape and Evade Hashirama calls it 'the super secret Uchiha festival that nobody is supposed to know about'.

It's only after the Run with the Paralysis Seal that it becomes open knowledge that there's something going on and that's mostly because Madara and Tobirama's ninjutsu battle is impossible to hide.

After Tobirama paralyses everyone, nothing happens. It's all quiet and nobody explains to anyone what just happened. It's mostly put down to a night time training exercise.

It isn't until Tobirama's fourth Run when Team Tobirama participates that it becomes widely known what's going on and how it all works.

Still, both Izuna and Hikaku classify their first fight as a 'screaming argument' or something similar simply because they wanted to be screaming at each other and kind of were within the limits imposed on them.

Chapter Text

Seto’s feelings for Izuna... that’s a complex question.

At this point, no, he’s not in love with Izuna. He feels affection - pretty much everyone in the clan does, it’s hard not to when Izuna’s trying so hard to be everything to everyone and generally adorable to boot - but not love. He also has a better view of Izuna since Hikaku has been talking about him for years. It’s hard not to feel for the guy Hikaku describes.

But Seto’s determined to love Izuna. He wants to. He knows that Hikaku will have a hard time if he doesn’t, constantly feeling torn between them.

Letting Hikaku go is totally not an option for him - no way, no how.

And he isn't going to make Hikaku give up Izuna - that would hurt Hikaku (again, no way) or make Hikaku resent him. He's too smart to pick that option.

So he was always going to be part of a triad with Izuna anyway.

His choices then are to be in love with Izuna or not.

He's decided that he'd rather they all be equally in love, than have Hikaku loving them both but them not really being in a relationship with each other.

So falling in love with Izuna is the practical and obvious solution to Seto.

Also, he knew that Hikaku would need support. This was the most support that he could offer - falling in love with Izuna was an act of love for Hikaku.

(Uchiha man, canonically crazy for love, and not any less crazy in this AU. This is the sensible version which would be insane to any other person!)

So he does more than just let it grow. He asks for news of Izuna and Hikaku together, he encourages love in himself. He thinks constantly about all the stories Hikaku has told him about Izuna, remembering them as friends and imagining the three of them together as something more. Basically, he’s incepting himself with the emotion.

By the time of the Run where they capture Izuna happens in two years time, he’s just as invested as Hikaku.

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Okay - in my head - Madara is actually shorter than Tobirama and Hashirama? I know that's not exactly cannon, but somehow I can't get rid of it. I read dahtwitchi's comics and became incepted with the idea. It's not quite as exaggerated as the way dahtwitchi draws it - maybe only half a head shorter instead of only coming up to their shoulders - but he's still shorter than them. Tobirama is almost exactly the same height as Hashirama, but he's slighter where Hashirama is broad and solid - the way he always wears his black trousers and turtleneck while Hashirama wears hakama and a haori only emphasises it.

The way I imagine them, Hikaku is actually taller than Madara. He's about the same height as Tobirama, which makes for an amusing mental image because Izuna is the shortest. And Izuna pulls him down for kisses all the time. Hikaku very literally bends for Izuna - it's not just a metaphor. If you go by the yaoi convention of tallest = seme, that's totally subverted - he bends to Izuna's will all the time, while at the same time reigning Izuna in for his own good or gently reprimanding Izuna when he's too bratty. He's the least aggressive of the three. Gentle, calm, always in control, Hikaku, with all of the patience and persistence of the earth that he wields.

For Hikaku, I used the image from here.

For Izuna, all grown up, I used these two images:

The heights in this one work out really well except that Hashirama should be taller than Madara. But the height difference between Madara and Izuna is right. And Tobirama's face is hilarious.

Izuna's too tall in this one - he should only come up to Tobirama's shoulder - but otherwise it's perfect.

Both Izuna and Hikaku wear the mantle pretty much all the time unless they're at home, in which case they wear a yukata or a kimono. The mantle = work, kimono = off duty.

Seto, on the other hand is in the middle height wise. Taller than Izuna - that's not hard - but shorter than Hikaku, he's about the same height as Madara.

So - within the triad - Hikaku is taller than Seto, Seto is taller than Izuna. When Seto and Izuna hug, Izuna has to duck to actually tuck himself under Seto's chin but it works otherwise. When Izuna and Hikaku hug, Izuna's mouth is somewhere around Hikaku's chest area - about nipple height actually. When he rides Hikaku, Izuna's forehead is in just the right spot to rest on Hikaku's shoulder while he swears passionate threats. Standing up, hugging Hikaku from behind - like I wrote in chapter 16 of T3 - Seto is just the right height to put his chin on Hikaku's shoulder and bite his neck.

As for how Seto looks.... well, he's a stereotypical pretty boy bishounen. Really, really pretty features, delicate, almost feminine without being effeminate in any way. Big hands, long elegant fingers, callouses from both musical instruments and weapons. He never wears the mantle. He's always dressed in montsuki hakama, tabi, and zōri when he's out and about. In effect, that's his work uniform.

There's an article about zōri in the Edo period here.

The zōri that Seto wears would look like these.

He's the last one to dress down at home, but - when he does - he wears kimono and yukata just like Hikaku and Izuna.

Like Hikaku, his hair is flat and silky, very soft. It's fine too, and lifts with the slightest breeze. No real fringe at all, just a straight fall of hair parted to the side.

He's got the most variation in how he wears it too, styling it to fit his circumstances. Sometimes, he'll wear it loose, especially when he wants to emphasise how pretty and unthreatening he is, and he'll play coy with it, hiding his face behind it. (He did this a lot at court) Mostly he'll wear it in a low tail tied over his shoulder and let it drape forward - it's super long and it'll fall into his lap and pool there. But, when he cooks, he'll braid it or put it up and anchor it with a kanzashi.

For some inspirational images of Seto, try these:

This one is pretty much what I'm imagining, but he wouldn't have a fringe.

This one is exactly right.

By the way, Kikiyo is even shorter than Izuna. Like her mom, she’s really petite. Small breasted, slim hipped, she’s a pocket sized beauty. It makes it even more amusing when she playfully reprimands Hashirama for not doing his work correctly. He’s more than a head taller than her, she only comes up to his collarbones and has to peer up at him while he ducks behind his hair like a little boy.

Mito thinks it's adorable.

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Seto would totally make the koshian anko, but I have no idea how he intends to make them runny!

In my head, the consistency of the anko would be somewhere between traditional koshian anko and the really thick sweet red bean soups that I had in Hong Kong. And then he would - somehow - manage to wrap it up in mochi.

In the end, it should look like this.

The way the eyeballs leak liquid when stabbed is what I'm aiming for.

As the the ball shape... maybe he could just draw hearts on them? So heart shaped onigiri on a plate and little white mochi balls with pink hearts painted on them. And then the mochi leaks anko into Izuna's bowl when he stabs it.

Or he could make the hearts using overlapping sakura petals!

And reading all your descriptions of mochi is making me hungry! Now I want anko filled mochi! LOL!

Chapter Text

Exactly. That’s why the twins Sharingan activated - the betrayal from their father and Clan Head.

Over the course of two years, Madara lost three siblings.

He did the Run with the twins, was caught, they earned their Sharingan, the twins were killed in the winter. Izuna mastered the fireball in summer. Madara, Izuna, and Hikaku all did the Run that autumn, Madara graduated but the other two didn’t. Madara had his first battle in the spring and Taetaka died right in front of him.

That’s when Madara makes the vow: Izuna will live. No matter what.

There’s also another unexpressed trauma for Madara here - on his run, the only run that he and Izuna shared, he abandoned Izuna to improve his own chances for graduation.

It worked.

Izuna and Hikaku did that Run together instead, and were both caught - thankfully not by the people who caught Madara and the twins the year before. (In fact, they were caught by Seto who was 14. They both yielded and he took them for dango. It was the first time Izuna had something sweet.)

Madara feels the guilt of that but rationalises it as the best decision because it allowed him to graduate to become a runner himself - a much better position from which to protect Izuna.

He was right, but he still feels the weight of it.

Despite all of this death, Madara still didn’t have the sharingan though, since it’s canonical that he didn’t get the sharingan until the river incident which happens after he loses all his siblings but Izuna.

In my head cannon for this AU, it’s his vow to protect Izuna that prevents his sharingan from activating - he channels all of his pain into that, and it’s the conflict between his dream of peace (which would save Izuna) and the reality that Izuna will not support it (and doom Izuna to death) that finally activates the sharingan.

The knowledge that Izuna is choosing a path that will kill him is what drives him to despair and the activation of the sharingan - it’s not losing Hashirama.

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So, why does To Tempt a Target have so much more sex in it than the rest of the series?

Because of the characters.

Sex is not crucial to any of the other relationships that I’ve written for this series, but for the Triad it’s one of the keystones.

There are several reasons for this, ranging from the simple to the complex.

At it’s most basic, it’s because all three of them are fairly highly sexed. So they’d fuck like rabbits no matter whether I wrote it or not.

But more than that, it’s also about vulnerability and trust. Sex is when they are at their most vulnerable and intimate. Everyone has to trust each other not to hurt them and to protect each other. It’s one of the reasons they’re most comfortable in a group - there’s always someone to defend them.

The third person in sex - the person who isn't penetrating or being penetrated, the person who in a modern threesome would be considered a slightly awkward fit to write? And there'd be narrative pressure to make them part of the sex act somehow rather than have them spectate?

With the triad that person is the protector of the other two. They hold a valued position of trust that allows the other two to lose their minds in safety.

They actually have to take a less involved role for everyone's peace of mind.

The last part is because all three of them do power exchange.

It’s kind of an unintentional consequence of their public roles and their private preferences.

For a start, they’re shinobi, which means that dominance equals survival for them. Their ability to win in a fight is an essential calculation that they’re constantly considering, and these three are all fresh out of a war. Unlike the characters in the future, peaceful, version of Konoha - Minato, for example, has never had a real fight in his life and has never had to kill anyone ever - all three are suffering PTSD and have battlefield instincts that make them bristle at the slightest hint of vulnerability.

In an intimate situation, they’re as likely to fight as kiss if left to their own devices. They’re constantly having to tamp down their own reflexive responses.

Hikaku, for example, once woke up pinned down by Seto who’d moved in his sleep and panicked, throwing Seto halfway across the room. Seto wakes up at the slightest hint of an unfamiliar noise, heart racing, but always pretends to be asleep in order to lull whoever is attacking him into a false sense of security. Izuna has nightmares of not being good enough to save Madara on the battlefield, jerks upright panting, and has to be lulled into being able to accept touch again through voice and several rounds of deep breathing. If one of them lays a finger on him in the immediate aftermath, he’ll grab their wrist and potentially break it - Hikaku found that out the hard way.

So sex for them is a time when they have to trust the others, yes, but it’s also a time when it works better to give themselves over, often in a very literal way. They can embrace the role, allow themselves to be taken care of, and let all of that accumulated stress, anxiety, and reflex seep away.

All three of them need that to different degrees, and all three of them get it as they need it.

Then there are their very public roles: Izuna as the head of their family with Seto and Hikaku as his yome - his wives basically.

There’s all sorts of public power dynamics inherent in that, considering Izuna is younger than both of them and is officially Prey to their runners - making them senior to him. But he’s also Clan Heir, and can give them orders within the clan as well as on the battlefield, (plus Izuna is a heck of a lot more badass than either of them in a fight) - so he’s senior to them in that way. It’s confusing from the outside and they pass the power between them publicly depending on context, but - within the relationship - it helps to keep them equal.

That collides headfirst with the Japanese ideas of sex which are very invested in who is fucking and who is fucked - seme and uke, basically, though that’s a stereotype and not something that applies to many homosexual people - because all three of them are switches. They like it both ways.

(Their sex scenes are three switches in bed and everyone gets something they like, possibly at the same time for the lucky person in the middle.)

So it doesn’t matter to them if they’re on the bottom or on top - it’s who’s wielding the power that matters in their heads.

Thus power exchange is a big part of their sex lives.

To use modern BDSM terminology, Seto would be a service top who takes the active role in a power exchange and at the same time is told what to do from the passive participant — the bottom. (This is a disputed definition by the way, but it’s the one that’s closest to what Seto does. You can read a little more about it here.) LGBT terminology uses the same term to describe someone who, while doing the penetrating, retains more pleasure from giving and serving his significant other and is actually a passive participant in power exchange. The latter does not describe Seto - when he’s dominant, he’s dominant.

He’s a generous lover. It lets him feel in control and less anxious about everything but it doesn’t make him more submissive. Instead, it fuels his dominant impulses to have either Hikaku or Izuna lying under him, writhing under what he’s doing to them. It’s one of the reasons for his oral fixation and why they love his mouth so much. When he’s fucked, he can either be in control, encouraging and allowing them to work out their aggression on him, or out of his mind and being cared for. In fact, he can do that while fucking too - in that case he’s feral, running on instinct and aggression while letting them reign him in as necessary.

Izuna’s the opposite. He can be a LGBT style power bottom, riding either of them into insensibility, or he can be ridden while he loses his mind. But the latter takes a lot. He disassociates feverishly while vulnerable, and - as long as he’s thinking - retains a relatively analytical approach to sex. He’s not quite a bad as Tobirama - frankly, no one is - but it’s plenty bad enough. When he fucks, it’s all about the aggression, and often as much lust as tenderness. Lots of teeth and biting there.

Hikaku is the most traditional one, in all ways. He’s the first one to call them by their roles consistently and, very quickly, uses shujin for Seto instead of an actual name. It takes longer for Izuna, mostly because Izuna has been his friend for so long and he can’t stop himself from seeing the boy he knew in the man he loves - especially when Izuna is being bratty (which happens a lot) - but he eventually makes the leap there too.

In bed, he attaches significance to being penetrated and actively wants to save that for Izuna. In that, he’s quite unlike both Seto and Izuna who only care what they want on any given day and attach no particular importance to being fucked. That means that he exclusively fucks Seto until he is 23, even though he and Seto have sex for the first time when he’s 19. So he comes to love being ridden while Seto dominates him, as well as to love having Seto under him - that satisfies all of his caretaking instincts.

With Izuna, he loves the same things but to an even greater extent.

He’s been wanting to take care of Izuna in almost every way since they day they met. He basically adopted Izuna into his family when they were kids and it broke his heart when Izuna fought him upon Capture in the Run. That was an act of care from him and Izuna threw it back in his face. He was unable to defend Izuna on the battlefield - Izuna warned the whole clan off when he was fighting Tobirama - and unable to make Madara see what his choices were doing to Izuna.

Every single bit of that repressed desire to care is funnelled into his passion for Izuna in bed. From the first time they have sex when Hikaku is 20 until Izuna finally fucks him when he’s 23, he does nothing to Izuna except try to care for him and relieve his stress. He wants to be the safe space where Izuna can lay down all his burdens and rest, and does his very best to make that happen. It’s the first time Izuna can do that, and it’s really what starts them off doing power exchange in bed.

On the other hand, when he’s fucked, he’s the only one to lose his mind almost immediately. He gives himself over to his partner with his typical honesty, and all of his responses are open. He can never be dominant when being penetrated. Never. He loves it too much and can’t think of anything else except the pleasure of having one of them inside his body.

From a modern perspective, the interesting part is blowjobs. All three of them perform that as an act of dominance. None of them would dream of allowing any of their partners to face fuck them. Someone else cutting of their airflow would send them into a panic and they’d strike out immediately. Without discussion, none of them have even brought it up as a possibility.

They might choke themselves on their lovers cock, but they’ll never let themselves be choked.

In the same way, they’ll never do shibari.

That’s because shibari originated from Hojo-jutsu, a method of restraining captives and a form of torture, before it morphed into the erotic bondage Kinbaku (Kinbaku-bi literally translates as “the beauty of tight binding”) in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Since this story starts in 1817 and continues until the early 1840s, Kinbaku does not yet exist, and any form of bondage would be Hojo-jutsu. There’s no way they’d be doing that. Even bringing out the hemp rope would ring alarms bells and be a massive breach of trust.

Hard limit for all of them right there.

Chapter Text

Ah ha! Alcohol tolerance! Now, this is where I link it up to chakra usage - part of my head cannon for this AU is that chakra usage is connected to food. I talk about this is chapter 15 of The World Building of Courting Culture Confusion, World Building - Why Hashirama is Always Hungry so, for consistency, I'll just quote from there:

My theory is that chakra and physical activity burn calories like crazy and thus why Naruto can consume a literal tower of ramen in one sitting and never gain weight - he expends it all just containing Kurama. (Which would, of course, make his canonically terrible childhood even more traumatic. Imagine being that hungry all the time) Chakra is energy after all and all energy must come from somewhere - so sayeth the law of conservation of energy - so shinobi must consume enormous amounts of food. It thus explains why the Akimichi must eat so much to gain weight.

So a powerhouse like Hashirama must, by default, consume dense high energy foods constantly - thus candy - and he would have whined as a child when he was hungry. So my head cannon is that Tobirama got used to constantly sealing away large amounts of sweet food anytime they passed a seller and they had the money to buy some. So his pockets are literally always full of candy and snacks.

Basically, the more chakra you use normally, the faster your metabolism and the more you burn calories - it's law of conservation at work!

So someone like Hashirama who is using chakra all the time to talk to trees, grow plants everywhere, and - right now - sustain all the cherry and plum trees in the village for a month to make this giant extended hanami happen, is constantly hungry. Drinking alcohol does nothing for him during hanami - he burns it off right away. He barely gets drunk before it's out of his system.

So not all of the Senju would have tolerances like this. Tobirama does - constantly using his sensing, the Hiraishin, the casual use of suiton, it all adds up. But Tōka doesn't. While large, her chakra stores are lower and she rarely uses her doton outside of training. In fact, her most common use of chakra is a constant low level yōton manipulation used to increase her strength. Izuna has larger chakra stores than her, and he uses his katon far more than she does her doton even in his daily life, plus his constant use of the Sharingan - it's a total chakra drain as we can see from the way Kakashi falls over after using it. Thus Izuna actually has a higher metabolism than she does, and doesn't get drunk as fast.

Logically, this should make Kikiyo the easiest to get drunk - she has the lowest chakra stores of the three and she uses chakra the least. Except for one thing - Kikiyo's line works in pleasure and sex where getting drunk is a standard part of the game. As such, they know exactly how this works and actively use chakra to burn alcohol out of their systems to control how drunk they actually are. Seto and Kikiyo can drink alcohol and not be drunk if they want but what they usually do is burn off everything but a little bit so that they can convincingly pretend to be drunk - they learned this from their mom, and it's something that was developed and refined over generations by their ancestors. There's a reason that their father brings out his terribly strong alcohol at their parties and they chuck it back like it's water but never lose control while Hikaku's family gets roaringly drunk and pissed out of their minds.

So Kikiyo should win the drinking contest but she's too politic to do so. She lets Izuna win and bows out gracefully just before Tōka falls over so that nobody can tell what she's doing. (Her technique is a family secret! Nobody can know!)

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Setsuna is only four years younger than Izuna actually! Ichika is younger than him though.

He both is and isn’t part of their generation.

He’s part of their generation in terms of age - he wants born around the same time, his parents were contemporaries with their parents, that kind of thing. But he’s not their contemporary in terms of shinobi skill because they mastered battlefield skills far earlier than he did.

His first battle was the one where Tobirama used the Hiraishin for the first time. Izuna had been fighting for years before that. As such, he’s actually a contemporary of Kagami in terms of skill. Kagami advanced fast because Tobirama was his mentor, Setsuna advanced more slowly because he’s both not talented and had no mentor. Thus he and Kagami end up being working colleagues more than he ends up being working colleagues with any of the founders.

So you have the founders, their kids, and their grandchildren would be the Tsunade generation. Their great grandchildren would be the Shisui/Itachi generation. Each mentorship generation is shorter than an actual generation though - because the Jōnin are usually about 20-30 years old and passing on their skills to 15 year olds which means a 5 to 15 year gap between a mentor and a mentee. Whereas, now that the clan wars are over and life expectancy is going up, people in this AU start giving birth to kids when they're about 25 or so, making that a 25 year gap minimum.

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Travel in the Edo period was pretty simple - you walked or rode an animal.

As a shinobi in this AU, you pretty much ran the whole way unless you had access to the Hiraishin in which case you were Tobirama or a very good friend of his.

Thanks to way I’ve mapped Kishimoto’s Elemental Countries onto Japan, travelling from Hi no Kuni to Uzushio is a non-trivial task.

When the Uzumaki want to come south to Hi no Kuni, they just sail right down the coast and berth at Osaka. It’s easy, but getting up north is harder.

Basically, shinobi of the village have to either take a boat from Osaka or travel along the northern coast from Kyoto through the Chūbu region and the Tōhoku region up to Aomori Prefecture where they would either set sail from Aomori or Cape Ōma.

Today, there’s a ferry which takes people from Aomori to Hakodate (they call it the Tsugaru Straits route) over the course of about three hours and forty minutes. The same ferry company also runs the Cape Ōma to Hakodate route and that takes about ninety minutes.

In this AU, both of those ports would be officially patrolled by Kumo shinobi and it would be tricky to get in and out unnoticed. The Uzumaki would have an official presence and they’d be fine, but Hi no Kuni shinobi would definitely be stopped and questioned.

This is another reason for the USEATC to look so harmless. They want to look like idiots who are selling pretty stuff to the Uzumaki so that it’s easier to get past Kumo nin.

That’s for regular village shinobi. Tobirama does it differently.

Tobirama uses the Hiraishin to teleport sequentially up the coast with stops for people to throw up and sleep until he gets to Cape Ōma. On clear days, you can actually see Hakodate from Cape Ōma. They’re only 17 km apart, well within the range of a single Hiraishin teleport.

In my cannon for this AU, Tobirama can teleport up to a maximum distance of his furthest point of sight. If he can see it, and can visualise the Hiraishin seal that he placed there, he can teleport to it. If it’s not within his current line of sight, but it is within a distance that he knows that he can cover, he can still make it as long as he has the seal already placed. It’s teleporting to seals on moving objects that’s tricky, distance or no. If he can see it, it’s easier. If he can’t see it, he’s relying on his mental map and is blind to the actual current circumstances that will be occurring when he arrives. His sensing helps some, but not always. That’s why he teleported into his office in chapter 43 of Escape and Evade (Omake - 500 Miles) ready for a fight - Hashirama and Madara’s chakra spikes indicated they were in danger or being aggressive.

Teleporting a distance that he doesn’t believe he can cover is an impossibility - his real limitations are in his head.

This is why Tobirama and Madara are accompanying Uzumaki Namika, elected leader of Uzushio (but not Clan Head of the Uzumaki), back up to Uzushio. Normally, she’d be fine, she’s bad ass and would just take the ship from Osaka. The problem is that she’s carrying Tobirama's baby and is thus a double target for assassination.

They took the ship on the way down and Madara was horrendously uncomfortable the whole way. She offered to try Tobirama’s Hiraishin on the way up. It’s faster, quieter, and sneakier, all big pluses.

The problem turns out to be the nausea and vertigo.

Spoiler: she never does it again.

She’d rather sail, thanks.

Chapter Text

As I said in chapter 66 of The World Building of Courting Culture Confusion, Characterisation - Seto and Kikiyo, their whole line is based around sex, pleasure, entertainment, and death.

No matter their gender, they acquire all the skills of the nobles they counterfeit, as well as those of the sex workers of the day. They also learn all the skills of spies. How to charm information out of people, how to look like they belong, how to disappear into a crowd, how to secret information in their heads or on their persons and get it - and themselves - away safely. They also learn the martial skills that will allow them to evade detection and escape if they need to.

But, sometimes, charm isn’t enough. They need to have physical contact with their targets.

In chapter 74, Kikiyo talks about a mission in which she had to feed a man poison by kissing him.

They’ve had to have even more intimate contact than that sometimes.

Their mother spent years as a deep cover agent in the Capital as a geisha and slept with her danna. She began her mission in Shimabara, the hanamachi (花街 lit., "flower town”) where geisha live and work in Kyōto, when she was eighteen in 1792. She stayed there until her danna became unable to afford her and then left, taking Seto and Kikiyo with her. She returned to the Uchiha in 1807. Seto was eight, and Kikiyo was four. Seto mastered the Grand Fireball two years later.

She picked her own target, seduced him of her own will, and she never considered it rape, but it also wasn’t sex or a relationship that she would have chosen to have if left to her own devices. And she did it for nearly fifteen years.

So Seto and Kikiyo were trained in sex.

Neither of them was raped at any point - not even on missions, they were lucky - but they did practise a lot before they started being sent on missions. It would have been irresponsible to do otherwise.

Remember that their whole line was founded by a tayū ranked oiran who was being abused by her danna and traded being rescued from the Floating World for her assistance with his death. Sex and seduction are an accepted part of their arsenal. They don’t shy away from it.

As an aside, if you want to know what the Floating World was like and how it evolved into the Flower and Willow World, you can find a good overview in this article. It also has quite a lot of pictures of art from “Seduction: Japan’s Floating World,” from the John C. Weber Collection, and the concurrent exhibition, “The Printer’s Eye: Ukiyo-e from the Grabhorn Collection,” which were displayed in 2015 at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. There is a single picture of a naked breast in that article but, other than that, I’d consider it safe for work. It’s the only link that I’m going to post in this chapter that will be anything like work safe.

So how did they go about being trained in sex?

Mostly, they practised using sex toys.

And yes, Edo period Japan had those. They also had porn.

I’ll quote from Wikipedia:

Shunga (春画) is a type of Japanese erotic art typically executed as a kind of ukiyo-e, often in woodblock print format. While rare, there are also extant erotic painted handscrolls which predate ukiyo-e. Translated literally, the Japanese word shunga means picture of spring; "spring" is a common euphemism for sex.

The ukiyo-e movement as a whole sought to express an idealisation of contemporary urban life and appeal to the new chōnin class. Following the aesthetics of everyday life, Edo-period shunga varied widely in its depictions of sexuality. As a subset of ukiyo-e it was enjoyed by all social groups in the Edo period, despite being out of favour with the shogunate.

The whole article can be found here. The article is NSFW - heterosexual and homosexual porn images, and a single image of tentacle porn.

Hokusai, the artist who created the internationally iconic print The Great Wave off Kanagawa and who also created Plum Blossoms and Moon, the artwork that Seto remembers in chapter 22, also created shunga - famously The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife (Japanese: 蛸と海女, Hepburn: Tako to Ama, "Octopus(es) and the Shell Diver”). You can find the wikipedia article on it here. Be aware, if you choose to click on that link, it’s tentacle porn. It should go without saying that it’s NSFW.

(Although the print does appear in Mad Men, which I suppose is a sign that tentacle porn has become more socially acceptable?)

So, for a while, Seto and Kikiyo read a lot of erotic literature, viewed a lot of shunga, and were given sex toys to practise with.

You can find some examples here. Again, the link is NSFW. Lots of pictures of dildos, cock rings, and similar, but nothing that I’d consider kinky enough to warn for unless you consider double penetration or multiple partners too kinky to read about or look at, in which case please don’t read To Tempt a Target!

Please note that Seto and Kikiyo practised alone, and did this quite a few years apart.

Seto did this during his fifteenth and sixteenth year, 1814 and 1815. Kikiyo didn’t start on it until Tajima died in 1819. She was 16.

They were given a very frank and comprehensive sex talk, reminded of their existing training on seduction involving titillating the mind and the use of publicly visible erogenous zones, and left with a bunch of books. Their mom would check back on them periodically. Any questions? No? Okay.

Once they were ready, she gave them the sex toys and left them to it.

There was the option to seek friendly, uncomplicated sex with someone of their own age afterwards. Seto took it and arranged something with one of his friends. Kikiyo declined.

So that’s the training that Seto and Kikiyo were talking about when she was giving birth. When he told her to breathe and let her body do all the work? That was advice their mom gave them about having sex with an unattractive target.

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You are 100% right. In fact, if you look at the way Madara talks in his acceptance of Kikiyo's proposal to act as his surrogate, he explicitly says that his line is comprised of warriors while her line is comprised of spies. They're very different, and it's one reason that Kikiyo had so much trouble finding a sperm donor.

This is one of the consequences of the daimyo in Naruto having no military base of their own and hiring shinobi clans to be their military arm. (I am totally going to deal with this - this is what the landing of Perry is ALL ABOUT) The shinobi have to do all the stuff that samurai in real world Japan did, plus all the spy stuff too. They have a much broader skill set than real world shinobi were supposed to, which is canonical to Kishimoto's conceptualisation of them.

I mean - battlefields of shinobi! That's so samurai!

And you're right again about the use of ninjutsu. Most shinobi in this AU don't have the chakra reserves to use that consistently. Frankly, even Izuna and Tobirama use it more than most. Tōka and Hikaku would be examples of good but not OP shinobi and they use theirs very little, and usually in small subtle ways rather than flashy ninjutsu too since they need to preserve their chakra reserves for the next battle. They're primarily weapons based fighters, as are most shinobi.

So, in that way, Kikiyo really is a stereotypical kunoichi, and the way she seems so different from the rest of her clan says a lot about how Kishimoto portrayed his shinobi in general.

The trick with Kikiyo is making her a kunoichi that fits the mould, while also making her a person with her own thoughts, needs, and motivations. I didn't want her to be a cardboard cutout, and that would have been a total disservice to KeanBlade's character!

I hope that I've done her justice.

And, if I haven't, I'll get another chance to do it in her own story - To Leave a Legacy.

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I'm glad that you like Namika! She doesn't appear very often in this story, but I do like her quite a bit. This is the only time you will actually see her in this story simply because she can't afford to be away from Uzushio very much, but she will be seen in at least one scene of the Zetsu story, and she'll appear in Niko's story at least.

Her offer to be Tobirama's surrogate was very formal. The Uzumaki played that strictly according to Uchiha custom out of respect for Madara, and Tobirama's sensei felt him out directly once Madara had approved it to get a feel for his comfort and consent. If they'd thought he was unwilling at any point, they'd have withdrawn the offer. In fact, Madara was under quite a lot of scrutiny when he went up to Uzushio the first time - he hadn't realised that the Uzumaki treated Tobirama like family and that he was, effectively, gaining another set of in laws.

As for the offer of surrogacy, it went from Niko to Madara, not the other way around - Madara didn't have to persuade Namika, she offered on her own. The Uzumaki really want the chance to have one of Tobirama's kids become an Uzumaki so they made the best offer they could. That's why Namika offered to have two pregnancies - two bites at the apple, so to speak.

They just kind of went "Who wants to have Tobirama's baby?" and let the ladies shout at each other until it was decided.

Basically, there is an Uzumaki Clan Head as well as the leader of Uzushio and they deal with different things. The Uzumaki Clan Head deals with stuff within the clan and the leader of Uzushio prioritises keeping the city running.

Since this was a clan issue, the Clan Head would have taken the lead, and she called a meeting to tell everyone that Tobirama was looking for a surrogate. She laid out the reasons very clearly, showed his marriage contract and the bit in it that said that the kid could choose to be either an Uzumaki, a Senju, or an Uchiha. She stated that they really wanted at least one of Tobirama's kids to become an Uzumaki, and reminded everyone that Tobirama would be raising the kid no matter what. Additionally, Tobirama would not be having sex with anyone.

Then she threw it open to the floor, and requested volunteers.

That's when the shouting started.

Despite there being a pretty good chance that the kid wouldn't choose to be an Uzumaki, there was no shortage of women volunteering to be his surrogate.

Namika basically argued that her genes in conjunction with Tobirama's genes were the most likely to produce a strong suiton user with the reserves of an Uzumaki - she was totally right on that one - and that her position meant that they had to come to her in Uzushio every year, there would be no skipping it. And that way they could show the kids all the benefits of being an Uzumaki.

Eventually Namika won the arguments for all the reasons that I previously stated, and because there was no stronger suiton user in the clan. So the Uzumaki are taking a giant gamble here. The kid is going to be strong and definitely a suiton user unless something goes massively wrong, but they may not be an Uzumaki. They're betting that any suiton user will love Uzushio, and hoping that - even if the kid doesn't choose to be an Uzumaki - they'll at least be a Senju, and the Uzumaki will have a chance to bring back the bloodline through an alliance marriage.

I should mention, the Uzumaki don't do family lines within a clan like the Senju and the Uchiha do. They're even more collectivist than the Uchiha because of their matriarchal nature. If you're an Uzumaki, you're an UZUMAKI - there is no leaving anyone behind. No discrimination, no 'you didn't manifest the kekkei genkai so you're not good enough'. YOU'RE AN UZUMAKI. All the dead Uzumaki ancestors are cared for not at home (which is what both the Uchiha and the Senju do), but in an absolutely enormous shrine and cared for by full time Uzumaki miko, who also perform the rituals to worship several other kami associated with the sea and oceans. These include Fūjin, Raijin, Ryūjin, Suijin, Susanoo-no-Mikoto, and Takemikazuchi.

The Uzumaki are always interesting to me. As I conceptualise them, they're matriarchal and think of themselves as a giant family. As such, they're bonded by blood as much as any clan with a kekkei genkai could be, and yet they're all fiercely individual and independent. It's such an interesting mix to write!

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Yeah, Seto and his mom are the best. They do all the complicated food, prettily presented. Then it's Hikaku's mom, who does more home style dishes, but does them really well. Her food is simple and delicious.

Then it would be Madara because he actually took cooking lessons to impress Tobirama.

Then Izuna and Hikaku who are about the same. They can both feed themselves and grill pretty well, but they're the 'stick food over a fire' types. They're better than Tobirama simply because they actually like food. Tobirama cooks with precision and competency, but he tends to treat food like fuel. It takes all the joy out of it. (Legacy of Butsuma there - *squashes Butsuma again*)

Then Mito.

Mito never learned to cook. She was a princess! She had other things demanding her time! It wasn't really because of her status as a princess - in this AU that's about the rank of her role rather than her birth - it was about how the role that gave her the rank of princess kept her constantly busy, and her disinterest in cooking.

And the Uzumaki are terribly communal. There was always just food at her elbow when she was hungry. It wasn’t a privilege of her rank, but because the Uzumaki run a communal kitchen that's constantly going at all hours and her aids just ran down a picked up food for her regularly.

I made the Uzumaki eat communally because of their lifestyle. Since they run an incredibly busy port that never sleeps, there's constantly something going on and it only makes sense for their clan to have a place where tired Uzumaki can pop in for a meal any time they need one. So the kitchen serves several meals throughout the day and night, and there's always rice, onigiri, porridge, and soup in the kitchen for anyone who's hungry in between meals. Mito ate a lot of that, and she's not a fussy eater. Like Tobirama, she tends to treat food as fuel but that's mostly when her brain is occupied. When she's relaxed she does appreciate food.

Then she married Hashirama and found that the Senju do not live communally, and she had to fend for herself. Basically, Tobirama taught her to cook. She defaults to onigiri a lot and cooks rice competently, but she's not very inventive with her fillings, mostly because Tobirama isn't and he’s the one that taught her. She never learned to cook because it was never one of her interests and there was always food available.

Tōka refused to learn to cook. Unlike Tobirama who thinks gender stereotypes are stupid and so ignores them, Tōka has always been aware that people see her as a female in a patriarchal society. The Senju would never refuse to train female shinobi - that would have been crazy in a clan war, but the Senju also take in anyone with Senju heritage. This makes them a mixed bag when it comes to unspoken prejudices. There are feminists as well as people who default to the patriarchy so common in Edo period Japan, and Tōka knew that she would get further if she presented herself in certain ways. As such, she refused to do certain things that were expected of a female in her position to make herself as unmarriageable as possible. Refusing to cook was one of them.

There's a whole mess there about how she's seen, how she wants to be seen, and how her goals of being a warrior don't really mesh with her understanding of marriage. I have a whole characterisation chapter on that that I'll post in The World Building of Courting Culture Confusion after chapter 138 of To Tempt a Target, so I hope you'll like it!

Unlike Tobirama though, she likes to use her tastebuds. She eats out a lot.

Having Seto feed her is an awesome thing for her - she's never eaten so well in her life. She's never hungry, it's always delicious, and he seems to remember her favourites like it's normal. She has no idea how she got so lucky, but she'll take his food while she's got it.

I wanted to make cooking a non-gendered activity in this AU, despite how gendered it is in Japan, even today, and Seto is definitely going to keep spoiling her with food. It is going to become a Thing.

Finally, there's Hashirama, the dead last. Who, just as you described in your own cooking adventures, boils pots dry. Only he's not even trying to steam things - he's literally just boiling water. He burned rice in the pot first, and then Tobriama tried to teach him to boil eggs. It was a miserable failure. Tobirama gave up after a while - it wasn't worth it - and just did all the cooking after that.

And yeah, Hashirama and Mito have not been enjoying their own cooking very much. Like Tōka, they eat out a lot.

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See, now you've gotten me thinking about the mission rankings!

A and S rank missions would be Jōnin only and reserved for missions that are outside of the territory claimed by the village. A rank missions would be the standard stuff and done by External Missions - commerce protection, body guarding, item delivery, search and rescue. S rank missions would be done only by T&I (since T&I also covers Recon) and the Diplomatic Service - assassinations, honeypot, reconnaissance, espionage, counter espionage, forgery, that kind of thing.

B and C ranked missions would be stuff within the village territory but outside the village itself. C ranked missions would be courier and item delivery only - go there, drop it off with all speed, and get back. B ranked missions would be the same stuff as A ranked missions but inside the village territory so they'd come with the safety net of the Konoha Sensor Network and the long term surveillance section of Recon.

B and C ranks would the the kind of missions that chūnin would pick up constantly. They'd have their regular jobs and maybe supplement it with mission income, or they might just live off mission income alone, though that would mean that they'd either have to take a lot of C ranks or do almost all B ranks.

In cannon, everyone seems to live off mission income but, in this AU, that is absolutely not the case. I go into it in chapter 51 of The World Building of Courting Culture Confusion (World Building - How do the Shinobi Rankings Work?), but chūnin are actually the backbone of the village. They're everywhere and do everything. They have jobs, just like the Jōnin do. Shinobi only live off mission income if they can't find a job otherwise or they just want to.

Genin are supposed to take B and C ranked missions with their Jōnin sensei, but the Jōnin sensei is also supposed to hone their skills in a way they couldn't do in a classroom. Individualised attention, passing on a specific skillset, that kind of thing. Hiruzen passed on his sealing skills to Jiraiya, for example, since the Academy doesn’t teach sealing in class. That’s the kind of thing the Jōnin-Genin apprenticeship is for, not working on basic skills like how to walk up trees!

D ranks would be anything inside the village itself.

The thing is that the genin would be pretty well trained by the time they graduate. Really, the Jōnin apprenticeship is about giving them real world experience with backup. They should already have all of the skills to do C ranks, they just need supervision while they do it. It’s the difference between knowing something intellectually and practising it in the real world. So it would be odd for genin to do a D rank mission to gain experience.

But it’s the kind of thing genin would pick up because they could do it without Jōnin supervision. Kind of like an after school job.

It’s a rule that any genin can take a D rank mission without supervision, though the mission desk might not hand it out to just anybody if it needs a special skill or something. Finding a lost pet might be reserved to an Inuzuka or a Hatake, for example. Since all D rank missions are in the village, there's not much danger.

So it wouldn't be a matter of graduating to C ranks by performing a bunch of D ranks competently, as much as it would be a Jōnin sensei keeping their team in the village while assessing them as they want to get a feel for their genin before they take them into the field. It would be irresponsible for a Jōnin to take their genin on a mission outside the village, even if it was only a C rank mission, without getting a handle on them first.

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That's the thing for Madara - the twins weren't supposed to be doing anything dangerous.

It was the fact that they had the Sharingan that made Tajima think that it was okay to send them. And he sent them together to make it safer.

The Sharingan shouldn't have meant that they got sent out on a mission, but it was a courier run and supposed to be mostly safe. They just got caught by the wrong Senju patrol. The hazards of war and the practice of child killing.

Madara was all worried about Taetaka being killed on the battlefield, but it never occured to him to worry about the twins. He didn't think to reassure them of his love before they went.

He'd always thought of them with affection but as kind of a pain in the butt - the way a lot of older siblings think of younger siblings I suspect, and it wasn't helped by the way they'd constantly mess with him because they thought his flailing and screeching was hilarious.Then they died and he realised that he'd never told them how much they meant to him.

Poor Madara. At least he gets to tell them now.

A side note: the patrol that killed the twins was made up of a group of Senju whose names Tobirama fed to Izuna. The killers of Izuna's siblings were presented to him by his mortal enemy as a gift of good faith. It really made Izuna think about exactly how invested Tobirama was in the war.

I talked about this incident a little in chapter 5 of The World Building of Courting Culture Confusion, World Building - The Uchiha and the Senju, so I'll quote from there for consistency's sake:

So the anti-Uchiha but not willing to fight Hashirama about it leave. The pro-peace lobby gets reinvigorated (some of the pro-peace shinobi who left during Butsuma’s time return), and the war hawks who still want to stay Senju and fight either resist passively and attempt a campaign of sabotage or challenge Hashirama / Tobirama, are defeated and forced to leave the Senju. They become missing nin and attempt a guerrilla war on the Uchiha and, without Senju support, are quickly killed.

Tobirama also feeds their names, descriptions, and locations to Izuna during their fights. These people are no longer Senju, do not enjoy his protection, and are a threat to his brother’s goals. Hashirama will not let him kill them but Izuna will take them as a sign of his willingness to make peace. Izuna organises strikes to take them out and is impressed with a) how far Tobirama is willing to go (giving up potential fighters - the lifeblood of a Shinobi clan), b) ruthlessness (protecting his clan from deliberate sabotage - Izuna and Madara would have killed them post-challenge, since you don’t challenge an Uchiha Clan Head lightly - that’s basically saying you’re starting a coup), and c) Tobirama’s ability to rules lawyer around Hashirama.

The guys who killed Kuro-hime and Togakushi were amongst the ones who challenged Hashirama when he outright forbade child hunting as his first action as Clan Head. Hashirama also announced that he'd be making reparations to the Uchiha for all the children that had been killed by the Senju child hunters. Those guys were outraged and started yelling about it and Hashirama yelled back. Then Tobirama snippily said that they weren't shinobi enough to challenge Hashirama for their beliefs and were only good for killing children who couldn't fight back. That was enough for them to announce a direct challenge to Hashirama, figuring that he wasn't ruthless enough to kill them while Tobirama would be.

They were right.

What they didn't bargain on was that Hashirama would exile them from the Senju.

And then Tobirama, figuring that they no longer had the protection of his clan and were a direct threat to Hashirama's dream of peace, decided that they'd be a great gift to Izuna to prove his sincerity.

It worked.

Izuna was suspicious of the information and figured that it might be a trap, but he couldn't afford not to investigate.

Tobirama's information was right and he caught them.

Izuna tortured them to death.

Madara never knew.

So Tobirama never betrayed these guys - they weren't Senju anymore - and Izuna got his revenge.

Also, they were right about Tobirama - he would totally have killed them except that Hashirama forbade him to. Hashirama doesn't want to make Tobirama's reputation any worse so no killing even ex-Senju. After all, any kids they had in future could still claim Senju heritage, and Hashirama believes that people can change, rise above their worst selves, and become better.

Also, Hashirama has a hard time feeling threatened by those idiots.

See, in Hashirama's head, peace agreements are a Clan Head to Clan Head thing. In his mind, Madara could have just decreed it - after all, Hashirama could and did! How would those guys have made a difference to his peace project?

But Tobirama had a much better idea of how Uchiha internal politics work because he'd been talking with Izuna. He knew that Izuna was the lynchpin. He knew that Madara needed allies in seeking peace. And Tobirama could see how letting the child killers go free would look to the Uchiha. It would have looked like the Senju weren't cleaning up their own mess. The Uchiha would kill their own clan members rather than exile them because of the Sharingan, but the Senju would exile them rather than kill them because the Senju are bound by marriages and oaths rather than bloodlines.

Tobirama knew how Izuna would look at it, and figured that he was more likely to convince Izuna of his sincerity by acting more like an Uchiha than a Senju.

Also, he knew exactly what these guys did that would make Izuna most likely to kill them and say nothing to Hashirama.

Needless to say, Izuna did exactly that.

Even on opposite sides of the battlefield, they still worked remarkably well together.

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See, in Hashirama's head, peace agreements are a Clan Head to Clan Head thing. In his mind, Madara could just decree it - after all, Hashirama could and did! He had no idea of the tightrope that Madara was walking and that Hashirama was just making worse by announcing to everyone on every battle that Madara totally wants peace! They are BFFs! They can do anything together! It all just made Madara's internal efforts to convince the Uchiha that peace is a good thing look totally suspicious and like he was bowing to Hashirama's ideas.

My head cannon for this AU is that half of Madara's close up fights with Hashirama and screaming of Hashirama's name was to drown out his BFF yelling things that weakened his own negotiating position within the Uchiha. He had to stop Hashirama from making grand speeches, and what better way than drowning out Hashirama with his own screaming? Also, beating up on Hashirama was good way to release his frustrations.

It still is, in fact. Now that they’re no longer at war, Madara regularly spars with Hashirama and they destroy the training ground every time. It's always training ground 44, of course since no one cares what they get up to in there.

I think that the Hashirama in this AU thinks things through, but he also knows that he hasn't got a balanced perspective. He knows that, he acknowledges it, and he doesn't want to lead.

Quite unlike Madara who was trained for it, internalised the mind set of a leader, and sees things in an analytical way even if he won’t actually do them, Hashirama sees things through the lens of his own upbringing and clan structure. He feels things very intensely but has no idea how to define them without context. Like how he needed Mito to explain consent to him. He was 15 and he knew that acting on others without their consent was wrong but he couldn't articulate why. It's a combination of naiveté and a really odd world view, and he knows that it skews him. Like he says in the very first chapter that I wrote from his POV (chapter 13 of Escape and Evade), “Wood grows wild and he has never been able to be anything other than himself”.

In all honesty, if Madara could have sat down and explained how the Uchiha Clan Head works and all of the unspoken rules of Uchiha internal politics to Hashirama in blunt words, one step at a time, just like Mito explained sex, things would have gone a lot better. Faster too probably. Or at least Hashirama wouldn't have been an extra problem for Madara. But Madara was a lot less willing to talk to his BFF despite their friendship, while Izuna was far more willing to talk to his rival despite their antagonism. Madara is more rigid in his adherence to the rules, while Izuna is willing to embrace flexibility for tactical advantage.

Also, the Uchiha in general have no idea how to explain how their clan works to other people since they grow up that way and just accept it. The Senju take in new people all the time and do orientation for newcomers regularly. As such, the Senju are quite accustomed to explaining their culture to other people but the Uchiha have no idea how to break it down enough to communicate it.

So that’s two reasons that Madara never tried - he felt bound by clan loyalty to say nothing about their internal divisions to his friend because of the enmity between their clans, and he had no idea how to even start going about it.

Which is why he was reduced to screaming “HASHIRAMAAAA!!!” Instead of “How can you be this dense and not understand that you’re screwing me over here! You have the brains of the oak trees that you spontaneously grow everywhere!”

It’s a thing for Hashirama - he sees where he wants to be and marches straight there, acting like he can bull through all the obstacles in his way. It's why Tobirama always steps back to make sure he's got a broader perspective, has contingency plans for everything, and is covering all the angles. When they disagree, Tobirama uses logic on Hashirama until Hashirama sees his point, or they run into a fundamental difference and then there's a stalemate. An example would be when they were kids and Tobirama was adamant that protecting Hashirama was his purpose in life. Hashirama was all "it's the other way around! I'm the big brother!" but Tobirama just went “NO”, and they couldn’t argue each other around to their own point of view.

Hashirama has the vision. Tobirama makes it work. The same goes for Madara and Izuna. Izuna makes Madara a better leader. Without Izuna... well, we all saw how that went.

But, now that the village is up and running, Hashirama knows that he's ill suited to lead. He wants the Hokage to be Madara.

And it will be.

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Issei wanted to marry Tōka to raise the social status of his family.

His family has never produced a shinobi and they’re merchants. The Senju, being a shinobi clan, rank shinobi higher than the civilians, even when the civilians are wealthier. This was a deliberate authorial choice on my part as it's analogous to how the warrior class of samurai were higher in the social hierarchy than the chōnin, mostly merchants, who were wealthier than them in real world Japan, even to the point where the shogunate imposed restrictions on ostentatious displays of wealth to prevent chōnin from showing up their supposed superiors.

The chōnin were townsmen. If you weren’t part of the warrior class, you weren’t a noble, you weren’t a farmer, or outcaste, then you were probably a chōnin. The merchants were simply the most obvious type of chōnin because they were the wealthiest. This was a problem for the social hierarchy because they were also on the bottom of the pile of the four tiered class system that existed in feudal Japan between the 12th and 19th centuries.

Confucian ideals emphasised the importance of productivity, so farmers and fishermen had higher status than shop-keepers in Japan, and the samurai class had the most prestige of all.

So, from top to bottom, shinōkōshō described the four classes of Japanese society -
Shi, being the warrior caste, the No, or farming peasants, Ko being craftsmen and artisans, and Sho being the merchant class, right at the bottom.

Merchants were often criticised as "parasites" who profited from the labor of the more productive peasant and artisan classes and faced restrictions. Not only did merchants live in a separate section of each city, but the higher classes were forbidden to mix with them except when conducting business.

Merchants dressed in cotton kimonos, and were barred from wearing silk. Laws prohibiting the wearing of silk by the merchant class were issued repeatedly (suggesting that rich merchants tended to ignore the shogun's edicts). By the early Edo Period, many merchants were emulating the samurai hairstyle, shaving the tops of their heads and pulling back the sides into a similar (though not identical) topknot. Since classes were not allowed to inter-mingle, it was important that one be able to differentiate among people.

There were people above this system like the shogun, the emperor, court nobility, and religious people, as well as people below the system like the Ainu, anyone descended from a slave, and anyone who worked in a taboo industry like butchers, executioners, and tanners - they were considered unclean due to the religious influence of Buddhist and Shinto tradition and were known as the eta.

Another class of social outcasts was the hinin, which included actors, wandering bards, and convicted criminals. Prostitutes and courtesans, including oiran, tayu, and geisha, also lived outside of the four-tiered system. They were ranked against one another by beauty and accomplishment.

The Edo period was peaceful and the samurai class lost power since their martial skills weren’t needed anymore. Instead, they became bureaucrats in the infrastructure of their daimyo or rōnin - samurai who answered to no one.

Even then, however, samurai were both allowed and required to carry the two swords that marked their social status. As the samurai lost importance, and the merchants gained wealth and power, taboos against the different classes mingling were broken with increasing regularity.

This is where the chōnin came into their own as the term was typically used to refer to upwardly mobile merchants and artisans.

In the Floating World, where samurai and merchants gathered to enjoy the company of courtesans or watch kabuki plays, class mixing became the rule rather than the exception. Poetry from the era describes the discontent of the samurai and the chōnin. In haiku clubs, members chose pen names to obscure their social rank. That way, the classes could mingle freely.

Thus, one of the appealing things about both the Floating World and the Flower and Willow World was the subversion of the caste system. In there, outcastes like courtesans and actors were the leaders of the society, and the merchants were their most privileged clients. By contrast, the samurai were considered country bumpkins.

This was because the ability to obtain the ultimate privilege, the time and presence of an oiran or a geisha, was about about the ability to pay. You had to say the right things and have the right connections, of course, but - without money - you went nowhere.

While it was considered improper for samurai, who made up a large part of Edo’s population, to solicit prostitutes, they viewed the floating world as means of escaping the humdrum of their highly regulated lives. They, too, made the journey to Yoshiwara, the pleasure district outside of Edo, hiding their faces with big straw sedge hats. The hats were such a commonly used disguise that they appear as a narrative trope in Japanese plays - it might be the emperor under there, a nobleman, or a lowly samurai. Who knows?

So, in this AU, I’ve done something similar.

I’ve placed the daimyo in the place of the emperor - leaders without personal military backing who hire warrior class mercenaries, the shinobi, to do what they need done. They’re the peak of the social hierarchy, but have little to no real world power unlike their role in real world Japan. That’s because, in real world Japan, each daimyo was the leader of his own samurai army. They were the embodiment of the warrior class. Their political power was enforced by their military power. In Naruto, they have no military power. As such, that makes them far more like the Emperor - rulers by social convention which works fine until someone points out that the emperor has no clothes. That is what’s going to happen when Perry shows up in 1853, and everyone will have to deal with it then.

This is why Seto describes them as if they were decadent parasites on the people they rule. It’s not what he says - he’s to polite for that - but it’s implied with every disdainful word he uses to describe them in the conversations he has with Hikaku. He doesn’t start talking about his work at court until Tajima dies in their third year of letter writing - it takes him that long to open up - but, once he does, his real feelings become obvious.

Thus, the shinobi become the analogue of the real world samurai everywhere except for the Land of Iron which actually has samurai instead of shinobi. Either way, they’re the warrior class.

And, just like the shogun, the military leader who was the real ruler of feudal Japan (though he was said to rule in the emperor's name), was the most powerful daimyo, the shinobi clans compete to be the most powerful shinobi clan and become the enforcer of the daimyo’s will.

Also like the real world samurai who answered only to their daimyo who, in turn answered only to the shogun, shinobi answer only to their clan head who, in turn answers to the daimyo. However, unlike the real world shogun who could fight wars with his disobedient daimyo using his army, a daimyo in this world has no recourse when a shinobi clan disobeys him except to support a different shinobi clan. Thus, it’s a covert war of words and influence instead of an outright clash of armies - very shinobi, and exactly why Seto’s role at court was so important.

I say his, by the way because Japan has only ever had one female shogun as far as I can tell - Hōjō Masako, a Buddhist nun and wife of the first shogun. You can find out more about her here.

In much the same way as the peace during the Edo period meant that samurai became bureaucrats, the shinobi here are undergoing some of the same transition. Madara has callouses from wielding a brush now. The missing nin are the equivalent to the rōnin.

Just under the warrior class is the food producing class. They’re socially respected but, frankly, poor. They have no money and no political power. They’re prey for everyone. The Senju are one of the few shinobi clans that make the protection of farmers part of their clan business. In fact, it’s why they came together as a clan - a group of shinobi formed a clan with a bunch of civilian farmers to feed themselves. When I called them a co-op, I wasn’t kidding.

(If you want to know why the Hatake have a clan symbol that looks like a rice paddy field but are nomadic, then you’ll have to wait until I publish Slither and Stalk, the love story of Sakumo, Chiasa, and Orochimaru. There is an actual reason, and I know it because I already wrote that chapter, I promise.)

Then we come to the bottom two classes - the artisans and the merchants, both of whom merged to become the chōnin class.

This is where the Uchiha come in. They’re a shinobi clan that shelters artisans like weavers, steel makers, and glass makers. Glass making was a difficult skill in Edo period Japan and the ability to make it was highly prized. It was only in the late 18th and early 19th centuries that glassware began to appear in daily life. It’s not a coincidence that it’s also the time when I’ve set the shinobi Warring State Period (Sengoku Jidai) and the Founders Era, despite the fact that real world Japan had it’s own Sengoku Jidai between 1467 and 1615.

Partially, it was because of Kishimoto’s generational timeline - Naruto is very clearly set post Meiji Restoration, the Founders Era is very clearly feudal, and the generations are very clearly listed. I had no choice about it. But it was also about the kind of society I wanted to describe, a world of change and peril where my characters had to learn to swim in the sea of chaos or sink.

So that’s why.

Back to glass!

Even during the war, most of the glass equipment Tobirama used in his chemical experiments came from the Uchiha Clan. The way that the Uchiha Clan uses glass containers for sperm says something. It’s both a boast that they can afford to use glass for something like that, but also a statement of how valuable their sperm is - it’s the source of their bloodline, their kekkei genkai, the Sharingan.

If you want to know more about glass making in the Edo period, there is this lovely article about a collection of Japanese glass from the Bindeisha Vidro-Diamante Glass Museum of Matsuyama and an excellent article about Edo Kiriko on the TOKYO Teshigoto website, an initiative that promotes the traditional skills of Tokyo artisans.

As such, the Uchiha Clan contains both artisans and warriors. This is why they’re noble compared to the Senju who contain farmers, merchants and warriors. They produce a higher class of goods, they’re generally more intimidating, and they have a line of really good diplomats.

The Senju are rich and can feed themselves. It’s not exactly a pretty picture for the daimyo’s court, but it’s crucial to winning a war.

If you want to know even more about how Japanese society was structured during the Edo period, you might want to check out the wikipedia article here.

Issei plays this entire class conflict out on a personal scale.

His family are merchants, right at the bottom of the hierarchy. They’ve never produced a shinobi and aren’t likely to unless they can convince a shinobi female to marry into their line - as civilians, they’re patriarchal, the default for Japan in that Era (and today, frankly) - so they have no hope of climbing the social ladder. They’re rich and came back to the Senju upon the foundation of the village, lured by the trade opportunities that were obvious in the project - it’s the Uchiha-Senju Economic Alliance and Trade Compact after all. It’s right there in the name.

They respect shinobi as warriors, but they also hold some of the resentment traditionally felt by the chōnin class towards the warrior class. Why are these guys so much better than them? They protect merchants yes, but the merchants are richer.

(This is the source of the disdain that Izuna can see in Issei in chapter 111 of To Tempt a Target.)

Then here comes Tōka, a shinobi female of the highest internal ranking. Jōnin, battle tested, respected by all, third highest ranked in the clan, family to the Hokage (Hashirama), the Senju Clan Head (Mito), and the Uchiha Matriarch (Tobirama). Recently retired from her stressful job as the Jōnin Commander and looking for companionship. And she seems to like their eldest son.

This is their opportunity, and they seize it with both hands.

Issei plays all of his cards right and falls right into Tōka’s bed. Things look like they’re going great, and even though Tōka won’t advocate for them to be able to trade further afield and advertise the products of the village more, maybe she will when Issei marries her.

(Tōka doesn’t tell them this is a deliberate policy to keep things covert for as long as possible. Shinobi decisions like that are kept out of civilian circles because civilians aren’t trained to keep secrets.)

Then Tōka gets pregnant with Hikaku’s baby.

Tōka is very open about all of this, she has no issues with it. The first time she calls herself a walking womb, Issei nearly faints with shock.

Issei’s family is horrified.

Their potential shinobi broodmare is having babies with someone else! And she says she never intends to raise any of her own! What!

Issei sits down with Tōka. He says he needs children. Eldest son, family line, all of that. Will she please consider not having any more children with these people and have his kids instead?

Tōka says no. In fact, she says hell no. She’s committed to being a surrogate for six kids.

They break up that very night.

Tōka sleeps in till mid-morning - she was never an early riser - wakes up, and goes to Hikaku looking for something to punch.

That’s the start of chapter 126.

Chapter Text

So, the triad is feeling varying degrees of affection for Tōka at this point, but only Seto seems to realise how deep it goes. Additionally, Seto and Hikaku react with fear at the idea that Izuna might want to have sex with someone who isn’t them - they feel threatened - but Izuna doesn’t realise that they might be when he first brings up the topic.

Why?

This is all about how the various members of the triad fall in love and how well they know themselves.

Let’s start with Izuna.

Izuna is not introspective.

Izuna looks at the situation in its present state, and problem solves.

(If you want to know more about his characterisation when problem solving, you can check out chapters 54 and 55 of The World Building of Courting Culture Confusion.)

He has many layers of defences around his heart, but - once committed - he’s fully committed and never looks back. This is why Hikaku and Seto had to clear so many hurdles when courting Izuna. They had to convince him that it wasn’t just sex. Then they had to convince him that they wanted a relationship. Then they had to convince him they wanted a romantic relationship. Then they had to convince him that they were safe to love. (This was the point where he agreed to move in with them in chapter 36.) Then they had to convince him that they were being honest with him when they said how long they’d loved him. (That was their big fight in chapter 48.) Then Izuna had to convince his own instincts that the pain they’d inflicted on him - unintentionally, since they didn’t know how deep his own love for them went when they did it - was both justified and necessary, but also unlikely to be repeated.

But, once all of those were done, Izuna was completely on board with the relationship, full steam ahead and damn the torpedoes. It’s never occured to him that anyone might doubt his commitment.

This is why Hikaku is completely bewildered in chapter 51. Izuna left angry and came back more loving and married to them than ever before. Where was all the convincing and wooing that he was prepared to be doing? Not needed - Izuna upset all his plans and negated all of his worries.

In this, Izuna is a mirror to Tobirama who does the same thing to Madara.

Tobirama goes away to Uzushio, upset and panicking at the idea that Madara’s in love with him and comes back in love and with a proposal of marriage. All of Madara’s plans to court him, to prove himself a worthy spouse - all thrown out of the window as unnecessary.

Both Tobirama and Izuna make the choice to love and never waver.

This is why it never occured to Izuna that Hikaku and Seto might worry about Tōka as a threat to their place in his life. He chose them - what’s there to worry about?

He doesn’t get it, but he determined to fix it. He’ll prove his commitment to them, no matter what it takes.

Hikaku and Seto on the other hand are completely different.

Hikaku is not introspective either.

He’s consistently taken unaware by his own emotions.

He feels deeply, but his feelings are buried under layers of calm and control, and so deep that he doesn’t know what he feels until it works its way to the surface. Hikaku comes across as the most rational of the three, but he’s actually the one who is always acting on instinct.

He fell in love with Seto and had to say something. He was in love with Izuna for years but never realised until Izuna was almost killed, and then was immediately honest with Seto about it. He wants to care for Tōka and so he does.

Honesty, patience, persistence, and a need to care for others are his main personality traits. His responses are always open and rarely hidden, and even then it’s mostly for work. It’s usually badly hidden too.

You can see it in the way he refers to both of them. They’re always shujin and goshujin-sama. Even when he’ll give them orders on the battlefield during the first shinobi war - they’re both Jōnin and thus will be under his command in an actual war when they’re called upon - he’ll call them by the names his relationship to them demands.

Izuna and Seto both swap the names and roles around in their head as necessary to the current context.

To Seto, Hikaku is almost always koibito, but was Hikaku when they were pursuing Izuna together because Hikaku was using his shinobi skills. Once their relationship became strong enough, Hikaku defaulted to koibito in his head. Seto now uses yome in moments of intimacy or high emotion when he feels the need to claim Hikaku as his or theirs.

As for Izuna, he uses their names nearly all the time unless it’s an intimate situation and then he snaps - often abruptly - into calling them by their roles. It communicates the change in his mindset. To him, their roles give them rights to his body and heart that he’d never give anyone else. If he’s still using their names in an intimate situation, like he did in chapter 85, it’s a sign that he’s trying to distance himself.

Seto is the most self aware of the triad.

He’s constantly doing self assessments, and he knows as soon as he starts to care too much for Tōka (in chapter 113). Yet he can’t stop himself. He convinces himself that it’s fine to do it.

Why?

Because he wants to.

This is something that the whole triad have in common.

Unless it’s for duty, in which case all of them are appropriately ruthless, they’ll all do what they want, convincing themselves and each other that it’s okay the whole way.

It’s yet another reason they work well as a unit - they pull each other up short when one of them is about to make a bad decision.

Izuna, especially, is the king of impulsivity and epically bad ideas, and has to be gently reined in regularly. What happened with Madara and Tobirama was a very good example - he was all set to help Madara woo Tobirama because he felt like he had to fix it and had to be told that it was a bad idea.

Chapter 136 was yet another example of Izuna letting his mouth and brain run away with him, only to be hit with the consequences 24 hours later.

Chapter Text

Tōka is an interesting character to write. She’s strong, female, feminine, intimidating, bad ass, and self aware. She’s also absolutely ferocious and takes no shit from anyone.

This chapter is not going to be about her politics or her fighting style - that’s going to be covered in the First Shinobi World War. This chapter is very specifically about Tōka and her attitudes to sex and relationships.

When it comes to relationships, all of the above makes her both a target for shinobi and civilians. Shinobi often want to dominate her - it’s a way to get out the aggression that they can never defeat her in the field or on in a spar. Tōka has no time for that - she fights enough in her work, thanks, she doesn’t want to fight in bed too. At least not all the time.

So she mostly sleeps with civilians. They’re easy to attract, often thrilled to be invited to her bed, and she has no fear of them. The problem there is the cultural conflict. They want things she has no interest in providing - family, children, marriage - and she has to watch herself all the time. She could kill them reflexively, and constantly controlling her responses does not a fun sex session make. She gets aroused easily, but reaching an orgasm is tricky when she’s fighting not to lose control at the same time because a good orgasm is all about losing control for her.

So she has a lot of one night stands, gets aroused, gets fucked, doesn’t orgasm, sends them away smiling, and then masturbates until she gets a half hearted orgasm. Sometimes she doesn’t even get the orgasm.

It’s bloody annoying.

If her sex partners come back, they become either sex friends or romantic partners.

Romance almost always works out like Issei did - they want, she can’t provide, followed by a mutual parting. She never gets her heart broken because she never lets herself truly invest in them - she knows it’s doomed from the start.

She prefers sex friends. Those she can work with until they all get somewhere and she can sometimes have an actual orgasm with them. Plus they’re all people she likes. She has several civilian sex friends, and about four shinobi sex friends, including a female couple for whom she’s an occasional third, but all of them are in exclusive relationships at the moment, except for the female couple. And that’s an issue for her because she is about a one on the Kinsey scale - she’s more straight than not. She has to be really desperate for sex to go to them.

As for being romantically attracted to any of them, well… it’s just not happening.

Tōka has no idea what she wants in a romantic partnership and has kind of given up on having one. She thinks it would be amazing, but can’t imagine herself in a relationship with a guy who wouldn’t want to change her into some kind of housewife, which - not just no, but hell no, no way.

She sees what Tobirama’s got with Madara and that’s what she’d like. Someone to go home to, have quiet time with, have sex with, feel love and passion for. She just can’t imagine it without kids and marriage.

She figures that she’ll just end up with whichever of her sex friends never gets married and they’ll just end up living together and sexing each other up for the rest of their lives. She’s okay with that. She’s okay with being a second choice as a partner because she figures she’ll never fall in love, that crazy passionate thing that these Uchiha all seem to feel.

She watches them and marvels - how do they do it? Just give themselves away like that? She could never.

Her heart isn’t like Tobirama’s, frozen in ice and waiting for just the right flame.

She’s wound herself about with thorns in the name of self protection and they’ll cut you if you get to close.

She never plans to untangle herself.

Chapter Text

The Sensor Division, headed by the best sensor in the village, has only one job. It does sensory sweeps of the entire territory twice daily and sensory tracking of specific targets as assigned. These guys are the reason Konoha is always ready, and always aware of what is going on in Hi no Kuni.

Initially, this job is done, completely solo, by Tobirama.

He’s the only one who has the reach and the chakra for it, and he’s been doing it since the village formed, completely on his own initiative. Since Hashirama’s Will of Fire said that the village was family, he was going to treat them all like family. That meant being aware of where they were at all times.

After a while though, it becomes clear that this wasn’t sustainable, and for a couple of reasons.

For one, Tobirama can sense the whole of Hi no Kuni, but he can’t do anything about far away areas. This was a problem that Tobirama himself brought up because it was how he felt Itama die - too far away for him to get there in time, and all he could do was wash his chakra over Itama as it happened.

That was the start of Internal Defence and the regular patrols through the territory claimed by the village. Every patrol has a sensor that can feel Tobirama’s chakra, and they come to recognise his emotions when he touches them with it. It’s like charades but with chakra - they can’t communicate a lot, but at least they can tell each other to watch out when something is about to go wrong. In turn, every patrol has a Jōnin that can spike their chakra hard enough to act as a signal that the patrol needs rescue, at which point the closest founder will head that way at speed. Eventually, upon Madara’s ascension to Hokage, the job of rescuing patrols in distress is taken up by the Heavy Combat Team who are permanently stationed in the village so as to be always available.

The second reason is even simpler - Tobirama won’t be around forever. Always a contingency planner, he’s always planned for his own death and this was a part of that.

So he started to recruit.

Initially, almost everyone he recruited was an Uchiha.

If you’d like to know why, check out chapter 6 of The World Building of Courting Culture Confusion, World Building - The Origins and Customs of the Run. If you’d like to know how sensory abilities work in general, check out chapter 28, World Building - How Sensor Abilities Work.

After a while though, he started picking up Senju with potential and helping them improve their abilities.

The Senju have never had anything like the Run, and mostly don’t even realise they’re potential sensors. They only train people with a naturally large range - people like Mito and Tobirama. It’s only once they see what the Uchiha are capable of, even with their limited natural ranges, that they start working on developing the skill in their clan.

They don’t focus on only the young shinobi either, they train the older ones too. Even the retired ones. And there’s a very good reason for that.

Retired shinobi are the backbone of the long term surveillance section of Recon. If they’re sensors, all the better. It makes them even better watchers over their little patch of Hi no Kuni.

These kind and genial obaachan and ojiisan run bathhouses, ryokan, restaurants, bars, tiny bookshops, tiny tea shops, tiny knick knack shops, the occasional teahouse, or simply publicly sit in the sun and bother the young with questions while handing out candy.

Just like the geisha in drelfina's Geisha Network, these retired shinobi run safe houses, provide basic medical attention, and do intelligence gathering.

In this way, Izuna’s Recon network and and Tobirama’s Sensor network overlap. Often, the same shinobi is working for both networks and get paid by both. When they don’t, the shinobi working for each network in the same location will work together to increase their reach and intelligence gathering capabilities.

Slowly, the networks will spread over Hi no Kuni until, by the time the Meiji Restoration takes place in 1858 and the Emperor asks Konoha to administer Hi no Kuni in his name, there is nowhere in Hi no Kuni that the networks won’t cover.

This means that Konoha is surveilling the whole of Hi no Kuni twice daily and certain parts more often than that. All messages are sent by message box, to and from the sensor division. As the sensor division is permanently staffed by administrative chunin, this gives them unprecedented turn around times to get on top of problems.

Every patrol team carries a message box and they get accustomed to getting messages giving them new orders based on information that the local sensor has picked up. In emergencies, the local sensor will touch the patrol’s sensor - just like Tobirama used to do - to give the chakra equivalent of ‘Look out! Trouble heading your way!’ before the more detailed message will appear in the message box.

(The patrol’s sensor might not pick it up because they’re saving their chakra for other stuff. The local sensor’s job is to use their sensory abilities - they have no other role to fill and will do sweeps more often. Additionally, they will be far more aware of the patterns of their local area and are more likely to realise when something is amiss.)

By the time Tobirama retires, that position will be a full time one, and the ability to manage the sensors and their reports will be as important as the ability to do sensory sweeps in the head of the department.

I know exactly who that is going to be, but I’m not going to tell you - because I have a story about it.

You’ll just have to wait.

(sorry.)

Chapter Text

In chapter 164 of To Tempt a Target, Madara talks about how the triad’s behaviour with Tōka is causing problems within the clan, but there’s a lot of background to it that he doesn’t think about because it’s part of his culture.

So I’m going to unpack that here.

When Hikaku courted Seto, and when they both courted Izuna, they followed Uchiha tradition very strictly. They did nothing that could have been questioned on any level, and only offered what they earned and what Izuna agreed to accept in the Run.

Unlike Senju courtship, which is formalised and ritualised, Uchiha courtship is more a matter of unspoken tradition. However, there are always three basic components to it:

The first part is for the person doing the courting to prove to their intended that they are worthy of their intended’s interest and affection. The second part is for the Uchiha to coax their intended into returning their feelings. The third part is to convince their family and clan to accept their intended.

With regards to Tōka, you can see that the triad has basically been doing parts one and three of this unintentionally for years, ramping up the intensity over time as they’ve grown closer. They’ve been taking action to prove their worth all along and they’ve convinced the clan to accept her simply by how they treat her.

I go into this is great detail about how this all works and why in chapter 5 of The World Building of Courting Culture Confusion, World Building - The Uchiha and the Senju, and you can read more about it there and the potential hurdles that can happen. However, there’s one big issue that Uchiha courtship does its best to avoid and that’s the problem that the triad is facing here.

For the sake of consistency, I’ll just quote from that chapter:

Here’s the problem for high ranking Uchiha. Just by rank alone, they’re under suspicion of coercion - just like the way most militaries insist people in the same chain of command can’t date. Plus, really strong Sharingan users are kind of scary and the potential for abuse is bad. Combine the two in one person and it gets worse and worse - anyone in their chain of command is under their power in two ways - social and dojutsu. The steeper the rank gap, the worse it looks.

So high ranking Uchiha can court lower ranked ones, but not only do they have to be above board, they have to look like they’re above board. We’re talking ‘Caesar's wife must be above suspicion’ levels of above board here. Tricky!

So the most common way it’s done is for Uchiha juniors to court up the hierarchy. Think the Anime trope of the kōhai confessing to the senpai - like that. They do all three steps of the Uchiha-out clan courtship but the bar is a lot lower.

This is exactly what Hikaku did for Seto. He declared his interest, proved himself worthy, solicited a return of affection, and convinced Seto’s family to accept him. They both did the same thing for Izuna, except for the way their rankings made it more complicated. Izuna was above them socially as clan heir, but also below them as Prey. So they played it safe and courted him as if they were higher ranking than him, declaring their affection only in the Run so that no one could question it.

If you want to know how the Run intersects with courtship and why it’s the only time that a higher ranking Uchiha can offer courtship to a lower ranking one, then you can check out chapter 6 of The World Building of Courting Culture Confusion, World Building - The Origins and Customs of the Run.

But the triad can’t do any of this for Tōka. For one, she’s not Uchia and she’s never chosen to make herself Prey in the Run. That’s their only avenue of offering taken off the table right there. She’s socially their junior - Hikaku is her actual boss, Izuna is Clan Heir, Seto is Head Diplomat for the village, and she’s holds a standard Jōnin rank.

The Uchiha don’t frown on extramarital sex - that’s not a problem - it’s the fact that the triad made the first move that’s the problem. They invited her to have sex with them. It makes things a little better that it was Izuna who asked since they’re both Jōnin and hold no power over each other, but the rest of the clan can never forget that Izuna is Clan Heir and automatically rank him higher than her in their heads.

So, really, they’ve messed up here. If they’d tried to hide sleeping with her, they’d have been seen as abusing their position to keep an unwilling concubine.

It’s Tōka that saved them from being seen as abusers. Her blunt acknowledgement of what’s happening, her assertion that they’re just another one of her sex friends, and they way that they’re constantly putting themselves in subservient positions to her without any shame - Hikaku sitting on the floor and rubbing her feet in public is a prime example - all helped to defray the concerns of the clan.

Madara and Tobirama’s assertions that this is how Senju court helped even more. As soon as the triad started having sex with her and it wasn’t just Izuna, questions were flung around within the clan. Tobirama quietly and effectively quashed all of that by standing firm and describing Senju courtship.

If you want to know the steps for Senju Courtship, you can check out chapter 41 of The World Building of Courting Culture Confusion, World Building - The Purpose of Senju Marriage Contracts.

But, even before the Senju get to step one, the gift of Providing, they usually get to know each other, and there’s no ban on sex being a part of that. Issei never gave Tōka a gift of Providing for example and they had sex. Senju courtships are as individual as they are, and their prime tenet is for no one to interfere with anything that even looks like courtship because it might be applying pressure to the Senju in question to leave or stay with the Senju clan - and that wold be against the rules.

So everything up until the third step - asking the Clan Head for approval - is the choice of the people within the relationship and not the place of the Senju Clan Head - or anyone else - to say ANYTHING.

No interference at all.

This is what Tobirama was very careful to emphasise. If the Uchiha want Izuna’s courtship to succeed and Tōka to join the Uchiha, then they must do NOTHING.

The whole clan has been sitting on their hands and shutting up for a YEAR, watching the triad flail their way into courtship with Tōka.

They’re hot gossip, but they don’t know it because nobody wants to say anything and potentially derail this.

They love Izuna enough not to tell him when he and his husbands are being idiots and breaking all the unspoken Uchiha rules of courtship.

And that’s true love right there.

Chapter Text

Shinobi armour in the Waring Clans Era shares many things in common with Samurai armour of the Edo period.

It may interest you to know that the Nanban trade (南蛮貿易, Nanban bōeki, "Southern barbarian trade”) between Japan and Europe that began with the arrival of Europeans in 1543 led to the import of matchlock muskets. Such weapons were eventually mass-produced domestically, and samurai needed lighter and more protective armour. As a result, a new style of armour called tosei-gusoku, or “contemporary style armor”, appeared. When a united Japan entered the peaceful Edo period, samurai continued to use both plate and lamellar armour as a symbol of their status.

As such, the armour that the shinobi in the Waring Clan Era would be made with the same techniques and materials. Tosei-gusoku were made from iron plates (ita-mono) instead of individual scales (kozane). They were also lacquered to make them weatherproof. That’s the colour that you see in Naruto - Hashirama’s red, Tobirama’s blue, Tōka’s grey, it’s all lacquer. Underneath, it’s metal.

The shinobi in Naruto also wear much less armour than the real world samurai. Samurai armour in the Edo period could have over a dozen components, but the standard armour for shinobi in the Waring Clan Era appears to only comprise three parts:

- Dō, a chest armour made up of iron and or leather plates of various sizes and shapes with pendents.
- Kusazuri made from iron or leather plates hanging from the front and back of the dō to protect the lower body and upper leg.
- Sode, large rectangular shoulder protection made from iron and or leather plates.

Additionally, shinobi armour is a lot less decorative than real world Samurai armour from the Edo period. Christie’s still has a listing up for a set of black-lacquered black-laced armor with laced iron-plate cuirass (mogami-do gusoku) from the Edo period, if you want to see what I mean.

Interestingly, all the images I’ve found of the battles before the founding of Konoha show the Uchiha in the mantle rather than any kind of armour, while armour seems to be standard for the Senju. It’s only after the founding that I see images of Madara in red armour to match Hashirama. If anyone can point me towards images of the Uchiha in armour before the founding of the village, I’d be very grateful.

It should be noted that each set of armour was not the work of a single armourer, but a team effort between several artisans who each specialised in a set of specific techniques.

If you’d like to know more, the profile of a professional armorer and a description of his work can be found here.

Chapter Text

So the answer to your question is no, there will not be an Uzushio swirl on their uniforms, and this is why:

Uzushio is a separate country.

Unlike in cannon where the Uzumaki are an allied clan, or in fannon where the Uzumaki are often seen as a satellite or subordinate clan to the Senju, I have flipped that around completely in this AU.

Uzushio is it's own country, founded by the Uzumaki. They are actually a completely different culture to the Senju because they're Ainu (also known as the Ezo in historical Japanese texts), the East Asian ethnic group indigenous to Japan, and the original inhabitants of Hokkaido and the Kurril Islands. On the other hand, the Senju are Waijin, the Yayoi people who lived in the Japanese archipelago. If you want to know more about them, you can check out chapter 23 of The World Building of Courting Culture Confusion, World Building - The Uzumaki and Uzushio.

Uzushio doesn't have a daimyō. They don't owe fealty to the Emperor of Japan.

The Senju owe fealty to the daimyō of Hi no Kuni and aren't even noble. They're a co-op.

As such, in terms of hierarchy, the Uzumaki have a far higher status than the Senju.

So they're trading partners, and they have an alliance marriage, but the Senju were the subordinate clan in that relationship.

When the village is formed, the Senju still have their alliance with the Uzumaki, but the USEATC still has to work out it's own relationship with Uzushio.

Uzushio is very apolitical and self sufficient - they have to be. They've got the Land of Water on one side (the Kuril Islands), the Empire of Japan on the other (with the expansionist Land of Lightning being the closest part of that), China is not too far away (with the Opium Wars going on between the Empire of China and the British), and the Russians expanding into the waters around Uzushio and the Land of Water (Hokkaido and the Kuril Islands).

If they took sides, they'd lose their independence and that's the last thing they want. They didn't push the Waijin off their island in 1512 for nothing.

As such, they'd be very wary of being too closely allied with Konoha.

Konoha will simply have their leaf symbol.

Chapter Text

The Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, originally called Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi (天叢雲剣, "Heavenly Sword of Gathering Clouds”), is the sword pulled from one of the tails of Yamata no Orochi, the legendary eight-headed and eight-tailed Japanese dragon-serpent who was killed by Susanoo-no-Mikoto, younger brother of Amaterasu and god of the sea and storms, after his expulsion from heaven. According to the myth, he presented the sword to Amaterasu as an apology for the actions for which he was banished and they reconciled.

Legend has it that Amaterasu later bequeathed the sword to Ninigi-no-Mikoto, her grandson by Ame-no-Oshihomimi, along with the mirror Yata no Kagami and the jewel Yasakani no Magatama. The sacred sword, mirror, and jewel were supposedly brought to earth when Amaterasu sent him to pacify Japan. These treasures were eventually said to be passed down to Emperor Jimmu, who was the first Emperor of Japan and was also Ninigi's great-grandson. As such, Ninigi-no-Mikoto is the legendary ancestor of the Japanese imperial line and the three items collectively became the three Imperial Regalia of Japan. Traditionally, they are seen as a symbol of the emperor's divinity as a descendant of Amaterasu, confirming his legitimacy as paramount ruler of Japan.

Generations later, during the reign of the twelfth Emperor, Keikō, Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi was given to the great warrior, Yamato Takeru as part of a pair of gifts given by his aunt, Yamatohime-no-mikoto, the Shrine Maiden of Ise Shrine, to protect her nephew in times of peril.

These gifts came in handy when Yamato Takeru was lured onto an open grassland during a hunting expedition by a treacherous warlord. The lord had fiery arrows loosed to ignite the grass and trap Yamato Takeru in the field so that he would burn to death. He also killed the warrior's horse to prevent his escape. Desperately, Yamato Takeru used the Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi to cut back the grass and remove fuel from the fire, but in doing so, he discovered that the sword enabled him to control the wind and cause it to move in the direction of his swing. Taking advantage of this magic, Yamato Takeru used his other gift, fire strikers, to enlarge the fire in the direction of the lord and his men, and he used the winds controlled by the sword to sweep the blaze toward them. In triumph, Yamato Takeru renamed the sword Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi ("Grass-Cutting Sword") to commemorate his narrow escape and victory. Eventually, Yamato Takeru married and later fell in battle against a monster, after ignoring his wife's advice to take the sword with him.

Due to the legendary status of these items, their locations are not confirmed, but it is commonly thought that the sword is located at the Atsuta Shrine in Nagoya, the jewel is located at the Three Palace Sanctuaries in Kōkyo (the Imperial Palace in Tokyo), and the mirror is located at the Ise Grand Shrine in Mie Prefecture.

During the Edo period, while performing various repairs and upkeep at Atsuta Shrine, including replacement of the outer wooden box housing the sword, the Shinto priest Matsuoka Masanao claimed to have been one of several priests to have seen the sword.

I’ll quote:

Per his account, "a stone box was inside a wooden box of length 150 cm, with red clay stuffed into the gap between them. Inside the stone box was a hollowed log of a camphor tree, acting as another box, with an interior lined with gold. Above that was placed a sword. Red clay was also stuffed between the stone box and the camphor tree box. The sword was about 82 cm long. Its blade resembled a calamus leaf. The middle of the sword had a thickness from the grip about 18cm with an appearance like a fish spine. The sword was fashioned in a white metallic color, and well maintained." After witnessing the sword, the grand priest was banished and the other priests, except for Matsuoka, died from strange diseases. The above account therefore comes from the only survivor, Matsuoka.

Since 690, the presentation of these items to the Emperor by the priests at the shrine has been a central element of the enthronement ceremony. This ceremony is not public, and these items are by tradition seen only by the Emperor and certain priests. Because of this, no known photographs or drawings exist. Two of the three treasures (the jewel and the sword), as well as the Privy Seal and State Seal, were present at the abdication of Emperor Akihito on 30 April 2019. Akihito's successor, Naruhito, formally took possession of them in a brief ceremony on 1 May 2019. Prior to these events, they were last in public during the accession and enthronement of Akihito in 1989 and 1990. On all of these occasions, they remained shrouded from view in packages or boxes.

My research indicates that the Kusanagi wielded by Orochimaru in Naruto is actually supposed to be this exact sword, though how Orochimaru obtained it is unknown to me. Further, I suspect that Orochimaru (大蛇丸) is supposed to be a reference to Yamata no Orochi (八岐大蛇) since the similarity of the two names appears too coincidental otherwise. The way Orochimaru pulls the sword out of his body only lends further credence to the idea.

As such, Tōka asking the triad to obtain it is not as outlandish a request as it first seems.

They have a location, know what the object is, and theft is well within the shinobi skillset. As Seto says, it’s quite possible to obtain it.

The real question isn’t can they, it’s should they?

Chapter Text

Mostly the first uses of chakra are instinctive.

For example, a kid with a suiton affinity might stretch out their hand for their paper boat on a lake and it would float towards them on a current that shouldn't be there. Or the kite of a child with fūton affinity would stay up long past when it should come down. That kind of thing. Lightning would manifest first as static electricity when they don't want to be touched. Fire is tricky. Things like the irori fire flaring would be a sign that a child in the room is getting angry and using chakra in an unfocused way. It's more that fire spreads on it's own, where the rest of them don't.

But practicing any of them can be dangerous - most ninjutsu is meant for combat after all. Even C rank ninjutsu can get kids in trouble.

The Gokakkyu no Jutsu, for example, is extra complicated. It uses breath control and gathers chakra in the lungs, in addition to the hand signs. Do it wrong and it’ll blow up in your face and burn off your eyebrows.

That’s what happened to Izuna - the twins cautioned him not to put too much chakra into it (everyone knew his chakra reserves were big for his age) and he misinterpreted that to mean not to blow too hard. So lots of chakra + but not sent far enough = no eyebrows for Izuna.

Madara told him to put as much chakra as he wanted behind it but make sure to blow really hard. He set things on fire a lot that way, but at least they were things far away from him.

Luckily, most kids have very little chakra. Izuna was an outlier, as was Madara.

Still, fire is one of the more destructive ones as a natural fire affinity, and kids set things on fire a lot by accident. There's a reason that the Uchiha training field is right behind their healing hall and it's why all shinobi children are taught to never practise ninjutsu without adult supervision.

There are still kids who end up sneaking off - Izuna and the twins being a prime example - but it doesn't happen as often as you'd think.

All the kids are very aware of what could happen to them - much of the clan was raised to go right into a war after all - and they've all done their turns as helpers in the healing halls (like Hikaku talks about in chapter 24 of To Tempt a Target) - and their parents are all pretty keen to supervise. If kids are aware of why the rules are in place and see the consequences, they still have impulse control issues but they’re less likely to rebel just because they want to push the boundaries.

But, of course, there will always be some.

Thankfully, the kids with those tendencies tend to show their crazy streak before they manifest chakra so their parents know to keep a close eye on them when they get to the right age. There’s a reason Madara, Tobirama, and the Triad all stick their children to them like glue and it’s not only the trauma of losing their own siblings.

Chapter Text

Chūbu literally means ‘middle region’, which would translate into ‘the Land of the Centre’ in this AU, or perhaps - more poetically - ‘the Land of Heart’. As such, I’ve made it into a single country, and named it Hāto no Kuni.

Unfortunately for Chūbu, it’s bordered by Tōhoku and Kantō on the east, and Kansai on the west which means that it’s trapped between the determinedly politically neural Land of Iron, the militarily expansionist Land of Lightning, and the economically expansionist Land of Fire. Adding to its problems, it doesn’t have a single shinobi village. Instead, it has three.

Amegakure (the Village Hidden by Rain), Kusagakure (the Village Hidden in the Grass), and Yukigakure (the Village Hidden Among Snow) are all located there.

As such, Hāto no Kuni is extremely politically unstable. Its daimyō plays the clans off against each other, and they compete for missions. Added to the way Kumo and Konoha keep expanding into their territory, they’re a hot mess.

This has consequences for any shinobi taking missions there, as is evident in Darkest before Dawn.

Chapter Text

Right from the very first few chapters of Escape and Evade, I conceptualised the Senju as exogamous and how that had major implications for their marriage customs, internal decisions making, and family relationships.

However, this chapter of world building is going to be posted concurrently with chapter 3 of Darkest Before Dawn, in which Tsunade kills an Uzumaki and is specifically meant as background to that.

And some readers might have come directly from there.

So, just to recap, I’ll state the basics upfront again and please bear with me.

Just for consistency, I’m going to go with what I wrote in chapter 5 of The World Building of Escape and Evade (World Building - The Uchiha and the Senju), and then I’m going use it as a jumping off point to go in a different direction.

The Senju are exogamous, which means to marry outside the tribe.

They prefer to find partners outside the clan, and anyone who marries in brings a new set of skills. Anyone who marries out is no longer a Senju.

Their family lines and their clan identity are two separate things and they’re accustomed to balancing both. The Senju clan works more like a giant co-op of shinobi and civilians who came together to work the land (civilians) and protect the resources they were creating (shinobi).

They have no bloodline limit to hold them together as a group. They field females on the front line. Females hold leadership roles in their clan. Females are not restricted to making babies who will be Senju - anyone can be Senju if they’re willing to take the oaths of loyalty. Even people who appear to be completely unrelated, which is because of their marriage contracts, something you can find out more about in chapter 43 of The World Building of Courting Culture Confusion, World Building - Why the Senju Clan Head can be More Authoritarian than the Uchiha Clan Head.
The thing is that most clans, especially the ones with bloodline limits, are endogamous - they marry in - so family and clan are effectively the same thing. Being exogamous makes the Senju radically different. In my head cannon, they are the only clan to accept immigration like this. It is crucial to the formation of the village.

However, in order to understand why Tsunade bears guilt for being a kinslayer and yet says that it would be unethical to raise Nagato as a Senju, it’s important to know how the Senju think about Clan versus Kin. I said before that family lines and clan identity are two separate things to the Senju and they’re accustomed to balancing both - this is where I explore that a little.

Marrying outside the clan means every Senju has family members - kin - who are outside the Clan.

Kin is anyone to whom they are related to, be it by blood or marriage.

Clan is anyone who is an official member of the Senju.

As you can see, the two categories function kind of like a Venn diagram. For every Senju, there are kin who are outside the clan, Senju who are not kin, and people who are both.

In this specific situation, Tsunade is raised as a Senju because her father Touma is the Clan Head of the Senju.

Touma is the firstborn son of Hashirama and Mito, and he was raised to lead the clan. Since Mito gave up the right to carry on her lineage as a Uzumaki when she married Hashirama, Touma cannot claim any other clan affiliation - he is a Senju by default. He marries a Senju woman and Tsunade is their daughter. As such, Tsunade is a member of the Senju Clan.

Tsunade claims the entire Uzumaki clan as kin through Mito - because the Uzumaki are a really tightly knit bunch and they function as a giant family - but they are not her clan. Her allegiance is not to them and, in fact, they are bound by Mito's marriage contract not to accept her unless she marries one of them. She's a beloved niece, but not one of them.

She is not an Uzumaki. She is an Uzumaki descended Senju.

This is why then only ethical choices are to either deliver the children to the Uzumaki or Amegakure. Since Nagato’s mother is an Uzumaki and they are matriarchal, they’ve have accepted him and his siblings without question. Since his father is from Amegakure, they too would accept him.

If Tsunade took Nagato back to Konoha, there would be no Uzumaki to receive him. All the Senju descended Uzumaki are in her position. They chose to align themselves with the Senju, meaning that they are not Uzumaki.

He would have family but not clan.

They could not have raised him as an Uzumaki. They'd have had to raise him as a Senju and the Senju have no claim to Nagato and his siblings.

That would have been bloodline theft - they would have stolen him from his clans, both of them.

Thus Tsunade is a kinslayer - she killed kin - but not a traitor - because she did not kill a clan member.

This is why Jiraya was all for taking them up to Uzushio, he was relying on the matriarchal clan structure of the Uzumaki to claim Nagato and his siblings. The problem with that idea was a matter of logistics - running for Uzushio would take them right through lightning. They were running from Kumo nin. It would have been suicide for all of them.

On the other hand, Orochimaru wanted to steal the kids and raise them as Senju. They’re war orphans and, as an adopted Senju himself, he was perfectly happy to adopt them into the Senju too. He’s morally flexible, let’s put it that way. For him personally, family is more important than clan. He actually switches his clan affiliation twice in his lifetime, a highly unusual move.

Neither of them wanted to go for Ame because they figured Tsunade would have been killed on sight.

But Tsunade was determined. It was her life and she owed it to them.

Bad enough that she was already a kinslayer, she wasn't going to compound it by being a bloodline thief too.

Chapter Text

Bakumatsu (幕末, "End of the bakufu") refers to the final years of the Edo period when the Tokugawa shogunate ended. Between 1853 and 1867, Japan ended its isolationist foreign policy known as sakoku and changed from a feudal Tokugawa shogunate to the modern empire of the Meiji government.

The whole reason that I’m including this is because of the way I’ve set up this AU.

When I first started writing Escape and Evade, I had no idea that Naruto was not set in Japan. I had no idea that Naruto was set on a fictional version of Earth where space aliens had arrived to eat the fruit of a mystical tree of knowledge and that the land masses never separated. (As far as I can tell, Kishimoto kept Pangea and then added islands.)

I, having never seen the anime beyond the return from Wave, somewhat naively assumed that it was a fictional version of Japan and wrote what I thought was a one shot snippet accordingly.

Oops.

So, since I’d set it in Japan, with a whole bunch of references to real world Japan, I figured I’d go all the way and do a full on fusion of real world Japan with Naruto. The principal idea was to keep everything as close to the real world as possible while only changing what had to change with the addition of Naruto.

So Japanese culture grows from its roots to include shinobi culture. Natural disasters still occur. If something happens in that year and I know about it, I’ll include it. Medical discoveries happen as per real world history, as does technological development. Crucially, this can only work because the Tokugawa shogunate had a period of isolation from the rest of the world, which allows me to debut shinobi on the world stage in a big way post World War One. Or so I hope anyway.

I didn’t realise that this would necessitate re-writing the history of the Tokugawa shogunate, because having all the daimyō of the various regions running around without owing fealty to a shogunate changes the economy and the politics of the Edo Period massively. This was something that I didn’t anticipate, even though I should have.

Oops again.

So here I am.

You can read the entirety of Courting Culture Confusion without reading this chapter. I don’t think most people will care about this part of the world building. But I need to write this or I can’t write Know Your Karma so I’m going to upload it to The World Building of Courting Culture Confusion anyway.

Here we go!

So the idea was that the Sengoku Jidai in this AU didn’t end with the Tokugawa shogunate. Instead it ended with the formation of the Elemental Countries, and each country had its own daimyō. The warlords who became the daimyō eventually became bureaucrats, in the exact same process that happened to the shogunate in the real world, and all the fighting was left to the shinobi who were the equivalent of the tozama - the least trusted vassals of the daimyō at the end of the Sengoku Jidai. As such, while outright war became less common between the daimyō, the shinobi clans still engaged in warfare between themselves. The Sengoku Jidai never ended for them.

In the real world, the Tokugawa shogunate ended and for a number of reasons. Economic mismanagement, class tensions, the consequences of power being divided between the trusted vassals of the Tokugawa who were integrated into the bakufu - the military government of Japan - and the ones who were not (and yes the lords kept up grudges from their loss at the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 which influenced their decisions in the 1850s, way to hold on to your history guys), famine, natural disasters, smallpox epidemics, they all contributed to the end of the shogunate. The western powers who kept trying to influence Japan, cumulating in the fateful visit of Perry to Edo Bay, was only the spark that set the whole keg of gunpowder alight.

Since most of these things would not have changed with the addition of shinobi, they are all going to happen as per the historical timeline. So I’m going to cover each of them individually, lay out how they happened in this AU, note down any differences from real world history caused by the addition of shinobi, and describe how they cumulated in the equivalent of the Meji Restoration in this AU.

Please note that there are going to be a lot of quotes scattered through this, many of them unmarked because I was making notes as I researched and I have no idea where they came from anymore, and I’m going to be liberally poaching from numerous sources. If you see wording that looks familiar, that’s because it was probably grabbed from wikipedia, the Encyclopaedia Britannica, or an online paper. I do not represent any of it as my original work, it’s not plagiarism, it’s a bunch of un-cited quotes. I am not going to cite this like it’s an academic paper, even though I kind of want to, because that would be akin to death by a thousand paper cuts. If I do find a reasonably obscure source, I’ll try to add a link for it.

The Tokugawa Shogunate Does not Exist

Here’s a brief overview of the Tokugawa shogunate:

The Tokugawa shogunate, also known, especially in Japanese, as the Edo shogunate, was the feudal military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1600 to 1868.

It was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars of the Sengoku period following the collapse of the Ashikaga shogunate. Ieyasu became the shōgun, and the Tokugawa clan governed Japan from Edo Castle in the eastern city of Edo (Tokyo) along with the daimyō lords of the samurai class. The Tokugawa shogunate organised Japanese society under the strict Tokugawa class system and banned most foreigners under the isolationist policies of Sakoku to promote political stability. The Tokugawa shoguns governed Japan in a feudal system, with each daimyō administering a han (feudal domain), although the country was still nominally organised as imperial provinces. Under the Tokugawa shogunate, Japan experienced rapid economic growth and urbanisation, which led to the rise of the merchant class and Ukiyo culture.

The Tokugawa shogunate declined during the Bakumatsu ("final act of the shogunate") period from 1853 and was overthrown by supporters of the Imperial Court in the Meiji Restoration in 1868. The Empire of Japan was established under the Meiji government, and Tokugawa loyalists continued to fight in the Boshin War until the defeat of the Republic of Ezo at the Battle of Hakodate in June 1869.

None of this happens in this AU. It is probably the biggest change and it happens entirely off screen.

Instead, Tokugawa Ieyasu establishes his control over the Kantō region only. He bases himself in Edo Castle and takes control of the region. He also keeps samurai culture active, which is why Kantō is the only region to have samurai. It becomes the Land of Iron.

I’m going to list all the major regions and their daimyō.

Hokkaidō is Uzushio

They have no daimyō. They're not Japanese - they're Ainu who pushed the Japanese off their island in 1512 and opened their port to the world right after. Uzushio claims the whole island, but their port city is actually the real world port of Hakodate.

For more information, see chapter 64 of The World Building of Courting Culture Confusion, World Building - The Location of Uzushio.

Tōhoku is the Land of Lightning / Kaminari no Kuni

Sendai is their capital and was founded in 1600 by daimyō Date Masamune who built Sendai Castle. Their daimyō would be from the Date clan, and Aomori is their port. Kumogakure is on Mount Iwate in the Ōu Mountains.

Kantō is the Land of Iron / Tetsu no Kuni

Edo is their capital and their port both. Edo Castle was built in 1457 by Ōta Dōkan and then taken over by Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1603. Their daimyō would be a member of the Tokugawa clan. Their military headquarters is somewhere on Mount Nikkō-Shirane, a strato-volcano in Nikkō National Park.

For more information, see chapter 71 of The World Building of Courting Culture Confusion, World Building - The Location of Land of Iron.

Chūbu is the Land of Heart / Hāto no Kuni

Basically, this is where I’m putting Amegakure, the Village Hidden by Rain. Amegakure is officially located on Lake Shojiko but is actually spread out between lakes Motosuko, Saiko and Shojiko, all three of which were formed when lava flows from Mount Fuji divided a large prehistoric lake into three smaller ones. The lakes seem to remain connected by underground waterways as they always maintain the same water level of 900 meters above sea level. The shinobi of Amegakure use rebreathers so that they can go cave diving and move between the lakes through the underground passages. Their talent for genjutsu only makes their ability to trap enemies who may follow them even more effective.

Their daimyō is from the Imagawa clan, and he makes his home at Sunpu Castle, also known as the "Castle of the Floating Isle”, which was originally built in 1337 by the Imagawa clan. In the real world history of Japan, the Imagawa were defeated at the Battle of Okehazama in 1560 even though they vastly outnumbered their opponents. That obviously didn’t happen in this AU.

The Yamanaka hail from Ishikawa prefecture in Chūbu before they moved to Konohagakure.

Kansai is the Land of Fire / Hi no Kuni

Kyōto is the capital (and the location of the Emperor) and Ōsaka is their primary port. Konoha is somewhere in the Kitayama Mountains north of Kyōto. The village of Ashiu is the model for Konoha but I have no fixed location for it.

Chūgoku is the Land of Wind / Kaze no Kuni

Their daimyō locates his capital in Hiroshima, at Hiroshima Castle. Mōri Terumoto built Hiroshima castle between 1589 and 1599 on the delta of the Otagawa river. There was no Hiroshima city or town at the time, and the area was called Gokamura, meaning "five villages". Beginning in 1591, Mōri Terumoto moved from Yoshida-Kōriyama Castle and governed nine provinces from this castle, including much of what is now Shimane, Yamaguchi, Tottori, Okayama and Hiroshima Prefectures. Hiroshima is their port too. Sunagakure would be Tottori city.

Shikoku is the Land of Earth / Tsuchi no Kuni

Their capital is Matsuyama, centred around Matsuyama Castle which was built in 1603 by Katō Yoshiaki, and that's where their daimyō stays. Their port is Yawatahama since it's got a naturally good harbour and it's first mentioned in records in 717 AD. Iwagakure is in the Iya Valley.

Kyūshū is the Land of Hot Water / Yu no Kuni

This one is complicated.

For a start, Kyūshū and Okinawa are part of the same region in modern day Japan. That is not the case in this AU.

Quoting again:

Okinawa Prefecture was ruled by the from 1429 and unofficially annexed by Japan after the Invasion of Ryukyu in 1609. In the final decades of the 16th century, the Shimazu clan of Satsuma, along with Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who ruled Japan from 1582 to 1598, requested or demanded various types of aid or service from the kingdom on a number of occasions. King Shō Nei (r. 1587–1620) met some of these demands but not all of them. Following Hideyoshi's death in 1598, and Tokugawa Ieyasu's subsequent rise to power, Shō Nei was asked by Satsuma to formally submit to the new shogunate, a request which was ignored. In 1603, some Ryukyu sailors were cast ashore on the coast of the Sendai domain, and Tokugawa Ieyasu sent them back to Ryukyu. The Shimazu asked Ryukyu to thank Ieyasu again, but Ryukyu ignored the request. The Shimazu then requested to launch a punitive mission against Ryukyu. Approximately 100 ships carrying roughly 3,000 soldiers concentrated at Yamakawa harbor on March 1, 1609. Ichirai Magobee, who was one of them, would write a diary documenting the expedition. The fleet left harbour on March 4, under the command of Kabayama Hisataka and Hirata Masumune.

In this AU, all of this happened just as it did in history. The difference is that the Ryukyu Kingdom repulsed the invasion. As such, they are not part of Japan. The Ryukyu Kingdom still exists and trades with Japan as well as a bunch of other places, including China and Korea.

So the Land of Hot Water is just the island of Kyūshū. All of the islands south of it are claimed by the Ryukyu Kingdom.

Additionally, Kyūshū had several daimyō during the Sengoku Jidai. I’m gonna focus on two of them, Katō Kiyomasa who built Kumamoto Castle, and Arima Harunobu.

Katō Kiyomasa (1562-1611) was a military man who fought in a number of wars, including ones with China and Korea, and ended up building Kumamoto Castle. He married a daughter of Mizuno Tadashige, Shōjō-in, who was adopted by Tokugawa Ieyasu prior to their marriage. Their daughter, Yōrin-in, would go on to marry Tokugawa Ieyasu's 10th son, Tokugawa Yorinobu. As far as I can tell, his line merged with the Tokugawa. Basically, he leaves an awesomely constructed castle that is fantastically defensible for the time and has been described as ‘a tour-de-force of defensive architecture by master tactician Kato Kiyomasa [that] has never been successfully attacked’.

But his clan is not the daimyō, and his castle is not the capital.

Because of Arima Harunobu.

Arima Harunobu (有馬 晴信, 1567 – June 5, 1612) was the second son and successor of Japanese daimyō Arima Yoshisada who was one of the Christian daimyō.

Quoting again:

With Ryūzōji Takanobu expanding into his domain, Harunobu turned to the help of the Jesuits. […] Harunobu was baptised by Alessandro Valignano in 1579. As a result of his conversion to Christianity, Harunobu started to receive weapons from the Portuguese, which strengthened the Arima clan. He also founded a seminary and training center for novices in his domain where, apart from the ordinary curriculum, students were also taught European music, painting and sculpture and the manufacture of organs and pocketwatch. In 1582 Harunobu teamed up with the Kyūshū Christian daimiyōs Ōtomo Sōrin and Ōmura Sumitada to send a Japanese embassy to the Pope in Rome, led by Valignano and represented by Mancio Itō. When Toyotomi Hideyoshi expelled the Catholic fathers and outlawed the teaching of Christianity in 1587, the Arima domain became a refuge for many Christian missionaries and believers.

There was also an incident where a miraculous cross was found in a tree and brought about the conversion of about twenty thousand people.

I’m not going to go into every single war or battle that he fought - there were a lot, including one where he ordered an attack on a Portuguese trading ship in retaliation for the Portuguese attacking one of his trading parties in Champa, so that relationship wasn’t always sunshine and roses - but he supported supported Tokugawa Ieyasu at the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, and thus did not lose any land after the battle.

Quoting again:

A certain Okamoto Daihachi, who was a servant of Tokugawa Ieyasu's close advisor Honda Masazumi, was sent to Harunobu to congratulate him on his triumph against the Portuguese. Okamoto was also a Christian and he was entertained by Arima Harunobu with a feast. During the banquet, Okamoto told Arima that through his influence upon his master, he could help Arima recover three districts that were lost to the Ryūzōji clan over the preceding years. Arima believed him and sent him payments of gold and silver to lobby for him in the Tokugawa government.

However, Okamoto pocketed the money and never did anything about the situation. When Arima Harunobu encountered Honda Masazumi during his obligatory visit to Edo, he learned that Honda was unaware of Harunobu's dealings with Okamoto. Furious with Okamoto, Arima presented the case to Tokugawa Ieyasu. Ieyasu immediately imprisoned Okamoto; further investigation revealed that Arima had various other dealings with Okamoto and they were involved in a conspiracy to assassinate the Bugyo of Nagasaki. In the end, Okamoto was to sentenced to death by fire, while Arima was stripped of his holdings and exiled to Kai Province. When Arima was ordered by the shogunate to commit suicide, Arima refused based upon his Christian principles and instead ordered his retainers to behead him.

All of this happened in this AU except for the last part, and that’s because of a very simple reason - the sankin-kōtai (alternate attendance) system, which required daimyōs to travel to and reside in Edo every other year, and for their families to remain in Edo during their absence, does not exist in this AU. Ieyasu was not the shogun, and he could not demand that the daimyō attend to him. Thus Arima never went to Edo, he never met with Honda Masazumi, he never exposed Okamoto’s duplicity.

He went on to fight in other wars and pass on his title and holdings to his son Arima Naozumi.

Thus the daimyō of Yu no Kuni is a member of the Arima clan, his capital is Nagasaki, his castle is Hinoe Castle, and a large part of his population is Christian. Nagasaki was the only port that foreigners were allowed to use under the Tokugawa shogunate, and that is still the case in this AU. They do a lot of trade with the Portuguese and the Dutch.

The Kuril Islands are the Land of Water / Mizu no Kuni

They are not part of Japan at all. They owe no fealty to the Emperor, they’re Ainu, and they want nothing to do with Japan. They have their own internal problems to sort out. Any fighting for territory that they do is with Uzushio.

For more information, see chapter 65 of The World Building of Courting Culture Confusion, World Building - The Location of the Elemental Countries.

How the Elemental Countries are Ruled

So the Tokugawa shogunate had huge power over everything. They were an undisputed military dictatorship. They had control over the emperor, the court, the daimyō and the religious orders. They basically tied themselves to the imperial line through marriage and used that to legitimise their rule. Obviously that's not happening here.

Instead, the daimyō all legitimised themselves through administering their han, the social hierarchy, and the rigid class system, while paying fealty to the Emperor. Basically, the daimyō are like court nobles. I'm going to go with the idea that they were once warlords that didn’t use chakra who have since become administrators and left all the fighting to the shinobi.

It’s not that different to what eventually happened in the real world Edo period when the han, once military-centred domains, became local administrative units. The daimyō did have full administrative control over their territory and their complex systems of retainers, bureaucrats and commoners though so I've kept that. They basically run the economy and the tax system. No shōgun means no national authority, so that economies and tax systems vary hugely between the Elemental Countries.

The economy is not anywhere near as big as it was during the real world Edo period since the Elemental countries are still skirmishing between each other and war is a drain, but it's a war fought mostly by the shinobi clans so the drain is more isolated. In the same way that modern day America outsourcing much of its wars to private military contractors instead of having conscription means that a lot of the costs of war are out of public view, regular civilians in this AU won’t see most of the costs of the fighting, while the shinobi clans bear the brunt of it.

In order to rule, the daimyō had to have an administration. Since I'm going with the idea that they were warlords, I'm going to have them do the same thing that Tokugawa Ieyasu did and just expand the bakufu beyond the military. So a bakufu that was previously only responsible for warfare and policing (up until 1192) had to expand to do laws for civilians, taxes, infrastructure and what have you which actually sounds a lot like what Madara and Hashirama were suddenly faced with when they decided to build their village.

Basically, as the imperial court retreated from decision making, the daimyō expanded, they took over, fought each other until there was one daimyō for each of the elemental countries and then they expanded their bakufu into an actual government.

For the structure of the bakufu I'm borrowing from Ieyasu again so they did what he did - their closest allies became their shinpan, or "related houses". All the clans directly related to the daimyō are his advisors, hold honorary titles, and hold the lands right next to his personal demesne in order to provide him with a physical buffer in case war breaks out again.

Then there is the second class of the hierarchy - the fudai, or "house daimyō", who were rewarded with lands close to the daimyō's holdings for their faithful service. So that's what happened to the non-related clans who did well in the wars. In the real world, members of the fudai class staffed most of the major bakufu offices and I see no reason to change that for this AU.

Finally, there is the third group, the tozama, or “outside vassals”, who were former opponents or new allies. In the real world, the tozama were located mostly on the peripheries of the archipelago and collectively controlled nearly ten million koku of productive land. Because the tozama were the least trusted of the daimyō, they were the most cautiously managed and generously treated, although they were excluded from central government positions.

These were the lords whose predecessors had fought against Tokugawa forces at the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 and had, from that point on, been excluded permanently from all powerful positions within the shogunate. Their growing resentment was one of the factors that lead to the Boshin War, a civil war in Japan, fought from 1868 to 1869 between the forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and those seeking to return political power to the Imperial Court.

In this AU, this is where the shinobi clans sit in the hierarchy. They fought in the wars for privilege and money. They switched sides as their contracts expired, they were for hire to the highest bidder, they did not hold to a code of conduct. They eat meat, and everything about them screams untrustworthy to the daimyō, but they're too strong to ignore.

In Hi no Kuni the clans that are noble and thus tozama were rewarded with land in the same way that the tozama in the real world were. This is the list of noble clans:

• Akimichi, with the Yamanaka and Nara as subordinates
• Hyūga
• Sarutobi
• Shimura
• Uchiha

The ones who are either too small or their specialities are too odd to be tozama are:

• Aburame Clan - their insect speciality means that they’re dismissed by the daimyō as spies rather than warriors
• Hatake Clan - they’re nomadic, don't hold land
• Hōki Family - a matrilineal clan of medic nin from Suna who join up after the First Shinobi War
• Inuzuka Clan - they’re nomadic, don't hold land
• Kohaku Clan - too small
• Kurama Clan - too dangerous, they’re not trusted by the daimyō
• Lee Clan - too small
• Onikuma Clan - too odd and too small
• Senju Clan - they're a co-op made of missing nin, no way are they a noble clan

So here’s the backstory of why the Senju and the Uchiha are at war in this AU.

After the daimyo of Hi no Kuni took control of the region, the Uchiha were rewarded with land that was right on the river with lots of forests to exploit, and enough land for rice paddies. They were tozama and thus they had no position within the bakufu, so they started setting themselves up to be independent, all the while knowing that the daimyō could call upon them and they'd have to go back to war.

Then an Ōtsutsuki descendant, a younger son (perhaps even a reincarnation of Ashura), was travelling through the region and met a bunch of rice farmers who were complaining about the taxes they were supposed to pay. Uchiha shinobi showed up and demanded the taxes that they insisted they were owed, saying that they needed the money to fund the han. There was a debate with the farmers being a little belligerent with their new lords and the Ōtsutsuki jumped in to get involved. He fought off the Uchiha shinobi, and was acclaimed as a saviour by the farmers.

From the Uchiha perspective, they were not going to stand for some random missing nin showing them up, this was their land, given by their daimyō, they had to support themselves and their clan. They couldn’t afford to let a missing nin undermine their authority.

So there was a lot of skirmishing back and forth with the farmers caught in the middle, and the Ōtsutsuki couldn’t be everywhere at once. So he started accumulating friends. In true Ashura fashion, friendship is magic and he rallied a bunch of missing nin to help him out. They all swore an oath of brotherhood and friendship, vowed to protect the farmers from anyone who would take their produce, and the Senju Clan was born.

This is the reason why their clan name is a nickname, and why they're so odd - they have no taxes, share resources, are highly mercantile, and are not bound by blood but instead by oath.

As a bonus, if I ever write this, the Uchiha Clan Head who had just been given the land by the daimyō will be a reincarnation of Indra. It will be universal ideals of peace and love versus protecting the people who look to you for leadership all over again.

With regards to the Ōtsutsuki in this AU, Indra’s line becomes the Uchiha, Ashura’s line splits into the Uzumaki (his daughter) and the Senju (his son). Hamura’s clan stays on earth and becomes the Hyūga.

Economic Mismanagement and Class Tensions

I talk about this a little in chapter 97 of The World Building of Courting Culture Confusion, World Building - The Four-Tiered Class System of Feudal Japan, but the thing that I didn’t mention is that the four tiered class system - shinōkōshō - meant that taxes actually validated the work of certain classes.

Shi, being the warrior caste, were the collectors of the taxes and part of the bakufu.

Nō, or farming peasants had the worst of it. They were 80% of the population and their high prestige as producers was undercut by their burden as the chief source of taxes. They were illiterate and lived in villages controlled by appointed officials who kept the peace and collected taxes. The family was the smallest legal entity, and the maintenance of family status and privileges was of great importance at all levels of society. The individual had no separate legal rights. Only the farmers lived in rural areas.

Kō were craftsmen and artisans, and Shõ were the merchant class, right at the bottom. Together they eventually became the chōnin class - the townsmen who became urbanised and ended up living in the towns that grew up around the castles.

In the real world, the top of the hierarchy were the Emperor and the court nobility, invincible in prestige but weak in power. Next came the shōgun, daimyō and layers of feudal lords whose rank was indicated by their closeness to the Tokugawa. They held the real power of government.

Since this AU doesn't have a shogunate, the daimyō are gonna go here. Their power is the administrative power to create infrastructure and take in taxes, legitimised by the Emperor.

Next in rank were the 400,000 warriors, called "samurai", in numerous grades and degrees. A few upper samurai were eligible for high office; most were foot soldiers. Since there was very little fighting, they became civil servants paid by the daimyō, with minor duties. The samurai were affiliated with senior lords in a well-established chain of command. The shogun had 17,000 samurai retainers; the daimyō each had hundreds. Most lived in modest homes near their lord's headquarters, and lived off of hereditary rights and stipends. Together these high status groups comprised Japan's ruling class making up about 6% of the total population.

In this AU, these guys are going to be the shinpan and the fudai.

Just as occured in the real world, in order to create a stable balance of power, the daimyō of this AU took land from samurai who had previously had direct possession of it. Those samurai had a choice: give up their sword and become peasants, or move to the city of their feudal lord and become a paid retainer.

In the real world, each daimyō also had a capital city, located near the one castle they were allowed to maintain, and that is something that happened in this AU as well insofar as each daimyō lives in a castle that was built to protect them, and towns grew up around the castles.

I already mentioned that the sankin-kōtai does not exist in this AU, so Edo doesn't become the centre of power for the whole country, but instead only for the Land of Iron, and people don't move around as much. Thus the roads will be used primarily for trade, rather than giant daimyō processions.

In the real world there were technological improvements that made water control better so rice production increased steadily, while the population remained stable, and those are going to carry over into this AU.

At the same time, with the peace within each Elemental Nation that comes with a single daimyō, everyone who is part of the bakufu got complacent. Samurai and daimyōs, after prolonged peace within their countries, got accustomed to more elaborate lifestyles.

This mirrors the real world, in which, to keep up with growing expenditures, the bakufu and daimyōs often encouraged commercial crops and artisans within their domains, from textiles to tea.

Additionally, in the real world, the shogunate only allowed daimyōs to sell surplus rice in Edo and Osaka, which led to the development of large-scale rice markets there. Something analogous happened in this AU with the capital of each daimyō will becoming the central rice market for their country.

The concentration of wealth also led to the development of financial markets.

Let me quote again:

Large-scale rice markets developed, centred on Edo and Ōsaka. In the cities and towns, guilds of merchants and artisans met the growing demand for goods and services. The merchants, while low in status, prospered, especially those with official patronage. Merchants invented credit instruments to transfer money, currency came into common use, and the strengthening credit market encouraged entrepreneurship. The daimyō collected the taxes from the peasants in the form of rice. Taxes were high, often at around 40%-50% of the harvest. The rice was sold at the fudasashi market in Edo. To raise money, the daimyō used forward contracts to sell rice that was not even harvested yet. These contracts were similar to modern futures trading.

The merchants benefited enormously, especially those with official patronage. However, the Neo-Confucian ideology of the shogunate focused the virtues of frugality and hard work; it had a rigid class system, which emphasised agriculture and despised commerce and merchants. A century after the shogunate's establishment, problems began to emerge. The samurai, forbidden to engage in farming or business but allowed to borrow money, borrowed too much, some taking up side jobs as bodyguards for merchants, debt collectors, or artisans. The bakufu and daimyōs raised taxes on farmers, but did not tax business, so they too fell into debt, with some merchants specialising in loaning to daimyōs. Yet it was inconceivable to systematically tax commerce, as it would make money off "parasitic" activities, raise the prestige of merchants, and lower the status of government. As they paid no regular taxes, the forced financial contributions to the daimyōs were seen by some merchants as a cost of doing business. The wealth of merchants gave them a degree of prestige and even power over the daimyōs.

By 1750, rising taxes incited peasant unrest and even revolt. The nation had to deal somehow with samurai impoverishment and treasury deficits. The financial troubles of the samurai undermined their loyalties to the system, and the empty treasury threatened the whole system of government. One solution was reactionary—cutting samurai salaries and prohibiting spending for luxuries. Other solutions were modernising, with the goal of increasing agrarian productivity. The eighth Tokugawa shogun, Yoshimune (in office 1716–1745) had considerable success, though much of his work had to be done again between 1787 and 1793 by the shogun's chief councillor Matsudaira Sadanobu (1759–1829). Others shoguns debased the coinage to pay debts, which caused inflation. Overall, while commerce (domestic and international) was vibrant and sophisticated financial services had developed in the Edo period, the shogunate remained ideologically focused on honest agricultural work as the basis of society and never sought to develop a mercantile or capitalistic country.

By 1800, the commercialisation of the economy grew rapidly, bringing more and more remote villages into the national economy. Rich farmers appeared who switched from rice to high-profit commercial crops and engaged in local money-lending, trade, and small-scale manufacturing. Wealthy merchants were often forced to "lend" money to the shogunate or daimyōs (often never returned). They often had to hide their wealth, and some sought higher social status by using money to marry into the samurai class. There is some evidence that as merchants gain greater political influence, the rigid class division between samurai and merchants were beginning to break down towards to end of the Edo period.

From the outset, the Tokugawa attempted to restrict families' accumulation of wealth and fostered a "back to the soil" policy, in which the farmer, the ultimate producer, was the ideal person in society.

The standard of living for urban and rural dwellers alike grew significantly during the Tokugawa period. Better means of crop production, transport, housing, food, and entertainment were all available, as was more leisure time, at least for urban dwellers. The literacy rate was high for a preindustrial society (by some estimates the literacy rate in the city of Edo was 80 percent), and cultural values were redefined and widely imparted throughout the samurai and chōnin classes. Despite the reappearance of guilds, economic activities went well beyond the restrictive nature of the guilds, and commerce spread and a money economy developed. Although government heavily restricted the merchants and viewed them as unproductive and usurious members of society, the samurai, who gradually became separated from their rural ties, depended greatly on the merchants and artisans for consumer goods, artistic interests, and loans. In this way, a subtle subversion of the warrior class by the chōnin took place.

A struggle arose in the face of political limitations that the shōgun imposed on the entrepreneurial class. The government ideal of an agrarian society failed to square with the reality of commercial distribution. A huge government bureaucracy had evolved, which now stagnated because of its discrepancy with a new and evolving social order.

All of this happened in this AU, just as it happened in the real world. It is one of the big factors that causes the downfall of the daimyō. It is also the reason why the village is determined that the USEATC be completely self sufficient - they don’t want to fall into the debt trap that they see the daimyō and the bakufu falling into. It is also the reason for Seto’s disdain for the daimyō’s court. He knows that they’re living well beyond their means and making sure that he keeps up with the standards that they’re setting is taking food out of the mouths of his clan. He hates that.

There is one part of the economy that doesn’t contribute directly to the downfall of the daimyō anywhere except in Hi no Kuni though.

I’ll quote again:

It was during the Edo period that Japan developed an advanced forest management policy. Increased demand for timber resources for construction, shipbuilding and fuel had led to widespread deforestation, which resulted in forest fires, floods and soil erosion. In response the shōgun, beginning around 1666, instituted a policy to reduce logging and increase the planting of trees. The policy mandated that only the shōgun and daimyō could authorise the use of wood. By the 18th century, Japan had developed detailed scientific knowledge about silviculture and plantation forestry.

This happened in this AU, just as it happened in the real world, but - thanks to Hashirama’s mokuton - the USEATC is exporting huge amounts of timber under the table, well above the limits mandated by the daimyō. This is going to be a factor once the USEATC throws their support behind the Emperor rather than their daimyō.

Famine

I’ll quote a brief summary of what was happening:

Drought, followed by crop shortages and starvation, resulted in twenty great famines between 1675 and 1837. During the Tokugawa period, there were 154 famines, of which 21 were widespread and serious. Peasant unrest grew, and by the late 18th century, mass protests over taxes and food shortages had become commonplace. Newly landless families became tenant farmers, while the displaced rural poor moved into the cities. As the fortunes of previously well-to-do families declined, others moved in to accumulate land, and a new, wealthy farming class emerged. Those people who benefited were able to diversify production and to hire labourers, while others were left discontented. Many samurai fell on hard times and were forced into handicraft production and wage jobs for merchants.

All of this happened in this AU, just as it happened in the real world. Droughts and the corresponding famines are not something that could be changed by the presence of shinobi. The famines were also the reason that Madara was thinking about having difficulties feeding his clan members before the village was founded in chapter 11 of Escape and Evade.

However, once the village is founded in 1822, the Senju and the Uchiha turn their minds to finding ways to make their chakra feed them. Hashirama is a huge factor of course, but it’s not just him. I talk about it in chapter 39 of The World Building of Courting Culture Confusion (World Building - How the Village will Fund Itself when they aren't Taking as Many Missions), but they end up terraforming with doton, irrigating with suiton, fertilising with katon, and adjusting the weather with fuuton to make their small amounts of arable land achieve maximum production to feed themselves. When the Aburame join the village after the First Shinobi War, they use insects to pollinate and accelerate the fertilisation of crops and hire out to agricultural areas for such uses. They also act to deter insects as necessary.

As an aside, I should mention that real world Japan used insects as a weapon of war in Word War Two. They used clay bombs filled with plague-infected fleas to spread bacteria on Chinese villages, and Operation Cherry Blossoms at Night was a plan to use plague-infected fleas to launch a biological attack against the USA in the final months of World War Two. The Aburame are a fictional version of something that Japan actually implemented, and all the more terrifying for it.

Tension between the Emperor and the Shogunate

Let me quote again:

By the 1830s, there was a general sense of crisis. Famines and natural disasters hit hard, and unrest led to a peasant uprising against officials and merchants in Osaka in 1837 (Rebellion of Ōshio Heihachirō). Although it lasted only a day, the uprising made a dramatic impression. Remedies came in the form of traditional solutions that sought to reform moral decay rather than address institutional problems. The shōgun's advisers pushed for a return to the martial spirit, more restrictions on foreign trade and contacts, suppression of rangaku, censorship of literature, and elimination of "luxury" in the government and samurai class. Others sought the overthrow of the Tokugawa and espoused the political doctrine of sonnō jōi (revere the emperor, expel the barbarians), which called for unity under imperial rule and opposed foreign intrusions.

The major ideological-political divide during this period crystallised between the pro-imperial nationalists called ishin shishi and the shogunate forces, which included the elite shinsengumi swordsmen.

The bakufu persevered for the time being amidst growing concerns over Western successes in establishing colonial enclaves in China following the First Opium War of 1839–1842. More reforms were ordered, especially in the economic sector, to strengthen Japan against the Western threat.

The general pattern of these real world incidents happened in this AU, though not all of them happened in quite the same way. The incident in Osaka occured, and similar reforms were proposed and implemented, though piecemeal and not by Mizuno Tadakuni.

This is important because this is the time period during which the first and second parts of Courting Culture Confusion is set. I have an entire spreadsheet of the timeline in this AU and will include some of the major events in the next section.

For the real world Japan, all of this is tension builds in the lead up to the spark that sets off the Meiji Restoration, which is the…

Western Powers

Now it’s often talked about as if the arrival of Perry in Edo Bay came out of nowhere, but that wasn’t actually the case. In fact, the western powers had been trying to make contact with Japan for years.

Let me quote:

Western intrusions were on the increase in the early 19th century. Russian warships and traders encroached on Karafuto (called Sakhalin under Russian and Soviet control) and on the Kuril Islands, the southernmost of which are considered by the Japanese as the northern islands of Hokkaidō. A British warship entered Nagasaki harbour searching for enemy Dutch ships in 1808, and other warships and whalers were seen in Japanese waters with increasing frequency in the 1810s and 1820s. Whalers and trading ships from the United States also arrived on Japan's shores. Although the Japanese made some minor concessions and allowed some landings, they largely attempted to keep all foreigners out, sometimes using force. Rangaku became crucial not only in understanding the foreign "barbarians" but also in using the knowledge gained from the West to fend them off.

This is the tricky bit where I get down to the fine details. The actions of the Western powers would not have been changed by the existence of shinobi, so they would have done exactly what they did in the real world. The difference would have been in how the Japan of this AU would have responded. So I’m going to lay out a timeline of some of the important events, and I’m going to describe how the responses differed in this AU. I’m also going to intersperse the timeline with some of the major events from the stories of this AU.

1792: Russian envoy Adam Laxman arrived at Nemuro in eastern Ezo (now Hokkaidō). In this AU, the Uzumaki would have welcomed him and established trade with Russia.

1797 to 1809: several American ships traded in Nagasaki under the Dutch flag, upon the request of the Dutch, who were not able to send their own ships because of their conflict with the United Kingdom during the Napoleonic Wars.

1804: Russian envoy Nikolai Rezanov reached Nagasaki and sought the establishment of trade relations with Japan. In the real world he was unsuccessful and Russia and Japan did not establish diplomatic relations until 1855 but, in this AU, the daimyō of Kyūshū would have treated them like any other trading partner. He would not have signed a treaty of any kind though.

1822: The village was founded.

1823, autumn: Escape and Evade begins.

1826, spring: Madara and Izuna marry their spouses in a double wedding.

1827, autumn: Caught and Captured occurs.

1828, winter: Niko and Reo are born.

1829, April 24: Great Fire of Bunsei in Edo.

1830, autumn: Tōka starts sleeping with Izuna (and occasionally Seto).

1831, autumn: Hashirama retires, Madara becomes Nidaime.

1833: The beginning of the Great Tenpō famine which lasted until lasted until 1837. The famine was most severe in northern Honshū and was caused by flooding and cold weather. Kansai was affected.

1834, spring: Escape, Evade, and Ensnare occurs.

1834, March 16: Kōgo Fire of Edo.

1835, spring: Tōka marries Izuna.

1835, summer: the final chapter of Zealous Zetsu Zooms towards the Zenith takes place.

1835: 7.6 magnitude earthquake in the Sanriku region which is a part of the Land of Lightning / Kaminari no Kuni in this AU.

1835, autumn: Shinobi begin to migrate to the village.

1836, spring: The village is renamed Konohagakure. The Konoha charm offensive takes place in all the Elemental Countries. Utatane Koharu arrives in the daimyō’s court as Konoha’s ambassador to the daimyō and the Emperor.

1836: The harvest fails in Kansai, taxes are high.

1837, February 19: Rebellion of Ōshio Heihachirō. The failed harvest, which caused famine and high rice prices, together with exacerbating fiscal problems and problems with foreign countries (the opium wars), was called the Tenpō Crisis (1830-1844). It was the direct reason for the uprising led by Ōshio Heihachirō led a revolt in Osaka against corrupt officials who refused to help feed the impoverished residents of the city which was put down by the bakufu. In this AU, the shinobi would not have been involved with that and it would have been put down by the daimyō’s police who were drawn from the samurai class.

1837, July (approximately): American businessman Charles W. King in Canton sees an opportunity to open trade by trying to return to Japan three Japanese sailors (among them, Otokichi) who had been shipwrecked a few years before on the coast of Washington. He goes to Uraga Channel (the entry into Edo Bay) with Morrison, an American merchant ship. It’s attacked a few times and the Morrison sails away, with little damage.

King then sails to Kagoshima in Kyūshū where he meets some officials who take two of the castaways into custody. The next day the ship is fired upon and King decides to abandon the mission and returned to Canton with the remaining castaways.

King was outraged by the Japanese response, and upon his return to the United States in 1839 wrote a book about his adventure. In the book he explained that the American flag had been fired upon by a foreign government and that the next contacts with Japan "had better be left to the stronger and wiser action of the American Government".

There are also reports of the Morrison also appearing off the coast of Shikoku, and being driven away by coastal artillery. In this AU, Shikoku is the Land of Earth / Tsuchi no Kuni, and the vessel was driven off by shinobi from Iwagakure hurling rocks at them. The merchant vessel thought the Japanese were using catapults and reported back that the Japanese didn’t even have costal artillery there.

1838: The first Konoha Courting Customs handbook is published.

1839: The First Battle of Chuenpi opens the First Opium War between the British Royal Navy and the Chinese Empire.

1841: Tenpō Reforms. They were mostly instituted by Mizuno Tadakuni, a daimyō during late-Edo period Japan, who later served as chief senior councillor (Rōjū) in service to the Tokugawa shogunate. He was from the Mizuno clan who fought under the banner of Tokugawa Ieyasu at the Battle of Sekigahara. In 1601, because their support, Mizuno Wakenaga, was given control of the Ogawa Domain which is actually in the Chūbu region.

Obviously, none of that is going to happen here. In this AU, Tokugawa Ieyasu doesn’t control the Chūbu region and he can’t go around giving out land there! Instead, the Mizuno clan remains an allied clan to the Tokugawa, and Mizuno Tadakuni’s reforms were only implemented in Kantō.

The Tenpō Reforms tried to stabilise the economy through a return to the frugality, simplicity and discipline that were characteristic from the early Edo period by banning most forms of entertainment and displays of wealth. This proved extremely unpopular with the commoners. Notably, the restrictions on entertainment were enforced solely by him and when he was removed from government in 1845, they ceased to be enforced.

1842: The Qing dynasty was forced to sign the Treaty of Nanking which granted an indemnity and extraterritoriality (exemption from the jurisdiction of local law) to British subjects in China, opened five treaty ports to British merchants, and ceded Hong Kong Island to the British Empire.

1843: Know Your Karma begins. Reo (14), Haruto (12), and Akahana (10) graduate the academy and become genin.

1844: Niko, Kana, and Kitiara (all 15) graduate the academy and become genin.

1844: King William II of the Netherlands sent a letter urging Japan to end the isolation policy on its own before change would be forced from the outside. The letter is brought to the daimyō of the Land of Iron and he turns it away without a reply.

1845: Kikiyo’s daughters Mamiko and Makiko (13) graduate the academy and become genin.

1845, March 2: Aoyama Fire in Edo

1846, March 10: Emperor Kōmei begins his reign. He is 15.

1846: Kagami’s first genin team, comprising Reo (17), Haruto (15), and Akahana (13), graduates to chūnin. So do Kana and Kitiara (17).

1846: Commander James Biddle, anchored in Edo Bay on an official mission with the ships USS Columbus and USS Vincennes, one of which is warship armed with seventy-two cannons, asks for ports to be opened for trade, but his requests for a trade agreement remain unsuccessful.

1847: Niko graduates to chūnin. She is 18.

1848: Hazama graduates the academy and becomes a genin. He is 15.

1848, June 7: 15 American sailors from the whaleship Lagoda are shipwrecked on the northern Japanese island of Yeso. In the real world, they are imprisoned at Nagasaki and the Dutch consul in Canton informs American Captain James Glynn of it. In this AU, they’re sent to Nagasaki to hitch a ride home on the Dutch trade ships and the the Dutch consul informs American Captain James Glynn of that instead.

1849: Niko becomes a Jōnin and leaves for Uzushio. She is 20. Haruto (18) and Akahana (16) both become Jōnin.

1849, April 17: Captain James Glynn sails to Nagasaki in his sloop-of-war USS Preble, leading to the first successful negotiation by an American with Japan. In the real world, Glynn forces his way into the Bay of Nagasaki, demands the release of the prisoners, and threatens an intervention of the United States. With some help from the Dutch in the negotiations, the prisoners are delivered to him on April 26.

In this AU, the sailors are not treated as prisoners at all. Instead they’re guests of the Christian daimyō of the Land of Hot Water, and one of them - Ranald MacDonald - teaches the daimyō and his court a smattering of English.

Glynn is receives a warm welcome but is told that the Americans are welcome to trade with the Land of Hot Water as it’s an open port, but they are not welcome to establish a coaling station there, nor will they receive ‘most favoured trading partner’ status as that is reserved for the Dutch.

In both the real world and in this AU, James Glynn recommends to the United States Congress that negotiations to open Japan be backed up by a demonstration of force, thus paving the way for Perry's expedition.

1850: Mamiko and Makiko graduate to chūnin. They are 17.

1851: Kana and Kitiara become Jōnin. They are 22.

1852: Kagami gets his second genin team comprising Hitomi (17), Yuma (15), and Sara (13).

1853: Hazama graduates to chūnin. He is 20.

1853, May 17–26: US Navy Commodore Matthew C. Perry arrives in the Ryukyu islands.

This quote describes what actually happened in history:

Ignoring the claims of Satsuma Domain to the islands, as well as his own orders, he threatened and bluffed local authorities by threatening to attack with 200 troops unless he were allowed trading rights and land for a coaling station. Perry landed his Marines, whom he drilled on the beach for hours at a time, and demanded an audience with the Ryukyu King Shō Tai at Shuri Castle. Knowing that his every action would be reported to Japanese authorities in Edo, Perry was careful to avoid meeting with low-ranked officials and made much use of military ceremony and shipboard hospitality to demonstrate both American military power and the peaceful intent of his expedition. Perry left with promises that the islands would be completely open to trade with the United States. Continuing on the Ogasawara islands in mid-June, Perry met with the local inhabitants and even purchased a plot of land.

In this AU, Perry does exactly the same thing, but is well aware that the Ryukyu islands are not part of Japan but are the Ryukyu Kingdom. Perry still leaves with the same promises though.

1853, July 8: US Navy Commodore Matthew C. Perry's four-ship squadron appeared in Edo Bay (Tokyo Bay)

This quote describes what actually happened in history:

In 1853, United States Navy Commodore Matthew C. Perry was sent with a fleet of warships by U.S. President Millard Fillmore to force the opening of Japanese ports to American trade, through the use of gunboat diplomacy if necessary. The growing commerce between America and China, the presence of American whalers in waters offshore Japan, and the increasing monopolisation of potential coaling stations by the British and French in Asia were all contributing factors. The Americans were also driven by concepts of manifest destiny and the desire to impose the benefits of western civilisation and the Christian religion on what they perceived as backward Asian nations. From the Japanese perspective, increasing contacts with foreign warships and the increasing disparity between western military technology and the Japanese feudal armies created growing concern. The Japanese had been keeping abreast of world events via information gathered from Dutch traders in Dejima and had been forewarned by the Dutch of Perry's voyage. There was a considerable internal debate in Japan on how best to meet this potential threat to Japan's economic and political sovereignty in light of events occurring in China with the Opium Wars.

Perry arrived with four warships - the Susquehanna and Mississippi, both sidewheel paddle frigates powered by steam, and the Plymouth and Saratoga, both sailing sloops - at Uraga, at the mouth of Edo Bay on July 8, 1853.

As he arrived, Perry ordered his ships to steam past Japanese lines towards the capital of Edo, and position their guns towards the town of Uraga. He also fired blank shots from his 73 cannons, which he claimed was in celebration of the American Independence Day. Perry's ships were equipped with new Paixhans shell guns, cannons capable of wreaking great explosive destruction with every shell.

He blatantly refused Japanese demands that he proceed to Nagasaki, which was the designated port for foreign contact. After threatening to continue directly on to Edo, the nation's capital, and to burn it to the ground if necessary, he was allowed to land at nearby Kurihama on July 14 and to deliver his letter. Such refusal was intentional, as Perry wrote in his journal: “To show these princes how little I regarded their order for me to depart, on getting on board I immediately ordered the whole squadron underway, not to leave the bay… but to go higher up… would produce a decided influence upon the pride and conceit of the gov’t, and cause a more favorable consideration of the President’s letter." Perry’s power front did not stop with refusing to land in Uraga, but he continued to push the boundaries of the Japanese. He ordered the squadron to survey Edo bay, which led to a stand-off between Japanese officers with swords and Americans with guns. By firing the guns into the water, Perry demonstrated their military might, which greatly affected Japanese perceptions of Perry and the United States. Namely, a perception of fear and disrespect.

Despite years of debate on the isolation policy, Perry's letter created great controversy within the highest levels of the Tokugawa shogunate. The shōgun himself, Tokugawa Ieyoshi, died days after Perry's departure and was succeeded by his sickly young son, Tokugawa Iesada, leaving effective administration in the hands of the Council of Elders (rōjū) led by Abe Masahiro. Abe felt that it was impossible for Japan to resist the American demands by military force and yet was reluctant to take any action on his own authority for such an unprecedented situation. Attempting to legitimise any decision taken, Abe polled all of the daimyō for their opinions. This was the first time that the Tokugawa shogunate had allowed its decision-making to be a matter of public debate and had the unforeseen consequence of portraying the shogunate as weak and indecisive. The results of the poll also failed to provide Abe with an answer; of the 61 known responses, 19 were in favour of accepting the American demands and 19 were equally opposed. Of the remainder, 14 gave vague responses expressing concern of possible war, 7 suggested making temporary concessions and 2 advised that they would simply go along with whatever was decided.

In this AU, all of the took place between Perry and the retainers of the daimyō of the Land of Iron. Perry never came face to face with the daimyō at all. They were forced to let him land and they were forced to accept his letter.

The Japanese officers with swords were not chakra users - most of those guys were still up on their mountain, and the only ones who were in the capital were the bodyguards of the daimyō. They stuck to him like glue.

In the real world, the Japanese government was paralyzed due to the incapacitation by illness of Shōgun Tokugawa Ieyoshi and by political indecision on how to handle the unprecedented threat to the nation’s capital. In this AU, Tokugawa Ieyoshi is the daimyō and his illness paralyses the government of the Land of Iron in exactly the same way.

Just as Abe did, the daimyō of the Land of Iron sent messages to all the other daimyō of the Elemental Countries. He got extremely unhelpful responses which basically amounted to “he’s your problem, you deal with him”.

Koharu sees the letter that the Land of Fire daimyō gets, it’s hard not to since it’s big news. She sends information on it back to Konoha and Seto, Head of the Konoha Diplomatic Service, sends her Kitiara for backup. Kitiara is 24 and Koharu is 40. They begin to plot.

1853: Kagami graduates Hitomi (17), Yuma (15), and Sara (13). The village needs them.

1854: Perry returns.

Let me quote again:

Perry returned again on February 11, 1854, after only half a year rather than the full year promised, and with ten ships (eight of them warships) and 1,600 men. Both actions were calculated to put even more pressure onto the Japanese. He made it clear that he would not be leaving until a treaty was signed.

Perry continued his manipulation of the setting, such as keeping himself aloof from lower-ranking officials, implying the use of force, surveying the harbour, and refusing to meet in the designated negotiation sites. Negotiations began on March 8 and proceeded for around one month. Each party shared a performance when Perry arrived. The Americans had a technology demonstration, and the Japanese had a sumo wrestling show. While the new technology awed the Japanese people, Perry was unimpressed by the sumo wrestlers and perceived such performance as foolish and degrading: “This disgusting exhibition did not terminate until the whole twenty-five had, successively, in pairs, displayed their immense powers and savage qualities." The Japanese side gave in to almost all of Perry's demands, with the exception of a commercial agreement modelled after previous American treaties with China, which Perry agreed to defer to a later time. The main controversy centred on the selection of the ports to open, with Perry adamantly rejecting Nagasaki. The treaty, written in English, Dutch, Chinese and Japanese, was signed on March 31, 1854, at what is now Kaikō Hiroba (Port Opening Square) Yokohama, a site adjacent to the current Yokohama Archives of History.

Perry departed, mistakenly believing the agreement had been made with imperial representatives, not understanding the true position of the shōgun, the de facto ruler of Japan.

At the time, shōgun Tokugawa Iesada was the de facto ruler of Japan; for the Emperor of Japan to interact in any way with foreigners was out of the question. Perry concluded the treaty with representatives of the shogun, led by plenipotentiary Hayashi Akira (林韑) and the text was endorsed subsequently, albeit reluctantly, by Emperor Kōmei. The treaty was ratified on February 21, 1855.

In the short term, the U.S. was content with the agreement since Perry had achieved his primary objective of breaking Japan's sakoku policy and setting the grounds for protection of American citizens and an eventual commercial agreement. On the other hand, the Japanese were forced into this trade, and many saw it as a sign of weakness. The Tokugawa shogunate could point out that the treaty was not actually signed by the shogun, or indeed any of his rōjū, and that it had at least temporarily averted the possibility of immediate military confrontation.

This is what the Kanagawa treaty agreed to:

1. Mutual peace between the United States and the Empire of Japan
2. Opening of the ports of Shimoda & Hakodate
3. Assistance to be provided to shipwrecked American sailors
4. Shipwrecked sailors not to be imprisoned or mistreated
5. Freedom of movement for temporary foreign residents in treaty ports (with limitations)
6. Trade transactions to be permitted
7. Currency exchange to facilitate any trade transactions to be allowed
8. Provisioning of American ships to be a Japanese government monopoly
9. Japan to give the United States any favourable advantages which might be negotiated by Japan with any other foreign government in the future
10. Forbidding the United States from using any other ports aside from Shimoda and Hakodate
11. Opening of an American consulate at Shimoda
12. Treaty to be ratified within 18 months of signing

Just as it happened in history, all of this happened in this AU, but not in quite the same way.

The meetings happened the same way and the treaty was signed by the representative of the daimyō of the Land of Iron only. Perry never met the daimyō. He never left Edo. He took the treaty and left.

But the treaty in this AU was different.

It looked like this:

1. Mutual peace between the United States and the daimyō of the Land of Iron
2. Opening of the port of Edo
3. Assistance to be provided to shipwrecked American sailors
4. Shipwrecked sailors not to be imprisoned or mistreated
5. Freedom of movement for temporary foreign residents in treaty ports (with limitations)
6. Trade transactions to be permitted
7. Currency exchange to facilitate any trade transactions to be allowed
8. Provisioning of American ships to be a monopoly of the Land of Iron
9. Land of Iron to give the United States any favourable advantages which might be negotiated by the Land of Iron with any other foreign government in the future
10. Forbidding the United States from using any other ports aside from Edo
11. Opening of an American consulate at Edo
12. Treaty to be ratified within 18 months of signing

You can see that the changes are mostly about the ports since Hakodate in Uzushio was already an open trading port, and Shimoda is not under the control of the daimyō of the Land of Iron since it’s in the Chūbu region.

Upon seeing the proposed treaty, the daimyō of the Land of Iron realised that this was beyond him. His chakra using samurai were few and, while they could match Perry’s people on a single combat basis, they couldn't match his ships or their gunnery. The Land of Iron is not a maritime power. He was stuck.

So he sent the treaty to Emperor Kōmei post haste to try and get his ratification.

By all accounts, Emperor Kōmei was not keen on opening Japan up to the rest of the world, and that sentiment holds true in this AU. He’s already having to put up with his christian daimyō in the Land of Hot Water (Kyūshū) trading with the Portuguese and the Dutch and now this disrespectful American wants to open trade with the Land of Iron? He ratifies the treaty, but he's also deeply unhappy about it.

Just as in history, that happens on February 21, 1855.

Let me quote again:

Perry's expedition to Japan was theoretically linked to the notion of manifest destiny, in which American settlers had a "God-given" right to spread across North America. The role of Japan in particular was that of a base of commerce between China and the United States. According to US Secretary of State Daniel Webster, God had placed coal for steam ships and other trading vessels "in the depths of the Japanese islands for the benefit of the human family." The idea of "Manifest Destiny" as an imperialistic measure outside of North America was not introduced as a significant idea until the Republican bid for office in 1892, thereby suggesting, in practicality, a mere economic interest in Japan, as it held coal reserves in key locations for Pacific trade.

The Convention of Kanagawa mediated by Commodore Perry was a primary step to a rather forced extension of American influence in Japan. However, most problems that the Tokugawa shogunate faced came from a division within the country between those who favoured opening to the West immediately (kaikoku) and advocates of joi ("expel the barbarian") who favoured a preservation of Japanese culture and influence until Japan could face the military threat posed by the West. Most Japanese were familiar with the humiliating Chinese defeat in the First Opium War, but they were divided on how and when they would inevitably open their ports. Both camps did agree that trade should be handled by Japanese going overseas instead of foreigners coming into Japan and violating the country's seclusion laws. Many of those Tokugawan officials who agreed to the Treaty of Kanagawa did so in an effort to avoid war with the United States, whom they knew possessed a far superior military than anything found in Japan. The result was a deepening domestic crisis.

Both of these ideological camps exist in this AU, and they’re spread all across the Elemental Countries. They are not confined to any Elemental Country in particular, and the debate is wide ranging.

Here’s what the daimyō of the various Elemental Countries are thinking:

Uzushio (Hokkaidō) owes no fealty to the emperor, they’ve been an independent trading port for years and they have no intention of changing their ways. The Land of Water (the Kuril Islands) feels the same way.

The daimyōs of the Land of Lightning (Tōhoku), the Land of Iron (Kantō), the Land of Wind (Chūgoku), and the Land of Fire (Kansai) are paralysed. They don’t want to open their ports, but they’re not confident that they can repulse the western powers with their own troops who haven’t fought a war in centuries. They also don’t want to hire the shinobi to do their fighting for them because, frankly, they can’t afford it and you don’t ask shinobi to work on credit.

The daimyōs of the Land of Rain and the Land of Earth would like to remain isolated. They want the western powers to go away and leave them alone.

The daimyo of the Land of Hot Water (Kyūshū), would like all the trade to come to him. However, he’s not keen on having westerners running around his territory either. He wants them isolated at Nagasaki.

1855, November 11: Earthquake Fire - A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck Edo and caused fires in numerous locations that evolved into this great fire.

1856: Harris arrives in Japan.

Let me quote again:

President Franklin Pierce named Harris the first Consul General to Tokugawa Japan in July 1856, where he opened the first US Consulate at the Gyokusen-ji Temple in the city of Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture, some time after Commodore Matthew Perry had first opened trade between the US and Japan in 1854.

Harris demanded the courtesies due to an accredited envoy and refused to deliver his president's letter to anyone but the Shogun in Edo, and to him personally. After prolonged negotiations lasting 18 months, Harris finally received a personal audience with the Shogun in the palace. After another four months, he successfully negotiated the Treaty of Amity and Commerce, or the "Harris Treaty of 1858," securing trade between the US and Japan and paving the way for greater Western influence in Japan's economy and politics.

However, Townsend Harris' terms were much more demanding than Perry's. Harris claimed that the laws of Japan were "very peculiar" and it would be unfair for foreigners to live under such rule. Article III of the treaty gave Americans the right to trade and reside in Yedo (Tokyo) and Osaka without influence from the Japanese government; the treaty also allowed for consular jurisdiction in those cities opened to American trade, the free export of Japanese gold and silver, and a conventional tariff. The entrance of foreigners to the port of Edo, the shogunal capital, and the placement of an official from a foreign government in proximity to the Emperor was threatening, even to those who supported opening to the West publicly. These demands in particular demonstrated the United States' planned role for Japan; there was to be freedom of trade, allowance for an influx of Americans, (but no expectations of Japanese coming to the United States), no interest in military concerns, and religious toleration of Japanese tradition. It was merely a link in a chain of commerce that would connect North America to China.

Harris' emphasis (and threat) of the inevitable defeat of the Japanese, who still proved reluctant to sign the treaty, by European powers was enough to convince many of the kaikoku members of the Tokugawa shogunate to agree to the terms of the United States, no matter how unfavourable they were. The memory of China's overwhelming defeat was too close to be ignored.

This is the bit where I'm going to diverge from history in a big way.

This is the timeline is history:

1856, July: Harris opens the first US Consulate at the Gyokusen-ji Temple in the city of Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. It takes him 18 months to get his meeting with the Shogun.

1857, December 7: Harris has his official audience with the Shogun.

1858, January 22: the shogun actively seeks advice from Emperor Kōmei in deciding how to deal with newly assertive foreign powers.

1858, July 29: Harris Treaty signed by the United States and Japan.

This is the timeline in this AU:

When Harris shows up, he doesn’t land at Shimoda. Instead he lands at Edo. There he's welcomed as an ambassador to the Land of Iron and receives the unwelcome news that he's an ambassador to one country out of several, all of which owe fealty to the Emperor of Japan.

He tries to get an audience with the Emperor, and that's what takes him 18 months.

By all accounts, Emperor Kōmei was really against the idea of opening up Japan as a whole and wouldn't have agreed except that he was under severe pressure due to the military imbalance, which shinobi would do a lot to balance out.

So, when Harris gets his audience in February 1858, it isn’t with the shogun, but with the Emperor.

Shinobi from all of the Elemental Countries are in the room. All the major clans who aren't affiliated with a village send ambassadors, and all the villages already have permanent ambassadors in the emperor's court, particularly since Emperor Kōmei was already making waves and trying to take back power from his daimyō (just as he did in the real world from the shogunate). As permanent ambassadors from Konoha, both Koharu and Kitiara are in the room.

In reality, July 29, 1858 would see the Harris Treaty signed by the United States and Japan.

In this AU, July 29, 1858 is the day the Emperor tells all the daimyō that they're fired, gives political legitimacy to the villages, puts all the Elemental Countries under their control, and all the independent clans are forcibly put under the rule of the villages that control their countries. In Hi no Kuni, the Hyūga and the Shimura are officially forced to bow to Konoha, though Konoha does not demand that they integrate.

Chapter Text

Smallpox was a huge thing in Japan and the rest of the world, and I am including it here because it had a great impact on Japanese politics.

Smallpox was epidemic in Japan during the Edo period, despite Jenner’s vaccine having reached most European countries by the year 1800. The case-fatality rate of smallpox varied between 20 to 60% in the 18th century, averaging at about 40%, and the case-fatality rate in infants was even higher, approaching 80% in London and 98% in Berlin during the late 1800s.

By comparison, the mortality rate of people vaccinated with the method used in Russia killed about 2% of the people vaccinated.

The method will probably shock and, by today's standards, seems extremely unsafe. An incision was made on a patient's arm to put in either smallpox material taken from an infected person or safe vaccine based on cowpox virus. This method was called arm-to-arm vaccination or variolation. If it went well, a vaccinated person got infected with mild smallpox or cowpox, after which they could not catch the disease once again.

Here is a brief history of smallpox in Japan, all of which happened in this AU except for the parts where I note which changes I’ve made.

1374: A smallpox hospital is established by the Emperor.

1543: Portuguese come to Japan and settle on the island of Kyushu.

1609 (approximately): Dutch come to japan and introduce western medicine. They live in Nagasaki.

1768: Catherine the Great is the first person in Russia to be vaccinated.

1793: Dutch physician Bernhard Keller teaches Shunsaku Ogata about Turkish inoculation.

1796: The smallpox vaccine is introduced by Edward Jenner in Britain.

1798: Edward Jenner publishes 'An Inquiry into the Causes and Effects of the Variolae Vaccinae.'

1798: The Japanese government opens the first medical school and the aetiology of smallpox is first studied under Professor Ikeada Zuisen.

e1803: Hendrick Doeff, the head of the Dutch Trading House at Nagasaki, informs a Japanese interpreter, Sajuro Baba, about Jenner's vaccination.

1812: Goroji Nakagawa returns to Japan after five years in Siberia, having learned the method of vaccination from a Russian physician.

1818: Captain Gordon of the English ship Samarang tries to make a present to Sajuro Baba of some instruments for vaccination, but he did not receive them.

1820: Sajuro Baba translates into Japanese a Russian book on vaccination brought by Goroji Nakagawa from Siberia. This is published by Sen-an Riko in 1850.

1824: Goroji Nakagawa practises vaccination with satisfactory results in the Matsumae district of Hokkaidō, the first success of Jennerian vaccination in Japan.

This is the point where this AU deviates from history. Hokkaidō in this AU is Uzushio. In 1824, Tobirama goes to Uzushio as is his regular practice and sees what is happening. He brings back information on it for Hashirama.

1826: Franz von Sieboldt fails to vaccinate five children in Edo (Tokyo).

1831: In this AU, this is the year that Hashirama retires from being Hokage and goes up to Uzushio with Tobirama. They leave at the end of September, and Tobirama returns at the end of January 1832. However, Hashirama stays until April. He’s supervising Namika’s pregnancy and acting as an obstetrician, but he’s also learning how to vaccinate people from Goroji Nakagawa.

In the real world, Nakagawa has three disciples - Yuzo Shiratori, Keisaku Takagi, and Kozen Sakurai. In this AU, he has four - Hashirama is his fourth.

1837: American missionary doctor Peter Parker instructs the members of the Government of Ryuku Islands and practises vaccination on several persons.

1837, spring and autumn: There is a smallpox epidemic in Japan.

1839: The Dutch physician Lishur fails to vaccinate two children at Nagasaki.

1841: Keisuke Ito, a Japanese physician translates and publishes Alexander Pearson's article on vaccination.

1841: Physician Shunsai Ohtsuki successfully vaccinates several children at Edo (Tokyo) but his example is not followed.

1842: Physician Dohkai Hayashi, Ryoei Ohishi vaccinates twelve children, without success.

1846: B.T. Bettelheim, English missionary doctor, teaches the method of vaccination to a physician, Kijin Nakachi, in the Ryukyu Islands.

1846: Hakuo Kasahara petitions for unspoiled vaccine.

1847: Hoshu Oyawa publishes Into Shuto Zensho (Text of Vaccination).

1847: Daimyo Kanzo Nabeshima of the Nabeshima feudal clan commands Soken Narabayashi to import vaccine-lymph.

1848: Soken Narabayashi emphasises the use of 'scab' rather than 'lymph' for vaccination.

1848: Goroji Nakagawa dies at Matsumae.

1848: Kijin Nakach succeeds in vaccinating children using his own vaccine in Ryukyu.

1849: A Dutch ship brings vaccine virus to Japan and Dutch physician Otto Mohnike and Soken Narabayashi succeed in vaccinating one child out of three at Nagasaki using scabs of cow-pox from Djakarta. Doctor Narabayashi Soken obtains some of this virus from Doctor Monike and was instructed in the art of vaccination.

1849: Otto Mohnike distributes vaccine lymph to the various areas as follows:

1. July 17: The first success by Mohnike
2. August 6: to Saga area by Soken Narabayashi
3. September 21: to Hiroshima area by Shumrei Miyake
4. September 22: to Kyoto area by Teisai Hino
5. October16: Teisai Hino founds Jotokan (Vaccination House) at Kyoto
6. November 7: to Osaka area by Ko-an Ogata
7. November 11: to Edo (Tokyo) by Genboku Ito
8. November 25: to Fukui by Hakuo Kasahara

1850: Senian Rikoh publishes Rosia Gyuto Zensho, Rissai Kuwata writes Sanka Shinoho.

1852: Vaccine of Mohnike sent to Hirosaki area from Edo by Shoun Karoji, who obtains good results.

1852: To-an Takahashi, disciple of Sen-an Rikoh, vaccinates many inhabitants in the Kokunodate area of Akita.

1857: Rissai Kuwata and others vaccinate about six thousand Ainos in Hokkaidō. The first compulsory vaccination in Japan.

1857: Genboku Ito, Seikai Tozuka and others found a private 'vaccination house' at Edo. Three years after, this becomes the Government Vaccination House.

1860: Shunsai Ohtsuki of the Sendai feudal clan, becomes the first head of the Government Vaccination House.

1863: The Government Vaccination House is renamed 'Institute of Western Medicine'.

1867, January: Emperor Kōmei is diagnosed with smallpox. In the real world, it kills him.

This is the part where this AU splits from the real world history in a big way.

In this AU, there is no way the shinobi would have let Emperor Kōmei die. The Emperor would have already moved himself to Edo to make himself politically neutral by living in the Land of Iron and to centralise power around himself.

In that year, Hashirama is 63 and Tsunade is 13. So Hashirama, retired for years but already training Tsunade, is roaming around Hi no Kuni and doing his best to get on top of the smallpox outbreak by vaccinating anyone who is willing, and healing anyone who is infected.

Koharu retired from the Emperor's court in 1863, leaving her position to Kitiara.

So Kitiara messages Hashirama at the first sign of the Emperor getting sick and Hashirama bursts in really dramatically to heal him.

The Emperor is saved.

Everyone at court gets vaccinated.

The shinobi retain their legitimacy.

Future Emperor Meiji does not lose his father and is not forced to ascend the throne at 14.

1870: Vaccination on a nation-wide scale is performed.

1871: New vaccine imported.

1871: Department of Vaccination founded in Daigaku Higashiko, Medical College in Tokyo.

1874: Vaccine Farm of the Education Ministry founded in Tokyo.

1876: The compulsory vaccination Act passed.

Here a several links which I used as sources:

Smallpox in Japan by Fairfax Irwin, Public Health Reports (1896-1970)
Smallpox vaccines, World Health Organisation
Edward Jenner and the history of smallpox and vaccination by Stefan Riedel, MD, PhD, U.S. National Institutes of Health's National Library of Medicine
Japan’s Role in Developing Biological Weapons in World War II and its Effect on Contemporary Relations between Asian Countries by Dr. Robert K. D. Peterson, Montana State University
Catherine the Great, Vaccine Queen by Chloe Foussisnes, Town and Country Magazine
From Catherine the Great to the red hippo: history of vaccination in Russia, Moscow Mayor Official Website
Jennerian vaccination introduced via the trans-Siberian route by Goroji Nakagawa--his influence on the first successful vaccination by Teisai Hino in Kyoto by Akitomo Matsuki

Chapter Text

Okichi is a popular legend in Japan about a woman who was pressured into acting as a concubine for Townsend Harris, named by President Franklin Pierce as the first Consul General to Tokugawa Japan in July 1856, where he opened the first US Consulate at the Gyokusen-ji Temple in the city of Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture.

There is an article here about the entire incident which contains an extract from “Shame and the Pious Pioneer”, by Burrit Sabin which was published in The Japan Times (behind a paywall, but it can sometimes be accessed), but the basics are that a washerwoman who may or may not have been a sex worked was pressured by the local government into entering Harris’ household while he was ill. He was apparently asking for a nurse, but the local government hoped to induce him to accept a sexual companion so as to pacify him. She later left his employ within a few days and was compensated with money.

However, the story was fictionalised by Saburo Juichiyagi in 1928 who wrote the novel Karajin to Okichi, in which Okichi is a beautiful young lady who sacrifices herself upon the altar of a barbarian’s lustful desires to assist her country, a story which has since been picked up to the point where it pervades much of the cultural narrative. Okichi is now said to have been a retired geisha, and there is a museum to her in Shimoda which you can read about here.

In this AU, I’ve chosen to do exactly the same thing. Harris got sick, just like he did in the real world, and requested a nurse, a request which was misinterpreted as a request for female companionship.

Rather than dealing with the governors of Shimoda, in this AU Harris was dealing with Toda Izu, governor of Uraga and the same person who received the President Fillmore’s letters from Perry, who had been playing unwilling host to Harris under the guise of being the prince of Sagami.

As an aside, there is a very amusing article published by the website of BBC History Magazine which details the meeting between Perry and Toda, and all of the cultural miscommunications therein and you can find it here.

So, in this AU, Toda decided to seek out a geisha. He didn’t have much hope for it to work and was prepared to seek out a sex worker, but was surprised at the response. Several geisha indicated that they were prepared to take on the role.

All of them were kunoichi.

Every clan that could get a shinobi to Edo sent one in an attempt to find out what was going on and to try and influence Harris if they could. They’d infiltrated the city, and several kunoichi with geisha training had positioned themselves within the hanamachi. This is, of course, in addition to all of the long term assets that the villages already had in Edo. Konohagakure already owned an okiya in the Yoshiwara, and that is how Makiko was inserted into a position where she could volunteer to service Harris.

Now, just as in the real world, Harris was pretty appalled by all of this. He asked for a nurse and got an entertainer. He promptly tried to turn them all away but Makiko, Ruriko, and Mirei all took advantage of the fact that he was on his sickbed, and applied iryo ninjutsu to him, along with a couple of other nasty surprises just in case they needed to control him later.

Between the three of them, they took over his household, nursed him back to health, and organised his life. When he got better and took stock of what had happened, he had three lovely ladies cooing over him, his chronic stomach disorder had subsided, he was no longer vomiting blood, his house was clean and tidy, and he was being fed some of the best food that he’d ever eaten in his life even if it was foreign. No fool, he kept them on though he refused to sleep with them on the grounds that they might be ‘fallen women’, instead insisting that they were his housekeepers.

Makiko, Ruriko, and Mirei are all from different villages.

Ruriko, written as ‘琉莉子’, is from Kirigakure and her name is kind of a pun. "琉" is character from lapis lazuli (琉璃), "莉" is character from matsuri (茉莉), and ”子" is a word that comes after a woman's name. She’s actually from the Hoshigaki Clan and is working under a henge. Her skin is blue but Harris has never seen it. Mirei is written as ‘ミレイ’ and the hiragana and katakana are meaningless. It is actually a name though, I got it from a Japanese baby name website, and she is from Kumogakure.

Both names are pseudonyms.

Makiko is the only one using her real name because she’s too well known to do otherwise. It’s a gesture of trust to the two other kunoichi, especially since she’s the only one of them to have brought backup in the form of an Ino-Shika-Cho team and her cousin Haruto, son of Hikaku but officially of the line of Izuna, all of whom Ruriko and Mirei can feel watching them.

Between the three of them, they’re carefully manipulating Harris and are prepared to kill him if necessary.

They, and their villages, are working together.

After all, they’re shinobi.

They do what they have to.

Chapter Text

Makiko and Kitiara are the very definition of ‘it’s complicated’.

Kitiara is the biological daughter of Madara and Kikiyo while Makiko is the biological daughter of Tobirama and Kikiyo. So, speaking biologically, they should be half sisters. However, they weren’t raised as such. Makiko and her sister were raised as Kikiyo’s children. Madara had no more influence on their lives than he did on any other child of the clan until he picked them as his successors, whereupon he became their shishou. He is their teacher, not their father.

Kitiara was raised as the daughter of Madara and Tobirama. She doesn’t think of Kikiyo as her mother either. Kikiyo is her surrogate.

Their familial connection is actually through Izuna.

Izuna’s four person polycule lives in the same house as Kikiyo - the house owned by Seto and Kikiyo’s parents. Madara and Tobirama live next door. The houses share an engawa, that’s how closely they’re connected. The children from all three families were raised communally. They shared a bedroom that also doubled as a panic room when they were little. Izuna’s eldest son Reo and Tobirama’s eldest daughter Niko used to be unable to sleep without each other as toddlers.

Thus they think of each other as cousins because they share an uncle - he is Izuna oji to both of them.

So that’s their personal dynamics.

Then there’s the clan hierarchy.

All through their childhood, Kitiara and her sister Kana were treated like princesses of the clan. They were the clan head’s daughters with all the benefits that entailed.

On the other side of things, Makiko and her sister Mamiko are of Kikioyo’s line, a line that deals in beauty, sex, pleasure, entertainment, and death. Their whole line are spies and assassins. (If you want to know more about that, you can check out chapter 66 of The World Building of Courting Culture Confusion, Characterisation - Seto and Kikiyo.) They’re distinct outliers in the clan. They weren’t looked down upon or anything like that, but they were never privileged in the same way.

But Madara chose Mamiko to be his heir and she chose Makiko to be her heir.

This meant that they were suddenly elevated to a higher position in the clan than Kana and Kitiara. They could literally tell Kana and Kitiara what to do.

There was no childish nonsense about this, partly because of the age gap, partly because of the familial relationship, and partly because Izuna and Madara pre-empted it. For Mamiko and Makiko to try and exercise their new powers over their cousins would have been proof that they didn’t deserve it, and Izuna made that clear to them. He’d been the clan heir for decades, he knew exactly what the role needed, and he made that clear to them right along with the rest of their responsibilities.

However, a large part of it was because everyone in the village was feeling the pressure of world events, in addition to the stress of both the expansion of the village and the pushback from it. They had no time to indulge in that first flush of power. Mamiko and Makiko were put straight into their apprenticeship under Izuna and he set them right to work.

As a side note, the Uchiha always try and choose a leader who has an heir in case they die unexpectedly, not an unreasonable choice in a clan that is only a few generations out from the warring clans era, and only a foolish leader would pick an heir that wouldn’t be able to ascend unchallenged since anything else wold be asking for a coup with all the attendant chaos that would entail.

But all of this means that, as adults, Kitiara and Makiko are much more equal in power than they look on paper. It can be seen in the way they refer to each other by their names and without honorific - they are equals. Adding to that, Kitiara is taking the lead on this mission. She’s the one who’s having to negotiate the diplomatic waters, while Makiko is the spy who reports to her.

At the same time, Kitiara knows that to risk Makiko unnecessarily would be a terrible thing for the clan. Kagami knows this too, which is why he sent the Ino-Shika-Cho team to guard her and provide an extraction if necessary. Haruto tagged along because, quite frankly, no one could stop him from assigning himself to the mission. It’s his last mission before he takes over from his father Hikaku as Jōnin Commander.

Chapter Text

So there’s something that I implied but never made explicitly clear in the first arc of To Tempt a Target.

The message hawks that have blink-and-you’ll-miss-it references in chapters 8 and 11 are actually summons.

Usually, Seto and Hikaku sent letters to each other through clan members who were traveling back and forth between the compound and the Capital - Kyoto. Only in chapters 8 and 11 were their letters sent by message hawk. In chapter 8 the hawk was Izuna's. In chapter 11, the hawk was Madara's.

In chapter 8 Seto talks about receiving and sending messages to and from Madara all the time using hawks, and specifically notes that he doesn’t recognise the hawk that Hikaku's letter arrived with. He asks if it is Izuna's and Hikaku says yes.

There are a few clues that the hawks are actually summons:

Firstly, messenger birds cannot be trained to go to a person that they've never seen. It doesn't happen. They can be trained to go to an object, but they're usually trained to go to a place which is marked as 'home'.

Basically, you take the bird away from its home, tie a message to it, and then release it, relying on its homing instinct to fly home.

That's how they used homing pigeons for pigeon post and messages during wars. Soldiers would carry portable coops into battle, scribble a message, attach it to the bird, release it, and hope like hell the bird didn't get shot down before it got back to its home coop at base. This happened as late as WWII and several pigeons were awarded the Dickin Medal for their service.

In the 6th century BC, Cyrus, king of Persia, used carrier pigeons to communicate with various parts of his empire. Julius Caesar used pigeons to send messages to the territory of Gaul.

So how on earth did Izuna's hawk - which was not raised in the Capital, had no home territory there, and had never met Seto before - find him?

Answer: It was a summon.

Even Madara and Seto sending hawks back and forth is improbable.

The hawks in Seto's keeping would have to recognise Madara's coop as their home territory. The same for the hawks in Madara's keeping - they'd have to see Kyoto as their home.

And I pity whoever had to carry a coop of hawks to a place they didn't recognise as home.

They'd try to take out an eye.

That's the second clue:

There's a reason people use homing pigeons.

I'll quote:

Some birds are better than this at others. You want a bird that routinely travels many miles between feeding grounds and nesting grounds, that has a well-developed homing instinct and the ability to travel for miles even under poor weather conditions.

You also want the bird to be easy to raise in large numbers, to not be too dangerous to its handlers, and to be not inclined to immediately rip the message off once released.

Pigeons are really, really good at this. Owls, not so much, they have small hunting territories and don’t really ‘home’ so well. They’re also really difficult to raise and not at all domesticated. Falcons are also more likely to just go off and find their own way and not bother going back home. Ravens are too smart, they’ll rip the message off and play with it as a toy as soon as you let them go.

(This answer is from Quora and you can find it here, but it matched information that I obtained from a falconer on a trip to a bird park so I’m inclined to believe it. Obviously, I can’t cite the bird park XD)

So a hawk, notoriously difficult to train and usually ferocious enough to bite their handlers ever so often, would be a terrible choice for a messenger bird.

Japan had a long history of falconry. In 355 AD the Nihon-shoki, a largely mythical narrative, records hawking first arriving in Japan from Baekje as of the 16th emperor Nintoku. In 818, Japanese Emperor Saga ordered someone to edit a falconry text named Shinshuu Youkyou. By the early 16th century, the Japanese warlord Asakura Norikage (1476–1555) succeeded in captive breeding of goshawks.

Given all of this, Seto's ability to send messages by hawk would have been a heck of an impressive move to the nobles at court.

And, of course, Madara and Izuna use them to spy.

In this AU, the hawks are the summons passed down by the main clan. KuraKura0_0 came up with the idea of Madara having a summons scroll given by the Northern Goshawk and Izuna having a summons scroll for the Japanese Sparrowhawk.

You can find more information about them here and here.

KuraKura0_0 also drew a hilarious comic featuring Kana and Kitiara asking Hashirama why he does’t have summons like their father and uncle which you can see in chapter 5 of Fabulous Fanart, Behind the Scenes: Hashirama's Summons.

Spoiler: Hashirama’s attempt to get a summons contract doesn’t go well, and it is an incident that he also speaks about in chapter 43 of Escape and Evade, Omake - 500 Miles.

That is because, in this AU, the summons are the ones the hand out the scrolls, and they can dismiss themselves if they don’t like their summoner.

It was this that inspired the Hiraishin. If the summons could teleport between realms...

As for the hawks, Madara's scroll gets passed down to Kana and Kitiara. They sign the scroll together which only works because they're twins.

When they're apart, Kitiara takes the scroll, she’s the diplomat, she needs it more.

Izuna's scroll is handed down differently. Reo (Seto spawn 1) has no interest. Haruto (Hikaku Spawn 1) gets rejected (it's why he was so pleased to find the summoning scroll for the crows, not that it worked out for him), Akahana (Hell Spawn 1) is also rejected. Hitomi (Seto Spawn 2) says that they would serve no purpose in her job and she'd rather the contract be saved for a family member who needs it (she would have been accepted if she'd tried). Yuma (Hikaku spawn 2) says the same thing as Hitomi. Sara (Hell Spawn 2) tries and is rejected.

So Izuna's contract gets passed down to his godchildren - Mamiko and Makiko, the daughters of Kikiyo and Tobirama.

And they pass it down their line until it gets to Mikoto.

She signs the contract.

Everyone in the family knows that the hawks are not going to accept Itachi - they've never liked him - but they've always sat on Sasuke's shoulder and preened his hair so they're all pretty sure that Sasuke's gonna be the one they accept.

Chapter Text

It's not so much that geisha are necessary as it is that something like them in necessary. Japanese culture has historically been very rigid in it's class structure, particularly during the Edo period in which most of the stories in this AU have occured up to this point - though I will be moving into the Meji Restoration during Kagami's tenure as Hokage - and certain forms of public behaviour were heavily proscribed. There were rules about how to behave, how to dress, what you could wear, what you could eat, how to conduct business, everything. Much of that was the work of the Shogunate, something that does not exist here, but some of it was also cultural biases at work.

As such, there needed to be a space that was free from those rules.

In this time period, that was the Flower and Willow World - the world of the geisha.

My knowledge of geisha and their culture is necessarily sparse and I would never claim to be any kind of expert, but here’s some of the background that I’ve drawn upon for this series.

Geisha, also known as geiko, particularly Kyoto, are really entertainers. Their role is not sex based and they do not do sex work, though sexual attractiveness is often part of the allure. Really, their whole skill set revolves around entertainment - they play instruments, sing, dance, and are consummate hosts. They are, in many ways, a reflection of what their patrons need them to be.

Some of them form relationships with those patrons, becoming ‘married’ to them in a special ceremony. They would call these men ‘danna’ (旦那), a term that meant the master of the house, which was often used to refer to a husband, especially in this time period. These men would be wealthy and often powerful because part of the relationship is that the danna pays for all the expenses of the geisha. Being a geisha in incredibly expensive, with kimono in particular being incredibly costly. These relationships were not inherently sexual, though that could be a component if both parties wished for it. Being a danna was thus a way of displaying social status and wealth.

The Flower and Willow World grew out of the Floating World and the differences between them are both subtle and stark. The biggest difference is that the Floating World was based around sex while the Flower and Willow World was based around art. Courtesans like the oiran dominated the Floating World, while geisha dominate the Flower and Willow World. The thing that they both had in common was that they provided an escape from the every day rules of society.

In the 'real' world, Samurai are right at the top of the hierarchy - they are the absolute pinnacle and merchants are considered parasites upon society. Entertainers like the geisha and oiran don't even make it onto the official hierarchy - they are outcaste. There are lots of places for you to research this, but I provide a summary of it and how I've used it in this AU in chapter 97, World Building - The Four-Tiered Class System of Feudal Japan.

But, inside the Flower and Willow world and the Floating World, everything is reversed. Geisha and oiran are the queens of the society, and the poets and artists that immortalise them are also elevated. The merchants who are their patrons have privileged access, while the samurai with their poor stipends and unfashionable dress are disdained as country bumpkins. Even the daimyo could be said to wait on their pleasure.

The way that both the Floating World and the Flower and Willow World were physically separated from the cities in which they lived only added to the mystique. The geisha lived - and still live - in hanamachi, each with it's own distinct culture. There was rivalry between the hanamachi, with poets and artists extolling the praises of the ones to which they attached themselves. The hanamachi came alive at night - in cities without electricity, they were the places to party the night away.

But that isolation is not only physical - it's also social. One never brings up what they have done at a geisha party. A westerner can throw their arm around their coworker in the morning and talk about being at the bar the previous night, but that would be impolite in Japanese culture at the time. (I have no idea if that is still true though.) The barrier between the two worlds is supposed to be impermeable, and crossing over is extremely difficult.

Traditionally, one cannot simply visit an okiya (the house where the geisha live) or an ochaya (an establishment where patrons are entertained by geisha), one must have an introduction. One cannot simply hire a geisha, one must be known. It is the ochaya who arranges for the geisha, not the patron, not unless the patron already has a preexisting relationship with the okiya, and not every geisha can visit every ochaya. There is an extremely complex network of relationships between the patron, the geisha, the okiya, and the ochaya (or a ryōtei outside of Kyoto) which must be navigated with care.

One false step and you're out in the cold, barred from the bright lights of the world.

Today, of course, that isn't the case. Today, the geisha still have the prestige but their patrons are in short supply. Today, money talks.

Now, it looked glamorous, but it often wasn't from the inside. There was tragedy, harm, and exploitation. So much so that there was a saying that the favourite lie that a patron wants to hear from a courtesan is "I love you" and the favourite lie that a courtesan wants to hear from her patron is "I will marry you".

I use the concepts of the geisha as well as the Flower and Willow World a lot in this series - it seemed to me that it would be a great place for shinobi to spy, and Kikiyo and Seto's line are specifically a part of it. In addition to this chapter, chapter 27, and chapter 97, I also talk about it in chapter 66 (Characterisation - Seto and Kikiyo) and chapter 90 (World Building - Training for Honeypot Missions).

If you're looking for a text that is easily accessible to a layperson, I'd highly recommend Geisha by Liza Dalby, an American anthropologist and novelist specialising in Japanese culture. It is her first book, and is based on her graduate studies in which she performed fieldwork in Japan of the geisha community of Ponto-chō.

Chapter Text

Sandaime Raikage - A

Strong and honourable, but also politically expansionist and aggressive with it. Technologically progressive, with a strong bent for military innovation. Also prone to assuming that he's the best shinobi in the room and that other people will follow his orders. Is surprised when people don't bow to his will. Thinks that he knows best, though he will not shove it down the throats of other people. It's more of an unthinking assumption - “well, obviously this is the way to do it". Tends to respond with shouting when he's either surprised or annoyed.

Sandaime Kazekage

Very calm, stoic, not serene simply because he's too intense for that. Face never shows visible emotion. Speaks in a monotone. Never yells, never screams, voice is only raised on the battlefield and that's more projection than bellowing. Incredibly strong willed and opinionated, extremely hard to sway with emotive arguments, though an appeal to logic with an eye to practicalities often works. Politically isolationist, economically expansionist, seeks technological improvements for agriculture and trade rather than his military.

Sandaime Mizukage - Koshamain

Calm, but not stoic. Still waters run deep. Can be tempestuous, and is emotionally driven though he tries to use logic to find his way through his problems. Gets upset when things aren't working, though he projects a calm facade. Desperately wants to make his village work, though it's beleaguered on all sides. Will do unethical things to for the greater good, though he might not wish to, and can be driven to balance lives against the cost of each other to come up with terrible solutions. Not an out of the box thinker, though he will sacrifice much for those that he loves.

Sandaime Tsuchikage - Ōnoki

Angry, ferocious, short guy. Prone to comically loud outbursts and telling people all the ways in which they are "wrong, wrong, WRONG!" Proud, clings to his opinions once they are formed and is resistant to logical argument. Appeals from people whose judgement he trusts are the best way to change his mind, as are face to face demonstrations of the ways in which he is wrong. When he gets old he refuses to step down from his position, even as he gradually transfers most of his administrative duties to his successor, because he wishes to die in battle defending his village. Politically isolationist and determined that his village shall achieve great things.

Sandaime Hokage - Kagami

And... I think everyone knows who he is.

Chapter Text

Seto left for the Capital of Hi no Kuni in the spring of 1817. He was there until 1824.

In those seven years, he saw the decadence and self involved nature of the daimyo’s court and lost all respect for them.

It was a surface power only, no military or economic might behind it, and purely theatre.

The Uchiha needed him there to keep an eye on things, make sure relationships were steady, and negotiate contracts with clients and patrons in the Capital. They needed him there to make sure no other clan was trying to attack them politically.

He felt useless.

He felt like he wasn’t protecting his clan.

Then the village formed in 1822 and he was afire to be home again.

His clan was doing something new and uncertain, his yome - Hikaku - was at home taking care of his family, his sister who had been chafing at her limits was finding her feet in a new role as diplomat to the Senju - and he was stuck in the Capital.

His mentor, the previous ambassador, had left to return to the clan in the spring of 1819.

He’d been the sole ambassador for three years, and he knew everyone and everything.

He couldn't leave.

So he started training a successor.

Someone senior enough to know what they needed to do, but not enough to be threatening. Someone who would be unnoticed. Someone who could camouflage the changes happening at home.

And, as soon as Madara said he could, Seto left in the late summer of 1824, arriving home just in time for the Run.

Where he Caught Izuna with Hikaku.

That is where Escape and Evade begins.

Seto takes over as head diplomat of the Uchiha from his mentor and is in charge of negotiating all contracts. He now takes reports from other diplomats and acts on their information. He’s no longer an observer of the world. By the time Hashirama retires, the Uchiha and Senju bureaucracy have been combined and Seto is head of the Diplomatic Service for the village.

Things continue as they are until Zetsu’s discovery in the spring of 1834 begins the First Shinobi World War.

By the end of the war in the autumn of 1835, the USEATC has been revealed as a thin economic cover story for a military powerhouse of epic proportions.

The other Elemental Countries are in an uproar. All the other clans in Hi no Kuni are screaming about it. The daimyo wants to know what the HELL IS GOING ON.

Everyone wants to know.

The village is flooded with refugees claiming Senju heritage and Madara has his hands full juggling everything. He cannot deal with all of the demands for information and hands the problem off to Seto.

The Diplomatic Service springs into action.

All winter they plan and, in the spring of 1836, beautiful shinobi, male and female, arrive in the courts of all the elemental countries. They are polite, gentle, charmingly deferential, and ever so slightly seductive. They are always perfectly presented and gorgeous.

They are also shinobi lawyers with minds like steel traps, an eye for openings left by their opponents, and assassins whose grace and poise allow them to move amongst the highest ranked people in the Elemental Countries.

Everyone notices them. It’s impossible not to.

But they are so lovely. They say all the right things. They make everything sound logical and reasonable in the sweetest of tones.

They pour oil on troubled waters.

And the few remaining voices that argue against the USEATC, now named Konohagakure no Sato or ‘Village Hidden in the Leaves’, are gradually isolated. They grow more shrill and their words are dismissed. Or they quietly disappear. Along with the people whose voices they are.

In the Capital of Hi no Kuni, that shinobi is Utatane Koharu. She is the ambassador from Konoha to the daimyo’s court and takes over from the terribly nice and good natured Uchiha who had been treading water for twelve years and was very relieved to escape the barrage of questions he’d been subjected to all winter.

He gratefully steps back and allows her to take the lead.

And she does.

She holds the line, navigating tricky terrain for seventeen years.

Until Perry arrives in Edo in 1853.

The world is upended again.

The daimyo of Tetsu no Kuni collapses like wet origami. He gives Perry everything he wants and waves him off with a relieved smiles and the hope that he will never return.

The shinobi know better.

Knowing that Koharu needs backup, Seto sends Madara’s younger daughter Kitiara. Her name means ‘blade from the north’ and it’s very apt.

Between the two of them, they organise a revolution.

Quietly, all the villages band together and reinstate the Emperor.

They cause the Kōmei Restoration.

The samurai of Tetsu no Kuni bow out quietly. They don’t like the west anymore than the shinobi do, but they’re bound by oath to their own daimyo. They’re a neutral party, not revolutionaries.

When Perry returns in 1854, he signs a treaty with Tetsu no Kuni only.

When Harris arrives in 1856, he demands to see the Emperor, an audience which is granted in February 1858. There he is very politely told to go away and the Americans are welcome to attack Japan if they’d like to try their luck. The cold eyed shinobi surrounding the Emperor are enough to send the message that it would be a very bad idea indeed.

In July 1858, the Emperor reveals his divine presence to the people and names the shinobi of the Elemental Countries as his government, his right hand over the populace, before retreating into seclusion in Edo.

In Hi no Kuni, the shinobi clan chosen by the Emperor is not a clan at all. It’s Konoha.

The other clans grumble but accept with bad grace. They all remember Konoha’s performance from the war.

Koharu retains her position until Kitiara is thirty four, and then retires at fifty in the autumn of 1863.

She knows she’s leaving the position in good hands.

Kitiara reigns over the political scene in the capital in while her cousin, Seto’s daughter Hitomi, takes over the Diplomatic Service in 1868.

Seto, who had really held on to his position for far to long, retires gratefully. At 69, he’s an elder and sinks into old age with his husband and fellow yome who all retired long before him. He jokes that he was the one born first, and the one last to leave his role. Perhaps he’ll be the one to die last too.

It’s not to be.

He dies in 1876, at 77, leaving behind Izuna (still spry even at 71), Hikaku, and Tōka - both 72 and retired from their frontline jobs a long time ago - to grieve in the arms of their children.

Kitiara retires from the Capital and comes home. She needs to be with her family, and Kyoto is no longer the centre of power that it once was.

Madara and Tobirama die in the winter of 1878.

Izuna follows them in 1880. He’s 75.

When Hikaku and Tōka both die in the winter of 1883, at 79, the family breaks. To lose so many so close together is hard.

Hashirama is inconsolable. No one is surprised when he passes the next year in 1884. He’s 80.

Mito holds on the longest. She lives to see Rin, the latest in her mentorship lineage become a chunin and dies in 1888 with a smile on her face. She is 87.

Hitomi has kept her role as head of the Diplomatic Service through all of this personal turmoil but she can’t anymore. She retires at 53, leaving the Konoha Diplomatic Service in the capable hands of her apprentice Yūhi Kurenai who is 24.

Kurenai is the first person to head the Diplomatic Service of Konoha who is not a Uchiha.

Everyone agrees that it’s time.

She does well.

Chapter Text

Konohagakure goes unnamed until Madara comes up with it in a big rush when he's nidaime because he has too many other things to think about right now.

Right after the First Shinobi War, the war that happens in Zealous Zetsu Zooms towards the Zenith, the village starts getting an influx of refugees and smaller clans wanting to join them.

Madara, as nidaime Hokage, is inundated with problems.

He has the daimyō breathing down his neck about the war, clan heads screaming for his attention, the infrastructure of the village is facing unprecedented numbers of people and is barely holding, and now the village needs a name for diplomatic correspondence?

Madara: We’re in the middle of a goddamn forest, fuck it, we're Konohagakure, now shut your stupid mouth and hand me the revised sanitation plans.

Seto: *bows* As you wish, Madara-sama.

Madara: *stops, takes a deep breath* Fuck. I’m sorry.

Izuna: *chakra spike to alert Tobirama* Nii-san, do you need Tobi?

Madara: *face plants onto the desk* Yes.

Tobirama: *hiraishin’s into Madara's office, shoos everyone else out of the room, sits in Madara's lap* Just stay like this for a while. Just feel me. Here. With you.

Madara: *hiding his face in Tobirama's neck* Yeah, okay.

Izuna: *outside, pinching the bridge of his nose* Just... go away for a while okay? Give them some space.

All the Clan Heads: Yes, Izuna-sama.

Izuna: Shit, the things I do for you, nii-san.

Seto: *wraps an arm around Izuna* You’re a good brother.

Chapter Text

So this chapter is the continuation of chapter 108, World Building - Bakumatsu.

As I mentioned there, I had no idea that Naruto was not set in Japan when I wrote the first story in this series. I, having never seen the anime beyond the return from Wave, somewhat naively assumed that it was a fictional version of Japan and wrote what I thought was a one shot snippet accordingly.

Oops.

So, since I’d set it in Japan, with a whole bunch of references to real world Japan, I figured I’d go all the way and do a full on fusion of real world Japan with Naruto. The principal idea was to keep everything as close to the real world as possible while only changing what had to change with the addition of Naruto.

This is why the European powers and the Americans actually show up in this series. Perry and Harris appear, and many other historical events will occur in this AU just as they did in the real world. That’s because the actions of the Western powers would not have been changed by the existence of shinobi, and thus they would have done exactly what they did in the real world.

You can see how the shinobi responded to that in Engaging with the Enemy.

However, even though Kitiara and Koharu saw Harris off and engineered the Kōmei Restoration, international events continue have a great impact on Japan. Killing for a Kingdom spans 1854 to 1874, and deals with that directly.

As such, I’m going to lay out a timeline of some of the important events, and I’m going to describe how Japan’s responses differ in this AU. I’m also going to intersperse the timeline with some of the major events from the stories in this AU.

Be aware, however, that this chapter contains information on international events up to the beginning of Rivals Reconciled, the story that will be concurrent with the second half of Killing for a Kingdom, so if you don’t want spoilers for the rest of this story maybe stop of the end of the year that is referenced in the title of whichever chapter in Killing for a Kingdom sent you here.

Please note that there are going to be a lot of quotes scattered through this, almost all of them unmarked because I was making notes as I researched and I have no idea where they came from anymore, and I’m going to be liberally poaching from numerous sources. If you see wording that looks familiar, that’s because it was probably grabbed from wikipedia, the Encyclopaedia Britannica, or an online paper. I do not represent any of it as my original work, it’s not plagiarism, it’s a bunch of un-cited quotes. I am not going to cite this like it’s an academic paper, even though I kind of want to, because that would be akin to death by a thousand paper cuts.

Arc 1: Dealing with the Americans / Cumulates in Engaging with the Enemy

1854

1854, January 25: Madara makes Kagami Sandaime Hokage.

1854, January 29: New Year (shōgatsu), Kagami’s ascension is confirmed by the village.

1854, January / February: On his way back to Japan, Perry anchors off Keelung in Formosa, known today as Taiwan, for ten days. Perry and crew members land on Formosa and investigate the potential for mining the coal deposits in that area. He emphasises in his reports that Formosa provides a convenient, mid-way trade location. Perry's reports note that the island was very defensible and could serve as a base for exploration in a similar way that Cuba had done for the Spanish in the Americas. Occupying Formosa could help the United States counter European monopolisation of the major trade routes. The United States government fails to respond to Perry's proposal to claim sovereignty over Formosa.

1854, February 11: Perry returns to Japan.

1854, March 31: The Convention of Kanagawa is signed, and the daimyo of Tetsu no Kuni puts out a call to the rest of the daimyo. The shinobi call for a meeting while the daimyo are dithering, and the Sandaime Kage meet for the first time to discuss the situation - chapter 1 of Killing for a Kingdom.

1855

1855, February 7: In the real world, The Treaty of Shimoda (下田条約, Shimoda Jouyaku), formally the Treaty of Commerce and Navigation between Japan and Russia (日露和親条約, Nichi-Ro Washin Jouyaku), is signed. Following shortly after the Convention of Kanagawa, it opens the ports of Nagasaki, Shimoda and Hakodate to Russian vessels, establishes the position of Russian consuls in Japan, and defines the borders between Japan and Russia. In this AU, the daimyo of Tetsu no Kuni refuses on the grounds that the Emperor has not yet ratified the treaty with the Americans. It does increase his desperation though, and his messages to the other daimyo grow more urgent.

1855, February 21: Emperor Kōmei ratifies the Convention of Kanagawa.

1855: The British conduct hydrographic surveys around Tsushima. In this AU, that alarms the daimyo of Yu no Kuni (Kyūshū)

1855: With the help of Nakahama Manjirō, Satsuma fief in Kyūshū builds Japan's first steam ship, the Unkoumaru (雲行丸). In this AU, that is done by the daimyo of Yu no Kuni.

1855: With Dutch assistance, the shogunate acquires its first steam warship, Kankō Maru, and begins using it for training, establishing a Naval Training Center at Nagasaki. In this AU, that is done by the daimyo of Yu no Kuni instead of the shogunate.

1855, November 11: Earthquake Fire - A magnitude 7.0 earthquake strikes Edo and caused fires in numerous locations that evolves into this great fire.

1855-1865: The shogunate also allows and then orders various domains to purchase warships and to develop naval fleets. Satsuma, especially, petitions the shogunate to build modern naval vessels. A naval center is set up by the Satsuma domain in Kagoshima, students are sent abroad for training, and a number of ships are acquired. The domains of Chōshū, Hizen, Tosa and Kaga join Satsuma in acquiring ships. These naval elements will later prove insufficient during the Royal Navy's Bombardment of Kagoshima in 1863 and the Allied bombardments of Shimonoseki in 1863–64.

1856

1856: the Okhotsk Military Flotilla changes its name to the "Siberian Military Flotilla"

1856, July 1856: Townsend Harris arrives in Japan. In this AU, he sets up a US Consulate in Edo rather than in Shimoda, simply because the Perry signed a treaty with the daimyo of Tetsu no Kuni and Shimoda is in Chūbu - Hāto no Kuni, the Land of Heart. In the real world he begins his attempt to speak to the shogunate. In this AU, he attempts to arrange a meeting with Emperor Kōmei.

8 October 1856: The Second Opium War begins.

1857

1857: The shogunate acquires its first screw-driven steam warship, the Kanrin Maru. It is later used as an escort for the 1860 Japanese delegation to the United States to ratify the new treaty of Friendship, Commerce, and Navigation between the United States and Japan. In this AU, that acquisition is done by the daimyo of Yu no Kuni instead of the shogunate, and that delegation is never sent because no such treaty exists.

1858

1858, January 22: Kagami sends his instructions to Koharu and Kitiara - chapter 2 of Engaging with the Enemy.

1858, February 11: In this AU, Harris has a meeting with the Emperor, and is forced to leave without a treaty - chapter 3 of Engaging with the Enemy.

1858, 16 May: Russia acquires the present Primorsky Krai by the Treaty of Aigun.

1858, July 29: In the real world, The Treaty of Amity and Commerce between Japan and the United States (日米修好通商条約, Nichibei Shūkō Tsūshō Jōyaku), also called the Harris Treaty, is signed on the deck of the USS Powhatan in Edo (now Tokyo) Bay. In this AU, the Emperor tells all the daimyō that they're fired, gives political legitimacy to the villages, puts all the Elemental Countries under their control, and all the independent clans are forcibly put under the rule of the villages that control their countries. In Hi no Kuni, the Hyūga and the Shimura are officially forced to bow to Konoha, though Konoha does not demand that they integrate - chapter 5 of Engaging with the Enemy.

This is the Kōmei Restoration which replaces the Meiji Restoration in this AU.

1858: The Imperial Russian Navy leases a strip of Nagasaki Bay coastline across the village of Inasa as a winter anchorage for the Chinese Flotilla's emerging Pacific Fleet because all of their domestic anchorages freeze up in winter. In this AU, the failed signing of the Treaty of Shimoda delays that and the Russian Empire makes the attempt to acquire that anchorage in 1860 instead. Koshamain warns Kagami to prevent it from happening.

Arc 2: Russia vs Japan / Cumulates in Rivals Reconciled

1859

1859: The British attempt to set their flag in Tsushima. In this AU, they are sent away by shinobi from Iwa under contract to the daimyo of Yu no Kuni (Kyūshū).

1859: The Naval Training Center is relocated to Tsukiji in Tokyo.

1860

1860: The Russian clipper Gaidamak arrives in the Northern Pacific.

1860, January 19: The Kanrin Maru sets sail from Uraga for San Francisco under the leadership of Captain Katsu Kaishū, with Nakahama "John" Manjiro as the official translator, carrying 96 Japanese men and an American officer, John M. Brooke on board. The Japanese Embassy to the United States (万延元年遣米使節, Man'en gannen kenbei shisetsu, lit. First year of the Man'en era mission to America) is dispatched by the Tokugawa shogunate (bakufu) to ratify the new Treaty of Friendship, Commerce, and Navigation between the United States and Japan, in addition to being Japan's first diplomatic mission to the United States since the 1854 opening of Japan by Commodore Matthew Perry. In this AU, this delegation is never sent because no such treaty exists.

1860, July 2: the transport of the Siberian Military Flotilla Mandzhur under the command of Lieutenant-Commander Alexei Karlovich Shefner delivered a military unit to the Golden Horn Bay to establish a military post, which has now officially received the name of Vladivostok.

1860, 18 October: At the culmination of the Second Opium War, the British and French troops entered the Forbidden City in Beijing. Following the decisive defeat of the Chinese, Prince Gong is compelled to sign two treaties on behalf of the Qing government with Lord Elgin and Baron Gros, who represent Britain and France respectively. Although Russia is not been a belligerent, Prince Gong also signs a treaty with Nikolay Ignatyev.

1860, 24 October: The provisions of the Convention of Peking cede parts of Outer Manchuria in northeastern China, including the modern day Primorsky Krai to the Russian Empire. Russia by the Treaty of Peking acquires from China a long strip of Pacific coastline south of the mouth of the Amur River and begins to build the naval base of Vladivostok. Before 1860, the Russian position in the region had remained weak, with perhaps 100,000 settlers and a very long supply line, Vladivostok is an attempt to change that.

1860, November 6: The election of Republican Abraham Lincoln to become the 16th president of the United States. Seven Southern states declare their secession from the United States between late 1860 and 1861, establishing a rebel government, the Confederate States of America on February 8, 1861.

1860: A large squadron of the Imperial Russian Navy under Rear Admiral A. A. Popov is sent from the Baltic Fleet to the Pacific Ocean. During the American Civil War, ships of the squadron visit San Francisco while the Baltic Fleet visits New York City. Parts of the squadron, including the Finnish corvette Kalevala, return to the Baltic in 1865.

1860: Flotilla commander Admiral Ivan Likhachev of the Imperial Russian Navy, uncomfortable with their leased winter anchorage in Nagasaki Bay due to the dangers of basing the fleet in a foreign port, requests a go-ahead from the government in Saint Petersburg to establish a permanent base on the island of Tsushima. The cautious foreign minister, Alexander Gorchakov, rules out any incursions against British interests, while General Admiral Konstantin Nikolayevich suggests making a private deal with the head of Tsushima-Fuchū Domain, as long as it does not disturb "the West". It is agreed that, in case of failure, the Russian authorities will deny all knowledge of the expedition.

1860: Nikolay Karlovich Krabbe is appointed Minister of the Navy, and holds this position for 14 years. In 1874 he is relieved of his duties as Minister of the Navy and appointed vice General Admiral of the Russian Imperial Navy.

1860: The screw frigate Svetlana of the Imperial Russian Navy arrives in the Pacific.

1860-1870: The Russian fleet which had relied upon sails lost its significance and is gradually replaced by steam. After the Crimean War, Russia commences construction of steam-powered ironclads, monitors, and floating batteries. These vessels have strong artillery and thick armour, but lack seaworthiness, speed and long-distance abilities.

1861

1861, February 8: The Confederate States of America is formed.

1861: As Vladivostok is not a year-round ice-free port, Russia still wants a more southern port. Russia attempts to seize the island of Tsushima from Japan and to establish an anchorage, but fails largely due to political pressure from Great Britain and other western powers. In this AU, that does not happen in quite the same way.

This is what happens in the real world.

February 20, 1861: In line with Likhachev's will and Konstantin's advice, the Russian corvette Posadnik (Посадник, 1856), captained by Nicolai Birilev, leaves Hakodate.

1861, March 1: Posadnik reaches the village of Osaki on the western coast of Asō Bay (Tatamura Bay in historical reports). Sō Yoshiyori, head of Sō clan, immediately informs the Bakufu government, however, the cautious cabinet of Andō Nobumasa delays their response and Yoshiyori has to act on his own. Birilev, captain of Posadnik, makes personal contact with Sō, exchanges courtesy gifts, and secures Yoshiyori's consent to survey the Imosaki Bay.

1861, April: The crew disembarks, raises the Russian flag, and begins building temporary housing and a landing jetty. They prepare to refit the ship which needs repairs to the propeller and stern tube. Japanese officials tacitly agree with de facto establishing a naval base and even assign a team of fifteen local carpenters to help the Russians; the latter reward Sō with a gift of small naval cannons. Likhachev inspects the bay twice, March 27 on board the Oprichnik and April 16 on board the Svetlana, and records friendly behaviour of the Japanese. However, in April the situation irreversibly changes.

1861, April 12: Confederate General Pierre Beauregard opens fire upon Union troops at Fort Sumter in South Carolina.

1861, April 12: The Russians disembark from their launches, and a group of locals led by one Matsumura Yasugorō attempts to bar entrance and drive the Russians back. In the ensuing clash Yasugorō is killed, two Japanese citizens are taken hostage, and the rest flee, while no Russian fatalities are recorded. Sō appeases the population, ordering them to wait for a Bakufu pronouncement, and does not take any action. Russian sources say nothing about presence of Japanese or British warship in the area.

1861, 13 May: The Russians send a launch to explore the eastern coast of the island, despite the presence of two Saga Domain warships, the Kankō Maru and Denryū Maru, as well as one British warship.

1861, May 21: A clash takes place between the Russian sailors of a launch and a group of samurai and farmers, in which one farmer is killed, and one samurai, who soon committed suicide, is captured by the Russians.

1861, May: Oguri Tadamasa, the messenger of Bakufu, arrives in Tsushima in May and politely tells Birilev to leave; Birilev explains that he will not move unless his own Admiral orders him to retreat. After 13 days of waiting in vain, Oguri departs; leaving a letter allowing contacts between Birilev and local administration without prejudices against further radical action by the Japanese. Birilev uses the permit to the full, and persuades the council of Japanese officials to issue a charter agreeing to the Russian naval presence in Tsushima. The Tsushima elders grant the coastline between Hiroura and Imosaki exclusively to the Russians and agree to bar entrance to any other foreign nation. The charter, however, clearly says that all these concessions depend on the good will of the central government.

1861, mid-July: The Bakufu vehemently oppose the deal made by the Tsushima elders, and Hakodate bugyō Muragaki Norimasa goes directly to the Russian Consulate in Hakodate, demanding the departure of the ship to the Russian Consul Goshkevitch. As this strategy does not work, the Japanese call the British envoy Rutherford Alcock to intervene, as the British also have an interest in preventing the Russians from extending their influence in Asia. Alcock immediately dispatches two ships under command of Vice Admiral James Hope.

1861, September: Likhachev, as instructed by Konstantin, orders a general retreat and sends the message to Tsushima with the Oprichnik. Birilev and Posadnik leave Tsushima on September 7, 1861, while Oprichnik and Abrek stay in the harbour; both leave at the end of September 1861. Likhachev later says that the failure has its upside: "We did not allow the British conquest of the islands", an opinion indirectly supported by contemporary personal meetings between Gorchakov and ambassador Francis Napier; the latter, however, never gave a definite answer about British plans in Tsushima. Likhachev is demoted from his command and tenders a voluntary resignation, which is rejected; the admiral is given command of a Baltic Fleet squadron. The Russian Navy stays at Nagasaki until the completion of the Port Arthur base in China.

This is what happens in this AU.

1861: The Sandaime Kage meet for the third time. Tsushima is part of Yu no Kuni (Kyūshū) who - instead of screaming for the British, yell for help from Iwa instead. Iwa fends off the Imperial Russian Navy using doton - for a price. Discussing the upheaval in America, the Kage assume that Japan is no longer going to be the focus of the American government (true), but worry about Vladivostok and the increased Russian presence. Uzushio and Kiri make an informal alliance against the European powers.

1861: Russian builds the first steel-armoured gunship Opyt (Опыт).

1862

1862: The Bakufu placed its warship orders with the Netherlands and decides to send 15 trainees there. The students, led by Uchida Tsunejirō (内田恒次郎), leave Nagasaki on September 11, 1862, and arrive in Rotterdam on April 18, 1863, for a stay of 3 years. They include such figures as the future Admiral Enomoto Takeaki, Sawa Tarosaemon (沢太郎左衛門), Akamatsu Noriyoshi (赤松則良), Taguchi Shunpei (田口俊平), Tsuda Shinichiro (津田真一郎) and the philosopher Nishi Amane. This starts a tradition of foreign-educated future leaders such Admirals Tōgō and, later, Yamamoto. The Bakufu had initially planned on ordering ships and sending students to the United States, but the American Civil War led to a cancellation of those plans. None of this happens in this AU.

14 September 1862: The Namamugi Incident occurs when a British merchant, Charles Lennox Richardson breaks into a Daimyo Procession, disregarding the warnings, and is eventually killed by the armed retinue of Shimazu Hisamitsu, the father and regent of Shimazu Tadayoshi, the daimyō of the Satsuma Domain. Reportedly, Richardson fails to yield for Shimazu's entourage while travelling on a road near Kawasaki, Kanagawa, and is subsequently killed under Kiri-sute gomen – the right for samurai to kill people of lower class for perceived disrespect. Richardson's death sparks outrage from Europeans for violating the extraterritoriality they enjoy under terms of the Unequal treaties. Lieutenant-Colonel Edward St. John Neale, the British Chargé d'Affaires, demands from the Bakufu (the central government of the Tokugawa Shogunate) an apology and an indemnity of £100,000, representing roughly 1/3 of the total revenues of the Bakufu for one year. Neale keeps threatening a naval bombardment of Edo, the Tokugawa capital city, if the payment is not made. Britain also demands the Satsuma Domain arrest and put on trial the perpetrators of Richardson's death, and £25,000 compensation for the surviving victims and the relatives of Richardson.

This incident never happens in this AU.

The hidden villages have been pretty isolationist all along, and there are very few places that welcome Europeans. Uzushio definitely takes anyone who cares to sail into it, Nagasaki welcomes the Dutch, and Edo is bound by treaty to accept the Americans. Pretty much all of the foreign knowledge that it's coming into Japan is arriving either via Nagasaki or Uzushio.

The samurai that kill Richardson are the armed retinue of Shimazu Hisamitsu, the father and regent of Shimazu Tadayoshi, the daimyō of the Satsuma Domain, and that is already something different to what happened in this AU since the Christian daimyo of Kyushu were never deposed. As such the daimyo isn't even held by the same clan - it's held by the Arima in this AU, while in reality they went through several changes to end up with the Shimazu.

Also, I don't think Richardson would have been so willing to face down a bunch of Samurai with drawn swords if he didn't have the knowledge that he was legally in the right given that the treaty signed between Japan and Britain at the time made British citizens exempt from Japanese law.

As such, the Charles Lennox Richardson in this AU is a heck of a lot more discrete and retreats in good order in the face of swords rather than getting up on his high horse about it - if he is even in Japan, which he very well might not be given the way Europeans aren’t particularly welcome in Japan at this point.

All of this means that the British won't bombard Kagoshima in revenge for the death of Richardson, the Emperor won't actually issue his Order to Expel Barbarians, and the Chōshū clan won't start firing on all foreign ships traversing Shimonoseki Strait. That then means that the entire Shimonoseki campaign won't occur.

All of that never happens in this AU - two wars fought between Japan and the Western powers, have both been avoided.

1863

March 11, 1863: Emperor Kōmei's Order to expel barbarians - does not occur in this AU as the tensions between the Emperor and the Bakafu over the issue of the Western powers do not exist.

1863: Japan completes her first domestically-built steam warship, the Chiyodagata, a 140-ton gunboat commissioned into the Tokugawa Navy.

1863: The Shimonoseki campaign, a series of military engagements in 1863 and 1864, is fought to control Shimonoseki Straits of Japan by joint naval forces from Great Britain, France, the Netherlands and the United States, against the Japanese feudal domain of Chōshū, which takes place off and on the coast of Shimonoseki, Japan. It never happens in this AU - having maintained their independence of the western powers, the general feeling of ill will is not so great among the general populace of Japan. Without the economic hardship caused by the centralisation of capital, there is less anti-western sentiment and more of a general wariness of the west. It does not escalate into war at this point.

1863, 15 to 17 August: The Bombardment of Kagoshima, also known as the Anglo-Satsuma War (薩英戦争, Satsu-Ei Sensō), is a battle fought between Britain and the Satsuma Domain in Kagoshima. The British are trying to extract compensation and legal justice from the daimyō of the Satsuma Domain for the Namamugi Incident in 1862, when vessels of the Royal Navy were fired on from coastal batteries near Kagoshima. The British bombarded the city in retaliation and pushed out the Satsuma, but were unable to defeat them and retreated two days later. The Satsuma declared victory and after negotiations fulfilled some British demands for the Namamugi Incident.

As the Namamugi Incident did not occur in this AU, the Bombardment of Kagoshima also does not occur.

However, the underlying pressures which made it possible are indeed occuring. Disaffected fudai who were part of the Bakufu and have been displaced by the village led government have flocked to Yu no Kuni (Kyūshū) where the daimyo still holds considerable sway, making Satsuma Domain ripe for rebellion. Fudai clan members have also moved to Chūbu but that has only added to that chaos. They have mostly become ronin and are in the process of trying to centralise enough to rebel against the Emperor.

1863, September: Popov arrives in San Francisco in October with six ships, the corvettes Bogatyr, Kalavela, Rynda and Novik, and the clippers Abrek and Gaidamak, where he remained until 1864.

1864

1864: Gaidamak leaves the Northern Pacific for the last time.

1865

1865: Parts of Popov’s squadron, including the Finnish corvette Kalevala, return to the Baltic in 1865.

1865

1865, April 9: Ceasefire agreement of the Army of Northern Virginia by General Robert E. Lee.

1865, April 14: President Lincoln attends a performance of Our American Cousin at Ford's Theatre. During the third act, a Confederate sympathiser named John Wilkes Booth shoots and kills Abraham Lincoln. As he flees the scene, he yells "Sic semper tyrannis", the Virginia state motto. John Wilkes Booth is tracked, twelve days later, to a farm near Bowling Green, Virginia, on April 26. He is shot and killed by Union Army Sergeant Boston Corbett. His co-conspirators are tried before a military commission and hanged on July 7.

1865, November 6: Ceasefire agreement of the Shenandoah.

1865: French naval engineer Léonce Verny is hired to build Japan's first modern naval arsenals in Yokosuka and Nagasaki. Verny is appointed chief administrator and constructor of the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal. The same year, he briefly returns to France to purchase all necessary machinery and recruit French naval experts from Brest, Toulon, and Cherbourg (45 families in all) to help organise the construction of the arsenal. More ships are imported, such as the Jho Sho Maru, the Ho Sho Maru and the Kagoshima, all commissioned by Thomas Blake Glover and built in Aberdeen.

Verny is hired in this AU, and the naval arsenals are constructed with funding drawn from all of the Five Great Shinobi Countries. However, the ships from Aberdeen are not imported - at the insistence of the Raikage, Tsuchikage, and Kazekage, all the ships purchased by the Five Great Shinobi Countries must be built in Japan, at the naval arsenals in Yokosuka and Nagasaki.

1866

1866, November: In the real world, the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal completes its first warship, the Yokosuka-maru, the shipyard’s first locally produced steam ship. That does not happen in this AU, as the naval arsenals are slower to construct ships.

1866, August 20: United States President Andrew Johnson signs a Proclamation Declaring that Peace, Order, Tranquillity, and Civil Authority Now Exists in and Throughout the Whole of the United States of America. It cites the end of the insurrection in Texas, and declares ... "that the insurrection which heretofore existed in the State of Texas is at an end and is to be henceforth so regarded in that State as in the other States before named in which the said insurrection was proclaimed to be at an end by the aforesaid proclamation of the 2nd day of April, 1866. And I do further proclaim that the said insurrection is at an end and that peace, order, tranquillity, and civil authority now exist in and throughout the whole of the United States of America."

1867

1867: Popov and his flag captain Stepan Makarov are back with the Baltic fleet.

1867: Kagami mentions that both Konoha and Kumo have ordered steam powered ships in his letter to Koshmain.

1867: By the end of the Tokugawa shogunate in 1867, the Japanese navy already possesses eight Western-style steam warships around the flagship Kaiyō Maru which are used against pro-imperial forces during the Boshin War, under the command of Admiral Enomoto. The conflict culminates with the Naval Battle of Hakodate in 1869, Japan's first large-scale modern naval battle. The shogunate has a fleet of eight warships and thirty-six auxiliaries. Satsuma (the largest domain fleet) has nine steamships, Choshu has five ships plus numerous auxiliary craft, Kaga has ten ships and Chikuzen eight. Numerous smaller domains have also acquired a number of ships. However, these fleets resemble maritime organisations rather than actual navies with ships functioning as transports as well as combat vessels; they are also manned by personnel who lacked experienced seamanship except for coastal sailing and who have virtually no combat training.

In this AU, Japan does not have nearly this many steamships. Satsuma and Chikuzen are located in Kyūshū - Yu no Kuni in this AU. As such, their ship numbers remain unchanged from history. Chōshū Domain is part of the Chūgoku region which is Kaze no Kuni in this AU, and the Kazekage quickly puts a stop to any attempts to spend money on purchasing naval vessels. Kaga domain is in Chūbu - Hāto no Kuni in this AU - and their daimyo does not have good control of his domains. However, the Kaga domain overlaps with Ishikawa Prefecture and that is the area traditionally claimed by the Yamanaka. Through them, Konoha exercises control to prevent the purchase of ships.

1868

1868: In the real world, this is the year the Meiji Restoration occurs. In this AU, the Kōmei Restoration which occurred in 1858 replaced it.

1868: The planned two repair yards, three shipyards and iron works in the Yokosuka Arsenal are not completed yet.

1868: In the real world, this is the year the capital moves to Tokyo. In this AU, that occurred in 1858 along with the Kōmei Restoration.

1868: The Imperial Russian Naval vessel the Vsadnik is serving in the Northern Pacific and is rearmed by rifled guns. It continues to serve until 1871.

1868, February: In the real world, as part of the Meiji Restoration, the Imperial government places all captured shogunate naval vessels under the Navy Army affairs section. That does not happen in this AU as there is no central government.

1868, 26 March: In the real world, the first naval review in Japan takes place in Osaka Bay, with six ships from the private domain navies of Saga, Chōshū, Satsuma, Kurume, Kumamoto and Hiroshima participating. The total tonnage of these ships is 2,252 tons, which was far smaller than the tonnage of the single foreign vessel (from the French Navy) that also participated. This does not occur in this AU.

1869

1869: The Imperial Russian Navy begins the construction of one of the first seafaring ironclads, Petr Veliky (Пётр Великий).

1869: Japan acquires its first ocean-going ironclad warship, the Kōtetsu, ordered by the Bakufu but received by the new Imperial government, barely ten years after such ships were first introduced in the West with the launch of the French La Gloire. The Kōtetsu was built in Bordeaux, France, for the Confederate States Navy under the cover name Sphinx, but was sold to Denmark after sales of warships by French builders to the Confederacy was forbidden in 1863. The Danes refused to accept the ship and sold her to the Confederates which commissioned her as CSS Stonewall in 1865. The ship did not reach Confederate waters before the end of the American Civil War in April and was turned over to the United States. This does not happen in this AU, as the orders from the Kage preclude the purchase of foreign built ships. Instead the name Kōtetsu will be reserved for one of the first two ships to be build in the Japanese naval shipyards.

July 1869: In the real world, the Imperial Japanese Navy is formally established, two months after the last combat of the Boshin War.

1870

1870: In the real world, Imperial decree determines that the British Navy is the model for development, and the second British naval mission to Japan, the Douglas Mission (1873–79) led by Archibald Lucius Douglas lays the foundations of naval officer training and education. Tōgō Heihachirō is trained by the British navy. That does not happen in this AU as the British are still regarded with suspicion by the Kage. The shinobi are working through figuring naval matters out on their own.

1870: The Imperial Russian Navy screw corvette Vityaz arrives in the Pacific, but Pavel Zelenoy is no longer the commander of the vessel.

1870: Pyotr Bezobrazov is promoted to lieutenant aboard the frigate Svetlana.

1870, winter: In this AU, Konoha and Kumo take delivery of their ocean going ironclads. Ordered in 1867, it took the shipyards 3 years to get them made. Basically, Verny’s people copied the French ironclad Gloire, and then put wrought iron plates on it like the British did for the HMS Warrior - making it smaller than the Warrior class frigates, but with the best armour available for the time period.

The Gloire was laid down on 4 March 1858, and launched on 24 November 1859 (a year and 8.5 months), and I made the assumption that a newly built Japanese shipyard would be less practised than the French ship yards.

1871

1871, 25 February: Johan Hampus Furuhjelm is appointed chief of Russian seaports in the Pacific, where he contributes a lot to development of Vladivostok and Primorsky Krai, opening the Amur Telegraph Company, several lighthouses, and ship dockyards.

1871: The clipper ship Pearl is in the Pacific Ocean, with Eduard Schensnovich aboard as a midshipman.

1871, Spring: Kagami - very sensibly knowing that no one in Konoha has ever handled a ship - leverages the Senju alliance with the Uzumaki and sends his ship up to them to be crewed.

1871: The Svetlana arrives in the Pacific.

1871: The Vityaz is rearmed by rifled guns.

1871: In the real world, the Imperial Japanese Navy takes over the Yokosuka Shipyard, keeping Verny and the other French engineers on until 1878 while they train the Japanese engineers who will continue their work.

1871: Vladivostok becomes the Siberian Military Flotilla’s principal base.

This is where the Russians move against Kiri.

In response, Kiri calls upon the rest of the Elemental Countries, and the Five Great Shinobi Countries unite for the first time in generations.

Kagami brings Tsunade and Sara. Ōnoki brings Mū. A brings his ironclad. The Sandaime Kazekage stays behind to guard Japan.

This is Rivals Reconciled.

Chapter Text

Koshamain and Kagami: *sitting by the campfire*

Kagami: *hands Koshamain a bowl of rice* Why do you always ask me to make the rice?

Koshamain: *accepting the bowl* I caught the fish, you make the rice.

Kagami: *scooping a bowlful of rice for himself* That doesn't count, you used suiton to grab the fish! It took you barely any time at all!

Koshamain: *pointing at him with the spoon* Does that mean it doesn't count when you start the fire with katon?

Kagami: *talking with his mouth full* That's just efficient.

Koshamain: You have terrible table manners.

Kagami: *waves a hand at the woods around them* There's no one here to care about my table manners!

Koshamain: I'm here.

Kagami: *waves his spoon dismissively* You don't care.

Koshamain: *putting down his bowl of rice, still half full* I could.

Kagami: *grinning* But you don't.

Koshamain: *pulling the fish off the fire* One day you'll talk with your mouth full in front of the daimyo and then you'll regret allowing yourself to fall into bad habits.

Kagami: That's never going to happen. I'm going to run missions for the rest of my life, I'll never be picked to do anything where I'd have to eat in front of the daimyo.

Koshamain: *dividing the fish neatly* It could happen

Kagami: *finishing his bowl of rice* It won't.

Koshamain: *passing half of the fish over* Here.

Kagami: Thanks.

*both eat in silence*

Koshamain: *starts packing away his things*

Kagami: *pointing at the half eaten bowl of rice* Aren't you going to eat that?

Koshamain: No.

Kagami: Mind if I...?

Koshamain: Not at all.

Kagami: *picks up the bowl and starts eating* You always do this. Do you just not like rice? Or is it the way I cook it?

Koshamain: *watching Kagami eat the rice* No, you cook it well. I suppose I'm just not hungry for rice.

Kagami: *finishing off the last of the rice* What are you hungry for then? I might still have rations in my sealing scroll if there's something else that you'd prefer.

Koshamain: *shaking his head, an amused smile on his face* It's not anything that you can give me. Not here, not now.

Kagami: Homesick, huh?

Koshamain: Something like that.

Kagami: *comfortingly* Well, let's sleep. The sooner the morning comes, the sooner we can finish this mission and you can go home.

Koshamain: True.

Kagami: *rolling himself into a cloak* Night, Koshamain

Koshamain: Goodnight, Kagami.

Kagami and Koshamain started running into each other on missions in 1831 when Kagami was twenty, and they became friends. After a while, they started making it a habit to just run their missions as partners, even if they weren't hired by the same people, since they got so much more done when they're not working at cross purposes.

After their fifth or sixth mission together, Koshamain started leaving his bowls of rice half finished after every meal, and there was a reason for that.

According to my research, it’s the Ainu version of a proposal of marriage.

When a man proposed to a woman, he visited her house, ate half a full bowl of rice handed to him by her, and returned the rest to her. If the woman ate the rest, she accepted his proposal. If she did not and put it beside her, she rejected his proposal. When a man became engaged to a woman or they learned that their engagement had been arranged, they exchanged gifts. He sent her a small engraved knife, a workbox, a spool, and other gifts. She sent him embroidered clothes, coverings for the back of the hand, leggings and other handmade clothes.

This quote is taken from The Ainu and their folk-lore by John Batchelor (1901) and Ancient Japan Social Studies School Service, 2006.

In this way, Koshamain was deliberately engendering a proposal, or as close as he could get to one.

He visited Hi no Kuni, Kagami’s home country and the closest analogue he could get to Kagami’s house, ate half of a full bowl of rice that Kagami handed to him, and returned the rest. When Kagami ate the rest of the bowl, he was accepting Koshamain’s proposal, even though he had no idea what he was doing.

Koshamain wasn’t enough of an ass to actually take it as an acceptance, he knew that Kagami wasn’t aware of what was happening.

What he was actually doing was creating a fantasy - a dream - that Kagami was agreeing to marry him.

He wasn’t sure what to say, if Kagami would even welcome a courtship, so he said nothing. This was as far as he felt he could go.

So Kagami never realised that Koshamain was proposing and that he was accepting with every meal, until he was talking with a Senju who was describing how her Uzumaki cousin proposed to the guy that she was about to marry and going on about how romantic it all was.

As soon as Kagami heard the proposal he recognised it.

The next time they ran into each other, Kagami pinned Koshamain to a tree and kissed him.

Koshamain: *panting a little* Finally figured it out, did you?

Kagami: You could have said something!

Koshamain: I did.

Kagami: With words!

Koshamain: That's not our way.

Kagami: Well, your way deprived us of a couple of years of fucking so I expect to be compensated for that.

Koshamain: As you wish.

So Kagami truly accepted Koshamain’s proposal in 1834.

Right after that, on that same mission, Koshamain gave Kagami a knife. That was his first courting gift, and the second was a comb.

Koshamain had been carrying the knife around for a few years, kind of hopefully, ever since he started proposing to Kagami, so he had it on hand. Totally appropriate for Kagami to wear daily, it’s an absolutely practical, brutally efficient, slice and stab knife, completely Ainu and not Japanese at all in aesthetic. There are some nice carvings around the hilt that Koshamain did himself.

After he killed a bear with it.

(Because I could not resist the reference to Izumi Curtis in Fullmetal Alchemist.)

However, my research tells me that, in the real world, the Ainu really did hunt bear, mostly in spring after the bears had a winter of hibernation, and then they’d eat it. As such, in this AU, I suspect that hunting a bear would be pretty impressive.

In Konoha, there are rumours that Kagami killed a Kiri nin while on a missions and took the knife as a trophy.

The way every Kiri shinobi who gets a look at the knife backs away as non-threateningly as possible - since like hell they're gonna attack their Mizukage's partner - only adds fuel to the rumour.

Chapter Text

Kiri was pulled together by Byakuren, the first Mizukage, who basically united a bunch of warring clans by strength of will and personality.

After the first Mizuage, Hōzuki Gengetsu held things together, but only by his fingernails. The clans started fighting amongst each other and there was lots of strife. Just to add to that, he and Mu were rivals and fundamentally disagreed with each other’s world views.

Mu basically had the attitude that if you weren’t cheating, you weren’t trying hard enough, but Gengetsu had less flexible code of what constituted honourable behaviour. Because of this, Gengetsu held his shinobi to a petty high standard, refused to take certain missions, and often went out of his way to interfere with missions that were being run by Iwagakure.

This meant that the economy of Mizu no Kuni, never the most stable, was under increasing threat.

Basically, Gengetsu was an idealist who figured things would work out, but wasn’t an economic genius. In a time of diminishing resources, with the west pushing them, and a smallpox epidemic, Gengetsu decided to isolate his country. He tried to close them up, hunker down, and keep everyone else out. He didn’t have the international contacts to make things work, none of the other elemental countries would support him, and he had few allies.

There was a disagreement among his shinobi between the people who wanted to open up, let the west in, modernise, and the people who wanted to keep things as they had been.

By the time Koshamain takes over, things have come to a head - half of the clans are on the brink of rebellion and the other half are ready to knife them as traitors to the village. The European powers just keep poking at Kiri and Koshamain needs his shinobi to fight these guys off, but half of his people are fighting him every step of the way.

This is where I theorise the Chunin Exam Massacres would have started - threaten the clan’s children, ‘fight with me or I’ll send your kids to fight in death matches.’

It would have crippled the clans that opposed him, and with some cheating with rostering the matches, he would would been able to make sure that his favoured shinobi would have succeeded while the children of his dissident clans would have died.

As you can see in chapter 10 of Killing for a Kingdom, Kagami basically argues Koshamain out of it. He suggests an alternate solution. Anyone who does a certain amount of time on coast guard duty earns a pass to leave. They can leave Kiri, come back, and not be declared traitors to their village. All of the people who want to leave can go, sow their wild oats, run amok, take their own missions, act as mercenaries any where in the world - whatever they please.

The catch is that Kiri will not support them. At all.

For their time away they are completely on their own, without the benefits of the village system. Kiri will not rescue them if they get in trouble, will not vet their clients, will not assign them partners, or provide logistical support. They don’t pay tithes or taxes to the village, and in return they’re completely on their own.

Give them what they say they want and then let them choke on it.

But they have to earn the right not to be called traitors and to come back to Kiri by paying their dues against the Europeans first.

Chapter Text

So, chakra in Naruto is an interesting and malleable concept.

People seem to generate it - they can run out of it and suffer from chakra exhaustion (I’m looking at you here, Kakashi) - or they can draw it in from the natural world in sage mode, though that has the attendant risk of turning into stone.

But how did it happen?

Indra famously invented ninjutsu, but it was his father and uncle Hamura and Hagoromo who were both born with it as a consequence of their mother Kaguya eating the fruit of the god tree. Hagoromo was the one to distribute chakra to other people through ninshū, a practice which attempted to connect the spiritual energies of people to each other in an effort to allow understanding without communication.

Now, on a personal level, that’s always sounded incredibly creepy. Almost like an attempt to create a universal unconscious, or perhaps a hive mind, it’s always seemed invasive to me. I suppose that his students consented simply by becoming his pupils, but how on earth were they to know what they were agreeing to? There would have been no way to describe it that they would have understood! At least, not without experiencing it.

Of course, that wasn’t how it worked in the end.

Rather than existing in a floating ocean of connection through their combined spiritual energies, people chose to follow Indra’s path to meld their physical and spiritual energies in an effort to amplify their chakra - ninjutsu.

There is much focus in Naruto about how ninjutsu is a philosophy that weaponises chakra, and how disappointed Hagoromo was that his son developed this path. However, I have never seen ninjutsu as such.

To me, ninjutsu is a tool. Katon can kill, yes. But it can also heal, boil water, sanitise, create fertiliser, and cook food. It’s all in how you use it. It has other applications, though the cannon of Naruto rarely seems to show them.

This was something that I’ve deliberately chosen to focus on in this series, and you can see alternative uses of ninjutsu - things which are never seen in cannon - sprinkled throughout the stories. I also have a few world building chapters about shinobi using their ninjutsu in non-weaponised roles, though some of them are in a support capacity for shinobi who choose to take on more martial jobs, in The World Building of Courting Culture Confusion. Check out chapters 39, 40, and 100, if you want to know more.

But none of this addresses the origins of chakra, and as far as I can tell, it all comes back to the fruit of the God Tree.

Now that, to me, looks like an origin myth - the tree of knowledge - made literal. Good for Kishimoto, it’s an incredibly interesting use of mythology! (I’m also a huge fan of his origin story of Princess Kaguya, by the way.) But it has repercussions.

We know, from the tests given to Indra and Asura, that chakra - or something funky to do with it at least - can spread from the god tree directly, and this quote from Narutopedia describes it:

Eventually, Hagoromo decided to choose his successor based on the performance of his sons by tasking them each with aiding the revival of a foreign land. Upon arriving at his destination, Indra learned that the land was in reality very fertile due to the existence of a God Tree sapling; however, he also realised that it caused the people there to gradually grow sick from relying on its nutrients.

So it spreads outwards from the tree. It’s not just the fruit.

In Kishimoto’s world, where the land is a single giant continent - as far as I can tell, Kishimoto kept Pangea and then added islands - the idea that chakra would have spread everywhere is totally feasible. It’s what Hagoromo designed ninshū to do after all - spread chakra.

But, I’m merging Naruto with Japan.

Japan is an island nation.

In fact, it’s a series of islands. Chakra is not spreading on its own through the ground, which leaves being spread by people and culture.

I am indebted to Lulubelle01 for the way they pointed out that Tenji, the human emperor who became lovers with Kaguya and fathered both Hamura and Hagoromo, has many indicators in his dress that match up with the clothing worn in the Yayoi Period (300 BCE – 250 CE) and the Yamato Period (250 – 710). The men surrounding him match too.

I took that information and ran with it. In this AU, Kaguya arrives in the Yamato Period.

This article here from the University of Pittsburgh clearly shows the extent of Japan’s culture and territory at the time, and how it continued to spread. I didn’t mess with the timeline of Japan - apart from having chakra using shinobi running around - until the end of the Azuchi-Momoyama Period (1568 – 1603) when I changed the outcome of the final battles of the Sengoku Jidai (1467 to 1615), in particular the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600.

After that, the Japan of this AU went into isolation, just as it did during the actual Tokugawa Period - also known as the Edo Period - the time during which the very first story in this series, Escape and Evade begins.

This all means that, in this AU, the borders of Japan were frozen at the end of the Azuchi-Momoyama Period.

Chakra never left Japan.

It never even spread to the Ryukyu Islands - it wasn’t until 1609 that Shimazu Tadatsune, Lord of Satsuma, invaded the Ryūkyū Kingdom with a fleet and an army of samurai and established suzerainty over the islands. In this AU, without the backing of a shogunate, Shimazu didn’t have the wealth or the resources for that kind of military adventurism. He tried but his forces were a lot smaller and the people of the Ryūkyū Kingdom pushed him off.

If you want to know how that invasion happened in the real world, you can check out this article here.

Because of this, no one outside of Japan has chakra.

The west has no idea what chakra users can do.

They are in for a big surprise.

Chapter Text

The Meiji Restoration was a time of change and upheaval, and part of that was the rapid industrialisation of Japan.

Fearing that Japan might become a colony under the control of one of the western powers, enticed by the wonders of the West and intimidated by the technological gap, the Imperial Japanese government took steps to gain and achieve similar levels of advancement, attempting to create what they saw as a modern state.

In 1871, the recently established Meiji government abolished Japan’s domains and replaced them with prefectures subordinate to the central government. The 270 or so domains had previously had their own military forces and political wills within a decentralised power structure. Removing that structure at a stroke was a form of coup d’état.

They abolished the system of internal checkpoints, post stations, and merchant guilds as barriers to industrial development, and added new infrastructure including the telegraph and the railway, as well as several manufacturing districts.

Let me quote from this article:

… the first telegraph line between Tokyo and Yokohama in 1869. Five years later, the telegraph network stretched from Nagasaki to Hokkaidō, while an undersea line further connected Nagasaki to Shanghai. In 1871, a modern postal service replaced the former courier system, and post offices were established around the country, selling stamps and postcards at set prices. In 1877, Japan joined the Universal Postal Union, linking its postal service to the world. It imported its first telephones the same year.

A rail service started between Tokyo and Yokohama in 1872… In 1874, a new line linked Kobe to Osaka, which was connected in turn to Kyoto in 1877. By the turn of the century, the network had spread across the whole of Japan. The government also invested in upgrading the country’s major roads, enabling smoother transportation of goods by carts and other vehicles.

Firm government backing for the private company Mitsubishi did much to ensure that Japanese shipping could compete with Western companies. According special privileges to specific organisations was one way the Meiji leaders aimed to foster modern industry. Companies like Mitsui and Ono were also notable beneficiaries.

The government also set up and operated many factories and establishments in fields like light industry and agriculture to boost the development of private industry. In the industrial sector, these included the Shinagawa Glass Factory, Aichi Spinning Mill, Fukagawa Cement Works, and Sapporo Brewery. Perhaps the most famous is the Tomioka Silk Mill in Gunma Prefecture, which is now a UNESCO World Heritage site. It was built in 1872, incorporating 300 silk reeling machines of the latest design, imported from France. Paul Brunat headed a team of French technicians, mainly female, who oversaw operations and trained Japanese workers. In their turn, these workers passed their knowledge on at mills across the country.

[…] Spinning, silk reeling, and other light industries were soon thriving. […]

US Commodore Matthew Perry wanted to display the wonders of Western civilization to the Japanese when the two countries signed the Treaty of Peace and Amity in 1854. He made gifts of American weapons, a telegraph, and a model steam train that could travel at 32 kilometers per hour.

Just a year later the domain of Saga managed to build its own steam train. Satsuma and other domains are said to have produced trial steam engines even earlier. Uwajima soon built a steamship, and Saga was among the domains that established armaments factories to make weapons modeled on the latest British Armstrong guns.

However, it came at a cost.

In attempting to achieve an industrialised manufacturing sector, the Minister of Finance Matsukata Masayoshi introduced deflation policies in the early 1880s. The price of agricultural produce fell and many farmers became bankrupt. Their land was bought by the wealthy who rented the land back to farmers who now became tenants on land that was previously theirs. The manufacturing industries also took advantage of the cheap labour that had become available with the failure of the agricultural sector.

Let me quote from the same article again:

The privately run Osaka Spinning Mill incorporated many British-made spinning mules, pioneering large-scale, steam-powered mechanized production. Employees worked in day or night shifts, keeping the mill in operation 24 hours a day and allowing for successful production of large amounts of cotton yarn each day. Incidentally, many of the workers laboring long hours for little pay were the children of bankrupt farmers who had fallen victim to deflation policies. As the yarn was extremely cheap to produce, others saw the potential profits involved and set up similar companies elsewhere. Major production and export of cotton and silk yarn ensured Japan achieved an industrial revolution in light industry in the late nineteenth century. Less than 30 years after the Meiji Restoration in 1868, the country had established a capitalist economy.

All of this, of course, was only possible thanks to the high level of literacy already present in the Edo Period, something that I will discuss in a later chapter, World Building - Dreaming of You.

Now, in this AU, Japan makes a similar technological leap, but not in the same way.

There is no unification of Japan and all of the Elemental Countries stay separate. They don’t even all share the reverence for the Emperor, as Mizu no Kuni is not part of Japan. In addition, all of them are militarily minded with the sole exception of Yu no Kuni and even they are facing problems as you can see in chapter 18 of Killing for a Kingdom.

So here, the impetus is not the forced opening to the West by Perry’s treaty and the others that follow. Instead, it is the drive of the Kage to see their countries achieve military success against the West when they are attacked - something that they are sure will happen. After all, in their experience, political aggression is always followed by military aggression. And they’re shinobi - they see no reason for honourable combat. They fight dirty.

So they drive their countries to achieve the telegraph to facilitate military communication. Their railway is for military movement. Their manufactories are not for glass and fabric, but instead are for steel, guns, and ships.

At least, that’s the official line.

In reality, while all of this is certainly true in Kaminari no Kuni, that’s not the case elsewhere.

Tetsu no Kuni, Tsuchi no Kuni, and Hāto no Kuni - the lands of Earth, Iron, and Heart - are barely industrialising at all. They have the telegraph, but only to their capitals, their daimyo, and their villages. They see no reason for more, and their rail projects progress slowly, if they progress at all.

By contrast, Hi no Kuni, Kaze no Kuni, and Yu no Kuni - the lands of Fire, Wind, and Hot Water - are industrialising at a rapid rate, faster even than the pace of Kaminari no Kuni. However, they’re splitting their focus between their military and civilian capacities which makes them look like they’re actually industrialising slower than the pace Kumogakure is pushing for.

Because there are no deflation policies, the agricultural sector is not collapsing. Because there is no government backing for private companies, the Zaibatsu have not arisen. (If you want to know more about the Zaibatsu, you can check out this Wikipedia article here.)

As such, the economy of Japan in this AU is weaker than the real world economy of Japan during the same time period, but has also avoided large scale inequality. In addition, they are exporting very little outside of Japan but their internal market is growing rapidly as their trade links with each other become stronger. Finally, their military industrial complex is booming despite their insistence on not purchasing European weapons and importing as little foreign expertise as possible, and they will soon be able to manufacture weapons comparable to those being developed by the European powers.

Chapter Text

It’s not a fact that is widely known, but there were samurai in Mexico.

The Spanish started trans-Pacific voyages between New Spain (present-day Mexico and the U.S. state of California) and the Philippines in 1565, using a route that took them past the coast of Japan. This inevitably brought Spanish sailors into contact with the Japanese, and Spain signed a treaty with the shogunate in 1609 that formalised a relationship between the two countries.

As part of that treaty, a Japanese embassy was sent to the Spanish court and the San Buenaventura set sail in 1610. On board were a mix of Spanish and Japanese citizens, and they made it all the way to Mexico.

Despite the mounting resistance of the Japanese government of the time to christianity and its desire for isolation, Japanese people did end up immigrating to the Americas though they were generally grouped with all the other immigrants of Asian ethnicity or ancestry and were known in New Spain as ‘chinos’ - Chinese.

Because of this, it’s pretty hard to track what was happening, but some scholars have made the attempt and it’s pretty fascinating.

I found two relatively accessible articles, and you can find them here and here. The second link downloads an academic article from Brown University.

In this AU, the shogunate is never formed and Japan never signs this treaty. Instead the shipwrecked Spanish sailors and proselytising Christian missionaries are sent down to Arima, the daimyo of Yu no Kuni, on the grounds that he’s Christian and so are they. Effectively, the other daimyo make any Christians his problem.

Despite that, it is this historical fact that inspired me to have the shinobi from Mizu no Kuni travel far and wide across the world, and many of them do.

Unfortunately, most of them don’t get a very warm welcome as they appear far too physically alien to the inhabitants of the Americas, but several Hoshigaki and Kaguya make it home with tales of the mad west. The general impression that their stories paint is of a land where everything is different, the weather is hot, and the laws are bewildering.

It’s extremely discouraging to the more curious citizens of Kirigakure and they tend to stick closer to home after that.

Chapter Text

So timekeeping in East Asia was a complicated business and it generally ran on either a lunar calendar or a lunisolar calendar. It only got more complicated when that ran headfirst into the western world’s use of the Gregorian calendar. I go into it a little in the author’s notes of To Tempt a Target, but one of the things that I didn’t cover was the sexagenary cycle.

Also known as the Stems-and-Branches or ganzhi, the sexagenary cycle was historically used for reckoning time in China and much of the East Asia. A cycle of sixty terms, each corresponding to one year, which means that one full cycle takes a total of sixty years.

It’s most common use today is in the Chinese zodiac, a system that assigns an animal to each year in a repeating twelve year cycle.

That’s well known and generally fairly well understood, though there’s often some confusion for people who are born in the first few months of the year as the Chinese zodiac follows the lunisolar calendar. That means that the start of each year begins with the Lunar new year and not on January 1, so people born in January who aren’t used to this will often simply match their year of birth to the animal and go with that - not realising that they are not born in that year at all!

Something that is less commonly known, however, is that each year also has an associated element - Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, or Water. Combined with these, each element has both a Yang and a Yin nature. So one may be born in the year of the Rat with the associated element of Yang Wood, but it will be sixty years before that combination will occur once more.

Generally, having completed a full cycle is a sign of having reached old age.

In this AU, it is a the mark of an Elder.

Chapter Text

In chapter 23 of Killing for a Kingdom, Kagami says that he will turn his robe inside out, hoping to dream of Koshamain, but what does this actually mean?

It’s actually a reference to a poem that I read, and I must thank HelloThereGhoul and BlightOwl for helping me find it again after I foolishly failed to bookmark it when doing my initial research. Many of the descriptions in this chapter also come from them.

This is the poem:

When longing for him
Tortures me beyond endurance,
I reverse my robe —
Garb of night, black as leopard-flower berries —
And wear it inside out.

- Ono no Komachi, taken from Tales of Ise: Lyrical Episodes from Tenth-century Japan, by Helen Craig McCullough

The practice of invoking dreams by turning a robe inside out to bring on a desired dream also appears in several other places in Japanese literary tradition.

Japanese Gothic Tales by Kyoka Izumi mentions Heian-period poets turning their kimonos inside out in reference to dreams.

The Manyosu by Jan Lodewijk Pierson has a translation of a poem that says “I have turned my sleeve of white bleachen stuff, inside out, is it because I long for you so, that my love’s form appeared to me in a dream?” with “my sleeve of white bleachen stuff” referring to the author’s kimono.

Izutsu, also known as The Well Cradle, a classic Noh play written by Zeami also uses this device. In it one of the characters, Sideman, says:

Deeper yet!
o'er Ariwara Temple
the night moon
o'er Ariwara Temple
the night moon
drawing the past back
turn I my sleeves
and, open to dreams,
briefly pillowed,
lie me down
on a bed of moss
lie me down
on a bed of moss.

The full text of the play can be found here.

Basically, Kagami is saying that he hopes to dream of Koshamain and is taking deliberate steps to invoke it. However, he is also speaking through the medium of poetry and literature, something that had only become possible due to the level of education in the Edo period.

Kagami is well educated yes, but not to the extent of a scholar. This was the kind of thing that high literacy rates made possible during the Edo period.

In the real world, the first shogun Ieyasu set up Confucian academies in his shinpan domains and other daimyos followed suit in their own domains, establishing what became known as han schools. Within a generation, almost all samurai were literate, as their careers often required knowledge of literary arts. The chōnin (urban merchants and artisans), by contrast, patronised a parallel school system through the terakoya or "temple schools”. Despite being located in temples, the terakoya curriculum consisted of basic literacy and arithmetic, instead of literary arts or philosophy. Unlike the han schools, these were run privately rather than by the government.

In urban areas, enrolment was high, and I’ve seen an estimate that the terakoya attendance rate reached 70% in the capital Edo towards the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century. There was a gap between the urban and rural areas however as, in rural Japan, only the children of prominent farmers would receive education.

Through this system of terakoya and han schools, the Japanese population achieved a high degree of literacy at the end of the Edo period. There are no reliable statistics, but there are estimates that 50% of men and 20% of women nationwide were literate and possessed basic calculation abilities.

The high rates of urban literacy in Edo contributed to the prevalence of novels and other literary forms, something with lead to a breakdown between classes.

Having an education and the trappings of luxury, the merchant class broke the social barriers, hobnobbing with samurai at the popular haiku and literary clubs. These clubs afforded the two classes a rare opportunity to mingle on an equal basis. In the Floating World, where samurai and merchants gathered to enjoy the company of courtesans or watch kabuki plays, class mixing became the rule rather than the exception. Poetry from the era describes the discontent of the samurai and the chōnin. In haiku clubs, members chose pen names to obscure their social rank. That way, the classes could mingle freely.

This is one of the pressures that made the fall of the bakufu inevitable.

If you want to know more about that, you can check out chapter 108 of The World Building of Courting Culture Confusion, World Building - Bakumatsu.

On the other hand, if you want to know more about social structure of Japan during the Edo period, you can check out chapter 97 of The World Building of Courting Culture Confusion, World Building - The Four-Tiered Class System of Feudal Japan.

One final note.

The Uchiha are noble, something that I have kept from cannon, and specifically tozama, “outside vassals”, who were former opponents or new allies. In this AU, this is where the noble shinobi clans sit in the hierarchy. They fought in the wars for privilege and money. They switched sides as their contracts expired, they were for hire to the highest bidder, they did not hold to a code of conduct. They eat meat, and everything about them screams untrustworthy to the daimyō, but they're too strong to ignore.

Kagami is thus the son of a noble clan and his education matches that standard. He’s not a court noble, but he can hold his own.

Koshamain, by contrast, is a clanless shinobi who isn’t even Japanese. He’s Ainu and, along with a several other groups, the Ainu were considered unclean due to the religious influence of Buddhist and Shinto tradition. They were part of the eta class.

As such, Kagami and Koshamain are breaking several taboos here. They’re from different villages, different countries, different social systems, different classes, different religious systems.

It’s only because of the love they bear for each other than they can fight through all of it to be together.

Chapter Text

Russian ambitions in the Pacific were not new in 1871.

They’d been seeking a foothold in the area for a long time before that, and their presence definitely increased over time.

By 1639, Russian territory had expanded until it included the shores of the Pacific. However, their position in the region remained weak, with perhaps 100,000 settlers and a very long supply line.

In the real world, they were among the countries to begin pressing Japan to sign treaties right after Perry’s visit. They actually did sign one, the Treaty of Shimoda in 1855, only a year after Japan signed the Convention of Kanagawa with America in 1854.

However, that was actually a revived version of a plan originally conceived during the time of Russian Tsar Nicholas I. He saw the territorial expansion of Great Britain in Asia and the expansion of the United States in the Pacific Ocean and northern America, and he founded a committee in 1842 to investigate Russia's power in the areas around the Amur River and in Sakhalin. The committee proposed a mission to the area under the lead of Admiral Yevfimy Putyatin, but the plan was not approved because of concerns that it would disrupt the Kyakhta trade, and there was a general consensus that Russia had no great commercial assets to be defended in the area.

Upon learning of American plans for Perry’s expedition, the Russian government feared that Japan and the Pacific in general would fall under American influence, and the proposal was revived and approved. The Pallada was selected as the flagship, and it resulted in the signing of the Treaty of Shimoda after many setbacks.

Everything above is a historical fact. Although the Treaty of Shimoda was never signed in this AU, the historical events preceding it did occur and they clearly show the kind of political and economic pressures that motivated the Russian presence in the area.

For this AU, I’ve kept several of the real world events that predate the Treaty of Shimoda, including Russian navigators exploring and mapping the coasts of the Kuril Islands between 1804 and 1811. As the Kuril Islands are part of Mizu no Kuni, you can imagine how well that went - the navigators were either captured an interrogated, or they were simply killed out of hand.

There is a real world precedent for this, and let me quote from Wikipedia:

In 1811, the Russian colonel Vasily Golovnin was exploring Kunashir Island on behalf of the Russian Academy of Sciences. During these operations the Russians clashed with the Japanese. Golovnin was seized and taken prisoner by samurai. For the following 18 months, he remained a prisoner in Japan, where officials of the Tokugawa Shōgun questioned him about the Russian language and culture, the state of the European power struggles, and European scientific and technical developments. Golovnin's memoirs (Memoirs of Captivity in Japan During the Years 1811, 1812, and 1813) illustrate some of the methods used by Tokugawa officials.

Given that, I’ve chosen to include what I believe would be cannon appropriate behaviour for the clans of Mizu no Kuni.

After Perry’s visit, many things changed for Russian in the area, many of which have been alluded to in Killing for a Kingdom though rather obliquely in some cases. Despite their failure to break Japan away from its posture of isolation, they still continued to expand their territory in the Pacific and they acquired a long strip of Pacific coastline south of the mouth of the Amur River through the Treaty of Peking which they signed with China at the end of the Second Opium War. It was there that they began to build the naval base of Vladivostok.

As Vladivostok was not a year-round ice-free port, Russia still wanted a more southern port and they attempted to seize the island of Tsushima from Japan in 1861. In the real world this failed largely due to political pressure from Great Britain and other western powers. In this AU, they were driven off by shinobi from Iwa who had no idea of the true capabilities of Russian naval gunnery.

I make a point of talking about it in the end notes of chapter 14 of Killing for a Kingdom, but the actual reason that the Russians didn’t fire on the shinobi was that - just as in the real world - the leader of the expedition knew that his actions would be disavowed by his government. Without that backing, he wasn’t willing to start a war and he retreated in good order.

All of this comes to a head in 1871 with the appointment of Johan Hampus Furuhjelm as chief of the Russian seaports in the Pacific just after the Lunar New Year. In the real world, he contributed a lot to the development of Vladivostok and Primorsky Krai, opened the Amur Telegraph Company, as well as several lighthouses and ship dockyards. He didn’t stay there long though because he was promoted to the rank of vice admiral and appointed governor of the city of Taganrog, near the Black Sea, in 1874.

At the same time, he was also the man who, during his time as the governor of Alaska, used an eclipse to threaten the indigenous people by saying that he would take away the moon if they did not obey him.

All of these things are documented historical incidents in his life.

So, in this AU, he is the one to decide to try and make another attempt at gaining more territory. But not from Japan. No, he wants a nice anchorage along a well used trading route that will remain ice free all year round.

He wants Kunashir Island, which is - as far as he knows - an isolated island that is home to barbaric fishermen who speak terrible Russian and Japanese, visit Vladivostok regularly to sell his men fresh caught fish and game, and never wear more weapons than the oddly shaped knives strapped to their hips.

So, to him, this is just another attempt to gain a foothold in the Pacific, just as Likhachev’s attempt to seize the island of Tsushima was. Try to overawe the natives and we may get a nice new port. If it doesn’t work, just sail away without a fight. That’s what he told the men that he sent on this little expedition.

What he doesn’t know is that Kunashir Island is the location of Kirigakure and that the shinobi of Kiri do not take incursions into their territory well.

His expedition is not going to be the painless diplomatic exercise that he assumes it will be.

Chapter Text

So, in order to understand the Kōtetsu and the Azuma in this AU, let me give you some historical background.

After Perry’s arrival in Japan and the signing of several treaties, the Japanese government took steps to try and bring their military up to the standards of the ships that they were seeing. Some of these were built in Japan, but many were not. The Japanese government wanted ships and they wanted them as soon as possible, so many of them were not true sister ships - they were a collection, obtained from all over, and owned by many of the different domains.

Eventually they were all collected under the banner of the Imperial Japanese Navy when it was formally established in July 1869, two months after the last combat of the Boshin War.

So here’s a small timeline.

1863: Japan completes her first domestically-built steam warship, the Chiyodagata, a 140-ton gunboat commissioned into the Tokugawa Navy.

1867: By the end of the Tokugawa shogunate in 1867, the Japanese navy already possesses eight Western-style steam warships around the flagship Kaiyō Maru which are used against pro-imperial forces during the Boshin War, under the command of Admiral Enomoto. The conflict culminates with the Naval Battle of Hakodate in 1869, Japan's first large-scale modern naval battle. The shogunate has a fleet of eight warships and thirty-six auxiliaries. Satsuma (the largest domain fleet) has nine steamships, Choshu has five ships plus numerous auxiliary craft, Kaga has ten ships and Chikuzen eight. Numerous smaller domains have also acquired a number of ships. However, these fleets resemble maritime organisations rather than actual navies with ships functioning as transports as well as combat vessels; they are also manned by personnel who lacked experienced seamanship except for coastal sailing and who have virtually no combat training.

In this AU, Japan does not have nearly this many steamships. Satsuma and Chikuzen are located in Kyūshū - Yu no Kuni in this AU. As such, their ship numbers remain unchanged from history. Chōshū Domain is part of the Chūgoku region which is Kaze no Kuni in this AU, and the Kazekage quickly puts a stop to any attempts to spend money on purchasing naval vessels. Kaga domain is in Chūbu - Hāto no Kuni in this AU - and their daimyo does not have good control of his domains. However, the Kaga domain overlaps with Ishikawa Prefecture and that is the area traditionally claimed by the Yamanaka. Through them, Konoha exercises control to prevent the purchase of ships.

1868, 26 March: In the real world, the first naval review in Japan takes place in Osaka Bay, with six ships from the private domain navies of Saga, Chōshū, Satsuma, Kurume, Kumamoto and Hiroshima participating. The total tonnage of these ships is 2,252 tons, which was far smaller than the tonnage of the single foreign vessel (from the French Navy) that also participated. This does not occur in this AU.

1869: Japan acquires its first ocean-going ironclad warship, the Kōtetsu, ordered by the Bakufu but received by the new Imperial government, barely ten years after such ships were first introduced in the West with the launch of the French La Gloire. The Kōtetsu was built in Bordeaux, France, for the Confederate States Navy under the cover name Sphinx, but was sold to Denmark after sales of warships by French builders to the Confederacy was forbidden in 1863. The Danes refused to accept the ship and sold her to the Confederates which commissioned her as CSS Stonewall in 1865. The ship did not reach Confederate waters before the end of the American Civil War in April and was turned over to the United States. This does not happen in this AU, as the orders from the Kage preclude the purchase of foreign built ships. Instead the name Kōtetsu will be reserved for one of the first two ships to be build in the Japanese naval shipyards.

So that’s what happened in the real world, and a little bit of information on what is happening here in this AU.

In the real world, there was huge pressure to modernise and fast. The government of the time period was under threat from the west and beset by internal divisions. Here, in this AU, the shinobi who are in control of Japan don’t feel as much pressure. They’ve fended the west off, mostly successfully, since Perry’s arrival in 1853. Apart from the single treaty signed by the Daimyo of the Land of Iron, the western powers have made no inroads into Japan for 18 years.

So the shinobi don’t feel that urgency, but they also don’t trust the west at all. Frankly, they’re even suspicious of each other. They’ll trade civilian goods, certainly, but not military items. They want their own ships, built under their watchful eyes, and they’re willing to wait to get them.

Which brings us to naval technological development and the ship yards.

Let’s do the ship yards first, since I’ve kept that largely similar to history.

Let me quote from Wayfarer Daves:

Through out the Edo Period, Yokosuka and the surrounding area was under the direct control of the Tokugawa Clan and the Shogun directly, who had built a few small fortifications control watch traffic in and out of Tokyo Bay, inspecting cargo, and ensuring that no foreign ships or illegal goods entered the country. Of course, this didn’t stop Commodore Perry and his fleet – a fact not lost on the Shogun and his advisers. That is why they hired Verny and he got right to work, building dry-docks, repair facilities, and iron works, and even launching the Yokosuka-maru, the shipyard’s first locally produced steam ship, in 1866. This also resulted in the expansion of defensive fortifications into modern coastal artillery batteries. Following the fall of the Shogunate, the newly formed Imperial Japanese Navy took over the Yokosuka Shipyard in 1871, keeping Verny and the other French engineers on until 1878 while they trained the Japanese engineers who would continue their work. Over time, the Yokosuka Shipyard became the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal which served as the backbone of the larger Yokosuka Naval District. As the shipyard and port facilities were expanded and additional sites were built and consolidated, Yokosuka became the first of four major naval districts in Japan due to its size and close proximity to the capital in Tokyo.

Here is a more detailed timeline of Verny’s time in Japan from Wikipedia:

Verny was appointed chief administrator and constructor of the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal in 1865. Yokosuka was chosen because it was a well protected inlet, in close proximity to Yokohama and Tokyo. The same year, he briefly returned to France to purchase all necessary machinery and recruit French naval experts from Brest, Toulon, and Cherbourg (45 families in all) to help organize the construction of the arsenal....

In Yokosuka, Verny trained 65 Japanese technicians and hired 2500 workers. The construction of the shipyard itself was only the central point of a major infrastructure development project, which encompassed foundries, brick kilns, gunpowder and weapons factories, an aqueduct and hydraulic power facilities, modern buildings and technical schools to train Japanese technicians were established.

The Yokosuka Naval Arsenal completed its first warship, the Yokosuka-maru in November 1866, but the planned two repair yards, three shipyards and iron works were not completed by the time of the Meiji restoration... Yokosuka continued to employ on French engineers until 1878.

In addition to the construction of the Yokosuka Arsenal, Verny also built four lighthouses in the Tokyo area, some of which still exist.

Léonce Verny also managed the building of the shipyard at Nagasaki, the largest in the Far East at that time. In Kobe, he built a metallurgical plant, as well as a patent slip.

Verny experienced numerous problems during his tenure in Japan, as the expectations of the Japanese government and military were very high, but funding was very limited, and Verny had to create much of the necessary infrastructure from scratch. When visited by the French construction director of the Chinese Fuzhou arsenal in 1871, Verny noted that the Chinese budget was three times larger than his.

Verny returned to France in 1876, when the Japanese were able to take full control of the operations.

I've kept to the historical timeline on this - Kagami talks about shipyards in his letter to Koshamain in 1864 and he specifically mentions Verny. In this AU, just as in the historical time line, Verny returns to France in 1876 and Yokosuka releases its French engineers in 1878.

One very important thing to note for this AU is the sheer size of the ship yards.

Let me quote from Military Industries of Japan, Issue 3, by Norimoto Masuda & Ushisaburō Kobayashi, 1922

“… Yokosuka, formerly consisting of Yokosuka Village, a half farming and half fishing community, and six other hamlets, gradually became prosperous after the repairing yard had been set up there by the Shogunate in 1864; about 1869, the damp marshes covered by thick bushes were filled in; about 1871, further reclamation was accomplished on part of the coast, and thereby, at last, it showed a resemblance to a small town.

“After the establishment of the Yokosuka Dockyard in 1872 its population was gradually increased, and yet, according to the investigations in 1879, there were only 1,407 houses and 3,422 men. In 1884, the naval station was removed there from Yokohama; then, in May, 1889, the Yokosuka Dockyard was renamed the Shipbuilding Branch of the Yokosuka Naval Station, when, in accordance with the expansion of shipbuilding work, workmen, merchants and manufacturers and whoever was connected therewith moved there. This naturally resulted in expansion and the increase of houses and population.

“… The war with Russia during 1904-1905 necessitated building big battleships, and caused a further enlargement of the scale of the dockyard and the multiplication of officials, workmen, merchants, manufacturers, so that the town was brought at last to a municipal organization in 1907. Since then the houses and population of the city have annually increased until it reached, according to the investigation made at the end of 1912, 12,695 houses and 70,210 inhabitants, and at the present time it is said to have around 80,000.”

In this AU, all of this is sped up. Yokosuka is one of the two hearts of the Japanese shipbuilding machine and the Kage are investing a lot into them. The Uchiha in particular are pushing steel production like crazy.

By 1871 in this AU, Yokosuka is about as big as it was in 1907 in history.

Where the Yokosuka of history completed its first warship, the Yokosuka-maru in 1866, the Yokosuka in this AU completes its first two ocean going warships just in time for the Lunar New year of 1871.

There are a few reasons for this.

Firstly, they’re building two ships and not just one. Konoha and Kiri have ordered one each and Verny is smart enough not to offend anyone by prioritising one over the other. So he releases them simultaneously.

Secondly, Kagami and A only order their ships at the tail end of 1866. Kagami and Koshamain discuss that purchase in chapter 22 of Killing for a Kingdom, towards the close of 1867. Verny had longer to get his shipyards up and running in this AU than he did in history, and he put it to good use. It only takes him four years to build the Kōtetsu and the Azuma, and that is important because of what they are.

Because they’re copies of the French La Gloire in size, but armour-plated, iron-hulled warships like the British HMS Warrior.

Now, if you know nothing about naval design just as I do, this will probably not seem significant. And frankly it probably isn’t, at least in terms of naval design. However the capabilities of the armour will be crucial to the way the war turns out, so please indulge me.

The La Gloire was revolutionary. Developed after the Crimean War in response to new naval gun technology that used explosive shells against wooden ships, she was a wooden ship with iron armour.

Let me quote from Wikipedia:

As was common for the era, Gloire was constructed with sails as well as a steam-powered screw… Its 12 cm-thick (4.7 in) armour plates, backed with 43 cm (17 in) of timber, resisted hits by the experimental shooting of the strongest guns of the time (the French 50-pounder and the British 68-pounder) at full charge, at a distance of 20 metres (65 ft).

As the first ocean-going ironclad, Gloire rendered obsolete traditional unarmoured wooden ships-of-the-line, and all major navies soon began to build ironclads of their own. However Gloire was soon itself rendered obsolete by the launching in 1860 of the British HMS Warrior, the world's first iron-hulled ironclad warship.

The HMS Warrior was the next step in technological development. No longer a wooden hull clad in iron armour, it was an iron hull with iron armour. The ship design isn’t really relevant here since that’s not what I’m going for, but the armour and hull is.

Let me quote from Wikipedia again:

The Admiralty initially specified that the ship should be capable of 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph), and have a full set of sails for worldwide cruising range. Iron construction was chosen as it gave the best trade-off between speed and protection; an iron hull was lighter than a wooden one of the same size and shape, giving more capacity for guns, armour and engines.

The Warrior-class design used many well-proven technologies that had been used in ocean-going ships for years, including her iron hull, steam engine, and screw propeller; only her wrought-iron armour was a major technological advance.

The rapid evolution of warship design, for which Warrior was partly responsible, meant that she started to become obsolete only ten years after she had been launched. In 1871 the Royal Navy commissioned its first mastless capital ship, HMS Devastation.

So, by 12 November 1869, the British Navy was already sure that the Warrior was good enough to evolve further because that's when they laid down HMS Devastation.

Now a mastless ship like the HMS Devastation is a step too far for both A and Kagami. This will be their first ocean going warship and they don’t trust a ship without masts. However, they’ve been watching the British and French closely and they know that both La Gloire and HMS Warrior are solid ship designs so that’s what they ask Verny to build for them and that’s what he does.

Verny was French and he was hired in 1865. La Gloire was launched in 1859 so I’d say he would have been familiar with it. In addition, I think that he would have known about the HMS Warrior as well since it was launched in 1861 and it was very well publicised. Additionally, Japan was making wrought iron from sixth century A.D. onwards and the Uchiha are metallurgy specialists. Given the size of Yokosuka and its iron works, I’ve chosen to say that it was possible.

La Gloire took a year and eight months to build. HMS Warrior took a year and four months. Verny and his people build both ships in four years.

Two iron clad, iron hulled ships, frigate sized with steam powered screw propellers, armed with heavy guns but crewed by shinobi who have only had them for less than six months, they are the only two modern ships on the Japanese side of the conflict. Every other Japanese ship in this war is an old style sailing ship from either Uzushio or Kirigakure.

These two ships are are the Kōtetsu and the Azuma.

I’ve chosen to name them both after the historical Kōtetsu, the first ironclad warship of the Imperial Japanese Navy, in order to keep things as close to history as I can.

Kōtetsu (甲鉄) literally means “Ironclad”, and it was later renamed Azuma (東) which means “East”.

Given the way that Tōhoku, Kaminari no Kuni in this AU, is on the eastern end of Japan, it seemed an appropriate name for A’s ship. Kagami is more practical. He doesn’t see his ship as anything more than a tool. It’s not a vanity project, and you can see that in the way Kagami - very sensibly knowing that no one in Konoha has ever handled a ship - leverages the Senju alliance with the Uzumaki to send the Kōtetsu up to Uzushio to be crewed by Uzumaki. That is a lot of people that he’s hiring. The complement of La Gloire was 570 officers and enlisted men, and the Kōtetsu requires about the same.