A/N: So... I got inspired to write another SI-OC for Dreaming of Sunshine. This got no connection with As the Sea Calls though Shinju and Kairi are pretty similar. So there are no extra Namikaze's in this fic.

The main inspiration to this came from Silver Queen's Sunshine Sidestories where she provided alternate viewpoints to the events of Dreaming of Sunshine. On of those were Yoshino's PoV of the beginning of her relationship with Shikaku and then to the time when the twins go to the academy. Nara Ikoma is Shikaku's younger brother who died on a mission that went so south that only thing Hokage returned was a headband and a mission report that was mostly redacted.

So this was imagining what if Ikoma had a child? Thus Shinju. And then I was world building and thought maybe I could throw Sharingan into the mix... and later found Nara!Sai fic where Sai's parents were Ikoma and Kurama kunoichi... whose own father was an Uchiha... yeah... weird situation.

Anyhow, I hope you like this intro chapter. The next one I'll post at some point.

In the shadow of a gingko tree

Chapter 1: Kinoshita

Many generations ago the Kinoshita women were part of the Nadeshiko village. Not for long when Kinoshita Fuuka decided to leave with her husband to make life elsewhere. As a result, the entire family was exiled and cursed to have unhappy marriages. Specifically, the women of the family would have their marriages end tragically.

They didn't notice it at first. The world was being torn apart by warring clans and the life expectation of an average man was not great. But even then, it seemed like a countdown was being started at the very least when Kinoshita woman had her first child conceived. Sometimes even earlier if the woman was young and deeply in love. Without a fault either the woman perished on childbed or then the husband fell in battle or to sickness.

The Hidden Village of Leaves was founded and the Kinoshita joined them as well. They hoped that if they merged with other clans, maybe the curse would be mitigated and eventually extinguished if they let the family name die out. Let the family become patrilinear in contrast to all those families of Nadeshiko.

And it worked. Male heirs were born and happily married and had children on their own. Some of those children married to clans or civilian families and lost their name to the annals of history.

All except Kinoshita Fuuka's line. The first child was always a girl. They were successful in their shinobi career and wanted someone to pass their knowledge on. Some tried taking apprentices or adopting but the curse always moved on with them. Once part of Konoha, they took care not to end up being responsible of a genin team in the fear of the curse catching onto the unsuspecting children as well.

Some of the clans were aware of the curse and thus they took care not to interact too deeply with them. But then you had the Uchiha who loved as fiercely as the Kinoshita and suffered a curse of a different kind.

Kinoshita Katsuki was a genjutsu specialist and caught Uchiha Hatori's eye. The clan was against them marrying, they didn't want another curse with them, but Hatori was stubborn and threatened to leave the clan and taking the Kinoshita name. That prospect horrified the Uchiha as Hatori was talented shinobi himself. A compromise was reached.

Hatori would live outside the compound with his new wife. If a child was to be born from their union, their sharingan would be sealed away. The Uchiha had such method to prevent the activation of the sharingan. Originally it had been made for people with medical conditions that couldn't handle even a miniscule extra drain in chakra. Later it was used on civilians who decided to marry outside the clan to prevent persecution by the enemies of the family.

Kinoshita Katsuki died at childbirth, leaving Hatori to raise their daughter alone. The daughter got the Kinoshita name and at three years old had her eyes sealed. Hatori himself moved from the field to the Administration with the help of a 'career ending injury'. That allowed him to remain in village and look after his daughter. Mitsuru stayed with his relatives during the day until it was time for her to join the Academy. No one outside of the Uchiha knew of her paternity. She was a Kinoshita and thus doomed be unloved.

Mitsuru graduated with middling marks in everything but book subjects. She managed to snag a field promotion during the brutality of Second War and then moved to become part of the Intelligence department. She still went out to field occasionally and kept herself in shape but more often than not combed through reports, verified information and ran around village delivering paperwork.

She met Nara Ikoma.

They were young, barely out of their teens. Peacetime was winding close and the great nations were ready to size each other up again.

They were sent on mission together and something sparked. It should've been alright. Ikoma was only the second son. He was the spare. Mitsuru could marry into his family and change her name. Her child would not need to carry the curse.

But then Ikoma's brother the clan heir broke his betrothal contract in favor of a career chuunin. Nara Shikaku was disowned and Ikoma was now the heir.

"I'm expected to marry Fusae-san." Ikoma – Shikarou now – told her one evening. Mitsuru swallowed and cradled her stomach. Nakajo Fusae had been Shikaku's fiancée. She was not surprised that the woman had been passed from one son to another. Fusae was talented. She had good reputation, politically keen mind, enough strength to hold off five chuunins at the same time… Perfect wife candidate for future clan head. A true catch.

"I see…" Her hands pressed down. Ikoma caught the motion. He understood. They had been less than careful and as Mitsuru had been village bound for a while, she had cancelled the pregnancy prevention jutsu. They had been planning to marry…

"I can still support you… The clan stipend covers a lot and I have a house at the compound already. I can put half of my mission pay aside for you and have summons deliver it."

"And Nakajo-san? Won't she be mad that you keep me secret?"

"She is a reasonable woman. If I tell her the barebones of the situation… not your name, she will understand. As my wife, I have to remain loyal to her here on out but…"

"This child will still be yours but never the heir."

"Never the heir." Ikoma agreed.

The wedding was held. Mitsuru wasn't there, naturally. She still went on missions for a bit. Ikoma sent her money that she carefully saved. Her apartment had thankfully an extra room that could act as a nursery.

Ikoma died soon, too soon. Fusae was childless. The Nara clan took Shikaku and his wife Yoshino back.

Kinoshita Shinju was born.

And this is her story.

A/N: The names are inspired from Detective Conan, manga that is still very dear to me. Kinoshita Fusae is the name of one of the side-characters whose hair is said to be the same color as autumnal ginkgo leaves.

Fuuka, Katsuki and Mitsuru are named after the 'Beauties of Nature' Ka-Chou-Fuu-Getsu [Flower-Bird-Wind-Moon] that are mentioned in another case of Detective Conan.

Inspector Nakamori: "The paintings are part of a 4-point set. The first one 'Crimson' is a flower, the second one 'Golden' is moon, the third one 'pure white' is bird. And the fourth one 'Seiran' which Kid [thief] is after, is wind."

Ran: "I see! 'Ka-Chou-Fuu-Getsu'!"

Kogorou: "I see the four of them display the Beauty of Nature!"

Conan: "-But why is 'pure white' a bird?"

Nakamori: "A crane! They say it depicts a pure white red-crowned crane standing in a snow field!"

So Fuuka is "the scent of wind", Katsuki is "flower moon" and Mitsuru "three cranes". The latter refers to the conclusion of the case referred to above where it is revealed that the paintings were originally intended to be 3-point set. A Snow-Moon-Flower one. So the painting with the crane would be about the snow and not the bird.

Shinju's name is removed from this theme because I wanted a name that began with 'shi' but was still pretty enough to fit the rest of the names.

(And Fuuka was originally named Kazehana but then I spotted that name being associated with Land of Snow)