Ok so this is a very delayed response to the prev chapter and the replies that I had received, but in my defense studying can be very stressful and time consuming and the adhd procrastination doesn't help.
For those that wished to know what would've become of Suijami in that original 'verse, below is a future that may have happened. For those that wish to follow along as her story changes in the new/rewrite, read ahead with caution, as some aspects will still stay the same, and would thus constitute spoilers. The new and updated version of this story can be found at: /works/58651039/chapters/149441332
For anyone still here with me now, I hope this brings you as much closure as me.
This won't be too long or detailed, as we'd be here for much too long for that, but her future starting from a few months stay into Konoha starts like this:
-Despite somewhat settling into Konoha ok at first, there are... a lot of trips to a young T . Mostly they want to know what she knows, or what she might let other Kinme clan members know, as they've all spread out across the land.
-Suijami, with the political ability of a brick, overthinks and underthinks at the same time and somehow they get a "clean bill" of consciousness a few months down the line. (It was Dosukeru. Dosukeru was the one that actually has some ounce of political know-how somehow and would like Suijami to stop talking herself into holes.)
-(insert lotr "keep your secrets" meme because clan secret protection, for why she wasn't grilled within an inch of her life for Kinme research)
-They settle, and when Oro is four, he also joins the academy, and graduates barely a year later to be put on a team with Tsunade and Jiraiya under the hokage. This time around, he's a bit closer to his teammates before they even start, because of the first clash at the orphanage with jiraiya and also he got into an argument with tsunade at the academy over whether snakes or slugs were better.
-The hokage is often busy, but does his best to teach this team of gremlins, and Suijami starts visiting their training grounds when her own team is on time off, and somehow oro's teammates become regulars at both the bar Suijami part-timed at and at the kinme home.
Peacetime meant that the missions aren't too high stakes (relatively), but the other ninjas who still haven't gotten past the warring clans era means that training is... a lot harder than they would be, otherwise.
Through tsunade, they become a bit more acquainted with tobirama, but that's about the extent of it, since he'd died via te gold and silver brothers before oro and co even graduated the academy.
-fast forwards through shenanigans and suijami desperately trying to keep both her and oro out of Danzo's sightline, and the second war erupts.
-The sannin become the sannin, but they were able to deal a near-lethal blow to hanzo, crippling him. Oro wasn't as dismissive of the ame trio here, but jiraiya still stayed behind. They had more resources though, and both oro and tsunade both promised to visit
-(Dan dies)
-Oro takes a genin team- Nawaki being one of them, and on one mission Suijami went with them with the intent on splitting off to takumi village
-She races nawaki, because that's the brat she's helped babysit and he has a competitive streak a mile wide and she didn't pay attention, didn't hear Dosukeru's warning, and-
-Nawaki lives, in this au,
Anyways! A broad view of Suijami's career goes like this:
-Her genin team would've been composed of her, Sakumo, and a Hyuga, led by one of the Hokage's guards (I remembering debating between Uchiha Kagami or the Akimichi). They don't do the first chunin exams, but go for the second, where it was based in Kiri.
-They... don't really pass. It's fine.
It's not like they really need the chunins right now, since the great shinobi war was just a one time thing, right? :D
Besides, the chunin exams are still a work in progress. The fact that they all survived at all was already a boon in their favour
(They get a field promotion later.)
Fast forwards many years that I didn't have many plans for, the second war starts, and Suijami had by then got scouted and entered Anbu with an assassination specialty
(So many fun missions. So. many. _)
tail end of the war, everything is calming, and she joins oro's team for a brief mission.
Gets blown up for it.
Thankfully, what would've been lethal for a child/teen was significantly less so on her, but medicine back then was... limited, and even with months of recovery, her left leg from mid-thigh down was basically out of commission.
-Poor kid and oro were both traumatized, and suijami gets retired from the general forces.
-(Still moonlights as Anbu though, albeit more in a support way)
-Becomes teacher at the academy, both because she hadn't had a chance to take on her own team and because it helps give perspective on what generation is going Through It (tm)
Sees Kushina at the academy one year
goes: Oh Shit
Starts penning letters, *all* the letters
While this doesn't save Uzushio, it did give an island of sealing specialists and the remnants of the Kinme time to prep, which meant most managed to evacuate.
Insert Konoha, now significantly more full of Uzumakis and Kinmes then they were a week previous and Sarutobi with a headache the size of his head on the mountain behind him.
Lol, rip him
And a school-teacher she stays, terrorizing brats for shits and giggles but also doing her best to arm them with common sense (and getting into arguments with the council for trying to push up the age limit children can graduate)
With Oro in village, tsunade also in village, and a shit-ton more uzumaki in village, the kyuubi attack is deflated like a small balloon- a bit pathetically. Kushina stays the host, but Naruto is still influenced by kurama's chakra enough to have the whisker marks.
I haven't thought much further than that, but in my defense, Suijami hadn't expected to live that long either lol
And finally, because the brainworms for this fic has never really left despite all the years, this is a version of what Suijami would've looked like in this previous iteration had she lived til adulthood, as illustrated by the awesome SkyBlueCoffee ( /users/SkyBlueCoffee)! (if the image doesn't link properly, please let me know)
( /IKuYmwe)
thoughts on the char design: even in canon oro's design is somewhat more distinct than the other ninjas, and considering that kusanagi for some reason has more of a design of a jian (chinese straight sword) in the anime, so i had decided to sorta go with a more wuxia-esque design for her later on appearance. Both because it would also suit her fighting style better (with dosukeru hidden in her sleeves and all), and also because once ninjas reach a certain threshold of age/maturity they seem to be more ok with branching out with their own style and it would be a breath of nostalgia for her. Long hair not completely tied back is so that dosukeru has somewhere to hide, and the portion that is tied back would sorta help lighten the load/prevent all of her hair from being within easy grabbing distance. As for the boots- i don't think i'll ever find sandals a practical combat garment aoeihaohegage sorry
It's been over 8 years since I started scales and fangs (originally posted over on fanfic . net), and today this version of it will finally meet its end. Worry not, because the new and improved version can be found here even if its only chap 1 up so far.
As a typical fic author life update, since the last proper chapter of scales and fangs and not the worried scribbles of someone too sleep deprived and sitting in a classroom of not many people, I've finished my undergrad, changed tracks because I'd realized that medicine as a health practitioner wasn't for me, started masters, finished masters (biomed engineering), started phd away from home, and that's where i'm currently at.
As in literally, currently at the airport preparing to go home after a smol not-really break LOL
Life is long and takes many turns, and I'll be one of the first to say that your undergrad won't define your entire life- there are many opportunities to change and that usually helps take a lot of stress off things. So take that chance, see the sights, and also note that the higher up in academia you are (masters, phd etc) the less your gpa counts for shit lol
So for those that don't plan on following the new version of this fic, thanks for your patience for all these years, and I bid thee a farewell and hope you success wherever you find yourselves in life!
-C. M.
Sept 3, 2024