Fun fact! I headcanon the Uchiha as the police force were aware of the kidnappings and were gathering evidence to bring to the daimyo. This evidence was an integral part of their non violent coup plan ( remember the uchiha wanted to and had the means for a bloodless coup, meanwhile danzo wanted it as messy as possible?) As it would have the daimyo give them legitimacy to clear out the old guard and make them heroes for exposing the crime.
The council didn't just kill the uchiha to get rid of a group of people they hated but did so to cover up their own crimes the force was investing!
Honestly I love making freaky little civilan ocs that have kekkei genkai but aren't involved enough in ninja bullshit to know exactly what it is or how it works. They just know it's close enough to ninja bullshit that they absolutely can NOT tell the ninja that the Kirigaya family can talk to animals. it isn't their buisness. like from what we see in the anime, ninja are…..kinda self centered. they don't think of civilians as real threats, or as really capable of being smarter then them or keeping secrets. civilians in ninja villages LOVE lying, and since it's almost never about millitary secrets they can get away with it as long as the shops open on time. ESPECIALLY SINCE KONOHA JUST. GENOCIDED IT'S POLICE FORCE A DECADE AGO
“But one day… In the future… I dream of a Discord where all fans will cooperate with each other… A time when everyone's hearts will be together regardless of their loyalty to the Senju or the Uchiha…That's my dream of the future.”
Whether you’re a Senju or Uchiha, join our Village server today! We promise there’s totally not going to be a coup.
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If you're just looking to yap, writing a political drama or tragic romance for the ages, or simply want to psychoanalyze whatever was going on with Senju Tobirama to make him invent that jutsu in the first place, there's a place for you here 🤍
Related: How can Orochimaru afford all that expensive lab equipment?
Konoha, as we know, harbors the strongest shinobi the ninja world has ever seen. Be it Minato, who was able to wipe out entire battalions, or Shisui, who managed to make a name for himself internationally at the age of sixteen. Apart from Hiruzen's inability to kill his own student, there just has to be another reason why they don't just invade Otogakure and finish him off, right? I've started to wonder that, too. And since I work in an evironment where a single glass coverslip costs 70 bucks, I've started to wonder how on earth Orochimaru can afford all his damn lab equipment. I'll look at the most prominent explainations and give my thoughts and my own theoy. More under the cut.
If we take fillers into account, (bear with me here) it is established that Konoha, despite its strengths, is already known for letting their rogue shinobi run free without doing much.
The notion is, the better the village treats its shinobi, the less rogue shinobi there will be. It's natural to assume that only Kirigakure, as a village with frequent rogue shinobi have an organized task force for such cases. But in the case of a shinobi with intel like Orochimaru, why on earth wouldn't they try to track him down?
Theory #1
"Orochimaru's alignment with Danzo and the root organization makes Danzo actively hinder the village from locating him, that's why they can't fight him."
Danzo having someone like Orochimaru as an ally would snowball into such a scandal, I imagine only his most brainwashed loyal soldiers would be aware of that union. I would think Danzo wants to keep it that way. Even if he is able to pull a few strings, he does not have as much impact over what missions get approved and what missions don't. I can imagine him bringing his men onto Orochimaru surveillance missions and killing other shinobi if they find relevant intel.
Theory #2
"Orochimarus hideouts are just too well hidden to be discovered."
I don't think so. His main hideout is in Otogakure, which is a small village. If several small teams are sent there to scout the area, they'd easily locate his hideouts and could find him sooner or later. Unlike Pain (reminder: he uses the rain to surveil Amegakure, where I think Akatsuki's main hideout is located), Orochimaru does not possess surveillance powers to look over the entire village. Locating him would be easier than locating Akatsuki.
Which brings me to my theory.
"Konoha is keeping Orochimaru alive because he's still useful."
Most, or dare I say all of biological research involves genes, or rather, a genetic sequence. Have you ever wondered how these sequences are stored? The answer is databanks. Huge databanks. For reference, the genomic raw data of one (1) human is 200 gigabytes large[1]. For reference, that's more storage than the entire Naruto shippuden series needs, fillers included[2]. If we add onto that a variant list with all possible mutations that people have, we can add 125 megabytes per person.
That amount of data requires quite some infrastructure and genetic know-how. If only there was someone with vast amounts of space, genetic know-how and heaps of genetic data to maintain such a databank... Oh wait.
I can imagine Orochimaru hosting such a databank where researches from all over the world can gain access to all the genetic data they need - against a small monthly fee. And the agreement to enter all data they generate to the databank for other researchers to use. Independent researchers, small research teams, schools, universities and other institutions, they all rely on that service for that research. Sure, some competitors do exist, but Orochimaru's databank is probably the most expansive, and more importantly, the most accessable. For a man who built his state on offering opportunities to the most unfortunate (Dosu, Kimimaro, Kabuto), you can bet he knows how crucial access to information is. He probably even has different subscriptions tiers for students, independent researchers and institutions so everyone can afford that service. He knows most people can't do as high level research as he can because they're bound by things like scientific ethics, so he doesn't see a problem sharing his research data freely. And the research organizations? They look the other way. They know the unethical roots of that research, but in a fast paced, profit oriented world, it's all they have. Just like in our world.
Apart from just data-bank hosting, I also think Orochimaru probably also runs a kind of service laboratory where private individuals and companies alike can send in tissue/blood/hair/saliva samples for sequencing. Non-essential and non-vital sequencing work is outsourced to his laboratory. It's costly, but still cheaper than running your own genetic sequencer. Orochimaru is able to negate the costs by adding the sequences to his own databank. People essentially PAY for their data to be added to his databank. (Which is exactly what companies like 23andme, ancestry and others are doing, btw.)
Biju-inherited kekei genkai (1): the Kyubi bloodline descended from Uzumaki Kushina
I know that Boruto is something of a swear word around these parts but on some choice occasions I like to play around with the retcon worldbuilding implications, so hear me out
for those of you who refuse to keep up with Boruto (a choice I respect), around the end of part 1 Kurama uses up all his life force to beat a bad guy and die, and a bit later Naruto gets sealed off and out of the pictures. Then, in part 2, Kurama respawns directly into Himawari, conveniently giving her a jinchuriki power up mid-fight.
(Boruto: Two Blue Vortex, chapter 10)
This sounds like BS for anyone who knows anything about how jinchuriki work—what do you mean the biju spawned right into her belly, no sealing involved??
Then the concept is further developed in chapter 25:
The gist of it is that 1) Kurama spawned right into Himawari cuz she have exceptional compatibility with his chakra, supposedly more so than even Naruto, because of her bloodline 2) Himawari is not really a jinchuriki, she's actually closer to becoming a biju-like chakra beast herself.
Here, I'm done talking about the Boruto manga, pinky promise.
So the interesting idea is that jinchuriki ancestry has an impact of some sort on a bloodline, And even more if you have several jinchuriki of the same biju—so we get a greater compatibility to said biju, and something akin to a kekei genkai.
The bloodline descended from Uzumaki Kushina is proof of concept.
Naruto’s iconic Fox whisker marks are obviously a Kyûbi thing —they react and widen when the Fox chakra is leaking— but he didn’t gain them from becoming a jinchuriki. Note how neither Kushina nor Mito have those! Naruto was actually born with the whisker marks, a trait we can reasonably infer is due to having a Kyûbi jinchuriki mother.
So being the son of a Kyûbi jinchuriki makes Naruto even more compatible to be in turn a Kyubi jinchuriki, and the face marks are just a physical proof of it.
The Boruto generation confirms it, with both of Naruto’s children having the whiskers (and Himawari’s canon crazy compatibility with Kurama). The only counterintuitive thing is that Boruto and Hima have weaker fox trait than Naruto (2 whiskers instead of 3), altho they have TWO generations of Kyubi jinchuriki in a row in their direct parentage, and their father Naruto is supposedly a much more perfect jinchuriki than Kushina was. I have two possible answers for that: either the Hyuga bloodline strongly balance it out (but Kurama’s words to Himawari seem to hint to the contrary), or their traits are weaker because the jinchuriki bloodline is on their father’s side instead of their mother’s —> they didn’t stew in Kyubi chakra for the whole pregnancy.
From all that I conclude that repeatedly having a specific Biju’s jinchuriki in a bloodline make said biju’s power slowly seep into the bloodline. That entices both a stronger natural compatibility to the Biju among that family line, and a kekei genkai based on that Biju’s own powers.
Kurama doesn’t have any fun elemental release to play with tho, only his fox form and an indecent amount of chakra.
A much more interesting example to poke at would be whatever the fuck is going on in Suna between Shukaku and the Kazekage clan, which I do here :3
●It's been noted by kishimoto that the Uzushiogakure, Land of Whirlpools, Village of longevity & Village hidden in Whirling Tides/Eddies, You think a Village with titles like this, we'd get more info right? NOPE. Barely got any info on them or their life apart from the fact that the Uzumaki clan inhabited the island, were attacked around the time kushina got sent to konoha to act as the new holder for the 9-tails, cuz Mito was getting weaker, & that their home was destroyed because they were feared for their fuinjutsu, the uzumaki were scattered across the land & that the Leaf did NOTHING to help despite it being stated they were "Sister Villages" & ALLIES. And even then, we barely got ANYTHING about the clan THE MAIN CHARACTER IS NAMED AFTER(cuz kishimoto likes to hoe it's characters & favored the uchihas)....
●We also barely got stuff from the uzumaki clan. I looked on tumblr & internet to see some people come up with revisions & headcanons on the uzumaki clan & Uzushio, & they're great & gave me some inspiration. So call me joining in the uzumaki craze but I got my own thoughts & opinions to share. In this case, this is an AU if Uzushiogakure DID NOT FALL & IN FACT SURVIVED BUT ISOLATED THEMSELVES + some headcanons...
More Information(headcanons) Down Below. Also, THESE ARE MY THOUGHTS & HEADCANONS, I DO NOT OWN NARUTO NOR DO I OWN IT'S STORIES, CHARACTERS & WORLDBUILDING, IF YOU GOT QUESTIONS, OPINIONS AND/OR YOUR OWN HEADCANONS, FEEL FREE TO SEND THEM IN MY INBOX & ASK. thank you...
●First off, let me say this because I feel like alot of fans seem to forget that it was literally stated that THE UZUMAKI WERE RELATED(DAMN NEAR DISTANT COUSINS) TO THE SENJU CLAN. And they have been allies WAAAAY LONG BEFORE THE LEAF EVEN CAME TO BE. I feel like when Mito & Hashirama(Clan head of the Senjus) married, that alliance went deeper. & even though the uzumaki were loyal to AND on really good terms with the senju(to the point they would often have children with one another to give birth to strong children with both their genetics to fight cuz it was like that back then during the Warring States period), That loyal ended up extending once Hashirama became one of the Founders of Konoha, even with jounin wearing the Uzushiogakure/Uzumaki clan symbol on their flak jackets. Hell that loyalty still stayed close allies after Hashirama & Tobirama's death for the following decades. In short, their alliance predates konoha way long ago, their loyalty WAS WITH THE SENJU CLAN FIRST AND ALWAYS, & Hashirama & mito's marriage strengthened that bond....
●They had a seamless civilian-ninja intergration. Considering the Uzumaki clan lived on an island they probably took in merchants, wanderers, other ninja/warriors & they intergrated on the Island. Considering the Uzumaki were the "Founders" of the Island surrounded by Whirlpools, they were considered royalty amongst other clans & civilians on the island. But back to the other thing, their civilian & military life kinda blended together in their daily life, long before they even decided to brand themselves as a ninja village as well. There were no difference or distinctions between civilians or ninja. Hell I'm willing to bet my bottom dollar that even Samurai lived on that Island. The Uzumaki also had their own Fighting Style(Basically it looks like a blend of 65% Capoeria, 25% of Lethwei/Muay Thai & 10% Judo)...
●Also, I read somewhere that uzushiogakure was based on Okinawa(it was a headcanon someone made on here, I need to find the name) & when I read it, I was like, 😲😲😄"Hold up, this is Interesting~". The more I read the more it fit, & i was like "Ok, they cooked". Then I thought, "wait, why not make their culture & lifestyle based off of actual Island, Oceania and/or Maritime Culture & Heritage?" So I searched & found numerous indigenous groups & read up on them. I then came to the conclusion that maybe Pacific islanders, Specifically Polynesians fit the bill.(ALSO JUST SO WE ARE CLEAR I AM A AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMAN WHOSE BACKGROUND IS GHANIAN & IVORY COAST, I AM NOT TRYING TO OFFEND OR DISRESPECT ANYONE ON HERE. THESE ARE HEADCANONS, IF YOU ARE POLYNESIAN, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CORRECT ME IF I GET ANYTHING WRONG. PLEASE & THANK YOU). Their community structures included: Family Circles, Village Councils Led by Elders(Cuz the uzumaki lived really long lifes thanks to their life force as seen with Mito & Ashina Uzumaki) & Various Seasonal Gatherings. Also while those on uzushio had a main/heavy based seafood diet, they were not ones to turn down other meat(pork, chicken, beef). They Also had different types of tropical fruits & vegetables. Due to the Uzumaki & Their Long life lines & community, their Oral traditions, lullabies, stories/legends, ect. Were VERY accurate across decades/centuries...
●You know the reaper death seal jutsu, & how it was a sealing jutsu that was developed by the Uzumaki clan. Makes you wonder, "How?!" Cuz during the jutsu they literally summon the Shinigami, a being/entity that's literally the god of death. There's also the fact that the "Uzumki Mask Storage Temple" had a whole bunch of masks that had to do with summoning the shinigami. A LITERAL TEMPLE WHOSE EXISTENCE WAS DEDICATED TO SUMMONING THE GOD OF DEATH USING DIFFERENT TYPES OF MASKS. If that wasn't some crazy, outlandish(& let's face it terrifying AF) type shit right here😳💀. I have a theory(that I'm pretty sure most people have probably said and/or thought), The Uzumaki Clan Had close connections/Relationships to the shinigami. Their long lifespans, humongous life forces, the reaper death seal being one out of the many possible jutsus that involved using/summoning the FREAKING GOD OF DEATH RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU, & a possible cultural connection to death & the afterlife.
●I imagine the uzumaki didn't fear death but instead accepted it. Cuz let's face it; you are in a clan that has been known to live long lives to the point they can oversee multiple generations, & survive worse injuries than anyone else, live somewhere surrounded by Whirlpools that could possibly kill you if not careful & have connections, interactions & possible negotiations with a death god.
●The Uzumaki are crazy sons of bitches whose concept of fearing death kinda flew out the window a LONG time ago. & honestly when you look at it, it kinda makes sense. Cuz, & I'm gonna be real with ya'll right now, the concept of death isnt really a bad thing. Is it scary? YEAH(Hell I fear for my life anytime I decide to step out the house), but when you think about it, death basically means going on & transitioning to somewhere else in the afterlife(or heaven depending on what ya'll believe in). To the Uzumaki death is like in inevitable tide, you can swim or run as fast as you can, but you can't avoid forever, best to take it head on & accept it. They also have funeral & death rites, while the dying share their knowledge before their last moments are up. This is probably one of the reasons as to why the uzumaki & their fuinjutsu were feared; they didn't fear death(cuz again live long lives), had close contracts & pacts with death entities(I mean other religions existed & were followed, but still). The reaper death seal was one of their techniques to emsure a win against enemies....
●Due to living on a island for a long time, there's a geographical sense of diversity. In real life, island/Oceania nations have historically diverse populations from decades of maritime heritage, trading, travels, intermingling & cultural exchanges. Years of this leading to VERY diverse skin tones, looks & apperances from those of the island. All from Light, Tan, Dark skinned & everything in between.
●Basically the uzumaki didn't give a shit about blood purity(UNLIKE SOME CLANS), so yeah. I mean let's face it, In canon the only showing marker of an Uzumaki is their RED HAIR. It didn't say anything regarding skin color. In canon you got Kushina, Karin, Mito & Nagato as the only Uzumaki we see(despite it being stated that some remaining Uzumaki were scattered about, yet we never see them). I don't know about you but as much as I love these guys, THESE ARE LITERALLY THE ONLY UZUMAKI WE SEE IN THE ENTIRE SERIES, LIKE WTF?!! Their life on the island before their destruction does NOT mean Mono looks and/or homogenetics(I know at least most of ya'll reading this remember how Genetics, Diversity & Punett squares work, so please don't @ me).
●As for hair, we all know it's red, but that color of red can vary in different types of shades and tones(Im not sure if it's noticeable in the Manga though), ranging from bright cherry, crimson, burgundy, velvet, auburn red, ect. As seen with Mito even when she was reaching her hundreds & getting weaker from the 9-tails she still had her red hair. I also read somewhere that when red-hair get old, they hair doesn't get gray immediately. Instead their hair color tends to fade go throught pigmentation loss of some sort. Making me believe that the Uzumaki Clan Elders hair will fade before turning silver/white, as seen with Ashina Uzumaki(like that dude looked OLD AF BUT WAS STILL A NINJA AND CLAN HEAD IN HIS OLD AGE).
●Their diversity in eye color was also something, as seen with Kushina, karin, naruto, mito & Nagato(though he had the rinnegan so we're not sure). Eye colors of Blues, Greens, Browns, Ambers, Auburns/Reds, Purples & Yellows. Some Uzumaki may even have heterochromia. As for skin tones/colors varieties: You got Uzumaki with Lighter Skin tones, Medium tones, Golden/Tans undertones & even Darker skin tones. There's also NO such thing as colorism in their culture, in fact they choose to celebrate diversity & their beauty standards aren't based on appearances. Also in terms of Tattoos/Seals on their skin(cuz this headcanon is something I LOVE & WILL stand by): Those with light skin tones use darker colored ink while darker skinned use golds, white or even reds(or other bright colors), all for contrast to stand out(Cuz as a dark skinned woman myself, I know that tats with darker ink don't stand out as much for some). And y'know how seals glow when activated, Imagine having glowing tattoo seals on your skin, like...👀👌🏿👌🏿. Also scarification rituals are used in tandem with sealing for certain ceremonies(sounds intense & painful, but cool).
●The island's got Regional settlements & Varieties. Nothern's slighly lighter on an average, Southern got folks with more melanin, There's the Central part of Uzushio which has the widest & mixed variety, And finally Costal and In-land Clans that have different exposure patterns/tones. Now some of you probably are gonna judge, criticise or even roast me for saying all this, & that's fine everyone has a right to their own opinions, but honestly in the Naruto series they're only a FEW of Uzumaki that we see in canon that just happened to carry certain genetics that made them pale. Uzushiogakure destruction was a whole ass genocide of NOT JUST KNOWLEDGE, but beauty in diversity & differences,no different from losing or deleting a spectrum of colors(cuz let's be honest uzushiogakure destruction WAS GENOCIDE)...
Now That I got all that Off my Chest, Time to Go into what would have happened if The Village hidden in Whirling Tides DID NOT FALL....
●In the canon timeline it said uzushiogakure was destroyed sometime DURING the 2nd shinobi war(with kushina saying she grew up in a civil war before she left as a child). But in my AU uzushiogakure fought back, HARD WITH EVERYONE, & I MEAN EVERYONE ON THAT ISLAND FIGHTING FOR THEIR LIFE, NOT JUST THE UZUMAKI, BUT OTHER CLANS THAT LIVED THERE AS WELL. Elderly seal masters, Children using basic seals they learned in school, Fishermen, Samurai who lived on the island, Craftsmen, ect. Everyone is just fighting for their lives like HELL & manage to win & push the enemy back, but at some heavy costs. 30% of the population is gone with Thousands dead(died in battle or sacrificed themselves to turn into living bombs to take out as many enemies as possible), another 15% gone from powering & activating a seal barrier for the island.
●Their so called invincibility=broken. Their Trust in the world=BURNED AWAY and to rub salt in the wound, KONOHA DIDN'T ARRIVE IN TIME(OR MAYBE NOT AT ALL, CONSIDERING WHAT THE VILLAGE & THEIR PEOPLE ARE LIKE). They bled for this world, shared their knowledge, helped them in times THEY needed it the most & this is what they get?? The world tried to ERASE them. I don't know about you, but that alone would have caused some serious uproar with uzushiogakure raising hell & basically telling konoha their so called alliance(if you can even call it that anymore) is damn near void. DECADES OF ALLIANCE, BONDS & GOOD TERMS, GONE JUST LIKE THAT. So after coming to a VERY BITTER conclusion, their stances are basically like: Konoha ain't our friends or allies to us anymore(Fuck em🖕🏿).
●But what about Mito & Kushina you ask? They are representatives in that village. Basically they're still uzumaki & family, but are also "Exiles due to unfortunate circumstances". But the rest of Uzushio, They are DONE. The Damage & death is something that CANNOT be swept under the rug or brushed off. There is nothing that could be said or done to fix this, NOTHING. Remember the barrier I talked about & the 15% who died to activate it? Well it basically makes the entire island completely undetectable or even visible to the outside world. They still manage to find a way to send scrolls, information, updates intelligence, aids & even gifts to Mito & Kushina IN SECRET, but publicly, it's nothing but pure radio silence. Nothing from them AT ALL...
●Of Course Back in Konoha with Mito & Kushina(who was said to be sent konoha before the attack took place in canon so Imma stick with that) are praying & later mourning the loss of their home only to get a secret letter explaining the situation/circumstances that yes uzushiogakure has survived, BUT the leaf, nor does the rest of the world even know about their survival and/or existence, believing they had died. So know while The girls are thankful that their home is still stands but they CANNOT go back home or say a single word. Mito, who has outlived & lost her husband & brother in law, while furious at konoha yet mournful of the situation & fractured loyalty, understands & takes the secret to the grave with her. She might have stayed in the village out of duty as the first 9-tails jinchuriki, she's Uzushio first above anything else. Still still becomes Kushina's teacher & the secret link between her, their home & Konoha(She died in peace knowing her people fought with everything they got & their homeland is standing after all that. Plus the Uzumaki managed to sneak into the konoha morgue, take mito's body & give her a proper funeral & burial back in uzushio).
●Kushina on the other hand, who was depressed about everything, after reading the letter was happy knowing her home wasn't gone, but was still sad knowing she couldn't go back even if she really wanted AND had to keep quiet about their survival. It's ALOT for a child to handle. Especially in her situation: Being a foreigner, Being brought to the leaf to act as the next jinchuriki/holder of the nine tails(cuz mito was getting weak), being considered an outsider by the SAME VILLAGE YOU'RE STUCK IN, being alone, ect. The only thing that made it worth it, was the scrolls, letters & gifts that were sent to her via a secret fuinjutsu network that could send stuff. kinda like reverse summoning but encryted & different(It still didn't get rid of the Longing Ache, loneliness & Sadness she carried in her heart still).
●Then came the dreaded night when Kumogakure ninja infiltrated the leaf & Kidnapped Kushina for her special chakra & was saved by Minato who saw the strands of hair she left behind & followed. Meanwhile back in uzushio you have them freaking out & ready to go save their princess/daughter only to see this Boy, A GENIN, with sunflower hair & blue eyes rushing in & saving kushina. No order, no hesitation, NOTHING, he just did it & Said her hair was beautiful. This boy, Minato Namikaze. He...loves her. They aren't ready to give in(FAR FROM IT CUZ KONOHA IS TRASH) & instead have him closely monitored. On missions, during daily life, even interfering with enemy ninja that get to close to him or kushina & very leaving tags & scrolls that he randomly finds.
●There's also the fact kushina, who most definitely, wrote & sent at least 1 letter about minato & what he's like & secretly gushing over this pretty faced blonde boy who she thought was a wimp. Meanwhile Minato has NO idea he's being monitored by a whole hidden(thought to be dead) nation. Then comes Kakashi. Yes the same young Kakashi that was still dealing with PTSD & survivors guilt from Obito(who was crushed under a rock & Kakashi took his eye) & Rin's death(when she was willing to sacrifice herself in order to protect the village) & Minato put Kakashi in charge of guarding Kushina throughout her pregnancy as a form of therapy to help him.
●Meanwhile Uzushio is just watching & sees this broken & traumatized child. One who, despite the shit he's been through, is fiercely loyal, competent, protecting kushina with every ounce of his body despite the anguish he's still reeling from & yet another victim of the shinobi lifestyle & system(Cuz let's face The Militaristic Lifestyle of Ninjas is a Harsh & Cruel thing on everyone, even those who AREN'T ninja still suffer one way or another). They look into kakashi's background & learn about sakumo(he did nothing wrong, Let's face it, my man was Vilified for NO ACTUAL REASON OTHER THAN CHOOSING TO SAVE HIS COMRADES OVER FINISHING THE MISSON, ANOTHER REASON KONOHA AINT SHIT), Obito & Rin. Despite everything, this hatake boy follows orders, protects kushina & asks for nothing else. Never sleeping & Vigilant damn near 24/7. So what does Uzushiogakure do, they start leaving mysterious/anonymous care packages left in random locations, area & watch points that Kakashi ends up finding/coming across; medicine/medical seals, food/hot meals, basic protection seals. Uzushiogakure may be Dtubborn, Petty & Pissed, but even they know what a suffering child looks like(even if that child's from the one village they never want to see or hear from EVER AGAIN)....
●Then Came October 10th. Kushina now ready to give birth(also little tidbit y'know damn well when they found out kushina was pregnant they used sealing to reverse summon Minato and Kushina & had the largest & craziest Baby shower & sent them so much gifts for them & little baby naruto, who everyone was so pumped to meet. Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Elders. Baby naru gonna get spoiled) was heading to a location near the outskirts of the village, knowing that the seal would be at its weakest while giving birth to naruto. Unfortunately it didn't go well as the "Masked Man" attacks, killing the Mid wife & Nurses, pulling out the 9 tails out of kuahina & releasing it. Fortunately(or unfortunately for the masked man) kushina had an extra seal on her near her belly that would alert the scrying seals used to keep an eye on her(along with monitoring Minato & Kakashi took some extent).
●This caused a huge commotion in which the council & elders said fuck this this, our blood is out there DYING! MOVE NOW! Basically a whole squad of a dozen Anbu from uzushiogakure came flying in/materialize in konoha to see the damage & do what they can to stop the madness. With them splitting up to Go to both Kushina & Minato And Demolishing any threats to the village(cus baby naruto was still there). 4 out of 12 of the ninja there see: Minato about to use the reaper death seal & Kushina dying with her life force being the only thing keeping her alive for these few moments. So they come to a solution & without any hesitation Sacrificed Themselves, Giving up All their Chakra & Life force to Save both Minato & Kushina(Cuz there's no way naruto about to grow up WITHOUT his parents & No way that Kushina or Minato are gonna raise naruto alone without each other there).
●Meanwhile, the other 8 ninja take one good look at the village & the state it's in. Like they really look & see: Screaming & Crying Children, Burning & destroyed Homes, People Scared & Dying. it's almost no different from when the attack on uzushio happened. The co-captain(cuz the main captain is with Kushina & Minato) almost tells them to fall back & they're here for kushina & lord 4th & NOTHING ELSE, but sees Kakashi(along with gai who were both ordered not to step in & let the older ninja handle it in the Canon) doing what they can to help. & in that moment, they move to help the hatake boy & makes the VERY Reluctant call/order to follow kakashi's command to help(He's Minato's student & a fellow Anbu himself, He protected kushina, He's Sakumo's child & despite orders is risking his life to help others)....
●By the End of it They managed to save hundreds & prevent further damage but some still died. 5 out of the 12 Anbu that came have died for this village. In that moment Hiruzen along with at least a quarter of the entire village realize that Uzushiogakure didn't die out or dissappear, they just isolated themselves from all the bullshit the world put them through. After this They Now have a New status quo to abide by: Uzushio will remained isolated & hidden away(no questions cuz it's bad enough one village knows they're alive they don't need the rest of the world finding out for fucks sake), but will also remain WATCHFUL. On the bright side Naruto Grows up with Both his parents & knowing about uzushiogakure & his clan. Minato & Kushina survive but are still weak & have 24/7 rotation medic nins from The Eddies coming in to nurse them back to full health, while also taking care of baby naruto. The Eddy Village still sends aides, updates & intelligence to Minato(who respects their isolation BUT maintains the secret alliance) & Kushina in secret still, But they also send birthday gifts. Kakashi(who let's face it is basically adopted by Minato & Kushina at this point) becomes kinda like a bridge between konoha & uzushio...
That's all I got, I might write more from this. If anyone uses this idea, please credit, don't steal. Plz don't send any hate, if you have questions and/or criticism on what to change, edit or add to this, lemme know. My inbox is always open....Have a SPOOKY October🎃🧡🌀🍥❣️....
Hinata should have gotten the Juinjutsu and been placed at the Secondary Branch Family during the Time skip, HEAR ME OUT ABOUT IT!
This is gonna be a long post and practically a rewrite of her whole story, but please stay with me!
Also forgive my bad English
So, Hinata cannon backstory is:
First born to Hiashi and Hyuga lady with no name
Kidnapped by the Cloud village when she was young, dad killed the guy, guy was from Cloud Village, Cloud village wants war against leaf and ask for Hiashi in return, Hizashi goes instead, Neji goes orphan. Because we learn about this from Neji's backstory we don't really know the details from her perspective.
Idk if it's after the kidnapping or before, but when she's really young she gets bullied because of how her eyes look and Naruto saves her, but they don't get to talk to each other bc a Hyuga appears and tell Hinata to not get involved with that boy. But this is the cannon explanation to why Hinata gets obsessed with Naruto — if you counting Naruto: The Last as cannon.
Hiashi starts believing Hinata isn't suited to be the Clan heir, since she can't compare to Neji or Hanabi (her younger sister)
When Hinata graduates from the Academy Kurenai goes to the Hyuga clan to ask Hiashi for permission to take her, since Hinata is the clan Heir and she could die during missions with her team. Hiashi couldn't be less bothered by it:
It's almost like he wishes she would die so the path is clear for Hanabi to take up the Clan.
A few observations about all that:
Because Hiashi and Hizashi are twins and Hizashi is in the Secondary Branch Family we can assume that the Main Branch Family is only formed by:
The clan leader
Their first born child
That's it. If Hiashi father/mother or grandfather/grandmother (whoever was the leader before him) is alive they would also be in the Main Branch, but besides that — Cousins, aunties and uncles, whatever — everyone else gets the selling mark on their forehead.
Which means Hanabi should get one, just like Hizashi did, but if we look at Hanabi in this scene
She looks about the same age Neji was when he got his mark, maybe just a year or two younger
But very close to Neji's age. Yet, by the time of Shippuden the little we see about her she's definitely do not have the sealing mark. At least no one mentions it.
I really think they were delaying giving Hanabi a mark so either Hinata dies in a mission or (maybe! Just maybe!) Hinata actually grows into someone that can fit the role of Clan Leader one day. We will talk about this later.
Another thing is that scene where Hizashi looks at Hinata training with her father and gets "Blood lusted"
Hinata is struggling during that training and we are kinda lead to believe Hizashi wants to kill her, that he's envy that that weak child gets something his son will never have that being "freedom" — at least that's the point we get from Hiashi that quickly subjugate his brother and tells him to stop with the foolishness.
But I read this a little different, I think Hizashi actually wanted to murder Hiashi in this scene. Probably because he's seen their children being forged in this fucked up system that ended their brotherhood. That would make more sense to why he sacrificed himself for Hinata later, and he explicitly says this isn't for Hiashi. I like to think he was somehow trusting the future to both Hinata and Neji, hoping that Neji could learn to make decisions for himself despise being told that the main family controls him (he chooses to save Hinata himself) and that Hinata (and maybe Hiashi) would see his sacrificed and rethink the clans structures.
Again, he see this story from Neji and Hiashi's perspective, but never from Hinata's. Maybe her and her uncle got a few seconds before he go, maybe he saw him smile to her and maybe she wondered all her life why he did it. (But that's just me dreaming about the characters)
Because we know Hinata hates herself
Neji says she hates herself for being weak, maybe this is related to the kidnapping. Maybe she thought this would never happen to Neji, who did so well in training, and that if she didn't get kidnapped her uncle wouldn't have died.
I also want to address that her being bullied because of her eyes and Naruto saving her is dumb as shit!
Before Naruto: The Last the cannon version of how Hinata start observing Naruto is that she just saw him training one day. Despise being told he's weak, and despise everyone hating him, he kept training everyday and she got inspired by it. Maybe because people were telling how weak she was and because Neji hated her so much?!!!! I mean, I know it's not the same thing, Hinata saw that guy that was dealing with similar stuff that she was but kept going anyway, and she wanted to cheer for him and to do that stuff herself. This was perfect and did not need changing
Also, why those kids would make fun of her eyes? There's Hyugas every where in Konoha, people know them to be a powerful clan! I'm sure people tell their kids not to mess with the clan brats, especially the clan heirs, and even if they didn't:
Hinata could dogged attacks from background characters, just because she's struggling with training against NEJI doesn't mean she's weak, or at least not THAT WEAK.
She literally had a Hyuga accompany at all times and they had to make so her body guard left her for a few seconds just so we could get a scene of Naruto saving her.
Her being inspired by Naruto and seeking training for herself instead of being saved by him gives her agency on her own story and they should not retcon that!
Last but not least, I think her mother should have been one of the people that died trying to prevent her from being taken by the Cloud, just because it's adds up to her feeling weak.
Also having her mother dying could make her grow more protective of Hanabi and Neji and more drawned in guilt, which we love bc we all masochists. Hanabi probably was just a baby when it happened, and they all lost their parents BECAUSE OF HER (in her mind), so she constantly feels she's not good enough and that she's bringing harm to her family and her clan from not being strong enough.
Also have her being way stronger by the time of the Chunin Exams.
By that point, after looking at Naruto and starting training by herself to get stronger, despite hearing she could not change, she had time to grow. She been on missions with Kurenai, Shino, Kiba and Akamaru, and guess what? She didn't died on those!
We know Kakashi send his rookie gennin to the chunnin exams because he's fuckin crazy and that's him forcing the kids to grow from extreme situations, but can you really imagine Kurenai and Asuma sending their gennin in if they didn't prove themselves? Team 7 is a mess, but that doesn't mean team 8 is the same. I genuinely think Kurenai look at her kids and thought "They got it!", maybe Hinata needs to work on her confidence, but they strong enough. At the very least she thought they wouldn't die!
So I think Neji vs Hinata should be a more balanced fight from the moment Naruto cheers Hinata up and she finally decides to take this seriously, she should at least have gotten an heavy blow on Neji. Just one would be fine really, she needed to lose that fight but I wish he could see that she isn't as weak as everyone else (including herself) thinks her to be.
Also she hesitates a lot to get into this fight, and if we make so her mother and Hizashi both die during the Cloud kidnapping that would make it more interesting, because she would hesitate because just because she thinks she's weak, but also because she thinks she brought enough harm to Neji already, she doesn't want to fight him or Hanabi even tho everyone keeps forcing her to do so. And if she has to give up the fight and let him continue so be it, what's the point if everyone already knows she's weaker than him anyway? It's a subtle different, but I think that worrying about Neji welfare more than being just scared for herself suits her character very well and makes her more complex. Also when Naruto screams "What are you doing?!" And she finally locks in and decided to defy her destiny she would be at the same time chosing to define herself for the first time and let all her hard work to pay off, but also she would forgive herself for what happened and choose to move on even if Neji can't forgive her right now. I just think it would make the moment more powerful.
So what happens after her fight with Neji?
Well she gets to talk to Naruto, their first real conversation, and it's really sweet.
And when Naruto vs Neji happens we see that Hiashi is watching the fight if Hanabi and Hinata is watching from another place, very far away from them.
I think Hiashi would be ashamed she didn't make it to the tournament in the chunnin exams and that's why she's allowed to be next to them.
Fight is over and Naruto promises to himself to change the Hyugas one day — that never happens by the way.
Then Hiashi drops everything to go have that conversation with Neji after he lost to Naruto and right after it the village is attacked. Idk what Hiashi was doing during Orochimaru's Attack, but the kids (Hinata, Neji, and Hanabi) most likely got dropped unconscious with the genjutsu.
Invasion of the village happens and we don't see ANYTHING from Hinata until Shippuden. She isn't in the search for Tsunade arc, nor the Sasuke retrieval arc, and I guess we see her watching Naruto from afar right before he leaves the village with Jiraya.
We know that during the Time skip she became a Chunnin and that she and Neji started training together again, but he became a Jounin at the same period and still probably stronger than her. We also know she's already been working on the Twin Lions jutsu in secrecy (I think not even Neji know she is doing it) and in a filler arc she creats one really cool jutsu too.
Funny enough Hiashi only appears after the Pain Arc is over and he doesn't really acknowledges Hinata's role in protecting the village and gives a leading role to Neji during the wars instead. And during the war itself Hiashi figgtes Hizashi because of Endo Tensei thing and Hiashi is like "Our children are fighting side by side like equals, I'm so proud of them!"
WHAT??
First they not fighting like equal, Hiashi put Neji in charge of the Hyuga clan. Second: what happened? You were an asshole a minute ago! When did that changed? If you didn't recognized your daughter after she fighted Pain, when did you?!
So here is my argument:
Clan wants Hiashi to explicitly says which one of his daughter will be the clan's heir because the other one needs to take the mark and they are delaying too much already.
Hinata is still "weak" on their minds, but improving faster than ever — With all the Training she doesn't with Neji.
She's still loses to Hanabi not because she isn't strong enough to do so, but because she's such a gentle soul she doesn't want to hurt her little sister
Either Hiashi pressures Hinata to take a decision or she hears an conversation behind a door — as Hinata tends to do a lot of time — and she decides to take the selling jutsu because she has seen what it does and she doesn't want that for Hanabi.
Naruto comes back to the Leaf and either bc of her hair or because she's hearing her headban in the forehead (minor character design difference) he doesn't notes the selling. No one (Neji or Team 8) tells Naruto about it because it's not really his business right now.
And then Pain invasion arc Happens and Hinata is about to jump to fight Pain, like she does in the original, but let Hiashi be around when it happens, and he tries to stop her using the sealing, but just when he's about to do it Hinata knocks him out — The exact same way Hizashi did back in the Hyuga Affair — and goes anyway.
Also during the Hinata vs Pain fight let her free Naruto before being knocked out, this is THE Hinata fight in the show, let my girl at least accomplishing one objective before dropping "dead".
When she's on the ground Naruto sees the selling on her head for the first time and not only did this girl just "died" trying to save him (he also thinks she's dead in the original) but he's also reminded of the promise he made and it's like "Not only did Jiraya die and I can't win against the guy who killed him, but I also never accomplished a single promise in my life!" And he has one more reason to go crazy.
Also let Sakura save Hinata for real. While Naruto is fighting Pain in nine tails mode she does a jutsu to retrieve Hinata's body from the battlefield and actually shows her giving treatment. Girls have 0 screen time in this series, I swear to God.
Alright so Hinata is alive, she just confesses to Naruto and Everyone now knows she is technically Secondary Branch Family now.
So put a mini arc of the Hyuga clan here!
That would actually help others stories because
Danzo would be Hokage for longer — we could have more of the backstory of the other elders too, and/or the Firelord
We spent more time in the destroyed Konoha, and we could see more of how people are treating Naruto different now, maybe build up how he feels anoyed by it before that scene where his other self tells him how much they always hated Konoha. I mean, it kinda came from nowhere in the original.
It solves the Hyuga problem before the war, so when Hiashi fight Hizashi Endo Tensei and says "Our kids are fighting side by sides like equals" it actually makes sense.
I have a lot of ideas of how that arc could play out, but I just want talk about the set-up for now.
The Hyuga clan makes no fucking sense. Like, Hizashi being sealed kind of suggests There Can Only Be One, which would mean the main family is very extremely small -- it's passed from eldest child to eldest child and any following children are sealed away once the heir is old enough we aren't worried about them randomly dropping dead and needing to bring in the spare. That would mean, by all logic, that the main family consists of like. Hiashi. His father. His child.
Maybe they do arranged marriages and lifelong betrothals so when an heir is born a random branch baby is picked to be their future spouse and they're not sealed since they'll be main family when they marry in, or maybe spouses are unsealed when they marry in so they become main family in that way?? But otherwise the logic there would imply that the main family consists of like three people max. And even with branch spouses becoming main family (assuming that happens) that means there's like. Six people, total, in the entire main family at any given time.
But we are shown multiple other members of the main family. Hinata has a main family caretaker. Hell, Hinata herself being unsealed kind of..... makes Hizashi being sealed weirder?? Okay sure we can say that it's only because they weren't sure if she would be fit to be heir in which case leaving both her and Hanabi unsealed until a decision was made could work, but that. Wasn't ever explicitly said. We weren't told she was going to become branch house if she didn't step up we were told she was passed over as clan heir, implying there was no greater danger to her than that. She was still main family. She was presumably going to stay? Main family? Even if nothing had changed???
So do they seal the heir's younger siblings or don't they? Because if they don't then why the fuck was Hizashi sealed. And if they do then why the fuck wasn't Hanabi or Hinata??
If they seal everybody but the direct main line, then how can there possibly be other members of the main clan hanging around? I know they're anime only but honestly if we assume that's not canon and it really is just the main line then it makes even less sense, because that would mean that there is literally only like two dudes at any given time who are oppressing the branch clan. Can you mass activate the seals? Is that why they haven't just been overthrown?? Why hasn't somebody just fucking poisoned the clan head and his heir in the past, we're talking about killing all of two fucking people to get your freedom. There is No Way this system would have worked as long as it did.
Was Hizashi sealed because... he's a twin? Maybe? And birth order is less important than to the Hyuga than it is to most other noble clans, they've had plenty of situations in the past where a younger sibling was chosen as heir, so it wasn't necessarily a clear cut "Hiashi was always going to be the next clan head because he's a couple minutes older" and so sealing his younger brother was important to... prevent... an inheritance war?? Because Hizashi might have had a claim to... the clan head position? So he needed to be branded to remove that claim?
Whereas with Hinata and Hanabi since they didn't share a womb there isn't an argument either of them could make to illegitimize the other's succession once she rose, so it wasn't necessary??
Kishimoto I have questions. Kishimoto explain this shit.
