Spoiler

It's nice to know that ambushes and surprise attacks actually work as a modifier in DOS-verse... Although, on the other hand, that makes Team Gai a lot scarier if they're specced as ambush breakers.

Given Shikako's performance this chapter, I think ANBU / Hunters might look into her as a recruit but she is pretty versatile as a fighter albeit without a devastating damage dealer / ender like Chidori and Rasengan.

I did like her deliberateness - to force the other side into the same situation to see if they can fix it (and presumably copy this for Shikamaru). And I was totally expecting that she'd end up nicking the petrification glove from Ishidate although I didn't expect this series of events. Still - at least she has an arm now. Maybe they can use it as a graft for Shikamaru. (I enjoyed the quip about her lightsaber being a real one now that she's cut off an arm with it.)

Lastly, I do agree that I didn't quite get the reasoning behind why she'd let the third go. I mean, I can guess that she didn't really want to have a knockdown fight with the last one in the castle when she's technically secured her objectives (see if Shikamaru's arm can be fixed, capture the Minister, secure the castle for the King)... Maybe it'll come up next chapter.

 

Spoiler

Hrm. I guess... That might counteract the other idea - where the Konoha-nin are weak and ended up getting their ass kicked / arm lost. We'll see. Shikako wasn't quite all there mentally this chapter.

On longer-term notes:
1. Cool - the Gelel stone fragment can't be used against her. We already knew she could use it in combat (re: Sasuke), but it's neat that it seems much smoother and more precise now (i.e. cutting off an arm while shadow-dodging the petrification glove).

2. She just pulled out most of her trump cards in this fight where Sai could see. This, potentially, means all of what she has (now) will be known to Danzo. Of course, we already expected that this was a wake-up call that will get her to furiously train, but she'll want to have some more trump cards up her sleeve after this.

3. Sai is learning from Team 7. He backed her up and followed her orders - technically - but he bent the rules! On his own initiative! Isn't that huge for a Root operative? Good to see the influence Naruto and her have had on him already.

4. This is like the 5th regime change mission for Shikako (Wave, Snow, Tea, Bird, Moon). People are going to start noticing that.

 

I assumed that she let her go because her judgement got compromissed after Shikamaru got hurt. You could see she was not all there in the chapter what with her not thinking straight the momento it happened, almost abandoning the gelel Stone in the beach (good thing Sai thoughtof getting it if not why), letting the girl go instead of trying to capture her to interrogate her about where did they get the gauntlet because she couldn't get and immediate benefit from it and forgetting that she was on a missión until she saw Sai's clones capturing the usurper and she went "Oh yeah! The misión! That was a thing". It also explains why she killed the guy since she was still in the "he hurt my brother" mentality. If she wanted to beat them it would have been more advantageous to attack the girl instead of killing him but as said, she was emotionally compromised. So it is not that it is weird she let her go since she was ok with killing the guy, it was that she killed the guy because she was not ok.

Which is something that Tsunade will bring up after she gets the report. With so many things that point to it there is no way that the author didn't do it on purpose.

 

Spoiler

But if we think that, she *continued* to be not okay after killing him. She should have killed the girl without pause too.

Meh. I could maybe buy Cheddar's idea, but at the same time I'm not sure she was thinking that clearly. Still, if nothing else Sai is probably gonna ask about it, so we'll see how it's explained.

 

Just reread the chapter, and it seems to me that after Shikako had cut the guy's arm off and turn to shadow she had no immediate plans to kill either of them. It was only after the lady refused to run away that Shikako snapped the guy's neck and exploded the corridor to scare her into fleeing instead of attacking the rest of the team. She wanted to kill her but wasn't so far gone as to chase her down.

This sort of thing makes me anticipate Naruto's return more. Shikako is getting more and more lethal and I can see it being a big conflict between them.

 

Updated! Link

I really like Kakashi in this.

 

Spoiler

I really like the subtle way that Silver Queen manages to show the benefits (and privileges) of being a clan kid (and by corollary, how amazing Sakura's accomplishments have been without that). Someone must have seen her report and then subtly redirected it out of the official channels before it went into Shikako's records and ends up in, if not her dad's, then a family friend's hands.

It's interesting to see the differences between how Inoichi handles things versus Kakashi and very fitting with their personalities / job.

Also, Danzo being forced to read the Sailor Moon manga is the sort of cruel and unusual punishment I've come to expect and admire from Shikako's sense of humor.

 

I am curious if this experience will drive Shikako try and learn more about Nature Chakra. Jiraiya mentioned there were temples where she could learn some of the necessary arts along with sealing. Seems like something she would be more interested in now.

 

Agree, I liked the chapter overall, but it did feel like it ended abruptly, but I guess that just means the scene with Kakashi will be longer than a short scene at the end.

 

Spoiler

Well, in that scene, I think it's pretty finished at least WRT how to deal with the report.

Inoichi wants to 'fix' her through therapy and have Shikako herself write a new, more measured report with her new perspective.

Kakashi avoids the issue entirely as to whether Shikako herself feels guilty and separates that from the issue of the report, which he'll just take. Either he'll forge a new one or he'll just never turn in a report. As mentioned earlier in DOS, he's an elite jounin, and he pretty much turns in the sketchiest reports anyway. If he runs off with the report for a long period of time or even indefinitely, what are they going to do?

As to how Kakashi solves Shikako's guilt complex... Maybe he has an answer, maybe not. Kakashi isn't necessarily the best role model here... even if he may empathize with Shikako's feelings.

 

Spoiler

I think it is neat: the way that Silver Queen has managed to capture the emotional essence of what Shikako is feeling in text form. Shikako is lost, confused, and grasping for answers and I'd wager so long as she is, the chapters will feel like that too.

It does feel a bit like Silver Queen is struggling with these chapters though.

On another note, Shikako's not OK, but like I thought, Kakashi isn't really the type to, ah, handle that straight up like Inoichi would have. And Inoichi would be battling with Shikako the whole time. Looks like Kakashi's decided to just make himself available for Shikako to seek him out and let her muddle through.

So, Shikako's probably going to be searching and deciding on a goal to power to in the next chapter or so.

 

Spoiler

It was still a bit short though, and I had hoped for a bit more with Kakashi. Still like that Kakashi just yanked the report away and altered it to his whims, and while I loved everything with him in these last two chapters, I still kinda wanted more.

Hopefully, katreus is right and next chapter, Shikako decides on a goal and it gets more focus.

Lol, I'm imagining that Shikako is going to be hunting for the perfect arm to replace Shikamaru's with. Just, find a criminal, take off his arm and bring it back. Preferably a better arm.

 

I love reading all of these critiques and thoughts of different, interesting stories.

 

Do you happen to have a critique or thought for this interesting story?

Edit: In case anybody who liked this story hasn't looked at the author's page, Sunshine Sidestories is a side fic by Silver Queen that provide perspectives from other characters during events in DoS. It's quite an interesting read if you're enjoying the main fic, though of course completely useless if you haven't read it. Another fic in the same vein is Sunshine and Stormclouds, which is by another author but based on the same premise, alternate perspectives of DoS events.

 

Sure:

Personally, when I first started the story a couple of years back, I enjoyed the interesting new character, despite not really liking the Nara family in general. I appreciated how Shikako better cemented the relationship between Naruto and Sasuke without going too overboard. I managed to read, the first time, around to the Gelel stone portion and stopped because something about it didn't really make sense to me.

I started reading it a second time because I was still getting alerts for it, and now I'm just bugged by how many different fillers seem necessary to be discussed. I didn't really watch the anime much, and didn't really think of the fillers as canon, and thus ignored them. I feel like, with as much time that has technically passed, the story is in the middle of a stagnation. Nothing really changes overall, save for the thing with Shikamaru, and little variations here and there. With someone as smart and intelligent as Shikako appears to be, I expected a lot of changes to take place.

I understand that she can't remember much, and that she's wary of pushing too much too fast, but I find myself wondering what the point is? I can't recall which chapter SQ stated this, but she declared that she's written this much, and hasn't even hit the main plot yet. I don't even know what the plot is, really. I suppose I'm still reading because I don't like quitting, and because she's still making an effort to write everything.

If I had to grade it, I'd give it a 2.5/5?

It's losing appeal for me, but it's still one of the better Naruto SIs out there. It just feels like she's writing because she doesn't want to leave people hanging, but I'm not sure if she actually finds enjoyment in it herself anymore.

 

Updated I don't feel like the conflict was really resolved between the twins this chapter, merely touched upon.