Shed Skin - A Naruto Time Travel Quest

xtra_ore · Oct 17, 2016

Because it'd have a better effect if we offer to conquer the world with her instead.

Hyp3rB14d3 · Oct 17, 2016

xtra_ore said:
Because it'd have a better effect if we offer to conquer the world with her instead.

I thought we weren't going to join Akatsuki?

Jean Danjou · Oct 17, 2016

[X] Ability.

Neat Quest. Nice writing too. The salt is hilarious too. Just sad that since it's Oro we don't get at least one waifu, if nothing else, waifu wars are great for salt.

Hyp3rB14d3 · Oct 17, 2016

Jean Danjou said:
[X] Ability.

Neat Quest. Nice writing too. The salt is hilarious too. Just sad that since it's Oro we don't get at least one waifu, if nothing else, waifu wars are great for salt.

Nonsense. Behold.

TPK said:
Waifulist.

Potential Waifus

xtra_ore · Oct 17, 2016

Hyp3rB14d3 said:
I thought we weren't going to join Akatsuki?

We're trying to get her back to Konoha, then we go out and ~~conquer~~ bring peace to the world.

SomeCleverName · Oct 18, 2016

[x] Sincerity. Hashirama won Madara over by offering his own life, if it would buy peace between them.

Twofoe · Oct 18, 2016

Vote tally:
##### 3.21
[X] Ability. You can create peace and win her back, as Hashirama won over Madara with his, for a while.
No. of votes: 82
Krazyfan1, Markala, ChaosTheVoid, HanEmpire, Sleeping, GiftOfLove, DB_Explorer, Silver719, Dragontrapper, Robotninja, AnonÌ¦Ì¦, HatsuZ, reborn214, Rakuhn, Edkose, reignonyrparade, Ian Drash, Miharu, Prospalz, Hymnsicality, Kerfirou, NHO, Isaacssv558, Heskel, tafidao, Drak4806, Magoose, Random Member, Sivantic, Muer'ci, Nautilus, 'Lement, Inf0mercial, Timaeus, Riggnarock, Mandabar, Mandabar, Mandabar, Egleris, Hackerham, Selias, CrossyCross, NullVoid, Ridiculously Average Guy, Ceph, IntoLight, EVA-Saiyajin, SoixanteZio, Van Ropen, Dark Lord Bob, Magus, Japanime, Kitebroken, Dr. Bob Doom, The Stormbringer, MinorGryph, chocolote12, ChronOblivion, Cteatus, Icefyre, SirKaid, Logos, andy50, Khaine, Ct613hulu, Diller, Vindictus, Da Boyz, Evilness42, Knightking, Melkor, shimanith, Hopper, Namer, adin terim, hero_of_tomorrow, spudman, Katsuragi, Varano, Avalon Du Lac, Tackyseven, Orm Embar, 1condor12, WorthyStranger

[x] Sincerity. Hashirama won Madara over by offering his own life, if it would buy peace between them.
No. of votes: 84
Skelo, Woooinion, Knight-Radiant, Nix's Warden, Bugaboo, Yorick's Skull, Scroller, MaHaL, Akasha, Islanderninja, Tarantio, Ando Owen, UbeOne, Redon, Jorlem, veekie, iemand, Diomedon, HeWhoAdds, Higure, defenestrator, somnolentSlumber, Aranfan, Corvus Black, Yun, Armok, HymnOfRagnarok, RagnorakTres, Walkin' Man, Î¨Ï…Ï‡Î®, konamikode, sephirothrr, Nottheunmaker, faflec, Ashmaker, Caesar, Candesce, Silently Watches, Serguzzle, Leek01, Bob's Beard, Lost Egos, Ishtar, Scotchtape27, dunk1010, boonerunner, WheelbarrowWight, Karnax626, Okibruez, Mandabar, Mandabar, Dirk93, Archeo Lumiere, Rivain, Xeno Major, devo342, Seru, Korporati, Rigaldo, theweepingman, MMKII, Krowe, jy3, Melrak Follower, Deathclaw 2015, Sickul, Briefvoice, Sol, MysteriousOldGuy, xtra_ore, ag3112, Astaroh-M, The Meddler, Dutch, ........, will408914, hunter00, Nekraa, Biigoh, 1986ctcel, Snake/Eater, Shaithan, Twofoe, Hyp3rB14d3, SomeCleverName

[x] get Sage Mode right the fuck now.
No. of votes: 1
Skelo

[X] Stubbornness. You'll just keep refusing to accept her answer, as Hashirama refused Madara's stubbornness.
No. of votes: 27
Winged One, minimap_op, ClawClawBite, Oh I am slain!, Ugolino, Liam-don, Lazurman, banjo2E, Lolasauras-Rex, aledeth, Scorpianhead, Spoit, brainlessdragon, LostDeviljho, karmaoa, Stelarwand030, APL 123AZ, Terrabrand, tri2, Fanhunter696, Lupercal, Mandabar, Aoditor, Ayashi, Cerillian, Vebyast, Beto

[X] Power. Gain power, and grow strong enough to stop her as Hashirama could stop Madara's plans.
No. of votes: 13
Icura, MechaJesus, Yeangst, RoninSword, TotallyNotEvil, ebolasos, Kolekzionera, PlatypusofFail, SarcasticOne, Halcyon, Grimmair, SolipsistSerpent, Fumbles

[X] Ability
No. of votes: 3
Imperious, Morphic Tide, Jean Danjou

[X] Sincerity
No. of votes: 1
MrGazzer

@Imperious @Morphic Tide @Jean Danjou @MrGazzer, you may want to revote with the correct format. TPK will not count invalid votes. If all of you cast your votes, we'll be tied at 85 [] Sincerity and 85 [] Ability

Muer'ci · Oct 18, 2016

It's the write-ins that are problematic. One word votes just get folded in their appropriate category.

Jean Danjou · Oct 18, 2016

[X] Ability. You can create peace and win her back, as Hashirama won over Madara with his, for a while.

vel10 · Oct 18, 2016

[X] Ability. You can create peace and win her back, as Hashirama won over Madara with his, for a while.

TPK · Oct 19, 2016

Can I get a vote tally? I have some time to work on the update now, but you know how it is. I won't promise an update today.

QTesseract · Oct 19, 2016

TPK said:
Can I get a vote tally? I have some time to work on the update now, but you know how it is. I won't promise an update today.

There's one three up? Either way, with the two new votes the winning vote is ability at 86, with sincerity at 84 in second, and stubbornness in third with 26.

UbeOne · Oct 19, 2016

Vote Tally : Shed Skin - A Naruto Time Travel Quest | Page 594 | Sufficient Velocity
##### NetTally 1.7.3.2

[X] Ability. You can create peace and win her back, as Hashirama won over Madara with his, for a while.
No. of Votes: 85

[x] Sincerity. Hashirama won Madara over by offering his own life, if it would buy peace between them.
No. of Votes: 82

[X] Stubbornness. You'll just keep refusing to accept her answer, as Hashirama refused Madara's stubbornness.
No. of Votes: 26

[x] Power. Gain power, and grow strong enough to stop her as Hashirama could stop Madara's plans.
No. of Votes: 13

[X] Ability
No. of Votes: 1

[x] Sincerity. Hashirama won Madara over by offering his own life, if it would buy peace between them.
[x] get Sage Mode right the fuck now.
No. of Votes: 1

[X] Sincerity
No. of Votes: 1

Total No. of Voters: 209

Looks like Orochimaru chooses Ability.

Twofoe · Oct 19, 2016

Welp. While I think it's a less effective strategy for regaining Tsunade's allegiance, I do think Ability will take this quest in fun directions.

Morphic Tide · Oct 19, 2016

So, how long until we get to vote to make Oto a thing again?

Mandabar · Oct 19, 2016

Here's a tally with the vote cleaned and merged and the invalid vote striked out. Also has the evidence of the voters included.

Vote Tally : Shed Skin - A Naruto Time Travel Quest | Page 594 | Sufficient Velocity
##### NetTally 1.7.4
[X] Ability. You can create peace and win her back, as Hashirama won over Madara with his, for a while.
No. of Votes: 86

Krazyfan1
1condor12
adin terim
andy50
Anon̦̦
Avalon Du Lac
Ceph
ChaosTheVoid
chocolote12
ChronOblivion
CrossyCross
Ct613hulu
Cteatus
Da Boyz
Dark Lord Bob
DB_Explorer
Diller
Dr. Bob Doom
Dragontrapper
Drak4806
Edkose
Egleris
EVA-Saiyajin
Evilness42
GiftOfLove
Hackerham
HanEmpire
HatsuZ
hero_of_tomorrow
Heskel
Hopper
Hymnsicality
Hyp3rB14d3
Ian Drash
Icefyre
Imperious
Inf0mercial
IntoLight
Isaacssv558
Japanime
Jean Danjou
Katsuragi
Kerfirou
Khaine
Kitebroken
Knightking
'Lement
Logos
Magoose
Magus
Markala
Melkor
Miharu
MinorGryph
Morphic Tide
Muer'ci
Namer
Nautilus
NHO
NullVoid
Orm Embar
Prospalz
Rakuhn
Random Member
reborn214
reignonyrparade
Ridiculously Average Guy
Riggnarock
Robotninja
Selias
shimanith
Silver719
SirKaid
Sivantic
Sleeping
SoixanteZio
spudman
Tackyseven
tafidao
The Stormbringer
Timaeus
Van Ropen
Varano
vel10
Vindictus
WorthyStranger

[x] Sincerity. Hashirama won Madara over by offering his own life, if it would buy peace between them.
No. of Votes: 83

[X] Stubbornness. You'll just keep refusing to accept her answer, as Hashirama refused Madara's stubbornness.
No. of Votes: 26
[x] Power. Gain power, and grow strong enough to stop her as Hashirama could stop Madara's plans.
No. of Votes: 13

Icura
ebolasos
Fumbles
Grimmair
Halcyon
Kolekzionera
MechaJesus
PlatypusofFail
RoninSword
SarcasticOne
SolipsistSerpent
TotallyNotEvil
Yeangst

[x] Sincerity. Hashirama won Madara over by offering his own life, if it would buy peace between them.
[x] get Sage Mode right the fuck now.
No. of Votes: 1
Skelo
Total No. of Voters: ~~209~~ 208

I was in the sincerity camp but I think this will be interesting. Ability would've been my second choice if we had done a ranked or multiple option vote.

Also man, this was a fun NotABandWagon!Vote wasn't it?

Ashmaker · Oct 19, 2016

Mandabar said:
Also man, this was a fun NotABandWagon!Vote wasn't it?

It was. Even though the wrong choice won, I'm glad that so many people care about the quest.

TPK · Oct 19, 2016

Ashmaker said:
It was. Even though the wrong choice won, I'm glad that so many people care about the quest.

I am too. It really makes me smile when I see how many people care enough about Shed Skin to vote and contribute to keep it running. This has a downside too, because I try to make each update live up to the expectations this large a base deserves. If two hundred people invest ten minutes to read, think, and vote that's over a full day's worth of combined time spent, and the actual number's bigger than that. It's got to be much, much bigger.

Ashmaker · Oct 19, 2016

TPK said:
If two hundred people invest ten minutes to read, think, and vote that's over a full day's worth of combined time spent, and the actual number's bigger than that. It's got to be much, much bigger.

And that doesn't include the time some people spend rereading the quest.

Mandabar · Oct 19, 2016

Ashmaker said:
And that doesn't include the time some people spend rereading the quest.

Or debating it. And debating the debate. And shadowrunning.

This last vote probably had at least a full week worth of thought and time on it if not more

TPK · Oct 20, 2016

Ashmaker said:
And that doesn't include the time some people spend rereading the quest.

Remind me to ask someone to scrape an epub of my threadmarked posts in this thread once I finish this update. I want to see how long Shed Skin actually is.

Mandabar said:
Or debating it. And debating the debate. And shadowrunning.

This last vote probably had at least a full week worth of thought and time on it if not more

The amount of time and effort you guys put into fretting out the tiniest details I hide in the updates never ceases to amaze me.

Mandabar · Oct 20, 2016

TPK said:
Remind me to ask someone to scrape an epub of my threadmarked posts in this thread once I finish this update. I want to see how long Shed Skin actually is.

Heh I already have it made into an EPUB. Currently it is approximately 74660 words at the moment. Huh surprisingly I thought it was much more than that.

The amount of time and effort you guys put into fretting out the tiniest details I hide in the updates never ceases to amaze me.

'Lement · Oct 20, 2016

I don't think anybody has done literary analysis of the overarching themes and messages in each Shed Skin chapter yet.

You! Yes, you! You could be the first!

TPK · Oct 20, 2016

[] Ability. You can create peace and win her back, as Hashirama won over Madara with his, for a while.

Peace. Peace is the answer you seek, but what is the question?

You sit beneath one of the massive Hashirama trees on the edge of Konoha's settled land, within the walls but outside the city itself. You have sat there for three days and three nights, now, eyes closed and senses dispersed, intent only on your own deliberation. You have had a time for rash actions and hot emotion but that time is over.

You are Orochimaru, and you are considering the situation. Your bones ache with the desire to stand and act, but directionless action is chaotic. It accomplishes little, and you have assigned yourself a rather difficult problem. How are you going to prove Tsunade wrong about Akatsuki's ability to create peace? Obviously you can't. She's bought in and the foolish woman is too stubborn to deviate from her path once decided. She will follow Akatsuki to create peace unless you stop her, but stop her from what? What exactly is her goal?

To achieve a given outcome you require a certain list of things, actions and circumstances that react with each other and produce a result determined by its ingredients. Peace is complicated, however, so why not examine war? War comes from hate, some say. There is an endless cycle of hate that runs the world, karma cycling in a complex diagram strung between every human being and eternally seeking balance. Revenge, in a word, leads to war.

But what started that cycle? Nothing exists without a parent. Nothing happens without reason. Something begins everything, even if only once, so what was the first revenge? This is a topic you are passably familiar with. Jiraiya would tell stories he learned from the Toads as Tsunade listened raptly on a grassy hill, a chair, or the branch of a tree. You were there too, and sometimes Hiruzen was. Back then you were all so innocent, so sure that the golden age of friendship would last forever.

The emptiness of loss aches once more, and you close your eyes. Breathe in.

Breathe out.

In. Out.

You are still, subsumed in the world.

For a moment it rises and falls with you, swelling and ebbing with each breath until you cannot distinguish yourself from the stone beneath you or the trees around, but a bird lands on your head and you twitch it away. The moment is gone. What were you thinking?

Oh yes, peace.

True peace is the absence of conflict, but that seems slightly ambitious even for your skills, so you consider a relative peace instead. You seek not a total peace but a peace without war, which seems much more reasonable. Madara sought peace through superior power. He wished to create a power so great that no one could contest it, and all would be forced to submit. Pein also wishes this, and you assume it is Madara's current plan as well. Hashirama sought a peace of brotherhood where unity was created through alliance and understanding, and to an extent he succeeded. The clans within Konoha were once enemies, but now they're almost impossible to pry apart. You would know -you've tried.

But you are not either of them. You are Orochimaru, and you have an advantage that those two old men could never dream of. With an additional decade and a half of knowledge, anything is possible. Even peace.

Instead of stubbornly beating your head against the wall until the wall breaks, you'll slide through it! If you attack the cycle of hatred at its roots, changing the environment that allows it to persist into one that grinds it to a halt with the inevitability of gears deprived of oil . . .

Unproductive traits are not passed on infinitely. This is a fact of life. It will not be easy or simple, but you know more about all five Hidden Villages than anyone else. You can speak to their leaders, their influential figures, and one by one you will eradicate the sources of fear, hatred, and the necessities that persist in creating the cycle of endless wars. Negotiation fails because diplomats are blind men talking to blind men, neither party knowing the limits of what the other truly needs and is willing to concede.

It will be like gathering the clans you forged into Oto again, on a larger scale. You have already observed them and found what they need and what they can give, so what remains is to approach them and establish trust. Slowly, inch by grudging inch, they will open up to you. First they will accept that you do not wish them immediate harm, and once their defenses are cracked you will slide through their guard like a serpent through a cracked garden fence, insidious and unnoticed until far too late.

Your mind is unclouded by fear.

You can see the path forward now, not anyone else's way but your way. First comes Kumo, you think. Relaxing hostilities with them will be simple compared to anywhere else because of their relative strength. Any of the other villages can come after -perhaps Kiri? Iwa will be the hardest sell. They have always feared the other nations. Suna will be simple -they have enough problems as it is without looking for more. You had to kill and replace their kage to get him to agree to war, even as his village withered on the vine.

And then . . . individual dissenters will persist of course, but to create peace you only need five men, five shadows, five agreements.

Akatsuki will doubtless interfere in your attempts, but so be it. For weeks on end you've constrained yourself with fear. Fear of death, fear of Minato, fear of Pein, fear of Madara, but fear is a disgusting thing and you will have no more of it. Fear leads to paranoia, paranoia to lack of progress, lack of progress to stagnation, and to give into stagnation is a slow, lingering death. Each day lived hiding in fear of what might come is another cut that slowly bleeds you dry and leaves you lifeless, and what for? To ignore the reality of your situation?

Pein will act whether you are ready or not. Minato will not wait for your permission to make his own plans. Madara is already acting and plotting, no doubt preparing for everything you have already given away, and what have you accomplished? What grand discoveries have you made to bridge that final gap between you and they?

Truthfully, you never thought that you would reach this point, to be able to make these decisions.

It's not a disparaging thought to have -your current situation is simply truly bizarre by any reasonable standard. You considered further developing the time aspect of space-time techniques in the past, but only briefly. The flaw of traveling through time is that it is not really immortality. Even locking your body into stasis would only result in the outside world seeming to pass by you at a faster rate. You would not add even a second onto your mortal lifespan, but then this happened, this . . . rebirth.

Yes, the event that tore your consciousness through time is best described as birth into a younger body, less worn down by the passage of time and the accumulation of error.

Your scars are gone to others' sight but you know they lurk beneath the surface, unnoticed and in some ways phantasmal. You know every cut, every blow to ever harm you, but you have left so many behind like the white snake's shed skin. Hiruzen told you that shed skin represented rebirth and good fortune, and-

"Hey, sensei! Takeshi wants to know if you have any spare explosive tags to train with!" Your trail of thought is disrupted by the high-pitched scream. A girl with dark purplish hair shouts at you as she slows to a halt just down the path. Two other children lag behind, lacking her stamina. Though they will never be truly important, you know this, you also know that if you are anything it is honest with yourself. You're not the kind of man who gets attached easily, but sometimes . . .

Sometimes good things sneak up on you.

Kujira holds a stack of lunch boxes out and you take them out of her hands. The three of your students aren't like Kabuto, or the Sound Five. They're weaker, and certainly less hardened, but your relationship with them is different than the one you had with students in your previous life. A change that had begun with your honest curiosity about Sasuke's path has reached its conclusion here, and you feel the bond between the four of you is purer than it would otherwise be.

"We heard you'd been sitting here for days." She says bluntly.

Anko crosses her arms. "It's not healthy to skip meals."

Takeshi stares at you from behind his sunglasses. "Do you have any explosive tags?"

You stand, and leave your hesitation crumpled on the ground behind you like an old coat, long since outgrown. You are Orochimaru of the Sannin. You have founded a hidden village, fought the greatest shinobi of three generations, cheated death, slipped through time, and now you are going to snatch Akatsuki's goal out from under its slavering jaws, leaving Pein, Madara, Zetsu, and the rest of them looking around like dumbstruck fools, wondering who created world peace while they were scavenging for S Class missing nin and hunting bijuu.

You are going to end the cycle of violence.

You are going to create peace.

You blink slowly and pan your gaze down across the three expectant faces, then up and at Konoha itself, lit in the soft glow of dawn.

"Perhaps I should teach you to make your own tags, instead of begging your teacher for more?" You ask. What grand discoveries have you made?

Well, you suppose you can admit to making a few.

.
You who have come in search of resolution have found it.
You who have come in search of victory have attained it.
You who have come in search of change have created it.
You who came in search of enlightenment,
Have taken the first step on a difficult road.
True End
.
.

But this story is not solely yours, and you as you leave the stage others enter it. Time changes. Space changes. The world itself becomes one you left behind, and three other travelers appear. Are their stories no less deserving of being seen? It would be a shame not to at least touch on them for a moment.

First, the...
[] beloved
[] prisoner
[] faithful

Hopper · Oct 20, 2016

[x] beloved

Shed Skin - A Naruto Time Travel Quest

Gotta catch 'em all!

The Invictus

Gotta catch 'em all!

The Invictus

Hello, friend.

Biribiri

Daydreaming CPU

Crazy Brainstormer, Munchkin and Wannabe Min-Maxer

Waifu of choice is Rem. Give that girl some hugs!

Hello, friend.

Waifu of choice is Rem. Give that girl some hugs!

Hello, friend.

Waifu of choice is Rem. Give that girl some hugs!

Hello, friend.