The catch is that I will only continue one of them, the most popular one. You can vote here, on my Patreon. I'll also link it at the bottom.
Scenario 1: ROOT era Aiko travels to the past
The transition from the underground tunnel system to open air felt different and vastly worse than usual. Her...
2025-07-31 10:50:39 +0000 UTC View PostThis is to decide which version of Aiko has time traveled to Konoha's past! The next fork will determine when, exactly, she had landed.
This poll will be open for a week, at which time I will write the next group of possibilities.
2025-07-31 10:49:53 +0000 UTC View PostThanks for being here! We’ve had 21 free members and 7 paid members join in the last month and I am happy to see every one of you.
The last section of the Problem Child deleted scenes is the first regular Wednesday post of August. After that, there will be a bunch of Aiko in Warring and Peacetime, a bit more than 7k in wordcount.
I am starting a new writi...
2025-07-30 18:00:10 +0000 UTC View Post
The damn thing was that Aiko did fall asleep on the plane. She didn’t mean to! The room was dark and the cushion beneath her was soft. Mercy pulled a warm, heavy blanket over Aiko. The airplane was humming.
The last thing she remembered was listening to that engine white noise, wondering how long it would take for them to takeoff.
She realized her error the instant sh...
2025-07-23 10:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostI wrote out an entirely different arc (and much shorter storyline!) of Aiko's kidnapping, and then decided I didn't like where that story was going. The prose is fun, though, so I thought you might like to see what could have been. In this deleted iteration, Aiko was a bit more honest, the President was more transparently evil, and Mercy was a bit happier.
It diverges from the scene where...
2025-07-15 17:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
Chiaki promised to pass on Aiko’s request to see Senhime before she left back to whatever task she had been assigned. It was a good failsafe but Aiko also felt fairly confident about finagling an invitation via Narahime. It was nearly time for the noon meal, after which she would be expected to leave with the teenager. So Aiko hurried back to her room to change her clothes. She had starte...
“My name is Fujisawa.” He introduced himself brusquely. “The workers who you had a mob remove from my company were there on two-year contracts, paid upfront to their heads of household,” he said promptly. He had the professionalism not to look outwardly angry about it. “My required silk production has not changed, I have already paid for the labor costs, and now I have no workers....
Hello!
The first post for this month is part 2 of the Pope story, an absurdist short fiction inspired by the brief historical period where there really were three simultaneous popes who excommunicated each other. These popes also excommunicated each other, but they should have been worrying more about their cardinals and an open court case.
For Warring and Peacetime, there are 5293 ...
2025-07-01 10:43:53 +0000 UTC View Post
They stared at the Fish Pope, the lowliest and most foolish of men.
He leaned on his staff and sort of doddered at them. His eyes were half closed.
“...The nice people who sell cheese?” Pope Cabernati clarified. The non-sequitor shocked him right out of fury into confused hilarity. “They’re- they’re Swiss or something, harmless-”
“They are Swedish 2025-07-01 03:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post
“I have already predicted your downfall. The cubes foresee a miserable failure for all leeches,” the original Pope said. He was still holding the stupid miniature set of variously shaped objects with 90 degree angles. He rattled it halfheartedly in threat of predicting even more dire events. His eyes were severely sunken in and he looked like he might drop over dead at any moment. “Y...
2025-06-30 03:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post
The nabe restaurant wasn’t hard to find. The building stretched out into the skyline, comfortably superior to the single level stores around it on the main street. It was made of handsome logs of dark wood as a frame. They created clean lines around the otherwise white exterior walls.
Aiko parted the noren curtain with a hand to see inside. She could feel the individual stitch...
2025-06-24 15:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostAs usual, no one truly appreciated how funny she was. Aiko sighed and fidgeted while the room dissolved into a very long and very boring series of deliberations. She sat down by the wall and watched them argue about whether or not he could have been replaced and how to prove it.
“We can investigate tomorrow,” Izuna declared. “During the hunt.” His eyes glittered with triumph.
<... 2025-06-17 17:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostAiko got back to her room and took advantage of the water basin to wash her face, splashing away the heat of the day. It really had been such a long day. She paused, checking in with her body. It could have been worse.
She didn’t feel tired, physically. Only emotionally.
‘Because I am not a person,’ she sang internally, a mean sing-song tone in her head. ‘I am a...
2025-06-10 19:00:33 +0000 UTC View Post
Hana was happy to see her. Aiko dumped her unconscious prisoner on the floor with a thump and stretched her arms out for a hug. “You look so good,” Aiko crooned, gathering up her mouthiest acolyte. “Look at you, and oh- your little man.” She rocked Hana to the side and peered at the baby. The baby was asleep.
She had an eerie, out of body experience. For a millisecond, Aiko re...
2025-06-03 18:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostIt’s been a wild year! I’ve had surgery and been diagnosed with several disabilities since my last life update. Ultimately, things reached a point where it became more economically viable to quit my job than it was to work fulltime and be in constant health crisis. Now that I am not pushing myself that way, I am doing better. I am so grateful for everyone who supports me on this platform, b...
2025-05-31 02:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostIf Aiko was a little bit slower, the spy would have lost her head.
That might have been her goal, Aiko reflected, a hand around Madara’s wrist. Her body was blocking him from murder. He had moved to kill in defense of Aiko’s honor without considering any options. Cute, but hardly necessary. “Thank you, very chivalrous,” she said idly, and let go of him. He stared down at her...
2025-05-27 17:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostYes, obviously she wanted to fight. Aiko bared her teeth at him to intimidate.
He said, “Awww, okay little buddy.” He grinned down at her and tried to ruffle her hair. Aiko dodged and hissed at him.
Kon might not have been enough of a primate to recognize the threat display for what it was.
Fine, new plan. She would lightly stab him to establish dominance. Aiko palme...
2025-05-26 08:05:47 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 51
Once Aiko had managed to wrestle down her offended feelings, she had to acknowledge that it was for the best that they didn’t think of her as one of them. Despite her cultural background, she wasn’t. The crucial thing was that she did not want to stay and make a life with them. Therefore, it would only hurt to integrate too deeply into their circle when her entire plan was ...
2025-05-20 17:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post
Rustling outside woke Aiko in the night. She opened her eyes and laid still for a moment to get her bearings, reaching out with chakra.
‘It’s outside. On the walls. A shinobi is here that I don’t know’
Someone woke next door, chakra signature fluttering in agitation as she sensed something. The change in signature was incredibly subtle and controlled. Ai...
2025-05-14 13:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post
The group was finally able to have their first strategy meeting that evening, once the household had been sequestered for the night.
“Minister Tani does not seem overtly hostile.” Izuna was the first to make an assessment. “But he does not seem to be making a deal, either.” He sniffed and tilted his head back to expose his long, white neck to the room. 2025-05-06 15:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post
The river had overrun for kilometers and ruined a perfectly good farming hamlet. They were lucky enough that the water had drained away, leaving scores of dead fish to stink in the sun and struggle for life in the puddles that were shrinking by the hour. The horses’ hooves made foul squelching sounds with every ginger step through the mud. Signs of habitation peeked out— a fence pos...
2025-04-27 23:29:11 +0000 UTC View PostThe first exercise of power Aiko saw from Miss Head was how smoothly she kept Aiko out of trouble with her parents. She returned Aiko to her own doorstep with cool deliberacy, knocking on the door with two knuckles.
Aiko looked at the doorbell. She wondered why Miss Head chose not to use it. She was still wondering when the door opened and Mom gasped.
‘She didn’...
2025-04-26 16:00:18 +0000 UTC View PostAiko got a celebrity escort around town after that, garnering introductions to everyone important and hearing about anything remotely unusual that had happened in the area for months. She paid attention to it all.
“The Lord and his mountain goddess in the walls have recently hired many new retainers,” explained Matsuda-sensei, after they said goodbye to a local potter. Aiko momentaril...
2025-04-26 03:55:15 +0000 UTC View PostSomeone shouted in the distance, inside the grand estate that she was leaving. It sounded a lot like an Uchiha.
Aiko ignored the kerfuffle like the lady she was and kept walking down the mountain path towards the town. It took a while to cross the grand lawn of the estate, and then the next step was through the veritable playground of expensive buildings for hosting...
2025-04-12 15:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostTheir invitation opened the doors to a grand estate. A bustling town sprawled around the hillside, complete with the clanging and smoke of industry. The normal people lived with thatched straw roofs and many were outside in the sun to weave their new tatami mats.
The procession went through the town without stopping along with the servants heading upwards. Aiko stole glances ...
2025-04-06 01:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostWar and Peace, Problem Child, and Swordpoint Diplomacy, in that order.
1.
Their invitation opened the doors to a grand estate. A bustling town sprawled around the hillside, complete with the clanging and smoke of industry. The normal people lived with thatched straw roofs and many were outside in the sun to weave their new tatami mats.
The procession went through the tow...
2025-04-01 00:46:50 +0000 UTC View Post{The driver’s side door opened. She hoped that it was so the driver could have a pee or a smoke, but she didn’t really feel optimistic about it. So it wasn’t much of a shock when knuckles rapped on the van siding.
“I wonder,” said a woman’s voice, “what do you intend to do next?”}
It was tempting to respond. But Aiko didn’t react: technical...
2025-03-25 02:01:22 +0000 UTC View Post“There is one more thing.” Lady Elaine lowered her tone as they crossed the grand pavilion. Her words were nearly lost underneath the sound of a running fountain. “The White Queen desires your presence in her chambers.”
Rose felt her eyebrows shoot up. “She does not ask for an audience?”
Lady Elaine kept a straight face, nodding at a passing courtier. “She does not,”...
2025-03-14 05:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostIt took an irritatingly long time to coordinate travel plans with the Senju. Hawks flew back and forth and at least one messenger came to the compound by foot, sending everyone in a tizzy. Aiko kept out of it, lounging around the Uchiha main house and reading through their collection of literature. The appeal of the Uchiha’s literature was failing, but she wasn’t bored enough to get up yet....
2025-03-08 16:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostShe struck two days later. It was extremely regrettable that she would make her escape alone, Aiko thought. She really did feel bad about it. But it was basically impossible to forcibly extract multiple adult civilians against their will. She would have to come back with Captain Marvel or something. Aiko was pretty sure that he would help her, even though she had left him hanging with Herkimer....
2025-03-02 01:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post