I wonder if this is where the idea of ninjas using 'smokescreen pellets' came from by the idea of chucking it at the ground instead of in someone's eyes, and it just got retold as that for safety reasons
The smoke bombs were an actual thing, though. You are, however, correct in that the smokebomb would be thrown either at the threat or between you and the threat. If you set it off at your own feet it'd obscure you... but you also couldn't see out, and you'd still have to leave the plume in order to escape, at which point anyone could see you. The 'throw at your own feet' is probably used because it's more dramatic (that and it'd work reasonably well on a stage). You could do it with eggs, but more often such bombs would be made of bamboo reeds filled with black powder. (This is another reason not to throw it near you, while it's not a frag grenade there will be splinters)
another fic rec : short. canon typical violence. people realize some things about the (first sas-nart)valley of the end fight and are Disturbed by the implications for a number of reasons. (good enough i got a new headcanon out of it)
Okay, this may sound word, but I just looked up Rasa and he's the most ordinary looking dude in the entire show. Everyone else has stupid hair or weird scars or magic eyes and this brunette motherfucker looks like he's secretly from a slice of life anime where he's the best friend's Dad. He's the King of the Desert Ninjas with Magneto powers or whatever and he looks like he should be having Opinions about the football game.
...surprisingly accurate to be fair he makes up for it by being hands-down the worst dad in the show. which is saying something. he also mostly only appears either in flashbacks or during the shitty ending as a ninja zombie, so i guess they didn't want to waste time designing him since he wasn't really gonna be seen that much
one of the fun things is how kankuro has almost the exact same facial features, but since he wears the puppet master face-paint it's not obvious
After intense research I have concluded most Naruto fix-it fic comes in one of three categories- 1) Time Travel 2) Sakura gets a whole character arc 3) Kakashi puts literally any effort into teaching Or any combination of the three (This might be biased towards my own preferencs but it's mostly what I see.)
I don't think the kiba-infiltrates-akatsuki series fits in any of those categories (sorry I know you were pointing out a broad pattern I just love my boy)
I haven't seen that one but I did see the first part of a Kiba time travel fic. It was kinda fun because he doesn't even try to hide who he is from the other Inazuka, who are all 100% down with fabricating a new clan member and secretly changing history. Spoiler: Future Kiba's Cover Story This young adult who looks just like Kiba is actually Kiba's older brother, who Tsume had in her teens, and then lost him in the woods. For ten years. He is... also named Kiba.
I've seen a few alternate team ones that are Very Good, my favorite being a naruto/hinata/lee team! It's very fun but has much ooc naruto so ymmv interest-wise
I don't think anyone would turn down a good fic rec but also I have 70 open tabs of all the fics I was putting off due to length so I'm not in a hurry.
Browsing my 35 AO3 Naruto bookmarks to see how they pan out: Time Travel = 14 total (4 w/ multiple sortings) Spoiler - Shikamaru and Neji the intentional traumatized soldier time travelers (incomplete, ongoing) - Kakashi the accidental time traveler carries his trauma as illness in his childhood and accidentally befriends Orochimaru, to the premature graying of Minato's hair (incomplete, updated this year) - Kakashi the accidental time traveler (to his ANBU years) tries to fix things. Some of it works out. Some of it doesn't. (complete) - Kiba the intentional time traveler - who is definitely his own older brother raised by wolves - tries to stave off war and help his friends be friends earlier (incomplete, last updated 2 years ago) - Kurama the (begrudgingly) intentional time traveler uses his new human body and future knowledge to save Naruto and the bijuu, features plenty of (consensual?) kidnapping (complete) - Kankuro the accidental time traveler reincarnates as some other puppeteer, impresses Rasa, becomes his own teacher (complete-ish, the side ficlets weren't completed) - Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke, and 1 friend intentionally time travel to Fix certain problems of their pasts with secrecy and violence (complete) - Kakashi, Neji and Gaara intentionally time travel to try to fix things, their various baggage impedes their efforts a lot - I haven't read this in a bit, but remember that much (complete) - Orochimaru, the willing time traveler due to Obito's last minute intervention, decides to uproot Danzo's plans and wreck Madara's shit, because he owes Obito (and also would like to kiss Jiraiya a little) (complete) - Kakashi, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura intentionally time travel - if unintentionally into the same timeline - fix some things and mostly mess around, it's a crack fic (complete) Sakura gets a whole character arc / practical training = 5 total (4 w/ multiple sortings) - The Academy does tiny field assignments for the kids, Sakura loves codes and ciphers, important people notice and escalate things (incomplete, ongoing) Kakashi puts literally any effort into teaching = 6 total (4 w/ multiple sortings) - "Kakashi accidentally acquires an emotionally healthy coping technique," in the form of baking (incomplete, updated this year) - Kakashi decides to adopt Naruto, so the leader of Akatsuki decides to adopt Kakashi. Clearly. (complete) Alternative team arrangement = 2 - Kurenai gets Naruto and Kiba switched (Naruto w/ Hinata and Shino, people who don't hate him and could use the heavy hitter as support, Kiba w/ Sasuke and Sakura to demonstrate teamwork with Akamaru). (incomplete, likely abandoned) - AU where a civilian hurt Naruto so badly he was believed dead, used that death to create a new identity and become a ninja as a girl, mostly a fix-it fic (complete) It All Comes Down To Porn = 2 Multiple sortings: Spoiler - Sakura the incomplete time traveler, caged in her younger self, results in younger Sakura having a different and rapid character arc (incomplete, updated this year) (time travel, Sakura arc) - Sakura dies, reincarnates as a Todoroki in BNHA with enough of her memories to punch Endeavor (time travel...? Sakura arc) - Kakashi dies (I think), reincarnates as Todoroki Shouto directly (I don't know why he's getting the reincarnation treatment so much) (time travel...? Kakashi teaching) - Kakashi the accidental universe hopper finds himself in a universe where he became a missing nin, and despite his better judgement decides to sneak by and train Team 7 when he can anyway (complete) (time travel, Kakashi teaching) - Naruto the intentional time traveler manufactures an identity as a survivor of Uzushio and kills half of Akatsuki before accepting an invitation to join Konoha, falls in with Kakashi and helps train Team 7 (complete) (time travel, Sakura arc, Kakashi teaching) - Kakashi does better at teaching and building rapports with his adorable students when he notices certain warning signs, and they all grow into different roles on the team and as people (complete) (Kakashi teaching, Sakura arc) - Kakashi the intentional time traveler tries to be a better teacher by addressing his previous mistakes (incomplete, abandoned I believe) (time travel, Kakashi teaching) It is a little alarming how many of the Sakura arc and Kakashi Teaching fics depended on time travel, universe hopping, and/or reincarnation to kickstart them Ones I'm having trouble sorting: Spoiler - AkatsuKiba spy time, as previously mentioned (not sure if complete, it's a series) - Sasuke takes Naruto's kiss sincerely, tries to use that definitely-exists crush as leverage w/ Naruto to make him worth training with, learns to care about his teammates and the differences snowball - A self insert is reincarnated as Shikamaru's twin, actively tries to become OP to fix things, is only so able to strive toward that goal, some things change and some things don't - Nara Shikaku becomes Hokage after Minato's death, there are moles but no time travel, Kakashi is busy being a grieving teenager (incomplete, updated this year) - Yamanaka Inoichi adopts Naruto into his clan as a "cousin" orphaned in the attack, he and Ino are rivals in a lot of ways (complete) - AU inspired by Princess Mononoke, in which Kurama reclaimed his senses and kidnapped Naruto to raise as a spirit (complete) - Soulmates fic where Ino has the misfortune of being Hidan's soulmate, and it hurts every time he dies. Being used to pain is good for some aspects of ninja life (complete, short) - AU where the Kyuubi's bound differently, and Kushina makes her peace with it (complete, short) - Genma-centric fics focused on his found family of adopted orphans and such (complete) - AU where Hatake Sakumo saves Orochimaru during a mission, decides they're going to be friends, and significantly changes his arc (complete) - Iruka teaches about comforting teammates after bad missions, a lesson then illustrated with how some of the adult ninja interact (complete, short)
