Blood Ties
is a crossover between Naruto and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim by Igornerd.
Two men, twins separated as infants. Divided by an ocean, they grew up in very different worlds, but both became warriors of incredible skill and power.
Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage of Konohagakure. And Conrad Harissen, the Last Dragonborn.
A close brush with death finds Conrad finally meeting his brother in the last place he would ever expect: the belly of the Shinigami, known to him as the Soul Cairn. There, Minato tasks him to find his home and warn them of their hidden enemies.
But first, Conrad must find an entire continent. And Minato never said anything about a nephew...
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Blood Ties contains examples of:
- Adaptation Species Change: Orochimaru in canon Naruto is merely a human who modified their own body after snakes. Here, they are heavily implied to be a Tsaesci, the mysterious, supposedly "snake-like" people mentioned throughout The Elder Scrolls' brief accounts of Akavir.
- Adaptational Badass: A case of this applying to a branch of magic, rather than a specific person. In The Elder Scrolls, The school of Conjuration is normally limited to two summons at most for a master. In this story, no such limit is mentioned, and Conrad is fully capable of summoning entire swathes of summons without any difficulty.
- The Alcoholic: Conrad is a heavy drinker, heavily addicted to mead. While he's admittedly a Nord (and thus always feels The Need for Mead), it's lightly implied that this is partly because of all of his experiences coming down on him. When finds out that Akavir/the Elemental Nations does not have mead, he is immediately distraught at the thought of not being able to drink it out, resorting to sake instead.
- Awesome, but Impractical: Tsunade's holds this as her opinion of alchemy when she becomes more acquainted with it. While she acknowledges that its effects (especially healing) are revolutionary, she also points out that it can't be used properly in a battle thanks to the fact that potions are too clunky to bring and drink during a battle. This is especially true since ninjas are Lightning Bruiser Combat Pragmatists who can afford to strike where non-shinobi are incapable of. She and her apprentice later try to offset this trope by coming up with new ways to revise potions to make them easier to use on the battlefield, such as converting them into pills and using syringes.
- Badass Bookworm: As a wizard, Conrad is extremely intelligent and loves to read. But he's certainly no pushover.
- Barbarian Hero: As a Nord, Conrad is often stereotyped as a bit of a brute... even though he is an intelligent wizard.
- Batman Grabs a Gun: The people of Tamriel generally frown upon Necromancy (with Dark Mages and, well... Necromancers as the usual exceptions) to the point of it being illegal in most provinces, and Conrad himself is no exception. However, when he and Jiraiya end up being overpowered by Orochimaru, he resorts to raising the corpses within the Snake Sannin's lab to get an advantage, before sealing the deal by Soul Trapping Orochimaru into a black soul gem.
- Blood Knight: Durnehviir is one, as with most dragons in The Elder Scrolls. A combination of this and his Pride is what prevents Conrad from calling him too often unless he's either surrounded or in an emergency. Durnehviir gleefully ends up fighting the the giant, three-headed snake during the invasion of Konoha instead of adhering to Conrad's demand to help save his nephew. Conrad himself admits that he understands why Durnehviir was so enticed, and opts to save Naruto himself.
- Berserk Button: The loss of Conrad's beard is a very touchy subject.
- Broad Strokes: In Skyrim, the quests to destroy the Dark Brotherhood and kill Titus Mede II are mutually exclusive. In Chapter 24, Conrad mentions that while he did take out the Dark Brotherhood, the group had also killed the Emperor of Cyrodiil prior to that.
- Calling the Old Man Out: Conrad initially attempts to do this to Sarutobi over Naruto's upbringing (or lack, thereof). He reluctantly backs down when the Hokage (intentionally) places his stump where his leg used to be to nab his sympathy. He later ends up doing it in full swing when finds out exactly why Naruto's treatment by the villagers is the way it is. Hiruzen internally admits that the man has a point, no matter how much it stings to be called out by Conrad of all people.
- The Chosen One: As the Last Dragonborn, Conrad has been at the center of multiple prophecies and potential apocalypses, dealing directly with several Daedric Princes.
- Combat Pragmatist: Conrad has no patience for honor in a fight.
- Conditioned to Accept Horror: Naruto and Sasuke nonchalantly bring up the fact that they nearly died during their first mission, in spite of the fact that neither of them are older than thirteen. Conrad's response to this is to get a drink.
- Culture Clash: There are multiple instances where blunt, plain-spoken Conrad unintentionally (or intentionally) offends Konoha ninja. There's also the fact that he's getting used to the comforts of civilization, many of which Skyrim simply doesn't have. For his part, Conrad is appalled by the Shinobi world's widespread and casual acceptance of Child Soldiers.
- Cutting Off the Branches:
- The story reveals that Conrad went through with siding with the Empire instead of the Stormcloaks.
- Serana is off-handedly mentioned to be a former vampire, indicating that Conrad succeeded in convincing her to go to Falion to get her condition removed.
- Deal with the Devil: Boethiah attempts to goad Danzo into one, promising him power and the prospect of becoming Hokage. Danzo, however, ends up defying this as he fears the possibility of being reduced to a puppet and having the village fall into the Daedric Prince's hands.
- Distinguishing Mark: Conrad is noted to have three nasty scars on the side of his face.
- Dude, Where's My Respect?: Upon discovering the Hokage Rock, Conrad grumbles out that, despite saving all of Nirn at least twice, he's only gotten himself more enemies. Meanwhile, his brother gets an entire monument dedicated to him.Conrad Harissen: I save creation two, maybe three times, I get nothing besides a lot of enemies. You save a city… and they turn your face into a monument. Even if you have a sissy chin.
- Dungeon Crawling: Conrad's career for the last two decades.
- Elemental Embodiment: Summoned daedra that Skyrim mages can call for battle.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Downplayed as Danzo is more morally complex than outright evil, but when faced with Boethiah offering him a deal for more power, he staunchly refuses on the possibility that accepting the deal may lead to Boethiah turning him into a puppet to control the Hidden Leaf at large. As much as he does questionable things, he does hold genuine loyalty for the village, and all of his actions are ultimately his own way of protecting it.
- Experienced Protagonist: The Dragonborn had already gone through all of the events of Skyrim and its various campaigns, along with having travelled through all of Tamriel. While he finds Akavir/the Elemental Nations to be insane, he's nonetheless Seen It All and often reacts to certain situations in resignation, being capable of planning ahead and taking care of problems whenever necessary.
- Foil: Conrad contrasts his twin brother Minato in several ways:
- The two of them are Nords who hold great fame/infamy thanks to their exploits. Though the two of them are both ruthless on the battlefield, Conrad is shown to be rather crass and rude outside of it, while Minato was soft-spoken and polite to his friends and allies.
- While Conrad was born and raised as a normal Nord by his father in Skyrim, Minato was raised in the Elemental Nations in an orphanage with no idea of his actual heritage. In terms of birthright, Conrad is The Chosen One whose destiny as the Dragonborn was part of it, while Minato had no birthright or any Bloodline limits he could take advantage of.
- In combat, Conrad is a Mighty Glacier who can tank hits with his armor and spells, whereas Minato gained his claim to fame as a Lightning Bruiser who was the fastest out of all of them.
- In terms of romance, Minato was Happily Married to Kushina, while Conrad prefers living alone as a result of being betrayed by a woman he had fallen in love with before.
- Gold Fever: Conrad uses this to his advantage, using gold to make a down-on-his-luck captain agree to a near suicidal mission to sail from Tamriel to Akavir.
- Hero of Another Story: Conrad reaches the Akavir around the time the Chunin Exams start, but doesn't actually meet Naruto until after the Preliminaries. Short one-sentence snippets jump from the story to the Exams as a way of tracking events.
- In Spite of a Nail: Tsunade still ends up being named the next Hokage in spite of Hiruzen's survival. This is because Hiruzen ended up losing his leg in his fight against Orochimaru, fearing that the village would be left vulnerable with a crippled Hokage.
- Language Barrier: When Conrad and his companions make landfall on the Elemental Nations, none of them speak the language. It takes several months before reliable communication is established.
- Long-Lost Relative: Conrad discovers that he has more family than he realized, eventually traveling to meet his nephew Naruto.
- Magic Knight: Unlike most other mages, Conrad is also proficient in melee combat, wearing sturdy armor and wielding an axe.
- Mighty Glacier: Conrad, at least relative to shinobi. While he's far slower than even most genin, he more than makes up for it with his armor, his access to -flesh spells, and the sheer power of his magic. Jiraiya even notes that he could possibly be the first S-rank civilian in the bingo book.
- Minor Living Alone: When Naruto invites Conrad into his apartment the first time, the man is able to figure out that Naruto has no guardians to speak of thanks to the less-than-ideal state of the place, along with the fact that there is only one bed. Conrad ends up being outraged at this, even more so when he finds out that Naruto is a pariah among the villagers. This is later subverted when Conrad asks Inoichi for a place to stay with Naruto, leaving Naruto, Conrad, and his students in one of Minato's old safehouses.
- Mistaken Identity: After losing his beard, Conrad ends up looking like an older version of his twin Minato. He is then mistaken for the late Yondaime by some Iwa-nin and some of Minato's friends, an impersonator using the Transformation Technique by some villagers and Kakashi, and a clone of Minato by Orochimaru.
- Mundane Luxury: Since Tamriel is stuck in a Medieval Stasis and is thus technologically backward compared to the Elemental Nations, Conrad laments the fact that his home doesn't even have basic luxuries like pens, electrical appliances, and toilets and is often targeted by numerous perils beyond mortal ability (such as Alduin and the Daedric Princes). He rips into the ninjas' willingness to employ Child Soldiers despite the relative lack of problems the Elemental Nations has compared to what Tamriel has to offer.Conrad (after listening to Iruka complain about his drinking habits): I would like to see how you people would talk to me after spending a couple months in a cell in Skyrim. We don't have toilets, though. [...] Our plumbing is not as common or advanced as yours. We don't have many of the things you take for granted. Our lands are full of monsters too, and even worse things lurking about. You people don't know how lucky you are, and you ruin it by taking children, who still think they're invincible and never going to die, and throw them at your enemies.
- Mundane Object Amazement: Conrad and his students are shown to be amazed by otherwise simple technology such as lightbulbs, pens, and even bathroom mirrors. This is largely due to Tamriel being stuck in a Medieval Stasis, whereby these objects tend to be rare or even non-existent.
- Mundane Utility: Yamato uses his Mokuton (an otherwise rare and sought-after practice) to... refurbish a house for Conrad and Naruto. Conrad internally notes that the shinobi had squandered his talents by taking on his current occupation.
- My Greatest Failure: While Conrad sided with the Empire and fully admits to hating Ulfric Stormcloak even after knowing what happened to the man, he internally admits that he considers killing Ulfric to be the one "accomplishment" he greatly regrets.
- One-Man Army: As the Dragonborn and a powerful mage to boot, Conrad is capable of obliterating entire armies on his own.
- This also applies to many powerful shinobi, most notably Minato when he was alive.
- Outside-Context Problem: The people of the Elemental Nations had never even heard of Tamriel before Conrad arrived on their shores, despite Tamriel itself knowing of them as Akavir. Unfortunately for them, the Daedric Princes later end up adding to their problems. Eventually, it's revealed that the reason why the Daedra are Outside-Context Problems for the Elemental Nations in the first place is because the continent was deliberately hidden from their view by the Sage of the Six Paths via his creation of the moon.
- Papa Wolf:
- Well... Uncle Wolf, but Conrad quickly develops into this for his nephew Naruto, becoming protective of the boy by defending him against hostile villagers and even the Akatsuki.
- Minato himself is this. Not even death and being stuck in the Soul Cairn for more than a decade is enough to stop him from worrying about his son, with the plot being kickstarted thanks to his plan to contact his long-lost brother and reach out to Naruto.
- Power Misidentification: Conrad donning his Dragon Aspect causes a number of shinobi to mistake him for a Jinchuuriki.
- Revenge Before Reason: Sasuke Uchiha's current dogma in his quest of vengeance against his elder brother Itachi for murdering their entire clan. It's understandable, however, given that he is a child who has had no parental guidance since he was six after such a traumatic event.
- Separated at Birth: Conrad and Minato were separated at infancy, with Conrad staying with his father in Skyrim while Minato was taken by his mother and ended up in the Elemental Nations.
- Simple Solution Won't Work: Even though Conrad is set back by six months worth of hopeless research regarding Minato's message, he admits that he can't just demand Durnehviir to ask Minato about his request since the dragon is far too proud to be used as a courier and would probably demand a fight for the request. He also can't just head back to the Soul Cairn through Castle Volkihar since the area has been noted to be patrolled by the Thalmor.
- Spared by the Adaptation:
- Mirabelle Ervine is shown to be alive and in charge of the College of Winterhold, well after the Dragonborn's adventures.
- Hiruzen Sarutobi ends up surviving the invasion of Konoha thanks to the healing potions Conrad and his students were able to introduce, albeit at the cost of his leg.
- The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Sasuke's obsession with being the one to kill Itachi.
- Training from Hell: In The Joys of Teaching and Learning Conrad is trained by Gai as part of his rehabilitation after getting taken down by Itachi's genjutsu. The ninja subjects him and his students to his... extreme training methods that leave them drenched in sweat and down in pain. One of them enjoys the experience far more than the others.
- Underestimating Badassery: Without any ninja training, Conrad comes off as just a civilian to the ninja of Konoha. He proves them wrong when he delivers a One-Man Army Curb-Stomp Battle during the invasion of Konoha, spreading a wave of Killing Intent that the entire village ended up feeling.
- Weird Moon: On top of Masser and Secunda, the moon of the Elemental Nations is revealed to be a focusing point of magic designed to hide the continent from the eyes of the Daedra by the Sage of the Six Paths.
- Would Hurt a Child: As the shinobi of the Elemental Nations are used to the idea of Child Soldiers, they're perfectly willing to employ any sort of harm against them, including torture and outright killing them. When Conrad's students end up under the threat of torture in order to coerce the Dragonborn for his interrogation (never mind the fact that neither side can understand each other's language), Conrad is livid. Later on, he's even more appalled to discover that this trope applies to the Elemental Nations as a whole.
- Wrong Context Magic:
- To the shinobi of the Elemental Nations, Conrad's ability to throw magic without hand signs or calling forth chakra (never mind the fact that said magic works on an entirely different source of power) comes off as a shock to the people who have dedicated years of training into ninjutsu, where such a feat should be impossible.
- Likewise, Tamriel's potions (especially the healing potions' ability to heal injuries near instantly) come off as astonishing to the point of being Game Changers since the Elemental Nations doesn't have alchemy, and its closest equivalent (chemistry) is largely rooted in more grounded, real-world approaches. The healing potions later on end up saving several lives during the invasion of Konoha, including the Sandaime's.
