#{ lack of anko }

[spacealligator]

Sannin students success analysis

Tsunade:

Shizune: awesome doctor, often forgotten, kept Tsunade alive for years despite loan sharks going after her as she tried to drink herself to death, assistent to the 5th and 6th Hokages, still alive by the end of the series -> 8/10 because I'm mad she doesn't get any recognition

Sakura: heir of Tsunade's legacy, protagonist's friend, plot armor, did good in the war, got what she wanted and married childhood crush, still alive -> 8/10 because we all know Sakura could be better

Success rate: 100% as in all her students are still alive, but the final rate is 80% because of the patriarchy

Orochimaru:

Anko: cool premise, forgotten character, became a joke in Boruto because she put on weight and apparently that's something to laugh at, but at least she still alive? -> 4/10 I miss cool Anko

Kabuto: the type we love to hate, important to the war because he did a lot of stupid shit, full snake sage, had a cool fight with Itachi and Sasuke giving them some Bonding Time, and is still alive -> 9/10 with 1 point deduction because his motives as a villain during the war don't make sense and he's reformed phase, like Orochimaru's, makes no sense

Sasuke: Naruto's boyfriend -> 10/10 successful student with good plot armor

Success rate: 100% of all students are still alive, 10% deduction because I'm still mad at Anko's (lack of) storyline and 10% deduction because of all the trauma inflicted, making expenses on shrinks for Konoha skyrocket, 80% final score

Jiraiya:

Konan: cool paper jutsu that nobody explains and we just accept it, patience to make 600 billions origami paper bombs, sunhine protector, dead by the end of the anime, very cool fight with Obito and makes him use Izanagi -> 5/10 she still lost though

Yahiko: sunshine smile, mirrors Naruto, super chill, could've been the Kage of Rain Country based on charisma alone, dead by offing himself to save his friends -> 2/10, his body made for a cool Pain though

Nagato: spoke one of Naruto's most recognizable quote, one of the most remembered fights in the anime, made Naruto use 8 tail plus giant toads, two rinnegan, sunshine protector, dead by the end of the anime -> 7/10 one point reduction because he fell for Naruto's blah blah blah no jutsu

Minato: 4th Hokage, father of the protagonist, once killed 1000 shinobi in one go, Kushina's husband, dead before the anime even started -> 6/10 because if you're dead you're not exactely successful

Naruto: the anime is called Naruto -> 11/10 successful student even with dead sensei (RIP Jiraiya)

Success rate: 20% of his students are still alive, 20% bonus because 2 of his stundents became Kage, 10% bonus because Pain is so iconic, 300% bonus because of protagonist plot armor, 350% final score

Source for ratings: voices inside my head

[team7-headquarter]

If Kakashi could help teaching Naruto seals and Rin could teach Sasuke medical ninjutsu, I'm just saying it is fair that Obito taught Sakura more about genjutsus.

The funny thing is that, okay, I think the Team 7 trio should stick to their respective sannins like in the canon, and they all have their Team Minato sensei now. BUT!!!!

Can you imagine the auxiliary senseis?

Konan, Nagato and Yahiko should be there to train Naruto for sure. Sasuke has Anko and Kabuto and Itachi. So much I know. With Sakura I'm?????

Okay, maybe Inoichi to train Sakura with Inner? It's a bit (a lot) batshit crazy, but I'm giving her the connections she socially lacks using the untrained skills from her genin days. Maybe Shisui for the genjutsu? I would say Kurenai, but I need Sakura's auxiliary senseis to match the greatness of Team 7. Shizune is definitely there, if anything 'cause I think Sakura should throw way more poisoned senbons at her enemies.

With that being said, Team Minato rotates those kids like in a microwave. Kakashi helps Sasuke with chidori and Rin helps Naruto with the whole jinchuriki thing and Obito uses his sharingan to challenge both boys. Meanwhile, Rin and Sakura are medical experiment partners and Kakashi is there MAYBE to help her with enhancing her senses or body like she did in the Chuning Exams preliminaries against Ino.

[scrivenger-grimgar]

buckle up folks, its a long one

the Hatake turn into an animal during puberty, any animal and any Hatake-by-blood. after 24 hours, they turn human again and can then form contracts with bonded animals of their type.

adoption by blood is the Hatake's most coveted jutsu, though entirely unknown by other clans. the adopted lack the Hatake white chakra, but their children will have it!

Kakashi turns into a samoyed dog and this sparks great joy for Team Minato. this is why he has a bunch of dogs.

Sakumo is an arctic gray wolf and could bond with Fire Country's wolf packs.

Orochimaru is a blue coral snake. he adopted Anko, who is a boomslang snake, as well as his other kids; Kimimaro is a pangolin, Suigetsu is a leopard seal, Jugo is a tiger, and Karin is a giant river otter

Touka is a grizzly bear. she has several sun bear friends just to freak out the Senju elders.

Tobirama is a clouded leopard, and specifically took on missions to new places to look for leopards of different kinds, along with Touka for cousin-sibling bonding time!

if Kakashi starts using the blood adoption jutsu on his friends/students, well... that's clan business.

Sasuke turns into a nightjar! Itachi is a crow (obvs), and Shisui is a raven.

now, Kakashi didn't adopt Shisui. Shisui is Kagami's grandson, and Kagami was adopted by Tobirama, meaning Shisui has the Hatake white chakra! Kagami is a magpie.

Naruto becomes a maned wolf, which... well. Kakashi helps him find as many bush dogs and falkland wolves as possible, but they're rather rare critters.

Sakura becomes a lynx. she enjoys scaring the shit out of people with her calls.

Genma becomes a Komodo dragon, Hayate is a raccoon, Yugao a stoat

Sai is a burrowing owl, Iruka is an hourglass dolphin, Izumo is a sea eagle, and Kotetsu is a leopard shark.

Ino becomes a secretary bird, Shikamaru turns into an elk, and Choji is a giant salamander

Asuma is a gecko, Kurenai is a mocking bird, Tsunade is a bison, and Tenten is a porcupine!

Kiba is a borzoi and Hana is a newfoundlander

Hinata is a flemish giant rabbit and Neji is a badger

[sporksaber]

If hiruzen (and danzo bc if he was alive itd be him or a puppet hokage he controlls) did die two decades earlier who would become the fifth hokage after Minato died? Like, Kakashi would be too young and inexperienced, they couldn't allow a clan head to do it, and the sannin had all dipped.

Depending on the timeline you use (bc I think there was retconning/unreliable information) orochimaru could have still been around. (If you use anko's age, he had to of been in the village when naruto was born. Anko is 24, was a genin between the ages of 10 to 12, and didn't catch orochimafu's attention until her first chunin exam. So it was at most 13 years before the start of naruto when she recieved her curse mark.)

Orochimaru becomes hokage and raises naruto au.

Cannon plays out with orochimaru still in the village until naruto is born, at which point there's some bullshittery that leads to hiruzen dying. As he dies he names orochimaru his heir under the condition he raises naruto (this condition may or may not be secret blood/soul binding jutsu enforced. Whichever ends up being funnier).

Orochimaru looks at little infant naruto and is like, I hate you and your father, and then carries him off to go claim his hat.

Now, I headcannon orochimaru as being kind of shit at administrative work entirely because he's never done it before and obviously none of hiruzen or Minato advisors want to support him. So he's not having a great time.

Cue his secret root research buddy danzo popping up to try to blackmail him. This lasts about two hours of orochimaru playing along before he kills him and is done with it.

At some point durring the early days of orochimaru settling into his position and dealing with the work that goes into rebuilding a destroyed village mikoto pops up at his house like where is my godson. And orochimaru let's her in and then she's like oh my madara you built him an actual nursery, I expected to find him in a closet. Orochimaru wats to be offended, but he did try that at first.

It is a number of months until orochimaru is able to properly get back into root, at which point, much to his disgust, naruto has started crawling. Orochimaru is still a shit person but he's been distracted away from his immortality bullshit. I'm going to say he was definitly dabbling in curse marks before this but whether or not he put one on anko yet is hard to decide.

Regardless, Anko is frequently forced to babysit naruto and is pissed about it.

But back to root, orochimaru has a moment where he decides that he's not hiruzen or Minato and the nice village act is unnecessary. So he just folds all the parts of root into the corresponding legitimate divisions of the village. Hiding shit is unnecessary when you're a military dictator. Are there division heads who are horrified by all the shit that was going on that they didn't know about (but they know hiruzen and most likly Minato did)? Yep. But what are they gonna say about it? (Especially when it's decades old?) So orochimaru does continue his experiments and some are genuinly horrible, although there is less done on orphans as a side affect of it not being as hidden anymore.

[A note before I continue, I'm not considering the madara rabbit goddess stuff here. It's too complicated and the kind of arc I personally always skip.]

Back to the Uchiha. The lack of people actively trying to screw them over means their social status in the village is much better than it was before. Itachi is probably still pulled into anbu very young, and I think he'd eventually become orochimaru's apprentice. He also hates orochimaru, but that's besides the point. Orochimaru allows it because he still doesn't like administrative shit and eventually plans to go back to his experiments full time. If he didn't have a point to prove he'd of bailed already. Itachi ends up in the assistant position fanon sakura often ends up in for tsunade and Kakashi where they make sure the paperwork is actually done and no extreme diplomatic issue pops up due to their sensei's shit personality.

Speaking of tsunade, she defs comes to visit after the first few years. She kind of ends up just getting into constant arguments with orochimaru (who probably uses toddler/very young child naruto to mess with her often) and reorganize the hospital before leaving again. Jiraya takes longer to visit. He probs had an argument with orochimaru early on, and jiraya is being stubborn while orochimaru knows he'll crawl back eventually.

What else do I need to cover? Naruto loves his wierd pale dad (who does not let him call him dad under any circumstances). He ends up living a very comfortable life. Orochimaru's parenting style is very science based so he never needs anything physically and all the emotional needs are met by mikoto and to a lesser extent anko and Kakashi (who was put on guard duty fir like a week when there was a kyubi kidnaping threat and then just never left). He gets to grow up besties with Sasuke, and does very well in the restructured academy (because the Canon academy doesn't really teach shit and orochimaru made it include harder and more spread out topics with the option of specialization) as he now has a support network to work with his needs.

Anyone who knows me knows sakura is my favorite character. She thrives under the new academy and is able to have all her strengths worked on to the point she's on par or better than naruto and Sasuke when they're put on a team together. (I imagine teams are planned I'm advance to a certain extent. I always find reasoning people give for sakura to be on their team really fun.)

Sasuke is still a dick, but without the trauma and with his mom to put him in his place. Also, like in the manga, he has a bit of reciprocation for sakura's crush (which isn't as strong here), but idk if they'd be endgame.

Orochimaru does come to care for naruto. Because it's naruto. But he is never really affectionate outright. (Naruto knows he loves him though. Which he does in his own way.)

I think im one for now. Enjoy.

[p8567899754nhu]

"He knew revenge was Sasuke's goal yet still accepted him as his student. Even teaching him his signature technique. Sasuke fought Naruto out of anger, not a friendly sparring match .Kakashi was helping Sasuke with revenge til it consumed him to the point he was fighting his own comrades."

1. i think it's an overstrech to say kakashi "accepted" sasukes revenge , when through most of it  he was just indifferent to the idea of his revenge(on introduction, he doesnt care that sasuke's main goal in life is revenge) and kakashi helped shikamaru with his revenge , so I preassume ,revenge isnt something kakashi is inherently against so there is no “accepting” sasuke for a different belief like you paint it out to be . although he never backs on using his goal pf revenge (and feelings for his dead clan) as baits for mocking him when he couldnt match up his expectations (land of waves arc) .

2." Even teaching him his signature technique”?

i mean what was he supposed to do ? send him unequipped to the most brutal round 2 contender(-GAARA who whooped 4 gates lee to the point he couldnt be a shinobi again), why does kakashi doing his basic teacher duties make you gape in awe , a lot of fandom whines he didnt taught it to naruto or sakura (never minding neither of them could EVER use chidori properly since they lack sharingan)  and sakura wasnt even finalized for round 2 . never mind how brutal it was of kakashi to make a severly bed ridden sasuke(who was unfit to EVEN WALK-medical attendant’s words) participate in the match further despite the hokage’s and anko’s (who alone knew what it was like to have a curse mark placed on you) advice and call him to learn the technique when medically ,he was severaly hurt . 

and finally- wtf does it have to do with his stance on sasuke's revenge.

3."Sasuke fought Naruto out of anger.."

oh and since kakashi is omnipotent and  he knew it ? only sakura heard the discourse between the boys so this point of yours ends before its started

and when does fighting being motivated by anger (after just awakening from your deathbed btw) is suffiecient to negate the purpose of someone's lifes -especially sasuke’s for which he was ready to sell his soul and body-to get some semblence of justice for his family, remember  lee attacked sasuke brutally for no reason but to “prove himself” , insulted his clan and even when he had an upper hand in match he was about to use a forbidden technique just to hurt sasuke more .-even when lee is reprimended by gai, gai doesnt negate his life’s purpose - for which lee worked so hard , and even in their battle before sasuke CHALLENGED naruto, he didnt attack him , he only bellitles him (as a cope ,after he is traumatised by his brother for a whole day, humiliated  and almost killed) it is naruto who ACCEPTS the challenge and gets petty never minding the condition of sasuke, it is NARUTO who get ready to pull a rasengan on his “best” friend despite his “bff”, when sasuke had just woken up( from life threatening coma and mental scarring that 1 complete day of torture can give a 13 year old along with being beaten and humiliated )   , naruto getting all riled up -although mind you he first hand witnessed what happened to sasuke , he heard sasuke's screams and the brothers' "interaction" firsthand , neither sakura nor kakashi saw it firsthand , he gets all riled up as his friend just woke from coma like the hyper insecure twat he is -although he couldve refused ? if he possessed any sympathy or empathy for the boy that is even a 13 year old and no one, for a boy he claimed to be his "friend". neither jiraiya nor kakashi reprimands him but anyways ,

4.sasuke pulled a chidori? so , like i said before naruto pulled out his strongest move first what do you expect  sasuke to do ?  beg him to draw out the rasengan ? it is only not only fair for him to have used chidori but actually very obvious, never minding the rasengan was more POTENT than the chidori he used and wouldve hurt HIM regardless. reiterating it again naruto would have severely hurt hurt his friend when his friend is unwell, was brutally tortured and beaten in front of him and just woke up from a coma form which his death was almost certain, just because he is an insecure twat.

so much for love and friendship

[al-hekima-madara-blog]

Hmmm, I'm not too sure myself what inarisushi culturally represents in Japan, but maybe a website I found could help?

The article is called, A Guide to Inarizushi by the Japanese Food Guide!

Some of the highlights from that article claim that inarisushi was a popular fast food among working men, especially samurai, who loved the recipe so much they brought it back home.

Following that idea, one reason why it's his favorite food, could be because eating it was the only time he really spent with his brothers when he wasn't being a child warrior. He was expected to go out at any moment, any time of the day, to fight the Senju; and the only time he could relax with his family was by eating quick, easy foods like inarisushi before fighting again. So that food would likely have some emotional significance to him. Nostalgia, even.

Another reason I have for why Kishimoto chose this dish as Madara's favorite food, was because it's a funny juxtaposition for such a serious, indomitable personality. Think about it! If you met someone known worldwide for their harsh exterior and they tell you their fav food is dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets, it's jarring and hilarious!

Kishimoto's the type to make little jokes like that too. Anko Mitarashi's fav foods are sweet red bean soup and dango, two dishes that relate to her name. Likewise Sai, a seemingly bland person's fav food is tofu, a food that inherently lacks flavor! I hope this helped a little bit. :>

Yeah definitely it makes sense...🤔 And warring state era shinobis are closer to samurai lifestyle than actual ninja (their fights aren't really secretive at all😅)

Oh i love the hc with his brothers it's adorable. I agree 200%🥺❤️

For having taste inarizuchi I've found it surprisingly sweet and yeah it can be jarring considering Madara's maleficent aura, (I don't know I expect him loving red meat, potatoes and chili😂) and that gives him a human soft side in a way.

Oh and here a comment from @komehyappyou that adds more detail to the cultural aspect. Thank you both for these precious informations 🙏

[felsenbluete]

Fixing the Chunin exams arc

While I do think that the first two rounds of the exams are nearly perfect in narrative execution (except that Anko afterwards ceases to be relevant even though her backstory is so intriguing and could mirror Sasuke in so many ways, but I’m getting already off track here...) - I have some gripes with regards to the duels, especially Naruto’s, which is a fucking pity, given that he is the main character. 

So this is my attempt to fix the mess that Kishimoto made of the last two rounds (concerning Naruto’s duels and the narrative around them, we don’t have the time for Kishi’s misogyny and whatever Sakura/Ino is):

1) Naruto vs. Kiba: In @margalotta​‘s wise words:

Imo, it doesn’t benefit Naruto at this point in his story to win out of dumb luck. He is teamed up with Kiba, who pretty much suffers the same weaknesses as Naruto, mostly bad rage control. So seeing Naruto actually staying in control and outsmarting Kiba would have been such a great character moment for him! Especially given that his lack of any strategy already gave him a pretty humbling defeat from Lee in the very beginning.

> Fix #1: Let Naruto outsmart Kiba, keep the fart joke for a filler.

2) Chouji vs. Dosu: While disliking the outcome of the Naruto-Kiba duel, I do think that the point of “one can win with nothing but luck” is one worth making. So looking at the other duels of the preliminaries, I find Chouji vs. Dosu most fitting. We have already seen Dosu being completely brutal in the Forest and him losing would give him an extra reason to challenge Gaara before round 3 - him thinking he got cheated out of this encounter.

> Fix #2: Let Chouji win against Dosu through luck, let Dosu be bitter about it.

3) Naruto vs. Neji:

This actually get my blood boiling, because - as many have pointed out over the years - Naruto winning only because of the Kyuubi just proved Neji’s god damn point about predetermination. But (even though I like seeing Naruto lose) I don’t think Neji should win either. My solution is to scrap that entire duel. 

> Fix #4: Let Neji fight against Shikamaru, let him lose

I am dead serious. While I like the ShikaTema interactions as much as anyone else, I think Shikamaru could have pulled his stunt with basically everyone else. The only difference is, that with Neji, it would have an impact. Because Neji technically losing only for Shikamaru to throw the whole thing out would have impacted Neji’s world view much more than losing against a jinchuuriki. In my very humble opinion.

> Fix #5: Neji vs. Naruto - talk-no-jutsu, the Hinata brawl

Between the preliminaries and round 3, a whole month passes. And I am aware that Naruto as a shounen protagonist has to change everyone’s path personally. So why not between the rounds? Let him be enraged about what Neji did to Hinata, so fucking livid that he doesn’t wait patiently for a month, but corners Neji the minute they are out of the arena and Hayate isn’t looking.

I have no idea, when Kishimoto decided on NaruHina as endgoal, but that would have set up that whole thing as well! Just a thought!! And you can have the Talk and maybe even Naruto actually catching Neji off-guard, if you want to. Idk, Masashi, you’re the Big Mangaka, you figure that out.

BONUS > Fix #6: Let Naruto fight against Temari, let him have a realistic chance, let him lose (?)

Surprisingly, I don’t have a strong opinion how this match should go. I think there is something for the idea of Naruto encountering someone with years worth of experience and losing and realising that even though he has grown a lot, he still has so much more to learn, which fuels his training under Jiraiya. But as a Proper Shounen Protagonist, I also have no issue if he has to win this fight. Maybe, to make it more spicy, have the Kyuubi come out and actually wreck Temari. Like, obliterate her to such a degree, that he is horrified. Show him and the audience in the arena why the village hates the jinchuurikis. I actually quite like this turn, because it mirrors the brutality Temari employs to win against Tenten.

BONUS BONUS: Actually I do have time to fix Ino vs. Sakura

> Fix #7: Keep the fight, throw out Sasuke and make Ino status-obsessed

Popularity aside, the main difference between Sakura and Ino during their academy years is that Ino has an inkling of her abilities, while Sakura is only aware that she can control chakra in the vaguest of ways. Ino is born into a clan, Sakura’s family isn’t mentioned in the canon. So why not make Ino think that she will get the best team (................... *sigh* and best team mates aka The Uchiha), while treating Sakura as an amusing puppy, but not really competition. If I remember correctly, Sakura has the best academy exam scores after Sasuke, so why not let her evolve into a real threat for Ino, maybe having their falling out be an actual duel on the training field that mirrors the duel during the chunin exams.

I think I am done now.

[chrimson-oc-central]

OC PROFILE - KAORI YUMENO

*~*~*

BASICS

Name - Kaori Yumeno

Birthdate - December 21

Age - 13-14 Years (Part 1), 17-18 Years (Shippuden), 20-21 Years (The Last), 21-27 Years (Blank Period), 33-34 Years (Boruto)

Birthplace - Konohagakure (Village Hidden in the Leaves)

Pronouns - She/Her

Nationality - Hinokoku (Land of Fire)

*~*~*

APPEARANCE

Hair Color - Pinkish Wine Red

Eye Color - Pink

Height - 4'10" (~147.32 cm)

*~*~*

PERSONALITY

Best Traits - Determined, Clever, Hardworking, Caring.

Worst Traits - Hot-Headed, Rude, Bottles up thoughts.

Mannerisms - Left-Handed, Crosses arms often.

What they hate the most - Failure, Snobby people.

What's most important to her - Her friends, becoming the best genjutsu user in the world.

Secrets - Cries often. She is constantly questioning herself and feels like a failure. Bottles up these feelings, and sometimes her emotions explode and she takes it out on the people and things around her.

Do they get along with or avoid other people - Avoids, even though she craves friends and attention. Will never admit this, but will always appreciate being included.

*~*~*

FAMILY AND FRIENDS

Parents/Guardians - None (She might get a parent later but I haven't decided yet)

Siblings - None

Significant Other - Rock Lee (Boyfriend in The Last, Husband in Blank Period and onward)

Children - Metal Lee (Son), Jewel Lee (Daughter)

Pets/Animal Companions/Summons - Unnamed Snake Summon (They're a work in progress lmao sorry)

Teacher(s)/Sensei(s) - Suzume (academy sensei [kunoichi instructor]), Iruka Umino (academy sensei), Anko Mitarashi (Genin sensei)

Friends - Tenten, Rock Lee, Neji Hyuga, Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, Ino Yamanaka, Hinata Hyuga, Akua Koizumi, Chihiro Osaka

Best Friend(s) - Tenten, Akua Koizumi, Chihiro Osaka

Enemies - Akatsuki Organization, Orochimaru, Madara Uchiha, Kabuto Yakushi

Acquaintances - Kiba Inuzuka, Akamaru, Shino Aburame, Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akamichi, Kakashi Hatake, Might Guy, Kurenai Yuhi, Asuma Sarutobi, Tsunade, Jiraiya, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Gaara, Temari, Kankuro, Sai Yamanaka, Hanabi Hyuga, Sasuke Uchiha, Hiashi Hyuga

*~*~*

OTHER AND FANDOM SPECIFICS (Naruto)

Occupation - Leaf Shinobi (Ninja, Kunoichi)

Rank - Genin (Part 1), Chunin (Shippuden), Jonin (The Last, Blank Period)

Chakra Nature - Wind

Kekkei Genkai - None

Affiliations - Hinokoku (Land of Fire), Konohagakure (Village Hidden in the Leaves), Allied Shinobi Forces (5th Division), Team Anko

Other Names/Nicknames/Aliases - Kaori Lee, Kaori Yumeno-Lee

Blood Type - AB-

Favorite Food - Ice Cream

Least Favorite Food - Unagi

Hobbies - Flower arranging, rock collecting

*~*~*

Brief Description:

Kaori has reddish-pink hair and pink eyes.

Her academy grades were nothing to look at, with Lee being the only one who scored worse than her during their graduation exam. She has very low stamina, and has little strength. She tries to push herself though, which causes her to pass out often. What she lacks in physical strength, though, she more than makes up in her ability to use Genjutsu. Poisons and Senbon are also incorporated in her abilities, to make her jutsu that more deadly.

Kaori is short-tempered, but it mainly stems from a lack of self esteem in herself. Hates talking about it, so if she's opening up to you, you're special no doubt about it. Really admires Rock Lee and his constant determination and positive outlook on life. Strives to also be like that, but it's hard to change her ways. Will mellow out a bit as she gets older.

[colourme-feral]

People I wanna know better tag meme

Thank you for the tag @blmpff and @my-rose-tinted-glasses

Last song?

I'm just listening to my liked songs on Spotify, so this is going to be playing while I'm writing my response.

Favorite color?

I *think* it is green. I THINK. I definitely didn't make a post just of rice fields I'd seen from trains a few months ago and I definitely haven't shouted about the greens of those fields to any mutuals or friends.

Currently watching?

Chaser Game W, Cherry Magic Thailand (CHERRY MAGIC THAILAND, I TELL YOU.), Last Twilight, Playboyy, Sukiyanen Kedo Do Yaro ka and The Sign.

I need to catch up on Intern in My Heart, Kinou Nani Tabeta Season 2 and Return Man.

I'm waiting for 7 Days Before Valentine to end before watching.

And I ought to start Ossan's Love Returns.

Last movie?

Hungry Ghost Diner, which happened to be available when I was looking for something over the weekend to watch. I liked how some of the scenes looked, but storywise, a little predictable and a little lacking.

Sweet/Spicy/Savory?

Savoury but occasionally sweet and if I'm being very delusional, spicy. No pedas!!

Relationship status?

Single and not mingling.

Current obsessions?

Aside from tea and Cherry Magic? I'm still stuck on that locations map and IRL locations stuff, but things aren't moving as quickly as I'd like them to. So many ideas, so little time.

I also need to get back on the Last Twilight and Open Spaces posts, but...

And then there's also the bridges stuff 😫

Last thing you googled?

I googled kusamochi, which relates to the photo I took below. I googled it because I didn't think that it usually has anko inside, but this did.

Selfie or another pic you took?

Tea and the aforementioned kusamochi!!!

No pressure tagging: @callipigio, @shou-jpeg and @sparklyeyedhimbo: Please surrender your cat pics. Please let me see some felines.

[denofgluttonousmuses]

Am I the only one who likes Anko's timeskip fat bod? It's just, so fitting and cute for her to canonically bloat out from all that dango and lack of exercise~~

Honestly, the only thing I don't like is the way the mangaka drew her face)

Other than that, it was a good symbol of peacetime in Naruto.

[mahougotham]

Youkai

Jervis had decided that on his way to visit Jonathan he would take a few wagashi to him with the help of his new found abilities. He had made sure to get two of most of the confections but four of each of the ones that featured anko, the former maiko took notice that while the Scarecrow ate most of what was offered he tended to be especially excited to see yokan, daifuku and ohagi.

When Jervis arrived however the door to Jonathan’s house had been busted open from the inside. Upon further inspection the interior of the hut had been torn apart by something with large sharp claws and apparently covered in drool.

“Hare,” Jervis called out worriedly as he carefully walked through the scene of the crime, once he found no sign of his companion he walked out to see a trail of large footprints leading to a forest nearby.

“Merry Unbirthday.”

Once those words left his lips, his face was decorated with geisha makeup, his hair put into a low bun held by long pins, a small woven hat and his casual pale blue yukata was traded out for a dark green and pink one with a cloud pattern with a puffy skirt with a blue and white pattern on them. He continued to follow the path with his basket of cakes in hand until he hit an end to the tracks.

“Huh. How curious…”

Jervis crouched down to get a better look at the last set of tracks. They look nothing like any animal he came across, they were far too big, not to mention these tracks in particular were deeper than the ones leading up to it. Where did all this fog come from?

“Jonathan,” Jervis called out, “Jonathan where are you!? Please tell you are okay!”

THUD!

Before the small man was a giant creature that resembled nothing that Jervis could even dream of with large hands with long sharp fingers, a large curtain of dark greasy hair and more disturbingly a face blacked out with no trace of eyes, nose or mouth, just a black surface that felt like it was staring back at Jervis, measuring him. The moment the Mad Hatter took a step back a large hand pinned him to the nearest tree, knocking the wind right out of Jervis’s lungs, he struggled a bit before he noticed the beast’s face or lack there of was right up to Jervis. This let him witness as many eyes literally blink into existence on his face and focus on him, watching him continue to struggle before the all closed and from the void a large amount hands reached for Jervis. They held his hand, pat his head, caressed his face (smudging his makeup in the process) it was all so very gentle. Jervis stood there in bewilderment before remembering the basket in his hands still. Perhaps he can bribe this beast to release him with a daifuku, surely Jon wouldn’t mind if there was one less wagashi for him.

“Excuse me.”

The beast retracted all of his hands from his face and returned to giving his face eyes.

“I-I’d like you to let me go please,” a deep growl could be heard from the beast before Jervis presented a small mochi in his hand, “I’ll make it worth your while. I-I-I have a friend who likes anko so I thought you’d like it too.”

The creature blinked a few times before the eyes closed out of existence and in its stead a large mouth with razor sharp teeth opened and out shout a long tongue to wrap around Jervis hand to feel for the sweet and shot back into its cavern once it had his prize.

“Now you have to hold your end of the bargain and let me goOOOOO!”

Jervis found himself still being held by the monster but instead of being against a tree he was just in the palm of this creatures hands, being held closer to the never ending void serving as a face as hands once again shot out of it to hold and caress Jervis, with a few taking treats from his basket to feed itself. Meanwhile, Jervis was confused by this behavior and looked around for any signs of Jonathan only to catch something in the corner of his eye.

A pumpkin charm hanging from the ear of the giant creature giving him affection. This creature was Jonathan this whole time.

Jervis felt an odd sense of relief and leaned into the hands’ touches.

“Jonathan how long were you able to do this?”

The only response he got was a hand offering him a dango.

“I suppose I can’t get an answer from you while you’re like this?”

The hands just continue holding him and making sure he was comfortable in Jonathan’s grasp.

Jervis nodded and sat on Jonathan’s hand, he took his hat off and proceeded to pull out two tea cups and a teapot filled with tea. He still had wagashi left and he’s with Jonathan now. The circumstances didn’t shake his determination to have tea with someone he cares for especially when they might be here a while.

[holly-natnicole]

Nohara Rin's Romantic Relationships (in my canon-compliant headcanons)

She ever since age 10 has a crush on Kakashi, who never gets the chance to romantically like her back since she dies 3 & a half months before her 14th birthday. Her romantic feelings towards him have grown strong enough by age 12 that she felt the need to tell him.

Rin at age 5 meets Kakashi and Obito in school then within a month has become Schrödinger's besf friends with the latter. Obito at age 7 starts to have a crush on Rin, who for at least 7 years loves him solely as 1 of her 2 best friends (the other is Kurenai who also is Rin's platonic rival).

If Rin didn't die from her canon self-sacrifice, there are many ways the trio's relationships coulda resolved themselves:

Kakashi at age 14 or older develops romantic feelings for Rin then they become a couple with Obito supporting their relationship;

Kakashi at age 14 or older develops romantic feelings for both Rin and Obito then tells them and the 3 negotiate on what'd work for all of them, e.g. Kakashi-x-Rin becoming a couple with Obito supporting them coz he doesn't wanna date Kakashi or Kakashi dating both Rin and Obito coz Obito decided he'll give it a try despite not having romantic feelings for Kakashi or no-one dating anyone etc.;

Kakashi at age 14 or older develops romantic feelings for both Rin and Obito then doesn't tell either of them thus all 3 are in a sort of relationship limbo where none of them know the full story;

Obito at age 14 or older develops romantic feelings for Kakashi who develops romantic feelings for both him and Rin who develops romantic feelings for Obito then either they all tell each other and form a romantic triad or none of them tell the others and they're in a sort of relationship limbo where none of them know the full story;

Obito at age 14 or older develops romantic feelings for Kakashi who doesn't like him nor Rin back in that way thus it's those 2 being one-sidedly in love with Kakashi whilst Obito also is one-sidedly in love with Rin;

Obito at age 14 or older develops romantic feelings for Kakashi whilst the ones he had for Rin fade away thus it's solely those 2 being one-sidedly in love with Kakashi;

Obito at age 14 or older develops romantic feelings for Kakashi whilst the ones he had for Rin and she had for Kakashi fade away and Rin develops romantic feelings for Obito thus the one-sided romantic feelings situation from canon gets reversed with Kakashi's lack of romantic feelings feelings staying as the only constant;

Kakashi at age 14 or older develops romantic feelings for Obito thus there's a romance triangle with Kakashi's crush on Obito and Obito's on Rin and Rin's on Kakashi all being one-sided;

Rin's romantic feelings for Kakashi at age 14 or older fade away and she slowly develops romantic feelings for Senju Yamato (formerly Tenzō after having gone by the name Kinoe, birth name unknown), Mitarashi Anko, and/or Katō Shizune;

Rin's romantic feelings for Kakashi at age 14 or older fade away and she somehow ends up joining (the original or the new) Akatsuki then develops one-sided or mutual romantic feelings towards Konan.

(These headcanons are canon-compliant in the sense that there's never a moment in the manga or novels where it's explicitly made clear Nohara Rin can't be polyamorous and/or biromantic and/or bisexual. The only thing canon has confirmed is that Rin had romantic feelings for Kakashi who never got the chance to find out whether he reciprocated the crush or was 100% solely friends with her. Shizune never dated anyone in canon, so she's as up to interpretation as Kakashi; same goes for Yamato & Anko. Konan was implied to have a mutual crush on Yahiko, but she was never confirmed to specifically not be sapphic. Obito, of course, has his canon one-sided crush on Rin; the manga and novels never indicated that it was impossible for her to ever like him back in the same way.

These are all my interpretation!!)

[virtualcarrot]

[KKIR] Modern AU - Teaching Pains Pt 6

Part 5

Prompt 6: Secret

.

Kakashi watches Iruka be swallowed by the crowd with a mild feeling of disquiet that he’s quick to dismiss. Whatever tension he might have sensed in their interaction can easily be attributed to the throngs of strangers wandering the halls.

When the teachers first told him about the open day event, Kakashi will admit he didn’t think much of it. If pushed, he might even go as far as to say he thought they were all going way overboard with their preparations. After all, just how many people could be interested in an open day at a medium-sized secondary school? A place of sweaty teens and faded wall paint? 

Well, Kakashi’s secure enough in himself to admit he might have been wrong.

And also that he’s quite looking forward to the show. Sasuke and he have had occasions to talk about martial arts together, and he’s curious to see if the kid’s as good as his boasts. He may not be as loud and overstating about it as Naruto’s ‘they should just give me my black belt already, believe it!’ but that only makes his understated haughtiness all the more terribly familiar to Kakashi.

And sure, Kakashi was an absolute pest at that age, but he was also already breathtakingly skilled. 

In short: watching Sasuke in action could make for a nice performance.

He gives Anko a loose wave of greeting from afar, only to get a perplexing predatory smile in response. He decides to make himself scarce, lest she decides to put him to contribution with the public.

His retreat drives him to roam a few more corridors, catching sight of the signs they’ve gone through such pains to hang. A few people stop to study them, eyes quickly glazing over the history lesson of the creation of the school.

Kakashi can’t fully blame them. It’s very ‘a healthy mind in a healthy body’ stuff, only repackaged under Hiruzen’s favored slogan about the Will of Fire.

Still, can’t argue with the results, for all that it makes for a dreary read.

He comes across a few students and trades a few words with them. He does the same with the coworkers he walks past, out of politeness, but there’s clearly something going on backstage because every single one of these interactions leaves him with a feeling that he’s missing something.

He doesn’t like it.

In the end, Mizuki’s the one who gives him his first lead as to what might be going on.

“Hey,” the teacher says, approaching him in the corner of the hall where Kakashi had settled in to wait for the performance.

He’s tentative in his approach but isn’t treating Kakashi much differently than usual, so Kakashi greets him back.

Mizuki settles by his side with a mild wince. “Did you… Did you piss off Iruka? Or something?” he adds hastily.

Kakashi doesn’t even have to pass their last interactions in review to answer that. One of the best things about Iruka is, if there’s something wrong, he’ll be told. Loudly.

“Nope.”

His answer doesn’t appear to comfort Mizuki, who gives him an entirely skeptical look. “Are you sure? Because--” He cuts off, bumps his forehead with the heel of his hand. “Ah shit, you sparred with him, didn’t you?”

“Yes,” Kakashi answers simply.

“And you beat him? Because that’d explain everything.”

Kakashi neither confirms nor denies, leaving Mizuki free to take it in the affirmative.

The teacher throws his head back with a sigh.

“I thought he’d grown out of it,” he confesses in exasperation, rubbing a hand over his face before looking askance. “Listen, it’s not his fault, but... Iruka’s a terribly sore loser." He chuckles humorlessly. "I know it doesn’t look like it. Trust me, the first time it happened to me, I did not see it coming either.”

This doesn’t fit anything Kakashi’s learned about Iruka since they’ve met, but Mizuki’s known him longest. He might be lying, though for what reason Kakashi can’t figure.

He tilts his head to signify he’s still listening but remains otherwise neutral.

Far from discouraged by his lack of reaction, Mizuki continues.

“Look, I know it's none of my business, but he's been spreading a rumor about you, and I thought you'd like a heads up. I won’t say any more because that’s between you and him but… give him a day to cool off, and maybe talk to him? Just not today. I really wouldn’t do it today if I were you, he's too wired. Trust me,” he says, briefly making eye contact to stress the importance of his advice.

Done speaking, he takes a short break, pushing his bangs out of his face with a tired look. Then he shakes himself up, dropping his hand with a little smile full of sympathy.

“I’d also avoid interacting with students too much before this is sorted out. It’s not too bad, what Iruka’s been saying, but it could still get ugly quickly.”

Kakashi gives a noncommittal hum. For a moment, a flash of annoyance ignites Mizuki’s eyes before his eyelids lower meekly again.

“Just… go easy on him, okay? Iruka’s always liked being in the spotlight, since he was a kid. As an orphan and all. So it’s difficult for him when he realizes he’s not as special as he wishes he was.”

And Mizuki is not nearly as cunning as he believes himself to be either.

But Kakashi lets him pretend. He thanks Mizuki for the information and, using as pretext Izumo’s announcement of the imminent start of the performance, excuses himself.

His mind’s a bit too full with the awareness of the workplace drama--workplace drama he is involved in, somehow--to fully appreciate the show, but he still stays for it. Naruto is, as expected, all over the place, but he also displays even more tenacity and courage than Kakashi expected from him. Neji and Sasuke’s skills are a quick evidence, and Lee shows the sort of showmanship that instantly reminds him of Gai.

He also has the energy, as is proven by the fact he then joins the following performance of acrobatic gymnastics with Tenten.

Kakashi catches a few members of the audience cringing at the antics and shrugs. He remembers what it was to feel ashamed to be associated with Gai, and how much better of a man he is since he learned to appreciate it instead.

After a while he checks the time and slips out of the gymnasium. He’d have liked to talk to Iruka before leaving, but there are only so many office hours he can skip at the university before Tsunade has his head.

“We should talk,” he texts Iruka once he’s back in his office, his secluded private office that, nowadays, doesn’t feel as nearly cozy as it used to before Tsunade and Hiruzen respectively strong-armed and guilt-tripped him into giving specialized lessons at Konoha Middle-High.

He doesn’t get an answer to his text.

Past six in the evening and with the end of his shift, Gai makes a dramatic entrance and they go out for drinks. There’s nothing Gai can do about Mizuki and Iruka but he’s both a good listener and of good advice, and regardless he’ll get a kick about learning about Lee.

Kakashi’s not wrong. Gai decides right then and there that he needs to meet the kid.

Gai’s in the middle of a tirade about the Power of Youth when Kakashi’s phone rings.

It’s Naruto.

When Kakashi first started at Konoha Middle-High, there was a period of introductions. He wrote his name on the board, added his phone number underneath, and made very sure they knew never to use it because if they had something to ask him while he was on school grounds, they could come to him directly, and if he wasn’t on school grounds, then he was off the clock and intended to stay off the clock.

Naruto’s never called him before.

Mizuki’s warning not to interact with students rings in his mind.

This is how he notices an unread text from Iruka, short enough that the preview displays it in full.

“nedhlp at schl,” it reads.

Kakashi takes the call.

-

@kakairu-rocks

[depressedhatakekakashi]

What is a Blanket Fort?

Pairing: Hatake Kakashi/Maito Gai

Words: 1481

Based on @crypticsummons beautiful Kakagai valentines week art piece Here!!!

“We need a blanket,” Gai started at him with excitement glimmering in his eyes. “No, two blankets. The biggest blankets we have.”

Kakashi wasn’t sure what his husband was planning, but that lack of knowledge did nothing to stop him from dragging himself away from the comfortable cuddles the two of them had fallen into when they first returned home. Gai wanted blankets and Kakashi would get him blankets, even if he personally thought it was a little too warm to be bundling up under them.

In the closet, he found their collection of blankets. Some of which had been given to them by friends, others which they had secured for themselves over the years. Somewhere along the path of life, they had found themselves with more blankets than they had furniture, but neither of them could think of a reason to get rid of any of them, so here they were. Stacked neatly in a closet for moments just like this.

“Two blankets,” he mumbled, scanning through all of his options. There was the white blanket with sticks of dango on it that Anko had gotten Gai for his birthday one year or the blue blanket with clouds that Kurenai had bought for their anniversary just last year. Neither of those seems appropriate for the moment, though. “I could go with the green,” his eyes settled on the old green blanket that had shuriken printed all over it. An old favourite of his. “Or…”

The answer struck him suddenly, and without a moment’s hesitation, he claimed the two blankets he’d decided on and made his way back toward the living room.

“Oy, Gai,” he called out just as he rounded the corner into the living room. “I wasn’t sure which ones you wanted so I hope…” His words trailed off as his eyes zeroed in on Gai who was in the process of placing their dining room chairs in front of the coffee table.

Gai lifted his head and grinned when he saw the two blankets in Kakashi’s arms. “Perfect!” adjusting the chair’s position a smidge, he turned towards Kakashi and dashed forward, snatching the blankets out of his hands as soon as he was close enough. “It’s going to look spectacular, though…” he paused and stared down at the blanket. “I’m not sure which one should be the roof and which one we should have inside.”

The roof?

Inside?

Kakashi’s head was swimming trying to comprehend what his husband was saying. None of this made any sense to him.

“Gai,” he held up a hand to silently request a moment of pause. “Explain, please.”

Gai stared at him as if he’d just said the stupidest thing in the world, which was strange given the fact Kakashi was usually the one who knew everything. “I-” he blinked. A sign that Kakashi had learned years ago meant that his husband was trying to process what was going on. “Kakashi…I’m building a fort.”

“A fort?”

“A fort, yes,” he confirmed. “A blanket fort. You know what a blanket fort is…right?”

Thinking back to his childhood, Kakashi tried his best to bring up any memories he might have had of a blanket fort. Yet, the only thing he could think of was the time Minato-Sensei had suggested making a ‘team fort’. A project which Kakashi had promptly opted out of in favour of doing some solo training.

“Oh…Kakashi,” sighing, Gai turned his back to Kakashi and pointed at the chairs he had set up. “Come on, I’ll show you.”

“A-alright.” He wasn’t sure what they were going to do, but he’d learned long ago that he could trust Gai. Even if the activity seemed ridiculous, Gai would always find a way to make it fun for both of them. It was one of his many skills.

So, with no idea what they were doing except for the basic understanding he could gather up in his mind based on the activities name, Kakashi watched his husband. His eyes followed Gai’s every movement. From the second he chose which blanket he wanted for the roof of his project and set the spare down beside one of the chairs, to the way he threw the blanket up and over the chairs and table. Once it had settled, Gai began moving around the couch, adjusting the blanket at every corner so that it sat over each item perfectly.

When the roof was completed to his satisfaction, Gai turned to Kakashi with a triumphant smile. “There, doesn’t it look perfect, Rival?”

Kakashi stared at the contraption. A blanket sits over two chairs and a table to form a sort of tent like what they would sometimes make for cover during missions. Except, this one was made from a blanket and some household furniture and was built inside of a house which already served to protect them from the elements outside. There was nothing special or exciting about it, and while the blue blanket highlighted the structure beautifully the only thing that really stood out to Kakashi was the paw prints that decorated the blanket.

The smile dropped off of Gai’s face when Kakashi failed to provide the excited answer he was expecting. “You hate it.”

“I don’t hate it,” Kakashi corrected him. “I just don’t understand.”

“What is there to understand? It’s a blanket fort.”

“Well, yes,” that much he could see. It was a basic fort made out of blankets, just like the name suggested. “But what’s the point of it?”

The smile returned to Gai’s face. A dazzling gleam that brightened up the entire room with the sheer joy that radiated from it.

“Here,” he snatched the second blanket, an orange one with little turtles that Neji, Lee, and Tenten had bought him a few years ago, and extended a hand towards Kakashi. “I’ll show you.”

The entire scenario confused him, but there was one thing that Kakashi knew with absolute certainty. No matter what was going on around him, he could trust Gai.

So, with a deep breath, Kakashi placed his hand on Gai’s and allowed himself to be led into the little fort that Gai was so proud of. There was barely enough room for the two of them, but somehow Gai made it work. He situated himself on the floor first so that he was laying down on the left side of the little fort. Once he was comfortable, he stared up at Kakashi expectantly. Waiting for him to claim the spot at his side.

Hatake Kakashi could resist a lot of things, but Gai’s smile simply wasn’t one of them. No matter how stupid all of this seemed to him, he crawled into the little fort and settled in beside Gai.

“So…”

“It’s a fort,” Gai chuckled. “A hide away from the rest of the world.”

“A hideaway in our home?”

“Sometimes people need to escape from the world, even if they are at home.”

Escape from the world.

Kakashi smiled at the thought. Here, in the living room he shared with his husband, they had a little hideaway. A place for just the two of them that no one else could sneak into through a window, or enter through a doorway.

There was only room enough for the two of them and no one else.

“Here,” Gai turned onto his side and threw the second blanket open, allowing it to settle over their bodies. It was the only thing he’d done since Kakashi returned to the living room that made any sense. “Now we can stay warm.”

“A blanket…” Kakashi whispered. “Under a blanket?”

“That’s the point of a blanket fort.”

“None of this makes any sense, Gai.”

“Well,” flopping back onto his stomach, Gai grinned. “What’s the fun if everything makes sense right away?”

“Things that make sense are easier to process,” Kakashi stated. “But it’s…” his eyes travelled up to the blanket that hung over their heads. It wasn’t the biggest blanket or the comfiest. The only thing it had going for it was that it happened to be Kakashi’s favourite. With little paw prints that decorated the blue background, it had quickly become the blanket he used for everything. “Cozy.”

“Cozy?” Gai bumped his shoulder playfully. “Is that the only word you can think of?”

Kakashi rolled his eyes at his husband’s goofy smile. “Well, if you must know, no,” a grin cracks across his face, causing his eyes to crinkle in the corners. “It’s also very youthful.”

A moment of pause as Gai processed his words, and then the next moment there the bright sound of laughter crashed through the silence. Bright, joyful laughter that sounded sweeter than any sound Kakashi had heard before.

Laughter that was made all the sweeter when Gai stared at him with an expression of love.

“Youthful,” he agreed, laughter still vibrating in his chest. “That’s a good word for it, Rival.”

[haethel]

I have been having Thoughts.

Every hokage has fit into a tidy nepotism dynasty, with every hokage in the chain being either a relative or a student of a previous hokage. Thanks to Hiruzen's obsession with reproducing patterns that have worked in the past (eg ino-shika-cho), every time we've known the teammates of a hokage they've matched the pattern of the traumatised genius with questionable social skills, the cheerful and sociable late-bloomer deadlast, and the female medic. (And fuck both Hiruzen and Kishimoto for screwing over his female characters such that "the girl" becomes a relevant character descriptor.) The fourth member of each attempt to recreate the sannin has been a sensei belonging to the hokage royal dynasty, and thus the students of each "sannin" team are the future hokage candidates each time the previous incumbent croaks it. This explains why Tsunade and Jiraiya were the only candidates considered for the post after Hiruzen was assassinated, because Orochimaru disqualified himself, Kakashi is too young and mentally unwell, Anko is too young and probably also disqualified because of her past association with Orochimaru, and Shizune is too young and doesn't have an international reputation and hasn't been in the village for years. And also explains why Kakashi's desperate attempt to palm the hat off on Shikaku following Pein's attack failed miserably.

This chain of dubious logic leads to some interesting speculations...

1) Obito, Kakashi, Rin, Anko and Shizune were the heirs apparent to become hokage right out of the academy, with the addition of Asuma as Hiruzen's son. Of these, Kakashi and Obito were probably first in the running because they were in the "sannin" team, while Anko and Shizune were solo apprentices. Asuma likely disqualified himself by quarreling with Hiruzen and abandoning the village for several years. This means that Obito's dreams to become hokage were probably a realistic expectation and he would likely have been groomed for the role when the time was right.

2) To my recollection, the widespread belief that Obito was some despised black sheep Uchiha due to lack of sharingan is fanon invention. The anime filler has him living with his grandmother, but no mention is made in either manga or anime of whether his mother and father are also present in the household given that multi-generational households are not uncommon. During the Anbu arc, Hiruzen does make some perfunctory attempts to reconcile with the Uchiha before Danzo orders their massacre (which predictably fail). One of the Uchiha grievances was that Madara was cheated out of becoming hokage, and none of the subsequent hokage had been Uchiha. It's possible that Obito's inclusion in Team Minato was done purposefully in order to produce an Uchiha hokage once he was old enough, as a means to reconcile with the Uchiha. That plan got scuppered when Obito got flattened by a rock.

3) Itachi would have been the next possible Uchiha hokage candidate to replace Obito, and Hiruzen does mention this during an anime filler. But alas there was no nepotism dynasty sensei available at the moment that Itachi graduated the academy early, because the previous generation of heirs were still too young to become jonin-sensei. So instead when Itachi joined the Anbu he was placed into Kakashi's team as an attempt to preserve the dynasty by roundabout means. But alas, the Uchiha began plotting a coup and Danzo began plotting a massacre, and Itachi was caught in the middle and forced into becoming a spy for both sides, and everything went wrong in the worst possible way.

4) Sasuke became yet another attempt to get an Uchiha hokage by including him in Team 7 under Kakashi. By this point it was far too late and more or less a pointless gesture because Sasuke was the only Uchiha left, but what is Hiruzen if not the prime example of too little, too late?

5) Like Obito, Naruto's dream of being hokage was also a realistic ambition to have, since he would have only two competitors for the role once he's old enough: Sasuke and Sakura (since neither Anko nor Shizune took students).

6) Danzo was Hiruzen's teammate as part of Team Tobirama. Danzo therefore was also a member of this hokage dynasty, and therefore had a legitimate right to feel aggrieved at being passed over again and again for the hat. It's curious that he wasn't even considered as a candidate after Hiruzen was assassinated. Did he and the elders have a falling out at the relevant moment?

7) I wonder whether the obsession with recreating the sannin was more than just Hiruzen being weird. Did the pattern hold true in previous generations of the dynasty as well, making it a tradition that began with Tobirama? Were the sannin in themselves an attempt to recreate Team Tobirama? Given that neither Hiruzen nor Danzo are medics, which of them was the genius and which of them was the deadlast?

8) Moving forward in time, the latest incarnation of "team sannin" is Boruto, Sarada and Mitsuki. Konohamaru as their sensei is a dynasty member since he's Hiruzen's grandson. But none of them is a medic, and neither Sarada or Boruto could be described as a deadlast. (Mitsuki would be the traumatised genius with questionable social skills in this equation given that he's orochimaru's offspring.) Did Naruto intentionally break the pattern? Or did he fail to notice there was a pattern at all and was instead trying to recreate his own Team 7 by including his son and Sasuke and Sakura's daughter, and having their sensei be the kid he's always considered to be his protege and successor? If god forbid Kakashi had ever spawned, I suspect that the third member of the latest incarnation of team sannin would have been Kakashi's child instead of Mitsuki.

[tworegimesof]

It’s me again, your biggest spammer atp lmao.

One of the reasons I love your stories so much is because you write relationships, romantic or otherwise, so beautifully. I loved your depiction of Aoba and Anko’s friendship in On a Distant Star - their bond transcends the usual human connection. That’s very rare to find, especially in a male-female friendship in writing.

It’s glorious to read about the messiness and complexity of interpersonal relationships in all their twisty beauty - especially when done by an author who knows the ins and outs of humanity. You can make a reader love even the most random background character who’s appeared for, what, a page? Their idiosyncrasies, their flaws, and their passions all shine through in your writing.

Not to mention that I LOVE your rarepairs. As for Raidō and Kurenai??? Hoooo boi I never thought I’d ship it more than her and Asuma 😂 (seeing the three of them and how they interacted in Storms, being so beautifully in character, was a treat. I wanna ramble more because there is SO MUCH). I didn’t even know sai/tenten existed until I discovered one of your fics and that sent me down a rabbit hole asw ahshshshs.

I’m so sorry for the long-winded essay I just wrote you 😂 I’m running on three hours of sleep and am jet-lagged as fuck. Not to mention I had to sit at my laptop for the better part of a day and hammer out two assignments due on the same day. So I apologise for any lack of clarity herein.

Anyway, I hope you have a lovely day! ☺️

Ah, it's not spam! I have Tumblr because I know readers sometimes feel more comfortable connecting here rather than leaving a kudos or comment.

I think I'm kind of a boring writer. My best stories don't have a lot in terms of plot, and mostly I just write what I want to read because I like so many rare pairs. I think we all want to feel a deep connection, platonic or romantic, and for some characters, like Aoba and Anko, I think them being very close friends makes more sense than a traditional romantic entanglement.

I think you're giving me too much credit lol I have just read a lot of books and seen messy people in action. I feel like I abuse the man versus self trope all the time, but that's what I'm really interested in, is how we lie to ourselves and betray ourselves to our own detriment. And the background characters are easier because there's more room to play around with them, and potential readers aren't invested in them the same was as they are with popular characters. Writing Kakashi puts my stomach in knots, but characters like Asuma and Raidou are easy peasy, because I know enough to make guesses and can be creative.

LOL Raidou and Kurenai only started because I thought it was lame for Kakashi and Asuma to be her two options. Raidou was just cute enough and you could see the leap between him to Asuma. LOL I'm never getting away from Storms. It's a mess in a lot of ways and there are things I would change, but from some of the comments I also feel like the people who needed to read it found it, so it stays. I just think that Lovesickness will be better, and a fuller picture of what could've happened.

I will maintain, until my dying day, that Sai and Tenten aren't a huge leap at all lol.

I don't mind the essays! And I definitely know what it means to be jetlagged and a student. I most certainly do not miss either. Thank you so much for reading and leaving such a sweet comment, take care!

(And find time away from you computer, learn from my mistakes and save your eyes and posture lol).