#(I like to think team minato survived was because Rin and Obito ended up getting trouble)

[tsukuyomii45]

In infinite dream did rin get chidorid and how did obito suevive the rock

There is a reason why I call my AU "Infinite Dream".

Firstly, yes, Rin gets Chidori'd;; I need her and Obito to go through some dark stuff when they are young before they grow up into the lovely adults that I painted them out to be.

Regarding Obito surviving the rock:

-After Obito gets crushed and the whole eye transplant thing happens, Minato would come just in time to wipe out the Iwa nin and save them. The team would immediately return to Konoha, and by completely advanced medical ninjutsu techniques, Obito who is on the brink of death, would be saved.

-Obito would go through rehabilitation and physical therapy for nearly a year (much like how he went through rehabilitation in canon). Eventually he can function again as a ninja.

-Since they are all still at war, Rin would get kidnapped by the Bloody Mist village and pretty much the same stuff happens in the canon, except that it's Obito and Kakashi that are together in the mission to rescue her.

-When Rin is rescued, she realizes that there is something wrong. Obito eventually ends up watching her running straight into Kakashi's chidori.

-Of course... the Mangekyou awakening takes place. Kakashi would faint from the power of the Sharingan, and Rin would fall back.

-Thinking that she's dead, Obito rages and the whole dark scene in canon takes place. On the brink of falling into darkness, Obito holds Rin to him, unknowing that she is still alive because of Isobu's chakra healing her.

-Eventually Rin starts stirring and awakens..and it just becomes a whole overwhelming moment for them.

[xhatake]

so something i will always be thinking really hard about is kakashi's time in anbu & how it twists his perception of the village & his own loyalty . He's not stupid, he's always known that things get messy in the shadows. There are a lot of things that konoha's higher up's don't want anyone to see & though that may be a common observation it's uncommon to know what that actually means.

Following Rin's death, his whole perception of loyalty shifts. He had started adopting a philosophy similar to Obito's, driven to carry on his legacy & protect those they loved... but no legacy was enough in the end. Rin still died by his hand for the sake of the village, thus causing Kakashi to question what loyalty to the village really was. Was it worth losing the comrades he had fought so desperately to protect? was it worth sacrificing everything? He felt he owed it to Minato to stick around as he was the closest thing to family he had left but after his death, he's left feeling really isolated & alone. This isn't helped by the nature of anbu either.

which on the note of anbu i have another headcanon --- i feel like anbu is where people are sent to die. people who overshoot in their abilities & the village doesn't think they can control regularly, people who have lost everything & are a flight risk, people with nothing to live for, etc. They make the best human weapons. I don't think Minato wanted his student in anbu but there was a lot of outside pressure on the subject. Kakashi, at that point, wasn't someone who could just be moved to another team. He had surpassed his peers & effectively isolated himself from them simultaneously. Though he would still die for any of his peers, he would do anything to ensure his comrades' survival, there was still this disconnect.

This observation definitely feeds into kakashi's own perception of himself & the work he's doing for the village during that time of his life. It makes him question the motives of those in charge. Was konoha interested in breaking the cycle, or if did they just want to maintain control? Again, on his perceptions of those in charge of him --- I do headcanon Kakashi as trans. I have a lot of thoughts on what that means in the shinobi world but i feel like he's tolerated because of his skill level. People respect him to his face; they support his work for the village & then turn around & treat other trans shinobi/kunoichi like dirt which is sickening.

by the time minato dies, he feels like no one knows him anymore & he doesn't really know them either??? he doesn't really start to feed any of his relationships until after he leaves anbu because every ounce of his strength is focused on keeping it together. He feels like he has to protect the village his friends died for or it would all be for nothing... but there's always that lingering, invasive thought that he could just leave. He could just go & do whatever he wanted. He could write a book, travel the countryside, and do everything that his life as a soldier had never allowed.

Logically he knows that it would never work. Konoha isn't going to let any missing nin run around with a sharingan in their skull, especially not someone who knows as much as kakashi. It's not something the dictates his every thought, he's very loyal to the people of his village but it's something that always seems to linger on the edges. It's strongest when he feels alone, as though he wouldn't be missed --- but if he leaves, who will protect the people left? it's a suffocating back & forth on the strongest nights. on the loneliest nights.

but even then, the legacy of those he's lost still reminds him what's important. what he's built his whole life around. i think that he's removed from anbu not only because he was going down a path of darkness but also because he simply refused to give up. putting kakashi in those situations wasn't doing anything to help him or the village... shortly before beginning to teach team 7 he kind of dips his toes back into social waters but there are only a few people he feels super comfortable interacting with because of how long he was ' gone '

when he began teaching team 7, he wasn't prepared. i honestly don't think he was that good of a teacher & that's why he was okay with sakura & naruto pursuing studies outside of him. They reignite his fire, his faith in what the village can be. He knows he's not going to be the one to change things but maybe they can be.during the time skip he trains relentlessly to become the sensei they deserve.

so basically, here's a summary of this rambly post: when kakashi loses faith in the village, he doesn't lose faith in the people. he does feel a sense of disconnect which feeds into his isolation & depression & everything in between.... he steps out of his bubble tentatively for a while but his students become the spark that ignites his faith that things can be better. that there's someone who wants them to be

[darkclouud9]

fickxkdkeivibs now it's time to think about how Minato's team Seven was fucked up in the way that everyone died

but Kakashi's team Seven all survived but ended up going through a ton of shit together instead.

or. mostly together.

I guess in a way, both teams were quite distant to each other.

Obito and Kakashi couldn't get along for the life of them (until it was too late)

Obito and Rin got along, but they could still be considered distant in the way that Rin wanted to distance herself so Obito didn't fall for her so hard, and Obito qould distance himself for the exact same reason.

Minato was literally distant to all of his students. I honestly find it hard to believe he cared for them at all. at least in canon. you could argue that he did care, and that a lot of what he did was because he did care, but really? most of what he did tore his team apart. and putting Kakashi in anbu was possibly his worst mistake. it just made Kakashi more distant from everyone else, apart from the ghosts. <- which technically made Kakashi closer to his team, but further from the real world...

and in Team Kakashi, Sakura and Naruto were probably the closest pair. they're best friends your honour. it took them a while to grow close though. like. until they met up again after Naruto briefly left the village. so for 3 years Sakura was still distant to Naruto 😇

Kakashi was quite distant to his students (probably fearing they'd end up like his previous team and he didn't want to interfere or fuck up)

but Sasuke was obv the most distant, having left the village and his reammates entirely. I mean. he gets so bad that he wants to destroy the village. but he ends up going back after the 4th war anyway. he has a kid with Sakura and then he's half in half out of the village, never really identifying as a Konoha shinobi, but more of a spy for them?? ig?? in a way? I don't watch Boruto but I think he's sort of watching out.

[cerberussyndrome]

on catalysts

summary: meta not!fic about Team Minato being the big turning points in each others’ character arcs.

cw: canon-typical violence + child soldier-ing, canon compliant character death

Rin is Obito's, Obito (and before him, Sakumo) is Kakashi's. (Obito might also be Rin's, who knows. Minato's kind of a blank canvas in his early years.)

The boys fixate. The boys mourn. The boys idealize. The boys, to an extent, polish their memories into something that reflects what they need more than what the other person was. This comes with problems.

For Obito, Rin is the first person who believes in him and his dreams.

He's the Uchiha black sheep, the perpetually-tardy laughing stock of his graduating class. For fuck's sake, the kid loses to Guy because he's eating candy.

Rin is his best friend, his constant support. When he opens up about his personal and often-mocked dream of becoming Hokage, Rin's response isn't to laugh, or to tease, but to encourage him. Yes, she says, let's end the war. Let's change everything. She says, don't pretend with me. And he's in love with her, of course. He's young, in the middle of a war, and in love with her, and the intensity of those emotions felt like they stretched to encompass the entire sky. She is his most precious person. (They are going to survive the war, he thinks, they are going to win.)

And then the rocks are falling, Kakashi is falling, and it's not even a choice.

(He gives Kakashi his eye — you're a great jounin — like proof, like rebellion. Here is a thing that says I lived. His last request he spends on Rin: keep her safe. His last thought is only a quiet wish for more time.)

Obito wakes up in the dark. Half his body isn't his fucking body anymore, and he's imprisoned in some weird-ass cave with his creepy ancestor(?) and some inhuman plant-thingies. He can't move. He's a ninja and he can't move and his team probably thinks he's dead, and there's a war on. There's a war on, holy shit what if they die and he's stuck here in this fucking cave and he never even sees the sun again?

So he trains.

When he's tired, and lonely, he thinks about them — Rin and Kakashi and Minato-sensei. He dreams of them, even.

He gets out of the cave and he's running, he's running, his team is in danger, Rin is in danger, where the hell is Minato-sensei?

He comes into the clearing and the first thing he sees is Kakashi's hand through Rin's chest.

(When Obito was younger, when faith was a solid thing beneath his fingertips, he thought that life was good, people were good. Sometimes he looked at Rin, laughing, joyful, and tucked the sight of it away in his chest. It was a warm ember that burned bright even when there was shame in his stomach or fear in his throat. He screamed as the rocks fell, as his team ran for their lives and he was left behind in the dark. When he woke up in that cold cave, he warmed his hands on that memory of love and smiled.)

His eye burns. Like broken promises, like blood between his fingers, like the full moon overhead.

Rin is dead.

Rin is dead, his team's betrayed him, the whole world must've felt like it was ending.

Madara offers an alternate solution. Obito turns away from his childhood dreams, his childhood faith in other people — what good was that, was good was he then? — and embraces a dream world in its place.

Afterward, Rin is less a girl than she is a memento, all that was good in the world and all that he lost, proof that his theory is indeed correct. It doesn't matter, later, that Rin's death was her own choice, a sacrifice, an act of heroism. Everything that was good about Konoha was personal, for Obito, because everything that was good about Konoha was in Rin. In the coming years, Obito believes the entirety of the world is worthless, the entirety of the world is hell. There is nothing worth saving here.

In death, Obito turns Rin from a soldier to a shrine, as if she were the only thing untouched by the sins of the mortal earth.

—

For Kakashi, Sakumo is everything: not only his father, his precious parent, but the sum of Kakashi's expectations of the world. He is a clan child and a prodigy and there is never doubt that he'll become a shinobi — and the White Fang of Konoha is the epitome of a shinobi.

Then his father comes back, turns distant, turns cold, turns strangely, terribly sad. Kakashi clings. When that doesn't work, doesn't retrace time back to before, Kakashi trains. His father is everything in the world — Kakashi will make him proud if it kills him.

Then he comes home one day and opens the study door and his father's blood pools around his feet.

Afterward, he looks for something infallible to hold his faith.

(Sentiment led to his father’s fall. Conversely, a shinobi with no emotion would be the perfect tool. If Sakumo hadn’t loved his team, perhaps he’d be alive.)

Obito is the antithesis of a soldier. He's loud, emotional. He's the opposite of a shinobi, Kakashi thinks, and all Kakashi wants these days is to be the consummate shinobi (not like his father). He was never all that nice in the first place, given to honesty over flattery, and Obito stands in opposition to everything Kakashi is and wants to be. It gets under his skin. They argue. They compete. Kakashi beats him; thinks, there. Thinks, is that enough proof for you? Thinks, get your act together before you get us killed.

They take Rin. And Kakashi knows, deep in his gut, that this is it, this is his crucible, this is what he has been waiting for; this is how he will prove he is better than his father.

Obito says, The White Fang was a hero.

Kakashi tries to run. He tries to leave them behind, this wreck of a team that's always been a burden, but his shoulder twinges. He thinks of Rin, Rin's careful hands and cool chakra, thinks of Obito, his ironclad loyalty, thinks of Minato-sensei saying, teamwork.

He goes back. He loses an eye, gains infinitely more precious things in its place: trust and faith and being part of a greater whole.

The rocks fall.

The dust clears.

It is Obito in the dirt, Obito crushed and bleeding. Kakashi knows in his bones that it should've been him.

Obito gives him his eye. Kakashi swears in turn, gains purpose in this frenzied war other than the drive to survive and climb the ranks and bring glory to his name. At Obito’s grave, Kakashi can admit that he was wrong. The things he thought mattered — rules and records and his name decoupled from his father's — never had. He has a second chance now, and he won't waste it.

Rin jumps in front of his Raikiri, and there is something blank in Kakashi's head, something disbelieving. Then there's only darkness. He wakes up to white hospital walls and the smell of antiseptic. Even though his hands are clean, he can't get rid of the feeling of Rin's blood between his fingers, like grief, like failure, like accusation.

(What would Obito say to him now?)

(His father had been many things, but he'd saved all his teammates.)

A couple years later, war come and gone, Kyuubi come and gone, everyone who Kakashi loves is dead. In the mornings, he spends hours in front of the memorial stone, looking for atonement at first, then just something to ease the loneliness. In the meantime, Obito's turned from dead-last burden to aching regret — a martyr to friendship and misplaced faith. Kakashi polishes his memory of him into something unreal and perfect. Sometimes in his darker moments, he warmed himself with the shining memory of him. He spends his life trying (and failing) to live up to his own impossible standards.

Obito becomes the sum of all his regrets and mistakes and failures, everything he might've had if he'd only gotten over himself, if he'd only been better.

tl;dr In the process of becoming a villain, or something like it, Obito memorializes Rin, disregards everything she died for. In the process of becoming a hero, or something like it, Kakashi idealizes Obito, tries to embody everything he died for.

[depressedhatakekakashi]

💌 uhh.. A Root Au, but Kakashi escapes with Tenzo.

Root AU

Words: 3246

Note: I uh...I took down all the AU'S in a word doc and then forgot to make a note of 'Kakashi escapes with Tenzo' so i apologize and enjoy some hurt T.T

Yamato is a child experimented on by Orochimaru, who is found by a member of Anbu black ops after Orochimaru’s experiments are discovered and they leave their lab behind destroyed. Yamato is the only child who seems to have survived, so the operative gathers him up and promptly takes him to Lord Third.

After Sakumo’s death, Kakashi is approached by one of the village elders. Shimura Danzo. Weaving a tale of woo for the newly orphaned child, Danzo convinces him to train under him in Root to become a more powerful shinobi. One who can make up for the mistake that his father made.

Because Kakashi is still known by all of his friends and the village elders, Danzo cannot stop him from being placed onto a team with Obito and Rin. Hiruzen is aware that Danzo has been training Kakashi in the root, but so long as Kakashi gets along with his team he doesn’t much care and he doesn’t think that it’s something Minato needs to know about.

Kakashi does not get along with his teammates. He and Obito fought even more, though Kakashi would often straight-up ignore him, and he didn’t much care for Rin playing peacekeeper when her focus was supposed to be on learning to fight and protect herself.

When Team Minato is sent out on the Kannabi bridge mission, Kakashi is the only one who returns. Obito is taken out by Kakashi, who attacks him and kills him (so he thinks) when he decides to question his choice to finish the mission before worrying about Rin. Rin is left behind and is ultimately taken in by Iwagakure when they realize that her teammates are not coming back for her. She ends up becoming a medical shinobi for them, healing their shinobi when they need it and staying in the village. Allowing Konoha to think of her as dead.

Kakashi does manage to take one of Obito’s eyes, determined to protect the Uchiha’s secrets and return it to Danzo. Before he can get the second one though, he’s attacked. Thinking it’s the IWA shinobi, he attacks Obito’s body hoping to destroy it and runs. The attack was not IWA shinobi, but instead Zetsu who is able to save Obito’s body and get him to Madara.

When Minato finds Kakashi, the kid is covered in blood and weaving a tall tale about the massacre of his team. How he tried to save them, but barely managed to make it out with his own life. They’re lies he has been taught to say by Danzo, and he is excellent at weaving them. Ignoring the pain deep inside of his chest that screams for him to stop and tell the truth.

Kakashi has been told that emotions don’t matter. That the mission comes first, and he’s determined to remember that no matter how much his heart hurts.

With no team to work with, Kakashi is thrown into mission after mission. Given teams to lead, jobs to do. He’s a shinobi who makes a name for himself in his village and the world. Known as cold-blooded Kakashi by his allies, he’s known for being straight to the point and following the rules to the letter. The mission always comes first in his mind, no matter what the cost.

When Kakashi is 19, Danzo comes to him with a pink-haired kid and tells him that he will be training her going forward. It turns out that she has shown slight signs of having Mokuton that a Root operative happened to notice one day while watching over the village, and Danzo would like to make use of those skills. Since Lord Third already has a Mokuton user in Yamato, Danzo is determined to have this one in Root. He’ll take care of teaching her Mokuton through old scrolls, but any other training she needs to go through is for Kakashi to do.

This is how Hatake Kakashi finds himself training Haruno Sakura.

Training with Sakura is a bit overwhelming for her at times. She takes a while to adjust to Kakashi’s training style, but she’s also a quick learner. Before long not only is she getting used to the Mokuton she’s learning through scrolls Danzo has, but she’s also learning to use Suiton and Doton separately from Kakashi.

By the time she’s six, Sakura is a chunin going out on missions with Kakashi. She learns fast to take care of herself, and although Kakashi still maintains his ‘mission first’ mentality, he does find himself rather protective of the kid he has been entrusted to train.

Sakura excels under Kakashi’s training. Showing off a lot of talent as a shinobi, and learning how to cover her emotions and true intentions under a mask of innocence and subpar talent. It’s a skill that allows her to be placed into the Academy at the age of eleven and graduate at the age of twelve.

Placed on a team with Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke, Sakura is expected to spy on the Jinchuuriki and the last Uchiha for Danzo. To keep track of them and ensure that nothing goes wrong in regards to them. With Yamato as their Jonin-sensei, the three of them begin their training. Sakura hides her skill in Mokuton as she has been doing for years.

The only time that Sakura slips up is during the Land of Waves mission. Seeing that her team is in danger and that her Sensei is distracted by Zabuza, Sakura uses her Mokuton to protect Sasuke and Naruto from Haku’s attack. A secret that Naruto never catches on to and Sasuke promises to keep for her when she tells him that it would get her into trouble that she doesn’t want to deal with.

When Sasuke leaves the village, and Naruto goes off to train Under Jiraiya-sama, Kakashi suggests Sakura try to learn medical Ninjutsu under the new Hokage Senju Tsunade. It would be good knowledge for her to have, and without a team and her true place in Root still unknown, it would give Danzo an ear into Tsunade’s conversations he is not a part of.

During those three years that Sakura is training under Tsunade, Kakashi is busy doing constant missions for Danzo. Helping him to solidify the alliances that he needs to get the power he wants, searching for information on the Akatsuki, and doing what he can to make sure that Konoha is staying strong from behind the scene.

The entire time, Kakashi struggles with the same feelings that he always has. He knows that he has a mission to do. That there are expectations of him that have been there since he was a kid. But he doesn’t feel good about the things he has to do. The senseless murder, leaving behind teammates. He hates it. It leaves him feeling dirty and disgusting.

When Naruto returns to the village, and after the Kazekage retrieval mission, Team seven is given a new teammate in Sai. Another operative of Danzo’s. Sai is an operative Kakashi hasn’t had much contact with but trusts heavily.

While Sai and Sakura take care of keeping an eye on Naruto and gathering intel for Danzo, Kakashi continues to work in the village. Organize missions for Root operatives, infiltrating Anbu with the odd mission he’s assigned with their operatives.

During the mission to Tenchi bridge, Sakura is put into a tight spot when Naruto loses control of his temper and begins to sprout tails. In a desperate attempt to protect herself, she uses her Mokuton to block Naruto’s attack from hitting her, allowing Yamato to see her Mokuton in action.

Once the mission is done and Sai has decided to hang around the team more, Yamato approaches Sakura about her Mokuton and where she learned it from. When she refuses to give him all of the information he’s seeking he realizes that there is more to the hot-headed medical ninja than he thought he knew and goes to Tsunade.

From that point, Sakura is on a bit of a shorter leash with Tenzo, but she’s also able to be more open about her skills. Showing off the things that Kakashi taught her as she was growing up and showing off the Mokuton that she learned from her scrolls. Although Tenzo is wary of her and her connection to Danzo, he is excited to work with another Mokuton user and help her improve in some small ways.

When Naruto goes to train with the Toads to achieve sage mode, Danzo decides it’s time for Sakura to take a break from her current mission (since Naruto is gone) and do some more training of her own.

Pein’s attack on the village still happens, but this time Kakashi isn’t the one to react. To try and protect the village first.

That job goes to Gai, who manages to get back with his team in time to protect Iruka from being killed by Pein and promptly starts fighting against the pain.

Partway through the fight, when things seem to be taking a turn for the worst, Kakashi shows up in front of a group of Shinobi that are about to be hit by Pein’s attack and uses his mud wall jutsu to protect them. He doesn’t say anything but promptly joins Gai in the fight against Pein.

Kakashi’s not sure why he decides to join. Danzo gives the order for his operatives to stand down but standing there watching people die snaps something inside of Kakashi. For the first time since he was a child, Kakashi can’t stand by any longer.

He knows it doesn’t make up for everything he did, but for once he can do something. Use his skills to protect someone.

He and Gai fight well together, giving Pein a run for his money and presenting a real challenge to him that is almost able to take him down.

Unfortunately, they don’t succeed in the end and Kakashi falls when he exhausts the last of his chakra to create a mud wall Jutsu to protect the village. Continuing to rebuild the Jutsu right up until he uses the last of his chakra and falls.

Naruto shows up from his training just in time to stop Pein from levelling the village, leaving Gai to get Kakashi’s body out of the way of danger and mourn the friend that he never got to make. The kid who always closed himself off from everyone else, even when Gai tried his hardest to crack through that wall he built up around himself.

It’s only during their fight against Pein that Gai realizes why Kakashi pushed him away. When Kakashi stands his ground and says he’s done letting people die for the mission. Done being a pawn for a man who cares so little for the village that he would stand back and watch everyone die when he could do something, anything, to help.

While he’s dead, Kakashi can see his father again. For the first time since he was five, he can confront the hurt and anger that he ignored for years. To face the man who wounded him so deeply.

It’s during that conversation that Kakashi realizes that he can’t follow Danzo any longer. That is all of the things he has been taught. All of the horrible acts he has done, resulting in blood on his hands, are not something he can continue with. They were never something he could handle doing, but he had always ignored his heart. Refused to hear reason even when it was slapping him in the face, because that was emotion and emotions weren’t allowed in Root.

Waking up again is a surprise to Kakashi, but seeing Gai’s face hovering over him, a soft smile there on his lips, is a gift he will gladly take. A second chance to right the wrongs that he made. It’s not something that he deserves, but it’s something he will do his best to follow through with.

Still needing to recover from the fight, Kakashi is unable to leave the village until after Danzo has been named the next Hokage and has left for the Kage summit. He knows that he’s not supposed to leave. That no Shinobi is, but with the right words and Sakura’s support he’s able to convince Yamato that it’s a good idea.

They make it just as Sasuke attacks the five Kage summit, missing Sasuke but being able to help the Kage’s against Suigetsu, Jugo and Tobi. Kakashi also manages to save Fuu and Torune from Tobi, pulling them out of the way just before he can teleport them away and having Naruto, Yamato, Sakura and Sai come in for the fight. Team Yamato continues to face off against Tobi until he leaves, but while he’s distracted Kakashi heads out to hunt down Danzo, knocking Fuu and Torune out before they can follow (he wears gloves due to scars on his hands from intense training with lightning, so he doesn’t have a problem striking Torune)

When he reaches the place where Danzo and Sasuke are fighting (thanks to a bit of help from the hounds) they’ve already nearly killed each other. Danzo has just grabbed Karin, determined to use her as a shield. When he notices Kakashi, he orders him to attack Sasuke.

Instead of following those orders, Kakashi moves in and grabs Karin. Pulling her away from danger while Sasuke strikes Danzo through the chest.

When the fight is done and Danzo is dead, Kakashi does what he knows he should regarding all of the Sharingan that Danzo has. He destroys the body. Striking him with a strong fire jutsu, and then setting the hounds on him while keeping Sasuke at bay so he can’t stop it.

Tobi does try to put a stop to it, but by the time he shows up Naruto and the rest of Team Yamato have shown up.

Once Tobi and Sasuke are gone, Yamato turns his attention to Kakashi and asks him what he plans to do next. A question that Kakashi doesn’t have an answer to. All he knows is that he needs to take care of Root. To help the operatives that Danzo twisted, just as he did with him, Sakura and Sai.

When Sakura suggests she can help him, Kakashi just smiles. The first genuine smile he gives her since becoming her Sensei when she was a kid and tells her that her place is with her team. That she has found her home in the world, and she shouldn’t leave it behind while he tries to find his own.

Although Kakashi does try to put his focus on Root, he has pulled away from that goal when Tsunade calls him into her office in regards to the impending war. As one of very few survivors who fought in the third great shinobi war, Kakashi is suggested to lead the tactical division of the allied shinobi forces. Although he doesn’t have that close of a relationship with Gai, he still asks for him as his second in command based on how well they worked together while fighting Pein.

The war is Kakashi’s chance to finally fight the way he always wanted to. Instead of having to focus on a mission, his job is to cut through the enemy and keep his allies alive. He gets to protect the people he’s fighting with, and it’s a freeing experience that he never realized he would love so much. To know he’s doing something good with his skills. Protecting people, instead of just taking lives.

The war is also a torment for Kakashi. Some of the people that he faces are those he has killed. Not just from enemy villages, but from Konoha as well. He’s forced to face the horrible things he did under Danzo’s instruction head first, and at time’s it’s too much for him. Gai is forced to cover for him and pull him out of panic attacks mid-battle because of the memories of everything he did, but he manages to pull through.

The worst moment of the war though is when he’s injured and finds himself face to face with a far too familiar face. A woman he thought long dead. Nohara Rin.

The two of them sit there in silence while Rin heals him, neither of them quite sure what to say. When Kakashi finally speaks, it’s just a simple apology. For leaving her behind when she needed them. For not being the teammate she needed.

As always, Rin just smiles. She tells him this is the life she needed. She found peace in Iwa. Was able to heal people and settle down with a beautiful wife. She’s excited to introduce Kakashi to them and holds no ill will towards Kakashi even after everything.

It’s the first time anyone ever sees Kakashi cry, although he does try to hide it in his arm. To push back his feelings and focus on the war ahead of them.

When Tobi is revealed to be Obito, Kakashi is struck with overwhelming fear. His past comes back to haunt him in the worst way possible. Even though Rin is alive, Obito chose his path because of how the world could allow its children to suffer so much. Including how Danzo twisted Kakashi so horribly, making him into nothing but an empty soldier for his use.

When Madara manages to activate the Infinite Tsukuyomi, Kakashi is the one beside Sauske, Naruto and Sasuke. Along with Obito, he’s pulled into the final battle against Kaguya, the fate of the world placed onto Naruto and Sasuke’s shoulders.

In the end, Obito still chooses to save Kakashi. Using his Sharingan to Kamui away the rod that would have killed him. When Kakashi demands to know why, reminding Obito that he’s no better than him, Obito just smiles and jokes that he doesn’t want to share the afterlife with Kakashi quite yet.

Kakashi, Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke ultimately pull together to defeat Kaguya. Using Kakashi’s plan, Sakura’s physical strength and Mokuton, and Naruto and Sasuke’s healing powers, they can seal away the goddess once again.

When all is said and done, Kakashi doesn’t know what to do with himself anymore. He has no place in Konoha or the world. No, where he belongs.

At least, that’s what he thinks. Others think differently.

Yamato and Gai both decide that Kakashi has a place in their life, as their friend. Sakura reminds him that he’s still her Sensei. Sai feels much the same as him but assures him that they’ll both find their place, and Tsunade already has a job for him as soon as they get home.

Taking over as Anbu Commander, it’s placed on Kakashi’s shoulders to reorganize the Black ops. First by integrating ex Root operatives into the ranks and retraining them, and then changing the system to better fit the new beliefs that he wants to follow. Of protecting those who are precious to you.

Although he has some doubts about taking the job, Yamato is given the position of Hokage a few months after the end of the war. With Sakura as his next choice for the position (since Naruto has decided that he has gotten the recognition and affections he wanted, and would rather travel with Sasuke for now) Yamato takes the job and with help from Kakashi, Gai, Anko, Shizune, and many others begin the process of changing the village for the better.

[rayhantochtli]

Been thinking a lot about Kakashi

About how he's probably the single most tragic character in the entirety of Naruto.

I used to think that Itachi was the most tragic one (and he certainly has a tragic story), but after thinking about it a lot, I've come to the conclusion that it is actually Kakashi, make it due to atrocious writing or not.

Disclaimer: these are just my thoughts. This is gonna be a very messy post. There will be spoilers in this.

We're told that Kakashi was a genius already when he was 5, becoming genin at that age, it is also in that year in which his father died, becoming and orphan and having to take care of himself all alone, then he becomes chunin at 6 and jounin at 10 (very impressive), then he joins a genin team (for some weird reason?????) And after Obito's and Rin's deaths Minato gets him to join the ANBU (he was 13 at this point) to "help" him deal with his trauma. Then Minato and Kushina die when he's 14 and he stays in ANBU until he's older and was forcibly retired, just working as a jounin. The rest of his life he stays loyal to Konoha, even becoming the 6th Hokage years later.

What I find "interesting" is how loyal he is and how willing he is to teach about this loyalty to newer generations.

We're told that Kakashi is a genius by nature, and that makes me think, either Kishimoto doesn't know how to write smart people, or Kakashi has some serious issues (and at the end of the day we know it's both). But hear me out, I feel like, if Kakashi was actually such a genius, he wouldn't be so loyal to a system that failed him countless times. I think he would be angry at the mere thought of how everyone left him alone after Sakumo's death, he was completely abandoned; he'd be angry at how his childhood was irreparably taken away from him; he'd be angry at how Minato thought that getting him into ANBU would??? Somehow help????

If Kakashi was as much of a genius as Kishimoto made it seem, I feel he should be against the system that is the shinobi society, full of corruption and unnecessary death. He would've done something to change anything of it while he held the highest title! (And not blow up the moon). But granted, we know Kishimoto's writing would've never afforded anything like that.

Another, very real, possibility is that Kakashi simply isn't mentally or emotionally strong to face the truth. He lives in a state of denial and lying to himself because he knows nothing else. He never met his mother and his father died when he was a child, he probably never learned how to deal with trauma so the easiest thing to do was to ignore it, and now, after decades of ignoring it and denying the truth, being exposed to it would probably send him into a spiral of agony. Because the truth is, his suffering was unnecessary. He doesn't want to think about it because then, why did his father die? Why did nobody helped him when he was alone? Why did he lose his childhood to serve a village that doesn't care about him? Why did he spend all his life taking away lives left and right? Was anything in his life worth it? And he takes the hokage clothes to keep the lie alive, even though they're stained with blood that can't be washed off.

I don't think i have a conclusion, just a ".... This do be really fucked up". All of this is mostly my own thinking, Kishimoto probably didn't even think about how kids would survive alone as he gave everyone in Konoha that backstory.

I think both scenarios are plausible and both would be interesting to explore, granted, the latter would be harder to digest probably.

[dimigex]

Current WIP/ Drabbles list

So, I have a day in my writing schedule that is dedicated to working on stories not Altered Reality, Healing Hands, Heart in a Silver Cage, or Losing Control, but I have so many that’s it’s hard to choose. I went through and made a massive list of the current projects that I have (and realized I need to complete more and jump around less). Everything on this list is at least over a thousand words and most are considerably more than that. 

I kind of wanted to open this up to see if any of these descriptions get my followers excited in the ‘omg tell me more, why isn’t this finished yet’ way because there is only so much time each day to work on things. If you see something you want to know more about or really want to see me post sooner rather than later, please, Please, PLEASE inbox me (you can even use Anon to do so) or reply or reblog or whatever. I want to work on things that other people will be excited about too. It’s no fun alone. I mean it kind of is, but feedback is the best and if you’re excited you’re more likely to comment and engage. 

Works are below the cut because I have zero self control and the list is long. Keep in mind this is nowhere near the full amount of stories I have in docs, only the ones that are well developed and/or written or close to being finished (or have a chapter or more if it’s a long story)  

Big Stories (things that would be split into multiple chapters/parts):

Naruto:

Clean - KakaSaku, Sakura comes back to the village with an infant daughter and a big secret, one that she’s sworn never to tell even if it makes her life miserable. This is a study on the things we do for love, even when it hurts us. This story also has some previous SasuSaku undertones

Dark Side of the Moon - KakaSaku, this is basically the flip side of Altered Reality. Kakashi lived in a happy world and is suddenly thrust into a reality where nearly everyone he cares about is dead and he’s in a relationship with Sakura. With everything upside down, can he figure out what happened and get back to his family before it’s too late? Or should he move on with the new normal?

Here With You - Kakasaku, A 10k follow on to my oneshot Distraction which is mutual pining (and mutual self pleasure while thinking of the other). Kakashi and Sakura are tired of dancing around their feelings for each other, but neither knows what to do about it. With a little help from Ino, Genma, and maybe some alcohol, they’ll figure it out. 

Mortal Flaw, Fatal Sin - KakaSaku (with a heavy dose of anti-SasuSaku, Sasuke really does come across evil in this one) Sakura returns to Konoha after over a year with little to no contact with anyone. Pregnant and alone, she turns to Kakashi to try and figure out what to do with her life and tempers flare when the truth starts to come out. (this one will have a lot of trigger warnings, it’s a dark take on SasuSaku)

Run to You  - Jiraiya/Tsunade, snippets of their lives through the second war and forward (Niwaki’s death, Dan’s, the first time they hook up (because let’s face it, it happened)

Shattered - This starts as a SasuSaku morphs into a KakaSaku and NaruSasu. After the war, Sasuke is held in prison in Konoha for treason. Kakashi is Hokage and he didn’t ask for this mess with his former team, and he certainly didn’t ask to start developing feelings for Sakura as she’s doing her best to save Sasuke from himself. 

She is the Sunlight - KakaSaku, Sakura is unhappy with life in the village after the war (and Sasuke) and wants something more than just her medical work at the hospital. Eventually she latches onto the idea of Anbu which Kakashi strongly opposes because he wants to protect her from the horrors of it. (this is actually a combination of two stories I have where Kakashi catches the feels and doesn’t know what to do about it and Sakura kind of self-destructs before he figures it out)

Starting Over - Kakayama, Tenzo doesn’t know what to do with himself after the war and ends up helping at the hospital. When an orphaned infant isn’t doing well, Tenzo puts in some extra effort and maybe falls in love with the idea of being a dad if only he can convince Kakashi that it’s a good idea. 

Overwatch:

Empire - Gabriel centric, dealing with his pre army life with his family, initiation into a gang, conversion to the army, marriage and daughter, then ending at SEP. This is a wild ride from start to finish honestly. 

Through the Glass - Genji/Mercy, their time during his recovery after Overwatch saved his life, then probably reconnecting later as an epilogue. 

(You Held the Gun that) Fired First - Reaper76, starting with the founding of Overwatch, the slow decay of Jack and Vincent’s relationship, the chaos of Jack and Gabe together, ending sometime around the start of the game probably. I’m not planning to follow canon heavily but there will be a lot of stuff happening here including but not limited Jack planning to ask Vincent to marry him, a massively public break-up, Vincent gets attacked and nearly killed, Ana’s death, the explosion. Honestly I haven’t decided on the ending point yet 

Drabbles (smaller, one shots that don’t need additional chapters, probably): 

Naruto

Beautiful, Perfect Disaster - KakaSaku, all the tension between them finally snaps into a first kiss that might be the start of something wonderful 

Blame it on the Blood Loss - KakaIru, When Kakashi and Iruka go on a mission together, the latter is badly injured and rambles confessions he never meant to share

Innocence - KakaSaku, Kakashi and Sakura have been dating for a while when she shocks him by admitting she’s never been with anyone before and wants him to be her first (and last), not going to lie, this is mostly smut 

Interrupted Affections - KakaSaku, Kakashi and Sakura have just started dating and the days on missions without being able to touch is killing both of them. Sneaking away from Tenzo and Naruto, they try to find a little alone time to reconnect. It goes about as well as expected 

Let It Go - NaruSasu,in which Naruto tries to convince Sasuke to stay in the village and Sasuke has some convincing reasons on why he shouldn’t 

Letting Go - Kakayama, set in their Anbu days where Tenzo pays the ultimate price to save Kakashi’s life and Kakashi goes a little crazy as a result 

Memories and Hope - Genma/Kakashi, on the anniversary of Minato’s death Genma and Kakashi realize they have more in common than they realized. 

Saying Goodbye - Kakayama, Tenzo reflects on all the could have beens at Kakashi’s funeral 

Shadows and Sunlight - KakaSaku and NaruSasu, This is a follow on to my story Lightning and Starlight (in which Sasuke uses chidori on Sakura on the bridge when she tried to kill him, aka Kakashi got there too late). It follows the fallout of that day when everyone catches feels and realizes relationships are complicated

Surprise Advances - Tenzo/Anko, a train wreck mission leads this unlikely pair to fall into bed together (a spin off from Heart in a Silver Cage)

The Monster You Made - Kakashi/Obito, after the war (in which Obito doesn’t die, obviously) Kakashi saves Obito from execution for his crimes and realizes that he has some unresolved feelings for the teammate that he thought he’d lost years ago. 

The Photograph - Tenzo/Obito (set in Altered Reality universe) where an Anbu mission makes Tenzo rethink his opinion of his captain 

The Story of Your Scars - Kakayama, this is a follow on to Find Me in the Dark (in which Tenzo was captured and tortured by Orochimaru) where Kakashi tries to help Tenzo deal with the trauma of it 

Undone - Kakashi centric, young Kakashi wakes up in the hospital after his failure to save Rin (honestly this is about the shattering of Minato and Kakashi’s relationship) 

Undressed - KakaYama, Kakashi comes home broken up after a mission and Tenzo helps him remove his armor, in more ways than one

Overwatch

First Impressions - Reaper76, after the SEP injections which Jack has a difficult time with and Gabe helps him get through 

Shattered - Vincent learns about the explosion at the Swiss HQ and that Jack is missing in it 

War is Hell - Reaper76, the fallout after another bad Blackwatch mission where Jack is left picking up the pieces 

Other

Apocalyptic - Genma/Fynta (swtor crossover) where Genma is trapped in the Star Wars universe just trying to survive (co-written with Cinlat)

[cyhyr]

Summer of Whump Day 5: Broken

Fandom: Naruto

Rating: T 

Pairing: Hatake Kakashi & Umino Iruka, potential pre-relationship.

WC: ~1650

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply; kid/teenage whump; referenced abusive relationship; referenced child death

Notes: An AU-ish wherein Kakashi and Iruka were always friendly, if not friends, as kids. It’s implied that Iruka and Mizuki are a thing, but you can read it as platonic. Takes place over Kakashi and Iruka’s teenage years.

A/N: Iruka is my new favorite character to whump. I’m not sorry. He’s so pretty when he breaks; and putting him back together is just as fun.

~

Kakashi knows he’s being distant. Who wouldn’t be, after this? Obito is dead, and it’s his fault, and Rin and Minato-sensei and Gai and the rest of the village could whisper and point and pity him but he knows and accepts it. 

The only one who won’t accept it blindly is Iruka. Kakashi isn’t sure if he’s angry or elated by this. Iruka wasn’t the first to ask what happened, when their team came back without Obito, but he was the first to sit and ask Kakashi, how can I help?

He didn’t have an answer two weeks ago when Iruka asked. He still doesn’t have an answer now, as he’s avoiding Kohari-san’s third invitation to dinner this week. He’s declined them all. Kakashi likes Ikkaku-san’s cooking, and the Umino house is warm and inviting.

But he doesn’t deserve it.

He watches from afar as his friendship with Iruka, once a casual playmate the Umino family had insisted upon and the Sandaime had agreed to, deteriorates into acquaintanceship. Then, further into something closer to strangers. They wave to each other in the village, but no more than that. Besides, Iruka is a good kid and makes friends easily.

Mizuki hangs onto Iruka like a leech, and Kakashi will soon wish he could have paid closer attention to that simile.

~

After the Kyūbi, Kakashi doesn’t spend a lot of time in the village. He’s running missions in ANBU with minimal breaks, often alone. He still wakes up with the furious obsession to wash Rin’s blood off his hand, but it’s not so frequent anymore. Sometimes, he catches himself on track to a panic attack and can stop them before they start.

He’s feeling… well, not great, but not bad. 

It’s helpful to stay busy.

It’s not helpful to slip into the Hokage’s office and see Iruka playing go with the Sandaime in complete silence. Kakashi’s glad for both masks now—Iruka and silence never went together before. He has a leaf headband now, an official shinobi. When did that happen, Kakashi wonders.

“Hound, have you met Iruka?” the Sandaime asks. He knows the answer, of course, but who’s Kakashi to say old Sarutobi doesn’t have a plan up his sleeve.

“I’ve seen him around the village,” Kakashi says, keeping his answer vague.

Iruka doesn’t react. He’s still staring at the board—no, wait.

He’s staring past the board.

What is this… 

“Umino Iruka is a promising young genin,” Sarutobi talks him up, as though Kakashi needs to hear it. “Some of his traps have caught patrolling ANBU unawares. Non-lethal, of course,” the Hokage adds with a smile and a huff, “Iruka has the utmost respect for our fellow shinobi.”

“And yet he sets traps for them?” Kakashi asks, honestly curious. This is a different side of Iruka he hasn’t met yet. He’d like to.

They both turn to Iruka, waiting to see if he’ll respond for himself. He doesn’t.

Sarutobi sighs. “That was a year or so ago,” he says. “We haven’t had any incidents since Iruka graduated. Some of the ANBU are bored.”

Iruka fidgets with the cuffs of his sleeves. 

Kakashi tilts his head curiously, trying to ask the Hokage the question pulsing in his mind now that Iruka is bringing attention to it.

Why is Iruka wearing long sleeves in summer?

“Mizuki says traps are for kids,” Iruka murmurs. He stands up. “Please excuse me, Hokage-sama, Hound-san.”

Sarutobi waves Iruka away, and turns to Kakashi. “I have, unofficially, taken that child under my guidance. But four months ago he stopped confiding in me, and when he speaks it’s to tell me of some new idea this Mizuki friend of his has taught him. Today, I brought up the traps. Other topics Mizuki has poisoned him on include his desire to pursue fūinjutsu as a potential specialty, the effectiveness of their jōnin-sensei, his sense of humor, and his height.”

“His height, sir?” 

“Mizuki hasn’t hit a growth spurt yet,” Sarutobi explains. “Apparently, this means that Iruka needs to slouch so they’re still eye-to-eye.” His frown, if possible, deepens. “You two were close once, weren’t you?”

“It’s been years.”

Sarutobi says nothing more, but he doesn’t need to. Kakashi doesn’t appreciate being manipulated, and wouldn’t put it past the Hokage to have invited Iruka for tea and go when he knew Kakashi would be reporting in. But, there’s a part of him that is relieved that someone is looking out for Iruka. And there’s another part of him that is ready to take over; he seems to have Sarutobi’s silent approval, if nothing else.

~

The work never stops long enough for him to properly get back in touch with Iruka. He watches from the rooftops as Iruka fakes his way through the days, and then goes home to the apartment he shares with the so-called friend Mizuki. And maybe Kakashi isn’t there often enough to see it, or Mizuki knows when they’re being watched, or Iruka had confided in his roommate that the Hokage took an interest in their relationship—but long sleeves in summer never happen again.

That said, the emotional damage the boy leaves Iruka with makes Kakashi wonder if Sarutobi acted too quickly, or not enough, or—

Anyway, the point is, Iruka almost doesn’t survive the chūnin exams, and Kakashi doesn’t know whether to blame himself, Sandaime-sama, or Mizuki. Iruka is gravely injured in the second phase because he put himself between Mizuki and an Iwa genin; Iruka had been buried and had it not been for their third teammate even noticing that Iruka was gone and then unearthing him, he would have suffocated.

Mizuki, by the testimony of the onlooking jōnin, hadn’t tried to save Iruka. He did force the Iwa cell to retreat, though. He’ll make chūnin at the end of this.

At the end of the month, they both make chūnin. Kakashi is surprised, but happy for him. 

Iruka is still slouching, though.

~

They serve together, once, after he’s pulled from ANBU. 

Kakashi can’t reconcile the dull, lifeless, quiet young man with the near-obnoxiously loud boy he knew as a child. Was this Mizuki still in his life? How had Iruka not made better friends by now? As a child he used to be surrounded by friends, forcing Kakashi to play with little kids even if he’d had missions to go on.

He tries everything he can think of to get a reaction out of Iruka. He tells bad jokes, tries reminiscing on their shared childhood, asks questions about Iruka’s life, tells good jokes, cooks bad food, refuses to assist in setting up camp—nothing gets a reaction. 

The mission—the one from the Hokage, not just Kakashi’s self-imposed one—fails spectacularly. Really, Kakashi can’t think of a worse way for it to fuck up.

But there’s a silver lining.

On the way back to Konoha, they stop for the night. No fire, no camp; they rough it in the trees. Kakashi lets one leg hang off the branch he’s sitting on and leans his back against the trunk. Iruka sits a little further out, shoulders hunched forward, both feet dangling off the branch. He kicks his legs back and forth gently. It’s endearing.

“I’m sorry,” Iruka murmurs. It’s the first time in years that Iruka has said something to him unprompted.

“Don’t be,” Kakashi sighs. “You don’t have the kind of experience I do. You can’t have known those kids weren’t innocent.”

He seems to shrink into himself further. It’s odd; Iruka’s not a small man, but at the moment he seems adamant in taking up as little space as possible. “Please don’t excuse my weakness,” Iruka says. “I know I’m not cut out for this. I shouldn’t have—”

“Stop.”

Thank the gods, he does. Kakashi takes a few breaths to collect himself, then continues.

“I signed up to captain a duo team with Umino Iruka,” he says, “not your ‘friend,’ Mizuki.”

Iruka turns to him, confused. “Wha—?”

“Don’t repeat his words back to me,” Kakashi says. “I don’t want to hear it.”

“I’m not. Mizuki is—”

“You’re not weak. You were chosen to be on this mission because of your expertise in fūinjutsu—which you learned behind Mizuki’s back, didn’t you?”

Iruka flushes. Half of his mouth twitches in a ghost of a smile. His shoulders roll back and he straightens, just a bit. “It’s just really fascinating,” he breathes. 

There he is.  

“Yes, the mission failed. Yes, if you had killed the kids when I ordered it the first time, it probably would have been successful,” Kakashi watched Iruka’s face fall again, and moved along the tree branch until he was next to Iruka and able to put a hand on his shoulder. “If you had done it, would it have been you, though?”

Iruka shivers. “They were just children,” he whispers.

“And they tried to kill you.”

“Wouldn’t be the first ones.”

“And won’t be the last.”

Iruka leans into him. Kakashi lets him, even braces an arm around his back to keep him close. “I missed this,” Iruka whispers.

“Failing missions? Talking about killing children?”

“Us.”

“You’ve had Mizuki,” Kakashi ventures.

“And he’s great—in, like, small doses.” Iruka doesn’t look up at him, but Kakashi can see him fidget with his shirt cuffs again, just like he had in the Hokage’s office years ago. “It took a long time for me to see that.”

Kakashi looks out into the woods and imagines being here under different circumstances. Maybe in a few more years. “You’re getting better. When we left, I couldn’t get you to look at me with anything other than apathy. Now look at us.”

“It’s nice.” Iruka kicks one of his legs out harder, faster; a nervous tick. “Mizuki… he doesn’t like me having other friends.”

“He can take that up with me,” Kakashi says. “I might have left for a while, but I was here first. And I plan on staying this time.”

Iruka smiles.

Just like before. Just for a second. It’s enough.

[copycaat]

ignipotent - presiding over fire

     Legend has it, Shisui used to say. Legend has it the Dragons live where the Naka springs from the ground in the mountains. He would sit Sasuke down with the rest of them around a low-burning oil lamp and tuck one of their cloaks around his shoulders when they pretended to ninja-camp in the backyard, and he would peer around at the team with a mischievous tilt to his mouth. 

          Legend, Kakashi would always think wryly to himself, has nothing to do with it. 

     When he was nine years old and a freshly blooded jounin and reeling after the loss of one Uchiha Obito and the acquisition of one of the most coveted dojutsu in the Land of Fire and the subsequent constant drain on his chakra that nearly and should have killed him, he was brought before a council of elders of the Uchiha Clan. He thinks, bearing all of that in mind, his total silence before them as they argued over what to do with him was justified. Minato had tried to come with him to the trial as a guardian, but he knew what to expect and he knew his sensei wouldn’t be able to handle the proceedings without major upset. Besides; Hatake Kakashi was an adult in the eyes of the law-- it wouldn’t be appropriate for him to bring a chaperone. 

     They were perfectly happy to discuss him as if he weren’t even there. Many argued for the removal of the eye-- and he thinks that one was the worst. It would be a mercy, in their view, to take away the last thing Obito had ever given him and the promises he’d made in exchange. He would have preferred death, and plenty of the eldest among them argued for that one as well. He expected it: the Hatake brat, a little monster from a family of pariahs? Proof that the sharingan could survive outside of the Uchiha bloodline, even with the only evidence being that it hadn’t killed Kakashi yet? It was unacceptable. He needed to be made an example of, to declare to the rest of the village that their abilities were not to be bought and sold and traded from corpses. This was an argument he understood. 

     Old clans have old ways, after all; the Hatake had secrets of their own. He did not want to die, but he understood that it was a distinct possibility that he might. Uchiha Fugaku, the future clan head himself argued that Kakashi be allowed to live on with it, though his voice was shouted down by dozens of others in that loud room. They deliberated for hours until Kakashi could barely keep his head up and his eyes-- his eye-- open, until an old crone of a woman that had been as quiet as he had stood, and a hush finally fell over the room. Her hair was thin and grey-white and she’d leaned heavily on her cane when she hobbled over to stand before him. He kept his eye fixed firmly on her feet until she thumped the cane against the ground meaningfully, and when he met her gaze her eyes were milky and sightless, but her voice was the rough burr of a field commander. “We will ask the dragons,” she said. 

          We will ask the dragons. 

     You see-- when Shisui would tell the story he always did it respectfully, with an air of bestowing knowledge of great importance on the youngest member of their little rag-tag group, reverent even when he would adapt great and exciting sweeping gestures and laugh joyfully at some parts of the tale. Uchiha Shisui was a true believer in the way most of the Uchiha were true believers: tales of gods were not things to be passed down and eventually forgotten. They were warnings as much as they were a living heritage, colorful and warm and alive and terrifying. Tales of massive scaled beasts that breathed fire into the sky and knew unfathomable things that had given the Uchiha the gift of Sight in exchange for their dedication were not tales at all; they were history. They were beings of wrath and honor and dignity and they were a lesson. 

     And so when the old woman suggested his case be taken to the dragons she was not met with scorn. Instead a thoughtful silence reigned until more than half of the room had agreed, and thus it was decided. Jounin of Konohagakure, Hatake Kakashi, aged nine, was to be taken to the dragons. Jounin of Konohagakure, Hatake Kakashi, aged nine, took this news about as well as one might expect. 

     Silently and without complaint, he let them set him up in a spare bedroom and spent the night in the compound under guard and he didn’t sleep a wink. He stared at the ceiling all night and he thought about the patrons of the Hatake and how they always seemed so lifeless when he read about them on paper-- the White Ones with their quiet, feral dignity, and Raijin with his penchant for mischief and destruction reduced only to strokes of ink. His father had only taken him into the shrine once when he was very young, and he’d showed him how to light the lanterns and leave offerings and he’d shown him where they’d kept the clan histories and secrets and when he’d went back to lock the place up after Hatake Sakumo’s death he’d sat in there for a very long time and read through histories that felt as cold and dead as the rock and the paper and his father and himself. He thought about the wild joy in the chase and the madness that sparked in him during a storm, and he knew: the Uchiha did not believe their gods are dead. It wasn’t all that difficult to wrap his mind around. 

          But he’d left his family’s shine untended for so long. He would get no help from his own patrons if he really was about to face his judgement. 

     They led him out in the pre-dawn light on a long trek along the river, upstream along a well-worn path. Mist clung to the slow-moving waters and swirled around their feet until it was burned away by the sun mid-morning, and by noon they reached the foot of a mountain inlaid with thousands of steps-- so high that the stairway disappeared into the clouds, and his armed guard stopped at the base of them and sent him the rest of the way alone. 

     One foot in front of the other, he climbed the steps. The constant strain on his chakra from Obito’s eye left him fatigued from what would have otherwise been considered light exercise, and every stair felt like a struggle. He climbed the stairs until the retinue he left behind looked like ants and he kept climbing, the stone path planted neatly next to the river that rushed and crushed on its way down. He followed the stairs all the way to a great plateau, and the air was thin and cold in his lungs and sweat clung to his forehead and left him shivering in the frigid breeze and the exertion left him burning with fever, and on the edge he saw the mouth of a cave and from the cave came the river, the water tumultuous and churning as it spit itself into a long waterfall. 

     A wash of hot air came from the mouth of the cave, and for a brief moment he considered turning around and walking back down the stairs and not looking back. He closed his eye and he steadied himself and pressed a fist to his rib cage like that might still his wildly beating heart, and then he walked forward. All the way to the mouth of the cave and straight onto the rapidly changing surface of the water, keeping his chakra leashed carefully and his steps light, following the river into the dark. A great cavern opened up before him and he came to a standstill on the water, peering into the dark with his one eye and finding that he could see nothing but knowing that there was something there with him anyway. The cave smelled like serpents, like sulfur, and the air was hot and there was a great heaving sound like a sigh, and he kept himself still even as a great red eye with three swirling tomoe flickered to life before him. 

     The red glow cast light on a great shifting mass of scales and whiskers and teeth and five-ten-fifteen-onehundred-onethousand eyes cracked open with the same lazy sort of judgement and they stared at him and they shifted in the dim red and he could pick out black and white and red but no other color. Hatake Kakashi stood still on the water with his shoulders straight and his hands steady and he watched a snout bloom from the mass and lower itself to watch him from twenty feet away-- the dragon’s teeth were as long as his own body, and its head was the size of a house. 

     Its mouth did not move but its voice still echoed loudly in the massive cavern. It said to him: Let us see. He averted his gaze from the end of its nose and lifted his hitai-ate and then lifted his chin once more, Obito’s eye burning in his skull when it showed him in perfect detail just how massive and how powerful the creature before him truly was. The air around him vibrated with the voice when it came again, this time saying: You are no Uchiha. 

     “No,” he’d agreed, because lying wouldn’t fly here and there was little else to be said. A creature like this would not care for a dead boy’s plea and the survivor’s promise. The head drifted closer to him and he was forced to crane his neck up further to keep his gaze on it. 

     Bold little thing, it had chuckled. We gave our gift of sight to the Uchiha because they agreed to abide by our laws, child. You, we have made no such bargain with. 

��    Kakashi had grit his teeth but kept his shoulders relaxed, and instead of saying ‘not yet’ or ‘i would strike a bargain with you if that is what you desire’, he said, “I already hold agreements with others.” At the creature’s snort, he swallowed hard. 

     Agreements you have broken, have you not? To you, there is no pack. Its tone was considering instead of mocking, and he did not allow himself to flinch from the truth of it. You are already an oathbreaker, so what use do we have for a wretch like you? 

     It’s not a question he truly had an answer for-- after all, they were right. Hatake Kakashi had thrown his bonds to the wind and abandoned those he was supposed to care for: his father, first, and then Rin, to the cost of Obito’s life. Betraying Pack like that is the gravest of sins a Hatake can commit and he’d done it more than once, and the gods do not care for excuses and platitudes. But it had been Uchiha Obito that made him see the error of his ways, albeit a little too late to save his life. And Kakashi had sworn to him that he would live for the both of them and protect Rin, protect their family, so meeting his death in a flash of fire or teeth today was not an acceptable outcome. So he blinked slowly, his hand fisted tightly over his gut, and finally he replied, “you have no use for me at all.” 

     The stillness that lingered in the air then had raised the hairs on his arms like the moment before a lightning strike, and the great beast’s eyes had narrowed at him and a great, deafening snarl had ripped out of its throat and he had just enough time to think guess that’s the wrong answer before something struck him between the shoulder blades and lit his whole world up with bright white light and then left him once more in darkness. 

     He’d woken again out in the middle of the plateau feeling like his joints were locked in stone, limbs trembling, nose and ears bleeding. The air was frigid except for the great, hot gusts of air rolling out of the cave that made the mouth of the Naka river, and some sense told him he would not be welcome were he to go back inside. Kakashi had stood up, fallen back to his knees, and stood up again, and then made his way toward the steps on legs that trembled worse than a fawn’s. He sat heavily on the first stair at the top until his ragged breathing slowed, threw up off to the side until the only thing that came out of his mouth was stinging bile, and then he’d watched the sun set. 

     By the time he made it back down the stairs, staggering heavily, it was midnight. The only ones waiting for him were the ancient old woman and Uchiha Fugaku, who watched with unreadable faces as he made it all the way down the stairs and stood before them, and then fell straight onto his ass. The woman waited a moment, and then as she turned away she said, “he may keep the eye, then. It’s been decided,” and then limped off down the path into the dark. Fugaku had pulled him to his feet and caught him when he stumbled hard enough to crash face-first into his gut, and carefully steered him all the way back to his apartment without a word. 

     And if Shisui had a look of respect and wonder on his face whenever he spoke of the dragons to their little circle of murderers and a child, whenever Fugaku stood on the back porch and watched them he always had that same unreadable look he’d had that night, with his arms crossed and his brows furrowed, before he turned his back and headed inside. 

[writer-and-artist27]

How to Write Tomoko (Kinda)

Inspired by this one ask that Lang got a while back. I can’t remember how long ago it was, but @owlsofstarlight commented one time to me how they wrote Tomo based on how I reacted to a lot of things. So, this really is for their reference when writing any Silent Feathers stuff as well as for me to look back on how much Tomo is not just a “Mary Sue,” contrary to what some haters would like to throw at her.

Some important core traits and the like.

Tomoko is selfless. Once she gets to know you as a friend and/or a precious person of her circle, then she’s pulling out all the stops to make sure you’re happy. Even if you are a stranger, if it looks like you’re struggling, she’s offering her hand to bring you to your feet. It’s no question about it — she wants to see you be better, even if it means she gets the short end of the stick, and she’d be happy with the short end of the stick. 

The consequences of her selflessness hit only after she does something in the form of exhaustion and at times barely being able to talk depending on the person (example being that one oneshot where she cleaned all of Obito’s apartment [aside from his room because that’s personal space] and made dinner once he came home, therefore rendering her rambly and barely coherent for a bit once she finally sat down). So she can’t pull out all stops, but that doesn’t mean she won’t try unless you stop her. 

Tomo is also compassionate. Without fail, if someone asks her for a listening ear, she’s already raising her hand to volunteer to do it, all because being Emotional Support is ingrained into her very soul. She is also the first one to ask, “Are you okay?” whenever there’s something wrong, which is why her parents latched onto her so much because she never truly asks for anything for herself. Which leads into the next thing.

As helpful as she is, Tomo can be cruel to herself. From the machinations of Ty, her past death, previous trauma relating to sexual assault as Vy, and her foreknowledge of the Narutoverse, she easily goes to herself, albeit unconsciously, “if the ninja can go out and train to the death, then I can work to the death without complaints.” Similar thoughts such as “sitting around gets nothing done,” “I can’t say no, I’ll feel bad when they have it worse than me,” “I don’t deserve to sit down when people die everyday outside Konoha’s walls,” and “I can’t rest, someone’s crying right now,” roll around constantly in her head. Hence why she rarely gives herself any breathing room. It takes outside stimuli and/or people nagging her for her to properly do self-care.

Someone could easily take advantage of this if they wanted to because it is just hard for her to say “no” to helping someone. The only reason why it hasn’t gotten her into more trouble is because her family and friends help with support and protection from the real big baddies of the Narutoverse. Not to mention the one thought that crossed over from Vy’s reincarnation: “If I messed up/died here, Josh and Leo would be sad. I have to keep going to let them know I’m okay.” 

This also makes it hard for her to go to friends and family for help on her own problems, because in her head, “they’re going through enough shit in their lives, I don’t want to add to it.” She tries to work through it herself and/or bottle it up. This doesn’t always work.

It’s because of this trait that she can’t be the Naruto-figure of her generation, in spite of being so close, because she still needs to learn how to stop for her own sake.

Tomo can also be easily invested in the lives of other people. When she’s dedicated to helping someone, she does whatever she can, putting herself as far out there as she can, even if she doesn’t have much to offer, and that can lead into pitfalls that could sink her mood for weeks or more depending on how much she grows to care.

If someone ever knew the full knowledge of her reincarnation and thus asked her why she decided to help the ninja the way she does, she would reply, “They made a lonely school girl feel loved and cared for again when no one else noticed. The least she could do is return the favor and give them better lives.” So she’s pretty driven for her ninja friends already.

Tomo can be stubborn. Not as much as, say Naruto-levels of recklessness, but when she’s on a task of her own making, she’s driven and focused on it to the point of tunnel vision. Until the thing is done, she’s sticking there, barely moving unless it’s for sleep or food — basically the bare minimum of keeping things up.

Her reflections/self-analysis is borderline self-harm when it comes down to it. By focusing far too much on her flaws and not that of her positives, she forces herself to keep trying to improve/work, even if her body is not up for keeping the reckless standard. I’d like to think it took both Obito and Kei in S&S to convince her not to go all Gai-route in self-defense training, because as much as Gai is productive, his methods would only contribute to Tomo’s fallings in the future with her civilian physique. 

It’s because of this constant self-deprecation that Tomoko is oblivious to any love that’s outside her usual familial and platonic realms of territory. She could suspect that someone is into her, but immediately brushes it off with thoughts of, “There’s no way someone would like me, there’s better girls out there.” So anyone trying to win her heart would be having a hard time just trying to flirt if they’re not saying it directly.

Tomo is also indecisive, lacking any initiative to do something unless it’s to help someone. Once she has a break in her hands, she would stare at it and be like, “What am I supposed to do with this?” She’s just so used to working all the time that when she rests, she either sleeps exhaustion away or goes along with other people’s paces. It’s kinda why she helps out in the hospital with Rin and/or does moral support for Team Minato outside of the café because otherwise, she has no clue what to do.

Tomo struggles with talking to people outside of her precious friend circle. From social anxiety and just plain embarrassment at the possibility of messing up and making a bad impression, Tomo isolates herself a lot if she’s not searching out for specific people. If she’s at work, she can pull out scripted words to get along with the day, but that’s not going to stop her internal monologues of “Holy shit, what do I do, this person wants this” — therefore causing the occasional trip in her voice. It’s easy to fake being outgoing, but otherwise, if she could get time to sleep, she’d take it. Even if she blanks at the idea of “free time.” 

Tomo is also far too easy to read. From her mannerisms to her piano playing (ninshu, people) to how she reacts to nearly everything honestly, it leaves her open to, at best, lots of teasing and, at worst, emotional manipulation at the hands of others not so kind. It makes it hard for her to even try lying, so when it comes to her foreknowledge, she takes after Kei’s example in not saying much when it’s not needed. That doesn’t make her face any less easy to search for when it comes to key signs of turmoil. It can be cute in her everyday life, but if she were ever a ninja, it would be the first thing to get her killed. 

It’s just funny to look back on all this considering in any other setting, Tomoko would be the ideal Shojo protagonist. But, unfortunately, this is the Narutoverse. All of these things leave her solely as Moral Support and nothing more because everyone can tell she wouldn’t be able to handle anything else. 

At this point? Anything can happen and at best, she’s done well to survive so far. If she didn’t make friends with the right people, I wouldn’t be surprised if those behind Sakumo’s original Canon suicide did off with her too. But then we wouldn’t have a story. So there’s that.

Tomo has a long way to go in maturing.

[aloluptitude-blog]

Oil and Water: An Obito Uchiha Character Analysis

The following are my scattered thoughts on the layout and progression of Obito Uchiha's character. I’ve previously posted this a while back on a forum like a year ago but found that I wanted to share with a wider audience, if I should be so fortunate. With that out of the way, here we go. And warning, it’s quite long.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The first lesson Team 7 had to learn as shinobi was teamwork. They initially all fought for their own self-interests, which prompted Kakashi to tell them about the memorial stone.

Later, once Sasuke and Sakura sacrifice their food for Naruto, Kakashi unexpectedly passes them and reveals to them his philosophy in life.

His mystery is further compounded with the reveal of his Sharingan, as well. Kakashi is built up as a man of mystery throughout Part I, and after the Third Hokage's death he is shown mourning at the grave of someone called Obito in a very somber scene.

(Note that the chapter in which Obito's name is first mentioned is the chapter in which Akatsuki first shows up. Likely coincidence, but interesting nonetheless) So, tons of shit happens, and the darkness in Sasuke grows. He eventually abandons Konoha to join Orochimaru. The cast is left crestfallen after his betrayal, with Naruto promising to bring him back no matter what. The chapter in which this resolution occurs, releasing shortly before Kakashi Gaiden, starts off with this:

The remaining pages revolve around Naruto's conviction to keep his promise to Sakura, and about comrades who have fallen into darkness. I hindsight, this was effective and subtle foreshadowing for Obito’s role to come. Next, immediately sandwiched between Parts I and II, we have the Kakashi Gaiden, revealing the character of Obito for the first time and showing his role in shaping Kakashi's life. Obito's character, from beginning to end, centered around the themes of injustice and cherishing one's comrades.

He not only vowed to "crush" the shinobi that diverged from his dogma, but he was able to gather the resolve to kill someone in order to protect Kakashi (this was likely his first kill). At this point, it is of course important to touch on Obito's love for Rin Nohara. Obito was a kindhearted Uchiha with big ambitions to be Hokage and end the war. But among the prestigious Uchiha clan, he was a washout. A disappointment. For a long time his only real support was Rin, and so he became attached to her.

Obito's insistence on rescuing Rin in the Gaiden was not, however, just because of his feelings for her. They played a role, but she was also a comrade of his, much like Kakashi. They did, however, play a larger role in his request to Kakashi. Obito ended up being smashed by boulders in the process of saving Kakashi. The two had formed a bond by then, so he entrusted his eye to Kakashi, telling him they would "see the future together". Even though he had been very mature throughout this experience, however, Obito was still a child at heart and told Kakashi to protect Rin at any cost.

Now, it’s very important to note Obito's last thoughts before being supposedly killed.

His most desperate wish is to survive so he can spend more times with the people he cherishes, which will become his main drive when rehabilitating in Madara's cave. Afterwards, a battle ensues and Kakashi moves to protect Rin. He later wakes up with Minato sitting beside him, and wonders if he survived. 

However, he was not the only one to survive. Obito found himself in a very similar, but less fortunate situation:

He awakes in an underground cave with Madara Uchiha. He is relieved to be alive, but is constantly driven by the desire to return to his comrades and protect them with his newfound power. Madara reacts to this by telling him his hopes are futile and reality is cruel.

But Obito, of course, would not pay heed to this until much later.

The only thing giving Obito hope and strength during this drawn on underground recovery, with half a body and surrounded by strangers and pessimism, is the thought of returning to his comrades. That thought is what keeps him going during his time spent down under.

Obito's most prominent trait for a while now has been hope. He's put all his being into reuniting with his comrades and escaping from this creepy geezer. But the reality ended up being far harsher.

Obito's entire world was shattered in this instant. The power he had entrusted to his newfound friend Kakashi to protect Rin was robbing her of her life (Obito’s Sharingan perfected Kakashi’s Chidori). Not only did Obito lose the one he loved, but his view of the world was shattered. All his hopes were crushed in that instant. But what happens here is one of the key differences between Obito and Madara. Obito does not lose hope in the world; he denies that he has it. He refuses to accept the reality before him.

Obito was in an unfamiliar place in unfamiliar circumstances, and his life just fell apart before his eyes. His immediate response is to reject what he sees. In contrast, Madara slowly but surely lost hope in the world over time. He accepted what the world was (or rather his perception of it). Obito couldn't. He never developed, or had time to develop, the mental state for it.

The person he loved most was killed by his best friend, and all his efforts had proven useless. Unlike Naruto, Obito was alone, and the people he did have, well it's self explanatory what happened there. Obito from this point on started operating in the shadows towards the completion of Madara's plan. Obito's general persona from this point on slowly becomes more detached and warped. He gains a sarcastic/sadistic bend to his personality and becomes increasingly divorced from reality, as he has abandoned (or rather surpressed) his hope for the world.

He still is fixated on and values camaraderie, but it's not in the same way he did before. It's more self-serving now.

He values loyalty, so long as it's loyalty to him. However, when double-crossed he will be merciless. The seeds for this were planted earlier though, albeit in a more innocent form.

This is an important divergence from Madara, who didn't really care about the loyalty of his comrades so much as their usefulness to him. As seen by him giving no shits when learning of Nagato's betrayal and not caring about Obito having his own plans either.

Obito's also become quite deluded by this point, choosing to consider the real world and its inhabitants "fakes" and the Mugen Tsukuyomi world to be "truth".

Basically, he considers bonds and interpersonal relationships to be a farce, because he believes the world will sever those ties, without fail, and cause people to sink into despair. Thus, uniting together would eliminate that and create harmony.

The way Obito sees it, this shinobi world that doesn’t align with how he thinks things should be is “false”, and the Moon’s Eye Plan / Tsuki no Me Keikaku is the remedy. The thing is, while Obito did initially defect due to the shock, trauma, and despair induced by everything to do with Rin’s death, he still did not have the hardened outlook on the world he would display in his adult years. As he made moves towards the completion of his plan, Obito observed the shinobi world's workings and it only served to deepen his conviction.

Obito, though not as far gone as Madara, steeped himself in the darkest areas of the Shinobi world. What he saw just reinforced his belief, or rather he made it so. He surrounded himself with fallacy (his identities of Madara and Tobi) and negativity. Even when seeing the brighter aspects of the world, Obito would brush it off. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_dissonance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias This shared outlook on the world may be why Obito considered Kisame "the person closest to him".

So, we’ve established what Obito is like by the time the main story unfolds. However, something starts to happen in Obito after Nagato’s betrayal at the end of the Pain Invasion arc.

Obito is bothered that Nagato, who was quite similar to him, was convinced to switch sides. This sort of reignites the doubt in Obito's heart, and so he goes to ask Naruto about it. Naruto, the boy who was so much like Obito and inherited the younger Obito’s ideals by way of Kakashi.

Of course Naruto cuts him off, and so Obito gets no immediate answer. His anxiety and anger towards Nagato and fixation on Naruto escalates when he fights Konan.

This, of course, would come to a head in the Fourth Shinobi World War, where the two shinobi finally clashed head on and pit their ideologies against each other. Interestingly, Obito also sees himself in Sasuke. Both were motivated by the death of someone they cared about, but chose to nullify their sacrifice for the sake of their personal ideals. Compare the following pages 

to this exchange

Obito was asking Sasuke if he had the resolve to shit on the sacrifice of someone he loved for the sake of his own motives. Basically asking if he was like him. And well

Obito’s corruption of Sasuke is even a direct mirror of when Obito awoke in a cave with Madara, who had sinister plans of his own for Obito.

So yes early as the Gokage Summit arc, the conflict in Obito was making itself apparent. The fight Obito attempted to orchestrate between Naruto and Sasuke was a microcosm for Obito’s own inner conflict that would come to a head in the War Arc, specifically when Kakashi and Guy arrived on the battlefield to help Naruto.

He struggles harder than he'd anticipated in his battle with Naruto, who begins to gain traction in their clash and amasses chakra from almost all the other biju as well as finally synching with Kurama.

These past few panels are from Chapter 573, which contains Naruto’s comrades running to his aid and ends with this panel

You’ll see later why this and a later panel perfectly bookend the meat of Obito’s journey to find himself again. Now, Obito still manages to somewhat retain his composure in this chapter, but by the time the story next cuts to the battle his detachment has lessened. His lunatic rantings increase in intensity, and he becomes more invested in Naruto and Kakashi. He was probably having those Rin flashbacks people love to criticize too but they couldn't be shown then for obvious reasons.

Once his mask is finally broken, Obito can no longer really run from his insecurities and grief. After all, now that he's unmasked he won't be able to escape more personal questions from Kakashi. He has to address things in more detail than he’d like to, at least to some extent. Although, he initially maintains some remnants of the detachment he'd held til then.

However, he soon fights Kakashi one-on-one and his rage boils to the surface.

Now I only posted enough of this to get the point across. But this man really beat the living shit out of Kakashi. He’s angry, despite his prior claims to have cut himself off from personal ties. At any rate, towards the conclusion of their scuffle, Naruto joins in and starts touting his resolve to protect his comrades and defeat Obito and Madara.

Now, it's around this point that Obito really attempts to crush Naruto's ideology, as it's basically his own (formerly of course). But Obito desiring to twist Naruto and in turn solidify his own conviction was first hinted during his fight with Konan, where he swore to "fade him into darkness".

He believes Naruto, and basically every shinobi, is destined to turn out like him (scum, basically. At least, I doubt he meant everyone would become a psychotic masked murderer).

  Itachi earlier foreshadowed this same thing to Naruto, warning him of what would happen if he forgot the people that got him where he was.

Obito recognizes that Naruto's ideology was basically the mirror image of his own, among their other similarities. By this point his resolve has wavered a good deal, so he resorts to trying to break Naruto's spirit in order to convince himself his path isn't mistaken.

This is a good time to bring up something I don’t think I can fit anywhere else. While trying to convince Naruto to abandon reality, Obito brings up the deaths of Minato, Kushina, Jiraiya, and of course Neji. All things caused, directly or indirectly, by Obito himself. This is why the act that Madara orchestrated Rin’s death is irrelevant. 

It’s beside the point of Obito’s despair and I dare say if he learned of this while still “evil” he wouldn’t have changed. He didn’t even like or trust Madara to begin with. It was the fact that such things occurred at all that raked at Obito’s mind. After all, it’s not like Obito has never manipulated people for his own ends. 

So this moment is more meant for Madara’s development, because it demonstrates his extreme arrogance which is shattered when he is betrayed by Black Zetsu and learns he was the biggest pawn of all.

Anyway, soon enough the Ten Tails starts to go out of control. This prompts Obito to commence with his plan of making Kakashi stab through Madara's puppet seal, which would enable him to become the Jinchuriki.

I'm pretty sure I've covered all the relevant characterization focused on in his battle with Kakashi in previous parts of this, so I'll just speed ahead to after that. Obito comes out of the Kamui dimension and is immediately assaulted by Madara, who wants Obito to Rinne Tensei him.

This point marks an interesting shift in the way Obito is portrayed. He is seen struggling against Madara's rods and relying on the memories and thoughts of his former comrades to propel him forward and resist the takeover.

It’s moments like this that almost makes him feel like the protagonist. But even with that, Obito still retains a villainous aura, as seen when he confidently declares that the war hasn't reached its end.

Yet even after succeeding in becoming the Jinchuriki, his ego was still under siege by the Ten Tails. And once more he draws on his memories of his comrades to resist and regain control. This frequent blending of heroic and villainous portrayals makes his eventual change feel even more organic in my opinion.

Obito's newly acquired power makes him the focus of the war, although Naruto, Sasuke and others start to gain on him and even the playing field. Obito becomes more agitated at Naruto and his constant interfering with his aims.

His frustration and fixation with Naruto has grown to an insane point. And it started with something so small and seemingly trivial:

So anyway, Obito continues to question and nudge Naruto in order to reach a conclusion about his own choices.

Now, the "my ninja way" thing may come off as bullshit and might not seem like a good answer. But the thing is, Obito isn't asking Naruto how to fix the shinobi world's problems. He's simply trying to see if he has the will to persevere no matter what the world throws at him. And by this point, Obito is almost convinced. Obito was never about grand visions concerning villages and government. That was Madara. Obito was always more intertwined with the personal aspect of suffering, which is why Naruto’s refusal to break infuriates him. Before:

After:

By this point Obito's resolve has wavered considerable, resulting in his defeat.

So this is the part where the main "TnJ" or "Talk no Jutsu" stuff comes in. Through the contact between their chakra, Naruto and Obito enter a sort of shared mental space. There, having connected to his memories, Naruto confronts Obito, frustrated that someone so like him turned out how he did. A lot of the shit discussed has already been covered though, so this'll be brief. I'll just post some interesting tidbits I may not have covered well enough earlier. First is this:

Obito viewed himself as the second coming of the Sage. Looking solely at the first image, you might think he was referring to Madara. But as shown in the second from his talk with Naruto, he really was referring to himself. He also refers to Nagato as the “Third Sage of the Six Paths” after his fight with Konan, presumably as someone who also carried his will.

Why did he not include Madara as a Sage? Well for whatever reason, Obito never seemed to trust Madara. He never wanted him revived, and has stated he never saw him as an ally

Might have something to do with that puppet seal Madara planted in him to prevent him from becoming the Jinchuriki himself. Another interesting point in Obito’s talk with Naruto is this parallel with the Kakashi Gaiden. Chapter 241: 

Chapter 653:

Slick. So at the end of this talk, Obito is more conflicted than ever, and with the combined power of both Kurama and the Allied Forces, The Biju are released from Obito. It works well thematically as an end to Obito's threat, because Naruto both utilized the power of all his comrades on the battlefield (in the ultimate triumph of Obito’s original philosophy over his new one), and Kurama's power, which was originally placed in Naruto for the purpose of defeating Obito in the first place.

Having been definitively beaten, Kakashi has a final talk with Obito about the path he chose. 

And guess what the chapter ends on?

Our friend, the panel from Chapter 573. Fucking slick and thematically poignant. At this point, Obito finally accepts that his path was wrong, and the whole Nagato thing that jumpstarted his indecision is given a conclusion as well.

He resolves to give his life to Rinne Tensei his victims in the war, but Black Zetsu intervenes and forces Madara's resurrection. Obito is put out of commission for a while, but eventually regains his senses, and uses Madara as a means to steel his resolve. Sure, he had switched sides, but he was mellow, depressed, and wrought with guilt. He didn’t even believe himself worthy of redemption.

But by talking with Madara, Obito contrasts Madara's ideals with that of Naruto (and also his own original ideals), and finally reclaims his identity as Obito Uchiha, resolving to do his best and end the war.

This layout with Obito caught between Naruto's (in actuality his own) and Madara's ideologies is a small scale representation of a major theme of his character. Same with his fascination with Naruto and Sasuke, seeing a part of himself in both of thmm. Obito is the man on which the core of the Naruto series hinges. Even how his literal physical body was half Uchiha and half Senju DNA. He has always been a man of duality, represented by his association with the concept of Yin and Yang: 

Yin and Yang, or as Obito himself is fond of saying, Oil and Water.

Obito proved to be an extremely valuable ally in the fight against both Madara and Kaguya, and gave his life one more time to protect Kakashi, Naruto, and Sasuke. He fought on with everything he had to redeem himself for even a fraction of the damage he’d done. He died not as the Masked Man or the harbinger of calamity, but as Obito Uchiha. Obito, in my opinion, is the best written character in Naruto. There’s way too much unjustified hate and too many misconceptions about the character. I put this together out of my recognition of that and desire to share my passion for this boi. Thanks for reading all the way through (if you did) or even reading just a bit.

[ohayohimawari]

Kakashi Asks-Answer

Q: (From @cyabae) Do you think that Kakashi had a gut feeling that Obito was still alive? It seemed to me that he couldn’t get over Obito’s “death” whilst he was able to process his grief over the loss of his other loved ones.

A: This is such a fantastic question. Thank you for presenting me with an opportunity to climb into this ninja’s quirky brain to pave over what I think is one of the biggest holes in canon!

Throughout Naruto’s story-before and after the time skip-Kishimoto doesn’t allow the fans of the series, or Kakashi, to forget Obito. Every time we see my favorite ninja dork at his regular hangout (the memorial stone), it’s like Kishi is telling us, ‘Hey! Pay attention to this!’ Canon provides more questions than answers to this, so I’m going to rely upon my knowledge and interpretation of Kakashi’s character, as well as my imagination to resolve it starting below the cut.

First of all, Kakashi is no idiot.

He knows that he’s talking to dead people that can’t answer him when he visits their graves. He understands that death is final, permanent, having learned that lesson the hard way at a young age. The way he processes grief differs with each loss, however.

We know that Kakashi made it a point to distance himself from his father’s legacy after Sakumo’s death. In the series, I can think of only one instance in which we see Kakashi visiting his father’s grave, and it seems to be out of obligation. Further, when that angry little Kaka-brat is standing at his father’s grave in the rain, he places a flower on Sakumo’s marker while saying he won’t grow up to be like him. Ouch.

When it comes to Sakumo’s death, I think Kakashi spends a lot of time avoiding it. First, because he’s angry, later because he feels guilty (see also: Kakashi’s Legendary Self-Loathing). As long as I’m drawing from my imagination to answer this, I like to think that Kakashi comes to Sakumo’s grave more often after they made peace over a campfire during their brief visit in the afterlife.

It isn’t long after Sakumo’s death that Kakashi loses the closest thing he has to a father figure when his sensei Minato dies. This is another grave that I can’t recall (off the top of my head) Kakashi visiting. I think there are more than a couple of reasons why this is. Because he was a Hokage, Minato’s grave is already well-tended, or perhaps his remains are inaccessible (unless you’re Orochimaru). Another reason is because Kakashi has something better than a grave marker to turn to: the Yondaime’s bust carved into the mountainside that dominates Konoha’s skyline. When Kakashi wonders what kind of guidance his late sensei would offer, he looks up at his likeness. Side note: is it just me, or does that seem to give him a sense of calm? That’s a big headcanon of mine.

There’s something else that Minato left behind, or I should say someone, and that would be the main hero of the whole series. I definitely think that, although Minato’s death is an ending to a part of Kakashi’s life, it opens the door for this knucklehead to reckon with the future during his grieving process. But I have another Kakashi Ask waiting in my inbox about baby Naruto so I’ll wait to go into this when I answer that question.

This brings me to what canon presents as the most traumatic experience Kakashi has had with loss. There are countless flashbacks to the death of Rin Nohara at Kakashi’s hand before we’re given the full explanation for it. I can think of only two times that we see Kakashi visiting Rin’s grave: when he’s tending to it during a break from guarding a pregnant Kushina, and again when Tenzō is spying on Kakashi in the ANBU Black Ops arc. Although we don’t see him visiting Rin often, it’s implied that he does go regularly to her grave. He washes her marker, brings fresh flowers to adorn it, and tells her of the happenings in the Hidden Leaf.

Personally, I think Kakashi goes to Rin’s grave out of a sense of duty and keeps his visits brief out of guilt and pain (just an opinion; please don’t @ me). He can’t escape the physical moment of Rin’s death. It haunts him, frequently. He relives it more than any other experience he’s had in his fictional, angst-filled life. It seems to me that he thinks of his visits to Rin as the least he can do, after his involvement in her death. It’s all that he can do to continue to keep his promise to Obito to look after her. I’m not saying that he doesn’t have fuzzy friendship feelings for Rin, but I can’t imagine those are feelings that he’s able to maintain easily after the circumstances surrounding her death. Truly, I wonder if those visits are out of wanting to atone for his part in her death or to appease the angry spirit that Rin appears as in Kakashi’s nightmares. Probably a little of both.

The grave that is Kakashi’s home away from home is the memorial stone. Out of all the names that are etched on it, there’s only one that keeps him coming back to it. Obito Uchiha.

The million-ryo question is, out of all of the deaths that Kakashi has experienced, why is Obito’s grave the one that he turns to and returns to? Canon doesn’t portray them as the best of friends while they were schoolmates and later, teammates, so…?

This was the first peer that Kakashi lost, and that had to have rocked his little ninja world. Obito sacrificed himself for Kakashi’s sake and that too must’ve been a great big wtf moment for my precious murder baby. Also, there’s the sheer suddenness of the unfortunate boulder incident in Kakashi’s literal blind spot. I mean, wow, those reasons alone could show why Obito’s death would be next to impossible for kid!Kakashi to process.

But kid!Kakashi becomes adult!Kakashi and he’s still hovering by the memorial stone every time he gets a chance. I know that I’ve presented this dork as a creature of habit, but in this case, there’s something more to it. Two somethings, specifically.

First (to be blunt): there’s no body.

Obito Uchiha is presumed dead and for a ninja who has firsthand experience with proven death, that blows the door wide open to the possibility of Kakashi’s teammate surviving that rude boulder.

During the Land Waves arc, we see Team Seven’s leader waking up unconvinced that Zabuza is really dead. This knucklehead has more brains than chakra, and he doesn’t leave things to chance.

So, to Kakashi, presumed dead is way more alive than dead.

This is why he doesn’t just relate the news of the village to Obito like he does when he visits other graves. He asks questions and unloads his conscience there because, in his mind, he might be communicating with someone that could answer him.

But wait! There’s more. The second something is (drumroll): the sharingan.

Sharingan literally means “copy wheel eye,” and it is described as an “eye that reflects the heart.”

Kishimoto seems to enjoy beating his characters with a trauma stick, so canon gives us many (so many) accounts of how tragedy affects the sharingan’s development. However, if it reflects the heart, there are plenty of positive emotions that could affect it that simply weren’t explored in the series.

Another thing that isn’t fully explained in canon is how Kakashi and Obito’s sharingan eyes are connected. We only know that they are connected because the mangekyō awoke at the same time in each of them (this is very important btw), and because of their shared tsukuyomi/ninja dumpster. This is great imagination and fan content fodder because the possibilities of their shared sharingan are near endless.

What follows is my headcanon.

Rather than having a gut feeling that Obito is still alive, I think Kakashi allows for the possibility that his teammate survived. That becomes a probability after he learns more about the sharingan from his subordinate, Itachi and student, Sasuke.

It would be years after Obito’s presumed death that Kakashi would learn that the mangekyō is awakened by witnessing the death of the person that the sharingan-bearer is closest to. As much as I adore Rin’s character, she is not the person that Kakashi feels closest to when he witnesses her death. I believe that Kakashi is closer to Gai, or even Minato when Rin dies.

As Kakashi learns more about the sharingan, the bigger his hunch becomes that Obito survived. I’m sure he’d question how the mangekyō could’ve awoken in the first place if the person that gave it to him was dead.

This borrowed eye is surgically attached to Kakashi’s optic nerve and not his heart. So, if the sharingan is still developing, the heart it was connected to must still be beating.

More speculation, but perhaps Obito can use all of the jutsus that Kakashi has copied. Maybe snippets of Obito’s emotions are processed as information in Kakashi’s brain. It would make sense to me in Narutoverse.

So why didn’t Kakashi tell anyone that he had reason to think that Obito might still be alive?

The experiences that would lead him to think that are subjective. Kakashi is tight-lipped even when someone wants to know his hobbies. I don’t think he’d tell anyone that a mistake was made with one of the etched names on the memorial stone until he had hard proof.

However it played out, or whatever your headcanons about these two may be, the moment they faced each other from opposite sides of the battlefield was heartbreaking.

I think that when Kakashi finally saw him again, he was less surprised that Obito was alive and more surprised that he had become an enemy. *Sob*

XOXO

P.S. I actually touched upon this headcanon in a drabble that I wrote for my latest Tumblr milestone:

The Impossible 

Summary: “No one is more surprised than Kakashi when he returns from apparent death. He confides his extraordinary experience and the new mystery that has come of it at his next visit to Konoha's memorial stone.”

Pairings: Gen, none

Rated: T, no warnings apply

[keepyourpantsongohan]

Ayesha Liveblogs Naruto Shippuden S21

What a tender intro omg also why is this filler so well animated

The introduction of modern technology will never not be funny to me. Kakashi on a laptop. Gaara sending emails. What has the ninja world come to 

I know it’s just superfluous background motion but that angry little cat design was amazing. Takes me tf out 

Hello again New English Iruka Voice time to feel slightly uncomfortable 

Doesn’t Inuyasha have a monopoly on this baby with a red ball imagery

Why! Is! No one! Making sure! Naruto is fed! He’s a baby!!!!!!

Naruto and Sasuke were such adorable children my heart

SOMEONE PLEASE EXPLAIN THE FAMILY WHERE ONE OF THE CHILDREN IS JUST A FROG? WHO IS DOING THESE BACKGROUND ANIMATIONS?????

In case you thought I wasn’t being literal:

[Accompanying dialogue to this image: “Did you hear the rumours that Lord Fourth died because of him?” WHO IS THIS FROG CHILD WITH A VENDETTA AGAINST MINATO]

This ninja cowboy music seems slightly misplaced but okay

Hiruzen. U r the literal ninja president. Naruto is foraging in the forest for food bc no one is taking care of him! How r u like ‘Hahah I’m hungry too :D’ 

“The things that we inconsequential humans worry about are often very petty indeed” “You’re right” It’s Philosophy Hours ft. Pre-Schoolers 

“Are you sure these mushrooms are safe to eat? “Won’t know ‘til we eat ‘em” HIRUZEN PICK UP THE PHONE 

SCREAMS FIVE YEAR OLD NARUTO JUST JUMPED OFF THE HOKAGE MONUMENT AHHHHHH

I miss Neji :((((((((((((((((

“Please make sure that you look after Neji” show us Neji’s mum you cowards!!!

“You have to be more positive, and confident!” Nejiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii my boy

“I wish that I could switch places with you, big brother” There’s a lot to unpack here and I’m wildly concerned about all of it. This episode ought to be titled Konoha Desperately Requires Child Welfare Programs

Making an mini-episode which largely depicts Neji’s tragic backstory and centring its ending on Hinata seems like an odd angle to take

 “I’m alone. I don’t have anyone, but I never cry” NARUTOOOOO

KJHFKJHG THIS NINJA BASEBALL OUTRO I LOVE IT 

SASUKE USING HIS SHARINGAN TO CHEAT AT BASEBALL I WHEEZE

Also not that I don’t like Genma but why is he a central figure in this ending. Has he had more than a single conversation with Naruto in his life

Lmao @ Sasuke and Itachi’s child versions going back to having their adult voices. Pick a lane SP!!!

“Things in season are always cheap and tasty” “Oh, is that so, Sasuke? Hahaha” Sasuke learning about the ninja economy

“We’re going to visit your mother’s family” Two questions: 1) Aren’t your families the same family (eep) and 2) Don’t they all live in the same part of the village

90% of this dialogue is recycled from prior episodes except delivered more slowly and it’s a little confusing 

Itachi sure knows a lot about cooking for an eleven-year-old 

Sasuke being a clumsy child is such a cute character detail ahhhh I love him so much 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

“[Confused laughter] You want to be like me?” What a Mood Itachi

Sakura’s hideout in the woods is so sweet yes 2 semi-normal childhoods

Poor little Sakura already concerned about her appearance they never let girls live do they

“You’re really cute Sakura, don’t hide it” Ino and Sakura are the most adorable children in the WORLD I love their relationship 4ever

“If she’s cute like you say, then I would love to meet her” who will stop all men

“But Ino, aren’t you good friends with Sakura?” “No, not really” Okay not to project but. I have a lot of thoughts on this narrative 

GASP Inner Sakura’s first appearance!!

Tiny Team 7 is all I need in the world honestly I would watch a whole show that was just those three growing up

I have only just now noticed Suigetsu as third baseman. This ninja baseball game and season in general raise so many questions

Noooo Gaara don’t cry you are gonna be so loved in the future

Rasa, can I just say, from the bottom of my heart, I’m going to yeet you into the sun

“When I look up at the sky, the pain inside my heart feels a little bit better” He’s like 4!!!!!!! >:(

“Instead of a mother, you get to have me, Lord Gaara” Yashamaru: Self-Diagnosed Mumncle 

Ngl baby Gaara’s recollection of Karura is nothing like she looked like

I really don’t care for this new Iruka voice I just keep listening to him like ‘that’s not the sound of Naruto’s dad!!’

I will admit him spooking the sleeping children was cute I don’t know why I always find that so funny kjhgkjhg

“Let me buy into this fight” who taught seven-year-old Naruto to gamble

Christ alive the implication that Naruto has been doing the sexy jutsu since he was seven who will put this boy in ninja therapy

If Orochimaru had just continued to be Jiraiya’s long-suffering friend he might be half-endearing but alas he is fecal matter personified 

“Come on out, I made plenty, so you might as well stay and eat” Hjgjfjgfgffg I’m not sure what’s funnier about this scene the implication that Obito and Rin both independently followed Kakashi home without noticing each other, or that Kakashi did notice and rather than question this turn of events was just like “Guess I should make more fish”

“When you’re older, do you think you’ll become a chef” I would pay to see the AU where Kakashi becomes a professional chef why couldn’t that have been his Road to Ninja persona 

Ngl I spent the first half of Kakashi’s minisode wondering if Sakumo was dead or simply too depressed to take care of Kakashi and I think dead is the less upsetting outcome 

“It’s no fun when you’re not around, Kakashi” Obitooooooooooooooo

I’m not saying it’s suspicious that Sakumo is given two different depictions of his grave site in the anime but Sakumo fucked an alien and I stand by that statement 

All I remember from Sasuke Shinden is that a character called Sasuke “Sassy” as a nickname and if they do that in the Eng dub I won’t survive

“[Deep sigh] Alright Sakura, what is it?” Fhfjhfkjh what’s your damage Kakashi can’t your kids come to visit when people start exploding

God Sakura and Ino’s relationship is the realest.... she went to the Hokage bc her gal was worried abt her family friend and then comforted her from her loss... the looooooooove

Hinata not to devalue your work in any way but why did u collapse after poking one (1) man in the chakra point isn’t gentle fist based in taijutsu

Fhjfhkjhf I’ve seen that gif before of Kakashi knowing that Sakura was thinking about Sasuke but it’s still funny

Sasuke just hanging in the woods with kittycats what kinda redemption journey is this lmao

Ehehehe I’m still not over the fact that Sasuke recognizes Sai’s jutsu and Kakashi uses it to communicate like there are six members of team 7 and this arc PROVES IT HELL YEAH

I can’t believe I forgot the circus ninja oh my god 

“There’s good money to be found for performers like us” MOVE OVER EXPLODING HUMANS WHERE’S MY EPISODE ABOUT THE NINJA CIRCUS 

Everyone always commenting on the pupils and sclera of the Hyuga and Uchiha but nobody caring about Old Man Demon Eyes from the Bamboo Village:

You’d think at this point no amount of genjutsu could traumatize Sasuke 

They’re leaning wholeheartedly into the ninja cowboy music

That is not how I thought they would pronounce “Sassy” this show is full of twists and turns

“What about reviving the Uchiha clan? You’re the lone survivor right?” said Chino, inquiring about when Sasuke was planning to have vaginal sex

“You really think you’re going to find him inside that seriously scary looking cave?” GASP IT’S TENZO TIME

AIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIE IT’S MY BOYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

“You’re Sasuke, right?” asked Yamato, as if Sasuke had not provided the memorable introduction of stabbing a seasoned ANBU in the shoulder as a sixteen-year-old during a dramatic reunion with his team

“It would be easier for us to keep things coordinated, if you sent us progress reports as you went...” Okay not to be that gal but I love that Tenzo and Kakashi are an “us” in this mini-lecture about how Sasuke should call his father (Kakashi) more often

P sure that’s Yamato’s last speaking role goodbye sweet man we knew ye well

“So does this mean that you trust me?” GO TO JAIL OROCHIMARU

Every time that Orochimaru touches Sasuke I want to leap through the screen you leave that boy alone!!! Go! To! Jail!

Sasuke having to explain his social life to Taka is a dynamic I never knew I needed. What more do I want from Naruto than frames like this:

"By showing everyone that Sasuke isn’t in the Hidden Leaf Village and that he’s still out journeying around the world, it reduces the possibility that the village will be harmed” “So are you saying that Sasuke has to keep travelling forever” “That might be so” I can’t believe the entirety of Taka came up with a better explanation for Sasuke staying outside Konoha than Kishimoto himself

“Compared to me, the likelihood that Kabuto will return to evil is extremely low”

He still helped kill......... 40,000 people????? Okay dude

I CAN’T BELIEVE OROCHIMARU IS ACKNOWLEDGING HE IS STILL EVIL!!!! GO TO JAIL!!

I’m gonna pretend I don’t see Tenzo following Stranger Danger and he’s on vacation on a beach where he belongs

Fhjkhfkjhfkj what’s the meaning of this Orochimaru you’ve looked the same since you were 25:

Sasuke: No. She’s older than I am

Orochimaru: [Soft gasp] What?

Man I remember vaguely Sasuke being involved in this fight based on the Tenzo novel scene later on but hoo boy I do not like this

SCREAMMMM TENZO TRYING TO PROTECT PPL IN THE AREA HE’S HELPING

“I can’t make direct contact with him, so I better go now” I hope it is because you filed a restraining order, Yamato

“To increase the rarity, what I’ve even done is, had all but one person in a clan killed” at this point En Oyashiro is just trying to bait Sasuke

God I love how righteous Sasuke is being rn like this is the kind of dismantling of oppression I wanted for him instead of sad murder times

This battle is bonkers:

Villain: Looks like you brought a sword to a dodgeball fight

Sasuke: Looks like you brought a dodgeball to a magic eyes fight!!

Well I certainly breezed past this part of Sasuke Shinden hello Fushin

I find it hard to believe that anyone but Naruto could best Sasuke rn 

I keep joking that those eyes in the sky look like Tenzo but I’m right and I should say it

What a long, drawn-out and slightly suspicious backstory for Chino (looking at you, Fushin of two personality types)

“But now you’re still able to travel freely... and that is all because you have people who love and protect you” Team 7 cutaway with closeups of Sakura and Naruto, Narusasusaku game strong

“For the Leaf’s nourishment, your entire clan was absorbed by your village’s Roots” wow what a shitty time for such an excellent pun

Unbelievable kkhkjhfk and by this I mean completely believable:  

Chino: Please explain your change of heart re: village corruption

Sasuke: I got a boyfriend

Unbelievable x2:

Chino: KILL ME 

Sasuke: Consider this.... you have.... boy who is friend. Good enough

Chino: Wow Sasuke, you’re right

Lmao @ Kakashi proudly announcing that Sasuke is about to enter an unsanctioned jutsu fight in a bet to free enslaved people how did this letter go “Dear Hokage-dad-Kakashi, I am writing to inform you...”

Even funnier: If Tenzo wrote the letter bc Sasuke is shite at contacting people: “Dear Kakashi-senpai, Brace yourself to be worried and proud—”

“Are you Sasuke’s...” yes Chino, whatever the end of that sentence is, you’re correct

Huh I could’ve sworn at least a good chunk of these freed people go to the Leaf. I didn’t make that conversation up. I have discussed it many times!!! My poor Tenzo cut out for more logical story lines I guess 

Omggggggg the Raikage is telling Sasuke about Naruto’s most vulnerable Sasuke moment..... the love!!! Is this the only reason they invited A lmao

En Oyashiro joining Rasa and Hiashi in the Bad Dad Club

I’ve said this before but Naruto and Sakura going on a date to talk about Sasuke is the most legit representation for their relationship I’ve ever seen that’s it that’s what them dating would be like 

“You’re just like a one man police force” lol @ them cutting out the fact that Sakura said this bc Sakura’s not allowed to have individual connections to Sasuke and also just like....... how much Sasuke still wants to be a cop kjhgkjhgk baby stop

I’ve belatedly realized that Kakashi types to the beat of the intro music and it makes me giggle

“The adult world can be complicated” is that ur way of saying ‘nepotism’ Kakashi

“I’m startin’ to get a belly” “I don’t want to hear about all that” PLS

“You two are really the only ones who are special to me” aw Shikamaru

That slap was A  Lot, Temari, surely there are better ways to tell Shikamaru you want him to be your boyfriend

“You don’t really think that Sai has—” “Well, he is very innocent.” 

Kakashi about Sai: He’s the baby of the family

Sai: I’m the oldest and most experienced of all the youth???

Kakashi: I mark ur ages by when I got you xoxo ur legal age is 3

I’m not sure that that’s the intonation I expected for Hinoko but I guess that’s on me for stereotyping teen girls hahah

“That’s my ninja way” “Our ninja way” I feel like this is shinobi flirtation

The outro with Little Team 7 fading to Big Team 7... I have but one heart

Also the implication that they took a photo immediately post war jhgkjhgkj. Kakashi still has a barely healed stab wound and twenty years of trauma. Sasuke and Naruto both just lost an arm. Also who brought a camera to the battlefield. Who took this picture. (Tenzo waking up from a 224 episode coma: We gotta take a family photo)

“You might consider yourself a member of Team 7, but I wonder if they think the same of you” [Naruto voice] Believe it!!!!!!

“If we just kill the lookouts, it’ll be like easy to get past the checkpoint” okay calm down Soku

Lmao Shikamaru struggling to deal with rebellious teens jhghjkg why are the anime episodes I watch so fitting to my own life

Man not to get 2 real it’s fucked up that Soku fears peace wyd militarism 

I don’t really believe that Soku is deserting the village but it’s a good tactic

[Panning to the bird scene at the beginning of this arc] We call that foreshadowing

Komori’s judgement seems to be clouded by his lowkey crush on Soku

“I’ve just been having these really bizarre dreams lately” that’s PTSD Shikamaru

“Feudal lords are always [tyrants] no matter where you go” then why.... do you have.... feudalism.......... [Tobirama screams in the afterlife]

Not to judge these guys so much but like.... ur ANBU and a veteran ninja surely you should have a disguise after faking your death??????? Kakashi, Iruka, what shinobi standards are you teaching exactly?? U didn’t even change ur hairstyles???

“Something similar happened to me as well” what are you... are you talking about when you pretended to be asleep during the Chunin exams because that’s not the same thing as sleeping under a pile of corpses Shikamaru 

NOOOOOOOOOO SAI WHY ARE THEY HANGING MY ANGEL FROM A CRUCIFIX 

AHHHHHHH I don’t like seeing Sai like this, Kakashi’s right he’s a baby!!

“Let’s just say I’ve found the place where I belong” Fhdjskhfksjhf this is definitely Root Code for something because Kakashi uses this line on Tenzo in his Tsukuyomi dream

“Then why didn’t Naruto come to get me? You and I have never been particularly close, so why were you the one who came here?” LMAO SAI ‘you’re not on my list of eligible rescuers Shikamaru 😒😒😒😒’ 

“Fret not, to me this is but a trifle” said Ro, lying prostrate on the ground in between groans of pain (same)

I mean... Gengo makes some pretty compelling arguments abt the shinobi system

“The alliance of nations that the Leaf is currently a part of... is only going to maintain a dark, tenuous peace” I mean... Gengo’s right even if he is a dick

“Lord Hokage told me everything... and I had a hell of a time getting it out of him too” “I don’t want to know what you did... I don’t even want to imagine it” JHGKJHGKJHG I WANNA SEE TEMARI INTERROGATING A FORMER ANBU, KAGE-LEVEL NINJA I LOVE IT

Wait are these last twelve outros dedicated to each of the rookie teams + Team Guy bc that would be adorable

JHGJHGGHGJHG DO WE ACTUALLY GET TO SEE TEMARI YELL AT KAKASHI

Update from 3 seconds later: We don’t but Kakashi’s “Euh?” sound as she knocks down his door is still very funny

“Friendship is useless” “If that’s true, then why are you crying right now” he’s been taking Sasuke lessons in his spare time

“Do you know of a man named ‘Zabuza Momochi’” !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“These are my only friends” said Sai, about two giant cartoon lions 

Sai’s genjutsu scene was actually much sweeter in the book bc Naruto, Sakura, Kakashi and Yamato’s chakra were all protecting him inside his own mind but I don’t mind my boy getting a hug

HAHAHAHAHA WHAT IS THIS CUTAWAY TO NARUTO BATHED IN GOLDEN LIGHT ANNOUNCING “RAMEN” LIKE IT’S A WHOLE SENTENCE OKAY STUDIO PIERROT U NEED A BREAK I GET IT

“What in the hell was that?” that was also my question Shikamaru

Shikamaru with full conviction: To be lazy.... that is my dream 

Hahahaha it’s Ninja Teen Romance Hours I guess

“Oh, you don’t want to [go out on a date]?” No that’s not what I’m saying” [walks away] TEMARI PLS

“Going on a date without a strategy, would be like trying to fight a tailed beast unarmed” [Nodding] “You have zero chance of winning, that way” I suddenly understand Kakashi’s dating life a lot more

They really rely on you being aware of Naruto the Last huh gjkhgkjhgk there’s been no mention in any of this filler of Naruto and Hinata even being in a relationship to this point as far as I remember

Fhjkfhkjhfkfh poor Iruka none of the kids know he’s President of the Naruto’s Dad Society

“I know I’m supposed to be striving to get ahead in my career, but there’s also a part of me that really wants to just continue teaching kids, one on one” Irukaaaaa <3333333

Looool even as Hokage, Kakashi just drops out of nowhere to give cryptic life advice and then leaves

Smash the statue, Tsukune, don’t let the establishment tell u what to do!!

“Eating ramen everyday isn’t healthy you know” am I to believe that Kakashi, the man who told Naruto, ‘if you're going to be a ninja, you need to eat your vegetables’ is on a ramen-only diet?? Falsehoods

“And it’s all thanks to you Iruka” khjhgkjhgjhg alright.... you win this round KKIR shippers

WHO IS ANIMATING THIS SCENE IT IS BUCKWILD??? There is no character model to speak of, most of the kids don’t have noses, everyone’s upside down or spinning around, and Iruka is... hiding in a frog sign???

There is no English translation of this caption???? EXPLAIN JAPAN. TELL ME YOUR FROG SECRETS YOU KNOW I LOVE FROGS [INSERT PICTURE OF TENZO HERE]

(Update I looked it up in the sub and the caption offers no more insight. “IRUKA UMINO, AROUND 30 YEARS OLD. STEALTHILY”)

“This is for Hinata, so let’s all try our hardest” Kiba loves Hinata MOST

You know how if you pause in the middle of an animated action, you sometimes linger on an in-between image that looks goofy because it was meant to add to the motion rather than be focused on? This whole episode is animated like one of those images

It’s okay Lee the only dumbbell Naruto is fixated on is Sasuke Uchiha

I know don’t usually post so many images in these liveblogs, but I really need anyone reading this to see the Leaf Village’s semi-canonical Unofficial Mascot Konorin:

He is??? The love of my life???

“I don’t even have a boyfriend and train every day from morning til night” yes you do. His name is Neji Hyuga and he’s very alive and he’s a jonin sensei and he will buy you all the knives you want after he takes all of Hiashi’s money and redistributes it. In this essay I will—

You see what I mean??? Neji wants to be there for Tenten (and Lee)!!!

Tenten: What would Neji do if he were here now

Neji: [starts manifesting]

“It’s you since you’re a taijutsu specialist, but Naruto and Hinata aren’t” yes????? Hinata is???? She doesn’t use weapons but Gentle Fist is entirely taijutsu??? Why does everyone keep forgetting

KHKGJHKJHGKFHKJHFKJ I CAN’T GET OVER NEJI JUST. MANIFESTING ABOVE LEE’S BED TO GIVE HIM SHITTY WEDDING GIFT IDEAS 

“And don’t forget: Hyuga” Neji........ what.... does this mean!!!!!!!!

Why say “Neji” like that Orochimaru and in fact why say anything at all [Konan voice] I’m the Hokage now, the entire criminal justice system is on its way you are going to jail!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I really can’t believe that the Naruto writers looked at Tenzo’s role in Naruto SD and decided “let’s do that.... but worse” 

They animated?????????? A smaller Lee??????????? Into Lee’s mouth???????????? As if the animation style wasn’t enough. I need a minute

They are really going full Naruto SD huh??? Cut away skit like a ‘genjutsu’ scne. Lee and Guy playing a married couple and Tenten a baby. Neji in drag. This is a choice

“How can you misunderstand Neji so much” “Even if it’s only as a ghost, I’m sure that Neji would appear” I need. Several minutes

Fhjkhfkjfh Shikamaru’s vision of Gaara, Bee, Kakashi and Tsunade hanging out at this fancy restaurant. Is this who he thinks Kakashi’s social circle is these days (he might be right)

“Okay, I’ll hear you out!” Is this implication of this scene that Temari thinks Shikamaru’s idea of a first date is marriage... and she’s WILLING TO GO ALONG WITH THAT. TEMARI PLS

“Hey Ino, why would you go out of your way to make something I love? Bc she looooves you Sakura

“Sakura, I thought the same thing” GOD JUST GET MARRIED

“It’ll be too late once we go in, I could get all caught up in the mood or something like that” wait........ does Temari think Shikamaru wants to get married or fuck???? Or both??? OH MY GOD

Gaara: Naruto’s getting married.... without meeeeeeeeeee

God I love Gaara’s Blank Period hair it is truly careless and happy hair

“His ramen’s extravagent?” JKGHKHKJH everyone in the Leaf Village trying to convince Gaara that Naruto’s taste is incredibly obnoxious which is true but not in the way being described 

Kankuro what’s your damage let Gaara buy a nice and personal present for the love of his life 

Every time I think this arc can’t get more ridiculous it exceeds my expectations:

[Vaguely horrified accompanying dialogue: “The Raikage—” “—Will do the Hidden Cloud Dance?”]

“Well then, Gaara is just going to have to do the Hidden Sand Samba” Ah. Of course. The Hidden Sand Samba. Why didn’t anyone think of this plan before

Gaara is blushing because his new dream is just to samba dance with Naruto into the night

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh Teuchi giving Naruto an “all you can eat forever” coupon that’s cute our sweet boy is so loved 

Gaara: My wedding gift to you, Naruto... is me :)

“I’m just disappointed that we aren’t going to get to see you dance, Gaara” you know what that’s fair Kankuro me too 

Hahahaha Shino dissing Kiba’s plight for becoming Hokage to these random kids

I can’t pay attention to anything this ninja cat is saying because they’ve got Naruto’s voice and it is very distracting

There’s something to be curious about how it would be if Kiba married into a family that has a contract with the Uchiha lmao

Literally the girl who Kiba is supposed to be in love with is given Hinata’s voice #kibahinarights

“Oh, just take it. Money means nothing to me” the Beekeeper is truly one of the strangest characters in the Naruto universe just conceptually. Why are they wearing a giant bee stinger on their butt?

LMAO @ Kiba having absolutely no self-doubt whatsoever. Goals!!

Shino becoming a teacher after the war is actually one of the post-699 futures I like, good for him!

Iruka sweet man Naruto has compared you to a father like 1500 times have you not overheard him one (1) time

Kakashi is such a dumb stubborn bitch trying to find a way for Naruto to have a happy wedding... I love him

“This is my fault, I never taught him how to treat women! Not that I even really know about that kind of thing of course” Iruka Umino confirmed canonically gay

“I just have to bow my head a little” KKIR: 2; Me: 0

I love this tradition of Hokage boys bowing their heads for cooperation between villages yesssssssssssss

Outro for the whole OG Team 7.... I’m fine everything’s fine I’m good cool cool cool cool cool

The implication that they just sell Kakashi wigs in the village... amazing

I know this is about to be an emotionally poignant moment but what Naruto’s presence is reminding is that the only word he has said in the past 6 episodes is “ramen” LMAO

“I’m going to have to apologize to her for raising you as a such a thoughtless, inconsiderate man” raising you... RAISING YOU..................... TRULY PRESIDENT OF THE NARUTO’S DAD SOCIETY GOD BLESS IRUKA UMINO

LOOK AT THIS CRYBABY NINJA THIS IS WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT ONE OF MY FAVOURITE PARTS OF KONOHA HIDEN WAS HOW IRUKA KEPT BURSTING INTO TEARS OVER NARUTO EVERY OTHER MINUTE THIS IS WHAT BONDS LOOK LIKE

God..................... the Team 7 lover in me just despairs of this final episode bc they’re all separated and also Tenzo needs justice 4 being Kakashi’s co-wedding planner it’s in the book I read it!!!!

I will set aside my feelings to recognize that Kakashi looks very handsome

Goodbye Naruto you were certainly an experience and I mean that in every possible intonation 

[godaime-obito]

This is my fill for @kakaobiweek2019 day 3: ANBU; the anbu part featured less than originally intended. It got a bit off track and I barely restrained myself from getting even more carried away lol. It’s on ao3 and under the cut!

It’s been raining for a full week. He’s been traveling along the edges of Ame for almost that whole time and he’s sick of it. Kakashi just wants to get back to the Land of Fire and forget this mission even happened. These Anbu missions have been really wearing him down lately.

Rin has been trying to get him to leave ANBU practically since Minato-Sensei first had him join. After a decade of it he might finally listen to her. Then at least he won’t have so many missions where he can’t even get out Icha Icha for all the book-ruining rain. Hopefully.

He’s jolted from his musings when he realizes there’s an unidentified group heading towards them. This could add days to the trip. Great. He pulls back and signals for his squad to keep a Catious distance. The approaching group of nin only has three members. They seem like Ame nin. At least their headbands say they are, and this close to the boarder it would make sense. They must be returning from a mission. His squad isn’t in the area for anything to do with Ame, so it’s best that they avoid being noticed and alter their route.

He’s just about to give the signal to do just that when he notices something strange about one of the nin. There’s a patch covering his left eye, not particularly odd by itself, but he also has copious scaring down the right side of his face and when he comes into focus his features look familiar. No left eye, scaring on the right, and those familiar Uchiha-like features.

No. That’s ridiculous. It can’t be. But... it looks just like what Obito would look like. Kakashi’s spent a lot of tome imaging it, the could’ve beens, would’ve beens, had he survived, and this man is almost exactly as he’s always pictured him. Except not wearing any orange.

Kakashi can’t resist the urge to investigate. He signals for his men to silently move in on the Ame nin. The mission is taking a short information gathering detour but he’s sure Minato-Sensei will understand that he just had to be certain. It would haunt him otherwise.

His squad follows the trio into Ame, and after a few hours of shadowing them Kakashi decides to risk uncovering his Sharingan. He can’t get close enough without risking being seen to hear them, but with it he can read their lips.

The three don’t talk much, mostly communicating in gestures and what must be Ame’s own hand sign system. But they do talk some. So far, he’s been able to glean that they were in Kiri for something big, and that the man who looks like Obito is likely the squad leader.

He's reaching then end of how long and far he can safely trail them for when he sees it. One of the nin refers to the squad leader as Obito. There’s no way that’s a coincidence. He has to find out what’s going on. He instructs the squad to head back to Konoha. He’s going to report back to the hokage and let Minato-sensei know about Obito. They need to pull something together and find out who that Amen in really is. If he’s Obito.

Yahiko greets the squad personally upon their return from their diplomatic mission in Kiri. Obito is glad the headman has time for them, because he has a lot to say. Not only about the mission, but about the way back. They were being trailed part of the way back. He could see something in the distance when he risked checking with his sharingan and he had a strange feeling from the moment they hit the boarder. A bit of strange double vision too, like he was looking at himself from a distance.

When he finally heads home from the debriefing he feels better, but not by much. Yahiko didn’t seem too concerned about the trail and the double vision. He just gave the same old reminder to steer clear of Konoha nin and said that he would have Konan and Nagato look into it. Obito feels a bit like they’re keeping something from him.

He strips his armor and flops onto his bed as soon as he gets back. He’s tired from the travel and he needs to think. What could they be hiding? Who would follow him? What is the issue with Konoha? Some of those questions have more obvious answers. He reflects on the very first memory he can access. He’s in the medical bay of Ame’s main tower. He has a headwound. Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan are there. They tell him they rescued him from a man in a cave. He’s an Uchiha, from Konoha, but the man was an ally of some awful man named Danzo. He’s in Konoha, so it isn’t safe to just go back. They think the man in the cave called him Obito.

Obito believed them when he first woke up and he’s settled into to Ame since then, but he wonders. He’s looked into Danzo and he does seem bad, but he can’t find the supposed cave and they won’t elaborate. Obito would like to contact the Uchiha, or an Uchiha, just to see if any of them know anything about him, but the trio insists he shouldn’t. To be honest he doesn’t feel any particular draw to the Uchiha anyway, but he does feel one for Konoha in general. There’s something there he needs to go back for, but that leads into the Konoha issue. Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan all hate it. They’ve been happy to elaborate on that. He’s a bit scared at this point to try to sneak around there on his own.

He’s not sure he can put up with living like this much longer. No idea who he really is or where he came from, but too cautious to go check. Obito throws a pillow in frustration and stops off to finally shower the grime of travel off. Maybe in the morning he’ll feel better, or even suddenly remember everything… he can hope, can’t he? Trauma induced amnesia sucks.

“Are you sure?” Minato asks.

“I can’t say I’m 100% sure it was Obito,” Kakashi replies, “but I can say I’m 100% sure I saw an Ame nin that looked like him, was scared and missing an eye like he would be, and was called Obito.”

“Okay,” he sighs, “then you’re sure. I want to look into this, but…”

“But,” Kakashi echoes.

“We don’t have the best relationship with Ame right now,” he grimaced, “So there’s no good, simple way to check.”

“Is there ever?”

“Usually, no,” he admits. “If I send a team do you want to be a part of it? It may not be best, considering how close you are to the issue,” Minato warns.

“You know I have to,” Kakashi says, “Besides, you need to send someone who knew him to be sure, and the only other choice for that is Rin. She wouldn’t be any less compromised and you’d have to tell more people to do it.”

“Always so prepared to defend your bad decisions with logic. I might be convinced if I didn’t know how full of it you are,” he snorts, “but if I don’t send you you’ll probably just cause more problems.”

“Harsh,” he complains.

“I’ll send you out with a squad to investigate things, but only,” he stresses, “after information gathering has been done. I’ll have it looked into, so don’t get impatient.”

“Fine,” Kakashi concedes, “Let me know as soon as you find anything.”

Obito is being followed again. Admittedly it’s been months since he was followed when returning to Ame, but considering this is the first time he’s left the country since then… it’s suspicious. His mokuton can feel them in the nearby trees, otherwise he may not have noticed. They’re good, whoever they are.

He slows his pace as subtly as he can. When the gap between him and his tail narrows he begins to reach out with mokuton. The vines elongate and creep towards them slowly, then when they’re within reach, snap out with great speed. Startled shouts call out as the chakra infused vines restrain the squad and pull them up into the treetops feet first. Obito approaches them carefully. He’s on a solo mission this time, with no backup confronting an entire squad is risky, even if they’re caught in his vines.

One of the men seems particularly familiar. He calls the vines encasing him back down, lowering the man down to him. In one swift movement, he yanks the vines that have wrapped over the lower portion of his face away.

“Who are you and why are you following me?” Obito hisses.

“Do you not remember me?” he asks.

“Remember you? From when you were following me earlier this year?”

“No, from before then. When we were genin. It’s me, Kakashi,” he says. There’s a quite undertone of desperation in his voice, and he’s staring at Obito like he can will him to recall.

“It doesn’t ring any bells, but I don’t particularly remember being a genin at all,” he confesses. “Why, specifically, are you following me?” he adds.

“That is why,” Kakashi says, “because I know you. Because you’ve been missing. Because I thought you were dead. Have you been in Ame the whole time?”

“Ummmm,” he hesitates. Obito isn’t sure how to respond to something like this. “Maybe? Supposedly they found me in a cave. No idea how long I was there,” he offers.

The blood is probably rushing to the Konoha nins’ heads pretty badly by now. He shifts the vines so they’re being held upright. Kakashi seems unsettled by the process.

“Are you doing that? How long have you had mokuton?” he asks.

“I don’t know. Had it when I woke up, for all I know I’ve always had it,” Obito says with a shrug.

“You definitely haven’t always had it. What happened to you in that cave?” Kakashi says quietly. He sounds frustrated, angry at something, Obito doesn’t know what though. It doesn’t seem like Kakashi really knows either. “Come back to Konoha, Obito. We could go to places you’ve been, talk to the Yamanaka. You may be able to remember,” he suggests.

“Just go to Konoha? Yeah, right,” Obito snorts. “I’m going to go back to what I was doing and when I’m a certain distance away the vines will drop you, and then you will all go back where you came from without me,” he instructs, “I don’t know you, so scram.”

He turns on his heal and shunshins away. This just gets weirder and weirder. Obito is curious about Kakashi, about Konoha, but… he doesn’t trust it. Logically, he’s an Uchiha, he must be from there. Some Konoha nin must know him. He can’t help but think about how he was found in a cave, with no allies around. Where was Konoha then? Where have they been all this time? Maybe he doesn’t want to confront it because he feels abandoned by them. Left a drift. Part of Ame but not. His mokuton andsharingan, so intrinsically Konoha. What if he goes to Konoha and doesn’t like it? What if they leave him alone somewhere again?

Obito heads straight back to Yahiko’s office when he finishes his mission. It doesn’t require an in person debrief, but he needs to talk to him about Kakashi. He comes in through the window, without waiting to schedule a proper appointment or go through the normal security.

“Yahiko-sama,” he greets cheerfully, “Please explain some things to me.”

“Obito,” Yahiko replies, standing up from his desk, “What is it? I wasn’t expecting you in today.”

“I ran into some Konoha nin, and had an interesting talk with some Kakashi,” he answers, “I think he may even have been the infamous copynin!”

“Is that so,” he prods, “Why? What did he say?”

“Because he’d been following me, and he mainly seemed enthusiastic just to see me. I wonder why?” Obito says with mocking confusion.

“You’re upset. The encounter unsettled you,” Yahiko states the obvious, “Did he claim to know you?”

Obito nods sharply in response. “I know you’re worried about Danzo and that the situation you found me in was strange, but is it really necessary for me not to go to Konoha at all?” he questions with frustration.

Yahiko looks at him with sympathy; resting a hand on his shoulder and squeezes reassuringly. “I understand that you want to remember, but I say this as both your headman and as someone who cares about you: You most likely did know that man. It doesn’t matter. Do not go back to Konoha. It is a pit of vipers,” he insists.

“Okay,” Obito says with another sharp nod, “I understand, It’s just…” He sighs. “Frustrating, I guess.” He leaves the office to write his official report somberly, and far from done thinking about the encounter.

He manages to lay low for exactly one week before he decides to just fuck it. Obito is going to Konoha. Of course, is he’s too obvious about it they’ll probably try to stop him so he needs to be stealthy about it. That is perhaps not his strangest suit. He’s more of an ‘run in really fast, tear stuff apart, book it out of there really fast’ kind of guy. He takes a mission near the edge of the Land of Fire and then detours. By the time they realize he’s late on getting back he should be back where he’s supposed to be, finishing the actual mission.

The gate is much easier to sneak past than he thought the gate to a major village would be. A bit of genjutsu and he’s through with no problem. Obito suddenly realizes he may not have planned this out as much as he should have. Where is he and where is he planning on going? Maybe if he just walks around he’ll find that Kakashi guy? He might stick out. An unfamiliar face with a lot of scars, but it’s a big village with a lot people. If he stays in crowded areas he may still blend in.

Obito catches sight of something familiar in the corner of his eye. Pushing through the crowded dirt street he moves closer to it. A fan symbol on a wall. This must be the edge of the Uchiha compound. It’s familiar, yet not, like there’s something just out of his reach. The same feeling of forgetting the word you were going to use, knowing it’s on the tip of your tongue, that you should know this, but coming up blank.  He considers going it to the compound, wondering in search of where he must have lived in the hopes that will trigger a memory. Not even Obito’s that reckless though, he’d definitely be noticed wandering around in a closed of compound.

He turns abruptly the other way and storms off in frustration. Where is the academy? Surely, he went there if he was a Konoha nin; maybe it will help. Obito moves along with the crowd down the main street. There’s a reman stand that seems familiar. Smell is supposed to be most closely tied to memory. If he used to eat there the smell may jog something and besides, he’s hungry.

Maybe the part about his memory is just an excuse to have ramen. Who could resist a steaming bowl of pork ramen? He should try to remember at the dango shop he passed earlier next. Half way through his bowl he turns left to speak and… there’s no one there? He isn’t sure who he expected to see, but there’s an impression of red in his memory. A woman’s hair, a loud voice, sitting here with him. There’s other people there, but when he tries to focus on any of their faces the memory goes fuzzy. Just out of reach again.

He returns to the walking the street after words. Coming so close and still getting basically nothing is awful and frustrating. This trip hardly seems worth it. Obito’s half-stomping as he passes close to the hospital. A woman with purple marks across her cheeks immerges from the hospital and joins the tide of people.

Obito can’t move. People press around him as he stands in the middle of the street. He knows her. She is far out of sight already but he can still see her in his mind. He remembers… he remembers, something, being a child. The images are vague, but the feelings are clear and she was there. She must have been. He’s supposed to be here, in Konoha, isn’t he?

He tenses with a jolt as a hand grabs his shoulder, pulling him from his commiserating. Obito turns his head just enough to look over his shoulder. It looks like he doesn’t need to worry about tracking down Kakashi, because he’s found Obito.

“Kakashi,” he says, “I was actually hoping to talk to you!” He attempts to smile but is certain from the look he’s given that he’s failed.

“Maa,” Kakashi drawls, “That’s good because I’ve been hoping to talk to you a long time.”

“Right,” Obito quips, “Why don’t we go somewhere less crowded first? I’d offer my place, but I don’t know where it is and I don’t think I have one anymore either way.”

Kakashi looks forlorn or at least the one eye of his does. “Come on,” he directs, “My place is this way.” He shits his hand from Obito’s shoulder to his back and guides him through the streets. Compared to Ame, with its bad weather and lower population, this place is ridiculously full.

Kakashi apparently lives in an apartment. This doesn’t feel quite right. Obito’s brows scrunch in bewildered consideration. “Did you live in a house, farther away from the main drag?” he wonders.

“A long time ago,” Kakashi says tersely. “Do you remember it?” he adds hopefully.

“Not really,” Obito sighs,’ “It was just a feeling.”

“A feeling is better than nothing. Have you had any other ‘feelings’ while poking around?”

“I was at a ramen stand, Ichiraku’s, and I thought I remembered a redhead? And then at the hospital I saw a woman I definitely knew.”

“You saw Rin?” Kakashi guesses.

“Yeah, but she was so old,” Obito says without thinking, “or it must have been, I didn’t think I remembered her name. She had purple markings on her cheeks.”

“It was her then,” he replies, “and she’s only as old as we are. You just haven’t seen her in years.”

“Of course. Silly me.” They’re just standing in the entrance of Kakashi’s apartment. It’s a bit awkward, but Kakashi doesn’t seem like he plans to move them farther in.

“Since you seem to think you know me so well,” Obito ventures, “then what’s my favorite food?”

“Dango.”

“Lucky guess,” he says flatly. He may as well skip ahead to the important questions. “How about you tell me how I ended up alone in that cave?”

“There’s been a war going on, it likely still was going on when they found you,” he starts, “We were on a sabotage mission, Rin and you and me.” Kakashi halts, weighed down by the memories. “It was supposed to simple albeit classified, but Iwa nin discovered us,” he continues, “Rin was captured and you went after her. I went after you, and in the end your right side was crushes by a cave in helping me. Saving me. We all were sure you were dying. That’s when the eye thing happened.”

Kakashi gestures at his covered eye as he finishes speaking. Obito knows there’s a sharingan there, it is in the bingo book, but he’d never considered where he’d gotten it from. Never connected it to his own missing left eye. There are plenty of Uchiha in Konoha; it could have come from any of them.

“Is that my eye?” he asks, “I gave it to you. I did. I think I remember…” He knows, logically, that a dōjutsu user giving someone an eye must be big, but he also feels it. It’s overwhelming; the memory of dying, of wanting Kakashi to remember him, wanting to still help his team somehow. How good it felt when Kakashi came after him, like he finally cared about Obito, noticed him. “I do. I remember that. I remember Kanabi Bridge,” he chokes out.

There’s a hand on his scarred cheek. “Still a crybaby,” Kakashi accuses lightly, “even after all these years away.” He wipes away Obito’s tears with his hand. He hadn’t realized he’d begun crying till Kakashi touched them.

“Bakashi,” he huffs, but there’s no heat in it. He hasn’t remembered everything, but even just one mission is a start. Is something. Maybe coming to Konoha was worth it after all. “The redhead woman, she likes ramen…K…”

“Kushina,” he offers.

“Yes,” Obito brightens, “That’s it! Where is she?”

“Probably with our old sensei, the current hokage,” Kakashi answers, “Minato-sensei and Kushina got married right after the war ended.” They’re probably at home right now.” He pauses, then seems to have a realization. Perking up he continues, “We should go see them. Let the hokage know you’re here and check in with people you knew all at once.”

“The hokage? I don’t know…” Obito wavers. Yahiko - or, well, Konan - will be upset enough with him for doing this much.

“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this,” Obito complains. He glares at the door to an unassuming home.

“Just come in,” Kakashi insists, “you won’t regret it, I swear.”

“I owe me for this.”

“Fine,” he concedes, “just come on. We’ve been standing here five minutes. They’ve definitely noticed we’re here anyway.”

“Probably,” Obito admits reluctantly. His life has just been a series of one bad poorly thought out decision after another anyway, he might as well just do it. “Let’s go!” He shoves past Kakashi and flings the door open with artificial eagerness.

He barely makes it a meter in before he’s tackled under a sudden ambush. His vision is blocked by red hair going everywhere as they collapse on the floor.

“Kushina!” a man yells, “I told you to take it easy while we reintroduced ourselves.” The hokage hovers in the background worriedly. Despite his reprimand he doesn’t move to pull her back.

“He’s a decade late,” she says, “This is taking it easy.” She jerks her head to glare at Obito in a one-eighty from her enthusiastic greeting. “Where have you been? We had an entire child while you were gone, that’s how long it’s been!”

He glances at Kakashi desperately, hoping for some help. He just continues to stand silently and gives him a one of his eye-crinkling grins. Useless troll. “I got trapped in a cave and waylaid in Ame, and just, lost on the road of life I guess,” Obito says sheepishly. “A child?”

“Naruto,” she replies, “he’s almost eight. Pretty boy may not always be the brightest-”

“Hey!”

“- but he helped make a really cute kid. You’ll love him,” she insists.

“Minato-sensei must be smart about something if he’s hokage,” Obito feels the urge to defend.

“Yeah,” Kushina drawls, “but that stuff is rarely the stuff that matters.”

“Touché. Is Naruto here?”

“Nah,” she says, “he’s over at a friend’s.” Kushina decides to let him go then, standing back up and off of him. Obito pushes himself back up as well, and Minato guides them all into the dining room to sit down. Now that Obito’s paying attention he’s wearing a pink apron. Was he cooking?

“Obito, I am overjoyed to see you well,” Minto assures him. “However, I do have questions about Ame and about your plans. I hope you’ll be returning to Konoha,” he adds.

“Ah,” Obito wavers for a moment, before recalling his realization that his life was already a disaster of bad choices anyway. Maybe if he goes against his instincts he’ll make a good choice for once. “Yeah, I’ll stay.” Sorry Yahiko, Nagato, and scary Konan.

Obito and Kushina hit the ground in a great thump for a second time.

Kakashi and Obito are at the dango shop he’d been eyeing his first day back in Konoha. Apparently, it was his favorite as a kid.

“How is your memory?” Kakashi asks, “Has being in your old house or hanging out with Rin helped any?”

“Some,” Obito sighs, “About as much as hanging out with you.” He nibbles on his dango forlornly.

“I’m sure your first appointment with the Yamanaka this weekend will help,” he offers.

“I hope so,” he replies, “It’s just frustrating.” Obito stabs his second, empty, skewer into the table.

“Let’s not get all damaging-public-property-angsty-”

“You’re one to talk about angst,” he huffs.

“-I promise I’ll help you settle in. Do whatever I can to help your memory. I’m sure you’ll be given some mental exercises or something at your appointment,” Kakashi continues without pausing.

“How sweet. Keep getting gooey on me and I might think these outings you keep taking me on are dates,” Obito says.

Kakashi stares at him blankly. “They are.”

“What.”

“They are dates. Why do you think I keep holding you hand?” he wonders.

“I thought you were trying to keep me from getting lost!” Obito defends. He rapidly starts going red; has he been going on dates with Kakashi all week and was to dense to notice? “Are you fucking with me?” he asks.

“No Obito,” Kakashi sighs, “I am happy you are back. You mean a lot to me. I wanted to take you out. I thought it had been going well. Apparently not, because you hadn’t even noticed.”

“Wait a second,” he says, “Just because I hadn’t noticed yet doesn’t mean it wasn’t going well.”

“Is that so? No need to humor me.”

“I’m not humoring you,” he insists, “I like you.” Kakashi hums disbelievingly. “Do you need convinced this is a date now?” Obito adds. He can do that. He’ll prove it right now.

He yanks Kakashi forward and slips down his mask, smashing their lips together with more force than strictly necessary.

“Maa,” Kakashi says when they finally pull apart, “Well, I suppose I can’t argue with that.” He yanks his mask back up. Despite having it down for what felt like a long time it seems no one looked their way the entire time it was off.

“Wait,” Obito says slowly, “were you baiting me?”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“You were. You just wanted me to kiss you.”

“Certainly not.”

Despite the wide range of dumb and/or risky decisions Obito has made this month, he’s pretty sure getting fooled by a trick like that is the dumbest. He can’t believe he likes this troll. He’s going to be stuck with him forever, isn’t he? What a real welcome back to Konoha.

[raendown]

@letliv3 You will take it and you will like it because this is your fault.

Pairing: MadaraKakashi Word count: 3745 Summary: In which Obito helped found the village, Madara was a member of Team Minato, and Kakashi gets lost down a few different paths in his life.

Follow the link or read it under the cut!

KO-FI in the blog header!

Building Our Own

Kakashi was pretty sure he didn’t like Madara. Pretty sure. There were times when it was really difficult to stay inside his shell and hate the world because watching Madara – barely taller than himself yet filled with enough attitude for the whole village – face off against the taller, brighter, unsuspecting Minato-sensei was always the highlight of his week. Knowing the two of them had so much in common did not mean Kakashi wanted to make friends with the other boy. He didn’t need friends to become the greatest ninja this world had ever seen and restore his family’s honor.

Anyway that Gai idiot followed him around too much already. His non-existent friend quota had been filled, thank you very much.

It was still kind of hard to ignore Madara. The boy refused to not be seen but he wasn’t obnoxious about it. There was just something magnetic about his competence even at such a young age, the confidence in every move he made, even the spiky stupid mess of his hair. Most of the Uchiha that Kakashi met had beautiful smooth hair but Madara seemed to have skipped that gene; his hair stuck straight out from his head in stiff spikes reminiscent of Kakashi’s own locks. Yet another thing they had in common and could have commiserated about together – if he had time for stupid things like friendship. Which he did not.

Much to their sensei’s despair, Madara didn’t seem all that upset that one of his teammates refused to bond with him. The majority of his concentration went to edging a few words about his precious baby brother in to every single conversation ever. None of them had ever met Izuna but after less than a month of being a team they all could have probably picked him out of a crowd and recited at least ten different points of trivia about him off the tops of their heads.

And that right there was the one thing that truly set them apart, the one bit that stopped Kakashi from allowing himself to at least like the boy, even if only from afar. Where Kakashi had lost everyone he ever loved Madara still had someone, even if it was just a useless little brother. He still had someone to care about, someone precious, and besides that he had a clan that treated him like absolute royalty. Apparently Madara was a direct descendant of the great Uchiha Obito, founder of their village and betrayer of the Shodaime Hokage. Kakashi didn’t really see why he got to be venerated for being related to a traitor when others were shunned for the same thing but the one time he had tried to question it Minato-sensei had hushed him and Kakashi felt his heart grow a little bit smaller.

So Kakashi stayed small and quiet and spent the hours he wasn’t training with his team training in private instead. He would grow bigger, stronger, and someday he would be the one to show Madara his back. He would be the one that others watched from afar.

He would restore the honor his father had lost. Only then would his life be worth something.

-

“Your father’s honor is not your own.”

Madara’s words left him reeling, adrift and unsteady where he had always felt solid logic underneath his feet. Kakashi waited for the world to stop spinning before baring his teeth behind the mask that hid them.

“What would you know about it?” he snarled. Madara scoffed.

“I’m descended from the biggest traitor this village has ever seen but does my clan care about that? No. They care that I inherited his strength. Haven’t you ever heard the phrase ‘innocent until proven guilty’ before?”

“At least you have a clan! Don’t talk like you know me!”

“Of course I know you, dumb ass.” Everything Madara said was always said with confidence, as though it was an absolute immutable truth. It made refuting him very difficult sometimes because the way he spoke made Kakashi want to believe.

He resisted because clearly no one else should have a say in his situation not when they weren’t the ones living it.

“I will restore my father’s honor!” he began. He got no farther in to his rant before Madara rolled his eyes and interrupted.

“There’s nothing to restore, he’s dead. We build our own honor. And you have plenty of that even if you’re an asshole. Take the stick out of your ass and wake up. You’re Kakashi, not Sakumo. You can’t fix his mistake any more than I can. He didn’t even make one!”

“He – what?”

Kakashi sat, stunned, and listened to the entire fifteen minutes of Madara’s rant about how true dishonor was in abandoning your comrades and how the entire concept of their village itself had been founded on the desire to protect one’s comrades. Apparently the history books left out quite a bit of information about Uchiha Obito’s life before he abandoned Konoha; Kakashi never knew it was him that had named their fledgling settlement or him that had come up with the idea in the first place as a way to protect his own precious ones.

All through the boy’s impassioned speech he remained silent, soaking in every word like a message from on high, and when Madara finally stopped to pant angrily, kicking at a nearby tree stump, he cleared his throat with more awkwardness than should have fit in to his twelve year old body.

“We should find Rin,” he murmured. It was the best he could do for an apology. Madara narrowed his eyes, probably trying to determine whether or not he meant that, then nodded decisively.

“Good to see you got your head out of your ass. Damn right we go find her. No more of this ‘the mission is more important’ bullshit, alright?”

“Yeah…”

“So what are we waiting for? Aren’t you supposed to be mission leader? Lead on, jōnin-taichou!”

Amazed that his teammate still trusted him to do so when he had only just a few minutes ago suggested abandoning Rin to her fate, Kakashi nodded and closed his eyes to think. “My summons will be able to follow her trail more easily than we can.”

Kannabi Bridge went on to become the mission famous as a long-awaited turning point in the war, the incident that finally gave them a clear advantage to end things in Konoha’s favor. For the ones who carried it out, however, it was memorable for a different reason. The mission to Kannabi Bridge was the day they finally – finally – became a true unit, the day Madara brushed that chip off of Kakashi’s shoulder and offered the hand of friendship instead.

It also became the day Kakashi would look back on and realize he was completely and utterly screwed.

Of course he would fall in love with his best friend. Of fucking course.

-

ANBU suited him a little bit too well but that was fine. Everything was fine as long as he had Madara there with him, eagle mask covering his face and endless black hair spilling around it like a cloud of death. He wondered why they bothered with the masks sometimes. Both of them were entirely too identifiable by their hair alone so really all the masks did was add a bit of extra dramatic flair.

Shaking his head, Kakashi forced his attention back to the task at hand, pushing just a little more speed out of his tired legs. The two of them had run countless missions together since becoming true comrades, both in the name of Team Minato and as the perfectly matched pair they were now in ANBU, but never had they run a mission this important before. It was only the second time Rin had been captured and already it was starting to feel like a pattern. He wondered which idiot had been the one to decide this time that she was the weak link in their band of comrades. Rin was many things but she was not weak.

As evidenced by the carnage that came in to view when they finally found her. More than half of the bodies that lay dead around her were decorated with perfectly normal wounds, their flesh opened by blades and the extra clean sort of cut that could only come from her weaponized medical jutsu. The rest had been mauled as though by a hungry beast – and a beast she looked, right then.

Her pretty brown eyes glowing red and her entire body bubbling with a sickly green cloak of pure poisonous chakra, it was hard to tell whether or not she recognized them at first. A low growl rumbled across the space between them and the two young men shared a look before hastily removing their masks.

“It’s fine now,” Madara attempted a soothing voice. “They’re dead.”

“Don’t,” she warning when he tried to take a step towards her.

“It’s just me, it’s just Madara.”

“Shut up! I know who you are, dummy!” The growl in her words cracked and hiked to a whine that Kakashi recognized all too well. He’d raised eight dogs on his own; he knew what a wounded animal sounded like. “I can’t go back with you. Not like this.”

Unfortunately neither of them had been born with an ounce of tact. Kakashi snorted. “Can and will. Haven’t you heard the rumors, Rin-chan? We’ve had a beast living with us the whole time and I’ve never seen Kushina-nee bite anyone’s head off yet. Well, not literally. She’s scary but she’s not out for blood no matter what the monster trapped inside her wants. She can help you.”

It was a terrible thing to see in a friend, that broken light of hope too small to be believed in. Kakashi inched forward, saddened when she flinched away but determined to reach her, and when her bubbling chakra burned his skin he refused to show any sign of pain.

“Come home. If we can survive Madara for this long then we can survive you. He’s more of an animal than anyone.”

His friend’s offended screech broke the tension and Rin’s startled laugh was a balm on all their souls, just enough of a positive emotion to push the beast in her belly down. The effort left her exhausted but Kakashi caught her and Madara took point to protect them both as they turned for home, wearing a pout still but it was a very cute pout so Kakashi only teased him a little bit. It was good to be together.

-

“That’s a big fox.”

“Your observations are as astute as ever,” Madara’s voice drawled from behind his shoulder.

“We have to fight that big fox? He’s just a big scary dog. I don’t wanna hit a dog, Dara-chan!”

“Stop calling me that!”

Kakashi smiled briefly to see Madara stomp one foot. Fifteen years old and he still hadn’t grown out of the habit. Then he turned his eyes back to the carnage in front of them when Rin touched down at his other side.

“Isobu says that Kurama isn’t acting like himself,” she reported. “Something must be controlling him.”

“Right. Let’s found out who, shall we?” Kakashi narrowed his eyes, all traces of amusement gone from their little trio of death as they all pushed off the Hokage monument they had been perched on to make their assessment. Team Minato, as they still sometimes thought of themselves, were not the first line of defense in any fight. They were the ones who ended the fight.

When they found the man controlling the Kyuubi he was much older than they might have guessed – ancient, in fact. The fact that he could still move the way he did seemed to be due to the fact that one entire half of his body had been reconstructed with an unidentified white substance that reformed and reattached itself when injured, healing faster than they could hurt him. And that wasn’t even the part that made the fight difficult. No, that was the fully formed Sharingan in his one good eye, an abomination that enraged Madara.

It took all three of them to bring him down, one unit moving perfectly in sync. It took Isobu and Susano’o and eight dog summons. It took everything they had but in the end Uchiha Obito lay ancient and exposed at their feet, screaming his impotent rage and crying out revenge against a man who had never truly wronged him.

“Senju Hashirama is dead,” Kakashi muttered in exhaustion, kicking away a severed limb still trying to crawl back to its host. “You should be too. Hold still and let me fix that.”

“He abandoned me! He will pay! The world will pay! I will have what I am owed! The perfect world, don’t you see? We could all live in the perfect world!”

“Something tells me your perfect world would not be like mine.” With his blade raised Kakashi shook his head in pity. “The world owes you nothing. Those who go back on their word like he did are trash, that’s true. But those who abandon their comrades? People like you who break bonds, you’re nothing but scum. Goodnight, Uchiha Obito, I hope you find rest.”

“Poetic,” Madara noted, watching as Kakashi impassively drew a blade through their defeated enemy’s throat.

“Maa, I didn’t mean to be.”

Rin groaned and sat down on the bloody grass. Then she fell over backwards with a sigh of relief. “Well that wasn’t what I wanted to do with my Tuesday,” she said.

“Any chance one of you can sense how Minato-sensei is doing with the Kyuubi? I’m fresh out of chakra.” Very gently, slowly so as not to jostle his sore body, Kakashi lowered himself down to join Rin. Madara snorted at them both.

“Your reserves are pathetic,” he pointed out. “The Kyuubi’s chakra has been split but I can still feel Kushina-nee. It would seem sensei was able to seal the beast in to two places at once. Very interesting.”

Both of the two on the ground made soft noises of curious agreement but investigating would have to wait. Just knowing their precious ones were alive was enough for now. Everything else could be left until after they had recovered the feeling in all of their limbs, possibly until after they had slept for a week. They had gone head to head with a legend today, after all. That definitely deserved a nap.

Madara wandered over to perch next to Kakashi, brushing something out of his hair without seeming to realize he was doing so. As much as he didn’t seem to want to admit it he was just as tired as the other two. Kakashi held his breath and allowed gloved fingers to trace the shape of his jaw.

“You took a lot of stupid chances today,” his friend murmured. Kakashi nodded.

“So did you.”

“Hn. Dumb ass.” His piece spoken, Madara’s eyes rolled back in his head and his body gave in to the exhaustion he’d been trying not to show. Unfortunately when he passed out he flopped down across the other two, who both grunted in surprise and then wriggled in dismay to find themselves trapped, lacking the energy to roll the idiot off of them.

Rin was the first to give up, flopping back down to the grass with a sigh. “You know for a second there I thought he was going to lean down and kiss you.”

Then she laughed as best she could at the redness of Kakashi’s face and the disconnected syllables gurgling out from behind his mask.

-

Twenty years old was a terrible age all of his friends were at least one year older. Twenty years old meant that all of his friends could drink while they oversaw the chūnin exams here in Suna but all he could do was sip soda and watch. What was the point of such a high drinking age anyway? And who had ever heard of a shinobi being denied a drink? He’s been getting served back home since he reached jōnin at the age of twelve.

Actually that probably wasn’t a high point and Minato-sensei should probably make sure that practice wasn’t still being followed. But his point still stood!

Kakashi felt cheated when his decision to go out with his friends in the hopes of watching them all make fools of themselves ended with sitting in the corner of a dusty Suna club watching over the ladies’ purses while Madara snoozed next to him. He’d really been hoping Madara would get drunk and do something stupid. Or maybe that he would get absolutely blackout drunk and do something completely out of the blue like, say, decide to make out with the comrade who’d been silently in love with him for almost a decade now.

Life was so unfair.

Jerking his elbow in to the other man’s side at least got him the amusing reaction of bleary eyes jerking open and an angry expression. He muttered something too but it was impossible to hear of the thumping music so Kakashi shrugged and shook his head, completely unrepentant. Madara scowled deeper and leaned over to put his lips right next to Kakashi’s ear.

“I said, you’re a dick. I was trying to sleep until we can get the hell out of here.”

Kakashi pushed away the urge to shiver and shouted over the music. “So let’s get out of here.”

Rin and Anko both tried to wheedle them in to staying when Kakashi wound his way through the dance floor to give them back their purses but he skipped free of their reaching hands and hustled back to Madara’s side. Stumbling outside was heaven on his ears, stepping passed the barrier of excessive noise and in to the blessed silence of the desert at night. Both of them groaned with relief and rubbed at their aching heads as they hurried away, ignoring the judging eyes of the club’s bouncers, eager to get back to their hotel rooms and just relax. Neither of them were really the sort to enjoy this stuff anyway. A nice homey bar would have been more their style but it had been Rin who invited them out so it had been her choice of venue.

Madara’s steps were surprisingly steady for someone who had pounded back enough alcohol to fall asleep in that blaring chaos. He wove side to side a bit whenever something interesting caught his eye but for the most part he didn’t seem too dizzy and Kakashi felt cheated all over again that he wasn’t needed to heroically offer his shoulder as support.

“Where are we?” The sudden question made him furrow his brows.

“Uh…Suna?”

“No! I mean I don’t recognize this street.”

Stopping to look around, Kakashi bit his lip. “Huh. You’re right. I think we’re lost.”

“That’s fine. As long as I’m lost with you.” Madara shrugged and continued on while Kakashi’s feet stumbled to a halt, one hand pressed against his chest to sooth his suddenly racing heart.

He glared as best he could and hoped the darkness covered the blush on his face.

“You can’t just…say stuff like that.”

“Oh. Shit. You’re right.” Confusingly, Madara looked embarrassed as well to realize what he’d said, clapping a hand over his mouth and sending a guilty look out the corner of his eyes.

“Wait. I know I’m right but why do you think I’m right?” Kakashi asked.

“Cause I don’t want you to know that I like you!”

“Maa, of course you like me, we’re best friends…”

Now frustrated that he wasn’t being understood, Madara stomped his foot and turned to shake a finger under Kakashi’s nose. “No! I mean like like you! Love like you! Don’t misunderstand me! I swear sometimes you do it on purpose because you know it annoys me and–”

His friend continued to rant but most of it washed over Kakashi, who had of course heard this lecture a hundred times and more. Well, except for the part where Madara was apparently in love with him, that bit was new. And mind-blowing. Life-changing, really. It took a while to sink in that Madara didn’t seem to realize what he had just confessed, either because he was too drunk or because nothing else ever mattered when he’d found something to be irritated by.

Why Kakashi found that cute was a mystery.

He did finally shut up when Kakashi kissed him, though. Actually, to be fair, he did make a few aborted attempts at speaking before finally giving in and kissing back, one hand fisting in the front of Kakashi’s vest to keep him in place. When they slowly pulled apart he licked his lips and fell immediately back in to a scowl.

“The mask, you idiot,” was all he said. Kakashi scrambled to pull it down out of the way.

“You want–?”

Madara’s answer was another kiss. And it turned out he was right, it was definitely better with the mask out of the way.

Someday, when he had eventually recovered his scrambled wits and picked himself up from the puddle of goo he could feel his body melting in to, he would need to say thank you. Not for the kiss, although the kiss was good enough on its own to warrant starting a diary just to describe it and Kakashi very much hoped they could do this again. Preferably every day from now on. But eventually he would need to impress upon Madara how grateful he was to have the other man in his life, how important it was that Madara had never abandoned him even when he was a young child with a terrible weight on his shoulders that he should never have been carrying in the first place.

Eventually he would need to say that he owed everything he was as a person to Madara.

But not now. Right now he pressed forward slowly to bury his fingers in long thick hair and cling to the one person he had been striving for since long before he had ever acknowledged it.

My honor is my own, he thought as they stumbled against the front of a nearby shop, his thoughts going back to a moment between them half a lifetime ago. And I owe my honor to you, who showed me how to believe in it. How to believe in us.

[depressedhatakekakashi]

Wow that gai/kakashi skill reversal AU sounds like a gold mine of good stuff. Who gets the sharingan if anyone? Who trains naruto? Would gai profess his love for kakashi after seeing him open the gates and freaking out?

Hmmm, I’m unsure about the Sharingan. If Kakashi can’t really use Ninjitsu or Genjutsu (well) it would just be a detriment to him. At the same time, Gai’s not on team Minato.

I think in this case, Obito might ask Kakashi and Rin to take the Sharingan because leaving it behind would be a risk they can’t take. And in doing so Kakashi might end up giving it to Fugaku. Perhaps Danzo gets his creepy hands on it and adds it to his collection?

The teams are still the same, so Kakashi still gets Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura while Gai gets Lee, Neji, and Tenten. But because of their different skill sets the two of them would help each other train their students. Kakashi would still be iffy about training just any team after being in Anbu for so long (his personality still matches with an Anbu shinobi, and by age 14 Gai was strong enough to be considered better than almost all of his peers and on par with Kakashi. So Minato could still end up putting Kakashi in Anbu) 

I think the biggest difference in their childhood is Rin because she can’t just throw herself in front of Kakashi and get killed by his Chidori. Kakashi wouldn’t have his Chidori to kill her with. Either she’d have to find another way to die (perhaps being forced to take her own life in front of Kakashi’s eyes after telling him why she’s doing it) or she would survive (which I’m also ok with)

As for Gai confessing his feelings for Kakashi, i don’t think he’d do it the first time Kakashi opened the gates in front of him. They’d still be quite young (about 12-13) and i hate the idea of a 13-year-old being set on only being with one person. 

Gai would ultimately confess his feelings for Kakashi when they’re older and Kakashi’s in Anbu. Perhaps Kakashi comes back from a mission and can’t move because he used the sixth gate to beat an enemy and really did a number on himself in the process. Gai goes to visit Kakashi in the hospital and has flashbacks to seeing his father opening the eighth gate, which leads to him confessing his feelings to Kakashi and begging him not to leave him like his father did. Admitting that he knows their lives are dangerous and that he could lose Kakashi any day, but he can’t bear to lose another person because of those damned gates. It’s simply not worth it in his opinion. 

Kakashi’s left sitting there stunned and unsure of how to respond. He shares Gai's feelings no doubt, but he never thought that Gai would be so against the gates. That he would hate them so much when it’s the use of those gates that helped to save him and his teammates. 

Gai is incredibly upset to find out that Kakashi taught Lee the gates, and to see Lee use the gates during the chunin exams make’s him sick to his stomach. Though he does get a little bit of revenge by teaching Sasuke an incredible lightning Jutsu (perhaps like Chidori but not quite) so that he has a better chance against Gaara in the finals. Kakashi stills teaches Sasuke Taijutsu and helps him improve in that regard, but Gai is the one to give him a Jutsu to help him get through Gaara’s defense’s

Team Seven would be much more taijutsu-focused, and team Gai would have a wider variety of Jutsu’s to use. Tenten is still a Fujitsu user and extremely proficient with weapons, but Gai is able to teach her to use Earth style and Fire style jutsu’s as well. Lee trains largely with a mixture of Gai and Kakashi.

Because of their team's skills needing support from their friend, Kakashi and Gai have their teams train together a lot once team seven is formed. This leads to Team seven and Team Gai being very skilled together in any match-up. Sasuke and Neji? Perfection. Hiashi is pissed about it. Tenten and Sakura? Deadly combo. do not mess with these two together. Naruto and Lee? Well, needless to say, Gai and Kakashi are very proud of their teamwork. 

Kakashi and Gai are a couple a lot sooner because of Gai’s fears of losing Kakashi to the darkness and the eight gates. When Gai realizes just how deadly Kakashi is becoming to himself, he starts to fear that he’ll use the gates more openly even when he doesn’t need to. without care for his own health. He’s not wrong at all about this. Kakashi will open the seventh gate for an enemy he can beat with the 5th, just because it’ll make the fight go faster. It leaves him hurting and in need of rest and worries Gai because of how much unnecessary damage Kakashi is doing to himself.