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jacksgreysays · 1 year ago

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couragetcd's comment on Further Down Road One: So sweet! I adore Sasuke fan boying over Shikako. If you ever feel like dropping back into this story, could we see Shikako dealing with Sasuke's fangirls? Please?

I’ve been thinking about this question since I saw it, and I do have an answer but it’s not really in fic form… and it maybe goes more into Konoha politics than any actual relationship dynamics, as per my usual, lol. Here we go!

To address the question, there isn’t much for Shikako to deal with in regards to Sasuke’s fangirls, largely because I highly doubt he has that many fangirls in this AU. This AU being, of course, the early betrothal as this Shikako’s (successful) attempt to thwart the eventual Uchiha Massacre by removing one of the main reasons for it--ie, the extreme isolation of the Uchiha clan—via essentially tying the Uchiha to the Akimichi-Nara-Yamanaka alliance which would be MUCH harder for Danzo to get rid of (mostly because there’s more of them, they’re far more blended into Konoha’s administration, and my own head-canon that the Akimichi have direct ties to the Fire Daimyo not just influence in Konoha)

All that being said, it’s pretty well known (definitely amongst the ANY and Uchiha clans, probably also amongst the other major Konoha clans, maybe even the “smaller clans” which I will get into later) that Shikako and Sasuke have been betrothed since they were about 7 years old. And obviously IRL people who are in relationships do still have fans, but there’s a difference between “fan of your music/movies/appearance/etc” vs “fan of you as a person, with the intention to eventually date” which I think the latter is what Sasuke’s fangirls are in canon (considering he, you know, isn’t a content creator). Anyways, known betrothal takes care of a majority of that.

Additionally, because Sasuke is no longer the angsty, mysterious Last Uchiha, I don’t think as many girls would be attracted to him—that’s not even including how overtly devoted to Shikako he is in this AU so early on. Like, don’t get me wrong, Sasuke still looks the same (which, presumably to preteen girls, is devastatingly handsome) but he’s also no longer the only one that looks like that. Obviously there’s Itachi who may or may not be more handsome (hard to tell with the art style) but the ENTIRE Uchiha clan is still alive. And if most of them are Konoha Military Police, I imagine even the civilian-born students are seeing, you know, members of KMP getting puked on by drunken disorderly shinobi and still having to wrangle them into the shinobi equivalent of a drunk tank. Or they’re the ones who are running after Naruto when he pulls his messier pranks and getting paint and glitter bombed by him—it just kinda loses the appeal after all that.

This next point may seem a little cyclical, but part of what makes someone attractive is that other people find them attractive also. So if the first two reasons above have reduced the number of fangirls Sasuke would have in this AU, then that lack of numbers would further reduce the number of fangirls. In canon, Sasuke was highly sought after by the queen bee Ino, her ex-best friend turned rival Sakura, and, presumably, basically everyone else except Hinata. So not only was canon!Sasuke SO desirable that the trend-setter, leader of the kunoichi pack Ino wanted him, her former best friend (who only stopped getting bullied because of Ino) Sakura decided he was worth losing her only friendship over.

However, in this AU, there’s no way Ino would do anything to 1) jeopardize her clan or 2) upset her BFF Shikako. And, while I think Sakura would still consider Sasuke cute, I think she is probably a bigger fan of romance in general (since a lot of her fangirling over Sasuke in canon was an entirely imagined version of him) and so she would be a fan of the betrothal if anything else. And also, funnily enough, because Shikako isn’t infatuated with Sasuke that makes him even less appealing to anyone else. Like, lol, even his future wife doesn’t have a crush on him, that’s pretty funny. I mean, ideally, she comes to love him eventually (and again, whether that is romantic or platonic is ?????) but there’s no heart-eyes, nervous blushing from Shikako whatsoever, lol.

If you take out the top three kunoichi of their class (top four, including Hinata, who even in canon was NOT INTO Sasuke) then who do you have left who could even be fangirls of Sasuke? It’s entirely possible that there are multiple classes per year (especially considering in this kinder AU, the living KMP are absolutely wrecking Danzo’s ROOT recruitment so there’s just more students) so probably those who aren’t in the same class don’t get the front row seat to Sasuke being devoted fiancé and thus are more likely to be his fangirls. But they also probably have their own “hotties” to fangirl over. Or if they’re already going to fangirl over someone not in their class, why not someone not in their year? Neji’s a year above, still as devastatingly tragic and beautiful as ever. What’s Sai doing? DoS fandom has decided he’s an Uchiha as well and, probably, one that isn’t as OVERTLY DEVOTED TO HIS FUTURE WIFE as Sasuke is.

Backtracking a bit (and this is where I fully went off the rails and weirdly political) the next kunoichi in their class, influence and capability-wise, is probably Ami, the girl who, in the flashback, was bullying Sakura which led to Ino befriending her in the first place. I personally head-canon Ami as a Mitarashi (based entirely on very minimal details of similar coloring, personality, and affinity for tea shops as Anko) and I further head-canon the Mitarashi family as either a “smaller clan” or a family that is trying to be recognized as a “smaller clan.” And depending on 1) how politically savvy Ami is and 2) how crucial/desperate the Mitarashi family are to become an established “smaller clan,” I think Ami would not publicly fangirl over Sasuke even if she were, for some reason, still attracted to this boy, given four of the major clans are invested in this betrothal and she wouldn’t want to risk any political blowback on her family/clan.

Now, what do I mean by that?

THE REST OF THIS HAS NO BEARING WHATSOEVER ON SASUKE OR SHIKAKO SO FEEL FREE TO STOP READING IF MY BULLSHIT POLITICAL NONSENSE IS NOT YOUR CUP OF TEA

Konoha’s social structure is extremely clan based. Or, technically, it is power based but clans have consolidated power versus and individual’s power. Take, for example, the Nara clan versus Kakashi. Except for maybe Shikako, there is no individual Nara who is more powerful than Kakashi. However, if, for some reason, an extremely OOC Kakashi were to kill a member of the Nara clan, there would be hell to pay. Like, maybe this extremely OOC murderous Kakashi would be able to kill every single Nara but all at once? Probably not. With the Akimichi and Yamanaka backing them? Even less likely. With the other clans of Konoha concerned that this extremely OOC murderous Kakashi might very well go after them if they don’t stop him now? Game over. Weird premise, but sort of necessary to set up the next bit.

The above is an established major clan vs extremely powerful (basically Hokage or Hokage candidate) individual, with the established clan winning. However, we’ve already seen in canon what happens when a not established clan—or, what I consider a “smaller clan”—goes up against said extremely powerful individual. In fact, this is canon, and is the same extremely powerful individual.

Because, as far as the Nohara family/clan is concerned, murderous Kakashi is not OOC at all. As far as they know, Kakashi totally got away with killing Rin and faced no consequences whatsoever. The Nohara family/clan—it’s sort of up in the air of how established/recognized they are by the Konoha government, depending on what I feel is needed in any given fic—are, in fanon/my head-canon, made of medics. Not out of any particular blood limit/genetic basis (maybe they tend to have better chakra control, or a higher capability for memorization, but that’s not exactly ground breaking) but a sort of familial culture of study and generational knowledge passed down. A Nohara may have a slight advantage against a civilian born person, but nothing insurmountable. So even consolidated, the Nohara family/clan do not have as much collective power as Kakashi the individual does.

So then we get into the whole Mitarashi thing, which is why I completely tangented away from the Shikako and Sasuke betrothal thing and into this talk of murderous Kakashi to begin with. Because you can parallel the murderous Kakashi getting away with killing Rin with the exploitative/probably abusive Orochimaru getting away with EVERYTHING HE DID TO ANKO.

And, look, what would the Mitarashi even do? I imagine they were, at first, honored that Anko was even chosen to be Orochimaru’s apprentice. At the time, he was not only one of the Sandaime’s students, he was possibly the most likely of said students to succeed him what with Tsunade running away from her trauma and Jiraiya roaming around being an almost literal fuckboi.

Maybe they even rationalized the mistreatment in the beginning: I can’t imagine the Mitarashi had any jounin before Anko. If anything, her being apprenticed to Orochimaru is probably the closest they had to one of their members becoming jounin. And so what would they know of high level training? He said the seal on her would make her more powerful and who are they to refute the possible one day Hokage? It’s an honor, surely?

And while there is further to be said about abuse of authority and, well, other abuse between Orochimaru and Anko, I don’t want to go there in this post even though, again, I’ve already fully departed from the fluffy AU of Shikako and Sasuke’s literal life saving engagement.

Ultimately, getting back to the family vs “smaller clan” matter. I think that while the family/clan’s own power does contribute a lot to what they can/can’t do and what inherent protection they have, there is probably some legislation in Konoha about what rights clans have (with the murderous Kakashi and abusive Orochimaru being exceptions rather than the usual) especially considering during the founding of Konoha so much legislation HAD to be about protecting clan rights in order to get these historical enemies to coexist.

SO, that means there is incentive for large/cohesive enough families to be formally/legally recognized as a clan in order to have those rights—maybe it’s land or reduced taxes or something where the murderous Kakashi and abusive Orochimaru situations don’t completely violate those rights? Or maybe it’s that the clan CAN enact THEIR OWN retribution without repercussions from Konoha but because, again, the consolidated power of the Nohara and Mitarashi vs murderous Kakashi and abusive Orochimaru are negligible, that’s how those situations can happen without them outrightly being violated… which maybe explains the issues in the bleak Primadonna Girl fic? Oh snap, did I back myself into figuring it out in this completely unrelated post? Whoops.

Regardless. Because there is an incentive to become a formally/legally recognized clan, there have to be some prerequisites in order to qualify. Which, apparently, I’ve gotten into before in this care!Kako/reverse Gardens AU ficlet: “Establishing a clan requires three active-duty shinobi who share a bloodline and sponsorship from two other clan heads”

Although, now that I’m properly looking at it, that seems too easy. I mean, for that particular fic’s sake, I needed it to be that easy for, you know, feels. But in a practical “how would Konoha actually function” I think it needs to be a little more robust than that. I do think a minimum number of active-duty shinobi who a share a bloodline is necessary. It should probably be more than three, and/or there should be rank requirements. So it’s not just, for example, three genin siblings getting launched into clan status out of nowhere. I mean, the sponsorship—or, probably what I actually meant was endorsement—from two other clan heads would probably prevent that, but, again, we can’t leave these things to chance.

So if I were to come up with more robust requirements for formal/legal clan establishment, it would be:

X number of active-duty shinobi who share a bloodline

Y% of the X number must be at least chuunin rank

endorsement from at least Z other clan heads

I don’t know what numbers/values X, Y, or Z would reasonably be, but it would, again, justify why the Mitarashi family would turn a blind eye or, at least, not look TOO closely at Anko’s apprenticeship with Orochimaru if they were trying to meet those unknown numbers/values in order to qualify for established clan status. And, to weirdly circle back to the top of this tangent, would explain why Ami wouldn’t publicly fangirl over a betrothed Sasuke because that theoretically could risk the endorsement part of the requirements (even though none of the clans involved would be that petty? but when you’re not yet established, it feels like every potential misstep gets exaggerated into something dire)

Anyway, sorry for going so horrifically off the rails on this one. I did start ideating on what a “Shikako reacts to Sasuke’s fangirls” fic would look like, but to be honest it was mostly **shrug, go back to whatever she was doing before** while SASUKE is the one who is upset at them since they might make him look bad in front of his fiancee. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

#jacksgreyson #couragetcd #archiveofourown #down every road #fanfiction #brainstorm #meta analysis #character analysis #sasuke uchiha #shikako nara #ami mitarashi #anko mitarashi #kakashi hatake #orochimaru #rin nohara

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lady-lunaaa · 2 years ago

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@dabilove27

For the holiday sketch requests;

Sakura and Ino being besties! Honestly if you were to draw either or them or both I'd be delighted, thanks and happy holidays 🎉

Besties taking cute pics and showing out on the slopes 🏂

#two best girls 💙#wife come look at your ladies 🥹#adore the details here like wow?#the cherry blossom on sakura's jacket is too pretty #would love to see them kicking ass on the slopes and making everyone else look uncoordinated #naruto art #sakura haruno #ino yamanaka #art recs

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renaerys · 1 year ago

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Half Light (Obito/Ino)

Hello! I have talked a lot in the past about ObiIno and how much I like that ship. This has been written since June and I am so excited to be able to post it finally! Originally written for a zine, and published now in honor of ObiIno Month over on the Ino Supremacy Discord server. I am extremely proud of how this first part has turned out. Please give it a read if you're open to trying a new rarepair! <3

Summary: "Even a salted earth could grow fertile and flourish again, with time."

The war is over, and there is no one left to hate, no matter how hard he tries.

Rating: T (for now, but will be bumped in part 2)

Read it on AO3!

xxx

There were creatures swimming in the bilge water puddle in the corner of Obito’s cell. Nothing to be concerned about, just mindless slime eons away from developing brain cells and sentience. He couldn’t even see them, only their proliferation: jade and spongy, a stench of ripe, fetid rot. A whole colony of mold things thriving in a dark, dank shit hole. Existence for the sake of itself, no higher purpose.

Obito watched them all day and all night. Sleep eluded him, had for years, and the four concrete walls whose cracks he’d memorized discouraged its visit. Kakashi came when his duties permitted, but he always brought more promises and reassurances and left them behind when he departed, old candy wrappers licked clean of their sugar. They lost more of their sweetness with each successive visit.

A single drop of water sent a tidal wave rippling through the slime kingdom. It settled again after a few seconds, placid and hardly changed. The scars on Obito’s face itched. Somewhere far away, he could hear people moving around. Must be morning, shift change. Another day he didn’t bother to count, same as the last. Maybe Kakashi would visit him today, or not.

Obito lay back on his cot and turned on his side so he could watch the murky puddle in the corner of his cell. Peace, he thought, was awfully quiet and still.

And that was fine.

It was fine now.

He didn’t sleep.

xxx

In retrospect, perhaps, he ought to have recognized the signs of an oncoming tsunami, but retrospect was nothing but a future excuse for present parochialism. Surely after everything, Obito should have clocked his own dismal patterns.

It began with a girl, a tremor deep and blue, heralding a cataclysm neither of them expected. But that was the thing about waves: they birthed in trenches, in darkness, and they swelled to crashing when they finally touched the light. But by then it’s too late to stop them.

When she walked into his interrogation room dragging a palpable weight like no one had told her their side had won the War, Obito knew the rip tide had already ensnared him.

“Hands.”

Blindfolded to spare her any Sharingan trickery, he gave it his best approximation and dragged his chained arms across the table.

He guessed she must be a Yamanaka. There was no reason to drag him in here and dress him up in chakra-sapping irons other than guaranteed results. What they hoped to find rifling through his grey matter that he hadn’t already told them, that Kakashi hadn’t already vouched for, he couldn’t say. So he said nothing, resigned to just let it happen, like everything else.

She didn’t give him any warning before she began, and Obito was sure he seized. But his body was far away now, his eyes no longer blinded as he opened them to a darkling sky over a sprawling graveyard. Despite the gloom, his Sharingan illuminated names and dates carved into each grave marker.

The soil was moist and overgrown with dewy grass under his knee. He could smell the crushed blades underfoot and feel the epitaph carved into the granite tombstone (what an incredible technique). Shisui’s name glowed with light as he traced it, and when Obito closed his eyes, he could see Shisui smiling, hear him laughing at some silly pose Obito made while covered in potato starch in Shisui’s kitchen as he taught the kid how to prep chicken for karaage.

(“Obito-nii, you’ve got some on your nose.”)

(“Do I? You mean, right here?” Obito rubbed his hand all over his nose until Shisui burst out laughing.)

(“Idiot! You just made it worse!”)

“Oi, we’re not here for you to reminisce. Get up.”

That foreign voice in his head ripped him from his thirteen-year-old body as if she had doused him in ice water. Obito yanked his hand from Shisui’s memory marker and looked up to find a stunningly beautiful blond woman. Her imperious stare muddled when they locked eyes, and it was in that moment that he remembered her. She’d been in his head before, twice in fact.

Yamanaka Ino.

Sakura’s friend. She’d lost her father in the War. He’d felt the power behind that pain when she cleaved a hole in his head and trepanned herself inside to stop him from killing Naruto.

“That looks like it was a bad one,” Ino said, her voice tight.

Obito touched his face, and his fingers came away wet with tears. He could still smell the memory of the cooking oil from that perfect moment with Shisui. “No, it was the best one.”

Ino pursed her lips and looked away. When she spoke again, it was with steel and certainty. “I can find what I need on my own, but it would be faster if you pointed me to it. They told me you were cooperating, so.”

So, it wasn’t a request.

Obito rose and wiped his eyes on his sleeve. He could feel the scrape of the dyed Uchiha wool upon his skin, it was so vibrant and real. He spent a lot of time in his own head, but it had never felt like this, like reliving. “Your technique is remarkable.”

“I know that,” she snapped. “Now, if you don’t mind.”

Obito heard her dismissal for what it really was and decided not to push her. But he held on to that sharp little hook that wanted to all the same, something to spear his curiosity upon later. He snapped his fingers and conjured a flame to light their way through the ossuary of his life. “Follow me.”

xxx

Obito didn’t sleep much that night after Ino’s interrogation, but when he did, he dreamed of Shisui in vivid color. That surge of blue before the crash, where gravity can’t catch you and everything isn’t perfect, but it’s possible.

And when he awoke, his breath came short and his eyes were wet, and his lips throbbed around that unspoken name that had hooked something still wriggling for its life in the pit of him.

Yamanaka Ino.

He watched the slime creatures persist in their hateful little corner as he waited for the guards to bring him back to her interrogation room.

xxx

Whatever she asked for, he showed her. The Kannabi Bridge, Rin’s suicide, Madara’s manipulation, all of it. And the more he pieced together the serrated edges of his life, the more disgusted he grew with himself.

Killing Itachi’s teammate to make him tap into his power.

Murdering the Uchiha Clan and sparing Sasuke only to sink another hook into Itachi.

Minato and Kushina.

Konan.

None of them touched his heart like that memory of Shisui had. He simply accepted the atrocities he’d committed, sane or not, and waited for her to ask to see the next one.

At some point, she lost whatever stolid patience she’d been holding on to. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

Obito was taken aback at her venom. Aside from that very first session when she’d caught him crying over Shisui’s memory, she’d been nothing but clinical and detached watching the grotesque visions of his crimes replay before her. Now, her star-blue eyes boiled to behold him, and her painted lips twisted in a snarl like this was personal.

He considered her question, and he felt that hook dig in marrow-deep. He smiled wryly. “I think, by now, you oughtta know.”

Levity was the wrong decision, insofar as wrong meant her fist in his face. He went down hard, caught off guard and shocked to feel that his lip was split and bleeding in a figment of his imagination. Ino’s rage was real enough. It shimmered around her and cast a pall over the mausoleum they’d staked out for today’s interrogation. It was all his memories of the War interred in a white marble sarcophagus, organized chronologically by increasingly unhinged bloodshed until Naruto clocked some sense back into him.

The poetic irony made him want to smile some more.

Ino’s tears, angry and sharp to the scent, did not. “How can you just watch all this and feel nothing? You know this is your fault, right? Top to bottom. And you just stand there like it’s nothing to you?” She got down on her knees and grabbed the collar of his fine, dream yukata, shaking. “They’re all dead, and you’re fucking smiling.”

The memory palace shimmered around them, in tune with her emotions giving it shape and structure. It was like experiencing an earthquake where the walls collapsed but the floor held strong underfoot.

Obito didn’t smile as he took her wrists in his hands and held on. She was so close he could see the violet fissures in her irises. “Yeah, they’re all dead.” Her wrists were thin in his large hands, so small for someone capable of so much. “But I’m still here. And ain’t that a hell of a punchline?”

Ino’s tears were a sight, the flush of her anger even more so. It was more than she’d given him since they were enemies on the battlefield and he was actively trying to kill her comrades. How she could hold on to such passion after losing so much made him stare right back.

For her, as for him, the War had never ended. There were still bodies to bury and secrets to exhume. But Obito had long given up any desire to win.

“Your father,” he said. “He died in the War, yeah?”

She shoved him hard onto the marble floor.“Don’t you dare talk about my father.”

Her knuckles were white and shaking under his thumbs. She was on top of him now, pinning him down. He wouldn’t resist. Even if she conjured a knife to gut him, he wouldn’t fight her. Could he die in his own mind? He supposed he’d already done that once before, so how much worse could it be this time?

“Ino,” he spoke her name aloud for the first time, and she heard it. Strange in his voice. Husky and trampled, like he’d survived a drowning, but barely. “I can’t give you back what I stole from you. But I can give you anything else you want. Just ask.”

She bared her teeth at him. “How about I ask for your life? Will you give me that?”

“Anything,” he said, meaning it. Wishing it.

It wouldn’t be so bad to die at the hands of a beautiful woman who knew him, knew everything. It was more than he deserved.

She shoved him hard against the floor, and he was once again amazed at how real this all felt. Better than any genjutsu. Her long bangs tickled his face as she leaned over him. If these were different circumstances where he wasn’t a former war criminal responsible for her father’s death, he would think she meant to kiss him.

“No. I’ll never ask you for that. I want you alive and walking the streets of this village where everyone can see you. I want you haunted.”

Obito didn’t have the breath to refute her. There was only her, only him, and the tidal abyss into which they had plunged, and he had never planned on fighting.

She pushed off him, dusted off her skirt, and winced at the drawers each holding the human cremains of the War’s victims. Obito’s victims. He didn’t move from his sprawl on the pristine floor.

“We’re done here,” Ino said. “I’m not spending another second in this fucking charnel house.”

In his eternal weakness, Obito wished he could follow her out of this place and never look back.

xxx

When Morino Ibiki himself came to Obito’s cell a couple days after Ino’s final interrogation to tell him he was being released, Obito’s only surprise was for how quickly the Jounin Council had come to a decision. As arguably Konoha’s top enemy of the state, Obito had at least expected a day in court, some backroom negotiations, angry pride on the line.

“That was fast,” he said, sitting up on his cot.

Ibiki pursed his lips. They were fat lips, two pink worms trapped too close to each other and very unhappy about it. He’d been a weird, unpleasant kid, and he’d grown up to be a weird, unpleasant man. “It would’ve gone faster. Yamanaka made a compelling case for you.”

Obito found himself without words to respond to that. What could he even say? What did it mean? Why would she… After everything she’d seen—

“You’re a son of a bitch, Obito. You know that.”

It was that ugly honesty, brutally delivered, that Obito found he could respect. “Yeah, I know.”

“Don’t fuck this up like you have everything else you ever did.”

Obito prayed to all the gods that had forsaken him years ago that he wouldn’t.

Ibiki waited for him outside his cell while he lingered a final moment. He had long ago committed this tiny room to memory, and he knew these four walls and their mildew musk would stay with him until the end of his days. He cast a last look at the slime proliferating in the corner puddle. The microbes would no more sense his absence than they had his presence. That thought made him immensely sad.

“Or I could just leave you here, if you prefer?” Ibiki said gruffly.

Obito went with him.

“Yo.” Kakashi was waiting with a full squadron of ANBU when Obito and Ibiki emerged from the bowels of Torture & Interrogation’s headquarters. He looked so out of place in the Hokage’s robe he’d donned over his typical Jounin uniform. Swimming in it where Minato had worn it with grace and presence.

Haruno Sakura was with Kakashi’s entourage, politely professional as she intercepted Obito. “I’d like to do a quick check-up, make sure you’re all clear.”

Clear of what, Obito couldn’t fathom. He was not sick with anything her medical ninjutsu could possibly heal. But he had learned quick enough that it was best not to argue with Sakura, so he let her push him into a private office to examine him.

She asked him to remove his shirt, and he obeyed. Sakura had seen him wearing far less before, and she didn’t flinch at the trenches of scar tissue bisecting him. Her hands were small and cold when they touched his bare chest and scanned him with chakra. Most things about Sakura were small, but only her hands were cold. He wondered if Rin would have turned out something like her if she’d lived to reach twenty-one. Small, tranquil, and hands like winter iron.

Sakura’s eyes flickered to his as she worked. “Naruto wanted to be here for your release, but Kakashi sent him on a mission to cool off. The debate got pretty heated.”

Obito imagined that was putting it mildly. “I hurt a lot of people.”

Sakura didn’t try to deny it. She just continued to work on him. Then, softer: “If it wasn’t for Ino’s testimony, I think you would have been stuck in that cell for another six moons.”

He grasped her wrist gently and waited until she was looking right at him. “Why?”

“Because that’s her job. She finds the heart of people.”

“The heart.” He tongued around the word like a bloody hole in his gums where a rotten tooth had once lodged.

“You were used, Obito. Split in two. And I think, after we learned the truth about what happened to Itachi, a lot of us weren’t willing to let the village fail you too. Not when you’re clearly trying to make amends.”

She removed her hands from him, job done, and Obito felt the tug on the hooks under his skin waking him up. Sakura was already upright and handing him back his shirt when he put the image of Ino out of his mind, where her specter dwelled now among the graves, seeing all and sharing nothing.

“I’d like to,” he said, never more sure of anything in his life.

Sakura heard something of his conviction. Her smile was sad, but it was hopeful too. Yes, he decided as he followed her back outside. Rin would have shared your faith.

After all, Kakashi had passed down a part of their shared legacy to Sakura himself.

“What an honor guard,” Obito said after Sakura departed and he fell into step with Kakashi. The ANBU squadron took to the rooftops, out of sight but never far.

“Well, you’re the better shinobi, so I have to compensate with something.”

“Don’t say things like that.”

“Like what?”

“That.” Obito gestured at all of Kakashi. “Self-deprecating shit. You know. It’s not you.”

Kakashi’s gaze niggled, like a tickle in his back Obito couldn’t reach. “Guess not.”

It was awkward walking through Konoha side by side with Kakashi. For one, he was the Hokage now and stuck out like even more of a sore thumb than usual in his office’s raiment. For another, he was walking alongside a former war criminal who had orchestrated the ruin of this very village not once, but twice. Obito was plain and understated in grey ninja gi, but the scars on his face mapped the holocaust of his life’s poor choices and made him a moving target for the scorn and suspicion of the very people he’d forsaken. No one approached them as they made their way past restaurants and clothing stores, around the Academy building and through the heart of downtown. But they stopped to gawk and stare, to whisper amongst themselves.

And Obito realized Kakashi’s game. “You want them to see me. Us.” He grabbed Kakashi’s elbow and stopped them in the middle of the street to make Kakashi look at him properly.“Why?”

Kakashi still wore his mask even all these years later, and he was just as difficult to read. Obito wanted to shake him. “You know why.”

He knew why, and it was a stupid reason. “This won’t change anything. You know that. My face—” he touched the web of bumpy ridges over his cheek, “my face is literally the face of the enemy. I’m their boogeyman. I always will be. None of this matters.”

Around them, people had stopped to gawk. “It matters to me. It matters to Sakura, and to Naruto, to Sasuke and the other Jounin who voted to acquit you.” Kakashi took Obito’s wrist in his hand and revealed his face. “There are a lot of people who want to see you atone, but they also want you to live. We’ve all had enough of death.”

Obito might have laughed in his face for that one if his heart didn’t hurt thinking of how Kakashi’s team must have advocated for him to a room full of angry Jounin. After everything he’d put them through, especially Naruto. So he didn’t laugh. He didn’t argue. He just rubbed his eyes to stave off the tears that wanted to fall, but they didn’t. “Yeah,” he said, reedy. “On that much, we agree.”

When Obito realized where Kakashi was taking him, though, he faltered. It had been decades since he’d last set foot on his ancestral lands. He wouldn’t welcome him here, if he had any say in the matter.

Kakashi noticed his hesitance. “Sasuke suggested it.”

That did the opposite of making Obito feel any better. “The hell he did. After everything I did to him—to Itachi, I can’t—”

“You can. You will. This is the deal. Sasuke’s on mission outside the village more often than not. Someone has to look after this place.”

Obito curled his lips in a sneer. “So, what. I’m his chief of staff now? His valet to shine his shoes and polish his silver while he’s in Oto doing fuck-all?”

Kakashi actually laughed. “Would it make you feel better to know you’ll get a stipend?”

“What do you think?”

Kakashi put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. “I think you have a second chance to lay your ghosts to rest. No one will bother you here. You’ll have free rein of the estate. Obito.” Kakashi brought his other hand down on his shoulder, caging him in. “I want you to live. So please, live.”

Obito couldn’t very well argue with that, so he accepted the keys and let himself inside the hollow halls of Sasuke’s home and marinated in the silence for a few heartbeats. Alone (ostensibly, though the ANBU guard would surely be lurking about monitoring him), he touched his hand to the wall in the entrance hall. Cold. Wood. Smoothed from years of people catching their balance to turn the corner to the foyer.

He wondered about the slime in his cell. If a cleaning crew had power washed it out of existence by now, sanitizing the cell for its next inhabitant.

The Uchiha Compound was quiet as a crypt, and Obito treaded lightly through its halls, careful not to disturb the dead.

xxx

He didn’t get out much, though not for lack of wanting. It was a strange predicament Obito found himself in: the haunted walls full of dead bodies drove him out, but the living equally shut him out when he escaped into town. No matter where he went, Obito was a pariah in his own skin.

All his clothes were branded with the Uchiha crest. Dead men’s clothes. He suffered it as long as he could before he couldn’t stand the sight of himself in them without wanting to throw up. It would be worth the stares and the whispers to be able to dress in something that hadn’t once belonged to someone he’d murdered.

But when he arrived at the tailor this fine, sunny day, he noticed several familiar faces in the window—Yuuhi Kurenai, Maito Gai, and Ebisu. They had Kurenai and Asuma’s daughter with them, a toddling little thing being fitted for a kimono. Obito made the mistake of staring too long, and Kurenai startled to see him watching them through the window.

Obito was out of there so fast he didn’t even hear Gai calling out to him. Kakashi was one thing; no matter what Obito did, he was fairly certain Kakashi would stand by him until they both burned. But the others, those who’d once called him a friend before he killed their lovers and crippled their bodies, suffered no such delusional loyalty.

He couldn’t face them. Not like this, without warning. He’d just come back later, kill a bit of time until they left.

Feeling quite sorry for himself and also rather embarrassed, Obito ducked into the first shop he came across after he’d stopped literally running from his problems. Immediately he was struck with a heady euphoria. Roses and honeysuckle perfumed his every breath, instantly soothing. Monsteras and calatheas and alocasias made a wilderness of the little shop, their fleshy leaves thick and vibrant green and sprouting from giant, ceramic planters glowing in royal blues and shiny blacks.

Obito scanned the maze-like interior packed from floor to ceiling with green and flowers, overwhelming. Ever since his rebirth under Madara’s care, he had found himself drawn to flora in all her forms, a side-effect perhaps of Senju Hashirama’s cells that had remapped his broken body and filled in his craters.

A neon philodendron hung several feet down a nearby shelf, its leaves bright and limey, hearts that fell in a cascade like a woman’s long hair. He traced the tender leaves with his fingers, reveling in the sparkling life he felt teeming within. If he closed his eyes and breathed, he could imagine a sort of peace here, surrounded by green and listening to the sound of running water from a fountain in the wall.

He wandered deeper into the shop, past pothos and begonias, bromeliads and daffodils, touching their petals as he went. But it was the sight of the woman re-potting a bunch of hydrangeas that stole his breath.

Beautiful was his first thought as he watched her deft hands work the soil and the roots, tucking the plant into its new box as if it were precious. Her blond hair was long and thick, her frame slender and fit, and she moved with a surety in herself that announced confidence, boldness.

Oh, fuck, was his second thought when he recognized her.

“Welcome to Yamanaka Flowers! How can I help…”

“Yamanaka Ino,” Obito said, hoarse.

Ino was flushed from her work and speechless as she stared right back. It only lasted a moment, though. That dewy serenity she’d found tending to the plants morphed into the cold, hard bitch-sona he’d come to know well from his own interrogations.

“Uchiha Obito.”

She was tense, a thread pulled so taut it would unspool and eventually snap. Obito had not anticipated meeting her again, she who knew every rotten abscess, every gangrenous wound upon his soul.

“I’m sorry,” he said, which could not possibly be enough, but it was all he felt was appropriate to say to her now.

Ino didn’t accept his shitty apology. She didn’t rage at him, either. She just continued to stare at him, as if she couldn’t understand how slime like him had managed to slither his way into her shop uninvited, and then she laughed.

It was not a kind laugh. “You’re sorry.”

Obito stepped closer, suddenly desperate for her to believe him. “Ino, please, I only—”

“Shut up.”

Obito stopped in his tracks. Ino removed her soiled gardening gloves and tossed them aside. He had never in his life been so unsure of how another person would react to him. Even Madara had had a certain cadence about him, manic and aggressive, but consistent. Ino was an unknown agent.

But he had to know.

“I’ll go,” he said calmly. “But before I do, I have to know why you did it.”

“What did I do?”

“You vouched for me. At my trial.” Then, as an afterthought (or an excuse): “Sakura told me.”

“Did she.”

Obito thought about the muck in his old cell then, how it had shuddered at the impact of a tidal drip in its puddle, and wondered at the wreckage it had endured. He clenched and unclenched his fists, but Ino faced him as cold as porcelain. “I don’t understand why you did. You saw everything.”

“Everything,” she repeated. “Yeah, I did.”

(“I want you haunted.”)

Was that really why? Her threat loomed large, a tumor in his heart fed daily by the silence of the crypt that was the Uchiha estate and the distant looks from the people he’d once called friends before they turned their backs and he’d shoved a sword through them.

And yet, he didn’t believe her. That anger, that venom she’d afforded him when she first began their interrogations wasn’t gone, but it was buried under something denser. And it scared him—what could weigh her down more than grief? Than vengeance?

He reached for her, and like a threatened animal, she tensed. Her steadfastness made him shrink before her, cautious. “I’ll go. You never have to see me again. Just, please. Tell me why.”

She watched him intently, her star-blue eyes murky with some unknown emotion. She was more raw in person than she’d been in his mind, and he didn’t know what to make of that. “You really think I owe you even that much?”

“No. The opposite, really. But I never believed in quid pro quo. I’ll leave on your word, even if it means I’ll die never knowing why.”

The emotion he’d noticed wavering in her gaze steeled now, and she was in his face in a flash with her fist in his shirt front. “Stop that.”

“Stop what?”

She shook him hard enough that he bit down on his tongue. “That,” she snarled. Snarled, like a beast. “Playing the martyr. If you wanted to be mourned, you should’ve just died with the rest of them.”

He dared not resist her as she pushed him against a shelf and rattled a few pothos in their planters. “I’m sorry—”

“Stop. Fucking. Apologizing.” She punctuated each word with a slam against the shelf, and this time a planter did fall. Obito snatched it before it could shatter on the floor on reflex, but a bit of soil spilled out of it and jostled the leafy plant. Ino didn’t seem to notice at all. “I’m sick of hearing it.”

“Then tell me what you want.”

(“I want you haunted.”)

He winced. Haunted he was, by his crimes, by the deaths of his comrades, by this woman who’d peered inside his shattered mind and leeched him of all his secrets. So haunted he couldn’t sleep at night under the shockwaves of her crawling into his head and unwrapping him before her.

She was looking at him strangely now, searching his ruined face for something. “I want my dad back.” Tears in her eyes, but they didn’t fall even as she clutched him harder like she meant to exhume him from his own flesh. “I want to hear him laugh again. I want to ask him what I should do when the elders of my clan come to me demanding I take a husband, churn out an heir, make some new political alliance.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “I want help, and he always knew how to help me the most.” When she looked up at him again, it was with an exhausted resignation glimmering with the last vestiges of her anger. “But I don’t have him anymore. All I have is you, and I can’t even hate you.”

Obito was so stunned by her honesty that he didn’t know what to say. The planter grew heavy in his hand, so he set it on the shelf next to him. Ino’s wrists were thin, but they were also warm under his fingers when he allowed himself to touch her. “You can, if it helps. I can take it. I’ll take all your hatred if it’ll help you.”

“Stop it,” she said, making him wonder if he would ever do anything right for her, and at the masochistic desire he felt to keep trying. “I hate that about you the most.”

“What?” Their voices were low now, intimate.

“That you’re a kind man.”

Kind was the last thing Obito felt these days. Even if the things he’d done had not been his choice of sound mind and conviction, he’d still done them. Her father, among so many others, was still dead. Obito was still here clinging to someone who saw no point in running from him because he couldn’t even be the cruel monster she needed him to be.

“I don’t know how to forgive you,” she confessed.

“You don’t have to.”

“I shouldn’t want to, either.”

“Ino…”

Her name in his voice broke her out of the spell this strange conversation had cast upon them both, and she pulled away. Madly, he tried to hold on, wishing she’d stay. He couldn’t remember the last time someone had held him like she just had, mighty yet impotent in the face of what to do with him beyond feel.

“Please,” he said, nearly desperate as she receded from him. He didn’t even know what he was asking for anymore, only that whatever her word he would swallow it, thorns and all, and bind himself to it. Of all the people he’d hurt and of the very few who had helped him anyway, Ino rose giant.

She put a hand on her hip and looked back at him over her shoulder. “That pothos you knocked over. I’m billing you for it. Don’t let it die.”

Later, when Obito was back at the Uchiha Compound still wearing a dead man’s clothes and staring at the little plant Ino had forced him to adopt, he considered her directive. She’d never know if he neglected it, forgot to water it, even dumped it into the trash. No one would. No one dwelled here but him now, and no one had visited in a very long time.

He dug out an old watering can from Mikoto’s gardening shed that looked to be about as old as Sasuke, cleaned off the dust under the outdoor spigot, and filled it with clean tap water from the kitchen sink. The pothos didn’t need much; it was still quite small. But he showered it until water drained through the hole in the planter and set it back on its new perch in the kitchen window.

Its leaves were glossy and smooth under his fingers. Thick with health even after the tumble the plant had taken. It would grow well and strong under the morning sunlight, with a little bit of care.

Obito smiled in the stillness of the Uchiha Compound. He felt the weight of ghosts at his back, their hands upon his shoulders, as he often did living here among his butchered kin.

“A life,” he said.

It had been a long time since he’d nurtured one of those. But perhaps that was the trick of it—nurturing. Slime could proliferate in weak light and stagnant water, but it would always remain slime. Even a tidal wave’s crashing was a forcing function, if such function was to rinse foul bones and scour them with salt, leaving nothing but raw roots behind.

Even a salted earth could grow fertile and flourish again, with time.

Alone in this huge, empty house with nothing to keep his attention but a precious, little plant entrusted to him by the woman who’d given him back his life, Obito had nothing but time.

#obiino #obito uchiha #uchiha obito #ino yamanaka #yamanaka ino #ino supremacy #half light

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narutocharacterpolls · 1 year ago

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ROUND THREE

YAMANAKA INO vs SENJU TSUNADE

Reasons for submission under the cut

Ino

she’s so great and resourceful

she's loving to everyone, her team, her family, even Sakura

beautiful

super cool/under rated powers

she's lesbian coded

Tsunade

milf….

was the best hokage

the regulation she created to include medics on every team saved so many lives

she's funny and a complex and interesting character

is a bad bitch

probably THE most competently written female character in the entire series

she has a very rich history that plays into her character's actions and motivations

wanting to be the best medic-nin possible in order to save more lives because she lost her love Dan, and also change the way ninja squads operated to always have a medic to save more lives did so much for the better during the war to reduce casualties

after being broken down by so many people she cares about dying, she dips and leaves behind ninja society, which has taken everything from her (including wiping out her clan)

because Tsunade is also one of the most legendary/strongest ninja alive, no one could really stop her or chain her down. It takes the conviction of a child who wants her to save the village and heal his friends to get her back to Konoha, despite the all the trauma she's endured

she's a medic with a fear of blood that overcomes that to fight her own teammate and beat his ass so Orochimaru stops killing and maiming people

she steps up to be a leader because it's what the new generation need and someone has to fix all the stuff broken by her selfish teammates and old teacher

the strongest female character both in physical strength and the strength of her writing. It's like she was written first as a character versus most of the other female characters being written first as Girl and Love Interest

Tsunade is vain and a chronic gambler and drunk, she is really brash and abrasive, she is traumatized. But she's also deeply caring, an incredibly accomplished woman, one of the smartest people/medics in the world, and a great leader

she's multi-layered. She is a woman, but her entire character isn't just Woman

finally finished the job on Jiraiya on previous poll

strong arms

she is strong and smart and quick as a whip but still soft and caring when it comes to her loved ones. Characters with rough exteriors who are mushy inside are very good

#bestnrtcharapoll #naruto #polls #yamanaka ino #ino yamanaka #senju tsunade #tsunade senju #id in alt text

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missmilkie · 23 days ago

Text

Ninja From Another Land

Part Four

wc: 2.4k

During the days you waited until genin orientation, you learned some new jutsus. Naruto taught you the Shadow Clone Jutsu. The Body Flicker Jutsu, Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Jutsu, and Temporary Paralysis Jutsu were also added to your arsenal.

If you have these natures you can learn:

Fire Style- Fireball Jutsu, Phoenix Flower Jutsu, Dragon Flame Jutsu

Water Style- Liquid Bullets, Wild Bubble Waves, Raging Waves

Earth Style- Double Suicide Decapitation Jutsu, Hiding Mole Jutsu, Earthquake Slam

Wind Style- Wind Scythe Jutsu, Gale Palm, Great Breakthrough

Lightning Style- Lightning Oppression Horizontal Chop

You arrived ten minutes early to the orientation meeting for new genin. Other academy graduates filtered in as time passed, including Naruto.

“What are you doing here? This meeting is for graduates only.” Shikamaru approached Naruto.

“Don’t you see this headband? As of today, I’m a ninja too.” Naruto adjusted his headband. “What can I say? It suits me.”

Soon after, Ino and Sakura barreled into the room.

“Looks like I won again, Sakura.” Ino panted.

“What are you talking about? The tip of my foot got in one centimeter faster!”

“You’re blind!”

Sakura then turned to see Sasuke. Naruto blushed as he thought she was looking at him. The pinkette ended up pushing Naruto out of her way to talk to the Uchiha heartthrob.

“Good morning, Sasuke. Mind if I sit next to you?” Sakura asked as if she didn’t just violently shove Naruto away.

“Hey! I’m gonna sit next to Sasuke.” Ino argued.

“It’s first come, first served.”

“Well, I got in the classroom sooner!”

“I did!” Some other girl shouted.

“If that’s the case, then I did!” Another came up.

“I was first!”

“I’m sitting next to Sasuke!”

A small crowd of girls began arguing over Sasuke. He just sighed, annoyed.

Naruto hopped up onto the desk, getting right in Sasuke’s face. They stared each other down.

“Naruto! Don’t glare at Sasuke!” Sakura scolded.

The blond turned back to Sasuke to continue glaring. What’s so special about him anyways?

“Beat him up, Sasuke!”

The kid sitting in front of Naruto then suddenly jerked back, bumping into Naruto.

“Oh! Sorry!”

You giggled. Naruto and Sasuke were now lip locked in front of all the fangirls. They quickly separated, spitting dramatically. Naruto turned to the girls, sensing their rage.

“Naruto…You…”

“An accident…It was an accident!”

Sakura cracked her knuckles menacingly. After the blond ninja took a beating, Iruka came in and started the meeting.

“As of today, you have all become full-fledged ninjas. However, you’re still genin. The tough part is still to come. From now on you’ll be in a squad of three and carry out your missions under your jounin teachers. Though there will be one with four since we have an odd number.”

Chatter erupted at the possibilities of the squads.

“The groups have been determined so that the strength of the group will be balanced. Now for the assignments.” Iruka brought up a list.

You naturally spaced out for a while because none of the groupings mattered much to you.

“Group Seven will be…Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha, and (Y/n) (L/n).”

Hell yeah!

“Group Eight is…Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame.”

Sakura bragged to Ino about being on a team with Sasuke. Shikamaru didn’t understand why girls were so interested in Sasuke. Ino had just finished saying that she would hate to be grouped with Shikamaru when Iruka spoke.

“Next is Group Ten…Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Choji Akimichi. That’s all for the group divisions.”

“Mr Iruka! Why does an exceptional student like me have to be in the same group as Sasuke?!” Naruto stood up angrily.

“Sasuke has the best grades of the graduates along with (Y/n). Naruto, you have the worst!” Everyone laughed. “Of course, this is how it is when trying to balance the strength within groups.”

“Just don’t get in my way.” Sasuke side-eyed Naruto.

“What did you say to me?!” The blond fumed.

“You wanna fight?”

“Knock it off, Naruto.” Sakura told him disapprovingly.

“In the afternoon, I’ll introduce you to your jounin teachers. You’re dismissed until then!”

Everyone dispersed to eat lunch. You stayed in your seat and ate your bento before taking a nap. You didn’t want to deal with the drama that you knew was occurring outside the room.

Every other team’s teachers picked them up, so you guys were the last people there. You knew that Kakashi was notorious for being late, so you took a nap. Sakura and Naruto argued while Sasuke brooded at his desk. When you woke up, Naruto was placing an eraser in the cracked open doorway.

“Hey! What are you doing, Naruto!” Sakura scolded him.

“It’ll be his fault because he’s late.”

“You’re just asking for it..”

“A jounin wouldn’t get caught in such a weak prank.” Sasuke rolled his eyes.

“That’s right! You’re such an idiot.”

“I bet you 500 ryo each that our sensei falls for it.” You suggested with an air that drew them in. Sasuke and Naruto blushed profusely.

“It’s a bet.” Sasuke accepted.

Kakashi fell for it just like he was supposed to. You always theorized that he just didn’t care and let it happen. Kakashi told your group to meet him on the roof before disappearing. At least you made a quick 1000 ryo out of it.

“First things first, introduce yourselves.” Kakashi said simply.

“What should we say?” Sakura was confused.

“What you like, dislike. Your dreams for the future, hobbies, that kind of stuff.”

“Hey! You should go first.” Naruto suggested.

“Alright. My name is Kakashi Hatake. I don’t feel like telling you about my likes and dislikes. I haven’t really thought about my dreams for the future... And as for hobbies, I have a lot.” Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura looked at him in disbelief. They didn’t learn anything from that, just his name. “You next.”

“I’m Naruto Uzumaki! I like instant ramen, ramen from Ichiraku, and (Y/n)! My hobbies are trying different kinds of ramen. I dislike the five minutes you have to wait after you pour the hot water in your ramen. My hobby is eating and comparing ramen! My dream is to become Hokage, so that the people of the village will pay attention to me and give me some respect!”

“My name is Sakura Haruno. I like…*giggles* My hobbies are…*giggles* My dreams for the future are…*giggles* Oh, and I hate Naruto!” Every time she giggled she was looking at Sasuke. You mentally facepalmed. You were going to fix her.

“I am Sasuke Uchiha. I dislike a lot of things, but no likes in particular. What I have is not a dream because it will become a reality. I will restore my clan and kill a certain someone.” It was so emo.

“You do realize what you’re going to have to do to restore your clan, right? That’s a lot of se-“ Kakashi cut you off.

“Your turn.” Sasuke’s face had become beet red at your comment. He had an idea of who he wanted to help him restore his clan.

“I’m (Y/n) (L/n). I like food, and I dislike people who are mean to my friends. My hobbies are hanging out with friends and learning new jutsus. My dream is to save as many people as possible.”

“The four of you are…very distinct and interesting. Your first mission will be tomorrow.” Naruto perked up. “We'll do what we can with five people, a survival exercise.”

“An exercise? I thought this was supposed to be a mission.” Sakura pointed out.

“Yeah, what’s with that?” Naruto jumped in. Akashi began to laugh darkly, the sound making you sit up straighter.

“If I tell you, you’ll be disappointed…” The amused edge never left his voice. “Of the twenty-eight graduates, only nine or ten will be recognized as junior ninja. The rest will go back to the academy. In other words, this will be a difficult test with a 66% fail rate.” Everyone’s demeanors dropped a bit.

“I told you you wouldn’t like it.”

“That’s not fair! We’ve gone through so much. What was the graduation exam even for?!” Naruto exclaimed.

“It was to select those with the potential of becoming a genin.” Naruto shrieked incredulously. “I’ll be deciding if you pass or fail. Bring all of your ninja tools and meet at five in the morning!”

Everyone freaked out in their heads. No one was going to let themselves fail.

“Alright, you're dismissed.” Kakashi turned to leave. “Oh, and you should skip breakfast because you’ll throw up.”

The next morning, you woke up at six. You knew that Kakashi was going to be three hours late, so you took your time getting ready. You had a decent breakfast before going to the training ground. You arrived around seven forty-five.

“(Y/n)! Why are you so late?!” Sakura demanded a response.

“Oh, I just slept in on accident.” You lied with a smile before glancing around. “Looks like Kakashi isn’t here though, so it’s all good. Time is relative, you know.” The three of them stared at you in confusion.

Twenty minutes later, Kakashi finally arrived.

“Why are you three hours late?!”

“A black cat was about to cross my path, so I had to find another route.” Kakashi shrugged at his half assed lie.

“So, what’s our mission?” You asked. Kakashi set an alarm clock down in front of you all and removed three bells from his pocket.

“This clock is set to go off at noon. You have until then to take these bells from me. If you don’t get one, you won’t get lunch.” Your hungry teammates gasped.

“But sensei, there’s only three of them.” Sakura pointed out.

“At the very least, one of you will be sent back to the academy.” Naruto and Sakura were freaking out over how unfair it would be to be sent back to the academy. “Although one of you will definitely fail, all of you can still fail. You won’t get a bell unless you come at me with the intent to kill.”

“But sensei, that’s dangerous!” Sakura exclaimed.

“Yeah, you couldn’t even dodge an eraser!” Naruto snickered.

“In this world, those without enough skills tend to complain more. So don’t listen to that loser.”

Naruto was pissed. You could’ve swore he popped a blood vessel. The blond whipped out a kunai and charged at Kakashi. Almost too fast for you to comprehend, Kakashi caught Naruto’s hand and turned him around to be at his mercy with the kunai poised at the back of his blond head.

“Don’t be hasty. I didn’t say start yet.” The jonin’s voice was dangerously low and you felt your cheeks burn. Nothing beats hearing it in person. Why did you have to be twelve again?! He was so hot! Kakashi released Naruto after a moment. “But hey, you did come at me with the intent to kill.”

You all looked at your new sensei, anticipating his next words.

“I think I’m starting to like you guys.” Your team stared him down, hopeful. “Let’s start now.”

Everyone jumped away to hide. You were able to mask your presence well enough to begin concocting a plan. Nearby Naruto was out in the open and challenging Kakashi. You kept your eyes on Kakashi as a precaution.

If you remembered correctly, the purpose of this exercise was to work together. Sasuke wouldn’t be open to cooperating since he believed people would slow him down. Sakura might be more open to it, even if she can get a little distracted… You made your way over to her, careful to not make a sound.

“Psst. Sakura.”

She opened her mouth to scream, but you covered it.

“We should work together. None of us are good enough to get the bells on our own. Here’s what we can do.” You leaned in close to Sakura to whisper your plan.

Unbeknownst to you, Kakashi had a clone watching your every move. He smiled underneath his mask before diffusing into smoke. He wanted to be surprised.

While Naruto was getting his ass handed to him, you and Sakura took up your positions. Sakura would ambush Kakashi and put him under a genjutsu. In the second that he would take to release it, you would snatch the bells.

Kakashi had just finished dealing with Naruto’s dumb ass when Sakura pounced.

“Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Jutsu.”

Kakashi’s body went rigid. You had jumped out of hiding as soon as Sakura performed the last hand seal.

Wind thundered in your ears as you rocketed to your sensei. He drew close within seconds, your hands reaching out. Cool metal pressed into your skin and your hand closed. You let the momentum propel you away from him. It was your escape.

“(Y/n)!” Sakura called out.

You opened your hand to reveal three twigs.

“They were fakes! The real ones were somewhere else on his body.”

“What?!” Sakura caught up to your figure. “When did he do that?”

“Right before you put me under that genjutsu.”

The two of you whipped around to face your teacher.

“Well, it was worth a shot. We’ll just have to figure out a better plan.” You shrugged, knowing that the two of you had already passed.

Just then, the timer went off.

“Time for lunch. Except for Naruto.” Kakashi’s tone didn’t reflect how scary he was acting earlier.

The three of you sat down around Naruto with your bentos.

“Sakura and (Y/n) have already passed. You’ve got to step it up, boys.”

Sakura’s green eyes widened as a grin spread across her face.

“We did?”

“They did?!” Naruto exclaimed.

“Yeah. Don’t tell the boys your secrets.” Kakashi went from lighthearted to terrifying. “And none of you feed Naruto.”

With that you were left alone to eat. Naruto’s stomach loudly protested the lack of food. You just went for it, offering your food up after taking a bite.

“(Y/n)!”

“Relax. Naruto’s gonna need his strength if he wants to pass.” You alternated between taking a bite and giving Naruto one.

Hesitantly, Sasuke and Sakura joined.

“You still need to eat too, you know.”

The rotation of feeding Naruto didn’t last long before Kakashi returned, looking livid. The sky became dark as clouds rolled in and thunder crashed.

“You…all pass.”

Just like that, the dark clouds were gone. A pleased expression could be seen on what was revealed of Kakashi’s face.

“But how?”

“Those who break the rules are scum. But those who abandon their friends are worse than scum.”

After talking to Hinata and Ino, you and Sakura were informed that they didn’t have to endure a test. Kakashi was just being extra. Of course he was. You thought to yourself.

“So unfair.”

“He may not act like it, but Kakashi-sensei cares. You’ll see.” You assured her with a smile.

“If you say so.”

#fanfic #x reader #fem reader #naruto #various x reader #isekai #reader insert

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23raccoons · 3 months ago

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let me bleed (you're losing me) Ao3

Fandom: Naruto (Anime & Manga) Rating: Explicit Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura/Nara Shikamaru, Haruno Sakura & Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura & Yamanaka Ino Characters: Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, Nara Shikamaru, Hatake Kakashi, Yamanaka Ino, Sai (Naruto), Karin (Naruto), Uchiha Madara Additional Tags: Dubious Consent, Blood and Violence, Unhealthy Relationships, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Dark Uchiha Sasuke, Dark Nara Shikamaru, Protective Hatake Kakashi, Rough Sex, Oral Sex, Vaginal Sex, Self-Harm, Akatsuki (Naruto), War, Konoha 11 (Naruto), Everyone is Problematic ok?, Heavy Angst, Domestic Violence, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fourth Shinobi War (Naruto), Memory Loss, PTSD, Manipulation, Bullying, Suicidal Thoughts, Degradation, Dacryphilia

Chapter 8 (chapter list)

Nara Shikamaru has had a crush on Haruno Sakura, for practically forever. He remembers the first time he saw her, after his father had dropped him off on the first day of the academy. Hiding from the groups of clan kids behind the chunin teacher’s legs. She is his favorite one to lay next to at naptime, soft and quiet in her sleep. While he lays on his own foam mat, one much nicer than hers, pretending to sleep. The teachers do not care if you are not actually napping, so long as you are still and silent. And so he spends his first year of schooling pretending to nap, watching Sakura sleep. They learn school basics—to read and write. To cut and glue. Arithmetic and history.

The years pass. They grow. Bigger and smarter and more ninja-like. Shikamaru finds himself pretending to sleep during class, because if he lays his head down just-so on his desk, he can just see where Sakura diligently works on her workbook. She is both a goody-two-shoes and a teacher's pet. Nice to everybody. Even the girls who bully her when the teacher's back is turned, often finding herself on the receiving end of fists and knees to the stomach, slaps and pinches, tugs on hair so hard pink strands come away in the tormentor’s fingers. The ones that steal her things, despite her only being from a civilian family, and them from mediumly distinguished clans. (She’s even nice to Naruto, who also regularly hides in Shikamaru’s spots, for similar reasons.)

He doesn’t say anything when he sees it either. Pretending to be cloud watching on the playground. Maybe, because once she’s upset enough that she starts crying, she runs and hides. And Shikamaru knows all the best places on the playground to hide are also coincidentally the best places to nap.

And time and time again, she stumbles into one of his sanctuaries, teary-eyed and wobbly-lipped. He tells her she can stay, so long as she doesn’t interrupt his sleep. She’ll nod. Laying down next to him and closing her eyes. Sniffling quietly every once in a while. He fakes a yawn, a stretch, and their hands are touching, just the tips of their fingers. He is braver the next time, laying his whole hand on top of hers, tracing his name into her skin with the tip of his finger.

Shikamaru rarely gets more than mildly annoyed with Ino, having spent a single day of his life in the quiet solitude of an Ino-free world. They’ll bicker like siblings, destined by their family’s to be Ino-Shika-Cho. But he finds himself mad, in a way he’s not felt before, when Ino gives Sakura a ribbon to tie her hair back, a little support and confidence. A true friendship. Sakura hardly ever comes to his hiding spots anymore, because Ino doesn’t let the other girls pick on Sakura. The girls listen too, because Ino is Ino, and is also very, very good at threatening to go run and tattle to her father. (Or Shikamaru’s father, if the situation is more appropriate.)

By the last year of academy, Shikamaru has nearly forgotten about his crush on her. Except for during class, when he’s pretending to nap but watching her instead. Iruka-sensei is droning on and on about proper kunai care, and Sakura is taking notes like they haven’t had this same lecture three times already this week. (Thanks, Naruto.)

They’d graduate. Become Genin. Ino-Shika-Cho. Under the iron-clad rule of Asuma-sensei—a running joke as Ino usually has to be bribed to do anything remotely gross and Choji's near daily demands for team-sponsored meals eat into much of the team's profits. They train. Practice jutsus. Go on d-rank missions. He naps—real ones now. Watches the clouds. Plays Shogi with his father or Asuma-sensei. Shikamaru would rather cloud-watch and daydream than interact with the world.

The world seems dull. Boring. Listless.

Asuma-sensei, in some absolute fit of delusion, signs them up for the Chunin exams. As rookies. They’ve been out of the academy for months. They know all of two team jutsu strategies. The exams are days away. Shikamaru debates failing out in the first round of testing, on purpose, to avoid the harder, harsher rounds.

He’s going to do it too. Until Team Seven also shows up to the Chunin exams, and they are an even bigger mess than Shikamaru would have expected. The boys bicker constantly, drawing unnecessary attention to the group, with Sakura having to physically get in between them to meditate the argument so it doesn’t escalate. And then they’re trying to pick fights with other villages’ ninjas, and Sakura’s stuck in between her own teammates and what are now hostile opponents, meditating those also.

They’re going to get her fucking killed.

It’s clear as day. Here in the paper exam portion of the Chunin exams. He is relieved, at least it appears they will not make it past this round, as Naruto hasn’t even so much as picked up his pencil. Ino’s resting against her fist, eyes closed, and Sakura flicks her long hair in a way that is so distinctly Ino, he has to hold in a snort at the sight. (He notes, Ino slams back into herself just a touch harder than she normally does, jerking as her mind settles back in place.)

Shikamaru helps Choji cheat, just a few answers, enough to seem like an attempt was made. He’ll throw the last question, the hardest one. He can also see the state of Sakura’s team. Naruto has made zero attempts at answering a question, and Shikamaru even catches him turning down the opportunity to cheat off of Hinata.

Sasuke has answered the questions. But is doing no rechecking of his work, no attempts to help Naruto. Sitting there with his arms crossed, looking like he thinks he’s too good for this.

And poor sweet, bookworm Sakura. Checks over all the questions before she answers any. She’s the first one done, going back to double check her answers. The questions are just challenging enough to be a puzzle for Shikamaru himself, but he has little doubt she’s gotten any of them wrong.

Not a single one of them realizes they’re supposed to be gathering information, checking on the skills of others, and collecting the correct answers for the tests. Chunins with both correct and incorrect answers scattered in the group. Different versions of the test.

They get to the final question. Shikamaru lounges on his arm so he can see the way Sakura’s fists tighten in her lap. She’s going to throw the test. Take the fall, despite possibly being the only one on her team to get any of the answers right. She’s interrupted by Naruto, pulling more attention to himself in his resolve to try the question anyway, even with the high risk they will fail.

Maybe they will fail, and Sakura can become a civilian again, and she’d be perfect for his life goal of a wife that doesn’t nag too much, two children, and a comfortable mid-rank desk job. Leading the clan, managing the Nara lands. Except they don’t fail. And now Sakura’s hot mess of a flashing beacon of a team is now about to be locked in the Forest of Death training grounds for a battle royal fight to the safe house.

They’re doomed from the start.

In the forest, Shikamaru’s team stumbles upon Sakura, captured by an enemy ninja, a hand fisted in her long hair. Her two teammates unconscious, and the green spandex boy is as well.

“Should we do something?” Shikamaru presses his fingertips together, directing the question at Ino as he weighs their options. “She’s your friend.”

Ino is rendered completely speechless, maybe for the first time in her entire life, when Sakura takes the kunai—swinging it, not at the enemy but at herself. Slicing through the lengths of hair holding her hostage with ease. Throwing herself back into the fight.

“Ino.” Shikamaru warns, as Sakura attacks again. Ino is still at a loss for words, watching Sakura struggle to fight. Struggle to survive.

“Ino, it's now or never,” Shikamaru warns again, as Sakura takes several real kunai hits in a bait and switch move to get close enough to land a hit herself. Ino’s still frozen, so Shikamaru makes the decision for her, dragging both her and Choji in to help aid the fight.

There is something wrong with Sasuke when he wakes to join the fray. He takes one look at the injured Sakura and nearly rips the shinobi who caused it to literal pieces. She throws herself at him to stop him. Pleading for him to stop. To calm down.

They’re not just going to get her killed. They’re going to end up tearing her apart themselves.

He’s extra sure of this in the aftermath of the Konoha Crush and the resulting attempt to chase down Sasuke. He’s sitting in Choji’s hospital room, playing a game of Shogi against himself, when Sakura enters. He sort of expects her to be mad, but she is not. Solemn almost, as she deposits fresh daffodils into the vase, for “New beginnings.”

She pulls up a chair across from him, slouching to rest her chin on her hands and her elbows on her knees.

“Do you play?” He asks, despite all the time they’ve spent hiding from the other children together and the several times he’s held her hand. He doesn’t actually know that much about her, aside from what he has observed at school.

“I’ve played before,” a very noncommittal answer. Not revealing her skill set.

“Would you like to play now?”

Sakura nods, sitting up straight as he resets the pieces. Click-clacking them into place. He gives her the first turn, wanting to see what she will do. What she does is a little bow, thanking him for the game, the way the little old men who play each other in the park on nice weekday mornings do. The other thing she does, as she goes for her piece, is start talking. And she does-not-stop. Very much unlike the old men in the park.

She plays moderately well, but aggressively. Often having her next move already in her fingers as Shikamaru is placing his tile on the board. He feels rushed, wanting to keep up with the pace she’s setting.

A game that is perpetually Shikamaru’s turn, accompanied by a detailed history of how Sakura learned to play Shogi. She makes quick moves that don’t necessarily make a lot of sense play-wise and a lot of talking. He can see his loss steps before it happens. Every play he makes hopeless to stop her.

She wins.

Shikamaru rarely ever loses. He’s a bit of a bad sport, really. Quietly packing up the board as he fumes. He spends days being grumpy about it. Until his father reminds him it is his own fault he lost.

“Do not let the speed of your opponent pressure you into making hasty choices, son. The speed at which she plays has little effect on your turn. Be sure to take your time, don’t let her rush you.”

He finds himself hanging out with her more often. Playing games in Choji’s hospital room. A dinner or two. Hanging out at his house. He likes spending time with her. Kind and smart. Thoughtful. Sweet and funny. He finds himself hanging off her every word as she rambles about her day. She’s so open about her emotions. Often seeking him out when she’s upset, just to sit in silence with him.

Shikaku, oddly enough, doesn’t have the same sentiment as he had with Shikamaru, months later when Sakura’s stayed for dinner one evening and complained that she’s been waiting days for Shikamaru to make a move in their game. As his father gifts him, unprompted, a fancy chess clock, one with two adjustable timers so they can set their limits accordingly. It forces Shikamaru to balance out the speed at which he plays, taking too long on moves early on eats into his thinking time toward the end of the game.

The days turn to months, and the months change to years. He’s taller, broader. Stronger. Nearly sixteen. He starts speeding so much time with Sakura that it (along with his recent promotion to jonin) has brought Shikamaru right into the spotlight of the one and only Hatake Kakashi.

An awful place to be really. Kakashi is both intimidating and impossible to read. Impossible to please. Bouncing between attitudes like a switch flipped. An enigma around the village. More myth than man. And then Shikamaru starts getting missions assigned by Kakashi. All signed with a henohenomoheji. All stamped as approved by the Hokage. And they are strange at best.

He delivers packages daily to Kakashi’s apartment. All discrete. Nonchalant boxes or scrolls from all over the village. He’s given a key to let himself in. The entire place is void of life, a shell of a home. No clothes. No dishes. No knick-knacks. Uninhabited.

Until one day. When he drops the package from Ibiki off and there is another mission waiting for him on the counter. Find three jutsus Kakashi hasn’t seen before. There is no Hokage stamp of approval. It's accompanied by a t&i id badge with Shikamaru’s picture on it. There is no time limit, no due date.

The badge is high-clearance. Easily on par with Shikamaru’s own father. Shikamaru goes at night, in the safety of the shadows, when it is less populated. Less people to question what he’s doing there. He spends two nights searching through old, dusty paperwork. Returning to the apartment three days after being assigned the mission. One s-rank and two a-rank jutsus in hand, letting himself in and leaving them on the counter.

That evening he makes a bet against Sakura in Shogi, if he wins, he gets to give her a kiss. His crush on her has matured, less kid-like and more of a cherishment, a devotion to her. She’s the same sweet Sakura she always is, and somehow as she grows, the soft elements of her personality that Shikamaru finds so fascinating, so wonderful grow also. From being kind to being empathetic, nurturing. From mending scrapes and bruises under the dutiful watch of Tsunade to performing major, complex surgeries on her own. From being smart to being knowledgeable, insightful.

And then she plays the game so laughably badly, she can't even control her giggles as she makes wildly terrible moves. Pretending to be shocked when he takes her pieces. It’s adorable. And when she closes her eyes as he leans in, he places his lips right in the middle of her forehead. He doesn’t even mind—that much—that she let him win. (He saves the real kiss for a real victory. And the nearly half hour they spend gently making out it is so, so worth it.)

The next day, another delivery. This one from Shiranui Genma in the Hokage’s office. Another note with a henohenomoheji. The little doodle face is laughing up at Shikamaru, as his jutsu selection is ranked insufficient. He’s given three days to deliver the next batch. He lays on the floor of one of the t&i record rooms, pondering what sort of jutsus he was looking for here. It’s really a terrible place to be looking, he should be in the archives of the library.

He sits up sharply at the thought. He should be in the archives. His new id should grant him access to classified rooms in the jonin section of the library. He spends the rest of the night there trying to figure out what sort of jutsu Kakashi hasn't seen. He rules out both single and double elemental combinations. Kakashi is rumored to know a thousand jutsu, he fought in the Third Great Ninja War. The odds are slim that he hasn’t already seen some combination of the elements.

So no elemental jutsu. No kekkei genkai. He finds some sealing scroll techniques that look interesting enough to use, along with a high rank genjutsu.

He puzzles over his options for a third jutsu all morning. He’s meeting Sakura at the Hokage tower for lunch, maybe he can get some information about Kakashi out of her. Shikamaru waits inside the entrance for her, hands tucked into his pockets. Nearby Tatami Iwashi and Namiashi Raido are filing paperwork at the front desk.

Sakura is excited to see him as always. Giving him a little wave as she walks across the room toward him. He holds the door open for her in a way that she has to duck under his arm to pass through, and right before he turns to follow her, Raido calls out, “See you ‘round Nara.”

Shikamaru has probably met the man twice, he’s friends with Asuma. How...odd.

Sakura yawns as they walk. He should’ve offered to take her for a nap instead. He takes her to a small restaurant, near enough to t&i and the jonin headquarters that it’s usually pretty busy this time of the day.

They’re about halfway through the line at the order counter when someone catches Shikamaru’s eye. Shiranui Genma. Shikamaru knows Genma, as he was one of Uncle Choza’s genin students and is often invited to large family events, weddings, anniversaries, significant birthdays, and the like. Regularly has small boxes and scrolls for Shikamaru's daily deliveries. And he winks, right at Shikamaru, smirking around a senbon.

And then, still making eye contact with Shikamaru, he leans over the table, body hunched in like he’s spilling a secret he doesn’t want the neighboring tables to hear. Pulling the senbon out of his mouth to be sure Shikamaru can read his lips from across the room as he informs his tablemate, “That Nara brat’s here.”

The figure on the other side of the booth, recognizable—even from the back—turns, just enough to make eye contact with Shikamaru. Kakashi gives him and his lunch date a once-over, unnoticed by her, his visible brow quirking slightly like he’s unimpressed, before he turns back to the table.

That was…odd.

“ —maru are you even listening to me?” Sakura calls his attention back to her with a cute little laugh. “Is your head always so in the clouds?”

Shikamaru pays for both of them at the counter. And when they’re carrying their respective trays to sit, then Kakashi calls Sakura over to join them. Ever the teacher's pet, she sits next to Kakashi and Shikamaru by Genma. Leaving him no chance to pry. The resulting meal is...awkward.

“Any cool missions these days, Shikamaru?” Sakura asks him, she misses the look Kakashi shoots him, as if saying he’d better keep his mouth shut.

“Eh, just errands mostly. It's been a drag. How about your apprenticeship?” He maneuvers around the subject.

“Good,” she says, before quickly changing the subject herself, turning to ask Kakashi about his dogs’ well-beings.

That evening, sitting around the little kitchen table for dinner, Shikamaru asks, as causally as he can, “Dad, what exactly is it that Kakashi does?”

Shikamaru’s parents exchange a glance over the table.

“Why do you ask?” Shikaku responds neutrally, avoiding the question.

“We—Sakura and I—ate lunch with him today,” Shikamaru picks half-heartedly at his food.

His father takes a bite, taking time to chew it thoroughly. His mother tries to change the subject, “How is Sakura? You’ll have to invite her for dinner soon.”

“She’s as she always is, busy.” He informs her. “Busy training, with her senseis. Like Kakashi.”

“What do you know about Kakashi?” His father asks, in the tone that means Shikamaru’s about to have to play one hundred questions to get any information. But nothing’s quite as rewarding as figuring out an answer on his own. He should check if he can get into Kakashi’s records with his new id badge. Shikamaru thinks for a minute, trying to sort fact from fiction, landing on something solid.

“He is Sakura’s genin sensei.” His father raises an eyebrow in a tell-me-more manner. “He was assigned Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke. He’s really not a very good teacher either.”

“What makes a good teacher?”

Shikamaru thinks of Iruka, of Asuma. "Strength, intelligence, and patience. A desire to teach. An ability to teach.”

“Are these traits Kakashi possesses?”

“Some more than others.”

“Then why did he become a teacher?” His father presses. Shikamaru sets his fork down to push his fingertips together.

Sakura. Sasuke. Naruto. The team is wildly unbalanced. No thoughts on strengths or weaknesses. No concern for battling personalities. A damn mess.

The leftovers all the clans didn’t want on their own children’s teams.

No one in their right mind would take on that team. So they would have to force someone too. Someone who didn’t want to be a sensei—like Kakashi.

“They forced him,” Shikamaru tells his father, who motions for him to continue. “Because they needed someone strong enough to keep control of Sasuke and Naruto.”

“Why Kakashi?”

The rumors around Kakashi are as numerous as the amount of jutsus he is supposed to possess.

“Because he is Hatake Kakashi,” Shikamaru quips. Shikaku smiles. Bingo. (Shikamaru does not miss the way his mother kicks his father under the table or the way his father mutters ‘troublesome woman’ under his breath.)

“And what does Hatake Kakashi do?” His father promts

“He’s a jonin. He’s…an Anbu?” A bad one, just as recognizable in his uniform as out of it.

“What do the Anbu do?”

“They protect the village.”

“The Hokage protects the village,” Shikaku corrects.

“They protect the Hokage.” Shikamaru rolls his eyes.

“Most of them.”

Shikamaru tries to think of all the other rumors of Anbu he has heard.

“Black ops. Wetworks.” A team of genin no sensible person would even think of touching. “Missions no one else wants.”

Shikamaru doesn’t go anywhere that night, instead laying in bed thinking over every package he has delivered to Kakashi’s apartment and who they have been from. Ibiki and Anko in t&i. Gemma. Radio’s cryptic farewell.

Serious ninja. Powerful shinobi. The kind of people identifiable even behind a mask. People who are known. People who are–admitially–a bit crazy. And what better cover than no cover at all? Like Kakashi’s is running some sort of plain-clothes Anbu operation.

“Is this a test, Kakashi?” Shikamaru demands to know. The next day, hand-delivering the sealed scroll from Iwashi to its intended recipient instead of the apartment. “For an Anbu placement?”

Kakashi doesn’t say anything, taking the scroll from Shikamaru, his eye creasing like he’s smiling. Amused. “See you around, Nara.”

Poof. He’s gone.

What. The. Fuck.

He goes straight to Kakashi’s unlived in apartment, letting himself in with the key. He combs the entirety of the place from top to bottom. Room-by-room. Inch by inch. It takes him hours, and he’s a frustrated mess, laying on the floor sweating by the end of it.

Nothing.

Shikamaru is going to quit. He’s going to track down Kakashi and tell him he’s done with this shit. And he knows just where to find him. Sakura goes to team training diligently every week, he doesn’t think she’s ever skipped one.

But when he gets there, there is no training happening. In fact, the only person there is Sakura, sitting with her arms around her legs and her head on her knees. She hasn’t noticed him yet, but he can tell even from this distance that she is crying.

No sign of her Kakashi-sensei to be found.

He approaches slowly, making sure to be noticed. Sakura lifts her head, tries to dry her tears, but she’s never been one to be good at not crying. Shikamaru sits down beside her, mimicking her position. Whispering, “I thought that you are supposed to be at team training.”

Sakura laughs, sharp, distorted by her upset. waving a hand around like she’s introducing a group of people, “Meet Team Seven, Team Seven meet Shikamaru.”

“Sakura,” he’s more than concerned now. “Are you the only one here every week?”

“Kakashi-sensei shows up sometimes, right at the end. Just in time to walk me home.” She’s crying again, snot making her nasially. He wraps an arm around her, pulling her into his side.

“Why do you keep coming back?” He leans his head on hers, shifting his posture to better accommodate her closeness.

“I have too.”

“I hardly think you have too.” Only a teacher’s pet of Sakura’s caliber would show up to trainings for years on end, even if no one else was.

“But, but what if I don’t come, and they’ve come back? What if they’re here and I’m not?” She curls more into his chest, getting his shirt damp, he finds he doesn’t mind. She cries some more as he rubs her back, and then whispers, so soft he almost misses it, “What if they decide to be a team without me?”

His heart aches for her. That she should ever have to be so sad. That anyone could ever mistreat or be so intentionally cruel to someone as sweet as Sakura. Her team’s going to kill her. Not by ripping her apart, but by breaking her heart.

Chapter 9

#sakura haruno #kakashi hatake #shikamaru nara #sasuke uchiha #dark shikamaru #dark sasuke #shikasaku #sasusaku #shikamaru x sakura #sasuke x sakura #let me bleed (you're losing me)#fanfic #naruto fanfiction

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