#Sakura the bat is so excited to have a twin

[brighteuphony]

Sakura and her bats (Kanata and Sakura).

If anyone's curious, she's got lichtenberg figures/scarring over her left eye from the chidori.

[wing-ed-thing]

Click (Part III: Neji)

Synopsis: You invited everyone out to dinner. You also audibly clicked. People had opinions about this

Word Count: 1,743

Warnings: Mild Bullying, Fem!Reader

Part I: Shikamaru, Part II: Shino, Part III: Neji, Part IV: Rock Lee , Part V: Naruto, Part VI: Kiba, FINALE, The Message in Click

Notes: While these can be read as oneshots, all three parts do interweave. To get all the jokes and references, do read the Shikamaru and Shino parts that have already been posted. Otherwise, enjoy!

You were always more of Hinata’s friend than Neji’s and Neji preferred it that way. You were a stark contrast compared to the infamously a severe man of few words. But even so, Neji truly never minded your presence; it was just simply one that he never particularly preferred. So when you let yourself into the Hyūga compound’s courtyard to ask him and Hinata for dinner, Neji became uncharacteristically taken aback.

“Well, I know it’s short notice, but I’m inviting everyone out for dinner tonight. My treat!” You chirped. “I was hoping you’d join me.”

Neji’s lips formed a tight line as he shifted his gaze to Hinata. Social engagements were never Neji’s forte, but he was in enough of an agreeable mood to leave the decision up to Hinata. You rocked on your heels expectantly in front of her.

“Maybe?” Hinata squeaked out and you beamed brightly, clicking as you did so. Neji shook his head at your reaction to the noncommittal response. How you could ever find enough positivity to smile about in such a weak answer made him wonder.

“Well if you can make it, it’ll be at Shushu-ya. Seven o’clock, okay?”

You left as quickly as you came and Neji continued training with Hinata. But not too long after you left, they were interrupted once more.

Kiba hurried into the courtyard with Shino not too far behind. Hinata interlocked her fingers behind her head as she tried to catch her breath again. Neji gave her modest praise for her work and decided to end training for the day given their many interruptions. Hinata’s frosted-over eyes widened with joy as she smiled at her teammates.

“Hey, Hyūga twins!” Kiba pointed finger guns at the two nobles. Hinata let out a courteous laugh. Neji crossed his arms over his chest, unamused. “Are you coming with us to Yakiniku tonight?”

Hinata looked down.

“Yes, of course.” She spoke quietly. Neji took a quick glance between the members of Team Eight. He cocked a brow.

“Don’t you mean Shus-”

“Nope!” Kiba interjected. He locked eyes with the eldest Hyūga. “Yakiniku.”

Neji let out a sharp exhale, a hand coming up to his temple. He weighed the consequences of challenging Kiba, but ultimately decided to keep quiet. If there was a problem, you would handle it, You were your own adult. You were a competent ninja. And most of all you were more Hinata’s friend so it wasn’t like he cared.

***

Neji came through the doors to Yakiniku Q first. The whole team had arrived a half hour early, because when Rock Lee is early, his whole team is early. Lee bolted through the entrance to a table he deemed long enough for everyone. Tenten sighed to herself and sat down at the opposite end. Neji ordered a round of tea and took his place near the weapons user.

He sat, legs crossed, in his quiet corner as he sipped his tea. The bell on the door rang signaling three new arrivals. Neji silently observed the room as it began to fill. Hinata and Shino greeted him quietly and took their seats at his end of the table. Another ring and Sakura and Sai joined. Sakura took it upon herself to order a few plates to grill. With each jingle of the bell above the door, he expected you. Neji shook his head. He inwardly scolded himself for mixing your clicking up with the chime. Surely, that was the reason.

He found himself studying Shino in order to take his mind off of you. Shino looked lost as he helplessly scanned the room. The bowl of rice in front of him remained untouched. His eyes settled on the meat grilling of the table. Shino lifted a hand to his chin before he abruptly stood. Neji took a sip of his tea.

His sharp eyes followed Shino as he left the table. Kiba came in front, stopping his teammate with a hand to the chest.

“I know what you did.” Neji read on Shino’s lips.

Neji exhaled sharply to himself, the pieces coming together in his head. He diverted his attention from the rest of the exchange and turned to his own bowl of rice. The bell rang out and Team Ten arrived. Shikamaru assumed Shino’s old seat.

“So,” Hinata grasped her tea with both hands. “Shikamaru how was your day?”

Shikamaru didn’t answer. Instead, he appeared as lost in his rice as Shino had been. Hinata let out a nervous laugh as the group at the end of the table began to stare at Shikamaru.

“His head’s been up in the clouds all day, don’t mind him.” Ino’s voice briefly snapped Shikamaru out of his thoughts. He grunted and a laugh went around the table. Neji studied him out of the corner of his eye.

“Hinata asked how your day was.” Sai leaned to tell him. His face remained stoic, but a sparkle of amusement shone in his eyes.

“Ah, sorry,” Shikamaru drawled, “I’ve been alright.”

With that, the conversation quickly moved on. Neji plucked a few pieces of meat from the grill. He brought his chapsticks to his lips, but paused. A sinking feeling gnawed at his core. The image of your chiper face asking him and Hinata to dinner flashed across his memory. The barbecue lowered onto the pillow of rice in his bowl.

“Wait.” Shikamaru’s head snapped up. Neji looked away, bringing a slice of meat to his mouth. He had every intention of ignoring whatever it was the Shikamaru was going to say, but what he said next made Neji stop mid-chew. “Where’s (Y/N)?”

As soon as the words left his lips, Shikamaru was out the door. The table fell silent.

Neji brought a hand up to his temple. All talk of you ceased after that, but Neji couldn’t help the pang of guilt that reverberated in his chest. The feeling ate at him and continued to eat away at him until the group decided that they were full and began to discuss the next thing they wanted to do that night. The incomplete Konoha Twelve poured out of Yakiniku, gabbering about some odd activity that Neji didn’t bother catching.

“You are not coming with us?” Lee questioned.

“No, thank you. I’ll be turning in.” The members of the group who had not already gone ahead cooed in disappointment, but didn’t push the Hyūga further.

Neji went his separate way, fully intending to head straight back to the compound. But he once again felt that pang. He stopped in the middle of the street. Neji frowned and pinched the bridge of his nose. With a huff, he turned on his heel. He was off to find you.

***

Neji found you standing with Shikamaru outside. Shikamaru had offered to walk you home, but you politely declined. He had already done so much for you and you didn’t want to put him out. Shikamaru opened his mouth just to argue with you when Neji appeared. You looked over your shoulder.

“Oh Neji! I’m sorry, you just missed dinner.” Your features drooped in genuine apology. Shikamaru gave the Jounin a pointed look. Neji returned with a look of subtle understanding.

“I apologize that I could not make it earlier.” He opted. He gulped before clearing his throat. “Do you mind if I steal you?”

“I mean, we were just about done so I don’t see why not.” You smiled up at Shikamaru who allowed the corners of his lips to upturn.

“I should be going anyway.”

“Thank you for everything, Shika!” You smiled. Looking down at your face, Shikamaru couldn’t help but return your expression. His eyes traveled from yours to Neji and the pleasantness retreated from his features. He gave the other Jounin a look of warning.

“Of course. Happy Birthday.” He told you, gaze locked with Neji.

You didn’t notice the emphasis as you waved your friend off. Instead, you turned back to Neji. You beamed at him as he inspected you and once again, Neji wondered to himself. He scowled at your batted eyelashes. You were ditched by your friends on your birthday but you still stood in front of him with a smile.

Neji took a step closer. You flinched as his hands reached up around your head. He grasped your hitai-ate and pulled it down over your eyes.

“Um… Neji?” You peaked out from under the thin sheet of metal.

“I have a surprise for you, do you want it or not?” He glanced down. Neji sighed. “I have something that I wish to show you if you would let me.”

You nodded and let him tighten the hitai-ate around your eyes.

Neji led you down the street. Your vision was pitch black beneath the blindfold. You stumbled, only to be caught by a sturdy set of hands. Neji laced his fingers around yours. You felt him gingerly wrap his arm around your shoulder as he guided you. The two of you continued on.

You faltered when you stepped off the pavement. The steps you took were careful but Neji gave you all the patience you needed. Neji stopped you and went around behind you to untie your forehead protector. As it gradually slipped off, Neji’s surprise was revealed to you.

“The Hyūga clan’s secret garden,” He told you. Your hitai-ate came to hang around your neck. “These are sacred grounds upheld by Hyūgas for generations.”

The azaleas were in full bloom. Hues of red, pink and white littered landscape in between stone fixtures. Petals flurried in the wind, wrapping around the flaps of your qipao. You wandered deeper into the garden in awe. The garden looked like a dream. You ran up to the bridge that arched over the small pond. A wisteria vine wrapped itself around the handrails. You looked out over the lotuses that bloomed in the water. Neji stood next to you as you gazed out at the view.

“Do you enjoy the garden?” You turned to him, eyes sparkling. You clicked.

“Yes! I love it.” You turned back to the dancing petals in the wind.

“Well, good.” Neji straightened his posture. “You’re always so excitable. Clicking at everything you might as well have something worth the excitement.” He scoffed. “I don’t quite understand it.” You giggled as the Hyūga rolled his eyes. He glanced down at you, frowning. “See? This is exactly-”

“Neji?” He stared into your wide, joyful eyes.

“Yes?”

“Thank you.”

Thank you to everyone who liked, reblogged, and followed. Your support means so much and is greatly appreciated.

[soulairee]

Woman of Medicine

SasuSaku Castlevania AU. Dracula!Sasuke. I’ve been wanting to write this for ages now. While the dialogue is very much the same between Sasuke and Sakura as it is between Dracula and Lisa in the Netflix series, it was still so much fun to put their meeting into writing. If you haven’t checked out Castlevania, I highly recommend it. It’s a wonderful show.

Haruno Sakura makes her way across a vast plain of land littered with bones—the dirt beneath her boots ashen and lifeless, the air reeking of death and decay. A blood-red sun sets on the horizon, tainting the sky in hazy washes of orange and crimson.

Surrounding her, reminding her that she may very well be heading to her certain doom, is an endless forest of skeletons, hoisted upon giant spikes pierced through their skulls. 

Sakura is careful not to get too close to any. With their jaws hanging open and their limbs hanging limply at their sides, they make a horrific picture: thousands upon thousands of skeletons screaming into nothing, with no one around to hear their cries. 

Her fingers tighten around the hilt of her dagger, and she jerks back when a flurry of bats appears as if from thin air, screeching, the sound of their leathery wings a rough staccato in her ears. Sakura glares at them, swiping her dagger at one that gets too close and driving the blade of it through the bat’s small body. She shakes the corpse from her blade, allowing herself to feel just a small amount of remorse for it as she wipes its blood on her handkerchief.

Thankfully the others now give her a wide berth, and so Sakura grits her teeth and trudges forward, head high. The hood of her black cloak falls to drape about her shoulders, long pink braid swinging behind her. 

She walks through the forest of the dead—heart thundering in her chest, anticipation thrumming in her veins—until she sees a sharp pillar of grey stone rising from the earth. With each step a castle manifests before her very eyes, and she gasps when the entirety of it becomes clear to her. 

It’s massive, climbing thousands of feet in the air above her, carved of great slabs of stone and pillars of obsidian. The architecture alone steals the air from her lungs. She can’t even begin to count the amount of levels within; can’t even begin to imagine how the castle balances itself with so many uneven towers branching from its center. It’s designed to emanate cruelty and menace, the inanimate counterpart to its lone master (or so she hears). But for all its harsh lines and severe edges, the castle appears elegant to Sakura. Beautiful, even. Then again she’s always been able to find beauty in the darkest of places—this time, evidently, is no different.

Shaking the awe from her face, Sakura breathes deeply before climbing the large set of stairs leading up to the castle’s monstrous twin front doors. She places her palm flat against one, the stone cool and hard beneath her skin. She shivers, feeling its iciness in her very bones, and nearly pulls her hand away before she senses movement against her fingertips. 

A gasp escapes her lips, and she steps forward to lean her body flush against the door. Indeed there’s movement within the castle—reverberations from a great beast walking about, she thinks, or perhaps from the castle’s master himself. She closes her eyes, listening. 

No, she thinks, eyes flashing open once more. Not a beast. The pulses of movement are too rhythmic, too steady. And that’s steam she hears, pumping out between heated metal.

Machines. It has to be.

Sakura can barely check her excitement. She smoothes down the sides of her cloak, willing her smile into a diffident line. 

Then she raises the hilt of her dagger and knocks it against the door. Once, twice, almost three times—

The doors creak open, heavy and slow. 

Sakura steps inside.

If she’s to be honest with herself, she expected to be afraid. To turn tail at the last moment, sprinting back to her homeland, all her dreams and efforts laid to waste as a result of her own fear and trepidation. 

But as Sakura enters the castle and takes in her surroundings, knowing she could die at any moment, she feels only curiosity. Curiosity and wonder as she turns in a circle, gazing upon the hundreds of metal candelabras hanging from the walls, casting the great hall in warm, flickering light. 

She blinks, once again having to bring herself back to reality—she’s here for a reason, after all. There’s someone she has to meet, even if it’s the last thing she does. So Sakura continues forward, dagger clutched in her hand, eyes darting left and right, searching for any sign of him. 

She inhales sharply at the sound of the stone doors slamming shut behind her, but she refuses to look back. Instead she lifts her head and gazes upon the top of the double grand staircase before her, where a dark figure now stands, silent and foreboding.

Sakura tries to make out his features but he’s too far above her, shrouded in shadows. She clears her throat and sheathes her dagger. 

Then, mustering all the confidence and bravery her small body can manage, she calls in a voice steadfast enough to make her proud, “My name is Haruno Sakura. I am from Konohagakure, the Village Hidden in the Leaves.” A deep breath. “I want to be a doctor.” 

Within the blink of an eye the figure is gone. There’s the sound of fabric rustling behind the pillars lining the hallway beside her, but when she turns to follow the noise, he’s moved out of her sight.

Then he speaks. “You bang on my front door,” he says, his voice echoing all around her, deep and calm yet with a subtle, threatening edge that stiffens her spine, “because you want to daub chicken blood on peasants.”

This irritates her. “Don’t mistake me for a witch,” Sakura replies, indignant. “Everyone out there already does.”

Another rustle of fabric from beyond the pillars, this time on the second floor. 

“I believe in science,” she says, nerves causing her to take a hesitant step backward. “But I need to know more. I’ve exhausted all my other options, and all the stories say the man who lives here has secret knowledge unknown to the world.”

“I do not get many visitors,” a soft voice says from directly behind her. 

It takes everything within her not to show her shock—how was he able to sneak up on her so quietly, so stealthily? Indeed she feels his looming presence at her back, his words spoken into her ear so she could feel his warm breath against her skin. 

Sakura remains still, staring straight ahead as he continues in that deceptively soft tone, “What have you to trade for my knowledge, Haruno Sakura of Konohagakure?”

Finally she’s had enough. Sakura’s eyes narrow and she steps away from him with confidence. Turning to face him now, she lifts her head and says, “Perhaps I could help you relearn some manners. I’ve crossed the threshold of your home and you haven’t offered me a drink or even to take my coat.”

All this said while Sakura gazes upon the face of the most handsome man she’s ever seen. With hair so black it appears almost blue and eyes the color of onyx, he’s the very epitome of darkness and the worst of nightmares. He stands a full head taller than her, his broad shoulders made even broader by the heavy black cloak he dons. Above the cloak’s high collar and peeking from strands of black hair she sees his ears, elongated and pointed. A vampire, through and through.

Sakura refuses to be cowed by the sheer intimidation his very aura exudes. She stands proud, meeting his gaze fearlessly, and takes great joy in the small flicker of surprise that flashes in his dark eyes. 

Those eyes narrow to slits. “And what if I took a drink from you?” he asks fiercely, fangs gleaming in the candlelight. “Or have you loaded yourself with silver, crosses and garlic in superstitious fear?”

Sakura taps her index finger against her lips, thinking. “I might have eaten some roasted garlic earlier,” she admits. “Was that rude? It was all I had left.”

He begins to pace around her in circles, hands laced behind his back. “I’m not interested in superstition,” he snaps, “or assisting some muttering wise woman working tricks of entrails and pine needles.” 

“I want to heal people, with real medicine.” Sakura tries to put all the passion and ardor she feels into her words, desperate. “I want to learn. Will you help me?”

He stops his pacing and stands still in front of her. He tilts his head to the side, examining her as if she were an exotic animal. 

“You are certainly more... unusual than most humans I have met in recent times,” he finally says. “And much less afraid of me.”

Sakura grins. “You only seem a little frightening, truly. Maybe I can teach you to like people again. Or to at least tolerate them.” She pauses, thinking of her journey here. “Or to stop putting them on sticks.” 

He chuckles, husky and low. “I gave that up a long time ago.”

He turns and begins walking away from her, deeper into the castle. Disappointment begins to weigh in her gut, and for a moment she accepts the fact that she’s failed, but then he gestures with his hand for her to follow.

Sakura hurries to join him, all previous doubts melting away. 

“Where is the Village Hidden in the Leaves?” he asks inquisitively. 

Fresh courage flows through her in waves. “You don’t seem to travel much,” she teases.

He shoots her an amused look. “I can travel. This entire structure is a traveling machine.”

This little piece of knowledge he’s shared with her thrills her to no end. A traveling machine?

“But you don’t travel, do you, ...?” She trails off, raising her brows at him. 

“My name is Uchiha Sasuke. You may call me Sasuke. And no, I don’t travel.”

Sakura nods, pleased to finally have a name for this centuries-old vampire that is mysterious as can be. She can’t wait to know him better. Can’t wait to see what he has to show her. She’s been waiting for this moment for years.

“Well, maybe you should. The world is changing, Sasuke.” She meets his gaze, smiling. “Travel, like people do. You might even like it.”

Sasuke lifts a brow. She continues to look at him expectantly, and he eventually turns away.

Clearing his throat, he says with a hint of disgust in his tone, “I’ve known you for all of two minutes, and you offer for me to walk the earth like an ordinary peasant while I give you the knowledge of immortals.” He sweeps a hand before him, and a pair of doors swing open in response. “The true science.”

Sakura walks past the doors and into the room. Her mouth parts as she turns in a slow circle, taking in the room easily five stories high with books lining every wall and all sorts of golden contraptions unknown to her filling its center. Most of them move on their own, powered by some source she’s starving to know more about. Glass beakers are organized neatly on a wooden table to her right, some empty and some filled with gurgling golden liquid. To her left she’s shocked to see what appears to be a glass ball filled with lightning, the white light zapping around inside.

There’s no word grand enough to describe what she’s feeling. Awe, reverence, astonishment—all too cheap to put her experience into words. She is quite literally viewing the future right now, and she nearly forgets how to speak as a result.

Sakura finally twists around to find Sasuke standing to the side, watching her with an expression she can’t place. She’s too wonderfully dazed to care. 

“You realize,” she says, nearly vibrating with excitement, “that those humans won’t be peasants anymore if you teach them. If you show them what you’ve shown me.” She walks toward him, hands splayed before her. “And they won’t live such short, scared lives if they have real medicine.”

“Why should I do that?” he questions, genuinely curious. 

“To make the world better,” Sakura breathes, clasping her hands to her chest. “Start with me.” She gives him her brightest, widest smile, full of optimism and promises for the future. Oh, the changes they’ll set in motion. “And I’ll start with you, Sasuke.”

Sasuke stares down at her, quiet. She sees loneliness flash in those black, endless eyes, and wonders when the last time was that someone—vampire, human, anyone—treated him as something other than the monster he’s painted himself to be. She wonders how long it’s been since someone smiled at him; wonders how desolate indeed it must’ve been in this great, massive castle, alone for so many years. 

Then, finally, like the sun breaking over the horizon for the first time in centuries, showering light over a land of eternal darkness, she sees it: hope. Hope, newfound and unpolished, but there nonetheless. His eyes nearly glow with it, and he gives her a small, barely-there smile in return.

“Very well,” Sasuke says, almost in disbelief, as if he can’t quite come to terms with how she managed to persuade him but satisfied with their agreement regardless. He bows deeply, arm outstretched, gesturing to the wealth of knowledge surrounding them. “I think I might like you, Haruno Sakura of Konohagakure.”

Sakura beams.

For the future is theirs, and she cannot wait to discover all it has to offer.

[natsspammityspamspamham]

Dino Watches Anime (Oct 26)

Recently Completed!

Tokyo Godfathers

Score: 10/10

There’s a reason why I gave this such a rare high rating. When I was watching it, I was internally like, “*excitement noises* I have not been this excited over an anime in such a long time, let alone for an anime movie. EVERYONE SHUT UP SO I CAN WATCH THIS EVEN IF I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY’RE SAYING.”

It’s not often that you come across really good movies, let alone masterpieces like this movie. The art is so good, the story made me feel like it was Christmas in October, and the characters really made me connect. 

I know the subtitles used a whole lot of gay slurs and things like that, but Hana (the trans character in this tale) is treated well if we get past that huge hurdle. She truly owns up to herself. She doesn’t care what she’s called. She gets mad at people who misgender her. She gets mad if she’s forced to go to a men’s facility. She wants people to call her “an old hag” rather than “an old coot”. She just wants to be a mother even if she isn’t “biologically a woman” who can bear children. So when she comes across this kid, she thinks, “I will finally be a mother!” These are issues that real people face. These are issues that cisgendered people take for granted.

Madhouse really knocked it out of the park. Satoshi Kon is one of the biggest creators and directors in anime history. He’s known for horror and psychological works like Perfect Blue, Paprika, and Millennium Actress. I never expected him to be this good at making a movie that could move my soul like this. The characters were so far from perfect, yet I wanted the best for each of them. The way it handled everything was masterful. The dialogue worked so well and was witty, the voice actors (despite the main three not being in anything else for the most part) were so good at giving life to their characters, and the art blew me away in 2019 even though this was released in 2003. The only thing I didn’t quite like as much was the score during some parts of the movie, but it was subjectively good and just wasn’t to my taste (the Noragami soundtrack wasn’t a fav of mine either). 

Just... watch the movie. If you can watch it around Christmas. It’s good for you.

Saiunkoku Monogatari

Score: 7.4/10 

Yes, I binge-watched all 39 episodes in two days, what’s it to ya?! In reality, I just boosted the speed of the video.

Me throughout this show: Why do you all have triangle heads? What’s with that?

Okay, it’s the art style, and a lot of shoujo anime go with the concept that it looks good. Once you get over the art hurdle making me believe this was created in the early 2000s despite it being 3 years younger than Tokyo Godfathers, this turns out to be a really nice show. I just can’t believe they’re BOTH from Madhouse. 

Remember Snow White with the Red Hair? Remember Akatsuki no Yona? If you liked those shows, you’re going to like this one... except it relies more on the political plot. It’s mostly about a woman wanting to pursue her dreams of being a politician in a male-dominated world. She’s entasked with helping this mess of a king to get his act together, and as much as I can try to prove that it’s surprisingly progressive (given the art and genre), I think that’d be spoiling it a little. The only character that actually bothered me was the prince who was voiced by Tomokazu Seki who honestly was a bit annoying and sounded so fake for me. However, this anime made me appreciate Hikaru Midorikawa’s voice as well as Houko Kuwashima who I’ve only heard voicing dead moms and only a few good characters here and there. Seriously, both of their voices are great. Toshiyuki Morikawa sounds good too, but we already knew that. I don’t like the OP or ED (or a whole lot of the music), but that’s the case for a lot of these 2005-era anime. Just like a lot of the anime on MAL, I do think this is an underrated show, but it does have its pitfalls if you’re just craving for a quick shoujo without any politics.

Full Metal Panic: Second Raid

Score: 7/10

I binge-watched this entire season while my parents were out for dinner and something else. It only took me a couple of hours because I boosted the speed.

I wanted to get a gif specifically from this season, so this one will have to do. So much wasted potential will this character (who’s one of two twins). I know they were trying to play the whole “twincest” thing, but I’m personally not a fan. They provided some cool fight scenes even at a certain cringe cost. The fact that Kyoto Animation animated this bumped the art from a 3 to an 8. It’s crazy how much the quality jumped after a new studio took over. Unfortunately, they didn’t take care of the next season. I know the main ship in the series is pretty clear, but this season made it closer to canon (too bad it took around 13 years to make the next season).

Kara no Kyoukai (movies: 5, 6, 7)

Score:  Part Five: 7.5/10 Part Six: 5.8/10 Part Seven: 8.2/10

Not gonna lie, I watched the first four movies over a year ago and retained nothing. I had to read the Wikia to assist me and to begin with, I watched this to get into the “Type-Moon” universe (which consists of this and the Fate nonsense stuff), Yuki Kajiura’s score, and Maaya Sakamoto and Kenichi Suzumura voicing a couple. The score would probably change if I’d watched them regularly, but I digress because I watched movies 5-7 in one afternoon. Ufotable was pretty good at animating this and the voice acting worked really well. Yuki Kajiura’s music didn’t hit well at first when I was first watching the first few movies over a year ago because it wasn’t what I envisioned the score being, but once you get into the mood and mindset, it adds so much to the story. Although, I still really didn’t like part six. I thought it was a complete flop because I just want to get rid of anyone who believes i*cest is an okay thing. This isn’t Alabama. Go home. Not else to say here because this took so much commitment that I doubt anyone would watch it.

Paranoia Agent

Score: 8.6/10

With spoopy month coming to a close (already?!) I watched this anime earlier this month, but I forgot to write about it. That’s partly because there’s so much to unpack here. This was a thriller, psychological, horror anime by Satoshi Kon. That’s right, the first anime above was also done with him in the director’s seat. This anime was smart. There’s a reason why Robin Williams likes it! It was scary in the best of ways. It revealed a part of society that we see all the time but don’t talk about (especially in Japanese society where emotions are better kept concealed). Just the opening alone made me feel uneasy. The OP and ED were simplistic yet worked. I binge-watched the whole series because it was that gripping. 

It was a little confusing at times, but that’s also because that’s just a common thing with horror anime. That suspense keeps us going. It keeps us on the edge of our seats. Who’s going to be the next victim of Shounen Bat? Episode 8 came out of nowhere for me, and I liked it. There were several scenes that sent shivers down my spine in the best way possible. It isn’t always “scary”, but it gives suspense.

Aoi Bungaku

This one is going to be reviewed a little differently. Since it has specific arcs, I’m going to review them as such!

Ningen Shikkaku: 8.2/10

We start off with a bang. Osamu Dazai was a man of suffering. This story really shows that. In this story, we see a man who’s desperate to know what makes him human. We see this through the eyes of a fictional character, but I personally view this as a semi-autobiography.

The art was chilling. The voice acting from Masato Sakai was surprisingly good. A lot of the time, voice acting from live-action actors just aren’t that great. Every time you think this character will get back on his feet, he falls deeper and deeper. It truly did make me wonder what made me human.

Sakura no Mori no Mankai no Shita: 3.9/10

That moment when the only thing that saves this arc is Nana Mizuki’s singing. Seriously, her jazz songs were awesome. Can’t say that about the rest. I mean, the art is good, but it’s Madhouse so most of their stuff is already good. The story wasn’t that original. Mind you, this was probably during a period where foreign influence was strong, and I haven’t read the original story, but... this is basically Salome (the opera) with some differences. Both have a crazy woman with a fixation over lifeless decapitated heads. Both have men that are captivated with her beauty so they give her what she wants because of that reason alone, they both murder religious people (monk/shrine maiden and a prophet), and both eventually realize that women can be crazy when they demand a lifeless head because you know, that’s just a red flag. Above all, it suffers from tonal shifts. You can’t have a woman turning moe then demand you bring her another head to play with. You can’t have Masato Sakai playing another main character that doesn’t fit him! Seriously, he doesn’t have the voice of a brute and just couldn’t do it. Overall, this arc was a mess, and I’m glad it was one of the shorter ones.

Kokoro: 7.6/10

This looked like a masterpiece compared to the last arc. I haven’t read Kokoro, but this made me go, “Huh, I don’t remember this happening.” That’s because they chose a certain part of the book (near the end apparently) and just went off that and created its own anime-original episode. Despite that, it was pretty good! There were some screaming discrepancies which did hurt its impression (because it made it feel out of place to the point where even I, as an uneducated anime viewer, could clearly see).

(I think this is from Kokoro but I might be wrong)

Hashire, Melos!: 8.9/10

Would you look at that? It’s the best arc of the series. Hashire, Melos was great. It had me going from beginning to end, and it’s the only arc that doesn’t have Masato Sakai playing the lead character. The art, the pacing, the storytelling, the story, the sound, the voice acting, and the art direction complemented each other so well. It made me far more interested in the original. 

The Spider’s Thread: 6.6/10

If you look really close, you’ll notice that the creator of Bleach took over character design for this! It was okay. I found that it was a little cliche and lacklustre. Mamo is around so much that you probably have to do more than that to keep my attention, and this had the art going for it too. It just wasn’t that interesting. A heartless murderer is sent to hell after being executed. Moral of the story: Don’t be an asshole. Alright. Nice. I do understand that Ryuunosuke Akutagawa was one of the main establishers of the whole “Japanese Short Story” thing, but after seeing it so many times, I just didn’t get that same chill.

Hell Screen: 6.9/10 

Another Akutagawa short story! This one had far more of an impact because this one hit closer to Akutagawa’s heart. Knowing the history of this piece of writing, you can see his desperation to stay relevant and true to his craft. It’s about a painter who wants to paint the town but finds out the city isn’t the bright light he sees in his mind. Everything goes ablaze. The art for this is stunning. I probably would’ve enjoyed this story more if it was placed in the middle of the series run rather than being the last story. 

Recently Started

Africa no Salaryman

The animation for this is terrible. There is no way around it. However, at least it’s funny. Still, close to being on the chopping block. It has the papa lion who’s played by Akio Ohtsuka, the straight-man middle lizard played by Kenjirou Tsuda, and the scumbag toucan played by Hiro Shimono. Yes, they all play Hero Academia villains. The jokes are pretty good for me.

Given

Oh, would you look at that? It’s a music anime. *inhales* Music anime is a double-edged sword for me. I like having music interpreted and portrayed through one of my favourite mediums, but I don’t like them playing off music as some sort of easy gimmick and a joke. It’s like a shonen montage. “Let’s just have this guy train for two minutes and become a demigod”. But when you put an instrument into someone’s hand and demand the same, it sends me to another plane of angriness.  So far, the romance is kind of cute... but Mafuyu kind of annoys me since his role in the BL dynamic is so clear just by his voice. Same with Uchida. You can only play so many thugs a season. Kyou? Good. Chika? Good. This guy? Good, but don’t do them all back-to-back! I don’t like the BL dynamic being so basic. However, my mind can be changed if done right.

Shinsekai Yori

Very interesting premise, their eyes are cute, and I’m a sucker for these so I’m gonna stick with it.

[vannahfanfics]

Life’s a Circus

Category: Friendship Fluff

Fandom: Naruto

Characters: Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno

Requested By: KoalaTakingNotes (FanFiction)

“A circus?”

Sakura’s green eyes widened as Naruto elatedly presented the colorful flyer that he had spotted on the window of a local pastry shop during his jaunt to meet the pink-haired kunoichi at Ichiraku Ramen for dinner. Now that the war was over and the world was all peace-filled, they had taken to scheduling weekly get-togethers of the team. Sai was off on a mission this evening, but he and Sakura had decided to meet anyway because neither of them had anything better to do; when he had spotted the announcement, he had instantly realized that it was the perfect opportunity to shake up the hum-drum of routine.

“Yeah! They’ve put up a big pavilion in one of the training grounds! It starts in an hour; if we book it, we can totally make it, believe it!” The last time he had been to the circus was that business in Crescent Moon Island, way back when he was a plucky little Genin. He had thoroughly enjoyed it then, and there was no reason that several years later the opposite would be true. “It says they got a hypnotist!” he insisted while fervently pointing at the exciting script that indicated such. Sakura’s lips were pursed in a look of displeasure and uncertainty that he had often seen her wear.

“I don’t know, Naruto. A hypnotist? Sounds like a sham. It’s probably genjutsu.”

“Who cares?” he whined and slouched over dramatically. Then, pouring as much pleading sparkle into his clear blue eyes as he could muster, he tilted his head upwards into a begging puppy-dog expression, bottom lip poked out and his cheeks filling with the rosy innocence of an endearing child. “Please, Sakura? It’ll be fun! Believe it!” Sakura rolled her eyes at his deplorable attempts at placating her, but he knew it worked like a charm from the faint smile that graced her lips. She exhaled deeply while tossing a hand through her sakura-colored hair.

“Oh, all right… It is something different, after all.” Naruto cheered with delight and shoved the flyer back into his trusty pouch before grabbing Sakura by the hand, insisting that they take off that instant. The girl yelped some kind of startled response as he jerked on her arm, pulling her into a run to make a mad dash for the big top circus that they could just barely see poking above the horizon of village buildings and trees that was the Hidden Leaf Village.

~~~~~~~~~~

Naruto was literally vibrating with energy as he sat beside Sakura in the bleachers that circled the circus floor; his leg bounced at lightspeed as he shoved handfuls of popcorn into his mouth, practically embodying the image of a twitchy chipmunk. “Calm down, will you? It’s just a circus, Naruto.” The words would’ve irritated him if it weren’t for her playful tone of voice. As he gave her a side-eye, strategically maneuvering the half-eaten popcorn in his mouth so as not to choke and die, she flashed him that sweet smile of hers and leaned over to grab a handful of the popcorn from the bucket and eat it in a much more delicate manner than himself. If he had been in this situation a year prior, Naruto would’ve been swooning at the prospect that he and Sakura were on a date, but he no longer had any fantasies of such; at some point his romantic affections for the girl had been replaced by friendship and respect. A lot of that had to do with Sasuke, who had more or less acknowledged Sakura’s feelings for him and in his own weird way expressed some level of mutual attraction, though that was yet undecided; he had left her at the village entrance with only cryptic words as before, disappearing into the blue for his mission for atonement or whatever. Regardless, Naruto was actually quite happy with the situation. He liked spending time with Sakura on just a friendship basis and wasn’t actively seeking anything more.

“Hey, are you paying attention? The show is about to start!” Sakura’s giggly voice and elbow into his ribs brought him out of his introspection. His eyes fixed onto the streaming stage lights, white circles tracing patterns across the packed dirt floor before settling on the ringmaster dramatically flourishing on a decorated pedestal.

“Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome!” he announced, and the crowd responded with a raucous chorus of cheers and claps. The ringmaster gave the characteristic, dramatic introduction before vanishing beyond the cloth fabric of the big top, allowing the performers to literally steal his show. Naruto and Sakura soon became engrossed in the splendorous performances of the circus actors; graceful acrobats performed gravity-defying feats of gymnastics upon thin ropes and swinging bars, leaping across the air in complex flips and spins. Next, a set of ribbon dancers glided down from a catwalk high above their heads. Sakura thoroughly enjoyed this bit, tears filling her enraptured eyes as powerful instrumental music echoed about the big top to accompany the dancers elegantly soared around the room like beautiful birds (in fact, their costumed features plumaged leotards and ornate feathered headdresses); Naruto thought it was pretty but had no idea why Sakura seemed so emotional about the entire dance, and when he commented on this she whacked him over the head and called him an uncultured twit. As he nursed the goose egg that was already poking out of his fluffy blonde hair, he made a mental note to just let her cry over whatever she wanted with no comment.

A parade of animals, tigers and monkeys and elephants clothed in patterned fabrics led by similarly clothed retainers, marched a circle around the big top before dispersing across the floor to engage in a series of tricks. Acrobats danced across the elephants, lightly flitting over their backs and across their thick trunks; the monkeys juggled a few balls and engaged in humorous banter with a posse of clowns that had Naruto rolling in his seat, leaving Sakura the one to be unimpressed; the twin tigers demonstrated their roaring prowess before leaping through flaming hoops. By the time the crux of the performance arrived, the promised hypnotist, Naruto and Sakura were thoroughly entertained.

The performer glided out onto center stage like a phantom, silent but nonetheless captivating. A black mask eclipsed his facial features, and as he swung his arm in a dramatic flourish, the cape he was wearing flapped like dark bats entering the night from their dank cave. Piercing blue eyes flitted across the crowd, smug and calculating.

“For my performance tonight, I require a set of volunteers. Would anyone like to step forward?” Naturally the crowd exploded into thunderous cheers and cries, and hands waved in the air like flags flapping in a fierce breeze. Of course, Naruto jumped to his feet hooting and hollering like a buffoon, making Sakura grimace beside him; his little stunt worked, however, as the hypnotist’s eyes fixed upon him and a smirk graced his thin lips. “I think you and that lovely lady you’re with will do quite nicely. Would you please join me?” he asked, and Naruto was momentarily blinded as the stage lights shifted to bathe them in their intense white brilliance- or, perhaps he was blinded by the opportunity at stardom.

“C’mon, Sakura, let’s go!” he snickered as he grasped her hand tightly to drag her out of the bleachers and down to the circus floor. The poor girl stumbled to keep up with Naruto’s manic energy. His giggles floated behind them in a song, and he was still chuckling in anticipation as he joined the very handsome hypnotist on the floor. He could tell that he was handsome because a light blush painted Sakura’s cheeks when he took her hand to lightly kiss the top of it, like a prince would a princess. He gave Naruto a regal bow, which Naruto returned politely and somehow did not lose his balance and make a fool of himself.

“Very good. Now, ladies and gentlemen, I will recite the ancient words and when I finish, these two will be compelled to do as I wish. You two, just stand there for a moment, please,” he purred with another flourish of his cape, raising his hands in what was undoubtedly some form of intricate incantation. Naruto and Sakura looked at each other out of the corners of their eyes as he began to utter some sort of foreign language. Naruto supposed he should have felt something, something related to the supposed magic or genjutsu or whatever the hypnotist was doing, but he felt nothing. He could tell from the puzzled look on Sakura’s face that she felt the same; likely she had already released the genjutsu if there was one, and was about to make him out to be a fraud. Is this guy really a sham? He wondered as the man finished speaking. No tingling, no sleepiness, nothing at all; Naruto ran his hands over his body to ensure that he was no different, but he was not. As he moved, the hypnotist’s electric eyes locked onto Naruto. “You there. Do you know how to dance?”

“Do what?” Naruto spluttered. What the hell kinda question is that?!

“Dance. I think you do. Why don’t you show the audience, please?” Naruto was about to tell him to shove off, but all of a sudden his body suddenly jerked without him even thinking about it.

“What the-?” he squeaked in fright as his arms and legs suddenly started moving on their own, and he swept an equally surprised Sakura up in some form of elaborate tango, one hand on her hip and the other grasping hers as he spun her around and around the circus floor.

“Naruto! What do you think you’re doing?!” she snapped at him as he very uncoordinatedly wrenched her around in some poor excuse for ballroom.

“I dunno! My body just started moving on its own!” he cried back. His response was nearly drowned by the crowd’s mixture of cheers and laughter. Naruto’s ears began to burn with embarrassment, and he shot a glare out into the bleachers as his shoulders hunched up haughtily. “Bastards! Stop laughin’!” he whined.

“Stop, please.” At the hypnotist’s utterance, Naruto abruptly regained control of his body, and he jumped away from his partner to begin stomping over to the hypnotist. His teeth were grinding and he was rolling up the sleeve of his jumpsuit while he flexed his arm muscles for a very savage punch.

“What’d you do ta me? Why I oughta-“

“You ought to take a nap, please.”

Next thing Naruto knew, he was blinking awake, lying flat on his back in the sandy floor of the circus. Sakura was leaning over him, her pink eyebrows knit together in concern.

“What the-?” he mumbled groggily as he wearily lifted his head. Another goose egg had joined the one Sakura had given him earlier, and a wheedling whine slipped out of him as his fingers caressed the very tender lumps. “Ouch…”

“You passed out all of a sudden, and as soon as he told you to wake up, you did,” Sakura murmured to him as she placed a hand at the small of his back to help him sit up. Naruto’s bottom lip poked out as he glowered at the charismatic hypnotist, who had his arms crossed and a very accomplished smirk decorating his annoyingly pretty face.

“It’s definitely some type of genjutsu,” he grumbled as he pushed himself up to his feet, brushing the dirt off his bottom and back before dramatically pointing at the hypnotist. “Stop makin’ a fool of me! I know your trick, believe it!” He then whirled on his heel to face Sakura, making her eyebrows shoot up to her forehead. “Hit me! It’ll get rid of the genjutsu, right?”

“Don’t be a moron.”

“The young lady is right, you know. My hypnotism isn’t some trick just anyone can beat,” the hypnotist chuckled lightly with a small shrug and light toss of his head. He cracked an eye open when Sakura scoffed loudly. Naruto beamed as the confident smirk jumped from the hypnotist’s face to hers. “Oh? You think you’ve figured it out? Let’s test the theory then, shall we? Miss, why don’t you come over here and give me a kiss, please?”

“Do what?!” Naruto screeched. “Sakura, there’s no wa- ehhh?” When the blonde turned once more to stare incredulously at the pink-haired kunoichi, he found her not at his side, but sidling over to the very amused hypnotist who was leaning to the side tapping his cheek with his index finger expectantly. Sakura clasped her hands behind her back and shyly wiggled her shoulders, and Naruto smirked. Hah! She’s just acting! She’s about to sock this loony into next week!

Naruto’s jaw hit the floor when she did not in fact deliver one of her signature punches to the smug bastard, but instead leaned over and very delicately pressed her lips to his cheek. All the while those glittering blue eyes bored into Naruto’s, issuing a daring challenge. Steam blew out of Naruto’s ears and his teeth nearly ground themselves into dust. Sakura, meanwhile, composed herself and jumped backwards with a horrified gasp, her hands flying to her mouth and her green eyes wide as moons.

“D-did I just-?!”

The girls in the crowd, meanwhile, were losing their minds. It seemed they were quite jealous of Sakura’s opportunity to deliver a kiss to the beguiling young man. As Naruto continued to rage, the hypnotist laughed in a carefree manner and dramatically bowed to the crowd.

The hypnotist spent the rest of his performance making an utter fool out of Naruto and parading Sakura around as some sort of bewitching, beautiful partner of his. By the end of it, they were both red-faced and steaming like tomatoes in the sun. Meanwhile, the hypnotist was lapping up the crowd, bowing as roses rained down on him.

“Thank you, thank you! It has been a splendorous evening! Please give a round of applause to my lovely two assistants,” he purred while holding out a rose to Sakura, who promptly snatched it out of his hand and crumpled the poor flower in her overpowered fist. Naruto was in as foul a mood; his eye had been twitching for the last ten minutes now, and it was beginning to ache.

“We are never going to the circus again.”

“No, never,” Naruto muttered in agreement.

~~~~~~~~~~

“The nerve of that jerk! He made total fools of us!” Naruto snapped as soon as he located the nearest trash can and kicked it over. He then felt bad when it startled a nearby stray cat and sent it slinking into the alleyway with a terrified mew. “Oh, no, kitty, I’m so sorry!” he wailed in dismay and crawled through the upended trash after it. The cat did not forgive him, and he slunk back to Sakura covered in scratches and his pride even more bruised. The girl seemed not to notice at all; she had her hand on her chin and her eyebrows knitted as she pondered something deeply. “Yo, what’re thinkin’ about so hard?”

“That hypnotist. He had to have been using some kind of genjutsu, but why wasn’t I able to release it?”

“Who knows? Who cares? I wanna forget about the whole ordeal,” he groaned while assuming a cross-legged position right in the middle of the street. Half of the village had been there, and he knew that he was going to be dogged about his laughable antics for weeks. Sakura was not so willing to do so. The ground cracked underneath her as she stamped her foot, making Naruto yelp and cringe.

“No! I have to know!”

“Jeez! Would you just forget about it, please?” he argued back hotly. He saw Sakura’s body tense and he immediately curled up, shielding his tender head from a third blow from the undoubtedly irate kunoichi. The expected fist never fell, and he gingerly peered out of the gap in his arms to see Sakura with a completely puzzled expression on her face. “Sakura?”

“I forgot what I was talking about just now.” Naruto would’ve told her not to joke about things like that, knowing she would be playing off the hypnotism, but as good as an actor she was, she could not fake the acute level of confusion and concern that was painted across her features at that moment. Naruto lowered his arms, his eyebrow rising instead. “I… really don’t remember.”

The lightbulb blazed in Naruto’s head.

“Sakura… Did that guy ever actually release the hypnotism?” She put a finger to her lips as she pondered the question, and her expression gradually turned more horrified.

“Now that you mention it… He didn’t do another weird incantation, did he?” The silence settled between them like a thick fog… and was promptly blasted away as the simultaneously released mortified screeches and pulled at their hair.

“You mean we’re gonna be like this forever?!”

“Hell no! We have to find a way to release this genjutsu! I can’t be doing weird things every time someone says ‘please’!” Sakura cried as she very angrily ruffled her pink hair about. She then grabbed Naruto by the wrist, ignoring his whimper as he felt his bones crunch under her much-too-tight grip. “Come on! We aren’t sleeping until we sort this out!” He tried to dig in his feet, but he only accomplished scoring deep trenches into the earth. His whines and begs for Sakura to release him floated up into the night air, ignored and forgotten as she concentrated on fuming about their dismal situation…

~~~~~~~~~~

Naruto’s bottom lip was wobbling and tears were quietly leaking from his eyes as he gingerly held an ice pack around his very likely broken wrist, huddled on the floor like some sort of depressed gremlin. Sakura, completely unaware of the injury she had caused him, had pulled her hair up into a short ponytail and was chewing on the eraser end of a pencil, staring down at the words she had scribbled down onto a scrap sheet of paper. The brilliant girl had of course memorized the words should they come in handy to breaking the genjutsu. “This definitely isn’t a language I’ve heard before. The secret must lie in these words. Perhaps it’s some sort of cipher…” she mumbled to herself. She had been just staring at it for nearly an hour, and it was late into the night. Naruto was sleepy. With a groan, he flopped onto his side and peered up at her wearily through his bangs.

“Can’t we just figure this out in the morning?”

“No!” Naruto rolled onto his back and kicked his legs and arms about like a child throwing a tantrum. “Stop acting like a child, Naruto! Please.” Per the hypnosis, he immediately ceased all actions and his face grew deadpan.

“I have paperwork to do.”

“If that’s your idea of being an adult, I’m concerned,” she snorted with laughter. Naruto regained his sense, blinking, and then grimaced deeply. As much as he wanted to crawl into his bed and conk out, it was annoying to be subject to the hypnotism. He dragged himself up into a sitting position- well, more of a slouching position- and frowned at her while she continued to tut to herself. It didn’t take long for his attention span to lapse and the boredom to itch beneath his skin. Man, this is so lame! If I have to sit here and just watch her try to figure this out all night, I’m gonna go nuts! he complained to himself. His eyes wandered over to the cipher scrawled onto the paper, which had apparently not yet revealed anything to the smart young woman. So the rule of the hypnosis is if you say “please” after telling someone what to do, they gotta do it, right? A mischievous egg hatched into a devilish little chick of an idea in his mind. Sakura was too busy thinking to notice the wily grin spread across his face.

“Hey, Sakura. Do a handstand, please.” Her cry of protest caught in her throat as her body reacted against her will, and he cackled in triumph as she literally threw herself into the form. She spit thin strands of pink hair from her lips as her green eyes burned like smoldering sea foam. “Ahahaha! Now I get why it’s so funny!”

“Naruto, cluck like a chicken, please.” Sakura had not even fallen from the handstand before the words left her mouth, dripping with acidic anger. The gasp that he was going to release exited as a loud squawk, and she smirked while Naruto tried to speak and only managed to utter ridiculous clucks for a good few seconds. As she rolled onto her back and sat up again, tossing her ruffled hair over her shoulder, Naruto sniffed dourly. It was definitely on now.

“All right, Sakura, I want you to howl like a wolf for a whole minute, please!” Naruto scrambled out of the way of her attempted stranglehold, and as she flopped on her belly grasping at the air where he had been sitting just a few precious seconds before, she opened her mouth and let out a long, not-very-wolf-like howl. Her green eyes flashed with malice and she scrambled after him, chasing him around and around his bedroom, howling like a deranged dog all the while. When she finally managed to wrangle him into submission, straddling him while pinning him with her arm pressed into his throat, the hypnosis had lapse. She brought her face close to his. Her grin bordered on lunacy.

“You want to play this game, do ya? Okay then…”

Their motive had switched from deciphering the genjutsu to making each other do the most ridiculous things possible, and Naruto soon regretted provoking Sakura, because her ideas were far more satanic than any he could ever think up. “Pull your socks off with your teeth, please! Go walk down the street on your hands, please! Try and drink this glass of water standing on your head, please!” By the time Naruto was crawling up the steps to his apartment after jumping out of the window at Sakura’s command, he was breathing hard and wallowing in regret.

“Okay, Sakura, I’m sorry! No more!” he whined as he dragged himself through the threshold of the door. She could have told him to beg for forgiveness and kiss her boots, and he would do it without her even saying “please.” She towered over him, arms crossed and the picture of triumph.

“Ah-ah-ah. I have one more command for you, Naruto.” He let out a whimper and grabbed onto her boot with tears streaming down his whiskered cheeks.

“Please… Have mercy…” he pleaded as she squatted down in front of him. Her smirk sent shivers down his spine.

“Tell me your deepest, darkest secrets, please.” Mercy, it seemed, was not in Sakura’s vocabulary. The words began to tumble from his mouth like an avalanche.

“One time, Iruka-sensei almost caught me with a dirty magazine and I panicked and shoved it in Kiba’s desk and he got in trouble for it even though it was mine and he still doesn’t know I was the one who hid it there. This other time when I was staying in a hotel with Jiraiya-sensei I broke a vase and I just kind of stuck it back together and I dunno if anyone ever found out about it. Then this other time-“ Naruto continued rattling off his secrets, mostly pranks and attempts of hiding stupid decisions, until finally he sputtered, “- and I’m pretty sure I’m in love with Hinata but I’m honestly not sure what to do about it because I’m pretty dumb when it comes to that, y’know?”

The last one came as a shock even to him. He knew he has always liked Hinata- maybe not in a romantic sense at first, but he did like her; she was sweet, and humble, and pretty, and encouraging… Naruto’s cheeks flushed with both embarrassment and breathlessness as he stared uncomfortably up at the woman who had yanked the confession out of him. Sakura’s eyes had widened, and she was just staring at him. “S-Say something, okay!”

“Wow,” she breathed as she fell back into a sitting position, putting a hand up to her mouth as she considered the weighty reveal. “I had no idea, Naruto.”

“Yeah, well, me either. Guess we both know now,” he huffed as he pushed himself up. They now sat across from one another, cross-legged and pink-faced. “… So… What should I do, Sakura?” The playful mood had evaporated. Naruto wanted to get serious now. The cat was out of the bag, so he might as well get some advice from the one person who understood love better than anyone else. Sakura clicked her tongue as she leaned back a little, her head tilted upwards as she pondered how to explain the predicament.

“Well, Naruto, have you ever just considered telling her how you feel?”

“Sakura, I’m dumb, okay? Until ten seconds ago I didn’t even know what I had was a crush. Plus, y’know, I’m not good with words all the time. I’m afraid I’ll sound stupid.”

“Good point,” she laughed dryly and looked at him with a soft smile. “You know that Hinata loves you, right?” Naruto knew that, or at least he thought he did. She had said something of the sort during his battle with Pain, but he was a little delirious from blood loss and had gone berserk immediately after. He was never really sure what had really happened that day so he had ignored it. It was probably a stupid decision on his part, in hindsight. His confusion on the matter must have shown in his face, because Sakura exhaled deeply. “Naruto, Hinata is definitely in love with you, so at least you won’t have to face the possibility of rejection. Hinata already confessed to you once, and that took a lot of strength. I’m not sure it’ll happen again, so you should probably be the one to approach her.”

“Yeah…”

“Just say what you feel, Naruto. Honesty is what matters.” That made sense. Sakura had always been honest with Sasuke, even if he had rejected her at first, and it had worked out for her in the end. Feeling better about the situation, he flashed her a bright smile.

“Yeah! Thanks, Sakura! I’m gonna tell Hinata how I feel, believe it!” He pumped his fists a little, feeling energized. Sakura giggled and leaned over to take the paper with the incantation on it. Naruto jumped as she suddenly slapped her forehead and groaned loudly. “What? What is it?”

“I’m so dumb!” she sighed and crumpled up the sheet of paper to toss it Naruto’s wastebasket. Naruto must have been even dumber because he had no idea of the revelation she had stumbled upon. “How could we have not thought to say the words again and see if the jutsu breaks?” As soon as she said it, Naruto slammed his head into the floor as the weight of their combined idiocy struck him. Of course it had been that simple! Sakura had overthought it and Naruto really hadn’t been thinking at all in the first place, so naturally something so simple flew right over their heads. Sakura quickly recited the incantation and then timidly said, “Okay, Naruto, raise your right hand, please.” The young man held his breath as he waited for his body to spontaneously react… but he was not compelled in the slightest.

“It worked!” he cheered and flung both of his hands into the air. Sakura breathed a sigh and held her feet as she leaned back, her shoulder joints popping as she rolled them, as if she had been relieved of a great weight. Naruto gazed at her, and then began to snicker uncontrollably. She gave him a quizzical look. “Tonight was fun, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, it was,” she agreed with a serene smile. She glanced out of the window, where the starry night sky glistened beyond the thin pane of glass. “It’s gotten late.”

“Ya want me to walk you home?”

“Actually, I was thinking I could stay. We don’t always get time to talk like this since you go on so many missions, Mr. World Savior,” she responded with a wink. Naruto was surprised, but not unpleasantly. He grinned widely and scooched a bit closer to Sakura with that radiant smile still plastered on his face.

“Okay! Let’s talk, then!”

Thus, he and Sakura talked deep into the night about all manners of things. They reminisced of memories and contemplated the future; their emotions rolled between happiness and sadness and everything in between. They both collapsed in a mess of blankets and pillows on Naruto’s floor just as the sun was creeping above the horizon to paint the indigo sky in shades of gold. The sunlight streamed into the room to bathe the two lifelong friends in its warmth, the light catching on the smiles still ghosting their lips as they basked in dreams of days gone and yet to come…

Enjoy this oneshot? Feel free to peruse my Table of Contents!

[wheremytwinwatches]

[Where My Twin Watches]: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Episode 9 Review

Tephi was upset that I didn't include this in my last post:

Ah, Farquaad. Who I just looked up the voice actor of- John Lithgow?! Wow, ok then. Farquaad, you may have been one of the few characters who had absolutely no redeeming qualities. I mean, at least the pictures I posted were of characters who had beneficial goals, even if they went about them in the most cartoonishly evil ways possible. Farquaad was just a dick. But that quote does a damn good job of summing up Bunny-Cat.

Afraid that I’ve been busy studying for a test this Monday, but I think I can snag some time Tuesday morning to start Ep 10. Until then, maybe a short post on my thoughts-

Keeper of Tales said:Ranubis you have probably noticed the sharp up-swell in conversation since you began hitting oh, episodes three, six, eight and nine. Part of this is that you came into this series with a very different mindset than usual and there was a real risk of ruining that. If you read this before the next episode could you tell us what your thoughts upon the characters are and how they have changed? The entire cast if you can. Thank you for your time.

Ok, make that a detailed response on each of the characters. Here we go!

Madoka Kaname

Our title character and protagonist… who’s kinda just been along for the ride all this time. She really bucks the trend of main characters that I’ve gotten used to in most shows. No powers, no real strengths of her own beyond her kind nature. Heck, if she wasn’t the first character to appear and the show wasn’t named after her it wouldn’t be hard to call her a side character. I think back to Gurren Lagann, how Simon had the same meek attitude and was overshadowed Kamina. But then, he got his mini-mech by the end of the first episode, Madoka has yet to pick up any tools. Even Sayaka showed up next episode with a baseball bat, Madoka’s just been tagging along.

And yet, everything revolves around her. Madoka had the Future Dream at the very beginning. Sayaka got involved because she was Madoka’s best friend. Homura focused on Madoka that first school day and tried to warn her away from the trials of Magical Girl-ing. Mami tried to recruit Madoka because she sensed she would become a powerful MG in helping defend the city. Kyoko, who showed up as a hard-line Magical Girl, in the space of apparently a few days joined the Madoka Protection Brigade. And of course, it’s clear now that the Incubator’s been manipulating things to ensure that Madoka makes a Contract, that will net it a ton of emergy.

Still, we’re nearing the end of the show, and I’m 50/50 on whether or not that Madoka will actually make a Contract, especially if Homura has anything to say about it. I mean, if the Incubator flat-out tells her that only she with MG powers can save the day, her helpful attitude is going to steer her straight into selling her soul. The question remains: how far is Homura going to go to stop that?

Sayaka Miki

Best friend of the main character, initially I was amused at how she bucked the Red Oni, Blue Oni trope as being much more outgoing and aggressive than Madoka (pink is a lightish-red, it fits). That got flipped around later when she turned into a Paladin and contrasted with Kyoko. Such a fun character, cheerfully bringing a common baseball bat to fight the monsters, calling herself an Ally of Justice, a great heroine. Unfortunately, it seems that that is Urobuchi’s favorite character-type to stomp on, the show could probably be called “Everything goes wrong for this poor girl Sayaka”. She loses her soul, her crush, her idealism… guh,

It was just depressing, seeing how Sayaka kept going further and further into her Paladin identity until she had nothing left. Losing her optimism, going on a Roaring Rampage of Despair fighting familiars instead of getting Grief Seeds… I keep thinking about Homura about to kill Sayaka. She said it was to protect Madoka from more suffering, but I think that there was at least a little bit of mercy to Sayaka there too. Kill the girl, before she becomes a Witch.

I just wish that things could have been better for Sayaka. She meant well, wanted to save people. Yes, there was an element of wanting to be with Kamijo in her Wish, but can you really blame her for that? She wanted to be a hero. Instead, she became a monster.

Kyubey (Incubator)

Yeah. I can only imagine how you jerks were sniggering in my early posts. I mean, I start out thinking “Ok, here’s the show’s mascot, I’m a little creeped out by the red eyes but whatever.” Then I start thinking he’s cute, plays off the girls well. Then I get annoyed at how he keeps acting like a salesman, really pushing the girls on the Contract. Then… well, then Bunnycat was revealed for the absolute jerk it is.

Seriously. The show’s mascot turns out to be the main villain, twisting plans and leaving snide little comments to achieve it’s goal of turning these young girls into batteries. No, not batteries, coal: fit for one quick burst of energy, who cares where the smoke goes afterwards. All that smiling, those cute comments, those pushes for a contract to be made, not telling the girls the true cost of the Contract even when he knows, or rather because, it knows how they will act, implying (but never outright lying) actions that play right into its tiny, bloodstained paws.

And we can’t even kill it, apparently. Homura shot it what I would normally call an unnecessary amount of times. But as it turns out, it was just a waste of ammo, since the Incubator can just show up in a new body. It can show up without an invite apparently anywhere, it can’t be killed… in a show of murdering Witches, it is the real monster.

Mami Tomoe

Mami… :’(

I was so happy when she showed up that first episode. An experienced Magical Girl who can summon a ton of muskets? Standing up to the (apparent) Bad Girl, taking our main character and sidekick under her wing? And she only got better from there, teaching our characters about the world, fighting a Witch one-on-one, destroying it with an artillery piece and then landing for tea.

Classy.

Then we get a tragic backstory, she’s shown to be lonely. But our characters are there to help her fight these monsters and stop whatever plan the Bad Girl is brewing up! And look at that, she and Madoka are so adorable together, I can’t wait for them to-

And then Urobuchi took my heart and stabbed it.

Mami’s story should not have ended there. If she had just listened to Homura about the Witch, if Madoka or Sayaka had Contracted and could help her, if she had not gone into that fight distracted and happy about the future and focused more… but she didn’t. And she died.

Ever since that episode, Mami’s absence has cast a pall over everything. Madoka is understandably terrified from seeing her mentor eaten right in front of her, Sayaka was driven to imitate Mami’s lone fighter style, Kyoko got involved because she was attracted to the “open territory”, and Homura seemed to hope that it would scare off the Muggles from Contracting.

For a while, I thought that “Ok, that took me completely by surprise, but now I see what will make the girl’s Contract! Madoka will wish for Mami back, we’ll get our lovely team fighting these monsters a little more cautiously now that they know the risks but it’ll still be exciting and they will be adokrable on these missions and Sayaka will tease them for being so cute and…”. But nope, it was just the start of the Pain Train.

Kyoko Sakura

Oh jeez, has my perspective of Kyoko changed from that first scene of her looking down on the town. At first I thought she’d just be a competitor, maybe an ally of Homura. Then she spouts off her philosophy of letting Familiars go to kill people, and she supplanted Homura (who I thought planted that Hospital Grief Seed and caused Mami’s death) on my List. Urobuchi then worked his magic and made me sympathetic for a character who had so much working against her, with a backstory more tragic than Mami’s, the discovery of the true nature of Magical Girls, and her growing attraction to Sayaka even as the Ally of Justice was crumbling, all culminating in me screaming at my computer as she kisses her Soul Gem and sacrifices herself to defeat Sayaka’s Witch and save Homura and Madoka.

Kyoko, I would like to apologize. I can understand where you started from, seeing your family die in connection to your well-meaning Wish, and how you would focus on yourself after being hurt so badly. I am so proud of you, for rising from that and regaining your morals, to the point of helping out Madoka.

Homura Akemi

Homura. Homura, Homura, Homura.

I started this show convinced that you were the Big Bad, or at least an agent of them. Then, before I learned the true nature of the Incubator and thought that there was an anti-Kyubey running around causing the Witches (I can only imagine how much you lot enjoyed that, thank you so much for not spoiling me), I considered that maybe she was just trying to secure her own power, remove competition so that she is secure. Then there was the huge “Homura summons Wally-Witch to get a Super Grief Seed, cannot put down what she called up” theory that I thought would culminate as the series finale, give our main characters time to shine and teach Homura the power of Friendship.

Then the true nature of Magical Girls was revealed, and she was not surprised. Then she attempted to kill Sayaka, citing that doing so would spare Madoka pain. Then she killed the Incubator (but not really).

Then we learned that she is a time traveler.

Just… just wow. It actually makes sense. All of my crazy theories, and time travel trumps them all. She knows the truth about Magical Girls because she learned it in the previous timeline. She knows Bunnycat is a dick because it pulled all this shit before. She tried to warn the girls away from Contracting because she knew the costs, and that they would turn into Witches. She knows that Wally-Witch is coming, to the day, because that’s what happened before-

Oh! I get it now! I really get it! That Dream Vision, Homura fighting the Super Witch but losing, reaching out to Madoka… I get what happens now. Madoka arrives to see Homura is losing. She knows that with all the other MGs dead, there’s no choice. She makes the Contract with the Incubator.

And for her Wish? She Wishes for Homura to get another chance, or something along those lines. And the Incubator (who is a dick) ‘interprets’ that in the way that best suits its interests, and throws Homura into another timeline, so that they can harvest Madoka twice.

Damn it. If I understood the credits-teaser right, next episode is going to be Homura’s story. If we see this happen, Homura reaching our timeline only to try and warn people, but no-one believes her… this is going to be rough.

[kuriquinn]

An Inch of Gold [Interlude IV]

Author’s Note: Yeah. I did that. Another update within little over a week. I was just so excited about getting my patreon up and running that I suddenly got inspired! As usual, pretty unedited. This is for everyone who wanted a bit of Adult!Sakura awesomeness. With some Adult!Hinata awesomeness too, because I love the supermoms! Also, um, little bit of graphic violence here.

I still haven’t updated the links on here for IOG, so if you intend to read the story from the beginning WHICH I HIGHLY RECOMMEND YOU DO IF YOU HAVEN’T READ THIS STORY SINCE IT WAS UPDATED IN 2017, the story is located in full on FF.net / Ao3 and wattpad.

Blackened bodies line the floor of the stone-enclosed rotunda, gaping holes where their hearts should be, and shrivelled remains of those organs crushed nearby.

Konohamaru flips the last of his opponents over his shoulder, directly in the path of Hinata, who shoves two fingers forward and detonates the chakra surrounding its heart. The bat-like creature screams, wings shaking, and then drops to the floor.

“Think that’s all of them?” he asks, glancing at the two women.

The ground shakes again, forcing them to center their chakra against the floor to keep upright. There is a movement across from them, and then it seems as if the entire rocky wall in front of them, from ground to ceiling, suddenly breaks off.

Hateful yellow eyes glare down on them from on high, and a giant foot steps down, landing several metres away from them.

Konohamaru groans. “I had to ask, didn’t I?”

Sakura sighs. “There’s always a big one, isn’t there?”

The veins in Hinata’s eyes pulse, and her pupils flick back and forth quickly.

“There’s more than one seal on this one!”

Which makes sense, considering its size.

“How many?” Konohamaru asks through gritted teeth as another foot stomps down, forcing giant craters into the floor beneath its clawed toes. Drools drips from the creatures maw, splashing over them.

“Eight!”

“Eight—like the Eight Gates?” Sakura cries, thinking fast. Everyone knows the location of those, if only from study.

“Exactly!”

The giant, shambling creature reaches down, trying to grasp hold of them in its mottled blood red hand. The shinobi scatter in different directions, but it almost grabs hold of Hinata. The curse-seal seems to make it faster than something of its size should be.

It swings for Sakura next, and she meets the blow with a snarl, punching its grasping hand away. It does not seem bothered by the blow, and once again goes for Hinata.

It specifically seems to be targeting the women, perhaps knowing that they are the key to its destruction. The constant flailing makes the ground shake and granite fall from above them, and in the distance, Konohamaru can hear something collapse together.

It might be durable, but it’s hindered by this place. If it keeps moving around like this, it will bring the place down!

Which might not hurt it, but it could cause cave-ins elsewhere, and hurt his students and their parents. If only there was—

An idea occurs to him.

“Mrs Boss! Did Boruto ever tell you how his class passed their Academy final?”

Hinata and Sakura’s eyes flick toward each other in a look of dawning comprehension.

“We need to confuse it first, so it doesn’t know who to get to,” Hinata says.

Sakura nods. “Alright, Konohamaru—we’ll follow your lead on this one!”

“Right! Kage Bunshin!”

Four clones of him appear—the maximum he can sustain while also having them use any long-term A-rank techniques—and at the same the two women form hand signs for Henge.

Seven Konohamarus scatter as the curse-seal creature brings down its hand, raking across the stone ground. They spread out in a circle around the beast, and it tosses its head in frustration trying to decide who to go after first.

Using its momentary pause, the seven figures form their next bevvy of hand signs, and call out, “Isshi Tojin!”

A swirling seal formula radiates from all seven points, reaching to the edges of the circular room. Within the string light formation, the creature freezes, unable to move beyond it.

“Hinata!” the Konohamaru copy across the room suddenly says. “I have an idea, if you’re game! But it could get messy!”

“Everything is already messy,” the Konohamaru-copy to its right says.

“Konohamaru! Can you keep the circle together on your own for a few seconds?”

“As long as it’s only a few seconds,” Konohamaru and his clones chorus.

“Alright then!” the clone that is Sakura says. “And…now!”

The copy beside her breaks in to a run, the sealing circle around it vanishing as it darts forward. Konohamaru grunts, feeling as if a heavy weight has been added to an already difficult burden, but holds tight.

Sakura maintains her own part of the seal until the last possible second, before letting go—Konohamaru snarls in effort as the weight doubles—and grabbing hold of the clone. At her touch, the transformation is undone the women revert to their normal forms. Sakura crouches, grabbing Hinata’s around the left bicep and right thigh, and then propels her toward the giant.

In midair, twin lions flare to life as Hinata barrels to the creatures middle. As Hinata pierces through its abdomen, Sakura takes her position once more in the sealing circle.

Konohamaru shudders, still struggling under the weight of the jutsu, but then Sakura is focussing her chakra, taking much of the burden off of him.

The beast’s back arches, and they can see frenzied, jagged movements beneath its leather skin—Hinata using her Jūho Sōshiken from inside. Within seconds, blue flames burst from its abdomen and Hinata lands on the ground in a rain of black blood and viscera.

“I got three,” she says grimly, spitting out blood.

Konohamaru and Sakura allow the Isshi Tojin to break, and Sakura darts forward as the beast falls, knees folding beneath it and screaming in agony. Leaping through the air, she yells—“SHANNARO!”—and slams two fists directly into its head, sending shards of bone into its eyes and brain.

That’s two more, Konohamaru counts, leaping up onto the creature’s chest and snarling, “Doton: Doryuso!”

Giant spikes of earth punch through the earth beneath them, puncturing it just above the abdomen and through the ribs.  

“Did I get them all?” he demands, even as the creature continues to stir beneath them.

“No, there’s one left!” Hinata calls from the ground. “You just missed the heart by inches!”

But Sakura is already charging forward, sliding into a crouch and kicking outward with her right leg. One of the spikes is shattered all the way through and begins to topple. She has it in her hands then, balancing the enormous slab of condensed mud, and brings it down hard on the left side of the giant’s chest.

The beast gives one last screech and twitch, and then goes still.

The three of them wait, panting, for yet another wave of enemies to come at them, but it is utterly silent in the echoing chamber now.

Konohamaru lets out a breath and leans on his knees. “Oh, man, what a relief…I don’t think I could do anymore!”

Hinata and Sakura glance at each other, and smile.

“I must look a real mess,” Hinata says, anxiously pushing a blood-slicked lock of hair behind her ear. “I hope I don’t make Boruto and Naruto worry, thinking I’m hurt.”

“You look fine,” Sakura grins. “I’ve seen much worse. And they know you better than to think that could hurt you.”

“Hm.” Hinata nods. “Alright, let’s go.”

They start toward the rickety staircase, and something occurs to Konohamaru.

“Hey—hey, wait! I have a name for that combo you guys used: The Boss Lady Stream!”

“Not now, Konohamaru…”

つづく

Hope you enjoyed it! Also, this is the last Interlude before the end of the story. Gasp! I know! Who knew this story was ever going to end?! But as of right now, I’ve got five chapters and an epilogue outlined. Of course, when I predict how many chapter I always tend to be a little off, and I really like the idea of having the fic be 40 chapters in total (including prologue, interludes and epilogues), but we’ll see…

If you enjoy my writing, I encourage you to check out my patreon, where I am publishing my original fiction! Every little bit helps!

栗

[nyota-sungura]

@minugahanax [ Akikuni ] | Patisserie ;;

                   “Manjū buns, hmn?” It wasn’t the first time they’ve been requested, he’d sometimes get an older couple who didn’t have the means to make them with their own hands anymore ask for them, but he wasn’t sure which type would suit the stranger before him just yet. Dakota and his sister prided themselves on making sure their clients were happy and that what they had ordered suited them. Be it flora or sweets, the twins never left anyone unsatisfied if they could help it. “Let me see what I can do for ya, sir. You can either come back in about  or have a seat at the bar or lounging area,” he flashed a smile and set to work. Most of the time, people decided it best to leave and get other things done when they came in with a request that hadn’t been prepared but was wanted today, but he never minded when people watched him bake. The patisserie was hardly shy about his work and some people wanted to know his methods to ensure their items were well made.

Unfortunately for this situation, the person before him was strangely mysterious and held no tells that he could obviously see. Nothing beyond the probability that he perhaps liked to be secretive was shown and that made it a bit difficult to make something suited to the other. Humming in thought, he got an idea and was rather quick on the draw. He moved about his work space like a bat out of hell, laying out fresh ingredients and sterile tools in specific areas for easy access. Dakota never slacked off and always had things prepared, gloves on his hands and a smile on his face, he figured why not make more than one or two types of Manjū? ‘ You seem excited, Dakota. Do we have an interesting customer? ‘ The words entered his mind, his sister at her other occupation as she prodded at his thoughts without hesitation. ‘ Kinda, I can’t figure ‘im out, he’s got no tells t’ what he might be preferential to so its gonna be really fun to make somethin’ suited for ‘im. Its Manjū buns. Now quit talkin’ to me and focus missy, you’re a danger when you’re not mindin’ ya feet miss trip. ‘

A silent snicker came from him at his beloved twin’s huff and resignation to his truthful words, his hands never once stopping as he prepped everything and started with the traditional recipe of a plain bun filled with anko. After a few ticking minutes, he’d gone about setting up for traditional Manjū, Sakura Manjū, Ice cream Manjū, and Chestnut Manjū-- making two of each and sticking to the traditional quantity of nine by adding one Chocolate Manjū with Kabocha filling. (Which he habitually shaped into that of a rabbit, given he often made it for grandchildren.)