#Timeline - Post Chunin Exams

[konohagakurekakashi]

Kakashi's thoughts (as per our HC's) on seeing Tsunade not only back in the village but finding out she's the Godaime?!

|| In all honesty Kakashi was a listless, emotional eddy at the time, very evocative of the Uzushiogakure emblem stitched onto the standard issue blues he dresses in. With that said, I made this more about feelings than thoughts. Though in his case, I suppose it's the same thing. Accept it.

Initially he felt confused, red miasma evaporating from the recesses of his mind with every pulse of her mystical palm technique. Why was he in bed? Was this the hospital? Why and for how long has he been out? Then he became aware of the throb in his left eye-socket, the raw, burning ache of the Sharingan bringing with it the memories of a pair of cloaks adorned in red clouds and the crimson haze of Tsukuyomi. Red. Red.

The second feeling that followed was panic. If he was here, did that mean that Itachi and his pet fish managed to capture Naruto? Was Sasuke alright? What about Kurenai, Asuma and Gai? He pushed himself onto his elbows, then into a seated position, despite every muscle and joint screaming its protest. There was movement on his right, words being spoken, but he managed to ward of the poking, glowing digits with a grunt and a wince. He noticed that the tips of the receding fingernails were stained red. Red, more red.

What followed after was pain, just pain. The hand reaching for his being cuffed to the side in favour of him hunching forward so he could press the heel of his palm against his closed lid. He took a few shallow breaths, finally taking stock of the dim chakra flickers surrounding his bed. He noted Gai and Naruto’s first, the signatures that were so distinctly them, answering at least two of the questions which he had swirling through his mind. They seemed eager, impatient even, not at all aggrieved, which left the end results of their fight with the Akatsuki up in the air.

He paused when his sluggish mind finally processed the other two chakra imprints in the room, the instant recognition causing his shallow breaths to stutter and cease and then there was just…disbelief…because Uchiha Itachi appearing in the Hidden Leaf Village for round two was more believable than his present. Against his better judgement the Jōnin angled his head to the side to take in the two kunoichi, a twinge of pain ensuing the movement. Senju Tsunade looked more or less the same as he remembered, her hands on her hips and a rue, annoyed smile twisting the corners of her mouth – no doubt a consequence of him slapping her hands away. Her hair was longer and a diamond seal found its way across her temple, but in all other aspects; she seemed...unchanged. He also noted that her nails were red. Always red.

When asked, Kakashi would aver that he stopped looking at the large, village gates years ago. Not even when he passed through Konoha’s gates himself did he spare them a blink. He didn’t need to, not since that day. The guard post and its two occupants became his end point- his “I’m here” and his “I’m going” but not those gates.  It was a bitter nexus to observe, even through all of the aches and the brain fog; that the haori she was wearing was the exact same colour as those towering egresses. She was speaking then, tone still very much annoyed, reprimanding him for allowing a measly two insurgents to get the better of him, before allowing Gai and Naruto to whisk her away. The silence that followed brought the shame and the guilt.

It was Asuma that eventually informed him that Tsunade would be the Godaime Hokage, leaning against his open window, whilst recalling the way the woman had to dispel academy grade traps courtesy of his nephew. The boy’s antics seemed to please him, plumes of smoke exuding from grinning lips and coiling out of the window like wispy snakes, before a screeching nurse appeared to kick him and his cigarettes out of the room, complaining all the while as she shadowed Asuma to the exit: ‘smoke was detrimental to one’s health and absolutely forbidden within the hospital. How dare he!’ Kakashi watched a sheepish Sarutobi go, unsure how he felt about the news. On one hand he understood the stratagem that the Elders followed. It made sense to appoint a student of the Third as his replacement, and with Orochimaru labeled a rogue and Jiraiya frolicking across the Elemental Nations to sustain his spy network, Tsunade was the only viable option. Even though logical Kakashi still couldn’t fully fathom it. She didn’t strike him as the type to sit behind a desk all day, signing off on paperwork. In all the years that he has known her, she has never once showed an interest in the hat despite it practically being an 'heirloom' and then there was also the fact that she was never, ever supposed to return; his mind having reconciled that datum when he eventually stopped peering at those towering gates. Accepting the position of 'Fire Shadow' was like chaining oneself to the village - and like him, she was already chained to something else, the specters of her past.

Despite his misgivings, the Sannin’s healing increased his recovery greatly and he soon found himself slumped amongst the rest of the villagers, peering up at the Hokage Tower as Tsunade formally accepted the hat and the shackles associated therewith. Even bearing witness to the whole thing, a gentle breeze anointing the moment to memory, he still could not accede the juncture for what it was, expecting the Iryō-nin to disappear through those green posterns the moment the Elders let their guard down. He wouldn’t blame her and Shizune for the withdrawal; the narrow, winding paths, crowded markets and booming village populace likely more alien now than the tōro lanterns of the Fire Capital.

Still, he happened to glimpse her at an Izakaya the day after the ceremony, sake cup slanted in her grip as she paged through a file. He saw her a few days after that, growling at an academy instructor for not including basic first aid in the current curriculum and again some days thereafter with a few rumpled scrolls tucked underneath an arm, whilst she decreed for all to hear how tired she was of fixing her sensei’s 'messes'. Days turned into a week and one week evolved into two and before he knew it, he was meandering his way passed the two guards stationed outside of the Kage’s door with a full ten minutes to spare. Their shocked splutters and quacks of indignation went ignored, which he supposed only added to their ire (but really, despite the Konoha grapevine spewing the contrary he did own an alarm clock). Once stood in the confines of the office, Kakashi didn’t feel a jolt of surprise as he noted the Godaime behind the desk. He didn’t hesitate when he stepped up to accept his first A-rank since being discharged from the hospital and he made no interruptions as the Kage expanded on the mission rudiments, red-tipped fingers folded deftly underneath her chin. The copy-nin only hummed his response, feeling acceptance.

@senjutsunade

[gaasaku-fanfests]

GaaSaku-Fanfests Month Prompts Post

Hi!😋😎😍😘💕💓💗💖

Here it is, the 2023 GaaSaku-Fanfests Month Prompt post. They are as follows: [click/tap on the images for a clearer read.]

Text version:

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Day 1 ◊ BAMF Sakura ◊ Cinnamon Roll Gaara ◊ “Punch me.”

Day 2 ◊ First Kiss ◊ First Time ◊ “You kissed me to shut me up?!”

Day 3 ◊ Sparring ◊ Childhood Crush ◊ “Dance with me.”

Day 4 ◊ Medic ◊ Naked ◊ “That doesn’t go there.”

Day 5 ◊ War ◊ Inverse Trope ◊ “Who is the real enemy?”

Day 6 ◊ Masturbation ◊ Forbidden Jutsu ◊ “It’s not illegal where I come from.”

Day 7 ◊ Coffee/Café AU ◊ Tattoo ◊ “Why are you following me?”

Day 8 ◊ Pregnancy ◊ Long Distance Relationship ◊ “Didn’t see that coming, did you?”

Day 9 ◊ Song Fic/Art ◊ Sick Fic/Art ◊ ��Make Me.”

Day 10 ◊ Desert ◊ Flowers ◊ “I wrote you a love poem.”

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Day 11 ◊ BDSM/Kink ◊ Porn ◊ “Tell me what you want me to do to you.”

Day 12 ◊ Enemies to Lovers ◊ Friends to Lovers ◊ “Who do you think you are?”

Day 13 ◊ Wet Dream ◊ Inner Sakura/Shukaku ◊ “I had a dream about you.”

Day 14 ◊ Fake/Accidental Dating ◊ First/Blind Date ◊ “You opened my eyes.”

Day 15 ◊ One Night Stand ◊ Modern AU ◊ “Close your eyes.”

Day 16 ◊ Kazekage ◊ Politics ◊ “Do You Trust Me?”

Day 17 ◊ Marriage ◊ Honeymoon ◊ “It’s our anniversary.”

Day 18 ◊ Masquerade ◊ Secret Relationship ◊ “Be quiet or they’ll hear us.”

Day 19 ◊ Strength/Weakness ◊ Forgiveness ◊ “I’m strong but you make me weak.”

Day 20 ◊ Joint Village Mission ◊ Chunin Exams ◊ “I wish I still hated you.”

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Day 21 ◊ Soulmate/Soul Bond ◊ Bodyguard ◊ “What will this cost me?”

Day 22 ◊ Morning After ◊ Pillowtalk ◊ “Good Morning.”

Day 23 ◊ Family ◊ Domestic ◊ “It’s your turn to do the dishes.”

Day 24 ◊ Mythology ◊ Supernatural ◊ “I want to eat you.”

Day 25 ◊ Sex Pollen ◊ Scent/Senses ◊ “You smell so good.”

Day 26 ◊ PTSD/Mental Illness ◊ Bad Guy Wins ◊ “Save Me.”

Day 27 ◊ Oblivious ◊ Trapped ◊ “It’s getting hot in here.”

Day 28 ◊ Confessions ◊ Protect/Overprotective ◊ “What's your starsign?.”

Day 29 ◊ Casual Friday ◊ Free Day ◊ “Be careful what you wish for.”

Day 30 ◊ Home ◊ Vacation ◊ “All I want to do is love you.”

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These prompts are only a guideline so feel free to interpret them as you see fit. There are plenty lot of prompts so there’s more to feel inspired by. 💕

Also:

I’ve updated the ‘rules’ and ‘timeline’ - you can navigate there on the gaasaku-fanfests blog. I’ve changed the theme for both blogs so if you get confused, don’t hesitate to ask any questions you might have.

That’s if from me. I hope y’all like the prompts and find yourselves inspired to write or draw when the time comes. And spread that GaaSaku love.💕

Remember:

To participate all you have to do is post on your blog and I will reblog it to gaasaku-fanfests. The rules are on the blog, easily accessible using the navigation. Make sure everything is tagged properly and warnings are clear

Have fun!

.

As promised: @kimazuiiii . @oitanjerine . @babybinxxx . sabito-hasaku . @24primaveras . @fallen-in-dreams . @xeresmalfoy . @mangoissour . @bighugsbadtimes . @gaasaku-needsmorefanart . @mechina . @nsart . @longliveustherecklessandthebrave . @umbrasolaris . @missjewelsart . @deathblossom255 .

.

And PLEASE share this post wherever you can.💕💕

@narutoevents

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See you all soon. 😋😎😍😘💕💓💗💖

[depressedhatakekakashi]

Check-In

Gai's Birthday Bingo 2023

Prompt: Mask

Words: 3,760

Character: Maito Gai, Yamato, Hatake Kakashi

Notes: Post- Chunin Exams

“A month?” Tenzo just about choked on his tea when he heard the timeline his Senpai had given him for Sasuke’s training. He’d known that Kakashi had plans to focus on his student’s training in preparation for his next chunin exam fight, but to be told that he’d be out of contact for a month seemed a little extreme. In all of the years they’d known each other he’d never known Kakashi to take even a day away from training, but now here he was telling him that he’d be taking an entire month. “What if there’s a mission? Or an attack?”

“I’ll be just outside the village,” Kakashi dismissed his questions with swift answers while stirring the minuscule remains of his tea. “If anyone needs to contact me they’ll be able to. Whether I answer or not will be determined by how important I think the issue is.”

“But-”

“There are no buts,” his Senpai continued over him. “Sasuke’s being pitted against that Gaara kid from Suna. Not only did that kid break Itachi’s record for finishing the forest of death, but he just about killed Lee in their battle. If Gai hadn’t stepped in…” his words drifted off, but the weight of what he refused to say still lingered over them.

If Gai hadn’t stepped in, Lee would have died.

Tenzo hadn’t been there to see the fights himself, but he’d heard all about them from Asuma when they met up for drinks shortly after. Every detail had been spilled over Sake, from Asuma’s disappointment over Choji and Ino’s loss’ to his surprise at Naruto’s win.

The fight that he’d talked about, though, was Rock Lee’s. Not a single detail had been spared and by the end of the night, Tenzo could feel the concern that radiated off of Asuma. He’d even expressed some fear about Shikamaru’s upcoming fight against the Suna girl, Temari, but it was nothing compared to his concern about his student facing off against Gaara.

That was the fear of a sensei who didn’t have his student going up against Gaara, though. For his Senpai, the reality was very different. Not only was Sasuke set up to face Gaara in his next match, but according to Kakashi, he was woefully unprepared.

“I have to make sure he does alright,” Kakashi whispered, his eyes focused on the swirling tea in his cup. “I put them into this exam. I need to help them survive, no matter what. Even if it means I ignore missions for a little while.”

Tenzo understood his Senpai’s concerns. Every shinobi in Konoha faced the chunin exams, but it seemed that the risks in these exams were far more than when Kakashi had anticipated. Not only was there the threat that the Gaara kid posed but there was also Orochimaru. 

A sannin seeking to steal Sasuke, one of Kakashi’s precious students, and use for their own gain.

The world was stacking the odds against Kakashi and all he could do was try his best to protect his students. 

“What about the others?” Tenzo asked, his mind wandering to the other two students Kakashi had taken on. Whenever he spoke of them Kakashi seemed to have nothing but praise. Although he’d been forced into the job, it seemed to Tenzo that he’d taken to it quite well. 

His students were his pride and joy and he made sure to remind Tenzo of that fact every time they saw each other.

“Naruto needs to work on his chakra control,” Kakashi answered with ease. “I’ve spoken to Ebisu about training him while I’m helping Sasuke. If he can improve in that area I’m sure he’ll do well in his next match. He is Konoha’s number one unpredictable ninja, after all. No one expected him to make it this far, but here he is.”

Tenzo couldn’t help but laugh at the terrible nickname his Senpai had given Naruto. “Isn’t he going against one of Gai-san’s students? Hyuga Neji, correct?” Kakashi nodded. “I’ve heard a bit about him. Seems like he could pose a bit of a problem to Naruto.”

“He can,” Kakashi confirmed. “But there’s not much I can do for Naruto until he improves his chakra control, and Ebisu’s a better teacher in that regard than I am. Besides, as dangerous as Neji is he’s not going to kill Naruto.”

“Are you sure about that?” Another story he’d heard from Asuma was about Neji’s fight against Hyuga Hinata, and that was a story that said the exact opposite of what his Senpai was telling him. 

“Neji is hard, but not that bad,” Kakashi confirmed. “He’s also Gai’s student. I trust that if things get out of hand, Gai will step in if I’m not there too.”

“True,” There was no one who knew Kakashi’s struggles better than Gai. Even Tenzo didn’t know the true extent of what his Senpai had suffered in his life, but he had learned enough over the years to know that he’d do everything in his power to protect Kakashi from more pain. There was no doubt in his mind that Gai felt the same way. “So Naruto will be trained by Ebisu and Sakura?”

“A month without training won’t kill her,” Kakashi sighed. “She’ll have to take care of her training for the time, but I’ll make it up to them all when the exams are done and everything has settled. Once I can breathe then I’ll kick into gear.”

Tenzo cringed at the saying. During his time in team Ro with Kakashi he’d come to understand that ‘Kick into gear’ really meant ‘drive them into the ground until they can’t move, and then do it again’.

Sakura was going to need the month-long break to prepare for what was coming her way.

“So a month,” he sighed, circling back to the beginning of the conversation. “That’s going to be a pretty boring month for me. Though, I guess I can focus a bit more on missions while you’re occupied.”

“Actually,” straightening up, Kakashi locked eyes with Tenzo. “I have a request.”

Gai’s apartment was easy to locate. Not only did Tenzo have the apartment number that his Senpai had written down on a small piece of paper for him, three-zero-five written in giant blocky letters so that he wouldn’t misread any of the numbers, but there was also a sign hanging on the front of the door that announced who was living there with pride.

A simple wooden sign that Tenzo recalled making himself just a few years ago for Gai’s birthday. He hadn’t known what to get for the overly energetic Jonin until his Senpai had shown him a picture of his tortoise summon that he’d snuck during one of his outings as ‘Sukea’. Now here it was, staring back at Tenzo after a year. Telling him exactly what he needed to know.

He was in the right place.

Now all he had to do was knock.

“Come on,” he lifted his right hand and took a deep breath, but nothing happened. His hand refused to move. “You can do it, Tenzo. It’s just a quick check-up. Poke your head in, make sure he’s alive and functioning, and go. That’s all. It’s easy.”

He took another deep, slow breath, but still nothing happened.

His hand just hovered there in front of the door, neither lowering nor reaching out to knock. Stuck in a limbo of inactivity that Tenzo couldn’t seem to force it out of. 

“Just one knock,” he whispered, cringing when his hand refused to move. “Come on. He’s not going to hurt you.”

Gai was a good man. Stranger and perhaps a little too much for Tenzo to handle most days, but a good man. Short of harming Kakashi, which he would never think of doing, or one of his students, there was nothing Tenzo could think of that he could do to upset Gai.

Even if there was, Checking up on him certainly wasn’t on the list. 

“Just go,” he insisted. “One knock and-”

Before he could finish that train of thought the door swung open and he found himself face to face with Maito Gai.

Smiley, energetic, always pleasant Maito Gai.

Except, none of those descriptors seemed to fit the man that he was staring at today. Not because Gai wasn’t trying to portray himself as the exact same person he always with, with a smile that spread across his entire face, but because that smile didn’t match at all with the tired, defeated look in his eyes. 

“You look…”

“Great?” Gai cheered, though his voice sounded a little flatter than usual. “Wonderful? Ready to jump out and greet the day with the full power of my youth?”

Tenzo shook his head. “Awful.”

As soon as the word left his mouth the smile dropped off of Gai’s face and his shoulders slumped. “You’re learning from Kakashi, aren’t you?” he sighed, all of his usual energy missing from his voice. “

“I am a trained Anbu operative,” Tenzo argued, just a little insulted by the implication that he would need his Senpai to tell him what to look out for when he approached Gai. His Senpai had, of course, given him a few hints of what to keep an eye out for, but that didn’t matter. He was trained to read people’s emotions and body language. To look deeper and see all of the subtle signals that they were trying to hide from him. 

“Ah,” waving off his protests, Gai leaned forward and peered down the hallway. “He’s not with you, is he?”

Tenzo could only sigh. “He’s out training Sasuke for his next match,” he assured the green-clad dork that his Senpai called ‘rival’. “That’s why I’m here.”

“To check up on me?” jutting his bottom lip out, Gai huffed. “I’m fine. I don’t need someone to pop in and make sure everything is alright. I’m not-”

He stopped himself, but Tenzo knew exactly what he wanted to say. 

I’m not Kakashi.

A low blow, but a rather deserved one. In the twenty years that he’d known his Senpai one undeniable fact that Tenzo had learned was that his Senpai didn’t handle loss or disaster well. He would always put on a front, masking his emotions behind an aloof attitude, but deep down he was spiraling.

Tenzo didn’t think Gai would have the same reaction. His experiences with pain, as far as Tenzo knew, were different than Kakashi’s and his personality was almost the complete opposite.

That didn’t stop him from worrying, though. Everyone had a breaking point and although he hadn’t met any of Gai’s students, he’d heard enough about them to know just how much Gai cared about Lee.

If there was someone out there in the world whose death would cause Gai to crumble, it was either Kakashi or Lee. Kakashi because of their long-standing friendship and rivalry, and Lee because of how much Gai had come to care about him in such a short amount of time.

Tenzo wasn’t keen to find out which one it was anytime soon. The energy that Gai brought to the village was strange but comforting. The world needed more of the bright, youthful energy and less destroyed, irreparable spirits. 

“I see,” shoving those thoughts to the side for the moment, he leaned to the right just enough to get a view into the room behind Gai. The layout was the same as every other Jonin apartment in the building but with a few weights laying out on the floor and a workout mat half haphazardly thrown into the corner beside Gai’s desk. On the desk, there was a bit more of a mess, with dishes piling up on the back near the wall and three books of various sizes spread open along the desk. “And what is it you’re reading about?”

“Uh, well,” glancing back over his shoulder, Gai cringed. “I was just looking up some information. It’s important to keep up to date with our knowledge.”

There it was again. That wide, toothy grin that Gai always wore on his face.

A grin that Tenzo had once viewed with caution, but which he’d come to enjoy over the years.

“Stop it.”

“Stop what?” Gai blinked, the smile dropping away for just a split second, only to return as soon as Gai realized it was gone. “Stop reading?”

“Smiling.” Tenzo huffed, hating the words that were coming out of his mouth. As much as he liked to complain about Gai’s seemingly endless amounts of energy, he had genuinely come to love his smile. 

It was one of the brightest, most genuine smiles he had ever seen in his life, and whenever Gai turned it toward him he felt a strange warmth spreading in his chest. Kakashi had laughed at him the first time he talked about it and told him that everyone felt that way about Gai’s smile, but he hadn’t believed him.

Now, though, that warmth was missing. He couldn’t look at Gai’s smile and feel happy to see it because deep down he knew it was a lie. A mask that Gai was using to hide away the pain he was experiencing. 

“I don’t-”

Deciding to make a daring move, Tenzo pushed past Gai into his apartment and headed straight for the desk. His goal was the pile of dishes that sat at the back of the desk, but as he reached out for them he couldn’t help but gaze down at the books.

Medical books, all turned to pages with detailed pictures of leg muscles or leg bones. 

Kakashi had been right to ask him to check in on Gai. 

“You’re worried,” he noted, focusing his attention back on the dishes and slowly starting to move them from the desk into a small space between his left arm and chest.. “You’re overthinking Lee’s condition and trying to make up for your lack of knowledge on the subject by studying as much as you can.”

“What are you, an interrogator?” Gai huffed.

“No,’ That line of work had been a part of Tenzo’s job once, a long time ago, but it was rare for him to take on that role in Anbu. “I’m a friend,” placing the last dish on the pile that now teetered in his arm, he maneuvered his right arm around it for a bit more support and turned toward the kitchen. “A friend who has specifically been sent by another friend to check in on you.”

“Always straight to the point,” Gai sighed as he followed Tenzo toward the kitchen, dragging his feet along the floor. “And what are you doing with my dishes?”

“Cleaning them, obviously,” coming to a stop in front of the sink, he leaned down and carefully placed the dishes down so they didn’t topple over. The last thing he wanted to do today was go shopping for a new set of dishes after destroying all of the ones Gai had. “Since you’re too focused on improving your knowledge pool someone has to make sure you’re going to be eating off of clean plates.”

“I can-” turning his head, he glared straight at Gai. “N-never mind.”

“That’s what I thought,” with that argument sufficiently killed he focused back on the daunting task he’d taken on. “Well, I’m doing the dishes maybe you can make some tea?”

“Tea?”

“Yes,” Tezno confirmed. “You do still remember what tea is, right?”

Gai sputtered, tripping over his words a few times before finally taking a deep breath. “Green tea?” His voice came out strained, but the question was quickly followed by the sound of feet shuffling and cupboards being pulled open.

“Green tea is fine,” Tenzo confirmed. Turning on the tap he watched as water flowed into the sink. The pile he’d collected was taller than anything he’d ever tackled before, but he was certain that it was a task he could finish in under ten minutes. Just enough time for Gai to make them some tea. Once the dishes were clean and the two of them were seated with their drink, then he would start asking the questions that were already swirling around in his mind. 

How long has it been since you went outside?

When was the last time you got yourself some dango?

How is he doing?

Those were questions that would have to wait till later, though. Things he would ask when the two of them were sitting face to face with their hands wrapped around a warm cup of tea. 

Until then, they would continue swirling around in his mind demanding an answer to the nagging concerns that came with each one of them. 

“You don’t have to worry, you know,” Gai spoke as he stepped up to Tenzo’s side and held out his kettle to him. Taking the kettle, Tenzo popped it open and placed it under the tap. Once it was about halfway full he pulled it back and returned it to Gai. “I’m fine.”

“Fine,” he couldn’t help but laugh. Every moment he’d heard Kakashi say that exact line to him came rushing back to him. Bombarding him with memories of exhausted, haunted eyes staring through him as if he wasn’t even there. “Your student is in the hospital.”

“I know that.” Snatching the kettle back, Gai turned away with a huff. Instead of making his way toward the stove, though, he just stood there. His back facing Tenzo and his kettle clutched in his hand. “I know that…”

At that moment, Tenzo regretted agreeing to his Senpai’s request.

If he’d been smart he would have insisted Kakashi come instead. He would have pressured his Senpai to put off Sasuke’s training for just a few hours to check in on his friend. It was Kakashi, not Tenzo, who knew how best to support Gai.

He hadn’t, though.

Instead, he’d promised to take care of it. Assured his Senpai that he would make sure Gai was taken care of when he couldn’t be there for him. Now he was stuck with a pile of dishes higher than he’d ever seen, with no idea what to say next.

Well, there was one thing he could say. Something that he was certain he would never dare to utter in front of anyone else, even under threat of torture, but which seemed fitting in this moment.

“If it was Kakashi-Senpai, I’d be a mess.”

Gai spun round, an expression of utter horror on his face as he stared at Tenzo. “What?”

Grabbing the first dish from the pile he took a deep breath and started cleaning. “If it was Kakashi-Senpai in the hospital,” he continued. “I would be a mess. Or even Yugao, or you.”

It was difficult for him to admit, but all of his years of being trained to cut himself off from others and deny himself any emotional bonds had failed. Part of it was because of his Senpai’s insistence on friendship, which had rubbed off on him over the years, but there was also a piece of him that knew he never would have been able to succeed.

His friends were important to him. No matter how much he wanted to cut himself off from them, he couldn’t. It’s exactly the weakness that Kakashi had exploited when he found out about Tenzo’s mission to kill him, and what had led to him going against Danzo’s orders for the first time in his life. 

If any of his friends were stuck in the hospital with an injury that might never be healed, he would throw himself into his work much like Kakashi always did. There wouldn’t be a pile of dishes growing on his desk or open medical textbooks, but his mental health would take a turn for the worst.

And if or when that happened, he knew two things for certain.

Kakashi would show up at his door dragging him outside for some fresh air insisting that he can’t give up, and Gai would be right behind him with that brilliant smile and promises of dango and spars to cheer him up. 

“All I’m saying is…” finishing with the first bowl he placed it under the tap to wash away the leftover soap and placed it into the small drying rack beside the sink. “I get it. You don’t have to pretend to be alright for me, Gai.”

For a second the two of them just stood there. Gai holding onto his kettle full of water, and Tenzo washing dishes. The only sound that echoed in the small apartment was running water and the light clink of dishes as Tenzo added them to the drying rack.

Then, without any warning, Gai set the kettle down on the counter, threw his arms around Tenzo’s shoulders, and pulled him into a bone-crushing hug. 

“Gai-” Tenzo croaked out as his bones cried out in pain. Immediately the Jonin loosened his hold, though he still kept Tenzo pinned against his body as he buried his face into his right shoulder. 

“I’m sorry,” he whispered into Tenzo’s shirt. “No apologies,” placing his hand on Gai’s arm, he ignored the water dripping from his fingers. There wasn’t much for him to say at the moment. Comforting other people wasn’t something he was good at, and he wasn’t about to pretend to be.

Comfort wasn’t what Gai needed, though. Kind words wouldn’t wash away the reality of the situation his student was in. They wouldn’t rid him of the memories of Lee’s battle, or the sight of his student laying in a hospital bed lucky that he had survived but with little hope for a continued life as a shinobi. 

Kind words would do nothing for Gai during this time, so Tenzo didn’t bother to try and come up with any. Instead, he simply stood there and let Gai hide his face in his shoulder while he hugged him. 

‘Just be there for him,’ Kakashi had told him when he’d asked why he wanted him to go check in on his best friend. ‘He needs someone right now. Usually, I would go, but I only have a month to prepare Sasuke for this next fight. So go in my place, please.’

So, that’s what Tenzo resolved to do.

Be there for Gai. 

Ask him questions, check in on his well-being, and just listen.

There was nothing he could say to make the situation better, but if Kakashi was right he wouldn’t need to. All Gai needed was company, and that was something Tenzo could provide in spades.

[comikadraws]

I actually think that the graduation happens in January in the Narutoverse, because Sakura is listed to have 17 alongside Naruto and Sasuke in the Fourth Databook, what would not be possible if she was born after them.

Jin no Sho Graduation Retcon

Okay, let's continue the prequel from last time and explain what I meant in this post.

Age Progression in the Databooks

In the prequel to this post, I explained how reconstructing timeline events based on character birthdays is a senseless effort. That's because the Databooks don't age up the cast individually (in accordance with their respective birthdays) but uniformly (the writer just puts a +1 on all characters).

This "all characters age up uniformly" rule does not apply to Jin no Sho, however, as you can see in the table below.

Jin no Sho was released during the War Arc which ends on October 10th (Naruto's birthday). In accordance with that, not all characters have aged between the two releases of Sha no Sho (Third Databook) and Jin no Sho (Fourth Databook). Specifically, all characters born between October 11th and December 31st did not age. For seemingly no reason, this is the very first time that the Databooks accurately reflect character ages and birthdays.

To our graduation month question, two character ages are particularly relevant for us:

Hinata Hyuuga (born on December 27th) is still 16 years old according to Jin no Sho.

Shino Aburame (born on January 23rd) is already 17 years old according to Jin no Sho.

Both of these characters are classmates of Naruto. So, assuming all of Naruto's classmates graduated at the age of 12 rather than various ages, Academy students in Konoha must graduate somewhere between December 27th and January 22nd.

Graduation Time in Naruto (Surface Level)

The problem is, that this is probably a retcon. As I already explained in the prequel, the Japanese school year goes from April to March and is therefore a very likely inspiration for Konoha's school system. This is also somewhat supported by Kakashi stating that the Waves Arc takes place in spring.

And also Team 7 only participated in 8 missions so far at the time of the Chunin Exams (July-August). This results in a monthly mission average of 2.7 missions per month (or 3.5 if we exclude the Waves Arc). Conversely, had the characters graduated at the beginning of January, that would result in a monthly mission average of 1.3. The latter arrangement seems somewhat unlikely because we know that the teams don't take large breaks between missions unless somebody has been injured.

For reference, Team 7's monthly mission averages:

Graduation in early January: 1.3 (total), 1.6 (minus Waves Arc)

Graduation in late March: 2.7 (total), 3.5 (minus Waves Arc)

Graduation Time in Naruto (According to Timeline Placements)

But those are honestly just surface-level indications that can be easily ignored. What I noticed when constructing a Naruto timeline on my own was that you can actually re-construct the timeline of early Naruto fairly well, thanks to the Chunin Exams.

The Chunin Exams commence on July 1st and conclude in early August after a one-month break.

We can then piece the timeline together from there.

We learn that Itachi and Kisame arrive in Konoha only two days after the Chunin Exams. After that, Naruto and Jiraiya take at least three weeks to locate Tsunade, and Naruto masters the Rasengan within a week. That's a total of approximately 28 days (+ a few days).

From this, unless some major detours occurred on Tsunade's way back to Konoha or unless Sasuke spent months in the hospital after Tsunade healed him, we can conclude that Sasuke defected in early or mid-September.

According to Jin no Sho, Sasuke and Naruto fought 4 years ago but this is likely because that number is rounded up, just like Itachi's and Kisame's visit to Konoha.

Naruto leaves Konoha approximately 3 months after that in December and returns more than 2 years later based on these two statements about the timeline:

It's been 2.5 years (it is unclear whether this refers to Naruto's departure or Sasuke's defection)

Orochimaru switches bodies every 3 years and Team 7 has 6 months left to retrieve Sasuke (implying a 2.5-year gap between his defection and Naruto's return)

Again, Sasuke defected in September, so if the statements about the 2.5-year gap refer to Sasuke's defection rather than Naruto's departure, then this gives Team 7 a perfect 6-month time window for retrieving Sasuke at the beginning of Part 2 of Naruto.

But do you know where this 2.5-year gap gets us? Right into March. Coincidentally, shortly after Naruto's return, Konohamaru and his team receive their first official mission as ninjas.

Alternatives:

We could argue that the time skip itself covered 2.5 years, but that would mean Konohamaru graduated in June and would give Team 7 only a quarter of a year to retrieve Sasuke. Assuming June is the standard graduation month for ninjas in Konoha, Naruto must have either been 11 years old when he graduated from the Academy (retconning his graduation age) or 13 going on 14 during the Chunin Exams (meaning that the Databooks 1-3 are using an even more obscure point of reference for aging up characters than previously assumed as we can now not even trust Naruto's age).

Konohamaru could only have graduated in January under the condition that Naruto was gone for only 2 years. This would mean that Team 7 still had 9 months to retrieve Sasuke as opposed to half a year. This also means that either every character's statement about "two and a half years" was completely incorrect or that (if it refers to Sasuke's defection specifically) the "two and a half years", in truth, only refer to two years and three months.

That latter alternative would be strange, however, because Sai doesn't say "more than half a year" but "almost half a year" in Chapter #310.

Chapter #310 takes place approximately 18 days after Naruto's return to Konoha (please take a look at Seelentau's timeline for details or check my Itachi timeline which is slightly adjusted), meaning we can maybe stretch those "less than 6 months" up to 7 months if we are generous. Again with the "Sasuke defected in September" logic, Naruto would have returned in April, were that the case.

Graduation Time in Naruto (Summary)

The Japanese School Year goes from April to March and is the most likely school year for Kishimoto to reference.

Team 7 would have a surprisingly low monthly mission average if we assumed they had graduated in January.

Sasuke, as far as we can tell, defects in September. Naruto then leaves Konoha around December and returns 2.5 years after Sasuke's defection, which is in March. This coincides with Konohamaru's graduation.

We can achieve the cleanest 2.5-year bridge between Part 1 and 2 of Naruto if we assume academy students graduate in March.

Jin no Sho - The Timeline Wrecker

None of the above, of course, matches up with the character ages stated in Jin no Sho. As you correctly said, Sakura among other characters should still be 16 if Konoha were using an April-March school calendar. Instead, she is 17 years old. Only characters born after October 10th (the current point in time) and the end of the year do not age up at all. This very much suggests a school calendar that goes from January to December.

The explanation for this is a retcon.

This is something I noted when discussing the canon-value of the Databooks, but Jin no Sho fcks up the timeline big time. Or well, rather it is Kishimoto fcking up the timeline in the manga and then trying to correct his mistakes in Jin no Sho.

Among other things, Jin no Sho removed all graduation ages and promotion ages, suggesting that Kishimoto may have tried to de-canonize them. This was particularly essential for Kishimoto to retcon Itachi, Kakashi, and Obito.

Examples of Jin no Sho Timeline Retcons

Itachi previously graduated from the Academy at age 7, according to Chapter #224. Then Jin no Sho rolls around and, apparently, Itachi was still in the Academy at age 9-10. Why was this changed? It's because Kishimoto wrote a flashback in Chapter #402 that has an academy-aged Itachi play with a young Sasuke. Had Itachi been 6-7 years old during that flashback, Sasuke would've been 0-2 years old, not matching his depiction in that flashback in the slightest. This is because Itachi and Sasuke have an age gap of 5 years and 1 month as indicated by the databooks.

Kakashi graduated at 5 years old and Obito graduated at 9, according to the second Databook. So far, this indicated Obito being 4 years older than Kakashi or, alternatively, Kakashi graduating 4 years ahead of his peers. Jin no Sho then puts them at the same age and the Manga shows them graduating on the same day in Chapter #599, contradicting both of these scenarios. You know what happened? Kishimoto really wanted to draw a scene in which Kakashi and Obito graduated on the same day but didn't want to make Obito four years older.

Tobirama and Dan suddenly die in the same year, even though we all previously agreed that Tobirama died during the First and Dan during the Second Shinobi War (based on armor design). And based on appearance, Hiruzen was already Hokage (and therefore Tobirama was dead) when Tsunade became a Genin at 6, but Dan didn't die before she became a Sannin. Do you know why this changed? It's because Hashirama somehow knows the strength of an adult Tsunade in Chapter #632, meaning he (and by extension Tobirama) must have been alive when Tsunade reached Sannin level.

In the manga, Orochimaru left the Akatsuki when Itachi was 11 (Chapters #238 and #353). Then, in Jin no Sho, Orochimaru's defection happened when Itachi was 14. You know why this had to be corrected? We see Itachi and Orochimaru both simultaneously working for the Akatsuki in Chapter #345. This contradicts previously established information, however, because we know Itachi was still in Konoha at age 13, according to Kakashi in Chapter #142.

The Graduation Month Retcon

A similar thing likely happened to the graduation month retcon. Konoha's standard graduation month most definitely was March at the beginning of the series. We had no indication whatsoever that the graduation month could have been January instead until Kishimoto suddenly began to care about his characters' birthdays in Jin no Sho.

The obvious question here is: Why did Kishimoto change his mind? He previously didn't care about character age accuracy in his Databooks and neither was January the graduation month, initially. It's entirely possible that this was a purposeful change.

Here are a few theories:

Kishimoto wanted Hinata and/or Naruto to be the youngest among their classmates for aesthetic reasons (ie. he wanted them to be the pure-hearted babies of the class)

Kishimoto tried to solve a different timeline plot hole, which is that the flashback chapters #220-#224 unintentionally make the age gap between Sasuke and Itachi four years as opposed to five (I have dealt with that in this post). He hoped to solve it by placing Itachi's promotion to Chunin in June and Sasuke's enrollment into the academy in January, not realizing he was opening a new plothole.

Kishimoto wanted to end his story with accurate character ages for once and aged characters up, forgetting that normal years and academic years have different end and starting points.

Kishimoto can't do maths and unintentionally indicated that characters graduate at the end of March earlier on in the series.

Of course, this now still leaves us with a dilemma because we have to decide which one has the greater canon value: The source material (manga) or the supplementary after-the-fact corrections (Databooks).

As I mentioned in a different post, when the Databooks are at odds with the manga, usually the manga trumps the Databooks because only an idiot would expect his audience to buy supplementary material only to understand the story (hint: the majority of readers does not, in fact, buy supplementary material). Statements outside of the story itself only reflect the writer's intentions but, in the fandom's eyes, not necessarily canon. This doesn't really apply though if the manga contradicts itself, as is the case in the previously mentioned Orochimaru retcon.

So do we have to abide by the graduation month retcon? I don't know! You tell me. For me personally, the graduation month retcon is simply more trouble and would also force me to draw a line between "good" and "bad" retcons based on personal taste. I prefer observing the manga for information - not that the Databooks aren't helpful, but they are supposed to be supplementary and not contradictory.

[natsubeatsrock]

The Lucy Paradox

I'm going to get murdered for posting this on Tumblr, huh?

Somehow, I've never talked about this. I've made this joke in private. However, it's worth discussing in this format. Think of it as a celebration of International Women's Day.

Incidentally, Lucy isn't the one who I named this paradox after. The original name of this was the Sakura Paradox. For the record, I mean Sakura Haruno from Naruto.

It feels like a given that Sakura is a weak character. The way some fans talk about her, you'd think she was the worst character in the series. The closest example I can think of is Yamcha, whom no one takes as a threat past the first arc of Dragon Ball. After the big-time skip, he's treated as the joke of the group, especially by fans.

Here's the problem. Sakura's very strong. That's true in a literal sense, but she has more ability than fans give her credit for. It's not a stretch to say she's the strongest civilian in the series universe.

"Yeah, that's true in the second half. But what about in part 1?"

Do you mean the part where she has a better grip on chakra control than her teammates? Or the part where she's shown to ace the first part of the Chunin Exam without having to cheat? What about later in the exam when she breaks out two separate genjutsu? Yeah, I'm not hearing it.

Why do people say she's weak? Simple, she'd been dwarfed in power by monsters. It's not controversial to say Sakura is the worst member of Team 7, with the potential exception of Sai, if you even count him. It's not a close race between her, Sasuke, and Boruto's dad. She's a distant third. The only debate is how badly she's lapped.

If this sounds like I'm insulting her, it's not. Those two might be the strongest characters in the universe, with no qualifiers or exceptions. From what I've heard about Boruto, they're still doing crazy things years after their time in the spotlight should be over.

I call this the Lucy Paradox because fandom might not be fully aware of how incredible Lucy is. She's on the level of magic to use two gold Celestial Spirit Keys at the same time. It's impressive if someone's able to use two keys. She can mix and match between any of the ten she has.

Remember that she's the only wizard capable of Celestial Star Dress. At its introduction, it was just being able to take the abilities of her spirits. In the sequel, it's also the ability to combine the powers of two different spirits.

Let's take that for granted for a second. Lucy comes up with strategies that are helpful to her friends. And it's not just helping Natsu's fights. She's the one who recognized the true meaning behind Daybreak. She's the one who saw through the Eclipse Gate in two different timelines. She rewrote the entirety of the Book of E.N.D. after reading it once. Most importantly, she's the one who revises Anna's plan to make it possible to defeat Acnologia.

I say all that, but she's the weakest human member of the Strongest Team. She's never been on Natsu or Gray's level. Erza's not an S-Class mage for nothing, even if you want to argue that Natsu's overtaken her. While Wendy started weak, she's surpassed Lucy in the last arcs of the main series. I'm not cruel enough to say that Carla is even close to better than her. However, if your only meaningful competition is the Exceeds, that's not great.

Though, let's back up and think about that last paragraph. Lucy is the weakest member of the Strongest Team, no doubt. She's not the weakest member of Fairy Tail. Let's ignore the no-named scrubs who show up for a couple of lines every four volumes Lucy clears. If Lucy joined Shadow Gear, she might be the team's ace. She was able to hold her own with Cana as her partner. (Speaking of which, Tenrou Island is another situation where her planning came in the clutch, and I can't believe I didn't talk about it earlier.) She's more powerful than the Strauss kids not named Mirajane. I'd even go so far as to say she could make a solid member of the Thunder God Tribe.

This is probably where someone else would make this about feminism and how shonen writers aren't good at writing women. (Except for the rare female writers.) I get this for Kishimoto whose writing of women is indefensible. Akira Toriyama (R.I.P.), who influenced much of the genre as we've seen it, isn't much better with how he handles his women.

But Mashima?

I know the fanservice can be way too much at times. But, as I mentioned years ago, his women are better written than fans often give him credit for. Lucy loses to two women on her team. Some of the best story arcs in Fairy Tail revolve around characters like Lucy, Cana, and Erza. I'd put Erza's character up against almost any other female character in a similar narrative role in the same genre. I don't care that she punched that meteor that one time. She's still a better character than a lot of them.

No, this issue is more the fault of fans and their pesky expectations. They see characters who aren't the strongest and assume they're weak. Fans do this despite the advanced strength of other characters and the narrative role of the characters.

I wouldn't say that we have a feminist problem. I'd say we don't recognize the strength of femininity.

I'm just going to come out and say it. Women are great because they're not men, and vice versa. I'm in favor of getting rid of some of the restrictive gender roles culture places on both genders. That shouldn't come at the expense of making women more like men.

"Doesn't that mean that we can't have women who fight and have active roles in media, similar to typically male characters?"

You know what? That might be the most eloquent I've made this voice sound.

My answer is simple. Why can't we have both?

Why can't we have our Rukia and our Orihime? Why can't we have our Tifa and our Aeris? (Or is it Aerith?) Why can't we have our Lucy and our Erza?

Now, don't get it twisted. I love seeing physically strong women in fiction. She-Hulk is one of my favorite heroes in Marvel comics. (I hate that I have to specify comics.) Jupiter is my favorite of the Sailor Guardians. Homura is my favorite member of the EZ Crew. However, a strong character is a good character, and vice versa.

The best thing about the traditional female characters is how they manage their lack of physical strength. They use their wit and charms to their advantage instead of brute force. Men rely on power and speed. Women focus on flexibility and accuracy.

I like to think of it in sports terms. If traditional masculine traits are more offensive, feminine traits are considered more defensive. Both are necessary for teams to succeed. Some sports require people to switch between both roles. However, players usually excel at one of the two.

"What about sports like fencing and the martial arts?"

You need to switch between offense and defense quicker than other sports. However, is it good if a fencer only parries attacks and never thrusts? Is being able to throw punches without blocking a great boxing strategy?

What makes characters compelling has nothing to do with either masculine or feminine traits. (At least, it shouldn't.) What matters are their virtues and determination. It may manifest itself differently in male and female characters. However, it's not as if women can't show strength without sending people through walls. It's not as if men can't show tenderness without caring for children.

The most essential trait for characters might be weakness. How do characters make up for their failings? How do they overcome the conflicts they face? These things draw us to good characters, no matter their gender.

Let's compare two fictional women. Sophie Hatter from Howl's Moving Castle and Captain Marvel.

Carol Danvers is an unfortunate case. She started as a character with solid writing in the comics as a side character. Her solo series as Ms. Marvel in the Civil War era is pretty good. However, since becoming the new Captain Marvel, she's been defined by her power and little else. Despite Marvel's best efforts, fans have not latched onto her new persona.

The MCU didn't help. Captain Marvel was one of the weakest movies in Phase 3. Even at the time, it was clear that its success was attached to the Avengers' success. Few people praised the movie on its own merits. Even fewer had meaningful defenses for its many critics.

Captain Marvel was a physically strong character with no weaknesses. She was so strong that the government she was working for had to limit her powers. However, Carol wasn't the best character the MCU has put out. She didn't endear herself to the audience, had no real connections to the main cast outside of Fury, and became a textbook example of a strong female character without the character part of the equation. Ironically, the best movie to handle her was the one where she barely showed up.

Then there's The Marvels.

It's unfair to say that the movie only flopped because of Captain Marvel's character. That movie's failure has much more to do with the current state of Disney and Marvel Studios. However, part of the plot's failings is because of Carol's lack of weaknesses. They had to find a way to nerf her and chose to tie her to the other characters. They had to find a way to show her connections to the universe and married her off-screen to a South Korean actor on a planet where everyone communicates through singing. No wonder it bombed the same year Guardians of the Galaxy did well.

Sophie Hatter (it took me an embarrassingly long time to realize that was her last name) is the protagonist of Howl's Moving Castle, one of Hayao Miyazaki's most beloved works and one of my favorite anime. Miyazaki is no stranger to writing strong women. While I could pick either of the women from Princess Mononoke, Sophie is for the point I want to make.

She is by no means strong. She has no magic and has to rely on Howl and Calcifer many times throughout the story for protection. In a cast of magical individuals, she might be one of the weakest members of the cast.

However, she is far from a weak character. Even at her most insecure, she shows great inner strength and determination. She's determined to find a way to get back to her younger self. She doesn't shrink at the task of cleaning Howl's house. Not to mention, she becomes the heart and soul of the castle. (No pun intended.) It makes sense that she gets younger as she becomes more assured in herself. Ironically, she proves to be braver than Howl. He gains strength and courage from her.

Sophie's strength doesn't come from her ability to use magic or how many soldiers she can knock out. Her strength is more of an inner strength. It's an unshakeable will to achieve what is necessary. That causes her to push past her insecurity and grow throughout the movie. It's no wonder that so many people love her and the movie.

In Conclusion:

If you want to make a strong female character, that's a fine goal. What matters is that you focus more on the "character" than the "strong."

[keepyourpantsongohan]

Thanks for answering my last question I got another one

It more like a what if question what if Sasuke stay in the village after the war how long would it take Sasuke become a Chunin or Jonin straight away or a couple of months or longer

Assuming that Sasuke was willing to go through the promotion system (I don't think post-war it matters to him so much; he knows how strong he is), the timeline would probably depend on what system he was using for promotion.

There's the traditional route of standardized testing at scheduled times, or something specific to him, as they do with Naruto by having him study to become a chunin/jonin in the anime.

If it were the traditional route, and Sasuke chose to sit a scheduled exams, it could be like, anywhere from 2-9 months. We know that chunin exams are held bi-annually (Chapter 39) and the exams we see are the ones starting July 1st (Chapter 34).

The war ends around Naruto's birthday, which is October 10th. Assuming they do their second bi-annual exam at an equal distance of time, like in December, Sasuke could sit that exam, which would be 2-3 months. But everyone has also just suffered devastating losses and restructured their entire working relationships with the other major villages, so if they skipped that exam period, there likely wouldn't be another opportunity until July. So, October to July would be around 9 months and a few weeks. So, 2-3 months, or 9-10 months, in that route.

I would lean towards Sasuke taking a less traditional route and doing independent study, simply because we know based on the fact we never see him with a jonin status it's not a big priority for him. So, if you did it that way, it could be any amount of time. Naruto wiki tells me they told Naruto it would be two years of study in the anime. So it could be 2 years by independent study route, or less if you wanted to individualize it. Sasuke has always had better fundamentals and retention than Naruto, so it could definitely be argued it'd take Sasuke less time, like a year or less.

In either case, you'd probably want to fact in a sizeable recovery time for the loss of his dominant hand, and probably having to entirely relearn how to fight and do jutsu. So the 9-12 month range seems more grounded in that sense.

However, even if I don't think Sasuke would jump at standardized testing, I do think it'd be very funny and cute for Sasuke and Naruto to take the chunin exams with some fresh Academy graduates, so as always, do whatever works best for you. I always think it'd be adorable if Sasuke, Naruto and Konohamaru took an exam together.

TLDR: I would lean toward 9-12 months by independent study or standardized exam until he could be promoted due to the changes to the village and the loss of Sasuke's arm.

[shukakumoodboard]

18 19 21 22 25 for the evils if ur still doing them

i'm fuckign cryin this made me laugh so hard when i got the notification. lets GOOO the evils never die

18. answered!

19. answered!

21. part of canon you think is overhyped

lmaoooo the ENTIRE war arc/founders stuff. i simply do not give one fuck about anyone who was already dead when og nart's timeline started, and i kind find it annoying that the major concluding war arc is all about these revived dead people and not the cusp-of-adulthood, coming-of-age characters we'd spent hundreds of hours getting to know and love

22. your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

look every single team gai moment tbh, but a lot of those are filler it counts anyway fucka you but specifically canon -- i think post chunin exams when sakura gives lee a flower. it's such a cute moment and i think shows really good sakura character development. and i'm always delighted when someone gives lee the kindness and respect he deserves

25. answered!

[darkclouud9]

I've seen a post where someone said they never questioned Kakashi's age until they seen how tall he was during his chunin exams. bc. he was literally 6.

but has anyone talked about this? Kakashi's supposedly 18 here, and Yamato's only 14, but Kakashi's voice is still so young. the next event in the anbu arc is when Kakashi's 20, and his voice has matured by then.

idk it's just weird. the timeline in general is weird.

[blue-15000]

Notes for Chapter 8 of To Be a Kunoichi

Hello all,

I undercooked the boba. What a tragedy. Anyway.

I struggled with some scenes this chapter, unsure of how Naruto might respond to certain things - I hope everything has come together in a satisfying way.

I thought I might elaborate a bit on my writing process.

I write the scenes set in the present first, and will usually write a few chapters ahead in terms of present scenes - they set the tone and themes for each chapter and for the whole arc, so I like to finish them first.

I have plotted the whole fic in broad strokes, and am plotting a couple arcs ahead in detail (Outline vs Scene Plans, in my notes). I try to begin and end the present and past parts of the arc in the same thematic places, the timelines will catch up, like, 4 or 5 arcs before the end of the fic.

Sometimes the timelines parallel and sometimes they contrast. In Run, Hide, Fight Naruto arguably lost her fight against the Iwa nin - a disastrous, deadly encounter, but won the fight against Bear in the past, a personal triumph. Similarly, in the arc To Be a Kunoichi things in the present improve - Tenzo wakes up, Shisui's leg is finally healed, after 8 chapters of the poor guy struggling. But in the past Naruto is plunging into a particularly bad period of her life, one that will change the way she feels about the Sandaime, the village, herself, and her teammates, forever.

Some details might be hard to catch if you're reading chapter-by-chapter. In the present, Naruto is 15, nearly 16 (she mentions it being early October, she's about to have an exceptionally crappy birthday).

In the past, Naruto is 9, very nearly 10. She was recruited to ANBU in late summer and now it's autumn. She is also about to have an exceptionally crappy birthday. This team has been together a long time - there will be time skips, but not more than 6 months to a year.

I try to keep the arcs on track, and fairly short, stuff that I can wrap up in 5-10 chapters each. I've seen too many long-form fics get bogged down in a particular arc and struggle to reach their conclusions because of it, I didn't want to make the same mistake. I also didn't want to rehash arcs that have been done to death, like the Land of Waves arc. Some arcs will be adapted from canon, some will be original. Depends on what the ripple effects would conceivably be - Nart's hardly going to be in the chunin exams with the rest of her canon cohort, for example, but nothing I've wrote so far changes the fact that Konoha will be invaded during the chunin exams.

I've also noticed a tendency in long-form fics to get stuck with too many POV's, adding more and more characters whose arcs need to be wrapped up. Writing often works best with limitations, so I have limited myself to one POV character, our beloved Nart. Occasionally I write post-fic day-in-the-life fluff from the POV of Shisui or Kakashi. But neither of them will ever narrate the main fic.

I headcanon that Uzumaki's are particularly prone to chakra wasting diseases or chakra parasites, a consequence of their dense and plentiful chakra. This is why Hirohito wasn't getting better.

I've had a couple people comment on the fast-paced nature of my chapters, and perhaps it's just my inability to interpret tone, but I am always open to (kind) constructive criticism. I try to keep things on track but if it's too fast paced I can slow down : ). I write for a hobby, but I would like to be good at it, too, and for my readers to have a good time.

Perhaps it's a bit heavy-handed, but I wanted it to be ambiguous, in most cases, whether Naruto is doing the right thing. The outpost is smuggling drugs, opium, weapons... and also cloth and birth control. Is she right to participate in its destruction? Does she have a choice in it at all? Does it change the rightness/wrongness of her actions if she's forced into it? If she tries to act morally, making sure Hirohito gets his medicine before carrying out the rest of her mission?

Similarly, in the present, we find out that a large part of her plan is to ally with Orochimaru - to whom she has some unknown connection. She's right that he's their best possibility for an ally, she has bargaining chips to lay on the table to keep him in check (and it's so, so far in the future, but I feel I've outlined a negotiating scene that's the bomb). But it's fucking Orochimaru. Does she have a choice in this, if she wants to see her teammates survive? Even if it will be very personally hurtful for her closest friends? What's the line, what's not okay to do in opposition to Danzo?

The point is that there is no possible way to act morally under this system, not if you want to live. Although in this chapter, past-Naruto certainly tries. Present Naruto is a tad more cynical.

It's interesting to me when characters are bad people, especially if they try so very hard to be good.

Orochimaru and Kabuto are the only characters we know of in canon to have visited the ruins of Uzushio, which is a special level of bonkers. It's there that Naruto can make contact with them - perhaps the location of the rendezvous was picked for practical reasons, perhaps out of personal cruelty to Naruto, to be in the place where her grandparents/aunts/uncles/cousins/extended family all died. With those two, who knows.

Cloth used to be super, super valuable, especially in the quasi-medieval economy of Naruto (seriously, how do they have a thriving mercenary economy AND refrigerators?). In my fic, such appliances run mainly on chakra networks, and are thus inaccessible outside of the Hidden Villages, to make a world where merchant caravans are attacked by bandits, where military conflicts are common, and samurai still exist, and also they have fridges, radio, and antibiotics.

As I said in previous notes, hormonal and chemical (implants, IUDs) birth control is pretty inaccessible outside of the kunoichi profession, and is looked down on for the same reason. That doesn't mean there isn't a huge demand for it.

I currently have like, 7-8 more arcs planned until the timelines catch up, roughly (very roughly) one per year of Naruto's ANBU career.

One commenter wrote that they thought Aiko and Hirohito would die. They won't - it's much worse. Naruto has betrayed them, and they'll all have to live with the consequences. No easy way out for any of them >:)

[historias-multorum]

"You look stuck." - From Neji to Hinata (pre-Chunin Exam arc)

OR

“There are two types of love. True love, and the love we actually get.” - From Neji to Hinata (post-Chunin Exam arc)

Muse is still pretty new to me and my knowledge is currently up to the beginning of Shippuuden so that is as far as I can go in the timeline for now~

@roleplay-abiogenesis2

A harsh truth she was too stubborn to listen to. She knew Neji was right, but it was her own fear in knowing the one she had feelings for- did not feel the same. She wanted to believe that there was a chance for true love even when the odds weren't in her favor...

"Y-You're right..."

[sabaku-no-rozu]

TLDR timeline for Rozu

Age 6: dad dies, mom turns into an obsessive shut in and drags Rozu down with her

Age 11: Rozu leaves a long note and runs away, runs into Gaara while he's unguarded, keeps going and makes it to konoha

Age 12: starts ninja academy, is weaker than peers. befriends naruto and rock lee who help her train and come out of her shell

Age 13: participates in chunin exams, runs into gaara while hes unguarded, recognizes him but moves on anyway. runs into him again after horrifying Lee fight but dominates him in a staring contest

Ages 14-16: tsunade sends Rozu to Amegakure to train and learn more about her kekkei genkai, and also gives her a free pass to travel between suna and konoha because Dad Was A Powerful Ninja (also tsunade knows more than she lets on)

Age 17: Rozu trains her ass off and learns how to be a lightning god for 5 seconds then decides to go back home to Suna to show off. bumps into team Gai on the way and finds out the kazekages been kidnapped.

offers to help but neji tells her to fuck off to suna where she pulls her Strong Dad privilege card and becomes Gaara's personal bodyguard. old friends finally meet up after Gaara literally dies on the cross then comes back three days later like some kind of desert jesus and catch up like nothing happened

time skip to gaara's panty dropper speech, rozu fucks off to fight her dead dad who teaches her a Cool Trick then gives her the secret password to release the Mommy Issues no Jutsu Rozu's been trapped in her entire life, crying happens

cut to the Big Madara Fight. Fourth Div gets their asses handed to them by a silver space plate. Rozu uses her Avatar No Jutsu to try and Save the Day but she gets smacked down like john cena on fight night

Oh No Here Comes Ten Tails but Rozu isnt fighting that thing she's helping everyone else because im too lazy to write that part

Big Mommy Moon comes out of Madara's ass and puts everyone down for a nice nap. Rozu dreams about having a normal family and graduating college like she thought she would in the 90s

Naruto is a Big Hero and saves everyone by waking them up with a proverbial air horn, everyone's grateful that the war is over and they go party/mourn their dead friends/watch kakashi get promoted to Hokage Temp

Skip to blank period

Rozu releases Reina from Mommy Issues no Jutsu and they make up

Rozu is fully commenced as Gaara's 24/7 personal waifu body guard

Gaara and Rozu are now an Idiots to Lovers trope and everyone around them knows it except them

Oop, Gaara's surprise engagement! except its an assassination attempt! (what a twist) rozu knew the whole time duh she wasnt jealous what are you talking about

Kankuro calls Gaara an idiot to his face

Shijima calls Rozu an idiot to her face

Temari explains Being Whipped to Gaara post-breakup

something happens to Rozu and Gaara in the middle and they finally kiss or whatever

fast forward to a Big Happy Family with a Gremlin Child and A Stoic Boy

thats it thats the timeline

[sirdiabolical]

Kakashi’s timeline doesn’t make sense but I need it to for my fics

I’ve decided I’m going to formally figure out and write down Kakashi’s early life timeline so I can stick to a cohesive script when writing his childhood, specifically what age he is in relation to others. Once I have it all figured out and sorted neatly, I’ll post the final version onto my main.

Important Note: I do not have all the facts and these are my live workings out. Maths is not my strong suit and I am liable to get things wrong.

Here’s the foundation of my workings out.

Kakashi Canon: Genin at 5, Chunin at 6, Jounin at 9, ANBU at 12(?)*

Obito Canon: Genin at 9, Chunin at 11

Rin Canon: Genin at 9, Chunin at 11

Minato Canon: Genin at 10, Dead at 24

*I don’t have hard evidence of this, it’s just what people say.

The anime tends to portray Kakashi, Rin and Obito as the same age, yet I believe they supposedly competed in the chunin exams together? And if Kakashi did graduate before them, did he have a previous team?

I’ve seen fics tackle this in multiple ways. But before I tackle it myself, I’m going to establish a baseline. Assuming that Kakashi, Rin and Obito all graduated at the same time, we have: A four year age gap between Kakashi and the other two genin, and a ten year age gap between Kakashi and Minato (the latter which I think generally works).

Which leads us to Timeline A:

Genin Kakashi: 5, Genin Rin: 9, Genin Obito: 9, Sensei Minato: 15/16 (I haven’t accounted for birthdays and their placements in the year)

Chunin Kakashi: 6, Genin Rin: 10, Genin Obito: 10, Sensei Minato 16/17

Chunin Kakashi: 7, Chunin Rin: 11, Chunin Obito: 11, Sensei Minato 17/18

But Wait…

Didn’t they compete in the exams together? If we follow that rule, then Kakashi has to graduate a year later than Rin and Obito.

This would give us Timeline B:

Academy/pre-academy* Kakashi: 4, Genin Rin: 9, Genin Obito: 9, ??? Minato: 14/15

Genin Kakashi: 5, Genin Rin: 10, Genin Obito: 10, Sensei Minato: 15/16

Chunin Kakashi: 6, Chunin Rin: 11, Chunin Obito: 11, Sensei Minato: 16/17

*We don’t know how old Kakashi was when he entered the academy

???

We know Minato graduated at 10, but I don’t know much else. If he developed at the same rate as his students, that would put him at Chunin around 12 or so. He’d have to be a jounin to teach so perhaps he became one at 15/16 and was immediately given a team due to a war time and any other justifying head canons.

So we have two main options: Rin and Obito were in a different genin team for a year, or Minato took on Rin and Obito without Kakashi (and perhaps with a third irrelevant member) for a year before Kakashi.

That would bring the age gap between Kakashi and his two peers up to five years.

I don’t like the idea of a ten year old Rin infatuated with a five year old Kakashi as it doesn’t make sense, even as far as ten year olds having romantic feelings go. So to maintain this timeline, I’d need to head canon that Rin had a more of a ‘wow look at this little guy, such a cute baby ninja’ with possible sibling esc tones that frustrate Obito not because he sees Kakashi as a rival for Rin’s love, but more generally Rin’s attention.

HOWEVER! I have not, and likely will not, watch the part of the anime where they compete in the chunin exams and cannot confirm how they went (I’m too tired to look it up right now) and our first time line could maintain its integrity easily by having Kakashi graduate the first time around while the other two have to have another go. However, they would be without Kakashi and the exams seem to work with teams of three somewhat exclusively, so decisions would have to be made there.

———

I’m going to leave my workings out here for now, but so far we have:

Timeline A: Straight Canon, No Context

Timeline B: We All Ace the Chunin Exams

More timelines to come, such as ‘Actually, we’re all the same age (title subject to change)’.

[bakapandy]

hey!! can you talk a bit about shikadai? because i don't think that he's a shikamaru 2.0 but i never really got what's his deal yk? your posts are really great i love seeing u on my timeline <3

Much like Boruto, Shikadai's got a lot of expectation placed on his shoulders. His father and grandfather are Konoha's greatest tacticians, who helped lead their world to peace and victory during the 4th war. His mother is one of the highest ranking political figures of Suna. His parents' marriage and Shikadai's birth in it of itself is a political statement. So Shikadai has a big image to keep up and we've been shown that this is something that he has thought about quite a bit. For example, when he decided to focus on his shadow techniques despite always having relatively more talent in his mother's Wind Style. He did it to help with his father's and his family's image, even if no one really told him to. Another example is during the Chunin exams. Even though he tried to keep this facade of being relaxed, he worked very hard to perform and was extremely upset with himself when he "failed". He's a very astute and conscientious kid who gives off this laid-back attitude but actually cares a whole lot. But he is slowly growing into himself and learning to act on his own rather what is expected of him, in order to become the shinobi HE wants to be and represent his family the way HE sees fit. 

Conversely, Shikamaru never really had this pressure on him. I never got the impression that Shikaku put much pressure on Shikamaru, even if he always had full confidence in his son. Shikamaru was kinda forced to become who he is by circumstance, despite his own desires. Shikamaru was definitely more bratty as a kid haha but his growth is also one of my favorites throughout the series. 

But I think the biggest thing people forget is that the Boruto generation were born into a different time, time where war is no longer a constant and the world lives in relative peace. These kids have become shinobi, yes, but they have also had the opportunity live a relatively normal life as well. Their problems and their experiences are different. So their choices and the challenges they face are different. And not only that, but they have the expectations of being the offspring of the “golden generation” on their shoulders. So I’m personally just very intrigued by how they navigate that.

[comikadraws]

The Databooks Don't Do Birthdays

NOTE: Red links are my own posts, blue links are sources written by others.

I first stumbled across this issue when attempting to construct a timeline for Itachi Uchiha. As a reference, I used a timeline by Seelentau on the Naruto Wiki (which is probably the most accurate Naruto timeline on the internet). However, when comparing the timeline to the manga and Databooks, I noticed that Itachi doesn't age up according to canon events - and by extension, neither does Sasuke. Sasuke is 12 when he graduates, has a birthday in July, and somehow during the 3rd round of the Chunin Exams (which takes place in August), he is still 12.

Now, to confirm a long-time suspicion of mine (which I already teased in a previous post) I looked up character ages and birthdays today as depicted in the Naruto Databooks. I noted them down and compared them and realized this:

You cannot base any Naruto timeline events on character ages.

The reason for that is that the Databooks don't age up characters individually or in accordance with their birthdays but instead uniformly, using Naruto's age as a point of reference. You can see this more clearly in the sheet below.

Here's a bit more context.

Unless each databook was released during the in-universe Ninja Academy graduation months, the age progression as depicted in the Databooks is absolutely impossible. And in fact, they were not released during that in-universe time period.

Naruto's class most likely graduates in March in accordance with the Japanese school year as strongly suggested in Chapter #11 of the Manga. Furthermore, this matches up with the time skip that takes place between September/October (when Naruto's classmates are 13) and March/April (when Naruto's classmates are 15) making a near-perfect 2.5 gap (more on that later).

Everybody in Naruto's class is 12 at this point in time.

The Chunin Exams commence on July 1st, with the 3rd and final round taking place somewhere between August 1st and August 6th depending on how you do the calculations, but it's approximately one month later. Rin no Sho covers chapters #1-119.

Chouji, Kiba, and Sasuke both had a birthday between March and August, yet remain 12 years old like the rest of the cast.

Then Naruto and Jiraiya search for Tsunade for at least a month and after Sasuke's defection and an additional 3-month time skip, we get another Databook.

In this time period, only Temari, Kakashi, Ino, Naruto, Orochimaru, Asuma, Jiraiya, Lee, and Shizune definitively celebrated a birthday, yet the entire cast ages up by one year.

Then a approximately 2.25-year time skip rolls around which, if we do the calculations (including that Team 7 only has six months left for rescuing Sasuke), must take place 2 years later in March or April, assuming the time skip occurred after September or October. We see Konohamaru as a freshly graduated Genin, so this makes perfect sense.

An unknown amount of time passed before the Third Databook was finally released, which covers the events up until Itachi's death, and the truth behind the Uchiha Genocide is uncovered.

The characters have now all uniformly aged up by three years.

The only Databook that falls out of line with this practice is the Fourth Databook. I have that one covered in a sequel to this post.

[everykabuto]

WAIT I’ve been reading your notes on the Kabutos and he was 14 when he joined Orochimaru? I don’t know why but for some reason I thought he was 17-

Yep, at least I think so! I just reblogged the post that I've been referencing when talking about his age, the op did some calculations on what his age must have been... though now I'm realizing that I don't know where they actually got the information about when kabuto joined root and orochimaru 🤔 If anyone else knows, I'd appreciate a link to that info...

Though even without that databook entry, the rest of the information we're given lines up pretty well with that timeline. In the chunin exams arc, kabuto is 19 and it's his 8th time taking the exams. They happen twice a year and in chapter 39 he says that he's been taking the exam for four years, meaning he would have started when he was 15. From the start he was taking the exam purely to gather information for orochimaru, so he had to have been working for him at least since then.

[leportraitducadavre]

What do you think of Kid Kakashi as a character and your overall opinion?

Are you referring to Kakashi before Obito’s demise? I believe I have replied details how I feel with Adult!Kakashi (and by extension, Kid!Kakashi after Obito’s death), so I’m going to assume you’re referring to him. 

Well, let’s point out the obvious, Kakashi was labeled as a genius when he was extremely young, as we can see on the First Databook:

He graduated from the Academy at five, and was promoted to Chünin at six, I’m not going to start around how messed up the timeline is because from Kakashi Gaiden it seems that everything happened around 10 years before the main plot, which would put Kakashi at 16 years old… when we know it’s impossible. 

We saw that Kakashi was paired with Rin and Obito before he was promoted to Chünin, which either means that Kakashi was significantly younger than them (being promoted canonically at the age of six), or that they were the same age and had been on the same team around five years, which doesn’t add up.

There’s no canon confirmation of what age Kakashi was when promoted to Jönin, but we’re led to believe that Rin, Obito, and Kakashi are of the same age. Thirteen/twelve years old. 

Obito graduated from the Academy at the age of nine, and was promoted to Chünin at eleven… so it’s likely that Kakashi is younger than them, having five while Rin and Obito had 9, while been together for around… 3 years, before Obito and Rin were promoted to Chünin when they were eleven. The point is not of relevance, not to the post, and definitely not for the story, is just a detail of barely any importance that I’m pointing out because I already researched it, Lol.

He’s called a genius by his peers. He’s apparently an “elite ninja” but little do we see of him actually being one. The context in which Kakashi was promoted was one when war was at its peak and apparently had been for a couple of years, since Obito -who is shown to be not good during combat- was promoted to chunin. During Kakashi Gaiden, the first time Kakashi uses the Chidori (an incomplete technique until he receives Obito’s Sharingan), he gets injured and has to be saved by Minato.

His status as genius is, at best, something to question, at worst, nonexistent. He did have the ability to create a jutsu all on his own, but as stated, he only completed it after obtaining the Sharingan. His skills at taijutsu are not particularly good either, since he was outsmarted and overpowered by other jönin.

Up to that point, Kakashi was similar (in the most superficial way, I’m not -by any means- stating that they are similar beyond that), to Neji. Now, let me explain further. Kakashi has seen and experienced what the Will of Fire truly meant; his father, Sakumo, had questioned the belief that Konoha must come first and had chosen to abandon an important mission to save his comrades. Up until there, Sakumo was respected and admired as the Sannin were according to Minato, but the people that loved him for his feats turned their back on him when he chose feelings over logic.

Kakashi chose to explain Sakumo’s suicide as something that happened when you don’t follow the rules, dismissing -unconsciously-, Konoha’s responsibility on the matter. He never, like Neji, questions the system that allowed them to be in the position they are: Kakashi’s father committing suicide and Neji’s father being killed by the main branch, also his condition as a slave. They explained their places in the system without actually upholding Konoha as the responsible. 

Neji never questions the fact that he’s a slave, he explains it with the Destiny of Hatred of his clan, he has bitterly accepted that it was his role to fulfill, and he will do so, despite his hatred. When Naruto beats him on the Chünin exams, it is not that Neji changes completely what his duty was -as some believe he does-, he still fulfills the role of a slave, as he did before, he’s just manipulated into doing it without the hatred that, forged accordingly, could become a revolution.

He’s completely representing the Will of Fire that Tobirama spoke about as Dänzo understood it (ninja being tools just following orders), but as I said before, the Will of Fire of Dänzo was not exactly the Will of Fire of Tobirama. Tobirama did not believe in turning off the shinobi’s emotions, it was about manipulating them to make them want to protect Konoha above everything else, like Rin did after Obito’s death, by sacrificing her life to protect the village.

Obito wasn’t following the Will of Fire either, he was trying desperately to rescue Rin -following what could be cataloged as the First Stage of Tobirama so-called Curse of Hatred-, and his desire was immensely alike Sakumo’s own when he put his comrades before Konoha. Obito awoke his Sharingan by wanting to protect his friends.

Obito’s words change Kakashi’s perspective of his attitude -like Naruto did with Neji-, but it still prevented him from seeing the actual responsible one for the position they were in: Konoha. Therefore, Obito grew on his ideals to bring a new world, a revolution of sorts -while Kakashi became the prime tool of Tobirama’s Will of Fire. Even so, Kakashi did not complete the mission, he had to do it later on with the assistance of Minato.

So it was Minato who saved him from the same fate of Sakumo. Had he not went to the Bridge or killed the entire unit of enemies nin, Kakashi would have been pushed aside as Sakumo was.