#WOAH WOAH WOAH SICK ART ALERT!!

[joshhhhhhhhhhhhhhh]

MARIO BOXARTS RANKED BECAUSE ODYSSEY'S CAME UP IN A CONVERSATION WITH A FRIEND

also i'm just snipping tooling these from my backloggd mario list lol

this is whatever! it's got donkey kong feet and the colours are fairly easy to look at and hey it does tell you what the game's about but also like eh, never been into this old ass artstyle, pauline has more focus than the playable character 

good start to the real series! this trend in NES boxart where they'd show actual sprite art from the game so as to let you know what you're getting into is pretty cool and by now this pose is so recognisable that we just know straight away "yo this dude's JUMPIN like some kinda PLATFORMER", also they're not using Mario's usual design but instead fire mario which i kinda like because it's very contrasty and shit, good time all around

what is this, what am i getting into, this could be fucking anything. mario's holding 2 fingers up because it's mario 2 but like what else am I supposed to get out of this. not a huge fan

"Super Mario 2 Bros.: Mario Madness" ass graphic design what the hell, also Mario's front leg looks like it's coming out of his cock, never really lovedt his art, he has a turnip because you can pick up turnips and things in general which yeah that's showing off a central mechanic in the boxart which is good but otherwise ehhhhhhhhhhh

super mario 3 bros ass graphic design, but this one's a lot more iconic and generally beloved, doesn't do much for me though other than show a new powerup off and one that sure does look like Mario's flying, woah this is bigger and better. Nice contrast in the background, generally nice art, but shrug

Mario is completely flying here with a cool new cape and yo who the fuck is this absolute mount taking centre stage on the box? That's bold and different! Also from here onwards we've pretty much found the Mario logo design specifically, these colours and that font are still appearing today. Do think the background could stand to have slightly more going on though

Mario is flying again, even more obviously, but now that we've made the leap to 3D we've got an actual 3D render instead of just 2D key art - even the logo and backgrounds and shit are 3D. This is Mario's big jump! Note that the earth is round as if to imply that this is Mario's largest and most open adventure yet. That goomba kinda fuck ugly though. General visuals are of the time but this one is still really good and entirely accomplishes what it set out to do

red strip obscuring some of the art bothers me but this is pretty peak boxart, more than anything else it's just nice art that embodies the new visual style for this game alongside including tons of the game's unique and charming character designs - maybe doesn't quite get plot or even genre across but it sure as hell looks good so

not a fan. it's Luigi which is a plus and he's clearly afraid and there are ghosts there and the logo's good but just none of these renders are all too good and Luigi's disembodied head and arms are kind of uncanny

what even were they fuckin trying dude. Okay it's a fine Mario render and he's got a new tool to help him out, sure - thje logo is also solid even if it reads more as Super Mari Sunshine instead of Super Mario Sunshine - but it's the everything else. Hardly feels tropical other than the title, Delfino Isle is NOWHERE to be seen, and what in the actual fuck is that word art text circling around that you can't even fucking read. Epic failure.

PEAK ALERT PEAK ALERT good god this art is amazing, goated as all hell art style with some of the best designs Mario and Luigi have ever had and a clearly colourful world with dangerous new foes in the background, sure! Just sick as hell

closer to the game's actual art style than 64 was but otherwise kind of a step down to me - Mario is so in front of everyone else that their designs don't really shine as much as they could.

I fear we have yet another complete fucking flop on our hands. These renders are surprisingly poor for the time and then the boxart itself accomplishes about 10 times less than the original game did. We're communicated that there's more playable characters now and we've lost everything else and even gained weird shitty motion blur on a static image to boot.

colours aren't quite as easy on my eyes as those of Superstar saga but banger art and character designs still shine through, and hey all the babies are clearly here too that's cool, perhaps a bit busy tho

now see I quite enjoy the art and think these renders are good enough by now to rep on a box art - said box art also shows off the mega mushroom super duper well in addition to a clear return to the 2D gameplay that's been gone or so long, but I also find this boxart weirdly deceptive lol? Namely in that Mario and Luigi can't exist simultaneously in the game except in multiplayer, but the multiplayer isn't enough of a focus for me to think "rep it on the boxart", so idk

Paper Mario goes 3D which is communicated well here, and all our playable roster are here with nice artwork for everyone - even the support fairy things I forget the name of are flying around without being too distracting - looks nice really. Though I kinda think Count Bleck doesn't need to be there? Or if he is that he's moved around somewhat? Like he's weirdly distracting being positioned like that

ladies and gentlemugs it is with great honour that I present to you actual kino - gorgeous as hell logo, super great render, and the core premise off the game laid out so beautifully that all you need to do is take even a glance at this box, and you know exactly what you're getting into. Space is pretty as hell, this boxart is pretty as hell, this game is pretty as hell, you just know from looking at this that you're in for an incredible time.

okay now the Mario and Luigi series would adopt this general design sense going forward and I'm pretty eh on it, I like the new logo and the tiny Mario Bros walking on top of it, and hey all the art is still good, but like I don't think all this negative space really achieves anything and I think more could've been done

now we go for a box I quite like, the red along the bottom is nice and appealing and then the main artwork showcases that we've got actual emphasised 4 player multiplayer now plus Yoshi plus at least one cool new powerup, ain't that sweet? Also some of the NSMB boxarts get a lil busy but I think this one is in the perfect zone of not too busy right now.

once again I come bearing kino, in what's effectively just the Mario Galaxy boxart but with a different set of nice artwork and also with Yoshi, plus his powerups shown of throughout the background, very cool. I prefer the comparatively more simple Galaxy 1 boxart and I've never loved how 2 favoured light blue skies, but still really nice

now this one is. nice. certainly shows off the titular 3D - and triples up on the return of the tanuki suit with both super leaf in the background and land having a tail and the goomba having a tail also. But eh idk there's not much of an identity here lol. it's just lots of "things that are in Mario"

here's one that's also a "things that are in Mario" featuring a bonus misleading "are Mario and Luigi here because multiplayer?" visual, but the yellow patterned background stands out and the coin emphasis is there which is this game's main unique selling point, so yk it's decent

I don't love this art style as much for Paper Mario but it's colourful, it has lots of stickers which is the name of the game, lots of random hosuehold objects in wacky Paper Mario style, like yeah no this is pretty solid

okay now see this is where the nsmb covers just start throwing too much shit at you at once - there are 3 different types of yoshi all doing different things here and a piranha plant attacking luigi and a goomba that's bubbled up and yellow toad has the new powerup but the new powerup is also rolling out of a question mark block and it's like dude slow the fuck down man!

now this one is obviously less iconic than the original Luigi's Mansion boxart but I do think placing more emphasis on the mansion and giving Luigi an actual body is a step up, though having a standard Mario boo there instead of the cool original ghosts is a lil sad

god the more the series itself goes through fatigued the more I feel fatigue writing about it, but hey this is the final NSMB one so. It's whatever. Still a bit cluttered but mixed up the backgrounds at least. Eh. Logo design neat I suppose

so continues aforementioned whatever trend and I still don't really like it - but suppose this one uses the space better than Bowser's Inside Story does. Once again new styled logo thing still cool

shows off 3D and multiplayer fun and the new powerup in a nice way and there's more original iconography to the game so it's a step up from 3D Land, but also there being 2 of everyone still feels so weird lol

peak as all hell, love the Mario design and the simple render gets across all that it needs to - construction ass yellow and the simple font gives it a homebuilt feel and it's very obvious what the game's actually about. Somehow they managed to communicate that without being super busy as well.

I think this one technically uses more of the space than the other white background boxarts and it's neat that Paper Jam is in the Paper Mario font, but for a crossover like this I really think there needed to be more done lol, this just looks so dull and plain and shit

this is a solid enough paper mario boxart, gets the main gimmick across pretty quickly without like overwhelming you on anything, doesn't evoke much else but it's fine

now here is some absolute fucking PEAK dude, so immediately gets across exactly the theme the game is going for with an epic globetrotting adventure, photograph aesthetic just gives this a travel log vibe and all the different world designs and costumes and core mechanics are conveyed super well, it also managed all that while being really easy to read and shit, just an absolute W all around

kind of feels like a linear downgrade from Maker 1 tbh - like the art is more expressive and Luigi is here which is a plus - the game actually supports multiplayer too so you're not being misled. But I think Maker 1 was just a little more elegant and immediate in getting across what the game is actually about.

would call this my favourite of the Luigi's Mansion boxarts despite not even having ghosts - cause hey it has a pretty neat mansion and Luigi is doing a good expression and he has a body still and also Gooigi is in there, I'm about it, just looks good

pretty fuckin weak ngl! It's kinda just "here's paper mario characters lol" with the origami gimmick only occupying a corner of the screen that your eyes just aren't drawn to. Just doesn't hit

last off! this. it looks cool! fucknig gigantic kaiju bowser. he's important enough to take centre stage in the boxart and the game reflects that. he's so out of control that even his own son is teaming up with you to stop him. I'm about it.

anyway done thanks for reading

[narrans]

Everyone Needs a Little Hero | Better Together?

For the rest of the day, Hero felt terrible about the incident with Rey and Sam. Hero didn’t know Rey had come so close to being hurt by a human since he never said anything about it. On the other hand, it wasn’t really something a Borrower would want to talk about casually.

Still, Hero hoped Rey would give him and Sam another chance. After Rey started talking with Sam, everything ran smoothly as though nothing bad happened.

Distracted for the remaining part of the day, Hero decided to reduce his heroing work to helping around the house for the rest of the day – and it was a good thing he did. The whole Rafter family seemed to have a persistent cough and was groggy for the rest of the day. At first, Hero didn’t think anything of it. Everyone got a cough from time to time.

He had to eat his words the next morning though. When he opened his eyes after a not-so-restful slumber, he felt like he was being rushed from the inside and chills kept him shivering to the point where he had to fish out his winter poncho. What was more alarming was that he was the least sick of his whole family.

Despite his burning desire to crawl back into bed, he had a job to do. Sam still needed help on his science project and Watney needed a model to sketch for one of his art projects.

So, leaving Cali, his oldest sister, to help tend to the family and the house, Hero left under the pretense that he was going to go find food that was good for someone who wasn’t feeling well when he was actually going to find something to make the family feel better.

He made his way through the rafters and beams, finding it difficult to balance on some of the wider beams, until he made it to the familiar trim piece above Sam’s cabinet. The wood didn’t even squeak when he pushed it open. Bright green eyes groggy but alert, Hero slipped out on top of the cabinet and inched to the edge.

Sam, his human friend, was at his desk working away on the surface of the volcano, making it look realistic for his project. A quick check for a closed door and Hero felt safe enough to call out to his friend.

“Sam,” he said, voice raspier than he thought it would be. Sam’s head instinctually turned to the little trim piece and a smile spread across his boyish face.

“Hey Hero,” he grinned as he wiped off his hands and jumped up onto his bed, hand outstretched for Hero to use rather than the small teen having to use his hooks and lines. Without hesitation, the Borrower boy walked across the slightly dusty top of the wooden structure and stepped onto Sam’s hand, dropping into a crouch instinctually. Carefully, Same knelt and descended from his spot on the bed and walked back to his desk.

“How’re you?” he asked, keeping his voice low so his parents wouldn’t hear him speaking to the small, handheld boy.

“I’m-” but Hero was interrupted from saying he was good when a fit of coughs ambushed his lungs.

“Woah,” muttered Sam. “That doesn’t sound good.” Hero recovered from his coughing fit just in time for Sam to rest the pad of his finger on his forehead. “And you feel warm.”

“I’m okay,” Hero said reassuringly, though not quite feeling confident in his declaration. “It’s just a cough.”

“Plus a fever. You need to rest and take it easy. Um… you might want some medicine too. Mom always gives me this weird grape tasting stuff when I get the shivers and a cough,” said Sam. Hero smiled and chuckled lightly to himself. Sam, noticing, stared curiously at Hero, prompting a response.

“It’s just… I’m glad you know this. Your offer basically proves the point I was trying to make to my friend when we were talking on our way here yesterday – that it would be a better world if we could all live together and out in the open,” said Hero as he positioned himself more comfortably in Sam’s hand.

Hero expected to hear Sam’s agreement moments after his conclusion, but Sam was quiet. The human boy looked concerned, as though something distracted him slightly about what Hero said.

“Oh yeah… is he okay? Your friend I mean? He seemed really upset yesterday. I… did I do something wrong?” asked Sam. Hero sighed and shook his head, a little off-put that Sam didn’t really answer his question. Still, it was sweet that Sam was worried about Rey.

“Yeah, he’s okay. He had a bad memory of getting stuck when he was little, and it all came back to him when he fell on the volcano yesterday,” stated Hero. A pang of momentary guilt hit him for telling Sam something sensitive and, quite possibly, private about Rey, but he didn’t want to lie and did manage to omit the specifics.

“That’s terrible. I hope he’s doing better. I didn’t mean to scare him. He was really upset when I pulled him out of the glue,” muttered Sam bashfully. “Is… that weird?”

“No, I don’t think it’s weird to feel that way. I think Rey goes by a different set of rules than I do,” stated Hero, but Sam shook his head.

“No… I mean… being held. Is it… weird? Do you… not want me to?” asked Sam, his hand tensing and relaxing a few times awkwardly under Hero. The Borrower teen shook his head.

“No, it’s not weird. I mean… it was a little odd at first, but it’s nice. I kind of like it now actually,” smiled the aspiring hero as he leaned against Sam’s thumb to support his back. Sam smiled in response and flexed his fingers to better cup the small person in his hand.

“That’s good to hear,” Same replied, relaxing with his friend’s reassurance. After a few minutes of quiet between them, Hero’s question came back to the forefront of his mind.

“You… didn’t really say what you thought,” pointed out the Borrower teen. “About living together out in the open. Do you… think it’s a bad idea? Or do you think it’s a good one?” Sam once again was quiet, much like how Rey had been quiet the day before when Hero had posed the same scenario. When Sam finally turned his eyes back to Hero, the answer was apparent.

“I… don’t know. I mean, I think everyone has a different opinion, right? If you want to live out in the open, you should be able to. If you don’t want to, then you shouldn’t need to,” stated Sam. Hero stared quizzically at his human friend before sighing and slumping slightly in Sam’s hand.

“You sound a bit like Rey. You don’t think it’s a good idea, but I don’t understand why,” muttered Hero.

“Well, I mean… your friend seemed really freaked out, meaning he was scared. Wouldn’t others feel the same? Didn’t you ask me not to tell anyone about you? Was that because you were supposed to? Or because you were scared?” asked Sam. Hero felt a pang in his chest. It was true that he was initially fearful of Sam but trusted that Sam would treat him with respect once he showed him that he was intelligent. He was also afraid that others humans would be interested in hunting down his fellow Borrowers if too many humans found out about them. Sam continued as Hero’s thoughts quieted. “I don’t know. I think it would be nice, but not for everyone.”

“I see. Well, I think it would be nice,” muttered Hero, wishing the answer Sam gave him was different. There was another silence between the two of them before Hero’s eyes lulled. He felt a sudden wave of exhaustion come over him. Sam readjusted his hand under the Borrower boy before speaking again.

“Do you want to take a nap? I can put you in my hoodie pocket while I work. I’d let you use my hand, but I need it to finish my project,” said Sam. Hero, liking the idea of a warm, covered place to take a nap, nodded and let Sam place him into his hoodie pocket. The surrounding warmth and minor jostling of Sam’s body when he worked was enough to put the young Borrower boy to sleep.

Hero wasn’t sure how long he was asleep until he poked his head outside of Sam’s pocket and glanced at the clock. He had been there for nearly three hours!

Not good, he thought. He still needed to make it to Watney’s place before the end of the day. He wriggled free and said his good-byes to Sam who, after Hero asked politely, gave him some food to bring back home as well as a tablet of something that he said would help them stop coughing, explaining that he just needed to mix a little into some flavored water and drink.

Hero, already feeling better, hurried back into the walls and made his way up to Watney’s home.

Thankfully, the artist was already home and had everything set up when Hero arrived.

“I just want to say thanks again, Hero. You’re seriously a huge help,” applauded Watney as he quickly sketched the Borrower’s body. Watney had Hero pose belaying down a part of a shelf. Watney let Hero take frequent breaks and let him stay close to the desk, picking himself up every once in a while to get the pose just right.

While the human artist sketched, Hero asked Watney the same question he asked Sam about living together in the open. Watney, unlike Sam, thought that it would be a better world. It would take some getting used to; however, Watney, like Hero, believed that there were more kind people in the world who would accept living together with the littles rather than being cruel to them.

Reassured, Hero continued to pose for the sketch until, finally, Watney was mostly finished. Sure, he needed to touch up a few things here and there, but the overall concept was there. Hero stared in complete amazement at his human friend’s sketch, marveling at the details he threw in such as the wrinkles in Hero’s shirt and the way his hook was just a tad bit bent on the end.

Even though he didn’t want to leave, Hero knew he was gone way longer than he would’ve wanted to be. He apologized and promised he would be back soon, asking bashfully to see the final product when the time came.

Hurrying home, Hero couldn’t help but think about his question like a competition. So far, he had a no, a maybe, and a yes. His vote technically didn’t count since he was asking everyone else what they thought, but the answers were so spread out, it was hard to tell how everyone felt about it.

Surely Ashlynn would agree with him, and probably a few others thought the world would be better if they could all live together. It would make his heroing work so much easier. Supplies would be bountiful, and the community collaboration would be through the roof. Borrowers could easily help with recycling and finding use for things that human might otherwise throw away, and small hands could help with building certain projects and solving problems. Borrowers wouldn’t get sick as often, and humans wouldn’t be as forgetful and lose things in narrow places.

Speaking of which, he concluded his thoughts just as he remembered he needed to help his family get better. What kind of hero would he be if he couldn’t help his family get better from some silly little cough. It wasn’t until he got home that he realized that this “little cough” was a lot more severe than he thought.

Everyone was practically out of commission. Even his oldest sister, who had one of the strongest spirits that he had ever encountered, was doubled over coughing. She would’ve scolded him for staying away so long if his haul, courtesy of Sam, weren’t so good. He managed to slip the medicine Sam gave him into some lemonade his mom made and began passing it around to everyone, who complained about an odd aftertaste.

While Hero began picking up the slack around the house that he had neglected while he was away for the morning, he noticed something. He noticed it on the way home too, but it was more noticeable now while he was bustling about their home. There was an odd, stale smell lingering in the air that smelled sour. Hero wanted to know more, but he would have to put that on the back burner for now.

Right now, his family needed him – they needed a hero – and he was just the person for the job, even if it was just doing the laundry.

~~~~~^*^*^*^*^~~~~~

Continue

Previous

Beginning

Prompt

ASK ME ANYTHING

[eggtoasties]

Pairing: Uchiha Sasuke/Haruno Sakura

Rating + Notes: M for mentions/implied references of sexual assault

Word Count: 4.6k

Summary: Selfishly, he thinks that if he could shoulder the burden of her suffering and sync his heart with hers, he would.

“Tch. You’re a shinobi, why are you so soft? Sasuke scoffed.

Sakura whipped her head up towards him from her hunched position.

“You have no idea what I have been through,” she seethed. Clenching her fists tightly, she said, ���Despite everything. I have chosen to stay soft,” she spat. She closed her eyes, trying to even out her breathing while fine tremors wracked her body. Light tendrils of electricity seemed to dance across the surface of her skin, her hair rising with static shock. Her chakra was volatile and seeping from every pore—she radiated with energy and tightly controlled killing intent.

“Woah, woah, Sakura-chan,” Naruto said placatingly, raising two hands up. “Teme didn’t mean anything by it—"

“You don’t even know what I’m talking about,” she glared.

Kakashi leaned forward on his haunches. He knew tensions were bound to rise at some point; he was just surprised that it was Sakura. He glanced at her. She was hunched over, knees drawn up to her chin, arms cradling her body towards the warmth of the fire. Kakashi watched as the flames drew shadows across her tanned skin, watched as the reflection danced in her eyes.

Sasuke was standing over her to her left, hand cocked on his hip glaring at a dirt patch next to Sakura and Naruto was sitting in front of her across the fire. They had been reinstated as a team for the past two months and while she was always professional, they didn’t fit together like they once did.

.

After the Great Shinobi War, there was a renaissance period during the unprecedented peace time. Art, music, technology, and trade flourished with the lull in military activity. Earth country in particular grew wealthy with the advancements in technology. Already prosperous due to its multitude of gold and silver mines, with the electronic boom, copper, lithium, and palladium’s demand exponentially skyrocketed as technology for everyday use—not just military use—became the norm.

“Your mission is to assassinate a lord in a remote estate in the Land of Earth,” Tsunade explained to Team 7.

Team 7 stood in front of their Hokage’s heavy wood desk. Kakashi was hunched over as usual, lackadaisically taking in the mission details while absentmindedly watching the rest of his team. Naruto was, as always, excited to be sent on a mission although his optimism had tempered a bit after the war. To Naruto’s left stood Sasuke. Standing stiffly, he scowled lightly at his blonde teammate’s excited chatter and puffed a sigh as his and Tsunade’s glares did nothing to silence his ramblings. Off to the side stood Sakura. She held her left elbow with her right hand and stared ahead at Tsunade, ignoring her two teammate’s bickering. She watched her mentor valiantly try and explain the rest of the mission and hardly cracked a smile when Tsunade sent a paperweight hurtling Naruto’s way.

Once regaining everyone’s attention, Tsunade continued with the mission details.

“Using the natural resources on his estate, the lord used the profits to create his own tech company. With the raw materials at his disposal, he bought machinery and vertically integrated his company—” she narrowed her eyes at Naruto who started to stare out the window.

"Oi, brat! You better take notes!” she shouted, breaking him out of his daydreams. He sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck as Tsunade continued.

“Basically,” she said, rolling her eyes, “he owns the natural resources, the machinery, and the man power for every step of the manufacturing process and has a bunch of legal whatever to his product so he’s become richer than ever,” the Hokage waved her hands absentmindedly.

Although the post war boom was financially beneficial for the Five Great Nations, smaller nations had not seen much of a difference in their standards of living. The major nations focused on establishing open trade routes and flows of information between themselves and failed to include smaller countries at the discussion table. Thus, a great migration took place. While civilians and shinobi alike travelled the elemental nations more freely due to the decrease in tensions with the airs of truce and allyship, many single women from smaller villages migrated to the great nations for work and better opportunities.

Many of whom ended up on the Earth lord’s estate, working along the assembly line. The position seemed generous enough: lodging was provided in dormitory like-housing and food was also provided in a mess hall. The hours were long, but they worked five days a week.

Tsunade unfurled a detailed map on her desk and Team 7 gathered around, committing the details to memory. The estate was strategically built with a mountain as a protective shield at the rear while a wide expanse of rolling green fields surrounding the estate ensured that potential enemies had no place to hide. It was as expansive as it was beautiful.

Boasting acres of greenery, Sakura imagined the smell of wild grass and flowers mingling with fertile soil. The fertility of the region would mean the grounds were likely lush with hearty wildflowers and medicinal herbs. The meadows at the base of the mountain would be plentiful and the mountain breeze would circulate cool, crisp air. Especially for those seeking a quiet life away from busy cityscapes, Sakura could imagine that the lord’s estate seemed to provide a quiet haven with an idyllic backdrop.

Continuing on with the report, Tsunade relayed that the Tsuchikage had received several reports from the workers’ family and friends that something was amiss. Listening to witness accounts and poring over letters, Earth’s intelligence confirmed suspicions although the letters never disclosed specifics.

The Tsuchikage had sent a discreet reconnaissance force to infiltrate and observe the ongoings of the estate. Despite the beautiful scenery, life at the estate was anything but. The mission report detailed that the lord took advantage of many of the women and held them hostage by threatening to blacklist them and their families. Guards patrolled the area constantly, on high alert for any worker who might slip out into the night to disclose company secrets. The report noted only women from outside Earth were permitted as workers to decrease the likelihood of suspicious family or friends coming to the estate and to lower the success of an unlikely escape.

Imploring the Hokage, the Tsuchikage asked that the assassination of the lord be kept discreet. Making his death appear as an accident was of the utmost importance—and Sakura’s primary duty. Following the lord’s death, the estate and its holdings would be turned over to the state as the lord had no next of kin. The mission would be lucrative for the Tsuchikage, and the women would be free to go if they wished.

What went unsaid was that the mission would ensure that the state would not be held accountable for providing mental or physical aid to the victims of the lord. When Earth shinobi arrive and explain that the guards and workers will be reevaluated, some women, the Tsuchikage reasoned, would expose the lord and guards who abused their powers. The state would clean up the guards, instate new ones and gain the thanks and appreciation of the women workers.

It made Sakura sick.

.

A year after the war and the new increase in trade, information, and people were normal aspects of daily life. Shinobi immediately began rehabilitation post-war and the program, headed by Sakura, reported positive effects. Post-war life was hard for shinobi who had become accustomed to a state of hyper-awareness during combat—settling into the monotony of peacetime, especially for strictly combative shinobi, had been difficult. For the past year Naruto and Sasuke had found their rhythm again, falling into easy friendship that was built on a foundation of begrudging respect although it was masked with bickering, sparring, and petty annoyances. Kakashi easily meshed back into their dynamic.  

Immediately following the war, Sakura was extremely busy with the administrative and legal overhaul of the shinobi system. Reviewing outdated protocols, researching alternatives, and creating new proposals, she had not rekindled her bonds with Team 7 as the others did. What little free time she had, she spent it quietly with Sai and the rest of her graduating class.

Team 7 had been reinstated a few months prior to the one year war anniversary. They were designated as a specialty unit—their collective powers largely unneeded due to the peacetime and the necessity of Sakura’s medical and legal acumen in village proceedings—but Naruto and Kakashi insisted. While suspicions around Sasuke’s loyalty lingered, the rest of Team 7 acted as a power and emotional safeguard.

During missions, Naruto seemed to fall back to their genin days. He would purposefully annoy Sasuke and Sasuke would pretend to be irritated back. They would bicker and banter with Kakashi feigning tiredness, but the crinkle in his eyes said otherwise. Sakura would be quiet. Naruto would try and rope her in with banter and shenanigans, but remained aloof, side stepping his attempts.

For her, it wasn’t like being placed on a temporary assignment with an established team where their deep trust reflected in the easiness of their movements. With Team 7, she felt perpetually on edge. She trusted their power and their commitment to each other, but she felt weary of Sasuke. She felt a lingering bitterness towards Kakashi. Naruto hurt to look at sometimes.

Sasuke noticed. For someone who was constantly observing, hyper aware of every flinch and averted eye he had inspired throughout the years, it was hard not to. Providing her comfort the only way he knew how, he gave her space. From the years as a missing-nin, the crimes he had committed, and the genjutsu he had put her under at the end of the war left her understandably weary.

As the team was reinstated, he tried talking. As much as he was able to. He would nod to her when she healed him, smirk at her when she pulverized an enemy, and raise an eyebrow when she flirted information out of a target. He’d order tempura at restaurants so she could have it as a side and he’d give her the last dango off his skewer saying he didn’t like sweets.

She had changed a lot from the memory he had of her before leaving the village. The war, he figured, changed a lot of people. She was always so loud and earnest in her feelings for him—for anyone really. And while she still had fire within her—from the way she’d chastise Naruto for still utilizing his sexy-no-jutsu or slap the back of their heads when they got unnecessarily injured and tried to hide it from her, she was guarded.

Perhaps, Sasuke thought, this was just her adult self. War veteran, war hero, director of the hospital, best medic in all the nations, one of the most in demand shinobi, her accolades as Konoha’s golden girl went on forever.

But, he thought back to when he uncharacteristically joined Naruto for a night out with the rest of their graduating class. He had seen her across the bar. She was laughing. Her face exuded mirth, shoulders and head thrown back, hair wild and loose. She had her hand on Shikamaru’s shoulder and then giggled into his neck as he shot her a grin. He watched as Tenten said something and Sakura slapped the table in boisterous laughter. She had never shown this side of herself to him—to Team 7. So he turned back and left for home.

.

Team 7 arrived at night.

Sakura could have completed it as a solo mission, but Tsunade wanted Team 7 to be able to seamlessly work together during missions. Even if the team was grossly over powered for the task at hand, the task itself was hardly the primary objective.

Sasuke would enter the lord’s bedroom with Sakura, cloaking them both in a genjutsu. Kakashi would watch from afar and notify them of any irregular guard movements through the comms device, and Naruto would serve as a distraction if things went awry.

Sakura and Sasuke entered the lord’s estate easily. They cast no shadow against the black and white marble tiles, and the quiet patter of their footsteps was masked under the genjutsu. As they entered the lord’s bedroom, they ignored the ostentatious displays of wealth—fur rugs covering the expanse of the room, ornate candelabras and chandeliers gilded with gold and encrusted with jewels—and went straight to the bed. Next to the sleeping lord, was a young woman holding herself in a fetal position, twitching in her sleep. Sakura quickly and untraceably killed the lord with a precise rush of chakra before tending to the young woman. Standing idly while Sakura completed the mission, Sasuke noticed the hardness of her eyes and the rigidity of her shoulders. Sakura’s glove clad hands were steady as they glowed green and she was done as quickly as she started. Locking eyes with Sasuke and curtly nodding, they left out the window.

.

They made camp once they breached Konoha’s borders. Several kilometers inwards, they settled for the night. Sakura was silent—not unusual for her, but her movements were stiff and mechanical as she put down her pack and built the fire.

Naruto and Kakashi came back with food they had caught. She ate her portion with glazed eyes, staring into the fire. She bit into the gamey meat without tasting it.

Her hands felt cold even as she held them to the camp fire and felt a heavy emptiness at her chest that permeated throughout her body. She thought of the Tsuchikage and Hokage’s actions robbing a form of justice away from the victims of the lord. Closing her eyes, she circled her arms around her shins and bowed her head to relieve some of the tension in her neck. Cradling herself, she opened her eyes to soften her gaze downwards.

Her toes were painted a light blue—Ino had insisted that it was the it color of the spring season and it would make her tan pop. Forehead, she had said seriously. For all the shit you did with shinobi and mental health you need to take care of yourself too. Sakura counted the pebbles in the dirt—one to ten, just as Ino had done for her while she painted her nails—and tracked the steady march of beetles over twigs and stones.

She saw splotches of dirt turn dark with moisture and absentmindedly realized she was crying.

She felt Sasuke’s disapproval as much as she heard it—straight to the chest, electricity and fire—and seethed at Naruto’s immediate defense. Trapped in the orbit of two celestial bodies—two gods—she wanted nothing more to break their trajectory towards her and suspend their collision.

“Have you ever felt like your body wasn’t your own,” she said. “That someone had ripped your soul from its shell and you could do nothing but watch.” Sakura’s eyes were blank and unseeing as her tears made trails down her cheeks.

Kakashi went rigid and Sasuke and Naruto mirrored faces of confusion. Sakura exhaled and continued, voice steady and clear. “Konoha and Iwagakure know about—have known about the lord for months and the only thing they care about is the financial windfall,” she said angrily. “Iwa won’t consider those women citizens and will just push them to go back to their original villages. Even if some of them disclose what the lord did to them—what is anyone going to do?” she questioned angrily. Voice rising she snarled, “What the fuck is Iwagakure going to do? Konoha?”

Surprised at the uncharacteristic outburst, her three teammates listened to her quietly. Cataloguing her rage and thinking over the implications their interference, the men of Team 7 considered her words.

Silence hanging over the air, Sakura began again. “How are those women supposed to reconcile the fact that they were just a thing to that fucking lord?” she spit out. “That he can act upon them and that’s where their value or depth ends?” No one had an answer for her. “Sometimes I feel like I’m being torn apart and my cells feel like they separate and I can feel my pulse in my fingertips,” she choked out, shoulders heaving. “What the fuck am I supposed to do then?”

Sasuke’s mouth opened slightly then clenched it shut. He saw red.

Kakashi stared blankly at Sakura. Feeling exhausted by the information, his shoulders drooped. The heavy burden of survival. He felt the prickly heat of guilt at the back of his neck and his eyes fell to Sakura’s pack on the ground next to her, unable to look her in the face. The dawning realization that he had never noticed anything different with her made him feel every year of his age.

He started to apologize. To say he wish he had been there for her more, that he should have tried to get her to spend more time with the three of them, that he should have said something about her pulling away from the team—that he should have known better.

“Sakura, I—”

“Don’t make this about you.”

Misplaced and unfounded guilt didn’t matter. To her, she was the student he had discarded and continued to ignore for years.

He hunched impossibly more.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Naruto said softly.

“Because I didn’t want to then.”

“I thought we were family?”

She scoffed, “Why?”

“We’re together again! Sasuke’s come back to us!”

“He came back to you. You never asked if I even wanted him here.” Sasuke jerked back as if she had hit him. His face remained stonily still despite the searing pain in his chest.

Looking at Sasuke she said, “I don’t care that you’re back. I’m glad you feel safe or that you have a home again, or whatever you feel. But you did shit to me that I will never forgive.”

“Tch, so we aren’t friends anymore?”

“Since when were we ever.”

It was fair, he reasoned. Although he was friendlier with Sakura than anyone else besides Naruto or Kakashi, his outward actions or words didn’t denote that he felt any particular fondness for her. Not enough to make up for all the things he had done to her. His throat closed and his eyes stung and not from overuse of his Sharingan.

“Why didn’t you fight back?” he blurted out and immediately regretted it.

“Who was it Sakura-chan? I’ll beat ‘em up—I-I’ll kill them!” Naruto raged.

“You think I couldn’t if I wanted to?” Sakura said wearily.

A cold breeze rustled through the forest, bringing with it the scent of moss and pine. For what seemed like a millennia, Team 7 was suspended in stillness. Gray eyes locked onto a well-worn pack, cerulean grounded himself in the limitless indigo sky, and red irises drowned in pink.

“I’m sorry,” Sasuke interrupted the silence. “I didn’t mean it that way. Or that you're weak," he glanced at her hunched form. "I’m sorry.”

.

Their journey back to Konoha was quiet. For once, Naruto was at a loss for words. Sasuke watched from the rear of their diamond position as Naruto snuck glances at Sakura to his left, but she never wavered. After the previous night, her face had been an impenetrable porcelain mask.

She had told them then, “We cry and we cope and we continue.” Her eyes had found Kakashi’s and he held them for a long minute before shifting his gaze uncomfortably towards the ground.

After the mission debrief, Sakura hung back to go over documents with Tsunade as the rest of Team 7 parted ways. Kakashi had immediately dispersed which left Naruto and Sasuke idly walking the packed dirt roads of the village.

Sea glass on twinkling wind chimes glinted green and blue as Sasuke and Naruto walked past vendor stalls. The warm breeze carried scents of fried food and sweets and the duo ignored the glances of awe and apprehension thrown their way.

Still mulling over the events of the previous night, Sasuke clenched his hands into fists. Across the street, sitting underneath the shade of a tree, Sai was painting the landscape around him. Pointing towards their other teammate, Naruto nudged Sasuke towards his direction.

Walking up the grassy hill towards Sai, Naruto sent him a halfhearted wave and tried to figure out how to ask Sai if he knew. If he knew what Sakura had been going through and how they could reel her back into Team 7. He rubbed the back of his head in frustration and fisted at the roots of his hair. Opening and closing his mouth several times while growing agitated, his eyes darted towards Sasuke then back to Sai as he struggled.

“Did Ugly finally tell you?” Sai asked, intently studying his painting. “And could you two move—you’re blocking my view.”

Finally finding his voice, Naruto exclaimed “We’ve been her teammates for years.”

“And yet she chose not to tell you,” Sai replied evenly.

“But w-why?” Naruto spluttered disbelievingly. “Why would she keep this a secret from us?”

“Because she did not think you could offer her any emotional comfort.”

Quietly, Naruto murmured, “Has she at least told Ino?”

Sasuke stared down at Sai. He thought he was aloof and detached with brief moments of social understanding, unfalteringly deadpan but unwaveringly steadfast. Sasuke and Sai had shared only a handful of greetings and exchanges, mostly nonverbal despite Naruto and Sai’s efforts and provocations. Sasuke had found his replacement irritating in his quiet observations and noted the way he and Sakura tended to gravitate towards each other during missions with thinly veiled contempt.

“The rest of your graduating class is aware.”

“How did I not know about this!?”

“She had you sent away on a mission when Tsunade informed them of her temporary release of duties.”

“Well, what about me?” Sasuke finally asked, feigning nonchalance despite his racing heartbeat.

“You were never a consideration.”

Sasuke jerked his head to the side and clenched his jaw, face settling into a scowl. He had wondered if with time, Sakura would look at him the way she used to when they were younger. Actually, he amended, he didn’t need for her to look at him with bright eyed adoration, cheeks flushing at any attention. He didn’t deserve it. He didn’t need furtive glances thrown his way or delicately packed bento boxes. He wanted her acceptance—acknowledgement even, would have sufficed.

“What will you do now, Dickless?” Sai questioned.

“I’m gonna go to Tsunade baa-chan and force her to do something about this!”

“But did you ask Sakura what she wanted?”

“Huh?”

“Tch, dobe. You don’t even know what Sakura wants. She didn’t tell you because it’s just like you to do whatever your first thought is.”

“Precisely.” Packing away his supplies and shutting his sketchbook, Sai rose from his seated position. “Well,” he said with a fake smile, “this was fun.”

He watched as Naruto scrunched his face deep in thought and noted the quiet anger rolling off of Sasuke in waves. “I know this may be hard for you two,” Sai said cheerily, beginning to walk away, “but try not to impose yourselves further on the hag.” With one last wave, Sai walked leisurely back to the main road.

.

He had come to her apartment in the middle of the night. He had seen her open balcony, cream curtains billowing in the breeze, and hopped onto the ledge. Before he could wonder if he should have knocked on the front door, Sakura was in front of him.

“What.” She asked

He swallowed. His hands felt clammy.

“I’m sorry. For everything. I know it doesn’t mean much. But I mean it.”

She nodded. She went back into her apartment and left the glass door open, inviting him in. Shutting the door behind him and taking off his sandals, he looked around her living room. It was relatively spacious for just herself, light wood floors and neutral décor. Her side tables and bookshelves were crammed and overflowing with medical tomes and scrolls. Kunai and various weapons were littered on top of her coffee table along with notes and ink wells. Her living room opened up to a modest kitchen, where she currently stood towards the kettle.

“Do you want tea?” she asked, lifting two boxes to choose from.

Her hair was pulled into a braid down her back and she was wearing pajamas—clearly intending to sleep soon. He nodded at the box at her right and she took out two packets. Unsure of what to do, he hovered next to her coffee table until she came to sit at one end of the couch, sweeping a hand towards the armchair to the side and the other end of the couch.

He tentatively sat at the opposite end and clasped his hands in his lap. He nodded at the mug she handed him and stared into its contents. He felt a fever rush to his brain and felt a heavy cold settle in his bones as he attempted to parse through his emotions—sorrow, rage, guilt, shame, yearning. He could hardly name them for what they were, each overwhelming him like a tsunami wave, unrelenting and overlapping until all he felt was hurt ricocheting off his ribs and reverberating against his lungs.

“I’m sorry,” he bit out awkwardly. He intently analyzed her face and wondered why for all the things he felt, for all the things he wish he could articulate, all he could ever do was apologize. She sighed into her mug, the tendrils of steam making the fine hairs framing her face stick to her skin.

"I’ve forgiven you even when I don’t fucking want to—when my brain screams not to." With another deep exhale she rests her head on the cushions behind her and stares up at her ceiling.

“I’m sorry it happened,” he says quietly, fingers playing with the string of the teabag.

It’s something, Sasuke thinks to himself. They’re talking. For the first time, maybe ever. And he lets that little flicker of hope consume him. That maybe they can continue to talk. He’ll let her in, he’ll be vulnerable, he’ll apologize if she’ll just keep talking to him.

.

Sasuke and Naruto stood next to each other in the early morning quiet and unsure, facing the village gates. Kakashi was behind them, hands deep in his pockets, hunched over as if trying to make himself smaller. Looking at Naruto, the village to his back, Sakura watched as he fidgeted in uncharacteristic silence.

Surprisingly, it was Kakashi who began to speak. Raising his eyes towards Sakura, he began to apologize.

It had been weeks since Sasuke had shared tea with Sakura, talking through the years he had missed, actually learning who she was as a person. During that night, he was able to indulge in the fantasies he had been harboring for months—the desire to talk to someone like family—to someone who is family. To divulge in past memories and future hopes. The start of sealing the cracks he had left and wedged open.

But now, he watches as she grips Naruto in a tight hug, whispering fiercely into his ear as he shakes in her arms. She shares sweet goodbyes with her friends who look at her with pride and tell her to bend the world to her will because they’ll always be waiting. A curt nod and a squeeze of the forearm and Sasuke watches her back and wonders if her heart shattered the same way when he had left her all those years ago.

At the time, she had told him that she would go with him—that she would shoulder his pain if she could. But now? He supposes this is payment for all the times he ripped her heart from her chest. It would have been merciful, he thinks, if she could have knocked him out unconscious so he didn’t have to be the one to watch her back as she became a distant pinprick in the horizon.

[fabrowrites]

Skyward Chapter 4: Take a Breath of Myth and Mystery

Chapter 3

'We've waited for Cole long enough. I say we go on ourselves.'

Of course, Zane couldn't actually understand the dragon, but he had a feeling his interpretations were accurate. Again he studied the dragon's posture, trying to decipher the various tells of his body language.

"You believe we should move on?" He was rewarded with a fervent nod. The dragon's wings were twitching. Hmm, impatience? He added it to his ever-growing list.

The sky was lightening through the trees, streaks of pale orange coloring the deep blue. The soft twittering of birds merely accented the hushed spell cast over the forest.

So the bellow that shattered the stillness was jarring. Zane whipped around, heartbeat fluttering erratically. Movement caught his eye. He perceived a flash, and then the forest fell dark and silent once more. We must have been closer to the road than I thought, he absently noted. A tap on his shoulder sent his pulse spiking again.

"Jay?" The lightning dragon looked repentant, his wings drooping. "Sorry, you startled me, that's all."

He nodded, wings lifting again as he clawed away fallen needles.

THAT WAS COLE ID RECOGNIZE HIS SCREAM ANYWHERE

"Are you sure?"

The dragon gave him a look, but it was enough to assure Zane. Jay tended to babble when he was doubtful or lying. But that led to another question. Why would Cole turn into a dragon? While he thought, he started towards the road.

The sight that greeted his eyes was one he'd seen before, right before the skeletons vanished to the Underworld. A wrecked vehicle, deep tread marks imprinted into the damp earth. Only this time, there were no tracks leading away from the crash site. He frowned.

"Jay, how did you transform?"

The dragon went to write, but he froze in his movements.

I SPINJITZUED

The pieces clicked together. Zane pursed his lips, feeling a headache coming on.

"And you didn't think to alert me or Cole of that fact?"

I WAS EXCITED OKAY

There was no use in dwelling on the past. Zane focused himself on what was ahead: namely, the temple. "What's done is done. We need to continue to the Fire Temple. Cole will know where to find us."

The temple was a black mass against the morning sky. Low growls echoed from the volcano. As Zane drew near, he picked up the sounds of scratching as well. He turned to Jay.

"I sense that another member of our party might be in your situation."

Jay nodded. He tilted his head back and screeched. His call sounded more like a bird's than anything else, and Zane didn't understand why Cole had been afraid of it. Then again, he didn't understand much about other humans in general.

Thus, why he'd taken to studying body language.

The scratching stopped. There was another call from inside -this one slightly deeper and more throatier- and Jay's ears perked.

ITS KAI

That much was obvious, but Zane decided not to say anything. "How do we reach him?" he asked instead.

Jay and Kai exchanged several more remarks.

HE SAYS THE DOOR IS BLOCKED AND THE ONLY OTHER WAY OUT IS TO FALL DOWN A LAVAFALL

They needed a way in, not a way out. Zane frowned. How does one enter a volcano?

"Jay? Would you ask him if he is able to see any gaps that might lead into a tunnel?"

Evidently, Kai could hear him. The fire ninja's reply came before Jay could ask.

HE CAN

Zane studied the volcano. He had an idea, but he would need to make some adjustments before it would work.

"So you're saying that you've been training as a secret ninja warrior for the past few months, learning an ancient martial art that just so happens to have the side effect of turning you into a dragon?"

Well when you put it that way… Kai snorted, but nodded his head regardless. He perched beside the magma pools, surrounded by the kanji scratches littering the floor and walls. It had taken some thinking to get his sister to trust him, but after he thought to write out his words communication was much simpler.

YEAH BASICALLY

Nya sighed. "Honestly, Kai."

I DIDNT MEAN FOR THE DRAGON PART TO HAPPEN

"You never mean for things to happen!"

THATS TRUE

Nya said something else, but her words were drowned out by the cry from outside. Kai whipped his head around, automatically twisting it to triangulate the sounds. Was that… Jay?

"Kai? Are you in there?"

It was! Kai scrambled to his feet. He bolted towards the temple entrance, skidding to a stop just short of crashing into the rocks.

"Jay! I'm here!"

"Kai? Where are you going? What's that?"

Kai didn't have the time to stop and scratch out a reply. Jay was speaking again, and it took all his concentration to make out the words.

"Oh my gosh, I can't believe I'm a dragon! And you're a dragon too! I finally have someone else who can actually understand me! Wait, how do I get in? I might be too big for the door!"

"Doesn't matter anyways, the door is blocked." Kai groaned, slouching against the wall.

"Is there any other way in?"

"Well, Sensei said there were other ways. That was right before he tumbled over the edge of a river of lava."

"What? Sensei fell into lava? Is he dead? Ohmygosh, he's dead!"

"He's not dead!" Kai said, before Jay could work himself up into even more of a frenzy. "He knew what he was doing. He was on a rock."

"A rock. That's not the most reassuring, Kai!"

"Well sorry!"

There was a pause, and Kai became aware of a second voice from outside.

"Jay? Would you ask him if he is able to see any gaps that might lead into a tunnel?"

Kai glanded around the cavern. Indeed, there were many cracks and dips in the volcano's walls. Some of them looked deep enough to lead outside.

"I can!"

Things feel silent then. Kai turned back to Nya, who watched him with a befuddled expression.

ITS MY TEAMMATES

A look of understanding passed over her face. "They're dragons too?"

I GUESS

Scraping noises came from the walls, followed by the sounds of tapping claws and hissed groans. Then two creatures tumbled into the cavern. They were dusted with a fine red powder. The blue one shook the color off himself and Kai took the opertunity to study his teammates.

The blue one was bigger than him, but that wasn't saying much. Jay only stood a head or two higher than Nya, and Kai himself was nearly on eye level with her. The white one- Zane- was even smaller than Kai, about half a head shorter. Someone was conspicuously absent, however.

"Where's Cole?"

"He, uh, hewenttotheunderworld."

"What Jay means to say is that Cole was unaware that spinjitzuing led to transformation. He attacked skeleton warriors and vanished to the Underworld."

A sickening sense of dread settled in Kai's stomach. First Sensei Wu, and now Cole? "We have to go and rescue them!"

"And how exactly do you plan on doing that? Last I checked, we couldn't even fly-"

"I can, sorta."

"What?"

Kai shrugged. "I can glide across the pools, at least." He took a step back, pushed off, and waited for the thermal updrafts to carry him across the chamber. "Once I'm actually in the air, it's like my body instinctively knows what to do."

"Woah, that's so cool! I wanna try."

Jay's takeoff was shaky, but as soon as he caught the updrafts it was like he was a whole new dragon. He was great all the way up until the landing when he crashed into the wall.

There was a tap at Kai's shoulder. He tuned out Jay's happy chatter and focused on his sister.

"What's the matter?" Nya asked.

Kai had to hand it to her. He couldn't think of anyone else who could be so calm when surrounded by dragons, even if said dragons were your brother and his friends.

WE NEED TO GET TO UNDERWORLD TO SAVE FRIENDS

"Woah, that's your sister?" Jay had come back around the magma pools.

Kai snarled. "Jay!" He whacked him with his tail.

"Aren't dragons able to pass between realms?" Nya said, studiously ignoring the chaos around her.

"She's right," Zane said. "In the legends, dragons were not of one world and therefore could dwell in both of them."

It felt like the temperatures had plummeted. Kai knew the legends, of course. Dragons were hunted for their magical powers and the honor and riches beyond imagining that came with felling one.

Kai had grown up on these stories, often cheering on the valiant warrior who slew the beast. Not he felt sick. Were those dragons people once, too? Was his destiny like theirs, to die at the hands of an unrespectful hunter?

Nya brought him out of his daze. "Kai? Kai! Are you okay?"

He couldn't breathe. He couldn't breathe! He opened his mouth and coughed, each breath warming his throat. Then it was like his body was back to normal, the ache in his chest gone.

IM OKAY

Nya gave him a look.

IM FINE NOW

Honestly, he was! Kai turned to the other two dragons, ignoring their concern. "I think the smoke's affecting my lungs," he said.

Zane didn't press, but Kai thought that he didn't believe him. The white dragon exhaled.

"If speed is the key to entering the Underworld, then we will need to fly."

Chapter 5