#and Minato appears to stop him

[0zt]

once a series ends it loses some of its hype and it gets remembered for all the shittiest parts. like, yeah Naruto had some shitty parts. It was long as hell so of course. but to this day, certain scenes and moments stick in my mind that are just amazing without comparison and when you go back to them it’s no wonder Naruto was so massive and is still so popular so long after it finished

[inzuinzudesu]

Please zoom in to see small Kakashi! 😭 He kinda disappeared 😭😭😭

Text translation: "Infinite Tsukuyomi" (無限月読)

Drew these in mid-July - when I started doing digital again actually 🤔

Took inspo from the Balut - a street food in my country; I hear a lot of people are grossed out by it?? Don't know if this is controversial, but I personally love the dish. Essentially grew up with it after all!

Wanted to draw something that feels a bit creepy but still has a sense of mysticality to it???

Meh, don't know if the feeling got across or not

I thought since Halloween is coming up, might as well post this haha

About the process of drawing these!

These were very fun to draw! I messed around a lot with photoshop to achieve this glowy dusty effect?? From the brushes to the blending options, and maaan the filter gallery 😭😭 Such fun tools to play with.

The main brush I used to achieve the dusty effect is called "KYLE Bonus Chunky Charcoal", in the Kyle Dry Media brush set. If you can, I recommend checking it out! There are definitely other ways to achieve this sort of effect, though. You can probably just use some sort of scatter texture brush and it'd work just fine. Studying is all about trying things out, right? This is like my first experiment with this type of effect, and I was happy at the time. Now looking back, these could most definitely turn out better, no? I really went overboard with just the effect and forgot everything else. The blood and the plate looks horrible man. If you look closely, you can see the sketch lines haha! I got lazy!

Also, for Obito's pose, I relied heavily on a reference I found on pinterest 😭 I wish I'd changed the pose more tbh, it looks really boring.

And I gotta say, these just look underwhelming in this smaller size. Like reaaaaaally underwhelming. Would love to show you the big version, but oh well! 😭😭😭

Brain vomit time!

I love the prospect (??? is that the right word) of Obito being all god-like and powerful after Tsukuyomi, having control over everybody's dream worlds?? And like he jumps from dream to dream, but stops at Kakashi's and picks it apart???? Observing and tormenting Kakashi with his childhood form that has both sharingan???????

Kakashi would probably be confused with Obito's appearance at first, asking questions like "What are you up to this time, Obito?", but then wouldn't receive any answers??? Like little man would just stare at him creepily, and Kakashi would push this to the back of his mind for a while???

Umm below is the technical stuff, I guess??

My headcanon is that the time span in the dream world is the same as the real world. Meaning, 30 years in the dream world feel incredibly real, with no gap of memories. It's essentially a different timeline. Whether this makes sense or not, who knows haha!

Let's talk about the dream events and how they affect Kakashi! Due to Sakumo and team Minato still living, this Kakashi probably wouldn't be as lax nor sad as in canon?? The relationships and personalities would be different huh???? I'm having a headache thinking about this, so let's just say that: 1. Sakumo lived because the villagers weren't as harsh, but the animosity still remained. Kakashi still developed this obsession with rules, but he doesn't blame his dad as much. 2. Kannabi happened, Kakashi was given the sharingan, along with Obito's ninja way. Team Minato thought that Obito died for a while, but Obito is 'rescued' by Madara, same as canon. 3. Rin would still be targeted by Madara, but Obito came in time to help with the situation, blocking Kakashi's chidori from connecting with Rin's chest, but also knocking Kakashi away. Then, a Mist enemy took advantage of the situation to attack Kakashi, injuring him gravely, to the point where everybody thought he died. With this, Obito activated his Mangekyou and exploded on the Mist enemies, killing them all. Meanwhile, Rin tried to heal Kakashi, just barely saving him. As Obito had dealt with the enemies, there was no need to rush back to the village, and the Sanbi wouldn't be released till then. And so, they waited for Minato to come and help with Rin's seal. (About Obito's Mangekyou activating with Kakashi's death - would that be too far-fetched? My reasoning is that Obito would think that it was his fault Kakashi died, because it was Obito who knocked Kakashi away into the enemy, no?) 4. Because there's no one to become 'Madara' now that Obito came back to the village, Naruto is born, Minato and Kushina live.

5. The Uchiha massacre doesn't happen.

(Everything is incredibly convenient, because I don't have the brain power to make it otherwise, please help 😭😭) -> In conclusion, this Kakashi resembles the Kakashi of the real world, but less depressed and self-destructive??? He loves his living comrades. My man still has a massive obsession (more like crush lol) with Obito by the way, just like in canon. He just doesn't show it.

-> About Obito of the dream world (I'mma call him Dreambito), he is all sunshine and brightness, but he exhibits some dark thoughts and deep rage from time to time due to the residual effects of Madara's seal on his heart. The seal has been removed though. And he has this obsession with Kakashi's safety, as he almost pushed him to his death once, albeit accidentally.

-> I was debating whether to just start this dream world at the point where Obito got crushed, or to start it at the beginning of Kakashi's life. In the end, I went with the latter, cuz ya know, I like the idea of Kakashi living through a whole life all over again, just to finally come to the realization that it's all a dream. Does that make any sense at all??

Obito (child form - 13) first appears in front of Kakashi at the start of the Naruto series, when Kakashi has officially become the teacher of team 7. (Let's not change this okay, my brain would fry haha I'm not gonna deny that the idea of Obito and Kakashi becoming co-teachers of team 7 isn't incredibly fun though)

After the first encounter with this child Obito, Kakashi begins to have flashes of memories from the real world, and he hallucinates about people's deaths - mostly about the members of team Minato. This young Obito is always in the corner of his vision, most of the time silent, sometimes saying things like "You trash" to Kakashi whenever he encounters Rin, who is whole and grown up in this world.

Kakashi exhibits more destructive behaviors as this goes on, the line between the dream events and the real events slowly blurring. He takes more dangerous solo missions out of the village, and shows strong signs of PTSD, just like in canon.

The two Obitos would contrast each other?? Like Dreambito would be all concerned with Kakashi's decline in health (both mental and physical) and goes to confront and comfort him, many times over because that's how it is with them??? Dreambito might even move in with Kakashi, being the obsessive and protective Uchiha that he is. Meanwhile young Obito would be an absolute asshole, saying all these horrible things to poison Kakashi's mind haha

At this point, Dreambito'd be in the last stage on the journey of becoming Hokage, gaining the all the trust from the Uchiha clan, the village elders and the villagers as a whole. I don't know about Rin, though? Should she be romantically involved with Dreambito or no? Would Kakashi dream that??

I think Kakashi's dream would somewhat focus more on Dreambito being happy and satisfied, to be honest. I know there's Sakumo and team Minato as a whole, but as a degenerate shipper, I love the obsession between them🥺

I don't think Obito would directly interfere with what Kakashi is dreaming about, i.e. changing Dreambito's behavior, or like the political situation of the villages (?). But he would most definitely insert himself in Kakashi's psyche, no? Mess it up real good.

Kakashi would slowly realize that he is living a dream world, after all the flashes of memories that Obito generates in his mind. He would most definitely deny it at first though, I think? And then it would reach a point where Kakashi remembers everything from the real world, but he has also lived through 30 something years of the dream world, meaning he'd be in his 60s?? Does that make sense or no?

And so, while Kakashi now knows that everything is a dream, his feelings for everybody in the dream are real. If that's the case, is it really that important anymore that he escapes the Tsukuyomi? Can this dream world really be called fake at this point? Is there even anything in the real world for him to return to?

What's to say 'the real world' isn't a dream at this point?

-> Kakashi would completely close in on himself after this. He still does things that he would normally do, but it'd be all an act. He would feel completely isolated.

-> Dreambito would notice and confront him again, now that they live in the same house??? Kakashi would like say everything is fine and try to act more convincingly, but Dreambito would still know something's wrong????

-> Obito is observing from afar, who knows what his motivation is at this point.

Because this is Kakashi's dream world, I suppose he would have the power to change this world to his will, now that he's aware? This is like a lucid dream situation???

The people in the dream have their own will up until this point, but Kakashi can somewhat change their behavior if he really wants to, whether it's subconsciously or not??? Example: He can probably will Dreambito to kiss him or something lol

So on and so forth!

Man, I'm having waaay too much fun imagining the pain. There are probably like a thousand things that doesn't make sense haha! I do wonder how this sort of storyline should end though, does anybody have any ideas? Personally, I prefer slow burn with a (sort of) happy ending, but ya know, angst all the way is good too! I can't write, but I love thinking about all the things that could happen 😭😭 English isn't my first language, so this might have felt weird to read at some point haha

If anybody wants to develop this, please feel free to do so! And if you've read this far, thank you for reading this absolute brain vomit of mine! I love to yap, as you can tell haha Have a good day!

[sthaboutlove]

I need y'all to stop with these stupid parallels between Sasuke and Kushina. Some of you are dumb enough to take kushina's line about finding someone like her literally and make non-existent parallels between her and sasuke. They are not alike, either in appearance or storyline. The only person who looks like Kushina is, surprise surprise, her own son. The only parallels Kishimoto deliberately drew are those between Kushina and Naruto.

And I don't think I need to explain this, but since Naruto is basically a second kushina, he needs someone like minato - calm, collected, sensible - someone who balances him out.

If you want a het ship to parallel SNS with, then take Borusara. Sarada has the looks of Sasuke but parallels Naruto in plot and relationship with Boruto, while Boruto looks like Naruto but parallels Sasuke. Borusara is the only ship that was made to parallel sns, but you all prefer to compare Naruto's mother to Sasuke and make delusional analyses.

Boruto is a nukenin who is hated by the whole village, and Sarada is the one who still loves and supports him. Boruto wants to be by Sarada's side when she becomes hokage and protect her. Doesn't this remind you of someone else?

[erimeows]

To Be Selfish (NSFW)

Kakashi Hatake stands at the village gates with a ratty binder in his hands, flipping between multiple pages as the cool morning air blows through his silvery locks. 

A map, blurry pictures of the two men he’s been ordered to kill, descriptions of their jutsu, and a note with their most recent location following an encounter with another one of Konoha’s Anbu, who was found just over a night ago. 

It should be enough information for the two of you to succeed.

The time on his watch shows that it’s just past six in the morning. The sun is rising and painting the sky blue, purple, yellow, and orange in its wake. It’s cool, but not cold, though the incessant breeze in the air makes goosebumps raise on Kakashi’s arms while he waits for you.

Kakashi was ordered to meet you here at five thirty. Supposedly, the Hokage informed you of the rendezvous location as well. Kakashi was late due to him stopping to see Obito, Rin, Minato, Kushina, Might Dai, and his own father at the cemetery. Now, it’s half an hour past the time you were supposed to meet him and you still aren’t there.

Kakashi isn’t sure if you’re ditching him or if you’re going to show up late on purpose to piss him off. As the captain of Team Ro, he’s always tried to maintain decent relationships with his subordinates; you, Itachi, and Tenzo. However, the moment you were added to the team, it was clear that you had a bit of a crush on Kakashi. You were getting too close, trying to coddle him on missions, making him food, bringing him gifts, and constantly putting yourself in harm’s way for him. 

Though you’re much different than Rin, your behavior wasn’t. Kakashi still has nightmares about his old friend impaling herself on his chidori almost every time he tries to sleep for his sake, for the village’s sake- and he knows that, if something like that happens to him again, he’ll fall into the darkness and be unable to get himself out of it. 

He can’t lose someone again. He’s too damaged to do it again.

Admittedly, his solution to the problem may not have been the best one he could’ve come up with. Instead of having a genuine conversation with you about his past and telling you that he isn’t in the mental space to get attached to another person right now, let alone one who’s constantly in danger while working in Anbu, he did what was easy and pushed you away. He chewed you out for defending him during missions, belittled your abilities, avoided you at all costs, and rejected anything you tried to give or do for him- and rather than the cold indifference he’s so used to pushing people away with, he did it in the most hateful way possible, just to make sure it worked.

And it did. His plan worked better than he ever wanted it to. Now, instead of the puppy-like crush you had on him before, you hate him. Kakashi is fully aware that it’s his fault, but he’s too embarrassed to come clean to you. He also knows that he doesn’t deserve your forgiveness for how he’s hurt your feelings. So, he continues to pretend to hate you. Neither Itachi nor Tenzo have dared to ask about it, but it has negatively affected the team dynamic during training and missions.

Kakashi starts to assume that you aren’t coming and turns to leave, but right then, he hears slow and quiet footsteps approaching. He looks over his shoulder to see you in full armor, (h/l) (h/c) hair pulled back and your (e/c) eyes sparkling under the rising sun. If Kakashi’s body goes hot, he blames it on the impending sunlight, rather than on his love for you. 

It’s not you that makes him burn bright red from the top of his forehead, to the tips of his ears, to his neck, to the top of his chest…

Okay, maybe it is.

But you don’t need to know that.

“It’s not like those two to be late… They’re not late, are they? Why is it just us?” You ask, looking around as if you’re waiting for Itachi and Tenzo to appear. Kakashi can’t help but be disappointed by how bothered you seem that it’s just him. “I’d rather really not be stuck alone with you. The other two are much more personable.”

“Seems like Tenzo and Itachi are still in recovery after the last mission, so they couldn’t come along. Honestly, though, this shouldn’t require too much manpower. I don’t know why the Hokage is having me take you,” Kakashi coldly replies, even though the Hokage told him whether or not he made you come on this mission was up to his discretion since he’s the captain of Team Ro. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” You huff.

“It’s supposed to mean that I could do it by myself.”

“Then why am I here if I could be in bed right now, you fucker?”

“Just in case.”

“See, you’re not nearly as confident as you say you are.”

“Don’t question me. I am your captain.”

And, as always, you immediately question him.

“What are we doing, anyway?”

“We’ve got a couple of B-rank assassins on our hands from Kusa. Our job is to take them out and dispose of their bodies.”

“There’s only two and they’re both B-rank? Why are they sending us?” You scoff, rolling your eyes. “That’s honestly a little insulting considering we both have S-ranks in their bingo books over there.”

“While neither of them are particularly talented, their combo ability is dangerous,” Kakashi says. When you open your mouth to ask yet another question, Kakashi interrupts by rambling on, mostly because he’s skirting around explaining the enemies’ jutsu to you… It’s rather lewd and uncomfortable, to say the least. “That’s why S-rank shinobi are required to take them down. Don’t underestimate your opponent just because of their bingo book ranking. They could always be downplaying their strength.”

“Well? Spill; what is it that these guys do?”

Kakashi freezes. In order to succeed in this mission, you have to be aware of what your enemies are capable of. Still- it’s awkward to actually have to talk about something sexual, especially with you. 

“It’s, uh… Sex pollen,” He stammers out after a little too long.

“Sex pollen?” You tilt your head back and laugh, pointing a finger at him as if he’s joking- no, as if you’re making fun of him- even when you can clearly see the embarrassment that’s painted on his face. “Like in those weird fucking books you read?”

“Oh, shut up,” Kakashi turns his body to avoid your gaze. Honestly, he prefers the way you were before- sweet and considerate of his feelings- but he also knows that your constant teasing makes him want you even more than he did before for whatever reason. He continues to avoid your eyes, but hands you the binder full of information about the shinobi you have to assassinate and their location so you can read through it. “Anyway… Yeah. The jutsu caster releases a type of pollen into the air from nearby plants that acts as an intense aphrodisiac. It’s apparently so intense that, once you’ve inhaled it, it takes effect within half an hour and leaves you unable to do anything until you find relief.”

You quirk a brow up at that, confusion lacing your expression.

“Find relief?”

Kakashi sighs.

“Are you really going to make me say it?”

“I need all the details I can get if we’re going to fight these people, Kakashi. Don’t be such a prude.”

“Relief as in… Orgasm with another person. Pretty much, you’re left without the ability to fight, so the enemy has an opening to kill you while you’re vulnerable. If you somehow manage to escape them before it takes effect, but don’t find the ‘relief’ you need to break the jutsu, it’ll put so much pressure on your heart from the increased blood flow that you’ll die after a few hours- that is, if you can resist the urge to screw whoever’s closest. It’s much different than natural human arousal, or even anything that any medications could cause.” 

“It’s strong enough that even skilled shinobi can’t resist it? And why can’t you just masturbate to get rid of it?”

“Apparently even strong shinobi are vulnerable- it just takes longer for it to take affect. If you try to make it go away by masturbating, it won’t work. One of our guys was found dead from it recently because he went solo and tried to take care of himself after inhaling it, and they managed to get a sample of the pollen from his lungs and nasal passageways to take for testing, but the medical core hasn’t been able to come up with an antidote just yet. They said it’s very complicated and that they’ve never seen any other pollen like it. In the meantime, they want us to take care of the two; they’ve gone rogue from their village and been using this ability to kill any shinobi who try to capture them, and they’ve even used it to rob innocent civilians so they can afford whatever lifestyle it is they’re living as rogues.”

“Wait, you said there were two of them. If there’s one using this pollen jutsu, what does the other one do that’s so dangerous?”

“While the first is from a clan that can use this pollen-based jutsu, the other is from a neighboring clan that has a natural immunity to the released pollen. In Kusa, the two clans are known to work together for missions frequently,” Kakashi explains. “So the jutsu user would be able to inhibit us with the pollen, while the shinobi with the immunity would strike immediately after and remain unaffected, as to allow the jutsu user to focus on keeping us under the influence of the pollen.”

“Sounds tricky.”

“Precisely. It seems that they’ve been blessed with these kekkai genkai but are still relatively unskilled and have been wounded by shinobi unaware of their abilities. Even though they killed him in the end, the last ninja we sent out apparently wounded them both really badly before he went down,” Kakashi finishes. He takes the binder from your hands and returns it to where it was in his backpack. “So if we can find them in time and strike while they’re vulnerable, we’ll be able to take them down without an issue.”

“And that’s why you brought me, right?”

“Yes,” Kakashi answers. You were born with a rare kekkai genkai that not only allows you to sense chakra from a much further range than the average sensory type, but also allows you to sense whether the person’s primary chakra is wind, lightning, earth, fire, or water. “As talented as I am, I’m no sensory type.”

“So, really, you couldn’t do this by yourself,” You grin, playfully smacking Kakashi’s shoulder.

“I could use my hounds and do it by myself just fine,” He argues. “You, however, require less chakra use from me since I don’t have to summon you.”

“I bet you wish you could.”

“I’m glad I can’t. It’s not like we need to be any closer than we’re made to be,” Kakashi sighs, but he finds that all he wants is to be close to you. Still, there’s no making amends for how he’s treated you lately- all in a fucked up attempt to push you away just because of his own issues. “Last I heard, they were on the border between here and Kusa, on the north side. That’s around where they found the Anbu they killed, and with how injured they supposedly are, there’s no way they’ll make it too far without running into us. If we make good time, we’ll be able to find them.”

“You really trust in my tracking abilities that much?” You question.

You’re looking for validation. Kakashi can tell. Lately, he’d tell you ‘no’ or that you’re just more convenient than any alternatives, but even if it feels impossible, he wants to fix things. So, he tries to choose his words carefully.

“As much as I hate to admit it…” Kakashi pauses, then responds. “Yes, I do, but don’t let that get to your head.”

“Fine,” You huff and walk ahead with your arms crossed over your chest. “Let’s go, then.”

~

As much as you love Kakashi Hatake, you also despise him.

The two of you arrive on the south side of the border between Konoha and Kusa after a long, awkward, silent journey. Kakashi didn’t utter so much as a word to you during the multi-hour walk. 

When the two of you arrive at the cabin, you thank whatever god is out there for the fact that Tenzo exists. Shortly after you were assigned to Team Ro, the brunette started using his jutsu to build small cabins for you all to stay in, particularly on certain borders or in certain cities that the four of you frequent often for missions. With Kusa being a developing ninja nation compared to the major five, Konoha ninja are sent there frequently to assist them- and, behind the scenes- to keep them under control, lest they upset the balance between the ninja nations that has only just now started to settle after decades of war. 

The cabin is good, but still one of the worst ones. You don’t mind it much as you’re mostly just excited that you don’t have to sleep outside in a tent.

Being on a mission with Kakashi is stressful enough.

When you walk in, you’re reminded that there’s only one large bed. It wouldn’t be unusual for you and your three teammates to share it, but now that it’s just Kakashi here… Your heart flutters in excitement.

Much to your disappointment, however, as you shut the door behind you and set your bag down, Kakashi starts to complain about the arrangement.

“Only one bed. Of course, the one time we get landed in a place with one bed, it’s when I’m on a mission with you instead of one of the others,” Kakashi shakes his head and carelessly drops his bag to the floor. He doesn’t even spare you a glance as he sits on the edge of the bed and pulls out his stupid book. It’s crazy to you that he reads romance novels all the time, yet ignores your obvious feelings for him. “And the thing’s big enough for four people… I’m going to ask Tenzo to start making more beds when he assembles these mission cabins for us.”

“Oh, please, Kakashi,” You reply and sit on the back of the bed. “I’ll be sure not to lay anywhere near you. Hell, I’ll sleep on the floor if you want.”

“No, don’t,” Kakashi quickly objects. The tiny bit of his cheeks that peeks out from beneath his mask is dyed bright red with a blush. “Your uh… Your back will hurt.”

You blink at him, then ask-

“Are you fucking serious?”

“Yes,” Kakashi answers as if he’s not being weird about this. You just continue to give him the most incredulous, judgmental stare you can possibly muster. “Our mission could be compromised if you’re in pain.”

“Okay, great! You’ll sleep on the floor, then,” You respond with a shit-eating grin that you know pisses Kakashi off more than anything.

“No, I won’t.”

You shrug.

“Then I’ll sleep in the floor and compromise our mission.”

“Just get in the bed,” Kakashi grumbles and strips down. You watch before you can think better of it, but if Kakashi notices, he doesn’t say anything. Your mouth waters at the sight of his bare back, muscles and pale skin covered in a flurry of scars. The defined muscles he has shift underneath his arms and shoulders as he- disappointingly- moves to the very edge of the bed and lies on his side with a blanket dragged on top of him to cover up his body. His mask remains on his neck, which bothers you, but you know better than to pry about why he wears the damn thing 24/7. “I promise I won’t touch you unless you want me to.”

At that, your heart skips a beat. Unless you want him to? Does that mean that he wants to? You struggle to speak, stuttering over the words you’re trying to force out. The worst part of you wants to make fun of him, but all you can do is ask him to clarify what he meant.

“Unless I want you to?”

“That came out wrong,” Kakashi quickly mutters and squeezes his eyes shut so he doesn’t have to look at you. “Just… Lay down. I’ll sleep on the edge. Pakkun will keep watch for us outside and wake us up when enemies come or when eight hours have passed- whichever comes first.”

“Fine,” You sigh and strip down to your underclothes as well. You swear that you feel Kakashi’s eyes on you, if only for a second, but when you check to see if he’s peeking, his eyes are still screwed shut. You lie on the side of the bed opposite to Kakashi, facing away from him and staring at the wall to save you the embarrassment of getting scolded or told to go away like he would’ve done back when you made your feelings for him obvious. “Goodnight, Kakashi.”

“Goodnight, (y/n).”

~

Kakashi wakes up in the middle of the bed. He’s always moved a lot in his sleep, but he’s still surprised to find himself turned onto his other side with his arms wrapped around…

You?

Yes, you. You’re fast asleep, snuggled into Kakashi’s chest as he holds you in his arms. Your face appears so peaceful like this, your lashes fluttering against your cheeks and your sleep-rustled hair framing your face. You’re only in a tank top and the shorts you wear under your uniform, so your warm (s/c) skin is pressed up against Kakashi’s. He notices the soft peaks of your breast squished against his chest and decides that enough is enough. He’d hate for you to wake up and see him holding you like this, especially when it wasn’t intentional.

He pulls away from you and checks the time on his watch. It’s only been six hours since the two of you went to sleep, but that should be more than enough. He’s stayed up for days at a time for missions before and he doesn’t want to waste so much time sleeping that the enemy manages to get away. 

Careful not to wake you up, Kakashi showers in the bathroom, changes his clothes, and goes outside to talk to Pakkun, who he had keeping watch overnight.

“Pakkun, anything to report?”

“I sent Biscuit to scout everything nearby. Seems like animals can’t sense this pollen from the reports you showed me before,” Pakkun answers. “But he sniffed out a couple ninja close by. They’re north of here, staying in a small shack. He said they smelled nervous but that he didn’t know if they were aware of you being nearby or not. Need us to guide you to where they are?”

“No, thank you. You’ve been working for more than six hours straight now, so you’ve done enough,” Right as Kakashi says that, he hears your footsteps. You stand in the doorway just a couple feet behind, listening in. “Plus, I’ve got (y/n) here to help me pinpoint them now that you’ve given us a general direction to work with. Please, go rest.”

“Stop acting like I’m old and need to rest all the time, Kakashi. It’s not like I’m on death’s door,” Pakkun huffs, scratching his paws against the dirt floor. “Not that I don’t appreciate the extra naps…”

Pakkun disappears in a cloud of smoke. Kakashi looks at you over his shoulder. Your hair is damp and the pleasant scents of perfume, soap, shampoo, and conditioner waft off of you in gentle waves. He assumes you must’ve showered right after he finished and went outside to communicate with Pakkun.

“Let’s go,” He says.

You silently nod. The two of you pack up, erase any traces of your shared presence from the cabin, and head out. 

Once again, the journey is silent. 

You and Kakashi travel up north by foot, staying in the trees of the forest so you can’t get ambushed from above or below. Neither of you talk, even as you get close to where the enemies are supposed to be. Kakashi still feels awkward about how he woke up this morning, and he isn’t sure whether or not you cuddled into him last night on purpose- or if you even know that it happened. You seem like you’re still mad about the spat the two of you had about the sleeping arrangements.

“I’m sensing two strong chakra sources up ahead… About half a mile,” You pause, stopping on a random branch and closing your eyes so you can focus on sensing the chakra signature. Kakashi listens and places a firm hand on one of your shoulders to keep you steady. “They’re high Chunin level, maybe low Jonin if they’re injured or trying to mask their chakra. I’m sensing water and earth in one of them… And the other is totally unfamiliar. I’ve never felt anything like it before.”

“Wood style is a combination of water and earth, so it wouldn’t be crazy to assume that someone who uses a plant-based kekkai genkai would use a combination of water and earth style. The other one is immune to the pollen as well as various types of poison but hasn’t been sighted yet using any elemental jutsu, so who knows what kind of chakra they have… These must be our guys. The jutsu has a range of about thirteen hundred feet, so we can’t alert them of our presence or we’re done for.”

“What should we do?”

“I’m surprised you’re consulting me,” Kakashi responds, to which you open your eyes and shoot him a sharp glare. “Hide your chakra and be as quiet as you can. We’ll stake out to see what they’re up to and get the drop on them.”

“Okay.”

The two of you eventually locate the shack you were told the enemies would be in. There’s a small window that you can see through as the two of you hide on the branch of a tree, seemingly out of sight from the two men. One of them is a brunette who sits at the table with his back facing the window. The other is a blond who stands across from the other, facing the window. Both are in standard Kusa ninja uniforms, and the blond has a standard Kusa forehead protector with a slash cut through it.

“We’ll wait until they move to do something or start talking to each other. Then I’ll use my chidori, break through the window, and kill them both,” Kakashi strategizes. “Your job is to follow close behind me. When I hit the first one, there will be a split second for the other to try and escape or counter me if he’s skilled enough. If he tries anything, kill him or find a way to keep him in the path of my chidori without getting yourself hurt.”

“So, what, you get to do everything and I’m just here as your contingency plan?”

Kakashi rolls his eyes at that. 

“Pretty much, so get over it.”

Just then, the blond shinobi starts to talk to his partner. His face changes. He appears paranoid and panicked. Is there any way he could have sensed you and Kakashi? …No, if that were the case, they would’ve moved to attack by now.

Everything seems to be going well enough, and the two men seem distracted. He makes eye contact with you and gives you a nod to let you know that you should ready yourself for combat.

You nod back. 

Kakashi channels his chakra to his hand to activate the chidori. With how fast it is, neither enemy should be able to do much of anything in retaliation- at least not in time to cast the pollen jutsu on him, especially with you acting as back up. 

Kakashi takes a deep breath and looks over at you. His heart starts to beat harder in his chest. Arousal shoots throughout his body like electricity. For a moment, he assumes it’s because of your presence, but then he catches a scent that’s… Sweet, just like how that pollen has been described to smell.

Kakashi looks at the enemy again. The one sitting with his back to the table seems relaxed, as the one standing upright a few feet in front of him is holding a hand sign; casting a jutsu.

“Shit,” He whispers.

“What is it?”

“Are you stupid? Or can you just not smell anything? We inhaled it, it’s sickeningly sweet,” Kakashi hisses, shaking his head to try to get the smell out of his nostrils. It doesn’t work. Just then, you slap your hands over your nose, seeming to have gotten a whiff of it too. “The enemy must have been using his jutsu as a precaution!”

“What do we do?” You demand, panic lacing your expression.

“Kill them now before they have the chance to take advantage of our weakened state,” Kakashi orders, and knowing the dire situation, you don’t argue with him.

“Yes.”

The two of you continue with the original plan. When Kakashi charges through the window with a ball of lightning attached to his hand, the two men look incredibly shocked to see that he’s even standing, and don’t have the time to counter him. Within a minute, both are dead on the floor of the shack, but the effects of the pollen don’t subside. Kakashi rushes to wash the blood off of his hands in the sink while you sit on the floor with your (s/c) cheeks flushed and pathetic little pants falling from in between your lips.

“This is bad…” Kakashi covers his masked nose with his hand, but it doesn’t help in the slightest.

“What does it matter? They’re both dead now! Shouldn’t it wear off?”

“That doesn’t mean anything- just because they’re dead doesn’t mean that the jutsu doesn’t have any effect. That’s like saying a fire style jutsu won’t burn a forest down after being shot at a tree just because you killed the user afterwards,” Kakashi scoffs, but he’s barely even able to form logical thoughts, let alone get the words out. Any normal civilian would’ve fully succumbed to this pollen by now and either had sex with the closest person or died. “Go look and see if you can find an antidote on him or the other one.”

“Why do I have to do it?” You complain with a pouty lip.

“Just do it! The pollen’s already starting to get to the both of us, and if we don’t figure something out soon, you know what’s going to happen.”

“Shit,” You gasp. You’ve quickly searched both men’s weapon pouches and bags, but based on the defeat in your voice, Kakashi assumes you didn’t find anything. “There’s nothing but kunai and paper bombs!”

“What about in their pockets?”

You quickly search the mens’ pockets.

“Nothing!”

“God dammit,” Kakashi straightens his back, then roughly grabs you by the bicep and drags you up so you’re standing on your feet. “We have to get out of here, now.”

“Shouldn’t we split up?”

“Are you insane? If they have any back up coming and they catch us alone with the state we’re about to be in, we’ll be killed. You know it’s not uncommon for rogue ninja to work together in large bands. This could be a hideout, and if more of them come back and find these ones dead, we’re done for!”

“What, like an enemy catching us fucking nearby instead of alone would be any better for us?” You shoot back. Kakashi can’t help but be angry that, regardless of your previous feelings for him, you’d literally rather split up and risk both of you dying than dare to have sex with him. “At least if we’re alone, we die with some dignity!”

“Why does dignity even matter at this point if we’re like-” Kakashi groans and gestures wildly to himself; his head, which is fuzzy with lust, and his dick, which is hard as a fucking rock- then to you. “Like this? I refuse to compromise our lives to save your pride!”

“So, what?” You yell back, throwing your hands up in frustration. “We have to do it or we die?”

“I can’t reasonably violate your consent, but if it’s what we have to do to stay alive, and you’d let me,” Kakashi breathes out. He’s so ashamed of himself for letting this happen to the two of you that he can’t even meet your eyes. “Yes.”

“Look, Kakashi,” You gather your composure for just long enough to form rational thoughts and tell him- “I know you don’t like me, but we have to figure something out. Let’s get back to camp and resolve it from there.”

At that, Kakashi sighs. 

“Who ever said I didn’t like you?”

Unsurprisingly, you don’t respond. Your mind is so clouded that all you can do is focus on getting back to the cabin without tackling Kakashi to the ground and taking him for yourself right then and there.

Worst of all, Kakashi can’t say that he’s doing much better.

~

When the two of you return to your hideout, you find yourself sitting hunched up in the corner. Meanwhile, Kakashi is restless, suggesting alternative solutions that both of you know won’t work.

“It’s getting worse,” Kakashi murmurs, frazzled and aroused. You’ve never seen him in either state let alone both at the same time. Kakashi is your captain, the rock of your team. As much as you act like you hate him, and as much as you boast about your own power, his consistent strength and talent at getting your team out of bad situations is what keeps you from spiraling in circumstances such as this. Now that he’s spiraling, you’re even more panicked, knowing that there’s no way out of this. “I can barely think.”

“I can see that,” You say the words as condescendingly as you can, but if you’re being honest, the sight of Kakashi’s length straining against his already tight pants is enough to make your situation worse. Even with the thick black cloth of the Anbu uniform, you swear you see all seven- or maybe six?- inches of it twitch. You force yourself to roll your eyes and look away from the man, who frantically paces the room. “If your dick gets any harder, it might burst through your pants. Seriously, looks like you could cut fucking diamonds with that thing.”

“Doesn’t seem like you’re doing much better,” Kakashi snaps back at you. 

You offer nothing but a sardonic sort of cackle in return regardless of the fact that his words are true. You were so hot that you stripped yourself of your shoes, socks, pants, and armor as soon as you made it through the door of the cabin- Kakashi’s presence and your dignity be damned. You wore the stupid ‘sexy’ (f/c) bra and panties that you keep in your underwear drawer at home, on the off chance that you’d act on your feelings during this mission and get the chance to have sex with your captain.

You laugh even harder at the thought of that- if only you’d known just yesterday what would happen. Now, the two of you are in this cabin together, hormones going crazy, drenched in sweat, in desperate need of relief, with you in your soaked panties and Kakashi’s clothes soaked in blood. 

“Thanks, I hadn’t noticed.”

Kakashi sits on the floor in front of you. He’s close- too close. It takes everything in you not to climb on top of him and rock his world. 

“Why do you think I don’t like you?”

Of all things… Of all things, in the situation the two of you are in, horny out of your goddamn minds and using what little restraint you have left to keep from jumping each other’s bones without consent, Kakashi is asking about your feelings. 

You thought you were easy enough to read.  

You thought that, eventually, Kakashi would look at you and figure out that you’d loved him from the start and still do, even after everything the two of you have said and done to each other.

Apparently not.

“That doesn’t matter right now,” You snarl, gritting your teeth and clenching your legs together in hopes that it’ll put an end to the arousal pooling between them. If anything, the friction makes it worse, as even the slightest pressure on your clit has you biting your lip to keep from letting out any noise. “It’s not like you care.”

“Of course I fucking care,” Kakashi yells. You’ve seen him angry, sure, but you’ve never heard him yell. You snap your head around to look at him so quickly that your neck hurts as your (e/c) eyes go wide at his words. “Why do you think I had you come with me on this mission in the first place?”

“The hell’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means I love you,” Kakashi suddenly confesses. He holds his head in his hands as he pulls his knees up to his chest. Your ears start to ring so loud that you don’t hear the rest of what he says. “And I thought I could do it by myself, but I knew Itachi and Tenzo were still in the hospital, so I dragged you with me anyways because I was selfish and wanted to spend time with you alone for once- and now we’re like this, and it’s my fault.”

“You shouldn’t love me,” You object, cheeks red and mind racing. You’re not sure if it’s the confession or the pollen that’s causing it, but you find that your heart is beating so hard and fast against your chest that you can’t even swallow because you can feel it in your throat. “That’s not right- it can’t be! Why would you be so cold to me all this time if you loved me?”

“Because I was stupid and didn’t know how to handle my feelings. I was scared of losing you like I’ve lost everyone else I’ve gotten close to, so I pushed you away… But I promise you, (y/n), I love you more than anything.”

“It… It can’t be.”

“It can’t? Then tell me how to stop, (y/n). Tell me how to stop loving you,” Kakashi demands. He pauses, carefully waiting for a response. He pulls his forehead protector off and tosses it across the room. It hits the wall then falls to the floor with a clatter. Briefly you wonder what it would be like for him to use that sort of brute force on you, but you’re distracted by Kakashi’s ungloved hands on the sides of your face and his eyes peering into yours; one a deep charcoal and one a brilliant ruby red that you swear glows against the darkness of the house under the night sky. “No, seriously. Spare me.”

“I thought you hated me,” You whisper, closing your eyes to avoid Kakashi’s.

“I don’t.”

“What, so you brought me back here instead of having us split up so you could fuck me? Because you love me? Is that what you want?”

“You’re kidding me,” Kakashi shakes his head at you and jerks his hands away from your skin like you’re poison. He turns his back to you, groaning. “This is the opposite of what I want. I…”

“You what?”

“I never thought you’d return my feelings again after how I treated you. I still don’t expect you to,” Kakashi sighs. His gaze flickers from the wooden floor to your face. Finally, when his eyes meet yours, you see the genuine emotion in his face- and you’re able to swallow your pride. “But if you did, I wanted our first time together to be…”

“What, romantic? Sweet?”

“Yeah,” Kakashi answers, then scoffs. “This must be hilarious to you.”

At Kakashi’s apparent defeat, you soften. Even after everything that’s happened… You can admit that the two of you have been meaner to each other than what was ever necessary.

“A little bit. I can’t say I didn’t expect it, though. I’ve seen the books you read,” You offer an awkward sort of half smile and scoot forward so you can rest a reassuring hand on Kakashi’s shoulder from behind. Unsurprisingly, he flinches at the touch. Thankfully, though, he doesn’t move away or tell you to stop. “But I’d lie if I said I didn’t want the same thing.”

“You mean you…?” Kakashi trails off and looks back at you from over his shoulder.

“Mhm,” You nod.

Kakashi hurriedly turns around to face you again, putting both of his hands on your shoulders and gripping them tight.

“I don’t want you to have sex with me just because of- of this,” He says, frustration lacing his voice, to which you offer a half-hearted shrug.

“We don’t have much of a choice, unless you want to die here,” You climb into Kakashi’s lap and yank his mask down before he can object. The garment hangs loosely around his neck. You continue as you take in the sight of his face; so beautiful, with scarred porcelain skin, red cheeks, and soft-looking lips. At this point, most shinobi- and every average civilian- would’ve broken and given in to the urges of the sex pollen jutsu by now. You’re also desperate to get some sort of relief- and more so, desperate for Kakashi himself after having waited so long for this. “The quicker we get it over with, the quicker we can go home, and the higher chance we have for survival.”

“Fuck, you’re right,” Kakashi grumbles and carries you to the bed, where he sits with his back against the bedframe and your body still in his lap. You flinch when he reaches into his weapons pouch at lightning speed, only to be pleasantly surprised when he flicks a kunai upwards to cut your armor, shirt, and bra into pieces. The garments fall onto the floor and leave you exposed to his lust-glazed eyes. “Let’s get started, then.”

“You owe me a new lingerie set, asshole. You better buy me one when we get back, because that was expensive, and I wore it for you,” You scold at the sight of your bra, undershirt, and armor cut to shreds and being thrown to the floor by one of Kakashi’s large hands. “Armor, too.”

Kakashi doesn’t even dignify your orders with a response- instead choosing to focus on your other comment

“You wore them for me, did you?” He hums You stare in awe at the sight of his exposed face. “That’s… Actually really sweet, (y/n).”

“Don’t be such a sap,” You scold and move so you can take your underwear off and toss them to the floor. “And while we’re at it, it’s unfair that I have all my clothes off while you’re still fully dressed.”

“Then help me get my clothes off before this pollen makes me lose my mind. I don’t think I can wait any longer.”

You do as told and help Kakashi strip off his socks, pants, and boxers. Your eyes go slightly wide at the size when his hard dick springs out from underneath his clothing. 

You climb back into his lap and pause. 

“I never thought I’d see you like this.”

“I never thought I’d get to see you like this either,” Kakashi smiles. You realize that, even after this, you would like to see his smile more. Seeing his face without that stupid mask on it is refreshing after so long of only receiving that cold one-eyed stare of his. “Can I touch you?”

“Sure, just do it slowly to start with.”

“I can do that.”

Slowly, just as he promises, Kakashi touches you. He starts with squeezing your thighs and your ass. When you shudder at the motions, he continues by running his hands up and down the length of your waist, then moving them back up to cup your tits and fondle them tightly. His lips are on you seconds later; on your belly, up to the center of your chest, peppering your (s/c) skin in kisses before one of them is wrapped around your nipple. He sucks the bud to full hardness and pinches the other between two of his fingers, then alternates until both are fully stiff under the cool air. 

The effects of the pollen are starting to get to you. You were the one who instructed him to take it slow, but waiting for him to give you the relief you so desperately need is killing you. You can feel the thoughts in your head becoming less coherent.

Kakashi pulls his mouth away from you and reaches between your legs. At first, he simply touches your folds and playfully explores the area as if he’s teasing you. Just as you’re about to scold him for doing so, two fingers are being thrusted in and out of your soaked entrance. You groan and curl forward. You’re so, so relieved that you’re finally being touched, but so frustrated that you still need to cum for the pollen to wear off. Kakashi uses his thumb to toy with your clit and watches his drenched fingers disappear into you with intent.

“A-Ah… Don’t look at me like that,” You pout, glancing at the wall past Kakashi’s shoulders. “You’re making me self-conscious.”

“There’s nothing for you to be self-conscious about, especially compared to me,” Kakashi responds in a low tone. Your eyes snap back to him. What does he mean, compared to him? Regardless of his hand palming you and his deft fingers teasing your clit between your slick folds, you find yourself staring at Kakashi’s body. What could he have to be self-conscious about…? He has a perfectly sculpted body, beautiful porcelain skin, soft silver hair, dainty thin lips, and sharp eyes. The only things you could think of would be the infinite amount of scars he has, but you’ve never thought anything of them. “You’re beautiful, always, but especially like this.”

“You don’t have anything to be self-conscious about either, you idiot.”

Kakashi doesn’t say anything to that, instead looking at where he’s thrusting his fingers in and out of your cunt, and then up at your sweat-dampened face. 

“You ready?” Kakashi asks, to which you nod your head. 

Kakashi gently pulls his fingers from you and lines the head of his cock up with your entrance. It’s large enough that your eyes widen at the sight of your hips being pulled down onto it. You’re so wet that he gets it in without much trouble, but the tightness and the friction of it has both of you letting out a choked sort of noise and melting into each other. 

“Kakashi,” You cry out as you struggle to take his length all at once. Even with the slight amount of prep he did mixed with the pre-existing slickness from the pollen, it’s so large and thick that the stretch borders on painful. “Kakashi, I can’t-”

“What, you can’t handle me?”

“I can-” You start, then gasp when Kakashi’s hands on your hips shift your lower body closer to him. Your tits are pressed flush against his upper chest, your belly brushes against his shredded abs, and you’re filled to the brim with his cock. When he bucks his hips up into you to meet the bounces of yours, he slips a hand between your legs and massages your clit. With a sharp inhale, you manage to force out the following words as you dig your nails into his shoulders. “I can handle you.”

“Typical (y/n). You’ve always loved to challenge me,” Kakashi whispers, nipping at the shell of your ear as he does. “Fuck…”

Kakashi pulls back to look you in the eye. In the darkness of the cabin, the two of you are only slightly illuminated by the moonlight that pours in through the window. The one other light source is the ruby red glow of Kakashi’s sharingan. It feels like it’s piercing through you as you watch the tomoe swirl. You realize that he’s recording this moment, this love, for himself.

Maybe he’s loved you for longer than you thought. 

That love is evident in the way he stares at you like he’s obsessed, evident in the way he touches your body like it’s a masterpiece, evident in the way he fucks up into your body like he’s been waiting forever for this, evident in the way he whispers sweet nothings to you like you’re something to be cherished instead of just a teammate or even just a friend. 

Kakashi wraps his arm around you and holds you close so he can fuck you hard. It’s been a bit since you’ve done anything with anyone- Anbu is a cold, hardening organization and most of the time, at the end of the day, you just want to collapse onto your bed and cry yourself to sleep. On the occasions that you’ve dated or slept around, however, it’s been with civilians. It’s always been that way, just because it’s easier to not see them after everything inevitably falls apart. So, you’re not used to being flush against chiseled muscles covered in scar-mapped skin, nor are you used to being fucked with the strength and energy of a shinobi such as Kakashi.

Most importantly, though, you’re not used to someone who loves you fucking you. Pollen aside, this is more like making love than fucking with how Kakashi rushes to press your lips together and kiss you until you feel like you’re drowning on it. He pulls back, just briefly, to nip at your neck with his fangs and suck hickeys into the skin along your shoulder and the side of your neck, before pushing his lips back against yours. It’s so messy and desperate that a dribble of spit drips down the side of both of your mouths, but neither of you care enough to pull back and wipe it away. 

Kakashi shudders and sighs into you when the walls of your hot, wet cunt tighten around his cock. He takes that as encouragement to help you along and keeps pistoning up into you in rhythm with his thumb circling your clit until your ears are ringing and stars light up behind your eyes. Pleasure tears through you.

“I love you,” You moan against his lips as you finish, too relieved by the electric feeling of release that courses through your veins to be embarrassed.

Meanwhile, Kakashi seems to revel in it; your vulnerability, your presence, your body, your overstimulation.

“Sorry, what was that?” Kakashi teases. “I couldn’t quite hear you over all the noise you’re making.”

“I said I love you,” You murmur and rest your forehead against Kakashi’s while holding his face in your hands. “I really do mean that.”

You slump into Kakashi, weakly continuing to grind down onto him so he can finish, too. He moves his hand away from your clit to let you recover to some extent, but keeps thrusting up into you. You reach up to wipe the drool on the corners of your lip that comes from how Kakashi is making your mouth water. You’re overstimulated and you’re not sure if Kakashi’s hardness lingering inside of you is painful or pleasant or both.

“I love you, too,” Kakashi breathes out. “You look like you’re doing better, but I’m not quite done yet. Do you need me to move us?”

“Y-Yeah, I think so,” You nod. Your orgasm knocked the wind out of you and your legs and arms are shaking like crazy with the strain of riding Kakashi’s large cock while strung out on this pollen. You slow to a stop with Kakashi still throbbing inside of you, in need of release. You don’t know if it’s been five minutes or five hours. “Please, take over.”

“On your knees,”Kakashi slides out of you with a slick noise and grabs you by the hips to flip you around. He bends you over and pushes you onto your arms and knees before pushing his length back into you. You cry out at the sudden intrusion and blush at the slow trickle of your wet arousal dripping down your inner thighs. “There you go, you’re taking it so good… Fuck, I’m close…!”

“Then cum so we can leave already,” You grunt. Your head is spinning so fast that you’re barely able to get the words out. At first, you were at least able to muster the strength to stay on your hands and knees. Now, with Kakashi’s hips slamming against your ass at an increasing pace, you can’t keep it up. You drop to your forearms. The pleasure and pain is all so overwhelming with the pollen coursing through your body that your arms give out and have you stuck with your face buried in the bedsheets and your ass held up in the air by Kakashi’s rough grip on your waist. “Seriously, I’m about to cum again, so hurry up and finish before I pass out or something…!”

“Don’t act like you don’t want it, (y/n),” Kakashi growls and reaches up with one hand to thread grab you by the hair and twist your head just enough to make you look back at him. “If I weren’t so desperate for you, I’d make you beg for it.”

You let out a loud, breathy whine, but you don’t dare to argue with him- lest he actually make you beg. That’ll have to wait for next time.

Hopefully, there is a next time.

Kakashi’s thrusts finally start to become more rough and haphazard, signaling to you that he’s getting close. You muster your last bit of energy to throw your hips back against his. Pathetic little cries leave your throat and echo through the night air of the dark, lonely cabin as Kakashi’s fingers and thumb dig into your hips so hard that you’re sure you’re going to have a hand-shaped bruise come morning. 

Kakashi suddenly lets out a loud groan and stills with his cock buried in you as deep as possible. That last thrust mixed with him coating the walls of your cunt with his cum drags you over the edge once more. He pulls his hand from your hair and lets go of your hip so he can put his hands on the bed on either side of you and bend forward to rest his cheek against the middle of your back. 

“Kakashi…” You start, but you’re unsure of what you want to say.

After that- after everything- what could you say?

“(y/n)...” Kakashi whispers and presses a kiss into the skin of your back before pulling out and laying down on the bed.

You flip over as well, lying on your back, just as Kakashi does. The two of you catch your breaths while staring at the ceiling. You turn to your side to face your lover (?), who you rush to touch once more.

“Do you feel any better?” You ask while tracing a finger up and down Kakashi’s bare, sweaty chest.

“Yeah, I think the effects are wearing off. Sorry if I was a little rough with you, I was just… Under the influence of the pollen. Not that it’s any excuse. I’m a little embarrassed now, thinking about the things I said,” Kakashi takes a deep breath, exhales, and turns to check on you. “How are you feeling?”

“Fine. We should be good now, I think.”

Weirdly enough, you can’t bring yourself to snap at him like you would’ve just hours ago. You try to stand from the bed so you can get dressed, only to stumble from the strain that was put on your body. Kakashi rushes to catch you by the arm and pull you back down to sit on the edge of the bed.

“Want some help?” He offers, moving to sit next to you on the bed and putting a hand on your shoulder. 

“Um, sure…”

Slowly, Kakashi cleans the two of you up, helps dress you in clean and comfortable clothes from your bag, fixes your hair, puts your forehead protector on over your head, and gets himself dressed and ready to go. He stands and puts both of your bags over one shoulder to carry them. You remain sitting on the bed, simply watching his every move.

“You’re quiet,” Kakashi points out.

“Not much to say after all that,” You mutter. “Except… I do love you back, if you really meant what you said. If it was just the pollen talking, then you can pretend I’m joking and we can go back to hating each other, and-”

“I meant it. I really do love you,” Kakashi interjects. Then, he steps forward and tenderly pushes a stray lock of hair away from your eyes. “I wanted to talk about this more, but we should go dispose of those bodies back at enemy grounds and make sure that there’s not any more of them. The pollen that was released back there should’ve worn off by now.”

“Fuck, I forgot about that entirely…” You sigh and scratch the back of your neck. “Do we have to include what just happened to us on the mission report?”

“I think I’d literally rather die than tell anyone back in Konoha that we fucked because of sex pollen,” Kakashi laughs, shaking his head. “Now, let’s get going before the Hokage starts getting suspicious about why it’s taken us so long…”

With that, the two of you leave the cabin, your head on Kakashi’s shoulder and your hand in Kakashi’s hand.

[velvetine-moth]

Persona 3 Arcana Swap AU

Junpei - The Fool: After the death of his mother a decade ago, then the death of his abusive father in recent years, Junpei moves to Iwaitodai to attend Gekoukan for reasons he can't exactly describe. Unbeknownst to him, he has brain damage that's spreading and slowly killing him.

Chidori - The Lovers: Goth girl who everyone somehow finds likable despite her not entertaining them, so she's popular - She's part of the art club and the axe-throwing club. She's the first one to welcome Junpei to the dorm- Her and Junpei don't necessarily get along, (she won't admit she likes him, he's openly in love with her) but they work well together.

Yukari - Magician: Softball team star and a general "sporty girl"- She's wildly jealous of how popular Chidori is and how no one takes her seriously. She can be a little mean and hotheaded, or trying too hard to be likable by others. She tends to go down to the station and to the movies when she gets frustrated, and sees a mysterious, sharply dressed woman there.

Takaya - Hierophant: A chronically ill man who used to be part of the original SEES team- He disappeared and stopped going to school, only to be seen rarely at the alleys. Jin constantly keeps trying to bring him back. No one knows why he left in the first place, except for Jin- who won't say anything. ** Jin and Takaya were both part of an experimental drug testing that failed, and caused Takaya's persona to come out and attack a stranger after a trip to tartarus one night, killing them. Takaya gets suppressants from a strange group of friends who he seems to know from something greater than all of them.

Jin - Emperor: One of the top students in school- Takaya's childhood best friend, the two grew up together. Jin won't explain where or how, though. Jin's a part of the computer club and is taking college courses already. Could have been student council president, but he's a little too hotheaded and protective of his friend to listen to teacher properly, but his good grades give him the leeway to do things like skip class every so often or walk out when he gets too frustrated.

Ryoji - Priestess: An upbeat boy who was bullied by the student body and locked in Tartarus for multiple days, and after being saved became the navigator for the SEES team. He's awkward, and doesn't usually understand boundaries. Kenji, one of the boys who locked him in the school, became his friend after the two made up. The two became extremely close after the fact.

Aigis - Emperess: The student council president who is focused on being the top student and getting good grades and getting into a good college. Her people skills are the bare minimum, and she is often blunt and focused on schoolwork more than relationships- But she's still courteous. Her parents used to own several scientific organizations, but after they both died, these places have long since been abandoned- She still has access to them, but they are unkempt.

Fuuka - Aeon: An anti-shadow weapon that was discovered on a trip to an abandoned beach- She's shy and uses her knowledge and scanning to check on Junpei and the SEES team constantly- Without understanding it might not be the most appropriate. She means well, but is often nervous- The programmers tried to make her seem human, and instead made her anxious. Her overly caring nature leads her to often intrude or barge in on Junpei and the other SEES team members.

Minato - Death: A mysterious boy who appeared at school in the middle of the year- He's quiet, self-contained, and rarely speaks. However, he keeps staying close to Junpei and befriending him fairly quickly despite their relatively opposite natures. No one's sure of who he is, or where he came from- But there's a strange aura about him.

Senior Trio - Strega: All were part of an experiment as kids to "fix them"- In reality, they were all orphans, except for Mitsuru- Her dad, unknowing of what the trial actually was, put her into the program. In reality they were artificially given personas, and with that, were unable to use them.

Shinjiro was the eldest- and protected the others. His Persona also attached the smoothest at the time, and that gave him extra attention from the doctors- and a complex. He began to lead the other subjects- and save them, since he was so good with his persona.

Akihiko had the roughest time with his persona attaching, so much so that he tried to end himself from the pain of constantly being shocked by his own persona. Shinjiro saved him from his own persona, and from himself- Causing Akihiko to devote himself to protecting Shinjiro from any other subjects who got angry and tried to lash out, or from any doctors who tried to come at him. Even after they were the only three surviving, Akihiko still protects him and keeps him close, being utterly devoted- After every win, turning back to make sure Shinjiro is watching.

Mitsuru acts as their navigator, usually dressed sharply as a business woman- She's often out walking about at the station and watching other businesses run- She's known for carrying a small notebook and writing notes about everyone she sees in odd, scrawly handwriting that's difficult to read and disjointed. She is cold, calculating, and often will only talk to people as if they're potential business partners- And it's how the team gets a lot of their information and networks.

Initially inspired by the p4 arcana swap by @/anzukko_art on twitter and instagram!! and this tumblr post for Takaya and Shinjiro!! God I rioted when I saw this art it's SO GOOD. ( hi — shinjiro and takaya swap! Inspired by... (tumblr.com) )

[r--kt]

Tenzo is a replacement for Obito.

From Obito's point of view.

contents | introduction · the essence · similar story: Jinx and Caitlin

[ I mention the similarity with Arcane here, but if you haven't watched it, you can just not read this part, the essence won't change much. ]

here's the thing: It's a headcanon, and it is simple in formulation, but a bit complex in explanation of the certain image. below I discuss the reasons for some of Obito's reactions during the war, and his perception in general.

if Kakashi and Obito had somehow happened to be in the same place once during the ANBU period, or if Obito had known about the members of Kakashi's team, he would be jealous of Kakashi for Tenzo.

not romantically jealous (it's up to you though), rather painfully possessive, with resentment and anger. and not in a vivid way. it's more of a gnashing feeling inside, clogged enough not to recognize it, but not weak enough that it doesn't affect anything at all. why would that even be? their kekkei-genkai, appearance and bond with Kakashi.

CH 317 on the left; CH 605 on the right.

Tenzo's mokuton is smooth, malleable, these are neat bars of wood, and Tenzo has no difficulty making large houses or complex thin figures out of them, such as keys or eyes (ANBU arc in anime) or cute figures (almost any scene where Yamato uses kekkei-genkai).

Obito's mokuton is broken and sharp, it's branches with thorns, which rather embody his frustration, instability and anguish. such wood is easy to use to injure, kill, block the way, isolate yourself from others, but not to build anything out of it. this can not protect gently (to make a shelter or a useful object), this mokuton can only attack. the detail parallels very well with the personalities of both characters and their connection with Kakashi, with how Obito perceives it.

no matter what Obito says, he's a good liar. the old bonds he had in his "past" life remain important to him. his anger at Kakashi in the war, among other practical reasons, is due to the fact that Kakashi dared to acquire new connections that are more important to him than that bond with Obito. at least that's why, among other things, Kakashi doesn't go over to his side (while Obito hoped he would, I'll make a post about it one day). and the connections Kakashi has, subconsciously or not, are perceived by Obito as annoying, as a disregard for everything they've been through together, for everything Obito went through. this is a resentment that provokes anger, the root of which is as follows: "you should not have new connections, you should suffer, because I am lonely and I suffer for you" (for others in general, but this one is the agenda).

his anger is sometimes about "I did so much for you, I gave you the most valuable things I had (life, strength, the ability to care for others), and you ruined everything, well, maybe not you, but I thought it was you at first... and now you, bastard, are trying to stop me?" but not about that today.

and that's why not only Tenzo would annoy Obito, but anyone else who's close to Kakashi. the man consistently selected the people most similar to his past experience, and here they are all around him. then Minato appears in the war. so why am I talking specifically about Tenzo, whom Obito may never have seen?

Tenzo's kekkei-genkai makes everything more confusing. This becomes something personal, which Obito perceives in the way described above. That's just an interesting parallel between these two.

And that's not to mention Tenzo's appearance. He is in some ways still looks like Obito, at least because of the silhouette, hairstyle, etc.

And what this can be compared to? Jinx and Caitlin from Arcane.

Arcane EP 7, "the boy saviour"

Of Course Jinx experiences it much vividly, it's her canon event. for her this storyline is more important than something like this for Obito, but the essence is the same. It is a feeling of betrayal from a person dear to you, who showed with all his appearance that he/she would be on your side until the very end. And it feels like you've been replaced by someone who's really more comfortable, or better at something, or more socially approved. And you're just a lonely sick weirdo.

It is not surprising that both Jinx and Obito treat Vi's/Kakashi's kind words or regrets as something annoying - subconsciously, among other things, they can see it as a mockery. They just don't really believe it.

so here it is. just the way I see all of this.

what is the role of this hc? to show the subconscious in Obito, which is constantly manifested in war through his action or inaction, through his words, through the way he manipulates, through illusions that he shows or sees himself. I like that about him. I like his big vulnerable uchiha heart.

[ I should have written some other post about Obito first, otherwise you will now decide that this is the only way I see him... ]

[tossawary]

You know, I didn't dislike the Kaguya battle as much as I thought that I might. I'd probably have different, more interesting feelings on this if I'd been reading "Naruto" properly instead of skipping over a bunch of stuff in the middle, but I'd already been spoiled on her as a villain and expected her appearance. And also the story has dropped so many threads and fumbled the landing of so many character arcs by this point that the vibes were kind of like, "Sure, this might as well happen next."

My favorite parts of that excruciatingly long final battle were anytime the fight involved ugly, complicated personal histories between characters. So, I liked "Hashirama versus Madara" and "Tobirama versus Madara". (I initially went looking for the "Senju versus Uchiha" flashback chapters (622ish; 619-ish is where Orochimaru resurrects the previous Hokages) and kept on reading from there out of curiosity.) And I also really liked the "Kakashi versus Obito" moments and "Minato (+ Naruto + Tobirama) versus Obito".

Thinking about it now, it seems really weird that there wasn't a bigger emotional confrontation between Sasuke and Madara, or else one between Sasuke and Obito. Sasuke seemed kind of checked out for most of the battle until it was time to him to fight Naruto after Kaguya was defeated. I guess he's just done with most of this shit after Itachi died. But Madara and Obito are partially responsible for a lot of the tragedy in Sasuke's life? I guess yelling at the villains for being shitty people and shitty family is already Naruto's job...

There's a lot about Kaguya that I actually think is kind of cool. She's pretty scary. I think the lore is pretty neat, actually. And even though she has basically zero personal connection to any of our heroes (Sasunaru being reincarnations of her descendants do not count as "personal" connections in my eyes), the Kaguya battle FINALLY cut the cast down to a far more reasonable number of people so that the story stopped being split in half-a-dozen different directions.

It's just Team 7 plus Obito! We're down to like 6-8 characters (depending on whether or not you count Zetsu, and also the Sage of the Six Paths, I guess). Nicely focused! I liked seeing Team 7 reunited and struggling forward together to save the world all on their own. I thought that this narrowed focus helped the pacing a lot, especially because the fight with her specifically didn't actually drag on for very long, and so I found it surprisingly easy to get through her part of the super long final battle compared to some of the earlier waffling back and forth between Madara and Obito and Zetsu.

[dark-elf-writes]

Venomous Naruto, Jiriya.

Is he still technically Naruto’s godfather? If so I imagine it would only be because politics kept Minato and Kushina from directly naming Orochimaru and they figured Jiriya would give Naruto to him like he did with Minato.

No matter what, though, all the kids have a kill on sight mentality when it comes to Jiriya. (Orochimaru doesn't discourage this, especially after Jiriya made a "comment" on Anko's appearance. )

Oh even before Naruto was in the picture or Jiraiya came back to the village the kids had a kill on might order for him.

All of them have seen how the weight of his missing team has worn on Oro. Have seen how loss after loss has affected him and still neither one of them have come home. Have heard time and time again how Minato was Jiraiya’s student when he left half of the actual teaching in Oro’s hands and didn’t even bother sticking around after the funeral when their mother was shattering after the loss of another person he cared about so much. Adding Naruto into that equation? Hearing time and time again how badly their baby brother suffered because Oro couldn’t be named his true guardian in the first place? They want to bounce him off the concrete. On top of all of that him making advances on their sister? This man is not getting out without moderate to severe poisoning and more than a few stab wounds at least.

Jiraiya has an unpleasant awakening waiting for him back in the village as Oro has no intention of stopping his brood from exacting revenge and is in fact going to join him when he hears about Jiriaya sexualizing Naruto’s female form.

[ircn-mvn]

Naruto’s parents meet his adoptive family

“Oniichan!”

Kushina and Minato could only stare as their only son turned around and kneeled to welcome twin toddlers into his arms. 

“You’re back,” one of them said. 

“Ruchan was freakin’ out,” the other added.

“Language!” 

Naruto and the twins froze as the other two looked up to watch two shinobis coming their way. It took another moment for Minato to realize the one who had spoken was no other than Kohari and Ikkaku’s son, but literally no time at all to recognize his old student walking next to him.

“Naruto?” Iruka called.

Naruto moved immediately. He got up and walked the small distance between them as Iruka opened his arms. They hugged but soon the obviously relieved expression on Iruka’s face turned into a thunderous one and they understood why Kakashi had stopped a step behind them.

Iruka suddenly grabbed Naruto by his jacket’s collar and started shaking him:

“What the hell were you thinking?! No, you clearly weren’t thinking at all as always!! You were supposed to babysit the twins!! And what, you decide to experiment with their Jikūkan Ninjutsu like it’s some kind of game?! You are lucky they didn’t accidentally kill you, you idiot!! Do you hear me?! You could have died, Naruto!! What were we supposed to do if you had died?!”

“I-I’m dizzy,” Naruto managed finally.

Iruka stopped. He looked shaken under the last trace of his anger. He let go of Naruto’s collar to grab his shoulders.

“You can’t disappear on us like that, Naruto,” he added. “Do you hear me?”

“Uh, I’m sorry,” Naruto answered.

“You better be.”

Iruka’s frown turned into a soft smile after another beat. He brought his and Naruto’s forehead together, closing his eyes.

“Welcome home.”

And that’s when Kakashi moved forward, joining the other two. One of his arms came around Iruka while he put a hand on Naruto’s head before bringing their foreheads together as well.

“Welcome home, kid,” he said.

“Glad to be home,” Naruto answered with a sheepish smile.

There was a pause before Naruto remembered their visitors. Both Kushina and Minato had already started to fade when he turned back towards them. 

“Wait!” he exclaimed. “I want you to meet my family.”

He pointed to the twins who had been staring at Minato.

“This is my little sister, Ren, and my little brother, Jun,” Naruto started before motioning towards Kakashi. “You already know Papashi - I mean Kakashi-Sensei. He has been around for a while, Iruka likes him.”

Naruto’s fake detached expression turned more serious before he grabbed Iruka and pushed him forward, startling the older man.

“Naruto!”

“And this,” Naruto added. “This is Iruka. He was the one who adopted me.”

“Uh, Kushina-sama, Minato-sama,” Iruka said, bowing respectfully.

When he straightened anew, it was to find himself in Kushina’s embrace. She hugged him tightly and he only hesitated a moment before hugging her back.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

Minato walked to an uncertain Kakashi. His former student's gaze kept traveling between his eyes and the floor. He grabbed one of his shoulders.

“Thank you,” Minato echoed.

“Maa, like Naruto said, Iruka was the one who adopted him,” Kakashi said.

“But I couldn’t have done it without you,” Iruka corrected him.

“Thank you, to both of you,” Kushina said again.

Edit: Bonus Scene:

“NARUTO-KUN!”

A furious looking Sakura appeared at the end of the corridor and Naruto visibly blanched. She walked to him clearly ready to hit him and yet her blow never landed. When Naruto dared to open his eyes again, there was a tall dark figure standing between Sakura and he.

“Uh, ANBU-san?” Sakura said.

“Naruto-kun already suffered from one concussion today,” the ANBU - Itachi - said. “That might be enough, don’t you think Sakura-san?”

Sakura deflated while Naruto blushed. Also, he wasn’t sure if Iruka was giving him or Itachi the stink eyes right now but he wasn’t in a hurry to find out.

[cool-thymus]

Team Minato Week 2023: Day 7: Inappropriate Use Of Ninja Techniques / Babysitting

I'm offering you a tiny story that fits both prompts for Day 7 (kinda :D) The illustration is done by my dear @maireyart <3 (thank you again!) The editing and missed-commas-recovery by @professor-of-naruto (i appreciate it sm)

***

Tap-tap.

Obito raised his head from the book. He glanced at the window first. No, nothing there.

Tap-tap.

The scratchy noises were coming from the hall. “He taught them to knock, huh? Clever,” he thought, remembering the last time Kakashi’s ninken appeared in their apartment unannounced; the havoc, the awkwardness. Grinning, he carefully got up from his chair and tiptoed out of the room, making sure that his teammate was still fast asleep. The dogs made him uncomfortable. He always expected some snarky comments or criticism, even though he personally didn’t wrong them in any way. When he slid the bedroom door back behind him, three ninja dogs were standing in the dark hall with Pakkun, who had a scroll attached to his back.

“Is Boss inside?” asked Pakkun. “Oh. Hey… you guys!” Obito whispered with a smile trying to be friendly. “Could you be quiet? He’s sleeping and…”

“We have a message for him. Let us in, Bito!” said the little grey one with a smirk.

“It’s Obito, Shiba,” rumbled the biggest of the pack.

“I know that! But I bet Bito here can’t even remember our …” 

Obito didn’t let him finish. “Shhhhh! Guys, please, keep it down! He was released from the hospital, like, yesterday. He needs rest.�� The dogs stopped bickering and lowered their heads. With a little more confidence Obito addressed Pakkun: 

“What’s the message?” The pug let him take the scroll while glancing at the bedroom door, worried. Obito briefly studied the insides of the scroll and then exhaled with relief “Oh, that. We booked this mission a while ago, for extra cash, y’know. It’s a piece of cake, I can go alone.”

To that the dogs rolled their eyes and made it look like Obito said something ridiculous.

“Oh, great, genius! Go alone!” growled Urushi, turning to leave.

“Yeah, thanks for ruining our day off, Bito!” joined Shiba. “Whose turn is it this time?”

“I say Bull should go. He’s never on Bito-sitting duty, that oversized softy!” replied Urushi as the three ninken headed outside.

“I don’t mind. Obito is nice.”

Obito had expected mockery, but their reaction confused him completely. “Huh? What are you guys saying?” But the ninken had all already left the hall except for Pakkun, who was standing behind Obito with his paw softly pressed against the bedroom door. He took a moment to think things over.

“Come on, kid,” he said in a reassuring tone. “Never have you ever gone on a solo mission alone; since your very first one. But you didn’t hear it from me.” He winked at Obito and followed his pack outside.

Dumbstruck, Obito was left alone with the open scroll in his hands. It didn’t take him long to puzzle things out. The realization hurt his pride at first (what kind of shinobi was he, if he’d never noticed the dogs tailing him!) But quickly the hurt was replaced by a very tender feeling growing in his chest and spreading warmth up to his cheeks. He cracked the bedroom door open and looked at the figure on the bed. Kakashi was sleeping peacefully wrapped in blankets with his nose tucked between the pillows. A couple of moments passed before Obito finally slid the door close, a warm smile never leaving his face.

@teamminatoweek

[leelreallylikespersona]

Decaying Godhood (Persona AU)

I've been rambling and throwing ideas for this AU for a good bit now, here's a much more cohesive post about it!

Shoutout to @the-squeege and @artekai for discussing ideas with me, it was super helpful o(*°▽°*)o

Spoiler warning for P3, P4, P5/P5R, P5S, and P5T!

So let’s meet the main characters and their arcana!

Nyx (Tower)

Ryoji (Death)

Izanami (Empress)

Izanagi (Emperor)

Yaldabaoth (Devil)

Satanael (Justice)

Emma (High Priestess)

Salmael (Lovers)

Azathoth (Hermit)

Adam (Strength)

I’m omitting Pandora, Nyarlathotep, Clockwork God, and Enlil since I haven’t played the games they’re from… I don’t know enough about them to include them properly.

I’m scrapping the usual typings and giving (almost) everyone new typings… mostly because I have no idea who I’d apply fire, wind, etc to, none of these guys scream any particular element. I’m still working out the typings but what I know for sure so far are the “typeless” ones:

Adam: Strictly physical attacks

Azathoth: He is strictly a healer in this, and has no offensive attacks

EMMA: Navigator, can occasionally use almighty attacks

I’m leaning toward making their typings relating to humans, somehow.

As for the plot, at least a quick summary of what I’m thinking so far… all of humanity has come to a standstill. As in, time has stopped progressing for them. However, effects of leaving a living thing out to the elements are still occurring. In other words, humans are kind of just rotting away. It’s a very slow, magic mixed with organic decay kind of process that’s going on here. The appearance of this rot becomes more and more obvious as our group of unlikely heroes progress.

The gods, with the exceptions of Nyx, Thanatos, and Izanagi are dead, so how does this work? For this AU, none of the final bosses really die… their physical forms are abolished and their concepts are left to wander a nothingness, endlessly reflecting on what they’ve done. For Adam’s case, he stuck with Maruki until he died, then he took on a human form and lived among people for many years. Now would be a good time to mention that this takes place years after the events of P5S, so any human characters are long gone.

Let’s start from the beginning of the AU. It focuses on Nyx, Ryoji, and both P3 protagonists. These four are kind of just in a white void. Ryoji is able to move freely, he can see, he could leave too, but doesn’t want to leave Minato and Minako. They’re depicted as statue-ish figures, with a few features a deity would have. Their positions after the events of P3 caused them to go from humans to some sort of gods themselves. They are still mostly human though, this is important for the start of the plot.

Nyx’s sealing is visualized here as having been chained to these two. Until now, she couldn’t move, she was paralyzed along with having actual restraints. Therefore she couldn’t see, her eyes were forced shut. She couldn’t speak either. She could hear though, and the only thing she could do was listen to Ryoji speak to Minato and Minako. Some days, he’d talk to them as if they were still around. Other times, she could hear him mourn. Initially, she didn’t understand it at all. Sure, that’s her kid, and she cared about him somewhat, but she didn’t understand why he’d cry about them so much. There’d be times too, where Ryoji would talk to her, usually it would be him saying he wishes she could understand humans like he did, or sometimes he’d yell at her. Over the course of years and years, Nyx comes to understand Ryoji’s feelings… somewhat, anyway.

This brings me back to the chains she has. Now, all of the sudden, she can see and move again. And these chains, which were once really short, are now much longer, allowing Nyx to walk pretty far from them. This happening is meant to show Minato and Minako’s humanity being affected by the Rot, which is causing them to lose their grip on Nyx.

Upon hearing some movement, Ryoji is quick to become aggressive, but Nyx is still disoriented from suddenly being able to see and speak again, so she doesn’t return any hostility. You can imagine the arguing taking place as they try to figure out what’s happening. After a while, they realize they are able to see into the human realm. That’s when they notice the state of humanity.

Of course, they don’t notice the Rot yet. These two are the first to venture into the human realm to investigate what is going on. It’s mostly Ryoji that wants to figure things out, he takes Nyx with him to keep an eye on her.

This brings me to the motivations of each of the characters… Ryoji going out of his way to help humans makes sense. He did live as one, and made a lot of friends who he cared a lot for. For others, they hate humanity (cough Yaldabaoth), so why’re they here? Simply put, after humans rot away, the realm of gods is next. Also worth mentioning, everyone now has a humanoid form (if they didn’t have one already), so this is something of a second chance for these guys too.

I’ll go through each character:

Nyx: After spending years only listening to Ryoji talk to the twins and voice his affections for humanity, she gains a better understanding of them and obtains a sense of self (much like how Thanatos/Death became Ryoji during P3). She feels like she owes it to Ryoji to help him now.

Izanami and Izanagi: After the events of P4, these two really didn’t feel like doing anything else… Izanami was unable to do much anyway. They are later dragged out of the realm of nothingness they were hanging out in. Izanagi’s time with Yu makes him far more inclined to help out, Izanami is a little heartbroken that after the Investigation Team proved humanity’s worth, they fell into this state.

Satanael: He ditches the Phantom Thieves after Yaldabaoth is taken care of, and left to go cause minor bouts of chaos, nothing too drastic. He doesn’t outright try to end humanity, he just likes “poking fun”, so when everything comes to a standstill, he’s alarmed. Satanael is more neutral compared to everyone else, he does care about mankind, not to the extent that Ryoji and Azathoth do, though. He doesn’t hate them either, so he (probably) helps them for a selfless reason.

Yaldabaoth: For sure is only saving humanity so he also doesn’t rot away. Perhaps by the end, he’s changed a bit, but now that he’s given a physical form again, who knows what he’ll get up to.

EMMA: Upon being defeated, she spent her time watching over Sophia and Ichinose. She chooses to help humanity because of how well the PTs treated Sophia.

Salmael: Toshiro’s anxiousness rubbed off on him a bit… As the god of stagnation, this halt in humanity seems like it’s his doing, but it isn’t. He ventures out thinking that he somehow accidentally did it, and is horrified by the Rot..

Azathoth and Adam: These two genuinely care for humanity, their motivations are completely selfless. While Azathoth can suspend his emotions, Adam spent more time with Maruki, living as a human for years, so he’s much more emotional over the whole situation.

None of these guys are able to have Personas, but are able to “summon” their deity forms as an extension of themselves (so there’s a split-consciousness situation happening). Awakenings are still required for them to be able to do this, though, similar to Persona awakenings.

This ability requires one to first of all realize that their status and power as a god is due to humanity’s perception of them, but then they also must accept that. Only then they can “break free” of their restricted humanoid forms to use their more powerful forms. These forms look similar to their in-game designs, but there’ll be some differences, as I want to give them fun new(ish) designs…

Acquiring this ability is much easier for some than others… Ryoji and Adam as an example, are really quick to accept this once they understand the idea initially, but then a few others refuse to accept that humans are responsible for their power.

As for enemies, Shadows are present due to humans being unable to pass properly. For major bosses, the Rot left some human bodies as empty husks that became aggressive. These husks are attracted to the power the gods have.

Some side characters I also want to include… Jose and Sophia run the shop that provides weapons and other equipment! There’s also the Velvet Room that has specifics I’m trying to figure out… I might make Yu and Ren the attendants.

I think that’s all I have for now! I’d still like to figure out the order in which each god joins the team… It starts with Ryoji and Nyx, Salmael probably second since he’s already out investigating (he can be the navigator before Emma joins), then it’s either Adam since he’s also around, or Emma. This is still a wip! So if anyone has any comments or anything, feel free to send an ask! I'm already doing some doodles for this so hopefully I'll have some art for it soon (❁´◡`❁)

[seoheesoo]

Modern AU! Kakashi is Naruto's guardian who meets his child's teacher for the first time and immediately falls in love with him

[Part 5]

Rin heard the sound of the door opening and walked out into the corridor.

“You are earlier than I expected,” - said the woman. - “Come on in.”

Kakashi took off his shoes and followed the woman into the kitchen.

“Naruto fell asleep not long ago. I think it’s better for you to spend the night in our house tonight, and tomorrow morning you will go home.”

Kakashi nodded.

“Go get changed while I prepare some tea.”

The man headed to the bedroom, opened the closet and pulled out Obito's household items. After quickly changing his clothes, he looked into Naruto's room. The child was fast asleep, hugging a pillow in his sleep. On the way to the kitchen, Kakashi also looked into the room. Obito rocked Yuki in his arms, who stubbornly refused to fall asleep. Kakashi grinned when he noticed his friend's doomed face and headed to the kitchen. Rin lowered the cup of aromatic tea in front of him and sat down opposite him.

“How did everything go?”

“Fine,” - Kakashi replied.

Rin hit his arm not too hard.

“I need details.”

Kakashi rolled his eyes.

“Come on, Kakashi, I spend almost 24 hours at home. Soothe my curiosity.”

Hatake knew that Rin was hiding her concern with a joking tone. The woman was worried about him and he didn’t mind calming her down a little.

“So how did it go?”

Kakashi took a deep breath.

“Perfect.”

“Perfect?” - the woman asked and raised her eyebrows in surprise. - “It’s unexpected to hear this from you.”

Hatake chuckled and leaned back in his chair.

“You know, I’ve never thought about a relationship seriously before,” - he suddenly admitted. - “You and Obito were always together and it was as if you were made for each other. Just like Minato nii-san and Kushina-san, as well as Jiraiya ji-san and Tsunade oba-san. I had thoughts about relationships, but after Naruto appeared I stopped thinking about it completely. My values have changed, I have invested all my time and all my strength in raising a child. It seemed like I didn’t need anything else. But when I met Guy…”

Kakashi fell silent. He shook his head with a slight smile on his face.

“Time seemed to stand still. I couldn't move and couldn't even think. I acted like a real idiot the first time we met. And I continued to disgrace myself every time we met. And I plucked up courage and asked him out on a date, but, to be honest, I was afraid. I was terribly afraid that I would ruin everything. And I didn’t want to ruin anything.”

“Oh, Kakashi,” - Rin covered his hand with her palm.

“But everything went well,” - the man said quickly. - “I controlled myself and didn’t act stupid. I told him about my past and learned a lot about his life. With every word he said, I began to like him more and more. Damn, Rin, I fell in love with him so quickly that it even scares me a little.”

Kakashi laughed softly and covered his face with his hands. Rin patted his shoulder reassuringly.

“What if I ruin everything?” - there was a muffled whisper of a man.

“Stop thinking about it,” - the woman said in a firm voice. - “You won’t ruin anything, I’m sure of that. There is no need to rush anywhere, but there is no need to slow down either. If you feel good together, then enjoy every moment and let everything happen in its own time.”

“You're right. Thank you, Rin.”

The woman smiled softly at her friend.

“I’m happy for you, Kakashi,” - she said sincerely. - “You deserve happiness.”

Kakashi returned her smile and, hearing footsteps, straightened up in his chair and changed his expression. Rin shook her head reproachfully and turned to her husband approaching the kitchen.

***

“Did you take everything?” - Kakashi asked Naruto, who was holding a huge green backpack in the shape of a frog, another gift from Jiraiya.

"Yes!"

“Great, let's go then.”

They left the house and walked to a nearby park. Two weeks passed before Kakashi managed to get the long-awaited day off from work. Not without the help of Shiranui. Kakashi looked warily towards the older man every day, but he made no attempt to start a serious conversation. Genma showed no signs at all that he knew about Kakashi and Guy's relationship, which could not but alarm Hatake even more. Why did Shiranui behave this way? Kakashi had not understood the man before, and now he had become an even greater mystery to him. Hatake shook his head, it's time to throw all unnecessary thoughts out of his head. He and Guy managed to set up another date and they agreed to spend it in the park with the children. Kakashi spent the whole morning calming himself down and putting himself in the right frame of mind. He still didn’t fully know how to behave with Guy, and there were also three children. Kakashi didn't have a very good relationship with people in general, and children were an even bigger problem. The only exceptions were Naruto and Yuki, his goddaughter, who was only a few months old. But Kakashi knew that as soon as Yuki grew up, she would torment him a lot in the future.

Naruto's presence had a calming effect on Kakashi, but still could not completely clear his mind of various thoughts. Hatake nervously moved his shoulder and quickened his pace. Once they arrived at the park, Kakashi found an empty spot and spread a large blanket on the soft green grass. Guy took charge of preparing food for the picnic, Kakashi was only required to bring drinks. Hatake had already managed to pull out all the juices from the bag and was now looking around restlessly. Naruto, sitting next to him, was bouncing excitedly in one place. This child was overjoyed when he heard that they were going on a picnic. And when he found out that Guy and several other children would be with them, he could no longer be calmed down. He excitedly ran around the house, collecting various toys that he planned to show to Guy's children. Kakashi watched his chaotic preparations with a slightly worried smile on his face. He had no doubt that Naruto would easily find a common language with children, but Kakashi himself…

“Guy sensei!” - Naruto's loud scream made Hatake flinch.

Kakashi turned around and noticed a man approaching. Guy's usual wide smile shone on his face. Kakashi, out of habit, glanced over his figure, noticing that today he was wearing a light T-shirt and loose pants. Kakashi then turned his gaze to the children walking next to the man. Neji walked to Guy's left, his light eyes with unreadable emotions looking straight at Kakashi. Hatake swallowed and looked at the girl walking next to him; TenTen, with an overly menacing look, walked next to Guy. Kakashi exhaled heavily and looked at Lee, who had a slight smile on his face. The boy raised his hand and waved at them in greeting. Kakashi felt a surge of relief. At least one child was quite friendly. Hatake believed that one out of three was a pretty good result.

“Hi,” - Guy greeted as they approached.

Kakashi nodded at him. The children stared at him unblinkingly. Naruto climbed between them and smiled brightly.

“Hello! My name is Namikaze Naruto! Are you Guy sensei’s children?”

It was impossible to resist Naruto's charms, Kakashi knew this from himself. Not even a couple of seconds had passed before the children had already turned their attention to the boy.

“Yes,” - Lee replied.

“Cool!” - Naruto's big blue eyes shone with delight. - “Your dad… I mean, Guy sensei is so cool!”

Kakashi sighed mentally. Guy smiled at the corner of his lips.

“Yes, you're right,” - TenTen replied and took a step forward. - “Tou-chan talked a lot about you. Do you want to go to play while the adults cook?”

Kakashi noticed her calm but firm tone of voice. Naruto nodded to her without any objections and all the children went to the nearby swing. Kakashi looked at them and exhaled heavily. After a couple of seconds, he felt Guy's hand on his lower back.

“Are you okay?” - asked the man.

Kakashi nodded.

“I’m a little nervous,” - he admitted.

“No need,” - Guy squeezed his tense shoulders reassuringly. - “Everything will be fine.”

“What if they don’t like me?” - the question escaped his lips before he could stop himself.

Guy turned him around to face him and gently touched his cheek with his palm. Kakashi looked fascinated into his deep, dark eyes.

“Kakashi, don't worry about it. They are my children and they love me, but they also respect me and my choices. You just need to get to know each other better, I am sure that with time they will love you too.”

Kakashi closed his eyes and leaned forward, hugging the man.

“You think so?”

“I'm sure of it.”

“Okay,” - Hatake felt the gentle kiss that Guy left on his neck.

“Let’s get some food ready before the kids get back.”

Guy pulled away and began pulling containers of food out of his bag. Kakashi felt a surge of confidence after Guy's words. He was pushing himself too hard. What could possibly go wrong? Kakashi wouldn't let anyone or anything ruin everything. Not now, when everything between them is still so fragile.

“Hey. Watch where you’re going,” - Kakashi heard a loud child’s voice and raised his head, looking for Naruto.

A tall boy, who looked to be about twelve years old, towered over Naruto, practically poking his finger in his face. Kakashi began to rise when he felt Guy's strong grip on his arm. Hatake raised one eyebrow questioningly. Guy shook his head and nodded towards the children. Kakashi turned his gaze to them. TenTen stepped forward and shielded Naruto with her body. The girl tilted her head slightly to the side and looked gloomily at the unfamiliar boy.

“Watch where you're going,” - she said. - “Or is your vision failing you?”

The boy irritably knitted his eyebrows on the bridge of his nose and straightened his shoulders, looking down at the girl.

“Who are you, brat?”

“I’m the one who will break your arm if you don’t turn around and leave here now.”

The boy looked at her with contempt, but then his gaze collided with Lee and Neji standing next to her. Realizing that he was in the minority, the boy snorted and walked away. TenTen rolled her eyes and turned to Naruto, who was looking at her with pure delight in his eyes.

“Can I call you TenTen nee-chan?” - the boy asked with a breath.

The girl laughed loudly and ruffled Naruto's hair slightly.

“Of course you can,” - she allowed.

“Did Guy sensei teach you how to fight?”

“Yes,” - Lee replied.

“Will you teach me to fight?” - Naruto asked TenTen.

“I’ll teach you,” - the girl promised. - “It’s not proper for any idiot to pester you. You need to learn to fight back.”

Kakashi watched the entire scene with pure shock on his face. Guy sitting next to him just smiled lightly. As Kakashi expected, the children quickly found a common language. A few minutes later, the slightly out of breath and flushed children fell tiredly onto the blanket. Kakashi handed each of them a glass of cool juice. The children quickly snacked on sandwiches and then ran off to play on the playground again. Hatake looked at Naruto's bright smile as he showed the children his toys and couldn't help but smile himself.

“You know, Naruto feels lonely very often,” - Kakashi said, moving closer to Guy and leaning his back against his broad chest. - “I often disappear at work and spend very little time with him. Almost from childhood, he often visited Obito and Rin. By the way, Obito is Sasuke's cousin, so Sasuke and his older brother Itachi also often visited Obito. Accordingly, Naruto and Sasuke have been friends for a very long time. Nowadays, Naruto also often stays with Obito and Rin if I have business, but just a few months ago they had a daughter. I think this could not but affect Naruto. He loves Yuki very much, he just dotes on her, but I know that he feels deprived, superfluous in their house. And I saw his look every time he looked at Sasuke and Itachi. He always missed this - family. Naruto always wanted siblings."

Kakashi looked at the beaming Naruto surrounded by Guy's children.

“I gave him a lot, but I still couldn’t make him truly happy.”

“Hey, stop it,” - Guy lifted Kakashi's face slightly, forcing him to look at him. - “Naruto is happy, believe me, I know it. And this is only your merit.”

Kakashi closed his eyes and smiled. He felt Guy's breath on his skin and reached out to him in anticipation, when suddenly the loud stomping of feet made him widen his eyes and pull away.

“We want to eat,” - Naruto drawled.

Guy handed everyone a bento containing food.

“Are we going to meet Genma Ji-chan next weekend?” - TenTen suddenly asked.

Kakashi choked on his rice. He never expected to hear someone call Genma “uncle”. TenTen gave him an unreadable look.

“He promised to be free at work,” - Guy replied.

The girl didn't look entirely pleased with this answer, but nodded. Lee and Naruto began to discuss something loudly, drawing Neji into their conversation. Guy collected the empty bentos and handed each child a drink.

“Thank you, tou-san,” - Neji took the bottle of juice.

“We’ll play a little more,” - Lee stood up from the blanket and extended his hand to Naruto.

The children quickly ran to the playground. Kakashi snuggled closer to the man again. Guy ran his hair through his fingers relaxingly.

“When will we meet next time?” - Hatake asked.

“When do you want it?” - he heard a counter question from Guy.

“Tomorrow, every day for the rest of our lives,” - Kakashi wanted to answer.

“I will compare the schedule with Shiranui.”

“Fine.”

Kakashi found Guy's hand and intertwined their fingers.

“I can take Naruto to my house tomorrow, if you don’t mind,” - Guy suddenly suggested.

Kakashi froze.

“I don’t mind,” - he answered slowly. - “Are you don’t mind?”

“I suggested it myself,” - Guy laughed and quickly kissed the man on the temple. - “What do you want for dinner?”

“I’m not picky,” - Hatake said in a hoarse voice. - “I’ll eat everything you give me.”

Guy laughed again. Kakashi felt irrationally proud of how easily he could make the man laugh.

“Then I’ll make ramen.”

“You know exactly how to win Naruto’s heart,” - Kakashi noted.

“I’m trying,” - Guy lifted Kakashi’s face by the chin and approached him. - “What about yours?”

“M-m?” - Kakashi blinked in confusion, unable to take his eyes off the man’s lips.

“What about your heart?” - Guy whispered. - “Am I on the right track?”

“Hell, yes,” - Kakashi breathed and covered his lips with his, whispering into the kiss. - “You stole my heart the day we first met.”

Guy raised his eyebrows in surprise.

“Don’t you dare give it back,” - Kakashi threatened and pulled him into a kiss again, feeling Guy’s smile.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 6

[einsatzzz]

Welcome to The Amazing Miyako Show, proudly sponsored by the infamous Murakami family! Remember, before you sign that pesky waiver absolving them of all responsibility for your life and limbs, let's get down to the action! You've been invited to be part of the show, and the hungry mob is hungry for some entertainment! Show off your skills, your talents, or your complete lack thereof, and dazzle the crowd! And don't worry, the only thing that could be on the chopping block is your dignity.

Thank you for sending such a fun ask Mel! I'm choosing Akatsuki as the Oniyanagi Family's representatives for The Amazing Miyako Show!

When it comes to events where one needs to show off their talent, the first person that comes to mind is Yui actually! His genius and passion for robotics have mostly been poured into and has accumulated to form his ultimate creation, Kanarobo! A flying robot packed with lethal weaponry, but don't worry! It can be friendly and sing too! Yui made sure to put a lot of fun varying features to it, I personally also wonder what other features he put into this robot.

More ramblings below!

The robot can dance too! But its movements are limited, since this version is still a bit too heavy. Yui is currently trying to balance it being able to do various stuff besides combat (=more weight) and it being able to fly (more weight = needs more fuel; more fuel consumption = shorter fly time). This robot is still work-in-progress and it's not at its final form yet! Wouldn't it be funny if it becomes a gun/dam in TYL sdbfhsvf

The singing tone is actually quite expressive, compared to the voice of the original voice provider. I can imagine Yui and Shiki (who's more knowledgeable in software stuff) working together in the tuning for the voice bank. This is similar to how producers would tune voca|loids/voicebank software like Mi/ku.

Then we have Minato, who is always very petty and bitter when Yui gets some spotlight. My brother in christ, please let him live! Showing off his babies is one of the only few times Yui ever really wants to be in the spotlight (in his mind, its his babies getting the spotlight actually). Tbh, Minato is the one person who can grind Yui's gears so easily, so we might be able to see Kanarobo's lethal functions if we fast forward to image above to a few minutes later. Ah yes, beef my favorite meet. It runs deeps here.

Good thing Kurumi is there to stop him from running up to the stage sdhfvsghvfsd While drawing this, it made me think that damn Minato truly is blind. I would be 😳😳😳 if Kurumi gave me a hug from behind. This is what hatred does to a person! You'll be so blinded, you won't see the cute girl behind you! Someone give this man some glasses! Unfortunately, Kurumi got too excited about the Kanarobo performance that she couldn't control her hug strength.

Hiyori gets dragged into the craziness like always. But tbh, even before Oniyanagi, he's pretty used to getting involved in official events or when Disciplinary Committee leader decides to beat up some thugs, so a talent like this is pretty tame so far (compared to the idea of getting dragged to actual missions in some battlefield). Now, he just resigned to be there on stand-by in case someone gets injured from the performance on stage. But he didn't know that the upcoming medical emergency (rib fracture) is just brewing very near behind him 🤩🤩🤩

Minato is the closest to Kurumi in the 10th Gen Oniyanagi lineup, so he won't get seriously angry at her for stopping him or for breaking his ribs sdjhvfhsfd

Besides the recent frequent appearances of Kanarobo, I really enjoyed sketching Miyako! I still find it so hilarious how she wants to take Kanarobo hahahaha I did not expect that development, but it's so fun! I'm a bit unsure which eye coloring style to use for her, if the standard one (black pupil?) or smth similar to Takehsi and Yuni? Anyway, I just followed the style from the picrew for now.

[narrators-journal]

Random Ryoji headcanons

This is pure and utter indulgence once again. Have I written down these thoughts before? Probably, but I’ve had these little thoughts rolling around in my head for a while. I hope you guys enjoy these goofy little thoughts, bc I can’t put together a scenario I like, but I’ve got these.

Ryoji loves sugary sweet treats and drinks. After all, there’s nothing to stop him from over-indulging.

He has a bit of a twitch after the attempted fall.

He also has a little bit of chronic pain after that. That might happen when your body is stretched and contorted into the Nyx avatar.

He can shape shift to some extent. A skill namely used when he changed from Pharos to Ryoji, so yes, technically his appearance isn’t really his natural look, but he’s emotionally attached to that identity now.

Ryoji’s wings shimmer with irredescent colors when they move

His feathers also have an absolutely TOXIC vibe that even makes Minato unconsciously shake slightly.

This reaches from gender changing to something as simple as his weight.

He’s an absolutely bomb singer when he legitimately tries. He does not do that often.

His shadow form’s fangs are somewhat small. Just barely long enough to somewhat be visible behind his lips.

He is a pretty physically affectionate man. Cuddles, hugs, holding hands, he’s very lovey in those ways

He will straight up eat nothing but fucking sugar sometimes.

Ryoji also loves pillows and plush toys

He uses them to make a nest to lay in, even if he doesn’t require sleep.

If you don’t know what to get Ryoji, just get him a pillow. So long as it’s not a horrible texture, he’ll adore it.

Ryoji’s also pretty partial to soft blankets.

Despite being a bit softer in the body shape, with a belly that muffin tops over his pants’ waistband, Ryoji can straight up juggle all of the SEES if he wanted to.

Whether or not he can teleport is up for debate. Junpei is convinced he can, Minato’s pretty sure that he simply sneaks around really fucking well, and Ryoji won’t confirm nor deny any thought.

Minato has asked him what a soul tastes like, and Ryoji has described it as tasting different depending on the person, but most tend to taste like the general concept of ‘good’. No real flavor, just ‘this tastes good’.

He can hear people’s heartbeats and see their souls from a pretty impressive distance.

In reality, he does sort of just sneak around. He doesn’t teleport, he just takes advantage of his years of experience hunting humans and the human brain’s refusal to acknowledge death to scare the shit out of people.

He loves to hear Minato’s heartbeat when they cuddle while Minato sleeps.

He is in therapy, and he may or may not have sent at least one therapist to therapy.

Ryoji’s tastebuds are so wonky from technically being built to eat souls, that when he cooks he either forgets to season the food, or seasons it until he can taste it. AKA over seasons it until you can feel the salt in your teeth.

He ironically likes cooking videos. No, I do not know why I think this, but it vibes correctly for him.

Those videos do not do shit to keep him from slapping sprinkles into cheeto-flavored mac and cheese.

[helmetjellyfish]

hello! this post is going to be a little different from anything i've written before, because today we're looking at fish.

this fish, to be exact.

this fish is one of the many prehistoric creatures we see in minato's dreams from ch. 48. the translation team did a wonderful job identifying several creatures and explaining them in general, but i haven't seen any specific discussion about this one yet. so i figured i'd talk about what i think this fish is and what i think it represents.

the rest of this post will be under the cut, because there's lots of images and it's going to get quite long. here we go!

so what fish is this?

let's start by looking at these three images for reference:

(you may have noticed that the head shape of the fish in the first image is a bit different from the one in the second. however, since the rest of their bodies are very, very similar to each other, i'm assuming that they are intended to be the same fish and the head shape of the second one is closer to the 'correct' bodyplan.)

to begin with, we can see that the fins are attached to the body with these fleshy lobes, meaning that this fish is probably a "lobe-finned fish" belonging to the clade Sarcopterygii.

Sarcopterygii can be split up into three more clades:

Actinistia - the coelacanths and their close relatives

Dipnoi - the lungfishes and their close relatives

Tetrapodomorpha - the tetrapods (four-limbed vertebrates) and their close relatives

just based on morphology, we can narrow it down to Actinistia. so coelacanths! the thing with coelacanths is that one of their most notable characteristics is their weird tail:

this is a replica of the West Indian Ocean coelacanth (Latimeria chalumnae), which is one of the two species alive today. here you can see that the tail is split up into three lobes: the top and bottom lobes are the same width and length, while the one in the middle is smaller and protrudes further out. their tail is diphycercal, which means that the vertebrae extend all the way to the tip of the tail and the tail itself is symmetrical.

both living species of coelacanth have a diphycercal tail. in fact, almost every single genus in Actinistia has a diphycercal tail. but our fish doesn't. its tail has only two lobes, where the bottom one is much bigger than the top, which is a heterocercal tail. why is that?

it turns out you have to look really, really, really far back in Actinistia to find fish without diphycercal tails. and when you look back far enough...

you find Miguashaia, a fish that lived during the Devonian period 365 million years ago. a fish that also happens to be the most primitive coelacanth we know.

in other (slightly more overgeneralizing) words, it's the oldest coelacanth, so old that it doesn’t even have one of the main features we now associate with coelacanths. neat!

okay. why do i care about this fish?

isn't it odd that we see this same fish following minato for multiple pages during the dream sequence, when most of the other creatures only appear for a single panel or two?

it's especially weird by the time we get to the reunion with nagiko, when we stop seeing any other prehistoric creatures in the foreground (save for the basilosaurus skeleton). but this fish still stays next to minato, and neither him nor nagiko seem to acknowledge its presence. it... doesn't really do anything either. it just hangs around at minato's side or right behind him, like it's watching over him.

doesn’t it look a bit out of place in this scene?

and then what’s stranger is that we see it again later on. when haruno voices his concerns about minato's mental state in ch. 50, the implication being that he thinks minato might follow his wife to the grave, we get this panel to go with it:

there’s the whale skeleton and lion’s mane jellyfish, both of which have been previously used to represent nagiko. there's minato, reaching out to the jellyfish with the hand he wears his wedding ring on. and then there’s... the fish again. as before, minato doesn't interact with it at all. in fact, his back is completely turned to it, but the fish is still continuing to watch him from afar.

i already had some suspicions even before ch. 50, but this panel is the one that made me go "oh, okay, so that's definitely supposed to be a person, right?".

nagiko isn't the only character in the story who's connected to a particular deep sea creature or two: there's nagisa with the flapjack octopus, shizuka with the basket star, ryou with the cookiecutter shark, etc. we haven't had anyone with a prehistoric species yet, let alone a prehistoric coelacanth, but we do have someone who's depicted with modern day coelacanths pretty frequently:

so who would be a likely candidate for its ancient relative: a fish that's distinct enough from its kin to be recognized as a separate entity, while still sharing many visual similarities?

who's the person that's the most likely to come to mind whenever minato thinks of nagiko? a person who had always been at his side in his younger days? a person that minato can't truly see or talk to in his dreams, because he remains out of his reach?

a person who still continues to haunt him, even now?

wonder who that could be.

[rubywolf0201]

I don’t know what made me draw myself to Matakara ever since BUCCHIGIRI?! was first revealed last year in May in the teaser other than cute sunshine puppy boi.

But after watching many episodes esp the last one yesterday, I come to the conclusion that a lot of his recent actions, be it shown onscreen or subtle, reminded me of Princess Elise from Sonic 06 (yes that one game that drove the franchise to ruin but that’s not what we are talking about)

I mean 16-17 year old teenage redheads who may appear mature at first glance but deep down, they’re not as mature as you think they are. Elise’s case is that she was forced to rule Soleanna at a very young age and while she is put together, she is also emotionally vulnerable such as when she had repeated visions of the bloodthirsty demon sealed within her kept showing her visions of Soleanna burned to the ground.

Matakara is of the same vein as well.

For a long time since visiting the Honki temple for the first time with his brother, Matakara has always sensed the dark shadows watching over him, which made him afraid. Mitsukuni said that the dark shadows appear because of how it sensed the weakness within people’s hearts. And well it is true in some sense in that despite being a pretty good fighter, Matakara is emotionally immature, possibly even stunted.

Right after his childhood best friend abandoned him to a group of older kids bullying them, Matakara believed himself to be weak and kept clinging on to the idealized version of Arajin, which the latter never asked for nor did he lied about. Even after showing off his true colors even back in earlier episodes, Matakara kept believing in him and it wasn’t until Episode 8 that Arajin confessed to him that he is not the cool and strong person Matakara believed him to be.

This shatters Matakara’s worldview because right after his brother was taken from him to be placed in juvie for maybe 2-3 years, Matakara tried to build himself up and kept on believing that he has to do it for both Mitsukuni and Arajin’s sake. So to hear from Arajin about how the latter isn’t the strong and cool person that Matakara thinks he is, it proved to be devastating for Matakara.

The way how both handled the inner demons within them (or Ichiya in the case of Matakara)

Princess Elise has been shown initially that whenever her emotions are about to go out of control, she is either shown to clasp her hands together to make sure she doesn’t cry lest she releases Iblis or just hug someone out of instinct.

But over time, she stopped doing so to symbolize how her bond with Sonic has made Elise to handle her emotions better in a way that can confide it to the person closest to her. The only time it got out of hand is when the villain killed Sonic out of a sneak attack, that was when Elise started crying, which released Iblis.

Matakara is more of a 50/50. He has inner demons in the shadow that keeps appearing out of nowhere and how he is the only one to sense it. Those dark and creepy shadows tend to appear whenever Matakara is down on himself or if there is a weakness. But when he got into Minato Kai through pure hard work and the friends that he have made in Zabu and Komao. And that is when the shadows had stopped appearing for the time being, tho they did not disappear completely.

However, I want to point out that unlike Elise who managed to keep her shit together despite not having any form of support group except for her servants, maids, possibly her tutors and ministers, she turned out for the better.

Matakara once he got Ichiya due to Akutaro’s manipulations (well maybe it could be Ichiya who knows really), Ichiya does whatever he can to break Matakara’s will and pointing out how things like friendship and kindness are nothing but weakness. The last straw was when Ichiya brought up on how weak willed Mitsukuni is and that is when Matakara succumbed to the anger and hatred that Ichiya has set up, making the blue majinn to take over him completely.

Anyways TLDR; Princess Elise and Matakara are one and the same IMO, with the only differences on how they handle themselves and their emotional maturity.