#and don't get me started on temari

[konoha-forbidden-scrolls]

What if someone tries being 'smooth' with the sand sibs by trying to seduce them with the Anakin sand dialogue? ""I don't like sand. It's coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere. Not like here. Here everything is soft and smooth."

I love you for this request. ⏳

Characters: Gaara, Kankuro, Temari

Contents: gn!reader, sand

Gaara

The Sand siblings have always been in a position of political importance for Sunagakure, even when they were just kids. As children of the Kazekage, there was always some speculation about whether they would be used to make advantageous marriages in future.

All except Gaara. No one even dared to speculate if the sand-crusted, sleepless demon child would be married off. Not only was he one of Suna's greatest weapons, even if handling him was about as dangerous as juggling live grenades, but he was far too volatile to consider as a future prospect.

Gaara himself was fine with that, even when he started to calm down. His peace wasn't to last, though.

He became Kazekage and the hoes, they began to gather, as if milkshake drew them to a proverbial yard. Not only is Gaara in a position of power, he's no longer a homicidal maniac, and he even took a normal bath instead of a sand bath.

(Please pause to imagine Gaara spinning in a sand bath like a chinchilla.)

He doesn't know what to do with the amount of people trying to get into his good books now. People commenting on his looks, his power, his strength... At first, Gaara is deeply uncomfortable and overwhelmed. All these people want something from him, and he's not been raised to be able to navigate all these political mind games.

Then you hit him with: "I hate sand. It's coarse and rough and irritating, and it gets everywhere. Not like here. Here everything is soft and smooth."

Gaara of the Sand, Kazekage of the Village Hidden in the Sand, who is carrying a giant gourd full of sand, gives you a look of pure, unadulterated bewilderment. You're both surrounded by sand. His skin is coated in a fine layer of sand was a protective armour.

"If you don't like sand, then you're probably in the wrong place..." he says after a long, awkward silence.

Then he turns and walks away, leaving you and your attempt to flirt gaping at his retreating gourd.

Kankuro

Kankuro has a tendency to fade into the background a little between his spunky older sister and his maniac-turned-Kazekage little brother, so he's never had to deal with the same amount of scrutiny and speculation. He didn't escape completely, but he had plenty of free time to spend working on his puppets.

That's where he is when you deliver your little sand speech, rubbing fine-grit sandpaper across a freshly-carved limb joint, smoothing down the seasoned wood.

He stops and stares at the wall for a moment, as if his brain needs a moment to catch up with the sheer dumbassery of what you just said. Then he turns toward you.

"What the hell are you talking about?" he asks you, wearing a confused, scrunched-up expression, like a cat smelling something weird. He looks around at the puppets lining the walls. "Soft and smooth? Where?"

You're left floundering, trying to account for what just came out of your mouth. It sounded good in your head, but you regretted it almost as soon as you said it.

Kankuro eyeballs you for a moment, before he bursts out laughing.

"No way!" He grins at you. "Were you trying to hit on me or something?"

"Uh, well..."

His laughter gets louder, echoing off the walls of his workshop, but it doesn't feel mocking. Kankuro is just tickled by the fact that a) you were trying to flirt with him and b) that you're so adorably bad at it.

"You hate sand," he echoed. "That's how you hit on a guy from Suna? That's like telling a Mist-nin that you hate water. Jeez, you're about as smooth as this sandpaper."

Despite your poor choice of ice breaker, Kankuro doesn't shut you down. If anything, he wants to keep you around to see what else comes out of your mouth.

Temari

Temari thought she'd heard it all. It was like the moment she hit puberty, every social climber has been comparing her hair colour to the dunes around Suna, or telling her that her eyes are the clear blue green of a hidden oasis.

That, or there are shinobi who think they have to act tougher than her in order to get her attention. They posture and pose, try to stare her down, or even outright challenge her to a sparring match. As if they're hoping to turn that steely glint in her eyes into lovestruck stars just by flashing around some ninjutsu.

Quite frankly, Temari is sick to her back teeth of it.

As if she doesn't have enough to deal with without people eyeing her up as "the Kazekage's daughter", and later, "the Kazekage's sister". Her connection to that particular political seat has caused her a lot of headaches.

When you approach her and open your mouth, she wonders what flavour of bullshit is going to come falling out. Poetic drivel or foolish bravado?

She almost stops listening, before she clocks what you're actually saying.

"...you what?"

She gives you a look like a cat that's been sprayed with a water bottle. (You see the family resemblance to Kankuro.)

"You walked all the way up to me to tell me that you don't like sand?" she asks, deadpan. "What do you want? Tips on how to keep sand out of your crevices?"

"Uh...no, I just—"

"You're kinda weird, aren't you? Whatever. You can stick around for now. It'll keep the others away."

"Actually about that sand thing..."

"Sorry, there's no way to keep it out," she says, smug. "Sand prevails."

AO3 | Other Blogs: Bungo Stray Dogs | BNHA | Bleach | JJK

[obitos-whore]

Kankuro stan here and I beg for hc of him with pregnant partner/ wedding

Oh absolutely!! Thank you for providing me with enough ideas for our favourite puppet master! I prolly went a bit overboard here, but oh well. Consider this a lil treat for the Kankuro nation.

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Kankuro nearly scalded his oesophagus with the brewing hot tea he was about to enjoy when you decided to drop the biggest bomb on him

Sputtering and cursing, he just sits there, his tea now all over the table and floor as his eyes wander from your face to your stomach and then back to your face again

"Pregnant?? As in "growing a baby in your tummy" pregnant??"

Oh dear...

"...Is there another kind of pregnant I don't know about?" You'd ask him flatly, stunned by his rather silly question

"No... no I suppose there isn't..." He conceded, his face and the tips of his ears beet red upon realising his mishap

Finding his sheepish reaction adorable, you laugh it off and kneel down beside him, giving him a playful nudge with you shoulder

With a somewhat petulant expression, he huffs and nudges you back before his expression turns serious and he takes in your appearance

It is clear by the emotions flickering in his eyes that he was completely overwhelmed by the situation and not even in the slightest bit prepared

If it had been up to him, you could have waited just a little bit longer before starting a family. But, as always, life rarely goes according to plan

On the bright side, Kankuro has now a very valid excuse to put a ring on you much earlier than he had originally planned. And luckily for you, he happens to have the necessary tool practically lying around

After a much less grand, but nevertheless unforgettable proposal, you two find yourself facing not one, but two major milestones in your lives at once

However, poor Kankuro didn't think of the truck load of stress that came with this package deal and now has to bear with the consequences of his impulsiveness

You've never seen the puppeteer scrambling to get everything done like this before, considering his usually laid back demeanor. It's as amusing as it is worrying and you can't help but feel sorry for putting him through this ordeal

Knowing he can't handle everything by himself, and not wanting to put you and the baby through unnecessary stress, he asks his siblings for help

After a very long conversation, and some intense scolding from both Temari and Gaara, you and Kankuro leave the wedding planning stuff to them, so you can focus on the pregnancy and some minor wedding related stuff, like picking out the rings or arranging an appointment with the tailor

Throughout your pregnancy, Kankuro practically carries you on his hands

He'll be there every time your morning sickness hits, even though he is close to throwing up himself when the stench hits his nostrils

Or run to the nearest convenient store in the middle of the night to get everything your cravings demand

He for sure questions some of the food combinations you so happily devour. But who knows, maybe pickles with peanut butter, mustard and mini marshmallows sprinkled on top aren't half as disgusting as they sound and look

Kankuro will, if possible, accompany you to every appointment and nearly lose his marbles upon seeing his little one on the ultrasound for the first time

He may or may not shed a tear or two at the sound of the baby's heartbeat

The wedding takes place about three months before the due date

Thanks to Kankuro being rather wealthy, and his siblings wanting their brother and you to have a breathtakingly beautiful day you'll never forget, the wedding will be grand but traditional

There will be lots of different dishes from all across the lands, as well as well-wishes from all kinds of important people, like the other Kage and even the Daimyō of the Land of Wind

When Kankuro sees you walking down the aisle, he can't help but feel both giddy and nervous to the point of nearly fainting

You just look so stunning and radiant and if it weren't for Gaara, who was the man of honour, he probably would've skipped the whole ceremony bullshit and kissed you right on the spot

Once the priest asks the question of all questions and you both respond with "Yes", Kankuro throws all his restraints out of the window and kisses you like he has never kissed you before

Given your delicate state, and Kankuro's anxiety regarding your well-being and that of the baby, the puppeteer will stay close to you and ensure you rest as much as possible

At the end of the day when you two lay snuggled up in bed, feeling exhausted but happy, Kankuro just can't help but look forward to spending the rest of his life with you by his side, knowing that as long as you have each other, you'll overcome any obstacles

[uchiha-gaeshi]

Ok nvm we aren't done, still gotta go through the whole Shikamaru not being "man" enough for taking a mission failure hard...

Kiba has a lot of audacity calling Choji the weakest of them all when he was the one to break all of them out of the barrier ninjutsu when Kiba's attempts did jack shit.

[bright-hope-spot-19]

I don't mean to offend anyone with this because I'm just speaking my mind. It's something I've noticed and that I find curious to say the least. It's concerning the sand sibs and their first appearance in Shippuden; you know, the arc where Gaara is kidnapped by Akatsuki and loses his tailed beast.

When talking about this arc or discussing anything concerning it, especially the developing bond between the sand sibs after Gaara became Kazekage. Fans always say that both Kankuro and Temari did their best to try and rescue Gaara and that a big chunk of the arc features them trying to get their brother back, which is not true. First of all, for some reason, Kishimoto completely sidelined the sand sibs in this arc. They don't do much. Gaara has one fight vs. Deidara and he spends the rest of the arc dead, literally. Kankuro chases after Sasori, but the actual details of their fight are anime only. They're not shown in the manga. Most of the focus is on team 7, and I can kinda appreciate giving Sakura some spotlight where she's not obsessing over Sasuke and actually gets shit done.

Second of all, Temari literally does nothing the whole arc. I think, if I remember correctly, we're only shown the scenes of her in the Leaf walking around with Shikamaru. Initially, we're not even told what she's there for exactly, cause it's not till much later on we're told she was there on a diplomatic mission preparing for the next chunin exams. This led some fans to assume she was there just to go on a date with Shikamaru. Which is hilarious to even reach that conclusion when 1- By the beginnings of Shippuden, Shikamaru would've been 15-16 while Temari was 18-19. I'm not accusing Tem of preying on a teen, mind you. I just find it interesting? Some fans would seriously believe they'd be dating at that point. And 2- also so funny when in the anime they showed the contrast in scenes between Suna going to Hell with Deidara's attack while Temari is just..... chilling in Konoha, completely unknowing of the situation. And when she's there, she's not allowed to help in any way. I think she's sent on guard duty? Then, she joined a group composed by her, Kankuro, Matsuri (Gaara's crazy fangirl), and Chiyo's brother (the old man with huge eyebrows) to go after Gaara and team 7. Which is crazy that she wasn't even allowed to join the council meeting with Kankuro. Like, why was the previously dying man allowed to join but not her?

All this is why I can't help but frown and lift my eyebrows every time I see people giving her as much credit as Kankuro. Yeah, the details of Kanks fight vs. Sasori are anime only, but the outcome was one and the same: he got something from that confrontation. The piece of Sasori's cape he got is the only clue that helped team 7 find the Akatsuki hideout in the desert and rescue Gaara. Temari was also so rude, shit-talking Kankuro when he first called her from guard duty, and then berating both Kankuro and Naruto when they showed concern for Gaara when she was doing the same thing.

I don't know. This is one of my favorite arcs, but it's also the first arc that made me start thinking Temari is not as useful as everyone believes she is, and she's given way too much credit, while Kankuro's feats go largely underappreciated. It's also what made her my least favorite of the sand sibs. I don't hate her cause she did nothing to deserve the hate. She's not that bad and comparatively one of the most decent female characters in Naruto. She's just kinda overrated for such a minor character who does so little, and yet people keep insisting and claiming she's better-written and more useful than Kank when that's not the case.

[13as07]

Shogi Partner #2

(Shikamaru Nara Smut)

[Artwork is not mine! Credit to Pixiv Id]

Requested by: @thenightperson

Word Count: 4,153

Warnings and/or Pre-Notes:

Name Calling: Fawn, Sensei

Age Gap (Younger Woman/Older Man)

Power Imbalance (Teacher/Student)

Titty Fondling

Fingering

Borderline Pedophilia

Cheating

I think ima do a prequel

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     "The itsy bitsy spider crawled up the water spout." It feels like all my bodily functions have frozen, besides my heart at least, which is pounding against my chest like it's trying to escape. "Down came the rain and washed the spider out." My Fawn is sat crisscrossed on the carpet, her fingers wiggling and falling downward to mimic rain. "Out came the sun and dried up all the rain." Inojin, Ino's son, is sitting in her lap, clinging to her wrists as he watches her play out the lullaby. "So, the itsy bitsy spider crawled up the spout again."

     Inojin says something, his words soft enough that I can't catch what he's asking. For once, I'm upset he didn't inherit his mother's loud mouth. Whatever he said made my Fawn laugh, the sound giving my pounding heart a power up to slam itself harder.

     My Fawn stands up, child in arm as she settles on her feet. Inojin is moved in her arms, positioned more comfortably as he lunges forward, fisting her hair. "You are my sunshine," she starts humming, swaying them in slow circles. "My only sunshine. You make me happy when the skies are grey." My fingers twitch as I watch her dance with my nephew. Twitch to snatch him out of her arms and place Shikadai there instead. To watch her dance with and sing to my son, not Ino's. "You'll never know dear, how much I love you. So, please - "

     She stops, a gentle giggle replacing her sing-song tone. "Good job, Little One," she coos, peppering kisses across Inojin's cheeks. The side door opening catches my Fawn's attention, her arms tightening around my nephew as she turns to peek at who's entering.

     My eyes snap to the side as well, catching a glimpse of Ino, before they're back on my Fawn. She's oozing joyfulness and sunshine to the point I'm almost convinced she is the sun. They exchange 'thank you's and 'you're welcome's before Inojin is taken from her arms and whisked away by his mother, off to explore a different section of the preschool.

The pounding of my heart stops; the organ is barely there when my Fawn turns back around. Her eyes land on me, the sunshine radiating off of her being snuffed out the instant she sees me.

"Are you alright?" Temari asks, pulling my attention away from my student for a moment. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I'm fine," I mutter, snapping my eyes back to my student. She's back to being sunshine and rainbows as if she never saw me. Choji has been wrapped into my Fawn's bubble, his wife, Karui, looking stressed as she rattles off about their daughter.

I'm not surprised to see her, after all, it is a Namiashi-owned Preschool, run by her clan's Chieftess, centered around the future generations of Shinobis. Only the children of the highest-ranking Shinobis gain enrollment. Hence why so many of my comrades are here instead of enrolling their children in the preschools of their clans. Hence why Temari was so set on Shikadai going here since I 'insist we keep our roots in the Leaf Village'.

     "I'm going to greet Choji," I tell my wife, snatching Shikadai from the ground before beelining toward my Fawn.

Temari looks after me, a mix of disgust and surprise on her face. My student doesn't think of my best friend in disgust. My student respects my friends, and adores their children, obviously. She rambles on about Ino's accomplishments as a kunoichi and the respect she has for Choji's clan all the time. My wife can't even control her facial expressions when I mention my friends.

My stomach twists the closer I get to the small group, threatening to turn up my dinner. I don't know why. I'm just greeting my friend, who happens to be talking to my Fawn.

My Fawn, who was in tears the last time I saw her.

My Fawn, who was so excited to get the attention she'd been craving from me, just for me to turn her away a second later.

My Fawn, who I haven't seen in so long that it can't just be a coincidence anymore.

My Fawn, who did what I asked and sent her father to speak to me the next day.

My Fawn, who doesn't know she's still technically my student. All because I rambled on about her achievements within the last year. All because I couldn't stomach telling her father that I threw up the second his daughter left my office the day before. All because I can't stomach the fact or reaction Raido would have knowing I took advantage of the admiration his daughter has for me all in the name of sexual tension and lust. The tension was brought forth because of my marriage issues, not because of my student.

"Hi," I bark once I'm in front of the group, my self-control just as wrecked as my volume control. Even Shikadai reacts, covering his ears.

My student tenses the second she sees me, her fingers clinging to Choji's bicep a little harder. Why in the world is my student touching him? Why is he letting her touch him? Why isn't Karui threatening to beat her ass? Can't the world see why she shouldn't be anywhere near my friends? I don't have the self-control to watch her mingle with them, with their kids, with my kid.

"Hey," Choji returns my greeting, eyes wide and slowly blinking as he looks me over. "Are you okay?" He slowly asks, sight dropping down my body like he's looking for a stab wound.

"Ya... I'm... ya. Namiashi-Chan?" I can feel my dinner in my throat when my Fawn flinches from her name on my tongue. "Where's your father?"

"Last I knew his dick was down your throat, so you'd know better than me," she snaps, releasing my friend from her death grip before turning toward his wife.

     I watch her, my eyes trailing on her form as I think over the insult. From a reaction like that, I take it Raido told my Fawn about our meeting and she did not take that news well. From her father's anbu tags still wrapped around her neck, dangling on her chest, I worry about a possible reaction she's going to make me have.

     Choji rattles on about whatever, small talk and the stress of preschool, probably. I barely listen, my full attention on my Fawn as she answers Karui's never-ending questions. She's dressed cute today, appropriately, sadly, but still adorable. A mute top and a floral skirt that falls just above her knees. A whisk of skin showing between the two. A whisk of skin just large enough to trail my tongue over.

     I'm reminded of my dinner again, sloshing around in my stomach, my sick feeling fueled by disgust with myself. I'm completely convinced I'll be sick on the daycare floor when the thought of sliding my hand under my Fawn's skirt keeps whirling through my thoughts.

     "Do you need to go outside for a smoke?" Choji asks, eyes flickering between my student and me. "You look pale."

     "Ya."

————————————

The moon is grossly dull tonight. Like the sun doesn't respect it enough to give it any light of day. Like how my Fawn doesn't respect me enough to give me any light of day.

     Half a puff is sucked from my dying cigarette, the second one since Choji went back inside to finish helping Karui with Chocho's orientation. Of course, not before trying to yank what's wrong out of me. I can't tell him what's going on.

     I can't tell anyone about my obsessive behaviors surrounding my student recently. What use would it be? It would just bring issues. Issues for me, my marriage, my son. Issues for my student, for her family just as much as mine. I need to figure out how to get this under control. Figure out how to get rid of it. My Fawn is a baby. One I've known for years. One that just became an adult.

     Five years isn't a terrible age gap, but it is. We were twelve and seventeen. That's not appropriate. Even now, eight and twenty-three isn't the best. Twenty and twenty-five aren't bad though. Nor is twenty-five and thirty... What am I thinking? She's my student. I'm her teacher. She's a baby.

     An annoyed sigh spills from me as I rub my hands down my face. This shouldn't be a thought, let alone a self-debate. The answer is no. I'm married. I have a child. She's barely not a child anymore... but I was eighteen when I got married, and nineteen when my son was born. No!

     I yank my pack out of my pocket, set on having another cigarette to try and take the edge off before I go back inside. I've already been out here too long. Temari is probably fuming and I've missed enough of Shikadai's orientation. One more smoke and then I'm pushing this issue down and focusing on being a good dad.

     The back door creaks as I settle my cigarette between my lips. The noise catches my attention, my eyes glancing to the side as I light the end of the stick. The stick almost falls from my mouth when a floral skirt slides through the corner of my sight.

"Ya, all the doors are pin pad secured and hooked to an external power source for an extra layer of security," my Fawn's voice lingers on as she presses herself against the door, propping it open as Naruto and Hinata wander outside.

"That sounds pretty fancy," Naruto chuckles, his eyes locked on their son as Hinata's stay set on him. It makes me envious, seeing how they're still so much in love. Why aren't Temari and me like that? Where did I go wrong?

     "We'll see you Monday," Hianta tells my Fawn, never pulling her focus away from her two boys.

     "Oh, no," my student corrects, sending our Hokage and his family a loose smile. "I don't work for the preschool. I'm on active duty. I'm just here as an extra set of hands."

     "Well, then I'm sure I'll see you coming or going," Naruto mutters, already walking away from her, his wife tucked tightly into his side and his son perched on his shoulders.

     "Of course, Lord Seventh," my Fawn replies, bowing her head as they walk past her. It's good to know at least one of us has our morals because I don't. It's easier to deny when she's not standing in front of me. It's easier to reason when I can't see her, smell her, hear her. I was her age when I got married, so it can't be too bad of a situation, can it?

     I race forward when she turns to go back inside and manage to grip her elbow to tug her back before she's too far out of reach. "Shikamaru," she hisses, body tense and a glare glued on her face. A glare aimed at the door that clicks closed, instead of blessing me with it. My tempting student still refuses to give me the light of day.

     "Namiashi-Chan," I whisper, slowly inching forward. I don't stop moving until her elbow, still cupped in my hand, is pressed into my side and my chest is pressed into her back. My Fawn tenses because of our close quarters, her glare depending as it burns into the metal door. "We should talk."

     "I don't have anything to say to you."

     "But I have plenty to say to you," I murmur, daring to brush my fingers against the cloth covering her thighs. It's soft, made of cotton, and encourages her scent to fill the space between us. A ripple slides through my Fawn's body, disrupting her hardness before it is present again. How cute, she's trying to stay mad at me, but her admiration for me still shines through. "Do you know why I've been cautious about what happened between us?"

     "Because you're married."

     "And?" I mutter, trailing my fingertips up her skirt, enjoying the next ripple that makes her spine curve.

     "Because you have a son."

     "And?" I repeat, taking my time to enjoy the gap between her skirt and her shirt, soaking in the warmth of her skin.

     "Because you're older than me; because you were already an adult when we met."

     I can't help the curving of my mouth. What a smart girl. What a selfish girl. Well aware of my thought process and yet, still so angry with me. My grin deepens when my touch trails to her back, racing between her shoulder blades to slide against her neck. I can't help the euphoria I feel when my Fawn's breath is sucked in just a smidge rougher than before. "And?"

     She stays quiet, her breaths getting shallower when I drop my hand to her waist and lean forward, exhaling so the air from my lungs brushes against her sensitive throat. "I... I don't know."

     "Because I'm your Sensei," I answer for her, daring to lower my head even more so my lips can tease the skin of her neck. Not quite a kiss, but nothing else either. "I'm your Sensei," I repeat, inching upward, leaving my mouth hovering as I trail around. "I couldn't bear the thought of someone else being your Sensei. Someone else helping you train. Someone else sitting with you at a shogi board. Someone else being your shogi partner. Do you understand that, my pretty little Fawn?"

     "Under... understand...?"

     I finally give in, brushing a kiss against the edge of her jawline to the dip of her neck. "Do you understand how those thoughts made me feel?" I ask, sliding more kisses against her throat as my hand lets go of her elbow. My touch is only away from her long enough to settle on her waist, my fingertips quickly poking under the hem of her short little shirt. "How many times in the past week I've thought about the feeling of your breast in my hand? How many times I've thought about those dangling little tags you use to tempt me? How many times I've stopped myself from calling your name while enjoying my wife?"

     "This is unprofessional, Shikamaru," she scolds, the airiness my kisses were gifting melted out of her voice. "Your wife and son are inside. If you're going to be a drag of a Sensei, you can at least be a good father. A good husband."

     My smile only deepens from the insult. My cute little Fawn, using my words against me. "Let me apologize for being a 'a drag of a Sensei' then," I murmur, sliding my hand against her. I inch my fingers further up her shirt, stopping their trip when I feel the lace of her bra under my touch. "It's the least I can do, Fawn."

     "Sensei," she calls, her hands falling to her stomach. One rests in the center of her waist, the other laid on top of my hand. My fingers jerk upward, finding their way between hers before locking around them.

     Not so headstrong now, are we, little Fawn? No, you're not. I've barely touched you and you're already falling apart.

     I softly hum in acknowledgment, widening my mouth to suck on her skin. I wiggle my way under the band of her bra, a ripple racing through me when my fingertips graze her breast. "What is it that you need, my little Fawn? Tell your Sensei what you need," I order, my hand shaking with the restraint to move slowly, keeping my tempo as my hand slides up to cup her boob.

     "You... you're... you can't..."

     "Tell me to stop and I will. Four letters. That's all it takes," I tell her, squeezing her flesh in my grasp, letting her boob melt between my fingers. It's warm, like I remember. Like I've been craving the whole week since I first got to enjoy it. "Tell me to stop," I order, tightening my grip on her fingers before tailing our knotted hands across her belly before pulling them down.

     "I... I..."

     "Want me to stop?" My fingers hook on her skirt, slowly pulling it up her legs. "Or maybe you want to accept my apology? Which will it be, Fawn?" I ask, jerking our hands down when her skirt is pulled far enough up. "Tell me what you want."

     My Fawn's chest pumps faster as I slide my fingertips against her panties, my touch finding an already present damp spot. I fall quiet, focused on her nerves as I wait for an answer. My mouth cups her throat, sucking on her skin with the plan to leave my mark behind. The hand buried under her shirt finds her nipple, tugging on it to encourage a whimper to fall loose from her legs. Our hands knifed and buried between her legs stay pressed against her, gentle circles being laid against the proof of her wetness.

     Pitched attempts at words spill from my student. Her fingers tighten against mine and the hand on her stomach jumps up to cling to my wrist pressed against her rib cage. "Sen... Sensei... Sensei," she whines, her call on me on repeat, not that I mind. It's my new favorite song. One I'd happily listen to forever.

     "That's not an answer, Fawn," I murmur, shoving my nose into her neck. I get what I want, her head tipped to the side and more room to bruise her skin.

     "Shikamaru." My hips jerk at the sound of my name on her lips, my ignored boner rubbing against her ass. My hand grips her boob again, squeezing it as whispered hopes of my fingerprints being left behind fight for room in my mind. "Please?"

     "Fuck," I groan into her neck, grinding against her add harder. I jerk her panties to the side, keeping a strong hold on her hand as two of my fingers loosen for the knot. "You say my name so beautiful, Fawn."

     Her fingernails dig into my wrist when I start rubbing circles against her clit, egging me on even more. Yes, little Fawn, leave your mark too. Punish your Sensei for being a bad man, for treating you so poorly. Make me beg for your forgiveness.

     "I'm sorry, Fawn," I whisper into her ear, sliding our hands down so my fingertips can tease her pussy that clenches in protest. "Sensei is so sorry for pushing you away, for trying to get rid of you."

     "You're mean."

     "I know," I mutter, latching my mouth around a sliver of skin again, brutally sucking on it. I want her littered in my hickeys. I want it to be impossible for her to hide them. I want every man in the village to see them as they admire those annoyingly dangled tags she wears every day. "Let me make it up to you, Fawn."

     The shaky moan that melts off her lips is almost enough to make me bust. The feeling of her pussy clinging to my fingers as I push them in doesn't do anything to help. "I hate you," my Fawn whimpers, her head lulling before resting against my shoulder.

     The lack of access to her neck annoys me, but her hips jerking to push my fingers deeper into her cunt makes up for it. "I know," I whisper, focusing my kisses against her cheek. I curl my fingers, getting another jerk of her hips and my dick to twitch in need. I deserve this, my needs ignored, being driven crazy with the want to feel her pussy wrapped around my cock instead of my fingers.

     The slow drag of my fingers out of her before thrusting them back in gets me a moan and hooded eyes. The faster my fingers move inside her, the whiner her moans get, and the more desperate for relief is what I get. I deserve this. My Fawn deserves this. This is how it's going to stay.

     "Shikamaru," she whines, her legs shaking with the quickly ending timer until her orgasm.

     "Forgive me, Fawn," I whisper into her ear, trying my hardest to keep my movements the exact same. "Tell me you forgive me. Tell your Sensei you forgive him."

     "You don't deserve my forgiveness."

     My jaw clenches at her words, partly because they're right, and partly because they anger my dick even more. I want to be buried in her, desperate to cum as I beg for forgiveness, told I don't get to cum until I get it. I want her to forgive me now. I want her to never forgive me. I want my Fawn hunched over my desk with her pussy leaking my cum. I want my Fawn to tell me I'm never allowed to touch her again after this. I want everything and nothing from her, all at once.

     "Shikamaru!" She calls for me, her cunt clenching as she comes undone. My Fawn doesn't deserve to cum while I'm still locked away behind my zipper. She doesn't deserve to soak our hands in her slick. And yet, she deserves having me graveling at her feet, begging to touch her, to taste her, to fuck her.

     I gently hush her, slowing the pace of my fingers thrusting in and out of her. I coat her face in kisses, dropping my hand away from her chest to gently rub her stomach. "You're so pretty, Fawn. You did such a good job. Do you feel better?"

     "I feel dirty," she whispers, the bliss of orgasm quickly being washed away by regret. My Fawn straightens herself, yanking her hand out of mine. My eyes follow her movements, watching the dragging minutes of her straightening herself.

     My Fawn fixes her skirt before running her not-soaked hand through her hair. After an eternity of tense silence, she slowly turns around, finally facing me, finally giving me the time of day, and yet, I couldn't feel any worse if I tried. "You didn't tell my Dad you're stepping down as my Sensei."

     "Well, that's because - "

     "I'm not done talking," my Fawn cuts me off, raising her hand in a stop. "If you don't want to step down, fine, I can't make you, but this," she motions between the two of us, her face blank and empty. The same look she has while she's trying to think her way through a game of shogi. "Isn't happen again. You're married. You have a son. I have no interest in being a mistress and honestly, you're not worth my time."

     This is a serious conversation, one that we need to have, and yet all I can think about is laying her out in my bed. All I can feel is the twitch of my dick, the body part having a mind of its own and a growing want to get wet the longer my student degrades me.

     "We're not doing this again."

     "Okay," I murmur, shoving my hands into my pockets.

     My Fawn steps forward, making me way more excited than I should be. Her fingertips grip my shirt, using it to wipe her juices off her fingertips. Thoughts of shoving my face into my shirt as I relieve myself later play on repeat in my mind. It makes me feel dirty and yet it makes my balls hurt more.

     "I'm not going to let you make me feel like a dirty secret."

     I can't help the heat raking up my spine, caused by the glare on my student's face. Damn right, Fawn. Tell me what to do. Tell me what not to do. Tell me I'm a bad man. Keep telling me I'm not worth you. Step on me and tell me I'm not even worth the dirt on your shoes.

     I need help. Life would be so much easier if I was a cloud.

     "Okay," I repeat, quickly blinking to try and wash all my thoughts from my mind. My student stays put for a second, searching my face as a glimpse of uncertainty flickers across her expression. Don't do that, Fawn. Don't be uncertain. Tell me to jump and I'll jump. Tell me to bark and I'll bark. Tell me to never talk to you again and I won't.

     I really need help. I shouldn't feel like this over her. I should have walked away the first time this feeling bubbled up. Yet, I didn't. I let it play out. It's my fault we're in this situation. My Fawn made my heart flutter and I ran into Temari's arms because I thought it was more acceptable, because I thought I was confused. I'm a terrible man.

     "I'll see you tomorrow, Sensei," My Fawn whispers, stepping backward.

     "Tomorrow?"

     "We have a shogi game to finish, don't we?"

     "Ya."

     I got my shogi partner back, but at what cost?

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[melozy]

✩ would anyone be interested in a BORUTO REWRITE ? (follow this link to read the fic)

here are the major things i'm changing from the series to fit into a more realistic storyline ↴

first, and this is very based, but i dislike boruto's name in general. i know it's an homage to neji's name (which translates to "screw"), and don't get me wrong 'bolt' as a nickname that references both neji and minato's legacy (since the latter was known as the 'yellow flash of konoha') is awesome. but in my story, i've given the main character the name akihiro (ironically known as hiro by his peers) meaning "bright" or "shining" with this kanji variation 明弘 [in which the first one literally translates to "dawn".]

also, it'll help if you read THIS first (a post made by me and my cousin two years ago! and it's only now coming to fruition :>)

other key points where this story diverges from boruto, both in terms of plot, themes, and character dynamics:

akihiro's personality and role

akihiro is much more charismatic and endearing, resembling a "sweet-talker" type who bonds deeply with others rather than boruto’s initial rebellious and aloof nature. he embraces being naruto’s son but struggles with living up to the expectations, rather than rejecting them outright.

this adds complexity to his growth as a leader and makes him more relatable and likable to a wider range of characters.

akihiro is an only child

unlike boruto, akihiro doesn’t have a younger sibling like himawari. this shifts the family dynamic to focus more closely on his relationship with naruto and hinata, highlighting their efforts to guide him without distractions.

it makes akihiro’s journey more introspective and personal, with fewer family members diluting his arc. but this will tie into another plotpoint with sakura and sasuke's kid(s) looking up to him as an older brother figure, so he fulfills that role just as well. the reason i chose not to give him a sibling is because i'm still on the fence about giving akihiro the byakugan since it might be too cliché (but admit it, boruto's and himawari's designs would've looked pretty cool with the eerie edge of the hyuugas' pupil-less eyes). but i have no intention of making naruto pass on kurama to his kids, especially not to akihiro. so, the point of him having a sibling in the timeline where conflict arises pretty early (just after the events of akihiro's birth) is unlikely.

generation gap in konoha 9's children

the children of the original konoha 9 aren’t all the same age.

they were born across a realistic timeline based on their parents’ relationships (e.g., temari and shikamaru’s child is older than sakura and sasuke’s).

the reason for this was pretty much at face value, it just is highly unlikely that all the couples got together and fell pregnant at the same time. maybe some kids are same age but mostly spanning a five year range at minimum. this adds more diverse interactions across generations and avoids the forced "classmates" dynamic that boruto had.

right now i do have the konoha 9's kids figured out. from oldest to youngest, they are [this is during when my story starts, when akihiro is 15]:

shikadai nara (18) > chocho akimichi (17) > akihiro uzumaki (16) > inojin yamanaka (16) > shizumi nara (13) > sarada and souta uchiha (11)

stronger, more varied teammates

akihiro’s teammates are more specialized and powerful compared to boruto’s. yume kazemura, an immigrant from the land of mist with her water style and weapon specialty, and daichi hiiragi, a fire-style ninja with a less prominent earth style. akihiro himself would have wind and lightning style + hyuuga taijutsu — mostly because i wanted to divide each team in a way that balances each other out.

this team is a frontline squad, so their chakra amount and specialty is prominent. it also gives me a reason to make sasuke mentor akihiro later in the story since lightning style seems almost a precursor to space-time jutsu and no other konoha 9 member has an affinity for it.

in any case, their abilities are distinctive and critical in battles, unlike boruto’s team, which felt derivative of naruto’s team 7 and very replicated, in my opinion.

otsutsuki threat introduced as a mystery

a plot point taken from this post (which was actually made by my cousin, who is beta-reading this as we speak!), the otsutsuki threat is revealed gradually through mysterious portals, strange creatures, and sinister chakra bombs, rather than immediately presenting godlike enemies like momoshiki. the slow-burn introduction makes the otsutsuki more terrifying and allows the story to maintain a grounded tone while building tension.

the chakra bomb thing is introduced right after the events of "the last", a few months after naruto and hinata's wedding. a few konoha shinobi en route to kumo for their chunin exams (konohamaru's team being of them), come across a border villager in the land of fire who is on the brink of fever-induced delirium, somehow mid-speech just gives out an insane level of raw chakra pulsing out of his body before collapsing, dead.

the genin team leaders decide to investigate and find that an entire small village on the border was wiped out without a trace of struggle or attack. naturally, fingers are raised towards kumo who really have no clue what's going on. just when it was about to written off as an invasion by the rogue factions, another similar incident takes place in iwagakure. the land of fire and wind being the closest to it are now under fire.

then i plan on introducing a cult who are old regime supremacists (led by disciples of kaguya who were indoctrinated by black zetsu). they believe in the eradication of the non-shinobi factions, a play on the "survival of the fittest" morality. maybe i will integrate the bioengineering and technical development aspect. but it won't be nearly as advanced as the stuff introduced in the boruto universe.

by the time akihiro is 16, strange portals carrying behemoths (think chitauri from avengers, endbringers from worm or even kaiju from pacific rim) into the world open up all across the globe. each nation basically brings a standstill on managing the political uprising to secure their borders, working together to configure who is behind these attacks and where these alien creatures are coming from.

meanwhile, a kaguya cult member reveals the location of a portal leading to the moon base where a fee otsutsuki relics and shrines are found by hiro and his team. while the powerhouses are deployed to deal with the monsters, the village heads are swarmed with cases of riots, fights breaking out between borders and all in all, hostility brewing between the elemental nations.

eventually the behemoth attacks get so frequent and so far apart in distance from one another that it becomes impossible to manage them all — leading to the affected areas being vacated after entire cities are demolished.

this eventually leads to a showdown in the ruins of uzushio where the biggest behemoth shows up, alongside two otsutsuki clan members and most of the alliance is posted there for a drawn out battle.

eventually, after practically wiping the floor with the alliance, the otsutsukis leave but not without the promise of return to plant a chakra tree on earth and to clear it out of tainted blood so the trueborns can thrive in their new paradise. (since humanity right now is a mix of kaguya's blood which gives them control over chakra and human dna — basically, the otsutsuki want to cleanse the world of them and take over the chakra fountain that is earth).

political turmoil between nations

the story will include realistic international tensions among the five great nations. rogue factions, misunderstandings, and betrayals play a critical role in the otsutsuki conflict. everyone with be pointing fingers but due to an established alliance among the kages, no shinobi can act on their convictions without breaking the treaty and being ousted as a stray ninja.

this adds stakes beyond just physical battles, emphasizing the fragile peace post-shinobi war. it also involves side characters from other villages, making the world feel larger and more dynamic.

power scaling is even

the power scaling is balanced, with the konohamaru generation being significantly stronger than akihiro’s due to the chakra bomb conflict arising during their peak as chunin/jounin. while akihiro is talented, he isn’t overpowered like boruto.

battles require teamwork, strategy, and sacrifice. it will also make the older generations more battle-hardened, experienced and will give them knowledge to impart on their charges as sensei. this avoids sidelining older characters and makes fights more engaging. even lower-tier ninjas have meaningful roles (which will be even more prominent during the final battle arc).

akihiro's love interest

now, this is a topic i'm very conflicted on.

on one hand i have this incredible character planned (sayuri ayakami) with seishinkan, a kekkei genkai aligned with the spiritual power of chakra maneuvering. it affects perceptions, health and even can cause/absorb physical blows to an extent for redistribution later. it works on the basis of the very existence of the otsutsuki clan, how they manipulate space-time, dimensional and planetary jutsu.

[she's basically the non-overpowered and very much human version of eida]

akihiro has a unique romantic subplot with sayuri, a character tied to an ancient clan and her own burdens. their bond develops naturally through shared hardships and mutual growth. this romance feels organic and adds emotional stakes. while i have nothing against boruto’s dynamic with sarada, the uchiha-uzumaki thing feels a little overdone.

but this above all is a shounen series that i'm making with emphasis on action and politics in the ninja world. so, i'm not sure how romance will fly in this universe. (what do you all think?)

greater role for older characters

characters like naruto, sasuke, sakura, gaara, shikamaru, the other kages and the previous generation have pivotal roles throughout the story. they don’t fade into the background but instead serve as mentors, fighters, and emotional anchors.

especially during the stand against the monsters and managing the political uproar caused by the kaguya cult. this respects their legacy while highlighting the generational transition, something boruto struggles with.

a new way to beat the otsutsuki

like i said, many characters will play different yet very important role in building up to and even during the final stand against the all-powerful otsutsuki.

minor characters and even less power shinobi from the alliances collectively will help in taking down the enemies bit by bit. humanity’s triumph over the otsutsuki wouldn't rely solely on godlike powers or specific individuals like boruto and kawaki. instead, it will involve strategies and unique abilities from many characters, such as sayuri’s seishinkan severing dimensional ties.

this makes the victory feel earned by everyone, not just a chosen few, and emphasizes teamwork and innovation over brute strength.

sasuke's absence from konoha has a real reason

sasuke’s absence is explained by his investigation of the chakra bomb incidents as he is made to be the prime coordinator of the anbu of konoha and usually the first to respond to impacted locations on short notice due to his rinnegan prowess. it's not just due vague wanderings that's he's not with his family. his return then carries significant weight.

it gives sasuke a clear purpose and enhances his arc while tying into the main story. it also builds on how sarada and souta's dynamics are, and how each twin copes with their dad not being present and mom being busy with her obligations.

this is one of the reasons why they look up to akihiro that much more because akihiro with his natural charm, abilities and ties to the hokage is somewhat popular amount his peers. despite this, he is welcoming towards the uchiha twins and takes them under his wing, sticking up for them and not letting them be turned into social pariahs.

sayuri's seishinkan and her clan

sayuri's seishinkan is a unique spiritual kekkei genkai, not a derivative of the byakugan or sharingan. her clan’s history ties into the otsutsuki invasion and ancient conflicts. this avoids redundancy in bloodline abilities while adding depth to the lore.

villains across all tiers

the otsutsuki threat isn’t limited to godlike figures. generals, zetsu-like soldiers, and mutated creatures provide challenges for all levels of ninja. this ensures that even lower-ranked ninjas and civilians play meaningful roles, unlike in boruto where only top-tier fighters matter.

the pacing of the story

the story spans akihiro’s growth from age 16 to 19, with major arcs that focus on mystery, politics, and personal relationships. the pacing is deliberate, allowing for more character development and emotional moments. this approach feels more cohesive and satisfying compared to boruto’s often disjointed plotlines.

this rewrite creates a more balanced, grounded, and emotionally resonant narrative compared to boruto. it respects the legacy of naruto’s generation, develops a new generation with their own unique abilities and struggles, and introduces the otsutsuki as a nuanced, terrifying threat that can’t simply be punched away.

— NOTES. again, this is simply my take on the poorly faring sequel to naruto, a franchise that deserves to be hailed for it's dynamic worldbuilding and major contribution into shaping what shounen has become today.

if you want me to go in-depth about any of the plot points, feel free to ask in my askbox or comments. i want to start writing this as soon as possible and the more input i get from fellow fans of this universe, the better the end result will be.

[ari-is-green]

I just can't, for the life of me at this day and age, go back and watch Naruto Shippuden. It enrages me how much potential ALL of the female characters had and how Kishimoto's misoginy and favoritism towards the Uchiha deeply affected his work.

A example I take is from the fight between Sasuke and Killer Bee. Firstly the way Juugo saved him was rushed and injustified in my opinion, Sasuke shouldn't have died but should have been BADLY injured from Killer B's Lariat. The rest of the fight should have been a fight for survival and how Team Taka are willing to fight for Sasuke. Improving their team function and giving the character of Sasuke, and the viewer, a important point: as much as Sasuke wants do be alone and do things his way, what deeply needs and craves is comraderie.

But returning to my point on misoginy, the route of making Sasuke escape barely alive gives us a one of a time oportunity: develop Karin's character. We could have a Karin with as much development as Juugo and Suigetsu, making her push past her fears for the good of the team (also making her a mirror to Sakura), going beyond her boundaries and going past the bite-and-heal medical ninjutsu. It was also a huge oportunity to develop the aspects of her clan as one of the FIVE Uzumaki seen in Naruto. How come the PROTAGONISTS CLAN was never developed?? Naruto didn't have contact with his clan, Kushina and Mito are both dead, so is Nagato (I believe) at this point in the story. Karin had contact with Uzumaki clansman in her childhood, make her explore that knowledge and give the audience learn about the Uzumaki!

Also, I've read somewhere that Karin's past is not in the manga and is a anime-only type thing. I can't check if that's true but it makes it so much worse.

With one character Kishimoto could've had developed: Sasuke's character indirectly, Team Taka's dynamic especially within the Akatsuki, Karin's character AND give us a lot of information about the Uzumaki clan in a way that wouldn't feel like a exposition of dialogue.

And that's one example. Tsunade has Senju and Uzumaki's blood, she should have been more explored. Sakura's development past Sasori's arc felt pushed back, Hinata didn't get as much time with Naruto as she should being the main love interest and the person Kishimoto wanted Naruto to end up with, Ino and Temari are basically forgotten and don't get me started on TenTen. Mei is another one - how come you give this woman two kekkei-genkais and proceeds to do nothing with that?

And they made Temari a housewife in Boruto. It doesn't enrage me as much because I don't take Boruto seriously as a continuation of Naruto but god. You made a woman that faced Madara head-on without fear, that was in charge of a unit in the Great Ninja War a housewife?

I won't even get started on Konan because then I will be too mad to properly write a argument. I keeps me up at night.

Anyways. I'll just rewatch the Akatsuki scenes and call it a day.

[abattre]

Naruro is a Japaneese manga right, so it only makes sense for us to take the Japaneese culture into consideration when watching the show. I don't know how to explain this but all I can find are americans using only their own culture for describtions. For example Sasuke being called emo and edgy, that's not even a thing in Japan, how is Sasuke nicknamed that when Kishimoto himself probably has no idea what that even means. (He's traumatized, not trying to act diffrent)

Another example are Sakura, Temari, Ino, who are seen as some sort of girlbosses and queens who would never take any shit from any man when in reality they're doing all the cooking and the cleaning in their houses, just like the traditional japaneese woman in real life. (I've read the Shikamaru novel and bro's never in the kitchen, it's always Temari. And I know Sasuke is usually absent but when he comes back it's always Sakura who's making dinner)

There's also Hinata who's considered the best girl in the series, the wife material, the keeper, the woman of every dudebro's dreams, while Sakura is seen as the toxic crush who rejects the poor, sweet, good guy and chooses the hot 'badboy' over him. (I'm not her fan but I swear I've seen some people hating on her only for not loving Naruto back. Maybe she reminds those insecure men about the rejections they got from their real life girls?)

And don't even get me started on Sasuke getting called abusive and misogynistic for defending his life when ninja women attack...

I'm just saying, lots of fans project their own lives and beliefs onto the show and it often dosen't make any sense

(I hope you understood my broken english, I tried so hard, it's my third language so it's not easy for me, I also hope you don't mind the spelling mistakes but feel free to correct them for me if you find any)

oh that's really interesting! i'm not well versed enough in japanese sociology to corroborate on the subculture aspect there, but i agree that the western fandom's interpretation of sasuke is heavily weighed down by the stigma of being put in the emo trope box. i think the emo thing has become so kitsch now that it's kind of just an easy out for the fandom to avoid engaging with the moral aspect of sasuke's story. like.. they want a light-hearted excuse to justify characterising sasuke's reactions as superficially as possible so it fits their narrative of him being just a straight villain in shippuden

as far as kishimoto's motivations go, i think the intentions there were just a bit lost in translation then? also the fact that we don't get the whole context for why sasuke behaves the way he does until the end of the original series run is probably what ingrained the idea most people have that sasuke was just standoffish because he was arrogant and nothing else... i guess a lot of fans have a hard time overcoming that initial impression. even after we find out about the massacre & itachi most of the fandom is like.... utterly incapable of forgiving that he had priorities outside of his friends and konoha because they can't get past the notion of thinking he's just power-hungry for the sake of it. they're fundamentally uninterested in engaging with the nuance of sasuke's situation because they didn't find sasuke likeable enough to show some grace for his circumstances and trauma by the time we get that information. which crazy but ok... skill issue i think

as for the girls.... kishimoto cannot write them as has been said by everyone for forever.... but yeah. the way he tried to paint over his misogynistic writing with the girl-boss feminism thing is a really weird counter-balance that doesn't work for me. i think sakura is probably the best example of that... she has a Big kinda aggressive personality that gets cut-up with kishimoto pacifying her in both the story and her behaviour but he's tropifying her so hard on both ends they never meet in the middle in a way that makes sense. so it comes off as a really disjointed characterisation on the whole with her motivations & actions being kinda flip-floppy one way or the other depending on whatever situation she's in. the housewife thing was probably just kishimoto not knowing how to end their stories in keeping to the girl-boss side of things he halfway set up, so he threw them all into the same fold of what he thinks is the ideal Happy Life conclusion all girls must have in his head. which is just getting married and being a traditional japanese housewife because of course it is

funnily enough, i think the sakura hate on that end also just goes back to people resenting sasuke for his role in the story. they exalt hinata for always being loyal to naruto and never being interested in anyone else... but sakura is Evil because she never fell in love with him and couldn't get over sasuke so she must be irredeemable and the Worst Ever. the self-inset bias etc etc. it is most definitely a projection issue lmao. it's been like 20 years and they still can't get over it so i'm not really holding out hope for an overhaul on sasuke's mass mischaracterisation. rip </3

[c4l4mityv4in]

No One Noticed - Chapter 1

Fly To Your City, Excited To See Your Face

Words: 4892

Relationships:

Main : Inuzuka Kiba/Kankurou,

Temari/Tenten (Naruto), Gaara/Rock Lee, Akamar & Inuzuka Kiba, Akamaru & Kankurou

Characters:

Kankurou (Naruto), Inuzuka Kiba, Akamaru (Naruto), Temari (Naruto), Gaara (Naruto), Inuzuka Hana, Inuzuka Tsume, Kuromaru (Naruto), Uzumaki Naruto, Aburame Shino, Hyuuga Hinata

Additional Tags:

Fluff, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Falling In Love, First Dates, Meeting the Parents, Boys In Love, Moving In Together, lipstick stains, Sleepy Kisses, Forehead Kisses, AU, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Everyone was revived, Everyone Is Gay, Inuzuka Kiba is a Little Shit

Part 3 of my Pink In The Night AU

Summary:

More tags will be added the more I write

A silly fluff story about how Kankiba fell in love and moved in together and eventually married and had a kid, featuring adorable Kankuro and Akamaru interactions<3

Art by @xmikaelx on here

Cover:

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♡Start Notes:♡

HAPPY PRIDE MONTH!

I got this first chapter ready in like, four days, I'm so excited for you to read it

It's very inspired by @saturnsmoontitan 's fly away dove on Ao3, you should totally read it, hope you enjoy<3

Please remember that in this AU, Madara had a change of heart and brought everyone back to life. Yes this is because I felt bad for fictional characters

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How did these two chaos gremlins end up falling in love with each other? Well, they weren't planning on it that's for sure. The first time they met at their first Chuunin exams, they didn't really interact enough to form an opinion on each other.

One would actually be surprised to know that they developed feelings barely a few minutes after each other. They were 13 and 14 at the time, Kiba was injured and so was Akamaru, Kankuro had just saved him from certain death by killing the twins, Sakon and Ukon, iron maiden style.

"Thank you", Kiba said, holding a trembling Akamaru in his arms.

"Do you want me to give you a hand? I know a few basic medical jutsus", Kankuro asked as he sat in front of the younger boy

"Don't worry about me, Akamaru's the one who got badly injured", Kiba said, showing the other boy the injured puppy.

Kankuro started massaging the dog's stomach with his signature purple flow of chakra, "Can't promise you a miracle, I know even less about dog medicine"

Kankuro's chakra kept massaging for a few minutes until Akamaru managed to regain consciousness, "Hey puppy", he greeted, tho he was instantly pushed away by a crying Kiba, "You're alive!", he said under his breath, cuddling up to the puppy.

"Alright then, you want me to help you with that open stab wound?", Kankuro pointed at the other's stomach, Kiba was so concerned that he had forgotten he had literally stabbed himself.

"That would be nice", he said, allowing the older boy to heal him as best as he could

"Why did you pull out the kunai? It just made your pain and bleeding worse", Kankuro pointed out as he tried his best to treat the wound

"I was kind of in the middle of trying to not get murdered, you know", Kiba reminded him

Kankuro dumped the twins' body in the woods and wrapped his marionettes back up, "Do you need help walking?", he asked

"I'm fine for now but I might need a few breaks now and then", Kiba said as he finally stood up, Akamaru in his arms. As Kankuro noticed Kiba struggling to even lift the puppy, he took a roll of bandages he'd usually use for his puppets and wrapped them around his torso and stomach to form a pouch, "Put him in here, I'll carry him for you"

Kiba didn't have the energy to protest, he carefully placed Akamaru in the pouch and watched as Kankuro basically started massaging the dog's little head, "Hi puppy, don't worry I'll take great care of you and give you lots of cuddles until we get you to a vet", Kankuro said to the dog, his voice higher than usual, that was the moment Kiba's heart fluttered for Kankuro for the first time.

You know what they say,

"The quickest way to an Inuzuka's heart is loving their dog(s)".

Kiba fell first but Kankuro fell harder when they laid down for a break and Kiba fell asleep for just a few minutes, cuddled up to Kankuro and rubbing his head on his chest, right over his heart, whose rate was rapidly increasing, tho one could clearly tell even from a long distance, mainly cause Kankuro's face had become redder than the other boy's makeup.

You know what they say about Rasa's children,

"Gay!"

Kankuro escorted Kiba to the Konoha Hospital where he was treated properly and after Akamaru's surgery he was allowed to stay in the hospital room with his owner. That was the last time Kiba saw Kankuro in months when he visited him the next day.

"Hey...", the older one greeted awkwardly as he closed the door behind him, "How're you doing today?"

Kiba looked at him, noticing a slight blush under the purple makeup, "I'm alright, way better compared to how you found us yesterday"

Kankuro knelt down to pet Akamaru, "How are you, baby?", again with that baby voice, Kiba smiled looking at them, quickly realizing his heart hadn't stopped beating weirdly fast ever since Kankuro came in.

"His name is Akamaru and he's still a little weak but he's managing", he informed him

"Well, I just wanted to make sure you were feeling better before I went back to Suna", Kankuro said as he stood back up

"That's very nice of you", Kina was quite lucky his smeared makeup hid his blush. Kankuro awkwardly walked backwards towards the door and took a deep breath, mustered up some courage and spit out as fast as he could, "Ithinkyou'rereallycuteweshouldgoonadatenexttimeweseeeachothermytreattotallyokayifyoudon'twanttothobye!"*, he accidentally slammed the door and speedwalked out of the hospital, now if he had seen Kiba in that moment, he would have noticed he was blushing so hard that a pink lamppost would be put to shame.

* "I think you're really cute, we should go on a date next time we see each other, my treat, totally okay if you don't want to tho, bye!"

The next time they met was at that year's second Chuunin exams, right before they were about to find out what their first task was going to be. With "met", I mean that Kankuro's siblings literally lifted him up and threw him in Kiba's direction, embarrassing him like a good sibling is supposed to, and what do you know? It was a complete Strike! It actually almost got Suna's team 1 almost disqualified but that's not what we're talking about here. Kankuro apologized profusely and helped Kiba up, Akamaru back to full health by his side, "I knew you fell for me but I didn't think you meant it literally ", Kiba joked, clearly blushing and purposefully not letting go of the older nin's hand.

Kankuro got flustered and pulled his hand backed, he had a reputation for being a tough and sometimes cocky guy, but Kiba just sorta turned his brain into mush, "Hey so, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable at the hospital can we just like, forget that happened", he avoided all eye contact while he spoke, Kiba was absolutely appalled at the insinuation, "Fuck no, you're taking me out after this exam", he informed him, blushing even harder and grabbing both of Kankuro's hands.

Kankuro started nevously giggling, let go and started walking away backwards again, "Oh cool, cool, cool, cool! I'll give you the best first date ever I promise!", he said turned around, bumped against about a dozen Genin trying to smoothly run away and quite obviously failing. He hurried back to his siblings, too happy to be mad at them, for the moment at least, "I believe you ow us some gratitude", said Temari, smirking

"Why? I clearly did that all by myself?", Kankuro teased jokingly.

Temari turned to her youngest brother and went, "Gaara, you may go ahead and call your brother that slur now"

Gaara took a breath to "insult" his brother with an extra dramatic flare but was quiet rudely interrupted by the beginning of the exam before he could even utter the first letter.

The next time they got to talk to each other was in the stands stands of Konoha's Stadium after each other's first individual fights, "You did well, dog boy", Kankuro congratulated Kiba once he joined him, the fight between Gaara and Choji was about to start, "I got lucky Ino missed her Shintenshin, I would've been doomed otherwise"

"At least the Shintenshin is dodgeable, my sister almost beat me out there", Kankuro complained

"At least we both did it, don't be too mad when I beat you", the other joked

"As if you could beat m-", Kankuro was interrupted by the end of the fight, unsurprisingly his brother won, only one fight remained between Tenten and Lee

"Where are your teammates?", Kankuro asked

"Hinata won earlier, her opponent quit, and Shino forfeited the second he saw Neji was his opponent", Kiba explained

"Good call, that guy scares even me", the older one admitted, bad choice, if Kiba knew how to do something, it was teasing and being annoying, "I think deep down you're a scaredy cat, but I'll protect you from now on"

Kankuro blushed, but his pride was also hurt, "try saying that again and I'll throw you off this balcony", he joked.

It took a while, but a winner between Lee and Tenten won by the skin of her teeth.

That's when Kiba and Kankuro got down to the arena, "I'm not holding back", Kiba warned before he noticed that Kankuro was weirdly nervous.

Battle started, Puppets were ready, Kiba and Akamaru attacked, attacked and attacked, but Kankuro just kept deflecting, deflecting and deflecting.

"Told you, you were a scaredy cat", Kiba teased as he kept attacking

"It's not that I'm scared! I don't want to hurt you of all people", Kankuro admitted.

Kiba stopped in his tracks, falling onto the older nin and failing what would've been a perfect bullseye.

"That's very sweet but now is not the time to make me want to kiss you", said the Konoha ninja

"I disagree", Kankuro teased him, teased him just enough to actually get his first kiss, two female voices could clearly be heard in the audience screaming, "I CALLED IT!", Temari and Hana Inuzuka doing their jobs as older sisters and embarrassing them properly.

Their little magic moment was interrupted by the Hokage personally disqualifying them, "Disqualified!? On what grounds!?", Kankuro complained

"Romantic relationships are not allowed to interfere with the exam, that kiss was not tied to any jutsu which means, chop. Chop. Both of you", Tsunade ordered them, to which the two boys had to comply.

"Well, that was embarrassing", Kiba said

"You were the one who kissed me and now you complain?", Kankuro was confused and was then playfully hit on his arm, "I meant getting disqualified! I enjoyed the kiss a lot, actually"

Kankuro laughed and wrapped his arms around the shorter boy's waist, "Enough to give me another one", he propositioned. Kiba saw a chance to be a gremlin and he took it, "No", he said and pulled away, "You'll have to earn it on our date", he left Kankuro speechless and walked away, "See you at the exit in five minutes", he announced.

Kankuro could only make out a few mumbles, "I- you- we-", he started walking in the same direction the boy and his dog went, "Kiba!"

Their first date wasn't really fairytale worthy, it had rained the night before but Kiba insisted on going on a walk in the park, "You have my lipstick on your lips", Kankuro tried wiping it off but Kiba stopped him.

"There's no need to wipe it off now if you're going to kiss me later anyway", said Kiba, blushing, which brought Kankuro's eyes to look at the other boy's own makeup.

"What do your family's markings mean? I've seen people from your family in Suna paint them on their faces too", he asked

"They're fangs, our clan's symbol, the old one included a dog nose too. They symbolize the bomd our family has with canine animals, especially dogs. Our Kekkei Genkai is subtle, it gives us similar senses to dogs and lets us understand and speak all canine languages. In short, our symbol is a way to honor our dogs", Kiba explained

"I would love to understand dogs, does Akamaru like me?", Kankuro's question made Akamaru bark happily, "He's liked you ever since you saved us", the other boy revealed

"Anytime, as long as I have an excuse to see you as much as possible", Kankuro slid an arm around Kiba's waist

"I'd rather not be in mortal danger aga-  WOAH!", Kiba slipped on some fresh mud, dragging Kankuro down with him, rolling down a hill and Akamaru followed suit just out of FOMO.

"Well, I definitely can't kiss you now", Kankuro complained now that both their faces had been contaminated by mud, Kiba threw himself at him, "You down to fight now?", Kiba asked as tgey started mud wrestling against each other with Akamaru jumping about trying to get them both to lose.

(I've never watched the English dub of Naruto, not available in my country, and we don't really get a lot of the other Inuzukas in non-filler so I'm pretty much making out their personalities based off of vibes)

They ended up writing to each other every week, by the time Naruto came back, Kiba became a Chuunin and Kankuro even made Jonin.

When Kiba was hand selected for the Jonin exams by Tsunade, his boyfriend decided to surprise him and come visit him, he made himself look extra pit together to meet Kiba's family, tho he failed to bribe the Inuzuka's in Suna for info on what the clan head liked but it was too late to turn back, he had a bouquet of snapdragons and roses in his hands for Kiba and a present for his family in his bag, he took a deep breath, entered Inuzuka clan territory, marched over to Kiba's house and rang the doorbell and triggered a plethora of dogs to bark at said door.

The door was opened by Tsume Inuzuka, Kiba's mother and the Inuzukas clan head.

"Listen kid, I'm flattered, I know I'm insanely hot but you're way too young for me", she said after seeing the bouquet in Kankuro's hands.

Kankuro took a second to register what the woman was insinuating, "Oh no, these aren't for for you, they're for Kiba, my name's Kankuro, we're sorta boyfriends"

Tsume went from flattered to intrigued, "Oh I recognize you now, you're the boy he got disqualified like, three years ago"

Kankuro blushed at the reminder, "Yeah, I didn't really mind that", he chuckled nervously

"I figured, we have to pay double the hawk services cause he sends you letters every week, how did you get that illiterate fuck to write", Tsume was clearly joking

"He's just...I don't know, he makes my heart beat fast and I want to be with him all the time, and I sorta hope he feels the same way", he avoided eye contact as he vomited word after word.

"Well, I guess if you ignore his dyslexia, he's a pretty good kid", Tsume chuckled and poured some lemonade for the both of them

"You know, I think it's cool you call him his preferred pronouns, my father hated me even more when I told him I was boy", he said.

The woman immediately got serious, her eye twitching, "Don't take this personally kid, your father sounds like a dick"

"Don't worry, me and my siblings cheered at his funeral, no one liked him, he may have been the Kazekage but power got to his head and he went psycho till he was killed by a man who replaced him for a couple months", Kankuro agreed

"Honestly, if you're not gonna love your children no matter what, why have them!? I swear I hate people like that", Tsume complained and took a sip of her lemonade

Kankuro suddenly remembered the present he brought with him, "I almost forgot", he rummaged through his bag and pulled out a box being held closed by a golden ribbon, "it's something small I made, a decoration for your house"

Tsume opened the box to find a small, wooden Akamaru replica, tho a little more geometrical, "Oh, how sweet", she said

"You see, my specialty is puppets so I tried to make this a puppet for non-puppeteers, if you just...", Kankuro touched the wooden dog with a little bit of chakra on his fingers, the puppet barked a few times and threw it's paws in the air before returning to it's original position.

Tsume decided to put it next to a family photo over the fireplace, "Who's that woman in the picture?", he asked noticing said picture. Tsume grabbed it and her expression turned to a relaxed smile, "That, is Shizuka, the love of my life, she lost her life on a mission when Kiba was in still young, he barely remembers her", Tsume's mood changed from cheerful to something that wasn't sadness but also wasn't quite happy, "She would have loved you, she was a kissass just like you", the comment caught Kankuro off guard before he could defend himself, Tsume continued, "I think its sweet you want to make a good impression on me, it means you're serious about my son", she put the picture back and turned to Kankuro again, "I do still want to know what your intentions with my son are tho", she concluded.

Kankuro blushed and sipped his lemonade.

"I don't know, most of our dating has been long distance, I just wish that one day I could live with him, give him a kiss before a mission, fall asleep looking at him, maybe- and this is way further down the line- get married and have a kid but we have plenty of time for that", Kankuro responded, his heart beating faster than ever as he admitted more and more. Tsume smiled and just said, "Shizuka would have really loved you"

Kankuro got to meet Kiba's sister, Hana, and got to play with Kuromaru and the other dogs until Kiba came back home, and directly ran into his room with Akamaru close behind him, slamming his door closed. "Based on that, I'm assuming he didn't make Jonin", said Hana while cooking dinner. Tsume signaled for Kankuro to follow her with the flowers, knocked on her son's door and didn't wait for permission to open it, Kiba had his arms around Akamaru and the lights turned off, "Sweetie? Do you want to talk about it?", she asked, she only got a muffled groan as a response that clearly meant "no".

"Well I'll leave you two alone, no funny business, kapish?", as Tsume finished talking, Kiba looked up confused, that's when he finally saw Kankuro standing at the foot of his bed, "Surprise!", he said, awkwardly closing the door behind him.

"What are you doing here?", Kiba asked, wiping tears away

"I wanted to be with you after your first Jonin exams, do you wanna tell me what happened? I promise I won't tell your family", Kankuro sat down next to him

"You won't have to, they're totally eavesdropping on us", as soon as Kiba's words left his mouth, Tsume's voice came from the closed door, "No we're not!"

Kankuro kissed Kiba's forehead and layed down next to him, a towel lied over the pillow so that their makeup wouldn't smear on it, "You don't need to tell me anything, I just want to be by your side when bad things happen to you"

Kiba kissed Kankuro on the lips, "Don't worry, I don't mind telling you", Kiba paused, "It just sucks being handpicked by the Hokage and then being eliminated first, it was humiliating, I was down in 1 hit and unconscious for most of the day"

"Mistakes happen, you just weren't ready yet, just keep training and you'll be a Jonin in no time", Kankuro hugged the younger nin, and he cuddled up to Kankuro's chest with Akamaru licking him to try and cheer him up, "Let's go take off our makeup for the evening, kay?", Kankuro suggested

"Yeah, let's do that", Kiba stood up from his bed and guided Kankuro to the bathroom, past his mother and sister that were clearly pretending they hadn't heard them, just before Kankuro wiped off his makeup, Kiba noticed a little detail, "Did you draw my clan's signature fangs on your face to impress my family?", he asked

"No I didn't", he lied

From the kitchen, Tsume called, "He totally did!"

Kiba laughed and Kankuro rolled his eyes then turned back to Kiba, "Just wipe my lipstick off your face, pretty boy"

The next day, Kiba woke up Kankuro by covering his face in kisses.

"I love how this day is starting", the older one said right before he kissed his boyfriend on the lips.

Kiba stood up and put the flowers Kankuro had brought him into a vase, "How did you know I would like these flowers?", he asked

Kankuro stood up himself and hugged him from behind, "Because they're not toxic to dogs and look pretty", Kankuro revealed

"My mom used to bring these flowers in the exact same colors to my mama every Friday, now she brings them to her grave but", Kiba paused, "she changed the roses to white"

Kankuro said nothing, he just hugged Kiba tighter.

"She thinks I don't remember her, and honestly I'm starting to forget her voice...and I really don't want to", tears started streaming down Kiba's face. Kankuro kissed him on the cheek, "I don't remember ever hearing my mother's voice, I was two when she died, but I like to think that if she was alive, she would have taken me and my siblings and ran away. I think about her a lot and I think both our mothers are looking down on us right now and telling us to look forward instead of crying over things we can't change anymore"

Kiba wiped away his tears, smiled and took a good sniff at the flowers, "Yeah, mama would say that"

They couldn't have known that eight months from then, the biggest war known to ninjas would take place for two straight days, Kankuro and Kiba were in cocoons for a while, trapped in an Infinite Tsukuyomi, when they woke up and saw the war was over, they sat down next to each other on a hill as they saw people who were long gone, being brought back to life, "Do you think our moms are there?", Kiba asked, tears of joy in his eyes this time, ruining his makeup

"I don't know, but my entire body aches too much to stand up", Kankuro responded

"Me too, these two days have been so scary", the younger nin pit his head over the other's shoulder

"You know, when I was in that dream state, I was married to you, we had a child, three dogs and none of this ever happened, our mom's are alive and my dad's not an asshole and we have a happily ever after together", Kankuro paused, "You're gonna be 18 in a few months, right?", he asked Kiba

"Yeah, why?", he answered

"I want you to move in with me, with Akamaru of course, so we can start our happily ever after together", Kankuro asked

"I think that would be wonderful", he confessed

"What did you dream about", the older one asked

"Basically the same but everyone was a dog", Kiba admitted and Kankuro chuckled, "That sounds like something you'd dream about"

For Context: Timeskip to April, you can also find this part of the story in my other fanfic, "Pink In The Night", titled, "♡Intermission #4:♡"

................♡................

"The hidden sand? Why would you want to move there?", Naruto asked as he, Hinata and Shino helped him pack

"I'll have you know I'm moving in with my boyfriend in August", Kiba informed the blonde

"You are aware that it's April, right?", Shino pointed out

"I know that it's April, I just want to be prepared, it takes a long time to pack everything and bring it there and unpack everything again and-"

"You want to look good in front of his siblings, don't you?", Hinata interrupted him

"Well that's part of it...okay, a huge part. But both of them are absolutely TERRIFYING and if that wasn't enough, one of them's the fucking Kazekage! I'm basically moving in with royalty and I can't risk looking bad in front of anyone anymore!", Kiba was panicking just a tiny bit, Naruto put a hand on his shoulder and so did Hinata and Shino too.

Naruto spoke up, "Gaara's a great guy and so is Kankuro, you don't have to pretend to be someone else to impress them! And Temari...I actually know nothing about her"

Hinata jumped in, "Temari's protective, that's for sure but once she sees how much you and Kankuro love each other, she'll warm up to you"

Kiba blushed and looked away, "We haven't really said the "L" word yet", he admitted

"She also loves dogs and always wanted one, so I don't think she'll mind having an Inuzuka around", said Shino, whose statement made the others' heads turn, "Why would you know that?", Kiba blurted out.

Shino's response? "We've been penpals since our first Chuunin exams"

................♡................

Time passed by quite quickly, in the second week of July, Kiba and Akamaru waited at the gates of Konoha, waiting for two others to join them in Sunagakure.

"Kiba! Ready to go?", the voice of Tenten called as they walked up to the gate, Lee right behind her.

Akamaru barked, happy to see them, and walked up to them, "Akamaru's ready to go, I'm still a little bit anxious", Kiba confessed

"Is Sai not here yet?", Lee asked as pet Akamaru

"No, he's running late", Kiba said

"Why are you so nervous anyway?", the older man asked

"I just want to make a good impression on Gaara and Temari, we never really interacted properly before and now  Gaara's going to be my boss and all three siblings live next to each other I will definitely have to talk to them daily from now on the daily", Kiba confessed.

Right in that moment, Sai showed up with his typical drawing scrolls in hand with a picture of a bird each already prepared and a huge h*ckey on his neck which the older one's decided to ignore tho Kiba didn't miss a beat to say, "Bug bites are awfully bad this time of year", referring to the h*ckey most likely having been planted by Shino.

"Sure are", Sai agreed, completely missing the innuendo.

Sai summoned his ink animals and let his friends fly away on them, leaving them a few scrolls in case of emergencies during the flight.

Meanwhile in Suna, Kankuro and Temari were doing paperwork when their brother came in the room, "I got the headbands, did you get the transfer forms from Kakashi?", Gaara asked

"We did, it's there with the rest of the boring paperwork", said Temari, pointing at the pile of paper next to her.

"I'm bored out of my mind, Gaara! Please tell me you're not bringing us more stuff to read", Temari complained

"Don't worry, we're done for the day, just waiting for our partners", the redhead informed them

"Is my makeup okay? I haven't seen a mirror in six hours", Kankuro asked his siblings

"Eerily symmetrical as always", his sister reassured him

"Are you guys nervous at all?" Kankuro asked

"Not really", replied Gaara

"I am, I spent tge whole day cleaning yesterday and you guys know how much I despise it", Temari said right before an ANBU member appeared in front of them, "Lord Kazekage, the three ninjas transferring from the hidden leaf are aboit to approach the gates of the village", they said before Gaara dismissed him and the siblings headed to the village gates.

The three of them waited until the ink birds landed on the sand and melted away, Kankuro immediately went to hug his boyfriend and twirl him in the air before giving him a kiss on the lips.

"Hey beautiful, haven't seen you in a while", Kankuro said before putting Kiba back down

"It's nice to see you again too", Kiba said. Kankuro got down to Akamaru's level and messed up his fur, "How's my favorite puppy?", he asked as if he could understand the dog's barks.

"It's so hot around here", Kiba complained

"Yeah, your fake leather isn't gonna help and this good boy", he pet Akamaru's head, "is going to need a haircut"

Kiba took off his jacket and wiped some sweat from his forehead, which reminded Kankuro, "You're going to be an official Suna nin tomorrow, you'll get a new headband", he reminded the younger one

"Oh yeah, guess it will be weird not wearing this one anymore", Kiba said as he took off his leaf headband.

"I can take Akamaru to your family's grooming salon later today, I actually already made an appointment", Kankuro was extremely excited

"That's really nice of you, a mountain dog in the desert will need a lot of hydration too", Kiba  pointed out

"Oh, a lot of houses have water pools here, in fact I think it's all of them, you know for hot days when you want a refreshing...like all of them here", Kankuro chuckled nervously

"Kankuro, you just invited a dog boy and his dog to a house with built in pools, I feel sorry for you", the younger wasn't joking

"I'll manage, I wouldn't have invited you to live with me if I wasn't completely crazy about you. And I've always wanted a dog, he's a little bit of a big puppy but I don't mind", Kankuro confessed openly

"Can we go? I can't wait to see your house", Kiba asked

"Not my house, our home", Kankuro corrected him, grabbed his hand and guided him through the streets of  Sunagakure.

They went through the market in the city center, behind the Kazekage's tower, to a beautiful big house with two stories.

Here it goes, Kiba. The moment you've been waiting for, for months.

................♡................

♡Author's Note:♡

I'm so excited to start writing chapter 2, I hope I can make this fanfic as beautiful as it is in my head.

Come yap with me on socials!

Thank you for reading,

XOXO Sasha<3

[v01dm1stak3]

"I Could Treat you better anyways."

Summary: Nobody really liked your boyfriend, he was always controlling and possessive. Slowly isolating you from everyone. Temari came to visit and when he slapped you Infront of everyone, Temari had finally had enough.

Word count: 1.5K Warnings: Getting slapped??? Cussing.... Bout it. A/N: I Suck ass at writing, Started this blog to get better.

Everyone knew that Temari had eyes for you, and only you. Yet, they also knew that you had a boyfriend, who you loved dearly. That love for him made you blind of the way he stared at other women. Made you to blind to see that he was slowly pulling you away from your friends with his overprotective demeanor. People tried to tell you, but you always dismissed it with a simple “He just wants what's best for me.” You really were blinded by love. 

You walked down the streets of konoha, a basket in hand. The streets weren't busy, but they weren't dead either. It was nice. You waved towards the people in shops you recognized and the people on the road you have met before. You gripped your basket, looking at the stuff you have bought. Checking off everything, making sure you didn't forget something. 

As you were checking off your mental checklist, you heard a voice right by your ear. “What are you doing?” You jolted, turning around to give a face to the voice. It was Ino, someone you considered a close friend. “Jeez Ino, you scared me.” You sighed, scratching the back of your neck. “Pffft, And you call yourself a shinobi?” She smirked, flipping her hair over her shoulder before resting her hand on her hip.  The streets seemed to get busier, people passing by lost in their own conversation. 

You smiled, adjusting the headband that rested on your neck. “Yeah…. I've been losing my touch haven't I. My boyfriend has been wanting me to stay home more. He wants me to be safe.” You thought he was sweet, Ino clearly wasn't all too happy with it. A clear scowl planted on her face. She began to speak, quickly cutting herself off. Just before saying something else. “I'm not going to even bother. Listen.. I.. umm… Temari is visiting the village. We were all going to meet at the Ramen shop Naruto likes so much. Ichmaku… Ichymaru??? I don't remember the name.” She sighed, looking away and watching the people go around and into shops. “ Just don't bring that boyfriend of yours. It's just going to be us fellow shinobi.. You know?” She fiddled with her hands. She didn't want to make you upset being your friend and all. But she didn't like your boyfriend. Nobody did.

“Huhhhh? Yeah, that's fine! I'll be there!” You affirmed, a happy tone in your voice and a smile planted on your face.  Ino turned her head back around, a smile planted on her face. “ That's great I'll see you then! “ She blurted. Before you could speak, she had disappeared when somebody walked between you two. You were excited, you hadn't seen tamari in forever. 

The night came quicker than expected. When you had gotten home, your boyfriend wasn't even there. He left to who knows where. Just in case he came back while you were gone, you left a note saying where you were at. Just so he knew you were safe. You wore your usual outfit, the usual shinobi uniform. You looked great in it, and didn't really have anything else nice to wear. 

As you stepped out the door the cool wind blew, the stars sparkled overhead and the crickets sang. It was a lovely night. You made your way towards the Ramen shop, your footsteps not making a sound as you went. The streets were empty, compared to when you were out earlier. Everyone was asleep. Besides the very loud shouting as the Ramen shop came into view. You quicken your pace unknowingly as you rushed to get over there. It had been awhile since you were out. And it had been awhile since Temari had been here. 

You moved the piece of fabric as you stepped into the little area. Everyone was sitting down already. Ino, Choji, Shikamaru, and… “Temari! It's been awhile” You beamed, Rushing to give her a hug from behind. “Ack- Hey!! It has been, huh ..” She mumbled, patting your arms signaling to let go despite how much she enjoyed it. “Hey! We are here as well, you know!” Ino shouted from behind. You chuckled before running up to her and giving her a hug. 

As you greeted your old team, Temari's eyes never left you. Even as the night carried on. When you were in a conversation or when she was in one herself. She always had her eyes on you or her hand holding yours. Friends could hold hands, couldn't they? Time flew by and hours passed. You didn't realize how late it had gotten! As you were about to pay your bill, you heard someone shout your name. You didn't have to think hard to figure out who's voice it was. You quickly paid the bill and rushed out, a smile planted on your face. “Hey Love! Me and my friends were just finishing up. I-” You were cut off by a hand smacking your face. Your boyfriend's hand, smacking your face. Your eyes widened as you brought your hand to your cheek. You slowly moved your eyes to look at him. He was pissed. 

“WHAT THE FUCK IS YOUR ISSUE?” Someone screamed from behind you, you didn't bother to look to see. You were too busy trying to figure out what you did. What made him so angry. You studied his face for some kind of answer. He shouted at the person behind you. Multiple voices joined in and shouted at him. Your ears began to ring, the shouting becoming background noise as tears slowly streamed down your face.

You weren't in your thoughts for too long. As someone grabbed your hand and pulled you towards them, away from your boyfriend. You were snapped back to reality as Temari was getting louder at the man. Starting to step closer to him. “ARE YOU FUCKING JOKING?? SHE WASN'T HOME SO YOU CAME AND FOUND HER AND FUCKING SLAPPED HER?? ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND???” Temari was fuming. “I DONT FUCKING LIKE YOU GUYS. SHE SHOULDN'T BE WITH YOU GUYS AT ALL.” Your boyfriend scowled, matching Temari's tone.  “THE FUCK DID WE DO TO YOU?!” Ino shouted, clearly pissed.

The argument continued for a bit longer. Your boyfriend giving half-assed responses and just yelling. Sooner or later when Temari threatened to get physical he finally walked off, shooting you a glare. The moment he walked off Temari turned towards you, making sure you were alright. You were staring at your shoes, eyes still wide and your cheeks stained with tears. Temari wiped your tears with her thumb and brought you into her embrace. “You guys can go home, I'll deal with her, Alright?” Temari mumbled towards the other 3, Playing with a strand of your hair. Shikamaru nodded and Choji did as well. Both still worried, but they walked off. Ino Nodded as well giving you a pat on the head and saying everything was going to be alright before walking away as well.

You and Temari stood there for a few minutes, the warmth of her embrace keeping you grounded. It was silent besides when the wind blew, it was comforting. But of course, one day someone had to break the silence. “Break up with your boyfriend.” Temari said sternly. “What?” You whispered back, not believing what she said. “Break up with your boyfriend..” She repeated, pushing you out from her embrace and holding you by the shoulders in front of her. Your eyes lock as your eyes widen once more. “B-but it was probably just some misunderstanding! He probably didn’t mean it!” You stammer, moving your hands to try and communicate what you were saying. “A boyfriend doesn’t slap you over a misunderstanding. A boyfriend doesn’t keep you from your job for his selfishness.” She growled, taking her hands off your shoulder. “And a boyfriend, definitely, does not keep you from your friends, and slowly isolate you. “ She crossed her arms, figuring out what to say next. As she began to speak again, adding to her points, You cut her off. “He wasn’t doing that.. Was he?” You whisper, looking down at your feet. She hummed confusingly. “He wasn’t isolating me…” Your hands dig into your uniform as you struggle to meet Temari’s gaze. “He was, why do you think none of your friends like him? Why do you think you are barely leaving the house anymore?” You struggled to form your words, Temari was right. You didn’t want to believe it though, you loved him. Yes he had his… ways. Yet you still loved him. Despite all of it. “I Get it may be hard, but you have to trust me on this. Please?” Temari murmured before hugging you again. You slowly returned the hug, Nodding a yes. You didn’t want to leave him, but you trusted Temari..She sighed a sigh of relief, whispering in your ear something you would remember. “I Could treat you better anyways.”

[sickflowerbed]

One thing I hate about Naruto is that Kishimoto wasted so much potential for Sakura, Team Gai, Hyūga clan, Kurenai, Shino, and so many others.

For me, Sakura is the most wasted because she's one of the main characters, yet it didn't seem that way. Compare Sakura and the other mains. She is more like a side character who's a fan favorite like Shikamaru, expect a lot people hate her.

It makes sense to not like Sakura in the beginning. That's what character development is for. Sakura was supposed to go from boy-crazy to the strong independent heroine, and if you read the manga, it does feel that way but, in the end, she ends up with Sasuke now, that wouldn't be a problem if she didn't immediately forgive him, she was the one who told Naruto to stop seeking Sasuke because she could tell, that it was pointless and the damage is evident. Kishimoto himself said he regretted Sakura's character, he failed, and said that even if he expanded on her it wouldn't raise her popularity. It was too late the damage was done. Kishimoto knew Sakura wasn't popular yet he chose moments for Sakura that needed understanding of her badly written character.

All of the teams, team Gai had so much potential, Gai & Lee being the best Taijutsu users, Neji being the genius of the Hyūga clan, and Tenten even though we don't see her a lot, in the manga, we don't see the fight between her and Temari, but we see a few scratches on Temari. Of course, we didn't see the official fight, and Tenten still got folded, but it's the thought that counts. It's a shame we never got to see her get better. She could have used her chakra and infused it with her weapons like Asuma does. We never got to see them fight after the Kazekage Ark, and we never saw them fight as a team, a beautiful dysfunctional team.

The Hyūga clan at the start was shown as the strongest clan, and we learned a lot about the clan during the chūnin exams. With the Hyūga clan, I see the loss of potential with using them. Personally, I'm fine with Hyūga clan being put in the sidelines for the Uchiha clan to shine. But we only had two main characters from Hyūga clan, Hinata, and Neji. Compared to the Uchiha clan, we don't see any other characters aside from fillers. I just wished we got to learn more about the Hyūga clan and their connection to the Ōtsutsuki clan, which we only saw during the last movie.

I always feel bad for Kurenai because she was done dirty. We were told she was one of the greatest genjutsu users, and the only time we see her fight is against the greatest genjutsu user, Itachi Uchiha. Of course, she was gonna lose against him, and that's the one time we see her fight apart from fillers. Then she ends up pregnant and boom she's nothing but a mother, which is fine. Most of the mothers in anime are dead, but we are told that Kurenai is a genjutsu specialist and we never got a chance to see that canonically.

Shino has shown potential in the fights we have seen him in, but we never went into depth into Shino how he uses his bugs and gets better at using them. Apparently, the Aburame clan can identify and counter genjutsu because their kikaichū don't have the brain structures for it. I mean it's a shame we didn't see especially since the show later was centered around the Uchiha clan.

Overall, the reason many characters got left out of the series or ignored was that Kishimoto focused everything on Naruto, Sasuke, and popular characters due to the fans.

[obitos-whore]

I'm so stinkin' happy about the Temari one. My wifey's gonna come home to me. <33

And just look at how adorable Kid!Obito, Rin and Shisui are!! And don't get me started on the Kakashi vs Obito one. (Shisui is an Amazon Glow in the dark Exclusive btw.)

[ghoultyrant]

Anime Sakura vs Manga Sakura

I first got into Naruto the way a lot of English-language fans very clearly did: by virtue of the anime starting to run in my region. More specifically, I got into it partway through the first Toonami airing of the Wave Country Arc -which, for those who don't know (or don't remember), lead to the anime looping back to the beginning as soon as that arc concluded while localization worked on getting the following episodes localized.

I was sufficiently hooked that this wasn't really enough for me, particularly once the anime got back to the episodes I'd already seen, so I checked out fanfic, became aware the series' original form was a manga, and started reading that. This confluence of events resulted in me becoming aware of something I suspect a lot of fans never notice:

That the anime actually changes a lot of early scenes.

Some of this is actually quite appreciated. For example, in the manga Naruto's classmates don't exist in the first chapter: Sakura and Sasuke don't exist until it's time for team assignments in the second chapter, and the rest of Naruto's classmates don't exist until they show up in the Chunin Exams -this is why Naruto breaks the fourth wall and gives an intro for each of them when they show up there, even in the anime where we actually saw them all in the very first episode. The anime adding them in to the beginning is nice!

By a similar token, the manga actually skips the fight between Tenten and Temari, so jarringly I actually had to double-check and make sure I wasn't missing a chapter somehow; the anime giving us the actual fight in detail is also appreciated!

Other changes are sort of random-feeling if you're not familiar with the tendency for anime adaptations to overtake the manga they're rendering in animated form, but understandable if you are familiar with this point: for example, there's an entire episode dedicated to Naruto having a Wacky Adventure in trying to get to the Chunin Exams' final stage on time, involving silliness like running from an entire stampede, which... has no relevancy to the larger plot because it's an anime-only filler episode to stall for time, not based on anything from the manga.

And then there's how Sakura gets changed.

This is kind of weird to describe, because the anime doesn't cut anything or completely rewrite any scenes: it only ever adds bits. The problem is, the bits that are added are... problematic. Consistently, up until about her Chunin Exam fight scenes. But since it is only addition, I'm going to start from just describing Manga Sakura, then explain the changes.

In the manga, Sakura starts essentially exactly as she does in the anime; she doesn't like Naruto, she's pursuing Sasuke... the only 'difference' is that of course Ino doesn't exist until the Chunin Exams and so the whole Ino/Sakura rivalry thing doesn't come up.

However, in short order Sakura starts changing her mind about Naruto; she attempts to confess to Sasuke, it doesn't work out, and she finds the rejection a fairly unpleasant experience and then connects this pretty immediately to her own rather harsh rejections of Naruto's requests for dates and resolves to not be such a jerk to him in future.

And she does in fact stick to that for... at least everything I read. (I've yet to get fully through the Shinobi World War Arc, so I suppose it's possible she goes back on her word somewhere past there)

This is how Manga Sakura goes overall; she starts as a bit of a shallow, thoughtlessly cruel person who isn't really taking this whole 'life and death battles as a ninja' thing adequately seriously, but tends to be quick to engage in introspection, resolve to change such behaviors, and then stick out this resolution; the Sakura we see in the Chunin Exams is something of a culmination of how Sakura has been progressing this whole time.

Anime Sakura still has these moments, but... they get undercut. The date thing is the bit I still vividly remember: Anime Sakura makes her resolution to not be so cruel to Naruto-

-and Naruto immediately shows up, asks for a date, and Sakura punches him out and goes 'never mind' about her resolution.

There's a lot of moments like this with Anime Sakura: 15-45 seconds of content added to otherwise-faithful-to-the-manga scenes where said added content is 'comedy' moments that horribly undercut Sakura's character development. Taken seriously, they make her into an incredibly unpleasant person who intentionally rejects opportunities to become less unpleasant; it's little wonder that so many of the fanfics I saw in the early days really did not like Sakura.

Once the Chunin Exam starts these added bits of unpleasantness stop occurring, but after so long seeing Anime Sakura do things like make resolutions and immediately break them, I imagine lots of viewers found Sakura's Big Resolutions and Major Character Development difficult to take as intended; if I'd not read the manga, I know I would've been expecting these moments to not really stick.

The whole thing is particularly frustrating for how easy it is to overlook; if I'd not been experiencing the manga and anime near-simultaneously, I never would have realized these quick bits of character assassination were anime-only additions. And if you go look at a wiki or the like, you're not going to trivially learn this info, unlike how basically everyone knows that the Anime Filler Arcs are, in fact, the Anime Filler Arcs.

So I've long suspected lots of people are unaware that Sakura comes across very differently in the early anime vs the early manga.

[bright-hope-spot-19]

I wanted to preface this by stating: I've never watched Boruto and never intend to watch it. I neither have the time nor the motivation to watch it, and I'm honestly not even interested cause I've heard it's ass.

With all that said and out of the way tho, there's this one thought that's been gnawing at the bars of my mind, and that I don't think I've ever seen anyone mention? And that's how the new Ino-Shika-Cho gen would all be fans of Kankuro, in one way or another. Yeah, I'm referring to Shikadai and his two teammates: Inojin and Cho-Cho.

The reason is that Kankuro was put in a leadership position in a squadron, composed mainly of him, Sai, Omoi, and other randos in the war arc. It was his leadership and wisdom that allowed Sai to reunite with his revived brother Shin, who was being manipulated by Sasori like a puppet, as well as put Omoi's fears to sleep and give him enough courage to keep fighting. With all that, you can't tell me Sai and Omoi don't respect the heck outta Kankuro. Like, I'm sure they started admiring him and likely even became friends after the war.

And that's how that admiration would be passed down to the kids. Sai is Inojin's dad, and Omoi is kinda Cho-Cho's uncle figure. Him and Karui aren't real siblings, but you get my drift. I imagine that once the kids were old enough to hear stories about the great 4th Shinobi war, Sai and Omoi would take their sweet, sweet time praising Kankuro and talking bout what a great leader he was, and how they respect and admire him a lot for his bravery and courage. Shikadai, of course, is already Kuro's nephew, so he already respects him enough as is. Like yeah, Tem would tell her son stories about her childhood with her brothers (maybe skipping entirely over Gaara's Shukaku phase for when Dai is even older, to be able to fully understand the turmoil his uncles and mom went through) and focusing mainly on their silly, funny moments together. But ultimately, she'd instill in him how great Kankuro is and teach him to respect his uncle (s) above everything. There's a reason that I think it was ch.700? When the Boruto kids were first introduced and we had some panels of Gaara visiting Temari and Shikadai's first line of dialogue upon showing up and seeing his uncle Gaara sitting there, was to ask about Kanks whereabouts. You know that kid loves his puppet master uncle.

So, once Sai and Omoi also tell Jin and Cho about the war, it'd be more like them realizing how cool Shikadai's other uncle is. I imagine they'd be like, 'everyone knows the Kazekage is cool af, but nobody told us his bodyguard was this cool too. Geez, Shikadai, everyone in your family is a mother fucking badass.' So, it'd be funny to imagine a scene where Ga and Kank go to the Leaf visit Temari or whatever, and the Ino-Shika-Cho kids appear, rudely pushing the Kazekage outta the way, cause they wanna see Kankuro. Like, I see content of them respecting Temari cause, like, she's canonically like an aunt figure to Jin and Cho-Cho, and she trains them and Dai sometimes. Everyone respects Gaara, too, so I think it's just fair that Kankuro also gets his own fanclub of kids from the new gen who look up to him. 

[13as07]

Desert Lily #1

(Kankuro Sabaku)

[Art work is not mine! Credit to unknown]

Requested by: Myself

[Idea (somewhat) inspired by the imagine above]

Keys:

Y/N: Your Name

Word Count: 4,123

Warnings and/or Pre-Notes:

Definitely going to do a part #2 and #3 cause I like this story line

——————————————————————

     I hum softly to myself as I walk through the empty hallways of the Hokage mansion. I'm not a fan of the place. The muniment gives me the creeps; as do its residents.

Well, just Lord Fifth. The way he slithers around the huge place, appearing where he pleases when he pleases. Given it is rightfully his home and always has been. Nepo-baby at its finest. Though I shouldn't be so harsh. Temari and Kankuro hold high standings in the village because of their father right alongside our Hokage.

I should take it as an honor that our Lord welcomes me into his home, even if it doesn't seem he does it willingly.

As if Kankuro's emotionally underdeveloped brother could hear my thoughts, a door swings open with the Sand's Kage walking out of it. He's wrapped up in his official robes, the Kage hat coating his face heavily from the oversizing. A big hat for a big-headed Hokage. I smile a bit at that. I’m really mean, perhaps I should be nice to my village's leader. Or at the very least, be nice to the little brother of the man courting me.

"Lord Fifth," I mumble, bowing my head down. If my thoughts can't be nice, my body language can be.

"Do not bow to me," he huffs, my eyes catching a glimpse of the end of his robes as he walks toward me.

"I didn't know you didn't appreciate respect," I mumble, snapping my head back up. I shouldn't have said that. My big mouth always getting in the way.

Gaara tilts his head some, a sliver of confusion in his eyes as he looks at me. "I appreciate the respect given to me by all my civilians," he answers, tipping his hat back. It doesn't stay though, slipping right back down to coat his eyes.

What a humorous little guy. I know very little about Kankura's childhood and even less about the childhood of his siblings. From the offhand comments and whispers around the village, it was not very pleasant, much less the luxurious one you'd expect for the princes and princess of our village. Even if only a fraction of the rumors are true, it would explain a lot.

     "Is that so?" I ask, a bit of a smile pulling at the corners of my mouth.

     "Yes," he answers shortly, turning on his heels and walking away. "Walk with me?" Gaara asks though it's more of a statement than a question. I obey, making quick steps so I can fall in pace with him. "What are your thoughts on sapphires?"

     "Sapphires?" I ask, glancing at the young leader of our village. He's looking back at me, the paleness of his eyes catching me off guard a bit. I snap my eyes away, focusing on the hallway ahead of us.

     "Yes," he answers shortly, eyes still burning into me.

     "They're nice... I think."

     "You think?" Gaara asks, stopping his movements.

     I stop too, turning my attention back to the scary kid standing next to me. Our Lord is the same age as me, but despite that, he still has quite the baby face. "I've never seen one so I don't know."

     He rolls my words over for a while, still looking at me as he does so. Our Lord's eyes are pretty despite their pale coloring of them. They remind me of Kankuro's, though Ro's are brighter than his brother's.

     "Well," he starts, head tilted in confusion again. "A lady of your standing should know what a sapphire is."

     "My Lord, I do not have any standing in the village. I'm not even on the waitlist to be considered for any standing. Perhaps you are mixing up my bloodline," I answer in a bit of a ramble.

     Does my Lord not know who I am? I mean, I would understand since our village is quite large but his brother is courting me. Am I not the only woman Kankuro is courting? Maybe both of them were misled about my family. Is Kankuro going to stop courting me when this misunderstanding is cleared up?

     "Of course, you have standing in the village. Quite a high standing, might I add," Gaara says, starting up his paces again.

     I follow after him, face scrunched up with confusion. Did he not hear me? Maybe he just doesn't believe me. What has Ro told his brother about me? Is he ashamed of courting the daughter of a nightshade farmer?

     "My Lord-" I try again, but get cut off.

     "Gaara."

     My voice catches in my throat, causing a small squeak to come out instead. "Gaara," I say quietly before continuing my sentence. "I don't think you understand-"

     Once again, I get cut off. "I am aware of your bloodline. I am also aware of my bloodline. The same bloodline my brother shares. Even without my... egotistical brother, your family is quite useful to our village. After all, I don't know a single shinobi within the gates of the village that hasn't used nightshade after an injury."

     Oh. Maybe he's not confused. "I still don't fully follow, my Lord."

     "Gaara," he corrects again, causing the warmth of embarrassment to start crawling up my neck. "You shall eventually. I may not understand my brother but I am aware of his title, the title you'll inherit."

     "I don't-"

     "I must go. The meeting break will be ending soon. I shall see you soon I assume, Princess?" With that Gaara knocks on the door next to us before nodding at me. Before I can get another word in, he turns on his heels and starts walking back down the corridor.

     My head is spinning as I look after him. What title am I going to inherit from Kankuro? How would I even inherit anything from him? Why was the Lord asking me about sapphires? Why would he want to walk with me? Why did he call me Princess? There's no way he meant it as a pet name, he doesn't even know what sarcasm is! Why would he want me to call him-

     "Y/N?" A voice calls, cutting off my thoughts. I'm getting annoyed with getting cut off. Do people have no respect?

     It takes a second but I do end up processing it as Ro's voice. "Ro," I call, turning in the direction of his voice. Even more confusion rolls around my head as I look at him. "You're... where's... goodbye," I stumble over my words for a second before closing the door, separating me from a makeup-less Kankuro.

     My suitor hasn't kept his features hidden from me. He's taken his hood and forehead protection off around me before, showing his brown locks and his face better. I've even played with his hair before, usually picking out sand specks after a mission or training exercise. I've held his face so many times that I have the layout memorized and almost permanent purple ink on my fingertips from his makeup.

     I've never seen Ro without his makeup though. He's very handsome with and without it on. I just wasn't prepared to see his bare face after the confusion dump his brother left me in.

     I feel like this is a big step in our relationship... right? I mean, he's never seen me without makeup either. If Kankuro saw me without makeup I'd consider it a big step. Does he expect to see my bare face now too? Is he upset I saw him without his face paint on? Is he going to be mad? Maybe I should apologize. Maybe I should just go home.

     A knock on the door cuts me out of my thoughts again. It causes more confusion to swirl around my head. The confusion is quickly racing towards upset territory. A second and third knock echo through the hallway, not helping the headache that has started to form from my overthinking. A fourth, fifth, and sixth knock comes before I decide to open the door again.

     "Hello my Desert Lily," Ro says, a smile on his still bare face. His head is titled in confusion, the same way Lord Fifth's was a few minutes ago. The confusion has reached his soft eyes, concern mixing with it. "Are you alright?"

"I'm... my..." I puff out my checks, trying to get words to form as I focus on Ro's face. I like him without his face paint. Don't get me wrong, he looks good in it, but his face is so handsome without it.

"My little Lily," he mumbles, hands reaching out to cup my face. The roughness of his skin brings me some comfort and helps me sort my thoughts a little easier. "What is on your mind?"

"You're not... you don't have your face paint on," I answer, sucking my cheek in so I can nibble on it.

My eyes end up settling on Ro's mouth, memories of our first kiss swirling around my head. It happened a couple of days ago. It was sweet but short. I didn't want it to be that short, and I wanted it to happen again but it didn't. The Lord ended up needing him for something, so I didn't get what I wanted.

"Do you not like it?" He asks, his words slow and careful as they fill the air. His tone is filled with worry, also evident from his scrunched-up face.

"I-"

"If you don't like it I'll go put some on. I don't mind," Kankuro rushes out, eyes blinking quickly as he scans my face.

"You just... look handsome," I answer, tilting my head in worry. "Ro? Do you... you know you don't have to change your appearance for me right?"

"Ya, of course, I know that," he rushes out, his breath a little huffy as he drops his hold on my face. "It would be, so lame if I... yes, I know that." I tuck his reaction away for later. I have the feeling if I push the subject it'll end up with us talking in circles. "So... um was the whole 'goodbye' thing just because of this?" He asks, circling his face a couple of times.

"No, your brother has me doing mental laps."

"Oh great, what did Gaara do now?" Ro asks, taking hold of my hand and gently tugging me into his room.

This is another first. I've never been in his room before. It's how I expected it to look. Tools and puppet parts are littered all over the room. There's less mess than there is in his workshop, but still very much a puppet-making space. His bed is one of those huge fancy beds with the currents you can pull around it. There's a small couch pushed across from a TV, the coffee table in front of it covered in different scrolls and paper. The wood-shaving-covered desk in the corner looks the same as the coffee table. Two single doors are stamped into one of the walls, but both are closed so I don't know what's passed them.

"My Lily?" Kankuro calls, pulling my attention from my surroundings to himself again.

"He just... said a lot of confusing things."

"Like what?" He asks, gently herding me towards his bed. I do as he wants, heading towards the bed before sitting on the edge of it, the footboard gently digging into my thighs.

     "He asked me about sapphires," I answer, scanning over the room again. My focus is mostly on the puppet parts. Kankuro's art always interests me; all the different colors and how the parts are put together.

     "He asked you about what?" Ro asks, voice chipped and sharp with anger as he asks his question.

     "About sapphires," I repeat carefully, tearing my eyes away from a half-made spider-looking puppet. Ro's chest is pumping fast, eyes wide but I'm not sure why. His voice seemed angry but his eyes seem fearful. "Why are you upset?"

     "I'm not upset. I'm fine. What... exactly did he ask?"

     "Just my thoughts on them," I answer, trying to keep my voice calm in light in hopes it'll run off on my suitor.

     "Okay, okay, okay," Kankuro mumbles to himself, pacing around the room. A piece of wood catches his eye, turning his panicked attention toward it. I watch as he toys with it, his eyes scanning the room for something. "What are your thoughts on them?" He asks, words broken up as he walks toward whatever he is searching for. It's a pencil.

     I watch as he sketches soft lines into the wood, my eyes locking in his fingers that flex and relax against his work. "Haven't seen one so I don't have any thoughts on them."

     Silence falls between us, giving me time to look over his half-worked art pieces again. When the board digging into my thighs becomes too much I decide to shove my shoes off and settle into the bed better.

     Once I'm comfortable lying on my back with my knees propped up, Ro peeps up again. "Is that all you two talked about?" His words are careful again, attention on me as he scans my face. His face is the shallow 'trying to stay cool' look he does when we run into shinobis around the village. I don't know how to take that.

     "No, we talked about some other things too."

     "Like what?" Kankuro's sentence falls out so quickly that it almost overlaps the end of my own. Is he mad I talked with his brother? Is that why he's trying so hard to keep her cool?

     "He seemed a little upset when I bowed," I murmur, doing my own scanning for a reaction. I've seen Ro mad before and it's pretty scary. Would he lose his temper with me? I'd be lying if I said the knowledge of what Kankuro can do didn't scare me. He is a puppeteer after all, which makes it pretty easy to control others, especially those that aren't trained as shunobis, like me.

     His face softens, concern breaking the mask he tried to hide behind. "What do you mean by upset?"

     "Lord Fifth was just a little snippy about me bowing to him. Well, I wouldn't say snippy. He was pretty relaxed about it and about me calling him Lord instead of Gaara."

     Kankuro's mask is back up for a second before a huge smile covers his face. "My brother asked you to call him by his name?" I nod my head, yes, sending him a small smile back. "That's... chill," he murmurs, turning his attention back to his wood chunk.

     My sand prince is a really happy person, but other than his normal 'happy-go-lucky' attitude he won't show his other emotions very much or for very long. I've accepted that if we do plan to start a relationship it'll take some time to build enough trust for Ro to be more open about himself and his feelings.

     Once again silence falls between us, but this time Kankuro moves closer to me. He sits down on the edge of the bed, his back to me as he focuses on his handy work. I take the time to admire the soft outline of his shoulder muscles. Puppeteering works out your arms a lot and it has done Ro some favors.

     Before I can stop myself I reach my hand out, letting my fingertips feather over his shoulder muscles. Ro tenses under my touch but slowly starts to relax as my hand dances over his clothing. "I want to talk to you about something," I whisper, sliding myself closer so both hands can rub on him.

     The pencil scratches that were filling the space stop, but nothing else ends up filling the space. "So, the main thing your brother and me talked about was social standings."

     "Gaara can be a little... unaware of what he says sometimes. Whatever he said probably just came out wrong."

     "I don't know about that. He seemed pretty set on what he said," I mumble as I sit up. I shift myself around again, sitting on my knees. I make sure to keep plenty of space between us, causing my arms to stay stretched out. I start massaging Ro's shoulders instead of my light touches. I can tell he needs it from all the knots tightened up under his skin.

     "What did he say?" Kankuro says, a soft groan following his words.

     My heart flips at the sound as thoughts of our kiss fill my head again. I can feel the heat crawling across my face as the thought of asking for another - deeper - kiss keeps repeating in my head.

     "Gaara said I have 'high social standing' and when I tried to correct him he kept insisting I did. He also mentioned something about title inheritance which I don't understand at all. Plus your brother called me 'Princess' and I'm pretty sure it has to do with all that cause I don't think your brother understands pet names," the words come out in a word dump, my attempt to shove the words out before my overthinking gets to me.

     Ro's head tips back to look at me, eyelashes flutter on overtime as he rapidly blinks at me. I stare back at him, my eyes blinking a lot slower than his. "My desert Lily," he says, his words warm as they collide with my ears. The warmth continues to fill me up, making me feel like actual lilies are blooming in my chest.

     "Ya?" I call back, my eyes settling on his lips again. I want another kiss. I let myself scoot closer, my hands dipping down to his chest as I move.

     "You are aware of my siblings and my titles, ya?" He asks, eyes drooping over my face slowly. Kankuro's hands slide up, tangling themselves with mine, the wooden project completely forgotten.

     I hum a yes, dipping my head down lower. The space between us is thin, so thin that only a sheet of paper could slip through. My mind races from our position. Should I kiss him? Should I wait for him to kiss me? Am I too close to him? Am I not close enough?

     "Uh... with... our father being the last Kage, my siblings and I still hold titles of... um, princess and prince, which passes down to our life partners and kids." Ro's words come out broken again, his head tilting to take up more of the small space between us. His lips are so close to mine that I can almost feel them against me.

     "Oh," I breathe out before fluttering my eyes closed. I need him to kiss me, I need him to do it now before my thoughts pull me back.

     The bedsheets ruffle as Kankuro shifts again, his lips feathery light against mine. "There are customs that come with that though. Approval from the family Kage, family jewelry being gifted, and a dumb long list of all the other customs."

     I can feel a desperate whine clawing up my throat from the teasing butterfly touches. "Kankuro," I whisper, a hum being sent back as an answer. I huff a little, coating his face in warm air.

     I can feel the smile curling on his lips, which only makes the stifled whine even harder to hold down. More shifting fills my ears before the feeling of Ro's fingertips ghost over my neck. Shivers are chased by sparks that rash from his small touches. "I can't read your mind. Tell me what you want, my beautiful flower."

     By the last syllable, my whine had won. The long soft mewl gets me what I want. Ro's hand slides around my neck, his palm barely against my neck, fingertips slightly denting my skin as he holds me still. His lips are finally pressed against my own, his mouth catching my noise before it's finished. Our lips dance against each other for a while, lungs screaming for air, and more sparks filling me up and sinking to my stomach.

     When Kankuro pulls away another whine spills out, getting me sparkling eyes and a soft chuckle from my suitor. My nails dig gently into his chest as I attempt to pull him back to my lips. Once again I'm given what I want, a string of soft short kisses.

     Sadly my kisses are cut off from a knock at the door. "I'm sorry," Ro mumbles, peppering a few more kisses to my lips before letting me go. I can feel the deep pout on my face as I watch him get up and walk over to the door.

     He smiles at me softly, eyes soft and so full of admiration as he looks at me. "Absolutely gorgeous," Kankuro murmurs before turning his attention away from me.

     I flap back on the bed, the tension slowly creeping out of me from the lack of Ro being wrapped up in my space. I watch as he opens the door, cracking it enough to fit himself in the open space but closed enough that I'm not seen. Is he ashamed of me being in his room? Or is he just worked up from our make-out session? Maybe it's part of the customs he was talking about? Is me being in his room against those customs?

     The voice on the other side of the door is hushed enough that I can't make out the words but loud enough that I recognize it as Temari. "I know," Kankuro whines, slumping against the door frame.

     Another hushed whispering before "No, she's not in here, that would be like so against the rules."

     This round of mumbles is harsher, Temari's anger making her voice raise a bit. "I know!" Ro whines again, a groan following his words. It's not the relaxed happy groan from earlier though, this one is a pissy groan. "Ya, ya, ya. Give me a couple of minutes," he answers again before slamming the door shut. The frame creeks against the tension before falling silent again.

     Once the door is shut Kankuro races back to the bed. His hand is instantly back in place, gently wrapped back around my neck, the other pinning my wrists down as he hovers over me. I can feel every inch of him pressed against me, securing my spot on the mattress.

     He wastes no time, lips back against mine. Ro is a lot rougher this time; hand tighter on my skin, lips doing all they can to bruise mine, body pinning me in place. Kankuro's hunger is evident from the way he devours me, only pulling back long enough to suck in a quick breath before going back to my mouth.

     "I'm sorry," he races out once he's gotten his fill. Ro's hands stay in place but are back to the light touches from before. He picks himself off of me a bit, giving me room to move around again. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have... I am so sorry, my little lily." More apologies fall from my suitor, each one chased by little kisses on any skin Ro can get to. His hand shifts as he jumps between my neck and my face.

     "Ro-"

     "I'm sorry."

     "Kuro-"

     "I shouldn't have - I'm sorry. I really should have - I'm sorry," I can feel the waves of panic ripping off of him, his kisses getting desperate as if he can kiss the experience off my skin.

     "Kankuro," I call again, wiggling my wrists in his hold.

     His hands drop off of me and shift to lifting himself off of me, leaving him in a push-up-like form. "I'm sorry," he says for the hundredth time.

     "Why are you sorry?" I murmur, lifting my hands to cup his face.

     Ro's head tilts, gentle kisses being pressed against my fingers. "I shouldn't have been so rough without asking," he whispers as if the words will click my reaction in the other direction.

     "Kankuro," I call out smoothly, letting my fingertips slide against his lips as he presses more kisses into me. "It's okay, you're fine, I'm fine. Just give a little bit of a warning next time, okay?"

     "Okay. Okay, I will, I swear, okay," he murmurs more to himself than me. It hurts a bit seeing how panicked he is. Maybe Kankuro fears what he can do to me more than I fear it myself. I think in our next meeting I should start poking at his life before me. There has to be a reason Ro fears himself so much. "I'm sorry," he says again, soft kisses tracing up my arm.

     "It's okay," I answer again, softly playing with the ends of his hair. Perhaps my suitor’s walls aren't as high as I thought they were.

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[cherrydyedsocks]

thinking about ocd headcanon shikadai again bc gosh there is so much you can do with that. thinking about him always having it, like even as a kid but it went mostly undetected. like yes he still had a few tendencies here and there but it was brushed off as just personality quirks.

things change though once he becomes a shinobi, and he's in dangerous situations all the time. that's when it starts becoming apparent that shikadai has something more going on. (stressful situations can exacerbate ocd symptoms and cause episodes where it's rlly bad)

like I can see him going from having very mild manageable symptoms that he's able to hide easily from friends and family, to having frequent episodes that make it hard to function. especially on missions, this boy gets so anxious before them. the week before he's doing all these rituals and compulsions. (rituals can be almost anything, but examples are excessive counting or numbering, checking things over and over, saying things multiple times. you get anxious and nervous if you don't fulfill them properly and typically have to start all over)

thinking small things like temari assigning him a few chores, and he has a mission the next day so his anxiety is at an all time high. him having to repeat steps of the chores over and over, to the point where temari is "you're done. you don't have to do anything more." and she's noting shikadai's behavior with a raised eyebrow.

and shikadai is just like "yeah I know that, just doing it extra well. in case." (small lie he throws out, and temari can tell it's a lie she just doesn't know why shikadai feels the need to do so.)

shikadai getting ready the morning of a mission and just tearing apart his room looking for something. shikamaru coming in and he's just ? "what are you looking for?"

"my kunai knives."

"I just saw them on the kitchen counter with all your other stuff."

"I mean all my knives."

"I looked already, almost all of them are there."

and shikadai keeps shaking his head like. "no. I need them all. there's only nineteen in my bag, I need the even twenty."

"why?"

"what if I run out? what if an enemy gets the jump on us just because I left out that extra one? I need it."

"shikadai, I really don't think that'll happen, it's a pretty calm mission and you already have nineteen more."

"I just need it."

he doesn't add in the fact that his mind is so anxious and stressed at the thought of being one short. that the entire morning he's been imagining scenarios where he and his teammates fall to the enemy. thinking about shikamaru wanting to press further as to why he has this fear, but shikadai finds the knife and goes onto his mission.

thinking about that mission where it just all boils over. nothing bad happens, but shikadai panics in the middle of it. it goes into the mission report.

temari and shikamaru put together what they both have observed from their son, and figure he needs to get outside help. also thinking about shikamaru feeling guilty about it because he knew something was wrong with shikadai that morning, he just wasn't sure what.

the two of them sitting down shikadai and trying to talk to him about it. and it's like

"we think you should talk to someone, tell them what's going on." shikamaru

"there's nothing going on."

"shikadai -" temari

"I don't need to talk to anyone. I don't need help, I'm fine. there is nothing wrong with me."

"there is nothing wrong it's just-" shikamaru

"no. I'm not going."

and it catches both of them a bit off guard because shikadai usually listens rlly well to his parents, and doesn't go against what they say. but he's so resistant initially to the idea of getting help. I'd say later that same day the compulsions start up again, and that's what makes shikadai admit he needs help. that he cannot handle living like this anymore.