#and if i can make anything about yashamaru i will.

[atoriv-art]

older gaara <3

[animeomegas]

I think Gaara would go from longing about soulmates when he’s a little kid to not caring, maybe even finding them an annoyance to being neutral and then excited about them as he gets older.

Like baby Gaara asks Yashamaru about soulmates and he tells Gaara about them and poor baby really wants to meet his soulmate because he just wants love :(

After he starts living only for himself his feelings on his soulmate change from wanting to find his soulmate to not caring. He’d find them to be nothing but a nuisance and would 100% try to kill his soulmate if he met them during this point in his life.

When Naruto beats him and Gaara changes his mindset I think he’d be pretty neutral about his soulmate depending on if they’ve met. If they had then he’d definitely feel bad about the attempted murder but he’d wouldn’t be ready for a relationship with his soulmate. If they hadn’t met then I think he’d just be neutral, maybe a little curious but not curious enough to do anything about it.

During Shippuden time I don’t think he’d pay much attention to soulmates because he’s too busy with being Kazekage and the war. After the war when he’s older his curiosity from when he’s younger comes back stronger. I think the longing he felt as a young child would come back to a lesser extent if he hasn’t met his soulmate yet. I can definitely see that longing changing to excitement. The thought of meeting his soulmate making his heart race because he’s touch starved (just like me fr) and is starting to realize he deserves love just like anyone else

If they have met and his attempted murder attempt happened I think he’d feel the same way just with some guilt mixed in for how he treated his soulmate when they were younger. Gaara would definitely need closure about their past experiences together before being comfortable with pursuing a relationship with them.

I’m sorry I went on a tangent Gaara is on my mind 24/7. Also I have opinions on Sai but I’m gonna write that in a different ask because this one is really long.

This is so cute 🥺

Gaara would definitely have a complicated journey with feeling about his soulmate. I agree that if he found them during the difficult years, he would have murdered them, and this is something he finds very difficult to cope with, even if nothing happened because he met his soulmate when he was older.

He would definitely feel a bit like he didn't deserve the unconditional love of a soulmate when he was, at one point in his life, a serious threat to them.

I think Gaara would be so shocked and elated to meet his soulmate. He can never quite truly believe that he got so lucky.

But also, that image of tiny Gaara longing for a soulmate so that someone would unconditionally love him is so heart-breaking, how dare you?? 😭

[vote-gaara]

I wonder why Rasa didn't ever tell Gaara Yashamaru lied after his plan failed. Like what was the point of letting him go on believing that stuff?

(Whoa...This ask was answered but ended up in my drafts for some reason...Sorry for the late reply!)

----------

Oh this is an easy question.

You see, it's because Rasa is actually a garbage person and a trash dad.

But here's the real answer:

Shinobi have always had this really weird mentality around personal attachments, seeing them as hinderances rather than anything of substance.

Essentially shinobi were raised to not be living, breathing individuals with their own thoughts, feelings and autonomy, but as fodder for their respective nations.

In a way, ninjas who have subjective philosophies about their way of living are mostly outliers and perhaps even looked down upon...It's the radical ninjas who become runaways, and if a shinobi does that, then they are rejecting the law and that can have terrible consequences for higher powers! After all, lost of highly skilled ninja can and will flatten an entire village in like...and hour (Que the small violin).

That's why you have certain characters who have their set "ninja way" who seem unconventional than everyone else; this includes the main character himself, Naruto, as well as Rock Lee and Kakashi (as well as some others.) These characters are notably different than characters around them because they care about something or have philosophies that are just a tad bit too human-like.

And who wants that? Everyone knows that a successful nation treats their entire military like robots, and starts em' young.

In the beginning, Naruto was a story about an underdog. An underdog who dared say "hey, walking on walls and water is cool, but you know what's even cooler? FRIENDSHIP (and being Hokage)."

Even Gaara's whole character arc is a battle against this philosophy. Does having friendships and people you care about make you stronger, or does being isolated and shouldering the burden of "living for oneself" make for a better shinobi in the end?

Turns out it's friendship.

To further this point: Even when Gaara became Kazekage, his whole method of leadership was foreign. It was a whole different way of running a village, and had many detractors. Senior shinobi who still believed in outdated methods may have felt that Gaara's leadership was too soft, and on top of that, he was the Shukaku after all...And even on top of that when Shukaku was gone, Gaara used to be a host and honestly if that isn't punishable by death, I don't know what is! (<-Sarcasm).

Rasa likely fell into the category where he felt no need to tell Gaara the truth. Rasa himself lost Karura because he's a really stupid man who thinks consequences need not apply to him. Perhaps in a way, very deep down, he wanted Gaara to suffer because he was the reason Karua died because Rasa really only had one skill and that's to deflect all responsibility in his quest to be the biggest clown of all time.

That and after Gaara did become unhinged and broken after Yashamaru's betrayal, he became a better shinobi. Rasa likely thought that the results he saw were more important than his son's mental health.

Thanks for the question!

[unioncolours]

6, 10 & 23 for the violence asks please! ♥

Hii helloo 💕

Choosing violence 😈

6 which ship fans are the most annoying?

Those who tends to fight with others, for whichever possible reason. If you asked me two years ago I would without hesitation say a ship I ship myself, but the annoying fans has since stopped being annoying, have gone offline or we're in mutual blocks, so it's forgiven now.

Other than that it's the "rivaling" ships to the Ino-Shika-Cho canon ships who can't satisfy themselves with fanon or their own little headcanon and must go and say how ex ShikaTema doesn't make sense because THEY JUST WALKED AND WORKED TOGETHER IN CANON?? Ugh. I can't stand those who try to shove manga content in your face to prove this or that and lack reading between the lines.

10 worst part of fanon

Misogyni. An example of this is a universal treatment of the girl who stands "between" a popular mlm-ship. There are certain common charactarisations of my favourite characters I despise - one I recently found out I dislike is a fanon accepted idea that Temari was a single care taker to her brothers, as if Yashamaru didn't exist until a certain point, as if Baki didn't mean anything etc etc etc. And then what I've already written that I find difficult is when fanon circles around uwufication of a male character.

23 ship you’ve unwillingly come around to

In Naruto I am so set in my ways I don't know if there are ships I've first disliked and unwillingly come around to, and more ships I've been indifferent to and then realised "wow potential i love them!" To this we can throw as good as every single rare pair ff Naruto ship.

It wasn't very unwillingly, but a funny Shikadai x one of SG's OCs called Moja x Inojin ship which no one cares about haha (monoshipper for both Inojin and Shikadai but I will make an exception for this threesome). Shikadai x Boruto, mostly through sheer desperation for Shikadai content. I would read a ShikaBoruSara threesome too.

In other fandoms definitely Kacchako from BNHA, which used to be a notp for me, but now I am indifferent after having been so exposed to it. We can also throw bkdk into that mix, I've started accepting them now slowly.

Thank you for asking 💕

[variantia]

@chidoricry

When the temperature isn’t too terribly high, Yashamaru has gotten used to walking around the village. He’s only just beginning to get used to being out in public again, talking to people, interacting with old friends who are shocked to see that he isn’t dead. Everyone knows who he is, at least, and his nephew is the leader of the village, so it’s rare that anyone says anything to his face about … well, the whole situation.

That’s how he prefers it. He’s trying very hard to leave as much of the past as he can IN THE PAST. So he strolls around town, smiling at everyone who doesn’t give him a funny look, maybe picking up a few things from the shops. ( He didn’t realize how much he missed making dinner for his niece and nephews until he started doing it again. )

The worst part about it is that he’s still a bit weak, he always will be after having spent nearly thirteen years doing nothing but sitting in a jail cell … so he sometimes stumbles over his own two feet. He usually ends up grabbing at whoever or whatever is nearby, and that’s just what’s happened now ; Yashamaru finds himself grasping onto a young man’s arm in an effort to keep himself steady. “ Ah, I’m so sorry about that, ” he apologizes immediately. He does his best to straighten up, shooting the dark-haired man a smile. Quickly letting go, he adjusts the bag over his shoulder. “ Didn’t hurt you, did I ? ”

[aidontdraw]

The Sand Siblings are such an afterthought in Naruto, that they don't even have a last name. The best we can surmise is that their family name is "Kazekage." As the Kazekage title in Sunagakure is an inherited title, unlike Konoha where they just pick the strongest dude.

We dont know enough to know definitively how Rasa's parenting truely was with all of his children. Nor do we know what it was like before his wife died. Honestly, from what we have seen, I don't think he was that bad of a parent.

Now, no parent is winning parent of the year in Naruto. They all passed down generational trauma to their children. That's kinda the whole point of Naruto. But what's intresting about all of the ones we see, is it seems like all the parents are all trying to break the cycle as well. We see this with Fugaku when he constantly forgives Konoha(until he dossnt). We see this with Hiashi, when he merely exiles Hinata but doesn't make her join the second branch family. We even see this with Rasa when he keeps all of his kids together and waits until they are appropriate ages to allow them to take the Chunin Exam.

In the Ninja Universe the "age of adulthood" is when someone passes their Chunin Exam. Once someone becomes a Chunin, they are seen fit for war. So Rasa delaying his children's assent into adulthood, can be seen as a loving act as well as a stratigc act.

Gaara's own accounts of his childhood, isn't the worst, given the world they live in. His father was very involved in his life. Obviously Gaara was raised in isolation. That has a lot of complex reasons, that even an older version of him understands.

Gaara mentioned being spoiled, considering how poor Sunagakure is said to be, thats an important detail. A 12 year old Gaara assumed this is mere appeasement to not get murdered. But honestly, it feels like the best Rasa could do in a shitty situation.

In Gaara's novel, he often refers Yashamaru as his parental figure. Gaara has almost no memories of his father, to the point he's even suprised that he remembered anything about his father. So even in his most isolated, Rasa made sure his son was with family and raised in a loving environment(again, until the trying to kill him thing).

Then we learn about the 6 assassination attempts on Gaara's life. That all failed. Except in the novel, we learn that Rasa apparently did come up with a technique he believed would kill Gaara. That he never used. Which on some level we can assume he never wanted to kill his own son. Rasa just put himself in a awful situation where he had to chose the saftey of his village or the saftey of his family.

If I'm going to be honest, I feel like the Kazekage household was more loving than most people think. Rasa never remarried. Gaara assumed it's because he loved his mother so much, he wouldn't.

But a big thing that points to it being more loving than we think, is how the siblings treat each other. Temari and Kankuro do love their brother. Even at his worst they tried to protect him. Considering everything, they are as close to their brother as they could be.

The few flashbacks we do get of their childhood, his siblings do try to comfort Gaara and spend time with him. Until, their father steps in and separated them.

Obviously there's some complexity to their relationship. They do still fear him. But, his siblings have an opportunity to kill him after Konoha Crush failed, and they don't take it. Instead they try to bring him to saftey.

Again, not killing people feels like a low bar, but it's the bar we have to work with.

Gaara also loves his siblings, enough to protect them. Gaara is shown to be a homicidal manaic, yet he never killed his siblings or his father. He even made attempts to separate himself from his siblings when it got bad. Which is why I beleive they were on a team together to begin with. Rasa knew they were the best option for everyone involved.

Which is why when Gaara does finally apologize to them, it is taken pretty well. After this apology we do see them growing even closer than they already were. Up to where Kankuro defends Gaara and believes hes gotten better.

Now none of this directly points to Rasa's parenting, but the fact that his three kids all value love and family even form early ages kinda suggests, it is a family vaule. They were all raised to care for eachother. Rasa probably wasn't the worst dad in Naruto.

I dont think there's ever actually any confirmation on what Rasa [fourth kazekages] relationship was like with his other children, cause thinking on it i dont remember any commentary from the other sand siblings on what their relationship was like with their dad.

certainly they don't seem too aggrieved that hes gone, but at the same time thats because originally the fourth kazekages death was a complete afterthought. relevant only in the sense it was an out from further suna konoha conflict, and by the time the sand siblings showed up again other things were more important/relevant to the story. when rasa showed up as an edo tensai could have presented that opportunity of learning what those relations were like, but rasa showing up again is solely for the gaara therapy hours so he can get some closure. in that moment rasa might as well not have had any other children and gaara might as well not have had any other siblings.

not that i think rasa being a shit dad to his other kids is unreasonable fanon [cause that is technically what it is with the main story being reluctant to comment any which way], as interesting as I find the man he is much like chiyo a cock, cause everyone in suna projects as much asshole energy outwards as possible. and his handling of gaara as a human being was deplorable, even if it also highlights the very real and unaddressed problems of the shinobi world and its values where human individuality, liberty and rights are sacrificed in the name of village prosperity and nation statehood [as opposed to just him being a cock].

but by that same token, I think all thats really confirmed about how he treated the other sand siblings is that he kept gaara forcibly separated from them. and if you separate gaara from the fandom woobification of him and think about it from the perspective of a military nation states leader it makes sense to keep your dangerous ticking timebomb unstable murder weapon away from the easily breakable children that represent the villages chances of future success. I'd almost call it good parenting even [bar that gaara is also his kid] to keep the children away from the unstable murder weapon that keeps accidentally maiming anyone it gets close to.

but i think a lot of that is kinda irrelevant to the actual discussion fandom seems interested in on this matter, because I don't think most people headcannon rasa as a bad father to temari and kankuro based on the patterns of his characters behaviour. I think most people do it out of this idea of "sand sibling solidarity". gaara's the baby woobie of the naruto fandom [its most widely accepted one anyways], and the sand sibling dynamic is a popular one. so its cathartic to blame any of their earlier problems/dysfunction and distaste for gaara on the big ol mean rasa/fourth kazekage.

and I think thats entirely too lame, cause it turns the sand siblings and their dynamic into temari and kankuro being gaaras generic yes men. a problem that does kinda intrinsically infect the original work mind, given that after the chunin exams the sand siblings disappear up until the sasuke retrieval missions ending at which point they're all suddenly buddy buddy with each other. but thats something that was a consequence of time and narrative flow, keeping the story focused and all. but fanfiction offers the opportunity to flesh these things out, and theres some real interesting ground in how the sand siblings transition from being completely fucking terrified [for fairly understandable and reasonable reasons] of gaara to being his pillars of support as kazekage following the [partial] failure of konoha crush. reducing it to rasa being the evil bad man who kept them separated when they actually wanted to be gaaras friends all along, is such a waste though.

anyways, feel free to crucify me now for being mean about the writing around the sand siblings.

[ruinrisen]

anonymous​       𝐀𝐒𝐊𝐄𝐃     :    write about his childhood ! if given the chance, would he ever forgive his father ? what are his thoughts on shukaku ? was he ever jealous of his siblings ?

ALL GOOD QUESTIONS , all good questions . i’m gonna take it one at a time tho bc im a rambler hehe also before i begin --

tw : self harm , neglect , child abuse , ptsd , schizophrenia , parental loss , suicidal ideation

   note : i’m only on ep 250 of shippuden so if anything revealed later is missing that’s why!

write about his childhood :  so things were pretty bad . so bad , in fact , that it all started going downhill for him before he was even born . born of the fourth kazekage , rasa , & his wife , karura . gaara was selected to be the jinchuriki of shukaku ( the vessel of the one - tail demon ) & this alone did not bode well for his future . shukaku has a bloodlust that wishes to kill anyone & everyone , an ill - temper , & a narcissistic complex . gaara had to learn to adapt to having such a beast exist within him , trying his best to close his mind to him and failing. i hc that shukaku’s negative thoughts often invaded gaara’s mind , and him being so young , it affected him greatly despite never knowing anything different. karura died giving birth to him , so even as a newborn he was looked on with disdain , as if he were the cause of her passing . growing up , he harbored much guilt in that regard . like he had stolen his sibling’s mother away and his father’s wife . like it was all his fault . yashamaru , gaara’s uncle , was the only one who provided him with love . until the day he didn’t . gaara has had a hard time sleeping for as long as he can remember , & yashamaru caught him one night on his own & attempted to assassinate him . it was his mission given from rasa , gaara’s father . that was the night that every hope of ever being loved fled his being . yashamaru told him he never loved him , that he resented him for karura’s death , and that he was given the mission to kill him from his own father . gaara was ultimately , and utterly alone . even after trying to make friends , he scared everyone away simply by existing . he was bullied relentlessly despite his sand always keeping him from physical pain . the emotion damage was enough to live on with him for the rest of his life . even trying to help others , they all just assumed he was after them , that they were his next victim . eventually , he gave into their ideologies & became the monster everyone always viewed him as . he hated everyone . he had no love to give . no love to perceive . he was so lonely but he’d given up on being saved that night that he was betrayed . he gave into shukaku’s desires , no longer strong enough mentally to deny to him . he was tired . he was hurt . he killed anyone who wronged him in any way . he became the danger everyone feared . he was so full of rage and guilt and sorrow . he didn’t know any other way to live . he simply survived , coping in the only way he knew how ( or rather , that shukaku knew how ) . he was always a bit different from other kids . his expression never displayed his emotions well . he’d always dealt with the symptom called flat affect ( a lack of showing emotion characterized by an apathetic and unchanging facial expression and little or no change in the strength, tone, or pitch of the voice ) . this allowed children to easily believe the rumors that he was different enough from them to be afraid . he’s heard voices that aren’t his for as long as he can remember ( which is touched more upon in this hc ) and that only added to the idea that he doesn’t belong with these people . he can’t even feel their pain , the simplest form of being human . going as far as to try to harm himself to feel the way that they do and still failling .           anyways

tl;dr it was really lonely and kinda fuckin awful

putting the rest under a readmore bc i can’t shut up

would he ever forgive his father ? hm . hmmmmm . not in any time when rasa is alive . i think he actually has so much pent up resentment toward him and how rasa used him , neglected him , tried to kill him , and fucked him over time and time again . i think his death would stir up many unpleasant emotions , not one having anything to do with forgiveness. i think upon learning what love feels like , he’d resent his father even more for never showing that to him . he believes he was nothing but a weapon to his father , and when they didn’t need his power , they’d dispose of him without a thought . truly , gaara doesn’t have the self confidence to pursue his life for himself , instead , he wishes to survive based solely on instinct . i’m sure he dealt with many moments of suicidal ideation , but that’s where it stopped , considering he couldn’t even give himself a papercut . ( thank you karura for keeping this boy alive ) . it was a continuous haunting thought however , intrusive and strong . rasa’s neglect was only the beginning of a long string of self neglect ( which i will write another headcanon on in the future as it’s in my drafts rn ) to the point that he has a hard time maintaining appropriate hygiene , eating habits , routine , etc . rasa is kinda where all of this traces back to . he’s had to unlearn all of these habits and learn to (and force himself to) do all of these simple mundane maintenance that everyone seems to think is so simple and normal . rasa did not raise him . gaara spent a long time trying to see him as his father , but something never clicked & something always hurt . now that he’s developed more into his own person , he can hardly view him as the father figure he always wanted to . rasa did not raise him . he did nothing but forsake him and his needs . still , gaara has a hard time hating him . there’s some sick twisted care for him somewhere in his heart , that yearns to forgive him , and maybe with 20+ more years of coping and learning how to love , he might be able to accept his past and offer not forgiveness for his father , but understanding that change and hope are possible .

what are his thoughts on shukaku ? WELL , he doesn’t have much care for shukaku at all . shukaku is another source of his past traumas , and i’ve yet to write this headcanon , but once shukaku was forcible removed from his vessel , gaara felt a peace he’s never known was even possible . i went over it a bit in the answer to the first part , but shukaku was the source of so much negativity . it’s said in the hc that goes over his hallucinations that shukaku’s voice was strong amidst everything else that would occur in gaara’s mind (but this wasn’t part of any disorder , it was simply shukaku speaking to him). i wish i knew more about shukaku with where i’m at in the story right now , but i imagine that gaara would forgive shukaku easier than he would his father . shukaku did not choose gaara as his vessel , he simply existed within him & despite making nights something horrific , he didn’t take a look at gaara and decide that he was not deserving of peace . gaara wasn’t special , and he knows that . anyone who would serve as shukaku’s vessel would go through the torture of his animosity. this doesn’t mean he likes shukaku by any means . but he doesn’t harbor quite the same strength of resentment as he does rasa. he’s glad he doesn’t have to deal with shukaku within him anymore. 

was he ever jealous of his siblings ? simply put, yes. i haven’t seen much about kankuro or temari growing up so i can only go off of personal headcanons in which they were kept separate from gaara for their safety and offered more care from their peers and guardians. i dont suspect rasa was too much kinder in regards to his abuse and neglect toward them, but gaara would look at them and be jealous that at least the whole world didn’t hate them. they had a chance at happiness, while he was born into being hated. they also got to see their mom, at least for a few years. they spent time with her. i’m sure at some point growing up, gaara convinced himself that he hated them, despite them never really wronging him in any way. they weren’t around enough to love him, therefore it wasn’t fair. as he got older and they began to spend more time with each other, i think he’d grow jealous of the way that the two of them can interact with people. the three of them together do seem as unapproachable as ever, but gaara sees himself more unapproachable than both of them combined. he’s stoic and can be awkward, apathetic, and bad with words. he doesn’t make friends easily and most people don’t like him. he views them both as people who are reliable and communicative and even friendly when given the chance. i think he’s still jealous of some things about them, but the jealousy doesn’t come with any animosity. instead, he simply wishes he were more like them in a way that he admires them rather than admonishes them.

[soliavenne]

Just Sand Sibling Things + Shinki: How do they deal with cooking?

Hi! I have been thinking of having Just Sand Sibling Things (+ Shinki now and then) as a series of works. :) I guess this is the first entry haha.

Hope you like it! <3

--

Excellent cook, obviously the most versatile out of the four. Appetizer, main entrée, snacks and dessert, you name it. Not very adventurous when it comes to recipes, but she’s well-rounded enough  with the basics to tweak an ingredient or a two from the book if she knows she’ll be able to improve the taste.

Knows that she’s great at what she does, and she’s damn proud of it.

Very confident, but can actually be secretly conscious of what she serves, especially when it’s her first time cooking the specific food. She would rather start over again than serve something that doesn’t suit her standards.

Tries her best to mind her own business while eating but is stealthily inspecting her brothers, or her husband and son’s facial expression as they eat her food.

Very organized, every ingredient is in each separate plates. Not the type to leave a pile of dirty plates on the sink and wash it all at once by the end of cooking. She will wash some of them now and then if she could leave the cooking process alone on itself.

Praise her damn food, praise her cooking skills. She might not look like it but she’s a big, big sucker for appreciation. If you have been generous for the past few days with compliments, she’ll try her best to free up her schedule and proceed to serve a damn feast over the table.

If ever she ends up serving something that doesn’t taste good, she would understand a very faint grimace or two on your face. But that’s all, don’t bother telling her about it if she doesn’t ask you about it. She knows what’s wrong already and she’s already beating up herself about it.

Mostly cooks foods that are on the healthier spectrum, but would flat out bake herself her own pizza and brownies at 12 AM.

Would try to hide her midnight snacks as much as possible, but if she gets caught, she would huff and act all annoyed but is secretly happy to share it. She just likes riling people up a bit, but she’s very sweet and generous.

What reads above cannot be applied if she’s on her period or she had a fight with Shikamaru, you better fuck off and leave her alone.

--

He’s not that much keen to cooking, but this man is not dumb. Knows at least the very, very basic fundamentals around the kitchen.

It’s those common mistakes that usually happens if someone’s just starting to venture out on cooking. A little too much salt, a little heavy on the pepper, the meat is tad bit raw while the crust is already burned. Those kind of technical mishaps. He would not be unbelievably awful at it.  

Tries his best to listen to Temari’s advices on cooking, but he ends up overthinking it. He’s best off learning on his own and figuring out for himself what went wrong.

Skilled at cooking instant foods and junk foods. Knows damn well how to elevate them. The type of food he ends up cooking are more on the indulgent side, mostly savory type of foods. Hamburgers, meat pizza, steak, and ribs, you name it.

Has been secretly saving up to buy his own pellet grill and personalize it.

Does not know exactly how to cook healthy-family based foods like vegetable stew or chicken soup or anything of the like. He either gets to eat it if Temari is cooking, or it’s a takeout.

Very messy cook. Spoons with unidentified sauces are everywhere, there’s even a plate on the living room that he’s not sure how it even got there.

Would probably wash it once a dirty pan had punched his face and Temari is screaming on the other end of the handle.

Don’t talk to him when he’s focusing, he’s going to get flustered about the whole thing.

Just as sensitive as Temari when it comes to feedback. He would laugh alongside a negative comment, but he won’t be cooking anything that isn’t instant food for the next whole week.

If you praise him so much he will end up being so worked up about it that he cooks the same thing tomorrow night. He would try so hard to hit the same note but he was overthinking it the whole time so it doesn’t end up as good.

A genuine praise could go such a long way for Kankuro. He might not look like it but he’s genuinely appreciative of it and finds it very encouraging.

--

Doesn’t necessarily hate cooking, but he just doesn’t know to pave his way around it.

Believes that cooking is a fundamental skill, but is still avoiding the opportunity to work on it. He had bought some cooking books and probably printed some recipes from Yahoo and allrecipes.com, but he’s secretly relieved whenever Kankuro asks if he wants something to eat from the store.

Very shy about asking for help, but if Temari or Kankuro does volunteer to teach him something, he would not refuse it.

Nearly passed out once because he has been letting his breakfast pass when Temari left for Konoha. Kankuro scolded him a bit, but ten minutes later they were already talking about sandwiches. When Gaara mentioned that he misses waking up to Temari cooking pancakes in their shared apartment, they surprisingly ended up having a genuinely-deep conversation about it; talking along the lines of how they really feel about their sister leaving Suna.

Kankuro told him that he’ll be letting him off easy but if he wants to be a much more effective Kazekage, he has to take care of himself. The epiphany had hit Gaara so hard he bought a new apron and a pan on his way home from work.

The first set of foods that he focused on was under the bracket of breakfast meals. A bowl of plain oatmeal and a little bit of sugar was okay, but it did get redundant and he swore to himself he’d throw the bowl out of the window if he had to make another one of it again for the 3rd week of that month.

Began to buy pancake box-mixes where all he had to worry about was adding eggs, water and oil. Once he had gotten the hang of it, he decided to follow a pancake recipe from scratch. He thinks it tastes better, but it wasn’t something he could do every day.

Thinks he had found his soulmate when he started making granola. He could prepare it in advance and stock it up. He finds it very convenient.

An understandable kind of messy, maybe a little smudge of batter on his cheek when he’s cooking pancakes. Dirty plates would be on a pile but he would arrange them by size and category before washing them all together after he ends up eating.

Takes cooking seriously that he even bought a hairnet. Kankuro caught him once wearing it and the ten-minute laugh he had out of watching his baby brother cook with a hairnet on just made Gaara opt to tie his hair instead.

Sometimes boils eggs at night in advance so that he could simply peel one in the morning for breakfast.  

All in all, he mostly cooks usual, literally off the recipe book breakfast meals. Most of them are healthy.

It would take a lot of time before you get him to serve you the food he made. He doesn’t like disappointing people and as stoic as he may be he would also be just as sensitive about it.

Began to develop the drive to cook better when he adopted Shinki. He remembers vividly how happy he was whenever Yashamaru brings him a bento, so he decides to take the effort to study bento making now and then whenever he’s not that busy.

When he saw a small, cute apron from the store, he found himself buying it to give to Shinki. He still hasn’t built up the courage to ask Shinki to have a cooking bonding with him though because he’s not that confident about his skills just yet.

--

A very responsible kid. Has the self-awareness that basics of cooking should be developed in order to survive independently no matter where you go. He even knows how to start fire from scratch.

The first thing he had ask Gaara regarding preparing food is how Gaara makes his coffee. Ever since he was able to replicate it, he sometimes even gets up earlier than his father so that he could prepare the warm beverage beforehand. He doesn’t drink coffee everyday, but with a craving now and then sometimes, he likes adding a splash of milk to it. He and Gaara both share the same preference when it comes to the level of sweetness.  

Not very adventurous when it comes to recipes. As long as it’s filling and easy to make, that will be his chosen route.

Has asked Gaara once about his special pancake mix, and he had been making it mostly everyday. The fluffy texture of it soon got a little tiring, so he started wondering what else he could eat for breakfast. Despite being very mature for his age, he’s still a kid who has the hint of wonder for foods that are still comfortable yet a little exciting now and then.

When Yodo took him and Araya once to a waffle stand on their way home from a mission, he started buying one almost everyday. He’s more of a savory-waffle kind of kid.

Gaara takes notice of this, and when Shinki woke up to a wafflemaker and printed waffle recipes on the kitchen counter one morning, he couldn’t help a very, very rare and genuine smile on his face.

He might not that be that much inclined to cooking, but on days where he’s not busy, he tries to read about it. His main drive about cooking is so that his father comes home to a much more healthier meal instead of having takeouts almost every night. He loves and respect his father that much, and he’s also health and fitness-conscious since he really does take his job as a shinobi very seriously.

The same as Temari in terms of cooking. Neatly organized, no dirty plates lying around the counter. Every ingredient is measured and calculated.

His face might not be anywhere near grinning but he’s actually happy whenever he dons the apron that Gaara bought him.

Doesn’t really care if you don’t like the food unless you’re his dad.

 --

[fanfic-of-fables-of-kitkat]

Naruto OC ship week

Prompt: Hair

@narutoocshipweek

Synopsis: Temari, Kankuro and Gaara were adopted by the well reknowned couple Hatsue (OC) & Sasori, a few decades when the siblings had long been adults, they reunite and reminisce their childhood

[This prompt will become a future chapter to my existing fanfic at FF.net ]

"You know what, our parents are jerks." Kankuro grimaced and then downed his cup. With a tap, he set it down and his younger brother moved to pour more for him.

Temari, the eldest of the Sand Siblings, giggled in her drunkenness, letting out hiccups afterwards, her eyes half-lidded as the alcohol kicks in. "No kidding."

Gaara couldn't help but snort at that, an action he wouldn't be caught doing in a sober state.

"I mean first, there's our birth mother who couldn't keep herself alive." Kankuro complained. "Don't worry, Gaara, I'll say this again and again: you didn't have to anything to do with her death. Mother protested against Father from making you a jinchuriki and strained herself, risking you to be prematurely born."

The red head sipped generously from his cup. "Then there's our birth Father, who tried to have me killed multiple times for the sake of testing my control over Shukaku."

"Which was real shitty of him." Temari concluded. "He was a stellar father... in another life, probably. Kami, he was terrible."

"He was indifferent to me." Kankuro huffed, downing his shot in one go.

"I could never get a single praise out of him, no matter how well i perform my jutsu." The eldest of the three complained, wiping her face with her hand.

"He tried to have me killed. Multiple times."

The three looked at each other and barked a laugh.

"Oh gosh, are we competing on who among us siblings he treated the worst? Gaara wins that contest hands down." Temari grabs the bottle of sake to herself and orders a new one for her brothers.

"Hey, you should slow down, if you drink too much, we'll get your husband and we'll be cutting our reunion short." Kankuro nagged, squinting his eyes at her.

"I can hold my liquor, Kankuro, besides I know my limits, after this one I'll try to sober up before Shikamaru arrives." Temari assures her brothers, and then takes a swig out of the bottle. She looked... solemn now. "Sorry, I couldn't be here for their burial."

Kankuro gave her a sad smile and Gaara nods at her. Burials here at Suna, when a person dies, the body is buried at the same day because of the heat. The hot weather makes a dead body permeate a strong foul odor so funerals are held almost immediately.

"Hatsue-kaa-san was a damn jerk too." Temari says this without bite, her eyes dulled as she remembers memories of their adoptive mother.

"Yep, mom was a jerk." The middle child agrees, snorting in his drink.

"Agreed." The red head nods, not only to affirm his elder siblings' statements but because the room starts to sway.

"She was so disgustingly kind."

"She was. She had no business on what happens to us and yet she goes ahead and adopts us. Strangers. We would have been orphans if it weren't for her."

"In a way, we already were. Mother died early. Father was negligent."

"She let me use her paints, her paint brushes and... she would paint on my face too.", Kankuro reminisced, a nostalgic smile graced his lips. "She used to tell me I was handsome-

"it's either I'm biased to say you're handsome because you're my son or you're really handsome", the three simultaneously quoted.

"Such a jerk, blowing up my confidence like that."

"Yeah, I remember her combing my hair, hated my hair because-" She looks at her brothers alternately then her eyes went back to her bottle. "Kankuro looked like he got his genes from Hatsue-kaa-san, Gaara looked like he got his from Sasori while I look like neither of them. I look like Uncle Yashamaru. that bastard."

"Everyone here in Suna, knows what's the deal with us. It doesn't matter."

Temari shrugged nonchantly "When we would all travel for Sasori's spy network... It was nice to pretend that we were their real children."

"Yeah."

"... The people would give us scandalous looks, doing the math, it would seem they conceived Temari at 16, Kankuro at 17 and I at 18."

The blonde and the raven head guffawed hysterically, remembering the instances conservative people coming up to their mom and passing down unwanted advices. Sasori would hide a smile and Hatsue-kaa-san would turn as red as her husband's hair.

"Hatsue-kaa-san would tell me she loved my hair. She said every time she brushes my hair it's like she's spinning threads of gold."

Kankuro made a vomiting sound. "She was such a... sap."

"... i miss- ... She would hug me the longest."

"She taught me how to care for myself... and I loved it every time she would do her skincare with me." The memories brought the distinct smell of rose scented lotions and citrus moisturizers.

"She would hover around whenever I would get ready to paint my face." Kankuro chuckled fondly.

"You were their favorite." Temari says, a hint of envy was there and there was also acceptance with the way she shrugged her shoulders.

"Me? No way-" The puppeteer tried to deny it; he didn't believe it anyway since there was this saying about middle children often are ignored.

"You are. Hatsue-kaa-san loved that you were interested in painting and Sasori .. bonded with you through puppet making." The red head gave Kankuro a slow nod.

"You don't need to feel bad, our birth mother, Karura's favorite would be Gaara and Rasa's favorite was me, being the first born and all... before he got into the council."

"You were Uncle Komushi's favorite too, Temari, not just father's."

She laughed at that. "Oh, I miss that old man. I think I only became his favorite because of the fact that I was the eldest. He used to say I was what Sasori owed him."

"And Chiyo-baa-san favored Gaara the most."

They had grins on their faces and it slipped quietly to sad smiles. Memories flooded them, brought them happiness and warmth more than they could ever hold, thus it was no wonder if their eyes were a little misty. They blame it on the alcohol.

"I should've spend more time with them." Kankuro opens up, sake really did have a way in making an honest man out of him.

"I should've brough Shikadai more for a visit." Temari regrets

"I should've called him otou-san, at least once."

The three shared a look and couldn't help but be immersed in their shared regrets.

"We should've."

"But Sasori was an asshole."

"Agreed. He made it hard to call him so."

"His guard was up."

"He was stern."

"He threatened to kill me." Gaara paused, and then added. "Understandable since at that time, I recently attempted to kill his wife."

The older siblings froze and stared at the youngest.

"That happened?"

"You never told us."

The red head shrugged.

"But... he was a father to us. In his way. He would find wind technique scrolls for me to learn. When we were younger, I remember him tying my hair up, although Hatsue-kaa-san made him do it but still..." Sasori had a stoic expression the whole time but the slow, barely there tugs as he gently brushes her hair, belies that he cared despite his seeming indifference. Temari remembers catching an almost imperceptible smile he gives her when he was done, and patted her head.

"He told me, after developing my Red Secret Technique... that it was impressive. It was stupid, I admired him and respected him, idolized him even. He was an example to follow as a Puppet shinobi. It was stupid that I-.. I wanted to hear him say he was proud of me." The middle child confessed, whispered his words, one of his vulnerabilities. "But he was such an asshole, he made us look up to him as father figure but we always felt like we weren't allowed to call him that."

"Shukaku was always loud in my head but Sasori- After defeating me, Shukaku was... cautious of him. He'd grumble alot in my head. But he quiets down when I'm near... Sasori made me feel like... everyone was safe because he was there to stop me. That's why I always asked you to go with me and sleep in their room."

"I think we interrupted them a whole lot." Temari snorted.

The three siblings burst a laugh. They remember Sasori opening the door, breathless and Hatsue-kaa-san disheveled, her pajamas looking suspiciously crumpled. Their laughter faded after a few minutes and they sat there for awhile, wondering about their parents. They didn't doubt that their parents loved them but... they wondered if their parents knew they reciprocated.

"I used to think Sasori tolerated us, you know?" Temari waved the bottle, her head was resting on the table. "That us being his kids was only an extension of his love to Hatsue-kaa-san."

"Not gonna lie but I think that's how it was for him in the beginning. Just a bunch of brats he tolerated for mom." Kankuro says, shaking his head a little. "He was a damn good father, though."

"Except... he just didn't make it known that we were allowed to call him that." Gaara stares blankly into his cup.

"Everyone said we could, if we wanted. But I wanted him to say it."

"We were stubborn. And so was he."

"Yet we follow after them. Apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

"Because we love them more."

"More than our birthparents."

"That's why..."

"Our parents.." Temari hiccuped, cheeks red.

"They're..." Kankuro was swaying his head, as if he was hearing a lullaby.

" All..." Gaara rubbed his eyes, trying to keep the drowsiness at bay.

"..jerks!" The siblings all said simultaneously, clinking bottles and glasses.

[bpro-cardstories]

Miroku Shingari SSR

2018 ー  Freshmen [フレッシャーズ]

“Yeah, I have a favor to ask…. I want you to let me work here for one day.” 

『Event: The Cheers! for New Life (13th - 24th April 2018)』

Part 1 

ーWaiting roomー

Akane: ‘Come to speak of it, Miroku had an appearance in the suits maker CM, no? Is the shooting already over?’

Tsubasa: ‘No, it’s next week.’ 

Yuduki: ‘Right, he became the poster boy.’

Haruhi: ‘Eeh! I didn’t hear about this! Is that true, Tono?’ 

Miroku: ‘Yeah. But I thought that there was no need to talk about it, so I didn’t say anything.’ 

Haruhi: ‘Geez, tell me~ To be the only one who doesn’t know is a bit of a shock.’ 

Yuduki: ‘I’m sorry. I was sure Haru already knew.’ 

Akane: ‘The work with suits is Miroku’s field of expertise, right?’ 

Yuduki: ‘True. Because Tono has a good style, suits also look good on him.’ 

Miroku: ‘Thanks. But since it’s a CM that targets freshmen I need to think about how to face this photoshoot. I don’t really understand freshman……’ 

(Because of that he acted differently than usual during the meeting.) 

Akane: ‘I see. Because you’re going to do it, you want to properly understand the work’s content and take on the challenge.’ 

Haruhi: ‘I get that so well~! It’s not just about being photographed, you do mental preparation and do it right~!’ 

Haruhi: ‘...... So, what’s a freshman?’ 

Miroku: ‘Oi.’ 

Yuduki: ‘Maybe it means something like your first year as a working adult.’ 

Akane: ‘Oh, I thought of a good idea! Wouldn’t it be good to reference magazines or movies?’ 

Haruhi: ‘Nice! When work is over today, let’s find a movie that has a great feeling to it!’ 

Yuduki: ‘How about taking a look at the business corner in the bookshop as well? They probably have books written about the knowledge of working adults.’ 

Miroku: ‘Why is everyone so eager about it? It’s fine if I’ll research in my own way.’ 

Akane: ‘Okay then, each of us will check the internet for references that might be helpful in our spare time!’ 

Yuduki & Haruhi: ‘Yes!’

Miroku: ‘....... And, they aren’t listening at all.’ 

(Fufu, everyone wants to be helpful for Miroku-kun. Judging by his looks, his worries might be resolved.)

Part 2

ーKiLLER KiNG’s roomー

(I was told to come because there is an urgent matter, but what could it be)

Tsubasa: ‘Hello, pardon my intrusion.’

Haruhi: ‘Hi!’

Akane: ‘I’m sorry for calling out so suddenly!’

Tsubasa: ‘N-No…... More importantly, what happened…….?’

Akane: ‘Since we’re talking while standing, let’s get inside to the sofa.’ 

Haruhi: ‘Come on, this way!’

Tsubasa: ‘What is wrong, you two? Oh, Yuduki-kun.’ 

Yuduki: ‘I made tea. Have it while it’s still warm.’ 

Tsubasa: ‘Eeh…… Thank you very much…....?’

Miroku (shakes head): ‘....... It’s weird, after all.’ 

Tsubasa: ‘Ah, Miroku-kun. What is the meaning behind this?’

Miroku: ‘Those three were studying about new working adults. They started to talk about choosing someone as their higher-up and pretending to be new members of society in reality.’ 

Tsubasa: ‘What in the world, pretending to be new members of society……? And I am the superior?’ 

Yuduki: ‘We agreed on this direction.’ 

Haruhi: ‘Authorized with just an idea!’

Miroku: ‘You definitely got it wrong, the business jargon. …… Though for some reason the meaning is clear.’ 

Haruhi: ‘Eeh, but it’s the same feeling as the drama we watched, right?’ 

Yuduki: ‘Yeah. They were using katakana in some parts of the dialogues.’ 

Akane (smiles): ‘Tsubasa-chan, do we look like new working adults?’

Tsubasa: ‘Uhm……’

(Just where did they get this information…... It’s obviously wrong, but should I tell them?)

Miroku (sighs): ‘Haah, such a thing. If you look at Tsubasa’s face, you know it. Enough with that, stop with that weird pretend play?’

Yuduki & Haruhi & Akane: ‘Oーkay!’

Miroku: ‘I will do the research for work this time on my own. Don’t do unnecessary things.’ 

(Fufu. Miroku-kun, he looks angry and has a more relaxed expression than usual. He seemed to be insecure about the CM shooting. Maybe the three of them were careful so that they could change the mood.)

Part 3

ーLoungeー

Tsubasa: ‘Good work on the CM shoot.’ 

Ryuji: ‘Thanks….. It ended more smoothly than expected.’ 

Mikado: ‘Yes, we were able to do the photoshoot and it was fun.’ 

Goshi: ‘And later the event, huh. In this state, there probably will be no problems.’ 

Miroku: ‘....... Right.’ 

Miroku: ‘Excuse me, I have something to talk about with Tsubasa. So please go back first.’ 

Goshi: ‘Is that so? Alright, see you.’ 

Mikado: ‘Then, we shall go ahead first.’ 

Ryuji: ‘Bye~.’ 

Miroku: ‘Goodbye.’

Miroku: ‘Tsubasa, sorry for holding you back.’ 

Tsubasa: ‘No, that’s fine. You said talk, I wonder what it could be?’ 

Miroku: ‘There’s something I want to ask you. What kind of impression did you have, when we first met?’ 

Tsubasa: ‘Let me see….. I thought that you were very calm and more level-headed than your age.’

Miroku: ‘Yeah….. Well, it’s like that.’ 

Tsubasa: ‘To suddenly ask something like this, what is the reason for it?’ 

Miroku: ‘In the photoshoot today I was told by the director that I don’t exactly have the feeling of a newcomer, right? Because of that, I wanted to ask Tsubasa about your first impression of me……’ 

Miroku: ‘I do understand that the image of myself is being calm, however I think it’s different from the work’s image this time. And then there’s the event as well. I don’t want to be a bother to the other three.’

Miroku: ‘This is a first for me, so what should I do……’   

Tsubasa: ‘No way, I think it was a lighthearted joke from the director. The photoshoot ended without problems as well. Please don’t worry about it too much. Miroku-kun’s figure in the suit looked really wonderful. So please have confidence in yourself.’

Miroku: ‘I wonder……’

(For Miroku-kun to be so bothered….. I hope he can switch over his feelings successfully…..)  

Part 4

ーGANDARA officeー

(Because I’ll be at THRIVE’s location from noon on today, I need to tidy up the documents during the morning…..)

Miroku: ‘Tsubasa, hello. Do you have a moment?’

Tsubasa: ‘Eh, Miroku-kun? Did you not have a day off today?’

Miroku: ‘Yeah, I have a favor to ask…. I want you to let me work here for one day.’

Tsubasa: ‘Eeh!?’

Miroku: ‘I’ve been thinking about the event’s support message ever since, but I think that it’s easier to imagine if I actually worked.’ 

Tsubasa: ‘I understand your feelings, however, that matter is…..’

Yashamaru: ‘Ooh~, if that isn’t an interesting talk ♪.’ 

Tsubasa: ‘Yashamaru-san?’

Yashamaru: ‘Tono-chan, you want to experience being an office-worker?’ 

Miroku: ‘Yes, I will try the best I can do, so please!’ 

Yashamaru: ‘Fufu, so passionate. Well then, try working as Tsubasa-chan’s assistant for today.’

Yashamaru: ‘Tsubasa-chan, I’m counting on you ♪.’ 

Miroku: ‘Thank you very much. To Tsubasa, too…. No, I will be in your care.’ 

Tsubasa: ‘U-Understood. I look forward to working with you.’ 

(It’s strange somehow. But if this solves Miroku-kun’s worries, then I must do this!)

____________

ーIn a caféー

Tsubasa: ‘I am sorry, the lunch is so late. The meeting dragged on longer than planned.’ 

Miroku: ‘It’s fine, don’t worry about it. We’re more used to it.’ 

Tsubasa: ‘Fufu, I see. How was it, working half a day?’ 

Miroku: ‘It was very interesting. Tsubasa is doing a lot of different work when we aren’t looking.’ 

Tsubasa: ‘That’s right. There are a lot of preparations necessary to support everyone.’ 

Miroku: ‘Preparations, huh….. You also prepared the materials for the meeting today. That was unexpectedly difficult. It was a really great experience today to know that Tsubasa is accompanying us to our locations while doing other works.’ 

Miroku (smiles): ‘Adults have it harder than I thought, huh…. Tsubasa, thank you for everything.’  

(I didn’t expect to be told something like that. He looks level-headed, but he’s still 16 years old after all.)

Tsubasa: ‘I can say the same, it helped me a lot that Miroku-kun lent me his hand.’ 

Tsubasa: ‘From the afternoon on I also have to be at a location, so it’s fine now.’ 

Miroku: ‘I see…. As I thought it’s a bother to come with you to the location. When I have finished eating this, I’ll go home.’ 

(I was surprised at first, but it seems that his mood got better, I’m glad.)

Part 5

ーLoungeー

Tsubasa: ‘Miroku-kun, here are the materials for the next job. I am sorry, the event only just ended, but I’m counting on you.’ 

Miroku (smiles): ‘It’s fine. If I do it, then I’ll do it perfectly.’ 

Tsubasa: ‘I already thought this before during the suits maker job, but Miroku-kun’s attitude of approaching jobs is that of a splendid working adult.’  

Miroku: ‘That’s not true. I think this time was a bit too much even for me. I even came uninvited to Tsubasa’s office, but at that time it was the only thought I had. When I start to think I have to do it all perfectly, I can’t see my surroundings, so I ought to be careful, is what I was told by Akane as well……’ 

Tsubasa: ‘It only means that your feelings towards work are honest.’ 

Miroku: ‘Thanks. But, in the end, it seems like I made Akane and the others worry, too. I really need to be careful.’ 

Miroku (sighs): ‘Even so, how did they think of playing make-believe of new working adults. Moreover, it was a biased image.’

Tsubasa: ‘Fufu, it was interesting somehow. But I think they wanted Miroku-kun to relax.’ 

Miroku (smiles): ‘Probably. Well, it didn’t work very well.’

(So he said, yet he kind of looks happy.) 

Miroku: ‘Tsubasa, if you like, won’t you let me help with work again next time? It was hard, but fun because there were a lot of tasks I’ve never done before.’ 

Tsubasa: ‘I don’t mind. It would be reassuring if Miroku could help me.’ 

Miroku (smiles): ‘I’m glad. It’s fine to think of me as a new employee and give me proper guidance. I’ll be in your care, Tsubasa-senpai.’ 

END

[a-small-tired-lonely-potato]

Pierrot & Ballerina

“Kuro?”

“Yee?”

“... Nah It’s nothing.”

“If it was nothing ya’ wouldn't've asked, now would ya’?”

“Well… Why-... You-... mmm”

“Come on Squirrel just ask me, you know I’m available for all intrusive questions, even the really gross one about adult things. Although if I’m being honest, I was hoping for at least a couple more years of anything but tha-”

“OH MI GOSH SHUT SHUT SHUT IT’S NOT ABOUT THAT!!!”

“Then what is it Lu?”

“... Why can’t I meet our siblings?”

_____________________________________________________________

And to be honest, why can’t she? The old creeper is dead and gone isn’t he? Not to mention whatever voodoo magic that blonde kid did on Gaara made him better… Well not that much better, but at least he isn’t threatening to kill me every five minutes, and let’s be honest I used to think asking for that was like asking for world peace and endless sandwiches.

Not to mention with how great it’s been recently, a simple meeting should be no problemo!

It’s been calm here... really calm actually. You’d think the entire village would be panicking what with the death of the Kazekage, the failed invasion of Konoha, whatever the fucks going on with Gaara.

But no, despite all of that it’s calm?

I know the Leaf can’t exactly accuse us of much considering Orochimaru was responsible for most of the tomfuckery and they did technically unleash him upon the world. But still! You think they would’ve at least demanded something?!

...Fuck I’m paranoid, why can’t I just appreciate this? There’s nothing suspicious about this, Snake-Face only had power here because he stole the Kazekage’s face. Dickbag wasn’t smart enough to plant spies in our ranks or gain any more test subjects while he was in power. He was so focused on the Leaf that he ignored all the power he could’ve gotten from the Sand, the only one he might’ve been even remotely interested in is Obsidian, and he’s already made it crystal clear what he would do if he ever crossed paths with that Snake-Face again.

I know this, I made sure, I’m the only one who made sure!

So why don’t I want her to meet them?

“KUUUROOOOO!! I’M BAAACK!!!”

Speak of the devil.

“Really? Who would've guessed? Oh hey you wanna try that yell again? I’m not sure Mars heard you.”

She snorts and hits my arm before sitting on top of the oak kitchen island. ��Stuff it Miriko’s, you know you're deaf as shit, last time I entered the house quietly you threw a pot at my head thinking I was an intruder.”

I wave my spatula at her before affirming. “That was because I was on a week-long mission and hadn’t slept that entire time, under those conditions even Shari would have thrown that pot at you. And hey, you dodged so what’s the issue?”

As I plate our food out onto plates Luci shrugs and replies. “I don’t know, I once heard Shari stayed awake for three weeks clinging onto the bottom of a carriage in order to carry out her mission.”

“Those are just rumors.”

“Really?”

“Yeah… it was just a week and a half. No need to blow it out of proportion.”

Luci ended up laughing so hard she snorted her milk, but as always, breakfast was great. We stayed there in the kitchen for a while, just chatting. Unlike usual, she could ask me about anything she wanted, no secret missions or classified files to worry about anymore.

I know she won’t tell me herself, but I know me being gone so long affected her in a bad way. Hiragano says she’s getting better about me leaving since our last duo-chat together but I worry about her and our deadlines. Hopefully after the chunin exams the council will let me go solo and my schedule won’t be so finicky anymore.

But I can work on that later, now I have bigger fish to fry.

“Hey Luci?”

She looks up from her paint log and gazes at me questioningly. “Yeah? What’cha need?”

Taking a breath as I calm myself, I reply. “Do you still want to meet our family?”

Her reaction breaks my heart, her eyes light up at my question before remembering our last conversation and turning her face back to her catalog. “Nah it’s fine, we got ta’ much going on for us to have a impromptu family meet-&-greet on top of everything.” She says that, but I know better.

She’s been waiting for this, and she deserves them, they deserve her too. I can’t stretch this out any longer just because of my personal feelings.

“I know our last conversation ended… Abruptly, and I’m sorry for that Lu, I was upset and I should have waited until I wasn’t angry to have that debate with you.”

She crosses her arms on the counter and lays her head on them. “It was my fault too… You just got back from a mission, a bad one too, I should’a waited until you finished dinner at the ver’ least…”

I sigh remembering that truly awful day. I had just gotten back from a mission that went all the worst kind of ways, Gaara had snapped halfway through and killed the target we were supposed to interrogate, Baki had been on my case regarding my untimely disappearances, Temari got her shoulder busted by a enemy while I was out gathering intel, and the ever so “Delightful” Lord Kazekage made me stand for three fucking hours listening to him chatter on about how all of that was my fault and how I should have done better.

All in all, it was the perfect hell. So you can imagine how tired I was when I finally made it home, and when Luci asked me about meeting everyone… It didn’t go well.

“Luci, we both could’ve done better that day, I should’ve postponed it...” I held her hand while tapping her forehead, she lifted her head from her arms and continued for me. “And I should’ve waited.”

As I hold onto her hand I sigh as we both say. “We will do better next time, and there is Always a next time.”

Mantra completed. Now for talkies. ”I think I would be willing to have you meet them, Luci. It’ll be just for a bit, no moving in, no guaranteed future meetings, no proclamations on Family-dom, just a meet-up for lunch and if it goes well, I’ll consider more outings.”

She looks happy but still doubtful. “That sounds great Kuro, but we don’t haf’to, we can wait until my Chunin exams like we planned. I know you’re worried for my safety. We can wait…”

I smile and kiss her forehead. “I musta’ did something real good to get you as a sister Squirrel. I appreciate you so much. And ta’ make sure you believe me, I’m gonna trust you when you say you’re ready.”

I realized why I didn’t want her to meet them. I wanted these days to last forever, her and me, brother and sister, Pierrot and Ballerina. Temari has always had friends, Baki has trusted comrades and loads of subordinates, even Gaara had Yashamaru for a short time, and then his Bijju, and now Naruto. But Luci was all I had, all I have.

Luci was all mine, and in turn I was all hers. My stolen treasure. I wanted to keep it just us forever. But in true Luci fashion, the sparkle in her eyes chased away the last of my doubts. “You mean it?”

I nod my head and answer. “Lucida, Let’s meet our family.”

As she hugs me and whispers. ”Thank you so much Kankuro.”

I can only hope I haven't made a wrong decision...

_____________________________________________________________

*First time writing Fan fiction tbh, not sure how it went. If y'all want more let me know kay? This was just a lil brain drabble I wrote for my comic.

*If Y'all have any questions as always Let-mah-no.

[lyricfrost13]

BNHA/Naruto reincarnation au

Ok ok so the trope is that one character is reincarnated into another world, either as another character or as a new insert in the world right?  I had a kind of cracky idea for this one.  

It’s a bit long but basically a ton of characters from My Hero die during the War arc and are reincarnated as Naruto characters, which changes canon timeline but not a ton at first because they all think they’re the only one. Like, literally Minato is All Might, Aizawa is Kakashi - Team 7 is Izuku (Naruto - trust me I know it’s weird, but nearly-adult Izuku in a child’s body is here to cause problems on purpose), Bakugou (Sakura - the temper and eventually the ability to smash boulders? Yes. I know Naruto and Sakura could be flipped but I have Reasons), and Todoroki (Sasuke - evil older brother, fire stuff, kinda stoic) - there’s more under the cut because I don’t have the energy to write an actual entire fic but I need to put it down. Maybe at some point I’ll write the rest. 

Yagi thought it was a dream for a while.  Thought it was a nightmare, some days - but being Namikaze Minato was oddly satisfying in that he earned every bit of his power along the way.  He was proud of it, the strength and speed and intellect. The only person he ever told about his old world was Kushina - and she believed him.  His heart ached when his team fought and died and fought more - he tried to reach Kakashi in his grief, but the boy wasn’t happy. 

Aizawa doesn’t tell a soul that he’s someone else, that he’s a fraud, not a genius.  He doesn’t dare make a friend in Obito or Rin, still aching because all he can think is Mic and Oboro and his fucking class all gone.  Minato’s sunny smiles in the midst of being a deadly destroyer of armies makes him think of All Might and Izuku, the heroes, the best of them.  It hurts when it’s all taken away, and he uses his knowledge of how not to strain eye-related powers to cover his Sharingan when not in use and dives into ANBU to avoid thinking too hard about everything. 

Touya aches. He’s a genius of his clan, blew his first fireball so hot that it charred his throat for a week and glowed blue-white instead of red. This world doesn’t leave him burned beyond repair, and killing isn’t what makes a villain - but he still becomes one, for his little brother’s sake, because while Fuyumi, Natsuo, and Shouto are gone, he still has Sasuke. (Another suicide mission fueled by revenge - only this time it’s him that has to die in the end, not his father.)  Itachi’s new flames are black, not blue.

Hawks is tired of lies.  So tired of being loyal to a system that’s full of false promises.  He might be a shark instead of a bird now, but he still flies the coop and joins up with a group that comfortably reminds him of the League. 

Izuku grieves everyone - of course he does - in the quiet of his little apartment. He’s reminded again and again of the fact that he’s different for whatever reason.  This time, instead of crying, he shouts - he laughs - he pranks the shit out of everyone to just be noticed for something that’s actually under his control.  If he can’t be the #1 hero, then dammit he’ll be Hokage - the strongest leader he can manage to be. 

Katsuki doesn’t know what the fuck to do. One, he’s become a girl - gender didn’t really matter all that much to him compared to strength and intelligence before, but it was still weird. What frustrated her more was his lack of quirk - explosions had defined Bakugou for so long that frankly, she was still going to research Iwa’s explosion corps and do something about that to add to her repertoire. Somewhere along the line Ino attached to her like the limpet Kirishima and Mina always had - getting up in her personal space without caring one way or another, understanding when she refused to speak, encouraging her temper every once in a while. The one annoying thing is that Ino interpreted her need to get stronger than the current projected Rookie of the Year as a crush.  Which - no. Sasuke was objectively good looking for a kid, but he was also intellectually a hell of a lot younger than Katsuki-Sakura, and he always uncomfortably reminded her of Todoroki. 

Shouto thrives at first - glad not to be the only one with expectations, even if he winces at the idea of an older brother shouldering so much responsibility.  He lives for having an older brother to look up to, to get close to.  He’s a little miffed that his clan’s specialty is fire-based, but hey, at least his father doesn’t expect him to be his successor - until he does. Until Itachi starts going on more and more missions, poking his forehead and saying “Another time, little brother,” more and more often. And then the massacre happens, and Sasuke wonders why he ever trusted that things would be so stable and ok.  He’s going to get strong, drag Itachi kicking and screaming back to Konoha, and rip his eyes out so he never does that again.

...

Kakashi is late again. Sasuke was more irritable than usual - after Wave, their sensei had promised to help him learn the Ice Release that Haku had done, and he’d really wanted to have that in his arsenal to have something more familiar. Sakura and Naruto had begun sparring in their boredom, and in the middle of it, Naruto slipped and hit one of Sakura’s sore spots from the mission.  She snarled.  

“Fucking deku, what the hell!” she said.  

Naruto yelped and fell forward, following through too far on a punch, eyes wide.  Sasuke stared, blinking.  

“Interesting,” said Kakashi’s voice behind them.  Sasuke was staring at Sakura in shock, and Naruto looked like he was staring at a ghost.  Sakura’s cheeks were turning pink. 

“What are you looking at me like that for?!” she demanded.  

“Problem children,” Kakashi said.  All three faces whipped to face him, mouths gaping, eyes wide. 

“ . . . Aizawa-sensei?” asked Shouto quietly. 

“What?” demanded Bakugou.  “All of us?  Who the fuck are-Icy-hot? Deku?” 

“Kacchan!” Izuku’s expression on Naruto’s features was - well.  Kakashi cursed inwardly - had things gone well, fuck, he’d be the kid’s older brother figure.  This wouldn’t have gone this far.  But the elation of not being alone was too much, even with that sting of he was right in front of me and I did nothing.  

“If we’re all back here,” Sasuke said quietly, “Who else might be?”

“Well, this changes things for us, but not for anyone else,” Kakashi explained.  “As far as the world knows, we’re the same as we’ve always been.  However, you studying Iwa explosion tactics and you wanting to learn ice release jutsus makes a lot more sense now.”

. . . 

Gaara had always had it in him to destroy.  From dust to sand to death - it was all the same.  The Ichibi raging against a jagged seal had only exacerbated an already damaged mind, one that couldn’t handle the empty space where All for One used to be. Instead stood rage.  

Yashamaru had helped, for a while. Gaara had almost even considered telling his greatest secret to his siblings - that he was once a terrible monster of a human, Shigaraki - but his uncle’s death shattered that thought quite thoroughly.  That was all it took to turn him once again into a monster, until a kid with another tailed beast inside him raged against his pain hard enough to scrape at his most protected secret: He didn’t want to be a monster or a villain. 

Naruto had that blinding smile as he fought he’d only seen a few times before - on Midoriya Izuku. 

. . . 

When Itachi next faced Sasuke, he had expected pain and rage. 

Instead, his little brother created a prison of ice mirrors, Sharingan flashing as he finished the sequence of signs.  His teammates screamed from outside the dome, and Itachi grimaced as he readied a stance - when had Sasuke learned anything about ice?  Why would he - 

“You’re going to give me answers, aniki,” he said.  “One of which is this: Touya, what the hell?”

Itachi stared.  And stared.  

“You-Shouto?”

“Apologies for not having the hair dye remover and livestream set up, but yes,” he replied.  

. . . 

Shikamaru was . . . well.  He wasn’t an idiot.  Talking about reincarnation and heroes and another life was a way to get a trip to T&I and never leave.  It didn’t mean he didn’t use his skills - Aizawa would be proud of how lazy his son had gotten in his next life, he bet. 

So when he saw Team Seven act a lot differently at the beginning of the chunin exams than he recalled, he was on high alert to find out what was going on. Naruto had learned some level of volume control, Sakura had tempered whatever her issue with Sasuke was, and Sasuke had - not softened, but definitely cooled off.  Seemed more attentive to his teammates. 

And Kakashi had certainly become more present, if the way they were presenting themselves with high-quality gear was any indication.  

Chunin Exams, Sports Festival - didn’t matter, he was still going to prove himself. No matter the fact he didn’t have his quirk anymore, he still kept asking questions. 

“Hey, Sakura.  Naruto. Sasuke. You ready for this?”

“We’re going to pass,” Sakura said. “No other option.”  He raised a brow. 

“You sure about that?”

“Sakura-chan said it, so she means it,” said Naruto.  Sasuke nodded. 

“What about you and your team?”

“Well, it’d be a drag to take the exam again. Guess I’ve got to get the promotion now,” he sad, sticking his hands in his pockets. “Gotta scope out the competition - I’m not here to make friends.” 

All three stiffened, and Naruto’s eyes lit up.  

“Shinsou!” 

Shikamaru spluttered. 

“Wh-what?!”

“You’re not the only one,” said Sakura immediately.  “Shoulda figured, eyebags. Would have thought Aizawa would be a Nara too, but it still fits.” Shikamaru was, of course, reeling.  

“Aizawa’s here?!  Wait, who are you three, then, if you know?”

“I’m Deku,” said Naruto, and yeah, that tracked.  

“Who the fuck else?” asked Sakura, and yep, her temper and Bakugou’s were just about the same amount of hair-trigger.  Which left - 

“And you’re Todoroki,” he said.  Sasuke nodded. 

“Kakashi’s Aizawa.  He’s gonna be really glad that you’re here, Shinsou. Talk to him when you get the chance.”

. . .

“You might be a monster, but so am I,” Naruto insisted as Gaara’s wild gaze turned on him. 

“No, no, I was born a monster,” Gaara insisted. “I destroyed everything I touched, it all was decay, I ended a world -”

Oh. Oh. 

“And All for One’s gone now,” he said. 

The Ichibi’s form flickered, and the sand surrounding the boy flailed whiplike and dangerous. 

. . . 

Naruto entered the seal and frowned.  It - his body, his spirit felt different. Somewhere between Naruto and Izuku. The mindscape shimmered, and a blond figure stepped forward - the First Hokage. But another step forward, and he shifted into someone else equally, no, more familiar. Naruto choked. 

“All Might?!” he gasped. “You’re the Fourth?  But - how - how is this?” he was helpless for words. Minato stiffened, staring at how the spirit before him shifted back and forth between a young man with whisker marks and blue eyes and a mop of green fluffy hair. 

“Izuku? You’re Naruto?” he asked quietly. His son nodded vigorously. 

“It seems I’ve bestowed quite the power and burden on you twice over,” he mused.  “Come here.  It’s not every day a father gets to see his son for the first time in over a decade,” he said, arms open.  Naruto blinked.  

“My - my father?”

“Yes,” he said with a sad smile. “I only ever told your mother about my past life. She even believed me!” 

Izuku-Naruto stumbled forward and sobbed into Minato-Yagi’s shoulder, clutching him tightly.  

“It’s not just us,” he said, “Aizawa and Todoroki and Kacchan and Shinsou and - there’s more out there, I’m sure of it. Not everyone, but more. And I’m going to save them all this time.” 

Minato smiled. 

[munofsilver]

Stuck In Between Chapter 2

This is once again for @gaalee-bingo This chapter is Sharing a bed from bingo bounce card 1. You can read it one Ao3. Summary: After a visit from an old friend Gaara hears some good news. Later on, Lee knows he will have to stay the night, but there is only one bed and two people.

The food was the best thing Lee ate in years. He couldn’t help himself and gobbled it down quickly. Now he kind of regrets it since he has the hiccups. The plates Gaara and Lee were using turned back into yellow leaves. “Where is he getting all these colored leaves?” Lee wonders. It’s spring, and the trees are full of green still. Not to mention Gaara never left the cave since Lee been here. By now, Lee gets it that Gaara lives in this cave, but Lee still has questions. 

With the rain, Lee can’t tell what time it is. He did see some sun not that long ago, so he knows it’s daytime, at least. Now that the hiccups are gone, Lee tries to get some answers. It seems Gaara has something to say. 

“Since you will be here for a while, I should know your name.” 

A red flag enters Lee’s mind. He remembers that if humans give their name to a yokai, they will own you and control you. Lee doesn’t want to be controlled again. He just escaped from that. With another sigh of annoyance, Gaara speaks up again, “Not all yokai can steal a person’s name. The ones that do will try to either force you or trick you into giving it. I only suggested it. I can’t do anything with your name, but if you’re that worried, you can give me a fake one.”

Lee doesn’t have any other name but his own and the one that his captured called him. He is done with that life, so his only option is, “My name is Lee.” 

Gaara’s ears rise, and he looks towards the back of the cave. He puts out the fire and places a hand on the cave wall. It opens as it did before, “Another one is coming.” 

Lee stands up as the cave opening starts it’s closing. Without a word, the young man enters the new opening. Gaara takes his hand off, and it closes. He heads to the back of the cave and claps his hands or together like he was going to pry, only to rub them a bit as he moves them over his head. He opens his hands and brings them down in front of his face, then on the wall. The cave’s back then fades away as four turtle looking creatures come out, followed by another tanuki. The four kappas leave, each giving a little wave at Gaara, while the tanuki stays. 

“Want me to keep it open?” Gaara asked. 

“I can open it myself on this side,” the tanuki said, sitting by a rock. 

Gaara closed his hands, and the wall returned, “What do I owe the pleasure, Shukaku?” 

Shukaku places a leaf on the rock and transforms it into a table. He places two cups and a bottle on the table along with some tasty human treats, “I’m here to celebrate.” Shukaku answered while pouring sake into the cups. 

“Celebrate what? Is my father letting me back into the yokai world, and I can see my siblings again?” Gaara sits down and takes the cup Shukaku slides over. 

“No luck with that, I’m afraid. You can still only visit by chance. I’ll try again next time I see him,” Shukaku raises his sake cup, “I’m here to tell you that you’re going to be an uncle,” Shukaku clings his cup with Gaara’s and gulps the sake. 

Gaara doesn’t move like a deer in headlights, “You mean, Temari is…” “Is with child,” Shukaku cuts off Gaara. 

A small smile appears on Gaara. He’s happy his sister found love. Gaara movies the hair that was covering his forehead and brushed a hand over his mark. “I guess this means she won’t be visiting much for a while,” Gaara takes a sip of the sake. 

Shukaku pours himself another cup full, “You’re father doesn’t know. She wanted me to tell you first,” he slams down his sake, “Kankuro does know.” 

Gaara finishes his sake and pours himself another one, “How is he?” 

“Fine. Still hates the human world. That reminds me he wants me to bring you something,” Shukaku brings out a colored box made out of marble.

Gaara has never seen Kankuro make or own anything so beautiful before. He reaches for it as Shukaku slides it over. 

“He didn’t make it. Kankuro said it belonged to your mother.” 

Gaara freezes in mid-reach. His mother, this was once his mother’s. The thought of his mother made Gaara move away from the box, “I’ll open it later,” he mumbled. 

Once the bottle of sake is gone, Shukaku leaves, turning the table back into a rock. Gaara picks up the leaf that the older tanuki left behind and adds it with the others in his magic leaf box. Placing both boxes on a shelf, he keeps hidden. Gaara traces his hand across the one that was once his mother’s before closing the closet. He starts the fire up again and opens the way for Lee. 

Lee was standing in front of the wall; there’s not much else he could do. There’s not much light, only a small opening that Lee couldn’t reach or climb too. After a while of staring at the wall, Lee looks around this little room. The only thing in the room was a garden. Lee remembered Gaara saying he had one. Lee makes his way towards the garden, but when he got closer, something stopped him. 

Some invisible force was blocking his way. Soon everything got blurry, and Lee felt a bit sleepy. He was about to pass out when he heard Gaara’s voice, “Enough, let the human go!” 

Like that, Lee’s vision returned to normal, and he is no longer tired. He is very confused, “Sorry, that is something to keep others out. I don’t want anyone to damage my garden,” Gaara says as he drags Lee out. 

“I would never do anything to your garden. I only wanted to look at it,” Lee defends himself. 

“I don’t want anyone looking at it either,” Gaara snarled non threateningly. 

“Then why put me in there then?” Lee breaks free from Gaara’s grip. 

“I needed someplace to hide you. Who knows who is coming out of the yokai world or what they will do if they see you,” Gaara growled threateningly. 

“I thought yokai wandered around everywhere,” Lee shyly says. 

“You humans have everything about yokai wrong. For the most part,” Gaara stops walking and turns to face Lee. “One major thing is we usually look nothing like in the pictures you humans drew of us,” Gaara crosses his arms. 

“I can tell since you have a human form,” Lee looks Gaara up and down, “How do you look in your animal form? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“Different than other tanukis,” Gaara looks away, “I hate it.” 

Lee leaves it at that. He doesn’t want to upset his host. On a rock, Lee noticed some rice balls that weren’t there before. “Did you make those?” Lee points to them. 

Gaara looks over his shoulder at the rice balls. Then he focused back at Lee, “No. A friend stopped by and forgot them when he left. You can have some if you want.” 

Lee can’t remember the last time he had rice balls. His father, Gai, would pack him rice balls before Lee heads out sometimes. That was a long time ago, sadly. Does he dare take some? He did have a big breakfast this morning. Lee is starting to get hungry again, so he gives in and takes two rice balls. Leaving one left that Gaara took for himself. 

Little did Lee know that half the day is already gone. Looking outside, Lee can see a patch of less sun until finally, he sees the moon. Something pops into Lee’s head. 

“With all this rain, won’t the animal and humans that live in the forest drown?” 

Gaara looks up from whatever he was doing; Lee couldn’t see, “No. The animals were giving warning before the rain sprite came, No humans live in the forest. They pass through,” Gaara goes back to his thing. 

“Everything will be fine then?” Lee asks, daring to sneak closer to Gaara.

“Always has been. Do you usually worry so much?” 

“Does it bother you?” Lee is behind Gaara now. 

Gaara knows Lee is looking over his shoulder. He doesn’t mind; Lee will have to learn the hard way. There are two light green leaves in front of Gaara; he has already hidden the box. The tanuki places a hand on each of the leaves and closes his eyes. Lee watches in awe, wondering what he’s doing. There was a puff of smoke that made Lee light-headed, and two light green blankets replace the leaves. 

“That’s how you do it,” Lee didn’t know he spoke out loud. 

Gaara doesn’t say anything picks them up, and moves to a rock near the wall on the right. Placing a dead looking leaf on it and more smoke and a bed was there. That could fit two people. 

“Are you suggesting we share the same bed?” Lee’s eyes widen with shock. 

“We’re both males and will have our clothes on. It’s not like we will be doing anything,” Gaara looks at Lee, “You’re not suggesting anything, are you?” Gaara raised an eyebrow if he had one.  

“No, not at all,” Lee raises his hands and shakes them with his head, “I was only wondering, why not make two beds?” Lee pokes his two index fingers together.

It has been years since Lee slept in a bed. He almost forgot what they looked like. Sleeping on anything other than a cold hard floor is welcoming for Lee, even if it means sharing it with a tanuki. 

“I can only make one, but I can make it any size,” Gaara looks at the bed, “I’ll make it bigger next time if you want.”

“It should be fine. Thank you,” Lee smiles. 

Gaara seems confused. Besides his siblings, no one has ever thanked him. Now the young tanuki doesn’t quite know what to say or do. Should he even say or do anything? 

“Ummm. You are welcome,” Gaara slowly says. 

Lee decides he wants to help, taking the blankets, he starts to make the bed, while Gaara stands there watching. Working, Lee starts to hums a tune that Gaara remembers from his childhood. Before he died, Gaara’s uncle Yashamaru would hum the same tune to Gaara every night before bed. Once done, Lee turns around to see Gaara staring at him, looking hurt. Before Lee could say anything, Gaara asks a question. 

“How do you know that tune?” 

“It’s a very well known lullaby in the village I was born,” Lee answers. 

Gaara doesn’t react, but Lee continues, “There are words to it. I don’t remember. My father didn’t know the words, only the tune.” 

Gaara only nods. They stare at each other for a few minutes before Gaara walks away. 

“I have to attend to my garden for a bit. Feel free to go to bed if you want,” Gaara says looking, over his shoulder. 

Lee watches Gaara enter the wall, still unsure how he does that. Lee gets into the bed. It’s nice, soft, and surprisingly warm. Wrapping the blanket around his leg, Lee smiles as he closes his eyes. “I miss sleeping in a bed,” Lee sighs as he rolls to his side back, facing the wall. 

“You don’t sleep in a bed? I thought humans did.” 

Lee’s eyes open wide. Laying next to Lee on his side, facing him was Gaara. He was not expecting the yokai to be back so soon. Lee scouts back a bit. Bring the blanket towards his neck.

“We do sleep in beds. I used to long ago.” 

“Why don’t you anymore?” Gaara blinks. 

Not wanting to talk about it, Lee fakes a yawn, “I’m getting tired. I’m going to sleep now,” Lee pretends to fall asleep. Gaara keeps staring at him, and Lee can feel it. Looking over Lee, Gaara noticed a few small bruises on his neck. Like someone was choking him or wearing something very tight. Look both old and new; some were almost healed. Gaara turns his back towards Lee and drifts off into sleep. 

In the morning, Lee felt something soft around his arms and tickling his ear. He wakes up to see he is hugging Gaara’s tail. He’s facing Gaara, whose back is towards him hugging his big fluffy tanuki tail. It appears that Gaara doesn’t notice, but Lee lets go anyway. Too scared to see if Gaara is awake or not, so Lee acts like he’s asleep. 

“Do you like my tail?” 

Hearing Gaara made Lee pull the blanket over his head to hide his blush. Gaara wags his tail a little. When he knows Lee isn’t going to say anything, he rolls over to face him. 

“I only ask because most of the night, you were hugging my tail while petting it. Keep saying how fluffy and soft it is.” 

Lee can’t believe he did all that and that Gaara noticed it. Was he awake all night, or did Lee hugging his tail wake him up? Perhaps Gaara doesn’t sleep much; he is a yokai tanuki after all. When did Lee start all the petting and hugging? 

“My ears may not be fluffy, but they are soft if you want to touch them?” 

Taking the blanket off his head. Lee is looking at Gaara’s tanuki ears. They flick and turn to the side. Gaara sighs as he gets out of bed. 

“Maybe later someone is coming,” he glanced over his shoulder at Lee. 

He only nods, knowing full well what he means and needs to do. Getting out of bed even though he didn’t want to, Lee walks over to the wall. He is showing his hands to Gaara. 

“I promise I won’t look at your garden.” 

“Don’t worry. The room I’ll open for you will have something you can see and touch if you want,” Gaara walks next to Lee and opens the wall. 

Lee sees Gaara placing his hand on the wall and pushing it. Then the wall opens like before. The confused human will ask later right now he enters the room so Gaara can do what he needs to. If only he can stop thinking about that soft fluffy tail tickling his ear. 

[denwrites]

I’ve seen a lot of (obviously nsfw) Gaara/Naruto fanfics where Gaara has a praise kink, but consider the opposite...

Naruto spends his whole life just wanting to be acknowledged by other people, and it doesn’t even end there. Even after Sasuke “acknowledges” Naruto when they’re both in the academy, Naruto can’t bear to lose that “acknowledgement” from Sasuke. He’s one of those people that can’t accept the fact that some people just won’t like you. He needs to be friends with everyone, and I think a lot of this comes from growing up as an orphan and having most of the village automatically looking down on him/hating him. Obviously being alone an outcast by society sucks, so when he gets his first taste of friendship (Iruka, Sasuke, Sakura, etc.) he is terrified of losing those bonds. He never wants to go back to the loneliness he faced before, and he doesn’t understand that it’s okay to grow apart. 

Naruto grew up around other kids, and even though he was often left out, he got to see how they interacted with each other normally. He saw them make friends and have crushes and develop these relationships that he could only dream about. So, growing up, he would notice when certain interactions were missing from his own life. He would notice that even after making friends, he was known as the “goofball” or the “knucklehead” and sure, he doesn’t mind being known as those things (and is probably somewhat proud of it tbh) but he’s never the handsome one, or the cool one (Hinata thinks so but he’s never shown to notice or realize that). If someone is nervous around him, it’s because they are afraid of Kyuubi, not because they particularly care about what Naruto thinks of them. And Naruto would grow up noticing that...but, at the same time, he feels like he’s lucky to have any friends at all. Anything is better than how it was before he joined the academy, so he doesn’t feel like he has the right to want anything more than that.

And people are always calling him “dead last” or “dumb,” and they’re not exactly wrong (in context). But...when has anyone really given Naruto a compliment? The closest I can think is during the chuunin exams when Sasuke says he wants to fight Naruto because he’s gotten strong (which is maybe another reason why Naruto is unable to let Sasuke go, this was the first person to actually praise him).

On the other hand, Gaara had an isolated childhood, but in a different way. The first few years of his life, he had a pretty healthy relationship with Yashamaru (if I remember correctly). He is still kept away from other kids since he’s 1. the Kazekage’s son and 2. a jinchuuriki that people are afraid of, but Yashamaru is there to make him feel safe and loved and important. So, at least in the beginning, he’s not starved for praise or attention the way that Naruto was. Also, since he doesn’t really get to socialize with other kids ever, he doesn’t know what he’s missing. He doesn’t get to experience other kids and their crushes and friendships and rivalries and all of that. 

Then of course Yashamaru betrays him, and that severely breaks Gaara’s mind. He goes on a rampage, he decides he doesn’t need anyone else and that he’s just going to live for himself, completely independently. It’s unhealthy, and deep down he’s lonely, but at the same time, he’s not really seeking anyone’s approval. He knows (or he thinks he knows) what he is, and he accepts it. He wants to be accepted for who he knows he is, and that’s why Naruto is able to get through to him, because Naruto understands exactly what he’s been through and can accept him for the good and the bad. This is what makes Gaara realize that it’s possible for others to accept him for who he is as well, and he begins to establish relationships with his siblings.

Fast forward three years. Gaara has become Kazekage. He’s friends with his siblings, and many of Naruto’s friends as well. He put a lot of hard work into establishing himself as a respected leader, and I feel like, at that point, he had really come to terms with himself. He knows who he is and who he was, and he knows that things change and that people come and go. He’s happy with his small close-knit circle, and he doesn’t care about outside validation because he’s spent years being independent. The only remaining hurt he has comes from Yashamaru’s betrayal (understandably), but he seems to accept it is what it is.

Naruto spends two and a half years away from everyone, hiding because he’s a jinchuuriki, honing his skills in order to chase down Sasuke. Most of his motivations are external. He comes back to the village and everyone has changes and that is uncomfortable for him (though it’s some consolation that they missed him).

I still can’t think of a time where anyone is openly praising him until after the fight with Pein, where he becomes known as the hero of Konoha...and I feel like even that would be a bit of a hollow victory for him because ultimately he failed and it was Kyuubi that came to the rescue. 

More fast forwarding to when Gaara fights the resurrected Fourth Kazekage during the war. His father tells him that he ordered Yashamaru to kill him. That Yashamaru and his mother really did love him. We see that this finally closes one of the most painful open wounds that Gaara has carried with him for his entire life. This is the point where he really can put his main insecurities to rest and fully heal. The most traumatic events of his life finally make sense, and while they still bring up painful memories, it’s like the hole in his heart has been sealed (I’m explaining this poorly but there’s a really good YouTube video about this by Sage’s Rain called ‘What is Love’). We see later during the Infinite Tsukuyomi that Gaara’s dream is to just have a happy loving family (and Naruto). I think it’s at this point we can see that Gaara is finally completely confident in himself. 

Meanwhile, Naruto makes friends with Kyuubi (”I’m coming for all that hate in you too”). Besides the Sage of the Six paths, no one had ever befriended a tailed beast--but it’s just in Naruto’s nature, he won’t give up, he will make friends, and he won’t let go. He states multiple times throughout the series that he feels like he’s the only one who can understand Sasuke’s pain, and that he’s okay if they fight each other to the death. He “needs” to save Sasuke, he can’t let their friendship get away from him. The second time they fight in the Valley of the End, he does not give up. Sasuke is the one who finally gives up. Naruto needs Sasuke, he needs their friendship, he needs that external validation.

The series (at least the anime and ch. 699 of the manga) end without Naruto becoming Hokage. But wasn’t that his whole goal from the very beginning? To become Hokage because...because he wanted the village to acknowledge him. He deeply craves that love and affection that he was missing throughout his childhood (and adolescence for that matter). The series ends with him “getting Sasuke back” because his real end game was to get that acknowledgement, that attention, that affection.

SO

All of that was a really long-winded ramble-y way of saying that I 100% think Naruto would have a praise kink, whereas Gaara wouldn’t be that affected by praise (at least, not any more than the average person). Also Gaara compliments Naruto left and right, and Naruto would be so weak to that. And once Gaara figured that out, he would be just be nonstop with the praise and the random compliments because he wants Naruto to feel safe and loved and wanted too.

[variantia]

          ❝  Past me was such a coward.  ❞

[chemicalmagecraft]

Foresight is 20/20 Chapter 10

I laid on my stomach and rested my head on my hands. That I was doing it on a surprisingly-comfortable invisible barrier made of pseudomagically solidified air and even moving forward was natural. Honestly, what do you guys expect at this point? And of course my parasol was floating in just the right position that my entire body was covered even with the odd positioning. Because why not? "So what're we doing today?" I asked Gaara.

"I don't know," he said, fidgeting slightly. "Why are you with me?"

"I literally have nothing else to do. Plus we're raccoon eye buddies."

"Raccoon eye buddies?"

I traced my eye markings. "Raccoon eye buddies. I heard you've had trouble making friends in the past, so I figured you might like some company." I shrugged. "But if you don't, I can fly away."

I caught a tiny smile on his lips. "Don't go. Having a friend would be... nice..."

"Stinks that I'm going to have to leave soon... Maybe we should find you a friend who isn't from another village?"

"How do you make friends?"

I opened my mouth to say something, then paused. "I don't actually know, to be honest. The only person I became friends with without random chance playing a part was Naruto-chan, and he... let's just say he would've become best friends with whoever was the first person to actually show him kindness, and that just so happened to be me. Everyone else, one could argue I was guided to them by fate..."

"What about me?" he asked.

I shrugged. "No offense, but I wouldn't be here now if it weren't for Shukaku." He frowned a bit. "That doesn't make our friendship meaningless, if that's what you're worried about." I saw a group of kids playing kickball or something and pointed to them. "Maybe we could ask to join them?" We walked (and floated) over to them. I honestly didn't really know what to say, so I just waved.

"Woah, are you floating?" one of the kids asked me.

"Yeah," I said. "Can we... join? I promise to not use my powers if you don't want me to." I lowered myself to the ground, landing gently on my feet.

"Hey, isn't that the Kazekage's son?" another of the kids said. Gaara tensed up, so I squeezed his hand.

"He's cool," I insisted.

"But my mom said he's a demon."

I scoffed. "He has a demon sealed inside him. Big difference." I shrugged. "Sure, he used to have some trouble keeping the thing down, but I fixed that right up for him. As I said, he's cool."

"Thank you, Kouki-san," Gaara muttered.

I gave him a small smile and said, "So are we going to play or what?"

I was picked first. I guess the team captain figured I'd be awesome at sportsball because I could fly or something. Joke's on him, though, because I'm horrible at all manners of sportsball. Even with my ninja training, I was horrendous. On the other hand, Gaara was somehow the other team's best player. It didn't even look like he was trying to hard, he just... drifted over to the ball and launched it over to the goal net thing. Yeah, everyone ended up liking Gaara a lot more than me.

Just as planned.

Okay well I genuinely am terrible at sports but I totally planned it. It wasn't an accident at all. I am a puppetmaster.

kukukuku~

I floated in the air above Suna, my senses extended as far as I could. I'd caught a faint whiff of... something while I was playing with Gaara and the others. I scanned the area, moving around a bit to get the best feel of whatever I was sensing. Whatever it was, it was vast, almost spread out, and felt a bit like Shukaku but without the malice. It was like the sands themselves were possessed, especially around Gaara.

Come to think of it, I could think of a likely suspect. I drifted to an out-of-the-way alley near the Kazekage's house, sending a beacon to the presence as I flew. It responded to my psychic touch sluggishly, like its mind was damaged or something. It felt like sand slipping through my fingers, but I reeled the presence in. As I leaned on the alley wall, the sand in front of me shifted and slowly rose up in front of me, roughly in the shape of an adult woman. "Yo," I said.

"W͡h̘̠̩̱̬̬̱ͦ̔ͯͮ́ͮ̚o̦̙ ̫͖͐͑a͛́̃̆͢r̓̀̂̿͐̒̊e ̝̮̳͓̯͙ỹ̏̈́ͫ͌͊ͨ͞o̙͚͛͌u͛̏̿ͣ͞?̵͕͈͐̐" the sand witch asked hollowly. "...W͕͇̗̱̠͊ͥ͋ͤͭ̄ͅḥ̶͚̞̞̮ͬ̆̋̓̐ō̼̘͆.͇̠̆ͥ..͏̺ ̪̙͈͒̂̈͘a̡̤͔m I͕̫͎̱̮̗?̲̘̺͓̺͙̲͛͒͒̂̄̾ͩ"

I winced. "You... aren't in the best shape, are you?"

She made a few confused noises that I took as a 'yes.'

I tightened my grasp on her mind a bit. "Right, I'm going to try to help you. Can you tell me your name?"

After a few seconds of thought and me poking around in her nonexistent brain, she said, "I̷̤ͦț̢̞͓̲̟ͅ'̻͕͖͇̣̣ͤ̊̓ͯͩ̅ͦͅs̲̦̹͔ͯ́͒̓.̱͞.͕̩̮̥̦̻̇͊̋ͮ̃ͣͪͅ.̲͖ ̍͑͑ͧ̓ͬ̾͏̙̹̮̜͚̩͍G̠̣̗̪͝ȁ̢͉̥̋r̛̠̘̺͖̬̒̔̓͐̍uda.̘̫̲̬̺͓̇̀ͦ̊̍̿.̡̯͍̯̯̤̳̓́̋̍̒ͧ.ͧ͐̉̎͊" I tilted my head a bit and poked a few bits into place. "N̛o͓͉͎͢,̵̫̫̱ͨ̎ͮ ́ͫ̐͜i͖̱t's̀̏̚ ̨̲̬̓̂Ḱ̬̘͋ar͏u͓̥̞͆̂ͣ͟r̙̃̀a," she corrected herself.

"That's good," I said in a soothing tone. "Now, can you please tell me something about yourself? Maybe any family or loved ones you have? I need you to keep focused on something, anything."

"Th͔r̛e̙͎̜͡eͥ̃̒ ̢c̝̹h̲̹̙̎̉͌͘i͍̦̺l̨d̘̐́ṟ̔e͞ǹ̪͙̞̈̿͡,͔͖̯ a̓̇͂́ ̫̖̳͒ͩ̏d̲̮̖͊̄̿au̴g͕͎̀h̪͉͆̚t̵̐͂̚e͆r̴͔̤ ̥a̟̩̎ͦn͕̱̎̆dͣ̍ͦ ͫ͗͆tw̬̫̲ợ̀ ̴͚̩ͦ̂şo͘nś͍͎ͣ.̸ͪ T̹̫̱e̟͈̟͒̊̒mar̔ͥ̈i̥, K̟̪̝̈́͊ͭañ͙͔̼ͮ̌k̲̋uͧ͆ro,̼̓ ä́̄̐n̦͙͈ͮͭͤd̊ͦ́ ͑̓G͙̞̽͊a̬̾ar̗̥ͦͦa," she said. "I ̏͋alͭ̈́̍so ̎ḧ́̒av̅̚e ͪ̓a ̓br̊̊oͨͨthͯͣ̏eṙ̈́,̐ͨ̐ ̽̓Ȳ̈as͋h́ͩá̅mͪͫaͩͤruͭͦ...̒͒̓"

"Good," I murmured. "Now, this might feel a bit weird, but I need to do this to stabilize you." I took out my newest demon gem, one that I'd made from leftovers from the bandits and some insects I'd managed to attract. Okay, it was only almost done, but it was good enough for what I needed it for. I rammed the gem into Karura's sandy "navel," using it to work some yin-yang magic on the unstable chakra that made her up. Her form evened out and red lines spread from the gem to her arms and legs. Then I averted my eyes. "Aw, ew!" I exclaimed. "Put some clothes on!"

"I have no clothes," she noted.

"Then make some out of sand!"

"I have no idea how to do that..."

"And yet you managed to almost do a jutsu I still haven't figured out yet!" I shouted.

"My mind is still hazy..."

I grumbled a bit and formed a rough "cloth" out of the surrounding sand. "You even made yourself a body out of sand..." I wrapped the cloth around her body. "Right, you have to figure out how to keep that up." I opened my eyes as I felt the chakra of her body taking over the wrapping. Now that she was stabilizing, she looked just about human, only with the red markings and eyes colored like, though not shaped like, Shukaku's. The sand cloth had turned into a sort of cloak that made her really look like a sand witch. "You want to meet your kids now? Just to warn you, though, you've been dead for years, so they aren't exactly expecting you."

"Oh..." She looked very concerned, which was probably a good sign that her mind was becoming less fuzzy. "Oh dear."

kukukuku~

"Heeeey~" I said from outside the Kazekage's window. "Guess what I found today?" Thankfully, his family was already there, so I didn't have to do that much work.

Rasa sighed. "What?"

I smiled a bit. "Actually, it's more of a 'who.' I believe you've met her before, though you probably aren't expecting her." The platform of sand I was standing on floated into the room, deposited me on the floor, then turned back into Karura next to me. "Introducing, for the first time in almost four years, your wife."

"Karura," he gasped.

"Rasa," she scowled.

"Oh right, you were responsible for her death," I said smugly. "Ouch."

"Mom?" Temari asked. "Is it really you?" Karura floated over to her and picked her up, holding her close.

"Temari. I'm so, so sorry I left."

"How did this happen?" Yashamaru asked.

"I don't remember," Karura said, "but I'm grateful it did."

"If I had to guess," I said, placing one hand on my chest, "and I'm sorry to butt in here, but I think I might be the only one here who knows what's going on. So if I'm right, you had Shukaku sealed in her when she was pregnant with Gaara to see how prenatal exposure to Shukaku would influence jinchurikihood, then transferred the raccoon to Gaara, either not caring that she'd die or assuming your medics could resuscitate her because she was only jinchuriki for less than a year. That about right?"

Rasa nodded grimly.

"Right, so obviously that didn't work out quite like you hoped. Don't worry, I can tell you think past you was an idiot. Karura, while dying, found that she loved Gaara so much that she wanted to protect him even after death, so she imbued the sand around her with her will and chakra, or however that worked. In this, her having had Shukaku sealed inside her actually helped, as some of Shukaku's power was left over in her, so it ended up a success despite the fact that she didn't have much knowledge on the subject of yin-yang release, which would have otherwise been vital for that jutsu. 'Course, it still ended up rough, causing her to be scattered and unable to properly gather herself. The existence that was once Karura was scattered to the winds, spread about a wide area of sands and expending so much effort to simply exist that she couldn't do anything, with one exception that I do believe is still in effect." I licked my lips and pointed at Gaara, shooting a demon gem at him fast enough that it'd hurt.

The sand blocked it.

"What was that for?" Rasa, Yashamaru, and Karura simultaneously demanded of me.

I shrugged. "Its trajectory was curved a bit. Looked like it'd hit him, enough for Gaara's still-active defense to catch it, but it would have missed if it wasn't caught. As you can see, a part of Karura was... anchored, I suppose, to Gaara, creating an automatic sand defense." I turned to the door. "Right, you guys probably wanna catch up, so I'mma go work on my seals or something now."

"Wait," Karura said. "There are still holes in my memory."

"Those'll hopefully clear up over time, though unfortunately some stuff is probably lost for good... Can't really do too much more for you. The best thing is probably to try to jog your memory, which I'm pretty sure your family and douchey ex can do better than me."

"Douchey ex?" Rasa asked.

"Until death did you part," I said with a grin. "That's the rules, right?"

Rasa blinked. "...Well you're not wrong. And Karura, I honestly wouldn't put it past you if you wanted to leave me."

"Yeah this is the part where I disappear and let you guys have a heartfelt reunion and however KaRasa's going to go." I grinned as I activated the Transparent Escape Jutsu. "And yes, that was a pun!"

kukukuku~

"Right, so maybe you should stay up on full moons," I told Gaara as I was checking the seal after his horrible, nightmare-filled sleep. "Default won't break at all under the light of the moon."

He rubbed his eyes a little more. "That was unpleasant..."

"Yeah, well at least it looks like it'll only be once every thirty days," I noted. "That should be manageable, right? Better than thirty times in thirty days."

He sighed. "I'm going to miss you when you leave..."

I gave him a small smile. "Don't worry, you can always find me..." I poked him in the chest. "...Riiiiiight here."

"But I would like to be able to talk to you more..."

"I know, I was talking about how you should theoretically be able to use Shukaku's power to telepathically contact me from anywhere in the world."

His eyes widened, and I could see a small twinkle in them. "How?"

"See, there's this thing called biju telepathy that biju have, and any two sources of the same type of biju chakra can be used as a sort of relay for it. You have Shukaku and I absorbed just enough of his power from the seals you guys sent me that I gained his power, which means that we're linked. Now, I should note that because of the seal I placed on you, any time I'm calling you, you'll get a notification from your seal and have to manually allow it. Now let's teach you a new psychic power!"

kukukuku~

"That was delicious~" I sighed in delight after finishing my dinner of the third day, this time some heavenly chicken tikka. "Thank you for the meal~. So how's my favorite chakra spirit ghost thing doing after a full day of life and activity?" I asked.

She poked at her food. "I still have no idea how I'm eating this..." she muttered.

"Magic?" I offered. "You holding up alright?"

"I don't feel as scattered as I did before. That's good, right?"

I shrugged. "I've literally never had to deal with a situation like this before, but that sounds about right." I stood up. "Now, I think it's you're bedtime, Gaara-chan. Let's see how the seal's doing today."

"But I want to stay up," Gaara protested.

Karura wagged her finger. "No 'buts,'" she said, then smiled. "Tell you what, I'll tell you a bedtime story. I've missed the opportunity to do that for too long."

Gaara smiled. "Okay, mother."

kukukuku~

"Goodbye!" I waved to my sendoff party as I mounted my lindwyrm. "I'll miss you all! I wish you the best!" I slumped back into Gai's chest. "And I'm pooped. G'night, Gai."

The journey home wasn't as eventful as the journey there. If there were any bandits, they were scared off by my giant monsters long before I even noticed them. I managed to make a new demon gem with all of the bugs that my gems attracted when we set up camp for the night, especially once we hit the forest. There were a lot of bugs in the forest. Never thought I'd say that positively...

"We're back," I said with a smile as I looked at the gates. "Suna was nice, but I was starting to miss home."

"Yes, Konoha is a nice place," Gai said. "Though I must admit that I'll miss being able to train in both hot and cold environments..."

"Pretty sure you're more than fine on the training front already, dude..."