#and sasuke will be here next chapter

[every-jiraiya]

[zuzu-draws]

can we see all the doodles you've made on your screen tablet (??) so far? Please?

I was determined to use the drawing tablet to finally draw something, so i doodled this last night:-

hahaha.. I can't help but think that their fight is a liiiittle bit similar to that one concept in Naruto where Naruto and Sasuke attempt to understand eachother's feelings through their fists, hence Gojo was able to recognize Sukuna's loneliness and inability to understand love, and tried his best to convey his own emotions to Sukuna through the fight.

But on a more comedic note, Gojo has a thing for people who are able to kill him, and Sukuna's out here irritated, annoyed, and quite frankly, a little confused with the recent trend of people's obsession with trynna teach him about love. (Maybe he has made a mistake incarnating into this timeline????)

FFS the man is currently trapped within Yuta's ""True Mutual Love ❤"" Domain atm, its February and i think the next chapter's physical copy is releasing on Valentine's Day, whats with all of this symbolism!!!?!!

[jojomiwbvb6]

The Shower Scene, Pt. 4

Taglist: @emzandthevoid @mentallynot-here @bloodymug @sprokat @princesspeach-00 @ghoulsquad @missduffsblog @yeehaw-my-guys @lma1986 @artificialbreezy

Author's Note: I apologize for taking so long to do this chapter! I have had a bit of writer's block and I have been busy doing a lot lately. This will be the finale to this series, I really hope you enjoy! Feel free to give me more ideas! I was thinking of writing some Sasuke or Itachi fics as well.

Warnings: 18+, MDNI, NSFW. Extremely long and descriptive smut, unprotected p-in-v (be safe about it, or use condoms please), overstimulation, degradation, praise, oral (female receiving), punishment, spanking, swearing, squirting, casual alcohol consumption

PSA: this is very obviously a work of fiction, and should in no way be taken seriously or literally. this piece of fiction uses real people in fictional and fantastical mindsets--and it is in no way a representation of the real person or who they are as a whole. Thank you for coming to our ted talk.

--

Atlanta.

The humid wind hits your face, the city never motionless around you. You inhale the air, closing your eyes and letting your body relax. Your nerves are completely jumbled and overstimulated as your mind mulls over the past week so far.

The pictures of yourself flash through your head. Noah's words flooding your mind. You can't escape the anxiety it brought you, and the excitement of your actions.

You stared at your feet, black vans reflected against tan concrete as you stood against the bus. Twiddling your thumbs and exhaling heavily, you turn to Davis as he approaches you.

"Hey, kid! Some of the guys were just thinking of exploring the botanical gardens and the zoo and maybe going for some grub, wanna come?" He smiles at you, raising an eyebrow for an inviting answer.

"Shit, bro, I'm down." You agree and smile back. It was the first day off in over a week and you were grateful for it. You were looking forward to moments with Noah, but you also needed to get out and do something else for once.

As you and Davis caught up with the group, consisting of both you two, Ruffilo, Noah, Matt, and Jolly (the rest went off to do other things), you could hear their jesting and cackles even from a ways back.

"Morning guys!" You say, smiling and out of breath.

"Hey (Y/N)!" You were greeted by multiple of them.

Noah turned, walking backwards. "Hey, (Y/N)," he smirks lazily, waving his hand, drawing his eyes over you subtly and licking his lips.

You huff, catching his eyes and offering a suggestive smile. "Hi, Noah." He smiles back at you, and then turns back around to continue walking. You admire his long, toned frame as he took smooth strides forward.

--

All of you thoroughly enjoyed the relaxing and wondrous vibes of the gardens and the culture of the city. Having been walking and exploring for over 2 hours, you all decide to pause your activities for a bit of lunch.

"What should we eat? I'm starving, man," Ruffilo comments.

"Hmm. Haven't had Chipotle in a while," Davis replies.

"How about sushi?" Matt adds.

You're silent. Honestly, you're so hungry, you don't even care what you guys eat. Anything sounds good.

Noah steps up beside you. "Sushi sounds fuckin' fantastic," he agrees.

When the others aren't paying any attention, Noah leans into your ear quickly and quietly, "I'm hungry for something else, though."

You almost gasp when he leans away, giving a quick caress to your ass while the others are walking away. He casually smirks at you, continuing to walk in the direction of the Japanese sushi bar on the corner.

Your face felt hot, and you were fighting the frustrated blush that crept up your face. You were nearly hyperventilating and you couldn't help it. You took a deep breath of the next gust of Georgia wind that caressed your face, composing yourself and catching back up with the group.

--

"Fuck, this hits the spot dude." Matt comments, and you're nodding along with the rest of the guys.

"Hell yeah."

You're all sitting at the table, a whole boat of sushi in front of you and then some. Ruffilo is sipping on sake while all of you make small chit chat.

"Hey! Ruffilo! Let me try some of that," you say.

"Ever had sake?" Ruffilo says.

"No," you state, taking the small white cup from his hands.

"What!" You hear half of the table exclaim, with pleas of interest in you trying the drink.

You slowly take a sip. Instantly the taste of the Japanese alcohol hits your tongue and you're writhing. "Yuck! Oh! That's revolting!"

Cracks of laughter erupt from the table. Soon, you are laughing as well.

"That's enough of that," you joke.

After lunch, you all go shopping and walk around downtown. After several hours of being out and having free time the whole day, it was time to return to the hotel that was booked for the night. In the morning, you would quickly pack up and shuffle back onto the bus for Orlando, Florida.

--

Walking away from the bus with a suitcase in hand and backpack over your shoulder, you step into the hotel. You stop at the front desk to get your keycard from the receptionist.

"Room for (Y/L/N), please."

"Ahh," she pauses, typing on her keyboard. "We don't have a room here, I'm afraid..."

You frown. "All of these rooms should have been pre-booked," you state. Your mind frantically searches for a solution. You begin to list the several names of the other crew members and band members, but most were already in their rooms. You thought of one more name.

Oh, you thought. He didn't!

"There may be another name," you try. "Sebastian?"

The receptionist, looking mildly annoyed now, huffs and types in the name. You ignore her annoyance, watching patiently. A look of resolve crosses the receptionist's face. You feel hopeful.

He did.

"Hmm," she says. "It appears one more keycard is available for this room. Just sign this document and you may have your keycard."

You fill out the appropriate paperwork, signing on the line. The receptionist pulls the paper back to her and slides the keycard across the counter. You exchange your thanks.

"Room 207, 3rd floor." The woman tells you and turns away.

You don't waste anymore time. As you walk down the hall to the elevator, the smirk on your face grows 10 miles wide, confidence enveloping you.

You knew exactly why he'd done it, and frankly, you weren't about to protest. Your heart slams into your chest with every sound of your heels and the roll of the suitcase wheels on the carpet.

You take a deep breath as you step onto the elevator.

--

207.

The silver numbers glint as you stand parked in front of the door. He was inside there already, waiting for you to come in. You exhale shakily as you grip the door handle, and you hesitate.

Closing your eyes, you begin to smirk. This is what you've been fiending after for several weeks. Taking another deep breath, you slide the keycard into the door.

The lock clicks and you twist the handle, allowing yourself into the room.

You analyze your surroundings. One lamp is on in the dimly lit room. A small walkway leading into a rather spacious double bed. There was a desk to the left, and a mini kitchen straight ahead. The bathroom immediately to the left. Without paying further attention, you walk to a bed and set your bag down on it.

You didn't seem to notice Noah, maybe he'd left the room for something. You shrug, bending over to open up your suitcase and lay it out.

Without you noticing, Noah slips out of the bathroom and leans against the wall, examining the rear view you're giving him.

"Well, well, already bending over? Princess, I haven't even taken off your clothes yet," Noah chuckles darkly.

You swear you jump 10 feet into the air, yelping loudly. If he hadn't scared you, his words would've gone straight to your core. "Noah Sebastian, for crying out loud!" You laugh and smack his shoulder. "Don't do that!" You both share a chuckle.

You can feel Noah decreasing the distance between you two and your laughter begins to fade. Noah's eyes flutter over you, landing on your eyes, your mouth, your breasts, feeling overwhelmed pleasantly.

You found yourself licking your lips. You begin to turn away.

Faster than the flick of a wrist, Noah's hand shoots up, gripping your jaw and squeezing your cheeks together. You are both silent, the tension shooting higher than ever.

You go to grab his hand and you are immediately caught by his other hand. He grips your wrist tightly, but not painfully. Noah's eyes change into dangerous slits and a playfully evil smirk takes over his features.

"The way that you have been torturing me has been driving me insane," Noah whispers into your ear. You want to collapse on the spot.

He begins walking you slowly backwards.

"You've been such a fucking brat, too, getting me hot for you at the worst times..." His hot breath fans your face, your own breath quickening in pace.

"The only thing I can think about is how I'm going to having you praying to me when I'm done ravaging you." You feel your hips hit the desk behind you.

"Noah..." you whisper.

He pulls at your face until you're eye to eye with him. He chuckled darkly.

"That's my fucking name," he growls into your ear. "And you're never going to forget it."

His hands leave your face and your wrist. Gripping your hips, he lifts you onto the desk and shoves you on it. He pulls you against his own hips, and his left hand rises to tangle in your hair.

Noah's cologne invades your senses, addicted to the scent. He tugs at the strands, inflicting a raspy moan from you. "How beautiful," Noah mumbles, helping himself to your inviting lips.

You both kiss as if life were going to end. His fingers flex against your clothed hips, pulling at your shirt and caressing you. Your tongues slipped against each other, nipping and suckling at each other's lips.

You wrapped your legs around Noah's hips, pulling him closer. Noah pulls away from your lips. Smirking, he pulls up your shirt with ease and tossed it away somewhere on the floor behind you.

"Such pretty, pretty tits..." he drawls, giant hands cupping them and he flicks a nipple. You gasp. Noah moves up your body, leaning over to envelope a taut nipple into his warm mouth. He flicks at it with the tip of his tongue and you moan quietly.

He pops off of you and smirks wickedly, and feigns a look of concern. "Is that just too much pleasure for you? Should I stop?"

"N-no! No, please, don't stop," You almost choke.

Noah stands. His bulge is prominent against his sweatpants and you almost drool. It seems so big and you can't focus on anything but the need you feel. Your core is hot and you squirm.

"Such a needy fucking slut." He pulls your body forward, running a hand oh-so-low but not enough.

You mewl as his fingers creep to your covered pussy and slowly tease the bud.

"Mmm.." you groan and Noah chuckles.

"Like that, babygirl?"

You nod.

"Too bad." Noah stops and you whine. "Enough of that. Strip,"

"Yes, sir."

Noah chuckles. "Such good manners for me. So desperate."

By now, you're a puddle of pleasure and you want it to swallow you whole. Noah sits on the edge of the bed as you peel your pants off your shaking legs. You remove your panties, tossing them aside.

"So pretty," he comments. "Come here and lay across my lap."

You obey, positioning yourself across his lap.

"Before we begin, is this something you're okay with me doing to you?"

"Absolutely," you confirm. "I can take it."

Noah hums in understanding. "Such arrogance. You will learn."

His hands begin to touch and caress the flesh of your behind, shaking the cheeks and watching them jiggle with satisfaction. He rubs in slow circles. His hand leaves your ass, forming a cup-shape, and crack.

The first spank stings, and you gasp out. His hand returns to rub the welt.

"Here's how this is going to go. You will get five spanks for our first time. This is your punishment for being such a slut," he rubs slowly. "If you fail to complete the spanking, I'll fuck your mouth. I won't stop if you choke or gag."

You whimper and nod your head.

"I'm glad you understand. If you succeed, princess, I'll have a taste of you for myself."

You mewl, squirming in his lap. "Now, now," he warned you. "Count for me." You nod frantically, wanting so desperately to please him. Although, you wouldn't complain if you failed the test.

The first two spanks were easy. His hand fell on tandem and you dutifully stated each number with each gasp and whimper he pulled from you. You really didn't think you could fail, how could you? Sure, it stung a little, but you could handle it.

As "three" fell from your lips, the usual soothing rub came to ease the sting.

"Everything okay, princess?"

"Yes, sir."

"May I proceed?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good girl," he whispered, making you squirm. He chuckled darkly. He pulled apart your cheeks, and leaned down. "Mmm, princess... so wet for me. Oh, I bet you're just aching. Let me help you..."

Noah dipped his fingers in between your legs. His fingers slid between the wet folds and you jolt. His other hand keeps you still and you're left victim to his merciless tease. He softly rubs into your wet heat and you're left mewling against his leg, head hanging.

Noah rubs the tip of his middle finger into your clit. "How's that?"

You nod frantically, unable to speak against his onslaught. At your response, he removes his fingers from your heat and resumes the next spank. The fourth spank is rougher and harder than the last.

"F-four!" You cry out, struggling to hold the composure that remained. "P-please, Noah, I--"

"Hush," he demanded. He caressed the welt, the red marks on your ass much to his liking. "One more for me, princess. You can do it."

Without any warning, Noah's fingers slip once again against your heat. Only this time, he doesn't relent. He teases and pinches your clit and you squirm, earning a dark chuckle from him.

Noah slides his fingers up to your entrance and sinks one finger inside of you and you moan.

"Noahhh, this isn't fair!"

"Be quiet, and don't you dare cum, or you lose," he threatens, and you obey with whimper after whimper as he pumps his finger in and out of you.

He adds another finger, and begins assaulting your clit with the other hand. You're an absolute mess against his lap, his fingers scissoring inside you and rutting against your g-spot. Bliss and pleasure overwhelms you, getting close to the brink as Noah's fingers continue to pump into you, faster and harder.

Your whimpers begin to form into cries, pleading for him to let you cum. Your eyes begin to roll back and you're trying to push back onto his fingers to get more from him.

"You like that baby?" He whispers in your ear. "Gonna cum?"

You nod, mouth agape. Noah smirks and removes his fingers entirely. You groan in frustration, and, as sly as he is, catches you off guard with the fifth and final spank.

Your brain almost can't comprehend the pleasure your body feels, the sting sending you into shock and you almost forget your task.

"F-f-five..." you stutter.

His large, long hands caress both cheeks of your ass and a kiss is planted onto the red welt on the swell of it.

"You're such a good, good girl, princess. I'm impressed. Good job," Noah praises you. "Lay down on your back for me."

You slowly get up and crawl onto the hotel bed mattress and lie down on the cushiony pillows.

"Spread your pretty legs, don't be shy."

You let your legs fall apart, spread against the sheets. Noah sucks in a breath and hums in satisfaction. He crawls up the bed to you, pulling his shirt off and tossing it aside as you had. Your eyes feast on the tattoos covering his body.

"God, princess, you're so fucking wet," you moan at his words and he dives in. Noah's tongue licks a wet stripe up your core from your entrance to your clit. You cry out, hands immediately finding his hair. Noah hums and you quiver, the vibrations stimulating you.

He licks into your folds with fervor, as if he hadn't eaten all day. His tongue dances and pokes at your entrance, pleasure spiking and you're squirming against his mouth. Noah laps at your clit, boldly taking the bud into his mouth and sucking at it. He then takes it into his mouth, swirling the sensitive area against his tongue, dancing in circles.

"Noah!!" you cry.

You arch your back, eyes rolling back as you grip his hair and pull, and he groans. Noah adjusts his position, shoving your legs up and he dives deeper into your pussy. He shoves his tongue up into it, swirling it and shaking his head like a rabid dog. You're practically crying out, thrusting against his face and leaving it a wet mess.

Offering you his fingers again, he dives against your clit once more, nipping at it and sucking it; this time, he aids his mouth with his fingers. Thrusting two digits in, his long fingers find your g-spot again. He mercilessly pokes at it, unrelenting with his tongue and fingertips. You're moaning and a mess and it's almost too much.

Your eyes see nothing but stars in the back of your head and you're moaning loudly. You cum and rut onto his mouth. "Fuck, fuck," you gasp.

Noah pops off of your pussy. "Tastes... so good..." he gasps. "I want more."

"I want you so bad, Noah," you whine. "I want you to fuck me."

"What a dirty mouth," he comments, stinking a finger in your mouth as he caresses your jaw. You wrap your lips around his finger and lock eyes with him. You suck and lock eyes with him. He smiles, and removes his finger.

Noah removes his pants and slides his boxers down his slim legs. The only thing you can do is lay there, mouth agape at the beautiful artwork before you. You bite your lip, you just can't wait.

He comes back to you, and you gasp in surprise when he forces your legs against your chest. Noah captures his lips in yours and lines his cock up with your entrance. He wastes no time in sinking in slowly. Due to your wetness, he slides in easily and sinks in as far as he's able. You're both gasping and long moans escape from your mouths and the intense heat between each other's legs.

He begins to move slowly, enjoying the teasing ways your walls grip his cock, threatening to take him deep.

"Fuck, baby... your pussy is just so fucking wet..." he mumbles. A low groan erupts from him, eliciting a moan from you.

His pace begins to quicken and he ruts in deeper. He just can't help himself when you give him the go-ahead by moaning louder.

Pretty soon, the room is filled with explicit sounds from the two of you. The sound of skin slapping fills the room and you're moaning. You're both mumbling the dirtiest phrases to each other, getting each other hotter and higher.

"Fuck" is the only word you chant as he thrusts into you like his life depends on it. He's fucking you hard and unforgiving.

"This pussy is mine," Noah growls into your ear, and you moan.

"Noah!!" You cry as his pace picks up, desperate and greedy. Skin slaps skin, near stinging, relentless. You can't help it when you cum, creating such a sinful sight for Noah as your wetness coats your legs and his cock.

He growls. "Fuck, I'm not done with you yet!" He pulls out and turns you over into doggy, pushing your stomach down and pulling your ass into the air.

He enters you again, finding his rhythm. Pulling you back against his hips in every thrust.

"Take me, take me, take me," you cry out.

Noah groans, picking up his pace. He twists his fingers into the strands of your hair, pulling your head back. He pounds into you, and at this angle the pleasure is overstimulating as his cock hits your spot over and over. He pulls you further back, forcing you to rise to your hands, the pace unforgiving and tears fall down your cheeks.

"Noah!" You cry once more.

Juices run down your legs as you cum one more time, but Noah doesn't seem to be done. You're worn out and fucked into bliss, drooling against the pillow. You can't think and your voice is hoarse.

He groans loudly, letting you know he's almost ready. You push back on his cock and he growls. Wrapping a hand around your throat and squeezing gently, he begins fucking in quick ruts. "Fuck, princess, (Y/N)!"

He pulls out of you, his cock glistening and pulsing as his cum shoots out in pearls against your stomach. You moan, but Noah isn't done.

His hand goes to your clit and he smirks. You cry out at the fast quick pace he uses on you, his fingers insert inside of you to smash against your g-spot in one final assault.

"Cum, (Y/N), one more for me," he insists. He doesn't stop, and quickens his pace.

"Noah, please!" You beg, too overstimulated and sensitive.

He doesn't listen, yet urges you towards an orgasm that feels like a tsunami coming for you.

It happens before you can stop yourself, your cum coming out in such a powerful wave that you squirt a little, making such a mess.

This absolutely pleases Noah and he smiles. "Perfect." He kisses your cheek. "You are wonderful." He praises.

You both lay there, panting and laughing, praising one another.

"Shower?"

"I think so."

[maoam]

Chapter 182 (beginning of Sasuke retrieval arc).

Chapter 214 (near the end of Sasuke Retrieval arc, 32 chapters after the first image). I think everyone can see the obvious foreshadowing and call-back Kishimoto made here.

Chapter 450 (beginning of the Five Kage Summit arc).

心中 (Shinjū) - double/lovers suicide.

Chapter 486 (End of Five Kage Summit arc, 36 chapters after the first image).

Random mention of double-suicide and someone not being able to let the person they're in love with go. Naruto suggesting double-suicide to Sasuke because he can't bare to let Sasuke go. He wants to be with Sasuke in the next world, and is ready to leave his dream and everyone else behind for Sasuke.

Kishimoto is a big fan of Chikamatsu Monzaemon, (I have mentioned this many times, he used his name for the creator of puppetry jutsu in Naruto) who was literally known for his double-suicide romantic plays. The idea of being together in the next world because you can't be in this one is a famous romantic trope and very popular in Japan. SS shippers will bring up the most obscure proof for SS, but they will close their eyes for this blatantly obvious proof that Kishimoto intentionally wrote Naruto and Sasuke romantic. This is not a brotherly dynamic written here, not in any sense of the word. Unless you are illiterate. So yes, keep saying Kishimoto does things "accidentally" when I literally over and over again show you plainly that he does use literary tools like any writer does, in this case FORESHADOWING.

Kishi knew what he was doing ❤️ Naruto is a love story. This post is for the reading comprehension gang.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

july 2024 savanaclaw + 4koma manga updates

There's no Episode of Octavinelle chapter this month! It should also be noted that the next chapter for the Episode of Savanaclaw won't be out until DECEMBER. With that news out of the way, let's get into this month's updates ^^ (It's a lot of me screaming)

Aaaaaah, I'll never get over how pretty this mangaka draws Leona's eyes and hair 😳 LIKE LOOK AT THAT HEAD TURN BACK SHOT, DOES HE NOT LOOK LIKE HE'S A MODEL MAKING A TURN ON THE CATWALK???? ?? ? ????? ? ?? Vil... eat your heart out 🤡 (This probably is not what I should be focusing on in a chapter full of action and high stakes qwegkuvqwoevqwdsa)

The way the other characters are reacting to Leona's UM really lets us see how powerful King's Roar is! You can see how their bodies are being pushed back by the sandstorm, how they're physically bracing themselves against it (like Riddle, Ace, and Grim) or even having their vision obscured and struggling to breathe in the new dry environment (like Deuce).

I didn't share them here, but we also see Leona blowing through many Savanaclaw mobs. The sheer magnitude of power on display is really amazing--and I can see why his UM sparks fear in others.

AYO RUGGIE YOU GO He leaps at Leona and attaches himself to his dorm leader in an attempt to try and get him to stop...

(Warning: lot of barking incoming)

HUH????? ? ? ? ? ?? ? ? RUGGGIEIEKZ/???? ? ? ?? ?? ? ? v LEONAKL88onanasan???a?A/a/a///A//???????v? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?ohy mMYG FUFDSKDCKCIUNG GOAFKDk dsmdasnkdfsjlbyadosibiyoadsobadfbiyoegwofaegsouqetqfe LE*inAIBN na GRABBED HJSJUIJN IM BYT THE FFUCKINGGF F NNEDCKKKK>>>>>>????v?v?v??v?v?v?v? 😱 LOOkm at thhHOW RUgigie'es sa FACE AIj ssamS BREAKJGN???? ?? ? ? ? ? ? ? GSITHE SKING IS CRACKIXNG GFAN D TURNING NTO SAND ANDN LOEONA JUST DONES'T JBI EF VE A SINGLE SHITAS RUGIGIE SI WRITHTING OVER HERB E OTL

It's not like seeing Ruggie in this state is anything new; the dialogue hints at it in the game and the light novel also has an illustration of Ruggie with his skin cracking from Leona's UM. It's just... something about seeing it depicted across multiple frames + the sheer desperation in Ruggie's face (and the close-ups, MAN, the close-ups) really amplifies the emotions.

THIS IS LITERALLY THE SASUKE CHOKE MEME, ID ON'T TKNOW WHETHER TO LAUGH OR TO CRY OR TO BE WORRIED FOR TRUGIGIE

MAYBE ALL THREE 😭😭😭

DAHLBEFQBOUFQEYVIQEFYFQEBIPFOA But also there's a part of me screeching about L*ona gripping your neck like that while glaring at you like you're garbo 🤡

Here's the part where Riddle attempts to collar Leona and fails. Again, I MUST stress how well this mangaka draws Leona's hair and eyes, they are UNMATCHED.

OKAY FIRST IT WAS HUGGING RUGGIE'S NECK, NOW YOU'RE GRIPPING HIM BY THE HAIR????? Leona's handling the perceived traitor so callously 💦 The way Ruggie is looking back up at him, too... Caught up in Leona's shadow and glaring at him with such defiance... declaring that he will never EVER give up.., contrasted with how broken and empty Leona looks before he lets go of Ruggie... telling him to just give into despair… It's a lot of complicated feelings going on right now. As the Savanaclaw light novel elucidates, Leona was afraid of his own dorm members looking to him for leadership, afraid that they would make him hopeful again--because he expects to be let down like he has all those other times he tried to prove his merits. Now everything leading up to this point has proven him right, toppled that hope he had built up because he let himself be taken in by the starry eyed students under him, Ruggie included. AND NOW LOOKING AT RUGGIE, ON THE GROUND AND IN DESPAIR, IS A REFLECTION OF LEONA'S OWN FEELINGS... BUT HE WON'T LET HIMSELF CRY OR BE WEAK LIKE THAT 💀

WOW UH This feels really different from how the same "Leona tried to sand Ruggie" scenes played out in other interpretations of TWST. Here, we more clearly see that, despite the interruption of Riddle trying to collar Leona (which made Leona drop Ruggie for a second), LEONA JUST TURNS RIGHT BACK AROUND AND FULLY COMMITS TO SANDING RUGGIE????? That's so stone cold 😭 Look at the lack of care in Leona's eyes???? They're so blank, he has entirely given up :((

What a way to end a chapter...

Now for a complete tonal shift--

This month's 4koma (there's only one "segment") stars Sebek, who is receiving praise from Crewel for having the top exam score! Ace and Sebek proceed to work on Enigmics/Magic Analysis together. They are stated to share this class together in the game, so that's a consistent bit of lore for ya! In the end, Sebek's able to pull a transportation spell by visualizing where Malleus is. He earns an apple from Crewel for being a "good boy"!! Sebek is then asked to teleport the apple to Malleus and Lilia to demonstrate his mastery of the skill, but accidentally teleports a ton of them.

That's it for this month! A little less content than usual, but still quite substantive. We're getting down to the wire; soon we'll see both Leona and Azul's OBs!!

[twomiddlefingersforthehaters]

Sasuke and his trouble: When you really love and care someone, you can't hide it.

☞ Offering his bento

Right before this scene, Sasuke gives a grand speech to Sakura about he needs to pass this exam to get his revenge. Even though he knew full well that if he shared the food he would be disqualified and not allowed to train as a shinobi… but… when he saw Naruto's face he threw everything away and risked his ninja career as well.

☞ Sasuke asking Sakura not to divulge about his Curse Mark to Naruto

When Naruto asked her about Sasuke's mark, Sakura remembers what Sasuke told her in the Forest of Death. The next thing we see is Sasuke asking her to promise him not to tell Naruto about the curse mark because he doesn't want to worry him.

This scene has appeared twice in the manga... once in this chapter (69) and the other in chapter 178. From her recalls in ch. 69, there was this dialogue that sasuke says: ｢いいか...これもチーム ワークだ｡｣ = ī ka ... kore mo chīmu wākuda = Listen... This is also teamwork”. But the interesting thing is that she doesn't include this dialogue in chapter 178.

What prompted her to recall the scene:

Sakura tried to come between Naruto and Sasuke when they got into a fight on the hospital roof top. And Naruto says this to her: 'Sakura...Don't get in my way!', but the way Naruto saying to Sakura with a sharp manner is completely new and you can see from the panel how much his words shocked her. We all know Naruto isn't the type to speak angrily to Sakura. And yet, we've seen Naruto put Sakura in her place twice when she was trying to get between his goals. Like in this scene and in the 5KS arc. Both of these scenes have one thing in common, which is that Sakura comes between Naruto and Sasuke.

The word Naruto uses here is 邪魔しないで (jama shinaide) which means don't get in the/my way; stay out of the/my way; don't disturb me; don't bother me. This expression 'jama shinaide', is negative and kind of strong to use towards other people. And it is not a polite word.

Then she recalls this:

Raw: 約束してく��...このアザのことはナルトには言うな｡ あいつに余計な気を遣われても困るんでな...

Romaji: yakusokushitekure...kono aza no koto wa naruto ni wa iu na. aitsu ni yokeina ki wo tsukawarete mo komaru n dena...

Literal: Promise me... You won't say anything about this mark/bruise to Naruto. It's only going to trouble me if he unnecessarily/extra worries about me...

気を遣う (ki wo tsukau) is an expression which means "to be considerate," "to be mindful," "to care about somethone/something", or "to go out of one's way (for someone)"

Sasuke is expressing that he would be troubled if Naruto were to go out of his way to show concern and worry for him. Why would it troubles Sasuke to see Naruto worries about him? Even Sakura was worried about him during the Chūnin Exams arc.... Why couldn't her worries bother him, even a little? Towards Sakura, he was completely annoyed & distant whereas with Naruto he worries about him and also feels pain whenever Naruto get hurts.

[the-fictional-wife]

Finding Happiness (Itachi Uchiha x reader)- 1

This is the start of a series of scenarios for post-war Itachi (yes he lives) finding happiness with you! I miss fluff in Itachi's tag so why not make my own.

I want to mainly focus on the relationship but some chapters down the line will explain more plot also the chapter sequences might not end up in chronological order^^

This will be fem reader heads up so she/her pronouns!

Even though this isn't nsfw, some things in this series won't be exactly appropriate so imma still say MDNI!

////- means pov switch

Word count: 2.0k+

Chapter 1- Grocery Shopping + Cafe Cuties Next Chapter?

“I want to help.”

“You should want to take it easy instead,” you sigh. Itachi was up...yet again to help despite being on mandatory bedrest to help his body regain its strength back. He’s restless; it’s easy to understand; he’s banned from missions, and staying home is rather dull, but...

“Tsunade strictly said you were to rest while on house arrest. That’s the whole point I’m here.” You rest your arm on the cool kitchen countertop to grab a pen and begin writing down a shopping list with a huff.

“....”

At the silence, you turn around with pursed lips to face Itachi only to stifle a laugh when you see his face: eyebrows furrowed, lips just slightly jutted-

If you didn’t know any better, you’d say he’s pouting.

“I would argue three weeks of nothing but bed imprisonment is adequate enough rest, don’t you agree.” Itachi huffs. 

After weeks of being detained right alongside Sasuke, Kakashi made the executive decision that Itachi deserved something better than a jail cell: temporary house arrest. 

With a babysitter. 

You glance at Itachi’s mildly annoyed face, momentarily taking in the sight.

You’ll spare him...for today.

“hm...fine, the sun would do you well anyway.” You finish writing the list and hand it to Itachi, whose eyes blankly rake the paper, then folds it into his pocket.

“Well, let’s go,” You stand at the doorway where a large black seal awaits, designed to trigger the alarm around Itachi’s ankle. Weaving the signs, you both squint at the burst of light before ushering him out the door.

As the two of you walk out of the Uchiha compound, you ponder over the last few weeks with Itachi. You can’t count the heart attacks you’ve gotten from seeing an empty bed and surprise; he was admiring the fish. 

He is a quiet, stealthy patient, somewhat akin to an 87-year-old senior citizen. On the more serious end, you think back solemnly; his eyes had often reflected his concession to emptiness. Sunken in and soulless.

‘But now…’ You peer at Itachi from the corner of your eye.

His eyes sharp and attentive; the color is back in his face; sunkissed pink cheeks, his short sleeve shirt giving view to his lean muscles-

‘He’s actually kinda...’ 

////

Itachi can’t tell if it’s the heat of your gaze or the sun flushing his cheeks.

Your gaze washes over him, a captivating light he yearns to forever bask in. Domesticity is a variable of life he is unacquainted with and…undeniably undeserving of. 

And yet, the further you expose him to gentleness, affection, and peace, the more he greedily deludes himself into that he belongs.

Encompassed in a life of peace he’s desperately craved, peace he’s found with you.

Within the shinobi existence, emotions, relationships…living. All become an unforeseeable luxury.  

It’s unsettling to desire. To be human.

Itachi silently shifts his eyes toward you, observing as you conceal your face, abashed from being caught. He finds himself smitten. 

“You were looking a little pale. If you feel weak at any time, don’t be afraid to lean on me.” 

A lie, of course. An utterly endearing one.

‘Perhaps, in this life…’

He capitalizes on the chance anyway. 

‘…I can be selfish.’

////

As you head into the village, you feel something creep around your arm. 

Neither of you acknowledge it.

+++

Your arm is still intertwined with Itachi’s as you both find purchase in a decently sized everything market. Waving to the cat perched in the front, you read the aisle numbers with its affiliated products: ‘Household items- 1, Toys- 2, Jewelry- 4,...Fruits & Dairy- 5’. After detecting where you wanted to begin, you guys head to your destination, avocados. 

Itachi lightly tugs your arm, signaling your attention.

“It’ll be quicker if we split. The potatoes are within eye range; I’ll only be a minute.” Your face scrunches in; reluctantly, you let go with a poorly concealed pout.

“... don’t trust me? I promise I’ll return to you shortly.” With that, Itachi saunters, leaving a lingering graze against your skin. 

You pause, leaving the way your heart palpitates unavowed. ‘A kiss would have sufficed,’ you snicker and return to your dilemma with hunched shoulders.

You’re on your fifth avocado before you give a groan of defeat. “I can’t tell which ones are good or not; they all look the same,” you mumble, distracted enough to miss the figure peering closer.

“May I see?”

His gentle whisper tickles your ear, you force the quiver down your spine to still- even when you feel his careless lips making one too many brushes to your ear, you wordlessly nod yes.

His broad chest and feather touch of his hair against your cheek overwhelm your senses as he reaches his arm around your waist to probe at the fruit you have in hand.

You pray he can’t feel the way your heart beats.

“Hmm...this one is ripe. You can tell by the dark color and firmness...good eye.” Within a blink, the weight of Itachi’s presence vanished, and he pulled away.

Ah. That.

“R-right, thank you,” you fumbled over your wording and rushed to the edge of the aisle. “Okay, let’s split from here to make things easier; I do the first half of the list, you do the last. Capeesh?” Fingers bend into a okay sign; you give a shaky grin and rush down to the next aisles, leaving Itachi to fend for himself.

“...” Itachi blinks, idly standing before he lets out a defeated puff of air.

 ‘...It appears I’ve made a mistake.’ With furrowed brows, he peers down at the list with a harsh, focused stare.

Your mind hasn’t left Itachi as your heart physically pains in guilt; it’s his first time out in weeks, and you flat leave him. Putting your final item in your shopping basket, you haul it down Itachi’s direction, only to find him in the exact same position as before.

Tilting your head, you ask befuddled, “Itachi, what are you doing?...” Oh. 

You steer closer, and the pitiful sight in front of you makes your shoulders pull straight; Itachi’s eyes strain, glaring down at the paper an inch away from his face at a poor attempt at reading the words.

He can’t see.

‘How long has he been-’ you quickly shuffle in your bag and call for Itachi’s attention. “You should’ve said something! I had brought your glasses with me, but I completely forgot about it-” Itachi takes it with a grateful upturn of his lips.

“Thank you..” He mutters, drawing his attention back to the list. “We are still missing the tomatoes and bread; I passed them earlier on our way in. Follow me.” Itachi gingerly takes your wrist in hand and leads you down the correct aisle.

Soon after you paid, you’ve collectively decided to grab a bite to eat. “Itachi, you smell that?” You sigh out an exhale; an alluringly sweet smell wafts itself above all the open markets along the sides from a small corner amongst the buildings. A mini cafe.

You brush against the roughness of Itachi’s calloused fingers, only grabbing his pinkie to lead him down.

You’ll pretend like you didn’t see the way he flushed. 

+++

Slouching in the seat across Itachi, you flex out the ache in your fingers from the weight of the bags as you wait for your shared order of dangos.

“I’ll assist you with the baggage on our way out.”

Looking up in disbelief, you scoff,  “Hell no- you’re still in recovery.”

“Don’t overwork yourself for my sake....”

Hypocrite.

You open your mouth to respond, only to suppress yourself at the sight of the waiter approaching.

The waiter smiles while serving your drink and food, then turns over and carelessly drops Itachi’s tea, droplets splashing onto Itachi’s lap.

With a twitching smile, the waiter laughs, “Oh, how clumsy of me, you should get yourself clean. You mutt; should be easy for a traitor, always covering his dirt.” Your mouth is agape, eyes shifting from Itachi to the waiter.

Itachi remains unfazed, his gaze fixed on the waiter with an air of nonchalance. It’s almost patronizing. The waiter scowls, turning away from the stare-down, muttering his pitiful complaints about Itachi’s mere presence.

“Geez, what was their problem?” You scoff side eyeing the waiter. Itachi sits silently, sipping his tea, looking down at his plate with a vacant stare. “...Itachi, you okay? I’ll go backhand a bitch for you, they had no right to treat you like that.” 

Itachi’s eyes shift to you at your aggressive demeanor. “Don’t. I’ve made peace with my past; their hate will only torment themself.” 

A lie. For a brisk moment, you noted how his mug trembled under the tension of his grip. You make a tsk noise, propping your head onto your hand, reluctantly letting the situation go.

Glancing up, Itachi discerns how your lips are still pulled into a snarl, glowering in the general direction of the offender. 

‘Hm, that won’t do.’

Rolling back the ache in his shoulders, he figures he could relieve your tension. If it’d make you smile,

“…besides…”

He’d be a fool. 

You turn back over with an inquiring hum.

“...they just aren’t sigma enough to control themself.” He returns to sipping his tea.

“…”

“....”

“Pfft- WHAT” You break the silence, convulsing with laughter. “I-Itachi, don’t ever say that in your life again- I’m not a good influence on you.” Still unable to break the giggles, you look at Itachi’s soft stare and slowly compose yourself under his unwavering gaze.

You cough in your hand and shift your eyes away.

“Let’s eat.”

You fall into a rhyme of chewing and idle conversation. 

“See, now you’re lying! I never laughed when you put your glasses on-” The table shifts from the weight of your knee. You firmly dangle Itachi’s wrist away from his glasses as he attempted to remove them a few seconds ago.

“...you couldn’t even catch your breath.”

“I was just surprised! I’ve never seen your eyes so…beady.” You tremble, holding back a cackle. His prescription, unfortunately, made his lens the size of a brick, but thankfully, Tsunade aided in making it more suitable.

“So now my eyes are beady,” His voice barely whispers, he looks off to the side. A look of dismay washed over your face; you cusp his face between your hands, pulling his gaze back up to you.

“Hey- don’t get all mopey; you know I think you’re cute with the glasses on.” You softly look to reassure him, guilty over your tease...until you notice the subtle twitch in his lips, a poor attempt at maintaining his stoic facade.

He was joking. 

Itachi shifts his weight into your palms, eyes closed in total serenity. “Do I?...”

‘Absolutely full of himself.’ You express your annoyance with an eye roll and flop back into your seat, leaving Itachi’s head to hang.

‘...did I displease her again.’ Itachi looks down at the final dango stick and holds it to you.

“Here, a truce for forgiveness.”

“But, that’s your favorite…and we bought that with your budget-” you sheepishly add.

“Please, I insist, I...don’t think I can finish this.” Itachi gives a light smile as he hovers the stick to your lips.

The blood rising to your face makes you dazed as you brush aside bits of your hair and savor the first dango ball on your tongue with a hum.

You swear it tastes sweeter from him.

“Thank you, Itachi; consider yourself forgiven.” You say before opening your mouth for the next one.

+++

-------------------------------

“All done,” you brush your hands off proudly after putting away all the supplies and produce. When cleaning up the bags, you notice a mini bag that looks different from the rest. 

‘Could this be Itachi’s?...’ You gently spread open the bag, eyes widening in astonishment; a beautiful crystal necklace sweetly lying in a small box with a small note tagged onto the front.

It reads,

‘I hope it’s to your liking, I noticed you wear this color frequently. Let this be a mark of our friendship ~ Itachi.’

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Note: Heyyy haven't wrote anything since like 2021 but I might be back probably, probably not- This is pretty self-indulgent but hope yall still enjoyed ^^

Do I think Itachi would say "sigma" if it meant you'd laugh for him after feeling like he depressed the mood? YES. Live with my canon.

Do I think Itachi actually likes physical touch but is just touch starved? YES. I'm projecting.

Any sort of love is appreciated don't be shy to say hi and good luck to everyone during finals week!

*Also-If you have any tips on writing + writing Itachi please let me know!

[comikadraws]

sasuke was going to genuinely plan out a genocide and it wasn't something he said in a fit of rage, right?

Was Sasuke Uchiha genocidal?

(2k words of analysis, manga screenshots, and other resources)

To refresh everybody's memory, Sasuke's plan was to destroy Konoha and everybody in it. Not that he actually did but those were his own words.

Now we can interpret this in two ways

Sasuke is blinded by rage and would, in a hypothetical scenario, act on his words (Sasuke is genocidal)

Sasuke is being dramatic and/or would get cold feet when confronted with the scenario (Sasuke is not genocidal)

In my opinion, the first scenario is far more likely to occur and the second lacks sufficient evidence to reasonably rule out that Sasuke is genocidal.

>>Analysis under the cut<<

Let's establish a few things before we begin. But feel free to skip to the next headline.

First, I will judge attempted crime as harshly as committed crime. Since this is not real life, there is no need to reward incompetence or luck. Either way, the focus of this discussion is Sasuke's intent and resolve.

Second, fictional characters don't exist in flesh and blood but as part of a narrative. This means that a character's decisions and psychology heavily depend on the author's intent.

Third, I love Sasuke's character. Do not misunderstand this as hate. This is an analysis of Sasuke's psychology and actions. He has been wronged in horrific ways and deserved better, but that won't make me sanitize his character.

Fourth, the red links are context links, linking back to my own posts. I highly recommend reading them.

The Sincerity of Sasuke's Death Threats

As per the two options I provided in the beginning, Sasuke's declaration of "destroying Konoha" must have either been sincere or not - the latter implying that Sasuke is being dramatic and/or hasn't considered the weight of his words yet, making him want to take them back. But in my opinion, that does not align with Sasuke's character.

Sasuke rarely (if at all) jokes around or speaks from a place of uncertainty or dramatics. He says he'll kill Danzo? You bet he does. He says he'll kill Itachi? He does. He says he'll kill Naruto? He tries that as well. Granted, two of these deserved to die (from Sasuke's POV) but what matters here is that Sasuke's threats are meant to be interpreted as sincerity rather than hyperbole. At the moment that Sasuke speaks them, he also means them. He is neither a liar nor a performer.

But Sasuke does go back on his words, doesn't he? During the ending, for example (although it is arguably a character inconsistency). Or during numerous other instances. Why wouldn't it be the same this time as well?

Let's take a look at a few.

One of the few other times that Sasuke takes back a threat is when he threatens to kill everybody Kakashi ever loved (chapter 177). But it is not exactly a threat - it is a hypothetical or an implied threat at best with no actual motivation or desire to drive it. Back then, Sasuke ends up reconsidering his words - though does he really?

Chapter 416 seems to be paralleling this scene. 3-4 years have passed for Sasuke to take a deep look inside himself and judge whether or not he meant those words back then and whether he means them now. And yet, he returns to the exact same logic: I will rob you of your loved ones as punishment for disapproving of my bloodlust.

After he had so much time to reconsider and reflect, Sasuke's readiness to induce harm to innocents does not appear to be spontaneous or ill-considered.

Noticeably, while Sasuke very often actually ends up executing his threats, he generally also hesitates every now and then. Like when he ends up sparing Naruto after knocking him unconscious. Or sparing Dosu because Sakura begs Sasuke to stop. How can we explain this? Perhaps Sasuke is not as committed to his words after all.

The problem is that those moments occurred at an entirely different point in Sasuke's character arc at which he is still rapidly bouncing back and forth between cruelty and mercy. While yes, Sasuke is known for hesitating on his path, this hesitance slowly but surely disappears from his decision-making later on. The cause of this change is the decay of Sasuke's morals and ensures that pre-truth reveal Sasuke and post-truth reveal Sasuke are two different people.

The Decline of Sasuke's Morals

Sasuke acts entirely differently after the truth reveal. His morals have visibly changed for the worse. Perhaps it becomes the most apparent when comparing chapter 8 to chapter 481. Whereas Genin Sasuke would once help and support his teammates if they could not keep up on their own, a teenage Sasuke disposes of them.

This kind of development first occurs as early on as chapter 56 when Sasuke decides that growing stronger (ends) justifies carrying a curse mark (means). He is on a steady moral decline afterward, first willing to sacrifice his loyalties (Orochimaru), then uninvolved bystanders (Killer B, the other Kage, other shinobi, and samurai), and finally, a friend (Karin) all in pursuit of his goals. It is utilitarian in nature.

Also, please let's not discuss the validity of killing soldiers. We have already dealt with this question during Waves Arc and later when Itachi died. From Sasuke's and other characters' POV (and as evidenced by chapter 343), dehumanizing and discarding a person just for being a soldier on the wrong side is wrong. Understood? Good.

What happened to Sasuke over time is, of course, a character arc. A corruption arc, to be specific. Let's take a quick look at some writing mechanics.

A character arc is always initiated by some sort of trigger event. If said event lies between a version A and B of a character, chances are that their sympathy, competence, or proactivity have become incomparable to each other. This is why a 13-year-old version of Sasuke (pre-truth reveal, which is his trigger event for this specific arc) does not inform us about the workings of a 17-year-old version.

Before this triggering event, Sasuke is also in the midst of a turning point in his arc, hence the indecisiveness about killing Naruto. You can view this in parallel to the Hero's Journey's "Refusal of the Call" during which Sasuke is still hesitant about the road he is taking until the triggering event makes the decision for him.

Now, back to Sasuke's morals. Personally, I believe what stands at the helm of Sasuke's corruption arc is a decrease in self-awareness and a growing lack of empathy.

There's a certain hypocrisy to Sasuke's decision-making. Sasuke is grieving a brother but then attacks somebody else's brother. He is enraged about Konoha discarding Itachi as a tool but will then proceed to abandon his own comrades (Team Taka). He condemns the genocide committed against the Uchiha but then plans a genocide of his own. Injustice is only injustice if inflicted on Sasuke but not if caused by Sasuke.

This does not compare to a younger Sasuke, who uses his own trauma to understand and connect with others and to discern right from wrong. Sasuke is capable of empathizing with Naruto because he is lonely (like himself) and Sasuke finds Orochimaru "disgusting" for viewing humans as mere tools (like a genocidal Itachi). But, over the course of his arc, his trauma instead turns into a weapon to distance himself from others.

The in-universe reason for this change is likely that Sasuke's mind is fully occupied with his own grief and rage. He is blinded by it, so much so that he no longer has the mental space to accommodate other people's pain and suffering.

There is also a narrative device to this, usually applied in the "darkest hour", such as "Batman Grabs a Gun". The purpose is to draw attention to the severity of the situation while also providing more depth to a character by giving them an underlying layer (their emotions/struggles/etc.) beneath their facade (their morals/reputation/etc.).

In Sasuke's case, this is used to highlight his grief for Itachi which is greater than any moral principle Sasuke has. Whatever allows or aids Sasuke in expressing his grief is fair game.

Intensity and Duration

So, Sasuke is definitely blinded by his rage. But is it a "fit"? I suppose that this is a matter of definition.

Sasuke's hatred for Konoha appears to be a constant. It doesn't change. It doesn't lessen. Not after a couple of hours and not after a couple of days.

To me personally, due to its duration, this is no longer a fit of rage but a mindset - one that Sasuke seems to wholeheartedly believe in.

Regardless of this, we have no indication that Sasuke's rage would lessen anytime soon. On the contrary, actually. Sasuke claims that his hatred has only grown since then.

The question we now have to ask is whether or not Sasuke would be able to rein in his rage in time to spare innocent lives. Alternatively, and combined with Sasuke's willingness to kill his own teammates, it is entirely possible that Sasuke's rage would power through, as it did for approximately 300 chapters in canon already.

The Attempts

Now, the most damning argument I have to offer is that Sasuke was already intending to make his genocide plans a reality (or take steps to do so) on three occasions. Twice during the Summit Arc and once during the War Arc.

On all three occasions, the reason why his plans don't come to fruition is because Sasuke gets sidetracked or stopped outright.

In addition, there are three other problems slowing him down. Right in chapter 416, Kisame explains that Sasuke is not strong enough to fight the entire village - even with Taka's help but even more so without them. This conflicts with Sasuke's belief that Taka likely won't approve of his genocide plans or should not be involved for other reasons (which is why Sasuke pretends in front of them). He both needs Taka and has to get rid of them.

Later on, Naruto declares that he will always be there to defend Konoha against Sasuke. My interpretation of this is that Sasuke not only honors his bond with Naruto but also recognizes that fighting Konoha and Naruto simultaneously is not strategically wise - hence he needs to defeat Naruto beforehand.

First Attempt

Sasuke takes Team Taka with him, believing them to be necessary backup. Then Obito intervenes who both threatens Sasuke and gives him the wrong impression that Konoha is "no more" - either fully eradicated or too weak to defend itself.

This might erase the need for Taka as Konoha is weakened significantly and Danzo can be targeted separately from the village.

Second Attempt

In the meantime, Sasuke kills Danzo. As explained by Kisame, a greater conflict with the entirety of Konoha is inevitable if you aim at major political leaders.

On his second attempt, he has coincidentally already managed to abandon the entirety of Team Taka, just as planned in chapter 416. But this time, before he can go to Konoha, his eyes suffer extensive damage and he instead encounters Team 7. As explained previously, Sasuke soon realizes that he cannot destroy Konoha before killing Naruto. And before that, he needs to get his eyes fixed. This results in Sasuke's withdrawal from the fight.

Third Attempt

On his third try, the one in which he decides to target Naruto first, he instead gets sidetracked by the appearance of Itachi on the battlefield.

"Sidetracked" doesn't mean "giving up" or "displaying disinterest" in a different goal. Otherwise, Sasuke's training under Orochimaru for 3-4 years would be proof of his disinterest in killing Itachi. Sasuke is simply prioritizing urgent matters and acting strategically.

Now, all of this "getting sidetracked" might sound a little convenient. But the question is "convenient for who?"

It is of course possible that Sasuke is openly searching for excuses because he doesn't truly want to eradicate Konoha, making him a harmless villain. The other explanation is that Kishimoto was the one looking for excuses.

In a conversation, @theheirofthesharingan pointed out that Sasuke is being "saved by the narrative" ie. plot armor. Though not in the sense that he is being protected from harm but rather that he is being protected from inflicting harm, probably as an extension of Konoha's own plot armor. This also ensures that Sasuke remains "redeemable" and likable to the audience so that Naruto can fulfill his goal of bringing him back to Konoha.

Conclusion

As I said in the beginning, there is a huge mountain of evidence suggesting that Sasuke not only fantasized but would've acted on his revenge plans against Konoha. This is because

We know Sasuke to be a non-dramatic character who doesn't easily back away from his own words.

Sasuke is on a corruption arc, his morals declining far enough to kill a friend. It seems unlikely that he'd draw the line at a stranger.

From a writing point of view, continuing Sasuke's corruption arc makes more logical sense unless he experiences another trigger event. It also further highlights Sasuke's pain.

Sasuke has repeated his goal multiple times over, leading me to believe that his mood wouldn't change soon enough for Sasuke to second-guess himself.

Sasuke has taken steps towards the fulfillment of his goal. It is entirely possible that, if Konoha didn't have plot armor, Sasuke would've found the right time to destroy the village eventually.

Of course, Sasuke's morals are not entirely gone, as we can see when he refuses to join Kabuto (though potentially just because Kabuto antagonizes Itachi). It is still entirely possible that Sasuke would've gotten cold feet when physically confronted with the task of killing innocent civilians. But this possibility is hardly entertained by any of the characters and Sasuke himself doesn't seem conflicted about his plans. It seems like Kishimoto intended for Sasuke to be genocidal, most evidence pointing toward this reading of his character.

I certainly have my opinions on this matter but, like always, this is a matter of interpretation.

Debating me is fine. I like to discuss my favorite characters. But screenshotting, blocking me, and then attacking me behind my back (and without having ever interacted with me) in a new post is a no-go for obvious reasons.

[otakubimbo]

.The Rabbit and The Wolf

Bad date and confessions

You’re still trying to get your not a date but a date with Iruka out of your head when you get some information that sends you into a spiral.

MDNI. MATURE CONTENT.

Ch 1 2 3 4 5

master list

OBN: okay so i realized that i uploaded chapter 4 twice so here's chp 5, it's a lil shorter than the regular chapters cause i cut the original into 2. hehe. mwah!

All night long Kakashi’s face plagued your dreams, tossing and turning with the thoughts of him. As you awake, if you could even call it that since you didn’t even sleep, you realize you’re covered in sweat and your bonnet has escaped you in the night.

“Fuck” You groan attempting to pull yourself from the entrapment of your sheets. It was a long day before it even began, dragging yourself to the bathroom to get a good look at yourself. Yeah, you looked exactly like how you felt. Like shit. Hopefully, a shower will fix you up a bit; the steaming hot water should put some life back into you.

After your shower, you hadn’t even realized that you were already running behind, you would have to go visit your sister after training or you would be late. Barley putting yourself together, you hurry to the training grounds, but you are still late to your standards especially since Sasuke was already there.

“You look terrible” He comments, noticing you as you walk up.

“Thanks, didn’t notice.” You say pushing your palm into his forehead for his rudeness.

“Must have been one hell of a date.”

You groan with an exaggerated roll of your eyes telling him to watch his mouth, “It wasn’t a date Sasu, first of all. Second, where is your respect for your sensei and her personal life?”

“I’ve known you for too long for that to matter,” he says casually which makes you roll your eyes even harder as you give your body the stretch that he needed. Unfortunately, he was right, he was like a little brother to you, and just like a little brother, he was annoying.

“Are you seeing him again?” His question throws you off guard. He wasn’t one to usually ask these kinds of questions.

“Well, well, well, aren’t you nosy today? I mean, Yeah, we are friends. We will see each other when ya know we all hang or whatever.” You respond with a shrug of your shoulders.

“So, it didn’t go well.” He comments chuckling to himself. You flick him right in the forehead this time.

“Please stop” You groan putting your face into your hands. The last thing you wanted was more reminders of last night.

Eventually, the rest of the team shows up, well besides Kakashi of course, and they immediately both start pestering you about last night. The vein in your head would explode at any moment if they wouldn’t stop bothering you about it, so you made them a deal. If they could land a hit on you before Kakashi showed up, you would tell them about your night. You assumed it was going to be easy, except the training that you had been putting them through was having them show actual improvements. There were movements that you could feel they may have to take them with some type of seriousness.

“Well better luck next time, kids” You chuckle taking a place beside Kakashi as soon as he decides to arrive, “Took you long enough.” You elbow him in his side.

“I was actually late for a reason today. We have a mission.” He states holding up a scroll in his hand. “We just must deliver this, simple enough. But there is a festival happening in the village we are going to so I thought it would be nice. A reward for all the hard work.”

Naruto and Sakura celebrate, of course, while you look at the man confused. You place your hand on the side of his face to check for warmth.

“You sick? Who are you and what have you done with Kakashi?” You question as you’re still trying to gauge his temperature. He swats your hand away. You have never known this man to do anything easy.

“Yes, I’m fine. There's nothing wrong with taking things easy for once.” He remarks casually.

“Hmmn, well y’all have fun with that.”

“Oh. You’re coming on this mission too.”

“Me?” You question and you can see him smirking under his mask.

“Yes, you.” He responds, bringing even more joy out of Naruto. “We can discuss the details of the mission. Everyone else go get ready, it’ll be a three-day trip.” He dismisses the kids, and you stand there knowing that there must be something else going on for you to also have to go.

“So, what’s the actual mission?” You ask him once the kids leave.

“Your favorite, a little recon, a little stealing intel.”

A huge grin spreads across your face. These were your favorite missions, and they were always your favorite with Kakashi because there would always end up being some type of bet involved between the two of you.

“Oh, this is going to be fun. Just like old times. I knew you weren’t getting soft on me” You playfully pushed him.

“There really is a festival and I do want the kids to enjoy themselves, that wasn’t a lie.”

“Awh you are getting soft on me in your old age.” You laugh at him while he just rolls his eye, and you stick your tongue back out at him in return. You were really excited for this. Back to what you were good at, what you loved. Maybe get to fight a bit, hopefully. You haven’t gotten your hands dirty in so long.

The two of you go your separate ways and you head to see your sister since you didn’t get to see her that morning.

The first thing out of her mouth when she sees you is about your ‘NOT’ date, which makes you immediately groan before you fill her in on everything that happened. By the time you were done, your sister was laughing her ass off at the whole ordeal.

“It’s honestly not that funny.” You grumble crossing your arms. Your sister was laughing so hard it was bringing tears to her eyes, which she wiped away before settling down.

“It actually is considering you didn’t view it as a date at all and then he had such confidence to kiss you. It’s hilarious.”

At the very least, you were glad to bring a smile to her face even if it was at your expense. She was looking better and healthier, she even was feeling better according to her. Maybe she would be able to leave soon, you hoped.

“Anyways,” You start, making her lay back down “I actually have a mission to go on tomorrow with Team 7.”

“They’re sending those kids on such a dangerous mission it requires you to go?” She questions, a bit concerned.

“Nah, it's mainly a mission for me and Kakashi, they’re just coming with us because the old softy wants them to go to this festival.”

“Awh, he really is a sweet man” She compliments, and you snort.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. It should be a fun easy mission though.”

“Good, I know you're ready to get back out instead of babysitting your big sister.”

“Don’t be silly, you always come before anything. You and me.” Your hand reaches out to hers, grasping her small fingers gently.

“You and me” She repeats back to you, using her other hand to pat yours, “I know.” Her smile is soft and gentle.

The two of you talked casually after that, about random things and whatnot until you had to leave. As you leave the hospital, you run into Kakashi.

“How’s she doing?” He asks as a greeting.

A smile sets on your features, your eyes softening with the thought of her “She’s doing really good actually, a lot better. I really think she could make it through this. Ya know, unlike our mom.” The smile on your face, wavering a bit.

“Well, she’s strong like you so I know she’ll be fine,” he says attempting to calm your thoughts, it’s as if he can hear the worried voice in the back of your head.

“Yeah, I’m sure.” You say, pausing to look at him, realizing you had never thanked him for looking after your sister while you were away. “Uhm, thanks by the way.”

He looked down at you confused, “For what?”

“Ya know, checking on my sister and everything while I was off on all those missions.” You say avoiding his gaze.

“Of course, the both of you mean a lot to me, “he says so casually as if that didn’t make you stop breathing for a second.

‘The both of you’.

If you meant so much to him, why did he leave you alone after your night together and then immediately avoid you? If you were going on this mission with him, you would have to ask him. It had been hanging in your thoughts for too long.

“Thanks anyways. Can we walk and talk?” You ask nervously, not knowing how you would be able to approach this.

“Uh, sure.” He says and you immediately turn and start walking in the direction of your house feet moving automatically. “What did you want to talk about?” Your behavior was confusing him because you’re not one to act so nervous, hands fumbling with a shruniken with your lips pursed in thought.

“I was just thinking” You start not knowing where to really go with the conversation. He can tell there is really something on your mind so he’s patient and allows you to get your thoughts together.

“Ya know this is our first mission together since before my sister's wedding.”

“It is” he commented, assuming where this conversation was going. He just thought you were going to let it go by the way you had been acting previously.

“And then my sister's wedding happened.” You continue, even though you brought up the topic it was as if you were avoiding the main point.

“it did” His gaze follows down to your face as you steel your nerves to proceed.

“And then what happened after.”

“And then what happened after.” He repeated back to you, making you stop in your tracks to face him. You finally look up to meet his gaze on you. His expression is unreadable, but you knew you had to continue regardless of your hesitations. What were you supposed to be afraid of?

“Why did you leave and then disappear on me?” You ask, looking him dead in the face hoping your voice sounded stronger than you felt. There was a long silence between the two of you. His face is still unreadable, and you hoped he couldn’t see the small panic you were feeling. Luckily for you, your expression was as unreadable as his to him. Eventually, he’s the first one to break eye contact with a sigh.

“Because afterward, I realized I was in love with my best friend,” he confessed, lifting his head back up to hold your gaze once again.

 It felt like your brain stopped working for a second. The gears in your head are completely unmoving.

“I’m sorry. What?” You ask, as your brain finally comes back online.

“I said,” He took a step forward, taking your face into his hand. The rough pads of his fingers move along your cheek. “That night I realized I was in love with you. That I had been in love with you for so long. And that terrified me because I didn’t want to lose you.”

You just stare up at him, eyes big as saucers blinking.

“You were in love with me?” You ask barely above a whisper. This was not what you expected.

“I am in love with you.” He corrected. ‘Am’ present tense.

taglist: @smarsd

[anyon-else]

I Am Your Lover and I Am Your Jailor (The Red Room pt.16) | You're finally free from Orochimaru and the Red Room; however, things have become more complicated now that SHIELD knows of your existence. (Marvel AU) – spotify playlist | read on ao3

Pairings | Kakashi Hatake x Black Widow!Reader + Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha, Naturo Uzumaki, Tsunade Senju, Genma Shiranui, Danzo Shimura

Warnings | female!reader, angst, hurt/comfort, fluff, violence, this is a lore-heavy chapter (if anyone wants to know more about my sources for marvel-related lore, leave a comment!)

Word count | 11k

(previous chapter) | (next chapter - coming soon) | (series masterlist)

"The cage is open. You can walk out anytime you want. Why are you still in there?"

Glennon Doyle, Untamed

"I thought you weren't allowed to come here."

You hoped you didn't sound like you were complaining. You were more than used to spending time behind iron bars, but that didn't make it any less unpleasant each time you wound up in a cell.

"I'm not," Kakashi shrugged from where he sat on the other side of the bars. He had come in quietly, putting a finger to his lips until he'd gotten to your cell in the middle of the long corridor. Now you sat side by side against the metal, trying to ignore your proximity to him in favor of staring intently at the cracks in the opposite wall, "but I'm one of the Director's favorites. She's...turning a blind eye, at the moment."

"Sounds like an abuse of power."

He laughed. The sound surrounded you like a warm blanket that you felt desperate to keep wrapped around your shoulders. You wished you had the strength to push it off and leave that warmth behind for his sake.

"Probably," he said quietly, glancing at the cameras on either side of the corridor, then at the one in the corner of your cell, "but I'm cashing in some favors."

Why?

The question was on the tip of your tongue, and while you restrained yourself from voicing it, Kakashi seemed to sense your worry from your expression.

He shifted before you could come up with a better response, and you held your breath when he lifted a hand and slipped it between the bars. He rested it next to yours with a casualness that you envied.

"I thought Sakura was going to level the building when I told her she couldn't come with me to see you," he smiled, "Sasuke and Naruto didn't do much to help me talk her down."

You pictured the three of them with a fondness that made your heart ache. You missed Sakura often, but recently you'd realized that you missed Sasuke and Naruto nearly as much. You missed their bickering and their fierce protectiveness of one another. You missed feeling like you were a part of the family they'd built for themselves.

You hadn't even known what you'd been missing until a few days ago, but your memories had returned to you in a wave of sorrow and longing and desperation. Part of you wished you were still ignorant to what you'd lost.

"How are they?" you whispered, the memory of Sakura's angry shouts as you were led through SHIELD's headquarters in handcuffs still fresh in your mind. She'd been held back by Sasuke and Naruto and swiftly blocked from your view by an older agent you didn't recognize, but her demands had been audible until you'd reached the cell block.

"They're worried about you," he said lowly. "Sakura is refusing to leave headquarters until Tsunade lets her see you. She's furious."

You hummed. Despite your desire to see her too, you felt yourself relaxing at the confirmation that she was safe.

"Naruto and Sasuke are worried too," he said softly. You glanced at him, trying to hide your surprise. "They've been trying to convince Tsunade to let you out, even if it's just for a short time. They want to make sure you're okay."

Again, the general question of why floated through your mind, but one look at Kakashi told you that he knew what you were thinking. You scowled at him, shaking your head and ignoring the infuriating look on his face. Eyebrows raised and lips titled upwards just enough to be noticeable, his expression seemed to be daring you to speak the question aloud.

"Don't look at me like that," you grumbled.

"Then stop thinking so hard," he retorted, shifting his hand just enough that his finger was resting over yours. You swallowed, closing your eyes and trying very hard to do as he said.

He's not making it very easy...

"What else am I supposed to think about?" you asked quietly, bringing your knees to your chest and resting your chin against them. Kakashi studied you for a long moment, and you closed your eyes to try and block his stare from your view.

"If you could travel to one place, anywhere in the world, where would you go?"

You glanced at him. The question itself was innocent enough—an attempt to distraction, perhaps—but it still made your chest sink. To think of the future now, when it was still so uncertain, only made anxiety bubble in your chest.

"I've been enough places to last a lifetime."

The Siberian mountains where you felt the first sting of betrayal and the painful slice of a blade across your face. Deep beneath German soil where some of HYDRA's first compounds were built. In Japanese training facilities where Orochimaru worked. In the American suburbs where you went on your first and only mission with Sakura.

"Maa," he huffed, shifting closer to you and leaning his head against the bars, "there has to be somewhere."

You sighed, closing yours eyes again and attempting to picture yourself at peace. You tried to visualize it and identify what you'd come up with.

You weren't entirely surprised by the image that came to mind

In your thoughts wasn't a specific location, but a memory of talking to Sakura without fearing punishment from Orochimaru. Of sparring with Sasuke without life and death on the line. Of listening to Naruto's stories about when the three of them were younger and free of their burdens.

Of laying next to Kakashi and finally being free of your own.

You wanted that feeling back. It didn't matter where you found it as long as it was there with you.

Impossible, you shook the thought away, I've tried to hold onto that life once already. I know better now.

"Somewhere peaceful," you finally answered, swallowing down the lump in your throat, "near the water. I'd want to just...sit and watch the sky for hours. That would make me happy, I think."

You wanted to tell him that it would only make you happy if he was there with you. You wanted and wanted and wanted.

It was too much. You felt like unfulfilled desire was consuming you, feasting on your rotten soul when it found nothing else to satiate its hunger.

"Hm," Kakashi smiled, satisfied enough with your answer to pull his eyes away, "that sounds nice."

It did. It sounded wonderful.

"Beg me for your life."

You squeezed your eyes shut, pulling your hand from Kakashi's and ignoring the question in his gentle gaze.

"Why do you think you deserve to live?"

Peace was a lovely thing to imagine. But a dream was all it would ever be.

Someone like you was not meant for peace. After what you'd done, you finally understood that.

"You should go check on the others," you whispered, throat drying as the words left your lips. You wished you were strong enough to let him stay—to be with him when he was here, wanting to spend his time with you despite the bars separating you.

But if he knew how cruel you'd been—how similar you'd become to Orochimaru...it was a difficult thought to accept, but you couldn't ignore the truth of it.

You would not allow him to be tainted by the same darkness that had begun to consume you. It was an evil that you'd been exposed to your whole life, and now it was finally seeping into you, becoming one with your blood and bones. You felt it like hard steel in your veins, making your limbs heavier than ever before.

You had already allowed yourself to succumb to it once. You'd given in to your selfish desire for revenge and treated Orochimaru with the same cruelty that he'd shown you your whole life. You alone knew the nature of your crime, and you alone had to bear its weight.

You would not allow it to spread to Kakashi and the others. You would not allow them to see it consume you like it had consumed Orochimaru.

That darkness was yours to contain. You were nothing but a reminder of a past that they would surely want to let go of. You had played your role, and they had played theirs. Despite how much it would hurt, there was nothing left to do but let them go.

"Are you sure?" Kakashi asked quietly.

You swallowed. You both knew that the answer was no. Really, you had never been less sure of anything. All your life, you'd been told how to act and speak and behave. You'd been told how to feel.

You'd never fully appreciated how complex deciding those things could be when you were left to manage them on your own.

Still, you steeled yourself. This wasn't about what you wanted. Just as it had been when Sakura's life was on the line, this was about what needed to be done.

"Yes," you said, meeting his eyes and ignoring the painful throbbing in your chest and the bitter taste of a lie on your tongue, "I'm sure."

"We'll start easy. What's your name?"

"Y/N Y/L/N."

There were two desks cramping your interrogation room. At the first, you and the Director of SHIELD—Tsunade Senju—sat facing one another. The second was smaller with a polygraph machine positioned in the middle. Tsunade glanced over your shoulder at the man sitting behind it for confirmation. First a question to make sure the machine is calibrated, she'd said, and then we can start.

Your skin had crawled as Tsunade adjusted each of the components of the machine on your body just minutes earlier. She'd insisted upon doing it herself, declining the male agent's offer to do the menial task for her.

You knew she could feel your glare as she worked, and her indifference to your hostility was commendable. Your hands twitched each time she touched them with the urge to wrap them around her throat, but she never once took a break or even paused to ensure you weren't moments away from acting on your violent reflexes.

It inspired enough respect for her that you'd cooperated until she had taken her seat across from you.

"Good," she said after a moment, opening a file with your picture in the top corner and your name typed out next to it. You swallowed as you stared at the girl in the photo, wondering if you'd really changed so much since leaving with Orochimaru all those months ago.

Her eyes weren't gaunt like yours were now. You'd lost weight since the photo was taken—it looked like it was from before you'd even met Kakashi. She'd likely found it deep within HYDRA's databases. The eyes of the girl in that photo, while hardened by the Red Room, weren't lifeless.

Looking in the mirror now, you felt like a completely different person.

Had the others noticed it too?

You shook the thought away. That didn't matter now.

"I'm going to ask you some questions about the Red Room," she told you, "if you're willing to talk about it."

You blinked at her. You weren't under the impression that you had a choice, but this could very well be a farce to gain your trust. She glanced down at your file with interest, unfazed by your silence.

"Kakashi has filled me in on your time with him and his students," she said, "but I'm rather in the dark when it comes to your life before that."

She paused, and you quirked a brow at the expectant look on her face.

"What parts are you interested in?"

"Whichever parts you're willing to share."

You almost barked out a laugh. This was too easy. Too...balanced. You knew what an interrogation looked like. You knew what one felt like. Everything about this room told you that the questions to come would be interspersed with violence and punishment, but Tsunade was treating you like an equal. Like you had value to her.

Orochimaru had treated you like that, once. He'd very nearly convinced you that you were worth more to him than a mindless, robotic assassin.

You would not make the same mistake twice.

"I don't have any reason to talk to you," you sneered.

Old lessons about this woman and her efforts to destroy HYDRA—and with it, you—flared to life in the back of your mind. You tried to push them back, but the voice pleading with you to give this woman anything but the truth was far more powerful than your tired attempts at ignoring it.

"Alright," Tsunade responded lightly, tapping her fingers against the table. Mercifully, the drumming kept you distracted enough that you could focus on the steady beat rather than the anger slowly building in your chest. The sound kept you from slipping too far into the depths of your tempestuous thoughts. Your mind was an unstable place. You did not want to be alone with it for too long. "Then I'm prepared to negotiate."

Hesitantly, you met her eyes, becoming increasingly wary of her intentions. This was not the same woman who had been called evil over and over again in the Red Room. She almost reminded you of Sakura.

You scowled. That realization was doing nothing to aid in your attempts to appear indifferent.

"Agent Hatake's students have been fighting for your immediate release into their custody. In fact, they've refused to leave this building until their demands are fulfilled."

This information was still just as surprising as it had been when Kakashi gave it to you. You tried not to let it show on your face, and if Tsunade saw any changes in your expression, she ignored them.

"There are also those—myself included—who are wary about releasing you for the foreseeable future. I'm sure you understand the liability you would become to us if you are still loyal to HYDRA. Some within SHIELD are even calling for your immediate imprisonment. Of course, in any case you would stand trial, but you know how these things go."

You didn't, but you remained silent. Tsunade sighed, resting her chin in her palm as her other hand continued to drum against the table.

"Your cooperation could be a deciding factor in what your future looks like. I'm inclined to trust Kakashi and his students' account of your actions in the past year, but their word alone will not be enough. Loyalty, as I'm sure you know, is earned."

"What makes you think I'd want to be loyal to you?" you asked, narrowing your eyes at Tsunade. Her fingers paused, and the room fell silent.

"I'd suggest treading very carefully," she warned, voice low. You paused when she glanced at the one-sided glass behind you and wondered who was listening on the other side. You wondered if the people watching were the ones who wanted to see you put behind bars, "I'm doing my best to help you."

Why? Why would you help me? You don't even know me. You don't know who I am or what I've done. Am I not your enemy?

Which means, you thought, eyes hardening at the placating expression on the Director's face, that this must be a trick.

"I understand your hesitation, but your cooperation is very important."

You watched Tsunade for a very long moment, letting the silence stretch between you once again. What could you have that could possibly be of any value to her? How much were you really worth to her?

"I'll cooperate if you can guarantee that Kakashi won't be punished for any of this."

Tsunade paused, hesitation making a split-second appearance on her face for the first time since she'd sat down. She glanced at the glass again.

"I can't give you any guarantees," she finally conceded. You narrowed your eyes. Of course. Nothing could ever be that easy. No promises would be made because no promises would be fulfilled. She would try to keep them safe. She'd do everything she could, but all that meant was that you were giving yourself up for free. She had no intentions of delivering on her word, promise or otherwise, "but maybe we can come to a compromise."

"I'm not interested in anything else," you sneered, "and I don't believe in compromise."

If she was frustrated with how uncooperative you were being, she was doing a good job of hiding it. Her fingers continued to drum against the table, and the rhythm of it was beginning to lull you into a false sense of security.

"Fine."

You weren't sure how to respond to her dismissal, but she was turning from you before you got the chance. You remained seated, handcuffed to the table and left to watch as Tsunade moved towards the door. The agent you'd come to know as Genma stood waiting for her when she opened it, key in hand. He bowed to Tsunade as she passed, then slumped into the room with a deep scowl.

You pushed your hands towards him, ignoring the glare he shot your way as the cuffs fell from your wrists and the attachments from the polygraph were tugged crudely from your hands and waist.

You glared at the man's hands as they detached you from your seat, then took a step back to let you stand of your own accord. With little decorum, but tugged your hands behind your back once again and attached the same handcuffs that had locked you to the table to your wrists once again, guiding you forward with a nudge to your shoulder.

"She's insolent," you heard as you stepped through the door behind Genma. Danzo met your eyes with a scowl, and you stared back at him blankly. Genma halted, tugging on your arm hard enough that you stopped as well. Both of you faced Danzo, while Tsunade stood immovably in between.

"Agent Danzo," you said lightly, bowing your head to the older man. He scoffed.

"This is absurd," he huffed, "Tsunade, if you continue with this...this ridiculous idea of yours, then–"

"Careful, Danzo," Tsunade cut him off, face the picture of composure. You studied her curiously, comparing her expression to the rage beginning to overtake Danzo's. "I'm still your Director."

Danzo stilled, and several emotions crossed over his face before he settled back on practiced frustration.

"Even you have your superiors," Danzo grumbled, giving her one last glare before he shoved past you, shoulder connecting hard with yours. You watched him go until he had turned a corner, then faced forward as Genma continued to lead you in the opposite direction.

"Hold on," Tsunade said behind you. You paused, glancing back at her

"Thank you for taking the time to speak to me," she said, her neutral expression giving away nothing of the true intention behind her words. You watched her with suspicion—prisoners weren't generally thanked for speaking with their captors.

Who is this woman?

Tsunade held a hand out for you to take, tilted downwards ever-so-slightly. You narrowed your eyes at the offering—you were beginning to see a certain danger in falling for this woman's placating words.

You nearly jumped when your hand met hers. Rather than the meeting of palms that you'd expected, cold metal sent a shock through your system. The metal was small enough that it was covered by your palm, and Tsunade slid her hand away carefully, leaving whatever she'd given you pressed firmly against your palm. You swallowed, watching her unchanging expression as she turned away for the final time.

You took a steadying breath, slipping the metal into your pocket and continuing forward, keeping your eyes locked on the floor in front of you. Genma led you silently through the back halls of the building until you reached the cell block. It was empty save for you, and your footsteps echoed against the concrete in the deep silence consuming the room.

"Your meal will be ready in an hour," he told you when he'd reached your cell. It let out a soft beep as he pressed a card against the keypad, then the door unlatched and creaked open. "Need anything?"

You shook your head. It didn't take long for him to turn and stride from the hall after giving your cell a quick scan. The door to the cell block fell shut behind him and locked with a click. Still, you sat in silence on your firm mattress for at least ten minutes before you felt safe enough to move.

You laid back on your bed, picking up one of the untouched books that had been left for you and opening it to the first page. The first sentence read, "It was a pleasure to burn."

Funny, you thought, closing the book and studying the bold Fahrenheit 51 on the cover.

"Interesting choice for a jail cell," you muttered.

Another few minutes passed. You'd flipped to the fifth page by the time you decided that you looked inconspicuous enough that you could inspect the object in your pocket.

There was a camera in the front left corner of the cell, mounted on the concrete and keeping a watchful eye on you throughout the day, As always, a green light glowed steadily on the lense's rim, telling you that it was on and recording your movements. You didn't risk a glance in its direction, but turned on your side, one hand holding the book and the other bent behind you, out of sight from the camera. You slipped it into your pocket, relieved to feel the metal still safely tucked away, and continued to shift. As you lifted your other hand up to hold the book, the metal held carefully between your fingers, you turned back towards the camera so that the book blocked both your face and the card that you'd slipped between the pages.

Pressed against the paper now was a sleek, silver card with a small note taped to it. Its upper edge underlined Clarisse McClellan's declaration, "You know, I'm not afraid of you at all."

You slid the card further down the page and, from the corner of your eye, saw her continued, "You're just a man, after all..."

You swallowed, heart pounding as you stared at what was in your hand.

This was the same type of card that Genma had been using to let you in and out of your cell. It was the card that most agents had on their person at all times.

It was the same type of card that Kakashi had used the day you met him. During that first meeting, you'd been separated by bars just like these.

The note was the size of the card, and you thumbed at one side of the tape carefully until it was hanging precariously from the bottom edge. The paper opened enough that you could press a finger in its fold, opening it flat against the book

You'd begun to relax after your interrogation with Tsunade. The tension had melted from your sore limbs, and your heart had finally begun beating at a normal pace. However, when you looked at the words on the page, it nearly stopped beating altogether.

The card will work on your cell door and the door to the cell block. After your meal, you will see the light on the security camera turn off. Come back to the room we spoke in earlier.

I trust that you won't use it for any other purpose.

You stared at the note for a long time after reading it. Eventually, the letters began to blur on the page, so you blinked away the haze and studied the page again.

This couldn't have been real. It must've been some sort of trick—perhaps none of this was real, and you were still with Orochimaru. The thought was visceral enough that phantom shocks of electricity flowed through your veins.

No, you thought with certainty as the feeling faded, I can't keep tricking myself. This is real. And I have to face it.

You almost forgot what the actual contents of the note were in your shock, and you forced yourself to read it again and again until you could finally digest what it was that you were looking at.

The request Tsunade was making was inconsequential compared to what the letters themselves revealed.

The words, written carefully and meticulously in straight lines across the paper, were encrypted using the code known only to Black Widows.

You and Tsuande had been staring at one another in silence for at least two minutes.

Tsunade couldn't help but feel slightly amused as you studied her; you were clearly trying to decide whether or not she looked like she'd been raised in the Red Room. Whether her scars were consistent with your own. Whether the hardness of her gaze was the product of the same machine that had created you.

It's typical, she thought, for a Widow to think that way.

"I'm glad you were able to decode my note," she finally began, meeting you at the door of her office. You took a step back at her approach, and she paused. "I wasn't sure if the cipher would be the same."

You didn't move from the doorway, continuing your careful inspection of her as if she was a ticking bomb.

She, in turn, did the same. She hadn't seen you standing at your full height before, and she took a moment to study your physique. If you were going to attack her, she'd prefer to know what she was up against.

She wasn't entirely concerned by what she saw.

At full strength, you would've been a problem for her, but you were clearly exhausted. Your eyes were sunken and framed by deep, dark bags. You were tense, but not standing fully upright. You were focused, but there was a tiredness in your eyes that assured Tsunade that you would not get very far in a physical confrontation in your current state.

"Come inside," she finally said, slipping into the room before you could offer any form of protest, "we'll speak in my office."

There was a momentary silence save for the quiet tapping of her shoes on the tiled floor. Then, behind her, a second, quieter tapping began as you followed her deeper into her office.

She sat in the tall chair behind her desk with a labored sigh, feeling your suspicious eyes on her even as she relaxed into the cushioned seat. Then, with little decorum and no warning, she held an expectant hand towards you. You continued to stare, eyes hardening at the seemingly unthreatening gesture.

"The gun," she ordered, tone leaving no room for deception or refusal. Your eyes widened just slightly, jaw clenching and frustrated gaze focused on her outstretched hand. You were looking at her as if she'd planted the gun on you herself.

You reached into your waistband slowly and pulled a handgun from it—one that she could only assume was loaded. She recognized it as one of the standard-issued guns carried by most field agents and wondered if you'd found it by itself, or if you'd found its owner. She made a mental note to check the hall for unconscious bodies, refusing to consider the alternative.

You clicked the safety off, finger far from the trigger, but kept a tight grip on the weapon's handle.

"Fine," Tsunade sighed, taking a seat behind her desk. "Do what you want. Shoot me, and Danzo takes my place. He won't be as kind to you as I've been."

"Who are you?"

"Tsunade Senju," she responded easily, "Director of SHIELD's Japanese branch."

"You're lying," you spit between clenched teeth, "you're HYDRA."

She'd expected such an accusation. After all, her message had been intentionally vague. Part of her had hoped that you would've put a bit more faith in her than that, but she supposed you had no reason to do so. You didn't know that she'd known Kakashi since he was just a boy. You didn't know that she'd helped raise Sakura.

"One thing you should know about me," Tsunade responded coolly, interrupting your clearly spiraling thoughts, "is that I have never served HYDRA, and I do not plan to do so in the future. So you can put that gun away before you decide to become a real problem for me."

You scowled, clearly frustrated by the upper hand she had over you, She tried not to look surprised when you slid the gun across her desk towards her and took a seat in the chair on the opposite side.

"If you're not HYDRA, then what are you?"

She's nearly as bad at conversation as Sasuke, Tsunade thought, already exasperated.

"It's like you said before," she shrugged, ignoring your steady, ever-consistent glare, "'I have no reason to talk to you.'"

You began to stand, but she held a hand up. You froze, staring at her outstretched palm as if she'd picked the gun up from the table and pointed it at you.

"Sit down," she ordered calmly. You hesitated, but eventually did as she said, slumping back into the chair with a scowl.

"Kakashi is one of my best agents," she said. You perked up at the name, eyes flicking up to hers and back straightening just enough to be noticeable. She had to fight a smile, covering her mouth and clearing her throat. You were also about as obvious as Kakashi was whenever she mentioned you to him. You both looked like lovesick puppies, which was ironic considering you were likely two of the deadliest people she knew, "and I've put my life in his hands more than once. He hasn't broken my trust yet, so I've chosen to believe that he had Sakura's best interest in mind when he chose to give you asylum."

Kakashi's explanation of the events that led up to that decision had been deceptively emotionless. He'd told her about Sakura's resistance to her rescue and refusal to leave the Red Room without you. About your hostility towards him until you saw that Sakura was safe, and about your decision to leave to make sure she stayed that way.

All things considered, she knew she would've done the same thing. But that didn't make her position any less difficult.

"However, SHIELD is not a dictatorship. My decision will carry weight, but I've tried to bring us back to a place of cooperation compared to previous leadership."

The confusion that flashed very briefly across your expression should not have been surprising, but it was still disappointing to see how deeply HYDRA had their claws in the Widows.

"HYDRA is a fascist organization. It operates based on discipline and punishment. Theoretically, SHIELD is different. We run based on trust."

"'Theoretically,'" you echoed, eyes narrowed.

"Nothing really ever runs like it's supposed to, does it?" she asked. "Orochimaru knew that. It's why he left SHIELD."

Tsunade watched with only slight amusement as a myriad of emotions appeared on your face. She'd expected that he wouldn't have mentioned his past with SHIELD to the people he was attempting to indoctrinate.

She noted with only slight concern that you looked moments away from keeling over.

"What are you talking about?" you whispered.

"Ah, see, this is what I meant when I asked for compromise. I've given you valuable information. If you want more of it, you're going to have to return the favor."

"I..." you began, though you quickly closed your mouth and looked away from her with a deep scowl. "What could I possibly know that would be valuable to you?"

"Plenty," she responded easily. "You can get me closer to HYDRA. You can tell me about their operations and their leadership. You can tell me what they did to Sakura so I know how to help her."

You glanced up at the mention of the girl, curiosity breaking through your carefully built defenses.

"Kakashi may have primary responsibility for her care and training, but everything she knows about medicine, she learned from me."

That's right, Tsunade thought as you processed this, Kakashi trusts me. Sakura trusts me. It's not only in your best interest that you cooperate. It's in theirs.

"And," she continued cautiously, "you're a highly trained covert-operative. You could be very useful to SHIELD if you chose to be."

You glanced at her, a glimmer of hope lighting your eyes for the first time since she'd met you. She smiled.

"Fine," you relented, arms crossed tightly over your chest, "but only if I get answers too."

"Of course," she nodded, a small, triumphant smile on her face. You let out an exasperated sigh, but relaxed slightly into your chair, indicating with a wave of your hand for her to begin.

"Do you know where the Red Room is currently located?"

You looked amused by the question. This was likely going to be a very long night for her,

"No. It's location moves frequently, and we were always transported blind. HYDRA wanted to ensure that their investments were protected."

"So this was HYDRA's protocol?"

You nodded, "Orochimaru thought that the constant shifting was counterproductive and wasted time, but he didn't exactly have a choice. It was a system put into place long before he took control, and he could never convince the...the Akatsuki to change it. It always worked well enough that you've never been able to find it."

Tsunade's jaw ticked.

"Was Orochimaru loyal to HYDRA?"

"Not in a way that mattered. He didn't care about their mission or ideals. He followed their orders to stay in power, but all he really cared about were his own goals. He was interested in innovation, and HYDRA gave him the resources to do what he wanted."

"And what was it he wanted?"

You paused. Tsunade saw the moment you began to close off again, but it was too late to backtrack now. The question had been asked. All she could do was hope for a helpful answer.

"That was three questions," you said instead, ignoring Tsunade's glower, "tell me what you meant."

Tsunade's exasperated glare only made your expression harden further.

"Before I was an agent, I trained under a man called Sarutobi."

Tsunade should have expected your violent reaction. She supposed she was getting old, as your immediate leap towards the gun still sitting on her desk startled her more than it should have and more than she'd ever admit.

You were quick. You'd lifted the gun and turned the safety off before she could get out of her chair. Yours was knocked over behind you, and your eyes were alight with fury. The grin on your face did little to mask your terror, and the laugh you let out almost sounded like a sob.

"You are HYDRA," you muttered. She wondered if you were even seeing her. It seemed like you were looking straight through her to something far, far away from where she stood, "you're tricking me. You...you're lying to Kakashi and Sakura."

"Just sit down," Tsunade said carefully, "and listen. You wanted answers, didn't you?"

"Not from scum," you spat.

"Sit," she said again, rising from her chair and glaring down at you, a pinprick of guilt nearly making her wince when you cowered away from her authoritative gaze, "down."

Your breath hitched, and you glanced behind you at the chair you'd knocked over, then back at Tsunade cautiously. You took a careful step backwards, keeping your eyes locked on Tsunade as you bent down to pick the chair up and right it. The gun was steady in your hand, and you looked unwilling to even consider giving it back to her.

"You must think I'm an idiot," you sneered, "I thought you said you aren't a Black Widow."

"I'm not."

"Hiruzen Sarutobi," you said venomously, eyes alight with fury and panic, "created the Red Room."

"Based on what we know, that might be true."

You looked seconds from launching over the table towards her. She understood your frustration—she knew that she was being cryptic, but HYDRA had a messy past. Even she didn't fully understand the Red Room's history.

"The Red Room was not originally HYDRA's program. It began at a time when SHIELD and HYDRA were very deeply intertwined—though SHIELD wasn't aware of that. Both organizations had their role in its development, and its original mission was simply to train women in the art of espionage.

"This was during the Cold War. Spies were in high demand, and SHIELD was starting to realize that female spies were particularly useful at a time when women were severely underestimated and overlooked. Sarutobi was at the front of the project, along with a few other high-profile agents. Some of whom were later exposed as HDYRA loyalists. I was Sarutobi's student before he began working on the program. He created the code that the Red Room still uses, and he taught it to all of his students before it was ever adapted for the Red Room, myself and Orochimaru included."

Your stare was impressive—she was almost intimidated by it. She knew that you likely didn't believe half of what she was saying, but she'd expected as much. No matter how much you hated Orochimaru, HYDRA's conditioning ran far too deep for it to dissolve in just over a year.

"After World War II, SHIELD thought it had destroyed HYDRA. They let their guard down, because they believed they had fulfilled their purpose. SHIELD was only created because HYDRA began gaining power. In the years following the end of the war. HYDRA had ample opportunity to replant its roots at the heart of SHIELD, where it could use its resources and recruit its people."

"How could they have known that they would take control of The Red Room from within SHIELD?" you asked, skepticism blatant in your tone. "Are you people really so incompetent that you couldn't stop them from taking the Widows from right under your noses."

"They didn't take it," Tsunade said, unable to keep some bitterness from her tone, "they destroyed it. After Sarutobi was killed, they took the few women who were willing to go with them, killed all the others, and fled. We didn't know they were HYDRA at the time—at first we thought they were Soviets."

It was a very crude explanation of what had happened—there were quite a few details that she did not feel she had time to delve into. If what Kakashi had told her about what Orochimaru had done to you over the past seven months, an overload of information was probably the last thing you needed.

"You still haven't explained what you meant," you said finally, eyes boring into her like you could extract the information from her by willpower alone.

"I gave you quite a bit of information," she retorted, folding her hands on the cluttered surface of her desk, "answer another one of my questions, and I'll tell you about Orochimaru."

The irritated look you were giving her was far more frustrating than it should've been. Earning some semblance of trust from you was likely not something she was going to accomplish as quickly as she'd hoped.

"Fine," you bit out.

She smiled, though she knew from your perspective it probably looked far more forced than it actually was.

"The night of September 27, we recovered Orochimaru's body in a room that you were found in," she began as gently as she could manage. Though it was barely noticeable, she didn't miss the shift in your expression. Your face went blank, all emotion draining from it in an instant. "Can you tell me what happened?"

The look in your eyes was...unsettling. She couldn't quite place the emotion, but it seemed far more detached than she'd seen you since the night they brought you in. Part of her wondered if it was a mask to gain her sympathy, but she dismissed the thought easily.

She'd gotten a brief glimpse of your face when she found you and Kakashi. The terror in your expression was as real then as the faraway look in your eyes was now.

"That's a complicated question," you finally muttered.

"We've got plenty of time."

Your jaw clenched, eyes falling shut. Tsunade thought back to Kakashi's exact words about the night you killed Orochimaru.

She had her memories back, he'd told her, but it was like holding a ghost.

"I'm—" you began, cutting yourself off with a wince, "I wasn't...in my right mind that night."

You looked up at her, and her heart sank at the look in your eyes. You were afraid. You were doing a good job of hiding it, but she had practice in seeing through masks like yours. This one was clear as day: you were afraid of what she would do if you told her the truth.

She guessed that your biggest fear was that you wouldn't see Kakashi or Sakura again. That she would lock you up and throw away the key.

"Kakashi told me that you gave yourself up to Orochimaru to save Sakura," she said, relieving you from having to say more for another few moments, "that couldn't have been easy."

"It was the easiest decisions I've ever made," you corrected, the haze clearing from your eyes. "Sakura was in danger. What else would I have done?"

Despite her frustration, Tsunade was having a very hard time not appreciating the sacrifices you'd made for her people.

"The past seven months are hazy. The clearest moments are of Kakashi—at least, Orochimaru's disguise of Kakashi. That night, when I came to, I was in a room with Orochimaru and..."

You glanced at her, pausing for long enough that suspicion grew in the back of her mind. She noted the hesitance and filed it away as an observation to return to later.

"And another HYDRA agent. When I saw Orochimaru, it was like...I don't know. It's hard to describe. It almost felt like waking up from a nightmare."

Tsunade could almost picture the scene you were describing. She thought back to the moment she'd found you, your eyes determinedly avoiding Orochimaru's corpse and your body wrapped up in Kakashi's.

Orochimaru must've seen the same thing she had that night. That was why he assumed that Kakashi would be your weak spot—that the idea of his betrayal would break you.

Clearly he underestimated the Widows. You were the one sitting in front of her.

"I shot Orochimaru, and then Kakashi found me."

The simplicity of that explanation was almost comical. Almost.

"That's all?"

You nodded, though you both knew she didn't believe you.

"That's all that matters."

You must've thought she was a fool.

Even Kakashi had seemed off since that night. He was clearly worried about you, but this seemed like something deeper. He had been just as closed off about the topic as you were, much to Tsunade's frustration. She almost threatened to cut him off from his visits to your cell, but she didn't think she'd be able to stand seeing him sulk.

"I grew up with Orochimaru," she said after a pause, "I know how cruel he could be. It was like he couldn't help himself—there was something in him that fed off of controlling others."

You blinked at her, that practiced mask still firmly in place.

"I don't blame you for anything might've done, both in the Red Room and outside of it. I'll be honest, you won't get a lot of support from other agents unless you can convince them that you're not loyal to HYDRA, but I'm your ally here. And an important one to have, at that. I want to help you, but you have to be honest with me."

You looked pained at the thought, and she couldn't say she blamed you. She knew she was asking a lot from you—to open up about things that you hadn't even told Kakashi to a complete stranger should not have been your only path to freedom.

But she needed you to cooperate with her. If you wanted to stay out of prison, she needed you to trust that, at the very least, she had your best interest in mind.

"I'm just like him."

Tsunade tried not to let her surprise show in her expression. She'd barely heard your whispered words, but they knocked the wind from her lungs none-the-less.

You and Orochimaru are two sides of the same coin. He chose darkness, but you are far more similar than you realize.

She'd buried Sarutobi's words a long time ago, and she cursed the man for coming to mind now of all times. But she couldn't help but see herself in you.

"What do you mean?" she finally managed, unsure where the steadiness in her voice had come from.

He's dead, Tsunade thought as she waited for an answer, he's been gone for decades. I shouldn't let him effect me like this.

"Have you ever wanted to make someone hurt so badly that you didn't care if you died so long as you brought them pain?"

The agony on your face was nearly unbearable to look at. She gripped the arm of her chair, forcing her expression to remain neutral. Though she supposed it wouldn't matter—you hadn't looked at her in so long that she wondered if you even remembered she was there with you.

She supposed she could give you some reprieve. If only to see your expression return back to neutrality.

"Sarutobi trained a three-person team. On it was me, a man named Jiraiya, and Orochimaru," she began. Your eyes shot towards her, eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Before he created the Red Room, Sarutobi was working on a project called Rebirth. The goal was to create an enhanced soldier with superhuman capabilities. He and Danzo approached Orochimaru about the serum they would use to do this, and Orochimaru volunteered to be the first subject."

Tsunade swallowed, remembering her conversation with Orochimaru the night before the test. She often looked back on that night as the last time she ever spoke to the man she knew.

"The project failed. The serum caused irreparable muscle damage that Orochimaru spent the next five years trying to reverse. He begged Sarutobi to give him the formula to the serum so he could try to recreate it, but Sarutobi wouldn't let him take the risk.

"Nearly a decade later, Danzo decided to revive the project. Orochimaru wanted to be the subject again, but they wouldn't take the risk after the damage that had already been done to his body. Instead, they chose Jiraiya, and this time the experiment was a success."

Your emotionless expression was far more unsettling than your anger had been. Tsunade almost wished you would pick the gun up again, if only to show her that you hadn't shut down completely.

"That was Orochimaru's breaking point, I think. There had always been a sense of competition between he and Jiraiya, but...I don't think he could handle seeing Jiraiya come out unscathed after his trial had failed so monumentally. He resented Jiraiya for being the success story, and he resented Sarutobi for continuing to keep the serum from him. Soon after, he tried to steal what remained of it, but Sarutobi found him. No one knows exactly what happened that night. Sarutobi's body was found, and the vials with the rest of the serum had been shattered, presumably by Sarutobi to keep Orochimaru from getting his hands on them. It wouldn't have mattered though. I believe Orochimaru had already made the decision to leave SHIELD.

"After Orochimaru fled, The Red Room broke down. HYDRA had already begun to recruit some of the women, and they took the opportunity to retreat from SHIELD in the chaos after Sarutobi's death. Four of them defected to HYDRA."

Tsunade closed her eyes, remembering the horror that had washed over her at the sight of so many women—women she'd known and trained with—killed in cold blood. They'd been ambushed in their sleep by the women who had decided to betray them long before that night.

She'd been the one to lead the effort to track them down and end them.

"The Red Room as we knew it died. The Black Widow program was HYDRA's invention—only the Red Room's name attached it to what Sarutobi had created. It was unrecognizable, and after all of its ties to SHIELD had been cut, it became impossible to find."

"I've been searching for the Red Room since before I became Director," she began, fingers woven together on her desk, "and I have made little progress on my own. I try not to allocate SHIELD resources to something that we knew so little about. Of course, these past five years have given me an excuse to take more direct action, but there was still frustratingly little we could find out. HYDRA has had a long time to learn how to protect their secrets."

Up until very recently, you had been one of those secrets.

She hadn't known what to expect from you when she first began thinking about this conversation. She'd initially assumed that you'd be useless to her—that Orochimaru had broken you beyond repair with his experiments. She wouldn't have blamed you for becoming the next victim to his cruelty.

But there was something in your eyes. Something that gave her hope.

"I want you to join SHIELD," she finally offered, "and help me destroy the Red Room."

Your walk to Tsunade's office had been purposeful, your stride swift and quiet. It had been the gait of a Black Widow.

The walk back was more of a trudge. You felt the energy slowly seeping from you with each step you took, all of it used up in processing everything Tsunade had told you.

A Black Widow joining SHIELD shouldn't have been possible. It couldn't have been. Yet the Director herself had been the one to make the offer. Who, if not her, had the authority to make such a bold request?

Danzo won't be happy, you thought with a scowl, he'll probably do everything he can to stop it. He's angry just having me here instead of shipping me off to some prison on the other side of the world.

Your interaction with Danzo had been limited, but each time you saw him left a sour taste in your mouth. He hated you, that much was clear. But there was something...different about the way he looked at you. The other agents you'd seen had been wary. Some even looked visibly angry because of your affiliation with HYDRA. But Danzo...there was something unsettling about how he looked at you. Almost as if he was stripping you down to your very core in an attempt to reveal your weaknesses. As if he could find all of the answers he needed to rid SHIELD of you once and for all if he simply searched hard enough for them.

His goal had been clear from the very beginning: he wanted you gone, but to do that, he needed to go over Tsunade's head. You weren't exactly sure what that entailed, but Tsunade didn't seem particularly concerned about it.

"I want you to join SHIELD and help me destroy the Red Room."

Her words still rang in your ears, keeping you from thinking about anything else for very long. She hadn't demanded that you join her cause, but the implication was still there: it would be far easier for her to get you out of your cell if you cooperated.

Destroying the Red Room, you thought as you shuffled across the floor, trusting that Tsunade would keep you from being seen by the security cameras for long enough that you could be slow in getting back.

It's impossible. Now that Orochimaru is gone, they've probably hidden somewhere far beyond my reach. Somewhere completely new. I'd be no help.

You would disappoint Tsunade. Your information was useless with Orochimaru dead. Yet, she'd seemed so certain that you would be a valuable piece to fulfilling her goal. Her determination had struck you—it had even made you consider, for a moment, that her earnestness was more than just wishful thinking.

She was just charismatic, You had believed in Orochimaru too, once. This was no different—just a new master to give you orders.

Your thoughts were a whirlwind by the time you reached the cell block. Absentmindedly, you pressed the silver card against the sensor at the door, pulling it open at the answering beep. You kept your eyes glued to the floor, still completely lost in thought as you made your way to your cell in the middle of the long corridor.

"Yo."

Your hand froze against the lock of your cell. You looked up at the same time that it beeped and clicked open, though you remained frozen on the other side of the bars.

Kakashi gave you a casual wave, Fahrenheit 451 open on his chest.

"What..." you began, blinking a few times to make sure you were seeing clearly.

He was laying on your small futon like it was his own, one arm behind his head and the other resting against the abandoned book.

It took you a moment to move past your shock, but once you did, panic hit you like a train, making you rush into the cell to get him out.

"What are you doing?" you hissed, glancing at the corner of the room to make sure the green light was still off. You felt only slightly relieved at the confirmation that it was, though that didn't mean it wasn't moments from turning on again. "You can't be in here!"

"Why no–" he began, though he cut himself off when you took his hand and began pulling him to his feet. The book on his chest fell uselessly to the side, and he nearly slipped on it as you pulled him towards the exit. You kept glancing at the camera, sure that once Tsunade had given you enough to time to make your way back to your cell, she'd have it turned back on. And Kakashi—

Kakashi had the nerve to look amused.

"What were you thinking?" you hissed, "it's one thing to be outside of the cell, but..."

This was enough to give Danzo reason to have him terminated. He was risking too much to be here already by just coming to see you. You had to put a stop to it. You had to make sure he didn't risk his position just so he could come on these stupid visits to your cell. You'd indulged in him too much already. You had to—

Hands fell on your shoulders, stilling your frantic attempts to erase his presence from the cell and silencing your spiraling thoughts.

"Tsunade knows I'm here," he said lightly, "she asked me to meet you once you were finished."

"You...you knew?"

He nodded. You swallowed, running an exhausted hand over your face and slumping back on your mattress, feeling the strong and sudden urge to just lay down and sleep for the next week.

But with Kakashi here, part of you wanted to savor this time. Despite your weak efforts to push him away, you still yearned for his presence. You'd forgotten how peaceful it was to simply be near him, and you almost felt as if you'd become addicted to that feeling.

Even after what you'd done, you wanted to be selfish.

"You're thinking too hard again."

You huffed, head falling into your hands as you took in a deep, trembling breath.

How were you supposed to do what Tsunade had asked? There was no world in which SHIELD accepted you as one of their own. You'd create a rift between Kakashi and the other agents. Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke all had friends they cared for here. Would associating with you cause them problems too?

"I can't stay here, Kakashi."

His eyes seemed to pierce through you, leaving your thoughts and feelings exposed to his soft, inquisitive gaze. Rather than being intrusive, however, it was almost a relief. It felt like he'd taken some of the burden of your emotions, willing and able to understand them.

But how were you supposed to tell him that?

I told you to beg.

You were beginning to recognize the cycle that you'd become trapped in. Once, it had been Orochimaru's voice that haunted you. His words would repeat over and over in your head to a point that it became debilitating.

Now your own words had taken their place, reminding you of how little you belonged here, with people like Kakashi and Sakura. You were reminded of the darkness that had always been inside you—the darkness that was finally spreading into your words and actions.

You would not let them see it. It would not be exposed to them like it had been to you.

Next to you, Kakashi shifted, and you lifted your head from your hands and met his eyes. He'd pulled his mask down, a sight that was becoming far more comforting to you than you should have let it. He took your hand gently in his, fingers lacing through yours until your palms pressed together.

"I can tell that you've been trying to pull away from me," he said after a long silence. You looked up from your joined hands, and you hated the way your traitorous heart skipped when you met his eyes, "And if leaving is what will let you heal, I understand. I'm not going to try and stop you if that's what you need. But I–"

You swallowed against your dry throat when at the crack in his voice, your hand betraying your warring emotions as it rose to cup his cheek. He closed his eyes when your palm met his face, leaning over-so-slightly into your touch and releasing the air that he'd trapped in his lungs.

You'd forgotten, albeit briefly, what it was that you'd been so concerned about. You were beginning to regain your bearings after being so consumed by trying to comfort him and realized that you'd just done the opposite of what you'd intended by declaring your intention to leave, but the slate was wiped clean again when he covered your hand with his own, then turned his head just enough that he could press his lips to your palm.

His lips were soft against your skin, and so unbelievably gentle that you almost wondered if he had even touched you at all. Still, it felt as if warmth spread from his lips to every part of you, melting away your fear and hesitation and any motivation that you'd felt to leave.

"You can be free here. Tsunade will do everything she can to make sure of that," he finally continued, recovering his voice, "and I want you to stay. There's nothing you could do to change that."

Selfish, someone whispered in your mind. You'd expected it to be Orochimaru's voice, as it always had been in the past, trying to convince you that you were nothing but a parasite to Kakashi. Instead, the familiar voice of the Widow hissed in your ear, craving the solitude that she had always known. You'll only put them in danger if you stay. You've become the monster that you killed.

"You don't understand," you croaked, hating the way your voice broke. You squeezed your eyes shut, unable to look at Kakashi any longer without breaking. "I'm not...good. I'm not good enough for this."

You had no idea how to explain it to him in a way that made sense. The Widow understood, and she'd convinced you that the only thing you could do for Kakashi was to let him go, but you found that you couldn't articulate the logic of it to him.

Why won't he just understand? you thought, desperate for him to push you away too. Desperate for any easier way out than leaving him of your own accord, why won't he...

Kakashi's hand fell to your shoulder, where your bullet wound was slowly beginning to heal again. He blinked, fingers tracing over the spot where the stitches were beneath the layers of fabric and bandages.

"I did this to you," he finally murmured, eyes falling shut, "and I'll never forgive myself for it. What makes me any more worthy than you?"

"You were protecting Naruto."

"You wouldn't have hurt him," Kakashi shook his head. "I was afraid, and I took the cowards way out."

He was right to have been afraid. You had been lost, completely and utterly so. You still weren't sure what would have happened if Kakashi hadn't stopped you that night.

"Help me understand what you're thinking," he said quietly, fingers tightening around yours, "it's okay to share your burden with me."

You opened your mouth to tell him that you couldn't—that your burden wasn't his to bear—but a choked sob escaped you instead. You pulled your hand from his face to cover your mouth, eyes wide as you stared at your lap.

This would be so much easier if you'd seen what I did, you thought desperately, and hated me for it.

"When I...killed him," you finally whispered. Kakashi's hand tightened on your own, and you wanted to hate the strength that you found in his steadying grip, "I made him suffer. I...I made him beg.

"I was cruel, just like he'd raised me to be," you continued, afraid to meet Kakashi's eyes and see the softness of his gaze shift to revulsion. You're just like him, the Widow whispered, you are not the protector now. You will be feared, just like him. You will be what others are protected from.

"He was kneeling at my feet, bleeding and bargaining for his life, and for a moment I understood his addiction to it. I relished in the sight of him so weak. He was defenseless at the end, and injured enough that I could have left him alive, but I wanted to see him dead. I wanted to feel what he'd always felt. To finally understand his desperation to keep control. And I did. I felt it. And I hate myself for enjoying that feeling."

Looking at Kakashi now felt impossible. You were almost certain of what you'd see. Hatred. Disgust. Revulsion.

He'd never want to see you again. He'd never let you near Sakura again.

You wanted him to go without another word, leaving you and your pollution behind. If he went now, maybe it would be a less painful than if he told you how disgusting you were for becoming just like Orochimaru.

You were jolted from your thoughts when gentle fingers lifted your head by your chin, raising it until you were facing him again.

"You deserved justice," he said firmly, "and you left his cruelty behind with him. It died with him."

You wanted to believe him. You wished more than anything that the Widow would leave you behind and retreat back to her cage.

You knew Kakashi could see the warring emotions on your face. The hesitation clashing with the desperation. The guilt clawing at the desire. Finally, he released your hand and took your face between both palms, looking between your eyes with renewed intensity.

"You are good," he said firmly, "and you deserve so much more than he ever gave to you. You deserve to choose how you want to live."

You couldn't. You couldn't. Why was he refusing to understand that?

You were so desperate for the peace that you'd once felt with him and the kids. It was a life you desperately craved after it had already been ripped away from you once.

But it was fragile.

"What if..." you choked, terrified that voicing the fear that you'd buried deep within you would make Kakashi see how selfish you truly were.

It would expose the scared little girl that Orochimaru had always seen you as. She would be stripped to her core and left to crumble into dust.

"What if I come back, and then everything is taken away again," you finally croaked. "What if this darkness consumes me, and I have to leave you behind."

Selfish coward, the Widow hissed.

"I wish you could see yourself through my eyes," he muttered, close enough that you could feel how addictively warm he was. His hands fell from your face, resting around your waist and tracing down your spine. You fought a shiver, too comfortable in his presence to be frustrated by how easily he was abating your fears and making you forget how desperately you needed him to leave before he convinced you to stay.

"It's not selfish to choose how you life," he said, voice barely above a whisper.

He must've seen the pained look on your face. He looked so desperate to convince you of what he was saying that part of you wanted to give in just to make that expression lift. Another part warned you that you'd only make things worse for him in the long run if you took the easy way out.

But that voice was getting quieter, drowned out by something entirely new. It was a stranger's voice, though she sounded like you, and she wanted more for you than the Widow ever had.

You'd hurt him. You'd brought him and Sakura and the others so much pain, yet he was here, trying to convince you to stay. Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto were waiting for you despite what you'd done.

Would it change things if they knew what you'd done? If they knew what you'd become, even if it had only been for a moment?

"Sakura is safe. Naruto and Sasuke are safe. I'm safe," Kakashi said firmly, "You're free."

HIs eyes shone in the fluorescent above you, filled with a desperate kind of hope that made your chest ache.

"What do you want?"

I want to be safe. I want to free. I want to be happy. I want to be with Sakura and Naruto and Sasuke. I want to help them learn and grow. I want to see them succeed. I want to see Sakura heal. I want to heal with her.

You wanted to be honest. For once, you wanted to be honest with yourself. He knew what you were. He knew what you were capable of, and he was choosing to stay.

Maybe that was enough. Maybe, for the first time, this happiness didn't have to be temporary.

"This," you finally breathed, the word a soothing balm against your throat, "you."

Peace.

Kakashi had always had an uncanny ability to make you feel weightless. Even when you'd barely trusted him, his voice had kept you anchored in safer waters.

Now, as your lips met, you felt like you were drowning.

The debilitating fear and self-hatred that had taken root in your chest were ripped apart by a wave of euphoria. Kakashi's lips were just as soft as they had been against your palm. You were so used to rough, unforgiving hands that his touch felt like a breath of fresh air. Butterflies exploded in your stomach as his hand slipped around your waist, pulling closer until there was no space left between you.

His lips moved slowly against yours, parting for gasps of air between intoxicating clashes of lips and and hands and skin.

Yes, you were drowning. Drowning in the soft press of his lips against yours. In the firm hands that held your waist. In the feel of his skin against your palms.

He was a bottomless sea, and you were sinking willingly into its depths.

You pulled back with a gasp, eyes barely opening before he was pressing another kiss to your swollen lips, chasing after you as you attempted to catch your breath.

"Kakashi..." you whispered into his lips.

"Hm?"

"The cameras," you muttered breathlessly, "they might turn on soon."

"Tsunade gave me an hour."

You let out a muffled laugh against his lips, and he parted from you long enough to meet your eyes.

I could stay in this moment forever, you thought. Soft puffs of air hit your cheeks as he caught his breath, though his gaze was shifting between your eyes and your lips, grip on your waist anchoring you to his chest. You could feel the rapid beat of his heart against your own, certain that yours was no different. I want to hold on to this feeling.

You brushed your fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck, an unfamiliar weightlessness consuming you as you took in the look in his eyes. They were filled with a tenderness that you had seen before—on the balcony the night before you left with Orochimaru. During the nights you spent together, both of you finding solace in simply being close to one another.

Even when you'd feared him—despised him—that softness had remained.

"Is this what being human feels like?" you asked quietly, wondering if this was a feeling that everyone experienced. If this kind of peace was universal.

Kakashi pulled back just enough that you could meet his eyes, face flushed and lips swollen. You nearly stopped breathing at the sight of him, but his hands on your waist gently reminded you of to take in a deep, shaking breath.

His smile was soft and small, but still full enough to drown in.

"I hope so."

(previous chapter) | (next chapter - coming soon) | (series masterlist)

Author's note | omg this one took so long, i'm sorry for the wait! i started grad school, so i've been kinda swamped in work. i hope it was worth the wait though! i've been so excited to release this chapter. there's a lot that happens and i've read it so many times at this point, so if there are things that don't make sense don't hesitate to let me know!

i'm currently going back and editing this fic to make sure there's plot coherence since i'm starting to work on the second series (i've already written some!). i'd also love to write one-shots in between the two series, so if y'all have any requests or things you'd like to see feel free to send an ask on tumblr or leave a comment with some suggestions!

see y'all in the last chapter (for now), and don’t forget to leave me some love!

title is from “Spiracle” by Flower Face

[mixelation]

TOROCHIMARU MENTIONED 🏅🏅🏅🏆🏆🏆👆👆🐍🦆🎉🎊 (you do not have to publish this i'm sorry)

LMAO you are going to be so pleased with the next chapter. <3 here's a preview

Tori felt tense as she climbed back out of the cave, Orochimaru plodding along leisurely behind her. She’d mostly just accepted that any physical feat she tried would look ridiculous next to the grace of a ninja, including but not limited to something as simple as going up a rocky incline. She felt judged, though, clinging to the cave wall while Orochimaru took the uneven path like a Sunday morning stroll. 

Thank god the Akatsuki hideout was nothing but stairs. She was sure that, had she tried this when she’d first arrived, she’d be at least a little winded by the time they were outside. 

As soon as they were in the cool shade of the forest, Orochimaru’s hand was suddenly in the hair at the back of her head, pushing her head forward. Tori made a strangled cry of discontent but didn’t fight him. He wasn’t actually hurting her, and if she struggled, not only would she not win, but he might be inclined to harm her just for fun. 

He leaned over her, carefully combing and parting her hair around the nape of her neck with his fingers. He did it gently and carefully, and it might have even felt good if he weren’t also pushing her head down into an uncomfortable position. 

“No scorpion seal,” he finally murmured, letting go of her. “Interesting.”

Tori stumbled away from him the moment he let her go, brushing her hair back into place. She turned to face him, studying his face as her brain worked overtime to figure him out. He was eyeing her up and down with the same sort of curiosity he might aim towards someone’s open chest cavity. On Sasuke’s pretty face, it almost looked inviting. 

A scorpion seal? Like one of Sasori’s? Why would he expect that? 

“What did Kabuto tell you?” Tori wondered out loud. She could make guesses, but Orochimaru was a person apt to answer questions when the mood hit him. 

“Ah,” Orochimaru replied, moving forward and linking his arm through Tori’s elbow. “Let’s walk and talk. It’s about time for lunch, isn’t it?”

Tori didn’t argue with him, just walked along beside him in a confused daze. What the fuck was happening? Was she actually safe? Surely she wasn’t. 

It’s not like this is worse than taking poison from Sasori or letting Deidara fly me somewhere wasted, she decided.  

“Kabuto said you knew about our work with Sasori,” Orochimaru said conversationally, leading her towards the path through the forest that would take them to the town proper. He let out a single laugh. “He said you turned him in without hesitation.”

“Well,” Tori answered levelly, “I don’t really know what he expected.”

Orochimaru laughed again. “I forgot how funny you are,” he said and sounded downright cheerful. Tori would count this as a win. 

Orochimaru watched her out of the corner of his eyes, taking on a more calculating look that set her hair on end. 

“Now, Tori,” he said. “Imagine you were me, and your best, most trustworthy spy is convinced your lab assistant can truly see the future and knows others’ deepest secrets. What do you think I’d do?”

What a loaded question, Tori thought. She kept her face blank, eyeing Orochimaru right back. He didn’t seem upset or angry, but he watched her with anticipation, like this was some sort of test. 

“I suppose,” Tori said flatly, “if I were you, I’d either want that person dead, or I’d want them on my side.” She paused, waiting for a reaction, but he continued to just watch her. “And if I were me, I’d hope you decided on the latter.”

His lips twitched upwards. This could be because he thought she was funny, or because she was on to something. He still didn’t speak, so she kept thinking out loud. 

“Either way, you’d have to find me,” she reasoned. “Or maybe not you personally, but someone working for you. Especially if you also wanted my insight on your Sasuke problem.” 

Who was still working for Orochimaru, with his little ninja village now in the wind? Kabuto? Surely Akatsuki would notice other ninja crawling around… 

“I did meet a snake,” Tori realized, remembering the whole hotel debacle when she’d been traveling with Sasori and Deidara. Orochimaru’s smile turned downright wicked. “Are you kidding me?”

“He was very upset you tried to blow him up,” Orochimaru replied. “He nearly died.”

“I think people really need to stop underestimating my ability to get them killed,” Tori griped. 

“You are surprisingly lethal,” Orochimaru said in the tone of someone telling a very good joke. “Now, what did my dear friend Sasori do with you, if not kill you or plaster a mind-control seal on your neck?”

Tori focused very hard on keeping her steps even and her face blank as she debated her answer. Clearly the question implied that Orochimaru knew Sasori had kidnapped her, but not that she was currently affiliated with Akatsuki. This, of course, did not mean he didn’t know or didn’t suspect as much, because Orochimaru was a master manipulator and liar. 

What to say, what to say…? Tori’s mind buzzed. It was probably better for her and Akatsuki to not admit she was working for them. Orochimaru would almost definitely press her for information, or maybe even ask for her to spy on them for him, and this would put her in a tricky, dangerous situation. 

Then again, if she turned out to not be useful to his purposes, Orochimaru might just kill her, right here and now.

Where, oh where, had Obito gone?

Tori tilted her head back and drawled, “Would you believe me if I said I escaped?” 

She’d stalled enough they’d gotten to the break in the tree line that marked the beginning of the town, and sunlight glinted in Sasuke’s eyes as Orochimaru studied her. 

“From Sasori?” he said after a moment. “Absolutely not.”

Tori kept her mouth shut, waiting for more as he led her through the town streets. It had gotten hot while they’d been in the cave, and now that they were in the open sun, Tori could feel herself starting to sweat. 

“It is interesting no one could find you,” Orochimaru eventually said, tone still pleasant. “Not that I invested many resources into it, with the current situation– but you are not so subtle you could hide by yourself, and if it were up to him, Sasori would not let you roam free without a seal.”

He paused outside a restaurant, eyes skimming a sign in the window listing specials. Then he turned to peer down at her, his arm linked through her elbow pulling her closer into him. 

“So I think,” he said, voice smooth as silk, “you have found someone very powerful to work with.”

Tori held his gaze and did not say a word. She did not let herself tense or wince, although she was sure he could feel her racing heartbeat. They stood like that for what was probably only a few seconds, but felt like an eternity. 

Finally, Tori inclined her head and said, “I may not be a ninja, and I may not be able to fight or flee or hide from one, but I learned from the best.” She smiled, as sweetly as she could. “Is it so strange to think I couldn’t convince Sasori to let me go?”

Orochimaru took half a step back from her, turning Sasuke’s head to snort with laughter. 

“Don’t worry,” he said. “If you found someone more powerful than Sasori, then I don’t expect you to be stupid enough to confide in me about them. Stick with whatever story you want to tell. But I do think we should… catch up.”

He led her inside the restaurant and asked for a table for two. 

Their waitress– an older woman with streaks of gray in her dark hair– gave them both a sort of mooning look as she handed over menus, and Tori abruptly realized what they must look like. With his Orochimaru-ness shining through Sasuke’s face, Orochimaru made his body look several years older than it was, and they’d walked in with their arms linked. They definitely looked like two young adults on a date. 

Tori felt herself go cross-eyed as she stared down at the menu. That was… no… no. 

No!

This was, somehow, worse than God telling her she was an abomination.

[theheirofthesharingan]

Okay, sorry if this was asked before but I'm curious and I'd really like to learn more. You've mentioned in a couple of posts now that Itachi wasn't retconned. Could you please elaborate further?

Hey! No, this wasn't asked before. I was thinking of making a separate post for this, but procrastination is evil. So, I am one of the 'Itachi was meant to be a good guy/was not evil/had more to him than he let on' people. Watching the anime, it was the feeling that there was more to him. His reveal was along the lines of devastation and shocking for me than surprise. Detailed post is below the cut.

First thing first.

This was Itachi's first look that Kishimoto had planned.

Itachi was originally conceived as the leader of Konoha's Special Assassination and Tactical Squad called the "Anbu", dubbed the Itachi Squad (イタチ隊, Itachi-tai), which would have been a 70-man group divided into four teams, specializing in assassination and other illicit operations. However, this idea was scrapped in favour of the current Itachi working for the Akatsuki.

The above paragraph is from Itachi's wikipedia that cites a couple of interviews as sources. People can't be too blind in their delusion to think the author who wrote the story had no idea what he was writing.

Next is the Naruto Databook that has some fishy things if we look closely. In the first glance it's not very obvious, but after learning the truth it seems very much obvious.

It says, "the ones who know the reason of its downfall are very small". Go back to Obito's words about only four people being aware of the reason of the clan's downfall.

Additionally, Itachi carried out 134 B-Rank missions. Zero A Rank. And one S-Rank. The S rank mission being the Uchiha massacre. It's very fishy that he was given one s rank mission without any A tank mission. Suspicious? We know later on why.

It's also interesting because the first databook was published in 2002 and Itachi first appeared in 2003. If his twist wasn't planned from the beginning this databook is very telling.

Since I mentioned how he looked, here's him in Sasuke's flashbacks for the first time.

He looks far from evil or sadistic. You want to know who enjoys killing for fun? Hidan. Itachi, on the other hand, on the day of the massacre itself, looks miserable and lost.

In chapter 7, he in a haze-like manner he talks about crying. In many English translations it's translated as 'he made me cry' and in many it's this. It's very, very vague, but his statement is complimented by Sakura's question, to which he still responds in the similar way 'My..' Maybe he was trying to say 'My brother', but he instead finishes his speech with 'my goal is to take revenge' etc., Since it's still very early so it might not be the strongest evidence, but a few chapters later in chapter 27, during their fight against Haku, when Sasuke awakens his Sharingan, he has two tomoe in his right eye.

Yes, he might have awakened it this way, but it also suggests that maybe already had his Sharingan and that's why this is 'asymmetrical' awakening? In the later chapters we find out he actually did have his Sharingan he awakened after the massacre.

This flashbacks in chapter 127 most firmly establishes Itachi's twist. The tilted head-protector. Sasuke remembers it vaguely, but he has no recollection of Itachi crying that night, because his mind is still hazy from the "truth" Itachi wanted him to believe. We know later on the significance of this scene.

There are three moments before Itachi was even introduced that give away what we see right after his truth reveal and connect to the chapter 403.

The 'Itachi was retconned' camp also uses 'Itachi was meant to be older (than 13) but Kishi made him younger later on' as an excuse to justify their retcon bullshit.

Kakashi, in chapter 142, states Itachi was 13 when he was made the Anbu captain.

Itachi graduated when he was just seven. Sasuke is the same age as Itachi was when he graduated from the Academy. Itachi is 17 at the time of his first appearance and Sasuke is 12. It is enough to tell lies were spread about Itachi. We, obviously, learn later on why.

Some more obvious hints were his interaction with Asuma, Kurenai, and Kakashi.

The criminal infamous for annihilating one of the strongest clans refuses to indulge in fight?

He also asks Kisame to keep things low key and not get too much attention. That's an excuse. He's not here to wage war. Yes, later on he does ask Kisame to go ahead. But that's because he's a spy. He cannot let Danzo know he dropped his guard. One single mistake from his side that could unearth the truth of the massacre and Danzo would lay hands on Sasuke. Plus, while he's strong, his opponents aren't just fragile saplings who couldn't stand any blow he or Kisame cast. He knew reinforcements would be on the way.

Kakashi also wonders why Itachi didn't just kill him. Again, yes, the torture was brutal, but they're ninja who are meant to do and endure cruel things. Itachi had to look like he was a menacing criminal reputed to have killed the Uchiha singlehandedly.

So, he completely avoids fighting Asuma and Kuernai, takes on only Kakashi because he's strong and can take it, also has Sharingan. But he completely refuses to go against Jiraiya. Jiraiya may or may not be stronger than him. Maybe they were equal. However, recalling Obito's words again: Itachi devoted himself to fighting Sasuke to death.

Two conclusions come from this:

He didn't want to fight Jiraiya because it would result in a massive bloodbath and killing a leaf Shinobi is out of question for him. He's not a coward. He just doesn't want to fight him.

As we know from later on, he wanted to fight and die at Sasuke's hands only. Killing a Konoha Shinobi or dying at the hands of someone that isn't Sasuke isn't a part of his plan.

This can also be tracked further when Kisame captures the Four Tails.

Kisame most likely knew about Itachi's illness, knew Itachi wanted to die at Sasuke's hands. The reason Itachi didn't fight Jiraiya and Rōshi was most likely the same.

Kisame comments on Itachi's 'lingering affection' towards the village. The Akatsuki pairings' dynamics are quite opposite. Deidara and Sasori love art but have differing opinions on eternal vs explosive. Hidan and Kakuzu represent religion vs materialism (money). And Itachi and Kisame represent treachery vs loyalty. Itachi isn't loyal to Akatsuki, Kisame is.

They also wonder why is Itachi taking the matter of kidnapping Naruto so lightly. He could have done it very easily. We know now that that wasn't his intent and his objective to visit the village was something else.

As popular as 'Itachi knocked on the door before kidnapping Naruto' meme is, the truth is, he wasn't there to kidnap him at all. Replace Itachi with Kisame alone for a moment. Knock on the door? No, sir. Naruto would be half-dead. Or replace him with Hidan and Kakuzu. They're sadistic bastards and would have damaged Naruto in the worst possible way.

Furthermore, when you think of it, he revealed 'Akatsuki are after jinchuriki' years prior to the Akatsuki even began collecting the tailed beasts. It was a message he left because it was important. His job in the Akatsuki wasn't to "pass on the info to the village." It was to keep tabs on them so they don't attack Konoha.

After the massacre, Sasuke's unwavering faith in Itachi despite being put in Tsukuyomi. At first it doesn't seem too much, but we later discover that Itachi used to be a kind and gentle boy. So this bit isn't just Sasuke is blind, but also that Itachi was a kind child before the tragedy happened.

Sasuke's flashbacks in chapter 220 also hint towards Itachi being trapped in the politics of the village/clan. Fugaku is speaking to his own son but the discussion is so intense that he has to activate his Sharingan to convey the message to Itachi.

These are the flashbacks from the chapter #221 that further shed light on Itachi being a spy.

He's the "pipeline between the clan and the village" - a spy. Later Obito says Itachi was callously used for his devotion towards the village, this is an example of his clan doing this to him.

This is Itachi right after being accused of Shisui's murder. He looks in grief, while also processing the news. Once the narrative delves deep into Itachi's story (through Sasuke's eyes) in VOTE1, he continues to look miserable, lost, in pain, and in dire need of help. And once we begin to see more of him before his death, he is quite human. But again, Kishimoto had his whole story figured out by that time, knew what he was to do with Itachi's arc and Sasuke's future there.

In the chapter 224 (during the battle between Sasuke and Naruto), the flashback goes to this moment: Itachi tells Sasuke that he'd be one of the three people to awaken Mangekyo.

This connects to the chapter 385 when Sasuke vs Itachi happens. Sasuke asks him about the third person who had the MS.

_______________

Kishimoto isn't a terrible writer because some people choose to ignore what's written right there or cannot accept happened. Usually the deniers of this are those who question his morality. His morality is never the subject of the debate because Itachi isn't exonerated for his crimes. He's a part of a world that's cruel and violent and his actions align with it very much. The ones who "praise" him have their own bias, and that gives him nothing in return. Characters in fiction always, I mean, always respond to the information based on their morality. When Hashirama praises Itachi, it's because he grew up in the warring era and lost all his family. He learns there's this kid who chose a path with the least damage but at the cost of his life, he's a good Shinobi. Hiruzen also has his bias as well as his guilt. Naruto's praise for Itachi is not only because of stopping a war, but also for loving Sasuke. No one other than Sasuke sees him as a person whether anyone likes him or hates him. He's praised by other Shinobi for doing things that are expected from a Shinobi.

Either way, at the end of the day, Itachi himself doesn't see himself who is worth forgiving, worth loving, worth being remembered. That's his whole arc.

Some things above in the post I took from this thread. Some information I ommited from it, so feel free to go through it, please.

[maoam]

DISSECTING SAKURA - WHY IS SHE SO TERRIBLE?

INTRO

I promised to write a post about Sakura’s character long time ago so here’s that now. If you want to read my Hinata post it’s here.

Sakura is a character that is very hated in the Naruto fandom. Many people acknowledge she’s one of the worst female characters in anime. And yet, she also has many dedicated stans that defend her character and insist she is simply misunderstood, that she’s actually a good shinobi and a person, or not as bad as people think. While there are many videos and essays about Sakura, my issue with them is that they often either praise Hinata who isn’t any better than Sakura or they do not acknowledge Sakura is supposed to be the way she is. She is intentionally written as an unlikeable person and she was never supposed to be inspiring or a positive character. I will try to explain this to you the best I can by dissecting her character. As usual, if you’re a fan of her character you might not want to see what’s next. This will be tagged under the anti tags so if you see it in the character tag that is not intentional.

SAKURA AS A SHINOBI

I will first focus on Sakura as a shinobi and her skills in fights since Naruto is a battle manga. Sakura is, as it's often acknowledged to the point of memes, pretty useless. A lot of her stans don’t understand why. She might get to punch once every 200 chapters or heal fodders but in the end she is featless. She is placed in many important situations where she does nothing to contribute or even gets in the way. This is not acceptable for a main character that has a lot of screentime. Naturally, this is something that annoys many people but it’s made even more annoying by the fact Sakura is constantly talking about how much stronger she has gotten and how she wants to be on par with Naruto and Sasuke.

In the beginning, during the bell test, Sakura doesn't even attempt to get the bells from Kakashi and only ends up fainting. In the Land of Waves, because Sakura was able to climb the tree due to her chakra control, she became smug and overconfident and thought she doesn't need to train. Which is funny considering she does nothing except stand around during an actual fight while Naruto and Sasuke actually contribute to the fight with the main antagonists. She's tasked to protect Tazuna, yet she can't do that either, but Kakashi has to intervene and get injured. It’s also worth mentioning Kakashi pointed out that during the tree climbing Sakura was able to control her chakra better because she had little chakra to begin with. Thus Kishimoto establishes very early on Sakura as someone who brags and overrestimates her own skills.

In the Chunin exams, Sakura hopes that Naruto and Sasuke aren’t foolish enough to cheat during the written exam, and she’s sure that she can answer the questions based on her knowledge. But what she doesn’t realize is that the real intention of the test is for the takers to use their observation and deductive skills to gather information and cheat. We find this out in the same chapter through Sasuke. Sasuke, unlike Sakura, realizes that the test makers want them to act like a shinobi. Sakura is book smart and a rote learner, but as we have seen in the Land of Waves and what we will see in the rest of the Chunin exams, being book smart won’t help her on the battlefield. Kishimoto wanted to show us that Sakura is just someone who brags and thinks she’s got everything under control, despite the fact she’s not the right kind of smart to be a shinobi, she doesn’t think like one.

In the Forest of Death, we then see she isn’t able to actually put anything into practice and Naruto and Sasuke again do all the work, while Sakura does nothing except stand around, scream and cry. Sasuke even has to yell at her to stop merely standing around. Eventually though, when Naruto and Sasuke are knocked out after the encounter with Orochimaru, Sakura has no choice but to protect them from Orochimaru’s henchmen. But she of course fails. She sets traps that fail, and gets mocked for her amateuristic skills by her opponents. We see characters like Kiba are able to put up traps that actually work, but Sakura who is supposedly smart isn’t. Then Rock Lee arrives to her rescue. After he gets beaten up, Kin grabs Sakura by her hair and calls her out on her vanity and tells her she should have trained more, which is basically what Sasuke did at the beginning of the arc, when he told Sakura if she has time to flirt maybe she should use that time to learn a jutsu or two. In the chapter cover she is also seen brushing her hair in front of a mirror in the forest, so Kishimoto makes it pretty clear Sakura is someone who cares a lot about her looks even during a mission. Kishimoto uses the villains to point out Sakura’s flaws, since the main characters can’t do that considering she is one of the main characters. So we see Dosu point out Sakura’s lack of observation skills and talent, and Kin point out her vanity and boy chasing personality. Sakura then dramatically cuts her hair and gives a speech on how she wants to walk in front of Naruto and Sasuke and wants them to look at her back. Despite the little fight she puts up, she is easily beaten down and is saved by Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji, before Sasuke wakes up and beats up Orochimaru's henchmen, driving them away. Sakura acted like this was going to be her moment, yet it wasn't at all. She had five other characters, 4 of them supporting characters, all of whom showed much better ninja skills than her, come to her rescue.

During Sakura and Ino's match, Sakura starts boasting how Ino is nowhere near her level. What happens is despite her bragging, she falls right into Ino's trap. Unlike Sakura, Ino actually used her wits and shinobi like strategy during the fight, using Sakura’s ego against her to successfully trap her. But because Naruto yelled Sakura's name, her inner Sakura somehow interrupted the fight and it ended in a tie. I think Ino should have won this fight but regardless it didn't make Sakura look good, just an overconfident brat who got lucky.

The rest of Part 1 Sakura spends moping over Sasuke and getting one-paneled by Gaara in the Konoha crush arc where she again becomes a damsel in distress to no one’s surprise. Her uselessly holding a kunai has become a meme because she does it many times during the series. Despite being a liability to her team she never thinks about how to better her skills nor tries to train. After Sasuke leaves and Sakura fails to stop him, she goes to Naruto and begs him with tears in her eyes to bring Sasuke back. Considering how many support characters have contributed massively in Part 1, a main character like Sakura achieving nothing just puts it into perspective how useless she really is. She has been a damsel in every single arc. When Naruto fails to bring Sasuke back, Sakura decides to ask Tsunade to train her, and tells Naruto next time she will go with him to get Sasuke back. The thing is, she should have had the resolve to train and change herself already before Sasuke left. She should have realized she put her team constantly in jeopardy by being weak. She read all about what life of a shinobi entails yet she seemed to treat it as some playground where she can play damsel while everyone around her protects her. It’s only when her crush left and Naruto failed to bring him back that she bothers to make an effort.

At the start of Part 2, Kakashi gives Naruto and Sakura yet another bell test, and Sakura shows some potential by showing off her chakra punch. But in the end, they manage to finally get the bells due to Naruto's plan. Some people act like Sakura is the smart one in team 7 yet she constantly fails to showcase this smartness of hers. Next, team 7 is assigned by Tsunade to rescue Kazekage Gaara. Sakura swears that this time, she will save both Naruto and Sasuke. Again, she sets up a high goal for herself, only to never achieve it. Sakura does however, mix up an antidote to heal Kankuro after he got attacked by Sasori. Next Chiyo and Sakura get ready for a fight with Sasori. Notice how this is the only fight where Sakura actually manages to not fail? It's because Chiyo is literally directing her moves, both verbally and physically. But I will give her credit for using the antidote to survive Sasori's poison, and taking the hit for Chiyo. Sasori was also apparently suicidal and didn’t avoid the last hit but I don’t dwell on that too much.

Now I need to mention something that is very important to note when it comes to Sakura’s character writing. Whenever Sakura does anything she’s complimented countless times by Kakashi, Chiyo, Sasori, and basically everyone she comes across. Kakashi starts to talk about how she might be able to surpass Tsunade, just because she punches the ground once in front of him. Chiyo hails her as a girl who can surpass Tsunade as well, before even seeing her fighting abilities. Hashirama thinks her power might be greater than Tsunade’s despite not even seeing what his granddaughter can do. And this goes on and on. This is Kishimoto intentionally raising up the audience's expectations, only to later intentionally bring them down. Superficial readers think she is smart and could possibly surpass Tsunade because other characters say so, but people who actually read the manga and pay attention can see that Sakura never lives up to the expectations placed on her.

Right after this arc, Sakura goes back to being useless and not contributing much especially considering the screentime she gets. Despite being able to avoid Sasori’s attacks with the help of Chiyo, in the Tenchi Bridge arc she gets first knocked out by Kabuto's flying butt because she's not watching where she's going, and needs to be saved by Yamato. Then she doesn’t let Yamato do his job and gets knocked out by Naruto's 4-tailed form, and needs to be saved by Yamato and healed by Kabuto. When they finally meet Sasuke she charges at him with no apparent strategy and needs to be saved by Yamato again, who gets injured in the process.

So after the entire part 1 of being useless, and 15 chapters of not being useless, Sakura needs to be saved multiple times by Yamato while contributing nothing. To people who paid more attention when reading the manga, this arc made them realize Sakura was never gonna change and this is how her character would always going to be. But others were still starstruck by the previous arc, and would only realize it later.

In the Akatsuki Suppression arc she pretty much does nothing worth mentioning. She is tasked to go help Shikamaru but the latter has already taken care of Hidan by himself. In the Itachi Pursuit arc she doesn’t do anything either, but only follows the dogs tracking Sasuke’s scent. In the Pain arc a lot of characters contribute in the fight against Pain, even Konohamaru who is just a kid manages to defeat one of the paths of Pain, while Sakura is again shown crying and screaming for Naruto. What was that about saving Naruto and Sasuke? If she’s so strong as she acts like she is she could have at least tried to buy some time for Naruto instead of crying like a total whimp.

There’s also a constant pattern of Sakura trying to demonstrate her "powers" or "strategy" and failing. This happened again in the start of the Five kage Summit arc when she tried to fight with the Kumo warriors, got immediately facekicked to the ground and had to be rescued by Naruto yet again. And this is not even the worst. In the same arc she attempts to take down Sasuke by herself, drugging her teammates so they can’t help her, and ends up failing when Sasuke figures out what she’s trying to do and she needs to be saved first by Kakashi and then by Naruto. As always, she aims too high and falls flat on her face. She ends the arc moping how she can’t do anything except to trust Naruto. Of course, Kishimoto doesn’t forgot to mention that Sasuke is resistant to poison, so Sakura’s attempt of killing him whether she succeeded stabbing him or not would have been futile either way. Again, she is failing to come even close to her own goals she set for herself. She is once again a liability that needs saving. And so the audience is frustrated and annoyed with her character. They are thinking, why is this girl who is constantly bragging about her skills constantly making a fool out of herself, crying pathetically and needing to be rescued? Well, that would be because she is supposed to be a person who is completely misguided about her own skills.

In the war arc, Sakura isn’t any better. The war arc only amplifies what we already have seen and know. That Kishimoto uses subversion to show Sakura’s character as overall irrelevant, and to show she’s all talk. In part 1, Sakura is said to be smart and she boasts about her skills yet she can’t do anything in an actual fight, but has to be saved by multiple characters, including Naruto, whom she considered inferior to herself. This of course made people annoyed with her character. When part 2 started, other characters were again commenting on her potential and how she had supposedly grown. So many people got hopeful that she had actually grown a lot and changed. And yet, as I have pointed out, she tried to show off many times and failed miserably. Which made people even more frustrated with her. Because they had gotten their hopes up. The Five Kage Summit arc was definitely the ultimate breaking point. After Sakura’s ridiculous attempt to manipulate Naruto, her drugging her teammates while leaving them defenseless on the ground and her trying to take down Sasuke and failing, she was certified as the fandom’s laughing stock. But some of her stans still remained, and thought she would redeem herself. Somehow.

Then comes the 4th shinobi war. Sakura has mostly been in the background healing people, but when Sasuke shows up, she is suddenly motivated to show off for real. She even gets pissed when Naruto is about to go with Sasuke and suggests to her that she could take a break. Sakura insists she is also part of team 7 and that she surely can keep up with the two of them. We have a panel hyping up Team 7. Then Sakura gets a moment to make a big punch after which she boasts and thinks she’s better than Tsunade, insulting the latter in the process. But she’s not paying attention to her surroundings and needs to be saved by the boys, after which she starts to boast how she will steal the Hokage seat from Naruto and how now they will all fight together with their backs to each other. She then reaffirms herself that she has finally caught up to Naruto and Sasuke. This level of arrogance needs to be backed up, otherwise the audience will get annoyed. And it did annoy a big portion of the fandom, considering they had seen for the past 600 chapters or so Sakura talking about how she wants to be on par with Naruto and Sasuke, how she won’t be a liability anymore and it all leading to nothing except disappointment after disappointment. Sakura’s confidence and ego are greatly disproportionate for someone of her capabilities, which a big part of the audience notices, whether consciously or subconsciously. And this is of course intentional.

She is left on the sidelines again when Naruto and Sasuke are too busy being ”the main act” and fighting perfectly in sync. Sakura has to ask Hinata what is even happening with the two of them. Sakura keeps healing people, but eventually Naruto’s chakra starts to help her with the healing.

Then we get to one of the most infamous moments with Sakura, that resembles another infamous moment in the Five kage summit arc, when she tried to take down Sasuke with a poisoned kunai. In this moment Obito is asking Sakura to stab his rinnegan eye with a kunai. In both moments, she can’t come up with a resolve to use her kunai but just trembles centimeters away from her target. Taking her time shaking she then gets attacked by her opponent, and ends up being saved. In both cases, she wastes her chance because she’s a total whimp who has no resolve to do what she pretends she can do. And thus, the audience is annoyed once again. And the people who always knew what she was like make fun of her.

But Kishimoto won’t stop there. In the very same chapter, when Sakura is trying to heal Kakashi, Naruto takes over and not only heals him but also gives him a brand new eye, something Sakura of course isn’t able to do. Healing was the only thing she could do and even that was taken from her! So much for her being a relevant member of Team 7 who is on par with Naruto and Sasuke.

Kakashi then starts reminiscing about Team 7, and it ends with him reminding the three about his first lesson, which was team work being the key to success. So what happens?

Sakura begans to once again nurse her own insecurities and tries to show off to satisfy her own ego by charging at Madara and telling the boys to follow her. She has no idea of Madara’s strengths and weaknesses and what would you know, her punch is stopped and she gets stabbed in the chest and is once again rescued by Naruto. And what does she do? Mopes that Sasuke doesn’t pay attention to her nor seems to care. She cares more about showing off to Sasuke than defeating Madara, even when this is about a threat to the whole world. What a great shinobi. It’s a callback to part 1 when she moped over the fact Sasuke didn’t care about her climbing the tree. Just like with her shaking with the kunai, it’s just another moment that shows she never truly changes. Not in ways that matter.

And then we see Naruto and Sasuke actually fight Madara, and Sakura literally just stands there in awe of them. She’s shook by Madara’s power which she obviously had no clue about. Of course Sakura still tries to go after the boys but Kakashi stops her and says it’s pointless to do so unless she has a plan. And she stops, and stares at Naruto and Sasuke’s backs as they disappear. Hah. She once again, has failed to achieve the goal she sets for herself. Kishimoto hyped up team 7 yet constantly showed Sakura failing and being left behind, despite how much she claimed she could keep up with the two of them. The way Kishimoto writes her, by making Sakura herself or others hype her, and then showing she’s actually lame is very consistent and relentless.

Taking into consideration that she’s a main character, and all the times that she’s promised major improvement, what we received was just pathetic. When you add it to the fact that she’s a member of such an over-achieving team, it makes her look pitiful in comparison. But it’s supposed to be. Don’t even think this is unintentional from Kishimoto. Sakura was supposed to be someone who never changes.

SAKURA’S PERSONALITY AND HER RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHERS

Now a little more on Sakura’s personality and the way she interacts with others which is definitely one of the reasons why many people hate her.

In the beginning, she is introduced as a shallow girl who is focused on her looks and getting the attention of the popular boy in the class, rather than being a good shinobi. She gets called out on her vanity by not only Sasuke but also by her enemies. She is pretty quick to give up on the bell test which annoys Sasuke. One wonders why is she even a shinobi when her resolve is so weak. She beats and berates Naruto and is only able to treat him better by mimicking Sasuke. Despite Kakashi’s comments on all of them maturing Sakura hasn’t changed at all at the start of the Chunin exam arc but she keeps asking Sasuke on dates instead of training and also squeals for him like a fangirl. She mopes that she’s not good enough for the Chunin exam and only gets motivated when Sasuke compliments her. This type of shallow and weak characterization made many people instantly dislike her.

In the chunin exams we also find out she broke her friendship with Ino after she found out Ino liked Sasuke as well. This is something that gave more background to her character but at the same time made people dislike her even more, since Ino is someone who reached out to Sakura and helped her build her self-esteem yet Sakura simply dumped her and started a catty rivalry over Sasuke. In Part 2, they only interact once, and during that moment Sakura wants Sai to call Ino ugly. You can’t really call it a beautiful friendship when Sakura is constantly shown as catty and the only person who does anything for the other is Ino. It’s Ino who reaches out to Sakura. It’s Ino who comes to her rescue in the Forest of Death. It’s Ino who compliments her after their match. What has Sakura done for Ino other than wanting her to be called ugly and teaching her kid to keep Ino away from Sasuke?

During Sakura and Ino’s match, Kakashi says Sakura isn’t the type to brag and bully others, even when we have seen her do both constantly. Already in the Land of Waves she bragged how she doesn’t need to train despite not being able to do anything in a fight. She also constantly berates Naruto and acts superior to him, aside from punching him all the time over nothing. Sakura having a bloated sense of superiority and tendency to brag about her skills is a consistent character trait of hers. But she never manages to truly back up her arrogant attitude but comes off as weak and overall irrelevant, which is yet another thing that makes her an unlikeable character in the eyes of the audience. In the war she also insults Tsunade, the one who taught her, while boasting how she is better than her like she’s some badass when she is far from it. When has she created her own jutsu or made anything revolutionary? During the same chapter she also brags how she’s gonna steal the Hokage seat from Naruto. Yes Naruto, the guy who keeps saving her useless ass all the time.

Speaking of Kakashi, he is a character that Kishimoto used in his writing as someone who treats Sakura with kid gloves and coddles her. This is one reason why some people defend her character, and why some people ship the two of them. If you’re a Sakura stan, it must feel validating when some character constantly defends your fave’s stupid behavior. But Kakashi is someone who not only admits to not understand Sasuke, but also someone who clearly doesn’t understand Sakura, as we see from the earlier image how Sakura’s behavior contradicts with Kakashi’s claims since the beginning. Basically, if you need to know how Sakura really is like, just flip what Kakashi says about her and you’ll know. Since Sakura is part of the main team, Kishimoto needed some character to defend her behavior so she wouldn’t be confronted about it too much. But smart readers aren’t fooled. It’s also worth noting that Kakashi tells Sasuke Sakura still loves him despite the fact Sasuke tried to kill her, while conveniently omitting the fact Sakura went there to kill Sasuke herself. This makes Kakashi look hypocritical but Kishimoto needed some character to do this because of Boruto, and it’s not like he was gonna use Naruto, the one he himself called Sasuke’s ally.

Then we have Sakura’s hypocritical behavior, that Kishimoto also consistently portrayed. During Sakura and Ino’s match, Sakura says Ino is a girl who is focused only on her looks and that she wouldn’t want to be on the same level with her, despite the fact Sakura herself was shown brushing her hair in the Forest of Death and getting dragged for her vanity. She also got upset and hit Naruto when he tried to pee in front of her, saying she’s a lady, yet thought to herself how she would like to see Sasuke pee in front of her. When trying to plead to Sasuke to not go, Sakura says revenge won’t bring anyone happiness, but when it doesn’t work she flips completely on what she said and asks Sasuke to take her with him so she can help him. Even if she acts like she cares about Sasuke’s well-being, what she really cares about are her own feelings. Sasuke unsurprisingly finds this annoying as do many readers. Sakura makes fun of Naruto and insults him, yet gets enraged when Sai calls her names and she proceeds to hit both him and Naruto. She also gets mad at Konohamaru and Naruto for their sexy no jutsus, yet when Konohamaru showed her hot boys naked, one of them being Sasuke, she went all gaga over it.

Sakura is also introduced as a bully who beats Naruto up and mocks him in front of Sasuke who then proceeds to call her out on her terrible behavior. In this chapter, Kishimoto made Sakura call Naruto ”annoying” and then made Sasuke throw her own insult back at her when Sakura mocked Naruto, by calling her annoying. Something that is worth noting is that while Sakura also reacted to Lee badly at first, after he saved her she didn’t do anything bad to him anymore. Yet while she later realizes she was wrong about Naruto’s resolve, and that he cheers for her when she needs it, and that he saved her countless times, she keeps beating him up over nothing and berating him. She still keeps calling him stupid and acting like she knows better. This is why whenever she cries for him, it’s hard to feel any liking to her, because she comes off as more like a poser who will surely soon bash his head in if he dares to behave like himself, or drop him for the sake of Sasuke. Her treatment of Naruto is unreasonably bad at times, but it’s easily explained. In the beginning we find out Sakura dislikes Naruto because she thinks he comes between her and Sasuke. And we see many instances where this notion is amplified by the text. But Sakura is too delusional to understand the reason there is distance between her and Sasuke is simply because Sasuke isn’t interested in her, she’s too shallow and juvenile for him to pay attention to.

Her fake confessing to Naruto and trying to manipulate him made a lot of people lose all respect for her. She also showed she knew so little of Naruto she accidentally managed to tap into all of his insecurities in her confession. She also somehow believed Naruto was really chasing Sasuke for her sake and that he would give up if she offered herself to him.

Her second confession to Sasuke is also very telling of her jealousy of Naruto and Sasuke’s bond. She yells how she can’t exchange blows with Sasuke, how she can’t get close to him, how the only thing she can do is cry and beg. Considering how Naruto is the one who is about to exhange blows with Sasuke yet again, and how Sasuke after their fight talks about how Naruto kept coming closer to him, Sakura is clearly thinking of Naruto when she is having this meltdown. Sakura was shown to be jealous of Naruto’s improvement and skills in Part 1, but she is also jealous of Sasuke’s care and love for Naruto, which she wants for herself and thinks she is entitled to. Even at the start, Kishimoto said Sakura thinks Naruto stole Sasuke’s first kiss which she thought belonged to her. It’s no different at the end of the series. Her outburst is her fighting for what she thinks is rightfully hers, Sasuke, despite the fact he has given no indication that he loves her. But this makes sense. Afterall, we see Sarada come between Ino and Sasuke while Sakura laughs nervously in the background. Despite everything Ino has done for Sakura’s sake, she still sees her as a threat, to the point her own kid is doing the dirty work for her.

Let’s talk more about Sakura’s relationship, or lack there of, with Sasuke. We know Sakura was portrayed like any other fangirl of Sasuke in the beginning, who liked his looks and how cool he was. She never tried to approach Sasuke as a friend but only kept asking him on dates despite his blatant rejections. She never says why she loves him, or even likes him. According to herself Sasuke never says anything to her. Her first confession showed how little she understood Sasuke. She was the girl with everything, with family, while Sasuke and Naruto had nothing. Yet she had the nerve to say if Sasuke left she would be just as lonely as he was. She’s comparing the massacre of Sasuke’s family to a boy she never talks to leaving her, while disrespecting her own parents in the process. How juvenile that must have sounded like to someone like Sasuke. In Part 1 Sasuke occassionally protects Sakura because she’s too weak to protect herself, and in part 2 Sakura probably wanted to entertain the thought Sasuke would still have this consideration for her. But in Part 2 Sasuke treats Sakura like a fodder ninja. She doesn’t manage to get a proper reaction out of Sasuke who focuses on Naruto everytime he meets up with his former team. Sasuke also leaves Sakura to die couple times while choosing to save Naruto instead. Despite all this, Sakura still thought she’s entitled to Sasuke, and in her second confession she started to yet again scream how much she loves Sasuke and how much she hurts due to it. In both of her confessions she is guilt tripping Sasuke and trying to make him pity her. In both of her confessions she makes everything about herself. She admits to herself she can’t do anything for Sasuke, yet she tries to win him over by pity. But she annoys Sasuke once again, and he puts her in a murder genjutsu. Sasuke then says they have no reason to love each other. And he’s right. What does Sakura know about Sasuke? Clearly nothing, considering she said the worst things she could have said during both of her confessions. She heard Sasuke talk about wanting change, yet she started to scream how if Sasuke stays with her, things can go back to how they were. It’s like the most basic things she doesn’t understand. She’s just an overemotional child who has nothing of worth to say. Kakashi who coddles her tries to talk to Sasuke on her behalf as well, insisting Sakura suffers for loving him. Sasuke then thinks of his family and says perhaps those are ties to a failed past. As in Sakura literally lives in the past. And she does. Despite the fact everything has changed, she thinks about the moment when Sasuke thanked her, and ignores him calling her annoying for her ignorant comments, or the fact someone who wants change obviously doesn’t want to go back to the way things were. This brutal rejection though still won’t slow Sakura down, but after Sasuke is leaving to his atonement trip Sakura blushes like a school girl and asks to come with him. After him mocking her and putting her in a genjutsu, this is what she does.

And Kishimoto still won’t stop there. After all of Sakura’s boasting that ended in failure, after the brutal genjutsu and her being made mostly irrelevant, we see her destroy her own house because her kid asked about her marriage with Sasuke and she got insecure. I have to ask how do some people not realize Kishimoto despises Sakura and writes her as a terrible person? She is a bad daughter who doesn’t understand how lucky she is but is ready to ditch her parents for an indifferent boy’s sake. She is a bad student who disrespects Tsunade for no reason. She is a bad friend who treats Ino and Naruto badly out of insecurity. She is a bad person who treats the target of her crush like an object instead of a person. She is a bad shinobi as well who is most of the time a liability. And she is a bad mother as well. When she’s insisting to Sarada that Sasuke cares about them, she’s sweating and looking nervous, she’s clearly not confident in what she says. Kishimoto also drops two implications that Sasuke never kissed Sakura. Because that is apparently important for us to know. Sakura then tries to insist a forehead poke is better than a kiss. Yet when Sasuke is leaving, she is waiting for a kiss and not a poke. And she is rejected, and looks like a wet rag just like everytime Sasuke rejected her before ever since she was a kid. It’s hard to think of a female character that is more pathetic than her.

And yet, we have SS insisting Sasuke surely knew Sakura could take care of herself, that’s why he left her to die and saved Naruto instead, who didn’t need saving. Surely Sasuke thinks about Sakura as an individual and not just a member of team 7. Despite the fact we have never seen Sasuke think about Sakura outside of team 7 context nor say anything about what he likes and admires about Sakura. Surely Sakura is the most important person to Sasuke, that’s why Kishi wrote Sasuke say to Hagoromo, to Naruto and to himself that Naruto is the only one he still cares about. That’s why Kishimoto wrote Sasuke say Naruto is the only one who never gave up on him. That’s why he wrote Sasuke say Naruto alone saved him. Despite the fact Sakura wanted to be part of saving Sasuke with Naruto, Kishimoto would never let her. Because he doesn’t like her, or SS.

As a final note, a lot of the manga revolved around the importance of family and bonds, yet Sakura, the girl who had parents unlike the rest of her team, is shown to disrespect them everytime she brings them up. And she’s never redeemed on this. This is also intentional from Kishimoto, of course. Sakura is too selfish, too ungrateful and shallow to understand what she has. She’d rather chase a guy who keeps rejecting her like he’s some trophy she owns, all the while trivializing his pain over the loss of his family, by acting like she understands. And she’s ready to throw away her parents, her friends, and her dignity for the sake of this guy who was never interested in her. What’s worst is she had many opportunities to change and mature, yet she choose not to. And thus she remained the same self centred, superficial person she always was.

Actually this is the final note: @sneezemonster15 is a co-creator of this post. She has also talked about Sakura on her blog, for example that war arc part here. Another example is here (but you can just generally go through her anti-sakura tag). But I wanted all this on one big text since certain people are very stubborn about us “picking” supposedly minor things to bash Sakura for when this is throughout the whole manga. And since tumblr doesn’t let her add more than 10 images to a post for some reason I decided to write this down.

[twomiddlefingersforthehaters]

It's very likely that a manga artist has seen a movie based on a popular comic, and may have been inspired by it and referenced it in their work.

1. Argonath on the River Anduin and The Valley of the End are so similar-looking

Valley of the end - 2004

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring- 2001 [it premiered in Japan on March 2, 2002]

2. Kishimoto said that he was referenced Spiderman.

We know that Sasuke felt pain in his arm and fell to his knees, coughing up blood just above Naruto's head. Then we seeing him end up straight above Naruto's face. All the raindrops pass through his face land on Naruto's face. We know he was staring at Naruto for a while. But we don't know when Sasuke got up and left him. Kishimoto deliberately left this scene up to our interpretation.

And it's a clear visual symbolism of the iconic Upside down Kiss between Mary Jane and Peter Parker in the Rain (2002)

There is no denying the fact that this romantic visual symbolism was given to Sasuke innocently staring at Naruto...

3. At the end of the chapter 271 Kishimoto said that he referenced "CHIKAMATSU MONZAEMON"

In the manga, Monzaemon is known as the first generation of puppet master. In fact, this is a real person who actually existed in the Edo period. It is taken from the famous Japanese puppet theater writer "Chikamatsu Monzaemon". He was the inventor of the art of puppetry. His real name is Sugimori Nobumori, and Chikamatsu Monzaemon is his pen name. He was a Jōruri, a playwright of puppet shows and kabuki during the Edo period. And also Known as the "Shakespeare of Japan". He is considered Japan's greatest playwright, writing for both bunraku puppet theater and the kabuki stage.

As a fan of his writings, Kishi created Chikamatsu Monzaemon as a character in his manga to show his respect for him.

As Kishi said, Chikamatsu is known as the Japanese Shakespeare. His most famous work is 'Love Suicide at Amijima' (1720). It is about two lovers who cannot live together because of social and political situation, and so blinded by love they commit the gravest act, suicide. Since their inflexible society makes their love impossible, Jihei and Koharu will seek to be joined in the afterlife. I've talked about it in here [It is based on the bunraku play The Love Suicides at Amijima by Monzaemon Chikamatsu]

Kishi talked about love suicide in the final note of chapter 271, then he mentioned double suicide in chapter 450, and finally in 486 Naruto suggested double suicide to Sasuke under a bridge

Their shinobi world is no different from the real world when it comes to the basics. A world full of injustice, inflexible and prejudice...and it won't allow their love or let them be together. If they wanted to be together forever, the only option before them was to die together. Leaving this world to live with each other. Hopefully they will meet again in the next life….because in their next life they will not be burdened by society's expectations, hatred, injustice, prejudices and rigid rules.

[littlemonstert-blog]

Explaining What I Shouldn't have to...

My Aynalsis

People act like this explanation came out of nowhere when it was literally right in our faces.

Since there only so many panels I can add i might even do a mini part 2

Yes Naruto reasoning for his crush on Sakura was because his rivalry with Sasuke.

Let's started from the beginning where the author set of the dyanmic between team 7.

This is how

Had it from the very beginning

"Sakura a cute girl i like alot" like this is it. So basically from the start from what we know she's cute. That's it

then introduce sasuke already we seen they already know each other.

People tend to "call cap" like there isn't a whole ass chapter explaining the ONLY reason why he even liked her in the first place. Chapter 3

" All I want is for you to acknowledge me." Naruto really took this up as a competion to go out of his way to make Sakura dislike Sasuke.

He did in certain ways at time saw sakura a trophy in a competion.

How did people take this seriously. A immature boy who grew up without parental guidance.

Chunnin Exams

Chapter 37

For somebody who as a crush on Sakura he much more worried about Sasuke having the attention then rather Lee who's blowing kissing & asking her out on a date.

"Always Sasuke"

Forest of Death

Chapter 57

Don't even get me started on the forest of death that the real kicker for me.

in the dream sequence we finally get to see how Naruto wants to one up Sasuke & Sakura as the trophy

And when Naruto wakes up not asking about her injuries but... about her hair.

Chapter 74

Ya' know this could been a true moment between the two, but Naruto doesn't really care. Always turns to be comedic relief nothing to take seriously.

(This is how sum up there 'moments" could have been romantic but ends up as a joke because the author never takes them seriously.)

Naruto vs Gaara

Chapter 129

'What are we suppose to do?"... Now, thats not something you say when the girl you like is in danger of dying.

It took Sasuke throughout this chapter to remind him to do something.

In contrast with other characters there's no questioning what to do. Naruto does two things; will get super mad and go berserk if you mess with Sasuke or Hinata regardless of what point you read in the story

After the Tsunade arc

chapter 172

Now, people say he was sad because how Sakura ran up to. No form this panel Naruto sees that Sasuke was at peace that why we get that "sasuke..you..." he's been through then decides to leave.

If naruto was all that upset about it we would have gotten a flashback to the scene. But then here we are again with Naruto & Iruka eating more concered if Sasuke will become a chunin chapter 172

Then went back to see sasuke smiling as if nothing happened

Even after this to prove my statement he still wants to check on Sasuke & his wellbeing chapter 173

The promise

chapter 183

Seen people say Naruto was truly heartbroken during this. Which is not true Naruto always knew Sakura has feelings for Sasuke. If it was that they would have had a flashback to the hospital scene. In truth Naruto understands her too and is hurt because he cares about Sasuke leaving too.

After Pein Arc

In this scene it just shows us how they just incompatible they are. Never being able to console each other ( other then when it comes to sasuke) when it comes down to it. Naruto needs cheering up to & I understand Sakura needs it as well because Tsuande is her teacher.

Naruto never paied attention when Sakura has been feeling down unless it possibly about Sasuke.

If it isn't Team 7 mission related or Sasuke what do they honestly talk about? I've never see them bond about anything else. When it comes down to it there friendship has always been rocky.

The kage summit arc

The Promise

Chapter 457

What we've all been waiting for

Here we have it brought up again the conversation between Naruto & Sai

Couldn't keep his promises... Not only did he not answer the question we have the next time when it's brought up again.

Chapter 470

"Doesn't matter about the promise." I want to save Sasuke for my own sake."

Naruto telling her it doesn't matter if there a promise between them and if he never made he still chase after Sasuke....

Then what the hell is it then? This just tells us that his "feelings" for Sakura are shallow as hell and fading.

After this it's never brought up again. Normally if the girl you love did a fake confession like this be heartbroken & could never see them again.

But, Naruto acted as if this nothing ever happen. It's never brought up again.

If he really wanted Sakura wouldn't he have ask his mother advice/tips on this?

Looking back

Chapter 693

you have Sakura confess again right in front of Naruto & he isn't even fazed nor cares by it.

Chapter 691

At the end Naruto still doesn't even mention her to his father at the end.

At the end of it Naruto still doesn't know a damn thing about romance or girls. Why would he? Honestly an orphan at birth will be ignorant to certain situations. Just look at how long it took for Naruto to understand Sasuke.

but the question is when did Naruto start to grow up & mature?

I'd say it the time Jiraya died that when he truly grew up & matured.

May revise when I feel like it.

[comikadraws]

Itachi's Age

Itachi's age in canon is quite a weird topic. Mostly because Kishimoto messed up the timeline completely with contradictory information scattered literally everywhere. And also because the anime changed him to resemble an adult. Depending on the source, Itachi could've been anywhere from 11 to 13 years old during the massacre. Now let's take a closer look.

The exact sources (as well as elaborations) are in the image descriptions. Pluses between panels mean that the panels do not belong next to each other. Slight edits here and there!

Follow-Up Post with a Timeline for Itachi's Life

Sasuke's age during the massacre

First of all, since many people seem to get this one wrong, Sasuke's age during the massacre is confirmed to be 7 years old. This is the only information we have for placing the night of the massacre on the timeline.

Databooks

The databooks will consistently put Sasuke and Itachi at a 5-year gap. Itachi is born on June 9th and Sasuke is born on July 23rd. Using this information, Itachi would have been 12-13 years old during the massacre.

Kakashi's Statement

Next up is Kakashi. He states that Itachi was 13 years old when he became a squad captain at ANBU. This information matches the one from the databooks and implies that Itachi got promoted in the short timespan of less than two months between his own birthday and the Uchiha massacre.

Sasuke's Memories

Now, looking at the manga, things are getting a little more tricky.

First of all, since this is very important for pinpointing the characters' ages, Japanese schools start the school year in April. The children who start school are aged 6. While this is not stated outright by the manga, it matches fairly well with later established information from the manga.

The Waves Arc takes place during Spring. So Genin must graduate/start in Spring as well (further elaboration in the image description).

And we know that Itachi began the Academy at age 6. So it is probably the starting age for all children in Konoha.

But now we run into our first issue just by puzzling together the timeline utilizing chapters 220-224. As explained in Sasuke's flashbacks, Itachi became Chunin at age 10. At some point, 6 months after that, he joins ANBU - which coincides with Sasuke's first day at the Academy which is most likely in April.

The problem here is the characters' birthdays.

6 months before April was October. Since Itachi's birthday is in June, he could not have turned 11 in that time frame. In other words, Itachi is still 10 years old when he joins ANBU. And since Sasuke is still 6 years old at that point in time, that puts Itachi and Sasuke at an age gap of 4 years as opposed to 5. Consequently, during the massacre (when Sasuke was 7) Itachi would have been 11-12 years old.

This would also be a much better match for Sasuke's depiction in chapter 402. Here, an Academy-aged Itachi (6-7 years old) is playing with his brother. Sasuke would be 2-3 years old rather than 1-2.

We now know that the databook information does not match Sasuke's flashbacks on multiple accounts and it's either because of their alleged ages, their birthdays, or both.

But Now Which One Is Correct?

The answer to that one is: We don't know. Kishimoto didn't pay a lot of attention to his timeline and Itachi is the biggest victim of that. But we can guess.

Right now, the databooks are contradicting the manga. One solution to this problem can be found in the novels. In "Itachi Shinden: Book of Dark Night" (chapter 6, part 2) in a conversation between Danzo and Hiruzen, we learn that Itachi was aged up on paper to lead an ANBU squad.

While the timelines are not a perfect match (for example, the novels state Itachi to be 11 years old during his promotion to ANBU), this is a plausible explanation for the discrepancy: The databooks might just reflect the information considered "official" or "known" in-universe.

The databooks would remain (mostly) accurate in this regard. It would explain the 4-year gap between Sasuke and Itachi from the manga. It would explain the memory from chapter 402. It would explain why Kakashi thinks that Itachi was 13 during his promotion. It would even explain height inconsistencies between manga Itachi and databook Itachi, knowing the data was messed with.

In conclusion: Itachi was likely 11-12 years old during the massacre. Furthermore, this means he was 16-17 during part 1 of Naruto and 20 at the time of his death.

If you're interested in a visualization of Itachi's life in a timeline, check out my follow-up post.