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cherrynojutsu · 3 years ago

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Title: Like Gold

Summary: Sasuke grapples with love and intimacy regarding his developing relationship with Sakura after returning to the village from his journey of redemption. Kind of a character study on Sasuke handling an intimate relationship after dealing with PTSD and survivor’s guilt in solitude for so long. Blank period, canon-compliant, Sasuke-centric, lots of fluff and pining, slowly becomes a smut fest with feelings.

Disclaimer: I did not write Naruto. This is a fan-made piece solely created for entertainment purposes.

Rating: M (eventual nsfw-ness)

AO3 Link - FF.net Link - includes beginning/ending author's notes

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Chapter 7/?: Catalysts

Sasuke doesn’t indulge in baser needs often, despite the frustrating paradox that is the male endocrine system’s apparent determination to make him do so. He finds it feels… empty, after. Like there’s supposed to be something more, but instead there’s just whatever is situated above his head to stare at while his breathing levels out, an interminable abyss of silence and stars, or tree foliage, or apartment ceiling. Impulses and feelings of a sexual nature are probably normal for anyone his age, but in the past, satiating desires like this has made him feel guilty, given the context.

When he's not plagued by nightmares rife with gore and blood and bodies, or the occasional aching memory, his subconscious takes the opportunity to bombard him with dreams of a suggestive nature, having deduced somehow that it’s the most effective method to get him to… tend to things.

This variety of dream customarily involves pale pink hair, multifaceted eyes, and soft fingertips, branded into the part of his brain that controls his most base instincts with a hot iron.

He notes begrudgingly as he gazes at plain plaster above him, brows furrowed, that ostensibly, it works well enough, if the intricate mess of thoughts and feelings in his head and on his abdomen are anything to go by.

Sasuke would never admit it to anyone, but Sakura has headlined exclusively in nearly every sexually-charged dream he's ever had, and resultingly the majority of his sentient thoughts while indulging outside of dreaming, too. When they were Genin, it was innocent enough; he had reasoned that, being the main girl his age he associated with, it made sense his inadvertent dreams, beyond the scope of his control, involved her. He'd shaken it off in those early days as the by-product of the developing hormonal cocktail that is the pubescent masculine mind, and ignored the part of himself that kind of had a crush on her even then. Or definitively more than a crush, after the Chunin Exams and the hospital and jealousy.

He had tried convincing himself of the same thing at fourteen, once he'd left the village and had attempted to sever all bonds. It didn’t work, though; by that point he knew better, knew what the feeling he was trying to squash actually was.

Which meant it didn’t work at fifteen, either.

Nor sixteen, and definitely not seventeen, eighteen, or nineteen.

All of that has been wholly indecent on its own in the past, causing him to feel shameful every time it happens, and even more ashamed if it’s a rare day where he’s weak enough to act on it, a day where he wakes up mere seconds from an edge rather than minutes.

But this morning, he woke up on the tail end of all of that with the addition of freckles , of all things to fixate on, and he just knows he's never going to forget about them now, that they’re branded into his grey matter in perpetuity. Freckles just above the interior of a shoulder, eight of them, a small scattering he had been pressing his lips to, listening to a softly whispered Sasuke-kun, reaching around her with his only arm, so he could make her say his name like that again.

It is far from the first time he’s touched himself to the thought of Sakura, but it is the first time he’s indulged since they’ve been… together.

Except this time felt… different.

Less like an unrealistic reverie he should try to abstain from and more like an eventuality. Less guilt, too, or rather, almost none, because he’s in a relationship with her now, and he’s pretty sure he’s supposed to have feelings like this regarding her. Not that he is anywhere near ready to do anything about them, because he absolutely is not; he’s not certain he even comprehends that level of vulnerability, to touch another person and allow yourself to be touched by them, though he badly wants to, someday.

No, Sasuke doesn’t indulge in baser needs often… but he did this morning, when he woke up teetering just on the precipice, fantasizing about tiny tan flecks seen and unseen, and he’s trying to work through how he feels about it, this guilt surrounding the fact of not feeling guilty like he ordinarily does, as well as the lingering curiosity he’s struggling to force down regarding how many other freckles Sakura has.

Even moreso, he yearns for soft words that he has often thought may be sentimental to the point of being utterly quixotic. It's why he doesn’t typically submit to this kind of inclination in the first place; it’s meaningless on one’s own, he secretly thinks, though he has nothing to compare it to. No sense of connection or true lasting fulfillment like he imagines there must be, for people to talk about it the way they do; just pleasure that's there for a blinding scattered second and gone the next, with nothing tenderhearted or meaningful in the moments following as his vision refocuses and he picks up the pieces.

He stares at his ceiling, an aporia of longing and complicated compulsions ricocheting in the hallways of his head, or perhaps from his skull to the roof and back again, an absurd push and pull that leaves him with more questions than answers.

Has she ever thought about him the way he thinks about her?

What would it sound like, Sasuke-kun, when she’s like that?

Is it okay to feel like this, now? To think about her in this regard?

Sasuke is accustomed to not sleeping well - it comes with the territory of his lived experience, an unfortunate fact of life he’s somewhat learned to deal with - but during the mission to Sand, he'd slept fairly restfully, though in short increments of five or six hours. That's apparently the tipping point of how long he gets to go without being sojourned by some variety of vision in the night.

He eventually makes his way to the shower, using torrid water and soap to double cleanse what’s left of his mess. That's a big contributor to his consternation, too; it's so embarrassingly messy that it’s impossible to imagine ever doing anything like it with her . He flips the dial to cold after he’s bathed for the better portion of five minutes, because serpens caput is still burned into his retinas, and he’s hoping against hope to freeze it out of himself like he has tried to do with shame in the past.

It doesn’t work; it just induces shivering, algidity overwhelming the senses but doing nothing to distract the mind.

He shoves his face into his book after, desperate for the distraction a proverbial fiction featuring an old fisherman can provide and thinking once again that he needs to acquire a lamp. Anything to get the thought of pressing his lips to her freckles out of his head, because he’s pretty sure if he keeps thinking about it, he’ll have to take care of things for the second time today, and then he really won’t know how to feel.

So when a banging erupts on his apartment door shortly following eight, followed by a shout of, “TEME! I'm here, let’s go!”, all he can think is finally, because he knows it will at least get his mind off of this strange lack of guilt and a curiosity he’s not ready to unpack yet. The book helped, but he thinks he needs the challenge a fight against Naruto can provide to truly leave behind this level of prurience. He doesn’t know how he’s going to look her in the eye when they meet at three as they planned, otherwise.

Sasuke shoves on his sandals and grabs his chokuto before opening the door. “So you finally showed. Thought you'd sleep all morning.”

Naruto’s eyes narrow, indignant and already launching into a retort. Good. Maybe he’ll get some iota of order knocked back into him, enough to put compelling constellations away for the time being.

XXX

Sasuke feels monumentally better by noon. It’s another draw, an absolute whirlwind of swinging limbs that made it impossible to focus on anything else. He didn’t take joy in it necessarily, and he suspects Naruto bruised his ulna bone to the extent it almost cracked, but it helps, the diversion of pain; the tinge he feels when he moves it is a welcome hindrance. They’d stuck mainly to taijutsu and clashing weaponry, so physically, he’s pretty exhausted.

They’re resting in the dirt, making a valiant attempt at rehydrating. It’s moderately hot for this time of year, barely on the cusp of mid April, but it’s seeming like the Konoha heat will be returning with the same vengeance it always does. A small trickle of sweat sinks its way down his back.

Sasuke feels nearly normal again. Or normal to the extent he generally feels, anyways. He gets the urge to do something good - to tip the scale, so to speak.

"...The cutting board works. Thank you." It’s not what he’s most thankful for right now, but it’s a nice thing to say as substitution.

His friend grins at him. "Welcome! It was all me, by the way. Hinata-chan didn't even help me pick it out!" Naruto scratches his head, downing more water. He’s moving rather slowly, as if he is sore, too; Sasuke thinks perhaps he came close to beating him this round.

They stare upwards for a while, soaking in the sun as clouds roll lazily by. Birds fly overhead, finches and song sparrows twittering their selections, collecting materials to build more nests for this new season. It’s another effective distraction, one that fills him with a sense of nostalgia, replacing his earlier sense of compunction regarding the mystifying concept of physical love and the whims that accompany it.

Naruto speaks up after a bit. "Ne, teme, wanna go to the market with me? Hinata-chan asked me to get some groceries and some stuff for the backyard."

Sasuke glances at his teammate and contemplates. It can't hurt. He did want to pick up potatoes to make actual curry with, and he could get some other things, too. He'll still have time to shower before he meets Sakura at the hospital.

"...Sure."

Naruto takes longer to rise than he does, shuffling carefully as if he is in pain, but once he’s standing, he seems fine enough, stupid grin slapped on his face at Sasuke’s agreement to go with. They set off in the general direction of his building so he can drop off his weapon first. He gets dirty looks sometimes, walking around, though it’s not nearly as bad as when he first returned and it doesn’t bother him on the same level that it used to. When he’s with Naruto or Sakura, he gets less of them, but he can't imagine a sword strapped to his back in the market will do much to help his reputation.

Naruto doesn't allow the easy silence to last. "Y'know, teme, it's really good to have you back in the village. It feels like everything's finally coming together. We'll have to do some fun stuff this summer. And also in the fall!” Gears are turning behind cerulean eyes, and he adds, ”...Hmm, and the winter, too!"

"...Yeah." He stares at the mountain, thinking about what cherry blossom trees look like in summer and fall and winter. It will be nice to see the one across the street change colors throughout the seasons. Or the one on the hill, where they're going later today. He has seen their like numbering in the thousands, scattered everywhere on his journey - he’s highly cognizant of them, for obvious reasons - but he hasn’t been granted the privilege of watching the same one through the whole of a year’s growth cycle in a long time.

"Sakura-chan seems really cheery lately, too. Can't imagine why." The second sentence is said flippantly, without any real conviction, as if Naruto knows exactly why.

Sasuke glances at his teammate, neck warming and heart skipping a little at the mention of her. He doesn’t think he’ll ever get tired of hearing that Sakura is happy from secondhand sources; it makes him feel like he’s doing something right for once. Maybe not all his impulses are complicated in nature enough to require dissection, as he was accustomed to doing when he was away; spending time with her is one, and he's been indulging it often.

He briefly entertains the idea of outright telling Naruto that they're together, then, but the dobe is moving on before he comes up with the words. "Well, anyways. Wanna spar Monday morning, if neither of us get a mission by then?”

That’s… specific. Maybe he doesn’t need to say anything to him, after all; he’s sure it’s no coincidence that Naruto is asking about the exact time period Sakura is busy training with Ino, probably as aware of her schedule as Kakashi is. Their old sensei might have told him, he supposes, or maybe Sakura said something; Sasuke wonders when he last saw her.

“...Sure. If you think you can handle it.”

The response he gets is a slug on the left shoulder, but it’s not overly hard. Sasuke narrows his eyes in response more out of habit than any real malice. He sees as Naruto’s hand retreats and slips out of a fist that words are written on his palm. He didn’t notice it throughout the morning due to their hands constantly being locked around weapons or thrown in punches, and he resists the urge to roll his eyes; it's likely a grocery list.

Naruto leans against the brick downstairs while Sasuke drops off his sword, and then they head to the main market area as the dobe chatters. It’s fairly busy, it being a Saturday, but it’s not intolerably so; most people are busy eating around now.

Sasuke is completely unsurprised when Naruto beelines straight for the noodles; naturally he would be out of them. He takes the opportunity to procure a blend of wild rice. Thus far he only has white and brown in his own pantry, and he’s been trying to eat it often. He's always liked rice, but it’s high in calories, too, an easy way to try putting on weight. Another variety to choose from would be beneficial.

He trails after his friend to the baking supplies next, where Naruto examines containers of flour and sugar. Sasuke concludes Hinata must bake, because he’s confident any cookie prepared by the dobe could not possibly be edible. While his teammate is occupied, Sasuke turns the corner and procures a half dozen eggs, a large bag of potatoes, and two different varieties of tomatoes. The extra five pounds of weight held in the crook of his arm doesn’t do wonders for his bruised bone situation, but it’s not wholly unbearable; he’s fairly used to dealing with pain.

“Hinata-chan said to go to the gardening stall on the north end,” Naruto says once they’ve paid and exited the building, so they begin a course in that general direction. “She said they have the best perennial bulbs; that means they come back every year!”

Sasuke twitches, surprised he can even pronounce the word perennial if he’s lived this long without knowing what one is.

“Anyways, she wants to plant some, uh…” His voice trails off, and he peeks at his hand, where Sasuke now sees the names of flowers written in feminine writing that has to be Hinata’s.

Of course. Like he could spell the words, let alone read his own sloppy handwriting.

“Iris, phlox, and uh… echo-na-na-chee-ah.”

“Echinachea,” Sasuke corrects dully, giving him a withering look.

“Sure! That! She wants to plant those in the backyard, kind of line the house with them, since the front is looking pretty nice now. She said to get bulbs; they root better. They might bloom this year, but if not, they’ll for sure come in next year!”

“...And she entrusted you with this?” Sasuke asks, raising an eyebrow.

Naruto just laughs, utterly unphased. “Duh, that’s what the list is for, teme. Hinata-chan is super smart like that. Putting it on my hand makes sure I don’t lose it!”

They meander to the northern edge of the market, past the congregation of other stalls selling seeds and garden starters. It's getting towards the end of planting season for Fire Country, but there is still plenty to choose from here, allegorical gates of green swinging open in salutation. They pass some tomato plant starters, already starting to climb their cages, but Sasuke decides against it; his hand is full presently, and the bone still kind of hurts, and none of them are red heirloom tomatoes anyways, being smaller variations like plum or cherry or grape. He likes all tomatoes, honestly, but if he was going to grow one, he’d just want the one of a favorite to worry about. Repotting a starter would also require a planter, which he doesn’t have; another thing to carry.

The stall Naruto leads them to is probably the nicest one there, judiciously laid out and everything labeled neatly with precise calligraphy. The few tables the vendor has are overflowing with perennial starters, but Naruto goes to the three vertical displays of seeds and bulbs, so tall they are at eye level with both of them. They’re filled to the brim with diminutive packages, printed with large pictures of the flowers they contain the beginnings of, along with genus names and common names in smaller text. The blond examines them, surveying his hand, then the display, then back to his hand again in scrutiny.

Sasuke watches, resisting the urge to sigh and waiting for the inevitable.

“Hmm… I guess this would be a lot easier if I knew what any of these looked like. Gonna have to read them all.”

Sasuke rolls his eyes and steps forward to point to the section of iris bulbs to start with. He gives him a minute to work out which colors to pick, observing the throng of people entering and exiting around them, young and old and in-between.

Phlox are next; he directs his teammate to the appropriate section, where there are quite a few options of hues. Naruto examines them as if he is making a grand decision transformative in nature, mumbling to himself.

“Hmm… She likes blue and purple. Maybe I should…”

His own gaze wanders as he tunes Naruto out, taking in pictures of begonias and caladium on plastic shiny in the sunlight, before his vision locks on the far display.

He wanders over to it as if his body is moving of its own accord.

There are several varieties of lilies, he learns as he scans the packaging, oriental, trumpet, and what is apparently called nerine. White nerine lilies had been the variety his mother grew, lining their yard with curved porcelain petals, clusters emanating from many single stems.

He sets his groceries at his feet to free up his hand, picking up one of the packages to read the instructions on the back. His arm aches as he does so, but he couldn’t care less.

Nerine lily bulbs require good drainage. If there are still puddles in the prospective planting area 5-6 hours after rain, locate another site, or amend the soil with organic material to raise levels 2-3 inches. Nerine lilies also require soil that is somewhat gritty, though it also must be organically rich. Adding compost may increase nutrient content.

In spring, choose a location in full sun. If you are in a hotter region, site them where they will receive morning sun and afternoon shade, and plant the bulbs with an inch of the slender top above the soil surface. The top of the bulb is the area that looks like the stem of an onion. Install bulbs 8 to 11 inches apart for a massed look.

Nerine bulbs develop foliage that gather sun rays and strengthen the plants during the spring and summer months. Flower stalks develop in the fall. Provide water when the plants are actively growing, and very little when they are dormant.

You may cut the final flower stems to display decoratively. This will not hurt the plants and the cuts last long periods of time indoors. After they finish blooming for the year, cut off any remaining flower stalks. Your plants will rest for the winter months before sending up new growth in the springtime. Over time, nerine lilies will form clumps. They like to be crowded, so don’t feel pressed to divide them unless flower production begins to decrease. Clumps can then be dug, split apart, and moved to other parts of the garden, or shared with friends.

When Sasuke looks up, deep in thought, he notices Naruto searching for what he assumes is echinacea, flitting stiffly at random between the first two displays and scratching his head. Wordlessly with the package of lily bulbs still in hand, Sasuke points to the bottom right corner of the first, where several color selections are.

“Thanks, teme!” Naruto plows back to the specified stand and stoops down comically slowly, though Sasuke barely sees, gaze drawn pensively back to the packet he was examining.

The memorial stone has decent drainage, aside from the occasional hard rain like last weekend; that will become less common as the weather warms, and one or two monsoons a summer never drowned his mother’s lilies. Shade in the afternoon could be an issue, though. There’s a large oak tree on the west side that might cast some protection over it, but he only ever visits under the cover of night, so he’s unsure. He would have to examine the trajectory in person to gauge.

He considers the market bag the groceries were handed to him in earlier, studying it closely.

Carefully, he puts the package back where he found it, though his eyes linger on it. He’s no gardener, not like Sakura is, and besides, his arm hurts.

XXX

He’s leaning up against one of the blue columns outside of the hospital when Sakura emerges at three, sprightly as ever. She’s holding the two journals and the medical text from their first trip to the library; she said yesterday that she needed to return them, but there shouldn’t be any new ones she needs to check out just yet. He hadn’t stayed terribly long after they’d finished the tenmusu because he needed to shower and write his mission report, but they’d made plans to swing by the library and journey back up the hillside to read together again. There was also mention of possibly picking up food afterwards, to take to her place. Hazel Wood must be in her tote, hooked around her shoulder.

“Sasuke-kun,” she greets cheerfully. “Whew. It’s getting warm out already.”

“...It is,” Sasuke comments before he extends his hand for her texts, his own already held there, a silent offer to carry them for her.

She blushes as she passes them to him, sliding them into his hand. His eyes drift to the freckle on her cheek, and he wipes his mind blank by sheer willpower alone as they head east. The books aren’t as heavy as the groceries had been earlier, so it doesn’t hurt as much, but he's wondering at this point if the bone might actually have a small crack. He thinks he should ask her to look at it; maybe later, at her apartment.

“My balcony days may be numbered by now, at least until the fall comes,” Sakura observes as they meander.

He contemplates. “...Do you sit out there often?” It is so utterly befitting of her that he thinks he can picture it, her reading out there, surrounded by plants. He wonders if she ever admires the night sky. Their team had stargazed sometimes, on missions that first year as Genin.

Green eyes settle on him from his right. “I like to, when it’s nice out. A lot of times in the summer it gets too hot, though there is an occasional night when it’s cool enough. Fall is really the best for it. You can see the changing leaves from above. Even if it's a chillier day, it’s pleasant with some tea and a blanket in the evening."

He debates for a long moment, but decides against bringing up stout squirrels or chestnut-flavored everything or Naruto slipping on a leaf.

“...It sounds nice,” he comments simply instead, wondering if he’ll be invited to sit with her on her balcony, once fall arrives. They would have to sit kind of close; the space doesn’t seem very big from below, and it's cluttered with greenery.

Sakura smiles up at him, a look that says she agrees with his assessment.

Then, she offers softly, "You can sit out there sometime with me, if you'd like."

His neck warms; all he can do is nod and avert his gaze elsewhere, an abundance of something tender and sweet flaring to life in his belly.

Returning the books barely takes two minutes; they’re wandering towards the outskirts of the mountain in short order. Sakura sprawls in the same spot she did last time, so he takes up the same position, too, leaning up against the trunk of the tree, stable and strong.

And then his eyes catch on another freckle she has, this one near her elbow, and all he can think about is the slightly textured consistency of his ceiling, and whether the impulse to press his lips to her skin without guilt was an okay thing to feel.

She reads and he more contemplates than reads for about an hour, sprawled beneath the scant amount of shade provided by this tree that has lost its petals, trading them in for florets of a greener variety. It’s pleasant, once he can drown his inner disarray of thoughts. He eventually gets through a sliver of his book, though turning the pages is a little cumbersome, tinged lightly with pain. Perhaps he shouldn’t wait until later to ask her to examine his arm.

Sakura finishes her own book, though she keeps the pressed petal between its pages; she must have gotten through more of it while he was on the way to and from Suna. She just reclines there, after, looking up at the sky with her arms at her sides, near exactly the relaxed pose she used to lie in when they were younger.

Sasuke finishes the passage he’s on, and marks his place with the petal she’d plucked from his hair last week, before pointedly setting the text aside and following her eyes to the azure. Fluffy clouds are floating by as the sun inches closer to the west horizon, pushed steadily by the breeze.

“How is Ichika’s recommendation?” She questions.

“...Interesting.” He genuinely is enjoying reading it, despite his aberration.

Her head angles towards him, lying against a gnarled root at a slightly different angle. Her expression is curious, like she’s encouraging him to elaborate.

“Simple, but heavy with metaphors.” He considers for a second, then adds, “You might like it. Poetic.”

Full lips twist upwards. “Maybe I’ll read it next. Her recommendations are usually pretty apt; she gets a good read on people.”

“...How was yours?”

“Hmm.” She pauses, as if thinking it over. “A girl and her mother who get caught up in some bad luck. They inherit an estate - that’s where the title comes from - and supernatural things start happening. It’s kind of a story within a story situation; the grandmother they inherited the house from was an author, so they start going back and reading her writing for clues.”

“...A mystery.” It seems like she’ll read any genre. Mysteries would probably entertain her; she’s always liked to solve things.

She laughs, music to his ears. “Yeah, I suppose it is. It was pretty good. Well written; better than the last one.”

There is a pause.

“...Maybe I’ll read it next,” he echoes, her same words from earlier.

Green sparkles at him, amused before she shifts back towards the firmament.

“...Sounds like a book club.”

It is the most Sakura joke. He huffs a ghost of a laugh as more gauzy clouds drift idly by. It is peaceful, sitting here underneath the same sky as her, observing in easy silence through branches with fresh emerald buds.

And then Sasuke flexes his forearm, shifting slightly, and it still hurts. He considers; she probably won’t mind.

"...I think Naruto cracked my arm bone," he finally confides.

She turns to him, expression fluctuating immediately into one of disquiet, pink brows knotting closer in concern. He blinks and she's standing already, walking over and sitting cross-legged in the nearest open space, an indent in gnarled roots that she navigated through and found a place in as if it were nothing.

Wordlessly, Sasuke holds it out for her to inspect once she’s seated, and she gently rests her fingertips on his forearm.

"It’s from this morning?” Sakura asks, looking concerned in a way that makes his heart thump a little. Or maybe it’s from her hands encircling his skin.

He nods; she must have deduced that they trained earlier. She prods gently before threading green chakra beneath his skin towards the bone, probing for a break.

She frowns. "Oblique fracture in the ulna, though it's very slight and non-displaced.” Her gaze flicks up to him, and all at once, it’s the exam room again, him hyper aware of how close she is to him even though this is clinician Sakura. “I’ll fix it; you really shouldn't have been carrying anything on it."

It takes him a moment to realize she’s referring to him carrying her books earlier, because he’s thinking about the groceries from the market, which were definitively heavier. Her proximity and the aroma of tart berry and the freckle on her cheekbone are all incredibly distracting. Especially the freckle. He peers at her fingers, glowing verdant, and notices one on the inner portion of her right wrist, too.

"...Sorry." He says finally, flicking his eyes back up to her nervously after a long minute is spent mending marrow back together. She inclines her head back down to his arm, apparently accepting his apology for not mentioning it sooner. It's an odd sensation; he can feel the crack fusing from the inside out, ataractic chakra seeping into the diaphysis to fortify.

He feels like he should clarify, so he adds as she works, eyes fixed on her face which has settled in concentration, “I thought it was just bruised at first.” She nods as if that makes sense, working on it for another minute or so without glancing up.

He hopes she's not mad at him. Sasuke shifts his gaze downwards, something in him sinking.

“Flex it, then bend, please,” she requests, not moving her digits; she must need to feel the arm move to determine if it’s healed. He does as she asks and it’s notedly improved, no lingering pain.

“It’s better. Thank you.” He looks upwards just as she does, hoping the jade will still be soft on charcoal.

It is, startlingly so, and she’s flushing all of a sudden, dropping her hands from his arm and rising to her feet a step away, as if she, too, just realized how close they were. It's different here, daylight and not part of their routine like her entryway is becoming.

“You’re welcome,” she says somewhat hastily, complexion darkening. He’s not sure he’s much better; his neck is warm, and he remembers very specifically where each of her fingers had just been on his skin, like the ten points of contact are singed into his epidermis, and likely his grey matter, too.

As he tries to force his pulse to even out, Sakura adds, softly, “You could have just come in with him.”

His brows furrow in confusion. “...What?”

Sakura blinks, countenance appearing as if she is sorting through a problem in her head. Pink dissolves back to her normal coloring.

“Naruto came in with a slipped back rib, earlier today. I assumed it was from sparring with you.” She rolls her eyes, then. “He went and got groceries before coming in; he had them with him. Luckily nothing chilled; he had to wait for a bit.”

"...He didn't say anything about his rib." Now the slow rising and crouching is making more sense.

She sighs, closing her eyes for a second as if something has become clear, but she only replies, "Ah. Of course."

"...Wouldn’t shut up?"

"...Yeah." She turns away slightly, cheeks stained anew for some reason; it makes him curious what their third teammate babbled to her about. "He said as I was kicking him out that he was going to plant flower bulbs with Hinata this afternoon. He showed me the ones he picked. It’s good timing; the perfect time of year to plant some. Pretty soon it'll be too warm."

He lets those words drizzle slowly into his being, a little gentler than a summer monsoon.

"...Our next Hokage can't pronounce echinacea," he eventually tells her.

She chuckles with mirth, a sweet sound he finds relieving; she must have gathered he was present for that endeavor, now, and she can't be too mad at him if he can still make her laugh. Sasuke inwardly hopes she doesn’t gather that he also got groceries; he doesn’t think she’d be very impressed. It was kind of stupid to do that with a questionable arm, in retrospect.

"No," Sakura acknowledges finally, appearing highly entertained. "And he didn’t know what a perennial was until this morning, yet he’s planting an army of them. Probably without reading the directions."

They look over the village together for a lengthy moment in which he considers text printed on the back of a white package.

Then she says his name, so quietly it’s almost a whisper. "Sasuke-kun.”

He angles to her, and sweet jade is on him again, ebbing seafoam cresting as the late afternoon sunlight hits her.

"Thank you for telling me about your arm. In the future, please come to the hospital, if I'm working. You can wait in my office, if you’d prefer. I don't mind; use the window.” Her expression changes to troubled, and suddenly she is no longer the clinician version of Sakura; everything is tinged with something more, something that burns him in its intensity. “You shouldn’t just… suffer in silence, if something hurts. Even if you think it’s nothing. Please tell me."

Oh. She’s not mad, just worried. Heat grazes his ears, and he swallows, staring down at his forearm.

He wants to be close to her. He really does.

"Okay,” he agrees, and means it, carefully meeting green.

They head down the hill together to seek dinner before the rush hits, deciding to go to the yakitori stand she mentioned when he first returned. She chatters about how Naruto wants to have a bonfire in his backyard, once summer’s here and everything is planted.

“...He’s excited about his yard,” Sasuke comments after they’ve ordered, leaning against the wall of the exterior waiting for their takeout. He requested his without the sauce, since Sakura said it’s on the sweeter side for yakitori.

Sakura grins, and she’s really pretty, shadows of a nearby tree dappling her skin, cheeks still red because he paid. It’s only fair; she’s been feeding him. “Yeah, he is. I’d like to see their flowers and garden in the back, eventually. I’m sure once they’ve got it how they want it, they’ll have all kinds of get-togethers back there. Last year we carved pumpkins at their place, instead of at Ino’s and Sai’s; there’s less mess to clean up if it’s outside. He said today that you should come this year.”

“...What?”

She blinks as if remembering something, then smiles sheepishly. “So I never mentioned this, because it happened after I…” She flushes, and she looks away for a second. “...After I sent a letter for the month already, but Sai learned about this artistic thing they do in the Land of Woods, a couple years ago.” Her gaze shifts back to his. “They hollow out pumpkins and carve designs into them, in late October. Warding off evil spirits as they go into the cooler season or something; they put them on their doorsteps with candles in them so the carvings light up the night. It’s odd, but I think it’s become a tradition now. It’s fun, once you get the hang of it. We roast the seeds with salt and Hinata bakes pumpkin bread.”

That sounds entirely odd and completely characteristic of Sai; he supposes there is the artistic angle to consider. Sasuke passed through the Land of Woods three separate times, but never in the fall. “What kind of designs?”

She smiles as if she’s trying not to laugh; his expression must be that of one who is exceedingly perplexed. He supposes it’s not an expression he wears often. “Well, they’re supposed to be scary, I think, but we don’t really do well at making them that way. They’re more funny or decorative. Sai makes pretty good ones, I guess, mean faces with sharp teeth.”

“...What do you carve?”

Her eyes twinkle. “I tried a leaf, the first year, and a crescent moon the second. Sai and I teamed up to carve one for Kakashi-sensei, too, last year; a scarecrow with a cat.”

A crescent moon is not at all what he would have guessed she’d gravitate towards; he thinks immediately of the Six Paths Yin Seal that once adorned a hand he no longer has. Then he comprehends the final part of that sentence.

“...A cat?”

“Oh. Yeah, he got a cat.”

“...His summons are dogs.”

She giggles. “Yeah, Naruto and I thought it was weird at first, too, but he does kind of seem like he’d be more of a cat person overall, the more we thought about it.” Sakura shrugs. “He’s in the village most of the time now, being Hokage, so I guess he thought he could be around enough to take care of one? They’re more low-maintenance than a dog would be. I usually get tasked with feeding it and changing its litter, when he travels to watch the Chunin and Jonin Exams.”

Momentarily, he wonders if Sakura knows what’s under Kakashi’s mask; their old sensei allowing her into his space in his absence may have given her opportunities for some form of low-key reconnaissance on the matter.

Then his brain seizes on another notion, one that’s far more amusing, because she said she teamed up with Sai, and that can only mean one thing.

“...What does Naruto carve?”

Sakura’s grin widens as if she perceives exactly what thought he’s just had. She probably does; she knows him well. “He’s terrible at it. His never look like anything; just orange mush. He loves it, though, and Hinata puts it on their front step anyway.”

He snorts. Figures.

A bell dings, so they peer back in, and sure enough, their food is ready. Sakura steps forward to collect it, thanking the worker, but as she turns, she pauses.

Sasuke follows her gaze, and sees none other than their third teammate in the street, walking their direction and waving emphatically. He’s wearing a different pair of pants, knees absolutely covered in dirt and grass stains.

“Oi, teme! Sakura-chan!”

Sakura glances up to him before swiveling towards the road, their food in hand; Sasuke trails close behind, pushing apart the hanging banners of the stand as he steps beyond the threshold of the restaurant.

“Naruto,” Sakura greets when they’re out in the open.

“...Dobe.”

“Looks like you’ve planted everything,” Sakura says more than asks, gesturing to his pants as evidence.

“Hehe, yep, all of ‘em! It was work, but it will be worth it, later in the year.” Naruto scratches his head, grinning. Sasuke lets those words sink in, too, drenching dead roots.

“And now you’re getting Hinata yakitori as a treat?” Sakura pushes, seeming incredibly amused.

“Well…” Naruto looks away bashfully, grinning ear to ear. “Yeah. Gotta repay her somehow. She has good ideas. I just follow her lead.” He looks back to them, then. “Did you tell teme about all our awesome plans?”

Sasuke’s focus falls to Sakura, who is flushed, biting her lip in a smile.

“I may have started to.”

“Well, good, because our yard is going to be totally the best, and if he thinks he’s getting out of it...” the dobe points at him accusingly, “Then I’ll kick his ass!”

Sasuke scoffs. “As if you could.”

Sakura shakes her head, pink locks fluttering with the motion. “Always with the physicalities... Anyways, I’m sure it will be lovely, when everything finally comes together.”

An uncommonly stretched pause passes where blue eyes zero in on the food container Sakura is holding, before they travel up to the two of them.

The grin shifts to something remarkably tender.

“...Yeah. I’m sure it will be.” He says it with the utmost confidence, like he is as certain about it as he is about the sun rising tomorrow, and Sasuke gets the sense that he is no longer referring to gardening.

The moment passes, and then Naruto is punching them each on the shoulder respectively and sidestepping away towards the yakitori stand. “Anyways, gotta go, so I’ll catch ya later! I’m guessing you have plans of your own.”

Sasuke blinks as their teammate disappears into the restaurant, ears burning a little. When his vision travels down to his right, Sakura is blushing a dark red. She meets his gaze, smiling sheepishly.

They turn to go to her building. The entire way there, Sasuke considers everything in the beginnings of a green that seems endless, nurtured by people from all walks of life. He has been noticing it this whole time, since his return, but now he's thinking about how dull it would be without it, whether it’s dirt roads or lifeless grey granite. This is not the wilds, where seeds sprout unabated. Here, one must put in the work to grow things, find suitable locations and till the soil.

When they reach Sakura’s apartment, his eye lingers on her plants as he follows her inside. She sets the takeout on the table by her window. A shadow of a leaf from the jasmine above them is cast hazily out of focus on her left cheek.

“Would you like any sauce with yours? I could make some teriyaki sauce quick, or I have lemons I’ll be cutting up anyway for mine.”

“...Lemon?” Citrus complements chicken, he knows, but he understands that to mean she’s planning on putting it on hers, over top of the yakitori sauce.

Her lips curve upwards. “I like it on other things, too. It’s good on yakitori.”

So Sakura slices a lemon and it sits on the center of the table between them as they eat. She drizzles her yakitori with three of them, and he takes the other three. The chicken is pretty good, tart with the citrus and seared alongside green onions. It’s still warm, as it wasn’t a long walk to her place at all, a convenient sort of sustenance.

“...What else do you like lemon on?”

She chews thoughtfully, swallowing before answering. “Hmm, a lot of things. Fish, even ones that are usually served with lime. Pork. I like it on vegetables, too. Salads, pasta, rice. Most desserts that include lemon I like, as well.” She pauses again, and adds, “Lemonade, if it’s homemade.”

No wonder they’re always in her fridge. “...And tea.”

His heart flips at the way she smiles at him.

“...And tea,” she agrees.

They watch the streets fill and empty from her window, finishing the meal in a companionable reticence, smelling faintly of citrus rind and shadowed by greenery from above.

He helps her prepare decaffeinated sencha after, trying not to stare at the freckle on her cheek. He’s pondering this morning further, the notions of impetus and yearning, and also the way she says his name, but this time uttered softly under a cherry blossom tree with an invitation into her office, if something hurts.

Sakura cares about him. A lot. Sasuke knows this, has known for years, but it’s the actions of her affection, the way she expresses it purely and simply as if it’s a true north cascading through her veins, that has inched its way into his bone marrow, engraved on the latibule he carved inwardly to avoid dry swallowing life’s more bitter medicines.

As she stirs sugar and honey into her own cup, she asks, “Care for a chess rematch?”

He doesn’t even have to think about it; he nods his assent. It’s time to test something.

They arrange the board together at her table. The first round, Sasuke cautiously plans every move, surveying alternating squares and attempting to predict what strategy Sakura will employ. In some instances, he mirrors her, moving a rook a turn after she does, shifting a pawn out of imminent danger, and so on. It’s a very involved way to play, requiring attentive calculation of each move.

It’s a prolonged match that he eventually loses with a final sweeping motion of her remaining bishop, but it’s fairly close.

“...Again?”

She grins and wordlessly starts setting up the pieces she has captured, so he begins to set up hers. It’s an interesting task, a message of opposites, her setting up his dark figures and him setting up her light ones.

The second round, he simply follows his instincts, negating planning ahead farther than a couple of turns. If he gets an impulse to shift a pawn one way, he does. If his gut tells him to move the knight into her territory or to retreat a rook, he goes with it.

It drags on for the better part of an hour, and ends in a stalemate.

The smile she gives him is breathtaking, a broad and warmhearted validation.

“You’re good,” she comments, jade eyes dancing with joy. He gets the impression that it is not often she gets forced into a draw. He wonders who else she plays with. It can't be Naruto, but maybe Sai or Ino also play.

“...So are you.” He is somewhat reassured now. His impulses used to be ruinous, stemming from anger and anxiety and loss, but perhaps his journey helped in that regard. He just needs to make sure they're rooted in the right things, whether it be logic or affection, and then the major task becomes to feel rather than to overthink.

When he kisses her good night in her entryway, another movie watched and plans for tomorrow later, he doesn’t reach for the freckle the first time, though his hand twitches with the longing to. It’s treasured, this tender pressing of lips that feels like dipping a toe into still water. It is imbued with both of her hands resting on his shoulders again, ten fingertips that have him in her grip more than she could possibly fathom.

He studies her eyes when he pulls away, staring down into soft depths of viridescence. He will drown in them someday, he thinks, slowly but surely working up the courage to wade into the deep end.

The second time he kisses her, he lets himself graze her cheek to truly appreciate the difference, allowing acknowledgment of the impulse, compelled forward rather than backward as if bound by some metaphorical form of northern star situated on the rise of her cheekbone.

Sakura leans into his touch once more as she did yesterday, but this time, she brings up her own hand and delicately lets her fingertips rest atop the outside of his, as if she encourages the caress, thumb brushing against his knuckle as his lips gently brush hers. Her other hand stays resting on his clavicle, a tender embrace, osculant in a way he has hoped for countless times, inclusive of this morning.

It is exactly what he needed, a catalyst of encouragement comprised of a heat that is gentle, coaxing, but still brands him all the same.

Maybe it's okay to want to skim her freckles and more, to allow the affinities he has to breathe. They’re together now; it stands to reason they'll one day venture into territory more uncharted, if he can concede to that kind of vulnerability. Not that he’s anywhere near ready for that - he’s not - but his instincts don’t appear to be all disastrously calamitous. Touching her cheek is something she clearly welcomes.

Sasuke gave in to darker tendencies once. Perhaps it's okay to give in to lighter ones; nothing grows in the absence of light, after all. He brushes a thumb across the high point of her cheekbone once more with her hand encompassing his before they part, embracing a new habit prior to whispering good night.

The way she smiles up at him, skin aflush and glimmering eyes, is everything.

XXX

He inspects the stone and the soil surrounding it for a long while, heavy-heartedly trying to ignore the encyclopedia of names in favor of envisioning what it would look like with lilies surrounding it. Less lugubrious, probably. The trajectory of the tree’s shadow would touch the stone in the evening, he sees, now that he’s here in person. He only ever haunts this place after nightfall when there's less chance of someone happening upon him. He wishes it was more secluded for that reason; maybe healing happens in the sunshine, and that’s why he still struggles with coming here after so many years, creature of the night that he is.

Evenings with Sakura feel like healing, though, and they linger after hours consistently. Maybe next time he’ll visit his dead kin at twilight, a brittle sort of compromise.

He'll see if the impulse still grips him tomorrow, and then decide. He knows his mother would like them. Itachi would, too, although it never feels like he's here, not the same way that it feels like the rest of them are, the air weighted with an accursed brand of perfume pouring outward in all directions.

White lilies may be able to touch the light in his stead for the time being. Even if they don’t grow, he at least will know he tried, and there is always next year. By then, he may have the capability of asking Sakura if she would help him; she’s clearly a capable gardener, and there should be less sediment, if he puts in the work.

By the time he leaves for his apartment, a thin layer has loosened.

#naruto #sasusaku #ssfanfiction #cherry writes #like gold #fanfiction #i said chapter 7 by the end of august and we cut it kind of close but we made it B)

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haleigh-sloth · 3 years ago

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I'm glad you finally finished naruto so i can talk about the main reason why this fandom so pissed about a possible redemption for shigaraki, ever since ch 295 came out fans became furious that we will get another naruto situation like "so deku is gonna talk no jutsu shigaraki and call him cool guy after everything he done?" "another talk no jutsu BS why can't the hero just kill the villain for once" "another naruto and sasuke" and many other dumb comments but these are the most common.

These people act like naruto invented redemption just because horikoshi said he's a big fan of naruto and star wars that's why some fans think a redemption for tomura would ruin his character like obito and some think he will have a redemptive death like darth vader (their characters are kinda similar) because they think he can't have happy ending and forgiven for everything he has done and his life is just miserable, that's basically how the majority of the fandom think about tomura's redemption dabi and toga don't have this issue though compared to shiggy.

Sorry I talked too much but this is something I wanted to talk about with you for a while now.

I’ve seen these comments myself even before I read Naruto. And my question is—what do these people think made Naruto so successful as a manga?

There are so many stories/movies/shows that are punitive in nature and tell stories where the hero kills the villain. There’s plenty to choose from. The world is their oyster.

Those people who like stuff like that should just watch cop shows and shut the fuck up.

One of my favorite things about Naruto was that no villain in it was really a villain. In fact half of them didn’t have a “redemption” arc as much as they ended their involvement in the story showing the compassionate/human side of themselves. The villains in Naruto were just people. And Naruto’s role was to show us the human side of everyone, regardless of what they’d done.

Sasuke is my favorite from Naruto and even though I knew Naruto would bring him back, I was still so invested in their story line together. Those types of stories where relationships and friendships are focused on heavily make me, and I’m sure other people, feel really good. I loved Sasuke’s arc, and I loved his and Naruto’s friendship reconciling. It was my fav 💙

And for the record, the talk no jutsu fucking slaps. It works for stories where relationships between characters are so important, such as in Naruto and BNHA. Both of those stories are about connections between people and people being able to reach and understand each other’s hearts. Naruto and Sasuke at the end both mentioned how they knew what the other was feeling when they were fighting, and because of those feelings Sasuke still felt he had to get rid of Naruto. That was heavy and powerful and moments like that only work well when words are exchanged.

People like happy endings. And those who don’t? Well, okay, fine, but go read something else. Don’t bitch because a story that obviously isn’t a miserable tale from the get-go isn’t going down the dark miserable path you want. Ugh.

But anyway—BNHA is….definitely Naruto. It is. There are so many things in Naruto that brought me to very specific things in BNHA, and were structured in such a way that just showed me that Hori really was inspired by Naruto and he used a lot of what was in it. That’s not a bad thing, because they’re both different stories, but they have the same skeletal base. And people can deny that all they want by saying “this isn’t Naruto!”, but where has that gotten them? They’ve been wrong time and time again because they don’t wanna just admit that BNHA IS another Naruto. Chapter 295 pissed people off, I remember. And then chapter 305 just drilled nail in the coffin on their little “Deku would never wanna save Shig after what he did” argument. Lol, guess again. When those chapters came out I was euphoric 😂.

But like idk why people even bother reading stuff like BNHA and Naruto if they just want a punitive ending like…go watch cop shows and movies. They’ll give you exactly what you want. Shounen manga is not gonna be what you want so maybe idk, find different material to read. Also American super hero comics/movies are what they’re looking for too. Go watch/read those and shut up and let us have our corny “love and friendship fixes everything” story ending please. There’s a reason it’s used in manga a lot. It makes people feel good and hopeful about real life, because real life sucks and we read to fiction to escape it. Why would I wanna read something grim dark when my real life is grim dark every fucking day lol.

Needless to say I agree. And yes I used to see those comments everywhere, until I realized that Twitter is a cesspool and stopped getting on there.

#bnha #shigaraki tomura #boku no hero academia #Naruto #bnha asks #anonymous #naruto asks #bnha league of villains #shigaraki redemption

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oddone95 · 4 years ago

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The Cycle of Hatred in Naruto fandom.

Ok, so I just wanted to write a little post on why this fandom (Naruto fandom that is) needs to chill and stop hating on each other so much. But first, let’s get clear in our minds that “Naruto” is a business franchise, and the goal of any business venture is to earn 💰. Earn money by evoking emotions in you. Now that this is clear, let’s move on. This will be a short (not rant) but rather advise to the various “camps” in this community.

1. To the remaining NaruSaku bunch:

Yes, I get it, you’re disappointed with the ending. Yes, you wanted Naruto with Sakura and apparently you cannot see how in the world NaruHina even happened. But if you took your bias out for a bit, you would see that pairing Naruto with Hinata was THE ONLY positive outcome for Naruto romance-wise. Or did you really want Naruto to end up with a “prize” that never even ONCE expressed her desire to be with him romantically in any way, shape or form. And don’t bring up the fake confession because this is all that is. FAKE. To save the love of her life from sinking into darkness. And how can you go around Hinata’s heartfelt confession during the Pein arc? So, please STOP insulting Hinata and her fans - let people enjoy the canon pairings that were planned from the beginning of serialisation of the project.

2. To the very vocal SNS community:

I’ll just keep it simple. If Masashi Kishimoto wanted this manga to be shonen-ai or yaoi, he would’ve acted on it. Editor or not, Kishi stands behind his story. He always has. And please don’t bring the supposed “homophobia” into this. Homophobia is a very serious rl issue that affects millions of people worldwide and you’re NOT helping the cause by insulting and hating on people enjoying the het canon pairings of Narutoverse. You do realize that your rants about it only trigger more hate towards yourselves and the cycle of hatred goes on. So we all end up bashing real living breathing humans “for the sake” of inked characters.. Let it sink in.

3. To the die hard SasuKarin minority:

Bruh.. There’s so much I’d like to bring up here but I’ll stick to basics. Firstly, your claim to be Sasuke fans is ridiculous because you seem to view him as a mindless, powerless beta male that was harassed by a woman SO HARD that he decided to give it to her.. really?! Is that who you think he is? Because that’s what you all seem to claim by saying that “Sakura chased after him”. You take that line from Gaiden and take it completely out of context. Do you know ANYTHING about Sasuke? Anything at all? If there’s anything manga taught us about his character is that Sasuke Uchiha acts as he pleases. He did so when he first left the village, he did so when he killed Orochimaru, he did so when he fought with Naruto, he did so when he willingly gave up his old worldview, and he did so when he married his wife. And you bring up “rape” into the matter. Seriously?! Do I need to bring up the sweaty t-shirts, licking somebody all over and ravaging them in their sleep? Do I? Thankfully, Karin redeemed herself by worrying about Sasuke’s wife well-being enough to deliver her baby and by thinking about HER happiness in Sasuke Shinden. She clearly cares about the Uchiha family wellbeing more than you do. She moved on!! So should you.

4. To NaruHina and SasuSaku respectively:

There is NO popularity contest. Man, I can’t believe we’ve got to this. There is absolutely NO popularity contest between Sakura and Hinata, neither there is for their romances. They’re different, just as the girls are different, and the boys are different. There is no such thing as a cookies cutter perfect romance. They’re written differently and I’m thankful to Kishimoto for that. I wouldn’t want every couples way to the altar copy-pasted. SS is angstier and more complicated. Their history is different. Yes. NH has been more subtle during the Shippuden but both pairings came together as was planned and we should feel proud and victorious that our ships made it to canon. But that’s too boring I guess. I guess tearing each other down is the new sport. So please tell me: what has Sakura ever done to Hinata except for being a good friend?! Same goes for Hinata. Can you put away your hate for Sakura/Hinata for one minute to appreciate the fact that the girls are ACTUALLY HAPPY! The way it was planned from the beginning. They’ve both suffered, ached and spilled tears for the men they love SO MUCH. And now they’re happy! Can’t we celebrate that?! This brings me to my next and final point.

5. To Sakura haters:

I’ll keep it brief. I honestly really truthfully DO NOT get WHY you hate on her so much.I REALLY DON’T.

5.1. For those of you who hate her for getting in the way of your ship, please see above. You really must either not have read the manga, or fanfiction.net is your source of truth. Hating her for being paired with Sasuke is same as hating Kishimoto for making Naruto a jinchuuriki because both canon facts were pre-planned by the author.

5.2. If you hate her for being mean to Naruto, then I suggest reading the manga past chapter 3 because this misconception gets debunked really quickly. You should stop refusing to accept the fact that Sakura really cares about Naruto as a friend and a precious teammate.

5.3. If you hate her for being “useless”, I don’t even know what to tell you because.. you know.. you don’t know the content of the manga called “Naruto” so why don’t you put away your bias for a minute and try to see what I see? All you have to do is clear your mind of all misconceptions and just read the manga with, you know, open mind?! To see how many lives she saved, how much of strength she has considering her humble beginnings, and how much valued she is in the village.

To the rest of Naruto fandom that gets swayed in every direction influenced by reviewers on social media, extremist shippers or even have trouble realizing that characters are fictional and nothing really happens to them unless it’s written into the canon verse by the author, I have one advice to you: please don’t let anyone’s opinions affect your judgement. YouTube reviewers are PAID to provoke and trigger you. They earn money by imposing THEIR ideas and theories onto YOU. Some of them bring their own life experiences into the discussion which only causes you to self-insert.

Naruto is an awesome manga! It deals with such important issues and carries such a positive message! Please, STOP ruining it by pointless wars that only fuel more hate!

Now. Going back to my first point about the money. Anime production studios have a huuuge interest in you staying glued to the screens. They’ll do anything to provoke you to talk about whatever happens on screen. They will bring their own bias into the mix, and fuel this madness even more. For the anime only fans I will say that you’re doing a huge disservice to yourself and to the work of art that “Naruto” is by only watching anime. It adds another layer of interpretation thus confusing you even more. Please, read the manga! It’s so worth it!

#Naruto #rant #cycle of hatred #stop #spread the word

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zenanh · 7 years ago

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SS fans are honestly something else. Almost every single one of them that try arguing with me on tumblr act as if Sasuke and Sakura are actual people when they’re literally just fictional characters. It’s not even normal, I’m embarrassed for them.

Talking about, “Sakura doesn’t care about what you say about her so why do you bother”

“Sakura is just minding her buisness while you’re wasting your time talking about her”

lmao like at this point they need help, they’re in their own world.

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kuriquinn · 7 years ago

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House Upon A Rock

Summary: She sort of considers herself the last resort, the one to pull him through; it never really occurs to her that she’s the one that could fall. [SasuSakuMonth2017 - Day 4 - Prompt: “Lean On Me”]

Disclaimer: This story utilizes characters, situations and premises that are copyright Masashi Kishimoto, Shueisha, Shonen Jump and Viz Media. No infringement on their respective copyrights pertaining to episodes, novelizations, comics or short stories is intended by the author in any way, shape or form. This fan oriented story is written solely for the author’s own amusement and the entertainment of the readers. It is not for profit. Any resemblance to real organizations, institutions, products or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. All fiction, plot and Original Characters with the exception of those introduced in the books, manga, video games, novelizations and anime, are the sole creation of KuriQuinn and using them without permission is considered rude, in bad-taste and will reflect seriously on your credibility as a writer. An annoyed jonin will abandon you to the elements if you are found plagiarising.

Warning: Original Character (Manako Inuzuka) in one scene

Canon-Compliance: As close to canon as fanfiction can possibly be. With a few personal additions :P Takes place during Part I, genin-era.

Beta-Reader: My own two eyes and editing software, but I’m working on it!

一

The first time it happens is two weeks after Team 7’s mission in the Land of Waves.

A C-rank security detail (on a squash-farm of all things!) fast becomes a B-rank when the nearest competitor hires former mercenaries to sabotage their client. It’s an easy take-down, Sakura thinks at first, especially compared to what they faced with Zabuza Momochi and Haku. Between Kakashi and Sasuke, it’s the work of minutes to quash the saboteurs, and with Naruto’s blustery lecture about teamwork and respect, everything seems to go well.

But then Sasuke passes out.

Sakura only just makes it in time to keep his head from hitting the rock-littered terrain. “Sasuke!”

“What’s going on? What happened?” Naruto cries, looking around like he expects another attack.

Kakashi remains calm, however.

“It’s the strain of his Sharingan,” Kakashi explains. “While he gets used to it, Sasuke will experience certain side-effects. He’ll wake up soon.”

Under normal circumstances, they would stay the night or at least until Sasuke was awake and strong enough to walk again. But it turns out the mercenary captain has information on someone in Kakashi’s Bingo Book. He insists he’ll only speak to the Hokage, and so they have to get him to Konoha as soon as possible. With Kakashi’s hands full, Naruto is the next strongest on their team to act as his back-up; this leaves Sakura caring for the unconscious Sasuke.

Not that she minds—at first she even entertains herself with fantasies of nursing him back to health and him being forever grateful and asking her out as a reward.

But the two-hour trek back to Konoha erases any sense of romance she might imagine.

Sasuke is much heavier than Sakura, and after exerting himself against the mercenaries, he smells, too.

Not that I can talk, she thinks as she strains and sweats in desperation beneath the dead weight on her back. I’m going to need to shower for a week to get the smell of fertiliser off my skin!

But she doesn’t complain the entire way back home.

By the time Sasuke wakes up and pulls away from her, she’s too exhausted to even care if she looks sweaty and dishevelled in front of him. In fact, for the first time, she experiences a little more annoyance than hurt that he can’t even manage a proper thank you before slouching off. He shoves at Naruto when the other boy teases him for passing out.

Boys, she thinks in exasperation.

二

The next three days, Sakura’s entire body feels like one giant bruise. Every muscle and tendon throbs at her in reproach for having carried such a heavy load for so long. Ino says she looks like a bunraku puppet hobbling around. Sakura doesn’t even have the energy to retort ( “At least my face doesn’t look like a kabuki monster!” ) before limping away to run her errands for the week.

And pick up more medicinal balm.

While restocking her supply of explosive tags at the village surplus store, Manako Inuzuka takes one look at her and snorts.

“Someone hasn’t been keeping up with their training,” she singsongs, as she undoes the wrapper on a chew of bubble gum and tosses it in her mouth.

“What would you know about it?” Sakura snaps, aching muscles contributing to an already bad mood.

How dare a drop-out like the Manako comment on her training? She has been working hard, ever since the Land of Waves.

Sakura’s worst nightmare is becoming caught unawares like that again, and just sitting by while everyone else is useful. She’s since been improving her genjutsu and ninjutsu abilities. She’s gotten excellent at Kawamiri and, okay, so she hasn’t had time to work on her taijutsu yet, but she is trying!

The Inuzuka woman considers her, unruffled. “Kid, I was in your exact situation when I was your age: I had a Sharingan and an idiot on my team, too. Guess who always ended up lugging those two home at the end of the day?”

Sakura’s irritation fades, and she stares up at the woman in awe.

That’s right. Manako was around when Sasuke’s family was still alive. She actually knew other Uchiha.

“So, what’d you do?” she asks.

“Besides mark up their faces and take pictures of it while they were unconscious?” the woman remarks, earning a scowl from Sakura. “I trained for it.”

“Trained for it?”

“Is there an echo in here? That’s what I just said. And what you need to work on. Unless you want to throw out your back before you even reach thirty, you need to exercise your body. You need to plan because nine missions out of ten, you’ll end up lugging an unconscious teenaged boy back to the village.” She studies Sakura again, sharp eyes roving over her in a critical manner that she doesn’t appreciate. Manako snaps her gum in her mouth. “Then again, you’re kind of tiny. Maybe it’s just not in you.”

Sakura splutters at this, too indignant to form a reply.

“Here,” Manako continues, sliding over a package of smoke bombs.

“I don’t need smoke bombs,” Sakura tells her tightly.

“They’re not for you,” Manako sneers back. “They’re for your Sharingan idiot. Give them to him when you see him next, it saves me a delivery.”

Sakura makes a face. “But don’t you make money delivering things?”

But Manako waves a dismissive hand and heads to the back of her shop, like she doesn’t hear her. Or as if the notion of making money isn’t important to her.

Sakura’s eye twitches.

How does she even still have a business? She is so weird.

三

Weird, but right, Sakura decides a week later when it inevitably happens again; at training, this time.

Sasuke pushes himself to keep his Sharingan active longer and longer, despite Kakashi’s warnings to keep it simple. Eventually he tries a genjutsu on Naruto, succeeding in knocking the other boy out—and then keels over backwards himself a half-second later.

Again, Sakura skids into his path to keep him upright, while Kakashi kneels beside Naruto.

“At some point you kids will listen to me, right?” he asks, though she gets the sense he’s talking more to himself than to them. “You’ll have pretty short lives if you don’t start soon.” He picks up Naruto and addresses Sakura. “I’m going to take him to see the Hokage. Sharingan genjutsu can be tricky to break people out of.”

“But you have a Sharingan. Can’t you just undo it yourself?”

The visible part of Kakashi’s face twitches in an expression she can’t decipher—either caution or approval. “No. There’s another matter to deal with, and it’s easier to wrangle him there if he’s unconscious. You’ll see to Sasuke, right?” He glances at his other student and his eye crinkles in a smile beneath his mask. “Or leave him there. It would serve him right for not listening.”

Before Sakura can rush to defend Sasuke’s honour, Kakashi and Naruto disappear in a puff of smoke.

“Right…no problem,” she sighs, not hiding her dismay as she glances down at her charge.

Unconscious, he seems so relaxed, a contrast to how burdened he always seems when awake. She hates that he has to push himself so hard that he knocks himself out. Being an Uchiha always seemed so cool, and with his Sharingan, it seems like one day there won’t be anything he won’t be able to do. But she’s realising that having the kekkei genkai might not be the boon everyone thinks it is.

Naruto pushes himself too, of course, but for Sasuke, his desperation to succeed sometimes seems like it’s boiling within his very blood.

I wish I could help him, she thinks sadly as she crawls down beside him and struggles to bring him to his feet. But even if I did…there’s not much I can do…

So far, it appears like the only thing she’s capable of is sitting there while her teammates throw themselves into dangerous situations. And hoping there are still pieces left to collect at the end of the day.

Manako’s words ring in her head.

“You need to plan because nine missions out of ten, you’ll end up lugging an unconscious teenaged boy back to the village.”

The knowledge that Sasuke might end up unconscious again on her watch—not might, but will, considering how determined he is to master the Sharingan!— makes her steel herself. She has to support her teammates; if that’s all she can do, she’ll do it with the same determination and perfectionism she always gave to her school work.

四

Decision made, Sakura takes an analytical approach and considers their weaknesses—not just her teammates, but her instructor’s, too.

They are always pushing themselves to the limit, tiring themselves out. Sasuke trains himself to the point of unconsciousness, Kakashi has ended up confined to bed on at least one occasion and Naruto—well, he doesn’t have the best judgement. The idiot shoved a kunai through his hand for dramatic effect once; that alone suggests the kind of antics she’s in for in the future…

As for her weaknesses, she’s not as strong as the others. She doesn’t have Sasuke’s clan jutsu or Kakashi’s talent or Naruto’s indefatigable spirit. The only thing she has going for (she hopes) is a bit of common sense.

There’s no point to us succeeding at missions if they all just drop dead right afterward.

She isn’t sure quite where to start, and at first goes to her parents for help and suggestions. As usual, they are a little bemused, but supportive. Mama agrees to front her allowance for the next month so she can buy some exercise videos and weights. Papa helps her come up with a training regimen, offering helpful suggestions.

Time passes, and increasingly, without fail, Sakura ends up carrying Sasuke back home. Occasionally Naruto, as well, but he has a really weird tendency to throw off injuries like they’re nothing. Sasuke’s acclimation period seems to last longer, which he isn’t happy about.

He’s not too pleased about the carrying thing, either, judging from how fast he is at scrambling away from her and putting distance between them whenever he wakes. Even though Kakashi reminds him that a good shinobi knows when to accept help, he often gives her the cold shoulder for days afterward.

As if it’s my fault he keeps getting knocked out, she thinks angrily to herself.

Kakashi at least tries to make it easier on her, making Naruto carry him or doing it himself; but every third instance or so both boys get knocked out, and it’s up to their remaining squad members to care for them.

“Naruto’s probably lighter,” Kakashi points out the day of one such an instance, as Sakura is bent over the Uchiha boy’s unconscious form. “I can take Sasuke, if you want.”

“No, I can handle it,” Sakura says firmly. “I won’t get stronger if I always take the easy option.”

She thinks her sensei is smiling beneath his mask. “That’s true.”

He doesn’t discuss the matter again, even when she occasionally stumbles on their way back home. But he slows his stride so that she can catch up, hefting Sasuke’s heavy body against her back more securely.

Sasuke remains unconscious almost the whole way back to Konoha, but once they reach the gates, Sakura pauses and stays behind. She knows he doesn’t like to be seen having someone carry him, and if he wakes before they enter the village he can walk in himself. Kakashi, of course, has no interest in preserving anyone’s dignity, and marches through the gates with Naruto basically hanging off his back.

This time when Sasuke wakes, he seems angrier at himself for passing out than Sakura. She can’t help sympathising with him at that.

He puts so much pressure on himself…

“Don’t worry, Sasuke,” she tells him, offering him a comforting smile. “I’ll always be there to catch you, okay? So just keep working hard.”

He stares at her a long moment, looking uncharacteristically stunned, before his usual frown overtakes his features.

“You won’t need to,” he tells her. “I will not be weak like this forever.”

He turns to walk away.

“But Sasuke…” she begins, automatically reaching a comforting hand out before remembering herself and pulling back. “You’re already really strong.”

He pauses, tilting his head slightly as if to acknowledge her comment, but then mutters, “Perhaps by your standards.”

When he walks away this time, shoulders hunched, she doesn’t try to stop him. Instead, she sighs, and heads towards her own home.

He’s right.

She doesn’t know how to accurately judge someone’s strength, because she isn’t strong.

But I will be, she vows.

五

Sakura meets Chōji one day to ask for advice. He may be big, but she also knows from watching him train with Ino and Shikamaru that he is strong.

“Eat,” he tells her, over lunch at the Yakiniku Q (her treat, of course). “Food gives you energy, energy gives you strength. Protein’s always good—mmm!” He stuffs his face with beef from a skewer. “And never let anyone take the last helping of anything! They’re stealing your strength if they do!”

He tries to look fierce, but the effect is ruined by the beef juices running down his cheeks.

Sakura isn’t quite sure about the last bit. She thinks if she got in the way of Sasuke or Naruto’s fights for the last bit of rice she might lose a finger. But the advice is appreciated.

She eats more and stops trying the diets in her fashion magazines. She had mostly stopped after Kakashi’s bell test, but she’s still been more conscious of people judging her eating habits than she should be. Now she goes to the library to find books on healthy eating and how to build muscle mass and which foods help.

She also tries to boost her endurance by going jogging, often with a giant knapsack filled with the heaviest books she can find. It’s nothing to Sasuke’s weight, but she decides if she can get used to that it will at least help.

And slowly, it does.

As time goes on, the fainting incidents happen less and less.

Or perhaps they happen just as often and she just stops noting it because lifting her teammates stops being an effort. Even when they both start to get taller and heavier, her body seems to get stronger alongside them.

But even better than that, Sasuke no longer seems to have an issue when he wakes up draped across Sakura’s back on the way back to village.

One evening, she even gets a gruff, “I’m fine now,” and a nod before he pulls away from her.

It’s not a traditional thank you, but she’s learning that when it comes to Sasuke, nothing ever is.

六

Then the Chunin Exam and the attack on Konoha happen.

The Forest of Death and the mark on Sasuke’s neck; his burning fever and Sakura’s very real fear that he might die.

For the first time in her life, the idea of her own death doesn’t frighten her—not compared to the thought of losing him. She thinks she could face that disgusting snake shinobi’s killing intent a million times if it means Sasuke lives.

It’s as if a switch inside her flips, and it’s not just about being there to support him after he gets hurt. She has to protect him from ever being hurt again.

And so she throws herself at the three Oto-nin even though the odds are against her. A month later she faces down the giant, monstrous sand demon that is Gaara, and does anything she can to give Sasuke enough time to get away. If she will die, she’ll do so proving to Sasuke and everyone else—and herself—that she’s the best damn support system anyone could ask for.

But everyone lives, and suddenly there’s an unspoken acknowledgement of her ability to keep pace with them. Sasuke stops leaping in front of her to take attacks meant for her. She longer gets reminders from Kakashi to be careful during missions, and Naruto learns to be wary of her fists during sparring sessions. No one says anything, but their dynamic changes.

Not necessarily for the better, she soon learns.

The encounter with Gaara and the One-Tail haunts her nightmares, but not for the terror of that day. Something happened while she was unconscious, something that caused more tension between Sasuke and Naruto.

Something she might have been able to stop, if only she hadn’t been so damned weak and passed out.

Never again, she vows.

七

It’s a few days after Lord Third’s funeral.

Despite the tragedy, the village still has to continue assigning missions, but until a new Hokage is named, the jōnin level ninja are delegating the tasks amongst themselves. This leaves Kakashi too busy to go with them on any high-ranking missions, and so Team 7 is left to deal with the routine, mundane tasks.

Of course, their team is always a magnet for trouble. What starts off as a courier job in some civilian village three hours away becomes a race against time to stop a greedy mayor from demolishing a school. Greedy mayors are never without their bodyguards, and the team quickly becomes embroiled in an all-out fight to stop the school from being destroyed.

At the end of the day, the three of them are satisfied with their work, if a little exhausted and chakra-depleted. Naruto is fine, of course, and Sasuke is pretending that he isn’t utterly exhausted so that he can keep up with Naruto. And Sakura…

Has twisted her ankle rather painfully, but she has no intention of having her teammates making a fuss over her.

Once, she might have, but she has a reputation to maintain (even if it’s not as glamourous as her teammates’). If anyone hears about the pink-haired kunoichi from Konoha having to be carried home, it might make people question her abilities again.

Sometimes being a girl and a shinobi is a pain in the ass.

She keeps her mouth shut while they relay their successful mission to the faceless jōnin in charge of missions. When Naruto excitedly suggests grabbing dinner at Ichiraku’s, she declines with a little white lie about her parents expecting her. Both Naruto and Sasuke go blank-faced at that, and Sakura feels stupid. She’s always careful not to talk about her parents near her teammates, considering they’re both orphans. The pain is obscuring her thought process.

Sasuke doesn’t even bother with a farewell, heading toward the Uchiha district. A moment later Naruto mentions in a falsely bright tone that he will see if Iruka-sensei is anywhere nearby.

“He sometimes buys me dinner if I don’t piss him off too much,” he confides in her, all smiles again. “See you tomorrow, Sakura!”

And he takes off at a run.

“Bye,” she replies, before turning in the opposite directions. Her ankle gives a sharp, throbbing pain that demands a detour to the hospital—even if that detour is out of her way.

Two streets later, however, she has to stop walking.

Try as she might to direct the last vestiges of her chakra to stave off the swelling and relieve the pain, she’s completely tapped out.

Just great, she harangues herself as she leans against a nearby wall. I should get an award for awesome judgement…shannaro…

The hospital is still several blocks away, and she doesn’t know any of the people milling around that she is comfortable asking for help. Konoha is a small village, but it doesn’t mean she’s on speaking terms with everyone in it.

Either she will have to hop all the way to the hospital and hope someone takes pity on her, or she must walk very slowly. Which could do more damage to her ankle than she’s already done.

Because this is so much less embarrassing than Naruto carrying me home, the voice in her head complains. Oh well…suck it up!

She gingerly takes a step forward, only to have her foot give out beneath her.

Sakura gasps, throwing her hands out to catch herself as she falls, bracing for an impact—

Which never comes.

Someone grabs the arms she thrust out and hauls her backward, steadying her. When she finally shakes her hair out of face, she stares up in surprise.

“Sasuke?” she asks, not entirely sure what she’s seeing is real.

What’s he doing here? We went in completely opposite directions!

“You’re hurt,” he replies, ignoring her explicit and implicit questions.

“It’s, uh, it’s nothing,” she tells him, a little uncertain at the look he’s giving her foot. He’s scowling as if he finds it personally insulting.

“How long have you been like this?” he demands.

For a moment, she flinches, a particularly horrible memory rising to the surface.

“Sakura…who…did that to you…?”

She swallows and waves it off. “It’s fine. Just a little swollen. Probably a little sprain is all—”

“Don’t lie,” Sasuke orders, taking a step closer. “If you’re hurt, you have to say so. What would have happened if you collapsed while we were on our way back? Or if we got attacked?”

“I-I–”

“Come on,” he sighs, and a bit of the tension eases from his shoulders. “You’re going to the hospital.”

“Well, yeah, that’s where I was head—ehh?!”

To her utter shock, he loops her left arm around his shoulder and neck, and then wraps his right around her back and waist.

“Put your weight on me, not on your foot,” he orders her.

Sakura smiles, a little teary eyed but not from the pain.

“And you’d better not make a big deal out of this,” he mutters.

“I won’t,” she promises shyly, because moments like this, when Sasuke shows her any modicum of tenderness, are jealously guarded close to her heart. She never even tells Ino about them.

They walk together in silence for a while.

The sensation of his arm along her back is protective, and she can’t help but feel totally and utterly safe. Being so close to him fills her with warmth, and yet she can’t suppress the shiver that runs up her spine.

“Don’t tell me your catching a cold now, too,” he complains.

“N-no, nothing like that,” she assures him.

“Good. Because if you get sick on me, it’s just me and Naruto, and I can’t promise I won’t kill him when he’s being an idiot.”

She chuckles lightly at that, but there’s an edge there; lately Sasuke’s sparring sessions with Naruto have been getting more vicious. She doesn’t like the idea of them fighting anymore, even as a joke. It seems too much like tempting fate.

“Um…Sasuke?”

“Hm.”

“Are you training with Kakashi-sensei tomorrow?”

“Maybe.”

“Oh.”

There’s a pause and she expects it to be the end of the conversation, but to her surprise he asks, “Why?”

She smiles.

“I was just hoping…if you’re not…too busy…would you spar with me?”

As close as they are to one another, bodies pressed closed, she senses him startle. She thinks she’s startled him, anyhow, considering she’s never before asked him that. To be fair, she’s never felt entirely confident asking him that.

“I know you only ever fight Naruto because you guys are on the same level,” she adds quickly, “but I want to improve too. So that means I have to train against people who are stronger. And you…you’re so strong, Sasuke, and I want to be, too.”

Sasuke is quiet for a long time and she believes he’s ignored the question. Disappointment floods her until he sighs.

“I’ll consider it,” he tells her gruffly, and her spirits instantly lift. “Ask me again when your foot is healed.”

She beams at him thankfully. “Okay.”

Sasuke mutters something under his breath—it sounds like he’s called her annoying again—and avoids looking at her the rest of the journey.

八

Of course, it never happens.

The next day, Sasuke tracks down his brother Itachi and lands himself in the hospital for several weeks. And upon waking, he is so consumed with rage and resentment that there are no more training sessions. Their team is splintering, and to Sakura’s grief and horror, the final nail shatters the day Sasuke abandons Konoha.

In the months and years that follow, Sakura worries endlessly about him.

She wonders if he has anyone to support him the way she and Naruto did, of if there’s anyone around to genuinely care when he pushes himself too far. These days she has Tsunade, and she knows that while he’s on his travels Naruto has Jiraiya. But for Sasuke…

Sakura doesn’t imagine Orochimaru to be the type that helps someone who stumbles or get hurt.

She hopes that wherever he is, Sasuke finds someone to care about him and take care of him when he’s too focussed or stubborn to do it himself. Sakura doesn’t care who that is, just as long as someone is there for him to support him or carry him back home the way she did.

Even if it’s not truly his home.

Sakura doesn’t really understand his exact reasoning for leaving, but somewhere in his motivations is the need to get stronger. And if he intends to do that, she will do the same.

One day, she and Naruto will get Sasuke back, and she’ll show him he shouldn’t have left. That if he had stayed, they could have all grown stronger together, and supported each other instead of having to carve out lonely new paths.

And she doesn’t care how dark or twisted his path becomes, she will still be willing to let him lean on her if it means bringing him home.

終わり

Comments and constructive criticism are always welcome, but if you feel like keeping me caffeinated out of the goodness of your heart, it certainly would be appreciated! I’m also starting to post original works to my patreon.

I’m only able to keep writing as I do thanks to the support of readers like you, so every bit helps!

栗

#ssm17 #ssm17d3 #naruto fanfiction #sasusaku #rating: teen #sakura haruno #sasuke uchiha #lean on me #genin era #one-sided love #drama #angst #legacy of fire #kuriquinn #naruto uzumaki #kakashi hatake

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scribblindown · 7 years ago

Text

Final Fantasy XV (Actor AU)

Dang this ended up long, I guess I got carried away ;; I'll keep it under the cut. Also, I refer to them as [character]'s actor, or just [character] on and off, but I'm mostly referring to their actor.

Final Fantasy (the television series):

Final Fantasy is an anthology science fiction and fantasy series that started in late 1987.

Originally it was produced only by the Japanese studio Square Enix, but as it became more popular, different countries come together to help make this series. Therefore it is now under multiple production companies, distributors, and is aired in multiple networks worldwide.

They currently have fifteen seasons, not counting their many spin-offs, movies, and crossovers with their sister series, Kingdom Hearts.

Constantly gets questioned on why the actors wear so many belts and buckles.

Stella Nox Fleuret:

Was an elegant and kind actress that was in a handful of blockbuster movies, so she was already well-known.

She was set to be in Final Fantasy Versus XIII, which was already in mid-way through filming, but they were making slow progress due to scheduling issues with Noctis' actor.

However, Stella's actress was suddenly in a near-fatal car crash, putting a halt to Versus XIII completely.

Not only was she hospitalized for many months, she decided that she wanted to take a break from acting because her traumatizing experience made her want to spend more time with her family.

She was even unsure if she wanted to go back to acting at all. Even if she were to take on any projects or roles, it would be the local ones, so she wouldn't be too far from her family.

She specifically told director Tetsuya Nomura this and didn't want to hold them back. Nomura respected her decision and took her off her contract soon later.

This was a very hard decision for her because she loves the series and her costars. Also, no one blames her for doing what she did. Everyone is still on great terms with one another. If another star is in the same town as her, they will call her up and they will have lunch together.

But because of this they had to scrap Versus XIII completely. With one of the major actresses suddenly pulling out of the show, it left a major gap in the story and production.

Money was lost, fans were left dumbfounded, and everyone was at a loss.

This led to a change in teams, production companies, and Nomura passed the director role to Hajime Tabata. It was eventually reworked into Final Fantasy XV, with major changes happening to the story line and character designs. Such as:

"What??? A plain white button up??? No, give him a purple leopard print shirt!!!"

Noctis Lucis Caelum:

Is the same actor that played Sasuke in Naruto and Naruto Shippuden. That's right, I went there.

Because he was still working on Naruto Shippuden at the time, Versus XIII was in the works for the past five years (not ten years like irl) before it eventually became FFXV. But everything worked out in the end because he finished up with Naruto and was able to give FFXV all of his attention.

He is a half-Japanese actor, and while he spent most of his life in Japan, he can speak English perfectly. This is due to the fact that his parents are divorced and used to pass him back and forth from their respective countries.

His uncle is a talent agent, and suggested the role of Sasuke Uchiha to him. The rest is history.

His personality is actually really close to Noctis'. While he can keep up the brooding, cold facade that he did for the past ten years for his other role, and work the cameras so he can come off as charismatic and charming, the actor is slightly socially awkward and introverted, but everything is smooth sailing if you get along with him and he's so kind to fans and tries to answer as many questions as he can on social media.

Cor's actor kind of intimidates him, and the actor who plays young Noctis drew a crude picture of the Immortal when he was off set. The two giggled about it like schoolgirls without realizing that Cor was right behind them.

Cor later asked for the picture, had them both sign it, and keeps it on his fridge.

He met some of the other actors of the FF series. Sephiroth's actor scares him and Noct has a slight crush on Lightning's.

He actually likes vegetables, so whenever he has to take them out and eat a burger or something on camera, he feels like they taste so bland.

His favorite costume is the Moogle Chocobo Carnival one. Usually they're in sweltering weather and his regular leather costume and king costume aren't very forgiving.

He was playing a prank with Prompto's actor on set and it backfired and he got himself locked in the Regalia for an hour.

He kept the Ring of Lucii after filming, the Moogle Chocobo hat, and his king costume. They made a king costume specifically for close ups and several copies for his fight scene with Ardyn that was meant to rip/be torn. He once wore the costume to take out the trash.

He does most of his own stunts, but has a body double that does the fishing for him because the boy can't fish for shit.

He is a cat person. The dogs who play Pryna and Umbra kind of sense this, so Noct has to keep dog treats inside his pockets when doing scenes with them.

He loves Vincent Valentine the most out of the entire franchise.

Prompto Argentum:

His older brother in real life is Loqi's actor (Thanks to @chocobro-hijinks this headcanon is giving me double vision.) who inspired him to act at a young age.

Loqi's actor is mostly a theatre actor, and when Prompto saw his big bro on stage, he was like "Ah! That's what I want to do."

He was a child actor that was in small family movies that focus mostly on comedy. They're the type of movies with the cheesy front cover, and barely anyone has even heard of it.

When he auditioned, his FF knowledge was zero to none, so he was like, "Oh, what about those clouds and lightning???" Nomura saw right through him, but felt like he fit the role of Prompto very well, so he gave him the benefit of the doubt.

Is the social media king. He does some light vlogging on the side, and if acting doesn't work out he can become a full-time Youtuber, no problem. He also has a Tumblr under a common name like "FinalFantasyFan4Life" or something; no one knows that it's him. He spends his break time on set reading headcanons, adding comments to some of them, and reblogging fanart.

He is a Promptis shipper.

He doesn't take any of the pictures himself. When he takes a selfie, he turns the camera around and holds it, but there will be a crew member taking the picture for him.

He says that his favorite moment on set is eating all the food that "Iggy" makes.

Is a big fan of Cor's actor's work. When he first met him, he almost stopped breathing.

Since he didn't do very many "large" productions like the rest of the crew, he is still considered sort of a rookie compared to the others. Because of this, he often goes to Cor's trailer when he is stuck on a scene and they figure it out together.

After filming ended, he kept Prompto's bracelets and bandanna as a memento.

He hates the cold, so when he was filming for "Episode Prompto" the second Tabata calls "Cut!" between scenes, he will legitimately jump into his trailer and sit in front of the heater for the entirety of his break.

If he has to stay outside, you will see him curl up into a big ball on his snowmobile with at least five large jackets piled on top of him. You can only see his blue eyes when he does that.

"So do you miss your crew members? Like Noct, Gladio, and Ignis..." "Oh yeah, but I bet they have it really rough too. Like sitting by the fire, or in a heated hotel room."

During a choreographed fight scene he accidentally slipped up and kicked Noctis in the head and gave him a concussion. Noctis insisted that it was okay, but Prompto felt so bad, and was so freaked out that he was apologizing through tears and sobs.

Ignis Scientia:

Started his career by modeling as a child for luxury, designer brands with a couple of guest roles in soap operas. When he got into his teens he started to focus on acting.

Never has any bad press on him?? He seems to do no wrong and never has any bad pictures taken of him, even if it was secretly. He's either the most boring person ever, or the most perfect.

He mostly did psychological thrillers, or suave spy movies like 007.

Is the Benedict Cumberbatch and Tom Hiddleston of their world.

He doesn't cook any of the dishes seen on the series, but to get into character he took cooking lessons and can replicate any of them perfectly. Most of the time during his "cooking" scenes, he's just assembling things according to instructions.

The line, "That's it! I've come up with a new recipeh!" was improv. He loves it so much, he repeats it often.

Is a jokester despite his image, and loves fooling around on set. If he pranks you that means he likes you.

During an interview he pulled out some Gladnis smut fanfiction the he found and read it in his most passive, monotone voice.

Didn't know that he was supposed to go blind until the very day he was supposed to put on the makeup.

Is allergic to coffee beans, but since he was cast into the role relatively late, they had already requested Ebony cans and vending machines to be made. The "coffee" that you see in mugs is dark hot chocolate and if he drinks out of the can it's usually water.

Has scarily good twenty/twenty vision, and sometimes his glasses are just empty frames. He goes to push them up, and ooop he almost pokes himself in the eyes.

He is fond of his current costume. He felt that his Versus XIII outfit was very plain and made him look like a "basic mafia mobster."

Had a high fever while filming "Episode Ignis," but insisted that they film anyway because his sickness helped him act better. (Poor babe.)

Kept Iggy's gloves and glasses after filming.

Gladiolus Amicitia:

He started out as a stunt double, fight choreographer/stunt coordinator. He was originally brought into the show to help the actors with their fight scenes, but they were looking for a forth member of the Chocobros and he already got along great with the crew and cast, so he got the job.

Was totally pumped up to not wear a shirt most of the time in XV, because he worked so hard to get his rippling nine-pack.

His favorite emoji is the flexing bicep. He uses it at the end of every caption he posts, even if it doesn't really make sense. The fans eat it up though.

"It's such a nice day today! 💪" "Just having lunch! 💪 "

His actor is the real mom friend of the crew. Iggy is responsible and all, but if Noctis or Prompto do anything stupid, he mostly watches in the background smugly. Gladdy Daddy to the rescue.

The cast once got together and read complementing, positive tweets from real fans to Gladio for a video. Noctis looked Gladio right in the eye with a straight face, and said, "Sweet dreams...Daddy." Prompto continued this by saying, "Let me have your children, Daddy."

Gladio burst out laughing and turned bright red.

He is such a college student at heart that he doesn't mind eating all those cup noodles. But due to shooting the same scene over and over in one go, he sometimes has to go through eight cups at a time. He knows that it's not good for you, and occasionally has to spit it out off camera. It breaks his heart.

Is bisexual. He doesn't bring it up often, but he came out publicly before, but to the media it seems as if they skipped over that fact. He doesn't really mind, but he get exasperated when interviewers constantly try to press that false facts that he's straight onto him.

After a particularly tiring day filming, he fell asleep on a table with his head down. When he woke up, he found out that his tattoo body paint rubbed off on his cheek. He didn't know this, and the other guys wouldn't tell him until a crew member had to come up and stop him.

He kept Gladio's necklace as a memento.

LMK if you're interested in knowing more about the other characters, or even FFVII's actor au! Sorry for continually mentioning Sasuke though, I just love that asshole so much.

#final fantasy xv #final fantasy 15 #ffxv headcanons #noctis #noctis lucis caelum #prompto #prompto argentum #ignis #ignis scientia #gladio #gladiolus amicitia #stella #stella nox fleuret #final fantasy #slight naruto #actor au

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avenger-hawk · 7 years ago

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I think Sasuke fans who dislike Itachi do understand him but have different ideas. They see that Itachi doesn't deserve Sasuke's love. They think there're other ways at Itachi's hand to prevent the massacre e.x he could've inform Hirozin about Danzo's plan since he's still want to slove things peacfully through words and has the authority to stop Danzo. Or Itachi could've just told the Uchiha to flee Konoha immediately cuz the government found out about the coup and plan to slain them.

(part 2/3) They say the Uchiha were discuss the coup; it was a possibility not a confirmed fact yet. But Itachi did none of those. They say he /chose/ to carry out the massacre cuz he despise the Uchiha.I donno i don’t want to go into anti Itachi tag again :( sorry for bothering you.

(pro-Itachi, anti-Itachi haters under the cut)

You’re not bothering me, feel free to drop by whenever you want~

What I don’t get is why you go in the anti-Itachi tag if you disagree with them anyway…maybe it’s because you’re uncertain about this subject so you’re trying to understand both parts? if this is the case I hope you’ll find your own opinion soon, even anti-Itachi, if you come to it on your own, free from brainless arguments. If this is not the case I strongly suggest you to use xkit or tumblr savior to blacklist their posts, or to block them. It works wonders for your tumblr experience.

If this sounds kinda jaded it’s not about your ask or because of it, but because of the argument.. every once in a while a new blog comes up with *enlightening and original ideas*, or an older blog rekindles them, which lights the match of the discussion again and the arguments are always the same. The Uchiha massacre is a strong issue on which everyone has a strong opinion so disagreeing is expected. I’ve been dealing with this sort of bullshit arguments since forever, so you’ll understand if I won’t go into this in detail again because I already covered this subject many times (here I posted a compilation of what has been said in the manga, also here, here and here and this is Itachi’s defense tag).

Who wrote that crap is probably a functional illiterate, lacking critical thinking and basic reasoning, not to mention not having read the manga well, thus deeming appropriate to become some fictional sjw police officer to show how smart and analytical they are. Am I too critical towards them? Maybe they really support Sasuke and defend him? Probably. But this doesn’t justify the bullshit arguments.

-They weren’t just discussing the coup, it was a plan they’d execute soon. In the Itachi Shinden anime it’s better specified how they were ready to strike. In the manga it’s more indirect. It’s said that diplomacy had failed, that Shisui tried and failed too, so Itachi felt like he had no other choice. You need some willing suspension of disbelief here, but also not because Danzo taking Shisui’s eye instead of letting him deal with the clan using it, it’s enough of a proof of his malicious intent and no one doing anything about it it’s enough of a proof of how Itachi was alone. It’s all in the panels, indirectly but it’s there. Now, if someone instead sees the coup only being discussed and all that crap, it’s their problem.

-He could have informed Hiruzen of what? Hiruzen knew about Danzo’s plan! Itachi goes to him before leaving Konoha, to plead to protect SAsuke. Let me repeat this again: The massacre was ordered by Danzo and Hiruzen knew his intention and didn’t stop him. Hiruzen is as guilty as Danzo, even more since he was supposed to protect the whole village, Uchiha included, Itachi included. When he let Danzo carry on with his plan he got his hands dirtier than Danzo and Itachi. So fuck this, really.

-Itachi thought that the Uchiha carrying on the coup would make the village unstable thus easily invaded by enemy countries since at that time coutrnies were all enemies. There is no proof of this, but it’s what Obito says. If they clan were to flee they would have become enemies to the village anyway, they would be weaker against enemies anyway, Sasuke would have had an unstable life and so on. Itachi is said to have gained Hokage-like wisdom and knowledge since he was a child. It’s logical to assume that he knew history and politics going on back then, so he knew exactly what was happening around them and what would have happened in case of a coup.

-Itachi didn’t deserve Sasuke’s love, he was too cruel to him, blah blah blah. I’m so sick and tired of hearing this…it’s subjective how to feel about this.

He acted cruelly, yes, he traumatized Sasuke, he retraumatized him, yes.

Is it objectively and ethically wrong? Yes.

Did he have a reason to do so? Agree or not, yes. He had to make Sasuke who adored him, see him as a monster, acting cruelly was the only way. At the inn he tried to ignore him but Sasuke insisted, and since he couldn’t risk to let Sasuke have the least doubt (or Danzo would have targeted him), he “tested his hate” and fueled it, to make sure he would eventually fight him.

Is it important to the plot? FUCK YES. Not only it’s an extremely intense and fascinating scene, that fleshed out their personalities and developed their relationship, it also allowed the plot to advance, by pushing Sasuke to seek Orochimaru thus become stronger to defeat him, then to kill Orochimaru and form Team Taka, then to kill Itachi with a stronger resolve, as that moment is the one he recalls more often. All the while Naruto trained with Jiraiya while S*kura with Tsunade, both motivated by bringing Sasuke back. Would this have happened without Itachi’s cruelty? Maybe, or maybe not. Certainly it wouldn’t have such impact.

Focusing on the single act/event is so pointless to me, because they’re all parts of a bigger scheme. If some were to change, even for the better, other important consequences wouldn’t happen. So discussing about how unjust the massacre is ok, I always say so myself (BUT I BLAME THE REAL CULPRITS) but making it a crusade against Itachi becomes ridiculous, a proof of lack of “willing suspension of disbelief”, of poor understanding of narrative mechanisms (for which evil characters and actions are a mean to make the others shine brighter so Danzo is useful too in this optic) and what’s worse, of the plot itself.

In case it’s not clear, the massacre is a damn plot device as well, it’s Sasuke’s and Itachi’s damn backstory, it’s what makes them the amazing characters they are, so while discussing what-ifs and alternative AUs is cool, these alternatives all are possible because the massacre happened, otherwise the Uchiha clan would be one of the many Konoha clans and Sasuke and Itachi would be like, say, a cooler version of Hinata and Neji, with angst and a backstory of injustice never solved, because knowing kishimoto and how he bunches every konoha ally into a big blurred group, he’d never focus on them as well as he did with the massacre.

Deserve it or not, Itachi has Sasuke’s love. Deserve it or not, he has SAsuke’s forgiveness and complete understanding of the situation he was put it. This, to me, counts more than anything. Sasuke, unlike most, understood that Itachi was 13, that he had lost his only friend who could have helped him, that he was scared to death about Sasuke being in danger, that he thought that despite the village’s flaws, it still was a better and safer environment than anything else for his little brother, and that he made sure that the village would keep Sasuke safe by threatening Danzo.

Someone will always disagree with this, and I find useless to discuss with them. They have their opinion, as long as they stay in the anti-tag only it’s fine, I have my own opinion anyway. Which is well thought and not influenced by trends or groups or mob ethics for dummies. Btw my opinion also includes wishing that these opinionated antis got their heads out of their asses every once in a while and realize that this is fictional and fiction is not real and it doesn’t have to be, that if they care about ethics and politics and they want to protest against genocides and oppression, in real life there is a shit-ton of those, and their help is much more needed on these.

#pro-itachi #Anonymous #what would the story be without the inn scene really #I mean non massacre AUs are cool but isn't the real thing more heartbreaking?#would people be so attached to sasuke and itachi in a non massacre AU? ugh maybe they would judging by how #they reduce them and naruto and pretty much everyone in shoujo/yaoi clichés without considering their personality #vivalarevolution #vivalarevolution: in his defense

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stormears · 8 years ago

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Naruto Meme

Nobody tagged me for this. I do what I want.

F A V O R I T E

Female Character - Sakura Haruno.

Male Character - Kakashi, Gaara, Sasori or Madara.

Team - Team Kakashi. Or New Team Kakashi, since that version doesn’t have Sasuke in it.

Sensei - Kakashi

Hokage - Tobirama.

Kage - Tobirama! Gaara is a close second.

Village - I guess Konoha since most of my favorites are from there and it has pleasant and predictable sunny spring weather 95% of the year.

Akatsuki Member - Sasori has been my fave for years, but I also really love Kakuzu. I have a Kakuzu rubber strap thing on my keys.

Episode/Chapter - Shippuden episodes 25 and 26, these are the well-animated Sasori vs Sakura episodes that highlighted one of Sakura’s best accomplishments across the whole story. I also liked that two-minute sequence in 322 where Edo Tensei’d Madara decimates the Shinobi Army. There’s a two-second shot in it of a female soldier holding a cross to her face and praying before the fight begins, which I think is one of the absolute best visual reminders that people are terrified of Madara. It had a much stronger impact than the endless power gimmicks or characters’ repeated poorly scripted exclamations of “wow he/this technique is so powerful.”

Fight Scene - Sakura vs Sasori! Or Kakashi vs Hidan and Kakuzu.

Fanfiction - I love so many fanfictions. I’ve been creepily attached to fanfictions since I was 12. If I had to pick a favorite I gueeeess I’d go with He Had No Fingers by Gleam. Kyuubi is a monstrous, conscious-less god whose influence eats away at child Naruto easily. He takes over Naruto and then Konoha and the world is next. Made me woozy reading it the first time, I’ll never forget.

Story Arc - Rescue Gaara Arc, I guess, but I don’t enjoy whole arcs as much as I do small, separate moments or scenes or even just manga pages in the story.

Filler - Aren’t the movies filler? I kind of enjoy the third movie where Lee, Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi act as bodyguards for a fat, lazy prince, his son, and the son’s saber-toothed circus tiger.

What is your…

OTP (explain why) - I’m a crackshipping freak who builds 30k+ long stories and worlds to support romantic scenes of my weird ships, don’t ask me this.

NoTP (without being a dick, explain why) - I do not like like Sasuke or Karin, and seeing them romantically together is not any improvement to me. I think that Sasuke never went through emotional growth or recovery and only changed his loyalties near the end of the war because Kishimoto was desperate, overworked, and weakly reaching for finish line, and many characters and story events reflected that reality. I waited years’ worth of manga chapters and episodes for him to change and by the time he did, I was long past buying it. Karin was a screechy, annoying brat from Day 1 and never improved her attitude or personality, but I didn’t enjoy seeing her used as a meat shield by Danzo, either. In short, two bad characters don’t make a good pairing.

Crackship/s - My worst and favorite offenses are probably SasoSaku, since 2007-ish and MadaSaku since 2010.

BroTP - This is barely present in my writing, but, kinda, Ino and Sakura. Maybe Kakuzu and Konan.

OT3 - I don’t know what this means besides 3 characters I want to see having an orgy or engaged in a polygamous relationship? I guess I could be coerced into reading/liking those but there’s none in particular that I like consistently or remember offhand.

Crossover ship - I don’t crossover ship. Not opposed to it, the examples I’ve seen talked about briefly on tumblr (mostly in anime confession blogs) are intriguing, but I don’t have a ship like this myself.

M I S C E L L A N E O U S

Do you have any headcanons? All sorts of assorted things. Ino’s mom is a civilian. Itachi WISHES he was a civilian or could retire and live a peaceful domestic life. Shino likes art and would read art/art criticism magazines if Naruto-land has those, and could be friends with Sai. Kisame loves boardgames and is a good sportsman in any game or sport he plays. Sakura likes to read non-fiction/informational books more than novels. Tenten loves horses. Kiba is really close to his sister but doesn’t want people outside the family knowing that because he’s scared other guys will make fun of him. Civilian children stay in school till roughly age 16, compared to the Ninja Academy graduating age of 12.

Are you happy with the ending? Would you have done things differently? I’m not happy with it, but I’m also not invested in it enough to really care. It was always the characters, not the story, that drew me into Naruto (maybe just the basic skeletons of the characters at that, skeletons I could build onto and “fix” in fanfiction). To “do things differently” I would fix a lot more than the ending, though if I could erase ONE thing from the ending it would be the sudden prevalence of modern-day technology like skyscrapers, laptops and handheld video games.

How do you feel about the Next Generation? Shrug. Boruto and Himawari are cute and remind me of me and my big brother a bit. I kinda liked the first few weeks of the manga’s ending, when there was still confusion about whether to call him Boruto or “Bolt,” because I was rooting for Bolt.

Say something about your favorite character. Sakura Haruno had huge expanses of room for improvement in her ninjutsu, tactics, and respect given to her by other characters and by viewers and all of this was squandered by an author who had many other, bigger problems to deal with and was probably indifferent to her at best. She is safer in the hands of fans, of artists and writers, who treat her better and create better content about her than her creator did. She has been adopted by several thousand loving moms and a few dads and will be well cared for.

What would a child between your OTP look like? Going for my crackships here again. SaoSaku child has red hair, but Sakura’s face and her mom’s outspoken attitude and a talent for musical instruments. MadaSaku child, lord, I don’t know. I like to think the pink or at least reddish hair would prevail but all laws of the universe say Uchiha black hair always wins. The child would, at least, have the thickest and most gorgeous head of hair in town.

Say something genuinely nice about your NoTP. Some people out there really like it, and it and content about it makes them happy in the way that my favorite ships make me happy, and that’s good stuff. Glad for them.

Say something negative about your OTP. They’re groundless nonsense pairings that I would be embarrassed to ever acknowledge outside my tiny internet circles and both the men involved in those two pairings are canonically horrible people who ought to be stabbed.

Is there any way you could be convinced to ship your NoTP? I would need a fanfic, 5k+ length minimum, but I could go up to 20k, allowing time and space for them to calm down and recover from their respective traumas and get over their respective dumb bitch attitudes, and then slowly build a friendship that becomes a romance, ideally with a storyline and theme and a writing style that I could get behind. Not to mention the time of day to read a doorstop novella like that.

What makes you mad about the series? The War Arc’s need to make every important character as powerful as possible crushed any sense of threat or disbelief. The constant upping of the stakes was annoying and came off as desperate (though I strongly believe that behind it was an overworked zombie Kishimoto mindlessly trying to fill that week’s page quota and wondering if he would ever have an actual life again).

If you could see anything happen in the series, what would it be? The final arc is the Akatsuki invading Konoha with the intention of kinapping/killing Naruto, but the entire village has rallied and is prepared to fight. The story cuts between three or four fights between Akatsuki and Konoha ninja till all Akatsuki are defeated. Maybe reveal Madara as the secret leader of the Akatsuki and defeat him here, too. During the conflict, Naruto has proven himself for the final time, is adored by the village, crowned Hokage within a year or so, happy ending. Pairings left undetermined or hinted at vaguely. Fin. (Other possible ending at bottom of post)

What would you say to Kishimoto if given the chance? I’m so sorry for the hardship and stress you endured all these years, all that time away from your family. I still have to thank you for all the joy your story brought to me. It allowed me to get closer to my friends, make new friends, even start to tap into my own writing ability. You did all that for me without even knowing it. I’ll always be grateful to you!

In your opinion…

Most attractive male? Sometimes I think it’s Madara, and sometimes I’ll see some screenshot of a poorly animated episode and think he looks awful and I’m embarrassed that ever liked him. Sasori has this unjustly beautiful face that I love but definitely a few shots in is episodes where he looks kinda...off. Kakashi’s pretty unarguably attractive, though, so he’s a safe bet for most attractive.

Most attractive female? Lol depends on the fanartist, I’ve seen gorgeous art for almost all female characters. In the manga or anime, I don’t really find any of them attractive.

Most overestimated? Plenty, especially given the war arc. Sasuke or Itachi? At least years ago when I actually followed forums and manga review blogs (not on tumblr) there seemed to be a consensus that Sasuke could do anything, by kicking up enough notches on his Susano’o, and later some said that for Itachi, and then Madara showed up and could rarely be actually overestimated, and then Kaguya was a literal god and, ugh...

Not appreciated enough? Tobirama!

What is the greatest thing about Naruto? It’s brought me a lot of personal happiness.

The worst? How the quality of its writing drifted from “meh” to “ugh” over the years.

The saddest moment? There’s a few pages in the manga that show Naruto slowly gaining more friends as he gets older while Gaara stays alone in a space of empty desert that gets wider and wider as he goes to his knees. A strong and painful reminder that while one person may be smiling and enjoying life, simultaneously another is being strangled by the crushing misery of their own life. I’m so glad for Gaara finally fixing himself and finding real happiness. He’s the character who went through the best development and most change in the story, bar none.

The most defining? The Chuunin Exam Arc is what most people remember, in my experience. But to me the first opening song of Shippuden “defines” it in my mind.

Rant about anything…

GO! I never once imagined that this could happen in canon/reality, but I think the greatest way to end the story would be for Naruto himself to have to kill Sasuke. This would hammer in a message to the story that I think it could really use: despite Naruto’s hopes and good intentions, despite all his hard work, he cannot save everyone. And it would give a real sense of consequence. I never once felt that the main cast was in danger from all the fireballs, summoning animals, 10-ton rocks that hit them in the fucking face and never left more than a light scratch or dust mark on their steroid Hercules bodies. Even in a war the likes of which Ninjaland has never seen, bringing more and more godlike charcters together whose powers could end thousands of people in seconds, Neji seems to be the only notable casualty (lol bye Neji) and for all the good guys to make it out of such a conflict alive and well is absolute horseshit and not worthwhile storytelling of a war. Somebody important has to lose a battle, or lose someone they love, or lose a limb, something! Let me believe that any of these fights matter! Let me really feel that this conflict, this battlefield is dangerous and people are scared for their lives and hurt but fighting anyway, let me see something besides this gross, hollow shonen movie poster of good guys overcoming bad just by virtue of being good guys with dumbshit magic powers that the author-god gave them for free. Let me take these characters and put them in the hands of some fanfic writers who could write better fights than these in their sleep. Let me read fanfic instead.

#Naruto #Naruto meme #personal #self

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makingspiritualityreal · 8 years ago

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This post is a result of years of observation of both fiction and real life behavioral patterns in humans. I had a hard time putting my finger on what I exactly think/feel and I am still not sure I will word it properly and I am prepared to be misunderstood by generally everyone but idc at this point because this just needs to be said and I am inspired rn lol.

First of all, disclaimers.

1. I don’t hate the characters or shows that I will mention in this post, I don’t hate irl people that I saw behaving like this either.

2. This post is in no way meant to be an offense to the fans of these characters, they have traits I like about them myself and I am well aware of their good sides.

3. This is in no way a hate post about a one specific person or character, more like one specific behavioral pattern that is hard to stomach for me.

4. I am also not saying that this post is the absolute truth ruling this universe and everyone should agree or obey, this is my opinion and perception and ofc anyone can disagree. I could maybe call this my pet peeve but “peeve” is not a word strong enough because this is just what brings me personally the most feelings of discomfort in this world (probably somewhere next to failure).

5. The people and fictional characters I have in mind also have qualities I admire and they don’t necessarily exhibit this trait of character that I dislike 100% of the time (although I am sure it is present all the time somewhere deep inside unless they grow up somehow), which is probably what makes this situation so annoying in the first place, because the feelings I have towards them are always mixed. I don’t condone the people who act like this because anyone can do whatever they want, but I still dislike it.

6. I understand that there is probably a reason why these people/characters end up/are like this in the first place (in some cases, in some it may be irredeemable just being a natural tendency idk lol), maybe this is some coping mechanism, something resulting from pain and trauma, and if it is, well I am sorry for them, but it is still hurtful/annoying and I still dislike it.

7. I am not an apologist. Griffith is one of my favorite, if not the ultimate favorite character. I love him knowing that he is an asshole and does bad things. I am not saying he is the good boy while Guts is the bad boy, because neither of them is black and white. I am just elaborating on why Guts still manages to annoy me more in the end.

8. I didn’t finish Naruto and didn’t read all of Berserk manga. It is possible that the characters I describe change = I don’t have some info. Still, they already managed to behave in this specific way in the first place, even if they grew later (ok I know enough Berserk to know Guts didn’t), which is why they were mentioned in this post.

9. I acknowledge that there is personal gain in having this trait of character for the people/characters who act this way. Still, I think it is at an expense of spiritual growth and it bears some marks of being primitive. Still something I seriously dislike in people. Still hate it tbh. Sorry, folks.

10. There is absolutely nothing wrong with loving yourself, preserving yourself and putting yourself first in a healthy way. You can do all of the above while not behaving in a way I’m about to describe.

11. You have the right to do what you want and pursue your own happiness. You don’t have to indulge other people’s wishes, you are not obliged to reciprocate their feelings or do anything for their sake. You can do all these things in the name of self love without doing this particular thing I’m gonna talk about.

12. I have had people tell me that the reason I feel like this is because I have issues. We all do. Ofc I do. I still think what I think and this is not really only about myself because if I see one fictional character treating another in this way it annoys me too. If I see a person irl treating another like this, it annoys me too. If I see a friend had this done to them, I feel like murdering the other person. Ofc everything in this world is an egocentric projection in the first place but we all function this way doing absolutely everything and it is impossible to remove our personal lenses so there is no point discussing that. As I said, this is my opinion and I am aware of it’s subjectivity.

After this super long preface, let’s get to it then.

I absolutely hate when someone acts as if they are the only person in this universe and whatever they do concerns only them, they live in a bubble and other humans around them don’t notice/feel/care about their actions. Sometimes, these people even have the annoying tendency to tell others that they shouldn’t be affected by their actions, because it doesn’t concern them in the first place.

Sure, you will not spend your life analysing in great detail how your every breath and every step affects everyone around you, because this is literally impossible to do and you have to take care of your own stuff. What I am speaking about is this particular tendency in some people to exhibit the opposite behavior - be absolutely unconscious about how what they do makes others feel and react on some absolutely basic level that an average person possesses. It is some sort of lack of consciousness about the fact that the moment you do something for yourself in the presence of others it already affects them in some way. That doesn’t mean people should stop being themselves. It just means it is not a good thing to act as if there is only your ass, your “me, myself and I” in this world and nothing else exists.

Let’s look at Griffith. Yes, he is an asshole. Yes, he does awful stuff. BUT, he does it absolutely aware of the weight of his actions. When he chooses to sacrifice his comrades, he is aware of the burden of this action, which is what makes it so significant for the Godhand in the first place. This is a conscious decision, where he’s deciding he cares about his dream at the expense of lives of many other people. He just cares about his dream more. This is a bad thing to do, but it’s deliberate.

Now imagine that he would do all that and be very surprised if someone told him that people were hurt over this decision. Imagine he would say “but why are they even hurt? I only did something to defend myself, why is anyone else even affected?”.

Ridiculous, right? Yet this is what people do. This is what Guts did when he left the band of the hawk. This action basically destroyed everything that Griffith worked for and lead to his destruction. It started the domino effect, the chain of negative events.

His intentions weren’t bad in the first place. He was just unable to see outside his own self to imagine how this will implicate others, how his action, done for himself in theory, will also influence everyone else. Guts isn’t a bad person. But it’s not exactly as if he said “hey, I am leaving and I don’t care about your asses anymore, I have stuff to do, see you later”. What happens next proves that Guts cares. Cares about Griffith, Casca, the band of the hawk. He is just terribly unconscious because it’s not like he gained something from leaving the band at this moment. Did he prove something? Only in this most basic childlike way “this is me and I have my opinion too, and I am not gonna do what you tell me because I have the free will to do my own thing and I obey no one”. I can see a good side to this - this particular trait is what makes Guts a survivor, at least in his case. Still, he is a survivor who is limited in his spiritual growth and essentially primitive and childlike. I still dislike it.

In one way or another, Griffith still got what he wanted. But this is not what this post is about. It’s about this absolute blindness that I can’t comprehend - blindness to the fact that other people exist in the first place. You may not give a shit about them, but it is some supreme form of denial to act as if what you do affects only you and nobody else because this is simply not how the world works. Imagine there is one box of chocolates for everyone in the house. Now, you may not give a damn about any other person eating from this box, but no matter how you feel, if you eat the whole box of chocolates, other people will feel the implications of your action. Even if you ate these chocolates just to please yourself in the first place. And what I am speaking about is the difference between eating these chocolates while being conscious that you simultaneously take them away from everyone else and absolutely not care if you hurt them or not (that’s the metaphor for “evil” lol) and this particular annoying behavior - eating all of them and being surprised other people noticed, saying some shit like “I did this for myself only, this is my business, why do you all care/feel something about this?”. Well, that’s because, no matter what your intentions were, at this point everyone else has no chocolates left.

I can be antisocial and alienated at times, but even this doesn’t mean that you have to behave in this particular way (I don’t have a name for this and it annoys me orz). You can be evil, and not do this. Sebastian in Kuro is a demon. Like, legit, a demon. He doesn’t act like this. I can’t recall any demonic/evil being in fiction who would act like this. Evil people annoy me less. People who consciously step on others and are aware of what they’re doing annoy me less. Evil people usually plan/scheme and so they have to acknowledge other people’s presence for their plans to succeed in any way. What I am describing isn’t necessarily “evil”. But I still believe it brings suffering in this world. Most suffering comes not from bad intentions, but unconsciousness and lack of communication.

Let’s get to my other example - Sasuke. I have watched little Naruto and I know this series is massive and his character most probably evolves. I know everyone in Naruto has a shitty backstory, Sasuke in particular, that he suffers a lot and is not really a bad person. I know he has this kind of discipline and seriousness, which looks especially good next to impulsive Naruto and makes him skillful and admirable in a way. I would probably discover more of his qualities in time. But this...ughh...this thing that just makes me wanna murder him...won’t go away. His behavior towards Sakura or idk, just generally everyone. Sakura annoys the shit out of me, at least at this point. She is the cliche teenage female chara who obsesses over Sasuke and doesn’t even try to have a decent conversation with him, acts as if she has no life and only hormones drive her (I have been told she grows up later, I hope so, dear lord). I legit dislike her and tbh I am in no way amazed Sasuke doesn’t like her back, the way she behaves, who would, and I don’t like this pairing at all. Also, naturally, no one is obliged to like anyone and when he says he has no reason to like her and they have no actual bond/there weren’t any deep convos, he is right. But even given all these factors, the way Sasuke acts still annoys me more. He so often acts as if other humans around him didn’t even exist. He only sometimes notices Naruto (which is what makes people ship them, in the context it already looks kind of gay and I barely started this anime, I am not even really into this pairing either but it’s still gay) and he seems to...kind of activate with his presence regularly. Ofc this is not a 100% pattern, Sasuke is polite and doesn’t always do this but it is like he sucks the life out of his environment because he doesn’t exchange energy with people how others usually do, he is energetically wrapped up in himself. He offers people his presence but not his company, while others offer company automatically because this is how most people naturally work. I would say this is about being guarded and guarding his feelings, but this is not even it, since you can be cautious and not do this. You can be secretive and not do this either. I feel like I’m still failing on naming this behavior well and I just hope my description will be enough for people to understand.

The whole thing just gives me this feeling where I automatically see a scenario happening: first, you see this kind of person and you think they are obviously not well, you think they are valuable inside but just troubled so you just try to relieve their pain and support them and appreciate them for who they are. But then, the way they work is that they suck you dry, end up only being more conceited and less aware of their surroundings, looking even more at only themselves because what you gave them charges them subconsciously and no matter how hard you try (like I know Naruto pursued Sasuke later on, I have no idea how it ended though lol) it is still only them and their own selves and this lack of consciousness about the world. It is like the only way to survive around this is to be an asshole yourself - give them a taste of their own medicine, completely ignore their being and think “well if you are so absorbed with yourself only and don’t wanna acknowledge that there is a world existing, good luck spending your whole life alone with no deeper connections to people and no real friends whatsoever, ciao”. The problem is, people get attached. Even if the relationship is superficial, the time you spend together and the experiences you had together take a toll on you, you remember what you lived through in the presence of the other person. Only...this kind of person, they barely even acknowledge your presence in the first place. Because to them there is only themselves, has always been and your presence is also an extension of themselves, their own inner mental struggle.

A nice quote here “I hate who steals my solitude without, in exchange, offering me true company.” (Nietzsche <3). And wow, this has been long but boy am I glad to finally have this in writing. I may reread this and edit or something later but for now nothing more comes to my mind and whoever was supposed to understand how I feel has already understood at this point I believe.

#personal #I wasn't sure how to tag this #but idc I am so happy I wrote this down and organized my thoughts #I am open to trying to understand this phenomenon better #maybe my discomfort will be smaller lol

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