#betweentheraindrops

[ladymoo20]

~Little Sarutobi: Nina meets Genma~

(En route to Konoha’s Training Ground Six>Mid Morning)

 Hungover—self-inflicted—Shikaku was in no mood to entertain his sole student’s mood. Although Nina wasn’t one to whine, their ten-minute journey to Training Ground Six had been stretched out to nearing on a twenty-minute ordeal. Shikaku took a resolute approach and didn’t react the first two times a rock clunked him in the back of the head punted off Nina’s boot. He set his limit at once more.

 The kunoichi’s devil-may-care attitude flared increasingly-so following a feud with her Father. Their most recent clash was yesterday afternoon. The Third had turned down Nina’s application for promotion to Chūnin, citing her age, by extension, her immaturity. With the Third Shinobi War being waged, it was considered too much risk in such unsettling times.

 Of course, Nina challenged Hiruzen’s justification. Calmly, she pointed out that Tsunade became a Genin at age six. The Third then ruthlessly accused his daughter of seeking promotion on someone else’s talents. Shikaku had smelt the iron scent of blood, and if not for the cover of Nina’s gloves, he would’ve seen it dripping from her clenched fists.

 However angry she was, his student bit down hard, bowed and left the Hokage office without another spoken word.

 Stumbling home that evening, well-slushed, Shikaku expected to be greeted by Yoshino’s wrath for staying out past her imposed work-night curfew. Instead, the most delectable smells wafted from the kitchen, luring him to the dining room, where his wife and student sat chatting and eating.

 Later, at bedtime, Yoshina explained to Shikaku how Nina had arrived on their doorstep a few hours ago, with two bags full of groceries in hand and a backpack.

 A third rock sailed past Shikaku’s left ear. That’s three. “Nina—“

 “Why am I doing this?” Nina asked bluntly, staring up to the sky.

 The kid was asking the same question Shikaku had been asking himself for the most part of their trek. They hadn’t arrived yet, and he was beginning to contemplate whether this whole idea was a foolish result of one too many drinks with Chōza last night.

 While age didn’t define the success of shinobi, time granted experience; something Nina lacked. Genma Shiranui from Team Chōza had four years on the young kunoichi. It was too easy to forget, especially based on first appearances, that she had been trained to fight, hurt, and kill ever since she could walk. Nina had the potential and ability to do severe damage, even if she was five feet of nothing and ten years old.  

 Stepping in behind Nina, “I want them to see how“—Shikaku gave her a light nudge with the ball of his foot onto her backside—“I see you,” he finished answering, managing to inch her forward.

 “Bothersome?” Nina jested, elbowing Shikaku.

 “No,”—yes too, but—“You’re a—“

 “A girl?” Genma was the first of Team Chōza to gripe. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. Sensei, you dragged Ebisu and me out here to fight her?” Genma pointed his index finger indignantly at Nina.

 Shikaku’s eyes darted between his friend and teammate Chōza and Nina. Who would react first? Chōza’s right hand had already expanded to twice its normal size, and Nina’s posture alluded that the mouthy Chūnin had struck a nerve—shoulders drawn in at the back and spine dead straight.

 Genma carried on digging his own grave, “I’ve got a fucking reputation to hold up.”

 “A reputation of being an absolute moron,” Nina dished back what she was being fed, but not in the way Shikaku had expected. Her interruption was more like mumbled inner thoughts whilst she fiddled with her thigh holster.  

 Ebisu bowed, “Good morning, Honourable Dau—“

 Nina huffed, her face screwing up, “I prefer Nina.”

 Well, wasn’t this just off to a great start? Squads were usually made up of three students and a leader; Shikaku looked around, Team Chōza was missing one. “Where’s Guy?”

 “Mission. The village is short of hands.” Chōza’s eyes narrowed, and he stopped shovelling potato chips into his mouth. The Third Shinobi War had depleted resources and shinobi lives. Chūnin—like all three of Chōza’s students—were being sent out on missions with teams of their own. “Anyway, take your pick,” Chōza continued, speaking with a mouthful. “Ebisu or Genma?”

 Nina’s mentality was waning, exhausted from dodging Genma’s constant strikes and attacks. Nothing she’d landed had kept her opponent down long enough to perform ninjutsu. Genma’s last blow forced her to stumble back a few steps. From there, she backflipped three times, dodging the spray of senbon from him.

 “You’ve got some cheek, girly. Really.” Genma dug into his hip pouch, lining the gaps between his right-hand fingers with fresh senbon. “But you should stop before you get hurt.”

 At this point, Nina would settle for cutting Genma’s tongue out. His punches weren’t anything she hadn’t endured before, and his movements weren’t overly fast. Then why? Why can’t I get the upper hand? After eluding another set of senbon, she met her kunai with Genma’s. For a moment, Nina thought she had him. The push back from his kunai softened, and his grip on her wrist slackened—just a little bit. Relief crept in. If she could break away, it may be long enough for her to perform a …

 Dazed, Nina flinched at the sensation of a sharpened blade skirting along her jugular. Squatting down beside her, Genma grinned like an idiot. “Ah, poor little Sarutobi,” he teased, tapping his kunai on her right shoulder.

 He beat me.

 A pounding was coming from above Nina’s left brow. She pressed her fingers to the spot that hurt and retracted them. Bloodstained, her fingers stuck together. She could feel the warm stream of fresh blood streaming down her cheek.

 “Perform the unison seal, Nina and Genma,” Shikaku ordered from the sidelines.

 The loss cut beneath Nina’s skin. Her bruised ego hurt a damn sight more than her bruised knuckles; losing to him further concreted her Father’s discrediting. Haphazardly, Nina interlaced her index and middle fingers with Genma’s to make the seal.

 “That’s a piss poor effort, little Sarutobi. If I’d known breaking you was this easy, I’d have taken my time,” Genma menaced, extending a hand to a defeated Nina.

 Nina clipped Genma’s legs out from underneath him by flinging her right leg out. Standing as upright as she could physically manage, she glared down at him, “Look at all the fucks I don’t give.”

 ~~~

 Shikaku groaned, rubbing his hand down the back of his neck. It’d not been an hour, and Nina had picked up Shiranui’s foul language. As much as he wanted to chip his student, he couldn’t help but respect that she’d delivered Genma’s comeuppance.

 Nina stopped at Shikaku’s side—shoulder to shoulder. “Going somewhere?” He asked her flatly.

 “To train,” she replied through gritted teeth and kept on walking.

 “You’ve got a live wire, Shikaku,” chuckled Chōza, pulling Genma to his feet.

 “Mhmm,” Shikaku hummed, tipping his head up to the skyline.

 ~~~

[cmbaggs]

@shootybangbang made me do it?

Applies to Between the Raindrops, Arthur/Emelia.

height difference | mutual pining | first kiss | first love | wedding | in-jokes | lgbt+ | family disapproves | friend disapproves | would die for each other | fake relationship | arranged wedding | cuddlers | pda friendly | and they were room mates | holding hands | secret relationship | opposing world views | opposing personalities | opposing goals | getting a pet | have kids | want kids |grow old together | relationship failures | rests head on shoulder | share a bed | token dummies | relationship doubts | they have a song | first date | share a jacket/cloak | sharing a blanket | mutual interests | study buddies | bathing together | crash into hello | accidental nudity | laundry | same hobbies | cooking for each other | big fancy gala | sibling rivalry | hair stroking | dancing | laying in the grass | watching stars together | watching the other sleep | shared values | friends to lovers | enemies to lovers | lovers to enemies | childhood friends | slow burn | love triangle | toxic relationship | sitting on each other’s laps | can’t be together | hugs | forehead touches | neck kisses | car/motorbike rides | compliments | nicknames | falling asleep together | late night talks | gifts

Tagging: I honestly don’t know who to tag. I need to get out more.

[notpmahlem]

Sitting down to write Jonerys smut with Pompeii playing in the background... you know, in case I need to do some ab research...

[madewithlovejewelry]

. ☔️ Umbrella and Raindrop Necklace (18”) - $12 Interested in placing an order? Email me: MadeWithLoveJWL@gmail.com 🔻Facebook.com/MadeWithLoveByShana 🔺MadeWithLoveJewelry.Tumblr.com 🔹SquareUp.com/Store/MadeWithLoveByShana 🔻MadeWithLoveJWL.Etsy.com 🔹IG -@MadeWithLoveJewelry 🔺Twitter - @MadewLoveJWL #rain #betweentheraindrops #rainbow #inomniaparatus #gilmoregirls #himym #howimetyourmother #yellowumbrella #rainyday #rainy #umbrellaacademy #umbrella #watercolor #netflix https://www.instagram.com/p/Bzv4jA8ApJX/?igshid=1wvghtf2sbsee

[rdaredbs]

#innerharbor #betweentheraindrops (at Baltimore's Inner Harbor)

[practiceyogawithbarry]

#sanfranciscobayarea #betweentheraindrops (at Facebook HQ)

[throughthestars18]

Have any Ryan and Marissa fanfic recommendations?

Sorry for the delay, I’ve been thinking about this the last few days and this is the first time I’ve had a chance to get on my laptop.  I have probably a million lol:

Stories:

When the World is Frosted White   (Marissa is dead in this fic, but it’s one of the first things I ever read of fan fiction and I’m still haunted by how beautiful the writing is ten years later).

Peaches (Also a Marissa death fic and kind of experimental writing wise but good)

When Worlds Collide (Iffy first couple of chapters, but very good once it gets going)

The Future is Now (This fic is a monster but well worth the read imo)

Authors:

fatedtopretendd  (love her, always have.  Her oneshots are amazing)

betweentheraindrops (great one shots)

cristofle x x (I’m linking you to links of links of her story since she posted on lj years ago and it’s kind of scattered)

I’ve read a ton more great ones over the years that I can’t think of or link to currently, but this is a good couple of reads for you.  You could always read something of mine I suppose if you haven’t haha, though I don’t really try to promote myself too often cause I think I suck.  

Thanks for the question!

[joyffree]

☔ Between the Raindrops by Sydney Logan @SydneyALogan @givemebooksblog #NewRelease #Giveaway Title: Between the Raindrops Author: Sydney Logan Publisher: Enchanted Publications Genre: Young Adult/Social Issues Cover Design: T.M. Franklin Release Date: May 26, 2018 Blurb

Seventeen-year-old Scout Ramsey’s life is a mess. With a dead father and a junkie mom, she can’t imagine things can get worse.

Then her mother tries to sell her for a bag of meth.

After her mom’s arrest, Scout’s forced to switch schools in the middle of senior year. Scared and alone, she pours her heart into her journal and dreams of the day she turns eighteen.

For Wyatt Campbell, senior year is predictable purgatory. Then the new girl steals his seat in history class, and suddenly, school’s not so bad. They bond through their love of music, and Wyatt finds himself falling hard for the journal-loving girl with the sad blue eyes.

Wyatt’s heard the rumors. He knows Scout’s had it rough.

He’s determined to be the one thing in her life that’s easy.

In this captivating teen novel, Sydney Logan weaves a touching story that tackles the heartbreak of addiction, the power of forgiveness, and the wonders of first love. #BetweentheRaindrops #Sydneylogan #youngadult #socialissues

[ladymoo20]

~Missed Mark: Kakashi meets Nina (oc)~

(Konoha's Training Ground Three>Post sparring session between Nina & Genma) 

 A projectile—a star shuriken—whizzed through the air, narrowly missing Kakashi's right ear and thunked into the tree trunk behind him. The swishing sound of metal cutting through the leaves alerted him to the wayward incoming weapon, just in time for him to dodge it. Kakashi looked around, meeting the disgruntled stare of a girl. He knew her—Nina Sarutobi. Asuma's younger sister and the Professor's daughter. From memory, she was two years younger than himself. How long had she been out here?

 "You're terrible at this," Kakashi remarked, dislodging the shuriken and tossing it down to the base of the tree that he was perched in.

 ~~~

 Nina recognised him immediately—Kakashi Hatake. Easily identified by his bird's-nest of silver hair, a mask covering his face from the bridge of his nose down and his hitai-ate slanted over his left eye. 

 Irritated by his unsolicited comment, Nina squawked, "Why don't you come down here and show me how it's done then?"

 "Not a chance," Kakashi bluntly rejected.

 Pouting and ignoring the lost shuriken for the moment, Nina noticed the small book Kakashi was reading. A week ago, the book had caught her eye when passing by the village's book store. Unfortunately, the store owner refused to sell it to her. The elderly man stated that he couldn't be seen selling a book of that nature to the Third Hokage's daughter. Heh. But apparently, he had no issues selling it to an emotionally unstable teenager. 

 "Is it any good?" Nina asked, padding over to the tree to search for her missing weapon.

 "Hmm?" Kakashi flicked his eye down to her.

 "The book,"—she pointed to it with one hand, the other on her cocked left hip—"is it any good?"

 ~~~

 Kakashi twisted his wrist to look at the book's cover—‘How a shinobi should die'. He'd picked it up a few days ago—his subconscious made the decision for him. Guy had frowned on his choice in literature. As had some of the others, no doubt. Like I care.  

 Shuffling back against the trunk of the tree, Kakashi pillowed his head with one arm and resumed reading. Nina hadn't moved, her eyes focussed up to him, awaiting a response. Heh. The girl's question seemed more than just a shallow attempt at conversation. "It's alright… I suppose."

 ~~~

 Based on what Nina had heard from others—namely Konoha's rumour mill—she expected fewer spoken words or none from Kakashi. All the same, she wasn't about to race out and purchase the book based on his sad excuse of a review. 

 Nina combed through the overgrown grass shoots where she thought Kakashi had discarded her weapon but found nothing. Grumbling to herself, she stood up, unable to keep herself from glancing up to him before turning around.

 "Where's your team?" Kakashi asked.

 Startled by his voice, Nina's feet scuffed to a stop. Team? She noted her shaking hands. Fucking Genma. Just the thought of his stupid, senbon-chewing face had her grinding her teeth together. She couldn't begin to imagine being on a team with someone like that. "Teammates are overrated." 

 ~~~

 Watching and listening from above, Kakashi's interest piqued a little more with the kunoichi's matter-of-fact reply. He laid his book on top of his straightened out legs—his index finger pinched between the covers keeping his place.

 He observed Nina facing up to the line of three cylindrical wooden targets, pulling out three shuriken from the pouch on her right hip. "They're loud," she began, throwing the first three. "Annoying,"—throwing a second lot—"and…." Nina trailed off. "They mess with your stuff," she finished saying as the third set of shuriken left her fingertips.

 Unlike the first two rounds, the third lot didn't imbed perfectly centred into the third target. In fact, two of the three stars missed the mark entirely. Hmpf. Admittedly, Kakashi had expected more from the Hokage's daughter.

 From the corner of his right eye, he saw Nina's right foot coming up and back down in a fit of impulsive anger. The expended force created a sizeable crater and almost caused Kakashi to drop his book due to the vibrations. Correcting his posture again, he looked down to her to try and piece together what had just happened. If that was purposeful, her strength is… His thoughts fell silent as he grappled with believing what he was saw. Unbalanced by her childlike tantrum, Nina was seated on her backside in the middle of the crater. 

 He no longer wondered how the young kunoichi had come to be in the state she was in—dirty, bruised and dried blood down one side of her face. Nonetheless, something compelled him to put away his book and leap out of the tree.

 Stepping lightly over the broken ground, he approached Nina as she retrieved her shuriken out of the targets. Holding the shuriken she'd lost earlier in his upturned palm, he let slip yet another question he'd meant to keep to himself, "Are you going to give up?"

 Nina's outstretched fingers flinched, pulling back empty-handed to her sides into clenched fists. The leather of her gloves squeaked with each tensed flex, filling the beats of silence between them. Kakashi studied Nina's side-on expression. Astonishingly, in the few passing seconds, all of the heat had dissipated, leaving her face inscrutable to him. Her lips—dry and cracked—were sealed, holding in whatever she wasn't saying.  Her deep-brown eyes snapped from fixedly riveting on the third target to him.

 Emotions had no place in the life of shinobi. However, at that moment, Kakashi knew it'd be improbable he'd forget how he felt right then. He likened it to a simultaneous onslaught of multiple emotions. The stark contrast of them all being too much for him to pick an appropriate strategy. Nina was an anomaly who was giving nothing away.

 ~~~

 "No, but I'm done for today," Nina replied, calmly taking back the shuriken from Kakashi. It was medically senseless to continue training with the painful headache and her blurred vision. Both were indicative of a mild concussion. Which was a shame because she would have liked to see for herself if Kakashi Hatake was the prodigy many in the village claimed him to be.

 As Nina was about to say her farewell, her attention was drawn to Kakashi's brow. The faint knitting of his brow line would have been passed off as nothing more than a grimace or completely overlooked to the untrained eye. To her, it signalled his body's response to pain. 

 To take a closer inspection and given that Kakashi was much taller than Nina, she grabbed hold of his crossed bracing on his chest. Disliking the invasion to his personal space, he awkwardly bowed back away from her, forcing her to tug him upright rather unapologetically.

 "What are you—"

 "Take off your hitai-ate," Nina sternly cut in. Releasing Kakashi, she knelt to the ground and fossicked around in the pouch strapped to the back of her right hip. 

 It'd barely been a month since the Kannabi Bridge incident, and some were still unaware that Kakashi had both lost and gained something from that failed mission. The sharingan eye was an ocular kekkei genkai belonging to the Uchiha Clan. As thoughtful as it may have been, Kakashi was not of Uchiha blood, and the transplanted eye from the late Obito was said to have considerable drawbacks for him. 

 Laying out the few medical bits and pieces, she saw Kakashi retreating and quickly stood up. "I know you want to be alone." 

 ~~~

 Standing askew, the girl's words halted Kakashi. For the first time in a month, someone had acknowledged his wants. Instinctively, Kakashi's left hand lifted to his—not his, but—eye. He was still adjusting to the foreign organ and its hefty toll on his chakra. Covering it with his hitai-ate saved questions and his chakra reserves. Today, the band aid-solution just wasn't enough, and the typical noise of the village had thrown him into a sensory overload and exacerbated the relentless thrumming from his left eye socket.  

 Rin had mentioned Nina a few times when telling Kakashi about the happenings in her medic classes while waiting for Obito to finally arrive. Trained under the firm guidance of her mother—Biwako Sarutobi—Nina was apparently quite a reasonably skilled medical ninja. 

 Others had poked and prodded him—none of which made any significant difference. Annoyingly, some of the medical staff had used it as an opportunity to try and unmask him. Would Nina?

 ~~~

 Nina thanked Kakashi for sitting down—and without being asked to. "I won't take long," Nina softly said, reaching up to remove his hitai-ate. On her knees, she raised her hands to his left eye socket—one at the brow and one at his left temple—filtering a steady stream of chakra into the area. "Then, you can go back to rea—" Nina stopped herself. Kakashi wasn't just reading. Not out here by himself, with that type of book, and definitely not a month since his teammate's death. 

 ~~~

 Curiosity got the best of Kakashi, and he squinted his right eye open to take a peep at the kunoichi. Nina appeared to have her total concentration on his left eye. To avoid the green glow of her chakra, he shut his eye. 

 As though Nina sensed his sneaky check, words flowed smoothly from her mouth, unaffecting her healing. "When I'm done, then you can go back to brooding."

 Kakashi cracked his right eye open again to glare at Nina. Her eyes made a quick dart in his direction, filled with impish confidence. Caught in a position where he was at her mercy, all he could do was scoff. 

 Little by little, the pain that hadn't shifted since first attaining the new left eye was lessened by Nina. Regardless, after that comment, he wouldn't give her the satisfaction to know he thought she was the most capable medic to work on it thus far.  By LadyMoo20

[notpmahlem]

Any writing accomplished today, brought to you by Mother Nature.

[lilyofthevalley09]

When you're feeling a little bit country but still hitting it hard 💪😎 #BlackPink #Whistle #DancePractice #BetweenTheRaindrops #Lifehouse

[hoangquydiem]

"Take me now

The world’s such a crazy place

When the walls come down

You’ll know I’m here to stay

There’s nothing I would change

Knowing that together everything that’s in our way

We’re better than alright

Walking between the raindrops

Riding the aftershock beside you

Off into the sunset

Living like there’s nothing left to lose

Chasing after gold mines

Crossing the fine lines we knew

Hold on and take a breath

I’ll be here every step

Walking between the raindrops with you…''

-Song for rainny day-

[ladymoo20]

Excerpt from "Between the Raindrops" Fanfic

Thought I'd share a little 'almost' one-shot/flashback from the fanfic I've been working on. "Between the Raindrops" is the sequel to my first fanfic, "Holding Hands in the Rain." Would love to hear any feedback, & appreciate and reblogs <3 ~Between the Raindrops-Chapter 50~ <Kakashi x Nina (OC)>

~Flashback~

(Nina- 22 years old, Kakashi and Gai 25 years old)

Complex diplomatic ties with Sunagakure meant a straightforward escort mission required an accomplished three-man cell. Kakashi was teamed up with Gai for his taijutsu expertise and Nina as the team's designated medic-nin. They were escorting an aristocratic family from the Land of Rivers to the Land of Stone. Because of the hostility in Amegakure, they needed to travel through Suna. The mission was arduous and lengthy, even more so with the exuberant Gai in tow. To mitigate the strain on his nerves, Kakashi resorted to pranks and sarcasm.

A quick-witted Nina soon joined in on the frivolity.

One night, about two weeks into their expected four-week trek, they pooled their money together to pay for a room at a local hot spring their client insisted on stopping at. Kakashi dealt with Gai's supposititious nonsense surrounding the local ghost tales all day and was thoroughly exhausted and ready to call it a night. He and Gai laid in their beds on the floor while Nina sat in the ajar doorway because she had taken the first watch.

"D-don't turn it off, Kakashi," Gai stammered out, firmly grabbing Kakashi's wrist when he went to turn the small lamp.

"And why not?" Kakashi instantly regretted asking when he saw Gai's frazzled face.

"Because." Gai let go of him, standing up, legs spread wide and his hands on his hips. "Because there was this man at the hot springs that-"

Kakashi sighed, "For the last time, Gai, there is no such thing as ghosts."

"There is too. Leave the light on," Gai demanded, staring down at him.

Nina was snickering. Easy to do when she hadn't been the one being subjected to such garbage. "A little help, Sarutobi? You're the team medic."

With her medical skill, she could help with Gai's psychological malfunction, or as it appeared, she could let them work it out between them.

"Sarutobi?" Kakashi needed sleep, Gai was one level, but their clients' bratty children were even worse, and he had to deal with them again tomorrow.

"Because you asked so nicely," Nina stood, brushing her hands together. "Gai, go to sleep. I'm on guard. You will be fine." Kakashi watched as the kunoichi laid a hand on one of Gai's shoulders, forcing him downwards into his bed.

Surprisingly, their comrade listening to their younger teammate and shuffled himself under his covers. "Just don't let Kakashi turn the light off," Gai requested, sitting up on his elbows for support.

Kakashi groaned, mid-leaning over to turn the lamp off, but before he could fight back, Nina spoke. "I wouldn't recommend leaving it on if I were you," she was in the doorway, looking out and skyward.

“W-w-why?” Gai stammered.

"It's not really my problem. It's between you and Hatake." She slid down the doorway's moulding, crossing her feet at her ankles. Kakashi, irritated with Nina giving in so quickly, swivelled to talk sense into Gai. "It's probably an old wives tale," Nina added.

"What is? What's an old wives tale?" Gai lunged forward, looking to Nina around Kakashi.

"Lights on for ghosts—yes. But, for demons-"

"D-d-d-demons?" Gai hugged his knees to his chest.

Kakashi was grateful that Gai was too overwhelmed to notice the smile forming under his mask.

"Oh yes. How did that old lady put it?" Kakashi rotated around to see Nina tapping her index finger to her chin. "Leave the lights on, and you shall provide the demons with a beacon to your location," Nina stated, padding over to the lamp's switch. "So Gai, shall we leave this on?" she asked once more.

"N-no, thank you. Turn it off!" Gai exclaimed.

"Good night Captain, good night Gai," Nina whispered, flicking the switch off.

~End of Flashback~

[chocolateuplift]

Didn't need the sunglasses this afternoon but always love the #fritzpastry vegan chocolate doughnut at #dollopcoffeeco. #sweethomechicago #sweetmeeting #betweentheraindrops (at Dollop)

[notpmahlem]

When you’re 7000 words into your smut story and characters won’t stop TALKING. Shut up and get naked you two!! Side characters quit interrupting!

[katvong99]

You're everything that I want and ask for You're all that I'd dreamed #standinsideyourlove #smashingpumpkins #avaadore #betweentheraindrops