#can only draw sasuke's face so far | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

stu-dyingstudent · 4 months ago

Text

third war continued/Sakura sent to war prematurely fic recs

Okay, I'll be completely honest, this is one of my ultimate favourite tropes when it comes to Sakura-centric fanfiction! Unfortunately, there really isn't too many of these out there and most are not completed, so if you know of any more then please send them my way. I'm begging.

Started: 2024.07.23

Last Updated: 2024.07.23

note: feel free to check out my master list which has a bunch of Sakura Haruno fic recs (all organized)!

----

Your Move, Instigator (draw your weapon and hold your tongue) - Laysan_albatross || ao3|| third war extended AU || complete

“We are still under wartime policy,” the recruiter had told her parents. He had an envelope in his hand. He sounded sorry. “She has two parents who are successful ninjas. We would be remiss to overlook her potential based upon that alone.” The Third Shinobi War never ended. Konoha needs more soldiers, grabbing anyone who can fight, especially those who can't say no.

You guys, I love this one to death. It's definitely a darker take on the Naruto universe, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. The civilian born shinobi are deemed as more expendable and thus thrown into war while the clan born remain sheltered. I found it quite interesting that the Uchiha were also lobbed into this group, but it was more done as punishment instead. Very raw and properly gets across the devastation that this brings.

still waters by Vulpecula_et_Anser || ao3 || gen || M || Sakura sent to war early AU || one-shot complete

Sakura is twelve when she queues up in front a desk with a bunch of other equally-terrified looking shinobi. The ages range from younger than her to old enough to be her grandpa. The man sitting at the desk is stony-faced as he doles out assignments. Sakura obediently shuffles forward when it is her turn, and recites her shinobi identification number in a shaky voice when asked. When the provost marshal looks at her, looks down at his paper, looks back at her, and grimaces, Sakura knows it’s not going to be good. OR How Sakura survives the war, told in bits and pieces.

Canon-fodder! Sakura makes her shinobi debut on the front lines, forcing her to get creative in her means to survive. It's gritty, raw, and the clever use of seals is great! In most of the other works of this type, Sakura is placed on a team of sorts or has some "support" (kinda), but here she is all alone. She is forced to fight for her life, to keep going despite how she feels because ultimately, Sakura does not want to die. She does meet some people later on though and it was great to see. Y'all know this type of story is my personal guilty pleasure (also one of the best I've read thus far)...

Find Your Place (whatever it takes) - Dovey || ao3 || third war extended AU || incomplete

The war lasts longer than in canon, and has only just ended. While most of the 'Konoha 12' are clan heirs and thus protected from having to go to war prematurely, Sakura is from a civilian family, with naturally advanced chakra control, and thus is thrown immediately onto the frontlines. Now she's on a genin team in peacetime, and she's struggling to figure out how to live when she's not constantly at risk of dying. Team seven bonds in new weird ways, The Uchiha are actually all dead except for Sasuke (including war-hero itachi) who's got a chip on his shoulder the size of Konoha, Naruto isn't the kyuubi container and he finds Sakura kinda scary. Sakura would just like to have a hobby.

Find Your Place (whatever it takes) is the og fic of this category as far as I am aware. The main difference to consider is that it primarily focuses on the aftereffects of the war and the impact that it had on Sakura as a person.

team. - waterpllar || ao3 || gen || third war extended AU || complete

She’s under Neji's command, which apparently means she’s under the Hyuuga’s command. The Hyuuga’s role is on the frontlines, but Neji must be special for a kid from the branch family, because they mostly send him and Sakura out after the big battles are done, to pick off the wounded, and burn bodies. Sakura kind of wishes she had someone to keep her from the big fights, too. Her job is with Neji, taking back kekkei genkai and retrieving important people’s bodies, but she has other assignments, too. She’s given a dull kunai and told to go through the battlefield, dodging blows and jutsus from friend and foe, slashing at whatever isn’t wearing a Konoha headband.(the third shinobi war doesn't end, dragging on for years. konoha is running out of troops, and unimportant children in the academy with even a modicum of talent are snatched up to the warfront. sakura, unfortunately, is one of them. so is neji.)

Such a strong beginning, although, I gotta say that the ending was rather disappointing imo. There was so much potential, but the author admitted to not wanting to continue the story so it was cut short. Hopefully more works of this nature will come to light!

Induction - Anonymous || ao3 || M || gen || third war extended AU || incomplete

in·duc·tion /inˈdəkSH(ə)n/ noun: induction 1. the action or process of inducting someone to a position or organization. enlistment into military service. or; The Third War does not end soon enough. Children pay the price.

Definitely not my favorite take on this trope, but it fits the bill, so it's here! Anyway, tbh I never actually made it far enough reading to get to the actual war part, so I don't have too much to say.

Ground Zero - TheIzzatron || ao3 || gen || T || third war extended AU || incomplete

Desperate times call for desperate measures. If this means forcing weapons into the hands of children, then so be it.

AHHHHH I'm praying for the day we get another chapter of Ground Zero!! I really appreciate how we actually get a training arc where we get a base of the characters and how this system works before they properly get dispatched. The characters and their emotions are so well done that you truly feel how unfair the situation is. They aren't heartless, they are children. Highly recommend.

Control - Dragonist || ao3 || gen || no rating || Sakura sent to war early AU || incomplete

Kumo kidnaps a child of Konoha. Sakura graduates from the academy only a year after starting it. There's a war going on, and she's obedient enough to stay quiet and follow orders. Then the war ends, and it's unclear who is really giving them. (a mystery from a child's perspective)

I haven't read Control yet, but I really need to get around to it!

Ok I just noticed I forgot to add the link to this one, but that has been fixed!!

Edit: bruh, I’m so mad I didn’t get around to reading this sooner because it seems the author deleted it 😭 if any of you have a link/download, please send (I’m begging)

---

Please send me more like these!!!!

#anime / manga #manga #anime #naruto #sakura haruno #sakura uchiha #haruno sakura #bamf sakura #naruto shippuden #sakura fanfic #shinobi war #clan politics

22 notes · View notes

the12thnightproject · 2 months ago

Text

Chapter 23 - The Stand: Mitsunari’s small force continues to delay Iekane’s troops - but can they also manage to rescue Mitsuhide without giving away their position?

Mitsunari x OC; Nobunaga x Mai

Previous Chapter

Logline - In order to protect a political alliance, Katusko and Mitsunari must pretend an engagement. But this “all business” arrangement is threatened by a coup against Nobunaga… and by feelings.

CW: "Onscreen" death of unnamed ronin

From the Military Notes of Ishida Mitsunari…

A good General is often faced with difficult choices…

Why do none of these books tell you how it feels when you make them?

Every time I send Okatsu into battle, I send part of me with her.

Mitsuhide? To be killed?

Mai’s announcement caused a moment of stunned silence. Surely, she had to be exaggerating. Mitsuhide was the sort of person who could escape any situation that he wanted to, and I believed the only reason he was still a captive of Iekane’s men was because it suited his purposes to be there. But maybe that was wishful thinking on my part (Mitsuhide drove me crazy, but I wouldn’t wish for anything horrible to happen to him. Itchy socks. I wished for him to have to deal with itchy socks. Not torture or death).

“Please, Lady Mai, show me what you saw.” Mitsunari eyed the binoculars speculatively, as we all hurried to the top level of the tower. “Does this device work like a telescope?”

“Enough alike, yes.” Sasuke took the glasses from Mai and demonstrated for Mitsunari how to use them.

“I don’t see anything.” Mitsunari turned, with the binoculars still in front of his eyes, and nearly brained Sasuke in the process.

“Over there!” Mai pointed toward the west.

Without asking permission, Aki took the binoculars and peered through them, scanning the horizon in the direction Mai indicated. Apparently, he easily found what Mai had spotted. “They’re not making much effort to stay hidden.” He handed the glasses to Mitsunari and helped him focus them.

“Well. It’s not like they would be expecting to have to avoid binoculars. It’s not like they would be expecting this kind of… technology.” Although apparently there were far more time travelers in this era, and specifically on top of this tower, than anyone would be expecting.

“This is correct.” Mitsunari stared through the binoculars for a long moment. “However, there remains the possibility that he is being used to bait us into an attack.”

He turned the binoculars over to me, and it took me only a few seconds to locate where Iekane’s men had Mitsuhide securely tied to a tree. Even from this distance it was easy to tell that he’d been severely beaten: both his eyes were black, his lip was split and bloodied… and he didn’t appear to be conscious. If that had been part of his plan, then he was a masochist. “No. If they wanted him dead, he would be dead by now.”

“How can you be so… calm about this?” Since I was still looking through the binoculars, I didn’t know who Mai was addressing, but I suspected she meant me. I also suspected that she meant ‘callous.’ Or maybe ‘unfeminine.’

“Not being calm wouldn’t help.” I passed the binoculars over to Sasuke, who had yet check out the situation.

“Perhaps the intention is to ransom him, although that would suggest they have someone to ransom him too.” Mitsunari tapped his hands on the railing. “Most likely though, they want us to try to rescue him, and they are purposefully making it appear to be easy.” He was going into that zen strategy mode again. “Perhaps we should give them what they want… but not what they expect.”

The moon rose in the sky as our teams prepared to act. Once again, Mitsunari had divided us into groups. The majority of our forces, led by Sasuke, dispersed into the night, prepared to hassle Iekane's men with booby traps, small fires, and even a fake haunting by a zombie (Sasuke's idea), all intended to scatter Iekane’s forces and at least draw out some of the mercenaries guarding Mitsuhide.

Meanwhile, Aki led a four-person extraction team that approached the area from the opposite direction. After the expected protest from Toshiie and a less expected one from Mitsunari, I had won the argument to be included on this team. The plan was one that Aki and I had used before, and therefore I could execute it smoothly. Though I was still furious about the 'Professor Yamaoka deception,' I could put that aside for the sake of this mission. Mitsunari wanted to come along too, but even he admitted that stealth was not his forte. Instead, he assigned two of Susumu's men – Endo and Daisuke- as extra muscle to protect us if necessary.

“Please, do not make it necessary,” Mitsunari had said to Aki.

Soon after the first group left, Aki’s team set out. I paused and glanced up at the tower, where I knew Mitsunari was watching through the binoculars. I gave him a very brief wave… the sort of wave a little girl ballerina might give to her parents in the audience of a school play.

“Katsu.” Aki sounded impatient. I hurried to catch up with him.

Mitsuhide was being held about five kilometers away, which would take us at least an hour to walk since we were taking care not to be seen or make too much noise. Mindful of that, and the listening presence of Susumu's men, I knew it would be a bad idea to discuss the whole Professor Yamaoka thing with him at any length.

And yet I was too curious not to ask. "Why didn't you tell me? You had to have known from my clothes, where I had come from."

"I thought you would adjust faster and easier if you believed there was no way to return," He then put his fingers to his lips. We weren’t close enough to where Mitsuhide was being held to be heard, so clearly he simply wanted to avoid talking about it. But. Details.

Once we got closer, he held his hand up for us to stop so he could prepare the rest of his disguise. He pulled a bottle of sake out of his pack. This was a gig, we'd done often when we were tracking bandits. Had we? Sometimes it felt like parts of my life with Aki were a dream. But no, not a dream. We’d played out this scenario often.

Aki poured the sake all over himself, while Endo let out a squawk of dismay. Guess he thought we were going to get to drink that. Quietly, Aki went over our orders one final time. "Endo, stay here and keep the escape route clear. While I distract them, Daisuke will rush in and cut Mitsuhide free, and as quietly as possible get him out – carry him if you have to. Katsu, from above, set off the diversion. Stay in the trees unless I tell you otherwise. Got it?"

Yes. of course. Why wouldn't I get it? But I simply nodded. The same order from someone like Mitsuhide might have had me bristling with indignation, but Aki didn’t mean to sound patronizing.

I scampered up into the closest tree (I had spent so much time in trees these past two days that I should consider building a nest in one) and made my way to a tree overlooking a cleared area where Iekane had left Mitsuhide tied up, and under guard of at least a dozen men.

Most of the guards seemed to be playing some kind of dicing game, and not paying much attention to Mitsuhide. Then again, it wasn’t like Mitsuhide was trying to get their attention anyway. It looked like he was still unconscious. Daisuke would indeed have to carry him out of here.

Then the air was filled with the mellifluous tones of off-key singing as Aki came blundering into view. "Good evening gentlemen. Might a poor beggar trouble you for your dinner?"

All the mercenaries leaped to their feet and reached for their weapons. Ok, this group was armed with swords, not guns, which would make my job a little less dangerous. "Get out, vagrant," the leader said, punctuating the statement with a stream of spit aimed at Aki's feet.

Aki scratched his balls and swayed back and forth. “Here now. No cause for that. I can sing for my supper. Or... would you want to see a magic trick?"

That statement was met with hoots of disbelief, but rather than chasing him off, the mercenaries took bets on how quickly they could figure out how the tricks were being done.

Once the leader gave his go-ahead, Aki made a show of eyeing their stewpot, and rubbing his stomach.

“After you perform, if we liked your show, we might throw some fish for you to catch in your mouth.” The leader plopped down on the ground, his back to Mitsuhide.

As soon as all the attention was on Aki, Daisuke crept over, cut Mitsuhide free, and slung him over his shoulder. Before Aki had even finished his first trick, Daisuke already disappeared into the forest.

Aki continued to perform a series of amateurish sleight of hand tricks to buy Daisuke time to get away. The soldiers were more entertained by pointing out his mistakes than the tricks, but eventually one of them turned his head and noticed the actual disappearing act. "What the hell? This prisoner!"

As soon as they all rushed to examine the cut rope, Aki melted into the forest.

Part two of the plan.

I had already prepped an arrow, and let it fly in the direction away from the others, intentionally sending it crackling through the underbrush, making it sound like someone was fleeing. I sent another one at a further distance.

They took the bait. As soon as the men abandoned the camp, I made my way back through the trees, leaving no evidence of my passage.

The plan had been to return individually as soon as each task had been completed. Thus, I was surprised when I climbed down from a tree several hundred meters away from where the mercenaries had been camped, to see Endo waiting for me. "You didn’t need to wait."

Endo smiled ruefully. "Lord Ishida made it clear that I was to return with you, or not at all."

That did not sound like something Mitsunari was likely to have said. "He did?"

"He was very polite about it. He said please. ‘Please make sure Lady Okatsu returns safely.’ It was the way he said it." Endo gave me a respectful bow, then gestured for me to follow him.

No time to argue or even to decide how I felt about that. We crept silently through the forest, doing our best not to disturb the brush around us, stopping only when we heard the telltale sound of a sword fight: clanking metal, men grunting with effort, the whistle of swords slicing through air.

Knowing that the sounds of battle would mask our approach, Endo and I crept closer, in case it was one of our own who needed help. Maybe Iekane’s men had caught Daisuke and Mitsuhide?

We broke through the trees to catch the tail end of a swordfight, in time to witness Aki slice through the chest of one of Iekane's men.

Death was instantaneous.

I swallowed quickly, doing my best to stay impassive. I had never seen Aki kill before. We had always taken prisoners and left them with a local Daimyo. I pushed back my nausea and shock. This situation was different. Our team didn’t have the means to take and keep prisoners. A quick death was the only solution.

Aki looked at me for a long time. There was something in his expression – regret. Then he simply wiped his sword and replaced it at his side. “There may be more of them. Go back to the tower.” Before either of us could respond, he melted off into the shadows.

When Endo and I returned to the tower, Mitsunari was bent over his notebook with that intense focus I recognized so well. He was one with his strategy and likely wouldn’t look up even if a bomb went off next to –

He jumped to his feet and hurried to us, and the next thing I knew, he had hugged me again.

A girl could get used to these hugs.

He looked down at me for a long moment, before stepping back, bowing briefly to Endo, and returning to his notebook.

It had all happened so quickly that I could almost pretend it hadn’t happened at all, because something about what that hug did to me… I felt off balance and nearly tripped over Hikosane, who was boiling what looked like medical instruments over the fire… oh, right. Mitsuhide.

In the ‘nursing area,’ the mood was solemn. Toshiie grimly tended to Mitsuhide, who, although conscious, looked to be in even worse shape up close. Mai stood by, her kimono rumpled and shapeless, uselessly wringing her hands. “I’ve nursed on the battlefield before.” She blinked back tears. “But never someone I know as well as Mitsuhide.”

“Mouse, you are far too softhearted.” Mitsuhide bit off the rest of his comment with a groan. “Whereas you, boy-” he directed that comment at Toshiie, “are not softhearted enough.”

Toshiie ignored him and continued bathing his wounds in… “Is that iodine?” He had a whole bag full of anachronisms, didn’t he?

“If I’d known I was going to be in a war, I would have brought a gallon. Not to mention a needle and suture thread… are you aware that they don’t even stitch wounds here?” He patted a cloth across Mitsuhide’s face. “You’re lucky you didn’t lose an eye. Or your spl-”

Since Toshiie was apt to go on if I didn’t stop him, I had no shame about interrupting. “Lord Mitsuhide, were you able to take the message to Kyubei?”

“Formality, Brat? I must look worse than a feel. Stop that.” He shot a glare at Toshiie, who had been about to swoop in with more iodine. “Yes. He set off for Azuchi straight away.”

Well, that was, at least one piece of good news. Rescue would arrive, as long as we could hold out long enough to greet them.

Mai handed Toshiie a long piece of fabric – oh that had been torn from her obi. “I only wish I could do more to help you. Mitsuhide, you always take on too much.”

Mitsuhide gritted his teeth as Tosh wrapped the fabric around his ribs. “Hurry up with that. I imagine they’ll eventually follow me back here, unless I go distract them.”

“No.” I shook my head to emphasize the point. “Aki was in charge of this gig… mission.” As if summoned by his name, the man himself slipped into the tower. “He’s not some novice.”

After stopping to whisper something in Mitsunari’s ear, Aki joined our group in the ‘medical corner.’ He bowed to Mitsuhide. “You look marginally better, friend.”

“Have you lost your mind?" He yelled across the room at Mitsunari. "Didn’t you at least consider that they were using me as bait? Iekane has known someone was in the forest since you attacked their supply wagons.” He slapped Toshiie’s hands away from the bandage around his ribs. “Enough. Since your sister and her insane master went to the trouble of saving my life, I would prefer to continue breathing.”

“Yes, they knew we were out here somewhere.” Mitsunari brought Mitsuhide some tea. Mitsuhide viewed it with suspicion, then downed it. “They were getting closer to finding us. This way, they will follow a very specific trail. One that will not be as easy to travel as they expect, and we will be waiting for them.”

Since Sasuke was looking particularly triumphant, I asked, “Ground spikes?”

Sasuke tapped his nose. “Indeed. As well as a few other surprises.”

With another groan, Mitsuhide got to his feet. “So be it. Let me hear this plan of yours.” Hm. That sounded like Mitsuhide was planning to take over. While I supposed that he did outrank Mitsunari considerably, it seemed unfair. Mitsunari had been working tirelessly over the past few days, putting together this team, allocating skills, devising tactics. I was annoyed on his behalf that Mitsuhide seemed poised to assume command.

He caught my look and correctly interpreted it. “I’m not planning to place myself in charge. I’m simply looking for opportunities to add my own twist to things.” He inclined his head to Mitsunari respectfully enough, especially given the state of his injuries. “Mitsunari is a brilliant strategist, but he’s rather apt to play by the rules. We’re unfortunately, to the point where the opinion of someone more familiar with dirty tactics is necessary.”

“I am happy to discuss anything you wish.” Mitsunari, at least was unbothered.

“Discuss things sitting down.” Toshiie patted the ground. “You need to rest and-”

Mitsuhide just flapped his hand impatiently at him. “Aside from your sister, do you happen to have any relatives in Azuchi? Because you sound far too much like Hideyoshi for my comfort.”

Huh. He did at that.

But intense planning would have to wait, as there was a shout from Lady Hana, who was our current lookout. “Signal fire from the other tower. They’re coming!”

“Some of them will be delayed by the trenches we dug, but the fastest should be here soon.” Mitsunari handed me my bow and arrows. “Okatsu, prepare the archers and wait for the signal.”

I nodded. Shohime shed her ‘dainty Princess’ disguise and jumped to obey. Mai hesitated, looking at the arrows with distaste. “I can’t kill anyone. I can’t.”

If she didn’t stop freaking out, she was going to be the one killed – possibly by my hand.

But… my job was to rally my troops. Mai was an archer, and therefore my troops. “I know you never expected or wanted to take arms. And if you really can’t bring yourself to do this, you can keep cadence.”

That was something I could easily have done on my own, but at least then she’d have something to do to keep her mind off panicking. And perhaps once she realized how drastically we needed her, she would change her mind. “Besides… Nobunaga … will probably think that Warrior Mai is really freakin’ sexy.”

“This isn’t a game, Katsuko!” She wrung her hands together.

“It’s never been one.” Could I slap her? I really wanted to slap her. Even Shohime was wiggling her fingers as if she was trying to prevent an action she would regret later. “Mai. It’s your decision, but if you aren’t going to help us, then stay out of the way.”

All around us, people were preparing for battle. Even Toshiie seemed to have gotten it together, and had a thick branch at his side, ready to defend the injured if the tower was overrun.

Mai looked around, then took a deep breath. And another. “Right. You didn’t come out and say it, but Nobunaga needs me. Although I don’t know how good I’ll be.”

I nudged her toward the ladder. “It doesn’t matter. The enemy is going to see a sky full of arrows.” (Slight exaggeration). “They’ll have to take cover either way.”

We hurried into place, lining up in a formation along the south end of the tower, and I prepared them to release the arrows on Mai’s staggered count, so that the stream of arrows would not be predictable. A steady rainfall of arrows would have been preferable, but we didn’t have enough arr-

A movement at my side caught my attention.

“Hiko! What are you doing up here?” Shohime scolded her brother before I could.

He pulled up the binoculars. “I want to know what is happening!”

It wasn’t any more dangerous up here than it was on the lower level. And if arrows or bullets started coming at us, I would throw myself on top of him if necessary. There wasn’t time to ban him anyway, as there was a bright flash, then a loud bang. A cloud of smoke rose above the trees. “Another munitions explosion?” There hadn’t been the same kind of shock wave as the other ones.

Mai turned toward in the direction of the smoke. “Smoke bomb, more likely. Sasuke makes them.”

Ah. Handy that. I might have to ask him how to make those when this was all over. Presuming we were all still alive.

In any case, if the smoke was where they were, then that is where we should aim. “Ok, Mai, count us down.

Mai used her best ‘outside voice,’ to call cadence. “Who runs the world? Girls!”

Queen Bey would be proud of us.

We sent a line of arrows out in the direction of the smoke. Mai continued to ‘rap’ out her cadences at random intervals. We were doing great… arrows zipping straight and true into the sky, with barely a few misfires littering the ground…. but how long could we keep this up before we ran out of ammunition?

Though Susumu and the other vassals were well armed, and we’d captured a decent store of Iekane’s weapons, I knew we would likely run out of arrows before Iekane ran out of men.

Hikosane kept up a running commentary of what he could see through the binoculars. “Sasuke has set off more smoke and I believe about half a dozen men are now trapped in a ditch.”

Well. That’s something, I thought as I grimly shot off another arrow in the direction of the smoke. At this point, I had no idea if I was hitting anything or not.

As the night went on, we managed to hold back Iekane’s troops, thanks to a combination of the terrain, Sasuke’s booby traps, and the skills of Susumu’s trained vassals who were delaying the invaders at the first tower. And my lovely grrrl-power archers.

But we were almost out of arrows. I had asked Mai to slow down our cadence, but that resulted in allowing a couple of soldiers to slip through - where they had fallen victim to Aki and Mitsuhide (our final line of defense). I wondered if it would be worth trying to quickly run out and retrieve as many that I could find, or… “Hikosane?” The boy was still awake, likely running on adrenaline at this point. “Can you see if any of their supply wagons are close by?”

We needed to hold out the rest of the night. Tomorrow… well, actually this morning, might be the absolute earliest reinforcements would come, but they would all head to Genba to rescue Nobunaga first.

But they would come.

They had to.

“Yes, Okatsu. There is one close by.” Hikosane did not sound as excited by that as he should have been.

“What’s the problem?” Nothing was ever simple here.

“It is with their cannon. And the cannon is being guarded by a giant!” Hikosane raised his arm over his head.

A real giant? Like Hagrid or Hodor sized? Or someone who simply looked like a giant to Hikosane. I took the binoculars to see for myself.

Oh.

Maybe that wasn’t a giant – but – that was a really big dude.

“That was my last arrow.” Shohime looked at me for advice. I glanced at the rest of the women, all who seemed to think I would have the answers.

@bestbryn @lorei-writes @katriniac @lyds323 @briars7

#TBTMND #A Mitsunari NIght's Dream #ikemen sengoku #fanfic #ikesen mitsunari #mitsunari ishida #ikesen mitsuhide #ikesen mai #throwback thursday #oc katsuko #katsuverse #cw: death of unnamed character in battle

14 notes · View notes

usakiboi · 2 years ago

Text

My art ain’t exactly arting lately so until I get my groove back (my desire to draw gay people in 4k) here’s a list of my naruto headcannons but it’s specifically for my au

Sakura

Blasian

Naturally blonde like her mom but dyed her to match her fathers, unfortunately the colored ended up being lighter than she planned

She isn’t a terrible cook but she gets distracted easily and burns the food she makes

Sleeper build

Went on strike when the public became outraged with her decision to marry Hinata

Acts super girly but is a huge tomboy

allergic to cats

Retired jounin and focuses on her hospitals as well as her family

Sakura regularly checks on Hinata’s heart and goes doctor mode immediately even if all Hinata is doing is catching her breath

Hinata

Plus size

Chinese on her Father’s side and Japanese on her Mother’s

Can eat a lot but doesn’t in fear of what other people would think

Her dream is to prove her self worth to her clan, as she grows her dream changes from simply wishing to prove herself to also wanting to free the branch members from their seals

She becomes the Hyuga advisor and right hand man to Clan Head, Hanabi

She’s retired from active duty to handle clan matters

Hyuga in general are one of the shortest in terms of height when it comes to Konoha. Hinata is the shortest

Has a glare that can rival her father’s but she’s naturally patient and easygoing that you almost never see it

Knits gifts for her friends

Due to the Pein fight as well as her fight with Neji her health isn’t the greatest and if she exerts herself too much she will become sick. After falling ill immediately after the war she and her family made the decision to take her off the roster

Boruto

Is stupidly smart but can’t focus for shit so he fails his test simply because he doesn’t get enough time to fill out the paper

Can cook

Has on multiple occasions argued why pink is in fact a manly color

Never hits his growth spurt and is only slightly taller than his mom when he gets older

Regularly argues with Momoshiki when he gets bored

Would willingly jump off a mountain if you dared him

Has a scar on his forehead from where he broke Momoshiki’s horn

Cant dress for shit

Sarada

Secretly into really nerdy and geeky things

Takes over the cooking when her mother gets distracted

Her glasses classify as a help aid both normally and when she uses her sharingan. Taking them off while using her sharigan could permanently damage her eyes

A majority of her strength comes from enhanced chakra but in her free time she does strength workouts to build her muscles so she can use less chakra when fighting

Would rather her team see her as useful and someone to depend on than someone they need to protect

Mitsuki

Autistic

Like far on the spectrum

overthinks

Gets sluggish in the cold

Albino

has the same marks around his eyes like his parent along with scales on his skin

Refers to Jiraiya and Tsunade as Aunt and Uncle

Also refers to Team taka (excluding sasuke) as aunt and uncles

He calls sasuke big brother in private and Mr.Sasuke around other people

Was responsible for the cut on Log’s face

Baggy top skinny jeans/leggings gay

Orochimaru

Gender-fluid and currently presents as feminine

Cant handle spicy food

Cant handle cold foods

Cant handle cold weather

The stretchy neck, long tongue, and ofher snake features are all clan related traits such as the Inuzuka and their sense of smell

Orochimaru’s mother could also stretch her arms just like Mitsuki can

Orochimaru is still in possession of the Zetsu body and much more prefers it as it last longer than the human bodies and is also moldable, making them able to keep a youthful appearance like they have in Boruto

Horrible self-regulation skills and will starve if they aren’t checked up on

Everyone they’ve ever met has a personal journal made about them stored away in their library

Same height as Hinata

Doesn’t curse or raise his voice ever so it’s really hard to tell when he’s upset

#headcannons #naruto headcanons #au idea #sakura haruno #hinata hyuga #boruto #sarada uchiha #mitsuki #orochimaru #boruto next generation #boruto uzumaki #sakuhina #sakuhina au #guess who my favorite character is

84 notes · View notes

sneezemonster15 · 2 years ago

Note

i think it's a rather smart choice to have made Sakura the annoying and toxic girl she is, especially since Naruto and Sasuke love each other romantically. If she was strong mature and had boundaries appreciation, the GA would have been more suspicious about why Sasuke doesn't want to be around her or returning her feelings, her being annoying and self centered is exactly what Kishi needed without giving too much

No you are right. Sasuke sees through Sakura's shallow and entitled personality. So he simply cannot gel with her. But Naruto considers her a good friend because he generally only sees the good in people, and forgives the bad, that's how he is. While others have a legit reason for their neuroses, Sakura doesn't. But Naruto wanted to make friends and not be constantly ostracized so he takes whoever offers him friendship. Which is why he doesn't really confront Sakura for her shitty behaviour towards him, but draws a clear line when it is about Sasuke.

Sasuke wouldn't do all that for Sakura, he would confront her head on, like he does. If she was written as a good character, Sasuke would have had no reason to harbour antipathy towards her. And Sasuke is inherently a kind and helpful boy.

Similarly, Hinata was written to be wrapped up in her hormonal urge to be with Naruto, having absolutely no distinct personality herself, unless you count chronic shyness, weakness of spirit, and self absorption personality traits. I guess they are. If Hinata was written to be having a strong will and even average intelligence, she would have moved on from Naruto, since he seriously pays her no attention unless she is getting beaten black and blue. He completely ignored her love confession, lol. That would have been enough reason for a smarter and self respecting girl to rethink her ways. Kishi is very serious about his characterization, he wouldn't play around with it without rationally justifying it in the narrative itself. So he wrote Hinata to be dumb, one dimensional, shadow oriented and completely designed to orbit around Naruto, without having any credible personality of her own. Far from being assertive or opinionated, she can hardly even stand her ground, she wouldn't know her ground if it slapped her directly in her face. Lol. Which is why she doesn't even begin to think about Naruto's complete lack of interest in her. In Boruto, Naruto hardly ever comes home, sends his clones to important family occasions but stays at office counting headbands. A strong willed wife would confront him, but she wouldn't. Imagine Minato/Kushina dynamic, Kushina would not have taken such treatment from Minato. But Hinata is the polar opposite of Kushina. Which is why she is married to a gay man who is in love with his best friend and work partner, and is totally willfully oblivious about it.

Kishi doesn't treat anyone else the way he treats Hinata and Sakura in the entire manga, he deliberately humiliates their characters in the narrative. He wants to show that these are the kind of women who would gladly stay in a loveless marriage with gay men, self absorbed, entitled, shallow, unintelligent, fangirlish, whose self esteem is completely tied up with the men they want, and would take the tiniest scraps those men throw their way as long as they could keep calling them their husbands that they won as trophies.

#ask #anti sakura #anti hinata #anti ss #anti nh #naruto #sasuke #sns

97 notes · View notes

scribe-of-elysium · 2 years ago

Text

Medicine - Part IV

Nothing too explicit but 18+ and NSFW anyway.

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

Sasuke tenses.

It isn’t the right time, he thinks to himself. It certainly isn’t the right place. They are on a classified mission that contains a high level of risk, with far too much at stake should they blow their own cover. And a grave mistake has already been made in disclosing his relationship with Sakura to his reckless inmate.

But his wife is close enough for him to feel the warmth radiating from her body. Close enough for him to be overcome by the sweetness of her familiar perfume, an enticing fragrance that sings to and sirens his senses.

This is perilous, he knows. For they have been too far apart, for far too long, and the itching desire to touch her, to return the affection she has always offered him so freely, is maddening. It is unbearable.

He opens his mouth in another attempt to warn her - only to hesitate. The way he often has over the years, when confronted by her presence. She presses closer, and his resistance wavers, for the touch of her rosy, soft, plump lips is an ignition that sends a dangerous hum vibrating through Sasuke’s body. Like tinder to a flame, heat rushes through his veins, setting him alight.

He burns. How he burns and yearns for this woman. She makes him burn in ways she does not even perceive, in ways that have restored meaning and purpose to his life. It was Sakura’s love that thawed the numbing, jagged ice that had once encased his bruised and tattered heart. It was her love that had gently coaxed him into trusting her, into relying on her, into daring to dream of a better future for himself - a future in which there was light and warmth. A future away from the bleak, cold darkness and loneliness he had once believed was his only possible destination.

It had been her kindness and patience, and her forgiveness, which had allowed him to begin healing. Allowed him to believe, for the first time since the night of his clan’s massacre, that he was truly worthy of love. Worthy of family. Worthy of redemption and happiness. That he was far more than the last survivor of a cursed and damaged bloodline.

She and Sarada are his redemption. They are the family he had once believed to be forever lost to him. His wife has no idea just how much she has given to him, no idea of the immeasurable gift of her unconditional love, and just how much it means to Sasuke.

He has never been able to tell her with words. He has never been the sort to pen romantic poems, or articulate declarations of feelings. But what is not explicitly expressed out loud, is shared like a secret kiss in every exchanged glance. In the fire and passion and desperation and reverent worship of their touches.

Touches that are too far apart, because duty calls him away from her side too often.

Touches of which he is starved.

When her fingers rake gently through his hair, his fragile hesitation splinters. One minute, he tells himself. Just one minute, and he will end this. He closes his eyes and parts his lips, ravenous to taste her, drawing her tongue into a sensual, frenzied dance that causes their mingling breaths to quicken.

He knows it is a mistake the moment he does it. She is reeling him in, and he can feel himself falling into her honey trap. His heart slams against his chest, and an approving mewl escapes her lips when he deepens the kiss, and brings his hand up to cup the back of her head as she pushes the front of her body against his.

The sound is like a delirium-inducing drug, one that robs him of his senses. Images fill his mind, images his Sharingan has imprinted there, of his tempting wife sprawled beneath him, cheeks flushed, rose hair tousled like a halo around her head, of Sakura writhing and moaning and sobbing and gasping his name in need. Of the bewitching way she looks when she comes undone and abandons herself to sheer bliss, of the pure devotion that shines in her eyes when she strokes his face and whispers that she loves him.

Love that she gives so readily. Love that he consumes so selfishly, so gluttonously.

The last time they had made love before he had departed, it had been slow and trembling and gentle. But there is nothing gentle about their hunger for one another now. It is predatory. It is carnal. It is devastating. A ravenous, feral beast that claws at them, that demands to be let loose.

She grabs at the belt of his trousers, tugging and fumbling to unclasp it. He fists his hand through her hair, and tugs in response, breaking the kiss and eliciting a sharp gasp from his wife. Dipping his head, he lays claim to her delectable throat, sucking and kissing and biting at the spots he knows her hair will conceal, and is rewarded with an approving moan.

“Oh… Sasuke-kun…”

His parched, famished tongue licks up her flesh, as if lapping up an elixir of nectar. He has never much liked the taste of sweet, sugary things. Sakura is his only. His only exception.

Winding an arm around her waist, he lifts Sakura easily off the ground, and sets his wife on the metal work-top. Medical supplies clatter to the ground, but in that moment, she succeeds at last in unbuckling his belt, and Sasuke does not care about the noise they are making. All he can hear is the rushing of blood in his ears, the thundering of his heartbeat. His lips devour hers once more, his mind and body singularly focused on one task. He knows what they both crave and need from one another, and he will honour the sacred vows he made to take care of her in every single way.

The kiss is bruising, punishing, claiming and consuming. A fiery brand that is raw and ruinous and fuelled with mind-fogging lust. A rushed midnight tryst is not how Sasuke prefers to worship his spouse’s sensual body. He much prefers to take his time, in a sanctuary that is private and wholly their own.

But the words Jiji spoke to him about married couples remaining close together haunt him. They have sparked fresh guilt within Sasuke over the many months each year that he is forced to spend away from Sakura and their daughter.

How much of their lives has he missed? And how much will he continue to miss protecting Konoha from the shadows? What if it is not enough security for Sakura and their child? What if this wasn’t the marriage she had always dreamed of and expected with him?

What if another man attempted to approach Sakura? With Sasuke gone so often from the village, it is perhaps not so far-fetched for ordinary civilians to assume that she might be single, and raising their child alone. Sakura is beautiful, clever, successful and talented. Any man in his right mind would try his luck.

The very idea gives way to a twisting, unpleasant throb deep within the confines of Sasuke’s chest, and he kisses Sakura harder, with a desperation that borders on frustration. He loves her. It does not matter how far apart they are. To him, they are always connected. No time or distance will ever change his feelings. He cannot understand why Jiji said those damned words, sparking uncertainties that had never before even occurred to Sasuke. Equally as much, he cannot bear the thought of another man trying to move in on Sakura, daring to touch Sakura-

His thoughts fracture, and his chest heaves as she slips a hand inside his pants, eliciting a pained hiss from his lips. He aches for her. The ache is unbearable, and demands immediate remedy and relief. A remedy and relief only her touch and body can give to him.

He pushes her skirt up over her hips with his hand, then pulls aside her underwear. And when he finally slips inside her velvet warmth and joins them together as one, he is overcome with sensation. With indescribable feeling.

And he knows.

He knows from her sigh as he sinks his teeth into the supple, soft flesh of her lower lip. He knows from the way she trembles against him, from the way she eagerly hooks her legs around his waist and holds him tightly to her as he begins to thrust, hard and fast, against her. He knows as she gasps his name and he groans hers against her neck. That she is his. And he is hers.

And he knows that nothing, and no-one, can ever break their bond, and the sincerity and strength of the love they share.

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

End of oneshot. Sorry it took a while to post the last bit. If you enjoyed my writing, please consider reblogging and reading my other work.

Thanks for reading.

#SasuSaku #Sasuke Retsuden #Oneshot #I'm still on hiatus #This was a one-off because I was inspired by the manga #Feels weird writing canon!verse SS #Fanfiction

47 notes · View notes

non-operator · 2 years ago

Text

... well, there's actually a lot of things I want to address, but first, what are we even counting as "canon" appearance?

kishimoto doesn't draw boruto, and even if he did, as far as i know, kakashi hasn't appeared in the manga. And if we count boruto anime as canon, it directly contradicts what kakashi looks like at the end of naruto, as kakashihasibs pointed out.

kakashi retsuden does mention that many women see kakashi as "tall and handsome" and "a fine man" but that says nothing about whether kakashi looks young or not. He can still have those eye bags then. even more so since half of his face is covered up, so no one can actually say if he looks super young or not. I feel like this is more of his personality and charisma at work than his actual appearance.

Again, if we take the anime as canon, then the above argument applies: kishimoto didn't draw it and it still contradicts kishimoto's depiction of kakashi at the end of naruto. Furthermore, since the description of kakashi remains vague (he's just generally attractive and that's it), the anime artists are also making their own interpretation of kakashi. the same way all of us and the artist for sasuke retsuden are. So i don't see how the sasuke retsuden kakashi is less "canon" than the anime.

I'll admit i haven't read sasuke retsuden, so I don't know if the other panel is the only other instance of kakashi appearing previously, or if there's more. But the panel shows us a side view of kakashi's face, it's not exactly letting the reader take a good look at his face, so he could arguably still have eye bags even in that panel.

now onto my main point: why does this make sasuke retsuden "non-canon"? this might seem like a really petty point, but to mark sasuke retsuden as "non-canon" just because you don't accept kakashi's appearance seems rude.

is that how we're going to critique the story? on a minor detail? seriously??? you're just going to ignore the plot and characters? for kakashi's appearance? kakashi--a character who doesn't even play a major role in the narrative for sasuke retsuden?

it's probably fair to assume the artist didn't read kakashi retsuden--because he's not expected to. This is a job to him. In fact, he might not even have watched the entirety of boruto or read the sasuke retsuden novel; he could've just been told the plot points or only saw the storyboard. And been told kakashi is 50 years old at this point... so he drew him as a 50 year old.

Kakashi's not even a major character for this story. There's no reason for the artist to pay attention to making him look pretty when he in, what? a flashback? mentioned briefly for one panel? I don't think it was high in the artist's list of priorities to check what kakashi looks like. Even if it is an inconsistency, it just feels unfair to him to judge his entire performance on that, considering he seems to stay accurate for the more important characters.

I think to just say it's "not canon" because of kakashi's eye bags overlooks how the artist actually stays pretty faithful to kishimoto's art style (it's so much better than early boruto). And he's good at panelling; it's not super cluttered and spaces out the story beats really well.

LOOK AT OUR OLD MAN HE LOOKS SO GOOD I LOVE HIM

#i'll end my rant here since it's already so long #but like. i'm more mad about how they're disregarding almost everything about sasuke retsuden over kakashi's eye bags #that just feels so disrespectful towards the artist. who actually does a good job #i feel like the amount of attention the other blogs are putting on to kakashi just says they're more concerned about how kakashi looks old #rather than about inconsistencies in the manga or anything else #which is understandable i guess. but i think it's a flawed way to critique media #also also. kakashi retsuden doesn't even say kakashi remains wrinkle-free or looks like he never aged a day in his life #so the fact that they're annoyed about eye bags just seems to say more about what their beauty standards are #rather than giving us a 'canon' kakashi look #i'm not sure if i got my argument across properly. but i haven't slept at all tonight and it's now 8 am #i'm just. irritated that everything about a story is being ignored just because of a minor detail #and being called 'tainted'#like. that's literally an interpretation of kakashi's appearance for this time #because the artists for both boruto anime and sasuke retsuden have to make up something #bc the original medium is actually written words--no visuals from kishimoto #if an american comic suddenly draws a character kind of different or in an ugly style. is it suddenly 'non-canon'???#or should/would you actually base that decision on whether you agree with the writing choices made?#i would like the assume it's the latter #it's just so Rude to ignore everything kimura shingo is doing bc of how he thinks a 50yo kakashi would look like #and he's not even that wrong??? 50yo people normally have eye bags or wrinkles #why are you immediately assuming there /must/ be different artists working on sasuke retsuden because of this??#is it that shocking and outrageous??#that he might've just maybe not put that much attention to kakashi in the side view panel (which i think might be traced?)#and then put in the eye bag detail bc now the reader's are getting a better look at kakashi?#i don't know how to explain why i'm so annoyed over this. the artist is literally doing a good job!!

176 notes · View notes

adelalovesmadara · 2 years ago

Text

First time trying to draw adult Sasuke's face without a reference.

11 notes · View notes

cubur · 2 years ago

Text

Hello all!

Firstly I hope everyone is well and safe there! I'm fine here except that I miss some things alot... Ok, as you guys know I mentioned a while ago that I will write an article about why I haven't been active since July 3rd, what's going on and what I've been thinking so far. Yes it took me a while to feel ready (but the truth is, I wanted to give myself some time) So i think i feel ready now!

A reminder before starting, this article will be mostly personal and if you don't like "negativity" please stop reading after here !

Let me summarize everything briefly...

When I decided to draw Narusasu, no one was with me. I never thought that someone would follow and even love my art. At first I only had tumblr and twitter accounts. When someone asked me to create an Instagram account for my fanarts, I thought who would want to follow me on Instagram? Yes I probably thought that way at first because I don't trust my style, ideas, drawings. But the main point here was to have fun, right? Then yes I could take a step too... Back then I used twitter only to follow artists, and not many people knew about my arts on tumblr. But after creating also my instagram and facebook accounts i started to feel like i have more responsibilities now. People were saying they wanted to see more arts from me and that made me very happy! There's someone out there who really likes what I draw (?)

No, I never expected this much!

After that, i decided to get some commissions. And all slots taken in one day! That was great!! But all of that also meant more of responsibilities... After a while, I started preparing for snstober while I couldn't complete all the commissions yet. Because I've never participated in a challenge like this before! And I wanted to do at least a few pieces. But things just didn't go as I expected... My pc crashed suddenly as it is now. Well, I said OK! Things like this can happen. I can draw the themes I missed next month. But this time i had a serious argument with my family about it. And that made me have to cancel the plans completely. It also broke my motivation and excitement. It took me a while to get back to work but I did after all. Before long I was faced with another but serious problem that will affect my life. I involuntarily hurt myself mentally... But i managed to get past that too (also thanks to you guys) ...and by sacrificing some things. Again I said OK! I found some motivation to work again. But almost a month later my pc suddenly shut down. So now... It's been one and a half months. I don't remember any time I had to go this long. Ofcourse I'm aware that there are a thousand problems in the world! And I'm never saying I have bigger problems than anyone else. But when you read all this together, doesn't it seem strange to you too? As if someone or something is bothered by my being around and wanted me to leave... I don't know...

All I know is I'm out of patience now!!

And i can't take it anymore !

That's why I thought about quitting digital art entirely for a moment. But to be honest i can't do that... Even if i leave my fanart accounts one day, i don't feel like i can leave drawing completely...

Yes because I was already drawing something before I started drawing narusasu. And ofcourse I do the drawing for fun at some point, but also this is my job. Since I often only draw Naruto and Sasuke, some of you are talking about i can't draw girls. Ofcourse i can draw girls too, just this account was made for fanart and i'm trying to stick to my decision. And i have other art accounts that you guys don't know about. I know i never mentioned this before but here some of my other commish works:

I gave my years for this i can't give up drawing that easily... Yes, I'm telling you all this because I feel better when I share it with someone. And this is the only place where I feel like myself.

I often don't get along with my family and they don't understand me at all. So it mostly makes me feel lonely... But here I have really great and thoughtful followers! And thanks to Naruto and Sasuke i had the opportunity to meet so many great artists too!! I would never have imagined this if I hadn't joined this fandom... I owe a lot of things, i know. That's why I feel close to you guys... Yes I could go on my way without saying anything. But i can't be selfish! You guys are the ones who motivate me most of the time!

So I wanted to tell you about myself and my future thoughts (nope I won't say "my future plans" 'cause that word is cursed to me...)

This constantly breaking computer has been with me for 8 years. I know this time sounds too long. But it went by so fast for me that I didn't realize it was getting old... For the last 1 year, it doesn't want to continue with me anymore and I ignore this fact...... I'm someone who can't get used to innovations easily. When I love something I can't leave it, can't give up on it easily. But unlike me, I've seen my computer give up on me so easily... And ofcourse I'm aware that the computer is just a technological tool. But... I loved my computer... I have accomplished a lot with it! I started drawing Naruto and Sasuke first with it... I fell asleep next to it many times... I laughed, I cried... and many more things that I can't say. But just now... I hate my pc, yes! I also hate myself for loving a tech gadget!! Because it's not worth it OKAY !!! I sacrificed a lot for it, even my eyes (like many artists)!

I mean... What does "take care of yourself" actually mean?

Can we really do this or are there things we can't prevent?

Well, I've never mentioned it before but I've been getting dizzy from time to time for a long time... when I'm using my pc, drawing or doing daily work. And a few days ago i went to the doctor for it, I found out that I have astigmatism in my eyes. I didn't realize it but I've been seeing blurry all this time...and it causes dizziness. But don't worry! Now I have a pair of glasses and everything seems clearer. (Wow !) Also I have a serious problem of stress and anxiety. I tried to do many things, even yoga, but I couldn't be successful at that either. Plus, I have some physical problems i don't want to say all of them. And the main thing is that I've just seen that all this sadness/stress doesn't hurt anything or anyone except me...

"Don't think too much! Don't care too much!"

These are the things I say to myself often but I can't help it... Maybe now you think I should go see a psychologist and even think i'm crazy somehow... And maybe you are right. Because this is not the first time i hear these words. Just, I have a brain that thinks things differently. And when I express them, there can be people who don't want to understand as much as those who are understanding. This is so normal! But it also makes me feel like i'm bothering people with my thoughts... That's why I swallow my feelings. And when i do that after a while my feelings explode inside me and start to hurt me physically and emotionally.

I'm not happy.

This is the only place i feel happy. And somehow when i have to stay away from here... everything gets worse and I unintentionally hurt myself, i'm sorry.

As for the repair issue.

So as I guessed it was the motherboard. I mean motherboard is the main reason my computer shuts down. And that's why it took so long... Since it is an 8 year old computer, it was very difficult to find a suitable motherboard for other parts. The motherboard has been changed three times and it kept doing the same problem over and over, yes, so on the third motherboard it finally worked!! But I'm not as happy as you expected... Because this is much worse than my old motherboard, and it's running so loud right now. Yes i can replace the motherboard with a better one. But I also need to change the processor and ram to replace the motherboard inside now. And maybe i can do that in the future but i think i won't...

'Cause I've given up on it!

Sounds ridiculous but my sister is opening my pc everyday. Just... I can't press that power button anymore. Because now I have a fear about it... no i'm serious. I'm seriously tired of losing my files and constantly writing articles about my pc breaking down! So I decided i couldn't work with a desktop computer again for my mental health. This will be the first and last for me! So now i will try to buy a laptop... But I can't afford it right now since I spent a lot of money to get my pc back. Also, those in my country know that the technological items here are twice the price. I mean a $1000 laptop sells for around $1500/2000 here. It will take a long time... That's why I won't have time to finish some free art for a while and i'll only take commission until i buy a new pc. And since I haven't been able to finish previous commissions here for more than a year, honestly I wasn't thinking of getting commissions once again from here... But for now if i don't get commission then i can't be active here at all. So (after finishing a few pieces) i think i'll reopen commissions...if you are still interested.

So yes my pc is working now but it has had such a problem once and that doesn't mean it won't do the same problem again in the future. That's why I also prepared a plan B for myself in every situation so as not collapse mentally once again !

I REALLY don't want to make anyone worry about me... Because I know how unhealthy this is since I'm a person who worries about every single thing. Just don't please... I'm trying to be fine, I'm really trying... And look I said before that I'll come sooner or later, and I'm here now as I promised! So please don't worry !

Okay then I guess that's all I have to say...

If you've read my long weird article this far, I congratulate you !! I always appreciate your patience and understanding with me! (but you already know that) Even so, let me thank you for everything!

A month and a half may not sound like a long time, but it taught me a lot... What i want to do in the future, what i really want, what i miss, what i like, what i will never give up, what i will give up, the limit of my patience, the limit of my strength... And even though I feel tired enough to start a new page again, i think i'll start anyway. Just I know what I really want to do so I still have the strength to go on!

And so... Endless thanks to everyone who is still here with me !! 🙏

See you all asap ! ( Just I hope you haven't forgotten me and my art yet ^^; )

#text post #personal #nice to be here again after a month!#long article #But this time it's really long...#And if you managed to read till the end I congratulate you!!

68 notes · View notes

mokutone · 3 years ago

Note

sasuke

YESSSS! sasuke yelling time.

explanation for the drawing in my answers ajdjanxkajjd

favorite thing about them —despite everything. when he is most himself, he doesn't want to hurt people if he doesn't have to. he can't bear to kill him, he tells team taka that they aren't to kill anyone, he's had an immense amount of trauma done to him, and he knows the weight of it, and if he can avoid doing that to somebody else, it seems he wants to.

least favorite thing about them —uhh my least favorite thing about him is also my least favorite thing about gaara. and a couple other characters in naruto. it's really hard for me to watch kids be in desperate pain and practically begging for help in a situation where nobody seems able or willing to help them. for a lot of sasukes parts in the anime i'm just like averting my eyes lmfao

favorite line —I think I'll pick the most impactful line. Idk if I'd call it my favorite.

you know the bit where kakashi ties sasuke to the tree? absolutely fucking humiliating him and then on top of that, telling him that his quest for revenge, LITERALLY sasuke's fucking ninja way (for all its many many problems!!!!), is useless and meaningless? and how sasuke gets that nasty look on his face and he says: "What if I were to kill the one you love most? How far would you stray from what you just said? I could make you feel true pain." and that line just fucking kills me. i am inconsolable. obviously Kakashi takes it as a threat from a child and brushes it off as one—but it's not! he's quite literally begging for understanding. he's like, if i could just hurt you as much as i've been hurt, maybe you would understand me! maybe this is the only way anyone could ever understand me! maybe then you wouldn't tell me how useless and stupid this one thing, the thing which i have built my life around, is!!! but kakashi doesn't give him that. lol. kakashi's like "well there's no way i'd ever be in that situation bc i there's nobody left who matters to me ,^)" like. great job dude. you had the witty comeback against the child. also told him that you do not care about him or his friends at all. you won the trauma game. congratulations. your prize is unfortunately dealing with your guilt complex around this for the next 6 years when you have to go to war against him. jesus fucking christ. Sasuke was trying. he was fucking trying! despite everything, he was trying, with the one adult he trusted enough to even ATTEMPT explaining himself to. ugh. whatever. i'm normal and i have normal feelings about things. i'm normal. i'm so fucking normal. jesus christ.

brOTP —this is unhinged for me, bc i normally answer these based on characters canon relationships, but i am so fucking desperate for yamato to interact with sasuke. i want it so bad. i have so many ideas. i think that yamato would be very useful to sasuke in his recovery. i hate kishimoto and i hate knowing that this will never happen.

OTP —i don't really care about this kind of thing! naruto, i guess, because naruto is the person sasuke seems to care the most about thruout the course of the narrative, and also because my best friend wuvs them

nOTP —i don't really care about this kind of thing. sakura, maybe. it doesn't really matter to me.

random headcanon —his life skills are atrocious and everyone in his close circle of companions is worried about him when he returns to konoha. Yamato starts giving him cooking lessons (Yamato is also an amateur at this. theyre both learning),

which are unfortunately the trigger for minor and unnoticeable but very regular panic attacks for Sasuke. He's like, having a very hard time believing that anyone could really forgive him, and his ONLY interaction with yamato before this was literally jamming a sword through his shoulder joint and running straight electricity through it. Why would Yamato, who didn't even know him before he ran off, forgive him for that? What does Yamato get out of this situation? When does Yamato reprimand him for the pain he caused? When does the other boot drop? When does he find out what this is all about?

This goes on, increasing Sasuke's tension slowly and steadily until Yamato accidentally triggers a major panic attack (he drops a pot, and Sasuke is so wound up at this point that the sudden metal clang itself is enough to put Sasuke right over the fucking edge) and suddenly it all comes into focus for Yamato, who realizes "oh, this kid isn't just unnaturally stiff all the time, he's actually scared shitless of me, and was only putting up with these cooking lessons because he clearly feared the repercussions of saying he didn't want to, to somebody so embedded in his social circle. fuck."

Trying to make this better, he then takes to inviting Naruto over so that Sasuke has a little bit of a social buffer between him and Yamato. Eventually all of team kakashi + team seven is trying to fit into Yamato's tiny jōnin apartment weekly for free food and entertainment (the entertainment is teasing each other).

unpopular opinion —i like him? and i don't think he's over dramatic. i think he's a fairly realistically written character (up until the end i guess stuff gets weird there) because he's mostly a reactive one, and Kishimoto excels at writing little traumatized guys having intense reactions to things. It's what he likes to do and hes pretty good at it.

song i associate with them —Baby, I'm an Anarchist by Against Me! solely for this line.

No, I won't take your hand And marry the State.

like. skdghskdghsdjhgsdhjgsdjhg

favorite picture of them

i literally use this all the time. i think things should be easier. i would like for sasuke to be able to pick up that glass of water.

#yamswers #anonymous #f1ghtingdreamer #hehehehehe #sasuke uchiha

268 notes · View notes

animeomegas · 3 years ago

Note

Sorry, but now I'm imagining little Sasuke trying to sneak into Itachi and his alpha's shared bed and sleeping between them in order to "protect" his big bro from his alpha. And when either of them(most likely Itachi) kindly refuses him, he pulls 'but I had a nightmare' card 😂

(This is phenomenal, anon, thank you so much for sharing. I honestly am so pleased for an excuse to write more of little!Sasuke’s shenanigans with his older brother’s mate.)

Sasuke concocts many plans to try and separate his beloved brother and the evil alpha who is taking advantage of him.

And sure, none of them have worked so far, but this one is going to work for sure!

He’s going to stop that alpha from taking his brother’s innocence! Because Iruka told them all about gross stuff that couples do, and Sasuke didn’t totally get it, but he certainly isn’t going to let someone do that to his brother, no way! (You’re too late Sasuke, I’m sorry to have to tell you this…)

Hence his plan:

He’s going to get in the middle of them at night! There’s no way that won’t work!

So, he goes to talk to Itachi!

…

“Big brother,” Sasuke draws out, trying to be as cute as possible so Itachi can’t say no. “C-Can I sleep in your room tonight?”

Itachi raises a single eyebrow but turns to give Sasuke his full attention.

“Why?”

“Because… er… because Kakashi sensei says we’re going on a mission soon and I’ll miss you,” Sasuke let the pride of coming up with a plausible response smooth over the embarrassment of asking such a thing.

Itachi startles slightly, but smiles.

“We will have plenty of time to see each other in the daytime, little brother, and I will walk you to the village gate to say goodbye. Kakashi senpai is a very capable shinobi, so you shouldn’t worry too much.”

Itachi then pokes Sasuke on the forehead and leaves him scowling at the ruined fragments of his plan.

Oh well, on to plan two.

…

Sasuke’s second plan is a lot more embarrassing, so it was his second plan for a reason, but desperate times call for desperate measure.

He can handle some embarrassment if it means protecting his big brother, he’s a shinobi after all!

And so, plan two commences!

…

Steeling himself, Sasuke knocks on his brother’s bedroom door where he and his alpha are currently staying. Sasuke had gone upstairs a few hours ago and pretended to sleep, but Itachi and his alpha had only gone to bed about twenty minutes ago, so it was the perfect time!!

*knock knock*

Sasuke hears some shuffling and muffled swearing from behind the door before a vaguely irritated Itachi’s voice calls him in. Sasuke must have been just in time! Itachi sounds irritated, that stupid alpha must have upset him!

Creaking open the door, Sasuke steps in.

“Big brother,” Sasuke calls, trying to pretend to be sleepy. “Can I sleep in here tonight? I had a nightmare.”

Sasuke rubs his eyes for a moment for effect before looking up to his brother to see his reaction.

Itachi narrows his eyes at him like he knows something is going on, but Sasuke just smiles sweetly in return.

Itachi’s evil alpha clears their throat awkwardly.

“I’ll just be in the bathroom,” they say, before hobbling to the bathroom, and they’re holding a pillow in front of them for some reason. Oh well, it doesn’t matter, he managed to scare them away for now at least.

“What game are you playing, Sasuke?” Itachi’s firm voice brings Sasuke out of his musings.

“I’m not doing anything, I just had a nightmare,” Sasuke starts before noticing something was different with Itachi. “Hey, your hair is all messed up, what happened?”

Itachi’s face takes on an uncharacteristic blush.

“Nothing, it’s just… messed up from laying down, that’s all.”

“And… is that a bruise on your neck!? Did that awful person hurt you? Tell me and I’ll get cousin Shisui to help me deal with them!”

Itachi blushes even more and covers his neck with his shirt.

“No, it was just an accident, Sasuke,” he says, but Sasuke can tell he’s lying, that awful alpha probably did it to him! “What are you doing in here anyway, and tell the truth this time?”

“What?” Sasuke gasps in fake offence. “I already told you, I had a nightmare.”

“Uh huh,” Itachi says in a way that makes it obvious he doesn’t believe Sasuke and has run out of patience. “Go back to bed, Sasuke.”

At that moment, the alpha comes out of the bathroom, pillow gone now, and kneels down beside Sasuke.

“You had a nightmare, little one?”

Sasuke bristles at the tone and the condescending name.

“Yeah,” he deadpans. “You died.”

“Aww,” you coo. “That’s what made you upset?”

“No, dream me laughed so hard I hurt myself.”

“Sasuke!” Itachi reprimands from his position sitting up in bed. “That is not a kind thing to say to people. It’s past your bedtime, go to bed.”

Sasuke huffs.

“Fine, but you have to tuck me in!”

“Sasuke,” Itachi starts, exasperated.

“Yeah, Itachi,” the alpha laughs. “Go and tuck him in.”

Itachi glares at his alpha, nervously fiddling with the blankets pooled around his waist.

“Go and get into bed, Sasuke, I’ll be through in a minute.”

“No,” Sasuke objects, not wanting to leave his brother alone with that alpha anymore than necessary. “Come now.”

Itachi purses his lips, the flush returning, while his alpha giggles in the corner.

“Yeah, Itachi,” they grin. “Why not stand up and go now?”

“You’re not helping,” Itachi hisses.

The alpha laughs one more time before putting a hand on Sasuke’s shoulder and leading him out of the room, despite Sasuke’s protests.

“Go to bed and Itachi will be through in a minute.”

Just before the door closes, Sasuke sees the alpha throw a pair of pyjama trousers at Itachi. Why on earth would Itachi need two pairs of pyjama trousers? This alpha is weird and obviously bad news.

Sasuke would just have to make his case when Itachi came to tuck him in.

#sasuke #omega itachi #itachi x reader #naruto #a/b/o #omegaverse #alpha!reader #alpha reader #reader insert #gn reader #sasuke and itachi #alpha x omega #little!sasuke #little sasuke #young!sasuke

708 notes · View notes

the12thnightproject · 6 months ago

Text

Chapter Four: Minor Skirmishes - Okatsu discovers why Mitsunari needs a bodyguard, and another plate of stewed eel meets its doom.

Mitsunari x OC; Nobunaga x Mai

Previous Chapter

From the Military Notes of Ishida Mitsunari…

Generally, a skirmish can be a minor battle, or even short fight, as part of a larger military campaign, a smaller force drawing out a larger to test resilience, or to gather information about the size of the opposing army. Occasionally, it is itself the cause of the larger campaign.

Or, sometimes, it’s simply a matter of a misunderstanding, an incident in which two groups are in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Personal comments:

Being engaged, even if it is only a pretense, takes more effort than battle. At least in battle, one only has to wear armor, define and implement a strategy, and pay attention to the commander.

Being engaged? Requires one to converse.

While Lady Okatsu seems pleasant enough, I am not convinced she is necessary. I’m not ungrateful - I appreciate the effort that Mitsuhide has made on my behalf to acquire her expertise. However, I have never had any difficulty focusing on reading in the past and believe that on my own, I can discourage interruptions of any sort. Events have already been set into motion now, and it’s too late to switch courses. My engagement has been announced – for it to be unannounced within a day of the announcement would simply cause too much confusion.

At least Lady Okatsu is competent… and… There is something about her which is familiar - I believe we have met before. Though I know little about women, I am at least aware that saying, “I think we have met before, but I cannot quite remember you,” would not be received positively.

Getting attacked by a mysterious intruder was not on my Sengoku bingo card.

I brought my dagger up, and my attacker’s sword met it with a ‘clank.’ “Wait – I mean you no harm.”

“Harmless people don’t sneak into rooms through the ceiling.” I held my dagger steady in front of me. It wasn’t the best defense against a sword, but if someone was coming after me, I was going to make sure to do some damage of my own.

“My apologies for disturbing you. I seem to have landed in the wrong room.” My maybe-not-an-attacker edged backward. “Perhaps you could pretend you had a bad dream?”

Mai had given me her room for the duration of my stay here since she had moved into Nobunaga’s. Was my attacker after Mai?

Except… now that my heart wasn’t thundering in my ears, it occurred to me that my attacker’s voice was familiar. “Sasuke?”

“Yes. Do I know you?” Like me, he kept his weapon ready, but his posture relaxed somewhat.

I found the lantern and lit it, then belatedly remembered to double check that my kimono was fastened shut.

My moderately awesome ninja friend stood in the middle of the room, squinting at me. He pushed his glasses up on his nose and pulled down his mask. “Katsu? Fascinating. This is your most effective disguise to date.” He blinked a few times, darting a quick glance at my cleavage, then back to my face. “Wait. ‘Katsu’ was the disguise, wasn’t it? This is who you really are.”

“More or less.” I combed my fingers through my hair and stuck it behind my ears. “Katsuko… although I suppose I should get used to being called Okatsu.”

He laughed. “I’m obviously not a moderately awesome ninja if I never detected you were a woman.”

As far as I was aware, Mitsuhide and Mai were the only two people who instantly realized I’m female, so he was in good company. “What did you want with Mai?” I hoped the two of them weren’t conducting an affair under Nobunaga’s nose. At the very least, he’d consider that a serious insult to his honor.

“I need to return to our home, er, village for a long visit, and came to say goodbye.” Sasuke wandered to the writing desk, where I had left out my brush and paper.

“Oh… is Mai the girl you were talking about earlier this summer?” Even then Sasuke had seemed rather attached to her, no matter his claim of platonic friendship.

Sasuke nodded. Then he indicated the paper and brush on the desk. “If I write her a note, can you get it to her?” He paused, then added, “Why are you here?”

“Here in Mai’s room? Or here in Azuchi castle?” I plopped back down on the futon and rummaged through my pack until I found – yes, still had some dried pears left. I offered some to Sasuke, as it had been our tradition when we encountered each other on the road. Also, I was still hungry, as Mitsuhide’s roofieing of Masamune had effectively ruined dinner.

“Both.” Sasuke accepted the offer of snacks.

“I’m in Mai’s room because she is in Nobunaga’s. I’m in Azuchi because… well… it’s complicated.” I gave him as brief of an explanation as possible. “So, while we are at Genba castle for a month or so, I get to portray an Oda Princess.”

“You lead a very interesting life, Kats… er, Okatsu.” He folded up the message then turned to me and with a bizarre change of topic asked, “What’s your opinion of the Azuchi warlords? Have you met Ieyasu? Has any of this…” he gestured to my things now spread out on the futon, “touched Ieyasu?”

“We met. I have not touched him. He has not touched me. And as for the first question, if you are asking for reasons of spying, I’m not going to tell you.” I might be only a ‘temp,’ but temporary loyalty is still loyalty. “Remember, I do know who you work for.” Kenshin and Nobunaga might be in a truce, but I was not confident that it would last.

“I’m asking out of pure academic interest. I’m rather an admirer …” He paused, then seemed to reconsider his words. “Since I am going to be gone for a while, I want to make sure my friend is safe.”

Sounded like a lie. Or maybe a truth wrapped inside a lie. But I didn’t think he meant any harm to Nobunaga or the rest of the people in Azuchi. “As long as she is with Nobunaga, she’s perfectly safe from his vassals and allies.” Although as Nobunaga’s woman, she’d be a target for enemies. I didn’t need to point that out to Sasuke. “As much as I’m able, I’ll keep an eye on her as well.”

Hm, Sasuke hadn’t mentioned where his and Mai’s village was, but it wouldn’t hurt to ask him to look for my brother. I got out the drawing that Francisco had made for me. “I know I’ve asked you before, but please, especially if you are on a coast, if you see Toshiie, tell him how to find me.”

Sasuke refamiliarized himself with the drawing of my brother. “I will. Thank you for watching over Mai… and take care of yourself as well.” He bowed, then scampered back into the ceiling.

“You too, Sasuke. Beware of carnivorous trees.” I listened as his soft footsteps faded away into the night.

I would miss him. Not that I had been able to predict when we would run into each other; but knowing Sasuke was no longer roaming the byways of Japan made me feel even more alone than ever.

“Sorry that I got food all over it – at least… it’s not blood?” I handed Mai the kimono she had loaned me. She had stopped by “my” room with more clothing for me. “I’ll be more careful with this one.”

“Don’t worry about it. It was inevitable.” She held up a light blue kimono with a darker blue pattern, and a mint green one with silver embroidery. “I think these will do, until I can complete the custom ones. Do you like them?”

I nodded. They weren’t really my style, but at least they weren’t pink, and she didn’t have to keep giving me her own clothes. “They’re very pretty. But even if I didn’t like them, I would wear whatever they want me to.”

“On that note, Mitsuhide reminded me that he wants you in pinks.” I made a face at that, and she laughed. “There are many shades of pink, and you’d look good in most of them.”

I wondered if there was any specific reason that I was required to dress in pink other than the fact that Mitsuhide knew I didn’t like it. “Did he say why? Is it an official shade for Oda Princesses to wear?”

“I don’t know.” She handed me the blue kimono and busied herself with displaying the mint one on the kimono rack. “Mitsuhide does and says a lot of things I don’t understand. But deep down, he’s a good person. Also. He can read minds, so watch out.”

Sure.

Odds were that, like Aki, Mitsuhide was simply very observant. Clearly, I wasn’t going to get any helpful data out of Mai. “So be it. Pink. Maybe it’s Mitsunari’s favorite shade?” Though if that were the case, why had he asked me if I liked blue?

She looked over from where she was smoothing out invisible wrinkles. “Mitsunari wouldn’t notice what color you’re wearing unless he was required to memorize uniforms for battle.” Then she clapped her hands over her mouth. “I’m sorry. He’s your fiancée. I didn’t mean that way it sounded. He’s lovely, a perfect angel… but a little…”

“Absentminded. I’ve noticed. And, reminder, fake fiancé.” I shrugged into the kimono she’d handed me. It was so soft! I mostly lived in cheaper fabrics, either in the ugly brown maid kimono Fume made me wear, or the sturdier dark green kimono and hakama I wore as Katsu. Color aside, I could get used to this Princess thing.

Mai came over and made some minute adjustments to the fit, humming happily as she did so.

Damn! I was being a bit absentminded myself. Almost forgot. “Mai, I had a visitation from a ninja in the middle of the night.�� I grabbed the message off the writing desk and gave it to her.

“Oh no!” Mai put her hand to her chest. “Did he scare you? I’m sorry. I didn’t even think to warn you about him. He’s a friend, and harmless. Alright. No. He’s not harmless, obviously, but he-”

“Mai! It’s ok. I was startled, that’s all.” And sure, startled enough to come at him with a knife, but she didn’t need to know that. “I’ve been friends with Sasuke for a couple of years. I’m used to his quirks.” Though popping through ceilings like Spiderman was a previously unknown facet of his personality.

She relaxed. “I forgot he’s been here that long.”

Weird response.

Quickly, she skimmed the letter. “He wants a chance to say goodbye in person. Kats- er, Okatsu, do you want to go into town with me? I can show you around, then we can meet up with Sasuke at this bookseller he frequents.”

Ha! I bet I know which bookseller that is. Though I was already familiar with Azuchi, thanks to my ‘observational activities’ earlier this summer, it wouldn’t be the worst idea. “I’d like that, but of course, I need to report in with Mitsuhide first. He might have other plans for me.”

“We can take Mitsunari with us. That way, you can be seen together. And if I mention bookseller, he’ll be happy to go along with it.”

That was actually a pretty good idea...

We tracked down Mitsuhide at Hideyoshi’s manor, where, as it happened, they also thought Mai’s idea was a good one. Mitsuhide gave her an approving nod. “We might make a strategist out of you yet, Mouse.”

“You on the other hand.” Hideyoshi looked me over with a frown. “What were you thinking, sticking a sword into the obi? You’re a princess, not a warrior. Azuchi is safe enough within the confines of the town.”

“I’m used to being armed.” I handed over my sword. It had only been a diversion, as I had my daggers strapped to my legs and a throwing knife hidden under my sleeve.

Mitsuhide studied me. “That… was too easy.” He put out his hand.

I unstrapped one of the daggers and handed that over as well. I could work with one dagger, the throwing knife, and the joy of knowing I had won.

“You can keep the other weapons,” Mitsuhide added, “as long as they stay hidden.”

If Mitsuhide ever ends up in the future, he can rent himself out as a metal detector.

It was easy enough to find Mitsunari, as he was holed up in his quarters, reading. It was slightly more difficult to get his attention, but once Mai executed the ‘bookstore’ command sequence, he was willing enough to set aside his book and join us.

I wasn’t sure whether Hideyoshi had given him an additional lecture, or if Mai was a mitigating presence, or, if Mitsunari was getting used to me – whatever the reason, he was more present and willing to discuss landmarks of interest.

At one point, I paused in front of a metalsmith’s shop – I could use some more arrowheads – both the blunted ones for target practice and the sharper ones for hunting and defense. The sound of the smith at work carried into the street. “Is this where Nobunaga gets his ammunition?”

“Some of it.” Mitsunari led us inside the smith’s shop to examine the wares. “Nobunaga has a private swordsmith he uses for his sword collection, and we have metalsmiths in the castle for ourselves and Nobunaga’s personal guards. As you might imagine, when there is active fighting, we need more than what we make. And of course, our guns come from the Kunitomo village gunsmiths.”

I nodded. Most of the guns made in Japan were made in the Kunitomo village, though I knew there was still a big market for European-made muskets.

The weapons inside the shop were of higher quality than what Aki could acquire. I picked up a fully assembled arrow and examined it. It was slightly longer than what I used, and the feathers were different as well.

“Sea eagle,” the smith replied when I asked.

That made sense. Azuchi was closer to the coast than Akihira’s household.

Mai mimed drawing a bow. “Are you any good at archery?” I already knew enough about Mai to know that she had no interest in weapons of war, but it was nice of her to ask, and she was doing a good job pretending not to be bored.

Was ‘Okatsu’ good at archery? Many women in this era were, as they needed to be able to defend their homes while their husbands were at war. And since legendary female archers such as Tomoe Gozen were part of literature, I figured it would be acceptable for “Okatsu” to have this skill. “As long as I practice, yes.”

She twirled an arrow around her fingers like it was a baton, and I could see the smith wince in the background. “Ieyasu’s teaching me.”

“Willingly?” The question came out before I had a chance to edit my words. Eep. I’m usually better tha that, “Er, I mean, how did that come about?”

Mai simply laughed. “It was after a strong suggestion from Hideyoshi. Anyway, you should join us in the mornings if you want to keep your skills up.”

I nodded. I would do that. Belatedly recalling that I was supposed to be developing a rapport with Mitsunari, I asked him if he too practiced.

His response was to proclaim proudly, “Ieyasu is the best archer in Azuchi.”

That… was not the question I had asked, so I tried again. “Do you ever practice with him?”

“Oh. Yes. Sometimes. Ieyasu says he prefers the solitude of archery, but he kindly allows me to join him.” There was that beatific smile again. Maybe his first love was books, but it seemed like his friends could inspire that smile as well.

Deciding that it would be a good test of my skills to practice with the longer arrows, I purchased some, as well as some blunted arrowheads. Mitsunari bought a couple too, saying that he would have Ieyasu practice with them as a way of testing the vendor. Happy with our purchases, we continued toward the booksellers.

“Do you expect to need additional vendors?” It was mostly a small talk gambit. Nobunaga was not currently at war with anyone, but it would be good to know if that was on the verge of changing.

“No immediate expectation, although as Lord Nobunaga continues to push the country toward unification under his banner, there will naturally be more resistance.” Mitsunari turned to look at me, and immediately tripped over air, and stumbled a few steps before regaining his balance. Unfazed, he continued speaking. “In any case, if we waited until there was a need, it would be too late.”

“Good point. Also, always a good idea to create goodwill with your local merchants.” I knew that both local and international trade was important to Nobunaga, and it seemed he was doing as much as he could for the merchant class.

Mai appeared to be a favorite with the merchants as well and pointed out a large stall belonging to a fabric deal. The merchant smiled and waved at her. “We’ll stop in in a bit,” she called to him. She turned to me. “I want to pick out some fabrics for your wedding.”

Alright, enough about that, even from Mai. This was an over the top, just to fool one seventeen year old girl. “Have you met the Kanamori princess? Does Mitsunari really pose that much of a threat to her engagement?” I couldn’t imagine any woman of this time being that willing to act counter to her family’s wishes.

“I don’t know her personally, but as for your other question… well, it’s easier if I show you.” Suddenly she raised her voice. “Misunari! Thank you for coming shopping with us!”

Even before she had finished speaking, women popped up all over the outdoor market, looking a bit like prairie dogs scenting food. Or well… something like that.

“Misunari?”

“Mitsunari’s here?”

“Where? Where is that angel?”

In moments, Mitsunari was surrounded, while Mai and I were pushed back by the tide.

I see.

Or, well, currently I could not see, but I understood.

When my ears adjusted to the pandemonium, I heard several of them invite him to tea, and a fight almost broke out. “Ok. Needs a bodyguard. Got it.”

“Okatsu. He probably needs one right this moment.” At least two of the women had their grips on his arms and Mitsunari looked from one woman to the next, trying to follow six conversations at once. “He might accidentally promise himself to a second, third and fourth wife.”

I gritted my teeth and waded in. Yeesh. I’d been to K-pop concerts that had less of a scrum. “There you are, darling.” I tucked my arm in his, carefully dislodging one of the women in the process.

“Ladies.” Mai scooted in behind me. “This is Princess Okatsu. Mitsunari’s fiancée.”

If glares were arrows, I would have had more holes in me than a pincushion.

Now I was the one who needed a bodyguard.

By the time we had made our escape to the booksellers, Sasuke was already inside, leafing through a book that appeared to be a translation of Greek mathematics. Takauji (the latest of Aki’s messengers to be stuck wearing the dreaded wig and beard bookseller disguise), called out an automatic welcome when we entered. He seemed dismayed to see Mitsunari, then surprised that I was with him. But he didn’t break character, at least.

Once Mitsunari was camped out with a book and Mai was chatting with Sasuke, I made my way over to Takauji. “Do you have any poetry?” In truth, I have no strong feelings about poetry, but I knew the few volumes Aki had were kept on the other side of the shop, so Takauji and I could talk undisturbed.

“Kaya, what’s going on? Did Aki send you to check in with me?” He handed me a slim scroll.

“Not exactly. One of Aki’s most frequent contacts asked us for help with a specific task. I’m based in the castle for a couple of weeks.” I unrolled the scroll – poetry illustrated with pen and ink sketches – and pretended it was fascinating. “He didn’t have any message to you.”

“I haven’t heard from him in a while.” Taka handed me a book to leaf through. “I was really hoping you were my replacement. I’m getting a skin rash from the damn beard.”

I shrugged because what could I say? Every one of Aki’s couriers knew the beard itched. “I told you to bring rash cream. Anyway. You know Aki. He’ll be in touch when he wants something. Meanwhile, since you’ve been here all summer, is there anything going on that I need to know?”

He scratched around to corner of the beard. Oh yeah, I could see the top of the rash. Poor guy. “Nothing big since the conflict with Uesugi earlier this summer. There’s been a gang of sailors causing trouble for the smaller shopkeepers around here. They don’t really bother with me, but I know the restaurant owners are upset.”

Sailors? I perked up a bit at that. Of course, my brother would not likely be in a gang that caused trouble, but if a new ship had docked in Osaka, then it might be worth seeing if I could finagle a trip down there to check things out.

“Really the most trouble I’ve had these days, comes from him.” With a jerk of his head, Taka indicated where Mitsunari had made himself comfortable with a book. “He always makes a mess.”

Sure enough, Mitsunari was leaning against a table, and the stack of books above was swaying dangerously. “Watch it,” I said to Takauji, mostly to clock his reaction. “That’s my fiancé you’re talking about.”

Then I zipped over to Mitsunari to rescue him before he concussed himself.

As I restacked the books in such a way that they would be less likely to fall over, Mitsunari finished scanning the book he had in his hand. He gave me an odd look, as if he had forgotten who I was. Hm. I hadn’t thought he was that absentminded.

Mai completed her goodbye to Sasuke, who had given me another farewell wave before vanishing into the throng of people on the streets. Then, donning her authority as Azuchi chatelaine, she insisted Mitsunari pay for the book in his hands, and successfully herded us out of the booksellers and right into a fabric dealer.

It felt weird to be picking out kimono fabric for a wedding that wasn’t going to happen, although I’d likely get a lot of use out of the rest of the wardrobe once we got to Genba.

Mai held a swatch of something pink up to my face. “I don’t know why you have such a problem with this color. It will look good on you.”

Well, I didn’t know why some people were so fond of pink in the first place. My mother had always wanted me dressed in pi… well. Some people liked pink. I was not one of the people. But Mai was the expert, and I hadn’t the heart to tell her that overall, I didn’t think clothing was all that interesting to begin with, especially when it was clearly her passion. So, I faked enthusiasm for the fabrics she picked out – and really, aside from the dreaded pink, I liked everything else she bought, as she stuck to the blue and aqua shades I preferred. She even bought a coordinating piece of fabric in a deeper shade of teal for Mitsunari, so that we would have matching outfits for our first night in Genba.

Mai… it’s not prom.

After that, she declared herself hungry – actually, Mai has quite the bossy streak - so we headed for a restaurant nearby that she said was good.

For the record, I maintain that what happened next wasn’t completely my fault.

After we ordered our food, my attention was caught by a group of sailors on the other side of the restaurant. Hard not to notice them – they were loud. Would these men, possibly, hopefully have an idea where Toshiie might be? Couldn’t hurt to ask. Before Mai and Mitsunari could stop me, I grabbed the portrait and scooted over to the table with the rowdy sailors.

Normally, such discussions followed the same pattern. I would introduce myself to the sailors, establish a rapport, show them the drawing of Toshiie, they would shake their head, I would thank them, and then be on my way.

That’s what normally happened… when I was dressed as Katsu.

But dressed as “Okatsu,” I attracted the wrong sort of attention. “Pardon me. Have any of you seen this man?” I held the drawing out to the table at large.

Instead of taking any time to look at the drawing, one of the sailors grabbed my arm. “If ya want a man, wench, there’s a whole table of ‘em right here.” He pulled me onto his lap.

Hell to the no on that, dude… I jammed my dagger into his forearm.

“Fucking bitch!” He leaped to his feet and had his sword out instantly.

Damn Hideyoshi for confiscating my own sword.

I deflected the initial cut with my dagger, but he immediately tried to catch me with the backswing. When I leaped backward to avoid getting hit, Mai’s too-long skirt tripped me up and I stumbled into another of the sailors, thwacking him across the arm with my dagger.

In an instant, the entire table of sailors had their swords out.

The first sailor came at me again, but at the last moment, another party came to my rescue, deflecting the strike with a gleaming katana - Mitsunari had leaped in to protect me. Yikes, please don’t get stabbed, Mitsunari! He slung me out of the way, back toward Mai, and I lost track of him almost immediately when the entire restaurant erupted into fighting.

A dagger wasn’t going to be the most useful weapon, but I couldn’t leave Mitsunari unprotected. Arms and legs flying, I jumped back into the fray, and immediately got jabbed in the eye by someone’s elbow. I heard a rip, then realized, I had again ruined another one of Mai’s kimonos. Shit. She was going to hate me.

I glanced back toward her, just in time to see her clonk a sailor over the head with a tea kettle.

A sword clattered on the floor and landed at my feet – Mitsunari had disarmed his first opponent.

Well, I wasn’t going to look a gift sword in the mouth. I grabbed it off the floor and was back in the middle of the melee.

The sailors weren’t unskilled, and their weapons were of surprisingly good quality, but some of them were pretty drunk. Of course, with the entire restaurant now involved in what had become a sword and food fight, it was becoming difficult to tell the enemies from the friends.

And so, after I kicked a sailor in the stomach, when I sensed a presence right behind me, I grabbed a plate of food off the table and flung it…

…at Hideyoshi.

Well, it isn’t really a good fight until someone gets whacked in the face with a dish of stewed eel.

@lorei-writes @bestbryn @katriniac @lyds323 @briars7

#TBTMND #throwback thursday #a mitsunari nights dream #ikemen sengoku #fanfic #mitsunari ishida #ikesen mitsunari #ikesen sasuke #ikesen mai #ikesen hideyoshi #ikesen mitsuhide #oc: katsuko #katsuverse

19 notes · View notes

akamikazae · 2 years ago

Text

Love me Mercilessly Kakashi x Akami Chapter 18: Small word count: 4k warnings: Violence, mentions of gore, trauma/Ptsd previous chapters [x]

Returning home from a brutal mission in Kiri Akami unintentionally lashes out at Shisui. Struggling to keep her deeds in ANBU separate from her life in the village Akami finds solace spending time at the Uchiha Compound; specifically with the company of a 3 year old Sasuke.

Sasuke was getting so big, walking and talking with ease. He still had trouble saying Itachi’s name so he stuck mostly to ‘Nii-san.’ S’s proved just as challenging so Shisui sounded more like ‘hisui.’ But Sasuke had no problem with his A’s, though he almost always called her ‘Kami-chan.’

When Akami came around to the backyard Shisui grabbed her and swung her around. He kissed her a dozen times before setting her back on the ground.

Sasuke ran over to them as fast as his little legs would take him.

“Kami-chan! Kami-chan,” he sang.

Akami scooped him up the way Shisui had her. She sat beside Itachi on the blanket he dragged out back Sasuke still in her arms. He reached up and smooshed her face between tiny hands and kissed her on the cheek. His mouth was open and he did nothing to move his lips; it was more like he tried to eat her cheek. He’d never done that before.

Shisui grabbed Sasuke out of her arms and pretended he was mad holding him in the air giving him a harmless shake.

“You can’t go around kissing people's girlfriends' little man!” Shisui teased, tickling the kid until he squealed with joy. Once free he crawled back towards Akami and was rewarded with a peck to the top of his head. She’d never done that before either.

“Kamichan what’s that?” Sasuke asked, poking her forearm with pudgy fingers.

“Sasuke, it's rude to point,” Itachi said calmly.

Akami unwrapped the bandages from her wrist and Sasuke scooted between her legs for a closer look, turning her hand to watch the crisp black lines curve around her wrist.

“It’s my summoning tattoo. You know how Shisui and your brother have a contract with the crows?” Sasuke nodded. “I have one with snakes.”

Sasuke cocked his head to the side, he always thought crows were the only option.

“Can you ummon anything?”

“I don’t see why not.” She said,

“Does Hisui-san have a tattoo?” He asked, directing all his attention to Akami, not bothering to consult with Shisui at all. Akami always had an answer for his endless reign of questions.

“No, you don’t have to have one but it makes it easier sometimes. Do you want me to show you how it works?”

Sasuke nodded furiously.

Itachi himself had been curious and he watched as she extended her forearm. Gently nipping the skin of her thumb enough to draw a drop of blood. Sasuke gasped, upset but far too curious to avert his eyes. Afraid he’d miss it if he so much as blinked. She swiped her bloodied thumb up the length of her inked forearm. A copper bellied water snake appeared in a cloud of smoke.

Summoning Ryu was a lot more practical now that he trained to use his chakra to maintain a smaller size, sort of like a henge. He would no longer level a Forest; unless of course Akami wanted him to do just that.

She held out her palm for Ryu to slither into. The dark snake twisted himself up her arm just as the tattoo had. Balancing himself at the end of her wrist to hold his head up and inspect Sasuke. Sasuke wasn’t frightened in the least as he stared at the snake in amazement.

“This is Ryu, he is loyal to me and me to him. Ryu, this is Sasuke. I am loyal to him as well.” She said, earning a wide smile from Sasuke.

“Can I pet him?” Sasuke asked Akami.

“Why don’t you ask him yourself?” She said,

“He can talk?!”

“I most certainly can, far better than you I imagine.” Ryu spat.

Sasuke frowned and Akami fixed her summons with a venomous glare. Ryu hissed lazily.

Akami gave Sasuke a firm jiggle, encouraging him to try again.

“Can I pet you?”

Ryu didn’t answer but lowered his head for Sasuke to gently stroke the black scales behind his chartruese eyes.

Continue reading [x]

24 notes · View notes

rayshippouuchiha · 3 years ago

Note

I don't know if anyone has asked this yet. But what is Itachi's reaction for the Sasuke Dies AU?

The air of the Dansu Plains has a salty tang to it, sea-salt flavoring the air as it wafts inland from the Gold Sea. It's so different from the thick decaying heat of Itachi's childhood. So far from the way every breath in Konoha draws in the scent of Hashirama-sama's trees and the sweet, almost peppery aroma of the fire-lilies that litter the village proper.

They were, as the stories go, Mito-sama's favorite flower and so Hashirama-sama had made sure they were plentiful in his Uzumaki wife's new home.

For all that a part of him will always miss Konoha and those he left behind there, Itachi has found a certain sort of tranquility in the travels his mission has taken him on. And, if there's nothing else, the sea air is easier to breathe, softening the ache in his chest by noticeable degrees.

Beside him on the path they've been walking through the waist-high seagrass, Kisame grumbles just a bit as he adjusts the lay of Samehada on his back.

He, as Itachi well knows by now, will always prefer the cooler waters and the salt breezes that flow off through air closer to Kiri.

And then, between one step and the next, Itachi's entire world shifts.

"Aniki."

The word, barely a whisper, floats by Itachi's ear, the feel of fingertips on his forehead a ghost of a sensation that strikes him to the core.

Itachi freezes for a split second before he whirls around, his heart pounding out a thick, heavy rhythm that threatens to rattle his ribs.

"Itachi?" Kisame rumbles at his side, Samehada now firmly in hand.

Itachi ignores him, Sharingan blazing as he searches their surroundings.

But there's nothing there, the plains empty except for the two of them. Even the wildlife has been driven away by their presence.

"Itachi," Kisame repeats, voice slightly softer than before. "You're crying."

Itachi barely hears him, barely realizes he's moving until his fingertips come away from his face wet with tears.

Something in his chest twists sharply, something animal keens and writhes in the very depths of his soul.

There, standing in the middle of the path, face wet with tears and a phantom whisper still echoing in his ears, Itachi falls to his knees.

Around him the world drifts away.

~~~

By the time Itachi comes back to awareness, the sun has begun to set. The light turns the leaves of the small copse of trees Kisame had obviously carried him to blood red. The blurriness of his vision makes them look like globs of heatless fire.

It would have been beautiful to him once, would have invoked thoughts of Konoha in deep summer. Would have set off the flashfire sort of memory connections so characteristic of the Sharingan. Would have started a cascade of images and sense memories.

The memory of the molten glow of festival lanterns and the sound of high-pitched but delighted laughter. The sweet taste of daifuku snuck to him late at night by a mother with slender, calloused hands and a softer smile. Of tiny fingers tugging at his shirt hem as wide dark eyes stared up at him in awe.

Once it would have rippled out across his mind, drowning him in memories it had taken months of heavy training to learn to catalog in seconds.

It doesn't matter though, not anymore, not now that what is left of Itachi's heart is officially broken.

Shattered beyond all healing, blackened at the very roots.

"You back with me?" Kisame asks from across the small campfire that's settled between them as he leans forward to tend the small set of spits settled near the flames.

The scent of roasting flesh thickens the air around them, some sea bird or another fallen prey to Kisame's hunger no doubt.

Itachi waves the offer off when Kisame holds one out in his direction.

Food has no purpose for him now.

The dead do not eat and Itachi's body has been dying in finger lengths for years now.

It seems as if his soul has finally caught up.

There's silence between the two of them for long heavy moments, only the crackling of the fire and the soft sound of Kisame's chewing to be heard.

"I loved my village," Itachi speaks up, head tilted back against the bark of the tree Kisame had leaned him up against and eyes turned up towards the sky.

Across from him Kisame goes completely still.

"Loved it enough to do horrible, terrible things in its name," Itachi continues, "and to know I would die in its service as all shinobi one day must."

Itachi takes a moment.

"I loved my village," he finally repeats, voice barely a whisper. "Loved it enough to slaughter my Clan in its name."

His mother had smiled when he'd cut her down, proud of him even in his lowest moment. Fugaku had been stoic even in the face of death but on his worst days Itachi likes to think there'd been forgiveness of a kind in his eyes as well.

"The only thing I have ever loved more in my entire existence," Itachi presses forward, "was Sasuke."

Wide dark eyes and pale skin, a gap-toothed smile and puffed-out cheeks. The only purity Itachi has known since he was four and blood seeped in around the edges of his existence.

The one who was to be Itachi's ultimate condemnation and redemption all in one.

"I am a traitor to the Akatsuki," Itachi tells him bluntly, ruthlessly. "All I have ever done has been in service of Konoha."

"What," Kisame starts slowly, "exactly are you saying?"

"The truth," Itachi replies. "Finally I speak nothing but the truth, my friend. I have loved my village with everything I am, through blood and bone and death. But there is a rot lurking deep inside of it. A blackness hiding in the roots. Someone needs to burn it out before it can spread any further."

"I feel like there's a question in there somewhere," Kisame points out, always so quick-witted and perceptive. Always far more than what most would see when they look at him.

Deceptive in the brutality of his appearance just as the fragility of Itachi's own had always been a lie.

It had served them well as partners, their complementary personalities and skillsets.

Itachi hopes it will serve them well in what is yet to come.

"You were willing to slaughter for the Akatsuki," Itachi says. "To cut through any who stand in the way of our task. Would you be willing to do so for me instead? Would you be willing to follow me off of the path we have been traveling down together?"

"You're asking me to defect from the Akatsuki and help you what? Cleanse Konoha of corruption?" Kisame huffs out a bark of laughter.

"Yes," Itachi answers calmly.

"You know this might just be suicide don't you? Even for us?" Kisame asks him wryly.

It is not, Itachi notes, an actual refusal.

"Sasuke is dead, Kisame," Itachi replies, the words thick and heavy on his tongue. "Death will be a blessing."

#RayRambles #Still Is Sitting AU #Naruto

259 notes · View notes

pussymagnetmadara · 2 years ago

Note

what are your thoughts on rock lee and neji as a ship- Space anon

Hey anon! thanks for your ask.. so what about Neji x Rock Lee as a romantic couple..

Tbh, I never thought of them that way, I always liked them as BROmance, but why not. At first Naruto, Neji seemed annoyed to be in the same team as Rock Lee, whom he considered as a weight, more than a full comrade, but their relationship evolves quickly (and I think thanks to their sensei- who for my part is by far a better teacher than Kakashi- but that's another story…). The highlights of NejiLee are in my eyes, during the arc of the Chunin Exam, when Tenten expresses her concern for Rock Lee and Neji smirks, and assures that Rock Lee can't be beaten so easily. (HE BELIEVES IN HIS ABILITIES). Then Rock Lee stopping Naruto who was starting to want to fight Neji after his fight with Hinata (IT'S LIKE "DON'T TOUCH MY BABY.) Then, it is canon that Rock Lee draws his courage and his determination from Neji's victory (also Sasuke and Naruto's but here these elements are not interesting) and even if this last one loses his fight against Gaara, Neji doesn't remain surprised and almost proud of what Rock Lee could give during this epic fight and when he realizes that Rock Lee is seriously wounded, he approaches a really sad and worried face for Rock Lee.

And all this in one arc, there would be so much to say about Rock Lee and Neji and even if I classify this in the "friendship" box, I can admit people who send them in the "romance" box. It's kind of like the messed up friendship that Sasuke and Naruto can have, only much less toxic. So we can interpret them as "enemies" to friends or "enemies" to lovers, it's ok for me, this couple doesn't bother me at all.

PS: I put "enemies" because I don't think they were enemies but rather not friends, enemies is maybe TOO BIG for them to qualify what kind of relationship they got at the beginning of Naruto.

I hope I answered your question and see you soon :)

#nejilee #neji hyuga #rock lee #naruto ships

11 notes · View notes

teacup-set · 3 years ago

Text

Paperhearted

Summary: ‘Tch. Who says ‘I love you’ to someone they just met?’ he thinks, frowning all the way home. ‘Annoying.’

But his heart feels caught in quicksand, slowly sinking to his stomach.

She never did tell him her name.

[ModernAU, for @disquieted]

Read on: FFN, AO3

A chill cuts through the autumn air as Sasuke waits for his brother to pick him up. The kindergarten playground is quiet except for the creaking of the swing that he sits on as he waits. With every passing second his mood grows sour. All the other kids had already been picked up long ago, he is the only one still waiting. He wonders if Itachi nii-san will make up for his delay by playing with him when they get home, and suddenly perks up at the thought. In his mind he devises how he will pout and look disappointed to really drive home the guilt, when the silence of the playground is interrupted by a scream.

Startled, Sasuke whips in the direction of the sound. It came from the adjacent woods, and nii-san had told him strictly to never leave the kindergarten campus. Besides, he is only a kid. He will just get in the way, he reasons.

‘Then why am I doing it?’ he wonders as his legs move on their own accord, tugging him across some invisible string to where the sound came from.

As he draws closer, he regains enough control to slow down, and quietly pulls to a stop behind a tree. In the clearing ahead he sees two boys snickering, peering down at something obscured from his view, and he vaguely registers seeing them before around town. They look a year or two older and seem to wear the same school uniform Itachi wears, though mother would throw a fit if she ever saw Itachi’s clothes so rumpled and untucked.

“Boo-hoo, look at little strawberry shortcake crying.” one of them mocks.

“Ooh! Leave the cat alone!” the other squeals in a high-pitched imitation, “Well how do you like being in its place then?” he finishes in his normal voice, aiming a kick forwards.

He sees her then, as she falls sideways from the blow, into his line of sight.

Pink hair (pink! ) falling out from her red ribbon, teeth biting her lower lip to keep from crying out, and the brightest green eyes he has ever seen brimming with tears and the determination to not let them fall.

The first boy, egged on, aims another kick at her stomach. She closes her eyes shut tightly and gasps when his foot connects. Sasuke feels his heart clench. He wants to help, but there are two of them and only one of him. They’re older too. It would be stupid to engage.

‘I’m not stupid.’ he thinks. ‘I’m not stupid!’ he repeats.

Her eyes open and they are glassy and unfocussed. He watches as her gaze travels dimly across the landscape around her till she spots him and stills. All of a sudden the clarity of the world around him shifts, and Sasuke feels like he is waking into a dream. She holds his gaze, and then a single tear falls down her swollen cheek.

“I’m not stupid!” his mind echoes again. Only this time he isn’t thinking it, he is screaming it from his lungs as he charges across the clearing into one of the bullies.

By the time he has regained his sense of time and place, his fist has already connected with the face of the boy who kicked her the second time. Sasuke isn’t sure where he mustered the strength because the boy flies back a full two feet, planting face first into the ground. Around him, the boy’s accomplice and the girl both stare at the scene that just unfolded in shocked silence. Then the stillness of the moment is shattered as both the bullies scream, and scramble to get away.

Sasuke is heaving from the rush of what has just transpired, and watches as the boys make their escape. Behind him, the girl lifts herself off the ground and sits up. He turns to face her.

She is looking at him quizzically and he can’t say he blames her, he himself is unsure of what possessed him. But looking at her, eyes and cheeks swollen, hair and clothes in disarray, a tear-trail cutting across a muddied cheek, he can’t bring himself to regret it.

“Your hand...it’s bleeding.” she says, softly.

Sasuke frowns and looks down, and indeed she is right. There is a gash across his knuckles, angry and red.

Slowly she gets up, and limps towards him. Reaching out, she gingerly takes his bleeding hand into her own and looks at it thoughtfully. Then she retreats one hand to pull out the ribbon in her hair, and ties it around his knuckles. She releases his hand and immediately he feels bereft, though he isn’t sure why.

“Um, thank you.” she says shyly.

Before he can open his mouth to respond, they hear commotion in the distance.

They turn towards the sound to see the two boys from earlier staggering back towards them...with three other friends in tow. Sasuke doesn’t know where his strength came from earlier, but he is doubtful he can summon it again. Especially against five older opponents.

They look at each other. There is an understanding.

And then they run.

They race through the woods with reckless abandon, hair flying in the wind. Beside him he hears her laugh as they are running, and he has half a mind to ask her what exactly she finds funny about this, but he is laughing along too. There is something so freeing and young about the whole situation. They run without thinking, giggling every time they glance back at the group giving chase. Every few moments they are drenched in sunlight breaking past the canopy, before plunging into the shade again. Despite her beating, the girl manages to keep up pace, never falling more than two steps behind him. From the corner of his eye, Sasuke spots the kindergarten playground in the distance, and a lone figure standing in the center.

‘Nii-san!’

Swiftly he grabs her hand and breaks perpendicular to their trajectory, pulling her along with him. They run until they make it out of the woods, and Sasuke grins at the sight of Itachi looking confused to see his brother racing out of the woods with a girl in tow. The boys chasing them exit the woods not long after, hot in pursuit, before halting at the sight of Itachi.

Sasuke pulls the girl with him to stand behind his brother. Itachi glances at the pair, then at the pursuers, and quickly catches on. He stares at the boys and quirks an eyebrow, and that is enough. Itachi may be a gentle soul, but everyone knows better than to mess with him. In an instant they are scrambling to disperse from the playground, mumbling hurried apologies to Itachi. From behind him, Sasuke and the girl look at each other, and then break into full-bellied laughter.

Amused, Itachi bends down on his knee, “Care to explain what’s going on, little brother?”

Sasuke turns to him to answer but notices Itachi is looking downwards. He follows his brother’s gaze to where his hand is still wrapped around the girl’s.

Immediately he drops it and jumps a foot away.

Blushing and embarrassed, he explains to his brother what happened. Itachi listens patiently and then turns his attention to the grl. “Are you okay?” He asks. Mutely, she nods.

Before anything else can be said and done, a woman bursts onto the playground.

“Oh my god, there you are!” she exclaims, and runs to take the girl in her arms, “We’ve been looking all over for you!”

Moving back from the hug to take a look at her state, the woman gasps. “Sweetie, what happened?”

“Some boys were picking on me. He helped.” she says in a small voice, pointing her finger at Sasuke.

“Oh dear, thank you so much.” says the older woman as she pats him on the head. “She just wandered off. We were worried sick!”

“Come along now, sweetheart, we have to be on our way.” says the woman that Sasuke assumes is her mother, as she gently tugs her along in the direction of a car waiting by the roadside, a man standing by its side and waving.

“Wait!” the girl cries, and then turns to him, “What’s your name?” she asks, a desperate urgency ringing in her voice.

Sasuke knows because he feels it too.

“Sasuke!” he yells after her, because she is already halfway across the playground, “What’s yours?”

She breaks into the widest grin.

“Thank you, Sasuke-kun!” she yells back, “I love you!”

Her mother laughs loudly, and beside him Itachi huffs in amusement too. Sasuke is stunned, and can only stare as she gets into the car and drives away.

She has already disappeared over the horizon before his senses return.

‘Tch. Who says ‘I love you’ to someone they just met?’ he thinks, frowning all the way home. ‘Annoying.’

But his heart feels caught in quicksand, slowly sinking to his stomach.

She never did tell him her name.

There is a rumor spreading across their middle school that Sasuke likes girls with long hair, and he knows exactly what prompted it.

He jogs back from the track to the sidelines, breathing heavily, and then runs through his stretches. A brief cool-down later, he returns to the locker-room, trading in his sweaty track clothes for his standard school uniform. He finishes buttoning up his shirt, puts on his tie, and then reaches into his locker for one last thing.

He pulls out a red ribbon, and ties it around his hand.

Beside him, Naruto quips—

“Are you ever going to tell me why you wear that thing?” he asks, gesturing to the ribbon.

“Hn.” Sasuke grunts in the way of an answer.

“You know all your fangirls think that ribbon is reserved for your one true love , and if they make you fall in love with them you will tie that ribbon to their hair?” he questions, clasping his hands together in a decidedly feminine gesture for dramatic effect.

Sasuke rolls his eyes as he strolls out of the locker-room, with Naruto following behind him.

“I’m serious!” he insists, “I’ve seen them role-playing it after school!”

They settle into their seats for their next class, and Naruto pesters him again.

“Well? Is it true?” he wiggles his eyebrows, “Is this about a girl?”

Sasuke lets the question slide as he turns his attention out of the window. The horizon is endlessly far and there is a pang in his chest. If it’s about a girl, then it’s a girl he has never met again.

He never saw her again after that day, and figured she had only been visiting. As distinctive as her hair was, he was only a kid and the world was just too big to go looking. He doesn’t even know why he is looking, why even after all this time there is a feeling that something has been lost.

‘I’m a fool.’ he thinks, staring off into the distance.

“Or maybe it’s auntie Mikoto’s? Does leedul Sasu-cakes miss his mwommy?” Naruto continues to speculate.

Sasuke promptly smacks his best friend’s face into his desk.

Sakura watches Ito walk out from the classroom. He pauses briefly at the door, and turns around to flash her a forced smile that she returns with just as much strain. As soon as he is gone, she sinks into her seat. The love letter he wrote sits unopened in front of her. She is grateful, at the very least, that he chose to approach her after class when they had been alone. Others had not been so courteous, and her heart had lurched with each shake of her head in front of an audience of merciless classmates.

Not long after he is gone, Ino pokes her head into the room. Finding it bereft of anyone except her friend, she invites herself in.

“Well? What did he say? Actually nevermind that, what did you say?” her best friend interrogates her, and Sakura has no doubt she had been lurking just outside the classroom. She simply looks at the blonde and frowns.

“Seriously, forehead? Again?” exasperated, Ino plops down on the chair in front of her. “How many hearts do you intend to break, huh?”

“Why don’t you at least give someone a shot? What are you waiting for?” she eggs on.

Heaving a deep sigh, Sakura stares up at the ceiling. ‘What am I waiting for?’

“Earth to forehead? Hello? Anyway, since you’ve declined everyone who asked, you can be my date to the festival. Sai-kun will understand, he doesn’t care much for this stuff anyway.” Ino declares while inspecting her nails.

Sakura smiles at her friend.

“No, pig, you and Sai should go,” Sakura says, “I don’t think I am going anyway, I have to prepare for the university entrance exams.”

“Are you kidding me? Sakura, this is our final year of school. How can you miss the spring festival?” Ino is appalled.

Leaning back on her chair, Sakura scoffs. “It’s our final year, that’s why we need to study. We’ll have fun in college, okay?”

“You take this way too seriously, forehead. Are you that eager to leave us and run away to some big city?”

Sakura falters. A memory resurfaces. Being five years old, visiting her aunt in Tokyo, running through the woods, and then leaving much, much too soon.

To her relief, Ino isn’t waiting for a response.

“Well, let’s at least get some ice-cream on the way home.” she says, getting up. Smiling, Sakura joins her as they walk out of the empty classroom. “Just be careful Sak, the rate at which you’re going, you’ll end up passing right by your soulmate.” Ino says jokingly.

Sakura laughs along and tries to smother the voice inside her that says she might already have.

Sasuke finishes his last class for the day and unhurriedly strolls to his academic supervisor's office. He pauses in front of the office door and glances down at his watch. Two minutes late, not that it made a difference considering his supervisor. He knocks.

“Come in,” a lazy drawl beckons.

Sasuke walks into the office. “You asked to see me?” he inquires.

Hatake Kakashi leans back in his chair. “I did, have a seat.” he motions, “So Sasuke, have you given any thought to what you want to do after university?”

Sasuke shrugs.

Kakashi sighs and leans forward, resting his elbows on his desk. “Sasuke. You’re an excellent student, your grades are flawless, and you have so much potential. But all of that is lost if you have no ambition.” Kakashi looks at him with the slightest hint of frustration in his bored eyes, “You have a year of university left. Give it some thought. Ask yourself what gives you purpose.”

Sasuke nods, agreeing simply to end the meeting faster. Anticipating that he won’t get through to him, Kakashi dismisses him, promising to have another catch up after his mid-terms.

Sasuke walks out of the office, his book bag slung carelessly over one shoulder. Despite himself, he is pondering over the brief lecture he just received.

Ask yourself what gives you purpose.

“Tch.” Sasuke scowls in annoyance, and then halts his stride.

Though the scene itself plays in his mind like a vignette, blurry and faded at the seams, he still remembers the feeling of throwing his body forward on instinct, pushing off the bully from the girl fallen on the ground. He remembers standing between them and knowing with unflinching clarity that he had done the right thing. He sighs in disbelief at himself, even after all these years, living his life based on a stupid childhood memory.

On the way back to his dorm, he picks up a form for the police academy.

The announcer’s voice calls over the PA system, alerting the passengers on the train of the upcoming station.

Closing her book and stashing it in her bag, Sakura prepares to disembark. She glances at the door nearest to her, but finds it already packed with the rush-hour crowd, each one eager to be the first one out the doors when they open.

Instead of swimming through the hoard of people, she chooses to cross over to the only slightly less crowded adjacent compartment, hoping to deboard from there. Rubbing shoulders with the others that had the same idea, she traverses the narrow section that bridged the two coaches. Instantly, she feels a shift.

Anticipation coils in her stomach and all her nerve endings are firing in an urgent panic. It feels like crossing into a different world. ‘What is it?’ she thinks, trying to pinpoint the cause of her alarm. And then she spots it. On the far end of the compartment, peering into his phone, eighteen years older than the last time she saw him but nonetheless unmistakable, him .

She feels the urge to scream, but his name is caught somewhere between her lungs and her mouth. In the background, the speakers announce the opening of the doors.

Sakura feels the push from the people around her, and she feels like she is caught in the current of the sea, being sucked under again and again with nothing to hold on to, the water swallowing her voice. All of a sudden time slows to a standstill, and she watches as he lifts his head and looks in her direction. Their eyes meet.

There is a quiet murmur in her heart that she has carried with her most of her life. The one that piques up each time she thinks of him. The one that tells her it is all in her head, that he has already forgotten, that she has been building castles in the air all along. She feels that voice surface again, but then she sees his eyes widen, mirroring the alarm in her own.

He lifts his hand, and she catches a glimpse of an old familiar ribbon. The treacherous voice in her heart is silenced.

But the current around her persists, and she feels the tug of the crowd pull her along through the doors. One again she is five years old, watching helplessly as the distance between them grows.

She watches as he tries to wade through the crowd to reach her, but she has one foot on the train and one foot on the platform, and she knows he won’t make it. So, she decides to take this chance to answer a question she left unanswered many years ago.

She cups her hands around her mouth and yells, “Sakura!”

In the next moment, she is on the platform and the doors are closing. Rooted in place, she watches as the train begins to move and another chance slips away. An overwhelming sense of grief washes over her, but in the midst of her heartache is a small bud beginning to bloom.

‘He remembers.’

The day has not been going well for Sasuke. It started with being roped into attending a celebration with his batchmates to commemorate their passing out from the police academy. His social battery had long since run out, but the day wasn’t over. His parents had invited him to their home to celebrate his graduation with their extended family. Unfortunately, the celebration with his classmates dragged on longer than anticipated, and he had ended up missing the train that would have taken him to his parents home. Now he was forced to board a different train instead, one that required him to deboard and connect to a different line midway, and he had to do it during the evening rush hour.

‘Just great.’

Standing cramped against the back of the compartment, Sasuke distracts himself on his phone and hopes for the journey to end as quickly as possible. Twenty minutes into the ride, he has drowned out all the nearby chatter, the announcements over the speakers, the screech of the train wheels slowing down to a stop. Then he feels it, the shift in the air.

As if his body already knows what his mind is yet to discover, his gaze lifts from his phone to the other end of the compartment where the people planning to deboard are crowding. And there she is, bright green eyes, looking at him.

He hears his heart thumping in his ears.

He sees the surprise in her eyes, along with the slightest tinge of hesitation. On instinct, Sasuke lifts his hand over the bobbing heads in the crowd, to show her the faded red fabric that he has held on to for the last eighteen years, and watches as the doubt in her eyes dissolves. But all too soon the crowd begins to move, pulling her along. He sees the panic building in her eyes, and he is already pushing through the crowd to reach her. The divide between them is just too wide though, and he can feel time slipping through his fingers like sand. He has felt this feeling before, though he was too young then to understand its gravity. The weight of watching the course of your life change before your very eyes, like a train shifting tracks, moving away from what could have been.

She must know he wasn’t going to make it too, because just as she is being swept through the doors, she turns around and shouts—

“Sakura!” —the answer to a question long unforgotten.

In the next moment, she has bled out with the crowd, the doors have closed, and all the air in the cabin has left with her.

Sasuke watches in agony as she gets further and further away, unmindful of the people around him staring at his crazed state. He races out of the train at the following stop and catches the next one headed in the opposite direction back to where he lost her. He steps foot on the platform and is overwhelmed with the desire to run in every direction at once, but despite all his searching, he doesn’t find her.

Exhausted, he plops down on a station bench. Despite everything, in his defeat there is a sliver of redemption.

‘She remembers.’

A chill cuts through the autumn air as Sasuke crouches behind the boxes piled in the warehouse, waiting for backup. What started as a low-stakes inspection of a tip-off evolved into a drug bust gone very wrong. Beside him, Juugo coordinated with the en-route backup while Sasuke kept lookout, monitoring the movements of the cartel as well as searching for Suigetsu and Karin, their two other officers who had splintered off early into their inspection.

"Ten minutes." Juugo confirms the status of the backup's arrival and Sasuke nods.

Just then there is a commotion, and Sasuke feels a chill run down his spine as one of the cartel members drags Karin out to the center of the room.

"Found her hiding behind the loading dock!" he announces. There is a brief pause of contemplation before a man, that Sasuke assumes is the kingpin, announces—

"Pack everything up, we're clearing out."

There is a flurry of activity as the men follow what they have been instructed. Sasuke grinds his teeth, but keeps his eyes trained on Karin.

"What do we do with her?" asks the man who dragged her in and is still keeping her arms pinned behind her.

The leader gestures to the man on his right, "Kill her. Put the body in one of the crates."

'Shit.'

The man nods, and Sasuke stiffens at the sound of the gun cocking.

He watches as tears stream down Karin’s face as she looks into the barrel of the gun. This time around, his feet want to remain rooted to the ground. There is no tug, no reckless abandon from his youth. But there is a sense of duty, and so, Sasuke leaves the sanctuary of his hiding spot and tackles the armed man to the ground. In no time at all, the entire warehouse springs into action, and multiple men launch themselves at him. Sasuke parries a blow from one, and maneuvers to throw the goon over his shoulder, while Juugo provides cover by firing from his spot behind the crates. In the distance, Sasuke can hear the sirens of police cars nearby, but each passing moment has slowed down to be an eternity long. From the corner of his eye, he sees Suigetsu use the cover of the chaos to pull Karin away from the action and he breathes a sigh of relief.

In the next instant there is a searing pain in his side, and whatever little relief he felt is replaced by agony. Though he is aware of exactly what has conspired, Sasuke doesn’t look down, because seeing where the bullet went through him would make everything a little too permanent. His knees hit the floor just as the warehouse fills up with an influx of police officers. The call of duty that pushed him this far finally eases up, and Sasuke ceases his struggle against his body and mind. Lying on the cold concrete floor, Sasuke offers a quiet apology to his family for the pain he is going to cause them, and in the final moments of his consciousness, he wonders if the afterlife will be small enough to go searching for green eyes.

“Paging all Emergency Medicine staff. Please report immediately to Trauma Bay One, I repeat—”

Sakura pauses mid-signature as the announcement blares over the speakers, right as her pager begins to beep. Quickly closing the chart she was working on, she sprints off in the direction of the trauma department.

Arriving on the scene, she runs up to the attending surgeon, “What’s going on?” she asks, out of breath.

“There was an encounter between the police and a drug cartel downtown. We are receiving multiple gunshot victims.” answers Tsunade, “Kenji take the first one, Sakura you’re in charge of the second, I’ll take the third.” she orders, just as the paramedics pull up to the bay.

The first gurney rolls in carrying a man bleeding from his leg, with his hand tied to the side of the stretcher with handcuffs. Sakura guesses he is one of the cartel members as Kenji breaks off to inspect his patient. The second gurney brings in Sakura’s patient, also in handcuffs, with a bullet in his shoulder and a deep gash across his forehead. Sakura runs to his side as they roll him towards the operating theater. Behind her she hears the third patient being rolled in.

“He is one of ours, he was shot during the encounter.” an accompanying police officer tells Tsunade.

She feels a familiar tug at her heart.

Turning around, she catches the briefest glimpse as the nurses roll him away, but it is enough. She is always looking for that face, after all.

Her heart sinks to her stomach.

As wakefulness slowly seeps into his consciousness, Sasuke struggles to remember where he is and what happened. Then the pain kicks in and all his memories resurface. Slowly blinking his eyes open, he takes in the harsh, clinical white of his hospital room ceiling, tethered to consciousness by the routine beeping of the machines he is hooked up to.

Near his abdomen is a lopsided sensation. On the side he was shot is a searing pain, the sensation of an open wound replaced by that of his skin being uncomfortably stretched and sown. On the other side is a dull, weighted pressure.

He looks down to see a figure in blue scrubs sitting by his bedside, head resting on his side, and a waterfall of pink across his middle. The pace of the heart monitor picks up.

Slowly, the slumbering form rouses, awakened by the broken rhythm of the beeping. Sasuke watches as her brows furrow, trying to hang on to the fading traces of sleep. Her eyelids take their time to open, and the wait as they flutter is utter agony. Then she glances up at him, and her eyes widen as realization dawns upon her. There it is, he thinks, that brilliant green.

“You’re awake.” she says, breathlessly.

Without waiting for a response, she lifts her head from his side and immediately he misses the pressure. She pushes back the chair she has been sitting in and jogs out of the room. His heart panics like a caged animal and he wants to call after her, but his throat is parched and no sound comes out. In a few moments she returns, and in her hands is a familiar red ribbon.

“They had to cut you out of your clothes to operate, but I thought you might want this back so I kept it.” she tells him as she places the ribbon at his bedside table and pours a glass of water. She brings it up to his lips and he hungrily drinks it up, relishing how it drowned the thorns in his throat.

“Thank you.” he says, voice still hoarse. She smiles lightly in response as she sets the glass back on the table, then settles back into the chair she had been occupying before.

There is a pause.

Much of him is still suspended in disbelief. All these years he spent looking, only to wake up to her suddenly by his side. He can see the turmoil in her eyes too, as she stares at him with a frown, biting her lip as she searches for something to say. What do you even say to someone you have spent your whole life searching for but know nothing about, he wonders.

“I waited,” she says abruptly, and then shrinks just a little, like she surprised herself by the confession, “at the train station, I mean” she adds, as if trying to lighten the intensity of what she said. They are still strangers after all. In his mind, the memory of an ‘Iloveyou’ screamed across a playground echoes back.

“Aa.” he nods in agreement, “I did too.”

‘At the station, at the playground, at every turn and intersection, in every crowd’ , but he leaves that part out.

She smiles the sweetest, softest smile, and he decides it was all worth it for this alone.

“I should go now, I have rounds.” she glances at the door, “I’ll let Tsunade know you’re awake, she’ll want to check on you.”

“But after my shift I could swing by with some dinner, if you’d like?” she asks bashfully, “It’s only hospital food, but I have some seasoning packets I keep in my locker that make it a little bearable. But if you want to rest instead that’s totally okay, you’ve been through a lot and—”

“Sakura” he interrupts her rambling, “Dinner sounds good.”

She beams, and it’s a brand new start.

“Who says ‘I love you’ to someone they just met?” he asks out of the blue.

They’re on the couch in the living room, in the apartment they’ve been sharing for the past two years. He is turned towards the TV while she is deep into a book, sitting with her back pressed into his side, legs thrown over the arm of the sofa.

She scoffs at his question.

“What kind of a battle-cry is ‘I’m not stupid’?” she challenges back.

When he doesn’t respond to her jab she cranes her neck to look back at him, and finds there is no mischief in his eyes, only a solemn intensity. She closes her book and sits up, turning around to face him fully.

“Hm.” she says as she ponders, “I’m not sure.”

“I just...felt something big.” she says, “It felt like you were slipping away before I even had a chance to hold on and I was desperate to make you understand what I was feeling— and love was the only thing that seemed big enough.”

He nods like he knows exactly what she means, and she smiles.

“Besides,” she says, throwing her arms around his neck and leaning in close enough to brush her nose against his, “I was right, wasn’t I?”

“Hn.” he gives her a sideways smile, and closes the distance between them.

Fin.

AN: A mediocre execution of the extraordinary @disquieted‘s beautiful story idea. Thanks my love! And happy SS month to everyone! I love this community so much and I am so excited to see what’s in store.

#ss #ss fanfiction #ssm21 #back from the dead #kinda

89 notes · View notes