#dark eyed avenger (sasuke)

[musesofchaos]

"Sasuke hates/doesn't care about Sakura" Um-

No, Sasuke doesn't care about Sakura at all

[musesofchaos]

“He did.” Sasuke would answer calmly, noting the surprised look on Deidara’s face. He truthfully wasn’t one to be interested in crafts and such, but if there was a way to get the tension out of the room he’d take it. So he politely nods along, paying attention to the blonde’s words. Trying not to smirk at the idea of a clay bird seating between vases and bowls.

Though, it’s his turn to be surprised when Deidara suddenly invites the idea of the children stopping by for pottery lessons. Itachi is surprised himself, having been carefully lessoning in as he tried to give all his nieces and nephews equal attention. Rambling on about their lives and what they’ve learned and such.

Sarada has also seemed to be listening in, as the girl suddenly perks up at the idea. Eyes shining in wonder. “Can we, Papa?” She asks. She may not look it, but she had recently developed an interest in the world of art. Sasuke see’s the hope in his daughter’s eyes and he couldn’t help but smile. “I don’t see why not.”

The happiness and excitement on his niece’s face makes Itachi’s expression soften. Glancing at Deidara and mouthing a silent thank you.

Taiyo grinned awkwardly at the question. Taking a small step back. “Not exactly… um…”

Thankfully, Ame interrupts before Sasuke things he needs to step in. Humming softly as he watches the interaction between mother and son. Noticing the silent but tense atmosphere between the duo as the boy went to stand beside his brother. It makes him frown slightly, casting Itachi a questioning glance before, again, attempting to make peaceful conversation with the blonde.

“Itachi tells me you have a pottery shop now. That sounds nice. What kind of things do you make?” Sasuke asks politely. Itachi is just gratefully that his brother is trying.

[lavendereyedassassin]

This was supposed to be a one-shot for the SasuHina Month Day 2 prompt “Basorexia.” However, it turned out to be much longer than I expected, and I had less time to dedicate than I’d like, so this will turn into a multi-chapter short fic. I hope to post a chapter each week with a different prompt for SH Month 2022. It is unbeta’d and rated T, please enjoy...

Cursed Kisses By: Lavender Eyed Assassin (Rated T)

Chapter 1: The Curse

~~~

Basorexia: An unbearable urge to kiss

SH Month Day 2 Prompt

~~~

Why did I agree to this?

“Sasuke!” The loud squeal coming from under a bubblegum pink bob served to exacerbate his growing headache.

I hate parties.

Sasuke silently watched from the doorstep as Sakura excitedly rushed forward to embrace her old teammate in greeting. With a well-timed step back, he simultaneously avoided her touch and conveyed his distaste for physical contact.

Sakura, being astute as she was, quickly understood the action and stopped herself from reaching for him. The war was over. Sasuke had been on a journey of redemption for years, and she had finally learned to move on.  

Dispelling the awkward moment, she gave a tight-lipped smile with an almost pitying expression that Sasuke couldn’t help but loath. Sakura turned her head away and yelled, “Naruto! Guess who’s back?”

From the depths of Sakura’s small house came a familiar, gruff roar, “SASUKEEE!!!””

Now in their early twenties, the Konoha Twelve were no longer young shinobi. Neji was gone, Tenten moved to Suna, and the rest, while living in Konoha, hardly had time to see each other. By some miracle, Tenten and Sasuke’s return visits coincided, and the group, led by Ino and Sakura, decided to host a get-together at Sakura’s newly purchased home.

“Come on inside! Everyone’s here already.” Sakura waved at the dark and imposing figure to follow her. Removing his travel worn boots and leaving them by the door, Sasuke barely took two steps into the hallway before a large, orange bundle of energy pounced on him.

“Teme! I almost didn’t expect you to show up, ‘ya know?” Naruto offered a happy smile that forced his eyes to squint into tiny crescents. With a one-armed hug that could pass as strangling, his other hand attempted to ruffle Sasuke’s already messy and overgrown hair. Their female counterpart tittered at the display of manly affection.

As ill-disposed and aloof as the ex-avenger came across, he had more patience for Naruto’s antics than most people. Like a practiced routine, he simply removed Naruto’s overly eager hand from inflicting more damage.

“I said I would be here. I am here.” The cold indifference in his voice was completely ignored by Team Seven’s alumni. It had come to be expected.

“Damn right you are!” Naruto exclaimed happily.

The space boasted a modern layout with the kitchen, dining room and living room being in a single open area, unhindered by walls. Immediately, Sasuke’s fight or flight drive kicked in as he took in the shoulder-to-shoulder atmosphere. Not only were the remaining Konoha 12 there, but there were spouses and other unfamiliar guests crowding the already cramped space.

Twenty minutes, and then I’ll leave, he assured himself.

After the escape plan hatched in his mind, he eyed a dark corner he was compelled to occupy. To his dismay, as soon as he began to slink off to that unclaimed and safe location, he felt a harsh tug on the collar of his sable cloak.

“No way! You just got here. You’re staying right where I can see you,” Naruto playfully reprimanded; a heavy arm casually, but securely, slinging around the shoulders of the touch-averse shinobi.

Receiving a scowl in response, Naruto laughed heartily and began to do what he did best- talk. Without letting go of Sasuke, the tall young blond dragged him to another pair of excited blondes. Sasuke felt his mood drop even further.

Females…

“Shion, this is Sasuke- my BEST friend from the academy! Sasuke, I’d like you to meet my girlfriend, Shion, and her friend Ririka. Funny story, they both work at the temple, but people think Ririka is a witch! HA!”

Sasuke offered a silent nod in acknowledgment while Naruto belly laughed hard enough to form tears. Uninterested in continuing the discussion, while deciding it wasn’t worthwhile to escape Naruto’s side, his attention started to wander. He perused the basic layout of the structure, memorized the exits, and studied the crowd.

Tenten was sitting on a bench, excitedly chatting with Lee. Gaara sat on her other side, a subdued longing gaze directed at the unsuspecting brunette.

Sasuke scoffed internally at the interplay and moved to the next group. Next to Gaara stood Temari, with a babbling infant on her hip, and Shikamaru. To Sasuke’s surprise, the class genius was in deep conversation with Shino. He didn’t know much about Team Eight. He never cared to know and wasn’t about to start.

So, he decided to move on.

There were some unknown, and uninteresting, faces. Girl’s flirting with guys, guys bragging with guys, and girls giving him suggestive stares that he proceeded to ignore.

Boring.

His focus landed on Choji who was happily filling his plate with the savory dishes on the table. No surprise there.

Ino, who was placing fresh addition from the kitchen, slapped his hand and lightly scolded, “At least wait until I put it down!”

Breaking him from his people watching, Sakura spoke to Sasuke in a hushed murmur while Naruto continued to gab. “I’ll come back to check on you guys later. I’m so glad you made it, Sasuke.”

He nodded blankly.

She smiled warmly at him and went off to play host, and make her rounds with the other attendees. After she stopped chasing him, and began to focus on herself more, it became easy for Sakura to make new friends. Ino also lost interest in the Uchiha since she only wanted his attention because she knew Sakura did. They became closer than ever.

As he trailed Sakura’s departure from their group, his eyes landed on a quiet pair socializing on the back porch. He couldn’t hear the conversation through the shut glass door, but he could clearly see everything from his vantage point. With their backs to him he could not easily identify the couple, but he was curiously drawn to the scene.

The tall, muscularly built man had unkempt, shoulder-length brown hair and was fairly familiar. The woman next to him, however, was an enigma.

It wasn’t her silky long strands of blue-black hair that he noticed first. Neither was it the milky smooth complexion of her bare arms that glistened naturally in the sun as they mindlessly ruffled through the thick, white pelt of a docile beast. Nor was it the heaven’s blessed curves and sinewy lines of her feminine build.

Although he wasn’t ignorant to her physical appeal, the first thing that he noticed was the way she moved.

She was the most graceful creature he’d ever laid eyes on.

His throat suddenly felt dry, forcing him to swallow to quench his growing thirst. There was a slight but deep uptick of his heart’s rhythmic beating. He drew in a breath to fill his desperate lungs and cool his warm core.

Who is she?

Drawing his dark brows together he unconsciously activated his sharingan in devout concentration. His pupils expanding to take in as much of her as he could. Wildly spinning pinwheels analyzing every shift of her head, each inhalation, and the smooth motion of her hands.

“Ummm… earth to Sasuke?”

A large, calloused palm waved inches from his face, effectively obstructing his perfect view of the mystery goddess. Annoyed, he glared at the nine-tails jinchuriki darkly and seethed, “What?”

As the hand fell, it was replaced by expressively wide blue eyes perched under raised brows. The perpetrator was a little too close for comfort causing Sasuke to instinctively lean away.

Taking in the Uchiha’s reddened face and dark expression, Naruto cut his stare over his shoulder to seek out exactly what had captured his friend’s attention so raptly. The Uzumaki’s confusion quickly morphed into a mischievous satisfaction, and he turned back to his friend with a smirk. Tilting towards Sasuke’s ear, he spoke under his breath. “Hinata’s hot right? She confessed to me once, ‘ya know?”

Hinata?

“I would’ve said yes, but Shion and I had already started dating, so I kinda ignored her. I just felt bad about rejecting a nice girl who’s done so much for me. And then after the Toneri thing happened, she stopped talking to me,” he began to ramble.

“WHAT?” Feeling appalled by Naruto’s lack of judgment and oddly concerned about Toneri, ‘the moon terrorist,’ Sasuke could not keep the rising anger from his voice. What was this feeling? Was he feeling jealous? Protective? He was definitely frustrated.

Backing away, the Uzumaki scratched the back of his head and laughed nervously. “Ehhh… let’s talk about it later. It’s not really that important. Right now, what’s important is we were just talking about going on a double date!” Beaming ear-to-ear like a Cheshire cat, he proposed, “Me and Shion, and you and Ririka. Saturday night. Great idea, am I right?!”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Hinata walk in with… right, Team Eight’s Kiba and their mascot horse dog- whatever his name was. The new spectators did not quell his heightened nerves. Instead, Hinata’s beautifully innocent, and blissfully unaware eyes seemed to light a fire in him.

Channeling his rage into his usual trigger point, he loudly exclaimed, “What is wrong with you?”

Squinting his perplexed stare, Naruto repeated, “What is wrong with me? What d’ya mean what is wrong with me? What is wrong with you! I’m trying to set you up with a girl, you moron!”

Equally matched in both talent and stature, Naruto bumped his chest against Sasuke’s, standing toe-to-toe and nose-to-nose in challenge.

Witnessing the rising hostility, the rest of the crowd began to press in with anticipation.

This only served to infuriate Sasuke further. With a maliciously calm tone, he muttered, “Some friend you are. You don’t know the first thing about me. When have you ever seen me go on a date with anyone? Why the hell would I want to go on a date with her.”

Before the village hero could voice his intent to help, the woman in question intruded with her hands on her hips and a defensive snarl, “And what exactly is wrong with me? You think you’re so cool because you’re the last Uchiha and girls fawn all over you? Well, let me tell you hot stuff- I can read you like an open book! You’re just a scared little boy. Scared of anyone getting close. Scared of any sort of physical interaction that doesn’t involve violence. At this rate, your clan is going to stay dead, and you’ll be alone forever!”

The room was so silent, you could hear the whistle of the air as it blew through the small gaps of the crevices in the house. Even Naruto was speechless, gawking his wide blue eyes at the bold and shameless female.

Sasuke’s face remained apathetic but under it all, his blood was steaming. “Thank you.” That caught everyone off guard. His voice was smooth and even, but everyone could feel the dangerous undercurrent skimming the surface. “Not only have you displayed precisely what is wrong with you, but you’ve also reminded me of why I choose not to be intimate with anyone. I have no doubt that whoever chooses you for a bride would rather wish he hadn’t.”

The sting of his words lingered in the air, but not for long. Ririka, face puffy and eyes red with tears welling at the corners, summoned all her anger and will and directed it towards the cold Uchiha with a sneer. “How dare you! I curse you, Uchiha Sasuke! You who are so afraid of intimacy, are cursed with days unnumbered of exactly that which you loath the most!”

She squealed in delight and boisterously laughed. The crowd murmured amongst themselves. Uncomfortable with the strained conditions, some chose to depart- including Team Eight, leaving him forlorn.

Turning his attention to Naruto, who looked like he just watched his frog wallet speak a different language, Sasuke informed as politely as possible, “I’m leaving.” Then he turned his back on the blond trio, his cloak floating behind him with the motion, and leveraged his long legs to expedite his exit without breaking into a run.

Snapping out of his trance, Naruto went after him. “Hey, Sasuke- Wait!”

When he reached the brooding male, he grabbed his shoulder from behind in an attempt to stop him.

As Sasuke spun to face the aspiring Hokage, Naruto clumsily tripped on his own large feet. He was sent hurtling towards the unprepared Uchiha, whose special eyes noted the ‘oh shit’ he mouthed as their distance closed.

Sasuke’s eyes widened in horror, realizing at this range it was already too late. His lips twisted into a grimace as they were met with Naruto’s sloppy open mouth. It slid down his chin, leaving a trail of saliva as they fell. Naruto knocked his friend to the ground with him, and landed between his legs. His spiky blond head resting on Sasuke’s solid chest.

“Get OFF of me!” Sasuke demanded.

While Naruto scrambled away from the deadly shinobi emitting a faint warning aura, Ririka’s laugh bounced off the walls in a perverse cacophony. “And so it begins!” She bellowed maniacally, hands gripping her stomach, filling the room with her mirth.

Sasuke quickly rose to his feet and departed with more haste than necessary. This time, Naruto did not follow.

A strange feeling began to form in the pit of his stomach. His growing unease a biproduct of her words.

That had to be a coincidence. Right?

Turning his focus back towards the house from where Ririka’s howls pursued him, and mind entrenched in recent memory, he did not see the ball arcing towards his head.

Subconsciously, he was aware of someone frantically yelling, “Watch out!”

Snapping his attention back to his path, his sight flashed white. A moment of dizzying pain and he was flat on his back with a throbbing lump on his skull.

“Ow,” he mumbled to himself, bringing his hand up to rub the sore spot.

Soon thereafter, his face was once again coated in saliva. This time dog saliva. A giant canine had licked from chin to forehead in a contrite act.

Sasuke froze. Eyes blinking rapidly in dawning recognition of what had happened.

Face filled with disgust, he propped himself up to a sitting position and wiped the slobber on his sleeve as he did so. He winced his eyes shut to bear the pain, and haphazardly registered the set of feet pounding against the pavement towards him.

“I am so sorry,” Kiba emphatically apologized while he tugged the back of Akamaru’s neck fur, attempting give the Uchiha some much needed space. Looking at his furry companion, the Inuzuka admonished, “You were supposed to catch that, Akamaru! What happened?”

The large white dog whined and placed a paw over his nose.

“A-are you okay?” A softly maternal voice twinkled, capturing Sasuke’s attention.

His onyx gaze lazily lifted to find the owner staring back at him with concern. Her eyes were even prettier up close, he realized. Though the Hyuga had white eyes, there was so much more to them than a flat canvas. There was visual depth and complexity. Though pupilless, there was a distinction between the sclera and iris, which was gemlike and reflected a light purple hue.

After he was silent for too long, dumbly observing the female without acknowledgement, Hinata kneeled in front of him with worry, and stated mostly to her teammates, “He might have a concussion. I think I should check.”

Grasping the fact that he was acting out of character, he was about to refuse her services and let her know he was fine when his name was called out from some distance away.

And again.

“Sasukeeee!”

It was Sakura.

She was lightly jogging towards him, her face morphed with concern, and he began panicking.

What if the curse was real?

What if some other accident befell him which resulted in another lip locking scene? In the past five minutes, he’d already been kissed twice. He could not, would not, suffer another unwanted second of intimacy.

If he was going to be cursed by some annoying witch, by sheer force of will he would grab fate by the horns and force it bend to him. Starting now.

At a few feet away Sakura slowed her stride and started to speak, but stopped abruptly when she witnessed a most unexpected event. In a harried rush, Sasuke placed his palm on the back of Hinata’s head, looked her straight in the eye, and before he could lose his muster, placed his lips against hers.

He could feel the heat form under his hands, and he did not know if it was coming from her cheeks or if his palms were sweating. It was intended to be a chaste kiss. Something quick and effective- like him. He expected it to be like the other kisses he’d experienced in his life, with Naruto, but this was different.

His lips lingered against hers as he took in their softness. His firm mouth lost the edge of tension they started with. The quickening in his pulse matched his sudden need for air. His eyelids closed of their own accord, and he found himself gasping and securing her lips again.

His fingers began to tangle in her hair and her rigid body went soft, pliable. He took this as a good sign, until he realized there was added weight to her as well.

At that moment, he felt himself being roughly pulled away from the object of his exploration.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Kiba groused.

Sasuke watched silently as Shino gently picked Hinata up in his arms in a bridal style carry. She had passed out.

Sakura stood idly with her jaw hanging wide, with no attempt to hide her shock. Although her mouth was open, for once, she was quiet.

“Let’s go, Kiba,” Shino coolly instructed.

“Tch! You better watch yourself buddy. I might not be able to kill you, but I can and will hurt you if you pull another stunt like that,” Kiba threatened, releasing the back of Sasuke’s shirt.

Kiba’s threat did not pierce the haze of euphoria in his mind. He sat there motionless staring after Hinata’s limp form. Long after her teammates had taken her away. Past the moment when Sakura mumbled her goodbyes.

He sat…

… and he thought…

… about a certain pearl eyed Hyuga, who might have just escaped with a tiny piece of him.

~~~ To Be Continued ~~~

[musesofchaos]

Send "Hug" to give my muse a hug! Any kind of hug! ((To Sasuke Uchiha From Sakura Haruno))

Sasuke flushed at the sudden hug. Tensing up in surprise. "Sakura..." He said softly, sounding almost in awe. Before slowly returning the hug. Seeming scared to accidentally hug her too tightly. "Thank you..."

[catflorist]

The Time Being (ao3 / ffn) catflorist Summary: Time-slipping is a side effect of wielding the Rinnegan. When Sasuke slips through time, he always goes to Sakura, whether he wants to or not. 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8

warning: this chapter contains mentions of death, and also orochimaru displays some possessive behavior over sasuke.

pt. 2: ocean

“You are weak,” Orochimaru hissed, a lazy foot pinning Sasuke’s chest to the ground.

Sasuke glared up at the snake Sannin. “I’m not weak.” In the dim torchlight of Orochimaru’s hideout, his power grew by the day.   His new mentor was unimpressed. “You’re not committed. Don’t waste my time if you’re still holding on to your silly village.” He released Sasuke. “You must choose.”

That night, Sasuke saw the faces of the people he had left behind, because the Sharingan kept him from forgetting. But Sasuke had already made his choice. He was already here, wasn’t he? He would do anything to kill Itachi and avenge his slain clan. Nothing else mattered.

He lit a fire in his mind’s eye. Everything burned away, except for Itachi’s face, and the shape of his own hatred. He learned to cut away stray thoughts of his old life, his teammates. He dismissed the time-slipping as a fluke, as inexplicable as the way his curse mark boiled his blood and infused him with strength. As he grew more powerful, the task of rewriting himself became easier and easier, until it was nothing at all.   At the hideout near Kusagakure, Sasuke turned fourteen, then fifteen. Orochimaru never called him weak again. Instead, when he looked at Sasuke, his gaze was hungry, like he might consume him. If Sasuke didn’t already know the Sannin wished to claim his body as a vessel, he would have known with one look at his sallow face. The desire was obvious. It grew as wild as brambles around Sasuke. But Sasuke used the thorns as his shield and protection as he cultivated his hatred and his power, clearing a path towards vengeance for his clan.   One day Orochimaru led Sasuke to his own sprawling quarters and hissed, “I have a gift for you,” and presented Sasuke a purple obi. When Sasuke knotted it around his waist, Orochimaru trailed a possessive finger over the thick cord. His pale hands trembled. Sasuke pretended not to see.   Kabuto called for Orochimaru, and Sasuke was alone in the Sannin’s dark chamber. Dust coated everything in sight except for an ornate vanity and mirror in the center of the room. These fixtures gleamed even in the dark. Askew on the surface of the vanity lay jars of fine white powder, pots of creamy greasepaint, and vials swirling with green liquid, for which Sasuke could name no purpose. 

Sasuke dipped his fingers into an open jar of paint. The purple pigment was tacky on his skin, like drying blood. He eyed the collection of brushes Orochimaru used to paint his face. The bristles of each brush tip varied in color and texture. They were composed of human hair. Sasuke frowned, then locked eyes with his reflection in the mirror.   For the first time since he had joined Orochimaru, Sasuke had the opportunity to look at himself. The mirror revealed long dark hair falling past his collarbone. A loose, white shirt carelessly flung open to reveal his bare chest. An obi, purple as poison, coiled like a snake around his waist. A dissatisfied mouth, slanting down. Red, red eyes that absorbed all light and reflected none back. In a trance, he pulled his hair back from his face. Itachi peered back at him. Sasuke recoiled and dropped the ponytail.   In his own chamber Sasuke cut his hair as short as he could get it with a kunai. When it was done he felt the jagged and uneven spikes and let out a breath. He was not Orochimaru’s vessel. He was not a Konoha shinobi. He was not Itachi. He was his own. . . Sasuke’s old teammates infiltrated Orochimaru’s lair.    Through Orochimaru’s network of spies, Sasuke had heard word of Sakura’s healing abilities, and her defeat of Sasori of the Akatsuki. He could not help staring at her, trying to sense the difference. But when her mouth formed the syllables of his name, his ears rejected the sound of her voice.   He had not heard any news of Naruto. Sasuke tested his abilities and found him wanting.   The encounter was short and inconsequential. Sasuke had done his work well. He didn’t feel a thing. Nothing, not even his old teammates, could keep him from fulfilling his purpose. 

Half-asleep in bed that night, he remembered how Naruto’s nose twitched right before he smiled. 

Sasuke opened his eyes and frowned at his ceiling, shutting down the intrusive thought.

He remembered another half-forgotten detail. Sakura’s knees bruised easily. 

Spots colored Sasuke’s vision. He gasped, fighting a flood of nausea.

Rain pattered upon a wooden roof. The air smelled like salt.   Sakura’s hair was long. She said, “It’s you.”   By the time Sasuke activated the glare of his Sharingan, he was back in his bed.   He shot up, fingers still tingling, far more shaken than he would like.   Sasuke had learned to harness the power of his curse mark. He had mastered the chidori, the Sharingan, and all of Orochimaru’s tricks. He had overcome his weaknesses and cut away all ties to his old life. How could this be happening? . . The next time, Sasuke lunged at Sakura even before the tingling in his fingers faded.   Sakura let out a grunt. Her forearm blocked his assault. When they made contact Sasuke’s stomach lurched. Her body felt solid and very real. 

Sakura sprang backwards and held up her hands. “I don’t want to fight you.”   Sasuke darted towards her again. She twisted his arm and flipped him to the ground. His back connected with the floor with enough force to knock the air from his lungs.  

Long pink hair dangled in his face. He tried to move, but an iron grip pinned him down. “Sorry about that.” She didn’t sound sorry.   “How did you get so strong?” he demanded.   A small bubble of laughter escaped Sakura.   Sasuke’s stomach turned in a familiar falling motion. He lurched up in his own bed, the sound of her laugh ringing in his ears, and spit out a curse. 

The last person to pin Sasuke down in a fight was Orochimaru. Two years ago. 

When he had attacked Sakura, he hadn’t even bothered to use his doujutsu. He had underestimated her. . . Sasuke knew he would slip again, as if he had activated his Sharingan and seen the shape of the instinct with his own eyes. He prepared himself. As he cooled from the previous encounter with Sakura, he decided it would not be wise to attack her. Instead, he would use the visits to his advantage and gather information.   The next time, he was ready.   The scent of salt filled his nose. Sasuke was alone in a one-roomed, lofted shack. He rushed to the nearest window. Morning sun illuminated a rocky coastline, which eased into sand and then an endless expanse of blue ocean. Two tall rock formations studded the water and distant mountains cut into the sky. This landscape appeared nowhere near Konoha.   Sasuke released his grip on the windowpane and assessed his surroundings. The room was bare save for a table, a bookshelf, and two chairs positioned next to the small hearth. A row of large seashells decorated its mantle. He caught a glimpse of bedding tucked away in the loft high above his head. A dark cat dozed on the kitchen counter next to a stack of wooden bowls.   The door creaked open, inviting a gust of wind into the room. Sakura halted in the doorframe, carrying a wooden bucket heavy with seawater. She wore loose pants and a man’s shirt. A diamond marked the center of her forehead.

“Sasuke,” she greeted, brow furrowed. A strange expression—something he couldn’t name—rose then fell from her face. 

���Am I not who you expected?” Sasuke bit.   Sakura’s mouth twitched. “Not quite.”  

“Where are we?” he asked.   “My place,” Sakura said, shutting the door with a swing of her hip. She set the bucket on the floor.   The dark cat slunk down from the kitchen counter and leapt into Sasuke’s surprised arms. 

“Her name is Hime,” Sakura said, as the cat made herself comfortable on his shoulder, as if she were royalty.

“Why is this happening?” he demanded. But with a cat purring next to his ear, he imagined he did not form the threatening picture he wanted.   Sakura validated his concerns by asking, “Do you want some tea? Or if you’re hungry, I collected mussels. They’re best when they’re fresh.”    He snorted.   “You’re already here, aren’t you? Might as well enjoy yourself.” She smiled. Her fingers twitched. “Unless you’re interested in another fight.”   Sasuke’s fists clenched. I am here for information, he reminded himself, and took a reluctant seat at the table. Sakura poured two cups of tea, though he had not asked for any, and sat across from him.    Sasuke asked, “What year is it?” The cat sprang from his shoulder onto his thigh.   Sakura named a date five years ahead of his own.   “Where are we?”   She smiled.   “What’s happened to the village?”   Silence. Konoha might have burned to the ground, or Sakura might be Hokage. Sasuke could not read her.   Another question burned in his throat, one he had not planned to ask, but it escaped him anyway. “Do I…” He swallowed. “Do I kill Itachi? You must know.”   He thought her eyes saddened. Or maybe it was the light.   “Answer me,” he snapped.   Sasuke had spent nights envisioning what might happen the next time he slipped—the questions he could ask Sakura, the knowledge he would gain. But he had not considered the simple possibility that she would resist answering him. He had not foreseen the cup of tea steaming before him, the cat curled in his lap.   “I’m sorry you’re hurting so much,” she said.    Sasuke shot up, jostling the table. His teacup toppled over. The cat let out an unhappy cry and darted out of sight.   “Don’t act like you know me,” he spat, blood rushing to his head.   He was speaking to the shadows of his empty room. . . Sasuke returned to this Sakura at the seaside time and time again.    It always happened when he was tired, half-asleep, his guard down. He worked himself to the bone, hoping fatigue would fend away the unwanted journey. It did not.   Sasuke bombarded her with questions. Sakura responded with jests, frustrating half-truths, or silence, until Sasuke stopped asking. He had failed to adopt Orochimaru’s slick and persuasive nature. Any information he learned was at Sakura’s mercy.   Sometimes when he arrived, Sakura was making breakfast. Feeding the cat. Sitting by the hearth, playing a game of shogi with herself. “Tea?” she asked, each time. 

Sasuke would slam the door on the way out. If he couldn’t control his visits, he could at least limit his exposure to Sakura. The wooden shack was perched on the first patch of firm ground by the water. He stared at the ocean until he slipped back to his own time.    His visits were brief, until one time, it wasn’t.   Sakura was up in the loft, folding her bedding. She fluffed a pillow and made no comment at his appearance. 

Sasuke dodged the cat’s affections. He sat cross-legged against the side of her small home and waited for the vertigo that meant he was on his way. Half an hour passed, but it did not come.   At the sound of a creaky door, Sasuke opened his eyes.   Sakura strode outside with a wooden bucket. “You’re still here,” she observed.   Against his better judgement, Sasuke spoke. “I’d rather not be.”   “You look tired.”   “It’s the middle of the night,” he insisted, squinting in the morning sun. A bird chirped cheerfully in the middle of his sentence.   “Well,” Sakura said. She situated the bucket on her hip. “Don’t let me keep you.”   This concluded their second-longest conversation. Sakura walked down to the tide pools, waded calf-deep in the water, and collected mussels. He was still here when she returned, leaving a trail of wet footprints on the stone path.   Water sloshed from Sakura’s bucket. “Are you hungry?” she called, already smirking in anticipation of his refusal.   He glared.   Sakura was not done. She touched a finger to her chin. “You like sitting here. I’ll build a bench,” she decided.   “Don’t,” Sasuke advised.   Next time, a bench waited outside her house. The material was the same smooth wood as the house, though Sasuke didn’t see any hardwood trees around.    He scowled, but he sat down. The cat joined him, then Sakura joined him.   “When was the last time I was here?” he sighed.   “Three days ago.” Sakura set an extra cup of tea between them, which Sasuke ignored. “And you?”   “Last night.” He rubbed his temples. “And the night before that.”   “No wonder you’re tired,” she said, scratching Hime between her ears.   Sasuke sprang a question. “Why aren’t you in Konoha?”   “I like the ocean,” Sakura said, without skipping a beat.   “Since when?” he muttered. They had seen the ocean together once, on their first mission. He didn’t remember Sakura making any particular fuss about it.   The half-smile on her face faded. “I’m here because I’m waiting for something.”   Something in her voice made Sasuke’s head turn. He allowed himself to really look at Sakura, to see what she would be like in five years' time. Her hair was long again. Her limbs were wiry and powerful emerging from the men’s clothing she now wore. Her chin was just as delicate as he remembered, her eyes just as green, reflecting the sea.   “What are you waiting for?” Sasuke asked. The rocky ceiling of his chamber gave no response. . . On Sasuke’s sixteenth birthday, Orochimaru procured another gift for Sasuke. He held out a thin wooden box and opened the lid for him. A delicate wooden comb lay in its plush interior.   “For your hair,” the Sannin said.   Sasuke nearly smiled. He was unversed in the finer details of gift-giving, but even he knew that kushi made inauspicious gifts.   “Don't worry about good or bad luck, Sasuke-kun,” Orochimaru assured. He grasped the comb and ran a thumb across its slender wooden teeth, producing a musical vibration. “We won’t need any of it.”   He stepped closer and ran the comb through the front lock of Sasuke’s hair. He was gentle, practicing ownership of his future vessel.   Sasuke froze through the first stroke of the comb, and the next. Then the fine teeth snared on a tangle. Awakened by the twinge of pain on his scalp, Sasuke pulled back. The hairs stood up on his arms.   Orochimaru would soon try to claim him. But Sasuke was stronger than Orochimaru. He fell asleep that night thinking about his next steps.    He woke up and blood was dripping from his eyelashes, clogging his ears. He retched at the scent, acid rising to his throat. He saw his parents’ slumped bodies. He saw Itachi’s red eyes. He heard every sound a clan made as it was slaughtered, then the terrible silence after the screaming had stopped.   His fists clenched in his blankets, but his fingers closed around sand.   There was an ocean in front of him.   Sasuke was chest deep into the cold water when he realized he was not splattered in the blood of his nightmare. He plunged under anyway, because he still felt unclean. He floated in the darkness, his body bobbing with the tide. After some time, his lungs panged in a distant way. He opened his eyes, feeling the burn of the salt. The pain in his lungs worsened until he couldn’t ignore it any longer. Sasuke broke the surface and gasped for air.   When he emerged from the waves, Sakura was waiting for him on the beach. She held out a blanket.    Leave me alone. Sasuke opened his mouth to spit out the words. But he hesitated. Accepting Sakura’s blanket changed nothing in his own time. It would only make his existence a little warmer and drier for the time being. Nothing he did here in this dreamlike world changed anything at all.   Sasuke wrapped the blanket around his shoulders. It was soft and heavy, and smelled of something fresh. Dimly, he remembered this was Sakura’s scent. He dropped to the ground to ease the shaking of his legs. 

Without a sound, Sakura sat next to him. She did not touch him, did not look anywhere except the water. Sasuke dried his face, then ran his fingers through the cool sand, grounding himself. All was quiet except for waves crashing against the pair of rock formations.

As he was slipping back, she spoke. “Take care, Sasuke-kun.”   Sasuke fell into a dreamless sleep. In the morning his clothes were stiff with seawater, flecked with salt and sand. Something hard and round pressed against his palm. Sasuke opened his fingers and discovered he was holding a pebble. Its surface was smooth as water, and it was the same color as the moon.  . . It was another night, and instead of sleep, Sasuke was pulled to Sakura.   She joined him outside. The morning sun shimmered on the water.   “Beautiful, isn’t it?” Like usual, she offered Sasuke tea. As Hime purred against his leg, Sasuke’s fingers wrapped around the cup.    “Hm,” Sakura said, watching him. “If I remember right, this is the last time.”   “The last time?” Sasuke repeated.   “The last time you’ll come here.” She took a sip of her tea. “It’s not the end, though. You’ll see me elsewhere. In other times.”   Sasuke remembered the other Sakura he had met, the first time he had slipped. She was crying, and Sasuke had held her hand. He had tried to forget.   But that wasn’t the first time. An old dream—what Sasuke thought was a dream—came back to him in a rush. A woman with pink hair had given him breakfast. She was pregnant. Her baby had kicked.   Something must have shown on his face, because Sakura said, “I know this is strange. It’s been strange for me too.”   “You know what this is—why this is happening. At least say that much.” Though he tried, his voice had no heat.    “Yes,” she said. “I know why this is happening.”   “How do you know?” he asked.   Maybe he asked the right question, because for once, Sakura gave him a blunt answer. “I know because you told me.”   Sasuke’s throat went dry. “Sakura—”

He didn't know where he was going with that sentence, but it didn't matter. He slipped away. . . . .

Up next: Sasuke forms his team, learns the cause of his time-slipping, and makes some decisions.

Notes: Combs (kushi) are considered bad luck when given as gifts--"ku" means suffering and "shi" means death. This chapter and chapter 7 are my favorites, so I hope you enjoyed! Let me know if you did!!

late update bc I was swept away celebrating how trump was voted out of office!!! he can now f*ck off :)

[lazylazyhowl]

A work in progress— (sasusaku oneshot)

—because the Sharingan may let him copy a lot of things, but skills of the heart are not amongst them.  [Sasuke. On, accepting himself. And her.]

AO3 Link

—

"Maybe next time."

His words are calculated.

Maybe, he's said, and given himself a way out. Given her a probability that, should the odds fall through later on, he can point at and absolve himself of responsibility. The same shit Itachi pulled when they were younger, really, except he won't apologize for it.

He sees the way her face lights up with hope and feels a mirroring force of optimism inside him that he has to clamp down to keep from bursting through the surface and muddying the reality of what he's doing.

His journey cannot involve her no matter what. He's not ready to be with her in any capacity of the words. Perhaps never. But he also doesn't want his last—but only for a while, he adamantly tells himself—memory of her to be a frown.

She's been burdened enough where he's involved. So he'll let her see him off with a smile, even if it's only self-gratification.

There is no guilt when he leaves her with his own smile and gratitude and goes on his way.

.

.

The day before his departure, she demanded a spar. He was bleary-eyed squinting at her, in her ninja gears, standing in the damp cold of early morning in front of his door, the flush of her cheeks of strange particular interest to him for a moment before he simply nodded.

She cited professional purposes ("I want to make sure you're in proper conditions for travel, Sasuke-kun.") even though he had already agreed. Even though her reason was crap and made no sense whatsoever.

He wondered if that was the only reason she thought he would accept, even if not believe; and if her request the only one she thought he was least likely to turn down.

He wondered if she was right.

Thanks to her he never had to find out. He only had to hurry and leave for the training ground with her, knowing Naruto would appear soon after, demanding the same of him. But not for the same reason. (Whatever that might have been.)

.

.

He helps people during his travel, but otherwise generally stays away from them. It's for both his and their good.

More for his.

People ask too many questions, and even the simplest ones dredge up far more than he's willing to deal with.

"Who are you?" they'd ask. "Just a shinobi," he'd answer.

But he's not just a shinobi. Avenger. Missing nin. Akatsuki. Terrorist. War criminal. The list goes on and he cannot in good conscience cross off any one of the items. Those personas, damned as they are, are still a part of him, and if he closes his eyes, he can recall them all in sickeningly vivid details.

"What's your name?" they'd ask. "Uchiha Sasuke," he'd tell them.

And then it's a coin toss on whether recognition and fear flit past their expressions. For the first few times, he's even considered using an alias, but that would have been such a meaningless thing to do in a journey of redemption.

And cowardly.

He's done with running away.

Or so he tells himself.

.

.

It's a calm, sunny day when he stops at a dango stand in a village near the border between Fire and Rain. The decorative flags caught his eyes, he supposes, but he still can't quite pinpoint what has possessed him to purchase a stick of dango for himself.

Itachi loved these (his chest tightens the way it does whenever he's reminded that he can only refer to his brother in past tense), and maybe that's it. But then what?

He isn't one to waste food (though it's debatable whether this is 'food') so he brings it to his mouth and slides the first ball of dango from the skewer.

And he flinches, not from the taste but from the smile that flashes through the front of his mind, innocent and genuine.

His throat runs dry. Too sweet. He makes it through the second ball of dango before leaving the rest behind on the table.

.

.

The night before his departure, Naruto finagled him into joining the rest of team 7 for ramen as his farewell party. There wasn't just team 7 at the party.

She was there, of course, with same the dark rings beneath her eyes that he'd noticed rather belatedly during their spar in the morning. Those hadn't kept her from giving him a few bruises and grazes, but he'd be a little less bothered by them if she hadn't also healed him up afterwards.

("But you don't like the hospital, Sasuke-kun.")

She was out like a candle before they even got to the main course.

Being enthusiastic neither for the people nor the ramen, he jumped at the opportunity and volunteered to take her home.

As he left the shop with her, Naruto called after him not to try anything funny and the table erupted into laughter and catcalls. He did not dignify any of that with a response.

She was completely malleable in his arms (Susanoo), her warm breaths seeping into the chest of his shirt, and he didn't dash through the air and over the roofs of civilian houses to get to the shinobi side of the residential district.

Abrupt movements could wake her, and she would fight to stay awake again.

Susanoo used enough chakra already and he needed to be conservative for tomorrow.

Reasoning ironed out, he took a leisure stroll to her apartment, occasionally glancing down to ensure her eyes remained peacefully closed.

.

He supposes he did attempt something funny that night. He called upon his Sharingan and committed to memory things that rightfully should be of no consequence to him.

.

.

He enjoys the long stretches of solitude in his travel, even if his voice will croak from disuse once he hits civilization again.

He likes forests best, especially after rain. The musk of earth and tree sap reminds him that clean air exists, and there is no curious gaze on his Rinnegan, no whispering except for the rivers and trees.

A heavy flapping of feathers reaches his ears, and he holds out his arm to receive the messenger falcon.

Letters from his team.

Naruto rambles, illegible at places, about everything and anything that has happened and then some more; and Kakashi includes some personal postscripts after a mission briefing.

He reads hers last, after feeding the bird and sending it away.

He's forgotten if he was the type to save the best or worst for last.

It's the first time she's written to him, and she's surprisingly succinct. Perhaps reserved. A greeting. Comment on the weather. Well-wishing. Her name. And that was all.

But against all logic, he felt her longing for him.

He isn't sure if it's the way the ink seems to tremble at certain strokes, or how the creases where the paper was folded adds a depth to the spaces she's left between the sentences, that seem to be filled with unspoken sentiments. Or if it's just his inflated ego.

He burns every letter he receives, as the information might get into the wrong hands, but can't bring himself to do the same for hers.

Fortunate, then, that she's written nothing that would be of interest to anyone.

(But him.)

.

.

The feeling of her eyes on him was calming, almost spiritual, like a brush of warm smoke at the back of his neck, downy feathers on his skin. He could have pretended sleep forever if she wasn't likely to figure him out the longer he kept up the charade.

.

.

It occurs to him one night, looking out the dirty window of an inn, that he has no idea who he is, if not war criminal, not terrorist or Akatsuki or missing nin; if not an avenger.

He's certainly no hero.

The more people he helps, the less he feels himself. There's a disconnect between what he's doing and what he knows himself to be. More often than not, he'd ask himself—what would Naruto do? What would Sakura do? What would Kakashi do? What would Itachi do—have done? (Damnitdamnitdamnit.)

And whatever he'd think they would do he'd do just that. It makes for surprisingly simple problem-solving.

But at his core he's not selfless like Itachi. Not faithful like Naruto. Not loyal like Kakashi. Not kind like Sakura.

At the end of the day, he still doesn't know what he would do.

He scarcely acknowledges it, but he keeps chasing after the back of these great people. He's running himself ragged trying to catch up, but he's so aggravatingly slow that it's a wonder he hasn't lost sight of them all.

He fears it's only a matter of time. And then he will once again be lost and directionless.

He's Uchiha Sasuke, and he no longer knows what that means.

.

.

"Oniichan, you suck." This statement is followed by chattering agreements of the other kids crowding around him on the dirt floor of the orphanage.

Children are vicious creatures, he's beginning to learn. He struggles to recall if he was ever this much trouble to Itachi as a kid. They are also incredibly unhygienic, and they incessantly tug at his clothes and hair, poke at the stub of his arm with such disregard that he almost misses the fangirl treatment from way back when in the village.

By the fifth time that they make him redo the voice for the rabbit-dog-cat-looking thing in the story, he's teeteringly close to setting Amaterasu-fire to the worn book in his lap.

His rescue comes in the form of the old matron appearing in the doorway announcing dinner. The children abandon him like one would a sinking ship.

"Thank you for playing with them, Uchiha-san."

He nods noncommittally as he receives his own bowl of food from one of the older kids. It was hardly his choice when the little ones ensnared him within their circle of skin and bones, threatening to cry if he didn't comply, so he thinks her gratitude is therefore unneeded.

None of these is needed. The feeding him, the lodging. He's only sticking around for at most a few more days to take care of the group of mountain bandits that has been harassing the orphanage. He would have been fine setting up camp nearby and not having to deal with the children growing attached (because he knows they will), but the matron insisted.

He's always had this inexplicable soft spot for the elderly, and he wonders if it's not in parts due to the fact that so few in his world get to be old and grey.

.

.

 "So Little Piggy went to ask Mommy Pig."

The matron's lilting voice floats to his ear as he perches atop the roof of the orphanage, miles and miles of moonlit forest spanning out before him.

 "'What is happiness, Mommy?'"

 "'It's your tail, sweetie,' said Mommy Pig, and Little Piggy looked at her wiggling tail."

For the longest time, he's had an idea of what happiness should be.

It was the firmness of Itachi's back. His mother's warm meals, and his father's approving grunts. It was a compound brimming with powerful chakras, and memories of children play-training in the clan's private training grounds; and red tomatoes getting snuck out of his mother's garden.

 "Little Piggy looked at her tail and began to chase it around in circles until she was out of breath. But no matter how hard she tried she couldn't catch it at all!"

Happiness was home, when home wasn't yet piles of bodies and dark corridors and slipping on cold blood.

He has no idea what happiness would look like now.

 "'Mommy, how can I ever catch happiness?" asked Little Piggy."

 "'Well, sweetie, your tail will always be there. Why don't you keep walking and let happiness follow you?'"

He closes his eyes and taps into the warm hum of collective chakra inside the orphanage, the tiny sparks flickering dimmer and dimmer as sleep slowly claims the children.

 "And so Little Piggy listened to her mother. She walked forward without worry, for she knew her happiness is always wiggling right behind her. The end."

"Goodnight, my dears."

Matron closes the book and gets up from her squeaky chair to stand by the window right beneath where he is, likely to stare out into the forest.

"Goodnight, Uchiha-san."

If he didn't have his shinobi hearing he never would have caught the whispered words.

He's turned the bandits in to the authorities and said all goodbyes in the afternoon. She doesn't know he's there, and he's all the more puzzled.

He stands guard for the rest of the night and silently slips away from the orphanage's grounds at the break of dawn.

.

.

The weather in Tea is shifting into spring when he arrives at its border. After a few days of travelling in silence, he stumbles upon a cherry blossom tree that has flowered early, its cloud-like plumage colourful in a sea of solemn green; low-hanging branches swaying in invitation.

He tells himself it's as good a resting spot as any, and feels a decided sense of betrayal that the spilling flowers don't smell the way he thinks they should.

.

.

A letter arrives suddenly, informing him of her kidnapping, and he doesn't remember another time that he's been more desperate. She's not someone who'd just let herself be taken, and he fears the worst.

Her letters that he's saved in his pocket weigh like a ball of lead near his heart. He's running as if his life's at stakes. Perhaps it is. For the first time since getting the Rinnegan, he wishes he knew how to control it better.

Then, watching her take down her captors, he learns these:

She's grown so much, has come so far from that little girl she once was and no longer needs to be rescued, least of all by him.

He's the very reason why she's been taken in the first place, her weakness, just that kind of toxic existence to her.

After making sure she will be safe, he leaves and doesn't look back.

.

.

Just as she has been born into this life to love him, he must have been born with the sole purpose of bringing her pain.

He only needs all of two weeks in Konoha to have her crying before him again. The weather is grey as if matching the storm in his heart. They're standing in front of that bench where he's left her once upon a time, and he can't say he doesn't notice how history is dangerously close to repeating itself.

Every muscle in his body is coiled for battle, ready to cite the 'maybe' in his promise and gain the slightest semblance of equal moral grounding with her.

She's chewing on her lip in an attempt to bite back her emotions (probably more for his sake than hers. She needs to stop making things easy for him). The tears haven't spilt yet, but they are there, glazing over jewel-like green eyes.

"I thought this time surely—" She cuts herself off when her voice cracks and chews on her lips some more, breaking eye-contact. "What went wrong, Sasuke-kun?"

.

 Before he could stop himself, he'd already slapped her hand away, shouting at her not to touch him.

She simply smiled, like a mother dealing with the tantrum of a child, and calmly finished changing his bandages while guilt still had him in its vice.

.

He went wrong, but what else was new? With her, he's both a madman and a smitten fool, angry and frustrated and thankful and disgusted and confused and elated and most of all scared. Terrified.

The way she hugs herself and seems to be on the brink of falling apart is nauseating to look at. He's getting worked up over what was supposed to be a simple goodbye. But that's the problem, isn't it? Nothing's ever simple when she's involved.

"You know that this is your home, right? You've never needed to earn any right to stay in it."

"…I know."

She raises a doubtful eyebrow. "Do you?"

.

It had taken him two years and countless good deeds to finally find the resolve to forgive himself and return to Konoha as someone he thought would be worthy of his friends.

Yet all it took was one smile from her to undo all the confidence that he'd built up like it was a house of cards. He realized immediately that no amount of atonement would ever redeem him enough to be worthy of her.

"Welcome home, Sasuke-kun."

 And the worst part was that he wanted to stay regardless.

.

"Don't be annoying, Sakura." And he can see her visibly shrink back like she's been hit. He might as well have. His fist curls at his side, itching to do something just to stop her from further torturing her steadily swelling lip.

Instead of leaving him alone as he expects her to (and how senseless it is to keep expecting something that will never happen), she steps forward and grabs gingerly onto his mantle.

"Are you…unsatisfied in Konoha? With m—with us?"

He doesn't respond, and she seems to take his silence as agreement and starts to cry in true. Big, fat droplets roll down her cheeks as she matches his gaze. The raw hurt in her eyes startles him.

"What will make you happy, Sasuke-kun?" She tightens her grip, pulling him infinitesimally closer, choking on her words. "Please, please tell me how I can make you happy."

"That's not your problem." That's apparently also a wrong thing to say. She looks resigned now, and the sight somehow claws at him even more. The wind picks up suddenly, nearly drowning out her next words.

"Do you even want to be happy?"

He thinks for a length and honestly cannot say for certain he does. He can hardly picture what his happiness would be now that the old one is so drenched in blood, and misery is a lot harder to take away from a person.

It's ironic, then – or perhaps apt – that he would chase after something he doesn't really want. Because he's full of greed and self-gratification.

She once again takes his silence into her own narrative and lets out a long sigh. Meeting his gaze again, her eyes are already dry, red-rimmed, beseeching. Her voice is but a whisper.

"Is there something you want, Sasuke-kun? Anything?"

If she puts it that way, he wants a lot of things, as a greedy man should. Full control over the Rinnegan. Restore his clan. A tomato garden. Her. To name a few.

But he looks at her, her red eyes and tear-stained cheeks and bruised lip, and sees that she is all wrong compared to everything he's etched into his memory; and blurts out the single thing that floats up to the forefront of his mind right then.

"I want you to be happy."

It takes her a second to react to his words, her large eyes becoming impossibly larger as her mouth opens only to close again. He's not sure why she's so surprised. Of course, he wishes her happiness, even if that will be independent of his own.

A million emotions seem to flicker past her expression in a second, of which he only identifies disbelief, suspicion, melancholy and finally exasperation before she inexplicably bursts into a short fit of giggles. She lets go of his mantle and, before he can miss the anchoring hold, reaches for his tight fist and brings it up between her palms, squeezing.

"I can do that."

She's smiling that smile that unravels him to his core again, her eyes glittering. And he can blame his carnal desires for overriding all of his faculty, but he finds himself ensorceled.

"How about we work on it together, Sasuke-kun?"

His chest is strangely free of heaviness as he uncurls his fingers, almost in a daze, and encases her callused yet delicate ones.

"Hn."

.

.

A few days before his departure, he asks if she would come with him and she agrees easily, if not a little exasperatedly that he'd waited so long to ask, and he's mystified as to why he's stayed up all night worrying that she wouldn't.

.

.

Three months into their journey together, a newly formed part of him is startlingly assured that she will always have his back, and nothing—nothing can ever change that.

.

It takes a while longer, but the day finally comes that he figures it out.

He's Uchiha Sasuke, and he means everything to Uchiha Sakura.

—

Notes: I do not own the children story.

[pain-somnia]

ssm day 09: written in the stars

SasuSaku Month Day 09 Title: The Lion & The Ram Prompt: Written In The Stars Rating: T Disclaimer Day’s Notes: I’m always a day late and a dollar short but hopefully this fic was worth waiting for. a soulmark au set in the ninja-verse; implied ShiItaIzu

Tracing the lines that stood prominent on his forearm, Sasuke sighed and dipped lower into the bathtub. It was on such a noticeable part of his body, and his mother knew the exact moment the cluster of dots on his skin took shape, just a few months shy of his first birthday.

“Tired from the heat already?”

Sasuke looked up at his older brother sitting across the ofuro. His hair had gotten long enough for Mother to let him borrow one of her pins to keep his hair from getting wet. With his hair pulled up and away, Itachi’s soulmarks were on display. A rarity considering their placement on his collarbone.

Itachi was an anomaly. It was one thing to be born like the Hyuga and have no soulmark but to have two of them was almost unheard of.

Itachi’s two marks were completely different from each other and stood on opposite sides, symmetrical in location. Constellations that typically never rose high in the sky at the same time standing like equals on his skin.

The one on his right he was born with, one soulmate already born before him. The second one appeared when he was two months old, the other one younger but still the same age.

At four years old Sasuke was confused by Itachi’s marks. If he had two soulmates than how did he know which one was the right one? What if he picked wrong?

“I don’t think there’s a wrong choice,” Itachi answered him, ruffling Sasuke’s hair dry with a towel. “It doesn’t even mean I will ever meet them.”

That was the problem with their soulmarks. Constellations were vague. His soulmate could be anyone.

Anyone born under the Ram.

. .

Being born without a soulmark wasn’t a bad thing. At least that’s what Sakura’s mother said.

Haruno Mebuki told her daughter that it was actually a blessing. Without a soulmark, Sakura would never fall prey to chasing after any person that happened to be born under whatever constellation that appeared on her skin.

“Plenty of people fall in love despite not having any mark. Some people with marks fall in love with the wrong kind. You don’t find the person for you just because a few dots on your skin happen to have lines that connect.”

It was all unfair to Sakura. She wasn’t born from parents without soulmarks. Her parents even had matching marks located along their ribs on opposite sides of their bodies.

Sakura wouldn’t have minded so much being markless if she were a Hyuga. An entire clan of people without soulmarks that belonged to each other. No one married outside of the clan so a lack of marks meant nothing to them.

But day after day without anyone to talk to, no friends by her side, Sakura couldn’t stop the overwhelming feeling of loneliness.

She longed for her translucent freckles to darken and form a constellation, any constellation, just for the promise that one day she would have someone that she belonged to and they belonged to her.

She was five and all she wanted was a friend.

. .

The long sleeves of the clothing his family wore never felt more welcomed than when he entered the Academy.

The kids were always running around and asking each other what kind of marks they had. If the mark matched their own it was more likely they would be friends.

Sasuke didn’t like that. It was like they didn’t care about the person just the mark on their skin.

Sasuke didn’t want any part of that.

If he was to be loved it would be for who he was, not for superficial things. He refused to tell anyone what his soulmark was.

. .

Yamanaka Ino was the kind of person that did whatever she wanted.

It was why she decided the cute pink haired girl would be her new friend despite the lengths other kids went to avoid her or bully her. And it was also the reason why when she found out that Sasuke wasn’t born under the Archer that she didn’t care about soulmarks.

Who were the stars to tell her the coolest guy in the village wasn’t supposed to be hers?

And besides, it would be a great example for Sakura who confided in her that she didn’t have a mark. It would help her friend realize that marks didn’t mean anything in the long run.

“Tilt your head forward so I can secure the ribbon better,” Ino ordered. She went out shopping the other day for the perfect gift for Sakura━a red ribbon to pull her hair away from her pretty face.

Ino brushed some strands into place and pushed down Sakura’s high collar out of the way. She gasped when she saw her friend’s nape for the first time.

“Ino?” Sakura’s voice snapped Ino out of her thoughts.

“Nothing!” Ino brushed off the heavy sinking feeling in her stomach and tied a bow on Sakura’s head.

Soulmarks mean nothing, Ino reminded herself refusing to show Sakura how sour her mood had become.

. .

There was something dark about his older brother that worried Sasuke. The elders of the clan were investigating his best friend’s death so it made sense that Itachi would be somewhere far away in his thoughts.

Sasuke went to check on his brother, concerned for he was even more withdrawn than usual. He caught him standing in front of his mirror, fingering his collarbone on the right side.

Sasuke had heard that when someone’s soulmate died that the soulmark would fade away away but he had never known anyone intimately enough to witness the phenomenon.

Now he stood outside his brother’s bedroom, peering through the crack of the door, fascinated by what he was seeing.

On the left, the second mark was still there standing proud, but on the right there was a cluster of formless dots. Sasuke couldn’t place which dots used to be part of the old constellation.

Sasuke creeped away, unsettled by the blank look on Itachi’s face and the way he kept tracing patterns on his skin, trying to fruitlessly connect dots.

He didn’t sleep that night. He kept watch over his soulmark and prayed for the health and longevity of a stranger.

. .

Sasuke woke up gasping yet again. It had been a year since the fall of his clan and he still saw the streets running with blood and mangled bodies when he closed his eyes.

He was the last of the Uchiha━he no longer counted his brother as one.

He had gotten his hopes up when he woke up and overheard that Uchiha Izumi’s body lacked any physical wounds. Seconds later his stomach sank when the nurses on the other side of the door mentioned that the estimated time of death made her the first victim that night.

Slowing down his breathing, Sasuke turned on his side and eyed his soulmark. The Ram was still there.

A reminder that one day, he wouldn’t be alone after he took care of his brother.

. .

Sakura had never been so scared before in her life.

Even now that Sasuke sat across from her, covered in bandages, she could still picture his prone body lying on that bridge covered in senbon.

“Not so close,” Sasuke muttered when Sakura’s knee touched his.

“Just changing your bandages,” Sakura explained. Usually she would be giddy to even be close to Sasuke but all she wanted was to feel his warmth, to feel that he was alive.

She once admired him from afar but spending time with him made her feel something deeper for the quiet boy.

He was no longer just the perfect, high scoring Academy boy that had once smiled freely when he snuck peeks at his grades but her squadmate, a friend.

“All done.”

She smiled softly at him, flushing at how intense his gaze was. Her smile stretched into a full grin and Sasuke turned away.

We’re closer maybe? Just a little?

. .

It was weird when she wasn’t smiling. At least, when she wasn’t smiling the way she usually did.

Sakura was a happy person whose energy brought him a sense of peace. Her existence had become something...precious to him.

Thinking about someone’s happiness and their moods wasn’t something he thought he would care about again. At least not until after he avenged his clan.

There was something about her smile though━something about when he made her smile.

It made it so he didn’t mind if a certain Ram had a Lion somewhere on her being.

. .

It had been years since Ino had seen the telltale mark on Sakura’s nape. Now she was staring at it again, small like everyone else’s mark but still obvious.

And she felt for the first time that maybe for some people, those clusters of connected dots really meant something.

“All done,” Ino chirped, proud of her work. Sakura’s hair was still choppy but it was a lot more even than the mess she made of it earlier.

A mess she made for her teammates.

As soon as she was done brushing the last strand of hair off of Sakura’s shoulders, Sasuke quietly sat down by Sakura.

They weren’t speaking yet Ino felt like she was watching something from the outside, from far away. It was just like earlier when she was frozen with fear.

She loved Sasuke. She was sure of it.

But then why was it only Sakura that moved toward him and embraced him. Stopped him. Ino herself wanted to run━run far away.

She watched the two of them for a beat, a strange peace around them as they shared each other’s company.

Until Naruto woke up and started shrieking about Sakura’s short hair.

Ino clucked her tongue in disgust. Really? She was covered in bruises and her eye was swollen and he talks about her hair?

Did Naruto ever see Sakura? Really see her?

It made more and more sense every day why his mark wasn’t the Ram.

. .

Even you…

It should have disturbed him how much she was starting to matter to him.

Even you...

But laying her down in a safe place, he didn’t hesitate putting her before his revenge.

Because he wasn’t going to go through that again.

He wasn’t going to lose someone precious again.

. .

If she weren’t so worried, so scared, she probably would have laughed at how her gut feeling was correct.

The tug in her heart, the heavy sinking in her stomach, led her to the path to the gates of their village.

And there he was, walking towards her with his travel bag.

His footsteps echoed in her ears, a steadier and more relaxed cadence than that of her heartbeat.

“What are you doing prowling around here in the middle of the night?”

. .

“Thank you.”

. .

It was supposed to be easy to leave. No one was supposed to even be awake when he left. He was simply going to walk out and no one would know until he was long gone.

Knocking Sakura out was easy. He had always been faster and she was distracted by how emotional she was feeling.

If his resolve hadn’t been so strong perhaps he would have wavered a bit.

She was going to scream. If she hadn’t already woken someone up with her shouted confession she was going to alert someone of his departure.

Knocking Sakura out was easy. All he had to do was hit the right point on her nape and she would pass out.

Holding her now as she fell back against him he couldn’t help but stare wide eyed at the back of her neck, right below her high collar. A small voice in the back of his mind whispered how bad it was for her neck to be at that angle but he had already knocked her out so it was a little too late to be considerate.

In some of her babbling from their early days as squadmates, Sakura had confessed to being markless.

She lied.

That wasn’t fair. It was in a location hidden from her. Why no one had told her she had a mark he didn’t know but it wasn’t important. What was important was what kind of mark she had.

Sasuke scooped her up, cradling her body close before setting her down on the stone bench off to the side of the road. He couldn’t return her home without wasting precious time he already spent being intercepted by her. It was the best he could do for her.

Looking down at her there was a strange feeling in his chest that made his ears warm up.

It made a lot of sense if he thought about it.

Made a lot of sense for her to be a Ram with a Lion mark.

. .

He couldn’t regret his decision.

He had to get stronger. Orochimaru would help him with that.

But there were nights when he couldn’t sleep that he would lay on his side and trace the constellation on his left arm.

He would avenge his clan. And then he would go home.

. .

When Sakura took time to think of her friendship with Sai it made her laugh to herself sometimes. She felt too much and he felt too little.

But they were working on that.

“Danzo got rid of our marks. He burned them off.”

Sai’s voice still had a monotone quality to it despite how much more open he was becoming with the limitations he had.

“I sometimes think I can remember the shape but in reality I don’t.”

Sai sketched out an image of a bell and and drew a line underneath it. Sakura’s brows pulled down into a frown as she tried to place the figure.

It didn’t look like any she knew. But that’s what happened when someone was drawing from a faulty memory.

“We weren’t allowed to keep our soulmarks. We belonged to Root and no one else.”

“Soulmarks aren’t that important,” Sakura reassured him. “I don’t have one and nothing has changed.

“But,” a wrinkle formed between his eyebrows, “you do have a mark.”

“What?”

Sai gestured for Sakura to turn her back on him. She felt his cool fingers slide her collar down and then he released it. A few seconds later he held up his sketchbook to her.

Sakura’s eyes went wide and her hand flew to the back of her neck. There were nine dots connected into a constellation she knew as well as her own. One that she use to dream was hers when she was younger.

The Lion.

. .

It was never quiet. She could hear the screams of people ringing in her ears. If she was alone she couldn’t hear her own thoughts because all she could hear was the screaming.

That’s what Ino told her when Sakura curled against her in the cot they shared. It was getting hard to sleep alone when they were cognizant of the fact they were losing members of their forces by the droves.

People they use to see walking down the street weren’t going to be in the village anymore.

If they had a village to return to in the end.

If they themselves were around in the end.

. .

The way he said her name still caused her stomach to get airy. The way the second syllable hit the roof of his mouth and rolled into the third.

And then she remembered that they were in the middle of a battlefield.

. .

Soulmarks meant nothing to him anymore.

It didn’t matter that he was drawn to her, that her voice was the only sound he zeroed in on after arriving.

Nothing written in the stars was going to get in the way of his new goal.

. .

Soulmarks meant nothing.

Her head rolled against Sasuke’s collarbone.

She saved him because he was an important piece to defeating the rabbit goddess.

She saved him because she loved him.

And the stars had nothing to do with her love.

. .

It had to be done.

She was trying to get in the way of his plans again.

Making him waver and putting herself in harm’s way.

She had to be incapacitated.

. .

Dying should have felt worse than that.

Sakura blinked her eyes and looked up at her sensei’s face. He looked down at her with concern in his eyes but it was unnecessary to direct any toward her.

She felt her heart in his hands and then nothing.

Maybe that’s how it always was with them.

Her heart in his hands.

And then nothing.

. .

His Ram was gone.

As the sun was rising and all the words were said Sasuke noticed the Ram was gone.

His arm from the elbow down was missing but he wasn’t so concerned with that. He lost enough blood to know that was his last sunrise.

He wondered if Sakura ever found out about her soulmark. Would it disappear after his eyes closed forever?

Ah.

A warmth flooded the location of his remaining arm. A green glow lit up, drawing his attention to the somber look on Sakura’s face.

His Ram was here.

. .

Kissing her nape was a habit.

Sakura wouldn’t admit it to anyone but she was sure he knew she exposed it as often as possible just because of that.

She never found a soulmark on her husband’s body. She figured that, perhaps, he lost it a long time ago.

It was in the quiet of their dark bedroom that he whispered to her that he never did.

[musesofchaos]

Hinata sighs softly, leaning back onto his hands. Pretty lavenders staring up into the dark starry night. "You could say that again... the clan is changing, but the elders aren't very happy." His father had surprisingly grown more leant over the years. But uncomfortably, he was still adamant about keeping some traditions. "I'm the clan heir. I'm not a child anymore." The hyuuga muttered bitterly. "Everythings just been stressful..." It's why he appreciated moments like this. Peace and quiet, away from the noise.

Continued || @musesofchaos

"No, I suppose not," he rounds his back, propping up one knee to rest his elbow on as he star-gazed with the Hyuuga. "I didn't expect you to be available this time around; caught wind you've had your hands tied."

[wanderingavenger-blog]

With both hands holding a small box containing a cake shaped cupcake and a handmade bracelet, even falling once, Sakura quickly kept going. He was leaving, She just knew he was. If he stayed, there would be a lot going on. It was his birthday after all. From bellow the stairs and towards the exit her target was acquired, " Sasuke-kun!!! Wait! " getting him to pause Sakura ran towards, finally holding out the box "I knew you'd be leaving s-so here! Happy birthday!" even if not eaten its was fine!

        The dark-cladded young shinobi always had mixed feelings about his birthday. Growing up with his family, Sasuke was excitable on his very own special day. Mother would bake a cake each year in celebration, making this one of the rare instances that Sasuke did not mind eating something sweet. Father would be present and acknowledge his growth from previous years. However, Sasuke was at his happiest when his beloved brother Itachi would be home for his birthday. 

        Now, however, is no longer the case. Since then, his birthdays were spent alone and continued to be alone, despite others wanting to celebrate with him once he became apart of Team Seven. Although so much has happened since the Uchiha massacre, Sasuke did not once hate that he was born. No. He just stopped caring about it completely. If anything, it was a reminder of his purpose. To avenge his clan. To avenge his parents. 

                                               By any means  n e c e s s a r y.

         At the present, after accomplishing everything that needed to be accomplished and losing everything that had to be lost. There simply was nothing left for his birthday except for a memory of a time where things were happy. The one thing he yearns for. The one thing he cannot have. 

         Being back in the village after a considerable length of time, he knew that he couldn’t stay long with his birthday quickly approaching. He knew there are a few people who would try to catch him in attempts to celebrate but he wanted to be spared from all of that frivolity. Opting to leave the day of as quickly, and as quietly as he could, he almost made it out of the village scot free. That is, if it weren’t for a certain dotting teammate of his. 

          Sasuke sighed heavily when he heard the ever so familiar voice of Sakura calling his name. Once he finished massaging the bridge of his nose in frustration, he reluctantly turned around to face his friend. She offered in her hands a small simple box with a blue bow decoration. He internally rolled his eyes at the use of his favorite color.

         He eyed her with a slightly annoyed expression. “ You knew I was going to leave, yet you still couldn’t help yourself, could you? “ He drawled. 

[ryodan]

Every team 7 ship VS NaruHina

To the clique that argued with me in the saltiest of ways, I dedicate to you my first ever anti nh post. I hope you think twice about telling people to kill themselves over your self insert and stop being a pimple on society’s ass.

Let’s start with the one that gets on your tits the most

Naruhina VS Narusaku (The Heaven and The Earth), alternatively titled : stop being angry he liked the hot chick and stop pretending Sakura isnt kushinas parallel

Whenever you feel the need to drag Sakura remember your origin story, @Lunaneko14. Don’t forget your years of defending SS to ride on it’s back lest ns happens

Your ship was here, while the ns fandom had this..no amount of sakura bitterness will change that, @mythicalheartbeat 

Ya boy that she was gorgeous from before team 7’s creation

Before you call Sakura selfish while gratifying Hintata, @fallingforkonoha, remember your void eyed princess entered a fight Tsunade knew not to interfere in knowing she can’t do anything to confess her feelings (at the perfect timing too, really) saying this about herself

A sentiment that continued until her almost final appearance in the manga she took up less than 1% of, as she took a moment to appreciate Narutos, big capable hands in front of her dead cousin . hand holding in front of lavish scenery is so sweet

VS Sakura, the selfish monster  who went in knowing she might get hurt, for him, because she cared greatly about his physical and emotional safety

Remember all those times Hinata just cared so much about his dreams, all those times she was there when he needed her

I love how she always believed in him, unlike Sakura. What a bitch, remember that comment she made in chapter 3 out of 700? Awful.

This QUEEN vs this BITCH, amirite @blackotaku97?

You know whats better than stealing someones ninja way, walmart naruto with a nuclear mushroom cloud of a head? Supporting your precious peoples ninja ways and finding your own.

A common argument that gets thrown around : Hinata was ALWAYS there for him

Sorry, I must have missed her in Narutos speech of the people who saved him from his loneliness and pain

I really like how she sees him miserable and doesn’t help him it’s the epitome of always there

Most of all, you nasty trash can excuse of a human being, I want you to get your head out of your asshole for just 3 seconds and accept that this happened

You can’t change what’s been set in stone

No amount of yapping with a filler movie can change the past. But you know what? Bitches  bark and yap, that’s no surprise

No amount of yapping about the twin lions fist, a head branch hyuga jutsu being hinatas own changes facts, @commanderkurama

My fav part of the pain arc was when Naruto never asked Hinata about her confession, or her safety. I also particularly like Narutos first ever hug that someone else initiated

Drag Sakura all you want but remember when you were here after 2013

Narusakus had this before 2007

Remember that while your self insert was fainting and going on suicide missions

Sakura and Naruto had already built a relationship based on mutual support, respect, love and equal footing (weather platonic or romantic, love is love). A relationship where they both believed in each other, supported each other, had each others back, laughed with each other, cried with each other, had actual chemistry with each other. Remember that the next time you whine about people loving this ship instead of your talked about the weather and clothes ship in an entire movie dedicated to them couple.

Sakura supports your faves so much that no wonder you want to debunk her heroine status and reduce her to a side supporting character that matches your background fav

Hiding her tears so she doesn’t hurt him!11! reminds me of that time she fake confessed to keep him,  kakashi and the rest of the world safe even if at the cost of killing her beloved one to save him from falling into deeper darkness. Sakura is so selfish, no wonder everyone in Japan hates NS

Know your place, Linda. Keep your scumbag-kun and the girl 2ch calls Hinabuta (quick Japanese crash course, that means hinapig), I like my Naruto and Sakura-chan just fine.

SasuSaku (The Hawk and The Cherry Blossom), alternatively titled: You rode on my back for years because your ship wouldn’t have had a hope in high hell if it were not for these two

Lunaneko, I think someone told me you said we try to compete with your shit ship.

It’s hard hearing you over making ship history

While Naruto was busy ignoring Hinatas general existence because she has the presence of the trash can in the sasusaku confession scene Sasuke (a boy who’s been thirsted after fresh from mikotos womb was already flustered and blushing towards sakura

You know what development is? Starting off with an irritable boy with 6 years worth of survivor guilt and manipulation weighing on his shoulders, saying something incredibly ignorant that rightfully pisses him the fuck off but still having him worry enough about you to stay with you to ensure your safety even at the risk of elimination

Aside from giving naruto his first hug, she gave sasuke his in years. Apparently Linkin park was so affected by human touch that he opened up to her about something he’s been repressing and isolating himself over for years. Going so far as stating ‘At that time, I was crying’ and even explaining his entire stance in the story ‘I am avenger’

Development is going from this look

To this look

From this

To this

And that wink too. There’s more chemistry in that wink than the entire NH movie

Remember that time Sakura helped Sasuke develop from a boy who had a childhood trauma based fear of stronger opponents with blood lust to a boy who fought Orochimaru bravely and grew 10x times in a single scene? All while she developed herself? And grew from an agreeable sasuke fangirl to a respected team mate? Y’all wanna compare the war hand hold scene to this? The war scene could have had potential if it ended better lmao

Why was he fighting?

Protecting her seems like an odd concept to you? Sasuke can’t relate :/ Naruto aint even wanna walk hinata home what joke is this

Remember that time Sasuke almost killed a guy in the forest of death? No, not broke Zakus arm

Sasuke was willing to kill for Sakura and I hope you know sasuke’s stance on killing. Where’s Naruto having this much care for hinata I don’t see it my competition is really lagging in this ‘race’

Remember that irritable boy? This boy crawling to her for comfort is a boy who grew alongside her, naruhina who?

You know what she did? She stayed up all night tending to her team mates, falling for konoha. Theres a fine line between cheating your crush at the risk of your team and staying up all night in a place titled the forest of death tending to their wounds at a mere bud age of 12

Wait no, bud who? She bloomed, all thanks to being inspired by the holy trinity (whos front and center? Louder for the people in the back, this is inspiration not just wanting to be with someone) and her own determination to protect her loved ones

Mutual development? Fuck me up. Here is an emotional maturation moment for BOTH of them

I love all of these mutual nh moments in the manga, all 0.0005 of them

She gave rise to a gentle protective side of him, so much so that he has used polite Japanese speaking to her before. The databook even states he saw her as someone he needed to protect. people ship ships for that special spark.The only spark hinata ever got was her wet dream from holding narutos hand, which she awoke from when she tripped on rock-kun

Naruto can’t tell apart true love from ramen? Canon Naruto can’t relate

I love that panel of jealous Naruto it’s great, oh wait its not him

Compete with Nh over what, blackotaku? Where is your naruto @ hinata speech I must need new glasses

Your bitch ass tried using you’re annoying as an argument and it’s so funny because imagine thinking he’s coming from a place of hate after he was willing to consciously give up his revenge for her safety and him saying what he said in their first encounter with a smile after pretending he didn’t remember their first meeting

Followed by this, the moment Japanese fans hailed the most emotional of part 1

You wish you were ss lmao, you wish you made it to 44 volumes out of 72

Compete with nh? On what? Getting stronger for your loved ones?

Chemistry?

Mutual support?

Their feelings are connected, their kid is the physical manifestation of their love not the screw that keeps them together..Her husband is travelling through space and time to keep them and the entire world safe. Naruto is 2 meters away, out there with a limitless bay of chakra unable to get clones to do his work for him.. anti-sakura-pro-hinata, at least when sasuke came home after 6 years of much harder work..he had dinner with his family. Maybe it’s because his daughter was raised well and it was pleasant being around someone who isn’t a brat.

Being intuitive to each other?

Oh lmao remember how Sakura was the only person who against all odds knew sasuke would leave the village?

Angst to keep it interesting?

Call me when Gaiden isn’t one of Kishimotos best selling works.  Call me when your ship actually wants to spend time with each other.

Where Narutos ultimate expression of love at? Is is sleeping on the couch? Boruto novel states sasusaku is having so much sex that sakuras skin is glossing, meanwhile naruto has erectile dysfunction and a shriveled dick by age 32

Sit down, there is not much competition. We keep the SS Japanese penguins, the Jump Fiesta sign attraction, the popularity, the ambitious kid and the moments, the canon selfless love only for the purpose of saving your lover and you keep the canon selfish love for the purpose of a confession  and the banana who wishes its father dies and the mom who just cried.

But remember who made you

SasuNaru (Yin and Yang), alternatively titled:  having black hair isn’t enough to make naruto obsessed.

The garbage can @anti-sakura-pro-hinata blog that attempted to call Sasuke trash because her fictional boyfriend was obsessed with him seems to forget Sasuke didn’t ask for it. Naruto needed a pep talk from fillermaru and fillerkura to chase after hinata yet chased after sasuke, even begged authorities to not kill him purely because he is his ‘friend’ for 3 years. He trained with him in mind, a fact so obvious that Kakashi pointed out Sasuke is the driving force behind Narutos training. Sasuke, and the image he had of team 7 in his mind. An image so important to him that the thought of it being tarnished by Sasukes absence made him have a panic attack.

He went after sasuke to save his best friend and for them all to be happy and smiling together, im sorry he didn’t include Hinata in his fantasies but Team 7 is kind of booked..we only have room for neo sanins, vip people and connected hearts here. If youre jealous your self insert doesn’t matter,, I don’t know, make up fanfiction where she appears in more than 38 pages of the manga

#parallels 

Hinata is canonically narutos most important person!11!! where? Must be on fight on top of the moon land. Be happy Naruto went rampant when his seal was weak, Konoha was destroyed, Jirayah was murdered, Kakashi was killed, Tsunade was hurt and then Hinatas ass decided to risk him chakra depletion, death and losing himself. But remember who made him go rampant with a strong seal at the slight mention of a name

The boy he wanted the acknowledgement of the most because he admired him so much that being like him was his goal

Yet when he got it was still like ‘later, emo asshole. Just get your shit together first.’

Why? Because he loved his friend so much that understanding him and fighting (literally fighting) the fated hatred in his heart mattered more to him than the ego he wanted stroked since age 7

What does that mean? I don’t know man. They trained together, laughed together, rivaled each other, were petty to each other and before they knew it they were inseparable. Back then and always

@remedialaction, come after sasuke because your self insert isn’t noticing the shy girl hes friendzoned later. A huge part of Narutos development was heavily tied to Sasuke, lets not ignore the fact that sasuke being a good team mate who put the 3 man cell idea into his head before Kakashi even told them about team work is the reason why they even became ninjas

Remove and erase Sasukes victim status, his entire arc, motivations, fate and position in the story because he is in the way of a ship when he isn’t the only reason Narutos dick was alive for Hinata

But no Sasuke is a bad person, no matter what the narrative and facts are because nardo is obsessed with him

Praise hinata for her naruto-kun became my goal speech when you acknowledge

‘I knew you were always alone. I felt better knowing there was someone like me..i wanted to hang out with you. It just made me happy! But I couldn’t..i was jealous of how skilled you were, so I turned you into a rival. I wanted to be just like you. I started with nothing but I finally made a connection. We went on missions as team 7, and I kept chasing you, wanting to be just as strong, just as cool. Im really glad I met you!’

Bring sasuke down and praise hakuna hintatas for saying the same thing. ‘Naruto kun saved me’ vs ‘Thanks to you I found salvation’

And weep over how sad your ship looks like next to two arms connected by love (platonic or not love is love), fate, tears and literal blood.

But no, what is yin and yang, light and shadows, love and hate, 2 lonely people watching over each other because ‘finally someone understands my solitude’ as a dynamic in comparison to meek girl and loud guy who could have voiced his attraction eons ago?! It’s funny, even with the canon context of SNS being indra and ashuras chakra incarnate and a brotherly bond, it still works better and is a hella lot more interesting than NH

The scenes showing Naruto and Sasukes iconic team work have more chemistry than naruhinas entire manga time, movie time, filler time and hell even fan art and fan fiction time. I know you're jealous because sasuke is well loved, but show some respect to Borutos mother.

 Kakasaku (Hot and hotter), alternatively titled: Get your head out of your ass

Kakasaku is pedophilia!!

It’s bad!11! because my subjective opinion said so!11!

Not as bad as nh

People ship adult Kakasaku for a whole lot more meaningful stuff than a self insert ship

Kakashi never looked down on her since shippuuden. He acknowledged her strength and how far shes come from being the whiny 12 year old he used to teach. He always knew by part two that she’d be great and he respected her a lot. He saw her kind heart and praised her for it and for her selfless love. They grew to become fellow comrades in the war who had equal respect for each other. What can y’all say about NH? This is a joke.

I want to stay in my lane, but the lanes converge when you make ugly personal attacks at people and insult ships and characters to elevate your own shit show. Drag Team 7 into your ugliness again and I expose your insecure ass.

Y’all can’t touch this aesthetic. Come at these kids when Naruto doesn’t remember them when he’s eating a bento (Something special made by someone you love-sarada) made by his wife.

Special thanks to @uzumakura for tht good ns wank, @sakuraharunos for that good sns wank, @chiwawha for her opinion on ks and me for my patience 

[musesofchaos]

16. for a loving starter . ((Sasuke Uchiha from Sakura Haruno))

Pink. A pretty colour, it was. Soft, vibrant… a beautiful scenery in the spring as cherry blossom petals fluttered with the breeze.

Sasuke has concluded that pink is his favourite colour. Obsidian eyes watching carefully as his pale fingers runs through soft strands of hair. Looking down at the vintage like beauty that lay asleep beside him. A kind soul that to this day he still believed he didn’t deserve.

He watches quietly as her chest raises and falls, face soft and looking so peaceful. It’s selfish, he knows that he shouldn’t disturb her. But wants to see her smile, to see green eyes look up at him as they cutely blink away sleep.

The Uchiha leans down. Softly pressing a kiss to the kunoichi’s forehead. “Sakura…” His face is soft, barely above a whisper. “Are you awake?”

[musesofchaos]

Nisan was sad. This must be fixed.

Itachi’s quietly makes his way over, shyly wrapping his arms around his brother silently. “…”

He doesn’t say anything, just clings to him as he did when he was younger.

"I would like to be cuddled please..."

[ultiman73]

The Saiyan and the Avenger, Chapter 2: The Hero of the Hidden Leaf

FWEET!

                Goku lowered his hand from his forehead. Taking in a deep breath, he looked around. Before him lay a crowded street of the Hidden Leaf Village. Merchants sold goods as before. Citizens walked and swept and carried supplies in every direction, occasionally casting a fearful glance into the distance. Above, a housewife beat a rug into cleanliness with a single kick. Below, an old man on a bench reached over and petted a sleeping nineko curled up next to a ninja hound, calmly eating a rice ball as he watched a pair of friends playfully arguing at the counter in a restaurant across the street. From the next street over came a loud “I TOLD YOU I’M NOT FAT!!”, followed by a loud crash.

                As Goku took in the scene, two children chasing a puppy ran out of an alley and turned toward him. The girl in the lead reached out to grab the puppy’s tale, but tripped on a rock and plunged toward the dirt.

                “Whoa, there!” Goku dashed forward, effortlessly catching the child and returning her to her feet. “That could have been nasty.

                The girl’s eyes widened. A brilliant smile spread across her face. “GOKU!”

                Up and down the street, heads turned and faces broke into excited grins as everyone recognized the Hero of the Hidden Leaf.

                “Hey, Goku’s back!”

                “Goku! Where have you been?”

                “Good to see you, Goku!”

                “Come have dinner with us! My husband is a great cook!”

                “Goku, will you marry me now?”

                “Hi, everybody!” Goku laughed. “It’s great to be back!” Waving and greeting everyone around him, Goku, slowly made his way down the street toward his destination.

                Word spread like wildfire throughout the village. “Hey, guys! Goku’s back!” A citizen yelled into the Nara household. “Finally, something that isn’t a drag,” Shikamaru said, standing up from his desk full of war maps.

                Elsewhere, a runner dashed out of the Hyuuga stronghold with several Hyuuga in tow. “Goku’s here! Spread the word!” She called to another woman sprinting across the rooftops.

                “Got it!” The woman broke off and ran in another direction.

                Beneath the hospital, another messenger burst into Sakura and Ino’s makeshift lab. “Goku just came back!”

                Ino dropped her clipboard. “He is?? How does my hair look?” She turned to her reflection in a lab table and started frantically running her fingers through her hair.

                “Don’t waste your time,” Sakura said, switching off her equipment. “Goku doesn’t notice that stuff, and even if he did, he’s probably taken already.”

                “Shut up, Billboard-Brow!” Ino shouted, running off before Sakura could reply.

                Gradually, Goku made his way through the smiling crowd to Ichiraku’s. As he ducked under the entryway, a woman at the full counter gladly offered her stool to him. “Thanks!” Goku said, taking a seat.

                Teuchi appeared from the back. “Good to see you again, Goku!”

                “Good to be back, Teuchi!” Goku said. “Hope you’ve got plenty of ramen, ‘cause I just finished training, and I’m REALLY hungry!” Three large diamonds clattered onto the counter and the words left him.

                Teuchi’s smile widened. “I was hoping you’d say that. Give me a minute.” He disappeared into the back again, only to return a moment later. In his arms rested a gigantic ramen bowl, measuring a full meter across and piled so high it looked like it would fall over at any second. “What do you think? I call it my brand-new Saiyan-sized Ramen Bowl!”

                Goku’s face lit up. “AWESOME!!” The bowl hit the counter. Goku’s chopsticks hit the bowl. “That was great! Another one, please!”

                The crowd watched in silence. “That one lasted 3 whole seconds!” Somebody said.

                One by one, the gigantic bowls piled up at Goku’s elbow as the crowd stared wide-eyed at the spectacle. Ino elbowed her way through to the front, adjusting her hair as she waited for Goku to turn in her direction. As she did, a splotch of sauce flew out of somewhere and landed on her head. “Guess he noticed after all,” Sakura grinned as Ino fumed.

                From seemingly nowhere, a friendly hand smacked Goku on the back. “Goku, it’s good to see that big, ridiculous hair again!”

                Goku set down another empty bowl. “Hey, Gai! How’s the training going?”

                “It’s going great! How about when you’re done here, we head out and experience the fires of youth in rigorous punching and kicking once more?”

                “That sounds-”

                “Alright, that’s enough everyone!” A stern voice at the back of the crowd cut him off. “You can talk to Goku later!”

                “Looks like Lady Hokage wants a word with you,” Gai said. “Well, don’t you worry, Goku! You can show me your new stuff later!” He turned to go.

                “Hey, hold on a sec!” Goku reached into his pocket and produced a small cloth bag. “I got those senzu beans I promised you. Sorry again about them not being able to grow here.

                “Thanks a million, Goku!” Gai said, accepting the bag. “I’ll put these to good use, just you wait and see!” Before he could elaborate, Tsunade appeared through the crowd.

                “Back to business, everyone!” she said to the crowd. “Goku will still be around for awhile! Go back to what you were doing!”

                One by one, the crowd dispersed, many promising to talk to Goku when he was done. At last, they were gone, and Tsunade took a stool next to Goku.

                “Well, hi Tsunade!” Goku said cheerfully, slurping a noodle. “What have you been up to?”

                Tsnuade didn’t return Goku’s smile as she rested her hands on the counter. “I’ve been busy, Goku. Remember that war I told you about last time? It happened.”

                “Really? You’re lucky. I don’t think I’ve ever fought in a war. I mean, there was this one time I beat up a whole army, but that was when I was a kid.”

                Tsunade blinked. “My point is…” She lowered her voice. “I need your help.”

                “Huh?”

                Tsunade slipped him the picture from the file. “Does he look familiar to you?”

                Goku studied the picture. “Not really. Who is he?”

                “His name is Sasuke Uchiha. He’s a former Leaf shinobi, but now he fights for the enemy. A few years ago he betrayed his friends and ran off the train under one of the most vile ninja the Leaf ever produced. Now, he’s running wild across the nations, murdering, destroying, all in the name of avenging some perceived wrong by slaughtering the Hidden Leaf and all her allies.

                Goku swallowed. “That’s awful!”

                “It gets worse. As an Uchiha, Sasuke has a set of powerful eyes that give him access to jutsu the rest of us can’t even attempt. Every time we try to take him down, he uses these jutsu to kill our forces before they can even get close to him. And with each battle, his power grows immeasurably.”

                “WHERE IS HE??” A harsh voice demanded. “GOKU!” Neji burst into Ichiraku’s.

                “Oh hey, you’re that blind guy from before, right?” Goku asked.

                “I TOLD YOU, I’M NOT BLIND, YOU SPIKY-HAIRED SIMPLETON!!” Neji shouted. “Look, never mind that. Whatever you do, you must stop Sasuke, no matter what it takes. The bastard can’t live after what he’s done.”

                “What did he do?” Goku asked, but Neji had already ducked out.

                “I hope you’ll forgive Neji,” Tsunade apologized. “He has a good reason to be angrier than usual about Sasuke, and I can’t blame him.”

                “Big Brother Goku!” Konohamaru ran into Ichiraku’s, wiping his nose on his sleeve.

                “Oh, hi Konohamaru!” Goku said. “Did you grow since the last time I saw you?”

                Konohamaru’s red, distraught eyes gazed up into Goku’s, welling. “You have to help Big Brother Naruto! He needs you!”

                “He does?” Goku asked, concern spreading across his face.

                “I’m afraid so,” Tsunade confirmed, her shoulders slumping as her eyes drifted downward. “Naruto hasn’t been himself for some time, and no one in the village can seem to help him. Every day, he seems to slip further and further into the darkness, and I don’t like to think about what will happen if he can’t be cheered up, and soon.

                “He’s really that sad?” Goku asked in disbelief. “What happened?

                Tsunade cast a glance toward the flashes in the distance. “It’s… it’s probably best if you hear it from him.”

[madara-fate]

despite the massive shipping wars and your amazing defensive essays for them, i've always wanted to know, what parts of naruto really got you hooked to the story in general, bc it surely can't be just the ships; like what characters did you relate to most, which characters had great development from start to finish, which character deaths made you emotional, what were some characters most defining moments, which filler arc was the best in the anime, you know, that kind of stuff ^_^

What parts of Naruto really got you hooked to the story in general - 

The rivalry aspect of the relationship between Naruto and Sasuke was what initially caught my attention, then I saw Naruto go into 9 Tails mode in The Land of Waves, then I saw Sasuke awaken as a true avenger in the Forest of Death, then I saw Lee vs Gaara etc. More and more things kept on intriguing me, so I never really had the opportunity to lose interest.

What characters did you relate to most - 

Well personality wise, I’d say that I’m most like Kakashi.

Which characters had great development from start to finish -

I wouldn’t say any character had continuous development from start to finish, but in general development terms, Sakura was my first thought.

Which character deaths made you emotional -

In terms of the anime, definitely Haku/Zabuza. It was probably because I was still relatively young when I watched that scene for the first time, so I was more prone to getting teary eyed, but yeah. I can’t be certain whether this death scene was the most emotional I got, but it was the first that got me emotional, so it was easy to remember the level of emotion I experienced.

What were some characters most defining moments - 

Well I guess I’ll stick to what I think were the most defining moments for each member of Team 7, in which case:

It would be Naruto being hailed and celebrated as a village hero after defeating Pain, Sakura finding her resolve as a Kunoichi due to her desire to protect her friends, and Sasuke awakening the Mangekyou Sharingan after learning the truth about Itachi, and spiralling down true darkness and hatred.

Which filler arc was the best in the anime -

Without a doubt, this can be the only correct answer:

That filler was absolutely masterful; watching Shino laugh out loud like a crazed lunatic never ever gets old XD it was by far the funniest thing to ever happen in Naruto, and it will live on in my memory for a very long time :)

[musesofchaos]

“I think we’re actually a little too close for romance, by now,” Sasuke tasted the almost-question on the tip of his tongue, but forged forward in his clarification,,,. “They are… my… precious people? They are, but… Then again,, I don’t feel…” How to explain? He didn’t feel the butterflies, the passion that lit up either Naruto or Sakura’s eyes when they saw, greeted, heard their partners– Sasuke didn’t- He didn’t– His eyes darted left-down with a subtle slight edge of awkwardness,,, the Uchiha unsure how to clarify something that he never put into words before…. “……I could see ‘myself’ with either of them,, perhaps,, but not me, if you know what I mean.”

“Ah...” Sakura mused softly, glancing down towards her feet. She supposed she could kinda of understand, even though the Uchiha sounded confused himself as he answered the question. “Well, I’m sure you Naruto and Sakura care about you just as much.” She said, the medical-nin giving Sasuke a reassuring smile. Though she titled her head once more at the least part. “Not you? So...are you trying to say that you can see Sasuke-kun with me and Naruto, but not you?” She asked. 

“Sasuke-ku- I mean- Sasuke,” Sakura corrected herself, finally managing to catch the other the other dimensional Uchiha alone, hands behind her back as she approached him with a smile. “Sorry. I just wanted to say thank you. For taking care of Kyosuke-kun. And for letting us stay with you. I really hope we’re not cause you any trouble.” //musesofchaos

"Sakura." Sasuke paused with the can of vending-machine matcha raised part way to his lips, blinking as he watched the other Sakura approach,,. "Sangoneko-chan. It's no burden." Even if it was a bit unusual to walk into his own kitchen and see a spitting copy of himself standing there, glowering as he cooked his breakfast so similarly to how Sasuke would,,,. "Kyosuke is my brother, essentially, isn't he? What kind of twin, aniki would I be to not offer my home to him and his group?" Flicking the tab of his can open he took a measured sip before he spoke. "You all are welcome to stay, for as long as it takes for you to return,,,."

[shiarts]

T.E.A.M. Chapter 1

Notes: If you want to find it on Fanfiction.net, feel free. The Link’s below. I’ll probably try posting it to AO3 as well, later, but I’ve got to figure out how to use it first. Anyway, I got stuck again and decided to go through the entire chapter again, so...yeah. I’m going to be going through these and self-editing to remind myself of writing style. Honestly, I meant to post something else, but.... too many Muses stuck in my brain.

The Art of Motivation

Fandom: Naruto

Summary: The latest of Naruto!AU’s by Hakuei Shirei: Featuring a strange child, a broody avenger, an unpredictable knucklehead, their Sensei, and the everyday crazy that is Team Seven.

Characters: Team 7, Hatake Kakashi, Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, OC

Rated: T (For Later Language if Continued)

Word Count: 5,385 Words 

Warnings: Branching AU, OC Insertion, Self-Editing, Slow-Build

Cross-Postings: Fanfiction.net , 

Chapter 1

Team Placement

It was the moment of truth.

Iruka-sensei would be calling his name at any minute, and then he would know…

Was he going to be on the same team as Sakura-chan???!

Naruto bounced in his seat, ignoring the brooding raven-haired, self-proclaimed avenger beside him. Neither of them wanted to think about the earlier 'incident', and though it was too late to switch seats, that didn't mean they couldn't put as much distance between themselves as possible.

Still, several teams had been called and grouped, and the 7th was only now being revealed to the class.

"...Team Seven: Tsukino Kohaku, Uzumaki Naruto, and Uchiha Sasuke-"

"WHAT?!" the blonde cried out, half yelping and yelling. Sasuke?! He was teamed with Sasuke!? And there wasn't even a girl on their team! He was stuck with the creepy kid and the bastard!

(Somewhere near the back of the room, a sleepy looking dark haired brunette sniffed awkwardly, somehow managing to resist the sudden urge they had to sneeze.)

"Iruka-sensei!" He exclaimed, eyes half pleading, half indignant, "Why does an outstanding shinobi like me have to be on the same team as that bastard over there?!" he demanded, more riled up by the fact that Sasuke was on his team than the rather gloomy and sleep-deprived looking kid that always sat somewhere near the back of the classroom and always seemed to leave as soon as they were dismissed.

Of course, it would've been Awesome if he'd’ve been able to have Sakura-chan on his team (actually, scratch that, Sakura was way better than that Sasuke-bastard! ...And he really, kinda-sorta...maybe sort-of-didn't-mind being on the same team as the gloomy looking kid. If only they could just get rid of that stupid bastard!

In front of the chalkboard, Iruka withheld a sigh. As much as he loved the whiskered prankster like a brother, there were just times when the kid was such a brat that he wondered. Still, he tried to be patient, Naruto could be a bit slow at times after all. "Sasuke's grades were the best of all 27 graduates, Naruto. You were dead last. You do understand we have to do this to balance the teams, right?" He pointed out calmly, not really expecting much of a response from the blonde.

"Hn, just don't get in my way… Dobe." Sasuke nearly sneered, instead just telling the hyperactive knucklehead the one thing.

There was no way he'd ever let anyone get in his way. He'd get his revenge one day -and if the other dragged him down? Well… He was an avenger for a reason, and he'd stop at nothing to get the bastard that'd had the gall to massacre his entire family and think he could get away with it.

"What did you call me?!" Naruto bristled, turning to glare at the noirette as he slammed both hands on the desk. Between the two, similarly to Yamanaka Ino, Haruno Sakura was mourning the fact that she'd lost her biggest chance of getting closer to her precious Sasuke-kun, turning to glare at the blonde with annoyance as her aggravation hit a new high.

"Shut up, Naruto!" The pink haired genin yelled, far too upset with the fact that she hadn't gotten to be on Sasuke's team...though at least Ino-pig or some other girl hadn't ended up being on the noirette's team either. That was the girl’s only consolation as she fought back tears of disappointment, refusing to sulk as she took her misplaced anger out on the blonde knucklehead beside her -even as Naruto tried to defend against the red-wearing girl that he had a crush on without hurting her.

Iruka sighed. Hopefully everything would work out. Especially with Naruto. Taking another breath to fortify the remaining patience he had left, he spoke again, completing the list of potential Genin Teams before setting the class free for lunch. "We'll be introducing your Jounin-sensei after break, so don't be late!" The Chuunin-sensei warned, shooting a disapproving look at the squabbling -though thankfully no longer fighting- duo in front of him.

Trying not to sigh as most of the group scattered, he shook his head and left. He hadn't been able to pack a lunch today due to all the events that'd occurred in the past few days. He had been planning to restock his fridge the day after Mizuki's little Midnight Betrayal, after all. But with his own injury impeding him and the Hokage calling him in along with the desk-work he did after and between class days, the Chuunin had unfortunately been far too busy to remember until he'd found his fridge all but empty that morning. Hopefully there wouldn't be too long a line at the restaurant not too far from the Academy and he could get a bento to go in case any of the students had any questions before break ended.

Letting one of his fellow Chuunin teachers know that he was heading out (and thus ending up with quite a few orders from some of the others that either hadn't bothered, were too lazy, or had -not so conveniently- 'forgotten' to bring their lunches once again), the brunette made his way to the closest restaurant that sold the most decent to-go Bento that he knew of.

Meanwhile, as the newly minted Genin separated (or grouped up, as the case may be), Naruto made his way up to the roof to devour the packaged bread that was his lunch for the day, trying to decide what to do as he polished off his meal. Having escaped the classroom that had begun to fill with the chatter of new teammates (just as Sasuke had -if only to escape his Kami-damned fan-girls), the youth remained unaware of the figure that had slowly stood from their seat, taking their sweet time to stretch before bothering to look around with dull, slit-pupiled eyes that, along with their owner, seemed perpetually tired and apathetic.

Not finding the two that were the lethargic looking genin's new teammates, said preteen resisted the urge to sigh and sat back down in their seat. Mentally shrugging, the dark-haired brunette took their time to unwrap the home-made bento that they’d brought, deciding not to waste the time it would take to find the two far more infamous students who had clearly not understood that the lunch was meant for the newly minted Genin Teams to get to know their new partners.

The preteen, wearing charcoal black pants over navy blue shinobi sandals and a long-sleeved black ninja shirt with wire under-armor netting -that revealed a thin midriff and shoulders- didn't even bother to look at the three other bento that sat beside them on the seat that, more often than not, remained empty.

There would be a chance to pass them on later if either of the other orphans were interested -along with the Jounin-sensei that would be taking said genin under their wing. The amber-eyed brunette had only made the extra's out of politeness after all, and if none of them wanted one that would just mean less cooking for the brunette to do -at least for the next meal or two. It wasn't like their guardian would be back in the next few days unless they finished a mission early, after all.

Besides, Kohaku didn’t really like socializing very much. It was difficult to tell whether something said was offensive or not at times, even if it wasn’t meant to be. And that was even with all the people-watching the child did when not at home...

Outside, around the Academy Grounds, Naruto (masquerading as Sasuke) interacted with the pinkette that he would soon be seeing far less of for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately for him, he would not only learn of the fact that his beloved Sakura seemed to truly despise him, but also the reason that he'd come to realize that he liked her. Too bad for the blonde that diarrhea caused by the expired milk he'd drunk earlier in the day would end up sending him to the nearest toilet even as the real Sasuke appeared before the pink-haired girl, dismissing said girl until she said something the young avenger considered unforgivable.

Even as said events went on, however, the Hokage continued to show Team 7's soon-to-be Jounin-sensei around the jinchuuriki of the team’s home (a pseudo-attempt to guilt trip the man he still worried about that would -no matter what the ex-AnBu captain said- still work on the socially stunted genius).

Naruto peeked out into the hallway again, impatient to meet the Jounin-sensei who appeared to be running far too late for the blonde's liking. He, Sasuke, and Kohaku were the last three genin to remain. Even Iruka-sensei had already left (the man having waited until the last minute, to the point he'd had to hurry out in order to avoid being late for the desk-job he'd taken at the Hokage’s Tower. As it was, the Chuunin would be cutting it very close, barely making it in time to check himself in).

"Ugh, why is Team 7's Jounin-sensei so damn late?!" The blonde exclaimed at last, all but tearing his shortly cropped hair out of impatience. "All the other teams have gone with their Sensei's, and even Iruka-sensei's gone!" He sulked, not seeming to be aware that his outburst had drawn the attention of the two darker haired genin.

Unfortunately for the blonde, however, both genin seemed to be quite happy to remain quiet and boring, though their reactions and actions towards the blonde seemed to differ. Sasuke being his usual asshole self, while Kohaku…

Well, the toffee-eyed genin seemed to be mute or something since the other hadn't said a single word as far as the blonde could remember, only nodding in acknowledgement when they'd all converged back in the classroom to meet up with their teams. Naruto really wasn't quite sure if the other was really just mute or simply stuck up (though thankfully not as bad as Sasuke if he was).

Still, something about the other genin gave him the heebie-jeebies. Maybe it was the feeling that the other genin was like some kind of cat or other predator to the blonde's senses. The brunette always seemed so detached and uninterested in everything that went on and never seemed to have a single friend as far as the blonde could tell. Not like that bastard Sasuke who seemed to have fans following him around absolutely everywhere, even with his puffed up ego and chicken-butt hair.

In fact, the detached yet somehow curious slit-pupiled eyes (even his eyes were like a cat's! the blonde thought -not quite hysterically, but close enough to a feeling of panic that he had to quash the urge to get as far away from the creeper as he could. Not even Shino and his weird bug-hive body was so creepy! Those Freaking Eyes) on his back made the genin want to shiver. Still, he repressed it, deciding to go through with his prank even as he ignored the itch he felt from the gaze that was boring into the back of his head.

He was sure that Sasuke was watching too, though the noirette was probably doing so with his usual condescending black eyes as the blonde wedged the chalk-iest eraser he could find between the classroom’s sliding door and the wall. Thinking about his prank (simple as it was), he snickered, feeling much better now that he wasn't thinking about annoying or creepy things.

"Heheheh~ That’s what you get for being late!" He grinned, jumping off the table that conveniently sat next to the doorway and making his way back towards his seat with a feeling of pride.

"Che, like a Jounin would fall for such a stupid trap," the killjoy Uchiha muttered, just loud enough to ensure that the words would travel, as Naruto scowled. Kohaku, wearing a dusky, off-white jacket (somewhat reminiscent to the apparently classic Aburame coat) that seemed just a size or two big, seemed to lose interest as the blonde puffed up in response to the bastard's stupid logic.

Before anyone could say anything, however, a pale hand slid the door open, the eraser covering spiky silver hair in white chalk dust before bouncing off as the masked Jounin blinked.

Naruto burst into laughter, pointing at the now white haired Jounin. "You fell for it! You fell for it!" The blonde chanted, too busy laughing to really think about the potential repercussions of his actions.

Sasuke frowned, sweating a little as he wondered at the Jounin's reliability, while Kohaku's face remained as blank as usual, apparently neither amused nor questioning as dark eyes stared.

The Jounin hummed, ignoring Naruto for the moment as he seemingly studied his new students, offering an insincere smile behind the mask he always wore. One that caused his single visible eye to curve into a crescent.

"How can I say this…?" He started at last, "My first impression is… I don't like you guys~" He announced, two out of three members of the new Genin Team sweating in response, even as the last apparently reserved judgement. Ignoring the reactions to his seemingly careless remark, the man led the children (and they were still children, no matter that the law stated they were now legal adults with the hitaeate that adorned their bodies) to the roof.

Kakashi waited for all three genin to take a seat, having long since begun evaluating the trio and noting that they all seemed to be just as reported -with the exception of one Tsukino Kohaku. Who was, for whatever reason, carrying a somewhat bulky bundle. The Hatake's sharp nose couldn't seem to give him much information on the containers that were stacked inside said bundle. Three if he was correct (which, of course, he was quite sure he was). He didn't ask, however, even if he was a little curious about the anomaly.

Naruto's brash curiosity had already revealed that the other wouldn't be answering any questions after all. Even if there was a higher chance that the Jounin-sensei would be answered, unlike the loud blonde that had practically run circles around the Mikazuki heir. Oh, sure, she'd taken her mother's maiden name, but that didn't mean it wasn't still on her file. That wasn't even considering the distinctive markings of the Mikazuki Clan, dark markings under the eyes that could be mistaken for bags if not for the fact that said bags didn't actually exist. Not to mention the slit-pupiled eyes and distinctive shared scent that he recognized from his interactions with others of the clan (though a few had had variants) that had existed until the night of the Kyuubi's attack.

Kakashi refused to think about that night however, the pain, though no longer fresh, still a wound that the Emotionally Stunted Genius hadn't been able to get rid of. In fact, just looking at the son of his previous teacher made his heart twinge, but the Infamous Copy Ninja pushed it aside, even as he specifically avoided looking straight at the bright ball of mischievous sunshine that reminded him so much of those he'd lost.

Shaking the feeling off, he brightened the crescent-eyed smile that he'd been giving the trio for the past few minutes, even Sasuke being unable to help but shift a bit at the supposed awkwardness. The only one that didn't show any sign of discomfort was Kohaku, but if what he suspected of the apathetic seeming preteen was true, the stillness the girl showed only meant that she was taking things seriously.

Honestly, if Kakashi were any other person, he might have been weirded out by the child. As it was, the silver-haired Jounin was only slightly discomfited. After all, knowing was one thing, being right there to observe it himself…

Well, Kakashi might have admitted that even he felt a little uncomfortable by the gaze that was concentrated so strongly on his person, if only to himself. All the observations he'd had of the trio he'd made during the several hours he'd made the trio wait (all the while reading his precious Icha Icha, of course) had coincided with the files he'd been given on the three.

The Uchiha worried him of course, especially with the preteen's mentality (something that was apparently up to the equally emotionally stunted Jounin to handle, no matter that it was just a Terrible Idea all around). The self-sufficient little brunette that looked more like she might have been just another shinobi rather than a kunoichi like she actually was (something that anyone with discerning or sharp senses could -and should- have noticed), on the other hand, seemed not to care that her teammates had apparently decided she was male. Not at all bothered by the apparent lack of femininity that graced the child.

Then again, the girl, at least, seemed to be far more logical as well as being much calmer than the two boys on the team if the fact that she'd kept herself further back yet still somewhat in the middle of the last Uchiha and the rambunctious blonde was anything to go by. She hadn't said a single word so far, but Kakashi was sure that she wasn't mute…

Well, almost completely sure, anyway.

Clapping his hands together to ensure the trio's attention was still on him (which, of course, it already had been, even as he’d continued to simply draw the awkward silence out during his musings), Kakashi beamed once more. "Well then! Why don't we start with introductions from you kids, hmm~?"

Dark eyes watched the Jounin with wary, narrow eyes. "...What do you want to know…?" He asked, still suspicious of the Jounin they'd gotten assigned as their team leader.

"How about your likes, dislikes, dreams for the future and things like that?" He hummed, purposely acting the way he was to further mislead the trio that just might possibly become his new Genin Team. (As much as it hurt to be so close to the blonde, it wasn't like he'd accept letting another Jounin teach the Yondaime's legacy, after all. Hypocritical as it may be.)

Even as he spoke the blonde squinted at him, as if staring hard enough would give him all the answers. Crossing his legs and supporting himself with his arms, he leaned in to speak. "Hey-hey! Why don't you introduce yourself to us first?!" He all but demanded, the noirette beside him approving of the dead-last's tactics for once.

Nodding, Sasuke continued to watch the Jounin suspiciously, sitting on the other side of the strange brunette that he'd all but dismissed already. At the very least the other wouldn't be as bad, considering that they at least wouldn't be dragging him down like the blonde would. On the other hand, the other could still do so if he was as average as the noirette believed due to having no real recollection of the slit-pupiled brunette… Better to believe they’d both just drag him down, if there was no proof otherwise.

"Oh, me~?" The silver haired Jounin mused, "Well, my name is Hatake Kakashi," he began. "I have no desire to tell you my likes and dislikes," he continued, seeming to think for a moment before continuing on, purposely leaving information out. If the trio had really done their homework, they would have known who he was already. But from what he could see, the only one that might have any prior knowledge about him -or any of the other more well-known Konoha Ninja- was Tsukino Kohaku. Especially considering who the child's guardian was -but he was getting off track. Continuing on, he went on to give the trio blank answers that would at the same time inform them of just what he wanted them to list when it came their turn. "Dreams for the future…" He hummed noncommittally before finishing up with a just as anticlimactic: "I have a lot of hobbies."

Seated in a loose but uneven ring, the trio shared a glance. Two dubious and unimpressed, and one just as unimpressed and blank if the look on their face was any indication.

"In the end he didn't really tell us anything but his name, did he…?" Naruto muttered, even Sasuke nodding in agreement -and disgruntlement- as toffee-colored eyes flickered between their fellow genin and the Jounin.

"Saa, now for you. Why don't we start from the right?" the masked Shinobi suggested. The two boys shared a glance, the last member of the three-member team being more focused on their new Sensei, even if they still paid attention to the blonde that shifted his hitaeate in what appeared to be preparation for his introduction.

"Yosh! My name's Uzumaki Naruto! I like Cup Ramen," he started, grinning at man. "What I like even more than that, though, is when Iruka-sensei pays for my Ramen! I don't like waiting the three minutes for Ramen to cook, and my dream…" He took a deep breath, confidence clear as he firmly announced his dream. "I'm going to surpass the Hokage, and then have the people of this Village acknowledge my existence!" He all but shouted, a look of determination on his face that, coupled with the straightening of his back and the confidence he exuded, could almost make the man believe that the blonde would someday have what it took to follow in his father's footsteps.

Even surprised as he was, Kakashi couldn't help the fondness that crept into his expression, though he covered the moment with a blink. For a moment, the silverette had believed that all the blonde thought about was Ramen, but this clearly proved him wrong, the slate-eyed Jounin mused, chagrinned.

"Uhm, Hobbies…" The blonde continued, ending the moment of inspiration as he slumped a bit, crossing his arms in puzzled thought. "Well... Pranks? I guess…"

Kakashi sighed, rubbing his head and sending some of the chalk that didn't seem to want to completely leave everywhere. Well, he probably should have expected it, to be honest, but then, it had been such a juvenile tactic and he'd already known about it. Still, it did explain quite a bit about the abundance of pranks that seemed to have occurred even more often in the recent years.

"Well then, how about we have the moody one go next?" He smiled, sitting back against the railing.

Dark eyes met his, and the man almost frowned behind his mask.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke," the noirette began, eyes hard and face partially hidden by the hands clasped before him, elbows resting just above his knees. "There are a lot of things I dislike, and I don't particularly like anything. I wouldn't call it a dream, but I do have an ambition.

“And that is… the resurrection of my clan -and to kill a certain person." The last Uchiha spoke shortly, tone clipped, a heavy aura pressing down around him as the other three stared, even Kohaku's caramel eyes boring into the self-proclaimed avenger.

Though it wasn't clear what the Mikazuki heir was thinking, Kakashi looked as if that had been pretty much what he'd expected to hear. Naruto's reaction being a bit more obvious in the way he shuddered and inched just a little further from the Uchiha.

Sasuke didn't seem to notice, too lost in thought as the frown he wore turned as dark as his emotions. His introspection only broken when the only Jounin and actual adult of the group spoke up once more.

"Alright… And how about we have the last member of our little group speak up now," He continued calmly, not quite asking so much as stating.

"..." For a moment, the silver-haired Jounin thought she wouldn't answer, but much to his -and the others'- surprise, the brunette that had been silent up until now finally spoke. "Tsukino Kohaku," the soft voice that sounded too close to belonging to either gender sounding just loudly enough for the three males to hear. "I like taking naps," she continued quietly, voice smooth if clearly disused for the most part. "I dislike socializing, being woken, or bothered," the brunette told them, keeping her words as short as she could while still being polite. She hadn't shared much that couldn't be figured out just by watching her or which could be used against her, really. Something that was more habit than anything. The less people knew about her, the less they would try to bother her. But with this being her team for the foreseeable future, she felt she at least owed them some information, sparse as it may be.

Besides, Kohaku had never been very good at vocalizing, so it’d be easier for them to figure it out themselves as they spent more together (something that would, unfortunately, be very likely considering how Konoha ran itself).

"Dreams…" She paused, a single hand moving from its place in her lap to touch the Hitaeate she'd hung around her neck. Deciding not to answer it since even she wasn't quite sure what it would be herself (to protect her precious people -or rather, person? To be left alone? She honestly didn’t know), moving on, the tawny-eyed brunette gave her team a slight shrug, chin-length hair bobbing just slightly from the slight head tilt that had occurred instinctively, just prior to the shrug. "I like reading... and cooking," she said at last, seeming to just remember the package that had been the source of quite a bit of curiosity -even if it'd been forgotten in favor of the Jounin-sensei's introductions.

Untying the somewhat thick cloth she'd tied around the trio of uneaten bento, she held the square-ish containers out to her new team. "This…" She started, holding it up towards the trio of males that she would have to acquaint herself with, an unsure look on her face. Words awkward and almost stilted as slit-pupiled toffee-colored eyes stared resolutely at the stack of bento.

"For you all," she murmured, letting her words die, silence encompassing the roof-top as a gentle breeze blew past, brushing against all of their hair. It was said that gifts between new people were more likely to foster some kind of...amiability (she didn’t particularly care about ‘making friends’, after all). And since Kohaku was resigned to having to -somehow- get along with her teammates, she had prepared the trio of bento early in the morning before heading to school (for ease of career if nothing else -like she’d said, she wasn’t exactly fond of socializing, after all… with the exception of her uncle, but family was different, and it...wasn’t really socializing…? As far as she was aware, at least).

A slightly surprised look adorned all three of the male members. Blue eyes staring widely at the offering, while black remained unreadable, and slate only showed mild surprise.

So that's what was inside the bundle, Kakashi mused, even as Naruto gave a shout of excitement and asked if he could really take one, and if the brunette was 'really, really sure' he could. The only answer to the excited question being a nod as toffee eyes refused to look directly at rest of their team.

"Well now, this is a pleasant surprise," the masked Jounin mused, experience telling him that the brunette was embarrassed if the slight pink tinge against her cheeks was anything to go by. Walking towards the trio as the other two genin accepted their bento (one excitedly, and one almost reluctantly though he did at least thank the girl), Kakashi accepted the last with a ruffle of the only female's hair.

As much as the girl seemed like she might be agender or even gender neutral, it was possible that it was something the child might grow out of later (or never, but in his experience it tended to be later). The Jounin had known a few people that didn't seem to care much about their gender, few as they were. One being a Jounin that was quite open to crossdressing for missions, and didn't seem to care much about being male or female, the other being completely agender (not including certain AnBu members he knew of, of course). It was rare, but it did happen occasionally.

"Wow, this looks good!" Naruto exclaimed, bringing the others' attention to him as caramel eyes finally looking up, startled by the hair ruffle as well as the exclamation. "Did you make this, Kohaku?!" Bright blue eyes sparkled, staring at the brunette that he'd just seen a new facet of, looking even more awed when the brunette nodded slowly.

Seeming to hesitate, the other genin spoke up at last, even Sasuke discreetly cracking his own open out of curiosity. "I...was going to share them during break," the brunette explained awkwardly, spots of pale red appearing high on the girl's cheeks even as she looked away.

Kakashi had to resist the urge to crack his own open since he could smell the other two's clearly enough, and could see with his own (uncovered) eye just what was inside the bento. From the smell (likely the containers sealed scent in, which he probably should have expected considering what clan the girl came from, now that he thought about it), he could tell that both of the other containers contained the same things. So there was really no need for him to open his own. And looking at Naruto's (Sasuke had only taken a peek and shut his own), he could see that there was plenty of rice, what looked (and smelled) like chicken, and other vegetables (a stir-fry?). From what he could tell, the bento looked quite balanced, something that actually surprised him. It was almost impressive, he thought, partially at the thought the girl had put into making the food….as well as the speed and gusto that Naruto was eating his own.

"Ish'uz 'uh-rish-us!" The blonde shouted between gobbling his food, unfortunately also proving that he'd never been raised to understand that you weren't supposed to be talking and eating at the same time. A matter further proven when the blue-eyed genin choked for a moment, hitting his chest a few times to dislodge what was stuck in his throat before polishing off the rest in record speed. "Ah~ that was great!" The Uzumaki grinned, sitting back with his weight supported by his arms as the emptied bento box sat in the orange-wearing genin's lap.

On the other side of the brunette, Sasuke gave the blonde a disgusted look. "That was disgusting, Dead-Last. Don't you know anything about manners?" He sneered, resisting the urge to inch further away from the blonde though he did seem to be holding his own lunch somewhat protectively.

There had been tomatos in the scrambled egg, and smaller half-cut grape tomatoes in the vegetable stir-fry. The karaage looked good too, actually, but the male wasn't about to say anything since it didn't seem like anything was poisoned (though he doubted Tsukino would want to kill him off, anyways. There was really no reason or motive for it).

"What'd you say, bastard?!" The blonde exclaimed, straightening to glare at the noirette before appearing to think there was something more important to do. "Hey, hey, Kohaku! Can you make more of those bento?! That was really good!" He exclaimed, eyes wide and sparkling like brilliant aquamarine gems as he leaned towards the brunette...who leaned a little further back, looking somewhat alarmed by the close proximity.

"Maa, I'm sure Kohaku here'll do it if *(s)he feels like it," the Jounin spoke, clasping a hand on the sparkling blonde's shoulder and edging him a bit further away from the relieved brunette. "However, there's still something important that needs to be discussed before we can do anything else," he hummed, still standing as he smiled the soon-to-be-familiar one eyed smile at the trio.

"Huh?" Naruto blinked, "Hey, where'd your bento go?" The blonde asked, somehow managing to notice that the silverette's had disappeared.

Kakashi hummed, "I'm sure I'll have time to enjoy my bento later. For now, however…" He trailed off warningly, the trio before him straightening at the serious tone despite the Jounin relaxing his aura a bit as he stuffed his hands in his pockets. He'd already sealed his bento away while the trio had been distracted, and watching as Sasuke and Naruto put their bento's aside (one, of course, still practically untouched aside from the shifted lid whilst the other was all but empty) to pay attention.

"Now, we'll be starting our duties as Shinobi as of tomorrow," the Jounin told them, having somehow managed to make his way back to the railing to sit down before any of the Genin could really notice.

Bright blue eyes and a wide grin met the slate-eyed ninja's proclamation. "Aw yeah! What kind of duties?!" exclaimed Naruto excitedly.

"Maa, first we're going to be doing something with just the four of us," he told them as Naruto settled, still fidgeting as he stared with bright eyes.

"What is it? What is it?!" He asked, clearly excited.

Kakashi allowed for a moment of pause, giving his next two words a sense of importance.

"Survival Training." The man announced dramatically.

"Sur...vival...training…?" Naruto questioned, a clearly confused look on his face. Neither of his other teammates said anything, both of the darker haired members of the team more focused on their Sensei.

"This isn't normal training, of course~ This time, I'll be your opponent," The silverette smiled.

"Then…! Then what is it?" Naruto asked, seemingly causing the Jounin to chuckle in response.

Dark eyes narrowed even as caramel sharpened, zeroing in on their Sensei's shaking shoulders.

"Wh- What's so funny!" Naruto demanded after a moment when it became clear that no one else would say anything.

"Ah, well… It's just that, when I tell you this, you guys will totally freak~" The man smiled, eye once again shaped into a crescent of short, silver lashes.

"F...freak…?" Naruto asked uneasily, fidgeting in his seat, eyes wide.

"You see...of the twenty-seven graduates, only nine will be chosen to become Genin," he told them, creating the illusion that he was looming over them. "The rest? Well, they'll be sent straight back to the Academy. This training is a very difficult exam with a failure rate of over sixty-six percent after all~"

A look of shock crossed the whiskered blonde's face. Sasuke's own expression not quite as shocked so much as surprised with Kohaku's being even less so. Whether it was a shock to her or not, or simply just a mild surprise was difficult to tell. But, having watched the trio for a while, Kakashi was at least somewhat confident that the child was surprised. It had been kept out of most of the books, after all (the only exception being certain journals typically kept private by their owners and records kept by the Hokage for filing).

Of course, if she was as studious (and deductive) as he believed her to be, then she would probably have at least a vague idea of said information.

Kakashi laughed, "I told you you'd freak out~" He smiled, even as the obviously building outburst escaped the genin as he changed position to yell.

"What?! No way!" He exclaimed, clearly shocked by this news, "But we worked so hard!" He yelled, as if it would change anything. "If that’s the case, then what was the point of graduation?!" He all but demanded.

The Jounin hummed. "Ah, that~?" He mused, "That was simply to select who'd be given the chance of becoming Genin," he explained, enjoying his trolling of the genin perhaps just a tad too much.

"Ugh. What?!" The blonde exclaimed, clearly still somewhat disbelieving of the situation.

Unsurprisingly, however, the only one that didn't seem to show any anxiety was Tsukino Kohaku. Or perhaps she was anxious and he simply wasn't used to reading her expressions (or lack thereof) enough to be able to tell just yet. The only thing he could see on the girl's face was a look of deep thought that didn't really tell him anything (yet).

"In any case, you'll have to show your real skills on the training ground tomorrow. Bring all the Shinobi tools you have," he announced, smoothly running through the rest of the explanation he'd given to every other genin team that had been handed to him prior. Of course, all of them had failed, but then, Kakashi had (slightly) higher hopes for this group. "Ah," he added, as if just remembering something important. "Skip breakfast, you might just end up throwing up otherwise~" He smiled. Pulling out a few sheets of paper, he passed them out to the shaking Uzumaki, the somewhat anxious looking Uchiha, and the stone-faced heir of the Mikazuki clan -a clan that would be all but extinct if its only other member ended up dying before he could sire his own progeny as well.

"The details are on these papers, and don't be late tomorrow~" He practically sang, disappearing almost as soon as the last sheet had left his grasp, leaving only a trio of genin staring at their own individual sheets of paper with a time and place noted. He'd even been kind enough to give directions!

Really, Kakashi was just such a kind person…

More importantly, however, he kind of wanted to try that bento. Not until the kids all separated and went home, though, the silverette mused, scent and presence pulled in tightly enough that not even an Inuzuka would be able to figure out he was there if he didn’t want them to.

Watching as Naruto and Sasuke squabbled over the bento that Sasuke had yet to touch aside from finding out what had been in it, and Kohaku doing her best to separate the duo despite her blank face and reluctance to speak, Kakashi almost chuckled.

At least it looked like this year's set would be more interesting than the last~

Maybe they'd have an easier time of passing the test if things went well. But considering the fact that two of the members clashed quite often, and the last preferred to stay out of the way as well as being far more reluctant to speak than the scarecrow had expected, the upcoming team looked to be one that would be quite amusing, to say the least.

Ending Notes:

To the Readers: 

*(s)he : Why hasn’t Naruto or Sasuke noticed that Kakashi called Kohaku a ‘she’? Well, because despite the fic/story being in English, he’s not actually using the word ‘she’. Since Naruto seems to have a mainly Asian language (and of course, assuming that everyone speaks in a common language, that being some kind of alternate pseudo-Japanese or Chinese), in which “she” is either pronounced the same as “he”, “her”, “his”, “their”, etc. Or, as in the Japanese Language, is actually left out and more implied than anything. Hence the reason the boys haven’t figured out that Kohaku’s actually a girl. (I’m still trying to decide whether I want to make this some sort of running gag, but I guess we’ll have to just wait and see whether things go to keikaku/plan.)

For Self Reference:

Original Post Date: 05/08/2016 (on FF.net)

Updated: 05/14/2016 (on FF.net)

Edited: 01/03/2017

Re-Posted: 01/03/2017 (on Tumblr)