#first it was because of his promise to sakura now it's itachi's fault

[purplevenuss]

not people on twitter acting that naruto was forced to chase sasuke down for 699 chapters, lmao. it was naruto's decision from the start to do that, it was never about the others. victimizing him when he declared in front of sasuke that he would bear all of his hatred and die with him, naruto's own words, lol. just another day of failed media literacy

[tora-the-cat]

A happy ending for Sasuke is literally not even POSSIBLE for basically ALL of Naruto like it's not even funny. He really never even had a CHANCE he has of living a decent life, it's not even on the TABLE, by literally no fault of his own (because he's never done anything wrong). I'm going to scream.

0-6? Forces unbelievably outside of his control are organizing, ensuring, and executing an ethnic cleansing of his entire clan at the hands of his favoritest person in the world. Forces including the shattered psyche of said favoritest person, who tortures him until he is too terrified and traumatized to even think about anything else for years.

7-12? enrolled in Child Soilder School, completely isolated socially (not as a pariah but as a prodigy) befret of any support system, still traumatized beyond belief, and left with no outlet for any of his issues besides obsessing over the day, one day in the future, where Itachi will be dead and all this unresolved suffering and guilt and love and anger and fear and fear and FEAR will go away forever. Right? Because it has to. There has to be an end. Right?

12? Government assigned found family give him the support and love and attention and outlet and for the future that he's been craving for so long he didn't even KNOW it's what he needed. Has a soulmate and a bestie that can read his mind and a mentor who actually is willing to meet him where he's at and help him and maybe even love him and is this......Hope? That perhaps he can have a life outside of what Itachi did to- Itachi. Itach- FUCK. ITACHI IS LITERALLY HUNTING NARUTO FOR SPORT WITH ALL HIS WAR CRIMINAL FRIENDS AND SASUKE SHOULDN'T HAVE LET HIS GUARD DOWN BECAUSE IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW STRONG KAKASHI OR EVEN THE WHOLE VILLAGE IS, ITACHI WILL KILL ANYONE SASUKE IS STUPID AND SHORT SIDED AND CRUEL ENOUGH TO CARE ABOUT, HOW DID HE FORGET, HOW DARE HE FORGET, HE NEEDS TO GET STRONGER HE NEEDS TO AVENGE HIS CLAN HE NEEDS TO FUFILL HIS FRATERNAL DUTY HE NEEDS TO LEAVE BEFORE ANYONE ELSE IS MURDERED BY ASSOCIATION-

13-16? He dropped a lit match on his support system behind him him and ran into the cold shadows of obsessive anger that he only stepped out of long enough to loose the ability to ignore the gnawing want for warmth. That's bad enough, not even taking cohabitating with goddamned OROCHIMARU. No further explanation required there.

17? Kills his brother, gets NONE of the 'benefits' he spent his life convincing (begging) himself must be awaiting at the end. Instead everyhting has, in fact, gotten much worse very quickly and now all he has is a list of powerful people and systems that don't work and hurts and kills and tortures the people they've promised to protect that no one except him will oppose because it's basically suicide, and isn't he already so familiar with being on the shit side of this dynamic? Isn't it the normalest thing in the world, to fill the hole where his vengeance used to be with a hunt with near identical goals and intentions of his first vengance, the only real difference being his increasing dissalussion with ever being able to 'go back home', his almost all comsuming doubt that there's a 'home' waiting for him still, if there ever even was? So he dives into another goal before it goes as cold as the love he doesn't dare indulge, accumulating more power and rage then he knows what to do with (where can he put it down? where can he put it down?) and no reason NOT to challange corruption until it's either all gone or it kills him. Naruto, once the only person who looked at him with empathy instead of pity or expectation, thinks he should grit his teeth and bear it and go back to the village, as if that was ever an option for him. Sakura, once the only person who understood him, who followed his every thought process with ease and loved him even when he thought himself a monster, has finally given up on him and tries to kill him. What can he do but laugh as the world burns? It burned him first.

(but if that was true, then why is he still so cold?)

[sneezemonster15]

Hello there. Not too long ago I was reminded of Naruto, my first anime, how emotional it made me, and looking at it after years with adult eyes.. as a teen, I felt very uncomfortable with SNS bc of internalized homophobia, but now, it's an entirely different story. I couldn't put down my phone after discovering your blog and I appreciate your unapologetic, detailed, thoughtful analysis so much. Maybe you already were asked this question, but what would you ideally wish for Naruto and Sasuke after chapter 698? How would the prophesied change of the shinobi world come to fruition? (You don't have to answer, still I'm happy to be able to read your thoughts. Have a good day.)

Hey.

Hope you had a good day too. :) Thank you for your response. I am glad I was able to communicate what I wanted and that it reached the reader. Heh. No seriously, I am glad. Today was a long day. Sigh.

Well, Kishi wrote the shinobi world as an apathetic world where nothing of significance, the way it was shaped by the narrative, came to fruition. All of Sasuke's efforts went in vain. Uchiha clan was not vindicated of the false accusation of summoning the kyuubi. Itachi's truth was hidden, and he still bears the entire condemnation of the Uchiha massacre despite the complicity of Konoha elders, Danzo and Hiruzen in it. Kakashi, the prospective hokage, still doesn't understand Sasuke or what he went through, much less understand the severity of Uchiha clan massacre and what it implies. He is still a willing tool of the system who follows the rules blindly. Even Sai, who never had a family, who grew up in a clinical environment completely devoid of any emotional expression or affectation, Root ie, even this boy realized what he was doing was wrong and promised himself never to follow rules blindly. Not Kakashi. In the end, he tells Sasuke to behave as if whatever happened was his fault. Was the massacre his fault? Was the kyuubi attack his fault? Was he wrong in killing Danzo? Was his wish for revenge for having his entire clan butchered while asleep so out of place when Kakashi allowed others such as Shikamaru to take revenge? Hinata and Sakura, both were rewarded for their insensitive and consistently unempathetic pursuance of Naruto and Sasuke respectively, when they should have been condemned. The elders are still revered despite their complicity in the massacre, their public personas clean and untainted. Hiruzen is still considered as one of the best hokage to ever live when he was literally the worst, having had an entire clan die under his rule with his complicity, this man who taught his students about the 'will of fire', a philosophy which was supposed to be about protecting the people of Konoha, and yet was entirely inconsequential at the time of the massacre. Him, a hokage. Useless. Complacent. A failure. A blight. He himself admitted his complicity in the massacre and yet was never condemned for it. He should have been.

The problem with suppressing the truth is that unless it is revealed, you will never know what went wrong. And it's important to assign blame to the guilty party and have them punished for it. That's how an ideal society functions. But the shinobi world isn't an ideal world. It's a heartless world. It's an indifferent world. It's a world where there's no true justice. Kishi never meant to write it as an ideal world. It was portrayed as a heartless and unjust world right from the beginning, what with its victims such as Haku, Zabuza, Amegakure orphans, Gaara, Neji, Naruto, Sasuke, Sakumo, Kisame, Oro's sound ninjas etc. And no one got true justice. Not one. Well, Gaara still got some resolution, but it was because of Naruto, and not this world. Most of them got some sort of resolution because of Naruto. But not true justice. Well, he is the MC, so he will be given the savior trope, but look at him in Gaiden and Boruto and in that extra chapter with the hokage ceremony. He is not himself. He is not enthused or excited about being hokage. He is a mere husk of his former self. He is not the same person that we know and love, entirely the opposite as a matter of fact. He capitulated to this world. Just like Sasuke did. It's heartbreaking.

The cycle of revenge only stopped because of Sasuke and Naruto, if it weren't for them, their world was doomed. And yet, they both live a miserable life post 699, just empty shells of what they used to be, having had their zeal and zest and individuality sacrificed at the altar of conformity. For the sake of their world. Living heterosexual lives in public. Being married to superficial and selfish women who don't even know their hearts or what they are truly like, who don't care for anything but their status and fame and looks, to have them as trophies.

Anyway, I have written about what you asked here. It may assume a lot of stuff, but it's what I wanted.

[watermelonsloth]

I promise I tried to keep this short. This is the short version.

I think you misunderstood the first argument, but I wasn’t very clear so I won’t fault you for that. What I was trying to say was that when people are critiquing/bashing his actions, most of them aren’t saying he “handled his trauma wrong”, they’re saying that regardless of what he’s gone through, Sasuke is still accountable for his own actions and responsible for the people who get hurt because of him/his actions. I personally give him some leeway, but I understand why someone else wouldn’t. Especially in regards to his actions during the Five Kage Summit arc. There was no excuse for him joining a terrorist organization, there was no excuse for attempting to kill Killer B, there was no excuse for killing those samurai, there was no excuse for trying to kill the Raikage, and there was no excuse for betraying team taka. He was the aggressor in all of these scenarios and he was attacking people who had nothing to do with the Uchiha Massacre.

On top of that, he repeatedly turns down the offered help from Naruto and Sakura, continuing to spiral instead, and he’s never truly held accountable for his actions by the narrative. Team 7/konoha 12/team taka all forgive him, the cloud ninja all forget the grudge they held against him, none of the kage are upset at him for attacking them, Orochimaru barely says a word about Sasuke killing them (I’m not mad about this, it was deserved), Kabuto never blames Sasuke for killing Orochimaru and sending his life into chaos (slightly less deserved but I wasn’t rooting for him to stay with his abuser anyways), etc.

My point is that Sasuke, regardless of reasoning and intention, knowingly and willingly hurt others. Even if someone was abused as a child, that doesn’t give them an excuse to abuse their own child (not a 1:1 comparison but I’m trying to make a point). You have to hold a person accountable for their own actions eventually.

For the second point, we’re mostly agreed. I’m not gonna argue my perspective over small details. What you said about the third point, I have more gripes with.

Since you brought up @the-real-sasuke-uchiha, I do agree that no one is responsible for the feelings and actions of others and no one has to be grateful or indebted to someone for doing something you didn’t ask them to do. The reason I talked about this is because it’s completely natural to get frustrated on the behalf of a character you like. It’s the lack of accountability thing again. Karin/Team taka, Sakura, and Naruto never get frustrated or resentful over Sasuke, so the fans do it for them. It has nothing to do with logic or real life comparisons, it’s just about emotions.

Here’s the part I actually have problems with. I’m sorry if I get a little heated.

First, you can’t reasonably hold it against team 7 that they wanted to bring Sasuke back to the village that killed his clan because. They. Didn’t. Know. Up until the Five Kage Summit when Obito spills the beans, team 7 was under the impression that the whole Uchiha situation was: Sasuke’s older brother Itachi, for no known reason, murdered the entirety of their clan in one night and only spared Sasuke. Now Sasuke wants to kill Itachi in revenge and will go to any length to do so, even at the cost of his friends and himself. That’s it. Holding it against them would would be just as backwards as saying “Sasuke’s horrible because he killed Itachi even though he fought so hard to protect him”. See how that doesn’t make any sense given the context? And after they learned the truth (or at least Naruto and Kakashi, I don’t remember if Sakura was ever told), they stopped trying to drag him back to Konoha, including Sakura who may or may not have known. When Sasuke fought alongside Konoha during the war and later rejoined the village, it was of his own volition.

Second, I concede that for most of the story team 7 didn’t understand Sasuke or his motives. I don’t hold this against them because the whole story is about them (or at least Sasuke and Naruto) finding understanding and I’m not going to have a fit over characters having a character arc; if someone else does, more power to them. However, I don’t like how you say they didn’t have empathy for his motives or experiences.

Naruto is the easiest to counter because most of his interactions with Sasuke is him being empathetic. He is horrified when he finds out about the Uchiha Massacre, he supports Sasuke’s desire for revenge, he yells at Itachi for how he treats Sasuke, he tells the Konoha 12 and fights (and begs) the cloud ninja to leave Sasuke to him because he doesn’t want people who don’t know/care about Sasuke to play judge jury and executioner with his life, and he both cries and has a panic attack over the idea of Sasuke dying. Naruto didn’t try to bring Sasuke back to the village because he was unempathetic, it was because he didn’t want his friend to lose himself or get hurt in the process of getting revenge. He wanted Sasuke to have the support system he didn’t have before (hence Naruto’s belief that if Sasuke had a support system like Naruto and Naruto didn’t, their positions would be reversed).

Kakashi is also empathetic because he knows what it’s like to lose everything and he’s seen people destroy themselves to get revenge. That’s why he focuses so much on Sasuke in part 1, he sees Sasuke as the most actively emotionally vulnerable and is trying to mold him into having a healthier mindset (focusing more on what he has now rather than what he’s lost and fighting to protect rather than destroy). A lot of people have said “Kakashi supported Shikamaru’s revenge but not Sasuke’s” and I think this complaint is coming from people’s misunderstanding of the difference between Shikamaru and Sasuke and why Kakashi was against Sasuke (explicitly post-curse mark Sasuke) going out to kill Itachi. The difference is that Shikamaru had already grieved and processed his emotions, getting revenge was just about getting justice. He wasn’t self-isolating, his anger was concentrated and focused, and he had no intention of dying. Sasuke hadn’t found any amount of peace with what had happened, he was actively distancing himself from his peers (and eventually village), he was fully ready and willing to die for his mission, and getting revenge was all about finding an outlet for his anger and grief. Kakashi didn’t want Sasuke to kill Itachi as he was because he was at extreme risk of killing himself (metaphorically or physically) in the process.

Side Note: I’m not saying that Shikamaru and Sasuke’s circumstances or losses were the same and I’m definitely not trying to say that Sasuke was handling his trauma “the wrong way”, I don’t think Kakashi thinks that either. I’m saying that of the two, only one was at risk of self-destructing and Kakashi didn’t want his student to, well, self-destruct.

If you want to say that Sakura can’t empathize with Sasuke because she has no personal point of reference, fine, I can’t argue against that, but I will say that’s a weird hill to die on. But if we’re talking about her not caring about Sasuke outside of what he can give her, I have to disagree. You just have to keep in mind that she was out of the loop. As in, “didn’t know about the nine tails or the Akatsuki until shippuden” out of the loop (I don’t even know if she knew Sasuke was an orphan in part 1). And regardless of what you think about her affections towards Sasuke, she still had very real affection towards him. She tried to help against Haku from the outside, she sobbed when she thought he died, she hung on his every word, she fought tooth and nail to protect him when he was vulnerable in the forest of death and panicked when he was acting out of character, she threw herself in front of Gaara to protect him, she stayed by his bedside when he was unconscious, etc etc etc. You get the point, she cared about him.

There are only three major scenes I can think of where you can argue she was being selfish/insensitive; when Sasuke leaves the village and she tries to convince him not to go, the Five Kage Summit, and when she’s crying/yelling at him before VotE2. In the first scene, her bringing up her feelings like she did comes off as emotional manipulation and her offering to leave with him is insensitive when you consider everything he’s lost and how him leaving wasn’t an easy decision for him. I’d argue though that this doesn’t stem from a lack of empathy, but rather a lack of understanding/context and desperation to convince him to stay or at least not go to someone like Orochimaru alone. I can’t really make excuses for her actions during the Five Kage Summit in the same way there’s no excuse for Sasuke or Naruto’s decisions, but I will say that her actions were motivated by her doing what she thought was best for her friends (killing Sasuke so he wouldn’t spiral further and keeping Naruto from dying/being forced to have Sasuke’s blood on his hands) and not a lack of care. In the third scene, she’s essentially saying “please, I’m begging you, if there’s any part of you that still cares about me/us, please don’t do this to us again, please don’t continue down this destructive path” and Kakashi doubles down by saying pretty much what Hinata told Naruto after Neji’s death about him having so many people who care about him so much that he can’t only care about himself anymore. And agree with that belief or not, it was only after Naruto spelled that out to him that Sasuke stopped spiraling. Take it up with Kishimoto, I don’t know.

Side Note: You obviously don’t have to like Sakura or these scenes (I don’t care for them myself), but I think Sakura has a problem with misguided empathy/care, not a lack of either. And if I completely misunderstood what you meant by “empathy”, feel free to disregard everything I just said.

Like I said before, Sasuke doesn’t owe team 7 anything since he didn’t ask them to do anything for him, but that doesn’t mean people aren’t going to get frustrated or angry that he doesn’t face consequences for many of his actions and team 7 (save for Naruto, you were right about that) aren’t really acknowledged/rewarded in any way, by Sasuke or anyone else. Again, it has a lot to do with favoritism and emotions.

I don’t know how to conclude this accidental essay, so I’ll just say this. In my experience, most of the people who don’t like Sasuke didn’t hate him from the beginning, they lost their patience with him. It can be exhausting to root for a character who makes a lot of destructive decisions, a result of trauma or not, and some people just stopped wanting to root for him.

istg i’ve never seen a valid reason used by someone explained why they hate sasuke.

90% of the time it’s basically them saying he didn’t react to trauma the way they wanted him to (or doing trauma olympics using naruto, gaara, kakashi, etc as examples of “thEIr TrAUmA DiDN’t TUrN thEm iNtO aSSHOLes”)

5% is again, using very valid trauma from a 7 year old witnessing the death of their entire clan by their brother and being forced to relive it for 3 days, as a way to say he’s “too edgy and emo”

and the other 5% is used by shippers (mainly SS), shaming him for not reciprocating feelings he never felt for the other character

[fictionfeast]

Naruto will always have a target on his back.

Sasuke has a vague concept of hypothermia, but nothing past that. He knows when someone’s lips are more purple and blue than a bruise, but their body is no longer shaking, it’s a bad sign. He presses two fingers against the pulse in Naruto’s throat, moving around until he can finally feel the dull lob of a pulse.

There's a chance his pulse will slow down in a few minutes now that Naruto isn’t being drained for everything he��s worth, but that won’t help the lifeless state of Naruto’s skin, deadly pale.

Naruto’s heart is close to giving out.

He doesn’t have medic chakra. In a recent impassioned fit with Sakura, over Naruto’s kidnapping and Sasuke’s inability to keep a cool head, she snapped how this wasn’t nearly her first time. She seethed about the Akatsuki, about Pain, about the time she held Naruto’s heart in her hand and pumped it with her bare, bloody fingers to keep him alive, and how Sasuke wasn’t there for any of it.

The only time Sasuke had shoved his hand through Naruto’s chest—

He could try to use a low level chidori to restart Naruto’s heart as a last resort. Chidori isn’t designed to save the life it’s piercing.

The ceiling crumbles, iced rocks are tumbling and shattering in the underground cavern in the rural part of the Land of Snow, where Naruto has been held for weeks now. Sasuke has to move fast. He has to do something to help stabilize Naruto before moving him or else he’s going to die and electrocuting his heart is not a promising last resort.

“Naruto,” he calls to him. There’s an urgency in his voice, despite trying to keep ii calm. “Look at me. Naruto.”

Naruto doesn’t open his eyes.

Sasuke grits his teeth. He’s never tried Sharingan on an unconscious person and everything he knows about his eyes has been through practice. There were never scripts or scrolls on Sharingan,  but words passed down from generation to generation — fathers who brought their sons to battlefields to cause enough distress to awaken their eyes under the belief it was the only way, older brothers who tell their little brothers they have to kill their best friend, buzzwords like godly and cursed.

It’s never been an issue before now. It’s never been an issue not to know how the Sharingan actually works and what limits it may or may not possess when it has always been plenty strong enough unchecked on the battlefield. Sasuke intimately knows that it can overpower, yet knows nothing of its ability for how it can save a life.

He gently pulls Naruto’s eyelids open. Only the whites and veins show; his eyes rolled into the back of his head.

Sasuke wipes his hands on his pants to get off the grime and blood coating his fingertips, pulling one eyelid open, and carefully, uses his other set of fingers to roll one of Naruto’s eyes forward.

The connection between them clicks in an instant. He would be surprised any other time — that Sharingan can work on the unconscious.

Fear would work, Sasuke thinks, to force Naruto’s heart rate up, but it might be too forceful. It might just kill what’s left of his heart’s effort and give out. Fear is just the only emotion Sasuke has ever pulled forward from another person. It’s all he’s practiced, and therefore, it’s all he’s ever known. Fear it’s just opening the gateway, and the individual will fill it with images, sounds, feelings of fear throughout their life. When Itachi had used it on him, Sasuke had seen Itachi gouging out his eyeballs. When Sasuke used it on Danzo, Danzo saw Itachi.

He has to hope it’s the same for other emotions too.

Something quieter, something softer, but still makes the heart flutter.

Anticipation.

It comes without needing to dig for it.

Sasuke breathes out, holding onto that feeling, chasing it down inside of Naruto like a fox down a rabbithole. Maybe this is why there are no scripts or scrolls on Sharingan when it’s so deeply connected to the psyche. To feelings. To thoughts. To pieces of humanity more abstract than the chemicals in a brain.

Fear inside of people is different. He doesn’t need to chase it. It’s like dark water right at the edge, all it takes is a little weight for it to spill.

It takes him a second to catch it, but when he does—

It’s him.

Sasuke almost reroutes, he must have gone down the wrong path, and he doesn’t have the time to make a mistake—

It’s him again.

Sasuke.

Sasuke laying in the grass beside Naruto and Sasuke remembers this. After a few rounds of sparring, they were taking a break, and Sasuke had sat down and leaned back to watch Naruto look over the edge of the mountain ledge. He remembers watching Naruto close his eyes, watching as the strong winds ran through his hair and through his clothes, like it belonged to him and he belonged to it, and when Naruto had opened his eyes and noticed Sasuke staring—

Naruto’s heart flutters.

In his chest, it picks up pace. Sasuke hesitates at the direction this is going, at what bubbles so quickly and prominently to the surface. Things that Sasuke isn’t supposed to see, but Naruto can’t afford Sasuke to hesitate. His life depends on it.

So Sasuke doesn’t.

The way his hands move and Naruto watches without Sasuke having ever realized, every smile, few and far in between they are, Naruto holds them close, and Sasuke can feel that too, as well as he can feel his heart rate jump at the unfolding memories; the times they’ve pinned each other down, Sasuke playfully taunting him, Sasuke touching him—

No. This isn’t a memory, not entirely, it’s a memory of a fantasy, and Naruto’s heartbeat remembers it—

All it takes is for the thrum of Naruto’s heart to feel a little stronger than before, before Sasuke opens a portal and pulls them both inside.

It took Sasuke several attempts to figure out how Obito used these dimensions so effectively to essentially teleport. Obito could open a portal right above someone’s shoulder without being a single inch off. Several attempts that could have ended far worse than it did — ending up in the Mizukage’s headquarters, another time at the bottom of a lake, and another in the secret scroll room of Amegakure — and it hadn’t been until Sasuke forced Naruto and Shikamaru into helping that they learned it had nothing to do with coordinates and how the space in Kaguya’s dimensions correlated with their world. It was a simpler concept, to Sasuke’s demise. He would have done better with coordinates.

You just had to imagine where you wanted to be.

Sasuke’s imagination is a little lackluster, and at the most, existent but never highly specific.

It’s never an issue if he’s conjuring to open a portal somewhere that he’s been before, but that’s because it’s a memory. He can’t use a memory right now. He specifically needs to get Naruto warm, submerged in warmth, and get his body temperature back up, and he can’t go too far, because while the concept of teleportation is simpler one might imagine, it sill has a toll.

The same amount of chakra it would require to travel that distance, except it hits all at once opposed to the days it would take on foot, and then some.

On his already depleted chakra.

Submerged in warmth and all the distance they can without killing him is an idea but it’s not specific. Which is why when Sasuke opens another portal open with Rinnegan, Naruto in his arms, they don’t land somewhere ideal like the nearest hot springs, where no one else would get involved — no one should get involved, these people are dangerous and will be tracking them — but the hot springs are exposed and open, and Sasuke can’ quite help that in his list of mental requirements while opening the portal, Naruto’s safety comes as a priority.

They land in the bathtub of the Kazekage’s brother.

Kankuro’s hand is still on the doorknob, his other hand occupied with a cross stitch, eyes wide with surprise. He is, in fact, bare ass naked.

“Hah?” Kankuro voices. He takes one look at the two figures, before grabbing his pants draped over the sink. He storms out of the bathroom, shinobi instinct kicking in without fault. “We need some medics in here! Hey, you— you punk, get a medic!”

Sasuke maneuvers his hand to wrap around Naruto’s chest, to keep him from slumping into the water. It’s still running. The faucet. The bath is hot and full with the space of two bodies, and Sasuke doesn’t process a goddamn thing except moving far enough back against the back of the tub, giving Naruo as much room as possible to submerge his body in the heat.

It occurs to him there’s likely some type of rewarming shock someone can go into — forced from one extremity to the other — that protocol may require a slower transition once the hypothermia has reached past a certain point. He doesn’t know how plausible it is. He doesn’t know if holding someone’s body in hot water is dangerous at whichever stage of hypothermia Naruto is in, but the alternative has to be worse. Naruto is built for impact—

A little shock won’t kill him.

Sasuke tells himself rather desperately, unaware of how quickly the water turns a bright shade of red, a lucid mixture of Naruto’s blood and his own. He finds Naruto’s pulse again, skin wet and sticky, pressing against his throat. It’s still there, he’s still alive.

[depressedhatakekakashi]

Sleep Over’s and Ghost Stories

AU: Rural Au

Words: 2289

Rating: General

Characters: Hatake Kakashi and Tenzo|Yamato

Warnings: Ghost stories, Mentions of blood.

Summary: Naruto informs Kakashi that he has invited his friends over for a sleepover at their ranch that night. Knowing he can’t do everything himself to get ready to host a bunch of kids, Kakashi calls in some help.

Warning wasn’t something that Naruto had given Kakashi a lot of that afternoon when he came running into the house after a long day of school and announced that he had invited his classmates over for a camping sleepover, tonight.

Any less warning and Kakashi might not have been able to secure any help for the night, leaving him to take care of all of the food prep, wood gathering, and other chores that needed to be done while Naruto took the trunk into town to get enough marshmallows to feed an army.

That was an understatement of course. It was more likely that they could feed all of Konoha with the number of Marshmallows he had bought. At least he had also thought ahead and gotten eggs and bacon for tomorrow’s breakfast, which Kakashi had no doubt he would be cooking.

Panicking over the amount of work that was being handed to him, and wanting someone there to help him out, Kakashi decided to call the best person to help him out for the night.

Gai had unfortunately informed him that he had to head into the city the next morning for a supply run, meaning Kakashi had to call his other best friend. An unpleasant call to make since he knew that Tenzo had planned to go to the lake tomorrow for a relaxing day by himself.

Thankfully with enough pleading and a promise to go to the lake next week with Tenzo, he finally secured some help for the night.

Which was how he ended up here. Setting up a bonfire for the kids while Tenzo and Naruto put out chairs for everyone.

“Did you buy enough non-marshmallow snacks?” He called over to Naruto, wanting to make sure that no one was left hungry tonight.

“I even made sure to pick up extra bags of everything for Choji,” Naruto beamed. “And I asked Choji to bring some snacks from the bakery, Sakura to grab some stuff from the general store, and Kiba’s even bringing some dog food because I told him it was the only way you’d let him pet Pakkun.”

This must be one of those ‘proud dad’ moments that Gai was always talking about.

Tenzo, on the other hand, didn’t seem as happy about Naruto’s underhandedness, judging by the unimpressed look on his face. “Some days I wonder how you two get along, and then moments like this happen,” crossing his arms over his chest he turned to glare at Kakashi. “Quit teaching him bad habits, Senpai.”

They both knew that was never going to happen of course. Kakashi loved teaching Naruto all of his worst habits. It ensured that there would always be someone in the village to mess with other people, even long after Kakashi was gone.

“I also asked Sasuke to bring some cat food,” Naruto added. “Once Kakashi Nii-san told me you were coming over to help. He said he could bring a bag of cat food that Itachi made himself. Something that your cats would love.”

Tenzo’s hands dropped to his side, a small smile pulling at the corner of his lips.

“I see,” his voice softened. “Still, you shouldn’t lie to Kiba to get free food for the dogs.”

“He’s right you know,” Kakashi added, smiling when Tenzo gave him a skeptical look. “But really it’s Kiba’s fault for believing you. Everyone knows Pakkun won’t let anyone pet him but me.”

Ok, him and Gai, and sometimes Tenzo depending on how nice the pug was feeling.

“Senpai, what did I just say about teaching him bad habits!?”

Resting his hands behind his head, Kakashi chuckled when Tenzo started to lecture him about the importance of friendship and trust. This wasn’t the first time he had gotten this exact lecture and there was no doubt in his mind that it wouldn’t be the last. Tenzo gave it to him at least once a week after he used his friends’ love of praise to get a free coffee or lunch out of him.

Meanwhile, Naruto continued to set everything up. Far too used to Kakashi and Tenzo’s arguments he had learned long ago to tune them out and keep doing whatever it was he was in the middle of.

It was simply better not to interrupt Tenzo, or one risked him dragging them into the lecture. Naruto was already lucky he wasn’t getting it alongside Kakashi since it had been his actions that upset the woodcarver.

“Oh!” reaching out, Kakashi placed one hand over Tenzo’s mouth to silence him and used the other to point towards the driveway. “Naruto, your friends are starting to arrive.”

Naruto immediately dropped what he was doing and turned towards the driveway, throwing his hands up into the air when he saw Itachi’s car pulling in beside Tenzo’s truck. “Sasuke!” He called out, running towards the driveway and leaving Kakashi and Tenzo to finish up with the bonfire set up.

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Once everything had been set up and all of Naruto’s school friends had finally arrived, it was finally time to relax and enjoy the rest of the night. At least, enjoy as much of the night as one could while Kiba was sitting beside him trying desperately to pet the pug dog sitting on his lap.

“He’s going to bite you,” he warned, chuckling when Kiba continued to ignore him and narrowly avoided getting his hand chomped by Pakkun. “I told you.”

“He’s supposed to love me,” Kiba huffed, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring down at Pakkun. “All dogs love me.”

“Pakkun’s a picky dog,” scratching the pug behind the ears, Kakashi chuckled when he instantly relaxed into his hand. Forgetting all about the mean teenager who had been interrupting his relaxing nap just seconds ago. “You have seven other dogs to play with on this ranch. I don’t see why you’re so determined about getting Pakkun to like you.”

“All dogs should like me,” planting his hands on the chair, Kiba glared back at Pakkun from the corner of his eyes. “I’m a dog person. All dogs love me.”

Giving his head a shake Kakashi turned his attention back to the rest of the group and continued to scratch Pakkun’s ear. It was amusing to see Kiba continuously trying to win his favourite dog over, but at some point, the kid had to give up.

When feeding Pakkun treats didn’t work, it was a lost cause. He had chosen his favourite human and he simply wasn’t interested in anyone to who Kakashi wasn’t incredibly close.

“We should do something interesting,” Glancing towards Tenzo, Kakashi raised an eyebrow when he saw him staring at Naruto and all of his friends huddled around the fire roasting marshmallows. “It’s too quiet. Something interesting has to happen.”

And Tenzo accused him of being a bad influence.

“Mmm, and what ‘interesting’ thing would you like to happen?” Watching as Tenzo leaned in close, Kakashi listened to his plan carefully. A small smile pulling at his lips.

This was going to be perfect.

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Catching the attention of the kids hadn’t been as hard as Kakashi thought it would be. With the simple mention of a ghost story, he suddenly found himself surrounded by excited, bright-eyed kids waiting patiently for him to tell them the story.

Now he just had to hope that Tenzo was ready to put his plan into action.

“The tale of old man Tobirama, hmmm. Well, I guess you’re all old enough to hear it now. But don’t come crying to me if you end up having nightmares for years about it.”

“Kakashi, stop teasing us and tell us the story already.” Naruto insisted, puffing out his cheeks and glaring at his guardian.

“I bet it’s not even that scary,” Sakura commented, acting like she wasn’t leaning in to hear better. “‘Old man Tobirama’. There probably wasn’t even anyone named ‘Tobirama’ in our village.”

Oh, boy were they in for a surprise.

“Well, in the case,” leaning forward, Kakashi planted his hands on his knees and smiled down at the group. “Let me tell you the story of old man Tobirama. The grumpy old guy who lived in the old Senju ranch and would cook up children for dinner.”

At the mention of the Senju ranch, he could see the kids already starting to shake.

“Long ago, before I was even born, the Senju ranch was full of life. With a large family, parties every weekend, and a garden that could make anyone jealous. They were known for having the best fruits and vegetables in all of Konoha, though back then the village was a lot smaller so who knows how good they were.”

He’d probably get smacked by Tsunade for saying it, but it was worth it for the giggles he got from his audience.

“For the longest time, the Senju’s lived in the village peacefully. Mingling with the other villages, trading their fruits and veggies for other goods that they could use. But then one day the Senju’s just stopped coming into town. It was like they disappeared. No one knew what had happened to them, but there were rumors. Little whispers that floated around the village about the middle child, Tobirama.”

Naruto shivered in front of him, Sakura slinked behind Ino just a little, and Kiba used Bull as a shield from Kakashi. So far, none of the other kids were showing much of a reaction except for prompting Kakashi to continue with the story.

“For years the house lay empty. No one going in or out. It slowly started to decay and rot from the inside, and the garden became overgrown. Surrounding the house with vines, vegetables, and fruits. There wasn’t an inch of the place that was accessible. After fifty years the villagers finally got together and made a decision. The house had to come down.”

“This is boring,” Sasuke interrupted him. The same unimpressed look on his face that he always had when someone other than his big brother was talking. “Nothing is even happening.”

Giving his head a shake, Kakashi reached out and flicked Sasuke in the nose.

“Hasn’t Itachi taught you anything about patience, brat?” he teased. “I’m just getting to the good part. Now shush.”

Settling back into his seat, Kakashi returned his hand to Pakkun’s head and took a deep breath. “Anyways, the villagers had made their decision. They found a group of hard workers to tear down the old building and started to gather all of the equipment that they would need. A week later the workers were ready to head onto the property and start with the demolition. They hoped that it would only take a few days, but as the hours passed by, they slowly started to disappear one by one.”

Sakura was now completely hidden behind Ino, and it looked like Ino wasn’t doing much better. Her face had lost all colour, and her eyes were wide with fear.

Naruto had slowly begun to inch away from Kakashi, using any of his friends that were readily available as a shield between himself and his guardian. Hinata was cowering behind her favourite hoodie, only her eyes visible.

The only people who didn’t look fazed by his story were Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Shino. None of which were a surprise given their personalities.

He just had to hope that Tenzo pulled through and managed to fix that.

“By the end of the day the only person left was a young woman. Desperate to find the rest of her group she searched the entire house. Looking in every bedroom, searching the yard and even the attic. But no matter how often she called out to them, or where she looked, she couldn’t find them anywhere. Finally, she was left with only one place to look. The old cellar under the kitchen.”

There were a few mummers in the crowd, and at least one ‘not the cellar’ spoken in a whisper somewhere behind Shikamaru.

“Pulling up all of her courage, she headed for her new destination. The door to the cellar creaked as she pulled it open, but when she peered down there was nothing but darkness. She called out to the others, but no one answered.”

Naruto shifted a bit closer to Sasuke, nudging his shoulder until the Uchiha finally gave in and threw an arm around him.

“Taking the first step down the stairs, she held her breath. The stories villagers had told her growing up swimming in her mind. Images of Senju Tobirama, a teenager with bright silver hair and angry red eyes, wielding a bloody ax in his hands. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get rid of those thoughts, and every step she took down into the cellar felt like it would be her last. But finally, she made it to the bottom of the stairs and reached out for the cellar lights pull cord, hoping to add some light to the room. Finding it in the pitch black, she tugged at it and…”

“She was met with the face of Senju Tobirama!” Jumping up behind the kids, Tenzo flashed the light under his chin and warped his face into the most haunting face he could manage. With wide creepy eyes, and his mouth hanging open with what Kakashi could only assume was ketchup smeared all over his chin, Tenzo sent every single one of the kids scattering. Screams filled the air, only slightly drowned out by Kakashi and Tenzo’s laughter.

If Kakashi had been smart he would have brought a camera. There was no way Itachi was going to believe him the next morning when he told him about the look of absolute terror on Sasuke’s face.

[xxlovendreamsxx]

Tomato Apocalypse

A/N: Commission for @iminnerdvana who wanted a non-massacre story! She allowed me to share with everyone else, so I hope you all enjoy!

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In all of his twenty-six years, Sasuke has never—even for a second—had any doubt that his family would be unfit to care for another living being. Never since he was a moody teenager, never since he left home, never since he started wanting a family with Sakura, or since their daughter was born.

That is, until tonight.

He and Sakura had only been gone for a little over twenty minutes, fetching soba noodles, brown rice, and a few other items Sarada had requested. They were only supposed to have been gone for ten minutes, what with how close the grocery store was to Mother and Father’s house, but Sasuke found that ever since he married Sakura, such was usually never the case; his wife was a window-shopper at heart, and liked to stroll down every grocery store alley regardless of what they came for.

Sasuke was sure that everything would be fine. His daughter was more behaved than he had ever been at that age, and his parents had still raised both him and Itachi into fine young men. There was no reason to worry.

Which is why it comes to him as such a shock when he and Sakura step back inside his parents’ home with two handfuls of grocery bags that night, greeted by none other than their precious daughter barreling into his waist with loud sobs. The sight alerts him instantly, and he starts sensing his surroundings for any danger, fearing that the worst has happened. He doesn’t feel anything out of sorts; Mother, Father and Itachi’s chakras are all calm and undisturbed.

“Sarada? What’s going on? Why are you so upset?” he asks, immediately kneeling down to pick his little peanut up and hug her safely. Sarada merely wraps her arms around him and cries harder, which worries even his wife judging by the look on her face.

They abandon their bags and decide to seek out answers first, heading to the kitchen towards Mother and Itachi. His shoulders relax as he finds them chatting and smiling, prepping vegetables together, but he also finds his anger rising even more. Why is no one attending to Sarada when she is obviously incredibly upset?

“Why is Sarada crying?” his wife asks them, before he can. It was probably for the best that she did. In the state that he’s in right now, Sasuke’s pretty sure he would have snapped at them—and Mother wouldn’t have liked that at all.

But he’s not quite sure he would have minded that, now, after seeing the way Mother smiles and shrugs like this is all no big deal. Sarada is crying and terribly upset. This is a big deal.

Itachi starts to crack up, and Sasuke scowls. Whatever he is finding funny in this situation, Sasuke isn’t seeing it at all.

There is nothing funny about Sarada being this upset, he thinks with gritted teeth, pulling his crying daughter closer and rubbing her back. He kisses the side of her head.

Mother sees the look on his face, and she sighs dramatically. “Oh, Sasuke, lighten up. She overreacted a little, that’s all. We were making dinner, and she was helping us—well, you know, ‘helping’ us,” —she uses quotation marks, here, to emphasize that his daughter had no doubt only hung around them and chatted her little heart out, because she was too young to truly do anything yet— “while we were prepping everything. But then when she noticed Itachi adding tomatoes in the frying pan, she got very upset.” She rolls her shoulders into one of her rare shrugs, going back to the chopping of her green onions. “She ran off before we could explain to her that this was only our dinner, and that she didn’t have to have any of it because we were making a special-no-tomato version just for her.”

“You are?” Sarada blubbers, wiping her very wet, very red eyes to look at her grandmother. 

The latter grins at her in return, and abandons her work to lovingly pinch her cheek and pepper kisses all over her face. “Of course we are. We didn’t forget about you. In fact, we love you so much that you’re getting a special dinner all to yourself. And your uncle Itachi and I were just talking about making you your favorite dessert, too. Doesn’t that sound nice?”

“Yes…” Sarada whimpers, rubbing her wet cheeks dry, though tears continue to roll. 

But when Itachi holds his arms out, inviting her to go with him instead, Sarada turns her face away and into Sasuke’s neck once more.

“Ouch, that hurt my heart a little. Are you still upset at your favorite uncle, Sarada? I’m sorry if I didn’t tell you first about the tomatoes.”

“Want to stay with Papa…” she sniffles, hugging him tightly.

Rubbing her back still, Sasuke hugs her back, and murmurs soothing words.

“I don’t understand why she would be so upset about you adding tomatoes,” Sakura whispers, no doubt so their daughter wouldn’t overhear. “She never cries about it when we’re at home. Maybe she’s tired?”

“Well, honestly, she wasn’t crying when she ran off,” Mother admits, sighing. “She went to see Fugaku in the living room, and five minutes later, well…”

Sasuke stiffens, and he just about growls. “Father made her cry?” he snaps, quieting his voice as his rising anger seems to upset Sarada again. “Where is he?” he hisses.

Itachi takes his turn to sigh, now; Sasuke hates it, because it sounds downright patronizing. “Sasuke, she’s a child. Children get upset every now and then. I’m sure Father wasn’t being a monster.”

And it is downright patronizing. He grits his teeth. “Where. Is. He? I want to talk to him.”

Mother makes an exasperated noise, and she props a hand on her hip, her dark eyes narrowed admonishingly at him. It still builds a swirl of anxiety in Sasuke’s stomach even now, but this is his daughter who’s crying, and his daughter that no one is taking seriously, and he can’t let his mother step down from the importance of this matter. 

“Sasuke, is that really necessary?” Mother asks, shaking her head. “Honestly, I’m sure this was all a big misunderstanding. You know how much your father loves Sarada.”

“Then he won’t mind clearing it all up to me, will he?” Sasuke snarls, because he is getting tired of Sarada’s feelings being trivialized, and being brushed off merely because she’s a child.

His father is not a cruel man, but he can be callous and cold without realizing, Sasuke remembers. And he won’t tolerate him playing the same mind tricks on his own granddaughter. 

Mother and Itachi both protest when he starts trudging away, and even Sakura says something along the lines of, “Sasuke-kun, darling, wait just a minute—” but Sasuke doesn’t listen. He can’t. He stalks angrily around his old home with purpose instead, Sarada hiccuping in his neck still and holding onto him for dear life, which Sasuke isn’t surprised to find isn’t any better than her sobbing. It hurts just the same to listen to.

Father will pay for hurting her.

When he gets to the living room a minute later, Father is sitting on the couch, rubbing a tired hand over his face while he watches the news. Whether that’s because he is truly tired, or feels guilty for hurting Sarada’s feelings, Sasuke doesn’t know—but he does truly hope for the latter, for his father’s sake.

Father looks up, and genuine surprise crosses his features. This doesn’t catch Sasuke off guard; his father’s hearing hasn’t been great ever since a bomb accidentally went off at his police district after it had been presumed harmless due to malfunction. 

(luckily, no one had been hurt.)

Father blinks. “Sasuke? When did you and Sakura get back? I didn’t hear the door—”

“What the hell did you do to Sarada?” Sasuke demands, his tone as icy and threatening as his dagger-glaring eyes. He knows he’s being rude and disrespectful, but he’s too pissed and worried about his daughter to care.

His father startles, but it isn’t long before his lips thin out and his gaze narrows with contained fury. His jaw cinches, and he grits out, “Mind your tone, boy. Your mother and I taught you better than that, and I’ll be damned if—”

“What the fuck did you do to her!” Sasuke yells, which triggers some outraged cries from the kitchen that he ignores, only listening to the way Sarada starts to cry again. He kisses her head and holds her tighter, unable to manage gentle soothing sounds. She only begins to calm when he rubs her back and bounces her a little, though Sasuke is far too focused on the way his father recoils and doubles down with twice the anger to think about doing anything else to pacify her.

But after a few silent seconds boiling with unspoken rage, Father does the unexpected, and forces his fists to unclench at his side. He sighs heavily as he does, as though he thinks that somehow, not fighting makes him the better man.

Or maybe he just doesn’t want to upset Sarada any further, he realizes, as his father’s eyes flicker to his daughter, who is sniffing miserably in his arms.

Sasuke’s anger softens, but not much. He still glares angrily at the man before him, because even if he is right, and his father is sorry, he still shouldn’t have hurt Sarada in the first place.

Father shakes his head, and rubs the back of his neck. “Sasuke… I promise you, I didn’t do or say anything mean to her. I know I wasn’t always the warmest father to you, but I’m trying my hardest to never be anything but warm with Sarada. When she ran over to me, she was half-crying already. She tripped over the carpet and fell down—bumped her forehead in the process. When I came over to help, she started crying on the floor. I started soothing her—and it was working.” He pauses for a few breaths. His throat bobs with a swallow. “Until I forgot that she hated tomatoes, that is.”

A wave of confusion hits Sasuke, wariness replacing some of the fury on his features. A little voice in the back of his mind, which he half-thinks is Sakura’s fault that it’s there as it is often resonating her opinions, scolds him that he should have waited lest he just have overreacted and caused disrespect to his parents for no real reason.

He mulls his lips, and asks with some hesitation, “You… offered her a tomato?”

Father’s lip twitches at a corner, so briefly and faintly Sasuke might have missed it if he blinked. His face remains neutral, but Sasuke can see the glimmers of amusement swimming in his eyes. His father crosses his arms over his chest, huffing. “Close. She had a big red bump on her forehead. I teased that now she had a big tomato there. I thought it would make her smile.” He shakes his head like he’s silently scolding himself and wishing he could turn back time. “It wasn’t until she started bawling and ran off again that I realized I should have picked another red fruit to compare her forehead to.”

Just like that, Sasuke’s anger fades and bleeds into a whirlwind of guilt; it seeps into his stomach, and climbs all the way around his heart. Fuck. He had overreacted. Mother was not going to be happy with him. Or Sakura.

Though in his defense, he had been acting solely for the way he thought his daughter was being mistreated, so maybe that would soften their scowls a bit.

Hopefully.

The thoughts must show on his face, because Father’s features twist with even more amusement as he watches him, so Sasuke looks away and turns his attention towards his daughter instead. Sarada is sniffling into his neck, even now, but she doesn’t seem as sad as she has been since he’d arrived, so there’s some relief in that.

He kisses the top of her head to reassure her, then gently tugs her away and whispers inquisitively if he can take a look at her. Sarada doesn’t put up any complaints, so he takes that as a yes and brushes her damp bangs out of her red face. Her eyes are puffy, wet and glimmering still with tears, and even though she looks more tired now than she does sad, it still breaks his heart into a million pieces.

At least the presence of the big red bump on her forehead that indeed exists is distracting enough that he doesn’t have to think about that, much.

He can’t believe he hadn’t noticed it until now. But he supposes she was hiding her face in his neck for most of the time since he’d arrived from the grocery store, so maybe it isn’t so unbelievable that he didn’t.

His daughter rubs her forehead, eyes growing a little mistier, and she looks at him like it’s the end of the world and like nothing could ever be possibly worse. “Oji-chan said I have a tomato on my forehead…” she whimpers, scrubbing her eye as she often does when she’s exhausted. She sniffles, tears spilling over her cheeks again as she hiccups and fights back sobs. “And uncle ‘tachi and Baba were putting tomatoes in dinner… I hate tomatoes, Papa…” Her last words crack, and her breaths break into little gasps as she buries herself in his neck again and starts crying, which Sasuke doesn’t fight.

He shushes her sweetly and starts rubbing her back while murmuring reassuring words and loving encouragements, letting her snivel and weep against him freely. The more she does, the more she’ll tire herself out, and Sasuke believes a good long nap will do her some good.

When she quiets and is back to her miserable sniffles, Sarada asks him, “Do you think Mama can make the tomato go away, Papa?”

Sasuke’s lips twitch, but he somehow manages to hide his smile. Father struggles as well, it seems, and the guilt Sasuke has over disrespecting him grows twice-fold. Father loves Sarada more than anything in the world, just as he and Sakura do. He wants to be a better grandfather to her than he was a father to him.

Sasuke’s eyes lessen with apology, but he focuses on Sarada for now and pulls her back to give her one of his rare smiles—the ones he solely reserves for her. He brushes her cute bangs away from her soft, round face.

Instead of answering, Sasuke leans in and lays the fondest, lingering kiss on her forehead; not in the middle, but exactly over her big red bump that’s causing her so much distress.

Sarada winces. 

“There,” he murmurs, kissing her nose. “No more tomato on your forehead. Papa ate it.”

His daughter gasps. “Really?” She tries to touch her bump to check it, but Sasuke grasps her hand, peppering sweet kisses all over her hand.

He smiles. “Really.”

She launches her arms around him and hugs him tight, muffling into his neck, “Thank you… I love you, Papa.”

“I love you too, Sarada.” He rubs her back and gives her a pat. “You understand now that sometimes if you see us adding tomatoes, it isn’t because we forgot you?” Sarada pulls away from him, and she nods. Sasuke nods back. “Baba and Itachi were hurt earlier when you ran off. But they’re even making your favorite dessert anyway, tonight. Go apologize to them.”

“Yes. Okay, Papa. I’m sorry,” she whispers, and he kisses her nose before he lets her down, satisfied.

Sarada wipes the tears from her face one last time, and she smiles up at him even in her tired state. The sight lifts Sasuke’s heart by miles.

But just as she looks like she’s about to run back off towards the kitchen, she hesitates. She turns around, and swiftly tackles her grandpa’s legs into a tight hug. “I’m sorry, Oji-chan. I hope you weren’t sad. I love you.”

Father seems a little stunned, but it isn’t long until he picks her up to fully return her embrace, pressing a kiss to her cheek. He murmurs something in her ear, and Sarada pulls back with a wide smile and a giggle, nudging his nose with hers in an eskimo kiss. Father grins and peppers a few last kisses over her face, then let’s her down. 

There is nothing but happiness and smiles on Sarada’s face as she pats hurriedly towards the kitchen, traces of her sorrow now all but nearly gone, save for her puffy, red eyes. Mother will likely have some kind of magic home remedy for them.

When they are left alone, Father crosses his arms over his chest, and his face slips back into his usual apathy. Sasuke knows he has to apologize, and that his father is expecting it, but the words won’t leave his throat when the prideful part of him screams that he was only defending his daughter.

He opens his mouth and tries, anyway, but nothing comes out. He tries once more, and then again a third time, all with the same results.

He expects his father to admonish him and his lack of respect, but instead, what he gets is totally unexpected. His father cracks up, and slips a hand over his mouth to hide his smile. A smile Sasuke doesn’t think he’s ever seen directed at him since he was a very young child.

His mouth hangs rudely, too stunned to remember his manners.

“You’ve really inherited the worst parts of me. I wish I could lecture you about your complete lack of respect and your damn stubborn pride that won’t even let you apologize, but I don’t know how to begin doing that without feeling like a complete hypocrite.” His father’s features soften back to something more neutral and unreadable, but he still shakes his head and huffs, amused. “I’m sorry I taught you pride came before humility, Sasuke. And I’m sorry I never apologized to you when I was wrong. I should have.”

“Yes. You should have,” Sasuke finds himself admitting, and his gaze drops in panic. He runs a hand through his hair and looks in the direction of the kitchen with a sense of dread, crossing his arms, too. “I’m not sorry for being angry with you when I thought you mistreated Sarada.” He pauses, just for a breath. “But I am sorry that I jumped to conclusions so fast.”

“Your mother will make sure you won’t be doing it again,” Father says, an odd tone to his voice.

Sasuke looks back to find him smirking. He can’t blame him.

Looking back to the hall leading to his next dreaded destination, Sasuke’s shoulders drop. “Yeah. Sakura will, too,” he mutters.

He’s not sure who will kill him first.

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A/N: Commission slots are still open! More about my conditions and rates here. 

[anerdinallherglory]

Approaching Sun (28)

Author’s Note: The goal had been to type around 6,000 words but a family occurrence disrupted my writing progress (it happens) and I am out of time to go beyond 4,407 words. Sorry for the high hopes, but I wanted to give you guys an update before my July class starts tomorrow. This particular chapter is dedicated to Elyssadora for her consistent funny reviews. I hope this chapter doesn’t damage your “nerve endings” too much, Elyssadora. Same, for the rest of you. One step at a time. Love you all!

Pairing: SasuSaku

Previous Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27

Chapter 28: Wherever You Are

Sakura was already closing the inches between them. Her fingers were already brushing his cheeks as she brought his face to hers. She hesitated. Just for a second. Just long enough for him to pull away from her. But Sasuke barely took a breath before Sakura touched her lips to his.

Sakura placed her lips on Sasuke’s carefully. Although she held his face, she did not pull him to her in desperation, but simply guided his mouth to hers gently. Their lips touched for a very long second, brushing each other as Sakura leaned into it. Sasuke wavered for just a moment and then Sakura felt his body bend toward hers. His fingers brushed her left hip hesitantly and Sakura responded by deepening the kiss. The very moment their kissing became more substantial, Sasuke’s hand rose from her hip and took hold of her left hand. He pulled it from his cheek.

Sakura’s soaring heart suddenly dropped to her stomach.

“Stop,” he whispered, and turned his head away from her. He held onto her wrist for just a little longer before dropping it. He took a step back and Sakura wanted nothing more than to grab hold of him and pull him back to that moment, but Sakura knew that if she spoke, the tears would come and her voice would break.

“What are you doing?” he asked her coldly and the question felt like a knife in her gut.

“Sasuke, I…” she began, stumbling for what to say. Had she misunderstood? No, Sakura had been sure of what she saw in his face just moments before she kissed him; she had been sure that Sasuke had entwined their hands together. There was no mistaking it, but maybe she had moved too fast which startled him. Sakura cursed her eagerness. She had wanted to kiss him ever since they were genin together; had been imagining this very moment for so long.

“Do you think I brought you with me for this?” Sasuke finally asked, eyes downcast and blank.

Despite the cracking in her chest at his harsh words, Sakura tried to think clearly about what she could say to fix this. Her thoughts returned to when Sakura had fought Sasuke back in Konoha as an attempt to get through to his stubbornness. When she had been suspended in the air by Sasuke’s Susanoo arm and he had demanded why she expected him to play at love with her, Sakura’s answer then was her answer now.

“No,” she responded in the gloom. “I don’t expect anything from you. I told you that.”

Sasuke made brief eye contact with her through his shaggy hair. The fear that Sakura had seen just seconds earlier was now shaded by anger and confusion.

“Sakura,” he began, rubbing his forehead with his hand. “We can’t do this.”

Sakura wanted to shake him for saying that. She didn’t understand his logic. What was going on in that head of his? She had told him before that they didn’t have to be together; that she didn’t expect him to stay in Konoha; that she had absolutely ZERO expectations if they could just love one another. So what was it for him? What had him so hung up and determined to keep his distance? Frustrated, Sakura could only think of one reason. It always came back to one thought for Sakura. “Why can’t we?” she finally demanded. “Am I wrong? Do you really not feel love towards me?”

“It doesn’t matter!” he dismissed her heatedly. He was glaring at her now, no longer avoiding her eyes.

That statement was only more confirmation for Sakura. Sasuke would be lying to her face if he said he didn’t love her. It was true that he had feelings for her and they both knew it. Then what? Before Sakura could ask any more questions, Sasuke’s sharp voice pierced the space between them.

“I’m getting tired of repeating myself. I told you I can never be that person for you.”

Sasuke had said that to her before. When he had chosen to walk away again after her confession since he had returned to Konoha. The way he said it now was a little different, Sakura realized. His exact words to her before had been “That person is never going to be me.” This time he said, “I can never be that person.”  Maybe she was reading too much into it, but there was a subtle implication there like it wasn’t Sasuke’s choice. Like there was something else preventing him from being so.

Sakura concentrated on her breathing to calm her thoughts which were speeding up while she watched Sasuke turn away from her toward the counter. He was beginning to gather the food pills from the container and placing them in his travel pouch.

“Where are you going?” she asked, comprehending what was happening.

“I need space to think,” he spoke distantly. Sakura began to take a step towards him. She wanted to demand that he stay put. To tell him that they could work through this together; think together and be on the same page.

But it was too late to change that stubborn Uchiha mind. A crackle in the air split open the space between them and Sasuke stepped through it without even so much as looking at her. Before Sakura could even think of racing in the portal after him, it sealed itself, leaving no option for her to follow him. The sensation was deeper than rejection; it felt like she had been slapped in the face.

Sakura immediately sat on the ground in shock. Sasuke had left again. Again. When Sakura grasped this, she felt suddenly so tired that she slumped completely to the floor and stared up at the ceiling. There were no tears this time; she was not angry. She was not sad. She felt confused and everything else was empty.  

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

When Sasuke landed firmly on his knees in the airless dimension, he immediately slammed his fist in the sand out of frustration. He cursed into the air as if it was personally at fault. It was at fault, he decided as he gave the ground another swipe. These dimensions, his mission, Kaguya, himself and his past—it was all at fault.

God, what had just happened!? He threw himself back against the sand and stared up into the green sky which was suddenly so similar a shade to Sakura’s irises. He moaned and turned himself over on to his side.

He replayed what had went wrong in his mind. Sasuke had been caught. Sakura had caught him loving her and when she confronted him with his own feelings, Sasuke couldn’t convince her otherwise any longer. If only he hadn’t given in to his impulses; he had been chastising himself for so long now about it—what had he been thinking and why did he suddenly give in?

And that kiss. When the secret had been revealed, Sakura had crossed that line Sasuke was so desperate to keep undisturbed. And he had kissed her back! When her lips touched his, Sasuke hadn’t pulled away; in fact, his instincts took control as he began to reach for her. He had wanted to pull her closer, cup the back her neck, part her lips with his own and never stop. And it was that intense desire for her that surprised Sasuke and had him pulling away.

Damn.

Damn.

Damn.

All he knew in that moment was that he desperately needed space from her. He needed time to clear his head and come back to his senses, because if he didn’t, Sasuke knew that line would be crossed indefinitely. If he had stayed any longer, Sakura would have successfully been able to persuade him. And if Sakura was able to persuade him to pursue a future with her, then what?

Sasuke listed the reasons again to himself, to remind himself just what.

First, if he and Sakura kept hurtling towards this direction, then Sasuke could no longer consider her just a friend which would have various consequences. For instance, Sasuke knew that if he gave Sakura that kind of hope, she would never stop waiting for him. Despite her claims of never looking for someone else, if Sasuke did give in, she really would never look for another guy to make her happy, and while that was a satisfying thought for Sasuke, he admitted that it was also very selfish. And he could not in good conscious leave her waiting for him for the rest of her life.

Which leads him to his next reason. Sasuke was duty-bound and secure in his promise to the Leaf, like Itachi, to take on the hard tasks and ultimately protect the leaf. This life was a symbol of selflessness and his ultimate punishment for his sins. This path was how he would atone for everything he did in the past.

Thirdly, being associated with Sasuke had already been detrimental to Sakura. Her run-in with Kido was a prime example. He had told himself this a thousand times. Sakura already had a target on her back because she was his friend; imagine the penalty for being his wife.

Finally, the scariest one of all. If Sasuke decided to allow himself the happiness of a relationship with his teammate, what would happen to him if that happiness was taken away? If his relationship with her was the reason she was ultimately taken from him, Sasuke was afraid of who he would become again.

Sasuke kept getting hung up on these reasons. He sat up in the red dirt of the sand and thought about the past few weeks with Sakura, their conversations, and advice from Naruto. With this in mind, he reassessed his reasons.

For the first reason, Sakura had already reassured him that his absence would not guarantee her future happiness with someone else. Sasuke allowed himself to believe that one. Sakura had made sure he would by giving him a throbbing black eye to remind him. But was it right for him to make that final choice?

The second reason, concerning his journey of atonement, Sakura had said multiple times: "All I would need to know is that you love me back. We don't have to be together to love each other.” To which Sasuke’s train of thought always brought him back to this: what a miserable life. Which is why he had vowed not to tell her his feelings. Doing so would give her hope, but now she had figured it out without it coming directly from his mouth. So perhaps this reason was invalid now. He had screwed up and revealed it all, and now she knew. Would he be creating a miserable life for her by continuing to reject her after letting his true feelings become apparent?

Sasuke shook his head, moving on to his third and fourth reasons. Naruto had assured Sasuke that he would protect Sakura, but if anything ever did happen, then Naruto would get through to Sasuke like he had in the past. Sasuke believed in Naruto more than anything, but just as equally didn’t believe in himself.

Sasuke slumped forward against his knees, a headache forming quickly with is pent up energy. All of his reasons seemed to be becoming invalid which is why the Uchiha was slipping dangerously. If all of those sound objectives were becoming gray, Sasuke still believed it all boiled down to this: did he deserve any of it? He knew that Sakura did. He decided to just stop thinking for a minute—he was confused and didn’t know about anything anymore.

Frustration soon coursed through Sasuke’s body in the form of chakra. The way it always had in the past when he was angry and felt like taking his anger out on the world. Soon his body was crackling with electric chakra as it sizzled down his arm and exploded from his palm into the sand.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

When Sakura woke the next morning, she forgot where she was for a second. She was curled on the small sofa in the medicine preparation room where she was with Sasuke in the middle of the night… before he left. She groaned as her memories came back to her and jumped when she heard a familiar voice say, “So this is where you’ve been all night, Miss.”

Sakura rolled over quickly and found herself looking up at a grinning Mako. He must have woken her up, and in embarrassment, Sakura immediately sat up and patted down her staticky hair, a result of tossing and turning against the microfiber fabric in her sleep. “Mako,” she acknowledged as he sat beside her on the snug couch as if they were lifelong friends. And like a lifelong friend, Mako was pressing a cup of warm tea into her palms, a habit of his that Sakura was recognizing.

“Did you pass out up here because of your medicine?” he inquired learnedly, a doctor assessing a patient. Sakura had been heavily dosed with antihistamines before she and Sasuke had come up here.

��Sort of,” Sakura mumbled dejectedly into her tea as she took a sip.

“Sasuke, then?” he asked knowingly, and Sakura spat the tea.

Mako laughed and explained, “The pills are gone. I’m assuming he ditched you.”

Sakura cringed at his bluntness because it was technically and brutally true. “I kissed him.”

“Whaaat?” Mako dropped his mouth and spun toward Sakura with the expression of surprise. His reaction reminded her of a combination of Ino and Naruto, someone who was both dramatic but expected all the details. Maybe it was because of Mako’s kindness, familiarity, and constant presence, that Sakura felt like she could confide in him.

“Yeah. I was reckless and acted too quickly. And then he just left.” Sakura placed her palm on her forehead. “I can’t believe myself right now.”

“Huh,” Mako stated, turning back around and pinching his chin in contemplation. “I didn’t get the impression that he would leave like that.”

Sakura laughed. “Are you kidding? It’s a special talent of his.”

Mako patted his co-worker’s shoulder in comfort. “Don’t worry. He’ll be back.”

Sakura looked over at him after he said that and then she took another thoughtful sip of tea before asking, “What makes you say that?”

“Well, it’s obvious that he likes you. To be honest, I thought you were already a couple.”

Sakura coughed on her tea again which made Mako chuckle in amusement. “Give me that before you choke,” he said, taking her tea into his own hands.

“What…gave you…that idea?” Sakura questioned between coughs and punctuated each part of the broken sentence with a pat on her chest.

“Actually, I guess it was his conversation with Satou yesterday that made me think that.”

“Really? What happened?” Sakura sat up, both nervous and excited about the content of what Mako would say next.

“Well,” Mako began, considering the ceiling tiles as he recalled the scene, “the first thing that stood out to me was when he told Satou something along the lines of ‘I care more about her and her goal than the few minutes I could be doing something more beneficial than talking to you.’”

Sakura’s mouth fell open in disbelief. “He said that?!” The Sasuke that Sakura knew would never say something like that. Well, maybe the second, rude half of that statement, but not the first part.

“Yeah,” Mako responded with a smile, continuing with “then the genjutsu was awfully showy, followed by the threatening.”

Sakura jumped out of her seat. “He did WHAT?” She raised her hands to frame her wide-eyed expression. Just last night, Sasuke had told her the talk with Satou had gone fine! He called that fine? She dragged her palms down her face in anxiety. She knew she had been right to eavesdrop on them; what did she honestly expect to happen?

Mako explained that it turned out to their benefit despite the possible violations to several codes of conduct. Sakura couldn’t agree that the genjutsu approach was beneficial, but Mako explained that they both had tried to talk to Satou, but he was the type of person to only respect a show of force. Sakura let out an unsure sigh. She felt like she would have to bring it up with Sasuke later. No wonder he tried to change the subject last night.

“Oh!” Mako exclaimed, jumping back to their previous topic of conversation. “And his reaction to you going into anaphylactic shock was extreme, even for a friend.”

Sakura started to disagree with Mako, relaying that Sasuke’s reaction was far, far less dramatic than Naruto’s would have been. She stopped herself though, wanting to believe in the fantasy of Mako’s perception of their relationship. It was somewhat a relief for Sakura, to see Mako’s opinions as missing puzzle pieces to the question of whether or not Sasuke loved her.

“Thanks, Mako,” Sakura smiled sadly, leaning against the wall to the right of the couch, “but we aren’t a couple.”  

Mako stood up then, and started shepherding Sakura towards the door, stating “You know what they say! Work is the best remedy for worry. Let’s go do what you’re good at!”

Sakura laughed and let Mako escort her downstairs, grateful for a friend.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Isao was awake in his room, staring out the window when Sakura opened the door, revealing the delicious lunch she had brought for him. When Isao saw that it was Sakura coming into the room, he gave her a surprised smile.

Hisa, the female medic whom Sakura had taken a liking to, had informed her of Satou’s current episodes of anger at the hospital. Apparently, Gaara—wherever he was—had issued a warrant for Satou’s arrest since he had taken to destroying the hospital machinery in his room. Ninja had come for him this morning, escorting him out publicly. Isao had seen his father’s apprehension from one of the top story windows. Hisa explained that Isao had not cried or seemed distraught, but instead just watched silently as his father was escorted down the road.

Sakura had decided she had better check up on him anyway. Placing the food on his bed, Sakura crouched on the floor like she had done only a few days ago when the child was having episode of night terrors. The good news was that Sakura’s prescription seemed to be doing its job by helping the child pass on to REM sleep more quickly, bypassing the night terrors. According to the staff, Isao had yet to have another episode. Sakura was still mindful of the child’s trauma despite this, so she took the humble position of sitting.

“Isao,” she whispered as the child ate ravenously. “Do you want to spend some time in the Leaf Village?”

Isao’s head jerked, and he swallowed his food before answering, “What?”

“Your father won’t be in prison forever. Gaara will make sure he is punished for what has happened to you, but he will get out eventually.”

Sakura hated to be so blunt with an eleven-year-old, but she had to make sure that Isao knew the ins and outs of the entire situation. She was certain that Gaara would allow Isao to spend some time in Konoha, but she wanted to make sure it was what Isao wanted.

Isao took another bite of his rice and nodded in thought as she continued, “If you spent some time in the Hidden Leaf, you could train as a Genin there without fear of your father. We all know he hates Konoha. You would be safe there and could continue treatment at our facilities.”

Suddenly Isao spoke with a hopeful voice, “Will you be there?”

Sakura gazed at the boy as he shyly dropped his head and looked away from her. Sakura considered his question before replying honestly, “Yes, but not immediately.”

When he met her eyes again, Sakura explained further. “I am traveling with my partner right now. I don’t know when I’ll return to Konoha.” It was true that Sakura would not immediately return, whether it was a few days or a few months. The way things were with Sasuke right now, she wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t return for a while, leaving her to find her way back to Konoha on her own. She was determined to find him herself, crossing dimensions and whatever else, if this was the case.  

“Then yes,” Isao announced, startling her out of her thoughts of Sasuke. “I want to be wherever you are ma’am.” Sakura’s heart melted instantly for the little boy who was looking at her as a long-lost family member. Maybe Sakura had been the first person to care about him since the loss of his mother. He had clung to her so desperately the first night she had spent comforting him through his terror. This was a sad realization that almost made Sakura cry.

“Then it’s settled,” she smiled sadly. “I’ll begin confirming everything with the Kazekage and Hokage.”

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Later that evening, after seeing all her patients, Sakura sat down at a desk upstairs at the hospital and began to write letters.

Her first letter was to the Kazekage, requesting official permission for Isao’s relocation to the Hidden Leaf Village for continued treatment. She informed him that she wasn’t aware of how much time he would be spending, but that she predicted for as long Satou remained a threat to the boy’s person and health. She relayed her wishes for the village’s fostering of the child to strengthen the bond between villages.

Next, she wrote to the Hokage and her sensei, Kakashi Hatake. Despite her close bond with her mentor, Sakura remained formal in her letter. She requested permission for the child’s temporary stay and care, along with his continued education. She informed Kakashi of the entire situation, including Satou’s resentment towards the leaf (although she had yet to figure out exactly why). Sakura explained the basics of Isao’s situation but included another letter for Lady Tsunade that covered the details of his illness, along with his treatment history and medical notes. Sakura requested that once permission was granted, that Kakashi pass this note immediately to Tsunade after an envoy had been sent to retrieve the child from Sunagakure; Sakura informed Kakashi that her hope was to remain with Sasuke for a little while longer.

As she sealed both letters, Sakura imagined Naruto’s disappointed face when he comprehended that she included nothing for him. He would say, “That old granny gets a letter, but I, a fellow member of Team 7, does not?” Then he would push in over Kakashi’s desk, cramming his face next to his and insisting to see what all Sakura had wrote, ‘just to be sure.’ She laughed aloud to herself at that particular scenario. She suddenly missed that idiot so much that her eyes pricked with tears and she quickly wiped them away afraid that once her tears started, they wouldn’t stop. There seemed to be a lot to cry about recently.

Unexpectedly, tea was being placed down before her. She jumped at Mako’s sudden appearance, catching her once again in a state of vulnerability. “Sorry,” he smiled, leaning his hip against the desk. “You seemed a little down.”

Sakura returned his kindness with a smile, taking up the tea and taking a drink of the warm sweet liquid. “Just a little homesick,” she explained. She didn’t want him assuming it was about Sasuke, although the Uchiha had in reality been occupying her thoughts for most of the day. How different and similar lovesickness and homesickness were. To Sakura, Sasuke would always be her home away from home. When he was gone, lovesickness consumed her. Yet, away from Konoha, Sakura felt a similar grief.  

“Is that why you are writing?” Mako questioned, pointing towards the letters on her desk.

“Oh, this is for the Kazekage and Hokage about Isao’s transfer,” Sakura clarified. “Writing home does remind me of my friends, which is why I might have seemed down.” Sakura took another drink of the tea.

“I see,” Mako answered emotionlessly, peering up at the ceiling. As she watched him, Sakura wondered suddenly how he knew she had been up here. She hadn’t seen him for most of the day, the two deciding to split the work. Not knowing what else to say, Sakura took another full drink from the steaming porcelain cup in front of her. And another. After the fourth gulp, Sakura began to taste something beneath the sweetness. Anyone else might not have been able to sense it, but Sakura’s palate was trained to detect oddities. She coughed a little, clearing her throat of the bitter aftertaste.

Mako turned to fully face her suddenly and Sakura frowned as she realized that his outline was a little fuzzy and she couldn’t blink hard enough to read his facial expression.

When Mako reached out before her and took hold of the two letters, Sakura’s body wasn’t responding to stop him. When he stuffed the letters into his whitecoat, all Sakura could do was drop the cup in shock, watching it as it rolled across the table.

“It’s nothing personal,” came Mako’s detached, unfamiliar tone of voice as Sakura’s consciousness began to slip. “I just can’t let you go on any further.”

“You,” she managed to spit out as she forced her body from her chair, knees hitting hard on the ground. She didn’t understand what was happening, why Mako would be doing something like this to her; she cursed herself for blindly accepting his tea as often as she did. Even her thinking began to fade as she tried to army crawl toward the door. Her voice was suddenly gone, the possibility for screaming for help suddenly damned.

The last thing she remembered was hearing Mako’s footfalls get closer and the door being shut in front of her closing eyes.

[7team7]

Choosing Fate: Chapter 8

A surprise leaves Sasuke and Sakura alone for a while. // Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7

A/N: thank you everyone for your encouragement and kind words on this fic. I’m trying to dedicate myself to it and finish it before moving on to new stories, but sometimes that’s still a slower process than I expect? And the plot seems to want to complicate itself more, but I promise more ss moments are coming!! Hope this chapter is ok, the slow burn is still burning

.

.

Tsunade was relentless in her tutelage. Sakura’s tutoring sessions with Sasuke were idyllic in comparison. The older woman pushed and pushed and pushed. 

But the discipline and hard work only served to strengthen her. Tsunade raised a brow when the petite woman cracked her knuckles before getting to work everyday. She knew she had found a determined student, but her dedication was truly something remarkable.

And it yielded results. 

Once complicated combinations became embedded in her memory and her hands were able to move without thinking. Tsuande stopped lecturing and started questioning, pushing the envelope: What if we did this? What do you think of that? How would you approach it? 

What started as a favor she agreed to do on a whim became a cherished relationship. Maybe Konoha wasn’t so bad. 

Sakura greatly respected her teacher, but she barely knew the first thing about her. She used to keep her chatter to a minimum while they worked, but she had grown much more comfortable in the Senju’s house. “Tsunade-sama, you were never married, right?” For once, a woman’s professional work had superseded her romantic history. 

Tsunade paused in the middle of tidying up some papers she pulled out for reference. The question wasn’t necessarily unwelcome, but it took her by surprise. No one had asked her about that in a long time. “No. There was someone I would’ve married, but we never got the chance.”

“Did he have to marry someone else?” Arranged marriage was awkward at best, but it would’ve been downright heartbreaking if she was already in love with someone else. 

“He was hurt in battle. And I couldn’t save him.” She sighed heavily, “After him, there was no one else. Why do you think I leave the village so often?” The ghosts of her past would never stop haunting her. Her ties to Konoha weighed heavily. 

“Oh,” she bit her lip, “I’m so sorry.” She assumed Tsunade was just a wild spirit, but the reality was much more tragic. 

She shrugged. Time to change the subject. “And you? Was there someone else before that sulky brat?” 

Sakura opened her mouth to protest, he was not a sulky brat! But then she remembered the way he would hang around outside Tsunade’s house if she wasn’t home before the sun set. “No, I was too young and too busy with my household chores to find someone else. But Sasuke’s not so bad…” She blushed a little; before, she could hardly fathom getting married to Sasuke but now, she couldn’t imagine marrying anyone else. She couldn’t fault him for their circumstances, even if he was a little rough around the edges. 

“And your parents?”

“Ah, they were actually childhood sweethearts. Lucky them,” she said weakly. 

“Well, I guess Sasuke’s good enough for you to stay.” 

“What do you mean?”

“You could always leave. Plenty of women do it.” 

“Oh,” she said, taken aback, “I had never considered that. Where would I even go?” She didn’t think she had a choice in the matter, or any other real options. 

Tsunade raised a brow, “You could go home. Have you been home yet?”

Sakura laughed bitterly and confessed, “Actually, no. It’s not that I don’t want to, I guess I...just haven’t gathered the courage.” Was it her home there anymore? Was she a wife before she was a sister? She started fiddling with a stray herb that had escaped a jar.  

She continued, “I miss my siblings dearly, but it’s easier to just stay away. If I visited home and saw everything I’ve been missing...it would be too hard to come back here. I don’t know if that makes me a good wife or a terrible sister.” She had assumed she was leaving for good after the wedding. Life as Uchiha Sakura might still be new and full of surprises, but it wasn’t completely miserable. Should she expect more? The leaf in her hands was completely pulverized after she worked her anxieties out on it. 

Her mentor nodded in understanding. “You won’t figure it out in a day. And when you feel like you’ve got it, something will change and you’ll be back at square one. That’s life.” 

Sakura nodded glumly. She supposed being young almost always meant standing at a crossroads. They got back to work.

.

Training and learning took up the majority of her time lately. She was exhausted, but not unhappy. Most days she stayed at Tsunade’s for long hours, only returning to frantically complete some chores. Today, Sakura slapped her palm to her forehead when she remembered that she had promised to help Mikoto fold dumplings. She all but flew out the door, shouting, “See you tomorrow!” before heading home. She rushed into the kitchen and greeted her mother-in-law. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t here to help with lunch-” she started, but Mikoto held up a hand to stop her. 

“Don’t apologize. I’m glad you’ve found something to keep you occupied. Tsunade is a formidable woman, history or not. There’s no reason for a young girl to be cooped up forever.” Her daughter in law always put on a brave face, but she could tell there was something missing. 

Sakura breathed a sigh of relief, “Thank you for understanding. Still, I’ll try to be home a bit more.” She didn’t remember when she started calling this house her home, but she did have a certain obligation to maintain it. She would be so upset if Mikoto suddenly started abandoning her duties! Who would pick them up? Certainly not Fugaku.  

Mikoto shook her head, smiling, “I’ve become content with being at home with my husband and children. But until that day comes for you, just lean on me. Go rest, I’ve got it.” Even as she spoke, she kept deftly folding dumpling skins like it was second nature. 

“A-are you sure?” She had realized she was treated like a strange, permanent guest in the Uchiha household. In her childhood home, she was anything but a guest. “I’m sure. Sasuke’s home, by the way.” Sakura nodded and ventured off to find him, starting with the bedroom. It felt like ages since she’d last seen him. 

“Where have you been?” 

“Excuse me?” His tone was accusatory, but hers was incredulous. “I thought you supported me going? Don’t tell me you changed your mind.” His hot and cold personality was jarring.

“Didn’t think you’d be gone so often,” he grumbled. Those precious tutoring sessions together had been cut short by her lessons with Tsunade, but there was nothing he could do besides walk her there and back. He had half a mind to offer her another trip to the market just to get her to do something with him, but he couldn’t bring himself to impede on her schedule for such selfish reasons. So he sulked, even if he didn’t quite understand why he was so upset.  

He had just finished getting dressed, perhaps taking a bit of extra time smoothing down his hair and clothes in an attempt to get her to look at him. “Come on, let’s go.”

“Go where? What makes you think I want to follow you anywhere?” If he felt like being a jerk, she would stay home and fold dumplings, thank you very much!

He sighed, like the answer was obvious. “We’re going to Itachi’s. Apparently Izumi’s been feeling off lately. They requested your presence.”  

She perked up slightly but then remembered she was supposed to be mad. As maddening as her husband was, their fights were usually small and quickly diffused. “Fine, I’ll go. But are you sure it’s alright for me to leave the house instead of waiting on you hand and foot?” 

“Annoying,” he muttered, leaving the room but not before he made sure his wife was following him.  

.

Knock, knock, knock. Tsunade pursed her lips, who would be calling on her at this time of night? Everyone should be sitting down for dinner. She set down her cup of tea to answer the door.

To her pleasant surprise, Sakura stood at her doorstep looking breathless and bright-eyed. “I thought I sent you home hours ago?” Tsunade raised a brow at the girl. 

“You did. But I have news! And because of that news I can’t stop for today. There’s more to do.” The words tumbled out of her mouth and if she didn’t slow down, she might just swallow her own tongue. 

“More? But-”

“Izumi is pregnant!” Sakura blurted. A grin overtook her features, “Isn’t that exciting?” She pushed her way into Tsunade’s house for the second time that day. They had work to do! Sakura had so much to learn! Babies were so complicated. 

The older woman sighed. Uchiha or not, it would be useful for Sakura to learn about midwifery and the like. Really, she couldn’t say no to her favorite student. She closed the door and rolled up her sleeves again. 

.

“She started out weak, you said?” Tsunade was mulling over which round of roots and herbs to send with Sakura first. Izumi’s pregnancy was still new, but was already proving difficult and draining. Even a placebo would help reduce the expecting mother’s nerves.  

“Mm, I had a suspicion that she has some kind of illness, and the pregnancy is just making things more difficult for her. I think she can carry to term, but she’ll need lots of rest. I want to do whatever I can to make this easier on her.” 

Smart girl, she praised internally. She finally picked out the jars she was looking for, “Here. Crush that bottom one up and mix it with her tea, the other is an ointment to rub on her ankles when they swell. She should be resting in bed, but there might still be pain. And tell everyone to stop hovering, they’re so pesky.” 

Sakura practically saluted her teacher, “You’ve got it, Tsunade-sama! I’ll be back tomorrow.” 

“Oh, I know you will,” she laughed affectionately. Her little apprentice was really something. 

.

Between caring for Izumi and learning from Tsunade, Sakura barely had a moment to rest. While Sasuke initially made a few more snippy comments about not being home, he couldn’t help but feel the pride welling up inside of him. Other women had started seeking her advice and she earned a reputation as Tsunade’s apprentice who would one day surpass her. He felt smug thinking about how good of a mother Sakura would become, but then he reprimanded himself. He really needed to stop thinking like that. 

When a contraction ripped through Izumi’s body, she immediately gasped, “Get Sakura.”

Sasuke all but sprinted to Tsunade’s house, but somehow, by the time they got back, half the clan had gotten wind of the labor. They had to shoulder their way into the house just to get a glimpse of the expecting mother. 

“I thought you said you brought the best,” some grumpy old auntie eyed Sakura skeptically. 

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at her, “Sakura is the best. Now everybody out, let her work.” No one dared question the authoritative tone in his voice. Sakura brushed past him after squeezing his arm in thanks.

Sakura thought she could be calm, but all sorts of emotions bubbled up inside of her when she knelt next to Izumi’s tense body. Her face twisted in pain and shone with sweat when she panted desperately, “I can’t lose this baby.” The implication was clear: or else she would prove useless as the one to produce the next heir.

And it broke Sakura’s heart. As a mother, she would naturally be worried about her child, but this was unacceptable. 

“Everything is going to be fine,” she reassured her, even as her voice shook and she could barely believe her own words. “Now if someone could please get me some water.” Itachi practically tripped over his own feet fetching the water. She had never seen the man so on edge. 

Sakura couldn’t help but let out her own sob when the baby’s first cry pierced the air and Izumi slumped back in relief. 

.

After a tense eight months, Itachi and Izumi’s son is born, small but healthy. The clan breathed a collective sigh of relief. It was finally time to celebrate. 

Once a few weeks passed, it is agreed that the new little family should visit Izumi’s parents for a while. After only exchanging letters for the past three years, it is only right that they got to see their new grandchild for a while. They were only distantly related to the Uchiha and had established residence in a different village. The journey would take a number of days and Mikoto and Fugaku insisted on going along.

Which meant the main house was left to only Sasuke and Sakura for at least a month. 

.

.

A/N: HAHA THERE’S ONLY ONE HOUSE!! AND THEY ALREADY SHARE A BED!! Pervsuke incoming also hopefully it goes without saying that Time is Passing so ss are getting a teensy bit older. I kind of liked how this chapter flipped it so that sakura is the one always gone but even if he’s grumpy at first he’s like damn..she rlly did that LOL you like her don’t u ssk /.\

[acefrogmonarch]

Lets chat

This is mostly going to look at Sakura's involvement in the ship, because it mostly revolves around her feelings. If there any refutes please leave them in the notes.

.

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Now SS is seen as a ship in the Naruto fandom. It consists of Sasuke and Sakura in a romantic/sexual setting. It can be a great ship but let's dwell on that later.

For now, it's time to actually look at the ship and see where it stands. Sakura loves Sasuke. It can't be refuted by the characters or JVA or Kishimoto but where does that love come from?

I've been going through the manga and other people's opinions to make something of my own. That is generally how someone can come to a conclusion but enough about human interactions!

Let's start with Sakura!

Sakura is first seen as a fangirl that crushes on Sasuke. That is how we generally see her. Obsessing over Sasuke and his image.

Now that's the opinion of Naruto and probably anyone that is new to the Naruto series. However, as the story progresses we see how Sakura stops seeing Sasuke as an idea. As an unattainable and unapproachable force.

We see Sakura treat Sasuke more as a person, once they are in a team and spend some time together. Sakura realizes that Sasuke isn't perfect and can be hurt, unlike her idealized version of him. It doesn't make her stop chasing him. It drives her more because he was always the invincable Uchiha. The first time this becomes a reality is during the infamous 'c-rank mission turning into an A-rank'.

The Zabuza arc. The most iconic and memorable thing to happen to them. As a team and trying to find their Nindo, their ninja way. It shows how harsh the Ninja world really is. 

Back to Sakura; this is her turning point. This is the point that she wanted to change herself because she wants to help others and Sasuke. Because she's scared for him and his life. Up until this point, she has been thrown into the Ninja world without really knowing the full dangers.

She was from a civilian family, she was bullied by others because of her appearance but was saved by Ino. But, because she's always had to be saved. She finds out what her nindo way is: to save others.

This is her drive and this is what pushes her until Sasuke's revenge and hatred, consume him. At this point Sakura has stopped looking at the fantasized version of her crush and sees Sasuke underneath his mask, underneath his hatred.

Then the Chunin exams begin; it is the second time where Sakura finds herself in a helpless situation. At this moment, Sakura has barely made any progress with herself, but she is slowly improving. She acknowledges that even Naruto is ahead of her. This is the first change in character. She knows she isn't as strong as Sasuke, to protect him or help him.

She drowns in her insecurities, so she takes Sasuke's insult to heart. "You're annoying." But she is also encouraged by his acknowledgement when he notices that she can read Genjutsu like the back of her hand.

That's her drive. His approval, it conflicts me to point out the difference as to why this isn't necessarily good. If he was her mentor, it would have been fine. If he was older and a positive role figure for her, it would have been better.

But they are Ninja and compliments are either going to make them bitter or happy. But because he is a peer, her crush. It is unhealthy. To set her personality, her self importance, solely on one person? -as a person and on a growing girl? It affects them and it influences them greatly

Now, the chunin exam comes and goes and so does Sasuke. He leaves the village but before that Sakura tries to make him stay. She pushes her love to him and he rejects her because he has a vendetta. He has a goal outside of the village. A duty to his clan, his mother and to Itachi. But what sakura does is wrong.

I will point out, at any point, how their actions are wrong.

Sakura pushing her love onto Sasuke to make him stop leaving the village is emotional abuse. A small incident, yes, but she tried. Maybe she wasn't going to hurt herself if he left but her unwanted feelings and trying to guilt him into staying is the problem here.

"I had fun on this team and I know you did too." Is a line that stuck with me, throughout this whole interaction. She's trying to get him to understand that he wasn't alone but she wasn't putting his feelings into consideration.

Emotional abuse may be a strong word for something like this but it shows that they don't know that it's wrong. If he had felt guilt this would have stopped him, but he doesn't. It's his mission and stubbornness that lets him leave her behind.

Sakura is stuck at point A again, he leaves. She's helpless again. She isn't acknowledged by him anymore. So she begs Naruto to get him back. To her, to him, to the team. Because she can't help but feel useless and that it's her fault.

She's there in the aftermath. To clean up the wounds and get stronger. She has to rely on herself at the point because Naruto soon leaves to get stronger, as well.

This is the end of Genin Sakura. Shippuden Sakura is a different person entirely.

But before that, let's stop. I want to mention something. Sakura isn't a girl that will commit to something just because someone else is. I'm referring to her rivalry with Ino.

Before she knew that Ino liked Sasuke, Sakura liked Sasuke's admiration. Then she saw how Ino reacted to Sakura's obvious crush and started noticing more social cues. I.E. Hinata's crush on Naruto and his dullness to his surroundings. But oblivious to her own turmoil until Ino and her talk things out as teens.

Ugh shippuden. Let's get this over with..

Sakura returns with the confidence she lacked from when she was a Genin. That is a given. That is supposed to happen, you realize something you didn't before and move forward with your life and choices. But she doesn't ask for forgiveness from her friends for her attitude.

Because it's her attitude. She built herself up because no one else can do that for her. It still doesn't excuse her, she has to realize a border between herself and her actions. They have meaning and they have weight. It doesn't affect Naruto because nothing stops him but that doesn't mean that it's okay.

Moving on to the ship and yes: this issue will be back with NS.

Onto SS shippuden!

Sakura is more mature and is still after Sasuke. Because she feels responsible? Because she feels like she can support him? Because she wants to help? None of those are love. They are obligations. They are promises. They can be confused as love.

She might have felt guilty because she hadn't done as much when she was younger. It's at this point where I can't see Sakura as in love. Because of her guilt, because she feels responsible for him and his actions. But I will try to find some way to see it. Or understand it as such.

Something I didn't mention before is the curse mark and Sakura's reaction to it. The reason why I saved it to now is because it mostly represents how much has changed between them and how much of their old bond has deteriorated. It shows a passage of time between them.

The curse mark and Sasuke's obsession have been influenced and enhanced by the curse mark. That scared Sakura back when she was a genin, In the forest of death. she didn't want that to happen to him, to lose himself in that hatred. Meeting Sasuke back in Orochimaru's abandoned lab and seeing him for the first time: Shocked her.

He's no longer the Sasuke she knew from before but that didn't stop her from helping him. If it was "undying" love or obligation, I wouldn't know.

This makes her stance on wanting to kill Sasuke that less confusing; at least to me. It's her love/obligation that makes her resolve. She owes it to him. To stop his pain, to help him; even if it's killing her to go through with it.

But she doesn't follow through because it felt like betraying his goal and her love for him.

I will not be looking at her false confession: that will be covered in the NS analysis.

I only have one thing to say about that: in regards to SS. It makes sakura's feelings for Sasuke look like an inconvenience. To the mission, to her duty and to her team, because it is. But not because it inconveniences everyone else: just her.

Naruto turns it into his goal. Kakashi owes Sasuke, the proper mentor he should have been instead of being lenient. Sakura lets her feelings get into the way of the mission time and time again. The false confession, too flustered to stop him or kill him. Almost giving up on him and risking the mission. Almost killed by him.. twice.

I'm not solely blaming Sakura but Naruto and Kakshi both could've taken themselves out of the situation and go around to deal with conflicting feelings much later. Kakashi stops being the designated jonin leader because he couldn't stop Naruto like Yamato can. Naruto went with Jiraiya to help with the Kurama's chakra and get stronger.

Edit: Okay. Maybe Naruto isn't the best example but both Sakura and Him have priblems when dealing with Sasuke.

They let Sasuke's abandonment be a learning experience. Sakura is the only person behind and still stuck in the past. Because it is something she desperately clings to. It's why she doesn't give up and why she tries a false confession; it's a normalcy she wants back.

.

The war is probably the only place I can play off after this point. Because it's the most interactions between them at that point. Sakura meeting Sasuke on the battlefield is like living a nightmare. The one place she didn't expect him to show up and he still surprises her.

But she still doesn't know him, not like before. Fighting with him again, side by side, instead of against; is a sign of trust she isn't ready but will do because it's her duty. But she probably wants to show off and show she may look the same but is a different person entirely.

I wish this is the path she took. Instead we see her quickly bring him back into her life and rejuvenate Team 7. It's a bittersweet/nostalgic moment; the climax before the battle. It's just like before. Before he left. Except it shouldn't. It's the last battle to determine all, they are about to die. I get that but there should be boundaries.

"I'm not here for you, I'm here to protect the Ninja alliance." Sakura should have said something along those lines. But it's a shounen battle manga, that doesn't talk about feelings, moving on. They have a lot to talk about and during the black period, it should be a process of healing.

Yes, I'm still on this scene. Sakura's love can be described as unconditional. She will always hold a torch for him. Because she cares for him and his goals. That is what she's made to be and I hate it.

It's consistent, supportive, and it's to help him. Unconditional can be made out to be parental or motherly but for Sakura it's an innocent kind of love. It's passionate.

Should I even go analyze the two attempted murders? I'd rather go over Sasuke's love.

Now Sasuke's love is a much more simple case compared to Sakura.

Sasuke doesn't love or accept Sakura's love until adulthood.

Because he's no longer a curious and hopeful child and is now a socially awkward adult.

Because he's no longer a curious and hopeful child and is now a socially awkward adult.

He doesn't know what to do with that.

He doesn't know what to do with that.

He doesn't know how to handle that. His whole life, full of vengeance and looking for answers. A single goal but now; he no longer has a drive. So he looks within himself and seeks atonement for his actions.

He stays busy because he knows he's going to have to answer her. He needs answers within himself to see if he can accept her love. He might not feel worthy or okay with her love, after all, he put her through hell. 

I sincerely hope he begs for fucking forgiveness from Sakura after this whole shit show of shippuden.

If Sakura's love is unconditional then Sasuke's is appreciated. He's thankful to Naruto and Sakura, they didn't give up on him. It might not be pure, adult, lust, passionate, or innocent; But it is there.

I don't see the men being as self aware of their actions or feelings. In the sense that they don't feel guilty for their actions. Men and women justify it, they all have too. Because they are ninjas and it's at this point where guilt may not have a huge impact on them.

"To finish the mission." and "No matter what." It's these thoughts and feelings that make up their personality. To commit to something, to finish what you started without fail and with your life.

Regardless, Shippuden and Boruto both make a great point that Sakura knows Sasuke, Intimately and Fully. She took the time to understand his pain and hatred. She took the time to help him, even when he didn't want it.

Sasuke didn't do that for Sakura, he can barely accept her love and acceptance. The knowledge that someone loves him, is enough.

.

Sasusaku is a good ship that supports each other. Sasuke is greatful for Sakura's constant signs of affection, even if he can't accept them. Sakura looks to Sasuke as a goal, one she needs to find within herself. She envies his skill but doesn't let that stop her or let her become bitter towards him.

That's the bare necessities, the foundation. But it progresses into something horrible and I stop shipping at that point.

Edit: The clear reason to me, as to why Sasuke liked Sakura back, is because he admires her strength. The strength that saved him from his emotional darkness and inner turmoil.

At this point he allowed himself to stop wallowing in self pity and hatred and let her in. This is adult Sasuke, this is resolve for her. So he tries to love again.

If that last statement doesn't make sense, it's because of Itachi. That should explain enough, if it doesn't go to notes!

[shakasa]

sakura haruno fanfic rec list.

I tend to lean towards longer Sakura-centric fics. I'm not really one for oneshots, so if long rides are your type of thing, you're in the right place.

Maybe if this gets a lot of attention, I'll make a part 2 but as of now, this is all I'm posting since its 3am. It's still pretty decently sized though.

I'm also on mobile so sorry if my formatting looks wonky.

Anachronistic Drift

Summary: Her plan was flawless. Save Shisui. Save the world. Time-travel, Sakura-centric AU

Pairing: N/A

Word count: 93k

Status: Incomplete. Last updated Dec 29, 2019.

https://fanfiction.net/s/11675447/1/Anachronistic-Drift

Survival of the Fittest

Summary: Sakura is thirteen, still a Genin, lost in the middle of Earth Country, lugging an unconscious Chuunin around, and so far beyond scared that she’s moved right on to pissed off.

Pairing: N/A. Shikasaku if you squint really hard.

Word count: 24k

Status: Complete.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/3127889

Sunrise

Summary: They say hello more times than goodbye, and Sakura thinks it might be for the best. Especially when it's time to go. / (AU) War-torn Japan, 1600s. Married life.

Pairing: Sasusaku

Word count: 141k

Status: Incomplete. Last updated Dec 25, 2019.

https://fanfiction.net/s/12769548/1/Sunrise

Kill Your Heroes

Summary: It's time to stop waiting for other people to save you. A story about fear, resilience, and Sakura.

Pairing: N/A but hints of Itasaku later on but it's really ignorable.

Word count: 268k

Status: Incomplete. Last updated Dec 25, 2019.

https://fanfiction.net/s/11418526/1/Kill-Your-Heroes

Retrograde Motion

Summary: From sixteen to eleven didn't feel like a big jump until she realized that she was now the best ninja in their class. And that tiny Sasuke hates her for it.

Pairing: N/A.

Word count: 75k

Status: Incomplete. Last updated Feb 6, 2019.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/12566900/chapters/28622888

Believe Me When I Say I Carry All My Sins

Summary: Sakura knew the best way to tear a man's spine out of his nose without breaking a sweat. She didn't know how to live in a village with Minato as Hokage and the Uchiha clan as the beloved police force. She didn't know how to live as a disgraced genin in a bloody apartment with dead men knocking at her door. She didn't know how to forgive herself for failing Konoha. Now she had a chance to save it.

Pairing: N/A

Word count: 30k

Status: Incomplete. Last updated Apr 26, 2019.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/15103049/chapters/35020064

Hokage by Necessity

Summary: Hokage-it was Naruto's dream, just as Sasuke was his promise. And for a short, glorious time, he had them both. But when tragedy strikes, it is Sakura who must continue to bear the reality of the dream: endless paperwork, bickering Kage, and political factions.

Pairing: N/A

Word count: 65k

Status: Incomplete. Last updated Jan 16, 2015.

https://fanfiction.net/s/9576833/1/Hokage-By-Necessity

Daughter of Fire

Summary: Sakura got up and didn’t bother brushing the dirt from her dress. She had a feeling she was about to get even dirtier. She looked at the memorial stone one last time, memorizing the characters without even realizing she was doing it. It would serve from that moment on as a reminder of her determination. She wouldn’t let Naruto and Sasuke join the names carved on that stone. That was her nindo.

Pairing: Kakasaku but it's endgame.

Word count: 53k

Status: Incomplete. Last updated January 15, 2020.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/17306768/chapters/40708583

Expedient

Summary: Konoha and Iwa sign a truce and agree to an Exchange Program between recently promoted genin to "bolster village relations." Fortunately, if anything were to go wrong, Haruno Sakura was just average enough to risk losing.

Pairing: N/A

Word count: 277k

Status: Complete

https://fanfiction.net/s/6004135/1/Expedient

Shikkotsu no Sakura

Summary: Sakura made a promise to the slugs of Shikkotsu Forest. She will not fail them, not for anything. (I HIGHLY recommend reading the previous fics in the "the ballad of the slug sage" series. This particular fic is part 7 and may not make sense if you don't read the previous parts.)

Pairing: N/A

Word count: 119k

Status: Incomplete. Last updated November 28, 2019.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/13439829/chapters/30802980

The First Flower of Spring

Summary: Because every ninja comes from somewhere. Lacking a presence in any ninja village, the Haruno are a clan just the same. Beholden to the traditions of her family, Sakura is changed, as are Team Seven's dynamics. What will become of them? (Super duper OOC Sakura with a kekkei genkai but I still found it entertaining.)

Pairing: N/A

Word count: 90k

Status: Incomplete. Last updated Jan 10, 2015.

https://fanfiction.net/s/7476705/1/The-First-Flower-of-Spring

Hollow Point

Summary: Arms dealing is her trade, but young and in a man's world, it takes a criminal mastermind to play with the big dogs without getting bit. TobiSaku/ItaSaku. Crime!AU. Rated M for mentions of adult themes.

Pairing: Tobisaku. Itasaku.

Word count: 137k

Status: Incomplete. Last updated Nov 22, 2019.

https://fanfiction.net/s/12960050/1/Hollow-Point

The Vessel

Summary: I started out as a girl without memories in a foreign land, and life took a turn for the worse after that. Sakura-centric. (This is a crossover between AOT and Naruto.)

Pairing: Levi x Sakura

Word count: 282k

Status: Incomplete. Last updated May 27, 2019.

https://fanfiction.net/s/10032202/1/The-Vessel

The Man in Black

Summary: A man in black haunts her hospital. But what does he want and why is it that Sakura is the only one that can see him? ItaSaku. Modern Myth AU. Death AU

Pairing: Itasaku

Word count: 9k

Status: Complete. Oneshot.

https://fanfiction.net/s/13160495/1/The-Man-in-Black

Close to Home

Summary: Something in his eyes told her, it was always you. [SasuSaku. Blank period. Bonus chapters to come.]

Pairing: Sasusaku

Word count: 38k

Status: Complete.

https://fanfiction.net/s/12884838/1/Close-to-home

Dirt and Ashes, or the One-and-a-Half Body Problem

Summary: The invasion of Konoha during the chuunin exam didn't fail. Team seven is broken, people are dead, and Sakura is hurt and frightened and a very long way from home. Alternative summary: In which Sakura carries half of Hidan across two countries, leaving a trail of blood, bodies, and other people's legs.

Pairing: N/A

Word count: 90k

Status: Complete

https://archiveofourown.org/works/4012402/chapters/9015190

Nightmare in Red

Summary: Haruno Sakura used to think the eyes were the windows to the soul, but after witnessing the horrors of the Sharingan firsthand, she's convinced they are the doors. Itasaku. Nonmass.

Pairing: Itasaku

Word count: 109k

Status: Complete.

https://fanfiction.net/s/12024623/1/Nightmare-in-Red

I Found You Missing

Summary: 'They're asking us because these soldiers have absolutely no one left to write home to,' Sakura thought with a frown. So she signs up for the Shinobi Letter Exchange, not realizing how large the consequences would be. - AUish one-shot [KakaSaku]

Pairing: Kakasaku

Word count: 18k

Status: Complete. Oneshot.

https://fanfiction.net/s/10752939/1/I-Found-You-Missing

Five Kingdoms for the Dead

Summary: After the Forest of Death, Sakura comes to realize that being weak is no longer an option. However, she finds that change is sometimes painful and that truth doesn't always come easy. Luckily, she'll have some help along the way.

Pairing: N/A

Word count: 220k

Status: Complete.

https://fanfiction.net/s/4545558/1/Five-Kingdoms-for-the-Dead

Catch 22

Summary: Sakura isn't weak because she lacks strength. She is weak because they protect her. Sakura-centric

Pairing: N/A

Word count: 106k

Status: Incomplete. Last updated Apr 22, 2013. (Yeah it's probably never going to be finished but still a good read)

https://fanfiction.net/s/5405135/1/Catch-22

Freedom in the Eyes of Another

Summary: The Wave Mission was a failure. They got caught, captured, taken-it didn't end well. Now Sakura has a half-heard order, uncut fingernails, and more desperation than bravery. One way or another, she's getting Team Seven out today. Complete.

Pairing: N/A

Word count: 20k

Status: Complete.

https://fanfiction.net/s/7281191/1/Freedom-in-the-Eyes-of-Another

Stripped Bare

Summary: When Sakura wanted a change of pace, she hadn't expected THIS! Now she's on a mission with Kakashi, masquerading as a dancer at a club far away from home and she finds herself forced to explore her own powers of sexuality and seduction. KakaSaku (Rated M)

Pairing: Kakasaku

Word count: 295k

Status: Complete.

https://fanfiction.net/s/3998157/1/Stripped-Bare

The Way of the Wind

Summary: ANBU Captain Uchiha Itachi had things well planned out, until a medic-nin with ridiculous hair went and made herself interesting. Sakura insisted she was just doing her job, but Itachi didn't quite see it that way. Non-massacre. Sakura/Itachi.

Pairing: Itasaku

Word count: 158k

Status: Complete.

https://fanfiction.net/s/4136594/1/The-Way-of-the-Wind

Take It or Leave It

Summary: Akatsuki & Sakura. After a moment of shock, Sakura realized that two fully grown, fully naked men were sitting squished uncomfortably together in her bathtub. (This one has a huge plot twist. Don't let the summary turn you off from this story)

Pairing: N/A

Word count: 79k

https://fanfiction.net/s/3608990/1/Take-It-or-Leave-It

Found

Summary: Deidara & Sakura. He was peculiar and a little too observant for her tastes, but he was also alone, just like her, at the fault of this supercilious war. So she would dance with him, just until they could both forget how much they had lost.

Pairing: Deisaku

Word count: 105k

Status: Complete.

https://fanfiction.net/s/3478457/1/Found

Vertigo

Summary: Sakura accepts the most critical and dangerous mission of her life, but the price of success may very well be her soul. When your entire world turns upside down, how do you keep from going under? DeiSaku.

Pairing: Deisaku

Word count: 201k

Status: Complete

https://fanfiction.net/s/4146785/1/Vertigo

Somewhere I Have Never Travelled, Gladly Beyond

Summary: Naruto had been bragging all day that his new jutsu was his best yet. Sakura and her new situation beg to differ. Post timeskip. DeiSaku.

Pairing: Deisaku

Word count: 82k

Status: Complete

https://fanfiction.net/s/3281376/1/Somewhere-I-Have-Never-Travelled-Gladly-Beyond

Seven Days

Summary: A mission gone awry lands two squeakyclean ninja in the Konoha Prison for a week. One cell. Seven Days. What could possibly happen? [Aside from the obvious throttling, of course. This is Kakashi and Sakura we're talking about].

Pairing: Kakasaku

Word count: 68k

Status: Incomplete. Last updated Mar 25, 2008. (It's been over a decade so it's a lost cause.)

https://fanfiction.net/s/3063206/1/Seven-Days

The Window

Summary: Sakura always wanted to see Kakashi unmasked. This was a bit much though...

Pairing: Kakaskau

Word count: 165k

Status: Complete

https://fanfiction.net/s/3161976/1/The-Window

Fated

Summary: Sakura runs from her past as Kakashi wants to run from life. Naruto and Genma witness the painful trials their friends must go through.

Pairing: Sasusaku. Kakasaku

Word count: 124k

Status: Complete

https://fanfiction.net/s/2144296/1/Fated

Loyalty

Summary: Blind loyalty is simple. The problem only begins when the world makes you open your eyes. Sakura-centric, AU, pre-timeskip.

Pairing: N/A

Word count: 243k

Status: Incomplete. Last updated Dec 3, 2019.

https://fanfiction.net/s/5316196/1/Loyalty

[vesperlionheart]

Roots that Strangle

Sakura opened her eyes and glanced about the room, recognizing the set up before she could even lift her hands and feel the chains there. It wasn’t the first time someone had drugged and dragged them into a basemen, and she doubted it would be the last.

“You’re awake.”

She looked over to where the voice came from. Danzo leaned on his cane, a whisper of his former self. She tugged on the chains bolted to the wall and used that tension to pull herself upright.

“You look terrible, Danzo chan.”

He was as old as a relic but he still flinched at the nickname she had called him once upon a time, a lifetime ago, when time and space carried her to a generation she had no right influencing.

“I wasn’t mistaken.” He took a step forward and then stopped. “What is your business?”

“What is my business any other time I pop up around these parts?”

“The Uchiha are no longer fit patrons. They are staging their rebellion on the heart of our village.”

“Yes, I know that.”

Danzo took a half step back. “Do you seek to aid them?”

“No, Konoha is my village too, even if I chose to dwell outside her boarders. I don’t seek to aid the Uchiha in their misguided plans. They’ve become too proud, they don’t see how they could possibly fail.” Sakura shook her chains. “That might be a bit of my fault. I’ve fed their egos for generations, but I’ve returned to make it right.”

“You will aid us-”

“No.”

Her voice cut through his like a knife cutting through butter. She was a frail looking thing, a dirty woman just shy of her teenage years, while he stood with more a hunch than a posture. He should have been four times her age, but he wasn’t...at least not in any way that mattered.  

When she spoke she used the voice he had grown up listening to. Once upon a time it had been the voice he strained to her, he hung on the words from her lips like the most devote of pupils. But that didn’t matter much in the end. She took a boy from the Uchiha clan, Kagami, as her acolyte and taught him and spoke through him after Madara. 

After Kagami there were others, all Uchiha.

The eyes dotting the length of his arm throbbed and he leashed the excess chakra, least they spin out of control in his anger.  

“You are not with me, then you are against me.”

“You are nothing to stand against Danzo,” Sakura said in a tone that dismissed all his authority and abilities. “And I am not here to make war. I am here to prevent it, don’t misunderstand.” 

“You don’t have an acolyte to speak through.”

“Shisui-”

“Is dead!” he screamed it and the chamber echoed with his words. 

For the first time in his life he won the look of surprise on her face. Because of something he said, because of something he did her face looked at him with something close to wonder. But then it melted into something terrible. The rumble of warning in the clouds far off. 

“Where is he?” 

Danzo’s hand trembled, but he let it raise. The cane fell away, limp. He pawed at the harness and then pulled it away. The black fabric was easy enough to roll up and for the second time in his life he won a look of shock for himself. The goddess who never aged since the days before their village’s founding, the woman who never died, the girl who never looked at him, stared at the mess of his arm with wide eyes.

“He’s here, Sakura,” he breathed, holding his arm up. He touched a single eye and hummed when her body began to vibrate. “I have proven myself his better. You chose poorly.”

“You were supposed to have changed. You-you-” 

Her chest heaved with the words she choked on. The only other times he had been so happy was when she was first caught in his trap, and when he....when he was a small boy she praised.  

The chains shattered in spite of their chakra suppression. She screamed and he almost didn’t know to move in time to avoid having his head knocked off his shoulder by her earth shattering fist. 

It didn’t last long.

Even if it was his turf, she was ancient to him and a goddess in the flesh. He had fought well enough to wound her, but such injuries would quickly be sealed up he knew.

Only they weren’t.

“Why aren’t you healing?” he coughed, tasting blood. 

“I never claimed to be a god. I’m destined to die same as any of you.” Sakura spit out the blood in her mouth and then ran a thumb over her lips. “But I’ll not walk hand in hand with death until I see this through. You’re my responsibility now, Danzo.” 

Behind her a new figure stepped into the light, hands stained with dripping blood. Itachi Uchiha glared from the corner the way a jealous lover would and suddenly it made sense.

Danzo laughed, unable to help it. She had moved on so quickly. He had never been an option. Nothing he did mattered. 

“The Uchiha are beyond saving. They’ll be swallowed by the roots of our village, I’m sure...of that.”

 It hurt to breath. Soon he wouldn’t be able to. He felt liquid in his chest, pooling at the base of his lungs when he tried to breath. She had crushed him and he was too old to heal from something things. 

“You’ve accomplished nothing to take pride in, Danzo.” 

“Maybe, but I did it on my own, not because someone gave me this power.” He lifted his monstrous arm but it was too heavy to even shift, so he settled for grunting at it and jabbing his chin up. “Maybe you’ll stop the massacre, but you’ll never be able to heal the rifts I’ve se into motion. Your precious clan is damed.” 

“I won’t let that happen.” 

She spoke it like a fact and Danzo shivered for her words once more. Because she had seen it happen, she had done the undoable and he had witnessed it all. he had played a losing game from the start, but that realization mattered little to him now. 

“Maybe you won’t, but in all your efforts, you’ll remember me.” Danzo forced his chin up. “That’s enough for me. I defied a god.”

Sakura knelt at his side, still bleeding. “I was never your god.”

It was the last thing, but Danzo breathed the words and passed on without regrets. “Yes you were.”

“You’re hurt,” Itachi mentioned.

Sakura looked up, tired and worn but managed a smile for the almost teenager. She held up the glass jar and tapped the side.

 “I was just thinking about what I’d need to do with this. My body doesn’t need healing just yet.”

“But you’ll heal yourself later, won’t you?” Itachi pressed.

“Of course.”

“I don’t think I believe you.”

Sakura laughed out loud and hopped onto a shallow hump of earth. Itachi followed close behind, ears growing pink.

“Don’t be too upset. Who wouldn’t laugh at a boy not believing in the goddess he swore himself to?”

“I didn’t mean I didn’t believe in you! I just didn’t think you were going to actually heal yourself the way you healed Sasuke and the other kids when they got sick.” 

“I don’t need to, it’s not threatening my life. Now, where are we. If I remember correctly...”

 Sakura pointed to the wide base of a redwood tree and knelt down beside it. Inside, curled up in the same sleep she had spelled him into with a genjutsu, Shisui Uchiha slept on with his one good eye.

“Wake him for me, Itachi dear, I need to give him something back.”

Itachi knelt down, but hesitated, turning to her first. “What if he wants to take you back? You’re not going to-to regret me, are you?”   

“Shisui made his choice and in spite of his regret, he’ll never be able to take back what he cast aside,” Sakura answered.

“Even though you’re brining back his eye to him? What if he changes his mind? The whole reason he left was because he-he- that he thought he didn’t need you to stop the other Uchiha.”

“That’s not the only reason.” 

Sakura hesitated when she remembered the break up for herself, how he took their covenant and sundered it heedlessly. She had thought he might be the last acolyte she took on while her godhood lasted, but she had been wrong with that too. She had already started to age and Shisui had noticed, but what he wanted she couldn’t give him.

She glanced up at Itachi and smiled in encouragement. “You are mine and I will not break what you have given me. That will never change.”

Itachi sighed, but crawled in behind his cousin. “Shisui isn’t going to like it when he learns I took his place.”

“I’m sorry for that, dear, but there is no helping it. I need a tether for a few more years at least, and then you’re free to do whatever you want in life.”

“Oh....” there was a pause. “Can I stay with you if that’s what I want?”

“If you want.”

Itachi roused Shisui and Sakura took the chance to hover over him, slipping in under the shade. He  had one eye patched with seals to stave off decay, but she drained her chakra from them and the paper fell lifeless to the floor.

He struggled to sit up but she pushed him down and then held up the glass jar with his eye floating. 

“Sakura?”

“Do you remember this?” He nodded as blood began to start again from under his bruised eyelid. “Then I don’t need to explain anything more. Your plan won’t work, and if anything meaningful is meant to be done, it won’t happen because of mind control. I’m putting this back in your eye-socket but first you need to promise me something.” 

“I’m sorry,” Shisui breathed. “I didn’t mean it. I can make the covenant again I just-”

Sakura touched a finger to his lips and stopped him. It was almost a motherly gesture until she opened her mouth again. “That time is passed. My conditions are you stay out of my way as I fix what has been done.”

“Sakura sama I-”

But her chakra was already putting him asleep and burning away the bacteria at the surgery site. It took only minutes to undo Danzo’s mistake, but much longer to patch up the horrors that started when Shisui’s nerves began to fray.

Itachi watched on in silence. When she was nearly finished he finally decided to speak up. “What is it you have to fix?”

“All of Danzo’s wrongs, and there are many.”

“Why is he your responsibility.”  

The healing finished and Sakura pulled back. “I knew what he would become or what he could become, but I hoped for the best and was...well, you saw it. Because of my inactions the world is a lot worse off.”

“You’re not responsible for a cruel man’s actions.”  

Sakura laughed but it was a bitter sound. “I hope not, Itachi. Come on, et’s drag this one back. The daylight is nearly here.”

[sssrha]

winter sun || [Naruto Fanfiction]

Summary: In the end, Sasuke lost. [one-shot, mostly canon-compliant, Sasuke-centric]

[You can also read it on AO3, FFN, and Wattpad]

Begin:

Sasuke Uchiha was eight and he was alone. He didn’t have a family member to take care of him, nor a family that would take him in. He had an inkling as to why—they were all scared that he was another Itachi. They feared that he would wake up one day and kill them all simply because he used to call them family. He despaired at the thought. If he had a family, even one that wasn’t his flesh and blood, he would cherish them. He would honor them. He would love them.

But no one wanted Sasuke Uchiha. They wanted him, expected him, to become great, but no one was willing to help him get there. So, Sasuke stewed in agony and sorrow until, eventually, it turned to rage. Sasuke had a family, only one, and that family was dead thanks to a certain someone. Sasuke swore vengeance against his brother, for Itachi had taken the only family that would ever love him.

---

Sasuke Uchiha was eleven, and he was loved. The villagers adored him, praised him. They wrote him formal letters, invited him to fancy dinners, and—as disturbing as it was—pushed their daughters towards him. Sasuke looked upon it all with utter disdain. He never went to a single dinner or answered a single letter, and all the daughters received nothing but his glares. People looked at him and whispered, “Look at that brat. Look at how he takes advantage of everyone. Look at how wonderful his life is, how everyone worships the very ground he walks on, and yet he’s so ungrateful.”

Sasuke scowled at the thought. They wanted him to be grateful? For what? They say that they would stand by him, but where were they when he needed them? He was perfectly capable of standing on his own now. Sasuke Uchiha did not need anyone to protect him. He used to, once upon a time, but no one was there.

Sasuke Uchiha learned to take care of himself.

---

Sasuke Uchiha was thirteen, and he was assigned to a team. It was the team of his nightmares. There was a girl—a pretty girl, sure, but pretty didn’t mean anything in their world—who looked at him with such admiration that it hurt. Sakura Haruno was going to die, he was sure of it. She was going to die an agonizing death and he wouldn’t be able to stop it. Such pure feelings get you killed—Sasuke was one of the lucky ones. He had only been scarred.

There was also a boy. He was stupid, moronic, idiotic, and various other synonyms that implied he, too, would have a short shinobi career. Sasuke, however, knew that Naruto Uzumaki would die differently than their female teammate—he would die in an explosion. In agony, sure, but he would be smiling the whole time. He was just that stupid, and he was the kind of shinobi that Konoha loved. Sasuke could not, for the life of him, understand why everyone hated Naruto as much as they did. But he knows that Konoha was hypocritical in many ways, so he didn’t think too much about it.

Finally, there was their leader. He was young and lazy and a bit too forced. He would look at Sakura with a look of amazement when she proved—and continued to prove—that she knew so much that it was frightening, he looked at Naruto with amusement when he came up with his utterly stupid and somehow foolproof plans, and Sasuke…

Well, he looked at Sasuke like he was a disaster waiting to happen. The first time it had happened, Sasuke was genuinely taken aback. It had been a long time since anyone had looked at him that way, and it was just as infuriating as always. Still, Kakashi Hatake was Sasuke’s ticket to killing Itachi, so he stuck with him. He held in his anger at Kakashi’s blatant distrust and, horrifyingly, pity.

Sasuke Uchiha lived on, a single goal in his mind.

---

Sasuke Uchiha was still thirteen, but he had left. He abandoned the place that he called home. He’d return a hero after killing the man who had ruined his life. He would make the world a better place. Itachi Uchiha was a man who deserved to die, and Sasuke could not understand why everyone was against this. This was his task in life, was it not? He had declared that he would kill his brother many a time, and not a single person had tried to convince him otherwise, so why the hell were they mad at him now?

No, Sasuke knew. Naruto Uzumaki was why. Sasuke did not know what the blond was thinking—he had thought that Naruto supported him. Instead, he came chasing after him, trying to drag him back. Sasuke would come home, just not yet. If he had to put a strike through his forehead protector, so be it. Sasuke Uchiha had a mission, and some boy who considered himself Sasuke’s family would not stop him—even if it was Naruto.

Sasuke knew what family was. The entire world had screamed it out to him when his family had died, and when no one tried to care for him. His family was gone, cut down by the sword of a mad man. His family was his flesh and blood and the only left was a parricidal maniac. Naruto Uzumaki was not his family. Try as he might, though, Sasuke just could not explain it. Naruto kept persisting and Sasuke couldn’t believe how pigheaded he was.

Naruto Uzumaki was not his family. Naruto had no family, just like Sasuke. They were both alone in this world. Sasuke had once had a family, though, and Naruto never had one. They walked different paths so far, and the paths had only briefly crossed. Sasuke tried to tell Naruto to move on, but the words never came out right. Naruto was too thick-headed to understand, anyway.

So, Sasuke Uchiha fought.

As he left the battlefield, his forehead bare, he couldn’t help but remember a girl with pink hair and green eyes, begging him to stay. He promised that he would come back. Not out loud, but to himself. Sakura did not need to worry.

That was what he told himself.

---

Sasuke Uchiha was sixteen, and he was disgusted. It had been three years, and he expected something better. He expected Naruto Uzumaki, the boy who stood up against all odds. He expected Naruto Uzumaki, the boy who would fight tooth and nail for what he thought was right—misguided or not. He expected Naruto Uzumaki, the boy who, against all odds, never truly lost.

Instead, Sasuke got Naruto Uzumaki, begging. He got Naruto Uzumaki, nearly on his knees. He got Naruto Uzumaki, essentially surrendering.

Sasuke did not intend to return to Konoha yet, and as the weeks go by, the possibility of Konoha accepting him back got slimmer and slimmer. He had to fulfill his duty, though. The one he was given by virtue of having the name Uchiha. Sasuke Uchiha had to kill his brother, and a whining boy would not stop him.

And Sasuke found that the thought of returning to Naruto Uzumaki, a shell of his former self, was sickening.

---

Sasuke Uchiha was seventeen and he sat in silence. How much, he wondered, would the world take from him? To think, he had finally gotten the revenge that he wanted, finally killed the man who ended his family’s days, only to learn that Itachi Uchiha wasn’t a murderer. No, no, Itachi was a murderer, but so was Konoha. There was a greater evil, and evil that controlled the lesser one.

For the first time in nine years, Sasuke remembered. He remembered a brother he had forgotten he had. He remembered love and happiness and acceptance. He remembered smiles. He remembered Itachi Uchiha, his brother, not Itachi Uchiha, his enemy. But what did it matter now? Itachi Uchiha was dead.

Sasuke’s thoughts turned. Why was Itachi dead? A coup. A coup that the Uchiha were going to do. And whose fault was that? The Uchiha’s, or the government which drove them to it? After all, wasn’t it the right of the people to speak up against tyranny? Sasuke remembered his family. Not just his mother and father and brother, he remembered cousins, aunts, uncles. There were many that wouldn’t hurt a fly. They wouldn’t want to rise up. They weren’t even shinobi.

It dawned on Sasuke that whatever Konoha had done to get the Uchiha to rise up, it must have been bad. Terrible. And yet, Sasuke had trouble believing it. Konoha was his home. His end goal was always to return, having made the world a better place. Konoha was a wonderful place, he knew it. He lived it. But Konoha killed his family.

It seemed that even Konoha, the village of dreams, had its demons. It killed his family. For the life of him, Sasuke could not understand why Itachi would work for Konoha. What had it done for them? It had ordered the Uchiha’s execution. It had ruined their lives. Why would Itachi serve Konoha so faithfully?

The truth was that Sasuke did not know. He could not comprehend Itachi’s thought process. The fact remained that Konoha had destroyed him and his family. Sasuke was not naive enough to believe that it had changed, that anything had changed. Konoha wasn’t the only problem, either. Kiri was famous for the bloodline purges it endured. Iwa was infamous for its harsh laws and ruthless battle tactics. Kumo was led by a man who would lose his head in a second, and Suna was constantly in one crisis or another. The entirety of the Shinobi Nations was falling apart.

How long until one of them snapped again? Until another family was murdered by the government that was supposed to protect it? How many more children would no longer have a family? How many more children would have to go through the sorrow he did?

Sasuke Uchiha knew that the violence would not stop, so he decided to put an end to it himself.

---

Sasuke Uchiha was seventeen, and he was dying. He had fought tooth and nail for what he believed in, for what was right, and he was still dying. There was no justice in this universe, was there? Konoha would kill him, just like it killed his family. Sasuke was defiant, but he knew his time was waning.

Through the darkness of the night, no longer illuminated by a Chidori or Rasengan, Naruto whispered, “Why, Sasuke?”

Sasuke contemplated not responding but decided against it. “Why what?”

“Why won’t you come home?”

“I have no home.”

“Yes,” Naruto said, his voice suddenly getting a note of irritation, “you do. And it’s Konoha.”

“You know what Konoha did to me and my family. Why would I call it home?”

“Because that’s not Konoha!” Naruto snapped, only to descend into a wheezing fit. Sasuke closed his eyes, trying to lock out how much it hurt him to hear Naruto’s struggle. Finally, Naruto repeated, “That’s not Konoha.”

“Are you telling me that my clan isn’t dead because of Konoha?”

“Your clan was planning an uprising, Sasuke.”

“I know my clan,” Sasuke hissed. “Most of its members wouldn’t hurt a fly. I can’t even imagine what Konoha could have done to make them plan a coup.”

“Neither can I. I guess we both learned something about our families that we didn’t know.”

Bitterly, Sasuke said, “You don’t have a family, Naruto.”

“I do. I have Sakura and Kakashi-sensei. I have Shikamaru and Ino and Chouji. I have Hinata and Kiba and Shino. I have Iruka-sensei and Granny Tsunade. Hell, I even have Tonton. I also have you, Sasuke.”

“We’re not family. That’s not how it works. Your family is your blood.”

Through the darkness, Sasuke could vaguely make out Naruto giving him a hurt look. “You’ve told me a million times that you weren’t my family, and it stung. But now you're telling me that I don’t have any family? I don’t think you understand what family is, Sasuke.”

“Oh yeah? Then what is a family?”

“A family is a group of people who care about you. They would follow you to the ends of the Earth, and you would do the same for them. That is family, Sasuke. Blood has nothing to do with it.”

Scowling, Sasuke said, “Well then, I lost my family the day Konoha ordered its execution.”

“And I’m not saying that that was okay. I’ve met Itachi, Sasuke. He was a good man. He didn’t deserve what he got. But he wanted you to have a family, Sasuke.”

“And his dream was never realized, was it?”

“No, Sasuke. I am your family. I would follow you to the ends of the Earth— Hell, I just did! I would defend your name until the day you die, and for the rest of my life!”

“But you’re trying to drag me back to the place that ruined my life.”

“Konoha didn’t ruin your life, Sasuke. That was power-hungry men and women who are out of power. That was done by people who saw the Uchiha as a threat.”

“And you think that they won’t see me as a threat now?”

“I think that you deserve a chance, and there are people in Konoha who know it. Trust me, Sasuke.”

Sasuke squeezed his eyes shut. “How can I trust you when you’ve stood against me at every turn?”

“You abandoned your village, Sasuke. You went out trying to murder someone—someone powerful. You got yourself tangled in criminal organizations and people who’ve done horrible things. Sasuke, have you ever thought about how it looked to me?” Naruto only heard silence, so he continued. “It looked like you were going insane. There you were, in a good place. You had people who genuinely cared about you and, all of a sudden, you run away. You do stupidly self-destructive things and then you wonder why your best friend is trying to stop you.”

“I didn’t do anything self-destructive.”

“I’m not stupid. That curse mark did more harm than good, Sasuke. It was the same with Kurama’s chakra before we worked everything out. You joined an organization that went after jinchuriki, then tried to capture one of the most experienced ones. Sasuke, you’re such a moron.”

“Shut up. What about my perspective, huh? What about how I felt?”

“That’s the thing—you only care about how you feel! You didn’t hear a thing I said, did you?”

“I heard you,” Sasuke said. “So what? My feelings aren’t as important as everyone else’s?”

“I never said that, but have some empathy! Do you realize how much you’ve hurt Sakura?”

“What does she have to do with—”

“She loved you, Sasuke. She still does, too. She admired you so much! And then you tried to kill her, and me, and Kakashi. You tried to kill her family. Do you have any idea how that made her feel?”

Sasuke scowled. “I don’t know what you—” But then Sasuke stopped, and he understood what Naruto was saying. His face shuttered and he nearly threw up. “Itachi,” he said, “I was almost her Itachi.”

“Yeah, but now look at her. She’s only tried to kill you once, and that was after an emotional moment. Sasuke, Sakura is emotionally stable and happy. You know why? She hasn’t pushed anyone away.”

Sasuke stared, then started trembling. “But she had a family. I didn’t. Mine was gone.”

“So many people were supporting you—”

“No one wanted me, Naruto.” Sasuke’s voice broke. “Do you know how it feels? I just lost my family and no one, not the normal citizens or the power-hungry politicians, even pretended to help me. What did they do? They threw me into some house and expected me to be great.”

“Sasuke—”

“I was seven, Naruto.” Sasuke knew that he was crying, but he couldn’t stop.

“...I know, Sasuke,” Naruto whispered. “I know.”

That night, Sasuke lost his dignity. His worldview was shattered once again and he knew that, when it was all over, he would suffer. But he had gained something precious, something he had always wanted—a family. So, Sasuke lost, but Sasuke was happy—happier than he had been in a decade. Sasuke wasn’t a sore loser.

fin

[sasuke-from-the-uchiha]

Your fellow RPer is making me highly uncomfortable literally laughing off the idea of Sasuke being coerced/his consent being questionable when it comes to Sarada's conception. There's a consistent pattern of people doing that to Sasuke throughout the entirety of the series, and brushing aside his own opinions and desires in favor of their own, and Sakura is not the only one who did that. Just because he's a dude doesn't mean he can't be victim of this - he HAS been during the entire series.

// I’m on your side on this, though I also understand their point (and they confirmed that can happen to guys too). 

If you take the manga at face value, it is legitimate to believe Sasuke was never coerced into doing anything, because it’s what the manga explicitly grooms you to believe. The manga keeps making it look like Sasuke is in the wrong, and that he is selfish and bratty, just like it cleverly makes us look at Naruto as a loser in the first chapter… though, if you re-read that carefully, it explicitly states that Naruto is actually a good student, though very bad at clones. Same with Sasuke: people think he is being selfish, but why does he act as he does?

If you decide to analyse the story through a more “realistic” approach, looking at it as if it was the story of real people and not characters, the result is very different. Sasuke never gets anything he wants: he never gets his father’s approval (that happens when he isn’t present, and his mother could very well be lying to comfort him when she says his father talks about him), he never gets to avenge his clan or surpass his brother (Itachi dies of sickness), he never gets to make things right (he surrenders to Naruto -though at least that’s his own decision). The one thing he gets is to leave alone at the end, because Naruto finally understands him. He gets one friend. One.

But let’s take time to see who Sasuke really is as character through an example.

Why Sasuke “selfishly” leaves Konoha

Face value: Confused and drunk on power, Sasuke leaves Konoha even though he is loved and cared for. He should really have thought about the feelings of the people he left behind. Now he’s the antagonist!

“Realistic” analysis

Itachi threatens the people he cares about

Itachi puts Kakashi, an acclaimed ninja, in a coma without a scratch. 

Itachi goes after Naruto but is repelled by a Sannin. 

Sasuke can thus assume Itachi is stronger than Kakashi but weaker than the Kage-level Sannin that scared him off. He will thus need to be Kage-level himself to beat him. Moreover, Itachi will kill Naruto unless a stronger opponent comes by.

Sasuke feels as powerless to protect his loved ones as during the UCM

Itachi proves he is infinitely stronger than Sasuke by easily putting him into a coma after torturing him by having him relive the UCM. 

Itachi makes it clear Sasuke or his friends will never be safe from him by attacking Kakashi, Naruto and himself.

Sasuke feels like he isn’t making progress. Naruto proves to have grown so strong he can now rival Sasuke in combat, even though Sasuke trains very hard. 

Worse, Itachi himself states Naruto is more interesting than Sasuke at that point. And Sasuke doesn’t know about the Nine-Tails then, so he just feels weak and lame that everyone (Sannin included) would care about “a bad student” over himself.

Orochimaru, who killed the Third Hokage, offers to train him. Sasuke can assume the feared Sannin who is stronger than a Kage would make a better teacher than Kakashi, but also that no-one is safe in Konoha.

He doesn’t feel like people understand him or actually care about him

After being tortured and fighting Naruto at the hospital, where Naruto could have killed him just to show-off his new technique and where they almost killed Sakura, Kakashi binds him to a tree and tells him to suck it up. He compares his father taking his own life to a whole clan being murdered by a guy who also tortured Sasuke and went after his other student. And Sasuke accepts that. He lowers his eyes in guilt, even though Kakashi’s whole attitude is, in my view, unacceptable. Sasuke is just that ready to believe he is the problem, just like he was not good enough for his father or isn’t worth Itachi’s time right now.

When Sasuke decides to leave, Sakura tries to stop him. Which is really sweet of her, because she knows he doesn’t care much about her but she wants to try anyway. However, her telling him that, even though she has a family, she would feel as alone as he is if he left is… At best, insensitive. And she would abandon her family for him? How can you tell a person whose whole family was murdered that you don’t care for your own at all? Of course he leaves her behind, although maybe he does it to protect her from her own stupidity. Because he cares for her, trying to protect her whenever he can and lifting her spirits when she’s down during the Chunin exam.

Naruto, well. You know the drill. Even Naruto admits later on he didn’t understand Sasuke then. But there’s more: even though it’s established Naruto and Sasuke always looked up to each other, Naruto is a complete dick to Sasuke for apparently no reason. At least at first, when they’re kids and Naruto doesn’t want to admit his defeat during sparing, or when he looks upset to be in the same team as him, or when ties him up out of the blue (to impersonate him in front of Sakura). Yet Sasuke gave his life for him in Wave Country, and looked after him when they were training to climb up trees even though Kakashi himself didn’t care at all.

It’s canon Sasuke wants to protect Sakura and Naruto. It’s canon he cares about protecting them more than his own life. And it’s canon none of them understand him at all.

An then, as he barely got out of the hospital and days of torture-induced coma, he gets beat up by Orochimaru’s henchmen. Even with the cursed seal, as they have a complete seal each. Sasuke can thus assume the seal can make him powerful, and that Orochimaru, who is stronger than a Kage, can make him strong enough to beat Itachi, who is stronger than Sasuke’s own teacher but scared by a Kage-level Sannin. Out of all these “friends”, Orochimaru is the one who understood Sasuke the best, confirming that he’s weak, and offering him power. He also knows to manipulate him by reinforcing his belief that his friends are a hindrance, and not posing as a friend but as a means to an end.

Isn’t it contradictory that Sasuke would put his friends aside to protect them?

Yes. But it’s also very coherent. 

Sasuke needs to kill Itachi, else his friends (at least Naruto) will die.

He thus needs to get much stronger, at fast. 

Kakashi isn’t a good teacher (he keeps reading porn and showing up late). However, the Sannin who killed the Hokage could be.

That means Sasuke needs to go to Orochimaru.

Moreover, he was putting his life on the line to protect his friends instead of focusing on getting stronger. They are a weakness to him. He won’t be able to kill Itachi if he focuses on his friends.

Therefore, he needs to cut his friends lose. 

Bear in mind that it is his point of view, not the truth. Sasuke is actually pretty strong at that point of the story, though of course he couldn’t have beaten up trained adults. Also, we the audience know Team 7 truly cares about him. He doesn’t, and they do little to prove him wrong.

“Realistic” analysis: Scared for Naruto and Team 7’s life, realising no-one in the village can protect them from Itachi anymore since the Hokage is dead and Kakashi weaker than him, Sasuke decides to focus on getting stronger. Orochimaru offers power and is credible as a teacher as he was strong enough to kill the Hokage. Sasuke also cuts his friends lose to protect them (Sakura) or because they would hinder his progress (Naruto). He acts to protect others (Team 7) or to please them (Itachi). If he had been selfish, he would have stayed with Team 7, where he was growing comfortable to the point he started bonding with them.

To sum up

Sasuke is strategic, fiercely protective of his own, he gives his life without a thought to the people he cares about, he feels like he’s never good enough, he never feels safe and is always on-edge, he believes people don’t care enough about him to understand his motives (aside from Orochimaru, who cares out of interest, and Naruto at the very end of the manga). He is one of the more unselfish characters in the whole manga (along with Juugo, who’d rather die than hurt anyone, and Haku, who’d rather die than be a burden to his loved one). Sasuke would rather die than lose a person he cares about. And maybe he wasn’t strong enough to take out Itachi… but maybe he was.

So, yes. To me it is very IC that such a self-sacrificial character would do things very unselfishly, to the point that it hurt him. Because that’s what he does all manga long, obeying Itachi’s command to get stronger, then being loyal to a fault to Naruto. He’s very obedient to the ones he cares about, because he tends to think they know better than he does. He couldn’t care less about the others, yes, but these people? These got themselves the most loyal friend one could have.

I think the best example we have of who Sasuke truly is may be his choice of Juugo when recruiting Team Taka. Juugo is… useless. Very strong, but unpredictable, and someone who doesn’t want to be violent. Useless as a tool. So why does Sasuke recruit him instead of leaving him to die in a cage? Why does he promise to protect him if he’s not getting anything in return?

There’s also the fact that he avoids killing anyone, not even Deidara. Or Naruto, although he repeatedly had the advantage over him and he would benefit from killing him.

And, if that doesn’t convince you… What is Sasuke’s main grief against Itachi during his revenge era? That he killed the Uchiha clan, or that he hurt him personally? 

[bouncyirwin]

Recent Great Naruto Fics I’ve Read List

Seeing as the actual series now suck... here’s a list of the fics/one shots I’ve recently read (past year) that you might enjoy, have fun xx

Warning: List contains all kinds of pairings. Some stories have no pairings at all (those are labelled as General). 

Directions: story name - author - summary - status - pairing/gen - rating

Pulling My Weight by Invisible Shadow - During the mission to Wave, Sakura realises that she has to become a better ninja for her teammates' sake and be someone they can depend on. She vows to take her training seriously, and receives help from the most unlikely of sources; Genma Shiranui. The two form an unlikely bond and stick together through thick and thin, while Sakura improves and meets other people along the way. Ongoing | General so far | T | This story is fucking amazing

A Wrinkle in Time by rightforlife - The Fourth Shinobi War ended in disaster. They won, but at a price too great to bear. Given a second chance, what exactly can Konoha's three most powerful men do? Time travel, old enemies, and old friends that all leads to a new future. Ongoing | General | T

The Colder Water by Quillslinger - The devil is in the details. Shisui. Itachi. A sorta love story. Novella. Complete (52,784) | ShiIta | T 

Uneasy Coexistence by DeGlace - One grinning shark–man. One pink–haired medic. Ankles. Teeth. Kisame x Sakura. Yes, you read that right. Complete (70,111) | KisaSaku | M

Blind Stars of Fortune by 100demons - Thirty year old Kakashi was supposed to have been killed by Pein during the Invasion. Instead, he wakes up in the body of his twenty year old self. (It gets a lot more complicated.) Time travel. Complete (78,591) | General | T

To Promise Forever by Hellsig Otoupeim - The war's over, Kaguya has been defeated and the five great Shinobi Nations have gone back to their homelands to nurse the wounds left behind. In an attempt to preserve peace, the five Kage have agreed to implement in a new measure; war veterans between villages are encouraged to take part in the Five Nation Letter Exchange Program. Or how a girl from Kiri ends up in Konoha. Sly AU. Complete (14,442) | ShikakuOC | M

Heart Under a Blade by fineillsignup - Sitting on a bench after being told by Sasuke-kun that she's annoying, Sakura thinks that it's the worst day of her life. Lying in the hospital wanting to hurl from heat suppressants later that day and grappling with the revelation that she's an omega, Sakura knows that it's the worst day of her life. (ABO, extremely slow build). Ongoing | KakaSaku | M

Phantom Pains by mapplepie - There is something going on with Kakashi, but Minato can't figure out what. All he has are distressing deductions, each one progressively worse than the last. It's no wonder Minato can't help but fear and fear and fear. (To be fair though, it really wasn't his fault he never considered the possibility of time-travel). Complete (22,153) | General | T

A Twist in Time by Wolf08 - With Konoha on the verge of destruction, Sakura is sent on a last-resort mission to save her world by travelling to the past. Join her in coping with her old body's shortcomings, testing the natural laws of time, falling in love all over again, exploring the depths of her mind and rediscovering who she is. Time-travel.  Ongoing | SasuSaku | T | I don’t even like SS anymore (I almost hate them) but this is my favourite fic ever.

Deadly Decisions by Alrissa - Haruno Sakura that actually caught a glimpse of the real world and woke up to smell the blood. Basically a 'what if' preview of what could have happened if Sakura didn't revert after the Chuunin exams. No princess to be rescued here. Complete (17,819) | General | M

Contagious by rabid behemoth - Konoha's citizens are being controlled by a virus, and it falls on Sakura's shoulders to save them. A double agent among the most hostile, unrepentant criminals in the world, she finds herself navigating between competing loyalties in a sea of moral uncertainty. But that's impossible for a faithful Leaf nin like Sakura. Loyalties aren't contagious...right? Complete (119,552) | ItaSaku | T

The Lives Worth Saving by cywsaphyre - Naruto, at 26, has lived through 10 years of war. At the end, with nothing left to call home, he sends himself back to the beginning, to the day of his younger self's graduation, in an attempt to change it all. Time travel AU. Discontinued | General | T | best time travel fic I’ve ever read

Kill Your Heroes by Evil Is A Relative Term - Because, sometimes, we are what our adversaries make of us. Because Gatō only needed Zabuza to neutralize Kakashi. He isn't afraid of one little pink-haired genin. But even mice will bite when cornered. A story of where fear drives the most vulnerable member of Team Seven, from Wave and beyond. Ongoing | General | T

I Found You Missing by Wolfy Tales - 'They're asking us because these soldiers have absolutely no one left to write home to,' Sakura thought with a frown. So she signs up for the Shinobi Letter Exchange, not realizing how large the consequences would be. Complete (18,586) | KakaSaku | T

Teach Your Children Well by AvocadoLove - After Madara final attack on the village, Rokudaime Kakashi uncovers a time-travel scroll. Now he's Team Seven's sensei again. And this time, he's going to do things differently. A time travel fic. Complete (37,849) | KakaIru | K+

The Arrangement by Yuugiri - "We're already getting along bad enough. Why don't we just get married?" Complete (111,453) | GaaIno | T

Sabotage by therealesther - When her fifth date got food poisoning, and her sixth date cancelled in over the phone in a tone bordering on hysteria, Sakura decided things were getting out of hand. Complete (1,637) | KakaSaku | K+

To Love and to Love Again by animequeen100 - Love blooms even in the strangest of places, and darkest of hours. Sasuke has a daughter who needs a mother. Sakura has a son, who needs a father. When the shadows that follow her threaten to take her away from him, his dark secrets resurface to keep her in his arms. They were fated to love and destined to love again. Complete (401,061) | SasuSaku | M

The Good Wife by ReiraKurenai - Sixteen-year-old Ino is stuck in the body of her older self. Now she must embark on the journey of an adult, a wife and a mother while deep down she's still just a child herself. What does the future have in store for her? NarutoxIno and various pairings. Ongoing | NaruIno | T

Ripples by Yellow Mask - AU from 309 onwards. Following a botched mission, Sakura is made a slave by Sound, a position that could very well alter the future…especially concerning a certain familiar missing-nin. Complete (143,883) | SasuSaku | T

Set in Ink by TappityTap - "From then on, it became their own private ritual: She'd arrive at his place, they'd talk, she'd undress, he'd draw her, she'd look at his work and compliment it, he'd touch her until she quivered and cried out his name in a sweet burst of release. This ritual was always the same but somehow different and exciting every time. " Pure SaiIno smut. Some canon pairings mentioned. Complete (7,422) | SaiIno | M

The Cursed Geisha by wingedmercury - He's beautiful, in the same way that predatory animals are beautiful—dark, mysterious. Dangerous. Only this time, instead of being the predator, Sasuke will learn what it means to be prey. AU. Complete (43,612) | SasuHina | M

Will of Fire by Cynchick - Forced to flee their village and the new regime, the loyal shinobi of Konoha must find a way to preserve their way of life and take back their home. As they fight for their future, Team Seven struggles to overcome the past. Complete (223,234) | KakaSaku | M

The Secret Life of Teachers by tabine - Romance is a bit difficult to do when you spend a majority of your time within fifty feet of the object of your affections and somehow still don't quite understand that you're falling in love with them, if only because being a full-time high school teacher while taking graduate school courses takes precedence over everything else. A Nejiten high school teachers AU. Ongoing | NejiTen | T

The Line by livezinshadowz - When a young Ino tries to use the Shintenshin for the first time on Naruto, something goes wrong and the two find themselves temporarily stuck in the other's body. A series of moments depicting the evolution of their relationship, from acquaintances to friends to something more, all by crossing that metaphorical line created when a boy and a girl forge a bond. Complete (46,692) | NaruIno | T

In Another Life by CelestialCircumference - Kakashi never believed in soul mates until that fateful day. Written for HatakeFran for the KakaSaku Secret Santa 2016 on tumblr. Complete (18,350) | KakaSaku | T

House of Crows by SilverShine -  War is coming to Konoha and Sakura is far from home, uncertain of her future. But one thing is for sure, Sakura will protect her unborn child at all costs, whether it be from Konoha's enemies... or from its own father. Complete (400,508) | KakaSaku | M

Better Off Dead by wingedmercury - When Hinata leaves Konoha, heartbroken but resolute, the last person she expects to see over the rim of her tea cup is him. "You look like you've just seen a ghost," he smirks, and Hinata thinks that some people are just better off dead. Complete (68,768) | SasuHina | T

The Song Of Kakashi by ZatannaZatara06 - If you want forever, you are going to have to suffer for it. For the KakaSaku Week 2016 Day 2 Theme: Fairy tales / Legends Myth: The story of Achilles and Patroclus. Complete (2,472) | KakaSaku | T

Kunoichi's Burden: Village First by lilac haze - She was dying. She should have died. She was supposed to die but the Gods had other plans. Sakura is thrown back in the past, where a dangerously attractive blonde and a loud mouthed redhead have taken it upon themselves to make her life even more difficult. If Naruto's parents didn't get together, kami, she would be in a lot of trouble. MinatoXSakura. Time travel-fic. Complete (378,854) | MinaSaku | T

On a Leash by thekatthatbarks - Kakashi's new puppy ends up being his best wingman. Complete (1,082) | KakaSaku | T

House Calls by Spoiled Sweet - Always the Team Mom, Sakura opens up her home as a clinic for the hospital-phobic ninja of Konoha. At the same time, her relationship with Kakashi begins to evolve in a way she never expected. Complete (262,803) | KakaSaku | M

Things You Just Don’t Talk About by Enodia - "Do you enjoy sex?" Shikamaru asked bluntly. I just can't believe I'm talking about this, and with Shikamaru, of all people, Sakura thought." Sakura is in for a surprise. Or, rather, a series of surprises. Complete (118,175) | ShikaSaku | M

Players by Kukaburraxxii - Ino joins the league of players. Discontinued | GenIno | M

Heatwave by Yahboobeh - When she found her breath again it was ragged. Only one thought tore through her mind: Consume me. The Suna sun wasn't the only reason their faces burned. Ongoing | NejiTen | M

The Art of War by leafygirl - Entry for the LJ Kakasaku AU contest. Sakura gets stuck following her teacher after a bet with her friends. But his mysterious life is nothing she ever expected. Complete (20,591) | KakaSaku | T

The Shinobi Princess by Winged Lady Colette - At the end of the Fourth Great Ninja War, Sakura takes an unexpected trip into the time of Konoha's Founding. Ongoing | HashiSaku | M

Dawning by deleria - After years of silence the Akatsuki are active again. Her allies uncertain, the Godaime sends two teams - one for a potential offensive strike and another for covert surveillance. Who would have guessed that Shikamaru and Sakura could fake it as newlyweds so well? ShikaSaku with early (one-sided) hints of SasuSaku. Complete (101,994) | ShikaSaku | M

Genius Sensei by AlexDnD - What if Kakashi had recovered from his deep depression? What if he turned out to be a true genius as a sensei? Watch as team 7 develops into a truly capable shinobi team! Complete | NaruSaku-ish | T | A fun read

We Are Never (ever getting back together) by natanije - In which Sakura waited, got tired of waiting, and decided to never wait ever again. (Or, in which Sakura never chased after Sasuke when she got pregnant). Complete (2,592) | General | T

A Poor Imitation by leafygirl - Sakura is injured on a mission, forgetting everything she knew of life in Konoha. Complete (88,913) | KakaSaku | M

The Girl From Whirlpool by SilverShine - When Naruto's father met his mother, his only impression was that a village out there must have been missing its idiot. Complete (248,299) | MinaKushi | T

The Way of the Wind by just enough - ANBU Captain Uchiha Itachi had things well planned out, until a medic-nin with ridiculous hair went and made herself interesting. Sakura insisted she was just doing her job, but Itachi didn't quite see it that way. Non-massacre. Complete (158,542) | ItaSaku | M

Cause for Conversation by firefly - Hinata has always been intimidated by Sasuke, but when she serves as a substitute for Sakura on a mission, she comes to learn that the stoic Uchiha is not so bad after all. Complete (4,858) | SasuHina | K+

The Price by Nenagh24 - This would have almost been hilarious, the renowned copy ANBU almost petrified of a small unarmed girl, had it not been happening to him. The price of this tiny bride was going to break him. Hello, fiery flames of eternal doom. Complete (19,067) | KakaSaku | T

Better Having Met You by KakashiSauce - Tenzou is wide-eyed, bright faced and unprepared for the ANBU life ahead of him. MOSTLY because of the unorthodox team he's placed into. However, it was done in his best interest, and Hiruzen is smart enough to know what is best for most young shinobi. Kakashi disagrees, but he is one of those young shinobi who doesn't know whats best for him. Ongoing | KakaYama | M

Icha Icha Gambit by TheSilverScarecrow - It was a risk; one that could potentially ruin their team, however, who was Hatake Kakashi to argue with the Hokage? But when a never to be finished Icha Icha draft falls into his possesion things start getting wildly out of hand as Sakura does whatever it takes to protect their village from a devastating weapon. Ongoing | KakaSaku | M

Nutrire by Wolfy Tales - As Ino traverses the world with Yamato after the war to neutralize potential threats, she finds out that they share more in common than just an interest in plants. Complete (32,251) | YamaIno | T

Let's Get Married by luvtoshi - It was supposed to be a simple solution to their immediate problems. But maybe they took more than they can chew? Complete (59,760) | NaruSaku | M

Hot Medicine by Saphri - Kakasaku one-shot. AU. Fighting fires was a tough job by all accounts. But when the job requires getting treated by beautiful pink haired paramedics it was worth the hardship. Complete (26,05) | KakaSaku | M

A Noble in Secret by WhiteMint - Side story to the Imperial Princess. C originally hated the people of Konoha, often referring to them as "Konoha dogs". But as he got to know the small pink haired girl who followed him around like a puppy, he no longer considered the term as maliciously as before. After all, he found his own little Konoha dog, and he planned on keeping her. Ancient Chinese AU. Complete (4,420) | CSaku | K+

Cherry Blossom Flames by Winged Lady Colette - A seven year old amnesiac awoke in a stream, being rescued by two brothers.  Ongoing | MadaSaku | M

Adaline by Nikki1212 - I would choose you in a hundred lifetimes, in a hundred worlds, in any version of reality, I would find you and I would choose you. AU. Ongoing | KakaSaku | T

Tempest by cywsaphyre - Back in time and armed with years of future knowledge, Sakura is ready to take the world by storm. Except... she's four again, not twelve. Ah well, nobody said she couldn't start a little early. Gen, time travel, AU, Sakuracentric. Discontinued | General | T

All This Time by thekatthatbarks - "I may not have fell like you did. I didn't fall gradually and slow over the span of twenty years. It was fast and sudden. It had me stumbling looking around trying to figure out where I was. I didn't even know it had happened." Complete (2,472) | ShikaSaku | K+

Team 8 by S’TarKan - What if Naruto had been selected for a different team? What if he'd had a different mentor? Who would guess the consequences would be so large? Ongoing | NaruHina | T | I don’t even like NaruHina anymore but this story is amazing (plot-oriented)

Better Man by Kakashisgf - Sakura and Sasuke have been married for over a decade, but things are far from perfect, and Sakura's beginning to realize that maybe she deserves better. Complete (179,759) | KakaSaku | M

Dirty Laundry by Slinkymilinky - Sakura had never been a fan of airing her dirty laundry in public…but Kakashi was often the exception to the rule. Lemony Oneshot. Complete (6,593) | KakaSaku | M

Time and Again by KyLewin - Time Travel fic. In a war torn future, in the burning ruins of Konohagakure, Naruto fights Orochimaru and loses as the world collapses around him. From that ending comes a new beginning and a new chance to set things right, if only he can figure out how.. Complete (456,787) | General | T

The Samurai and the Oni Girl by Silberias - AU KakaSaku set in Edo-period Japan. Sakura is the descendant of a red-haired foreigner as well as a merchant's daughter. Kakashi is a local samurai who has fallen on hard times, a man whose pride has been broken down to this point. Love comes after. Complete (131,644) | KakaSaku | T

Chippendales by Voyna - [AU] Sometimes, a girl needs a lap-dance to put life into perspective. Complete (15,645) | SasuHina | M

Once More, With Feeling by JinnySkeans - Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time. Complete (127,462) | SasuSaku | M

In Case of Blue Scroll by Leola Majora - In Case of Blue Scroll the Hokage must lock himself in his office and pull his hair out as what he thought were memories of a long lost love turn out to be the memories of a mission he was about to assign his former student, Sakura Haruno. Complete (48,635) | KakaSaku | M

[I’ll update this again soon!]

[dragonshost]

Happy Birthday, @papalogia! I wrote you some ShiSaku to celebrate, with a hefty side of ItaSaku.

I hope you’re having an amazing birthday.

Fandom: Naruto Pairing: Sakura x Shisui

Takes place in the same AU as Study Date.

Sakura and Shisui have gone on a lot of dates for people who aren't actually dating.

Sakura's hands curled against her legs, sweating in her leather, fingerless gloves. The heat in the room was stifling, but she dared not show any weakness in front of the man before her. He was peering at her curiously, processing the request she'd come to him with. The box fan in the corner, gentle hum lost beneath the cicadas cries, was doing little to alleviate Sakura's discomfort, and she wondered how it was that Itachi could look so unperturbed in his solid black outfit.

The fact that she hadn't been denied outright was promising, she felt.

Finally, Itachi addressed her. "You wish for me to... fake date you?"

She swallowed thickly, and nodded. "Yeah. It's kind of an emergency. Mom's been on my case ever since I hit twenty about settling down, and I finally caved and told her I had someone in my life just to get her off my back."

A wry smile touched his lips. "I can relate."

No doubt he could. The pressure was probably even worse on him as clan heir. "Mutually beneficial for both of us, then," Sakura stated. "We both get our mothers off our cases, and neither of us will expect anything of the other."

She could see him waffling. Sakura hadn't survived early childhood with Sasuke for nothing - she could read an Uchiha like no one else. Itachi's weak spot was always his mother and his brother. And he was easy to trust, somehow.

"Mebuki and Mikoto are both formidable women." He considered it further. "I must ask why you came to me, however. Wouldn't Sasuke or Naruto make more sense?"

"My mother would never buy it," Sakura replied, flat. "She wouldn't buy Sai, either, before you ask. My options aren't great - most everyone else already has a significant other. I got so desperate, I even asked Ino to be my fake date."

That seemed to deeply amuse him. "And how did that go?"

"She laughed me out of the flower shop."

A true smile tugged at the corners of Itachi's lips. "Then I will assist you. A few hours of socializing with your family is something I've managed before. When did you need me?"

"This Friday night?" she asked hopefully.

Suddenly, he sighed. "My apologies - I'm afraid I have a prior engagement that evening." The way his face twisted up with distaste, Sakura could venture a guess that it was something clan heir related. His dark eyes swept over her with something resembling pity.

It was her turn to sigh. "No, thank you for even agreeing at all. I'll just have to suck it up and eat crow." She was not looking forward to this in the least. Her mother would hold this over her forever. Maybe even use it as an excuse to set up a marriage meeting. No. That outcome needed to be avoided at all costs. Maybe she could convince Kankuro to make the journey from Suna. Dealing with one crow was preferable to the other variety, and she could swing, 'hey my boyfriend can't stay long or visit ever again because he lives in another country.' She would need a suitable bribe. If he couldn't do it, she was absolutely sunk, though.

Her obvious despair must have incited further compassion from the stoic man, as Itachi then offered, "I might know of someone else willing to entertain your request. He's another member of my clan, and so long as you state it clearly for him, he won't try to read into the situation."

Leaning forward, Sakura nodded vigorously. "Go on. Who is my savior angel?"

A smirk crawled across Itachi's face. "A certain Uchiha going stir crazy right now thanks to a certain medic's house rest recommendations."

She had been wrong. That was not compassion she had stirred in Itachi. It was cruelty.

Sakura groaned. "Not... not Shisui."

"Shisui," he confirmed.

"You're enjoying my suffering, aren't you," Sakura accused with a glare. "But I really am out of options... and his ribs should be healed enough by Friday to go out with supervision..." She sighed heavily. "Fine. I should at least ask him."

Itachi rose to his feet, patting her shoulder as he walked by. "I'll let him know to expect you. A visitor might..." He winced, and that was honestly all Sakura needed to know what she was in for.

"It's only been two days," she muttered. "He can't possibly be that..." She trailed off as well, and Itachi nodded solemnly in understanding.

This was going to be almost as unpleasant as showing up dateless would be.

The malicious glee on Shisui's face when she arrived at his home was almost enough for Sakura to turn on her heel and forget the whole ordeal. She was seriously reconsidering - not for the first time - her something-feeling for the man, and if she shouldn't just cut her losses and go with Plan Kankuro.

"So..." Shisui began, lying on his back in his futon, like she had prescribed (which was somewhat surprising, actually). "My wonderful cousin tells me that you're in need of a favor. Well, you're in luck because I'm in need of one as well."

"I'm not clearing you to leave your house," Sakura informed him bluntly. Medic duties came before personal feelings, and she took her job very seriously.

He grimaced. "Not interested, then. Do you have any idea how out of my mind bored I am thanks to you?"

"It's only been two days, and I'm not the one who broke your ribs," she reminded him. "Blame your wonderful cousin for that. And you can't bully me like you do the other medics so you're just sour."

Shisui rolled his eyes. "Since we can't reach an agreement, please leave my house. Just having another body next to me is stifling in this heat."

Why were all shinobi like this when it came to recuperating? Not all of them were as bad as Kakashi, but damn if they weren't all obstinate about what should be common sense. At least Shisui was obeying her orders, though. She would have had to physically tie down Kakashi or Naruto. (And good luck getting Shikamaru out of bed.)

But this was an emergency, and she really, really needed Shisui's cooperation.

"Wait!" The cry escaped her lips before she could stop herself, and tinged with far more desperation that she would like. "I can't clear you right now, but on Friday you can go out... with supervision."

He hummed in thought. "That's great, but you would have cleared me anyway as a medic. What else have you got?"

Sakura grit her teeth. Obstinate. All Uchihas were obstinate to a fault. "You would get a large homemade meal out of the deal."

His eyebrows shot up.

"With considerable leftovers."

"I'm in!" he agreed. "You had me at homemade meal. Haven't had one of those in forever. So what do you need from me that's so important that you're willing to stoop to bribing an invalid?"

"I need a fake date for dinner with my parents on Friday night."

"And I'm out," Shisui said. "I don't do parents. Parents are terrifying. Especially yours - I've met them. Mebuki, in particular, is extremely terrifying."

"And so is Itachi," Sakura reminded him. "Don't forget - he specifically recommended you to me. He'll dismember you if you winge on something you've technically already agreed to."

A strangled noise emanated from Shisui's throat as the truth of that statement sunk in. "You make a compelling argument."

Sakura could play Uchihas like a fiddle. Very annoying, whiny, high maintenance fiddles half the time, but still a valid comparison.

"So do we have a deal?" she asked.

He sighed, looking very put out, and Sakura resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Fine. I'm in! What do I wear."

"Casual is fine but, you know, nice."

Shisui blankly stared at her for a long moment. "How about you just go to my closet and pick something out for me. Trust me, that'll be better for both our sakes."

After a second of consideration, Sakura agreed.

"And," Shisui added, "since you're getting up - mind bringing me some water? Then we can hash out the details about our sordid, nonexistent love life. Because, again, I've met your parents. They are going to grill me and serve me with soy sauce." He paused, as realization dawned. "Wait, I'm not the homecooked meal, am I?"

This time, Sakura did roll her eyes, and he gave her a grin.

Dinner, thankfully, went off without too many hiccups. Thankfully Kizashi and Mebuki were too busy squabbling over their daughter actually having a boyfriend to do much damage to the man's psyche.

That being said... the pair were exhausted by the end of the evening from the work of keeping the charade up.

"You know, it's lucky we're good friends and your mother's cooking is delicious," Shisui said with a smile as he waved goodbye to Sakura's parents. "I would not wish that awkwardness on anyone." He paused, and then added, "Except maybe Ebisu."

He didn't even know the half of it. Having your parents meet your boyfriend was nerve-wracking enough without it also being fake, and with the man you were not-quite-crushing on. Whoever invented feelings was a sadist. "At least you won't be asked every other day about how the nonexistent relationship is going," Sakura replied, tightening her grip on his arm in mild retaliation for her pain. "Tell me, how long do you think until I can tell them that we've broken up?"

"I'd give it two weeks, at least."

Sakura's face relaxed into a real smile (and so did her grip on his arm) as they rounded the corner and escaped her parents' line of sight. "Thanks for helping me out, Shisui."

He shrugged, unconcerned. "What are friends for, if not to fake date each other in times of need?"

"Yeah, you say that, but I distinctly recall you refusing at first."

The Uchiha shrugged again. "I don't remember that. Must have been the heat stroke talking."

"Uh huh," she said, unconvinced. "Well, if you ever need anything, I owe you one."

He looked a little too excited by that prospect. "Anything? Then, the next time I get injured..."

"You'll obey my orders as a medic-nin and enjoy it," she interjected.

His mouth closed with a snap. "Drat. Okay then... how about next time, you keep me company. Job permitting, anyway. It is seriously boring to just lay in bed all day for a week by myself."

Sakura nodded, warmth spreading across her cheeks. "Sure thing. I can do that."

They walked, arm-in-arm, across Konoha to Shisui's residence. They'd agreed ahead of time that Sakura could stay in the guest room that night. It would help with the illusion, and it was late, besides. There was also the fact that Sakura had meant it when she said Shisui wasn't to be out and about unattended, so dropping her off at her apartment was out. This was better all around for both of them.

As they neared the building, Sakura suddenly broke the comfortable silence.

"What do you think about ganging up on your cousin tomorrow for forcing us to endure this?"

"I am in."