#give Sakumo *ALL* the political power

[thybirbman]

Sorry but I'm gonna ignore half the post bc I read the first two paragraphs and now can't think about anything else, so you're getting me trying to logic religion instead of Tobi!Kakashi (tho I will say I saw a fic once with the Obito-Kakashi role reversal where they had it that Kakashi was pretending to be Tobirama rather than Madara bc of the hair and smarts and it even fits with the Tobi nickname! It was amazing, don't remember it tho, so sorry.)

Anyway! Here are my Hatake religion thoughts, presented as facts rather than just my headcanons bc I love writing fake facts:

The Hatake do worship multiple gods/vague spirits of the land rather than one specific god, but like a typical pantheon religion where there's a buncha gods, but then there's the one special favorite guy that's in charge of everyone, and to the Hatake, that's Kaguya. Yeah, they worship the gods of plants and harvest and whoever brings the rain, but the Hatake are wolves first, farmers second, so Kaguya, the goddess of rabbits (aka usually the first thing a young cub gets to catch on their first hunt, something something a symbol of coming into their own and becoming their own person as well as a sign of good things to come and that they'll be powerful enough to live by themselves, just lots of good meanings to the Hatake) that also resides on the moon, is their special lil gal.

The Hatake's beliefs are kind of... vague? They don't really have a set mythology, or they didn't in the beginning, because they used to be a bunch of small vaguely connected family units all over the Land of Iron just doing their thing, but they slowly got whittled down to the few that are now left. And each of those units had their own spin on things, ranging from Kaguya being their sworn enemy who was cursed into a rabbit so they could hunt her for all eternity, to more positive stories of Kaguya either always being a rabbit, inventing the concept of rabbits in the first place, or willingly transforming into a rabbit permanently to be hunted by the Hatake for all eternity as a kind of game. (aka go with whatever suits the story, you want bad Kaguya where the Hatake were systematically wiped out by Zetsu bc those fuckers were literally engineered in a fucking lab by God to be perfect Kaguya killers? Want good Kaguya where Sakumo and Kaguya get to be freaky together and have Kakashi be a half god? Whatever works for you!)

Most of them, however, end with Kaguya either returning to her home on the moon right before dawn breaks or being sealed away on the moon by mean people who don't want the Hatake to have their fun ritual hunting game. Very sad. It's a tradition to not eat the first rabbit you ever catch, and instead wait for nightfall before holding it up to the open sky and then burying the thing in the dirt under the moonlight, to show Kaguya that they still remember their old hunts and that no earth rabbit will ever be as great a catch as her. Unless you were part of those guys that didn't like Kaguya, wherein you would wait with your first ever rabbit til nightfall before absolutely ripping that thing to pieces and eating it's heart raw while glaring up at the moon. And then go pray and apologize to Tsukuyomi for glaring at them (the moon).

Back when Kakashi was a kid, Sakumo always burried any rabbits he got, which was kind of extreme when usually it's just the first rabbit you ever kill. Sakumo's only explanation was that they'd never be as good as the first rabbit he caught, and it would be an insult to that first rabbit for him to ever try another.

(Picturing shittily drawn Kakashi frowning down at a scraggly rabbit in a dirt hole thinking damn must have been one good rabbit, rabbits don't even taste that good, meanwhile in the background in full renaissance style oil paint Sakumo is just on his knees absolutely sobbing his heart out at the moon)

Concept of the Hatake, as a wolf clan, worshipping Tsukuyomi, the moon god, as their god. Alternatively: it'd be incredibly funny and ironic if you leaned into Kaguya-hime as a moon rabbit, being worshipped by a wolf clan.

I have no specific thoughts (yet) bc I also love the idea of the Hatake not worshipping any one god but instead honoring just the vague spirits of the land (leaning into them as farmers) but like. Where's my "The Hatake worship Kaguya-hime" AU where things get really awkward when it becomes clear she's kind of trying to blow up the world or whatever from her prison in the moon.

Zetsu goes to a young Kakashi or Sakumo or smthn for help with freeing his mother bc the Hatake's have worshipped her for so long, so surely they'd help

Or if you have one of those role swap Kakashi and Obito aus, add a bit of flavor to differentiate between the villain, brainwashed, Akatsuki, Madara-impersonator Obito-- with brainwashed, Akatsuki, Kaguya-hime worshipper Kakashi, helping Zetsu, potentially with full knowledge of the eye of the moon plan bc he genuinely wants to free Kaguya.

In an AU like that, maybe Zetsu would be more open with him in general too, like, they share the same genuine goal, and also potentially the love for Kaguya. So I can see Zetsu maybe opening up to him a lot more than he would if he were fr just a puppet. At the very least, they could commiserate about "poor" Kaguya hime, trapped in the moon.

I just think it'd be interesting

[depressedhatakekakashi]

hii, thanks for explaining why Kakashi is not related to fascism, I usually read that term a lot in a fandom that I won't name, and since I don't know much about politics or things like that, I usually ignore it since I don't know much about the subject, so it's nice that there are people like you who explain the terms since you help people like me who don't know much about it

You’re very welcome!

A good explanation of fascism is that it is that it is based off of far-right nationalisms, with an authoritarian power structure and low tolerance for dissent or disagreement.

Now this may sound a lot like Konoha as we see it in the Hiruzen era, and that’s because it is! That’s why i’ll happily agree to Hiruzen’s era being fascist but also to fadcist elements still existing in Kakashi’s era (even after Fascism is removed it is rarely ever completly removed. Elements still hover around)

So examples of Facism in Konoha

Far-right Nationalism. Konoha (and all of the shinobi villages) are based off undying loyalty to the system and the village. This is an element built into the system that was needed to protect people at the start during war, but which really festered in Tobirama’s reign and became most prominent in Hiruzen’s. The reason i say it cestered in Tobirama’s reign is because from what we see of Tobirama, loyalty to the village is more important than anything. Also his students are prime examples of ‘far right nationalists’ with Danzo and the elder’s being the absokute worse but Hiruzen honestly not being much better.

This idea of nationalism/loyalty to the village is really exemplified in the ‘will of fire’ ideology’

And this is part one where Tsunade and Kakashi branch out from that idea. Kakashi is painfully loyal to the village himself but is also of the mindset that friends and loves ones come first.

By putting his teammates well being ahead of the village Kakashi actively steps away from the nationalistic mentality. He does not fully escape it Unfortunately, but he teaches his students that same ideology and by doing so helps them move away from the ‘will of fire’. In fact, the only Sensei we see actively passing down the will of fire ideology is Asuma, Hiruzen’s son. And that ideology lives on in Shikamaru

This is a case of ‘fascist elements continue to live on’ . Shikamaru and Asuma do not adhere to the will of fire the same way Hiruzen or Danzo do, but it’s an ideology from that past that continues to influence them.

Dissent or disagreement not being allowed is something HIGHLY visible in Hiruzen’s reign

Most obviously in the Uchiha uprising/massacure, but also in the way Sakumo is shunned for choosing his teammates over the mission.

Tsunade shows more care for her people when she tells Shikamaru that although the mission (sasuke’s retrieval arc) was failed, it was a success in her mind because no one died. She actively puts her shinobi’s lives over the mission which is not something that was done in Hiruzen’s reign.

Tsunade also shows her stepping away from this ideology by not punishing Kakashi for walking away from a mission she was trying to give him and instead going to find his missing students. Now to be fair to hiruzen he also showed a lot of leeway to Kakashi when he went against order’s to save Tenzo from Danzo, but Hiruzen also got something out of the deal (A mokuton user). Tsunade had little to gain from allowing Kakashi to show such disregard for her authority.

Now for Kakashi- we don’t see his reign but we can see from how he reacts to Naruto going against his plan/instructions that he does not care too much about people following him as long as their goals are to protect their loved ones

If we use Kakashi Retsuden, the only Shinobi we know of that Kakashi dismisses is dismissed not for breaking rules or disrespecting authority. He’s dismissed for stealing from the people he’s supposed to be helping (a very reasonable reason to dismiss someone tbh)

If we don’t use Kakashi retsuden and only 100% canon sources, Kakashi still shows no signs of being anything like Hiruzen where he would willfully accept the murder of an entire clan as ‘the only option’ to dealing with their grievances. Kakashi also would not show contempt or anger to someone disagreeing with him. He has too little respect for himself to care tbh.

Authorian power structure is still very much a thing with the Hokage’s title, but still not quite the same.

Tsunade, Kakashi and Naruto lean on their support a lot more. They don’t just have the elder’s to call back on (i’m not sure if the elder’s being alive still is manga canon or just anime) and even though those elder’s do hover around in anime which allows thise fascist elements to continue on, they’re not as respected/listened to as when Hiruzen was in charge. They’re more of a background piece.

Kakashi actuvely changes the system. Now here we’re using the book because we don’t get to see anything in manga or anime until after, but Konoha is no longer purely nationalistic. They are bonded with the other villages in trade agreements and peace. Now there are still nationalistic views/pieces of course (again, even after a system ends not every element if it vanishes) but the main idea of ‘loyalty to Konoha and only Konoha’ is no longer a thing. The villages work together to try and achieve a better future.

We see past Kage (onoki) struggle with this new world and end up destroying themselves because they can’t move forward with the rest of the world (anime only i believe) but those who could move forward and accept that peace was here and they didn’t have to ‘be ready for the next fight’ thrived with their villages.

And this idea of real cooperation didn’t start during Kakashi’s reign. It started with Tsunade’s. Hiruzen MIGHT have been willing to work with the other Kage, but while danzo was in charge it was clear he would only do so if HE was in charge. That is a major factor to why Hiruzeb’s Konoha is fascist. Not just because Dabzo exists in it, but because Hiruzen refuses to actually do anything about Danzo and instead often ends up agreeing with him/doing what he wants to do.

So whilte elements of Fascism continue to persist during Tsunade and Kakashi’s (and Naruto’s) reigns, they no longer rule Konoha’s system. They are both at the forfront of the system.

Now i will agree that Not making the Uchiha Massacure known is a part of that continued Facism, but that’s also not Tsunade or Kakashi’s fault. In fact we never even get to see either of them fully understand the situation.

We get to see Kakashi state he wants to find out more before doing anything, but he never does cuz the story just sort of drops it

But for Naruto we (unfortunately) get to see his end of the Massacure issue being Itachi asking him to keep the truth a secret.

By keeping it a secret they don’t heal the past or make any move to show that they will not be repeating that kind of shit, though we can assume that Tsunade, Kakashi and Naruto (based off who they are as characters) are not going to bend and agree to the slaughter if an entire clan, children included, for the crime of being unhappy with the way they are being treated.

But once again, Fascism does live on in a small way when the truth of the Massacure is kept hidden.

But overall, Tsunade, Kakashi and Naruto’s Konoha are not the same as the past.

They are not the rampantly fascist society that thrived under Hiruzen

The people and Shinobi of Konoha can rest knowing that

Their Hokage won’t shame them for choosing their loves ones over the mission/village (would go directly against Tsunade and Kakashi’s personal codes)

They won’t be punished for speaking out/disobeying their Hokage

They can work with the other villages and thrive alongside them, rather than being plunged into constant war against them.

Although the existing power structure is still in place it is not as authoritarian. (Could be better, but i digress)

The will of fire doesn’t seem to be a main teaching point anymore.

Learning about chakra and shinobi methods is no longer restricted to those who are 100% planning to be shinobi. I think it might be anime only but Civilians are welcomed into the academy to learn shinobi skills even if they have no intention of being shinobi, allowing them to better protect/care for themselves rather than always having to rely on a shinobi’s protection to do things like travel between villages.

Konoha is still far from perfect, but honestly there’s no such thing as a perfect system and going from outright very fascist to ‘not at all fascist’ takes time. I know people like to act like it can just be dismantled, but that’s not how it works unfortunatly unless you take an authoritarian/dictatoral route and just… kill everyone who holds those okd ideals (not that i would mind if Sasuke had been allowed to kill the elders. That would have been nice. Free therapy for bum and an issue in Konoha’s system resolved)

[tsukuyomii45]

Naruto and Obito's Dynamic

I've been giving this a lot of thought and people often take it so lightly or even shit all over Naruto when he told that cunt Black Zetsu that Obito's nothing but awesome to him...

And there is a reason why that Naruto respects Obito so much despite everything that happened.

That's because Naruto would have done the exact same thing if he was the one who snapped and turned evil.

Naruto realized that he had absolutely NO place to judge him, when he knew that if things had just taken the wrong turn, he'd be just as evil. The best thing about Naruto is his maturity and self-awareness at his age because of everything he went through. His best power is empathy.

How, you may ask? Well... taking a look at Naruto's past... wasn't he always lonely and isolated by the villagers for a fate that he had no control over?

If Naruto did not see any good in the world, he'd make sure that every person would taste the despair and solitude he felt all those years by taking away their loved ones too; just to show them what it felt like to treat him this way, and just to see them crumble and be consumed by the fear of solitude and loneliness.

Yet it was in Naruto's favor that he found his people; when Obito unfortunately had no one to support his views other than Rin.

In what way did Rin support his views, you might ask?

Obito was ALWAYS against the system of the shinobi world. He basically rolls the opposite direction - he was never a "sheep" to their rules. Prioritize the mission? No. Save your comrades first. Strike a war for power? No. Enough sacrificing child soldiers and strive for peace. Enough blood spilling, enough living in a world where it only takes, and takes, and TAKES.

And Rin also shared the same feelings too; we just needed to read between the lines to see that. She wanted to stop wars, she wanted to stop seeing people die for the sake of political powers, she wanted people to live happily, and she too, wanted peace. It's something that really tightened her bond with Obito even more, and that's why she wanted to support the struggling Uchiha because he wasn't all talk to her - she always saw how he was working so hard against his own imperfections to become a Hokage who would work so hard to bring peace and eradicate the injustice of the system; and she wanted to see her best friend reach all those goals because she truly, truly, saw his potential.

As for Kakashi, even though deep down, he was doubtful and struggling with the rules of the shinobi system, went with the flow because of the trauma he suffered from Sakumo's death. It changed him 180 degrees and he cannot be blamed for it. His father was everything to him and children often mimic their heroes, and his father was his true hero until the tragedy happened. Kakashi was left to fend for himself, and when someone tried to throw at his face how the rules are flawed, Kakashi only remained in denial and just scoffed and shut it down because he didn't want to hear any of it.

Obito was the only one who woke him up and showed him that being a sheep to the injustice only brings tragedy, and that it needed to be stopped - starting by prioritizing your comrades. The best thing is that Obito didn't give a single flying f-ck about what the villagers would say as long as he stood by what was right; and it took a brutal event to make Kakashi see that his own father was right all along.

Obito had no one except Team Minato.

But imagine feeling let down by your own teacher? A person who he always looked up to and was lucky enough to be his student? He could have saved her. He could have saved the team. He could have done something - but in Obito's eyes, he was just as bad as everyone. Just as bad as the system. Then watching the person you entrusted a promise to keep the one and only person who means the world to you safe - only to see that promise broken in the most brutal way because of the goddamned system that forced Rin to be a Jinchuuriki (only for Kirigakure's desire to destroy Konoha), and forced her to take her life for the sake of Konoha. The war never stopped. Blood spilling didn't stop... and it also took the person he loved so much.

The despair made his sanity snap like a twig and darkness consumed him. Madara's manipulation was not helping either - because Madara saw the world the same way too, and it only made Obito feel like Madara was the only one walking with the truth and with the solution to fix everything that everyone failed to do.

And Naruto was able to see through all of that, bit by bit. Obito tends to manipulate people by using their weaknesses and darkness against them like a true devil, in order to lure them to his own dark path, but he could NOT do that to Naruto because Naruto was pulled away from that path by the right people.

At the same time, Naruto couldn't judge Obito for being the way he was, but Naruto also knew that if Obito had the right people around him, then things would be different in the best way possible. He would've been the shinobi world's protector, rather than destroyer; and when Obito redeemed himself, that's all Naruto could see: Not the Obito that snapped, not the Obito that walked the earth in darkness and evil - he only saw the Obito that would have been the true protector of the world.

[myaekingheart]

naruto oc masterpost

i went on an artbreeder binge tonight and made a shit ton of my ocs so i figured now was as good as ever to make a proper masterpost. so without further ado, buckle the fuck up and here we go.

(stuck this under a read more because it got kind of long whoops)

the hatake family

rei natsuki and kakashi hatake were childhood best friends and neighbors. they drifted over the years after kakashi began losing everything and everyone he cared about. he refused to support rei’s dreams of becoming a ninja because he couldn’t stand to watch her put herself in harm’s way–he couldn’t stand the thought of losing her. they are eventually reunited when rei is appointed to the anbu black ops. they quickly reconcile and start a romantic relationship together. eventually, they marry and have two children: nariko, who was born on a battlefield, and rokurou, who they are blessed with after kakashi takes office as sixth hokage.

two years after rokurou’s birth, rei and kakashi take in an orphaned girl who they name sutego. not long after, rei falls pregnant again with twins katsuro and keiko. a high-risk pregnancy, a long labor puts rei in distress and keiko, small and weak, is delivered after her brother by emergency c-section. it is after this experience that kakashi decides to retire as hokage to devote himself fully to his family. he and rei have one more child, a son, named kazuhiko.

dorimuchimu: the dream team rei’s childhood team. she was trained alongside her best friends naru fuzuki and sekkachi fumeiyo. naru was of a prominent family in konoha heavily involved with local politics and as such was rather well-off, financially. naru ends up following rei into the anbu black ops. sekkachi can only use taijutsu and therefore spent a lot of time with might guy, with whom she spars with every wednesday afternoon to this day. she is chronically ill and therefore has faced many setbacks in her shinobi journey, thus making her rather cynical and harsh. they four of them were led by their sensei, chikara, a former dancer.

tenshi taketori was one of the new recruits trained in the anbu alongside rei. she is cunning, seductive, and determined. mikazuki zazen was also one of the anbu trained alongside rei, known for her rare and powerful dojutsu–the shinkantazagan, which grants users a powerful sense of awareness. sefure kawakubo was a former flame of kakashi’s while he was in the anbu, met with mainly for stress relief purposes. her younger sister, arai kawakubo, is a coarse new anbu recruit assigned to the team that rei captains.

nozomu is a cynical artist who rei meets in an inpatient program in the konoha hospital. she is dark and brooding, placed in treatment after a suicide attempt, but her beautiful art gives others hope. suisen unohana is another patient, seeking treatment for an eating disorder. the inpatient program is led by sosei chouwa who preaches recovery based on holistic treatment methods. she has a twin sister, seiiku chouwa, who is the head of the maternity ward and a licensed midwife.

seiiku’s star pupil is a young immigrant, tanjo, who decided to become a midwife after the unexpected birth of her son, kyugeki, who she was unaware she was pregnant with. tanjo is responsible for delivering rei and kakashi’s second child in a home birth during a blizzard.

sefure and arai’s grandmother, edna kawakubo, owns a local high-end kimono shop that naru frequents. she is a former anbu and the head of the uniform sewing division in the konoha grandmother’s coalition, a group of elderly former shinobi who give back to the community by sewing new ninja uniforms among other things.

komori unohana, suisen’s grandmother, owns a local antiques shop alongside her twin brother, rojin unohana. komori was also a former anbu, childhood comrade of edna, and member of the konoha grandmother’s coalition. she is obsessed with collecting souvenirs and knick-knacks from various villages. rojin has a specialty in old mechanical pieces. he took chikara in when she first emigrated to konoha and she therefore repays his kindness by bringing him appliances of hers to fix.

arai’s daughter, ichika kawakubo, is nariko’s main rival. conceited and self-centered, she often cares more about a broken nail than training to become a strong shinobi. suisen’s daughter, kanami unohana, becomes best friends with rokurou hatake. she is blind, and never knew her father, but when suisen and kiba begin dating, he becomes as close to a father as she gets. he also provides her with her own ninken to act as a guide dog.

the kankitsurui girls rei’s grandmother, teiko natsuki, was originally of the kankitsurui clan—a small clan of citrus farmers on the outskirts of what would become konoha. teiko and her family were recruited to move to the newly established konoha by hashirama senju himself thanks to teiko’s extraordinary chakra tethering ability. as a child, she trained under mito uzumaki alongside edna kawakubo and komori unohana. she was extremely close with her younger sister, fuun kankitsurui, whose exile as a teenager after falling unexpectedly pregnant tore an irreparable rift between teiko and her strict parents. in an act of rebellion, teiko joined the anbu black ops. she went on to marry oku natsuki, the owner of a local bookshop, and have one son. as an elderly woman, she founded the konoha grandmother’s coalition and has an extremely close bond with her granddaughter.

the parents rei’s parents, hana and yuruganai natsuki, run the local bookstore, kaminoki shop. originally a yamanaka, hana turned down the civilian pathway thanks to suffering chronic migraines from using the mind transfer technique. she met her husband during her brief time in the academy. yuruganai was on the same genin team as sakumo and aijo hatake but quickly gave up on becoming a ninja after a serious arm injury during the chunin exams. sakumo and aijo, in contrast, becmae a legendary duo known for their ninja hounds, the companionship of which was rooted in aijo having grown up in the inuzuka clan. the two couples lived next door and raised their children, rei and kakashi, alongside one another until aijo and then sakumo both passed away.

amai is a waitress at the local dango shop who has a passion for sweets. she is often met by sekkachi and hiretsuna akado, the ditsy hospital receptionist who sekkachi treats to taiyaki as thanks for always keeping her company during her many doctor’s appointments. sukui yukio is another new recruit from rei’s anbu team, a charming and princely young man who never lets anyone forget about his resemblance to actor keihaku goman from the “icha icha” film adaptation. another comrade from rei’s anbu team is hitsuji akado, hiretsuna’s twin brother. he is a prodigy in math and science and has social anxiety and a dog allergy. he got the brains whereas his sister got the beauty. their father is an accountant and their mother is a friend of hana’s.

sekkachi’s cousin, tenjikubotan fumeiyo, is as glamorous and charming as sekkachi is blunt and sarcastic. where sekkachi works against her chronic illness–a family curse bestowed upon her grandmother when she fled to konoha for refuge–to achieve her dreams of being an elite ninja, tenjikubotan takes advantage of her sickness to be waited on hand and foot and treated like a princess. she has a tiger summons named byakko who acts as her companion. tenjikubotan’s bright and bubbly younger sister is roru fumeiyo, a chunin of konohagakure with her own tiger companion. she idolizes sekkachi and ends up in a relationship with rock lee. tenjikubotan goes on to marry sukui and together they have a daughter, oniyuri.

brother and sister duo ketsui and hoseki kenshin make the best ninja tools in the entire village. ketsui forges not only kunai and swords but also jewelry. kakashi trusted no one else to create the engagement ring he gave to rei. ketsui’s younger sister hoseki is his apprentice and teammates with suisen unohana and roru fumeiyo. when she is not forging her own weapons and jewlery, she is responsible for sourcing all of their material. one of her favorite things is going down into the mines and finding rare gems. she is especaily fascinated with guren’s crystal release.

ketsui and hoseki’s cousin, kagami kenshin, is another character that rei meets during her time in inpatient. kagami is in treatment to help manage his bipolar disorder. he, rei, suisen, and nozumu end up becoming fairly close with one another after attending group therapy sessions every day.

yuzu is a quirky preteen girl who hana and yuruganai hire to lend a helping hand at kaminoki. she devours books like nobody’s business and has a particular interest in sociopolitical matters.

[rengonemad]

5 Scars, 1 Decision to Heal

This is a gift for Dami over at the KakaGai Hell Discord! I hope you enjoy! >.<  Rating: General Pairing: Hatake Kakashi & Maito Gai (can be read platonic or as the prelude to romance) Warnings: None, Read More is just for length Word Count: 2k

5 Times Gai made Kakashi consider Scars, and 1 Time Kakashi Understood

1. 

The first time Kakashi heard hushed respect in his father’s voice, they were in the presence of Sarutobi Hiruzen. That made sense, Kakashi thought: he was a man famed as the Sandaime, the Professor, the strongest shinobi in Konoha, and the student of both the First and Second Hokages. If there was anyone that the legendary White Fang would respect, it would be Sarutobi Hiruzen. 

The second time Kakashi heard hushed respect in his father’s voice, it was quite different. He was about to start at the Academy and a bruised and scarred kid in a green bodysuit was thanking Kakashi for an insult. 

“At this rate, this kid could become even stronger than you.” Sakumo said quietly, his palm a heavy weight on Kakashi’s head. 

Kakashi didn’t understand. The kid was weak. Not only had he been rejected from the Academy even though he looked a little older than Kakashi, but he was covered in dirt and abrasions. That meant he was weak enough to get hurt, and stupid enough not to hide it.

Kakashi asked for the kid’s name anyway. If his father respected these people, then Kakashi could do that much. 

It didn’t make sense, but Kakashi trusted his father. 

He trusted his father when he suggested Kakashi make Gai his rival. He trusted his father when he said that Sarutobi Hiruzen was a great man. He trusted his father when he said that Kakashi shouldn’t worry about him—that Sakumo was fine, even if it looked like he hadn’t left his bed since Kakashi left for his mission five days earlier. Even if the dishes were molding and Kakashi heard whispers about the White Fang, about his fall from grace—

Kakashi trusted his father. 

He did, until there was no more father to trust. 

Maito Dai and Maito Gai were the only people who attended Hatake Sakumo’s funeral. 

They cried more than Kakashi did.

Two weeks later, Kakashi moved out of Hatake Estate and into a chūnin barrack. It was a cramped, one-room affair, but that meant it was easier to clean. 

Most importantly, it didn’t have blood-stained tatami. 

It didn’t have any scars.

2.

The first time Kakashi got a scar that couldn’t be hidden by clothes, he got a sharingan and ninety-eight pounds of guilt to go with it. 

They were all signs of his weakness. Signs of his failures. 

But that didn’t mean he was willing to get rid of them. 

The Uchiha petitioned for the removal of Kakashi’s sharingan. There was no proof it had been given willingly, Fugaku said. (Disregarding the fact that not only was Rin a witness, but that the Yamanakas could have proven it from both of their memories if necessary.) It was sacrilege for a kekkei genkai to be wielded by someone outside of the clan. (The entire notion of shinobi having honor was questionable, in Kakashi’s humble opinion.) Keeping a kekkei genkai without a matching bloodline would kill the host by chakra drain—

—that part actually had some validity. Kakashi nearly died of chakra drains three times in that first year, before he finally figured out exactly how far he could push himself, how to recognize the warning signs when the sharingan began to consume more than Kakashi had to give. Effectively losing an eye meant an imbalance in depth perception and narrowed field of vision, both of which were easily deadly for a shinobi. Reading gave him a skull-splitting headache for the first two months, and his handwriting suddenly went from precise to nearly illegible and always slanted at an angle no matter how he turned his head. 

Rin looked at him differently, too. Even with one eye, Kakashi could tell. Her smiles were brittle. They shattered the moment she looked away. 

She often looked away. 

The scar was a sign of his weakness. The sharingan, a mark of his greatest mistake. 

It was a mark he deserved to bear. 

3.

Gai wouldn’t leave Kakashi alone.

Part of that was probably Kakashi’s fault; Maito Dai didn’t leave a body behind, but Gai held a private funeral for him anyway. Kakashi was the only one to attend. 

Over the next few years, Gai kept accumulating scars—some of them drawn by Kakashi’s own hand. They never tried to seriously injure each other—if weapons were involved, they fought until one part was disarmed or forced to concede. If taijutsu was the arena, then a successful pin for five seconds constituted a win. Kakashi never used fatal ninjutsu techniques. 

But accidents happened. Sometimes Gai didn’t dodge as quickly as Kakashi thought he would. Not hurting Gai in those instances became part of Kakashi’s practice, although not one he ever told his “Eternal Rival”. Gai’s ego wasn’t as untarnishable as he claimed it to be.

Gai’s scars steadily grew in number, overtaking his body with rough lines and calloused flesh. Kakashi’s own scars were fewer in number, but they, too, accumulated as the years passed. 

Their scars were different. Gai’s were a show of his dedication, the effort he put into perfecting something that no one thought possible of him. 

Kakashi’s laced his skin with memories that couldn’t be shut out. 

4.

When they were seventeen, Gai got rejected. He had brought her dozens of bouquets, composed entire sonnets, exclaimed about her to Kakashi every rare chance he got. Apparently, she said he was too much for her. Kakashi could see her point, but Gai really didn’t deserve the daffodils thrown back in his face. 

Gai only mourned for one day before he got up again, the same as at the end of any fight, and poured his sweat and tears into taijutsu. He used that motivation to master the fifth gate. 

Two months later, he was interested in another girl. He courted her with exactly the same amount of gusto as he had the first time around. This girl accepted. When she broke up with him politely two months later, Gai was still certain that true love existed, and absolutely willing to have his heart broken a million times over in order to find it.

Kakashi pretended to read while listening to his rants. He pretended to read while Gai sobbed in passion or mourning. He pretended to read while watching how the accumulating scars on tanned skin never reached Gai’s humongous, tender heart. 

Kakashi pretended that he didn’t think Gai was just as cool as he was ridiculous. 

5.

The first time Kakashi saw Gai truly affected by a scar, it wasn’t his own. 

Rock Lee was probably the first person in the world (other than Hatakes) who truly respected Gai. Unfortunately, while Lee and Gai’s ostentatious personalities, bullheaded stubbornness, large hearts, and bushy eyebrows all gave them obvious similarities, there were important points in which the two differed.

Those points led to Lee’s self-destruction.

While Lee had grown up in peacetime, with romantic dreams of shinobi and what it meant to be one, Gai had been faced with the stark reality of it from the earliest time he could remember. 

Gai understood consequences, and he understood how to judge an acceptable loss—at least, most of the time. Gai had known death firsthand before even leaving the Academy, and had seen his own father make the ultimate sacrifice of the eighth gate. He understood risks, and he had the ability to weigh them, whether most people realized that or not. 

Yet, Gai gave such tremendous power as the gates to a child who was full of more idealism than reason, more impulse than temperance. He gave that power to a boy who certainly would one day become a fine shinobi, but who had never seen death or destruction or the scars shinobi so often didn’t survive. Gai gave that power to a child who had never had anything more precious on the line than his own pride—and Lee suffered a powerful price for it. 

Kakashi couldn’t be beside Gai for those early days after Lee’s injury, because Gai wasn’t the only one who had make a mistake. Instead, Kakashi spent weeks sleeping for mere minutes at a time on a sheer rock face, training himself and his own childish student—one who had seen far more than many full-grown shinobi ever did—in the vain hope that they would both survive whatever Orochimaru would bring them next.

He thought that Sasuke’s past would teach him how to use his power well. Naively, Kakashi thought he had chosen better than Gai, that Sasuke wouldn’t suffer the same consequences.

He was wrong.

Kakashi and Gai had both failed their students—but Gai’s was an error of judgement, one in which he had placed his own history and capabilities onto a kid that wasn’t quite ready.

It took less than two months for Kakashi to realize his own error had been far worse. His own error had been one of the heart: specifically, of neglecting Sasuke’s. 

By then, it was too late.

The most painful scars, Kakashi knew by that point, were the ones he could only see, and do nothing to heal.

+1

Four years later, scars mottled the Earth itself. Konoha carried more than her share of them. Even months after Pein’s attack, rubble stood in half the districts and gouges were still being filled in with dirt and cement. Tenzō had long since erected temporary and permanent structures for the village’s basic needs, but post-war, there were too many necessities and not enough resources to allocate to them. One of the only projects completed during the first few months of the Rokudaime’s tenure was an additional ward to the hospital, designated for rehabilitating physically debilitated shinobi. 

No one had come out of the Fourth Shinobi War without a scar. Some of them were simply more noticeable than others.

“Doesn’t the Hokage—” Gai wheezed as he struggled to pull himself into an upright position in the hospital bed. Kakashi remained by the window, listening to the sound of hammers banging in the distance. He knew better than to offer help for something Gai could do himself—no matter how much time, and pain, it could cost him. “Have better things to waste his time on than—visiting an old rival?”

“I’m hiding,” Kakashi shrugged. He glanced over his shoulder to see Gai’s expression. “Maa, no need to look so disapproving. It’s only until I make a decision.” He held a palm up in pacification. “I promise I’m not shirking my duties.”

“Ah.” Gai nodded wisely, but his voice was breathy, hoarse despite the water bottle he had already half-drained. “I have—every faith you’ll make the best choice!”

With entirely burnt chakra pathways, Kakashi could only imagine the pain and fatigue Gai was going through—at least a dozen-fold what Kakashi himself had ever experienced with the sharingan. It was a miracle he was talking at all. 

Well—not a miracle. Gai’s strength wasn’t the gift of any God. 

It was something he had formed himself.

“You still have faith, Gai?” Kakashi murmured. “Even after all this?”

Gai’s bushy brows descended towards the center, the corners of his lips tugging down as well to form a frown. He was always sharper than people knew.

Tanned and scarred fingers clenched around his bottle of water. Plastic crinkled beneath the grip that had lost decades of strength in a single, life-changing moment.

With Gai, Kakashi knew: it was strength that could be gained again.

“In you, Kakashi, I always have faith.”

Kakashi turned back to face the window. His fingernails dug into the meat of his palm, hidden within his pocket. The other hand rose. He brushed fingerprints against the scar that bisected where the sharingan had once sat—a constant reminder still of Kakashi’s biggest failures. 

But that scar no longer stole Kakashi’s sight.

That scar no longer stole Kakashi’s chakra.

That scar no longer blinded Kakashi to the changes he could make in the world, and in those around him. 

It had taken over twenty-five years for Kakashi to understand why Gai could be who he was—why he could accumulate scars that were only surface-deep, why he could take even worse ones in stride and use them to drive himself forward: 

Gai didn’t define himself by his scars.

Perhaps it was time that Kakashi learned how to do that, too.

(I, uh, also made this edit. xD I dunno why.)

[drblueneck]

Little Kakashi (a girl! Damn it, i didn't expect it!!) saying 'Fuck Konoha' and not spurting out about rules?! Yeah, we are definitely in an alternative dimension... makes me wonder if Sakumo is still alive even if in disgrace... I admit, i never expected Minato to be so dispassionate about teaching but he is a letal ANBU and this Konoha seems to be a true militar dictatorship (for once). Do you think Naruto's friends would be as shocked as our kunoichi or is just her with rose tinted glasses

Yeeessssssssss someone FINALLY mentioned Kakashi’s “fuck the village”!!!! The tag I added some time ago on AO3, “Gender Roles”, has its importance and kinda explains why Kakashi’s views might be different from canon!Kakashi: being born a female in a ninja world does not give you the same privileges as being born a male. And... you already saw how this verse seems to be way less lenient than canon!Konoha: young, pubescent kunoichi being sent on honeypot missions would not be that surprising, and it looks like Kurenai is a prime example of that, according to Kakashi. Minato will say something about this to Naruto at one point, further explaining his reticence at having her on missions: where a shinobi’s body is a lethal tool, a kunoichi’s body is a commodity, meant to be used and thrown away. It’s not their ninja skills that are sought, but their feminine curves. So, yay, women are disposable objects, fuck the village indeed.

As for Sakumo... You’ll see :)

Let’s say that Minato actually has a valid point here: he’s a martial instructor, not an academy teacher. Despite what Naruto said, his job is indeed to make sure the Genin given to him grow into powerful weapons. It doesn’t mean he’s not fond of them (he is !) he just is emotionally stunted and struggles to be anything but formal in a work setting. If he’s teaching his brats, you can bet that he’ll be professional about it and act as their commander. Out of training though, if he crosses their path, he’d be much more friendly (well, as friendly as this prickly moron can get anyway), perhaps not paternal but hey, let’s not ask him too much at once!

I think Shikamaru would definitely not be shocked. Same for Shino and Kiba (I always thought of the Inuzuka as a pack, so he should be no stranger to hierarchy, same for Shino and his bugs). Hinata and Neji... well, the Hyuuga are not a TLC bunch, so I frankly doubt she’d be shocked since her family is already quite into authoritarianism. Sai also would definitely not bat an eyelash, I mean, ROOT taught him all that shit already.

Lee, Sakura, and perhaps TenTen would definitely be shocked, since they’re all most likely from a civilian background and might not understand this peculiar setting when all they’ve seen of the ninja world is teams + Hokage and never delved deeper into the intricate hierarchy of the military.

Ino seems to be so pampered that she’d have a shock but would get over it pretty quickly, same for Chouji who looks a bit naive or easy-going but also seems to have a sharp mind. Kids from clans should already be well-versed in politics and military matters, methinks.

[ahkaraii]

Team Sarutobi! Consisting of Sarutobi Sasuke, Nara Shikata, Uchiha Myoko and Hatake Sakumo. Lots of headcanons below the cut, though I’m open to modifying them if it suits my story :3

Sarutobi Sasuke was a veteran of the Warring States period, disciple of the legendary Monkey King, and father to Hiruzen. He was well known for his good humour, explosive temper, and incredible charisma. The Sarutobi family have historically been a “collector of loyalties”, and Sasuke was no different, enthralling many clans to his banner and cleverly expanding the Sarutobi’s political power.

(He was also a magnificent liar, going so far as to kill ally ninja to take heroic credit for their exploits... few alive know of this, though, and he went down in history as an almost universally admired legendary ninja. So it goes..!)

Because the Sarutobi clan sided with the Senju near the end of the Warring States period, Sasuke was of the few early Clan Heads to be allowed to settle in the newly formed Konoha. His youngest son Hirzuen was the second ninja born after the founding of Konoha, the first being Danzo, reason why they were both personally trained by the legendary Senju Tobirama himself.

He was involved in the destruction of the Hatake farmland during a skirmish with ninja from Lightning some years after the founding of Konoha. It was he who took the newly orphaned Sakumo under his wing and raised him as his soldier. Hiruzen was a few years older than Sakumo, and came to view him as a younger brother; this was not quite mutual, because Sakumo was always deferential and formal, aware of his status as a vassal to the Sarutobi family. Sasuke, for his part, only ever saw Sakumo as a tool.

Hiruzen knew the truth of his father’s manipulative callousness, and personally disliked it. He chose to be manipulatively kind, instead :V (Incidentally, the Shimura clan was one of the many collected by Sasuke, which made Danzo a vassal to the Sarutobi family, much like Sakumo. Things to think about!)

Uchiha Myoko was Izuna’s grandchild, firstborn to his firstborn. (I originally wanted her to be Madara’s grandchild, but I changed it :3c). Product of a long line of careful inbreeding in search for the maximum expression of the Sharingan, she’s outwardly extremely proud of her pedigree and inwardly extremely anxious because she has yet to develop her own eyes. Because of this early failure, she dedicates herself to being sharp and cutting and vicious and the best fucking shinobi she can be, striving to live up to the excellence she has been unable to unlock.

Sarutobi Sasuke collects her for his team thinking of the political leverage it is to train what could possibly become the Uchiha heir. Myoko’s father allows it because he thinks it’s politically savvy to have his previously-useless-seeming daughter tied to the Sarutobi, who are in bed with the odious but nonetheless victorious Senju. After all, ever since their ex-Clan Head Madara up and left and nearly killed Senju Hashirama, the first and most beloved Hokage, the Uchiha have been almost universally disliked by all Konohan clans and they’re seeking to slime their way back to everyone’s good graces. What better way than to embed an Uchiha on all the developing Konoha teams? (This is why Uchiha Kagami is on Tobirama’s team, btw).

At the time Myoko joins the slowly formalized team, Sakumo has already been Sarutobi’s soldier for years and they surprisingly get along quite well. Despite being several years older than her Sakumo is automatically deferential to her status as the Uchiha heir, calling her “Uchiha-dono” and “Uchiha-hime”, and she REALLY digs that, because she has a superiority complex and both her eye situation and her rotten attitude has caused fewer and fewer of her clansmen to refer to her with such respect. She takes to ordering Sakumo around and Sakumo takes to politely giving her advice in turn, because he’s got a LOT more battle experience than she has.

(Some years later Myoko marries a man who is discovered to be a stray bastard of the legendary Uchiha Madara, and after bearing a child with him, kills him for his eyes.)

(And later still, Myoko gives Sakumo her first and only son Fugaku to train, because she trusts him to do this well. Sakumo is Fugaku’s pseudo father figure for several years even into the Second Shinobi war, until he choses to fake his death and defect in favour of marrying his foreign wife..... Fugaku mourns him extensively, and Myoko belittles her sentimental son at every turn, externalizing her own secret grief as mocking cruelty. After Sakumo comes back to Konoha and reveals he’s been alive the whole time, and also fathered a foreign child in the meantime, Myoko furiously cuts off all ties to him and forces Fugaku to do the same. Fugaku disobeys her a couple of years into the silence, though.)

The third and last team member to join Team Sarutobi is Nara Shikata, the youngest of the three. She’s one of six daughters born to the infamous Nara Shikkari, the Deer Demon and Shadow King, who brutally gored his enemies with his deer summons and devoured entire armies with his shadows.

(Yes, he did name her for the phrase “Shikata ga nai”/仕方がない, aka, “Nothing can be done about it”, because he was a Grade A Asshole about her being born a girl and not a boy).

Because her father hated her for being a woman and her mother was busy having more kids seeking the boy they would never have, she was taught the Nara Shadow Weaving technique by her grandmother. Shikata was quiet and clever and was capable of learning other clan’s techniques simply by looking at the handsigns and recreating them on her own. It was this skill that attracted Sarutobi, and he collected her as the last piece of his core genin team.

Together, they were primarily an information-collecting team and secondarily a well-oiled assassination squad. They worked together for several years until Sarutobi Sasuke’s death, whereupon they split and never worked together again... (until now :3c)

Shikata was forced to marry young by her father and she finally had the male heir he’d always wanted: Shikaku. Some time after, she gets caught by an enemy ninja and tortured extensively, her fingers and body mutilated until she manages to escape with her life. Mentally scarred and physically rendered infertile, her father Shikkari callously decides to disown her and sell her to Danzo’s newly budding ROOT, whereupon she is gradually brainwashed into being the man’s personal bodyguard and Shadow Weaver, a job she’s held to date. She no longer has a name, or a past, or a future...

[akatdollie]

Canon Verses (Detailed)

I find that Naruto-centric Universes help me get a feel for other muses and muns, as we are all working with - relatively - the same facts. However, sometimes it can be difficult to get cross-generation/village characters to interact. Therefore I made this (long) guide of detailed verses, for my reference and yours, to help non-Sunan, non-Akatsuki muses interact with mine.

Founders - Leaf 

Sasori - Chiyo’s son. Busy with war council after the death of her husband, she neglects him, and fails to help him cope with his father’s death. The child is subsequently taken in by nomadic relatives whom specialize in performance (and dabble in banditry). Think circus with a side of scams, pickpocketing the crowd when no one is looking.

Interactions with Founders traveling in the Land of Wind, on the border of same, or wherever - he is in a traveling troupe, after all.

Tag: [Canon Divergent: Nomad Alt.]

Third - Has the same background as his bio, but with a major caveat - he has several other clans competing with him for power and prestige. He is a warlord along the northern border (between the Land of Wind and Earth, who is slowly expanding along the borders of Rain and Rivers. More paranoid than most verses, perhaps by necessity, he seeks to make alliances and crush enemies. He is protective of his mines.

Verse Specific Titles (from most to least formal): Lord of the North, Lord, Busho, Tenno (among those familiar with him), Boy King (if you want to piss him off).

Interactions with Founders characters when dealing with politics of the Era.

Note: This is before the Village Hidden in the Sand exists properly. The village is currently not a “village” but a stronghold built on top of a preexisting, but now extinct, civilization. Suna is currently run by several competing tribes, which will later be conquered and united under the First Kazekage. 

Tag: [Canon Divergent: Busho Alt.]

Second Shinobi War - 

Sasori - Same nomad verse as above, with Sasori placed in roughly the same generation as the Sannin. His troupe is conscripted for battle. An annoyed Sasori wants to get this over with so that he can go back to his art. Note that he will be in his late teens around then, and that his puppeteer expertise will swing the war in Suna’s favor. History may diverge from here.

Tag: [Canon Divergent: Nomad Alt - Sannin Gen.]

Sasori - enrolls in the puppet brigade at the age of seven, enters the war as a child soldier. He is not a genius at this time, nor is he unshakable. He is prone to mistakes and can be terrified and traumatized.

Tag: [Canon Compliant: Second Shinobi War]

Third - With his father assassinated, a sixteen year old Tenno is inaugurated as the “The Boy King” and thrust into battle. Due to his age and inexperience, his role is initially contained to war rooms and politics; he may meet with any delegation that the Leaf may send (including the Sannin and Kagami), hidden behind a paper screen while his advisors speak on his behalf.

Later on, after researching Shukaku, chakra control, and the elements, he becomes a force to be reckoned with - literally. Fields on fields of enemies are flooded with iron. He earns the name “Calamity”.

Tag: [Canon Compliant: Second Shinobi War]

Third Shinobi War - 

Sasori - wheedles his way into leading the puppet brigade in a vain attempt to find and kill Hatake Sakumo, who killed his parents. Chiyo leaves the village after an argument with him; he earns the moniker “Scorpion of the Red Sand” for his brutality left nothing of his opponents, except the stain of crimson upon the earth.

This allows Sasori to meet and interact with age peers who would be fighting during this war, including:

Kisame, Mei, Zabuza

Kakashi, Obito, Rin

Gai, Kurenai, Asuma, Anko

The original Akatsuki

Fugaku, Mikoto, Hiashi

Sakumo, Minato, Kushina

Other parents 

Tag: [Canon Compliant: Third Shinobi War]

Third - after some personal struggles, the Third Kazekage casts out advisers and political sycophants to emerge as a true leader of the Hidden Sand. He is, primarily, a general and a symbol of Sunan might. Due to personal fears, he does not fight as much as he used to, but is nonetheless present with his troops in the war tent. He will not be found in Suna at this time. 

In addition to the above, Tenno is secretly funding the original Akatsuki, and may interact with

Konan

Yahiko

Nagato

Hanzo

Plus any other village leaders and/or diplomats. (He may interact with Uchiha in order to cause trouble in the Leaf).

Tag: [Canon Compliant: Third Shinobi War]

Akatsuki - 

Sasori - is among the first three members of the Akatsuki, with Orochimaru to join next. He may meet with Jiraiya or Tsunade on his mission travels; note that Sasori and Jiraiya both have excellent and competing spy networks so there is room for threads here. He can venture into any village while on a mission and bump into any muse (bar Sunan).

Tag: [Canon Compliant: Akatsuki]

Third - is kidnapped, killed, and converted into a puppet for the above. For the sake of interaction, he is sentient. With Sasori nearby, he can venture into any village while on a mission and bump into any muse (bar Sunan).

Tag: [Canon Compliant: Akatsuki]

Note: During the brief period in which Orochimaru is Sasori’s Akatsuki partner, both of the above muses may interact with anyone resurrected by the Edo Tensei jutsu.

Note Two: Both muses will interact with Akatsuki versions of characters (e.g., Akatsuki!Anko).

Fourth Shinobi War - 

Sasori - resurrected. Diverts from canon in that he refuses to be controlled by a snake, and will immediately grab the nearest alley and try to disappear. Being Orochimaru’s ex-partner, he is aware of the hand seals that will grant him freedom.

Tag: [Canon Divergent: Fourth Shinobi War]

Third - resurrected (not shown in canon). He breaks free from the jutsu and tries to piece together what has happened since his death - and how much time has passed.

Tag: [Canon Divergent: Fourth Shinobi War]

Alternate Histories

Fire Crush - 

Made with @sunagakurenosato.

Seeking access to water, the Third Kazekage and Mizukage make a deal - to invade the Land of Fire and split it in two. The two impoverished nations ravage a richer one. Includes the war and its aftermath. 

Interactions with:

Original Gen Leaf Muses (conquered)

Third Shinobi War Gen Leaf Muses

Third Mizukage, Yagura, Kiri Muses

Original Akatsuki - Amegakure, technically neutral, remains a hot spot for rebels.

Tag: TBA

Note: Muns writing enemies of Suna might find it both easy and hard to interact in battlefields, as (1) it gives characters the chance to meet each other with a clear goal and (2) it sometimes requires writing action scenes (which I am perfectly okay with).

    Other (less fight-y) recommendations for war verses:

Prisoner of War

Temporary Truce

One Muse is a Spy

Spy v. Spy (both are spies)

[Back to Main Verse Page]

[yes-these-obsessions-are-healthy]

TBH I think Orochimaru's obsession with developing and discovering new jutsu is just a byproduct of his desire for immortality at any cost, and that his views of self-serving immortality was a gradual logical conclusion for him than an innate one.

Early Years

He was orphaned as a child and showed a desire to see his parents again. Hiruzen commented that the shed snake skin on his parents' graves is a symbol of rebirth and rejuvenation, and so Orochimaru naturally took that to heart and it became a motif of his fighting style and abilities. He grew up to see Jiraiya, despite being a fool, as a comrade, and he greatly respected Tsunade's chakra control and spirited nature (Orochimaru is far from a misogynist in any respect) as well as her ability to put Jiraiya in his place when he got too goofy. Orochimaru took Tsunade's little brother Nawaki under his wing, or at least doted on him as a friend of the Senju family or like an uncle. He was his sensei, so at least in an official capacity he had responsibilities toward him, responsibilities that were not inherently self-serving. And so he had at least four people (Hiruzen included) upon which he could say he was close to. 

Nawaki's Death

While Orochimaru was a quietly confident, reserved, and cagey individual in his early years, Nawaki's horrible death shook him as much as it did Tsunade. For the first time since the death of his parents, he felt an emptiness and sorrow that he was unable to properly fix the source of. He was powerless to reverse death then as a child as he was in that moment while watching Tsunade sob uncontrollably over her little brother's body. He was not one for tears, he was not one to feel despair in the capacity that everyone around him seemed freely able to do, but in his own way he felt it. The fragility of life, the ease in which people can pass away, and the finality of mortality -- pointless, it was pointless. And so his heart hardened more that day.

Dan's Death and Tsunade

Upon Tsunade's second tragedy with the death of her lover Dan (during the Second Shinobi World War), I feel like Orochimaru had by then developed his views to the point that love was not enough to shield people from their ultimate expendability in life. Tsunade loved Nawaki fiercely, and he died. Tsunade loved Dan fiercely, and he died. Orochimaru was orphaned at a very young age but he doesn't recall hating his parents, and they were dead.

He admired Tsunade's concurrent crusade to train medical nin and place them in team cells so as to significantly lower the mortality rate during missions--now pushed even more fiercely after Dan's death, but deep down inside he knew it was staving off the inevitable. Still, he did not find her contemptible for such efforts because they were driven by logic and strategy as well as passion.

Ame Orphans

Another thought: Before the Sannin split up to do their own thing (Jiraiya to travel; Tsunade to train medic nin, at least initially; Orochimaru to work with Danzo, I guess), the Sannin met Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato in the Rain village, again during the Second War. Orochimaru's first instinct was to kill them, but the line delivery of his suggestion was not one of malice or sadism but pity, and not even a mocking pity. The war with Hanzo and the destruction that they the Sannin had caused was not unknown to Orochimaru since he had a huge part in it, nor did he feel guilt about it, per se. He was realistic about it, just as he was realistic in claiming that the trio of kids would likely suffer from starvation and disease before dying cold and alone in some burned-down house. This was a very accurate assessment of the situation before Jiraiya intervened and decided to train them for a spell. This was perhaps one of the final times that Orochimaru displayed genuine sentiment at the thought of death as a form of personal loss and suffering rather than the individual as a unit/pawn that can be cultivated, manipulated, and ultimately broken or discarded when it can no longer be used.

Sakumo Hatake and Disaffection with the Leaf

While Tsunade has clearly shown that tragedy and death do not necessarily break an individual, shinobi are successful partly because that is one of their most enduring rules -- no emotion, get the mission done. This is just conjecture, but it is unlikely that Orochimaru had not at least had a passing conversation with Sakumo Hatake, given how much renown he accumulated as the “White Fang of Konoha” during the Second War, and the news of his suicide after being branded a disgrace for choosing to put the lives of his team over the success of the mission may have further solidified Orochimaru’s growing conviction that people fear death so much that they are willing to act irrationally and forego what is logically most beneficial for the group because death’s severing of peoples’ close bonds is more detrimental and dangerous than the potential for failure. 

And even though Sakumo succeeded in preventing the deaths of his comrades, his very human decision--a decision he was able to pull off because he was strong enough and capable enough to do so, an ability that Orochimaru did not possess in the moment when Nawaki died, an ability Tsunade did not possess when Dan died in her arms--still led to his death by his own hand. Tragic irony by this point was only becoming somewhat comical to Orochimaru, something that you can't help but laugh at because it is so ridiculous and yet the people around him are so blind. I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch that this scandal, if Orochimaru had paid attention to it at all, wouldn’t have furthered his graudal dissatisfaction and contempt of the Leaf for their circumstantial and hypocritical war time politics. Orochimaru always operated in shades of gray, but the Leaf's inability to reconcile the psychological anchors of their soldiers with the requirements of a shinobi must have read to him as being foolish and wasteful and a futile attempt at denying human beings' true nature, a nature that he himself had begun to gradually shed over the years.

Little Side Note of Orochimaru's Ability to Connect with Others

To say "camaraderie" and "friendship" would sound too Shonen, because Orochimaru did not grow up without enjoying the company of his sensei and teammates, but he was someone who either had the willpower to cut those ties and find satisfaction in his own company (like how some people just prefer to be alone and never report feeling 'lonely'), and thus psychically fulfilled with his own person (arguably, like Sasori, or Kakuzu to a certain extent) or he was born with something that allowed him to form bonds with others but those bonds were separate from his Self. He could live and thrive without them, sever them if he had to when he pleased if they furthered his own goals. Opportunistic and self-sufficient, independent but not the point of being incapable of working in tandem with others. Mentally, he was more than versatile and can not be be placed squarely in either the "Does Not Play Nice With Others" or "A True Team Player" boxes. Whatever is best for the situation and the long run is good enough for him, and he is not someone who does not clutch his chest in pain when his actions unintentionally benefit another, unless that benefit interferes with his own net gain.

Tanzaku Town and the Offer of Resurrection

When Orochimaru and Tsunade finally met again in Tanzaku, I honestly don't think that Orochimaru was kidding when he said he would resurrect Tsunade's loved ones in exchange for her healing his arms. He had been working on this technique for a long-ass time, upgrading it from Tobirama's original jutsu, and he was more than willing to show it off and give her a taste of it in return for her services. This here is where Orochimaru's demented way of thinking seems to reveal itself most clearly, though: For Orochimaru, the most powerful driving force that can encourage or break someone is grief and love. He saw how Dan and Nawaki's deaths ruined Tsunade for a time and changed her to the point that she developed a severe phobia of blood after the former died of blood loss (something he used to shake her up to compel her to agree, what an asshole). Playing with her head aside, I think that in that moment, him offering her her loved ones back seemed logical to him. She had been pining for them for so long beneath all that brassy exterior and gambling and medical ninjutsu, so why would she not jump at the chance to see them again?

But he underestimated Tsunade's grudge factor and her own maturity. She was able to throw away the ability to see them because of what he had done to the Leaf Village, the place that all three Sannin had grown disillusioned with in their own way, and that surprised him big time because on top of him having been one of her closest companions for a long time and seeing how their deaths wrecked her he had also become a master at manipulation and human psychology to Hannibal Lecter-like levels.

Aaaand that's all I got. At what point he went all Dr. Machiavellian Mengele, I have no clue, but he wasn't a completely heartless bastard in the beginning.

Edit: Added a few more ideas cuz my thoughts were running in every direction when I first wrote this and I wanted to get them down as soon as possible. P.S. If you have any more insights or want to debate with me on any of the characters or backstories I have mentioned, please do. I am not an Orochimaru, Tsunade, Jiraiya, or Sakumo stan, so any of your insights would be coolio. Also, apologies for long-winded sentences. I don't breathe sometimes when I'm trying to make a thought and it reflects in how I write :O

[trb-reacts]

The Raven Boys, Chapter 4

Gansey had once told Adam that he was afraid most people didn’t know how to handle Ronan. What he meant by this was that he was worried that one day someone would fall on Ronan and cut themselves. 

I love this so much, not least because I am very biased for Ronan right now and he just... like [Gansey] was worried that one day someone would fall on Ronan and cut themselves. Like wow, poetry in motion and double meanings. Why am I sensing a Ronan/Adam vibe here?

I mean, I was about to skip over it but: Believing in the supernatural, tolerating Gansey’s troubled relationship with money, and co-existing with Gansey’s other friends. The former two were problematic only when they took time away from Aglionby, and the latter was only problematic when it was Ronan Lynch. There’s definitely something about Ronan and Adam together? Adam seems very much like the guy that also gets along with everyone else in a very distant polite way, except when Ronan Lynch brings out very true and undeniable genuine feelings in him (the good, the bad and especially the ugly).

Or maybe I’m just choosing my ship too soon.

Girlfriend, in fluttering white silk, looked a lot like Brianna, or Kayleigh, or whoever Declan’s last girlfriend had been. They all had blond, shoulder-length hair and eyebrows that matched Declan’s dark leather shoes.

I really don’t like Declan so far, just from the way Gansey and Ronan react to him and his propensity to switch girlfriends. Adam is also weirdly throwing me off here because we’re told that Declan’s lastest girlfriend’s name is Ashley but Adam is kinda insistent on just calling her Girlfriend in this very objectifying way?

He wasn’t quite sure how to put this feeling into concrete terms. It was a stare caught out of the corner of his eye, a set of scuffed footprints in the stairwell that didn’t seem to belong to any of the boys, a library clerk telling him an arcane text had been checked out by someone else right after he had returned it. It wasn’t that Adam wondered if Declan was spying on them. Adam knew he was, but he believed that had everything to do with Ronan and nothing to do with the ley line. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to do a bit of observation.

Intriguing. So Adam is the Practical Friend, which I buy since he is very much a commoner in a high class surrounding that he’s not used to that he just has to notice everything.

Also, messed up brotherly relationship much? Resorting to spying?

Adam watched the way Declan’s lip barely brushed the bottom of Girlfriend’s earlobe as he spoke to her; he looked away just as Declan glanced up.

I don’t know why just this line makes me think that Adam is gay. The focus of this line is very much Declan’s lips doing intimate acts and Adam watching that (being gay) without being seen (outing himself).

Adam was very good at watching without being watched. Only Gansey ever seemed to catch him at it.

I just like the thought that Gansey is very observant and the reason why they’re such close friends. It also gives this other dimension to Gansey, that Adam may be the Practical Friend, but Gansey is not really the Oblivious Friend. Gansey only plays the Oblivious Due To Immense Focus On Other Important Stuff Friend because he can trust Adam to watch his back.

Not the tidy stacks of an intellectual attempting to impress, but the slumping piles of a scholar obsessed. Some of the books weren’t in English. Some of the books were dictionaries for the languages that some of the other books were in. Some of the books were actually Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Editions.

I love this type of characterization so much??? Especially Not the tidy stacks of an intellectual attempting to impress, but the slumping piles of a scholar obsessed.

Adam felt the familiar pang. Not jealousy, just wanting. One day, he’d have enough money to have a place like this. A place that looked on the outside like Adam looked on the inside.

Oh, Adam. Also, I can’t quite figure out what  A place that looked on the outside like Adam looked on the inside means exactly. There’s lots of metaphors for me to parse out in this books, and we’re not even five chapters in.

Girlfriend held her hands to her chest in an unconscious reaction to masculine nakedness. In this case, the naked party was not a person, but a thing: Gansey’s bed, nothing but two mattresses on a bare metal frame, sitting baldly in the middle of the room, barely made. It was somehow intimate in its complete lack of privacy.

I do love the image of Gansey’s bed as an island in the sea of books and there’s something about it that speaks of his obsession, like he spent all those money on books that he could careless about the place he sleep in. Masculine nakedness, I’m not sure where that comes in. Ideas?

Adam was struck, as he occasionally was, by Gansey’s agelessness: an old man in a young body, or a young man in an old man’s life.

Adam’s really observant. I had a feeling of Gansey like that, but he describes it so well with his comparison.

There were two Ganseys: the one who lived inside his skin, and the one Gansey put on in the morning when he slid his wallet into the back pocket of his chinos. The former was troubled and passionate, with no discernible accent to Adam’s ears, and the latter bristled with latent power as he greeted people with the slippery, handsome accent of old Virginia money. It was a mystery to Adam how he could not seem to see both versions of Gansey at the same time.

I like it and I’m curious to see how the other slipper Gansey who is born in money acts.

He knocked fists with Adam. Coming from Gansey, the gesture was at once charming and self-conscious, a borrowed phrase of a another language.

Gansey and Adam, both charmingly awkward in speaking the other’s vernacular.

She glanced at Adam. Her eyes didn’t linger, but still, he remembered the fray on the shoulder of his sweater. Don’t pick at it. She’s not looking at it. No one else notices it.

With effort, Adam squared his shoulders and tried to inhabit the uniform as easily as Gansey or Ronan.

Why, hello, Imposer Syndrome. I do really feel for Adam. This is such a nice detail to include. Also, mentions of Gansey and Ronan but not Noah? I’m very curious about the fourth member of their group now.

Ashley blinked vapidly, then said, "Sounds like a metaphor." Perhaps she wasn’t as dumb as they’d thought.

Rude. Just because she’s with Declan?

He left out the part about how he believed the eternally sleeping Glendower would grant a favor to whoever woke him. He left out the part about how it haunted him, this need to find this long-lost king.

And the award for obsessiveness goes to none other than Gansey. Also, though, why? What favor does he need granted? Why is this need to find the long-lost king haunting him so much that it hurts?

Some days, some rotten days, Adam believed the former, and only barely. But being Gansey’s friend meant that more often he hoped for the latter. This was where Ronan, much to Adam’s dissatisfaction, excelled: His belief in the supernatural explanation was unwavering. Adam’s faith was imperfect.

And the barely disbelief feels like betrayal, in some ways, to Adam, when Gansey had reached out to him. I’m also getting a very opposite attracts vibe from Ronan and Adam. I think Adam’s faith is imperfect only because he is practical and believes very much in forging his own destiny like Blue. Ronan and Gansey have what Adam wants to have - money, power, connection -, sees that forging their own destiny isn’t really a thing even with those things, and so turn to the faith in supernatural.

Or so that’s what I think so far with the stuff that I’ve read. Maybe I’m reaching too much and later details will prove me wrong.

"That’s Noah," Declan said. He said it in a way that confirmed Adam’s assumption: Monmouth Manufacturing and the boys who lived in it were a tourist stop for Declan and Ashley, a conversation piece for a later dinner.

Why, just why? It’s like using a dog to start a conversation with a cute girl. Except now Declan dehumanize them to dogs and parade the boys around like clowns, turns around to his girlfriend with laughing eyes to say, “aren’t they just so strange?”

"Oh! Your hand is cold." Ashley cupped her fingers against her shirt to warm them. "I’ve been dead for seven years," Noah said. "That’s as warm as they get."

I can just imagine Noah saying this in such a deadpan way that no one would know if he’s telling a joke or being serious.

Ronan and Declan Lynch were undeniably brothers, with the same dark brown hair and sharp nose, but Declan was solid where Ronan was brittle. Declan’s wide jaw and smile said, Vote for me while Ronan’s buzzed head and thin mouth warned that this species was poisonous. "Ronan," Declan said. On the phone with Adam earlier, he had asked, When will Ronan not be available? "I thought you had tennis." "I did," Ronan replied.

?? I thought Declan was gonna stop by when Ronan has class, not tennis. Also, the idea that Ronan is brittle fits oddly well, along with his appearance that warned he’s poison. I’m thinking about poisonous plants and self-protection via self-destruction, since the only way for Ronan to poison someone is for someone to take a bite out of him and harm him first.

As he pulled Ashley out into the tiny stairwell and down the stairs, Adam heard the beginnings of damage control: He has problems, I told you, I tried to make sure he wouldn’t be here, he’s the one who found Dad, it messed him up, let’s go get seafood instead, don’t you think we look like lobster tonight? We do.

I’m sorry and excuse me, what WTF? Wow, Declan, wow, really? Why did you even go there in the first place? Also, he’s the one who found Dad, it messed him up. Is this hinting that Ronan found their father’s dead body after he committed suicide or I was just obsessing too much about Kakashi and Sakumo recently?

I also just remembered there’s three of these brothers. I’m gonna assume Declan is the oldest if he holds the key to Ronan’s freedom (tho that seems odd to me seeing as how Declan doesn’t seem to quite able to hold Ronan’s leash at all, even in this short conversation), I’m wondering in a I-Don’t-Really-Want-To-Meet-Him-Way if the other brother’s just as bad.

Ronan’s expression was still incendiary. His code of honor left no room for infidelity, for casual relationships. It wasn’t that he didn’t condone them; he couldn’t understand them.

I can buy that, tho I’m wondering if Ronan is really only angry at Declan because Declane switches girlfriends a lot (hence the reference to infidelity) and does it really have nothing at all to do with the brothers’ tumult relationship or the fact that Declan seems to be constantly talking down at him and talking shit about him.

Ronan was not really Gansey’s problem, either, in Adam’s opinion, but they’d had this argument before.

I beg differ, Adam. When you’re friends, everyone is each other’s problem.

Ronan looked chastened, but Adam knew better. Ronan wasn’t sorry for his behavior; he was only sorry that Gansey had been there to see him.

Aww, interesting. From ‘I didn’t take notes for you because I thought you died in a ditch’ to ‘I’m sorry that you had to see this ugly side of me’.

But surely Gansey knew that as well as Adam. He ran his thumb back and forth across his bottom lip, a habit he never seemed to notice and Adam never bothered to point out. Catching Adam’s gaze, he said

Lips again. Like, when I write I have the tendency to over focus on the lips quirking, hand gesturing, eyes looking, but this is Adam looking at Gansey’s habit with his lips and just... never bothering to point it out and always very aware of it. But here’s also Gansey showing that he always knows more than he points out or lets on, like with Ronan and now Adam, since he catches Adam’s gaze as he looks.

Because of his money and his good family name, because of his handsome smile and his easy laugh, because he liked people and (despite his fears to the contrary) they liked him back, Gansey could’ve had any and all of the friends that he wanted. Instead he had chosen the three of them, three guys who should’ve, for three different reasons, been friendless.

Okay, it’s done. Everyone can go home now. This sums everything up about them so nicely that I’m just like let’s stay here forever. The story doesn’t need to go on. Let them be frozen in this period of youth and friendships despite odds.

Also, Gansey is obviously the center of their friendships so when he dies, I can just imagine all of the others breaking down and shattering in different ways and when that happens, all of them will cut each other with the sharp edges of their broken remains.

"I’m not coming," Noah said. "Need some more alone time?" Ronan asked. "Ronan," Gansey interjected. "Set your weapons to stun, will you? Noah, we won’t make you eat. Adam?"

More eccentricities. Why doesn’t Noah eat?

Also,  Set your weapons to stun. That’s such an odd phrase to say, but coming from Gansey, it works? I also think here we see a bit of the other side of Gansey. When he comes out of his obsession long enough to bring his friends together, i think we can see a bit of the other side of Gansey that Adam mentions, the slippery side of Gansey that knows what he wants and knows exactly how to get it.

But Gansey and Adam sought Glendower for different reasons. Gansey longed for him like Arthur longed for the grail, drawn by a desperate but nebulous need to be useful to the world, to make sure his life meant something beyond champagne parties and white collars, by some complicated longing to settle an argument that waged deep inside himself. Adam, on the other hand, needed that royal favor.

I... still don’t really get it? The more that’s revealed, the more befuddled I get.

Even though Ronan was snarling and Noah was sighing and Adam was hesitating, he didn’t turn to verify that they were coming. He knew they were. In three different ways, he’d earned them all days or weeks or months before, and when it came to it, they’d all follow him anywhere.

And their journey continues, this odd band of rich misfits. This chapter as a whole reminds me a bit of a fanfic analysis after everything said and done occurred.  

[ladyiceflame-blog]

An Inconvenient Wedding:

Chapter Ten:  Recon and Revelation

“So,” the sober little pug began, as he took a moment to scratch behind an ear,  “Who is this ‘Asaito,’ exactly, and why are we spying on him?” “You...you can....talk?!” Naruto acknowledged immediately.  For once, speaking on account of the others who seemed equally surprised. “Of course I can talk!” Pakkun huffed in annoyance.  “I am a master-level ninken, aren’t I?” “But....Kiba’s Akamaru doesn’t speak....does he?” Sakura pressed. “Not that I’ve noticed,” Sasuke admitted.  “But Kiba seems to understand him.” “The Inuzuka all have this ability to communicate with dogs.  But summoned ninken can speak the human tongue,” Pakkun regaled.  “Now, who is Asaito?” “He’s a jonin from the Land of Water, who is going to marry the Lady Ice Flame tomorrow,” Sakura provided. “I think I may have heard of this woman before...” the pug mused aloud.  “Isn’t she some kind of wandering shinobi...?” “She is,” Naruto returned.  “Although, most call her Miriyume.” “Miriyume?!?” the pug gasped, his half-lidded eyes going suddenly wide.  “...from Shimogakure?” “Um-hmm,” Sasuke answered, wearing a smug smile.  “You know of her, then.  Have you met her?” “Unfortunately, I have not.  But my master mourned that name, long ago.  I was just a puppy.  He was very sad.”  There was a tinge of whimper in his voice. “Well, Kaka-sensei’s still sad, because she’s about to get hitched to a total dirt-bag!” Naruto reported, “and we’ve got one night left to convince her of it!” “Asaito is very reclusive and paranoid,” Sakura chimed in.  “No one has really seen him in person, despite being camped here for the last couple of days.” “And he has a creepy old monk working for him, too,” Naruto added.   “Miriyume’s team mates don’t even seem to like this guy,’ Sasuke continued.  “Despite this being some ‘mutual arrangement’.  They say it’s a marriage of politics, but she doesn’t seem to know much about his causes, or beliefs...” “Or his face!” Naruto scoffed. “And tonight will be the first night that they meet each other,” Sakura picked up again.  “How can a marriage be so...cold?  They’re basically strangers!  It doesn’t make sense...” “Matters concerning the Mist...and love in general, seldom do,” Pakkun quipped.  “But let’s attempt to find some answers.” As the three genin led Pakkun stealthily toward their target campsite, another keen nose caught whiff of their passage. “And just where are you guys sneaking off to...?” Kiba called out, before stepping out of the shadows of some trees ahead of them. “We’re on a mission, Kiba!” Naruto snapped back. “...On our sensei’s orders,” Sasuke added.  “And stealth is key, so don’t cause a scene.”  His eyes flashed briefly with a menacing red hue. “‘Stealth,’ You say...?” Kiba chuckled back, as Akamaru and Pakkun exchanged canine pleasantries, “Then why is Naruto involved?” “Because he’s part of out team, you flea-farm!” Sakura riposted. “Kiba takes great pride in his grooming,” a deep, flat voice lectured from above, before dropping down beside the pink-haired genin.  “There are no fleas on his or Akamaru’s person, ever.” “Shino!” Sakura jumped back, bumping up against a mildly irritated Sasuke.  “You nearly gave me a heart-attack!” “Then Hinata-sama had better come out from behind that camphor tree before anyone else gets scared....” Pakkun suggested. Meekly, Hinata crept from the cover of the wide bole, and stood beside Kiba, her pale cheeks flushed as pink as Sakura’s hair. “Can we trust you to cover our absence in camp?” Sasuke asked. Kiba snorted back in derision.  “With the Hokage and our sensei gone, no one is going to miss us.  So why don’t you tell us more about this ‘mission’?” He bent down to pick up Akamaru, and let him climb onto the top of his hooded head.  “We’re bored.” “How about we don’t!” Naruto countered. “How about we just follow you, and figure it out for ourselves?” Kiba returned.  “Tracking and spying is our speciality, after all.  Not that you three are posing much of a challenge....” “Take that puppy off of your head, and I’ll give you a challenge!” Naruto fumed. “No, wait, Kiba’s right,” Sasuke decided suddenly, putting a hand on Naruto’s shoulder.  “They are better at spying.  They can help us.” “They can be our perimeter watch,” Sakura agreed, “...and our early warning system, for when Asaito’s party returns.” “So you mean to spy on the Land of Water compound,” Shino sussed aloud. “We do,” Sasuke admitted. “On....on....Tsuroyuni-sama.....Asaito?” Hinata asked nervously. “Uh-huh,” Naruto answered.  “Rumor has it that he’s a scum-bag.” “He.  He....is,” Hinata returned, shocking everyone. The formal feast hall was a summoned structure of crimson silk walls and curtained doors.  It seemed a little out of place amongst the yurts and tents surrounding it.  Warm lights from within had turned the long, rectangular space into a massive lamp against the fast-encroaching twilight. Wakame was at a door positioned in the middle of the silken tent, standing with a pair of Shimogakuran shinobi.  She immediately beckoned them. “Ah, Hiruzen-sama!” she greeted warmly.  “We get to sit together, because I made the seating arrangements!  Although, I seem to have neglected to find an honor guard for myself.” “Kurenai-san and Kakashi-san will come to your aid if needed, have no doubts,” Hiruzen assured.  “You don’t foresee any trouble, do you, Wakame-san?” “Only if the dessert chef has been over indulging himself in the brandy again....” Wakame laughed.  “Please, come in...” As they stepped past the scarlet curtains, Kurenai gasped softly in wonder at the interior.  Dozens of golden lanterns suffused the space with a welcoming, radiant light.  A long, ebony table, laid with elegant ceramic, crystal, lacquered chopsticks, and embroidered linen sat at knee-height, surrounded by decadent-looking velvet cushions. Directly opposite them, already seated on two of the cushions, was the Shimokhan and his wife, the Heron Sage-Priestess.  Another pair of Shimogakuran nin stood behind them. “Ah!  Hiruzen-sama!” Ryuumaru greeted heartily, raising his sake cup in salute, as Wakame prompted him to sit down beside her.  “You’ve always been a punctual kind of fellow.  I wish I could say the same of my daughter....or my soon-to-be son-in-law...” he grumbled. “Settle down, beloved, or your sake drinking privileges shall be revoked for the evening,” the almost otherworldly beautiful woman beside him chided softly.  Her skin was as pale as moonlight.  Her hair was a long cascade of lavender that had been plaited into a thick braid, ending in a silver heron ornament.  She was wearing a high-collared hime kimono, in the Yaseiarashi colors of indigo and silver, printed with the three pronged clan seal.  A large banner behind the couple echoed these motifs. And for the first time, Kakashi was able to see the color of her eyes: a solid, arresting shade of golden green that called to mind images of morning sunlight, filtering through summer oak leaves.  And there was a definite power in those eyes... “Renara-sama...” Hiruzen began with a soft sigh, “The rumors are true.  Your beauty is ageless.” The Heron Sage Priestess smiled demurely at the compliment.  “Hiruzen-sama remains ever the flatterer....” “Alright, now, stop flirting with my wife,” the Shimokhan demanded with a playful gruffness.  “Would your shinobi care for some sake before dinner begins?  It will be their last chance to partake of anything until after we’ve eaten...due to some byzantine custom of established marriage etiquette, I’m afraid.” A gentle nudge from Renara prompted him to add, “...or tea, perhaps?  Renara-chan has brought one of her custom blends....” “Some tea would be lovely,” Kurenai answered. “And you....?” Ryuumaru turned his hawk-like eyes on Kakashi. “Out of respect for both my hosts, I will have some of both,” he replied. “Excellent answer!” the Head Ninja of Shimogakure cheered, as a young chamberlain went off to get the drinks. “Now, permit me to make some quick introductions.  First of all, my beautiful wife, the Heron Sage-Priestess, the resplendent Lady Renara,” taking her pale hand and kissing it.  “Mother of the Bride, spouse of a salt-crusted old fool.” “I relish salt,” Renara returned sweetly. “Behind us are Nobu Madarame and Hyozan Shirogane.  Nobu-san was the same year as Miri-chan.  Hyozan-san was a few years behind.” “Was she a close friend of yours?” Kurenai asked, regarding Nobu, and accepting her tea. “We all were close friends,” Hyozan answered for him.  “....Mat-kun, Gek-kun, all of us.  Shimogakure is a small village...” “When Shimokhan-sama said that Miri-sama and I were in the same year, he was speaking definitively,” Nobu added.  “Her and I were the only new genin that year.” “Only two genin in a class?!” Hiruzen gasped.  “I believe this last year, we had nine!” “We often must wait years before assembling a genin team, due to our low population,” Wakame added.  “Some never get the chance, like me.” “Well, I, for one, envy your academy’s ability to devote so much more time to their students,” Hiruzen returned.   “Miri-sama sure didn’t...” Nobu chuckled, before receiving a sharp look from his Head Ninja.  “Sorry, Khan.” The Hokage cleared his throat: “Allow me to introduce the shinobi accompanying me tonight, Kurenai Yuhi, and Kakashi Hatake.  Both, I believe, are about the same year as your daughter and Nobu-san.” “Kakashi.....” Renara began, as if recalling some distant memory, “....of the Copy-Wheel Eye?” “I am called that, yes,” Kakashi returned, as he turned back around from his guarded sip of the proffered sake.  He raised his headband a touch to allow her a glimpse of the eye that gave him that moniker. Renara nodded in gratitude, and continued as he replaced his headband.  A servant exchanged his sake cup for a tea cup.  “...also, Hero of the Sharingan....and White Fang’s Cub...” she elaborated, giving her husband a pointed look. Ryuumaru drew a sharp breath, and locked his gaze on the grey-haired jonin.  “That’s why he’s so damn familiar!  He looks just like him!  You’re Sakumo’s boy!” Kakashi’s exposed eye betrayed his surprise.  “You....knew of my father?” “Knew him?!  I owed the man my life!  It was his talent with a sword that prevented Renara-sama from becoming a widow!”  Ryuumaru’s face fell slightly, as he remembered the nature of his friend’s departure from this world.  “My grief prevented me from uttering his name for nearly three years...after I’d gotten word of his passing.” “Such an incongruent custom, for such an eminently gregarious country,” observed an oily new voice in the tent.  The messenger monk of the Tsuroyuni household had arrived, creeping out of  the shadows of the curtained doors on the far left.   “The incongruence directly reflects our somber attitude toward death, Oda-sama,” Renara returned.  “But let us not speak of such things before a wedding.  It is bad luck.” “I am in agreement, my lady,” Oda took a moment to regard the furnishings, eyeing the empty cushion under the banner bearing the emblem of Water. “We seem to be missing a couple of key guests here tonight,” the unsavory monk observed, “For instance, a bride?” “Shimogakuran brides always enter last, Oda-sama!” came a familiar, strident male voice from the curtained area on the far right.  “Its another of our ‘incongruent customs’....” “Gekido-san!” Wakame censured sharply, as she stood and moved to stand beside a braided cord on the right side of the room, under the Frost banner.  Oda had positioned himself beside a matching one on the left. Ryuumaru chuckled to himself, muttering, “I love that boy,” before being nudged to respectful silence by his wife. Miriyume had been watching from the shadows, Kakashi suddenly realized, straightening his stance.   “Then out of the deepest respect for the bride, let me proudly present the groom, the Lord Asaito Tsuroyuni!  Governor of the Koryomizu Prefecture, in the Land of Water!” Oda announced, and pulled the cord.  The silken curtains parted, from which first stepped a quartet of guards, dressed entirely in black, surmounted by light shinobi plate armor.  The katana that they carried didn’t soften their look any.  Then the groom stepped forward. Tall, slender, and the very essence of every woman’s darkest desire.  The half-smile on his clean-shaven, alabaster face spoke of a supreme self-confidence.  His straight carriage and unconscious grace attested to a noble lineage.  And his eyes: an odd shade of burgundy that made both Wakame and Kurenai gasp at the appealing promises that they hid in their depths, as they swallowed the golden light of the lanterns. His black yukata, embellished with silver symbols of longevity, was worn daringly open, revealing perfectly sculpted pectorals.  His raven, shoulder-length hair was best described as ‘stylishly tousled’.  Kakashi thought he looked like every playboy tempter he’d ever seen splayed over his Icha-Icha reading.... It was all too easy to see the immediate impact his appearance had on women.  Kurenai and Wakame were both agog.  Even the girls on the wait staff were awkwardly gawking.  The only woman who seemed immune to his ‘charms’ was Renara. The uncomfortable silence was broken by the man who had created it. “My heartfelt greetings, honored parents-to-be,” in an authoritative, yet genial tone that carried as easily as a temple bell.  “Long have I desired to meet the people responsible for bringing the Lady Ice Flame into the world.  You have my infinite gratitude,” ending the proclamation with a deeply respectful bow. Ryuumaru looked a little overwhelmed at the pronouncement.  “Well, then....you are most...welcome...” looking desperately to his wife. “Please, sit, and make yourself comfortable,” Renara continued. “Meaning no offense,” Asaito pardoned, “I wish to be standing when I first lay eyes upon my betrothed, if it isn’t too much to ask...?” “His pious discretion over the past few days has surely earned him this right....?” Oda lobbied from his seat beside Hiruzen. “I see no problem with it,” Ryuumaru returned, and nodded to Wakame. “Then it is with equal pride, and pleasure, that I present the Lady Ice Flame, Miriyume Yaseiarashi, the Storm Sage Priestess of Shimogakure!” The cord was pulled, the curtains parted, and the Lady Ice Flame stepped forth.  Only one word could form in Kakashi’s mind: sublime. She was wearing an indigo yukata that melted into the colors of her Land’s famed aurora borealis on the bottom hems of the long, bell sleeves and robe.  An obi of twinkling stars was tied in a butterfly knot right above her shapely, round hips.  Her top was also rather daringly open, permitting a delicious view of her overly generous bosom.  Her long, fiery hair had been pinned up into an elegant coiffure, and was festooned with a variety of ornaments, allowing a rare glimpse of her graceful, slender neck. Kakashi’s idle lungs suddenly sucked in a desperately needed breath, as she stood at the end of the table closest to him.  Her sapphire and emerald eyes were regarding the man that was to be her husband.  They squinted in appraisal. “Here I am,” she announced with a mischievous looking smirk on her plum-lacquered lips.  Her eyes then scanned over the others in the room, and brought a blush to Kakashi’s cheeks when they landed on him. “Your beauty from afar is undeniable, my Lady,” Asaito began, “But at this distance, you are utterly devastating,” placing a long fingered hand over his heart, and sunk to his knees, onto his cushion.  “I very nearly tremble at your majesty.” “She does clean up rather nice, doesn’t she, Mat-kun?” Gekido asided, as he and his teammate, including Aoseishin, of course, flanked Miriyume as she took her seat. “You cut a rather dashing figure, yourself, my Lord,” Miriyume purred, as she toyed with a strand of icy colored jade beads that hung against her bountiful decolletage.  “Very tall....very mysterious.  I am a fan of both these traits.” Kakashi bit his lip, powerless to do much else. “I lament the mystery by which I have been forced to live,” Asaito returned, his wine-dark eyes riveted to her.  “It has resulted in a lonely life.” “But there is word of great changes in the Land of Water,” Hiruzen began.  “New attitudes of acceptance and tolerance?” “Such changes–welcome as they are–can not happen overnight,” Asaito returned. “There are still many who would thwart, and even harm, my Lord simply because of his kekkei genkai...minor that it is,” Oda added. “And yet, you would request that my daughter, who is possessed of two kekkei genkai, of significant merit, tie her fate to this risk?” Ryuumaru countered. “Miriyume-sama’s safety would be paramount to my own, I can assure you,” Asaito returned, looking his prospective father-in-law directly in the eye.  “My island is a fortress that has never been breached.  Kirigakure can’t even make such a boast.” “No, they certainly can’t,” the Hokage seconded softly, giving a sly, sidelong glance to the man who had broken that village’s defenses numerous times, who was standing behind Wakame.  He noticed that Kakashi looked a little paler than normal... “And I am rather good at taking care of myself, Father,” Miriyume reminded playfully. “You most certainly can, my darling girl,” Ryuumaru agreed.  “But let a father indulge some concern for your well-being every once in awhile.” “Let us get this dinner started already, shall we?” Renara suggested, nodding at Wakame who got up again to ring a ceremonial gong. As a flurry of serving staff entered the room, Kakashi focused on projecting a stoic front in the light of this grueling torment.  He’d been hoping for some pudgy, over-privileged, noble prefect who had been awarded a jonin status simply because of caste, but this man looked like he could put up a good fight when motivated.  He also seemed to be rather attractive...  At least, Kurenai seemed to think so, what with her frequent glances in Asaito’s direction. Kakashi turned back toward Miriyume, desperate for some small clue to her inner thoughts.  She was radiant, shining brighter than any of the golden lanterns above them.  He watched as she gave Aoseishin a small scratch behind his thick, pointy ear, as he curled up at her side.  Again, her casual attitude in the face of rampant formality made him smile.  He began to feel the forbidding tendrils of his compounding misery loosen and fall away in the comforting light of her presence.  Was this her chakra at work again? He pulled the headband off of his left eye, and saw the languid curtains of iridescent light that always seemed to accompany her, suffusing her with natural chi, and winding about her companions.  Every once in awhile, a ribbon of her light would meander his direction, and grant him a light tingle of chakra, but her spiritual energy sharing seemed to concentrate mostly on the spaces beside her.  A steady rivulet of light seemed to be flowing toward her parents, however.  An alternating current effect from her father’s own abilities, perhaps? Ryuumaru’s chakra had an amber aura, and a more focused, tighter control.  He grounded his superfluous energy, and kept the nimbus that surrounded him snug against himself.  He seemed more of a furnace than a wellspring. The Heron Priestess received a small amount of his run-off energy, which transmuted to a pale jade glow.  The contemplation of which produced a calming, focusing effect upon Kakashi’s heart, reminding him of his official purpose: assess the danger.  He turned toward Asaito: There was a dull ember in his strange, chartreuse eyes that never seemed to stray beyond Miriyume for long.  He was indeed ‘desirous’ of this union.  The hunger behind them was too easily read.  Every once in awhile, Kakashi could see a flare of some kind of energy, lurking behind them, in response to a wayward eddy of Miriyume’s chakra.  Was this Asaito’s kekkei genkai? “This tea...” the Hokage began, savoring its scent as the others were being served.  “Such a familiar aroma....what is it?” “Its northern ginseng,” Renara answered.  “Renowned for its....stimulative properties.” “As if Miri-chan needs that...” Gekido quipped to Matsuko, who smacked the back of his head. On the other side of the table, one of Asaito’s personal guard stepped forward to take a sip from the tea cup offered to his employer. “We are not in the habit of poisoning our own food, Lord Asaito,” Ryuumaru announced gruffly, clearly insulted. “My deepest apologies, Yaseiarashi-sama,” Asaito begged, as he was handed the tea cup.  “I have always had a food-taster, for as long as I can remember.” “It’s a commonly instituted custom in the Land of Water,” Oda defended.  “One that I insist that my Lord practice at all times.” “It’s nothing personal, I assure you,” Asaito added. “They speak the truth, Father, Mother,” Miriyume vouched, as she sipped her tea.  Kakashi watched as she closed her eyes as she drank and swallowed.... like she was kissing the teacup.  He followed the exquisite contraction of her neck muscles....savored the gentle compression of her full, plum-hued lips to clear the moisture that had remained there.  “Everyone is paranoid.” “A habit born of the days of the Bloody Mist Academy, no doubt...” Kakashi offered, forgetting his stoicism for a moment.  Hiruzen shot him a concerned look.  Honor guards were only supposed to speak when directly addressed. “No doubt,” Miriyume granted with a nod. Hiruzen looked to the Oda and Asaito, correctly intuiting the spirit of Kakashi’s observation.  Oda was scowling.  Asaito’s face still bore that neutral smile, but his eyes seemed to grow a few shades darker, as he turned his attention to Hatake. Gods.  Of all the times for ‘Cold-Blooded Kakashi’ to warm up!  He could at least have the sense to hide these feelings in the presence of this notoriously mistrusting, and ever calculating man!  Time for a strategic conversation shift... “Has the Lord Tsuroyuni ever been to the Land of Fire, before now?” the Hokage asked, drawing Asaito’s predatory gaze away from his jonin.  The wait staff began to serve the soup course. “No, I have not,” Asaito answered.  “As a member of the First Caste, I am kept busy with administration duties.  I rarely have the chance to travel.” “Is that to say that you will be denying my daughter a proper Honeymoon?” Ryuumaru asked sternly.  “Shimogakuran’s take such decisions as an ill omen.” Oda lowered his head, and muttered softly in Hiruzen’s direction: “What don’t you take as an ill-omen...?” “Not at all,” Asaito smiled, after he flashed his monk a venomous glare.  “It will just be within the confines of our large and varied landscape.  There are several options that I’ve considered...” Miriyume gave a loud, exasperated sigh from across the table, and bit the inside of her lower lip, creating the most beautiful pout that Kakashi had ever seen.  “And here I was hoping for the Thousand Tongues....” Her father choked on his tea.  Wakame’s jaw dropped.  Her mother blushed and censured her with her own name.  Kakashi was struck numb, and nearly fell over.  Gekido, of course, erupted into laughter. “Um....Miri-chan...?” Matsuko was very confused.  “Did you just say...?” The Inuzuka won back the struggle to speak momentarily; “That’s probably....a discussion that you should have....at another time...!”  He shrieked the last part, and lost himself to laughter all over again. Aoseishin whined in confusion. Asaito looked pleasantly amused, raising a perfectly arched eyebrow. “I’m talking about a resort in the Kingdom of the Moon, you perverts!” Miriyume snapped. “Oh, thank Naru-kami....” Ryuumaru sighed. “It’s a series of sacred pools, connected by waterfalls,” the storm sage continued, “...which are said to be so naturally aerated that soaking in them feels like a thousand little tongues, licking your entire body.” There, Ice Flame thought inwardly.  That should cement his attention... “That’s still hardly a fitting subject for dinner, my dear,” Renara scolded gently. “Sounds like an experience I need,” Kurenai chuckled. “I may have to arrange a holiday for myself,” Hiruzen smiled up at the astute jonin, then regarded Kakashi, who still seemed to be reeling from Miriyume’s initial pronouncement. That was the Hatake clan for you: Excellent ninja, deplorable social skills.  No mystery as to why the clan was so small in number... “Kakashi,” the Hokage whispered softly, attempting to pull his eyes away from the Lady Ice Flame.  Perhaps he should have gone with a genin honor guard instead... “So....you’re Kakashi?” Asaito began, on hearing the Hokage’s attempt at discretion.  “Oda-sama has told me that you have done the Land of Water a great service, by ridding us of a certain notorious swordsman....?” “It is true,” Kakashi answered, and turned his Sharingan on Asaito’s burgundy eyes.  “Zabuza Momochi is no more.” “I am glad to hear of it,” Asaito returned flatly.  “The Demon of the Mist was....troublesome.” The Sharingan told him that he wasn’t lying.  It also told him that this man was far more dangerous than Zabuza ever had been.  The brief glimpse into his eerie eyes had landed him on the edge of a yawing chasm of utter void.  Bereft of love, hate, or emotion at all.  It was a coldness that had no place in the human heart.  Kakashi nearly shuddered in response. “Oda-sama also tells me that you have balked at the mention of a reward, but, I am a man of–“ he flicked his cold, cruel eyes at Miriyume briefly–“no ‘little’ means,” he announced playfully.  “Name your prize, and it is yours.” Kakashi was scowling so hard beneath his mask that his mouth and cheeks ached with the unconscious exertion.  The expression was fast creeping into his eyes. How dare he! Calling him out in front of his Hokage....in front of Miriyume, he seethed inwardly.  It was a stinging insult to shinobi character to insist that one fought only for money or reward! This scum wasn’t worthy of the title of jonin, or even shinobi.  And he certainly didn’t merit the Lady Ice Flame. “There is nothing I want that is in your power to give,” Kakashi carefully replied, and resumed his stoic posture. “Kakashi is a man of modest means, Lord Asaito,” Hiruzen placated, as he finished his bowl of miso and leek, “...and great integrity.  His devotion to duty is unparalleled in Konohagakure....” “...and as I said before,” Kakashi commandeered, to Sarutobi’s chagrin, “The safe return of my students was all the reward that I required.  So, please, stop offering.” “Very well, I tried,” Asaito sighed, and threw up his hands as the soup bowls were cleared. “Every man to his own peculiarities,” Ryuumaru observed aloud, and smiled warmly at Kakashi.  “ So long as they don’t harm anyone.  And I have the highest admiration for a shinobi who puts such importance on the welfare of their team, so I’ll be pouring you a cup of my private reserve whiskey later...and don’t you dare refuse me!” “I wouldn’t dream of it,” Kakashi returned, and reflexively looked to Miriyume–who was looking back, and with a rather wide-eyed expression.  Her arrested attention sent a twinge of electricity through his nerves, making him stagger a little. “You...and your team killed Zabuza?” Miriyume asked gently. “We...ushered him, and Haku, to their graves, my lady,” Kakashi replied even softer. She looked up to Matsuko and Gekido in turn, as if sharing a poignant collective memory.  “We tangled with them...a couple of times.  Only narrowly avoiding disaster.  I believe I’ll be drinking a toast to you as well...” Kakashi felt the tingling touch of her ambient chakra as she willed a luminescent ribbon his way.  His left eye permitted him to see it as it wound about his chest, emulating a hug.  He sighed in its embrace, at it infused him with renewed energy and hope.  Had the ‘kraken incident’ been forgiven? He’d send the remaining Seven Swordsmen single-handedly to their graves if it would win him more of her approval. The moment of private ecstasy was thwarted by Asaito:  “Which reminds me....” commanding the room’s attention, as the main course was brought out.  “I have very special gift for us alone to share, my darling.”  He then gestured to one of his guards. The man produced a blue glass wine bottle, painted with water lilies, and held it cradled in his hands as if it were a sacred object. “This,” Asaito continued, “...is a very rare, and very good bottle of Kirian sparkling wine, crafted by the famed winery of the Rolling Fog islands, set down in the time of the Nidame Mizukage.  Only a handful remain, and I’d like to share this one with you, my sparkling diamond of the Frost.” All eyes watched as the bottle was reverently opened, and poured into first Asaito’s crystal glass, and then Miriyume’s.  Both raised their goblets in salute to one another. “Kanpai!” Asaito began, and drank deeply while keeping his eyes on Miriyume, savoring the taste of the liquid, and the image of the woman equally. “Kanpai!” she echoed, clearly intrigued by the fizzy drink.  She brought the glass to her lips, but a swift hand snatched it away before it made contact.  She turned to confront the thief, but Gekido had already finished half of it. “You know,” handing the remainder of the wine back to an irate Miriyume, “...that is really good!”  He then turned a fierce glare upon Asaito, and added: “Nothing personal!”

[loekas]

Headcanon about the Third Hokage (for genericnaruto)

Prepare for a long rant about the Third, because I have so many feelings about that guy.

So to start with, I agree completely with your opinion that he’s a hypocrite and incompetent. It’s just that I don’t think he was always like that. 

When you look at the mistakes he’s made in canon, one of the things that’s always struck me is that most of them happen AFTER he comes out of retirement. We don’t really learn what he was like as a leader before his second term.

Not beyond his reputation as a good and compassionate leader.

My personal headcanon? His reputation was true. Relatively speaking, at least.

Let’s look at the world the Third grew up in. He was born just a little after Konoha was founded. During the First Shinobi World War, when he was just a young man (don’t know his exact age, but judging from his appearance he can’t have been older than 25 at the most) Tobirama appointed him as the next Hokage.

Now, the Third might’ve been taught by Hashirama and Tobirama, but he’s still inexperienced as a leader. I won’t deny that he was groomed for the position, but there’s a difference between training for something and actually doing it.

So we have a young man who’s appointed as the next leader of a still relatively young society.  More specifically, he’s the next leader of a military dictatorship of magical spies/mercenaries that’s in the middle of the largest conflict the world has ever seen. Yeah, ninja’s have always been hostile, but before the founding of the Hidden Villages the scale of conflict was limited. Individual Clans might go to war with each other, but they could never reach the manpower/firepower the Villages now have at their disposal. 

Canon says that the First Shinobi World War ended with an armistice, and that all Great Villages were on relatively footing with each other. This means that despite his lack of experience, the Third somehow managed to keep Konoha on even footing with the other Great Villages during the greatest war in recorded history. He doesn’t lead Konoha to victory, but given that none of the other Villages do either I don’t think that can considered a failure of leadership. Was he perfect? No. Did he make mistakes? Absolutely. But I headcanon that given the circumstances, he did more than just good. He did great.

This was very much a trial of fire, and I think it marked the Third for the rest of his life. It taught him both success and failure, and it ended in a compromise instead of a decisive victory.

Now, I’m not going to delve into his personal life. I’m focusing on him as a leader of a military dictatorship that produces child soldiers, in a world where this system is an improvement to the old one. 

But I will say one thing about the Third and the Sannin. Yes, he favored Orochimaru and wanted him to succeed him as Hokage, but when you consider how the Third himself was treated, this makes perfect sense. Canon states that the Third himself was so talented that he drew Hashirama’s eye, and ever since then he obviously started being groomed for the position of Hokage. He was a student to both the First and Second. 

The Third got preferential treatment and it ended with a competent leader for Konoha, so I think his reasoning was this; It worked once, why wouldn’t it work again?

Does this mean the Third has an ego? I believe that he did. Not quite to the point of arrogance, he doesn’t led his ego blind him to his faults. I’m working the premise that he’s a good leader, but that doesn’t mean he’s perfect. He has his flaws, he makes mistakes, and he knows that. But he’s also brilliant and he knows that as well.

Seriously, with his upbringing, how can you expect him to not have an ego? Tell someone they’re exceptional long enough and they’re going to believe it. (Hashirama and Minato with their humbleness and Tobirama with his realistic assessment of himself, are very much the exception, not the rule)

Then the Second Shinobi World War happens, twenty years after the last. That’s enough time to build up manpower, but it’s also enough time to give the illusion of lasting peace.

A peace that’s shattered by another World War.

Nagato says that the Second War was caused by Konoha, but I don’t know whether to believe him or not. I mean, he doesn’t exactly offer an unbiased view. Still, even if you do believe him, I don’t think it’s as simple as; The Third decides to invade Place X.

Given the lack of information we have about this period in time, I’m going to leave the specifics of the politics and motivations behind this war to whoever feels like creating headcanon about them.

What we do know from canon, is that Konoha… well, they didn’t come out unscathed, but compared to the other participants, Konoha seems to have done well. In the grand scheme of things, I mean.

I’m not going to speculate on the Third’s precise actions during the war either, but I headcanon that he made sound tactical decisions and was pretty damn ruthless.

Does his ruthlessness make him a bad person? No. At least, not when you consider the warlike, dictatorial and militaristic world he grew up in. Compared to the Bloody “Let’s Kill Off Half Our Potential Manpower As A Graduation Test” Mist or Hidden “I Will Kidnap Your Bloodline Holders And Breed Them” Cloud, the Third is a very moral and compassionate person, and I believe that Konoha does reflect that under his rule. But you also have to remember that that this is a world with wildly different morals and general views on life than ours.

So while I believe that the Third was an emphatic and kind person and Konoha under his leadership does reflect that, he’s still a the ruler of a military dictatorship made up of spies/mercenaries in a world where this system is the norm. Because of this, I also believe that he had a ruthless streak a mile wide. Why?

Without being ruthless, a green leader wouldn’t have been able to keep his Village afloat during the First War.

But the First War happened two decades ago. By the time the Second begins, the Third has grown into his position as Hokage. He’s more experienced, more confident, knows the tricks of the trade, and this is why he manages to ensure that Konoha comes out on top (relatively speaking) at the end of the Second War  (also thanks to Tsunade and the revolutionary changes canon says she made to the medical sector, but for argument’s sake let’s say the Third’s own actions were just as important to getting this “positive” result)

This also means that we now have a leader who’s led his village through two wars large enough to be called World Wars. Even ignoring his personal life and all it’s associated tragedies, the guy is going to have Issues like Whoa.

But let’s assume that he’s still a good leader. That even though he does have flaws and blind spots, that while he has a myriad of coping mechanisms for his PTSD, he still makes rational and compassionate decisions. That while he’s scarred by both his personal and professional tragedies, he isn’t hateful or bitter. Let’s assume he can still balance his personal desire for compassion with the practical need for ruthlessness this world demands of him. 

Enter the Third Shinobi World War. As the Naruto wiki puts it: Because of a decline in national power, the reign of the Five Great Nations was crumbling. Along their borders, skirmishes with smaller nations broke out all the time. The prolonged war gradually spread its fires far and wide, until at last it developed into the Third Shinobi World War. This war turned into an unprecedented war of attrition, tormenting all nations with a shortage of war potential. Not even excluding a great power like Konoha, very young children, some of whom were barely out of the Academy were thrown unto the battlefield, eventually losing their short lives during the war.

And this. This is the straw that breaks the camel’s back. It’s a war even worse than the last. It goes against the very reason Konoha was founded in the first place. The reason he still remembers his teachers speak of.

To ensure no more children die.

What’s defined as a child in a brutal world like this is why kids graduate as soldiers at twelve, but the Third War destroyed even that minimum age. It gutted manpower to the point that they were forced to produce children like Kakashi.

And the Third, well. The Third is just done. He’s can’t take the pressure anymore, can no longer cope with the weight of leading Konoha without shattering into a thousand pieces. He gets through the Third Shinobi War by the skin of his teeth, but he does manage it. With a few glaring exceptions (Sakumo) he’s still a good leader (by which I mean a good leader to his forces in the context of a brutal all out war between armies of spies/mercenaries with magical powers)

But the moment it’s over, the Third is done. He can’t keep doing this. 

Fortunately, he doesn’t have to. No, Orochimaru isn’t suitable as Hokage, the Third knows that by now. He doesn’t think that Orochimaru is evil yet, but he’s definitely not Hokage material.

But there’s another bright young man, a genius by every account. Someone who’s made a name for himself in every Village as a ruthless opponent, but is also compassionate and unjaded (insofar as it’s possible to be unjaded in the ninja world). Someone who in some ways reminds him of himself and both his teachers.

Someone who can carry this impossible dream for him.

So the Third hands the hat to Minato and is relieved. It’s no longer his responsibility to keep the dream of Konoha alive, no longer his responsibility to always do what is best for the Village.

The Third goes into retirement with a smile.

The Kyuubi Attack happens.

Suddenly, just when the Third has started to relax, just when he’s gotten into the mindset of; The future of the Village is in good hands and it’s no longer my responsibility… he’s expected to do it all over again.

Except he can’t. He’s tired, worn out, he’s almost sixty years old for pity’s sake. Even ignoring his personal life and all the complexities that brings, he’s already spent more than half his life as Hokage. He got Konoha through all of the Shinobi World Wars.

In theory it’s a good idea to reinstall the Third. He has the experience and the international reputation, and he’s already proven himself as an awesome leader. 

In practice? Not so much.

The Third is a broken old man when he takes to the office again. This isn’t a green but spirited young man, nor is this an experienced leader who has every confidence in himself. This is an man who has lived through three World Wars and can’t find the energy to do it all over again.

The thing is, the Third loves the dream of peace, he truly does. He just doesn’t think it’s possible to achieve. Brief periods of it, sure, but not true peace. Not the kind Hashirama wished for. What Konoha was founded for in the long run.

Everything in the Third’s life has proven to him that lasting peace is impossible. War has defined his leadership from start to finish. Why would he ever assume there won’t be another? 

He can’t do it again, can’t see everything the Village builds during those brief periods of peace be torn down again.

Except there’s no one to take over from him.

So the Third does his best, but his best is no longer good enough. He becomes a huge hypocrite (he always was a little) so he can cope with all the horrible/ruthless things he once more has to do in the name of the good of the Village, and even then he often doesn’t have what it take to make the hard/ugly yet necessary decisions. Which comes to bite him in the ass later on (Uchiha Massacre) He also turns a blind eye to things he never would’ve before (Danzo) because he no longer has the strength to confront them head on and deal with the fallout.

I don’t think he’s doing it consciously, he rationalizes that his decisions are mostly as sound as they were in his prime. Softer than they should be at times, but nothing too serious. He still considers himself a good leader.

He isn’t. He’s a tired old man who just wants to hang up his hat, but his sense of duty won’t let him. Not unless he can find a worthy successor.

And this is why the Third has a reputation of competence but a post-Kyuubi history of incompetence. His reputation was real before that.

At least, that’s my headcanon on the issue.

Now, on to your interpretation of the Third’s motives to release Kakashi from ANBU. You made an argument that he did it for practical reasons/the good of the Village and that Kakashi’s happiness was an unexpected and irrelevant consequence.

While I do understand the reasoning, I argue that it’s the other way around.

Kakashi is Minato’s last surviving student. Sure, the Third didn’t have a mentor bond with Minato, but Minato was his chosen successor. The one he trusted to keep the dream of Konoha alive. That means more than just a little.

So Kakashi is one of the Third’s blind spots. The Third incapable of thinking about Kakashi in a rational way because Kakashi is a walking trigger to so many of his Issues. That’s without adding in Sakumo and Kakashi’s lost childhood of war. 

The Third wants Kakashi to be happy, not for Kakashi’s sake but because it soothes his own guilty conscience. Oh, part of him wants Kakashi to be happy for Kakashi’s own sake, but that’s not his main motivation.

If it were up to the Third, he would’ve released Kakashi from ANBU the minute he was reinstated as Hokage. It wouldn’t have been motivated (consciously) by concern for Kakashi’s well being, but by a desire to make himself feel better.

Except the Kyuubi Attack just happened. Konoha hasn’t just lost their beloved leader and living legend, they’ve lost a great amount of manpower as well. And that so soon after the Third Shinobi War. 

After the Kyuubi Attack, Konoha is weak. It’s an easy target for the other Villages.

So the Third puts the good of the Village first, puts it above his own desires and above individual happiness, and keeps Kakashi, one of his most valuable assets, where his skills are best utilized. 

Except the Third is no longer a good leader, so he doesn’t try to help Kakashi heal mentally in any way. Not out of maliciousness, but because he can no longer find the strength to do so. The Third utilizes Kakashi as a soldier but doesn’t offer him care as a person.

I headcanon that pre-Kyuubi Third would have. He would’ve kept Kakashi in ANBU as well, he was too practical not to. But he would’ve reached out to him as a person as well. Pre-Kyuubi Third would’ve at least tried to help Kakashi deal with Minato’s loss.

Post-Kyuubi Third doesn’t.

You said that Kakashi is just going through the motions. I think the Third in his second term is as well. He just doesn’t realize it/want to admit it.

Except the longer Kakashi stays in ANBU, the longer the Third sees Kakashi just going through the motions with nothing to live for, the more he sees himself in Kakashi. The more the Third’s own Issues weigh on him. 

To the Third, Kakashi is a symbol of shattered hope. If Kakashi is happy, it would mean that there’s still a chance for that symbol to recover. If Kakashi is happy, there’s stil a chance that the Third can be happy as well.

Kakashi isn’t happy.

Following anime canon, Kakashi gets discharged from ANBU right after the Uchiha Massacre. While I usually don’t like fillers, I do headcanon this so hard.

Because the Uchiha Massacre is when the Third himself realizes that he’s no longer a good leader. The fact that he didn’t manage to find another way, that the situation could devolve to the point where he felt that the Uchiha Massacre was necessary for the good of the Village...

It breaks him all over again. 

Except in his eyes there’s still no one who can take over. There’s no one that has the right blend of power, ruthlessness and compassion. 

No one he trusts to keep the dream of Konoha alive.

So drowning in guilt and despair, the Third rationalizes to himself; Kakashi expects to die in the line of duty and won’t ever have kids to pass his skills on. All his knowledge will be lost when he dies. Which means it’s for the good of the Village to take him out of ANBU and give him a team to teach his skills to.

No matter that Konoha just lost a great amount of manpower and their internal security is thrown into complete disarray because of the vacuum created by the absence of the entire Police Force.

This is why even though Kakashi is one of, if not the most productive/successful ninja ever, that his mission record is off the charts, that he’s now the only openly loyal Sharingan user left, and that even though from a practical point of view the leader of a military dictatorship really can’t afford to do it at this point in time, Kakashi still gets taken out of ANBU and put in a position where his skills are basically wasted. 

Why does the Third decides to order him to take on/test a genin team in particular? Because he’s an old man and looks back on the days where the Sannin were just his tiny students as some of the most wonderful days of his life. The days before everything went wrong. He hopes that by giving him a team, Kakashi will experience the same kind of happiness he once did.

He hopes that it will make Kakashi happy because then maybe the Third can be happy too. Maybe then the Third will then be able to soothe his guilty conscience.

Maybe he’ll be able to convince himself that things are getting better instead of worse.

And that’s the end of my headcanon about the Third. Wow, this turned even longer than expected. Anyway, if you have any thoughts about this, I’d love to hear them.

Hope you enjoyed!

[ahkaraii]

“Why are there naked old people on my dash?!” well, uh, you see, I’m working on this height chart for all the clan heads as a personal reference, and it became more of a comparing body types thing, and then I was derailed from finishing the rest of the characters by how much I adored the fact that Hiruzen is so damn short. Like, he seems normal looking next to his council/genin team buddies, but he’s actually a mc-shorty ninja (that is HELLA RIPPED for an ossan). gahahaha I love it!!!

anyway, here’s what i’ve hastily completed. left to right*, the asshole council squad of “how the fuck are we still friends again”: danzo, hiruzen, homura, koharu

some ranty longpost headcanon shit belowww

Hiruzen is so tired of everyone’s shit, he was actually looking forward towards retiring when the freaking Third War crashed into the scene a few years earlier than expected. The candidate he’d had his eyes on was none other than Uchiha Fugaku, since he wanted to finally fulfill the Shodaime’s dream of putting an Uchiha as Hokage and Fugaku was a good man and a great shinobi. Alas, that fell through when Fugaku supported Sakumo and Sakumo fucked up and they both lost grace with the council. Prior to that, during the Second War when Fugaku was a shrimp and therefore not even on his radar, Hiruzen was actually looking forward to shuffling his position over to his best friend Danzo, but Danzo got caught in a nasty explosion and lost his limbs and... kind of lost his head, too. So Hiruzen mentally stepped back from that landmine and held on to the position a little longer. And then, whoops, Third War -- you can’t change hands during a war, he knows this because HE got the reins smack in the middle of a war and god, it sucked. No, best wait until the war’s done... (I’ll never stop being Hokage, huh? hiruzen bemoans to himself. he just wants to retire. someone let this old man retire.)

Oh yeah! I know Danzo isn’t missing any limbs during this time because in the anime flashback to Amegakure he’s got ‘em all, but fuck it, I do what I want, Thor and I want Danzo to be a Second War amputee. He and Orochimaru start shmoozing around this time because he wants his limbs back, and Orochimaru is like *flutters eyelashes* have you heard of our patron lord of miraculous pseudoscientific cures, Senju Hashirama’s stem cells? I have *shifty eyes* the goods, if you know what I mean and Danzo is like, oh my GOD let me throw all of Konoha’s funding at you, give me the mad, mad science!! And so they are sekretly besties around this time.

I headcanon Homura was chosen by the Nidaime to be on his team because he was the smartest up-and-coming shinobi of his generation, and this still holds even in his elder years. If a book exists, Homura has read it. (That includes Jiraiya’s eclectic works). He spends his time shuffling between the Codebreaking department and the Konoha library. He isn’t a terribly good shinobi, but he is a stellar scholar and he also shmoozes a lot with Orochimaru because Orochi is really into scrolls. (You can start to see why Orochimaru was even considered as a Hokage candidate -- he slimed his way into the council’s good graces). Homura is of the very few that have access to all the forbidden scrolls of Konoha and have actively read them, so he’s kind of a treasure trove of knowledge if you know how to get him to talk. I also like to think he and the young Minato are friends, because Minato is ALSO a scroll lover, and they geek out over sealing jutsu over tea and mochi whenever they cross paths.

Koharu is also a retired shinobi but she’s actually a frequent face over at T&I (she is a Torture specialist) whenever she’s not schmoozing with the Damiyo and the Land of Fire’s richest as Hiruzen’s public face and professional socialite. She was chosen by the Nidaime for being the most clever kunoichi of her generation, and she is very clever. She also always has a cutting and cruel comment up her sleeve so don’t fuck with her, she will wreck you. She and Danzo used to get along like a house on fire back in the day, and yes, I don’t care, I headcanon she and Danzo are Hagane Kotetsu’s maternal grandparents though they never claimed Kotetsu’s mom as their daughter because who the hell has time for children when you're politically and economically fucking the world for the benefit of your village (and your own). She has the power to pull you up or utterly destroy you, so if you wanna get anywhere in the Konoha elite you gotta get on her good side.

They still all somehow genuinely consider each other friends even though they backstab each other on a weekly basis. Those close to any of them kind of think they’re all having a weird on-off 4-way affair with each other and have been for the past 40 years.

Their personal ANBU know they all have a weird 4-way affair, lmao.