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tsarisfanfiction · 3 years ago

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21 Asks: Fanfiction Q&A

Well I got tagged by @onereyofstarlight @gumnut-logic and @janetm74 for this, so here goes (answering on fic blog, because... fic!)

This is going to take a while, but it’s also going to be fun, so let’s get started :D

1. What fandoms have you written for?

Uhh... several. In alphabetical order because that makes my brain happy, we have:

Published: Bleach, Boku no Hero Academia (My Hero Academia), D.Gray-Man, Detective Conan, Flight Rising, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Märchen Awakens Romance (MÄR), Mortal Instruments, Naruto, One Piece, Team Fortress 2, Thunderbirds, Twilight.

WIPs (Unpublished): Avatar: The Last Airbender, Dragon Orb, Flame of Recca, HunterXHunter, Inuyasha, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventures (Part 7/Steel Ball Run), Kuroko no Basuke (Kuroko’s Basketball), MI High, Yu-Gi-Oh (Duel Monsters, GX, 5Ds), Yuri On Ice

A couple of those are only because of crossovers... which we’ll get to later. Similarly, a bunch of the unpublished I have no plans to publish, but I’ve written them so they count in my head.

2. How many works do you have on AO3 &/or FFNet?

AO3: 150 FFN: 149 (the difference is due to a co-authored fic with @lenle-g on AO3, because FFN doesn’t support co-authorship)

(Tumblr has many more because so many of those fics are actually fic collections)

3. What are your top 3 fics by kudos on AO3 &/or favs on FFNet?

AO3 Kudos:

Tales From The Heart (1449)

The Combat School (524)

Succor (348)

FFN Favourites:

The Combat School (681)

Tales From The Heart (185)

Succor (136)

4. Which 3 fics have the least kudos & favs?

AO3 Kudos:

Wishes of the Dark (0)

4am Forever / Leave Out All The Rest (2)

FFN Favourites:

A Little Fall of Rain / He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother, Leave Out All The Rest / See You In The Sky / Stolen Shadows all have 0

5. Which Fic has the most comments and which has the least?

AO3 Comments:

Tales From The Heart (618)

37 have 0

FFN Reviews:

The Combat School (608)

After Sundown / Heroes Made of Gas / Splatter / Stolen Shadows (0)

6. Which complete fic do you wish had gotten more attention?

I mean, I always like attention :P That’s a hard question because my fandoms vary wildly in size, so for example, while Tales is one of my most popular fics, it’s still pretty tiny in comparison to the big One Piece fics out there, but ones like Grounded numerically barely rate while actually getting the attention of a much larger proportion of the fandom.

Honestly the fic that’s getting less of a response than I’d hoped is still incomplete... but I think I’ll go with Vulnerabilities. It’s an older fic, and a drabble collection rather than a cohesive story, but it never really got any traction.

7. Have you written any crossovers?

Ah yes, crossovers. I’ve got three published at the moment:

The Combat School (Harry Potter/D.Gray-Man)

Vampire vs. Shinobi (Naruto/Twilight)

Stolen Shadows (Flight Rising/Thunderbirds)

As far as WIPs go, I have (who knows when or if I’ll actually finish or post these):

Alliance (Naruto/Team Fortress 2)

Black Phoenix (Harry Potter/D.Gray-Man)

Legend of the Exorcists (D.Gray-Man/Yu-Gi-Oh/GX/5Ds)

Untitled (Avatar: The Last Airbender/Thunderbirds)

Untitled (Inuyasha/Lord of the Rings)

8. What is the craziest fic you’ve written?

What even counts as crazy?

Okay, I say that, but Vampire vs. Shinobi is a stupid, Twilight-bashing, parody crossover thing so. Probably that.

9. What’s the fic you’ve written with the saddest ending?

Ahaha. There are a few. All of these have MCD warnings (two are canonical), two of which are suicide, so watch out if you’re poking around:

Deception (canon)

I Promised

The Fish and the Mermaid

The Light That Shines Twice As Bright... (suicide)

Torture (suicide)

Unwanted

Whirlwind (canon)

10. What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

Tsari likes positive endings. I’m not actually sure what the happiest is, though. I often write... hopeful, rather than happy? The happiest I can think of... is a WIP that I have the ending planned for but that’s spoilers~

I’ll go with Riding the Dragon, I think. But honestly just take your pick out of the family fluff.

11. What is your smuttiest fic?

Tsari does not post smut. She has written some, she has not posted it and will keep it that way.

Out of the posted stuff... there is kissing in Briefings?

12. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

I think when you hit 100+ fics, you’re lucky if you don’t. I’ve had a few here and there, but they’re ignorable

13. What is the nicest comment you’ve received?

Oh boy. I have had many nice comments, but I am going to highlight this one in particular because it’s the one that forever and always springs to mind when I get asked this:

Wow. That was pretty great. You writing managed to keep everyone in character, and still kept the story from falling flat. It's almost as if you stole a page from Cassie's story, and stuck it here. I really want to see more from you.

On: A Tradition of Pride

It’s nowhere near the longest I’ve got, and long comments make me super happy, but this one? Being told it fits in with the original book? Makes me beam like an idiot every time.

14. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

[insert eyeroll here]

I have had fics reposted, yes. Tales From The Heart and Whirlwind have both found themselves posted on sites I don’t use - I managed to get Tales taken down, but the site hosting Whirlwind isn’t paying me any attention.

15. How many fics do you have marked as incomplete?

Nine, which is both too many and not as many as I thought. Although if you ignore the collection fics - Tales From The Heart and Behind The Scenes, which are basically eternal wips - it’s seven.

16. Which of the WIPS will most likely be finished first?

Just A Bruise, because it’s already just about finished, @lenle-g and I just need to tie up the final chapter and editing the rest of it before it’s posted.

17. Which WIP are you looking forward to finishing?

Long Way From Home, because it’s going to be huge and finishing that will feel amazing. But it’s going to take a long time.

18. Is there a WIP that you’re considering abandoning?

Nope. I will, one day, finish all of them. Yes, even Uchiha Itachi.

19. Which complete fic would you consider rewriting?

Complete? None. However, the above mentioned Uchiha Itachi is being (very slowly) rewritten - and is actually on its second rewrite - because it pains me in its current state.

20. Which complete fic is your favourite?

Asking the hard questions I see. I have a soft spot for In Your Shadow, I admit, although I have several fics that I love (mostly my Military Bros stuff...). Also Tales, although that’s technically not “Complete”.

21. What’s your total published word count?

AO3: 956,962 (I aim to break 1 million by the end of the year... just watch me!)

FFN: 1,102,070 (FFN counts author’s notes, AO3 does not)

If someone is brand new to your writing, what work would you want them to start with to get to know you, your style, what you’re all about?

This is not a numbered question, I see, but it was on the post I copied these from, so I guess this is 21+1 questions!

I’ve answered this before, and honestly I think I’d stick with the same answer - Black Widow. It’s not my biggest fandom. It’s not my most recent work. But it does contain a lot of playing around canon without breaking it.

Although, if someone has the time, Tales From The Heart does great for showcasing the range of things I write. But that’s also 250+ chapters, so probably not a good one to start with.

And this is where I tag people, yes? Not entirely sure who’s been tagged already, but let’s go with @lenle-g @ak47stylegirl @thetwelvecaesars @gaviiadastra @willow-salix @scribeofred

#thunderbirds are go #and various other fandoms i am not tagging them all #ask me #tag game #fanfiction

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lavenderchedder · 4 years ago

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I've been thinkn'...

Ya know, I really want to entertain the idea of Sakura being lesbian/bi and having a loving relationship with Ino, but then I'd have to consider that Sasuke is the reason for majority of her characterization. Like Ino is a loving friend and cared alot for Sakura as kids, but Sakura wasn't...like that in the same way.

Sakura's main goal was Sasuke, and she didn't let anything stand in her way, even if she had to lie or break friendships to get what she wants. I can't remember ever seeing Sakura showing that same kind of love or admiration towards Ino. Hell, even Naruto had feelings for her and did everything to protect her, but that was overshadowed by Sakura's obsession with Sauske, so she paid no attention him in that kind of way. Not to mention that she likes to use him as her personal punching bag (I don't care that it's 'comedy', Naruto doesn't deserve to be hit on like that just because he's a guy). She's shallow and very self-centered, doesn't speak well of her parents and doesn't show alot of empathy towards her comrades or their feelings. That's not a good combo for InoSaku, in which Ino is none of those things I described. Even Ino shared the same love interests in Sasuke, but she wasn't obsessive, and she tried to actually befriend him at some point. Ino has always defended her and tried to be a good friend, even in their 'rivalry' stage, and she truly believed in Sakura, but in Sakura's case all that was thrown out over Sasuke.

People say that SS is what ruined her character, but keep in mind that Sasuke never once looked at Sakura in a romantic way. At best, it was more a sisterly/friendship kind of way, if you ignore their violent history. People need to stop making Sasuke as the reason for her character being horrible as it was. She's the one that pursued him to ridiculous measures. She's the one that forced her feelings onto to him. Hell, most of her motivation behind getting stronger in Shippuden is for Sasuke to acknowledge her. She doesn't understand who Sasuke is, what he went through or his motivations. Her so-called "love" is self-centered and shallow. All she cared about was her feelings, even if Sasuke never reciprocated her, even EXPLICITLY stating that he has no reason to love her and rejecting her numerous times. I would say that SS ruined SASUKE'S characterization, rather, because pairing him with Sakura was just damn disrespectful. Even in Gaiden, I'm sorry, there is no love there between them. Sakura got what she wanted, but at what cost? Even their child probably knows there is no love, if she had to question their marriage.

She's the one that even lied through her teeth about having feelings for Naruto, and it baffles me how some her stans trying to rationalize and twist this as her caring for Naruto. Lying is lying no matter what the reason is. And don't get me started on her poisoning her teammates, putting them at risk, just so she can (foolishly) attempt to 'kill' Sasuke herself, which once again having to be saved by Naruto. Like, Naruto has put up with so much of her bullshit, I'm surprised he hadn't snapped on her at some point. That is not quality traits for friendship, relationships or what have you.

I really wanted to like Sakura and I did at some point, but I'm not about to delude myself into thinking that her becoming lesbian will make her character any better than it is. Because that'll involve rewriting her entire characterization from the beginning. She's not a bad person, but she's done alot of fucked up shit that warrants her being hated on. Kishimoto consistently wrote her this way, and I truly believe that this is what her character is meant to be. Sure the other female characters weren't written to optimal levals, but none aren't as trashed on as Sakura, and I'm not a Sakura hater. She's just...disappointing. Take it as you will.

#not a sakura hater but she needs some work #naruto shippuden #naruto gaiden #sakura haruno #sauske uchiha #i like inosaku but sakura needs some help #anti sasusaku #uzumaki naruto #but not really anti #anti sakura fandom #anti sakura haruno

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manikas-whims · 5 years ago

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Sasusaku prompt 93

A/N: Sorry it took me so long. I haven't written SasuSaku in ages and my writing is still kinda rusty.

So bear with me dear anon.

And prepare yourself for some angst and comfort..:3

Prompt: “Losing you was the most unbearable pain I’ve ever felt.”

Title: Promises

Ship: Sasuke Uchiha X Sakura Haruno

Words: 1938

Rating: T

Sitting on a couch in the lavish, new apartment that he was relocated to, Sasuke Uchiha looked anywhere but at the unexpectedly quiet, pink haired kunoichi right in front of him. For a brief moment, his wandering mismatched orbs met the obsidian ones of a pale guy named Sai, who is supposed to keep an eye on him for his month long house arrest. The weirdly stoic man stared at him from the far end of the living room, where he was standing comfortably with a sketch pad and a brush in hand. Sasuke averted his attention right back to his ex-teammate. Ever since his pardon (courtesy of Kakashi) for his many unwarranted crimes during his years as a missing S class nin, he had noticed the subtle change in her behavior. Its understandable that they aren’t the same teens who were put together under team 7 yet Sakura was never this guarded around him. It was almost as if she was trying to keep their encounters to the bare minimum, only stopping by to do a quick checkup on his healing wounds and his lost arm. Usually Naruto was around them to diffuse the awkwardness in such situations but unfortunately, the hyperactive blond wasn’t available that day. Something to do with him bidding farewell to his friends from the neighboring lands.

There could be numerous reasons pertaining to her silent treatment but Sasuke didn’t have the patience to mull over all of them and figure it out by himself. The only other option he was left with was to confront her about it. But having hurt her more than once due to his resolve for revenge and revolution, he didn’t know how to strike a normal conversation with her. The last time he uttered something to her was at the Valley of the End, where he had sincerely apologized to her. From then on, it had been just her looking after him at the hospital, narrating fascinating tales about her experiences as a medical ninja whilst he barely nodded his head.

Sasuke sighed. It had always been a one-sided effort— him paying no interest to anything other than his goals as she worked hard on maintaining their delicate bond. But he didn’t want things to remain that way any longer. He didn’t want his soul to stay shrouded in the darkness associated with his clan. If not more, he atleast owed her just as much importance as she gave to their every second spent together. She was generous enough to forgive him for everything he’d done and accepted him with her warm smile. She had let her tormented heart trust him yet again so easily that he wanted to become a man worthy of her forgiveness.

“Sakura,” he tried, hoping his query will reach across her by the shear intensity of his gaze.

The said woman however, didn’t spare him a glance. She was too focused on patching a partially healed cut on the left side of his lower abdomen. “Sasuke-kun,” she replied simply, signifying that she had heard him, her other palm gliding along his bare torso in search of any injuries she might have missed before.

He was glad that even after years of separation she didn’t drop the endearing suffix whenever she addressed him. To a stranger it may seem like nothing but to him, the small gesture meant that she still regarded him with the same level of admiration she did years ago. However, her response didn’t help steer the conversation anywhere.

Sasuke shut his mouth tight, his tongue pressing against the inner wall of his cheek in annoyance. Had it been any other time where she wasn’t mad at him for reasons unknown, she’d have said a few more words, making this whole thing a lot simpler for the both of them. But that day, she just wasn’t in the mood to waste her energy in idle chitchat.

With the examination done, Sakura placed her palms gently on either side of his face and angled it up. A pair of onyx and mauve clashed with refreshing emeralds and Sasuke gulped, watching her send spasms of her soothing chakra through his ocular network. The strain in his eyes reduced comparatively and Sakura let go of his face.

“There. Now you won’t have to stay in Konoha after your probation ends.” The words slipped out of her lips absentmindedly and her pupils dilated in shock. Probably because she wasn’t supposed to say that directly to him.

Sasuke took in a long breath, his calm demeanor replaced by slight irritation. Was that what it was about? Him leaving the village as soon as he was back in shape? He didn’t want to believe that his friend and lover since childhood wasn’t speaking to him over something as insignificant as this. Throughout his trial, the five Kages as well as their subordinates discussed various forms of punishment for him but it was he himself who chose that in the end. He pledged to travel around the allied nations, aid each land in repairing all the damage and inconvenience he had caused as a miscreant and even handle other wrongdoers if he happened upon them during the journey. It was his first step towards redemption— a suggestion that the jury readily agreed to because everyone was excited to give orders to and make Sasuke Uchiha dance to their whims. And so, of all the people he’s acquainted with in the Hidden Leaf Village, he had hoped that his former team would be supportive of his decisions from then on.

“Sakura..” he mumbled, unsure of how to proceed. How was he supposed to convince someone who had always readily understood him without him having to explain a word of it?

“Don’t..” she said, bringing a hand up to stop him, “You have no idea.”

He motioned his lips to try and make her realize how necessary this was for him yet she shook her head and went on, “Do you know how hard it is when your genuine feelings are shrugged off as a mere teenage crush? Do you know how difficult it is when everyone expects you to give up on your very own emotions? Do you!?” her tone escalated and she lowered her head to obscure the fresh tears falling down her eyes, “No you don’t. You do not understand it Sasuke-kun, you can’t! No one can..”

He bit the insides of his cheeks, his only hand twitching to wipe her tears away yet he resisted the urge, afraid of her reaction to his touch— to the touch of the same man who had harmed her on more occasions than protect her..

“Losing you was the most unbearable pain I’ve ever felt.” She stated with a sob, tilting her head up to let him witness the honesty in her tearful gaze. “I can’t lose you again..”

It was true that he didn’t understand. He wasn’t able to comprehend how a woman as benevolent, loving and beautiful as herself came to give her heart to someone so malign like him. He knew it was rude of him to ask for more of her when she had always given her best but he had to do this. She could hate him for the time being– god how he wished she’d have a sliver of hatred for him hidden somewhere beneath all those thick layers of her affection but she didn’t. She was too good to have any sorts of negative emotions towards him.

“I must do thi–”

“Stop lying to me, Sasuke-kun.” She cut him off, a bitter smile gracing her cherry lips, “Just admit that I’m not enough for you to stay. That I never will be..”

For the first time since his return to Konoha, Sasuke’s composed countenance wavered, shock momentarily flitting across his face. Subconsciously, he covered the dormant cursed seal on his neck and turned his head to the side. He had always considered her the small but strong flicker of joy in his rather desolate life so hearing her belittle herself irked him. Had he known that his plans about the travel were causing her this much distress and self-doubt, he would’ve talked to her sooner.

“I admit it.” He spoke, turning his head back to flash her an earnest gaze. “I admit that I can never understand the anguish of your heart. And I do acknowledge your indelible love for me. I’m grateful, Sakura..” He said, wishing somehow his words would express the sincerity in them. “But I can’t answer your feelings right now. I..I’m not worthy of them..”

“Sasuke-kun!” she literally yelled in disappointment. It was her turn to get irritated at his self-loathing. “I told you that I don’t hold you responsible for any of that. We both hurt each-other and..I have put those happenings far behind.”

“Have you now?” he asked pointedly and she bit her bottom lip hesitantly. “Have you, Sakura? If so, then why won’t you let me do the same?”

Her lips quivered then, all her pent up fury and agony unleashing like a wildfire as she broke down into loud sobs. Sasuke noticed how shaky her feet were and immediately wrapped his lone arm around her waist, helping her settle down on the couch next to him. But she paid no heed to his act for she was too busy weeping and wiping her tears, struggling with the sudden shattering of her emotions. And Sasuke watched. He made sure to capture the whole scenario with the power of his eyes..to have a recorded evidence of how much he had bruised the heart of the only woman who had truly and unselfishly cared for him..loved him!

“I..what if you don’t retur–”

His palm instantly clamped over her tear-soaked lips, desisting her from finishing that ominous sentence. This was what he wanted to bring an end to— people actively doubting him. He wanted to prove that he was way above his past, hateful self. He wanted people to trust him like they used to when he was still a willing citizen of this village. But most of all, he wanted to restore that blinding faith she had in him. And for that, he needed to leave. It was mandatory for him to pay the price of sins and redeem himself.

“I will never cause you misery again. I swear this on my pride as an Uchiha. I won’t tarnish your your soul any more than this. So please..have some faith in me.” He spoke as tenderly as he could, reaching out his hand to hold her dainty palm in his calloused one and gave a squeeze in assurance.

The glassy eyes of the pinkette faltered at his words, a mix of shock and pride swimming in them. And just like that, she allowed her head to nod slowly, a timid smile curving upon her lips. She allowed her scarred self to have faith in him.

“I’ll be back to you. And then, we can figure work out this unspoken whatever I have for you..” he added, as if to solidify the foundation of his previous statements.

More tears cascaded down her cheeks— happy tears! And she squeezed his palm in return. “Then, I’ll wait for you. Always..”

Silence took over the room yet again, the two young adults exchanging their sentiments through their meaningful gazes. They were too lost in their own little world to even take note of the pale, ex-root nin observing them the whole time, capturing those sequence of events not just in his memory but also on a fresh page of his sketchpad.

A/N: Hope it was upto your expectations..:)

Request SasuSaku oneshots from this Prompt List

Until Next Time...

~Manika

#sasusaku fanfic #sasusaku #sasuke uchiha #sakura haruno #post war #blank period #angst #comfort #love #redemption

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madara-fate · 6 years ago

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what's your Fav naruto reaction pages on YouTube that don't bash sakura?

Hmm, well I never really watched anyone on YouTube for Naruto content specifically, but one of my favourite reactors is Heavenly Controller, because I find him very entertaining. He has definitely taken shots at Sakura before, but you could tell that it was all tongue in cheek and he definitely doesn’t hate her. He has in fact stated that he actually likes Sakura, but criticised how she was used. He has demonstrated on numerous occasions that he acknowledges both her strengths and her weaknesses. Furthermore, as the Gaiden manga was publishing and as it’s adaptation was airing, he was one of the most vocal people about how Sakura was definitely Sarada’s biological mother, and made several videos on the topic in an attempt to clarify it to those exceptionally stubborn people who just wouldn’t let that very clear fact seep into their skulls(with an example being in this video where he states that if they’re still not convinced after this, then there’s just no saving them, before he very exasperatedly clarifies it one final time at the end).

He has also stated in one of these videos that while he doesn’t know how Sasuke and Sakura got to the point of loving each other, he nonetheless acknowledges that Gaiden demonstrated that they do in fact love each other.

Furthermore, the problems that he does have with Sakura aren’t the usual nonsensical reasons like how she’s “obsessed” with Sasuke or how she’s a bitch or weak or anything like that. No, his issues derived from the fact that she had relatively little to do in relation to her role in the story. He criticised the fact she had very little fights in Part 1, how she started off Part 2 very strong but fizzled away again in terms of plot significance until much later on etc.

He’s clarified (most notably in this video) that whenever he has said that Sakura was being “useless”, it wasn’t because he felt that she couldn’t do anything, it was because he thought that she wasn’t being made to do anything, which is very different. His criticism of Sakura essentially boils down to how he thinks she was grossly underutilised, rather than any hatred towards the character herself. While I still disagree with him calling her useless because of that, it’s at least understandable when compared to the accusations born from the notion of her being weak, incompetent and incapable of doing anything productive.

#Naruto #Sakura Haruno #Sarada Uchiha #sasusaku

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raendown · 6 years ago

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And that’s all of them! @eruditeempress was the third place winner of my 1500 Followers Giveaway and this was her request! Big shout out to @mallml for offering me a bit of inspiration! ^^

Pairing: KakashiSakura Word count: 4670 Rating: T+ Summary: He hates and hates and hates until he loves her, slowly and in small pieces.

Follow the link or read it under the cut!

Crowns Of Blood And Bone

She doesn’t like him, that much is obvious. Kakashi eyes the young woman from across the room without bothering to try and hide it. There is little point when she is staring straight back at him with a completely blank expression which somehow conveys the world of pain she quite clearly wishes to rain down upon him. He isn’t exactly offended though; the feeling is entirely mutual.

Knowing that his new teammate has been rescued from ROOT makes less impact when he knows her ‘rescue’ hadn’t been entirely voluntary. Shutting down Danzo’s organization was possibly the smartest decision the Sandaime had ever made, one which Kakashi hadn’t truly believed the man was strong enough to go through with, but it has also left numerous messes to deal with in the aftermath. Among those messes are the human shadows who have been raised from infancy in their shadowy organization and never known another life. Some of them are coping well. Others, like Sakura, are not.

Now Kakashi is stuck with an extra member on his team and tasked with integrating her back in to regular society as best as he can. He would question the decision to put him, of all people, in charge of someone else’s mental health if he weren’t aware that every team now has at least one or two of these strange new additions to deal with. It’s only been a couple of weeks but Sakura is proving to be incredibly competent in solo combat, though wildly incompetent in several other areas. To be frank, she does play well with others.

It isn’t as though she questions his orders. Sakura has been raised her entire life to follow orders to the letter on pain of death and now that the Hokage himself has declared Kakashi her new minder she has yet to push back against any of his decisions. On the other hand she seems almost to search for ways to be deliberately difficult while still doing as she is asked. If he tells her to watch the target she will – but she will not report their movements, nor will she support her team if they fall under attack. She is used to fighting alone. Defending her teammates appears to be a foreign concept to her.

Sometimes Kakashi wonders who is the more broken, him or her. Is it better to drown in an overload of negative emotions or is it better to have none at all? He might ask her opinion if he thought she could properly comprehend the answer.

Obito’s eye feels too big inside his skull as Kakashi deliberately turns his attention away and pretends to ignore her. It won’t fool her but that isn’t the point.

Her mind is surprisingly sharp whenever she manages to actually open her mouth and say something. Kakashi despises it. The sound of her voice is soft and lilting, so completely at odds with her dead expression and brutal competency in a fight.

Even the way she exists rubbed at him the wrong way. She takes up so little physical space with her average height and slim physique and yet she fills every single room she walks in to. Kakashi feels her there without having to use any of his senses. He knows she is in a room before he’s even fully opened a door just by the chill that settles at the base of his spine and the way his jaw instinctively clenches, like the stench of her hatred can somehow reach his nose even before the deceptively floral scent of her hair.

Trying to think with the smell of soft flowers in his nose is becoming increasingly difficult lately.

“Another mission, kids,” he murmurs to the room at large, doing his best not to look directly at her; maybe for once he might be able to hold on to a good mood for a whole entire day. “Pack your things, we leave in an hour.”

While the rest of his team nods politely and turns back to their conversations, Sakura stands from where she has been perched in the corner and moves towards the door. He notices that she is staring directly at him as she walks and he holds his ground just to see if she will ask him to move. His answer comes in the petite shoulder that crashes in to his with the same amount of force a falling house might have.

“Out of my way…taichou.” The pause before her acknowledgement of his authority is what truly irks him and he hates that she already knows what buttons to press.

“You could try saying excuse me,” he says in a deliberately mild tone. When he peeks over his shoulder at her retreating form, she hasn’t even bothered to look back let alone respond to his useless statement. He hates that she knows that will bother him too.

His nose wrinkles under his mask and his teeth gnash together until Tenzou wanders up to pat him consolingly on the shoulder.

“I’m going to live to regret getting myself involved,” his friend mutters, “but if you want my opinion then I think you let her get under your skin a bit too easily. She’s a dick. Get over it. Lots of people are dicks, Kakashi, and one of those people is you.”

“Funny, I don’t remember asking for that opinion,” Kakashi growls but Tenzou only shrugs.

“Well you got it anyway.”

An orphan from infancy, Tenzou grew up in one of the state funded orphanages within Konoha, a member of the ANBU black ops since he turned four and it was discovered he possessed the mokuton through some latent Senju ancestry. He is Kakashi’s closest friend and the one person who isn’t afraid of setting his captain’s head on straight whenever Kakashi gets a big too big for his boots – or when he falls in to one of his maudlin depressions and starts moaning about the world hating him again.

Heading out the door to follow behind their newest teammate, Tenzou looks back at him with his already large eyes wide and falsely innocent. “Are you sure you don’t want to pull her pigtails and call her a stupid head?”

“We’re not children,” Kakashi protests. “Careful or I’ll stick you on second watch every night!”

Just like their other teammate, Tenzou doesn’t so much as grant him the dignity of a response. Kakashi grumbles under his breath about betrayal and mutiny as he goes after both of them.

Months pass, missions come and go, and the only constant in Kakashi’s life are the members of his team. Some days he spares a thought to wonder where Itachi is and whether or not he’s doing well. He stamps those thoughts out when he can, not wanting to spare time or energy for a boy who betrayed his own village.

When he isn’t thinking about wayward teammates or the people he’s lost along the path of life, Kakashi’s mind is occupied with Sakura, always Sakura. The pink of her hair is obnoxious the way it draws his eye in battle. He despises how many times now he has accidentally recorded her with his Sharingan rather than pay attention to his own opponent. When he lays in bed at night it takes but a single whim to bring up the smooth rotation of her shoulder as she rears back to punch out a man’s solar plexus, the barest quiver of her thigh muscles as she falls from fifteen feet in the air and lands with perfect balance, even the tiny shape of her fist when it cracks the earth open beneath her.

He isn’t sure why he replays these images again and again. When he’s angry he fancies that he’s studying her movements for possible weaknesses to exploit the day she finally tries to drag his teeth out one by one. Other times he finds himself filled with a strange curiosity and closes his eyes to watch the memories, memorizing them all over again until he finds some new detail he hasn’t bothered to pay attention to before.

That there is always something new about Sakura baffles him. How can there be anything new about her when she is plain and unchanging? Behind the mask of the bear her face never shows more expression that a blank disinterest. Outside of her uniform she dons training blacks, only ever inside headquarters at home. She eats her food slowly, one bite at a time, never adding sauce or garnish of any kind. It drives him up the wall. What he wouldn’t give to see her step out of the perfect mold she fits herself in to just one time, to break away from the expected and do something new.

So how it is that he continuously discovers new details about her? As she shatters a man’s kneecaps Kakashi notes that her toenails are all perfectly filed down to the same length. When she takes first watch and sits with her back to the rest of them he lets his eyes skim over the shape of the muscles in her shoulders, almost startled by how developed they are. Until now he’s thought most of her strength must be augmented by her chakra control and it is an oddly pleasant surprise to see that some of it is simply natural muscle. Why he cares is beyond him and he tears his eyes away before anyone else can note his unnecessary staring.

Five minutes later he tells himself just one more look.

It’s a lie.

When she finds him he is suffocating, no lungs to draw air and no heart to pump the blood through his veins. Or, that’s what it feels like at least. The nightmares always feel like this.

Upright on his futon, sheets twisted around his restless body, Kakashi stares with wild eyes at the figure crouched in his window. Sakura doesn’t look particularly interested to know why he sleeps in his kitchen rather than the perfectly serviceable bedroom just down the hall. He’s grateful she doesn’t ask him to explain himself but too distracted to note that it’s the first positive emotion he’s had towards her beyond a creepy amount of curiosity.

“Sandaime-sama wishes to see us both,” she tells him in her usual flat tone. What is unusual is the tilt of her head that takes in the sweat on his face, the rapid thundering of the pulse in his neck, the exposed whites of his eyes and the way he heaves for air like a man drowning.

“Okay,” he gasps. It’s probably the lack of any snarky comment that draws her attention.

“You are unwell. If you are unable to complete the mission–”

“No,” he cuts her off sharply. “I’m fine. I’m not ill.”

Hidden behind a mask as they are, he still feels her eyes boring in to him. “Emotional turmoil,” she notes clinically. “A good shinobi never allows their emotions to overwhelm them.”

“Yeah well a good human being feels them every one in a while so what’s that make you?”

“How hurtful.” The flat delivery of her words might be mistaken for sarcasm if he could bring himself to believe she is capable of such.

Still a bit shaken from the nightmare, Kakashi blurts out his words before his mind can catch up to who this is with him or how little she cares. “I was dreaming about Rin. Sometimes I can still feel the way her heartbeat felt against my wrist and I hate it. It was slippery and warm and I hate it.”

Completely motionless in the windowsill, Sakura observes him in silence until he catches his breath and lives to regret his hasty words.

“Never mind,” he mutters. The sheets rustle loudly in the silence until her words stop him.

“Blood does not wash off of human skin. We are all, each of us, stained from birth. Come. The Hokage awaits us. If you are not ill then you must do your duty.”

Moonlight catches the pink of her hair, like watered down bloody froth falling like silk around her head, and Kakashi can’t help but agree with her. All humans come in to the world covered in blood. It is a shinobi’s fate to never be clean again. He wonders how much blood she has bathed in to come out the other side with hair dyed pink and a heart with nothing left in it.

It isn’t until he has extracted himself from the blanket, dressed, and crept out in to the night that he gives any thought to how out of character it is for her offer such poetic sounding words, words with no practical purpose. Were it anyone else he might think she has tried to comfort him but that’s a silly thought, easily dismissed. She barely cares for her own life, has been trained not to care about those around her. The idea of her taking the time to offer him soothing words to help him calm down is a ridiculous one.

Still, the mission they are sent away on goes more smoothly than any other has before. Kakashi attributes it to their growing knowledge of each other’s style rather than any possibility that he might be getting attached.

Watching her take a life is like watching the shinobi equivalent of an intricate dance, a performance he could watch unending and never get bored. Her steps are sure, always perfectly placed, and her body is always where she needs it to be. Her fists make perfect arcs in the air while her back bows to make way for the blades sailing over her head. If only she were more expressive she would make the perfect candidate for undercover work posing as a graceful courtesan.

Even the small bits of other people that cling to her form only serve to make her more of an image captured in time, more than the monster she is, that they all are. Her black gloves are covered in blood, fragments of shattered rib dust through her hair, and there is what looks suspiciously like brain matter draped across the toe of her left boot. She looks like what he imagines a goddess of death might look like, eyes focused and intent without a hint of mercy for those she strikes down. Death, the equalizer of men, who comes for all without discrimination and takes without care for what gets left behind.

He memorizes her for perhaps the hundredth time and then turns back to the woman trying to remove his spleen with a broken naginata, fingers open and bleeding where they grip the blade but fighting onwards despite the pain she must be feeling. If she weren’t his enemy he thinks he might feel sympathy but instead all he feels is her flesh against his own when he slides his hand through her chest, guided by lightning until the ending of her life beats frantically against his wrist as so many others have before.

When it’s over he pushes her corpse away from himself and watches it slump to the ground. Sakura watches him; he can see her from the corner of his still active Sharingan. There’s a tilt to her head that he cannot decipher and the mask she never bothered to unclip from her belt stares at him too with its hollow eyes.

At first he thinks she means to simply stare at him until he moves again but then she speaks and he realizes that his hands are shaking.

“You do not like to use that jutsu,” she states, an observation rather than a question yet he answers just the same.

“No. I don’t.”

“You use it anyway.”

“It’s efficient.”

“Ah.” Her head returns to an upright position and nods once. “That I can understand.”

Kakashi looks from his hands to her, brows pulling together and glad for the double masks that hide the bewilderment plain in his expression. “You were trying to understand me?” he asks incredulously. Her expression does not change but there is something about the way her lids fall half closed, not quite the same narrowed eyed look she gives in irritation but not quite deep thought either.

Confusion, he thinks, and marvels at the novelty of it.

“Is that not what teammates are expected to do – understand one another?”

“Oh, are we teammates now?” Kakashi huffs. The familiarity of their snarky interactions is a comfort. “And here I thought the rest of us were just the nameless canon fodder you had been burdened with by his Hokage-ness.”

“All shinobi all nameless canon fodder,” she replies flatly.

Then she shakes then blood off her gloves and turns to leave while Kakashi gapes after her. “Did you just tell a joke!? Wait, get back here, that’s a serious question! Do you even know how!?”

She keeps walking away and he never gets his answer.

Tenzou is somewhere out there in the forest and it’s impossible to tell if the trees are creaking in the wind of the storm or if that is him fighting for his life. Lightning flashes across the sky, illuminating the dark battle ground for a single moment. It’s enough for even Kakashi’s regular eye to memorize the sight of the carnage around him and feel the nausea rise up in the back of his throat. This is his life, he thinks. This is all he is meant for.

He doesn’t want it.

He wants more than this.

He has never deserves more.

Sometimes he wishes he were part of the regular forces, able to go on simple mission with less certainty of death, that he didn’t have to spend every day of his life mired in shadows and nightmares. Right now is one of those times. How much longer will he survive this pace? Eight years is a long time to serve in ANBU but he doesn’t remember how to exist in any other patterns.

His body jolts when Sakura lands on the branch beside him, bringing his attention to her. For the first time since they met he feels jealous of her. The emptiness he had always hated must be incredibly peaceful.

“You feel too much,” she tells him with the air of someone noting the color of fresh painted walls.

“And you feel nothing,” he snaps back. “Must be nice.”

“What I feel is the rain. We should find shelter.”

“Tenzou is still out there!”

“He will find his way to us or he will not. We should still find shelter.”

Kakashi snarls at her. He might be jealous, intrigued, slowly growing attached like a cancerous growth on a host he didn’t even want to infect, but in this moment he hates again. It’s as ugly of a feeling as it always has been. “I will not abandon my friends.”

“I have no friends to abandon. Shelter, taichou.”

“You have comrades!” he explodes. Anger runs hot through his veins, burning away the cold terror that froze him to his perch only moments ago. “We’re a team, damn it! We would never abandon you but you don’t give half a fuck about us, do you? A team is a family and I will not abandon Tenzou. You find shelter if you want, Haruno. I’m going to find my friend.”

He pushes off from the branch and lets his body free fall, raindrops stinging his face until he bunches his legs and kicks off the trunk of another tree. Sakura’s chakra remains stationary behind him for a long enough time that he almost cannot sense her anymore before she finally begins to move.

At first he thinks she had taken his advice to seek shelter on her own. She moves in the same direction as him and he thinks she must be headed towards the caves he just passed.

When she finds him again he is carrying Tenzou’s exhausted body across his back, one leg dragging from the hit he had taken for his friend, soaked through with blood even more so than the rain still coming down in torrents. She says nothing as she relieves him of his burden, only points the way back towards the caves. Kakashi would thank her but instead he passes out for lack of chakra.

He wakes up somewhere dry, rolls over, and marvels that all of his wounds have been healed. Since when do any of them know how to heal? They’re ANBU; all they know is killing.

“You lied to the Hokage.”

Kakashi stops walking and sighs. “I didn’t lie. Omitting certain details is not lying. I told him all the information pertinent to the success of our mission.”

“Lying by omission is still a lie.”

“He really doesn’t need to know every single detail of what we do. Should I have told him what we ate for breakfast every day? Which underwear I put on this morning?”

“You believe that I am a danger to your team; you should have told him that.”

“Just because you can’t stand us doesn’t mean I’m giving you an out so easily.” Kakashi finally turns to glare at her over the edge of his cloth mask. “I meant what I said. The rest of us on this team, we don’t abandon our comrades and for better or for worse you are one of our comrades. Whether that means something or nothing to you doesn’t matter to us. We’re going to protect you anyway.”

Sakura stares at him like she doesn’t understand. He wonders if it’s his words or just him that she doesn’t get – or humanity in general.

“I am supposed to say thank you, I suppose.” She sounds unsure. It’s a question, he realizes, and it’s enough to startle him out of the impending hissy fit.

“Not necessary,” he says.

He counts the seconds. It is nearly half a minute before her brilliant green eyes look away from his and she continues walking down the hall, just long enough for him to remember their shade, their shape, the way she blinks, all of playing back inside his mind as he sits in a tree later and pretends to read his book. He wonders if she knows that she is beautiful.

Wherever he goes there is a pointed gaze following him, sharp on the back of his neck. Kakashi thinks he would hate it a little more if it were anyone else. But it is only Sakura and he’s pretty used to it at this point. At least now there seems to be some kind of purpose to the scrutiny, something more than just the distrusting gaze of an outsider looking in he had suffered when they first met.

For whatever reason, she seems to have chosen him to mimic in her attempts at pretending to be human. She’s got poor taste but it’s better than the empty shell he’s known her to be so he’s certainly not going to discourage the choice.

They’re posing as bodyguards for Tenzou, who looks extremely uncomfortable in the robes of a well-off textile merchant. Infiltration isn’t usually one of them missions given to their team but the target is high profile and rumored to be very strong. Sakura keeps one eye on Tenzou and one eye on her team captain, mimicking every move he makes. If he shakes hands then so does she; if he remains quiet so does she; when he smiles benignly she attempts to do the same.

It’s the first time Kakashi has ever seen her face move and the muscles of her face are clearly unused to it. Still, the expression suits her more than he expects it to. One of the merchants takes the time to mention so to her and the perplexed way she stares over at Kakashi, questioning how she is meant to respond, is the absolute highlight of his day. Laughing at her reaction is an excellent distraction from the hot flash of jealousy which run through him. He is grateful. Kakashi does not want to be jealous. Jealousy would imply he cares, that he wants, and neither of those things would be ideal directed at someone like Haruno Sakura. He likes to think he’s smarter than that.

Sakura smiles again like she is testing a new weapon and Kakashi looks away. Her teeth are blades slipping past the walls around his heart, finding cracks in the armor he wears to protect his emotions. It’s here and now in a moment so unmomentous that he understands he’s been doomed from the very start.

He hates and hates and hates until he loves her, slowly and in small pieces. They are both of them shattered mockeries of humanity and he wants to glue them back together in to a single work of art that only he will find beautiful.

It hurts but so have many other things. As he always does, he forges on.

She finds him in the daytime, lounging in a pool of sunlight with nothing better to do than to sit and recover from the wounds of their most recent mission. Kakashi can sense her when she approaches his window without hesitation. He can’t imagine her ever hesitating to do anything.

“You feel too much,” she tells him. He blinks over at the small machine dosing him with morphine and thinks that he doesn’t feel much of anything right now.

“So you’ve told me before,” he mumbles instead.

“Teach me.”

Kakashi stares at her, his head floating in cotton clouds and a dopey smile on his unmasked face. “To what?”

“You express emotion so easily. You feel so easily. Teach me how to do as you do.”

It’s probably the morphine but his attention slides away from her words to focus on the ethereal crown of light around her head, no doubt from the window at her back even if his drug-addled mind starts thinking about angels and death again. If he were a god he would give her a crown made of bones hard like her eyes and weave it through with flowers as soft as her voice.

What comes out of his mouth is hardly an answer to her request.

“I think I’m in love with you,” he whispers. She steps closer, intent.

“I want that,” she tells him. “I want to feel. I want to love. Teach me.”

Kakashi dares to reach out and pull her down until her face is level with his own. When he kisses her she lets him, her lips unmoving against his own but not resisting either. She tastes like the soldier pills they eat on missions to maintain calorie intake.

“Did that feel good?” he asks, eyes closed to savor the images he sees inside his mind, memories he has played back a hundred times and more.

“I don’t know,” she tells him honestly. “Will this teach me how to feel?”

“Maybe, maybe not. How about this: let me love you. You like to learn by example, don’t you?”

“Will you kiss me again?” There is honest to god curiosity in her voice and Kakashi shivers in the warm sunshine, opening his eyes at last to see the way her eyes look at him as though he is the only thing in the room.

Smiling again, he asks, “Do you want me to?”

“Yes. I think so.”

It takes the better part of an hour to teach her how to kiss.

It takes the better part of a year until she smiles at him quietly of her own volition when she thinks he cannot see her.

It takes the better part of his humanity away when he is relieved of his duties as an ANBU agent, forced in to training a team of the next generation. To leave her behind feels like leaving behind his soul.

She follows. And that is the moment when Kakashi realizes that she loves him too, though it takes the better part of three more years before she finds the words to say so.

#rae writes #kakasaku #kakashi #sakura #same age au #fanfiction #naruto shippuden

156 notes · View notes

yoosungiib · 7 years ago

Note

I want to request jumin and seayoung with mc who needed a surgery but doesn't want to tell them So she told them she will be with her friend for few days When she comes back she try to act normal despite the pain and ended up reopen the wound she is bleeding and in pain like hell how would they react to that setuation And the fact that she didn't tell them And how they will take care of her afterward ^^

Jumin and Seven MC hiding their surgery

~~~

☂ Jumin ☂

Luckily for you, since you detested telling Jumin of any sort of pain considering how overprotective he can get, you were alone when the first initial pain in your abdomen struck you, and you collapsed to the ground in the kitchen.

You had managed to make it past the guards, hiding the pain you were in, and able to make it the hospital.

Once at the hospital, you were rushed into X-Rays and other procedures until a final doctor came in and told you you needed your appendix removed,

Within in the next week.

At first, you were just relieved to know it wasn’t something too serious and something that could be dealt with quickly.

But then you thought of Jumin, and how much stress he’s been dealing with at work between new business contracts and the opening of a new building.

Knowing him, he’d put everything off to be with you and to make sure you were ok while you were recovering. Of course you want him to know and be with you, but you also don’t want to add more stress onto him, and you want him to be able to focus on the work he’s doing now.

So you think up a plan; you call Yoosung and ask him to pretend that you are staying with him for a few days. The poor boy is confused, but you explain your situation and how you’ll need to be at the hospital for a few days for surgery. Always happy to help a friend, he agrees.

You tell Jumin you are staying with Yoosung to help him study for his finals.

Jumin has a numerous amount of questions as to why you are staying with Yoosung, but in the end after a lot of assurance hot sex, how you managed in your state, don’t ask me he’s ok with it and wishes you off after a lot of hugs and kisses. And he makes you promise you’ll call him everyday.

The moment Driver Kim’s car is off in the distance, Yoosung is helping you pack into his small car and is taking you to the hospital.

At this point, you’re in a lot of pain, and quite tired of hiding it.

Yoosung feels terrible watching you wither in pain.

The surgery goes well. No complications, quick, smooth.

You only were in the hospital for a two day recovery, and you were being sent home feeling better as ever. You were very pleased that your plan worked, and Jumin would never have to know of your surgery.

That is until after a week, you begin to feel the same pain in your abdomen. However, this time it’s different – it is a lot harder to hide it from him since now that his workload has lessened, he is spending much more time with you. You love it of course but not when you are in pain, and now realizing if you can’t get this under control you’ll have to tell Jumin how you had surgery without telling him.

He will freak.

But the pain becomes agonizing, and as your walking down the hall towards his office you feel the scar from your surgery suddenly open, and blood starts seeping from the wound.

You called for Jumin, your voice strained. “One minute, darling, I’m on the phone,” you heard him say.

Before you could try and call out again, you felt yourself becoming dizzy, and another string of pain shot up through your body causing you howl.

You reached for the wall, falling against it before sliding down to the floor, lunging over while holding onto your stomach.

Everything around you was becoming fuzzy. You looked down to see your shirt damp with blood, and your hands shaking as they grasped onto the fabric. You tried to call out to Jumin once again, but still, you were unable to make a sound that wasn’t a screech of pain.

Fortunately, when Jumin heard your first cry he was running from his office, dropping his phone in the meantime.

His heart shattered when he saw you on the ground, now on your side as you shook in a fetus form, holding onto your stomach. As he got to the ground besides you, pulling you into his arms, he finally saw the blood, and now he was howling, just this time for help.

Guards came running in. You saw one on the phone. Another trying to stop the bleeding from your stomach.

The last thing you heard was Jumin saying, “She’s going to be ok. She’s going to be ok,” and the last thing you saw was his face marked with tear streaks.

You woke up in the hospital, your body jolting. You tried to turn in the bed but you hissed as you felt a prickly pain in your side.

Everything came back to you and you sighed, falling back against the pillow.

Jumin.

Slowly, you turned your aching head to see Jumin sitting in a chair. You could hear his unsteady breathing, and his head was planted in the palm of his hands. “Jumin?” you cooed. His breathing slowed down, and rather defeatingly he plopped his arms down, leaning back in the chair.

You finally got a look at his face; it was red, tear streaks still there, and his eyes were incredibly dilated. But what struck you the most was how angry he looked. He gritted his teeth and he squinting his eyes. You were about to ask what was wrong, though you knew deep down the answer to that, and he beat you to it.

“What the hell were you thinking?”

Tears were once again prickling in your eyes, but you fought back your sobs. “It wasn’t serious-”

“I don’t give a horses shit if it was serious or not, you should have told me you needed surgery. You should not have done this behind my back and tried to hide it.”

“I-it was wrong of me, I know, I just didn’t want to get you stressed out.”

“Don’t give me that. You were being stupid. Incredibly stupid.”

You gulped a little, a few tears solemnly slipping down your cheeks. You hid your face from Jumin, turning your head to the side, since you didn’t want him to see you crying, and your body was so weak, you were unable to cover your face with your arms let alone move.

He was right. It was stupid. Carless. Nearly killed you. You let out a sob as you thought about it.

The bed indented, and you suddenly felt a warm body up against you, and a hand resting on your thigh. Jumin would have preferred to wrap his whole arm around you, but as of now that was not possible in your condition.

“I’m sorry,” he sighed, kissing your neck gently. “But I’m serious, what were you thinking?”

“I just didn’t want to stress you out. I didn’t want to worry you. I didn’t want you to put stuff off to care for me. I didn’t think this would happen. They told me the surgery went well. I’m sorry, Jumin, I really am.”

He nodded against the back of your head, his face covered by your hair. Gently, he squeezed your thigh. “I know, darling, I know. Just… don’t do something like this again. Please.

“I was so scared.”

That’s right. He was terrified. And you knew you could never put him through something like this again. And you never would.

☺ Seven/Saeyoung ☺

The pain in your chest was excruciating, but Seven already had enough on his plate between helping his brother and heavy loads of work, so you kept the fact you were in a lot of pain a secret, and so far, you were doing well.

Defender of Justice had yet to figure out just how much pain you were in, and that you were set up to have surgery in a couple weeks for coronary artery bypass, the removal of veins from your chest.

“Seven, could you come here please?” you called to your loving boyfriend.

You heard a loud thud then sudden running, and then there was Seven entering the den of the bunker Naruto style. Though he had a cheeky grin on his face, you could see just how tired he was, and how much he was lacking sleep. “How can I assist you?”

You smile softly. “I have a friend coming over from my home town this weekend, and they’ve asked me to come and stay with them at their hotel. I hope you don’t mind me gone, but I’d really love to see them and spend some quality time with ‘em. With me gone… I think this may also give you some better bonding time with your brother.”

Seven pouted and flung his arms around you, squeezing you tightly. You grimaced at the pain in your chest after the squeeze, but played it off as a laugh.

“Of course, honey! I’m going to miss you so much. Promise me you’ll call me everyday? And I promise when you come back we can spend some quality time together.”

“I’ll miss you too, my defender of justice,” you say kissing his cheek.

God, how you hate to lie to him,

But you believe telling him of your surgery will only put another burden on his shoulders, and stress him out more. He needs rest, and he needs time with his brother. So this would be ok. He would never know about your surgery anyways.

You were very groggy after surgery, but one thing you noticed was that there was no pain. At first, you thought it was the pain medicine you were put on, but the next day you found yourself to be relieved of all chest pain!

Going back home to the bunker, you were nothing but a bunch of smiles now that you knew you didn’t have to worry about hiding your chest pain.

Everything was great for the next couple of weeks. You had almost completely forgotten about your surgery, though the small scar on your chest reminded you of it.

However, everything came crashing down when you, Seven and Saeran went out for ice cream. At first, you were fine, happily licking on your ice cream.

But then you felt the same twinge of pain.

Only this time, it was much worse and much sharper.

Your ice cream fell to the ground and Seven looked down at it, letting out a loud laugh. “Gah! Sweetie, you dropped your ice cream! Don’t worry, I can get you another one. Or would you rather me try and save this one.”

He was expecting you to respond to his quip but you didn’t, so he looked over at you and gasped when he saw you clutching your chest and panting. “Honey, are you having a panic attack?” he asks, presuming that’s what it is since your holding your chest.

Seven kneels before you, his hands on your knees, and he’s about to start your breathing exercises but then your eyes roll into the back of your head, and you fall off of the bench and on top of him, Saeran and Seven just barely able to keep you from falling onto the hard gravel ground.

It is then that he sees the red blob on your shirt, and when he lifts the loose fabric out, he lets out a pained cry when he sees that it’s blood.

Seven is cry, frantically trying to call emergency services. He’s trying to remain calm not only for Searan and you, but for himself. But it’s so hard to see you on the ground, your face turning white and blood coming from your chest .

What the hell is happening??

He starts to pray waiting for the ambulance: “Dear God, I’m begging you, don’t take her from this earth. Take me instead. Let her be ok. Please, she doesn’t deserve to die. Please, please, don’t do this, I’m begging you.”

It was a long week in the hospital. When you finally came to, the doctor was explaining how the scar had torn. And when Seven asked what scar, everything came out, and you were busted. Your secret surgery had been revealed.

He wouldn't’t talk to you for the whole week you were in the hospital. He was there everyday, and always at your side, helping you with anything, but he never spoke a word.

You were sure it was because he was angry, and though he wouldn’t deny that there wasn’t a little bit of anger, it was mainly because he thought he couldn’t talk without crying.

He should have known you were needing surgery, first off; that’s what he tells himself. He should have known. He’s a hacker for god sakes, a genius, and always keeps tabs on you. But then he thinks back to this last month and how focused he’s been on work and Saeran that he really hadn’t been keeping an eye out on you.

Seven’s a genius. He figured out right away why you hid it. It just tore him apart.

You should have been more focused on yourself, not him for starts. You should have just told him, he would have found a way to handle it. You shouldn’t have had to recover from it by yourself,

And god, the pain the nurses explained you had been going through, why did you tell him? He would have helped you.

“Please tell me you don’t hate me,” you cry to him now back at home, in the bedroom, tears streaming down your face as you frantically wipe at them. Seven smiles softly, and walks over to you pulling you into a gentle hug. His hugs are usually fierce and more cuddly, but this one is tender. And it feels nice.

“I could never hate you,” he says, his voice cracking. “You’re my wife, MC. I love you. Please don’t ever hide something like this again… Please.”

~~~

Requests are closed right now, but to find rules of requests you can check out my masterlist page!

A coffee please? ;) ~ Support Me Here

#Jumin Han #Seven #Luciel Choi #Saeyoung Choi #Mystic Messenger #Mysme #Mystic messenger headcanon #Mysme Headcanon

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sakimeihime · 7 years ago

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Dealing With Negative Criticism

I'm sure that everyone at this point, knows about the Tumblr account that appeared in January 2018, and since has posted numerous bad critiques on our original characters. One that has disappeared, reappeared, disappeared and reappeared once more... I had some things to say about it before, but I've been trying my best to stay away from drama within the community, but I've had a change of heart. Right now, I'm hoping that I will be able to help some of you creators who have been affected by this blog, and hopefully help those who might be affected in the future. First of all...

There will always be negative criticism. The other week ago, I watched a video about original characters in a fandom. The user started out explaining how when he first started on YouTube, he was getting a lot of bad criticism. People were rude and mean, and left equally rude and mean comments on his videos. He makes the point that people more often than not feel that they should simply ignore these comments or criticisms. They are inclined to ignore these negative criticisms because they're mean or rude. Why listen to what they have to say when they say it that way? This is a completely plausible argument. Words that have been spoken in negative criticism can hurt. They can make us feel ashamed, disappointed, angry, or an array of other negative emotions. They just don't make us feel good at all. These people are obviously only commenting these negative things because they want to cause me pain or negativity. But it is important to listen to what is being said in that negative criticism. Sometimes, it is important to listen to what is being said in negative criticism. Ask yourself, does this have any truth or tangibility? Is there really something here that I should improve on, instead of completely ignoring it? While there may be a soirée of nasty or harsh words, there might actually be something worth taking a look at. Even though it's negative, it is criticism after all. Our original characters are not perfect, and they never will be. At some point, we may stop developing them, or stop adjusting their stories, their abilities, or their appearances. Someday, we may be completely satisfied with our original characters, and simply keep their information for people to read about and enjoy; and even though they may be perfect in our eyes, nothing is ever perfect. It is important to remember, that there will always be positive, good and constructive criticism, as well as negative criticism. While negative criticism can be hurtful, it is important to ask yourself if there is anything worth thinking about? Despite how it is written, you need to decide for yourself whether or not that the criticism they are given is warranted, and decide for yourself if improvements need to be made. Most importantly, don't take negative criticisms personally. It's extremely hard not to. After all, you put your heart and soul into your creations. You may have spent countless hours working on a story, a character, an illustration, a video. Your creations are an extension of yourself. It's natural to take harsh criticisms personally. You've put blood sweat and tears into what you've created, and it can be hard to hear harsh words being said about them. What is important to remember, though, is that these negative criticisms are being said about your creations, not you as a person. This can be very difficult to do, and there certainly is no magical fix to keep you from taking negative criticisms personally. You will be struggling with this for as long as you are a creator, but while negative criticism can be hard to hear, you may find that it is an excellent source of personal growth. It is important to remember that with constructive criticism, there will always be negative criticism. It's important to listen to what is being said in negative critiques, no matter how poorly or harshly they are written, and to see for yourself if there are any improvements that can be made to your work. Don't take these harsh words personally. They're not about you, after all. Sometimes, there is negative criticism that should just be ignored. Not all negative criticism deserves to be read and heard. While there are some negative criticisms that contain some value to help you improve, as harsh as they may be, there, of course, are negative criticisms that shouldn't even count as criticism. Some people just want to watch the world burn, and comments or "critiques" that are simply cursing you or your work and saying how terrible it is, without a notion as to why they think that, can and should be ignored. You're not obligated to respond to negative criticism. This community thrives on negativity and drama. It started out that way, it will most likely stay that way. There was anonymous ask that particularly caught my eye. It stated that the Naruto fandom is a cesspool of people who will act like best friends but will then turn on each other at a moment's notice. As sad as that sounds, it's true. It's true for many fandoms and communities. The reason that this blog has become so popular and has become such an issue, is because we continue to promote this blog by trying to kill it. We continue to post about how angry we are with its poor criticism, and how illogical it's arguments are, when we are (understandably) upset and angry about the harsh words that have been said about our creations. In the end, this community is filled with negative people, who want to see drama and will add to that drama to keep it alive. Tumblr allows a user to post anonymously and without consequence in most cases, which allows and maybe even encourages people to say abusive or offensive things that they normally would not. Regardless of whatever is said about you, or your creations, however, you are under no circumstance, obligated to reply to these negative criticisms. As a matter of fact, in most cases, responding to negative criticisms will simply fuel the fire. As I said, this community is filled with negative drama lovers. To see people offended and responding to this hate is entertaining to them. We are promoting this hate, drama and the blog by responding to these negative criticisms. You're under no obligation to respond to these negative criticisms, as much as you feel the need to defend yourself. Everyone will experience negative criticism throughout their lifetime. It's important to remember that everyone has or will experience negative criticism in their lifetime. What is your favorite movie? Your favorite book? Who is a creator of something that you look up to and admire? All of them have experienced negative criticism for their work. This is why I encourage you all who are dealing with these negative criticisms to take what is being said into consideration but don't let these words get to you. After all, this is all most likely to get a rise out of you. The less attention that is brought to this type of negativity, the less that people will be enthused about it. The lack of enthusiasm and popularity might not result in the blog dying off (honestly, there are so many hate blogs out there, they will always get attention), but at least you can take solace in the fact that you have worked hard on your creations, and you have been mature enough to take negative criticism and move past it. Many of the people who have been targeted this blog are lovely people and don't deserve to be battered with negative criticism such as this; but remember, this criticism isn't about you as a person. Don't let negative criticism affect you personally. Continue to improve your creations, and improve yourself. Live life happily. Life is too short to concern ourselves so seriously with this negative drama seeking behavior, no matter how we feel. Continue to create. Continue to love your creations. Don't let this negativity ruin your pride for the energy, time and hard work that you have put into these creations. See this as an opportunity to grow and improve.

#negative criticism #debatenarutoocs #criticism #critique #how to handle negative criticism #handling negativity

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xxhanabifireworksxx · 7 years ago

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Top 10 Anime Couples

Tagged by @rays-of-fire-and-ice Thank you once again! 😘 I’ve never done this one before! Alright let’s start! This one might prove to be more difficult as I’m somewhat particular about ships. Honorable mentions: Renruki, Ichihime, (Bleach) Rivetra, Levihan,(Attack on Titan) Sanami, (One Piece) Gajevy, Nalu, Jerza (Fairy Tail), Edwin (FMA), Izuocha (BNHA)

10.Todomomo

I’ll admit I’m really new to this ship and I need to catch up with BNHA but they seem cute together. That one moment where Momo opens her uniform to use her quirk and Todoroki quickly looks away bad boy having pervy thoughts made me laugh.

9.Zorobin

There’s a bunch of moments that make me catch my breath with these two. I love how their relationship begins as the whole, “ What’s she plotting?” deal with Zorro being highly suspicious of her to “ You got carried away and said too much” when Kuma had stated to Zorro that she “had to die.” She didn’t by the way. Lots of good moments like this where he comes to her aid and she also comes to his.

8.SoMa

A very cute ship. Also another pair where each party saves the other on numerous occasions. I’m a sucker though for the whole protective-guy-makes -sure-the-girl-doesn’t-get- hurt sort of thing.

That forehead tap we get asdfjkl;

It still makes me mad to this day-why?! I for sure thought that they were going to kiss!

7.Naruhina

This one ship is probably the oldest ship I have on this list. Naruhina I’ve followed for a longtime because Naruto was the first legit anime (I don’t know if you want to count Pokemon but at that time I didn’t really ship anything) that I watched and read. It was just a classic to me with the shy girl crushing on the loud and somewhat obnoxious boy. Polar opposites from each other. For years I followed Naruto always getting excited when they’d have a moment together. I never expected Naruto to end the way it did though so I throughly pleased when I found out they had been married with two kids!

6. Gutsca

One of the most romantic pairings I’ve ever come across. Very lovely to see this ship blossom into what it has become. Basically tsundere guy meets tsundere girl who basically dislike each other mainly Casca hating on Guts for having Griffith favor him instead.

Not until they sit down and talk to each other heart to heart about their history do they start to fall in love. That moment where Casca lets herself fall off the side of the cliff and Guts going tumbling after her is where I fell for this pair.

5.Royai

Another one of the older ships on this list. Royai has been with me for a longtime. I feel like watching Full Metal Alchemist was almost sort of a rite of passage for me into the anime community so it goes way back.

The moment that Riza screams at Lust, “ You bitch!” when she learns Roy is probably dead is something that sticks with me and gives me chills. However when Roy made it back alive I cheered and it was then I realized I shipped them. Plus Riza has saved Roy’s ass on more then one occasion haha

4. Rinshi

Oh my god this ship is so pure. Shiemi starts off not trusting Rin because she realizes that he’s part demon. His attraction to her at first is extremely obvious to me. He blushes almost every time he talks to her or when she’s asking a favor or something of him.

However on the other hand, she starts out thinking that she is not even worthy to be his friend but that all changes quickly. Opposite personalities as well here. Poor Rin thinking that she “friend zoned him” I think it’s much more then that though.

3.Yatori

SO many moments with these two get me, ugh. I can’t get enough of mom/dad Hiyori/Yato with their fluff ball son Yukine 💖 haha The moment that Yato showed up for the FIRST time was when Hiyori was saying that there wasn’t anyone that she liked in her life as a s/o. From there on out I was hooked.

Their story is so good and even though Yato is a total goofball most of the time he is protective of her. Also when she regained her memory and he’s leaning over her concerned the way she cupped his face in her hand left me in tears.

2.Gruvia

Gruvia has been with me for a bit. When I first watched Gray fight her I thought, “Well she’s clearly obsessed with him even though she’s trying to defeat him. I don’t know how this one is going to turn out.” So I kept on watching. In the end, when he caught her hand as she was falling it made me catch my breath. He did care about what happened to her even though he didn’t really let onto the fact during their fight.

Now with the end of Fairy Tail, I can see the culmination of their relationship. Gray’s attitude of brushing off her affections has nearly disappeared and he would clearly do anything for her even if it meant dying -and Juvia the same- as we saw in the recent manga chapters. These two genuinely care for each other.

1.Hitsuhina

*sigh* What did I do to deserve Hitsuhina? Honestly... This is my OTP and OTPs but perhaps one of the most underrated in Bleach. I knew from the moment that Toshiro was fighting against Gin how angry he had been that Momo had been turned against him.

The words he spoke took the breath right out of me:

“You made her grip her sword so hard that her hands bled!” and

“I told you I would kill you if you made her bleed!”

These words where spoken by a boy who truly cared for her and would protect her no matter the cost. I fell deep unlike I ever had for a ship before and ever since. After that I couldn’t see enough interactions between them. It never was enough. I fangirled every time they made it onto the screen. But of course, I can’t forget the angst. It may sound strange to say this, but the suffering they went through made me care more for both of them to the point where I just couldn’t tolerate it to see something bad happen to them.

The moment where Toshiro stabbed her fucking hurt. The sorrow and pain I saw in his eyes at this tragic mistake shook me to my core. This reinforced to me just how special she was to him.

To be honest, I could go on and on about these two but everything I would type would just never be enough to explain how special they’ve become to me.

I tag @johnnysjoestar @hitsougaya @yakitorii @salzrand

#hitsuhina #gruvia #gutsca #royai #naruhina #soma #rinshi #zorobin #todomomo #long post #requests

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naruhinalife555 · 3 years ago

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Hinata's confession was utter perfection, honest, beautiful, and from the bottom of her heart. I understand naruto hasn't gotten back to her cause of the whole war and crap, but I'm so pissed its been over 4 years since then and I don't know what he would say. I can't imagine anyone who could bash her confession to naruto. Sakura, I'm gonna be honest, I was so disgusted with her I just wanted to smack her. I don't care what you say, or even If I get bashed on for this, but no one has the right to use another persons' feelings against them like what she did, she knew how he felt about her and used it against him to forget his search for sasuke. I was so mad at her I couldn't even stand reading the chapters for months after this came out. I mean, I felt bad for Kiba cause he had to smell HER BS coming out of her mouth during that time. I lost all respect for her after this and onward from this time, as I cannot stand sakura, she is by far the worst female protagonist ever born. Even in the war, she has her moments I'll say that I truthfully did appreciated most of them, I will never like her ever again and fully understand why about 92% of the readers hate her so much. I mean, hell, almost all of kishi's staff has stated numerous times that Hinata would have made a far better heroine.Reply

So you think Naruto would still be in love with Sakura even after hearing that she spoke cruelly about him?

You're twisting my words in connection to that previous ask I had where either you or someone else asked me if Naruto would hate her.

I said that no, Naruto wouldn't hate her, given his track record with not hating even the killer of his own parents.

Hell, he didn't hate Sasuke for actively trying to kill him.

So what makes you think he wouldn't give Sakura a pass from that?

Now if he would still love her?

Well that would be up to how the author wants to build the story.

But as I said, given his track record with the villains of the show, it wouldn't be far-fetched to think so.

I mean, he still cared for Sasuke EVEN AFTER Sasuke said those nasty things in his last battle, ya know, the one according to which because he was lonely (which implied having no parents) that's why he learned the kage bunshin.

I don't hear people giving crap to Sasuke for saying that to Naruto INTENTIONALLY AT THE AGE OF 16/17.

But you guys wanna be high and mighty with a 12 years old who did it UNINTENTIONALLY.

Yeah, okay. Whatever rocks your boat, then.

#anti narusaku

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midgetmeredith · 8 years ago

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hi~ i read your about page where you said you might write up your reasons for not liking some ft ships like the whole debate with fraxus/miraxus & chendy/rowen but i couldn't find anything on it on your blog so i wondered what were your thoughts on that? i know there's fandom arguments about homophobia and crackshipping there too. i’m a multishipper but i really like your anti posts for naruto so i thought if you had any ft ones then they might be as good! �

Thank you! I’m really glad youthat like my Naruto posts. They’re pretty controversial, so nice commentsare always appreciated! 😅 Dude, I haven’t updatedby ‘about’ page in months, so doing that write-up completely passedmy mind… Thanks for being interested though! I guess I’ll spill:

Right, this might be quitecontroversial, so remember that any opinions expressed are just personalpreferences/reasons, okay? ⚠️

Like I said on my page, “Ihave a ‘manga > anime’ complex thanks to Studio Pierrot, so I only readFT. I wanted to avoid filler brainwashing, bias and only know of canon withthis series, after the mess with Naruto…” Therefore, I only really ship thatwhich I believe is substantially depicted/suggested in canon, and kind of havea bit of a pet peeve for anything outside of that.[ #1 justificationdisclaimer! ]

( 1 ) Mir/axus [ &Fraxus ]

So I was genuinelysurprised that Mir/axus was even a thing when I started searching the fandom’s tag, onceI’d caught up. I don’t know if they’ve been implied in filler, but theywere non-existent as a romantic pair in the manga. Honestly, theyhardly had any on-panel interaction… Like, the only evidence that came tomind for “logical” reasoning behind them was chapter 380’s cover art.(Maybe 329’s, at a push.) I even tried to find somesupposed “moments” under their Wikia page, but that listed was merelyscarce interaction with no romantic subtext; each synopsis was pretty muchgrasping for straws.

Here’s the thing –you mentioned the fandom discourse of “homophobic” accusations,right? Now, I too hate when shippers (in any fandom) cry that simplybecause others don’t ship a queer pairing. Like, c’mon. But, inthis case (and Wendy’s), I must admit that I do find it somewhatrelevant… Idk if this ship’s popularity (and, more so, acceptance alongsidethe actual semi-canon pairs) is because most have been influenced byexternal material or if it’s just because there’s no other member of the opposite sex that they’re paired with, but Fraxus was actually suggested in canon; emphaticallyfrom Freed’s point of view! Even on Laxus’ side, numerous chapters have moments that – here’s the thing – anyone would undeniablyaccept if either Freed or Laxus were female*.

[ My earlier volumes are enclosed in my bookcase, but I have 49 – 57 (Avatar – Alvarez) on-hand beside my bed, so I skimmed through to find (max.) five pages to evidence Laxus’ P.O.V. ‘cause this post will already be long enough. ]

Chapter 416: “At this rate, I won’t be able to protect what’s important to me.”

It’s also worth noting that the official tankōbon/volume translation of this reads: “I’m not strong enough to protect the people I love yet.”

Chapter 460.

Chapter 462: “But that ain’t important now. All I’ve got on my mind… Is bringing the pain to the bastard who took out Freed and the others.”

Chapter 472: “So you’re the one who did a number on Freed and the others?”

Chapter 473: “Thanks a lot, Freed… There’s no wizard that could break your spells…”

*That’s the key consideration – that if you were to replace either’s gender for that of the opposite sex, it changes how these scenes are perceived. These panels, for example, are dismissed by those who oppose Fraxus, but they would be regarded as “ship moments” and a validation of Laxus’ affection if you were to replace Freed’s name in the dialogue and/or presence in the panels with a female (Mira)!

That’s why I can kind ofunderstand these claims, ’cause the existence and general fandomacceptance of these ships is very heteronormative in that respect (i.e.ignoring present queer pairings for heterosexual ‘crack-ships’) which makes it kind of discriminatory; reminiscent of homophobia perhaps. Although, I agree that term is a little extreme, as it doesn’t seem intentionally prejudiced. And whilst Freed is emphatically portrayed as queer, Laxus’ sexualityis a little more implicit, yet he is assumed straight by default… It’sironic/hypocritical because the majority of ships across all fandoms are typically founded upon onecharacter’s feelings, whilst neither Mira nor Laxus have shown said romanticinterest in each-other.

( 2 ) Ro/Wen [ &Chendy ]

Again, I hate Ro/Wen dueto a similar reasoning. Finding out that they even existed as a ship wasbaffling, tbh! I mean, at least Mir/axus had the cover as some rationale,but Ro/Wen is based solely on them being the same age… Talk aboutheteronormative? Also, technically, that’s an incorrect claim, due to the sevenyear time-skip in which she remained frozen. Like, she’s actually thesame age as Sting & Rogue. But you don’t find her forced with them. Why,because they’re older and that’s frowned upon? You know, despite the samepremise applying to Ro/Wen; since Romeo was half Wendy’s age when she wasintroduced (6 & 12).

The ship can’t even besupported with evidence, since they had no significant canoninteraction until the Alvarez Arc. Their only other contact was in an omake.Yet their age difference is evident in both; dismissing any reach atromantic subtext. In the omake, Romeo refers to Wendy as “nee[-chan]”.Similarly, she is presented comforting him like a child in their limited Alvarez panels, with him lookingup to her as that same sister figure. I have seen some of these shippers disregard Chendy asbeing “platonic”, when Romeo and Wendy’s dynamic isactually – canonically and strictly – such.

Chendy, however, do have asubstantial, visibly and literally present, mutual bond. They have extensive,plentiful interaction, as well as actually present romanticsubtext… I know that it may be difficult for (I guess) anyone outside of theLGBT+ community or a truly ‘open’ one to understand, due to ourheteronormative society – as Chendy are often disregarded as “justfriends” (🙄) – but many of theirmoments transcend platonic affection and bear intense likeness to theother romantic pairs’ depictions. For example, they are also featuredalongside the semi-canon couples in art-work, like Mashima’s couple sketches onTwitter.

Not to mention thatfriendship is the foundation of any healthy, romantic relationship! Of coursethey’re going to be best friends before engaging in such, particularly in thecase of same-sex pairs. Yet no-one uses this dialogue (of labellingeach-other as “friends”) against NaLu, despite them stating the otheras that same description on numerous occasions. But despite the justification mentioned above,Chendy are still dismissed. Again, if either were the male, it would be a completely different situation… I mean, since people shipcharacters based solely on covers and all – chapter 421’s cover (amongothers)?

Summary:

Obviously there’s nothingwrong with crack-shipping! And, no, not liking a queer pair [more than astraight one] doesn’t make you “homophobic”. But – in the case ofFraxus 🆚 Mir/axus& Chendy 🆚 Ro/Wen –I think that there is something kind of messed up with arrogantly defying acharacter’s canon depicted/suggested sexuality and/or romantic interest(s).There is something somewhat discriminatory about disregarding theirother prevalent, significant and actually developed bonds, to the extent that someone’sheteronormativity is so severe that they substitute a same-sex character foran irrelevant one of the opposite sex, who does not even have decentinteraction with the character in question; fabricated entirely from theridiculous, inaccurate [R/W] rationale of them being “the same age” or merelysharing a chapter cover.

That sounds much harsherthan I intended, I’m so sorry! Btw, I don’t blame shippers –everyone is (obviously) allowed to ship what they want! What’s stated above issimply why I’m against Mir/axus and Ro/Wen, especially as an avidsupporter of the LGBTQ+ community, a bisexual myself and a university scholar who has studied/written about this field.

[ I’ve updated by ‘about’ page now too, btw! ]

#fraxus #chendy #anti miraxus #anti rowen #fairy tail #fairy tail text #answered #pro fraxus #pro chendy

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meapistrash · 8 years ago

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Beautiful Nightmare - SS Fanfiction

#ss fanfiction #sasusaku #uchiha sasuke #haruno sakura #naruto au #meapwrites

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luna-orlha · 7 years ago

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Title: Bones beneath her feet Chapter: 15 - Dust and Shadow: Part 4 Fandom: Naruto Genre: Action ; Adventure Ship: - Word count: 3090 Triggers(s):– Rating: T Additional Tags: Rebirth, SI/OC Summary: She had died only to be reborn into this world as Kakashi’s younger sister. The world where peace was a mockery and the hopes and dreams of their children living their lives out was a big sham. Perhaps this was her penitence and retribution.

Ao3 | FFn

“Shisui-kun?”

A hand falls on Shisui’s shoulder, jolting him out of the war in his head. He takes a slow breath, forcing his hand to steady and inks the brush again on the suzuri. Painting in his parents’ names onto the dragon stone is so much harder than he ever imagined. They were chuunin. They survived the Second Shinobi War and the Third, only to die in a meaningless massacre. They were supposed to die in flames and blood; that is how all Uchihas go out.

Shisui breathes through his mouth, sending chakra through his limbs, forcing his trembling arm to stop shaking enough to paint in the engraved words. Painting in the darkened names on dragon stone with red ink will be the final act for the Uchiha registry. After this, his parents will be officially dead.

The brush sweeps dark red ink onto the kanji. Uchiha Hadashi, Uchiha Tansui. Underneath their names, he writes their last rank as elegantly as his hands would allow him. He attempts to set the brush on the holder, but his hands are jerking so much that they miss the holder. The brush rolls off the small foldable table and across the cold stone to stop at Izumi’s foot. Izumi grips his shoulder briefly before reaching over to clear the ink tools.

He bows one last time.

And here the Uchihas lie, the ruins of the once glorious clan, consumed by their love and hatred.

His eye is hot when he stands and squares his shoulders.

Goodbye, Okaa-san, Otou-san.

The wall of dragon stone, once filled with pale names, is now lined with red ink. The wall should not have been red yet. There were four hundred and thirty Uchihas and now there are thirty-two.

Shisui steps out from under the temple. The sky is gray and dreary. Instead of a multitude of black-haired people, he can see blobs of blond, brown and even blue as the teams make their way around the compound, scrubbing the walls and tiles of any blood and fixing the broken windows and doors. There is a jounin slowly running through his hand seals in the middle of the street, coaching his genins on how to use a water jutsu. A tall blond gets it quickly, even if his water hose jutsu is tiny and falls flat really fast. The look of pride and excitement on the jounin and genins reminds Shisui of Haguchi teaching the twin terrors.

“Snake, ram, monkey, pig.” He folded the tiny hands of the five-year-olds into the correct position.

“Haguchi-kun! Are you sure about teaching the terrors the fireball? We don’t want our houses being burnt down in the middle of the night,” Inabi snickered, elbowing Shisui.

“I’m sure that’s why we’re all taught how to remove air from fires, or did you not learn that?” Shisui sniped back, returning the elbow into Inabi’s stomach.

“Make sure you aim at those two idiots on the roof, okay?” Haguchi told the five-year-olds who both nodded solemnly. “Now, tiger to finish and breathe in-”

Shisui yelped, throwing himself to the side as the two fireballs sailed towards them.

“That’s my prodigious daughters! Now give tou-tou a high-five.”

Shisui forces himself to look away. There’s still Sasuke to teach. Between Itachi and him, Sasuke will be very well looked after. He leaps onto the rooftops, forcing his swirling red eye back into its dormant black state.

Sasuke would be fretting for him now. Ever since Shisui had gotten back from the hospital, Sasuke had been clingy and afraid to let him out of sight. Shisui doesn’t mind it. There are times when he wakes up in the middle of the night, thinking that it had been all a dream. Lying there, listening, only to realise that there was only silence where the sounds of night had once filled.

There is no more Uchiha night market, no off-duty Anbus passing over their roofs to sit down for late night supper before heading home, no quiet murmuring from the apartment next door or his upstairs neighbours having loud sex.

Shisui used to hate it. Now he would give anything for those noises back.

“-we can take rotating shifts… none of us needs to give up being on the active roster-”

He catches part of the conversation as he sidles down the pipe and through the window. Sayami is sitting at the study table clutching her head. With Itachi still out of Konoha until further notice, Sayami is the current acting clan leader. He doesn’t envy her.

“What is going on?” he asks, crouching on the window ledge. Thankfully, none of the remaining adult Uchihas blame him for not stopping the massacre. These were the same few that had spoken loudly against the coup after all.

“There… needs to be an adult in the house at all times. Five year olds shouldn’t be left alone,” Kashira tells him.

“Mikoto-sama wanted to be the one, right?” He flicks his eyes across the room. Kashira and Sayami scrunch their faces at his words. “What is it, now?” he hisses angrily. It seems like every time he comes back to the compound, there is more drama. As sudden as it appeared, Shisui crushes the ‘maybe it would have been better if they were all gone, after all’ thought with a large stick.

They have gone through too much to have regrets now. And Fuuko…

He’ll have to deal with that right after dealing with this. Shisui jumps into the chair, his sandals landing loudly on the wooden floor. Truthfully, he almost missed the chair. The whole single eye thing is still giving him issues, but he’s not going to let anyone know.

“Mikoto-sama… san, is going to return to the force,” Kashira tells him. Apart from Mikoto, there really isn’t anyone else better suited at the moment. Sayami has to deal with the politics and the reshuffling of the KMP, Kashira has to handle with the finances, Izumi would be filling much of the gaps as one of the last few Uchihas in KMP and they most certainly aren’t going let an outsider look after the children.

“Did she say why?”

The two exchange looks, the same looks he has seen on Genma and Raidou. They are hiding something from him, all of them were. “What? What is it that you’re not telling me?”

Sayami runs a hand down her face. “Has anyone told you about… Fuuko?” The edge in her tone makes the hair on Shisui’s neck rise. Then without any preamble, Sayami continues. “In the Root base, Mikoto exercised her rights as spouse to the Uchiha head, as well as former heir and killed Danzo. However when they returned back to the compound, Danzo had sent his Root to kill the Uchihas. The children… are all that Fugaku-sama managed to protect. Someone else needed to take responsibility for Shimura Danzo’s death. Apparently it isn’t good for the village to find out that a respected council member had done such a thing. And since the Uchihas are too valuable in the council’s eyes…”

She lifts her eyes to meet Shisui’s, the heart in his chest clenching so tight that Shisui finds it difficult to breathe. “-So they picked Fuuko,” Shisui finishes her sentence. “And Mikoto-sama… she wants to go back into the force to stop it? Can she do it in time? When- When… when’s the execution?”

“Tomorrow.”

His face goes still, suppressing his emotions behind his anbu training. “Do we have a plan? Or are we just going to let her die and be a sacrifice ‘for the greater good’?”

Sayami reaches out to grip his hand. “Shisui-san, we know how you feel about her. We’re not going to just let her die. We’re going to send her to Madara-sama.”

Shisui inhales too quickly, choking on his saliva. “Madara-sama? What in the kage’s mind are you thinking? By the Yomi, Madara-sama is a fiction! He’s dead! Sending her to Madara-sama is as good as sending her to find a dragon! They don’t exist!” He wrenches his hand from her hand, chair scraping loudly on the floor as he paces the small kitchen.

“We have proof that he is still alive,” Sayami tells him evenly.

“Yeah? Like what? The scrolls in his handwriting? His thumbprint? I could forge all of that.”

“Haguchi has met him before.”

He scoffs. “That’s even better.” Shisui shakes his head, choosing to hold his peace. “So then what? How are we going to get her out? What are the plans?”

Her shoulders sag at his words. “I’m not part of the planning. You’ll… probably have to ask Kakashi-san. All of us are being watched. It’s better for us to appear apathetic to her plight.”

“Appearing apathetic.” Shisui laughs, a single, mirthless sound, completely done with the conversation. He’ll save Fuuko himself if he has to. He has already lost his parents, he’ll be damned if he loses his girlfriend too - even if she doesn’t remember them being together.

He jumps back onto the windowsill and pauses. “I’ll do it,” Shisui says loudly to no one in particular. “I’ll stay at home to look after the kids.” He shrugs, cutting off their protests. “There’s no use trying to hide it. I can’t fight with one eye at the moment. Whether I choose to stay here or not, I’ll be on medical leave for at least four to six months.”

Regardless of whether he chooses to stay or not, Shisui knows he’ll be marked as unstable and be put up in the unaffiliated shinobi childcare centres for therapy anyway. If he’s going to look after children, he might as well look after the clan’s.

-/-/-/-

Inoichi is pouring tea when Kakashi slips into the Yamanaka head’s personal greenhouse. As a show of respect, Kakashi has never snuck into clan houses. Since Shikaku had instructed him to not be seen however, stealth is the only way. He slips down the sides of an overgrown bush, his feet barely brushing against the numerous plants as he sidles up to the Yamanaka Head.

“Yamanaka-san,” he greets. The subtle stiffening of Inoichi’s shoulders tells Kakashi that he has startled the blond.

“Kakashi-kun.”

Kakashi winces inwardly at the words. Even half a decade later, his sister’s genin teacher still addresses him like he’s a little boy. He watches Inoichi poke at the small charcoal stove before setting the pot on it again. Inoichi and his lithe, graceful movements could put many female shinobis to shame. He is an undercover expert, Kakashi reminds himself. Inoichi, who so deceptively poses as a nice, kind shinobi, is an A-rank undercover expert who has zero failures on his mission log.

Inoichi procures another cup just as Shikaku enters the greenhouse, ambling through the narrow path. There is a sheath of paper tucked under his armpit, the sheath of paper that Kakashi can guess contains evidence of another big player. His sister’s execution is tomorrow and he’s busy doing this. Safe in a secured place, Kakashi gives in to his want and grips the tanto hidden on his thigh. Fuuko will be fine, he consoles himself. There’s Genma and Anko, and Gai and… and…

“How is Fuuko’s death sentence appeal coming along?”The words end up being sharper than Kakashi expected but he’s not all that bothered, even when Inoichi flinches. They picked his sister over any other solution, the rage roars in him.

“It’s coming along as well as it can be,” Shikaku replies. “Given the situation we have found, it’s not much wonder why the appeals had failed.”

Inoichi reaches for the papers, sipping his cup of tea. As he reads, his face pales at where Kakashi knows Shikaku has marked out the number of missing graduates. His hands flip the papers, his eyes darting across the words, his lips thin and set with horror, surprise then regret.

“Is this…?” Inoichi starts. “Can we…” he tries again, then snaps his mouth shut.

“What about traitors in your team?”

The words haunt Kakashi. He has spent twenty-eight days agonizing over the Council’s decision to use his sister as a scapegoat. Why? Why his sister? In the aspect of bloodline versus bloodline, the Hatakes were equally as powerful as the Uchihas, considering the ratio of prodigies had been ten out of ten for the Hatakes.

“Shikaku theorizes that it’s because Danzo has a good reputation.”

Kakashi looks up, surprised when Inoichi speaks. Apparently he had spoken this thoughts aloud. “If the village finds out that Danzo had a secret army, and that the amount of brainwashing these children had undergone, the question of how reliability of the others in power and there would be chaos.”

“Why not say that Danzo died from a heart attack? He’s old enough to. Or any other reason. Why pick one of the last two Hatakes? Any other reason would have been fine.”

They drink the tea in silence, the pot clattering as Inoichi refills the cups. He pokes the fire a little more and suddenly Kakashi swears loudly. “Of course,” he mutters.

“What? What is it?” Inoichi asks.

“It’s a well-known fact that Fuuko is Shisui’s girlfriend. Fuuko had guessed that Root had infiltrated Anbu. She had known Kusari Akito was Root. That meant she is a danger to their plans. Then Fuuko attacked Danzo’s base-”

“Troublesome,” Shikaku grumbles, slouching deeper into his chair. “Whatever Fuuko found out, it’s big, so they decided to have her executed in order to get rid of her. Whoever is this next big player, he’s highly positioned.”

Inoichi folds his hands on the table. “Well that proves that there is another player about. What?” He asks defensively when Kakashi and Shikaku gives him a look. “Did need to consider that the Council might simply be utterly inept.”

Inoichi does have a point. Even without the whole Danzo thing, Koharu and Homura never did much to inspire faith in their capability.

“I suppose, considering Koharu and Homura’s usual stances, we could consider them prime suspects as the next players,” Shikaku says slowly.

“Do we have any theories on what their motives are? It seems stupid, sabotaging your own village.” Inoichi taps the papers with his finger.

“I have seven,” Shikaku admits. “But I think only one is likely.”

“Only seven?” Inoichi lifts an eyebrow.

Shikaku sighs. “Troublesome. The other four are too unlikely to seem even probable.”

The bantering between them makes Kakashi ache for Fuuko. He hasn’t been much at home lately and when he’s actually home, he’s usually too exhausted to even haul himself into bed. Still, it doesn’t stop himself from noticing the not there presence of Fuuko. There is no smell of eggplant in the evenings, no miso bubbling on the stove in the mornings. There is no grousing of his choice of natto on his morning rice. Kakashi wakes up to an empty, dusty apartment.

“So?” Kakashi asks, interrupting their banter. He has to hurry. “What is the likely theory you have, Nara-san?”

“They did it for power, more power than a Hokage can offer. They weren’t even interested in being a Hokage.” Shikaku pauses, then decides to plough on with whatever ominous plan he comes up whenever he clasps his hands that way. “I think we should proceed with plan B, with some minor adjustments.”

-/-/-/-

In the end, Shisui is unable to find Kakashi or anyone who could possibly know of the plans to free Fuuko. Kakashi wouldn’t roll over simply because Hokage told him to. Kakashi would fight to free Fuuko, Shisui thinks. Whichever plan Kakashi would enact, Shisui would be right behind him.

He sits in the trees, in the private meeting grounds for only chuunin and up shinobis. He sees unfamiliar shinobis prepare a stage that could only be used for one thing. Cold, black dread churns in his stomach. What if things had gone wrong? He hasn’t been able to find hide nor hair of anyone who could possibly know the plans - like they had gone dark, or worse, been captured.

Time ticks. Shisui casts his chakra sense out as far as he can. He’s no chakra sensor but sitting in the approximate middle of the meeting grounds should bag him something. It doesn’t.

There’s no Genma, no Gai, no Akito or even Suzuki, Subaru and Toyota. Of those three brothers, he would have expected at least one of them to turn up. And the Uchihas, none of the Uchihas turn up. Had this been a straight-up execution, Shisui wouldn’t be here too, but why isn’t any of them here to stop the execution?

The Anbu guard encircle the small procession. He can see the shock of silver hair as Fuuko steps out into the sunset. Her face is paler than he ever remembers her having, dark circles outlining her eyes. Shisui shifts his eyes across the courtyard, his red sharingan spinning, taking in every movement of the small crown, desperately trying to guess the plan. He watches the Kurama step onto the stage. A death by jutsu - he hadn’t seen that for a long time, not since the traitor during the Third Shinobi war.

Shisui waits and waits, waits for a signal, waits for a sign. He sees the Kurama cast hand signs, hand signs his sharingan deciphers and catalog. It’s the first part of the death by jutsu - the endless sleep. It is followed by a second part where the endless sleep will be filled with nightmares.

He leaps, chakra propelling him through the air. His sharingan morphing from its three tomoe to a six star as he lands, casting an area wide genjutsu onto the crowd. He knocks the first guard with his sharingan even before he even turns. Shisui sweeps the second off his feet, stabbing fingers into pressure points and knocking the guard out. He’s too late to stop the first part, but he’s in time to stop the second.

How could Kakashi have let Fuuko be killed, killed as a traitor?

The idea that Kakashi abandoned Fuuko baffles Shisui. He’s probably held up, Shisui thinks. The next two guards aren’t so lucky and he’s forced to gut one and stab the other in the shoulder to stop them. No one from the crowd has broken from the genjutsu and the Kurama just stands there, hands lying limply on his side. Not wasting time to figure why the Kurama didn’t fight, Shisui picks Fuuko up and leaps for the trees.

He’s not going to lose another precious person.

Notes: I just wanted to say that I've been sick since the beginning of the year and have been steadily getting worse. I'm sorry if my updates are a lot slower than what it used to be. I'm really trying to make it regular and weekly. I've been advised to take a break from stuff. Being the stubborn mule that I am, I refused to quit in the middle of an arc. Fortunately or unfortunately for you guys, the next chapter will be arc's finale.

I will be taking a 1 and 1/2 months break after the next chp. So if you guys have any questions about the plot or characters, do take the time to leave a message. I will answer as much as I can without spoiling the plot.

#fanfiction #bones beneath her feet #naruto

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twocoursemeal-blog · 8 years ago

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TCM Ramen Month: Hokkaido Ramen Santouka

Hokkaido Ramen Santouka (Harvard Square)

Hokkaido Ramen Santouka is another one of the international ramen chains that’s recently expanded to the Boston area. Santouka’s decor is clean, well lit, and sharp, and their soup is all tonkatsu-based with options for shio, shoyu, miso, and spicy miso, as well as a long-term special, negi nanban (jalapeno). Their original Boston location (and the location we’re reviewing) is in Harvard Square, but another store has recently opened near Newbury St. in Back Bay. Congratulations, Back Bay residents -- if their Newbury St. location is anything like the Harvard Square one, you’re in for a real treat.

We ate:

Takoyaki

Shio Ramen (with aji-tamago)

Shoyu Ramen (with aji-tamago)

Hojicha (Roasted Green Tea)

Mochi Ice Cream

Angela’s Thoughts

Yay! Santouka! Finally! My Favorite!

We went to Santouka on a cold, crowded Friday night. Fortunately, they have a cute little waiting area, and a phone texting-based waiting list. We were seated in a corner with nice lighting (good for pictures!), and started pouring over the menu. Every time I go back to Santouka, I marvel at how long their menu’s gotten; there are so many dishes now! They offer 5 different types of ramen, with numerous ways to customize your ramen as well; there are a few toppings, different types and amounts of pork, and tsukemen (dipping-style ramen with thicker broth). This doesn’t even address their combos, numerous apps, side dishes, and desserts. Santouka is becoming more than a ramen shop, in a way, but its ramen is clearly still the star of the show.

I am a creature of habit when it comes to ramen. I usually order the shoyu ramen when I come to Santouka, but one thing I *always* get is the hojicha, or roasted green tea. Santouka has chosen their tea so that it pairs well with their ramen... I know this seems weird, but you have to try it! The roasted tea takes on rich, dark, and nutty elements that balance the grassy earthiness of green tea. It cuts through the fattiness and salt of the ramen broth perfectly. It’s only a dollar, you get free refills, and it’s delivered to you at a drinkable temperature. This is a must-order for me, even in the summer.

We ordered the takoyaki (at Matt’s request). They were beautifully presented, and the fragrance of the takoyaki sauce and fishy bonito flakes blended together was delicious. They were crispy and very savory, though the fried oil taste was quite strong on the crust. The inside was smooth, and not too sweet, nestled around a pretty hearty chunk of octopus on the inside; the octopus was briny and flavorful. The herb mayo on top wasn’t too bad, and I generally hate mayonnaise. Though I only had one, it was a very tasty takoyaki!

This time (and pretty much every time, tbh), I ordered the shoyu ramen. The shoyu ramen comes with two slices of pork, a square of nori (seaweed), bamboo shoots, scallions, sesame seeds and naruto (swirly fishcake). I also ordered it with aji-tama (marinated soft-boiled egg).

The broth is very fragrant; the shoyu ramen highlights the fishy notes of the dashi stock clearly, and I think that compliments and lightens the pork broth considerably. The scallions and garlic are also lead notes in the broth. The broth is oily and definitely salty; it’s the saltiest broth I’ve had so far during Ramen Month. The salt did start to catch up to me by the end of the bowl, but the tea is perfect for cutting through that! I didn’t dislike the heavier salt content, but this is definitely a broth that is best coating the pork and noodles, and definitely isn’t for drinking and finishing at the end.

Speaking of the noodles, they are really flavorful and clearly darkened by soaking up the shoyu broth. They’re a wavy-curly noodle that is thinner and softer, without too much spring. They are really delicious, though, and harmonize with the broth by absorbing all the flavor. The egg was also perfectly cooked -- brothy, marinated outside, and gooey soft inside. This is the best egg we’ve had during Ramen Month, by far.

The pork slices, at first glance, kinda look pale and sad. Fortunately, looks can be deceiving. The slices are pork belly cuts striated with fat. They certainly weren’t the most tender slices of char siu we’ve had during Ramen Month (that award goes to Ganko Ittetsu), but when you bite into a slice, the pork fat melts like butter. It’s *amazing*. The fat makes the slices super rich, so the two slices that come with a standard bowl of ramen was enough for me.

We finished the meal with comped mochi ice cream (so nice!). I was pretty full, so couldn’t appreciate it as well as I could have on an emptier stomach. The vanilla bean mochi tasted pretty standard, and the red bean mochi, interestingly, tasted like bubble gum. Weird, but not bad...

I think, from my review, it’s pretty clear how much I like Santouka. I have 3 Santouka Loyalty Cards in my wallet right now, with stamps on all of them (You get a stamp for each bowl of ramen -- 5 stamps gets you free gyoza, and 10 stamps gets you free ramen!). Though other ramen shops have better noodles and pork (in my opinion), Santouka’s broth is brilliantly balanced, and that elevates pretty much anything else they put on or in it. Their excellent service doesn’t hurt, either. Santouka is still top dog in my list of favorite ramen shop in Boston.

Matt’s Thoughts:

I had been to Santouka once before, and while I didn’t have a strong memory of the place, I did recall it being pretty tasty, and I was excited to give it another try in the context of Ramen Month.

On a cold Friday night after Boston’s first snow storm, Santouka was packed. A wait for two was listed as 30-40 minutes, and we consented. Santouka is one of the wonderful places where you can give your name and phone number at the host stand and get a text when your table is ready. If you’re facing down a long wait, consider hopping next door to Grafton Street Pub for a drink. Fortunately, Santouka has a reasonably large waiting area - a three (read: four) person couch and maybe seven or so chairs in a little area off to the side. We waited, chatting and catching up about our day and talking about how I was doing a bad job of playing Fire Emblem Awakening (my first tactical JRPG).

We checked through the menu and after a bit of discussion, I settled on the shio ramen. Though I had a very wary eye towards my experience at Ganko Ittetsu when I went with “trying something new” over “following my heart,” I have never had shio ramen before, and was told that Santouka would be a great place to try it. Our minds made up on ramen, I saw that they had takoyaki as an appetizer! Largely due to my advocacy, we ordered the takoyaki. I friggin love takoyaki.

As we were waiting, I noticed some of the smaller touches that Santouka had - clean, sharp decor, a narrow window into the kitchen where large pots of simmering broth were fed with a thin trickle of water to replace lost moisture, and a small folding mesh bin where we were able to put our bags and coats to keep them out of the way. To date, this is still the only restaurant I’ve ever been in that’s offered these, and I think they’re a wonderful display of hospitality.

Our takoyaki came first, lined up five strong on a long white plate, bonito flakes flapping gently in the heat. I grabbed the most sauce-laden one I could find, popped it in my mouth, and proceeded to breathe out as fast as I could in a desperate, futile attempt to protect what little soft tissue was still left in my mouth. These were HOT. The perfect temperature. These were some killer takoyaki. The sauces were solid and well-balanced, the bonito added welcome textural and fishy flavor, but the star of this takoyaki show were the balls themselves. *Perfectly* golden and crispy on the outside (a feat that some takoyaki unfortunately fail to achieve), the interior was gooey, well-seasoned, and contained two reasonably large pieces of deliciously chewy octopus. I was in heaven. To be completely honest, this may have been the best takoyaki I’ve had in Boston (vs. Totto, Bon Chon, Shabu and Mein, Pikaichi, Ittyo, and Hojoko [sorry Ittoku - I promise I’ll try you some day]). Good enough that I would go back just for the takoyaki. If you’ve never had them before, this is definitely a good place to go for your first time.

I was so lost in reverie that I almost didn’t notice the ramen come! Fortunately, the ramen arrived on a huge ass plate and I couldn’t miss it. The broth was creamy and glistening with fat, while the two pale slices of char siu were almost camouflaged into the broth. A single wood ear mushroom, a slice of naruto, and what turned out to be an umeboshi plum added striking contrast to the bowl.

The shio broth was simple, clean, and rich. Though I didn’t particularly notice an addition from the sea salt, it’s very likely that without it the dish wouldn’t have had the same profile without it. I have to say that while it was good, I can’t quite put my finger on any one thing that made it stand out so much… go figure.

Santouka’s noodles were deliciously chewy, and carried the broth and the fat well. I liked them enough that without the takoyaki, I would have sought out a side of kaedama to go with my order (oddly, I didn’t see kaedama on the menu anywhere).

On to Santouka’s beautiful soft boiled eggs. They’re served in a bowl on the side - a touch I appreciate, as it allows you to decided when you eat the eggs without having to worry about the heat from the broth overcooking the yolks. As you can see from my picture, the yolks hit that excellent point of soft runniness plus a bit of slightly congealed silkiness. In a word, heaven. I ate both in a state of sheer bliss. It’s hard to imagine coming here and not getting these eggs again.

The pork was interesting… One piece was very pale, and though the fat on it was rendered wonderfully into pig butter, it didn’t carry much flavor aside from what it picked up from the broth. Additionally, it was a bit chewy, which isn’t an objection from me per se, but it was more of a piece of pork belly than char siu, and definitely wasn’t chopstick-tender. My other piece was noticeably darker and had more pig flavor with the same wonderful fat. You can bet I savored every bite of it.

I tried a bit of Angela’s shoyu broth, and surprising perhaps nobody except myself, loved it. The simple broth was fantastically complex, highlighting and elevating the soy, pork, and deep dashi flavors woven throughout. Though I’m glad I got my shio ramen, I think next time I’d go for the shoyu or try the miso. A final note - at the end of the bowl, after I’d gone through and eaten all the toppings and noodles, I went after the broth but found it very salty. Angela and I both agreed that while the salt didn’t come through in the rest of the meal, it was prominent at the end, and we retired from our bowls.

Finally, as we realized how full we were (and were bemoaning our lack of foresight to get some of the mochi ice cream for dessert), we got a gift! Our server brought us a small plate of two mochi ice cream (one vanilla, one red bean) along with two cute, dainty forks to eat with. We laughed, thanked her, and took a bite. The mochi wrapper was great - chewy and a little gummy as expected. The ice cream, however, was fine but unremarkable. The vanilla was clean and mild - I’d never had vanilla mochi before, and though I’m not sure I’d have it again in the face of matcha, black sesame, or strawberry, it was good to try something different. The red bean was straight up odd. Once in awhile, I’ll have some red bean ice cream that makes me pause and think “did they mess up and replace this with cotton candy ice cream?” and this case was no different. Funnily enough, both Angela and I didn’t really want to stop eating it. Maybe it was the odd juxtaposition of nostalgia? The world may never know.

I’ve got to say, I liked Santouka a lot more than I remembered liking it the first time. Their broth was awesome, their noodles were awesome, their egg was *on point* and they were very hospitable. If you’re in the area, it’s absolutely worth a stop.

Overall:

We both had a great time at Santouka! The service was impeccable and the food was great (and felt different from the other ramen that we’d had previously, which was welcome). Though you should be prepared for a wait (especially during dinner hours), and in the mood for a saltier broth, it’s a wonderful take on how ramen can be prepared. Combined with the impeccable service, this is a standout ramen restaurant.

We give Hokkaido Ramen Santouka 4 perfectly runny yolks out of 5.

Post-Script: How are we doing?

Angela: Santouka really lifted my spirits! It’s always reaffirming to be critical about one of your favorite restaurants and have it hold up. I could probably eat a bowl of Santouka ramen every week for the rest of my life (everyday is excessive…). Only two shops left, and I’m honestly a little sad that the end is in sight.

Matt: Somehow, still going strong! Going into Santouka, I was worried that I’d just come up against a wall, but somehow I was able to blast right through it with the help of Santouka’s phenomenal takoyaki and delicious broth. Will I really be able to weather this month of fat, salt, and carbs without faltering once? Is it a bad thing if I do?

#boston #harvard square #ramen #Ramen Month #noodles #soup #takoyaki #4 stars

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failureoftheyear-blog · 8 years ago

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I will go down with this ship: Chapter 24

It was late.

Too late in Sasuke's opinion. The silvery moon had made its debut, but yet the sunshine was no where to be seen. Sasuke was stood on a balcony in front of what he recognised to be a healing tree-hut. He sighed. Leaning on his forearms and gazing up at the moon, hoping for it to reassure him and his worrying thoughts.

Sakura said that he would be back by now, but where was he?...Sasuke's mind questioned, a nasty prickling feeling shivering over his skin. Sasuke rubbed his arms to relieve the sensation, but like Naruto, this itch was unreachable. Sasuke attempted to calm himself with deep breaths, the uneasy shifting in his stomach proving uncooperative. He noticed his hands were becoming frantic, so stopped holding himself. Though they now felt empty. Filled with the need to hold onto something; to touch, to hold, to never let go. Sasuke let out another frustrated sigh, running a hand through his hair and gripping it slightly.

Where are you?…Sasuke closed his eyes, trying to block out the sound of his own thoughts. In the process, not noticing footstep that approached him.

"Hey love" A voice spoke, Sasuke's eyes snapped open, whipping around to see the smiling blond. Without hesitation, Sasuke flashed forward with his arms around Naruto's neck. Hugging him tightly. Breathing in his scent. Sasuke nuzzled into his warmth before his eyes once again snapped open. He released Naruto immediately and shoved his chest slightly in anger.

"Y-You took long enough! I'm tired of you and your slacking off!" Sasuke scolded, Naruto blinked back into reality. Smiling faintly at Sasuke's pouting face and chuckling.

"Sorry love" Naruto responded, Sasuke folded his arms in protest, unable to stay mad for some reason. Sasuke's eyes glanced to the red splodge on Naruto's shirt. He frowned at how the blood soaked the bottom half of his usually orange shirt.

"H-Hey, what happened to you?" Sasuke questioned, gesturing to the injury. Naruto followed his worried gaze and shrugged.

"Hm? Oh, just a few mishaps, nothing to worry about" Naruto brushed off casually, used to having deadly injuries. Made clear by the scars that decorated his skin. Sasuke, however, was not used to it.

"You need to get that wound cleaned up" Sasuke pointed out, though another shrug was Naruto's answer.

"It'll heal up on it's own" Naruto responded, Sasuke's eyes widened and shook his head.

"Idiot! You'll get sick that way!" Sasuke exclaimed, grabbing his arm and pulling him into the empty tree-hut, "C'mon" Sasuke instructed, though Naruto frowned slightly.

"Love, really, I'm fin-"

"Sit" Sasuke ordered, pointing at a what resembled a observation table. Naruto blinked a few times, unaware of this authoritative command that Sasuke was taking. Naruto did as he was told like a toddler and sat on the wooden observation table. Watching Sasuke mutter to himself as he rummaged around the room, "Such a burden..." Sasuke mumbled with a small scowl, eventually returning with supplies. "Take off your jacket and lay back" Sasuke commanded.

"Isn't that a little forward?" Naruto joked with a flirtatious wink, though Sasuke remained unimpressed and stared him down with a glare. Naruto casually put his hands up in defence, "Heh, heh, joking" Naruto chuckled, taking off his jacket and placing it down before laying down. Sasuke walked over and placed down his supplies. Knowing what he would need from Sakura's previous tutorial. Sasuke gazed at the blood that was staining his shirt, reaching out his hands before stopping. Realising one thing.

He would have to unbutton his shirt completely.

Sasuke blushed. His fingers hesitant to move, but knowing he would have to. Sasuke saw that half of Naruto's shirt was already undone due to the blond's style, but Sasuke didn't know if he was thankful or not. Sasuke took a small breath to calm himself, nervously moving his fingers to touch the first button. Blushing more as he undid it. Another button undone, another shade of red added to Sasuke's cheeks. Sasuke glanced up to see Naruto staring up at him. No particular expression, it was almost serene. Whatever it was, it was unsettling Sasuke.

"D-Dobe, look the other way" Sasuke snapped, Naruto regarded him for a moment before turning his head to the side.

"Hn" Was the only noise to come from Naruto. Sasuke managed to finish the task of unbuttoning his shirt without too much distraction. Sasuke gazed sympathetically towards the bloody wound, a sad scowl tugging at his lips. He shook his head slightly to remind himself of his objective; taking the cloth and wetting it with the water. Locating the wound, he wiped around it to clear up all the excess blood. Sasuke's mind began to wonder as he cleaned Naruto. Two prominent thoughts dominating his mind.

One was Naruto's tattoo. Sasuke remembered the first one on his back, but could now see the other tattoo the blond possessed. A black spiral on his abdomen with outer squiggles. Sasuke's innocent eyes roamed slightly lower, seeing the beginning of the trail of blond pubic hair poking above his leather pants. Sasuke nearly squeaked and snapped his head back to the wound. Sasuke's glanced over to see that Naruto wasn't paying him any attention. If he was, he would've been greeted with the sight of a blushing raven. Sasuke tried so hard to rid himself of that thought, but it just lead onto the second one.

Naruto was a man. A half naked man. Sasuke was unmarried. Yet here he was. Touching Naruto, tending to Naruto, doing everything he shouldn't be doing to Naruto. Sasuke's mind spent most of its time trying to calm himself. Rationalising that he was simply do a good Christian deed. That God would forgive him if he just prayed hard enough. Convincing himself that he wasn't looking at Naruto's muscles. Sasuke sighed soundlessly. Focusing back on the task at hand. He moved on to cleaning the actual slit wound, pressing the cloth onto it.

"Ngh!" Naruto hissed out, Sasuke didn't look at him and continued.

"Stop being such a baby" Sasuke remarked coldly, Naruto pouted slightly but saw Sasuke wasn't giving him any attention. Some part of Naruto stirred at that. Naruto regarded him quietly for a moment before speaking.

"You know..." Naruto started calmly, his fingers gliding up Sasuke's thigh to wrap his fingers around the string holding up his skirt, "One tug and this'll fall..." Naruto stated without much emotion, Sasuke locked in a stare with him for a moment. Seeing the same look as before, the blank one that seemed to stare right into Sasuke's soul. Sasuke scowled slightly before he stopped looking at Naruto, intentionally pressing down hard. "O-Ow!" Naruto voiced in pain, Sasuke showing no remorse.

"Idiot" Sasuke remarked, Naruto huffed slightly and pulled his hand back. Just watching Sasuke at this point, unsure of why he wanted his attention so much. Though his thoughts travelled back to the hug he had received earlier. The warmth and comfort of it, how tightly Sasuke had gripped him.

"Were you worried about me?" Naruto suddenly asked, staring up at Sasuke as if he was a curious child. Sasuke's movements stopped for a moment before continuing.

"No" Sasuke answered emotionlessly. Naruto tilted his head slightly.

"What would you have done if I had died? Naruto questioned.

"Gone back home" Sasuke answered in the same cold tone.

"You wouldn't have missed me at all?" Naruto enquired. Sasuke's movements ceased, his eyes still avoiding Naruto's. He was silent and didn't respond, it was quiet for a few moments before Sasuke resumed his work.

"Didn't I tell you to look the other way, dobe?" Sasuke retorted, still not looking at Naruto. Naruto gave an unimpressed noise in respond, almost calling Sasuke a coward. Sasuke finished cleaning up all the blood and grabbed a dry cloth to remove all the excess water. Afterwards, he placed a strip of white cloth against the wound. Picking up the gauze to finish Naruto up. Sasuke saw the problem instantly. "Um..." Sasuke started with a pink blush, making Naruto raise an eyebrow, "L-Lift your...um..." Sasuke trailed off, nervously looking towards Naruto's lower region.

"Pleasure centre?" Naruto smirked, Sasuke sent him a flustered glare in response.

"Hips" Sasuke grinded out irritated. Naruto bent his knees and lifted up his hips provocatively. Smirking at Sasuke the entire time. Sasuke's annoyed expression remained red with embarrassment. Something about the way his abs glistened with the small remains of water, his abdomen raised and ready, his inviting smirk…

It stirred something new from Sasuke…

Sasuke mentally shook his head. Condemning those sudden urges that plagued his mind. Organising his mind and composing himself, he began to wrap the gauze around Naruto's abdomen. Feeling Naruto's burning gaze throughout the entire ordeal. He secured the gauze and took a step back. Satisfied with his work.

"There, finished" Sasuke declared, Naruto sitting back up normally.

"Thanks, love" Naruto smiled, Sasuke blushed and folded his arms childishly, looking away with a scowl.

"W-Whatever" Sasuke stuttered out, glancing over to see Naruto picking up his shirt and preparing to put his shirt back on. Sasuke saw the bloody stains that still remained, "Don't put that shirt on, dobe" Sasuke stated, Naruto raised an eyebrow towards him.

"Oh? You prefer me shirtless?" Naruto smirked, Sasuke scowled towards him.

"N-No" Sasuke responded, "That shirt has a patch of soaked blood" Sasuke pointed out, though Naruto wasn't the type to be concerned with that sort of thing, so shrugged. Sasuke scoffed and rolled his eyes, "At least let me get the blood out of it" Sasuke tutted, taking the shirt and walking over to what resembled a sink. Seeing his maids do this numerous times so understood the basics. Naruto just sat there. Just looking at him. Watching him clean his shirt. Naruto couldn't help but think about it. Was this really the same boy that he had meet not so long ago? The same one that claimed to hate and despise Naruto's entire being? Yet here he was, tending to Naruto and cleaning him up. The boy that cared little for his servants was doing one of their jobs right in front of Naruto. The only thing going through Naruto's mind was a question.

"Why?" Naruto muttered, Sasuke turned around with a confused expression.

"What?" Sasuke voiced, Naruto shook his head to bring himself back to reality.

"Er, never mind, just talking to myself" Naruto responded, rubbing the back of his head and looking down slightly.

"Oh, um, okay" Sasuke nodded lightly, squeezing the shirt of it's water to the best of his abilities. Walking back over and presenting the cleaned shirt. "It's a little damp" Sasuke warned, Naruto gratefully took the shirt and placed it on.

"It's fine, it's gotten a little warm out anyway" Naruto brushed off.

"Right" Sasuke responded, quiet as Naruto began to button up his shirt. Unaware of what to say or do. Sasuke remained in that state until he heard the gentle hum from the air, he looked around to find the source of the melody. "What's that noise?" Sasuke questioned.

"That's the people of this place" Naruto answered, buttoning his last button before standing and placing on his jacket. He gestured for Sasuke to follow him, they walked out onto the balcony and looked down. Sasuke saw every inhabitant of the Crystal Labyrinth, humming in harmony as they looked up to the full moon. Sasuke watched the unfamiliar phenomenon and tilted his head.

"What are they doing?" Sasuke asked, seeing Naruto lean on the balcony side, looking down at the people.

"Praying" He answered.

"Praying?" Sasuke repeated, Naruto nodding in confirmation, "For who?" Sasuke enquired.

"Everyone"

"Everyone?" Sasuke repeated once more, Naruto gazing down at the people with a smaller nod.

"Mm, the people here are the rarest in the world because they care little about their own being and would rather help others" Naruto began, Sasuke unable to comprehend such beliefs and attitudes. "They're selfless and believe in the good side of humanity, whatever harm a person has done, they'll always believe that there is a good part of them" Naruto explained, Sasuke looked down at the good-natured people and felt such awe, "To think the Royalists are trying to destroy every last one of them" Naruto muttered. Sasuke's eyes widened and he looked back over at Naruto.

"What?" Sasuke voiced in shock, Naruto nodded his head, still not looking at him.

"Yeah" Naruto responded quietly.

"That can't true, these people aren't causing any harm" Sasuke voiced.

"That just makes them easy targets" Naruto stated bitterly, Sasuke felt a painful twinge in his chest. There was no trace of a joke on Naruto's face, feeling as if Naruto couldn't even look at him.

"No" Sasuke whispered out, shaking his head, "No, I won't believe it, why would they do such a thing? What have these people done?" Sasuke gulped down, shame rising up and pushing against his ignorant bars. Naruto still didn't look at him.

"These are the 'savages' that your people want to 'civilise'" Naruto nearly hissed out, Sasuke made a small scoff.

"They aren't savages" Sasuke attempted to correct, "The savages are the barbarians who are vicious and deadly" Sasuke stated. This time, Naruto did look at Sasuke. He stood up and glared angrily towards the raven.

"Look at them Sasuke!" Naruto snapped, making Sasuke flinch, "Do they look fucking vicious and deadly to you?!" Naruto's eyes flashed red, Sasuke staring cautiously at him.

"Why...why are you getting so angry?" Sasuke questioned carefully, Naruto's dropped his rage and sighed. Running a hand through his hair before leaning back on the balcony. Naruto observed the people for a moment before speaking.

"So many innocent lives that didn't have to be taken, have been" Naruto started, "And for what? So the damn Royalists can have more of an empire? More power? More money? Tch, that's the only thing those greedy bastards think about" Naruto said in disgust, calming down as he looked around the peaceful scenery, "The Crystal Labyrinth is one of the last places that hasn't been destroyed by the Royalists and I want to keep it that way" Naruto finished, Sasuke was silent.

There was no way, surely? No way that everything his family stood for was built on the foundation of greed, cemented with the blood of the innocent, decorated with the lies of the silenced. Yes, his father and his family played their part in the war...but they didn't start it, right? They warred for peace, not for the bloodshed of the innocent. They themselves were innocent. Right? Sasuke idolised his family, took what they preached as gospel; it couldn't be that Sasuke was honouring their words of death, carrying the message of massacre. Right? Sasuke felt confliction. Either Naruto was lying to him or everyone else was. Logic screamed that Naruto was the liar, but his heart…

"Did you mean what you said in Tsumi?" Sasuke suddenly asked, Naruto turned his head slightly towards him and raised an eyebrow, "About...my family...their role in all of this" Sasuke clarified. He needed to know. He wanted Naruto to lie to him. Naruto sighed and turned his head back.

"Look, love, I shouldn't have told you that" Naruto responded, Sasuke narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Because it was a lie to because it's the truth?" Sasuke questioned hostile, Naruto sighed aggravated. Standing up and facing Sasuke with an annoyed expression.

"What do you want from me?" Naruto glowered, though Sasuke didn't back down.

"I want to...to know if my father...if he..." Sasuke started out strong, but his voice deteriorating from despondency. Naruto's expression softened in sympathy for Sasuke; his midnight eyes filled with desperate hope. Hope that Naruto knew he had to break.

"He's not the only culprit, but...yeah, he's...one of the people that have created situations like Tsumi" Naruto sighed, seeing Sasuke look away in mortification, placing a hand over his mouth in utter shame.

"Oh god..." Sasuke whispered out, closing his eyes in disgrace of what had just been confirmed. Naruto gazed compassionately at him, nothing but condolence for him.

"Look, I know it's hard to accept that your father and brother would-"

"No" Sasuke interjected, shaking his head, "No, not Itachi, not him" Sasuke denied, a pitiful look in response.

"Sasuke-"

"Not him" Sasuke stated more firmly, Naruto raised an eyebrow at him. Seeing how determined he was in defending his brother.

"How are you so sure?" Naruto questioned, Sasuke shifted almost uncomfortably.

"Because...he's not like the other Royalists" He answered with hesitation, Naruto's interest was peaked by that. Sasuke was avoiding his eyes as if he was hiding a secret.

"Meaning…?" Naruto trailed off, Sasuke looked around to see if anyone was listening. Afraid of anyone hearing the truth. Naruto watched him shift uneasily as he began to play with his hands.

"He...he acts kindly towards our servants, speaking to them as if they are just as good as us" Sasuke stated, Naruto was reluctant to believe it and instead went down another route.

"Are they not?" Naruto question.

"Yes, I mean no, I mean..." Sasuke spluttered out, trying to answer without confliction before sighing, "I don't know, but...but my brother speaks to them like old friends would" Sasuke said, quiet for a moment before revealing more, "Father doesn't know, but he...once visited his personal helper's home to meet his family..." Sasuke admitted soundlessly, making Naruto look at him in surprise, "I overheard him agreeing to the invitation and offering to bring good bread and wine...I even saw him leave with it…" Sasuke mumbled, a expression that clearly didn't understand on his soft features, "He doesn't even care about people's backgrounds, I tried to ignore it and assume it was just some sort of phase, but he...he just keeps carrying on" Sasuke sighed, as if disappointed, but mostly confused. So was Naruto to a certain extent.

"Really?" Naruto pursued, never hearing about this side to the famous Itachi Uchiha, future heir to the Uchiha estate. Sasuke nodded.

"Yes, he even..." Sasuke trailed off before holding the balcony, "For God's sake, he married a stray" Sasuke let out almost in anger.

"Stray?" Naruto repeated, Sasuke nodded once more.

"Itachi and I was in a carriage and travelling around the Uchiha lands, when Itachi spotted a girl on the side of the road" Sasuke began, "She was dirty, battered and bruised; Itachi took it upon himself to help her" Sasuke stated with spite in his voice, "He told me not to tell father as the maids cleaned her up" Sasuke confessed, "Itachi introduced her to my father as an Ojo, of course he believed him" Sasuke scoffed lightly, pausing for a moment as a sour expression took over his face, "6 months later, Itachi proposed to her..." Sasuke grinded out, gripping the wood under his hands and breathing slightly harder. Naruto watching him be overcome with jealously? Spite? Disappointment? Whatever it was, Naruto could see it made Sasuke's blood boil. "When I questioned it, he looked at me with a smile and said 'She's the one'" Sasuke quoted, taking the sweet words and regarding them with nothing but venom.

"He married out of love" Naruto remarked, almost unable to comprehend it, "Never thought a Royalist would do something like that" Naruto nearly chuckled, chuffed with Sasuke's confession.

"Yes, well, my brother's always been...special" Sasuke finished with a hint of resentment. It was another quiet moment before Sasuke glanced over to Naruto curiously. A unfamiliar need to continue speaking, "Do you have any siblings?" Sasuke asked, ever curious about Naruto's allusive past.

"Me? No, I was an only child, the closest thing to a sibling I had was Karin" Naruto answered, Sasuke made a scoff immediately at that answer, not even considering Karin as a human being. "Scoff away, but Karin isn't just family by blood" Naruto trailed off, beginning their tale…

The story of Naruto and Karin (Aged 5)

The small, blond boy ran down the dirty street; he himself not being any cleaner. Feeling the painful thud of the treaded earth beneath his bare feet. Wishing and wishing. Never stopping. Just running and wishing. Wishing and wishing.

"Come back here, loser!" A voice laughed.

"Ha ha! Yeah, you maggot!" Another called out.

Wishing and wishing they would stop.

"L-Leave me alone!" Naruto shakily called back, taking a hard left and running down the broken alleyway only to meet a dead end. Naruto began to shake when he realised that his wishing left him with nothing but this. Naruto heard their footprints get closer and closer until they slowly chuckled. Naruto whipped around and felt tears brim at his eyes. "G-Go away! Or! Or! Or you'll be really, really sorry!" Naruto tried to threaten, but the boys just laughed.

"Hahahaha! You're so stupid!" One of them laughed, Naruto's bottom lip trembling.

"N-No I'm not!" Naruto argued back.

"Aww, gonna cry, you little baby?" The other teased, Naruto's stinging eyes betraying him as painful tears fell.

"No!" Naruto denied, even as he did cry. The boys laughing at him.

"Look at the little baby crying away!" The boy teased, "Are you gonna run home to mommy? Oh wait" He snickered, Naruto felt his heart clench and everything break down as they laughed over his pain. Hands on either side of his head, shaking.

"S-Shut up!" Naruto screamed. Wishing and wishing, begging and begging.

"Oi!" A firm voice called out, Naruto blinked open his eyes and looked to see a red-haired girl in front of him. "You better get outta here or else!" She growled, her aura instructing the boys that she was not one to be messed with. They recognised her warning and scampered off like the cowards they were. She gave a triumphant 'hn' before turning around to face Naruto, "Stop crying, Naruto" She ordered, Naruto was sniffling away before she rolled her eyes. She knelt down to look at him, "Geez, you're nothing like a Uzumaki!" She stated, Naruto's expression turned sadder before she sighed, "C'mon! I'll show you how to be an Uzumaki!"

…

Naruto finished. Sasuke was staring at him. He couldn't believe that this strong person that seemed to be invincible had such a past. Sasuke gazed sympathetically towards Naruto, his heart wrenching at the thought of him being bullied. He wanted to offer words of comfort, but held his tongue. Pride and something ugly holding him back.

"Karin taught me how to fight after that" Naruto spoke fondly, "If it weren't for her, I'd be dead by now" He stated a little quietly, staring off as Sasuke watched him. Sasuke never realising how deep their family bond was. Sasuke didn't see much of a connection before between the two Uzmakis, but something told him that it was like air. You couldn't see it, but it made all the difference. Sasuke knew what it was like to have such a strong bond with a sibling. Naruto glanced over to Sasuke's lost look, remembering something he had said, "Anyway, I said I would talk to you" Naruto stated.

"About what?" Sasuke questioned.

"About what you said before" Naruto answered, Naruto turning his head toward Sasuke, "You're not a disgrace, Sasuke, so why did you say you were?" Naruto clarified, Sasuke visibly tensed and looked away from him. Naruto watched him for a moment, "You're not gonna tell me, huh?" Naruto voiced, Sasuke sent a glare his way.

"It is none of your business" Sasuke hissed, though Naruto didn't back down.

"I just don't understand how you of all people could ever say that about yourself" Naruto spoke, Sasuke scoffed.

"And why's that?" Sasuke rolled his eyes, not expecting any substance in his answer. Though Naruto remained leaning on his forearms on the balcony, not looking at him as he spoke.

"Because you're actually really amazing" Naruto stated, surprising Sasuke and making the raven look at him, "I mean, yeah, you've got a nice appearance and all, but that's not what I see when I'm looking at you" Naruto admitted, Sasuke locked in silence, "I know it sounds odd, but it's like looking at a candle in the darkness, its got the chance to burn so bright for so long, but it..." Naruto trailed off, "It just hasn't been lit yet" Naruto paused, Sasuke staring wide-eyed at him. Never hearing such words spoken about him; his potential, what was inside, his feelings. Sasuke turned his head away after hearing Naruto chuckle, "But I probably sound crazy, right?" Naruto shrugged, unaware that Sasuke was wiping away a heartfelt tear.

"O-Of course, dobe" Sasuke stuttered out, Naruto was quiet for a moment. Contemplating on nothing, while his mouth ran.

"I've never met anyone like you, Sasuke" Naruto muttered, still looking ahead. Sasuke glanced at him before looking forward himself.

"I've never met anyone like you either" Sasuke let slip, his mind questioning why he would say such a thing.

"Hn, what are the chances that our paths would ever cross? Stranger since we're from completely different worlds" Naruto pointed out, though Sasuke felt some resentment against that statement. For they might have been from different worlds; but something seemed right about their meeting, about their original rendezvous, about when Sasuke first locked eyes with him. Such strong feelings made themselves known.

"I don't think it's that strange" Sasuke voiced in a calm voice.

"Hn" Naruto responded, as if he had agreed with Sasuke's thoughts and felt the same sense of fate, "Another time, another place, I think we might've actually had a bond" Naruto said absent-mindedly, though his words were full of thought.

"I think so too" Sasuke replied, since he didn't even know who was in control of his mouth anymore. It was just speaking about everything he kept locked away. Though frightened, it made his heart ache a little less every time.

"Something as crazy as gods or ninjas or whatever, we might've even known each other" Naruto scoffed with levity.

"Maybe" Sasuke replied softly, looking at Naruto, "If our worlds weren't so separate" Sasuke added, Naruto looked at him from the corner of his eyes and gave a small, amused noise.

"Ha, I can't imagine you a pirate in my world" Naruto laughed lightly.

"Or you a noble in mine" Sasuke voiced with the same mirth. Naruto watched him for a moment before standing properly.

"And how would that go? If I was in your world?" Naruto questioned, Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him but seemed more than happy to entertain the idea.

"My world? Well, traditionally..." Sasuke trailed off, turning around and leaning back on his hands instead, "We'd meet at a grand gala" He started, Naruto smirking.

"Very nice" Naruto commented, Sasuke sending a smaller smirk back.

"It would be..." Sasuke stated, getting lost in sapphire, but still speaking, "I'd be by the side of the room, you'd be talking with other nobles and such" Sasuke began.

"And our meeting?" Naruto provoked, Sasuke engaging him with a amorous smirk.

"We'd see each other from across the room, smile at one another before you would walk over" Sasuke carried on.

"Romantic" Naruto remarked with amusment.

"It always is" Sasuke let out, neither breaking eye contact, Sasuke pushed off the balcony and they both began to walk around each other, "You would see that I wore no ring on my finger nor one on yours, so you would ask me to dance" Sasuke said almost dreamily.

"And we did?"

"All night" Sasuke answered casually, "After, we'd go off somewhere private and talk all night, until the sunrise" Sasuke's voice nearly a seductive whisper.

"What happens next?" Naruto asked, stepping forward and indulging himself completely in Sasuke's words.

"You would go to my father" Sasuke answered, making Naruto raise a curious eyebrow.

"What for?"

"For my hand in marriage, of course" Sasuke teased.

"Of course" Naruto chuckled, getting closer to Sasuke by the second.

"My father would agree, we'd have the big church wedding and..." Sasuke paused in his excitement, seeing how close the blond was to him. His breath hitches ever so slightly, Naruto gazing tenderly into his eyes.

"And?" Naruto probed, Sasuke's face pink.

"And live happily ever after..." Sasuke finished, searching Naruto's eyes for something he didn't know he was looking for. Though more curiosity ebbed at him, "What about me? How would we meet in your world?" Sasuke enquired, Naruto's lips curled into a devious smirk, making Sasuke think he just accepted a dance from the devil.

"Well..." Naruto started, flashing behind Sasuke and making the raven gasp at the close proximity he retained, especially the lips near his ear, "We'd be in the midst of a heated battle, our ship and crew battling for glory..." Naruto spoke huskily, Sasuke's face heating up at the sound of his erotic voice, "You, the captain of your ship, would sought me out to end my life as I would to you" Naruto continued, "We'd find each other" Naruto purred into his ear, sending pleasurable shiver down Sasuke's back, "We freeze, in utter bewilderment of one another" Naruto paused, sliding his hands to rest on Sasuke's hips, making the raven bite his lip, "Our eyes lock" Naruto voiced, whipping Sasuke around and using his grip on his hips to pull him closer, "We say nothing as we drop our swords, the battle ceases as everyone watches in silence..." Naruto trailed off.

"Then what?" Sasuke whispered out, all control lost in his mind and body. A new one taking over.

"Then I slam you against the mast" Naruto answered with a smirk, reflecting his answer by slamming Sasuke against the hut wall. Pinning his hands and staring deep into his midnight eyes; now filled with fear, excitement, lust. Naruto took in the delicious sight, licking his lips slightly, "And I'd make you mine in front of everyone" Naruto voiced suggestively, making Sasuke lose it completely.

"Tell me" Sasuke practically panted out, "Tell me how you'd make me yours" Sasuke spoke, staring into the hypnotic eyes that had transformed him completely. Before he would never even let the man get too close, yet here he was, letting Naruto pin him against a wall and whisper erotic fantasies into his ear. And here he was savouring every moment of it. Sasuke couldn't even comprehend what left his mouth next, "Show me..." Sasuke whispered out, eyes hooded and face flushed.

Naruto was completely engulfed in Sasuke and vice-versa. His movements were no longer his own as he leaned closer. Hearing Sasuke's breath hitch making his own heart beat a little faster. His eyes shutting close as he went to close the distance between them. Though before he could even touch the pretty, pink lips, he was stopped. Sasuke blinked a few times when Naruto's hat was suddenly covering the blond's face. Sasuke looked to see that Nao had jumped on top on Naruto's hat.

"It's that stupid monkey, isn't it?" Naruto growled, Sasuke couldn't help but smile and nodded.

"Uh-huh" Sasuke giggled, Naruto let out another growl and swiped above his head.

"Agh! Fucking thing!" Naruto cursed, walking around as he attempted to smack away Nao. He managed to do so and she scampered off. He huffed slightly as Sasuke laughed at the humorous scene. They locked eyes once more and tensed.

Reality hitting like a ton of bricks.

What they were doing.

What they were about to do.

They immediately avoided each other's gaze; embarrassed and disturbed. Sasuke's entire being was being filled with shame and confusion. Questioning himself and his actions. How did he allow himself to say things that he didn't even understand? What exactly did he hope to achieve by acting the way he did? Why did he act so…

Naruto was consumed with denial and confusion. Why was this such a big deal to him? It wasn't as if he hadn't done this sort of thing before. Though remembering how close they were, the words spoken between them, the way they moved together...it made Naruto feel strange. The type of strangeness that put Naruto on his guard. The idea of being too near Sasuke now seemed more of a danger, something to avoid. Naruto cursing internally. Why did he act so…

Both heard the same questions entering their minds. Both knew that what started off as a mere joke had turned into something risky. They weren't speaking to each other about bonds anymore or their separate worlds. They had unknowingly confessed their secret fantasies to one another. Sinful, lewd fantasies that neither knew existed. Nor wanted to exist. One question remained hanging in the air; the elephant in the room as it were.

Where do we go from here?

To Narnia.

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