#i saw a naruto thing which made me think of her

[acquity]

He's Worried About You | Gaara x Reader

Summary: You are a powerful kunoichi of the Hidden Leaf Village and you are in a long-distance relationship with the Fifth Kazekage Gaara. When the Fourth Great Shinobi War began you became the captain of the Special Forces Unit and have been working yourself to the bone as the youngest captain. Gaara has watched over you from a distance as he takes on his duties as Regimental Commander of the Allied Shinobi Forces and Captain of the First Company and when heavy rain forces your two divisions to meet he comes to confront you about how much you have been overworking yourself.

Warnings: None! (I think, if there are let me know!)

Notes: I made a few small changes to the Fourth Great Shinobi War making it so that the war has been going on for months instead of a few days. Also, this ended up being A LOT longer than I expected so enjoy! :)

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You stood inside of your tent extremely stressed out bent over a map of the battlefield- your thoughts running every which way. Lady Tsunade had entrusted you with the position of Captain of the Special Forces unit at the young age of sixteen. You didn't expect the sudden promotion but accepted it nonetheless wanting to serve your village well and do your part for the war effort.

However, this position was a lot more than you expected. Yes, you knew that this job would be very demanding, but this was just too much for you as a perfectionist. You worked extremely hard to ensure your division had no casualties and so far you were the only captain that maintained no deaths.

You wanted to keep this record causing you to run around your company's camp helping wherever needed causing you a lot of unnecessary stress.

Gaara had heard about this through Temari and a few other Hidden Sand shinobi that were stationed under your command. He frowned as soon as he read the letter from his elder sister about how you were holding up as of late.

You and Naruto had been the ones to pull him out of the darkness during the Chūnin Exams and had been there by his side when he got revived by Granny Chiyo. The boy lived to see you smile and his love for you grew everytime he saw it.

Now, it seemed as though you were too focused on others to ever think about yourself- it worried him. His beloved girlfriend was too selfless for her own good. It had taken him two years for him to even realize the love he felt for you after the exams let alone confess to you.

The Kazekage had just asked you to be his partner a little under two years ago when you were both fourteen and your relationship has been long distance ever since. It was already hard not seeing your face every day and the last thing he wanted out of this war was for his girlfriend to die from her being too exhausted to fight properly. If you died, he'd lose a part of his soul and he wasn't sure how he would cope- he didn't want to think about such a dark possibility.

Unfortunately, he couldn't just go to you he had his duties as Kazekage and Regimental Commander to take care of and he hated that fact. He remembered all those times where you used to put your hand on his shoulder and smile at him praising him for his improvement on his journey of becoming a better person. You were the reason even though he didn't see it at the time why he tried so hard to improve- and now that was at risk.

He wanted to hold you in his arms and take care of you as you had done for him. He had offered many times for you to move to the Hidden Sand where he could take care of you properly. He was the leader of the entire Land of Wind at the age of sixteen; you could easily just move into his estate, and he could provide for you giving you easy missions to keep you out of danger.

However, he knew how much you loved being a Hidden Leaf Kunoichi and loved you as you were never wishing to take that away from you. You rejected him each time he offered anyway not wanting to be a burden. He never held this against you though as he could never be upset with you besides, he understood your reasoning.

But, as luck would have it, heavy rain on the battlefield forced his division to meet with yours to exchange supplies and when he arrived, he immediately looked for you after making sure his unit was settled. He met with Temari who told him you were inside of your tent bent over a map of the battlefield. He sighed thanking his eldest sibling before looking for your tent.

When he found it, he walked inside and noticed the bags under your eyes instantly. Lack of sleep was normally his problem as Shukaku had kept him from sleeping most of his life still causing him problems to this day even though the One Tails was removed from him. He hated seeing you exhausted to this degree though, while he had learned to adapt to lack of sleep- you hadn't.

It made him wonder what else you had neglected in the time you two were separated in favor of taking care of your division. While you two sent letters back and forth every two days you avoided talking about yourself to avoid him worrying about you. He knew this and wished you could just let him take on some of your burdens.

He approached you with a worried expression on his face and his green eyes held a look of love and concern that he reserved only for you. You sighed giving him a weak smile as he placed a hand on your shoulder as he spoke.

"Are you alright?" He asked as he leaned his forehead against yours. You had helped him get used to showing physical affection over the years and he slowly got the hang of it. However, he kept physical affection reserved for only you and on occasion his siblings.

You stayed silent for a moment sighing as you closed your eyes enjoying the feeling of having your lover so close after a few months of not being able to see each other due to the war.

"Sorry for not meeting you when you arrived I have been stuck looking over the plans for the upcoming battle." You said giving him another weak smile as you opened your eyes.

"But I'm fine." You whispered and he knew it was a lie. You weren't fine you had been given a huge responsibility and he didn't doubt for a moment that you could handle it. He knew you could, but he also knew how much you cared for others so much so that you could get yourself sick by worrying about those under your command too much.

As a result, his look of worry didn't fade instead it depend as he placed two fingers lightly under your chin tilting it slightly upward so the two of you could meet eyes. "No, need to apologue. You never have to apologize to me." He replied kissing your forehead before continuing. "And I know you aren't fine Y/N." He started. "I can see it in your eyes, it's the same look you had during the battle at the Akatsuki's hideout when you came to save me. A look full of both love and exhaustion. You are stretching yourself too thin." He whispered softly, and you looked away for a moment your eyes looking down at the map once again.

He moved his fingers from your chin to your cheek cupping it in his hand. You leaned into his palm as you looked back at him.

"You need to let your shinobi help you, you don't need to take care of every issue that arises in your camp. You are young and you can let those around you support you in areas you need assistance in." He added, and you shook your head at him as you went silent once again.

You had never stayed silent for this long, like Naurto you both wouldn’t keep your mouths shut for a long time unless there was something wrong and this worried him even more as you gathered your thoughts together.

“You are young too Gaara, and you are in charge of way more. You the leader of an entire nation. The Kazekage.” You said pausing before continuing. “And I’m only in charge of one division. I’ll be fine I just need to work harder because if I fail. . .” You stopped your voice trailing off as you looked to the side unable to meet his gaze once again. “What would that say about me? What would that say about Lady Tsunade who gave me this position to begin with?”

The Kazekage grimaced on the inside as he felt his heart sink at your words and how you couldn't look at him when talking about your insecurities. It hurt him to see you this stressed to see you compare yourself to him, and he thought of the proper words to say to reassure you just as you had done for him so many times before.

He decided to act rather than speak at first pulling you into a warm embrace as he placed your head to rest on his shoulder as he finally choose the right words to say to you.

"You won't fail." He stated as he rubbed your back gently with one of his hands the other on the back of your head caressing your hair. "You are smart, talented, and most of all you are kind and care about doing the right thing. As long as you remain like that, you won't fail and even if you do, I'll be there to support you."

You smiled softly feeling the Kazekage's gentle touches on your back and head. His warm words washed over you like warm water as the tension in your body started to subside. However, your mind was still clouded with exhaustion from your heavy workload as you spoke back.

"Promise me you won't overwork yourself either." You replied with a small chuckle as your spirits lifted.

He gently ran his fingers through your hair as he listened to you, cherishing every moment of this intimate moment with you nodding in response to your words. He smiled at how you were laughing once again. It made his worry subside for a moment as he admired how you thought about him over yourself. It was one of the many reasons he loved you- your unwavering selflessness. "I promise, as long as you do the same." He responded as he pressed his lips against yours giving you a quick peck before continuing. "Now, let's get some rest together." You nodded and the two of you fell asleep cuddling close to one another inside of your tent taking advantage of your divisions still being forced together due to the rain. As he fell asleep, he made a mental note to send Kankuro to watch over you as well- just in case.

[venerawrites]

Hey, could you write some Gaara angst. He and his fiancé fought over something and the argument was that bad where he said things that he shouldn’t have. His fiancé has to leave for a mission the next day,a dangerous one at that. Things go wrong on her mission and she’s now in the hospital and it’s hard to say if she’ll live or not. Gaara is in complete emotional distress and guilt because he feels that it’s his fault that his fiancé might not live.

Have a lovely day!

author's note: I saw "she" in the request, so I am rolling with a fem! reader. It's not a secret I love writing angst, so I really enjoyed writing this one. I hope you like it as well! <3 Thank you for requesting!

warnings: none, other than reader can be a little bit annoying in the first half lol

This is not how the evening was supposed to go.

As the last day before your two-week mission, you imagined it as a romantic day, filled with lots of laughter, kisses, and good homemade food, which you had spent all day making.

A screaming match in your fiancé's office was definitely not part of the plan.

"Lower your voice", Gaara sighed, his fingers making their way to rub soothing circles on the side of his forehead. You had stormed into the Kazekage's building about an hour ago, and while your demeanour was progressively getting worse and more aggressive, somehow he had still managed to remain collected.

"Excuse me?", you let out a scoff, marching towards his desk and slamming your hands on top of it, "Don't command me like that! Who do you think you are?"

The words triggered something inside of him and he abruptly stood up, slamming his hands right next to yours and getting right in your face. His eyes, usually calm and inviting, were now cold and dark, showing that there was a storm brewing inside of him.

"I am your fiancé, but most importantly your Kazekage", he gritted his teeth, emphasizing his title, " I know you are upset and I said I am sorry! But your shenanigans stop now!"

Tilting your head, you remained silent and narrowed your eyes, determined not to give up on the little staring contest you had going on. Pressing your lips together, you moved your jaw in annoyance, your breathing heavy with the pent-up frustration.

"Well, guess what, Kazekage?", your words came out almost mocking, while a small sarcastic smirk appeared on your face, "If you tired of dealing with my "shenanigans", maybe you should run and complain to your little friend from the Leaf. I am sure he would be more than happy to hear we are on the verge of breaking up because of him."

"Are you hearing yourself?", Gaara finally raised his voice, moving away from the desk, while running his hand through his red locks, "Break up because of Naruto? You are being absolutely ridiculous, Y/N!"

"I am being ridiculous? This is our last day before my mission and you decide to spend it with Naruto!", you screamed, shaking your hands in the air and making a few steps towards him, "One would've thought that you two are engaged, instead!”

A dry chuckle made its way past his lips and he shook his head, trying to calm his mind. Gods knew he loved you more than life itself but in moments like these he questioned how fate decided to bring you together, considering you were polar opposites.

Gaara was a calm, collected, and reserved individual. He was extremely hard-working and devoted to his nation, so naturally every decision he made was always centered around the well-being of others. He always carefully considered all his options before acting, and rarely resolved to action, if the problem could be resolved peacefully with talks.

You ,on the other hand, were hot-headed, impulsive, and stubborn. Always acting before thinking, you often fail to consider anyone else's needs and wishes in moments like this, too blinded by your selfish desire and feeling of injustice. Unlike the red-headed shinobi, who you described as your "better half", you faced problems head-on, even if that meant you would regret it later.

There has always been some tension between you two, even since you met during your Chunin Exams, but no one believed you would get together, especially after Gaara went through his life-changing phase when he realised the importance of friends and family.

Yet, years later, here you were - a Leaf shinobi who transferred to Suna and was engaged to the Kazekage. Somehow your clashing personalities worked in harmony and you managed to bring the best out of each other.

Well, most of the time...

Today, after he decided to spend the whole day with Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi, thus resulting in him having to work through the evening, was not one of these times.

While the Leaf ninjas were your old comrades, it was not a secret that you did not share a close bond with them, especially with the blonde.

Naruto has openly vocalized his opinion that Gaara is too good for you and he can find a better, calmer half, who would compliment him as a future spouse of the Kazekage. He always made it clear that while he did not exactly hate you, he did not approve of you.

In response, you did not hide your thoughts about their friendship and the fact that your partner was giving him too much credit. Of course, Naruto did have some role in his decision to change for the better, but ultimately it was Gaara who did all the work. Additionally, the blonde was loud, assertive, and loved to poke his nose in other people's business, including your relationship.

"Y/N, enough!", your fiancé's voice boomed, his aura suddenly darker, "Do not talk about my friends like this!"

"Do you keep the same energy when he talks about me?", your brow raised, "When he says how I don't deserve you and tries to fill your head with the craziest ideas about us!"

Gaara let out a puff of air, before turning around and marching towards you. Stopping just a foot away, he lifted his hands towards you, laying them on your shoulder.

"I. Had. Enough!", he hissed each word through his teeth, a sign he was really pissed off at you now, "No one talks about you and no one is trying to fill my head with anything! I don't need anyone to tell me that we are incompatible when I can clearly see that myself!"

The insults and swears that were ready to fall from your mouth got stuck in your throat and your eyes widened for a few seconds, before narrowing again.

"What are you getting at?", this time your voice was quieter, but still with a note of challenge behind it.

Suddenly there was a spark of uncertainty behind his blue eyes. Slowly removing his hands from your body, he walked towards the window with his back facing you.

"I think we need a break. It's just... It's not working anymore", he murmured, gaze focused on the peaceful streets of Suna. He found it easier to say what he was thinking right now if he avoided looking at you.

A minute passed.

Gaara expected you to scream at him, swear at him, or even grab something from his desk and throw it at his head. But when he heard the door of his office opening and slamming shut, he jumped in surprise. Turning around, he found the spot where you were standing just a minute ago, empty, while your diamond ring shined lonely at the edge of his desk.

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It's strange how distorted a person's time perception becomes once they are eagerly waiting for something.

Two weeks, which usually flew by, given his busy schedule, now felt like an eternal nightmare for the young Kazekage. Eaten by the guilt of how your last conversation ended, he severely punished his mind and body by refusing to eat, drink, or socialize with anyone outside his work. He practically lived in his office and if it wasn't for Kankuro to send him to shower every morning, after working the whole night, he probably would had not set a foot outside.

This morning, however, he refused to do even that. You were supposed to come to report about your mission any moment now and he shifted nervously in his seat, mentally rehearsing the apology he wanted to say to you.

An hour passed.

Then two.

Gaara kept glancing towards the door, yet no one entered, except his secretary who kept dropping piles of paperwork on his desk. He tried to question if any ninjas have showed in the building today, but she kept shaking her head "no" with an apologetic smile on her lips.

Finally, just after noon, a small, barely audible knock reached his ear and he immediately straightened his posture and fixed his hair, before giving his response. His eyes gleamed with anticipation and he stood up, ready to greet you back home.

His, smile, however, quickly dropped once he saw that only one of your teammates, Bumi, entered his office. Covered in scratches across his face and hands, he looked like he had taken some rough beating not long ago. Gaara's blood froze.

If Bumi, the largest and the most skilled ninja in your squad, looked like this, what has happened to you?

"Lord Kazekage", the man greeted, before bowing his head. He made his way towards the desk and placed a tightly wrapped scroll on it, but his gaze remained cast downward.

"The report for our mission."

"Where is Y/N?", the red-headed ninja asked, not even glancing at the document given to him. He had a bad feeling about what was happening and Bumi's lack of eye contact and nervous twitching did not help to ease his worries.

Your teammate looked up, meeting Gaara's intense stare for just a second, before clearing his throat and focusing on his shoes again.

"She...", he stopped, nervously shifting his weight from one foot to another, "Um... she is not here at the moment."

"I can see that", the Kazekage pointed out, completely unamused, "Which is why I am asking - where is she?"

Bumi moved uncomfortably again, before letting out a sigh and taking a seat opposite his red-headed leader. His knee kept bouncing and he nervously shifted around his seat, before opening his mouth again:

"The Elders warned me not to tell you... yet."

Gaara's glare hardened and he crossed his fingers on top of his desk. Pressing his lips in a thin line, he took a deep breath, trying to calm the rising feeling of panic inside of him.

"You answer to me, not the Elders", he almost growled, his eyes not moving away from your teammate. His jaw tensed and that was enough of a sign for Bumi to spill out what was on his mind

"She is in the hospital", he blurted out and Gaara's breath hitched. His fingers started to tremble and he quickly placed them on his knees below his desk, a poor attempt to cover the shock that hit him when he heard the other male's words.

'Maybe it is just a check-up', he tried to reason in his head, 'maybe it is nothing too serious.'

Almost like he read his thoughts, Bumi decided to continue:

"It all happened so fast", he looked down, mentally reliving what happened just this morning, "We were on our way back when we were ambushed. Y/N... She has been acting weird the whole mission. She kept missing her shots and her reactions were slower than normal... I don't know what happened, but it was almost like she was not herself."

Cold sweat started forming on Gaara's temples and he felt his heart speeding inside his ribcage. He felt like he wanted to jump out of his seat and run to the hospital, but it was almost like his body was disconnected from his brain and it chose to stay frozen in place.

"So when this ninja swung his katana towards her stomach, it was too late for her to block it or move away...", Bumi gulped, his eyes now glossy, "The doctors said the cut was so deep, it damaged some of her insides too. And by the time we arrived, she also lost a ton of blood. They... They are not sure if she can make it."

Gaara always considered himself a man who knew what pain was. He has endured so much during his childhood, that he always thought nothing could hurt him anymore.

But the way his whole soul shattered the second he heard you may not make it, was a whole new type of pain. One that pointed its ugly finger to his face, screaming "It is all your fault!", while simultaneously creating feelings of rage and bloodthirst... feelings that stayed buried deep inside of him for years.

"Which village?", was all he said, his blue eyes now empty and staring at the blank wall at the opposite end of his office.

Bumi gulped, standing from his seat. The look on Gaara's face... He has not seen that look since their Chunin days. He was about to sneakily exit the office when the Kazekage's cold gaze fixated him on the spot.

"They had Leaf headbands...", he mumbled, before quickly adding, "But they could've gotten them from anywhere. I don't believe our allies-"

His words were interrupted by the Kazekage's hand which lifted in the air, cutting him mid-sentence. Getting up from his chair, he grabbed his hat, before walking past Bumi towards the door. Thousand different thoughts and ideas were racing through his brain about how he should deal with the situation, but they ultimately led to his need to see you straight away.

The last words he said to you kept echoing in his mind and he felt like throwing up. If he had shown up for your scheduled date night, if he had kept his tongue behind his teeth, if he had shown up at the gates the morning before you left... maybe you would be here, with him, instead of fighting for your life.

He knew he had to get to you, to be with you and somehow beg you to stay with him. But before that, he had one final request to make:

"Gather the Elders and the War Council", he instructed Bumi, while making his way past him, "Our alliance with the Leaf is over."

cc artwork: concept art for "Assassin's Creed: Mirage"

[boiohboii]

The trophy boyfriend Pt4.

The one where the world is in flames due to Daniel's announcement, however Kim Y/N won't let her boyfriend, now fiance, upstage her.

People think they have lost Carlos to a different type of WAG only to find out Daniel Ricciardo is the one who is not coming back.

or

In which f1 fans are introduced to a South Korean chaebol and now they want to fight her rumored boyfriend...... but he is only her childhood friend while his friend is her fiance.

N.B: one more part till the end of this small series. I hope you liked it and thank you so much for reading ♥️♥️ I hope you had fun here!

PART 3

Liked by danielricciardo, carlossainz55, landonorris and 985,820 others

KimJeonwoo: Hello, this is actually Kim Y/N. While I have made it known to Daniel and our close ones that I absolutely and am madly and deeply in live with him, I think it is only fair that I acknowledge his post on this platform as well, however I will not be unlocking any of my personal profiles as they are just that- personal. I hope that you will understand that I am not one to share much publicly.

Daniel, from the day I saw you on that floor I knew I was going to find you again. People say that when you meet someone you will know, and I never believed in that superstition. How was that even possible? How was I just supposed to look at someone and decide that I will spend the rest of my life with them? But then I saw you, sprawled out on the floor with your hand reaching to me, I was and still am not the most social person so all I could do was nod at you and then go on my way, certain that I will meet you, after all, all of those sayings seemed true; I just knew you were the one in that moment.

On that first date I knew that I was going to have to share you with the world. On the second date I knew that I wanted you by my side for as long as you will have me for. And on the third date I was already picking our rings.

I was nervous on that night, I was scared that you wouldn't want to get married now, after all our schedules are ever so changing and our careers do not seem to have a meeting point. I am always nervous around you, you make me feel like I can be anything and anyone and you would still love me all the same.

I love you, you are the one who colored my life with arcades, forts, karts and jokes. You are the one who taught me to accept mistakes, to not get too caught up on the past.

They say marriage is hard, that you need to love a person for the rest of your lifetime, but I don't think these people knew what love is, if they did marriage would've been the easiest thing for them. Everytime I look at you, everytime I hear your voice i fall in love with you all over again, I fall and I will always keep falling for you, only you.

I swear that I will do you right, I will respect and cherish you, I will keep falling in love with you everyday even if I can no longer see you or hear you. You will always be my sun, my laughter and my joy. You will always be my first and last love.

Thank you for the years of bliss, the years where my heart stopped- only to beat again at the sound of your voice, the years that were full of delightful memories. And to all the years that are yet to come, always remember that I am forever yours my darling, till my very last breath.

~comments on this post have been disabled~

{Taglist: @laneyspaulding19 @iamahallucinationnn @laura-naruto-fan1998 @miiikkeey @ceeesxy-blog}

NEXT

[stu-dyingstudent]

Sakura Haruno fic recs: ANBU

AHHHH!!!! I love ANBU fics, especially when they involve Sakura. It was such a cool concept, which was unfortunately never fully expanded upon. However, our lack of knowledge regarding the shadow corps allows for some really cool fic ideas since authors can take creative liberty on the structure and workings of the division.

In my opinion, Sakura had the most potential out of team 7 to join ANBU (at least more than Naruto). It's all about being discreet and efficient and although she wasn't strong during og, she possessed abilities that would be valuable for this. Her clever mind, chakra control, and genjutsu potential would've made her a good fit. Naruto was too flamboyant and Sasuke was too reckless and cocky, but this is just my take. However, with her new skill set from her training with Tsunade, I don't think she would be able to go down that path anymore.

Started: 2024.08.06

Last Updated: 2024.08.29

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

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Masks by mads999 || ao3 || kakasaku || E || canon divergent || complete

1. Sakura's Inner is far more diabolical than anyone ever expected 2. Crows prove to be cruel mentors 3. Sakura comes to learn exactly how much she hates Kakashi (as well as how alike they are, in the most terrible of ways)

Kakashi is a hateful turd and Sakura is spiteful! I hate this ship and I'm not a big fan of Kakashi here, but boy is this fic good. One of the best character developments I've read for Sakura and she certainly becomes of force to be reconned with. The ANBU lore in Masks is absolutely phenomenal and I love the whole system that is put into place as it adds for some drama (lol). Also, can we talk about how awesome crow summons are????

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Five Kingdoms for the Dead - Evil Is A Relative Term || ffn || M || canon divergence || complete

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

It's been a while since I've read Five Kingdoms for the Dead, but I just remember it being absolutely great! I'll be honest, I found a lot of the mind stuff pretty confusing at times, but it was still enjoyable. Also, some great characters are utilized in this fic such as Neji, Sai, and Itachi. Makes me really wish that we saw more of Sakura and Neji working together in Naruto since I think they compliment each other quite well.

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Trials of Change - Espoiretreves || ao3 || gen || time travel AU || complete

Haruno Sakura made a promise. Looking in the eyes of her Shisou and the reanimated Hokage, she took on the most important mission of her life. Go back in time and try to prevent the 4th Shinobi War. Now, Sakura is back to her 5-year-old body, with all the knowledge and haunting memories of the future. She vows to keep her precious people safe and stop certain events from happening, without altering the timeline too much. The trials her emotions and logic put her through have her questioning her very existence, but for the sake of peace, she has to push forward. No matter what.

Trials of Change is actually apart of a time travel series and I have to say that it is probably one of the best of the genre! Now, Sakura is not in ANBU here, but she works very closely with team Ro (Kakashi's ANBU team) and it's a huge part of the story, so I'm choosing to count it anyway. I really adore all of the worldbuilding and backstories going on here in addition to the fact that there are breaks. Yes, the story keeps moving, but there are other things going on, like playdates, and not just Sakura trying to save the world. Also, if you love Shisui then definitely check this out since he has a huge role and his and Sakura's friendship is just so precious.

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bite me and see, said the fly to the spider - MirrorImage003 || ao3 || itasaku || T || non-massacre AU || ongoing

In which Sakura is not initially a part of Team 7. In which she wears her failures like armor and brandishes her fears like her most trusted weapons. In which I do what hundreds of other authors have done before me, and rewrite Sakura's story. Non-massacre AU. Canon Divergent. Slow-burn.

After Sakura's first team, consisting of the graduating class's "expendables," dies, she joins team 7 and faces backlash along her shinobi journey. Sakura doesn't join ANBU until the later chapters so fair warning that there isn't too much content in that regards (unless it updates). Nonetheless, Sakura views ANBU as vital to her career as it offers her the highest clearance she can get. Gaining her opportunities for information her civilian-born status didn't allow her privy to.

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The Sixth Shadow - thinknicht || ao3 || kakasaku || M || canon divergent - eventual time travel AU || ongoing

No one seemed to find it odd when little Haruno Sakura threw herself smack dab in front of a Chidori and Rasengan. Not even Kakashi stopped to wonder.(He really should have.)

The story of how Sakura came to be the sixth hogake despite all of the challenges thrown her way. I especially love Sakura's drive in addition to the political aspects. However, be warned that Kakashi is an absolute HATER (in the beginning), but he gets better! The Sixth Shadow is extremely long and I only just recently got to Sakura's introduction to ANBU, so I can't say too much in that regard.

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Daughter of Fire - justjstuff || ao3 || kakasaku || E || canon divergence || incomplete (maybe ongoing)

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

Sakura's growth throughout Daughter of Fire is great and realistic all while pointing out aspects from the original series which were flawed and dare I say misogynistic. I struggled a bit in the beginning to justify her abilities, but overall the story is really well done and the ANBU aspects are quite intriguing.

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cut the head off the snake - itsthechocopuff || ao3 || T || time travel AU || complete

when eighteen-year-old, post-war Sakura is thrown back into her tiny, pre-Academy body, she makes a decision. she'd had a childhood once already, and this time, she's more interested in Not Dying when the inevitable shit hits the proverbial fan. so she will work harder, care less, kill more, and smile when she's done.and hey, if she ends up reviving an extinct nature transformation to attract the most corrupt, power-hungry man from her timeline, all the better for her, right?

Such a unique take on a time travel AU and Cut the Head Off the Snake executes it perfectly. Sakura decides that her first order of business is to infiltrate ROOT and that's exactly what she does. Sai, Shin, and Shisui are all great characters and team Ro is present as well. Very good!

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Flowers - Idunmy || ao3 || E || kakasaku || canon divergence || ongoing

Flowers only bloom just before they wilt When Sakura loses her fight against Ino in her Chuunin exams, she questions her ability to ever become a kunoichi, too weak to protect herself, let alone her village One wrongful promotion later and Sakura gets a second chance in the shape of a mysterious new teacher who against all odds is willing to put her faith in a young girl with potential and a willingness to fight. Or- a fix-it inspired fic where Sakura grows to be the powerhouse she was destined to become.

Flowers is a newer series (which has recent updates) and I love it! Critiques are made towards the medical ninja training, which I believe needed to be discussed and it's refreshing to see. In most ANBU fics I've read, Sakura is immediately put onto the strongest team, but here it's a bit different. She begins on a demolition squad, which not only suits her skill set quite well, but is a realistic approach to how she would be introduced to the corps. Anyway, it's one of my favorite reads at the moment and I really like where the story is going.

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names. - waterpllar || ao3 || T || gen || canon divergence || complete

There are no names or faces in ANBU. Everything is designed to be strictly formal, efficient and professional. A recently orphaned Sakura, however, learns that some regulations aren't meant to be followed, and finds a place in Team Ro after being shunned from her former teammates. (fic prompt from anon on tumblr: orphaned sakura in anbu with yamato, genma, and team ro.)

AHHHH poor Sakura. After her parents' death Sakura seeks Tsunade's help out of desperation to become useful. Under recommendation, Sakura's new goal is to make it into ANBU.

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Equinox - FM_White || ao3 || itasaku || M || anbu AU || complete

ItaSaku (Post Uchiha Massacre) AU: Climbing through the ranks of Konoha, Sakura finds herself with the invitation to join ANBU and a chance to learn from one of the most renowned and legendary ninja in the world. Despite her efforts to grow stronger however, she finds the world isn't as black and white as it looks and that some truths are easier to hide than others.

I don't remember Equinox very well, but I love most works by this author sooo. Anyway, Itachi stays in Konoha and instead it's Sasuke that goes rougue. Sakura, Naruto, and Shikamaru are newly joined ANBU members and all placed on a team with Itachi and things go from there.

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stars in our eyes as we dream of the heavens (the gods walk among us, sweet child, do not forget) - snickiebear || ao3 || kakasaku || T || age-swap AU || oneshot complete

“Kakashi-sensei,” Naruto whispered, staring at his teacher, horror plain on his face. “You’re married?” Lazily, Kakashi looked down at his gloveless hand where his ring rested, “It would appear so.”

Sakura is born in the same generation as Kakashi and turns out as a badass ANBU married to him. This is super wholesome as it's a lot of the two of them bonding with Kakashi's genin team (Sai makes three) in an effort to help them out. It's a series so you can read more of the events taking place prior to the fic.

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Anachronistic Drift  - Elesrea  || ffn || gen || T || time travel AU || incomplete

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

Sakura spends years training to be sent back in time and save the world from Sasuke. She isn't in ANBU, but rather poses as one in order to keep an anonymous status on her doings both in and out of the village.

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Sakura - lilac haze || ffn/ao3 || M || minasaku || time travel AU || complete

AU. Non-Canon. Time Travel. Please see inside for full warnings. Cross posted on Ao3. On his deathbed he was granted eternal peace and place to rest for all of time. Of course that was not appealing to him. Ever unpredictable to the end he had a counter offer. One that the Sage had to consider. In which Sakura's going to have a rough time. A really rough time.

Sakura is probably one of my all time favorite fics because the emotions are just spectacular. The story is pretty heavy on ANBU and ROOT aspects, which I always enjoy, but I wouldn't say it's a major focus. However, there is an emphasis on the unfair treatment towards kunoichi. Anyway, the characterizations and storytelling are beautifully done. Please share this author some love.

Check TWs before hand!!

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Hope y'all enjoy these recs, and please feel free to send me some if you have any!!!! I really appreciate when you do :)

[team7-headquarter]

Do you ever think about how the two kyubi jinchurikis previous to Naruto were married to a hokage? How the women serving as the recipient of the feared beast were some of the most beloved people of the head of the militar state?

The strongest man in the village marries the deadliest woman in the village and people were like "I trust our leader but I am terrified of his wife".

What about the children?

Not even one mention of how the Uzumaki and Senju kekkei genkais mixed. What about the contrast of the Uchihas marrying within the clan to maximize their sharingan users while the Senjus and the Uzumakis married?

There's no mention either of Hashirama and Mito's kids. Would their mixed blood make them more or less powerful? Would some of them still get the red hair? Would some of them choose to move with the majority of the Uzumaki clan? Would they rather use the last name Senju to prevent getting hunted like their cousins outside of Konohagajure?

Tell me, if Tsunade is a direct descendant of Hashirama and Tobirama, doesn't she also has Uzumaki blood from Mito?

What about the influence?

Mito raises all those children and they knew to fear the kyubi, but how did they feel about the jinchuriki? What about their mother? And how did it shape the way they would later perceive Kushina? How did the Senjus treat Kushina? Was she family to them? Had Mito any influence over how Kushina was raised and trained even as old as she was?

What type of influence did Mito have over Hashirama? Even if she never mediated on the Hokages duties, how her beliefs shaped the beliefs of her children? Of the Senju clan? Of the Uzumakis? Of the people of Konoha? When Hashirama died, did Tobirama pushed aside? Or she retired herself given her age?

When did the Uzumakis and the Senjus disappeared from Konoha? If you follow the Minato one-shot manga recently published by Kishimoto, the Uzumakis were still highly respected on Konoha-- or at least had their own space, a place to keep their legacy and train their own. So when did it all come down and when did the Senju and Uzumaki clans started dying enough to be completely gone when Naruto was born?

The Minato manga shows that Kushina was a reason for him to take certain choices. So did he have a plan to change Konoha to become a place for his wife and son to live happy and not rejected? What type or political changes would he have applied if given the chance?

The only real option to try and make sense of the history of Konoha is if you acknowledge that 1) Tobirama did make the militarization more efficient, but not necessarily made life better for everyone; 2) Hiruzen must be the WORST hokage given his indecision between doing what Tobirama did which would have turned him into Danzo or try to benefit the lives of the people under his commands even if it meant risking Konoha as a militar state.

Then again, what exactly means to have the advice of an Uzumaki woman? How does it change things? Did Mito ever tried to be the mediator between Hashirama and Madara? What could a friendship between Kushina and Mikoto could have changed the future?

Is there something to say about the positions of both Mito and Kushina as women from a clan that's hunted down for their power and that has been turned to weapons/sacrifices? How would their identities parallel the Uchiha clan?

How could this all reflect on the story and the theme of the manga?

Framing Naruto as the survivor of a genocide would have been an amazing point to meet or finally understand Sasuke in his rejection of Konoha. Sasuke saw his clan died but they denied Naruto that knowledge. Sasuke lost it but they didn't even allow Naruto to have it. Sasuke can return to the Uchiha compound and visit the sacred secrets of his people, but the story denied Naruto of that. Itachi cursed Sasuke with his choice to kill the clan in order for Sasuke to live and Konoha to be safe, Minato cursed Naruto by sealing Kurama in him to protect his life and the village. They were manipulated from the start, everyone deciding which parts of the story they got to listen to, never allowing them to decide with eyes wide open. Of course they can speak to each other without words. They don't know how similar their experiences are.

Hashirama and Minato didn't mean for the jinchurikis to be just a weapon of the state (those were their wives!!!!!!!), but Tobirama allowed that to happen and Hiruzen actively dictated rules to make sure it'll be the result (isolating Naruto from the village, like they did with the Uchiha clan). Tsunade only tried to keep things rolling, but she at least can defend with her medical achievement and the fact the system was rotten to the core when she became hokage.

Even Sakura and Hinata benefit from this, both in the deepening of their characters and the canon romantic plotlines. To be soft or wild, to be bullied by others or constantly left behind given their lovers' duties, to be raised under the pressure of a legacy or to be helpless and wanting to stop being a burden, to break the expectations and reclaim your identity, to make your own path and become a great kunoichi who can also love and fight to he loved, to be seen, to be there with the man they love.

Thinking about Mito and Kushina make me spiral because they are so important!!! Yet we don't have many mentions of them!!!! Why!!!!

[sweatreleaseofdeaths]

I never liked some aspects of SNK's ending since it came out back in 2021. Not because I thought it was bad or because I thought it wasn't well made, but because it felt forced. 

The sudden change of Eren's feelings about Mikasa was one thing that pissed me off, but also because Isayama's original ending wasn't even supposed to be the one that we got. It felt like he only wrote that specific ending for the fans and readers (and maybe because he was tired too; have you seen the bags?) and not because that was the ending that he wanted to write. 

Like you can clearly tell by the last arc that he took a drastic turn on where the story would go to make it "happier," for lack of better words.

 

The way I saw it from the beginning, there was no getting out of it. No happy ending whatsoever. And true to it, the ending with got was bittersweet. Everything Eren did was for nothing because the cycle started back again.

I did actually appreciate that, because it showed us something that was an actual reality. Even if it did help for a bit, nothing really changed because it's in humanity's nature to always start the cycle once again.

However, what I wanted to see more was his original idea of everybody dying. Instead of that, Isayama went and tried to pull a Naruto (with Armin and Eren) so that they could talk it out, understand each other, and come to an understanding. (The understanding being: the reasons of his actions, Eren's need to die, and their promises) 

From an interview (if I'm not mistaken), the original ending was apparently inspired by "The Mist," which is basically about the protagonist being the cause of his loved ones downfall in an attempt to protect them. Sounds familiar, right? It feels like it was going in that direction, then Isayama just decided to make them all resolve their differences, for some reason. 

I personally don't hate the ending; like I said, I just think it was a tad forced on his end.

 

On the Mikasa/Eren thing, do NOT get me wrong. Mikasa is and has always been an important character to this story. Her as well as her relationship with Eren IS special. Now just because what they share is special doesn't necessarily mean that it's "love.".

On Mikasa's side, she literally lost her parents and met Eren a second later because he killed for her and came to her defense. She latched into him because of that. She was a traumatised child with a deeply unhealthy view of love, so while she did love Eren, the way she showed it could be interpreted as just obsession toward her rescuer.

But the thing with Mikasa's character is that the more the story goes, the more you see her become her own person without Eren. Either it be choosing between her desire to stay with him or her duties as a soldier, or even when she had to make a choice between killing him or not being willing to because of how much she loves him.

I honestly love Mikasa as a character so much. You can see her growth and see her trying to get past her trauma step by step. So, at the end, even though she never stopped loving Eren, she moved on and started a life for herself, because that's where her development was leading to.

Contrary to her, Eren had little to no self-restraint. He was hot-headed and only believed in what he believed, walking the path that he felt was right. He was obsessed with one thing and one thing only (that's literally everything he talked about), never straying from it no matter what happened.

I feel like he never tried to get past his trauma, only feeding into it the more time passed. From always getting into fights because of different perspectives he had with people (i.e., hitting one of the guys who was badmouthing the scouts with a stick) to ending 80% of humanity. Eren was selfish from the beginning; everything he did was for himself. Even the rumbling was partially for himself because his freedom couldn't be obtained if the people outside the walls were still around. 

Eren was and will always be a deeply selfish person, but there is also more to that. (So much more that I'm not even going to get into that here, because I love Eren too much and wouldn't be doing him any justice by resuming his character in just a few words.)

 

TLDR: Eren did not love her romantically (he did LOVE her; it just wasn't romantic), and even if Isayama wanted to say that they did love each other, what they shared ultimately was toxic. It could've turned into something better if Eren was less self-centred, but then again. My issue with all of this is that Isayama underexplored this aspect of their relationship so much that it just was out of the blue (and might I add ooc without getting shot) when Eren started wailing about not wanting her to end up with someone else.

You can't just make a story, build it, and put effort into it, then make a little throwaway line of "Oh, these two love each other, btw." That's just not how it works. You have to develop it for the readers to understand, and even if some people end up not liking it, it wouldn't matter because at least you made it make sense. 

 

Also! I'm not criticising SNK, nor am I criticising Isayama. I've loved this story for years, so really, at the end of the day, even if some things still felt off to me, I will keep loving it to death. (And you can ship whoever you want who gives a fuck!)

[sakuraharuno156]

"…So you claim Hinata had no consideration for life of anyone other than Naruto... and then use a screenshot from the manga of her literally showing consideration for the wellbeing of someone who isn't Naruto."

Considering how things went after Neji vs Naruto, chances are that things changed in the Hyuuga family for those other than just Neji. Even if not, Hinata risking her life =/= a lack of consideration for anyone's life other than Naruto's, despite consequences. Or are you saying you’ve never done anything without carefully considering every single possible consequence first?

But hey… "Tell me you didn’t read my ask properly without telling me you didn’t read my ask properly".

"Or are you saying you've never done anything without carefully considering every single possible consequence first?"

First of all, sure, everyone did, but not necessarily when the consequences are:

1) you will just get in a way of a battle and be a great inconvenience instead of helping

(of which she was aware of)

2) getting your guard punished/possibly killed

3) you hurting the person you are supposed to "help" (I'm not gonna repeat myself, you can read it here)

4) you dying for no reason

5) if you somehow don't get killed, you becoming a burden to medics who could devote their time to people who did help or got hurt by ricochet of the attack.

Second of all, you are putting it in a way that implies that Hinata did that only once, and you are wrong.

At some point of someone consistently doing the same thing you have to admit they either do that maliciously or that they are plain stupid.

I'm just gonna bring a few examples (that I talked about before over and over, but I'll do that again, especially for you)

Shimamaru: almost died

Hinata: "But I want to stay beside Naruto too"

Does she care? No. Naruto-kun. That's all she cares about.

But maybe that's because they weren't too close, because who cares about a person from your class that is your comrade in war, he's not Naruto-kun.

How about her own teammate BEING CARRIED OUT BY MEDICS?

The oiment Hinata has is more important for Naruto-kun, who is completely fine.

Who cares about Kiba, he is just being taken by medical team, but he can be an afterthought, they are just teammates after all.

How about her family?

Neji, who will be punished for hurting her (because, as you recognize YOURSELF, it's before Naruto vs Neji fight, so the punishment WILL BE THERE), who asked her TIME AND TIME again to just give up. Why will he do that, huh? Maybe because he had known what happened TO HIS FATHER FOR JUST THINKING ABOUT HER IN A BAD WAY.

Anyway, how about making Neji hurt her, then provoking him by RUBBING IT IN HIS FACE THAT HE IS BELLOW HER?

Neji just said (again) that she should give up and stop the suffering, she just casually mentions that he is "lost and suffering" because he's not in the main family.

(And before you say it was nice of her, NEJI AND THEREFORE MANGA showed us he didn't appreciate it, and the guard also saw that Neji was provoked and WAS ABOUT TO CHARGE AT HER FOR THAT COMMENT)

But ok, maybe they weren't close enough of a family, so it was acceptable to provoke him and get him to be punished, because you know...

Naruto-kun is watching, so...

How about closer family? How about her own sister?

(Now, I don't like to quote the movies because I prefer to base my opinion on canon manga only, but you, Hinata Fans, love it, so let's go)

(Credit to whoever made it, I can't find the original)

Hanabi was just kidnapped, but Hinatas mind is occupied, because well... Naruto-kun 🥺

BUT OK, MAYBE, JUST MAYBE, THEY DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH OF A BOND BETWEEN THEM TO CARE.

Let's look at the person who took care of her for her whole life, her guard, her family, let's look at Ko:

Oh wait, we have already seen it.

It doesn't matter who it is, if it's her comrade, friend, teammate, cousin, sister, guard. If that person is not Naruto-kun, their life or well being is irrelevant to Hinata.

She cares about Naruto, that's it. Nothing else and noone else matters.

Do you understand?

So back to the beginning:

At some point of someone consistently doing the same thing you have to either admit they do that maliciously or that they are plain stupid and when it comes to LIFE OF OTHER PEOPLE I'll say that it either way makes you a bad person 🤷‍♀️

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, in conclusion:

I did read your ask, I just assumed (and that is my mistake, I apologize) that if you are protecting Hinata, you shoud know first thing about her, but not only you didn't read the manga, you didn't even read the parts that had Hinata in it.

So, please, first read at LEAST chapters that have Hinata in them, before you speak (It's not a lot, she is a background character after all) or I'm not gonna answer to you again, because I'm tired of repeating myself for a 1000th time.

[panharmonium]

What do you think about this: "Kakashi was never interested in Sasuke as an individual, he only projected himself into him and saw a smaller version of himself on Sasuke, Sasuke was never Sasuke to him, just a little Kakashi". I wanted to know your opinion because I miss your meta posts and I feel like lately people are hating Kakashi for things that aren't real :/, also you are really good at explaining and I feel that both characters need love

Hello! Thanks for the question!

The answer to "what do i think about this" is, honestly, that I don't think about it X) I watched the whole show without engaging with the fandom at all (for fear of spoilers, initially), so I was able to experience it without being exposed to anyone else's thoughts, and now that I'm done I generally still avoid poking around, because devoting mental energy to opinions that I find bizarre/not supported by the text doesn't enhance my fandom experience.

Kakashi and Sasuke's relationship is one of the most compelling things about the series to me. I was very surprised when I finished the show/manga and first exposed myself to the fandom only to find so few people invested in them, but at this point I've (mostly) stopped asking myself "what show was everyone else watching" and just settled into enjoying the show that I watched, because that's more fun for me. I can't convince people not to dislike Kakashi if that's what they want to do. I do find it a little weird, because I don't think that's what the story is asking from us, but as long as people mind their business and aren't bugging me on my own blog, they're free to do what they want.

I know it can be frustrating when there are people hating various characters for "things that aren't real," but the fact that these criticisms aren't "real" is precisely why I generally avoid engaging with them. For Kakashi, specifically, there are certain things people can say that will immediately make me stop taking them seriously - "projecting" is one. "Bootlicking" is another, but again, these terms are so wildly inaccurate that I'm not interested in talking about them. The manga and the show are easily accessible; if people want to rewatch/re-read them, they can.

In general, I just prefer to avoid engaging with most of the fandom negativity I see. I think overall most of the rancor I've stumbled across boils down to people engaging with the story in very ungenerous ways, if that makes sense, and that's not how I prefer to read/watch things. Like - back when I was still in the middle of watching the show, I remember someone sent me a message saying that they loved seeing me talk about the story with earnestness/joy, and it was such a lovely message to receive, but it also made me pause and wonder for a second if this was really an uncommon enough thing to be remarked upon. Wouldn't that be the default? Aren't we all here because we love the story and the characters so much? But the truth is that sometimes it does feel like large chunks of fandom spaces (not just Naruto, I mean; I've certainly experienced this elsewhere) are very focused on being negative about "things that aren't real," as you said. Like - people calling Sakura "abusive" for bopping Naruto on the head when he says something rude, when this is not something the text is even remotely trying to say about her. People writing off Jiraiya's entire storyline because of the non-consensual spying on women - which, yes, of course, is disgusting and wrong. Obviously. I am very aware of that. However, I can simultaneously recognize that the story isn't really interested in that or intending me to read it like that; the voyeurism is written as a joke (yes, I understand how gross that is) and there are a hundred potential personal and/or patriarchal and/or genre-related and/or cultural factors that may have gone into Kishimoto writing this particular fail. If I want to understand and appreciate what the story was ACTUALLY trying to communicate with Jiraiya (that he's an idealist who gave up on the world when everything went wrong, who turned to shallow pleasures of the flesh to distract him from the pain of his disillusionment, and who was finally restored to his former faith after meeting Naruto), then I have to mindfully set the voyeurism aside and go, "This writer wrote a gross thing, and I recognize that, but I'm also not going to fixate on it, because I can simultaneously appreciate/find meaning in what he was really trying to say."

I think some of the Kakashi complaints out there very much fall under this umbrella. If I have to see one more person frothing at the mouth about Kakashi briefly tying Sasuke (a qualified ninja who has already demonstrated his ability to escape rope restraints and whom Kakashi has been individually mentoring, sparring against, and connecting with for a month) to a tree for approximately sixty seconds - honestly. I don't know how to tell people they're missing the point, so I don't bother.

Ultimately, the fact of the matter is that people are entitled to dislike any character that they want, even for contrived reasons. As long as they're doing their own thing in their own space and letting me do my thing in mine, we're good.

[keithisbae1]

SasuSaku Shoujo Week Day 3: Work Place

Note: Before you read this is a continuation of a drabble I wrote in 2022 which you can read here. I strongly recommend reading it first, hope you enjoy :D

~~~

“I take it you two want the usual?” Sasuke didn’t even have to get his notebook out for these two. Not with the number of times they’ve come to bother him on his shifts.

“Yup, and to catch up with our buddy of course.” Naruto patted the empty spot next to them, Sasuke rolled his eyes. “You can’t always expect me to sit down and chat. I need this job.”

“Just go on a break, I’m sure you haven’t had one yet.” Suigetsu gave a knowing grin and of course he was right. Sasuke preferred to work even during his break (not that he was allowed) so he was often told by the manager or one of his colleagues to go and have one.

He wanted to show his parents that he changed but everyone kept saying that didn’t mean to overwork himself.

“I’ll be right back.” He went up to the counter where Sakura was wishing the customer a good day smiling at them. Her smile instantly turned to a frown, and she stiffened once she saw him.

“Sakura, the regular for Naruto and Suigetsu… please.” Sakura gave him a look but didn’t say anything, just turned around to make their drinks in silence. No small talks or chatter. As soon as she was done, she gave the drinks to him and went to the till greeting another customer with a smile on her face.

As usual, she always gives him the cold shoulder.

“I’m taking my break.” It wasn’t like the store was busy now and they had their other colleague who was wiping the tables anyway. Sakura only nodded still taking the customer’s order as if to respond to him.

Not even looking his way, even Naruto and Suigetsu could feel the tension from where they were. 

“Geeze, what did you do to her?” Naruto asked once Sasuke placed their drinks on the table, he took the empty seat next to the blonde.

“Nothing.”

“You must have done something.”

“If I did, don’t you think I would have known and done something about it by now.” It was getting awkward to work alongside someone who wouldn’t even look at you. Sasuke knew Sakura hated him with the way she acted back in high school but at least she talked to him, annoyed him, and wouldn’t leave his side.

Sometimes though it didn’t even seem like she hated him, it was a back-and-forth type of banter which is why he was confused as to her change in attitude with him now. Their friends even teased about them flirting but Sakura would take it way too seriously and end up saying how much she ‘hated’ and couldn’t stand him. 

Now she was trying to avoid him like he had the plague. She wouldn’t look at him, acknowledge his existence or even talk. Still, he couldn’t force her to do anything.

“You sure there’s nothing you did? Like anything specific?” Suigetsu asked and Sasuke shrugged with his arms folded. He didn’t know why his two friends were trying to interrogate him, like he said if he knew what he done then he would have apologized and made up for it by now. Did they think he want this? He missed the Sakura from back then.

“There’s got to be something, I remember she wouldn’t leave you alone when we were teens. She always tried to get you into trouble with the teachers but then she would follow you everywhere like a puppy, it’s like she wanted your attention.” At hearing that Naruto had a light bulb moment. 

“That’s it!” Sasuke and Suigetsu jumped at the loud blonde.

“Sasuke you ARE a jerk!”

“Excuse me?”

“I mean think about it, Sakura was always around you when we were teens. Trying to get you to notice her and I mean you two were flirting a lot. She must have had a major crush on you, and you didn’t notice.”

“Idiot!” Sasuke couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“I did ask her.”

“Jokingly, right?” Sasuke remained silent thinking back at the times he teased her. 

‘If you have a thing for me, you can just come out and say it. I like a girl who’s forward.’

‘Relax, I was only joking.’

‘Why you!’

‘I thought you said you didn’t have a thing for me?’

‘I… I don’t.’ 

“Were you ever serious when it came to her feelings, and did you even ask her on a date?” Suigetsu’s eyes followed to Naruto and back at Sasuke watching the exchange sipping his drink. Surely, he couldn’t be this stupid, right?

“I didn’t… she said she didn’t have any feelings for me. So, I took her word for it.”

“Are you dense?” It was Suigetsu that spoke this time. “I mean with your reputation, I wouldn’t blame her either Mr. heart breaker.”

“And you know those were just rumours, I never dated let alone made out or have sex.” 

The rumours around the school were that Uchiha Sasuke was a playboy. How that rumour ever came about he’ll never know but he also couldn’t blame other students for believing them.

He was Uchiha Sasuke the boy who broke any type of rule, steal things, and spent a lot of his parents’ money on unnecessary items. He was a classic spoilt brat who wanted attention from his parents when they gave it all to his older brother. Even if it was to get lectured. That was why now he was making it up by having a job and being sure to pay back everything. 

To apologise to anyone, he wronged or start a fight with, given the exception to some who deserved it like Zaku and his gang for beating up Sakura back then. Sasuke gladly took the punishment but would never dare apologise.

Again, he couldn’t blame everyone else for what they thought of him when he went about picking fights.

“And you think Sakura thought they were only rumours?” Naruto asked and again Sasuke had no answer, it was starting to make sense on why she hated his guts now. Suigetsu face planted on the table. 

“So that’s it huh? After everything between you two and you didn’t do anything? It’s no wonder she hates you now.”

“Okay! I get it,” Sasuke raised his hands in defeat and stole a glance at the girl who was smiling away. Whenever he was near, she was unhappy. Could it be she was trying to prevent herself from another heart break?

How can he prove he wasn’t like that?

“What exactly am I supposed to do to make it up to her then?” His two friends smirked.

“Ask her on a date!”

It was that simple. 

~~~

Every day for Sakura it felt like she was walking on eggshells. On the day she had met Sasuke at the coffee shop she had a vision of what happened in her dreams. Of Uchiha Sasuke asking to meet up with her again and thus the two get close and he asks her out on a date at the very same coffee shop.

Sakura had panicked and ended up cutting their conversation short by asking if they had a job vacancy here. Don’t ask her why, she wasn’t thinking. It did end up as a bonus though as Sakura was looking for a job and she loved working here. 

Until he came along asking for one, damn. That meant she was still at a risk of being asked out and everything in her dream coming true.

Once Sakura explained the dilemma to her friends, they all looked at her like she had grown two heads.

“Except this isn’t Sasuke the ‘bad delinquent boy’ or Sakura the ‘nerdy goody girl.’ You two are grown adults now. What’s so bad if you two do go out?” Ino couldn’t follow her logic, sure she understood now why she didn’t want to back then, but they weren’t teenagers anymore. 

So why was her friend getting so worked up about it. Sakura continued pacing back and forth in her room with her arms behind her back completely stressed.

“No, no you don’t get it! I thought he asked me out when we were in high school, but it was when were ADULTS! I can’t let this happen, not now!” And she continued to pace back and forth.

“Okay but again Sakura you DON’T have a reputation to lose anymore. You’re not the Sakura from back then and he’s not Sasuke from back then. So please explain what you have to lose if he asks you out?” 

“It’s the principle.” Was instead her reply, so she didn’t have a reason. If Ino didn’t know any better, she would have thought her friend was going insane.

“You know it’s your fault you’re in this mess to begin with.” Karin spoke not even looking at Sakura instead more focused on doing her nails. She and Tenten knew what was going to happen which is why they didn’t do anything. Besides Sakura was a smart girl, she should have known better.

“You tried too hard to get him to ‘hate’ you because you were paranoid if you didn’t do anything he would start liking you when that only ended up making him notice you. Do you have any idea how many times Suigetsu or Naruto tried to convince me to set you two on a blind date? It was exhausting dealing with them both, really, I should have gone along with their plan if it was meant to be.”

Sakura could only glare at Karin for saying that, but she supposed she should be thankful. Karin was close with Sasuke so if she did want to, she could have set them up but instead she respected her wishes and even helped get Naruto and Suigetsu off her case. 

And she did have a point, if instead she acted normal and didn’t give him any attention none of this would be happening.

Ah-ha! That was it!

“Karin, you’re a genius!” Uh oh, the three girls looked at each other and then looked back at Sakura. 

Yup, this was not going to end well… or was it?

And so, Sakura’s plan throughout work with Sasuke was to ignore him completely. If she did, he would get the hint that she wanted nothing to do with him and leave her be. Something which she should have done in school, but she’s learnt her lesson now.

Another successful day, Sakura thought to herself clocking out. She had said her goodbyes to her manager and was about to leave until she heard Sasuke calling her name and to wait up.

Sakura wondered what he could possibly want from her, I mean she would constantly ignore him. She waited by the door, they hadn’t even left the café curious, he was still in his uniform too. 

“I… I’m sorry for not acknowledging them before.” At that Sakura raised a brow confused at what he meant and was it her or was he turning red? Out of character Sasuke took hold of her hand staring at her intently with a blush on his face. 

“I… would you, like to go on a date with me?” And just like that Sakura’s whole world turned upside-down. Everything she had tried to avoid, trying to put him off her and the plan had failed completely.

She should have known better than to hear him out. 

And the worst part? Sakura didn’t have the heart to turn him down.

‘Dear Diary, Uchiha Sasuke asked me out today at the café and I said yes.’

Perhaps they were meant to be.

[trangkhanhi]

Motherly love - Uzumaki Kushina

Don't know if anyone who has read this article has become a mother? I'm not a mother, I haven't had children yet so I don't know what motherhood is like for children. Every time I read or watched Naruto's birth, I cried because I felt sad for this family for not being able to live happily together. That fateful day Kushina went from a woman to a mother, a beautiful and sacred vocation

However, Kushina must not have expected that on the day she expected her son to be born, it was also the day that she and her husband died.

And what made me feel even more sad was to read the manga again when I saw Kushina's messages to Naruto before she left this world

As I read and watched this passage tears kept coming to my eyes, an indescribable sadness, how sad. I'm not a mother, I can't know the pain Kushina endured when she had to leave her baby and turn Naruto into a jinchuriki but I knew it definitely hurt.

But all I understood was sadness until I saw 2 videos on social media at which point I understood Kushina's feelings even though I am not a mother.

There was a girl who was pregnant but then she found out she had cancer, her family and husband were both very panicked but the girl was especially calm and only asked the doctor one question "I have cancer so is my baby affected?" and the doctor answered no. The girl replied calmly, it was okay.

Because of the cancer, she started treatment so she could prolong her life so she could deliver the baby. During her pregnancy, her treatment was painful, but she managed to overcome it for her little one, and she also prepared birthday presents for him year by year and filmed videos saying messages to her son, when her child grew up, Child could rewatch the footage.

As she neared her due date, the pain from the treatment made her unbearable, causing her to burst into sobs and tell her husband, "I don't want to die, I want to see my baby grow up healthy, I'm not comfortable leaving my baby in someone else's care," which is not what Kushina did before she died. with Naruto? That's why when Minato neutralized Edo Tensei, Naruto responded to Kushina's earlier instructions and told him not to worry about him

And the last line "Try to find someone like your mother" when I read this far, I just thought it was simply to find a strong girl like Kushina, but actually behind that sentence is very meaningful

In another story, there is an exchange program between musicians and students on the topic of songs composed by that musician. And there was a boy who asked the musician this one question Boy: I want to ask if the whole song is about a mother's love for her son, but one sentence that I really wonder about is, "There will be someone who loves you more than I love you", I want to understand what you meant when you wrote that sentence?

Musician: Haha, You think I wrote it wrong, right? Boy: I don't know who will love me more than my mother? Musician: Let me tell you, your mother is always the person who loves you the most, your mother will still love you the most in the future, your mother will always love you the most, that's what I'm sure of. But for your mother, in your mother's thoughts and in my thoughts for my son, your mother always hopes that someone will love her child more than she does. That sentence is only true in your mother's mind because your mother loves you too much and your mother knows one thing: your mother will not be able to go with you when you grow up. I also cannot go with my child when he grows up because I will get old and when I am no longer in this world, who will take care of my child?

With the two stories I told above, both of them are parents and those are the similar feelings of parents in those situations.

I finally understood that Kushina's statement was find someone like your mother, which means find someone who loves you like I love you, even loves you more than me. Kushina has become an instinctive mother who loves and protects Naruto unconditionally. Kushina knew she couldn't see Naruto grow up and become an adult, and at the same time placed the burden of becoming a jinchuriki on Naruto. Kushina understood the pain that Naruto was about to go through because she was also a Jinchuriki, she knew how lonely and sad that pain was until she met Minato and Kushina was very happy and grateful for that. So she also hopes that Naruto will also meet someone who loves him, someone who cares for him, someone who is willing to protect Naruto the way she is willing to protect her son from the Nine-Tails.

However, the person Naruto likes is not a girl but a boy. I read a sentence on a tumblr blog that I don't remember from someone who said "Except for Naruto's parents, no one in this world loves Naruto more than Sasuke." The biggest thing Kushina and Sasuke have in common is that they love Naruto unconditionally. Sasuke took care of Naruto, feeding him bentos at the cost of his ninja career. Worried about Naruto when he trained alone all night and didn't come home, and most importantly, he was willing to sacrifice his life for Naruto's smile without any regrets.Naruto and Sasuke are so happy because they found each other and shared their pain together

Sasuke is not a girl, but if she knew there was someone who loved Naruto unconditionally like that, Kushina would definitely be happy and reassured.

I read somewhere that Kishimoto had no intention of letting Naruto meet his parents again until he had a child. He knew he owed Naruto an apology and he decided to create two very emotional moments. allowing Naruto the opportunity to see his two most important relatives again.

A mother’s love will never end. It is there from beginning to end.

Hope everyone will also find the other half of your life, "soulmate" or "true love", someone who loves you unconditionally like Sasuke loves Naruto and Naruto loves Sasuke and even if you can't find that person, please always love yourself.

[soulcialdent]

Day 4: يقبرني Ya'aburnee (Arabic)

A way to declare your hope that your loved one will outlive you, as it would be unbearable to Live without them.

(Continuation from Day 1: Saudade Entry)

That night after sending the paper plane Neji dreamed about her. There was few different scenes that flashed behind his eyes but there was one he remembered vividly. Probably because it was something that really happened. 

It was the day of the infamous Konohagakure Middle School Brawl. Tenten was known around town for being a hardass. Well, not really a hard ass but she liked to fight. After being bullied for years for being an outsider. She got fed up and slapped the shit out of one of her bullies.  From about 4th grade and on, this made her target. She ended up fighting all the time.

Her parents enrolled her into martial arts classes to help mitigate some of her anger. That’s where she and Neji meet. The winter between junior and senior year of elementary school. They became fast friends eventually attending middle school together. 

Fast forward to the third year in middle school. She had calmed down a bit and it helped that Neji and Lee were there to reign her in and keep her out of trouble-most of the time. Which was a tall task because a lot of people just didn't like her. 

On this day in particular. It just so happened to be a school festival day.  It was packed and raining on and off the entire time. Neji was in the student council office retrieving some supplies.  The door bursts open. 

“Neji Ni-san, it's Tenten. Lee needs to come right now. There out back by the tennis courts “ 

Neji dropped what he was doing. He brushed passed hinata and started running down the hall to head outside as fast as his feet would carry him. When finally did make it out back. The crowd was so thick that he knew he was gonna have a hard time getting thru. But moved as swiftly as he could. 

That's when he saw them. Lee held on to both her hands trying to keep her attention. Naruto stood right next to body blocking her.  Neji ran over to them out of breath. 

“Tenten, are you okay? What's going on” he checked to see if she was injured. 

“I'm fine. I just need to go talk to someone for a second. Lee won't let me go”

Neji was confused. 

“I'm pretty sure she didn't mention it but we've been having some issues with some of Technical Middle School kids. We found them beating up and robbing some freshmen. Turned out they were low level Anbu gang members.  They’ve been taunting us all day”  said Naruto 

“Okay then, let me take you home”  she looked at Lee  “Lee, can you let Iruka Sensei know that i’m taking Tenten home. If he asks, she's not feeling well. 

“Here, take my bike. It’ll be faster” Naruto tossed, his keys into Neji. “It's blue and orange with a frog lock. “Yelled the blonde as he and Lee rushed off to go find Iruka Sensei.

“Come on Tenten” Neji grab her hand and begin pulling her through the crowd. “Were you planning on telling me any of this”

“No, I didn't want you worrying about me” 

“I'm always worry about you. Especially when I’m not around. You do reckless things” 

Tenten scuffed 

“I’m sorry to disappoint you then if that's the case. But what was I supposed to do? Let the those kids get stomped out”

She had a point

“You did the right thing. But what's been happening today?” 

“They been trying to lure me into fighting all day. I'm not sure, how many members are here. But their leader Temari is definitely here. Her second in command I think, his name is Kankuro. He rolled up on me earlier. But Lee scared him off. 

“So what’s your plan?  Did you plan to fight them all by yourself”

“Yeah, if that's how it's gotta be then that's how it's gotta be”

Neji remembers how much that reveal hurt him.

“This is a suicide mission. Are you trying to die?” 

Tenten halted, standing her ground. But I didn't answer him.  And when she didn't answer he continued.

“I don't want you to die”

Tenten flinched, and fear flashed through her eyes and Neji let go. She took a deep breath and stood really tall. 

“Of course not. I just don't want to be scared anymore” 

He hadn't expecting those words out of her mouth. Tenten always seemed so fearless. She was the swing and ask questions later type. That's why Neji had vowed to always protect her.  He really didn't know who he was without her. 

“How does putting your life in danger fix that? I am seriously trying to understand” 

She pondered his words while looking around. 

“I'm not sure it does. If I give them what they want. They'll go away.  I can take solace in knowing that I'm not a coward” 

Tenten was one of the bravest and kindness people he knew. She was a lot of things but a coward, never.

“I understand but I'm still taking you home. We’ll come up with a better solution. "Neji reaches out, to grab her hand again so they continue moving.

But a loud scream echoed behind them. They both swiftly turned around. Somebody had punched Naruto in the back of his head. Two other people started running at him.

Neji went to grab her but missed. Tenten ran across the school yard and kicked one of the attackers right in their back. 

Neji found himself running right behind her and grabbing the second attacker by his shirt and judo flipping him. 

Tenten helped Naruto up and a group of guys and girls with bats, chains and started running at them.  All hell broke was about the brakes loose. The rain started picking up, making visibility almost impossible. 

Neji was sure that were going to die that day.  Neji made peace with it because at the very least they were together. He wants it any other way. Through some what Neji couldn't only assume was divine intervention, they all survived. 

 Lee’s broke one of his legs. Naruto broke his hand and a few broken ribs. Tenten tore her.  A Achilles tendon and few broken ribs. Loving her had brought really hard lessons and Neji the scars to prove it.  But he wouldn't have had it any other way. 

Ya'aburnee

[totallybakedcake]

And back to JJK. Demon slayer? Unfinished anime and how I got into anime..

This is just pure dumb stuff, randomness, and even cringe stuff thrown here, so feel free to skip!

For starters, JJK was one of my first animes. I had been dying to watch it, but I could not watch it because my brother was against it. But eventually, I did watch every episode until the Shibuya arc, and after that, I stopped because there would be too much violence and all that.

This led to my biggest mistake: starting anime and watching spoilers

Spoilers

Naruto was actually my first anime, and I binge-watched so many episodes at once and cried so much. It was super fun, and I even watched so many fillers, but my brother eventually said that season 2 of the series has too much of a serious tone and did not let me. So, what did I do?

Spoil the whole damn anime for me

And then finally, I was going to watch. I watched about another 200 episodes, and then that was the end of my Naruto saga. I know what happens in the war: Boruto, Naruto marrying Hinata, and all the Akatsuki backstory, so I just gave up.

And the same happened with JJK. I saw way too many spoilers, and I still watch the later chapter spoilers too; even JJK ended with me.

I was just going to start the manga from the Shibuya arc yesterday, but then I started Demon Slayer, which I also know the ending of.

The reason I am so into Windbreaker, Kaiju No. 8, Sakamoto Days, Spyx Family, the Millionaire Detective, Buddy Daddies, and even Gakuen Babysitters is because I did watch any spoilers for them.

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

The reason I even got into Quotev, or my first app where I read fanfiction,.

I had an obsession with Yuta from JJK, now that I think about it. I cannot help it; he is just too good, but writing fics about him is kind of awkward to me because of Rika.

It was from my grandmother's phone that I read my first anime fanfiction, It's Pure Love by Whale Crumpet. If you want a good Yuta fic, I would totally say to try this one out, but the author hasn't updated it since 2022, and I feel my heart breaking. Even though they said they would return to quotev, they never did.

The Yuta fic I loved the most was Cupid's Cursed Arrow by Strawberry Belle. Damn,  did I fall hard for this fic. I would tell everyone in my house that Cupid's arrow was updated as I read it; it would give me giggles each time. That fic also hasn't been updated for 5 months.

Honestly I am not a sucker for crossover manga. It has to be super specific to my liking but Euphoria by Sceretstarlight was just too cute. Made me fall harder. Even the author of that fic on quotev is like the real life version of Mitsuri. I love her a lot♥️♥️

It was then a random day where I suddenly got an idea to write a Yuta fic, and I wrote it, rewrote it again, and the rewritten one has ten chapters in my notebooks, which I still have for the memories. I did read it a while ago, and it was terrible, but I had no freaking experience, so what can I do for that?

If anyone does want to read and give me some opinions on that chapter 1, I did upload it in my random ideas thrown here as a quote. You can read that here.

The only original story I have made is Lost in Dreams, which is again on quotev.

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

And for Tumblr, I clicked on the website once and was reading what I thought was a Yuta period cramp comfort, but it required me to sign up and all, so after a while, I did do that, but that fic was a Yuta vampire smut fic, and I ended up not liking it.

I just read fics, I have no idea how to make my own blog, about tags, dashboard, you could follow people and even like there works.

One thing I do know is I had a Sung jinwoo fic reading obsession like I loved reading about him okay. The first Jinwoo fic that stole my heart was by @catboyfics. Hunter is a series and it was the first Jinwoo fic I read and was so so in love with. It was my first non JJK fic I read and it felt different than the others if you know what I mean. I didn't understand how to save or like a fic on tumblr so I lost it and I was super devastated truly I was super duper upset and sad that I spent what 2 hours searching the Jinwoo tag on tumblr and when I did not find it I could have even started crying BUT I found it again and I saved the upload in my folder where I can easily read it and also followed catboyfics. I hope they are alright because they haven't been/ updated their blog in 2 months.. I also have no memory on how I got to know about tumblr but now it is my most used website..

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

That is the current problem with JJK fics, imo; the tags and stories are just almost pure shit. I am not saying bad to the writers; they have fun and they do what they want to do, but seriously, we need more JJK fluff, comfort, taking care of female readers, and overprotective fics. I just stated what I like, but whatever.

I have so much to write, but will I write that? No

Will I write dumb, stupid, and nonsenseful things? YEAH

I feel so stupid writing this but whatever let me rant/write random things for compensation for this horrible day

[swagglessmoth]

Fic rant

I gotta be honest guys, I don’t have much hope for things to get better 😔

Like, I really want team Minato to stop Kakashi before he goes off the deep end. But ohh, that’s just not gonna happen is it 😭

What really cemented this were these lines from chapter 4

OBITO WDYM BY THAT

I understand regretting meeting Sukea, bc that’s pretty much one of the primary things that made him spiral. BUT «The future enemy of the world» WHAT. WAS HE NOT GONNA CHANGE THAT END-OF-THE-WORLD THING WITH KAGUYA?? WHEN IS HE GETTING RID OF HER 😭

Kakashi, boy, I know you like this whole thing of following Obito’s script, BUT YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO ACTUALLY CHANGE THINGS ☠️

And he HAS changed a lot, which made me forget that he still plans to go after the jinchuriki ☠️ LIKE, WTF IS HE TRYING TO DO?? “Oh yeah, I’ve been controlling everything behind the scenes this whole time 😈😈 I reformed and entire country and now they’re extremely happy, jk loll I’ve been evil the entire time! I stopped a clan’s genocide, it doesn’t help in my plan at all, but hey I’m so evil. Haha stop me haha”

And yeah; I know he’s not gonna tell anyone that he’s from the future, or what could’ve happened if he hadn’t been there, bc he’s trying to go the ‘I’m the big bad ooo’ route. But pls I need other characters to find out he’s from the future PLS 🙏 at least if they saw how the other world turned out, we could reach an understanding.

I really have no idea how the switch-up’s gonna go. Is he doing all this in Kiri so that people are indebted to him and follow his plans blindly? How will he handle the Akatsuki, now that the ame trio has relatively friendly relations with team minato? What about the other members?? I know once he reveals how much he’s been controlling shit and that he has two stolen sharingan, people will be jumping to kill him, no question. Not to mention the jinchuriki stuff and how much it’s gonna rile up all the villages. I know he can, and will, pull it off, but it just feels like he has too much on his hands. The plan isn’t just getting the death penalty in all villages, he needs to actually unite them, or else the peace won’t last.

His plan is much more complicated than Obito’s. Bc instead of getting rid of all his obstacles (Minato, the Uchiha, the ame trio once they’ve fulfilled their role, etc.) he’s intentionally keeping them alive, so that in the end they go against him in the final battle .AND he still has to change the shinobi world while having everything and everyone under control. AND figure out what to actually do about Kaguya. He’s been doing all this ‘play’ for her, but will she be satisfied with just that?

Stuff’s gonna get COMPLICATED BRO. And there’s not even the possibility to be spared from all his crimes by helping fight against a greater evil, BC HE PLANS TO BE THAT GREATER EVIL ☠️☠️☠️☠️

Everyone’s just gonna conclude that he’s too dangerous to keep around and kill him, I know. But I’m too deep in denial at this point, I’m still hoping he magically gets a happy ending. Bc getting a second chance at life and fucking up all the same is a possibility too devastating to consider. AND I DONT EVEN WANNA THINK ABOUT THE OBKK OUGH. You can’t just go and give them a sad ending twice, pls RK7200 have mercy pls 🙏🙏

Idk how far in the timeline this fic’s gonna go, or if there’s gonna be some sort of time skip. But I guess the final battle will come around the same time as the Fourth war in canon. If that’s the case I’m putting all my bets on Naruto and Kushina (bc Hound saved her and she wants to know who did it) 🙏 save that man guys, I believe in you. Oof, Kakashi’s heart would break if he were to be talk no jutsued ❤️‍🩹

And to end this rant: I also hope that “enemy of the world” thing won’t be to the extent of og Obito’s. It just meaning ‘being a mayor threat to the shinobi world’, not being the cause for the end of the world, you know?

[datshq]

Hey, you guys remember how I complained about Sailor Moon villains when they just sat around and had their minions do everything or when their fight scenes where just them sitting around while attacks failed? You remember how all of these villains were redeemed for me when they started to tear down Sailor Moon’s convictions and beliefs and threw around some cool moves?

Naruto does that even worse.

Madara Uchiha is all of the worst traits of Sailor Moon villains with none of the good bits. He’s an immortal zombie that can’t be killed so every time the heroes blow him up he just regenerates automatically. And he’s done one thing in this entire war and it was to destroy the heroes’ command bridge. And he’s not going to get better, because a different character is doing all the cool shit.

Obito was Madara’s faceman for most of the war up until his resurrection and even afterwards he’s the one pulling most of the weight and doing the most to counter the Allied Shinobi Forces. Obito is the one who saw our hero cradling one his friends dead in his arms, and took that opportunity to tear down everything Naruto had promised and claimed up until that point.

Obito also made the entire Allied Forces consider just laying down their weapons and giving up. He has incredible charisma in universe that makes people listen to him and believe the things he says that rivals Naruto’s. Obito’s brutal tearing down of everything Naruto believed in made me think of Galaxia at her best and Naruto rallying the Allied Shinobi Forces for a second wind against Obito reminded me of Usagi rallying the Starlights against Galaxia.

Basically, Naruto has paired the worst and least-engaging villain of all time with one of the best ones I’ve seen in a while and every moment I watch this arc is a conflict because I hate every second I’m forced to watch Madara but I look forward to every ruthless thing Obito thinks to do and say. At least the second stage of the Ten Tails fight has the decency to split itself into the Obito half and Madara half so I knew which episodes just to skim instead of subjecting myself to listening to Madara complain about Hashirama and shit that stopped mattering forty years ago.

[leportraitducadavre]

Hi! First, I wanna thank you for writing and categorising your analysis for the Naruto fandom. It’s been an eye-opening experience reading your take on the manga. I read the series when I was younger, and I can’t believe now how much of what the manga was trying to convey had escaped me e.g. Hyuuga clan’s slavery and state-sanctioned genocide, and the deconstruction of Hinata — I’ve usually written her off or ignored her but realising her role in the endorsing her clan’s slavery system had really smacked me wide-awake. So thanks for that. I’m rereading the manga with fresher, more critical eyes.

I do have a question though, if you have the time. With everything on the table, what would you think would’ve been a good direction to take from the Chuunin exams, after Naruto and Neji’s fight, to improve the Hyuuga? Or to improve the Hyuuga in general?

Would having Hinata branded with the curse seal after Hiashi passed her over for Hanabi change the narrative? 🤔 Would having Neji interact more with others from the branch family open his eyes to the superficial change in the Hyuuga Hiashi made after his fight?

After reading your analysis, it does make my brain itch for, for change to have taken place, how would it have been brought about? Like what could have been done?

@ melting-puppets

Sorry I never replied to this, honestly speaking, I’m not a fan of “what if” or “how would this be fixed” scenarios as those go beyond what I usually like to do and are mostly irrelevant to the manga in itself. 

Hinata getting the seal isn’t what I consider would be a “good conclusion” to the Hyüga narrative –me pointing out her lack of seal isn’t to complain about “how she doesn’t have it” but about pointing out the inconsistencies within the Hyüga system as it’s a slavery-based structure that presents itself under the premises of “order” (division between castes) and the “protection of the Byakugan”. According to what is presented to us by Neji in the Chünin Exams, Hinata once demoted from being the heir should have gotten the seal, yet she didn’t, as Hiashi decided to spare his daughter from a life of servitude, something he didn’t extend to his own nephew. This contradiction is unjust because the ideology on which it rests is unjust and paradoxical from its very core structure. At some point, someone within the clan secluded a position of power for themselves and decided that those they considered important should be protected by those they considered lesser members of their family, guaranteeing an unwavering loyalty and obedience for themselves through the use of force.

About what could have been done, realistically speaking? Nothing. Neji was a character whose relevance rested in his position as a counterweight to his family’s structure; he was relevant as he opposed the Hyüga oppression, but once he stopped antagonizing such practices, he became inconsequential to the narrative itself, and he was mostly used as a secondary device to move the plot forward without being consequential to it (like when he and Team Gai helped Naruto and Team 7 to open the cave Deidara and Sasori had Gaara in).

“Would having Neji interact more with others from the branch family open his eyes to the superficial change in the Hyuuga Hiashi made after his fight?”

There was not a single change brought by Hiashi, not a single panel proofs otherwise, the only thing we saw was Neji and Hinata fighting together during the war, and that was a very specific case were all shinobi were told to join forces (minus the heir, as Hanabi wasn’t present). Their behaviour during a warlike conflict can’t be translated to the new norm in between the branches, as there’s not a single indication of something changing within the family during non-armed conflicts of such scale. 

“How to improve the Hyüga in general?” 

I mean, to put it simply: stop branding childs with the Cage-bird Seal. It’s as easy as that, all clans have a system of inheritance of the leader title, so the structure itself can be maintained as Hanabi is told to be the strongest fighter amongst them (sans Neji, who is a weird occurrence).

[rinseveryday]

Hello! I have so many thoughts and theories in my mind, especially I want to ask you the one. What do you think about the Demon King Rin? In the last chapter we saw how all pieces of the puzzle is coming together....

Hello! Thanks for the ask! I also have so many thoughts, please ask away anytime.

Massive spoilers for chapters 139 (138? I don't remember) and above!! Putting my response under the cut because it is long :> Like, I had to sit down for over an hour, long.

Demon King Rin my beloved boy

You know what's funny about life is that I fell in love with him way back in 2013, and he ended up becoming exactly my type of character 10 years later. I kept up with the series, but I discovered my tastes through other media so it was a huge shock to me when Demon King vigilante Rin shows up in canon. I was/am OBSESSED with the anti-hero or jaded hero types, like Daredevil and Deadpool just to name a few (I had a Marvel phase) as well as serieses like Devilman and Chainsaw man on the anime side. A monster with a human heart, bonus points if they live in a world that doesn't accept them. Now why am I talking about other shows? (Bc I wanna, that's why)

Well, Blue Exorcist didn't start as an adult rating, morally gray, anti-hero series did it? It was a fun, cliché Shonen show for teens set in an academic setting with all the typical school festivities and classmate crushes you can expect. Kinda different than Daredevil. But it's slowly been creeping towards darker, more serious topics over the years because Katoh's specialty lies in her ability to twist clichés into her own thing. AoEx's plot runs a lot deeper, and more sinister than your typical devil shonen manga. I still see a lot of theories about AoEx that still think it'll follow a Shonen plot, though, where the end will be a big fight against Somebody and then they'll all go home, become exorcists, and move on.

But really, Katoh's already said that Rin is a character that, if she's not careful, becomes real dark, real fast. I bet she had been wanting to add an anti-hero plot to the story for a while. He's no Naruto. He is the fox.

And so, newsflash! Rin's biggest antagonist isn't a demon. It's himself. Not demon!Rin, but Rin, as a whole. The plot isn't anywhere near being finished. Right now he's not the Blue Exorcist quite yet. He's a guy (level of humanity questionable) wreathed in the flames of a demon god. The day where he must choose between Assiah or Gehenna, is coming closer.

We see in the timeskip chapters a world where the current day has become Rin's tragic anti-hero backstory. Where he made choices that led him away from his human allies. Where he chose to embrace his demonic nature and fight against the corrupt human organizations.

I used to think that someone else was leading Rin, using him as a puppet leader of a resistance with his friends kept away as blackmail. Because how could Rin be so organized as to lead any sort of resistance right? Did his friends die which made him go rogue? What did Paku see? Was it related to Rin's reasons for becoming the Demon King?

However, now with the things Rin brought up in the most chapters, I don't know. I still find it hard to believe Rin would lead anything, but maybe he was just doing his own thing and the demons followed on their own *shrug.* If Rin's friends were still in the picture, he'd go to the ends of the Earth to get them back. So that leaves us with either a) they're dead or b) he chose to leave them.

People wear masks to hide. He doesn't need to hide his identity because his flames give it away so... Maybe he's hiding from shame.

His face went from sad to blank when he realized Paku was around. Rin Okumura? With a blank face? Our Mr. Wears his heart on his sleeve? Dude who cries from manga and slaps his knee when he laughs?

The blank face is a coping mechanism, just like the mask. He's probably disassociating so he doesn't have to deal with the painful memories she brings. Memories of his friends... Memories of being human.

Which brings us to the question, What did Rin remember when he woke up? I have a feeling he never reconciled with his demonic nature in that future, which led him to be at odds with exorcists. (RIP Malchidael Miku, you were too annoying to live). He probably didn't see the same future Mephisto did, but considering he does have all the same powers Satan does, he definitely saw Something.

Rin is right in that he was wrong to cage his so-called "demonic side." Or, if you read the raws too, he called it the "demon me." Everyone has anger and violence and desire and scorn in them as part of their survival instincts. That's not even a purely "demonic" thing. Rin forces the embodiment of those feelings, demon!Rin to yield and stay put. He doesn't understand why demon!Rin lashes out so strongly nor why he wants to take over.

Uhmmm sounds real healthy right? *Checks watch* demon!Rin should be back any chapter now~ It really begs the question, is demon!Rin the evil one for wanting to break out? Or is human!Rin the evil one for forcing demon!Rin to keep seething in jail?

Going back to the topic, it seems that Rin doesn't want to become the Demon King this time but he also isn't sure what to do. He knows he needs to do something about his burning questions and he knows the key to truly taming himself lies in knowledge and understanding. He has only caged himself, and has yet to reach Yuri's level of taming. Demon!Rin will come back. He'll always be there to protect Rin when he needs him the most.

While I sure love me some villain and anti-hero AUs, I do hope my beloved Rin Gone Wrong to stay in those chapters. He deserves a happier True Ending than becoming a Demon King 🤧

Well, there's some of my thoughts on Rin as Demon King and the plot. This got super long and was actually longer before I cut out all the unnecessary rambling.

Tl;dr he scares me