#i want that meeting to be as awkward as possible and the ninja to be wary of morro

[riptidesblog]

Since s5 Lloyd:

-Changed his hair

-His eyes became green

-Became an adult

-His voice changed

And Morro is a guy that mistook Nya in a green gi for Lloyd so it's fair to say that if Lloyd is in disguise(or just different clothes) when(if) the two meet again,Morro might not recognize him

[deafmangoes]

I'm not a shipper by nature, just putting that out there. But, uh, Dungeon Meshi does things to me.

Anyway, I've shared my Farcille thoughts, so now to blabber about a different popular ship: Labru. The Hot Mess. The Disaster Couple.

Firstly let's talk about the -bru part of the ship. Kabru is a neurotic little twink with PTSD and anxiety. I don't think that's in any sort of doubt. He exudes an entirely false confidence to hide his crippling self-hatred and survivor's guilt. For some reason, this makes him incredibly attractive to nearly everyone he encounters. Rin has the traditional tsundere crush, his whole party firmly believes in him (more than reflects his actual abilities), the ninjas blush when he smiles at them, even dead-hearted Mithrun warms up to him over time. The omakes take this even further: his landlord cleans his room for him, Dia's fiancé breaks down in tears when talking to him, and Holm's sister clearly wants to get it.

Kabru's not blind to any of this. He weaponises it, really. He's manipulative to an artform! Then he meets Laios. The Monsterfucker.

Laios' sexuality is not immediately clear from the manga. He definitely has a little flame for Marcille - between his awkwardness over touching her, his succubus taking her form, his illusion memory of her focusing on her power and strength - it's not love, I don't think it's even a crush, it's just that "boy sits across the table and stares intently at you" sort of feeling.

He doesn't show any direct interest in men but dearly desires their companionship. He practically kidnaps Shuro and - even though he struggles with Kabru's name at first - takes a liking to him instantly.

So do they make a good ship? Hell no, they're fucking awful together, but it works. Kabru just natually slithers in as advisor, and Laios is more than happy to have someone take all that off his plate. If there's anything there, I think it's one-sided from Kabru, and whatever feelings he has for Laios are based in his total confusion over how Laios just... survives. He finds him fascinating. Intriguing. Possibly sexually. If everyone else is an open book, Laios is the eldritch tome he cannot decipher and will burn him if he touches it. You can see why this ship seems to naturally arise from the canon.

But from Laios' point of view, I think he's... sort of homoerotic asexual? His feelings towards Marcille are more like a fascination with the exotic and monstrous (because she's Not A Tall-Man, and he doesn't want to be one), but his interactions with male companions are much more open and affectionate, even if he's a bit oblivious about it. I think he'd openly appreciate Kabru but wouldn't realise they were in a relationship until literally at the altar.

As another user put it: Laios is a human fascinated with monsters and wants to be one. Kabru sees himself as a monster and is fascinated with humans. They definitely compelement eachother.

[flowersforchoso]

the proposal

cw: established relationship, fluff, soft bihan

it was just midday when you heard a knock on the door.

you ignored, hoping the lack of response would be interpreted as you not being in. however, it continued and you couldn't figure out why because you weren't expecting any visitor(s). it was still early, so it bothered you a little.

another rapping and you rose from the futon. briefly combing through your hair with slender fingers to appear presentable before walking towards the door and undoing its locks, which revealed a lin kuei ninja

"greetings" he said, bowing slightly. "i hope this meeting finds you well"

"hello" you dryly replied, subtly letting it known there was no further room for pleasantries. he seemed to get the hint, going straight to the point by clearing his throat then continued

"the grandmaster wishes to see you. do accept his request"

"oh" you blinked in puzzlement since bihan never utilized his authority this way before, sending underlings to summon your presence, so this was new to you. if he wanted to see you, he knew his way here.

"alright" you say before adding, "but i will have to change first"

"come as you are" the ninja simply said, as if sensing your worries and seeking to dispel them. "it will not be necessary, since it is urgent". now this concerned you. for what could possibly warrant such urgency?

you hesitated a bit, then complied with a step forward. closing the door behind you to follow your unusual guest

the walk was silent as he led you to your destination. your mind wandered about, thinking of what to expect since it was untypical of bihan. worry began to creep in when your thoughts took a dark detour by conjuring up negative imagery of him hurt. at best, gravely injured; at worst, a corpse. which caused you to shake your head in an attempt to eject the grim and refocus elsewhere, your gaze landing on the back of your companion.

wanting to alleviate your anxieties, you initiated small talk. trying to pry your way into getting an answer "i hope he's alright, your grandmaster"

"you will find out in due time" he mumbled, shutting down your attempts; being intentionally cryptic that provided no relief. you huffed in annoyance at the needless secrecy, trudging along the path.

you arrived at the countryside with towering trees dotting the landscape, searching for bihan in the expanse and spotting him. he was waiting under an oak tree in a dark blue hanfu, an attire befitting the leader of a deadly warrior clan and you couldn't help but wonder why he was dressed so… ceremonial, as you approached him. he dismissed his underling with a nod, to leave you both

"so what is the occasion?" you inquired taking in his appearance. he looked magnificent; all grand and imposing and handsome as ever which made you feel insignificant because you paled in comparison to him.

bihan remained silent and immobile, only staring at you. as if committing your face to memory while you let out an awkward chuckle in self-depreciation, assessing yourself "i would've dressed up nicely if i knew there was one"

but he shared none of your worries. his being of an entirely different nature resulting in an almost mechanic affectation; not knowing how to act. ransacking his mind for how to say the words and weighing the implications—whether you'd be receptive to them or not. sweat trickled down his neck and the lack of response from him was worrying to you

"is everything alright?" the drop in your expression drove him into action; actualize the purpose for which you came in a slight tremble of his fingers to carefully retrieve a ring then got on one knee

"marry me" he pleaded. looking up to you for an answer, and to your astonishment. because you hadn't expected such gesture. your eyes widened like a deer in the headlights as you gasped, processing what had occurred. and when it finally hit you, yelled:"yes! yes! i will marry you"

hearing those words expelled his fears in an exhale of relief. happiness was an understatement to how he felt having diligently planned and now reaping the fruits of his labour. he rose to his feet, sliding the sapphire ring on your finger while you squealed in excitement then embraced him, feeling light from his musky scent and expression of want to eternally make you his.

"i would've kissed you if it weren't for your mask" you dreamily sighed, savoring the moment and snuggling against him.

"when we're behind closed doors, you'd have your fill" he replied, a smile coloring his voice that made you blush before detaching to make sense of his emotions from the little you could see; meeting brown eyes and lovingly peering into them

quirking an eyebrow, you ran fingers up his broad chest in playful seduction and purred, "so…what should i expect from being married to you?"

he caught your wandering hand, halting the caresses to intertwine it with his. leaning forward to repay in equal measure, sultrily whispering, "whatever you desire"

warmth flooded your cheeks, painting crimson. the words that danced on the tip of your tongue were not foreign, one he had heard countless times but were still the most valuable, coming from you "i love you"

"i wouldn't want it any other way" he confessed, the profession of your love imprinted on his soul. briefly closed his eyes to envision new beginnings. a joyous home: basking in the glow of conjugal bliss, a newborn's laughter echoing off the walls, his family growing, training his progeny when they are of age into becoming strong warriors, like him. breaking from the reverie to shelve his thoughts—since they were going to be reality anyway—to proceed to the next event of the day

"come with me, i have prepared something to mark our engagement" he announced. hands intertwined and taking you to your next destination.

[oracleact]

You can totally choose to look past this cuz it might be a lot (Tw trauma?) I just got Carried, you know when Carrie (from the movie) she gets a bucked full of blood over her head on prom? A guy asked me out and to my surprise, I was blessed with ketchup, eggs and flour by him and his friends, the subway didn’t let me in and no Uber would accept me getting in a car, so I had to walk home. No one asked me what was wrong

I’m still processing that actually happened,. I’m assuming it’s bc of my weight, I’m tall and overweight, I mainly keeps things to myself, am a introvert, idk what other thing could be a reason besides my body. Could you please write a comfort scenario with the tmnt boys? Or one of them, you can choose, Could be platonic, romantic, idk, just reader (who’s usually friendly but don’t talk much about their romantic life cuz they don’t feel like it’s worth investing time, and when they finally decide to change that, thst happens) crying as a mess in front of them for the first time, saying they are tired of living in a body that feels more of a curse than anything,

It’s a lot, I know, you can delete this if you aren’t comfortable doing it (I’m 100% serious)

Thank you Eitherway and hope you have a good day

first of all, I’m so sorry that happened to you. back in high school, I was doused after classes so I can definitely understand your pain here. they are absolutely pathetic for even thinking about doing that to someone; they are total assholes because they acted on it too and I wish for it to haunt them one day when (or if) they mature. you did amazing on your way home that day - I hope that, with time, things will get better for you. you deserve great things. I haven’t written anything with all of the boys before but I wanted to give it a try for you to cheer you up. I wish you well, and I hope you can find comfort in our wonderful turtles!

« got your back »

tmnt x reader / angst + fluff

notes: 1.6k words, all turtles included, platonic relationship, gender neutral reader (no pronouns used,) first person pov, I was thinking of 2012 tmnt while writing this but it probably fits with most iterations.

I can’t believe I’m walking home in the dark, completely covered in miscellaneous goop. I’m glad I didn’t tell anyone about the date that was supposed to happen tonight because, if someone saw me right now, I don’t know what I would do. no public transport let me on covered in eggs and flour, the same for taxis, so now I’m stuck dragging myself home by my own two feet. they are awfully heavy despite my hurry to get back which doesn’t seem fair at all - it’s like my body is laughing at me in equal measure to the rest of the crowd back there.

put your head down and keep walking, put your head down and keep walking, put your—

“hey guys, look!” I stop in my tracks as soon as I hear that voice echo through the night sky. it sounded too much like mikey to simply ignore it.

“mikey, for the last time, shh! ninjas, remember?” that was definitely leo. they all must be up on a roof somewhere but I don’t dare to look up. my feet won’t move anymore regardless, they’re refusing to pick up and run. my body really does hate me tonight huh?

“mikey is right though, look down - hey there!” I slowly crane my neck towards the sound of their chatters and am met with possibly the worst sight I could see at this exact moment: all four of my mutant friends standing on a nearby roof, just as I suspected.

“hi everyone,” I give an awkward wave as they stare down at me.

“want to meet up at the entrance to the lair to hang? we’re just heading back,” raph calls out.

I need a plan, and fast.

thankfully, they can’t see that I’m covered in mush from where they are, but if I go to the lair then that will change. however, if I say ‘no’ to hanging out with them then they’ll get suspicious anyway and follow after me. they’re my best friends, my favourite thing in the whole world is hanging out with them. even if I genuinely can’t hang out we still find a loophole to be together.

either of these choices leaves me doomed to talk about this disaster of a night eventually so…

“sure, you go ahead and I’ll be there in a second.”

…I go with option one.

I knew the boys would get there first so I’ve had more time to come up with some lame lie before I face them: one point to me. I slap on a brave face and a ridiculously wide smile in the hopes that it would distract them from what I have going on all over my clothes. taking a deep breath, I turn the final corner to enter the lair.

“hey bud!” mikey bursts through the rest of the guys and comes skipping towards me. I freeze and simply wait for him to see me in the light. “woah, what happened to you?”

after hearing mikey’s question, everyone starts to crowd in around me, thinking I had been hurt or something on the way here. to their surprise, I have no cuts or scrapes…just a bunch of different types of produce in my hair. they begin to mutter more questions but my mind is too hazy to hear them clearly, opting to stand there and stare into the space behind them. leo notices me zoning out pretty quickly and leads me to the seating area in the middle of the lair by my arm, the rest of the boys following with worry in their eyes.

I sit down on the couch; raph bends down in front of me, donnie sits on my right, mikey hangs over the back of the couch to lean on my left, and leo rests his hands on my shoulders from behind me.

“who did this to you? I’ll kill them, I’ll punch them into the ground I swear to god—“

“raph, calm down. we need to know what happened first before we start going haywire.” I’ve never seen donnie look so aggravated before. it looks like he secretly wants to join in with raph’s immediate anger instead of acting ‘rationally’ this time.

“no need for punching anyone or anything ha! I— uh— tripped while I was walking home and fell straight into a pile of garbage surrounding a dumpster. how clumsy of me ha! I’m so silly. I wasn’t watching where I was going and it was dark so…” my words trail off as I finally look directly at my friends. none of them are believing this story at all.

“tell us the truth, it’s alright. you’re safe here.” leo speaks with such a warm tone, it makes holding back my tears even harder than it already was.

“I’m fine! I promise I’m fine, really I just tripped!” I force my lips into a thin line, trying to twist them into some kind of smile, until mikey pokes at my cheek. I turn to him.

“please tell us what’s wrong.” is he giving me puppy eyes? damn it mikey…

I couldn’t push back my tears any longer and the flood gates exploded. I was in hysterics, sobbing so loudly it bounced off the walls of the lair. I couldn’t stop, each sob rippled through me and I felt like I couldn’t breathe. the boys cooed at me, all of them placing a hand somewhere on my body to ground me and to let me know that I’m not alone as I cried. they tried still asking me questions but I couldn’t get out any words, only heartbreaking whimpers left my mouth. they accepted their fate of silent sobs though and simply stayed beside me.

after a while, I’ve calmed down slightly, and I see the boys look at each other and nod in the corner of my blurry eyes. then, all of a sudden, raph and leo run off. they come back not long after with a basin of water, towels and some other things that I can’t quite see cradled in their large hands. my curiosity is answered in a split second though as the four begin to wipe away the dirt that covers me, still allowing me to ride out my cries in the meantime.

raph gets back into his bent position to gently clean my face, donnie and mikey clean down my arms, and leo starts to brush my hair the best that he can. it must be a brush that april keeps here at the lair, since I don’t think I’ve left one here before.

they continued like this - softly wiping and rinsing - until they were sure that they had done all they can do to rid me of this sticky mess, and until I was able to stabilise my breathing and speak somewhat clearly again.

“april is going to be mad that you got ketchup on her hairbrush,” I say lowly between hiccups. leo laughs and assures me that the brush is perfectly fine; no need to worry.

it is silent (apart from the sound of my sniffling) while they put down their tools and clear them away from the couch, until donnie speaks, “we don’t want to push you to talk but we are here to listen if you want to.”

maybe it is finally time to talk about it. as much as I don’t want to, I think I need to. I’m always the one with a bright smile and cheery attitude but I need to let that go for now. I need comfort, and I need to admit that to myself - even if it’s for this singular moment.

I begin to explain the story of the date and how it went terribly wrong - just the vital details to build the story rather than adding my feelings about it. being vulnerable like this isn’t my strong point so I need to prepare myself to talk about that part with truth and from the heart.

I can see the pure rage in raph’s eyes as he sits in front of me, his teeth grinding together and a low growl coming out of him. he goes to say something but donnie stops him with a hand on his shoulder. he gives red a pat and he seems to understand what he is signalling, inhaling and exhaling with his eyes closed before fixing his posture to listen to me again.

“you know, I don’t know if I want raph to rough up him or rough up me at this point,” I let out a laugh to try and soften the atmosphere but the expressions of the boys tell me that it didn’t work. they look confused; sad. “a good rough up might fix whatever is wrong with me, because it’s obviously me. look at me! why else would he have made plans to humiliate me like that? what do I need to punch into shape - the way I look? the way I act?” I laugh again with the same intent as earlier despite knowing that it is going to do nothing to lessen the impact of my words.

“did he specifically make you feel like that?” raph says through gritted teeth, “that you’re not good enough?”

“no, I guess I’ve been feeling that way for a while. he just made it worse - a lot worse.” my eyes start to burn again with more tears. I’m surprised I’m not dehydrated yet.

mikey grabs my face in his hands, his eyes also look clouded with tears, “you are so beautiful. really, you are. I remember when I first saw you I was like ‘woah, they’re even prettier than the humans I see on tv!’ you don’t need to change anything about the way you look, I can tell you that for sure.”

“nor do you need to change anything about your personality or how you act,” donnie chimes in. “why do you think we like you so much? you’re awesome! you’re smart, kind, caring, plus you treat us like we’re golden and we’re literally in the sewers right now,” we all giggle at the last statement he makes.

leo pats me on the head, signally me to look up towards him, “you are the greatest friend we could have ever asked for, and if we need to remind you of that more then we will. you deserve to feel that you’re worthy and loved and I can tell you with certainty that you are when you’re here with us. there’s no need to hide from us, we’ve got you’re back.”

raph grabs my hand, “and seriously, if you want us to go and talk to that guy we will.”

“raph!” the others shout. I laugh at the slight panic hiding in their voices - it’s fully directed at their brother and his fists.

“what?! I said talk not bash into the ground so what do you want from me?!”

[bluepeachstudios]

you have any possible bonding activities you think the fusions would do in their downtime (that wont spoil the fic, of course)? i think daphy should teach mikey how to make fireworks :) fun explosion instead of attention-drawing property damage explosion

Oh god I could go on a long, long thing about this.

If we're talking about the fun thing that Mikey promised Daphy, I shan't be spoiling what it is they do :x Leo is also involved but yeah it involves fireworks.

Pheo likes just. Being around Mikey and Donnie, the same way he likes just being around Deangelo! He doesn't relax easily, he's almost nearly always in "go-mode" out of habit. Donnie and Mikey help him get into that relaxed place. They like watching movies and Pheo does some teaching by sparring them. He feels most confident in his fighting skills, so that's what he tries to help them with. Mikey especially likes snuggling up in Pheo's arms (as the babiest of brothers with the second eldest of them). Pheo, much like Leo, likes to listen to Donnie and Mikey both talk. He's got enough Leo in him where if you get him on the right subject, he'll also start talking a lot, but that Raph in him makes him horribly shy about doing it, so he needs to be nudged to continue.

Deangelo thinks Raph and Leo are the coolest people to ever exist. He will talk all day to both of them. Leo and Deangelo talking is like neurodivergent communication going on and Raph feels very left out when they do talk. Deangelo likes sparring with Raph a lot! Dea relies a lot more on speed and precision than he does on brute force, so learning from Raph is a nice change of pace. He likes to snuggle with Pheo, too. Honestly I think all the fusions wouldn't mind snuggling with Pheo, but they don't get to meet each other face to face.

Mio plays games with Raph and Donnie and will win at anything they can get him to play (except chess, which is so boring that he gives up about halfway through). He loves reading comic books and watching space heroes and being creative! He's not very good at drawing, but he enjoys it anyway. Mio is the most likely to want to watch a tv show or movie. He'll watch just about anything, but Space Heroes is his absolute favorite. He also loves moving around a lot. Daphy and him hand out and bond by Mio hovering over Daphy while he works. He and Daphy will talk to each other a lot, and though Daphy has a very short temper, he's always exceedingly patient for Mio.

Daphy of course likes to build things. They're often destructive things, but it's because he likes the flashiness, the energy that gets released, having a big impact on something. Daphy's a little hard to get into without spoilers if I'm being honest, but he gets along much better with Mikey than he does Leo, even if Mikey does annoy him sometimes. Leo and him have a bit of an awkward relationship because of Daphy's actions, and the fact that Daphy doesn't treat Leo like the leader. Usually their bonding time is silent but close. They read books next to each other. That sort of thing.

Lonny loves designing things. If Raph and Mikey have an idea for it, he can draw it out for them. They're not always the most realistic designs, but the AESTHETICS. Lonny calms down once he has something to focus on, so usually they do targeted activities with him, like playing a game or watching movies. Mikey likes to lay on him (he is the tallest of the fusions) and Raph likes to spar with him. Lonny tends to freeze up with indecision and Raph gets that, so it's nice and helpful.

Machiel is a SNUGGLER. He doesn't care what you're doin, as long as he can snuggle, he'll be happy. He also wants to DO stuff. He wants to go out and beat up some foot bots or go hunting through the junkyard or go hop rooftops or sneak into a movie theater or something. He and Leo bond by sparring, which is off-putting for Leo because Machiel doesn't fight like a normal ninja should, but it's good practice! Donnie often gets overwhelmed quickly by Machiel, but Machiel asks questions and Donnie's happy to answer.

Machiel and Lonny interacting is another spoiler <3 but as you can see, I went on and this was just simple stuff. Enjoy fusion lore?? :'D

[cienie-isengardu]

what du you think everyone recession if oroku nagi was reanimated back to life but a woman

Turtles have no real emotional ties to Yoshi, Tang Shen and Nagi, even less to the tragedy that happened around what? almost two decades before any of them ended in sewers under Splinter’s care. They get involved in the conflict with Foot Clan only because their father wanted to avenge his beloved Hamato Yoshi but couldn’t do it on his own. I mean, sure, the turtles to some degree care for said man and Tang Shen, but it is not the same connection nor feeling of grief that Oroku Saki felt for his brother. So for turtles Nagi being woman or man has no meaning, the only thing that matters is the fact their (Splinter)’s enemy is back and how dangerous he is. Mikey may joke about the change and quote all pop culture and stuff, Donny may talk  about how possible or not possible the whole situation is from a science point, but the same as Leo, Raph and Splinter, Nagi’s new gender is a secondary - if even at all concern.

April and Casey Jones I guess would be more freaked out by the fact that some crazy stuff is happening again and the dead-but-not-anymore-dead enemy is on the loose. But again, no real connection to care if Nagi is a woman now. Though I think April and Casey would take the news in similar fashion to Mikey and Donnie, as in having some science speculation or fantastic theories. 

The real question is how Oroku Saki would react, because grieving deeply the loss of a beloved brother at the age 7 and caring to avenge him for more than decade definitely influences his reaction. The shock of meeting your dead brother once again is not something that easy to shake off, however Nagi as a woman would need to prove that yes, despite different gender it is still him. So I guess, Saki could be pretty skeptical at first which is understandable considering all things.

Shredder’s reaction will also depend on when Nagi comes back and if the Foot Clan has anything to do with it, like the way they resurrected Oroku Saki (Color Classic vol.2 #7).

Because Foot Clan messing with Nagi’s remains could influence how he feels about his brother’s return to life. How Nagi himself feels about being alive again.

Also, we can’t forget that Oroku Saki was raised in an assassin clan in Japan before he was sent to New York - we have little to none idea what the Foot Clan take on gender roles and general emphasis on their culture & society is. We know there are female ninjas, as Karai is original comics was high-ranked member that was sent to New City to deal with situation after Shredder’s death while in majority of TMNT versions she was Oroku Saki’s right hand man (sometimes even the adopted daughter), so if Nagi is still capable of fighting, his gender should not influence his position. However it would be understandable if Saki felt awkward, suspicious, confused and/ or a bit freaked out if his beloved older brother came back as a woman. But I guess how their relationship would look would depend a lot on what Nagi’s goals are and how much it challenges Saki’s own. I have no doubt he loved his brother, but he ain’t anymore the devastated 7 years old.

[the12thnightproject]

Chapter 32: Spilling the Tea. In which Katsu receives an unanticipated gift and is followed by a mystery ninja.

Shingen x OC; Kenshin x MC (Mai)

Previous Chapter: Here

Logline - Disguised as a boy, Katsuko finds herself working for Shingen, but her dangerous masquerade becomes difficult to sustain when she falls for the man with a fatal secret.

Unlike the other times I had visited Chiyome’s household, instead of being taken to her official reception room, I was shown into what must have been her private quarters. The décor was austere: she took the concept of minimalism to new levels – almost no furniture, no personal items, no tapestries or decorative screens and … no clothing. She was lounging on her futon with a young man. Neither were dressed.

Why am I always walking in on naked people?

Chiyome patted the man-boy’s cheek. “Leave us.” With a pout, he picked up a silk kimono, carelessly slung it over shoulder, and basically flounced out of the room.

“Don’t gape, child. I’m sure that was no more than you must have seen working for Shingen.” She stretched, then slowly and theatrically dressed in a pair of European style breeches and a shirt.

The performance was aimed toward me, possibly to shock, possibly out of her own sense of personal amusement, and I did my best to keep an impassive expression. I wasn’t shocked. Mostly I was annoyed that she chose to make me her captive audience. “I wasn’t embarrassed… only, he seems a bit… lightweight for you.”

“Child, I’m not concerned with what’s between his ears as long as he knows what to do with what’s between his legs.” She gestured for me to sit down. I sat. “Given what I do every day, that last thing I want to do in my free time is talk. Or think. I just want a straightforward fuck.”

Ok then, and more power to her. That didn’t explain why I’d been invited to her private rooms. At least, I hoped it didn’t. Was she warning me off Shingen? Did she even have that sort of relationship with him? I imagined coming up with all sorts of clever and impressive things to say to her. Unfortunately, what came out of my mouth was, “why am I here?”

Ugh, Katsuko can you at least try for some semblance of wit?

“For tea, of course.” She gave me a look that clearly said, ‘you’re an idiot,’ and I suppose I was, because it had never occurred to me that she would want to take tea with me.

Nor did I want to have tea with her, as the thought of trying to make conversation with her over the course of a tea ceremony filled me with dread. I was feeling awkward and gauche enough already. “You want to have tea with me?”

There was mockery in her laughter. “No. I am giving you tea.” There was a movement outside the room, and then, likely by some pre-arranged signal, a woman my age glided in. Hm. Glided was not the right word. She moved as silently as a ninja, but there was a restlessness about her that suggested she was holding back on a stockpile of energy that could explode from her at any moment. Chiyome addressed the newcomer. “Sute, this is Katsuko. Please get her a supply of tea.”

Until that moment, I had no idea that Chiyome knew my name. Which meant that Shingen had probably mentioned it to her… had this meeting been his idea? If so, it would have been nice to have been warned yesterday. Or maybe he had intended to mention it last night when I came back ‘after dark.’ As promised, I had returned to say goodnight, but he’d already been asleep, and I’d left without trying to wake him up.

Sute’s eyes skimmed me over with amused interest. “The girl from the Inn. So, he finally found you. You’ll definitely need tea.” She turned back to Chiyome. “How much?”

With a wave that indicated she didn’t really care, Chiyome said, “use your own judgement. I’m well aware you have experience with this particular matter.” It felt like they were having a conversation around and over me. Obviously, I was a joke to them, but it was difficult to understand what exactly about me was the joke.

The woman went to a cupboard, withdrew a large tin, and poured most of its contents onto a square of paper, which she then neatly folded into a packet. “Here.”

I automatically took the packet and sniffed it. Yes, it smelled like tea, although, I caught the scent of… carrots? Wild carrot tea?

“Don’t look so worried.” Sute laughed. “It’s actually rather tasty – we all drink it.” She gave Chiyome a look. “She must think it’s poison.”

“No, I don’t.” Although I would feel better if I could witness them drinking some of it too. “If it were a fast-acting poison, you wouldn’t have given me such a lot of it. It would be a waste of poison. And there are more efficient ways to kill me than a slow poison. I imagine that a signal from you would have Sute slitting my throat with the dagger she has in her sleeve.” Despite my bravado though, I intended to double check with Shingen before I drank this stuff. If Chiyome had any intention of killing me, I figured he’d have picked up on it.

“Hm.” Chiyome finally displayed a spark of interest in me. She withdrew one of those obnoxious cigars from a red lacquered box and lit it from the flame in a lamp. “It seems you might have a brain after all.”

“Does this mean you and I won’t be getting naked?” Shouldn’t have said that. But I was tired of her treating me like I was a child.

That got a laugh out of her. “Drink one cup every day, unless you’re having your monthly courses.”

Oh.

Sengoku era birth control.

“Unless you want babies. I always said I’d like a few around to play with but Chiyome-,” Sute paused and gave the older woman a mischievous look, “said that I would get bored and forget to feed them.”

I looked down at the packet of tea. I hadn’t thought. I should have. I suppose this also meant that Sute’s ‘experience with this particular matter’ implied a prior (hopefully prior) relationship with Shingen.

Sute continued to babble into my silence. “You don’t want a baby, do you?”

“Oh. God no. Not now.” My life was far too complicated to bring a child into it. I could just see the expression on Aki’s (and Fume’s) face if I showed up on their doorstep with a child in tow. Not to mention… temporal paradox? I wouldn’t want to give birth to my own grandmother. Or would the timeline naturally prevent that somehow? Maybe it wasn’t possible for a time traveler to get pregnant (or father a child) when they were out of their own era? Even if it were though… given my mother’s history of depression, having a child of my own had never been on my personal bucket list.

This, however, was a theoretical discussion that I ought to have with Sasuke – if, I could manage to do so without hideously embarrassing the both of us.

“You may go.” Chiyome waved me toward the door.

“Er, thank you.” Truthfully, I wasn’t sure whose benefit the tea was for – mine or Shingen’s - but I was grateful to have it. Even if… given his current health, there wasn’t any urgent need for it.

I bowed and left, with Sute at my heels. As we made our way out of Chiyome’s manor, she chattered away as if she’d decided we were to best friends. And… maybe I ought to dislike her… but I didn’t. She was like a golden retriever, too friendly to dislike. “Why were you hiding? How did he finally find you? Did you actually work for Mitsuhide? What’s he like?” Even once we were on the road toward the main part of town, Sute stuck with me.

Absently, I answered her questions. My attention, however, was not on her, but on a hooded figure who was following us. I couldn’t get a good look at him – he was good at slipping into the crowd whenever I stopped to look his way.

“Do you know we’re being followed?” I interrupted Sute’s fit of giggles – the revelation that I had been living under Shingen’s nose for weeks was highly amusing to her.

“The ninja? Yep, He’s good, but I’m better.” She made an adjustment to her clothing, pulled a hood up over her hair, and palmed one of her daggers. “I’ll take care of him if you want to go back to the castle. I haven’t had a good chase in a while.”

Without waiting for my agreement, she whirled and took off. Ok, not a golden retriever – a greyhound. When our pursuer realized she’d turned the tables, he ducked into an alley. In moments, I saw him, then Sute, scurry up the side of a building.

I could have done that too! But it was too late – they were already zipping across the roofs.

Feeling left out of the fun, I headed back to the castle. The whole day seemed like it was conspiring to make me as insignificant and useless as possible. Was it true that the only possible use I could be to Shingen was as a bedmate? He’d treated both ‘Angel’ and Katsu as if they had more intelligence and agency than he treated me as Katsuko.

Could I be something more than that? As Katsu, I had been investigating the assassination attempts and learned from Susumu of Yoshiaki’s involvement. As Katsuko – I hadn’t done much – yet. I stopped in the middle of the street, to the displeasure of the merchant who had been walking behind me. What was stopping me from picking up that investigation? If I wanted to be something more, I would have to make that happen for myself.

I about faced (annoying that merchant even further) and headed for Susumu’s restaurant.

The restaurant was in its post-breakfast lull, although a few patrons were lingering over the tea and hot soup Susumu always kept ready for travelers.

“What may I get you, miss?” Susumu didn’t recognize me. Another day I might have left it at that, but I had spent too much time cultivating him as a source to want to begin again. I pulled my hair away from my face. “It’s me. Katsuhira.”

To his credit, his surprise only lasted a moment before he smiled. “Good morning, Katsuhira. I see it has been an eventful couple of weeks for you.”

I acknowledged this with a wink. “Lord Kenshin came a bit too close with Himetsuru Ichimonji, and this,” I gestured to my feminine appearance, “is the result.”

Susumu laughed so hard at the joke I was afraid he would herniate himself. Then, more quietly, he said, “I’m happy to see you today.” He lowered his voice. “The men in the corner –  I’ve not seen them before, but they were meeting with another of Imagawa’s vassals today. The vassal passed the taller one a message.” I sneaked a quick look over my shoulder. Two men, non-descript, dressed as in travelling clothes. Neither were overly armed, aside from the swords anyone would carry for defensive purposes. Susumu then returned to his normal speaking volume. “Yes, the fish soup is fresh and hot today. If you’ll take a seat, I’ll bring some out right away.”

Joy. More. Soup.

I gave Susumu a quick smile, then casually took a seat directly behind the men in question, hoping they were the careless sort and I would be lucky enough to overhear something worthwhile.

I … was not that lucky.

Maybe only TV detectives are able learn important information while eavesdropping? All I heard was a bunch of slurping and a brief comment about wanting to get on the road before it got much later. While I listened to the nothing useful, I considered my options. Following them would be a waste of time. They weren’t planning to meet anyone else; they were simply leaving town. Nor could I join their table and subtly question them myself. In this era a woman couldn’t simply sit down and join a table of strange men without being thought a prostitute. Anyway, I didn’t want to talk to them – I wanted to get my hands on the message from the Imagawa vassal.

For a quick moment, I reconsidered the prostitute angle. Obviously, it was a ploy that Shingen and Chiyome’s spies employed on occasion – otherwise there would be no use for the tea that as Sute said, ‘we all drink.’ If I pretended to be a prostitute, maybe I could leave with them, and steal the message somehow? But how?

No… I discarded that idea. Too many variables, and I had no idea how good these two were in a fight.

I might be a daredevil, but I’m not stupid.

However, I needed to come up with a plan fast because it sounded like they were nearly finished. Maybe I wasn’t stupid, but I still felt like a failure for missing out on this opportunity. In my head, I heard Chiyome’s mocking laughter, while I stared into my nearly empty teacup. Dammit, that information was less than a meter away from me, right for the taking.

What would Aki do in this situation? His most-used ploy was to play a drunk to get close to his mark, then surprise them when their guard was down. While that wouldn’t work here, it occurred to me that… I didn’t need to pretend to be drunk… just clumsy.

I took my teapot up to Susumu and asked for more. Mentally, I apologized in advance for what I was about to do to his crockery. He replaced my pot with a new full one, and then I paused, waiting for the men to stand up in preparation to leave and then put myself on a trajectory that would -

WHAM!

SPLOOSH!

CRASH!

“Oh no! I am so sorry! I hope you were not burned!” While the man was still sputtering angrily, I dabbed at his clothes with a hand towel. Under the pretext of drying him off, I lifted the message and his coin purse (if I were caught, it would be safer to be thought a thief than a spy. Probably.)

Susumu did his part, adding distraction as he barreled over and yelled about the broken teapot and the wet floor. He grabbed my arm and dragged me into the kitchen, complaining all the while about the existence of clumsy maids. Pitching his voice loud and shrill (too shrill… my ears were ringing) he monologued about the woes of owning a restaurant where every odd traveler did nothing but spill food and break his dishes, culminating with a capper, “I should have become a stableman! At least horses are useful!”

(That… didn’t actually make sense, but I supposed he was going for volume over content).

He took a quick peek into the dining area. “They are gone, Katsu.”

“Thank you. I never knew you had hidden talent as an actor. Sorry about the teapot.” I tossed him the stolen coin purse. “I hope there’s enough in there to pay for a replacement.”

He rifled through it. “More than enough. I could build a new restaurant.” He thrust the purse in his kimono.

“In that case, may I buy, or rent one of your kimonos?” As much as I loved the one I was wearing, Mai’s handiwork was pretty distinctive. I’d be better off slinking out of here in a plainer outfit.

He agreed to load me a spare kimono he wore when he was gutting fish. “The smell alone ought to keep people away – though you may end up leading a parade of cats.” He let me change clothes in his storeroom and when I left through his back door, he was recounting the coins from the stolen purse.

I walked through the alley in my most casual I-don’t-have-a-stolen-message-tucked-into-my-kimono manner. It ought to have been simple to simply stroll my fish-scented self back to the castle.

It would have worked.

Except… there he was again - the ninja who had been following me earlier. He seemed to have managed to evade Sute, and whoever he was, he was not fooled by my new outfit. As soon as he saw me, he ran right at me.

No idea what he wanted, but the chance of it being something good was low to zero. I didn’t stick around to find out.

Before he got any closer, I led him on a chase through crowds…

…weaving around people,

…jumping over barrels,

…before rolling under a fruit vendor’s stall.

I dove into a passing a hay cart and held my breath while his feet pounded past.

A few minutes later, when I was sure he wasn’t coming back, I climbed out of the cart and emerged in the innyard…

Where I ran right into the two men from the restaurant.

Well. Hell.

Keeping my head down, I muttered a fast, “pardon me,” and turned to take off again.

The man whose purse I had stolen grabbed my wrist. “Not so fast, little thief.” He yanked me to him and held me tight against his body. “I think you have something of mine.”

It was the middle of the day, and we were in the castle town, so I wasn’t afraid that they would carry me off, but I didn’t want to be in this fight I either. “I have no idea what you are talking about. Let me go!”

“I think not.” His grip on me tightened. “Not until you return my… things.”

“You must have me confused with someone else. I work at Kasugayama. I’m no thief.” The implied relation to Kenshin ought to have given them a pause, but since they didn’t let me pass, I lashed out with my fists and feet.

One of them grunted when I got him in the stomach, but I took a hit almost in my eye, so we’d call that even, I guess. I managed to free up one of my daggers – just in time, because the one who hadn’t grabbed me came at me with his sword.

I slashed the arm of the grabby one – he swore and let me go.

The one with the sword charged toward me, and I deflected with the dagger. The other one drew his own sword, and I found myself outflanked.

I wasn’t worried yet… I still had my patented best move ready, the never-fail, ‘duck out of the way and run like hell’ maneuver.

And that was when the man who had been following me reappeared.

Great.

“Oh, this looks like fun,” he practically chirped. “Can I play too?” He pulled out a pair of daggers and…

…launched himself at my attackers in a flurry of metal.

He was helping me?

By this time, the innkeeper had come out to see what was going on, and the two men must have decided that was too much attention to attract in what was likely enemy territory for them. They grabbed their horses and fled.

I turned to my follower/rescuer. “Thank you for the help.”

“Just evening the odds.” He pushed off his hood and turned to me with a cheerful grin on his face. “Katsuko, don’t you remember me? I do consider myself extremely memorable.”

My brain slowly de-aged this long-haired ninja, replacing him with the memory of a chatterbox young monk I had met nearly five years ago. He’d changed a lot. But the smile was still there. “Ranmaru? But… why were you chasing me?”

Another smile, then he bowed deeply. I wondered how and why he had made the transformation from monk to ninja but this wasn’t the time or place to discuss such matters.

“I didn’t know it was you! Not at first.” Ranmaru withdrew a thin packet from his sash. “I have a message from my former master to Shingen. I thought to leave it with Lady Chiyome, then you were pointed out as his personal courier.”

“Former master? Then you no longer work for Kennyo?” Given the list of crimes Kennyo had committed against both Nobunaga and Kenshin, it was understandable that Ranmaru might want to distance himself from the man.

“There is not much I can do for a man condemned to live out the remainder of his life in an Azuchi dungeon.” Ranmaru’s smile faded. “It’s complicated as I am Nobunaga’s page.” He handed me the letter.

“I hope Kennyo doesn’t want Shingen to intercede with Nobunaga.” I couldn’t imagine that going over well.

Ranmaru shook his head. “Nothing like that. The two of them were friends at one time. I believe Kennyo wishes to apologize … and to say farewell, before…”

Before it’s too late.

Had word of Shingen’s condition travelled to Azuchi? Or maybe Kennyo had another reason to say goodbye. “Thank you. I will make sure he gets it. And thank you again for your help back there. I doubt I would have gotten through unscathed otherwise.”

Given Shingen’s lectures to me on my so-called daredevil behavior, it would probably be a good idea to keep today’s adventures from him.

No need to worry him when he was still sick.

Or well, worry him about this at all.

No, I wouldn’t mention any of this – I’d just have to come up with a good story about how I’d gotten my hands on the message from the Imagawa vassal.

Ranmaru preened before giving up and laughing. “It was fun. But you’re not completely uninjured.” He reached out and touched my cheek, and I winced at the unexpected pressure. “You’re going to have quite the black eye.”

@bestbryn

[sharoscylla]

Your turtle iteration is so cool! Can you tell me more about your iteration? Maybe some more stuff about April and Casey?

Have a lovely day by the way!

Thanks!

So, April is the first one to meet Casey and brings him to the turtles for help. I am working on a comic book script for this event to try to learn how to write comics, so hopefully I'll be able to show it on here soon!

April is 15 years old. She's super into horror media and video games, and has known the turtles for about a year. Raph met her first and she considers him her BEST friend, but the other turtles are all a very close second. The two of them play video games online a lot even if they don't see one another in person that day, and they're working on a horror game together. She is kind of the opposite of Raph and Mikey - they both dream of being normal kids and being able to be normal and live around other people, but she hopes and wishes her mom would somehow fall in love with their dad, pull a brady bunch to fuse their families together, and give her unlimited Turtle Little Brother Time in their world instead of having to return to the human world. Donnie is teaching her some Turtle First Aid (as well as what Human First Aid he knows) and the two of them watch How It's Made and do cute things together. Leo and Mikey are both teaching her martial arts - Leo because he thinks it would make their dad proud if he did a good job teaching her (despite Splinter currently not knowing she exists,) Mikey because he's wracked with anxiety and has terror-visions of her being defenseless against Bad Guys. (Raph does not feel like he has to teach her anything, they're just friends who have fun together and are making fun stuff together and he really feels like he needs a friend who doesn't... depend on him for anything, poor boy.)

Casey is 16 and he's had a very rough life so far. Meeting Casey (and by extension meeting April, who introduces herself to him this way) is like a thirty-second process from Splinter going "Oh no a human" to "Oh no, a human THAT I MUST ADOPT, POOR BOY." (He does ask if April needs to be adopted, which adds fuel to the "April wants to Parent Trap Splinter and her Mom" fire, but she politely declines FOR NOW) Casey is VERY into the Fallout games and pretty explicitly models his way of dressing/weapons of choice/general aesthetic after Fallout New Vegas, which the turtle boys are too young to have played but April knows what's up. All four of the turtles feel incredibly obligated to teach Casey how to fight and take care of himself, especially when they find out that he's on the run from the same apocalyptic death cult that mutated them* mutated their dad into a rat** and chased them from Florida to the sewers of New York***. Casey likes all of the turtles equally, but has a special attachment to April, Donnie, and Mikey for nebulous Genders Reasons that he is not equipped to deal with at this time.

*= a lie

**= sort of true and sort of not true

***= only in the vague-est sense possible

(Splinter has fallen into the trap of Making Shit Up when he's not sure of the answer or is ashamed of the truth and despite having good intentions he has caused bonkers problems for his boys, mentally)

(also: Leo's decision to train April started with Leo going "Hey, Dad, GIRLS can be ninjas too, right?" and Splinter, Trans But Awkward, Firmly Stating, "ANYONE can be a girl." which did not really answer the question but Leo decided it would work as permission until he did a grand reveal of Girl Ninja April)

(Splinter then spent a couple of months trying to State To The Room that any of his sons can be a girl if they want and they can just tell him if they're a girl, that's normal and fine, just let him know, he has girl names lined up if anybody's interested)

(Donnie is Not A Boy either but he's too caught up in "Thinks He Might Not Be Alive" to put too much thought into it right now. give him a few years)

[electrasev5nwrites]

Ninja Daily: Clarity 20

"This is a lot of reading," Aiko said doubtfully. She hefted the stack in her arms a little higher, nearly tipping backwards with the weight.

Godaime-Hottie's lips curved up. "Yes, it is," she acknowledged. There was something vindictive in her tone.

Looking around the Hokage's office, Aiko thought she might have an explanation for that. The Hokage was sharing her paperwork related misery.

Bitch.

"It's all very important," the blonde woman said mildly. She brushed a long, smooth pigtail back over her shoulder. "And you did ask for the ability to be helpful. In order to perform as I need you to at Konan's trial, you will need at least passing familiarity with the subjects of every one of those dossiers. It would be … awkward," she decided. "If you were to fail to recognize someone that you have previously met."

Aiko scowled down at her homework. "I would hate for things to be awkward," she lied with sarcasm that almost poisoned her lips on the way out.

"I'm so glad we agree." The Hokage did look very sweet with her big brown eyes and slight smile. She had to know that Aiko hadn't been serious.

'What does it matter? She has the power here.' Moodily, Aiko tightened her arms around her burden and went to spin around to stalk out.

"A-a-a." Hottie-Hokage held up two slim fingers sternly. "Those can't leave my office. Why don't you have a seat on the couch and start reading?"

Why wouldn't- oh. Sensitive information. She didn't want sensitive information leaving her office. That was fair enough, except-

"If I'm here, how will you do mission debriefings," Aiko pointed out. "That's sensitive information too." Feeling as though she had won, she let her expression slide into slight condescension.

The Hokage didn't so much as flinch. "Debriefings and meetings will run as usual."

Aiko's mouth hung open unbecomingly. Luckily, her burden hid the lower half of her face from the Hokage's viewpoint. That was…

'A ridiculous gesture of trust. She doesn't trust me- or at least, she shouldn't. I'm not loyal to her.'

Aiko knew that. The Hokage knew that. Which meant… was it possible that the gesture of trust was meant as a show for those who would be passing through the office?

'It makes a certain amount of sense', Aiko reasoned. 'I was apparently pretty well known here at one point, and then I disappeared for a year. There'll be rumors and theories about what happened. That's just how people work. They wonder and poke and prod. If she has me seen just casually in her company, it looks like we're close and the rumors won't approach any variety of scandalous that would damage my reputation for what she wants me to do.'

"Stop making that face," Hokage-Hottie sighed. "You looked like you just ate a lemon."

She shifted her weight. "This is just my normal face." Her tone was just a bit too defensive. She hadn't been making a face, had she? No one had ever mentioned that she had an odd thinking face before.

The hokage made a thoroughly undignified snort and a waving motion with her hand. "If you say so."

Mildly self-conscious, she lifted the pile of dossiers up just a little higher against her mouth and wheeled around to totteringly collapse onto the couch. The top of her pile slid ominously, despite her arms' firm grip around what she could reach of the stack. For a moment, she held her breath- and let it out with a curse as the papers lost their precarious balance. Most of it ended up sprawled across the cushions, but a good deal situated itself on her legs and the floor. Stupid Hokage-Hottie sniggered behind her, but Aiko didn't dignify her with a look.

'Just because some people have long arms and freaky unnatural strength…'

"Aiko."

The Hokage sounded a little uneasy. Uncertain, perhaps. The abrupt shift in tone was enough to make Aiko look up. Tsunade's pretty face was painted with discomfort and carefully pointed at one of her potted plants.

"I don't want you to be unpleasantly surprised," Tsunade explained. She licked her bottom lip. "Did you notice there are three blue folders?"

Aiko had not, but now they were apparent. She glanced down, measuring their distance from the top. There were about ten folders piled over those, after the mess she'd made of the neat stack.

"Yes?" she asked cautiously.

"That's because those are members of your family." Tsunade swung her head over to make reluctant eye contact. "If you're not ready to look at them, I won't pressure you. But you will need to read them before we leave Konoha. You'll be seeing all three of them in Iron."

Her heart jolted.

Family. Like Nagato? God, she hoped not.

Aiko tentatively pulled the corner of the first blue folder out to show more, contrasting the deep shade with the inoffensive yellow pallor of the others.

She could read it first. It might be nice to know.

'What would I do with family if I knew who they were? It's not like we'd just instantly click.'

Aiko frowned, brow creasing. She leaned back into the couch cushion.

'Where the fuck were they when Obito ran off with me? I mean, I was gone for a year. If they wanted me back, they could have made a bigger fuss. I… I don't know exactly what they could have done, but there must have been something.'

What did she want family for anyways? Family was just people who shared blood. She probably wouldn't like them, and who knew if they would like her?

'And the jinchuuriki is one of them. I know that for sure. He introduced himself with my name.'

She wanted to know.

She didn't want to know.

She swallowed. With her palms, Aiko lined up the edges of the piled dossiers and neatened the stack so that no obnoxiously blue corners were poking out. She flipped open the first folder with more force than was strictly necessary. And then let her eyebrows shoot up in surprise.

'This is a Konoha nin. I thought most of the dossiers would be foreigners.'

She snuck a glance at the Hokage, who had already busied herself with her own work and a surprisingly intense expression. Hmm.

Not only that, but it was a familiar Konoha nin. She barely noticed when the baa-chan who manned the desk waved a team of Chuunin in for a debriefing. Their mission was boring - carrying messages to a border post. They kept glancing at her with poorly hidden curiosity, but she was able to dismiss their presence in favor of her reading.

Apparently, the creepy weirdo had a name. Hyuuga Neji? Aiko rolled her eyes. Point taken: someone had seen her not-entirely gracious dismissal and thought her behavior should be rectified. To be fair…

She strained to complete that thought.

'Actually, I don't have a justification for my rudeness. I just don't care what he thinks.'

And by the looks of it, her old self wouldn't have either. It was creepy to read factual accounts of her relationships, but she plowed through what she needed to know. Apparently, he had been a year behind her in the Academy and her sparring partner. He was a taijutsu type with a bloodline manifestation and a stick up his ass. They had no significant interactions after graduation.

That didn't bother her at all. The thing that bothered her was sorting through the first six dossiers –all agemates- and realizing that she was noticing a pattern.

'I didn't really have any friends, did I?'

Aiko felt her forehead crease, but glaring didn't make the glossy picture any clearer. Yamanaka Ino appeared to be the strongest relationship of the classmates that she'd examined- and that was based off of a pattern of semi-regular spars that faltered to near nothingness after about age sixteen, six house visits, and occasional meetings for tea.

How crushingly lonely.

The second team of the day entered Tsunade's office self importantly. Probably a genin squad, judging by the exasperated Jounin herding them.

'Not like I'm doing any better now,' she noted with dark amusement. 'I had one really good friend who turned out to be an inconsiderate weasel butt. And now I'm not even trying to make real connections when they're banging on my door. Funny how shit works out.'

"You'll be taking your first C class mission," Tsunade's voice informed from the other side of the room to a chorus of excited squeals.

That was probably why these Konona nin were at the top of the pile of people for her to look at. It was perfectly sensible, but Aiko didn't like being manipulated into coming to other people's conclusions. It rankled. Once she'd finished reading about Yamanaka Ino's apparently deft social intellect, she tossed that folder onto the small pile of examined dossiers. It might have been paranoia, but Aiko keenly felt Tsunade's gaze on the side of her head. It tickled, slipping heavily against her jawline. Huh. The office was otherwise empty. When had the genin left?

'I could turn my head and look. Find out if she really is staring.'

Aiko considered it. Instead, she lifted a thick stack of folders –no doubt filled with Konoha nin- quite deliberately and shunted them off to the side.

The indignation from the other side of the room was almost palpable. She savored it while she readjusted for comfort and settled in for a scintillating read about some lunatic who wore a lot of face paint. Oh. The Kazekage had a brother? Good for him. Was he also a reasonable man? She worried at her lip. Ah, not so much. He was a-

She slapped the folder shut and pushed it off her lap. She'd read enough. Puppets. Fuck that guy and the saddled pig he rode in on- she wouldn't be talking to him.

"What, exactly, will I be doing?" Her voice was just a little too high to be casual, but thankfully the Hokage didn't comment on it.

"Testifying. We'll have to keep your presence as quiet as possible," she said in a tone of faint distraction. "The group who receives us will know, of course, but they'll be bound to respect the privacy of all interest groups in order to maintain their impartial status." She ran a hand through her hair, nearly loosening her right ponytail. "The international community is aware that we are bringing at least one significant witness, but I believe they will be expecting only Itachi-san. It is my hope that you will give them quite the surprise and interfere with the testimony planned to counter his."

'Who the hell is Itachi?' Aiko wondered. She nodded, pretending to understand. "Aa."

Hokage-Hottie gave her an amused look, looking up from the last of her paperwork about her meeting with the genin team. "It won't be terribly exciting for you, I'm afraid. You won't see the testimony that happens before yours, and you probably won't talk to anyone out of our delegation. I will summarize what has already happened for you, of course," she assured. "And tailor what you need to say. In the meantime, keep your head down," she grumbled. "The situation in Konoha is tenuous enough."

Aiko stared, not caring about the Hokage's problems. "So it's not really my testimony," she pointed out. Unimpressed, she stretched her legs out to take as much space as possible. "You're putting words in my mouth. Why bother teaching me about all these people if I won't be talking to them?"

Either she was just a tool, or she was meant to be an informed, thinking participant. It didn't work both ways.

"Something could always go wrong." The Hokage raised one perfectly penciled eyebrow. "And besides, you only need to lay low until your testimony. After that, our strategy is obviously out in the open."

'I'm not sure I like being your mouthpiece.'

"Hmm." She opened the next folder and ignored the Hokage, signaling that conversation was over despite the rudeness of the gesture. Oo, the Kazekage himself. He…

"doesn't look particularly reasonable," Aiko said under her breath. It almost looked like he was wearing fabulously thick eye makeup, but no. The Kazekage had deep bruising all around his eyes, and two premature lines in his skin that indicated he spent a great deal of time with his brows furrowed.

'He looks stressed and worn. Very thin. Cute, somehow. I wouldn't peg him as the greatest threat out of the kage, though.'

"What?" Hokage-Hottie seemed confused.

"Oh, nothing."

Obito had thought the Kazekage was the one to be cautious of. Was he mistaken or simply better informed than Aiko was? It could be dangerous to make the wrong assumption.

The door opened on silent hinges. "Hokage-sama, your next appointment is here."

Aiko glanced up, curious about the strain in the baa-chan's voice. Her wrinkled face betrayed nothing of her thoughts. Tsunade groaned without even looking at the door, burying her face in her palms. "Send him in," she ordered, resigned and muffled. The baa-chan disappeared back to her desk. Oddly, no one walked in. The door swung entirely shut and remained that way for three full seconds.

'Maybe they left?'

The door burst open, banging against the wall. "I have arrived!" a very male voice bellowed. He sounded like he was announcing a great personal victory.

She froze. What-

Tap-tap-tap. Jiraiya-sama skidded into the room sideways, making the maximum amount of noise possible with his geta. His arms were held wide enough out to the side that he couldn't possibly have walked through the door like a normal person.

Wait.

'How is he making that sound through the carpet?' Aiko's mind whimpered. It made no sense. Her grip on the partially-read dossier faltered.

"Tsunade-hime! I have come to grace the most beautiful woman in Fire Country- no, the world," Jirayia-sama gestured expansively, turning to face her directly. "with my presence! When you called, I came instantly!" He winked. "and then I journeyed here. Why-"

Jiraiya-sama cut off and dropped to the floor on all fours like a ridiculously fluffy, oversized cat. A kunai winged directly into the air where his chest had been and planted itself in the wall.

"Cut the crap," Hokage-Hottie said, hand still extended. Her eye twitched. "You are embarrassing yourself, and, more importantly, me. In fact-" her gaze cut to Aiko. "Why don't you go for a walk? I'm sure Sasuke would like a break as well if you ask him. He's doing budgeting." She paused, hand halfway up to her temple. "Bring back caffeine."

It didn't take a genius to conclude that this meeting was either about her or above her clearance. Possibly both. She pasted on a smile to hide her resentment and stacked the folders that had been on her lap off to the side. "Good. I could use the exercise."

'Kami only knows why that woman isn't fat as a house from sitting around all day, reading and giving out orders. I don't want to risk that.'

What she had actually said aloud was mostly inoffensive, but Jiraiya-sama tossed his hair back and gave a barking laugh.

She didn't stay to hear any more. Baa-chan issued her a sympathetic glance when she stalked out. Aiko nodded at her and then walked past the receptionist's desk to rap her knuckles against Sasuke's office door. He opened it in a huff, already looking mildly pissy.

"I am busy, you-"

"The hottie suggested we go on a coffee run," Aiko interrupted. She did not feel like dealing with his attitude. Besides, she might be able to overhear something interesting if they hurried on their errand and returned before that meeting was over.

Sasuke looked a little like he had been slapped in the face with a fish. "Oh. I thought-" He frowned, shouldering her out of the way and pulling the door shut behind him. "It doesn't matter. Fine. Let's go."

'The mention of coffee got him moving fast.'

He took her to a place ten blocks away. It must have been a normal convention for businesses to break or run errands at ten, because the streets were surprisingly packed with young professionals toting office supplies or refreshments. Aiko got solidly whacked with a bag hanging off of some man's arm. He hurried away without acknowledgement.

"Be careful," Sasuke warned dryly. "Some people aren't really human at this time of day." When she looked confused, he elaborated. "They're crashing from their morning caffeine and making the decision to get another dose or work through the sudden loss of mental acuity."

"How…"

'painfully banal'

"Interesting," Aiko lied politely.

Sasuke huffed, ducking into the coffeehouse. "I'm sure." When they emerged, it was with a total of four coffees between them. Which was nice, yes, but there were five people in the office. (Shizune was sequestered in the hospital for the day, as far as Aiko could tell).

"None for the pervert," Sasuke explained sternly. He didn't seem to notice that he was scowling. "If we make him feel welcome, he lingers like a bad smell." By the end of the statement, his tone had traveled from 'strict' to 'darkly predictive'.

"Ah." Aiko looked away from him and made a face. How rude. She leaned sharply to the right to avoid brushing her shoulders into the swinging arm of another shinobi who might have forced her to spill hot coffee on her front.

He glanced down, mouth open to offer apology- and stilled. For one quiet moment, details popped at her. The four vertical lines in his worn hitai-ite. The goggles hanging around his neck. The surprise in his eyes, and the way he focused on the shade of her hair.

Then he looked down to her eyes and the moment ended. His disappointment was obvious at whatever it was that he saw in her face.

"Sorry." And the stranger was gone in the crush of people.

'What was that about?' Aiko frowned, disconcerted. It was like he had expected something. Had he heard about her? Had Obito told anyone about her Rinnegan?

No. That was crazy, she dismissed. Her mind had just conjured up the strange anticipation of that moment.

"About time." Sasuke's gaze seemed to follow the man she'd noticed, apparently aided by his extra height in keeping track in the crowd. He seemed phenomenally unamused. "Messenger," he explained curtly. "Four man team that regularly goes between Ame and Konoha. He's a day late. We're waiting to officially confirm…" He trailed off, seeming to remember how divorced she was from Konoha's politics. "We've been waiting," Sasuke finished instead with a tone that said he would not be discussing the matter further.

That explained very little to her.

"Aa, I see."

"Uchiha!"

Sasuke's grip on the coffee cup in his right hand tightened ominously. How conscious of his strength was he? Aiko took a cautious step to the side, coming far too close to the frowning man who was attempting to get Sasuke's attention.

'Surprisingly aggressive for a civilian,' Aiko noted.

Of course, he wasn't just any type of civilian. The cut and fabric of his clothes said 'nouveau riche', but the thick muscles and scarred hands told a story of a life of manual labor. He was every bit as physically imposing and confident as she would expect from someone of that description.

"Hey, I think the Hokage owes us some answers." He settled with his legs spread wide and his arms akimbo.

Sasuke didn't seem terribly intimidated, but the crowd around them oriented to face the sound. She straightened her back.

'What is going on? This was not mentioned. Tsunade hinted at problems, but she did not say civil unrest and some type of anger at the leadership was a thing.'

"We aren't releasing a public statement at this time."

Aiko stole a glance up at Sasuke. He sounded perfectly civil and professional, despite the stutter in self control that she had witnessed.

"You will have to wait," he continued. Sasuke held his hands up in a gesture for peace that was somewhat marred by the coffee- or maybe it wasn't. It did make him look less like the Hokage's apprentice and more like an underling running errands.

The crowd deflated, moving on with their business. Sasuke kept eye contact with the other man for a long moment. He seemed to be debating trying to argue, but he nodded. "Of course. Good day, Uchiha-dono."

Sasuke inclined his head the absolute least angle that was socially acceptable as acknowledgement.

'Dono?' Aiko gave the back of Sasuke's head a skeptical look as they started walking again. 'Surely being the Hokage's apprentice doesn't give him that kind of pull or respect. Does it?'

He still looked like a normal teenage boy to her. A pretty one, yes, but no one she would acknowledge as a social superior.

'Then again, there's a lot I don't know about the people here.'

She stole a glance at Sasuke again. She could ask him a few things. No. Just one. She didn't want to seem too interested or like she was trying to hold an interrogation. But just one casual question shouldn't hurt.

"Sasuke."

He grunted softly.

It took her a second to phrase her question, and it didn't come out terribly well anyway.

"Who was that boy who gave me back my equipment?"

She'd forgotten the name she'd been given, and she couldn't very well say, 'tell me about your junchuuriki'. That would seem a bit suspicious, coming from a former Akatsuki.

When she didn't get a reaction, Aiko frowned and clarified, "It was weeks ago. Some blonde kid." She waved a hand dismissively, despite being out of his sight.

'Some blonde kid with an inappropriately cheery attitude, astute political analysis that hints at a close relationship with Tsunade, and a monster hidden in his body. There is no way that Sasuke doesn't know this kid.'

"I know the one," Sasuke said carefully, slowly. He didn't turn to face her. "You used to know him well. I'm not surprised that he sought you out. You mean Naruto, right?"

"Sure." She shrugged guilelessly. "I thought it was something dumb. That sounds about right."

Sasuke exhaled just a little too loudly. "He and his team are out of the country. You'll see them soon enough."

Aiko rolled her eyes. "I can't help but notice that doesn't answer my question," she bit out.

Sasuke stopped, and turned to the side to face her. "It's not really my question to answer."

She sucked her lower lip in. Damnit. He was going to make her say it, wasn't he?

"He's related to me somehow," she let out in a rush. "I know that, he used my last name. And the Hokage gave me a dossier on him and two other people and-" Aiko faltered, unsure of where to go from there.

With a surprisingly amount of delicacy, Sasuke averted his eyes and quietly said, "You're not ready to look. But you want to know about him."

Pretty much.

"Well, it sounds stupid when you say it that way. Forget it." Aiko kicked a rock, sending it flying into the back of some poor man's knee. She hastily pretended to be occupied watching a bird fly overhead when her victim spun around.

"He's a baka," Sasuke said in a rush. "He's loud and excited and he's still a chuunin because he can't keep a cool head." The last bit was just a little smug. Someone was proud of their recent Tokubetsu Jounin exam. "He's been like that since we were kids, but he grew up quite a bit after…" His voice faltered only for a moment. "After the first time we attempted the chuunin exams," Sasuke finished.

'Their first chuunin exams? How long ago would that have been?'

She subtly assessed her companion. It was hard to guess. He was a good-looking kid, but Sasuke seemed awfully young to be working for Tsunade as he did. What was he, seventeen? Sixteen?

(No, something protested. He's older than that.

Ridiculous. He was so inexperienced and temperamental for his rank. He couldn't possibly be much older than seventeen.)

Still.

"Chuunin exams aren't that big of a deal," Aiko prodded, twisting the end of her ponytail when he didn't continue talking. It sounded like there was a mildly interesting story there.

And holy shit Sasuke's cold-as-ice veneer cracked for an instant, though she had no frame of reference for interpreting what his expression meant.

'Other than I could bring this up again later if I need to throw him off balance.'

"It was a shock for our team," he said stiffly. A muscle jumped in his neck. Kami, he really was inexperienced. Was he even trying to conceal his thoughts?

'Team? Sasuke was on Naruto's team? They must be close. I… must have known Sasuke relatively well before, then. No wonder he's sought me out.'

Sasuke's tone had pretty well signaled the end of conversation, but Aiko didn't care. She had enough to ponder.

"I'm not certain that I see the purpose of this." Jiraiya gave the love of his life a skeptical look a solid minute after the door had closed behind his unfortunately confused godchild. In return, she gave him a look that could melt steel. But that was probably because his feet were propped up on her desk. "She can't possibly become a fuinjutsu master again in time. This is a ridiculous gamble."

"It isn't beyond the realm of possibility that she will remember enough," Tsunade countered. She looked away, out the window. He silently admired the lines of her neck and the strong shape of her chin. Something in his chest ached a little.

'She's the most beautiful woman I've ever seen.'

Jiraiya wanted badly to draw her as she was now, ticking off points on her fingers.

"Last week was a breaking point. Yamanaka Santa said she should be integrating memories from now on; Yamato noted that her behavior patterns are changing to be more in line with the playfulness he remembers; and she actually asked Shizune what she could do to prepare. That's possibility, proof of integration, and demonstration of interest. It will have to be enough. I'm not risking another Shintenshin session after her poor reactions to the jutsu." By that point, Tsunade had her hands on her hips and appeared to be attempting to cow any potential challenges with sheer physical intimidation.

Jiraiya waved for her to stop, holding both palms out in front of his body. "Alright, you've convinced me. I suppose the worst that could happen would be she isn't ready."

"The worst would be that she never regains the Hiraishin," Tsunade pointed out, leveling her index finger at him rudely. She snorted. "That would be a damn shame."

"Could make things a bit awkward," Jiraiya acknowledged, picking up the official invitation to Konan's trial in the Land of Iron and waving it. His student. His only surviving student, other than Naruto. His eyes darkened, but his tone stayed light. "I'm hoping that you didn't tell them that you would be arriving by Hiraishin."

His old teammate tossed her head. "It was suggested," she started archly. "that I use such a form of transport. However, it could have been taken as a gesture of aggression." She blinked innocently. "Especially by our valued diplomats from Iwagakure, who are generously assisting the Land of Iron in maintaining order during the upcoming affair. It would be more politic to arrive as the others do."

Jiraiya pressed down a real smile, not the jester's affair he usually used. "You sound just irritated enough by the inconvenience that it could be the truth."

"Good." She pushed back from her desk and moved to crane out the window, around the foliage. There was just enough visibility cleared that the main road in from the public gates was shown. "That group from Amegakure checked in at the gates forty minutes ago."

"They're sure taking their time to get here," he observed impassively.

Tsunade shrugged, uncaring. "Their real mission is showing the populace that Ame nin aren't all complete lunatics. Wandering the streets, talking to people, and going out for a hot drink before they deliver their message are sound strategies." She held out a hand for the paper that Jiraiya had picked up and gave it the slightest glance before putting it away in a folder. "Besides," she admitted, lowering her tone. "Konan and I are only exchanging perfectly friendly but impersonal cookie recipes and book recommendations. Though it causes me distress, I can wait to discover the nuances of her apparently famous mochi. Itachi-kun really wants that recipe."

What.

Jiraiya gave her a disbelieving stare. After a moment, her serious expression cracked and Tsunade let out a laugh. "Oh, come on," she defended. "What else are we supposed to talk about? Our politics don't line up, our agendas are established, and anything we actually have to sort out on the personal level is a poor idea." Her nose wrinkled in distaste.

He took a moment to think about that. Konan had been part of an organization that had wanted to kill the boy Tsunade thought of as a pseudo grandchild. Konan had also kidnapped that boy's sister and nearly let her die from medical neglect.

On the other hand, Tsunade had weakened Konan's best friend and then allowed his death by sending him from Konoha unprotected, knowing full-well that he would be targeted.

There was some potential for clashes there, he had to admit.

"Still." He tugged on his hair. "That just seems so undignified for two village leaders. What if someone opened and looked?"

His reputation was deliberately bad, yes. But he wasn't a kage and never would be. His behavior didn't reflect on an entire country.

"Already happened." Tsunade waggled her eyebrows. "They thought it was code and tried to sell the information."

Of course. Jiraiya sighed. Why did he even bother?

"They should be here relatively soon." Tsunade glanced at the window again. "You should get going. You're a little bit of a …touchy subject. Besides, don't you have work to do? Study the seal." She shrugged, giving him a stink-eye that they both knew hid amusement at an old joke. "Practice not perving on a young woman while you're at it. You'll need all the help you can get." She tapped a finger against her chin. "Actually, maybe it would be best if you weren't alone with her. That could seem intimidating, and you're not familiar with her learning style in any case."

"I don't have a copy of her seal," Jiraiya pointed out slowly. Tsunade-hime was strangely forgetful today. Was she just preoccupied? "Weren't you going to give me one?"

Her expression froze. "I don't have time. Just- grab Hatake," she decided, waving her hand dismissively. "He has an active seal. Make a copy and hurry the hell up. Bring him with you when you work with her."

"Aa," Jiraiya acknowledged with a sigh. "Don't work too hard while I'm gone, hime. But first-" He cocked his head. "What's going on with Waterfall?"

"Young lady! What are you doing?"

The scandalized whisper was uninteresting, so she dismissed it. Ear pressed to the heavy wooden door, she held her breath and strained to hear.

Mutters cut off. There was momentary silence. Then- "Come in, Aiko." The older woman sounded like she was forcing down another, less charitable order.

'Damn. They're done talking.'

She heaved a sigh. Ignoring the outraged expression that the baa-chan was leveling at her back, Aiko pushed her way into the office.

Both Sannin were staring at her with faint amusement. Ah. At least no one was upset.

Aiko pressed her face into something that vaguely resembled a smile and settled a drink on the Hokage's desk. Hottie-Hokage picked it up possessively, tired eyes perking up.

"Hey, thanks." Jiraiya-sama plucked Aiko's coffee out of her hands and saluted her with it.

What.

She opened her mouth in a snarl to tell him off.

He was already breezing past to her the door. Jiraiya-sama twisted around just enough to holler back, "I'll see you next week for practice, Aiko-chan!" And then he was gone.

On another day, she might have chased him and attacked him to recover her property. At the moment, she was rather caught up on something else.

"Why am I seeing him next week," Aiko wheeled on Tsunade and demanded. She planted her palms firmly on the desk and leaned over to loom aggressively, absolutely fucking sick of being out of the know. "Why."

A little bit of coffee trickled down Hokage-Hottie's face, spilt when she jolted in surprise.

'I'm fast enough to startle a kage?'

"Because," Hottie started firmly. She turned her face away and wiped a discreet finger on her chin to mop up the hot liquid. "You're going to have to do a lot more than recognize key people in order to maintain the appearance of normalcy. If you appear to have stagnated or god forbid regressed, that's going to set off warning bells."

Wait. Did that mean in terms of combat?

"Thanks to Yamato, one of your signature moves has been perfected past the point that any records exist of it."

Apparently so.

Hottie set down her coffee with a quiet scuff. "That will help give the impression that the time you have been uninvolved in international affairs has been somewhat normally spent."

Aiko straightened her face and carefully did not think about strolling into Ame for Obito. Or all the drugs and weapons she'd moved over borders. Konoha didn't need to know that. Shinobi nations got strangely twitchy about trifling matters like that.

Somehow, the Hokage didn't seem to notice. Perhaps she'd been bluffing earlier about the ease she had reading Aiko's face?

"If pressed into combat, fall back on chakra chains. However!" Hotkage raised two fingers. "There is at least one more technique that is considered your signature move. If you do not re-master it, or manage to give the impression of having done so, the situation may get sticky."

Aiko furrowed her brow and tilted her head slightly in query.

"The international community at large will consider the Hiraishin to be proof positive of your identity, and the absence to be proof positive that you died a year ago and that we're trying to pull a fast one with your testimony," Hotkage said dryly.

Part of her was stuck on the word 'Hiraishin'. She knew enough fuinjutsu to know that she had nowhere near that kind of competency haha what a funny joke. But her mouth was moving, and the words coming out sounded suspiciously like, "But you are pulling a fast one."

The vicious glare she got for that pulled her back to the real world instantly. "Who are you, my grandfather?"

Aiko put her hands up, palms out and clearly unarmed.

The Hokage harrumphed and leaned back. "I'd have you working today," she grumped. "But it's probably best that you finish that project first." She tossed her hair and nearly inaudibly added, "And the pervert needs a chance to acquire a copy of the seal you used."

That brought her back to the surreal part of the conversation.

"Hiraishin?" Aiko asked very quietly, hoping she had misheard. "The thing that the fourth Hokage used?"

"The thing your father used," the Hokage confirmed mercilessly. "I don't suppose Tobi ever told you about that, did he?" There was something bitter and sympathetic in her tone. "If you'd known that you could leave at any time…" She trailed off.

Some muscle twitched in Aiko's neck. The floor in this office was fascinating. It looked new and luxurious. The Hokage had good taste.

"Oh, cheer up." The older woman sounded uncomfortable, maybe even guilty. She cleared her throat. "It could be worse," Hotkage offered with much more conviction. "You're back now. And you're not even the one dealing with progressively cranky letters from Waterfall."

Aiko made a baffled face. "Who cares about what Waterfall thinks?" She didn't keep the condescension out of her tone. Waterfall was a tiny village filled with gigantic jerkwads. Aiko regretted the whole 'bijuu extraction and murder' thing, but she didn't feel particularly bad about commandeering Fuu directly out of that cesspit.

The Hokage gave a surprised laugh, shoulders shaking. "That-" She shook her head to compose herself and offer a more measured response. "I have heard worse questions."

"And?" Aiko tilted her head.

"They are our allies," Tsunade pointed out dryly.

'Our allies? Does she genuinely think I'm on her side?'

"And they've asked for our help sorting out a situation that has failed to be resolved diplomatically." Her lips twisted. "We are obligated to lend assistance. Unfortunately, the country that they're having problems with is also one of Konoha's allies."

"And this second party is a more valuable ally?" Aiko surmised. That made sense. Almost any shinobi village would provide more tactical value than Waterfall, for one reason or another. Also, Waterfall sucked.

The Hokage glanced over, opened her mouth, and then seemed to remember herself. She gifted Aiko with a thin smile. "You should get back to reading."

'I think that's a yes,' Aiko decided. She did get back to reading and definitely did not sulk. The Kazekage's file was kind of interesting, after all. After a few pages, it leapt up to 'fascinating stuff'.

Oh snap. 'I personally know the Kazekage?' Her excited thoughts trailed off with a sinking realization. That…

'I would say that's cool, except I think a previous acquaintance makes the fact that I unleashed two bijuu on his country even more awkward. Somehow.'

She frowned at the papers. Well. Maybe he wouldn't find out.

'What happened with that situation anyway? I haven't heard anything about horrible deaths in Suna. So they probably fixed it,' she assured herself. 'Sealed them away in some nice, loyal Suna nin. Pity and all that I won't have to see Hamburger and his grumpy friend again, but I'll struggle on.'

The flippancy didn't obscure another, much more worrying tangent. She had made Hamburger a promise to attempt to revive his jinchuuriki friend. It would seem that he was no longer capable of enforcing that. On the other hand, what happened if he got loose in the future and she hadn't kept her word?

No, no. She didn't want to lie to a bijuu.

'I don't want to raise the dead either.'

Troubled, Aiko rubbed at her chest with a palm.

It was sick. Unnatural. Wrong. Amoral, as much as anything could be. She hated her freakish dead-but-healthy-flesh. She'd done it to Fuu and that had been sick and selfish, a balm for her guilt and not anything done for Fuu's sake. It had been wrong of her. She knew better than that. Contemplating doing that to another person- intentionally, and with deliberated intent- It was- it was-

'I'll have to think about this.'

Somehow, she managed to focus enough to retain information from six more dossiers before her head was pounding. Aiko grimaced.

'I'm sitting fifteen feet away from the most renowned medical nin in the world and not asking her to take a look at my headache. Sometimes it would be nicer to trust some of these people, because the irony might actually kill me before the eyes do.'

On the bright side, she was now familiar with the Kazekage's knockout sister (who she had apparently got on with in past) and a smattering of Kiri shinobi of varying importance, from the Mizukage herself (she may have been prematurely hasty in handing out the sexykage title), her bodyguards, and jinchuuriki.

One of whom she had personally made into a jinchuuriki, and the other she had dragged back to Kiri like an errant child. No wonder Utakata had been so cranky with her. Especially after she told him that she didn't remember him. Oops.

Aiko sighed, rubbing at her neck.

'I should have pretended to recognize him, or at least not explicitly pointed it out. I wonder if that's going to come back to haunt me.'

When she showed up at her normal training ground, Yamato gave her a mildly unhappy expression.

"You could have told me." He somehow managed to pout without letting his face display anything other than big, brown-eyed sorrow.

"Wait. What?" Aiko drew her head back a little. "I have no idea what you're talking about, crazypants."

Yamato raised an eyebrow. "That you have other plans for training today?" he half-asked.

Uh… what now?

Her expression must have clued him in. "Ah. I see." Yamato turned ever so slightly pink under his tan. "I assumed- that is to say," he fumbled, scratching at his leg. "I thought that-"

"Please stop," Aiko ordered authoritatively. She didn't notice raising her hands so much as that they were suddenly held high enough to push back the onslaught of embarrassed babble. "What are you talking about?"

He straightened, and hooked a thumb over his shoulder. "Senpai and… Jiraiya-sama," he said with a faintly displeased expression, "asked me to convey that practice has been scheduled in-"

"Thank you, we'll take over from here."

Yamato yelped and bristled like a cat, leaping away from the oversized hand that had clapped down on his shoulder.

Jiraiya-sama grinned widely. Hatake slouched into visibility behind him, appearing completely unimpressed.

'Actually, he might be asleep.'

Ugh on both counts. Jiraiya-sama was a warrior poet and had been her personal idol for a very long time, but she was currently pretty disillusioned with him after the Obito vs Madara debate. Her idol had no faith in her. Either he thought she would lie about something pointless, was delusionally ignoring the truth, or that she was such an idiot that she could fail to properly identify someone that she had lived and worked with for a year. None of the options appealed to her.

Reminded of her beef, she gave Jiraiya-sama a glower that he completely failed to notice.

"Come on, Yamato-kun." The Sannin leered. "You need to pay more attention. It's like you were completely distracted. What could do that, I wonder." He stroked at non-existent chin hair.

Yamato sniffed, looking faintly injured. "I have no idea what you might be referring to."

"Riiiight," Jiraiya-sama dragged out mockingly.

Aiko stole another glance at Hatake, who had leaned against a tree and slid down slightly. There was bark on his shoulders. Maybe he was dead? That'd be pretty okay.

That sounded a little cold, but in her defense- he also held one of the three unflattering opinions of her that Jiraiya-sama must proscribe to. In addition to that (which was reason enough to put red ants in his underwear), she also had reason to suspect that he was cold enough to kill his genin teammates. Not someone she wanted to spend much time with.

"Come, children!" Jiraiya-sama held his right fist high and began marching to some inaudible music. It might have been a waltz.

She winced, but reluctantly fell in line behind the one person there that she actually wanted to spend time with.

"Not you, faceplate," Jiraiya-sama scoffed. "Go whittle or something."

Yamato stopped in his tracks and gave Hatake a pleading look. Hatake pushed himself upright, eyed the group, and flapped a hand.

"Go on, run and play," he said mildly.

The hope for inclusion fled from Yamato's eyes and he huffed. "Fine," he sulked. "I understand when I'm not wanted."

"Sure, but only when it was explicitly pointed out by two people," Jiraiya-sama called over his shoulder in a tone of contemplation and not the cruelty that the insult seemed to merit.

Aiko gave the light-haired men a dirty look. "I'm sure you can do better with your day," she informed Yamato haughtily. "If I had a choice, I wouldn't be going with those scruffy reprobates."

"Ouch," Hatake said, sounding not the least bit hurt. He began walking, clearly expecting her to catch up.

But the ploy did the trick- Yamato gave her a hint of a smile and a joking salute before he split off in a different direction. Jiraiya-sama led the remainders out of the training field, but through a second entrance that Aiko hadn't even known existed.

"Is there any particular reason that field is unsuitable?" Aiko asked after a few minutes of walking.

Jiraiya-sama snorted, but didn't turn around. "You don't think that all the broken timber just laying around might be an impediment to a safe learning atmosphere?" he asked rhetorically. "You're better off with a flatter, more regular terrain to practice something like this on." He flung open the back gate and strutted out onto what appeared to be an ill-used street on Konoha's residential outskirts.

Jiraiya-sama, she couldn't help but notice, spent an improbable amount of energy smiling and waving at the people that they passed.

She might have dismissed it as mere friendliness, but a pattern was beginning to appear. Aiko glanced in the direction Jiraiya-sama was looking just in time to see a young woman spot him in the crowd. The girl turned red with fury, and tightened her fingers on her floral handbag. Even from a distance, Aiko could read the tension in her arm as the potential for violence. So did her companion- an older man who narrowed his eyes and placed a calming hand on the woman's arm.

Ugh. Now that she was paying attention, even from behind, Jiraiya-sama appeared to be leering at nubile young women and even some sleek, pretty young men.

'And so my literary hero turns out to be an overly dramatic, disrespectful loser. I can't believe he's staring like that.'

She crossed her arms over her torso and dug her fingers into her side with nearly painful force, but didn't slow down. If she did, the people with longer legs would leave her in the dust.

She didn't want to believe it. But young women, as a general demographic, were giving their group a suspiciously wide berth.

'And so I must pull down the golden statues of my idol. The innocence of childhood is gone, and my vision is clear. It turns out that Jiraiya-sama is in fact disrespectful and kinda gross.'

It pained her to demote one of her longtime idols, but- well. No one who had given that many people reason to skitter away from him –with expressions ranging from rage to panic- deserved to be her hero. His books could be great, but he clearly had odious habits.

"You know," she ventured with a noncommittal tone to hide her bitter disappointment. The two walking in front of her didn't turn back, but they were clearly both listening. "You're not subtle, Jiraiya-sama." His back stiffened, like an offended cat.

"What?"

"Your leering," she clarified with an edge in her tone. "It's rude."

The silence that followed was terribly awkward. Hatake coughed, shoulders shaking.

She looked away, hearing nothing but the soft sounds of two sets of sandals and a pair of geta on the dirt road. Apparently she wasn't going to get a response.

The route that he led them was intermittently occupied by small crowds around vendors and –was that a bathhouse? Aiko made a note to return at some point. It was miserably hot out. A nice soak would grant relief.

They finally pressed out of the residential districts and down a route to a set of training grounds that Aiko hadn't been taken to before.

"Here we are!" Jiraiya declared, far too jovial for the emotion to be genuine. "My favorite training ground."

Hatake mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like, "For reasons that are entirely innocent, I'm certain." She was fairly certain that she wasn't meant to hear that, guessing by Jiraiya's guilty chuckle and backwards glance at her.

'Ugh. Stupid boys.'

"So." Aiko rallied herself, pulsing her chakra to check that they really were alone. Hatake pushed open the gate and let the others enter ahead of him. "You said I need to work on the Hiraishin?" She pulled her hair up absently as she went.

If her tone was a little disbelieving, surely no one could blame her. It was… difficult, to come to terms with the idea that it had once been the technique she was most known for. It put Fuu's commentary in a strange new light.

Still, this had definitely not been what she had in mind when she had attempted to find a way to prove herself useful.

'Duly noted: If you offer a centimeter, Konoha will take a league.'

The pervert gave her an amused look. It felt disconcertingly like he knew what she was thinking. Aiko consciously avoided stepping back and breaking eye contact.

'Don't be stupid. You're just paranoid because of Yamanaka-baka. He can't read your mind.'

The old man scanned the area. She thought it was for observers- but then he alighted onto the top of a comfortable looking stump, and she realized that he had been picking out seating. He did cut an imposing figure in the midday sun. The white of his hair was all but blinding when he tilted his head down to give her a serious expression. "If you don't know this when we travel to Iwa and anyone asks for a demonstration or favor, everyone will think we've sent an imposter to testify in your place."

'So, like, no pressure or anything.'

"Kakashi. Would you- Yes, thanks," Jiraiya mumbled when Hatake stepped far too close and handed her a little notebook.

Slowly, she unfolded her arms to take the offered book and ran fingertips over the paper. She breathed in crackling ink and tried not to think too hard about why Hatake would have had what appeared to be one of her sealing notebooks.

Talk about high stakes. This scenario was absurd. Why had she learned such an infuriatingly distinctive technique in the first place? 'I suppose I couldn't have known how much trouble this would turn out to be later. Still, what a pain.'

Completely unaware of her thoughts, Jiraiya went on talking. She flipped open the book- and her eyebrows rose. This wasn't her work, she was sure of it. Her handwriting was tighter than this, and whoever had written this had a heavy hand. She frowned, disliking the deep indentations in paper. She didn't write like this at all. Surely that hadn't changed.

'What ugly writing. I want to cry, just looking at it. This can't be Hatake's writing, can it? He's supposed to be a genius.'

"As an advanced fuinjutsu masterwork, very few shinobi have been known to use Hiraishin. It was developed in Konoha. You use it a little differently than your father did."

She snuck a glance at Jiraiya. The quiet wistfulness in his tone made him seem very old and tired.

The Sannin smiled, lost in memories. "He tended to use the seal cooperatively by giving marked blades to his allies. Minato-kun could fell a dozen men before the first blade landed. In your hands, Hiraishin ended up largely used as a diplomatic tool." His voice shifted from admiration to a quiet pride as he talked, but Aiko was barely paying attention. "You have seals on quite a few internationally important people. The Kazekage, the Mizukage, a few jinchuuriki…"

'Diplomatic tool? That's a little underwhelming. I can see why instantaneous communication or transport would be revolutionary, but what a disappointing use for a fuinjutsu masterwork. Not very glamorous.'

And what she was seeing deserved to strut. Even in that ugly handwriting, the seals she was seeing boasted hard, clean lines combined for surprisingly efficient and complex effect. If she'd been asked to invent a seal that did what Hiraishin was purported to do… Well. It probably would have collapsed under its own weight as she added and added and added.

'Whoever designed this was a genius.'

Frowning slightly, she traced the symbols with a fingertip. The bizarre thing was that the symbols were all familiar, although she wouldn't have thought to arrange them like that. Something just wasn't right. Some thought kept trying to occur, an undercurrent to her admiration for the original fuinjutsu master.

Oh, that thought was almost right. It was something about the original fuinjutsu master in contrast or comparison to herself. She didn't realize that she was all but scowling at this point, forehead deeply creased.

"How did you say this worked again?" The much-abused paper crinkled under her caress.

Hatake shot Jiraiya-baka a quick glance, and then spoke up only when it was clear the sannin had no intention of speaking. "The Hiraishin is a space-time manipulation technique that relies on a connection between the seal and the user." The hair on the back of her neck pricked up as she considered that. His voice went on, a soothing drone reciting information that was probably meant to jar her memory. "The user can travel to any seal with no lag in time. It demands heightened perception and a fast reaction. As far as I know, there is no limitation in distance and the only chakra cost is the effort expended to create the tag-"

"Please stop talking." Aiko scowled at the stubbornly silent paper, feeling a crease form in her forehead. Something really obvious was bugging her. The last parts of Hatake's recitation just hadn't seemed right.

'Whatever this is, I know it.'

Something about the design was pulling at her memory. But what was it? The gates of the eight tips on the seal indicated maneuverability and a sense of outward direction; that fit with what they were saying. Agh, it was something about limits that was trying to occur to her. Something about the limits that Hatake had described sounded like what she had heard about the Hiraishin but didn't line up with how she wanted to think about it.

"You said there's no limit on distance?"

"None," Jiraiya confirmed. "A user can travel to any seal."

That was the phrase that was ringing false. Something sparked, a match rasping against the edges of her memory to illuminate an old sense of accomplishment.

"You said my dad used these on airborne weapons?" She didn't even have to wait for the reply. Suddenly, it was obvious.

"That's not what I did." Aiko snapped her fingers, cutting Jiraiya-sama off carelessly. "That's not how I would use this seal at all. Traveling to a seal is the most basic application. It's level one." She straightened her back and talked with her hands, gaining enthusiasm and momentum as she went. She could see that neither of her listeners seemed convinced, and picked up the pace.

"That principle is the meat of the technique, of course, and it's the most efficient application of the seal in terms of focus and intellectual effort in the moment of travel. Hiraishin behaves like a body-switch technique, wherein the appropriate amount of force, for lack of a better word, is applied to one seal as a- as a- signpost for the destination instead of a physical object within view," she improvised, struggling for a word for the concept. That wasn't exactly right, but it got the point across.

Both men were staring at her with mildly perplexed expressions, but she didn't care. Oh, it was brilliant, didn't they see that?

"That basic Hiraishin concept (Jiraiya-baka flinched) is incredibly accurate because it relies on orientation around a very specific point in space at a very specific point in time. You don't even have to think about it, you just pull on that seal and then you're displaced. But you're thinking about it all wrong, you're talking like displacement is a constant with no variation or personalization."

Jiraiya opened his mouth, unfolding his legs and taking a step towards her. "Buh-"

She shook her head in emphatic denial before he got out a word, ponytail whipping around to smack her in the face. The short, loose hairs below it clung to her neck, plastered with sweat.

"It's not. If it was, there would be no control for the way the user appeared in relation to the seal. Clearly, the user's chakra system isn't actually centered on the seal for arrival, or I would have a lot of paper in my gut. I'm glad that's not how it works, of course, but that would have been the most logical probability with the theory that the Hiraishin allows for no variability."

In the brief moment when she paused to take a breath, the men exchanged a helpless glance. Hatake's fingers were twitching, as if he wanted to do something but had no idea what would make the babble cease.

Aiko grinned, making a slashing motion with one hand. "Eliminating that possibility leaves only appearing in close proximity to the seal, which would either be randomized or the exact same every way upon every utilization. Neither of those options could possibly be true unless my dad only threw kunai from one direction, which would be pretty much useless. If he couldn't control his landing with that randomized location, so to speak, then he would have ended up skewered on his own weapons and wow, that would be embarrassing."

She paused to suck in a breath, heart pounding. "That didn't happen of course, which proves that even if it was only unconscious, he could-"

"Aiko," Jiraiya interrupted weakly, shaking his head. "Get to the point."

She blinked, belatedly realizing that her audience still seemed less enthusiastic than she felt. Jiraiya-sama looked a little green about the recitation of ways Minato could have killed himself with the technique, truth be told.

"Oh, fine." Aiko deflated a bit. "Dull. I was getting around to saying that I didn't travel to seals, or at least I didn't only travel to seals. It takes the same amount of energy to displace the matter of my body regardless of destination, but it takes a lot more concentration and even math to move the landing point away from a seal."

"Move away from the seal," Jiraiya-baka repeated, professional curiosity piqued. His pale lashes stuck together when he blinked. "How?"

The sun burning down into her scalp was probably going to give her a burn. She gave another futile head toss. "By selecting multiple seals and varying the tension applied to each connection when I slipped dimensions, I could orient to any space between three or more seals. Although it'd be a really good idea to keep them at the same altitude and as close together as possible."

"Just, saying," she cleared her throat and let her voice trickle to a meek mutter, finally feeling self-conscious about her enthusiastic outburst. Was it weird to be excited about re-discovering something you already did?

'This could be the trump I need against Obito. If I have Hiraishin, we'd be on much more even footing.'

A hand rose up to rub at the back of her neck, and she looked down at her toes. "It opens up a lot more maneuverability, since you're not stuck with only the locations of seals that you manage to hide or whatever." Aiko shrugged, glancing up through her lashes to glean their reactions.

Jiraiya-baka's eye twitched. "Did she ever mention this to you?"

Hatake shook his head ever so slightly, eye fixed on Aiko as if he was trying to puzzle something out. "No. But that does explain some things."

"Why wouldn't she mention this?" Jiraiya-baka asked himself in an undertone, running a hand through his hair. Then he blinked and re-focused on Aiko with a slight frown. "Why wouldn't you mention this?"

'I never told them about how I used Hiraishin?'

The sun jolted from position over head to sinking in the west, welcome warmth dappling her skin through trees. Her body was sore from collisions, riddled with what would be bruises and goosebumps from the chill fall air. Kakashi looked much like he always did, but she knew he was amused. Dangerously close on her left side, Yamato, that pointy-kneed bastard, had a surprised expression frozen onto his features. They were alone in the training field- sheltered by tall, broad trees that only let in spots of sunlight.

"Well, that's one way to do it." Kakashi's attention slipped off of her and the man at her side, apparently bored.

Asshat. Like he would do any better with Hiraishin.

And then it was noon again, a stifling heat that made her chest feel tight.

'What the actual fuck.'

How long had she drifted off? Had that been a memory, or just a heat-stroke inspired hallucination?

Jiraiya and Hatake were still waiting for an answer. Shit. Shitshitshit.

'What was the question?'

She had to shrug to buy time, digging a toe into the ground while she improvised. They'd been talking about the Hiraishin still, right? "I probably just thought it was funny to spread misinformation."

Her heartbeat was pounding, and her gut was doing something acrobatic. It was hard not to stare at Hatake. She'd been training with him in that… whatever it was. If that hadn't been a hallucination, she had once trusted him enough to practice Hiraishin on him and Yamato, even if she hadn't told them what she was doing.

'There's something about Yamato and Hatake- I definitely associate them with each other. It has to have a basis in the past. Maybe it's connected to why they have such odd chakra readings. I'm no sensor. I shouldn't be able to detect them from the distances that I do.'

Hatake leaned his face down into a palm and was very still for a moment.

'It's hard to believe I was ever so close to Hatake. Yamato, sure. Yamato just seems trustworthy.' She swallowed. 'Maybe I thought so back then too. We were standing awfully close to each other.'

A thought for another time.

"Where did you even get an idea like that?" Jiraiya-baka frowned, interrupting her thoughts. "I'll bite and assume that you are correct and this modification works. But why would you think to improve on the Hiraishin? I've never thought about what you describe in terms of limitations." He cocked his head, tone turning philosophical. "Perhaps Minato would have known about the technique weaknesses that you're talking about because he used the Hiraishin for so long. But he didn't mention that in his notes, and you didn't even have the technique long enough to become bored with it. You had to have been thinking about the technique in non-traditional terms from almost the first times you used it. That doesn't make sense."

Obviously, she- she had thought- thought that-

Aiko consciously stopped herself from pressing a hand to her forehead to dull the headache. She didn't know. She knew that she should know but she didn't know. Nerves shot, she clenched her free hand into a fist to hide that her fingers were shaking.

'I can't deal with this right now. I just can't.'

"Does it matter?" She bluffed.

Currently, Jiraiya-baka's mouth was opening and she didn't think she could hold herself together long enough to continue this conversation.

"Can I take this?" She waved the notebook around to get attention, letting the pages flutter. "I'd like to copy this seal and play with it. This is the one that I used, right? Not made by me, of course," she muttered to herself, a statement and not a question, babbling to fill the air so that Jiraiya-sama couldn't. "This isn't mine at all." Someone else had recreated her seal from memory or notes. Jiraiya, probably. She didn't want to consider the fact that Hatake had been the one holding it.

Jiraiya made a small, frustrated sound and threw his hands up. "Take it." Then he gave her an odd look, eyes narrowing with a glint of hard intelligence.

'Fuck.'

She chose not to contemplate what her expression had given away about her mental state. Aiko fled before she could betray any more weakness. She made it to the gate before Hatake's voice rang out in falsely cheery tones.

"Just a minute."

She froze, neck stiff. Soft footsteps sounded behind her.

"I'll walk you home."

Her stomach sank down to rest between her hip bones.

'Open hostility would be a bad idea,' Aiko reminded herself. He didn't have to know exactly how uncomfortable she was. So she just nodded and let Hatake slouch along. Her pace picked up, but he managed to keep up while still ambling. Stupid jerk with his stupid long legs.

They passed most of the training grounds in a tense silence. At least, it was tense on her end. She couldn't read Hatake.

'And that's the problem, isn't it? I don't know what to think about him.'

She curled her tongue in her mouth, and then flattened it to rub against the hard ridges of her palette.

'I could ask him about Obito. Confirm Obito's story and then see how I can confirm his identity.'

Aiko opened her mouth- and then pretended to yawn, covering her mouth with a palm.

'This is stupid,' she criticized herself, making a fist. 'He's not that intimidating. He used to be my teacher and I clearly used to trust him to an extent. I can choose to disregard his perspective, but I have to hear it first. He probably isn't enough of a lunatic to attack me for asking questions. And if he is, I'll just kick his ass.'

She was hyperaware of his presence, despite the fact that she could barely see him out of the corner of her left eye.

'I could ask him about Naruto. If he was my teacher, he might have a different perspective than Sasuke.'

"Saa…" Hatake tilted his face up to the sky, drinking in sunlight.

Aiko waited. And waited. And- "What?" she asked, stopping for a moment so that their steps aligned.

He rubbed at the back of his neck with gloved fingers. "Oh, nothing. I was just thinking that it was a lovely day, that's all."

A lovely-

"We're broiling," Aiko said disbelievingly. "It is not a lovely day. I am cooking in my own skin like a potato."

Hatake winced. "That's… vivid." He actually sounded a little put-out. Which was ridiculous. He was a veteran-there was no way that she'd turned his stomach with that simile.

'He can't actually be that squeamish. Right?'

She felt the line form between her eyebrows, but couldn't muster up enough give-a-damn to wipe her face clear.

'He's trying to make me relax,' Aiko decided. 'Hatake plays the idiot to put others at ease.'

That had to be it.

She wouldn't let it work on her. How thick did he think she was? Hatake was an S-class shinobi; famous for his very public assassinations and double-duty as a tracker and assault specialist. There was literally no possibility that he was an idiot.

'He could, on the other hand, genuinely be socially incapable. That would explain the way he prompted me to start the conversation he wanted to have. And…' Her mind went back over their interactions, thinking of how quiet he had been in most of them-only piping up to offer facts or analysis. 'He doesn't know what to say, I think. He doesn't know how to have the conversations he wants to have.'

Oh, fuck it. They were never going to get anywhere at this rate. She was going to have to just fucking go for it.

Aiko pitched her voice into cheery conversational tones. "So, I hear you killed your genin teammates?"

Hatake stopped in his tracks. Aiko pretended not to notice, forcing him to collect himself and restart walking to catch up.

'The silence is not at all damning, darling.'

It was heavy, though. She shouldn't have asked. Sweat ran over her scalp to nestle in droplets at the base of her ponytail.

'dangerdangerohmyfuckinggoddanger.'

"Who told…" Hatake trailed off almost as soon as he had started, voice tight. "Ah. Your Uchiha."

"He's hardly mine," Aiko pointed out. If her tone was bitter, she ignored that.

Hatake was silent for a long moment, but it felt nothing like the quiet of earlier. Aiko kept her face angled forward and her posture relaxed. It took conscious effort. She counted her heartbeats, purposefully calming her body.

When she finally turned her head, he was gone. A moment's focus revealed that the unique song of his chakra was halfway across Konoha and still moving. She hadn't realized quite how tense she was until all the stiffness fled her body at once.

'So, that's a yes, then?'

She pursed her lips. Or more accurately, evidence that he thought he'd killed his genin teammates. Being incorrect about fifty percent of supposedly concerned kills in a sample was not impressive. …It was a pretty good demonstration of how reasonable-seeming guesswork could be far off the truth, however.

She gave a sigh, shaking her head. 'It seems likely that Obito was telling the truth about Hatake killing one teammate and leaving him for dead; but I shouldn't make any assumptions. I need details and real information.'

As soon as she reached the safety of Shizune's apartment, Aiko burrowed face-first into her futon and tried to calm down enough to sort through her new memory. Memory of using the Hiraishin with just a thought and the brief pull and of camaraderie with- with- Hatake, of all the fucking people. She shuddered.

'New plan. Make lunch, eat lunch, and do not contemplate confusing bullshit for at least a night.'

The first step was poking her head out reluctantly into the stale air. After she managed to get out of bed, it got a little easier.

Two hours later, Aiko had mostly tabled her failed conversation and the utter creepiness of her flashback to move on with her day. She felt a chill like fingers walking up her spine- which was the reason she jolted to attention and noticed Hatake's chakra signature approaching her side of town. Then her district. And then heading towards Shizune's apartment building.

Her toes curled inside her slippers and fingers tightened on the sealing notebook she'd been perusing.

'I wonder how pissed he is that I brought that teammate thing up?'

Upset enough to be coming up the stairs to Shizune's apartment, apparently. Aiko cast an uncertain look at the door to the balcony. She could slip outside, run up the building, and escape. It wouldn't be that hard to evade someone who she could sense.

However tempting, that course of action would be counterproductive. Perhaps he had an answer for her. Before he could knock, she composed herself with false confidence, adjusted the book on her folded legs, and lifted her head.

"Just come in, Hatake."

The door opened and shut with intentional noise- probably a polite gesture so that she could know he had entered. It was of course unnecessary. Aiko didn't bother to look up when he slouched into the room, busy hiding the tenseness in her hands behind the fuinjutsu notebook.

"You're supposed to tell me that I'm late," he informed her with a light tone she'd never heard before.

Okay… That was weird.

She looked up to deliver her line dispassionately. "You're late."

He beamed- or, at least, she thought he did. His eye creased in what looked like rapture. Was the pupil dilated? It was a little hard to tell, with his dark gray eye color. "Sorry about that! There was a cat up a tree that needed a double dose of anxiety medication."

'The eye is probably dilated,' Aiko decided. 'This man is a train wreck.'

"That story holds together," she played along with what he wanted. If he was going to pretend nothing was odd, so could she. She inhaled slowly through her nose, lifting one eyebrow. 'That was a weird story to tell. Why bother mixing in a lie with a probable truth? Why justify himself to me at all?'

His eye widened, innocent charm in every centimeter of his being. "I'm sure I don't know what you mean." He settled on Shizune's other couch.

'He's much wordier than usual. He definitely overcompensates when he pretends to be someone cheerier.'

It would have been cute, if she didn't suspect that it was a coping mechanism.

…Okay, it was still cute. How was a thirty-something man cute? Handsome or charming or whatever, sure. But cute was a diminutive compliment for a reason. It implied childishness, immaturity, the behavior of- Her tummy squeezed, unwelcome tension in her core. 'Fuck. Is this-'

And that was when she realized why she found the disarming smile and loose body posture appealing. Obito. Hatake was reminding her of Obito at the moment. Holy shit. He was moving and grinning like Obito at his most playful and light-hearted. Was that what Obito had been like as a child as well? It made some amount of sense.

'Am I seeing things? Or is he actually mimicking…'

"Konoha to Aiko-chan." Hatake waved a hand back and forth.

She wrinkled her nose, feeling nauseous. "Chan? That's familiar of you."

Inappropriately familiar, in fact. It was icky.

Hatake tilted his head to the side. "I think that after your earlier question, we may be past that sort of familiarity. This must mean we're friends." He practically beamed at her, grin almost visible through his thick mask.

Oh. So that was how this was. Pacified by the potential for more information, Aiko pressed her lips shut and nodded slowly. She could ignore the jab for data. "We must be. Friends do things like that and share secrets."

He might have grimaced, but her only clue was the changing wrinkles on his mask. That thing was an impediment to good information gathering.

So Aiko made a face and opined, "Good friends don't hide their faces from one another either. Not even Obi-Tobi did that," she wheedled. Perhaps it was a dirty trick to pretend she only remembered to use the diplomatic name at the last moment. But if her hunch meant anything at all, Hatake had a strong emotional attachment to Obito's memory. He did things that he thought Obito would have done. He was now doubtlessly going over his memories and weighing them against the potential value of the conversation he had intended to have.

'Which doesn't fit with the story that Obito told. Why would you leave someone to die and then mourn them for twenty years? Regret and guilt don't extend that far, do they?'

Slowly, three fingers reached up and curled around the curve where fabric stretched across his nose. Aiko wiped her face clean of any damning victorious thoughts. Hatake pulled the fabric down in one smooth motion, dark eye boring a hole into her face.

She didn't know what he was looking for in her expression, but he seemed dissatisfied.

'And strangely dramatic about such a small demonstration of trust.'

"We are good friends." Hatake said quietly, displaying just a flash of pointed teeth. "Although as you have noted, I have a history of failing my friends and teammates. I led one teammate into an ambush out of arrogance, and the other teammate leapt in front of one of my techniques."

'The first would be Obito, the second Rin? He's stressing the incidents in a different way than Obito.'

Still, sincerity was in every carefully selected syllable and the slight clench of his jaw. No wonder he wore a mask. His poker face needed wok.

'Unless that's acting to throw me off?'

No, Aiko chided herself. That way only led to madness. At some point she had to form an opinion. She focused her gaze on pale lips, dissociating the conversation from the person she was having it with.

"Bummer. But is two incidents really a pattern?"

On some level, she was genuinely curious.

Hatake swallowed. "I have not experienced great success with my students either," he allowed.

'Is he talking about me?'

Aiko tilted her head in silent invitation for him to continue. He did not. "Yes?" she prompted mercilessly.

She could see a muscle twitching in his neck above the line where the fabric of his mask was bunched. "Two of them found better sensei, one is dead, and one seems lost."

Her chest felt cold. Did he realize that she knew she was his former student? She'd thought she was his only student, actually. Who were the others?

"Am I the dead one or the lost one?" Aiko didn't consider the question before it meekly slipped out. She glanced down, focusing on the fascinating stitching on his vest. Someone had done home repairs on it- someone who wasn't a seamstress. Looked sturdy enough, though.

"What?" He sounded genuinely bewildered. "You're not dead."

She snorted. "Yes I am." A fist clenched. Deadthingdeadthingdeadthing. "Obito told me. Nagato. No, Pein," she corrected, using the name he would know. "Because of Pein."

"Aiko. You are very much alive."

Her hand was shaking. Imagine that, how funny.

"Aiko. Calm down."

"I am calm," she refuted, hyper aware of how her face moved and stretched.

"You're not dead," he tried again. Aiko distantly confirmed her hypothesis that Hatake was a very awkward man. Anyone else would have attempted to give some sort of physical reassurance at this point. He might as well have been sitting on his hands, for all that he knew to do with them. "You were revived. And- and you were only gone for an hour," Hatake continued, sounding very much as if he was repeating someone else's words.

She had just enough presence of mind to roll her eyes. "I understand that I was brought back; I'm not a complete moron. But I think I would know a little more about the ramifications of that than you would."

Although Fuu had seemed fine. Maybe it was because Fuu was a little odd. And Fuu didn't remember her death- no, strictly speaking Aiko didn't eith

Searing heat in her head flesh ripping and a bloody-minded dragon of satisfaction curled around her chest because that fucker looked so surprised

er. Anyway, Fuu was probably regretting being a zombie monster too. God, what kind of asshole was she? She'd done the same thing that had been done to her to another girl. And she'd genuinely thought she was doing a favor.

'How can I even consider doing that to another person, no matter what a bijuu thinks?'

"Aiko?" Hatake sounded a little distressed. She focused on him.

Whoa. He was suddenly in strange detail, the paleness she remembered overlaid with purple shadows. It was an interesting look. Had it gotten dark out? She cast a glance toward the window. Huh. Still sunny.

When she looked back, Hatake appeared to have stopped breathing and was outright staring.

"What?" She furrowed her brow.

He gathered himself and looked away casually. "Oh, nothing. Just wondering if your eyes are alright."

What? Oh dear.

'I seriously turned on the Rinnegan by… what, experiencing strong emotion? Panic?'

When she had a moment to let that sink in, her feelings plummeted past irritation. 'I'm a special kind of moron, aren't I? Aiko: Daddy's little blunt weapon. Fantastic.'

She gave a short laugh entirely devoid of humor.

Hatake leant back. "There goes my trump card." Aiko clenched her jaw, grinding teeth together. She had just given Hatake a significant hold over her. "Ugh." She closed her eyes and shut the chakra feed down. When she opened them, they were black again.

No reason to let him know that there were two other levels of freaky in her eyeballs, if he didn't already know that the Rinnegan and Sharingan were connected.

"Trump card?" He sounded a little strangled.

Strangled? Now, there was a thought. She lifted her eyebrows in consideration- and then deflated.

'There's no way I could keep the Rinnegan secret by killing him. I have nowhere to put a body. Could I threaten him into silence? Blackmail? Intimidation?'

"Yes, you twits appeared to have genuinely believed that Obito didn't teach me any jutsu in a year." She tossed her hair and kept her head up high. "I thought it was best to play everything down so that it would be easier to crush any who opposed me in an emergency."

Was that subtle enough? No? Well. Who knew if he would catch on to anything opaque.

"That's…" Hatake trailed off. "Honest of you."

"It's not like you couldn't put that together with the information you have now," Aiko dismissed. "Besides," she changed the subject. "I really did need to practice with chakra chains. Those will be an unpleasant surprise for Obito."

She hoped. She desperately needed a strategy to deal with his kamui. Kamui wasn't a perfect technique, but it was a very near thing.

There was a moment of quiet while he digested that. "I think," Hatake said slowly, "that we're better friends than I realized, if the metric is that friends share secrets."

'He's sentimental.'

She gave him a disbelieving look, despite her hope that he would keep his mouth shut. It just wasn't probable. "I know that you're not going to keep this secret. You're going to tell SexyKage. That's your job."

He made a face, pulling at the thin scar that disappeared over his jaw into his left ear. "I'll tell her that she's been taking the wrong track with your psych evaluation and treatment," he said dryly. "They missed some important things. "But… no. If you ask, I won't say anything about the Rinnegan."

No way. Would he? He could get in serious trouble if the Hokage found out that he'd kept something like that from her.

"Pinky promise?" She didn't let her tone hint at any hope, just mocking, because she was waiting for the other shoe to fall. But Hatake held up a pinky. Bemused, she unfolded her legs to stand and took a step closer. She reached out and linked her little finger with his. She hadn't actually intended- but whatever. Okay.

"Don't promise if you don't mean it," she warned, feeling reluctant admiration bubble up her chest. Not that he was that cool, of course. It was just sort of impressive to find a village-bound shinobi who put anything above kissing their kage's ass. Even if he was a socially incapable, damaged shitshow of a person.

Hatake's eye had pinpricks of a pretty, light gray shade in the light. It looked serious enough. "I think I've done enough talking for a while, don't you?" He bent the pinky around hers.

Good point. He had been chattier than she had anticipated. Aiko stood and brushed off the front of her pants. That was about as good as she was going to get. "Well. This was a lovely talk. Thank you for visiting, we should do this again."

He sat there for a moment, not taking her hint.

So Aiko put a hand on her hip and said in a stern tone, "I think you should go now."

"Aa." He stood, pulling up his mask almost as an afterthought.

After he left, she stood and just looked at the closed door for a moment, trying to wrap her head around how so much had changed in a few hours.

"That could have gone better."

[astrxlfinale]

"Helllooo? I believe I'm owed something, here!"

Tick, tick, tick. Midnight had since passed, Caelus perched on her neatly folded lap as he tapped at his phone. Some rhythm thing, she wagered; or maybe texting a bunch of people, or... doing whatever Caelus does. Looking up the best recipes? Looking up the nearest trash king tournament? Looking up how his friends were doing...?

Augh, all of that was important, but didn't he know--??!

"Fine! Looks like I've got the tactical advantage!" leaning down, March leant toward his chin, the angle awkward and skewed -- it wasn't full, it wasn't cheeky, but... she remained there for a moment, basking in the element of surprise. "And you got an Arachnid Kid-style kiss out of it, too!"

(for kissing day!)

"Mmm? I thought I paid you proper for that contest with the 'anytime you want' ice cream dates-- Well. You actually still have over two weeks worth of days for whenever you please."

Let no one say that Caelus doesn't keep to his deals! March's abrupt ingenuity in one of his classic games had stomped him, gloriously to top it all off. He was proud as much as his pride was wounded, as she never even tried that game before. The magical horizon of potential and possibility just happened to perfectly meet. Even now, the measure of her bubbly cheer could be well remembered from that day, how those starlit, bubblegum irises lit up with thriving ego at her victory.

She looked damn good wearing that ego of her's, mind you!

Right now his hands were busied with DMs from multiple angles. Some of her guesses were right, other scenarios were due to Penacony related business. After all, as one of the head promoters for his beloved Clockie series, it would be one of the few times responsibility would be drawn like a proud cloak. Underneath the scrutinizing gaze of Ms.March 7th, the Trailblazer found it pretty difficult to actually keep his focus constant. There was a lovable burn to her eyes that made him aware, that made the task of keeping his busied postured contained a herculean trial. Smiling, feeling as if it'd shatter the effort of prolonging this moment.

Too bad in that case. For March's abrupt declaration would ensure that his phone found itself released from his hands, lost to the bounce off of her thigh as it'd be consigned to couch cushions. Right now, those apt senses of Caelus's found themselves devoted to a sweet nirvana. For his lips would almost be compromised, led to a loving press of her's gracing his chin, so so close to the goal of his actual lips!

For a fleeting moment, he finds himself lost in the pleasant flora scents that always accompanied her, disarming his guard even further as comfort swept over him.

There was no helping it, he did very much laugh at hearing this kiss that gained increasing familiarity being noted by her. Reaching forward, one of those fingers of his softly prods at her forehead.

"You've really been loving that little idea, haven't you? Either as a certified kiss ninja or.. Maybe it looked that sweet?"

"If it's kisses on the other hand, I never knew the rule here was one at every stroke of midnight. That's the kinda stuff you need to tell me sooner." Caelus pointedly shoots back, this time propping up from the sanctity of that lovely lap pillow. Seeing how that cute face hadn't moved, this time he'd be the one making the most of current conditions. Craning his hand just a touch, trying, working to match that posture as recited in the haphazard scene itself, only for the Trailblazer's lips to collide with the clearly 'spoiled' Nameless.

Peace would sweep over him in lieu of devouring her soft frustrations. Firmness would be drawing sparks of pleasure pressure, the tender graze that works with him cupping March's cheek from the reverse perspective only added a loving energy to the moment. Inevitably, a hum of delight eases from Caelus as he momentarily loses himself in the experience of kissing her in earnest. The soft gasp, the dreamy sounding sigh, all from her, it only added to correct reasoning that spoiling her is always the right move.

...

She's just really in for it when he decides to sit up properly, he can't exactly kiss her breathless like this!

@ofhope

[shiguknifeii]

Knife Isis Nanami

Age: 14

Gender: Female (Actually a Demi-girl)

Birthday: 3/14

Blood type: O

Height: 4”8 (As a child), 4”11 (As an adult) [Note: For comparison, she’s the same height as Konata Izumi as a kid, while she’s the same height as Uzaki Hana as an adult!]

Likes: Making complex stories and characters, Drawing, Video Games, gaming consoles from the past (Think of consoles like the Wii or DSi), anime/cartoons, listening to music, computers, domesticated animals (such as cats and dogs), and soda (especially Dr Fizz)

Dislikes: Too much work, people not taking her seriously or not listening to her, mushy apples, people who don’t let her be herself, people who spread misinformation about the things she likes, and the sound of polystyrene foam containers or cups rubbing against each other. 

Personality: Knife is a shy and awkward girl that doesn’t really talk a whole lot when you first meet her, but she gets out of her shell once you get to know her more. Though she’s a bit awkward at times. She usually has her head in the clouds, thinking about the stories or characters that she’s created. When she’s thinking, she can get a bit philosophical and thinks a lot about anything. Because of this, she also has the tendency to overthink like literally everything. She tries to help her friends to the best of her ability. Although she likes having friends, she values her alone time, as sometimes the challenges of social life can overwhelm her. If she doesn’t have this alone time, or really just when she gets mad in general, she can have an attitude and get a bit passive aggressive without knowing. She really doesn’t like that about herself. Has self esteem issues.

Backstory: Knife is a weird, strange, but imaginative and creative person. She has many influences in her life, but the first was when she was in first grade. Her parents had split up for a bit, and this had affected Knife a lot, having to live with her mom, brother at her grandma’s for about 3 months. When Knife went over to her house, her dad had given her a sketchbook to draw a bunch of characters in, so he could put them up on the wall to show. This sparked a passion for Knife, as she started drawing more and more, getting even more better as the years went on. 

Although her parents had come back together, and although after that, Knife’s life became slightly “normal”, this would all stop when she learned what the internet was and when she enrolled in online school. Knife has many problems in her life, such as trouble dealing with her ADHD, her self identity, feeling incompetent, among a lot of other things. She then became a hikikomori, or a shut-in cause she felt she couldn’t stand it all. After a while, her parents put her in a local comic book club, in which she found friends that cared about her. She then fell in love with someone, but that someone didn’t love her back. I can’t tell too much, since I want to explore this in a different story. So for now, I’ll tell you that Knife got sad when she found out, and went back to her hikikomori ways. But then her friends helped her, so she apologized to this person for how she reacted and enrolled herself in a ninja boarding school to better herself. 

Since then, Knife Nanami has been getting better, and her life is slightly normal now with a few hijinks here and there. Until she got transported to the Puyo world, more specifically, Primp. So now, she needs to figure out how to get home, but also how she can visit this place again whenever she wants.

Fun Facts!:

She has ADHD, Anxiety, and possible ASD.

She can be interpreted as a Chu Puyo, as I associate the color pink with her! [Though I also associate the color blue with her too]

Her spells are moon themed

Alternative would be Technology themed

She has a crush on Sig (HAHAHA, BUTTERFLY KNIFE PROPAGANDA!!!)

She has a little brother named B.B. (short for Blue Balloon) and a half brother named Trophy!

Knife loves cosplaying! She actually got Sig into cosplay, and he often cosplays with her too!

Most of the stories she makes are mostly series crossovers, as she often wonders what would happen if two characters met.

Is the moon princess reincarnated (I’m really just having fun with her character, lol)

Better at Tetris than Puyo (Dude is worse than Draco, lol)

Wants to start an anime figure collection. Right now, she only has 2.

She has an odd fascination with computers. She associates them with a girl named Lain Iwakura, a character from a show called Serial Experiments Lain.

If she was a Bluey character, she would probably be Bandit Heeler (in the 80’s, lol) mixed with Muffin

Her spirit animal would be an orange cat

She was based on a lot of characters such as: Knife (Inanimate Insanity), Tails (Sonic the Hedgehog), Ramona Flowers (Scott Pilgrim), Lain Iwakura (Serial Experiments Lain), Bandit Heeler (Bluey), Liam Plecak (HFJONE), and Konata Izumi (Lucky Star)

[gallusrostromegalus]

I love this analysis and dynamic and I would like to add more:

1. Re: shinigami women's association:

I think this is the *most* likely place where they really became friends, and specifically because of the aforementioned "all about business until it's blorbo time" autistic girl energy, and it is both very cute and highly plausible to me that Soi Fon and Rukia have bonded by going "yes, this is normal" and taking turns into dumping, and being informed at because that's exactly how my friends and I play in the discord server.

This also means that Soi Fon possesses an encyclopedic knowledge of all things Chappy by proxy and has both the time management and ways & means skills to snap up any new Chappy swag for her friend and drive both Renji and Byakuya insane by getting Rukia the thing before either even knew it existed, and effectively sniping every single birthday and holiday present for the last decade or so.

2. Cool kids table at the noble house function:

You're right that they both have NQOC status at noble house events that they are both invited to and attend out of obligation, and that's awkward, even if they both believe in nobility, and I can see them effectively meeting behind the punch bowl and sharing a look over some outrageous thing they hear Lady whatsherface say and just. Immediate kinship of the awkward kids at the birthday party. They wouldn't diss the noble class, but they absolutely would talk mad smack about nobles who are bad at being nobles.

3. Byakuya:

This is perfect and hilarious and I am giggling over whatever circumstances arise after Yoruichi leaves (or possibly even before?) That makes Soi Fon realize "wait. I'm having beef with a teenage? Specifically, this dweeb? What is WRONG with me?"

Also, consider: Byakuya transferring his one-sided rivalry with Yoruichi at least partially over to Soi Fon (the minute he finds out about Wind Goddess Shunko he's going to do something outrageous like make an audible noise of annoyance), especially if he's been silently seething over/inspired by Soi Fon's Chappy-merch acquisition skills for the last decade.

4. More places Rukia and Soi Fon might know each other from:

Please consider: the soi-fon-isshin-ichigo-rukia dynamic.

Unless I have seriously misunderstood the timelines, I think Isshin Shiba was at least a seated officer, of not actually captain of the 10th when Yoruichi left, and given how affectionate/protective/benevolently patriarchal Isshin is with Karin and Yuzu, I can't help but wonder if he wasn't the same with Soi Fon. It seems very plausible to me that Isshin, missing his sister (mother of Kaien, Kujaku and Ganju), might see Soi Fon, distraught after Yoruichi left, and take her under his wing in an older brother sort of way.

Soi Fon's home life is a mess (she's got 5 older brothers who died in service to the Shihoin Clan and her parents pushed her to devote herself to Yoruichi anyway, that household has fucking shrimp colors of mental illness), and I can see her being confused but also latching on to this new source of attention and affection, esp. when it doesn't come with weird demands.

*I think Isshin got his "greet Ichigo with a flying kick" habit from her, because I feel like that is how Soi Fon's brothers expressed affection to her in ninja, so she did it to Isshin and he thought "oh yeah, that's a normal way to behave :)"

I think Soi Fon and Isshin were close, and when he suddenly vanished too? It hit her like a truck.

We don't see a lot (if any?) Interactions between Ichigo and Soi Fon in canon, but if she ever works out that her friend's friend who has saved soul society's bacon several times is Isshin's son, she's going to have SO MANY EMOTIONS about it before settling on "I like him, but I don't want to invade his personal life, he has enough going on".

This, naturally, manifests in the form of her occasionally appearing seemingly at random (in reality, after a whole bunch of secret machinations and drama) and bestowing a roulette wheel of major socio-politcal favors, hardcore training (read: running up and stabbing him), and very good but weirdly personal gifts, and then vanishing after failing to explain herself.

"You know captain Fon, right Rukia?" Ichigo finally asks. "What's with the (string of bizarre encounters)?"

"What?" Rukia shrugs. "She's just being friendly?"

"FRIENDLY??" Ichigo wails.

"Yeah? You're like, probably her third or fourth favorite person?"

"-I don't think I've ever had an actual conversation with her she just appears, does stuff and never answers any questions when did we become friends???"

"Oh my God Ichigo, how are you THIS clueless?"

Hey, you know who's not being a jerk though? Soi Fon! It's a remarkable development, her giving credit to others and supporting her lieutenant. So much so that Renji (again somewhat rudely...she's right there) points it out.

Rukia's reaction is kind of hilarious though. Like, we know Soi Fon has not always been nice. So has Rukia just not been paying attention? Even assuming she never ran into her as a member of the Squad 13 rank-and-file, she still had three years of being a lieutenant, where she'd presumable get the gossip on her.

Which I suppose means that Soi Fon has been personally nice enough to Rukia to make up for that. Here are my theories as to how that could have happened:

Rukia and Soi Fon get along at Shinigami Women's Association meetings. They are both all about business and getting things done, except when each has the chance to indulge in a passion for their favorite animal character. Somehow this has led to amiability rather than rivalry.

Rukia and Soi Fon get along socially at nobility functions. Rukia is a rukon orphan who was adopted into the Kuchiki household somewhat scandalously, while Soi Fon is from a servant clan to the Shihoin but has taken on some of the traditional Shihoin positions because of the youth of the current clan head. Both of them are invited to all the fancy dinners, neither of them is a hot commodity at these dinners because they have a limited capability to confer status on others. Perhaps they bonded there.

Soi Fon had an entirely-in-her-own-head rivalry with Byakuya when Yoruichi was mentoring both of them. When Yoruichi left Soul Society, Soi Fon at first took a bitter pleasure in her also leaving Byakuya behind, but as she became more and more resentful towards Yoruichi for leaving, she found herself relating more and more to Byakuya, and started requesting to work with Squad 6. Byakuya was oblivious to all of this, but was flattered by Soi Fon's seeming appreciation of his obvious talents and impressed by her competence and professionalism. He has expressed to Rukia that Captain Fon is the sort of officer the Court Guards could use more of, which Rukia recognizes is the closest her brother comes to expressing fondness for his co-workers.

[kiriluvly]

⬆️Credit on the au in the post above!!!

@ramskulls-archive

This au. THIS AU RIGHT HERE.

Let it be KNOWN, that Caseynardo is a guilty pleasure of mine, and thus I have some thoughts!

Those two would definitely have an Enemies To Lovers plotline (obviously), a one that we COULDV'E gotten with Karai and Leo if they weren't fkn related!

So, I think it would start with out with simple fights, the usual entercounters with the purple dragons, and with it, the turtles would meet Casey, who they wouldn't really write down as a major threat. From there, Leo and him would meet sometimes, Leo would simply beat his ass or smth and move on, but Casey couldn't possibly accept that!

So from normal meetings, Casey would seek Leo out particularly because how dare this turtle ninja THING beat him and just walk off like he, THE Casey Jones, isn't a big deal?!

Cut to banter, which turns flirty real quick without either of them noticing,

"what's a beauty like you doing in the streets of NYC at night?" "Shut it, Jones.",

"ready to get beat up, again?" "Oh, I couldn't dream of anything better, baby.",

"HEY, WHERE ARE YOU GOING??? UNTIE ME DUDE!" "it was great seeing your beautiful face tonight, Jones, but I have other things to take care of." "...and also, you're probably into tha-" "FUCK OFF MAN!!!".

The first moment they could really think they caught feelings was while the turtles were fighting the PD again when they were split up, and while Leo is rushing to find his brothers and help them out, who else but Casey mf Jones finds and corners him. They argue, Leo brushing him off;

"I don't have fucking time for this Casey!"

And Casey simply not letting go;

"WOW! Where did you learn that language princess?"

Because he finally had what he wanted, and that was Leo, cornered and alone, with no one to interrupt them as Casey finally beats him in a fight!

The yelling and snide remarks continue, and suddenly they are both too close to each other, and they make eye contact and. Silence.

Neither can look away, move, speak. They just stare into each other's eyes, and holy shit why do they feel like that?

And after what felt like hours, they inch closer without noticing. Leo's eyes flatter shut, Casey's hands move themselves from the brick wall of the alleyway to inches away from the turtle's cheek. They are a second from meeting in the middle when they both remember what they are here for, and in a second, Casey's knife is milimeters from Leo's nape and Leo's now-unsheathed katana is threatening to slice the human in half.

But despite the violent position they were both in right now, neither dared to move away from the other. They looked into each other's eyes, truly looked, and with a tired huff, Leo whispers "I have to find my brothers, Jones." And with a peck on the cheek that sets both of their faces on fire, Leo trips Casey to the ground with a quick swip of the human's feet before rushing past him to the next alley.

All Casey could do now that Leo was gone and he was on the floor, was touch his cheek and curse. Because how did he manage to fuck up so bad that he now caught feelings for one of his number one enemies.

From then, they avoid each other like the plauge, afraid to face the actions of that night and their feelings. Leo is a repressed gay, too scared to even think he may not like girls, and Casey is chill with his sexuality, he likes everyone and everything, but is still baffled how a MUTANT TURTLE managed to make him weak in the knees.

I think they would finally get together, after painful awkward moments and eventual deep conversation on top of a roof, in an angst moment, because cmon. It's the best time to get together with the person you're gay for!

Casey joined the purple dragons because of security and as an emotional outlet. His father was once involved with the gang, once when he was young and stupid and didn't have the weight of a dead wife, a son and a daughter on his shoulders, and so the gang sought him out so he could pay up old debts. Since they didn't have that kind of money, Casey went and got himself involved with them, on the promise they would leave his family alone as he works for them and does the dirty work they want of him. The crime was a good way to release the anger and frustration in his system, because GOD did he have an anger issue he did NOT want to release on his father and surely not on his younger sister.

He told Leo that one day as they sat on the rooftop of an abandoned building, and after a long conversation, Leo finally spoke up;

"You can just join us." "Huh?" "We beat bad guys all the time. It's our job, Casey. If you need to beat the shit out of some people, you can do it with US. Not the purple dragons."

And holy shit, did Casey love that thought. Because having mutant turtles that were literal ninjas, that beat the crap out of that shitty gang of his every single day, could get them officially off his and his family's backs. He could finally look his father in the eyes without the constant shame. Without the worry in his old man's eyes. He could... be on Leo's side, and that was a sweet deal too, wasn't it?

So he stopped going to their meetups, he stopped interacting with the gang as a whole. He took his time to hang out with his family and be a fucking teen because something naive in him believed they were truly safe now. But of course the universe loved to prove him wrong, and that was proven when he was walking home from school one day and hit with something heavy right on the head. He blacked out, and the next thing he knew, he woke up to the sight of the purple dragons' hideout.

Being held at gunpoint was not Casey's ideal Friday night plan, but he couldn't really help it, could he?

And of course, being at the right place the right time, the turtles bust into the warehouse and start a shitshow.

Leo, of course, untied him after knocking his "guard" out; "are you okay?!" "Don't worry babe, a little kidnapping could never take Casey Jones down!"

Of course, a bullet to the abdomen could.

"Casey, Casey fucking stay with me! Don't close your eyes, goddamn it!" "Pffft, who- who taught you to c-curse so much...?" "You did, and if you want to continue doing so, you need to stay awake!"

"Leo! What's the fucking hold up- what the fuck are you doing with a PURPLE DRAGON?" "Raph! Call Donnie, right now!" "Like hell I would, he's another fucking shithead like his friends, let him bleed out for all I care!" RAPH FOR FUCKS SAKE- Casey don't you dare close your eyes stay with me please - CALL. DONNIE." "I-" "NOW!"

and that led to Casey waking up in a dark lair that smelt like shit. Which he later discovered was not a very far off guess. The second he opened his eyes, he is poked and checked on by a purple-clad turtle, Donnie from what he remembered Leo described, and with a shout to the others, the three other turtles marched into the room.

"Oh wow! He's awake-!"

"Oh great, he's awake."

"Casey!"

And that was the happiest he's ever been to hear someone's voice.

"Hey blue, wow you look like shit-"

"Shut up Jones, I will not take criticism on my appearance from someone who was shot just a few hours ago!"

"Touchè"

They argued but the second Casey was within reach, he was - gently - pulled into a warm and concerned hug, and fuck, he would be lying if he didn't downright melt into it.

"I'm glad you're awake Jones."

"Couldn't just leave you in a world without all this baby~"

And as leo rolled his eyes, they finally decided that dance they've been having going on for a month or so was to be finally broken. And with a smile, Leo took Casey's face in his palms and smashed their lips together. Casey rested his hands on Leo's hips and kissed back with glee.

They barely noticed the three others in the room anymore, nor did they notice the absolute shock on their faces, or the urgency in Donnie's actions as he pushed his two frozen brothers outside and closed the door behind him.

The dorks couldn't stop themselves from smiling because they dreamed of this moment, and when it finally happened, it was everything they wanted and more.

They would concern themselves in Leo's brothers knowing about them, about how worried Casey's father probably is, about what to do with the purple dragons and what the future holds. They would take care of all those things later, but now, while holding each other and finally letting themselves love each other, they decided to let it all be for a moment.

-AND THAT IS MY THOUGHT PROCESS THAT KINDA TURNED TO WRITING! I THOUGHT ABOUT THIS AU FOR DAYS SO IM HAPPY I FINALLY GOT MY THOUGHTS OUT!

[snikerdoodle-kukis]

What if My MC and Phoebe Met?

Phoebe isn't my oc, she's @phoenix-manga 's oc! This person is actually the reason I got to inspiration to make a twisted wonderland x pokemon crossover fanfic. I wanted to do something nice for them, because why not. I was going to draw Phoebe and my Mc, Iridia together, but artists block stopped that idea. Then I wanted to write a short story with them, but I couldn't get any ideas, so in the end I just stuck with a couple of headcanons thrown together in the middle of the night. I hope i didn't butcher Phoebe's personality. Enjoy!

How would these two even meet? Well, anything is possible in the Pokémon universe, considering how the og Archer and Maxie designs appeared in pkmn sun and moon (I think)

So yeah, these two are from alternate universes, and they just so happened to meet. Hey, with Arceus, anything is possible!

Iridia would just love Phoebe. She'd see her as a little sister, despite there (technically) only being a one year difference between them.

Iridia would tell Phoebe about the (very concerning) things that had happened to her. Like that time an Alpha Garchomp almost bit her head off.

"And then BAM! Before I knew it, there was an Alpha Garchomp's teeth around my neck!"

"What?! :0"

Speaking of Alpha pokemon, Iridia has an alpha drifblim named Cloud! Cloud is about 9 feet tall, so Iridia would take Phoebe on a ride. Phoebe was wary of Cloud, because of its size and Pokédex entries, but she warmed up to it rather quickly

Iridia showing Phoebe her Currydéx that she got from Galar. Iridia made her a dish and she was in absolute heaven

Phoebe wondering how Iridia could have so many Pokémon. Like, she has a Steelix and multiple Alpha pokemon. How does she keep up with all of them?? But whenever she asks, Iridia gives her an awkward pat on her back and tells her not to worry about it

Iridia has a bag filled with everything she needs on her travels: a camp set up, her pc, a storage pocket for her berries, changes of clothes… if you can name it, she probably has it in her bag. She had this bag custom made for her so it could fit all that stuff. Iridia offered to get Phoebe one made, since she wanted her to have a little souvenir when she went back to her universe.

Iridia finds it funny how some of her and Phoebe's experiences in Twisted Wonderland were similar. Like how they were both the Prefect of Ramshackle, how Grim crashed the entrance ceremony… so on

Phoebe was absolutely shocked, gobsmacked, bamboozled, at how Iridia ate a tamato berry with little to no struggle. (She honestly should've seen it coming with how many spicy curry dishes she had in her Currydéx)

Iridia introduced Phoebe to this show called Teenage Mutant Ninja Carracosta and they both binged it at (Phoebe's) Ramshackle. The Adeuce duo and Grim were very shocked to see Iridia there, to say the least

Phoebe and Iridia's Rotomdéxes do not get along for whatever reason. When Iridia asked why they didn't get along, Dexter, Phoebe's Rotomdéx, said something along the lines of "They think they're smarter than me just because they're older…" He didn't elaborate and Iridia didn't ask again.

Iridia says that upon her entering twisted wonderland, her pc box broke, scattering her pokemon all across the island. Phoebe could only imagine what chaos ensued.

Like the time Iridia's Garboder was found in Pomefiore, eating the trash, and how her Chandelure was found on top of one of the chandeliers in the cafeteria, or how her 7 feet tall Octillery was found in Mostro Lounge's kitchen, eating some of the leftovers. Good times, good times.

Iridia's Miraidon really didn't like Ace for some reason. They seem to have this unseen rivalry.

Speaking of Miraidon, Iridia fell off it while Deuce was driving (it reminded him of a magical wheel so he wanted to drive) and Miraidon noticed she fell off but didn't bother stopping… what a menace

Iridia had challenged Pheobe to a Pokémon battle in Ramshackle's yard. The first years were super nosey and watched the battle go down. To put it short, Iridia was like Cynthia, but on steroids. Scary. After a solid hour and 30 max revives later, Phoebe didn't end up winning, but she did come dangerously close. The first years were floored at seeing a battle between their friend and a Champion.

Once it was time for Iridia to leave, she gave Phoebe a Champion badge (I know Champions don't give out badges but I like to think they do) even though she lost. Phoebe was shocked, but she kept the badge somewhere safe.

Phoebe wondered if she'd see Iridia again. With how weird the world is, most likely

It's a bit lazy, but I hope you like it. And part two? Uhhh, maybe??? And Merry Christmas to anyone who celebrates it

[al-luviec]

You're right about this BTW.

Pardon me on anything here being incorrect (I don't have the best memory and so I might get information mixed up... etc). Also I didn't spell check this.

I really have no idea where people get the Zane is perfect / good at everything mindset from. When you look at him in the early seasons (compared to the other ninja) he was very skilled in many areas! Comparing how he faired against Morro versus everyone else? He was kicking ass IDK. But that's just because he is a quick learner. People see Zane reach his true potential first and assume he's leagues above the rest. What about Jay learning Spinjitzu & Airjitzu first... What about Cole learning Spinjitzu Burst first... What about Nya's everything? The Ninja all have their strengths and weaknesses and it bothers me when people act like one is significantly better at everything / worse than the rest. It's very close!!!

Also, in the early seasons (focusing on when Zane's being a robot reveal was rather fresh), I don't think him being a robot is never equated with how able / fast of a learner he is. Jay says it's why he acts so weird... and it's moreso an explanation on why he's so socially awkward (until we meet Pixal, that's a rant for another day). But we also have to look at it from the angle NOBODY AT THE TIME knew why Zane was the way he was. They all had guesses, and then we meet Dr. Julien. He built Zane to be an actual human being (basically). He was never supposed to stick out. Dr. Julien is very capable of building non-human looking robots (such as TI-D and the Birchwood forest guardian) but for Zane he made him as human as possible. Dr. Julien loves his copper and loves his yellows, but Zane was an outlier in his typical designs. He wasn't meant to perform one specific task, he wasn't meant to do everything perfectly. Dr. Julien calls him perfect, but this is because he's perfect in the sense he has imperfections. He's practically human. In Decoded, Kai even mentions that he forgets Zane isn't a human sometimes. That's just how Zane behaves.

Zane back then versus Zane currently are very different but half of that is the writers not knowing what to do with him. I've talked about this when ranting about his characterization in S1E2 and how it's pretty similar to how he is now. Basically they both react to things the same way. They walk away from their problems, and it worked for Zane early on because not too much was going on... but then he died and the Neverrealm and 1000 other things I don't feel like listing off happened. He can't really walk away from his problems and shrug it off the way he used to. In S15 he literally shuts off his emotions so he can perform better. He wants to be as efficient and as needed as possible. And as the series shifted, his motivations have changed a little and I can explain this.

At first he was just a "weird guy", then we found out he was a robot and he wanted to be seen the same way. He has flaws and he makes mistakes, and sure he doesn't need oxygen and is full of wires but he's still a person. Then after death he changed physically and as the series progressed he began being treated less and less like a person. S6 Mechanic, S12 Mechanic, also in DR when he's referred to as property / an object. And as time progresses he's started drifting towards that "robotic" side of himself. S15 him turning off his emotions (Cole literally calls him an emotionless drone) is the most obvious example of this. When you're not really treated like a person, and you're moreso treated like a computer... I'd go crazy too.

Either way Zane can't really win. Him being a robot was what lead to Vex manipulating him into becoming the ice emperor. Him being a robot was what lead to... a lot of the bad things that happened to him. I'll keep that brief. But with that comes the human side of him. I saw someone say him as the emperor was the most human he's been in a very long time and it drove me a little crazy. Him as the emperor didn't even know his own name, I don't exactly think he knew (or cared to know) that he was a robot. He had that insanely "human" rage and hatred. Something that was the opposite of what was *built* in Zane's systems. It was a side of himself he couldn't fathom to have out IG. Then there's the productivity issues. If he feels as if he's not useful, he feels as if he has no purpose.. point blank. He keeps chasing the "protect others" goal that was instilled in his head, and in doing so he's started shutting off that human side of himself.

Seeing Zane try to achieve perfection / do things really well and assuming that's because he's a robot is... a very interesting take. It took a while for my to get to my actual point (sorry), but Zane wanting to do things perfectly and putting himself in harms way for it is... the opposite of him being perfect. It's a slap in the face when people write him off as "the computer" of the group. Is this an actual problem in the show itself. YES IT IS!!!!! Which i really dislike. The character who wants to be seen as more than [thing] is treated like nothing more then [thing] by the writers is very common in Ninjago. Looking at Zane and Nya here. But yeah the fandom has an issue with this as well and as a huge Zane fan it bothers me. He isn't perfect. Dr. Julien didn't build him as such and he didn't rebuild himself as such. He wants to be "perfect" and incredibly helpful but that isn't possible to achieve and not to say that's a core part of his character but it kindaaa is. Insert when he told Kai he was envious of him and how Kai had a family. He is the "smart" one but that comes at sooo many prices. He has book smarts but not any social understanding and when people act like he's just a machine it makes me so mad. "Just machines" don't feel half the stuff he feels. Oh, but Alek... what about when he talked to Frohicky and said he feels no strong emotions? As I said... he's been trying to come off as "perfect" when he really isn't. He lied to Frohicky there. Not even out of malice (necessarily), he was probably lying to himself too about feeling "bad" things. They were talking about arguments specifically which is... anger. And who has 60 years of pure rage under his belt? Zane does. It feels like a 'character has a mask they hide behind that isn't a literal representation of how they actually are' situation and a lot of people aren't looking past it. Cole saying "turning yourself into an emotionless drone isn't the way to go," is pretty on the nose but like... guys. Cole knows him very well and if him being emotionless + just a machine ISN'T like him, where are we getting "he *is* just a machine" from.

TLDR - Zane is a very complicated character who wants things he can never have and in this process of wanting to be "perfect", he ends up the complete opposite because nobody is perfect. A lot of characters are like this and have a facade they live behind / start to live behind in hopes to fit in better OR to fit the way they're treated by others. And somehow nobody can ever look past it. I understand a lot of the critiques about how his character is handled (especially in S12 - S15) but honestly I just have issues with how everyone is characterized there. He does need a bigger roll and he does feel like a BG character at times but him being 'just a robot' is just incredibly wrong.

TLDR...2 - Zane is more than a machine and he isn't perfect. Follow me for more bangers.

Can I say something without being murdered by an angry mob? I don't think Zane has superhuman abilities. I hate when people make him the "perfect, good at everything" ninja. You're literally stripping him of his humanity by taking away his most human trait - not being perfect. I don't think he's stupid or weak by any means, he's a nindroid, it makes sense for him to be naturally a quick learner because he's programmed to perform better than humans. But I think he's only slightly above average in terms of smarts and/or skill sets, especially pre titanium Zane. And expecting him to act 100% perfect all the time takes away a big part of his character, which is being seen as more than just a machine. He's programmed to act as human, and being human means you will never EVER instantly be good at something and you'll never be absolutely perfect in everyones eyes at something. I'm begging you guys to understand where to balance Zane in-between machine and human because for some reason despite the amount of people saying Zane is more than a talking toaster, I still see the majority acting as if him not being human means he's completely perfect and unable to make mistakes.

[kakashihasibs]

for the four headcanon ask, sakumo! tell me your thoughts on this dog grandpa

Oh boy

1) realistic.

Perhaps a contributing factor in Sakumo's social awkwardness is that the Hatake clan was a newer addition to Konoha and there were some internal politics that made the Hatake clan's position in konoha slightly more precarious than what Sakumo was comfortable with.

It probably didn't help that Sakumo was exceptionally strong, meaning he was a possible candidate for Hokage in the minds of more progressive konoha-ians.

His more compassionate nature was probably well known as well. I could easily see his failed mission being a set up to get Sakumo out of the way.

Send him on a mission they know will cost lives to complete knowing he'll forsake it to save those lives. Then when he gets back as a failure lambast him until he's no long a threat to the established order.

Maybe they didn't mean for him to commit suicide bc he still could have been useful but thats what it ended up leading to.

(The precarious situation might have fed into him trying so hard to get kakashi to be a little politer in public as well lol)

2) hilarious. Maybe? Idk more like amusing to me than hilarious.

This poor man has social anxiety so bad. When his future wife 1st flirted with him he turned beet red. (It wasn't actually the 1st time she had flirted with him. She kept having to up the obviousness and it was just the 1st time he realized what she was doing)

Once he got used to it tho he got good at flirting back 😌 Sakumo could be pretty smooth when he lets himself be.

3) sad.

Okay listen. I dont like the headcanon that Kakashi looks like his mom and seeing Kakashi's face made Sakumo sad so Kakashi started wearing a mask. i don't think that Sakumo was that bad of a parent. Kakashi never seemed upset or overly ashamed while Sakumo was still alive.

I think Sakumo loved that Kakashi looks like his mom and loved seeing her smile reflected in Kakashi's smile. And while Sakumo thinks baby Kalashi wanting to look like a cool ninja is incredibly cute and Sakumo is certainly supportive, Sakumo does miss seeing Kakashi's smile. He doesn't let that show bc he's not gonna be weird to his son about his dead mom.

And while i think Kakashi's mom died of childbirth complications just given the time frame, i think she lived for a while and actually got to meet and hold Kakashi for a while. Like maybe she passed a few days after the birth :[

4) unrealistic.

Hmmmm. This might not be unrealistic given everything about konoha but uh if the Hatake clan is newer to konoha then i bet there are more members of the clan outside of konoha but after setting Sakumo up for failure and his suicide they probably wouldn't want them being contacted.

During the funeral while kakashi is out i can see ANBU agents going through the Hatake estate steal anything that has info on members outside of Konoha, effectively cutting Kakashi off from a possible line of support or even protection.

Kakashi was exhausted so he probably never noticed the missing stuff. Scrolls or books with with family trees and history stolen so Kakashi would be alone and cut off from them :(