#if Kakashi joins the Akatsuki it’s as a threat

[depressedhatakekakashi]

Akatsuki Kakashi only works if this man has given up on everything

Lost everything

Has been stripped of everyone and everything he loved and been left grasping at empty air begging for them to come back, only for nothing to change

This is a broken man whi’s not out to save the world. He has no belief that taking away people’s free will is doing them a service or saving the world

He’s simply sick of how the world exists and if taking away people’s free will and putting them into a dream state, one where he can also be in that dream state where all his precious people are still alive

He will burn the world to the ground to achieve that goal, selfishly and completly

[tsukuyomii45]

In any AU you'd like, how do Konan and Obito meet? How about three scenarios!

I've got one that's a modern AU and 2 others that are from the canon universe. xD As much as I adore ObiKonan, it's still a rather tricky ship to get right.

--

Scenario 1 - Modern AU:

They'd meet each other in a dimly lit quiet bar, where Obito would be sitting alone, swirling his drink. Next thing we know, Konan quietly walks in and moves with confidence and grace. She just strides towards where Obito was sitting, and politely asks, "Mind if I join you?"

Obito would be surprised and rather intrigued by her direct approach, and he simply gestures to the empty seat beside him and says, "Be my guest."

Konan would then slide into the stool beside him and orders her drink, and the two of them would be sitting in a comfortable silence.

Given that Konan's presence is rather charismatic because she has this rather subtle, confident demeanor with a hint of mystery, naturally she'd catch Obito's attention.

After subtly checking her out, Obito decides to initiate a conversation while Konan's gaze lingered on the amber liquid in her glass. "Quiet night, huh?"

A small smile plays at the corner of Konan's lips. "Sometimes that's exactly what we need." She replies, then takes a sip of her drink.

Obito lets out an amused chuckle at her response as he lifts his drink for another sip too.

Scenario 2 - Canon AU:

Another idea I had was the two of them crossing paths as kids; back when Obito was a Chuunin and a member of Team Minato. It would be during a mission in which Jiraiya requests Minato to check up on the Ame Orphans for him on the side of his main task.

Minato would make Kakashi, Rin and Obito locate their place by giving them the coordinates that Jiraiya told him, while he goes on to complete the main mission.

Eventually, Team Minato would locate them, but it's not without being attacked at first because the Ame Orphans would think they were intruders or a bunch of bandits attempting to kill them. A battle would ensue - Konan would target Obito, thinking he wasn't the most intelligent out of all of them (ouch, right?) while Kakashi fights against Yahiko as Rin tries to negotiate with Nagato.

At first, Obito would be wowed by Konan's paper techniques, but Konan's main goal is to simply finish him off. Obito would be on the defensive mode, dodging and yelling at Konan to stop because he doesn't fight against girls, but Konan merely takes that as an insult and she would fire a barrage of lethally sharp papers towards Obito, who has no choice but to counter her jutsu with his Giant Fireball technique.

Since Konan's paper attacks is no match for Fire, she begrudgingly decides to hear him out, and Obito rolls his eyes and explains to her that he is a student of Minato Namikaze, who is Jiraiya's student as well. This apparently calms everyone down, and then the team gradually acquaint themselves during that brief period of time.

That is probably the only time Team Minato would meet the Ame Orphans as children; and years later, Obito would encounter Konan again, but this time through a diplomatic mission when there was news that an organization called the Akatsuki (the original one) is on the rise, and Obito was tasked to ensure that this organization posed no threat on Konoha, and to see what was their main goal.

Konan intercepts him in Amegakure, right as Obito arrived. She'd be floating above him, held up by her paper wings, and she would eventually recognize him in shock when he smirks at her and says he could never forget those papers that almost killed him long ago. Konan would then slowly glide down to him and retorts that it was thanks to him that she decided to enhance her techniques. Konan would then guide him through Amegakure as the two of them would slowly catch up with each other and talk about what they've been up to throughout the years.

Scenario 3 - Hokage Obito AU

Lastly, I'd imagine they would meet for the first time in a summit when Obito is a Hokage and Konan is an ambassador of Amegakure.

I remember I wrote a response about this AU here, and I still stand by it. xD I don't want to bore you with repetition, so you can simply click on the link. :3

[decadentsouldelusion]

Uchiha are the most boring and garbage vilains In Anime/Manga story

-Itachi worked with Akatsuki and helped them to collects the Tailled Beast although he only wanted to have Sasuke kill him later to avenge their clans.

-Obito become evil and a threat to the whole world because his crush was killed by Kakashi in an accident. He also caused the dead of his sensei allong his wife and many shinobi by releasing kyubi in konoha.

-Madara become evil and tryed to destroy konoha with Kyubi as a backup because he was not chosed as the nidaime Hokage and the fact he did not like the way his clan was traited by Tobirama senju.

2-their action dont make sense

-Itachi killed his whole clans whithout sparing even the little kids outside of his brother, he even traumatized the later twins time in a Genjutsu and he is the the reason why his little brother took the wrong path and joined Orochimaru.

-Obito instide of doing justice for Rin by finding the one behind her dead (Madara) decide to kill innocent people.

-Madara chosed to destroy the village he created with Hashirama instide of trying to prove Tobirama wrong about his clan and gain Konoha's trust. Madara even push thing very far by manipulating Obito to prepare the Mugen Tsukuyomi plan.

3-trash goal:

Both Obito and Madara's main goal was peace but for that the only solution they found was the Mugen Tsukuyomi that will put the whole World in a fucking Illusion after killing countless people in a World War.

4-Power up It was just about them stolling each other's eye to achieve X and Y ability or randomly pulling a technique out of their ass whithout any explanation about it.

[lumitris]

Okay we are doing it I am explaining why Shikamaru's revenge run is different than sasuke's and why it's validated more in the series.

Gonna start with the overall basis that Shikamaru was for one not going down a dark path in the need for revenges. The anime really shows this, because it shows what he is like when he is in a dark place. What's interesting is when his dad says he's lucky knowing that Shikamaru wouldn't go do something stupid, because that's just it he really wouldn't, even in his grief, he's more shut-down, scared, guilty at his own powerlessness, which can all relate to Sasuke, but the difference really hit hard with

1) his dad being there, and 2) actually letting him get all those emotions out with one, giant breakdown, instead of it festering and eating him up like it did Sasuke.

Sasuke lost everything from someone he trusted, so that is so much more impactful, and I understand the path he goes down because that's a kid filled with trauma with no support. Shikamaru is deemed an adult by the ninja world at this point, and he's also developed way more than little Sasuke could be. When Shikamaru goes to Asuma's grave he literally says he was going to a dark place but he's better now. And that little growth, even within a short time frame, is already a big step to separate the two.

SECONDLY Shikamaru had the mindset of, this was still a mission assigned to him, and he wanted to see it out. Yes, revenge did drive him and his team, but it wasn't for completely selfish reasons. Tsunade called it out like that, and Shikamaru was completely calm, because his resolve wasn't one of naivety.

You have to remember that this was an upcoming threat, and he KNEW what they were capable of. He felt he was the only one who could take them down with the knowledge he had, and the fact he'd made a plan of action to take them down. He was acting as a shinobi, even if there was personal intent. He was already an extremely capable ninja, who was perfect for this task.

Not only to enact vengeance, but to protect the village, to protect Naruto from the Akatsuki, to stop them from defiling his sensei's grave; if anyone else went to stop them, they would probably die. He wanted to take on the task of stopping them before that happened. His resolve also came from the will of fire, and protecting the next generation. He also had Asuma's child and Kurenia to think about, and who knows what chaos would happen if they got into the village.

It was still a mission. He wasn't leaving the village. He wasn't hurting people or tainting his own body and soul for vengeance. He wasn't pushing people away either; not his team, not Tsunade, not even Kakashi. He was grateful or Kakashi being there. He even proposed sending back up after them. He wasn't going in alone. Him killing an enemy of the village, who was heading their way anyway, to stop them from harming anymore people; that's also the biggest difference.

If Sasuke did the same thing as Shikamaru, it would be deemed the same. But it's not the same at all, it's completely different circumstances. The village had no problem with him wanting to kill his brother. They had a problem with him becoming a rogue ninja and joining up with one of the leaf's biggest threats. They had a problem with him joining the akatsuki and attacking the Cloud Village's jinchūriki. They had a problem with the fact he was losing all sanity in his pursuit for vengeance and was now a threat to the village.

Shikamaru just formed a new team and went back to his mission since the threat was approaching the village, and yes he didn't tell Tsunade and yes he was taking things into his own hands, and yes the Hokage kicked his ass about it; but otherwise? He was doing his duty, with a personal touch.

[hellcifrogs]

More of this from @its-wabby-stuff with my comments ->

So, much like Kakashis life, Sasukes life is sad, but for different reasons. And it starts with his mother. In this AU, Kushina goes into early labor while visiting Mikoto at the Uchiha compound. Minato is gone on a mission, and Mikoto is unable to keep the nine tails sealed so it escapes. Luckily and unluckily it was in the middle of the Uchiha compound, so the threat was quickly stopped, (the mental image this gives me is beautiful, middle of the night, Kurama breaking out and so many sharingans shining around ready to defend and subdue him) but Mikoto was blamed for the death of Kushina (Kushina nooo) and the release of the Nine Tails (probably by Danzo the ass), and the Uchiha gained scorn. Mikoto felt horrible about it for years. Fugaku commits ceremonial suicide to help save the clan. (Fugaku nooo) Then Mikoto dies giving birth to Itachi so Sasuke ends up raising his brother alone. (oh god) They have a ten year age gap.

Sasuke graduates academy around the same time as becoming an older brother, in order to make ends meet. The second shinobi World War ends and then just as quickly the Third starts. Naruto and Sakura are quick to follow behind Sasuke and they get teamed together on Minatos team. Minato babies Naruto, so Naruto feels like his father believes him incapable of becoming a good ninja, especially because he doesn’t baby Sasuke or Sakura.

They all make to chunin and Jonin and somewhere in there Sasuke and Sakura have light training with their Sanin’s. Sasuke is with Anko and Sakura with Shizune. (I love this detail)

Then the incident Kannabi bridge, where Sakura is taken by earth nin, the classic debacle of should we go after her (sasuke and Naruto are still reincarnations), and Naruto heads out. Naruto learns the rasengan to save Sasuke who lost his arm to a nin rather than an eye. They go in and save Sakura, who was actually handling herself fairly well, and Sakura goes to help Sasuke. The earth nin starts to make the entire place collapse and in order to save both his friends Naruto unleashes the nine tails to hold up the collapsing rocks. He tells them both to get out of there, saying he’ll be right behind them. They go out and wait. And watch as the rocks collapse. And wait cause he’ll pop out for sure, only for the harsh realization that Naruto didn’t make it out. And they have to go finish the plan and tell Minato his son has died.

This part is the most fleshed out, everything else is kinda- vague.

So Naruto ends up where Obito did, in the final resting place of Madara Uchiha, severely burned and injured and losing his arm as well. The Zetsus take care of him and train him and then convince him that the world only meant to harm him. Using his hatred against him and manipulating him. What a bigger blow than convincing the reincarnation of Asura to turn against his “love.” (Ooohh)

In order to convince Naruto he manipulates the hidden mist to put the three tails into Sakura, unfortunately given Sakura and Sasuke smarts (and their experience with a jinchuriki before) it doesn’t go as planned and Sakura becomes the three tails jinchuriki, a much needed shift as they lost the nine tails. Zetsu finds a different approach, and has Naruto join forces with Nagato and Konan (I led you astray as Yahiko is actually dead already) (how could you ;A;), and they found the Akatsuki, focused on liberating jinchuriki from their villages.

Sasuke becomes his clans leader after his father’s death, and has a lot to rummage through with everyone’s desires to start a coup de tat, which he is very much against. After the third Shinobi war ends, Tsunadae is named Hokage as Minato turns it down.

Naruto, after learning Sakura is the new three tails jinchuriki hopes to convince her to join them. Sakura is called out to a delivery thats happening outside the village (the birth of Rin), where she’s confronted by a masked man from another village. Sasuke and Minato are called to the scene for the emergency, and Naruto is looked at by his two friends and father in the same way the village looked at him for years and is brought into a rage, unleashing the nine tails. Zetsu releases the three tails from Sakura, Minato reseals the three tails into baby Rin, and Sakura manages to survive via the 100 healings technique (which used three tails chakra alongside her own). But for a moment two tailed beasts were released near the village. The nine tails return is seen as its regeneration and a reminder that Naruto is dead which causes Minato to leave the village. (<- Everything here is briliant!)

Sakura is kept the three tails jinchuriki, while keeping the truth of Rin a secret to avoid another attack. She begins her teaching program for this who show incredible chakra control.

Danzo then begins the massacre of the Uchiha clan with his secret service. Sasuke stops it and kills Danzo, (hell yeah) and his service is disbanded freeing Sai and Yamato (HELL YEAH) into the regular ranks and anbu instead. This happens when Obito is seven and he loss his grandmother who had been taking care of him.

Sasuke, urged by Sakura and Tsunadae, becomes a Genin instructor after Itachi graduates academy. He is given Rin and Obito, and the final exception to the graduation rule by one year, Kakashi.

Kakashi father was killed but I don’t exactly know how… (R.I.P. Sakumo)

Sasuke takes a similar approach to Minato but he’s colder, and the team has plenty of visits from Sakura. Sasuke has the eternal mongekyou sharingan, and preserved his father’s eyes (at the time to keep them from Danzo, but it turned out useful when he started going blind). He has one arm and a sword and is very scary when he wants to be.

During the bridge maker arc, Kakashi and Obito learn that Rin is the three tails and are also vowed into silence. Obito also unlocks his sharingan for the first time.

Then the chunin exams is where it gets more fleshed out again. Gaara of the sand is promised to be in attendence, so Naruto finds this a great time to strike. Undercover, Naruto disguises himself as a Genin age student from Amegakure, with two other Genin from the hidden rain, as students of Jiraya. He makes friends with our new team seven as their Kabuto influence. He plans to get close to Gaara to convince him to join them. During the finals, Gaara and Shikaku go crazy and are pursued by Naruto, Jiraya and team seven. Naruto convinces Gaara to leave with him, but in the process reveals who he is to Sasuke. (This is so cool too, with Naruto acting like Kabuto and the Ame team, but ow I can't help but wish Naruto and Gaara were still the same age ;u;)

In the attack, Tsuandae and Sakura use their healing slugs to help all those who are injured. Sasuke, upon learning Naruto is alive, goes out with Kakashi and Obito to retrieve Minato and bring him back to the village.

Everything from here gets iffy… at some point Naruto’s plan turns dark as he has to revive the ten tails, and all the jinchuriki he saved will sorta end up dying… but Naruto doesn’t want to be like the people that abused them so he’s trying to find another way but isn’t very successful as of yet. Although, Sakura is mildly the key seeing as she overcame it.

I think Zetsu probably lied to him about Sakura either dying or about the information of the three tails being n the hidden leaf was false. But idk. At some point Kakashi invents purple chidori, and Obito unlocks Kamui, and Rin becomes a perfect jinchuriki. And I hope during the war I can implement the revival jutsu thing and bring Kushina back for a bit. But that’s as far as I got.

Naruto actually goes to the village the first time to retrieve the key to his seal from his father, and Sakura is just an accident that happens from Naruto’s chakra release that messes with Sakuras seal. He didn’t know she was a jinchuriki but believed he killed her.

Jeriaya and Minato are close as friends rather than student and mentor, since they are relatively the same age in this AU.

Some moments in these final part makes me wonder if Naruto would just go mad trying to get his plan to work, like it ISN'T working and there are a lot of holes but he insists on it to the point where, idk, he does actually sacrifice the other jinchuuriki for example... Does this make sense?

Oh man your big bro Sasuke ask sent me spiraling back into my own AU I made after finishing Naruto I called the Team 7 swap.

It was a swap between Team Minato and Team 7 which switch places and timelines. Naruto took over Obitos place raised by his father during the second and third Shinobi war and founded/joined the Akatsuki under Black Zetsus puppetry planning to get all the tailed beasts together to destroy their collective villages. He uses his Talk no jutsu to convince a lot of people to join him.

Sakura was made the three tails jinchuriki and because of her and Sasukes collective smarts, she was placed under a genjutsu before reaching the village and Minato helped reseal the three tails safely. She is now head of the healing department, under lady fourth and teaching young students to implement Tsunadaes plans for each team to have a healing nin.

Sasuke stayed in the village and wound up a Genin instructor to take on three students. Danzo did the Uchiha massacre but Sasuke was able to stop it before everyone died, but it was still a huge blow to his clan and most of the men died. Luckily, Danzos actions were enough to get him killed. He has his younger brother Itachi, a prodigy in his own right. His genin students are Kakashi, son of the white fang, Obito, one of the last Uchiha, and Rin, a promising healing kunoichi with a dark secret.

Jariya joins the Akatsuki with their justice and peace ambitions after seeing Naruto’s potential and reuniting with Konan, Yahiko and Nagato. Orochimaru doesn’t leave the village, being inspired by Sasukes growth to stick around. Tsunadae also doesn’t leave, inspired by Sakuras growth. Minato however, does leave the village after losing his son and wife, and goes into a drunken gambling fit, becoming a shell of what was once the yellow flash of the leaf. He’ll have a built in redemption to replace the Tsunadae arc.

Okay okay, but what happens to Naruto and Jiraya? How does the Ame trio work here? What is little Rin's big secret? Does three tails Sakura fight as well?? How stressed is Sasuke-sensei? I have so many questions, please tell me you're writing it sonewhere??

[captnjacksparrow]

Hello!

What do you think about Itachi’s redemption?

I’ve seen a lot people arguing on this topic. Some people say that he has to admit massacring his clan was wrong and that after his death he still a konohas cog and others say he did all he could and as Sasuke could forgive him that was enough.

Was he really redeemed in your opinion?

Considering In-Universe logic, Itachi is rotting in hell by willingly tarnishing his name and was called as ‘Traitor’, ‘Biggest Villain’ and whatnot.

“That’s a divine punishment!, The destiny of someone who accomplished such evil deeds!!!.... He is the biggest villain who ever appeared in Konoha’s history!”

Nagato nuked Konoha into a desert and then later, in order to make amends for what he did, he brought back everyone he killed during that Battle. He had an Audience (entire village) who saw for what he was.

Obito is the Main Villain of this Story. He was the one who was responsible for every sufferings Naruto and Sasuke was put through... And yet, he did something good towards the very end to make amends for everything he did so far and went to Ninja Heavens with Rin. Again, he had an audience (Team 7 & Rikkudou Sennin & all the Tailed Beasts). 

Whereas unlike Obito & Nagato, Itachi did everything to protect the Village from Uchiha Clan’s coup detat & Akatsuki..... and yet no one knows anything about it except for those 2 old crows (I don’t know whether they are alive) and Sasuke, Naruto, Killer Bee, Jugo, Suigetsu, Orochimaru, Kabuto, Kakashi, Yamato... Canonically, Nobody knew anything about who stopped the Edo Tensei either other than handful of few people... 

The entire point is, this truth should not be known to anyone at any cost otherwise Uchiha’s name will be thrown into the Garbage forever. 

That whole Edo Tensei thing was all about Itachi making amends for his failure.

He annihilated his own clan in exchange for Sasuke’s life and protected the village & also stopped the war by himself... But, He lied to Sasuke about everything and because of that lie, Sasuke turned into a criminal by joining Akatsuki, Kidnapped Killer Bee and attacked Gokage summit... Which started the 4th Shinobi World War.... And Sasuke ended up planning to destroy Konoha.... 

Itachi was the indirect responsibility of starting the war he tried so hard to stop and almost created a threat to the Village which he tried so hard to protect.

Which means HE FAILED. 

It’s this failure he wanted to make amends for. And that’s why he left Madara and Sasuke in Naruto’s hands and wanted to stop Edo Tensei as a means to stop the War. Sasuke just happened to meet him accidentally and he learned about Itachi’s feelings & got to see the truth. It was never about Itachi’s Redemption for UCM anyway.

Some people say that he has to admit massacring his clan was wrong and that after his death he’s still a konoha’s cog and others say he did all he could and as Sasuke could forgive him that was enough.

Uchiha Apologists, Sasuke stannies and Anti Konoha stans, eh??? They always project themselves too much without understanding the context.

Since when did Itachi ever said Massacring his Clan was right???? At any time????

Then what about this Panel??? 

“I want to be judged and dealt with only by another Uchiha”

He did an unforgivable crime and then he was killed by his brother, rightfully. He died bearing the name of a ‘Traitor’.... What else do they want??? How many times they want him to suffer for the same crime???

And also... What was that ‘Konoha’s Cog’ about??? Are they really dumb?? It’s precisely for this reason, there is an entire Arc dedicated to ‘The Meaning behind Konoha’ where Sasuke went to the Hokages to know about Itachi’s feelings. I think they should go and watch it again. That whole flashback was all about ‘Why people go so far for this Village??’

Plus, they seem to forget some very very important panels. Hadn’t Itachi massacred his own Clan, Sasuke would be dead already. 

Firstly, Uchiha Clan was doomed to be annihilated (including Sasuke), if they had attempted the Coup. Itachi could do nothing about it when that happens... other than watch it as a spectator... 

“Whether the war happens or not... Once they’ve tried to make a Coup d’etat the Uchiha will necessarily be annihilated.... You unknowing Little Brother Included... But by acting before it happens, he can be saved...”

And the reason Danzo gives for this statement is...

“If the coup happens... You younger Brother will see everything too... He will see his whole clan be destroyed by a shinobi of the leaf and will unmistakably want to get revenge on the Village... And in that case he will have to be killed too...”

So, Danzo gives Itachi two choices....

Stand with Uchiha & die along with your clan (including his parents & Sasuke).

Or Stand with Konoha, save your Brother before the coup happens.

This is a Catch-22 situation where he didn't have any easy option.

“Itachi... It will surely be a painful mission for you... But in return, You can save your brother...”

Itachi prioritized Sasuke & the Village over his Parents & the Clan. So, What are they blaming him for, yet??? For prioritizing Sasuke over his Parents???

And also, Did Sasuke ever blamed Itachi for Killing his Parents or Slaughtering his Clan at any time???? Can they show atleast one panel where Sasuke accusing Itachi for that crime?? Oh, I mean after knowing the Truth.... 

Well, They can't... Because there's none.

Sasuke only blamed Itachi on two occasions for the same reason...

“You were the one who changed everything about me!!”

“I turned out this way only because of you!!”

“Sasuke... It’s my fault that you became what you are now... I’m not really in the position for criticizing your decision..”

He was also not saying, “I did it only for the good of you...”.. He accepts his wrong-doings and failures... And knowing all these, he left Sasuke in Naruto’s hands.

Even then, Itachi clearly said, “You don’t have to forgive me”. 

Whatever reasons they are accusing Itachi for, it was already addressed by himself multiple times and he suffered so much for it. There’s nothing left from Itachi’s side to do anything... 

Itachi was never redeemed for the UCM thing. He marked his own death, the day he committed that Sin and died as a Traitor despite his act saved many people. He never wanted to be redeemed for changing Sasuke’s life either.... Because he knew what he did was wrong. That whole Edo Tensei thing was to stop the War, Itachi had started indirectly through Sasuke.

[depressedhatakekakashi]

Suna! Kakashi AU sounds super interesting!

Like, would Kakashi's dad still be Sakumo or some other fella from the Hidden Sand?

If Sakumo's still his dad and also living in Suna, does he fight the war on Suna's side and survive? Would Rasa eventually see him as a threat-- maybe because Sakumo's trying to help Gaara-- and assassinate him?

Since Sakumo never killed Sasori's parents, does this mean Sasori never went mad and joined the Akatsuki? Are Lady Chiyo and Sakumo close war buddies in this AU, and if they are, would Sasori, Komushi, and Kakashi be childhood friends?

Does Gai replace Kakashi in Minato's genin squad? Man, I have nothing but questions lol XD

Ohhh so many questions and i love it!

I never actually thought of who replaced Kakahs i on team Minato but Asuma or Gai seem the best options tbh, with Gai being an awesome choice cuz him and Obito would just feed each other’s energy and Minato is SO TIRED

Sakumo is actually still a Konoha shinobi in the original au but i love the idea of him being a Suna shinobi and actually aiding Suna. Imagine the troubles that would cause Konoha.

Hiruzen pulling out his hair because Suna has a shinobi stronger than the Sannin! He’s losing his mind

Sakumo and Jiraiya fought once and it was damn close but Jiraiya almost didn’t come home.

Maybe Sakumo kills one of Kakashi’s gen parents instead of Sasori’s parents

Kakashi and Sasori getting along and actually being close, with Kakashi looking up to Sasori as a ‘Senpai’.

Ahhh the possibilities!!!

[thecopynin-kakashi]

Kakashi watches the sleeping child, the request somewhat surprising but met with no resistance. His own bleeding heart would not have left the kid ignored if the worst was to happen but he could at least appreciate, and respect, Deidara's priorities.

"Whatever happens, I'll make sure he's taken care of."

Part of him says this was one small favor that could be owed due to his infiltration of the Akatsuki and the falsehood he exhibited for months, but on the other hand, Kakashi had to admit he had grown rather fond of the child over the course of their travels already.

"Try to get some rest, yeah?"

He knew Deidara likely wouldn't, but he urges him nonetheless before he rises and joins his ANBU in locking down the vicinity. Any threat would be detected and dispatched with ease but thankfully their night would be an uneventful one.

in the past, kakashi would have probably had to drag deidara to konoha kicking and screaming and most likely not even in one piece considering his penchant for explosives (which he still has, mind you). but now, deidara went along grudgingly yet calmly, because he did not want akira to see the person in the world he loved the most be treated cruelly because of his behavior.

akira shifts his position, trying to get more comfortable in his sleep, and deidara shifts his own seated position slightly until the boy stills. he's still listening intently to kakashi, however, his eye not leaving his face. lip-reading is nigh impossible when the person you're with has a mask on, but he spent enough time around masked folk to get the gist of things.

"....i bet the hidden stone wanted my head, hm," deidara says when kakashi is done speaking, the corners of his lips twitching downward in annoyance. "especially old man oonoki, after the shit that i pulled."

deidara pauses, and shuffles off his jacket, draping it gently over akira so the boy can stay comfortably warm as he slept peacefully without knowing what would come. "i've got no intention of creating more massive art unless the situation calls for it, which doesn't seem that likely at this point, yeah? but....if all else fails and i end up in prison, and even if i'm still a little pissed at you, i...i'd like you to at least keep an eye on akira, hm. he likes you."

if sasori were still around, deidara would trust him marginally more than kakashi to keep an eye on him--sure, sasori probably wasn't going to be the best babysitter around, but he could keep a three-year-old alive and happy for a period of time. kakashi at least seems decent with kids.

[momowho34]

Time for another naruto au post that so long and complicated it might aswell be a fic in and of itself. Why am I like this :,) Naruto au where Itachi runs away from the village with Sasuke in tow and doesn’t leave him behind. Also Itachi is a little older then a teenager because it makes more sense. Buckle up this is a long one.

Itachi refuses to kill his family and runs to warn them but when he gets there everybody’s dead except for Sasuke, (who witnessed the whole thiNG OOPSY-) so he takes him and runs for their lives.

Itachi joins the akatsuki but uhhhhh now there’s a four year old tagging along and Itachi’s too scary for anybody to mention it.

Imagine the fluff and angst potential with the akatsuki oooooof there’s so much omg

At first they all think it’s super annoying but within like two days they would all gladly die for this kid. Seriously they were pretty sure their hearts were made of stone at this point but apparently not.

Kisame is surprisingly really good with kids, partly because he appears fairly calm on the outside without being too standoffish so Sasuke likes him best. Also Kisame could happily play peek-a-boo for the rest of his life he likes the small things

Kakazu is awful with kids but sasuke likes him anyway and he hates it (not really) Hidan.... really doesn’t know what to do. He’s never cared about another person in his life, okay? He kind of wants to kill the small child but he knows Itachi would steal his fucking knee caps and bury him at the bottom of the ocean so he doesn’t even mention it ever

Sasori is the mom when Itachi isn’t around. They would all feed him candy until he fucking died if Sasori didn’t stop that. Sasori is also the one to go “oh my GOD Deidara you can’t dare him to climb that mountain he could fall and hit his head no I don’t care about that deidaRA HE IS SEVEN YEARS OLD ITACHI IS GOING TO KILL YOU WHEN HE GETS HOME MARK MY WORDS—“

Tobi likes to blame all of his mistakes on Sasuke as a joke. Also they all teach Sasuke bits of their fighting styles so he becomes even more formidable and all of them are kind of freaked out by how quickly he masters their techniques

When he’s too young to tag along on missions he has to stay with Konan and Pain. He really values Konan because she’s really the only one of them who treats him like a person instead of a stupid child that needs protection.

“He costs too much,” Kakazu says. “He shouldn’t be here, what about how much it costs for him to stay with us” all while consistently finding room in the budget to get the kid anything and everything even though he’s fairly low maintenance to take care of

When Itachi arrives, everybody tries to disregard the rumors paired with Sasuke being there. Because of Itachi’s overall demeanor and Sasuke’s refusal to talk about it, they assume that he killed his family but didn’t kill his little brother for some reason

...And then Sasuke starts having nightmares. Like loud, screaming and crying in the middle of the night nightmares. Every time it happens, Itachi wakes up, calm and collected, and holds him until he falls asleep again. They all start having doubts about Itachi really killing his family.

Itachi doesn’t really hold a grudge against Konoha, but he didn’t see the whole family die like Sasuke did. Sasuke wants revenge, and he’s dead set on it.

Okay yeah but what abt the actual plot and stuff??? Don’t worry I’m there.

So a while later after that during Naruto’s three year journey (which he still takes with Jiraiya because he needs training to fight Orochimaru who is still a big threat btw) he meets this weird black haired kid staying at the same hotel he is.

Turns out they’ve both got caretakers who are absent (Jiraiya’s at a brothel somewhere and Kisame and Itachi are off killing some guy) which sucks so they bond over that and compare abilities and beat the shit out of eachother a little and develop a mini rival complex all of that but then

“Wow you’re so cool! You fight just like a ninja! You should come back with me!” Naruto laughs one day. Sasuke asks “Back to where?” And Naruto’s like “back to the leaf village of course! I’m a leaf village ninja, I’m out here training with my sensei! I forgot that I left my headband in the room, I can show it to you.” But Sasuke just gets really pale and runs off and Naruto doesn’t see him for the rest of the trip.

He thought he’d never see him again but then Sasuke gets separated from the Akatsuki members reeeaaaallly far away from their base and Konoha. As he’s trying to figure out what to do, a certain ninja crew happens to be in town. Naruto is like “omfg I know this kid!!!!!!!! Hey Sasuke!!!!! Hey Sasukeeeee!!!!!”

Sasuke is like o-o but then he starts to consider his options. If anybody figures out about his sharingan, he’s straight up fucked. His eyes are gone, he probably gets murdered. Naruto is like “what r u doing here????” And sasuke spins a fairly convincing story

He’s like “oh yeah and I know my way around this place so I can help you out could I maybe seek asylum in your village maybe??? I could be helpful” just so he can head in the general direction of Konoha and hopefully get closer to his base along the way.

So Kakashi begrudgingly agrees and Sasuke tries not to burn alive because he’s in the general proximity of leaf soldiers that he fucking hates and he will not grow attached to any of them at all no siree, not at all, no way!

Sasuke begins to grow close to them, of course. Sai and Sasuke do goth shenanigans and he fights with Naruto and tries to get Sakura to leave him alone (what is up with her why is she being so weird?)

Oh bonus angst: Tobi used to talk in his sleep sometimes, and at some point Sasuke drops “those who break the rules are scum, but those who leave their friends behind are worse then scum” casually and Kakashi almost has a full blown panic attack.

This is when he first realizes something is seriously up with this kid; and his first name sounds... familiar. His suspicions are just suspicions until they run into Orochimaru. Now Orochimaru could just out Sasuke as akatsuki, instead he plays with his feelings a little bit. He keeps saying things like “how does it feel to fight on the same side as your enemies for once?” And “have you forgotten already?” They defeat him without Sasuke revealing his sharingan but the jig is up in Kakashi’s mind.

Kakashi doesn’t quite connect the dots; but he’s almost there. Whoever this kid is, they’re coming back to the village for sure. It’s the safest thing to do. Meanwhile the Akatsuki are freaking out. Itachi is unhinged and almost grieving, they have no idea where Sasuke could be. The team is out in full force; including Tobi

And you know, Obito doesn’t care. He shouldn’t care, nothing matters in this false reality. It just doesn’t. Tobi might have given a shit about Sasuke, but Tobi isn’t real. He’s just a front, Tobi doesn’t exist. So why is he looking so hard for this stupid kid that he shouldn’t give a shit about? Obito convinces himself it’s just a front, it’s just part of Tobi’s act, but it’s not. What’s happening to him? Why is starting to feel things now, so deep into the plan?

Annnnnndddd that’s as far as I got with it lmao. That’s still pretty fucking far tho

[mixelation]

Everybody Knows/Mistaken for Couple and Flirting Under Fire for Sakura and Ino... pls 🙏

Okay, this is a missing-nin!Ino AU because villain Ino is such a sexy concept that I think it would deal psychic damage to Sakura.

I’m thinking that Ino, who is NOT a front-line fighter, maybe joins a missing-nin group. Maybe it’s Akatsuki? I can’t decide. But she is constantly going out of her way to look up Sakura. 

Sakura goes on a disaster relief mission to a small town? Ino is there. 

Team 7 goes on an escort mission? Ino is there. 

Sakura takes a courier mission? Ino crawls into her tent is there. 

The meetings always go the same way. Ino prepares herself by unzipping her her shirt to ridiculous levels shows up, just out of range of any attacks, poses sexily and then just. Mocks Sakura. Hello forehead~ I can see your split ends from here~

Sakura ALWAYS ends up red in the face and blustering and ranting for days about all the things she’s going to do to Ino. How she’s going to pin her down and rub her face into the ground. How she’s going to yank Ino’s stupid shiny hair and fuck up her perfect make-up. 

Sasuke, internally: W o w, I’m gay. 

Kakashi: (focuses VERY hard on his book, determined not to listen)

Sai: I don’t get it? Why did Naruto run off to the showers?

Sakura also gets really upset when Ino doesn’t show up. What, she thinks she can just ignore Sakura? Just because Ino left the village, doesn’t mean their rivalry is over!

Whatever other missing-nin Ino is working with is also like..... why. Why is this happening to me. 

Ino’s partner: What are you doing? You’re wasting time. 

Ino: (putting on the EXPENSIVE lipstick) Sakura’s in Rice Country. 

Partner: The pink-haired girl? What if this time we didn’t go bother her?

Ino: (rolling up her skirt so it’s several inches shorter than normal)

Ino: Don’t be silly. 

On one of Sakura’s solo missions, Ino gets closer than she ever has before not counting the time she crawled into Sakura’s tent. Sakura can see individual eyelashes and smell her shampoo. 

Ino, several inches taller and looking Sakura a l l the way up and down: Hmm, you’re even smaller up close, Forehead~ Never got your growth spurt?

Sakura: I could still snap you like a twig.

Ino: I’m sure you could. :)

Anyway, the meeting is interrupted by some sort of Mutual Threat. There’s a very dramatic explosion, and Sakura grabs Ino on impulse, flips her over and rolls them into the cover of a bush. Sakura, still covering Ino with her body, starts searching the area for the threat. 

(Ino, pushing against Sakura’s chest ineffectually: Oh no~ Let me go~ I hate this~)

Eventually Ino wiggles out from under Sakura and they both try to figure out wtf is going on, because people are throwing exploding kunai at them. The run into some sort of issue where Ino can sense where people are, but Sakura can’t. Ino doesn’t have the combat skills to take on a bunch of shinobi at once, but Sakura does. So Sakura has to let Ino mind-jutsu her so Ino can coordinate attacks while Sakura punches. 

Ino, all up in Sakura’s mind: Aaaw, how much of this is devoted to me, Forehead?

Sakura: SHUT UP AND TELL ME WHAT TO PUNCH

Ino: Your punching face is so ugly. <3

Sakura: >:(

Ino: But your butt is cute. :3c

Sakura: (misses and punches down a tree by accident)

After the fight is over, Ino still looks fresh as a daisy and Sakura is sweaty and covered in dirt and twigs and a little bit of blood. Ino teases her (You’re such a mess, Forehead~) and Sakura snaps back that some kunoichi actually have to do work!

Then Ino reaches forward and very gently starts picking leaves and twigs off of Sakura. She runs her hands through her hair and smooths it down. She straightens Sakura’s clothes. She wipes away blood. Then she says, “Some kunoichi aren’t savages with giant foreheads.”

Sakura snaps. She grabs Ino. She follows through on all her fantasies about wrestling Ino to the ground and rubbing her face in things which are NOT the ground and fucking up her make-up. Ino ends up looking like more of a mess than Sakura, and she’s very pleased with this. 

THE END

[theheirofthesharingan]

Wow, it's like you read literally nothing of manga or watched the anime, because it has all been explained in detail. Anyway, since you said you were open to being corrected, I will offer alternate take on this.

Perpetrator. If he’s a victim, then every war criminal is a victim in that they believed too much in a system lied to them.

He is a victim. Also a martyr. He was a kid who was powerful, but with no authority of his own. The entirety of Sasuke's flashbacks are filled with Fugaku never letting him speak, never listening to him, and never offering him an emotional support. His only friend committed suicide, who had a plan to stop the coup. Let's not pretend an eleven year old child should have been completely okay with watching his friend commit suicide in front of him. This is also when he was traumatized enough from watching war at the age of four. How exactly does this detail skip the "Itachi is so evil" crowd? How?

This right here is Danzo threatening Itachi.

This is Hiruzen confirming that he put Itachi through hell and made him commit the crime.

My Itachi lore is rusty, but if he really was the only one powerful and smart enough to destroy the Uchiha, then he had nothing to fear from not doing it unless he also believed the Uchiha were inherently a threat by existing.

Except, it wasn't just Itachi who killed the clan. It was Obito who helped him. He neither thought the clan was a threat nor did he hate them. The coup was a terrible, shortsighted idea that would have started the war eventually. In case you're wondering how, so here it is - coup is forcefully taking the power. The clan that was already hated and seen with fear, how would the Uchiha convince they weren't in the wrong for forcefully kicking Hiruzen out? That's not to say the clan was wrong for wanting equality, but that the coup would have caused more damage. And Itachi, as a 12 year old child, was given the "option" to prevent it. If you want to blame someone for the massacre the blame goes to Danzo, Hiruzen, and Fugaku. Fugaku realized his mistake before dying.

Even assuming he was a martyr for committing the massacre

He isn't a martyr for committing the massacre. He is a martyr for taking on the blame of a crime and having to take up the responsibility of a problem that was always adults' business, not a child's. He turned 13 sometime after the massacre. He was dragged into this mess by adults without his consent who offered him no support. Then the lack of literally any support from his family was also a cause he got manipulated by Danzo. More on his family dymaic here.

I don’t remember anybody forcing him to join the Akatsuki

He joined the Akatsuki not because someone "forced" him to but because that was the organization that gave him the shelter after he went rogue. The second SS I shared above is the reason. He joined it to keep tabs on them so they don't attack Konoha. It worked. Imagine Konoha being attacked while Naruto was 12 years old to capture him? It didn't happen because they had a pact with Itachi. More on Itachi as a spy here.

or torture Sasuke/Kakashi. Correct me if I’m wrong, of course

Circumstances did. They're ninja, and they can take the shit normal people, the civilians in the Shinobi world, cannot take. Tsunade poisoned Jiraiya, not with the intent to kill, of course, but still. More on his and Sasuke's part here. To add to this link: Jiraiya had already made up his mind to train Naruto but he realized the gravity of the threat once Itachi "attacked" the village.

but Itachi was painted too evil at the beginning of the series to convince me he was innocent in the end.

He isn't meant to be innocent. He's a victim of a system and has gray morals who had to make impossibly hard choices his whole life. The narrative never says he's a good guy. He's still seen as a genocidal maniac even in Boruto. No one other than Sasuke, Kakashi, Naruto, and Killer Bee knows he stopped Edo Tensei. He is also called out for his treatment towards Sasuke.

He had to repeatedly choose between what's the worst and what's worse. War or massacre? Sasuke's safety or happiness? He chose what was 'worse' and took their full responsibility all the same. He could have blamed Hiruzen, his own parents, or the village for his miseries, but he didn't. He's a perpetrator because of the lack of options not because it's who he is. If it was the case, he wouldn't have considered dying at Sasuke's hands to avenge the clan or to forcefully prolonge his life in order to die at Sasuke's hands.

Someone in the replies mentioned he was retconned. No, he wasn't. There's enough evidence in manga and anime both suggesting otherwise. The problem being people mistake Naruto world for ours and then judge it based on the emotional/mental strength of the irl people. There's more to Itachi has been hinted as early as Team 7's first training with Kakashi and then also chapter 137, Sasuke's flashbacks during his fight against Gaara.

11/16 :3

Controversial Ask Meme

11) Is Itachi a martyr, a victim, or a perpetrator?

Perpetrator. If he’s a victim, then every war criminal is a victim in that they believed too much in a system lied to them. My Itachi lore is rusty, but if he really was the only one powerful and smart enough to destroy the Uchiha, then he had nothing to fear from not doing it unless he also believed the Uchiha were inherently a threat by existing. Even assuming he was a martyr for committing the massacre, I don’t remember anybody forcing him to join the Akatsuki or torture Sasuke/Kakashi. Correct me if I’m wrong, of course, but Itachi was painted too evil at the beginning of the series to convince me he was innocent in the end.

16) Is Tobirama racist against the Uchiha?

This shouldn’t be controversial. Yes. He was absolutely prejudiced against the Uchiha. His distrust of the Uchiha because they were Uchiha was a key aspect of his character.

[the-creative-lounge-blog]

Third Shift Kakashi - A Lounge Round Robin Story

In this modern AU in-server event for November, Loungers tell the tale of Kakashi's night shift at a convenience store/gas station one sentence at a time.

What is a round robin story? A round robin story is a story that is written by multiple people. Participants take turns contributing a sentence. The last sentence is sent to the next person, who adds their sentence, and then the process repeats through an established amount of time (our event lasted one week).

Participants in Third Shift Kakashi were contacted via DM with the last sentence, and they replied with one new sentence.

Often, round robin stories don’t make sense and they’re meant to make us laugh. To ensure this, a ridiculous topic was chosen from among the MANY fantastic plot bunnies that are Kakashi Lounge-originals:

Third shift Kakashi: Our favorite tired ninja dork punches in at 10pm to begin his third shift at the 7-11 (or Speedway, Circle K, Kwik Trip, or your country's equivalent of a 24-hour gas station/convenience store). Strange things happen during his nightshift but participants decide what those things are. The Slurpee machine gains sentience. Ōtsutsuki aliens land in the parking lot. Cheeto-fingers Obito tries to steal jerky. Deidara tries to use a fake ID to buy beer. Granny Chiyo comes in and pays with pennies. Any and all of these are believable occurrences from 10pm-6am, and more. The weirder, the better.

The only rules were to keep it rated T, and no romantic pairings.

This dumpster fire masterpiece of a round robin story was written by: @maiikawriter, @fleuraison7, Kitera_Matar, /vastments, @mouseymightymarvellous, @thetoxicstrawberry, @myaekingheart, @mallml, @nibbler747, @syusukewrites, @asiriyep, @azuzel23, @tenzosnewleaf, and @hkandiu (all contributed sentences are in italics and each are double-spaced) with opening and closing paragraphs written by @ohayohimawari:

Kakashi sighed as he punched in twelve minutes late to his shift. He’d been late enough times to warrant a written warning from management, but that threat was nothing compared to what he experienced during his overnight shifts at Konoha’s 24/7 convenience store. He pulled his book out of his back pocket with more hope than expectation that he’d actually find time to read amidst the strange things that occurred between 10 pm and 6 am. 

Yukiko and her lover were just getting around to second base and ready to confess their love in this chapter when he’d had to leave for work.

Kakashi pocketed the worn Icha Icha volume reluctantly, hoping for a quiet shift so that he could dive into it again later, and took his prepared bag to head out to his workplace.

Kakashi walked through the store, prepared bag in hand, Icha Icha in his pocket, and sighed as he saw the repeat customer hovering by the front counter.

“No, Naruto, we still haven’t received the limited edition Gutsy Shinobi ramen cups; I told you I’ll call you if we get them.”

Kakashi never heard Naruto’s reply, because his voice was suddenly drowned out by the deep growl of engines pulling into the station, and any hope he had for an uneventful shift was dashed just as quickly as Naruto’s chance of indulging in the delicious goodness of Gutsy Shinobi ramen with the arrival of the Akatsuki Biker Gang.

The group of delinquents strolled into the store as if they owned the place, all sporting matching black leather jackets with red cloud patches on the shoulders and back--an omen that things were about to go south very quickly.

Without seeming to lift his eyes from his book, Kakashi sighed to himself as he watched them clumsily stuff candy bars and Slim Jims under their jackets... were the Akatsuki having an initiation night?

Should he bother confronting them?  The long expired Slim Jims they were about to partake in might be punishment enough.

Kakashi put on his best fake customer service smile and didn't say anything - whatever they were stealing, he wasn't paid enough to care.

He sighed. ‘Sir, if you lick the candy bars one more time it’s a week ban. Not so funny when you can’t get those stale nachos, huh?’

Just to prove his point, and maybe because he was feeling a bit exasperated by now, Kakashi carefully unwrapped a candy bar of his own and inhaled the whole thing in two seconds beneath his mask - leaving the visitor stunned, staring wide-eyed with new appreciation at the silver-haired man’s obvious authority on the subject of candy-bar licking.

"Ew," Naruto reminded Kakashi of his presence at the same time that Deidara tried to sneak a six-pack of Budweiser beneath his shirt, so he changed tack to deal with the Akatsuki Biker Gang because he wanted to keep his loyal customers.

Although, 'loyal customers' was a bit of a stretch at times; yes, they frequented the place often, but more often than not they also gave him quite the headache.

He was too tired for this shit at this hour of the day. 

Kakashi did what he was best at - feigning boredom and being unaffected by what was happening in the hope that the problem solved itself.

Kakashi pulled out his beloved Icha Icha and proceeded to hide behind the vivid orange cover as he ignored the problem happening in front of him.

The Akatsuki biker gang couldn’t be so easily ignored, as Hidan proved when he snatched the orange book from Kakashi’s hand.

“I’m sorry, sir,” Kakashi said pleasantly, his best customer service smile sharp as blades under his mask, “but that’s not for sale.”

Hidan squinted and flipped the book sideways in a gesture that made Kakashi think he had never held a book before, let alone read one, and Kakashi’s eyes flicked to the closed-circuit camera in the corner as he contemplated forgoing his service training in order to retrieve it, but stopped when he noticed the suspicious red smudges that the man’s fingertips left behind on the cover of his cherished Icha Icha.

It was too bright to be anything ominous - in fact, it matched the same shade as the cherry-flavored Slurpee they offered - but Kakashi wasn’t about to let Hidan slide on stealing a mouthful of frozen delight, or marring his favorite book, so he growled, “You owe me two dollars for the drink and a new copy of Icha-Icha.”

"Two dollars!--look, I'd pay ya, but my partner's a real Stooge [sic] with the purse strings... how 'bout I make it up to you in the stock room instead, if you know what I mean?" the gray-haired religious fetishist suggested with a waggle of eyebrows.

Kakashi considered the offer as it would lessen his shift duties and afford more time to read, however, just then his, Naruto’s, and every head belonging to the Akatsuki biker gang turned to the main entrance when the cheerful ding sounded announcing the arrival of another repeat customer, Granny Chiyo, with her fists full of scratch-off lottery tickets.

Granny Chiyo, was a legend not just for being the bad-ass take no names grandmother of one of the more dangerous Akatsuki gang members, but also for being thrifty.  She slammed the scratch off lottery tickets on the counter, and reached into her jacket and pulled out Kakashi's most dreaded item - the jar of pennies.

She placed the jar on the counter with a loud clunk before reaching inside and pulling out pennies one by one, counting them on the counter under her breath. "This will only take a moment" she assured him, "I want to be precise!"

Kakashi took in the mayhem around him with a glazed 100-meter stare.  There'd been worse nights, right? No machetes yet, right? All he needed was to make it to break time and have a smoke. 10 minutes.. Kakashi inhaled deeply and cleared his throat 'Take ALL the time you need Ma'am.'  He shouldn't get involved right? He needed to man the till, right?

Kakashi smiled at Chiyo who was determined to pay for her weird collection of knickknacks with a gajillion pennies, but couldn't help glancing at the security camera that showed an energetic teenager mid-dance battle with the local biker gang; the only thing more bizarre would be Gai showing up to join them and to be honest he wouldn't be surprised.

The universe was not about to pass over an opportunity like that; if Kakashi had learned anything in his long years, it was that the best way to handle the sudden burst of GREEN and NOISE that assaulted his senses (out of seemingly nowhere) was to remain calm and tip a casual “Yo” to his rival while keeping an eye on Chiyo, the teenager, the biker gang, and the dance battle all at once... Gai would probably join the dance battle in a few minutes anyway.

Because, hello my dear, he wasn't going to leave his dignity in pieces. Better dead than ridiculous ... Although maybe ...?

He ran a hand through his already unruly hair as he rolled his shoulders, getting ready for whatever lay ahead; a quick glance at the clock confirmed his shift still had a long ways to go.

There was no time to relax when the biker gang was already making a move on some products, thinking he wouldn’t notice.

Kakashi decided that losing his job over a bunch of tough dudes acting like broke teenagers wasn't worth it, so he strode over to them first; maybe Gai would help him if they got violent - not that Kakashi would need help with that though.

And that was when it all exploded as Gai joined the dance battle causing them to knock over a display onto the Akatsuki teenage biker gang who exploded in rage causing both the aged Chiyo and Naruto to get knocked to the ground.

Kakashi in panic rushed to Naruto almost running over the old Chiyo and got out his flute then started to bang in on poor knocked-out Naruto's head, the Akatsuki teenage biker gang all nodded as they understood that it was an extremely necessary step of Cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Gai—either unconcerned, not noticing the damage, or convinced that anything can be solved with the power of dance—dropped to the ground in an impressive worm, once more pulling the attention of the Akatsuki members.

Instigated by the impromptu dance party, the eccentric masked Akatsuki member jumped up onto a tower of canned diet Coke and started beat boxing, and Kakashi could only watch in horror as Gai’s worm morphed into break dancing.

Kakashi sighed and rubbed his tired eyes from behind the counter as he watched Gai break dance down the snack aisle to the rhythm of the masked man's beatboxing, onlookers pumping their fists and cheering as another Akatsuki gang member started to rap about how "art is an explosion."

'What the hell,' was the thought that echoed through Kakashi's aching head with increasing volume; what the hell indeed?--and as he ripped off his red vest  and leapt to the top of the counter, the crowd, one by one, turned toward him and fell silent: the cheering onlookers, the masked beat-boxer, the pony-tailed blond... until, at last, the only sound and movement was the frenzied tricking of Gai as the spandex-clad man danced on, unaware.

As he crouched on the counter he wasn’t sure if he wanted to go through with this - but desperate times called for desperate measures.  He grabbed a Slim Jim and held it up as a mic.  There was only one song that would shut them up.

Kakashi started the song softly, but got louder with each word, one hand leading the dance as he ever so slightly got closer to the crowd and then- 3am really was the witching hour, huh? - the crowd joined his dance and with each Ey macarena they were inching a little closer towards the exit in perfect synchrony.

Just then, Naruto regained consciousness and after blinking several times at the chaotic crowd, exclaimed, “What happened to the old lady that was here?”

Kakashi dropped the Slim Jim mic at these words, and glanced where Chiyo had once stood only to find a list of her purchases and her payment-the jar of pennies-waiting to be counted. He ran a hand down his face, noticed the mess below the dripping slurpee machine, spied Deidara passed out in a corner with empty beer cans around him, Kisame and Itachi not-so-secretly pocketing sunglasses, while Hidan sang and Gai danced on with abandon.

Irritably grabbing the mop for what would not be the last time that night, Kakashi unceremoniously stepped over Naruto.

Kakashi briefly considered whether or not this job was really worth the $7.25 per hour it paid him, before surreptitiously mopping himself within a meter of Itachi and Kisame, who he surprised with a heavy “Thwack!” of the mop handle across the backs of both their legs, causing them each to drop a pair of sunglasses and clap their hands across their backsides to smooth the stinging sensation.

He laughed devilishly, enjoying the momentary respite  from the craziness of the shift and the antics of his so-called customers; was anyone actually buying anything tonight?

No matter, they didn’t need to, as long as they would get out.

But they just wouldn't get out, so Kakashi had to take more drastic measures - the fire alarm would get him into trouble with his employer, faking a power failure seemed like a safe option though, so he went over to the power box, turned off the main switch and listened with a deep satisfaction to the surprised screams and commotions in the shop.

“Lights are out,” Kakashi stated obviously, walking carefully back towards the register, “so if everybody could put any unpurchased items down and carefully head towards the still illuminated exit signs, that would be greatly appreciated.”

There was a moment of silence, followed by murmuring, and then the faint crumpling sound of what was either plastic encased items being set aside, or even more likely, being concealed in pockets.

While Kakashi knew that letting customers get away with stealing would come back to haunt him if and when his boss found out, at this rate he quite frankly couldn't even care--and besides, with all the lights off, he doubted the security cameras would pick up anything anyway.

As the subdued miscreants groped blindly to the door, illuminated only by the impassive green of the EXIT sign, Kakashi breathed a sigh of relief that his shift was finally winding down--that is, until the resounding BOOM that echoed from the front parking lot.

The screech of tires, the thundering bass, it was a sound he was only too familiar with -  it could only be one man.

Finally, finally the whole bunch was gone, only to be replaced by the loudest most obnoxious person he could think of, but Killer B was a regular and as such Kakashi had to endure his bad rapping.

Kakashi threw his head back and softly yeeted with fingers pointed skywards "Pew, pew pew! Fxxx my life!"

As the giant strode inside, clapped his hands on the countertop at the register and whooped “Yo! Bakayaro! Konoyaro! Kakashi, better watch me, can’t copy me, yeeeahhh!” the shopkeep wondered where this cheerful monster had been earlier, when so many folks were acting the fool (no doubt Killer Bee would have assisted him in wiping the floor with two or five of the previous visitors); “Bee, my man, you have no idea the kind of night I’ve been having...”

Unfortunately for Kakashi, Bee had become distracted by a motion sensor dancing sunflower, and took its song as a challenge for a mini rap battle.

"Yo, this flower's got moves! Look at it swaying while I spit some rad tunes!" Bee enthused and all Kakashi could manage in reply was a tired "You should've seen the dance battle earlier."

Lifting up his sunglasses to peer more closely at Kakashi's face--how was he able to see with those on in the middle of the night? the silveret wondered--B  yelled concernedly, "Yo man, feeling tired? Uninspired? Say no more! Let's hit the door!" and, heedless of Kakashi's terrified recoil, scooped the smaller man up under his arm and boogied them to his ride, parked across three spaces in the parking lot.

“What is the meaning of this?” The assistant shift supervisor, Danzo, showed up at the door, with Konoha’s 24/7 general manager, Hiruzen, right behind him. 

“Um—” Kakashi began, and ended because there was no explaining it. 

“You’re fi—” 

“I quit!” Kakashi shouted, silencing Danzo. 

Bee brandished a peace sign while Kakashi offered a much ruder gesture and the pair took off in search of an after party, or a nap. 

Just then, Naruto-whom everyone forgot about-stepped out from behind an endcap of ramen cups. “Does this mean you’re hiring?” 

Hiruzen smiled, “I’ll get you an application.”

The End

 Do you have an idea for a title? Add it in the replies to this post!

[icouldrun]

Rewriting the Uchiha Massacre and Itachi’s Story

First, I just want to say that Itachi is one of my favorite characters of all time and I was actually very sad when he died. I think the plot twist where he was actually good all along made sense… to a point. There were some weaknesses to it that made it fall a little flat and the build up was kind of there but had to be reexplained later which made the story a little weaker. There are a few ways I think Kishimoto could have done it to make it a little more consistent and a stronger plot line.

1) Up until Sasuke killed Itachi, most of the Uchiha Massacre was shown only from Sasuke’s pov, and given his age and trauma of the event, it made him somewhat of an unreliable narrator. This is great from a storytelling perspective, because it gave flexibility to the story when going to other points of view, such as Itachi’s of that night and leading up to it. Sasuke’s memory of his family is as the second son to a prestigious clan that is somewhat cold (mostly Fugaku) but still a superior clan of Konoha.

Sasuke is understandably partial to remembering it as a good place that Itachi destroyed that night. He’s romanticized his family life, and this was done further in filler episodes later in the series. The Uchiha were understandably upset with their treatment by Konoha, but like the Hyuga clan’s treatment of the lower branch family members, the Uchiha likely had skeletons in their closet. Sasuke hasn’t looked underneath the underneath, as Kakashi might have urged him to (nobody has really, regarding the massacre) and like others, believes Itachi simply snapped one day and killed their entire family. Sasuke had some clues sprinkled in front of him leading up to the massacre, but no definitive or solid reasoning to believe Itachi was anything but a psychopath.

2) One of the major problems with the Naruto universe is its use of child soldiers put into situations where it’s kill or be killed. Rather than try to change this or address it as a major problem, villages are proud of prodigies who excel at combat and mastery of jutsu. The narrative presents child solders as the norm throughout the series, but with some hints that perhaps it is a cruel and very wrong practice. Haku and Zabuza, the first major arc of the series end with Zabuza confirming that shinobi are weapons, but the flaw in their design is humanity.

Itachi, according to the narrative was a kind child who was at his heart a pacifist. The problem was that he

1)      Was a prodigy from a young age

2)      Was born into a clan that valued this superiority of combat

There was never any question about Itachi maybe not becoming a shinobi. There was no choice for him in this, and he was rushed through the academy and graduated way too young. One thing that pisses me off about both the Japanese and English voice work for Itachi is that the voice actors sound way to mature in Sasuke’s flashbacks. He was 13 but sounded like a full-grown adult and it throws off the scenes to me. Just my opinion.

His introduction in the manga he appears very young, and like Sasuke but very tired and even colder. 

3)      There were very corrupt people in charge of Konoha and who, as far as we know, were never held accountable in canon for their involvement with the Uchiha Massacre. Danzo and the 3rd Hokage died, but Koharu, and Homura are not held accountable for their involvement with the Uchiha, and whatever else they’ve been involved in.

Itachi continued to help these people even though he owed them nothing. People use this to justify Itachi as noble, but it comes off as a little weak in the narrative. Especially since it doesn’t appear that he really fed much information to Jiraiya or any other confident. It makes his time in that Akatsuki seem less as a double agent and more just hanging out until the narrative needed Sasuke to have a purpose after killing Itachi.

4)      Itachi should never have been a hero, and probably not a villain either. Rather, he should be an example of the major problems in the shinobi system. We should have been able to look at Itachi and the other examples as further emphasis on how deeply flawed the villages and shinobi really are. Itachi had a major following from the beginning and served as a major antagonist with a lot of depth and mystery surrounding him from his first introduction in Part 1.

Rewriting the Uchiha Massacre

Itachi doesn’t want to be a shinobi, but there’s not really any choice for him in the matter. Show the struggle, show him wondering what a regular life might be like during his early years, but squashing that down by the time he makes Anbu.

There’s discontent between the Uchiha and village, but Itachi’s not really involved at the start. He doesn’t want to be, and his family wants him to focus on reaching his full potential.

Shisui is very committed to the Uchiha cause and becomes Fugaku’s right hand in many ways and tries to get Itachi into the fold. They’ve always been close but there’s a rift between them when it’s clear Itachi doesn’t support the coup or doubts its ability to succeed.

Anbu is brutal and its methods and practices demand absolute compliance from members. Itachi struggles but eventually cracks under the teachings. He’s a machine, more or less.  

On a mission though, some of his humanity shines through and he fails to carry out an order right away. He’s immediately put into reconditioning and even faces punishment at home for insubordination. At some point, he starts crying and either Fugaku or somebody in Anbu calls it pathetic.

The Uchiha are putting the final touches on the coup plot when Shisui is taken by Anbu for questioning on what’s going on. He manages to escape, but Itachi (fresh from reconditioning) is ordered to kill Shisui before he can return to the compound and tell the others that Konoha is on to the plot.

Itachi kills Shisui and it’s framed as a suicide, but the work is sloppy *hint hint.

Hiruzen and the others decide to stop the Uchiha but can’t just slaughter one of their most famous clans without reasons.  They call Itachi in and order him to go through with the massacre. Still recovering from reconditioning (and maybe a little brainwashing from the Anbu) he shows almost no reaction and goes to carry out his mission.

He goes through it without much trouble, until he gets to his parents. That’s when it starts to dawn on him what he’s just done and how he obeyed orders without a second thought. The perfect shinobi but at the cost of everybody from his clan.

I’d keep a similar death of Mikoto and Fugaku as in canon, as it makes sense that they’d rather die with the clan than live having failed to stop their son or the truth of the coup come out.

Sasuke comes in, and Itachi falters again and realizes he can’t kill Sasuke even if it’s a part of his orders. He struggles with it for a minute and considers taking Sasuke and running away before Sasuke realizes Itachi is the killer and begins to freak out.

Itachi knows they’d be hunted if they left together, and that Sasuke can rebuild the clan stronger and better than before. To do that, he’s got to become stronger than Itachi, which is why he tells Sasuke to hate him and become better.

Itachi’s use of the Mangekyou Sharingan on Sasuke during the massacre was really fucked up even in canon and doesn’t really get explained in a satisfying way. Since the Mangekyou is a rare form of the Sharingan and a mystery outside the clan, he might have used it to traumatize Sasuke so deeply that the elders in the village were satisfied that Sasuke wouldn’t be a threat to them. He hates Itachi and not Konoha at this point. They’re not on his radar and that should be enough to satisfy them to let Sasuke live and rebuild a prestigious clan down the line. Any love or questions he might have had about the massacre are wiped away because of his reliving of the massacre over and over.

Itachi leaves, slowly feeling the weight of what he’s done. He’s about to go to the Hokage office to report, when he’s stopped by Madara. Rather than go to his own execution, he’s offered a chance to improve the world and end the current and failing shinobi system.

Itachi joins the Akatsuki. I honestly think he’d be a little suicidal in the first few months after the massacre but would slowly begin to accept life as missing nin. It’s somewhat liberating for somebody who’s been held down his whole life.

Understanding liberation, he wouldn’t interfere with Sasuke’s choices or repress him in any ways, including stopping him from leaving the village.

At this point, Itachi is a villain, or an anti-villain depending on how you look at it, but I think it would give a little more weight to his decisions and overall storyline.  

[this-is-my-canon]

My @kakaobiweek prompt for today, Crossover

Stowaway

Read it on Ao3 here

Obito missed the hum of the engines at times like these. He missed feeling the excitement of Akatsuki taking off into space, sending him and his crew across the galaxy on whatever job the universe landed on ‘em. These here stops at port were near intolerable for a ship’s captain. But unfortunately, they were the jobs that paid - and as much as he disapproved of his high class cousin’s profession, Itachi was a reliable and steady source of income for the crew.

While stuck picking up his noble companion of a cousin, it didn’t hurt to wrangle a few more fares. People were always lookin’ to pay their way to someplace. It was an easier way to make money than heistin’. Even Konan couldn’t argue against the benefit of it.

By the time he was finally able to launch them back into space, sending Yahiko to the controls and Kakuzu and Hidan to survey the back of the ship for any signs of chase, Obito was tired. In his exhaustion and stress, he hadn’t paid much mind to Itachi’s shuttle’s return to the ship, or what comp’ny he may have brought on board his Akatsuki. It wasn’t until he was standing at the helm, recoverin’ from a deep sleep with a hot cup of coffee cradled in his hands, that Konan pointed out a terrible fact which should’ve been brought to his attention from the beginning.

[[MORE]]

“Itachi...what now?” he asked, massaging his brow as he tried to process it.

“BUN tyen-shung duh ee-DWAY-RO,” Konan murmured, shooting him a sideways glare. “Did you honestly not see him come aboard with a man on his arm, Sir?”

Obito shook his head. “I was too busy watchin’ Deidara makin’ googly eyes over the doll-like doctor he brought aboard.” He groaned and ran his hand down his face before setting his cooling porcelain aside. “I need t’see Itachi.”

Yahiko snorted and muttered something under his breath, but wise-like, he kept his hands on the wheel and his eyes fixed on the starry constellations out in front of ‘im.

“Good luck, Sir,” Konan said coolly.

On his way out through the porthole, Obito scowled at the back of the blue head of hair on his best fighter and oldest friend on this ship. After meandering his way through the twisted corridors of rusted pipes and steaming piles of junk that made up the ship that was his pride an’ joy, he still had the same scowl when he busted through the door to Itachi’s shuttle.

“Obito,” Itachi said coolly as Obito scanned his gaze across scarlet pillows and black velvet curtains in search of his cousin. “Glad to see you haven’t forgotten our discussion about how to knock.”

“I’ll remember your discussion,” Obito said to the pale and stoic face appearing from behind a parting silk curtain, “when you ‘member my rules about bringin’ strangers on my Akatsuki.”

“Technically,” Itachi drawled, shooting a pointed glance over a pale, exposed shoulder, “he’s not on your Akatsuki, he’s on my shuttle.”

“And technically,” echoed a second voice muffled behind the curtains before there was a shuffle. The curtains parted again to reveal silver hair and a jagged scar on a face that was all too familiar, “he’s not a stranger, either.”

“Kakashi,” Obito hissed his name like a curse.

“Oh,” Itachi hummed, shooting Kakashi a wink. “You two know each other?”

“You know goram well we do,” Obito growled.

He pushed his way past his refined whore of a cousin to the piece of shit so-called friend who dared to take him up on his services. Kakashi was slightly taller, forcing Obito t’look up his nose at the stunning, half-lidded eyes and red bandana covering the contours of fine lips and chiseled jawline Obito already knew to be hidden beneath it.

He shoved his finger into Kakashi’s chest, finding it just as firm as he remembered it to be. “What’s the big idea, hitchin’ a ride on my ship?”

Kakashi shrugged. “Companionship.”

“You don’t want Itachi’s companionship.”

“How can you know that?”

“You don’t.” Obito huffed, waving his hand in broad, lazy gestures at his refined, polite, and not-at-all-Kakashi’s-type cousin. “He’s doing this as some sort of twisted favor to you, though I dunno what either of you stand t’gain from this.”

Itachi and Kakashi exchanged a glance, and if Obito didn’t know any better, an entire conversation just happened in front of ‘im without his knowin’ about it.

“Okay.” Obito remembered t’breathe. “What is goin’ on here?”

Itachi reached forward, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder, but Obito didn’t dare meet his eye. Itachi could kill a man with his look. Obito had seen it before.

“Obito,” Itachi said soothing-like. “Cousin. I like to give my clients full discretion. Whatever arrangement Kakashi and I have, it is no business of yours.”

Obito saw red, feeling the blister of his rage boil to the surface. “Kakashi! Get off my ship.”

Kakashi glanced sideways at the shuttle’s hatch, which would lead him outside to the vacuum of space. “Sure,” he deadpanned. “Of course I can do that.”

“At the next stop,” Obito said, wagging his finger. “Soon as we’re planet-side, you’re off.”

Obito turned with a flourish, leaving Itachi grumbling and Kakashi sighing in his wake. He stormed through the corridors of his ship on his return to the bridge, determined to drive any thoughts or questions he might still have about Kakashi Hatake out of his mind. He didn’t need to know what all that business was about. He only needed his ex off the Akatsuki as soon as possible.

-

As soon as possible wasn’t soon at all, as it turned out.

Konan explained it all in her usual condescending tone, but none of it made no sense. Yahiko couldn’t pull into port at the next planet because the doc who’d just joined their little crew was apparently wanted there. Yahiko couldn’t turn them back to Konoha, where’s they’d just picked up Itachi and Obito’s latest inconvenience, because some thieves over there’d been trynna take their fuel. After the Sand they were so inconveniently passing, twasn’t nothin’ for light years.

This was Shiong mao niao.

“So Kakashi,” Deidara said, swinging his long blonde hair across the dinner table, “how did you and the captain meet?”

“Oh, we’ve known each other since we were-“

“I won’t be havin’ no interrogations at the dinner table on my ship,” Obito interrupted gruffly.

“Damn,” Deidara sulked, sinking into his chair, “I was just bein’ conversation-like, un. What about you, Sasori?” He shot a smile at the red-haired doctor across the table. “I could use some lookin-over. Been a long time since the Akatsuki’s had a bonafide doctor on board.”

Sasori frowned. “I don’t believe my passage requires that I work for this crew.”

“Everyone works on my ship, doc,” Obito said around a mouthful of food.

“But you could,” Deidara pressed, his one visible eye lighting with hope, “couldn’t you, doc? As a favor to me?”

“Jen mei NAI-shing duh FWO-tzoo,” Hidan grumbled, pounding his fist into the table. “Just tell the guy you want his ass, Dei, and let the rest of us enjoy our dinner.”

“Hidan,” Kakuzu hissed.

Hidan flinched, baring his teeth in a wince, while Obito rolled his eyes. His crew was his family. They were lucky they were, because otherwise he never would’ve tolerated this level of aggravation.

“Keep your thoughts locked up tight in that hollow head o’yours,” Obito told Hidan before pointing his fork at Kakashi, who was opening his mouth when he shouldn’t. “And you! Keep trynna flap your lips and I’ll have you strapped down in the infirmary ‘til we get you off this ship.”

Kakashi met Obito’s gaze with a twinkle of mirth shining in his grey eyes. Obito realized the implications of what he’d said, which made him recall their times together in a way that was very inconvenient when he was makin’ a point to push Kakashi away and instill his hatred of the bastard on the rest of his crew. Obito knew Kakashi was thinkin’ all kinds of smug retorts. Maybe he was here to undermine Obito’s authority in front of his crew. Maybe he wanted to pay Obito back for some unkindness he’d never had a chance to repay after the war. He couldn’t be here for any other reason, so the suggestiveness of Obito’s words meant nothin’.

“Yes, Sir,” Kakashi said.

Obito narrowed his eyes, first at Kakashi and then at his snickerin’ crewmates. Konan at least had the self-control to rein it in after one curt eruption of laughter, and Yahiko had the decency to cover his mouth, but the others blatantly exchanged glances and disrespected Obito on his own damn ship. This was the kind of trouble Kakashi brought with ‘im.

Obito curled his fingers around the edge of the table until it hurt. “Kakashi. Can I speak with you a minute?”

Kakashi raised his brows. “I don’t know. You asked me not to talk, Capt-“

“To them,” Obito growled, waving a hand across their company. He shoved off the table, kicking his chair out as he stood. “This way. Now.”

He walked out with his fists curled by his sides, ready at any moment to pound them into Kakashi’s stupid face if he said one more thing to demean him in front of his crew. Fortunately, he didn’t hear another word from Kakashi, only the sound of his footsteps trailing after. By the time he found the infirmary, where he could question Kakashi in peace and also where he was seriously considering following through on that threat to incapacitate him if it came to it, he wondered at Kakashi’s agreeableness. When he turned to face Kakashi and saw him sealing the infirmary door behind them, Obito realized with a groan he was givin’ Kakashi exactly what he wanted with this.

“I didn’t know any other way of talkin’ to ya,” Kakashi said.

“Ever heard of sendin’ letters?”

“Obito. It’s Rin.” Obito’s blood ran cold, all thoughts of arguing with Kakashi draining away with the devastating mention of her name. “I found her. I need Akatsuki’s help to get ‘er out, though.”

Obito shook his head. “You’re not makin’ any sense.”

“We thought she died - in the war. Obito.” Kakashi paused, lookin’ like he was havin’ as hard a time sayin’ it as Obito was with hearin’ it. “She’s alive. She’s been held prisoner in Tsukuyomi. We can get her out - if we work together.”

“Work together? With you?” Obito snorted, but feelings rolled in at just imaginin’ his chance to right the greatest wrong he’d ever witnessed in this universe. He gulped. “Are you sure we can save her?”

Kakashi hummed. “It all depends on your cooperation. I’ve got everythin’ all planned out.”

Obito bit his bottom lip. “Good. ‘Cause I can’t take no false promises, not about this.”

Kakashi shook his head. “Nothin’ false here. I promise.”

Obito choked back a sob, refusin’ to let himself cry in front of the man who’d always jumped on the chance to call him a crybaby. It would be strange, workin’ with Kakashi again. There were feelings, feelings he thought he’d gotten over, but could already feel bubblin’ to the goram surface again. He didn’t want to open himself up to it, but for Rin, he would.

He had to.

Kakashi reached forward, and for an instant, held his hand just short of Obito’s. Obito didn’t move. He wouldn’t close the gap, but if Kakashi did, he wouldn’t pull away either. He didn’t know what he wanted in regards to Kakashi. Rin was easy. Rin was safe. Kakashi, with all his eccentricities, would always be a puzzle to Obito. He hated him. He needed him.

If he ain’t had no better sense, he’d have to admit he still loved him.

“Trust me, Obito?” Kakashi asked as he withdrew his hand to his side.

Obito smiled. “I’m ‘fraid I ain’t grown out of that flaw.”

Kakashi smiled back. “I’ve been holdin’ onto a few m’self.”

“Bastard,” Obito scoffed.

“Deadlast,” Kakashi said fondly.

They would find Rin, and they would save their comrade. Might even rekindle somethin’ Obito wasn’t quite ready for. But then, there was never any bein’ ready when it came to Kakashi.

[lex-nite]

“Find the Word” Tag Game

Rules: Find the assigned words in your current WIP(s), then pick 4 new words and tag others to find them.

Tagged by: @sparkswithyou​ (safe, hunger, game, around) and @hexadecimal00​ (time, sunshine, laughter, pain)

Tagging: @ladyxxdaydream @danflower623 (for fun only, no pressure)

Your words are: night, fear, last, guilt

Since I got tagged twice I’m going to pick two words from each. Excerpts are all from unposted works in progress.

Age of the Akatsuki (safe)

An AU where Kakashi is an Akatsuki member and Danzo runs the village. This scene is Iruka/Kinoe (Yamato):

“I don’t know how much longer I can keep doing this to him, Kinoe.” Iruka pressed his face into his lover’s chest. This was all to keep Naruto safe, but it didn’t make it any easier. “Have you heard from the others yet?”

Kinoe shook his head. “You know they have to be careful. All of them are being watched, especially Might-san.” Gai had not taken Danzo’s leadership laying down. He had been one of the first to challenge the oppressive rule. Rather than quietly have the man executed, and possibly make him a martyr, Danzo had demoted him back down to a genin. He thought he could humiliate the man into backing down. On the surface, it probably looked like he was successful, but Gai was one of the first to join the resistance against the evil man.

“He said he found another former ANBU that might be loyal to Konoha. I just hope he’s being careful. If Danzo finds out about the curse marks…”

“Shh, he won’t. We’ve been careful. No one knows you’re the one who undid them. We made sure of that.” Kinoe pressed a soft kiss to his temple. “I won’t let anything happen to you, Iruka. If it wasn’t for you… I probably would still be Danzo’s weapon. I have a purpose now, protecting you and Naruto.”

Starbound (time)

A space AU, KakaIru:

“Why is a chunin teaching anyways? Isn’t that usually a civilian job?” He wanted to ask more, pry into Naruto’s life, but he was a coward. The more he found out, the more he would hate himself.

Iruka looked confused by the change of topics but didn’t comment on it. “It’s a pilot program they set up. They found that most children weren’t ready for becoming genin at such a young age out of regular schools, so they launched this program to teach them the skills they would need from a very young age. By the time they are fourteen and can take their genin exam, they have the skill set of seasoned genin. They will do much better in the field. I was chosen to teach the class. If it does well, it will be launched in several areas in Konoha and possibly down on Fire.”

Every child of Fire had a mandatory service period. From the ages of fourteen to eighteen, they were conscripts of the government. After that, they had the choice of staying in or going on to college or a trade school. They had set age limits to make sure young children weren’t forced into war zones like Kakashi had been at the tender young age of six. The days of the Third Great War were tough on everyone and child soldiers were common. After the war ended, the five major governments had agreed that no one under the age of fourteen could serve. An entire generation of children has=d been wiped out by the war.

Operation Gay Dads (around)

A Modern KakaIru AU where Naruto and Sasuke set up Kakashi and Iruka. Kakashi is raising Sasuke and Itachi. Iruka has been helping Naruto (who is in foster care):

“Same for Sasuke. I’ve never seen him take a liking to someone this quickly. I was glad when Jiraiya told me they were fostering a kid his age. I can’t force him to social in school, but I sure can here.” He chuckled a bit. “So I hear you’ve known Naruto for a long time. Met through some program?”

Iruka’s face lit up at the mention of work. “Yes. I work for a charity that helps foster children succeed in school. Everything from getting them supplies to tutoring them. I met Naruto when he was in elementary school. He was really struggling, but mostly because he didn’t have anyone to help him. He’s doing much better now. He’s been moved around a lot. He liked to pull pranks when he was younger and it got him kicked out of more than one home.” Iruka sighed, remembering how much he’d had to apologize for and beg for the nicer places to let him stay.

“It sounds like you really care about him. Why didn’t you take him in?” Kakashi looked away suddenly. “Sorry. That’s a really personal question.”

“It’s alright. I care because I was him. I was orphaned young. Pulled the same shit trying to get attention. I ended up in a good home, which is incredibly lucky, and my foster father helped me get my life together. Made sure I graduated. I would have taken Naruto in a heartbeat, but I had a lot of things against me. Age, single, gay, and while I love my job it’s just enough to support me. I would never qualify.” He just shrugged. “So I made sure I was there in other ways.”

Unnamed fic (pain)

Gai/Zabuza (rare pair), AU where Konoha’s greatest shinobi flee the village after Danzo takes control:

“You look like you could use some assistance, my friend!” Another man stepped forward. Judging by his ridiculous looks and outfit, this was Konoha’s Green Beast, Might Gai.

Zabuza’s hand tightened around the hilt of the Executioner’s Blade. He was in no shape to take them on, even if Haku wasn’t slowly bleeding out. He’d used too much chakra in the last fight. That, coupled with the numerous wounds he had, meant things were dire. He had to push aside the pain and deal with this new threat.

Gai flashed him a huge grin. “Thank you for taking care of those Root-nin for us. It is much appreciated!” He jumped down from the branch he was standing on and headed towards the bleeding man.

“Gai…” Kakashi said in warning, as he eyed Zabuza warily.

“It’s fine, my eternal rival. He isn’t going to hurt me.” Gai called over his shoulder.

“Bold words,” Zabuza growled at him. He didn’t want to set Haku down, but there was no way to fight the Leaf-nin while still holding him.

His words seemed to amuse the other man. “No need for threats. We are here to help.” He gestured for someone to join them. Zabuza tensed up as a blonde woman jumped down and headed towards them. “This is Tsunade. She is a healer of great renown and one of the legendary Sannin! She will take care of your friend.”

[ravenaveira]

People that say Taka was the best team/friends for him is like saying a drug addicts friends who are also drug addicts are whats best for them simply because they went along with and encouraged their habit rather than trying to get them help and off a toxic lifestyle

Just because you have friends that support your bad habits doesnt mean their good friends and whats best for you

Friends who try to get you out of that toxic lifestyle to a better place where your clear-headed and healthy THOSE are real friends who want the best for you

I know this is a weird topic to touch on after the previous episode which I'm not downplaying because I thought it was wholesome, but the fact that people blatantly ignore how toxic and unhealthy Taka was for Sasuke AT THE TIME really just rubs me the wrong way

Do I think his relationship with Team 7 perfect? course not, but you can definitely see the difference between how TRUE friends behave and how enablers behave

Whenever Sasuke talked or thought about Team 7 he viewed them like family and precious bonds he had to cut in order to focus on and pursue revenge

Whenever Sasuke talked or thought about Taka he treated them as strictly subordinates, we never see him bothering to interact with them other than pursuing his goals and once they were no longer needed? he discarded and abandoned them without a second thought, he didnt even know Karin was an Uzumaki or that he even met her in the past which shows how little he cared about any of them on a personal level, the only one I can say Sasuke even remotely cared about to that degree is Jugo

None of them tried to empathize with Sasuke, none of them tried to talk to him about his struggles or problems and let him suffer alone, none of them cared for Sasuke to that point and if they did then they had one hell of a way of showing it

So my point? yes I think Sasuke cared somewhat about Taka in his own way and yes I think Taka cared for Sasuke as well I'm not saying they didnt, I'm just saying they didnt care enough

And it seems crazy to me that the same people who complain about the injustices done to Sasuke and his clan are the same one who support Taka and them supporting Sasuke and his crimes against pretty much everyone

Yes killing Danzo was a good thing but it was still a crime, Sasuke and Taka joined Akatsuki and tried to kidnap the 8 tails which was a crime against the Cloud village, Sasuke attacked the 5 kage summit and every single kage there making him an international criminal regardless if his goal was just Danzo it was still a risk of them getting involved, Sasuke just being a rogue ninja joining another rogue ninja is a crime, Sasuke attempting to kill all the 5 kage after the war would have been a crime

Yes some injustices can be resolved through violence but that is not the one and ONLY solution, Sasuke going rogue unfortunately even from a narrative standpoint yea it needed to happen for him to train with a Sanin etc but the only way to resolve Konoha’s injustice was to go through the right channels and expose to corruption that was in it, once Sasuke left and started committing crimes he lost the moral high ground and anything he said or did would easily be ignored and just thought of as another crazed Uchiha who deserved to die

You can argue yes but then Naruto and Kakashi could have said something once they found out but by that point it was like Temari said, it was FAR too late for Sasuke and even with the truth revealed how does that excuse his actions at the summit? against Bee? joining Akatsuki? killing Itachi and Danzo MIGHT have been able to be excused but the rest? there's no way that was getting overlooked even with the corruption exposed Sasuke was still just as much in the wrong now

I'm a huge Sasuke fan but even I can acknowledge that not every single one of his actions was 100% right and just, his actions towards the people who actually wronged him WERE in the right, but his actions in everything that didnt? yes he was in the wrong no ifs ands or buts about it

So for those who think Taka is so much better for Sasuke because they supported his criminal actions [except Jugo I believe he’d be fine either way] but not Team 7 who wanted Sasuke to stop his criminal actions and return to his senses and be in a healthy condition again, truly make me wonder if they actually care about Sasuke’s well being or just think everyone who isnt a yes man to everything Sasuke did somehow dont care about his feelings or the injustices done to him and just wanna change him

Yeah, change him for the BETTER not worse, if anything Taka tried to do the opposite of that but hey I guess being a bad influence is better than being a good one

And listen we can go back and forth all day about Sasuke's situation after the war because I agree wholeheartedly that thats bullshit, but realistically speaking the fact that some things about the Uchiha massacre are unresolved like those two elders even being allowed to breathe, realistically speaking what CAN you really do? the Uchihas are dead and the main man responsible is dead and Hiruzen who failed to stop it is also dead so what would exposing everything do at that point? everyone directly involved is DEAD so exposing it really is pointless even if only to clear Itachi’s name which I'm gonna say something alot of you wont like

But the Uchiha’s were not all innocent victims, atleast not the ones involved and planning the coup, yes they were treated unfairly but does that mean the best approach to fixing this is to overthrow the government? how does that make you look? your proving their suspicions of you right by attempting to be the threat they all think you are, that is NOT how you get your point across and demand justice for your clan by planning a coup that would result in many lives lost including your own

Does that mean do nothing? course not, but if you want their trust then you have to EARN it and if you want justice and equality then go on strike and refuse to serve them until their willing to talk and compromise, seriously the Uchiha was a HUGE asset to Konoha so them refusing to obey and offer their services definitely would have gotten their attention and force them to listen and find a compromise, if that didnt work they could have tried spreading the word to fellow citizens and gain their support as I'm pretty sure not EVERYONE in Konoha felt the same way towards them and would have joined their cause for equality

But no, they chose the path of violence and it resulted in their entire clan's downfall and they end up with NOTHING but a bad name, so what did they gain? absolutely nothing, so was it worth it? NO

So lets stop acting like Konoha’s the big bad villain that did nothing but wrong and the Uchiha’s were pure innocent souls that did nothing wrong to deserve what happened to them because Ima say it THEY DID and their downfall was entirely their own fault for their approach, was it right? of course not genocides never ok and just as the Uchihas could have found another method Konoha could have as well so they were both in the wrong not just one or the other

Itachi also isnt a saint for the same reason the Uchiha’s and Konoha isnt and thats choosing the wrong approach to resolving the problems, there were many other paths he could have chosen but he chose the worst ones every time so just clearing Itachi’s name because of his good intentions wouldnt be right because his methods were beyond fucked up on so many levels

So my point is Sasuke was a victim of both sides wrongdoings, Taka didnt help with that at all, Team 7 tried to empathize and tried to understand and console him and save him from himself, its just that Sasuke didnt let them and pushed them away and thats of no fault of theirs since they did try but mainly Sasuke and them being mostly in the dark about everything

Yet Taka knowing almost everything didnt even try to reach out to him or help him cope in any way, Karin you’d think would understand and get through to Sasuke the most, cared more about her lust for him and seeing his ‘smile’ than actually empathizing with him and helping him through the turmoil he was in, Suigetsu made it clear he was out for himself from the start and Jugo is just wholeheartedly loyal to Sasuke no matter what

The fact that in the end, Sasuke makes no attempt to visit them until he needs them for something speaks volumes of his attachment to them, I think Taka thinks more of Sasuke than Sasuke does of them

He didnt even say goodbye to them before he left for his redemption journey nor did he bring them along on his years-long mission which again speaks volumes

So all Im saying is, Taka being the best team for Sasuke and his true friends is complete bull because I have yet to see any argument or reasoning for this be anything other than he chose them and that they went along with everything he did without question

If you have a better reason for why you think this then please share with me I welcome it maybe you can change my mind, but as of right now all the arguments I see is bullshit or occasionally shipping based which isnt a legitimate reason btw, so if you can be civil then I'm all ears

Note: I didnt mention the other Kages because it should be obvious their ways were screwed up as well and ruined a lot of lives, however what does Sasuke’s idea of basically ruling as a dictator resolve? how does that fix and reform the system? Sasuke wont live forever so what happens when he dies? he cant be the enemy that unites everyone once he’s dead and gone it’ll return back to how things were and thus mission failed another Uchiha dies for nothing, Sasuke’s approach to the situation was just a temporary solution not a permanent one and one that wouldnt last long anyway so lets not pretend Sasuke had the best solution to the problem when in all honesty both his and Naruto’s solutions were flawed and it makes sense that they’d work together using both methods rather than one and compromise, again we can argue about Sasuke’s situation after the war all day but fact of the matter is just gotta accept this is what it is and move on, at least Sasuke achieved partially what he wanted which was a bright future for the next generation and the villages to be at peace with one another without the need of a common enemy anymore, are things completely resolved? no, but its progress, and 15 years is nowhere near enough time to fix decades worth of damage so its still a work in progress and will be for a long time