#if we both die then you won’t be an uchiha….. and i won’t be the nine tails jinchurichi…….

[faerie-fang]

still think about this,,, how naruto inherited his mothers fiery will as well as her burden and both of them said to their loved one “you want death? together then.” in one way or another “we share this burden so we’ll share this death” AHHHHH

thinking much about how naruto declares to sasuke that if sasuke wants to kill him then they’ll die together and then in the next arc they show how naruto’s parents couldn’t bear the thought of a world without the other and ultimately both sacrificed themselves and died together,,,,,, rip shakespeare you would’ve loved this <3

[shanastoryteller]

happy winter time! naruto, dealer's choice. thank you!

a continuation of 1

Sakura is terrified that she’s going to mess this up.

Naruto’s never been mean to her, and has complimented her hair several times, but they’re not really friends. Back when she was friends with Ino, she’d see her at the Yamanaka compound sometimes and they’d play together, but she doubts Naruto remembers that.

Sakura doesn’t think she and Sasuke have ever had an actual conversation. He used to be the center of all their competitive crushes, to his hilarious dismay, but then he got betrothed to Naruto and no one was willing to piss off the hokage’s daughter by flirting with her fiance.

Well, besides Ino, but everyone knows she does it just because Sasuke hates it and Naruto feels duty bound to defend him.

Also because Shikamaru ended up taking Sasuke’s place as Cutest (and Available) Boy and Ino would rather stab herself in the eye than bat her eyelashes at Shikamaru, even if that means there’s a social game she can’t win.

Sakura's on a team with son of the Uchiha clan head and the hokage’s daughter, Rookie of the Year and Top Kunoichi, and their sensei isn’t even some normal jounin, but the Inuzuka clan head.

Tsume-sensei seems dismayed when they pass, although Sakura thinks she should have expected this. Naruto and Sasuke have been working as a team for even longer than they’ve been engaged.

Maybe she’s just surprised that they folded Sakura in with them instead of leaving her behind. Honestly, she’s pretty surprised by that too.

“Does this mean we get a dog?” Naruto asks brightly as Sasuke picks twigs out of her hair. “Mom says I only get one pet and doesn’t believe me that the frog doesn’t count.”

“No,” Tsume-sensei snaps, then, “Maybe, I don’t know. I hadn’t actually expected that I’d have to train you, fuck.”

Sakura can’t see this going well.

~

Naruto walks home with Sasuke, because her mother is working late to avoid her father and her father is working late to avoid the fact that her mother is working late to avoid him.

She wishes they’d just get a divorce. Maybe they will now that she’s legally an adult. Maybe she’ll move out and take herself out of the equation.

She won’t. But she thinks about it a lot.

“Maybe it’s good that it’s Tsume,” she says. “Sakura’s biggest weakness is her conditioning and you know that Tsume will train us into the dirt.”

Sasuke hums. “Maybe we should introduce her to Gai.”

She stares. “Do you hate Sakura?”

“She’s fine,” he says dismissively. “It’s too bad we didn’t get Hinata, but both my father and hers would have thrown a fit and gone to complain to yours. He’s the best at taijutsu, if she joins Team Nine’s morning workouts then she’ll be up to par in no time.”

“If it doesn’t kill her,” Naruto says dryly. “Why don’t we see what Tsume cooks up first, yeah? The first chunin exam is months away. She has time.”

“How do you know Tsume will sign us up for that one?” he asks, although by the glint in his eye he already knows.

Naruto answers anyway. “Tsume is going to take the first opportunity to get rid of us that she can, which would be the chunin exams. She’ll be praying for us to either pass or die.”

He laughs, a breathy sound that wouldn’t qualify coming from anyone else.

They arrive at the Uchiha compound and she stares at it wistfully. After helping uncover the almost betrayal, every Uchiha is nice to her now. The compound is so warm and bright and everyone is happy to see her and there’s always somewhere she can go.

“You can join me,” Sasuke says. “Mom always makes extra.”

Just in case she shows up.

“They’ll be expecting me to be home after the test,” she says, trying not to sigh. “I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?”

Sasuke nods, a pinched look on his face that she pretends not to notice.

When they get married, she hopes they live in the compound.

[leportraitducadavre]

Obito did nothing wrong!

I just became acquainted with a portion of Obito’s fandom that, in their passionate worship of one of the best characters written by Kishimoto, becomes obtuse to hold him accountable for his actions, choosing instead to blame Madara’s manipulation or Zetsu’s, while some others –far more rabid, rest his decisions upon his emotions, for which he had no control of.

I won’t dedicate this as much time as I probably could, as I hold no interest in dedicating this idea more than it deserves, so pardon me for the hastiness of this post.

I am, or rather I always considered myself, also quite enthusiastic when it comes to Obito, for whom I have a soft spot due to everything he endured from a young age, however, detaching him from every action he performed (whilst painting him as a mere puppet and not the mastermind he became from the tender age of thirteen) is a disservice to his character, and the idea that we can’t hold accountable a twenty-nine-year-old man for his decisions it’s something both dangerous and that I personally find annoying.

Madara and Zetsu did, as some point out, lured Obito to specific decisions when modifying/manipulating events so Rin would die while he watched –as Madara wanted to guarantee Obito wouldn’t return to Konoha and would, instead, seek changes within a military system that did nothing but warrant their soldiers' expendability; something Madara had nothing to do with, as the war and mindset for which the shinobi system uphold itself were established prior to his intervention. Shortly after these events, Madara died, leaving Obito to his own devices and a sketched plan that, even stated by Madara himself, was not followed as planned. 

Obito was told to harvest the tailed beasts, he could’ve easily taken Kurama once he released him, yet he consciously chose to summon it upon Rin’s grave and break havoc in the village, for which the Uchiha clan was blamed. He also chose to kill an entire portion of his kin alongside Itachi and showed no remorse, as he considered it was a logical sacrifice to be made as to achieve ever-lasting peace (the fact that the clan was doomed regardless as the government already chose its destiny doesn’t modify the fact that he assisted in their destruction and warranted Konoha’s success). He controlled, without having to as he could’ve taken the three tails and sealed it upon the statue, Kirigakure’s Mizukage, deepening the gravity of the Kekkei Genkai cleansing (which basis where already there but it doesn’t diminish his performance) occurring in such village.

Many think that the seal placed on his heart by Madara was controlling Obito’s emotions and actions, however, the seal “Kinkoju no Fuda” that was placed both in Obito and Rin (and was twice removed by Kakashi’s Chidori –which is so incredibly poetic I can’t believe some of you would strip such moment from the relevance it has), was to guarantee that none of them would kill themselves -and while there was control intended upon it (x) Madara was nowhere around it to perform such task. Obito chose to remove that seal willingly (he knew of its existence, which defies the purpose of an ever-controlling seal even when the sealer is dead) by using Kakashi’s technique in order to become the Ten-Tails Jinchuuriki (x), as he never trusted nor liked the older Uchiha and wanted to be in control of Tsukuyomi.

He also was the one who bonded with the Ten-Tails and chose to kill Shukaku and Inoichi, he had absolute control of his actions and emotions at that point as he even threatened Madara to put everything in jeopardy, which makes the whole “Madara controlled him as he wanted” idea nonsensical (x). 

Madara even admits that he created such circumstances in order to draw Obito to darkness (x) and make him seek Tsukuyomi as an outcome –as he saw himself in hell, he’ll look for a reality that he could control. Why would he take such lengths to convince someone of doing his binding if he could control it even beyond the grave?

The seal was placed in order to control Obito once Madara was revived and in case Obito went “rogue”. If that seal had already been working, Obito would never have had the chance to even plan to take it out through Kakashi's Chidori, as it would have been controlled much earlier and the whole “taking out the seal” would’ve been on accident, at most. He defied Madara’s manipulation in order to become the Ten-Tails Jinchuuriki (x), allowed Kakashi to pierce through the seal, tamed the Ten-Tails and still continued to attack and repeat the same mindset he did prior to the seal’s destruction (x, x).

He even admits that the path he followed is one chosen by him (x) and he has no regrets (x) –how can his “fandom” deny him of the agency he claims for himself?

It’s true that you are what the environment makes of you, something for which Madara and Zetsu were responsible for (as Zetsu also manipulated Madara, so if we place blame upon a subject then we need to keep doing it to infinitum, and such practice holds no one responsible in the end), but once that happens, everything that comes after is of your own choosing. The environment shapes you and offers you choices, and it’s the decision that you make between such choices that, in the end, makes you:

You can't expect someone in a war-torn area to have the luxury of choices awarded to the those that live in times of peace; and you can't expect the poor, who struggle just to survive, to have as many choices as the middle-class exercises. In this regard, there's little difference between the fate you were born into and the destiny you make; as the less luck you have, the closer your destiny is to your fate; the more luck you have, the wider the gap. Then all of them become less about moral dilemmas and more about survival dilemmas: violence becomes right if your survival is at stake. And to drag the context back to the military, it becomes about the ethics of the state-created solider itself: what is a solider; why is it righteous; why is an anti-solider actor (an irony that provokes) against an illustrious solider villainous? State, too, is a choice maker, but the position of power awards it a greater liberty of what choices and how many choices people can have: the Uchiha didn't have any; Hyuga main branch had plenty; Leaf's sympathizers also had innumerable. You can't expect the receiver of few choices not to pick the ones that grant them clemency, freedom, and more future options in the face of oppression.

If the idea that “emotions are so strong they have no choice but to satisfy it until completion” it’s enough of an explanation (and I particularly detest such ideology as it relies mostly on Tobirama’s idea of Uchiha, which is absolutely preposterous), then it can easily be used as a defense for anyone that committed any sort of crime in order not to be held accountable: Murder might cause the killer excitement, so they acted upon that necessity to placate their emotion, if in anger, one can very easily assault someone and be understood, as they’re simply controlled by their imperative need to release such feeling.

In the overall context of the narrative, Obito was fuelled by feelings of love, anger, and frustration like most other characters, as Naruto’s constant pursuit of Sasuke was also fuelled by emotions –the difference between both of them is that Obito looked for a solution that pushed him to move outside the shinobi bureaucratic system, which threatened Konoha’s stability, while Naruto’s quest was made inside such political and military structure, which ensured the village’s survival.

Regardless of this apparent idea that emotions are what made him act like that, thus, he has no control over his performance (and I’m tempted to say I prefer Obito’s detractors rather than this sort of fandom), Obito is to be held accountable by characters affected by him, such as Naruto (who lost both his parents when he attacked), Sasuke (who was another victim of Obito’s manipulation and the UCM), Ino and Shikamaru, and basically anyone that directly or indirectly suffered from his actions. Just because Naruto “brought him to the light” and forgave him, that doesn’t make him any less guilty or gives any other of his victims equal closure.

“But Obito always cared what others thought of him, which is why Naruto was able to influence him.”

Not exactly, kid Obito yes, as his wish was to become Hokage, he payed special attention to how others and how Rin specifically, saw him. Adult Obito? He cared for no one specifically nor anything, he killed his kin, helped the cleansing of hundreds of people on another land, and killed thoushands during the war, amongst many other things he did for his plan, why would he care what anyone thinks of him at this point? It’s specifically shown during Obito’s final moments as an antagonist, as his adult self is confronted with his younger one, who claims the one Rin cared for was not the “current him” but “Uchiha Obito” (x, x)

There’s a gap between Obito from the past and this one, who detached himself from his emotions –at this moment, when Naruto (a reflection of his former self, which is why he’s able to relate and get influenced by him) takes his hand, he finally reconnects with such part of himself (thus, also his feelings), and the allied forces are able to extract the tailed beasts' chakra from him. It took Naruto connecting with him through their chakra and “bringing back” kid Obito by representing him (as when Naruto himself spoke himself with the adult version, Obito still choose his path; x, x), to get to him.

Even if their claim is to be believed as truthful, and Naruto “unearthed” feelings that were deep inside Obito, it changes absolutely nothing around his mindset or actions, having such “positive” feelings “hidden within him” doesn’t make him any less guilty nor unredeemable.

It’s perfectly fine to want to explore Obito’s “positive traits” rather than his dark ones, as such elements were beautifully done by the canon work itself through Kishimoto’s writing; yet to claim such things are more “canonically relevant” aspects of him than the rest when Kishimoto made him a paragon of a morally good individual that the environment transformed onto one of its darkest consequences (and well prior to Madara’s intervention as he claimed he would crush the “so called shinobi” shall he need to), it’s fallacious. I found most of these claims made by shippers that refuse to see their “romantical” dynamic of choosing under any other light but the one that masks Konoha’s actual contributions to Obito’s “creation” and puts the weight of his shift under his “Uchiha nature” (COH) or Madara’s manipulation. Therefore given their pro-WoF character the status of “hero” that helps Obito overcome his dark path with the power of their love; basically skipping upon everything Obito actually represents inside the narrative that took such long time to construct him.

However, for those that want to: if such “positive” exploration is to be done, then it needs to be performed through the study of kid obito onwards, giving him either other circumstances or changing specific decisions upon Rin’s death –everything after it’s, in my personal opinion, a disservice to his wonderfully constructed character. 

[sinaprime]

Idea of a story I'm working on

In a universe where humans are divided into alpha, beta and omegas, Senju Tobirama was born an omega.

A mission ended with him being pregnant with an Uchiha child. A battle ended with him almost being killed. And both was the beginning of something new.

The story starts with a crime, a crime that could destroy the Uchiha.

The story is about a big brother, who loses almost everything and is more determined than ever to protect those he loves.

The story is about a big brother, who has to decide if he follows his heart or risk losing his younger brother.

The story tells about a white demon, who never thought to become a mother.

The story is about two clans that had been enemies for hundreds of years and will have to find out how to live in peace.

----

“I won’t seek revenge, no matter what happens, but next time our clans fight, Madara, I won’t hold back either. You don’t want peace? Fine. But don’t blame me and my clan for any further losses within the Uchiha. Keep away from our land. Any Uchiha daring to step on it again, will die."

----

“... Yesterday, the Senju clan head came to a decision, and not to our favor. I’m very sure he will no longer pester us with any peace offers, don’t worry. Unfortunately, he might find another way to let his dream come true, even if it isn’t like he wanted.”

“What do you mean, not like he wanted?”

“If I remember correctly, the Uchiha aren’t the only clan in Hi no Kuni. And as I already said, most clans don’t like rapists, that includes the Nara, Akamichi, Yamanaka, Aburame, Inuzuka, Hatake, Sarutobi and Hyuuga.”

“And you think they might…do what exactly? Do you think they will alley with the Senju just because one of them was raped? Why is rape worse than killing them?”

“Because we kill to protect our clan, to earn money, or defend our allies. There is honor in doing that. Rape has no honor. It doesn’t serve any purpose, except to steal a clan’s bloodline. In this case we can’t even say that because it was Haro, who freely has given our bloodline to another clan. I can already see the smug faces of the Hyuuga. ‘The mighty Uchiha clan priding themselves to be oh so protective of their Dōjutsu and yet one of them can’t even control themselves in proximity of a helpless omega of an enemy clan no less. How pathetic.’ They surely will have a field day if they hear about it.”

----

Madara frowned. “Didn’t you receive my letter?”

Hashirama smiled, though it wasn’t his usually smile full of joy. It was sharp and didn’t reach his eyes. “I did. And I find it funny. The Uchiha repeatedly rejected my offer of a peace treaty, have made it clear that they have no interest in ever agreeing to stop the endless cycle of death. But then, only two days after they declared it impossible for our clans to be friends, I receive a letter with the request of a ceasefire.” Hashirama’s fake smile vanished and was replaced by a very displeased expression. “It was like a slap into the face.” Madara flinched.

----

“Otouto?”

“I’m pregnant.”

“Yes.”

“With an Uchiha child.”

“With a Senju child.”

----

Additional note: Name of the story is

In another universe, the heroes are us

In another universe, the heroes are us - Chapter 1 - SinaPrime - Naruto (Anime & Manga) [Archive of Our Own]

[uchihaxitachi]

Coincidences | You accidentally get your period |

“Shouldn’t you like, have some mercy?” You pouted, stomping your feet and walking with the Uchiha who was sliding through the pavement as if it was slippery. No stress whatsoever in his feet.

“You wanted to climp atop the mountain and see the sunset, did you not? You begged for 4 days, even said you needed to do this else you’d die.” Yes— you had been a little, (too) dramatic with the ongoing events but in your defense you didn’t know you’d suddenly start feeling so lethargic and weirdly in pain & moody. The thought of the beautiful scenary was the only thing distracting you.

“Yes but, I didn’t know it was this HARD!” You audibly gasped, staying statued to your place as your body decided to take a quick halt for rest. Itachi also stopped, slowly walking towards you and handing you the water bottle. “Here”

You glanced up at him, his eyes showed tenderness and in no way— thought you were being a burden.

Alas for you, the mood swings had already worsened. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Like what?”

“Like— that.”

“Like you are pitying me…”

Nope, Itachi wasn’t pitying you. Even a part of you also knew it, but you just felt on edge today. “I’m not pitying you, I would never pity someone as strong willed as you. Do you understand?”

Itachi quickly snapped you out of those thoughts, while you nodded. That’s when— you felt it. It’s like the dots magically connected. As if a jolt ran through your spine you jerked up.

“Home— we need to go home! I need to go home.”

Without saying another word, you walked to the direction of home, Itachi landing right in front of you as you almost collided against his chest. “We are more than halfway there. Why do you want to go home?” He raised a brow, having been both a sharp Shinobi with unparalleled 5 senses, Itachi instantly sensed the smell of blood.

“Are you- hurt?” Itachi cleared his throat, rephrasing it better immediately. “Are you, perhaps, mensurating?”

Now you wanted to drown and kill yourself and evaporate. You glared at him, biting your lip and absolutely flustered at his stoic expression.

“Why- what even- YES I AM AND I CAN’T WALK FURTHER I DON’T EVEN HAVE A NAPK—”

“Stay here, I will quickly go back home, fetch you your napkins. Or— do you want me to pick you up and take you home? I’m afraid it won’t be as quick as the former proposal I made.”

Pick you up? Itachi could seriously be dense at times, and also absolutely adorable. What does he mean by pick you up? What if you leaked blood on his clothes— you do want to be close to him though. Would he also do this for any other girl? Or is he just doing it because you saved his life?

“Th-thank you, it’s stored in the left side cupboard of the rest room.” You replied meekly.

Itachi nodded, leaving immediately after he helped you sit up.

What he didn’t realize was when he was in the rest room, holding the sanitary pad in his hand and watching his reflection in the mirror, is how peculiar it was. Uchiha Itachi fetching a civilian’s sanitary napkin. S-Ranked criminal Itachi— you don’t even seem aware of the fact rather… all you know is he is a Ninja.

Do you even know what Shinobis do? Do you even know what he’s done? Itachi who preaches his little brother to loathe him, hate him… is suddenly scared of the look your eyes will encompass when you know who he truly is, and what he did.

[parafic]

SHALL WE GET STARTED ON KAGAMI DEMANDS RESCUING. (lol fantastic title!) Also! More Typhoon Island please? :D

He's too cute to say no to! Even if you are Tobirama, living nightmare of the entire Uchiha clan, apparently.

Also, holding out an interview microphone, So @domoz it appears that you've succeeded in training people to ask for Typhoon Island every time. How do you feel about this accomplishment?

Anyway I, uh, didn't strictly speaking get to Kagami yet, but since it's the first ask of the fic have the first 500 words:

Kagami demands rescuing:

Hikaku was sure two days ago that this mission was cursed. It was supposed to be a simple, albeit extended, training mission, which is why the team consists of Hikaku, fourteen-year-old Ruri, and nine-year-old Kagami.  They were supposed to deliver a few scrolls of weapons to the border where the Hagoromo were in a fight with a clan from the Land of Hot Waters.  Ruri ought to have been fine on her own; Hikaku had only decided to accompany her and bring Kagami along because it had been a slow month, and Ruri leading Kagami would be good experience for both of them. He’s regretting that decision now.  Not that he’d prefer to have sent Ruri off to die alone, but it’s always better to lose one shinobi than three. First, they ran into a Senju team on the way out.  Hikaku was able to deal with them, but it took most of his chakra, and his left leg still aches from what he’d thought was a bad bruise but is, several days later, probably actually a cracked femur. Then, by the time they reached the border, the Hagoromo had already abandoned their fight and fled south.  Their enemies, on the other hand, were quite present, and immediately recognized Hikaku and his team as both Uchiha and Hagoromo allies—suspicious, such distant clans usually didn’t recognize the Uchiha so easily; they might be in contact with bloodline thieves—and they had been forced to run north to evade them, into the Land of Hot Waters where Ruri slipped into a pond that burned her skin despite not being more than warm, and… well, something happened to Kagami.  Whatever it was, it had started out looking like insect bites scattered over his leg, a dozen red spots that he said were sensitive, especially to heat.  Over the next few days, they’d developed into open sores.  They haven’t gotten bigger since then, but also haven’t healed. And it probably won’t matter, because now they’ve managed to cross back into Fire Country, and run right into another Senju team.  Even with a weak leg and his chakra only half recovered Hikaku might have been able to deal with the two he saw, until a water dragon formed, as far as he could tell, directly behind him, and slammed him face first into the nearest cliff. There’s blood dripping from his forehead and he’s probably cracked a few ribs and definitely broken a finger.  But the real concern is that there’s only one shinobi Hikaku knows of that uses that jutsu.  There’s only one that can—Izuna copied the handseals years ago and they’ve sold the information to every clan they can since, and no one has been able to get it to work. The mokuton might have found itself on a higher pedestal, but Senju Tobirama is no less dangerous.  On a good day, if they were both alone, Hikaku would stand a reasonable chance at escaping alive.  But Tobirama has allies, Hikaku has children he can’t protect, and this is a terrible day. He still has to try.

Typhoon Island:

From outside, the tunnel of the bloodline thieves’ base seemed slightly lower than the one Tobirama made.  When they reach it, it’s clear that the tunnel is merely shorter.  Tobirama has to duck, and even in the center of the tunnel, he can’t quite stand up straight.  In other circumstances, the irritated look he gives the walls would be very funny. Tobirama raises a hand and places his hand flat against the ceiling.  Dark lines spread out from his hand, then glow.  It’s not quite as bright as daylight, but still casts sharp shadows on the floors. “Will a change in the light be a problem for you?” Tobirama asks.

[domoz]

Some kind of silly drabble about Tobirama once having done childish things:

Hashirama takes the  bellow of rage as an excuse to abandon his paperwork.

It's not like such a thing is uncommon these days, when Madara and Tobirama work together as closely as they do, but his eyes are getting tired from reading trade agreements and it's as good a reason to take a break as any.

His brother's office and the location of the sound is just a few steps down the hall. It takes takes Hashirama less than a moment to understand what's got his friend fuming this time.

Madara, head of the Uchiha clan, is covered head to toe with sparkly silver glitter, clutching a crumpled seal tag in one fist. In the corner, Izuna is hunched over on himself, wheezing with poorly suppressed laughter. Which doesn't actually mean Madara isn't about to start killing anyone, but it's a good sign.

"Oh, wow Madara." He says, purposefully blithe "When did you get a taste for fashion?"

"I hope you die." Madara turns on him with a snarl, "You and your brother both."

"I told you not to touch that." Tobirama says evenly, not even looking up from some scroll on his desk, "It's really only your own fault."

"No. You said it was none of my concern. That's --" Madara cuts himself off with another wordless growl of rage, and Hashirama fights to keep his lips from twitching up.

"Aww. Think of it this way Madara, at least this way we won't lose you in a crowd."

For a moment, Madara looks like he really is about to start a fight, but he's cut off by a quiet snort, and then… Laughter. Not Izuna's, but Tobirama's, muffled behind a hand, and he's clearly trying to fight it off the way his shoulders are shaking, but his brother is laughing, and Hashirama can't help but stare because he can't remember the last time he heard that. Not in years, not since before Itama, if not Kawarama --

Madara is shocked too, staring with wide eyes. He recovers faster, remembering he's supposed to be angry and spinning on his heel to scatter glitter over as much of Tobirama's office as he can as he leaves with a huff.

"...Wow." Izuna says breathlessly after a moment, "Honestly. Glitter, Senju? That's cruel even for you."

Tobirama sniffs in response, though he's still clearly fighting off a smile.

"Not glitter." He says, "Modified flash powder. It won't hurt him, but he's in for a hell of a surprise the next time he uses a katon."

"...Which he's going to do right now. He always goes to the training fields when you piss him off!" The younger Uchiha jumps to his feet, "Oh I've got to see that."

"Make sure you catch his face with your sharingan if you really want this to be worth it." Tobirama waves him off, and Hashirama has to take a step back to give Izuna the space to bolt past.

(Madara's face was glorious, Izuna will report with glee later, but the yelp he'd made as he'd started sparking had really been something special)

Hashirama watches for a moment as his younger brother shakes his head and returns to work, as though covering Madara with flammable glitter was just an expected part of his day.

"A prank, otouto?" He steps forward to lean on Tobirama's desk, making sure to keep his voice light and non-accusatory. "Honestly, I didn't think you had it in you."

For some reason, Tobirama looks up at him as though he's the one being confusing.

"What do you mean?" He says, "I used to…" With his expression still so unusually open, Hashirama can see melancholy slip over the amusement, "Ah. I suppose you always blamed Kawarama for those things, didn't you?"

And...Oh. There's the familiar ache in his chest. Hashirama didn't expect to remember, today, how one of Kawarama's biggest joys had been to play pranks. He hadn't known Tobirama had ever gotten involved -- had always assumed his most straight laced little brother would have nothing to do with such things. But then, that would have been the perfect cover, and he'd been so close with Kawarama that he must have been dragged into a scheme or two, at least.

How was he still discovering all these years later, things that he'd lost when his brothers had died -- oh and this one was worse, because it was something Tobirama had lost that Hashirama hadn't even known was there to lose. Tobirama was the last family he had left, and yet so often, Hashirama was reminded how little he knew him at all.

But today, somehow, for some reason, a little part of him revealed itself again, even if it had come at the cost of a little bit of Madara's dignity. It should be a happy occasion, and so Hashirama doesn't go digging for answers.

Well, at least not unhappy answers -- after a moment he blinks and stands up straight.

"Tobirama." He says, "Tell me you're not the one who hid razor wire in my hairbrush."

People still taunted him with the bowl cut he'd given himself to hide what had happened to this day.

Beside him, Tobirama goes very still.

"Well, Anija." he says after a moment, "I don't want to lie to you."

And promptly disappears to some hirashin marker out of Hashirama's reach.

Perhaps of everything that's happened today, the most unexpected of all is how Hashirama has now found himself alone in the tower in the middle of the workday. He shakes his head with a chuckle, and just... Takes a moment.

No, he doesn't think he'd regret making this village for anything.

[greatideas-badwriter]

SasuSaku: Sacrificed To The Banished Prince Ch. 21

For the first time, Sakura didn’t shy away when Akuma pulled her into his arms. Instead, she accepted the embrace because it was the first time she was entirely sure his intentions were pure. The reason he held her so close under the covers was because he yearned for comfort. Without speaking, he seemed to have finally realized he was doomed to be returned to Purgatory while she would soon be dead. A strange sense of comradery overshadowed Sakura’s usual bashfulness as she soothingly rubbed his back, under the odd, fleshy wings. 

‘Sometime in the near future, both of us will cease to exist in this realm. The three of us will be separated until the end of time.’ 

Sakura was sad. It was bittersweet to admit she wished the prince had been successful in finding an alternative method of removing Akuma. 

She’d experienced terrible things since becoming his fiancee, yes, but she’d also experienced kindness and comfort beyond her wildest dreams. It was as though the woman was a child before meeting Sasuke Uchiha. Now, her eyes were open to reality, no matter how brutal. And she preferred this life to the poor excuse for one she’d led back home with the Harunos, pain, trauma, and all. 

Inwardly, the woman was in the process of comprehending her impending doom. Before, she agreed to be a sacrifice because she had no will to live. Now, her reasons had changed. No longer would she die for her family’s sake. Sakura would die as a show of loyalty and devotion to her fiance, to the man for whom she’d developed unwavering affection. 

A tiny sound left her chest when Akuma suddenly pulled away. His red eyes weren’t nearly as fiery as usual. He looked over her, hands coming to hold her waist. When he spoke, his voice was almost the same as Sasuke’s since he’d given up trying to appear all-powerful, “That Haruno pig will be dead before us. I swear this to you.” 

The Haruno woman shook her head. She didn’t want to think about Hihara now or ever again. 

“If possible, I’ll lay him at your feet, my flower.” 

Sakura’s face warmed at his new, surprisingly sweet nickname for her, “I don’t want that….” 

He sighed, eyes drifting to her midsection, where his thumbs were gently brushing against her ribcage, “You may be able to heal from these scars, but I won’t allow that rodent to escape with his life. You’re much too passive.” 

“Akuma,” she breathed, frowning when he met her gaze again, “Let’s spend our remaining days enjoying life rather than focusing on the negative.” 

‘He’s spent his entire time on Earth scheming and planning, worrying if he’ll be a prisoner stuck in Sasuke’s body for eternity. Since I’m the one sending him to a place he obviously wishes to avoid, the least I can do is try to make the best of his last days.’ 

“What frivolities can I possibly enjoy while the moon is high when all the festivities will occur under the sun?” 

“We can spend time together,” she murmured, searching his face. 

Akuma’s mouth closed, as did his eyes before he took a calming breath and nodded once. His voice was less tense, “If it’ll please you….” 

So, the duo stayed up late. They talked about all kinds of things, mostly what-if scenarios pertaining to the alternate reality where they’d both survive this tragic situation. 

By the time Sakura fell asleep, she felt as though she’d finally gotten a glimpse of the demon’s true personality, and it wasn’t nearly as murderous and scary as one would expect. Akuma wanted to understand humans. He wanted to experience love and happiness because all he’d known until now was pain and loss. The demon wanted the only thing he couldn’t have, and Sakura’s heart ached for him. 

Sakura was awoken by Konan the next morning. She blinked slowly, rubbing her eyes, “...Akuma?” 

“You won’t see the prince until you meet at the altar this evening.” 

The woman tried not to pout. It’d been reassuring to spend time alone with both Sasuke and Akuma. Now that they weren’t around, she was uneasy. 

Ino arrived moments later. She did little to mask her distaste for the blue-haired maid and made an effort to ignore her presence as she assisted Sakura into the bathroom and began preparing a bath, “Today’s the big day! I’ll make sure you look flawless!” 

As excited as Sakura was to marry such a kind and selfless man, she couldn’t focus on anything other than the fear that she’d make a mistake at some point during the wedding. Luckily, Ino and Konan filled the silence with light bickering while they bathed, dried, and began preparing her for the big event. The poor Haruno woman was silent all the while. She was in a panic-induced daze, allowing the people coming and going from the room to do as they pleased to her, whether it be applying makeup, styling her hair, delivering the dress, or any of the hundred other things that needed to be done. 

Time passed in a whirlwind, and then she found herself in an extravagant waiting room with her father as they awaited the cue to walk down the aisle. Only when the baron spoke did Sakura finally snap out of her half-aware state, “Considering the circumstances, you make for a passable bride.” 

“...” 

She didn’t know what to say. It was obvious her father felt as uncomfortable as her. It’d been years since they’d been alone together, after all. 

“Remember what I told you about performing marital duties. The prince seems taken by you, for whatever reason, so you’ll seduce him during the honeymoon and then you’ll convince him to announce the accusations against your brother were falsely made.” 

A soft knock came at the door as the two stared at one another, the elder of the two with a firm glare and the younger with utter disbelief. A butler opened the door with a calm smile, “It is time.” 

Kizashi Haruno cleared his throat as though it’d clear the tension between them, faced his daughter, and carefully pulled her veil over her face, “Let us go, child.” Sakura’s hands shook as he pulled one of them into the crook of his elbow and guided her out of the room to stand at the massive, closed double doors of the chapel. 

Right then, she should’ve been focused on the wedding, but she wasn’t. No, she was appalled at having to be so close to her own father. The trembling didn’t stop, but she did have to bite back a gasp when she came to a realization, ‘After today, I’ll be Sasuke’s family. I’ll be an Uchiha, not a Haruno.’ 

Taking a deep breath, the woman closed her eyes tightly and whispered where only the baron could hear, “I’ll be your puppet no longer, Father. I’m free of the Harunos at last.” 

Kizashi’s eyes widened angrily, and he opened his mouth to retort, only to clamp it closed when the doors slowly opened to reveal what could only be described as a wedding fit for gods and goddesses. 

Elegant piano floated through the air as Sakura made her feet move on auto-pilot. Her eyes were wide, straight ahead, and not seeing much. The veil made everything blurry, not to mention the terrified tears welling in her eyes. Hundreds of people watched from either side of the wide aisle. She could feel their gazes burning into her skin. Her fingers tightened around her flawless bouquet of blue and white roses. 

‘Don’t trip. Stand tall. Just keep walking. Please. Please. Please, don’t embarrass the royal family in front of all these people!’ The panicked thoughts in her head were as loud as bombs, only crescendoing with each step. It felt like they’d never reach the podium with how large the room was, how long the aisle was. Her entire body felt cold as ice, which didn’t help with her case of shivers. 

Then, like the chaotic calm after a destructive storm, a white-gloved hand appeared before her. Her vision came into focus to see Sasuke’s familiar face, and it took her breath away. Kizashi bowed to the prince, then to the king and first prince who sat nearby before taking his seat in one of the frontward pews. 

Sakura couldn’t tear her eyes from her fiance’s as he gently aided her up the steps to the podium, where an extremely old priest stood waiting in magnificent robes of white and silver. When they were stood in their designated place, the ceremony began. 

The priest spoke loudly so that the entire chapel could hear, “Lords and Ladies, we’ve gathered here today to witness a royal marriage blessed by God. As the book says, we shall-” “Sakura.” The woman blinked, not realizing she still hadn’t looked away from her handsome fiance’s face. His whisper is what did it. 

He squeezed her shaking hands in his much larger ones, speaking quietly without moving his mouth much so those watching wouldn’t suspect anything, “You’re safe.” 

She nodded slowly, taking a calming breath and squeezing back, “I-I’m alright, now. I can do this.” 

Warmth met her cheeks, breaking through the ice, when he gently rubbed his thumbs over the backs of her hands, the corner of his lips tugging as though he wanted to smirk or smile, but he held it back. As gentlemanly and reserved as he was, it’d become increasingly obvious to Sakura that he was amused by her bashfulness every so often. She blinked in surprise when Sasuke suddenly released her hands to slowly lift the veil, allowing it to fall like soft snow down her back to rest on the train of her wedding gown. 

‘I didn’t realize how far we are into the ceremony already!’ 

Sasuke’s eyes were wide, surprise clear in their dark depths. For a long moment, neither dared to move. ‘He looks perfect, like a prince in a fairytale.’ Had he always been so handsome? Yes, he had, but it was still hard to look away from such beauty. 

Murmurs began to fill the air from the wedding guests, making the Uchiha man clear his throat and blink. The priest repeated what she’d obviously missed, “Your vows, Your Highness.” 

“Yes, my vows,” the prince confirmed. He cleared his throat again before turning his gaze back onto his bride, the tiniest hint of color meeting his cheeks. There was an unbearable moment of hesitation, obviously him being uncomfortable with such public displays, but he eventually sighed and began speaking, “Lady Sakura, I….” 

She could only watch in awe as the man swallowed nervously before pulling her hands into his once more and closing his eyes, “I was a ghost. I’d hide away, content to be unseen and unheard if it were for the benefit of those around me.” 

Tears welled once more in Sakura’s eyes as she watched the embarrassment fade from his features. Sasuke met her gaze warmly as though forgetting they weren’t alone, “Then, you arrived. You refused to allow me to remain a spectre. You… This quiet, unfamiliar woman made me into a human.” 

If Sakura didn’t know better, she could’ve sworn his eyes were becoming watery, but the man didn’t cry. Instead, he finished his vows with his composure intact, “Of all the professions of affection I could make, I fear I can only manage to say thank you. The rest, I will offer without wordlessly and pray you’ll understand.” 

Sasuke searched Sakura’s gaze, his hands squeezing hers as he repeated more quietly, “Thank you.” 

The woman delicately wiped at a stray tear before reholding the prince’s hand and taking a deep breath. ‘They told me I’d have to write my own vows, and I did, but they seem far too professional compared to how I feel right now.’ 

She took the tiniest step closer to him, searching his face earnestly as the words came to her, and she, too, forgot they were being watched by hundreds of people, “You have given me comfort. You’ve given me care and compassion. You breathed a life into me that I didn’t know was possible.” 

Sasuke’s hands tightened around hers, and she sniffled, feeling another tear overflow. She didn’t let it stop her and continued, “Never have I met a man with such a kind heart. I am proud of you.” She shook her head, leaning into his touch when he gently reached up to wipe at her tears, “Sasuke, I…I cannot wait to see the amazing things you’ll do in this life. If I am sure of two things, it is that I-I am in awe of you and that the world is a better place with you in it.” 

The room became silent before the priest chuckled, “I believe their words are proof enough of their devotion,” he gestured to the couple, “Second Prince Sasuke Uchiha, you may now kiss your bride and welcome her into the royal family as First Princess Sakura Uchiha.” 

‘The kiss! I forced myself not to think about it, but there’s no more time!’ 

Sakura couldn’t panic for more than a moment before warm lips were pressed to hers. Sasuke’s hand cupped her cheek, the other slipping behind her so he could pull her closer and hold her still. Her hands landed against his chest as she stared wide-eyed at his relaxed face. His eyes were closed. In that moment, the woman let herself be selfish. She closed her eyes and melted into her husband’s affection. 

The crowd erupted with applause, but the new princess only broke out of her love-struck awe when Sasuke ended the kiss. He pulled away, his thumb brushing the corner of her lips as he searched her face. His voice was low and raspy with effort to remain composed, “We’re married.” 

Sakura nodded, breathing heavier than normal with the overwhelming emotions and atmosphere, “I’m…. I’m your wife, Sasuke.” 

This time, the prince didn’t hold back his smirk, “You are my wife.” 

[shadow-bringer-ao3]

Edo Tensei and it's Equivalents

6.

Wei Ying’s figured it out. He’s powerful enough to be physically present, strong enough to fight and kill but not enough to save Tobirama. (He’s never enough to save those he loves. Only Jiang Cheng and Lan Zhan had survived him and both of them had made their feelings on him very clear, even if Lan Zhan had had some sort of stroke of madness at the end and tried to save him. Probably thought it was too good an end for the despicable Yiling Laozu.)

Blood is still oozing between his fingers sluggishly but it’s clear that Tobirama’s heart has long since stopped beating. He can’t tell if the blood and body are still warm; he can’t feel much of anything. Wei Ying stumbles to his feet, blood gliding off his ghostly skin like oil on water. He needs to check on the kids. Tobirama begged him to make sure the kids live with his last breath.

He’ll come back later.

He can’t jump through the treetops like a squirrel (or shinobi), nor are the trees far enough apart to use a sword (not that he has one, anyway), but an application of this strange resentful energy makes him fast and, if he’s careful, he can phase through things like trees for a few extra seconds time. The kids aren’t moving fast, far from the speeds he’s seen them reach in the past, and they’ve only made it halfway to Konoha. No one will come after them, he’s made sure of that, and the shinobi of Konoha are going to where he had to leave Tobirama. The kids have too little spiritual energy, chakra, left for the shinobi to notice them as they speed past.

Wei Ying knows he doesn’t look like a threat to these people; Tobirama had been the only one to ever see through that and then Wei Ying had gone and proven him right when he had taken on those three Uchiha on his own. It’s not a big effort to make noise as he approaches the kids’ camp, either, so when he ‘stumbles’ upon them, he knows he looks truly civilian to them. The kids still standing round on him with knives– kunai –and wary looks, barely appeased when they see Wei Ying isn’t one of the ones after their lives. He raises his hands immediately, showing off his lack of weapons.

Not that he or another ghost or a shinobi would need a weapon but it’s the thought that counts, right?

“I’m a doctor,” Wei Ying lies before he can think better of it. Besides, he’s got the skill of any civilian doctor; Wen Qing made sure of it.

“We don’t need your help,” Danzo, ever suspicious, growls. Kagami’s half in his lap with a broken leg. Wei Ying’s more concerned about Torifu.

“You’re from Konoha, right? He–” Wei Ying motions to Torifu, not yet letting his hands drop, “–won’t make it back in his condition.” Even without being a true medic, Wei Ying knows it’s true. The resentful energy is gathering around the boy, ready to feed his soul until a spirit forms. Luckily, the resentful energy in this universe lacks the ability to make a fierce corpse.

“You don’t have any supplies,” Danzo is quick to shoot back. Wei Ying grimaces.

“I was robbed on the way here– I’m lucky enough I got out with my life and my clothes. Besides, you would likely feel safer if I were to use your tools anyway.” The group pauses, Koharu and Homura turning to Hiruzen, their leader in Kagami’s absence. Danzo has seemingly lost interest in the argument, curling protectively around Kagami. “What do you have to lose?” He adds, gentle.

“I–” Hiruzen hesitates for a moment before stepping aside. “Okay. But– But if you hurt him…”

“You’ll kill me?” Wei Ying finishes, forcing the wry amusement out of his tone. He doesn’t wait for the confirmation, pressing forward to Torifu’s side. He forces away any resentful energy not being used to keep him solid and visible, aware that its presence will only make Torifu die faster.

“Can you remove his shirt?” Wei Ying asks. “I need direct access to his wounds.” He leans back while he considers. The boy will definitely need stitches. If there’s any internal injuries, though, he won’t be able to do anything for him.

He hopes there’s nothing internal.

“You, ah, you use needles, don’t you?” Wei Ying asks, unsure which kid he should direct the question to. “Senbon, I think? I’ll need one of those and some thread.” He racks his memories. What else had Wen Qing told him? He leans forward when Torifu’s shirt is finally cut away– Hiruzen had enough sense not to move him, thankfully –and grimaces at the dirt. Then– cleanliness. But there’s not enough time to collect water and boil it and wait for the senbon to cool, not to mention the lack of any sort of container they could hold the water.

“Here,” Koharu says, and it’s better than he could have hoped. The girl hands him a first aid kit stocked with needles, thread, and bandages alike. Wei Ying turns his full attention to Torifu, hands steady as he begins the tedious process of stitching the boy up. He goes through the worst of the wounds first, careful not to touch Torifu’s skin directly, using a small section of bandage as a barrier in the absence of gloves. He has a feeling (deepset, in the empty section of his soul where his golden core used to be, now containing only the resentful energy he needs to survive) that contact between the nearly-dead and the all-dead won’t do any wonders for the aforementioned nearly-dead.

(Something here is wrong. Kagami’s presence aches, burns, in the same way Izuna’s had after Wei Ying had inadvertently saved his life. Torifu’s doesn’t. Did he just trade one child for another? Has his presence saved Kagami but doomed Torifu?)

When he’s finished his stitches, he sits back on his haunches. They aren’t the prettiest, he’ll admit, but it’s easy enough to blame that on having four ready-to-murder children at his back, which is probably more terrifying than four ready-to-murder adults. He cleaned the area around the injuries as best he could without proper supplies and now only has to wrap the poor kid up like a mummy. Not now, though. Shifting him around in this state is definitely a bad idea.

“Can any of you, uh. Heal?” Wei Ying wonders, standing to look at the children. He doesn’t like the idea of putting Torifu’s life in the hands of his friends but he doesn’t really have a choice, at this point. He’s done as much as he can without spiritual energy and there’s no way in hell he’s going to try to use resentful energy as a substitute.

“Homura can,” Hiruzen says immediately. Then, less excitedly, “But I doubt any of us have enough chakra left to do any jutsus, much less healing.” Homura nods.

“I, uh, I’m pretty close to chakra exhaustion,” Homura says quietly. “But I can try.” Wei Ying shakes his head firmly.

“Chakra exhaustion is dangerous for shinobi, right? I’m not going to let any of you threaten your lives for each other.” Wei Ying bites his lip, watching the way blood soaks through Torifu’s temporary bandages. The stitches have slowed the bleeding but not enough. He’s not going to let any of the kids go off on their own to get help and he’s not leaving them, either. Wei Ying takes a deep breath and steps away from the kids, manoeuvring as far from Torifu as he can while still being in the clearing.

“Mister?” Hiruzen asks, at some halfway point between suspicious and concerned. Wei Ying makes a motion with his hand even he is unsure the meaning of, letting his eyes slide shut. The strange slithery-ness of the resentful energy is still there but it listens to him now, responding to him nearly as well as the resentful energy of his home world.

All he needs to do is catch the attention of some Konoha shinobi and keep control of the resentful energy. Easier said than done but part of him still clings to the idea that anything is easy if he believes it is. He takes a deep breath.

In.

Out.

Again;

In and out.

The resentful energy responds in time with his breathing, growing under his skin and creeping in from the forest more each time. Like the tide, it comes in and pulls out, tugging almost playfully on his control. He keeps part of it, coiling it deep within where his golden core once rested, feels the way it chills him further with the more he consumes. Then, he releases it.

It explodes upwards, just barely still in Wei Ying’s control. It’s a pulse of dark, cloying energy, strong enough to make the younger trees sway. Somewhere through the whirlwind, he thinks he might hear the kids shouting. At each other or at him, he couldn’t tell.

Wei Ying reforms in the remains of the original Senju Compound. It takes him a moment to adjust, considering he last remembers being in a forest an upwards of a hundred li away. The room (or at least, what’s left of it) has what’s almost a film of resentful energy over it, preserving it far better than it should be, left to the elements as it is. It’s Tobirama’s room– the place where Wei Ying was first summoned and then summoned again as a spirit. Despite the fact that the seal– the summoning circle –is long since gone, the resentful energy has gathered in the impression of its lines to allow him to reform.

He’s stuck here, then, unless someone back in his own world figures out how to summon him there, he supposes, but he’s not sure why anyone would want to, considering what everyone believed him to be, there at the end. That is, if his memory is kept on at all as anything beyond a scary story to tell children. Well, he might not be stuck here indefinitely, if the area around the summoning circle, or the remains of the summoning circle, or the imprint of the summoning circle, or whatever, is drained of resentful energy, but then he doesn’t know where he’ll go if he has to reform and, frankly, that’s a terrifying thought that he doesn’t want to test.

He sighs and rubs a hand against his eyes, tired and worn in a way he hasn’t been since he died. He needs to get to Konoha, make sure his last ditch effort actually did something. He needs to make sure he didn’t fail Tobirama in this, as well.

It takes longer than he truly wants to think about to find his way to Konoha. He hasn’t travelled between the old Senju Compound and Konoha since Tobirama finished helping his clan move and turned his focus onto building up the village, both in the literal sense and in the sense that Tobirama is the reason the village can actually run without too much issue.

The point is, it takes Wei Ying, a being that does not need food, water, or rest, a little over three days to find Konoha. It’s a little like going home, finding Konoha, though he still misses Lotus Pier and even the Burial Grounds fiercely. He keeps himself invisible as he wanders around, not really in the mood to deal with people, especially ones as suspicious as shinobi. Plus he’s used to being able to go through stuff and he doesn’t want to embarrass himself by walking straight into a wall or something. He wanders around, moving towards the hospital, hoping he was successful but not really wanting to confront his own failure if he wasn’t.

It’s good, then, that he comes across Koharu on the way. It’s immediately obvious that he spent longer reforming than he initially thought. Koharu is no longer the teen she was last time Wei Ying saw her— she’s an adult now, definitely somewhere in her thirties. It’s a bit jarring, he’ll admit, and Wei Ying floats along curiously behind her, watching as she collects a frankly ridiculous amount of groceries. Despite how strange it is, it’s peaceful, watching her move so confidently around the market, knowing she’s safe.

Homura joins her just as she’s leaving the market, falling into step beside her easily and taking the proffered bags without complaint. Two down, Wei Ying thinks, four to go. He had never known the village particularly well, since every other time he was here he was tied to Tobirama, so he doesn’t have a clue where the pair might be heading.

Not too long later, Kagami and Danzo slide from the crowd, hand in hand, to join the group, Kagami immediately filling the (relative) quiet with chatter. While Danzo, Homura, and Koharu are relatively unchanged, Kagami is clearly different. He has a weight to his shoulders he’d never had before and a scar running across his cheek from near his temple to the corner of his mouth, like an extension to his smile. He’s alive, though, and that’s all Wei Ying can truly hope for, with lives so dangerous. Only Hiruzen and Torifu left, then, and his worry makes him stick even closer to Tobirama’s kids.

They come to a house Wei Ying recognizes somewhere in the back of his mind but he shakes it off. No point in guessing, since it’s clear he’ll be inside in just a moment.

“We’re here,” Kagami calls cheerfully as he swings the front door open. The group shuffles in, spreading out over the house like they belong. And maybe they do, Wei Ying certainly wouldn’t know.

“Took you long enough,” an older Hiruzen needles, appearing through a doorway. Danzo scoffs, immediately falling into one of his usual friendly arguments with his teammate while Kagami pretends to play mediator while actually egging them both on. Homura and Koharu move towards what must be the kitchen with their groceries and Wei Ying follows, hoping beyond hope that he managed to do what Tobirama asked of him.

The kitchen is roomy and sparkling clean, the counters cleared to make way for Koharu’s haul. There’s a woman there that Wei Ying recognizes but doesn’t know the name of and, better than anything, Torifu, inspecting what Koharu and Homura brought him. The anxiety and fear in Wei Ying’s chest loosens its claws and he can’t help but smile in his relief. He basks in the bright warmth of the home for just a few minutes before he leaves, unwilling to intrude even though he’s a ghost.

Wei Ying stays in Konoha for almost two years, syrupy days stretching into syrupy days. He bounces between tangible and intangible, visible and invisible, careful to not be seen by anyone who might recognize him. A lot of those who would are dead— Tobirama, Hashirama, Touka, the Uchiha brothers —but better to be safe than sorry. A few of the ghosts he knows have moved on, as well, most notably Itama and Kawarama. It definitely makes for long, lonely days, and it… hurts, to walk through Konoha without Tobirama by his side.

That’s what drives him away, eventually. There’s no place in Konoha for him while his failure to protect Tobirama hangs over him like a shroud. At first, his only thought is about getting as far away from painful memories— good and bad alike —as possible. The time he spent in Konoha assured him that Tobirama’s kids could look after themselves; even if they couldn’t, there isn’t much Wei Ying can do once he loses the advantage of surprise. He’s not used to such fast paced battles and, really, he’s not used to fighting at all, anymore.

He catches a boat across the water to Uzushio, where he’s been a few times before, trailing after Tobirama and Hashirama and Mito. It’s beautiful and it reminds him achingly of Lotus Pier. He doesn’t stay long, leaves even further across the water to Kiri. Kiri actually reminds him a little of the Burial Mounds mixed with Qinghe. It’s definitely a strange place and ominous enough to match. Wei Ying doesn’t particularly like it but he stays long enough to get to know the people, to chat and trade and make merry. If nothing else, Kiri knows how to let loose, chaotic and sharp and warm despite the chilly weather.

Months turn into a year before he moves on again, chased further across the water by the animosity towards Konoha and her people. The lands there have little to do with anything happening closer to Konoha’s mainland, only participating in trade with Kiri and, occasionally, Kumo. Wei Ying, wanting nothing to do with the high tensions, stays here for as long as he can manage. Ten years, travelling between villages, growing his collection of things until he’s practically an official trader. He’s forced to move on when people start talking, rumours of a wanderer who doesn’t age beginning to follow him.

He heads to Kumo where it’s clear they’re still nursing resentment from the war Tobirama had died in. The people are suspicious and altogether poor. Wei Ying does what he can, collecting food to hand out or, when that garners more suspicion that it actually helps, trading the food for little doo-dads that interest him. Jewellery and art and small seals; nothing that’s particularly useful to him but also won’t hurt anyone to be given away. He helps with people setting up farms for the first time, remembering the long, cold, and hungry months in the Burial Mounds before Wei Ying had managed to get their gardens going. It’s easier here to grow things— there’s not nearly as much resentful energy that needs purging.

It takes some work, considering everything, and a good few years, but he eventually manages to create talisman-seal hybrids that consume the natural resentful energy to convert it into chakra that helps plants grow. It’s not perfect but it’s something and he trades them as well, usually for stories or small, pretty things. When he starts garnering entirely too much attention, spending more time hiding from shinobi on the hunt for him than actually helping people, he moves on.

He runs into the Samurai, who are similar enough to cultivators for him to feel at home, and spends more time there to exchange stories and advice and swordplay. He ends up staying with them, bouncing between clans, until the newest war ends, at which point he finds himself drawn back to Konoha, intent on making sure Tobirama’s legacy still stands strong in the absence of the man himself.

It does, though it’s clearly a village (a nation) suffering the aftereffects of war. Kagami, having taken over as Hokage when Tobirama died, is clearly tired and stressed but unwilling to retire when his people so clearly need him. Despite the toll the war took on him— and on the rest of Tobirama’s kids, all of them looking old in a way that’s more than just skin deep —Kagami is still kind, still bringing together the people of Konoha with his infectious pride and confidence. He and Danzo share a home, now, and a team; a trio of kids that may as well be their actual children for how protective and adoring they are. Hiruzen, as well, has a team, and among them, Wei Ying recognizes Hashirama’s kindness and Mito’s strength and Tobirama’s genius in Tsunade. Orochimaru and Jiraiya level her out nicely and they make a powerful team even while it’s clear they aren’t quite at Hiruzen’s level yet.

None of the rest have teams, though Koharu and Torifu both have lovely wives now. Homura is alone in comparison but seems fine with it; all six of them meet up often, anyhow, and it’s clear they’re just as close now as they were when Wei Ying left so long ago. He stays barely a handful of months in Konoha proper, spending more time wandering the Land of Fire to trade his talisman-seals. The people here are less hostile than in many of the other nations he’s visited but they won’t take handouts regardless and he ends up with another collection of shiny, interesting things, sealed away in yet another scroll. He can only feel grateful that he can change the sealing scrolls enough for him to use with his resentful energy.

He ends up going up towards Iwa, after, because, though he will always be on Konoha’s side, he knows better than most that wars are never as black and white as they seem. No matter what, there are innocents on both sides, and Wei Ying feels duty bound to help as many as possible, regardless of side.

The Iwa people are like Jiang Cheng, over all; they want to lick their wounds in peace, without an outsider poking his nose in. Wei Ying gives them what help they’ll accept and Wei Ying cuts through Ame on his way down towards Suna, giving them the help they need before moving on. The desert is notably harder to work in. While sandstorms aren’t a danger to him, they are to the living, whether that’s people or animals or plants. He helps build indoor farms, doing his part to dig out hollows in the cool earth or haul stone for walls. Unlike most nations he’s visited, the shinobi village is doing only barely better than the normal people. It’s the lack of easy access to water and crops, he thinks.

He moves finally to Uzushio, which, despite declaring themselves neutral, had been hit heavily. There’s no one left on the island itself; they had been forced to flee or die, and Wei Ying spends time cleaning the area up before going on a hunt for the survivors. They had been scattered to the winds and, for anyone else, it would have been impossible to track them down again. Wei Ying knows seals, though, and he knows talismans even better. It’s relatively easy to rig up something to track Uzushio’s unique signature. He collects the ragtag shinobi and finds himself furious at having to steal back stolen children, returning them to family. Or, at least, people as close to family as they have left. The shinobi return to Uzushio quietly, keeping their movements slow and under the radar.

Wei Ying helps give them their home back and, for the first time since the Wen Remnants died under his charge, he feels like he’s… not making up for the ruin that he brought Lotus Pier but balancing it out, good for bad. Uzushio doesn’t rebuild itself in a day, of course, or even the near ten years he spends there, and the people likely won’t ever be the same again. They’re a warier sort, now. Untrusting and hesitant in a way that Wei Ying recognizes in himself and in Jiang Cheng. They are a people betrayed by the ones they trusted most, purposefully or not, and it’s not something they’ll be able to forget easily.

At this point, it's pretty much an open secret Wei Ying isn’t a normal person. Just about a hundred years have passed and even with the precautions he’s taken, the knowledge of an unaging and undying wanderer that wants nothing more than pretty, useless things in exchange for help, who can escape even a Great Nation vying after him, has spread. The people of Uzushio don’t ask questions but there are signs that they suspect what he is— offering food and making little lanterns with crows to represent him rather than their usual fox designs. It’s… nice, to be known and still accepted. Wei Ying never confirms anything but it warms him regardless. Wei Ying pretty much makes his new base of operations Uzushio and even when he starts leaving the island again to check on the other nations and the other Hidden Villages, he knows he’s going to go back. He can’t not, considering how closely he’s tied to the people there, now.

Konoha is much the same as it was when he left. Kagami has finally retired, and he double checks that the boy (man, now, and old man on top of that) is really retired and not dead (he is; he and Danzo seems to be having some sort of cold war regarding whether or not they’re gonna stay in Konoha’s politics but are otherwise fine), and a young blonde kid has taken the hat up. Jiraiya’s apprentice, apparently, and life is really going by too fast. Minato, the Hokage, has both a wife (a terrifying Uzumaki who Wei Ying aches to tell about Uzushio but can’t without putting his people in danger) and a gangly little silver-haired kid. The rest of Konoha is doing well as well, though Wei Ying doesn’t so much as check in on the Inuzuka as he does just sort of assume.

Jiraiya and Tsunade are both off doing whatever though Orochimaru is still around. Wei Ying spends the day following the boy around while invisible. Strangely enough, Orochimaru seems to be able to tell he’s around, even if he can’t see him. Besides him, he also spends time looking after Kagami’s kids; Chikae and Kasai are fine, spending their time helping to cheer people up, but Shiro’s badly hurt, confined to a wheelchair. All three of them seem to be retired although he can’t be entirely sure about that.

He tells Uzushio his news when he returns. None of them are particularly interested in any of it except what Kushina was doing which makes sense since she’s Uzumaki. Still, they let him talk with fond looks and offerings of spicy food that he couldn’t ever deny.

He returns to travelling the nations as a trader, bringing what he’s given back to Uzushio to decorate the island as make-shift wind chimes and just simple little glittery things. It’s okay, this life he’s built, even though he knows he’ll watch all the friends he made grow old and die and move on without him. All the nations seem to finally be settling, as much as they can, at least, and there are whispers on Uzushio debating revealing themselves. The general consensus seems to be ‘wait and see’.

The next time Wei Ying goes back to Konoha, things are different. Minato and Kushina both died at some point in the interim— Hiruzen has been signed up for the position of Hokage, this time. Orochimaru’s gone now as well and Wei Ying doesn’t know where he nor his teammates might be. Kakashi is a pain in the ass to track down but the boy is alive, at least. All of Tobirama’s kids are still alive, miraculously, and Wei Ying wonders if that’s something he did or if the six of them are just ridiculously good at surviving. Shiro’s gone but Chikae and Kasai are still around, at least. The worst thing, though, isn’t the death and change, which Wei Ying has regrettably gotten used to. No, instead it’s little Naruto, who looks so much like his parents that his birth could never be denied. The boy, a four year old at Wei Ying’s best guess, is living on the streets, scavenging for scraps, while his village condemns him.

Wei Ying hasn’t felt such incandescent rage in a long time.

Naruto is tucked behind a dumpster when Wei Ying hunts him down again after all of his anger’s dissipated. He lets himself be visible and tangible, unlike how he usually visits Konoha. He won’t be checking in on Tobirama’s kids so there’s no point and besides, he can’t help Naruto if he can’t interact with the boy. He had made sure to buy some food for the kid— soup, because he has a feeling Naruto hasn’t been eating very well and he knows that food with more substance can be uniquely bad on truly empty stomachs.

“Hey there,” he greets quietly, crouching down to keep from looming over the boy. Naruto peers up at him with mistrustful blue eyes. They’re not as dark as his father’s were, more sunshine-y than the former Hokage. “Hungry?” He asks, offering the soup takeout container he got from the restaurant down the street. The kid is still clearly wary but his hunger overrides his caution and he sneaks forward to take the takeout container and a wooden spoon from Wei Ying. He urges Naruto to eat slowly but he remembers the desperate way each meal has to be eaten on the streets if you don’t want to lose it.

“Do you have anywhere to stay?” Wei Ying asks, knowing the answer and hoping, hoping, he’s wrong. Naruto hesitates but the food seemed to have warmed his attitude up and he gives a shake of his head without too much wariness. Wei Ying wonders if the boy can speak, if anyone ever taught him how. Wei Ying doesn’t have an apartment. He doesn’t need one; he can’t sleep, he doesn’t get too cold or too warm, he doesn’t get tired of standing. He has money, though. A hundred years exploring, helping people, and trading results in a lot of random stuff, yes, but even he couldn’t avoid grateful people foisting money off onto him. He spread it around as much as he could but the people here like free money even less than they like free help.

“I can get you a place, if you want,” Wei Ying offers. Naruto hesitates again before nodding, slow and shy. Wei Ying debates his next move with himself for a moment but he walks faster than Naruto and the boy’s probably desperate for any kind touch so he opens his arms beckoningly.

“Can I carry you—” Before he can even fully finish the question, Naruto is slamming into him with the speed and force of a newly made fierce corpse. He doesn’t lose the air in his lungs because he doesn’t have any but he does rock back, the surprise nearly making him lose his balance. Naruto curls in close as Wei Ying stands, hiding his face away in Wei Ying’s shoulder. The dark resentful energy of the Huli Jing Naruto has sealed inside him (the people here call it a kitsune, a demon fox, the Kyuubi) tugs at Wei Ying’s own resentful energy, trying to tempt him into making bad decisions, into taking revenge. Wei Ying shoves it to the side the best he can while still using resentful energy to pretend to be alive.

He wanders through the streets, looking for somewhere he can buy an apartment or even a house. It’s not too difficult; the recent war left vacancies that have yet to be filled. Still, he spends time looking for a place in a good neighbourhood. He won’t be able to stay here with Naruto, he can’t when he has Uzushio to look after, and he needs Naruto to be in a place where he’ll at least have a fighting chance. He eventually settles on a place just outside the Uchiha Compound. The owner tries to make him pay an exorbitant amount but Wei Ying is skilled with people; he knows what makes them tick. He doesn’t threaten the man. He just stares, eyes red with resentful energy, as the man runs himself into guilty circles all on his own.

The price is lowered.

The man leads Wei Ying to a room on the second floor. It has a window that can open and has access to a tree that arches, flowering, over the Uchiha Compound's wall. An escape route, should Naruto need it. The room has a bathroom, kitchen, bedroom, and living space. It’s better than Wei Ying really hoped for. He pays the rent for the next year and closes the door with one hand after the owner has slunk off. Wei Ying tries to set Naruto down on the couch but the boy only clings to him tighter with terrified little noises. Wei Ying accepts his clinginess without comment. He still remembers, distant and foggy as it might be, now, what it had been like to crave any kind touch, how terrifying it had been to have that touch taken from him again and again. He’ll do what he can for Naruto.

They sleep on the couch, Naruto curled into his chest and Wei Ying less sleeping and more wandering in the safety of his mind. He can’t go too far or risk him and the Kyuubi aggravating each other with their matching corrosive presences but it’s enough to pass the time. It’s late morning the next day before he makes either of them do anything. Naruto needs food and clothes and a multitude of other things he had never been able to really give Wen Yuan. It feels a little like a second chance and although Naruto would never be able to replace Wen Yuan (and Wei Ying doesn’t want him to), Wei Ying is grateful he can give this child more than he had been able to give the first.

Naruto explores the clothes shop with an amazed kind of curiosity. The worker, a teenager who looks half-asleep, watches them with half their attention but seems disinclined to spend the energy it would take to view Naruto with the same derision and hate the majority of the villagers seem to hold. The boy’s still clinging tightly to Wei Ying’s hand but he’s interested enough to walk on his own, picking out clothes that he likes.

Wei Ying notices, amused, that the boy is drifting towards close to what he’s wearing. There’s nothing quite in the style of clothes that Wei Ying is wearing— something that’s gotten him curious looks in the past —and it seems to irritate Naruto although the boy is staying nearly silent. A survival instinct, Wei Ying thinks, and hates it.

They end up with a collection of orange, black, red, and, on Wei Ying’s suggestion, some blue and purple kimonos plus a couple dark grey-ish green outfits that work better with the kind of life the people in this world live. He can’t imagine kimonos work terribly well with the kind of fast movements and fierce fights that happen here although he has seen a few fighters here and there that get by with the looser, more constrictive clothing well enough.

They stop by a restaurant on the way back so Naruto can get some more soup into him. He’s a little grumpy that Wei Ying didn’t let him get half the menu as he had been angling to do but eats his soup without complaint. They get a couple nasty looks from the owner that Wei Ying fends off with blank, dangerous looks of his own. He’s not a shinobi but the people here know well and good to back off in the face of something stronger than them.

A week passes of Wei Ying setting Naruto up with everything he could ever need (including a bank account that had been a pain in the ass to set up), then another of teasing the boy out of his shell. He turns out to be a rather precocious and bubbly child when not fearing for his life, quick to bring fun to any scenario. He’s not the smartest kid out there— or maybe Wei Ying’s not the best judge for something like that; he and Tobi and Minato were all geniuses —but he tries hard and throws all of himself into whatever he’s genuinely encouraged to learn.

Here Wei Ying is, some months into this whole endeavour, watching Naruto carefully trace out kanji in the little kid’s spelling book Wei Ying bought with his tongue stuck out in concentration, when he has a thought. A stupid thought, maybe, but one that might let the boy squeak a little bit further under the radar. The villagers are on the lookout for a little blonde boy— not for a fiery-haired Uzumaki.

“Do you like red?” He asks Naruto. The boy takes the time to finish out the kanji he’s working on (Wei Ying thinks it might be horse? He’d never really learned the written language) before pulling his head up.

“Huh?” Wei Ying huffs a fond little laugh.

“Do you like red?” He asks again. Naruto tips his head in thought like a curious fox.

“I guess so,” he decides, “but I like orange better.” Wei Ying nods. He’d known that but he doesn’t think orange will have quite the same effect.

“Do you want red hair?” Naruto perks up immediately.

“I can have red hair?” He nearly squeals in excitement, bouncing up and almost knocking over his ink pot. He does send his brush skittering and it leaves a black stain on the floor Wei Ying has the feeling will never come out. He laughs as Naruto throws his little body into his arms, repeating ‘can I can I can I’ over and over excitedly. Shinobi, Wei Ying knows, have little seals that can be used to change a part of someone’s appearance for up to a year before the seal burns out but they’re noticeable if you know how to look and Wei Ying wants something a little harder to see through. Dye it is, then.

“You stay here and keep working on your kanji,” Wei Ying says. “I’ll go grab what we need to change your hair colour.” Naruto beams and agrees right away, collecting his brush as Wei Ying heads out. Finding hair dye is easy, finding hair dye guaranteed to last a long time is a bit harder but he manages to hunt down shinobi-grade dye guaranteed to last a year. When he gets back to the apartment, Naruto has finished his kanji for today and is practically vibrating with anticipation.

“To the bathroom,” Wei Ying says. Naruto pouts at him. Like most children, he has a grudge against being clean and therefore against the bathroom.

“Why?” The boy whines.

“Because this can be messy and we’re not doing it out here,” Wei Ying informs. Naruto huffs and grumbles but does, in fact, follow Wei Ying to the bathroom. The dye is easy enough to prepare and as Wei Ying is carefully covering all that golden hair, he hopes the red hair will be enough that people will see Naruto and think Uzumaki instead of Kyuubi. Maybe their guilt over what happened to Uzushio will protect him.

He stays in Konoha for as long as he can force himself to. Between his years of constant travel and the other Uzumaki relying on him, he gets restless fast. He doesn’t head out immediately, of course. He keeps the apartment well-stocked with non-perishables and makes sure Naruto has the basics of everything he needs to survive on his own until Wei Ying can return. He doesn’t trust anyone in Konoha well enough by half to leave Naruto’s wellbeing in their hands— as a matter of fact, he trusts Naruto to take care of himself as a former homeless and abused child far better than he does the emotionally stunted shinobi (who may be well off but usually lacking any sort of skills that pair well with childrearing) or the small-minded civilians (who had been the majority of the ones going out of their ways to make life miserable for little Naruto). Still, he ends up sticking around long enough to feel the need to tidy up Naruto’s dye job.

He leaves not even a full two days after, once Naruto has made him promise many times in increasingly complex ways to come back. He doesn’t bother with the front gate since he stands out enough between his looks and amalgamated accent that the guards would probably stop him, opting instead to go intangible and invisible and just walk straight through the wall. He then proceeds to walk the entire distance between Konoha and the shore closest to Uzushio, absently grateful for the fact that he can’t physically get tired anymore. Mostly because physically, he doesn’t exist.

Getting from the shore to Uzushio is a trickier issue. A couple of Uzushio shinobi had sailed him over in a nondescript boat that they had kept well away from anywhere that could have recognized them. Getting a boat to sail back there is pretty much impossible between his inability to sail anything by himself and the innate danger that would come with outing the existence of a slowly-rebuilding Uzushio to the greater world before they have the protective seals, general power, and population to resist a second wave of complete annihilation. On the other hand, he is dead and as nothing more than a spirit it would actually be very possible for him to just sort of. Fly over to the whirlpool-surrounded island. However, he hasn’t actually used that skill since his time with Tobirama, reading reports and books over people's shoulders.

(It’s significantly easier to do than he had expected, being mostly instinctual once he figured out how to start. The water and the distance does not end up being the big conundrum he had built it up to be in his mind.)

Uzushio, when he finally gets there, welcomes him back with open arms. This has been the longest he’s stayed away since he first helped rebuild the island village and the people fawn over him with worry and curiosity in equal measures. He accepts their gifts easily, passing out all the trinkets and other interesting bits he had collected before being waylaid in Konoha. He tells his stories, as well, ones that have been traded to him for his help and ones he’s made himself, chatting to an ever changing crowd of individuals. There are new people around, as well, and they tell their stories as well, being drawn to Uzushio like an indescribable current was reeling them in or being brought back with shinobi who had left the island and ended up saving them from uncharitable situations.

Eventually he tells them of Naruto, and their righteous anger matches his as they clamour for retribution. For shinobi, the Uzumaki have always been as fair and just and kind as people could come and Wei Ying looks up to them for it and their determination not to let their dismal history drag them down. In light of Wei Ying’s revelation regarding Naruto, the people of Uzumaki are even more understanding of his absence. A haphazard group of parents and older siblings drag him to the side to teach him how to handle children, how to deal with hair and clothes, how to make a balance between strict and lenient, how to cook and bake and know what children need to grow up strong and healthy, how to do make-up and sew and clean. He’s not the best at all of it and several people worked together to beat it into his head that he can’t just drown food for children in every spice under the sun but eventually they deem him passable enough to release him from their claws.

He flees back to Konoha and Naruto before they can change their mind and the boy is so gleefully happy to see him that he feels guilty for ever leaving in the first place. But as much as he has a duty to Naruto, he has a duty to Uzushio, and, much as he wants to, he probably can’t take Naruto (or, rather, the Kyuubi) from Konoha without launching the volatile world of shinobi into another war. He can’t really explain all of this to Naruto but he tries his best and the boy seems to understand which is… sad, in some undefinable way.

Naruto badgers him into teaching him swordsmanship and into painting the boy’s bedroom into a sunset of oranges and reds. As much as Wei Ying hates to admit it, Naruto has absolutely no natural talent when it comes to the sword and he’s half terrified that the boy’s going to somehow manage to kill himself with the stick they’re using as a sword. Sealing and talisman work, though, is an entirely different story when Wei Ying decides to finally try it out. He knows the Uzumaki are considered incredibly talented masters of fuinjutsu but he hadn’t expected it to be somehow hereditary like it apparently is. Naruto devours all the knowledge of talismans that Wei Ying can safely give him and the comparably little amount of sealing that he knows.

When he returns to Uzushio, he makes sure to gather as much information on sealing as he can to bring back to Naruto, an endeavour the Uzumaki enthusiastically agree with. Everything from oral teachings to surviving scrolls. Everything he can get his hands on short of bringing an actual surviving Uzumaki sealmaster into the heart of Konoha. It’s all graciously poured over when he passes it off to Naruto, particularly after he absentmindedly and offhandedly mentions that seals were the speciality of the Uzumaki Clan.

He falls into a rhythm splitting his time between Naruto and Uzushio. He never completely gives up his visits to other countries and villages but they dwindle to the point that his existence slowly goes from undisputed fact to mysterious legend. And he doesn’t have Jiang Cheng or Jiang Yanli or Lan Zhan or the Wens or little a-Yuan, he doesn’t have Tobirama or a real home or a Clan, but he’s happy.

For the first time in a long, long time, Wei Ying is really, truly happy.

Then space and time and the universe itself fold and rips around him and he wakes up in the place he doesn’t recognize in a body that isn’t his, surrounded by a language he hasn’t really spoken in over a century.

Wei Ying thinks about doing this all again, about crafting a life he’ll only lose, and he cries.

Part 5 | Last Part

[konohadaddies]

Of Secrets and Demons | Closed | Hakai

Continued from x @kagami--uchiha Realizing what had happened every second a little more, he stilol asked himself if he.. not just simply got hit in the head and that was now his mind coming up with scenarios while he was laying in a ditch, slowly fading away.. But Hakai was still very much real, he could feel his touch, smell his scent and hear him talk very clearly. He just had to get it together now to not make a complete fool out of himself. “A.. Demon Lord?” his question was a little hesistant. Not because he was disbelieving, no, not after what he had witnessed.. But rather.. He was confused. Why would someone so powerful help a Shinobi village, what would he gain from that? Besides that… he rather lived pretty secluded somewhere on the outskirts, if he remembered right. It certainly was a lot to take in, and certainly there would be questions arising in him that he would love to ask, but it would feel disrespectful. Instead he gave him a gentle smile. “I guess it’s.. something you rather keep a secret then? It’ll be safe with me, I know everyone could say that. But I promise it won’t ever leave my lips, not even if I’ll ever be tortured.” Which wasn’t even a lie, he was well trained to endure torture methods that were even beyond humane. Not that torturing was a humane act to begin with. But being somewhat distracted with the shining strands flowing with the wind he couldn’t help but… to just catch some of them between his fingers, marvelling at the sight and the feel. “.. Please forgive me I am.. I am just simply overwhelmed right now I-… I thought we were going to die and… I was already feeling bad because I wouldn’t have been able to at least ensure that you would survive..” His gaze slowly dropped to the ground, brows furrowing in deep thought as he went through the events again. Shaking his head a little, he looked back up at the man in front of him. “What are we going to write in our mission report then? About that incident?” the question was a little unsure, because it probably would be a bad idea to casually mention Hakai turning into a Demon lord to anihilate the enemy.

The breeze swept through long white hair and Hakai naturally lifted his head slightly, nose tipping towards the flow of the wind to check for any threats. Nothing was close enough to actually be a concern at the moment and he was quick to shift his attention back to the Uchiha when the human started speaking again.

He didn't tell many about the truth of his blood, but after he'd been forced to remove his ring and show at least his humanoid demon form, it wasn't like he could avoid it. But at least the young man seemed to grasp the concept that it wasn't something he just told anyone. "It is safer for all if I am viewed as just another human."

When humans knew he was a demon they either tended towards worship or terror and both made his life troublesome. And the fact he'd never bothered to show his power even during the wars around Konoha likely wasn't doing him any favors in how people might react to him. Alas, demonkind had rarely cared much what humans did and as long as his first pup's bloodline wasn't at the risk of dying out, he had little reason to get involved these days. At least in the manner of showing his demonic side.

One brow lifted at the way Kagami had touched his hair; once upon a time that would have been a death sentence. "My job was to bring the scroll and you back to the village. It is a mission I can complete." His response was rather flat, but he didn't pull away from the entranced touch either.

Hakai considered Kagami's question about their report for a moment, trying to decide how much this man could be trusted with knowledge of his truth. But there was no way to hide that they'd been followed unless he did something about the other two bodies. Sighing softly, he nodded to himself as he stepped away from Kagami and back towards the dead bodies.

"That we got away without pursuers." He spoke as he flexed his hand, a dull green glow creeping along his fingers before he plunged his now poisoned claws into the chest of the first body. The poison immediately began to break down the body, eating away flesh and bone alike. "There will be no one to disagree."

[valleysofdolls]

the thing is, the ending is divisive for some people. I don’t completely reject it, I like all of chapter 699, for example. but I understand sasuke stans who say it did ruin the story for them, and did him kind of unfair

I agree with most of your post, and let it be known I do ship sns, so sometimes I don’t agree with some sasuke stans on the endgame of the story and how it unfolded and our viewpoints on naruto/sasuke

not to try to turn this into a shipping war, as it’s mainly a character post, but I don’t necessarily think naruto wanting to bring sasuke home, and sakura wanting to bring sasuke home are the same

they both wanted him home, like you said, because orochimaru was a wanted criminal, and having sasuke under his care obviously wasn’t going to end well. but the intentions behind this, i think is what rubs sasuke stans (and somewhat me) the wrong way

throughout the story we see a growth in naruto. he goes from mindlessly going from “get sasuke back, he’s being crazy” to understanding sasuke, and why he’s doing what he’s doing. i would say this shift happens around the pain arc, when he loses jiraiya. naruto hadn’t had someone he seriously cared about and loved, that he considered family, that he’d lost before up to this point in the story. which is the crux of vote1 and why sasuke, even though he understood why naruto was trying to stop him, said he completely didn’t understand. but with this story arc, we can see naruto with the “i’ll take your pain on as my own burden, and we’ll die together” scene. because he can start to empathize with sasuke’s loss, and how he’s felt losing practically everyone he’s ever cared about.

we never see this shift in sakura. now, some of that is in part to the writing, and not giving her much development so we can see this change in thinking, the way we do naruto. but i think this was intentional, to contrast the dynamics

sakura wants sasuke back, as anyone would, if their team member was being groomed by a wanted criminal. but she never completely comes to understand why sasuke is doing what he’s doing. which is where the ending rubs me the wrong way. from a non shipping standpoint, it wasn’t a good ending for sasuke to end up with her. now, i’m not one to say sasuke never liked her, he clearly cared about her in some capacity as a friend (even though that doth not a romance make) but the story never addresses how he was right whenever he rejected her. at the end of the day, it was all about HER feelings and her wants, never about sasuke’s. not once did we see her think or say something akin to “i miss sasuke, but i can’t imagine the pain he’s going through right now, even though i don’t agree with what he’s doing, and he would be safer here in konoha.” it was always about me, me, me with her, and this is especially stark when contrasted with naruto, who we see have this emotional growth and learn to empathize with sasuke’s situation.

and it’s not even down to ignorance of the uchiha massacre and how exactly it happened, either. sakura says she knows about it, so why does she never have a moment where she comes to empathize with sasuke too?

ultimately, this is what makes the ending so frustrating for sasuke stans (and myself). he ends up with someone that shows no understanding of what he’s been through and why he did what he did. the system that enabled the uchiha massacre to happen in the first place shows no repentance for allowing someone like danzo to be in charge, and no guarantee that in the future, something like this won’t happen again. he faces punishment for his actions, fine. but what about the punishment for the system that allowed it to happen in the first place? the justice for what happened to the uchiha clan? the sasuke and naruto dynamic was written beautifully imo, with grace and understanding. but that’s not enough to make up for the lackluster ending

istg i’ve never seen a valid reason used by someone explained why they hate sasuke.

90% of the time it’s basically them saying he didn’t react to trauma the way they wanted him to (or doing trauma olympics using naruto, gaara, kakashi, etc as examples of “thEIr TrAUmA DiDN’t TUrN thEm iNtO aSSHOLes”)

5% is again, using very valid trauma from a 7 year old witnessing the death of their entire clan by their brother and being forced to relive it for 3 days, as a way to say he’s “too edgy and emo”

and the other 5% is used by shippers (mainly SS), shaming him for not reciprocating feelings he never felt for the other character

[oxydiane]

sns is so fucking unhinged and nobody will ever be them i’m sorry. you start the series and it’s like oh haha look at these goofy angsty rivals! they hate each other! then sasuke dies for naruto thirty chapters in giving up his dream of revenge and naruto goes batshit insane. now you’re like ah they’re friends i guess that’s cute! and sasuke is trying to kill naruto because he’s the most important person in his life which is . ok and it becomes the driving force of everything or something. sasuke leaves and naruto dedicates the rest of his life to bringing him back and you’re still a casual fan so ur like he’s doing it for the promise right? then orochimaru says sasuke is his and naruto goes batshit insane feral homicidal (again) and after that sasuke reappears and they have ??? like five different panels dedicated to them staring at each other??? and he jumps off a mountain and hugs naruto for some reasons just to whisper some gay shit in his ear kishimoto frankly needs to be jailed drawing this and keep that best friend nonsense going. anyways. you have sasuke become a convicted terrorist to which the normal people response is “ok we need to hunt him down” and when naruto learns they’re gonna hunt him down he starts screaming crying throwing up he has a panic attack he can’t breathe he’s falling in the snow he gets on his knees and begs them to spare his BFF. after having a meltdown over the thought of sasuke dying what may possibly be the natural coping mechanism any stable person would adapt? of course realising that if sasuke dies he can die too. so he sees sasuke again and after he attempts murdering sakura twice and expresses the intent to murder kakashi he’s like. i will bear the burden of your hatred and die with you hehe and if we both die you won’t be an uchiha and i won’t be the jinchuuriki to the nine tails and we’ll be able to understand each other better in a different lifetime! WE’LL MEET AGAIN IN THE AFTERLIFE BECAUSE NOT EVEN DEATH CAN DO US PART! and sasuke (just as insane as him) doesn’t even flinch he’s like what the fuck is wrong with you but then ok let’s fuckingggf die together on my god i will kill your first anyways . then they find out they are soulmates and get cute matching tattoos on their hands and decide to fight to the death once more because sasuke is back on his i will shoulder all the hatred of the world alone and i need to kill you because i love you more than anyone else in the world actually you’re the only person i love so you need to DIE and naruto is like I WILL NOT LET YOU SHOULDER THAT HATRED ALONE I WILL FREE YOU FROM THE PAIN and they fight and despite all the whatever weapons used in the war it’s a fuckinggg fistfight in which just as sasuke is about to inflict what he thinks is the last blow says “farewell… my one and only…………………. (very long pause to accentuate how heteronormative this next word is gonna be) FRIEND” and fucking stops using his sharingan because not even then he can record the image of naruto dying especially by his hand but naruto STOPS HIM LIKE A f cHAMP and they end up blowing each other’s arms off (rip the matchies) and as they’re bleeding to the fucking death sasuke is like you’re the only person that has never tried to severe their ties with me why do you go so far for me and naruto from the depths of comphet hell is like because you’re my FRIEND and sasuke being absolutely done with this bullshit is like ok what the fuck does that mean to you then and this is where it gets even gayer and relatable because naruto is like i don’t KNOW i just know that when you hurt i hurt and i just can’t take it and isn’t that the most gay experience thing ever? naruto knows what it feels like to have friends but what he feels for sasuke is so bone deep and unconventional that he cannot make sense of it and can only describe the pain it brings. after that sasuke CRIES LIKE THEYVE GOT ME SOOO FUCKED UP but you know what got me even more fucked up?

naruto waking up bloodied and battered and half alive with one arm missing but still wondering if that was heaven because sasuke was next to him. sasuke looking so happy and peaceful when saying “i lost” as a stark contrast to him looking and feeling like half of his body was being torn apart when he “won” against naruto in vote1 and left him. the bitterness of victory vs the sweetness of losing if you will. AND HIM COMPARING WHAT HE FEELS FOR NARUTO TO PRAYING MY GODD. did i forget to mention that then we learn that Ohhh it was never a stupid shallow rivalry as we all thought! they have actually been watching each other from afar since they were little freshly traumatised children and have longed to hold each other’s hands since then! what was it sasukeeee you felt warm and fuzzy when you saw naruto to thought of it as a weakness? these two are so astronomically hopelessly desperately obsessed in love with each other it’s ridiculous i’ve had ENOUGH free me from this mental prison

[yhwhsdaughter]

visions

art credit

promptober masterlist

yandere! shisui x f. reader x yandere! itachi

content: gouging eyes, implied murder, mental breakdown, suicidal ideation, slight mention of attempted self-harm

“Even in death, a part of me will always be with you.”

You were already blind prior to the accident.

The horror of their actions and behavior, you purposefully looked the other way. All those people dead, ignored by you, came back to haunt.

They appeared to you at every hour of the day, crying because you didn’t save them. There was no rest for the dead or you—hardly able to eat or sleep. Whenever you’d eventually collapse from exhaustion, you saw them in your dreams, quickly turning into nightmares.

An eye for an eye.

Suffer with us

It pained Shisui and Itachi to see you like this, especially when they were responsible for your deteriorating mental state. When the two killed, the thought that this would affect you severely never crossed their minds. It wasn’t till they came home to a mess. You were clutching your head, rocking back and forth in the stained carpet, muttering. “Make them go away… please.. make them go away..” A pair of bloody scissors sat neatly next to you.

—

Shrill screams escaped your mouth as they tried to carry you into the hospital. You slapped them away, stuck in a fearful state. “[Name], it’s us…” for some reason that made you more scared, which was, frankly, ridiculous. They would never hurt you.

“No no no no. It’s all your fault.. you did this..!”

Grabbing your wrists with gentle force, Shisui held you close to his chest whilst Itachi started the car. Your sobs reverberated to his own body and for a moment, he could feel your despair.

The doctors managed to sedate you and it took all their power not to punch everyone’s skull in as you were strapped to the bed, to avoid anyone else getting injured, especially yourself. “She’s having vivid hallucinations..”

Your eyes— the damage was irreversible. Hearing this, a smile grew on your face. It was kinda of an eerie sight. “Good. I won’t have to see your faces anymore.” It hurt them. Truly. Both Uchihas loved you so much, you were the entirety of their existence. They honestly believed their purpose in life, the reason for them being born, was to be by your side.

“How can we atone?”

“Kill me.”

“No. Anything but that.”

—

Itachi brought you medicinal tea, placing it next to your breakfast before bringing it over.

They tried to be accommodating. Doctors had recommended rest to let your eyes heal properly. The painkillers made you dizzy so you were practically confined in the bedroom. Not that Itachi or Shisui would allow anything less; they severely limited your autonomy, treating you like a child and never leaving your side.

It was suffocating.

With your eyesight gone, it was difficult to get things done. As the days passed, your irritation increased. Miscalculating the location of the teacup, you ended up knocking it over. The hot liquid spilled onto the bed.

“Ah!”

Itachi was there immediately, cleaning the mess you’d made. His love was patient. “You just need to get accustomed” he reminded in a soft voice. The calmness in his words angered you.

Shisui came home to find Itachi holding a shard from the teacup away from your grasp, as you’d tried to cut yourself with it. The tears that emerged from your eyesockets stained the bandage a red color. “Just let me die..!”

Your cries were muffled by a kiss. Itachi grunted as he ripped his eye out, lessening his pain with your lips. His arms enveloped your being, providing warmth and comfort with his body. Shisui, who’d approached the bed, tilted your head towards him and did the same.

Lips painted red, you felt a pinch in the crook of your shoulder, muttering a tiny “ouch..” before passing out.

The three of you stayed in the hospital for a while, recuperating. When the doctor undid your bandages and brought a mirror, you almost cried.

People say the eyes are the windows to the soul. Well, you believed it now. Staring back at you were two eyes that you once knew—implanted in the space that used to be empty.

“See what we see.”

Turning, you noticed both had a patch over their respective eyes.

This was your punishment.

[ap-kinda-lit]

Not With My Daughter!

Rating: T Pairing: Kawasara mainly, with a dash of Sasusaku too Summary: Sasuke sees something that doesn't please him one bit and he faces a realization that is much less palatable for him

Was requested to do a fic where Sasuke or Sakura catches Kawaki and Sarada a while back, but I finally did it! Here y’all go!

For the hundredth time that evening, Sasuke glanced at the clock. It was twelve past eight now. He grimaced. They should've been home by now... The Shadow Hokage anxiously drummed his fingers on his chair's arm. Sarada had left hours ago to train with her new teammate, the boy that Naruto had taken in. Kawaki, he thinks his name was? It didn't really matter right now. All that mattered to the Uchiha patriarch was that it was past Sarada's curfew and she wasn't home. Sasuke kicked himself. He never should've let her go off with that boy. He didn't trust him. This 'Kawaki' was new to the village, little was known about him, he had several incidents of trying to escape, causing chaos, and lashing out violently...and he was getting too close to Sasuke's peanut. Sasuke huffed and stood up from his seat. He couldn't take it anymore. He was not going to wait around while his baby girl was who-knows-where doing who-knows-what with a boy he barely knew. He was grabbing his cloak and house key when Sakura walked in. "Anata, where are you going? Is something wrong?" she asked. "No, everything is...fine." he was slow to finish his sentence. Sakura gave her husband a look and sighed. "Anata, you're not going to hunt down Sarada and Kawaki, are you?" she spoke with exasperation. "...perhaps..." Sasuke mumbled. "Sasuke-kun, I know they're late, but it's not late enough for you to go and terrorize the village looking for them." Sasuke grumbled something in disagreement. He draped his cloak around his shoulders and buttoned it, then turned towards the doorway. "Anata, at least leave your katana!" Sakura shouted after him, but Sasuke did not heed. He marched to the door, opened it and- Sasuke froze on the spot. He had seen a lot of terrible things in his line of work, but none compared to what he was seeing at that very moment: right there before him was Sarada (his sweet, innocent little girl) with her arms wrapped around the shoulders of none other than Kawaki as the two were locked in a simple but somewhat passionate liplock. Sasuke was first in shock which evolved into horror then, ultimately, an overwhelming and powerful rage. Sarada and Kawaki finally realized his presence and pulled apart from each other. "Papa!" Sarada squeaked in surprise. Sasuke's eye twitched. "Y-you..." he could barely speak through his all-consuming outrage. Kawaki said nothing and only stared back, looking alarmed. Sarada saw her father's Sharingan form and she quickly noticed his hand reaching for his katana. "Papa..." Sarada pleaded. But her pleas fell on deaf ears. Sasuke's one-track focus was honed in on one thing and one thing only: the mohawked little bastard who had the audacity to put his nasty lips on his daughter. "You...prepare to die..." Sasuke growled out. "Anata!" "Papa!" Sakura and Sarada shrieks were lost in the ensuing clamor of Sasuke unsheathing his katana in a flash of electric light and Kawaki's arm morphing into a large shield to protect himself from the incoming blade which easily cut through. Kawaki leaped from the doorstep and hit the ground running from his attacker. Sarada and her mother could only stay back and watch as the family man pursued the poor young boy, attacking him blindly with rage. Sakura gave her daughter a nervous smile. "I'm sure Papa won't harm Kawaki...badly." she assured her. Sarada sighed.

+++++

Sasuke eventually returned home, disheveled but fine and not quite as furious as he was earlier. Sarada and her mother talked prior to his return and Sarada was forbidden from going out for the rest of the week as punishment for not being home on time. Sarada went to bed afterwards and Sakura was waiting for her husband when he came into their room upon his arrival home. Sakura was giving Sasuke a concerned but amused look as he changed clothes. "I'm not apologizing for tonight." he promptly said. "I didn't say anything." Sakura responded. "You were thinking it." "Not really." Sasuke finished getting dressed and climbed into bed next to his wife. Sakura shifted to cuddle her husband and he responded by leaning into her embrace. "You did overreact, don't you think?" Sakura murmured into his chest. "I don't think I did." his reply was flat and matter-of-fact. "Anata..." "He had no right. He kept her past her curfew and he...did that...in front of us, her parents." Sasuke's irritation was apparent in how he spat out his last sentence as if it was a morsel of the most disgusting food he had ever eaten. Sakura propped her head up on her hand to look at her husband's face. "Sarada and I talked and she told me that she kissed him." she pointed out. "Sakura, don't tell me that." Sasuke cringed in disgust. Sakura giggled. "Oh, anata, I know that this may be hard for you to hear but Sarada is a young woman now. She's very capable of doing things by her own accord, especially things that we might not like." Sakura explained. Sasuke said nothing. He felt his wife's hand rest over where his heart was and she gave him a meaningful look. She sighed and continued, "I don't like it any more than you do, but it's a simple fact of life. Our baby...isn't a baby anymore." Still, Sasuke said nothing. As just about always, Sakura was right. He admired how she was usually right, but at times like this he wished she could be wrong more often. He really wanted her to be wrong in this case, but no. She was spot on. Her and Sasuke's little girl wasn't so little anymore, whether he liked it or not. To him, it felt like it was just yesterday that he was carrying her on his shoulders as he took her around the woods and sitting on the ground of their home with her, playing with stuffed animals and her numerous toys and listening to her adorable baby babble. But now she was a lot bigger and walked on her own two feet, played with kunai and shuriken, and preferred the company of a mohawked punk over her father's. Melancholy and nostalgia built up in Sasuke and a lump formed in his throat. Sakura could tell right away what was going on in his mind. She nuzzled her head against his neck lovingly. "But it's not the end of the world. No matter how old she gets or who she's with, she's always gonna want her papa in her life." she said. Sasuke's silence clearly meant he took what his wife just said into consideration. "...okay." he said. Sakura smiled. She gave her husband one last kiss and they said their 'good nights'. With that, they fell asleep.

+++++++

A week later, when her punishment was lifted and she was free to go out, Sarada came bouncing down the stairs. "Mama, Kawaki and I are going to the training fields to practice with shuriken. Is that okay?" she asked Sakura. Sakura glanced at Sasuke, who was sitting in his armchair reading a newspaper. "It's alright with me. What about you, anata?" Sakura said. Both Sarada and Sakura looked to Sasuke, waiting for his answer. Sarada looked anxious about what he would say. Internally, Sasuke warred with himself. The overprotective part of him railed against its cage, decrying his daughter going anywhere with a young man who was that close with her, but to no avail. The Uchiha patriarch swallowed and said, "Fine by me." Sarada smiled. "Thank you, Papa." "Just be sure to be back by eight, okay?" Sasuke quickly reminded her. Sarada gave her father a peck on his temple. "I promise." she answered. After that, she gave her mother a 'good bye' and skipped away to see Kawaki. Sakura smiled at her husband. "Now that wasn't so bad, was it?" "Yes, it kind of was." Sasuke said. He sighed and added, "But I'll live." Sakura nodded at him. All was silent for a moment until Sasuke spoke again. "But if he tries anything with her when I'm around, I can't promise that I will be merciful with him." Sakura burst out laughing.

End

[themidnightguardian]

Day 14: Failed Escape & "I'll be right behind you." -- Naruto & Sasuke

Sasuke & Naruto (platonic or otherwise, up to you) | AU where Naruto has been raised in ROOT since he was a toddler and Sasuke joined willingly for power, but they're both genin-aged now | Content Warnings: mention of ROOT activities like killing kids during the "graduation" and psychological conditioning to not feel emotion

Whumptober Masterlist

---

Sasuke had joined because Danzo promised him power, strength, a skillset to match or exceed Itachi’s. He hadn’t minded the training. It was tough, yes, but Sasuke didn’t need emotions to slow him down, didn’t need the burden of too-soft teammates, didn’t need gentleness. There would be little of it in the shinobi world, after all. No use getting too comfortable.

But then he’d met the blond boy.

The blond boy did not have a name, or if he had one, he did not know it. Danzo called him Jinchuuriki and nothing else. Sasuke called him dobe.

Because the blond boy might have been strong, powerful enough to be a worthy opponent in a spar, but he was an idiot. He smiled a lot, laughed, cracked jokes and pushed and prodded. He cried over the other Root kids that didn’t “pass” graduation—silently, and only where Danzo couldn’t see, but he cried nonetheless.

And he was kind. Outside of spars, his hands were careful and warm. On the occasions they were fed something other than ration bars, the dobe would slip his tomatoes onto Sasuke’s plate. When they were assigned to share a bunk, the blond boy would wake Sasuke from his nightmares and hold his hands until the shaking stopped. After sparring, the dobe would break down Sasuke’s moves, talk about how they might combine Sasuke’s fire with the dobe’s wind.

The blond boy was a vicious fighter, but he was good in a way that no one else Sasuke had ever met was.

It was on the third month of their not-friendship that Sasuke learned the truth: that the dobe had not joined Danzo’s Root but had been taken.

“I don’t remember much. I was just a baby. But I think…I think there was someone who loved me,” the blond boy confessed quietly into the darkness of their shared room. “I remember being held. I remember the stuffed do g they gave me, how I used to cling to it. I remember…I remember Danzo taking it away. I think about it all the time. One day, when I’m strong enough, I’m going to get out of here. I’m going to find them, if I can.”

They might be dead, Sasuke had thought, but he hadn’t said it aloud. It didn’t really matter anyway. The dobe didn’t want to be here, regardless of whether there was someone waiting for him outside of Root or not.

And maybe Sasuke would have let it be because it wasn’t his business what the dobe wanted to do with his life. But he’d never know, because on a random night around five months into his not-friendship with the blond boy, at some unholy hour of the morning, Sasuke was shaken awake roughly, a hand clamped over his mouth.

With the sharingan, it was easy to see the dobe’s blue eyes, wide and serious in a way that never boded well.

“We’ve got to go. Now.”

“What? Why?”

“He’s going to make us fight. I can’t—I won’t.”

“Dobe, what?” Sasuke’s brain was still half asleep, and the blond boy wasn’t making any sense.

“Danzo. He doesn’t like it when any of his Root agents form bonds. The mission—his mission—is always supposed to come first. I guess he didn’t expect us to get along, and now he’s…he’s going to make us fight unless we leave right now.”

“We spar all the time—”

“I’m not talking about sparring, teme,” the blond boy snarled. His hands fell on Sasuke’s shoulders. “I won’t kill you, but I don’t want to die either. So we have to go.”

Oh. Everything clicked into place in his mind all at once. He and the dobe were too close despite Sasuke’s best attempts to seem aloof. Danzo didn’t like anything that might conflict with Root’s loyalty to him and his vision of the village. The dobe was important, a Jinchuuriki—which after months of puzzling it out, Sasuke finally understood—and while Sasuke as the last loyal Uchiha was important, he also knew which of the two of them Danzo would consider more valuable.

He had become a distraction to Danzo’s precious Jinchuuriki, and for that, Sasuke would have to die. And Danzo would try to make the dobe do it himself, just to solidify the lesson.

“How do we get out?” he asked, grasping the dobe’s hand and letting himself be pulled along. The blond boy had been here much, much longer than Sasuke had, and knew every nook and cranny of the place.

“There’s an old access tunnel they used to use for discreet food and weapons transport. They closed it down about…hm, five years ago? Because someone started sniffing around, so they had to close down any potentially compromised exits and build in new ones. But they never collapsed the tunnel or anything because if they did that, they’d risk the above-ground caving in and revealing the location anyway, so it’s still usable.”

“Probably locked up pretty tight though,” Sasuke pointed out.

The dobe shrugged. “I mean, yeah, it would probably be pretty tough to break through if I hadn’t been working at it for the past year and a half.”

Sasuke blinked. Maybe the dobe was smarter than he’d been giving him credit for. Then again, he’d always known the blond boy was good in battle scenarios, smart about fighting and strategy, if a little impulsive. This was just an exfiltration, when he thought about it. One that the dobe had apparently been planning for a long time.

Sasuke let himself be tugged along through winding corridors and yanked into shadowy corners whenever anyone passed too close by. At this hour, most people were asleep, but there was still a guard rotation they had to avoid. But for the blond boy, it didn’t seem to be much of a problem, and once again Sasuke wondered exactly what Danzo had been teaching him to be competent enough to outmaneuver adult nin at only 12 or 13 years old.

Eventually they made it to a clearly unused part of the underground labyrinth, and Sasuke found himself being told to “stand watch” while the blond tinkered briefly with a hidden-doorway built into the wall. After a moment, it clicked open and the dobe waved him forward.

“You go first. I’ve got to lock up the door anyway, and besides, if you use your fire jutsu, we might actually be able to see where we’re going. It should be a straight shot out, but who knows what the exit looks like or if we’ll have to blow our way out.”

Sasuke nodded and slipped into the pitch-black tunnel, waiting for the blond to finish whatever he was doing to lock up the door before moving forward, a tiny, flickering flame in the palm of his hand. Quickly, they moved through the darkness, the blond boy so close at his back he could feel every warm exhale on the back of his neck.

For a long stretch, it seemed like the tunnel would be endless darkness, but after walking for what felt like hours—it couldn’t have possibly been that long, he knew—they finally reached an old, boarded up door.

That, too, was taken care of quickly enough with a sharp burst of flames to eat up the wood, and when all that remained was the metal of the door, the dobe rushed forward with a powerful kick and forced it open.

Cool, pre-dawn air filled their lungs, sweet and precious. Sasuke hadn’t realized how much he’d missed the fresh air after all those months underground. The blond boy at his side was staring up at the sky with wide-eyed wonder, and Sasuke briefly wondered if he’d ever been allowed out at all, if he’d seen the sky since he was first taken into Root.

Sasuke almost didn’t want to disrupt him, but—

“We should keep moving.”

“There’s little point in that now, is there?” a cool, dismissive voice said, and both boys jerked towards the sound, backs already placed together in a defensive position. Danzo stepped out from behind a nearby tree, several other Root agents in their blank masks flanking him in the branches. “You didn’t really think that your little escape attempt would work, did you?”

“Sasuke,” the blond boy whispered, so quiet there was no way Danzo could hear them. “I can hold them off. You run.”

“No.” He balked at the very idea of fleeing like some coward. At the idea of leaving the dobe behind.

“Go,” the dobe urged, hand squeezing Sasuke’s briefly. “I’ll be right behind you, just as soon as I take of this. Promise. Besides, you could use the head start.”

It was a fragile promise, and an even more pathetic attempt at a joke. The blond boy was strong, but there were five opponents here, all of them well-trained, and who knew what, exactly, Danzo himself was capable of. Just because he was old didn’t mean that he would be easy to take down.

If you can’t take out Danzo and few of his pet Root agents, then you’ll never stand a chance against Itachi, a cruel voice in his head whispered.

“We have a better chance together,” Sasuke protested. “And I can’t let you take all the credit.”

The blond boy was quiet for a moment, and Sasuke could practically hear the silent, One of us should make it out of this, at least. But Sasuke was stubborn, and he’d already made up his mind.

Danzo sighed. “You’re going to fight, then. What a waste. Take the Jinchuuriki alive. I have no use for another disloyal Uchiha.”

The blank-masked figures blurred into motion at the same moment Sasuke’s sharingan flared to life, and he could only hope that the wind at his back and the fire shaping in his palms would be enough.

[welkinsky]

Can I request Shisui Uchiha for your 100 follower event?? (I hope you write for him?!) And congrats for reaching this ☺️

Shisui Uchiha X Reader

Masterlist

A-Z Headcanon

Warning: 18+ Content

A = Aftercare (What they’re like after sex)

Shisui is a very kind person and once you both and do it and you're all tired, he'll make sure that he gets all the things to you or will run a bath for both of you to relax if you have enough energy left. And before you come back the sheets are already changed.

B = Body part (Their favorite body part of their partner’s)

Your face. He LOVES to give you kisses all over your face. He adores it so much! Sometimes you catch him zoning out looking at your face in very serious conversations. Which you find adorable but others don't lol. He still can't help it.

You can accept waking up to him adoring or creasing your face in the morning. "You're doing it again" You say with a shy whining voice and cover your face.

He takes your hands off of your face and says in the same whining voice to mock you "Whaaat I like looking at your face, not my fault you're this pretty." And will probably laugh when you get even redder.

C = Cuddling

Oooh as much as he loves being the big spoon, also loves to just lay on top of you.

"Don't sleep again okay?" you asked him to which he answered "Yeah I'm not gonna sleep this time. So how was your day?"

If he's laying on top of you, he'll pass out mid-way your answer. He feels like he can let down his guard for once, it is soooo relaxing for him since he has to be on his toes the entire day.

D = Dirty Secret

He once walked in on you while you were pleasuring yourself. He wanted to but his eyes were stuck on you and the moment you moan his name. He had to go back and find a place to do, you-know-what.

He cannot confront you because it felt like he invaded your privacy.

E = Experience 

You could be his first. He is a ride or die kinda guy so he waited for the right one. You both experience new stuff together.

F = Favourite Position 

He likes you on top FOR SURE. Not a hard dom kind of guy *exceptions are there* so he loves it when you are in control but if you're too tired he WILL switch you over and give your a sweet kiss and then go hard, lol. That kiss was sorry for what is going to happen to you now.

G = Goofy

Okay, he IS THE FUNNIEST person you know. No cap. He has a good sense of humor and can make a good joke out of the most serious conversations to make you laugh. He also does it when you're too tense. Will MAKE a joke out of you being stressed! But he sometimes does this to hide how stressed HE is, so make sure to pay attention to him.

H = Hair 

Before you met him, it was a mess, almost a nest *oh that rhymes* Anyways, you introduced this guy to a thing called "conditioner" and bro his world turned upside down. Is so impressed with his own hair that he cannot stop playing with them as he talks in general.

I = Intimacy 

He is not much into PDA, not because he doesn't like it it is just that it doesn't occur to him. You take his hand he'll pull you in and walk with one hand across your shoulder. Kiss him on a cheek, he'll kiss you back on lips. So he has no problem with PDA he just doesn't remember if that makes sense.

Your emotional intimacy is something to envy. You two feel emotions so strongly for each other or for this relationship. If one is down then the other one CANNOT leave them or feels the worst for doing so. 

J = Jack Off 

Not that often, I mean he has YOU. But if you are on a mission or he is on a mission will do it and that too not that often.

K = Kink (One or more of their kinks)

He likes it when you tease him in public. Because it is just the two of you who know what is going on and nobody else. He will smirk and won't take his eyes off you *and later won't take his hands off you*

Apart from that neck kisses turned him on too, the ones right under the ear.

L = Location (Favourite places to do they do)

He. Will. Take. You. Anywhere. I mean not literally but literally. The waiter is taking too long and you've been teasing him the entire day, a bathroom trip it is, you two are chilling on the top of the mountain, make-out session? No problem. he covers it up with "we only live once" every time.

M = Motivation (What turns them on, gets them going)

When you are nice to others. This really makes him realize how much of a gem you really are and you should be treated like one too. He'll be a soft romantic the entire day and a bit clingy too. Later at night, expect it too.

N = NO (Something they wouldn’t do, turn-offs)

When someone is being rude to you or hurting you in general. He is not particularly mad at you AT ALL. But it really pisses him off and he loses it. He is kind in general, so it really makes him feel bad when people aren't nice and especially to you.

O = Oral (Preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc)

Oh, he LOVES receiving it! Bro this man is a hard dom for this and this only. He loves it when you moan with him in your mouth and when you look up at him and see how much you are enjoying it. Keep eye contact with him and you'll receive it all back 100X, eye contact turns him on that much!

P = Pace (Are they fast and rough? Slow and sensual? etc.)

He loves to go fast and pound into you but if it is more of an emotional one, then he'll be slow but still hard and deep. He can't do it half-assed after all!

Q = Quickie (Their opinions on quickies rather than proper sex, how often, etc.)

He. Is. Always. Down. You have to mention it once and his 100% answer will be "Let's go, but where? Wait I know a spot"

No cap.

R = Risk (Are they game to experiment, do they take risks, etc.)

Again, he is not afraid to take risks, only if you're into it. But even if you are, he wants to make sure that you're privacy isn't compromised AT ALL.

S = Stamina 

The max you both went was 3 rounds and that is when you got tired. So chances are that he can go more, 4 maybe 5? It still is a mystery.

T = Toy

He likes handcuffs. He sometimes even use them when you're giving him oral. He likes to see how vulnerable you get and he is the one in control. But apart from that, he is open to anything.

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

He is not that much into him teasing you but you teasing him? Turns him on like hell! He'll get back to you by being rough when he finally gets the chance.

V = Volume (How loud they are, what sounds they make)

He only means enough for you to hear, his volume usually isn't that loud. He likes it when only you can hear it and bro, moan his name or moan in general in his ears and you are not going to walk straight the next day.

W = Wild Card (Just a random headcanon because I cannot think of anything starting with W)

He told you about the friend that he lost, pretty later in your relationship. You can see it on his face when he is sad or down about that. Just pull him in a hug and make him fall asleep or he won't stop thinking about it. He just wants your company, there is nothing that you or he can do to make it better than just you being with him.

X = X-Ray

He is kinda buffed. Like not hella buffed but still, he is. You love his chest muscles the most and his muscular arms hug too.

Y = Yearning (How high is their sex drive?)

He doesn't have it that often but a very normal and healthy one. Tease him and he'll be down to do it for the next 3 days.

Z = ZZZ (… how quickly they fall asleep afterward)

He can do it and then go on a mission, he doesn't get tired easily. So expect him to make sure that you're asleep and slide out to do a bit of paperwork. He never admits that he does and when you say that he does that he just cracks another joke and avoids the topic. He feels guilty about leaving you alone like that but he is not that free too so he needs to complete his work too.