#ive seen not many episodes of Naruto

[freakurodani]

kunai packer in the naurto world?

[joysmileyay]

beloved followers i need youre help. with anime.

im trying to make a list of anime i havent watched or havent finished watching some of which i only know by name and i need u to tell me if im missing anything or if anything on here isnt worth it. some of these i only know by name ive seen partially and will finish: Jujutsu Kaisen, Soul Eater, Dungeon Meshi havent seen: One Piece, Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Full Metal Alchemist, Hunter x Hunter, Sailor Moon, FLCL, Kill la Kill, Black Butler, Tokyo Ghoul, Frieren, Lain, Nana, some notes here: i saw a little bit of dbz when i was younger and it was enough for me. cool part of my childhood but i think im good there. i havent seen ANY naruto or bleach and i guess im curious about bleach at least? but oh my god so many episodes. and i know thats also true for one piece but my friends got me into the live action and i like the characters so why not. i know there are a bunch of classics im missing which is why i need YOUR help (yes you!) also u might think jujutsu kaisen is shit. and thats fair. cause it is. for a long time. and then it got good. bonus anime i have seen under the cut

Ouran (when i was 11 lol it was my first anime), Death Note, AoT, NGE, Mob Psycho, Chainsaw Man (actually i only read it but its chill the manga is better anyway) JoJo parts 1-4 (4 is my absolute fav) and then i read 5 6 and 7 (my favorites in order are 4/7>6>3/2>1/5 at least i think. i might have to give part 5 another chance but i kinda hated it since i only liked giorno and didnt really like the supporting cast except mista), some of Tokyo Revengers which was pretty okay. i was just interested in the time travel but it randomly got me hooked for a bit, and probably like 20 other things that im just forgetting right now

[sueske]

hi, idk if youve answered this before so i havent read the naruto manga yet but ive heard a lot of ppl say that a lot of moments in the manga that show sasuke reciprocated sakuras love were cut from the anime(not like in the non canon novels, but in the original manga) but i seriously doubt that since so many of the sns ppl i follow seem to have read the mang but are clearly ss fans so i was wondering if those moments actually exist and what u think abt them

sns fans being ss fans too? that's suspicious. that's weird. anw ss stans say a lot of things to cope lol. I can't be bothered to go look for the anime scenes and compare them to the manga but from what I remember they're pretty similar. make no mistake it's not that there are 'ss scenes' in the manga that didn't make their way into the anime, everything was adapted. there's no point in the manga where sasuke showed romantic feelings/attraction towards sakura so of course that's not going to be adapted into the canon anime episodes.

tbh I think there are plenty of ss stans who haven't read the manga for themselves either, I've seen edited manga panels of 'ss scenes' floating around they try to pass off as canon. and I didn't see this myself but I remember some people talking about it - remember the sns guitar pick illustration? someone edited naruto into sakura and then ss stans were like 'sns are so desperate editing sakura into naruto' 😂

I do know though that SP was much kinder to sakura in the gaiden anime adaptation, especially the scene where sarada asks sakura if her and sasuke ever kissed. SP were doing damage control lol if anything the anime is kinder to ss.

[cosmicrhetoric]

the power that comes with consuming media and going "huh that happened in naruto" is like the best thing ive gained during my 100% completion naruto quest. ive lost so many braincells but im giving real guy who's only ever seen naruto vibes and ive still got 300 episodes to go

[thekingofwinterblog]

Favorite anime?

Anime? Well, i shouldn probably note i dont watch anime in general, with few exceptions. Generally i stick to the manga if there is one, with a few exceptions.

Soul eater, trigun, etc. Or if there is not an original, previous manga like kill la kill.

With that said, i do know which series i consider my favorite Anime overall.

That being the original Naruto Anime. The manga and shippuden both turned into absolute garbage at a very specific point, and never really recovered, but the original Naruto anime, unlike the manga, can be viewed in the context of a separate series rather than just pre and post timeskip.

Looking back at it, knowing how it all turned out, it's actually astonishing how GOOD the original Naruto was.

Naruto might be THE example i would point to, of how you can present your protagonist, their goal, and why it mattera in one episode.

And it only kept on trucking from there.

One piece at it's peak during water seven and Enies lobby might be overall better, but as a consistent bit of work, i regard the Original Naruto as the gold standard for Shonen storytelling, and just anime in general.

Ive seen some people who make compelling arguments that the Sabuza arc, naruto's first arc, ita east blue as it was, was the single best one it ever had... And its great.

And it only got better from there.

It had a great world that managed to combine brutal but perfectly logical and interesting politics rooted in war, ninja clans and economics, a relatively low level magic system that made for logical and strategic yet spectacular fights, and best of all, characters that made this world feel alive.

Barring filler arcs, i can point to every single arc, as having some of my favorite moments in fiction period.

Naruto's interaction with Haku wheter as a passing interaction, their fight, naruto beating him to a pulp, then stopping once seeing his face, Zabuza addmitting he did love Haku, orochimaru's introduction and him beating sasuke around like a punk and marking him, hinata standing against Neji, gaara vs lee, Naruto defeating Neji then breaking his entire world view by confessing that his absolute worst point used to be Bushins of any kind(ive seen so many people miss the forest for the trees with that one by focusing on the fox chakra), pretty much Tsunade's entire arc, sasuke lashing out at Kakashi, only for Kakashi telling sasuke that everyone Kakashi ever loved had died a long time ago, every fight in the sasuke retrieval arc, and the list goes on and on.

Frankly speaking, if the original Naruto had just done a good job adapting it, it would probably be my favorite anime, but the fact is that in so many aspect, they knocked it out of the park. Amazing fight scenes, glorious and iconic music, and capturing every important scene pretty much perfectly.

The only bad thing i have to say about the original naruto anime, is it's filler arcs... But by virtue of them being arcs and episodes, you can very easily skip them, unlike some series who plops down filler wherever, or drags out every single moment again and again tos tretch the run time(one piece, im looking at you).

[elizaszone]

! why.. !

alright, so is it just me or??

i have phases that come back EVERY SINGLE YEAR. like and its always in this certain order. for example, i have my danganronpa phase return every 1-2 years through october-feburary. while my hunter x hunter phase comes back every year in the summertime through fall (june-november)

AND DONT EVEN GET ME STARTED ON NARUTO. it always comes back. EVERY.SINGLE.YEAR. i will fixate on it SO much i will not know what to do. this proceeds to the point where its all i ever think about, (similar to the other phases)

alsoo, one piece does as well. i finish 200 episodes every year and then quit till next year, and i dont even mean to. its just a returning phase every now and then. ive already had my one piece phase this year too so.. THIS HAPPENS WITH OMORI TOO??

i know im just sort of yapping and changing the subject every paragraph BUT as someone who has been playing genshin impact for 3 years now this also happens to me with that game too. like ill spend SO MUCH money on it only to not play it again for 2 months.. i spent $45 just this month.. (NOT A FLEX PLS.. CASH APP ME RN.) i wouldnt consider myself a whale because i dont have EVERY constellation but ik for a fact ive spent over $1.5k for this 3 year time span ive been playing

ANOTHER PHASE IS ROBLOX.. like ill play it for hours on end for literal months just to not play it again for another year. (ive been playing since 2015 (?) too, yikes.) like ill spend so much money on this game as well, probably as much as i did w/ genshin. ESPECIALLY ON BLOXBURG OH MY GOODNESS?? i have wasted so much robux on that game its ASTRONOMICAL.

also minecraft. im just now getting out of my minecraft phase again for the millionth time, after having 980 something hours on it js on my playstation. i remember at the beginning of middle school i had my first ever boyfriend and all we did was play minecraft. (NEVER HAVE MIDDLESCHOOL RELATIONSHIPS PLS TRUST..)

also my my hero academia phase never fails to come back at least twice a year. i rewatched all of it in febuary-april while waiting on season 7 to come out, and ive already seen all the released episodes of season 7!!! its so good so far watch it please i will do anything

anyways thank uu! theres MANY more phases that come around but those are just the main ones. STAY SAFE ILY GUYS!! <333

[opens-up-4-nobody]

Naruto shippuden things that made me lose my mind (ep 282-320):

I kinda hate how the Power arc is animated

Idk why but kabuto floofy hair makes me so uncomfortable

Naruto is full of kabuto's weird fucking snakes and a tiny child is the only one who can read the bad vibes (bc no one pays attention to my boy 🥺)

Shout out to hashirama's body for being the most troublesome object in all of naruto

M-mini rasengan?!

Gaara's dad is just streight up wearing a normal black track suit lmao

Gaara's dad @ his brother in law: go traumatize gaara, if he doesn't flip the fuck out he can live

Gaara's dad: I'm so sorry gaara, all I ever did as your father was torment u and I didn't even have to do that 😔 (uh yeah man wtf?)

The thing with gaara's sand protection being a spiritual gift from his mother... is sort of weird? Given that he accidentally kills so many people with it?

So much insane bullshit has happen to naruto that he genuinly forgot itachi shoved and entire live crow down his throat

Why r these assholes always telling choji to lose weight when his jutsu consumes fat as an energy reserve? Like do u want him to die in battle?

Naruto: Neji! Did u injure hinata?! Neji: hinata injured herself with her lack of talent

There is a colony of eyeless human being who scurry around like naked demons in a valley near konoha... Good to know....

Naruto creating clones to hype himself up is both cute and extremely sad

Naruto misses sasuke so much he hallucinates seeing him in the bath... Meanwhile sakura is staring at hinata's bare chest...

Shout out to the writers for making a filler episode so annoying that I was begging for someone to murder a child.

Karui abt a group of MIA 13yr olds: those children knew what they were getting into when they went off to war!

There's a giant sexy monk statue in the middle of nowhere. Sure. Okay.

[honeydots]

Just gonna share that my Halloween was so fun today bc I dressed as Orochimaru and got so many compliments at the mall! Also I bought a persona 5 shirt and the serotonin when I found it was REAL

Omg happy Halloween!!!! I’m glad you had a good time hahah Dressing up is sooo fun and I’m a bit sad cause I couldn’t this year :( but I do remember waaaayyyy back i went as rin kagamine and getting compliments from like Fellow Fans made my night!!!!! Also I TOTALLY know the feeling of seeing merch in public lmao ive yet to see p5 stuff but if i did i think id 100% cave and buy whatever I saw immediately. Honestly seeing merchandise in person is just the raw emotion of !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[solivagantsalix]

we had matching insta pfps for a year and then now we have temp matching discord pfps instead and i kinda like it better bc i use discord more than insta

epic birthday moment (green me, red zero)

[kingkatsuki]

Ooh Jo!

My favorite Naruto characters have morphed around a bit since the beginning, it started with Sasuke (still a fave but not my main, let's say he's second or third) but as time went on Naruto became my fave but he takes a side seat when Kurama comes out lol. And idk if you watched or read any of the Boruto series, but Kawaki has been a favorite also. Ive actually only skipped thru the Boruto series, as in I've only seen a select few episodes, and yes I have seen a very sad episode of Boruto if you saw who I said was my favorite (aka Kurama lol), if you haven't watched it or don't want too, I won't spoil but if you want me to say then I could dm you!!

Fun fact I only started watching Naruto because I showed a picture of Bakugou to one of my cousins one day and she asked me if that was Naruto lol, I was like I've never watch Naruto, so I sat down one day and watched, then I got sucked in lol! I do actually remember seeing the last fight between Naruto and Sasuke in random bits a while back before I was really into anime, but I knew nothing about it so I wasn't interested! But now that's a favorite few episodes of mine!!

Who are your Naruto faves?

Hope you are having a good day/night or when ever you see this!!!!

Sasuke was my absolute favourite through season after season of Naruto at first because I was a little goth, and then suddenly I fell in love with Kiba and Shikamaru and they are now forever the loves of my life.

I used to read so so much Kiba and Shikamaru fics it’s not even funny😂 I remember once I found a love triangle fic with both of them and it was my comfort fic for years😂

But I also love Ino, Temari, Neji, Deidara and Asuma. Tbh it would probably be easier to name characters I don’t like in Naruto, there’s so many solid choices😩

I haven’t actually watched Boruto, but Kawaki looks so cute!!

[jinbestboy]

Interview tag! 

I was tagged by @flowerseokjin and @serotonjin two lights in my little life!!!!

rules: answer questions and tag 20 blogs you are contractually obligated to know better!

name/nickname:  emma/em but i pretty much exclusively go by em

pronouns:  She/Her

star sign:  taurus | gemini | scorpio 

height: 6′1″ am noodle

time currently:  11:40pm

when is your birthday: April 29th ‘98

favourite band/groups: At the moment it is BTS and TXT. Feeling very uninspired by any other bands currently (would love recommendations) ***Pidge! i was gonna change this but honestly same its rough

favourite solo artist:  yikes I’ve been in love w Hobo Johnson since i was 18 ive seen him live like 6 times, Joji, and Ricky Eat Acid but specifically Haunt U Forever

song stuck in your head:  *gestures vaguely at my kpop playlist* pick one

last movie you watched: its always Scott Pilgrim vs the World

last show you binged: trying to juggle haikyuu!! with To Do TxT episodes but also i am consistently watching the office every night  

when you created your (main) blog:  i joined way back in 2010 and was around until about 2015 i think, then that one fell apart and i rejoined like 2 years back half-heartedly as an aes blog and then i found bts in like July(??) and it was all consuming oops

last thing you googled:  namjoon lq (i cry)

other blogs:  this lil dumplins the only one i have rn but im considering making a txt sideblog hmm hmmmm

why i chose my url:  i love dumplin -- i love Jin 

how many people are you following: 230

how many followers do you have: 196 :”) most of y’all are new moots and im v excited! welcome to my lil home!! i love you!!!

average hours of sleep:  6 on a good night?

lucky number: 9

instruments: ukulele, basic piano (enough to get me through choir lol)

what i’m currently wearing: my new silk jimjams

dream job: someday i’d like to learn music production/engineering  

dream trip:  Japan, Spain, Korea, New Zealand, Japan, Amsterdam, Italy ,did i mention Japan 

favourite food:  put literally anything in ramen and i will eat it

favourite song: ... one? ONE? does awaketonightepiphanymoonabyss by Jin count as one

top three fictional universes you’d like to live in: My Neighbor Totoro :( , Naruto !! , HunterxHunter and im putting in a 4th bc i cant leave out Haikyuu!! ;)

Im Tagging;  @hobifinity @lovely-jimin @kooala @yuniixoxo @stardustyoongi @bimbojoon @charlottebaskerville @jinsgalaxy @mykrokosmo @moonxtaejin @a-breaking-world @dashingwishes @flytomyjoon @duckjinnie @vante-love

and anyone else who’s interested in sharing a bit about themselves!!!

[shigraki]

iruka is always so gentle and thoughtful and kind hearted despite his own sad childhood, always eager to set naruto straight because he sees himself in him , the loneliness, the acting out in childhood to feel acknowledged, hes such a nice character and yet so underrated because hes not crazy powerful and it drives me crazy out of all the characters ive seen so far (which probably isnt that many bc im still on early episodes) he is the one who would treat you right do you hear me HE WOULD TREAT YOU RIGHT IM HAVING A BREAKDOWn

[sailorshadzter]

Hi, hope you’re having a great day! I want to ask if you have any anime/manga rec? I haven’t watched any for years, but your blog made me nostalgic

hi anon!!

i definitely do!! i mean, im not sure what you’re into so ill give you a great long list with lot’s of different options!!! this will mostly be anime but at the end ill include a few manga. i tend to watch anime vs read manga. 

violent/horror/gore/supernatural (& i mean it. skip this first set if you cant handle gore or graphic content)

berserk. both the 90s / new remake are great. there’s also movies that go through the entire story arc. but this one is VERY dark & very graphic. 

attack on titan. AMAZING. 

goblin slayer. so fucking good. 10/10. still waiting on the next season.

blood+ great story with a great love story. 

elfen lied. creepy and fantastic. 

another. i dont think this one was as graphic, but creepy. i havent seen it in a while though so i could be wrong. 

re:zero. a thriller sort of anime with some graphic content. 

boku dake ga inai machi / erased. HOLY SHIT SO GOOD. main character can reset 7min before accidents happen & he sets out to find out what happens to a childhood friend. 

higurashi no naku koro ni kai. cute killer girls. kind of dated, but still worth the watch. has amazing music. 

kiseijuu sei no kakuritsu 

slice of life / chances are it will destroy your life & make you cry 

 koe no katachi / a silent voice. it’s about bullying & the aftermath of it.

kimi no na wa / your name. this one is a movie. boy and girl wake up in each other’s bodies.

ao haru ride. SOOOOOOO GOOD HOLY SHIT. incredible love story. incredible characters. fantastic all around

ano hi mita hana no namae wo bokutachi wa mada shiranai. be prepared to cry many tears. a story about friendship & ghosts. 

your lie in april. i wasn’t okay for hours after finishing this one. truly a beautiful story. also, lots of tears. 

5 centimeters per second. story of friends who are forced apart due to family moves. fantastic. 

kimi no suizou wo tabetai / i want to eat your pancreas. MANY TEARS, SOOO GOOOOOOOOD. also a movie. 

nagi no asu kara. beautiful animation, wonderful story. about people who live under the sea and on land. 

fruits basket 2019 reboot. this is my first time enjoying this series. i love it. cute animation, awesome story. 

action anime (could have hints of violence but not like the first list)

akatsuki no yona / yona of the dawn. SO GOOD. I CANNOT STRESS ENOUGH HOW GOOD THIS ONE IS. it only has one season, but the manga? read it if you enjoy the first season. it’s about a spoiled pampered princess & her forever loyal bodyguard + the loyal “dragons” that come to follow her. lots of action, romance, and amazing relationships between the entire cast of characters. 

seirei no moribito. female lead character protecting a royal boy. fantastic.

the rising of the shield hero SOOOOO GOOD. 

demon slayer. brother sets out to save his sister. it’s a nice story. great animation. 

fate / zero. lots of seasons + a movie or two. has a touch of history. 

sword art online. just the first two seasons. 

is it wrong to try and pick up girls in a dungeon? on the side. this one is the same story as  this one  just from another point of view. both are good. 

classic anime that everyone should watch just because 

sailor moon / sailor moon crystal. crystal has done through infinity arc & the dream arc is coming next fall. it follows the manga a lot closer than the 90s anime ever did and even if a lot of people didn’t like the animation, i loved it. especially for the second season / r arc. 

inuyasha. fantastic story, amazing love story. the characters are great. and despite being older, it doesnt feel dated. the final arc was fantastic & tugged at my heartstrings over and over again

trigun. i havent watched this one in YEARS but i always enjoyed it. probably a little dated by now.

yu yu hakusho. also a little dated, im here still hoping for a reboot someday. 

chobits. really cute!!

naruto shippuden. literally no reason to watch naruto (220 episodes lmao) because a quick google search would explain the story. just watch shippuden but for the love of god skip the filler  there’s also a bunch of movies. dont bother with boruto. also has amazing openings/endings. 

rurouni kenshin / samurai x. you can honestly jsut watch the movies. ESPECIALLY TRUST & BETRAYAL. that movie is one of my favorites. i actually rewatched this series… two summers ago? its held up well despite being older. 

avatar the last airbender. 

anything studio ghibli. 

manga 

sailor moon, the manga is so fucking good. ive read it so many times, it never gets old. it’s my favorite canon of the series. 

akatsuki no yona. i cant even with this manga. again, 10/10. its one of my favorites. if the first season of the manga interested you, watch it and continue the manga. it’s still ongoing. 

love so life. age difference romance. a high school student is the babysitter for two adorable twins that are being raised by their uncle. literally so good. 

faster than a kiss. another age difference romance. a teen girl and her baby brother are orphaned and eventually alone. her teacher takes them in. another amazing story. 

sorry this got kind of long, i hope you find something here you like!! let me know if you do!!!! 

[twinkletoes-rp]

Naruto AU “Surface Breaker” Ch. 1 - Awakening

Fandom: Naruto Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, (Found) Family Rating: T (to be safe) Relationships: Naruto Uzumaki & Shikamaru Nara, Naruto Uzumaki & Sakura Haruno, Naruto Uzumaki & Konoha 11, Naruto Uzumaki & Everyone, Naruto Uzumaki & Sasuke Uchiha (mentioned) Characters: Naruto Uzumaki, Shikamaru Nara, Sakura Haruno, Konoha 11, Sasuke Uchiha (mentioned) Words: 4,456

Summary: AU/Canon Divergence post-Shippuden 215. When Naruto nearly dies at Sasuke’s hands for a second time, he makes the heartrending decision to finally heed his dead master’s advice and let the Uchiha go. Healing and moving on are never easy, but luckily, Naruto has a whole village (and even those outside it) to aid and love him along the way.

Canon Divergence start: Different from the actual episode, Naruto and Sasuke's fight goes on a lot longer and is way deadlier. It ends up a fight to the death. The only reason they both survive is because Tobi swoops in to steal Sasuke away, and Naruto passes out a second later. That's where the fic opens.

(Can also be read on FFN | AO3 | Next )

--

“Naruto!”

He remembers coughing up blood, a lot of it, and then…his eyelids were so heavy…

“I can’t… We have to…the village…”

He remembers hands on him. Warm and slick and…shaking…

“Stay awake, Naruto…”

He remembers intense pain shooting through him, coughing up more blood…

“Hold on!”

He remembers rushing paws, so many and so loud it became a roar…

“Just a little farther! You can…”

He remembers being set on something soft and cold, tasting more blood…

“Come on, Naruto… You’re…be Hokage…”

He remembers pounding feet and familiar voices barking orders…

“Don’t you dare… Stay with me, you stubborn…”

He remembers machines screeching and a well of grudgingly-protective rage surging through him…

Don’t give up, brat!

And then…nothing.

---

When Naruto wakes, it’s to sights, sounds, and sensations that are becoming more and more familiar over the years.

Machines beep into an otherwise silent, still room. Sterile floors and walls in dull colors that are supposed to relax and provide a sense of calm. Chemicals most might not be able to smell, the pinch of an IV, a few actually, in his arm. Slightly itchy white sheets and a starchy blue hospital gown that’s too big for his small frame. Bandages cover almost every part of him, and he thinks one of his arms might be in a sling – or at least, bound to his side temporarily. Some seriously strong pain meds must be in his system because, at least for the moment, he doesn’t feel even a fraction of the pain he’s sure he should be in. Sakura or Granny Tsunade, maybe both, must have ordered that for him. He’s grateful.

Giving his body a few minutes to adjust to being awake after…who knows how long, he turns his head slowly to look around. He almost regrets it when his vision swims, but something else he notices almost immediately takes precedence.

Body heat at his elbow. There’s…someone else here…?

For a split second, his heart rate spikes, but it calms just as quickly. His vision might not be clear yet, but he can tell from the steady heartbeat and gentle breathing that whoever it is isn’t here to hurt him. Besides, if the splotches of color he can make out are right, he thinks he knows who it is anyway, and in that case, he’s definitely not worried.

When he can finally see, Naruto can’t help but smile, what little he can manage anyway. He was right. It’s Shikamaru, fast asleep at his side with his face in his arms. Naruto breathes a laugh. It’s the same way he used to sleep in class at the Academy when they were kids. If he’s asleep, though, Naruto wonders how long he’s been here. He hopes not all night. Besides getting him in trouble with the nurses or, worse, Sakura and Granny Tsunade, leaning over on the mattress like that must be really uncomfortable.

All the same, he can’t help but soften. He never thought he’d wake up to find Shikamaru Nara, of all people, at his bedside, but he’s certainly not complaining. On the contrary…he’s happy and touched. Shikamaru’s a great friend, one he’s lucky to have, and he knows better than most that the genius doesn’t put his energy into anything he doesn’t believe in. So for him to be here…

Lifting his good arm experimentally, he finds it doesn’t hurt too much to use. Satisfied, he reaches over to rest a bandaged hand on Shikamaru’s shoulder and shake him gently. “Hey, Shikamaru,” he whispers, not wanting to scare his friend. “Wake up.”

Shikamaru instantly shifts and opens bleary eyes. Blinking a few times, he pushes himself back some and stretches, yawning so long that it leaves tears at the corners of his eyes. Wiping at them with his sleeves, he looks his way and freezes, blinking a few more times and even rubbing his eyes for good measure. “N-Naruto?” When he sees his friend really is up, he perks up instantly, face breaking into a wide smile, maybe his brightest Naruto’s ever seen. “Hey, you’re finally awake!”

His smile is contagious. Naruto’s isn’t nearly as big and bright as it normally is, but Shikamaru wasn’t expecting it to be. Not yet, anyway. “Y-yeah, I guess I—I am!” Naruto cringes and coughs at how raw and croaky his voice sounds from disuse, his throat dry as the Demon Desert. Shikamaru helps him sit up enough to drink some water, and Naruto sighs happily once he’s done. There’s more life to the smile he gives this time. “Thanks, Shikamaru! It’s good to see you, too!”

Shikamaru’s exhale is helplessly fond, the other’s voice and smile the last pieces he needed to know he really is okay – or, you know, going to be. He hangs his head with a heavy sigh, all the tension bleeding from his shoulders as his relief takes all his energy at once. “Thank goodness…”

Naruto, meanwhile, is silent, studying Shikamaru’s face. Now that it’s not hidden in his arms, his friend looks paler and definitely more tired than usual. There are some pretty dark shadows under his eyes, too. The blond’s brow furrows in concern.

“Shikamaru…are you okay? You don’t look so good…”

Shikamaru looks up, startled, and then he laughs, the action helping to further relax him. He can’t help it. He swears Naruto is the most selfless person he’s ever met in his life. “You’re one to talk. You’re practically a walking bandage roll.” Naruto doesn’t let up on his worried stare, though, not swayed by the joke and possible deflection, and Shikamaru sighs a bit, smile sobering along with him. “I’m fine. Just a little tired, is all.” He scrubs his hand down his face and then gives Naruto a semi-scolding look, smirking lightly. “You scared the shit out of us, you knucklehead.”

Naruto has the grace to look sheepish, rubbing the back of his head before he remembers that hurts. “S-sorry… But, uh…what exactly am I apologizing for…? How’d I get here again…?”

Shikamaru huffs a laugh. Honestly, this guy… “With how hard you hit your head, I’m not surprised you need a refresher.” He gets more comfortable in his chair and then fixes Naruto with a serious stare. “Depending on how this goes, this might not be the easiest thing to hear, so fair warning. Frankly, I’m glad you’re already lying down.” Naruto’s caught off guard for a moment, but he nods in the next one. Shikamaru takes that as a signal to start. “Well, for starters, you’ve been out for over a week.”

Naruto’s eyes widen, lips parting in surprise. He doesn’t think he’s ever been in the hospital that long before. “W-wait, really? How long?”

Shikamaru nods, resting his chin between his knuckles. “Eleven days, counting today.”

The blond pales a bit, good hand moving to the Seal on his stomach. He’s a little surprised that his immediate reaction is to worry about the Beast locked up inside him, but hey, stranger things have happened. To him, at least. He wants to try talking to it to make sure it’s okay, but he doesn’t want to freak Shikamaru out. Maybe if he explains it to him, he can try later.

As if reading his mind, Shikamaru offers, working to tread carefully, “I’ll get to the Nine Tails in a minute. But for now…what do you remember about what happened?”

Figuring the Fox is sleeping to regain its energy like he was anyway, Naruto takes a breath and does his best to think back. Everything’s so…hazy… He mostly remembers pain and blood and familiar voices…Kakashi-sensei, Sakura, and Granny Tsunade’s, specifically… Before that…—!

A face appears in his mind’s eye, and he bolts upright, Sasuke’s name on his lips, but the pain chokes it off and Shikamaru’s urgent, careful hands stop him halfway. It takes a moment for him to get his breath back. “Sa-Sasuke…! He was…!” Suddenly distracted by more important things, he doesn’t even register Shikamaru gently pushing him back down on the bed. “S-Shikamaru, is—Kakashi-sensei and Sakura—!” He swallows, blue eyes blazing as he breathes through the pain. He doesn’t want to even entertain the thought of being wrong. “A-are they okay?”

Shikamaru swears, no matter how old they get, Naruto’s insane devotion to his friends will always be one of his favorite things about him. He nods, a reassuring smile on his face. “They’re just fine. They made it back here with barely a scratch.” He pokes Naruto’s forehead gently. “It’s you we’ve all been worried sick about.”

Naruto’s whole body sags with the force of his relieved sigh, spring-coiled tension gone in a second. “Thank goodness…”

Shikamaru’s smile grows before he sobers again. “So, what do you remember? Let’s start there.”

Naruto narrows his eyes in concentration, and as the memories start to come back, he feels his stomach drop. “I-I remember…Kakashi and Sasuke about to fight when…S-Sakura tried to—“ he swallows, “—to take him out h-herself. Sasuke retaliated by—by t-trying to stab her with a—a k-kunai through the—” The last word turns to ash on his tongue, too awful to say, but he gestures to his throat with a trembling hand to finish the thought regardless. His words are shaky, horrified, more so as he goes on, and he swallows again, curling a fist in his sheets for purchase. “That’s—that’s when I jumped in. I-I saved her, and then…t-the three of us, all of Team 7, we…w-we tried to convince him to—to come back with us…b-but…” he breathes a laugh, a bitter, angry, almost scared thing, a like smile on his face, “…h-he was talking crazy… He said he—he killed Danzo and that h-he was—was going to k-kill us and then…d-destroy the Leaf to—to ‘cleanse the Uchiha name’…” His fist in the sheets tightens, though he tries to take a shaky breath to steady himself. “I’ve…I’ve never seen him like that before… It was…” he glances up at Shikamaru, knowing he’ll understand, “…it reminded me of the old Gaara, like he sounded when we stopped him from killing Lee all those years ago… That’s what he sounded like...”

Deranged. Unhinged. Totally unrecognizable from the person they knew. Hell, those are being generous…

Shikamaru swears under his breath, frowning as he glares at the floor. He knew the Uchiha was a little sick in the head, but nothing like this…! Looking back up at Naruto, he asks, “Anything else?”

He thinks, but then shakes his head. “Everything after that is…a blur, really. Bits and pieces, a lot of blood and pain, but that’s it. Mind filling me in?”

Shikamaru’s frown deepens, but he sits up a little straighter nonetheless. He’s always been one to rip off bandages quickly. “You used your clones to stop Kakashi-sensei from interfering and then went after Sasuke yourself. Once you two started fighting, there was nothing Kakashi and Sakura could do but watch. There was no way in hell they were getting between you two.” He can only imagine how hard that must have been for them to watch. “The fight went on for a long time, and it got pretty brutal. Sakura had to look away after a while. She couldn’t stand to see you two hurt each other like that. The only reason it stopped without both of you dying was because some guy in a mask showed up and took Sasuke away. You wanted to go after them, but you ended up coughing up blood and passing out a second later. Kakashi and Sakura got you back here as fast as they could, and then Sakura and Lady Tsunade headed the three surgeries necessary to save your life. According to Lady Tsunade, though, it wasn’t just them who saved you.”

He nods toward Naruto’s Seal. “It was the Nine Tails inside you, too.” Naruto’s eyes widen, and he looks down at where the demon resides. “It used up a lot of its chakra to keep you alive after yours was depleted. That’s also why it’s taking you so long to heal. Since the pair of you are basically out of chakra, the Nine Tails can’t accelerate your healing like it normally would, so your recovery’s pretty much slowed to a crawl.” Taking a sip of his water, he continues, “Anyway, after you got out of surgery, you were still in really bad shape. All the doctors and nurses did their best to take care of you, and Sakura and Lady Tsunade even stepped in and did some special medical ninjutsu stuff where they could, but it was touch and go almost the whole time. Some days were better than others. We were all really afraid you weren’t gonna make it this time.” He rubs the back of his neck and sighs, mostly in relief. “But thankfully, you’re awake now, so that’s over. Thank goodness… I’m getting way too old for this stuff…”

When Naruto doesn’t immediately laugh and spout some quip about Shikamaru only being a few weeks older, the chunin looks up to make sure he’s okay.

He finds Naruto staring up at the ceiling, for once completely silent. His eyes are dull, a shade or two darker than they were a few minutes ago, almost listless. His expression is much the same, but Shikamaru can tell there’s a whole maelstrom of emotions playing behind both.

“Where’s Sasuke now?” Even his voice has lost most of its inflection. He sounds…exhausted, but it’s more than that. Almost...defeated.

Shikamaru swallows, trying to quell the worry starting to turn his stomach. He hopes it’s just the shock and maybe a reaction to the memories coming back. “Hard to say. According to Kakashi-sensei and Sakura’s reports, when that masked man came for Sasuke, it was like they just vanished into thin air. There wasn’t a trace of them left, not even a chakra signature. Kakashi has a theory that it was some kind of jutsu unique to that man. An ANBU team was dispatched to the area to see what clues they could find, if any, and they did find a red-haired woman who claims she was Sasuke’s…assistant or something, but as far as Sasuke goes…” He shrugs, next words riding on a tired sigh as he scratches his head. “For now, it looks like we’re back to square one.”

There’s a long, pregnant silence for several moments. The clock ticks by, but Shikamaru can’t bring himself to break it, waiting instead on bated breath for his friend’s response.

Naruto, for his part, heard everything, it’s just…it’s like there’s white noise playing in the background of his mind. He’s not sure if it has something to do with the Nine Tails’ weakness, his own, or maybe it’s all in his head. He’s trying so hard to process everything he’s just remembered and learned, but…it’s too much. All of it’s too much. He wishes it would stop, especially the static. It’s not helping anything. Maybe…he just needs more sleep. “I see…”

His voice is even more despondent than before, and that combined with the way he rolls over onto his side, his back to Shikamaru, sets the older boy further on edge. “Naruto…are you okay?” he asks softly. He’s well aware how stupid a question like that probably is right now, but he doesn’t care. He needs to know, and more than that, he wants to. This would be a lot to take in for anybody, but especially Naruto, who loves with absolutely everything he has in him, and hell, he basically fought his former teammate to the death (for a second time), so it makes sense that this would negatively affect him. Of course it does. It’s only natural. He remembers the last time Naruto shut down like this, after his first near-death fight with Sasuke in the Valley of the End. But still, this…it feels…different somehow. He can’t quite put his finger on why yet. He just hopes it won’t be worse. God forbid.

Finally, curling into himself a little more, Naruto answers, “Y-yeah…” His voice is so hollow and low that Shikamaru almost has to strain to hear it. The brunette swears he’s the worst liar in the world. He’s not even trying at this point. It only makes him worry more. “Hey…Shikamaru…?”

Said boy leans forward so he can hear better. “Yeah? What’s—?”

Suddenly, there’s a bandaged arm around him, and the next thing Shikamaru knows, Naruto’s hugging him. He couldn’t even sit up before without being in intense pain, but now, through sheer force of will, he’s hugging him. Shikamaru breathes an exasperated laugh. “Thank you, Shikamaru. For staying.”

It’s barely more than a whisper, but Shikamaru hears it like it’s the only thing that matters. Right now, to him, it is. He gets the feeling Naruto isn’t just talking about being here when he woke up either. He can’t help but smile and hug his friend back gently, not wanting to hurt him more than he’s probably hurting himself. He feels Naruto relax in his arms, and he holds him just a little tighter, letting his face tuck just slightly into the blond’s shoulder. He’s so, so glad he’s alive. “Don’t mention it. What else are friends for?”

Naruto actually does manage a chuckle at that, and Shikamaru considers it a personal victory. They stay like that for several seconds more before settling Naruto back in bed.

“H-hey, um…” Shikamaru’s steady, calm gaze never leaves the blue-eyed boy; he wants to help in any way he can, “…don’t leave?” Then, even quieter, “Please?”

The whirlwind in Shikamaru’s gut dies down, if only a little, and even though Naruto’s too embarrassed to look at him, feeling his request childish, he hopes he can feel the way his gaze softens. He leans back in his chair to get a little more comfortable. If the nurses want to throw him out now, they’re going to have to contend with Naruto’s word as well as his own. “I’m not going anywhere,” he promises quietly. “Sleep well, Naruto.”

---

“I’m going to kill all of you…”

“You never had a family! You couldn’t possibly understand!”

“The Hidden Leaf will be destroyed by my own hand!”

Images of the Hidden Leaf in burning ruins pass by, nondescript screams and sobs piercing the air. Bodies everywhere—crushed, burning, impaled, cut in half, dismembered—so many there’s almost no open ground to be seen. Moving closer to the center, all of Naruto’s mentors and friends are lying on the ground, unmoving and unseeing. They’ve been killed, murdered, in chilling, gut-wrenching ways, each worse than the last. Those closest to Naruto were dealt the worst deaths by far.

In the middle of it all, Sasuke holds a dying Naruto by his collar, grinning at him like a lunatic, eyes wild. He leans in close, his Magekyo Sharingan glowing an unsettling red. Naruto can see and smell the blood coating his lips and teeth, gushing from now-blind eyes. “I win…Naruto!”

--

“No! Sasuke!”

Naruto shoots upright instantly, screaming loudly enough to wake the rest of the patients on the floor.

“Whoa, hey!”

His good arm clutches at his chest where a huge hole was a second ago, he’s sure of it.

“Naruto!”

He’s shaking like a leaf, drenched in sweat, breathing and heart rate erratic.

“Damn it! Can’t you hear me?!”

Tears flow freely from blue eyes that can see nothing but the carnage and world-ending in his nightmare. Part of him knows it’s not real, but he can’t—he can’t shake it—!

“Hey, Naruto!”

Naruto snaps his neck to find Shikamaru standing at his side. He has a tight, tremulous grip on his shoulder, and the older boy’s looking at him like he’s afraid he’ll pass out or start screaming again any second. They’re both breathing hard, but for two very different reasons. Shikamaru, seeing the change in him immediately, lets out a shaky breath, worry pinching his brow hard. “Hey, hey…” He squeezes his shoulder a little more to hopefully help ground him in reality. “You with me?”

Naruto takes a minute to catch his breath and slowly ease his white-knuckled fist from his shirt so he can reach up to wipe his eyes and face and then rest it on Shikamaru’s. He nods. “Y-yeah…I-I think so…” Shikamaru doesn’t let up right away, not moving an inch, and Naruto tries to manage a smile for him. It’s pitiful, but it’s something. “S-sorry if I scared you…”

A few more cautious seconds, and like the string holding him up has been cut, Shikamaru’s whole body slumps and he takes a heavy seat on the edge of Naruto’s bed. He sighs wearily and buries his face in his hand, just trying to breathe. He shakes his head. “No, it’s…don’t worry about it…”

He says that, and yet his shoulders are trembling, just slightly. Naruto isn’t sure he’s noticed. He gets the feeling his friend might have had a tougher time waking him up than he wants to tell him. Suddenly worried he might have actually hurt him in his terror, he looks him over for any injuries, but doesn’t find any. He lets out a relieved, silent sigh of his own. Thank goodness… “I’m…I’m sorry…” He winces at the sound of his own voice. It’s even worse than when he first woke up. Probably from all the crying and screaming. “It was…” he looks away, embarrassed and ashamed to have caused all this trouble, voice falling, “…it was just...a nightmare…”

Shikamaru, while listening intently, takes a deep breath before letting it out slowly. He does that a few times before he lets his hand fall. It’s a calming exercise Asuma taught him years ago. It almost always works, and this is no exception. He’s grateful.

Turning back to Naruto, he hesitates a half-second ahead of reaching out to squeeze the blond’s fingers lightly. After so many years of being friends and as observant as he is, the notion that physical affection is something Naruto lives for hasn’t been lost on him. Never mind that he’s not usually especially physically affectionate himself, if he can give Naruto some comfort right now, damn it, he’ll do just about anything. “I know. I heard. About Sasuke attacking the village and killing everyone in horribly brutal ways, right?” Naruto looks at him like he’s grown two heads, and he explains, a tiny, wry smirk coming despite himself. “Unfortunately, your mumbles and screams didn’t leave much to the imagination.”

Paling, Naruto shakes his head roughly to get rid of the resurfaced images. “S-sorry…”

Shikamaru frowns. “Hey, stop that. This is not something you have to apologize for,” he tells him firmly. “After what you’ve been through, I don’t blame you for freaking out, even in your sleep. Any sane person would.”

Naruto breathes a laugh at that, somewhat relieved. Still, something in his expression is almost… haunted. ‘Sane,’ huh…? “So I’m not a drag, then?”

Shikamaru recognizes that look on sight. He used to wear it all the time as a kid, and it comes back once in a while when he’s reminded of back then. Hell, even just a few short years ago. His answering almost-snarl makes Naruto look up at him with wide eyes, but Shikamaru can’t help it. “No, of course not.” He doesn’t care if it’s been years. He still wants to punch all the ignorant bastards in this village who ever made Naruto feel like he was nothing but a worthless demon. He was a child, for God’s sake! “You are not a drag, idiot. You never could be.”

A heartbeat, and something in Naruto’s face and eyes softens, the shadows leaving his eyes, and a more believable, if still small, smile paints his lips. Shikamaru feels himself relax at that alone. “Got it. Thanks, Shikamaru.”

“You’re welcome.” It’s quiet for a good few seconds, and then, quietly, hesitantly, “So…do you wanna talk about it?”

Naruto blinks and then thinks. He could tell him what he’s thinking and feeling, but…right now, it’s all still kind of a mess inside, and that nightmare didn’t help. He might be able to help him figure out a solution, but he also gets the feeling that Shikamaru would tell him this is something he has to figure out for himself. With that in mind, he slowly shakes his head. “Not yet. I…I still need to…sort some things out. In my head and…my heart, too. How I’m feeling…you know?” Blue eyes leisurely move to meet brown. His tiny smile’s grown a bit. “But thank you. I’ll tell you when, okay?”

Shikamaru isn’t so sure he likes letting this lie, but…he trusts Naruto. He trusts that he’ll come to him if he needs someone to confide in. “Sure. Take your time. I’ll be here.”

Naruto softens, tries really hard not to think of the three clean-through sword wounds that traveled the length of Shikamaru’s midsection in his nightmare. He swallows, does his best to remind himself that the blood on his tongue isn’t real. His smile wavers, turns fragile, but then bounces back to be even bigger than before. “T-thanks, Shikamaru. You’re the best.”

Shikamaru’s cheeks color slightly at the compliment, not expecting it. Avoiding his gaze momentarily, he gently pushes Naruto back down on the bed. “Again, you’re welcome. Now…” he moves from the mattress back to his chair so he doesn’t crowd his friend, “…get some sleep. For real this time.” Sensing he’s nervous, he reaches out to squeeze his fingers again, leaving them there. If it’ll help him sleep and avoid any more nightmares for the night, he doesn’t mind. He offers a reassuring smile. “It’ll be fine, you’ll see. If I’m wrong, I’ll eat my words and do something we both know I think is a total drag.”

Naruto laughs, for real this time. It looks like some of his color’s finally coming back, too. That’s good. “A—” a big yawn interrupts him, and his eyelids start to droop; his exhaustion’s rushing back now that he feels warm and safe again, “—all right... Night…Shikamaru…”

He’s out like a light in just a few seconds, and that means Shikamaru can finally relax himself. He doesn’t plan on sleeping just yet, wanting to make sure Naruto really will be okay first, but he’ll get there eventually. Leaning back in his chair, head propped against the wall, he looks out the window at the clear, starry night sky. They might not be clouds, but they’ll do.

Something about all this tells Shikamaru that Naruto’s recovery won’t be as smooth as the last time.

But lucky for him?

This time, he has Shikamaru at his back.

[tokyoghoose]

Unpopular opinion???

It kinda makes me upset when people stop watching an anime or like hate a character in an anime just bc they get with their crush in the anime. Like i get it—LMAO BEEN THERE TRUST ME. But like idk

I feel like it'd be handled better if female characters weren't just treated like love interests, especially in shonen anime. Like, let them have some character development and show them on their own. Its better to have a slow burn relationship in an anime than one where the girl is automatically pining for the guy just bc. Let her be badass on her own, and let it double when shes with him.

She doesn't have to be just a love interest. And ive seen a lot of animes try and portray it like fairytail, naruto, even ochaco and izuku at first ( and that honestly made me a little upset, but im glad she's becoming stronger ans straying from that type! ), but not many can pull it off well.

I digress. Overall, i understand why. It appeals to the shonen theme of being a hero and such and saving and getting the girl in the end. And its just really disappointing when people completely disregard or hate a character because they are a love interest. Like, remember in balance unlimited when everyone thought suzue was Daisuke's fiancée? LIKE HELLO!! Some reactions were very much genuine when saying they hated her bc of it, AFTER ONE EPISODE AND A THEME SONG, when clearly she plays a bigger character than we originally thought.

There's no reason to stop an anime or hate a character just because of a storyline. Canon or not, you can still imagine yourself with them or whatever you want to do. It's just disappointing that some subject themselves to the stereotype that female characters are typically love interest and nothing more for the male characters—even if unintentional, it still pushes forward that type of storyline in future animes bc its what works.

Anywayz thats make take 🥺👉👈

Feel free to sound off and let me see your pov :)

[blueskittlesart]

Dhrududksnshsys naruto

now HERES one i havent seen but i definitely can do. naruto mutuals this is for u

haven’t heard of it | absolutely never watching | might watch | currently watching | dropped | hated it | meh | a positive okay | liked it | liked it a lot! | loved it | a favorite

don’t watch period | drop if not interested within 2-3 episodes | give it a go, could be your thing | 5 star recommendation

fav characters: sasuke for no reason other than i heard he faked his death and i think thats fucking funny

least fav characters: i only know like 6 naruto characters and i dont dislike any of them lmao

fav relationship: sasunaru is the only relationship as far as any naruto content ive ever seen is concerned

fav moment: u know that one scene that my mutuals will not stop posting about where naruto and sasuke are like fucked up beyond repair and laying next to each other all bloody?? i have no idea the context for that but it looks pretty romantic in that sort of heart-shattering shounen way so i’ll go with that

headcanons/theories: naruto died and was replaced with a slightly uglier look alike and thats why he looks Like That now

unpopular opinion: there are too many characters,,, i only know naruto sasuke kakashi……… sakura??? ina???????? uhhh fucking dwayne the rock lee or whatever??? theres Too Many

how’d you find it: mutuals

random thoughts: every time i see a naruto post on my dash its some new weird thing that i dont understand. sasukes eyes are red??? sakura has another, smaller sakura living inside her???? i dont know what to believe anymore