#kakairu adopts naruto

[littlechinesedoll]

Like a Prayer - Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruko fic

Like a Prayer Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/46367686.

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply

Category: F/M

Fandom:Naruto

Relationship: Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruko, Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka, Uchiha Fugaku/Uchiha Mikoto, Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Sasuke

Character: Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto, Uzumaki Naruko, Umino Iruka, Hatake Kakashi, Uchiha Mikoto, Uchiha Fugaku, Uchiha Itachi, Haruno Sakura, Yamanaka Ino

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Japanese High School, Bullying, Haruno Sakura Bashing, Haruno Sakura Being An Asshole, Good Parent Uchiha Fugaku, Angst, Love Confessions, Female Uzumaki Naruto, kakairu adopts naruko

Summary

   Naruko has long hair. Down to her waist. It used to be a messy boyish pixie cut when she started to grow it as a prayer, when one day during a day out hanging with him, Sasuke made an offhanded comment about how a woman with their back turned to them, had such beautiful long hair.

   She cuts it all off a week before graduation, when she saw a girl in their year with pink hair half as long as hers, latch onto Sasuke’s arm, and Sasuke didn’t push her off like he usually did with other girls.

Notes

   This was inspired by: https://twitter.com/pukun_p/status/1643638533276459009

See the end of the work for more notes

---

“What did you do to your hair!” Sasuke demands when he sees Naruko with a blunt bob down to the curve where her neck met her shoulders, and textured bangs. By her ear, that enamel fishcake pin Sasuke got when he went past an accessories store and thought of her. She’s never taken it off since Sasuke got it for her.

Sasuke hasn’t seen her in a week. They’ve been together every day since they were five (unless their parents had to take them somewhere), hand in hand and cheek to cheek when they were children, and shoulder to shoulder as they grew up, and this is the first time in their lives that Sasuke hasn’t heard from Naruko for a week. No note, no call, no text, no nothing, when she can never stop messaging Sasuke all kinds of random things.

Then she shows up on the last day of school, having cut all her hair off. Sasuke wonders what’s going on inside her head—what would prompt this drastic change? Sure, she looks great in this new haircut, but what was the point of growing it that long, and dragging Sasuke to her shopping trips looking for products to make sure her hair stayed soft, shiny, and volumized, only to just cut it all off?

Was it just… an impulse decision?

It’s graduation day. Sasuke would love nothing but to ask Naruko and her parents to join him and his parents to lunch out to celebrate, then spend the first day of summer vacation with her.

---

It’s graduation day. But Naruko would like things to be over so she can try and continue to compartmentalize and not break down in front of her best friend. The love of her life.

She wants the ceremony to be over because her full-time job starts at 11am and the ceremony will end at 10:45am, so she has to pedal as fast as she can to get to the coffee and bakery shop she’s been waiting at in the last week in attempt to avoid Sasuke. Besides, there was nothing to do at school anymore since she got all the credits she needed to pass and graduate.

“I cut it,” she says, “I got a full-time job, contractual though, and I thought the hair got in the way of being productive at work ,” it’s a lie. She could easily just put it up into pigtails, braid them, and wrap it around itself in a bun to keep it out of her face while she waited and bussed tables.

She cut it in the hopes of moving on. Letting go of this silly little crush. Of the silly hope that one day, Sasuke would look at her and tell her he liked her hair. That he’d ask to touch it or offer to comb it because he wanted to feel the softness between his fingers, and let the fresh floral scent fill his senses. That he’d tell her that he liked her back the way she liked him, and her prayer would be granted.

It was foolish of her to hold on to this stupid prayer. Because of course, Uchiha Sasuke, the most handsome, most popular, smartest boy in school, would pair up with the smartest, prettiest girl in their year, Haruno Sakura.

Because who would ever look at loud, obnoxious, tomboyish, scar cheeked, chubby, orphaned Naruko, who barely passes math, and picks fights, eats too much and has pudge, and wears a skirt below the knee unlike all the other girls because she hates that her thighs are too thick. Not cute is what she gets from their classmates all the time.

She tries not to compare herself to other girls, she does anyway.

Sakura is top of the class, the valedictorian. She’s on the math team, vice president of the literature club, and is student council president, and gets tons of chocolate on White Day because she’s pretty and all the boys like her. She got accepted to a good school and will become a doctor.

Sasuke is second next to her. Sasuke’s the captain of the baseball team, part of the kendo team, and gets tons of chocolate on Valentines’ Day because he’s handsome and all the girls like him. All his applications were accepted and he’s sure to follow in Itachi and their father’s steps to run their family business.

Then there’s Ino whose hair never really needs any combing, with her fair skin, scar-free face. She’s captain of the debate team and a member of the kyuudou team. And Hinata who’s the very definition of cute to every guy in their class: small, quiet, demure, small voice, who liked giving out sweets to anyone who’d take them. They get chocolate on White Day, too.

And Naruko. Naruko likes to eat ramen, make clay frogs, and joined the garden and flower arrangement club, and is always tanned—shades darker than every other girl, and always sweaty because she’s always under the sun in the garden. She’s never gotten chocolate on White Day from anyone in her life.

It’s not that she’s insecure, because hey everybody’s got something they hate about themselves, and she doesn’t have enough self-hatred to change anything. She just… knows she’s not pretty. Average, at best? At least she’s not completely ugly. Maybe. Skincare never got rid of the scars anyway and she wears enough sunscreen.  

“I wanted to work over the summer to get some sweet cash to spend on stupid shit and food before college!” she adds with a grin. “Besides, all those hair products were getting expensive,” she scrunches her nose. “I could use that extra cash in case I need anything else when I move to my new apartment closer to the school. I didn’t want to bother my dads. They’ve spent enough already. Time to pull my own weight I guess,”

That one isn’t a lie. But she actually doesn’t need cash. She’ll be getting a full salary for two months before she gets to move. She hasn’t really thought what she’s going to do with all of it. All she wanted was a distraction. Iruka and Kakashi look after her well, and Kakashi has good income as a lawyer, and she has a grandma who has more money than she knows what to do with and she always handed cash over when she asked nicely, but only if she helped over at her grandma’s clinic, sorting documents or cleaning up the place, or taking over the secretary when she can’t come in.

“Why didn’t you tell me you got a job?” Sasuke asks. Because usually, Naruko tells him everything and if there’s something Sasuke knows about his best friend, it’s that Naruko can’t lie to him even if she tried.

They even shared plans for when they go to college. They planned on living in the same complex halfway between the community college she decided to go to, and the university Sasuke got accepted to. But things didn’t go as planned since Naruko’s parents can’t find anything within budget where Sasuke wanted Naruko to rent so they could be close, so they went with a student apartment complex near the community college. Which is easier on Naruko if she wants to go home during the weekends since it’ll only take a short bus ride.  

Naruko actually wants to skip the ceremony right after she gets called on stage, so she can leave and not see the what the fuss is about when people gather around to watch Sasuke give Sakura the second button on his uniform jacket when she asks for it as they exchanged gifts. (1)

She doesn’t want to hear the cheers of the student body when the handsomest boy and the prettiest girl finally get together because it makes sense.

That doesn’t stop Naruko from having a gift for Sasuke though. She’ll try to be as casual as possible, keep it together, and last long enough for Iruka and Kakashi to get photos and then she can go back to work, cry in the locker for about five minutes, get her shit together, and probably hopefully be successful in avoiding Sasuke and as she tries work herself to death for the next two months before starting college in attempt to push aside these feelings.

A teacher’s voice comes from the campus speakers. Students are being told to gather at the ceremony area.

That’s Naruko’s cue to give Sasuke her gift, because she wants to avoid the awkwardness, and not give anybody the chance to assume that she’s confessing her feelings because she’s giving Sasuke a gift. Good thing it’s not chocolate, because Sasuke hates sweet things.

“Congratulations on graduating!” Naruko practically shoves the white gift bag into Sasuke’s hands.

In it is a small pack of the expensive, fancy green tea she bought with her first week’s salary, a coaster she made in the pottery seminar she went to in the shape of a cat’s head, and a small candle that smells like freshly laundered sheets.

“See you later!” she says.

It’s another lie. She runs over to where her class is, separate from Sasuke since he’s in the class with the achievers, and she’s in the class of not-so-achievers, and waits for the ceremony to start.

---

“Haruno Sakura, Class 3-A, Konoha School of Medicine,”

---

“Uchiha Sasuke, Class 3-A, University of Konoha,”

---

“Hatake Naruko, Class 3-C, Nishiba College,” (2)

Naruko climbs up the stairs to the stage, a grin on her face, genuinely elated she’s finally done with high school. She bows to the headmaster and accepts the fake rolled up diploma, then bows once again before going back to her seat. She doesn’t look for Sasuke in the audience.

---

When Iruka and Kakashi have gotten their fill of photos, of all of them together, one with each parent, and Naruko alone with the stage as the background, she tells them she’s about to be late for her job and rushes to the school quadrangle where her bicycle is parked, and where students are gathered giving each other congratulations and making plans for the summer as the last day of school ends.

She knew it, people are gathered around Sakura and Sasuke, and she doesn’t stay around long enough to watch Sasuke give Sakura the second button of his jacket and breaks into half a sprint to get to her bicycle.

---

Sasuke thanks Sakura for her gifts but gives her back the gift bag and doesn’t give her the second button when she asks for it. He leaves her there and doesn’t pay her any more attention as he looks around for Naruko. He doesn’t see her but sees Iruka and Kakashi. Iruka may stay a while longer because he’s a teacher and Kakashi may have to go back to the office if they weren’t able to take the whole day off for their daughter and the lunch they're supposed to go to.  

Whispers and silence blanket over the crowd as Sasuke leaves Sakura in the middle of the quadrangle, second button-less, headed for Iruka, gathered with other faulty near the school building entrance.

“Oh, she left!” says Iruka with a disappointed frown when Sasuke comes up to them to ask. “Late for her shift, she said. We were supposed to go to lunch with you! Please tell Mikoto-san we can’t make it. We can gather gain when Naruko-chan’s on her day off, okay?”

Sasuke didn’t even get to take a photo with her. Naruko always insisted they take photos together on the last day of school before summer. Today is their last “last day” together, and they have no photo for it.

“Sure. What time is she getting home?” Sasuke dares to ask.

“She usually gets in before midnight,” says Iruka with a sigh. “It’s concerning, our little girl out that late, but that’s the shift she agreed to,”

Midnight? Naruko shouldn’t be out that late without him if Sasuke has anything to do or say about it. Sure, she can handle herself and can throw a mean punch if she wants to, but still. He’ll even do whatever Itachi wants, even be his runner for work the entire summer, if it could mean he can borrow his car and pick her up—every night if he must—instead of Naruko riding her bicycle alone in the dark.

“Can I go pick her up?” he says without thinking.

“Oh, that’s sweet of you, Sasuke-kun!” Iruka breathes in relief. “Is it okay if we leave Naruko to you?”

“Of course!” Sasuke answers without missing a beat. Aside from her parents and his family, she wouldn’t be safer with anyone else but him. “Sensei,” he says because they’re on school grounds, “Kakashi-jisan, let’s all have lunch with mom, dad, and Itachi, to celebrate sometime soon?”

“Sure,” Kakashi nods. “Naruko’ll let you know when her off day is, okay?”

“Do you happen to know where the café she works at is?”

“It’s called Cream & Sugar if I recall correctly,” says Kakashi.

Sasuke nods, bids them goodbye, then returns to his parents and brother who are ready to take him out for a celebratory lunch. They’re disappointed Naruko isn’t coming with them.

---

“Sasuke, where are Naru-chan, Iruka-san, and Kakashi-san?” his mother asks as he gets in the backseat of the car, next to Itachi.

“Iruka-jisan said they’re sorry they can’t make it today since Naruko said she’s late for work. We can gather again on her day off,” he says as he straps himself in.

“Oh, that's a shame,” Mikoto tuts.

“Alright, fess up,” says Itachi as their father eases out of the parking lot. “What did you do?”

“What? Why’d you think I did something?”

Itachi raises a brow. “If there’s someone between the two of you with less self-awareness it’s you, Otouto. Besides, even if you did Naru-chan wrong, she can’t ever manage to stay away from you too long, ever,”

“Itachi-kun,” their mother sighs, “At least say with a little bit more grace,”

“Well, she hasn’t been at the house for a week,” remarks Fugaku. Naruko’s a noisy child but he’s learned to love her too, and that she’s good for Sasuke and Sasuke is good for her. “Better say sorry even though you don’t know what you’re sorry for, Sasuke,”

“Listen to your father, boys,” says his mother. “He’s right,”

“Oh, what a miracle, the blessed words right from your lips,” Fugaku chuckles, Itachi rolls his eyes at the flirting.

Sasuke ignores it and opens the gift bag from Naruko and stares at the variety of items. He loves every single one of them—Naruko always knew what he liked. He opens the card and sees her messy but still legible handwriting.

サスケてめへ Sasuke-teme he To Sasuke-teme,

おめでとうございます！できただってばよ！自分に気を付けてね！ Omedetou gozaimasu! Dekita datte ba yo! Jibun ni ki wo tsukete ne! Congratulations! We made it! Take care of yourself.

ナルコより Naruko yori From, Naruko.

What had he done? To deserve just a cold sounding card without a single emoji, and not a hug on one of the biggest days of their lives?

---

Naruko cries in the locker room when she gets there, replaying the small scene with Sasuke and Sakura in her head, over and over again, imagining Sasuke handing over the button to Sakura, them sharing a hug, and Sasuke inviting Sakura instead of her to a celebratory lunch like Mikoto-basan told her they’d go to after the ceremony.

You have no right to be hurt, she tells herself, sniffling as she pulls on her uniform, then ties up her apron at the back. You have no right. She can’t help but be hurt anyway, and she hates it.

But she must admit, though. A successful businessman and a doctor, that’s a power couple right there if she ever saw one.

Naruko wants to finish college just to say that she did—because it had always been Sasuke’s plan. She plans on taking something close to administration, even though she isn’t good with authority figures. The connections and skills someone gets from helping run a company might help in the mundanity of personal life. Maybe she’ll get into the firm Kakashi works at and work her way up to be a legal secretary or an administrative officer.  

She removes the fishcake pin from her hair and shoves it in her bag to make sure she doesn’t lose it, then pulls her hair up into a neat half-ponytail. Then she changes her mind about the pin, fishes it out of the bag, and uses it to pin her bangs to the side. She’s never taken this off since Sasuke gave it to her a year ago and she isn’t about to stop now.

Though she might, just to take her mind off it.

It isn’t fair, she thinks. She loved Sasuke for so long. Longer than anyone else, she’s sure, except maybe his parents and Itachi-niichan. Like how she knows the way he likes the cheap shirt she got him from Uniqlo that he’s worn so much it’s gone ratty and got holes already on the seam of the shoulder blade and near the neck hole. Mikoto-basan offered to sew it for him but he insists he likes it still.

She knows every inch of his room, the shampoo he uses, how he likes his eggs in the morning, what kind of tea he likes, what to get him at the café, or during sleepovers, where to get her futon from, and how he likes it when she blow dries his hair at night after a bath, or how he complains when Naruko shoves a headband on his head to free his face of hair and smears all that skincare on his cheeks and forehead but secretly likes it because it the scents are so light and fresh.

Now she can’t do it anymore. She must respect his girlfriend, even though she never respected Naruko. She misses Sasuke so much, but she has to stay away from him. She’s been on the wrong end of Sakura’s attention before, and it’s not something she wants a repeat of.

“Look, I know you think you two are best friends or whatever label you’re using to delude yourself. Because honestly, a stupid, scarred, class-C piggy like you? Can’t even tell you and a whole chashu roll apart! Sasuke-kun is too smart and has far too refined taste for you. You? He would never, ew,”

It’s a miracle the acetone she used to remove the superglue Sakura and Ino poured onto her hair didn’t burn her hair right off.

She didn’t tell Sasuke nor her parents.

Sasuke, out of anger, might make a scene and humiliate Sakura in front of the entire school, Iruka might bring this up to the headmaster and she might not graduate on time, and Kakashi would most definitely sue—he’s known for crushing the guilty accused and leaving them penniless.

That’s not something she wants to happen. It’d be a taint on Sasuke’s character, a stain on Sakura’s educational and legal background, and too much work on Kakashi. She’d rather stay away from Sakura to save her own sanity and self-respect. Naruko may be stubborn and too headstrong at times, but she knows when to stop, especially if she knows nothing will come of it.

So, she washes her face in the staff restroom, ices her eyes to depuff them, then faces the day’s customers with a smile and a bow. If working hard and long enough to tire herself out is the only thing she can do to avoid thinking about Sasuke and just sleep when she gets home, she’ll do it. Maybe if she does it long enough, she’ll forget about it.

Who knows, maybe Sasuke won’t even notice her gone with how much time he’s going to spend with his new girlfriend.

---

When her shift ends, she’s surprised to see Itachi’s SUV, a white Land Cruiser, waiting across the street from where she bolted her bicycle at a bicycle rack.

“There you are!”

She half gasps when she sees Sasuke step out of the driver’s side of the car.

“C’mon, I’ll put your bicycle in the back. I’ll take you home,” he calls out as he crosses the street toward her.

“What are you doing here?” she asks, watching him unlock the rope lock with the spare key she gave him years ago when she first got her bike. “How did you know where I work?”

“I asked your dads,” he answers, “Iruka-jisan said he was worried about you being out so late, so I offered to pick you up,”

What if one of Sakura’s friends were around and sees them? Just because they’ve graduated doesn’t mean Sakura doesn’t have the means to find her. Stay away from him, she reminds herself, stepping away from Sasuke to make sure there’s always enough space between them.

Which confuses Sasuke, because Naruko is always all over him. Not in an ecchi sort of way, since she can’t flirt to save her life, but always touching, latched onto him, always a tackle hug when she sees him for the first time that day, or when he surprises her, and she doesn’t expect him to be at the place she’s at. Pinching or poking whatever part of him, draping herself onto him whenever she pleases.

Why? Why all this… space. They’d been attached at the hip since they were kids. Now Sasuke’s had an entire week without any kind of physical contact with her. It’s not right. She’s supposed to run to him and tackle him in the middle of the street even though there’s a chance they can get run over despite not there being any cars at this hour. She’s supposed to be giggling and happy that he’s here, because she always is.

Quietly, Naruko nods and follows Sasuke to the car because she’s too tired and hurt to argue. He deposits the bicycle in the back, and she wordlessly gets in the front seat and buckles herself up. Sasuke gets in, clicks the belt on, starts the car, and the silent drive home is excruciating. Before, Naruko would eagerly plug her phone in and start playing whatever’s on her rotation or bother Sasuke as he drives and laughs when he tries his best not to crash.

Now, there’s… nothing.  

“Why are you still in your uniform?” is what Naruko settles for halfway through the ride.

“I didn’t… feel like changing out of it yet,”

He’s still in his white collared shirt, black pants, and his usual school sneakers. His jacket isn’t on. Naruko guesses the second button is missing now, held close by the pretty girl Sasuke likes.

“I liked your gifts, thank you,” Sasuke says when Naruko says nothing. “I’m still going to get a warmer for the candle though, so that I don’t have to light it and forget. Don’t wanna burn the house down,”

“I’m glad,” she says. She doesn’t sound like it.

When Naruko is happy, everybody knows it. Her smile is as bright as the sun, grinning like her full cheeks will burst. Her voice is big and boisterous and can cheer anyone up. This isn’t Naruko.

Sasuke pulls over a few streets away from Naruko’s house, puts the car in neutral, and activates the breaks. “What did I do?” he dares to ask instead of just following his father’s terrible advice.

“What?” Naruko looks at him for the first time since she got in the car. “What do you mean?”

“What did I do, Naruko?” he repeats the question. “There must’ve been something I’ve done for you to just… stop.”

“S…stop?”

“Yes!” Sasuke says in frustration. “You barely talked to me this week. Not a single message. You didn’t even tell me you got a job,”

Naruko shrugs. “You never reply anyway,”

“That’s because all you send me are memes!” he argues. “I’d reply if you sent something I could actually reply to,”

“I’m just… tired. Having a job is new, y’know?” she sighs. “I didn’t expect shifts to be that long, or the tasks to be that many, to be honest,”

“Then negotiate for shorter shifts!”

“Ah, but I like the long shifts, though,”

“What?”

“It’s ah… the long hours keep me busy and tired, so there’s no chance to think about things I don’t what to think about. Work, sleep, eat, repeat and all that,”

That’s not healthy at all. “Things you don’t want to think about… what do you mean?”

Naruko unbuckles her seatbelt then unlocks her door. “Thank you. I’ll walk the rest of the way,”

Sasuke quickly locks the car and grabs her wrist.

She gasps and pulls her arm from him. “Don’t touch me!”

Of course Naruko’s raised her voice around him. All the time. But never really at him and that’s what catches Sasuke off guard. Since when did she dislike Sasuke’s touch?

“What if she sees us!” says Naruko, “What if someone else she knows sees us? Then rats you out?”  

“What? Dobe, I have no idea what the fuck you’re talking about right now. Who’s going to see us?”

“Sakura! Your girlfriend!” Naruko hisses. “Didn’t you give her your second button!”

She has to get out of here. She can’t cry here. She fumbles with the lock.

“Look, I’m not that smart but I know taken men aren’t supposed to be touching any girl other than their own, so stop it, Sasuke. I’ll stay away from you, so you don’t get into trouble with her, okay? I’ll just walk home,”

Once she finally manages to unlock the door, she hops out and slams the door shut. If she can hold it in until she gets to her room, gods favor her, even through the front door, that’d be great. She can’t stay here and be forced to confess feelings that will never be reciprocated. There’s no point. She has to keep it together, or she’ll look like some desperate girl, crying because she can’t get the attention of the boy she likes.

Sasuke hates girls who beg for his attention. She doesn’t want to be that girl. But she thinks to all the years they’ve spent together and realizes, what if she’s been that girl this entire time? Always invading Sasuke’s space, taking his things, putting herself in his personal space without ever having asked if that was okay.

So that’s what the movies were all talking about, Naruko thinks as she breaks into a jog, when they say to love is to let go. She loves Sasuke enough to preserve his new relationship.  

“Wait! Naruko, stop! That’s not—ugh! Listen!” the passenger door closes with a loud thud and Sasuke groans as he unbuckles his seatbelt, then grabs his uniform jacket from the backseat before stepping out of the car. “Wait!” he pulls it on as he runs after her. “Dobe, I said wait!”

“Hey! Ow!” Naruko exclaims when Sasuke gets a hold of her wrist and yanks her back.

“Listen to me!” Sasuke tells her. “That girl isn’t my girlfriend!” (2)

Naruko stops struggling.

“Look at my jacket, Naruko. I didn’t give her anything!”

He’s right. Naruko looks at the shiny gold buttons on Sasuke’s black jacket. It’s all there. Not one’s missing.

“I saw you…” she lowers her head, not wanting to look at him. “She was all over you, and you didn’t do anything. And after the ceremony… everyone was watching you and her,”

Sasuke thinks back to the day she’s talking about. “I didn’t push her off because Kurenai-sensei was there, and I didn’t want to get into trouble. This morning, she did ask me for the button,” he says, “But I didn’t give it to her,”

He’d been much crueler to Sakura than he intended though, but she wouldn’t take a hint and he’d had enough. “Why would I give you a button at all? I don’t like you,” he’d told her as he rejected her gifts before rushing toward Iruka.

Sasuke reaches for the second button, pops it off, turns her wrist around to open Naruko’s hand, and places it in her palm, then lets her wrist go. “I would never have given the second button to anyone else but you,”

Naruko thinks the amount of crying she’s been doing the last few days can last someone else a lifetime, but Sasuke’s gesture moves her to tears still, and then she finally gives in to the need to throw herself at him.

Sasuke welcomes Naruko into his arms and hugs her like he’s never hugged her before. She cries and cries into his jacket.

“I missed you!” Naruko sobs. “I thought you had a girlfriend and that I couldn’t see you anymore!”

She’s not even mad about him getting some other girl because Sasuke doesn’t owe her his feelings just because they’ve been together so long. She’s just sad and hurt there was a chance she couldn’t see him anymore had his girlfriend been a type of person who’d forbid him to see other girls even as a friend—forbidden to see her.

The boy presses hips lips against his best girl’s temple.

“I’m sorry,” he says finally.

“Why are you saying sorry?” Naruko pulls away from him as she sniffles. “You have nothing to be sorry for,”

“I still hurt you though,”

Naruko shakes her head. “I hurt myself. I hurt you. I’m the one who’s sorry,” she opens her hand, “You… like me?”

Sasuke hums. He doesn’t even know when he started liking Naruko. He just… woke up one day and realized he can’t live without her. Doesn’t want to live without her. Doesn’t want a future without her. He wants this button to be the start of the forever Sasuke wants with Naruko.

“Because… I kinda like you, too,” Naruko gives him a wet, embarrassed smile. “Like, a lot. For the longest time,”

The dorkiness of Naruko’s confession is what makes the moment close to Sasuke’s heart. He chuckles. “What a coincidence, I like you, too,”

Naruko pouts and pokes at Sasuke’s chest. “You’re making fun of me,”

Sasuke pulls her back into an embrace and kisses her hair. “C’mon, I’ll take you home. Then I can walk with you to work tomorrow,”

The button digs into the skin of her palm with how tight she’s holding onto it. She has Sasuke back. She’ll be sure to keep him forever.

“And oh,” he says, and Naruko looks up at him. “I like your hair,” he runs his fingers through the soft, short locks. “Looks good,”

She grins at him, swollen eyes and all. She doesn’t have to grow her hair out again. Her prayer’s already been answered.

---

End Notes

   (1) On graduation day at junior high or high schools, a male graduate may give the second button on his school jacket to a female student. It is usual for a female junior or classmate to ask the senior male student she likes for his button. If the male student likes her too, he may give her his button. Some popular male students may receive many requests from female students, but he will give his second button to the girl he likes the most, and the other buttons to the other girls. The significance of the second button is that it is located closest to one’s heart.

   (2) I planned on putting here the fictional made up Nishiba Senmon Gakkō, Westleaf College/Community College. Just played around with some kanji. West because I like it, and leaf because Hidden in the Leaves. 「Nishi・にし・西」 for west; 「ha・は・葉 」for leaf. Ha becomes ba when read together with nishi. Nishiba. 西葉.

   The University of Konoha I ripped off The University of Tokyo, and Konoha School of Medicine I ripped off Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, because there aren’t really any fancy-named universities in Japan. 😅

   Also, in Japan I don’t think they actually announce the schools the graduating students got into. They did at my school, though! (I didn’t live or study in Japan). I just wanted to emphasize the divide Naruko and Sakura had with their educational goals.

   (3) Um, the level of “brashness/rudeness” of Sasuke’s speech and the casualness/closeness of his relationship with Naruko I imagine for this sentence doesn’t come through in English lol. I think in Japanese this would have been “Ano onna wa ore no kanojo janee yo!” ・「あの女は俺の彼女じゃねよ！」・「あのおんなはおれのかのじょじゃねえよ！」

   “Usually” (with quote unquote!! don’t take my word for it!!) ‘that something/someone’ or ‘ano hito/koto/mono’ or 「あの一人・こと・もの」sounds… rude? In a sense? Sort of like Sasuke isn’t willing to say ‘that person’s’ name, or ‘that’ said with disgust, or he thinks it’s not worth his breath saying her name, as opposed to it being a filler when ‘forgetting’ that person’s name.

   I also imagine that the Japanese Sasuke uses with Naruko is very casual, that’s why he uses 「ore・おれ・俺」 a rude/arrogant version of I, because he’s close to her, and why he uses 「negative/is not・janee・じゃねえ」 which is even ruder/casual than 「janai・じゃない」, which is already a rude/casual from of 「ja arimasen・じゃありません」. Maybe for people he doesn’t know he uses 「boku ・ ぼく・僕 」which is the polite version of I for boys.

   Had Sasuke been politer or had he been speaking to his parents or an authority figure he respected, it would’ve been「Ano onna wa boku no kanojo janai!」・「あの女は僕の彼女じゃない！」・「あのおんなはぼくのかのじょじゃない！」there’s an even politer version of this sentence but I doubt Sasuke would use that on anyone.

   There’s something so cool about rude Japanese, don’t you think? I would one day LOVE to learn how to speak or write in the politest version of Japanese, kinda like how an assistant would speak to their superior, or a butler to his master. Anyways I’m not that good at the implications of chosen words or tone in both English and Japanese so there’s that. But I enjoy learning both languages (English isn’t my native language).

   This fic was inspired by: https://twitter.com/pukun_p/status/1643638533276459009

   Thank you for reading!!

Please drop by the archive and comment to let the author know if you enjoyed their work!

[zephyrs-bliss]

au where during his troublemaker phase iruka decides to hang out with the jinchuuriki just to spite the adults around him but when he meets little toddler naruto, he realises Oh Shit. He Is Just A Baby. an Alone Orphan Baby. and so he starts taking naruto everywhere in the village with him bc its not like the orphanage staff care where he goes.

but then anbu phase kakashi comes back to konoha after an extended mission and on his usual rounds of stalking the orphanage to check on naruto, he's not there. kakashi starts capital p Panicking and desperately looking around until he finds naruto with iruka, and assumes iruka is going to hurt naruto so he goes in to attack.

but iruka in turn assumes this anbu is here to attack naruto (bc almost everyone else approaching them so far has).

and unfortunately for Genius Prodigy Do Everything By The Book Era Kakashi, iruka is scrappy, smarter than he looks, has become fiercely protective over naruto and has no qualms about playing dirty to try to win.

thankfully during their short brawl iruka starts yelling things that make it clear that he's trying to protect naruto, which shocks kakashi so he shunshins away.

kakashi then partakes in some light stalking and watches iruka playing with naruto and taking care of him and letting him climb on his arms and wipe snot on his shirt (even if iruka makes a face about it). he desperately hopes that this little exchange won't awaken anything in him.

and later while iruka is silently fuming and working on some especially Nasty seals to trap the hokage tower and anbu hq with, he gets a curt note taped to his window that just says like "sorry. was trying to protect him too."

so iruka decides to forgive him, which just means he makes sure those new traps aren't lethal <3

[irukaamerite]

Them

[ircn-mvn]

Naruto’s parents meet his adoptive family

“Oniichan!”

Kushina and Minato could only stare as their only son turned around and kneeled to welcome twin toddlers into his arms. 

“You’re back,” one of them said. 

“Ruchan was freakin’ out,” the other added.

“Language!” 

Naruto and the twins froze as the other two looked up to watch two shinobis coming their way. It took another moment for Minato to realize the one who had spoken was no other than Kohari and Ikkaku’s son, but literally no time at all to recognize his old student walking next to him.

“Naruto?” Iruka called.

Naruto moved immediately. He got up and walked the small distance between them as Iruka opened his arms. They hugged but soon the obviously relieved expression on Iruka’s face turned into a thunderous one and they understood why Kakashi had stopped a step behind them.

Iruka suddenly grabbed Naruto by his jacket’s collar and started shaking him:

“What the hell were you thinking?! No, you clearly weren’t thinking at all as always!! You were supposed to babysit the twins!! And what, you decide to experiment with their Jikūkan Ninjutsu like it’s some kind of game?! You are lucky they didn’t accidentally kill you, you idiot!! Do you hear me?! You could have died, Naruto!! What were we supposed to do if you had died?!”

“I-I’m dizzy,” Naruto managed finally.

Iruka stopped. He looked shaken under the last trace of his anger. He let go of Naruto’s collar to grab his shoulders.

“You can’t disappear on us like that, Naruto,” he added. “Do you hear me?”

“Uh, I’m sorry,” Naruto answered.

“You better be.”

Iruka’s frown turned into a soft smile after another beat. He brought his and Naruto’s forehead together, closing his eyes.

“Welcome home.”

And that’s when Kakashi moved forward, joining the other two. One of his arms came around Iruka while he put a hand on Naruto’s head before bringing their foreheads together as well.

“Welcome home, kid,” he said.

“Glad to be home,” Naruto answered with a sheepish smile.

There was a pause before Naruto remembered their visitors. Both Kushina and Minato had already started to fade when he turned back towards them. 

“Wait!” he exclaimed. “I want you to meet my family.”

He pointed to the twins who had been staring at Minato.

“This is my little sister, Ren, and my little brother, Jun,” Naruto started before motioning towards Kakashi. “You already know Papashi - I mean Kakashi-Sensei. He has been around for a while, Iruka likes him.”

Naruto’s fake detached expression turned more serious before he grabbed Iruka and pushed him forward, startling the older man.

“Naruto!”

“And this,” Naruto added. “This is Iruka. He was the one who adopted me.”

“Uh, Kushina-sama, Minato-sama,” Iruka said, bowing respectfully.

When he straightened anew, it was to find himself in Kushina’s embrace. She hugged him tightly and he only hesitated a moment before hugging her back.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

Minato walked to an uncertain Kakashi. His former student's gaze kept traveling between his eyes and the floor. He grabbed one of his shoulders.

“Thank you,” Minato echoed.

“Maa, like Naruto said, Iruka was the one who adopted him,” Kakashi said.

“But I couldn’t have done it without you,” Iruka corrected him.

“Thank you, to both of you,” Kushina said again.

Edit: Bonus Scene:

“NARUTO-KUN!”

A furious looking Sakura appeared at the end of the corridor and Naruto visibly blanched. She walked to him clearly ready to hit him and yet her blow never landed. When Naruto dared to open his eyes again, there was a tall dark figure standing between Sakura and he.

“Uh, ANBU-san?” Sakura said.

“Naruto-kun already suffered from one concussion today,” the ANBU - Itachi - said. “That might be enough, don’t you think Sakura-san?”

Sakura deflated while Naruto blushed. Also, he wasn’t sure if Iruka was giving him or Itachi the stink eyes right now but he wasn’t in a hurry to find out.

[mtnikolle]

Clearing my first roadblock for @kakairu-rocks 2024 Maze Challenge: Single Parents AU

A seal appeared after Kakashi tried to skip roadblocks and teleported him back to the start. Bad Kakashi!

Making New Connections

Summary: Kakashi volunteered to chaperone for Naruto's field trip. That... may have been a mistake. But Naruto was pretty cute like this. And he got to meet Iruka, who understands the trials and tribulations of single parenthood. So, really, it was good.

🐵🐍🐻🐸🦫🦜🦊🦆

Kakashi almost couldn't believe that he'd volunteered to supervise Naruto's field trip to the local zoo. What did he know about either animals or 7 year olds? Then he looked down at Naruto, sitting, calmly for once (or so he assumed, based on what his teacher, Ms. Mitarashi was always telling him), and knew he'd do just about anything for the little brat (affectionate).

“As I call your names, go line up with your parent-chaperone.”

Kakashi could see most of the kids were paying attention, but at least three girls were “whispering” together at something under one of their desks, one boy was playing with cars on his desk, and another two? three? boys were passing a paper back and forth.

“Mr. Hatake?”

Kakashi waved at the kids.

“Naruto, Kiba, Amir, Zion, and John are with you.”

Ah, one of the boys no longer paying attention was Naruto. At least he knew who that one was. Another of the boys poked him on his way up the aisle toward Kakashi. When Naruto looked up to… say something, Kakashi made eye contact and raised his eyebrows. Naruto got with the program and grabbed his backpack to join them. Ms. Mitarashi was already calling the next group of students as Kakashi led his group out of the classroom.

🐵🐍🐻🐸🦫🦜🦊🦆

The bus ride to the Konoha Zoo was… something. Loud was probably the best descriptor. Despite the kids having been told to sit with their groups, Kakashi noticed that his was scattered all over. He could only assume the same was true of the other groups. He sat in one of the seats, debating standing to yell at the kids, when another body landed beside him.

“Don't bother.”

“Excuse me?”

“I recognize the look on your face from my own mirror— or would, if I brought a mirror on these trips.” The man held out his hand. “Iruka Umino.”

Kakashi took it. “Kakashi Hatake. What do you mean?”

“They won't listen. Best to save your voice for later.” The man, Iruka, explained.

“Oh.” That made a lot of sense, though Kakashi internally shuddered to think of the implications.

Ms. Mitarashi climbed onto the bus after the last of the students and took a final headcount. With a jolt, the bus started toward the zoo. Kakashi didn't know buses were so loud. The public buses he sometimes took certainly aren't.

Once the ride was somewhat smoother and the sound didn't feel as bone-rattling, Kakashi asked, “You chaperone a lot of these trips?”

Iruka nodded, then looked over his shoulder at a quiet boy who looked nothing like him. “Ever since I took in Sasuke and his older brother, Itachi.” Iruka was quiet for a while. Kakashi supposed he's a quiet guy, despite being the first of them to speak. Kakashi was about to turn his attention to the window when life came back to Iruka's face and he asked, “Which is your gremlin?”

Kakashi gave a mental snort. ‘Gremlin,’ indeed. “Naruto. Do you know him?”

“Ah, yes, the active blonde?”

“‘Active’ is a kind description. Gremlin is closer to right.”

Iruka laughed. “He does seem pretty adventurous when I come visit the class.”

They chatted the rest of the way to the zoo. Kakashi was sure he would find Iruka's insights and advice useful.

🐵🐍🐻🐸🦫🦜🦊🦆

They'd barely made it through the entrance before Naruto bolted for the Reptile House.

“Naruto!” Naruto slowed, but didn't stop. “Wait for the group!” He didn't— kinda— he was waiting by the entrance. Probably because there was a small, fenced pond just outside with a couple of… frogs? sunning and swimming.

Naruto grabbed his sleeve. “Dad! Look at them! They're so tiny!”

The other boys gathered around to look, too. The frogs were smaller than even Naruto's small hand. Kakashi wondered how Naruto had even seen them, quick as he'd been running.

“They sure are. Do you know what kind they are?”

Naruto shrugged, like it didn't even matter. To him, it probably didn't. Kakashi still looked around for some kind of placard. Nothing out here, so maybe inside. Not that it mattered—all five boys were enthralled now with watching the two tiny frogs hop in and around their little pond. Naruto, completely focused like this, was completely adorable, and reminded Kakashi a lot of both Minato and Kushina when they had focused in on their individual fixations.

With the boys occupied, Kakashi took a moment to look around. The boys had blasted straight passed the confectionary stand—just as well, Kakashi didn't think any of them needed extra fuel. Beyond the Reptile House (which Kakashi thought likely housed more than reptiles, given the frogs outside) was a path with a sign that read ‘Northern Mammals.’ He figured that was likely both Alaskan and northern Canadian. Then he wondered if there might be penguins… Or polar bears! How would any if those cold weather creatures do living down here…?

Unfortunately, Kakashi's mind went for a wander. Fortunately, it came back in time to see the last of the boys slipping into the Reptile House. Kakashi lunged to follow after them. It was going to be a long day.

🐵🐍🐻🐸🦫🦜🦊🦆

It was a long morning. The boys ran from one exhibit to the next. Kakashi's only consolation was that they were content to remain in a group, even if they each had their turn being impatient with someone else's preoccupation. As Naruto had been enthralled by many of the reptiles and amphibians, Kiba was with many of the canine species, Amir with the great cats, Zion with the butterflies and other insects, and John with the monkeys.

By the time lunch rolled around, Kakashi couldn't wait to regroup with the rest of the class. Then the children could entertain themselves and enjoy more communal supervision.

Once they were within sight of the park where the class would have lunch, Kakashi let the kids sprint the rest of the way. He made his own beeline for the adult table where a number of parents were already sitting. Actually, it looked like all the other parents had arrived before his group. (Was he doomed to always be the last to arrive? He could swear his life hadn't been like that before Naruto…) He was in luck, too, the four moms had taken over one end of the picnic table for themselves, which left him a spot opposite Iruka.

Iruka looked up from his sandwich and waved as Kakashi sat down.

“Hey, how'd your group do this morning?”

Kakashi drooped dramatically. “It started with my kid taking off for the reptiles, and I'm not sure it stopped.”

Iruka laughed at him and winked. “Just wait until they refuel!”

Kakashi shuddered and pulled out his own lunch. He'd made onigiri for himself and Naruto last night—stuffed with supper's leftovers. He looked at what the other parents were eating and was surprised by the variety. Curried chickpeas over rice, pizza, pita wraps. It all looked so good.

“And your group? Were they as enthusiastic?” He took a bite of his onigiri after asking.

Iruka smiled. “My groups tend to be pretty calm. Ms. Mitarashi likes to put kids of similar energy levels together. It usually works out so each kid is in a group with a friend. Sasuke is pretty quiet, so he ends up with other kids who are pretty calm.”

Kakashi banged his head on the table. “That means I'm doomed whenever I can come again!”

His dramatics attracted the attention of the moms, and the one sitting next to him patted his shoulder consolingly. “I feel you.” She pointed at one of the boys trying to eat while hanging upside down from the monkey bars. “That one's mine, so my group is always high energy, too.”

All the adults at the table spent time trading stories about their kids and groups. The other parents also shared stories about other field trips that year or the year previous. Some were nightmare inducing, some were hilarious. Overall, Kakashi decided he wanted to make time to chaperone more of these trips.

🐵🐍🐻🐸🦫🦜🦊🦆

The bus ride back to the school seemed unnaturally quiet. No one was yelling, no one was trying to move from one seat to another, no one was standing. Not even Naruto. The kids must have been as wrung out as Kakashi felt—and his energy reserves were significantly lower than theirs. He hoped this quiet would carry over to the house.

“Bet your wife will be happy that Naruto ran himself out today.”

Kakashi turned toward Iruka with a wry grin. “No wife.” And before Iruka could express any condolences, he continued, “Naruto's adopted.”

“Ah, similar to my situation with Sasuke and Itachi, then.”

Kakashi nodded. He'd picked up on that implication to Iruka's earlier statement.

“There's a single parents group that meets once a month.” Kakashi perked up at the information. “We informally call it Coffee and Commiseration.” Iruka's smile twitched into an almost smirk when he said it. Kakashi could completely understand how the name came to be. “It's mostly just a chance to spend time with other adults who understand. We rotate houses, so the kids play together and the rest of us can visit. Are you interested?”

“Hell, yes!” Talking with his other friends was good, but they were either married with their own kids, or had none at all.

Iruka flashed him a wide smile. “The meeting is at my house this month. This Saturday, actually.” He held out his phone to Kakashi. “If you give me your contact information, I can text you the details.”

The bus pulled up to the school, so Kakashi quickly typed in the information and passed the phone back. He looked forward to getting to know Iruka better.

[explomb]

Reading kakairu fanfiction is wild because I keep forgetting how young Iruka is

[aroshi-wish]

Is there Timelord Gai. I Need to know.

IMAGINE

Kakashi as a timelord. Not the Doctor, but a timelord.

Kakashi was (willingly or unwillingly) genetically modified with characteristics of the Uchiha species and this is not seen as acceptable on Gallifrey (his home planet for those not whoavians), partly because he isn’t exactly a timelord now. Once he was a captain of high guards and well versed in fighting. He now travels the universe very lonely since the death of friends and family. (There might have been a few hundred years or so where he was ANBU force and worked undercover to steer the universe on course (well, someone’s idea of ‘course’ at least), it’s supposed to be disbanded these days, but who knows. There might be some hybrid individual that still go all in when encountering situations he might find need a special touch) Well, until he is saved by a sword weilding human (Huh? What? Wasn’t this 2k smth?) that somehow manages to tag along and collect children like others might houseplants! He really should throw him out. Or kiss him. And maybe Iruka could stop having opinion on Kakashi buying questionable books at just about every other flea market he come across. It’s interesting to read about romantic customs among different species! (And why oh WHY does that infernal police box form get stuck with a TARDIS?)

Iruka was quite unsatisfied with his life. He worked as a phone salesman during the day, not really spending time with anyone outside of work and finding it harder and harder to find reasons not to clobber the alarm clock and just not care. No relatives. He doesn’t earn the money to travel or go to school and learn learn learn. The only bright thing in his life is his being a teacher in [some kind of martial arts where he can use both body and weapons, he never went professional because time/money but is great at basics] for kids a few evenings a week. Sooooo one day he meet this man, manage to save him and end up going on an adventure or fifty through time and space. And save a bunch of kids. They were without families! It doesn’t matter they are all of weird species such as Uchiha, Hyuuga or whatever, they should be cared for! Also, a user manual is a good thing, taking on fixing up a TARDIS is no problem with a manual this thorough. Especially if the TARDIS show the correct pages, make protesting noises and encourages Iruka with tea whenever things go right. Kakashi might be a teeny tiny bit smitten.

Naruto have been unfortunate enough to become possessed and now live in symbiose with quite a dangerous fox-like fiery creature. So he was sentenced to death by the federation of the part of space and time he lived in. He is ever so grateful to have met Iruka, who was the first he remember to see him as the child he is and took him away from the horrors of a world that wanted him dead. Oh, and Kakashi is coming around, he is. There might be some history behind Naruto he isn’t sharing, but he did give in despite arguing about crossing paths and not stirring up time too much.

Sasuke… Well, Sasuke ended up going with them, too. Naruto and Iruka refused to let some kid who JUST lost his planet and whole species be left somewhere random, especially when Kakashi goes on about the fall of the Uchihas is a fixed point in time. And there is something about Sasuke recognising that red eye Kakashi keep closed that is something of a mystery. It doesn’t matter, though. Two kids are saved from loneliness now!

And by now, well, I’m sure there are more children to rescue from a fate of death or orphanage, more relationships to develop and definitely more mystery and time and space to experience!

[sophies-junkyard]

To delete later: HELP ME FIND A NARUTO FIC!!!

there was a Naruto fic I read years ago that was a found family story centered on Iruka taking care of Naruto over the years. I remember a LOT of specific scenes.

1. Iruka confronts Jiraiya in a brothel for spending all of Naruto’s money. There’s emphasis on gamachan looking sad and empty, plus descriptions of all the people in the bar knowing who Naruto is (cause he lives on a dangerous street) and wanting to help out.

2. I think it ended up being Kakairu?

3. Food as a metaphor for love??? Definitely something about. like. “Don’t neglect your heart, keep your heart as full as your stomach” etc.

4. All the other chunin/teachers are key characters. There’s definitely a scene where they go out and get drunk and give Iruka shit about liking Kakashi.

5. Over the course of the story, Naruto lowkey moves in with Iruka. He just doesn’t go back to his lonely apartment but since they’re not used to having family they just Don’t Talk About It.

6. Ends with iruka adopting Naruto. If I’m not mistaken, there’s literally a conversation about him taking Irukas last name vs Kakashi’s. Something about “scarecrow of the sea” and comparing which combo of names is better.

Anyways, I feel like it’s probably been deleted and that’s why I can’t find it. But if anyone can help or at least confirm they remember this fic it would be much appreciated!

[naferty]

Me: Naruto? Nah, it's been years. I haven't thought about him. It's not a show I'll get back into. I'm goo-

Youtube: *shows a short with Iruka as a father figure with killer background music*

Me:

Me: *furiously searches AO3 for KakaIru and adopted!Naruto fics* Fuck you youtube

[coryn-vs-world]

Me too!

Hello! For the holiday sketch request, how about some KakaIru being domestic and lovely? Thank you! Love your art 💙

I love them 😭🖤✨

[achilleslyre]

all of 6-10 plus 20 and 21 if I may be so bold...

already answered 20 and 21 but here’s the rest

6. which ship fans are the most annoying

sasu/saku/naru. very close seconds with kakairu and sasuhina

7. what character did you begin to hate not because of canon but because of how the fandom acts about them

shikamaru. obviously there’s much to dislike in canon but i was more or less uncaring about him until i got into fandom and all their sasuke comparisons. watch your back.

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

iruka is narutos adoptive father…. iruka was just a teen when he met naruto 💀 big brother figure would be more understandable, but nonetheless naruto just has a warped sense of what a family feels like cause he’s been an orphan since 10 minutes post birth. iruka is a caring mentor to him and a role model to lean on and look up to. please stop calling him narutos dad 😭

9. worst part of canon

deidara. i’m jk in reality it’s the drop/change from LOW having naruto introduced to and horrified by the atrocities of the ninja world and the dark background of konoha and what it means to be a ninja to the intense nationalism and bootlicking being accepted as good a true. there are so many bad things about canon but that has to take the cake. honourable mention to misogyny.

10. worst part of fanon

sorry ik i already just brushed on this but i hate ‘narutos found family/naruto has a family’ fanon takes/aus. where did the story go. if that is the case, where did the story of naruto go. cause it sure isn’t here. also “obito is an incel” is the worst take of the century and i blast you with my mind if i see you saying that.

[zephyrs-bliss]

celebrating my last night of being 20 by taking a long bath and thinking about the ninja dads <3

[irukaamerite]

[smallangstdemon]

Hello ✨️ Here is my second attempt ever of drawing a real background and it went not so bad I believe! It's for the prompt "Lemonade" of the February mission for the KakaIru server! I chose the Rokudaime level, which meant I had to include "jam, cloud, bike" and "white, blue, lime".

I decided to go with something cute and domestic, a bit of fluff they both deserve 💛 I love when they adopt a child too, and Sasuke would be insufferable with Naruto.

[crunchystuff]

Does anyone have an interest in mythology? I do and I'm not ashamed of it. After reading through the Percy Jackson series, I found myself watching the Overly Sarcastic Productions's Miscellaneous Myths series on YouTube, I watched a video titled "Pride Tales"

and one of the myths being told is called Tamamizu which is a tragic story about a kitsune going through unrequited love for a young woman. That's when I got another story idea for a Sasunaru fanfic which would be inspired by this myth.

Naruto was born as a kitsune and got himself adopted by Iruka at a young age, the Uchihas being a family of huntsman, some minor Kakairu (bc those two are adorable), and making some of the Rookie 11 kitsune too.

I still haven't wrote it yet but it is all coming together.

[littlechinesedoll]

The Fox Bride - SasuNaru

Tags: No Archive Warnings Apply, Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto, Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka, Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Medieval, Edo Period, Fox!Naruto commoner!sasuke, kakairu adopts naruto, Protective Hatake Kakashi, Protective Umino Iruka, shy!naruto, Inspired by Art, Meet-Cute

Summary: SummaryNaruto knows he’s something… but not entirely human. He’s some kind of fox. He has ears on top of his head, a fluffy fail, whiskers on his cheeks, sharp eyes, fangs, and nails. He lives deep in the snowy forest.

Uchiha Sasuke meets Naruto one cold winter morning. For the first time in his life, Sasuke wants.

inspired by: https://twitter.com/mashromn/status/1613357795021324288 but made it sasunaru

Notes:

my first sasunaru fic, please be nice! 🥺🙏🏼🙇🏽

ages naruto: 18 sasuke: 20

---

Naruto’s parents are hunters. 

They’re not really his parents. They’re humans. They found him crying, hungry, and cold, lying next to his mother, another fox like him, dead in the very forest they live in. They don’t know how she died, but she died protecting him.

Naruto knows he’s something… but not entirely human. He’s some kind of fox. Iruka-papa doesn’t have ears on top of his head, nor does Kakashi-papa have a fluffy tail like his. He has fangs and sharp teeth, and whiskers on his cheeks which thicken when he’s emotional, and his blue eyes that turn red and slitted, and nails that grow into claws when he’s angry or threatened. Very much unlike Iruka-papa and Kakashi-papa.

But Iruka-papa and Kakashi-papa love him all the same, and Naruto loves them with all his heart. He loves their hugs, and Iruka-papa’s kisses to his whiskered cheeks, and Kakashi-papa nosing his hair.

They’re very protective though. Even though Naruto is now at the age of marriage, like Iruka-papa has said, Kakashi-papa disagrees, and doesn’t like Naruto going to town, or anywhere farther than the nearest human to their home deep in the snowy forest. The only person aside from his parents he’s ever interacted with is the healer who tends to them when they’re sick, Tsunade-sama. The others he watches from the house and lets his parents speak with.

And Kakashi-papa has said, he’s too cute to be sent to the market. But Naruto knows, they’ve said it before. Naruto-kun is different. He’s small, despite growing into an adult already, just barely up to Iruka-papa’s shoulder; he’s pretty, with his pink tinged skin, full cheeks, bright yellow hair, long lashes, and shining blue eyes; he’s too innocent, too kind, too trusting, and while some may think that’s adorable, it will get him hurt. Because of what he is, someone will hurt him. 

So, he’s left to tend to their small garden and care for their crops, care for their home and keep it clean and warm, and prepare the food for when his parents come home.

It’s winter, and Naruto has soup ready for when his papas come home from their hunt. It’s made from the boar bones they had caught and butchered some weeks ago, kept fresh by the freezing temperatures. He adds some salt to the broth, then some of the sliced carrots and potatoes they had stored from the fall. He grilled the fish he caught and salted with Iruka-papa the other day, and the rice is already cooked and resting in the ohitsu. (1)

He takes a sip from the ladle and decides that yes, this might be his best soup yet. His papas will love a hot midday meal after a cold, long morning of working and hunting.

“Dare ka?” Hello? Anyone?

Naruto gasps, his ears turning to the direction of the front of the house. Someone’s here. Someone who is not Iruka-papa or Kakashi-papa or Tsunade-sama. How did they know how to get here? And he can’t pretend that nobody’s here either, since there’s a fire going and smoke is billowing out of their house.

“Dare ka koko ni iru no desu ka?” Is anyone here? “Hello?”

Naruto grabs Kakashi’s haori that is long enough to cover his tail, and a tenugui to wrap around his head to hide his ears and pretend that he’s keeping his hair out of the way since he does have a kappougi on. (2)

He kneels at the door, slides it open just a little, and peeks out the engawa. “H-hai?” he sees a black horse tied to a tree and a young man.

“Oh, good,” he says. “Someone’s here. This is the home of Hatake Kakashi-san?”

“H-hai,”

“I have something for him. May I come closer?” he asks, getting the feeling that this person might be a little shy or jittery, since he’s only peeking through the door.

Naruto nods gingerly, ears listening carefully for any suspicious movement.

The man, tall, maybe just as tall as Kakashi-papa, with dark hair and dark clothes, goes back to the horse to unlatch the parcel, then approaches their engawa and sets down the large box. (3)

He sets it down and retrieves a scroll from his bag and a stick of charcoal.

Curiosity gets the best of Naruto, and he slides the door open further. “What is it?” he asks, poking the box.

“It’s a futon,” the man doesn’t look up as he writes something on the paper with the piece of thin charcoal. “I’m supposed to hand it over to Hatake Iruka or Hatake Naruto?”

“Hai, Hatake Naruto desu,”

“Hai, sign here—” the man hands over the paper for the receiver to sign, and stiffens, frozen in this spot just outside of the engawa. Now that he’s gotten a good, close look at him, He’s beautiful. “…please,”

“Hai,” Naruto takes the piece of paper, hunches over the engawa and writes his name down to where there is a mark. He writes his name carefully. はたけナルト.

When Naruto looks up to return the piece of paper and the stick of charcoal, he meets the man’s eyes. He almost gasps. How handsome! He has eyes darker than the charcoal, like a bottomless well. An icy stare that's... honest and genuine. His hair, parted in the middle with bangs framing his elegant face. He looks so different from Iruka-papa and Kakashi-papa, who both have lighter colored hair and eyes. He has even paler skin! Naruto finds himself wanting to grow closer to him.

“Ano…” says the man as he takes the paper, still struck by Naruto’s etherealness. There’s a delicate divinity to him, like Sasuke wants to offer… something. A gift. Flowers. A basket of fruit. Anything. Everything. For the first time in his life, Sasuke wants. “Boku no namae wa Uchiha Sasuke. Hajimemashite, Hatake-san,” My name is Uchiha Sasuke. It’s nice to meet you, Hatake-san. Sasuke doesn’t know why he’s introducing himself. He’s a delivery man. The only thing he should do is drop the parcel off and leave, and that’s what he’s always done. What's so different now?

Naruto flushes, embarrassed about how the handsome man is introducing himself, then remembers his manners and bows. He feels his stomach clench, then finds himself wanting to touch the man. What is this feeling? “H-hajimemashite, Uchiha-san. Naruto dake de ii desu,” he says shyly. “Hatake-san wa boku no papa desu,” Pleasure to meet you, Uchiha-san. Please call me Naruto. Hatake-san is my Papa. “Did he buy this?”

Sasuke shrugs, hoping this conversation will drag out and he’ll have more time to speak with this beautiful creature before him. Naruto-san must have been cooking, since he has a kappougi and a headscarf on, but it’s puzzling that he has a haori over it. “Maybe. I was only tasked to deliver this to his home. I didn’t expect it to be this far,”

“Oh, um, yes. It’s a long journey from here to the town. I hope it wasn’t too much for you and uma-san,” (4)

Sasuke glances at his horse. “He’s sturdy,”

The horse chuffs, shaking its head, clearly displeased with being gossiped about.

“May I touch him?”

“Sure, but be careful. He’s… distrustful of others,”

Naruto brightens, slips his socked feet into his sandals, and in Kakashi’s haori, still in his kappougi and tenugui on his head, he respectfully, quietly approaches the horse to not spook it. He offers his hand first, and when the horse pushes its nose into it, a smile breaks from Naruto’s face.

Naruto has one of the most blinding smiles Sasuke’s ever seen, brilliant enough to part the dark clouds and reveal the sun and the blue sky. It makes his heart skip a beat.

That’s new, Sasuke thinks, watching his horse practically smush his face into the boy. The beast’s never let anyone else touch him before, always threatening to kick.

“What’s his name?” Naruto asks, brushing a palm over the horse’s muzzle and jaw.

“Susanoo,” answers Sasuke, keeping alert just in case Susanoo acts out and hurts Naruto.

“The god of the sea and storms,” says Naruto, pressing his cheek to the horse’s muzzle. What a gentle creature. “How very fitting for a fine, strong horse. Hajimemashite, Susanoo-san,”

Susanoo presses its muzzle against Naruto’s forehead. The gesture seizes Sasuke’s heart. His horse has never shown tameness to anyone other than Sasuke himself. It’s a touching scene; it makes Sasuke’s chest swell with emotions he’s never felt before.

Naruto giggles. “Thank you, for letting me touch him,” he turns back to Sasuke and bows. “You have a lovely horse. He loves you very much,”

“He seems like he likes you, too,” says Sasuke, giving Naruto a small smile.

Naruto’s cheeks heat. “Please wait here,” he rushes back into the house.

Sasuke undoes Susanoo from the tree, then waits like he’s asked, and a little later, Naruto is back out holding a single carrot, which excites Susanoo, and a bowl of something steaming hot.

“Here,” he hands Sasuke the bowl of hot soup. “It’s very cold, so I hope this can warm you up and help strengthen you for your journey back,”

“Oh,” Sasuke’s almost too stunned to take the bowl. “Thank you very much—you didn’t have to,”

“Of course I had to,” Naruto tells him. “It’s freezing and you had to go all the way from town, you poor thing! May I give your horse a carrot?”

“Yes, thank you, that’s very kind of you, Naruto-san,” Sasuke sips the soup. It’s delicious! Warm, filling, and comforting. This is his only trip for today, with how arduous it is to travel in this weather. How lovely to be treated to a meal like this after a challenging route. Sasuke isn’t used to receiving or giving kindness from customers. Usually, they receive their parcel and send him off.

Naruto turns to the horse, “And I’ve got a treat for you, Susanoo-san!”

The horse chuffs in delight, and bites into the sweet carrot when Naruto presses the narrow end to his mouth. It’s gone in seconds.

“Ii ko da ne!” What a good boy! Naruto giggles once again then the horse presses his muzzle to his cheek. He receives the empty bowl back from Sasuke. “Uchiha-san, Susanoo-san, otsukaresamadeshita. Ki wo tsukete desu,” Uchiha-san, Susanoo-san, thank you for your hard work. Please take care. Naruto bows.

He starts to make his way back to the house. He doesn’t want Iruka-papa and Kakashi-papa finding out he was out here with another person for so long. It’s not that he’s not allowed to speak with others, it’s just that if they found out about him, and that he’s different… there is a possibility that they might take him away from his parents and hurt him in ways Naruto can’t even think of.

“A-ano,” Sasuke says before Naruto is too far away from him.

Naruto turns around. “Hai?”

“May I see you again?”

Naruto blushes, the blood rushing to his nose and cheeks, the plush, pink skin and blond bangs striking against the white tenugui and the snow around them. “I… I don’t know…” he can feel his ears flattening on his head as he looks away.

He’s flattered though, that someone wants to see him again. Naruto would be lying to himself if he says he doesn’t want to see Uchiha-san again, too. It’s nice to be able to talk to someone like this, to see and interact with another person, but his parents—Kakashi-papa especially—will never approve.

“My Papa… he doesn’t like visitors…”

“Sou ka,” I see. Sasuke understands why. Naruto is gifted with kindness and beauty. Any parent will do everything to protect such a gifted child. “Naruto-san, thank you for the delicious soup and the carrot for Susanoo. That was very generous of you,” Sasuke mounts the horse. “Sayonara,” Goodbye. He pulls on the reins and Susanoo neighs, then breaks into a gallop.

Naruto watches as Sasuke rides away and sighs, but smiles at the bowl Uchiha-san had emptied. Uchiha-san thought his soup was delicious, and Susanoo-san quite enjoyed the carrot he grew. He tries not to resent his parents, keeping him sequestered away like this, but he knows they’re right. Even Tsunade-sama says the same thing, that the second they see him, there’ll be no question of his dreadful fate.

He takes the parcel into the house and prepares for his parents’ return.

Sasuke then decides, resolute, when he looks back over his shoulder and sees the parcel gone from the engawa, and Naruto-san enter and slide the door to his home closed, that he will come back at a more opportune time and speak with Hatake Kakashi-san and Iruka-san about their child.

He intends to make Naruto-san his bride.

---

(1) An ohitsu is a bamboo basin/container with a lid that keeps rice fluffy and warm.

(2) A tenugui is a piece of cloth that can have many uses, handkerchief, a headscarf, a wrap. A kappougi is a Japanese apron used to protect the kimono from splashes and whatnot when cooking.

(3) An engawa can resemble the porch of a Japanese home.

(4) Uma - horse

Thank you so much for reading!! I hope you liked it!