#kakashi's also so funny here he's like: ...anyway i guess you can do that naruto but i'm gonna try and kill our enemy now

[zincbot]

naruto: sasuke... i'm the only one who can handle your hatred. i'll bear that burden and we can fight and both die, and finally completely understand eachother

kakashi, standing there: where the fuck did i go wrong this badly

[joltai-showa]

ah shit here we go again, let's reread Naruto again

reading it in official English translation for the first time and really have no idea if it's good or not lol (I've been translating MHA for 5 years straight and official English translation from the same company fucking sucks)

chapter 1 is huge as hell, which is normal for Shonen Jump, mangaka needs to introduce the concept and characters and all yada yada

what I find really funny about Naruto is a lot of the stuff is written backwards (meaning, we have some stuff introduced early on, but then more shit is slapped on top) to the point that pre-Shippuden things directly contradict what is going to be stated later. Kishimoto most of the time gave approximately zero shit about things outright not making sense and, y'know, you gotta respect him for that, cause I don't have balls like that

(unfortunately when writing anything canon-compliant in Naruto you have be mindful of things being rewritten and outright not making sense💀)

Anyway enough yapping, very first page is already ripe with shit that is going to be retconneced later

Firstly, description of Kurama's abilities. Naruto's orange puppy certainly can not start tsunamis and landslides with just his tails, lmao, this is something closer to Ten-Tails. If the terrain allows it, sure, I can see him starting a landslide, but orange puppy isn't starting anything in the seas, he's got siblings with lesser number of tails for that haha.

Secondly, the entire second paragraph feels like a fever dream honestly. "Suffering people gathered the shinobi clans to fight this menace" = Konoha was founded as a way to stop the endless tiny conflicts between the shinobi clans living in the Land of Fire (why have small-scale conflicts between each other when you can have literal world wars with the guys from beyond the border lol, jk, I know Hashirama wanted a peaceful future for the kids, but ultimately hidden villages system solves none of the issues of the previous system besides "7 year olds die on the battlefields" because now we have "15 year olds die on the battlefields"), Kurama literally wanted nothing to do with humans (as far as we know) during the warring states period, he was literally frolicking in some meadows and eating weird twins from to-be Kumogakure, got captured by Uchiha "read some mossy stone that my clan carried for years for some reason and went totally delulu" Madara, was used to attack Konoha, got bitch slapped by Hashirama a few times before Mito stuffed him into her stomach. And people are surprised why is the orange puppy so evil most of the manga lmao. But anyway, the entire sentence also implies that Fourth Hokage had some sort of mega-epic showdown with the evil puppy... while in reality it was something closer to Konoha's nuke being stolen by a delusional angry fourteen year old and Minato had to simply recapture the nuke again.

anyway, that was a long-ass rant lol

love the early style, it's so goofy, Kakashi is especially wonky in it

first question: why are we tying up school kids after they are caught for their terrible pranks? what is the educational idea behind this thing? like, i get doing that on the training field, imitating combat and all, but why do the same thing in the classroom? is it supposed to encourage the kids to learn how to run away after being tied down by some ropes?

(if that's the case i guess i know at least one academy student who always failed this task, yeah, looking at you, rin, i'm sorry, i can't hold myself back from bashing that thing, lmao)

anyway, back to the manga, i really love how it mentions that Naruto flunked this exam two times already (and it's not stated how often this exam is, so I guess yearly?), and only graduates at like 13, which is supposed to be a super late age and Naruto is such a lazy bum for that... but then you realize the funny fact that Naruto's classmates aka "genius" Sasuke, "book-smart" Sakura, team Asuma and team Kurenai are all the same age as him. Lmao. This isn't the first time Kishi will forget about this silly thing called "timeline".

let's... not adress this gag.

AHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH.

Naruto, allow me to introduce you to this wonderful concept called "nepotism". It's quite common in your village. Second Hokage was First's younger brother, Third Hokage was the student of the Second, Fourth Hokage is the student of a guy who studied under Third, Fifth is literally both the granddaughter of First and a student of Third, Sixth is the student of Fourth and you, Naruto, is the son of Fourth and the student of Sixth.

I absolutely love how early Naruto is trying to be this story about this poor underdog when in reality our MC is the nepobaby to ever napobaby lol. I think only Iwa beats Konoha at having the most absurdly nepotistic system for Kage, because 3 out of 4 Tsuchikage are directly related to each other through blood and the one guy that isn't happens to be the teacher to Third.

(I do remember there was so bullshit about Kazekage clan or something but I think it's pretty much only a title and only Rasa and Gaara are actually related to each other through blood)

>badge of adulthood

>given to literal 9-13 year olds who can't throw a kunai in a straight line

yeah, you know what, this actually checks out.

you immediately know that mizuki is fucking evil when he says "nah let him pass iruka, he managed to produce a single shitty clone, he's totally not gonna be killed after 30 seconds on the battlefield" like WHAT IS THIS SYSTEM OF EDUCATION

also another good question to the world building: does Konoha have other schools besides Academy? Like, what do kids do if they don't want to pursue military career? Their parents hopefully teach them how to read and count and that's it? I mean, Konoha is a military settlement at the end of the day, but they can't be teaching only guys who will be throwing knives at each other?

absolutely nothing, naruto, lmao. you were born a nepobaby, prepare to have an endless supply of chakra for any tricks of yours and the best senseis Konoha has to offer.

is the Hokage building supposed to be their residence as well? huh.

also let's not talk about this gag.

comically large kurama jpeg

[95jezzica]

Kakashi Shipping Musings

Tbh I'm pretty neutral/more of a multi-shipper about Kakashi's ships nowadays, but I do think it's interesting to see how many of the ships have the potential to provide different things for Kakashi.

"Jezz, what the hell are you talking about this time?"

Bear with me here, but well, Kakashi has more ships than I can count at this point, SO! Just to mention some examples:

First up we have Gai, who is Kakashi's constant. Kakashi's other side of the coin who never gave up on him. They've known each other since childhood, with all that entails, and I'd argue that Gai is likely the person who (in canon) knows Kakashi the best out of everyone - including past Obito and Rin. Gai has seen and BEEN with Kakashi at his absolute worst, but also seen and been there as Kakashi slowly worked through it all and came out alive on the other side. Gai might call Kakashi his rival, but it's obvious they're best friends, and they completely trusts each other to 120%.

Secondly we have Iruka, who I'd argue is perfect as Kakashi's grounding. The one who takes Kakashi down a peg or two when needed. Iruka has both called Kakashi out on his bullshit in the past and continues to do so as well, but it's still obvious they respect each other a great deal. Naruto is obviously something that connects them, but from the little I've watched the Boruto series it's obvious Kakashi and Iruka are also portrayed them as friends on their own.

(Which is honestly a great foundation of any relationship - start as friends before you see if you also want something else out of it. After all, why choose between getting a friend or a partner when you can get both in the same person?).

My last example is Kurenai. There's something bittersweet there, but I do think she and Kakashi could make a great couple. Something sweet, and in a sense a... calm lull of love? Especially compared to the other ones he's shipped with. Anyway, Kurenai lost her partner and father of their child when Asuma died, and Kakashi lost one of his good friends. But they made it through. They still live. Kurenai also has a bunch of moments where she shows pretty good insight into Kakashi's thoughts, and there's a lot of understanding between the two of them. I guess my bottom-line is that I see some great potential in a relationship between Kakashi and Kurenai. Additional bonus is that the thought of Kakashi accidentally becoming the bonus dad/older uncle-figure to Mirai is kind of funny, because he probably thought he was done with raising children in any capacity after the mess that was Team 7 (which honestly wasn't his fault). Like sure, Kakashi will do it and he loves the child (Mirai), but he sure as heck didn't plan for this. x'D

.

There's obviously a lot of ships out there for Kakashi (such as with Yamato, Rin and Obito just to mention another 3), but my point is that different ships with Kakashi provides very different vibes of what they'd do and provide for Kakashi. None of them are wrong or better than the other(s), but I find them interesting to keep in mind.

Though Idk. Maybe my 4am musings won't make sense to anyone else. x)

[mickey10213]

I know it's old news at this point, but something that will always be funny to me that I don't see enough people talking about -- probably because it's so dumb and irrelevant -- but I just love how the Sakura/SS fandom love to come for SP over anything regarding that girl and their ship. Despite the fact that I personally see SP give so many unwarranted good moments for them compared to negative moments, but that's none of my business.

I would also like to state that I am not a fan of the Restuden series, especially Sasuke and Naruto Restuden from the things I've read. Mainly because I think the plot itself is entirely stupid and out of left field for Naruto to suddenly become basically allergic to Kurama in his late twenties early '30s. I could honestly care less about the shipy moments in these novels, but when will people admit the only reason that they like these stories is because it caters to one specific ship? You honestly don't think the story is good because it's not. You just like that Sakura gets highlight to her romance and to some random badass moments. Like come on? How long can you really sit here and pretend that you like that they're fighting dinosaurs? Especially with the largest dinosaur being a herbivore? I'll wait.

Anyway the point I'm trying to make is they praise Jun Esaka, who I'm rather indifferent towards but I find the hate she gets quite ridiculous and absurd at points. They often claim she should be the writer and take over for Boruto because she is a SS shipper and in her stories that involve them she makes content that suits their needs. I.e. Sasuke being a jealous simp and mushy father, Sakura being more confident and damn near wearing the pants in their relationship, random powers that other characters specialize in but suddenly they can use it (for example all of a sudden Sakura can use sensory jutsu, which is Karin's specialty, and Sasuke can use healing and ice style), And overall just all the romance that they had hoped for. Again for example the infamous ring scene, which depending on who you ask was either a good adaption or SP was ruining Sakura. And then you have the lake scene which again they bash them for cutting out certain moments. And finally you have Sasuke screaming for his wife and just overall them being lovey-dovey. And actually don't even get me started on the horrendous motorcycle scene that I guess is in Naruto Restuden, which is the only reason they want that novel adapted but not Kakashi's cause I guess they're not in that.

(Same fans that will come at Hinata for holding hands with Naruto after Neji died despite giving a whole speech pertaining to her cousin, are also the same fans that want Sakura and Sasuke to kiss over a dying Naruto while she drives a motorcycle.... Make it make sense)

Anywho I'm getting so far off my topic but I'm also getting close to my point. The thing I find so funny about Retsuden fans, is the fact that since the anime was far ahead of the manga adaptation, we got to see Sakura get tricked and stabbed by Jiji. When this episode came out, the outpour of rage and disrespect towards this studio -- who has both good and bad moments and I am not a full defender of them because I will admit they can be very biased -- was all I could see on Twitter. I honestly see why people say Twitter is such a toxic place because the fandom on that is just ridiculous. It's just constant arguing more so than on here. Anyway that's besides the point, but I saw so many people trash and compare the anime to the novel since the manga had not gotten to that point yet. They like to say why did he hug her? He never hugged her! There they go making Sakura weak again because she would never do that! Why would she let another man hug her when her husband is right there? Just wait until Sasuke sees what he did to his wife! And just basically overall a bunch of nastiness towards the fact that Sakura was pulled in for a hug by Jiji for an uncomfortably good while before getting stabbed in the back and she did nothing to stop it.

So the funny part is that while everybody is raging about this moment and saying wait till the manga adaptation comes out because the manga follows closely to the novel; The Manga is so much better, there's nothing but silence when it comes out that the manga did the same exact thing. If not did her dirtier than the anime did AKA than SP did.

Now I don't know what was written in the novel specifically, cuz I have not read it. But the gist of what I'm getting from people who have posted about it is that Sakura is just pulled back and stabbed. There's no hug. In the anime, Sakura is pulled back into a hug where Jiji rests his hand on her head and she just stands there before he stabs her in the back and drops her. Now in the oh so beloved and highly praised and worshiped manga adaptation that everyone was saying would do the novel justice, Sakura gets grabbed and pulled into a hug where, again, Jiji rests his hand on her head before stabbing her in the back. Now the difference is as far as I know, which I could probably be wrong because I never watched further in the scenes than what was on Twitter, is that in the anime he just lets her crawl because the kunai was poisoned.

But in the manga he kicks her in her face while she's already down and feeling the effects of the poison making her knock back against the wall.

Now tell me which one disrespects her more. I'll wait. Because after that panel came out, the only thing I heard was that the manga adaptation was going to be put on a hiatus. That was the only thing that was going around despite that being one of the last panels. Where is the outrage that she let somebody hug her that wasn't her husband, where is the calls for the artist to quit his job or that he's wrong and that that would never happen to her? Where is the same amount of rage that y'all put towards SP for animating that but not towards the artist who drew it?

To be honest this fandom, especially Sakura/ss fans really baffle me. I can get wanting moments and great things for your favorites, and I'm not going to pretend that it's only their fandom that acts this way because I've seen plenty of other fandoms including the fandom of my personal favorite Hinata acting out of control, but the amount of blatant hypocrisy and doubled standards that they have towards animators and content creators and anything that has to do with Naruto works is hilarious and astounding.

Yes your ship might be the most popular, and yes your ship might be known as the most powerful in the series. But unfortunately you are one of the most toxic fandoms and I feel bad for the actual neutral parties that just actually enjoy it and don't make it as if they're being bullied every time something doesn't go their way for this ship and character. I now see why people say there is a difference between being a regular Sakura fan and being a Sakura fan that also ships Sasuke and Sakura. And vice versa too when it's said there's a difference between being a Sasuke fan and a Sasuke fan who ships Sasuke and Sakura.

No hate to this author Jun Esaka. I wish her nothing but the best with her pregnancy and with her career because clearly she has fans, as biased as they may be. And to the people who constantly wish harm on this woman just because you don't like her preferences need to get a grip on reality and realize it's literally just cartoons. Yes we can love them and they can inspire us and we can enjoy them, but it is just content for our entertainment. People really need to stop putting their contempt for a character into reality and onto a real person. It is not and will never be that serious. And speaking of reality checks, my final point is that that one manga panel was the exact reality check that that fandom needed to slow their freaking roll and stop having this weird biased hate towards a studio that has often done more good than harm for their ship compared to others.

If you read this till the end, thank you for listening to my opinions and if you have something to say, keep it clean please. This is just my opinion.

[phoenixyfriend]

Yet Another “Deidara is Related to Naruto” Fic Concept

Okay so you know how Deidara is the only person in canon to share Naruto and Minato's highlighter yellow hair? And there's all those fics where Dei is Naruto's half brother?

So let’s flip that a bit.

(Once again with help from @firebirdeternal​)

Thought being this: Minato was an Iwa infiltrator's mission baby, and Dei is Minato's ludicrously younger half-sibling who ends up in Minato's care for hand-wave reasons.

Ends up screwing the whole plot because Minato and his team have to pass on the Kannabi mission due to Infant Acquisition.

(Minato having to deal with "Explosions!" the Toddler is... really funny. Kakashi and Obito don't have a Dramatic Death-based falling out they just have to bond over babysitting the world's least safe child.)

I have two (2) ideas on how Deidara ends up in Minato's care. One is more of a shitpost than the other.

We’ll start with the Serious Drama idea.

There was an Iwa nin that went undercover in Konoha at some point, slept around a bit, got someone pregnant, and dipped before they had to take responsibility. Said Iwa nin was aware of the kid, but also like. Undercover. And also a dick. And like sixteen.

Anyway, Minato's mom never told him about his dad beyond "he was a jerk who ditched us, I don't have photos," and then died on a mission when Minato was relatively young, so Minato didn't know just WHERE his dad was from.

Fast forward a solid twenty-five years or so, and that Iwa nin has gotten married. Iwa nin is now early forties, married a somewhat younger woman (thirties), and caused a pregnancy, this time with the intent to stick around.

Unfortunately, Iwa nin is a shitty husband, and his wife only realizes this most of the way into the pregnancy, and can't just divorce him, because she's clan (the husband is not), and that sort of thing has Social Consequences. So she does something risky... and fakes her death.

And then proceeds to go to Konoha, because she knows about Minato, even saw a pic and got his name once because her husband got a little tipsy once and talked about it, and admitted that he'd gotten a buddy in infiltration to snap a photo a few years back.

And so Deidara's mom sneaks her way across the continent, and dies shortly before or after arriving in Konoha. It’s somewhere the dad won't follow if he realizes she's alive, and because what little she's heard about Minato at that point is generally not terrible. The war hasn't ramped up enough for him to pull The Bullshit, so all she has is the info that the infiltration buddies got her husband.

Definitely lives long enough to provide a name and basic info on who the relative is, but dies before Minato gets back from a mission.

Alternately, Jiraiya is the one who does the intelligence legwork necessary to figure out all the connections and then drops Baby Deidara in Minato's lap because Family is Important to orphans like them but then also does nothing to help because he is Jiraiya.

AND NOW THE CRACK OPTION

So most of the How Babies Happen backstory is technically the same, but Deidara arriving in Konoha is not an intentional situation, but rather a sealing mishap.

As one does.

Kushina just wanted to use a seal to locate other Uzumaki survivors and Minato figured he'd test it first since his chakra is less volatile and whoops.

Minato: Hey, maybe I'll find out who my dad is!

The seal was supposed to just give them a general direction and distance. Like "36.2 miles, 32.3 degrees east of north. 73.9 miles, 2.5 degrees south of west." etc

It was not supposed to reverse summon An Entire Baby.

Note, Deidara’s exploding chakra is a kekkei genkai that I'm saying he got from his mom because Minato doesn't have it, but the hands are likely the kinjutsu. That said, I want Minato to be like "Ah. Hand mouths. That's... can someone get Tsunade please?"

Kushina: I'm not an expert on babies, so I could be wrong, but is this normal??

Kushina: I deeply hope that was a thing the baby already had before we accidentally pulled it through seal-space.

Kushina: His hair is like yours? Maybe he's like a cousin or a nephew? Minato: I guess??? Should. Should we figure out how to send him back? His parents must be freaking out. Kushina: Uhhhhhhh [handwave reason to keep the baby]

The scene HAS TO boil down to Kushina going "Wait shit are we parents now?"

Minato: No! I mean, I--I want to, yes, eventually, but I wasn't planning on anything this soon and really we should get married first and also I think this is technically my brother and--

I had two ideas for why they wouldn’t immediately try to send Dei back, and Birdie offered one, but here’s the best option IMO.

Deidara's chakra blows up the seal before they can figure out how to reverse what they did. Before they can even analyze what went wrong.

They kept notes but something something spilled ink idk. They gotta start from scratch.

Equally likely: They kept notes but they're basically grad students and those notes were all done in a caffeine-fueled 36-hour Coding Binge and literally not even Master-Sealer-Master-Codebreaker Jiraiya can decipher what the fuck they were doing, let alone them.

Frankly they just can't unscramble this egg so they have to just Do Their Best

They have to get a blood test done by Tsunade or Oro to figure out who this kid even is. The hair helps but??? Whomst are you, child?

And then Jiraiya's like 'Yeah, I know those hands. Kid's from Iwa.'

And the war’s already underway so they can’t admit to accidentally stealing an Iwa child.

There's not really a way to say "Hey we accidentally kidnapped this baby" and still save political face because nobody is going to believe it was an accident anyways so? I guess we just have this baby now.

Probably there’s a name tag on his shirt or something so he’s still Deidara.

Kushina: Minato, seriously, you're old enough to be the baby's dad, just have him call you tou-chan. Minato: But!!! Kushina: We can make Uzumaki babies later, take care of your technically-brother baby now.

Naruto is born and Kushina's just like "How strong are your family's hair genes???"

Technically-uncle Deidara who is like Naruto's older brother is going to be the worst influence on the Chaos baby.

Never let Obito babysit.

Naruto: I want to do pranks. Deidara: I want to explosions. Obito: Seems reasonable. Let's do it!

Anyway, Obito and Deidara never know what kind of ‘friendship’ they had in the other timeline.

Meanwhile, Rin is so ready to help, like she’s not exactly a huge fan of babies or kids, not like Obito is, but she is determined to help and keeps looking up child growth charts and stuff.

Kakashi is terrified that he’s going to break a baby.

Kakashi does not want to hold the baby.

Kakashi does not want to be in the same room as the baby.

Kakashi is going to sit on the outside wall with a sword and make sure nobody hurts the baby, but he will not go near the baby.

Deidara’s like four years older than Naruto and probably Kushina has him hang out with Itachi since Kushina visits Mikoto so often and Mikoto’s already had her first.

Deidara does not like Itachi.

It’s fine.

Being a 'new dad' doesn't excuse Minato from being involved in the war effort but it does change his schedule up enough to miss Kannabi and I stand by this.

[captnjacksparrow]

So does Kishi officially hate NH and SS? Because I can't help but think like that when I see them in Boruto. Like no way he wants them to be seen as happy or content. Also, it seems like he still hates Sakura because just just look at her, she hasn't really changed. Her dynamic with Sasuke hasn't really changed. She gives chase, Sasuke ignores. Except Sasuke looks more depressed.

Hey, after fifteen years of us chasing after the story and characters we invested in so much, at least give us some indication that they are least happy after sooo many sacrifices, like they deserve that happiness.

But no, if anything, they seem totally miserable. What made Kishi do that? Yes, he can't show them ooc, but Sasuke marrying Sakura is already ooc. Naruto being a bad father is already ooc. Like why go to the extent of showing Sasuke trying not to touch Sakura and pointedly showing that they never kissed? That's just like a determined effort on Kishi's part to show that their marriage is not working. Naruto works way more than any of his predecessors and sleeps in the office or couch so as not to disturb Hinata, when Hinata is specifically designed to accommodate anything that Naruto might require.

Don't get me wrong, I think Boruto is trash. But I am still in interested in SNS in Boruto because that's still canon. Just makes me wonder how Kishi will finally conclude SNS, because their bond still shows clearly in Boruto. Do you think he will kill them any time soon?

Good ask, Anon☺️☺️❤️❤️

Before answering this, I am going to tell you that I don’t watch Boruto. But I know what happened so far, vaguely. Like, Gaiden arc, Karma seal, Kawaki adoption, Kurama’s death, loss of Rinnegan, Time travel arc. Anyways, I might have missed many interactions between Sasuke & Sakura in the filler episodes or other canonical episodes. I would be happy If you send me an episode list or timestamps in where they interact, so that it saves my time instead of me, watching that entire shit show. 

So does Kishi officially hate NH and SS?

In this post, I dissected SS from a non-SNS perspective. It seems Kishi went all out of his way to make their interactions too insincere, blunt and toxic. I mean Sasuke’s absolute lack of interest in her was very evident even until chapter 693. That is right before, their final VoTE fight. And even after Sakura comes to heal their injuries, he just said ‘Ummmm..... I guess Sorry’... 

Kishi could have made Sasuke say some corny shit to Sakura like how he felt bad inside for hurting her, how he missed her, wiping her tears or whatever (Puke!!!! 🤮🤮🤮). Because in the previous chapter, Sasuke basically confessed to Naruto internally about how he felt about Naruto when he was a child. Kishi could have done the same for Sakura in just 4, 5 panels. But anyways, my point is, Kishi’s moment to salvage that ship is chapter 699. 

But he didn’t.

Did Kishi tried to build their bond after marriage?

He definitely could’ve. But he didn’t. 

This shows his clear distaste in SS.

As for NH, Kishi is indifferent. He neither hates them nor loves them. Kishi created Hinata as a pairing fodder and she still is. 

Also, it seems like he still hates Sakura because just just look at her, she hasn't really changed. Her dynamic with Sasuke hasn't really changed. She gives chase, Sasuke ignores. Except Sasuke looks more depressed.

Hmmm, I don’t know whether Sasuke hates her, anon. Again, maybe I’ve missed those parts. But when he looks at her, it’s always filled with regrets and an urge to avoid her (like Itachi avoided Sasuke, but for totally sad and genuine reasons). 

But this again begs the question, ‘Why feeling regret or hesitant even after 12 years?’. 

Believe me anon, Love/Bonds/Understanding can happen at anytime of your life. From where I come from, not everyone marries out of love. Arranged marriages are common. But still, many couples make effort and work out their difference, and find love. Kishi could’ve done the same for SS too. 

Is Sasuke that heartless? No.

He was once a boy who bear hugged his brother every time Itachi comes back from the Academy. Itachi’s presence itself made Sasuke so happy. 

Did he become heartless after the massacre? Also no.

Even after the trauma, Sasuke just became aloof and cold. But he always becomes a child who can pout, be silly, becomes animated, bicker around Naruto. So, he can be lovely, but only around the people he choose by himself. 

Still, Sakura is not that person. So, he looks like he is depressed and wants to escape from her at any given chance because of a certain guilt. 

What made Kishi do that? Yes, he can't show them ooc, but Sasuke marrying Sakura is already ooc. Naruto being a bad father is already ooc. Like why go to the extent of showing Sasuke trying not to touch Sakura and pointedly showing that they never kissed? That's just like a determined effort on Kishi's part to show that their marriage is not working.

To answer, this goes way back, anon. 

Kishi is a person who prefers to write love through intense friendship, sensei-student dynamics and brotherhood. He can occasionally write cute and sweet romance but it can only be short like 2 or 3 pages... or a chapter, max. He can’t go on doing it for 70 chapters for romance. Which was evident from Minato & Kushina, Dan & Tsunade, Obito & Rin. 

But the real deal of Naruto manga is the bond between Naruto and Sasuke. The bond between Itachi and Sasuke also played a huge role in this series. And then comes Hashirama and Madara, Jiraiya and Naruto, Kakshi and Obito, Kakashi and Naruto and many more. So, Kishi pretty much gave an ending he wanted for a long time in chapter 699. He successively pulled off a great manga without corny and shitty romance but with just friendship and brotherhood alone. He didn’t give two shits about NH or SS before chapter 700.

Naruto series’ another success lies on it’s characters tragic backstories. I simply loved them all and most of them made me cry. 

Kishi wanted to move on from Naruto.

But then Money played a big part. Naruto series can be milked in a lot of ways. Editors wanted all the characters to become some baby making dolls. So you have to create pairings. Based on the popularity polls, they decided NH and SS.

In my opinion, Sasuke is a goal-oriented person. He is a wanderer who works on his own accords. Ever since he left Konoha when he was 13, that was his path, so you can’t make him stay in one place. At every stage of his life, he had different goals.

At age 8-15, he had one goal. To kill Itachi. Can he have a romance here? Nope.

At age 16, his goal is to destroy Konoha. No chance of romance in that dark path.

At age 17, he wanted to Revolutionize the shinobi system. Since he wanted to be alone for that goal, no possibility of romance.

At age 18, he adopted Naruto’s dream as his own. To make all shinobi cooperate and look out for Kaguya remains. Romance cannot happen here as he was constantly wandering around and he prefers to work alone.

This is how Kishi designed Sasuke’s character throughout.

Now all of a sudden, if you ask Kishi to go OOC by asking him to write corny romance for his favorite character Sasuke just for the sake of making him relevant to Boruto series, what will he do? 

Since Boruto is a series which is a sequel to Naruto, you pretty much know everyone’s backstory. Those 12 year old New Gen kids possibly can’t have tragic stories like Naruto or Sasuke. 

Kishi being a troller, used this opportunity to create a piss poor sob story for Sarada by making Sasuke as an absentee father and an unloving husband.

He created a sad story for Sarada and he gets to shit on SS ship. Two birds, One stone!!!! 

Now, Sasuke being an unloving husband is OOC ? Nope. He was never a marriage material in the first place. So he is perfectly in-character.

Sasuke being an absentee father is OOC? No and Yes. No, because it’s the effect of the cause I mentioned above. Yes, because unlike Naruto, Sasuke once had a father. He can try to reach her out now and often. but he prefers not to do instead he cares more about Boruto. LOL.

Sasuke being not family oriented is OOC? Nope. He is a goal oriented person. His goal is same as Naruto’s dream. He will go to any extent to fulfill it, even at the expense of his family’s happiness. Because that’s what he learnt from Itachi. What Itachi taught him was, even at the expense of his own happiness and Sasuke’s trauma, he preferred Konoha and Shinobi World’s peace. That’s what Sasuke is doing now. 

Naruto works way more than any of his predecessors and sleeps in the office or couch so as not to disturb Hinata, when Hinata is specifically designed to accommodate anything that Naruto might require.

As for Naruto, 

I think it’s very funny. And I guess, I know why.

Just like Sasuke, Naruto is also a goal oriented person. 

Remember, in that Boruto movie, Sasuke knocks Naruto’s door at the midnight?

Imagine if Naruto opened the door. 

Sasuke will be like, ‘Alright mothafucka!!! I wanted to die in the VoTE itself. You wanted me in your dream world. Am working my ass off for your stupid dreams and trying to reach you without even meeting my own family. And yet here you are, sleeping well and sound. Am just gonna Chidori you!!!’ LOL.

I think you get my point. 

If you make Sasuke to be an hardworker, then Naruto must work even hard to fulfill his dream. So you possibly can’t have Naruto playing duet with Himata or whatever trash. 

So kishi pulled his Two birds, One Stone for NH here!!!

In short, Kishi gets to make his New generation shine through this pathetic sob stories and at the same time, kept his favorite characters without going OOC. 

So, it’s a polite way of Kishi showing middlefinger to SS and NH for making him do this. He is saying, ‘Alright folks, you wanted this all along. But this is what you will get!!!’.

Just makes me wonder how Kishi will finally conclude SNS, because their bond still shows clearly in Boruto. Do you think he will kill them any time soon?

I think about this all the time. How will they end?? How will they die??

Now, don’t think I am some sadist for wanting them to die. I am just being practical and honest here. This is a new generation series. Of course, at some point, Naruto and Sasuke has to die for the sake of character development. And I will be happy if they die because I don’t like their miserable portrayal in Boruto at all. 

Naruto series has a pattern when it comes to death portrayal. Meaningful characters (except Neji) always die protecting someone/something they cherish. Jiraiya died for Naruto, Yahiko died for Konan & Nagato, Itachi died for Sasuke & Konoha, Haku died for Zabuza, Obito (younger) died for Kakashi & Rin and so on.

Ever since Naruto became Hokage, his death is pretty much plastered on his head. He will die protecting Konoha just like all the Hokages from First to Fourth who sacrificed their life for Konoha. 

But Sasuke??? 

I am going to say he will die protecting Naruto or the village. But for Naruto mostly. Either way, Sasuke will die first. 

Dying for Naruto, the reasons are crystal clear. He already died protecting Naruto once in the Zabuza arc. He will never hesitate to do it again. Which was evident from the way he told Naruto in the Boruto movie while giving his Susanoo, ‘If they capture the real you, then everything is gone’. Somewhere in Boruto Manga chapter 38 (I don’t remember properly), Sasuke was yelling at Naruto, ‘If you are gone, it’s pretty hopeless’ and was praying ‘Naruto, don’t you die’. 

So it’s pretty much Sasuke saying to Naruto, ‘I’ll protect you, You protect everyone’

But why the village?? Why will Sasuke die for Konoha which caused him so much pain?? I know anti-konoha stans wont like this, but that’s the reality.

It seems many Sasuke fans never paid attention to his character. After hearing the story from all the Hokages, Sasuke said, ‘I will not let Itachi’s life and this village into nothing’. He really meant it. Because for Sasuke, Itachi was more precious. Itachi died saying, ‘I’ll have protected my village as Uchiha Itachi of Konoha once again. I have no more regrets’. Sasuke wanted to respect his brother’s wish finally and that’s why he openly claimed in the battlefield, ‘I am going to protect Konoha and become it’s Hokage’. Sasuke’s another precious person is Naruto. He is the Hokage now. 

Don’t you think Sasuke will die protecting something Itachi and Naruto values so much??

He even claimed it openly in Boruto Manga. ‘I would die anytime for Konoha, as has your dad (Naruto)’

Sasuke even said to Boruto, “I will stop you even if I have to kill you”. And do you think Sasuke is just pouring out some empty words??? Sasuke will not let Boruto to turn into an Otsutsuki monster and destroy the village.

Like I said, Sasuke will go out first. And eventually Naruto will follow him. Or they both die protecting the village together. I don’t see them dying for their wives or children. Because, their relationship with their family is not too strong and their ambitions are far beyond their own families.

Maybe for this reason, Kishi is trolling NH and SS in Boruto. LOL.

Naruto’s bond with Sasuke was formed even before his birth, when Kushina asked the 3 month old Baby Sasuke to be friends with Naruto.

However, One thing is for sure. One will not live very long without the Other or Both will die together. That’s how their bond should end. 

[phlebaswrites]

The Souls of Those Who Are Left

Summary:

Itachi never got a wake.

He deserves one.

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Fandom: Naruto Relationship: Hoshigaki Kisame/Uchiha Itachi Word Count: 1384 (Complete)

For @longliveustherecklessandthebrave​ who wanted Kisame and Tenzō to interact, and encouraged by the wonderful people on Kisame's Corner, the discord server for @kisameweek-2021​.

Inspired by the ‘Tenzō's Cabin In The Mist’ prompt from @tenzoscabin​ but doesn’t follow their dialogue prompts. Thank you so much for the inspiration.

The title comes from this quote by Carson McCullers:

"How can the dead be truly dead when they still live in the souls of those who are left behind?"

Kisame slams his cup down on the bar and signals the owner for another bottle.

He’ll go to bed drunk tonight, just like he has almost every night since Itachi died, but he’ll need more alcohol than this for that to happen. A lot more.

He almost went back to the Akatsuki after he buried Itachi, and that unfinished business still itches, but he couldn’t bring himself to care about the mission anymore. If he was as dutiful as the man he loved, he probably would have. As it was though, it was like the light had gone out of the world with Itachi’s death, and everything had turned to ashes.

Light. Ashes.

It’s funny how he talks like Itachi now, but it’s also the truth. It wasn’t the case when they met, they were merely wary allies then, but Itachi’s Mangekyō became the light that lit his whole world by the end of their time together.

To ask him to continue living without it is inconceivable.

So he won’t. He’s making a spirited attempt to drink himself to death instead.

Ha. Spirited.

Itachi would have smirked at that. Not with his mouth, but with his eyes. They would have had that tell tale gleam of amusement and he’d have glanced away for just an instant to hide them. Kisame used to live for those moments, the times when he could make his ever serious partner smile.

He wishes that there were more of them, but counts himself lucky to have as many as he does.

So here he is, drinking his way across the Elemental Countries, getting into brawls with civilians who flinch away from him, and facing down the bounty hunters being sent to hunt Kiri’s most famous missing nin.

Fuck them.

Fuck them all.

He’s still the tailed beast without a tail. He still has Samehada. No small time shinobi are gonna kill him. He won’t let them.

He’d never be able to face Itachi in the Pure Lands if he let that happen. Gods, he’d be embarrassed to show his face! No, he wants to meet Itachi again with a clean conscience, or as clean a one as any shinobi can boast of.

This is why he’s drinking a shitty bar dry in Mizu - not in Kiri, even drunk he's not that stupid - and he's totally unsurprised when a hand with the distinctive callouses of a shinobi comes to rest on the wooden counter next to him. Another bounty hunter. Great.

"Be with you in a minute," Kisame growls. "Just gotta finish my drink first, and then we can take this outside." The owner of this establishment, crap though the shōchū may be, hasn't done anything to deserve having their bar trashed after all.

"No need." The voice is calm and low, and the fingers move to request another cup from the owner. "I'm just here to talk about Itachi."

Kisame's head snaps up.

No one has dared to say that name to him in over a year.

Who the hell is this guy to - !

He stops short. He recognises this man - it’s the mokuton user from Konoha, the one that was almost killed in the war. He's famous. He's also one of the few people who could attack Kisame head on and come out of it unscathed - the mokuton is nothing to mess with.

But, more than that, Kisame knows him.

Because this man was Itachi's sworn brother. A teammate and more than that - a friend.

In a shinobi's life, there are few of those.

So Kisame merely grabs his own drink and tosses it back, ignoring the polite manners that say it should be sipped slowly.

"You want to know how he died?" Kisame's lips twist with bitterness at the memories.

Yamato, no, Tenzō was the name Itachi called him by, Kisame will use that, shakes his head slowly. "No, I know more than enough about his death."

Tenzō pours the shōchū into Kisame's cup first and then his own, a social ritual that he's clearly unpractised at. He must not drink much. "I want to know how he lived. I never knew him for all that long, we were separated far too soon, but... he was my brother as much as Kakashi is."

Kisame laughs.

It feels wrong to laugh when Itachi is dead and buried in the ground, gone from his life. But this man is part of Itachi’s family and deserves the good memories. "He lived... as well as he could have. Life isn't easy for men like us, but we made the most of it."

Tenzō turns to face him and they make eye contact for the first time.

Kisame isn't used to it anymore. No one meets his eyes these days, and Itachi was nearly blind for their last few months together, unable to look at him.

He misses those red eyes desperately.

"Itachi... was my friend. We could have been more but..."

Tenzō nods. "Duty. Yes, I know."

Kisame raises his cup in a mocking toast. "Yeah. Even as a missing nin, Itachi was always dedicated. But he took the time out for the small stuff too, when I could convince him."

"His sweet tooth?" Tenzō's eyebrows raise inquiringly.

Kisame snorts. "Fuck. He could eat so much dango I'd feel sick just watching."

Tenzō laughs softly. "I always thought that he might grow out of that with age, suspected that maybe it was his youth that made him crave the sugar."

"Nah," Kisame smiles, remembering. It feels unnatural on his face after so long. "He loved them until the day he died. They were his last meal."

Tenzō sobers. "I'm sorry that you had to be there for that. He shouldn't have laid that burden on your shoulders."

Kisame shrugs. "They're strong enough to bear it. And he had no one else."

Tenzō winces, even though the words weren't meant as an accusation. "If I could have, I would -"

"I know." Kisame interrupts him, not wanting to rub salt into the wound. "He knew. He spoke of you fondly. Cat."

Tenzō colours up to his hairline. "He didn't."

Kisame nods, grinning. "He did."

Tenzō lays his face down on the counter top, heedless of the stickiness of the alcohol coating it. "Itachi... no. Why..."

Kisame is surprised to find himself chuckling, to hear the little creaky noises coming out of his mouth. "Itachi always had a nice appreciation for irony, and the story was too good not to share. Also, he knew that I like cats."

"At least he humiliated me in front of a fellow cat person." Tenzō grouses, peeling his cheek off the surface. "I'd rather he’d never have spoken of it to anyone, but I guess I can't have everything."

Kisame's mouth twists. He knows that all too well.

Tenzō puts a hand on his forearm, stilling him before he can take another drink. "Itachi wouldn't want this for you. You know that. It's not the life he'd have wanted you to live."

Kisame knows.

Deep in his heart, he's always known.

That knowledge has been the fuel for the dreams that he's kept close and hidden, prized like sea glass, turning them over and over in his mind before he sleeps. But each morning always brings the bitter truth. "There's nothing for me without him."

Tenzō shakes his head. "There's family. Kakashi and I remember him. Not like you do, not with the same depth or the intensity, but he was our family too. Come to Konoha. Live in his shadow if you must, he cast a long one. But live."

Kisame turns his hand over, flexing his fingers, and then brushes his palm over Samehada.

The chakra pressing against him is unmistakably approving.

Well then.

If he hasn’t managed to kill himself with alcohol poisoning by now, it probably won't ever happen. Maybe it's time to try something new.

He pushes the shōchū bottle away and stands up, swaying but steady enough to walk and fight. "Let's go then. I'm sick of all of this water anyway."

Tenzō’s smile is warm and almost familiar.

Maybe, with time, Kisame will learn to live again.

Until then, he can walk in Itachi's shoes, with the men that he called family.

And wait for Itachi to call him home once more.

Also available on AO3.

[uzumak1dump]

i don’t exactly remember where i found these questions but i really enjoy answering them… anyway, this has been sitting on my drafts for way too long so here it goes lol

Favorite male character/s?

naruto, gaara and shino

well naruto is a giveaway lol, gaara coz i just freaking love his character development, he’s a fucking killing machine i am honestly scared back then but now he’s a walking sunflower enigma who loves his friend naruto, shino bc he is actually really funny without knowing he’s funny which makes him more funny lol plus my boy got da drip

Favorite female character/s?

hinata and temari

hinata coz hello, she’s like the loml! i’d fight for her lol temari coz she has big dick energy and also she’s the sister i want growing up, i think it also stems from my love for the sand siblings coz like they’re weird and are all equally crazy, i mean, daz mah jam.

Comfort character?

Neji. DEFINITELY NEJI.

Favorite soundtrack/s?

idk if this is an official soundtrack but “Strong and Strike”. when i fucking hear this starting to play in the background i lose my shit. you hear the drum beats and you know the villains are truly fucked. you know it’s time for the fucking trump card. i also like listening to “gaara’s childhood theme” when i’m feeling melancholic. AND BLUE BIRD!!! HOW CAN I FORGET THIS SONG IM GONNA PLAY IT IN MY FUNERAL

Favorite scene?

oh kami this is hard. hmmmm, i got so many! but i’m gonna go with this one

LMAO LOOK AT HOW DETERMINED LEE’S FACE WAS AND NEJI WAS SO DONE WITH HIM KDJDJDHDHD neji and lee’s friendship would be one of the funniest for me like lee pushing neji to do the most ridiculous stuff. ahhhhhh they really should’ve let hiashi go instead of neji :/

If you could meet an anime character who would it be?

oh wow can i say the whole naruto characters? except for danzo cuz he creeps me out. ok wait hmm my answer would deffo be naruhina and team 8 but if i meet them i’ll probably cling to them until the end of time… so i’m going to say.. suigetsu? coz he’s funny and crazy unstable, we might accidentally raise armageddon or something. also thinking of kankuro, so we can like scare the living shit out of kids with his puppets also he’s one crack character, too so i think i’ll have fun. maybe we can diss gaara until he chokehold us with his sand or tease temari on how she thought shika asked her to do it until she fan our ass out of suna lol

Which character is most similar to you in terms of personality?

hmmm man idk, kushina? maybe bc i ramble a lot irl lol idk idk

Favorite thing about naruto?

the fact that they have hinata in it 😅 and the talk no jutsus. and the fight scenes. the fight scenes are dayum.

Least favorite thing about naruto?

how badly female characters were developed lol

Favorite ship?

guess! loool, naruhina X)

Favorite crack ship?

shikamaru x neji - idk why but they look so cute in my eyes. you know like 2 boring kids who think like they’re 60 yr old geezers, idk why they haven’t play shogi together, i actually think neji can beat shikamaru in it and shika will be so shocked and immediately fall in love. plus they both have long hair. shikamaru asking neji how he grew his hair without a hint of split ends or how he maintain his silky hair something like that. they’ll get married and have that boring, lowkey relationship. shika coming home to neji babysitting himawari, them talking about some village budget cuts or diplomatic things while himawari braid neji’s hair and mirai with shikamaru’s. it’s cute to think about.

Favorite fight scene?

madara vs might guy. i watch it everytime i feel down. might guy fucking disrespected madara like that. i love it. 11/10. lives in my mind, rent-free. and and and itachi vs kakashi coz they’re hot lol

Favorite jutsu/s?

gentle step twin lion fists ;) and any hyuga clan jutsu, also i love eight gates, frakin sick it’s so cool but the jutsu i always like hearing is the uchiha’s katon no jutsus. itachi saying “katon” makes me go feral

Favorite art style?

hmmm i’m not really meticulous with the art style… actually i’m not sure to what definition of art style this pertains to like is this like the design of the character? idk but im just gonna go with that. yeah, i really dig the inuzukas’. it’s kinda edgy, the red fang markings really makes them distinguishable amongst other characters. like i remember when i first watch naruto, kiba was one of the first character i find cool, bc a kid… with a RED TATTOO… IN HIS FACE. plus i also thought the fur in his jacket is his hair and he also has a dog!!! so i was like “damn he’s cool, me likey”

Favorite team?

TEAM 8 AND THE SAND SIBLINGS. pls don’t ask me why or this post will never end, thank u very much.

[kakashis-formal-simp]

“I’ll always love you”

Kakashi x reader

A tiny bit of swear words...like three. Like two mentions of sex. Pretty sfw.

Summary: You break up with Kakashi

You walked into the Hokage building and prepared yourself for what was about to come. Today was the day you were going to break up with your boyfriend, Kakashi. It took a lot of thinking and tears until you finally came to the conclusion that breaking up was the best option for both of you. Knocking on the door you heard Kakashi give you permission to enter.

“Hey,” your voice hiding the tone of dread.

“Hey Y/n,” Kakashi looked up to meet your eye, “what brings you here? Also, you don’t have to worry I promise I’ll make time soon for our next date.” He smiled and then looked down to finish some more paperwork.

“Well actually, you don’t have to worry about making time for our next date,” you knew you had to do this but it still didn’t stop the guilt you were feeling. You just couldn’t do this anymore.

“I don’t? Why not?”

You took a deep breath, “because I’m breaking up with you. You don’t have to worry about balancing a relationship and being Hokage anymore.” you looked up to meet his eye.

“That’s funny Y/n but seriously why don’t I?” he let out a disbelieving chuckle.

“I’m being serious, Kakashi. I’m breaking up with you,” he could tell you weren’t joking.

“Why?” he stood up, “please Y/n, tell me this is some joke Naruto made you play”.

“You really think I would joke about this Kakashi. I’m not trying to toy with your emotions,” he took a step back, then proceeded to walk towards you.

“But why? I thought everything was going fine. Is it because I’m always working? Y/n I promise I’m working on making more time for us.”

“It’s not just that Kakashi, I’m not happy, I don’t want to do this anymore. Every day is a struggle and it’s honestly tearing me apart. I just can’t do it.” Kakashi was now standing right in front of you.

“What did I do Y/n? I promise whatever it is I can fix it. I don’t want to lose you, I can’t lose you,” he spoke fast, desperately.

You let out a sigh and put both of your hands on his face. Bringing him closer to you trying to ignore his tears threatening to fall.

“Kakashi, you can’t fix this. It isn’t just you, I’m a part of the problem as well. I should have brought up my feelings sooner. I love you and always will, but currently loving you has been hurting me.”

“But Y/n-,” you cut him off.

“No, Kakashi.” you whispered to him, “I already have everything out of the apartment. When you get home I won’t be there.”

“But Y/n,” he whispered back, finally letting his tears fall. You turned around and reached for the door. Once you touched the handle to open it he spoke again.

“I love you Y/n,” it was quiet but you heard it. Not responding you left, finally letting your own tears fall. You had many reasons why you broke up, but the main one was you weren’t happy, in fact, you were depressed. Ever since Kakashi became Hokage you haven’t spent any time with him. You tried constantly to make plans with him. You didn’t mind that he was too busy to hang out all the time. It was the fact he would agree to the plans and then not show up. Countless times you sat in a restaurant waiting for him, or at a park waiting for what was supposed to be a romantic dinner by the river. If he remembered the plans once he got home he would kiss you and tell you he would make it up to you. It worked the first couple of times but after the 5th dinner ditch, you stopped believing his words. Sometimes he wouldn’t even remember you two had plans and never apologized for missing them. Aside from a kiss before and after work you two shared no love. At first, you had made attempts, but after two many rejections, you decided your self-esteem couldn’t take anymore. That’s not all that had been bothering you either. You had known Kakashi his whole life. You were there for him when his comrades and sensei died. You were there for him when Sasuke left the village, but the worst part is you were there when he died. It may have only been a little bit to him but to you it was hours. The only man you had loved was dead. After he woke up in your arms you were overjoyed. Unfortunately, it was short-lived as he left to find Naruto right afterward. At first, you were fine with it, Naruto did just take out Pain, but before you had time with your lover he left to go meet the Raikage. Then the war came up. You never truly had time to remorse over him dying, or shower him in affection because he wasn’t dead. Truthfully you don’t think it ever occurred to him you watched him die and it traumatized you. You still had nightmares and every time they were just as heart tearing as the first. You wanted to go to him, tell him the problems you were having, but you just couldn’t. He was promoted to Hokage, so every time you tried to talk about it he was either busy or too tired to do anything other than sleep or read his icha icha. So many nights you cried yourself to sleep next to him muffing your cries so he wouldn’t hear. It hurt you so badly because you loved him and it started to feel one-sided.

Sighing you ran a hand through your hair as you prepared for what was next. You had to unpack all of your stuff into your new apartment.

~

I sat there in a daze as I watched Y/n walkout. The love of my life just broke up with me. I knew I was neglecting her for my work and figured I could make up for it, but now it’s too late. I sat down in my office chair and cried.

~

It’s been two weeks since Y/n broke up with me. I haven’t done much since then other than cry and sleep. Papers and papers were overflowing on my desk and I looked like shit. It's not like I have a reason to look good anyway. I couldn’t get her out of my head. She has always been a part of my life. I’ve always had her by my side, learned to live with her by my side. Now, I don’t know if I can live without her by me. I heard a knock on the door and sighed.

“Come in,” I watched as Yamato walked into the room and stood in front of me.

“Hey Kakashi, you look,” he looked me up and down, “uh, well, anyways I need you to come with me”.

“You want me to go with you?”

“We’re going out drinking tonight, just you and me,” he looked so happy if only I could relate.

“I can’t go with you Yamato, I’ve got lots of work to do,”

“Yes but it’s not like you’re doing it anyway, besides, you need to loosen up a bit. After what happened you need it,” damn, Naruto and his loud mouth must have told everyone.

“Fine, I guess I’ll go, but it better be just you and I,” I reluctantly gave in.

“Great I’ll meet you there at 8, oh and uh,” he looked back at me, “make sure you clean up a bit,”. With that Yamato was gone leaving me to my thoughts.

~

I walked into the bar and glanced around for Yamato.

“Right behind you Kakashi,” I turned to look at him.

“So, are we just going to drink until our heart’s content,” I remarked sarcastically.

“Yep, let’s go get one of those booths,” I let Yamato lead the way until I heard it. Y/n’s beautiful laugh. I could pick her laugh out anywhere. Dam, it’s been so long since I’ve heard it. Following my ears, I saw her. Y/n and all her glory, she was with Genma. Why the hell would she be with him.

“Kakashi are you coming,” Yamato followed my eyes, “ oh, crap, Kakashi I’m sorry I had no idea she would be here too,”

“It’s fine,” I mumbled bitterly. “I’m going to go talk to her I’ll be back later,”

“Wait, Kakashi,” I ignored him as I made my way towards the two love birds.

“Well, Y/n, long time no see,” I made my famous closed eye smile, but this time there was a deeper emotion in it.

She looked up at me surprised “o-oh, Kakashi hi”.

I scoffed, “when you told me you were breaking up with me I didn’t know it was because you wanted trash,”

She made a look of offense, “Kakashi, don’t be rude” she tried to finish but I was quick to interrupt her.

“Oh I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend anyone,” I stated coldly, “I didn’t take you as the person to leave someone for someone else, Y/n” I spat her name like it was poison.

“Kakashi Hatake,” Y/n stood up from her seat, “If you would be so kind as to meet me outside” she smiled. If I weren’t pissed off, I’d be terrified, Y/n only smiles like that when she is prepared to rip a head off.

“Gladly,” I smiled back.

~

Genma finally talked you into leaving your apartment. It’s been two awful weeks since you broke up with him. You still loved him so much, breaking up with him was the hardest thing you’ve ever done. Currently, you were sitting at a bar with Genma.

“You know Y/n when my girlfriend broke up with me I was so depressed. I didn’t want to do anything, but then she gave me another chance, and look at us now, we’re still together,” you sighed.

“ I know, I want to be with Kakashi and I want our problems to be solved but how are we supposed to solve them when I can’t even voice the problems,” Genma looked at you apathetically.

“He’ll come around looking for you sooner or later and when he does that’s when you should tell him,” you sighed again, Genma was right.

“Look on the bright side, you don’t have to take birth control anymore,” you laughed for what seemed like the first time and months.

“Genma I stopped taking that about 6 months ago when Kakashi stopped getting hard for me,” Genma laughed at that, not expecting you to be so blunt about it.

“Well, Y/n, long time no see,” you stopped for a minute, shocked you looked up to meet Kakashi’s gaze.

“O-oh, Kakashi hi,” he scoffed.

“When you told me you were breaking up with me I didn’t know it was because you wanted trash,” you sat back surprised by the sudden venom in him.

“Kakashi don’t be rude,” I tried to finish but he cut me off.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend anyone. I didn’t take you as the person to leave someone for someone else Y/n” he spat my name like it was poison.

“Kakashi Hatake, If you would be so kind as to meet me outside,” now I was pissed, what the hell got into him.

“Gladly” he responded while he followed me to the back door.

Once you got outside you were the first to speak. “What the heck was that Kakashi? You haven’t seen me in two weeks and that’s the first thing you do. Why were you even in the bar in the first place?” you glared up at him not happy with how he was treating your friend.

“I was there with Yamato. Why were you there with Genma? Why didn’t you tell me you left me for someone else Y/n?” he spits the first sentence but you could tell in the last sentence he was hurting.

“I didn’t leave you for someone else-,” Kakashi cuts you off before you can finish.

“Don’t lie to me Y/n,” his eyes were hard and cold.

“Kakashi, will you listen to me, please. I know you’ve never listened before, but you can’t cut me off if you want your questions answered,” he was surprised by the calmness in your voice.

“What do you mean I’ve never listened to you, I always listen to you Y/n and,” he let out a sigh, “I didn’t mean to keep cutting you off like that,” he looked down at his feet.

“Kakashi if you did listen to me we wouldn’t be here right now. If you had listened to me then we would still be together, but you don’t listen, you never listen,” you let out a sigh, “you used to always listen to me, but this last year and a half you’ve done nothing but ignore me,”

“I haven’t ignored you Y/n, we’ve done lots of things together. I mean, I guess the last couple of months It might seem like I have but not the last year,”

“You have though,” you sat down on the steps to the door.

“When Y/n? These last two weeks without you have been awful, I haven’t been able to eat or sleep,” he ran his hand through his hair and sat down next to you.

“It started when you died. You died fighting Pain, I watched it happen,” you brought your hands up to your face and looked down. “It- it still haunts my dreams. Seeing your lifeless body, not hearing your pulse beat. What makes it so terrible is it’s not just a nightmare. It did happen, I watched it. After you woke up you went off to find Naruto. I didn’t get any reassuring word or even a kiss, all I got was a ‘where’s Naruto’ and an ‘I’ll be back later Y/n’. After you found Naruto I only had a day and then you went off to find the Raikage. Then the war happened and now you’re Hokage. Every time I tried to talk to you about the night terrors something came up. Most nights you were too tired to even talk to me. I started to set up dates so that way I could tell you or at least be with you, but you never showed up to any of them. After that, I didn’t even care about telling you I just wanted to be with you. It never happened though, you rejected any form of affection I gave you. At that point, I had a wounded self-esteem and frequent anxiety attacks,” the tears were flowing silently down your face as you told him what you had been wanting to for a while. “It’s w-why I broke up with you, I was falling into a deeper depression every day,” Kakashi moved closer wrapping his arms around you so your face was to his chest. You looked up at him and gasped quietly.

“Kakashi,” you whispered, “don’t cry” he kissed your forehead.

“How am I not supposed to cry when I was hurting you and didn’t even know it,” he sighed, “Y/n, I’m so sorry. I-I had no idea, I should have but I didn’t. I understand why you did it. I can’t even imagine watching you die. It hurts too much,” Kakashi’s voice cracked and so did your heart. You didn’t like him being sad.

“I’m sorry, Kakashi,”

“Sorry for what Y/n? None of this was your fault,” he moved his hand down to wipe your tears.

“Yes, this all could have been avoided if I had just told you,” Kakashi lets out another sigh.

“It was my fault. You tried to tell me, but I promise you Y/n if you give me a chance it will never happen again,” you move back from him and put your pinky finger in front of him.

“Pinky promise?” Kakashi chuckled at your childish antics.

“I pinky promise,” he wrapped his pinky around yours and then leaned in for a kiss.

“I love you Y/n,”

“I love you too,” you leaned in and kissed him once more, “now, go apologized to Genma because he was the kind one who told me I should give you a second chance,”

“He did?”

“Yes, he did, he said his girlfriend gave him and a second chance and it’s been great ever since,’

“Girlfriend?” you could tell he felt stupid for making such wild assumptions.

“Yes, his girlfriend, now go apologize,”

“Right, and then afterward can we cuddle, then have make-up sex, and then cuddle some more?” he pouted like a child.

“Of course we can” you laughed and kissed him.

[kakakakashi]

Haiii could I plz request a gaara fluff where ur from the hidden leaf but best friends with konkuro and have been trying to get close to gaara for so long but moody gaara refuses to warm up and the sand also gets in the way? I've just got to the sai arc in shippeden plz no spoilers.

Okay, first thing’s first. Don’t worry, dude. I’m only on episode 155, (and I’ve been putting off because I’m almost at Pain vs. Kakashi, and I AM NOT READYYYYYY!!!) so I think I’m mostly spoiler free about Gaara. Besides, I like to think this would take place between Naruto & Naruto Shippuden.

Next thing, I’m sorry. I am so so so sorry. Everyone’s got a crush on Gaara… but I don’t. I know, there’s something wrong with me! I tried my best, but if this is bad, please have him throw sand in my face. He only deserves the best. I love him & his sibs.

Lastly, omg! Girl, I LOVE that arc! I love Sai & I love Yamato. Their introduction is so funny. Like, they’re sassy little shits. They are great. You’re gonna love them… I hope at least. If not, that’s cool too. Anyway, have some sand baby.

Oh, also, I made you friends with Shikamaru too because you’re bros who travel to & from Suna to see your baes. Don’t worry, Kank is still your bestie, though. In this house, we love puppet asshole!

-

The outline of Suna shone brightly against the blue skies of spring. With Shikamaru by your side, you casually chatted about the days to come.

“So, when are you gonna ask her out?” you poked at him with a teasing smirk on your face.

Shikamaru’s cheeks flushed a slight pink, but he quickly grumbled, “What’re you even talking about Y/N?”

Picking up your pace, so you were just a step or two before him. You chuckled to yourself, “Nothing, nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

“You’re no better,” he grumbled.

That shut you up.

Sure, you’d liked Gaara for a while, but he wasn’t into you. If anything, he tried to spend as little time with you as possible. Sometimes, it made your heart ache, but it wasn’t like you could do anything. After all, his brother was your best friend. Retreating into your own thoughts, the rest of the trip to Suna was silent. Well, until you saw an all-black outline with a face painted purple.

Kankuro leaned against the main entrance, talking with one of the watch shinobi while he waited for your arrival. When you were close enough to him, you threw a huge smile his way with a theatrical wave.

“Y/N!” Kankuro called, speedily walking to meet you in a bear hug. “What took you so long? Got lost?”

You shoved him off of you with a laugh. “Oh, shut up. You take twice as long whenever you come to the Leaf.”

He rolled his eyes at your antics before he greeted Shikamaru. Then he gestured for you to follow him into the village and to the Kazekage’s office.

While you walked, Kankuro and you caught up while Shikamaru mostly just laughed at your combined tomfoolery. When you got to the building, your stomach began fluttering nervously.

After finding the main office of the Kazekage, Kankuro rapped two knocks on the door before twisting the knob open. Behind his desk stood Gaara looking as handsome as ever while he glanced over some official document.

His aquamarine eyes seemed a lot livelier since the last time you saw him, and the slight observation made you smile to yourself. He turned towards the sound of your entrance when Kankuro announced, “Guess who’s here!”

“Shikamaru. Y/N.” He greeted you with a polite tint to his voice, “How was your trip?”

“Long,” you joked with him, immediately walking around his desk to embrace him in a hug as well.

However, a coarse wall halted your body just a foot away from him. You glanced down at his small wall of sand before you noticed his blushing cheeks.

Before you could laugh it off, Gaara sputtered out, “Shikamaru! Why don’t I show you to where you’ll be analyzing those documents? Kankuro, would you mind showing Y/N where she’ll be working for the duration of her stay?”

Kankuro and Shikamaru stood, slightly taken aback by what just happened. Although, Gaara was already out the door, waiting for Shikamaru to follow him.

“Um, sure?” Kankuro said to nobody, mostly to make a joke.

Pointing to the doorway while he exited, Shikamaru left. “I guess that’s my cue. I’ll catch you later, guys.”

Now, it was just you and your best friend standing in the office.

“Well,” you were the first to speak, “That just happened.”

You’d felt slightly embarrassed at what just happened, but mostly, you felt a bit crushed. Noticing this, Kankuro decided it was best to move on. “Come on,” he nodded to the door while he started strolling out of the office, “I’ll show you where you’re at.”

You followed him, asking him if you were crazy for liking his brother. You’d had a pathetic crush on him since you met him after the alliance, and you felt like you were going nowhere. However, Kankuro disagreed.

When you entered the room you’d be working in, Kankuro confessed, “Trust me, Y/N, he’s just nervous. You know Gaara wasn’t in a place where he could process any kind of feelings when we first met you guys. It doesn’t help that he became Kazekage right after. It’s a pretty demanding job. He definitely doesn’t get much time to himself. Once he does, I think he’ll be able to sort through his feelings, and maybe he’ll realize you guys would be good together. He just needs a little more time. Believe me.”

“I’m not inclined to,” was all you could snort back at him. It was a playful jab, but you still felt a little sad. It felt like a pipe dream to believe Gaara even enjoyed your company.

Kankuro knew of Gaara’s feelings, but he couldn’t tell you outright. So, instead, he insisted, “Come on, he’s a wreck every time you so much as look in his direction.”

You stayed silent at that, but you were brought out of your own thoughts by a knock in the doorway. You turned to see Gaara standing properly in the doorway.

He looked slightly stiff, but Kankuro was leaving both of you high and dry. He not-so-casually crept out of the way with both thumbs up until he bolted out of the room. “Gotta go!”

“What was that about?” Gaara inquired when the black flash dashed past. With a shrug from you he simply brushed it off with a shake of his head and a slight chuckle at his brother’s antics.

“Um, I was hoping to apologize for what happened earlier,” he announced to you, glancing around the room to avoid your gaze. His cheeks were tinged just a pinch of pink, and it made you smile to yourself.

“No,” you try, “It was my fault. I shouldn’t have invaded your space without warning.”

“Oh, no, please don’t worry,” Gaara countered, approaching you further while trying to remedy the misunderstanding. You took the opportunity to take in every feature of his face. You mentally traced his tattoo across his forehead, the curve of his nose, the shape of his lips, the darkness surrounding his eyes, and the way his bright red locks just brushed against his skin a bit. He looked stunning, and your lungs felt tight. “I’m simply not used to people so openly wanting to hug me.”

“I always enjoy seeing you, Gaara.”

“I’m glad.” A smile spread across his face that left your stomach bursting with butterflies. “Um, you’ll be staying at the same inn as the last time, so let me know if you have any trouble.”

It felt like he was trying to escape again.

“Oh, thank you.”

Gaara noticed your expression fall a bit, and he immediately felt his entire being fall through the floor.

“You’re probably tired after traveling,” he figured, “so I’ll let you rest. If you need anything, Please, let me know.”

Something came over you in that moment, and you found your mouth moving without your brain thinking. “In all honesty, I’m more of hungry than tired. I’ve been dying to try that new restaurant Kankuro told me about in his letters. If you want to come, you’re more than welcome.”

In that moment, time stood still. You felt so stupid for suggesting it, and you wished that your words had never escaped your mouth.

Although, you were shocked when he replied, “I’d love to… but it’s my treat. I insist.”

“Really?” you murmured, “You don’t have any Kazekage business to attend to?”

The hopeful look in your eyes made Gaara’s heart soar. He’d liked you for some time, so he figured now was the only chance he’d get. From somewhere, a bit of confidence shot through him when he kidded, “I’m sure they can manage without me for a bit.”

“Then, let’s go… you don’t have to pay, though.”

“As I said, I insist.”

You strolled to the small restaurant side by side, your fingers brushing slightly while you held a shy conversation filled with innocent smiles and kind laughter. Maybe Kankuro was right about everything. At least, that’s what both you and Gaara were wondering.

Bonus:

Watching with his binoculars, Kankuro zoomed in on you two from his spot in the Kazekage’s tower.

“Yes!” He pumped his fist in the air. “Finally!”

[shikadainara]

an in-depth breakdown of b*ruto episode 178

sorry i’m late i was lost on the path of life

tl;dr yeah ok i can have my hopes and dreams about what specifically i would want but. BUT. honestly yeah the episode was more or less what i expected would actually be in it from the preview, so i can’t complain. i still sobbed!!! that’s all i really wanted!!

time to rewatch it! (warning: long post. LOL)

obviously this is nothing new but i still can’t get over how nice the exterior to the nara household is, good for them. i don’t think i noticed the solar panel before? good for them!

i’m entertained at how the episode does open with shikadai tying his hair as he walks, i just think it’s neat. i love how the camera frames it like seeing a nara with their hair down is something forbidden we’re not mean to see

temari has purple slippers i dedicate her commitment to her favorite color. (also i am Just Saying... purple........ the bisexual flag--)

yeahhhh ok so. i get the need for wanting to frame the narrative like this, but this really doesn’t make any sense. shikadai is 12, and is also a chuunin, like... he should know by now that his dad is always kinda a mess on this day of the year, and why that is. and even if he honestly really did just forget, the fact that he’s still asking his dad why he’s not at work while looking at the way his parents are dressed... did this not clue you in or what????

the fact that shikamaru’s up and ready (i really don’t think he gets much sleep on this day, every year...), and it’s shikadai who’s just getting up. i do think it’s cute that we do get to see a tiiiiiny bit of temari’s parenting that doesn’t involve being an out of character irrationally angry woman when she tells shikadai to not come crying to her when he’s late in getting ready, yeah that definitely sounds way more like her lol

temari says she told him about all of this the other day (shikadai blatantly forgot, he tries to pretend he didn’t but she doesn’t press him for it)... that does make me emotional thinking like. she is pretty painfully aware of how hard this is on shikamaru, and days in advance told shikadai about it, to try to make sure he understands what his father is going through........ she really does care about him so, so much.

i said this based off the preview, but... i would like to interpret that temari is purposefully doing the dishes(/rest of house chores) to give him space to grieve....... 

the fact that while explaining what today is, shikamaru has to get up, leave the room, and talk while not facing his family, as if he wouldn’t be able to say the words as easily while looking at them........ god. that. that hurts.

\

tsunade being the one to give this speech kinda feels random? like yeah she was the one that was kage during the war but...? i do feel like it would have been more fitting to have naruto say the speech since the whole entire point of the war was to protect him (and bee) but ????? ok

no one in the uzumaki family talks during this episode which is fine by me LOL. i would assume the memorial is on the day the war ended (which would also make it naruto’s birthday/memorial of the kyuubi invasion) but if it is, it’s never stated. maybe it’s the day the war started, idk

the collection of people up front feels pretty random??? kakashi as the previous hokage, sure, guy i guess because of how important his contribution the war against madara was and also because he is kakashi’s husband, shizune kinda has to be there if tusnade is, but... iruka? like yeah he is vital to the narrative, but to konoha? he is the headmaster of the academy i think now so i guess...? but then? ibiki??? anko??? i say this as someone that REALLY loves anko, she was my favorite character as a kid and i still love her but,,, huh? SHE WAS KNOCKED OUT DURNG THE WHOLE WAR!!??!?

then you see everyone that was in naruto’s class + team guy + sai except hinata is in the crowd. which of course to the narrative, to us the readers, those are the main characters (if you ignore how more or less everyone was super shafted throughout all of part 2) but!!! team guy’s only real connection to the rest of them is that they took the chuunin exams together, and neji and hinata were are cousins. that’s about it. was it that specifically all of these characters made such a contribution to the war compared to every other single shinobi from konoha that lived ??????

shikamaru staring up to the sky did made my heart clench... no matter how different he is now than he was when he was a 12 year old genin...... i do feel like he’s never entirely ditched his true self of just wanting to stare at the clouds all day.... i’m not entirely sure what the intent was here, but i’m sure there’s supposed to be some symbolism here. the sky is actually nearly entirely clear (the way is framed, there’s only a tiny cloud in the corner,) and then he closes his eyes and hums. maybe it’s supposed to be about the closure he gets in this episode...

\

ok and then here’s ao cool whatever. since i only skim through b*ruto for the characters that i care about i do not really careeeee since i won’t watch again until something interesting happens to said characters that i care about LOL

?? who voiced the receptionist they sound familiar but i can’t place it at all

katasuke is the bitch that made the scientific ninja tool for b*ruto so he could cheat in the exam right

what is ao doing here. is he supposed to be doing something evil. it sure looks that way

... who is the glasses orange scarf guy??? he kinda looks like a mix between udon and ebisu and aoba but i know he’s not any one of them lol

\

TEMARI AND KARUI STANDING NEXT TO EACH OTHER... i don’t think in any media they’ve ever??? ACTUALLY TALKED TO EACH OTHER???? BUT THEY SHOULD BE CLOSE FOR THE OBVIOUS REASON....... I’LL TAKE THESE CRUMBS THOUGH THANK YOU

OKKKKK admittedly like. in terms of Pleasing Me, Personally, it’s a damned if you do, dammed if you don’t situation like.... they do kinda HAVE to acknowledge that neji died during the war so. i appreciate that hinata like........ cares. i guess. i’ll try to not post the whole rant about why neji’s death was (logistically how he died aside) narratively and thematically absolute bullshit, kishi (i believe) saying that neji died so he could play cupid for naruto and hinata like!!! fuck off with that shit!!! maybe if it wasn’t for the goddamn “naruto-kun’s big warm manly hand” line i would feel a little bit actual sad but no.

WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOSHINO AND CHOUZA HELLO!?!?!?!? COULD YOU REALLY NOT HAVE PUT THEM IN THE CROWD??

ino also has an unnamed mother that the anime made up that i believe was only in like a single episode (and was cameoed in RtN i think?) but she should still be like. Alive. so her too.

MITSUKI PLACING FLOWERS IS SO FUNNY TO ME LIKE YOU DO KNOW YOUR PARENT’S SUBORDINATE/DOUBLE CROSS TRAITOR WHATEVER DID CAUSE THE WAR RIGHT BFIOBU*EHW$

\

aaand. here’s shikamaru and ino’s conversation. i’m not sure if i can put this into words, but... just... the way that they talk to each other, the weight of 15+ years of sadness about this, the way that they just!! fully know what the other is going through, the way that they’ve known each other for their whole lives and survived through everything together, the way i feel like they’ve avoided talking about this topic as much as possible over the years, hell even during this conversation the way they’re almost bickering to avoid having to directly confront their feelings, but it is unavoidable....... 

i also do wonder what their relationship with each other’s parents were while growing up: shikamaru does refer to inoichi as “inoichi-san” here, contrast to how their kids all call each other’s parents just “uncle” or “aunt”

siri play sad naruto flute.

ok since i did go back to rewatch the episode from shippuden right before watching this one for the first time i do wish a liiiittle less of the episode was about this flashback with the same reused footage like i get that they do have to put it in here but Still.

THE FACT THAT SHIKAMARU IS SMILING WHILE RECALLING WHAT HAPPENED, AND THAT THERE’S A LAUGH IN HIS VOICE........ I WANT TO CRY AGAIN

ino saying that it was so unfair how cool they looked in the end, and then giggles...... ino............. this must be so, so painful for her to recall, and yet.........

IT IS SO FUNNY HOW THEY SKIP OVER THE IMAGE OF SASUKE THERE AHAHAHAHA god i hated that so so much i can’t believe that’s manga canon. the line is perfectly fine and makes me cry just DO NOT RELATE IT TO SASUKE!!!! literally the only time they “”interact”” is when ino is introduced and ino just, for lack of a better word, glomps him???? THAT’S IT??? i feel like they might’ve changed it just because, well, you know the endgame pairings. but still. bye sasuke

damn you know what i do kinda wish they didn’t skip over the “get rid of that box before your mother finds it” part i AM curious as to what it was i mean it’s implied it’s something adult related so SP probably couldn’t show that on TV BUT!!!

ok ok all week i tried to not imagine what shikamaru and ino’s conversation would be since i wanted to go all “surprise me!!” BUT??? BUT. SHIKAMARU ASKING INO IF SHE THINKS THAT THEIR FATHERS HONESTLY, TRULY BELIEVED IN THEM?? HE’S BEEN THINKING ABOUT THAT ON EVERY SINGLE DAY THIS YEAR THESE PAST 15+ YEARS, AND SURELY IT’S ALWAYS BEEN AT THE BACK OF HIS MIND ALL THIS TIME!?!?! of course. OF COURSE HE WOULD FEEL THIS WAY!!! HE’D HAVE NO WAY OF KNOWING FOR SURE OR EVER FINDING OUT!!! like of course we as the readers know that shikaku and inoichi absolutely 200% felt that way but... from his perspective... you know what i don’t even think this idea ever crossed my mind HOLD ON THAT IS THE SOUND OF MY HEART SHATTERING--

and then he just... smiles. says that he won’t let that get him down, since it’s not like they’ll ever find out anyways. sure, it’s been 15+ years, he has had to have largely come to terms with everything by now, but...... still....

then he talks about the idea that the day will come and leave everything in the hands of their sons (now looking over at team 10′s turn to place flowers) just like their dads did... it is worded like a question, but showtaro morikubo’s absolute masterful performance does. it does portray a tone like he is absolutely 100% sure that it’ll happen, one day...

i’ve said this before but. i KNOW shikamaru has definitely spent so much time thinking about this. sure it hasn’t ever really been brought up on-screen (yet), but....... i want to see him talking about a direct contrast on what his grand plan through life he thought of by age 12, ending with him passing away by old age. obviously he did a complete 180 on they type of person he wanted as a wife LOL. it is kinda brought up at the start of shikamaru hiden while he visits the grave, says he hasn’t found anyone he’d give his life to protect... (well. now he has a son where if you see the recent chapters he is very, VERY protective of.) but i would like to see this change in his character be directly be brought up and examined

........ that being SAID. i sure hope neither of them actually like. die. i’m GOOD, thank you. they sure as hell can’t until they’re ready to pass things down to their sons, at least. until then, absolutely zero narrative reason to do so, but...... still. we don’t need to make everything an EXACT copy of what happened in naruto you can let them live kthx

they both say “what kind of half-baked response is that!” and then laugh just. I LOVE THEM SO SO MUCH TEAM 10 IS FOREVER

/

there is some symbolism in how ao walks over from a really dark shadowy area into the light when he decides that he has to pay his respects...

i do like how he does reflect on how he really should have come here earlier, but better late than never i suppose

i was expecting a... more elaborate explanation for how he lived??? especially since he was standing RIGHT NEXT to shikaku and inoichi... he just. happened to survive for whatever reason while every single other person died on impact

that survivor’s guilt does hurt to see

i do like seeing how he chooses to do something with his life, aside from being a shinobi, and live it to the fullest for the sake of everyone that died in the explosion. that’s nice

/

ino saying “i’m sure are fathers are happy!” AAAAAAAAAAA

IN HINDSIGHT....... I ABSOLUTELY SOULD’VE PREDICTED SOMEONE WOULD DROP A “YOU LOOK SO MUCH LIKE YOUR FATHER” AT SOME POINT IN THE EPISODE...... and. i did kinda chuckle, because like, no shit duh lmao. i’m sure shikamaru heard that all the time as a kid!!! and hell, i’m sure he still gets it from time to time over the years up to this day. BUT LIKE... SHIKAMARU’S FACE. HE LOOKS LIKE THAT, RIGHT NOW, IT’S ACTUALLY SOMETHING HE REALLY, REALLY NEEDED TO HEAR. LET ME CRY

hearing shikamaru say oyaji, and then the way his tone suddenly shifts to something very... quiet and somber? when he says “nara shikaku”..... something about that. man.... also it’s hard to see but there is a sweat drop on his face as he says all of this...

“sometimes, i end up wondering...” don’t lie to yourself. you think about this so, so much........

the flashback where ao says “listen to me calmly” when he says the bomb is coming this way sure reminds me of ino telling shikamaru to stay calm as she tells him that his son has a bomb around his neck

THE ADDED PART OF THE FLASHBACK WITH THEIR VERY LAST MOMENTS...... THE WAY THEY’RE SMILING AND JUST??? BELIEVE IN THEIR KIDS IN THE VERY END. just like how it’s described in shikamaru hiden where the narrative says that shikaku was a shinobi until his very last breaths-- actually, no. in the very end he was a father.......

“THEY BELIEVED IN YOU, WITHOUT A HINT OF DOUBT.”

AAA?A?AAAAAAAAA?A?A?A??A!??!!??!!

INO STARTS TEARING UP BUT I CALL ABSOLUTE BS THAT SHIKAMARU WOULDN’T ALSO JUST BURST ONTO TEARS ON THE SPOT, HE MAY BE 32 WHATEVER YEARS OLD NOW BUT... HE IS STILL SUCH A CRYBABY AT HEART, HIS ENTIRE CIRCLE OF LOVED ONES KNOW THIS.

you know who DID start crying though??? ME

/

i do wonder, is this the same hillside that shikamaru went to after asuma’s death...? (only in the manga tho, the anime had him on a rooftop instead)

is that??? someone watching them in the back left?? when shikadai finds him? i cannot tell what that is

i am. trying to follow temari’s logic of telling shikadai to go find shikamaru and... not also going with him?? i mean i figured from the preview that, yeah it does look like it’s only the two of them, but... i can’t come up with a reason. not a super big deal but. obviously my heart yearns for that shikatema content that’s ok i can write my own fanfic i guess!!!!

also like...... i imagine it can’t be THAT hard to find him, i’m sure that he only has a small handful of Spots Good For Coping(™) when he just needs to be by himself, that i would Think his wife would know where they are. and said wife would tell shikadai. but idk

after all of this, shikamaru wants to just treat his son to go eat out whatever he wants...!! what a good father

....... now like. the logic of “temari is currently making dinner and that’s why she’s a) not there and b) told shikadai to go fetch is father” would make perfect sense. but... if they’re going out to get food then... no?? shikadai would interject to say so if that was the case..... that makes this all make no sense seriously what the hell is she doing

i do wish that like. shikadai like.... uh. actually learned about more shikaku?? this scene is more brief than i thought it would be idk i felt like it would be part of the middle of the episode and not at the end, oh well. he’ll find out in due time

THAT BEING SAID...  STILL. THE ENDING WHERE HE JUST CARES SO SO SO SO MUCH ABOUT SHIKADAI!!!! WONDERING IF HE’S WATCHING HIS BACK!!! I LOVE THEM I LOVE THEMMMMM

/

not quite sure whatever ao is doing at the end of the episode???? IS IT EVIL??? i mean like that it’s him catching a leaf seems like he’s going against konoha but i mean konoha fucking sucks so. that is not evil i guess LOL

whatever not like i’ll care to actually find out!!!!! anyways let me know when the nara family (or anyone adjacent to them) does anything so i can care LOL

in conclusion. good shit.

[jingmcastle]

How it (Naruto: Shippuden) should have ended with KakaSaku

(Suggested song to listen to while reading this: Feels Just Like Home by  Melissa Etheridge & Josh Kelley)

“I need time to understand my feelings. How I should view the shinobi world, this world,” Sasuke confessed, “Perhaps I’ll be able to see things I couldn’t see before. Things that can’t be seen unless I do this. Also, there’s something I’m worried about.”

Sakura let out a breath, almost a gasp, and she hung her head as she mulled over what he said. To hear Sasuke say all those things... they sound like the words of a man who has made up his mind. Has he always been this mature?

Maybe... 

That nagging voice of reason she didn’t want to acknowledge, that voice deep in her subconscious that she had pushed down for so long...

Maybe it’s time for her to grow up too.

“I see,” she said with another exhale of breath, as a small smile tugged at the corner of her lips. For whom that smile was for, for Sasuke or for herself, she doesn’t know, “I guess there’s no more room for argument with you, is there?”

“Ahh,” came his reply. 

“Well then have a safe journey,” her smile widened into a grin, “Sasuke.”

The loss of the ‘-kun’ suffix did not go unnoticed by the two men. If only she’d turn, she’ll see Kakashi’s half-lidded eyes turn into saucers with his gray brows shot upwards, and Sasuke’s own opened fractionally.

“You better write to us, alright? Also, it won’t kill you to visit when you pass by Konoha. I’m sure Naruto would want us to have ramen at Ichiraku’s,” she turned her head partially at the still-shocked Kakashi, “All of us.”

It was Sasuke’s turn to gape. His mouth opened and closed slightly like a fish. Subtle, but still surprised. When he looked at Kakashi, the silver-haired answered with a shrug of his shoulders and a small chuckle.

“It’d be nice to have Team Seven lunch outs again,” he said.

At that, Sasuke huffed and turned on his heel, “Then I’ll be off.” but then he stopped a few steps away and stood there almost as if he was hesitating about something. Eventually, he half-turned, locked on to Sakura’s eyes and said with the most sincerity no one has ever heard from the last Uchiha.

“Thank you for everything, Sakura.”

It was Sakura’s turn to be surprised. Unsure of what to say, until she stifled a laughter.

“Silly. Tell that to me when you plan to come home for good.”

A smirk etched on Sasuke’s face when he turned and finally walked away.

As he continued on, Sakura and Kakashi remained there. Eyes kept watching on his retreating back getting smaller and smaller in the distance until he’s nothing more than a blot of dot in the horizon.

“I’m surprised,” Kakashi broke the silence, “Here I thought you’d try to ask him to take you with him.”

“What are you saying?” Sakura smiled. Her eyes never left the path even when Sasuke’s form can no longer be seen. “It’s not like he’s going to say yes anyway. Besides, someone has to welcome him back home. You know, it’s funny. I thought I’d be sad seeing him go again but... with a parting like this, it feels more like a weight has been lifted off my chest. I don’t know what it means yet, but I think things are going to be okay from now on. Right?” 

She beamed at him at that last one. Her eyes closed in reminiscence to his own happy gesture. In this situation, he would normally agree and even make a witty remark. Yet beneath his mask, Kakashi’s lips parted slightly. All the while his thoughts became muddled with things even he did not understand. He’s never really good when it comes with matters of the heart. 

He was able to come up with an answer but then she opened her eyes and he felt his lungs suck in air as if he suddenly forgot how to breathe.

A gloved hand hovered over towards her.

“Kakashi-sensei?” she inquired, but it never came to his ears.

His hand landed on her pink locks and ruffled. It earned him a squeak and he felt his own chest rumble in his familiar, care-free chuckle.

“Kakashi...” she groaned as she swatted his hand away, “Stop that. I’m not a kid anymore.”

No, you aren’t. Not anymore.

“You really are a kind girl, Sakura,” he said instead.

The pinkette huffed and gave him a weird look, “Where did that come from? Well, I don’t know about you but I’m hungry.”

“Now that you mention it, so am I. Ichiraku’s then? Or Yakiniku?”

Sakura hummed as she turned on her heel, “Actually, I was thinking of whipping something up since I got groceries the other day. You can join me if you like but you’ll have to earn it. I’m not kind enough to do all the work. It’s bit late but how does miso soup sound?”

Kakashi’s dark gray eyes beamed before falling into step beside her, “If you’ll let me add an eggplant in that, then I’ll cut the ingredients for you.”

“Eggplant? In miso?” she tilted her head at him incredulously.

He held a finger up as he put on a wise facade, “Ahh Sakura-chan, it’s seems like I still have something new to teach you about.”

“You were hardly the teacher type. It better not be anything weird.”

Kakashi’s closed eyes arched in that familiar hidden smile, “I’ll buy you umeboshi too.”

Sakura smiled back with a twinkle in her mint green eyes, “Deal.”

Owari

I still shake my head at Sakura’s endgame. I mean LOOK AT THAT! LOOK AT IT! They could’ve made Sakura say goodbye to Sasuke alone but they PUT.KAKASHI.IN.THERE. How can KakaSaku fans NOT think that they’ll be endgame? 

Still, this is MY take on how it should’ve ended (or started) with Kakashi as Sakura’s endgame. I never claim to force this sort of ending. Though in a KakaSaku’s standpoint, something similar would’ve been nice.

Plus, this is a small excerpt from a KakaSaku fanfic I’m working on but haven’t posted yet. I haven’t made one in a while. It’s basically about how Kakashi and Sakura’s relationship would develop after the war. With Kakashi starting out as Hokage and Sakura helping him out with post-war transgressions and etc.

[jacksgreysays]

One of my favorite fandom things is to see the protagonists of other stories as the background characters in fanfic for a completely different story. An example would be, say, the Inuyasha cast as the background ninja manning a border outpost. Not as protagonists in their own rights, but as obviously enough themselves that you can fill out their stories, lol. Do you have any characters you think would be great for that? Even OCs! And how would you need to adapt them to not be protagonists?

I also enjoy that trope! I don’t see it as often as I like? Or, well, I don’t see it often as more than just “I needed five names and I might as well use these names” as opposed to a more integrated “these five characters would work well in this universe, here’s a little easter egg for my readers”

I do something similar in Naruto/DoS fic… maybe not “protagonists” of other stories but definitely would-have-been secondary characters in other stories are still around.

For example, the teammates of my other Naruto fic. In Counterpoise it’s Ringo Nohara and Zakuro Yuuhi who graduated two years before the Rookie Nine and then in Externality it’s Komadori Ouba who graduated the same year as Team Gai. And then, I guess, arguably Kiyoshi Utsugi who is the main character in (In)Difference and possibly Kakashi’s mom?

All three of them are alternate universes but the first two–Counterpoise and Externality, that is–are alternate universes in a different way from (In)Difference. Because Counterpoise and Externality are “what if X character existed and were relevant to Naruto/Naruto’s story” ie Konran, Naruto’s twin sister or Tetsuki who helps Naruto graduate a year early and thus becomes his genin teammate. 

Whereas (In)Difference is an AU of “what if Kakashi’s mom was an SI!OC/had knowledge of canon” even though, when I was first building her I didn’t make her with being Kakashi’s mom in mind. I made her to be a kunoichi of an age with the Sannin and then had to figure out what would make a good teammate for Dan Katou (aka Tsunade’s boyfriend) and That One Guy who was on the same mission as when Dan died and who ACTUALLY HAD A NAME? aka Kunugi Mokume. So, like… with those two in mind, who would make a good teammate abilities-wise and then… it just kind of… grew into well, I guess she’s Kakashi’s mom.

I’m getting off track. So… even through (In)Difference is an AU, Kakashi obviously still exists so his mom must still exist so I just generally use “Kiyoshi Utsugi” as his mom whether or not it’s the (In)Difference version who has canon knowledge or not. But in Counterpoise and Externality, that’s the only instance in which Konran Uzumaki and Tetsuki Kaiza exist [in the Naruto world]. But their would-have-been-teammates still exist without them, so I use them pretty frequently as like. “Oh, I need a character who’s approximately this age and would be in the RnD department. Let’s use Komadori” Or “Hey, this person is going to the hospital but it’s not a major injury so they’d have a baby medic look at it, here’s Ringo.”

I actually designed Ringo and Zakuro to be the “those two guys” for the Konoha Twelve? Like, not part of the group, obviously, but a background sort of… like Izumo and Kotetsu?

So, I guess, the how do I do it for these characters is more of a… well… I took away their genin teammate so they didn’t pass their assigned jounin-sensei’s test so they went into Genin Corps/Medic Corps/had an apprenticeship or whatever… which I guess is kind of bleak.

Um…

I also had a fairly recent almost-use of this concept. In more of a fleeting daydream-y than a full brainstorm-y way and it had more to do with a reaction to a BnHA fanfic I read that then spun wildly out of control…

I should try to make a proper post out of it since it’s the advent calendar:

Fake Fic Summaries, 25/? the Alternate Lightning edition (2019-12-17)

Strikes But Does Not Roar

Izuku never gets One For All. He doesn’t go to UA. He doesn’t become a Hero.

But heroism isn’t just for the professionals. Neither is happiness or Family.

It’s a vigilante!Izuku, basically. But, specifically, a KHR!vigilante!Izuku.

I’m talking a reverse Tetsuki Kaiza ‘verse!

Just kidding, knowledge of Tetsuki Kaiza is not needed (ALTHOUGH)

The idea actually came to me as a weird knee-jerk response to bakudeku fic Just Like The Comics by brichibi which I do recommend if you A) like bakudeku fic, B) like AUs, and C) like screaming at your screen when fictional characters are having mutual pining romantic drama but also legitimate relationship issues and not just RomCom-esque misunderstandings 

It’s a very complex set of feelings.

And without getting too much into spoiler territory, there was a lot of discussion of Achieving Your Dream versus Being Happy and because I still have conflicting feelings about the bakudeku ship, part of me was like… okay, but what if an AU of this fic in which Izuku decided, well, just because I can’t be a hero doesn’t mean I can’t help people still in the most dangerous way possible.

And then I also thought, a little bit, how… not funny… but a greater slap in the face to Bakugou if Izuku started dating someone who, on the surface, was very much like him but on the surface a worse version. Like, on paper that is. Because Bakugou is probably very handsome, if he weren’t always so >:(, and very smart and successful and devoted to being a hero. Great, fantastic, Bakugou will probably achieve his dream of being the number one hero with or without Izuku.

But will he be happy?

Versus, Izuku in this AU will never achieve his dream. Has, actually, given up on his dream or, at least, the original version of his dream. But he can still help people. And if he happens to find happiness with a loud, pale-haired, bright eyed, muscular vigilante whose punches can kind of explode things then… well… Ryohei Sasagawa is not the smartest of dudes, but he is a good sunshine boy who I and Tetsuki love very much.

So this AU takes the brichibi’s theme of Achieving Your Dream vs Being Happy and twists it into an unhappy ending (for Bakugou, at least) because instead of both of them getting both, each of them only get one.

Well, that’s the origin of the AU, but it kinda took a life of its own when I decided to use KHR characters and this is where this weird fake fic summary finally becomes relevant to your ask, lionheadbookends, because it wasn’t just the idea of Ryohei vaguely looking like Bakugou and rubbing salt in a broken up bakudeku’s wound. It also wasn’t even the fact that IZUKU IS COVERED IN GREEN LIGHTNING WHENEVER HE USES OFA. It also also wasn’t even the whole “Vongola started off as a vigilante group” thing, though all of these did help, of course.

But the cold, brutal thought that in this world of quirks–where Izuku’s misery comes from being quirkless–that another boy who had been so bullied and ridiculed and given a cruel nickname would also be quirkless… and still, eventually, find happiness despite it. That’s right, I’m talking about Dame-Tsuna.

And, okay, I suppose I have to decided whether or not Dying Will Flames exist. I do know they are independent of quirks if they do exist. And while I would love to stick with the theme of “you don’t need powers to be a hero” I have no idea how Tsuna’s Guardians would have formed around him (specifically, Gokudera, Mukuro, and Lambo… although as an Actual Child, he will not be holding the Guardian title… if they even do still structure themselves that way)

Anyway, Tsuna is quirkless as well and all of his “Guardians” have weak quirks or quirks that aren’t applicable to being a hero but they still go out and be vigilantes anyway. Like, for example, Ryohei probably has a minor healing quirk. He did not want to be a doctor. But he likes helping people, even if its not through his quirk, and he wasn’t going to not help people just because his quirk didn’t match up to his methods. (Kyoko also has a minor healing quirk, and while she did go into the medical field she decided to be a NEUROSURGEON where her quirk isn’t exactly useless but doesn’t really apply during the main part of CUTTING PEOPLE’S BRAINS).

And Izuku probably falls into this group because he, I dunno, decides to take some self defense classes finally and Ryohei’s either the teacher or an assistant or something and that’s their meet cute but really it’s the introduction to Izuku being like… the friendly boy who I maybe like has way more bruises on his face than class sparring explains? WTF? He’s going out at night and fighting crime illegally with a bunch of his friends? (With or without Dying Will Flames) and then Izuku is just like… I WANT IN.

Anyway, because this is from Izuku’s POV, it does make the KHR squad into the non-protagonists. Not necessarily “background” characters, but secondary characters for sure. Although if we focus on the unrequited bakudeku aspect of it, then the vigilantism does become the “background” for the “childhood friends and former high school sweethearts dichotomy drama of Achieving Your Dream vs Being Happy…”

Tetsuki might exist here but definitely as a background character. She does a lot of undercover stuff as in canon for Trailblazers

… this probably isn’t what you wanted, lionheadbookends…

[pekorosu]

got my hands on the old radio drama for banana fish (thanks so much @vashak!! 😭) so im gonna do some mindless liveblogging bc i miss doing that shit

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

- their voices are KILLING ME

- okay you could say it's partly bc i'm used to their anime voices but i'm actually fine with eiji's voice! IT’S THE REST OF THEM THAT SOUND REALLY FUNNY

- especially marvin and arthur omg. i could not stop laughing when they showed up. i remember thinking anime!arthur sounded way too cool, but this version just went in the complete opposite direction

- ash's voice is a little deeper (?) than i expected. i don’t think that’s the right word for it but yeah... uchida yuuma's voice is closer to how i imagined it in terms of "youthfulness" but his is also a tad bit too "clean"...

- MEANWHILE MAX SOUNDS SO GRUFF AND MANLY LOL. now anime!max just sounds dopey in comparison

- i think the only person who doesn't make me feel like doubling over with laughter so far is dr. meredith, jenkins and eiji...

- skip sounds way too cute. son... 🥺

- the bgm when eiji and ibe first meet ash ADJHJDJSKFHKD 

- IT’S JUST HILARIOUS IN CONTRAST WITH THE EARLIER BG ROCK MUSIC

- omg now it sounds a bit like pokemon music

- eiji: CAN I TOUCH UR GUN ash: SURE *pokemon music*

- HAHA EIJI'S STUPID GIGGLE

- eiji: HEY CAN I ASK U SOMETHING ash: SURE eiji: HAVE U KILLED ANYONE BEFORE ash: YUP *cheerful pokemon music continues*

- SHORTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

- i like shorter’s voice! 👌 it actually sounds similar to his anime voice, just less nasally, i think

- this version of ash sounds more uhh... forceful? emotional? idk how to describe it lol but i feel like his VA tends to 1) overdo it, or 2) get it tonally wrong for the situation...

- nooooooooooooo they removed my favourite eiji line before he jumps over the wall i was WAITING FOR IT

- hmmm the scenes just don’t have that oomph... i think it’s bc they're pushing through the scenes very quickly... then again, the anime had the same issue but their VAs still did a better job compared to this...

- i guess ash and eiji will always have sad gay piano music whatever version they're in :')

- ash's voice is starting to grow on me even though i still think he sounds off at certain parts that demand more subtlety. max on the other hand, is like, REALLY BAD................... imo

- "and then he kissed me" HAHAHAHA IT WAS NARRATED yeah well duh what was i expecting this isn’t a BL drama cd

- gOD arthur's voice dsfkajskghjfsdlg

- shorter's so cool tho im love 🤩

- love all the 90s gunshot sfx. PEEUNG PEEUNG PEEUNNNGGSSHHHH

- lol eiji and ibe actually sound more like friends than Concerned Dad and Reckless Son

- ash's reaction to griff's death is played so cool... no outbursts just :/ and then the scene straight away jumps to them drinking lol

- ash's crying is so manly...

- WHY IS THE CAR SCENE SO FUNNY

- ok im a lil mad bc that was the ONE scene where eiji got to rebel but this version is just 😂😂😂

- literally:

ash: anyway, imma borrow this car for a bit. eiji: *hops in* i’m coming along!!! >:DDD ash: wtf get out ibe: *knocking frantically on the window* oi eiji!!! eiji: *very cutely* c’mon if u don’t hurry up u'll get caught again :))))) ash: tch -_- *brrm brrms away*

and then they eloped

- oh my god........ is that lee dude's VA trying to do a “chinese” accent in japanese............................

- !!!! this part! i liked the way ash sounded when he was amused by eiji's naive comment about the lees. i think i prefer this take over the anime where ash was more stoic. and i like that you can hear him switching to his DEEP VOICE OF SERIOUSNESS lol.

- i also liked the next bit where shorter warns eiji to keep his head down and eiji's like WHY ARE U TRYNA PROTECT ME I CAN TAKE CARE OF MYSELF >:T hehe iirc that wasn't in the anime

- ...i'll just put it here bc it's a rare moment that i rly enjoyed so far

- aaaand we're back to cheesy gunshot sounds

- hearing jennifer's voice feels so soothing after almost an hour of deep voices

- who sounds scarier when picking a fight? radio drama!max = 1, anime!max = -5

- ash's dad: who the hell are u guys and why are you hanging around ash. max: i’m max. i'm a friend of griffin's, we were in the same squad in vietnam. shorter: name's shorter. eiji: my name is eiji. i'm japanese.

sdfsfsdghkfhk how is that relevant to the question EIJI PLS 

- that said, they actually toned down quite a lot of eiji's doofiness huh

- i truly feel like eiji's a lot less "damsel in distress" and more "chill but curious bystander", while ash is closer to the typical shounen manga protag here 

- damn jessica doesn't sound as awesome as i’d hoped. the anime rly spoiled me haha

- OMG yut-lung's voice. it's so... cute... 🥺🥺

- this ENTIRE freakin scene where shorter threatens to kill eiji just lost its gravity thanks to:

1) arthur's voice sounding like a disney villain’s henchman 2) lee dude’s AWFUL accent 3) EVERYONE TALKING SO QUICKLY 4) THE OVERDRAMATIC BG VIOLINS AND DRUMS

- hmm, i think i might actually like eiji’s voice in this version more than the anime now! sorry nojima

- abraham actually sounds kinda intimidating here

- LMAO SING'S VOICEEEEE. too nasally for me XD

- oh wow, i think i prefer this version of shorter going nuts... not that the anime is worse, just that it chose to emphasize more on the tragedy of the situation while this one focuses more on the terror and urgency. probably bc of the bg music lol. also shorter’s abs were very distracting in the anime

- weapon room scene: ash sounds TOO out of breath and panicky here, but i guess it fits the context of the radio drama... it's inaccurate compared to the manga tho

- another issue i have... ibe's VA sucks. sorry but he always sounds so flat or inappropriate for the situation ><

- god this rescue scene still sounds ridic on 2nd listen... it's so over the top I CAN'T

- i gotta say, even if i were to disregard how i personally imagined ash’s voice, uchida yuuma still does it better acting-wise. i know voice acting has to involve some level of exaggeration but sometimes less is more, y’know?

- it sure feels like this radio drama is intent on cutting out as much gay as they can more interested in spotlighting the plot and action scenes, bc a lot of the convo scenes seem to have been cut...

- also the "pls come back" scene was like... so bro. no more “i’ll wait for you always”. NO HOMO. booooooooooo. but strangely enough i found the acting in it better than in the previous scenes.

- altho from what i remember, ash and eiji's VAs sounded like they had p good chemistry... but maybe it's a bit too early to say, i'll have to hear more of their casual banter to decide

- ash finding shorter's corpse scene: sorry but the anime wins, hands down 

- so eiji's VA is... inoue kazuhiko? wasn't that the guy who played kakashi from naruto or something? lol i don't even go there

- gotta say, the ED song is the part that i enjoyed the most XD seriously tho, it's a nice song! and the lyrics makes up for all the lost gay haha

- okay that’s it for the first CD. nothing much of interest here, and BF starts off slow in terms of ash/eiji content anyway, so hopefully there’s more to comment on in the next CD 🤔

[adventurous-blob]

Episode Gladio commentary!! Here i go!!

Imma go easy since its my first time also thATS WHAT SHE SAID

anyways, difficulty and immaturity aside, time to begin.

Kay so Gladio's episode is 'bout self discovery? dudes just pissed Ravus beat him I guess? I mean, fair enough but he leaves noctis and they go do like a dungeon and it's just?? It all seems really chill considering he's the Kings shield.

Eh, non-sensicle rambling aside.

Okay so im guessing its gunna be like Gladio telling the story which i'll be playing- neato.

"Just a scratch, the other guy got off a lot worse." Yeah, uh, suure.

"Worse than looking like some kind of thug?" Damn Noctis, chill your beans bro.

Oooo 'Blade master', can't get a title cooler than that, right?

Oh gorsh,,, I suck at controlling Gladio,, This'll be interesting...

Yep. This'll definitely be interesting. Even with the tutorial.

He's just casually sat surrounded by voretooth corpses, as you do.

"Are you mentally prepared?" Cor, sweetie, Gladio seems to just be a 'suck it up, buttercup' type i think he's subconsciously mentally prepared even when he isn't consciously.

"Unless i get more power." Gladio you sound like Vergil from devil may cry, just don't stab yourself with a big sword and go power mad, yeah?

Cor is so serious,, but like he's sort of soft too,, like you can see he cares by what he says and stuff, y'know?

its like 'You go fight that thing you probably aren't strong enough to fight yet!! but stay safe too! don't want you dyin' on me!!' except, more like Cor would say it.

I feel like i've heard the name Gilgamesh before?

Gosh i love Cor and Gladio so much,, they're stronk boyos.

"Alright i've got this." Yeah!! yeah you do!! Thats the spirit Gladio!!

oh uh i've only just noticed but there are bodies everywhere... hecc...

Okay they're alive but also dead now i killed them. Also,, the soundtrack?? that battle music?? hell yeah, thats some good stuff.

Ooo waterslide!!!!

Eheheh Gladio rode the snek. ooo this is spoopy...

Wait we made it to the blade master already?? wha??

Ah okay i was meant to fail against Gilgamesh, that was a little frustrating at first...

"If you do not fear death" yeah i fear that Gladio lets lEAve

"So the blademaster..."

"He's a master of blades. What-- where you expecting something profound?"

coming from someone who plays mainly rpg games i expected it to be something with flying swords? like bahamut except smaller and weaker y'know?

also are we inside a tree??? the whole of this so far and like chapter uhh 4-5 (the one where they're in the crater, i apologise for poor memory lmao) just reminds me of devil may cry 5.

Awhhh, they're eating Cup Noodles togetherr,,

oh hecc yes SAVE.

Option: tell me more

My brain: tell me More, tell me more, tell me mo-o-ore, but Gladio singing it.

imma throw hands with Gilgamesh how dare they deem cor unworthy he's a stronk bean

"Keep your eyes and ears open."

*open area appears*

Me, immediately: I don't like this.

Bdhshjdndjs tHEY DID THE THING!!! Where Cor jumps on Gladio's back and then brings down a strike on the enemy!! Aaaa teamwork is so great!!!

"do you have the strength to survive these trials?" uh I sure hope he does

*looking at a body stabbed into the wall*

You okay there pal?

Sword stuck in the ground: *has the option to touch it*

I'm sorry but my whole play through of final fantasy I couldn't take most things gladio said serious because I'm immature and kept making dirty jokes but this,, this right here has to be the peak point where I could make a dick joke or say 'i dunno that's pretty gay Gladios.'

"hand holding stops here" no Cor stay please ;~;

Sometimes I hate the combat in this game, not because I think it's bad,, just,, gladio,,, in enclosed spaces,, with lots of foes,, it's not good for camera angles.

Ah yes. Touch the glowy thing. That's ALWAYS a great idea!

The soul keeps calling Gladio "young warrior" and sometimes I forget Gladio is like only 23? Like I dunno, he seems older? But at the same time?? It's like right? I dunno? Maybe it's his looks or personality who knows.

COR!!!! HEYA!! :3

"you wanna know why?" I mean, hell yeah. duh.

Awh he's worried bout Noct but i agree tbh, plus, Noct is fine they're just fighting that big dragon thing with Aranea!! :3

okay i can hear growling and snarling thats never good, but maybe its just a big puppy?? No??? awh okay ;~;;

Gladio with a gaint pupper would be adorable

ANYWAYS i'm getting side tracked again oops

I CAN SWING COLUMNS?? HELL YEAH!!!!

Can i just use columns to defeat the blade master? just like 'You might be the blade master but iM BOB THE BUILDER' and just yeet a column at him??

Every column i see i just want to yeet now. In honour of yeeting columns, i paused and made a poem:

my nam is Gladio

and am strong

i hav sword

i tri do no wrong

when wyvern hit

and i do poor damage

it seems liek

somethin i must manage

so when wyvern

has me beat

i pick up a column

and i yeet

hope you enjoyed.

bACK TO THE GAME!!

tOuuCh the soWoRd

HELL YEA COLUMNS TO YEET!! ALSO WHAT IS THAT IT LOOKS COOL!

bdjdndj i want an enkidu now they're so cooll!!!

toucH the gLowly

yOu Can BREAK THE BOXES??? HELL YEAH!!!

Actually Cor can i go home please??

also pft the soul like "Yeah well i knOw betteR." i can't.

however, i can yeet column at this bandersnatch and i will.

i picked up a column after the fight and i dunno how to put it down so i guess Gladio has a Pet column now. Imma call it stony.

NUH i got rid of stony ;~; see you in the afterlife stony.

The way Cor describes the blademasters eyes makes me think of Kakashi from Naruto with his sharingan.

also Gladio's confidence and positivity give me life.

final chamber- this is it!

a red giant?? really?? damn it.

i have my headphones on full and the soul just said "Come here to die, have you?" and it made me jump

"You looking to die again?" Gladio is not having this souls bs

it's talking about Cor and i am ready to tHROW HANDS,,, Cor is bean.

Cor giving Gladio a final warning but not stopping him makes my heart feel weird,,,

Awh that lil grin, Aaa the "Come back alive, be safe Gladio." has me soft™️

"He'd better be ready for me." Uh, Gladio, thats whAT SHE SAID!

Oh hecc here we go!! Heya Gilgamesh!! Time to defeat you!! :3

Gilgamesh isn't actually thatbhard to fight??

oH SO NOW HE HAS AN ARM geez lemme guess he's stronger and has more health too now?

Oh look i'm right!

Okay yea he's a lot stronger i don't like this but Gladio can do it!!! I believe in him!!!!!

Also after realising a tactic i have defeated Gilgamesh and i was right Gladio could do it!!!! :D

"I may be all muscle no mettle, but i'm gunna keep protecting Noct the only way i know how." YOu GO GLADDY!!!! I'm v v proud!!!!

Awhhh Gilgamesh is actually pretty cool dude i like him. Awhhhh he's giving Gladio his sword!! I'm so happy aaa!!

I really like Gladio and all of this and aaaa im so hAPPY for Him!!!!

AAAAAA COR LOOKS HAPPY AND GLADIO GAVE HIM HIS SWORD BACK BUT COR SAID HE COULD KEEP IT AND JSJDJEJDJDJJD I MIGHT CRY

they're just talking and its really nice and i'm not crying but i'm overwhelmingly happy for them!!

wait Gladio got the scar on his eye from dealing with a bully? damn i need to finish brotherhood, huh.

Prompto said "The more you know" and the gif popped up in my head and i'm lauGhing so damn much why is that so fUnny???

"What can I say? I'm worth the wait." Noctis,, sweetheart,, Foreshadow mucH XD

Awhhh, i'm really happy for Gladio. I'm actually really happy with that whole DLC to be honest. It was fun to play and i feel i kinda got more of a look into Gladio's and Cor's characters and such, y'know? That, plus i got better at playing as Gladio too! And getting better at stuff like that is always good! Practice makes perfect after all!

So yeah, hope you enjoyed my commentary of Episode Gladio!

[a-damson-in-distress]

Havoc - Chapter 2

Pairing: SasuSaku

Plot:  Sasuke knew people were still afraid of the club and especially of its Sergeant at Arms – and he wouldn’t have it any other way. He had been untouchable then and still was now. Indeed, there was nothing and no one in this world that Sasuke Uchiha feared. Except Sakura fucking Haruno. Biker AU.

Note: So hi everybody, I’m also continuing my SasuSaku fanfic after it’s been pronounced dead by my year-long absence *coughs awkwardly* sorry about that. Anyway, I really hope you like the new chapter. I’ve got a few great ideas for this story and depending on your responses, I might just try and finish it. So please let me know if you liked it and if you want me to continue it. My main story is still going to be From Dusk Till Dawn (MadaSaku, check it out if you’re into that pairing too), so Havoc will remain a side project for now, unless you convince me otherwise ;) Enjoy!

PS: If you want to read the first chapter, or maybe read it again, because it’s been ages since this story has been posted and you probably forgot what’s going on, you’re going to have to scroll through my blog to get to it. Unfortunately, I can’t post a link to it here, because this way this chapter doesn’t show up under any of the tags. So I had to take out the link to even make this post visible to you guys. Really sorry about that, if anybody knows how to bypass this shit (because it happened to my FDTD chapter, too), I’d be happy if you could help me. :)

Sasuke watched her deliciously bend over the pool table, left hand steadying the cue and right arm drawn back to aim for the white ball. He had to supress a groan threatening to escape his throat at the sight of her tight black jeans stretching over her ass.

God have mercy on him, that woman was still a fine piece of machinery.

He knew he wasn’t the only bastard here ogling the President’s daughter, but at least he had the decency to be subtle about it. Letting his gaze roam around the dimly-lit and packed room of his favourite biker bar, he noticed with a growing rage the many dirty looks and even dirtier gestures thrown her way. Moose’s was not only frequented by the Havoc, but by bikers from other MCs from the region as well. Bikers, who didn’t know about the Havoc’s well-guarded secret in the form of a very enticing, very off-limits pink-haired bombshell. Bikers, who weren’t familiar with the feeling of Sasuke’s foot up their asses – something he was gleefully looking forward to doing should those fuckers not stop drooling like some teenage boys who discovered their dicks for the first time.

Taking a sip of his beer in a feeble attempt to calm his nerves, he watched Sakura throw her head back in laughter at something funny Ino said. As she was rising from her bent-over position, her tiny tank top rose as well, exposing her taut bare midriff. She had borrowed one of her friend’s Black Sabbath tops, because she didn’t want to stick out with her fancy white cashmere turtleneck sweater in a run-down biker bar where one half is clad in dark leather and the other half is basically not clad at all. He would have laughed at the image she was presenting – a delicate, graceful princess in a Black Sabbath shirt – were it not for the fact that he knew Sakura was a die-hard Rock fan.

And by God, she was every bit his dream girl now as she was at seventeen.

Right after she rained down on her dad and him to properly tear the both of them a new one a few hours ago, they convened an emergency church to deal with the clusterfuck one of their latest prospects had dug the club into. As it turned out, the little fucker thought it would be a sneaky idea to hide the small bags of drugs between book pages in Konoha’s smallest, most inconspicuous book shop, tell his customers which books to look out for, and earn some cash on the side that way that nobody would ever have found out about. Were it not for the fact that that tiny little book shop belonged to the President’s daughter, who immediately went and re-introduced the Havoc’s Sergeant at Arms to the soft feeling of her hand slapping the everloving shit out of him.

Despite the fact that the boss tried his best to calm her down and reassure her the club would take care of everything, Sakura stuck around. She made it more than clear that she didn’t trust Sasuke with this matter, especially since she was personally involved. She wanted to make sure there were consequences. So Kakashi invited her to stay for the night and catch up with some old friends before dealing with the poor bastard.

Fast forward a few hours and you had a royally pissed off Sasuke sitting at Moose’s staring daggers into the bikers ogling Sakura’s fine ass. “Bro, you grip that beer bottle any tighter and it’ll burst into a hundred pieces. Pretty sure you don’t want an injured hand for the things you’re gonna do tonight.” Sasuke noticed a shock of blonde hair enter his field of vision and his annoyance immediately went up a notch. “Please, I could beat the crap out of that lil cockroach even when I’m drunk off my ass and with my hands tied behind my back.”

“Probably. But you should still loosen that death grip. Might make some people wonder what makes you so angry,” Naruto cautioned while shooting him a pointed look.

“Drop it,” Sasuke growled threateningly.

Naruto sighed in frustration and leaned back. “Look, man, I know you’ve got history with her and everything, but you gotta stop acting like some brooding love-sick puppy who’s still hung up on his ex-girlfriend if you –“

“She was never my girlfriend.”

“Whatever, dude. My point is, if you really wanna make it up to her, then you’ve gotta stop sulking in the shadows, wondering from afar what could have been. This is your chance, man! She always stays away from the club, but now she’s here, and you have the chance to talk to her and sort that shit out between you two.”

Naruto watched his best friend drop his gaze from the woman in question to the beer bottle in his hand.  This had always been Sasuke’s reaction to all things Sakura: silence. Ever since shit had hit the fan between the two seven years ago, the raven-haired biker refused to talk about the brief time he spent with her. The few times they had seen each other in between, there was nothing but reserved silence and awkward glances.

Naruto sometimes couldn’t believe how utterly dumb his best friend was. Sasuke was incredibly fearless and one of the meanest motherfuckers he had ever met. But when it came to Sakura, his guilty conscience left him a pathetic heap of surly misery. It was sad to watch, really.

“Look, Sasuke… I have no fucking clue what exactly went down between you two, but it’s been eating at you for seven fucking years. Whenever you see her, you become this… this sad little… blob of… I don’t know man, sadness I guess and –“

“You sure have a way with words.”

“It’s just so pathetic, bro. I mean, I can clearly see your eyes tearing up, your nose is getting all red and snotty and –“

“Is that supposed to cheer me up now?”

“Ugh, it’s nasty. And when you start crying, you make all these miserable little noises and –“

“Naruto.”

“You know, snot everywhere.“

“That’s enough.”

“Just… disgusting, really.”

Naruto mentally patted himself on the shoulder when he saw the tiniest hint of a smirk on Sasuke’s otherwise sullen face. Pleased with his execution of a manly encouragement that consisted of straight-up insulting his best friend in order to cheer him up, he leaned forward again, so only Sasuke could hear him.

“Jokes aside, man, I know this shit between you two has been weighin’ on ya. And you think you’re doing the both of you a favour by staying away from her, but you’re not, because it’s obvious that she’s got as much unfinished business with you as you’ve got with her. Otherwise she wouldn’t hold a grudge. You gotta clear the air at some point, because she’s fucking family and you don’t ignore family. So you might as well do it now.”

Naruto took a hold of his beer bottle and moved out of the booth. Before turning to the bar, he slapped his right hand on his best friend’s left shoulder. “But you know, that’s just my two cents. What do I know about love and relationships? I’ve only been happily married for five years now.”

Sasuke just grunted in response and lifted his bottle to his lips to take another sip. He let his eyes find Sakura again and mulled over what Naruto said. He might have been right about a few things. He was definitely right about them finally needing to stop dancing around each other and sit down and have a proper heart-to-heart.

But there was one thing Naruto was without a doubt wrong about: there was absolutely nothing about his clusterfuck of a relationship with Sakura that had anything to do with love.

Instead, it had everything to do with the fact that he had smashed her heart to smithereens on the night of her eighteenth birthday and effectively shut the door on any romance they might have had a shot at, sealing it with a hundred padlocks and nailing it down with wooden boards for good measure.

“He’s been staring at you all night.”

Sakura couldn’t help but roll her eyes at the blonde. She moved around the pool table to determine the angle of her next shot, when she heard Ino’s voice right next to her ear.

“Come on, you know he still has the hots for you, right?”

“Bullshit he still has the hots for me!”

“Aha!” Sakura found herself at the other end of Ino’s accusing finger pointed directly at her face. “I knew that would get your attention. You like thinking Sasuke’s still into you, don’t you?” Sakura resisted the urge to swipe off Ino’s perfectly made eyebrows that were wiggling so hard they were threatening to shoot out of her face.

“Don’t be ridiculous, that has got nothing to do with it. I just find it absurd that the big, bad, cold-hearted Sasuke Uchiha would still think about something that happened seven fucking years ago.”

Ino cocked her head to the side and looked at Sakura with a knowing smile. “But you still think about it.”

Sakura’s shoulders slumped as she exhaled in annoyance. “I’m not talking about it, alright?”

“Look, forehead, I know what he did was terrible, but I also know Sasuke and I know that he’s actually a pretty good guy beneath all that brooding Batman bullshit. I genuinely think that he regrets what he did back then. I mean, he did try to confront you about it several times, but you were the one who shut him down. Why don’t you just let him say what he has to say, let him apologise, and then move on. You might pretend like you’re over that whole thing, but I know what you really want is some closure.”

Sakura sighed in frustration and blew a hair out of her face. She was just about to throw some witty remark back at Ino, when she noticed several bikers move through the crowd at Moose’s. The Havocs were leaving, which was her cue to do the same.

She felt Ino’s hands grab her shoulders and turn Sakura towards her. “Just think about it, alright? You’ll be here for the whole weekend, so this would be the perfect opportunity to finally get this shit over with, which I know is what you actually wanna do instead of ogle his rock-hard abs when you think I’m not looking. Yeah, don’t roll your eyes at me, missy, don’t think I don’t notice these things. Now you go and have fun tonight. But don’t rough him up too bad.”

With a secretive wink, Ino headed for the bar, leaving Sakura alone at the pool table. Just as she was about to turn around and head for the exit herself, she was met with the sight of a seriously pissed off Sasuke who fixed his determined gaze on her.

She watched the muscles in his upper arm flex enticingly as he raised his right hand to his lips to take the cigarette out of his mouth. The smoke was floating out of his inviting lips as they moved to form words that barely reached her sex-starved brain. All Sakura heard was his rumbling growl.

“It’s time.”

The cold air outside of Moose’s did little to clear Sasuke’s head. He was still on the fence about if and how he should approach Sakura. But he’d have to postpone wracking his brain, because the Havocs were gearing up to take care of that lil dipshit who dared to cross the President’s daughter.

“Where’s daddy?”

He whipped his head around to see Sakura trailing right behind him, zipping up that tiny little leather jacket he couldn’t believe still fit her curves.

“Waiting for us at the warehouse.”

The rumbling of his brothers’ Harleys enveloped them as Sasuke watched some of them leave Moose’s lot. He headed for his V-Rod Muscle and grabbed his jet-black helmet with the name of his bike – War Hog – spray painted on the back in silver and scarlet letters. He was just about to put it on when he felt a presence behind him and turned around, only to be met with the sight of a very annoyed Sakura looking up at him expectantly.

“You ridin’ with me?”

His eyes noted the rise of her perfectly sculpted eyebrow before she spoke, “You got a problem with that?”

There it was again, that feeling of unease that spread in his stomach whenever she pinned him with that scrutinising gaze of hers. “No, just figured you’d rather ride with Naruto. Or anybody else, for that matter.”

“Well the others are already gone, and Naruto said he needed the extra space to secure his bag of torture instruments or whatever.”

Sasuke immediately knew that was bullshit, there was no bag on the back of Naruto’s bike. The Havocs weren’t going to torture the poor bastard. It was just going to be a little slap on the wrist, really.

“Alright, you’re riding with me. Here, put this on,” he grumbled while handing her his helmet and reaching for his spare one.

Sakura looked at the round object in her hands as if it just sprouted a head and started talking to her. At the sight of her disgusted look, Sasuke let out an exasperated sigh. “What, woman?”

“You’re giving me the helmet that has the word hog spray painted on it in big fat letters? Real tactful, Sasuke.”

He couldn’t supress the smirk that was dangling on the edge of his lips. “I can recall a few even naughtier words I used to call you.” His smirk widened when he saw a faint blush taint her cheeks. Sakura scoffed and rolled her eyes in an overly dramatic fashion. “Oh yeah, now that I think about it, I remember you doing that eye rolling thing a lot, too. Only they usually rolled into the back of your head whenever I –“

“Okay, thank you, that’s enough. I’m putting on the helmet now, I can’t hear you.”

A triumphant grin graced his features at the sight of his dream girl wearing his helmet.

“Good girl.”

Sasuke ignored the look Sakura was shooting him, put on his spare helmet while straddling his bike and waited for Sakura to do the same. When he felt her soft curves press against his back and her arms circle around his waist, he let War Hog roar to life.

He turned his head slightly, so she could hear him better over the rumbling of his engine and asked, “You ready?”

She nodded in confirmation. “Hit the road, Sergeant.”

Sasuke took her left hand into his own, pulled her arm tighter around his torso, and gave her a little squeeze. “You hold on tight, sweetheart.”

He could still hear her scoff behind him. “I was practically raised on a bike, I’ll be fine. This is no big deal.”

Lowering the visor on both their helmets, Sasuke took off and left Moose’s parking lot. The cool breeze around him and the low rumbling beneath him he felt whenever he rode his bike always had a calming influence on his often raging mind. This time, it was different though. This time, he had Sakura pressed against his back again for the first time in seven years.

And even though she might have claimed riding with him was no big deal, her tight grip on his waist and the way she leaned her head against his shoulders told him a different story.