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nejibaby · 4 years ago

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Small Details

Pairings: Neji x Y/N

Summary: Neji was a man of few words, even more so with you, and when he sees you with Naruto in a compromising position, he has troubles expressing himself.

Word Count: 3.2k

A/N: And I finally managed to finish this! It took me so long! Today, I offer you a flustered Neji... 👀 I hope y’all enjoy it because I may or may not have melted after writing this 😚

✨Photo taken from this post by @yul-is-sparkling ✨

Naruto was finally back after two years of training with Jiraiya. Being one of his closest friends, you were excited to meet him and to see for yourself how much he’s grown.

Naturally, you challenged him to a duel the first time you saw him again. It was kind of your thing with Naruto — competing with each other on who’s faster, stronger, better in ninjutsu, anything really. Mainly because Sasuke, who he often referred to as his rival, would rarely indulge him with such things, and you did. You were both competitive like that.

In no time, you were both alone on the training grounds. You could already tell how drastic his improvements were within the start of the battle.

You were in awe at how the Legendary Sannins could bring out the best in their apprentices. But despite not being trained by them, that didn’t mean you were lagging behind.

In those two years when Sasuke seeked Orochimaru for power, Naruto trained under Jiraiya, and Sakura learned from Tsunade, you were the only one in Team 7 who remained under the supervision of Kakashi sensei.

Kakashi sensei may not be a Legendary Sannin, but he was a formidable shinobi — one of the best during his generation even. However, truthfully, he infuriated you at first, not because of how late he always was — you were pretty used to it to the point that you don’t question him anymore about his whereabouts and he stopped coming up with excuses as to why he was late — but because there were times when he was too laidback.

Sure, there were moments when he was hands-on: teaching you different jutsus, lecturing you about certain concepts, informing you on what you should always look out for, drilling your body past exhaustion, and the like. But more often than not he would be saying something like, “Find it out yourself” or “I can’t exactly tell you how” as he leisurely sits on a tree branch while reading the stupid Icha Icha books.

You were dumbfounded and furious at first but when your initial annoyance subsided and you had adjusted to his teaching style, you flourished.

That’s why you could take on Naruto even after his training with Jiraiya.

What started as a serious duel between you and Naruto was reduced to playful banter the longer the fight dragged on. At one point, both of you would just tease each other while throwing kicks and punches halfheartedly.

Both of you had your guards down. That was a mistake on your part, because just as Naruto aimed to kick your face and you bent over backwards to dodge it, you slipped. You lost your footing all because of a rock situated near your right foot.

It was a rookie mistake.

Naruto was quick to notice that you were falling so he immediately grabbed ahold of your hand. The problem was he failed to pull you back up. So you ended up falling down with him. And somehow, he ended up with his arms on the sides of your head so he wouldn’t crush you as you were underneath him.

You were both shocked. You were just blinking at each other. It took awhile for the two of you to gather your bearings. When you did, you both immediately laughed out loud. Naruto moved his body so he was lying next to you as you both continued laughing your hearts out.

“What the hell was that, Naruto?!” You feigned exasperation. “You wouldn’t be able to save a fly if you tried.”

“At least I wasn’t the one making rookie mistakes like that,” Naruto shot back. “Plus I tried to help, that’s what matters.”

You snorted. “Yeah, right. You could’ve at least focused your chakra on your soles so we didn’t fall!”

“And you could’ve paid attention to your surroundings, Y/N!”

You bickered with each other as you stood up and helped Naruto get up. What the two of you didn’t know was that your boyfriend Neji had watched the whole incident.

Neji wasn’t really the type to get jealous. He’s a very understanding boyfriend. He’s aware that you and Naruto have been best friends even before he met you. He even knew about Naruto’s feelings for Sakura. However, any sane person wouldn’t want to see his significant other beneath someone else, right? Granted, it was an accident, but still… It was such a compromising position to find you in.

He made his appearance as you playfully punched Naruto in the gut.

You instantly noticed him approaching. Your smile widened even more at the sight of your boyfriend. “Neji!” You called, skipping your way towards him. You would’ve tackled him in a hug if Naruto wasn’t around.

He maintained his stoic expression as he greeted, “Y/N. Naruto.”

“Oi Neji, it’s been a while,” Naruto waved.

Neji only gave a curt nod in response.

You asked, “What are you doing here, Neji?” but just as you ended your question, the answer immediately clicked on your mind. “Oh my god, I’m sorry I forgot!”

Over your excitement of Naruto’s arrival, you forgot that it was a Tuesday. Tuesdays were your lunch dates and sparring sessions with Neji.

“It’s okay.”

“Hold on.” you told him and then faced Naruto. “Gotta go, Naruto! Bye!” you said as you grabbed Neji’s hand out of habit.

Neji flushed, not exactly expecting your action, but you didn’t notice because it was something that you’re used to doing, although not in the presence of someone else.

“See you later!” Naruto waved.

When Naruto was out of sight, you dropped Neji’s hand unconsciously. “Sorry, I forgot about lunch. What time is it? Have you eaten?” You asked Neji.

He quickly responded and told you he hasn’t eaten anything yet.

“Well then, let’s go. I’m starving.”

Neji and you walked side by side out of the training grounds.

“So…” you started saying.

Neji stared at you. “Hm?”

“How was your day, baby?”

He cleared his throat and looked away almost instantly. Very rarely would one find Neji flustered, but calling him “baby” always worked. He wasn’t quite used to the endearment and every time you addressed him as such with tenderness laced in your voice, he would blush. You use it all the time just to see his cheeks tinted pink. It was a cute sight.

“What’s wrong?” You playfully asked while trying to get into his line of vision.

He refused to meet your gaze until he regained his composure. When he did, he told you — in an impassive manner — what he had done in the morning before he went out looking for you.

Despite his expressionless face and his rather hushed tone, you listened intently to the words he was saying, the smile on your lips never leaving your face. Neji was a man of few words even until now that you were together so you made sure you paid attention every time he spoke, not wanting his words to go to waste.

He wouldn’t admit it to you but he loved that about you. You would remember even the little details of his stories, which in itself was a big deal considering you tend to forget a lot of things. You treasured his words, sentences, thoughts, ideas and plans, and kept them enclosed in your memory.

Neji loved that you focused on him. You made him feel like he was important and worthy, and that he mattered, in a completely different way than the others’ view of him.

The others only saw him as important because he was an asset both to the Hyuga clan and to Konoha. He only mattered to them because he has the strength and ability to protect them.

But you didn’t see him that way. You saw him as his own person — a man with a brilliant mind, a great moral compass, and a heart of gold. This was further confirmed when you told him that if his circumstances were different — if he was not a Hyuga or even a shinobi — you’d still fall in love with him as long as his character remained the same.

He knew you love him, there was no doubt about that. It was known; it was an irrefutable truth, an indisputable fact. But why did seeing you with Naruto trigger his insecurities that you had previously put to rest?

His mind was reeling, but he tried his hardest to be in the moment with you.

The thing was, he might have misread you a little. Because the attention that you gave him wasn’t solely focused on his words. In actuality, it extended to his actions and mannerisms as well.

This was how you knew that there was something that was bothering Neji today.

Unwelcome thoughts swarmed his mind, leading him to absentmindedly reach out to you. He was walking beside you closer than usual, with his hand on your lower back. While there was no doubt that he was listening to you when it was your turn to tell him about your day with Naruto, he had a faraway, vacant look on his face.

You may have missed the presence of a rock a while ago, but you certainly wouldn’t miss these small details about Neji.

These might come across as something normal for other people, but for someone like you who dedicated a lot of time admiring and memorizing every little detail of the certain Hyuga boy, it was easy to tell that something was on his mind from the way he was taking up a portion of your personal space. Almost as if his own restrictions were non-existent.

Normally, it would’ve been easier to confront him about it, but you were a shinobi, and if there’s something you learned from Kakashi sensei, it was that you have to gather more intel before actually making a move.

But you could only think of one way to confirm if there was something bothering your partner, and it was through his hair.

On regular days, Neji wouldn’t allow anyone to touch his hair, including you. But when there was something that was bothering him, or if he had a particularly rough day, he wouldn’t mind it if you threaded your fingers through his hair. In fact, he wouldn’t admit it, but he preferred it if you did that. It was something that calmed him down.

So while you continued telling him how your day went, you subtly angled your body towards him. Then you tentatively reached for the tips of his hair with your hand that was closest to him. You managed to grab a few strands of his hair between your thumb and index finger. You twisted them between your fingers.

You looked up to him to check if he was bothered by it, but it seemed like he didn’t mind at all. This certainly meant that his mind was elsewhere, despite the fact that he was nodding in the right parts of your speech and even correcting you when you used the wrong word to describe something.

You retracted your hand after coming up with your conclusion. You even stopped talking as you were thinking of what could’ve happened for him to be this distracted. Neji didn’t even notice you stopped talking mid sentence.

Somehow this just felt different from the times he was frustrated or anxious before, and quite frankly, you were worried.

By the time you had both placed orders and seated in a random restaurant, you decided to confront your partner. “So, Neji, baby, are you going to tell me what’s bothering you?”

He choked on nothing after hearing your question. Was he really that easy to read? Or was it easy just because it was you reading him?

He cleared his throat and feigned ignorance, “What are y-you talking about?”

You opted to give him a pointed look instead of a verbal response.

He didn’t stare back, looking anywhere but you. Most times, Neji would face you head on until you conceded; with you, he was comfortable being stubborn and unyielding because it came without repercussions. But today, he wasn’t up for the challenge. And if you looked more closely, he was once again sporting a faint color on his cheeks.

You waited a moment for him to answer, or at least to look back, but it was to no avail. With a sigh, you said, with the softest tone you could muster partnered with a reassuring smile, “Would you let me know when you’re ready, at least?”

Surprisingly, Neji looked at you then. “It’s nothing… It’s just… something silly.”

You gently grabbed a hold of his hand. “Don’t tell me it’s silly, I know it isn’t if it bothers you, baby. You don’t have to tell me now if you aren’t comfortable yet, hmm? Just know I’ll be here to listen to you.” You gave him a genuine smile and a small squeeze to his hand before letting go.

Neji’s eyes hadn’t strayed from then onwards. He had to admit sometimes he would forget how incredibly kindhearted you were, even more so when it came to him. You always made sure he was comfortable. You never forced him into doing or saying things that he wasn’t ready to do or say. You allowed him to make his own decisions and respected them, something that rarely came from being a subordinate of Konoha and a member of the branch family of the Hyuga clan.

Life as a shinobi was sometimes constricting, but you were his breather from all that.

It was your turn to be bashful from his stare. You could feel your face warming up from the unexpected, scrutinizing gaze. “Neji, stop it.”

“What?”

“Stop looking at me like that.”

“Stop being beautiful, then.”

The words that came out of Neji’s lips startled you. It wasn’t everyday he would actually use words to tell you you’re beautiful. The way he expressed his appreciation to your beauty would come in the form of fluttering kisses or gentle brushes on your body parts — coincidentally, or not, on parts where you feel the most insecure about.

Fortunately for you, the food came at the right moment, since you weren’t exactly sure how to respond to his unexpected compliment. You both ate in silence then, occasionally peeking at each other — almost like how it was when you first started dating each other.

When you were done with lunch, you expected to take the route towards the training grounds like you both usually did, but Neji’s hand has taken solace on your back once again and this time with intent to guide you to a different direction.

You were confused but you followed anyway. “Where are we going?”

“To my place.” A pause. “Is that fine with you?”

“Sure” was all you could say. Admittedly, you were quite tired from the duel you had with Naruto earlier and you didn’t really have enough energy to spar with Neji, considering he never went easy on you.

By the time you had entered his place, he graciously offered his couch to you, as if sensing your exhaustion. You immediately plopped down on his couch after setting aside your footwear by his front door.

“Tired?”

“Very,” you mumbled.

He handed you a glass of water, knowing you weren’t quite fond of tea. He sat down beside you just as you thanked him and sipped on your drink.

Setting aside the glass, you leaned back on the couch, only to be welcomed by Neji’s arms. A small smile automatically crept into your lips from the gesture. You snuggled into him as a reflex.

It was moments like this with Neji that you treasured most. While you enjoyed tagging around with him and the rest of Team Guy on missions, you preferred spending time with him peacefully like this, without the imminent threat of danger looming over your heads. It was rather a rare occurrence, after all, for two shinobis like you both were.

Neji was first to break the comfortable silence. “I saw you with Naruto a while ago.”

“You did? When?” You excitedly asked while trying to pull away from his embrace to look directly to his face. But for some reason, he kept you in place, your cheek pressed to his neck. “Did you see me kick his ass? Like literally.”

“Yes,” he answered flatly. It was a response that sounded so… dry. Usually when you both talked about Naruto, there would be a fondness from his tone. “But… I also saw something else…” he trailed off.

You raked your mind, trying to remember what had happened earlier. Then the memory of falling down flashed on your mind, and suddenly you felt embarrassed for Neji having to witness such a mistake. “Oh no!” You jumped out of his grasp, startling him in the process. “You saw me fall down! That’s so embarrassing!” You covered your face with your palms.

“Well, yes… but—”

You snapped your head at the tone he used. He didn’t sound like he was going to tease you for your mistake, in fact, it kind of sounded like he was worried.

“I’m fine though, if you’re worried,” you offered, assuming he thought you got hurt from the fall.

“I’m glad you are not hurt,” he said. Not long after you noticed him visibly gulping.

You could tell there was something else in his mind, and whatever it was, you had a feeling it might’ve been the thing that was bothering him a while ago. You tried to come up with guesses as to what it could’ve been. As you recalled how the conversation started and considered how he was acting, a plausible answer popped into your mind.

“Are you perhaps… jealous?” You hesitantly asked. He was the first one to initiate this conversation so you were assuming he was ready to talk about it. Despite that though, you didn’t want to force him to talk so you carefully and reluctantly asked him. He was always allowed to drop the topic if he wasn’t comfortable and he knew that.

Neji cleared his throat as soon as the words left your mouth all the while avoiding to meet your eyes once again. “Maybe,” he almost inaudibly said.

You were surprised by his answer. It wasn’t always that Neji got jealous. The only time he was was when a stranger was blatantly hitting on you in front of him while you were on a mission together.

“It did not sit right with me seeing you in an… inappropriate position with someone else.” He explained. The tone he used sounded like the one he used with the Hokage when he was taking responsibility for something that went horribly wrong on a mission.

“Don’t make it sound like it’s wrong,” you said softly as you cupped his face. “You don’t have to feel guilty about feeling jealous. Your feelings are valid.”

The gentleness and warmth in your voice made his heart flutter. If this was a conversation with someone else, he was sure he was going to get teased for feeling this way, but it was with you, and you had always been different.

“I love you, Neji,” you said before you kissed his lips.

It was amazing how the three words you used that preceded his name could easily wipe out the jealousy that had brewed inside him. This was another testament of how well you knew Neji — not only did you know the small details about him, but you also know the right words to ease his worries.

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alwoobles · 3 years ago

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I have 2 brain cells and both of them are focused on Rock Band AU in modern setting with Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara!!

Gaara with deep black ring make up around his eyes. Lead singer even though he’s a little guy (he has a lot of pent up rage and I think screaming lyrics to heavy metal could be good for him <3 )

Kankuro wearing all black with purple face paint. He’s already THE alt icon. I love him. He def has piercings. He is the drummer, because he is not given as much attention as his other siblings in canon so it could be kind of a parallel and also drummers are hot and I make the rules around here.

Temari!! My queen!!!! Temari definitely had a phase where she wore super exaggerated black and white makeup and she looked absolutely terrifying (and gorgeous) doing it. She is a guitar player!! I don’t know enough about guitars to say what kind but she is wonderful and I just know she could be amazing at it if she wanted to. She shreds like a pro. Because she’s the best. She also does backup vocals for the band.

Their father was their manager and then he got cancelled or smth or idk but Baki became their new manager because I said so. And the little monster sealed inside of Gaara in the anime? It is now his feral cat. Everyone hates it. Gaara included. It’s okay. The cat eventually learns to love Gaara. Their fans love the little hellion too.

As for ships I also have Thoughts about other bands in the Band AU!!!!!!!!!

InoShikaCho is something. I’m not sure. Ino is the lead vocalist. She has like pop music vibes but Choji and Shikamaru don’t so maybe they make just really Good generic music? Stuff that’s always on the radios. I don’t know. Shikamaru does not sing, thank you very much. He could rap if he wanted to though.

You already know that Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke could be super complicated as a band because they Did Not get along as genin. Whatever. They aren’t my problem. I’m ignoring them. But they’re really good and Gaara definitely had a crush on Naruto at some point.

Neji, Tenten, and Rock Lee are an interesting trio to think about. Tenten raps for sure, because she’s pretty and I think she could be a badass rapper. Neji is the leader of their band and he writes their music too. Main vocalist vibes. Tenten also helps write music and can play like any instrument ever. Rock Lee is for sure tearing it up with swag dance moves. Gai, their manager, is definitely big on choreography. They’re more of a mainstream rap or hip hop group, but I think they have a background in other music genres.

Oh jeez. My personal favorite, Team 8!! Kiba’s everything.. Hinata with her shy demeanor.. Shino’s literal trench coat that covers him from head to toe. I don’t know. I love them all to death but they’re weird and forgettable to everyone but me it feels like. They’re alt, maybe an indie band? Or maybe not? I don’t know I think Shino plays guitar for them. Kiba is on drums maybe? Or maybe he is also on guitar. Maybe Shino plays drums? They’re hard. But imagine Kiba smugly going at with some killer vocals and making eye contact with an unimpressed Kankuro in the crowd. Battle of the bands babyyy. Hinata had a pretty voice but she is super shy about singing which leads to confidence issues because Hanabi has no problem singing in front of large crowds. So Hinata doesn’t sing but she eventually does after pursuing a solo career when their band naturally disbands because they have different paths in life they want to follow. Shino becomes a teacher lmao. Anyways I’ve decided Kiba with lead vocals. Everything else is not worth my time. What other teams are there again? It’s not like anyone cares enough to read this anyways. It’s mostly for me. Wait I think I got all of the rookie 12. Did I? OH MY GOD I ALMODT FORGOT AKAMARU I’m so sorry. Yeah Akamaru is Kiba’s dog and he goes on tour with them.

Nobody else is important to me. I mean I guess I could do some side characters.

The Sannin were a super popular band back in the day, with Jiraiya on lead vocals and the other two as backup vocals. Orochimaru was a master of guitar and any stringed instrument really. Tsunade SLAYED on drums. OH IDEA. Sakura plays drums and Sasuke is on guitar with Naruto on main vocals! But anyways the sannin have a major break up after Jiraiya decides to leave the band right after one of their biggest tours like ever, effectively cutting off the other two’s career in a band. Kaito Dan, a stage tech who is also Tsunade’s fiancé, dies in a car accident with Tsuande on the way to one of her gigs. She is too traumatized to ever sing or play on stage again. She runs off to get drunk and gamble. Orochimaru gets in good with Danzo before eventually getting cancelled (and being forced to take the blame for Danzo) when it is found he is mistreating the new talent in attempts to make a perfect singer to make them money or something I don’t know. He runs off and does small gigs but mostly pursues higher education and getting a ridiculous amount of degrees. He has the money so he just keeps getting them. I don’t know it’s funny to me. He takes on an apprentice named Kabuto and then another named Kimimaro. Is that how u spell that? Idk.

Uhmmm Minato was a really good singer but he and his fiancé died young, and while Minato had been briefly introduced to stardom it all ended when he and his fiancé died. Kushina died in labor and Minato literally died on the way home from the hospital. Super sad. Also Minato had been mentoring some kids, Kakashi and Rin and Obito. Uhm I choose for Obito to get an injury and like. Retire super early. Rin tries to make things work and then dies. I don’t know. Kakashi is traumatized but makes a successful life for himself. He becomes manager for Naruto and the other two. He also mentored Yamato and Yamato mentored Sai.

This is getting too long I’m so sorry.

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cooliogirl101 · 3 years ago

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oh my gosh, on one hand i love the powerpuff trio but on the other, i kind of wonder what reina being on the same team as minato would be like

They were already friends in the Academy, Reina being one of the very few people to realize that the quiet blond boy who always had his head in the clouds was actually terrifyingly intelligent. As such, she always made sure to ask his opinion on things and it wasn’t long before she went from merely listening, with an occasional interjected comment or clarifying question, to actively challenging his theories and sharing her own (she has quite a few. It’s not like she had anything else to do those first few months after being reborn, trapped in the body of a baby who couldn’t even walk).

On Minato’s part, well, even as a child he was naturally charismatic enough, likable enough, to be friendly with most of his class (Uzumaki Kushina being a notable exception) but Reina’s the only person he’d really consider a friend. He’s smart enough to realize she’s hiding something, that there’s more to her knowledge than natural intelligence (no, there’s wisdom and experience and all the things a 6 year old shouldn’t have), but he respects her enough not to pry (and he’s patient enough to wait for her to open up on her own). When genin teams are assigned, he doesn’t exactly hope for her to be on his team— after all, that would be unprofessional, as a shinobi he should have no preference who his teammates are— but he can’t help the automatic relaxing of his shoulders when her name is called all the same.

Honestly, they were never supposed to pass, which was the only reason Jiraiya had agreed to take on a genin team in the first place. They consisted of Namikaze Minato, an orphan from a civilian family, Yamada Haru, a remarkably unremarkable boy with two career genin parents who’d just barely passed the genin exam, and Kobayashi Reina, a civilian girl from a long line of civilian bakers. The odds were stacked against them from the start, and yet—

They’d passed with flying colors. And once his arm recovered function from that short one trying to paralyze him, he might even admit to being impressed.

Jiraiya’s not quite sure how it happened, but somehow, somewhere down the line he finds himself cajoled in attending family dinner night at the Kobayashi household at least once a week (his female student, he’s discovering, is remarkably good at getting what she wants when she sets her mind to it).

(“Here,” Reina said, thrusting an envelope at him. Jiraiya glanced at it, confused.

“What is this?” He asked, noting his name written on top in what looked like a neater version of Reina’s handwriting.

“An invitation to dinner at my parents’ house at 6 this Saturday. I gave one to Minato-kun and Haru-kun earlier,” she explained.

“Ah, I don’t know about this, Reina-chan,” Jiraiya said, rubbing the back of his neck. “I might be—”

“Just think about it?” Reina interrupted. She looked up at him pleadingly, eyes appearing almost unnaturally luminescent behind those thick glasses of hers. “I understand if you can’t make it, of course, but I’d really love to see you there, sensei. It’d mean a lot to me.”

Which was how he’d found himself frantically digging through his closet for his nicest shirt (one Tsunade had bought him a few years back) at 5:52 p.m., cursing up a storm. He’d shown up at exactly 5:59 with a bottle of wine in one hand, palms sweaty and feeling slightly nauseous (which was completely ridiculous. He was one of Sannin, an S-ranked ninja, he’d fought and won thousands of battles— he had no idea why he was feeling so nervous about attending a civilian family dinner, of all things).

“I—” He cleared his throat when the door opened, revealing Reina with Minato at her back. “I brought wine?”

“Sensei!” She broke into a beaming smile at the sight of him. Jiraiya felt something alarmingly warm fill his chest. “You made it! Come in, come in!”

“You didn’t need to bring a gift, although I appreciate the thought,” she added, before glancing at him, a teasing glint in her eyes. “Just…don’t hit on my mom, okay?”

Jiraiya choked on a laugh as Reina reached out to grab his wrist, pulling him inside.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he promised.)

As for Minato, Reina decided that him going home to an empty apartment was completely unacceptable and so he ends up having dinner at the Kobayashi house almost every day. Reina’s mother dotes on him and her father sneaks extra pastries into his coat every time he visits. To Minato, Reina will always be the person who gave him a family— and he will always, always be indebted to her for that. After they become chuunin they decide to move into an apartment together (where Reina discovers to her exasperation that for all his genius, Minato is astoundingly dumb at basic, household common sense things like turning the stove off after he cooks). She’s somewhere between best friend and sister to him, and as such, he’s extremely protective of her (which complicated the Hyuuga matter somewhat. He knows her well enough to see through her fury at the Caged Bird seal to the sheer sadness underneath at witnessing what family members could inflict on one another. Had it been just anger, he could’ve dealt with the issue more rationally, but sadness? He’s never been able to stand seeing her in pain).

#powerpuff girls au #sort of #an au of that au anyway

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009720kakashi · 1 year ago

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narasnooze

Much against Shikamaru's inner fight and attempt to not get bothered, Kakashi's teasing was, once again, successful. Shikamaru hoped his not so scary glare would act as a cover for the new shade of red that appeared across his face. "Are you still drunk?" Pretty privilege...? What a stupid joke. And stupid of him to get worked up about it. The Nara rolled his eyes in annoyance and turned hid back to Kakashi again, huffing quietly. "Oh, now you care about how you look as the Hokage?" It was just a damn hair tie, after all. But he did feel quite naked without it. And now his hair was going to bother him and get in the way... Such a drag. Already, he was unconsciously pulling some black strands behind his ear as they walked out into the streets. "...Shit. Come on, hurry. Down this road, instead." he suddenly said and fought the urge to pull Kakashi by his arm to walk faster. Hopefully they would not be noticed by the massive white dog out on a morning walk with his partner in crime. That pair was definitely the absolute worst to run into at the moment.

“Am I still drunk?” he asked with a frown.

“Possibly” he said with a shrug. Who knew? He sure had had a lot yesterday and did not intend to have his blood alcohol tested just now.

“I’m not exactly used to drinking too much these days.” When he was younger there had been a few occasions. All of them had involved Jiraiya. The Sannin had apparently thought it to be a good idea to fill him up to get him to relax a bit. It had not worked. He had of course drunk with Jiraiya but pretty much always went from gloomy straight to passed out.

“I always care how I look as Hokage. At times I even wear the stupid robe and hat because apparently the people want to see their Kage looking like a mushroom. That sure is not my choice of clothing ne? It’s white…and red…and screams TARGET…for someone growing up as an assassin it’s quite the nightmare.”

Also it was very impractical. Really who ever came up with this!?

“Hm?” he said and turned to look. Yeah they definitely did not want to meet them up close. However… .

“The wind’s not right genius…they can’t smell us…what happened to that cool headed strategist? Did you kill him with Sake yesterday?” he said but did follow. Yes, they could not smell them but they still could spot them.

“Although…close would be pretty bad…I mean their noses are better than mine and well…it is pretty obvious…So a dive at the Onsen would be a pretty good idea actually.”

narasnooze

"I look far too much like my mother with my hair down..." he muttered. It wasn't that he meant it in a bad way, but he had inherited more of her soft facial features and much less his father's sharp ones, and putting his hair up like the typical Nara-style made him look less... feminine, in his opinion. Chōji had pointed it out too many times in order for Shikamaru to forget about it. Besides... since that was the case, Shikamaru was very rarely seen with his hair down around other people, or even outside his house. So, it would most likely raise a few questions if they indeed ran into someone they knew... "By the Onsen? Yeah... Well, let's just take that one then. I don't particularly wish to run into him right now, either." Shikamaru replied and stepped outside, took a couple of steps but then spun around as Kakashi shut the door. "You changed. You could have let me borrow that damn pull string if you were going to change out of those pants anyway!" he frowned.

“Someone not in touch with his feminine side ne?” he asked amused, arching both eyebrows.

“How do you survive a Henge?”

For a moment he hesitated but damned that again was just too much of an opening for teasing and pushing.

“You could also use the pretty privilege. I’d imagine it to be quite helpful at times” he said, which was rich, coming from someone who had covered up most of his face all his life. However just half of his face was on him. The eye had been the Sharingan’s fault and really not his own doing. It had just been more comfortable covering it than keeping it closed.

“Especially since he tends to have his light moments at the most inconvenient times.” Naruto was weird that way. At times it seemed that he was actually stupid. He was not though and he had moments were he picked up on stuff quite fast. Kakashi sure did not want to risk that just now.

“I like to think I have grown as a person” he said, still turned to the door though he knew Shikamaru was talking about clothes.

“Hm? Of course I changed. I’m the Hokage I cannot run around in sweatpants. The only way that you would have gotten that string is by hitting me over the head which is possibly treason and I’d be fairly annoyed because getting blood out of my hair is quite a bit of work.”

#narasnooze

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ravysu · 4 years ago

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Sannin headcanons and thoughts

The last thing I would like to post for the sannin week. It is still 24.04 here! :D @sannin-central

This is long. Spoiler alert. Mostly Orochimaru, some Tsunade, a little of Jiraiya (because his story is pretty clear and spoken and idk what I can add). Also I recommend to read this meta about Orochimaru, it has influenced me a lot and has some good points. Sorry for any posible grammar mistakes. Also I really should put here a lot of references to the manga or anime but it was something that was piling up for a year and I'm soooooooo lazy. After all, those are just headcanons. Also: Im not excusing Oro's bad stuff here, Im trying to understand the reasons.

Ive already posted some hcs, here, here and here.

1. First if all, the chronology pic of sannin lifetime based on the info i found on naruto wiki and also some statements about wars from this post. It was tough considering what a mess naruto’s chronology is.

2. Sannin story shows what it cost to be a legend. They're like Team 7 but more realistic. Tsunade literally carried the war but left with nothing and developed a ptsd and have problems to just live on. Also anger control issues. I think she can be pretty bossy and stubborn which is not always nice. Jiraiya is the hero of the day but also very idealistic and can ignore some important details in the real word whether its the fight (he always injured during flashbacks maybe because each time he took too much to handle and on the one hand it's heroistic but on the other is a mistake that can lead your team to situations like in that Iwa cave) or your friends issues (I bet he saw what's going on but thought it's fine until Oro actually got red handed and left). He lives in his world and may have problems to get out to see it through someone else's shoes. As for Orochimaru, it seems like he was a normal guy for 20+ years (I mean, he didn't do crazy criminal shit and had something good in him and it was stated somewhere that it was his teammates influence. It is obvious they considered him as a friend, I don't thinks it was for nothing) but we mostly know his darkest side. Despite being a moster he is a human that have empathy and some ordinary human traits (man just decorates every bit of an environment he is in lol).

3. Tsunade was the leader of team Hiruzen.

4. Tsunade sometimes hit Jiraiya for some stupid things he did or said but never touches Orochimaru even if he did something same. Jiraiya complained about it once and almost got another hit.

5. Jiraiya had problematic parents that didn't care about him much and a lot of time he was wandering in the streets.

6. Judging by the look of Oro bangs and hair, he sometimes cut it off. A stress relief huh? And the fact that he doesn't do it now in Boruto..

7. It was shown that Tsunade and Orochimaru was acknowledged before they become a team. Maybe they did just before, or maybe some longer time before. I prefer the second option and hc that they met because both had no real friends - Orochimaru seemed weird and scary for everyone and Tsunade was Senju so everyone wanted to hang out with her but didn't really care. They weren't seen as what they were - people put the labels on them. But they didn't care about each other's labels and actually saw each other in true lights.

8. Tsunade knew it was an accident and it's not right but still she blamed Orochimaru for Nawaki's death for some time. It was something that seriously damaged their friendship and the team. Orochimaru was mad but also guilty, after all, he was responsible at least as a shinobi since Nawaki was under his watch. So he started to act cold and emotionless and was trying to distance himself from his teammates.

9. Jiraiya was in Ame while Dan died.

10. The whole his orphans mission was a bit irresponsible tbh. They already fought Hanzo and as he stated the conflict between Konoha and Ame is going to an end with Konoha's win. It's weird to stay here for three years in the middle of the war while there were other lands to fight. He left his teammates for some idea. Maybe that caused another crack in their team friendship.

11. If Tsunade would have find a way to live on with her trauma and follow the will of fire and stuff it would affect Orochimaru as well just as her grief affected him. It's like he would get an example that you can live on with this pain. So death isn't above human capability and we are not just the slaves of mortality (sounds stupid but i dont know how else to describe sorry). But as we know what he actually saw is that it broke her crucially to the point she couldnt be herself again. And so the death is above everything.

12. Oro wasn’t just acting as a cold pragmatic bitch in that cave but also tried to save Tsunade. Jiraiya knew it and that’s why he showed this sign to him like "I see what youre doing here" and that stunned Oro because he would prefer to look rather like a cold pragmatic bitch hehe

13. Just a thought. People in the village probably treated Oro as a foreigner or just wouldnt accept him because he looked so differently and had a weird attitude. That's why he sometimes didn't feel that Konoha is his home. After the wars where people were treated as means and tools, even the children, he himself developed this view on people - he dehumanized them and used as the means to his goals, just as his village did. Funny thing some people were straightly dehumanizing him too like Ibiki thought that he was a demon (tho he was a child). And he probably weren't the only one. Anyways the point is that it's logical that Orochimaru don't care about anybody but some few people, he's the product of his era. He's like Naruto that would chose the hatred way. But naruto had some good and understanding people around him and.. Orochimaru had them too, but match how Iruka treated Naruto and this Hiruzen's "I sAw tHe mAliCe in This cHiLd fRoM tHe BegGinNinG". And oro didn't even have a big ass evil fox in him. sry i hate hiruzen

ANYWAYS the moral of the story is not "go criminal if they hurt you" but always treat people like people. Waving my hand to Kant.

14. The reason why Orochimaru didn't pick some good morals to stick with through the hard times no matter what (like, idk, Jiraiya or Naruto) is because 1) I think he is/was pretty depending on people around him 2) the war fucked him and his friends up too much (Nawaki incident + Tsunade) 3) twisted addictions (though I don't think he's that sadistic, we never saw him torturing randoms just for fun, it was always some science experimental shit. He tends to get fun out of cruelty only when it's personal) that maybe developed as a way to sublimate anger and sadness caused by his parents loss (that's what they share with sasuke - unlicke naruto, they knew their parents and it's other kind of pain. Sasuke developed a revenge issue and Orochimaru - cruelty pleasure which... is kinda the same but less epic and more occasional lol).

15. Speaking of that, Orochimaru cared for Sasuke because he saw himself in him.

16. Oro hold grudges against Hiruzen for not choosing him to be Hokage not only because he was ambitious and/or egoistic, but also because Hiruzen was some kind of a father figure for him and his approval was important tho i doubt he was aware of that. He also probably could tell that Hiruzen was suspicios about him when he was a child and that led to many conflicts and was hurting as well.

17. Tsunade knew things weren't pretty with Orochimaru after the wars but she never expected them to be this bad. During the week that she was given in her arc she thought not only about how much she wants to see Nawaki and Dan again despite how wrong would it be but also was trying to bury all the good memories she had left of Orochimaru so it would be easier to kill him.

18. She poisoned Jiraiya exactly because she knew he would not let her do it. Jiraiya was always hesitant to kill and inclined to forgiveness, while Tsunade, as mentioned by Orochimaru, could be merciless (so much so that he was not surprised when Kabuto suggested that she wanted to use Jira for Edo Tensei).

19. That was one of her traits that scared Jiraiya and fascinated Orochimaru.

20. Remember how Oro grabbed Jiraiya's neck when the latter was trying to cover with hair jutsu? On the snake, in Tsnade's arc. Orochimaru could have easily kill Jiraiya by pulling the sword out of the mouth (arteries are right there) but he didn't. As well as he could kill Tsunade when she was still shaking - just aim for the neck or the heart. Instead, he just injured her lung and kicked her which is not a big deal for the kind of shinoby like her at all.. Also he helped Anko not accidentally kill herself but it would be way much profitable to let her do it. "Orochimaru has no feelings".

21. The reason he suddenly wanted to kill Tsunade instead of forcing her to heal his arms as it was planned (which is weird since it will not going to get him heals and he kinda said that he wouldn't want to kill her just minutes ago) is that not only she refused to help him (he thought he could work it out) but she also prefered the village over him (from his point of view). Out if everyone she was the closest to being able to understand him since the village caused her painful losses too but nevertheless she agreed to be on it's side.

22. He wasn't fighting her back in the end partly because he thought he deserved that. Somewhere deep inside hahah.

23. Tsunade got a fear to develop deep bonds so they probably weren't very close with Shizune (also the way she knocked her down in this hotel.. oh).

24. Orochimaru will be here when she'll die.

25. Orochimaru's eng dub to Tsunade: "I often wondered what it would be like to ring that pretty neck yours". No comments.

26. Orochimaru is either bi/pan or ace. Anything or nothing lmao

27. Hiruzen knew about at least some of the Oro’s illegal experiments and was okay just as he was okay with the Foundation all the time. Because it’s useful. Then he has discovered he went too far OR he knew everything and oro just became too inconvenient because of his methods. The way Orochimaru tells Sasuke about reasons they are well treated as the criminals is based on in his experience with Hiruzen.

28. As you may know the lyrics in Orochimaru’s music theme goes “don’t talk with the silence of the heart”. It was taken from one Indian song that also had lines like “don’t question life too much”, ”pain arose somewhere in the chest”, “don’t speak to the wounds of the heart”. Though I’m not sure 100% because I was translating it with some hindi dictionary with like zero knowledge of hindi

29. I like to think that this “silence of the heart” theme and the fact that he called his village a hidden sound village are somehow connected. The hidden sound is the possible explanation of all things waiting to be listened to but the truth is silent and you know it deep in your heart and it bothers you. The world is silent just like the life is meaningless but people can only hear. *Sigh* anyways

30. Orochimaru’s journey is the one about accepting death. When he saw Karin released her chains while was trying to get to Sasuke he understood that the death is a part of human’s strength.

Can’t wait to feel that everything I wrote is wrong or not enough or stupid and obvious lol. Anyways, it’s something that I wanted to share until I move to some other fandom.

#sannin week 2021 #orochimaru #tsunade #jiraiya #sannin #naruto #naruto headcanons

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actuallysaiyan · 4 years ago

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Hot Love(Jiraiya x Fem!Reader)

Word count: 1,443 Pairings: Jiraiya x Fem!Reader Warnings: Slight smut, oral sex Summary: Reader has been pining for Jiraiya since she first met him when she was a genin. He’s always had his eyes on Tsunade, until Tsunade plans a mission for both of them and tries to set them up. When Jiraiya sees reader naked for the first time, he can’t believe how blind he’s been all these years...

For years, you always felt like you trailed behind the three legendary sannin. You were a few years younger than them, and both Orochimaru and Jiraiya saw you as a bother when you were a child. Tsunade was the only person who actually decided to take you under her wing, and she trained you good. You grew up admiring all three of them, but truth be told, you were absolutely smitten with Jiraiya. Even if he saw you as a bother and a nuisance for years, you couldn’t help the way you felt.

And now, years later and you’re all grown up, you still had those feelings for Jiraiya. These days he was way too busy with his books to think of you as a nuisance, and Tsunade was now Hokage. You were just a jounin, spending your days training your own team and shaping up the future shinobi. You were proud of yourself, but you always wondered what your life would be like if you had pursued Jiraiya.

One day, you found yourself in Tsunade’s office with Jiraiya by your side. The years had been very good to him, as he grew to become a very handsome and sexy older man. You couldn’t help yourself by checking him out a little as Tsunade explained to you the mission you both would be going on. Tsunade was sending you and Jiraiya to a small village to gather some intel for her about the Akatsuki. You didn’t mind that at all; in fact, you were hoping to get a little alone time with Jiraiya.

Unfortunately, the first part of the mission didn’t go as planned. Jiraiya basically ignored you as he continued to plan ideas for his next book and was quiet almost the whole way to the village. You tried your best to keep your frustrations to yourself, but you weren’t sure how long you could keep your secret feelings to yourself. It was driving you mad, and you thought for sure that finally, you were going to be able to tell Jiraiya how you truly felt.

“Don’t you think this mission is a little silly for both of us to be going on? It just doesn’t seem like Tsunade to send both of her most trusted friends and some of the best shinobi in the village to go on a simple intel mission.” You said, trying to pull Jiraiya from his perverted thoughts.

“Hmmm...maybe. But I think she trusts us the most, so it would make sense to send us. She’s got a lot on her mind lately…” Jiraiya says, and he mutters something under his breath that you don’t quite catch.

Once you get to the village, Jiraiya suggests that you both go check into the inn that Tsunade has made reservations for. You are a little annoyed by this point, but you do like the idea of retiring for the evening. You notice that there’s a sign that says there’s an onsen at the inn, so you perk up a little.

The hostess shows you to your room, and you’re not surprised to find that you’re rooming with Jiraiya. You’re a little ticked off now, but you decide to go soak in the hot springs. Your emotions hang heavy on your heart as you watch Jiraiya start flirting with some of the women at the inn. It hurts, but you don’t want to show it. You’ve got way too much pride.

In the hot springs, you are surprised to find that the women’s side is completely deserted. You’re a little relieved to have some peace and quiet, but you’re still meditating over your feelings. You wanted this to be a chance to get close to Jiraiya after all the years you spent apart, but it looks like it wasn’t going to happen after all.

Sighing, you get undressed and sit in the hot water. It feels so good on your sore muscles. You couldn’t help but admit that you were getting old, and you weren’t as spry as you used to be. It was a little embarrassing, but you knew you were still an attractive woman.

Jiraiya, on his side of the onsen, was getting undressed as well. He was very confused to find the place deserted. Nevertheless, he figures he’ll be able to peep on the women without any interruptions from the other men. This made him that much more excited, so he slinks over to a small hole in the wall. He chuckles to himself as he prepares to get an eyeful of gorgeous, young women.

Instead, he’s shocked to see you sitting alone in the hot water. You slowly get up, adjusting your position. Jiraiya can feel his blood pressure start to skyrocket, and he’s having to hold his nose so it won’t bleed. Jiraiya can’t believe how gorgeous you are; since when did you grow into such a sexy person? He’s been so blind with all these younger girls that he’s completely ignored what’s been in front of him.

He sits in the water, trying to compose himself. It’s the first time he’s seen you naked, and he fucking loves it. You’re curvy, and slinky and your legs are so long, and your tits are huge!!! What a jackpot!

Jiraiya decides to get another eyeful, and this time, you know he’s watching. You can hear his heavy breathing and nervous chuckling, so you decided to give him the eyeful he wants.

With your hands on your tits, you squeeze them together and start massaging your own body. You blow a kiss towards Jiraiya and the old man almost has a heart attack. You can hear him panting and wheezing, trying not to have another crazy nosebleed. He hears the door to your side slide open, and he’s a little disappointed he didn’t get to see more from you…

...when you show up on his side, wearing only a small towel. Jiraiya clutches his chest, backing up towards the end of the hot springs. You throw your towel away, swaying into the water as you approach him. Finally, you have his attention.

“Y-y/n, what are you doing here?” he asks, trying to be a little nonchalant.

You just walk right up to him and press your lips to his, not answering his question at all. Your hips grind into his, earning a groan from the older man. He’s rock hard and ready to fuck you, but you want to tease him just a little longer. Jiraiya pulls away from the kiss and he growls.

“How long have you been hiding this body from me?” he demands to know. He knows he’s been stupid about not noticing you earlier, but growing up together made it a little weird between you two.

“Since you never cared to pay attention to me and only had eyes for Tsuna,” you explain, tracing your fingers over the scars on his chest.

“I’ve been an idiot this whole time then,” he says, smirking at you.

You both resume your kiss, this time his tongue slides into your mouth. You can feel a warmth bloom in the pit of your stomach as you grind against him harder, hoping to find some relief from this sexual tension.

Without warning, Jiraiya places you on the edge of the hot springs. He leans in so that his face is at the same level as your sopping, wet pussy. Jiraiya groans as he smells your juices, and this is what spurs him on to start devouring you like a starved man.

He laps at your weeping cunt like his life depends on it, while you tug at his long white locks of hair. You pull him more into your pussy, whining and whimpering as he starts to finger you. You’re both unaware that you are in public at the moment, and you can feel the coil in your stomach start to become tighter. You’re so pent up with sexual energy that you’re going to cum very soon...and very hard.

“Ahem!” you hear from the door, and both you and Jiraiya break apart. You jump into the onsen to try and hide your naked body from the hostess, who is looking at both of you with a playfully scolding look.

“Please, leave the affections for the bedroom. The onsen can be hard to clean if you were to…” she says, and then she leaves you guys to get dressed.

Jiraiya is laughing, and you can’t help but chuckle a little. Then, he pulls you in for another kiss.

“How about we take this to our room?” Jiraiya asks, and you agree.

Finally, you had his attention.

#writing #not requested #jiraiya #naruto #naruto shippuden #naruto smut #naruto lemon #jiraiya lemon #jiraiya x you #jiraiya x y/n #jiraiya x reader #jiraiya smut #tsunade

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gravityunforgiven · 4 years ago

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Right Where You Left Me (Kakashi x OC)

Pairings: Kakashi x OC, Jiraiya x Tsunade

Synopsis:

She was the daughter of a Legendary Sannin, He, a son of a disgraced shinobi. Fate brought them together but life tore them apart. Will they be able to take control of their destinies and find their way back to each other?

...Or will they be another victim of the cruel shinobi world they are both a part of?

Feel free to reblog!

Chapter Five

When Tsunade stepped outside the casino, she was frozen in her steps. She knew almost instantly that Akira was close by. She could still feel the faint but lingering presence of her chakra.

Akira’s here. She’s here.

There was no way Tsunade could have possibly mistaken Akira’s chakra for someone else’s. She may not have have seen her for a decade but Tsunade could never forget the familiarity of Akira’s presence. She knew it like the back of her hand.

Akira’s chakra has always been a little different than of a normal shinobi largely due to the fact that wasn’t like the rest of them either. The uniqueness of her chakra was hidden in plain sight and would have been very obvious if one knows what to look for.

By each passing second, Tsunade could feel herself sobering up. The sudden realization that her daughter was in such a close vicinity caught her off guard. She was suddenly overwhelmed by the emotions she had been trying to ignore for the past ten years.

She wanted to see her.

She had been meaning meaning to see Akira so many times in the last years that she had lost count of them. She had even gone as far as to reach the outskirts of their village only to turn back around and run for the hills. Tsunade just couldn’t face Akira. She was scared of what awaits her once she returned home, afraid of what Akira would say after she left her so many years ago.

She was terrified to be a burden for her daughter. It was never her intention to leave as long as she did, she only wanted to grieve properly and move on from Dan and Nawaki’s death but for some reason, a decade later, she was still grieving.

Tsunade didn’t exactly know what she was doing but she somehow found herself roaming around the unfamiliar village for the last person keeping her alive.

Just a glimpse. Just a glimpse then I’ll be gone. Tsunade kept repeating the words to herself. She had continously kept tabs on Akira through Jiraiya but there was nothing like seeing her in the flesh.

Tsunade was well aware of the fact that she had hurt her daughter and she knew that her sudden return would cause her only more pain. She just couldn’t do that again. She just wasn’t ready to put Akira through all of that all over again.

Though Tsunade could easily discern Akira’s chakra from a specific distance, she was certain that it was not the case for her daughter. Though it was clear that Akira was blessed with a remarkable skill in chakra control like her mother, Akira was just too young to remember Tsunade’s chakra. She was just so young.

It wasn’t long until Tsunade found her sitting on the bar of a sushi shop. Tsuande’s breath was caught in her throat. For a moment, the world around her disappeared and all she could see was her daughter. She was sitting on her own, her back faced Tsunade but there was no doubt in Tsunade’s mind that it was Akira.

She knew it was her.

Her hair that used to reach her waist as a child now fell just a little past over her shoulder in waves of light blonde, a familiar Konoha issued cloak hung neatly on the back of her chair but Akira’s gaze was worlds away. She spun a chopstick in between her fingers as she stared at practically nothing.

Tsunade realized Akira was here on a mission. Tsunade almost scoffed at herself for thinking otherwise. Of course, she’s here on a mission. What was I expecting?

She would never admit it even to herself but a part of her still hoped that her worst fears hasn’t become a reality. Throughout the years, Jiraiya had relentlessly assured Tsunade that there was no reason for her to believe that Akira loathed her. He had told her that Akira understood why her mother left but she knew deep down that Akira must have hated her for leaving. She hated herself for leaving.

What she did was cruel and selfish. But it was better than dragging Akira down with her to a pit of endless grieving and what ifs.

She had her glimpse of Akira. She had with her own two eyes how Akira had grown into an astonishing young woman. Tsunade knew she should leave. It was obvious that Akira was better off without her but she couldn’t bring herself to move. She knew she was being selfish yet again. Akira deserved so much better than her, she deserved a mother who can take care of her and not someone who needed taking care of.

Tsunade knew that the right thing to do was to keep her distance and she wasn’t sure if it was the alcohol or just her but she found herself weaving hand signs and masking her appearance before closing the gap that separated her from her daughter.

She had absolutely no idea what she was going to do when she sat on the stool next to Akira but the words came out of her mouth without her permission.

“You’re a long way from home.” Akira stopped mid-sip from her drink and looked at her right where the voice came from and found a woman clearly in her late 50s with graying hair and a smirk.

For the second time that night,Tsunade’s breath was caught in her throat. When Akira’s eyes pierced into her own, for a split second, she saw Dan’s face instead. Even when Akira was young, people had told her how much they looked similar but seeing at her now, Tsunade thought how wrong all of them were. Akira had always been so much like Dan than she was of her. They just didn’t know him enough to see.

Akira blinked a couple of times in confusion, unsure if she was the one being talked to by the unfamiliar woman. “I’m sorry?”

Instincts were suddenly taking over Akira’s entire body. She discreetly checked the shuriken holster on her left leg just in case the woman attacked.

“You’re Tsunade’s daughter.” She said as a matter of fact then casually orders a dish from the menu.

“Oh, no.” A defeated sigh escaped Akira’s lips. I know where this is going. She had encountered this conversation too many times than she wanted to remember. The resemblance between her and her mother kept giving away their relationship to the people Tsunade had a debt to.

“She owes you money doesn’t she?”

The woman chuckled, the lines on her face becoming more visible as she did so. “ She does actually.”

Akira shrugged nonchalantly, “I’m not paying for her.” Akira was definitely curious about the woman now. She seemed familiar, like they’ve met somewhere before though Akira was absolutely certain this was the first time she had ever seen the lady.

“Do I know you?” Akira’s eyes narrowed amd Tsunade’s heart skipped a beat.

“I used to know when you were younger.” That wasn’t exactly a lie in Tsunade’s part. She did know Akira as a child. Not anymore. The person sitting right next to her was completely different from the child who bid her goodbye on the village gates. That child was oblivious, unaware, still free from the gravity of her duties. This girl, no, this woman she was seeing bled of confidence and grace in ever action. Tsunade could see from her face how she had embraced her responsibilities wholeheartedly despite its burden. She had grown into someone Tsunade could only dream of becoming.

“Really?” Akira’s right eyebrow arched this time, still suspicious. So, Tsunade, still enamoured by the presence of her daughter, continued her cover story. She told her stories, facts only someone from the village would know and things no one would have known if they didn’t see Akira grow up. And true enough, Akira was convinced of her identity.

For what seemed like only a few minutes for Tsunade but hours in reality, the two exchanged stories with each other. It was much easier this way. To Akira, she was just a retired shinobi traveling the world, not someone living a life full of regrets. She told her stories of her time as a shinobi, the adventures, the missions, something she never had the chance to do when Akira was younger as she did not fully understood yet what it takes to become a shinobi. Still, she was careful to keep her cover on and noticed that Akira never mentioned any names. But still, it didn’t took long for Akira to succumb into the familiarity of the elder lady.

She didn’t have a lot of women in her life growing up. She had her friends for sure but Rin was gone, Kurenai was just only a few years older than her and even Kushina was not much older either. They were like her older sisters and Biwako Sarutobi became her honorary grandmother. The fact that the two most important women in her life died at the same night didn’t help at all. She didn’t have anyone to buy clothes with or talk to when her budding romance with Kakashi at the time became all too confusing. She went through all of these alone. Of course, she had Jiraiya but despite being the writer the Make Out Series, there were things only a fellow woman can understand.

As the older lady continued to speak next to her, Akira wondered if this is what it felt like to have a mother. The shinobi in her told her to shut up, pack her things and leave the woman who literally showed up from nowhere. She reminded herself that genjutsu was not exactly her strong suit but the other part of her was a little too assured that this woman was harmless and she was technically part of her old life. She was just so kind and she listened and laughed with her.

They talked about the village and how much it has changed over the last few years. Tsunade told her abour her travels and the places she had visited and it came to her knowledge that Akira had dreamt to travel sthe world as well. Not for missions, but for herself. When Tsunade asked asked what was stopping her, Akira’s answer was short but it was more than enough for her to see the dedication that she has for the village. Like her father.

“I guess I want to protext my people more than anything.” She answered with a shrug and a smile. Tsunade knew she meant each word from the look in her eyes alone. Akira told her how protecting the village was what she wants to do the most not because she needs to,but because she wants to. There was nothing else she would rather be than be a protector of her home.

“So you want to become Hokage, then? Is that what you want too?” Do you have his dream too?

Akira’s laugh filled the air. “No.” she chuckled. “I don’t really like paperwork.” This made Tsunade laugh herself. She guess that Akira had seen the mountains of paperwork from the Third Hokage and it did not look appealing to her either.

“ I prefer protecting the village from the outside. Besides, I’m better off at field work anyway.”

“Captain?” Their converstaion was interrupted by two seemingly normal shinobis to the normal eye but their all too familiar black cloaks immediately gave away their identities to Tsunade.

ANBU.

Akira quickly excused herself from their conversation and headed out. Tsunade was well aware of the fact that Akira had joined the ANBU at an age younger than what everyone was accustomed to but she was never informed that Akira had become a team captain. Both she and Jiraiya had been against the idea of Akira being an ANBU knowing how dangerous the missions they were sent to are but there was really nothing anyone could do when Akira sets her mind to something. All they could do was to watch and pray that she would come home every time.

The three talked in hushed tones but Tsunade heard enough to perceive that whatever their mission is, it was not going as planned.

There was a moment of silence between the three as Akira contemplated what their next move would be.

“Tell the others we’re moving out on the first light.” Her command was curt but spoken with absolute finality.

When Akira returned to her seat, there was a noticeable change in her mood. “Mission’s not going well, huh?” Tsunade asked though the answer was more than obvious by the look in Akira’s face.

Akira let out a deep and frustrated sigh. “I don’t really like long-term missions.”

“Someone waiting for you back home?” Tsunade took her chances and asked. She wondered if Akira had had the chance to fall in love yet. She hoped that Akira hadn’t yet as she wanted to be there for her daughter when she starts dating but the deep flush of red quickly spreading across Akira’s cheeks told her otherwise.

Oh.

Akira contemplated for a second wether she would divulge that information to the still annamed woman but before she could tell herself to stop, s smile was already forming on her lips.

“There is, actually.”

Man, I really should shut-up now.

Tsunade could see a gleam in Akira’s eyes as she told her how much this man means to her. All her worries from her mission seemed to disappear with the mention of the man. She looked incredibly happy and for that, Tsunade was beyond grateful.

If you ever find yourself in the Land of Fire, You should come by to the village. I think he would love to meet you.” Akira says as she gestured for the bill.

Tsunade would love to meet him as well knowing that she is forever indebted to this person for bringing joy into her daughter’s life.

The two women reached for the bill at the same time, and for a split second, their skins touched. All Tsunade could think about was heat.

Akira’s skin was abnormally hot against her. The medic ninja in her was sure that Akira had a fever of at least a hundred at the bare minimum.

“I got this. It’s the least I could do for my mother.” Akira says, pulling out a couple of bills from her wallet.

“You’re sick.” Tsunade placed a hand on Akira’s forehead and confirmed that she was warmer than usual.

Akira looked at her in confusion before dismissing her with a laugh. “I’m always warm.” She grinned. “That’s just me.”

Tsunade knew it must have been an effect of being the Okami’s reincarnation she had developed while growing up. It wasn’t like this when Akira was a child or she would have instantly noticed it.

Questions as to what else Akira may have developed plague Tsunade’s mind but she never had the chance to ask Akira because she was once again caught off guard when Akira placed her own Konoha issued cloak around Tsunade’s shoulders.

“Here. Looks like you need it more than I do.” Akira adjusted the cloak on Tsunade’s shoulder and zipped it into place.

“But it’s cold out-“

“I’m always warm remember?” Akira held the entrance curtains of the shop out of the way for Tsunade.

The two of them stood outside the shop where the moon was already shining bright and the streets were lit with street lights.

“You know between the two of us, you have more chances in seeing my mother more than I do.” Akira started. She knew that it was incredibly inappropriate to ask a favor from someone she had just met and whom she refuses to grace with her name but she was desperate. She had to see her mother even for a moment.

Akira had made it a point to not talk about Tsunade whenever Jiraiya was around knowing ythat the man was also having a hard time dealing with his own feelings and juggling his time between fulfilling his destiny and fathering Akira as much as he possibly can.

This woman was her last chance in order to talk to her mother and sparing Jiraiya.

“So if you ever see her, can you do me a favor and tell her to come home?” Akira looked straight into the eyes of her mother and Tsunade saw right through her and into the sadness Akira was trying so hard to conceal.

“Tell her that I understand that she doesn’t owe anything to me but I need to know-“ Akira’s voice broke.

“Tell her I need to know if it was me.” Akira forced a smile in her face. “I deserve at least that.”

I need to know if she left because I was different. Because I wasn’t like the others.

“Okay?”

“Of course.” There was nothing else Tsunade could say before Akira gave her one last smile - a smile that would haunt Tsunade for the rest of her days- before disappearing into the night with the hopes of seeing the kind woman once again

Tsunade was left on the street on her own ince again with only her thoughts to accompany her. Of all the possible scenarios that had ran through her head, never did she once imagine that Akira woulld blame herself for the decisions she made.

It was never Akira, It was always her who had the problem.

She had always been perfect to Tsunade’s eyes from the moment she was born. She was the one good thing that happened in Tsunade’s life. She was her miracle.

Tsunade promised herself that she would tell Akira that herself.

—————

Tsunade found herself standing outside the window of her daughter’s rented room, her eyes brimmed with tears as the gravity of what she had done all those years ago finally sinked in.

Akira blamed herself for something she had nothing to do with.

Just a few feet away from her, her daughter laid fast asleep on the futon. She was curled into a tight ball, the duvet only covering her lower body and the pillow that her head was supposed to be resting on, lay discarded on the floor.

Tsunade couldn’t help but smile. The familiarity of the scene she was witnessing felt right. It felt like home. She had done this thousands of times before, back when the woman in front of her was nothing but a baby that can fit right into her arms, then a young child whose abilities were one of a kind she posed a danger to her own, and now, a fine kunoichi who had already surpassed her predecessors in every aspect.

Yet despite that, Tsunade can still see the child she loved more than anyone or anything in the world. She can still see Dan in her. Akira may indeed inherited her mother’s looks but there was so much of Dan that lives in her.

She knew deep inside what she had to do. She needed to stop this nonsense. Dan may have been gone but he left her the most precious gift anyone could ask for and she was so busy tending to her own grief that she didn’t see who needed her the most.

Tsunade knew she needed to come home.

She needed to come home to Akira.

But she was a little too late.

Way too late.

—————

A/N: Thank you for all the support! I really appreciate them more than you can imagine.

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marvelmymarvel · 4 years ago

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Beauty (Part 8)

Jiraiya x Reader

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11

Synopsis: At the age of 14, you begged the 3rd Hokage to let you raise the brand new baby, who just like you lost his parents to the nine-tailed fox. People thought you were crazy, but the strange new man who was training Naruto saw you as something else.

A/n: I have been waiting to write this part for *so* long. Also, Iruka in the gif makes me wanna SOB. Fuck, can he comfort me in a v neck!? It's long btw, so get ready for it :)

Tags: @brithedemonspawn

Also, if you wanna sob while reading this like I did when writing it:

Song: Jenny of Oldstones by Florence + The Machine (Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-F7K6UZEVg)

Thunder rumbled overhead as the rain pounded down harder onto the mourners below. You turned your head to look at the children beside you before grasping Naruto’s shoulder tightly in your fingertips. The last funeral you went to was for your parents as well as Naruto’s...

Naruto looked up at you, blank-faced as he tried to read your emotionless face. Were you sad? Were you about to cry? Were you trying to reassure yourself that he was there and alive? He soon got his answer as you faced forward once more, tears glistening in your eyes as you dropped to your knee beside the boy. Raising your hand from his shoulder, you brushed it shakily through his blonde hair that surprisingly was staying up through the rain. Resting your hand on his cheek, you cocked your head and bit your trembling lip, praying that you could stay strong for him.

But you were struggling.

It was a silent exchange, a simple look that told him how you felt. Naruto knew how strong you were for him, and sometimes he wished that you would just allow yourself to feel emotions and cry. He opened his mouth to say something but the sound of Konohamaru broke you from your trance. Dropping your hand from his cheek, you turned and pressed a hand against the younger boy's back, shushing him in the hopes of calming him down.

Your motherly instinct was working, but it was only until Iruka joined in when the noble grandson began to calm down. You knew his pain, knew it more than anything... And so did Iruka. Your e/c eyes flicked up to watch Iruka talk quietly to the young boy. Smiling softly to yourself, you began to remember all of the times you’d talk to the younger Shinobi... Kakashi could only help you so much through the pain, but Iruka truly helped you heal.

And you did the same for him.

Iruka felt your eyes on him, and he hoped that you didn't notice the way his ears and cheeks heated up in response to your heavy gaze. Finally gaining the courage, the younger shinobi brought his gaze up to meet your mournful eyes. A sad smile forming on your lips, hand sliding across the young boy's back and lacing with Iruka’s frigid fingers. His eyes widened a little as your warm fingers caused a jolt to rush through his body, you were always so special to him...

But he wasn’t sure if he was special to you.

‘Thank you’ you mouthed out, thumb caressing his knuckles before pulling away to get back to Naruto who was staring dumbfounded at his old teacher. Iruka blinked back his shock, confused as to why Naruto was suddenly sending him a glare and why your simple touch was causing his tummy to flip. Shaking his head in the hopes of clearing his racing thoughts, Iruka went back to the boy who was now sobbing a bit harder.

You didn’t pay any mind or attention to anything going on around you as you brought Naruto into your side. Naruto was still glaring at his teacher, knowing exactly what he was thinking about. He was in love with you, it was the same way Jiraiya looked at you the first time you two ever met...

The scoff that fell from his lips made your brows furrow in concern, thinking that something was wrong with him. “You okay buddy?” you cooed out before leaning down to press a kiss to the top of his head. Naruto let out a groan, pushing away from you in embarrassment. He was secretly okay with you doing that in private but in front of his teammates?!

Naruto looked up at you with a pout, angry that you would embarrass him like that in front of everyone, but your soft gaze reminded him that you were going through a lot right now. Deciding to appease you instead of saving face, Naruto shook his head and wrapped his arms around you in a tight hug. He hoped the funeral would end soon because you were beginning to shake in his embrace. Naruto turned his glare to the young child who currently had your coat draped across her shoulders. He understood that she was just a child who didn’t know any better, but he was still angry by how selfless you were.

And just how sick you were going to be because of it.

Sniffling, you slapped his shoulder in warning, silently telling him to get over it and pay attention to the procession in front of you. Sighing, he listened to your warning and instead cuddled deeper into your side, wanting to share some of his body heat so he wouldn’t have to take care of your sick self for the next 5 days. “You’re gonna get a cold in this rain” Naruto jumped along with you at the voice as a jacket was draped across your shoulders.

“Thanks” you whispered back as Genma wrapped a dry arm around your waist, locking you in between his hot body and his jacket. Resting his head on your shoulder, Genma felt you physically relax in his embrace. Naruto rolled his eyes at the Shinobi, but his jealousy melted away at the soft smile on your lips. There were no more tears bubbling along the edge of your eyes, no, you were at peace.

Biting his lip, Naruto looked towards Iruka who had his head downcasted. He couldn’t tell if his old teacher was jealous or even noticed, but it certainly caused suspicion to grow in his mind. Turning his head to look around, he tried to scan for Jiraiya in the crowd. He was easy to spot, and Naruto nearly shuddered at the cold glare that was being sent in your direction. If looks could kill, Genma would have been killed at least 50 times by now.

Noticing the young boy was once again distracted caused you to rip him closer to you, “Pay attention and stop staring...” you hissed down at him. It had been a while since you had to use the mom voice, but it snapped him back to attention right away. You let your gaze travel to where he was staring and you felt your blood run cold as you caught the angry gaze being thrown your way. Your body curled back into Genma’s embrace, a sense of safety flowing through you as he instinctively tightened his grip around you.

Telling Jiraiya that you were seeing Genma didn't go well, in fact, it went horribly. It wasn’t as if you had been seeing each other for long and you wouldn’t consider Genma your significant other just yet, but Jiraiya didn’t care. “You alright?” Genma cooed as he pressed a kiss softly against your ear, thumb caressing the part of your body he was gripping onto. You nodded before breaking your gaze from the angry Sannin, you’d be fine, he wouldn’t do anything anyway.

Not to you at least.

“I’m fine...” you stated firmly as you turned your head a bit to lock eyes with him. He smiled softly at you before turning his gaze back to the funeral that was now ending. Taking a deep breath, you swallowed down the sick feeling that was rising in your throat. The warm feeling that Genma was giving you suddenly made you feel cold, like his embrace no longer gave you that sense of safety you craved. Your eyes drifted back to Jiraiya.

Something was wrong, but you didn’t know how to fix it.

“GAH WHERE IS HE?!”

Your head snapped up from your paper, eyes narrowing at the nurses scrambling around the town. You of course knew who they were looking for, but you weren’t going to rat him out. “YOU!” A smirk formed on your lips as the nurse stormed over to you, “Hi, how can I help you-”

“Where is he?!”

You fought back a chuckle as the seething nurse glared down at you, she had grown quite tired of Naruto’s little games, and the fact that you were so ‘blissfully’ unaware made it even worse. To be honest, you were also tired of the young boy running away from the hospital, but at this point, you could care less. Instead of saying anything right away, you reached down to grab your tea. The people in the tea house around you shot looks at the commotion, but you didn’t mind as you sweetly took a sip of the cooling liquid. “I have no idea what you’re talking about-”

“Naruto! Where is NARUTO”

An understanding hum vibrated in your chest and you sat down the tea in acknowledgment of her anger. You knew where he was, he was across the street eating ramen, but were you going to tell her?

No.

“I have no idea. Sorry!” your toothy grin caused the nurse's blood to boil, but instead of causing a bigger scene, she took a step back and rolled her eyes. “Fine, but if anything happens to him-”

“Then I’ll be to blame... I’m the one who complains about him anyway, so no one else is going to complain if he gets hurt, now are they?” It was true after all, you were the only person in the village who raised hell when he landed in the hospital, so if you being so calm about the situation said anything, it was that you didn’t care. The nurse sucked in her lip, her body trembling in anger as the other nurse tried to pull her back, reassuring her that it was going to be alright.

You waved at her cheekily before returning to your tea. Only when she left your sight did your eyes drift towards the ramen shop across from you, sighing at how long it was taking him to eat. He was currently wearing your shoes and clothes, helping him blend into the surroundings a little better than when he wore his normal outfit.

“So you’re the reason he’s so cheeky”

A yelp flew from your lips, tea spilling all over your dress as you spun towards the man crouched beside you. “J-Jiraiya! Don’t do that!!” your startled reply caused Naruto to peek his head out of the ramen shop, mouth still chewing the noodles as he took in the display of your flustered self. Jiraiya’s smile grew wide as you hastily dabbed at the tea that covered your entire dress. Gagging at the love-struck look on his Master's face, Naruto turned back to his ramen in disgust.

You were blissfully unaware of both Naruto’s disgusted reaction and Jiraiya’s love eyes as you purely focused on getting the stain out of your one and only dress. “I like that dress on you... Makes you look pretty”

“Oh, so I’m only pretty when I’m wearing a dress”

Jiraiya’s eyes bulged out as he tried to back peddle, “No! No no I mean you’re always beautiful, I’m just, ya know I just... I didn’t mean it like... If I were being honest, I think you’re the hottest when you’re in your Shinobi gear-” your e/c eyes shot a glare his way, cutting his incessant rambling short as you stood swiftly from your seat.

“How you see me doesn’t matter...” you whispered out before taking a step towards the ramen shop. Jiraiya was quick on his feet, hand capturing your wrist in an attempt to stop your retreat. “Wait, can we talk about -”

“Just because I’m no longer seeing Genma, doesn't mean I want to date you. Not after you left me-”

“Please just let me explain!” the tea shop grew silent at his roar, and soon your face was heating up in embarrassment. “Jiraiya” your whisper was soft, a silent warning that he was seconds away from ruining every chance he had with you if he didn’t calm down. His eyes scanned the crowd, provoking them all to go back to their own business. Stepping forward, he slowly raised his hand to cup your cheek sweetly. “I was scared of what he was going to do to you...”

Your watery eyes lifted to his, lip trembling as you searched his face for an answer to a question that you yourself didn’t know. He knew that the people around you were secretly leaning in, waiting for him to continue but he was having none of it. “Can we go somewhere, just you and I for a talk... Please” instead of answering him right away, you let your eyes trail over to where Naruto was still slurping down his ramen. What would he do? Biting your lip, you searched your heart for the answer and tried your best to ignore how his warm touch was making you melt into him. “Fine... But only for a couple of minutes”

The park wasn’t far from the ramen shop, but it was far enough away from others that you two finally had a quiet spot to talk. Your arms were tightly wrapped around your body, encasing you in your own bubble of safety from where you sat under the tree. Jiraiya paced above you, deep in thought as he tried to think of a way to explain everything to you. How he left to find Orochimaru. How he left to find a way to free you from the mark. How he left to keep you safe. He left to protect you...

But how does one say that?

Your eyes trailed over to where Naruto was ordering yet another bowl of soup, and you silently prayed for his bottomless pit of a stomach to fill up so you could leave. “Alright... ALRIGHT. I’ll just have to tell you everything” your attention snapped back to the Sannin as he plopped down onto the ground in front of you. Jiraiya reached forward and grabbed your hands tightly within his. A part of you was tired of this stupid game, but the other part of you saw just how nervous he was; that part of you was the reason you were still sitting here.

“I did it for you” the scoff that few from your lips caused him to hiss out a ‘listen’, he wasn’t playing around anymore and he wasn’t going to go another minute with you thinking he just left you. You shut your mouth immediately, bitting your cheek as a reminder that you didn’t know the whole story just yet. He could surprise you...

It was time to stop being so childish.

“When I saw his mark on you, a lot of feelings rushed through me. Anger, disgust, fear... But the reason I left wasn’t because I hoped he would leave you alone. I left to try and find a cure for his bite, for his mark. I knew that the shinobi holding you-”

“Genma” you muttered out, determined for him to acknowledge the man who was there for you when he wasn’t. “Yes... Genma” A shiver ripped up your spine at the way Jiraiya spit out his name as if it was the most venomous thing to have ever existed. He gripped your hands tighter, calming himself down before resuming. “I knew he would be able to protect you while I was gone. I didn’t want to leave you, but you weren’t safe without a cure. I was only gone a couple of days, but I only wanted to be gone for one. Seeing you fall from that rooftop plays in my mind over and over again. It still scares the absolute shit out of me.”

You averted your eyes from his heavy gaze, panic rising in your chest as you relived the day when it all went to hell. “I knew then that I shouldn't have left you at all... Cure or no cure, you needed me... And I’m sorry” the lump in your throat grew as you fought back the tears forming on your lash line. “I left because I love you”

Your head began to spin as it snapped back to him in utter shock. Your lungs took in a sharp intake of breath, yet it felt like you were drowning under his gaze. His lips were moving, but all your mind could process were those three words that left you dangling on the edge.

‘I love you’

He seemed to notice your distant gaze, yet instead of snapping you out of it, he scooted closer to you and cupped your face lovingly in his hands. “I love you... Don’t you see that?” your eyes seemed to grow wider as he repeated it again as if he was worried you didn't hear it the first time. You did hear it, you both knew that you heard it. So why was it so hard to process it?

‘I love you... Not her’ the tears you were holding back fell violently as you began to relive the memory of the first time your heart was ever broken. He was the reason you were so cold to the Uchiha clan, why you were so cold to love in general. He had lied to you, for he loved Rin more. “I’ve heard those words before” you sputtered out finally to Jiraiya, lips trembling as you lifted your hands to rip his from your face.

“They don’t mean shit”

Jiraiya’s mouth dropped as he watched you stand and storm towards Naruto who was now done and looking for you. The blonde caught sight of you, but his smile instantly fell as he heard your sobs and saw your tears. Moving his eyes to where you were coming from, he caught sight of Jiraiya chasing after you, calling out to you hastily.

Pleading for you to stop.

“What did he do!” Naruto screamed out, but before he could do anything you stopped him short. Kneeling down, you cupped his cheeks and pressed a loving kiss to his temple. “Nothing, he's just going to ask you to go with him on a mission. I’m sad but you’ll be safe, right?”

The boy's face softened as he now thought you were crying over him, but he was still confused as to why Jiraiya was so anxious about catching up with you. Before the man had a chance to grab you, you told Naruto that you’d pack his bag for him to pick up and took off. Leaving a dumbfounded boy and a heartbroken Sannin behind you.

Naruto looked up at his Master, a smile forming on his lips at the prospect of a mission that would help him grow. “So that mission! What are we doing!” Naruto’s cheery tone snapped Jiraiya out of his thoughts. Looking down at the boy, he shot a sheepish smile before leading him towards the ramen shop. Maybe this mission would clear his mind and help him figure out a plan to show that he loved you. Truly, deeply, loved you.

“We have to go find an old friend. Her name is Tsunade... You interested?”

The creaking of the swing filled the night air, mixing with your quiet sobs as you kicked at the dirt below you. You had grown tired from all of the crying, and the fact that you haven’t slept well in days only added to that. You didn’t know why you thought coming here would help you as if it would solve everything. This was the place where he told you he loved you, only for him to go to Rin and say the same thing. It was only weeks before he was killed.

And it was a death that changed you forever.

“He still haunts you... Doesn’t he?” A sad smile formed on your lips, but you didn’t look up as Kakashi entered the schoolyard. He knew of this spot, he knew of the significance he had on you. Hell, he remembered finding you here for years after Obito died, hoping to relive the moment where he told you he loved you.

Even if it was a lie, you wanted to relive it.

Kakashi moved to sit beside you on the ground, eyes cast towards the spot where his old friend once stood in that memory. He was there as well, shocked to hear those words come from his friend knowing that none of it was 100% true. Obito loved Rin too much and any other crush he had meant nothing.

“We were just kids” you whispered out, gripping onto the rope of the swing tighter in the realization of how silly it all was. “Well, we were just kids... Everyone else around us was older” Kakashi chimed in, hoping to ease the pain a bit. You were only 10 then, the same age as Kakashi when it all happened. You would lose your parents 4 years later, but no other pain compared to losing the Uchiha.

“Don’t you hate that we were so young?” your question caught Kakashi off guard, but he didn’t show it and instead looked up at you in confusion. Before he had time to question it, you continued on. “I mean, we were 10-year-olds working with 13-year-olds... That pressure alone is too much for a child. Don't you think?”

Silence fell over you both, it was comfortable but it was also loud. The longer it took for him to gather his words, the more stupid it felt to even ask that question in the first place. “No... Because we were placed in groups where we felt comfortable” his words were soft, and he saw the way your shoulders dropped in relaxation. You always felt so alone at the academy, even though you were on a team with Genma, Gai, and Ebisu. The three boys always had your back but made sure not to make you feel like they were protecting you just because you were young or a girl. They looked up to you, though it didn’t matter.

“I could never have been like you. I hate that”

Kakashi’s hand reached out to you, softly resting on your thigh as you once more began to cry. Once again crying over something as stupid as the past, nothing was going to bring back Obito and nothing was going to make you feel as good as Kakashi. “You know I couldn’t have raised Naruto, I don’t think anyone could have raised him but you” you nodded at the statement, knowing deep down that no one wanted to help the orphaned child.

No one but you.

“Obito loved you, but he loved Rin more. The thing is, he’s gone. You shouldn’t let that false statement of love judge any future romances you stumble upon... And yes, I do know about you and Jiraiya, he came to me asking for advice” your mouth opened to interject but he silenced you with a loud ‘shush’. “Now, I’m not one for romance, other than my books of course. But that man loves you, and I mean loves you. Goodness, I don't think I’ve ever seen a grown man cry harder... Anyway, you have to let Obito go.” Noticing your silence, Kakashi continued on. “And you have to stop comparing yourself to those around you when you’re the one raising a child with a demon inside of him. No one but you could have done that, and I’m sorry that I’ve been neglecting him. Truth is, I cant look at him and not see Obito”

More tears seemed to slip down your cheeks at his confession, for you saw the similarities as well. Naruto acted just like the late Uchiha, and sometimes it made it hard to breathe. Kakashi stood finally from his spot on the ground, before taking your hands in his and hauling you up from the swing. “We’re gonna get through this, but you gotta promise me something.”

Kakashi’s fingers wiped away your tears as he tried to formulate his next words carefully. In all honesty, the only time he’s seen you truly happy is when you’re around Jiraiya. He hates that, he really does consider he was the source of your happiness for so long, but he can’t watch you self destruct anymore. Not over something as stupid as a love confession that was a lie.

“Give him a chance... You deserve to feel real love, again.”

Your eyes shifted from his gaze and settled on your feet, one would have thought that you were panicking or afraid. But you were really hiding the fact that your heart rate picked up at the thought of giving him one more chance. “You think he loves me?” you whispered out sheepishly, eliciting a chuckle from your best friend in front of you. A smile formed on your lips as you looked up at him, stomach flipping at the way his eyes crinkled from sincerity.

“I bet my life on it”

#jiraiya imagine #jiraiya x reader #jiraiya fanfiction #jiraiya imagines #Jiraiya #naruto imagine #naruto imagines #naruto x reader #naruto fanfiction #naruto #genma imagine #iruka imagine

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wing-ed-thing · 4 years ago

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Cabaret (Might Guy x Reader, Chapter XI)

Synopsis: You can’t stand Might Guy. Honestly, how could anyone be so boisterously unaware and sickeningly positive? Your heart sinks as the both of you are teamed up to infiltrate and collect information from the Hidden Sound’s gritty underground. Maybe losing yourselves in the dark of the the Sound’s nightlife will help you both come to an understanding.

Word Count: 2,198

Tags/Warnings: Alcohol/Alcohol Abuse, Language Probably

Chapter I Chapter II Chapter III Chapter IV Chapter V Chapter VI Chapter VII Chapter VIIIChapter IX Chapter X Chapter XI

Notes: So I originally made a 14 chapter outline and well, it’s been mostly used up. Oop.

“Who do you think was the Leaf’s informant in the first place?” Those words resounded in your head. A shiver worked its way down your spine and your mind went blank. Only those words. The sentence broke apart, rattling around as they bounced against the sides of your skull. Leaf. Informant. Who did you think? First place? And the first thing out of your mouth didn’t include an accusation, but only a—

“Why?” You looked up, forehead scrunched. The flames around you died down to non existence. A puff of smoke wisped into the air, a vague reminiscence of your flaming spirit energy.

“That’s an easy one.” Orochimaru’s smirk morphed into a deep scowl. “We both want the Akatsuki out of my territory.” You snorted and crossed your arms.

“Why would I want the Akatsuki out of y—”

“Perhaps I should rephrase.” Orochimaru cut you off quickly, taking a step closer to you. He cleared his throat, putting his smug exterior back on. “We both want the Akatsuki to take a hit, don’t we? You must know by now that they’re trying to take my army out from under me.”

“Teaming up with you,” You mused with a huff before giving the pair a sceptical look out of the corner of your eye. “How much did Lady Fifth know about this?”

“Enough,” Orochimaru shrugged. “Now, now, dear, Kabuto tells me you’re smart. We’ve left the Leaf alone for quite some time—” You scoffed, once again cutting off the snake Sannin.

“Yeah, after killing our last Hokage and kidnapping a child,” You muttered. Orochimaru’s eyes narrowed, unamused.

“Sasuke Uchiha came to me of his own free will. But that is beside the point.” He was beginning to get impatient. You could tell, feeling the ever so slight shift in his tone. If anything, Tsunade had been right to send an empath. Orochimaru remained ever-cognizant to not let himself falter. “We’ve left the Leaf alone. The question for you is if you want the Akatsuki organization to assume power over yet another village, a shinobi village, or if you’d rather it belong to a Sannin who has no intention of harming you… anytime soon that is.”

“And in exchange?” You found yourself questioning. Orochimaru quirked an eyebrow.

“And in exchange you get to walk out of the Sound alive.” Kabuto stepped forward. His palms faced the ceiling, a gesture of good will as he motioned towards you.

“Your mission will be done quicker. You’ll have new information available to you. We’ll allocate any resources you need.” He pushed up his glasses. “And of course you’ll have back-up whenever you need it.” Orochimaru glanced at his underling.

“Is that what you kids are calling it now?” His jest was ignored and he once again met your eye. “Take some time to think about it, m’kay, dear? We’ll be hearing from you soon, I’m sure.” And just as the pair turned to leave, you called out.

“Wait!” Orochimaru glanced over his shoulder.

“Yes?” He purred, smirking.

“Why me?” You demanded in all cliché. Orochimaru sighed, disappearing from the apartment, leaving Kabuto to answer your question.

“You’re the one calling the shots on this mission, aren’t you? Since you’re the point of contact?” An appeal to your ego. The words sounded familiar to you, but you couldn’t quite place from where. You couldn’t read Kabuto’s features in the slightest. You had a lot to think about.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

***

You needed a drink. You didn’t know a whole lot right now, but that you could safely say that at the very least. The door of your apartment slammed behind you. Darkness enveloped your studio and no you made no effort to turn on any lights. You made a b-line for the kitchenette. As you opened the fridge, the light flooded over your face. Nothing strong enough. You flicked on the lights above the counter island to look in the bottom cabinets. Vodka. That’ll do nicely. You resurfaced, slamming the bottle on the counter and that’s when you noticed the large figure sitting on your bed in the darkness.

“Holy shit!” You let out a string of curses and clutched your chest. “Guy, you scared the shit out of me.” He didn’t say anything and you didn’t wait for him to. You went to unscrew the top of your bottle and took a long, deep swig. The ethanol burned your throat, leaving you with an almost medical aftertaste. But you wouldn’t be a very good hostess if you couldn’t handle that. You put it back up to your lips. The liquid glugged, large bubbles bursting at the bottom of the bottle. You could already feel your stomach begin to heat up, the buzz creeping up on your slower than you would have liked. Worrying about the mission and Orochimaru could wait, you didn’t want to deal with it. You turned your attention back to Guy who remained ever-silent. “Maito, are you okay?”

He sat completely still in the dark. His legs were long enough for his feet to lay flat on the floor. His elbows met his knees and he made no effort to move from his hunched over position. Guy slowly raised his head, face completely emotionless.

“Where were you?” He asked quietly. You smiled nervously.

“I was with Shou, on dohan, remember? I told you that.” Guy shook his head.

“I saw Shou. I served him at the bar and he said that he hadn’t seen you.” He frowned. You didn’t even bother denying his silent accusation. He was right. “I looked for you everywhere. I thought something happened to you.” You took another swig of your sizable drink, leaning over the counter.

“I-I’m sorry.” At best, the apology came off insincere. Guy ignored it.

He repeated himself, “Where were you?” Your tongue ran across the edge of your lip. You weren’t going to insult him further with a lie.

“Orochimaru has a proposition for us,” You opted and Guy’s eyes went wide.

“What?” You sighed, wishing that you could just go to sleep. You took a deep breath.

“I said, ‘Orochimaru has—”

“I heard what you said.” Guy stood from your bed, a single hand gestured towards you. He looked visibly upset. His usual joyful expression had since vacated his features. He clenched his jaw, looking troubled and worried. “And you’re telling me that you went to go meet him alone? We just had a conversation about how you can count on me. And what did you say?”

“No, Guy, I do. I do trust you.”

“You said, ‘I know. I know I can trust you, Maito’. I thought that we were starting to get somewhere. That if you were to talk to Orochimaru, you at least would have brought me to back you up instead of leaving me blindsided to figure it out from some random Sound ninja later.”

Guy didn’t yell. He didn’t raise his voice in the slightest, he was just quiet. You almost wished that he were angry. He just sounded tired.

“We were, we are getting somewhere. I really do trust you, you’ve been a great partner. I didn’t even know that I’d be talking to Orochimaru—”

“Then who did you think you were meeting?” You looked up, meeting his eye from the other side of the counter. He already knew. Guy folded his lips and cast his head down. He sighed again. “I had a bad feeling about him and I had a bad feeling when I asked you about it. But I thought that you had it under control.”

“I do have it under control.” You were beginning to lose patience.

“No.” Guy looked you dead in the eye. “No, you don’t.” He ran his thumb across the corner of his mouth, casting his gaze to the side. “You’ve got a really powerful gift, but it makes you vulnerable. I’ve seen how much you drink. You should have had more time to train before you were thrust into a mission like this.” You glared at him with gritted teeth.

“What are you implying? That I’m unfit for this mission?” Guy turned back to you, serious and emotionless. He refused to answer, so you pushed a bit harder. You crossed your arms. “Say it. Just come out and say it.”

“I never said that you were unfit for this mission.”

“Well, make a definitive statement or back off.” A pause. The tension hung thick in the air around you. You felt heated, perhaps due to the alcohol.

“I’m going to contact the Leaf tomorrow. One of us has to come off of this mission. We’ll need as much help as we can get if Orochimaru is involved.” He turned to leave.

“Don’t you get it?” You snapped, “No one is coming to help us. Godaime knew, okay? She sent us in blind. Orochimaru has been our informant this whole time.” Guy stopped. You continued, “Orochimaru confirmed that the Akatsuki are here or at least trying to recruit. He proposed an alliance.”

“For what?” Guy once again faced you. “Orochimaru couldn’t possibly want something for nothing.”

“He said that he just wants the Akatsuki out of the Sound. What throws me is the fact that Godaime didn’t say anything about it.” Guy sat, his frustration morphing into a puzzled curiosity. He furrowed his brows. “He’s willing to help. Anything we need he’ll provide.”

“You didn’t take it, did you?”

“I didn’t give an answer.” The corners of Guy’s lips drooped father downward. “I didn’t know what to say.”

“‘No’ might have been a good answer.” You stepped back, hands on your hips.

“Orochimaru has information. We’ve been working HEAVEN for a long time and we’ve drawn up nothing. Our original hunch that Orochimaru is behind all of this is completely down the drain now.” You gazed at your large bottle and wanted to take another drink but Guy’s words burned in the back of your throat the way liquor never could.

“How do you know that this isn’t some kind of ploy? He still could be behind all of this and is just trying to throw us off.” You sucked on the inside of your cheek, your hand coming over your mouth.

“You didn’t see his face when he was talking about the Akatsuki. He’s pissed.” You met Guy’s eye. If you couldn’t read him before, you certainly couldn’t now. He remained still and listening. “This mission can be over with even faster than we imagined. We could go home.”

“You can’t stand me that much,” Guy stated, trying not to let his words bite. “So much that you’re willing to work with the man who terrorized our own home?”

“I can stand you perfectly fine. I know it may come as a surprise but I don’t hate you, you know.” You sucked in a sharp inhale.

“Well then what is it?” You became aware of your chest as anxiety burrowed a hole deep in the pit of your ribcage. You cast your eyes away but Guy continued to look upon you expectantly.

“I don’t know.” You went to maneuver around the counter, but Guy swiftly stood from his seat to block you. Your head hung.

“Yes, you do.” He stood, unyielding, above you. “As your partner, I deserve to know.” You dared to look up at him. He felt overwhelming, his scent overcoming you and his emotions pungent in the air. “Please.” You followed his lips as they moved. “Let me in.”

Hardly after a moment of consideration, you nodded and immediately kicked him in the knee. And as he doubled over to around your height, you scooped his face into your hands and planted your mouth on his. His lips felt soft as they gingerly moved against yours and after a moment of shock, his hands found your waist. You poured all of you mixed emotions into his chakra network. His energy spilled into your system, washing over every inch of you and you let it. You let the memories circulate away: news of your mission, nights in training, watching him perform his tricks from the other side of the bar. You loaded it all out: the annoyance, the fear, the comfort. And in exchange you felt his helplessness, worry, and doubt. Guy pulled you closer and you couldn’t help but squeak into his mouth. An unspoken longing.

But when you broke away, you broke away quickly. Guy seemed to be more at peace, happier. His usual Might Guy glow came back and for once that night, you could read a semblance of normalcy on his face. He visibly relaxed as if something in him melted away when he crashed into you.

“I didn’t know how to explain it. How I was feeling.” And then all of that went away. His slight smile dropped. He cleared his throat.

“Okay.”

That was all he said before he left and you didn’t know where you went wrong. You didn’t stop him. You wouldn’t get a chance to talk to him the next day either. You wouldn’t have the time. HEAVEN would be even more frantic than usual and that was because Yuzuki was dead.

Notes: I think I might just post a link to the A03 every time a new chapter comes. Cabaret will no longer have a schedule with my other works. I’ll just double post one day and it’ll be a surprise cause I have no idea where this is going. No worries, though, I’m still planning on finishing it. Expect a new chapter later this month. I might as well make this series it’s own calendar.

Thank you to everyone who liked, reblogged, and followed. Your support means so much and is greatly appreciated.

#might guy #might guy x reader #might guy relationship #Maito Gai #maito gai x reader #maito guy #Maito guy relationship #naruto headcanon #naruto headcanons #naruto imagines #naruto imagine #naruto x reader #naruto x you #naruto x y/n #x you #x reader #reader insert

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alumort · 4 years ago

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@lotus-baby @depressedhatakekakashi

Today I offer you, the fix-it au of sorts i have regarding shippuden/boruto and that, because i keep forgetting to write it down:

- this is kinda self indulgent and is the general canon(?) of some of my fics so this is for reference, too xd (though i don't focus on more detailed aspects so this is for that). i can't focus on all characters but there's mostly stuff for; naruto, hinata, sakura, team gai and kakashi.

long post ahead:

Naruto

(trans, bi & poly)

he always wanted to be hokage, but it was more about the respect the hokage gets– few people treated him well. but if he became the leader of the village, he would be finally respected by civilians and ninjas alike.

they would stop being so mean with him without apparent reason. and after the pain arc, he becomes a hero and they all finally start treating him with the respect he had wanted for so long. so i think he would be satisfied with that and become a jounin instead. maybe even an anbu.

he still gets married with hinata and the last happens, though neither of them feel like it's... genuine. they're friends and all, they still have himawari and boruto– but they're not really happy?

naruto still likes sasuke, and had been hanging out with gaara since he came back from his trip with jiraiya. hinata realizes that the kind of love he feels with sasuke is stronger than the one they both have.

the next time sasuke comes to the village, naruto and hinata separate– but they're both alright with that. Neither naruto nor sasuke have many ties with the village and naruto started kinda crushing on gaara after a while, so they both move to Suna with him and are very happy together(sasuke sometimes goes nomadic for his missions but always sends letters to his boyfriends).

without the responsibilities of naruto being hokage, he in turn becomes a more present dad with himawari and boruto and they're very happy :) they see each other on weekends and naruto doesn't miss any important dates anymore.

gaara still adopts shinki, who loves his siblings very much and is very protective of them.

Hinata

(non binary, grayro & bi)

They're known for doing very good medicinal balms since the first Chunin exam. i think she could just.. Straight up sell some, if she needs to. i think they like gardening so maybe she grows her own herbs and plants, and starts a mini store of natural remedies that are very good. and shampoos and soaps and they becomes actually popular with their crafts.

this started becoming more occurrent when she and naruto were about to go on their own ways. They move back to the hyuga compound with her kids for a while and works more on that, with boruto helping her on this and him finding out that's actually very relaxing. it becomes their shared hobby and they bond with that, too. himawari just likes drawing but helps from time to time too.

Hinata became friends with tenten because she was interested on the spiritual side of the plants, as she likes fortune-telling. i think tenten does witchcraft too, more as a family tradition thing but still being very passionate about it.

after a while hinata kind of started having a crush on tenten because, well. naruto was someone that always did his best to get what he wanted, and tenten is like that too– with her weapons shop and that.

so they just... told her. but tenten didn't like her that way, or anyone. still holds hinata very closely in her heart, but not in a romantic/sexual way– they move together some months before boruto's seventh birthday, and they may not be dating but they still make it work.

later, when they have been together for years and years and people still wonder the nature of their relationship, they discover the term 'queerplatonic' and they feel like that's the word for what they have.

Tenten

(trans, non sam aro)

she is very happy with her weapons shop. started getting closer to hinata, though it wasn't romantic love what she felt– it was stronger than friendship, but. didn't had a name.

after hinata confesses, tenten is very confused and turns her down. she doesn't feel the same way, but... the thought of living with them was really nice. they end up moving together after a while, and enjoy each other's company a lot.

tenten still does her fortune-telling and ends up teaching hinata, boruto and himawari too. its a thing from her family, so it made sense for her to teach to her partner and kids.

Sakura

(demiromantic)

in part one, she was considered the best one out of her team. even sasuke said she was better than him, on genjutsu. she was smart until misogyny from kishimoto acted up, so we'll use the original concept without the misogyny.

smart, even better than an uchiha who even said to her that she was better... it's no wonder that she ended up being the hokage after kakashi. she was trained by a sannin, who was also hokage before kakashi... it makes sense if you really think of it!

well. she's the hokage and is living with ino, they have two kids- sarada, which sasuke helped conceive, and inojin. inojin was an orphan from the yamanaka clan that ino took in.

(sai is a father figure for him, and inojin even calls him dad– nobody minds, sai even smiles when that happens.)

back with sakura. she is a very strong and lovely woman, and is organized though she gets irritated easily so everyone knows to not mess stuff on purpose.

she has a long time as the leader of konoha, and is very loved and missed on the time of her retirement.

Kakashi

(trans, gay)

He pretty much spends most days with his husband after retirement– always made up excuses to cuddle with him instead of going to work when he was Hokage. Is more clingy than he lets show publicly.

He is very happy now than before. Takes a lot of photos as Suikea, and so far only Gai noticed it was him, but doesn't really mind.

Gai

(genderfluid, demisexual)

He moved in with kakashi after he recovered from the war. they were planning it since pain's invasion but life happens™ and they couldn't, then war started...

after everything is over, he makes sure to stay on contact with his team- they're his kids and he loves them with all his heart. makes sure to send them letters when they can't meet for a while for reasons. sometimes they all have dinner together and are very happy :)

Neji

(non binary, reciproro ace)

Neji almost dies in the war, but sakura managed to save him and that kind of started a friendship between the two. They get chronic pain because of all the injuries he suffered, but it's getting manageable with medicine and physical therapy. though sometimes its too bad to get up, but they go walking with hinata almost daily- she goes to his house and usually realizes something is wrong. either her, metal or lee realize and help him on the really bad days.

neji also has some birds and they all have silly names/names that rhyme– the older ones are called feather and heather, for example. they really love them.

Lee

(bi ace, sometime i write him as trans too)

He's still a jounin here and is very good at it. Sometimes he has to leave the village for entire months, but he always send his family and team stuff so they know he's alright.

Neji and him at first weren't going to have kids at all, but lee just saw metal and grew attached to him. They end up adopting him and the three are really happy, even if at first its complicated to adapt™ the two love their kid with all of their heart.

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lunaticpuppetmaster · 4 years ago

Photo

My contribute for Konoha Simps server collab!

Trying to do both drabble and an art was a poor decidion as i am a lil bit late.

Special Thanks to @pfreadsandwrites who beta-readed this drabble!

Title: Lost and Found.

Pairing: Kiba Inuzuka x OC (Tsubasa Yuki)

Summary: Everyone knows that everything you lose will end up in your soulmates possesions. Some people go crazy trying to find their destined one with practically no information. Tsubasa was never interested in finding hers and there is a chance she would never be able to.

Warnings: Angst, mentions of death, hurt/comfort

Word count: 6907

When the first symptoms of the family curse appeared, Tsubasa already knew she was doomed. The sickness was rare and there wasn’t much information about it in the Yuki clan library even before the genocide, while after it… well, no information survived. To be honest she did not have much hope at the beginning when her ice-natured chakra just only started to act like a parasite, eating her body and breaking thin bones.

But her sensei had. Mei had always been protective of her pupils, acting like a big sister even after the trio passed the chunin exam. So, when the worst happened, she used all her resources in order to save one of them. Unfortunately, even Kirigakure medics famous for their body knowledge were unsuccessful. The only hope was the best medic alive, Tsunade-hime herself.

Tsubasa did not know how she convinced Tsunade to help or what she promised to her (probably rare Kiri herbs), but the sannin agreed to work on her case. She didn’t promise a cure. To the girl’s pleasure, unlike her sensei, the 5th hokage was rational and she stated right from the start that the chances of recovery were very low and more likely she would just extend the Yuki girl’s agony. It was hurtful, but honest. Tsubasa always respected honesty… and her sensei. She had no other choice, but to promise Mei that she will fight till the end even though she did not want to.

“Maybe you will find your soulmate there,”- said Mei before her departure.

Mei was one of those people who always wanted to find their soulmate, however that was not the reason why she said it. She appreciated different manifestations of love: between friends, parental, sisterly and etc. She also knew that Tsubasa was a pessimist and even the love of people who were close to her was not enough to restore her will to live. At least if she were deeply in love with her soulmate, Mei hoped that Tsubasa could finally find the strength to fight.

Soulmates were always a bone of contention between different social groups: commoners, nobility and shinobi. Especially the last one. Missions and loyalty towards the village must be a number one priority for a ninja. But with soulmates everything became much harder.

Still even the biggest soulmate deniers tried their best to ‘lose things’. Even though little was known about soulmates nature, over the years people were able to learn a couple of useful things:

1 - Every item you lose will end up in your soulmate’s possessions.

2 - You cannot send a letter or any kind of writing this way.

3 - You cannot just throw away a random thing in the air or leave it intentionally on a park bench. So, you must really lose the thing to make it reach your soulmate.

The world was never peaceful. Neither for commoners nor shinobi, so desire to help for so called “true one” was understandable. People tried to tie various useful items with slim strings to their clothes like meds and water. When it came to shinobi they usually tied small scrolls to their bags or jackets hoping that during fights the thread would be cut or ripped and the item lost. Such scrolls were usually filled with food, kunais or ninja pills. Supplies that suddenly appeared managed to save some shinobi on the verge of death more than once. So even soulmate deniers had an opinion that it was practical to help the soulmate and very rude to ignore it. Help for help, life for life, nothing more. Tsubasa was one such person.

Of course, every skilled shinobi could tell from which village the lost item appeared.

Yuki’s soulmate for example was from Konoha. Her teammate Hiroto recognized a specific plant in a found ninja pill. So, she had some chances to run into him during her stay.

But Tsubasa did not want a soulmate. She did not need some stranger. She wanted to stay in Kiri and spend her last days with people she loved with all her heart and soul. Hadn’t she suffered enough? It didn’t look like it.

This was how she ended up in Konoha; or rather in a spare room of Yamanaka-hime’s house. Although Tsunade made efforts, in Yuki’s opinion, she clearly did not have an intention to heal her, but to collect information about how the disease proceeds under various factors, in order to save other unfortunate ones… Tsubasa could tell it from her students. Tsunade put her under the care of somewhat inexperienced newbies, ones who could crawl into her head and feel the patient’s condition themselves. Tsubasa did not blame her for that. She would be happy if her death could help someone. The girl rather felt sorry for distracting Ino from her more important patients. The hime herself was cheerful and sunny person, but in moments that required professionalism she could turn cold and focused with the flick of a finger. “She would be a perfect clan leader one day,” Tsubasa thought.

To be honest Yamanaka’s jutsu was useful for more than just therapy. When they first met, Yuki just simply let Ino read her mind and see her past. It was much faster and easier, plus all the secret information she knew as an ANBU was sealed. In order to get it, they would have had to use much stronger and more traumatic jutsu (and of course torture). Moreover, she was going to die soon, so did it really matter how many people knew her story?

Though when Tsubasa saw the girl’s blank face after reading her mind, she felt guilty. The blonde stayed silent for a few seconds before giving her a hug. She did not need words to say that she will do her best.

Ino was easy to befriend. She also was good at distracting from negative thoughts. Between her regular Tsunade checkups and preparations for missions (It was important to monitor the development of the disease in the field, and all missions would be related to information gathering about the Yuki clan) they were chatting, watching movies and sometimes working in the flower shop. Thanks to Tsubasa’s honey-coloured hair most people mistook her as a distant relative of Yamanaka, so no one asked questions.

Once they ended up talking about soulmates. It started when Ino found some spilled ink on her carpet one day. Hime did not know much about her soulmate except he was really… an artistic type. Through the years she collected various brushes, pencils, erasers and doodles. Once she even found a whole sketchbook (unfortunately half torn)! But there was one thing that made her upset. He never “lost” anything to help her like the majority did.

“Maybe he is from a strict ninja family or a specific ANBU team”, she said with a sad smile.

If Ino’s soulmate was artistic, Tsubasa’s was… quite “special”. Because only a “special” person would end up losing a 6-kilo bag of dog food. Even now, after seven years Tsubasa sometimes wondered ‘how?’.. It was not a pen or a trinket which could be easily left on an academy desk, but a giant bag of dog food! No, he was a good soulmate who was “losing” supplies for her (that once saved her teammate’s life) unlike Ino’s, but still… Even when the blonde heard about it, she could not believe it and then started to laugh hysterically. After such silly small talks Tsubasa felt like she wasn’t fully alone in this foreign village. It almost felt like she had found a friend.

Unlike the other forced teammate.

Every village had a system of having at least 3 people in a team. Moreover, Tsubasa was suffering from her disease and Ino concentrated on helping her. They needed another member.

Tsubasa did not like him from the start. He was loud, narcissistic, clingy and insolent. The kunoichi was easily fed up with his behaviour. She spat out what exactly she thought of him to his face before going back to the Yamanaka estate. Only when she was alone in her room, she understood all her stupidity. She shouldn’t have acted so idiotic and lose her cool. It was essential for a ninja. She also understood why he was chosen among all of the shinobi. As a member of the Inuzuka clan he had a ninken who was already big enough to carry a man. It would be useful in case she became unconscious due to the illness. But she could not help it. A lot of bad things were going on in her life. She felt useless and helpless since she was banned from using her ice chakra. Mei also banned her from using anything that would hide her emotions. She thought that Tsubasa finally needed to learn how to speak and deal with new people. Babysitting was not helpful, so she wanted to try something more radical. Tsubasa understood, but understanding wasn’t enough to cope with the stress. Now she was sitting in the corner of her room shivering. Usually, she would take her father’s mask – the only thing left after his death- and put the cold material close to her forehead thinking what he would say or do. She couldn’t do it any longer. Some of her belongings and a mask were lost during a powerful chakra release at the beginning of the disease.

A few minutes passed before she started to feel better. A sudden knock on the door took her out of thoughts. Tsubasa went to open it thinking it would be Ino. Unfortunately, it was him. The cause for today’s bad mood and their third teammate – Kiba Inuzuka himself. She sighed and looked at him through the door, hiding most of her body behind it. The young man in front of her hesitated and looked a little bit strange or uncertain.

”Listen, I came here to apologise.“

Tsubasa raised her brow. Surely she should have been the one to apologise?. Plus, the boy looked like someone who would rather make a bunch of excuses and snap back than accept he was wrong.

“Well, I shouldn’t have invaded your personal space in the first place.” He scratched the back of his head and looked away. Judging by his behavior, the girl started to understand what actually made his behavior change.“And …uhm, Ino told me about your case so…”

“Showed you,” said Yuki her guess as a statement.

”She d-did not show me much!”

”That’s okay. I don’t mind and Ino knows that.”

“Anyway, I want to start on a clean slate. Here, take it. It’s a half mask and a bottle of blue paint so you can customize it with your clan symbol.”

”Actually…”

“I know that you are not allowed to use anything to hide your emotions, but it is a half mask and I made the holes for eyes bigger so your emotions will be perfectly visible. This is not technically breaking the rule and you will definitely feel better due to your um… well, habit. Just enjoy it, okay? I have to go now, bye!

“W-wait! I cannot…”

But the boy already left, forcing the girl to accept.

After that, though the relationship between the trio smoothed out, it was far from perfect. Tsubasa preferred to act more as a solo player despite her health condition, Kiba was still too loud and tried to act like the leader he never was and Ino … Ino tried not to go crazy in this whole mess called a team. However, overall, their missions were rather calm. Perhaps the three of them needed time to get used to each other before they could accept the others’ faults and learn to compromise. The tension completely disappeared at rest time, when tired teenagers passed time by talking to each other. Often they talked about soulmates. Someone was consulting with others about what would be more useful to seal in a tie-down scroll, the other one was looking through a travel bag for new supplies (or accidentally dropped useless things), another was thinking about loud who their soulmate might be. On one of such days, all of a sudden Tsubasa discovered earrings in a sealed scroll. They were simple and consisted of three deep blue feathers each. The girl looked at them in surprise, not knowing how to react. But, on the contrary, Ino reacted too happily.

“These are so cute! And they match your eye color! Quite a nice present for a soulmate that has never seen you.”

“This must have been a mistake.”

“It was in a scroll. How could this be a mistake? Looks like your soulmate really wishes to meet you and…”

“I don’t need a soulmate, Ino! Like, I don’t believe in perfect matches made by spiritual forces or some sort. I never wanted to have him in the first place! I have a dream to achieve, a family in Kiri. No way if I survive, I will leave it all behind because of some questionable romance! That’s ridiculous!”

Ino sighed and Kiba remained silent. The conversation came to an end. But not the attention from Tsubasa’s soulmate or their mission.

One of those days, when all sorts of cute things and sweets instead of standard ammunition began to show up in Tsubasa’s scrolls more and more, their group stumbled upon really strong opponents. The longer the battle continued the more obvious it became that they were not going to win. Unless Tsubasa broke the rule and used her clan’s abilities. Mei’s order, both as sensei and as Mizukage, always stood above many moral principles for Yuki, but now it was a completely different case. Neither Ino nor Kiba with the sweetest and bravest Akamaru should have been involved in this from the very beginning. They were not supposed to die or risk their lives because of some terminally ill girl from another village and a questionable contract between their Kages. They must live, survive and Tsubasa made up her mind. At first, she managed to eliminate a couple of ninjas and slightly injure the rest using the element of surprise. She was incredibly lucky, because the disoriented opponents were much easier to finish off for Kiba and Ino. Tsubasa by this moment had already lost her eyesight from the tension and saw the battlefield only as a set of white and light gray colors. She lost her breath and her strength to stand upright. But it was nothing compared to the pain that washed over her seconds later.

The kunoichi screamed in pain as she felt blood filling her mouth and an ice crust covering her internal organs. She fell on the cold dusty ground, heart-rendering screams leaving her lips with the blood pulsing her temples, ice needles tearing the muscles of her arms and legs. It seemed like nothing existed except for the all-consuming pain. Through the wall of never-ending white noise, she heard the sounds of Ino’s commands and Akamaru’s frightened barking. This was the last thing she felt before passing out.

Tsubasa woke up with a heavy head and pain all over her body. She listened to her senses before opening her eyes… and it would have been better not to listen to them. Someone brazenly pressed her close to their body and sniffed into the ear. When she opened her eyes the girl immediately screamed. In general, it was a completely normal reaction when you find yourself half-dressed in the arms of an equally half-dressed man. Of course, given that she was half-asleep, her only response was a stream of unpleasant curses and swearing. At first Kiba, who was still sleepy, was happy that the girl woke up, but soon joined the exchange of curses until a joyful, but terribly tired Ino ran up to them, immediately trying to interrupt the catfight and change the topic. Kiba waved his hand resentfully and went off in an unknown direction. Ino stayed with Tsubasa alone.

“Sit down and drink this.”

“Okay, but can I ask you a question first? What the hell happened here?”

”Your disease went out of control. I could barely suppress it. This time it was… too strong. Not like before. When I was finally able to improve your condition, you were still unconscious, your temperature dropped to terribly low levels, and some ice crystals did not disappear. We didn’t risk taking you back to the village in such poor condition. At first, we tried to wrap you up warm, but that didn’t help. Your clothes were quickly soaked by the cold coming from you and it only aggravated your condition. Then we decided that we would warm you one by one with the heat of our bodies. Well, Akamaru too.

Tsubasa howled in embarrassment and Ino sighed.

“Don’t worry. I think Kiba understands what the situation looked like for you. Or he will understand. He is a hot-head, you know, and he needs some time to calm down. But he will.”

”Still, that doesn’t change the fact that I snapped at him twice for literally nothing, especially the last time when I should have said ‘thank you for trying to save my dumb ass’. I feel terrible.”

The blonde girl patted her dejected friend on the shoulder and then said, “ Drink the medicine or, I swear to God, you will regret that you woke up.

The group’s return journey took place in silence. Despite the fact that Tsubasa apologized to Kiba and he accepted the apology, the kunoichi was still tormented by her conscience. She needed to apologize to him properly. Stealing a glance at the still visible ice crystals on her hand, a thought flashed through her: “While I can still do it.”

Night is definitely a wonderful and mysterious time of the day. Too bad that not everyone can enjoy its beauty, but there are also some who would be glad to miss it. For example, some unfortunate souls from the Inuzuka clan. It just so happened that a heightened sense of smell was not the only animal trait some clan members shared. Heightened hearing, too. In battle it was somewhat useful while in everyday life - irritating. During the day, in a mixture of noises, it did not cause much discomfort, but at night, when all the sounds disappeared, a can kicked by a drunk felt like a hit in the head. It is not surprising that such “lucky” clan members often suffered from insomnia and generally lived in the rhythm of night owls, which was very difficult for the shinobi world, where everyone was entirely early birds.

So was Kiba. However, tonight it felt different. His day was active and the sounds on the street did not disturb him, still he could not sleep. It seemed that the whole atmosphere of the house became more and more oppressive with every second spent inside, and the inner desire to walk through the village at night became stronger with every minute. He just wanted to go outside and run. He did not know where, but somewhere, where it was important for him to be now. In the end, when he accepted the fact that he obviously would not sleep today, the young man called his faithful dog and quietly left the house. The night was calm and fresh from the recent rain. Perhaps even too much, but it did not bother Kiba. He gladly wandered through old village streets, breathing in deeply the cold night air until he found himself near the playground. Or better to say, found someone.

Tsubasa sat on the swing all hunched up, almost motionless like a statue, and although this time her face wasn’t hidden by a mask, but her honey hair, Kiba knew that the girl was clearly not radiating joy.

“May I sit?,” he asked. Tsubasa didn’t even flinch.

“Yes.”

Kiba looked at the girl. When they first met, she was strong, cold and impenetrable. A true warrior. But now things were different. As a shinobi, he was not afraid to die on the battlefield, surrounded by dead and, possibly, even rotting bodies. But seeing a person fade like this, when they were unable to do anything about their state, when they burned out like a candle, turning with every second into a pale copy of their former self is what really scared him. At first, he didn’t care much what would happen to Yuki, but now, when her life glimmered on a candle stub, saving her was important. Either she will survive, and he will get rid of animal all-consuming fear, or her pale face, disfigured by illness, in the tongues of the funeral flame will haunt him till the end of his days.

Akamaru rested his head on Tsubasa’s lap. Still lost in her heavy thoughts, Yuki let her hands go of the swing chain and started to mechanically stroke and scratch the ninken behind the ears.

”Hey Tsu, I know that you are that type of shinobi who tries to follow the code perfectly. But we are not made of steel. You are not made of steel. You are feeling bad and tired. It’s unlikely that I will hear something that Ino did not show me or did not hear from you. Sharing pain as a shinobi is hard, but it’s even harder to keep your cool when you are on the verge of being broken by your own emotions. Even though I talk too much, anything you tell me tonight will stay here, I promise. So, tell me what’s eating you.

”You’re right. I am tired. I am weak, although I’ve tried to prove myself otherwise for my whole goddamn life. Even when I felt bad and thought that everything was lost, I clung to a few good things that I had. What does not kill makes us stronger, and the world, even drowning in war and blood, is still too beautiful to give up, especially the little things that everyone forgets. That’s what my father taught me. My path has never been covered with rose petals. Well.., for most people, actually. Still, I didn’t stop fighting for the people I love. Only when the clan curse showed itself… I was really scared. I felt completely helpless. And after the recent events… Fuck all my experience, knowledge and even more ranks. I am useless. I… I must accept the truth. I will die soon Kiba and I do not want to die here.”

Her previously smooth and still voice started to crack. Her shoulders shivered slightly.

“You, Ino and your friends are wonderful people and in general I like Konoha, but it will never be my home, and you will never replace my family. I hate to break promises, but I really don’t want to keep the one I gave to sensei and friends. I just want to give up and go back to Kiri. I miss them so much and want to see them one last time. Besides there is also one thing that bothers me…”

Mei was not that wrong when she said that Tsubasa might fall in love in Konoha. She actually did, but not with the soulmate destined by the stars. She fell in love with an eccentric, slightly arrogant and silly boy who may have not really known her, but still tried to help. Simply because he did not lose faith in her or their team, because he acted friendly with her and could cheer her up even in her darkest moments. For the fact that he could knock on the window at one in the morning and invite her into the forest to look at the fireflies. Just like that. It wasn’t like love at first sight, or a long courtship. With each passing day her feelings grew stronger washing over her like waves. Unfortunately, there were few “BUTs” that Tsubasa could not ignore:

She was from another village and even though there were many bad things in the hidden Mist, she was not going to betray it or move anywhere. She promised herself to help Sensei make the village a better place, and she was not going to give up on her dream either. Kiba was also too loyal to his family and friends. He would never leave them for some Kirigakure girl.

Moreover, Tsubasa felt guilty about her soulmate. Yes, she never saw him, but that did not stop him from taking care of her and obviously dreaming about their meeting. It would be wrong just not to care about his feelings.

Most importantly, that applied to both Kiba and the unknown “true one” - she was dying. She was a weak sick girl who had a month left to live at best. Of course, she could confess her feelings to the boy next to her right now, feel loved and die with a drop of happiness… But was it fair for Kiba who would have to live with this burden until the end of his days? Definitely not. She couldn’t do that to him. That’s why she would rather stay silent, burn out from her feelings, because at least she would not let him suffer.

“I just don’t know what to do… I feel lost.”

She lifted her head, blue feathers of her earnings blowing in the wind. Her face was emotionless and her body calm, yet uncontrollable tears were streaming down her face.

The boy took her freezing hand and pulled her into a hug. Tsubasa bit her lip, burying her face in his shoulder and soaking his jacket with tears.

”You lost only because you gave up right away as soon as you found out about your diagnosis! Stop thinking about the fucking disease! Focus on something else! Not on the loved ones, since it causes you so much pain. Focus on your dreams! On your soulmate!”

“Why are you so obsessed with the idea of soulmates?”

“Why are you so disgusted with the idea itself?”

She let his hand go and exhaled. There was no trace of her emotional outburst except for her bloodshot eyes. Tsubasa grabbed the swing chains, thinking for a second.

“I do not believe in fairy tales about gods, who loved each other and were separated, that blessed all mortal couples with a secret connection, in revenge to the rest of the pantheon. Why did everyone suddenly start to think that it was a love connection? What if that bond means a strong friendship? And how can finding lost things help my soulmate find me or specifically, my body? The only variant I see is where you tattoo the coordinates on your hand and lose it in battle. An ‘excellent’ plan! Moreover, where are the guarantees that soulmate couples will be happy? Give me one example.”

”Ino’s parents are soulmates.”

Both of them suddenly turned silent.

”As far as I know, Mrs. Yamanaka did not even know our language when she arrived here. She was from another country, with completely different customs, still she risked going into the unknown. And I don’t know any stronger couple.”

“The way you talk about it… Your parents aren’t soulmates either, are they?”

He nodded.

”Don’t get me wrong, I love my mother. In fact, my father left when I was one year old, so she and my sister raised me. But… My mother is a very difficult person. As far as I can remember, it was always important for her to be the first and she never cared about the feelings of others. This is good for a warrior, but not for a family member. She could easily say things that will hurt you, including the ones she said on purpose, as a joke in order to please her ego. When you tried to talk to her about this and ask her to tone it down a little, she pretended to listen at first, but soon forgot about it. As for my father, he was not from our clan, not even from our village. He was a stranger and ended up being at the very bottom of the clan’s hierarchy. My sister said that he could stand a lot of things, but not the betrayal and disregard towards him from his once loved one. Of course, this was not the only reason he left. After that, looking at how Ino’s parents perfectly understand each other and always try to find a compromise, on how strong their union is… I want the same kind of family. Yes, I can act like my mother, be short tempered and impulsive. I think you noticed it when we first met. I admit I behaved horribly, but with people close to me, whom I don’t want to lose, I try to control myself and work on it.”

“That’s… amazing Kiba. And despite the fact that you mostly act like a jerk -” he snorted and a small smile formed on her lips- “I have to admit that after knowing you better, I have respect for you. You don’t try to please everyone. You give all of yourself and your warmth only to the ones that are close to you. Only to those who, in your opinion, deserve it, disregarding the rest. This is right. I share the same point of view. But since you really want to find your soulmate, have you ever thought that you might end up being the one to leave your home? Are you ready for such a sacrifice yourself?”

Kiba fell silent. At first it seemed that he was deep in thought, but in reality, everything was different. He was frightened and listened to the silence of the night trying to find out if someone was eavesdropping on them. For a moment, the girl even thought that he used ninjutsu to sniff out strangers and make sure that there were no one near them.

As white as a sheet, he took her hand and ‘wrote’ his answer on the inside of her palm with a finger:

“Yes”

She glanced at him. His actions spoke louder than words.

“Your father is dead, isn’t he?”

”Were you born in a clan or joined it later, you cannot leave it.”

”I understand. After all, in Kiri, a lot is happening inside our clans too.”

They both sat in uncomfortable silence.

“When you said that my parents are not soulmates, you also said “either”. So..?”

“You heard right. You know that before Terumi-sama, Kirigakure was overflowing with nepotism and bribery? Well, people were willing to do anything to move up the career ladder. My mother really wanted a higher position in ANBU, so she made my father fall in love with her and convinced him that she was his soulmate. As you understand, it was also important for my father to find ‘the true one’ but when he realized that he was fooled it was already too late. He comforted himself with the fact that he seemed to love my mother even without that spiritual bond, plus he loved me with all his heart and soul. But in fact, the love between my parents was one-sided… and because of the special treatment to the Yuki clan, my father was never at home. So… when you start looking for your destined one, please be careful, okay? I do not want the same fate for you or for anyone else.”

Okay, let’s change the topic” - he waved his hands in a playful defensive gesture “You mentioned that you have a dream. So, what kind of dream?”

“Well, you chose a bad one to distract me, because my dream is deeply connected with my family. You know about the genocide of the Yuki clan?”

“Mmm, sorry, to be honest, not really. Only that when the Uchiha clan was massacred, the elders whispered with each other that it could be the same case as it was with your clan, where it was the Kage’s order or some sort.”

“The Yuki clan was once considered to be one of the most powerful clans in the village of the Hidden Mist. And of course, quite dangerous, especially for the past Mizukage, or rather, for the one who controlled him. So, one night, the entire main branch was killed and the clan’s library burned down. The Yuki clan was officially made part of a lower caste. Some clan members managed to escape, while others were often sent on dangerous and suicidal missions. Now from the once large clan, only 30-40 people remain in Kiri, and most of them are elders and children. For comparison, grandfather Naoki had four children, the same age as my father, and only one daughter remained alive. As you know, my frightened and repressed clan avoided communicating with each other. In fact, in my childhood, it was as if the clan did not exist at all. Childhood in Kiri was not easy, but the other children at least had a clan, a large family that stood up for them. I wanted it too. I wanted to be a part of a clan and before my illness I dreamed of reviving the Yuki clan, regaining lost knowledge and finding all the relatives lost around the world, whom, as far as I heard, were not liked by both ninjas and civilians. But now after that illness… I must find every single Yuki alive to make sure that no one will be alone while fighting the family curse and that no one will go through the same pain as me, giving them a chance to be cured. And I will do it, no matter what… If I survive, of course…”

“It’s … A great dream to achieve-,” he scratched his head not knowing what to say- “And I am sure you will! Just don’t be so pessimistic! “

”I am realistic.”

“Pessimistic.”

“Realistic!”

“OK, OK!” he chuckled.“Looks like only realists like you, who talk about how bad and terrible everything will be, turn out to be chuunins.”

“What? Kiba, I don’t… urgh forget it! Arguing with you on any topic is simply useless when you are stubborn as a mule.”

“Said another mule!”

She laughed. Warmly and sincerely, for the first time this evening, and perhaps since they returned from that ill-fated mission.

”By the way, if your life in the hidden mist was so bad why do you hate the idea of moving to another place? Like here, to Konoha?”

“First of all, my life in Kiri is perfect now. Secondly, when people will learn that I am from the hidden mist they will hate me. The only thing that saves me now is that commoners think I am a distant relative of Ino.”

“Why do you think that?”

“You never heard why Kiri women are hated so much?”

“No.”

“Well let me tell you,” she grinned sinisterly. “One year, in our village, due to hunger, disease and war, there were practically no men left. Then the women decided to fill this gap by stealing men from other villages. But then they questioned themselves, how to transport healthy and adult shinobi without harming them? This is how the world-famous art of Kirigakure ANBU was born, thanks to which we can immobilize even the most powerful warrior,” she chuckled as a senbon she used in some missions appeared from nowhere, - “With the combination of many factors, but still. Well, those poor souls who ended up in Kiri … they essentially had no choice, but to marry ladies there if they wanted to live.”

“Are you joking?!”

“I’m not! In fact, my great-grandfather was kidnapped from the village hidden in the Stone. So, be careful Inuzuka Kiba! Who knows, maybe my illness is just a part of a secret mission and I’m actually here to pick up suitable candidates… And you might end up being one of them! You may turn out to be a good third husband for me, you know?”

He laughed.

“Oh really? Well, I would die to see how you would try to steal me with such an amazing guard as Akamaru!”

“Oh darling,” she grinned and hugged the huge white dog,” I would find a way to make that adorable boy my partner in crime! “

Akamaru happily barked in agreement and both teenagers burst into laughter, almost falling off the swing.

“By the way,” she said after a small pause, “I have to admit that fireflies are much more beautiful in Konoha. Thank you for letting me enjoy such beauty…”

He bit his lip and took her hand in his. The Ice crystals were still showing from her bandage returned them both to the dreadful reality.

“You will survive Tsu, I promise you, and you will see many more fireflies. Not only these.”

She looked at him with a faded, crooked smile. A smile that only gravely ill and very tired people have. Kiba returned her a look and his heart squeezed painfully in his chest, skipping a beat.

“Don’t make a promise that you can’t keep.”

”I’ll keep it! You will see. We are close to finding the ancient temple of the Yuki clan, and there definitely should be information on how to cure you. And after the next mission is completed, we will go to a grill bar! In the land of water there are only sea creatures and practically no normal beef. I cannot let you go back to Kiri without letting you know all the delights of good meat.”

She chuckled.

“If you say so.”

But there would be no grill bar or any next time. They found information about the temple location, but at the cost of everything else. The disease turned out to be unstoppable at this point. Luckily, they managed to reach it in time and save Tsubasa’s life.

Three months had passed since her miraculous recovery. Representatives of the Mist village appeared in Konoha the next day and took the girl with them, not allowing her even to say goodbye to her new friends. Still, their paths will cross in the future.

Upon returning to Kiri, Tsubasa began to communicate a lot with Ino through letters, which made the Mizukage almost ecstatic. She hoped that friendship with the clan princess would turn into a possible strong political tie in the future. One way or another, Mei was going to make her children, if not a future Mizukage, then those on whom the village could rely. Sometimes Mei was so happy about the benefits that Tsubasa had a feeling that her illness and departure to Konoha were part of Sensei’s plan to improve relationships with the village from the very beginning. However, she thought it was too weird and silly to be true.

She also sent letters to Kiba. Feelings for him that suddenly flared up in her heart were not planning to disappear, but she still had no intention of getting into his personal life. He wanted to find his soulmate, and she respected that wish. This was the least she could do for him. “Besides,” she thought while drinking peach tea in the evenings and remembering how he was trying to warm her drastically freezing body on their trip to the temple, “it is unlikely that we would have succeeded even if there would be no soulmate. We are too loyal and attached to our villages and clans. None of us would move to another village for the sake of other. Only a soulmate had such privilege.“

Therefore, she was happy to be his friend at least, send the boxes of tangerines and dried seafood snacks on special occasions, help with advice on everyday problems that all teenagers went through, regardless of which shinobi village they were born in, and just talk about all sorts of nonsense.

At six am, there was a loud knock on the door. Tsubasa was just getting ready for the training and she had no idea who would need to see her at such an early hour (her teammates were waiting for her at the training field, so it could not be them).

A familiar figure was standing outside of the door. Tired from the road, a little nervous, but smiling. Holding a medium-sized flat box under his arm.

“Kiba? What are you doing here, especially this early?!”

“There were reasons,” he said giving her a box, “may i come in?”

“Of course, you can, I’ll make you some tea and something to eat for you two.”

The girl moved away to the side, letting the boy and his dog into the apartment. Akamaru immediately stretched and laid himself on the carpet of the living room, while Kiba took a seat in the kitchen.

“So, what’s the reason you came here?”

“Open the box,” he said with a smile.

Tsubasa raised her eyebrows skeptically. She put the box on the table, thin fingers gripping the blue lid and pulling it up. Her father’s mask with its cold material was staring right into the girl from the inside. Frozen in complete shock, looking at the once-lost thing dear to her heart, she did not notice how Kiba approached her from behind.

“I just felt lost,” he said in a soft voice, while tucking a loose strand behind her ear. Their faces were only a few inches apart, “And desperately wanted to be found.”

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