#often it feels like kakashi is very trained with his thoughts

[anubisthe1]

Kakashi is a human, yet through his dogs, I can't help but think of him as one. He is stubbornly loyal to his owner even if said owner never feeds him. The owner killed his dad and his friends and made sure to grow kakashi into a violent dog that barks and bites on command.

Yet even when kakashi is wrong, you can't properly be mad at a dog.

[aaizawashouta]

So This Is Love

pairing: naruto x fem!reader

word count: 2k

summary: he’s more than a war hero, your personal sunshine

warnings: none

Lazy fingers trail over warm skin. Early morning light pours into the bedroom, dancing with the sheer curtains that billow in the breeze. You forgot to shut the window last night, but summer was sneaking up early this year. A soft smile touches your lips as you trace over familiar scars. Naruto sleeps next to you, sheets pooled at his waist and snores slipping from his mouth. The sunlight warms his skin, making him glow. He looks ethereal, your very own god. Pressing a soft kiss to his shoulder his own lips twitch at the feeling.

Your eyes meet sleepy ones when he catches your hand. Lips parting when he brings it up to his mouth, placing light kisses to each of your fingertips. Your teeth dig into your bottom lip, fingers tingling. His smile is blinding as he stares at you. Blonde hair, a golden halo around his head and blue eyes you’d surely drown in if you stare too long.

There aren’t many days like these. Where you get him only to yourself. The war may be over, but his dreams are just on the horizon. Naruto turned out to be a very important man and you couldn’t be more proud. Smiling at him you tilt your chin up, eyes meeting his as you gently place your lips against his. You can’t help the head sigh that escapes you when his hand weaves into your hair.

“Good morning.”

“Mhm.”

Naruto laughs when you pull away from him. He loves how easy it is to get you all flustered. Some days treating it like a game, trying to beat his personal best. You roll your eyes, ignoring his grabby hands and make your way to the kitchen. It doesn’t take him long to follow after you.

It’s something about the way he watches you. His eyes devour you from where he sits at the dining table, elbow on the table, chin in hand. He grins at you, his whole aura almost as blinding as the sun peaking out from between the drapes as you bring him a cup of tea. He takes the cup from you, calloused fingers lingering on your own. Eyes trailing as the cup lifts to his lips, and down his throat. Licking your lips at the bob of his adams apple.

“Honey, you’re staring.”

Your eyes meet his. “So?”

A yelp escapes you when hands wrap around your thighs and lift you to the table. You glare at him when your ass collides with the mug, almost tipping it over. Naruto only smirks, leaning in to capture your lips with his. Your stomach clenches, the taste of him and your favorite tea almost drowning you. The feeling of his thumbs rubbing soothing circles into your inner thighs, the only thing keeping you afloat. Tipping your head back when his lips leave yours, leaving a burning trail down your neck. The pace is slow, lazy, matching the tone of your morning. Naruto’s thumbs keep rubbing into your skin even as his hands rise higher, finding themselves underneath his shirt you had picked up from the floor earlier.

“You’ve got studying to do, Naru.”

He grumbles against your shoulder. Iruka makes sure to come by every so often while Naruto is on missions. That way you can help keep him updated on how he’s doing with his work. He has to do the work, if he wants to be hokage. He won’t let Kakashi keep the title forever.

“I don’t want to.”

You can’t help but snort at his pouting. “I know, but I can help, yeah?”

You keep your eyes trained on the sketchbook in your lap, attempting not to be conspicuous when you look up to study him every now and then. The idea makes you snort. As if your staring has ever bothered him. You stared so hard when you first met him that you hadn’t heard a thing he said to you for about three minutes. It was the most embarrassing thing that had ever happened to you, but hey, he thought you were the cutest thing.

Once he figured out you truly weren’t an idiot. It all worked out.

When he looks up at you now and catches you lost in thought as you admire him, his lips tilt up into a teasing grin. You wink at him before looking back down at the book. You’ve drawn him a hundred times before. This one is probably your favorite. Him at home, content with you. Holding the piece back a bit, you study your favorite parts. The gentle way his lashes rest against his cheeks. The slope of his nose. He looks peaceful. Godlike.

“What are you drawing over there, honey?”

You don’t have to look up from the sketchbook to know that his smirk has turned more haughty than before, and when he leans forward a little, you lean back at the same time to keep your sketchbook out of his reach.

He knows you draw him. He’s seen a few of them. He’s seen almost all of your artwork. In fact, he has one of your drawings tattooed on him. He got it while on your honeymoon. You thought he was crazy but he thinks he was being romantic. Whatever. But this one, it feels different. More personal. It’s not him being vulnerable on the page, but you as well.

“Just the garden,” you lie, with a little shrug, looking back out the window for added effect, scrunching your eyes slightly as if to examine it in depth.

“The garden,” he repeats. He doesn’t believe you. Not like he has to. He knows without a doubt you’re lying. “That why you keep looking at me?”

“Maybe I just missed you, ever think of that?” You counter, but it comes out in a harsh whisper, like you're trying not to cry. Closing the sketchbook quickly, you nearly jam your finger in between the pages. His gaze burns over you, taking you in from your averted gaze, hands clenching your sketchbook, your rigged posture, back pressed so hard against the chair, as if purposely trying to keep a distance from him.

“Honey, I’m right here.”

You huff. As if you don’t already know this. As if you haven’t had your eyes on him since you crashed into him in the living room when he walked in last night, arms around his neck and legs around his waist. He’d been gone for almost a month. It’s why you couldn’t sleep last night — because he’s home. He’s here and all you want is him close. You want him with you. You want him living inside you where he can’t ever escape; where the thought of losing him is only a nightmare. Your eyes have gone misty, something you can’t hide when you glance up at him when you feel a finger lazily drag up your arm. You raise your brows trying to feign innocence as you place the sketchbook on the other side of you. He could easily reach it if he wanted to, you’d have no chance at keeping it from him, but it seems that he can sense the anxiety radiating off of you. Naruto’s smirk falls into something softer, gentler. Something you’ve only seen a handful of times — something that he saves just for you.

“Dance with me.”

You hesitate for a small second. “What?”

His eyes brighten as he pulls himself up into a sitting position. He grabs your phone that’s sitting on the coffee table and raises the volume. Suddenly, it’s two years ago, the beginning of June and you’re standing in the middle of a crowd — all of your loved ones there to celebrate the two of you. The song tugs on your heartstrings more than it ever has before. Naruto’s eyes slightly crinkle with his smile.

“Dance with me.” he says softly as he extends his hand out for you to take.

Without much effort you're in his arms, swaying to the song that played during your first dance as a married couple. You can’t seem to stop the tears that fall from your eyes. You aren’t sad, but this feels like a lot. He’s got you wrapped up in him. One arm wrapped around your waist holding you to him, while the other is cradling your head, fingers weaved through your hair. Your head rests on his shoulder, hands tight around his waist, both of you lost in each other, in the magic of the radiant sun, the silence of the early afternoon.

“Do you regret marrying me?” Naruto whispers in your ear.

“No.”

“You’d choose this life again?”

“I’d choose you every time no matter what it meant. I can deal with this, Naru, as long as I get you back every time. Every time.”

His eyes rest heavy on you, and your pulse starts to race when the soft light in his eyes slightly darkens into something else. His gaze lingers on your lips long enough for you to tilt your chin up, bringing your mouth closer to his, and when his lips realign to that familiar smirk you know, like always, he’s more aware of the effect he has on you than he should be. Maybe you should be embarrassed by that, but it makes things easy. You never have to ask, he just knows. Like how you’re standing here with the electric hum of excited energy flooding your veins already, desperately waiting to feel his mouth on yours. He lowers his head slowly, eyeing you with a playful gleam telling you that he’s teasing you — that he knows his slow pace is driving you crazy. But it doesn’t last long, the moment you run your tongue along your bottom lip, his playful attitude breaks, and his lips collide with yours. You pull him closer as his hand slips down to grab at your thigh. Without much thought you jump, wrapping your legs around him as he carries you back to your bedroom.

With Naruto, kisses are more than just feeling his lips against yours. It’s his calloused fingers slowly brushing the inside of your thighs, in a slow teasing motion, that drives you crazy until you're grinding against him. Desperate for him to touch you, really touch you. It’s the taste of his spearmint tongue brushing against your own, sending white-hot jolts of pleasure straight down to your core. It’s the smell of him — intoxicating, mouthwatering, enough to make you weak at the knees. But more than anything, it’s the sound of him — of the deep exhales when your fingers dip into the band of his pajama pants to tease him, the throaty groan when you grind your hips down into his, the position of you resting over him on your bed one of power, one he gives only you. It’s the surprised laugh that echoes from him whenever you nibble on his bottom lip or pull away to catch your breath.

Your seconds away from doing that when he breaks away from the kiss, grinning up at you like he knows you weren’t breathing. He probably does. The man knows you like the back of his hand from the moment you met. Naruto only shakes his head, a soft laugh pouring out of him, his thumb running along your cheekbone. He’s looking up at you like you hung the stars and the moon. But that can’t be right, can it? Not when he’s magic, a myth. Something you can’t really phantom. A god in your bed, carved marble under your fingertips. He is the earth and you, it’s lone moon, never far and always following closely behind.

There’s more studying to be done. Another mission that’ll take him away for who knows how long. But in a world of peace, for now, you’re willing to share him. Willing to be placed to the side so he can conquer his dreams. Willing to do anything and everything to help him.

His finger taps your nose, causing you to scrunch it. He grins down at you before bumping his nose against yours. “You’re everything.” He says it so softly, as if mirroring your thoughts. Assuring you in a way that baffles you always. How does he know? But that’s the magic of him, you think.

This is love, on a Sunday morning.

[sea-owl]

hi!! have u ever entertained the idea of yander sasuke for sasusaku? cause there's probs some clan bullshit that makes him think it's acceptable as sakuras losing her shit over a dead body lmao.

Have I read it? Yes. Have I written anything for it? That is up to your interpretation. Closest would probably be this post here.

The Uchiah's are known to sorta loose it after the loss of a loved one, and I can see it extending from the loved one leaving to the loved one dying. So I just imagine young Sasuke tossing all morals out the window when it comes to the last people he loves cares about.

So yeah I can totally see it, especially in the beginning. Sasuke keeps a tight leash on it at first because hello, they gotta kill Itachi.

Then he gets assigned to Team 7 and has to listen to Kakashi make his speeches about comrades, and teamwork. He starts spending more time around Naruto and Sakura.

He almost dies in the Land of Waves, and oh. Oh no. Does he care about his teammates? Is he starting to love them?

The others are used to him being quiet, so they don't think much of it on the way home. Meanwhile Sasuke is analyzing every single interaction he has had between Naruto and Sakura.

Right away, he can identify what he is beginning to feel towards Naruto. They are similar feelings he felt for Itachi. The feelings for Sakura were new to him. It felt like light after being in the darkness for so long. Sasuke found he rather liked that light and refused to see it extinguished.

When they get back to the village Sasuke starts keeping a closer eye on Sakura. More often enough shadowing her without her knowledge.

It's made even worse once Orochimaru gives him the curse mark. All his darker thoughts are coming to the surface. At that point, boy needs all the brain bleach to help him.

Those sound ninjas dared to try to snuff out Sakura's light. To leave Sasuke alone again in the darkness. Very well then, Sasuke will gladly leave them in darkness instead.

Things don't go exactly as planned, but Sasuke is content for the moment. Those sound ninjas are gone, and Sakura needs him more currently.

Things get really complicated after the Sand villages invasion of the Leaf village. Sakura got hurt because of him, and Naruto was the one to save her. Sasuke found himself in his own way clingy to Sakura. On missions, he often makes sure they're the ones paired up. During training, she is almost always in eye view. Sasuke will never admit this, but at night, he has started watching over her. Her balcony is satisfactory for him to sleep as long as he can make sure she doesn't get hurt. He's always gone before she wakes.

His relationship with Naruto started to become messy. Sasuke already had plans to kill one brother, he will not hesitate to kill another so long as kept Sakura's light.

[seoheesoo]

AU! A day in the life of the Might-Hatake family

[P.1]

The cool March evening air was filled with loud laughter. A short girl walked alone along the busy streets, who did not at all share the general fun. People passing by briefly looked at her, their attention was attracted by her sad face, but then they were distracted by something else and all thoughts about the strange girl left their heads. And at this time she slowly but purposefully walked towards the training grounds. At first glance, there was nothing about her that revealed the fact that she was a shinobi. She was not wearing a head protector, bandages or any other ninja attributes. To passersby she seemed like an ordinary little girl, but she was not like that.

The man waved to the departing teenagers and began to collect various types of bladed weapons scattered throughout the training ground. Today's training was very fruitful. The children’s teamwork became even better, which couldn’t help but please the man. The Jōnin put the weapon scrolls into his bag and turned his head. His gaze fell on a girl standing in the middle of the ground. The rays of the setting sun fell softly on her sad face. Guy's heart sank at the sight of her sad green eyes. The man turned to her and opened his arms. The girl hesitated for a second, and then with the speed of lightning she covered the distance and wrapped her thin arms around his waist. The girl's grip became even stronger; her training with Tsunade was making itself felt. Guy gently ruffled the girl's pink hair.

“Do you want to talk?” - he asked softly.

Sakura shook her head. The man put his hands on the girl’s fragile shoulders and gently broke the hug. Guy dropped to one knee, bringing himself to the level of the girl's face. Sakura lowered her head down, hiding her face behind her pink hair. Guy pursed his lips and hugged the girl. Sakura wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder. Guy felt the girl's shoulders tremble. The man stroked her back soothingly.

He was not surprised by her arrival. A year has passed since Sasuke and Naruto left the village. And, if Naruto consistently wrote letters, sending them with toads, and let them know that everything was fine with him, then with Sasuke the situation was completely different. No one knew where he was or whether he was even alive. And this unknowing weighed on the fragile shoulders of Sakura, who was left completely alone in the village. Guy often caught Sakura's sad glances at other teams. The girl missed her teammates, but she missed her sensei even more. After Team 7 was disbanded, Tsunade began sending Kakashi on solo missions. Hatake spent more time outside the village than in Konoha itself. And at each rare meeting, Sakura only managed to catch a short glance from gray eyes in which regret and guilt were so clearly read. Sakura was never a stupid girl and immediately realized that Kakashi was avoiding her. Deep down, she could understand him, but she never blamed him for the team's breakup. But she was angry at him for not being there for her when she desperately needed it. And in such difficult moments of loneliness, the girl went to the only person who could give her consolation and a feeling of comfort. Sakura hid her face on Guy's strong shoulder and could finally let go of herself and be, at least for a few minutes, weak. At such moments, Guy would let her cry, and then treat her to dango and tell her funny stories about his childhood. Sakura wiped away her tears and listened carefully to Guy's stories about the awkward Asuma, the shy Kurenai, the boring Ebisu and the sarcastic Genma. About the strict Shizune and the wild Anko. About the gentle, caring and kind Rin. About funny, clumsy and brave Obito. About the gloomy, closed and vulnerable Kakashi. All these adult Jōnins turned into ordinary children in Guy's stories. And Sakura truly loved these stories. After long stories, the girl thanked Guy for the dango and ran home, feeling how the weight on her shoulders became lighter, and a bright spark of inspiration lit up in her green eyes.

But this time everything was different. Guy glanced at Konoha and smiled sadly. The cool March air brought with it the loud laughter of people. Sakura shivered from the cold and gently broke the hug. The girl wiped away the traces of tears on her cheeks and pursed her lips. On this spring day, Sakura felt especially lonely. Guy sighed worriedly and tucked the hair that had fallen on the girl's face behind her ear. A delicate petal is stuck in pink hair. Guy unclenched his fingers and the wind carried the pink petal towards the forest.

“Sakura,” - he called the girl softly.

She raised her head, tears still shining in her eyes. Guy handed her a small box with a red bow. Kakashi left it on the table in their apartment before leaving for the mission. Guy smiled at the girl, looking at how brightly her green eyes lit up.

“Happy birthday”.

[asexual-angsty-writer]

A/B/O Team Kakashi — Beta!Kakashi, Beta!Naruto, Omega!Sasuke and Alpha!Sakura:

Beta!Kakashi:

Kakashi was kinda panicked about the fact he had an A-B-O team, as it reminded him of his own team.

Kakashi started to pack-bond with Naruto by doing each-others hair once Naruto's start to grow long enough.

He had a very hard time aclimating himself to the kids scents and learning what each meant.

At first, he didn't want a team-pack, so he was originally planning on just getting them to a point where they're still good enough to stay shinobi, but that they'd eventually move them to another jonin sensei.

He started to grow attached during the D-rank missions, as his instincts eventually won out and he started to help a bit.

He grew concerned about Sasuke a bit, since his scent would sour whenever someone mentioned anything about being an Omega.

He gently nudged Sakura into being a 'Team-Alpha' through small comments/anectodas whenever she stared away from the boys.

He thought about them as his 'pups' at one point, even if he denies it.

Whenever he was at the hospital because of a stupid injury, he always thought about his pups.

Beta!Naruto:

Naruto was completely pissed off once he found out who his teammates were, because he feels like the only reason he's there is to be a buffer.

Naruto had an easier time accepting his feminine side, though he kept it hidden because people would make comments about his interest back when he was a kid, and people thought he'd be an Alpha.

Naruto would often keep himself to one side of Kakashi, as to create a barrier between him and his teammates.

The first time he felt like him and Sakura were teammates, was when they were both left to clean an area up in a D-rank.

Naruto was surprised that Sakura started the conversation, even if it wasn't a topic he was interested in, he tried his best to participate.

He liked being able to, eventually, style Sakura's hair as it made it feel like they were actually friends to him.

When he came back from training with Jiraiya, him and Sakura immediately wrestled each other to the ground.

Alpha!Sakura:

Sakura suffers an incredible amount of insecurity about her femininity once she presented as an Alpha.

Sakura had a fear of exploring both her more masculine side and her Alpha side, as her parents never expected her to be either.

Sakura was devastated when her parents started to treat her differently, their expectations of her changing drastically in a way she couldn't understand.

Her first time rutting was hell because she didn't know how to soothe it — as her parents had taught her only how to soothe a heat.

Sakura started to resent her femininity once she started to think that it was holding her back from becoming a shinobi.

She went through a heavy phase where she thought that, to be an Alpha, she needed to change everything about herself.

Kakashi put a stop to that, though it was really Tsunade who ultimately helped her through it.

She likes dragging Sai and Naruto shopping with her, as it took longer for her to patch her freidnship with Ino.

She kept her hair short because she preferred to style it then with small accessories, then she did when she had longer hair.

Omega!Sasuke:

Sasuke though that having an Alpha on the team would just slow him down even more than having the class dead-beat on his team.

Sasuke is hyper-masculine as a default, but people keep assuming it's something he's forcing on himself. It's not. He just isn't a feminine Omega, and that's fine.

Sakura's pheromones were an annoyance to him, especially as she didn't know how to control it yet

Heats were uncomfortable, as he didn't have anyone to teach him how to smooth it over.

He'd work himself to the bone constantly.

He sucked at maintaining a proper diet when younger, so it seriously tanked his stamina when he was starting out as a genin.

In his teen years, he'd just do constant training through his heat, even if his body was screaming for him to take a break.

He forgets to hydrate himself a lot, so he has constant migraines, and it's why he's in a sudden foul mood.

[wendyfulmother]

N.aruto Verse

Wendy's relationship with the Sensei's! For her relationships involving the Konoha Rookies (Teams 7 ,8 ,10 , & 3 [Guy]), Here are Part's 1 & 2!

Kakashi: Considering that K.akashi is one of Wendy's two godfathers, he and Wendy have the closest bond. Due to being in the ANBU when she was little, he couldn't visit her as often. Yet, despite this, he ALWAYS watched over her. He made up for lost time though the day that she accompanied Team 7 to help rescue her youngest brother, Michael. Since that day, the two of them rekindled their bond. He begins to train her during the period before the events of S.hippudden. During all that time and during S.hippuden, the two of them have a father & daughter like bond. He sees her like his own child, as he was entrusted to protect her with the godfather title. It's also the fact that Wendy has gotten quite a bit of his sass, especially as a teenager. She eventually becomes one of the few people besides her mother Mary and Guy to see what's behind that mask of his. Guy: The other one of Wendy's godfathers. He was the one who was there the most Guy absolutely loves his god-daughter and like Kakashi, would do anything for her at the drop of a hat. He protects her just as much as he does his own team. He helps trains Wendy in taijutsu during the timeskip while Kakashi was off on missions. Asuma: Wendy thought that Asuma was really chill and nice. He was always there to lend advice if the kids needed it, especially Wendy. His de*th leaves a very big scar in her heart and she feels responsible for his demise by not being strong or fast enough to stop Hidan. She wasn't able to attend his funeral due to being in the hospital for injuries during the fight with both Hidan & Kakuzu. Kurenai: Wendy is the least close with Kurenai out of the four main sensei. Wendy admires her abilities and her kindness. Whenever she sees Kurenai, she always gives her a wave. After the war and once Kurenai has Mirai, Wendy often offers to babysit the child for Kurenai when she needs to go on errands. J.iraiya: Wendy didn't know Jiraiya all TOO well, but she had heard tell that he was a very good writer. Though, she was not allowed to read any of his books (honestly for good reason). From the times that she did get to talk to him, Wendy thought he was very wise when it came to life advice or jutsu advice...other advice though, not so much. She was upset when he d*ed and was devastated for Naruto. She was there with Kakashi, Sakura, Sai, Yamato and Lady Tsunade when Lord Fukasaku told Naruo the news of his passing. T.sunade: Wendy absolutely admires Lady Tsunade. She thinks she's very strong and smart. She always goes to her whenever Kakashi and Guy aren't around for advice. Though sometimes, Wendy can be quite intimidated by her due to her frighting nature when she's angry. Nonetheless, Wendy sees her as an incredible Hokage and a phenominal leader.

[tsukuyomii45]

your thoughts on obitoxfem kks also give me some headconan

I love them just as much as I love Madara x Fem!Hashirama (vice versa) and Gaara x Fem!Naruto!

I think genderbender pairs are underrated, and they have an amazing charm to them.

Anyways, let's get to the headcanons, which is in the canon au (some angst ahead):

It's a complete love/hate relationship. Know-it-all girl vs Boy who wants to beat the know-it-all in everything.

Fem!Kakashi sort of developed a small crush on Obito when they were younger, but she was the type that was avoidant, and was too afraid of being vulnerable. She had a habit of denying her feelings and burying them inside.

While Obito tends to always challenge her or rub at her face some of his achievements, he finds himself reaching out to fem!Kakashi whenever he sees her brooding or sitting alone. He tends to just hang around and talk to her about anything, just to wipe off the sad or grim expression she often wears.

Fem!Kakashi finds herself feeling irritated when she sees Obito giving his attention to Rin, and this would be the first time she admits that she actually really likes the attention he gives her, even if he's being annoying or consistently challenging her.

When Obito hurts himself, fem!Kakashi finds herself grumpily reaching over to have a look at his injuries, and takes the gauze or bandage out of Rin's hand to wrap him up, scolding him for being so careless.

The more time she spent around the stubborn Uchiha, the more Kakashi has grown used to his presence, so when he's not around, she would find an excuse to seek him out, whether it's a challenge or to reprimand him, or just to follow him around whenever he's helping an elderly.

The day that Obito got crushed by the boulder, was the day Kakashi cried so hard and told him that there was no team without him. His words about her being an amazing Jounin always rings in her head. His "death" truly devastated her, and she ends up regretting not letting him know of her feelings for him.

You can imagine the shock she feels when Obito is revealed to be the masked man during the war - but that's where her feelings and emotions start to go haywire. During their battle in the Kamui dimension, she wavers in the middle of the fight, knowing that she is unable to kill him no matter what - and Obito takes advantage of that by pulling her closer to him and holding her tightly, showing that he's aware of her feelings for him, and he tells her that "they can have it all" and that they can be together in their own world.

When Obito gets defeated, Kakashi attempts to kill him once more, but when Minato stops her, Kakashi lets out her grief and tears, beating her fists at his chest and scolding him for his ways, telling him that she would've been by his side and he would never have to be alone, and she would be the one to heal the hole in his heart if he let her. Obito looks at her with a pained expression, fully realizing Kakashi's love for him and imagining what it would've been like.

Warning: NSFW

In an AU where they live together and Obito's the Hokage while fem!Kakashi is his wife/lover, they'd have the kinkiest sexual relationship because Kakashi loves to try out the positions and sexual acts that she tends to pick up from Icha Icha Paradise.

She's very protective of Obito and Obito is the most supporting man for her, who loves to show her off and show off that he's married to Konoha's top Jounin protégé.

Fem!Kakashi tends to annoy Obito for attention, because she just loves his reaction.

Pillow talk at night is their favorite.

They tend to argue about whether fem!Kakashi should keep her dogs inside the house or leave them in their summoning dimension.

The Kamui dimension is technically their "sex dungeon" LMAO.

Their favorite quality time is training together and walking fem!Kakashi's dogs. :3

That's all for now!

[luffythinker]

RECENTLY UPDATED MY FIC AND IM SO GLAD UR COMIC BACK BC I HAD SOME QUESTION literally have 0 friends into Naruto so I wanted to ask what you think of my story so far?

https://archiveofourown.org/series/2979207

I have several ideas where I want the story to go but I'm a little stuck for ideas on how I'm gonna have Shikamaru care (further) about Naruto before he leaves with Jiraiya like I've already made Naruto break down to him about having to fight Sasuke and now Shikas a more then a little concern about him wondering what Sasuke could have done to make a guy like Naruto cry like that he's also got a tiny crush on him bc that time he cheered for him when he was fighting Temari in the Chunin exam but he's viewing as "it just meant a lot to me that he bothered to cheer for me" Cirrently Shikamaru is in "well my first mission was a bust I need more experience to get better" mode while I'm about to make Naruto ask Tsunade what he could do to make her let him go look for Sasuke cause she wont let him leave the village because Jiraiya told her to keep him occupied while he goes to do more investigation about the Akatski (this is not my plot this is what happen in the anime I'm just adding to it) I want to make Tsunade instead send him on silly missions to occupy his mind send him on missions that's going to actually help him and prepare him to fight Sasuke if he has to even if she's not on board with the whole saving Sasuke idea. Then jiraiya comes back like hey ima take Naruto cause they want the Jinjuriki ima train him so Tsunade has already had someone thinking Kakashi or Iruka training him before Jiraiya even found this out but they were training him for Sasuke retrieve mission 2 in mind they didnt know about that.

So my question is how do you think I can go about having Tsunade train him for Sasuke retrieval mission 2? My first thought was Naruto believes of he was an ANBU member she would let him go (and I dont know if in part 1 they knew Kakashi was ANBU or not cause I dont recall them ever seeing him with his jacket off or him telling them) Naruto's gonna put that idea away for now cause training to be ANBU isnt something he wants to waste time on he wants to be Hokage but maybe that's a side goal to hit ANBU to get Sasuke then Hokage

I need some help with the what do we do from here to convince Tsunade or does she just have a change of heart cause she doesn't think Naruto's conviction is a joke but she and Jiraiya seen very on Naruto forgetting about Sasuke (I've seen up to Shippuden Jiraiya death so ita not a large spoil for you to tell me anything important to the plot I actually know what happens to the end but I plan to have Sasuke come back after the Itachi fight)

EVERYONE GATHER AROUND

New update of Shikamaru and Naruto a troublesome love story just dropped, this is part 5 so if u haven't read the others check it out!!

really good writing, the story is progressing so nicely i really love it

As for how to make them get closer or The Feelings start, i would say go for the little missions route and since naruto is not a chunnin yet make shikamaru be paired up with him every so often, i think they would be something nice and it would bloom The Feeling in shika's chest, naruto is too worried about everything else so he's not really internalizing it right now but it will come to him eventually

About naruto joining anbu hmmm this is very bold for sure, i think tsunade would offer it as a joke like "if u complete this training you can go try to get sasuke back again" and naruto takes it seriously, he will do it if he has too, yeah it's not his end goal but if it gets his friend back, he will do it. So Tsunade would let him, bc she thinks it will take a long time but she underestimates his determination lol

i'm not sure i understand why they would want him to forget about sasuke tho? could u say more about that?

[flintsilvers]

some thoughts before the next boruto chapter comes out so i remember what to keep an eye on

sasuke's status: hes not with boruto, though boruto has his sword and cloak. so is he alive and just stayed behind or is he dead or a secret third thing? it is said that code and boruto fought two years prior to boruto's return to konoha (so a year after he fled) but boruto was helpless during the fight, so it would make sense that sasuke would have been the one to actually fight code. did code kill sasuke? (would make sense since even with his 6 tomae rinnegan he got stomped on by ishiki and code is stronger than ishiki). on that note, sasuke might have been the one to blind code in one eye

sarada's ms: we haven't seen what her ms can do yet (my money is on some form of powerful genjutsu on the same level as tsukuyomi or kotoamatsukami that could probably counter omnipotence but an attack type ms would be cool too) but the biggest issue for sarada is that one way or another she is going to go blind in at least one eye, since sasuke (if he is even still alive) would only be able to give her one eye

claw grime with the rinnegan: why was a claw grime sporting a rinnegan?? the only rinnegan left in existence was sasuke's, before momoshiki stabbed him in the eye?? so how the hell did that happen. also it could talk? im betting kawaki didn't actually kill it and that it will be making another appearance so i'm sure that will be explained. i've seen some people theorize that it might actually be sasuke or maybe a regular claw grime fused with sasuke's dna but would that be enough to produce a rinnegan? its a stretch imho. tho it might just be sasuke, which would explain why he isn't with boruto, but then why would boruto be trying to give code a way out?

himawari: right before the time skip daemon saw something special in her and, considering she's training bc she wants to help boruto despite her own memories being altered, im sure she'll play a big role (not like huge, cause its kishimoto we're talking about but..you know) plus she has the byakugan and she's hopefully been training in gentle fist (which would be one of the few things that could actually take down kawaki since its taijutsu). ALSO! she might awaken the tenseigan (bc what was the point of the last if that dojutsu was never gonna be talked about again??) cause lets be real the only way to be relevant here is if you have a dojutsu or something like sage mode or karma (the latter often granting you a dojutsu anyway)

shikamaru: was he the best choice for hokage? probably not, i still think sakura or kakashi should have worn the hat or, hell, maybe even tsunade, but this is a new world and there's new technologies. he might be able to compensate for his physical weakness with scientific ninja tools

kakashi, yamato and sakura: where are they? sakura has made very few appearances in part 1 and has never been heard of again. kakashi has not made a single manga appearance since the land of hot springs. yamato is, im assuming, still watching orochimaru but why wasn't the mokuton user called back to konoha when the otsutsuki reappeared?? especially with the threat of the ten tails? i know moegi also has mokuton (even tho it was never explained how she acquired it, as i doubt she has creation of all things lmao) but isnt two better than one?

mitsuki: obviously all of mitsuki's feelings for boruto have transferred onto kawaki bc of omnipotence, but you can tell something is off. even after three years since eida used omnipotence (meaning the new memories should have cemented in everyone's brains) mitsuki is starting to doubt that kawaki is his sun. i predict hes going to try and kill boruto only to realize he is his sun and somehow snap out of eida's ability. or at least hes going to follow boruto regardless of what his memories tell him, sorta like sasuke

[electrasev5nwrites]

Ninja Daily: Vapors 26

The toad fidgeted a little, directing big pleading eyes up at the dark-haired child in the room. Children often carried candy, right? And they were susceptible to emotional manipulation and cute things. And Gamatsu was adorable.

Sasuke glowered, wishing that old hag would just hurry up and finish reading. He swore that thing was staring at him. Whatever was going on must be important. When he had reluctantly brought the foul thing to the tower, she had been in a meeting of some sort with an ANBU operative and the Nara clan head (a group that was assembled surprisingly often). He'd caught the end of a sentence when he'd come to the door. Oddly enough, it seemed to be about how clan heads were unsuitable for something or another.

Possibly the Nara clan head was as lazy as his son and avoiding another responsibility, Sasuke thought. Or perhaps he'd misheard.

In any case, when she'd seen the toad, the Hokage had groaned and ushered both men out of her office with instructions to keep on doing what they had been doing.

He wasn't entirely out of the information loop—he knew that toads were the summon clan tied to Naruto's teacher. They appeared in the Hokage's office (or in the case with this one, accidentally got lost somewhere in Konoha and had to be escorted there) from time to time with messages of some sort. But usually, Tsunade didn't spend so long in her 'thinking' pose afterward. He liked to sass his shishou occasionally, but he knew better than to make a sound when she had her eyes closed, and forehead pinned between her thumb and forefinger.

Shizune nudged his shoulder companionably, winking and spelling out 'katana tonight' with her free hand. He tried not to smirk—weapons training with Shizune was probably the best part of his week, and he would rather do it more than twice every seven days or so when she wasn't too busy. It seemed strange when he consciously realized that sweet, gentle Shizune had qualified for ANBU work and had of course mastered their trademark blade, but that didn't make it any less true. Or useful. Itachi had mastered the blade as well, after all.

'Yes,' he signed back, keeping his hand obscured from Tsunade's perspective. Just in case she looked up. The Hokage was a grumpy old hag sometimes.

"Shizune, I need a drink."

Other times, she was a grumpy old drunk.

His senpai scowled gently, putting hands to hips and tilting them confrontationally. "Shishou! You're still working for at least another hour. Can't you wait?"

Tsunade gave him a pleading expression. "You there. My cute apprentice." (Shizune gasped, faux-hurt). "Be a good student and get your poor, suffering mentor something hard to drink." She nearly welled up with tears. "I have to break bad news to your former sensei, that unkempt lunatic."

Instantly Sasuke understood her position. Kakashi could be a bit difficult. Assuming the ten minute to four hour wait didn't already have you murderous, his unique brand of charm could inspire that feeling almost instantly if he felt like you needed to be punished passive aggressively. "I'll find something," he promised, turning away and leaving the office at a jog. If he hurried, he could come and go before Kakashi came around. He hated getting caught between his two mentors. Tsunade was his mentor now, but Kakashi had been a decent teacher to him and there was still the possibility Sasuke might need him in future.

Shizune took the paper Tsunade had discarded and began reading. She did her best not to giggle, she really did. "That's lovely, but I'm not sure why it's relevant to Hatake-san," she gasped.

"Not that part!" Tsunade snapped, flushing red. "The last part. I'm guessing this letter was written over a few days and the last part is very recent."

A few minutes later, Shizune's expression shifted, levity gone. "Oh dear." She sucked in a long breath and unintentionally held it, expelling deeply when she'd finished. "Well… Good luck, shishou." She began to back away. "I'm late for a shift at the hospital."

No way was she going to be caught up in one of their bizarre power plays. For a guy who didn't want to be Hokage, Hatake-san sure challenged Tsunade-sama's authority an awful lot. Granted, to Shizune's knowledge he only openly defied Tsunade the once over her hare-brained idea to make a thirteen year old a Jounin before she'd led a single mission as a Chuunin. (Shizune hadn't been fond of the idea either, no matter how 'safe' the posting Tsunade wanted her to fill would supposedly be or how badly the numbers needed to be filled.)

There was no way that he didn't know just how much it pissed her off to have to wait hours to give mission briefings. Hatake-san provoked her mentor on purpose.

But she couldn't really do much to him. How does one discipline a man who has practically no ambitions? Anything that would interfere with his combat efficiency was out—he was currently uncontested as the most powerful shinobi in her active forces, so demoting him or locking him up would be harming her own efforts to make Konoha seem powerful after the recent power imbalances. That was the same reason she didn't send him out on extended missions—it was a delicate balance between taking advantage of his skills and making sure that the other countries knew that the Copy Nin could be in Fire Country at any given point in time. It grated, but she knew that his reputation was one of the things keeping the wolves at bay.

In a practical sense, any four of her Jounin were probably more useful in a large fight than the Copy Nin. He wasn't an army by himself, and could be overcome. But a large part of what maintained the tenuous balance between the great powers was the fear of big names and their potential. Reputation was everything, and people tended to think of powerful shinobi opponents in terms of "Do we have anyone who could beat them", instead of the more logical, "What would we have to do in order to kill this troublesome person, whether that means sacrificing a few high-level shinobi or outsmarting them". The ninja world was sometimes a silly place like that.

If the real aim of jutsu development, for example, was the ability to aid warfare in traditional ninja fashion, the field would probably have been discarded. An assassination could be done silently, quickly, and from almost any distance without the tell-tale flare of chakra to alert any guards with simple weaponry.

No… the jutsu arms race was a dick-measuring contest. Shizune pulled up her schedule for the day, relieved to see that she had a surgery coming up soon. Having something to concentrate on would help her relax.

Shizune had never tried to join in on the rush for reputation like her shishou and her teammates had. She used the same summons as her mentor, but her name wasn't internationally feared. Konoha needed heroes like Tsunade, Kakashi, and the Red Chained Death… but not all of Konoha's heroes could be big names. Being a big name made a shinobi into a big target.

Unfortunately, it looked like that was happening too early to Aiko-chan. It wasn't exactly shocking. Tsunade had known what she was doing when she asked Hatake-san to see if the girl could use the legendary chakra chains. But it was a little depressing to know that she didn't have the opportunity to become a truly exceptional ninja before she had a reputation. It would be one thing if she'd gained that reputation by doing something truly monstrous like the Sannin's legendary battle against Hanzo the Salamander—a reputation that was already tested didn't draw nearly as many fortune hunters as a reputation for a rare and powerful bloodline ability. Her youth would work against her (no matter what Gai thought on that matter). Children did seem like easier targets.

In the administration building, Tsunade was bracing herself for another temper tantrum, knowing full well that the stupidly blank expression could be hiding any number of ridiculous thoughts that somehow cycled around to place blame on her shoulders. She hadn't quite forgotten the last argument yet. Her nerves were taut, and she was ready with any number of cutting rejoinders about where exactly the blame for this situation should rest.

"Ah. Is that all?"

She stared, dumbfounded. "You're not bothered in the least."

Hatake shrugged, looking perfectly at ease. "I didn't teach her an A class ability with the blindly optimistic idea that she would never use it," he said mildly. "I believe that use in combat is in fact the purpose of learning jutsu. It's where I tend to use my deadly jutsu. It was unfortunate that she used it in front of Rock nin, but no one has ever told her why that was a bad idea." He gave her a rather pointed look. "Seeing as how those much older and wiser than me have concluded it's too dangerous for the twins to know the truth, I thought that you had already taken those incredibly obvious concerns into consideration."

"Right," she said weakly. Tsunade a made a fist and thumped lightly at her chest, coughing slightly to clear her voice. "Well. Yes, that's all. Take the letter with you, Naruto wrote notes for you and Aiko. I took Sasuke's out already." She frowned. "At least, I assumed he's the 'bastard' in question that it's addressed to."

"Good call." He eye-smiled and stuffed the papers into his book before giving her a sloppy salute and shunshin-ing away. She didn't see the way that his jaw clenched or that carefully deliberate way he slouched against a tree to read the missive for himself.

When she was alone, Tsunade took the opportunity to gently bang her head against the deck. Just once- she didn't indulge in this often, but it felt appropriate right now. In retrospect, it seemed obvious that children didn't know to act on knowledge they had been forbidden from having.

'Maybe it's time to rescind that order. Aiko should know why she's being hunted, and Naruto is with the one person who knew Minato best of all.' Tsunade sighed, feeling old and tired. 'I'm sure the pervert would love to talk about the good old days.' She was awfully advanced in youth (thank you, Gai) to be adjusting to the role of a Hokage. Really, she wasn't that much younger than the Sandaime had been the first time he retired. Thinking about setting up the future generations for success was an overwhelming task. The brats that Jiraiya's brat had spawned were all grown up for Kami's sake. She'd found herself a couple of successors (and that Uchiha brat had been a better find than she'd anticipated, with equal measures of grit and talent) and Jiraiya had found another one.

She was a little uneasy about that—it would kill the man to lose another student. And besides, if anything happened to this one and Jiraiya never got to train another student, whoever picked up the contract would be starting over from scratch. But she couldn't do much about that- Jiraiya didn't really take her orders and she didn't want to cause him the pain of letting yet another vulnerable student into his heart. Naruto just had to be the student Jiraiya could rest his hopes on.

Her line of thoughts turned to her other teammate (and no matter how many years had passed, on some level she still thought of him as her teammate). He had just the one surviving student in the village… How old was Anko, anyway? Hell, she had to be in her early twenties. That was old enough to take on a student, wasn't it?

Tsunade sighed, pushing herself up from her desk. It had been a long day, and she had another meeting with that pointy-headed brat from Sand tomorrow- the third day in a row. She'd hoped to have that over quickly, but now there was more information to share. Jiraiya thought it was important that everyone know that the jinchuuriki were being hunted and that he was growing more concerned about Akatsuki. If they were going to be allies, sand should know.

"Be a damn shame if we lost that black-eyed snot nose," she grumbled to herself somewhat sarcastically.

It was almost an insult that the jinchuuriki Sand had attempted to weaponize against them had been sent with the diplomat. Judging by reports of his involvement in the failed invasion, the boy had been brutal. He was dangerous. She wouldn't have tolerated him in the village if not for one person's babbling on the subject- the relentlessly optimistic brat who had returned her to the village. If Naruto had accurately assessed her own personality at a glance and convinced her to return, he might have actually seen something others had missed in the One-Tails' jinchuuriki.

Naruto had done his level best to convince her that the brat was really a good person and should be trusted. Tsunade wasn't entirely convinced, but he hadn't done anything remotely suspicious in the time he'd been in the village.

'In fact', she thought rather sourly, 'He may be the evidence I use for an argument about a bizarre, previously unnoted Uzumaki tendency to assume the best of homicidal maniacs. Worst of all, the lunatics may be right.'

She hadn't been best pleased to hear from ANBU Cat that Uzumaki Aiko had approached the dangerous foreigner of her own volition and then proceeded to physically drag him to a damn ice cream shop while he looked confused. Tsunade didn't know the chit well— all she knew was that the girl seemed competent enough on paper, apparently tugged at long-dormant parental instincts in that damn Hatake brat, and was the object of a hilariously obvious fixation by her own apprentice. (When he referred to just about everyone with mild disrespect except 'Aiko-senpai', she had noticed and laughed over it with Shizune).

Maybe her personal observations of the girl as quiet, reasonably intelligent, and serious had been off. Personally, Tsunade found the idea of pursuing a friendship with a foreigner who had tried to kill you in past to be particularly unintelligent. But she wouldn't deny that Naruto and Aiko's general blockheadedness and lack of social awareness would be a boon if Konoha did tie itself to Suna.

'Really,' she lamented as she got ready to leave for the day, 'It's a damn shame that those two idiots got assigned to Hatake as a sensei. Someone more socially competent might have helped them.' She couldn't help but snort at her next thought and half-wished someone else was around to share it with. 'In the kingdom of the socially blind, the one-eyed man is king.'

Before she left, Tsunade jotted down a note to herself—she'd have Anko brought in for a meeting in the early morning and tell her that she had to find a child to take as a student. Then she stalked out the door, giving a warning glance to the secretary who opened her mouth as if to say something.

She was the Hokage here, damnit. She didn't have to answer to anyone.

A few moments later, she backtracked and asked Keiko to have Anko summoned to her office at her earliest open appointment. Upon further reflection, it made sense to make use of her secretary to set appointments.

"That's the girl?" Temari hissed while their escort stared blankly, trying not to elbow her otouto in her excitement. Gaara looked as placid as ever, only nodding in response. The girl in question was wandering down the street with a produce bag, gazing up at a man with spiky white hair. She appeared to be talking up a storm, and her body language was directed solely to her companion. In contrast, he was slouched and appeared to be barely awake.

She sighed. 'It's that same weirdo I keep running into,' she groused. On one hand, it made some sense. This chick was everywhere she looked. It was like Konoha only had the one Chuunin. The girl had displayed interest in Gaara at the tower, and displayed a distinct lack of survival instincts every time Temari had seen her.

The first time three or so years ago in Suna, she had been infuriated by the smarmy Konoha kunoichi wandering around their streets after curfew as if nothing was wrong. That had been back when Gaara was at his worst and the village was constantly on lock-down. She and Kankuro had both been tense, constantly in fear for their lives.

Less than half a year ago at that Chuunin exam, it had become clear that the other girl was above her level and actually working with the half-naked lunatic running the second exam. She had accordingly found a safer target to poke at- a testy blonde with annoyingly perfect hair.

Temari hadn't seen the redhead again until she showed up leading a group of genin to stop Gaara. She was a bit unclear on exactly what had happened, but the results made it clear that a few genin and one Chuunin had somehow stopped him. Gaara wasn't talking about it and Konoha surely wasn't sharing their intelligence on the matter. It was enough to almost make her regret hanging back from the fight.

So she was wary.

On one hand, this might not be as big of a deal as she had thought. Gaara hadn't seemed to realize that she'd assumed he had taken the other girl on a date.

It was almost a little disappointing. She'd had a thrill of sisterly pride at the idea of her little brother going on his first date (never mind that she hadn't been on one). It might have been a massive boon for her plan to get him the Kazekage robes as well. The biggest stumbling block she would have to navigate was the fact that everyone was terrified of Gaara and thought he was completely alien- inhuman and unrelatable. If he had practice socializing in Konoha, it might expedite things back home.

On the other hand, it could be dangerous for him to grow close to a foreign kunoichi just when he was learning how to be human. If this girl were the mercenary sort, she could be intending to subvert Gaara to Konoha, or just gain information.

Either way, she was probably screwed. He had eventually clarified that the girl he had met was Uzumaki Naruto's sister. 'And doesn't that explain so much,' she thought sarcastically. They were a weird bunch. She half-hoped there weren't more. Suna might not survive the alliance.

If Gaara wanted to talk to her because the girl was a connection to Naruto, there was almost no chance she'd be able to convince him not to talk to her anymore. Not that Gaara had ever really listened to her in the first place. At best, he would do what he wanted regardless of her warnings. At worst, he would become irritated with her for attempting to get between him and Naruto. He only had the one friend at the moment, and Gaara was pretty attached already. Seeing how much he had changed in the short months since the Uzumaki boy had talked sense into him, Temari didn't even want to detach her brother from the foreign nin.

However unwise it was, it seemed that Gaara had acquired a second friend for himself.

Since she was such an excellent sister, she had to at least try to scope out the girl. It was her duty as an older sibling.

"Are you aware that the two Suna ambassadors are following you?" Kakashi asked his apprentice mildly before he left. The girl flushed a little.

"Um, yes," she admitted. "I think that might be my fault. I saw Gaara-san wandering around yesterday." She frowned slightly, letting the prepared not-quite-a-lie slip out. "I wanted to see what it was that Naruto had spotted in him."

Kakashi gave a long-suffering sigh and intentionally mussed up her hair. "You shouldn't be so hard to keep alive. Now that you've finally managed the chakra chains, I want you to master them as soon as possible. Preferably in a way that involves no Konoha casualties."

She flushed at the reference to her failure so far to use any less than terrifyingly lethal force with her chains. Until she knew her strength and how to use them to restrain instead of kill, she couldn't be said to have succeeded at her technique. It would be stupid to try to improve the chains before she had mastered them.

"I have someone in mind as a training partner for you. In the meantime, I want you to work on your kenjutsu. Hopefully, you'll have easy opportunities soon."

She nodded obediently, not questioning the rather strange statement or showing surprise when he poofed out of sight. He knew what he was talking about. He always did. But shishou almost never answered questions. Aiko gently touched the handle of the short ANBU style blade she had been practicing with lately as if to make sure it was still there. She had bought it herself with the shop owner's guidance under the vague guiding instructions Kakashi had given her. The weight of it still felt strange to her, even now that she was finally getting used to the heavy Chuunin vest.

The letter he had passed on to her was tucked into her pocket. Oddly enough, her shishou had found her while she was out at the market for fresh fruit and vegetables to hand it over and caution her about what having a bounty on her head meant.

Frankly, she was surprised. It hadn't seemed like that big of a deal to her—lots of people she knew had bloodlines or other special abilities. She'd only killed one man with it, in that altercation and since. Aiko had seen Anko use senbon to far more deadly effect in past, for the kami's sake.

It was something she could learn to live with. The advice she had been given boiled down to 'don't leave survivors to talk about her abilities.' (Unless she'd done something spectacularly impressive that she wanted to become public knowledge, of course, was the caveat).

As a kunoichi, her life was meant to be dangerous. She would always be running into people who wanted her dead. Anyone she had reason to be worried about losing a fight to either wouldn't be interested in her comparatively small bounty or would be intelligent enough to want to know more about her combat abilities before engaging her. The bounty had a sparse information section with a bare physical description, her name, one special skill and a guess at her overall level gauged from one short encounter. Anyone stupid enough to try to collect on that contract without more information would probably be someone she could defeat out of hand.

She was totally going to find a copy of her bounty and keep it. It was pretty fucking cool, when she really thought about it. God, Karin was going to freak out.

'Of course shishou was right about my chance to practice swordplay,' Aiko thought the next day with a smile. When she had reported personally to the Hokage's office for her orders (and seen a pouty Anko stomping out) she had found out that her primary mission this time was actually the elimination of a small group of troublemakers that had been reported by a group of merchants when they'd arrived in town.

Apparently three or four people had turned to banditry lately. Granted, there was always someone unintelligent enough to risk crime even when the consequences were likely to be immediate and severe. When civilians were willing to risk banditry so close to a ninja village, it generally meant one of two things. Either the village was regarded as being too weak for them to waste the manpower on a minor problem, or that their targets were minor enough that no one would care about a few fleeced merchants. After all, if they had been intelligent enough to hire shinobi protectors, the bandits wouldn't have bothered. In a way, bandits like those helped keep ninja economies together.

Unfortunately for this particular group of troublemakers, Konoha was not as weak as they were supposed and the people they had robbed had possessed friends with enough money for a C-class mission.

It was barely deserving of that title, being within a few hours travel of the village and with so few low level targets, but every mission with potential for combat had to be rated above D-class. The run to the closest outpost had actually been postponed, but since she had already been on a conveniently low-level team her partners would be her three genin. She had been instructed to guide them through their first combat experience and brush with death but to avoid having them deal it out directly if at all possible—it was too traumatizing. When that happened, it sometimes set young ninja back on their ability to adjust to shinobi life.

Aiko was far too practical to let that happen. Aside from her personal fondness for her first team, she didn't believe in squandering resources.

The genin weren't told of the change in mission directives until they were out of town that afternoon, heading in a slightly different direction. This was apparently standard procedure- Konoha didn't want to send shinobi out on obvious, easily intercepted patterns or give anyone an opportunity to set a trap for an inexperienced team. It would be for the best if no one knew what exactly was going on at any given point in time.

The more she learned about how Tsunade ran the village, the more Aiko was impressed. If being Hokage hadn't been Naruto's dream she might have wanted to see how well she could do at the job herself. It seemed like such a shame she'd never have an opportunity to be the de facto queen of a small country (hey, being 'Queen' sounded much better than 'Kage').

'Maybe in the next life,' she snickered.

Perhaps she was sending the bandits that she easily tracked down by footprints from the scene of the reported robbery to a better life as well. A girl could never know. The universe was full of wonder. She glanced backwards to assess her team before she made a move when they finally found their targets bedded down for the night. 'A bit green-faced, but fine.'

If she had been the slightest bit worried about these men's abilities, she would have killed them all in their sleep. Her reasons for allowing the man on watch to make a dying gargle that brought the other three out of their sleeping rolls were two-fold.

Firstly, it might be less traumatizing for the kids to be able to think of the people she was about to kill as opponents and villains instead of sleeping victims. In her experience, it was less disturbing to kill in the heat of a fight than by gently letting blood in someone's sleep. It was perhaps silly- it might be kinder to let them feel no fear. But she cared more about the genin than the bandits, to be honest.

The second reason was more practical than kind-hearted. She had been told to practice her sword work, after all. Killing them in their sleep would only have been useful for practicing her Ring-Wraith impersonation, and it wouldn't even be funny since no one else would get the joke. Shame, that.

When the deed was done and Aiko had the knowledge that could only come from experience of just how much force was required to separate a head from the body with a single blade, more than one shaking child vomited. Gently, Aiko pulled down the mask that protected her mouth from bloodspray to rest around her neck and rubbed each of their backs in turn. She murmured soothing nonsense before patting Ken fondly and instructing the three to wait a moment while she finished up. Aiko burnt the corpses effortlessly—she felt more at home on jobs like this than any other. They went back to the hunter and tracker roots of her training under Kakashi.

Chakra sense lit up like radar, she swung her legs in the air from her perch on a rock over the stream where her ducklings were cleaning up and refilling water pouches. She was no Karin, of course, but her range was wide enough that she could feel the flickering of both the outpost and ninja back home.

No one protested when she didn't allow them to bed down for the night, instead heading back to Konoha immediately. There was no point in lingering in the forest when they could make it back to the village before first light.

Aiko was practical, after all.

Omake

I had more than one idea about how to write the scene when Kakashi finds out that his student already has a bounty. The first one I wrote… well, it ended up a bit silly.

How it could have happened:

"Congratulations Hatake," Anko snickered, holding out a sheaf of paper when she finally found the man hiding from Gai in a bar populated with only really hardened alcoholics either nursing yesterday's hangover or working on today's. That was mostly her fault—the fastest way to flush Hatake out was to ask Gai to find him. The pouty bastard would be found in the quietest, filthiest corner possible. Like a rat. "You're a better teacher than I gave you credit for."

Confused, Kakashi reached out to take the paper. The only sound was the crinkle as he unfolded what appeared to be paper torn out of a book. He stared. Took a breath.

"For fuck's sake!"

Anko immediately began to cackle, stopping suddenly when she realized he was gone.

The woman pouted, irritated that he had taken her copy of Aiko's bounty. She'd thought it was funny—come on, getting a price put on your head was the first sign you'd become truly notorious. Sure, the number was too high for a Chuunin, but it wasn't even a third of the asking price on Hatake's head. It wasn't like he didn't already watch the kid. She'd be fine.

Asuma eyed Anko warily, trying to decide if it was worth asking. He'd just decided it wasn't when she made eye contact.

'Oh hell', he sighed. Before she could reach him, Asuma grabbed his beer and emptied the whole damn thing. It was important to maintain a light buzz around Anko. Plus, she had a bad habit of drinking out of other people's glasses instead of ordering her own. She pouted, but whatever gossip she wanted to share must have been good because she perched on the edge of the bar and shouted at the barkeep for a drink.

"How'd you piss Hatake off in a minute long conversation?" He cut to the chase.

The woman brightened, reaching over to steal a choice morsel out of his salty bar food. "I didn't say anything," she deflected with a patently false pout. "I just found something I thought he'd like to see."

Asuma rolled his eyes, pulling a cigarette out of his vest pocket and lighting up. He wished Anko didn't always play these damn games. She wanted to gossip, but instead she talked around it to make him dig and dig for information.

But he was a nosy bastard. So he played along.

"That was nice of you, I'm sure," he drawled, offering her a smoke. She snatched it and shoved it in her mouth unlit, rolling it around like candy between her lips. "What did you want to show him?"

Anko gave a pout for real this time. "He took it," she grumbled, "or I would show you myself. I recently made the acquaintance of a very nice rock-nin. After I killed him, I found a brand shiny new bingo book, hot off the press." She shrugged. "So I had a look." She was busily unwinding his expensive cigarette, letting the tobacco fall to the tabletop.

"Right," Asuma said flatly. There was no point in scolding her. Regulation stated that every time a new bingo copy from a foreign nation was pulled in, it had to be submitted in full to Intelligence. Knowing who everyone else wanted dead was important. But Anko had no shame. She'd obviously torn a page out of it before she handed it in.

Obviously disappointed by his lackluster response, Anko irritably pushed his new beer off the table and onto the floor. It shattered, splashing his leg. While he began to curse and shake out his pant leg, she leaned in closer, taking a smug swig of her own drink, and then wrapped both hands around it in her lap. "Guess who got their bingo cherry popped," she crooned.

Asuma glanced up irritably. "That's it," he said flatly. "That's what you're bothering me about? Congratulations, moron."

"No, not me, you jackass!" She leapt to her feet and yelled in his face, cheeks scarlet. "I've been in there for years. Honestly," she groused, giving him a dirty look. "No, stupid. I was talking about his kid. You know, the Uzumaki girl."

Asuma just started laughing.

"Yeah, I know," Anko snickered. "He's going to freak out."

Aiko stared. Confused. Brain, it not working right now.

"Here is how you do Chidori! And this is how we kill someone using our pinkies! And for the next time you go on a date with boy who previously tried to kill you, here's how you kill someone with a silly straw." He demonstrated carefully on the mildly surprised looking bunshin he had made as a practice dummy in the split second before it ceased to exist. Then he fixed her a thoroughly unnerving stare, one eye spinning idly. "Also, don't fucking do that. Ever again."

[xhatake]

"can  i  take  this  off ?" what if i think the pinnacle of romance is iruka asking gently, almost nervous but no, not quite, just very soft and oh so patient, to pull kakashi's mask down and to help him undress. so he can kiss every inch of kakashi's skin. his lips, his arms, his shoulders, his chest. iruka wants to press kisses to all of him. to brush his lips over so gently it almost feels like a dream.

They're on the couch, Iruka hovering over Kakashi. He had pressed a hand to his chest, gently encouraging Kakashi to take his lead. perhaps if it were another, he would have fought the action. No - he knows he would have. But Iruka was different. Iruka was safe.

Kakashi cannot explain why his heart skips a beat at the simple question. It's to be expected, with reverent touches & the excited exploration of one another they were indulging in. Of course, his mask would come off. Normally he would peel the garment away with a smirk, reveling in the reactions of whoever he had graced with his face. But this was different than that. No, Iruka's hands linger at either side of Kakashi's face waiting eagerly to gaze upon the man beneath. It shouldn't be such a strange request, but the subtle excitement that dances in his dark eyes is enough to make Kakashi sweat. He offers a brief nod in response, unwilling to reveal the alleged surprise by speaking. His voice would surely betray him.

The best way to describe the feeling of Iruka peeling away his mask was powerless... But wonderfully so. Usually showing others his face wasn't so big a deal; there were dozens of men & women who had seen his features half-illuminated by the streetlight that spilled in through their windows. But there was an undeniable appeal to the gentleness Iruka coddled him with when he claimed the action of revelation for himself. Kakashi is sure he's blushing, something he often reserved for the dirtiest parts of his novels. And only when he was reading them in the privacy of his own home. Iruka must have noticed because he takes Kakashi's chin between his thumb & his index finger ( so gently ) & draws their lips to a close. Kakashi's irregular heartbeat quickens as it drops into the bit of his stomach. He's not sure he's ever felt so vulnerable.

So he fights the feeling, as is his nature. He fights the way his brain turns over in his skull by placing his hand on the back of Iruka's head, drawing him into a deeper rendition of the kiss. When Iruka wants to break away, Kakashi lets go, hands drifting to Iruka's shoulders & then at his sides. Iruka pulls his mask down the rest of the way, leaving Kakashi's neck exposed perfectly for his next attack. Feather-light lips drive Kakashi to bite back a reaction, though there is still a tell in the way his breath catches. Iruka was no fool, he was a shinobi & shinobi were trained to be aware of these sorts of reactions.

Kakashi shifts under Iruka, gaze darting to the other side of the room to avoid the spark of devious enlightenment that seems to dance to life in Iruka's gaze. There is a devilish glint to the way he looks at Kakashi, who is using every bit of self-control he has to keep his breaths from speeding up, to keep any needy groans to himself. Iruka must take this as a challenge because he sits up, pinning Kakashi's hips to the couch. This was something he has thought about, in the privacy of his own home where no one could see the desperation of his fantasy. It was different to be here, beneath Iruka, experiencing it. It seemed too perfect, how tender Iruka's touch was. How careful he was with scarred skin.

When he lifts Kakashi's shirt over his head, his mask turns inside out hugging his face once more. His shirt is stuck. Though Kakashi's ears turn red as his mind begins to race. A string of curses danced on the tip of his tongue but they were cut down when the moment breaks with a light chuckle. Kakashi's mouth feels dry but the sound is comforting, causing a different sort of feeling to bubble in his chest. Iruka's precious laughter was was something he had heard before, but it is more affirming than ever. It was light & triumphant as he finally tosses Kakashi's shirt aside, laughter melting onto a series of sweet kisses across Kakashi's chest. He feels terribly exposed & Kakashi likes this, perhaps, a bit too much.

Lips trail upwards & Iruka spares another kiss in the perfect crook of his neck, then another on his collar bone & another one right over his heart. All of them are impossibly delicate & Kakashi can't help but convulse against Iruka's hips. He wants to hide his face, but it would mean letting go of Iruka & He was not yet sure he could do that. So instead, he holds the man in his hands a bit tighter. Kakashi is now realizing now how badly he wishes for some kind of friction between his legs, but Iruka isn't done with him yet. He still has more kisses to spare, lingering declarations of how hard his heart beats against his ribcage.

What takes him off guard is when Iruka stops here, instead taking Kakashi's hand from where it had drifted, underneath his shirt, just above Iruka's hips & plants another impossibly soft kiss on Kakashi's knuckles. Then his wrist, then the inside of his elbow ( which gives him chills ). Kakashi isn't sure why he's so nervous, why the intimate show of care was so intimidating. Perhaps it is the chronic scarring that mars his arms, the gentleness expressed to skin that only knew the electric, invasive burns of his Chidori. He freezes, unable to tear his eyes from Iruka as he continues to kiss the disfigured flesh of his arms. He wonders how Iruka can stomach it, but Kakashi melts regardless. He's half sure that is he were to stand up right now, his skeleton would slide right out of his skin.

Lips make their way back up to kakashi's shoulder & kakashi is sure he can no longer stand it. He sits up impatiently, ready to meet Iruka's lips with his own. Iruka's hand shifts, lingering on the small of Kakashi's back, supporting his weight. He spares a single kiss before dropping him back into the cushions, leaving Kakashi flustered & a bit irritated.

Iruka still has work to do, kissing behind his collarbone & feathering more kisses everywhere he could reach. Kakashi has to hold onto something, anything, so he opts to grab a fistful of Iruka's shirt. It was painful that he was still wearing it, but they were preoccupied. He can't help but groan as he fails to shift his legs, Iruka's weight keeping him in place. Kakashi is getting impatient, Iruka seems to delight in the fact. When Iruka takes his other hand & repeats the process, Kakashi realizes that he has begun to sweat. it was embarrassing, really.

"Iruka, please. " this is, perhaps, the first time he has used to word in years. He moans, a bit too desperate, into iruka's ear as he tries to peel iruka's shirt from his body. he wants to feel his skin, has to feel his skin. Iruka's faux-sweet kisses were enough to make his mind race, enough to drive his body to need something more.

"I'm not done, Kakashi. " He coos, almost chastising him for his impatience. Kakashi whines, more frustrated this time... But he loves thus. It's unlike anything he's ever experienced before. The tender care in each touch, kiss, gaze. Iruka knows exactly what he's doing. When Iruka smiles, he's too pleased with himself, " You'll just have to wait. "

[rainybyday]

me have another 2am thought

Anyways, Rin is training to be a medic-nin right? I just thought this was the best way for Rin to get closer to Kakashi because of his trauma.

my thought process:

Rin is a child shinobi that grew up in war, moreover, she is training to be a medic-nin in wartime. Now, when you are learning something that is very sensitive and possibly life-altering like medical knowledge in wartime you have to be very knowledgeable so that 1) you can heal your soldiers faster and efficiently, 2) not have to replace your soldiers from multiple deaths, 3) would be considered more advances in military efficiency compared to other hidden villages. Especially when the hidden leaf grew up with the living legend of Tsunade, meaning most medical knowledge is very highly known and advancing more quickly with the wartime crunch.

What I'm getting at is that medical knowledge should be highly advance when Rin starts her training. However, as said before, she has to understand medical knowledge to start the practical medical process.

Let me propose this: Rin has seen many mentally unstable shinobi because of the tragedy of war.

Maybe this might seem extreme but so is using children to go on a mission that is to be the turning point of the war and not a shinobi that is more highly advanced and fully capable of in acting it, not preteens who barely advance into another rank.

So Rin has seen many horrors of the human mind from those that they lost, physical injuries, and to the deaths they committed by their hands. Wartime is not stable for the fragile minds of children who grew up in war. Hence, I think Rin has seen and mostly helped and shadowed many nurses and doctors to help their patients as much as possible before they are forced to enter the battlefield once more.

I think Rin might feel like a failure in some sense, to see these people she could help but also can not. She has to send them off to a place that was the reason for causing their minds to slowly break, not knowing if they would come back or if she sent them to their death.

If obito can have inseacureties about his clan, and Kakashi with his father, then I would make it so rin's struggle is trying to save those she was trained to save but can't.

This would honestly make more sense if it were applied to how Rin tried to save Obito and her sacrifice for the village. Maybe she thought she could finally save people even though no one would know her name, even if she hurt her last friend, even if she would never open her eyes.

(and now i have 2am tears, god damn )

So this is how I connect this thought process:

Rin doesn't see the effect of Sakumo on Kakashi. Well... yes she has since she did know him when he was younger but let me rephrase that. Rin sees Kakashi as a cool and amazing person, even when she enters the academy and is placed into a team with him, he is still 'cool' and 'amazing' and 'skilled'. She, like Obito, might have never heard of Sakumo's death and thought that this was how Kakashi had grown up to be. Or she just thought this is how Kakashi has grown up to be through the natural change of growing up like any other kid and might not have questioned it.

But what after she started to learn medical information? People don't usually know what is wrong with the people closest to us, we excuse their behaviors as "Oh, that's just like them" or "Oh they've always been like that". Rin could have thought of this or she was just blind to Kakashi's struggles because she herself is still a child, a child who thought very highly of Kakashi and might have seen him in some sort of hero-worship. We are often blind to those we hold close to because we always see them in one type of light that we don't see other 'discoveries' about them.

But anyway, I think Kakashi acting all jumpy and weary and even scared at Obito would make Rin see Kakashi in another light. One that matches her patients. Of course, it's going to take a while because, after all, she has been holding Kakashi on this pedestal majority of her life, but she will see the signs.

She will feel shocked, and maybe a bit of denial because how can Kakashi, genius and perfect Kakashi Hatake, have ptsd/trauma. Much less with Obito of all people!

But she will look, she will watch, and see that he acts like this when Obito is most angry when he yells or shouts when he blames him or calls him out. She will see Kakashi become tense and still, how he always keeps an eye on Obito and is tip-toeing around him instead of aggravating him.

She will see how fucken terrified Kakashi is of Obito and think.

Why is Kakashi scared when Obito yells? Why is he so quiet all of a sudden? Why is he so twitchy as of late? Why does he have dark eye bags under his eyes? Why does he look like he is losing weight?

Why does Kakashi look like a dead man walking?

It scares her, it scares her a lot.

Kakashi is starting to look like the shinobi she treated but can't truly heal or save. He looks like he is consistently being hunted by a nightmare like he doesn't want to live, like he is the last man alive.

Rin is scared, scared that someone she grew up with, seen, and became friends with (at least she hopes they are friends) is now looking like the people she has failed.

Then she started to think, is this the last time I see him? Will he be back? Is this the last time I ever see him again?

Those thoughts haunt her.

And her mind steeled itself to one though.

I won't fail him, I won't.

a question but also an idea dump

has there been a Kakashi time travel fic to his time in Team Minato and he's scared or overly cautious of Obito? Like I'v seen a couple where he is just either very nice to his team mates or he's going through trauma hell to be very jumpy over everything. But like, is there one where he is just kind of fresh out of the war or during the fourth war and the first thing he wakes up to is his old team?

Minato which, while dead, he still saw and had some sort of closure with him

Rin, depending on when he traveled back, is a girl he spent years regretting her death but understood through years of friends helping him that she made that choice, or saw her ghost, and is stable now of his feelings about her

Obito on the other hand? Obito who he despaired for years, who he based his personality and character on, who turned out to be the killer of his second family, who hurt his village and friends, who started a world with the world, who wanted him to essentially kill him (the same way he did with Rin), and if we go further, who died after he saved his students when Kakashi was willing to be that sacrifices instead.

Honestly, I think he would have fresher newer trauma from Obito all over again. I think Kakashi would have spiraled if Obito lived after the war, yes maybe he will forgive him or whatnot but you can't tell me he wouldn't have some sort of complicated resentment for all that he did and the impact it had in some sort of twisted way in his life. Kakashi is a shinobi, he is an adult, he has trauma. He will not just feel one type of emotion for other people because he himself knows to see the world in a shades of gray. But emotions are a funny think and they take time to react and mask them.

So imagine Kakashi back to his younger days and the first thing he sees is Obito yelling at him, getting angry at him, blaming him

You know what most people talk about when it comes to trauma? Flashbacks. But for Kakashi, he's flashback was real and staring right back at him.

He will attack Obito, maybe run, maybe keep fighting him, to kill or defend himself? I don't know, you usually don't know when you are faced with the face of your trauma yelling right in your face when you are at your most vulnerable.

Needless to say, Team Minato is very concerned for their youngest.

[azurelyy]

Shikamaru is expecting to teach a remedial Ninjutsu class, but shows up only to find Ino waiting for him in the front benches... it seems like she actually *wants* to improve her Ninjutsu, but what else could be going on?

Hello, Nonnie! This was so fun to write - thank you very much for the request. I included the stuff from our PMs - I really hope you enjoy~!

This turned more into a one-shot, lol, so my bad. As always, I apologize for the length.

Title: Classroom Connection 🍋

Pairing: ShikaIno (Mentions: Sai, Temari, & Kakashi).

Warnings: NSFW, rimming, face sitting, 'daddy' kink, minor heartache, smoking (nicotine), loss of control, cookie monster!shikamaru, oral (m!receiving/f!receiving)

Word Count: 7k

pic credit.

This day was turning out to be such a drag. Shikamaru sprinted through the rain, avoiding the various puddles that had accumulated on the cobblestone pathways, as he made his way towards the classroom. Days like today really made him regret telling Kakashi to sign him up as the teacher for the summer jutsu lessons. He wasn’t even a good teacher. Shikamaru had always been the type of person who learned by doing. It made him feel like an asshole, but the truth was, he didn’t have to work hard at things in order to pick them up. He needed only to practice something once and he immediately found his own rhythm, quickly grasping the concept and moving onto the next. People chalked his lack of training up to laziness, and it was much too troublesome for him to explain to them that he didn’t need to practice or study, that he could just simply… do it. 

People like Ino and Choji weren’t so lucky. Shikamaru never tried to make them feel bad about this - he knew his situation was quite unique, and he wasn’t the type to mock others just because they weren’t as quick to learn a new skill as he was - often, he was the one who would actually help them study their abilities, allowing them to use him as a guinea pig. He remembered the extreme nausea that he felt the first time Ino nailed her Mind Transfer Jutsu; remembered how it felt like he had just been shot point-blank in the chest as his mind went black and he awoke in Ino’s soft embrace, her crystal clear bell voice screaming profanities and exclamations of joy as he was jostled awake and immediately writhed out of her grasp to hurl all over the ground next to her.

That was the same day he had suggested she might consider training to be a med-nin, because afterwards, she felt so bad that she doted on him insufferably. He had never told her, but he often thought back to the way her slender fingers felt as they caressed his hair out of his face, the way her floral perfume sent his mind into a spiral of daisies and lust, how her voice lulled him into a comforting trance despite him puking his guts out. He could tell by the way her small hand rubbed circles across his shoulder blades that she was a natural caregiver.

“Thanks, Ino,” he husked as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, twisting his neck to look at her. “You’re really good at this stuff, and your chakra control is excellent. Maybe I’m dealing with a future med-nin here.” He smiled at her as she looked down at him, her blue eyes shining like brilliant diamonds.

Her cheeks tinted pink as she pulled away from him and twisted the end of her platinum-blonde ponytail between her fingers. “What? Me? No way!” She scoffed. “I could never do that! I only helped you because I felt bad - I mean, I was the reason for it, after all. But don’t expect me to do it again!” 

Shikamaru smiled at the memory as he pulled the entrance door open and was greeted by the warm interior of the school. He shook his head lightly, raindrops spraying around, as he wiped his feet on the entryway mat. He set his backpack down on a bench and took out the paper that had his assignment for the day written onto it: Classroom 2 - Chakra Control. He folded the paper back up and slipped his bag back on as he swiftly walked through the hallowed halls, reflecting back on his time at the Academy. 

He hoped the next generation wouldn’t have to endure the suffering he and his fellow comrades had. This world deserved some peace, but it was still important for the students to become great ninja - hopefully, they would never have to use their skills for war, but then again, he had never expected too, either. Maybe teaching wasn’t the worst idea. He did always love being there to witness the moment a new jutsu clicked in someone’s head; when their eyes lit up and their mouth formed into a giant grin as they hooped and hollered about their success. There were worse ways he could spend his day.

He opened the classroom door and was greeted with… no one? He looked around, confused, as he walked over behind the desk and put his backpack down on the chair. Do I have the wrong classroom? He thought, walking back to the door to check the number etched to the side of the wall: Classroom 2. Weird.

He sighed and leaned against the blackboard, placing his hands in his pockets. He was about three minutes early, so maybe this was a small class and the rain slowed them down. Shikamaru decided that waiting until ten past would be the decent thing to do and moved over to sit on the desk nonchalantly. He hated making people feel bad, and since the weather was shitty today, he was going to cut the kids some slack. The last thing he wanted was to have someone like Naruto who played pranks on him constantly, so the more relaxed he could appear to the students, the better. 

At :02, the door at the far back of the classroom opened and Shikamaru pretended to be writing something down as the student took a seat. Just one so far. This is kind of awkward. Shikamaru didn’t like groups, but in a classroom setting, 1:1’s were always challenging for him. He felt like he had to be really engaging and it sort of tolled on his mental wellbeing. At least in groups, kids could bounce ideas off each other. This kid only had him - at least, for now. 

He felt awkward not addressing them but moved to write Chakra Control on the blackboard in hopes that more students would arrive and his heart would stop pounding in his chest, but a painfully slow ‘l’ later, and his time was up. He turned around and cleared his throat as his eyes connected onto a very familiar blonde ponytail.

“Ino?” He asked dumbly. 

She was scribbling something into her notebook, the sound of her name made her shoulder tense slightly as her ice blue eyes found him. “Hey, Shika!” She chirped. “It… might just be me. Sorry.”

Shikamaru threw her a small grin and shook his head. “That’s alright, but…” Would asking ‘why’ be considered rude? Ino was a great med-nin. She had some of the best chakra control out of anyone he knew, being a Yamanaka, so why this class?

As always, Ino was quick-witted and responded to his unspoken question. Her ability to predict his thoughts was sort of uncanny. “I like to take a chakra control course annually, for two reasons: 1. I like seeing the new kids and predicting who I think would make good apprentices, and 2. I learn something new from every teacher. It’s really fascinating, you know? Everyone’s chakra control technique is different, and-” 

Shikamaru watched her eyes light up with excitement and her body language shift from being downturned to sitting fully upright, her arms flailing around wildly as she explained herself to him. He gave her a half smirk as he placed one foot onto the wall, leaning his back against the chalkboard and placing his hands into his front pockets lazily. 

Ino had always talked a lot. Shikamaru didn’t really mind, since he never really had much to say, and he eventually even enjoyed listening to her. Of course, he would never tell her that for fear of boosting her already overflowing ego, but it was the truth. He actually had always liked listening to her talk, even way back when they were kids. 

He feigned disengagement or contemptment, but one time, when they had first been assigned on Team Ten together, Ino had been rattling on about how excited she was that she was paired with him. Shikamaru, because he was a total idiot when it came to socializing - and women, in fact, he was still an idiot when it came to those two things - had decided to yawn and tell her that she talked too much. Not only did this result in him getting smacked upside the head and berated into oblivion, but Ino stopped talking as much around him for a long time, and he actually felt… empty.

“Hey,” he had uncannily approached her after a rather rigorous training exercise one fall evening and he could tell she was taken aback by the way her eyes widened and she teetered away from him.

She flipped her ponytail over her shoulder, the tip of it swinging against his forearm and tickling him. “What?” She huffed, annoyed.

“Well-” Shikamaru clasped his hands behind his head. “I wanted to… say sorry. I was sort of a jerk back when we were first assigned together. I’m excited to be on your team too. No hard feelings?”

Ino gaped at him, her jaw hung slightly ajar, as she fiddled with her ponytail awkwardly. A cute quirk of hers that made Shikamaru’s heart flutter every time she did it. “Is that so?” She grinned, her pearl white teeth sparkling in the fading sunlight. “How are you gonna make it up to me?”

Shikamaru sighed and turned his nose upwards, facing away from her. “We can hang out around here together… if you want. I know a nice spot to watch the sunset at this hour, it’s not too far…” he peeked over at her through the corner of his eye and saw her beaming grin grow even wider.

“I guess I could spare some time for you,” she casually clasped her hands together and stretched her arms above her head. “Since you practically begged me, and all!”

“SHIKAMARU!” Ino’s voice cut through his memory like a knife, slicing it in two. Shikamaru blinked rapidly and glanced over at her, her arms now crossed over her chest. She had moved down to the floor and was now standing just a few feet away, fuming. 

“Shit, sorry,” he said. “I spaced out.”

“Like I said,'' Ino turned and started walking back up the stairs. “I can just leave. I don’t want to waste your time. I’ll get another class when there’s more students.”

“No!” He was surprised by the harshness of his tone as Ino twisted around, her pupils dilated. “I mean, it’s okay. I planned to be here for the day anyway.”

Her eyes softened and Shikamaru felt his stomach flip upside down as she shrugged at him, her head lightly tipping to the side. She shook her head as light blonde strands of hair swayed around her face. 

“No, Shika… I don’t think it’s a good idea.” Her voice was soft as velvet. She smiled at him - the same sad smile she had been giving him ever since their mutual breakup a few years ago - and his heart broke in two all over again. Shikamaru missed Ino’s typical smile, the one that sent his heart into overdrive and turned his brain into goo. He missed holding her hand. He missed the smell of her perfume lingering on his clothes after he spent the day with her. He missed waking up next to her, seeing how the morning sun highlighted her hair in golden hues and hugged her pale body as she sprawled out across the bed, leaving him with no space of his own.

“Why not?” He took a step closer to her as she mirrored one back, clasping her hands behind her back as she clenched her lower lip between her teeth. 

“Because-” she turned away and stormed up the stairs. “Shika, you know why.” 

Because I’m an asshole, he thought. Because I couldn’t open myself up to you after Asuma died. Because my father’s death pulled me apart and I didn’t want you to sew me together, so I pushed you away. Because when you tried to help, I told you to leave me alone. Because when you told me you loved me and I was hurting you, I told you that I was sorry, but that love wasn’t something I was looking for.

“I heard about you and Sai,” Shikamaru winced as soon as the words toppled out. He saw her shoulder slump as Ino stood in front of the back exit, her hand hesitating above the doorknob. “I’m sorry.”

Ino’s mind raced into a million different directions. Sai crying into her shoulder, begging forgiveness. Her trembling hands as she tried to comfort him, her stomach twisting into an untangleable knot at his confession. It wasn’t his fault, she had thought. How was he to know? She carried a heavy weight in her heart for months afterwards, telling herself that she was to blame. She practically groveled at his feet after her break-up with Shikamaru, forcing his hand and telling him all the steps to take. 

Sai was an experiment, a puppet used for other people’s personal gains. She never expected to be one of those people - someone who used him - but she had been. She had told him what to say. She told him what to think. She told him how dates were supposed to work. 

“This,” Ino had said, grabbing his hands and placing them onto her hips, “Is when you tell me I’m pretty and then kiss me.”

So, really, when he confessed to her, she had no one to blame but her own, selfish self. It still hurt. It still broke her. But she accepted it. How could she not, when he had finally found himself? 

“I still love you,” he admitted, finally pulling away to face her. “But I just… I prefer men. I always have. It’s not fair to you for me to… stay.”

“It’s alright, Sai.” Ino smiled at him when she realized it was true - that it was, really, alright. “Just make sure to invite me to the wedding. I know you’ll have a good one.”

Shikamaru walked up behind her, the air around her shifting as the warmth of his body radiated over her like a comforting blanket that she wanted to pull herself into. She missed him. She hated herself for it, but she always had missed him. Even when she was with Sai, she missed him. At least she knew why now, and that knowledge made her feel a bit better about keeping her feelings from Sai, but she still hated herself for it. Shikamaru was someone who she had loved her whole life, who she had grown to love and respect more than words could explain, and he never felt the same. 

“Don’t,” she replied coolly. “I don’t want to hear it from you.”

“Hear what?” Shikamaru reached for her against his better judgment, his body moving on instinct against his mind. “I really am sorry. When I heard about it, I wanted to talk to you, but...”

“He was always controlled by others - his whole life,” Ino’s hand fell to her side as she clenched it. Her voice quivered. “And so, when he finally could think freely… He-” she hiccuped and crossed her arms over her chest as her shoulders started to shake. Shikamaru stood behind her, wanting to hold her but fully aware that Ino would likely punch him in the face if he tried, so he instead grazed his hand over her shoulder, gentle as a lamb, waiting for her reaction. 

Ino tensed up at first, her body going fully rigid, before she eased into his touch and swirled around, clenched palms resting on his chest as her head fell onto them and she cried. Shikamaru, caught off guard, left his hands at his side while Ino wept. 

“He didn’t know,” she sobbed. “It’s not his fault! Society is so fucked up. I’m happy for him - I am. I’m glad he trusted me enough to tell me.” 

Shikamaru’s brain sent warning signals down his spine as he wrapped his arms around Ino and embraced her, his hand rubbing her beautiful hair as the other rested onto the small of her back. She moved her fists and let her head fall fully into his chest as she gripped onto his upper back and pulled him closer into her, hot tears seeping into the front of his shirt. 

“Ino-”

“Why am I so unlovable?” The words barely registered in Shikamaru’s mind, her voice trembling and small. He felt like he had just been punched in the gut as he felt tears well in his eyes and he tightened his grip around her.

“You’re not unlovable, don’t be an idiot.” He kissed the top of her head and heard her small giggle through the weeping. It was a strangled sound devoid of any humor, but it was sweet to his ears. He hadn’t heard her laugh at anything he had said in so long; she hadn’t allowed herself to show him any vulnerability for years, and yet here she was, crying into him and opening up about her ex. He wanted to bottle this moment up and keep it forever.

“Says the guy who couldn’t love me,” she grumbled, picking herself up. Shit, here it comes. She pulled back and stared up at him, her mascara streaming down her face and raccooning her eyes. “Don’t blame you, when I look like this.” 

She chuckled, a sad sound that made her feel pathetic and small. Shikamaru examined her like a newly discovered fossil, his eyebrows knit together tightly and his mouth formed into a thin line. His grip was so tight around her she felt like he might suffocate her.

“Ow, Shika,” she tried to pull away but he didn’t let go, only loosened his grip.

“Sorry,” he murmured, inching his face closer to her. She could smell the smoke on his breath, feel the warmth tickling her nose as she tilted her head to the side and leaned forward. Don’t do it, Yamanaka. She thought. Don’t let him do this to you again. 

Ino licked her glossy lips and trembled in his arms as she leaned forward, her pretty fingernails lightly sinking into the fabric at the back of his shirt and causing goosebumps to form under their touch. Ino had always held Shikamaru’s heart hostage. She was a force of nature, pulling him in like a riptide. No matter how hard he tried to avoid it, how desperately he tried to claw his way out from her hold over him, she always overpowered him. 

It didn’t take long for them to get together after Asuma’s death. It was a moment of vulnerability for both of them, but Shikamaru had later learned the extent of her feelings, and that is what had scared him away. He couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that someone so perfect, someone so full of beauty and power, could love him. He convinced himself that she deserved better, despite her protests. She had insisted that she’d loved him since childhood, that she knew there was no one else for her. 

“Ino, we’re young,” he had said. “You’ve gotta explore your options.”

“I don’t want that!” she screamed, her hair pulled into a messy bun on top of her head, her body wrapped in his shirt as she pulled on her lace underwear. “But maybe you do. I’ve seen the way you look at her.”

“Who?” He asked, honestly not knowing who she meant. His whole life, he only had eyes for Ino. He would never tell her that, of course - much to his detriment, he later learned. He really needed to work on being honest.

“Temari,” she spat, throwing his shirt off and pulling on her tank top. “If you want to sample other women, then by all means, be my guest. I don’t think this has been working out anyway.”

Shikamaru’s heart pounded in his chest, his hands shaking slightly as he reached for his lighter and flicked it open. “W-What are you saying?” He tried to sound nonchalant as he continued fiddling with the lighter; a nervous habit. 

“You said it yourself.” She shoved her skirt on and grabbed her purse. “You aren’t looking for love, right? Well I am. And I found it. But it’s obvious you haven’t.”

Everything in his body was telling him to scream I love you to her. To pull her into his arms and hold onto her until their bodies melted together. His hands were shaking as he fumbled a cigarette out of the pouch, placing it between his lips as he lit it. “I guess you’re right,” he lied. “I just… can’t, right now.” 

Without another word, she left his bedroom, slamming the door behind her. Luckily for him, she did eventually talk to him again - their bond was too strong for either of them to sever it completely - but it was different. She was closed off. She talked less. It hurt him in a way nothing else ever had - more than the death of his Sensei and father, more than any battle wound - pain coursed through his veins and into his soul. Every day he woke up was a nightmare, the routine mindless and boring, relief only coming with sleep. His life was sucked away into a blackhole where no light and no joy could find him. He was blank; he was nothing. 

“You’re beautiful, Ino,” he finally said, his nose brushing against hers. “You know you are.” 

They each took in a shaky breath as their lips ghosted over each other. Ino spoke softly. “We can’t do this.”

“Can’t?” Shikamaru questioned, their mouths practically pushing against each other now. “Or don’t?” He smirked as he pulled away from her, just barely, and she followed after him like a shadow. 

“I-” she gulped down her anxiety. “I want this.” Her nails dug deeper into his shirt and she stared into his dark eyes, a mixture of curiosity and anguish lingering in her gaze. “But we shouldn’t-”

“Ino,” Shikamaru whispered, pressing his lips onto hers. The kiss was chaste and light, granting Ino enough room to pull away if she wanted. She didn’t. Shikamaru pulled away, his mouth phantoming over hers. “You talk too much.” 

Ino pushed her lips onto his, licking his bottom lip as she moaned gently. He twisted his fingers into her soft hair as electricity sparked up his spine and his pulse raced madly. Her lips were soft and warm, greeting him kindly like an old friend, as he explored her mouth, swirling his tongue around hers. He moved his hand down the small of her back as she hooked her leg around his waist and he gripped underneath her thigh, hoisting her up.

Shallow breathing and banging hearts echoed throughout the large, empty classroom as they poured their emotions into each other. The room felt as though it was spinning around them as Shikamaru tugged Ino’s hair tie out, her long hair embracing her body, her cherry shampoo carrying him to a field filled with blooming sakura blossom trees. Somehow, he had picked her up and pinned her against the wall, both her legs wrapped around his middle as she clawed at his back and he licked the shell of her ear. 

Shikamaru utilized his shadow possession jutsu to lock both doors as he continued ravishing Ino’s neck with his mouth, heat rushing where he branded her. She released his hair from its ponytail, allowing it to tickle her shoulders, as she gripped tightly into his dark locks and whispered profanities into the air. She felt hands move their way up under her shirt and she gasped when she realized they were his shadows. They had a distinct humanlike quality to them as they fondled her chest over her bra, drawing out groans of pleasure. 

“The desk,” she managed to huff. “Put me on the desk.” 

“No,” Shikamaru growled, sliding her down with him to the floor. He tore off her indigo tank top as she lifted his shirt, both pieces of clothes tossed to the wayside as Shikamaru slid his finger underneath the waist of her skirt and panties. He slowly pulled both pieces of clothing down her thighs as her legs stretched out flat to the floor, shadow hands unclasped her bra as it toppled down her front, his hot mouth trailing across her chest until he had to fully pull back to toss the pieces of clothing somewhere in the room. Ino gulped as he looked at her with a glossy gaze, his lips puffy and red. He winked as he laid onto his back and Ino felt herself shift as she crawled over him, realization hitting her like a truck. Shadow possession. 

“S-Shika,” she began, but her vocal chords closed abruptly as a firm grip tightened over her throat. She tried to glance down but her body was completely being controlled by the lazy man beneath her as she mounted her dripping cunt over his face. Her knees sat on either side of his head, the cool tile of the classroom floor stinging her as shivers ran up her spine.

“Sorry,” he whispered, his warm breath tickling her slit. “But you really do talk too much. Can’t have someone hear you while I eat out your cute pussy.” 

Two slender fingers slid between her drenched lips, parting her sex slowly, pushing into her walls, curling upwards and stroking her depths. Ino’s entire body shivered as her thighs clenched around his face, pursing his lips gently. He felt her body’s vibrations rumble throughout him as he teased her, allowing his thumb to ghost over her throbbing clit as he blew onto it, cool air like a summertime breeze sweeping over her hot nub and tingling her to the bone.

Her throat loosened, ever so gently, allowing Ino to choke his name out shakily, her nightingale voice cracking like the richest soil of the Earth. Shikamaru breathed in the smell of pure sex, lusty and humid as evening summer air, as he flicked the tip of his tongue over her clit. Ino grunted as he removed his fingers, gripping onto her ass and sucking her clit into his mouth as she melted above him, her juices leaking onto his tongue as he fucked her with his mouth.

Shadow hands kneaded at her breasts and pinched her hard nipples as Ino shattered, scorching fire burning her stomach as her mind screamed at her hands to grab his hair, for her voice to break out of its cage and course through the silent air of the classroom; but instead, as Shikamaru continued lapping her up and his shadows grip held firm, she could only pant and bite her lip aggressively, her eyes remaining clenched shut with thunder in her heart. 

Shikamaru felt her thick thighs trembling around his face as his tongue swirled over her clit, each trickle of juice a delicacy he had abstained from for far too long. He was not going to let a single drop go to waste. In the past, he would pull away; would make her plead and bargain with him like an auctioneer until tears welled in her eyes and her body was nothing more than putty in his palms. He loved inching her to the edge of the cliff before saving her; over and over he would torment her, enjoying the way a woman so typically in control over her body and soul would bend over backwards for such a slothful man to demolish her piece by pretty piece. 

However, this was not like before. This was real. This was something he needed just as much as she did, if not more than she did. How long had he waited to touch her again; how long had he waited to taste her again? Too long, he concluded. For that reason, just this once, he would be a merciful lover. He released her from his shadow possession jutsu and she screamed out curses as her fragile fingers gripped into his hair. 

Ino pushed her hips forward, trailing his tongue down the length of her cunt. He nosed at her rock hard nub as she bit her lip, blood rushing to her face and heat rising through her body. Her hands tugged his hair harshly as her breathing became ragged and sinful, her entire body rippling above him. Shikamaru hummed against her as his tongue coyly slid between her ass cheeks. He dug his hands into the plush skin of her thighs, angling her hips upwards to grant him access to lick her rim teasingly. Ino chanted curses as his shadow finger nimbly circled across her clit, snapping her. She sang her soliloquy to him as she teetered over the cliffside: I’m coming-coming-coming-coming.

He drank her sacred liquid as he moved his mouth back up her slit, her scent overwhelming him, sweet and sweaty, as he licked within her walls.  She purred, grinding her face onto him as a small spray of liquid splashed into his mouth. Shikamaru smiled against her, providing a final kiss as he helped roll her over, climbing over her chest and planting his mouth onto her collarbone. Her breathing was rapid and shallow. He felt her hand graze his forearm lightly as she tried to hold him, her brain fully disintegrated from her climax. 

He smirked against her skin, grazing his teeth up her neck and kissing at her jaw. “Good girl,” he grunted. “You want me to fuck you?”

He felt her nod beneath his mouth. So adorable, he thought. But he wasn’t ready to be done yet. He plunged his tongue between her parted lips, swirling her arousal all throughout her mouth, allowing her to drink in what he had done to her. She felt his erection poking into her thigh as she slid her hand across his long length, tasting his delicious groan of approval on the tip of her tongue. Her hands trembled as they unzipped his pants, the jingling sweet like chimes, as she maneuvered her hand into his boxers and released his cock. 

She gripped his waist between her thighs and rolled him onto his back as she took the lead, gripping him into her soft hand and gently stroking his length, sticky arousal coating her hand fully as she worked her way over him. Shikamaru bit her bottom lip as he gripped onto her wrist and increased her pace, a desperate plea for her to stop teasing him. She trailed her hot mouth along his jaw and down his neck, licking her way across his hairy chest and lean stomach, before hovering over his cock hungrily. 

“Dammit, Ino,” he breathed, pumping her hand harder. “Just do it.” 

She hummed, taking in the sight of his pink tip, his dick thick in her hand. She circled her thumb around the curve of his tip as he gritted his teeth, utilizing her other hand to pin his wrist behind his back. She blew onto his girth gently, melting his brain, before she wrapped her mouth just around the tip, licking into the slit naughtily. Shikamaru clenched his fist beneath his back as he moved his free hand to Ino’s soft hair and gripped onto the top of her head, pushing her down. Her vibrato rumbled throughout his body as she languidly sucked his cock, her cheeks hallowed as her ice blue eyes watched him, choking on him lightly.

She freed his wrist as she gripped onto his balls, intense pressure bubbling within his stomach as he watched her reddened lips engulf him fully, her tongue ever so lightly feathering the curves of his cock, her little hand working down the part of him she couldn’t fit into her throat. He was losing it, tightly shutting his eyes in an attempt to distract himself from the whirlwind of ecstasy, before she pulled off him with a pop and the world tilted around him.

“Fuck,” Shikamaru moaned, leaning up and gripping her cheeks with his thumb and forefinger. “You shouldn’t have done that.”

Ino’s pursed, pink lips were sticky with him as she stared at him, her gaze glassy. He felt his heart pang in his chest as he pressed his mouth to hers, licking her clean. He missed the taste of them mixed together; it was warm and sweet and unique. Ino adjusted herself to be sitting on her knees between his legs as she snaked her arms around his neck, her movements heavy from her burning desire of wanting his cock rammed inside her. 

Shikamaru hoisted her body into his arms bridal style, standing up as he carried her down the steps to the desk, placing her gently on the edge, her back arching against the curve of the wood. He slid his pants down his legs and lined himself up, holding onto the edge of the desk with his free hand. Her cheeks were bright red, sweat beading down her lovely neck and circling over her protruding collarbones. Her eyes were sparkling with pure ethereal delight as she licked her lips and tugged at the tips of his hair.

“F-Fuck,” Ino begged. She looked into his oak eyes, his pupils primal and eager. His mouth was glistening with her arousal and his lips were puffy, red as brick. She gave him a mischievous grin and reached for his necklace to pull him down, their mouths inches apart. “Fuck me, Daddy.”

Shikamaru grit his teeth at the nickname. Daddy. His body fully took control over his consciousness as he pumped his throbbing cock inside of her velvet walls, slick juice welcoming him in with minimal effort as she spread herself for him. His face fell into the crook of her neck as he grabbed onto her shoulders; her ankles twisted and locked themselves over the back of his thighs, sinking him deeper inside her. Ino gripped onto her round tits, each thrust bouncing them around wildly, as she fingered her taut nipples and moaned his name towards the sun. 

His dick filled her up, covering each inch of her cunt. He grunted out profanities through gasps of her name as he sloppily nibbled her neck, his knuckles white as snow while gripping onto her slender shoulders. Ino pushed her head back against the mahogany, wanting to sink herself into it, to allow their bodies to bend deeper together. She wrapped her hands around his neck and dug her nails into his skull as she thrust her hips upwards, their rhythms melding together as their bodies merged into one.

A burst of energy swirled throughout her body as she felt the Earth stop spinning around her, her body spasming beneath him, her legs wrapping around his waist. He watched her mouth hang ajar as she choked out breathless air and scratched her nails down his back, burning into his skin. Her pussy clenched around him as he felt himself fall with her, thrusting deep inside her slick walls as his tip twitched and he mixed himself with her arousal, white noise screeching around the room. 

Time slowed to a standstill as Shikamaru took in several ragged breaths, his hot breath tickling her ear, his chest weighed down, ringing in his ears. Ino’s nails released their pressure on his back as she ran her fingers up across his shoulder blades and rested them in his hair. He could hear her lovely heartbeat as they slowly came down from Saturn, the room eventually coming back into view from their whited out vision. 

Shikamaru placed a final open-mouthed kiss to her neck and pulled out, nosing his head down to rest between her breasts as she held him. She chucked, her body moving rhythmically beneath him. He glanced up at her through his black hair to see her staring straight at the ceiling, her hair curtaining over her face, her mouth turned upwards in a satisfied smile.

“Something funny?” he questioned teasingly.

“I can’t believe that just happened.” She laughed briskly, resting her arm over her forehead. Shikamaru hummed and pulled himself off her, wobbling slightly. “Ino, I-”

She held a finger to her mouth and reached her hand out. He helped her up, her blue eyes sparkling up at him like a spring sky. “I know, Shika.” She stood onto her tiptoes and pecked him on the cheek, warmth creeping its way up his neck. 

“I wanted to-” A loud banging on the door cut him off as Ino ran up the stairs towards their clothes, frantically gripping at the fabric, her hands too shaky, making it hard for her to grasp onto anything. 

Shikamaru’s heart skipped several beats before he called out. “J-Just a second, please.” 

“Why is the door locked?” Kakashi’s voice was quiet, catching halfway into the thickness of the walls and granting Shikamaru’s heart some relief as he hastily pulled up his pants, zipping them up. Ino threw his shirt down to him and he tugged it on, peeking at Ino to see her tying her hair back up into a sloppy ponytail as he opened the door. 

Kakashi’s face was totally unreadable as he stood with his arms crossed over his chest, his mask making it hard for Shikamaru to decipher any distinguishing features that would indicate if the Copy Cat Ninja had heard any part of their lewd secret. His eyebrows knit together gently, only for a brief moment, as Kakashi peered into the room and locked onto Ino. She was twiddling with her shirt, tucking the fabric down as she smiled at the men and waved casually.

“H-Hi,” Ino said shakily. “Rough session. He’s a tough trainer, that’s for sure.”

Kakashi glanced between the pair, the silence so loud that Shikamaru’s head started pounding. “Is he?” he asked, his voice soft and low. “I wouldn’t have guessed.” 

Shikamaru gulped as Kakashi continued. “Anyway, class has been over for thirty minutes and I am in need of your assistance.” Kakashi looked at Shikamaru and he could feel his cheeks burning up. He scratched the back of his head awkwardly as he shuffled his feet.

“Wow, yeah,” Shikamaru said, glancing at the clock. “I guess we ran over time. Sorry about that.” 

Kakashi clicked his tongue and turned away, giving a small wave. “I’ll see you at the office.” Shikamaru closed the door as the air chilled around him. He heard Ino shift uncomfortably as she started walking down the stairs, her light footsteps echoing around the room.

“Heh,” Shikamaru turned to face her, his hands trembling as he placed them into his front pockets. “Ino, I-”

She shook her head as she stood before him, gripping onto his hips and pulling him closer to her. “Are you busy tonight?”

“No,” he whispered, grazing his finger along her cheek. “I want to see you again. I want to… hang out again, if you want to.”

Ino beamed up at him. It was the smile he had grown used to over the years; the smile she hadn’t shared with him since their breakup, the one that kept him up into the early hours of the morning as he reflected on what an idiot he was for allowing her to slip through his fingers. His heart bled for her as she pressed a light kiss to the tip of his nose.

“I’ll see you tonight, then.” She said, stroking a stray strand of hair out of his face. “Also, you forgot this.” She placed his hair tie into his hand and closed his fingers around it gently, a cunning smile crossing over her lips as dread crept into his soul.

“He is never gonna let me live this down,” Shikamaru moaned as he tied his hair back up, his heartbeat pounding in his ears. Ino giggled as she stood back, hands on her hips, her head tilted to the side. He smiled at her and pulled on his backpack, brushing his shoulder against hers as he walked to the door. 

“You know,” he drew out the last syllable playfully as he pulled open the door and gestured to go ahead, placing his hand on the small of her back as he followed her. “I have to admit, I am really glad Sai is gay.”

Ino laughed heartily as they trudged down the hall together. “I can’t believe I’m saying this,” she confessed, peeking over at him from the corner of her eye, her lips twitching upwards. “But so am I.” 

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[nejibaby]

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.

[jesseevelann]

An old fic I started to write but never finished

Sakura was always a strange person to Sasuke, she was confusing but very easy to read. At least that’s what he thought. Everything he knew about the older teenager was quickly washed away shortly after they had graduated from the academy and were put into a squad with each other, as well as Naruto.

She quickly became distant from he and Naruto, and rarely confronted their sensei. The once bubbly, cheerful girl that was never scared to speak her mind had changed quickly. Smiles were forced, as were words. Sasuke was the only one to notice the change.

Of course, he didn’t care at first. Sakura was troublesome, and unnecessary. But her changing behaviour only became more noticeable. The smiles disappeared, she never talked and her participation in training became little to nothing. He tried to ignore it, he didn’t want to care about Sakura, or at least seem to, but something in his heart refused to let him have his way.

Sakura started to turn up late to training. It wasn’t that bad at first, but as the days went on, she turned up later and later, managing to arrive later than Kakashi. Some days not turning up at all. Soon enough, Sasuke became worried, a little too worried for his liking.

As the months passed, Sasuke came to terms with his feelings for Sakura, which only hurt him more. Sakura became more depressed as time went by, her eyes were dull and emotionless. He wanted to ask her about it, but he was too weak to approach her. His body begged to hug her, his heart screaming to reassure her, to love her. But he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

Sasuke felt useless, hating himself because he wouldn’t help her. He saw her pain, but he did nothing but watch from afar, hoping something would happen. He kept a cool guy posture, showed no care despite how much he wanted to, he hated himself for it.

‘What… is wrong with me…' he thought, staring into the water of a river, watching it flow and splash. ‘I love her… but I’m too weak to help her…’ tears pricked at Sasuke’s eyes, a whimper sitting at the back of his throat. He hugged his knees to his chest and curled into a ball, a squeaky sob escaping him.

‘I just want to help her… why can’t I do that? I’m pathetic…’ tears dripped onto his knees, his body trembling with every choked sob. ‘I’m an idiot!’ he scratched at his legs, raising his hand and pulling his hair. ‘Useless!’ his eyes burned; his face hot with tears. “Why can’t you be good for once?!” he yelled, his voice cracking.

“Sasuke?” a voice came from behind, Sasuke’s cries catching in his throat when the familiar voice rang in his ears. Pushing himself out of the position he sat, he turned to look at the one who spoke, the cool air hitting his face painfully. “K-Kakashi sensei…” he muttered, wiping his tear-stained face. “What are you doing here…?” he asked, sniffling.

Kakashi walked closer, Sasuke’s eyes following him as he sat next to him. “I see you’re having trouble… is there something I can do?” Sasuke looked back to the water, doubting Kakashi would be able to help him. “… it’s about Sakura, isn’t it…” Sasuke flinched at her name, but slowly nodded.

Kakashi went quiet, Sasuke feeling the tears well up in his eyes once more. “Kakashi sensei?” Sasuke whispered, tears falling from his eyes. “When you love someone… it’s normal to want to protect them, r-right?”

“I… yes. It is.”

“What do you do when you’re too weak to protect them…?” Sasuke looked up at Kakashi, sniffling once again. Kakashi paused, not knowing the answer himself. Kakashi thought about it hard, lost for words. He didn’t know what to say, his loved ones had long passed, not that he thought about this sort of thing often.

“Well… you try your best to defend them and help them to the best of your ability…” Sasuke nodded, wiping his eyes. “If you want, Sasuke… I can take you to Sakura’s house and we can talk to her together.” Sasuke thought about it, nodding shortly after.

“I’d like that… thank you sensei” Kakashi smiled and stood, helping Sasuke up before beginning to walk. Sasuke followed his sensei, taking note of the route they were taking. ‘I hope she’s okay…’

Not too long after they left, they were there. Sasuke felt nervous, the urge to bail hiding deep within him. A loud voice boomed from the house, a strong feminine voice, hatred laced in every word. Kakashi nudged Sasuke forward. “Don’t worry… I’ll be right behind you” Sasuke hummed in agreement, slowly making his way up the stairs, Kakashi’s footsteps reassuring him.

The yelling grew louder, the words becoming clearer, a mixture of insults and orders rang in Sasuke’s ears. ‘Why is there so much… yelling?’ Sasuke hesitated to knock on the door, part of him hoping this wasn’t Sakura’s house. Kakashi moved, knocking on the door, the cursed voice going quiet.

‘I guess there’s no going back now…’ the door opened, a tall blonde woman revealing herself. “Ah! Kakashi sensei! What a pleasant surprise!” she chuckled; a sickeningly sweet smile twisted on her face. “Hello, Mebuki…”

Sasuke tried to peek inside, only getting a glimpse of a pink and red blur before the woman spoke again. “What brings you two here?” Kakashi looked at Sasuke, as if expecting him to speak, but nothing came from the young teenager. “We… were hoping to see Sakura, we have a few things to discuss with her.” Mebuki laughed slightly.

“Ah… you’ve come at a bad time… Sakura has fallen asleep, she was very, very sick this morning…” Sasuke raised an eyebrow. Kakashi paused before responding. “Ah… I see… we will come back another ti-”

“But Sakura was fine this morning.” Sasuke interrupted, catching the adults by surprise. “She wasn’t sick at all.” Mebuki’s eye twitched as she looked down at Sasuke. Kakashi took a moment before asking. “How do you know, Sasuke? She… wasn’t at training today.” Sasuke scoffed.

“I saw her walk out of the Hokage tower, she was perfectly fine.” The Uchiha glared at Mebuki. “You lied.” The blonde woman went quiet. Kakashi tapping Sasuke’s shoulder.

“Sasuke…” Sasuke shook his head, turning and stomping down the stairs.

“I’ll talk to Sakura another day… by myself!” he yelled, swinging around the corner. Kakashi looked at Mebuki, sighing before apologizing, the woman laughing in reply. Kakashi looked at her in confusion. “Don’t worry, Kakashi sensei! No need to apologize!”

“I… if you say so…” Mebuki slung her arm around Kakashi, the man tensing in her grip, and laughed, Kakashi adding a nervous chuckle in response. “I… have to get going now… I’m late for a meeting with the Hokage…” Kakashi said, weaseling out of the woman’s tight hold.

“Ah… alright. See you next time!” Mebuki waved, Kakashi returning the gesture as he walked down the stairs. The blonde turned and walked inside, her smile disappearing instantly.

Sasuke bit back the tears in his eyes, his feet stomping into the ground with every furious step.

[mokutone]

Unpopular opinion :) about naruto in general or just yamato whatever you want

hmmm thank you for the question....i guess here's one: in "modern"/non ninja AUs, I think Yamato should still be a fairly odd guy who is not really fully socialized to the intricacies of daily life.

ough. edit update 2: tumblr deleted my first update acknowledging that it fucked up my post. dont know why this keeps happening. but it does. anyway

the thing is that around 2020 i started getting into naruto and while trying to avoid certain spoilers i decided to read some non ninja au fics, just because theyre fun and creative and i like seeing how people translate canon material into au material, and i was like. suuuuper blindsided by how often yamato was portrayed (even in some yamato centric fics) as like. the everyman.

and to be fair!! i can definitely understand how they came to this conclusion, because Yamato DOES have a little bit of a manzai routine with naruto, where naruto is the boke and yamato is the tsukkomi! yamato loves to play the straight man!

but the straight man isn't quite the everyman, there's some nuance in there. the "everyman" is somebody who is meant to be "relatable to anyone," typically their experiences in life have been """average""" in such a way that, when exposed to bizarre circumstances, they will react with an entertaining or empathy-drawing abundance of surprise and often distress.

i feel like a lot of yamato's backstory, specifically being a test tube baby created by konoha's favorite evil mad scientist and then raised and trained by a man known for having children fight to the death in an effort to remove them of their feelings, and then spending the next 10 years of his life exclusively working relatively anonymously in Konoha's black ops, however, kinda disqualifies Yamato from being an everyman? I feel like that's a pretty ah. unique. experience of life. even speaking simply in the terms of batshit ninja origin stories from naruto!

like sure! in an au, you could remove any trace of that from his character. but you could also, in an au, say that Kakashi just got that scar in a shaving accident when he was 22. i don't know why you'd say that, but like, you could if you thought that losing his eye and all that obito shit didn't matter to his character much. i mean...the world is an oyster.

the straight man in a comedic bit DOES often serve the purpose of the "voice of reason" but, unlike the everyman...there's no prescribed backstory! it's just a comedic role. The only expectation is that they generally maintain composure in the face of Antics, and that they try to correct or give deadpan commentary to the funnyman.

this is part of why i am constantly making jokes about Yamato Deliberately practicing being "normal," honestly. i think it would be a very funny and a really funny crossroads of some of his character traits if...instead of being the straight man by virtue of never having encountered any strangeness in his life, yamato (who we know to be somebody who values preparedness immensely) just...studied for it. is there anything more hilarious than the idea of somebody who studied being normal with the goal of being able to pass as Just Some Average Joe.

Imagine say, a Yamato who was brought up by danzō in some kind of homeschooler's hell blood sports situation, who is now an adult and finds doing his taxes and going grocery shopping and all sorts of very normal and unfun tasks genuinely kind of exciting because of how rewarding he finds it to practice these Normal Skills he has put an insane amount of effort into teaching himself. I find this idea to be just. utterly enrapturing. but that's a very extreme example of the dichotomy.

anyway. in fics which aren't about that kind of thing, it can be a narrow line to tread, and really all it comes down to is just. putting thought into giving yamato a backstory which draws at least somewhat on a few of his canon backstory details and characterizing his actions with his own logic (which one must then put effort into building), rather than a kind of default "common-sense" logic.