#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.

[bree-peasant]

The Magic Lake - a Kakashi x fem!Reader One Shot

Author's note: I'm back with a cheesy, fluffy Kk fic. I've had many one shots in the works, but this is the one I managed to finish, so I really hope you like it!

Word count: 2.7k

Sunmary: Y/N and Kakashi are childhood best friends who've lost touch. Can a chance encounter many years later repair a broken bond?

Warnings: some nudity, but it's not very explicit

Happy reading! ♡

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You and Kakashi had been neighbours. Born less than a year apart (Kakashi was the younger one and you never failed to remind him of that), you quickly became inseparable. From innocent child's play, to training together while you both attended the Academy, the two of you would spend any spare moment together, creating a bond that nothing could shatter. Or so you thought.

Kakashi quickly overtook you in his ninja capabilities, showcasing a rare talent. At first, that only motivated you to try and keep up with him, but the more you grew, the more you realised the shinobi life wasn't meant for you. Your comrades and teachers alike, would often poke fun at your delicate hands and your careful movements, making you rethink your choice of career. Kakashi always supported you, trying to convince you not to give up on becoming a shinobi. You even went as far as to graduate from the Academy, but after that, you were done.

Your relationship with him didn't change immediately. You were both still devoted to the friendship as ever, making sure that every spare moment was spent together, either swimming, play-fighting, or reading in a comfortable silence. You'd talk about the future together, making naive promises to stay in each other's lives forever, certain in your childish minds that you'd fulfil these oaths.

When Sakumo died, your family welcomed Kakashi, who had already felt like their second child anyway. You wanted to console him, support him through his grief, but you already felt your best friend drifting away. You hoped it was only temporary and tried to ignore your growing worry.

He was your first kiss. A very innocent one at that, but it still brought butterflies to your stomach every time you thought of it for days after. He was leaving on his first ever long-term mission, and without thinking, you planted a peck on his lips as the two of you were saying goodbye. Kakashi looked awfully flustered, a bright red spreading on his cheeks, visible despite his mask. He'd hugged you tight after that, promising to return safely. To you.

You supposed both of you were too young to understand the feelings that grew between you; to distinguish where the deep-rooted friendship ended, and something else began. So, when he came back, things remained the same for awhile, neither of you sure how to approach the subject. With time, though, Kakashi's life took him on a very different path from your own. One that was so riddled with grief and regret, that he withdrew in himself, began avoiding you and your family, taking on more missions, being aloof and cold when around you. The more he rose in rank, the more he was away, risking his life over and over again, and when he did come back to the village, he stayed away.

It broke your heart to see the change in him. You tried to plead your way back into the friendship, but it seemed too far gone to be retrieved. Eventually, you had to make peace with how things stood between you, and you silently withdrew, hoping that someday, Kakashi would come back to you.

Now, 20-some years later, you were running a sewing shop in the village, putting your concentrated and graceful hand movements to good use. You were renowned in the village for your needlepoint work, even making garments for nobility outside of Konoha. You hadn't seen Kakashi in years, bar the occasional chance encounter, when you'd awkwardly greet each other and quickly move on. But something in you would break at the sight of him still. You never put a name to the feeling, convincing yourself that what happened long ago no longer mattered. You'd moved on with your life, you'd made other friends, had other lovers, but in truth, a part of you missed your childhood best friend desperately.

It had been a long day at work, the summer heat sweltering in the shop, drops of sweat trickling down the nape of your neck as you worked. By the evening, you were utterly exhausted, but the thought of returning to your stuffy flat was too repulsive to face.

You decided to grab some food to go and take a stroll outside the village, in an attempt to find a cooler spot. By now, the sun was starting to set, the night promising some respite from the blistering heat. You walked aimlessly, allowing your feet to dictate the direction, your mind caught up in tomorrow's affairs. The summer season was a busy one for your shop, with many orders coming through, and you were beginning to feel overwhelmed with all the work you had coming your way.

Pulling yourself out of these cumbersome thoughts, you stopped to take a look at your surroundings. You'd reached a small clearing, not far from the village walls, with a narrow, clear-blue lake in the middle of it. You immediately recognised it, surprised that your subconscious had taken you there of all places. You and Kakashi used to swim in the lake whenever chance occurred in summer, even taking a cold dip or two in the cooler seasons. It had been the centre of many happy memories the two of you shared, basking in the sun, chattering and laughing till your voices became hoarse. You hadn't visited it in years, plagued by sorrow at the loss of what once was. But you found yourself smiling at those memories now, glad that they had happened.

Although night was settling in, the air was still hot from the day's relentless sun, forcing you to consider a swim.

"For old time's sake." You thought to yourself, coming closer to the body of water. You took off your shoes and dipped a toe in, pleased by the slight cool of the water. You looked around, darkness now becoming thicker. There was no one in sight, nor any sound, bar the croaking of frogs and chirping of crickets. Deciding it was safe to shed your clothes in their entirety, you slowly submerged yourself in the water, dipping your head under for that much desired relief.

You felt your body instantly relax, turning over to lie on your back and stare at the stars for a while, grateful for this respite. You weren't sure how much time had passed when you heard footsteps approaching. You quickly shifted position to hide your nakedness under the dark water, when you saw a figure approaching from the path. When he stepped into the moon's light around the clearing, to your astonishment, it was none other than Kakashi. He spotted your head floating above the water, a sound of surprise escaping his masked lips.

"My apologies, Y/N. I didn't expect to find anyone here! It's usually quiet at this time." The way he spoke your name sent a shiver down your spine. You hadn't heard it fall from his lips in so long.

"Do you come here often?" You replied, raising a curious brow.

"Whenever I have the time." He stood motionless, close to the edge, unsure whether to turn back or not. "It's a place of very fond memories for me." He added in a slightly softer, hushed tone.

You blushed at those words, glad for the darkness that enveloped you. There was something so fated in your meeting tonight, that you wanted to allow it to continue.

"Well, if you don't mind the company, you're welcome to join me." You said without thinking your words over too much.

Kakashi hesitated for a moment. He felt almost enchanted, standing there, looking over your figure in the water. After so many years, it felt both odd and somehow right to be there with you tonight. Finally, he allowed himself to relax, deciding to follow whatever magic had brought you together again. He took his jōnin vest off, grateful that you swam away and turned your back to give him his privacy. He already felt his cheeks grow hot, from just seeing you, hoping the moonlight was too weak to reveal them. He continued to pull layers off himself, stopping at his boxers, unsure what the correct thing to do was. Noticing your pile of clothes by the water, with your panties at the top, he shed his own and jumped into the lake in one fell swoop.

You turned at the splash, drops of water hitting your face. With pretend annoyance, you waited for him to emerge and splashed him, giggling afterwards at his sullen expression.

"Can't a man enjoy a peaceful swim?!" He said, feigning his own frustration, only to catch you at your most vulnerable and splash you right back. You both laughed then, flicking bits of water at each other, trying old tricks, falling into an easy companionship, like no time had passed at all.

"Look what I've learned!" You said, diving head first in the water, positioning your hands on the bottom and popping your legs out in a handstand.

"That's nothing!" Kakashi said once you'd emerged from the water, proceeding to mimic your act.

As his legs broke through the surface, you swam over and pushed them, so he'd lose balance, forcing him to quickly resurface.

"Hey! You cheated!" He scolded you in almost a childish tone, making you laugh.

"I'm older, so I can do what I want!" You responded, mirroring his tone.

"Oh, is that so?" A sly smirk spreading on his lips. "We'll just see about that." With those words, he sprang on you like a cat, submerging your head under water. Kakashi was completely wrapped up in your old games, so without thinking, he wrapped his arms around your body, pulling you out and above the water, just to throw you back some distance away.

You emerged, spitting out water and cackling, admitting defeat. Suddenly, you were aware Kakashi had grown silent, his gaze lingering on you. Both of you now came to the realisation that you were no longer two kids, but grown adults, who were naked in the water. You finally took in his features, new to you since you hadn't seen him unmasked for years. He'd grown handsome, with thin lips that always seemed to hint at a grin. He kept his scarred eye closed, but you recognised the look in his charcoal one, wild and stubborn still. Perhaps he hadn't changed that much.

Kakashi, in turn, studied you too. You'd always been tall for a girl, but he noted how your shape had become more feminine with time, rounder in its edges. Your hair was still as wild as when he used to pull on it to get the advantage, but your face seemed softer, happier than he remembered seeing it last.

You stood in silence for a moment, each caught in their own thoughts of times passed. Eventually, you felt the chill of awkwardness, your feelings jumping between the familiarity of your old friendship, and the strangeness of the person who stood in front of you now. You shook your head, not wanting to drown out the magic that had held you until now. You weren't ready to let go of the moment just yet.

"I've..." You bit your lip for a second, unsure you could say what was truly on your mind. "I've missed you, Kakashi." You finally spoke, darting your eyes away from him.

Your words caught him by surprise, yet soothed his soul like a balm. He'd been thinking the same with so much sadness, not daring to hope that you could salvage what was lost.

He smiled to himself, although he wasn't sure what to say in response.

"You know..." He said, the thought coming out before he could decide if it was good or not. "I had the biggest crush on you growing up."

Your eyes immediately found their way back to his face, trying to read his expression in the pale light. He had a small smile playing on his lips, his gaze downward cast, following the specks of light on the water's surface.

"What?" You managed to whisper, almost in laughter, confused by where the conversation was headed.

"Yeah..." He let out a soft chuckle, reaching to scratch the back of his head. "I was so worried about ruining our friendship, that I never did anything about it... But I've always wondered what would've happened if I had been brave enough to tell you." He trailed off, still not daring to look at you.

You remained silent for a moment, trying to decide on a response. It seemed tonight was about honesty, so once again, you let yourself go along with the flow.

"I liked you too... as more than a friend." You added, shyness taking over. It was ridiculous, you were in your late twenties, standing naked in a lake with a handsome man, but somehow you'd reverted back to your childhood inexperience.

Kakashi finally looked your way, mesmerised by how pretty you looked with your pale reflection mirrored in the water. Was it possible that after all these years, there was still a chance at reconciliation? He wasn't sure.

"Do you think we would've stayed together? If we'd admitted our feelings?" You asked, regret hushing your voice.

"I don't know..." He replied, looking away again. "But I've carried you with me all these years, Y/N. I never forgot about you."

There was so much sincerity in his voice, that you felt like sobbing.

"Why did you never reach out, Kakashi? I waited... for you." Remorse, mingled with grief as you spoke.

"I didn't want to poison you like I did with others." He sighed, his shoulders slouching. "I thought you were better off without me. Then time went on, and it became harder and harder to approach you, so I didn't."

Unnoticed, the current had swayed you both closer, standing at an arm's length from one another. You stared at his silver hair, glistening in the moonlight, catching yourself in a dream about running your fingers through it. Kakashi in turn, lifted his gaze to your lips, made silky by the drops of water, wishing he could cup your cheek and pull you closer. Neither of you moved.

"I was never better off without you." You whispered, nothing better coming to mind to soothe his guilt. "I wanted to be there for you. To be your friend, if nothing more." You paused, taking a breath in to calm your nerves. The air felt thick, despite the coolness of the water around you. You felt both flushed, and a chill in the back of your neck.

"You were my world, Kakashi." You finally said, your voice so quiet, you weren't sure he would hear you. "And I've not felt whole since you left."

He stared at you in disbelief, unable to comprehend how he, of all people, could have had such influence over you. How could he have been so blind, so afraid, to look for you sooner? Had he lost his chance?

"Y/N... do you think there is still a way we could..." You waited eagerly to hear his words, but as he spoke, you felt a slight nudge by the current, making you lose your footing. You stumbled forward in the water, falling right into Kakashi's arms. He held you stiffly for a moment, your eyes wide in surprise, mirroring his black one.

Suddenly, you felt his body relax, as he pulled you in closer. You parted your lips to let his crash onto them in a kiss that bore no resemblance to the one you had shared as kids. Your arms moved of their own volition, wrapping around his neck, fingers weaving themselves in his silver hair. Chest pressed to chest, he held you tighter, as if afraid that you'd slip away from him. Your kisses tasted like the minerals in the lake water, wet and sweet. You remained entangled in each other like this for a while, lost in a moment that felt both familiar and entirely new. As you finally pulled away from each other, still remaining close, unbeknownst to the other, you shared the thought that perhaps it wasn't too late for the two of you.

"Will you go on a date with me, Y/N?" Kakashi said, a drunken smile playing on his lips. The man couldn't believe how happy he was at that moment.

You let out a soft chuckle, giving him a kiss on the cheek and whispered him:

"I thought you'd never ask!"

[tentenismybitch]

ok team gai-centric tenten headcanons now:

(handwaving canon cus idk if they even still have anbu after the war lmao but) she wants to be an ANBU and specifically requests it when kakashi becomes hokage - since kakashi is her sensei’s husband best friend, she incorrectly believes that he will grant her request. it’s because of this that the opposite happens: he explicitly DENIES her repeated requests and when she eventually confronts him about it, he’s like: well. me and gai care about you too much for me to fuck you up like that. here is a genin team that would benefit from your tutelage instead :)

tenten was neji's first real friend. but also. he used to piss her off BAD with all his fate and destiny talk, and for being an uptight clan-kid. she definitely used to pick fights with him in their academy days. he often won, but she discovered his blindspot because one time he turns his back on her and she throws a rock at him and it actually hits him. she's like "oh word? 👀 that vision's not quite 360 is it HYUGA?"

also. kinda pisses me off that neji is on a team with ROCK LEE and TENTEN, two of the canonically most pleasant, friendly and optimistic people in the konoha 11/12, and their sensei is fucking MAITO GAI, but it takes getting beat by naruto, some random jerkwad he just met, to change neji’s perspective on fate and make him less driven by his anger and hopelessness. i absolutely do not accept that, though i understand it had to happen because this is Naruto the Manga. IN MY MIND THO, naruto just echoes and drives home sentiments that neji’s LITERAL TEAM AND ONLY LOVED ONES have been drilling into him for the entire year that they have been on a team before he even met naruto, and also probably insisted on when they were still in the academy. bffr

RELATEDLY: sorry, but. for a while. tenten does not like hinata. she feels bad and guilty about it, but, well, two things. 1) (at least according to narutopedia) tenten allegedly hates weak people. based purely on what she hears from neji, she would probably categorize hinata as a weak person and 2) even if she didn’t, as neji’s literal only friend and someone who understands injustice, she would empathize with him and his hatred for the main house. in her child’s/teenage understanding of it all, she would find it perfectly reasonable that neji hates hinata, and in defense of her friend, would also not like her. she is never outright mean to hinata, because she’s not cruel! she just doesn’t try particularly hard to be her friend! hinata might not even notice it herself!! and she gets over it eventually!!

she also likes spicy food just not as spicy as gai and lee like it. her spice tolerance is like. she can eat buldak spicy ramen (original) but wouldn't touch 2x spicy, which gai and lee could eat regularly. neji cannot handle spicy food at all, bless his heart <3

this is going to be a hot take (its my headcanon tho so who cares) but. gai tries to teach them all how to open the gates. neji can't do it at all; tenten can only get as far as the 4th gate, the gate of pain

tenten is the first to kill someone and she is...not as upset about it as gai, lee, and neji thought she would be. in fact, her callousness about it scares gai a little bit and he has to give her a Talk about the Value of Human Life, even when it is an Enemy's Life.

also. see headcanon #1 on this list. when she requests to be anbu kakashi remembers this and is like "hm. this kid's got a latent bloodlust. maybe no anbu!"

because my kakagai goggles are always on: kakashi and gai try to be discreet about their relationship at first but tenten's very observant. whenever kakagai is acting a little too weird for her she's like "just make out already DAMN!"

speaking of kakashi, after naruto leaves, since tsunade has taken over sakura's training, he hangs out with team gai during their training sessions (that's their Stepdad ok)

ok. i'm disregarding the filler that explains how everyone became a chunin for this one:

after losing to temari so quickly and brutally, tenten OBSESSES over proving herself in this specific way. chunin exams are apparently held twice a year, so they register again–lee and neji are lowkey not ready after both getting major surgeries just a few months before, but they see how important it is to her so they register anyway and both end up getting knocked out in their final matches. that's right baby: tenten becomes a chunin first! lee and neji follow in the next exams six months later

speaking of disregarding canon: instead of gai holding them back a year, i hc that when it was time to register for the chunin exams when they were more newly a team, tenten opts not to register because she thinks they are not cohesive enough as a team (cus neji and lee are always getting into it.) neji and lee are very mad at her for this but she's actually right

[uchiha014]

“𝐈𝐌 𝐋𝐎𝐒𝐓 𝐈𝐍 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐒.“

You were a very introverted girl from a young age. You never wanted to play with other children, you didn't want to train with other children, and heaven forbid anyone spoke to you. You were constantly locked in your room, never going outside, but your parents somehow didn't care. Or they never noticed, whatever. At some point, however, you had to go to the ninja academy, and that was hell on earth for you. You never spoke, sat in the very back corner and row, and three seats away from you was a boy named Obito Uchiha. Well, let's just say he was the class clown who knew "nothing" and was always raving to his neighbor, Kakashi Hatake, about a girl named "Rin." Anyway, you had nothing to do with him and tried to keep your peace. Every time the teacher picked you, you just shrugged your shoulders or pretended to be asleep, which the teacher didn't really care about.

You were very quiet and never spoke, but that didn't mean you were bad. You trained alone in the garden every day, memorized the names of the jutsu, and even asked your parents for tips and other jutsu. After all, they helped you.

After a few weeks, a boy approached you. Although you had your head on the table and your eyes closed, you could feel his chakra and hear his footsteps. "Hey!" he called out to you and stopped in front of you, smiling according to his voice and crossing his arms. You raised your head from the table to look at him, but said nothing, which didn't seem to bother him. "You're always so alone and quiet...maybe you'd like to be with us?" Obito asked, stepping aside. This Kakashi and that Rin suddenly appeared. Kakashi didn't exactly have a friendly face and didn't look happy, but he was there anyways.

You remained silent and said nothing, not knowing what to say either. Not even a second later, Obito pulled you outside. "I'm Obito Uchiha!" he said, emphasizing the "Uchiha" with pride. "This is Rin and... Kakashi... and you're again?" You remained silent for a moment, and all three of them had no hope that you would say anything, but suddenly you spoke. "Y/n," you said in a less than pleased voice, and Obito smiled.

And so it continued for the next few years. The four of us grew together and got along well, and you actually started talking, but more often in front of Obito or when Obito was there. You had only felt comfortable in front of him, and with his helpfulness, self-confidence, and patience with you, you had also developed feelings for him. However, you kept these feelings aside the whole time and convinced yourself it was just friendship because you knew he liked Rin...or at least you thought so. Obito was with you more, but as soon as Rin appeared, he was gone...as if you were just a replacement. And it broke your heart, but no one really noticed because you're "always like that."

You were always there for Obito, and even Kakashi noticed that you had feelings for Obito, but he never said anything about it because he knew more than you. Anyway, it ended up that we left the ninja academy and became genin under Team 7, Minato. As an exception, you were allowed to join the team, since there are normally only three people on a team, but Minato made an exception because he knew you personally.

After a time, it felt like only your soul was there in the group, and not you yourself. You became quieter and quieter again and hardly spoke anymore, since Obito only spent time with Rin and Kakashi was more by himself, although he often came to see you. You were alone again and no one even really noticed.

Five days later, there was a knock at your house, and you didn't even have the strength to get up and open it, but maybe it was something important. What could possibly be important anymore? You opened the door only to see Obito standing there, and your heart sank. You swallowed hard.

"Y/n!! We all miss you, why don't you come anymore?" Obito asked in a worried voice, which was actually heard a little less often, even though he was always the positive one. "Are you not feeling well?" he added when he noticed you weren't talking. "Y/n?--" he asked before you could answer. "Don't act like that," was your reply, and it confused Obito...it confused him really much, because he did not get what you mean by that. "What?..." he asked, confused, tilting his head. "Don't act like I mean something to you," you finished. "But you-" "No," you interrupted. "You're with me, but as soon as Rin shows up, you're suddenly gone again, as if I'd never been anything...as if I were a nobody, a replacement. Don't you realize it hurts me? Haven't you noticed how quiet I've become? How unsure I've been again?" you finished, your heart heavy, because it really hurt you. You have feelings for him, you love him. You just never really understood how to show it or to make it clear. "Why were you always there for me? Why were you always so gentle and patient with me, if it doesn't mean anything in the end? I don't understand," you added last, seeing Obito's shocked and unexpected look. "Y/n..." he whispered. "I didn't know...you'd take this so seriously...I'm...sorry, but let me explain, okay? I promise you won't regret listening to me, okay?" Obito spoke in a quick and desperate voice, and you just nodded.

"Good, thanks. Look...I never cared about you, and I'm sorry for making you feel that way. I never wanted you to think you were unimportant to me, okay? I just didn't really know how to show it to you, and that's why I always went to Rin to ask for advice, because she's a girl too...because I...uhh..." Slowly, his cheeks began to blush slightly, and he closed his eyes and looked away. "I love you, okay? I just never wanted to do anything wrong, so I was being distant instead of talking to you. I'm sorry," Obito said in a quick, scared voice that you might laugh at him, but he never heard that laugh.

Your expression was now shocked, but confused at the same time. "You...love me? You don't love Rin?" you asked uncertainly and confused. "No, I...never loved her...except maybe at the beginning in the academy," he answered calmly, swallowing nervously. "I'm sorry, y/n. I only have eyes for you...always have, but I never knew how to show it," he looked down at you.

You were simply shocked at the moment and didn't know what to do. Thousands of emotions were running through your head. Was he lying to get out of it? Or was he serious? You swallowed and looked into Obito's eyes before quickly looking away. "It's okay... I just didn't know... that you love me too.." you answered and obito‘s eyes widened slightly. "Too? Do you love me too?!" he asked. Apparently he was still too stupid to understand, but you just smiled gently and nodded. "Yes..." you answered. "Since when?" Obito asked curiously. "When we became Genin, I realized it..."

"Oh, y/n..." he began, opening his arms and closing those few centimeters between you, hugging you. "If only I'd said something sooner...then you wouldn't have had to feel so bad these past few weeks. I'm sorry, love." he finished. You blushed at the nickname; it was a strange feeling. You'd never felt butterflies in your stomach like that before, and it felt warm, tingly, and kind of dizzy. Obito grabbed your chin between his index finger and thumb and lifted your head so that you were looking into his eyes.

"Im lost in your Iris." you spoke, causing obito to smile.

FINALLY IM DONE WITH IT😭 I’m so sorry that it took me so long, I hope yall like it thooooo

[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.

[thetoaddaddy]

Aquaphobia | Drabble

The white knuckle grip he had on the support bar of the shower… His clenched shut eyes. His body refusing to move. It kept screaming that this was dangerous. The sound made his skin crawl. The thought of getting wet made him nauseous. It shouldn’t. He’s been doing this his whole life. Since he was two he’s been bathing by himself. But his feet remained rooted at the edge of the shower. The special accommodation one the hospital has for broken ninja like him.

The water was turned off. A nurse glared at him with mild annoyance. He stepped away and sat down on a provided chair. It’s a hospital. There’s always chairs around. The robe he half had on he tried to clutch closed.

“He probably wants you to wash him down.”

“Ugh. I hate male shinobi. They always want you to touch them.”

“Especially Master Jiraiya. Some nurses have told me he’s a horrible patient for that.”

Maybe they expected him to be eavesdropping. Maybe they just didn’t care. The thing is he did like being flirty with the nurses. He thought it made their day when one of their patients felt good enough to joke around. But he hadn’t this time. He could barely breathe. He can barely stumble out a word due to the damage to his throat. His body had to get stitched together from the inside out. His organs threatened to fail. He lost a fucking arm trying to take down the leader of an organization looking to kill someone he saw as his son. He choked on his blood for days and couldn’t tell anyone. He bore down and endured agonizing pain when they forgot his medicine at night sometimes.

And they were mocking him. They don’t feel his fear. His crippling irrational fear gained from his last brutal battle.

“Well we can’t have him stinking up the place. His wounds will get infected and Lady Tsunade will have our heads.”

Eventually they grabbed a large bowl with hot water and a rag. He just sat there. He didn’t fight. He didn’t look. He just stared at the floor as they removed his robe and wiped down his skin. Even then the sound of the trickling water as the rag was rinsed and rung made his skin crawl. The horrible feeling of drowning in that lake again always resurfacing. Water cold and gripping his body. Pulling him down. Lungs full. No strength to even twitch his fingers. The determination of a toad swallowing him whole and recalling to the mountain…

It probably would have been better if he died there. He seems to be so much trouble for the living. Tsunade has yet to see him. Naruto is off training for the impending battle. Kakashi is busy formulating strategies. It left Jiraiya… rather alone. Perhaps he meant very little to them after all.

Eventually he was helped back to his room. Another thing he was starting to hate. The nurses and doctors that didn’t hate him for things he had no strength to do often just… stared. Watched him shuffle by. A legendary ninja broken down into nothing. Pity in their eyes. Some even shook their heads. The new interns were more wide eyed. He was the first incredibly critical case they’ve had in a few years. He was like a cockroach, wasn’t he? No matter how hard he’s stepped on he doesn’t quite seem to die.

For a while he stared out the window. He didn’t get visitors. He could watch the village move along from his frozen room all he damn well pleased. He watched until night fall. Until the streets began to grow quieter with every passing hour to an empty dark street.

His hand reached out in the otherwise still room… and he unlatched the window. Older rooms still had this feature. The newer ones allowed for only a five inch gap to be slid open due to some more squirrelly shinobi escaping. Jiraiya wasn’t seen as a flight risk. He could barely move. He only had one goddamn arm and major organ damage how far could he get? He slid open the window to its full extent. He could easily slip through it. It might be good to get out. To run away from the stares, pity and distain his kin feel for him for a little while.

The air was chilly. Honestly.. he was surprised at how spry he still was. His body falling into the motions pretty easily. Kicking off the roof and landing on the cold ground. He didn’t bother with shoes. It felt kinda refreshing. From there he simply walked. The few night owls still walking home didn’t seem to care he was out either.

He found himself wandering over to the river. A nice spot that people often come to for swimming. He perched by the edge. His nerves already on end. His hair prickled up as if waiting for it to attack. He watched the water flow. The current wasn’t so bad. A toddler probably wouldn’t even be swept up in it.

He stuck his toe in. Then slid his foot under the azure depths. Cold water was far worse. When they washed his wounds for the first time it was cold. He thought his heart was going to explode. It shouldn’t be scary. It’s just water. It was the thing that stole his air. He fought the sinking feeling but it was useless. The murky forms of his students turning to a blue grey blankness…

Ah… Fuck.

He felt so useless now. A man beaten down by everything. Was this his personal hell? Never quite dying. Watching all he loves crumble. His students die. His love life empty. He doesn’t even have friends. He just gets to watch it decay around him. And his one last comfort, the water, was taken from him too. Hot baths felt suffocating. Showers tortured him with the sound of rain. He can’t even take another step into this calm lazy river without thinking about his lungs filling with its icy liquid.

It really makes him wonder why he even bothered fighting for his life. It really was empty. Fate was a bitch. Lady Fortune a cruel woman. Whatever path was foretold he needed to walk wasn’t the right one. Everything he did… he thought it was the right thing to do. All for nothing.

Jiraiya shut his eyes and sighed.

Fifty fucking years of nothing.

[depressedhatakekakashi]

Through the Years

for @kkgiweek Eternal Rival's Creators Challange

Prompt: Sweet and Spicy

Point Bracket: 5500+ (20 points)

Made alongside @maitogaimybeloved

Gai was fed up.

He tried his best to turn negative comments people threw at him into positive energy that he could use to push himself to be better.

Most of the time he succeeded. He was known as the most passionate shinobi in the village, though he was certain people would consider him only the second most passionate if they considered his papa. 

Still, there was one person he just couldn’t ignore. One constant voice in his ear that seemed to have all the right words to knock down his confidence no matter how hard he tried to focus on the positives.

Ebisu.

His own teammate, who he couldn’t just walk away from whenever he wanted and who never accepted his positivity with confused indifference or genuine joy.

No matter how hard he trained to be the best he could possibly be, Ebisu was always there to spout his closed minded beliefs about ‘privileged families’ and ‘predetermined skills’.

The worst part was that there was only one person he felt he could complain to and that person just so happened to be the one Ebisu often compared him to.

Kakashi.

“Sounds worse than being on a team with Obito,” Kakashi sighed. “He’s always going on about being strong when he gets his sharingan, as if that’s the secret key to strength and nothing else matters.”

“Obito?” Gai stared at him with a blank expression, all his anger washing away in a moment of pure confusion. “Who?”

“You know he’s not here to get mad at you forgetting him, right?”

Realizing he'd been caught, Gai snickered. “Sorry, i couldn’t help it,” bugging Obito by pretending he didn’t know who he was just happened to be one of his favorite pastimes.

Largely because Obito was the only person left who got angry at his ‘forgetfulness’, which made it all the more fun to play up. 

“Anyways, i don’t see why you listen to Ebisu. It’s not like his words hold any weight.”

“He’s my teammate, Kakashi. I can usually brush everyone else off, but he’s supposed to work with me. Choza-Sensei is always talking about how teammates should support each other. I don’t feel very supported.”

“Gemma usually has your back doesn’t he?”

“Of course!” His back straightened at the mention of his friend. “He’s always telling Ebisu to stuff it when he goes off on one of his tangents. It just doesn’t always work.” 

“One team mate who supports you is still better than none,” Kakashi pointed-out. “And at the end of the day Ebisu’s just spouting nonsense.”

“But what if he’s not…” he whispered, a slight waver in his voice. “What if he’s right? What is, no matter how hard I train, I'll just never be good enough?”

Like papa. 

Shoving that thought into the deepest corner of his mind he inhaled sharply and waited. There was no guarantee what Kakashi would say next would actually help him feel any better, but it couldn’t possibly make him feel worse.

He hoped.

Kakashi wasn’t always the best with his words.

“Tell me this,” reaching back, Kakashi gripped the hilt of his tanto and carefully extracted it from its sheath. Holding it out in front of him he stared at it with a dark, broken expression. “When you look at this tanto, what do you think?”

“I think my rival is the coolest,” he admitted, a blush painting his cheeks when Kakashi glanced his way. “Everything comes so naturally to you. You hardly have to train.”

“But I do,” Kakashi insisted. “I train because even if things come easily to me i still have to work on them, and i train because the man who used to wield this,” he lifted the tanto slightly for emphasis. “Took one look at you and told me that i couldn’t let my training slide or you, the guy Ebisu and so many others say will amount to nothing, will surpass me.” 

Gai’s jaw dropped.

Never in a thousand years would he have expected those words out of his rivals mouth. There were few things he knew about Sakumo-san, but he’d always thought he was at least half as cool as Kakashi.

Now he found himself looking back on the man who’d hovered behind Kakashi so awkwardly, looking like he was about to explode with embarrassment, with a bit more fondness.

 “People’s idea of him may have soured,” Kakashi continued, a sadness in his eyes that Gai wasn’t used to seeing. “ including my own, but I know without a doubt my father was right when he said that.”

“You think-“

“I know,” he cut Gai off, confidence dripping in his words. “Ebisu can say whatever he wants, but at the end of the day you’re ten times the shinobi he is and if you keep going the way you are there’s no doubt you’ll be one of Konoha’s top shinobi. You’re already the second strongest in our generation. Ebisu can hardly keep up with Obito. Actually, I think that’s one fight that would be guaranteed to be in Obito’s favour.”

“Don’t say that too loudly. Obito might hear you and get an ego about it.” Snickering, Gai watched as Kakashi rolled his eyes.

“Obito already has an ego,” he sighed, sounding like a tired old man who’d already been through too much in his lifetime. “I will give it to him, though, at least when he starts talking about powers like they’re just something that are pre-determined for a person, he at least has the clan name to back up his crap beliefs.”

“Maybe one day they’ll get their heads out of a pretend world and realize the best shinobi are the ones who put in the effort?”

“Not always,” Kakashi fired back, sighing when the smile dropped off of Gai’s face. “I just mean, sometimes people are predestined to be powerful. Lord First and his rival Uchiha Madara had the odds stacked in their favour.”

“Doesn’t matter,” jumping to his feet, Gai turned to face the towering mountain that displayed the three hokages of Konoha. “One day I’ll be stronger than all of them. Just watch.”

“Does that mean you’ll be competing with Obito for the title of Hokage?” Kakashi scuffed. “Just what I need. First you two fight over me, and then you fight over who’s going to be the next head of the village.”

Thinking about it, Gai shook his head. “No,” he declared. “I don’t think Hokage is a good fit for me. I think,” he smiled down at Kakashi. “I’ll just have to be the great Hokage, Hatake Kakashi’s right hand man.”

Processing Gai’s words for a moment, Kakashi slowly began narrowing his eyes. “No,” he grumbled. “I want nothing to do with that job. Let Kushina-san or Minato-sensei have the job. It’s not for me.”

“You’re the brightest of our generation, not just in skills but in tactics and leadership,” Gai reminded him as if Kakashi could ever forget. He’d heard people talk about his rival, both the good and the bad, and he knew just how much people admired him for the skills he so naturally possessed. “You’d be the best fit out of anyone.”

“The Hokage is supposed to be the strongest, Gai.”

“Well, you’re that too,” he grinned. “But by the time you become Hokage I might have just surpassed you.”

Staring up at Gai, Kakashi snorted. “There it is.” he whispered, dragging his eyes off of Gai slowly and staring straight up at the beautiful tints of red and orange that blended together in the evening sky. “I knew nothing could keep you down.”

Letting those words sink in Gai felt a blush creeping back into his cheeks. He’d almost completely forgotten about his argument with Ebisu and it was all thanks to Kakashi. Something about his cool attitude seemed to bleed into Gai when they were hanging out, helping him forget about the very few things that managed to crawl their way under his skin where they festered and itched until he felt like he was going to explode. 

Every moment with Kakashi seemed like a precious gift the universe had granted him. 

“I should go,” he decided. I still have five-hundred push-ups to do before bed, and five-hundred laps around the village.”

“Always doing so much,” leaning his head back Kakashi groaned. “I get wanting to train hard, but don’t push yourself too much or you’ll be completely useless tomorrow.”

“I won’t, I promise,” he was just about to dash off at that point when a thought sprang to mind. A beautiful, silly thought that he couldn’t possibly ignore. So, instead of screaming his goodbyes to the wind while he dashed off to his favorite training field, he swooped down so that he was at Kakashi’s level and pressed a quick, tender kiss against his masked cheek. 

Kakashi’s sputtered protests followed Gai as he sprang back to his feet and ran off into the sunset, determined not to hang around long enough to get smacked for his little move. Unfortunately, in his haste for a quick escape he missed the most precious sight he could have asked for: Kakashi watching him run away with a blush such a deep red that it matched the colour of the sun itself. 

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

An elbow to the face sent Kakashi spiralling to the ground. With some quick footwork and a bit of luck he managed to regain his balance at the last second, using the momentum from his fall for a back kick that slammed against Gai’s arms.

“You’ll have to do better than that, Rival!” Gai taunted. 

Taking that as permission, Kakashi twisted his body and slammed his fist directly into Gai’s jaw. A move that was swiftly answered by Gai grabbing hold of his ankle and pulling him down to the ground with him. 

“Where did you learn that!?” 

“From you!” He was a little insulted Gai didn’t know that. It was that exact move that had landed Kakashi in the hospital with a broken nose. He was only returning the favour, without breaking Gai’s nose.

He hoped.

“Stop stealing my moves!” seeing Gai’s fist coming toward him, Kakashi ducked out of the just in time. It was close enough that he felt the air brush against his ear. Not wanting to leave an opening for another punch, he dove for Gai’s arms. 

His right hand caught Gai’s left just as he pulled back for another punch. The sound of that hand slamming against the ground was satisfying, but not quite as satisfying as the moment his left hand came up to catch Gai’s right fist just because it struck him. 

“Got you,” he grinned.

Straining to get free, Gai huffed. “It’s not over yet.”

Knowing what was coming next, he threw his left leg over Gai’s body and sat down hard on his chest, knocking the wind right out of him. 

“Cheat,” Gai wheezed, tears welling up in his eyes while he fought for that sweet air that Kakashi had so rudely ejected from his lungs. 

“There’s no such thing as cheating in a fight,” putting the majority of his weight into his hands, he used it to press Gai’s arms down against the ground and gave him a triumphant smile. A smile that was more visible in the twinkle of his eyes. “I win.”

“I could-”

“I dare you,” lifting himself up just slightly he watched Gai with calculating eyes. “Say one word that sounds like ‘gate’ and I’ll make sure you can’t breathe for the next five minutes.

Jutting out his bottom lip Gai turned his head away and huffed. The words he spoke were muttered under his breath, though that did nothing to stop Kakashi from hearing them. Still, that wasn’t satisfying enough for him.

He wanted to hear them said out loud.

“What was that?” he pushed, leaning in so his face was just inches away from Gai’s. “I didn’t quite hear you.”

Once again Gai mumbled his words, and once again Kakashi inched just a bit closer. He even made a show of tilting his head so his ear was closer to Gai’s mouth as if he was actually struggling to hear him. 

“I concede,” he growled. “You win this time, Kakashi.”

“That’s what i thought,” turning his head he released his hold on Gai’s left hand and in one quick movement slipped his mask off, closed the small gap between them to press a quick kiss to Gai’s nose, and jumped to his feet while simultaneously placing his mask back in its place. “That makes our score, what was it again?”

“You’re being arrogant,” Gai huffed, though Kakashi couldn’t help but notice that his voice had shifted from annoyance to a much mellower tone. A tone that he could almost mistake for embarrassment. 

“You love it when I'm arrogant,” he continued to tease, knowing full well that one wrong word could earn him a coveted spot on his rival’s shit list. “Oh, right, 21-19 in my favour.”

“Enjoy your lead while you can, Rival. I’m not going to lose to you again.”

Staring down at Gai, he chuckled. “As long as you don’t try to have another eating contest with me, that might just end up being true.” it wasn’t, of course. He’d keep training and getting stronger both to protect Konoha and to ensure Gai could always expect a challenge from him. 

Even if he didn’t have much time to train right now with all of the missions Lord Third was sending Team Ro on, he’d find a way. Their challenges were one of the few things keeping him tethered to life. If he lost them-

Shaking his head, he let out a low, fond hum. “Winner gets to choose dinner as always, right?”

“Of course,” Gai confirmed. “Though I can probably guess what you’ll be wanting.”

“I’m not that obvious about my food choices,” he argued, though he knew it was a weak argument. He was, in fact, that obvious about his food choices. He just didn’t like being called out on it. 

“Sushi?” Gai grinned, the bitterness of his loss seemingly washing away in the face of an opportunity to tease his rival.

“Sushi does sound good,” thinking about it, Kakashi found his stomach gurgling at the thought of sushi. It was a familiar food. A food he could trust would be the same every single time he had it. 

He liked safe. It was comfortable and warm and never changing. 

“Sushi,” he couldn’t help but roll his eyes when Gai threw a fist up into the air in a show of victory. The tiny victory he could claim after a devastating loss in their spare. “Just sushi. No extra special challenge to go with it.”

“It would just be an eating competition. Are you afraid of a fun little eating competition rival?”

“Afraid for me? No. Afraid i’ll have to carry you out after you puke your guts out all over the floor again? Absolutely.”

Gai’s hands came down hard and fast against his mouth, eyes darting around the area like he was searching for some spy hiding away in the bushes listening in on their conversation. “Don’t say that out loud,” he hissed. 

Grabbing hold of his wrist, he gently pried one hand away from his mouth so he could speak again. “It’s not exactly a secret, you know that, right? People saw you getting sick.”

“People did, but not Genma,”

With just one simple word it all made sense. If Genma didn’t know that meant Gai hadn’t been ruthlessly teased by his teammate for making himself sick with food. A fact he was certain Gai appreciated, since he never liked being the target of Genma’s relentless jokes even if they were only in good fun.

“I stand by what I said,” he declared. “Just sushi, no eating competitions. Deal?”

Regarding him with cautious eyes, Gai sighed. “Agree,” 

“Good, now,” once again he closed the distance between them and in the blink of an eye removed his mask so he could press another quick kiss against Gai’s nose before pulling the mask up once more. “Let’s go enjoy some sushi.”

“S-sushi,” Gai sputtered, and Kakahsi was certain that if he dared to place a hand against his forehead it would burst into flames from the sheer heat radiating off of him. Embarrassment was an especially adorable emotion to see on Gai.

Which was probably why he loved bugging him as much as he did. It just wasn’t as satisfying embarrassing anyone else, except maybe Tenzo.

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

The night sky was painted with brilliant colours. Reds, yellows, blues. Once after the other they ignited, creating a beautiful scene for all of Konoha to watch. It was the second most beautiful thing Kakashi had ever seen.

“We’re going to go play some games, Sensei!” dragging his attention away from the fireworks, he looked over to where Gai and his team had been sitting enjoying the show in peaceful quiet. Now it was just Gai sitting there, his eyes still glued on the sky above while Tenten and Lee jumped off the roof.

Trailing behind them, Neji paused as he neared the edge. His eyes followed Tenten and Lee as they made a beeline for the nearest festival game, and only once they had reached it did he finally jump off of the roof and slowly make his way through the crowd to join them. 

Once Neji had caught up to the other two, Kakashi decided to divert his attention to something more interesting, or rather someone.

His attention shifted slowly. First he examined the crowd below, picking out the people he knew and even taking a moment to watch as Asuma and Kurenai huddled up against each other while enjoying the fireworks from their little spot. 

Once he’d gotten bored of that he lifted his gaze to the rooftop beside him where Gai and his students had been sitting. Now it was only Gai, head tilted back while his eyes chased every little firework in the sky. 

It was a beautiful sight.

There was just one little problem with it.

The tears falling from Gai’s eyes. They didn’t belong. Today was supposed to be a joyous occasion. A day to celebrate Lady Tsunade taking on the mantle of Hokage, and an opportunity to watch Lee enjoying his recovery from a surgery that could have gone so very wrong.

There were still things in the world to cry about, of course, but Gai was the last person he expected to see crying while watching fireworks.

His next movement happened without much thought. Uncrossing his legs he planted his feet against the arch he’d been sitting comfortably on, and launched himself toward the rooftop Gai and his students had claimed as their viewing spot.

As soon as his feet touched the roof tiles he did a quick little spin and plopped down beside Gai with a happy sigh. “It’s beautiful.”

“It is,” Gai nodded in agreement. I think they added some new techniques to the show. It’s even more brilliant than the one they had on my birthday.”

“Is that why you’re crying?” Nudging him lightly in the shoulder he offered a small, gentle smile when he looked his way. “Sad that they made the celebration fireworks more beautiful?” 

“No, it’s not that,” lowering his eyes, Gai seemed to think about his next words carefully. “When we were younger Papa would always tell me stories about the Hokage’s. How amazing they were.”

Settling into his spot, Kakashi waited for him to continue.

“He’d talk about all their greatest achievements, and the good they did for the village. Sometimes we’d try to guess who the next great hokage was.”

“And?” Another small bump of the shoulders, a silent cheer for Gai to continue. “Who did you two think would be the next hokage?”

“I voted for you, of course?” A proud smile spread across Gai’s face. “My eternal rival, the greatest Hokage konoha ever saw. That was always my guess.”

Kakashi cringed at the thought.

He appreciated Gai’s belief in him, but the last thing Konoha needed was someone like him in charge. In his experience, nothing good could come out of him being out in charge of others.

Part of him was still waiting for things to go wrong with his new team, even though he was doing everything he possibly could to make sure that didn’t happen.

“And Dai?” He pushed. “Who did he think it would be?”

The obvious answer was Jiraiya. He was one of the three Legendary Sannin, and the original choice before Minato-Sensei was ultimately given the position. 

Dai never chose the obvious answer in anything, though. Just like his son he wanted to choose the less likely path.

The one other’s might not have thought of. 

“Lady Tsunade,” a fond chuckle fell from his lips. “He always said she made the most sense. She led people, and created a whole set of rules for medical ninja to follow. She had the people’s respect in a way others didn’t.”

“Ah,” it all made sense now. Gai wasn’t crying because the fireworks were too pretty or he was sad, but because something his Papa had told him came true. A precious memory that he could think back on while also looking toward the future. 

“You know what I think?” he snorted when the words fell from his mouth. He hadn’t intended to say anything but they’d just come out, as if he was destined to say them. “I think, if your papa was here, he’d be running around the village telling everyone that he knew Lady Tsunade would be our Hokage. That he was right.”

The laughter that rang out beside him was sweet. Like a delicious dessert for his ears. 

“You’re right,” Gai agreed while still producing that beautiful sound. “He would do that. Maybe I should-”

His arm reached out to stop Gai before he could get up. “Let’s just enjoy the fireworks,” he suggested. “You can tell the village all about your Papa’s predictions tomorrow. Preferably while your students were around.”

He could just imagine Tenten glaring daggers into her Sensei’s back while he ran around the village telling everyone he could about how his Papa had known Lady Tsunade would be Hokage one day. Neji would pretend like he didn’t care what was going on, and Lee…

Well, Lee would most likely join him even if he didn’t know who Dai was.

“Right,” settling back, Gai turned those beautiful black eyes to Kakashi. “You know what else he thought would happen?”

“I bet,” he tilted his head, trying to think up the most ridiculous answer he could. “He thought that Konoha would have flying cats and that Shinobi would fight using only Taijutsu.”

Maybe that last part wasn’t as ridiculous as he’d hoped, but his guess had made Gai laugh and for him that was a victory.

“No,” his eyes softened. “He told me that one day you and I would be the best rivals in the entire village.”

“Really?” he raised an eyebrow, convinced Gai had to be messing with him just a little. “The best rivals? nothing …else?”

“Well, we were just pre-teens when he said that.”

“What would he think?” he asked, not expecting an answer back. “If he found out we were the best rivals, but also a bit more.”

Scooching closer, Gai laid his head down on his shoulder and looked up at the sky once more. “I think, deep down he might have known,” he whispered. “And even if he didn’t, I know he’d be cheering us on.”

Dai cheering them from wherever he happened to be was quite the image. Kakashi could only hope that his parents were right there with him with smiles on their faces while they watched their son fall hopelessly in love with his best friend. 

Turning his head, he buried his face into Gai’s soft black hair and inhaled deeply. That sweet familiar smell filled his nostrils and time felt like it came to a complete stop around them. 

“I love you, Kakashi.”

Closing his eyes, he kissed the top of Gai’s head.

It wasn’t as good as saying the words out loud, but the meaning behind it was clear. 

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

Kakashi was exhausted.

Not just from overusing his sharingan in the battle against Diedra, but from the journey home. His legs ached where Gai had wrapped his arms around them, holding him tight against his body as he ran through the desert and forests that made up their path back to Konoha. His neck held more tension in it than usual, most likely from flopping around wildly after he’d passed out. 

He was exhausted and he hurt, but he was also incredibly happy.

“Chikao is wishing you a speedy recovery,” plopping down in the seat Shizune had left beside Kakashi’s bed, Gai pulled the moving table closer to him and set his bag down on it. “He also made sure to include all of your favorite rolls in the order. Said something about good food healing the body and the soul.”

“Sounds like something he’d say,” he watched as Gai untied the knot at the top of the bag and began extracting tupperwares. “I take it you opted for something other than sushi today,” he pointed to the bowl Gai had set out last. It wasn’t a standard dish shape for any of the sushi they purchased.

“A keen eye as always, Rival,” Gai chuckled. “I decided to have some curry today. It’s why it took me a bit longer to get our food.”

“Had to make an extra stop for your food,” watching as Gai set the curry a little further from the rest of the food, he smiled. It wasn’t likely that the curry would get all over his sushi and ruin it for him, but the thought Gai put into ensuring no accidents happened that might make it difficult for him to enjoy his food was touching. “Extra spicy as usual?”

“You know me too well, Rival.”

Once the food was set up and the lids removed, Gai turned his attention to Kakashi. “Are you feeling any better?”

“Since the last time I saw you? Not really,” it had only been a day since Gai’s last visit and very little had changed. If he had to guess, it would be another two days before he felt even a little more human. “I might have recovered quicker if someone hadn’t decided to have a race with me on his back.”

“I said I was sorry. Are you ever going to forgive me for that?”

Tilting his head back, Kakashi put on a show of thinking it over. He even made sure to pinch his eyebrows together as though he was putting some real thought into it. Then, when Gai’s leg began anxiously bouncing, proving that his little display was starting to get under his skin, he lowered his head and looked directly at him. 

“I can forgive you,” he answered with a cool tone. “On one condition.”

The smile that lit up Gai’s face when he finished was so brilliant it put the sun to shame. “Let me guess,” he leaned forward, eyes searching Kakashi’s for something. “You want a kiss?”

“Am I that easy to read?”

“For me, Yes,” he chuckled. “If you said that to anyone else it’s likely they’d assume the worst.”

No truer words had ever been spoken.

Even people who didn’t consider him a cold blooded killer were more likely to assume he’d want to punish them in some way for putting him through such an unpleasant experience, and in some cases they might be right.

If it was Genma he’d probably want to have a spar as soon as he healed, and that was guaranteed to go poorly for Genma.

Asuma might be forced to give up his smokes for a week. A verified form of torture for him, according to Kurenai and Genma. 

“Well?” tapping a finger against his lips, he waited.

Sighing dramatically, Gai placed his hands on his legs and pushed himself up out of the chair. “If it will get you to forgive me, I guess I have no choice,” he stepped forward. Rather than just swooping down for a quick over the mask kiss like he usually would, he lifted a hand and stopped just short of the mask. 

Words weren’t needed at this point. Kakashi knew without hearing the question that Gai was asking him for permission. 

Something he always did when he wanted to remove his mask, regardless of where they were.

Nodding, a smile stretched across his lips when Gai reached out the rest of the way and tugged the mask down. Once his face was free of the soft fabric, Gai swooped in. His lips crashed against Kakashi’s in a hard, heated kiss.

Kakashi’s hand came up to rest against Gai’s arm, fingers curling into the soft fabric of his jumpsuit. Their lips sealed together, the sweet taste he’d come to crave lingering on his lips.

There was no way he could really describe that taste.

It wasn’t similar to anything he’d ever tasted before, but it was comforting. If ‘Home’ has a taste he was certain it would be something similar to this. 

Gai broke the kiss first, moving back slowly only to stop when Kakashi caught his bottom lip between his teeth. He didn’t intend to do any real harm with the move, just to keep Gai there for a little bit longer, but when Gai continued to pull back he sank his teeth into the tender skin.

The cry Gai let out was ear piercing. Releasing his hold, he backed away as quickly as he could and watched as his partner pinched his bottom lip between his thumb and forefinger and held it out so Kakashi could see the blood trickling from the fresh bite mark.

“Sorry,” he winced.

Gai’s tongue swiped over the wound, gathering the blood that had begun to pool around it and swallowing it. Releasing his lip, he sighed. “You really need to be careful with those teeth of yours, Kakashi,” he winced, the injury clearly hurting more when he tried to speak.

“I forget sometimes,” he admitted, though it wasn’t exactly true. He was aware of the damage he could do with his teeth, having taken a chunk out of his enemies a few times in the past. When he wanted to bite Gai, usually when they were fooling around, he always made sure to be cautious of just how hard he bit.

This bite wasn’t exactly voluntary. He hadn’t thought about sinking his teeth into his partners lips, but rather had just reacted in desperation to keep their kiss going. 

“I guess it’s only fair,” Gai settled back into his seat while gently prodding at his bottom lip, wincing every time he dared to touch it. “Let’s just eat. Maybe I can ignore the gross metallic taste of my own blood if I cover it with curry.”

More than happy to move on and forget about his mistake, Kakashi grabbed the table and repositioned it so it was between them. Once it was in a spot he could comfortable reach, he grabbed the chopsticks Gai had set out for him and immediately snatched up a piece of salmon nigiri. 

“Try not to burn yourself,” he warned, noting the steam coming off of Gai’s curry when he popped the lid off. “Might hurt a bit more with the- you know.” he gestured to his own mouth.

“Everything is going to hurt more,” as if making a point, Gai cringed when his top teeth touched the very top of his lip on that first syllable. 

Not wanting to torture his boyfriend anymore, Kakashi plopped the nigiri into his mouth and enjoyed the rich taste of the salmon on top of savoury rice. As he did, Gai dipped his fork into his bowl and came up with a heap of red curry. The stuff looked like a specialized torture device to Kakashi, but it was Gai’s favorite food so he kept his opinion to himself as long as no one tried to feed it to him. 

Watching as Gai placed the fork into his mouth, he waited for that satisfied hum that always vibrated in his throat on that first bite of his meal. 

The hum didn’t come, though. Instead, there was a moment where Gai seemed to be contemplating his meal, and then the next thing he knew his boyfriend had thrown down his fork, surged to his feet, and rushed toward the bathroom all while screaming in agony.

Kakashi had never seen Gai react that way to curry. 

“Gai!?” he called after him, wondering how pissed Lady Tsunade would be if he got out of bed to check on his boyfriend. With each second that passed with that pained screaming ringing out through the room, he started to worry less about what Lady Tsunade would think, and more about if his boyfriend was going to survive whatever was happening to him.

“Gai!?”

“It burns!” 

“The curry?” Kakashi raised an eyebrow. He’d seen Gai eat all types of curry over the years and none of them had made him react like this. Even the spiciest of curries were usually enjoyed with a happy hum and at worst a dog like pant as the heat settled into his tongue. 

“The bite mark!”

Upon hearing that, Kakashi cringed. Just like that, the entire scene made sense,

Gai wasn’t complaining because his spicy curry was too hot for him to handle. He was complaining because the curry’s spice had gone into an open wound. It was like pouring hot sauce directly into a cut.

Pure, agonizing torture even for the strongest of shinobi. 

“Ahhh!”

The door to his hospital room slammed open suddenly, and there in the doorway Shizune stood with wild eyes darting around the room. “What happened!?” she demanded, looking directly at Kakashi and frowning when she realized that it wasn’t him screaming. “What’s going on!?”

“Gai…might have gotten spicy curry with a bite mark.”

“A- a bite mark?” her face scrunched up as she tried to process what she’d been told. “Did he drop it on his arm or something? When did he get a bite mark!?”

“About a minute ago,” another scream rang out from the bathroom, followed by the sound of water falling from a faucet. “I might have bitten him.”

Seeming to understand what she’d been told, Shizune sighed. “I can’t,” she declared, turning around and walking straight out of the room. “I just can’t with you two!” 

Listening to her complaints fading down the hallway and Gai’s agonized screams dying down in the bathroom, Kakashi began to laugh. A slow, fond chuckle at first that quickly shifted to bright, joyful laughter.

It seemed cruel for him to be laughing at the situation. His boyfriend was in the bathroom suffering a fate that could possibly be worse than death and Shizune was having a breakdown because of the stress they were putting her under, but he couldn’t help it. 

Everything about the situation was utterly ridiculous and somehow it felt so perfectly right.

[offensiveagentpie]

Happy Eternal Rivals Creator Challenge weekend everyone!

Thank you to @kkgiweek for putting this event together!

This fic fulfills Day 1 - Challenge for Team Kakashi! (~1,113 words - 5pts)

(I hope this sounds alright, I haven't written a fic in almost 2 years and it's been even longer for writing Kakagai, I just need to get into the swing of things again. I'm also writing these in advance since I'll be at a friend's wedding during the challenge, so they'll be scheduled in my queue. As always this is un-beta'd. Thank you for reading! <3)

Challenge

Kakashi has always prided himself on knowing what to do in a situation. He’s trained for it from a young age and, while some outcomes have been less than desirable at best and downright traumatic at worst, nothing has prepared him for this.

Love.

A first love to be exact.

A first love that just so happens to be aimed at the Leaf’s very own Noble Green Beast.

It’s something he probably should have seen coming. It’s hard to find someone to stick around you for as long as Gai has when you have a personality like Kakashi’s. The man is nothing but doggedly determined and has stuck to him like glue since the very first day they met.

Familiarity, in this case, didn’t breed contempt, but soul deep affection and admiration.

The only issue is what to do about it.

Kakashi doesn’t think it would be egotistical to admit that he thinks Gai would return his feelings, or at least be willing to give a relationship a try. The man has professed to him far too many declarations of various eternal bonds for Kakashi to think he’d reject him outright.

But, how to breach the topic is another matter entirely.

When he first decides to confess his feelings, he thinks of all of the confessions he’s been privy to over the years. 

It’s not something he’s done intentionally, far from it, but supervising genin as well as hiding around the village in his ANBU days, it’s been hard to miss at least a few.

He thinks of all the drama that went on between Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke and immediately dismisses every possible idea from that mess from the get-go.

Others involved flowers, candies, moonlit strolls … none of them really feel like something Kakashi would do, for Gai or anyone really. It all seems so bland and pedestrian. And if there’s two things that Gai is not, it’s bland and pedestrian.

Sadly, he can’t even turn to his beloved Icha Icha novels. Despite many of the confession scenes fitting the bill of Gai’s own brand of dramatic, they’re often … well, let’s just say if Kakashi were to actually go through with them, he and Gai both would be charged, fairly heavily, with public indecency.

No, what Kakashi wants to do for this momentous occasion is something personal, something that Gai would find impossible to refuse (though, if in the odd chance he doesn’t welcome Kakashi’s confession, he certainly won’t push).

He thinks a bit, stretching and pushing back against the tree trunk where he’s resting on a high branch. Beneath him on the training grounds, the sounds of Gai and his students wrapping up a training session drift through the air. 

“Neji!” Lee cries, the volume of his voice quickly trying to give Gai’s a run for its money. “I challenge you to 50 hand stand walks around the village for a cool down!”

“That is not a cool down, Lee,” comes Neji’s much quieter and composed voice.

“That’s a workout by itself, Lee,” Tenten adds, sounding exasperated. “Besides, I thought we agreed to go out for BBQ with Shikamaru, Choji and Ino?”

“Yes! That is right! Neji! I challenge you to a race to the BBQ restaurant!” Lee shouts instead, voice growing quieter as the sentence progresses.

Kakashi looks down to see the three of them making their way from the practice field. Gai standing at the edge, his laughter at their youthful antics booming through the grounds.

Gears are turning in Kakashi’s head though. Lee has put him onto something.

A challenge. 

Plan formulating, he jumps from the tree and lands soundlessly in the dirt behind Gai.

“Yo, Gai.”

Gai turns around still beaming. “Rival! What brings you here on this beautiful day?”

Kakashi rolls his head around on his neck, trying for nonchalance. “Heard Lee yelling something about a challenge. Figured I’d ask you for one.”

Gai lights up, dazzling grin growing wider and eyes sparkling with the threat of oncoming happy tears. It’s a rarity for Kakashi to issue a challenge, but it’s clear that it’s appreciated.

For a moment, Kakashi ponders asking Gai for a race to the dango shop or a ‘who can eat the most sushi’ challenge and then lead up to the big event, but he finds himself going a little bit weak at the full megawatt grin that’s currently being blasted his way.

“Yeah, thought I’d ask.”

If Gai had a tail it’d be wagging.

“And what challenge do you have for me?” he asks, putting his fists on his waist. The move makes his chest push out. Kakashi is not immune to staring for a bit before meeting Gai’s eyes again.

“I challenge you to a date. Actually, a lot of dates, if you’d want them.”

Once the words are out in the open, a weight Kakashi hadn’t realized was sitting on his shoulders, lifts.

Gai’s smile morphs into an awestruck little ‘o’ shape and his eyes somehow go even wider as his impressive eyebrows jump to his perfectly straight hairline.

“Riv– Kakashi,” he corrects himself. The use of Kakashi’s name in this moment causes his heart to flutter. “Are you … is this you asking me out?”

A niggle of doubt makes itself known in Kakashi’s stomach. Was he not clear enough? “Uh, yeah?”

“As a challenge?”

Oh, maybe this was a bad idea after all.

There’s a heavy pause as Gai’s face starts to wiggle as though it can’t decide on what emotion to settle on. Eventually, he bites a quivering lip and bends his elbow to bring a clenched fist in front of him.

“Surely, this is the greatest and most precious challenge that has ever been given me,” Gai says, voice laden with emotion.

Kakashi relaxes again, fondness swelling as he realizes he’s about to be treated to some truly historic Gai theatrics.

“My dearest and most beloved rival,” he continues, “Not only do I accept the challenge, but I promise that this first date and all of the many, many, MANY dates in the future will be the best dates that you’ve ever been on. So great that you won’t even think of asking another!” 

Gai finishes his declaration and meets Kakashi’s eye, he’s determined, but there’s an underlying question there.

Kakashi beams beneath his mask, eye closing in delight. “I expect nothing less!”

And with that, Gai whoops and leaps into the air, pushing so hard against the ground that there’s a small crater in his wake. When he lands he scoops Kakashi into a bone crushing hug and Kakashi is all too happy to return it.

It’s always great when things go according to plan.

[smh-yoon]

love like yours - seven

previous | next

༻ ∘ ❀ ∘ ༺

It had been several days of training with Itachi each morning. It was almost always the same routine- physical conditioning for endurance, strength and agility, then a one-on-one spar with him until she was unable to hold her sword any longer. 

She had easily slipped into this routine, like she was always a kunoichi. Callouses had returned to her previously dainty hands, hair pulled back and tucked away, throwing kunai and stars on her person at all times. Familiarity seeped into her fingertips every time she touched the smooth metal. 

Kiyoko had been adjusting better than Hime could've hoped. She had made some friends with a few of the market people, and would often bring home treats for Hime. A light had been instilled in her in a way that Hime had never had the opportunity to see in her previous life. Kiyoko was more outspoken, more animated, and more open with Hime since she no longer served as a lady in waiting. It was refreshing to see her true personality. 

Hideki had remained persistent, and he had followed Kiyoko home while making conversation at some point, so he had taken it upon himself to begin showing up at their door at any time he pleased in an effort to see Hime. He was relentless in his attempts to win Hime over. If it wasn't flowers it was desserts, or jewelry, or letters, or even a much too revealing kunoichi outfit that was thrown into the depths of her closet the minute she shut the door behind him. 

Despite these changes, she remained focused- on guard. At any moment, something could change. She didn't remember every single detail of her past life, so she had no clue what could arise. Along with that, she didn't know what sort of consequences her actions would have upon her in this life. Since she had brought Kiyoko with her and hadn't fallen in love with Hideki so quickly, she didn't know where her life was going to take her. Those had seemed to be some of the most significant events in her life. 

On the other hand, today was the day she was to meet the elusive Kakashi Hatake. Since she had told Itachi of her situation, he had stoically suggested having her spar with Kakashi, only for the sake of training of course. 

As the days were counting down to the Uchiha Massacre, Itachi was growing fonder of Hime. She was strong, a quick learner. She knew what she wanted, and was sure of herself. These were traits he didn't find much of in others, especially in the people he was unfortunately surrounded with. The least he could do was get her started on her goal, or whatever it is that she needed Kakashi for.

"He won't kill you," Itachi said. Hime's whole body was shaking, vibrating with nervousness at the thought of meeting Kakashi. Technically, she would be meeting one of the deadliest men in Konoha, perhaps even the world. Kakashi's reputation certainly proceeded him. 

"I feel like there is some nuance to that statement." Hime's voice was wavering, trembling in sync with the rest of her body. She had very few instances of Kakashi and his presence in her past life. In fact, he and his genin team were often on missions that took them outside of the village. Quite a rowdy bunch, if she remembered correctly.

Itachi's lips twitched into a small grin under his mask, quickly dropping from his face as he returned to his stoic facade. "I'm sure you'll be just fine."

Much to Hime's surprise, Itachi had proven to be a useful ally in the short amount of time she had been in Konoha, even more so after hearing her outlandish tale about coming from the future. Which was true, of course. 

A thought came to Hime's mind, briefly easing her anxiety about Kakashi as a separate wave washed over her. It had been ten days since she had became a resident in Konoha, and in four short more days, devastation would come across the Uchiha clan. As if sensing her train of thought, Itachi let out a breath, turning his attention to the entrance of the training grounds. 

Perhaps the main reason Itachi was willing to bring Kakashi into these session was because he knew he wouldn't have much longer to spend time sparring and training with Hime. It was likely that Kakashi would be taking over during the interim while they decide whether or not they were going to advance Hime beyond genin. After all, he was going to get his first team from the graduating genin class. This was just an easier way to introduce them before Kakashi inevitably made a bad impression on her with his poor time management and attitude. In fact, he told Kakashi to meet them at the training grounds three-hours in advance, just so they didn't have to wait as long. 

The only reason he knew this was going to work out, introducing Kakashi and Hime in a less.. intimidating manner, was because Kakashi was not coming under his ANBU Black Ops persona. He would be the normal, off-putting and uninterested angsty young man Itachi had always known him to be. 

Distant footsteps snapped Hime out of her head, returning her body to its state of edge and panic, though she was completely safe. Well, at least she hoped she was. Who knows, maybe Itachi actually had some evil criminal come to take her out since she knew about his plan. 

"It's about time. You were nearly half an hour later than you usually are." Hime followed Itachi's gaze, breath catching in her throat as she caught sight of him. 

He was different than she remembered seeing him before, his hair was shorter, falling in front of his face. He looked younger, besides the fact that he literally was, his gaze was eased, stance relaxed as he approached. Hime remembered him differently, much more dreary eyed. 

"Yeah, yeah. Be glad I even showed up. I just remembered that I owed you, so consider my debt repaid." Hime's heart was drumming in her chest, taking in the sight of him. Kakashi still covered his eye, still wore a mask over his nose and mouth, still spoke with the same timbre, however slightly less mature than she had known. 

"Kakashi Hatake, this is Hime Sakanoue. You'll be training with myself and her for the next couple of days to get her ready for her chunin examination." 

The world seemed to slow as Kakashi's gaze slid from Itachi to Hime, his single eye meeting her own as he acknowledged her. It was like Hime was standing on the edge of a cliff, and the cliff was whether or not Kakashi decided to tolerate Hime or obliterate her. Though, that thought seemed to be a bit extreme. 

"Kind of old to be training to be a chunin, no?"

Suddenly, the possibilities of the man Kakashi was going to be crashed and burned in front of her, drowned out by the single sentence he's spoken to her in her new life. 

Hime narrowed her eyes, putting a hand on her hip and trying to keep herself composed. It seemed with the regression in her age, the ability to hold back her tongue also regressed, leading to some quite petty remarks every now and again. "Says the man with the gray hair."

"It's genetics." Kakashi's tone seemed unimpressed, stopping just feet away from her and Itachi. "Are the bad manners and poor time management also genetic or did you learn that in your chunin training?"

Kakashi's eye narrowed slightly, and Itachi sighed, cutting the tension in the air. "Will both of you behave? This will not be the only time you two ever have to be around each other. It couldn't hurt for you to try and get along." 

Hime clicked her tongue and rolled her eyes. She knew Itachi was right, that she was going to have to at least tolerate Kakashi. She just never thought the man she was supposed to 'save' would be such a..

"Should we get started with this then? I don't have all day."

Itachi hummed, seemingly debating in his head as Hime awaited some sort of response from either of them. On one hand, he could completely observe Hime if he had her spar with Kakashi, allowing him to critique her moves and give her notes to improve. But, if he has her spar against him, it would give Kakashi a chance to evaluate her current level and give a different perspective than his own.

"How about we try this little exercise I just learned," Kakashi reached into his pocket and pulled out a bell on a string. Hime furrowed her brows, glancing at Itachi. "Didn't you-?"

Kakashi cut her off, throwing the bell into the air and catching it in his palm. "If you can take this bell from me, you win. Fail, you lose. Sound fair?"

Itachi nodded in agreement, turning around and moving towards the edge of the training ground. "So what, I just have to get the bell from you? No sketchy jutsus or clones? Because I'm not sure if I'm ready to deal with all of that."

Kakashi let out a sigh, clipping the bell to his waist and putting his hands at his sides. 

"Let's begin."

 ∘ ❀ ∘ 

It had been nearly three hours since Kakashi had challenged Hime to take his precious bell from him. 

Three hours of twisting and turning, running and dodging, striking and hitting. Hime's whole body ached, but she wasn't ready to give up yet, and she wasn't ready to risk giving up and ruining her reputation with a man she was fated to be somehow involved with in exchange for her life. 

She was sweating and breathing heavily, but admittedly doing much better off than when she began with Itachi. It would've been less than a whole hour before she gave up a when she started a week ago, so it seemed she was quickly gaining more skills, though she wasn't sure if it was more than she had previously. Something about training with Itachi and Kakashi felt much more intense than the training she endured previously, but maybe this was because she was working with less distractions that before. 

Hime leaped forwards towards Kakashi, ready to strike him again, using one hand to go for his face and the other to try and grasp the bell, when suddenly he was gripping her arms and flipping her forward. 

Landing rather softly on the ground, Hime groaned and laid her head against the dirt, sprawling out on the training ground. 

"Well, you didn't do a completely terrible job. Still surprised the Hokage even decided to let you train as a kunoichi." Kakashi's words went almost unnoticed as Hime laid panting, lungs expanding so loudly his voice was faint, even right next to her. 

"You did better than I expect, Hime. Well done." Itachi stepped up beside Kakashi, gazing down at Hime through his mask. She pretended that the both of them said kinder things, that they were proud of her, because if she didn't, she wasn't sure she would be able to stand and walk home for the night. How embarrassing would it be for her to be dragged back home by a thirteen year old boy?

"Don't get a big head, you still failed." Kakashi dangled the small bell in front of her face, and this time, Hime could hear it clearly. She swung her hand lazily at it, closing her eyes with a sigh as he pulled it away and tucked it into his pocket. 

By now, the sun had began to graze the horizon, illuminating the tree tops and creating shadows in the sky as birds flew home, going to their nest. The air was crisp, fall was coming. 

Hime paid no mind as Itachi and Kakashi shared a small conversation, feeling the cool grass tickle against her next as her breathing slowed and her heart rate calmed. Though her clothes were sticking to her skin from her copious amounts of sweat, her hair was much looser than she originally left the house with, and her clothes with caked in dirt, she was content with the way the session had gone down. 

"Hime, we can end it here today. Kakashi, you can escort her home."

Eyes snapping open, Hime tried to push herself to sit up, but found herself with barely enough energy to lift her head. "No way, I can make it myself."

"See? She doesn't need any help. We can meet again tomorrow."

Hime's eye twitched as Kakashi turned around and began on his way. Itachi sighed, turning back to Hime. While she was sure he was strong enough to carry her back to her apartment, and he knew where she lived already, she wasn't sure her pride was ready for that. 

"Kakashi will carry you home, he still owes me another favor."

༻ ∘ ❀ ∘ ༺

[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”.

[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.

[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

[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?

[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.

[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.

[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.