#reader getting the sakura treatment for real

[heich0e]

kakashi is part of the coordinating committee for a big skate showcase that's happening at the end of the season and he doesn't choose reader as one of the featured skaters btw

[sumicchin]

CHIMES OF THE HEART

❃ a wind breaker (satoru nii) reader insert.

CHAPTER 5

Makochi was too good for you. (2.5k words)

content warning: female reader, a bit angsty, violence

After having breakfast at Sakura's apartment, the Furin students went on their way to school. It was decided that you would stay with Kotoha while waiting for the first years to accompany you around town, saying that it's not safe to go alone in this situation.

"For real? That guy is wack in the head, good on you for escaping." Kotoha exclaims. Other than some elderly having their breakfast, it was just the two girls inside the cafe. From an outsiders perspective, it almost seemed like the two of you knew each other since birth from how loud you both were.

"But... it's not like I feel better now that you guys are involved in my problem," You sigh, feeling yourself open up to the brunette.

Kotoha gently puts down the cup she's been drying and puts her hand on your shoulder. She's dealt with these situations too frequently, but it's not like she's one to shy away from helping people "Hey, don't say that. Just because we haven't known each other for a long time doesn't mean you can't rely on others, we're more than happy to help you."

You just look at her silently, not knowing how to respond. The Mikos back at the shrine were kind and made great company, but not so much that you'd consider them friends. You were only there to protect them, humor their small talk during the many trips to the market, and maybe get to know a bit more about them, but not about you. The priest and Hayami were adamant on not letting you spend too much time with them. Kotoha who you've just met today on the other hand, was crossing a boundary you were unfamiliar with. Sakura must've felt the same way...

"Sorry...if I come across too touchy. It's a silly habit," she says with a warm smile. "Sakura was the same when he first arrived, and now look at him, hanging out with friends and all. It's a step forward to make him feel that he belongs, and hopefully...you can entrust this town and its citizens of your burdens."

Her words were simple, yet comforting. You were still conflicted, whether to overhaul these feelings of doubt on your own or entrust yourself to the people of Makochi. You went silent for a while, but Kotoha knew better than to probe. She patiently waits for your response.

"I... don't know what I did to deserve this kind of treatment, but thank you...for offering your aid."

Kotoha smiles and taps your shoulder, prompting you to look at her. "To get your feelings across much better, it's good to look at the person's eyes."

You look at Kotoha as per her advice and muster your courage to say, "Thank you."

"That's the spirit! So, how's the sandwich and coffee?" You're surprised at how good of a conversationist Kotoha is, able to lift your mood in just mere seconds. She's a good person...I can trust her.

Your plate had only half a chunk of the sandwich left, the warm coffee at least a thirds of the cup. "It's amazing! I've never had this kind of food back at the shrine."

Now Kotoha's more motivated to spoil you with all the city has to offer. "There's tons of places you can check out here in Makochi! Obviously my cafe is tons better but I'd love to see you try out everything." She starts going on a tangent, mentioning the Tsubaki person again and taking you shopping this coming weekend. It made you feel giddy and excited, but part of you was worried you'll attract unwanted attention. Never would you want Kotoha or anyone really to be in harm's way.

"That all sounds exciting. But maybe after my whole fiasco is settled...I don't want to break the peaceful environment here."

Kotoha visibly tenses at your statement, "Give Makochi a day or two, you'll have the full experience by then—"

Cueu a loud thud from the window.

Kotoha looks at the source of noise and just sighs, "That's a new record."

You see a crowd forming right outside the cafe, circling the lone student from Furin. Kotoha whips out her phone and starts dialing someone.

"I'll call the guys over—"

"Do you have a broomstick or anything similar, Kotoha?" She stares at you, but hands you a broomstick anyways. "I'll make sure to return it!"

You step out of the cafe, approaching the bruised student with the broomstick in hand. He coughs out blood and you irk, "Can you stand?"

He shakes his head and points at the large group of men, about ten or so.

"Oh, so yer the girl that took out our men."

"Ah, yeah...I already apologized though." You unapologetically say, and this irked some of the men. Your mentor would've done the same either, and he had the patience of a saint.

One of the tallest in the group comes forward and stares you down, hunching to meet your eye, "We were punished by our boss thanks to them embarassing us."

You stare back, "And why did you involve someone innocent? You're even worse than scum." Never did your words carry so much poison.

Sojiro would've been so proud of you right now.

The man goes for a punch, but you immediately dodge and go behind his figure, raising your broomstick and hitting swiftly at his nape. His body falls near the injured Furin student who looks up at you with amazement. You crouch down to his level, taking a good look at where he was hurt. Bruises on his head, cheeks swelling, and his dirtied uniform most likely hid even more gashes.

Pointing the broomstick at them, you face the group of men and yell, "You're all cowards for ganging up on a student. Apologize to him!"

They all charge towards you, yelling profanities that your ears blocked. You have no time to hear their idiocy, the task at hand is to quickly dispose of them without making a mess.

Unbeknownst to you, the Furin student had the energy to whip out his phone and record footage of the fight, sending the video to the Class 1-1 group chat.

Kakiuchi

Sent a video.

Happening rn at pothos!

Kotoha and the elderly patrons of Cafe Pothos watch from inside as you single out opponents with flawless footwork and quick strikes to the neck, rendering opponents still after being hit. "That little lady is quite the fighter," the old man says, watching with glee.

So this is what Umemiya and Hiragi meant, Kotoha thinks.

The Furin student sees his phone get bombarded by messages from the group chat just seconds later.

Kiryu

Lol (F/n) get their asses!!

Nirei

WHAT'S HAPPENING??!??!??

WHY IS (F/N) FIGHTING??!?!!?!!!

Tsugeura

SHE'S A BEAST HOLY CRAP

Anzai

DAMN?????

Suo

We'll be there as soon as we can

Not even a minute passed, all men were down and unconscious around you. You stretch after the tiresome workout, and wonder why your hand felt lighter than earlier.

The broomstick is now in half.

Sweating bullets, you refuse to look back at Kotoha and the Furin student who were calling out your name.

"(F/n)! Are you injured?" She says worriedly, inspecting your body for any signs of bruising. She found none thankfully, making her sigh of relief. "Thank you, for protecting us."

You refuse to look her in the eye but at the now two pieces of wooden sticks in your hand. Kotoha notices this and laughs, "Don't worry about that! It's just a broom."

"T-thank you!" The student says from his seat, "Please let me know how I can repay you!"

Your eyes light up from hearing it, "You don't have to really...but a broom would be nice."

"YOU BRAT!!!!!!" A familiar voice shouts from afar.

You suddenly gain the courage to face Kotoha and give her a pitiful look, mouthing the words please cover for me.

Sakura stomps and grabs both your shoulders and shakes you back and forth, "How hard is it to stay still?! You had us worried sick!!!!"

"Now, now, the deed's already been done. Not much we can do now," Suo says, looking at the pile of bodies. "You sure did a number on them (F/n), very impressive!"

Kotoha rips you away from Sakura's grasp, hugging your figure, "Can you go easy on her? (F/n) literally just saved us."

"It's my fault! Please don't get angry at her," the injured Kakiuchi who Nirei helped stand up says to his classmates. "I was on my way to school when they asked me about a girl who beat up the guys at the red light district. I was no match for them..."

So it really was your fault he got injured.

Sakura clicks his tongue and looks at his classmate sternly, "You could've called us! We swore to help each other out, didn't we!?"

Everyone looks at their grade captain who became embarrassed upon noticing he attracted the eyes of everyone, "All I'm saying is...don't do everything on your own, a-alright! We're a class for a reason!"

"And you!" Sakura points at your figure, hiding behind Kotoha, "From now on, someone's gonna look after you!"

Stepping away from Kotoha, you glare at Sakura dead in the eyes, "I refuse."

"What did you say?" Sakura huffs, looming over your figure, showing signs of annoyance.

"I said I refuse! Didn't you see how someone got injured because of me? Do you think I'd want any more of you to get hurt because of me?!"

He backs off, eyes wide and stunned. Kotoha stood her ground beside you, but she was clearly shaken by the sudden shift in you. Looking at Kotoha made you regret your words. It's like her words didn't get through you at all...

If you can't trust yourself, who will?

"You've all done enough to help me, but I'll have to do things on my own from now on. Please tend to his injuries well."

They all watch as you walk away.

❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋

"OUCH!" Umemiya yelps as he holds up his pricked finger. Sugishita rushes to his side, band aid in hand.

"Thank you, Sugishita!"

"You seem... bothered," Sugishita mutters while tending to his upperclassman's small injury. Umemiya smiles, proud to know how perceptive his little brothers were.

He looks up at the sky, breathing in the fresh air brought by the downpour from yesterday. Umemiya recalls a day like this in his childhood, and he'd been thinking about it while tending to his seedlings. "Ah, I just remembered something. That girl, I knew she was familiar."

Sugishita has heard of the commotion you caused yesterday, but partly because Umemiya couldn't stop discussing it in private with Hiragi earlier. The boy was never one to pry, but seeing Umemiya this bothered him was a matter on its own. It must be very important.

Umemiya's phone ringing suddenly broke the two's trance. He was greeted with Sakura's handle. Must be really urgent if Sakura of all people was calling.

"Sakura! What's the matter?"

He waits for the boy to respond, prompting Umemiya to randomly say Sakura's name to check if it's him or if the call was a mistake.

He gave Sakura a few more seconds, and he finally heard him spoke through the phone.

"(F/n)...she left."

❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋❋

You ended up walking at a park, people going by their day and spending time with their loved ones. Must be nice...

It was a fair weather compared to the last few days, so most families decided to make the most out of the opportunity for recreation. You hear a little girl cry, pointing at her balloon stuck on a tree while her mom calms her down. You didn't want to overstep, but the little girl was adamant on having her balloon and didn't want her mom to buy a new one.

Without hesitation, you climb and found yourself reaching for the balloon.

"Ah! Thank you, big sis!" The little girl says, her mother thanking you as well. Just as you are about to leave them, the little girl tells you to stay still and wait for her to come back.

"Big sis!" The little girl runs up to you and hands you an ice cream cone, "Thanks for getting my balloon back!"

The act of generosity surprised you, wanting to decline her offer and let her have the ice cream instead. "This is yours! Please take it, it has one of my favorite flavors!"

You watch as they walk off hand in hand. The ice cream in your hand had three scoops and looked a lot like the ones advertised in magazines. It was very delicious, like the little girl just said. The fact that someone else gave it to you out of gratitude added more to its value than just being a mere dessert.

This town was peaceful, with kind citizens inhabiting it.

You're just here to ruin it.

You kept walking around the park until you reached a fountain with a statue of a couple and their baby, peacefully sitting by the fountain's ledge. As soon as you find what Hayami and Sojiro entrusted you with, you'll be sure to be out of Makochi's borders.

Taking the time to rest before you make your move, the statue strikes you as odd now that you've paid attention.

A plaque beneath had a quote etched:

Where joy grows deep, sorrow must deepen; the greater one's pleasures, the greater the pain.

"That's...a quote from Kusamakura," you recall. Hayami and Sojiro often quoted this and told you of its meaning as a child.

"Oh...Our little ghost is quite the bookworm!" A familiar voice happily says out loud.

Turning your head to confirm your assumption, you see locks of swept white hair and large grey irises. "Ume...miya?"

"I'm glad you remember my name!" He points at the seat next to you with a grin, "Do you mind if I take a seat?"

You scooch over, making room for his large figure. He seemed very relaxed, contrasting your anxious self.

"So, how's Makochi so far?" He asks, looking at the citizens of the town who seemed aware of his presence as well, often waving when passing by.

"It's...cozy. The people here are nice to each other, almost like everyone's family."

The man lets out a satisfied hum, "And you're a part of it."

You let out a weak laugh, looking at Umemiya with a pitiful smile, "I've been here for a few days, and I'll take my leave after I finish my task. You can all pretend like I've never been here."

"Just like a ghost."

Umemiya frowns at your choice of words, almost thinking of lecturing you on the spot. He lets out a sigh, "I've heard about what happened earlier...I know it's hard to see someone get hurt, but you don't have to shoulder all the blame. Bofurin exists to protect everyone in Makochi, and that includes you."

"You guys are too kind...to a sickening and persistent degree if I might add," you scoff.

"If it gets you to feel welcome and accustomed here, then by all means, I'll become the most annoying person you're gonna know," Umemiya says, almost too seriously. "I'm here sitting next to you for a reason."

Curious about the sudden change in Umemiya's tone, you see him look sternly at the fountain statue. You've only seen him this morning, but you can tell this was not his usual demeanor.

Umemiya pauses for a moment, seemingly racking his thoughts before speaking, "Care to lend an ear for me, (F/n)?"

tag list: @wutap

[team7-headquarter]

Kishimoto was far from being the best at writing romance, but I disagree with a great part of the fandom saying that the main pairings had no "real" background or progressive development.

Was it great? Nope, but the story is there. You are free to dislike the pairings, but the writing is there. You are free to criticize the writing, but you need to stop behaving like the canon is the only thing that matters in order to do so.

Naruto and Sasuke care respectively about Hinata and Sakura. There are many moments that prove it and the frame of the story tell us its meant to be read as something romantic. I personally think that Kishimoto should had focused more on those moments in Shippuden if he wanted the ending to feel organic, but that's just me. To drag Naruto's crush on Sakura for so long (even when the frame started connecting him to Hinata) damaged the narrative. And for Sakura and Sasuke, maybe it was the fact that most of their romantic progress happened off screen, on the blank period, so of course the readers are not gonna buy it so rasily.

See Shikamaru and Temari. They had the early tension, the story made them each other's only interests by clearly framing Ino as just a friend to Shikamaru and they showed you openly the start of their romantic feelings, when their connection evolved. Jiraiya and Tsunade get the childhood friends to almost lovers treatment, highlighted by the fact Jiraiya expressed clearly his interest and we got to see Tsunade acting reluctant/stubborn, but ultimately deeply fond of him. Other pairings like Asuma and Kurenai had a more off screen treatment that still felt organic, or were presented since the beginning as a pairing, which is the case of Minato and Kushina, or most parents.

I think they insisted too much for far too long on the "joke" of Naruto endless crush on Sakura, to the point it damaged both their characters and their canon relationships. If the readers were used to seeing Sasuke treating Sakura badly / ignoring her and Naruto acknowledging Hinata, but still going after Sakura... And worst, because then the joke of Sakura's constant rejection damaged even that one connection with Naruto.

Why is Sasunaru so popular? Maybe it's because they have the most stable narrative in their bond, showing clearly how much they cared about each other, showing steady development, showing that there was no one competing to replace what the other meant to them.

Again, I don't dislike none of those pairings, I'm not personally supporting them either. I'm just giving my opinion on what Kishimoto tried to do and how I think it went somehow wrong. Naruto is a story and as any other media, I criticize the execution without needing to take sides on ship wars or whatever.

[starglow-xx]

owning a bakery and being discovered by the ada & port mafia (part 1)

platonic! edogawa ranpo x f! reader

type of writing: head canons !!

this is part of my head canon series, flour & fluff !!

tag list is open !! go to this google form and fill it out to sign up!

series synopsis: owning a bakery at 20 is tough; even more so when you have to handle members of two opposing organizations! this is your journey to meeting these fools and creating an unlikely bond with each of them! but only at the cost of your peace and sanity. 

fandom: bungou stray dogs

content: fluff & platonic stuff

author’s notes: this will be a multiple part series of head canons and this is only part one! this series will include both the agency and port mafia members, and then something special for the end. maybe i’ll even write a real one shot/scenario for it. if there’s enough interest, i might open up a tag list for this! i hope you all enjoy!! <33

also, ranpo is 25 in this part; kenji, atushi, kyouka, and the tanizaki siblings aren’t part of the agency yet, only yosano, kunikida, and dazai are, but in the next couple parts, it will be established that the tanizakis are

and (n/n) means nickname :)

meeting the greatest detective

your bakery, Sakura’s, which you named after your late grandmother (who was also your guardian), went into business when you were 18 right after graduating high school

who needed a culinary course when you were trained by dear ol grandma?

your grandmother died when you were 16, just as you started your second year of high school

you were devastated of course, but you knew she wouldn’t want you to wallow over it too long

so in those last two hard years of high school, you took part time jobs at other bakeries and saved lots and lots of money

by graduation, using your life savings, the money your grandmother had left for you, and all the money you earned working, you were able to buy the small building—with a reasonable amount of money left over to survive— you and your grandmother had been eyeing back in her hometown, yokohama, to start your bakery

the building was a bit run down, but you were planning to give it a makeover anyways

it was a bit smaller compared to other buildings around, only having two stories, but on the plus side, the second floor had taller ceilings and was an apartment

is that realistic? probably not but bare with me here 

aNYWHO

you finished putting your bakery up in about 4 months, then finished up your apartment 2 more after

you opened Sakura’s at 7 in the morning then closed at 8 in the evening

when you first started, you did quite well!!

especially with those who went to work on early mornings and families

the time when you first opened was the most peaceful, but you admitted that it was a bit boring, and you wished for a bit more excitement

and boy, the day edogawa ranpo stepped into your bakery was the catalyst for the chaos and excitement that was soon to come

not that you knew that

if you did you would’ve never let him in

maybe

you were 19 when ranpo discovered Sakura’s, and it was completely accidental

he finished solving a case and was on the way back to the agency, and he—not surprisingly—got lost and then it started to rain really hard

it was pouring; there was even the cliche thunder strike and everything

you saw the brown clad man across the street and you ran out with two umbrellas (almost getting hit by a car mind you) handed one to him and practically dragged him inside

with the heavy rain on the forecast, Sakura’s was empty, so you gently pushed him down on a chair and you rushed away to find towels

even though the two of you had umbrellas, the two of you were still soaked 

finding said towels, you quickly dried yourself the best you could then you draped your towel over your back and rushed over to give him his as well as a warm pastry and your special hot honey lemon tea

ranpo laughed as you placed down the refreshment and snack, thinking that you knew who he was and was giving him special treatment

poor bby blinked and went :0 when you said you didn’t

“you don’t know who i am?”

“no. am i supposed to?”

“...”

the 25 year old blanked and you worried that you broke him and started to apologize profusely 

he cut you off claiming that he got over it he didnt but seeing as the bakery was empty and it was pouring pretty badly, he demanded you give him all your attention sit with him so he could tell you all about himself and what he’s done

the two of you got along quite well

you were amazed with all the stories he’s told you 

you honestly acted like a cute little kid listening to fairytales

he told you that and in response you threw a napkin at him

“wow ranpo-san! that’s amazing!!”

“you look like a little kid”

cue the napkin

he was happy with all the attention, praise, and sweets you gave him

the agency gave him praise sure, and made sure he had a lot of snacks but it was refreshing to have someone give him this much and your treats were the best he’s ever had

after he told you all his most interesting cases, the two of you just rambled about the most randomest things; going from the best desserts and snacks to the stupidest things his coworkers have done

you guys were on that last topic for a while

you two talked and rambled for hours, and when it hit hour two and the rain was still pouring, you just went ahead and slipped the “we’re open” sign to “closed” even though it was only 2 o’clock

you thought that this was probably the loving goofy older brother relationship that you missed out on

“ranpo-san, you’re kind of like the brother i’ve never had”

“and you’re still like that little kid”

cue another napkin to the face

don’t worry, he already adores you <3 

he just likes to make fun of you </3

*cuts you off as you’re talking to squish your cheeks* “(y/n) you still have a lot of baby fat and you’re pretty short...are you sure you’re still not in high school or smth??”

*incoherent talking due to pressure on cheeks* “ranpo-san you have 3 seconds before i kick you out”

at around 6, the rain came to a stop and by then, the both of you were all dried up

before he left, you gave him a map so that he hopefully wouldn’t get lost again and gave him a couple boxes of treats for him to have and to share with his coworkers

you closed early so you had to give away at least some of the remaining treats somehow

he wanted you to go to agency with him so he didn’t have to carry everything but you declined saying that you didn’t want to bc you wanted to rest

and for payback for calling you a little kid

you were 19 goddamnit

you already placed everything neatly into two bags so it was easy to carry but this bitch still had the audacity to pout and whine at you

and he calls you the little kid, jeez

you never told him but, you almost gave in

you never told him. but he probably already knows

ranpo san knows all after all; even you knew that by now

the two of you had also exchanged phone numbers and when the two of you showed each other what you each put for a contact name along with the note below, the two of you broke out into grins

you named him “the greatest detective <33″ & put the note “new nii-san <33 & bully </3″ and he named you “cute bakery girl” with the note “best follower, sweets supply & annoying little kid”

when he left, you properly closed the bakery and taped a sign to the door saying that you closed early for personal reasons

when everything was cleaned up, you marched up into your bedroom, plopped on your bed, and took a nap

you deserved it

at the agency not too long after that, ranpo had arrived and when he opened the door, everyone rushed towards him in concern asking if he was okay

he waved them off and walked towards his desk and plopped down in his seat

he placed the two bags in front of him and took out a box of cream puffs and started to snack on them

his coworkers watched him blankly as his scarfed down one after another

after finishing that box, he rummaged through the bags to look through the different kinds of pastries you’ve given him 

noticing that there were people still staring at him he paused before sighing in exasperation

he began to whine at his coworkers saying that no one told him it was gonna rain and that they were lucky that he happened to be in front of Sakura’s

“why did no one tell me?! it was pouring and i was soaked! you guys are lucky that (n/n)-chan’s bakery was right there! you would’ve probably lost me! how would the agency even function without me here?!”

no one wanted to be the one to tell him that they had no idea who he was talking about and that they did in fact tell him that it was gonna pour

they can save that, and their questions for another time

next >>

tag list is open !! go to this google form and fill it out to sign up!

[sapphirestuff]

Could we please get some relationship headcanons for Ann, Makoto, Futaba, Haru and Sumire from Persona 5?

Characters: Ann Takamaki, Makoto Nijima, Futaba Sakura, Haru Okumura, Sumire Yoshizawa

Tags: gn! reader, headcannons, p5r phantom thief girls

A/n: Ofc anon! So sorry for the long delay, comeback post and first persona content yeay!

‘Ann Takamaki’

Crepe dates after school!

She will take you to her jobs and introduce you as her lover

You even sometimes get to know a crew job from her

Tho dating a model means a lot of shopping

But she will buy you some clothes too! A model's s/o gotta look fabuluos too yknow

Shiho will definitely likes you platonically! A person Ann knows is a good person after all

She makes you read her magazines

Sometimes she feels insecure if you're reading a magazine with another pretty girl, especially if the model once pissed her off (ahem i forgot her name in the social link alwihebwpq)

If she feels insecure, cheer her up! Or buy her some sweets

Takes you to a salon pretty often

Manicure, some massage, or just style your hairs differently

She always feels alone because her parents aren't in the same house as her, so you gotta make sure to always be there for her!

‘Makoto Nijima’

She has less experience about relationship stuff, so make sure you're an understanding person for her!

Will always make sure you do good in school

Bad grades because of slacking off? Get ready for full on study sesion and lecture

Or bad grades because you really aren't good at it? She'll comfort you and make sure to teach you so that you could do better next time

Good grades tho? Will be proud of you, and sometimes gives you a lil kiss as a reward (or you just beg her to kiss you)

Tho the relationship may be a lil too strict because of her sister, you two manage

You will go to the library at lunch break to study with her

Will sometimes tell you about her dreams, and helps you to find your real passion and reach your dream as well!

Keep a low profile at school tho! Don't wanna to have a gosip around

'Futaba Sakura'

Did i mention Makoto has less dating experience? This one literally has no SOCIAL experience ever

You gotta get Sojiro to accept your relationship tho! He'll be a great wingman for you two if he likes you

No touching without consent tho! So you'll have to wait for her if you want to hug or hold hands with her

Your dates will probably be just at Leblanc, but that doesn't mean it won't be fun tho

Board games, video games, she'll play them with you

And if she wins, give her a headpat so that she doesn't get cocky:)

Will take a lot of courage for her to have a date with you outside, so give her some reassurance!

She oftens likes to rant or vent to you, so keep your ears up!

'Haru Okumura'

Rich fluff girl aewoamoehw

She won't gaf if her dad disagrees with your relationship (or he's dead lol)

Tho if her dad passed away, make sure to give her some support, running a big company on herself ain't easy

If some employees of her been caught gossiping about you two, she won't hesitate:D

Will always make sure her partner gets the best treatment

She'll teach you a lil bit about running her company, and sometimes even trust you to help her

Gardening together! You two grew a garden together both at her house and your house

From flowers, plants, trees, you two took care of it with care

Tho maybe your relationship ain't gonna be that easy

Haru's a well known socialite, so it'd be bad if people found out she's dating a commoner

If you're a socialite yourself tho, it's not a problem

'Sumire Yoshizawa'

Will train gymnastics with you, maybe even teaching you the basics

She cooks lunch for you! Gotta make sure you're healthy:)

She may be not the best cook, but she's trying

Random dancing! Sometimes she started dancing out of nowhere (not in public ofc if your uncomfortable) for you to join in!

You better come to her performances, she'll do amazing and you'll cheer for her when she got 1st prize

When she got a burnout (yknow from training and her past) just be with her! Let her vent to you until she feels better

She's a great help when it comes to exercising! She'll motivate you to do something light until it get a lil heavier

And a great diet coach!

Her fave dating spot is that baseball cage in shibuya

And maybe a lil walk on town

[actuallysaiyan]

Hold Me(Kakashi Hatake x Fem!Reader)

Word count: 1,603 Pairings: Kakashi Hatake x Reader Summary: Reader has loved Kakashi since they were children, but she knew that it would be hard to get underneath all his layers and get to his heart. She knows he doesn’t think he is worthy of love, but she knows he is. She’ll do anything to show him how amazing he truly is. Warnings: Fluffy, bittersweet, mentions of Rin and Obito, sadness. A/N: Just letting everyone know, I write Naruto content for real now. I’ve finished Shippuden and you can send in your Naruto requests!

It took you so long to finally come to terms with your feelings. You had known him for so long, and you always tried to suppress how you truly felt. You knew that Kakashi wasn’t someone who was so willing to open up to people. He had gone through so much in his life, and you were always there on the sidelines to adore him from the sidelines.

But now, you were an adult and you were trying to get your life together. Both of your parents had died when you were really young, so just like Kakashi, you had to fend for yourself and grow up quickly. Finally, you were financially and emotionally in a good spot, but something was still missing.

You wanted to have a good relationship with somebody and maybe start a family, but you wanted no one else but Kakashi. You felt like maybe you should give up before you even start, considering he was not going to accept your flirtings or advances. He just wasn’t ready for something like that, and maybe he’d never be ready for it. Kakashi was way too afraid to lose someone else in his life, so he just happily went along and lived alone and contented himself with reading his erotica books for entertainment between training sessions and missions.

Days would go by before you finally decided to go see him. He was hanging out under a tree, watching his team train. You had your hands full with your own team, and they were making decent progress. From what you had heard, Kakashi ended up with the sole member of the Uchiha clan and Naruto Uzumaki as his students, along with a young woman named Sakura. Kakashi definitely had his hands full with this group.

The two young men were at odds with each other with the girl trying to be the mediator. This scene really reminded you of when you and Kakashi were young and he was on his team with Rin and Obito. It was almost like you were looking into the past.

“Kakashi~” You announced your presence. He looked up at you and you could see him smiling under his mask.

“Hi,” Kakashi casually said  as he kept an eye on his team.

You walked over to him and plopped yourself down on the grass near his feet. He stared at you for a moment before crouching down to your level. You smiled at him before ruffling his hair playfully.

“How have you been?” You asked, hoping to talk to him for a little while. Your heart was pounding as you tried to remind yourself why you were really here.

“I’ve been pretty busy. How about yourself?”

You started to talk a bit, mostly about your missions and other things. As you both continued to chat, you noticed his students keeping a watchful eye on both of you. You could tell that these youngsters didn’t think that Kakashi had many friends.

“I was wondering, if you aren’t too busy, you and I could go for some ramen later tonight.” You asked, nervously looking away from Kakashi’s glance.

Kakashi looks down, a blush not apparent on his face due to his mask. “Uhm, I don’t know if I’ll have enough time.” He was making up an excuse, but in reality, he wanted to go with you.

“Oh, well maybe some other time.” You said, trying to hide your disappointment. Kakashi just chuckled nervously and nodded.

“Yeah, sure.” He rubbed the back of his neck and then walked over to his team. You wondered if he was just trying to deflect, but you figured he just wasn’t interested in you at all.

You could imagine your surprise when later that night, there’s a knock at your door and on the other side, it’s Kakashi. He’s got his hands behind his back and he’s looking pretty anxious. You’re very surprised but also pleased to see him.

“What are you doing here?” You asked, hoping he had found the time to go out with you.

“I switched around a few things on my schedule,” he started. “I’m feeling pretty hungry, would you like to get some ramen?” 

You eyed him a little suspiciously, wondering if someone put him up to this. You knew sometimes Gai would egg on Kakashi and make him do some pretty silly things. Yet, you felt a little more at ease when Kakashi said please. Your heart swelled at the thought of him actually wanting to spend some time with you.

The walk to Ramen Ichiraku wasn’t long and you were enjoying the warm night air. Kakashi wasn’t really sure what to say to you, so you mostly just took the lead in the conversation. Finally, you spotted the stall and you challenged Kakashi to a race. He wasn’t ready for that, so you obviously won.

“That wasn’t very fair,” Kakashi teased, but he sat next to you.

“I know, but I won anyway.” You said as you stuck out your tongue. Kakashi chuckled.

You both ordered some ramen and enjoyed each other’s company. It wasn’t often that you got to spend some alone time with Kakashi and you knew it wasn’t going to be possible anytime soon after this. You both had your teams to take care of and they would be taking their Chunin exams very shortly.

As the night went on, you could feel your feelings for Kakashi grow even more. Part of you wanted to pull his mask down and kiss him softly, and the other part of you wanted to run home and cry in bed because you knew he would never want to get into a serious relationship.

The date came to an end way too quickly, and Kakashi offered to walk you home. You happily accepted his offer, knowing that your only chance to tell him how you truly felt would be now or never. You didn’t want it to be never, but you could feel your stomach clench at the thought of confessing.

You stood with your back to your apartment door, watching Kakashi with half-lidded eyes. You weren’t really sure how you could start this conversation, but thankfully Kakashi wasn’t an idiot. He knew you had feelings for him, and he knew for quite some time now.

“Listen, this was really fun, but I don’t know if we could keep doing this.” Kakashi started, and you could already feel your heart wrench.

“Oh, I see. Well, it was nice to spend time with you.” You were already mentally kicking yourself for not telling him how you truly felt and fighting for his affections.

You turned to open your door, but stopped midway and turned back around to face him.

“No, I’m not letting you go.” You stood your ground as Kakashi wasn’t really sure how to react.

“Kakashi, you spend most of your time alone. You’ve never allowed yourself to love someone after what happened with your teammates, but I’ve always been there for you. I know I’m not going to replace Rin or Obito, but I love you.”

Kakashi is a little shocked, but he regained his composure pretty quickly. He leaned in towards you, cupping your face gently. He doesn’t want to break your heart, but he doesn’t think he’s worthy of your love at all. He’s too afraid to lose someone so precious to him once again.

“I can’t do this. You deserve so much more,” Kakashi muttered, and you shake your head no.

“Kakashi, you must really think you’re unlovable, but you truly deserve my love. I want to show you that you can be happy again.” You pressed your forehead to his, looking into his eyes wantonly.

Your fingers traced his face softly before removing his mask and exposing his gorgeous face to you. You had only seen his face fully once or twice, but now it was different. It lit a fire in your belly and you leaned in to kiss him passionately. 

Kakashi didn’t pull away, instead he wrapped his arms around you and pulled you even closer. He knew it was going to take him some time to get used to this kind of treatment, but he wanted to be loved so badly. He needed to be loved, and especially by you.

You pulled away, holding him at arm's length to study his reaction. He’s got a dopey look on his face, but you knew he was a little apprehensive. You pulled him in for a hug, holding him close to you.

“I can’t bring back the people you love, but I can show you how amazing you truly are. I love you so much, and I can’t hide those feelings anymore.” You confessed. Kakashi hummed softly before placing a kiss on the top of your head.

“You are way too amazing for me, love. Are you sure this is what you want?” Kakashi asked, hoping you would change your mind and find someone who was much more full of life and wasn’t so damaged.

“I couldn’t be any more sure of something in my life. I love you.”

He smiled softly, not really sure what to say or how to react. You invited him inside to stay the night and he happily agreed. The rest of the night consisted of you comforting him and reminding him of how much he was worthy of your love.

And Kakashi would never go without love for any longer. For the rest of his life, you would always be there to show him that he wasn’t too damaged or too far gone to be happy.

[babybottlepop96]

Always: Shikamaru x Reader

Warnings: death, sadness, fluffy shit.

A/N: this one is about 2.2k words, it kinda got away from me lol enjoy and request!

Being Naruto Uzumaki's fraternal twin sister had its perks. I mean, the excessive amount of friends, ramen 24/7, always having a best friend that would be there for me and have my back no matter what but would also put me in my place if he had too. Being born five minutes after the infamous jinjuriki he was also so protective. Threatening any guy that would just have the nerve to flirt with me, the sister of the future Hokage.

We only had each other for so long, sure, our relationship took a bad turn for a while. While he was usually ignored and looked at as a monster, I didn't get the kind of treatment. Being the "normal" one of the twins, I was treated with more respect because I didn't have a tailed beast to host. I always felt awful for that and no matter how many times I stood up for my brother, he refused to accept my sympathy. The Chunin Exams came and went when he finally came to me after a few weeks of ignoring me. It was after Saskue had left and he was a mess. He cried into my shoulder and told me he was sorry. I just held him close and told him that I was never mad at him. I could never bead at him for how he felt about everything. It was unfair to him to be treated that badly, unfair that he had no say in being a host and I told him that he was so strong and had such a kind heart and people would eventually see that. I mean, they had to right? He was going to be the future Hokage.

When he left for those years with Jiryia, it was hard. It was like half of me was missing and I felt kind of lost without him. While he was out training, I had passed the Chunin and the Jonin exams. I was so proud of myself, but it would've felt even better if my twin was with me. 

When he came home, I wasn't there to greet him. I was on business with the Kazekage. Gaara became a close friend, he accepted my friendship because he felt like he could trust me. He became like a little brother. And then everything happened with the Akatsuki and I ended up losing an arm trying to save a few children from a clay bomb. I laid in one of the beds while everyone was trying to get Gaara back and I felt like I failed. I was a fucking Jonin for kage sake and I couldn't protect or retrieve Gaara. It hit me hard.

When Temari, Sakura, Kakashi and Naruto arrived, they went straight to Kankauro. That poor boy was in such pain from the poison, it hurt my heart when I heard him scream from the extraction. I was so focused on not paying attention I hadn't realized Naruto had made his way over to me and held my left hand. Once I felt his hand touch mine, my eyes flew open and he had tears in his eyes.

"I'm so sorry, (y/n)! I should've been here to protect you! I failed and I'm so sorry you got hurt." He his head dropped to the side of the bed and cried.

"Hey, hey it's okay Naruto. This shit happens you know that. And it is not your fault, okay? You had to go and train. This was just a mission that turned wrong. But you're here now! And I just know you're going to go after Gaara and bring him home. And I'll be rooting for your success.. believe it!" I smiled, small tear trails staining my own cheeks. He looked at me and gave a small smile.

After everything that happened at the sand and Gaara's return home, no longer a host for the one tail, things seemed to go somewhat better. I got a fake arm that works well with my chakra and I had been training non stop with all my friends. But I mostly spent time with one particular ninja the most. A cute, lazy Pineapple haired Nara. You see, Shikamaru and I had been close and dating for about a year at this point. We never particularly told anyone, but people seemed to know. Well, all except Naruto. He was so oblivious to it all, he didn't realize how close Shika and I were until Pein attacked the Hidden Leaf. So, that's where I'll begin this little tale.

~~~~~~~

"Shit shit shit!" I was running around trying to get civilians to safety, grabbing children and pushing other civilians towards the Hokage head mountain. A building was starting to crumble and fire and explosions were coming from everywhere it seemed. Once I felt like I got everyone I could I ran back to where the main event was happening. Thankfully Naruto wasn't here, I wouldn't even begin to imagine what they would do if they had captured him. I mean, they killed Gaara, but Lady Chio had that special secret jutsu that she took to the grave. I couldn't bear to lose my brother. 

To fight was lasting so long, there was no way to tell when it would all be over. I was separated from Choji, Ino and Shikamaru when everything began. The three started fighting while I helped get the civilians to safety, but I knew they had to be around here. Alive. They just had to be. Things were seemingly going fine until I heard a small child scream. I snapped my head to the sound so fast I swore I got whiplash. A small girl was cowering against a wooden wall, the enemy heading toward her. I ran as fast as I could and snatched the girl away. I tossed her to the side gently and told her to run. She just looked at me, her big brown eyes filled with tears and a worried look on her face. "It's okay, you go to the mountains and find your family. Okay? Go!" She nodded and took off. I fought off the enemy for as long as I could. My chakra was running extremely low, so low that I wasn't able to dodge the wooden spear that came hurtling towards me. It went straight through my chest, pinning against the wooden wall behind me. I coughed up blood and my vision started to go a bit fuzzy.

"Your time is now over. You were a decent Shinoni, but you were still weak." The enemy spat out. I didn't say anything as I clutched the wooden spear that pinned me to the wall, trying to take in air. It felt like I was drowning, I could feel my lungs filling with blood and tears start to run down my face. I would never see my friends again, see my brothers happy go lucky smile while down bowl after bowl of ramen. I would never be able to Shika that I loved him. Everything was fading to black, my head dropped and my arms went limp by my side.

I woke up in a dark place, no longer in pain. I was dead. "Hello little one." A voice spoke and I looked around to see a small light. I ran towards it, hoping maybe I'd wake up for real and I was alive and well. That this was just a sick dream or a gentusu. But what I saw when I reached the light was unbelievable. I saw the fourth Hokage with a woman with red hair. 

"Welcome, (y/n)." The woman came over to me and gave me a hug. "I'm your mom." She whispered in my ear and turned to the man. "And that's your dad." To say I was crying was an understatement. There was a river flow of salty tears streaming down my face as I hugged them both. 

NARUTO'S POV

I ran back towards the village at full speed, I just had to get back. I had to protect my friends and mentors. I had to protect (y/n). I saw the massive crater when I returned to what was supposed to be my village. Injured and dead ninja and civilians alike were being gathered in a clearing. I ran ahead, I had to find them, I had to find everyone. I spotted Sakura first and ran towards her, "Sakura!" She turned her head, tears running down her face and I stopped in front of her. "Where is everyone?" She pointed to our group of friends, everyone is there except for Kakashi-Sensei and my sister. "S-Sakura? Where… where is Kakashi and (y/n)?" She sobbed louder which caused all of our friends to look over. I walked towards them and the moment I spotted Shikamaru on the ground holding someone, sobbing, I froze. I knelt down and looked over him. He was holding my sister, cradling her head in his lap. Her body was paler than normal against the red stain on her shirt. I didn't move, I didn't cry, I just stared, not convinced that she was actually gone. After a few moments I got up and made my way towards the true enemy.

"N-Naruto? Where are you going?" Sakura asked me, her voice meek and breaking.

"To end this."

SHIKAMARU'S POV

The enemy had retreated for a bit, allowing us to gather our injured and deceased. I was frantically looking for (y/n) I had to make sure she was okay. "(Y/n)!!" I heard Ino yell from behind me. I ran towards her voice as fast as I could. Once I reached her, my blood ran cold. There she was, the one that I truly cared about and loved, pinned against a wall, spear straight through the chest. I tentatively reached out and touched her and my instantly moved back as I felt her cold, stiff, lifeless body. I stood frozen. The rationalist inside me was gone and I then pulled the spear from her form and caught her in my arms and she limply fell. The cry that ripped from my throat was inhuman, angry and broken. I fell to the ground holding her close to my chest. "W-wake up, please!" I cried even harder knowing it was useless. She was already gone. Passed onto the afterlife while I was here to deal with the heartbreak. The pain. I knew this love thing was a drag, but I endured it for her. She made my days brighter, the sun burn hotter, she made everyday so much better. 

"Sh-Shika? W-we should get her to the others." Ino whispered, scared her own voice would break, as she gently put a hand on my shoulder. All I could manage was a small nod and tried to suppress my cries. I carried her to where everyone was putting the deceased and all our friends stood there with wide eyes and I carried their closest friend in my arms. Everyone was shocked, too stunned to say anything as I put (y/n) on the ground. But I still cradle her head in my lap, I couldn't let her go just yet. The tears still slipping down my cheeks were enough for everyone to know this was real. When Naruto showed up I sobbed, he was just in shock as the rest of us. When he left to go confront the real Pein, none of us stopped him. If anyone could end this. He could.

YOUR POV

Talking to my parents had been the most calming time of my life. Well, afterlife. They told me stories about what it was like before they died, how Kakashi was like another son to him. How they never wanted Naruto to host the nine tails. I told them how life was growing up, how I was dating Shikamaru and my dad gave me a whole lecture on safe sex, even though I was dead and I wouldn't have to worry about any of that. Well, until I started to glow. "Looks like you still have a full life to live my sweet." My mother smiled and I looked at them with a smile and tears in my eyes.

"I love you both." I said as I faded back into the darkness. This time though, when I opened my eyes I saw a face I never thought I'd be able to see again. "Shika?" His eyes snapped open and he stared down at me, his eyes wide and mouth open. He stared at me for a moment, not believing what he was seeing. His dead girlfriend, breathing. Alive.he held me so close to his chest and sobbed even louder. Ino and Choji were all giving him sad looks until they saw my arms wrap around his neck and held him closer.

"OH SHIT!" Choji yelled as the other dead bodies were coming back from death. I sat up slowly and grabbed Shikamaru's face and kissed him. I kissed him like it would be the last time I ever would. 

"I… I thought I lost you for good this time." He spoke softly.

"I will always come back for you." I smiled at him, tear glazed eyes staring into his own. "Always." We kissed again, pulling each other close. We stayed like that for a moment until we heard a certain obnoxious blonde yelling at us.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR DOING?! SHIKAMARU THAT'S MY SISTER! WHEN THE HELL DID THIS HAPPEN?!" Causing everyone to let out a laugh. Resting his forehead on mine Shikamaru spoke quietly. "I love you."

"I love you too, Shika. I love you too."

[tetsuroyaoyaoya]

Photographs

oikawa tōru x reader

MASTERLIST

pairing: oikawa tooru/gn!reader

warnings: horrendous grammar, zero capital letters, slight timeskip spoilers

“you still keep that photo of us in your wallet?” oikawa glanced over from where he was settled on the sofa with your son, having come over to spend some time with him after being away in argentina for months. 

he swallowed heavily when he noticed you holding his wallet open, staring at the small polaroid he kept hidden in there for when he was out of your home country. 

you and oikawa had gotten together pretty young - too young- and were what you would call 'high school sweethearts', you guessed. you got married, had a kid way before you wanted to, and then oikawa went away. it wasn't really as if you could make him stay. he had gotten a once-in-a-lifetime offer to join the national volleyball team in south america. he had pretty much worked his entire life for and opportunity like that.

so you let him go.

thats when the problems started. 

missed calls and skewed time zones got in the way; you were exhausted from raising your child alone and he was busy living his dream. there were very few instances when you got to have a real conversation, and even then it usually ended in arguments for some petty reason or another. 

for such a perfect couple, it fell apart unbelievably quickly. despite having been so emotional and hormonal back in high school, as all teenagers were, oikawa had never really cried over anything besides volleyball - until he received the divorce papers in the mail, along with your ring. 

you were his first love, and you would forever be his only love, but he just couldn't love you more than volleyball. and you knew that. but you couldn't hurt yourself by missing him anymore. 

the photo in question was from a vacation before your son was born. he took you to paris - the most romantic city in the world - and like the absolute cliché you fell in love with, he proposed to you right in front of the eiffel tower. you still remember the embarrassment of making a scene in front of so many people, but you remember it was the happiest you've ever been, and looking over the photo felt like deja vu slapping you in the face. 

instead of rushing to defend himself or explain, he set your son down to occupy himself with his toys on the rug and made his way over to you. he came to stand behind you, reaching his arm around you to grasp his wallet. you held your breath as you realised how close he was, and swallowed when you breathed in the scent of that stupid cologne he'd been drowning himself in since high school. you had spent a fortune on various others for birthdays and christmases and yet he still stuck with the same one after all this time. 

"you missed these." oikawa held his wallet back out to you, along with a few other polaroids of the two of you in various places all over the world. there was one under the sakura trees from back in high school, another in argentina before he left, and one after your son had been born. it was a little difficult to see because of the way the picture had come out, but you could still make out the three of you cuddled up and asleep on the sofa after a tiring night of being new parents. you assumed iwa took it, as he was the biggest help during those first few months. 

it was so simple, yet so breathtaking. you couldn't even imagine the look on oikawas face, never mind your own. his hand came up to grasp yours, causing you to flinch and drop the polaroids onto the table in surprise. he gently turned you around, slithering an arm around your waist and pulling you close. with tears in your eyes, you cherished the moment, a bittersweet feeling filling your chest. 

"I didn't just come back to visit my son." he tugged away reluctantly, lifting a hand up to brush his fingers over your cheek fondly. 

"I miss you." it was only a whisper yet it held so much power.

"I miss you too." you said it before you could stop yourself, but the smile that lit up your lover's face washed away all of your doubts and filled you with hope. 

"lets start over." you let a tear fall down your cheek as you nodded, unable to control your own smile. 

"well hello there, gorgeous. I'm oikawa tooru, and the pleasure of meeting you is all mine.” he reached for your hand as dramatically as he could manage, bringing it up to his lips to give it a peck.

“and your name, dearest?” you giggled and bend down to pick up your son who had made his way over to the two of you. oikawa gazed lovingly at the sight, feeling like a teenager in high school seeing you for the first time all over again.

“you might have to treat me to a nice dinner before I tell you that.” he laughed, making your son laugh with him.

“that can be arranged, my love.” he lent down, smile never leaving his face as he placed a kiss on your forehead. of course, your son couldn't be left out and he started to kick up a fuss, so oikawa hauled him gently out of your arms to give him the same treatment. 

you smiled at your family, glancing back at the polaroids scattered on the table. 

maybe it had been the right people, just the wrong time. all you knew was that you couldn't live without him. 

so you wouldn't anymore. 

A/N: it genuinely feels like so long since i posted and I as sorry for that :( college is kicking my ass and I have no motivation! hope everyones doing well and ill try and get myself back into posting again soon!

[devinescribe]

[A Little More] Niragi S.

The plot is basically knowing before the games, and you were his main bully's sister. And then it transfers to being in the games. I listened to the song 'A Little More' by Alessia Cara while making this, and it's on my Wattpad as well :)

Warnings: Swearing, mentions of abuse, bullying, mentions of rape(none done by Niragi towards the reader. Also, more like insinuates it, not describes or for sure says it, but just in case!)

You had seen the boy around. He carried his books hurriedly around, and your brother always told you he was his friend. And you believed him.

"Onii-Chan! Hiii!" You chirped, running up to your brother. You saw his friends behind him, the boy with the glasses trailing behind. "I'll be inside in a second," you said, running past the group of boys to the boy behind them. "Hi! My name's (L/N) (F/N). What's your's?" You introduced, holding out a hand to him to shake. "S-suguru Niragi... Nice to meet you," he responded, looking up to meet your gaze. "That's my big brother, he's super cool. I wanna be like him one day. Even though he's only a years older," you giggled, pointing towards the boy standing in the doorway, glaring down at him. "B-big brother? I-i have to go..." he excused. "Ah, wait, Suguru-San, let's talk more at school yeah?" You shouted after him. He stopped, turning to look at you, giving a curt nod.

"Hey! What- what are you doing?" You asked, stumbling across your brother with his friend. Niragi was on the floor, blood spilling from nose, a baseball next to him. His glasses scattered to the side. "Leave (Y/N), it's nothing to concern yourself with. Go home," your brother said. He was holding a baseball bat. "I thought he was your friend?" You asked, walking closer to them. "I told you to leave," your brother responded louder. "Did you do this to him?" You asked, tears building in your eyes. "And if I did? He's just a loser anyways," you brother said. You gasped, walking closer to your brother. "Stop. You shouldn't do this," you said, trying to look at the boy standing in front of you like he was still your brother and not some monster who had been torturing someone innocent. "I told you to leave you dumb bitch," he scoffed, pushing you down. "D-dont!" Niragi shouted from behind you. Your eyes widened. "Don't hurt her... she's your sister, you shouldn't hurt your sister," Niragi said, trying his hardest to be brave to protect you. "And?" Your brother said, kicking your leg harshly. You gave a yelp of pain, and crawled backwards to Niragi. " 'Ragi, you ok?" You asked, wiping away the blood, to no avail as it kept coming out. "Get away from him (Y/N), unless you want the same treatment," one of your brother's friends smirked. Your eyes widened, holding onto him. "Hurt me then. I don't care. Leave him alone!" You shouted, shielding Niragi from them. "Aw look, he needs a girl to protect him," one of the boys taunted. You stood up, holding Niragi's hand. Your brother scoffed, tossing a ball up, and batting it. You only heard a crack, and felt a pain on your nose. You put a hand up, and felt blood drip down. " 'Ragi, on the count of three, run. Run home or wherever, don't look back, just run, and I'll see you at school tomorrow alright?" You instructed, looking at him with a smile. "But what about you? You're a girl and they could do worse to you than me I can't let you-" he said, stumbling over his words. "Go. I'll be fine, I'll see you tomorrow," you said, the kind smile he'd grown to love still present on his face. He only nodded.

"1"

He closed his eyes, dreading the thought of leaving you alone.

"2"

You looked up at him, and gave him a quick kiss to the cheek.

"3."

He swallowed harshly, and ran like you told him. He did what you told him, trying to block out the noise, because he knew he would look back if he did...

The next day you showed up at school. Your eyes no longer held the same spark they had. Your smile had dulled. Not even like you were giving a real smile. There were bruises on your legs that you had neglected to cover.

You went to your usual spot under the Sakura tree in the school court yard. " 'Ragi?" You questioned, seeing him standing there, under the tree. He saw you, and let out a sigh of relief. "Are you ok? What happened? What did they to you?" He asked, reaching out for you. You jumped back, scared of what might happen if you let him touch you. He looked at you, seeing the bruises on your neck and legs. "What the hell did they do to you?" He whispered, slowly walking over to you. Your eyes filled with tears. "I-it was h-horrible, I- I didn't think that i-," you started, breaking down in sobs. He reached you, slowly wrapping his arms around you.

You two sat atop the roof of the apartment complex, looking out to the stars. "So let me get this straight, if a guy with piercings and long hair asked you out, you wouldn't hesitate to say yes?" He asked, laughing a bit. You laughed, nodding your head. "But also smart guys. Clever ones, who put thought into things. The guys who aren't afraid of their emotions or mine ya know?" You admitted, looking up to the stars. He nodded softly. " 'Ragi. You'd look good with piercings," you mentioned all of a sudden. "Really?" He asked, looking at you. "Mhm. And if you grew out your hair to... here," you said, touching his shoulders. "Is this your way of telling me I'm ugly?" He joked. "No! You're really cute, I'm just saying it would look good on you. Dummy," you muttered. "What would you do if everyone in Tokyo disappeared? It was just the two of us?" He asked suddenly. "I'd be... happy. Our utopia where my brother and his stupid friends don't exist. Just us, watching the stars every night. I'd like that," you said softly. "I'd like that too," he whispered.

You chuckled at the memory. "Well, I would have liked it. If you were here with me," you said, leaning back on the wall. You looked down at the cards in your hand. 10 of clubs, ace of diamonds, and 2 of hearts. You shuddered. "Maybe it's better you're not here 'Ragi. I wouldn't want you going through this," you muttered. You heard the engine of a car. "What the hell? I thought cars didn't work," you whispered, walking out from your hiding spot, onto the street. The headlights of the cars fell on you, and they stopped. "Oi, you ok?" A voice asked. "Um, not really? How'd you get cars working?" You responded. No one answered. "We have a place where people in this situation can go. The Beach. Do you have any playing cards?" The person asked. "Yes, I do. 10 of clubs, ace of diamonds, and 2 of hearts," you responded. "Hop on in," they said. You walked over cautiously, getting into the car.

"Welcome to the beach. Right now, there's only a few of us, but in time there will be many. We have 3 militals, and 4 executives so far, with me being the leader," the man, who's name you learned to be Hatter. "Hatter, your back from- and who's this?" A voice said from the top of the staircase. You looked over, and saw a boy, about your age, with dark shoulder length hair. You couldn't see his facial features since he was so far away. He walked down the stairs, and you could see his face. He had an eyebrow piercing, as well as a nose piercing, with very attractive features. He looked so familiar. "That's Niragi, he's one of the militals, which is why he has a weapon," Hatter explained. Niragi clicked his tongue. "N-niragi?" You stuttered, walking a bit closer to the boy. "Oi, why the hell are you starin' at me like that? You look like you've seen a ghost," he scoffed. "Hi! My name's (L/N) (F/N). What's your's?" You said, using the same childish voice you had back then, sticking a hand out like you had back then, hoping this was your Niragi. The Niragi you had spent hours with atop the roofs of Tokyo. The Niragi who called you an idiot for getting drunk once. The Niragi who had most of your firsts, even if they were on a dare or some stupid punishment of your brother's creation. The same Niragi who had protected you after that day. The same Niragi who bought you candies and snacks after school. The Niragi you had and still loved. His eyes widened, and the gun he had dropped to the floor. "S-suguru Niragi... Nice to meet you," he said, the same way he had back then. The tears that had filled your eyes fell, and you grabbed his hand, pulling him into a hug. "It's you, it's really you right? I'm not dreaming? Did I die, is this heaven, please tell me that's really you," you cried into him. "It's me, it's really me (N/N)," he whispered, trying to keep his tears from falling. Hatter smiled, and left, giving the two of you a bit of privacy. He pulled away from the hug, cupping your face in his hands, placing his forehead on yours. "I'm so happy you're ok," you whispered. He stayed quiet, reeling in everything. You were there. With him. You were safe as could be within this messed up world. You were the same (Y/N) who had taken more damage for him than anyone in his life. The (Y/N) who had stayed up on late night phone calls. The (Y/N) who fixed his glasses everytime they broke. The (Y/N) who watched the stars with him. You pulled away, sniffling. "You look different," you laughed, sniffling and drying your tears. "Good different or bad different?" He asked with a smirk. "Good different. Great different. I told you you'd look good," you said. "Oh that reminds me of something I've wanted to do forever. (Y/N), will you go out with me?" He asked. "Yes," you responded with a smile. "Oh wow, you really meant no hesitation, huh?" He teased. "I've loved you since we were kids, why the fuck would I say no?" You admitted, holding his hand and intertwining your fingers with his.

"You know, this isn't the way I thought I'd die, but I'm glad it's with you," you said, panting from the heat of the flames. "It's all my fault. You shouldn't be in this mess. Fucking hell..." he muttered. You lay your head on his shoulder. "It's not your fault. Don't blame yourself. I had just as much fault as you," you whispered. "Chishiya was right. All of us militals are just morons with guns," he laughed. You smiled. "I'm sure he'd love to hear you admit that. I can see him smirking right now," you said, a laugh escaping your lips. "Remember that time your brother found us on the roof, and we had to jump from one roof to the other to get away?" He asked leaning his head onto yours. "Yeah, remember that time we threw one of his baseball's into the river, and he was super pissed?" You giggled. "Remember that night on the roof when you told me your biggest fear was loosing me?" He asked. "That was legitimately the other night, if course I didn't forget it bubs," you whispered, snuggling into him. You both coughed from the smoke. "I don't want to die..." you whimpered, hugging him tightly. He held onto you. "I know... I know. But we'll just feel pain for a second, and then we'll meet in hell princess," he joked, trying to comfort you. You laughed a bit, but it turned into you coughing. "I love you Niragi," you said. "I love you too, (Y/N)."

Sorry if he's OOC my dear readers-

[nagisasstunningpersonality]

The Character As A Tool: Why Your Fave Doesn't Get More Screentime

Please refer to this post

REMINDER THAT ALL VIEWS HERE ARE MERELY MY OWN OPINIONS 

In truth, one of the most common complaints I see within this fandom is the treatment of side characters. Meaning, in short, a fair amount of the fandom are less connected to what’s going on with our main group of Nagisa, Karma, and Kayano, and instead relate to some of the less obvious choices. Now, there’s no problem with doing this. Hey, if you see something you like in a less important character, then absolutely go for it!

What We Do Know

I discovered for myself, whilst making my About Ass Class series posts, that absolutely some characters’ actual canon information is very dry. Matsui gives everyone a few bits here and there in both the Roll Call book and Graduation Album. If you’re lucky, there’s further points you can pick up just from watching/reading.

Now, and this I want to emphasise I’m stating as an opinion, Matsui actually gives us quite a lot to go from. Even if not every character is highly developed, there’s still a genuinely very solid starting block to go from with your own headcanon. Perhaps it can be argued that it’s not the reader’s job to supply that, but I’d counter that it’s actually kind of fun to not be fed every piece of information. Though more facts and a deeper dive into interpersonal relationships would be admittedly nice, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with us as a fandom coming up with those ideas on our own, using the pointers Matsui does give us as a starting point. Honestly it would take the fun out a little if there was too much information, and we’d have less possibilities to play with.

Why Certain Characters Exist

I’m sorry to tell you, but one of the first things you’re taught in any kind of writing or literature analysis class is that characters are not people, they’re tools. This may feel a little harsh to say, and I’m aware that many people get attached to characters and have genuine feelings towards them. And that is totally valid! Definitely not on the same scale, but I too enjoy when people have real emotions towards my OCs, so I get it.

(rest under cut) 

To put it plainly: characters exist within a story as either a plot tool, or a message tool. A plot tool is someone who, as it sounds, exists to move the story along. Characters that need to exist in order for the story to happen as it does. Now, don’t get me wrong, you don’t need to have planned this out. You don’t need to specifically introduce Hara, for example, for the sole reason of her upping the stakes in the first Itona/Shiro arc. Characters existing for filler is still, in a way, a plot tool. It’s like… you set up a chess board. Sure, you might use the knight or the queen piece the most, but the pawns are still an important and useful piece, even if you don’t always utilize it for every move, or they don’t always stand out. Message tools are when a character doesn’t really do anything, but they help to assist in the message you want to send with your art/writing. There’s not so many examples of this in ass class, the best I can think of is either Yuuji or Sakura, who don’t do much at all but are beacons for what Matsui wants to say with them (which if you think about it is just ‘don’t do drugs kids’ and ‘stay in school’ :’)).

So free bit of writing advice for you: your character is your chisel. Once you’ve picked them up and started to work at carving out the story you want, then you can start adding all your fancy upgrades and personality points, which is what ultimately makes your character stronger. You grow attached to them when you’re done? Totally fair. Just… don’t go through this process the opposite way.

Without going too in depth with them right now, Nagisa Shiota is a plot tool. He is a plain easy to follow narrator whose observation skills intentionally mean the reader can see things clearly through his eyes. Where he loses relatability is when he displays his talent, but at that point he’s been so clearly introduced that it doesn’t matter as much, we can hear his voice. Him being more plain makes his talent more effective and shocking as it is. Karma Akabane is a plot tool. He exists so we have those somewhat comedic moments, and so we can have these big bad ass mental/physical fight moments. I actually think him not being the protagonist is something that makes Ass Class hugely stronger (and less cliché) as a series. Kayano Kaede is a plot tool. Admittedly, less so, but she has a lot of function as a back up to Nagisa, and then later is the catalyst for Korosensei’s backstory. The story starts to come to its climax due to her arc alone. As an aside I think a lot of criticism for Matsui isn’t that fair within the fandom, but I will openly say his treatment of her post reveal was not the best at all. He kind of lost control of what to do with her.

So, let’s talk about archetypes. I intend to write a whole meta about why Ass Class is predominantly written as a comedy series, but for now just take that statement as my opinion. Honestly, I do think Ass Class, with a few tweaks, could have worked with a bunch of unnamed characters. I’m instantly going to follow that up with: I’m very glad it didn’t. I love that it feels more like a large ensemble with a variety of characters. So instead of just plain filler, Matsui kind of makes good use of archetypes. You know, such as Takebayashi and Fuwa as otakus, Hazama as the dark occult girl etc. etc. All of this for comedic purpose, more than anything, which we really see in something like Koro Q which is more directly comedy. You might argue this is one dimensional, and I’d agree, but in this situation it’s achieving an effect. It’s genuinely better than having nothing. And honestly, they all do stuff. Some characters are far more effective and entertaining as a background character (i.e. Terasaka) than carrying a bunch of weight themselves.

Matsui Actually Does This Comparatively Well

Honestly, try and name another popular series in a classroom setting, with this many characters who all have individual personalities. Genuinely, the only one I can kind of think of is BNHA, and that’s not a fair comparison given the difference in story length. Comparatively to most series, Ass Class actually has really good side characters. If they were completely uncaringly written, nobody would stan them as hard. For the most part, I’d certainly argue everyone is memorable. Given that we’re juggling at least 30 people here (including teachers, Gakushuu etc.), I’d actually argue that’s kind of impressive.

And the thing is, Matsui does care. He cares enough to give everyone designs, hobbies, and personalities. A good portion of them have an entire chapter to themselves, although relative to the story as a whole they might not do so much (example: Kimura). Matsui could have been lazy with it, but he was not. I don’t want to invalidate anyone’s feelings with this, but I do argue here that those who think the opposite might be a little wrapped up in the character they stan. And I can totally understand that rightfully, you want the character you love to have more screen time. However, just because you happened to fall in love with them (figuratively I mean), doesn’t change the purpose they were originally created to fulfil.

It’s an unfair criticism that not giving every single person a huge arc makes Matsui a poor writer. Honestly, if everyone was equal without a few main characters getting a greater amount of the attention, the entire series would be a hot mess. It might be fun to reimagine the series that way, and go ahead in your own time, but as a series from start to finish, as a first time consumer, it would be genuinely very hard to follow. Not without changing the entire structure and many many plot points.

I do intend to write more about this too at a later point (because I will admittedly need to do more research), but in my opinion the biggest issue with Ass Class, and the cause behind the problems I have with it, is the genuine lack of time. It’s a relatively short story, compared to a lot of manga, and thus there isn’t the space to contain everyone’s story in deep way. I’m absolutely certain, had there been 50/100 chapters more, every character would have had a stand out chapter to themselves.

So thus I bring up the fun and stimulation that is headcanon.

The Issue with headcanons

(this point will go much quicker, I promise)

Ass class ended a looong time ago, let’s be fair. Whether you’re newer or older to the fandom, there’s still been quite a while since any kind of new content (Korotan D being the last official piece, Koro Q manga being the last anything, though I could be slightly wrong with that). That means, especially if you’ve cared about this series for a while, that we’ve considered the series to death.

Playing with headcanons is great! It’s fun! But, I do fear that especially when it comes to perhaps the more popular of the minor characters, a lot of us are getting wrapped up. It needs to be kept in mind that whilst these headcanons may have been around for a while, they are not directly correct to the source material. As a quick note, since I have seen people within the fandom getting kind of bothered over opposing opinions to the things they assume as canon. That’s not really anybody’s fault, but it does warrant saying, I think.

A Conclusion

Basically, loving a main character is great. Loving a more background character is great. You’re not a better or worse, more intelligent or more basic person for whoever your fave is. The point is, you see something you like in a character and you relate to them, or else just enjoy them. But as fun as that is, characters are tools. They exist for a specific purpose. Sometimes, that purpose doesn’t warrant them having a huge stand out character arc.

But hey, that’s totally okay because we’re fortunate enough to have such a community (arguably, I’d say a genuinely active one too) where we can dream that up ourselves. We can pretty much endlessly explore these possibilities. So, perhaps instead of negativity complaining about certain narrative issues we find (just putting this here: it’s fair to do this, but I don’t think it should be the FOCUS of conversation), we focus on driving that energy into creation. And there’s a lot to play with and create. And honestly, seeing HC posts and all sorts staring these more minor characters is great, and I’m pretty sure the majority would agree with me on that. I fully realise and accept that I have a platform here, and going forward I personally want to be a part of that. In a constructive way, rather than ‘deconstructing’ (yes, there’s a pretty big different as I see it).

(I realise that this last part comes off a bit call out post like, and I want to ensure that it is not intended to be that. I just have a general sense of some attitudes towards things floating around in a very generalised way right now)

[bakubabes-tatakae]

The Uchiha In The Leaves (Part Eight)

Author’s Note: If anyone wants to be in a taglist for this feel free to let me know! Happy to do it for anyone!

(Kakashi x Reader)

Summary: What happens when Y/N finally returns to the Village Hidden in the Leaves? Her life is flipped upside down when not only does she find the man that’s awaited her return, but she finds someone she thought she’d never see again.

Ao3 Link

Part One, Part Two: *NSFW Ahead!*, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Part Six, Part Seven

Part Eight: *NSFWish Ahead!*

Word Count: 2027

*Kakashi's P.O.V*

"I'm sorry." Y/n wiped the tears from her eyes. "I'm sure how I'm acting about this is just making you angry."

"I'm not mad Y/n," I wrapped my arms around her legs and turned her toward me. She leaned against my arm. "I just don't want you to hurt anymore. I just wish you had told me who he was all along instead of keeping me in the dark like that." I kissed the side of her head. I could only imagine what she was feeling, when she left all those years ago I had been crushed. I had never had a serious relationship after that. She was in a whole different boat. "And if he hadn't been trying to hurt you and the kids I never would have done what I did."

She took a couple of hard breaths before looking up at me. She tried to calm herself down. "How are you feeling?"

I put my hand behind my head and ruffled my hair a little. "I've been better. I think I overdid it with my Sharingan. It'll probably be about a week before I can move normally." I put my hand under her chin and made her look up at me. "But I don't care how I am. Are you okay? How are your ribs?" Zabuza had taken advantage of knowing her old injury in their fight.

"I'm fine, really." She was finally starting to breath normally. She rubbed her ribs, almost like she had forgotten all about the pain in the meantime. "I'll be fine."

I pulled my mask down, something I rarely did when not in the comfort of my own home. I kissed her lips and ran my fingers through her hair. Before I could react Y/n rolled toward me and pinned me down to the bed. I slowly moved my hands down her back and stopped when I held her waist. "Are the kids asleep?"

She leaned down and kissed my collar bone. "I don't know." She leaned in to kiss me, but I put a finger up to her lips. I flipped her onto her back and kissed her before standing up to take a peek on the kids. I felt weak, I could barely move, but I knew this would help Y/n feel better, and who was I to tell her no?

I tiptoed to the living room and peeked my head around the corner. The kids were all fast asleep on the couch and the house was silent. I made my way back to the bedroom and shut the door slowly and softly behind me. I locked it and turned back to the bed. I climbed onto the bed and hovered over Y/n. The Uchiha's black eyes were shining tonight. "Kashi, look at you." She put her hand on my chest. "You can barely move around."

"I'm fine." I kissed her. "I can do this." I started to strip my gear, fumbling around as I tried not to fall onto her. First came the vest, it landed on the rocking chair on the other side of the bed as I tossed it. I helped Y/n out of her vest, her's black, our village colors differed. Next came our black long sleeves, coming off with ease. 

I kissed her again, my arms shaking as I tried to hold myself up from the bed. Y/n reached down and began to push down my pants, doing hers in the process. Before I could object she had both of our pants off and she had wrapped her legs around my waist. With one swift movement she pushed against the bed and rolled us over, straddling my waist. She kissed from my chest to the bottom of my stomach and stared longingly back up at me. The look she was giving made me even weaker. She slowly pulled down my boxers and made her way back up to me.

* * * * * * 

We awoke the next morning with the feeling of eyes on us. The kids were in the doorway, I could faintly hear them bickering quietly on who would come in first. Thank goodness we had gotten dressed before unlocking the door. Sakura came running to my side of the bed when she noticed our eyes open. "Listen Sensei, your Sharingan is amazing and everything, but if it puts that much strain on you, maybe it's not worth it."

"Sorry." I could hear how weak my voice sounded.

Tazuna came wandering into the room. "Well he did take down one of the most powerful ninja assassins, we'll be safe for a while."

Sakura was thinking. "Right, but you know that boy with the mask, what about him?"

Y/n sat up in bed. "He's from the elite tracking ninja in the Village Hidden in the Mist. Those masks are only worn by the most elite Shinobi."

"What exactly do they do?"

I sat up next to her. "The ANBU black ops, also known as the inferno squad, destroy all traces of a rogue ninja's corpse. The Shinobi's body contains many secrets. Ninjutsu, chakra, and special medicines used on his body; these are the secrets of his village. If his enemies find them his village will be in grave danger. For instance, if I were to die to the hands of an enemy, he would try to analyze my Sharingan. In the worst case my entire jutsu could be stolen and used against our home village. It is the sacred duty of the Shinobi trackers to prevent this; to keep the village secrets safe. If a ninja betrays his village then the trackers hunt him down, eliminate him, and obliterate every trace of his existence. That's their specialty. Tracker ninja deal with the body immediately, on the spot, so there's no room for error."

"Is that really important?"

Y/n looked over at me, something was brewing in her head. "Think about it, do you remember what the tracker did with Zabuza's body?"

"We don't know what he did. I mean, I guess he took it away somewhere."

That's when it hit me. "Exactly, but why, he should have worked on Zabuza right there, as quickly as possible."

Tazuna looked at all of us. "How about some breakfast? We'll all go and start getting it ready and let them wake up a little more."

They all nodded and left the room, shutting the door on their way out. I looked over at Y/n with a worried expression. "What's the matter?" She grabbed my hand.

"I just don't understand what I'm feeling right now. If Zabuza is finished, why do I feel this way?"

"Is it guilt Kashi?"

"No. Something is wrong. It's like I've missed something." I thought harder. That tracker should never have left with him, he should have done his work in the same place his body was slain. "Y/n, think about the weapons the tracker used for the takedown. Do you remember what they were?"

She looked over at me. "Throwing needles..." I saw the exact moment reality hit her. "No way."

I knew she was on the same page now. "Exactly, none of it adds up."

Tazuna knocked on the door before opening it. "The kids and I were outside the door, sorry. What were you yammering about, you guys demolished that assassin."

What I said next sent everyone into panic mode. "Here's the truth, Zabuza is still alive."

The kids were freaking out.

Naruto yelled. "But we saw his body, believe it!"

Sakura was very confused. "Kakashi-Sensei, you checked him yourself, you said he had no pulse, his heart stopped."

I sighed. "His heart did stop, but that was just a temporary state to mimic death. The weapons that the tracker used are called Senbon, they can pierce deeply, but rarely kill unless they hit a vital organ, not in the neck. They're modified from medical treatments like acupuncture. Trackers are trained to know every detail about the human body, causing the heart to stop while keeping the body alive is an easy matter for them."

"First, he carried Zabuza's body away, even though it's much heavier than his is. Second, he used Senbon, which has a precise effect, but is rarely fatal. From these two factors we can conclude that the tracker wasn't trying to destroy Zabuza, he was trying to save him."

Y/n looked terrified. "Are you sure you're not overthinking this Kakashi?"

"Encountering suspicion the ninja prepares quickly, hesitation leads to disaster. Every Shinobi knows this saying."

Sakura was concerned. "Sensei, you said prepare quickly, but how can we do that if you can barely move?"

I laughed. "Y/n is still around, and I can still train you."

"Hold on! A little last minute training isn't going to make us strong enough to fight Zabuza. You guys could barely defeat him, even with the Sharingan. We have to be reasonable about this." Sakura pointed at Y/n. "And Y/n-Sensei can barely get around too."

I was getting angry with the kids. They were not only doubting Y/n and I, but doubting themselves; a recipe for disaster. "Sakura, why was I able to stop Zabuza? Because you all helped me. You've grown." I looked over at Naruto. "Naturo." He looked up at me. "You've grown the most." A smile spread across the yellow haired boy's face.

"So you've noticed Kakashi-Sensei." Naruto was excited. "Now things are gonna get better, believe it."

A small voice from behind the kids put in its input. "I don't believe it and it's not gonna be good." We all looked around to see a small boy in overalls and a fishing hat standing in the doorway.

Naruto wasn't happy about our intruder. He pointed at him. "Who are you?"

Tazuna looked over at him. "Inari, where have you been?"

The young boy ran to Tazuna. "Welcome back grandpa!"

A young woman walked in behind Inari. "Inari, that was very rude. These ninja helped your grandpa and brought him here safely."

Tazuna smiled a little. "It's okay. It's okay. I'm rude to them too." He laughed and the little boy stared at all of us.

"Mother, don't you see that these ninja are gonna die? Gato will come back with his men and wipe them out."

I saw Naruto's face grow red with anger. "What did you say brat?"

Y/n shot Naruto a glare. "Naruto!" She growled at him.

"Listen up, do you know that a super ninja is? Well that's me, only a lot better. I'm gonna be Hokage. This Gato, or Blato, whatever he's called, is no match for a real hero like me."

The kid glared at Naruto. "There's no such thing as a hero. You're just full of stupid ideas."

"What'd you say!?" Naruto started to walk toward the boy and Sakura grabbed him, holding him back.

Sakura was getting angry. "Naruto, calm down."

"If you wanna stay alive you should go back where you came from." The boy walked toward the door.

Naruto was still squirming in Sakura's arms. Y/n looked over at him and shot him another glare, clearly she had had enough of his antics already this morning. "Enough Naruto, relax."

Tazuna tried to stop him. "Inari, wait, where are you going?"

"To look out at the ocean. I wanna be alone."

"Sorry about that."

Y/n sighed and looked over at me. The kids left the room and left just Y/n and I. "I guess it's time to start training the kids more." Y/n stood up from the bed. "Here's to hoping maybe this time we run into Zabuza I can talk a little sense into him."

"I tried to kill him Y/n." I knew my tone was harsher than it was meant to sound, but she needed to hear it. "He's not going to listen to you. Your boyfriend tried to end his life, he's never going to forget that."

I could see the anger and annoyance on her face. "I'm going to talk to Sasuke." She left the room, leaving me alone to think everything over.

Taglist 💕 @nubiadethemyscira @nimeryaa @o-franzii-o @chidori-mint @fan-g0rl @ari-hatake15 @hunie-hun @puredicks

[5hokage]

i wanted to ask about your post with kunoichi? what do you mean about a baby boom? i think that is giving the text some excuse regarding treatment of kunoichi. the writing was not very fair.

post in question

oh i absolutely agree the writing was not fair, and has considerably dated naruto as far as being a consumable media now vs first release. it was a product of the late 90s, after all. and especially when you consider the apparent working conditions of mangaka, plus the influence of character popularity on development and publisher intervention, it’s no wonder it just didn’t seem to... have an even playing field. as i said in that post too, the series has always kind of been very tell not show, especially when it comes to reassuring readers that sakura, for instance, is incredibly strong and talented, but we don’t actually get to see it.

but in regards to a baby boom: we’re told (again), that during the third shinobi world war, konoha threw children barely out of the academy at trained shinobi. they were literally just putting bodies on the battlefield to have numbers. i mean, the war was not a good move on konoha’s behalf, as hiruzen stepped down after claims of being weak for not seeking reparations, orochimaru felt betrayed about being passed over for hokage, fugaku and the uchiha clan efforts were ultimately ignored inciting their plans to overthrow konoha, itachi was heavily traumatised, sasori left suna shortly after, ao stole the byakugan from a hyuga clan member, kakashi rose to prominence after receiving the sharingan, and well. jiraiya’s best efforts to help a fledgling akatsuki do some good turned sour after hanzo’s intervention.

more down below ⬇️

so like. how the hell did konoha still manage to have shinobi after, because we’re told (again) that the death toll was so high, i think it was this particular war that even ended with the average lifespan being drastically lowered to around 30 due to the sheer number of child deaths, plus post war trauma. and then following this war the year after, the nine tails was unleashed on konoha. they didn’t really catch much of a break between all of this. (also, take a shot every time konoha is absolutely totalled?)

and too, the idea ultimately that a lot of clans exist around preservation and survival, especially of their own jutsu. i kind of get for the sake of constantly drawing chapters a day, the families do appear small/one child to two parents, and any sort of branches are vaguely referenced to, but i kind of figure that the more prominent clans we’re introduced to would have more members. like the nara clan especially would have dozens of members. they have a whole forest to themselves, are heavily involved in politics of the shinobi government, as well as the medical side of things in konoha (they own a book detailing cures to any drawbacks from jutsu, such as the akimichi clan). shikamaru may be the clan head, but i would figure there are many other clan members. 

which is why i kind of wondered about succession rights. it’s kind of implied i guess, or my takeaway was, that there was no real prominent ‘heir survival’ during the war. anyone who was able to fight, did. so either entire branches were shaved off clans, which you can also use as a basis of example of why there is only one present representative for the clans in naruto’s generation, it was more of a duty to continue the clan name that lead to some children being born, maybe there were succession fights following, or there was just a ‘well you survived so you earn the title’. kind of interesting too when comparing to the hyuga clan, who you would assume tightly regulated the byakugan (especially after hinata’s attempted kidnapping, and losing it to ao during the third war). in the hinted family scenes, they do seem to have a lot of family members. so either those are the remainders, since there is a generational gap (assumed via art lol) between neji and other side branch family members.

and like again, with the uchihas, not everyone was able to develop the sharingan. once someone did, their immediate family relations seemed to move up in prominence in the household. it is likely different again for bloodline based jutsu and release, yknow?

so in regards to kunoichi specifically, it wouldn’t surprise me if during naruto’s generation, how despite all these outward threats, they just wanted to kick off another baby boom in a few years time once they were all graduated and chuunin/jonin. especially when you factor in like, the last of the uchihas (assumed, at that time), and even if konoha’s older population had personal issues with them, they still valued kekkei genkai especially. and again, factor in one child per family, and how hiden jutsu are mostly passed on orally, they obviously want to keep their clan jutsu to themselves but to still have future generations...

i guess this also interlinks with the once existent concept of civilian government and the shinobi government. it kind of fades in and out, and we’re only really reminded of the daimyo and their power/influence when necessary, like during the chuunin exam arc, where they state the final showcase battles are to just prove that shinobi are worthwhile investments. gaara hiden also mentions how he specifically is seeking reparations for a post-fourth war, after defending the land of wind, and how the civilian government isn’t being generous. i know the movies aren’t all canon, but even like in the land of snow, they had such a small shinobi population that they ultimately had a civilian guided focus on technology development. so by boosting their population of potential shinobi, it would understandably mean they would also continue to have a reason to exist in the hidden villages. so encouraging rather traditional ways of attracting potential marriages... way to get that population boost kickstarted early.

even though it seemed that most of the shinobi we see who married just needed to get their asses handed to them by their future wives a couple of times lmao.

[d-n-battle]

You know... it’s not so much that I hate Naruhina and Sasusaku...

It’s more like I just really don’t get how anyone can really like these pairings?? Like I really just don’t understand the appeal???

Like did I really watch the same series as all you Naruhina and Sasusaku shippers????

Y’all: aaawww look at all of these Naruto and Hinata scenes, he clearly loves her sooo much <3 <3 <3🥰😍😌

Me: bitch where????😂😂😂

(Literally, I could make the exact same joke about Sasusaku)

Like, is it just me, or are these two ships literally just about the girls’ feelings???

I mean I’d be totally fine with these two couples, if they didn’t put this emphasis on the girls, and completely ignore the guys...

I mean ok - serious time now - can the Sasusaku shippers and Naruhina shippers show me any evidence from the anime (or manga if you’re a reader) of Naruto and Sasuke returning Hinata and Sakura’s feelings respectively???

Again, I want to reiterate that this is a genuine request, I’m not trying to poke fun with this one. I’m just genuinely curious as to what you guys can dig up. (But also, side note - please refrain from using the films or Boruto as I haven’t watched them yet. I honestly don’t think I’m even gonna watch Boruto, cause I’m not a big fan of like spin off series, so yeah...But anything from the 720 anime episodes, or any of the manga chapters is fine.)

Anyway, back to my point.

Relationships are about two or more people coming together because they recognise that they have romantic feelings towards each other.

Which is exactly why I, like I’ve said already, don’t understand how Naruhina and Sasusaku are supposed to work???

Like yeah, Sakura and Hinata both like/love Sasuke and Naruto.

But when have Sasuka and Naruto expressed that they like them back in that way???

I mean as a whole the show was never even about romance, sure there were hints at possible relationships throughout, but that was never the point of the show.

I mean I feel like this all harkens back to some points I’ve already seen made by other people, but like why is romance necessary in this situation???

.....siiiiiigh.....😒

Because what else are female characters for??? If not to fawn over the male character then really what are they for??? I mean it’s not like they’re meant to represent real life people just like the male characters right??? It’s not like they’re meant to actually have well fleshed out characters with goals that don’t revolve around getting the guy of their dreams to notice them right??? Nooo, of course not, don’t be ridiculous....

I am seriously just soooo done with this bullshit. Like I’ll be the first to admit that Hinata and Sakura are not my favourite characters, but I mean it’s not like that’s really their fault now is it??? I mean they honestly both had a lot of potential. Like, seriously, soooooo much potential. I’m being completely honest here, I was well and truly so disappointed by how these two girls’ character potential was squandered 😔😔😔

And all for the sake of fullfilling their ‘true’ purpose in the show....

And don’t even try to give me the excuse that because Naruto is a shounen anime aimed at a primarily male audience, female characters can’t be feutured as anything besides the love interst. Like what kind of shit is that - so guys can’t even enjoy female characters unless they’re lusting after the male characters they like to insert themselves into???? I mean if you really think that then you must really hate guys.

Like I’m sorry but that just makes men sound like shit. It makes them sound like they only view women as people who belong to them, and are only relevant when it comes to how they are connected to men.

Women are their own goddamm people!!! They don’t exist solely to appease men!!!

As I woman, I have had to put up with this shit for years, and I am so done with it. If guys get to have characters that represent them in almost every piece of media out there, then why don’t women get to have the same treatment??? We make up a whole half of the entire goddamn population!!!

Honeslty, a bitch is soooooo mad about this 😡😡😡(thag bitch being me of course)

And what I’m also super mad about is that these two relationships imply that the guys feelings are completely irrelevant. Like I’m sorry but no amount of Sakura liking/loving Sasuke makes it okay for her to end up with him - if he doesn’t feel anywhere near the same amount of love or appreciation for her. And the same can be applied to Hinata and Naruto.

This outcome also forces everyone to just completely ignore/forget the fact that Naruto and Sasuke are completely unready to be in a relationship with anyone.

Like, yeah I’m gonna admit here that I am indeed a Narusasu shipper, but I’ll also admit that I dead ass don’t think they’d even be ready for a relationship with each other.

I mean the war and everything else just completely messed them both up, so they would both probably need some time to heal. And knowing those two, it would most likely take quite a while before they’re anywhere near healed enough to date - let alone fucking marry - anyone.

And, also (so that I’m not accused of favouritism towards the boys) - what about Sakura and Himata and the shit that they themselves experienced??? I mean Hinata had to watch her cousin die in front of her - that’s gotta mess you up. And Sakura was a medic - there’s no imagining the shit she must have seen.

War messes people up for a long time, and bassed off of what I’ve heard of Boruto - the timeline implies that these two couples got married and had kids pretty soon after the war.

That. Does. Not. Add. Up. Sis!!!!!

Honestly, the series should have just had what I like to call an ‘open ending’. This is where pretty much everything is left (you guessed it) out in the open. By everything I mean like the final relationships and stuff like the minutiae of the story. Unless, your story is a romance story in which case the romance is the most important thing, but as we’ve established- this is not the case with Naruto.

If you don’t explicitly state that characters X and Y are married with 2.5 kids, everyone who would dislike that as an outcome is free to think that they didn’t.

Like seriously, the whole point of using the line “and they lived happily ever after”, is so that you can leave the ending open to the interpretation of the audience. That’s why I’ve never liked being told how they lived happily ever after.

Because, ultimately everyone has different ideas of what happy looks like.

Some people want to get married because that’s what would make them happy, and for some marriage would achieve the opposite. It’s the same case with having children. Or what job you wanna have.

I mean really, there is soooo many different ideas of what happy looks like.

So why limit yourself and more importantly your audience/readers????

I mean think about it like this. The purpose of a main character is basically to give us a point of view of the story through which we can be influenced. That’s why a lot of the time they don’t really have distinct personality traits - so that the reader can project their own onto them. That way the reader/audience member is able to immerse themselves in the story. We are allowed to image that the main character is us. That’s why we get angry when they do something we don’t like, our first thought is - “well, I wouldn’t have done that...”. So image how disconnected you would feel, from a character who makes a big decision that you don’t agree with. Like say, getting married, when you yourself can’t imagine yourself getting married??? Or say, getting married to someone who you yourself wouldn’t want to get married to???

I think that’s the real issues in case of Naruhina and Sasusake. The majority of us - who are clearly of sound minds - would not want to marry Hinata, Sakura, or even Naruto and Sasuke. Most likely because their characters often times feel like caricatures of people, instead of real life people. They feel somehow unfinished, and so we have a harder time seing the bigger picture, and how these big decisions they have made are supposed to make sense.

Okay, I feel like I’ve rambled enough. I leave you with this -

I don’t mean to offend anyone with this post, and so I hope I haven’t/didn’t/won’t. I’m truly just stating my opinion here. If you don’t agree with anything I’ve said here, please do let me know; I’ll always appreciate constructive criticism.

I will always love Naruto. But in order to truly love something you have to also recognise it as flawed. And this was simply me pointing out some of the things which I perceive as flaws of the show/manga.

Please, don’t think of this post, or any others which I might make in the future, as hate posts. As I’ve said, I do love the show/manga - but that doesn’t make me unwilling to crique it.

Alrighty, this is where I actually end the rant.

Thanks for coming y’all,

Love,

Danny

[olliya]

How popular is MadaSaku in context of other Madara’s and Sakura’s ships? Part 2

@madasakuweek​

I am honestly shocked how many people liked my ship popularity analysis. Well, prepared for the second part - Fanfiction.net. It’s even longer!!! But imo more interesting.

Finding the popularity of ships on ff.net is both easier and more complicated, depending how do you approach the problem.

Let’s break up the task into two parts.

Approach 1

FF.net has a Pairing Option that was introduced in October 2013. This function makes the names of characters appear in square bracket, for example: [Madara U., Sakura H.] indicating that those characters form a romantic pair in a given fic.

When using Filters (Figure 1.a.) after choosing the character of interest, one can tick the Pairing Option, and then browse (using up and down arrows) through all the characters of the fandom. The number of fics tagged with Pairing Option between the character of interest (here: Madara) and every character B (here: Sakura) appear on the bottom of the panel (Figure 1.b.).

Data gathered through browsing through all of the Naruto characters with Pairing Option On give unequivocal results. The only limitations of this method is the relatively late introduction time point of Pairing Option (introduced in 2013, while Naruto started publishing in 1999), and sometimes peculiar definitions of “Characters” on ff.net (example: Naruko as a separate character, “Team 7” as a “Character”).

Results for Madara and Sakura are presented below (Figures 2. and 3.) For clarity, ships with four or more fics are shown for Madara. In case of Sakura, all the ships with >4 fics in a graph would blur the picture. Therefore, her Top 20 ships are presented in Figure 3., and the rest is summarized in the Table 1. The analysis was performed on 22.10.2019.

However, ff.net was launched on 15.10.1998 (which precedes publication of Naruto by one year) so there is a 14 year-worth of fic creation when the Pairing Option wasn’t available. To get the complete overview of ship popularity it is necessary to include the body of work created in the earlier years of ff.net.

This issue was addressed through Approach 2.

Approach 2

During the period of 1998-2013 fics were labelled with ship names in the summaries, and readers would look for ships of interest typing ship name into the search box. During those times certain conventional phrases were coined for the ships, and putting those in the summary allowed potential readers to find the story. Searching ff.net using selected phrases and collecting the corresponding fic numbers gives insight into those part of fanworks. Employment of search engine is shown in Figure 4. on the example of phrase “madasaku”.

I performed searches for common ships, basing the list on the ships with 4 or more fics as found using Pairing Option (see: section above).

I searched for the phrases that were and still are still commonly used ship names in Naruto fandom.

In general, there are three common ways to indicate a ship:

a)      Merger of names, usually using first two syllables of both names, usually (but not always) with male name being first part of the phrase. Example: madasaku, and (less commonly used) sakumada. For the M/M and F/F couples, both orders are used, and it is impossible to predict which form is more common. Example: sakuhina and hinasaku would be used with similar frequency.

In case of names composed of two syllables or shorter, one syllable is often used.

b)     Name_1xName_2 – complete names of characters separated by letter “x”, without spaces in between. There is no strict preference as to which name goes first more frequently, i.e. sakuraxmadara is equally plausible as madaraxsakura.

c)      A combination of the above, i.e. shortened versions of names connected with an “x”, without spaces (example: madaxsaku)

Search engine of ff.net is case-insensitive, i.e. searching for “madasaku” will bring the same results as searching for “Madasaku” and “MadaSaku” (thank gods).

Other possible naming convention, even if there are/were used, aren’t correctly recognized by the search engine of ff.net. If there are spaces between the words of the phrase (example: “Madara x Sakura”) the search results in all fics containing words “Madara”, “x” and “Sakura” in summary, but not necessary together. Separating character names with slash “/”, even without usage of spaces (example: “Madara/Sakura”) results in list of fic containing “Madara” and “Sakura”, not necessary together (slash symbol gets ignored).

Therefore, the ship names of the kinds described above weren’t included in this analysis.

Other potential ship names variations (using “*”, using “&”, and surely a multitude of others variants that I couldn’t think of) were not included due to their relative infrequency (and limits to capacity and imagination).

For every ship included in the results of Approach 1 (total 43 searches for Sakura’s ships, and 12 searches for Madara’s ships), I searched for the following phrases (on example of MadaSaku ship):

madasaku

sakumada 

madaraxsakura 

sakuraxmadara 

madaxsaku 

sakuxmada

Certain ship names don’t follow the usual rules and/ or required special treatment. For example, for the ship Gaara/Haruno Sakura the common names merger is GaaSaku (and not GaaraSaku). Tsunade/ Haruno Sakura is equally often (or rarely, because it is very rare) abbreviated to TsuSaku and Tsunasaku. Fics tagged with TobiSaku name merger may mean Senju Tobirama/Haruno Sakura as well as Tobi (Obito’s persona)/Haruno Sakura – in this case, fics were manually inspected, and assigned to correct categories. Ship with Naruko (which scored relatively high in Pairing Option analysis), was not really possible to assess, because the merger name “narusaku” is identical for the merger of Uzumaki Naruto/Haruno Sakura (for good reasons).

All the fics for given pair were summed up (i.e. for Uchiha Madara/Haruno Sakura ship the fic numbers retrieved through searches for “madasaku”, “sakumada”, “madaraxsakura”, “sakuraxmadara”, “madaxsaku” and “sakuxmada” were added together).

Results for Madara and Sakura are presented below (Figures 5. and 6.). In case of Sakura, including all the examined ships in a graph would blur the picture. Therefore, her Top 20 ships are presented in Figure 6., and the rest is summarized in the Table 2. The analysis was performed on 22.10.2019.

This list presented in Table 2 is not a comprehensive one. There are certainly more ships with <10 fics that were not included. One prominent, detected example is Chōji, who has 13 fics in as a ship partner of Sakura, but was not included in Table 2 because according to the Pairing Option he had no fics with Sakura.

 Limitations of the method

Employed method depends on performing six independent searches and summing up the numbers from those searches. A fic tagged with more than one of the searched phrases will be counted multiple times. For example: if a fic contained phrases “MadaSaku” and “MadaraxSakura” in its summary, it was counted twice. In extreme case, one fic would generate six data points: one real, and five false.

Nevertheless, since the same treatment was applied to all the pairings, the errors should be distributed in the same way across all the ships. Therefore, even if the numerical values obtained through this analysis don’t necessarily correspond to reality, the results should reflect respective relations between the ships (i.e. “ranking” should be correct). This assumption is true however only if all the subdivisions of the fandom follow the same customs and tagging etiquette. I.e. if creators writing for SasuSaku followed a habit of including only one Ship Name in their summaries, while creators of MadaSaku tended to include multiple Ship Names, then my method of analysis would overestimate the significance of MadaSaku ship. However, I am not aware of such trends existing in Naruto fandom.

Additionally, Ship Name tagging system allows for tagging infinite number of ships in one fic, therefore certain fics have been counted multiple times.

 Discussion

When considering fics tagged with Pairing Option, Sakura ranks as Madara’s second most popular ship partner, after Hashirama and before Tobirama. As on AO3, it is telling that a relatively “exotic” pairing with OC ranks 4th among Madara’s ships.

Madara is the 9th most popular ship partner of Sakura. Comparing and contrasting Sakura’s data between ff.net and AO3 would be an interesting analysis in its own right, but here I will only point out the switch of positions between Naruto and Kakashi as Sakura’s ship partners (Naruto is a strong 2nd on ff.net, while Kakashi takes this position on AO3); and relatively low, 7th place of Ino (strong 4th on AO3).

When taking into account data gathered though Ship Names Searches, Sakura ranks as Madara’s 2nd most popular ship partner (after Hashirama and before OC).

Madara, on the other hand is Sakura’s 15th most popular ship partner. Since Ship Names Searches results are mostly derived from fics published in earlier years in Naruto fandom, his lower place can be explained by his very late appearance in the franchise (on-panel in February 2008 - almost 9 years after Naruto started publishing and in person in the story in October 2011 - 12 years after begin of publishing).

Data gathered in this analysis present a unique opportunity for looking into the development of ship popularity over time.

Results from Pairing Option reflect mostly the state of fandom in years 2013-2019, while the results from Ship Names Search show the status from the earlier years. The exact division is however somewhat blurred as some fics published before October 2013 has been retroactively tagged using Pairing Option (even if the majority of older fics remain untagged). The reverse is also true – many fics published after introduction of Pairing Option, even as recently as end of 2019, fail to use it. Additionally, many fics are tagged using both systems: the Pairing Option and Ship Name in summary.

Nevertheless one can tentatively regard Pairing Option results as “new”, or “current” ones, while the ones coming from the Ship Names Searches as “older” ones.

Figure 7. presents position changes in Top 12 Madara’s ships. Ranking from Pairing Option analysis was regarded as current and compared to the “older” ranking composed from all the fics tagged with Ship Names (regardless their publishing date). A positive value in the Figure 7. indicates a gain of popularity, for example: Tobirama gained 2 positions among Madara’s ships when comparing the “current” and “older” results.

This analysis reveals that certain ships (with Tobirama, Naruto and Hinata) gained, while ships with OC and Itachi lost on popularity. Dramatic loss of Itachi ship popularity is very interesting and one can speculated that it could be caused by Tobi/Obito reveal.

The same analysis was performed for Sakura’s ships and is presented in Figure 8.

Inspecting changes in Sakura ships’ rankings allows for several interesting observations. Minato, Shisui, Madara and Sasori are among greatest winners. It is symptomatic that all, except Sasori, are characters that appeared (or became relevant) later during the franchise. Among the characters losing in popularity as Sakura’s ship partners are members of Konoha Eleven (Lee, Kiba, Sai, Neji), an Akatsuki member (Deidara) and OC. It should also be noted that five top positions (Sasuke, Naruto, Kakashi, Itachi and Gaara) remained unchanged.

To further examine the “current” and “older” state of fandom, upon harvesting Ship Names data I sorted the fics according to publication date and took note of how many fics were published before and how many after 01.10.2013 (approximate date of introduction of Pairing Option tool).

If one repeats the analysis from Figures 7. and 8. considering only fics published before 01.10.2013 as “older” ones, the following pictures appears (Figure 9. and 10.):

Using this definition of “older” fics (i.e. fics tagged with Ship Names that were published until October 2013), the gain of popularity of Tobirama ship becomes even mor evident (gain of 7 positions). Ships with Itachi (as in the previous analysis) and Sasuke (undetected in the previous analysis) lost on popularity.

Sakura ships’ dynamics according to this definition of “older” fics show even more pronounced position gains of Minato and Shisui, but otherwise similar trends to previous analysis.

Analysis of ship popularity on ff.net is a challenging one, but since this platform was, and still is main archive for Naruto fandom (407 thousands fics vs 49 thousand on AO3) it is important to address this issue even if methodology is far from perfect.

I am open to all the comments, suggestions and hints, as the data collection was a major effort and I’m sure that this data can be used in many other different ways.

[theshinobiway]

Mobile FAQ

Welcome to the Blog!

Before you submit a request, please keep in mind the following:

✫Who are the Mods?

This Blog is managed by one mod (Pumpkin) as of right now. Headcanons will not take very long, but scenarios might! I try to have things done within a few weeks of their submission, but if life happens I’ll post about it on the blog to keep you updated.

✫Do you do Reader-Insert?

Reader insert HCs and Scenarios allowed! Please specify pronouns/race when submitting a request if you desire, otherwise HCs/Scenarios will be Gender Neutral. If I ever use a specific pronoun (Usually because it makes the prose flow better) always feel free to request a different version utilizing a new pronoun.

✫Are LGBT Requests Allowed?

Very LGBTQ+ Friendly! I am Bisexual myself and use She/Her pronouns. If I am not informed enough to feel comfortable writing a specific paring/identity, I will make a post requesting more information. Additionally, my messages are always open. If you want to offer your assistance with your request, simply send me a message and I’ll work through it with you. If your request is anonymous, I will make sure to keep your blog’s identity private.

✫Do you do Shipping Requests?

I do not do character x character HCs and scenarios. I don’t personally ship any of team Gai with any other character, and I don’t want to delve into the Tumblr shipping community. Please do not send me requests for ships, I will delete them.

✫Are Pre-Shippuden/Kid requests allowed?

I will do Genin/Academy team Gai! Crushes allowed for this age, but all true romance HCs will be reserved for Shippuden-aged Team Gai. (Might Gai is obviously exempt from this rule.)

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NSFW is allowed, but keep in mind that characters for these will always be 18+.

Please do not submit NSFW requests unless you are 18+.

✫Can I request a character doing x/y/z unsavory thing?

It’s officially canon™ that none of the members of team Gai engage in pedophilia, non-con, abuse, neglect, etc. I won’t write scenarios that include them doing these!

Part I Neji’s calloused treatment of Hinata and early cold demeanor towards his team which was shown in brief in the anime, but Pre-Exams Neji would not engage in the systematic abuse of any other character. Genin!Neji would verbally put down other characters, threaten/belittle them if they pressed on his insecurities, or give them a swift but impersonal beat-down if they challenged him. His murderous anger would only be reserved for the main branch (or enemy-nin), and only exuded in situations that are within the rules and guidelines. Instances of his anger outside of this would be shut down by Gai or by having his curse seal activated. Remember that Genin!Neji is still a 13/14 year old boy with anger issues and trauma. He is, at worst, a teenage bully who might take things a little too far.

✫Can I request scenarios that involve abuse/disorders/violence?

Yes, but keep in mind all HCs/Scenarios that involve readers coping with abuse/disorders/unsavory events will be summarily labeled, excessively tagged, and hidden beneath cuts. These requests may be pushed back in favor of others because they will take longer to write.

✫Why do “High-Risk” content requests take so much longer?

HCs/Scenarios that involve characters/readers coping with abuse/disorders/violence will take much longer. I will not write about something I have not done research on, so please be patient! I want to be sure that I avoid harmful portrayals or stereotypes. I know fictional HCs/Scenarios can be therapeutic and provide escapism, so I want to handle these requests with care to keep the environment of this blog welcoming and friendly for everyone who loves team Gai.

Helpful Tip: Send me a second ask/DM that mentions your request and some pointers or specific things you would like me to touch on/avoid in your request. This will be very informative for me and will speed up the time it takes for me to write! Plus, it’ll be anonymous!

About Me:

Name: Pumpkin (She/Her)

Age: 24 (I’m an adult, so minors please keep this in mind!)

Loves: Pumpkins, Coffee, Team Gai.

Dislikes: OLIVES.

Favorite Character: Neji. I always go for characters with emotional depth and he has so much of it. Also, Hyuga politics are incredibly compelling and should have had their own arc in the series. I am not a fan of how his arc ended overall and I have complaints about Naruto’s talk-no-jutsu in the chunin arc (because it didn’t actually address Neji’s major problems), but overall I find that Neji is a character with the perfect balance of strengths, flaws, motivations, and his stoicism is balanced by his good heart. 

Lee is a very close second, followed by Tenten and Gai who are tied for a close third.

Least Favorite Character: Sasuke. While not technically my “least” favorite, I find the Uchiha as a whole to be extremely…boring. Sasuke’s character and motivations weren’t very compelling or consistent (and while inconsistency is pretty human he isn’t humanized well) and the last arc did not do him justice and did not fully redeem him. 

I’m also not a fan of how he turned out in the epilogue. In general, he wasn’t handled well as a character. As a main character for the series, I felt like I was always expecting more. I dislike him because of the inconsistent writing, but I do believe he had potential.

Favorite Ships: Naruhina. Naruto has someone who literally only wishes for his happiness and success, Hinata has the support and affirmation she’s always looked for. They have a very sweet and fluffy dynamic, and their characters are almost perfect compliments for one another.

While the series failed to do them justice, “The Last” as a standalone arc for them was lovely and should have been inserted in the actual series, preferably sometime before the last war arc. I really wish they had more in the series to further their relationship.

Least Favorite Ships: Oh boy. I do not ship NejiTen or LeeTen and I oppose both ships. 

I ship Tenten only with herself. In the shinden novels it’s mentioned that Tenten has never had any romantic goals. A major character development piece is her finally coming to terms with the fact that she’s fine being as she is without the societal pressure of having to marry or pursue romance. Shipping her with anyone is a huge disservice to her character and a core part of her identity, and disregards a major part of her personality. Also read: it’s OOC.

Tenten’s bro-ship with her teammates is golden and a wonderful portrayal of how guy/girl friendships can be extremely deep and comfortable while still being platonic. That needs representation!

Additionally, neither ship has a real foundation. With the exception of Chouji/Karui, all romantic connections were stated explicitly in the anime/manga OR in the Gaiden novels (Chouji/Karui was alluded to in Sakura Hiden.) Tenten, when she IS in Konoha Gaiden, explicitly mentions she is disinterested in romance. This is consistent with her character and a perfectly acceptable choice for her narrative, which is why I support it.

Neji and Tenten only bond over being too mature for Gai/Lee shenanigans and training together when Lee/Gai are off. In the Chunin arc she comments that both Sasuke and Kakashi are cute, but makes no mention of Neji aside from her admiration of his abilities. Neji comments on her abilities as well during her fight with Temari, but Lee is the one who gives her open support. Their relationship is shown as friendly, but is strictly a Nakama bond. Most of their interaction in the Chunin exams is related to, or entirely revolves around the absence of Lee. There are no allusions to their relationship, even as a joke. In a shounen anime, romance is almost always explicitly mentioned or alluded to. In Naruto, this was also true for virtually all pairings and love triangles. Neji and Tenten never had this. Any development is purely-fan made or fan-imagined.

I especially dislike this pairing because from a narrative/storytelling standpoint and the way they are characterized, they do not (and would not) contribute to the other's personal development in any significant fashion. Tenten trained with Neji in the Chunin exams for two reasons; her abilities were most suited for training Kaiten, and she was his teammate--therefore the only reasonable choice to secretly practice a technique that Neji was not supposed to learn. She was his primary supporter in the stands because she trained with him and Lee/Gai were both absent to also comment on Neji. Even though Kishi made a lot of questionable choices when it came to romance, not having Neji and Tenten together was not one of them. It made perfect sense for both characters to work together when necessary, but they have zero shared themes or development arcs. The only one, "Getting stronger," is a Team Gai-wide theme.

Even if Tenten was given more personal development in the series, her development would have revolved around herself and the development of her own abilities as a shinobi. She was never a character that was meant for romance. And it's perfectly fine for her to be that way.

Lee and Tenten have more personal interactions and far more relationship building moments in both canon and fillers, but they especially don’t have romantic chemistry--more brother/sister. They are confirmed as not together in Boruto for this very reason. They are fiercely supportive of one another and a fantastic duo. This does not mean they need a romance, either.

Feel free to ship who you like, but please do not request character x character on this blog, the request will be summarily deleted. This is not a shipping blog, but there are others out there that can cater to your needs. Thank you!

[sasusakufestival]

The Girl Who Waited

Summary:Somewhere along the line while she was on his team, learning to become a shinobi alongside him, Sasuke stopped being just a good-looking, smart boy to her. Sakura got to know him – the darkness he wore like armour, and the light he only revealed in his rarest, most unguarded moments. [SasuSaku Festival 2017 – Day 1 – Prompt: “Valentine’s Day”]

Disclaimer: This story utilizes characters, situations and premises that are copyright Masashi Kishimoto, Shueisha, Shonen Jump and Viz Media. No infringement on their respective copyrights pertaining to episodes, novelizations, comics or short stories is intended by the author in any way, shape or form. This fan oriented story is written solely for the author’s own amusement and the entertainment of the readers. It is not for profit. Any resemblance to real organizations, institutions, products or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. All fiction, plot and Original Characters with the exception of those introduced in the books, manga, video games, novelizations and anime, are the sole creation of KuriQuinn and using them without permission is considered rude, in bad-taste and will reflect seriously on your credibility as a writer. A gaggle of pre-teen girls will taunt you a second time should you be found plagiarizing.

Warning: Spoilers for pretty much everything up to Chapter 699.

Canon-Compliance: As close to canon as fanfiction can possibly be. With a few personal additions :P Takes place during Part I, Part II and the Blank Period.

Fanon-Compliance: Takes place several years before An Inch of Gold and Unplanned.

AN: OC alert! There is an OC in this story! Ohmygosh!

Beta Reader: Sakura’s Unicorn

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一

Nine-year-old Sakura Haruno hides behind the shoji door of the classroom, clutching an immaculately wrapped package to her chest. Her heart beats a frantic rhythm against her ribs so loud that she thinks even he can hear it inside the room.

After all, Sasuke Uchiha is a prodigy who can already do so much more than the other students at the Academy. Super-hearing would not be that unbelievable.

Her stomach flip-flops a little, and she would tighten her fingers around the large box if she didn’t fear tearing the paper; the lady at the sweets stall did such a nice job wrapping it. Sakura didn’t even consider doing it herself because she’s all thumbs these days, and this gift has to be perfect. After all, she saved her pocket money from a year’s worth of chores so she could afford the finest box of chocolates they had.

It’s still not as nice as the one she saw last year in the fancy gourmet chocolate shop. Her mother wouldn’t let her buy it; Mama said it was a waste, and they don’t have a lot of money to begin with. That’s why Sakura had to save up this year.  She wanted it to be extra special because she knows Sasuke’s all alone now.

About nine months ago, he lost his entire family.

She doesn’t know what actually happened to the Uchiha clan, just what Iruka-sensei has mentioned and the whispers she hears from her parents when they think she’s not listening. And, of course, the rumours the other kids spread – some benign, others ridiculous, still others far too terrible to contemplate.

Sakura doesn’t care how it happened. All she knows is that Sasuke is on his own – he has no mother or father anymore, or even his big brother – and he must be lonely. And so, she has decided that even though she isn’t brave enough to tell him she likes him, if she gives him a nice enough gift for Valentine’s Day, he’ll understand that he’s not alone and that people are thinking about him all the time.

And by people, she means herself.  

If only she could muster the nerve to walk over there and hand him the package.

Just do it! There’s no one around, so no one will see if I mess up – shannaro!

“What’ve you got there, Sa-ku-ra,” someone drawls behind her, making her wince with every syllable of her name.

Oh, no! Too slow!

She turns around and finds herself facing Ino and at least three other girls from their class, all of whom are holding their own closely guarded packages.

“You’re not actually thinking of giving that to Sasuke, are you?” her former-friend derides, the curl of her lip suggesting Sakura has something decayed in her hands.

She squares her shoulder and juts her chin out defiantly. “So what if I am? I don’t think it’s any of your business.”

“It is our business if you’re going to dishonour him with something as flashy as that,” another girl interjects.

Someone else sniggers, “I saw that same package being sold at market.”

“You got him store-bought chocolate?” Ino mocks. “And here I thought you said you liked him.”

“I-I do!” Sakura protests.

Ino smirks, crossing her arms and looking utterly superior. “You’re such a dummy, Forehead. Everyone knows you only give store-bought chocolate to people you feel bad for.” The other girls titter and Ino continues, “I mean, if you can’t scrape together enough money to buy the best quality, like I did, you should’ve at least made it yourself.”

Ino produces a beautifully wrapped, gilded package – it’s the one that Sakura saw in the fancy chocolate shop! Her heart sinks as she takes a closer look at what the other girls are offering – clear, neat bento boxes containing painstakingly shaped bars of chocolate. Some are decorated with icing designs and swirls of ganache and, though they are clearly homemade, Sakura can just imagine the effort that went into creating them. Two of the girls even have bags under their eyes.

Sakura’s cheeks burn with embarrassment and she looks down at her feet; her fingers around the package tighten.

“But if you really think you can buy someone’s affections with second-rate candy, then go on,” Ino continues loftily. “You can give him your gift first. We’ll all wait, won’t we, girls?”

There’s some giggling at this, two of the girls elbowing each other conspiratorially, Ino’s mocking smile never wavering. Sakura desperately wants to square her shoulders and march defiantly into the classroom, to be the first person to give Sasuke a gift.

But the seeds of doubt have been sewn.

What if he thinks that she isn’t serious? That her feelings for him can only be expressed in a second-rate box of chocolates? It’s bad enough she couldn’t afford to buy him the ones she wanted, but if even girls who have no chance with Sasuke have slaved over homemade chocolate for him, he’ll think she’s joking around.

Immediately, she conjures the mental image of him opening the chocolates and tipping them over her head in front of the whole class.

No way! That can’t happen!

She hesitates long enough for the group of girls to shuffle past her, crowding into the classroom. Immediately, they become a gaggle of cooing and giggling idiots around Sasuke, each one vying to give him their chocolate first. Ino, of course, leads the bunch.

Sakura doesn’t bother to see if he accepts the gilded package. Instead, she lets the shoji slide closed and trudges back down the hallway. As she passes a waste bin, she throws the chocolates away and doesn’t look back.

二

The next year, Sakura spends the weeks before Valentine’s Day slaving over homemade chocolate.

She’s been learning to cook from her mother, but isn’t really good at it. She’s passably better with sweets and, by the end of several burnt batches, she has a half-dozen edible and not so horrible-looking pieces of chocolate. She even stays up late to decorate them and, the next morning, arrives to class exhausted but proud.

Once again, she lingers on the sidelines, watching nervously as several girls (fewer than last year, but still a considerable amount) offer Sasuke their brightly coloured boxes and succulent-looking sweets. Ino is back with her expensive, golden package again, and it’s possibly more impressive than the one last year.

And yet, without fail, Sasuke ignores all of them.

Somehow, he’s more interested in staring out the window, leaving each girl standing awkwardly in front of his desk until another contender elbows her out of the way to try her luck.

If the other girls weren’t her competition, Sakura might feel a little sorry for them all. As it is, she’s nervous enough – half-tempted to prove that she’s the one he’ll accept a gift from, half-dreading being on the receiving end of that same treatment.

She spends most of the morning trying to decide whether she should even attempt it. She barely notices the drama in the background; the chocolates meant for Sasuke are sneakily divided amongst the rest of the boys in the class while the girls who brought them squabble with each other. Kiba actually gets into a fistfight with Naruto, and that’s when Iruka gets involved.  It all ends with the class having to write an essay on the necessity of discipline in a shinobi’s life.  At least that’s what she thinks the essay’s about. She may or may not have gotten distracted watching Sasuke instead of paying attention.

By lunch break, she finally decides to risk it.

After all, love isn’t supposed to be easy! And this will show him and everyone that I’m going to fight for him, no matter what!

And, of course, wouldn’t it be great if he did accept her gift instead of Ino’s?

Those thoughts are what make her straighten up and follow Sasuke out of class when Iruka-sensei dismisses everyone. He shuffles down the hall, alone as usual, most of the other students giving him a wide berth.

“S-Sasuke, wait up!” she cries, cringing at how her words come out as more of a whisper. It’s no wonder he keeps walking, disappearing around a corner and forcing her to actually run after him.

She races around the corner and quickly overtakes him, coming to a halting stop a few feet in front of him.

“Please wait,” she says, breathless, face flushing warmly. Staring down at the floor, she holds out her offering to him. “It’s Valentine’s Day and I-I would… I mean, I worked really hard on these and it would… I was hoping you could accept my…my gift. For you.”

She means to say feelings, but at the last second, her courage fails her. She thinks maybe that will make it hurt less if he doesn’t feel the same.

When nothing happens right away, she lifts her head and opens one eye.

Sasuke is staring at her blankly which she thinks is a good sign. He could’ve just kept walking, after all.

Then he sighs – her heart begins to lift in hope – and scowls at her.

“You wasted your time,” he tells her neutrally. “I don’t like sweets.”

And then he does finally walk away, hands in his pockets. Once again, Sakura stands by herself, clutching a box of chocolates to her chest.

Her eyes begin to water and her chest twinges painfully, her instinctual reaction to see this as rejection. Except…

Except, unlike with all the other girls, he actually spoke to her, instead of pretending she didn’t exist. She’s always wanted Sasuke to recognise her in some way, and today – well, today, he did just that.

It’s a step. Just one small step, but it’s a start!

She beams at his retreating back, and decides that she’ll get it right next time.

三

Sakura arrives a half-hour before any of the other students, determinedly carrying yet another plain, unfashionable bento box. Inside, she has arranged six perfectly-formed dark chocolate and chilli-spiced truffles.

This year, she’s sure she got it right.

Peering into the classroom, she is unsurprised to see that Sasuke is already there. He always arrives early, although she gets the sense that it’s not because he likes mornings. It must be so lonely at home for him without his family; being here is probably just less painful.

It’s that thought that keeps her from hesitating.

She marches over to Sasuke and plants herself in front of him, back straight, trying to radiate the kind of confidence the heroines in her storybooks always have.

He is in his habitual position – hunched forward, chin perched on interlocked fingers, and eyes closed as if in meditation. Maybe he’s contemplating the universe – Sasuke is so deep like that. Sakura almost doesn’t want to bother him.

Should I clear my throat or something? I don’t want to startle him…

Not that she could because Sasuke expects everything – he probably even knows she’s there. But if he does, why doesn’t he just say something?

As if her thoughts triggered it, a furrow forms on his forehead and his eyes shoot open, narrowing into his default expression of annoyance.

“Is there something you need?” he asks flatly, tone conveying exasperation – like she’s tiring him out by just existing.

Sakura takes a half-step back, torn between hurt and frustration because would it kill him to be nice for once in his life?!

But then his gaze falls on the box in her hands and his face smooths into blankness. His eyes close again and his shoulders slump. She thinks she hears him mutter under his breath, “This again…”

Which makes her a little defensive because she did it differently this year, damn it!

“I know you said that you don’t like sweet things,” she tells him quickly. “I guess that’s why you never accept Valentine’s Day chocolate, huh? I wouldn’t either if people kept giving me stuff I didn’t like. And…and not a lot of stores sell chocolate that isn’t sweet, so I made this. I tried a few different recipes to make sure they didn’t turn out sweet and I-I tasted them. And, well…I didn’t really like them – but not because they weren’t good, I just don’t like spicy stuff, but my mother said that’s how they’re supposed to be and –”

She clamps her mouth shut as she realises that she’s babbling. The whole time, Sasuke regards her stiffly, but for once, his expression isn’t one of aloofness. She thinks she sees confusion there, like he’s trying to decide on something to say.

“You remembered that I don’t like sweets,” he states, as if he hasn’t heard the rest of it. She can’t tell if he’s puzzled or impressed.

She decides to lean on the latter and puffs her chest out importantly.

“Well, I have a really good memory,” she boasts, fighting every natural inclination she has to look down at her feet. She’s got his attention for once and she intends to revel in every moment of it.

That moment turns out to be fleeting as his expression reverts to familiar annoyance and he stands up.

“I don’t like chocolate at all,” he tells her, heading up the stairs. “Give them to someone who does.”

Sakura panics, staring at his back and conscious that she’s about to lose her moment with him.

“Can I…can I ask why?” she blurts out. “I mean, it’s such a strange thing, not liking sweets. Are you allergic?” As she says it, an entirely-possible scenario occurs to her. “Oh. Is that why you always say no? Because it makes you sick? If-if that’s the case, you should tell everyone. I don’t think anyone would want you to get sick. D-definitely not me.”

She notices his fists clenching, his shoulders tensing, and when he bites out, “I just don’t like them,” she can’t help but shudder at the coldness.

Sasuke skips the rest of their lessons that day.

Sakura carefully doesn’t mention to the other girls that he was there, or that she’s the reason he left before they could shower him with more unwanted sweets. She spends the rest of Valentine’s Day trying to figure out exactly where she went wrong.

四

Sakura has never been to the Uchiha district.

It’s far away, on the outskirts of Konoha, and much older and creeper than most of the other neighbourhoods. Also, she’s never needed to leave the village proper, so coming out this way has never been necessary. Most of the older kids say it’s haunted by the ghosts of the dead Uchiha which Sakura knows is nonsense; most parents complain how the village really should resettle the area but no one ever does.

She wouldn’t be here today, except…well, it could be her last chance to get this right.

In two months, she and the rest of their class will be taking their graduation exam. Once everyone becomes genin, they will be split into teams, and she probably won’t get the chance to see Sasuke so often. He’s at the top of the class, and if teams are made based on class rank, she suspects she won’t be in the running.

Shikamaru’s a genius – she heard Iruka-sensei once say that he could be the first of them to become a jōnin if he tried. And, despite Sakura’s best efforts, all the other girls say that Ino is the top female student in the class.

If this is my last chance, I’m going to make it count this year!

She leaves her house at dawn, ignoring her bleary-eyed parents’ queries as she grabs the container she procured from the market the evening before. Dad makes a bad joke about early birds and worms, Mom shakes her head knowingly, and Sakura is on her way.

Upon reaching the abandoned quarter, it doesn’t take Sakura long to find Sasuke’s house. It’s the only place that looks like someone lives there, with the walkway swept of debris and the paint around the eaves renewed. She wonders if he did that himself, or if the Hokage sends someone every now and then.

She raps on the door a few times and then waits, rocking nervously back and forth on her heels. It’s early enough that he should still be here, and she doubts she’s waking him up. However, after a full ten minutes with no answer, her hopes begin to fade.

Maybe I missed him after all?

She considers the merits of bringing her gift with her to the Academy, but immediately decides against it. She came here to avoid the drama and attention that inevitably comes from giving Valentine’s Day gifts in a classroom surrounded by the other contenders for Sasuke’s heart.  She could always leave it here with a card – but there are plenty of stray animals in Konoha that would make quick work of her offering.

I could always come back after school. Or would that be weird? He might think I’m following him around, and then –

“Sakura.”

She shrieks in surprise, fumbling with the carton in her hands, miraculously managing not to drop it. Turning toward the road, she is faced with a tired-looking, sweaty Sasuke Uchiha. His clothes are scuffed with dirt, but his demeanour doesn’t suggest someone who was just attacked.

I bet he was out training. Wow. He gets up early to train and he’s always first to class? That is dedication. Sasuke is soooo cool.

It’s also not fair that he looks so good after a workout.

“What are you doing here?” he asks, not exactly unkindly, but not in a particularly welcoming way either.

“I just… I wanted to give you something,” she says quickly.

Sasuke exhales in annoyance at this. “I told you already. I don’t like chocolate –”

“I know. I remember,” she interrupts because he’s already heading for his door! “I decided to get you something that you do like, so you can accept my gift.”

“You’re wasting your time,” Sasuke says, reaching for his front door.

“N-no! Wait, Sasuke! Hold on. Don’t shut the door on me yet, please?” she beseeches. “I just want to… Here, look.”

By some small miracle, he doesn’t just ignore her, but his imperious over-the-shoulder glance isn’t exactly comforting. Not to be deterred, Sakura flounders a little with the box, but pries open the thin wooden lid to reveal its contents.

Two dozen shiny red cherry tomatoes gleam up at Sasuke in the morning sun.

“These are for you,” she tells him needlessly. “I saw you a few weeks ago, shopping. I mean – not like I was following you or anything, I was just with my m – we were getting groceries. And it’s weird to see someone our age shopping alone at the market that early in the morning, but then I realised it was you because…well. Anyway, I thought I should get you something you’d actually like this year, and these ones aren’t sweet at all! I tried a few to make sure. Oh, and I read that tomatoes have a lot of health benefits – there’s vitamins and potassium, and they help bone growth which, I mean, if you’re training as hard as I know you do, would be really great, right?”  She pauses, reviews everything she just said to make sure it’s not too lame, and then quickly adds, “And…and don’t worry about giving me anything back, okay? I just wanted to give you something. This doesn’t have to be a…a Valentine’s Day gift.”  

Throughout her entire speech, Sasuke has slowly turned around to face her, staring down at the tomatoes like he’s never seen any before. His eyes inch toward her face, calculation there, as if she is something inexplicable – a bacterium that’s decided to get chatty, perhaps.

He opens his mouth to say something – probably to reject her, so she braces herself for it. Then he closes his mouth, frowns thoughtfully, and exhales again. Except this time, it isn’t in annoyance, but more like…resignation? Acceptance?

“…thank you,” he tells her in a stiff tone, the words sounding awkward and unfamiliar to her ears. Maybe they feel even weirder for him to say, but she can’t really think about the implications of that since her brain is stalled – Sasuke has reached out to take the carton from her outstretched hands.

She shakes herself out of her stunned joy and, bolstered by her success, boldly suggests, “If you want, I can wait for you to get cleaned up. Maybe…maybe we can walk to class together?”

She knows she’s pushing it, but why waste the opportunity?

“No,” he replies as he unlocks the door to his house.

The interior is too dark to get much of a clue to what is hidden within, but it smells heavily of a combination of cedarwood, incense, and tatami. It strikes her as an odd smell for someone’s home – more suited to a temple interior. It possesses none of the comforting scents she is used to at house.

Sasuke turns to face her, the tomato carton loosely cradled in the crook of his arm. “I’m not going in today,” he says. He considers her a further half-second then adds, “You should go or you’ll be late.”  

And then the door is closed, an impenetrable barrier once more between them.

Surprisingly, Sakura doesn’t mind this rebuff. In fact, it does nothing to destroy her bewildered giddiness. All the way out of the Uchiha district, she feels a strange disconnect, as if she is floating. Once across the ward’s threshold, the giddiness turns into fully-formed joy and she laughs out loud.

“Shannaro!” she shouts at no one in particular, punching the air in triumph.

It’s the first time he’s ever accepted anything from her – maybe even from anyone. The magnitude of this moment is not lost on her, and she’s sure she’ll be coasting through the rest of the day on that.

As much as she wants to track down Ino and loudly rub it in her face, some inner part of Sakura cautions her to keep this quiet.

This will be mine and Sasuke’s secret.

And that makes it a hundred times better.

五

“Hey Sakura! Whatcha got in the bag? Huh? Huh? Huhh?!”

“Naruto, if you don’t get out of my face, I’m going to slug you!” she snaps, making a threatening fist at him. The orange-clad boy pre-emptively ducks, sticking out his tongue. Several feet away, she can practically hear Sasuke rolling his eyes.

“But I wanna know,” Naruto complains. “Did you bring games? You should’ve brought something fun to do. Kakashi-sensei’s taking forever.”

“No, I didn’t bring games,” she tells him, although she wonders why that idea hasn’t occurred to her before now. Their instructor is always late, if he even shows up at all. Maybe some cards or dice…

“Then what’s in there?”

“You’ll see when Kakashi-sensei gets here,” Sakura retorts.

“But why not now?”

“Because I said so! We’re waiting until –”

“I heard my name?”

There’s a puff of smoke and suddenly Kakashi is leaning over them, disgustingly unbothered by his tardiness, as usual.

“You’re late!” Sakura and Naruto chorus.

“Well, my horoscope said something unfortunate would happen to me if I took my usual route today, so –”

“Liar!”

“Can we get started?” Sasuke interrupts, as usual unimpressed with Kakashi’s excuses.

“In a minute,” Naruto shoots back. “Sakura said she would open the bag and I wanna see what’s in it!”

“If you keep annoying me, you won’t,” she grumbles, but she’s already undoing the ties and unfolding the cloth.

Two red-wrapped packages shine in the sunlight, and she passes them to Kakashi and Naruto. Not waiting to see their reactions, she reaches back into the bag and draws out a plain carton of tomatoes for Sasuke. She has, after all, learned her lesson.

Sasuke leans away from the tomatoes, as if he’s expecting them to attack, but at her expectant look, he relents and reaches for them.

“Happy Valentine’s Day!” she declares, beaming at them all and relishing in their varied expressions.

Kakashi looks as if he has no idea what to say – she supposes it’s been a long time since he got chocolate from anyone – while Naruto is frozen. It occurs to her too late that this is probably the first year anyone has given him anything. This suspicion is confirmed when he looks up at her, his eyes suspiciously glassy.

“Sakura…”

“It’s not a big deal,” she hurries to say. “Ino gave all the guys on her team gifts, so I figured I would do the same. I’m not going to let her out-do me.”

That’s not entirely true.

Things have been so tense on their team lately. Sasuke’s been cold and sulky, while Naruto has been more reckless than usual, hell-bent on surpassing his friend and rival. The chūnin exam, the mark on Sasuke’s neck, and the events in the months afterward has kept everyone stressed. Maybe this tiny gesture will make the temperamental men in her life feel a little better.

“Hah! Sakura must hate you, Sasuke. She gave you vegetables!”

“Or she wants me to live longer than you.”

She winces.

Or not.

“This is very thoughtful of you, Sakura,” Kakashi tells her quietly, and even though she can’t see his face beneath that damned mask, she thinks he might be smiling at her. “Hopefully, you’ll receive some equally thoughtful gifts on White Day.”

In her imagination, he is looking pointedly at Sasuke, who scoffs lightly and says, “If we’re not going on a mission today, I’m going home.”

This predictably leads into Naruto calling Sasuke names, Sakura trying to keep the peace, and Kakashi finally letting them know about whatever lame mission they’ve been assigned.

The fleeting moment of peace is broken, to be forgotten over the course of their day. Still, Sasuke brings the tomatoes home with him, and Sakura counts that as a victory – one of a meagre few.

More and more lately, Sakura realises that there is something very wrong with her team, something that needs to be fixed before it completely breaks, but she doesn’t know what it is or even if she could help. Some days are very unpleasant – sometimes Sasuke and Naruto do nothing but fight. Other days – the worse days – are when they don’t even acknowledge each other’s existence.

Sakura can see that Sasuke is struggling with something, but whenever she asks – something she would never have tried to do when they were younger – he tells her he’s fine. If she gets brave enough to bring up the curse mark, he doesn’t speak to her for days.

The only thing that keeps his attention is his ridiculous competition with Naruto.

Despite keeping her worries to herself, Sakura’s performance on the team begins to lag. Sasuke snaps at her a lot more, Naruto cuts down on his annoying requests for dates, and Kakashi eyes her with concern.

Maybe that’s why one day in mid-March, Kakashi arrives at their usual meeting place with a large box of marshmallow animals and a casual “Happy White Day” greeting.

“Someone gave me these, but I don’t like marshmallows,” he tells her with a shrug. “So here.”

She would be willing to brush it off as coincidence if Naruto didn’t hand her a package as well. It’s clumsily wrapped with magazine covers and he sheepishly admits, “I forgot what day it was until yesterday.”

Upon opening the package, she finds a much too large, much too frilly white lingerie set.  

Kakashi chokes back either a laugh or a groan of dismay, and Sakura is – of course – forced to beat her friend into a human-shaped bruise for the inappropriateness of his gift…even if she might be laughing a little on the inside because it’s been so long since Naruto did anything lighthearted.

Sasuke offers her nothing which isn’t a surprise. Another girl might be upset that he’s the only one who doesn’t bother with a gift, but she’s used to this. Sasuke isn’t the type to give gifts to anyone, and after all these years, she’s finally started to understand that. But when Sakura glances up, his right eye twitches at the white material and she thinks that if she didn’t punch Naruto first, Sasuke might have. The idea makes her feel a little giddy because it suggests he cares about her honour.

A bit.

Ish.

Who cares? I’ll take it!

The fact that all of them agreed to make such a silly day as White Day special for her has her beaming the entire day. Training is even pleasant – a rarity of late – and her teammates don’t bicker with each other. Everything is going well, even though the only mission Lady Tsunade has for them is scrubbing graffiti off the back of the movie theatre – which goes by quickly because Naruto is apparently an expert at cleaning spray paint off walls.  

The three of them are just heading to Hokage Tower to check in when they encounter Rock Li on his crutches heading back to the hospital. The sight isn’t exactly unexpected, although the large bouquet he is holding in his mouth is somewhat of a surprise.

“For you, Sakura!” he declares when he stops in front of them, dropping his crutches to the floor and holding out the extravagant bunch of flowers. Sakura suspects Ino helped him pick the flowers out – camellias of red, yellow, and white are flourished beneath her nose. “Happy White Day!”

“Thanks, Li,” she tells him sincerely – even if she doesn’t return his feelings, it would be rude not to accept the offering. Besides, no one ever buys her flowers. “These are beautiful.”

“Only the most radiant blossoms for the most radiant blossom of them all!”

“Huh. She didn’t punch him,” Naruto remarks to Sasuke in an aside. “Should I have gotten her flowers instead?”

Sasuke crosses his arms. “Who cares? They’d just die, too.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sakura asks before she can stop herself, clutching the flowers to herself.

Sasuke shrugs and continues walking. “You’re impressed by useless things. If people are going to observe ridiculous holidays, the least they could do is give you something useful.”

“Hey, it’s not ridiculous!” Naruto protests. “At least we got her something, asshole.”

“Whatever.”

“It’s okay, guys,” Sakura says quietly, trying to diffuse the situation.

“No, Sakura, he is being most rude,” Li tells her. He frowns at Sasuke’s back and balls his bandaged hand into a fist. “Would it not set back my recovery time, I would challenge him to a duel!”

“No, no! Don’t do that,” she says quickly. “You can’t right now. Lady Tsunade said you can’t exert yourself. And really, I love the flowers. I’m going to put them in water the minute I get home, okay?”

Although Li is placated, when she looks up, Sasuke is already down the street with Naruto glowering at his retreating back.

“He seriously needs to unpucker,” Naruto grumbles.

Sakura sighs and mourns yet another day ruined by whatever’s going on with Sasuke.

When she gets home, her mother admires the bouquet and suggests inviting Li over to dinner; her father makes jokes about having to beat away the boys with a stick. Sakura grumbles at them both, reminds them that she and Li are only ever going to be friends, and heads upstairs to fall face-first on her bed.

For several long, blissful moments, she exists in perfect peace, nothing but the light breeze teasing at her hair. She is utterly exhausted, drained, and if she’s being honest, a little hurt as well. It’s sometimes hard to care about someone who is unwilling to open up. She figures that having your entire family murdered by your brother as well as having a psychotic shinobi brand you with a curse mark aren’t exactly things that are easy to talk about, but…

She still wishes he would talk to her. One day he will, she knows, but in the meantime, pretending that his constant rebuffs and caustic remarks don’t bother her is becoming a chore.

A shiver creeps up her spine and Sakura frowns.

Her room is drafty from the open window, a fact that’s confusing – she never leaves her windows open when she leaves the house. With a muffled groan, she pushes herself up and crosses the room to close it, only to pause at the sight of something sitting on the window sill – a plain, flat, white box. It’s not very large and she doesn’t see any ink or seals on it to suggest it might be dangerous, but there’s no note attached to explain its presence.

Half-suspicious, half-curious, she lifts the thin lid on the box.

Her breath catches in her throat.

A pair of black gloves are neatly nestled inside the container. They are thick, of high quality leather, and clearly well-made. Upon trying one on, she discovers that they are bigger than her hand – obviously made for a woman. She’ll grow into them eventually.

She can’t figure out who left these for her or why. They’ll be useful, though, to protect her hands from any stray blades or even during sparring sessions.

As she pulls the glove off, she is hit by an oddly familiar scent – cedar, incense, and tatami.

It takes a second to place where she’s smelled that, and when she does, her cheeks flush with warmth.

“Next time,” she promises herself out loud, holding the gloves close to her heart. Her birthday is in two weeks, and maybe if she plays her cards right, she can talk him into going on a date with her.

Only I’ll call it training instead of a date because maybe that word makes him nervous. But if we happen to stop by somewhere to eat on the way home, that wouldn’t be horrible, would it?

She spends the rest of the night planning it out in her head, never dreaming of the possibility that Sasuke won’t be anywhere near Konoha by the time her birthday comes around.

六

It’s been almost a year since Sasuke left.

A year since Sakura’s entire life was upended and thrown onto a path she never would have imagined. For herself or her friends.

She hasn’t seen Naruto is almost as long, not since he started travelling and training with Lord Jiraiya. He still sends letters when he can, but they’re few and far between. She barely sees Kakashi anymore, either – he’s always off on some mission or other. And, of course, Sakura herself is busy training with Tsunade and interning at the hospital.

Most days, she can push away the hurt and worry, but other days, it feels like the glaring absences in her life are even more obvious.

She supposes that’s why she finds herself making the rounds on Valentine’s Day, passing out chocolate to her male friends. Anything for a little bit of normalcy, anything to pretend like she’s still just a kid and not training until she bleeds almost every day to be strong enough to save the boy she loves.

Because she does love him.

Sakura knew she cared for Sasuke growing up, but his complete absence in her life has created a gnawing, hollow void that is too painful for her feelings to have been just a crush.

Somewhere along the line while she was on his team, learning to become a shinobi alongside him, Sasuke stopped being just a good-looking, smart boy to her. Sakura got to know him – the darkness he wore like armour, and the light he only revealed in his rarest, most unguarded moments.

The boy who thanked her for loving him, instead of outright rejecting her even when he was leaving her behind – that boy needs to be saved, even if it is from himself. It’s why she let Naruto make a promise to bring him back. And, no matter what, she’s going to be right beside him when they do.

Until then, she’s taking every day one at a time, trying to enjoy the little things that used to make her happy.

This year, there’s no way to send anything to Naruto – even if there was, she suspects Lord Jiraiya would eat it before her friend got a look in. The guy’s a complete lout, legendary Sannin or not. As for Kakashi, with his frequent absences, he’s hard to pin down. Sakura considers giving her small gift to Gai-sensei to pass on, but she honestly can’t take his overwhelming exuberance today.

Instead, she heads downtown to Manako’s shop. If Kakashi was to check in with anyone when he gets back from a mission, it’s either his rival or his…

Well, whatever Manako is to him. In any case, the Inuzuka woman is the more perceptive and relaxed of the two options.

Upon entering the little shop, the familiar scent of parchment, ink, and gunpowder wash over Sakura. Shelves with different scrolls and tags line the walls, each one able to create explosive blasts of varying degrees of severity and with different effects. Manako is a genius when it comes to demolitions – probably due to her keen senses – and for a civilian, understands the shinobi world better than most.

The woman herself is hunched over the counter, frowning at several complex equations on a scroll from beneath a fringe of dark hair. As Sakura ventures closer, Manako sniffs and glances up, smirking in recognition.

“Well, well, well. Look who it is,” she drawls, sliding her work away then straightening up, arms crossed. “It’s funny. You kind of remind me of this kid who used to come in here to buy explosive tags. Skinny little thing, about so high?” She makes a motion toward her hip with one hand. “Usually with a loud, blond brat who smells like ramen?”

“Knock it off. You know I was here last month.”

“I’m just saying you used to be in here more often,” Manako sighs dramatically. “I still keep your usual order in stock, too. But then again, as I hear it, you don’t really have much use for that Sakura Blizzard technique of yours anymore. Is it true that old Tsunade’s teaching you to break mountains?”

Sakura goes red. “Where’d you hear that?”

“Well, Scarecrow talks a lot, doesn’t he?” she shrugs and then leers suggestively. “Or at least he does when you know what he likes.”

Sakura’s flattered modesty turns into embarrassed disgust just as quickly. “Please stop talking now.”

It’s like thinking about parent-sex! Ugh, I should have gone with Gai-sensei after all!

But Manako laughs good-naturedly and mimes zipping her lips.

“What can I do for you, kiddo?”

“Actually, I’m just here to drop something off for Kakashi. I never know when he’s going to be around, so leaving it outside his apartment seems silly,” Sakura explains, handing over the small box of chocolates. “I mean, I doubt he’ll really care either way, but you know…it’s Valentine’s Day.” She shrugs. “If you want them, go ahead.”

“Nah, never touch the stuff. Me and most of my family are allergic to it.”

“That makes sense.” Sakura blinks in surprise. “Hey, wait – Kiba always used to accept chocolate when we were in the Academy. He used to fight Naruto over it almost every year.”

“That’s because my brother’s a stubborn little bastard who would eat himself sick just to prove a point,” Manako replies dryly, reaching out to take the box. “But I can keep these in my fridge for Kakashi. He’ll wander by eventually.” She eyes the small sack Sakura is carrying with her, and raises an eyebrow. “More stops today?”

“Mm-hm,” Sakura acknowledges, readjusting her gloves; they are still too large for her, but she wears them everywhere. “I’ve got a bunch to give out to my other friends before my shift starts at the hospital.”

Li should’ve just gotten back from a mission. Shikamaru and Choji probably talked Ino into getting them barbecue. Sakura even caved and picked up something for Neji, even though he’s never been what she might call friendly to her. She doubts he’ll eat any of it, but he was one of the guys who went after Sasuke to bring him back and she will be eternally grateful for that.

Sakura’s throat begins to ache at the reminder, a sure sign that if she keeps thinking on the subject, she’ll start crying again. She clears her throat and suggests, “Although…maybe I’ll get something different for Kiba?”

“Eh, why bother? By now, it’s almost tradition. Baby brother pukes his guts up, Mom yells at him, and Hana fusses over the little runt until he’s feeling better – a vicious, unending cycle.“

“That’s ridiculous. If it’s something he knows hurts him, why does he keep doing it?”

Manako shrugs. “People don’t always like what’s good for them.”

Isn’t that the truth?

The words hit a little too close to home which is why Sakura decides to cut the visit short. She pastes a smile on her face. “Anyway, that’s all I came in here for.”

Manako nods, her face taking on a more thoughtful cast than Sakura is used to.

“How’re you holding up?” she asks.

The question is unexpected, considering she and Manako don’t exactly have a close friendship, but there’s no doubt what she’s referring to. Everyone in the village knows of Sakura’s one-sided feelings for the youngest Uchiha traitor. She knows that people say stuff when they think she can’t hear, but she’s never taken Manako to be the type to listen to or care much for gossip.

Hoping to side-step the issue, Sakura continues to smile, although it’s a little more strained now. “What do you mean? I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not,” Manako replies pointedly. “But I won’t push it if you’re set on faking it. Sometimes, it’s the only way to make it through the day.”

“What…what do you mean by that?”

She shrugs, piling her parchment and ink on top of the chocolates for Kakashi. “Nothing.”

But now Sakura is annoyed. “Then why’d you say anything?”

The bomb-maker is silent for a long moment, but at the last second, pauses in her journey to the back of the shop.

“Look, you’re not the first woman to get her heart broken by an Uchiha,” she tells her bluntly, although not altogether unkindly. “It hurts. It will probably hurt forever. But at least you know yours is still alive, right? So, just hold on to that. And go out there and kick ass.”

She disappears into the back of the shop, leaving Sakura puzzling over that. The implications are strange and yet not as surprising as she would expect. Sakura tends to forget sometimes that Sasuke wasn’t always the last Uchiha – in fact, if the reports she’s glimpsed on Lady Tsunade’s desk are any indication, he still isn’t.

Once, there was a whole clan, people who were part of this village. There are probably people still alive today who knew them, and now…now everyone just pretends they didn’t exist.

The notion bothers her, and it’s still in her thoughts as she wanders alone through the Uchiha district at the end of her day. In her hands, she carries a small, potted cherry tomato plant which she bought at the market on her way home. She plants it behind his apartment, in a spot she knows from her last visit here gets a lot of sun.

Looking down at the lonely little plant, she thinks on Manako’s words and clenches her fists.

He’s alive. Somewhere, he’s alive. He’s going to come back. And he’ll want to know that no one forgot him.

七

It’s been almost two years and Sakura has almost given up on ever hearing from Sasuke again.

She’s only able to sleep at night because she knows that while Orochimaru covets his body, Sasuke gets to live. Still, the more time passes, the more nightmares she has – horrible, detailed visions of Sasuke returning the village, only it’s not him. In these dreams, the village burns while Orochimaru, his face a shredded amalgamation of his and Sasuke’s features, laughs.  

She wishes she had someone to confide in about these dreams, but that would mean uttering Sasuke’s name. Besides the fact that her entire body hurts when she does that, she can’t stand the pitying looks she gets from people when she does.

Naruto would understand, but he’s still travelling. She hasn’t heard from him in a while beyond the occasional note to tell her he’s alive. Kakashi’s reconnaissance missions have increased, and the last communication she had with him was four months ago; he sent her a congratulatory note after she became a chūnin, a milestone that should mean something to her.

All she can think of is that she should’ve experienced it with Naruto and Sasuke by her side.

Now she’ll never get the chance.

“You look tired, dear,” her mother tells her one morning. “You should ask for the day off.”

“I can’t. Lady Tsunade is going to be testing out those antidotes I made yesterday.”

“And she needs you there for that?” Mebuki harrumphs. “She can just tell you how they turned out tomorrow. You need a break. Go out and have some fun. Especially today.”

Sakura blinks in confusion for a moment, then glances back at the calendar.

Valentine’s Day.

Oh.

“I really am busy, Mom. Besides, it’s not a good time.”

“Pah! There’s always time for romance! What? Are you worried no one would ask you out?”

“That’s not – I really don’t care about that sort of thing.”

The irony of that statement is not lost on her.

“What about your friend? The nice boy with the eyebrows. He’s always so polite when he comes by here.”

“I don’t like Li that way.”

“Why not? He clearly cares about you.”

“Mom, stop.”

“Sweetheart, I’m just worried about you,” her mother beseeches, her lighthearted and teasing tone vanishing. “You can’t put your entire life on hold for one boy –”

“Mom!”

“ – who isn’t coming back.”

CRASH!

The kitchen table is suddenly in two pieces – jagged planks on the kitchen floor and her fist throbbing. She didn’t properly channel her chakra, and if it weren’t for her still too-large gloves, her knuckles would be bleeding right now.

“Sakura!”

“He’s coming back!” Sakura cries, ignoring her mother’s shocked expression.

Mebuki recovers herself, hands on her hips. “There’s no need to break our furniture, young lady.”

“Naruto promised! We’re going to find him together! He said!”

“It doesn’t matter if you find him, if he doesn’t want to be here! If he doesn’t want…”

Her mother trails off and Sakura tenses.

“Doesn’t want?” she prompts.

“Never mind.”

“Doesn’t want me, right?” Sakura suggests, and now she’s shouting. “Who cares if he comes back if he doesn’t want me, is that it? Well, I don’t care! I don’t care if he comes back and doesn’t want me, because at least he’d be here. Alive. And maybe, even if it’s not me, he’ll find someone who makes him happy and he won’t want to be away from all of the people who do care about him, and that is all that matters!”

She’s crying now and, damn it, she promised herself she wouldn’t do that anymore!

“Sakura –”

“I have to go,” she sobs, hurtling blindly out the door and away from the house.

In circumstances like these, she usually heads for the training grounds, desperately needing to punch something that isn’t furniture. She knows she’ll be dealing with the fallout from that loss of temper for a while, but right now, she just needs to cool down.

As she nears the outskirts of the village, she unconsciously finds herself changing directions and in no time, is standing in front of Sasuke’s house.

The place is empty. No one wants anything to do with the remaining hints of the Uchiha clan, in much the same way that no one ever goes to Naruto’s apartment, except for her – as if being in the same place as either one might spread some sort of disease.

Sakura clenches her fists, stalking around the back of the apartment, frowning down at the tomato plant she put there last year. She has been tending to it every few days and, as a result, it is flourishing. Tiny greenish orbs are already forming.

It’s the only living, growing thing in this entire damned neighbourhood that someone actually cares about.

White-hot rage overwhelms her and Sakura snaps forward, ripping the little plant from the ground roots and all. She hurls it across the street before finally giving in and allowing herself to burst into gut-wrenching sobs.

She is late for her shift at the hospital.

Tsunade takes one look at her and sends her home; it’s clear she’s completely unfocussed today. Ino lets her stay at her place that night and, thankfully, doesn’t say anything about Sasuke.

The next morning before returning home to apologise to her mother, Sakura goes back to the Uchiha district.

The heap of branches and vines is, by some miracle, still lying forlornly in the road.

Sakura carefully gets rid of the mutilated parts, and checks that the roots and stalk haven’t been too badly damaged. As she arranges splints to hold it up, Sakura tries not to feel like the tomato plant is some sort of analogy for her life.

八

The world is gearing up for war. No one marks Valentine’s Day this year.

Every morning, Sakura holds her picture of Team Seven close to her heart, and wonders what the future holds for her former teammates – and herself.

Every night, she dreams of a boy with black eyes and an injured soul, and fervently wishes she knew he was all right.

The gloves finally fit.

九

The war is over and life as she knows it has not ended.

In the last four months, every able-bodied man, woman, and child has been helping in the recovery process. Although there have been losses, the small circle of people who Sakura holds closest to her heart are all safe. She just wishes she could see them more often.

Naruto, in spite of his healing abilities, spends most of his time in and out of the hospital for physical therapy – when he isn’t busy training to eventually become Hokage.

“I saved the damn world, I shouldn’t have to study anymore, believe it!” he complains constantly, much to the amusement – and quickly, annoyance – of anyone who will listen.

Kakashi is busy actually being the next Hokage which Sakura finds hilarious. She thinks he’s spending most of his free-time teaching Naruto so that he can get out of the job as quickly as possible.

And Sasuke…

He’s in prison.

He’s been there since the end of the war. As soon as the Infinite Tsukuyomi was dispelled and the disoriented shinobi from all the different nations were cared for, he surrendered himself willingly to Konoha’s justice without even knowing if they would execute him or not.

The Raikage is still bombarding Kakashi with extradition demands, but they’ve become weekly instead of daily, so that’s something.

As overjoyed as Sakura was with Sasuke’s return home, it was nothing like she pictured the event would be when she was young. Instead of strolling through the gates supported by herself and Naruto, Sasuke was led through in chains, a binding seal on his eyes. Instead of the village welcoming him home with open arms, suspicion and judgement fell on him from all corners.

Even worse, he deserves it and she knows it.

It feels like such a betrayal – worse than that day when she made up her mind to kill him. She can’t blindly support what he did the way she might’ve when she was twelve. Hell, she couldn’t even bring herself to visit him for that first month.

Seeing Sasuke again after everything was hard. From the first night after defeating Kaguya, Sakura was plagued by nightmares. Not of the battle itself, but of the genjutsu that Sasuke placed her under. It was stronger than anything she’d ever encountered, multilayered and complex, and the trial she went through just to break herself out of it – she still feels a little sick at the memory.

It took her a full month and many one-on-one sessions with Tsunade to completely separate her real memories from what happened to her while under the illusion. In the process of unravelling the mental trauma, she even discovered an unexpected side effect: a sudden understanding about what Sasuke underwent as a child.

He was subjected to his brother’s Tsukuyomi not once, but twice. Without knowing what was happening or having anyone to help him through it afterward, he coped with the trauma in the only ways he knew how – by shutting everyone out and seeking out someone powerful enough to ensure he’d never become a victim again.  

It’s no wonder he was never able to care for her with all that taking up space in his head.

Growing up, Sakura always thought Sasuke’s relationship with Naruto was just some immature childhood rivalry – boys fight about the same stupid stuff that girls do. She resented it, too, because he cared more about measuring his abilities against Naruto than acknowledging her. Now, though, she understands that it’s the only kind of relationship he had the capacity for. Whatever Itachi did to him, it stamped out any understanding he has ever had of the way normal friendships and relationships are supposed to work. Everything had to be framed as a struggle, and to him, a rival made more of an impact than a friend, or even a lover.

And yet, even knowing that he may never be able to see her as anything but his former teammate, Sakura can’t stop loving him.

And that’s fine, really.

Lady Tsunade never married after she lost her lover, but it didn’t stop her from becoming the most powerful kunoichi in the world. Sakura still hopes Sasuke will return her feelings, but unlike when she was twelve, it isn’t her only dream. She might not be destined to become Hokage, but there’s so much she can do for the world on her own.

And to start, she intends to make sure that what happened to her precious comrades – Sasuke, Naruto, Kakashi, and anyone else left orphaned by circumstance – will never happen again.

So, if Sasuke never left, she never would’ve discovered her ultimate purpose. Once she realised that, it made it easier to finally visit him.

Not that he’s technically allowed visitors, but Sakura’s status as Tsunade’s apprentice opens doors. And if it didn’t, the fact that she’s one of the new generation of Sannin who helped to save the planet would.

It doesn’t happen very often – there’s so much work to do at the hospital, and so many relief missions being outsourced these days. She’s never allowed in without an escort because, she suspects, the Elders worry that perhaps one of Sasuke’s old teammates might try to break him out of prison or something.

And, of course, the visits themselves are hardly typical.

Sasuke remains bound completely, blinded by a seal, and tightly secured in a way that makes her sick to see, even if she understands the necessity.

(Even if that small, still-healing part of her is glad for it.)

He never speaks, but he does listen when she talks. She knows he does because she spent her childhood talking at him, and she recognises the signs when he’s listening or when he’s ignoring her. Sometimes, she closes her eyes and imagines they aren’t surrounded by bars in a cold, dank basement. It’s not quite like the old days, but it’s something.

Which is why, on Valentine’s Day, Sakura thinks nothing of heading to the prison with a bag of goodies, feeling a whimsical sense of nostalgia.

She’s a frequent enough visitor nowadays that, even if she wasn’t the Hokage’s apprentice, they’d let her in. Ibiki just rolls his eyes while the guards tease her good-naturedly. Many of them are also still recovering from wartime injuries, and she’ll usually stop to chat with them or offer treatment suggestions when she has the time.

Today, she offers them each small boxes of chocolate because, working down here, it’s not like they’re accessible to the people who care about them.

“Just make sure you pay it forward and treat your sweethearts well next time you see them,” she chides good-naturedly. “They have to put up with you, after all.”

Pleasant laughs and light-hearted protest follow, and then Sakura submits to the usual protocol. They check her belongings for contraband or (ridiculously enough) poison, and then she’s wandering through the dank basement to the cell where Sasuke is being kept.

She thinks that Sasuke perks up when he hears her gait, but it’s dark down here and she doesn’t possess a Sharingan…just an overactive imagination.

“Hello, Sasuke,” she greets softly, waving even though he can’t see it. “How are you?” As if he would answer her honestly or at all. “Is there anything you want me to check for you?”

She’s the only person he’ll allow to see to his health, whether it’s to examine the remnants of his arm, or ensure that he isn’t getting sick from the damp cell conditions. The stubborn fool actually refused medical care the entire month she didn’t come see him which she promptly yelled at him for.

She thinks he was a little surprised at that, a fact which fills her with no small amount of satisfaction.

“Well, all right. But the minute you notice something doesn’t feel right, you tell me, okay? I don’t want to see another infection in your arm.”

Silence.

“I can’t actually stay very long today,” she tells him apologetically. “There’s a backlog of patients. Mostly stomach trouble. I think there’re too many guys eating sweets.” She chuckles lightly, noting him cock his head in question. “Valentine’s Day, you know?” His mouth makes a familiar, reflexive downturn and her eyes soften. “I guess that’s one upside to being in here, right? No one to bother you with unwanted chocolate.”

There’s no point in mentioning that, these days, she’s the only one who would consider getting Sasuke a gift.

“Speaking of,” she goes on, reaching for the contain of tomatoes she brought with her. “I actually did bring you something, for old times’ sake. I think you probably haven’t had any in a while.”

She holds one of the plump fruits out to him before she fully considers the situation. Then she freezes, fingers hovering inches from his lips, suddenly unsure of herself.

Idiot! He can’t see what you have – and even if he could, he hates being useless! Way to remind him that he’s basically dependant on everyone these days!

Not to mention that feeding another person is kind of intimate. She’s immediately conscious of her increasing heart-rate and has to take a stabilising breath.

Stop it. There’s no ulterior motive here. It’s very simple. Sasuke can’t use his hands, so I have to help him – just like that time when Naruto couldn’t feed himself. It doesn’t have to mean anything.

“Open your mouth,” she tells him, and even with her brain giving her logical arguments, Sakura can’t help the flood of warmth to her cheeks. She can just imagine the expression he would be giving her – confused and suspicious – if not for the blindfold.

Just when she thinks he’s going to keep ignoring her and she’ll have to convince him, he does as she’s asked.

Before she loses her nerve, she presses the fruit to his lips and he carefully bites down. A lone rivulet of juice runs down the corner of his mouth as Sasuke emits a definite noise of surprise – possibly even pleasure – and Sakura feels a giddy sense of accomplishment.

“Not too sweet, right?” she asks him nervously as he slowly continues chewing. “They shouldn’t be. This type isn’t supposed to be sweet and all, and I picked them early enough, so they’re only just ripe. I was just surprised there were any. I mean, so much of the Uchiha district is just rubble now, but this little plant managed to survive it. Against all odds!” She smiles even though he can’t see it. “Want another one?”

“Hm.”

In anyone else, that would just be a vocalisation, but Sasuke might as well have just waxed poetic. Sakura’s smile becomes a beam of joy, and the reaches for another tomato.

She doesn’t let him eat all of them – he’s on a restricted diet, and she doesn’t want to make him sick – but she promises to give them to his jailor to include with his dinner rations.

“I’ll bring some more next time,” she tells him, standing up. “I’ve got to go now though, so…”

She trails off, and as expected, he has nothing to say.

Her happiness ebbs a little at this, but she shrugs it off. It’s Sasuke, and she’s already gotten more from him today than she would expect.

As she slips back through the iron door, though, the silence of the cell is broken.

“Sakura…” His voice is gravelly from disuse, making her stomach do a queer little flip and a chill climb up her spine. “Thank you.”

The way he says it, she knows it’s not just the tomatoes he’s grateful for. And unlike the first two times he’s said these words to her, she isn’t crying.

She smiles into the darkness and tells him, “You’re welcome.”

Maybe there’s hope for the future after all.

十

Sakura is busier than she has ever been in her life.

Setting up a children’s mental health clinic is a lot more difficult in practice than on paper, and considering the lack of resources, tasks which should take weeks end up taking months. She can’t remember the last time she fell asleep without planning out what problems she has to fix the next day.

Kakashi is as helpful as he can be, considering how much paperwork he gets buried in every day. And Naruto is usually busy shadowing him, learning protocols and proper Hokage etiquette. Besides, organisational skills are not his strong suit.

Sasuke has been gone for almost a year.

Even though he’s no longer out in the world seeking revenge, his absences is still keenly felt. Sakura tries to comfort herself with the fact that at least this time, they are communicating. They exchange letters, but they aren’t the kind she secretly still hopes for. They’re sporadic at best, and only to check in; there are no lyrical descriptions of the places he visits or heartfelt declarations of love. Sometimes, he asks her for advice about local herbs that can be used as remedies, and he always ends the note with an assurance that he is fine.

She never really expected Sasuke to be the love-letter type, but sometimes, she wishes that he might give her some indication of whether they’ll ever have more than this odd, holding-pattern friendship. The closest indication of affection she’s gotten from him since his release from prison is a puzzling tap on the forehead.

It’s a little frustrating, to say the least.

Valentine’s Day comes around once more, and Sakura makes her rounds to all the men in her life, out of habit more than anything else.

It’s the first year she gives anything to Sai, who asks if he’s supposed to pay her back in sexual favours. Ino is not happy with that, and yet for some reason, it’s Sakura who gets yelled at. It’s even more unfair because by now, Sakura’s a pretty good judge of when Sai is really confused or just fucking with people. She has a suspicion about her two friends, but until she gets more confirmation, she just lets it go.

Later during the day, she goes shopping with Hinata to help her pick out the right gift for Naruto.  The Hyūga heiress is even more blatantly obvious about her romantic feelings than Sakura ever remembers being, but she’s also painfully shy. And Naruto is painfully clueless.

In the end, Sakura ends up giving him both her and Hinata’s gifts together, as if they’re both just gifts for a friend. Hinata is obviously upset with herself, but she thanks Sakura for her help all the same, and Sakura tells her not to worry about it.

“By next year, we’ll work up that confidence and you can give him chocolate all by yourself,” she teases, but it’s all in fun.

She’s not sure which is worse – being in love with someone who knows about your feelings and doesn’t return them, or being in love with someone who doesn’t even see you as a woman. Either way, she and Hinata are in the same boat.

Maybe we should start a support group…

She doesn’t send anything to Sasuke.

There would be no point. She doesn’t want to expose his location if he’s on a reconnaissance mission, and she doesn’t think he would appreciate the gesture these days anyhow. Gifts from a hopeless romantic probably don’t really fit into his mission of redemption.

Tomatoes don’t ship too easily by air, after all. Especially by the ornery little hawk Sasuke always sends. The thing has a mouth like a bullhorn and the same imperious attitude as Ebisu.

Still, Sasuke or not, it’s part of her routine to check on the now substantial tomato plant in the Uchiha compound. The rest of the compound is still in ruins – Kakashi and Naruto are unwilling to do anything to the place until Sasuke gives some indication of his future plans – but her little addition is somehow still going strong.

Sakura only intends to check for weeds today and then head home, but upon kneeling down to get started, she finds something unexpected. Sitting within the vines of the plant itself, and clearly not there by accident, is an unwrapped white box. It’s identical to the one she found on her windowsill so many years ago.

Fingers trembling, Sakura looks around, wondering if perhaps someone is playing a cruel joke on her. When she senses no one nearby, she picks up the box and very slowly opens it.

Her breath catches in her throat at the sight.

Nestled in the centre is a tiny, white gold pendant, moulded into the familiar shape of an uchiwa.

There is no card, nothing besides the charm, and yet it’s clear – just as it was with the gloves – who is responsible for this and who it is meant for. Sakura tears up a little because the idea of Sasuke doing something like this is foreign, but so very much welcome.

It doesn’t exactly clear up their relationship – in fact, it makes it more complicated and confusing – but for the first time in a long time, it’s hope.

And she’ll take that over anything else, any day.

終わり

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クリ