#the pain is ugly and painful and sasuke needs to work through it

[marchlione]

the only reason people really hate sasuke is because his grief, pain, and trauma make them uncomfortable. 

you want trauma ridden, angsty, cinnamon rolls who never get angry at the system that perpetuated the pain, and suck it up and deal with it with a smile on their face and a skip in their step as they continue to support the power structure that caused them the pain because the rest of your faves are on that side.

[psalloacappella]

SSM21 Day 2. Festival

Pairing:  SasuSaku  Prompt: Festival  Title:  sparks will fly, they ignite our bones Tags:  AU - Modern Setting; First Dates; Wooing Lips burning against his, mouthing soft words in the detonation din.

(In which Sakura has the better aim.)

Ao3 | twt | full series link | @ssskmonth

“It’sa real date this time.” Each word’s punctuated by Naruto’s fist punching his opposite palm, driving home the importance of this. This being:  Street stall smells rich and piquant, a smoky-savory blend; lights flickering in kaleidoscopic, neurotic brilliance; children wild as free foals escaping their parents, weaving in and out of adults’ legs clutching cheap prizes and sparklers —

and him, Sasuke, on an actual fucking date with a woman with cotton-candy-colored locks who has been besting him every game and measure of skill imaginable, and his dumb plus-one buffer, the best friend, now droning on about how he needs to win her something.

“Anything!” Naruto throws his arms up, dramatic and exasperated, the only gearsetting he seems to have. “Teddy bear, ugly fish, keychain — literally any shitty prize to show her yer not a complete waste of time.”

“Sasuke!” Both men snap to, pretending to have been watching the whole time as Sakura jumps up and down, pumping a fist in the air. “I won again!”

With shiny, wide eyes, she places both her palms out in giddy anticipation to receive a stuffed bear donning a baseball cap of the local (terrible) team from a surly booth operator with a permanent frown.

“She’s comin’ this way!”

“I can see that,” Sasuke hisses. “You useless idiot.”

“Did I hear ‘charming wingman?’ ‘Kay, I’m gonna find some food. Give you two some time—”

“Don’t say it—”

“Alone.” Some strange tone aiming for sensual manifests as choking pigeon, and Naruto skips away as Sakura bounds up to Sasuke, smiling so wide he can see every perfect tooth.

“Did you see?” So proud of herself, arms laden with prizes. Some she’s already given away to cute children passing by, perhaps the sole supplier of noisemakers and soft bears. For a doctor in pediatrics, the urge to make smiles comes second nature. “Where’s he going?”

“Food, or something,” Sasuke murmurs, trying not to look as constipated and irritated as he had ten minutes prior — another gem from Naruto’s unasked-for criticism. “He’s left us alone.”

“Finally.” Definitely slipped out by accident, and Sakura grumbles over her mistake, red prickling her cheeks and chest. “Not that I dislike him, of course—”

“I do,” Sasuke says, absolutely deadpan. It takes her a moment.

“Uchiha Sasuke, did you just make your first joke?”

Ears burning in the cool night air, it’s his turn to smother his embarrassment. In lieu of further slip ups, he awkwardly gathers the items in her arms, a mishmash of unidentified thingamajigs and whatnots that you only find in curio shops or carnivals, and gallantly takes on their burden.

“Walk with me?”

So sure his voicebox just sustained a hairline crack; he hates himself for being nervous.

Eyes, hers, brighter than all the psychedelic frenzy swirling around them both, caught up in the haze; she has the uncanny ability to fade the rest to black, toss the entirety of the world’s existence aside.

Seeking to link her arm with his amid the mess of wares won, she succeeds and presses closer.

“I thought I’d die waiting,” she whispers into his sleeve. “I’ve been wanting you to notice me properly all night.”

Meandering, conjoined, down the main road; carved out for the celebration, buffeted by snack scents and other couples, groups of friends, and plenty of pairs pretending they’re still just and only that. Along the way she unloads her many winnings, surreptitious, in part kindly trying to relieve his burden but also calculating the space in her single occupancy apartment.

She watches people and lights, and he watches her.

Sakura’s gaze snags on a particular booth, more specifically a particular prize. Of the stuffed variety.

“Did . . .  something catch your eye?” he asks. Immediately thinks he sounds like an idiot. You know how to woo ‘em, and why does his inner voice sound like Naruto’s on this date, goddamn it —

Burying her cheek into his shoulder, she giggles and it threads beautiful, stringed tension in his throat and spine, symphonic, testing its own flex to see if she can orchestrate the rest of him. He wishes he could spin her around, lift her high in some filmesque climax, kiss her in the closing credits.

“Don’t laugh,” she says, “but I love slugs. Adore them, really. Gross, I know!” She raises her free hand and points directly at a giant stuffed slug on a high shelf behind the booth’s counter. “And honestly, I’d likely keep it in my office; the kids would love it.”

Sasuke knows, from what she’s disclosed, that these are sick kids, too. This ancient, gendered mating ritual is unavoidable and he’ll have to rise to the challenge. He must provide. Stupid, because she outstrips his earnings and likely will the rest of their life.

Says it like a throwaway, like no big deal:  “I’ll have to win it for you, then.”

The game? Aim. Darts. Doable if he’s sober and with equally (un)talented friends; ranging from Shino the sharpshooter to drunk and stumbling Suigetsu, he’s decidedly somewhere in the middle, but it should be enough raw talent to beat a festival game.

Sakura’s eyes are on him, excited. She dances a little from foot to foot, ready to cheer him on.

Dropping the rest of the prizes on the ground and shoving a fistful of coins at the booth operator, he smirks. Born ready, all those forced childhood sports camps and instrument lessons finessing his hand-eye coordination finally stepping up to the plate.

Imagine failing miserably three rounds in a row, the last one bouncing off the dartboard so violently it narrowly misses the sleepy booth operator. Sasuke grinds his teeth, jaw tight, wishing it’d met its mark.

To Sakura’s credit, she’s completely unperturbed. Almost makes it worse.

She pecks him on the cheek, scoring him through hot and fevered where her lips touch.

“Performance anxiety,” she quips, but her smile isn’t unkind. “Let me give it a try.”

Each dart that lands in the board does so with gusto, embeds itself deep into the sisal cork. As each one hits, Sasuke reflects they might as well be piercing him. The most painful blow is watching her indicate the bluebacked slug, winning it outright without his help, and squeezing it half to death in her arms.

They’re walking again, sans the rest of her prizes — left them for the booth operator, and whatever kids wander his way wanting toys with which to annoy their parents.

“You’ve been so quiet,” she says, shifting her slug under one arm and linking up with him again.  Sasuke shrugs against her. “I’m not sure what’s next with us.”

 He stops, figures it’s better to rip that bandaid off now, give her an out so he can save some face. Of course they’ve stopped on some coquettishly romantic bridge, arched over the still summer pond, a popular viewing spot for the night’s end fireworks.

She watches him expectantly, searching him with her sharp green eyes.

“What do you mean?” Her question is slow, puzzled.

What he means to say is something gentile. Instead he says, “You’re great at darts.”

She seems to sway, a physical manifestation of being caught off guard. Laughs. “Surprised me too! But you gave my arms a rest, so they were ready to win.” Curls her arm to indicate muscle, grinning.

Steps closer, melting through an unseen veil of personal space. Cherry scent; smoke.

“Could be all the shots you administer.”

“I guess we can call jabbing kids with needles a calling.” Mirroring him, she steps in too, and there’s not so much space between them anymore. “Good practice. You could come around sometime, see my work.”

Another tiny shuffle.

It’s time to break this. Sasuke inhales deeply, letting it out in measured beats. “Sakura—”

“If you’re mad you couldn’t win this for me,” she interrupts, “you’re being silly. I don’t care about that, you know.”

He tilts his head, and in spite of himself his hand wanders, brushing a stray strand of pink out of her face. “Hm?”

“I don’t,” she repeats, and sets her slug down on the wooden bridge. Breathes deeply before saying in a low, threaded voice, “What I care about is all the waiting.”

Sasuke feels it all fall into place. Oh. Oh.

“So come on, Sasuke.”

And before she’s even finished saying his name he’s kissing her, the last vibrations of his name caught on their lips, locked, and though the timing is perfect and picturesque, film archetype material as the fireworks charge the air around them, each one set off drawing ripple designs in the water beneath them, this thrill is unmatched, the way she wraps her arm around his neck to taste him deeper, the way he lifts her up to rest him on his hips and there’s nothing, has never been anything, quite like this.

Real fireworks pale in comparison.

Lips burning against his, mouthing soft words in the detonation din.

“The perfect end,” she whispers, “to a festival.”

[borat123]

Analysis Pro NH Anti NS

Naruto Manga Part 2

Part 5

Naruto is seen thinking about Sasuke and seems sad that Sasuke doesn’t wanna come back to the village. After their encounter with him in Orochimaru’s base, it was obvious that Sasuke was a lot stronger than Naruto and that he needed to be more powerful to fight him. (But it is said that Sasuke actually used drugs to speed up his training, so he was probably a bit stronger than he should have. Also Naruto was weakened after his transformation into the four tails.) Anyways his thoughts get interrupted by Sakura and Sai.

Naruto says that he was ”devising a plan for them to look like they were going on a date”. But that’s not true, he was just thinking about Sasuke so why would Naruto say this? Also his face is not very serious at all either. Well first of all Naruto knows that Sakura loves Sasuke and he knows that he doesn’t actually have a chance with her (He knows this since part 1, probably even after chapter 3). He probably just says this to get a reaction from her and/or to piss her off. We all know Naruto used to be a prankster and he annoyed people to get their attention because it was better than to be ignored. The deeper reason behind him wanting to become Hokage is actually because he thinks that they hold the biggest amount of respect and then everyone would acknowledge his existence. He probably did more serious pranks on Sakura in the Academy and that’s probably why she used to hate him. He probably did pranks on everyone in his class except for Hinata who he probably thought was too nice.

Sakura is probably just joking but still, this girl calls him an idiot ALL THE TIME. Naruto even says she’s overdoing it. But maybe he’s indirectly saying that his previous statement about that date was also a joke? Naruto is also finally opening up more to Sai so that’s good.(i’ll be honest i didn’t like Sai when he was first introduced since i didn’t understand his point in the story, but he’s grown on me and he’s actually one of the funniest character and i like him for calling out on team 7:s bullshit).

Sai called her ugly. He’s right, she got an ugly personality. Also Naruto continues with the overdoing it thing (he probably thinks everyone is still joking). No but seriously when i first watched this in the anime i literally laughed out load and i never really do that. (Sai is awesome).

After their talk with Kakashi in the hospital Team 7 and Team 10 go and eat barbeque. Sai knows about Sakura’s reaction when he honestly told her what he thought of her. So he says the opposite to Ino and Sakura gets very mad since she wanted him to say the same thing to Ino (i know they are rivals, but what kinda friend genuinely wants that?). Anyways look at Naruto’s face, he KNOWS how she’s gonna react (he knows she’s a huge bitch).

I’ll be skipping the Rasenshuriken arc since there isn’t any important things regarding these topics there (just fighting and training arc).

We continue into the Second Sasuke Retrival Arc where Naruto is teamed up with Hinata. Naruto seems pleased with teaming up with her and he gives her a gentle smile. Look at how pissed and serious he was before but then when Hinata showed up he calmed down and looked happy. Its like her very presence makes him serene. Honestly if he got teamed up with Sakura (or anyone else) he would have still looked pissed and serious and just said ”Yeah!”.

A little of topic here but its relevant in chronological order for the story.

I’ve heard alot of people say that Jiraiya was weak because he lost against Pain. The thing is had Jiraiya known the same intel that Naruto did about Pain he probably could of defeated all of the paths EVEN the deva path and i’ll explain why. Since they were fighting in the rain village, Nagato wouldn’t have gone all out and used chibaku tensei or shinra tensei to avoid destroying his village. And that’s what Pain meant with that statement above. Had the deva path used all those jutsus though Jiraiya would have lost. Jiraiya should not be underrestimated though, to even take out 3 paths with no intel is still a huge feat since Pain is EXTREMELY POWERFUL. (Nerd rant over)

I’ll skip forward to here, Naruto hears about Jiraiya’s death and is angry over Tsunade’s decision of letting him go to the Rain Village. Naruto doesn’t show it, but he loves Jiraiya like a father figure and his death hits him hard. Also why is Sakura trying to scold Naruto here? She should know that Naruto spent alot of time with his former master and that he is upset over his death. Also if Naruto and Sakura were so ”close” then why didn’t he open up to her later about his grief over Jiraiya’s death, instead of just ignoring her? Honestly for being teammates they are actually very distant from each other. Naruto cant even be himself around her and acts stupid most off the time. There is no denying that Naruto didn’t even open up to any of his teammates first (not even Iruka). He actually opened up to Hinata about acting tough and putting on a bravado and how he actually was angry all the time because he saw himself as a failure. (It was probably her calm demeanour and charm that made him feel comfortable to open up to her, also because he sees her as a kindred spirit that would understand).

But after 3+ years he cant even open up to Sakura? For being teammates they are actually very distant from each other and you can tell that its a forced friendship just by reading the manga alone. It would have been easy for Kishi to give a better relationship but he did this on purpose for a reason. Naruto cant even act like himself and just acts stupid around her because they are so distant from each other. The only thing that brought them closer was their obsession with Sasuke.

Naruto wants to avenge his master and wants to beat Pain and thus wants Shizune to hurry up with the investigation of one of the Pain bodies. Look at what Sakura was saying too. She might be in the right Naruto shouldn’t stress her work but Sakura seriously doesn’t need to say the things she does to him. ”Throw him through a wall” da fuq?! He just ignores her again because as i’ve said in a previous part, if he talks back she is gonna hurt him.

That will be the end of this part. Next time we’ll be going over the Pain Arc, probably my favorite arc in the series. There is a HUGE NaruHina Moment there and i’ll have a lot to say about it so it will probably take more than just one part.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 6

[lazymilkshakecolor]

Uncharted

Disclaimer: these characters don’t belong to me, they belong to the Naruto series created by Masashi Kishimoto.

(I’m baaacckkkk)

Summary: At 20 years old, Sarada had done everything she ever dreamed of, conquered all her demons, went to hell and back, but there is one more territory that she left uncharted...till now. (Borusara, Sasusaku)

Sarada had fought aliens, she had protected the village singlehandedly from it’s biggest threat yet, she created a jutsu even her dad’s genius have deemed impossible to achieve, she even managed to see what was under Kakashi’s mask, a feat she is proud of but refuses to admit to anyone what was the price. 

Kakashi had already promised to take that secret to his grave, not that she’d ever admit that she was a fan of the Icha Icha series, and possessed a first edition copy of the book that kicked off the series, which she spent three S ranked missions worth of ryo on, only to be traded a few months later with Kakashi.

Totally worth it. Sarada thought

But something as silly as-

Sarada felt her cheeks burn up, not able to even think of what happened without turning completely red.

And now here she is, standing outside her mother’s office for what seemed like hours, attempting to knock for the hundredth time but stopping at the final moment cause she had no idea what to tell her mom.

Sakura had always been Sarada’s best friend, well adult best friend, she always listened to her, giving advice when she asked. To a younger Sarada her mother appeared the wisest, having an answer to everything. Now a 20 year old, Sarada knows that is far from the truth, and that there are many subjects her mother still falters in, nonetheless, she is still a third of the strongest shinobi team ever.

Come on, just do it already, shanaro!

So Sarada took a deep breath and raised her fist to knock, this time determined to do it, until the door flew open in front of her, revealing her mother, with a questioning look on her face.

‘’You’ve been standing outside my door for more than five minutes Sarada.’’ Sakura said, looking at her daughter up and down, accessing for damages, but she couldn’t find anything unusual, other than her reddening face.

‘’I-well I wanted t-to Talk.’’ Sarada stuttered out, mentally berating herself for stuttering like that.

Why do I feel like I've been caught with my hand in a cookie jar?

Confusion was apparent on Sakura’s face as she stepped aside, making way for her red in the neck daughter to pass through before closing the door behind her.

‘’Last time I saw you in this state you asked me if i was pregnant.’’ Sakura said in an attempt to help her daughter relax.

It was 8 years ago when Sarada confronted her parents with the deduction that her mother was pregnant, after noticing that she came home from the hospital early most days, even earlier than the time she arrived home from her daily missions or training sessions and her usually energetic mother was always a bit tired at those times too, her dad changing Boruto’s training schedule to be home at that time didn’t help her assumptions either, thinking he needed that time to take care of her and be by her mother’s side.

Of course Sarada got the fright of her life when Sakura thought that she was saying she gained weight before she explained her reasons for thinking she was pregnant, in which an amused Sasuke intervened that they just decided to dedicate some time to be spent alone. It wasn’t till a couple years later that Sarada caught on to what they meant.

Sarada shuddered at the thought.

‘’Hey I had sufficient reasons to believe so!’’ Sarada blurted out.

‘’Just like you had sufficient reasons to believe I wasn’t your mother.’’ Sakura responded.

She loved her daughter to bits, but detective work was not her forte.

Sarada had the decency to not respond to that, changing the subject instead.

‘’So...something happened…’’ she started, trailing off.

‘’Hm?’’ Sakura leaned forward in her chair, leaning her head on her hands as she gave a small smile to Sarada, a silent way to remind her that she can tell her anything.

‘’Between Boruto and I…’’ Sarada finally continued, fidgeting her hands and gazing at the floor, but she still took glances at her mom, enough to see her look of confusion turn into one of understanding, and maybe even a bit of smugness.

You sure you and Boruto are just friends…? Sarada could almost hear her mother utter that question again, she used to ask her that as far back as the academy days and Sarada of course vehemently denied.

‘’I see…,’’ Sakura said, raising up from her seat behind the desk to sit in front of Sarada on the guest chairs, ‘’Want to tell me what happened?’’ 

Sarada shook her head, to which Sakura sighed but couldn’t help the small smile that made its way to her lips.

Sometimes she’s just like Sasuke…

‘’Okay then, how do you feel about whatever it is that happened?’’ 

‘’Confused.’’ Sarada answered immediately. Her eyes were not daring to lift from the floor.

‘’Other than that?’’ Sakura prodded, reaching for her daughter's damaged hand before continuing, ‘’happy? Sad? Mad?’’

Sarada took a moment before answering, “ Happy,...and kinda scared and maybe relieved too…”, her gaze lifting only slightly to meet her mom’s comforting green eyes, then moved to their intertwined hands, getting a flashback to a time a month back. She could still feel the burning pain on her arm, Shizune-san was trying her best to heal it, damage it has suffered being extensive, so extensive an ugly burn scar was still apparent across her arm, while Sakura was holding her hand tightly, kinda like she is now.

‘’Yes?’’

‘’I was relieved cause I thought that he feels the same way.’’ Sarada admitted, knowing fully well the weight of what she just admitted for the first time.

Sakura smiled at her daughter’s words, opening her mouth to say something before someone interrupted.

‘’Sakura- Sama!” Sakura’s assistant barged into the office.

‘’How many times to I have to tell you to fucking knock you dumbass!” Sakura yelled, standing up and glaring at him.

Immediately, he took a couple of steps back, sweat trickling down his face as Sakura continued to glare at him.

Sarada almost pitied the poor man, her mother had a glare that would make her dad cower, other than the fact that that same man was subject to her father’s glare the many times he interrupted their time at home for hospital emergencies.

‘’I’m sorry Sakura sama! But the Suna delegate is here to check up on your joint medic training program, he said he came early because it’s predicted a sand storm will come in the coming hours..’’ He said, taking more steps backwards.

Sakura took a deep breath before she shot Sarada an apologetic look.

‘’I’m sorry Sarada, we’ll continue this talk tonight okay?’’ Sakura said, leaning down to plant a kiss on her daughter’s forehead and poking it as she leant away, but not before whispering something in her ear.

Sarada watched as her mother left the office, leaving her alone with her thoughts.

What the hell does follow your heart supposed to mean?! Mom’s as cryptic as always, shanaro!

.

.

.

Sarada got out of her mother’s office then straight to her favorite sweets shop, planning on  mulling over what her mother told her while sipping through a cup of tea along with her fav dango.

But nothing is that easy in Sarada’s life, cause as soon as she stepped into the sweets shop she found her father at the counter.

Great, this is a new level of bad luck, what are the odds that I’d encounter Sasuke fucking Uchiha in a sweets shop.

But nonetheless, Sarada found herself smiling as she walked towards him, feeling the same joy she always felt when she saw him for the first time after a mission.

Of course his missions are a lot shorter, even so he still makes an effort to keep in contact, even using the cellphone Sakura got him all those years ago when he couldn’t send a hawk.

‘’Welcome home Papa.’’ Sarada said, beaming upwards at Sasuke, who offered a faint smile that wouldn’t be noticeable to anyone but her in this shop.

‘’Sarada.’’ He acknowledged, before turning to the lady at the counter and telling her to double his order and add two cups of tea to go, which they took for free.

‘’Anything for our hero.’’ The shop lady said, looking at Sarada fondly, who thanked her awkwardly, it’s been a month and she still hasn’t gotten used to this treatment from the village people.

A month since she felt truly alone on the battlefield, a month since she had felt like she was the only hope for hundreds of people, people which she swore she will protect and love since she was eleven, a month since she almost lost her arm, and a month since she saw the reason for her recent confusion.

As usual, her father doesn’t like to sit in public very much when has an option of going to a quiet place, which is where they were heading after his order was done and passing by an onigiri shop.

When they arrived at their usual destination, the forest in the Uchiha compound where Sasuke had taught Sarada the chidori and many other things, Sarada sat down on the ground and Sasuke followed after taking off his cloak.

This place used to frighten her, as a kid and as a teen, she knew no one will ever dare come here, this place somehow maintained its frightening aura even after being destroyed in pain’s attack, she knew that she shouldn’t be frightened of this place, because if circumstances were different, she would have lived here.

But she learned to feel at ease here, after her father took her to dock where his father taught him fire jutsu, where he taught her it too, then he showed her his childhood home, which somehow remained intact then finally took her to this forest, where he told her all kinds of stories about her uncle.

It wasn’t until she was 16 did she learn the whole truth, no thanks to her parents of course, she couldn’t blame them though, they are her parents, it’s their job to protect her, and the anguish she felt then rivals only the anguish of losing a loved one.

‘’I would have guessed that Boruto would have found you.’’ Sasuke said suddenly, in his usual monotone.

 Sarada’s head snapped up, dango stick she was intently enjoying almost fell from her hand.

‘’Wha-why why would he find me?’’

Sasuke only looked at her with a look bordering on confusion.

‘’Isn’t that what he always does when he gets home from a mission?’’ Sasuke replied, gaze examining his daughter.

Sarada took a moment before she managed to muster a reply.

‘’Oh.’’

She could feel her cheeks turning red.

‘’Do you have a fever?’’He asked, which decreased Sarada’s mortification a bit cause at least her father is too clueless to notice this.

‘’Boruto might be under the weather too, his face was the same color as yours when we arrived home.’’

‘’What!? Really!?’’ Sarada exclaimed, her dango stick layed forgotten on the ground.

‘’I met up with him about a day away from Konoha,said he was on his way home from an important mission.’’ Sasuke said, a smirk still apparent on his face.

‘’Ohh,’’ Again that was all Sarada managed to say before continuing moments later,’’ He had to go on a mission a couple of days after that creep attacked Konoha.’’

Sasuke’s smirk again, this time out of pride rather than amusement, his daughter, the future of the Uchiha clan, stood up to an alien who wanted to destroy Konoha in vengeance of he and Naruto’s previous actions, both of them weren’t there, Sarada being the only thing that stood against them as Boruto went to free them from Kawaki’s seal.

‘’I know, though that doesn’t explain why his face turned to the same shade as yours right now when your name got brought up.’’ Sasuke said in a matter of fact way, almost sounding genuine.

But Sarada knew her father, knew that amused glint in his eyes, the way he smirks when he knows he’s on to something. She used to enjoy it when he was like that with her mother back when she was still getting used to him, but soon after he started teasing her too, even uniting with her mother against her, which often left Sarada a mumbling mess.

Sarada sighed, resigned to the fact that her father knew something was going on, focussing instead on the extent of his knowledge.

‘’Not funny papa.’’Sarada said, in the straightest tone she could manage.

‘’Hm.’’ Sasuke looked at Sarada’s half hearted glare, lips shaped into a pout and arms crossed, and suddenly all he could see was a younger version of Sakura.

She’s just like Sakura. He thought.

‘’You’ve been upset since I saw you.’’ Sasuke remarked, getting straight to the point.

At that Sarada’s shoulder slackened and her gaze went downwards for a few moments, but Sasuke didn’t pressure her, knowing that just like him, she needs time before talking.

A minute later she started to talk.

‘’Before Boruto went after Kawaki and I went to confront that creepy god like thing, we were together, and…,’’ Sarada took a breath before she continued her phrase, ‘’...We had a moment.’’ She admitted.

Sasuke raised his eyebrow slightly in an expression Sarada knows is curiosity, but as usual, he waited for her to continue instead of asking.

Other than the difficulty she faced when talking about this subject, she now has another difficulty in which she doesn’t know how her father would react to this particular thing.

Atleast with Mama I could predict her reaction…

Sasuke cleared his throat to get attention, taking the final bite from his onigiri pack.

Sarada seemed to get a bit of courage and looked at him, her mouth opening to say something but a moment later she reverted to her previous state, which is a blushing mess.

Sasuke sighed.

Definitely takes after her mother…

‘’Do you mean an intimate moment?’’ Sasuke asked, to which Sarada’s eyes widened, but she nodded.

‘’How intimate?’’

‘’Emmm…’’

‘’Sarada.’’ 

‘’He kissed me, and I kissed him back and before he left I poked his forehead like you do to Mama!’’

Sarada finally admitted for the first time since that day.

She could still feel it, still feel  his lips on hers, still feel his skin’s warmth on her fingers, the feeling of pure passion and fire she felt when he looked at her, when he made her promise that she’ll be okay.

That was the last time she saw him, she knew from her mother that he stayed by her bedside the two first days of her unconsciousness, but he had to leave for an important mission, though he wouldn’t leave without making Sakura promise to write him a letter informing him of Sarada’s state.

Sarada woke up a week after he left, two days later, her father went on his mission.

‘’And why are you upset?’’ Her father’s voice took her out of her stupor.

‘’Cause this feels weird, I always knew I loved him, but I don’t know when it progressed to being in love with him, I expected love to be a strong feeling, but not like this, not this scary...not …’’ Sarada struggled for a moment as tears fell from her eyes, ‘’...intense and deep and passionate and-and...I’m scared cause this is the first time I feel like this, I’m scared cause this might ruin us, scared of feeling something so strong but....’’

Sasuke only stared at her, almost knowing what she would say next.

‘’I love him Papa.’’ 

Sasuke’s gaze softened, as he stood up from his seat and went towards his sniffling daughter.

‘’You should go find him.’’ Sasuke said, wiping the tears off of Sarada’s face, he waited till she nodded before he poked her forehead and smiled at her, he then leaned down to pick the dango box.

Sarada knew where to find him, it was nearing evening, and he knew where she would be normally at this time, and he would be waiting for her there, like he always did.

‘’Thank you Papa,’’ Sarada said, before straightening up and taking a step away from her father towards her destination, but she suddenly stopped and looked at Sasuke again, ‘’ Tell Mama I’m sorry, I know she likes her dango warm.’’

Sasuke grunted, clear annoyance at being caught red handed, but he smiled again looking at the Uchiha symbol of his daughter’s back, sheer pride taking over him at what his daughter has become.

.

.

.

As she expected he was there, standing on the hokage mountain, on the empty space near lord seventh, where she would normally spend her evenings.

He sensed her coming, but didn’t turn around till she was about next to him.

‘’Hello hero.’’

‘’Hey Bo.’’

They stood in silence, each sneaking glances at the other before their eyes finally met, they both blushed a deep shade of red and looked onwards again.

Sarada didn’t know what to do, what to say, so she decided to just act like she would normally.

‘’You stink.’’ She remarked.

Boruto almost fell off the edge, he expected anything, anything but this.

‘’Excuse me! I just got back from a month long mission, dattebaseh!’’

‘’Well you could have stopped by your house and took a shower shanaro!.’’ she responded, turning her body so her eyes could meet his.

‘’I’m sorry! I was left  hanging last time I was in the village so kinda wanted to see what was up with that!’’

‘’I would have waited till the end of time, a shower is nothing!.’’ Sarada didn’t realise what she said until she saw Boruto’s expression turn from annoyance to confusion to shyness.

And then he was staring at her again, giving her the same look he gave that day a month ago, and then she felt it again, that intensity, passion, like a fire was burning inside her heart.

From the way he was looking at her, she knew he felt it too.

He took her hand in his, fingers reaching up to trace the scar on her arm, eyes never leaving hers as his other hand caressed her cheek.

‘’I’m sorry I had to go.’’ he muttered finally, in that soft tone he always used with her, just with her and no one else.

‘’It’s okay, you have your hero duties too.’’ she replied, a pure deep sense of satisfaction travelled through her body when his fingers descended from her arm to her hand, extending it, accessing the damage there.

That’s right, it was in bandages last time he saw me…

Sarada suddenly pushed her hand forward and put it over his heart, feeling an immediate sense of comfort at the thumping sensation she felt, his hand was still over hers,  pure blue eyes she loves so much looking deep into her soul, making her feel like they were the only two people in the world, just them, in this frozen moment in time.

In a sudden bout of courage, she circled her arms around his neck and pulled him down to her height, as one of his hands travelled towards her waist, the other still on her cheek, eyes never breaking apart except when their faces were inches apart, and then it happened, their lips met for the second time, time froze for the second time, they were connected for the second time.

A few seconds later they pulled apart, Sarada immediately buried her head in his chest, hiding her blush as he leaned his head on her shoulder.

The wind picked up, small pecks of water descended on them, but they both refused to pull apart, having waited too long for this.

Though a few minutes later they were drenched from head to toe and they had to pull apart.

Stupid rain! Sarada thought.

‘’You kept nagging about me taking a shower and look what happened.’’ Boruto teased, still close to Sarada, closer than he used to stand, his grasping Sarada’s, tangling their fingers together.

‘’Way to ruin the moment baka.’’ Sarada said, tossing him a glare, to which he laughed before looking into her eyes.

‘’I love you Sarada Uchiha.’’ he said, feeling like a weight has been lifted off his shoulders as he has been trying to say these five words since forever.

She looked at him, deep into his eyes, and she couldn’t help keep her sharingan at bay as it appeared out of instinct, upon feeling a strong emotion.

‘’I love you Boruto Uzumaki.’’

.

.

.

Sarada leaned her back against the door of her family home, a smile spreading across her face at what just happened, hands still in the pockets of the jacket he gave her, fingers still tingling from his touch, lips still warm from his, the soft thumps of his heart still in her ears.

It wasn’t until a couple of minutes of sitting there did she realise that the lights of the living room were on, which was weird since it was the middle of night, both her parents would be asleep by now, her mother for her morning shift and her father for his early morning report.

She walked quietly towards the lit room, afraid to wake her parents in case they were asleep on the couch again, which till this day she can’t comprehend how two full grown adults fit on their tiny couch.

To her surprise they were both awake and sitting on the couch, tea cups in hand and looking expectantly at her, both sprouting devious grins, Sasuke to a lesser extent of course.

‘’What!?’’ Sarada asked, looking between the two.

‘’Nice jacket.’’ Sakura remarked, grin turning into a full smile.

Sarada blushed and looked at the floor.

‘’Yeah yeah...’’ Sarada said, cheeks turning red fir what must have been the millionth time today before turning her body towards the stairs, but before she was out of sight she said something.

‘’Thank you.’’

[catflorist]

The Time Being (ao3 / ffn) catflorist Summary: Time-slipping is a side effect of wielding the Rinnegan. When Sasuke slips through time, he always goes to Sakura, whether he wants to or not. 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8

pt 4: choice

Sasuke’s teammates followed him into the ranks of the Akatsuki and into the Land of Lightning.

Halfway to their destination, Sasuke woke up in the middle of the night with a jolt. Karin, keeping guard, asked, “Who’s Sakura?”   Sasuke was very awake.   Karin continued in a quiet whisper, “You were saying her name in your sleep.”

Sakura was everywhere, infiltrating his thoughts and dreams, disrupting his movement through time. Sasuke exhaled. He did not trust himself to lie. “She was my old teammate.”   “I see,” Karin said. She sprang, “Are you sure this all is what you want? Don’t you want to rest now?”   “I would if you stopped talking,” he said, scowling. He rolled over.   Karin chuckled. Sasuke’s irritability no longer bothered her.   He didn’t sleep. He thought about the Sakura he had met in a pink dress, letting him glimpse a rebuilt Konoha outside her window.   Sasuke searched within his deep pocket, fingers closing around the pebble from Sakura’s beach. He pressed its gentle weight against the center of his palm. 

For the first time, he wanted to slip. He wanted to see her. To ask why, if he was the one destroying the village, she did not hate him. Why instead, she healed him, showed him her child, and offered him a blanket. 

He stayed put. . . “Sasuke!” Karin cried. “Are you okay?”   The battle with the eight-tails was not going well. Jugo had plugged the gaping cavity in his chest, but Sasuke still could not breathe.   Karin rolled up her sleeve. Sasuke bit down on her forearm, adding his mark to the collection of teeth-shaped scars on her skin. Karin’s chakra burned through him like electricity, shocking his limbs awake. Sasuke’s lungs jumped back into commission. He gulped oxygen with ragged breaths.   After the battle, they trekked to a sheltered spot and collapsed on the ground without bothering to unfurl their bedrolls. Sasuke woke up in the middle of the night with one hand clutching his ribs, confirming his body was still whole. His teammates breathed softly next to him in a tangle of dark robes, travel packs, and weapons. Sasuke blinked hard. For a moment, he thought he had slipped again, back to his genin days, to one of the countless nights spent sleeping within arm’s reach of Naruto and Sakura.

His head rushed with vertigo. Sasuke stood up in a small living room smelling faintly of lavender. There was the couch where Sakura had healed him. There was the bookshelf, the shelves more packed than Sasuke’s last visit. Outside Sakura’s window, the new Konoha was peaceful in the moonlight. The village would go on, no matter who destroyed it and why.   Wooden floorboards creaked.   “Was it me?” he asked. “Was I the one destroying Konoha?”   Sakura was bare-legged, with sleep-mussed hair, securing the tie of a thin robe around her waist. 

“Which Sasuke are you?” she murmured.   Sasuke drew his cloak around his shoulders, revealing the Akatsuki clouds. Voice hoarse, he said, “I learned the Konoha council was behind my clan’s massacre.”

It was his first time uttering the words aloud. Whenever he tried to share the truth with Taka, his throat closed. He wondered how his teammates still followed him when he could not explain the reason why they were risking their lives.   Sakura hugged her torso. In the dark, her eyes shone.    “It’s true, then,” Sasuke reasoned. Sakura wouldn’t be looking at him that way if it wasn’t true.   “It’s true,” she echoed, in a whisper.   “You’re certain?”   “I broke into the council’s files to be sure. But you told me yourself, years ago.”   A part of Sasuke had suspected, even hoped, that Madara had lied. But Sakura would not lie to him.   “I’m so sorry,” she said.   “Tell me what will happen.”    Sakura remained silent.   Sasuke broke. He pleaded, “Please, Sakura. I need to know. What should I do now?” 

“You have a choice to make,” she said, joining him by the windowsill. “What’s important to you? What do you want to fight for?”

Sasuke gazed out at Sakura’s street. Did anything change when the village rebuilt? Or beneath the colorful paint, maybe it the same ugly place, where councilmembers discussed genocide behind closed doors.   “Do you want some tea?” Sakura asked.   “You always ask me that,” he muttered.   She smiled. “Do I?”   Sasuke didn’t protest as she vanished into the kitchen and set the kettle to boil. They sipped their tea on Sakura’s couch. She sat on his left like she used to.

Holding an empty cup, Sasuke’s thoughts flowed freely. “Itachi gave his life for Konoha. I don’t want his sacrifice to be for nothing,” he said. “But the village doesn’t deserve him.”   “Do you think Konoha could be a place worth Itachi’s sacrifice?”   “I don’t know,” Sasuke said honestly. “What do you think?”   Sakura’s hand was hovering over his shoulder. Sasuke leaned into her touch, because he needed it. Because it was her. It was no use putting up a front. She had accompanied him through more vulnerable moments than this. When Orochimaru bit the cursed mark into his skin. That night on the only road leaving the village. On the beach after his nightmare. After Itachi’s death. Somehow it was always her.

“I don’t know,” she said. “Maybe we can find out together.”   She stroked his back. At some point, Sasuke’s head dropped back to rest against the cushion. Her hand settled over his, fingers brushing the bone of his wrist. Time slowed, and his eyes fell shut.   When Sasuke opened his eyes again, early morning dew quivered upon his hair and clothing. His head was clear, his body well-rested. Karin, Suigetsu, and Jugo were clustered around a small fire. Steam rose from cups of tea in their hands.   “Hey,” Karin said. The flames lit her face in red glow. “Feel better?”   Sasuke sat beside the fire and pulled his cloak up to his chin. It was time they knew. 

“Madara told me something,” he began. 

Staring into the fire, he told his teammates everything. He did not look up to see their faces. Their silence told it all.   When he was done, Jugo removed his own cloak and draped it over Sasuke’s shoulders. Karin poured him tea. 

“So,” Suigetsu said, pushing over his portion of breakfast. “This is why you want to tear down your village.”   Sasuke closed his eyes. “That’s not what I want anymore.”   “What do you want?” Karin asked.

In the distance, waves crashed. This land was colder and harsher than Sakura’s beach. Yet feeling the warmth of the cup, smelling the sea in the air, Sasuke thought she might appear around the bend, carrying a bucket of mussels or a blanket.

“I want to honor Itachi,” Sasuke said. “I’ll protect the village. But it needs to change, first.”

They discussed how to tear down and rebuild a village without touching its physical form. They made a new plan. It was straightforward: destabilize the council, the source of corruption in Konoha, by threatening, expelling, or killing its members. It was criminal, but they were already criminals.

When it was all decided, Sasuke said, “Let’s go.”   “Eat something first,” Karin insisted. “And finish your tea.”   He ate something. He finished his tea. . . When they felt the shockwaves of Pain’s attack on the village, the hairs prickled on the back of Sasuke’s neck. Somewhere out there, he was meeting Sakura, and she was destroying a piece of Konoha herself to keep him from harm’s way.   Jugo tilted his head in sympathy. “Someone stole your old idea.”   “it will rebuild,” Sasuke said. “Our plan doesn’t change. Now’s the perfect time.”   Through the Akatsuki network, they heard word of the Five Kage Summit. Danzo, the mastermind of the Konoha council, and acting Hokage of Konoha, would attend. Taking out Danzo was the perfect way to set their plan in action.   They traveled across the land towards Snow. One night, Sasuke said to Karin, “I want to teach you something.” He had a certain technique in mind. After feeling the current of Karin’s chakra when she healed him, Sasuke knew she would take well to it. . . They were on a bridge and Danzo held Karin’s body as a shield between himself and Sasuke.   Danzo tightened his grip around Karin’s neck, testing how hard he would have to press for it to snap. “You will yield. Unless you want your teammate to die.” A whimper escaped her.   Sasuke bared his teeth. “Karin,” he urged.

Karin stretched back and pressed her hand to the side of Danzo’s neck. A thin blue arc of electricity erupted from her palm. His hold on her slackened. Karin knocked his arms away and blasted another strike of the chidori into his stomach.   Danzo fell, his body twitching.   The chirp of the chidori faded. “He’s yours,” Karin gasped, dropping to her knees.   Sasuke plunged his blade through Danzo’s heart, pinning him to the dust and stone beneath.   He supposed this was vengeance, but there was no thrill. His clan was still gone. Less straightforward and more difficult work lay ahead.   Karin shifted to avoid the slick path of Danzo’s blood. She rubbed her neck, old tears leaking from the corners of her eyes.   “Are you all right?” Sasuke asked, kneeling beside her.   “I’m fine,” she said. “Thanks for teaching me your trick.”   A quiet, wet cough escaped Danzo. Their gazes snapped up.   “Take the sword out,” Karin advised. “He’ll die faster.” . . The war broke out soon after Danzo’s death. Kabuto’s reanimation jutsu raised the dead. Sasuke and Itachi met and fought together again. Deep within a dark cave, they defeated Kabuto, ensnaring him within Itachi’s looping genjutsu.   Outside in the daylight, Sasuke faced his brother. “I know the truth.”   An unearthly shaft of light illuminated Itachi’s form. It emanated from a different sun than the one warming Sasuke’s face. Itachi blinked his Sharingan away. His dark eyes were soft, waiting for Sasuke’s verdict.   “I will never forgive Konoha the way it currently exists.” Sasuke breathed in. “So I’m going to change everything.”   Shadows teased the angles and grooves of his brother’s face. “You don’t need to do anything at all,” Itachi said. “It’s alright if you want to rest.”   A lump grew in Sasuke’s throat.   Itachi held the back of Sasuke’s head and pressed their foreheads together. His spectral flesh trembled with energy, like the beating of a bird’s wings, like a thought fluttering from Sasuke’s mind.   “Whatever you do, I will love you always.”   His brother dissolved into the still blue sky. . . Taka was a day’s journey to the battlefield, the site of the Third Great Shinobi War. They set up camp and Sasuke settled into his bedroll. When he slipped, it was gentle, like falling asleep.

He was in a dark bedroom. A Sakura of his own age rolled over in her bed, and sat up.   “Which Sasuke are you?” she asked.   He sat on the edge of her bed. “I met Itachi again. The war is starting.”   “Ah,” Sakura said. Her bare leg pressed against his as she settled next to him.   “Which Sakura are you?”   “The war is over for me,” she said. “About a year now.”   “I’m going to fight with you,” Sasuke said. What better way to protect the village?   Sakura smiled. “I know.”

Sasuke stretched out a hand and paused a hair’s breadth apart from her cheek. Sakura turned her head so his fingertips brushed her skin.   Now that they were touching, Sasuke couldn’t stop himself. He touched the mark on her forehead, the one he still didn’t know about, and traced down her jaw, her collarbone.   “Why is it always you?” he wondered, though he was starting to understand.   She covered his hand with hers. “Your hand is cold,” she murmured, lips parting.

Sasuke couldn’t wait any longer to kiss her. He touched his lips to hers. It occurred to him that maybe he should have waited for the Sakura that occupied the same time and space as him. But this Sakura sighed, and opened her mouth against his, and his mind emptied. The soft movement of their lips made his stomach lurch, like he was falling. Afraid he would slip away, he clutched Sakura tighter, urging time to still and keep him here a little longer.

Sakura pulled away, a silent stream of tears wetting her cheeks.   “What’s wrong?” Sasuke whispered.   “I miss you,” she said. 

“Don’t.” Sasuke brushed the tears away. His hand lingered, cradling her face. “I’ll be with you soon.” 

He felt a pang of irritation considering his future self. Why wasn’t he here, comforting her? Where else would he be?

Sakura pulled him into a tight embrace. Her body was still warm from sleep. Sasuke’s lips grazed the skin of her throat. 

Sasuke jolted upright in his bedroll. In the dark, he touched his fingers to his mouth, and breathed. 

It was not long before he saw Sakura again in his own time. . . When Sasuke received the Rinnegan, he slipped. For the first time, he did not see Sakura. He met someone else.

“You’re not Sakura,” he observed.

“No,” the young woman said, “I’m not.”

He was in Konoha, but not the Konoha he knew. . . . .

Up next: We'll see what Sakura has been up to this whole time.

Notes: The next (and remaining) four chapters will be from Sakura's perspective. Thank you so much for reading and following this fic! Every bit of feedback means so much to me. I read your comments aloud to my partner...

[worlds-smallestviolin]

Mother

Masamune x MC

genre: angst/fluff

word count:2208

summary: retelling of Masamune’s love’s union gacha story from MC’s POV

a/n: It always bothers me how MC just decides to stay in past without care about her family, so for stories sake let’s assume Sasuke went back to the future.

           With everyone asleep, Aoba was a quiet place; quite a contrast compared to how loud and lively it was during the day (it is Masamune’s castle, after all). Having changed into my sleeping robe, I was sitting on the futon, waiting for my lover to join me ( I’d say to sleep, dear reader, but we both know that would be a lie.).And my handsome Masamune was still at his desk, working despite the late hour. He may be a wild tiger, but he took his responsibility as a head of the clan very seriously. He did everything he could to make life easier for the people of Oshu. And I’m not just talking about him going to war or battling demons of paperwork. I mean little things as well, like cooking a meal for his men on patrol, or writting letters to his vassals to thank them or simply talk about what’s been going on lately. “You shouldn’t write in the dark. It’s bad for you’re eye.”, I broke the silence hoping to convince him to put down the brush for tonight. “I know, I know. I’ll be done in a second. You just wait for me like a good kitten”, he said, raising his head to flash me a smile that made my heart skip a beat or two. “Meow!”, My god, I’m such a dork. I hugged my knees to my chest, rocking back and forth. Masamune returned his attention to the letter he was writing, and again silence settled in.

Having nothing else to do but wait, I soon got lost in my own thoughts. Some time has passed since I started living here in Aoba. It still surprises me how quickly I’ve gotten used to the life here. Masamune encouraged my worked as a seamstress. He had a room prepared for me, where I could sketch and make clothes; I already had a few clients. He would often keep my drawings to hang on the wall, always repeating how much he loved my art. I’ve made friends with maids, and Kojuro and guys were always there to lend a helping hand. I spent my free time with Masamune, getting into all sort of adventures, and sometimes troubles. We would go for a ride, or a walk around town, we ate delicious food, we cooked together, we laughed and we made love. All in all, life was good. I remember how nervous I was in the days before we left Azuchi, worrying if I would be accepted in Oshu as I was among Oda. Not to mention that I’m still not completely used to the life in Sengoku period. Yes, things are great so far. But from time to time, I can’t help giving voice to my old insecurities. What happens if this doesn’t work out? The picture of my parants forms in my mind, only to slowly morph into that of Masamune and I. And their insults and shouts fall from our lips, that so far know only sweet kisses and sweet nothings. No, I don’t want to think of that.

I quickly try to banish those thoughts back into the dark corners of my mind. Luckly for me, a voice calls from outside our room. “Pardon me for the intrusion this late at night, my lord. There is a letter from Lady Yoshihime.” Masamune receives the letter and tells both man to get some rest. Once we are alone again, I couldn’t help voicing my curiosity: “Who’s Lady Yoshihime?” “My mother.”, he says, and something about his indifferent voice makes me feel uneasy. “I’ve noticed she doesn’t live in the castle with us…”The first day I came here they held a feast to celebrate Masamune’s return and my arrival, where Masamune introduced me to a lot of people that are important to him. You’d think that his mother would be among them. “She poisoned me when I was young. There’s messy politics with her side of the family, so it seemed best we live apart.”, he said it as if he was informing me about the weather outside.“I’m sorry, WHAT?” I misheard that, right? He did not just say his mother tried to have him killed. I stared at him, trying to process what he just told me. “It’s not that strange. When it comes to the succession of a clan, things often get ugly. With the loss of my eye, she must have thought I wasn’t fit to be the head of the Date and decided to take matters into her own hands.” Shock quickly turned into anger. She tried to kill her own child because of something that wasn’t his fault, something he couldn’t change. For a moment, I thought of my own mother, who believed motherhood to be the most sacred and joyous role a woman could have, who loved and supported unconditionally and would give up anything and everything for her children. I could not imagine how difficult it must have been for Masamune, being sick and losing your eye. And the one person who was supposed to love him more than anyone betrays him like that. My heart filled with sorrow. It must have shown on my face, because Masamune tried to reassure me with a smile: “I barely remember it. Must not have been that bad, or I wouldn’t have forgotten, right? If I let it trouble me, I wouldn’t be fit to be a lord, and that would only prove my mother right.” His words reminded me of what Master Kosai told me about Masamune. “One who would stand above others must be most strict with oneself. They must work as hard as their hardest workers and be always deserving of the praise their station affords them. Their pain they must learn to bear with on their own, for they will at times be alone. Those were the lessons I instilled in that young child. He survived by embracing what I taught him. So much that he no longer needs to ‘act’ to be the ideal leader from his lessons. But our nature is unchanging. In the deepest part of Masamune’s heart that injured young child remains.

Having read the letter, Masamune joined me on the futon. Smile on his face, he patted my head. But for a moment, a mere second, I saw something in the depth of his eye. You never tamed you’re demons, Masamune, you just kept them on a leash. And the wounds of heart are never quick to heal. You could try to ignore them, you might even forget them. But they remain there somewhere, waiting for a chance to overwhelm you. And if you cannot entrust them to anyone else, at least entrust them to me. So I pulled him down to bed with me, holding him close to my chest, his cheek resting against my breast. I run my fingers softly through his hair. “I want you to listen carefully to what I’m about to say. I love you, so you don’t ever have to hide how you feel when you’re around me. You’re not my lord, Masamune. You’re the man I love; a fun guy who acts all cool but has the most adorable blush, the one who can kiss my heart into a full stop and then restart it with a touch, someone who always protects me and encourages me. And I will always be here for you. So leave the perfect leader outside this room, and just be my Masamune.” He tried to protest but, I wouldn’t let him. Then he turned his face from me, and for a moment I thought he might cry. But after a while he met my eyes again. “I’ll try.”, he said with a smile. I guess old habits die hard. “That’s a start.” I kissed his forehead and continued running my fingers through his hair. Eventually I felt him relax as he drifted to sleep. But my brain was too busy for that. I was angry at Lady Yoshihime, I was sad for Masamune. And in the stillness of the night, my mind wandered to that dark corner again. I was afraid.

Hearing about Masamune’s mother made me think about my own parents. I knew they must be worried about me. Sasuke promised to deliver my letter. Hopefully, that will ease their hearts. It wouldn’t be the first time I disappeared of the radar. They were good parents, for the most part. Well, when it comes to my father, the best I can say is that he tried. He never failed to tell me he loved me. I never once doubted it. But he wasn’t the easiest man to get along with. He had his opinions and his expectations, and those were set in stone. Being his eldest child, the bar was set especially high for me. He worked two jobs to save money for my education. And though he never understood my passion for fashion, he supported me, so long as he didn’t have to listen to me talk about it. He never raised his hands on us, but his anger was something to be feared. My mother, on the other hand was a saint. I’ve never heard her raise her voice. No matter what troubled her, she always wore a smile. She was the one who took care of us when we were sick, fed us, helped us do homework or study for exam, attended every parents meeting, every school play… She was there to listen to us for hours and comfort us. She was there for every tear and every smile.

But as good as they were in their roles as parents, they were the worst couple I’ve ever seen. I could count the times I remember seeing them being affectionate towards each other on the fingers of my hands, if those hands were in a terrible accident and were missing a few fingers. Instead, there were fights and shouting, and then days of them ignoring each other, and us walking on eggshells around them. They would act more affectionate towards me and my brother, as if they were competing for our love. And it was always about something small and insignificant, a misplaced item or misheard word. It always ended with the ‘talk’ where my father would insist they just forget and move on. There were never any apologies, they never talked things through.

My parents didn’t marry for love, or at least if they did it was quickly spent. They did their best not to let their fights affect the kids. My childhood was for the most part a happy one. But the older I got, the more I noticed the cracks that began to show. They were not happy, although they stubbornly maintained that illusion. What makes someone choose to stay and live a life next to a person that makes them miserable? Why don’t you just leave him? I heard my aunt say to my mum one time. I do it for my children. I could never leave them. They are my everything. Maybe that was the moment when the fear was born, squeezing my heart each time she smiled. I was causing her pain just by being, a cage to a bird who otherwise could simply fly away. And I started to wonder if one day I too will be like that. “Mom, I love you. But I don’t want to become you.”, I said on the night before my cousin’s wedding, when the conversation inevitably turned into wedding talk, and I tell her I don’t ever want to marry. I see a heart breaking in those eyes. A single shard of glass melts and runs down her cheek; on its way, leaves my heart bleeding as well. Still she smiles: ” So long as you’re happy, I’ll be happy too.”.

The sky is still pale yellow-blue. I stared at the eye of a calm sea, and I felt calm as well; last night’s shadows fleeing before the morning light. Or maybe it’s Masamune’s touch that chases them away. He was always good at that, erasing my insecurities. Though I now know he was plagued by them too. Both of us are with hidden corners in our hearts, echoing with the words “You’re not good enough.” A doubt dwells in the back of the mind; his slumbers deep within, mine lingers just beneath the skin. Still I believe we’ll be alright. “ I want you’re face to be the first thing I see in the morning. Whether we’re at war, or everything is peaceful. I want that tomorrow, and the day after, and forever more.”, he brushed his finger along my cheek. I knew it won’t always be easy, I knew many things will try to break us apart. Still I believed in us. Whatever we might face, with you by my side, I was confident enough. “ My love for you will never change, Masamune.” He drew me to his chest, I felt his tears touch my head. The beating of his heart told me they were not tears of sorrow. I remained quietly in his arms, as another tear slides down my cheek. Mother, I’m happy now.    

[kyogre-blue]

Naruto Shippuden, ep 427-450

So this is... 23 episodes of filler about a random bunch of AUs. They are theoretically framed as people’s Tsukuyomi dreams, but this framing doesn’t necessarily make sense. 

Tenzou’s dream is to be acknowledged as a good kouhai and the best suited leader for Team 7. It also includes Kakashi needing to be rescued. It’s kind of cute that he has Sasuke return at random because that’s what Naruto and Sakura would want. 

Tenten’s is a two episode reference to Road to Ninja. I guess you could read it as her wanting to be the special one who gets to save the day with her unique skills. 

Karin’s is... it’s presented like a backstory flashback, but it ends with her apparently dying from Kusa ninja coming to take revenge on her? Are we supposed to interpret this as her being unable to imagine a happy life or her wanting to die? There is also a lot that doesn’t really make sense in terms of timeline, so I am deeply skeptical of all of it. 

B’s is fairly straightforward -- he wants to go and have adventures with the other jinchuuriki and also their bijuu (who have very cute small versions lol). It’s probably the best of the bunch. 

And then there’s Tsunade’s... 

In general, Tsunade’s dream (”Jiraiya Ninja Scrolls: The Tale of Naruto the Hero”) is very nearly the worst filler I’ve seen. Generally, if a filler is stupid, it can at least be funny, and if it’s serious, you can suss out some bit of canon. But this? Total waste of time, for like 16 episodes. 

It’s framed as Tsunade reading a novel that Jiraiya wrote, alone aside from Shizune dropping by. The novel is... a speedrun of Naruto’s entire plot, but with details changed: Minato sealed half the Kyuubi in Kushina and both of them survived to raise Naruto, Obito doesn’t seem to exist, etc. Most major plot points of the series are recycled, along with many key scenes, except the framing and sometimes the general circumstances are different. Honestly, it’s like reading a fairly bland fanfic. 

Then at the end, it switches to a world where Dan is alive and Hokage. 

I would honestly dismiss pretty much the entire batch of fillers, but I guess you could say that they show that people don’t always know what their ideal world even is, so when they get pulled into Infinite Tsukuyomi, they take some time to work through the possibilities. You can see it in the most simple sense in Tenzou’s. Does he want to go back to his childhood, with the girl who gave him that name? Does he want to go back to his Anbu days under Kakashi? 

In the end, he seems to decide that he doesn’t want to dismiss the connections he gained as an adult, which is why he settles on “being entrusted with Team 7 after proving himself.” 

Tsunade’s can be seen as similar in that sense. She doesn’t immediately want her current life, with Naruto and Shizune, to disappear. So it has to get reinterpreted as an increasingly distant dream. 

Regarding Tsunade’s specifically (just complaints): 

Does someone on the anime team have an issue about dogs drowning? I think Inari’s flashback about his dog almost drowning was anime only too. 

Plus, this dog’s name is Shiro and I think the breed is also the same as in Asura and Indra’s flashback? 

Minato is alive here, as well as Kushina. I’m... not clear what happened at Naruto’s birth, since I think it’s never stated that there was an attack. Maybe the Kyuubi just couldn’t be controlled, but since the situation was less dire without a 3rd party, they could use this method instead. 

Minato is able to prevent the Uchiha coup, but tensions remain, leading to a lot of the... supposed plot of this AU. The clan forced him to accept some demands in exchange for not going through with the coup. Amusingly, Itachi seems to be quite supportive of his clan, though he’s among those that believe in a peaceful solution. The remaining tensions come from opposition from the advisors and other clans. 

The Uchiha police get a long term assignment with the daimyo. Not sure why the police go though, this doesn’t really seem intuitive. 

The filler is desperate to show Minato as being amazing, but it also wants to still have the Hyuuga affair, so the Sandaime is inexplicably presiding over that mess, even though it should be Minato’s job. 

Kakashi and Sasuke wear their shoes indoors... 

Sasuke wears a truly ugly pastel blue body suit... On the other hand, his casual outfit while running off to Orochimaru is nice. 

Anko, Hayate, Yugao and Yamato are in Root for some reason. 

Neji’s Byakugan can’t tell a clone from the real thing... I don’t remember if this is canon. 

Pain’s “you won’t understand without experiencing the same pain” sounds like what Hagoromo says in the Indra flashback later. Hagoromo is full of shit. 

Obito isn’t around, so Sasori is explicably the main villain. Yahiko is still alive at the start, the Kyuubi attack isn’t confirmed iirc... Sasuke and Naruto’s fight also happens at a different location, not Valley of the End, so I wonder if the idea is that Madara never did his entire thing. I think he was mentioned early in at one point, but I can’t remember what they said about him. 

Since his family was never killed, Sasuke’s issues are all about Naruto. He originally looked down on Naruto for being a loser, but then Naruto acted cool one time when they were kids, and Minato was able to prevent the coup, so Sasuke thought they could really be rivals. But Naruto kept being a loser until he... suddenly became so good Sasuke didn’t feel like he could keep up? It’s very odd. 

[sariasprincy-writes]

Hollow Point - Epilogue

One // Two // Three // Four // Five // Six // Seven // Eight // Nine // Ten // Eleven // Twelve // Thirteen // Fourteen // Fifteen // Sixteen // Seventeen // Eighteen // Nineteen // Twenty // Twenty-One // Twenty-Two // Twenty-Three // Twenty-Four // Twenty-Five // Twenty-Six // Twenty-Seven // Twenty-Eight // Twenty-Nine // Thirty // Thirty-One // Thirty-Two // Thirty-Three // Thirty-Four // Thirty-Five // Thirty-Six //  - Epilogue Part I (here) 

Epilogue Phantom Pain

Berlin, Germany

It was raining again. Water fell from the sky, pelting the ground and speckling the glass of the store fronts lining the sidewalks. Inside a little coffeehouse a few blocks from the city center, Sakura sipped her mocha as she watched the sky attempt to drown the earth beneath it.

The little shop wasn’t terribly large. Just big enough for a few tables. She sat by herself while the rest of the room was occuied by a group of young, high school-aged locals. They chatted animatedly in rapid German; their laughter only broken up by the tinkling of the bell above the front door.

Sakura didn’t look up as the chair across from her was pulled back before a man in a raincoat sat down. Kakashi pushed his hood back before he let out a relieved sigh, obviously happy to be out of the rain. He ordered a plain Americano from the waitress and waited to speak until she brought it out to him in a large porcelain coffee mug similar to Sakura’s.

“How did your meeting with your contact go?” Kakashi asked before he taste-tested his drink.

“As well as could be expected,” she replied. When he shot her a curious look, she explained with a faint glare. “He was more interested into getting into my pants then talking actual business.”

“Which is why you choose to work with women,” Kakashi provided.

Sakura tipped her head. “Still, he proved to be of some use. As it turns out he knows of someone who wants to begin moving product into New York.”

“Oh?”

“Her name is Karin. She’s a Russian dealer out of Moscow. She smart and crafty, but she’s been busy fighting other dealers within the country to branch out.”

Kakashi’s brow arched in surprise. “You’ve been watching her a while then.”

“Almost a year,” she nodded.

“She shows promise then.”

Sakura hummed her agreement as she drank from her now-lukewarm mug. “I’m not ready to introduce myself yet though. She has some in-house cleaning to do before she can consider branching out. Until then, I’ll keep watch from a distance. Ino thinks Karin would help Tenten keep up with her orders.”

“That would ease the flow of product out of Cairo too,” Kakashi said.

Sakura nodded again, her gaze distant as her mind worked through the ins and outs of her business. There had been some Egyptian Federal Agents poking around her eastern port lately. They were moving so much product it was beginning to draw the eyes of the government; something she needed to shut down soon.

“Is your shoulder bothering you again?” Kakashi asked abruptly.

Confused, Sakura realized she had been massaging her shoulder through her sweatshirt where Izuna had shot her nine months ago. It ached on cool days or when she sat still for too long. And when she allowed her mind to wander…

She dropped her hand. “It’s fine.”

Kakashi obviously wasn’t convinced, but she continued before he could press her. “Any word on Kisame?”

The ex-Marine observed her for a long moment before he finally shook his head. Sakura didn’t know if she was more relieved or disappointed. Kakashi had spent the last few months bouncing between Egypt and Israel, mostly keeping an eye on Temari’s operations and checking in with the latest news in Tel Aviv. If there was any news on Kisame, Kakashi would have heard.

“Temari hasn’t seen or heard anything from him since he arrived in Cairo nine months ago,” Kisame said. “He likely scouted out what became of Akatsuki in Egypt before he returned to Israel. He’s been underground since then.”

“Hopefully he got another assignment,” she murmured, none too hopeful. Sakura didn’t doubt Kisame still had it out for her. Especially since their last meeting had ended on less than friendly terms.

“Speaking of another assignment, you’re heading back to New York almost two weeks earlier than you planned,” Kakashi said, absently stirring his coffee. “What’re you working on?”

“Nothing in particular. Tenten is looking to recruit more men. Her influence is spreading faster than either of us anticipated.”

“Tenten has the money and resources to handle that on her own,” he said in confusion.

“Yes, but I want to be there to remind her who provided her all her new territory,” Sakura said, just a hint of sharpness entering her tone. “Tenten and I get along just fine, but she plays by her own rules. I don’t want her forgetting this is my game.”

Kakashi considered that with a single side-nod, as if to say he agreed with her reasoning.

Sakura fell quiet after that, her mind running through the errands and projects that needed her attention when she returned to the States. She needed to meet with Tenten, check in on Ino, and Sakura tended to have this habit of dropping by Tobirama’s. Purely to get an update on his numbers, or so she told herself.

“What time does your flight leave?” Kakashi asked.

Sakura checked her watch. “Four hours from now.”

“Do you want me to join you or do you need me to check in on Temari again?”

Whatever Sakura was about to say fell forgotten as she heard Itachi laugh somewhere behind her. Abruptly she jerked her head to the sound, her heart skipping a beat in her chest. Only for her gaze to land upon another man. He was a young American, about Itachi’s age with a deep laugh like he used to have.

Not for the first time, Sakura forced herself to remember Itachi was gone, he’s dead. She had stood on the hill in Arlington nearly nine months ago as they lowered his casket into the ground. His entire family lined the front row of mourners, including Shisui and someone Sakura recognized from a photo on the mantle above Itachi’s fireplace: Sasuke, his younger brother.

Then they had stamped the newly dug earth with a name plate. Sakura had only visited it once.

Still, Itachi haunted her. She heard his voice in crowded places and felt his touch in her dreams. She wondered when she would ever stop thinking about him.

“Sakura?”

At the call of her name, she turned her gaze back to Kakashi. There was an expectant look on his face that reminded her he was waiting for an answer.

“Check in on Temari,” Sakura finally replied. “If the police aren’t poking around again, come join me in New York.”

With that decided, they finished their coffee and stood to leave. Under the awning, Kakashi told her he’d keep in touch and to update him on the situation in New York. She nodded her assent and waited until he was out of sight before she dared glance back at the coffeehouse.

A dull ache rose in her chest, but she inhaled and exhaled quickly, pushing the feeling away as she turned her back on the café. She had a plane to catch.

xx

Queens, New York, United States of America

As soon as she landed, Sakura made her way to Tobirama’s mansion. It was late when she arrived. The stars were already out and a bright, full moon illuminated the sky even against the polluting city lights.

As usual, the guard let her pass. She drove up the circle drive and parked out front. Immediately a staff member greeted her and accepted her car keys to park her vehicle in the garage. The butler answered the door before she had even started ascending the entrance stairs. In the doorway, he accepted her coat without anything more than a polite ‘good evening’.

Tobirama greeted her at the bottom of the stairs. His brow arched curiously. “You’re here early.” Then he glanced at the expensive watch on his wrist. “Nearly two weeks early.”

She cocked her head, a smirk lingering in the corner of her mouth. “Should I come back later?”

His gaze lingered on her a moment. Then the corner of his lips flickered up into a smirk before he grabbed her and roughly sealed his mouth over hers. They stumbled to the bedroom, bumping pictures on the wall and tripping over discarded clothes until Tobirama hoisted her onto his hips. Her legs wrapped around his waist before her back hit the wall just inside the bedroom door.

A sound between a gasp and a moan ripped out of her throat as he lined himself up. Then he settled deep inside her, allowing gravity to do its job as his fingers bruised her thighs. Sakura wasn’t even sure if he had closed the door behind them, but she couldn’t care less as he started a hard, fast rhythm. Her head fell back against the wall as he buried himself into a particularly sensitive spot, her breathy moan turning into something sharper as his teeth bit into the soft skin of her neck.

Then Sakura retaliated. Her fingers tangled into his hair, jerking his head back before she crushed her mouth to his. She wasn’t sure if she had missed him, but she was certain she missed this, and she tightened her legs around his waist to pull him closer.

Their battle lasted until climax. Sakura came with an unmuffled cry before Tobirama carried her to the bed. He finished inside her before he rolled off to rest on the bed beside her. Sakura didn’t move until her breath evened out and the sweat on her skin began to make her feel cold and sticky. Without a word, she pushed herself to her feet before she made her way to the joined bathroom.

Inside, Sakura took a quick shower and wrapped herself up in one of the plush towels on the rack before she paused in front the mirror. Steam clung to the surface and she wiped it away with her hand, only pausing when she caught sight of the ugly, circular scar on her shoulder just below her collarbone. It had healed well after the surgery and would fade more with time, but it was a stark reminder of what had happened that day.

Sakura turned away before the memories could surface. She rubbed some lotion onto her legs and ran a brush through her hair before returning to the bedroom.

Her bag had appeared in the hall just outside the door and she brought it inside before dug out her computer bag. Tobirama was still in bed, his own laptop open in his lap.

“How was Cairo?” Tobirama asked.

He didn’t look up at her as she settled on the far side of the bed, one leg bent at the knee in front of her while the other hung off the side of the mattress.

“Boring,” Sakura replied as she booted up her system. “Temari has a pretty good handle on everything happening over there.”

Tobirama side-eyed her. “So, what did you do for the last month?”

“Hung out at the beach. Drank frilly drinks.”

“You’re not the kind to drink frilly drinks,” Tobirama said flatly.

Sakura couldn’t resist her smile. The man was right about that. “I went to Germany.”

Just as she expected, he blinked in confusion. “What the fuck is in Germany?”

“A contact,” she replied, unfazed by his language. “You remember how I said I might be able to get a line into Russia? There’s someone in Moscow that might be willing to start trading into New York.”

He nodded slowly. “Okay, but why meet in Germany?”

“Because that’s where he lived. I don’t fucking know. We just did,” she said, attitude creeping into her voice.

Tobirama was hardly put off by her tone. He didn’t look up from his computer as he asked, “So now what?”

“Now we wait to see if this new dealer contacts me,” she shrugged, her eyes turning down to her computer as her finance software loaded up. “It might take a little while, but I think I have what she wants.”

On the other side of the bed, Tobirama cocked his head. “Which is what?”

“Guns, money, power. Exactly what every other woman wants.”

He shot her an odd look as if to say he doubted that was what every woman wanted, but Sakura ignored him. Instead, she turned down to her work, double checking her accounts and her gun stores.

She was still balancing her finances when her phone went off a little while later. She picked up her phone absentmindedly, saving her work before she glanced at the caller ID. Instantly, she froze. The number was unsaved in her contacts, but she knew who was on the other end.

Orochimaru.

Closing her computer, Sakura stood from the bed. She picked up the call, but didn’t speak into the receiver as she grabbed the first article of clothing she found off the floor. It was Tobirama’s shirt. Quickly she slipped it on over her head before she left the room, closing the door behind her.

In the hall, a maid passed by. She nodded respectfully at Sakura before she quickly retreated down the other end to give her privacy. Sakura hardly even glanced in her direction. The staff were already used to seeing her half-naked, if not fully, by now.

As soon as Sakura was sure she was alone, she held the phone to her ear. “What?”

“Well isn’t that an unpleasant greeting. Shall we try again?” Orochimaru replied cheerfully. When Sakura remained silent, he huffed. “Fine, be that way. I believe you know why I’m calling.”

“You want to collect my debt.”

“Smart and beautiful,” he chuckled.

Sakura resisted the urge to growl. “What do you want?”

“And straight to the point,” he complained. “Very well. There is a man named Inuzuka Kiba. He’s a drug runner that I want taken care of. He’s mostly a ghost, but he commonly does his business in-”

“Moscow,” she finished.

She heard Orochimaru’s surprise through the phone. “You know him?”

“I know of him,” she said vaguely. “Why do you want him gone?”

“Oh darling,” he chuckled too fondly. “When I cleaned up your mess in New Jersey, did I ask any questions?”

A glare settled across her expression, but she forced it away with a sigh. As much as she hated Orochimaru, he had a point. And taking care of Kiba might actually earn her a favor in Russia.

“Consider it done,” she eventually said.

“Excellent.”

Orochimaru hung up then, but Sakura didn’t immediately return to the bedroom as she weighed her options. She hadn’t exactly been planning on moving into Russia so soon, but with Orochimaru’s orders, she had no choice.

After another minute, Sakura finally returned to the bedroom. Tobirama was still sitting where she had left him, computer on his lap. He glanced up at her briefly when she paused beside the bed, her phone still spinning slowly in her hand as she thought.

“What is it?” he asked.

Blinking her thoughts away, Sakura tossed her phone down onto the bed. “Remember how I wanted to go to Russia?”

“Yeah.”

“Turns out we’re going earlier than I planned.”

Tobirama arched his brow in surprise. “When?”

“Next week.”

Xx

Moscow, Russia

Music filled the ballroom. It drifted from the orchestra down below and rose up into the high ceiling. Men and women were dressed in expensive evening attire with glasses of champagne and whiskey in their hands provided by passing servers.

From the second floor, Sakura stood shadowed on a balcony overlooking the elegant party. The faint murmur of conversation reached her ears, but from her distance she couldn’t make out their words. Especially not when they were laced with such heavy Russian accents.

Like a hawk hunting her prey, Sakura watched the party-goers mingle with a calculating gaze, her eyes sharpened with black eyeliner. The people below looked like business men and women, and perhaps most of them were, but her sights were set on one.

Karin.

The beautiful woman stood out in her sparkling, silver dress. The material brushed her ankles, but it hugged her bust and curvy waist, the bits of crystal in her dress sparkling against the giant chandelier overhead. Her red hair spilled over her shoulder in silky curls, her bangs framing her youthful face. She was only a few years older than Sakura, but even she had to admit Karin was doing well in the Russian Underground. Especially now that Kiba was out of the picture.

“Is she ready?” a voice asked.

Sakura didn’t turn her gaze away from Karin as Tobirama came to a stop beside her. The woman below them was fingering a flute of champagne, but Sakura had been keeping an eye on her for near that of an hour. It was only her second glass.

“Not quite,” Sakura replied. “Perhaps after another drink.”

“Should I warm her up for you then?”

Sakura turned her gaze away to peer at Tobirama then. There was a reason she had invited him to come along with her. He looked dashing in his black-on-black suit. The color was normally slimming, but this particular outfit made Tobirama’s shoulders broader, his muscles more apparent. Dangerous without being overly intimidating.

He really was an attractive man with his dark eyes and grey hair. Under the shadows of the balcony, the ridges of his cheekbones were emphasized, the cut of his jaw stronger. He was a silver fox. Exactly the type of man Karin was attracted to.

Sakura smoothed her hand over one side of his collar, pressing it down firmer. Then she smiled. “I’ll give you a couple of minutes to get acquainted.”

Tobirama smirked faintly, the harsh shadows making it appear more cruel, before he slipped away. Sakura tracked him as he descended the stairs and slipped through the crowd until he was standing beside Karin. He took her hand as he introduced himself, bowing slightly as he raised the back of her hand towards his mouth. He didn’t kiss her skin, but he came close in a polite greeting.

Sakura hadn’t told Tobirama she was using his charm to gain a hearing with Karin, but he had always been smart. Sakura didn’t put it past Tobirama to have figured it out himself.

From her shadowed vantage point, Sakura watched the pair like a predator. Tobirama flirted with Karin seamlessly, bold but not abrasive. His intentions obvious but unapologetic. The red-haired woman fed on it. From her research, Sakura knew Karin had been starved for attention in her childhood. And who better than Tobirama to give all of his to her now.

Sakura continued to stand there until Tobirama’s gaze briefly flickered in her direction. A silent cue that Karin was ready for her now.

Stepping away from the balcony, Sakura adjusted the shoulder of her black evening gown, ensuring it covered the scarring on her shoulder. At the same time, her phone pinged in her clutch purse, a stark reminder to mute the device before she went into this meeting.

Fetching her phone, Sakura unlocked the screen to silence her ringer when she saw an unusual text message: a simple location with a date and time. It was from an unknown number, but the description was oddly familiar. There was only one person who ever texted her like that:

Itachi.

tbc…

[cityofblurbs]

Favorite Sakura Fics

Gaara x Sakura

Best Present Ever by paws-bells

GaaSaku. The cliched method of locking two quarrelsome lovers together in a room works after all, as Sakura and Gaara are about to discover. How could it not, when one is covered in only a towel and the other is not as apathetic as he appears to be?

Rated: T - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Walking Togetherby Zelha

Following the same themes as the other collections, it’s now up to Gaara to figure out how to handle an arranged marriage with a pink-haired medic that somehow, he doesn’t mind to have around, bad temper and all. His siblings are all too amused by this.

Rated: M - Chapters: 15 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Kakashi x Sakura

25 KakaSaku Moments by hikomokushi

25 drabble prompts, written using the prompts from the kakasakudrabble community on livejournal. Various themes, ratings and situations. KakashixSakura Disclaimer: Written strictly for entertainment. I do not own Naruto, nor the characters.

Rated: M - Chapters: 25 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

A Series of Firsts by leafygirl

A series of moments that happen between Sakura and Kakashi on a rotation at an ANBU camp as they discover their dynamic has changed over the years. One Shot. Mature content.

Rated: M - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Chidori no Jutsu by Lucibell

Kakashi Hatake had never known that coming home could feel so good. KakaSaku. Oneshot.

Rated: K+ - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Closest Thing to Family by Silberias

As Hatake Kakashi, General of the 3rd Division, looks around the battlefield after their victory he only wants to see the faces of his family. Crossposted on Ao3.

Rated: T - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Double Edged by nimblnymph

Seduction is like a double edged sword. You never know when you'll go from being the seducer to being the seduced. KakaSaku.

Rated: M - Chapters: 27 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Even a Blind Pig by rabid behemoth

It can be tough to keep secrets from a village full of ninjas. Particularly when Ino's on the prowl. [Set post-4th Shinobi War] [KakaSaku]

Rated: T - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Fated by leafygirl

Sakura runs from her past as Kakashi wants to run from life. Naruto and Genma witness the painful trials their friends must go through. Kakasaku Sasusaku - Please be aware there are multiple serious main character deaths. You will probably cry. This story has angst/tragedy/romance and maybe not in that order.

Rated: M - Chapters: 23 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Fated – Alternate Ending by leafygirl

This is an alternate ending to the story "Fated". Read the original first. These three chapters are an alternative ending to the last three chapters of the original story.

Rated: T - Chapters: 3 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Feeling Youby cutecrazyice

It started with a kiss...a touch...a stroke. Now the lines are blurred, and the borders are being crossed - and nothing has ever been more delicious. KakaSaku

Rated: M - Chapters: 23 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Flaming Heart by Creidhe

An unexpected incident, sends Sakura into the past. She has a chance at saving everything, but as the wise say 'Playing with the hands of times brings you the most deadly consequences,' However, Sakura was not one to be intimidated ...

Rated: T - Chapters: 26 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Flow of Life by Ebil Chameleon

He didn't love her. He couldn't love her. He couldn't get attached. But his heart was betraying him. Building bonds that were irreversible. It was love. SasuSaku Chapter 46: Our Finale.

Rated: M - Chapters: 46 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

To Grow a Garden by Wolfy Tales

"So what do you think about having a kid with me, Sakura?" - A family focused one-shot [KakaSaku]

Rated: T - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Heart of Patience by alifestylechoice

Kurenai grinned, a small laugh escaping. "Hatake Kakashi, in love. Who'd've thought." Kakasaku, Kakashi x Sakura

Rated: T - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

House Calls by Spoiled Sweet

Always the Team Mom, Sakura opens up her home as a clinic for the hospital-phobic ninja of Konoha. At the same time, her relationship with Kakashi begins to evolve in a way she never expected. M for swearing and later content.

Rated: M - Chapters: 40 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

I Found You Missing by Wolfy Tales

'They're asking us because these soldiers have absolutely no one left to write home to,' Sakura thought with a frown. So she signs up for the Shinobi Letter Exchange, not realizing how large the consequences would be. - AUish one-shot [KakaSaku]

Rated: T - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

In Case of Blue Scroll by Leola Majora

In Case of Blue Scroll the Hokage must lock himself in his office and pull his hair out as what he thought were memories of a long lost love turn out to be the memories of a mission he was about to assign his former student, Sakura Haruno.

Rated: M - Chapters: 12 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Just Try by Erika Hearken

The struggles we all face are sometimes almost too much to bear. In those times, everyone needs someone to lean on. Sakura finds that someone wasn't quite to far away after all. In fact, he's been right there all along. And he's ever ready to be that someone she can lean on. Warning: there is a character death.

Rated: M - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Left Behind by Trinnerti

They first stopped training with her, then slowly she was pushed out of the missions before she vanished from their lives. Now seeing her stronger than ever they couldn't stop but feeling guilty. Will their friendship blow up again or will this be the end?

Rated: T - Chapters: 28 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Life Informs Life by Silberias

When Kakashi was 5 years old his father defended him, and when Kakashi was 20 years old he defended his father. And then a fiery woman named Sakura bashed her way into his life and when Kakashi was 50 years old he was glad of it. Parallel views of a life. Crossposted to Ao3

Rated: T - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Packmate by Aria Illusine

Pakkun finally gets tired of Kakashi doing nothing about his attraction to Sakura, and takes matters into his own hands...er...paws. With the rest of Kakashi's summons pack to help! KakaSaku Complete

Rated: T - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Paths by Spoiled Sweet

No one said it would be easy to be a Hatake. One-shots centering on Sakura, Kakashi, and their offspring.

Rated: T - Chapters: 11 - Complete or Incomplete: Incomplete

Point of Grace by Shadow.of.Illusion

“Why can’t you just leave me be?” A muffled sigh answered her question, and she found her gaze suddenly riveted to Kakashi’s cloth-covered mouth. “That’s a very good question, Sakura.” KakaSaku

Rated: T - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Puppies and Babies by Gentlewatersoul

A holiday one shot. Happy Holidays.

Rated: K - Chapters: 1- Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Respect and Understanding by ronny-of-yore

[Complete] 24yr. old Sakura tries to join Anbu. She must seek the help of two old teammates to do so. Will she find love while in the ranks of the elite? A story on how respect can slowly change to love. Kakasaku

Rated: M - Chapters: 17 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Samadhi by Zelha

As the New Year is around the corner, our favorite kunoichi wonders what to do with a suddenly elusive lover of hers. And, of course, she has all the answers she needs ... in some well-known books. KakaSaku, of course!

Rated: M - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Sequential by Winter Ashby

Sometimes, the only way to understand how everything went wrong is to go back to the beginning. [Kakashi & Sakura]

Rated: T - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Seven Flowers by bluefurcape

Love doesn’t need words.

Rated: K+ - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Sinch in Time by Blade Redwind

Six years pass. Jiraiya & Naruto left Leaf. Sasuke & Kakashi left too. Sakura's been working with Tsunade. Paths cross as the men return. And somehow the three ninja find themselves hurled twenty years in the past. Summary inside.

Rated: M - Chapters: 68 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Some Light Reading by J-Pop Princess

Sakura's curiosity gets the best of her and she finds herself reading one of Kakashi's Icha Icha books. Little does she know that reading it will result in a world of experimentation on both their parts.

Rated: M - Chapters: 6 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Something Worth fighting For by Spindelhona

Homage to Wolfy Tales I found you missing. This is my version of Kakashi Hatakes' side of the story: War's ugly. But so is Life. You have to remind yourself there's still things worth fighting for. Assuming there is. Unless they're all dead and you're practically homeless. And yet, you have to carry on. You're needed. Is that enough?

Rated: M - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Star of Silver, Heart of Tinby J-Pop Princess

Written for the Kaka/Saku Fairytale contest! Kakashi had never seen the pink haired nurse before that day, but the fact that she wore an eye patch just like him gave them something in common. Or at least that's what he thought.

Rated: T - Chapters: 3 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

The Window by SilverShine

Kakasaku Sakura always wanted to see Kakashi unmasked. This was a bit much though...

Rated: M - Chapters: 21 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Three Blossoms by SilverShine

[KakaSaku] Two and a half years is a long time. Time enough for a blossom tree to bloom three times. Time enough for a child to become a girl, but not enough to become an adult. Time for a heart to crack in loneliness, but not enough time for it to heal.

Rated: M - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Torn by Blade Redwind

Kakashi's past comes back to haunt him when he finds himself facing the prospect of sponsoring Sakura for ANBU where seduction missions are not optional, but required. Now... Complete summary inside.

Rated: M - Chapters: 24 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Unbroken by princezsupastr

When Sakura finds herself facing a rogue ninja, she never dreamed that she would end up fourteen years in the past. Trapped in a Konoha where she must hide her true identity, she runs into a familiar face, except he doesn't seem familiar at all.

Rated: M - Chapters: 26 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Welcome Home by Wonderfoal

[KakaSaku] [oneshot] Sakura is having his baby. Too bad he doesn’t know it.

Rated: K+ - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Will of Fireby Cynchick

Forced to flee their village and the new regime, the loyal shinobi of Konoha must find a way to preserve their way of life and take back their home. As they fight for their future, Team Seven struggles to overcome the past. KakaSaku

Rated: M - Chapters: 26 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Winner Takes All by Clearheart

Heartbroken for the last time, Sakura swears off all relationships. But even as she makes this vow her team-mates take notice of her exceptional skill and beauty. It's not long before there's a fierce competition for her heart. Team 7, KakaSaku.

Rated: M - Chapters: 11 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Neji x Sakura

A Last Request by Mikami

NejiSaku. Uchiha Sasuke’s death, though unforeseen, was not in vain after the final mission of his life. His last words were taken in by the most unexpected comrade, Hyuga Neji.“ Don’t let her be unhappy, Hyuga...”

Rated: M - Chapters: 12 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Affaire de Coeur by Lady Silvamord

Affaire de Coeur: affair of the heart. Not here, exactly, nor anywhere too far away, instances in the lives of two very different people. Drabble series. [30: the last chapter.]

Rated: T - Chapters: 30 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Brought Together by purple-peach

At war with Sound, Neji and Sakura unexpectedly begin to discover common ground and comfort within each other. COMPLETE. NejiSaku

Rated: M - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Cages by Winter Ashby

Neji examines the new cage he's managed to twist his wounded soul into and the pink and green that haunt him at every turn. He wonders what she would taste like. [Neji & Sakura]

Rated: T - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Midnight Snack by Zelha

In which Sakura has a craving, Neji is pretty much uptight, and the rest of the Hyuuga Clan is holding back their laughter at their resident tensai. AU NejiSaku crackish smut.

Rated: M - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Promises by Winter Ashby

Neji and Sakura return from the resque Gaara arc, but it looks like they've been hiding something. [Neji & Sakura]

Rated: T - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Revelation by paws-bells

NejiSaku Revelations are dangerous things, as Sakura was just starting to find out. They could turn turn your peaceful life upside down and inside out, even if it wasn't your revelation in the first place. Damn Neji.

Rated: T - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Secrets by Winter Ashby

Rough hands and green eyes meet in the dead of night. It was a mistake she never should have let happen, but now she dreams of him and all the dark secrets he holds for her. Someday this will all end, but not tonight… [Neji & Sakura]

Rated: T - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Silver and Emerald Days by Zelha

Silver and Emerald Days is a drabble collection by Celtic Oak and Zelha. Neji now lives with Sakura, as their partnership has escalated to another level. Companionship and brilliant love among the two genii. Various ratings.

Rated: M - Chapters: 15 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Three Days Till Home by Winter Ashby

Three days can be a very long time to get home and out of the sun, especially now that Sakura holds a precious piece of information. But, in the presence of the right person, perhaps three days isn't quite long enough… [Neji & Sakura]

Rated: K+ - Chapters: 3 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Tis the Season by Zelha

Set after Silver and Emerald Days. Neji and Sakura, a bit of Christmas loving and some major fluff for this joyful season. Smut alert.

Rated: M - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Sasuke x Sakura

A Full Circle by Lady Momo

Years after his desertion, Haruno Sakura realizes that she and Uchiha Sasuke never did have an ending. But on a stormy, rainy night, as she hangs on the verge of death, she realizes that they never had a beginning either.

Rated: M - Chapters: 12 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

A Highly Contested Topic by Annie Sparklecakes

SasuSaku. He's not lonely, he says, Because he has her. In which Sakura desperately tries to form a bond, and Sasuke grows more and more attached by the day. He won't admit it, but the truth doesn't lie.

Rated: T - Chapters: 3 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

A Twist in Time by wolf08

With Konoha on the verge of destruction, Sakura is sent on a last-resort mission to save her world by traveling to the past. Join her in coping with her old body's shortcomings, testing the natural laws of time, falling in love all over again, and rediscovering who she is. Time-travel. SasuSaku. REAL publication date: Jan 2015

Rated: M - Chapters: 12 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

An Uchiha Christmas Carol by Blade Redwind

Visited by three Ghosts in a Narutoverse version of Dicken's classic tale, Sasuke must endure a front seat view of his life, past, present and future to ultimately decide if his actions, his goals, are really worth pursuing. 4 part one-shot.

Rated: T - Chapters: 4 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Contradicted by HauntedAngel

I was nineteen. I had just passed my Jonin exam. And then I met him..."You conceited, stuck-up, selfish, pathetic excuse of a man!" Unfortunately it took four years and a war for us to fall in love. SasuSaku. EDIT: First chapter now available in Vietnamese! Check out my profile for the link.

Rated: T - Chapters: 24 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Devotion by Annie Sparklecakes

No one ever expected their story to be perfect, because they were Sasuke and Sakura, and things could never be easy for them. But still Sakura hoped, Naruto lied, and Sasuke was sorry. [SasuSaku]

Rated: T - Chapters: 4 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Flow of Life by Ebil Cahmeleon

He didn't love her. He couldn't love her. He couldn't get attached. But his heart was betraying him. Building bonds that were irreversible. It was love. SasuSaku Chapter 46: Our Finale.

Rated: M - Chapters: 46 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Incomplete by letmeannoyyoutoday

AU. Sasu/Saku. When her father told her she would have to marry a guy she knew nothing about, just because that was the best for their family, she knew she couldn't say no, just like she knew she wouldn't be happy. She just never imagined it to be that bad.

Rated: M - Chapters: 39 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Next Contestant by Annie Sparklecakes

When she was 12, Sakura was always protected by her team. Now she's older and stronger, but they're still protective. [Team Seven oneshot][Implied SasuSaku]

Rated: T - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Shades of Grey by Lady Hanaka

Sakura knew that Sasuke would hate her when she brought him back to Konoha, but she was willing to let him do so, as long as he came back. She hoped she could save him from his darkness...but more than that, she hoped he could save her from her own.

Rated: M - Chapters: 26 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Sleepwalking Past Hope by dezmari

"I came back." He managed to speak. "Years too late. I stopped caring, I stopped trying, and by now I just don't care. You, Sasuke Uchiha, don't mean a thing to me anymore." -R&R-

Rated: T - Chapters: 11 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Stay by SouthSideStory

Sakura begs him not to go, so Sasuke stays. And year by year he falls a little more in love with the girl he couldn't leave behind. (AU in which Sasuke never abandons Konoha.)

Rated: M - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

The Perfect Dream by elle6778

When the dream to reunite Team 7 ends, it is surprisingly easy to bury the pain and carry on. But how long can one pretend? SasuSaku.

Rated: T - Chapters: 4 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Two Seconds Away from Home by rawrchelle

Sasuke/Sakura. Non-massacre. You don't need to be extraordinary to have an extraordinary story.

Rated: T - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Variance by dances.with.sunflowers

Life. Sasuke is back, her team is always gone, and the hospital is a grave. Sakuracentric. Updated weekly. COMPLETE!

Rated: T - Chapters: 25 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Shikamaru x Sakura

Hero by Winter Ashbury

Shikamaru reminds Sakura of someone she's tried to forget, because he's an avenger now. But he's also different, because he turns to Sakura in a moment of weakness and she sees him for the first time for what he really is. A Hero. [Shikamaru & Sakura]

Rated: K - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Shisui x Sakura

Training Grounds ThirtySevenby KatMaxKu

Oneshot. AU. Nonmass. Haruno Sakura would have done anything to get her favorite training spot back, but she didn't realize the gravity of her determination...The outtake "The Black Hawk" is up!

Rated: M - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Itachi x Sakura

Mendoususei by Naz-G

Sakura, an S Class Jounin and medic, one of the most powerful Konoha has ever had. Her legendary Team 7 are all part of ANBU. Life's good. Only 1 problem: she's steadily falling for her stoic, gorgeous sex god of a captain. *Sigh*, mendoukusei, ne?

Rated: M - Chapters: 35 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Mango Sorbet by Itaweasel-hime

She needed someone to lean on, and he really did not know what he wanted. All he knew was that they had been brought together by a carton of mango sorbet. Non-mass AU.

Rated: T  - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

A Continuous Circle by JUCHKO

Sakura accidentally stumbles upon the Akatsuki hideout and is forced to use a scroll that was for 'last resorts only'. The scroll takes her to the past, back before the massacre. Rated T just in case. ItachiXSakura Time travel. Sequel up: And the Circle Comes Round. Sister story to Kindred Spirits.

Rated: T  - Chapters: 41 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

And the Circle Comes Round by JUCHKO

Sakura returns, only to find that the old woman was telling the truth. Now she's been captured by the Akatsuki for reasons unknown. Her heart is torn between love, hate, and the mass confusion that comes of finding out things she never wanted to be true.

Rated: T  - Chapters: 60 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Crimson Genii by Zelha

Crimson Genii is a oneshot collection that follows the same themes as Silver and Emerald Days. This time, Itachi and Sakura show how they try to cope with life, duty... and their hidden relationship. Various ratings, Non-Massacre, AU.

Rated: M  - Chapters:15 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

This is my way as a ninja by paws-bells

ItaSaku Prequel to heart strings. To protect her most precious person, Sakura would willingly give her life. Itachi wasn't about to let her die, though.

Rated: T  - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Heart Strings by paws-bells

ItaSaku. Follow up to This is my way as a ninja. When all seems lost, hope comes in the most unexpected of ways. She was never going to be free of him, and for that he was never going to let her go.

Rated: T  - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Curtain call the final act by paws-bells

ItaSaku Sequel to heart strings. They were never meant to be together. Fate was doing everything possible to tear them apart, but one thing binds them closer than never before. As long as hope never dies, life continues to blossom.

Rated: M  - Chapters: 19 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

The Chance by elle6778

Sakura discovers just how different it is to go on a mission led by Uchiha Itachi. Non-massacre AU.

Rated: T  - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

The Course of True Love by Annie Sparklecakes

It never did run smooth, and it holds true for Itachi and Sakura. But maybe they'll get their happily-ever-after... eventually. Non-massacre AU. ItaSaku. Oneshot.

Rated: T  - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

The Way of the Wind by just enough

ANBU Captain Uchiha Itachi had things well planned out, until a medic-nin with ridiculous hair went and made herself interesting. Sakura insisted she was just doing her job, but Itachi didn't quite see it that way. Non-massacre. Sakura/Itachi.

Rated: M  - Chapters: 25 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

[daraanna]

“Arranged Love”- Part Two „Red ribbon”

She sat at her mother's bed. She slowly soaked the sponge with water and then washed the skin of the sleeping woman with it. She shouldn’t have deal with this, but when she saw how maids treated the sick woman, she chased them away. It didn’t change the fact that now  she should serve her husband not mom. Once again she felt disgust. She did not dream about such a life. Although she has long ago abandoned naive plans to follow her father's footsteps, she hoped that she will be able to become Miko. She definitely preferred to serve gods and people, rather than just one self-loving man. However, in the current situation, that wasn’t the main thing she was thinking about. The pain after his father's death was still fresh. Although two months have passed since his funeral, she still could not believe it. She often caught herself on that she expected him to return. It did not seem real that he would never see him again. After the information about her husband's death, her mother's health deteriorated sharply. Her mother was sick for many years, but now she barely found the strength to get up from the bed. Looking at her, she could not stop the growing fear at the thought that she would leave her soon too.

“I think that this hand can’t be any cleaner... “ she heard a melodic voice. She looked up at the smiling face of pink-haired woman .

"Good morning" she replied and smile back, "How are you?”

"Uh ... It used to be better ... Although I'm more interested in how you feel ?" In spite of her pain, her mother was still worried about her more than she was about herself. Involuntarily, she sighed. "Everything is okay? Sarada did he ...

"No... We did not even do it," she replied. “He preferred to talk ...”

 “I knew that Naruto's son must be kind ...”

"Or prefer servants," replied the black-haired woman under her breath.

“What?” Sakura asked.

“Nothing important...”

“Sarada. I know you did not dream about it ... I and Dad would do anything to make you happy ...”

“Mom, you do not have to ... It's the only way to defend Naka from plundering. Nobody dares to attack the emperor's land, especially now ... “she stopped when felt touch on her hand. Her mother gently pulled her to hug her tight.

You know perfectly well that it isn’t what I mean. I will not ... I do not know how long I can be with you. Naruto was a friend of your father from an early age. I know that you will be safe here ...” Black-haired girl instinctively snuggled into her

“You should not call the Emperor by name” - she reminded to which the older woman reacted with laughter. “You know, your father called him a dope... I think we know each other too long to follow the court's etiquette”

Sarada nodded in pity. How many stories she heard about the times when father and mother grew up in the royal court. Sasuke as a son of Shogun was sent to the palace for study with sensei Kakashi Hakate. Her mother was the daughter of the castle servants, but because of her extraordinary beauty, she was taken to learn in order to become an imperator’s concubine... However, the friendship that was born between her parents and the young emperor thwarted many adult plans. Everything changed when the army of Danzo attacked Naka. In one night all members of the Uchiha clan were murdered. The only survivor was her father who was then in the capital. It took him 7 years to regain his hometown and defeat the forces of the Shimura. However, she did not know the details of what happen then. Her parents didn’t want to talk about it. When she finished thinking the door to the room opened. Empress stood in them carrying a pot of tea. Sarada quickly stood up to bow to the arrived, which she replied with a smile.

"Good morning Sakura, Sarada, nice to see you," queen welcomed them, putting tea at the nightstand

“Sakura, how are you feeling? “ moments later, the emperor appeared in the room, putting the youngest girl in a consternation - I see that my beautiful daughter-in-law  is also here!” he shouted patting her on the head “My son is lucky, amazing that Sasuke bastard became the father of such beauty. You probably have all the genes after mom ...

-Naruto! - the menacing tone of the pink-haired woman stopped the emperor.

Hinata-sama did not look happy about his words either.

“I'm sorry, I know, I should not speak ill of the dead, but it's hard to believe that teme is dead ...”- the blond sighed. Everyone in the room became sad. Seeing this empress, she decided to change the subject.

“Um .. Sarada, have you met Himawari?

The girl looked at her questioningly, not knowing what that sunflower is ...

“Uh ... Younger sister of Boruto, Himawari. You know ... She was very happy that now she would have an older sister ... She is 8 years old, so she does not understand everything yet, but she really wanted to meet you, "she said smiling.

"True, why do not you go and visit her, and we will talk to Sakura-chan?" said blond.

Black-haired girl felt like she was 10 years old again. It was hard to tell her how she felt about that the royal couple treated her like a child. On the one hand, she felt anger, in the end, it was them who married her with their son, making her an adult. On the other ... It made her feel safe . However, no matter what she think about this situation, every request of the emperor should be treated as an order. She got up and, bowing to the elders, left the room.

...................... Finding the rooms of her sister-in-law was not easy. Although the Uchiha residence in Naka was not small, the imperial palace was enormous. She had already lost hope of finding herself in these intricate labyrinths, when something furred had grazed her feet. She froze. Moments later, another animal ran out from the next door, followed by a little girl dressed in a multi-colored kimono.

“Kurama no! “ she shouted after the fox.

If it was not shocking enough, moments after that she felt the weight on her shoulder. When she turned her head, she saw the frightened Tanuki suspended on her hand. “You should be friends with Shukaku and not chase him! Oh! Sarada-nee !?

The confused girl only nodded.

-Wooow, sister is so pretty... Let's have play! - shouted a 8-year-old girl and before she could protest, she was dragged into the chamber. The room was a mess. Scattered ribbons, paint stains, two buried beds for animals, and after that a bed and a huge wardrobe with scattered clothes. In the middle of it all, a frightened babysitter stood.

“Princess, you can not ... Oh! “  she started, but she quickly bowed when she saw Sarada. Black-haired returned the gesture.

“Nana, you can go ... Sister will take care of me” a small Uzumaki smiled. The governess opened her mouth for a moment as if she wanted to resist but when she saw the fox returning to the room she apparently found that it was better to evacuate because a moment later she was gone.

"Will you help me comb Kuraama?" Asked the blue-eyed girl, trying to catch the unfortunate animal.

“Comb?”

"I must put a ribbon on his tail to make him look kawaii ..." she replied

"Um ... Are you sure he likes it?" She asked, looking at the frightened animal. Himawari looked at her pet and then at the ribbons in her hands.

“D-does not look like ... But the ribbons are so pretty” she sighed .

“You know ... What is nice for people does not have to be nice for animals “ Uchiha crouch next to her - Look at Kurama, the gods gave him beautiful fur, he don’t need additional decorations ...

The girl looked at her with understanding. Then, without any warning, she hugged her.

“Nee-chan is sooo smart!”

Black-haired had no idea how to react. She was not used to such close contacts with strangers, but on the other hand, it was hard not to like the little princess. She gently stroked her head. "Don’t you think you should clean up here?" She replied, looking around the room.

“Huh? There's no need , maids will do it ...”

“But it's your room and I do not think your pets are feeling well in this mess.”

Himawari looked at the fox and tanuki animals were stressed by frequent entanglement in different clothes and ribbons.

"I think you're right," she replied sadly.

Sarada smiled.

"I can help you and then we'll play, okay?" She asked. The younger returned her smile.

“Hai”

.................................... It did not take long for them to clean this room. It is true that more work was done by the older, this little Uzumaki didn’t hesitate. Finally, the beds of animals were also tidy and this time they set them on opposite sides of the room to give Kurama and Shukaku time to get used to each other. The eight-year-old seemed to be proud of the new decor she received.

"And now she wants to brush  sister’s hair!", She grinned, holding a brush and a bunch of ribbons in her hand. For some reason, this sight caused Sarada to have shivers . However, the promise is a promise, so she obediently sat down on the floor.

"Can I use all the ribbons?" Asked the girl innocently, but it did not make her feel better.

“Um ... Or maybe it's better to start from one? “

"Okay but  the longest," replied the blue-eyed girl, pulling a red ribbon from the cabinet.

She agreed. At that moment, she did not see anything strange about it. The problem appeared when it turned out that the ribbon is 20 meters long. So after finishing combing, she continued to follow her like a veil.

“What do you think?”

“Hn... It’s pretty - it's not that she lied. Indeed, the hairstyle was not ugly, as to the practicability you could argue, but she did not have the heart to deprive smile of this little girl.

“What are we going to play now " she heard her voice, but the colors of red and orange spreading through the room clearly suggested that the night was approaching.

"I think that soon enough you should go to sleep soon, right?" The young princess's smile was soon gone. Sarada felt strange. As if a strong instinct told her to do something to comfort her. So she did what she knew the most. Before she could think her fingers: the index and middle were on the girl's forehead.

"Next time," she said, smiling, seeing surprise of blue-eyed girl. Then she realized what she had just done. She felt strong pressure in the chest and growing panic.

“I have to go” she said before she left the room. Her step was accelerated just like her breath. Emotions from the previous 2 months have been flowing her again. Shock and pain when her father's body was brought to their estate in Naka. She missed her breath and felt dark in front of her eyes. She felt that she was all shaking, but she could not control herself. She missed her father, she missed her home, she was afraid for her mother, she felt far too much. She did not know how much time had passed till she regained contact with reality. She was in her husband's room. She was not sure how she got here, but she was grateful she was alone. She hate to cry in the presence of others. Still slightly shaky, she tried to get up from the floor. As she leaned against the chests of drawers, her eyes fell on the katana lying on it in a decorative package. She took a closer look at the blade, which was really well done. Despite of the richness of decoration, they did not interfere with holding the handles, nor did they change the fluidity of the movements with the sword. Curious, she took it in her hand. It was heavy, far heavier and longer than her katana, but well balanced. The steel from which it was made also seemed to be the highest, but the blade was dull and dirty. Involuntarily she winced, even the most beautiful work of art not preserved will become a trash. Instinctively she looked into the dresser in search of tools to clean the blade and quickly found them. Cleansing and sharpening took her much longer than normal. Applying the last layers of maintenance oil she felt that she was calm. For some reason, even such a prosaic act was able to bring her at least a substitute of home. Carefully, she put the katana back in place and was about to move into the bathroom when she almost get heart attack with the impetus of the open door. Her husband ran into the room and did not notice the red ribbon stretched across the ground. A moment later she felt a heavy burden on her and then she was lying on the floor. When she opened her eyes she had two blue irises in front of her. She felt that she was breathless. Why had not she noticed that they looked like this ... As if someone had cut them out of a piece of sky.

"Ugh ..." her thoughts were interrupted by the voice and movement of the future emperor, who tried to get up, but the red ribbon entangled them like some spider web "What the hell is that?" He asked. However, she had no idea what to answer.

“I-I’m sorry” she answered after a moment.

She felt his surprised eyes on her and then heard his sigh.  he stood up and goes to the chests of drawers.

"No problem," he replied, taking Katana and leaving room. He probably did not even notice that something changed with the blade. She slowly got up from the floor. Her husband was not bad... He was not cruel, he was no older than she was for 20 or 30 years. He did not treat her like an object, he did not look at her with superiority like most of the candidates for her fiancés whom her father dismissed. He did not have any of the features she feared so much, yet she had no idea how to get along with him. They were too different at the same time, both were still children, no matter what the letter of the law claimed. Probably none of them was delighted with the situation in which there were either. Resigned, she headed for the bathroom. She was tired of that day, a quick bath should relax her a bit... Or maybe not ... A good fifteen minutes took her to persuade the servants that she really can wash herself without their help. They really think that she will undress herself in the presence of 5 strangers?

................................... The following weeks in the imperial palace passed in a similar manner. She looked after her mother every morning, then went to visit her sister-in-law. In the afternoon, she cleaned up her husband's katana, which was actually the only thing connecting her with him outside the bed they shared. They have hardly ever talked since the wedding. The exception was the official ceremony on which they had to put together as the future royal couple. Every day looked the same until one day when she get up and find the materials and sewing thread on the table. Everything looked very expensive. After the first shock she remembered the first and only conversation with blond. Instinctively, she made her way towards his sleeping form. After all, it was nice of him. She did not think she would remember something like that ... There was only one problem ... The girl had no idea about embroidering...

.............................. Sarada felt herself blushing when her mother's laughter filled practically the entire chamber.

"You hate embroidering ... W-why did you tell him that you like it?" pink-haired said trying to stop laughing.

“Tsh ... I do not know. I was thinking ... Uh ... I thought it was something that a good wife should be interested in ... - she replied even more embarrassed - Y-you will teach me this or not?

“Sarada, when you were 4 years old, you almost give the governess a heart attack by escaping through the window from the embroidery lessons ...”

“I know it! “ Oh Kami, why her mother have to teasing her like that ...

“Do not you think that such lies are a bad way to build a relationship?”

In spite of the fact that she knew that her mother wants to help her  at that moment she was too angry.

“Do not lie? My job is to look nice, curtsey, smile like a fool and give birth to sons! How can I be real in something like that? "She screamed as she rose from her chair. At first she wanted to run out of the room, but she stopped and sighed.

"I'm sorry, I should not have ..." she stuttered.

"It’s okay... I understand ... If you want to I will teach you this," Sakura replied.

.............................................................................................................................

Soooooooo...  there is another part and it is a little bit longer, but If I had to be honest I have the feeling that first chapter was better written... this time I am even less sure about that I translate it correctly.... so heh.. I hope It is readable...

   <<first part                                                                                     next part>

[bouncyirwin]

Bouncy’s Masterpost

 I'll admit that I made this list purely out of boredom. I compiled all my work from 2018 here (FF.net, AO3 and Tumblr), in other words: the good, the bad and the ugly. I’ll probably update this again by December.

Order: from oldest to newest.

January 2018

[1] Resolutions | 6,649 Words | T | KakaSaku

In which Sakura realises it isn't too late to find happiness and lets go. 

Snippet:

She'd never quite paid attention to it before, but Kakashi had really kind eyes. It made her wonder how such dark depths could ever hold so much warmth— Sasuke's were always hard, emotionless. Like staring into a void. Cold.

[2] Coming Home (to you) | 4,050 Words | T | KakaSaku | fanart

Sakura had always been a part of Kakashi’s thoughts, even in her absence.

Snippet: 

I know I tried to escape the hospital, but I think it’s kinda a given with me. Chaining me to a bed in the Hokage’s office is a bit extreme….

I really miss having you doing the ass-kicking.

This is beyond humiliating.

I hope you come back soon or else you might just find yourself a copy ninja short.

- Kakashi.

[3] When You Awake | 4,270 | M | KakaSaku | Fanart 1 | Fanart 2

Through a haze of confusion and a killer hungover, Sakura discovers she’s in Kakashi’s bed. 

Snippet: 

He was shirtless— why was he shirtless?

As if in a trance, her gaze slid down to her own body and a fresh wave of embarrassment assaulted her when she realised his lack of shirt was because she was wearing it. Without looking up at him, Sakura asked very slowly, "Kakashi… why am I… wearing your shirt?"

[4] Chance Meetings | 1,810 Words | T | ShisuiSaku

Shisui flirts with Sakura in front of an angry Team 7.

Snippet:

"Dinner with you?" Sakura asked, surprised but not unpleasantly so.

Shisui laughed, she was just too cute. "Well yeah, that's what I'm hoping."

Another glare intensified, this one coming from the blond boy. He looked ready to march to Sakura's side and throttle Shisui, but the firm grip of Kakashi Hatake kept him in place.

"Like… like a date?" Sakura inquired, her cheeks slightly darker now.

May 2018 

[5] Daylight | 1,335 | T | IronStrange [Marvel]

Tony had nothing, and then he had everything.

Snippet:

“Strange, I thought we agreed the balcony bedroom is mine?” Tony swept into his bedroom with a hint of the dramatic flair he used to possess before the world reminded him everything was temporary and painful, voice lightly reprimanding but not holding any real heat.

Stephen looked up from the thick book he was reading, his hair drifting lightly in that infuriatingly captivating way of his. “It seems my room has been taken over. I had to relocate.”

[6] At Your Mercy | 3,006 Words | M | StevexOC [Marvel]

In which Steve Rogers and Valerie discover that sometimes need trumps rationality.

Snippet:

“I wasn’t jerking off.” He finally said. Valerie startled, her mouth nearly dropping open, not having expected those words from him at that moment.

Instinctively she glanced around to make sure no one overheard Steve. When she noticed no eavesdroppers, she pressed, “really?”

June 2018

[7] Rainstorm | 2,990 Words | T | KakaSaku 

Life-threatening injuries always end in a confession. 

Snippet:

His eyes traced over the skies outside, dragging his gaze from the windows and over to her so that their eyes met again. She waited, wanting to look away from his intense depths of charcoal but finding herself unable to. He was at once as loud as a storm and as quiet as the night. “The last time I assigned a simple mission to a large group of people, they were ambushed and three of them died. First I thought, there’s safety in numbers, lesser chances of things going wrong. Instead, it got them noticed and tracked by a group of missing nin.”

[8] You Only Live Twice | 3,319 Words | T | KakaSaku

Kakashi’s ninken sure love to meddle, but at least their heart’s in the right place this time.

Snippet:

"We just think it'll be a good idea if you looked after him, y'know," Pakkun mumbled, trying to lace his voice with as much innocence and conviction as possible. "He tends to neglect his health and we can't boss him around cause he's the boss."

Sakura huffed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Yeah, sure, leave it to me. That baka, I'll show him."

Soon afterwards Sakura set on her way back to the hospital and Pakkun turned to nod to his fellow ninken. "Step one, check."

[9] Recipe For Disaster | 1,858 Words | T | Multiple [Marvel]

Peter Parker did what Nick Fury failed to. He unwittingly brought together a group of remarkable people.

[or, a silly marvel group chat fic that no one asked for]

Snippet:

Dp: I’m Dp

Tony Stark: What’s Dp stand for

Dp: Take a wild guess

Tony Stark: Double penetration?

Spideyboi: oHMYGOD

Spideyboi: MR STARK

Tony Stark: he did say a ‘wild’ guess

July 2018 

[10] The Story Of Another Us | 19,155 Words | M | KakaSaku

Kakashi and Sakura were at the brunt of the Fourth Shinobi World War, only to be thrust into the ruins of the Third.

Snippet:

"Don't put words in my mouth, Kakashi," Sakumo chided, some anger colouring his voice. "That wasn't what I asked."

Realising that whatever tactic he was using against Sakumo wasn't working, Kakashi's shoulders deflated. He looked so helpless to do anything but endure the interrogation that Sakumo almost took pity on him. But not quite. He needed to satiate his curiosity first.

Kakashi had turned back to the stove, breaking eye contact and reaching to stir the contents in the pan. And then he said something that had Sakumo's jaw drop open. "I love her."

[11] 3 A.M | 2,345 Words | M | KakaSaku

Our Drunk OTP are fantastic wedding planners. 

Snippet:

“A bet is a bet, darling.” She purred against the white sleeve of his dress shirt.

He’d looked magnificent tonight, especially as he’d gotten more drunk and lost the tie, rolling his sleeves up to expose his lean elbows and unbuttoning the first two buttons of his shirt.

“What d’you want for a refund?” He tilted his face to bury his nose in her hair, inhaling her deeply and in a way that made Sakura’s stomach twist.

Nuzzling closer to his body warmth, Sakura voiced what she’d been thinking since the moment he’d lost the bet. She tilted her head back, bringing their faces closer together as she murmured, “I want to top tonight.”

[12] Cravings | 3,823 Words | M | KakaSaku

When you mix alcohol and pent-up frustration, things are bound to go somewhere. Phone sex. 

Snippet:

It was a selfie of him and Genma at some club, drinks in hand with the caption of ‘you’re missing out xx’.

Sakura took a second to appreciate the wild mess that was his hair and the flexing tendons in his neck. The first two buttons of his plaid shirt were unbuttoned to expose some toned skin, his sleeves rolled up over his lean arms. He had his tongue stuck between his sharp teeth and Sakura wanted to die as all her frustration rushed back into her. All because of one photo.

Sakura: fuck u

How could he do this to her so effortlessly?! His reply came faster than she’d expected and she looked down at her screen with raised eyebrows.

September 2018 

[13] Distractions, Confusions and a Hot Professor | 4,324 Words | M | KakaSaku

Professor Hatake and Ms Haruno are dragged into the midst of the newest rumour circulating the University of Konoha. 

Snippet:

“Hey Sakura, have you seen the new cute professor yet?”

Sakura looked up from sorting the piles of books in front of her to raise a curious eyebrow at her colleague. Tenten grinned leaning over the desk to peer at Sakura. “He’d already made Hyuuga faint and all he did was smile at her.”

October 2018 

[14] Knock Knock, Let The Devil In | 7,617 | M | KakaSakuShika

Kakashi had always appreciated Shikamaru's ability to turn any situation in his favour. He just never expected to become a willing target to his whims.

Snippet:

Kakashi quietly slipped into their shared room and immediately froze in his steps. Perhaps it had been a mistake to return quite so early— he hadn’t even paused to ponder if those two had any plans.

They’d said they weren’t dating but Kakashi now wondered why he hadn’t interpreted that shared look for its implications. They weren’t dating alright, but they sure were close.

November 2018

[15] Nocturnal Activities | 3,761 | M | KakaSaku

Actions have always spoken louder than words.

Bonus - Art

[x], [x], [x], [x] 

[ikesenhell]

We Shadows

This is Chapter 10 of I See Starlight. You can find all other IkeSen works of mine here. NOTE: SPOILERS FOR TO HONOR AND PROTECT. If you have not read it, please go back and do so before proceeding. Warning: This starts with some bad bad feels/major character *non traumatic* death. You’ve been warned. It’s also kind of inevitable for a fic that spans a certain amount of time. Also: blood, minor horror elements.

By the time their son was born, the Nine knew Shingen was on his way out of the world. His health never recovered after the Invasion. He’d been reduced to leaning on his pregnant fiancee, Rose, as much as his cane. Even when he kept the smile on his lips, they all saw how much pain he was in--so after Hideyoshi and Mitsuhide and she had their turn with him, they let Shingen and Rose settle into the bedroom with them and hold the baby.

“Look at him,” Shingen crooned, patting the boy’s nose with his fingertip. “A good man, I’m sure. Look at his eyes. That’s the gaze of a fighter. He’ll do great things.”

Scarcely an hour later, he was on his deathbed--and then, gone. 

Where Yuki cried openly at the funeral, Kenshin was stoic and impassive as ice, only the tight clench of his hand around his second wife’s hand betraying him. Sasuke Sarutobi was appointed to the empty slot a week later. It was a good fit. The former bodyguard was quiet and polite enough to evade faux pas, but strong enough to win over Kenshin’s utilitarian facade, and the wheels of time moved on. 

They sold the little one room townhouse for a larger one. Rose even moved in with them, for a time, until her own son was born: Shingen Takeda. He was a redhead like his father. 

As for their own child, Gin Toyotomi-Akechi (they’d gotten into a bit of an argument about whether or not to name him ‘Nobunaga’, which was shut down when she pointed out that ‘Nobunaga Toyotomi-Akechi’ was a mouthful) grew like a weed. He was five when she became pregnant again with Saburo, their second son. And--last of all, when Gin was already fifteen and Saburo ten--Kaito Nobunaga Toyotomi-Akechi (they relented) was born, an eerie echo of both his fathers. 

“I think you had yourself a chimera child,” Ieyasu remarked, doing a check up on the two year old. He was a frequent sight at the house; his four children, Masamune’s daughter, and the junior Yukimura and Shingen (and Shingen’s half-sister) were forever emerging in the front lawn and begging to play. “That’s rare.”

“What is that, exactly?” Hideyoshi hovered anxiously. “It’s nothing, I hope?”

Masamune grinned. “Hideyoshi, you’re gonna go grey faster if you worry like that.”

Ieyasu brushed him off with a scowl. “We aren’t certain. The best theory we have so far is that it started as twins, but the eggs merged together.”

Kaito stared at Ieyasu with huge gold eyes. “Does that mean I’m a cabbage?”

“A what?” Ieyasu softened at the child. 

“A cabbage! Shingen said that cabbages are people who eat other people--”

“That’s a cannibal, a cabbage is a vegetable.” The blonde corrected gently. “And no. You’re not. Also, someone needs to talk to that child.”

They were in their late thirties and early fourties now, and Mitsuhide wondered where he’d ever gotten so lucky.

Their house filled with the chaos of three growing boys and a million different machines, all prototypes of their mother’s. The Nine kept them all busy, but god if he didn’t give everything in him to their family. He nestled alongside her on the porch, his knees stacked with hers and the gentle brush of her thumb insistent over his knuckles.

She chuckled softly, resting her head onto his shoulder. “Can you ‘see’ Hideyoshi out there?”

“No. I think he’s beyond my sight. What’s happening?”

“Mmmm.” He knew that sound. She pulled in closer to him, the hum of her arousal nearly vibrating off her skin. He loved how attractive they were to her still. He never doubted, not for a moment, that she was as in love with the two of them now as she’d ever been. “He’s wrestling the boys. Gin kind of has him in a headlock, and Saburo is trying to pull his arms down. He’s holding on to Kaito to keep him from getting hurt. You know how he is.”

He chuckled and wound his fingers between hers. “I do. Do you want me to call him inside with us?”

“Oh?” She played coy, but he heard the tease. “Whatever for, love?”

“I don’t need my eyes to read you. I think we could all be doing a bit of wrestling ourselves.”

The giggle was music to his ears. He nuzzled his nose into her neck and listened to her laugh, her hands running through his shoulder length hair. God. He was so, so, so very lucky. He wished that all would have the same fortune he had. 

“What’s going on here?” Hideyoshi emerged panting.

“Nothing much--currently. We could rectify that, if you get Gin to watch the other two and grant us three some time alone.”

“Oh--Oh!” He heard Hideyoshi’s blush. “Ahem. Uh. Yeah. Absolutely. Hang on, I’ll--I’ll be right behind you two.”

“Oh, I know you will be.”

“Mitsuhide.” 

He restrained a genuine laugh and followed her inside. 

---

Eighteen years after the incident at the Well, it finally opened to them. 

Yukimura and Masamune inspected it first before returning to the others. Even then they didn’t exactly provide a report. “Hideyoshi?”

“Yeah?” He answered uncertainly. 

“Could your wife come with us?”

“No.” All those ancient fears of whatever lay under the city reared their ugly head. “Absolutely not.”

“Hide--”

“No!”

“I promise it’s wo--”

Mitsuhide clamped a hand over Hideyoshi’s shoulder. “Why?”

“There’s... shit, I don’t know how to explain this. Yuki?”

The other man squinted at Masamune as if he had three heads. “What makes you think I’m better at this? It looks up her alley is all. It’s not dangerous or anything--we’re pretty sure.”

“Pretty sure?” Hideyoshi barely kept his tongue in check. Fortunately, Mitsuhide intervened. 

“That’s fine, so long as we go with her.”

---

She, Hideyoshi, Mitsuhide, Yukimura and Sasuke all descended beneath the well one at a time. Hideyoshi squinted down the long, damp pathway each way, crinkling his nose. “When was this made?”

“Judging by the stonework? I’d say that this was a construction contemporary with the oldest of our structures in the City.” Sasuke cleared his throat. “Approximately the same time, I’d imagine.”

“Thanks for the translation, Encyclopedia.” Yukimura scoffed, rolling his eyes at his best friend. “Come on. Follow me.”

Further and further into the dark they crept. Yukimura lit a lamp, but it cast a feeble glow. Hideyoshi wrapped his wife protectively beside him (and she cast him an amused stare but allowed it regardless), and finally they found the item in question: another lamp, with a single fraying wire beside it. 

“Here.” Yuki tapped his flame to it, and--

SsnnnnnsnAP! A ghastly sizzling sparked off the tip of the wire and crackled along. Bit by bit, the hallway before them burst into life, weak lamps struggling in the dim yellow glow. She gasped with shock. 

“What happened?” Mitsuhide asked. 

“Uh--” She hesitated. “Apparently the residents down here figured out how to formulate some kind of electric lighting system. It is bad, but it works.”

“Fascinating.”

“The lighting appears to be wired in afterward.” Sasuke shoved his glasses up his nose. “Interesting.”

“Right.” Yuki coughed. “Well, it only stays on for so long. The lights get dimmer and then start going out, and we’d really like to clear this place once and for all. I don’t suppose you can figure out a way to fix it?”

“Fix it?” She echoed, her eyes lighting up. “I’d love to. This would be incredible to study.”

“Are you sure...?” Hideyoshi cautioned. An uncertain fear lurked in his throat. “Especially given the past of it...”

“I know. I won’t be down here alone.” She smiled and pet his hands. “Don’t worry, my dear. I’ll be just fine.”

---

The month passed slowly. Bit by bit, she restructured and rewired the lamps, changing out their filaments, discovering their secrets, illuminating the lost pathways under the city with greater clarity. Sasuke, for his part, did his best to research its uses and came up blank. 

“Damn,” Kenshin muttered, rapping his fingers across the table. “Ishida would have been very useful for this.”

“I know,” Nobunaga agreed. His black hair was shot with silver now. “But it is what it is.”

Hideyoshi visited down there as often as he could. She was delighted; he saw it in the way she handled the artifacts, prodded them for information and learned what the ancients knew. He almost warmed to it too, except for--

On one of his days off, he was in the kitchen, getting ready to come visit her in the well, when his front door slammed open.

“Hideyoshi!” Ieyasu screamed. 

He was already halfway to his sword. “What happened?!”

“Just--just come on!”

They sprinted toward the alleyway. Masamune staggered out of the narrow opening first, what looked like grease coating his hands. Next came Nobunaga and Kenshin, both of their arms supporting her between them. Hideyoshi grabbed hold of her and checked every inch of her, blacking his hands with the viscous liquid sticking to his skin. 

“Are you alright--are you--what happened--?”

Mitsuhide emerged last of all, his mouth grim set, the black substance streaking down his face and through his ghost-white hair. Over his shoulder he dragged a figure so bloody and ragged he barely recognized him: Yukimura. 

---

It was a while before Yukimura stabilized and she was coherent enough to explain what happened. Mitsuhide, for his part, knew nothing. All he understood was they were under attack and then--and then Yukimura crumpled, and he couldn’t see but he knew well enough that his wife was down there, so he just threw all of his magical arts in a massive cone and hoped it did the trick. Presumably it had. The longer they scrubbed away the tar-like substance, the more obvious it was that it wasn’t just any liquid. 

“I think,” she managed shakily, “I think that was abandoned for a reason.”

Kenshin settled in by her knee. Hideyoshi almost snapped, but reason held firm and he just rubbed her arms, stilling her. “What happened?”

“So--” She inhaled deep, stabilizing breaths. “We got to the underground palace. It has--it’s really beautiful, you know? Really beautiful. Obsidian walls, fantastic carvings--Um, anyway--” Another breath. “I was up in the rigging, changing out some of the lighting, and then there were... shadows.”

“Shadows?” Kenshin echoed. “Of something?”

“No. Just... just shadows. Nothing else.”

Sasuke paused. “This... might be crazy, but do you think the lower levels were both lit and abandoned because this was known?”

“Rabid, killing shadows?” Nobunaga questioned. “This isn’t like anything we’ve heard of before.”

“I can take a look into the Royal Collection for any mentions.”

“Please do.”

“So--so what, then?” Hideyoshi managed shakily. “So we just close it back up then, right? Can it not live in the light, whatever it is?”

He knew before they said anything that it was a foolish hope. She pinched her nose between her fingers and inhaled. 

“I don’t know, honey,” she answered. “I don’t know. There was plenty of light when they attacked.”

“Then we have a potential threat on our hands.” Kenshin swept coolly up from his chair. “If light kept it at bay this long, we will have to discover a way to intensify it. Can you do that, Princess?”

“I can definitely try and figure something out.”

“No!” Hideyoshi snapped. “No! She might’ve died! Yukimura nearly died!”

“I agree,” Mitsuhide added, “This could’ve gone very poorly--”

But the flash of Kenshin and Nobunaga’s eyes stilled them both. It didn’t need to be said. The unspoken reminder of the Invasion swirled between them, and the ghastly silence settled uncomfortably. 

“I can figure something out,” she started again, more firmly this time. “Because if it gets out, my children are here. I can figure out some kind of a machine.”

[oneyanderegirl]

Flower Crowns

Genre: One-shot, Fluff

Rated: K, E

Summary: Hinata just wanted to make a flower crown, too bad it doesn’t go her way. 

Sasuhina 2018 Themes:  Indigo Children (Day 27)

A/N: I feel like I’ve been writing a lot of angst, so I decided to try to write a fluff piece instead. I needed a short break because writing angst hurts TToTT I wasn’t sure how to fit Day 5′s theme on here, so I decided to just write whatever instead lol. Anyways, please excuse any mistakes. Hope you enjoy! 

All Hinata had wanted to do was to make a flower crown for herself.

The class had just finished going over the basics of shinobi training when the bell had rung, indicating that it was time for a break. As soon as the bell rang, all the five year olds bursted into happiness and quickly ran outside to play. While Hinata didn’t mind learning about the techniques and methods that made shinobi strong, she, like all five year olds, still preferred playtime.

Although she was shy and hadn’t made any friends yet, Hinata still found ways to entertain herself.

Today she had decided to make flower crowns for herself.

Everything had been going fine. She had just finished making one with the red and blue flowers she had picked. She was about to make a bracelet to go with it, when she felt something hit her causing her to face plant on the grass.

Startled and hurt, she slowly got up to see what had hit her. Laying on the ground next to her was a boy her age. He had black eyes and hair.

Sasuke Uchiha.

Normally, she wouldn’t have mind getting knocked over like that. After all, it was an accident and she wasn’t one to start a fight.

But when she saw her flower crown lying in the grass all crumpled and broken, a small flame flickered inside the little five year old’s body.

“ Y-you...y-you broke my flower crown.” she whispered in shock.

Sasuke groaned in pain.

He had been fighting with Naruto because of a stupid thing he said when Kiba and his dumb dog decided they wanted to join in as well for whatever reason. Sasuke may have been strong, but even the five year couldn’t fight against two people.

At least not for that long.

He had actually managed to win for the most part, thanks to his speed and smarts, but then the dumb dog decided to charge at him at full speed. Soon the other two decided to do the same thing.

And that was when they had knocked him all the way to her.

As soon as the two idiots had realized what they had done, they ran away in fear that they would get in trouble. This left Sasuke with the girl who now stood before him.

White eyes and dark blue hair.

Hinata Hyuga.

He had heard countless stories about the Hyuga from his father. They were their biggest rivals. His father never had anything good to say about them, which usually earned a punch from his mother. That didn’t matter though, he knew they were bad.

His father said so after all.

“ You should have watched where you were going.” He responded.

Now, Sasuke wasn’t the type to say sorry.  

Saying sorry meant you were at fault and he knew it wasn’t his. Father had taught him to never apologize unless it was actually his fault. There was only one exception though.

And that was to never apologize to a Hyuga.

So he did what any smart five year old would do.

He blamed it on her instead.

“ It was your fault.” He went on.

Hinata looked like she wanted to cry.

“ B-but you pushed me!” she squeaked.

He could already see the tears.

“ Why are you crying? It was your fault. You were in my way. I wouldn’t have knocked you if you weren’t standing there.” He glared at the girl.

“ I-it wasn’t my fault! Y-You say s-sorry!” She wasn’t going to back down from this. It was his fault after all!

“ No, it wasn’t!”

“ Yes, it was!”

They continued to blame each other through screams. Neither of them wanting to back down.

She knew she should have believed her father when he had said they were bad people.

“ You Uchihas are so stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!” She yelled as loud as she could.

“ You Hyugas suck! You suck! Your stupid flower crown looked ugly anyway!” He yelled back.

This made Hinata cry.

He hated crying girls.

“ I’m going. Bye loser!” He waved.

Bye loser.

Loser.

Loser.

Loser.

Hinata watched as the boy started to walk away. His mean words had made her cry even more. She didn’t like being called a loser. It reminded her of being called a failure by her clan.

She especially didn’t like being called a loser by a Uchiha.

Maybe it was due to her being a Hyuga, maybe it was because of names he had called her, Hinata didn’t know. But the blood in her little body boiled like fire watching him walk away after he had just knocked her over and blamed it on her.

And he broke her flower crown.

Mustering as much strength as she could, she started to charge at the unsuspecting boy.

She was not going to let him get away with it.

“ Give. Me. Back. My. Flower crown!”

----------

Sasuke came to school the next day with multiple bruises on his face and arms.

All the people in his class had tried to hold in their laughter. The boys especially found it funny and made fun of him for it. He had become the laughingstock overnight.

After all, he did get beat up by a girl.

A very strong girl, but still a girl.

He was honestly impressed by the strength she had mustered up. Sasuke was one of the best students in the class, yet she had managed to beat him.

Still, he had a reputation to keep up and a clan to represent.

So when Kiba and Naruto had come up to him to laugh at him, he proceeded to beat them up in front of the whole class.

That quickly shut everyone up.

---------

Hinata felt bad.

Guilt was what one of the elders had call it.

She was feeling guilt.

She hadn’t meant to punch Sasuke that hard. She was just angry that he didn’t say sorry for breaking her flower crown. She also didn’t like the mean things he had said about her and the clan.

It felt good though.

Realizing this, she furiously shook her head.

“ N-no Hinata! F-fighting is bad!” She said to herself.

Although her father seemed pleased when she told him about why she had gotten in trouble.

Still, she wanted to say sorry to him.

Her mother would have liked her to.

That was easier said than done though. While the other girls in her class called him cool, she preferred to use the word scary. So when breaktime came, she did what any logical five year old would do.

She ran to the furthest tree and hid.

She especially wanted to hide from her classmates. She didn’t like some of the things they had said about her. The girls were a bit angry with her, although she didn’t understand why. It was his fault. The boys, on the other hand, praised her for the strength she had done. She recalled a boy with a black, spiky ponytail named Shikamaru who was so impressed that he had woken up from his usual nap just to watch the fight take place.

The praise secretly made her happy.

Regardless though, Hinata didn’t like the unwanted attention.

She just wanted to be left alone.

So when the bell rang, she quickly ran to find herself a large tree away from the other kids. She decided to pick the furthest one because of the distance. There was even a flower field nearby!

It was the perfect place to make her flower crown.

Today she decided she wanted to have a purple and blue flower crown. Taking her time to carefully pick the perfect flowers, the little girl happily strung them together. When she finished, she looked at her piece of work with pride.

It was perfect.

Just as she was about to place it on her head, she suddenly heard a voice coming from behind.

“ Hey!” the boy shouted.

Hinata squeaked.

She hears a tear.

Once again her flower crown was crumpled and broken.

She was so startled by the sudden noise that she had somehow managed to rip her crown in half.

Hinata sighed and silently mourned for her hardwork before turning to the little boy.

It was Sasuke again.

“ W-what do y-you want?” She warily asked.

The little boy started fidgeting in place, avoiding her eyes. She could see his cheeks turn red, although she didn’t know why.

Was he still angry at her?

Was he going to beat her up for yesterday?

The thought sent panic into Hinata. She quickly jumped up to back away from him.

“ P-Please don’t h-hit me!” she cried.

The boy looked at her confused.

“ What? I’m not going to hit you.” he said.

“ T-then why are y-you here?” she asked.

After about a minute of avoiding her eyes, he finally sighed.

“ My..my mom told me I have to say sorry to you or else she’ll be mad. So I’m here to say sorry.” He pouted.

“ Oh..”

Embarrassed and unsure of what to do, the two five year olds looked away from each other in awkward silence.

“ W-would y-you...would you like to make a flower crown with me?” she finally asked.

Sasuke looked at her in disgust.

“ No. That’s girly.”

“ O-okay.”

Feeling a bit disappointed, she looked at the grass beneath her feet.

“ I’ll make a sword though.” he awkwardly replied.

This made her beam with joy.

“ O-okay! I can make a crown and you can make a sword!”

Hinata excitedly jumped up and down at the thought.

Her excitement infectiously spread to him as well. Soon, they both were jumping together. Sasuke grabbed some sticks and tied it with the flower ropes that she would string together, while she made a flower crown for herself.

“ I now declare you a princess!” He proudly stated.

“ Oh, then are you going to be a prince?!” She asked. “ Ewww. No way, princes are lame.” He answered.

She looked at him confused.

Hinata thought Sasuke would be happy to be declared a prince. All the girls called him one. Even some of the teachers would too.

“ If you don’t want to be a prince then what do you want to be?”  

In a dramatic fashion, as dramatic as a five year old could be, he jumped onto a small boulder and raised his fake sword into the air. He stood tall and proud, as proud as a little Uchiha could be and took a deep breath.

“ I’m going to be the strongest and coolest shinobi that uses a sword!” he proudly declared.

This made Hinata giggle.

“ Okay! Then I, princess H-hinata, crown you as the strongest shinobi in the world!”

She placed a flower necklace made of blue and purple flowers around his neck. And with that, they were officially princess and shinobi. Too filled with excitement and too engrossed in their pretend play, they continued to play for the rest of the time together until it was time for them to go. When the two of them came home that day, they both held the brightest smiles on their face.

Hinata’s father scolded her for playing with a “filthy Uchiha”, but she didn’t care.

Sasuke’s father tried to scold him for playing with a “dirty Hyuga”, but was met with flying fists from his mother who was very proud of him for being a good boy. 

All and all, they both had a lot of fun that day.

They didn’t even noticed the way they had called each other by first name.

[darquedeath4444]

Ripples

Chapter THREE

Karin's cry of Sasuke's name was drowned out by the sound of the Uchiha roughly hitting the ground.

"Time for my thunder to put you six feet under." The Jinchuuriki moved forward, his hand outstretched.

Suigetsu swore under his breath. In the next second, the Hozuki appeared beside Sasuke, sword held out in front of him. The Kubikiribocho met the Hachibi's sword, locking it into place.

The Kumo nin charged lightning through his blade and Suigetsu gritted his teeth.

"Sui-nii!" Sakura called out.

Lightning was any Hozuki's main weakness. Their ability to change into water made them extremely vulnerable to water.

Sasuke scrambled to his feet and reached out. He used his own lightning chakra to hold the Jinchuuriki's blade in place. Jugo appeared behind the man and landed a heavy blow that left him off balance. Karin moved in and pulled Sasuke away from under the locked blades.

Suigetsu applied more pressure, breaking through the Hachibi's sword. Jugo swung his fist, sending the Jinchuuriki flying.

Sakura moved in to cover as Karin healed Sasuke. She hadn't fought alongside her brother for a long time but old training routines that she had gone through alongside her brothers came back to her and her body automatically fell into step with Suigetsu.

The moment his wound had closed, Sasuke moved back to join the fight. Sakura's mind flew through all of the fighting strategies and scenarios she had seen. Almost nothing she knew actually came from her, but this gave her a wide range of techniques and strategies that came from all over the Shinobi nations.

She jumped in to deflect a blow for the raven, allowing Sasuke to slip under the Kumo nin’s defense in an almost perfect replication of a move she had seen him perform with Naruto many many years ago. The Jinchuuriki's fist came towards her and as Sakura's stomach erupted into water, she had a brief flashback of Suigetsu blocking the Kumo nin's sword and how the Hachibi had charged lightning through her brother. Water wrapped around the Jinchuuriki's arm and began to crawl up the limb.

"Sasuke!" Sakura called urgently, catching the Uchiha's attention. "Hit both of us!"

Sakura knew her immunity against lightning was far superior to Suigetsu. During clan training immunity to lightning attacks was something they did. Still, adjusted wrongly and it could lead to death and so, it wasn't a major part of it. However, Kabuto had ways of adjusting the lightning chakra so that its strength was never strong enough to kill. Being Kabuto's punch back for years, Sakura was more used to it.

Didn't mean it didn't hurt, though.

The Jinchuuriki tried to pull back as Sasuke darted up to them but Sakura held on. She felt her hair rise at the electricity that cackled behind her.

"Chidori!"

The Jinchuuriki, caught off guard, screamed out in pain as lightning ran through him, amplified by the water surrounding him.

Sakura had managed to hold back her own cry but her mouth wrenched open in a soundless scream, eyes wide.

When Sasuke cut off his attack, the Eight tails Jinchuuriki fell to his knees. Sakura managed to scramble back a few feet before her own legs gave way. She felt Sasuke appear by her side and an arm loop around her waist, holding her up even as she fell limp. She caught a glimpse of Jugo flying down from the sky before Sasuke tightened his grip and jumped out of the way of Jugo's hammer blow that created a huge crater. When the smoke cleared, Sakura realized the Kumo Jinchuuriki was gone.

Sasuke lowered her to the ground and Suigetsu was at her side in an instant, worry in his eyes.

"Karin," Sasuke called.

"I know." The redhead made a hand sign. She then pointed towards one of the surrounding rocky mountains. "He's over there!"

Sasuke leaped onto Jugo's transformed arm and was launched into the air. The Uchiha charged lightning chakra to his feet, powering his leap as he flew towards the Jinchuuriki.

"You okay?" Suigetsu asked.

"I'm fine." Sakura licked her lips. "My tongue feels weird." She stuck it out.

"Idiot." Suigetsu looked up towards where Sasuke had flown.

Suddenly, a tremendous pressure of chakra crashed upon them. They were too far to actually feel the full effects, but everyone still felt it.

"What?" Suigetsu placed a hand protectively on his sister's shoulder and gripped his sword.

The huge body of chakra began approaching them. "Uh oh," Sakura muttered.

In the next second, Jugo turned around. He knocked Suigetsu and Sakura into the lake beyond the rocks and grabbed Karin, dragging her away just before the Jinchuuriki's attack landed.

Sasuke landed just as the earthquakes stopped. "You alright?"

"Somehow," Karin replied.

Suigetsu popped his head out of the water, his body halfway transformed into water. Sakura appeared beside him a second later.

Sasuke nodded and looked up. "Karin, I need you to follow his chakra signature and tell us his location at all times." Just as he had finished his orders, the Hachibi appeared from the smoke, his chakra leaking from him.

Sasuke's eyes shifted and the Jinchuuriki stiffened midair before swerved to the side, falling to the ground. Sasuke took a deep breath and covered his eye, and had just turned around when the Jinchuuriki caught him by the torso, sending him flying.

The Hachibi slowly straightened himself.

Jugo flew forward, catching the Uchiha before he could crash into the wall behind him. Karin rushed over, about to heal him, but Jugo stopped her. "I've got this."

"What are you going to do?" Karin asked.

"I'll merge with him to give him chakra and heal him," Jugo said. "Since he's compatible with my curse mark, it should work."

"The Jinchuuriki's chakra." Sakura murmured. "It's changing."

Suigetsu turned his attention from Sasuke to the Jinchuuriki, who was, in fact, changing. Octopus-like tails sprouted from behind him and smoke rose into the air. Sakura felt a tremendous chakra force grow from within, and when it died down, her eyes widened in horror.

"That's the eight tails," Suigetsu whispered.

"Tailed Beast mode," Sakura said.

"So a monster ox. That's his true form." Suigetsu clicked his tongue then grabbed his sister and dragged them both under water.

"Really?" Sakura murmured.

"Sorry." Suigetsu grinned. “I kinda like them.”

"Yeah, whatever." Sakura smiled.

Jugo and Karin turned to look at the sudden looming threat. "Isn't this bad?" Karin asked nervously.

The Hachibi turned towards them but before anyone could react, a ball of water erupted in front of him.

"I knew you were water style shinobi," the beast said. "Trying to use the turf to your advantage?"

The Hachibi charged at the sphere and Suigetsu gritted his teeth. "Sakura!"

The pinkette appeared behind the Hachibi, surrounded by water in the form of a dragon. She bared down on the Kumo nin, causing a wave to go up.

"Go!" Suigetsu yelled. "We've got this!"

Jugo nodded and grabbed Sasuke. Karin scrambled to her feet as well. Sakura confirmed that the three had begun their retreat before bearing down on the octopus again.

The Hachibi drew back a little and let out a roar. Chakra began to gather about his open mouth and Sakura watched the black thing begin to gather above the Hachibi's open mouth.

"Sakura!" Suigetsu called.

"On it!"

Suigetsu braced himself for the surely powerful attack to come. Sakura vanished under water and appeared behind Suigetsu's water bubble. She moved back so that she was right above Sasuke and the others, her dragon water form allowing her to loom over them. She then coiled herself behind them, eyes narrowed and teeth gritted in concentration.

The blast of the attack they would later come to know as the 'Biju dama' seemed to tear through Suigetsu's defensive sphere. Sakura flinched but stayed rooted to her spot, her arms spread and her water dragon tightening its coils. She reached out with the corner of consciousness and yanked an unconscious Suigetsu away from the blast.

"Goddammit, Ugly." The attack hit her water from straight on. A scream was torn from her as the pure pressure behind the attack crushed her. Her body felt stiff and even though she was half merged with the water it felt as though her limbs were being crushed.

It seemed like forever before the attack died away. Sakura faintly noted that the rocky terrain around them had mostly given way to water before her form slowly began to dissolve. She landed on the surface of the lake, on top of her unconscious brother and let out a soft groan. She felt Sasuke, Karin and Jugo gather around but she could barely make out what they were saying. She placed her arms protectively on either side of Suigetsu's goo form, breathing heavily.

“Ouch,” she managed to get out.

"Suigetsu...Sakura..." Karin placed a hand on Sakura's shaking shoulder and flinched away when it automatically turned gooey.

Sasuke gently yanked Sakura off Suigetsu, who Jugo picked up. Sasuke dropped her barely conscious form over his shoulder.

Sakura blinked harshly as the earth spun around her. Just as the world had stopped moving, she felt Sasuke make a sudden move, and once again, she was left dizzy. Once the Uchiha had landed, Sakura noticed that it had been Karin who had pushed them away. She was staring at the black flames when she caught sight of the octopus limb that began falling on top of the red-haired girl and slowly raised her arm, willing the water to comply.

Sasuke was faster though. He knocked Sakura's arm away before cutting the arm with lightning. "Karin, run!" He yelled.

Sakura felt as though gravity was pushing against her mind and she let out a soft groan of pain which she wasn't able to hold back. She felt herself slipping from the Uchiha's grip and was grateful that they were on water. It didn't hurt though she did land with a splash. Sasuke fell to one knee beside her and she saw him clutching at his eye.

"Jugo, get Karin. Hurry!"

Jugo did as told, gently planting the girl on his other shoulder.

Sakura rolled over, breathing heavily. The water felt wonderful beneath her.

"The Hachibi's in bad shape," Jugo said. "But we managed to get him without killing him."

Sasuke glanced down at the girl lying on the water and she smiled softly at him. "Go get him," she said. "I'll be fine in a while, I think."

Sasuke nodded and he went over to grab the Hachibi. Sakura slowly managed to sit up, her whole body feeling as though it was on fire. Jugo stopped by her side and she looked up, noting that he looked younger than before. Sasuke reached them in the next second and Sakura wince, forcing herself to her feet. Sasuke's hand shot out to catch her as she stumbled and she couldn't stop herself from grabbing onto his sleeve. "Sorry" she wheezed.

Sasuke grunted and waited for her to gather her balance between they slowly began to make their way away from the rocky terrain.

Their progress was slow, and Sakura knew that it was her that was slowing them down the most. Even with all their injuries and the extra weights they were carrying, Jugo and Sasuke managed to travel at a steady pace.

Sakura cursed the sun, knowing that the heat was contributing to her fatigue. She felt her knees give way again and just about managed to stabilize herself before she collapsed. She knew that once she fell, she wouldn't be able to get up.

"Almost there," Jugo encouraged quietly.

Sakura nodded to show that she had heard. She was eternally grateful when Sasuke decided to rest. He dumped the unconscious Jinchuuriki onto the floor then sat down on a rock, breathing heavily.

Sakura collapsed nearby, once again cursing the sun. She took out her flask and greedily gulped down its content.

Jugo eyed the Uchiha worriedly. "You okay?" He asked.

Sasuke nodded. "Let's go," he said. "We're almost at the rendezvous point."

Sakura could feel herself moving, but she was no longer aware of her surroundings. Once in a while, she could feel someone nudging her and she changed directions according to that. Suddenly, she felt someone lifting her. For a moment, her eyes focused, fueled by panic, only to instantly relax when she saw the familiar face of Uchiha Sasuke. She then felt herself falling and hit water.

Sakura took a deep breath before she was pulled under, already feeling refreshed as the liquid brushed at her skin. She felt another splash and instantly recognized it as Suigetsu.

The water would protect them and it would heal them. Relieved, she allowed herself to close her eyes.

Chapter FOUR>

<Chapter TWO

Chapter List

[une-nuit-pour-se-souvenir]

If sakura was pokmon trainer,what team would she have?

You’re asking me this, but the truth is, I only know the first 150 (well, somewhat 250). However, from generation I and II:

> Igglybuff as a starter polémon, which Sakura would select and the sarutobi’s lab because of the childish reason that it’s cute. That choice would suit Sakura as her mindset was at 12 year old, very naive and sheltered, and liking appearanes. Narratively, it would suit her as a character as well. As for “part I”, Igglybuff (and it’s first evolution, Jigglypuff), is a “normal” pokémon, whose type and moveset isn’t anything special. Sakura begins as a “normal” child that doesn’t come from a clan, she has a standard skillset and doesn’t have “special abilities”. As for “part II”, Jigglypuff evolves into Wigglytuff, which is a very strong and useful pokémon (stats, type, moves) that through TMs (which could reflect the “research” and “studious” part of Sakura) can “complete” the rest of the pokémon team she has. For example, types that are missing are “fighting and “electric”, and I think it would be interesting if it was Rock Lee / Tsunade who’d helped her teaching it fighting moves while it was Sasuke who’d help her teaching it the electric moves.

> As a specialist in venoms, I believe Sakura would opt for one of these (more specialised, there’s poison type below), either Bulbasaur or Oddish (Vileplume) lines. I was very torn between which one of them, but in the end I realised Bulbasaur is “amphibian like” (so he’d suit Naruto more) and it’s also rarer (it could be a gift from Jiraiya to Naruto), so I ended up chosing Oddish (Vileplume). I also think it would be funny for young Sakura to get an Oddish because they’re cute (and common), but then it would evolve into the “ugly” Gloom and she would be dismayed. However, she’d love it anyway despite it’s “darkness” (hint hint) because it’s her beloved pokémon.I envision Sasuke giving her a Leaf Stone at some anniversary (very symbolic, but also very pratical as a trainer -instead of a ninja-, very Sasuke-ish I think) and later when he’d be gone to frolic with “Team Akatsuki”, she’d find out in a research book that she could use it on her pokémon for it to become stronger.

> For dramatic irony, a Magicarp (and also because it’s a water pokémon, which I believe is Sakura’s element, not earth). At first it is “useless” and needs a lot of help to grow, but working hard on it rewards the trainer with one of the most powerful pokemons in those two generations. I envision something like James’ magikarp in the show (maybe offered by a clueless Naruto or Rock Lee as a wooing gift), he got it and had to haul it around (always a big joke), but then one day by a freak incident it would evolve and… well, I don’t think I need to harp on the badass and usefulness of Gyarados as everyone knows it (as for great stats / moves, it’s water types it can learn several rare type moves, such as ice or dragon as well). Also, it should be a SHINY MAGIKARP, so it’s evolution is red! ETA: While I looked for a chart of it, I was made aware there’s actually ANOTHER evolution beyond that. but I don’t know what it does.

> Caterpie is also an interesting choice for dramatic irony, and it’s also a nice “substitute” for a slug (most insect pokémon don’t really fit this). It’s less of a pain in the arse to level up, but later on it is a glass canon (so not very Sakura-ish, which is why I haven’t chosen it since I don’t think it suits her) as it has poor stats comparatively to the others and is weak against plenty of types. However and for me, it’s a very good one especially well beefed up as it’s so useful and versatile it’s amazing (it’s one of my favourites!). This would be given to Sakura by Tsunade at the beginning of her training. An interesting story would be Sakura working hard at the Pokémon Hospital during the timeskip, so every money saved would go to buying stat enhancing treats for it (what I… do… everytime I get a Butterfree, which is about always) and for TMS in general (as I said before, this could reflect Sakura’s intelligence part, she’d research and study the best ways to help her pokémon become stronger).

> A Nidoran♀, for the same reasons as Jigglypuff.It starts off as a very normal pokémon, very fitting of how Sakura started, and it’s definetlyfeminine ♀♀♀,just like Sakura used to be (is and will be, to be fair; but I think you get the idea of what I’m trying to say). Then evolves into a very physically strong pokémon with poison and ground abilities (it can also learn most fighting moves), and as a bonus because of it’s earth type, this polémon is immune to electricity (completing the sannin parallel). I envision something like Sakura getting one while Sasuke is gone and he’d get a Nidoran♂ (without knowing), and then everytime they’d meet as enemies, the two pokemons wouldn’t be able to fight because they loved each other and interrupted to do embarassing things much to the chagrin of the two trainers.

> Happiny, another normal / fairy type I know, but again it can be used to complete the rest of the team just as Wigglytuff. In this case. I chose it because this chain is associated with medics. It came to mind as one of the first, but it would be one of the last she got, given to her by Tsunade either during the timeskip or after some special achievement (for example, getting all badges or something) in “part II”. Chansey / Blissey can learn psychic moves (as is the case for Jigglypuff / Wigglytuff, but that one already has a lot on it’s mind 😂 I’m sorry), which would fill Sakura’s “good with genjutsu” quota (which NARUTO didn’t do for some stupid reason), through normal training or learnt moves.

> A Togepi, yet another fairy type (but I kind of think this would be Sakura’s type if she was in the world of pokémon). I summed this team and saw that from what I’d associate with Sakura (or a “standard” ninja) “flying” was missing (Gyarados is flying but…), so she needed one to balance. It was either one of these or a normal bird (I love Pidgey / Pidgeotto / Pidgeot!), but I think Togepi being a fairy type and also can learn psychic moves would suit Sakura rather well. Not sure where this one would come from TBH.

ETA: THERE’S SEVEN OF THEM FORGIVE ME.

ETA2: Mew would be her mythical pokémon, obviously. It’s just too special to add to a “normal” team though.

[wolvesandfoxes25]

What we want: Ch.1

Sakura fiddled with the neck of her beer, chancing a glance up at the snickering blonde in front of her.

The Hokage.

He was a little intoxicated.

Well, why not?

The kids were on missions, and work had dwindled a bit.

So, some of the old group, and most of the older Sensei’s, had decided to venture out into one of the bars.

Sakura turned her focus to Kakashi, who was now talking to a random civilian woman at the bar, laughing at something.

She could tell though…she could tell that he was scouting. She noticed how his eyes trailed over the figure of the woman when she wasn’t looking.

Pervert.

But, why not? She seemed interested.

Sighing, she looked back across the booth at Naruto, who was chuckling at something Choji said, his fox like grin taking over his features.

Hinata wasn’t there, she had opted to stay home with Himawari.

Bolt and Sarada were on a week long mission themselves, leaving Sakura completely open to do whatever in that time span.

And of course Sasuke was not in the village.

Closing her eyes in pain, Sakura suddenly felt a shove at her shin, and she looked up quickly into the eyes of her former teammate.

Oh Gods.

He was giving her that look.

The heated, intense look he kept throwing her way everytime she saw him now.

Swallowing her lone shot of sake, she got up from the table, and brushed off her skirt, turning to go into the one stall woman’s bathroom.

Sighing soundly, she stood in front of the mirror, looking herself over.

God, when had she aged to her thirties? When had she gotten married and had a child? She felt like her life had slipped away before she realized what was happening.

Sarada.

That was the one thing she wouldn’t change for the entire world. Her child was everything to her, even if the child’s father in question was almost never in the picture.

In the midst of her thoughts, she heard the door open, then shut, the lock latching in place, the music from the bar beating hard against the walls of the bathroom, almost matching the rhythm her heart was going.

Naruto.

In the mirror, their eyes met, and she felt herself be pulled in to those intense blue eyes, narrowed into slits at her obvious unhappiness.

“Sakura.” He called out huskily, cheeks flushed, his Hokage robes discarded at the table, leaving him in his orange outfit.

Swallowing, Sakura felt her legs tremble.

It had been this way for a month now. There was strange tension between the two of them that had reared its head after a heated meeting in Naruto’s office about their children.

Bolt had been calling Sarada ugly names, and Sarada had been beating Bolt’s head in for it. Naruto, true to form, had no censor, so he told Sakura exactly what he thought about it.

Due to being on the receiving end of Sarada’s mothers tantrums himself. He knew all too well how painful they could be.

Sakura had scolded Naruto for allowing his son to speak to a girl in that way. And that…well, that pissed Naruto off.

Not only that, but he had a lot of other stressors that could contribute to the horrendous fight that they had gotten into.

But, said fight was laced in something Sakura couldn’t name, and was honestly too afraid to.

Being around Naruto from that point forward set her skin alight with an unknown flame that she had never felt before. His scent made her senses swim with longing, and lust.

Oh God.

What was happening to her?

A growl brought her out of her thoughts, and she glanced up, watching as Naruto made his way to her, fox like eyes setting their sights on the target.

Her.

Reaching out, he grabbed her bicep and pulled her against his chest.

No time was wasted as hands fiddled with each others lower garments, pants hitting the floor, Sakura’s skirt following suite. Naruto grabbed her underwear and ripped them downwards, seeing them pool around her ankles.

Sakura huffed as he gripped the underside of her ass, and hoisted her up, slamming her against the adjacent wall, lips and teeth attacking her neck, mouth uttering filthy words that would make even Kakashi blush.

Maybe.

Sakura was lost in the heat that he placed her in.

Naruto sank his teeth into her pulse point, and gripped his dick, aligning it with her wet entrance, shoving forward, burrowing home within her.

The two of them groaned, the walls reverberating with the techno beat of the music.

And that’s how they fucked. And man, were they fucking.

There was nothing gentle about the way Naruto grabbed her hair, exposing her pale flesh to him, his canines finding solace in her silky skin, ripping a low moan from her throat.

Sakura wound her legs around his hips, thrusting her womanhood against his thrusting manhood, her loud moans drowned out because of the song.

It was brutal….what he was doing to her.

But Gods, she didn’t care.

She needed this.

Sakura threw her head back, gasping sharply at the angle his hips were moving, the little knot of pleasure unfurling, promising a strong orgasm.

She needed more of him though, she wanted him deeper.

Arching her back smoothly, Sakura shoved at his shoulders, falling to her feet, watching as his face went from rapture to confusion.

Sakura stepped over to the sink and bent over, exposing her wet pussy to him, the wet juices gliding down her inner labia, making the pink haired Kuniochi bite her lip.

“N-Naruto. Fuck me like this. Please.” She almost begged, wiggling her hips in circles until she felt strong fingers clutch her hips and his cock push its way inside of her, all the way to where his balls were slapping against her clit.

Sakura squeaked from the sensation, never feeling this horny before.

She needed to come. She desperately needed to come.

The music was louder now, pulsing in rhythm to her and Naruto’s fucking, harsh panting reaching across the bathroom, the two of them sweating, watching the other in the mirror.

Sakura was so close she had to grit her teeth in order to stay standing. Naruto himself was huskily breathing heavily, his hips slanting against hers so strongly, Sakura could feel her breasts bounce beneath her dress.

Suddenly, Sakura felt a hand weave itself into her hair, gripping it tightly, forcing her head back, the ends of the strands screaming, making her breath rush out hotly.

Naruto bit her neck, his nose scraping against her ear lobe, blue eyes watching her intently in the mirror.

“Come for me, Sakura.” He commanded, sinking his teeth into her flesh again.

And she did, her mouth falling open in a silent scream as her lower abdominal muscles clenched so hard, she thought she’d fall to her knees from the intensity.

A growl could be heard behind her, and she felt his hips slant in a sloppy rhythm, signaling he was coming to.

They both bucked together, fingers tensing, jabbing harshly into the flesh they could find.

Then, the song abruptly ended.

Naruto released her after a few seconds, and Sakura fell forwards, his seed dripping down her thighs, legs trembling.

Oh fuck.

Silence.

Sakura herself gripped her underwear and pulled them up quickly, shaking so hard, she thought she’d topple over.

After fixing her hair, she made her way to the door, but a hand halted her, the blond haired man dragging her against him, blue eyes searching, shooting unanswered questions at her, cheeks tinged red due to the alcohol he had consumed.

Green eyes searched blue. But, neither of them said anything.

There was nothing to be said.

What had just happened was horrible.

Terrible.

Their spouses didn’t deserve it, that was for sure.

Sakura felt tears building, much to the dismay of the young Hokage, who sighed and let her go, watching her scramble out of the bathroom.

Sakura noticed all her friends on the dance floor, Sai and Ino dirty dancing to a particularly vulgar song that had just started playing. Kakashi was still conversing with the civilian woman at the bar, the two of them a little closer now, the tension palpable between the two, the woman’s hands on his bicep. Sakura didn’t notice too many others before she was grabbing her sweater and bolting out the door, throwing some money on the table.

She needed to get the hell out of there.

Arriving at her house, she went directly to her room and flung off her clothing, dragging a hand through her hair, smelling Naruto all over her.

Whimpering, she stripped all the way down, hearing the squelching between her thighs, knowing his seed was still there, branding her with the sin she had just committed.

Rushing towards the shower, she turned on the hot tap and stood there for a few seconds, for as long as she could bare.

Wincing at the now scolding temperature, feeling no better, Sakura reached for the cold water and turned it on, adjusting the two taps to a comfortable setting before grabbing the bar of lavender soap, and suddsing her skin, rubbing away the nights events, wanting to forget them altogether.

Why had that happened?

Well, the alcohol was a good factor. No, Sakura wasn’t drunk, but she had a good buzz going. And Naruto, well, he was right there with her. And the heat in the bathroom had just caused a stir in both of them apparently, especially due to that fierce fight the two of them had shared.

Sakura couldn’t help the thoughts that surfaced. She couldn’t help but think about his big hands running up her thighs, his hot mouth latching onto her neck, or his thick manhood parting her lower lips to wedge inside of her.

At that thought, she felt her own womanhood pulse, and she cursed herself, shaking her head free of those thoughts.

That could never happen again.

They were married, and had children.

Sniffling, Sakura cupped her hand and gathered some water, parting her legs, washing off the leftover semen, feeling tears pool in her eyes, shame coursing through her.

Oh God.

Oh God.

The rest of the night, Sakura was restless, completely exhausted she sat up and wiped the tears that were pooling out of her eyes.

She needed to speak to someone.

And who better than talk to the person that never slept?

It was 8 a.m. when Sakura knocked on his door, looking around to see if anyone was in the vicinity.

No answer.

Sakura knocked again, wondering if maybe he was asleep?

No answer.

Once more she knocked again and then she heard swearing on the other side of the wooden door.

“Just hang the hell on. Damn it.” He swore, unlatching the lock and swinging the door open, glaring at the early intruder.

“What?” He snapped, onyx eyes suddenly softening when they saw her.

Oh God.

He was shirtless!

“K-Kakashi-Sensei!” Sakura blushed, turning her back to him.

“Well, what did you expect? I just woke up…and my night, well, it didn’t consist of much clothing.” He said, humor in his voice.

Sakura blushed even harder at that comment, turning back around but keeping a hand over her eyes.

“I-Is she still here?” She questioned him.

“Nah. Left early. Want to come in?”

Sakura nodded, but still kept her eyes averted, feeling slightly uncomfortable.

Kakashi smirked, and pulled her inside, walking back to his room and shrugging a black tank top on, yawning.

Sakura sat down on the couch, fiddling with the hem of her dress, watching as Kakashi put on a pot of tea.

“So. What’s going on, Sakura?” He asked her, stepping into the living room, sitting in the chair across from hers.

Sakura squeaked, lost in her thoughts, a particular vulgar image popping up from last nights events.

“O-Oh, I-I, u-um, well, that is…”

Kakashi raised a brow at her nervous bumbling.

“Sakura? What is it?” He pushed lightly, “You can tell m-”

“Naruto and I fucked at the bar last night!” She shrieked, clapping a hand over her mouth, watching as his eyes widened considerably.

Oh boy.

“Well. I wasn’t expecting that.” Kakashi responded, rubbing the back of his neck.

Sakura bit her lip, still clutching her dress forcefully.

“In the bathroom, I take it?” He questioned, and Sakura nodded.

Silence.

“I’m a horrible person.” She whimpered, pushing her face into her palms, letting out a loose sob, shoulders shaking.

Kakashi looked at her sadly and stood up, sitting beside her on the couch now, putting his hand on her shoulder.

“Come now, Sakura. You were both intoxicated, and accidents happen. The bar kind of got to everyone last night, let me tell you. Ino and Sai were practically fucking on the dance floor. Even Yamato went home with a woman! I may have accidentally caught him and his one night stand fooling around outside the bar before they finally decided to leave.”

Sakura sniffled and gave him a little smile at that.

“I-Is it rare for you to go home with a woman from the bar?” She asked him, knowing the question was very personal.

“Eh. Depends on the woman. I try not to, I’ve had some pretty horrific experiences before. Last night was so so. She was kind of boring.”

Sakura smirked.

Silence.

“About a month ago, me and Naruto got into a very bad verbal disagreement regarding our children. Bolt seems to pick on Sarada a lot, and Sarada likes to handle their disagreements with her fists instead of her words. And I think we both were having a bad day, and things…just kind of escalated. I’ve never seen Naruto so furious, he got in my face, and I pushed him. It ended to where I was backed into a wall, and we were both so…winded…and the room just was filled with this odd tension that was never there before.” Sakura finished, running a hand through her pink hair.

Kakashi listened, trying to find the right words to comfort her.

Maybe she needed the truth.

Yeah. That would help.

Or, probably make her even more depressed. Either way, she needed the truth.

“Sakura. I want you to listen to me. Okay?” He told her, patting her head.

The female looked down and nodded, looking so much like the student that he taught so many years before.

“You and Naruto have a special bond. I used to think it was just a friendly bond, like a sibling bond. However, after your experiences with the infinite tsukuyomi, I began noticing something…different.”

Sakura glanced up.

“The two of you bounced around the tension, but there were some nights where you both would argue, and Yamato and I would just look at each other and quietly move away from you two, just waiting to wake up to the two of you… doing something.”

Sakura gasped and blushed, hiding her face.

“Now. That carried on a for awhile, well into the war. Then when the war was over, and you shoved Hinata and him together, I just figured the tension would taper off. But, it never did. It just laid dormant until the two of you shoved it back forwards.”

Sakura knew it was true.

Damn it.

“Sakura. I’ve seen with my own eyes the way Naruto looks at you. Even while he’s married. I’ve seen the angry expressions he gets when Sarada talks to you about Sasuke. His passion for you hasn’t left him, and I think that frightens him, the same way it frightens you.”

Sakura bit her lip and nodded.

“It’s all my fault, Sensei. I shoved him towards Hinata, because he deserved a woman that would love him for his good side and for his faults. All I’ve ever done is talk down to him it seems. Or nag him. Why would he feel anything but anger for me?”

Kakashi smirked.

“Because you don’t take his shit, Sakura. And I thought you and I established that Naruto is nothing short of a masochist.”

Sakura snickered at that.

True.

Then, the guilt rushed back.

“B-But, last night. It could wreck both of our marriages, Kakashi-Sensei. Sasuke would be furious if he found out. And Hinata….Oh Kami, she’d never forgive me.” Sakura finished, feeling the tears overlap her eyes once again.

Kakashi sighed and sat back, rubbing his thighs, mulling over his thoughts.

“Well, Sakura. You don’t have to tell anybody. And you know I would never say anything to break your trust.”

Sakura nodded, sniffling.

Silence.

Kakashi looked at the Uchiha symbol on his previous students back and he narrowed his eyes at it, a question popping up in his head.

“Sakura? May I ask you something?”

The pink haired woman turned towards him, nodding softly.

“Did you enjoy it?” He asked raising an a silver brow at her reddened expression, wanting to smirk, but decided not to.

“Um, er. That is…I, I can’t answer that, Sensei.” She finished, closing her eyes due to embarrassment.

Hm.

He really wanted to know.

Maybe he could bribe her?

“Tell you what. You answer that question, and I’ll take off my mask.” He promised, making a peace sign with his fingers, doing his infamous eye smile.

Sakura looked dumbfounded at him, glaring slightly.

T-That…jerk! He knew she would talk if that was at stake.

“Ok. I will. But you have to take the mask off first.” She said, crossing her arms.

Kakashi just shrugged, reached up and pulled the mask off, watching shock cross the younger woman’s face.

Sakura paled considerably, feeling a little light headed.

She knew it…

She knew it!

“I win!” She squealed, jumping up and fist bumping the air, squealing like a little school girl.

Kakashi watched in humor.

“You win?” He asked, chuckling a little bit.

“Yes! Years ago, Sasuke, Naruto and I had a bet going to what you looked like under your mask! Sasuke thought you had tiny lips, Naruto thought you had fish lips, and I assumed you were decent looking. They both thought I was nuts, cause why would a good looking man hide his facial features? And I was RIGHT!” She yelled again, doing a little happy dance now.

Kakashi just smiled, shaking his head at her childlike display of winning.

Sakura laughed and sat down again, looking at him again.

“Jeez Sensei, you really are handsome. Oh my gosh!” She squealed again, leaning towards him, eyes on his chin.

“You have a beauty mark!” She laughed, falling back against the sofa cushions.

Kakashi rolled his eyes at that, grabbing his mask again, but Sakura’s hand stopped him from pulling it up.

“No! I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to make you self conscious. Sorry. Sorry. It’s nice, it’s cute, attractive.”

“Yes. Just what a ninja wishes to be.” He sarcastically answered.

Sakura snickered at that.

“Is that why you hide your face?” She questioned him, honestly bewildered at his reasoning now.

“Hmph. When I was a kid, everyone would always talk about how cute I was. Women would pinch my cheeks, and if they saw that mole, that was it. They would just fawn over me. And…I decided to wear a mask from then on.”

“Surely your boyish features went away after awhile. I mean…why did you decide to continue to wear it?” Sakura asked.

Kakashi waved a hand, rubbing his eyebrow.

“Sakura. I’m no stranger to fangirls, believe me. They’re bothersome. And distracting.”

The kuniochi looked down at that statement, a little embarrassed.

Kakashi noticed.

“Hey. That was a long time ago, you’ve changed drastically since then. You are definitely no longer that ‘fan girl,’ Sakura.” He smiled, patting her hair again, giving her a crinkly eye smile.

She smiled at him, nodding.

“Now! I did what you asked of me, your turn.” He smirked.

Sakura nodded, sighing, leaning back against the cushions, looking out the window into the cloudy sky.

“I did enjoy it, yes.” She murmured, shame rising within her at that omission.

The older ninja just stared at her, knowing the answer from the get go.

Sakura herself stood up, all joking aside, and stood by his window, watching the rain clouds roll in.

Her fingers were trembling, her lips as well.

She was so stupid.

So fucking stupid.

“I should have married him.” She murmured, feeling the tears fall out of her eyes now, remembering back to the day she watched him marry Hinata.

She had shoved the feeling back, down…down…down. But, was fully aware that it burned to see them kiss each other at that altar.

To watch him be taken from her in one fell swoop.

Kakashi watched his ex-student sadly, he hadn’t seen her breakdown in a very long time, and he had hoped to never see it again. He didn’t like to see others cry.

Especially not those he considered his family.

“Sakura.” He started, getting up, wrapping his arms around her shaking form, her tears wetting the front of his tank top.

Kakashi closed his eyes, patting her hair, listening to her wrenching sobs fill his room.

Naruto himself groggily sat up in his bed, rubbing his forehead, grunting at the headache that shot across his temples.

He had gotten drunk last night.

Last night.

Fuck.

That wasn’t supposed to happen, it wasn’t…wasn’t…but it did.

Naruto knew exactly when the buried tension had resurfaced, and that was when he and Sakura had gotten into the altercation about Bolt and Sarada.

And…from then, the both of them felt a sort of electricity take hold of them, never letting them go, or ebbing, but growing greater and greater everytime they saw each other.

And last night…when he saw how sad she was because of that…teme…Naruto had nudged her under the table, getting her attention, making her flustered due to how he was looking at her.

He couldn’t help but stare at her…

Sakura was beautiful, any man with eyes could see it. Could drown in those emerald eyes of hers.

Shaking his head clear of last nights events, of her face when she climaxed, of how she felt wrapped around him…of the noises she made.

Gritting his teeth, he felt a stirring in his lower extrimety.

Damn it all.

Ignoring the rush of hormones, Naruto looked to the left side of him, noticing the vacant side of the bed.

Hinata must have gone out with Himawari.

Was she frustrated that he had come home drunk?

Should he tell her? Could he just…not tell her? And live with the guilt?

Hinata didn’t deserve to be lied to. Nor did she deserve to be cheated on. But, would it do to throw everything off balance over a drunken mistake?

Naruto wasn’t sure.

Damn it all.

Sakura had managed to pull herself together, Kakashi releasing her, silence enveloping them.

“Sensei? What am I going to do?” She asked him, her voice coming out squeaky, so much so, that it threw him back to her genin days.

Kakashi shook his head at those happy yet sad memories, and rubbed his chin.

“Well. There are several options here, Sakura.” He started, pulling his best ‘most understanding’ voice.

She looked at him, waiting on his advice.

“One: You could just keep this to yourself. It happened on a drunken whim, and I’m fairly sure the bar back was spiking our drinks anyway. Everybody’s drinks.” He chuckled, but it didn’t earn anything from her.

Clearing his throat, he tried again. “Two: You could talk to Naruto about what happened, and you both could discern where to go from there.”

Sakura nodded, listening still.

“Three: You could tell Hinata yourself, and Sasuke as well, and…see what happens? But honestly, I would stray from that path, if Hinata is going to hear it, it needs to come from Naruto.”

Sakura closed her eyes, wrapping her arms around her shoulders.

“W-Well. I guess, talking to Naruto, and asking his opinion would be the best, responsible course of action. Ignoring what happened is…unhealthy, and leaves more tension.”

Kakashi nodded.

“Good choice. Now…if you get a move on, Naruto will be the only one in his office in ten minutes. I would suggest to do it somewhere public, but also private. Not anywhere near your house. Or that bar.” He said, smirking, wincing lightly when she hit his arm.

“Thank you, Kakashi-sensei.” She said, hugging him lightly, and leaving.

Kakashi waved goodbye as she shut the door, and slumped on the couch when she left.

Oh man. He had a feeling this whole scenario was going to get a lot more interesting.

This will also be Archiveofourown! Chapter 2 is up on my page!

@mrhunhun