#the same village that had a hand in the annihilation of his clan

[uchiha-gaeshi]

Konoha is ruining my favourite ships

Like the village is such a huge cockblocker. All my OTPs, it doesn't matter if it's HashiMada or HashiMito or MinaKushi or SasuNaru, (honourable mention to brotp KakaObi), are all being HELD BACK because at least one of the mfs in the ship is a bootlicker

[hiei-is-my-love-language]

Ok that post about this scene made me really emotional so I decided I wanted to share this little excerpt - poor Hiei being abandoned over and over, until he finds a little peace ✨

Finally, he was returning home. In less than a day, he’d be reunited with Kyoga and the rest of the crew. After being by himself for so long, he had begun to miss them. The nights around the fire, examining the trophies they’d found, swapping stories of those they’d killed. In truth, he’d never wanted to leave in the first place, but Kyoga had given him an order. He saw him as a father, and would do whatever he asked, even if it risked his life.

There had been a clan in the westernmost corner of Demon World, the Waka-oniki, who had plundered their entire region until nothing remained, holding all of those treasures deep within their village. Hiei had been sent on a suicide mission, alone and without much hope for success. Ordered to annihilate the tribe in its entirety, those in his own clan of bandits bid him farewell, not expecting a return. The Waka-oniki were fighters of legend, an ancient group of demons who had mastered the martial arts, choosing to kill with their bare hands rather than weapons.

But Hiei knew himself, and he knew that he would be able to take them. The men were easiest. It was the women, and the children, who haunted him. Knowing it was not right, he’d slaughtered them anyway. He could not return with the job half-finished. Kyoga wouldn’t stand for it. Only one he left unharmed – a small girl, whose red eyes flooded with tears as she watched her family die. Those eyes were so like his sister’s, so like his. She would not have much of a life, that he understood from experience, but she would live. Perhaps that was the greatest cruelty of all, his inability to end her before her existence became as agonizing as his own.

With any luck, she’d find a place to belong, as he had. Most of the time, he could forget his past completely. He had a family, now. One that would not cast him aside the way those punishing ice maidens had. His desire to find those women and exact his revenge had dwindled some years past. He would leave them to their brutality, and take part in his own.

Smirking, and dragging the spoils of his hunt behind him, he approached the hideout. Kyoga stood with members of the inner circle, weighing a large golden urn. It was good to see him.

“It’s Hiei!” Tatsuji said, pointing.

“What?”

“He survived?”

Someone grabbed the makeshift trunk from his hands, and without the load he’d carried for the past three weeks, his arm felt light as a feather. Coming upon Kyoga, a firm hand on his chest confounded him. Kyoga pushed him back, and the others filed into the caves, out of sight.

“Listen, Hiei. You weren’t supposed to come back. I thought you’d die there. We don’t need you here anymore. You just… you don’t get it. You’re more trouble than you’re worth.”

With nothing else, the only person who’d ever cared for him turned his back and left. He was completely, painfully, alone.

That dream, which he’d had a thousand times before, felt more real than ever. He’d awoken with that same sick feeling of abandonment, of everything you thought was yours being ripped away. Just as he felt like he was about to vomit, Airi’s soft lips covered him in kisses, and a smile found its way to his face. She kissed that, too.

[captnjacksparrow]

Hello!

What do you think about Itachi’s redemption?

I’ve seen a lot people arguing on this topic. Some people say that he has to admit massacring his clan was wrong and that after his death he still a konohas cog and others say he did all he could and as Sasuke could forgive him that was enough.

Was he really redeemed in your opinion?

Considering In-Universe logic, Itachi is rotting in hell by willingly tarnishing his name and was called as ‘Traitor’, ‘Biggest Villain’ and whatnot.

“That’s a divine punishment!, The destiny of someone who accomplished such evil deeds!!!.... He is the biggest villain who ever appeared in Konoha’s history!”

Nagato nuked Konoha into a desert and then later, in order to make amends for what he did, he brought back everyone he killed during that Battle. He had an Audience (entire village) who saw for what he was.

Obito is the Main Villain of this Story. He was the one who was responsible for every sufferings Naruto and Sasuke was put through... And yet, he did something good towards the very end to make amends for everything he did so far and went to Ninja Heavens with Rin. Again, he had an audience (Team 7 & Rikkudou Sennin & all the Tailed Beasts). 

Whereas unlike Obito & Nagato, Itachi did everything to protect the Village from Uchiha Clan’s coup detat & Akatsuki..... and yet no one knows anything about it except for those 2 old crows (I don’t know whether they are alive) and Sasuke, Naruto, Killer Bee, Jugo, Suigetsu, Orochimaru, Kabuto, Kakashi, Yamato... Canonically, Nobody knew anything about who stopped the Edo Tensei either other than handful of few people... 

The entire point is, this truth should not be known to anyone at any cost otherwise Uchiha’s name will be thrown into the Garbage forever. 

That whole Edo Tensei thing was all about Itachi making amends for his failure.

He annihilated his own clan in exchange for Sasuke’s life and protected the village & also stopped the war by himself... But, He lied to Sasuke about everything and because of that lie, Sasuke turned into a criminal by joining Akatsuki, Kidnapped Killer Bee and attacked Gokage summit... Which started the 4th Shinobi World War.... And Sasuke ended up planning to destroy Konoha.... 

Itachi was the indirect responsibility of starting the war he tried so hard to stop and almost created a threat to the Village which he tried so hard to protect.

Which means HE FAILED. 

It’s this failure he wanted to make amends for. And that’s why he left Madara and Sasuke in Naruto’s hands and wanted to stop Edo Tensei as a means to stop the War. Sasuke just happened to meet him accidentally and he learned about Itachi’s feelings & got to see the truth. It was never about Itachi’s Redemption for UCM anyway.

Some people say that he has to admit massacring his clan was wrong and that after his death he’s still a konoha’s cog and others say he did all he could and as Sasuke could forgive him that was enough.

Uchiha Apologists, Sasuke stannies and Anti Konoha stans, eh??? They always project themselves too much without understanding the context.

Since when did Itachi ever said Massacring his Clan was right???? At any time????

Then what about this Panel??? 

“I want to be judged and dealt with only by another Uchiha”

He did an unforgivable crime and then he was killed by his brother, rightfully. He died bearing the name of a ‘Traitor’.... What else do they want??? How many times they want him to suffer for the same crime???

And also... What was that ‘Konoha’s Cog’ about??? Are they really dumb?? It’s precisely for this reason, there is an entire Arc dedicated to ‘The Meaning behind Konoha’ where Sasuke went to the Hokages to know about Itachi’s feelings. I think they should go and watch it again. That whole flashback was all about ‘Why people go so far for this Village??’

Plus, they seem to forget some very very important panels. Hadn’t Itachi massacred his own Clan, Sasuke would be dead already. 

Firstly, Uchiha Clan was doomed to be annihilated (including Sasuke), if they had attempted the Coup. Itachi could do nothing about it when that happens... other than watch it as a spectator... 

“Whether the war happens or not... Once they’ve tried to make a Coup d’etat the Uchiha will necessarily be annihilated.... You unknowing Little Brother Included... But by acting before it happens, he can be saved...”

And the reason Danzo gives for this statement is...

“If the coup happens... You younger Brother will see everything too... He will see his whole clan be destroyed by a shinobi of the leaf and will unmistakably want to get revenge on the Village... And in that case he will have to be killed too...”

So, Danzo gives Itachi two choices....

Stand with Uchiha & die along with your clan (including his parents & Sasuke).

Or Stand with Konoha, save your Brother before the coup happens.

This is a Catch-22 situation where he didn't have any easy option.

“Itachi... It will surely be a painful mission for you... But in return, You can save your brother...”

Itachi prioritized Sasuke & the Village over his Parents & the Clan. So, What are they blaming him for, yet??? For prioritizing Sasuke over his Parents???

And also, Did Sasuke ever blamed Itachi for Killing his Parents or Slaughtering his Clan at any time???? Can they show atleast one panel where Sasuke accusing Itachi for that crime?? Oh, I mean after knowing the Truth.... 

Well, They can't... Because there's none.

Sasuke only blamed Itachi on two occasions for the same reason...

“You were the one who changed everything about me!!”

“I turned out this way only because of you!!”

“Sasuke... It’s my fault that you became what you are now... I’m not really in the position for criticizing your decision..”

He was also not saying, “I did it only for the good of you...”.. He accepts his wrong-doings and failures... And knowing all these, he left Sasuke in Naruto’s hands.

Even then, Itachi clearly said, “You don’t have to forgive me”. 

Whatever reasons they are accusing Itachi for, it was already addressed by himself multiple times and he suffered so much for it. There’s nothing left from Itachi’s side to do anything... 

Itachi was never redeemed for the UCM thing. He marked his own death, the day he committed that Sin and died as a Traitor despite his act saved many people. He never wanted to be redeemed for changing Sasuke’s life either.... Because he knew what he did was wrong. That whole Edo Tensei thing was to stop the War, Itachi had started indirectly through Sasuke.

[nejibaby]

Memories

Pairing: Neji x Fem!Uchiha Reader

Summary: There are a lot of terrible things that have happened to you as an Uchiha that you wanted to forget. But with Neji’s help, you’re able to move on and move along. Things have started getting better for you, however, once the Fourth Shinobi War was declared, time seemed to start running out.

Word Count: 2.1k

Memories - Part 1 | Deja Vu - Part 2

A/N: I didn’t exactly follow the plot and somehow it turned so angsty 🙈 Please let me know your thoughts~

There are memories you hold so dear that you refuse to have them tainted no matter what. Most of those memories are of the times you spent playing or training with your brother Shishui, his best friend Itachi, and Itachi’s brother Sasuke. Those times were the golden days for you; the best of the best, if you may.

Conversely, there are also memories that you just wish would disappear. They’re the memories of incidents you wish didn’t happen at all. They’re the type of memories that you push at the back of your mind, because you believe that if you think about it or even spare a single second for it, then it’ll be more real. Because you’re in denial. You’re in denial not only about the death of Shisui, but also of the Uchiha clan.

But then there’s a single memory you have that always stands out. It’s a memory that you both want to forget and remember.

The tragedy of the Uchiha clan had changed the only survivors — you and Sasuke. You had already started changing a little because you had to deal with your brother’s death, but seeing the horrible scene in the clan’s district had been the icing on top.

Your drastic change had been evident on the day you came back to the Academy after you were discharged at the hospital. What once was a girl full of life had become an empty shell.

The moment you sat down entered the room, people had started talking. Mostly it’s just about asking someone else if you were an Uchiha or if they know about the clan’s misfortune. They were meaningless chatters so you easily drowned them out.

But there was a comment that had reached your ears. “Why is it such a big deal? People die anyway, it just so happened her clan died on the same day.”

The comment kept ringing inside your head but then someone beside you spoke up, “Don’t you have anything else better to do than talk about someone else’s life?”

He was met with silence so he continued saying, “People die everyday, it’s a fact. Some die because of illnesses, some because of old age, some because of poverty, accidents, or murder. As shinobi, we can die in the line of duty. But that doesn’t make death any less painful to the one left behind.

“If your family is alive, then good, but maybe use that brain of yours because logic says not everyone gets to be as lucky as you.”

Naturally, you want to forget about the unsolicited comment of your classmate, but you want to remember that among the students inside the room, one boy had stood up for you. Quite frankly, you needed his saving that day. Otherwise, you would’ve beaten yourself up for mourning too long.

And when you realized who that boy was, his words weighed even more. Because Hyuga Neji was a boy notoriously known for thinking that everyone’s fate is predetermined from birth and that luck plays absolutely no part in it.

“Not everyone gets to be as lucky as you.”

And for a hot minute he had abandoned his belief as he stood up for you.

It sounds hypocritical if you think about it.

But maybe just as he had saved you, you had opened his eyes just a little bit and helped him see that his beliefs were skewed too. In a way, you had helped each other, at least you hoped.

It’s because of that day, that memory, that you find yourself gravitating towards Neji.

It isn’t attraction at all at first, more like genuine curiosity about him and his life. But you didn’t get to know him further until the Chunin exams where he had disclosed the way of their clan. It’s at that time where you understood why he acts the way he acts.

You can’t help but wonder about how two clans with almost similar circumstances— both with kekkei genkai, both living in Konoha, both considered to be one of the strongest clans in the shinobi world— could have completely different ways of living. One clan is almost completely annihilated, while the other has slaves of their own blood. And if you’re being completely honest, you aren’t exactly sure which is better.

You have gotten the urge to talk to him after hearing his story, although you really didn’t know what to say. But then the chance never came up because of the chaos orchestrated by Orochimaru.

After the Chunin exams and the attack of Orochimaru, you hadn’t heard of Neji for a while since you’ve been tasked to help with the repairs of the village. And when you did hear about him, it was terrible, terrible news.

Sasuke left the village to seek power from the very person who just wrecked havoc in Konoha. His leaving alone left you in despair. What Itachi was to Shisui is exactly what Sasuke means to you, and him doing such a thing without even letting you know makes you feel like a failure both as a friend and as a family.

The news didn’t end there, however. Apparently the squad that Shikamaru had led to retrieve Sasuke had been severely injured and were on the brink of death — one of them being Neji.

You remember feeling guilt and regret burning your skin. You remember the shame of not being able to save Sasuke from the darkness and not being able to help the retrieval squad in any way. You blame yourself for the horrible things that happened.

Since then, you have made it a point to visit the squad in the hospital every day, making sure you apologize and thank them for their service. But admittedly, it’s Neji that you always stay with longer.

It’s not that you aren’t comfortable with the others, they’re really nice and easy to get along with. But they always have other visitors with them, mostly their team members and relatives. Neji, on the other hand, didn’t get as many visits since his other teammate, Rock Lee, was also injured because of his fight with Gaara. So Tenten and Guy sensei would switch visits between the two every other day.

Besides that, his clan members rarely ever visited. And you didn’t want him to be alone in such trying moments, especially when you didn’t get to do anything to prevent this from happening.

As closed off as Neji is, because of your constant visits, you have found a way to worm yourself into the walls he put up. And by the time he’s discharged from the hospital, you somehow became close friends.

From that moment on, you find yourself coming to Neji on times that you’re in despair and in doubt. You trust him enough to tell him your stories, worries, and fears because he doesn’t judge you. And he does the same with you.

Neji listens when you want him to listen, and talks when you need him to talk. He’s quite level headed and very much rational, and because of that he gives the best advice.

With him, you find yourself healing and growing. With you, he finds himself learning to forgive.

Neji easily makes you see things in a different way; a different light; a different perspective, and helps you become a better shinobi and a better person in general.

For you, Neji has such a comforting aura. While he’s sometimes cold and stoic around others, with you, he softens up. With you, he’s gentle; careful even. And it’s because of this that you find yourself admiring him more and more.

But before anything could happen — before you could even confess — the Fourth Shinobi War was declared.

Just like that, time seemed to start running out. And you have lost all hopes of being together with Neji as a lover rather than a friend.

The war is awful. Quite frankly, it overwhelmed you too much, too easily. The bodies lying on the floor with dried out blood reminded you of the massacre of the Uchiha clan. But the only person who’s able to calm you down and help you move along is Neji.

The both of you fight side by side, always nearby Hinata in case she would need help. When the night comes and the enemies cease their attack, it’s your turn to talk Neji into relaxing a bit because he’s started straining his eyes from too much use. And because it’s you who asked and it’s you who’s there with him, he knows he and the rest of the Allied Forces are safe, so he rests.

But somehow chaos ensues and in the middle of it, you both get separated. You’re worried deeply, but you trust his skills and his strength, and you know you’ll be reuniting with him again.

And reunited with him you did. But when you have found him once again, he’s blocking out the Ten Tails’ attack with... his body.

With desperation, you transported to his side as quickly as you can. Summoning your last bits of chakra, you use Susanoo to protect him, Hinata, and Naruto. The last thing you remember is the look of relief on Neji’s face, but before it could morph into worry, you have already blacked out.

By the time you have woken up, you’re in Konoha’s hospital. The first thing you see is Neji resting his head on the side of your bed, peacefully sleeping, looking as angelic as ever.

Your body aches with every breath you take, even more so with little movement. But you didn’t let that deter you from weaving your fingers along the Hyuga’s hair. He stirs almost immediately and then he opens his pretty eyes. He sits up upon seeing you.

“I’m sorry, did I wake you up?” You softly ask.

He doesn’t respond to your question. “You’re awake,” he sighs in relief. “You’re finally awake. Let me go call Lady Tsunade and Sakura.” He stands up.

But before he can even take a step, you grab his wrist. “Stay,” you mumble.

Neji looks at you, reading your face. But then he nods and sits.

“Is it over?” You ask.

“Yes, the war’s over.”

“What happened after?”

“It’s a long story… but tell me, how are you feeling?”

“I’m feeling fine. My body aches, but it’s not a big deal.”

“What do you mean it’s not a big deal?!” Neji looks upset that it takes you by surprise. “Do you remember what happened? Didn’t you know you almost died?! You almost used up all your chakra to use Susanoo! That’s so stupid and reckless!”

His aggressive tone effectively gets you angry. “I did it for you!” You snap. “Of course I remember what happened! Even if I want to forget, the memory is branded in my mind! You fucking wanted to use your body to shield Naruto from that attack, didn’t you? How is that not stupid and reckless? Huh?”

Neji’s chakra flares up as he clenches his jaw. Yet, he doesn’t speak.

You breathe out, trying to calm down. You rarely ever fought with Neji and he’s never really raised his voice to you. With your body still tired and aching from the war, you didn’t want this conversation to escalate further so you try to diffuse the situation before it blows even more out of proportion.

In a low voice, you speak, “I was so scared, Neji. I didn’t want to lose you. I’ve lost everyone I’ve ever loved.”

A tear falls down from your eye and Neji’s heart breaks at your forlorn state. “I don’t want to lose you too. I can’t…” you squeak. “I love you so much, I can’t lose you.”

Neji’s breath hitches at your declaration. He could hear his heart drumming against his chest.

You love him?

He doesn’t know if he heard you right or if his mind is just playing tricks on him. It happened before. He’s loved you for so long… and there have been plenty of days he dreamt of hearing you say you love him too. And right now he isn’t sure if this is the reality or just another one of his dreams.

As if you’ve read his mind — like you always seem to be able to do — you repeat your words. “I love you, Neji.”

It’s the confirmation that he needs. And hearing your words knocked the wind out of him. “I… I…” he starts saying.

But you’ve taken his stuttering and his pale, panic-stricken face as a sign of an incoming rejection, so you look down instantly and say, “It’s fine if you don’t like me the same way. I just hope we can still be friends after—”

“No, I… I love you too,” he breathlessly confesses before you even finish your rambling.

Your head whips up after the words left his lips. You stare at him, unbelieving.

And just as you did a while ago, he repeats his words with conviction, “I love you too.”

A smile makes its way to your face, and when he smiles back, you immediately know this is a memory you won’t ever forget.

[lostchildofthenewworld]

the girls want to hear your naruto opinions miss chaos

I am Jasmine Masters and I have something to say.

The 3rd Hokage was effectively the weakest hokage and his allowance and grace towards Danzo allowed for a lot of corruption to run rampant. The fact that he did nothing for Uzushio when the village was literally slaughtered and then was like “oh yeah, that’s our sister village” bitch shut the fuck up, cause where was Konoha and effective leadership when Uzu was literally put to the blade? The other villages feared Uzu because of their sealing abilities and the Leaf village used their close relations with Uzu for their own benefit but when Uzu needed their closest ally, the Leaf nor the 3rd hokage was no where to be found.

The 3rd hokage letting Danzo effectively push the Uchiha all the way to the edge of the village when the 2nd Hokage, the one who distrusted the Uchiha the most even agreed that the Uchiha were effective if they overcame the curse of Hatred. So what does Hiruzen allow? He allows Danzo to smear the Uchiha and then he his moley ass acts surprise that now the Uchiha wants to put pull off a coup d’etat. Then when they met and Danzo, him and Itachi were talking about it, hiruzen got mad and was like “don’t say such things in front of a child.” BITCH! You have literal fucking child soldiers! Fuck do you mean? How you gone have the audacity to say not to speak about murder in front of a child (itachi) but in the same breath you’re gonna have itachi slaughter his clan?

Ooooooh BITCH I HATE HIRUZEN. Weak ass hoe!!!

Theeeeeen, to top it off, after Itachi slaughters his clan, goes deep undercover, what does Hiruzen allow for Sasuke?! TO BE ALONE AFTER HIS WHOLE FAMILY WAS ANNIHILATED BY HIS BELOVED BIG BROTHER.

NO THERAPY WITH THAT YAMANAKA, no placement with a family, no nothing. Sasuke is just another orphan.

That man is SICK! Ooooooh I hate him!!!

Not to mention, Hiruzen allowed for Danzo to kidnap and brainwash children of the families in the leaf, even having the suspicion of what Danzo was doing. But instead of calling that motherfucka out and putting his one eyed ass in the ground, what does Hiruzen do?! LET THAT MAN WALK AWAY! Repeatedly throughout the series, Danzo kept trying and pulling Hiruzen’s card and Hiruzen ain’t do shit just like the bitch he is.

I wish I would be a dictator of a village and a motherfucker pulls my card, bitch I’m killing you and ya wife! This is not a democracy, it’s a dictatorship and the fact that Hiruzen kept letting Danzo and his punk ass council stay his hand and be ineffective is sick. Fuck Hiruzen!

THEEEEEEN, OROCHIMARU! Now I’ll admit Orochimaru was a good villain with his 24’26’28 malaysian straight, BUT WHY DID HIRUZEN KEEP ALLOWING OROCHIMARU TO PULL THIS SHIT?! Like you’re telling me, my own student was unethically medically experimenting on babies and children? Bitch I’m putting a bullet in him and that’s that on that! PERIOD POOH!

Like Hiruzen literally allowed so much shit to slide that came back to haunt the Hidden Leaf Village.

Tsunade got to shirk her duties to the village though she was a Princess as daughter to the 1st hokage and niece to the 2nd hokage, she had a duty and obligation to be in the village when the 4th hokage and Kushina were murdered. Instead she spent her years drinking and gambling away the Senju fortune. The Senju are cousins to the Uzumaki and where was Miss. Drunk-Ass when Naruto was being ostracized by the village and abused in the orphanage?

Hmmm? Oh that’s it! she was gambling and drinking.

Hiruzen let his students fuck off and do what they wanted and it came back to to ruin.

That’s not even touching ON THE AUDACITY THAT HIRUZEN ALLOWED NARUTO TO STAY IN THAT ORPHANGE WHERE HE WAS ABUSED AND SUFFERED FROM MALNUTRITION.

That village is SICK! Hiruzen is SICK!!! The fact that Minato and Kushina died thinking that their son would be taken care of because they’re literally sacrificing him, only for that not to be true is SICCCCK!

The 3rd Hokage, who is literally a fucking dictator in a military state is like “uwu I told the villagers not to talk about the 9 tails so Naruto will be okay 🥴” is utter horse shit! HE’S A BITCH!

He should’ve dragged Tsunade drunk ass home, put her ass in a detox program and told her to get her shit together cause her lil cousin needs her. Her lil cousin who is the jinchūriki I just like her grandma! I know Mito was rolling over in her grave!! I know she was!

I know Tobirama was rolling in his grave too with how his last 2 students turned out!! I’m sick!!

Hiruzen was a hoe! He was a bitch! How you gone be a dictator and not exercise your power?

HOW YOU GET YA ASS BEAT BY YA OWN STUDENT?! IM SICCCCCCK!!! Omg!!! Orochimaru stomped his ass! How you get your ass handed to you by ya own student, embarrassing!

At least Tobirama went out fighting like a dozen ninjas and Minato went out fighting Obito with the Reaper Death Seal. But Hiruzen? Allowed Orochimaru to trick his ass into using the reaper death seal and didn’t even kill Orochimaru, omg FLOP ERA!!!

That’s not to even get started on the inconsistency in the writing of Naruto and world building.

Naruto and Neji fighting during the Chunin exam and Naruto saying that destiny doesn’t matter and you get to choose your own fate? GUESS WHO HAD 2 PROPHECIES AND IS A GOD REINCARNATE?!

MISS NEJI WAS RIGHT AND HE DIED THINKING HE CHOSE HIS OWN FATE! WHEN HE DIDNT!!! He died in service to the main branch just like his father did!! IM SICCCCCK! Omg!!!

Yeah, me and Naruto…mhm…I have a lot to say about Naruto and it’s still on sight if I ever see Kishimoto 🗣

[belit0]

Anonymous:

Hey can you do Indra with a partner who's equally power thirsty as he is? (s/o is already strong and absolutely a top)

Power couple goals!

Power couple goals for our King🧙‍♀️

After trying to kill each other countless times, Indra and [Y/N] finally understood that they could not erase each other’s existence. They are both highly powerful, and for every attack or defense that one presents, the other has an equally strong trump card up the sleeve.

Your life was relatively quiet until you came face to face with the deserter from the Ōtsutsuki clan, who with airs and graces of violence and revenge sought to increase his power at all costs. The problem is that you were looking for the same thing. Your story is different, you were not betrayed by your family, you were not turned away by your village, but the darkness hovers over your soul in the same way.

This is something that you notice in Indra from the first moment that you cross glances. How his only desire is to dominate, to destroy, to conquer, to impose himself. But this is a disadvantage in your plans, because in a world as broken as the one you both live in, there cannot be two rulers over the underdogs.

From your first meeting, you were both destined to try to kill each other. He underestimated you, believing that your power and intelligence would never compare to his, and it was at that moment that he condemned the encounter to an infinite draw.

The village you were in was big, with a largely developed self-sustaining system, a stable place to dominate and make your home, your empire. With determination, you knew that you would stay there, fight any villager or warrior who wanted to challenge your rules and build your much-desired kingdom.

And that’s what you’ve been doing for the past three months. You had found this place by pure chance while walking through the forest, looking for a location where you could rest and recharge your supplies to continue your journey. But just in the same way that you arrived as a terrifying stampede for the helpless village, so did Indra.

The people tried to fight against your orders, in fact, you annihilated almost the entire military unit that the village had. It was a struggle to be heard, you had to repress and punish them all over, but eventually, they dropped their rebellion, giving in to your inevitable command.

When things were going relatively well for you, a suspicious traveler appeared at the entrance to the village, and invaded the settlement carelessly. Killing villagers in the blink of an eye, the very same Indra Ōtsutsuki appeared in your home, attempting to steal everything that was yours.

Of course, you had heard the legends about this man. Myths run as fast as the shooting stars in the sky. But that did not mean that you believed the stories that reached your ears when you were traveling from place to place. If the tongues didn’t lie, this warrior wasn’t someone normal, but someone on your level. You were always smart and learned that underestimating your enemies was the fastest way to dig your own grave, so when Indra demanded to speak to the village leader, you waited and tested his patience.

“If you don’t bring the head of this wretched place here this instant, I will have to get rid of all of you, one by one… the choice is yours.”

Faced with the man’s threat, a desperate villager looked directly in your direction. Hiding among the sea of people watching Indra’s massacre, you listened to his speech. You prayed internally that this villager would not be so foolish as to give away your identity in front of your enemy, but of course, you could not expect much from people so inferior to you.

“[Y/N]-SAMA! PLEASE SAVE US PLEASE THIS MAN IS INSA- ”

Before he could speak any further, you pierced his right eye with a sharp Senbon, thrown towards your victim from a formidable distance. No one noticed the weapon that struck the villager, but of course, Indra was able to track and detect the movements, and when the villager fell dead in front of the crowd, he already had his eyes on you.

A long dark red cape covered you completely, from head to toe. Its hood covered your eyes, preventing your enemy from using his visual powers on you. That was the first thing you noticed when he burst into your village, confirming that the stories about him were real.

“What kind of leader is such a coward enough to hide among those who are the lowest followers… [Y/N]-Sama… I despise you; I should do you a favor and kill you here and now.”

“You should try, Ōtsutsuki Indra. I don’t guarantee your fate, anyway. Take the risk.”

That’s how the first fight between the two happened. It lasted an incalculable amount of time, occupying days, and nights of physical fatigue. The chakra exhaustion attacked the two of you at the same time, signaling the same level of accumulation. On the battlefield, where they had fought vigorously and relentlessly, they collapsed.

By the time you woke up, Indra was sitting next to you, and his intentions felt different. You were no longer detecting homicidal feelings towards you. The man was calm, relaxed in some way. His clothes were torn and dirty, and you assumed that yours were too. You were unable to move your body, as the pain spread mercilessly through all your limbs, so you just watched him.

If for some reason he decided to kill you at that very moment, there would be nothing you could do to prevent it. But instead, he simply stared at you when he heard your groans of bodily pain, and you gazed in confusion at his countenance. The man who fought you seemed to have vanished.

“Why didn’t you kill me? Keeping me alive and watching me die is quite cynical…”

“I have no intention of killing you, not yet. You have proven to be efficient, and you could work in my plans.”

“Your plans… Why would I be interested in participating in them? Just kill me.”

“I’m afraid I won’t do that. I’m proposing an alliance, if you don’t accept, I’ll leave you here on the floor, incapacitated and at your mercy. You know, someone said to me a few days ago ‘You should try Indra, I’m not assuring your luck, anyway. Take the risk’. I don’t assure your luck [Y/N], take the risk”.

“Shut up, you idiot, cocky, annoying, fucking asshole… Did you say days? Has it been days?”

“You know how to fight, but you don’t know how to calculate the time it takes to beat your opponent… too bad, you’re missing points. Are you in or not?”

“What exactly should I do…”

“Help me, to form my clan. Once you conceive my heirs, you are free. Until then, you are bound to comply.”

“You’re crazy to think I’ll help you with that.”

“Very well, then, I will set out again on my journey. It’s a shame about your dreadful village… we killed everyone with our fight and destroyed the land. Good luck surviving.”

“Wait! … Shit… I’ll go with you, but we’ll share the power equally.”

“You think you’re in a position to negotiate? How delusional.”

“Not at this moment, but when you want to impose yourself again, we’ll solve it by fighting.”

“You sound very confident… I accept, but when you have to surrender to me, don’t expect me not to enjoy the victory.”

"Be quiet and help me.”

Abruptly, he stood up as if nothing had happened, and lifted you off the ground with him. Quickly, you were positioned on his shoulder, just like a rag doll. The only thing you could focus on was the painful ways your body bounced with each step from Indra, who showed no compassion for your poor health.

That’s how the two of you started a complicated relationship, which, between fights and provocations, became something addictive that neither of you could give up. Suddenly years had passed since the first encounter, and your days were filled with challenges for power.

Neither of you wanted to give in to the other. You knew that Indra would not abandon you even if you continued to extend the time to conceive his heirs, you could feel it in his soul and see it in his eyes. The Ōtsutsuki had developed a strong attachment to you, love, I would dare to call it, and even if it took a lifetime to form your family, he would never change you for anyone.

So, in the meantime, both of you were playing a little game. Your routine was based on constantly provoking the other, pushing the other to the limit so that the situation would end in an inevitable fight to the death. The funny thing is that, as both maintained the same level of power, there was never a winner. Weeks could pass in a single confrontation, but no one was ever victorious over the other.

For years, the two would travel around the world. With no need to settle in one specific place, terrifying legends about the couple spread throughout the villages and towns, telling how the most powerful partners in history wandered the Earth, looking for power and control to feed on. Your days were joyous as you found a small village to destroy together, delighting in the screams of the villagers, making love over the blood of the murdered people.

Everyone began to fear your presence, escaping the sighting of [Y/N] and Indra, reincarnations of hellish beings.

At some point, Indra became somewhat impatient. Without warning, he began to show the need to find a place to build a real-life for both of you, where he could give birth to his family with you. Without any complaint, you accepted the request and decided that maybe it was time to listen to his desire.

A déjà vu hit you when you found yourself standing in front of the big door of a village, your man next to you, looking straight at the frightened people who were turning pale in front of you both. The satisfaction of power ran through your veins, and from the strong grip Indra held in your hand, you knew he felt the same way.

The Ōtsutsuki began to talk to the villagers, explaining what you both wanted from them, when you felt it necessary to interrupt him and continue with the task yourself.

“We are here to take control of this community. We don’t care who the ruler is, we are both the leaders now. Whoever opposes our supreme authority will perish on the spot. Inform your people of this, for we have come a long way and only wish to rest. When we deem it appropriate, we will announce the changes to come”.

In terror, the people who received you two at the door looked at the floor and nodded their heads. Without saying anything, they slipped inside, carrying out your errands.

One of them guided the two of you towards the main house, where there was privacy.

“I was in charge of the situation [Y/N].”

“Oh honey… I can’t help but think that since you want to start our family you have become a little more… Weak? Soft? I don’t know… I think I’m the only one who still wants to dominate everything around here…”

“It would be unwise to start a fight in the village we just occupied.”

“Are you chickening out? Where is my Indra and what did you do with him, stranger?”

“[Y/N]… you are really getting on my nerves…”

“I’m glad, darling.”

“You know what? If you want to fight so bad, fine, let’s do it. But this time, the rules are different.”

“Well, well, what do we have here? Indra-Sama wants a harder challenge… tell me, with weapons? Without Jutsus? Blindfolded?”

“No dear… I’m not talking about any physical fight you can imagine.”

“So…?”

“Whoever exhausts the other in bed first is the absolute leader of this filthy place. Until our clan rises above the unpleasant people who live here.”

“If I manage to dominate you during our entire fuck, will I be the supreme leader? No tricks, Ōtsutsuki.”

“No tricks, love.”

“Let’s get started.”

[haleigh-sloth]

A Naruto question here but what do you think of Itachi? I liked him but I did hate how they made out he was a good brother in the end when he was anything but. It just felt like the story was telling me that it was okay that Itachi tormented Sasuke because he loved him.

Okay so I love Itachi

But there were definitely some issues with his overall conclusion. It was kinda sloppy? Same in that Sasuke’s redemption was sloppy too.

Itachi was not a good brother. He inflicted serious psychological damage on his brother. And maybe it was to protect him, but ultimately he did it so he could carry out the mission of annihilating the Uchihas.

The entire Itachi and Sasuke conflict was so emotional. I cried twice during it. Which, doesn’t happen often lol. It legitimately left a very hurt feeling in me, especially here

I did enjoy everything that played out with them. Where my issue lies is how the aftermath of Itachi’s choices was handled.

That to say, it wasn’t handled lmao. The consequence to Itachi playing mind games with Sasuke, is that in the end he didn’t get what he wanted. Sasuke found out about him and spiraled further and further. Itachi didn’t save his brother, he threw him into the pits of hell—again. He tormented him once by killing their family and leaving him by himself to suffer alone. And he tormented him AGAIN by having himself die at his brother’s hand, leaving his brother to feel what I can only imagine to be the most devastating pain of his life after finding out that his big brother never stopped loving him from the beginning. It just never ended for Sasuke.

But Sasuke, loving him regardless, lived with that. Which is fine. The issue is….everything else lmao. It ties into my issue with how Madara was handled.

Itachi literally carried out a mission of ethnic cleansing in the name of the village. But this goes back to Madara expressing his discomfort with Hashirama’s brother and his discriminatory views, and absolutely nothing being done about it. Like, the issue is that the Uchihas’ complaints and concerns were just tossed aside again and again throughout history. And it led up to Itachi being turned into a child soldier, scape goated out by society **secretly** and Sasuke being tormented for years, and for what? And also, Itachi was a victim big time too. He was a child, but had a serious sense of obligation to the village. I can only imagine he was groomed into having that mindset. But anyway.

Like, in the end, nothing even came of that issue. Or rather nobody said anything about the fact that the Uchihas were wiped out with the sole intention of ridding the world of their blood line. Not good.

Naruto had a happy ending, and Sasuke’s arc was good. But it tied in all these serious issues (discrimination and ethnic cleansing) and didn’t really conclude that in a satisfying way. Granted, Naruto said he wanted to unite all Shinobi, which is great. But, it didn’t feel like enough on the Itachi/Madara/Sasuke/Uchiha clan front.

However, I love Itachi’s character. He’s in my top 5 favs. Because I loved what he contributed to the story. I love that his involvement literally made me shed real human tears. Lol. I mean, yeah there were flaws, but his and Sasuke’s relationship getting that closure in the end, I loved. And I feel made it satisfying enough, for me to overall enjoy Itachi’s and Sasuke’s story together.

[peace-coast-island]

Diary of a Junebug

Lost in the mists of a long forgotten village

Kanna Island is one of those places where if you blink, you're sure to miss it. Depending on the time of day, the fog gets so thick that navigation is basically impossible. As a result, you pretty much have to plan ahead and keep a super close eye on the weather if you ever want to venture out there.

The island's been abandoned for centuries after the wrath of a now deceased god destroyed the land. It wasn't until a few years ago - thanks to Raiden, Qingmei, Kamo, and Maki - that the island became less hostile. Raiden and Qingmei stumbled upon the place by chance when a storm took them there, where they met Maki and Kamo, who were stranded as well.

Maki and Kamo are a special grade type of sorcerer, both are distant cousins having hailed from a once prosperous clan. Raiden calls them a couple of smart kids who don't deserve to be tied down by their ancestry. Sometime later, after the Great Calamity - that's what the locals call the events of the almost cataclysm Raiden and her brother fought in - the family was annihilated none other by Maki, whose father was the head at the time. By then the clan was at its downfall and Maki, as well as her siblings, were abused for years - which was why she left, but unfortunately the others weren't so lucky and died at their father's hand. With the aftermath of a disaster along with the deaths of her siblings, Maki didn't have much of a choice considering how powerful her relatives were.

As for Kamo, he didn't find out until a couple years ago that he and Maki were related. Despite not wanting to be dragged into the clan's affairs, he was made to be the next head over Maki's brother when word got around about his existence. While he does hold the title as clan head by name, Kamo could care less about it. Aside from the ongoing process of trying to repair the damage the clan left during their reign of terror, Maki and Kamo have since cut their ties with their cursed bloodline.

This city was one of the harder hit places - most of its sorcerers have been affected by the disaster in some way. Maki was blinded in one eye and her face and arms are covered in scars. Kamo was seriously wounded and though he survived, his injuries left him with a bunch of health problems. In fact, he almost didn’t join on this trip - lucky that we were stuck in traffic or else we could’ve missed him as he still would’ve been asleep by then.

Because Kamo was insistent on tagging along - and probably going a bit stir crazy from being stuck at home - his sister Ayame decided to join us too so she can keep an eye on him as well as Maki and check out the island. Raiden summed up Ayame’s relationship with her younger brother and cousin with the meme of that one person holding the other two on a leash, which is pretty much accurate.

Though it seems like Kamo bickers with Ayame a lot, he really does look up to her. According to Raiden, there’s a lot to respect about Ayame. She was the one who prevented her brother from making the same mistakes their father did, stopping him from going down a path where he couldn’t turn back. With Maki, she protected her from retaliation once word got out about what she did to her clan. So Maki is indebted to her - she even goes as far as to say that Ayame, who she didn’t really get to know until a couple years ago, is more of a family to her than her own siblings ever were.

Raiden has been keeping tabs on Kanna in hopes of returning one day to uncover more mysteries. She heard from an investigator that a part of the island that was inaccessible before is no longer blocked off by the river. Maki had a hunch that the river had submerged the remains of the once legendary Spire Tree - a landmark that was depicted in various murals but the gang was never able to locate. Turns out she was right, resulting in Kamo owing her money as he believed that there was no trace of the tree left.

Getting to the island was a bit of a hassle because of the weather. We entrusted Raiden to pilot the boat as she was the only one who actually knew how to turn it on. It was a rough ride, to say the least - thankfully I took along those motion sickness wrist thingies or else things would’ve gotten a lot worse. At some point Raiden considered taking it slow but by then we just wanted to get the boat ride over with so she floored it as soon as the coast was clear.

As for the ride back - I can safely say that it was nowhere near as troublesome as getting there. Still, I don’t wanna go through that anytime soon, if ever. At least exploring the island was worth the hassle to some extent.

If I were to describe Kanna in one word, it would be eerie. For centuries the island was stuck in some time loop as its people kept reliving their final day. Raiden felt bad for the spirits and wanted to put an end to their suffering so they can finally rest in peace. Maki and Kamo, being sorcerers, had initially wanted to exorcise the spirits, only to find out that those were no ordinary ghosts.

After a lengthy investigation, they were able to put together the pieces. Kanna Island had always been isolated due to the surrounding fog making it almost impossible to travel. The people, for the most part, lived quiet, unremarkable lives it seems, though sheltered from the outside. Based on some evidence, the island appeared to have suffered various natural disasters ranging from ferocious lightning storms, piercing hailstorms, and massive earthquakes.

All those disasters took a toll on the people, the final straw being a fire caused by a lightning storm, engulfing half the island and destroying the Spire Tree in the process. Wars broke out as the people cursed the gods for the misfortune, and in the end, not only did the serpent god massacre the island, but the other gods as well. As punishment, an even higher being executed the serpent and managed to seal the havoc it left behind.

By the time Raiden, Qingmei, Maki, and Kamo stumbled upon the island, the seal had weakened, which was probably what caused the time loop thing with the spirits. With the help of the last priestess’s spirit, the four were able to finally lift the curse, resulting in the dangerous lightning storms ceasing, therefore making the island a whole lot safer. The fog’s still an issue though, but not as bad as before when the storms made it a lot more dangerous and unpredictable.

It was nice getting to hang out with Maki, Kamo, and Ayame. I’m glad to hear that Raiden’s been keeping in touch with most of her surviving friends she met on her journey. In fact, we’re stopping by to visit another one of Raiden and Qingmei’s friends on our way back to the camp. As it turns out, that friend, a shinobi, has a daughter who Maki has recently taken under her wing. Maki had promised her to take a bunch of pics of the island and Ayame’s planning on making some food for us to bring to her when we visit.

Though the curse has been removed from the island, heavy regrets still linger in the air. Kamo explained that this heaviness is what they call cursed energy, which basically stems from negative emotions. Kanna happens to be a place that’s a hotspot for demons who are created from this kind of energy, though due to its unique circumstances, there seem to be no signs of demons anywhere. Still, one can’t be too sure so Kamo and Maki came prepared in case one shows up.

With the river being dried up, it revealed a hidden passageway that led to some sort of labyrinth. Raiden kept a special feather she found when first exploring the island, allowing us to navigate with little difficulty. Kamo used his shikigami to scope out any dangers while Maki used her vision to further help us find our way.

Seeing all those ruins makes me feel kinda empty in like a sad way. Maybe it also has to do with that lingering regret hanging in the air that contributes to the feeling. The best way I can describe it is like being disappointed in something but also not being too surprised at the bad outcome, like an inevitable dead end. Being empty, I think, is worse than feeling sad, because when you have to deal with a lot, eventually you get burnt out. And when you burn out from having a lot on your shoulders, that’s when numbness creeps in and you stop feeling because it’s just too exhausting.

I can see why the others had put off returning to the island - the cursed energy and lingering regrets can be a little too much to handle. Had they came sometime after the calamity - yikes. It’s one of those things you really have to mentally prepare yourself for. We try to avoid areas where the energy is concentrated - you kinda know when to step away. While exploring the island was cool, that heavy cursed energy is pretty rough.

Getting to the tree took maybe an hour and a half, which isn’t too bad. Had the river still been there, the tree would’ve been inaccessible. Though the river drying up brings up some potential concerns, but since none of us know anything about that kind of stuff, we have no idea what to expect. Raiden and Kamo have noted that the island seems less hostile in general so maybe it’s not that much of a concern. But to be safe, Raiden’s contacted some people to look into it and hopefully they’ll have a conclusive answer on that.

I also got to know a bit more about the calamity - even now, the scope of what happened is still difficult to judge and understand. After nearly three years, it’s impact still lingers. Maki’s clan tried to take advantage of the chaos that followed the disasters, which was why she was forced to stop them for good. Ayame, though not a born sorcerer like her brother, was caught up in the mess as well, having nearly lost her life when someone with a grudge against their father used her as a bargaining chip. As rough as it sounds, Ayame, Maki, and Kamo consider themselves lucky. Compared to others who continued to suffer the aftermath, they’ve somewhat been able to move on.

The school where Maki and Kamo were trained at has been in shambles long before the calamity, though it managed to find some footing once the dust had settled. Things are far from ideal - Kamo says it’s a miracle that they still managed to survive - but Maki and her friends graduated last spring, leaving Kamo and his friends to be the final graduating class this year. Maki explained that attendance is low because the entrance process is extremely hard - for good reason as the life of a sorcerer is no walk in the park - and the past few years have been especially rough. However there’s rumors that the acting principal did accept two new students before the closure became final so they’ll be transferred to the sister school outside the city. Kamo says that while he’s looking forward to being done with school, he wishes the circumstances were a bit better.

Ayame is studying at a local community college, still undecided on a major after two years. She says she’s actually considering taking a gap year in hopes of figuring things out for herself if she can’t decide on a field of study by the end of the semester. Truth be told, college was never really part of the plan - part of the reason why she enrolled is so she could set a good example for her family. While she had decent grades and finds most of her classes interesting, Ayame has come to the conclusion that the whole go to school for four years, get a degree, and start a career path isn’t for her.

Maki is still undecided on her future and she’s okay with that. After having her future basically predetermined by her clan for most of her life no matter what she did, she deserves to choose what she wants, even if it means doing nothing at the moment. Right now she’s just living life day by day, hanging out with friends, going out on missions, training, and picking up new hobbies. She no longer has to prove herself to people who don’t give a fuck about her and that’s more than enough for her.

Kamo, like Maki, has no immediate plans after graduation, though he might consider community college like his sister. Having spent all his life training as a sorcerer, he can’t imagine holding down a 9 to 5 or pursuing a career. What motived him to become a sorcerer was so he could save people like Ayame. As he’s learned the hard way over the years, helping others is easier said than done. Though one disaster may have passed, there’s always gonna be another lurking somewhere in the corner.

Compared to Ayame, it may seem like Kamo tends to have a bleak outlook on certain things, but he’s certainly not wrong. Also, I wouldn’t exactly consider his viewpoint as entirely pessimistic - though I can see why others do but that’s oversimplifying and missing the point - I see it as harsh, but not necessarily cold. Besides, why would he go out of the way to step in anyway if bad things will keep happening? He’s basically saying “suffering is inevitable so the least I can do is lessen that pain”. Now I get what Raiden meant when she said that Kamo’s the type of person who is easily misunderstood.

The life of a sorcerer is not an easy path. No matter how many lives you help, the dead will always outnumber the living - that’s an unfortunate truth. Kamo and Maki have long accepted that reality, the lives they have taken serve as a harsh reminder of what people like them are capable of.

We were only able to hang around the tree for a short time before the cursed energy became overwhelming. At least we got to stay long enough to explore the place for a bit. As gloomy and eerie the island can be, there is something about it that makes me all the more curious.

Though its power has been long spent, the Spire Tree still gives off this mystical vibe. Maki wonders if it’s possible for the tree’s power to be restored. If the tree is the island’s life force as depicted by the murals, maybe it’s possible to get rid of the cursed energy.

Looks like Raiden, Maki, and Kamo have another excuse to return to Kanna. I’m looking forward to see what comes out of this if they decide to pursue it.

[kishillaa]

SSM21 Day 6: Undercover

"Stop it!" She heard him hissed.

A tear roll down her cheek as she aimed her chakra infused punched in his direction.

"Why should I?–" She pauses to pant, and run again to his direction and readied her legs to kick him square on his stomachp before she continue her sentence.

"When you turned your back against the village. When you become a traitor. You're a missing nin, who left everyone behind. For your selfish selfish reason. Why should I not fighting you when you left me on the bench, during a cold cold night, alone." She probably didn't notice it but she was shouting, and more tears pouring out of her eyes drenched her cheeks.

Her fighting was sloppy as she randomly hit Sasuke with her fist, leg, elbow. She was a mess, and it was all because of him.

"You're an idiot. An absolute idiot. And speaking about solitude, like you're the only one experiencing from it." She laughs, and its not her usual cheery laugh. Sasuke hated that sound.

"And I was an idiot too. Feeling the solitude–" She hits Sasuke hard on his side, "over your disappearance." She sobs, "And all those people."

"They thought I didn't know. But of course I did, I was there." At that moment, she was incoherent.

"Poor girl, mourning over a traitor. Oh she thought she was in love. She should get over him already." another round of tears cascade down her cheeks, "I was so stupid for still loving you. Despite all the things those people say, despite everything you've done to me." She was crying so hard, while at the same time holding her hands together over her chest, infront of the boy she loved and still loves, pouring her heart out.

"God, I love you so much that I can't stand someone else's killing you." She looks up, "I have to kill you, Sasuke-kun." She pleaded, eyes filled with sorrow.

"I can't see somebody murder you. I–I want to do it myself. Please, please." She was crying so hard that her shoulder shook.

Sasuke sighs as he moves toward her, "Sit down."

Sakura shakes her head vigorously, "No–I–please, Sasuke-kun. Just let me do this."

"Sit down, Sakura." He stressed, while make himself comfortable on the ground, leaning against the tree.

Maybe it was the way he says her name, the coarse of his voice, the hidden gentleness, the way he pronounced it. It was sooo Sasuke that she has no choice but to comply.

"I take that Naruto and Kakashi didn't tell you." He started.

Sakura turns her gaze while wipe away her tears away from her cheeks to look at him, "Tell me what?"

"I killed Itachi–"

"I know that, your revenge is finally done."

"Sakura, listen." Sakura nodded her head stiffly

"I found out the truth about him. He acted as double agent to both Konoha and our clan during his time as Anbu. Our.. Clan was planning a coup." Sasuke paused as he watched Sakura's eyes widen as her mouth parted in surprised.

"He was instructed to annihilate every member of the clan. He had spare me, of course." Sasuke makes a mocking face at that, "And of course he went off acting as the bad person to save the council's faces."

"Oh, Sasuke-kun." Sakura started and then he was brought into Sakura's embrace. She cries. Of course she will; doesn't matter how long years has past, and how much she has changed, she's still Sakura.

"And you," Sakura asked, tilting her hrad upward to look him in the eyes, "What are you doing now?"

"I'm on unofficial mission for Konoha under Kakashi and Tsunade's order to do undercover job. My task is to gather as much information I can from Akatsuki."

Sakura blinks a few times in confusion, "What? You mean like a spy?"

Sasuke raises one eyebrow, as he nodded.

"You're not a traitor?" Sakura asked cautiously as to not offend him.

"I was. I decided not to when I came across Kakashi, and he-talked me out of it. Since I was already in that organisation, I offered them my service."

Sakura's eyes widen, "You're not bad."

Sasuke tched and roll his eyes.

And then Sakura laughs so hard, "And here I was, confessing my heart out thinking I won't be able to do it in the future." She laughed again, louder this time.

"You should stop, we might got caught like this." Sasuke said.

Sakura nods as she stifles her giggle before she finally stop, "So when are you going home." She said, stand herself up as Sasuke did.

"Not now, apparently. Probably not soon either."

Smiling softly, she nodded. "I'm sorry, for hitting you." She said shyly, her hands clasped at her back.

"Hn, that's fine. I kind of deserve that."

"Okay."

"Go back to the village. There's nothing more for you here."

Sakura chuckles, "That's where you're wrong, Sasuke-kun." With that, she stands up on her tippy toes to match her ex comrade height, and lightly planted her lips over his.

She was gone right after, leaving Sasuke; confused, in dazed and most definitely crave for more.

[shesquiinnsane-ar]

UPDATED BIOS;

As a precursor to this I just thought to add that both Arkham Origins and A Matter of Family have also been edited and updated. Whilst writing new bios I'm also working on editing older bios as some are probably a couple years old and full of typos I never checked. So that's happening too. All new bios will have my new icon form. I'll try and posted whenever I so update bios though so people know. And now, onto the new bio!

BATMAN NINJA;

This verse will typically be used for any anime/manga characters that Harley may interact with as well as those who simply just wish to explore it. Please note that Batman Ninja is a mash of ideas from the Japan studios. There are lots of anime tropes and plot points that need to be simply taken for granted. 

Gorilla Grodd used a Quake Engine in Arkham Asylum to send everyone back to Feudal Japan, causing a small distraction that landed Batman in that world two years later.. Two years in the making and Gotham’s villains were taking over as Feudal Lords; Two-Face, Penguin, Poison Ivy, Deathstroke, and the Joker with Harley alongside, where all the Lord’s of their state. The Joker and Harley were considered to be the closest to uniting the kingdom to be the one true King of Japan, the Joker was known to be labeling himself as the Demon King. 

The pair first bump into Batman, using Harley disguised as the Joker to tease him as they realize he is now in Feudal Japan. This distraction allowed Joker to engage Batman in a fight, asking Batman to call him Lord Joker as he was believed to be the most powerful man in Japan. After changing into her outfit she met up with the Joker and the Batman after he finished throwing razor-edged fans. To keep the Joker occupied, she poured him a drink so they could instead watch Batman against seven of the Joker’s samurai warriors. As Batman and the warriors fought, Harley asked if they should follow, to which the Joker just sighed with his drink, asking her to simply enjoy the moonlight as they had all the time in the world.

Batman subsequently joined forces with Catwoman as he learned that the secret to going home was in Grodd’s time machine, currently owned by the Joker in his temple. He then learned Catwoman was lucky enough to find Alfred, who was in the Batmobile, and had been maintaining it as best he could for the occasion when Batman was to return. The loud motor roared down the street straight to the temple which Harley overheard, rushing to the Joker to inform him. Pushing open the doors of the temple she shouted at the top of her lungs that Batman was coming. She dropped her knees in front of Joker as she told Joker that Batman was coming in the Batmobile. Trying to demonstrate her point, using a puppet show she told Joker that the Batmobile had passed their gunmen and the canons that were in place to try and hold him back. Then Batman was always so clever with his technology, but Joker believed he was nothing without the Batmobile. Joker demanded Harley activated ‘Arkham Castle’. At first, she protested, after all the castle wasn’t even finished yet, but it had been made for Batman so there wasn’t any time like now to use it. She agreed, and after licking her lips, she clapped with a giggle. Behind the doors that had opened to her command was a piece of the Quake Engine that had been lost to Gorilla Grodd. 

With the castle activated, the temple started to rise out of the ground, as Batman was seen approaching the building. It seemed to transform into a mechanically charged robot in the form of the temple. Batman labeled it a form of madness as the left arm of the mech readied a set of giant throwing stars. Each one was thrown at the road in an attempt to stop Batman from reaching them. The three throwing stars narrowly missed the Batmobile as Batman blew up the gate with a rocket launcher extension to the Batmobile. He was storming the gates and the mech tried to squish Batman in the Batmobile as it plucked it from the ground. The Batman escaped, dropping from the wreckage with part of the car that converted into the Batjet. To Joker though, it was a persistent yet predictable move. With Batman locked on the top floor of Arkham Castle, he was trapped by two prongs, the wings severed on the Batjet, leaving Batman in mid-air. That wasn’t the only trick Batman could pull, however, as dropping the wings converted the Batjet into a Batcycle, a motorbike he used to drive along the arm of the fortress straight into the top room. 

Harley had fled from the floor to drop a trap on Batman. As the right hand of the fortress came crashing down to the ground Batman had to choose; save a woman and child down below, or finally get the Joker. Batman used the cycle to try and crash to the ground ahead of the hand and managed to fight off Bane to save the poor woman. The woman, however, was no more than Harley Quinn and her mallet. With Batman narrowly escaping being crushed to death she had time to perfectly line up her shot before her mallet hit in straight in the face and sent him flying across the floor. Using a giant slide to get out from the tower, the Joker joined Harley on the ground as they were both laughing. Harley noted that it was typical Bats, as he always fell for the same tricks. Joker continued to taunt Batman, as Harley and a few of his armed guards surrounded the Batman. Joker could only wonder what Batman had in store for a second act as he’d destroyed all of his toys now and there were no friends here to save him. A short and worried shout from Harley seemed to change the tides, however, as she pointed behind the Joker and tried to get his attention. Behind him, a huge colony of Bats seemed to fly toward them. During the flurry, Harley tried her best to swat them away with her mallet but it didn’t seem to do anything. The bats aided the arrival of what Harley could only describe as Ninja Batmen. As quickly as they appeared, they disappeared, taking the Batman with them, and leaving Harley and Joker confused.

On a handmade ship, made in the vision of the Joker, Harley and Joker met with Gorilla Grodd. They stood within the bird’s nest to see as far as they could in case anyone should sneak upon them. Joker told Grodd that he wouldn’t kill him if he handed over the Batman and wanted to see where he was. He quickly made himself known as floatation devices were set up in the water which from the Joker’s viewpoint looked like people. Batman told him he was surrounded but this wasn’t going to over that quickly. With a laugh, Joker admitted that he was surrounded as his samurai warriors appeared firing at sticks of bamboo in the water. Harley came tumbling, laughing as she was firing her gun at whatever she could, hoping to hit a few people on the way down. Then she opted to throw a bomb into the waters, which she knew would cause more damage. Batman seemed to shout out ‘no’ but as Harley hit the deck she laughed, what else was he expecting? They knew he’d have men hiding in the water. As she joined Joker, who opened fire on Batman, Batman told them that maybe he would another time, but right now he had a trick up his sleeve. The tiny boat that Batman and Grodd had arrived on rose up to expose a huge underground deck. Despite looking confused at first, the pair still laughed and Joker claimed they were still doomed, opening firing on them again. 

The boat nudged forward, rocking Harley and Joker off balance as the hull of Batman’s ship opened as the Batman Ninja Clan and members of the Batman Family started to attack. Harley was confused, as they’d already killed them all, but the people in the waters were simple decoys to distract them from this new attack. As Harley put the pieces together Catwoman reached out to attack her and the pair started to fight. When swinging her mallet failed to land a hit, Harley took out her gun trying to aim for the Cat, who seemingly didn’t want to be put down. As she continued to fire, Harley was recklessly splintering the boat’s woodwork. She laughed until her bullets ran out which was when Catwoman proceeded to fight back, backflipping over Harley to kick her across her face. 

Soon enough the fight was over, and Gorilla Grodd siding with Batman in the hopes of gaining an advantage. Harley and Joker were subsequently tied together around the mast of one of their sails. Batman was happy to disappoint Joker by stooping ‘that low’ and siding with Grodd. But if Grodd had turned on the Joker, then Grodd would also turn against Batman. Joker didn’t have a chance to say anymore as he had been gagged alongside Harley. In Feudal Japan, trust meant nothing as Grodd used his mind control in an attempt to control everyone on board the ship. Or at least he tried to as the Bat Clan had mastered their bodies and their minds and could not be under the influence of Grodd’s mind control. Now everyone had to prepare to be annihilated by Two-Face as bombs destroyed the Joker’s ship. With the boat in flames, they had the chance to escape from their chains and climb back up to the bird’s nest with a barrel containing explosives. The pair laughed, as Joker told Batman he’d see him in hell before Harley lit the fuse and sent the explosive to the deck. After all only Joker could kill the Batman, he couldn’t forgive himself if anyone else had done it. The explosion destroyed the boat and bats left the flaming embers. Supposedly ending the battle.

There were no signs of Joker or Harley after the explosion. Some believed them to be dead or simply gone. In the fields away from the villages a couple had been found. The male donned green hair, the female, blonde. They had seemingly spent years on a field that didn’t seem to grow any crops. A male in a red helmet, Red Hood, was taken for a monk who was traveling through the region and he asked the couple for a glass of water. The green-haired man happily agreed as the blonde woman walked past him to sort out this water. She commented that the traveler must be exhausted as it was a rather hot day after all. As she leaned over the pot to fill his bowl with water the traveler grabbed the blonde, causing her to cry out, telling her to ‘break it’. Helpless, her man told him to stop, as he genuinely had no idea what was going on and why someone would go out of their way to attack his wife. He was threatening for the blonde to show her true face, or else he’d break her arm.

This traveling monk knew the Joker was alive when everyone else had said he was dead but there was a confusion to his face no one could fake. He questioned why the man was insistent on calling him Joker. Kicking the blonde to the floor Red Hood grew more irritated. The green-haired man ran over to his darling feeling threatened and scared. He even questioned the male’s sanity, as none of the situations made any sense. Supposedly that insinuated the man in the red helmet was stupid, as he was expected to believe that the Joker had taken up farming. Harley covered her eyes whimpering as the pair received a beating from the visiting male. They didn’t understand, their confusion was genuine. As he was assaulted the male continued to deny the allegations, and he dropped to his knees as a bamboo barrel was pointed at his head. Gunfire went off but just scraped past the male’s head as they were rescued by a man in a Bat costume. Supposedly they were both here for the same reason, as reports of foreign farmers in the area matched the descriptions of Harley and the Joker had been found but the couple genuinely didn’t remember anything of their past. They had come to Japan to live a peaceful life and had spent time plowing the fields. 

As the danger seemed to pass the blonde woman had gotten straight back to work when a miracle appeared before her eyes. It seemed like the pair had waited forever for this moment. She shouted for her honey to come and join her, her voice filled with excitement as there was finally a sprout in their fields. They laughed and embraced as finally, they had gotten somewhere, the blonde calling the green male her puddin’ as they toppled to the floor. Batman had concluded that the couple had at one point been Joker and Harley Quinn but had lost their memories to a point where they were no longer a threat. He promised to keep an eye on them and to take them back when the Quake Engine was fully operational but for now, they were harmless and they just had to let the couple be. Things were not quite so simple, however, as the travelers left the couple laughing their euphoria. The sprout that had finally grown was blowing pollen across the field, and over the couple kneeling next to it. This pollen had been created as a trigger to the couple’s memories. The seemingly harmless duo would now once again become the Joker and Harley Quinn as their memories were restored.

A month later, the Joker and Harley Quinn were ready to make their come back. The Feudal Lords; Two-Face, Penguin, Poison Ivy, and Deathstroke were all manipulated by Gorilla Grodd to develop a mechanical structure each which was far beyond the technologies of Japan at the time. Grodd had been setting up the battlefield to take over and become the one Lord of Japan. As the mechs joined together to become one, the party-crashers made their entrance. No one had known that Joker and Harley had regained their status and now they were ready to make a comeback. Throwing a laughing bomb into the hub of Grodd’s machine, a form of knock out gas was sprayed around the room affecting Grodd and Catwoman who was in the hold at the time. Other identical bombs seemed to explode through the mech as floating above in a hot air balloon donning the Joker’s smile was Harley Quinn and the Joker laughing hysterically and spinning around as they declared themselves back! It was out with the old and in with the new as more bombs were dropped on the battlefield as Harley made sure they knew that there were no exchanges or returns. The color bombs covered the mech as Batgliders identified the couple. Batman couldn’t believe it to be true but Joker greeted him as there was no way you could keep a crazy man down. 

The hot balloon crashed through the roof of Grodd’s castle, the same one that had previously been owned by Joker and Harley themselves. he didn’t want to be too late to the party but it seemed he had come at exactly the right time. As Catwoman glared Joker down, she was pushed to the floor as Harley stood on her, whilst wearing a jester hat that mimicked her modern-day attire. She grinned and waved at the pretty kitty. Grodd had taken them by surprise back at the lake in which their ship sank but now it was time for payback. The flower that had triggered their memories, wasn’t too potent yet but Harley admitted that they were thinking of increasing the dosage. The plant had been one Harley had previously taken from Ivy who had the best plants. As the plant seemingly paralyzed Grodd, Harley kicked Catwoman over to join Grodd on the floor before wielding her mallet and taking her place at the Joker’s side with a giggle. Now it was a turn of events Joker intended to take over Grodd’s plan and ejected Grodd and Catwoman from the castle as they were pushed down the slide and sent falling downwards. They were caught by the Bat Clan and carried carefully to the ground as Joker took the central seat and Grodd’s tools to play a few mind games using the mech he had developed.

Activating the full transition, the mechs assembled again. This time, however, the transition seemed more fluid as each of the villains controlled a part of the mech, with Joker’s hot air balloon forming the structure's head. Now they were all serving Lord Joker to take over, and the contraption was better than anything the Joker himself could have created. Chaos ensued as the Bat Clan struggled to withstand the force of the mech and the power it had. He had attacked Gorilla Grodd, injuring him badly. Despite being saved from death, however, there was no telling of his injuries. In return for the said Grodd gave Batman his commanding flute which summoned many monkeys to help the Bat Clan defeat the fortress the Joker was in control of. The monkeys formed a giant structure, a samurai monkey to take down the mechs. In one punch the mech was sent to his needs, which was unexpected but the structure did pick itself back up. 

As the Joker controlled the head of the structure, Harley was left to control the main body. Joker suggested cutting down on the monkey business by greeting the guests with a warm kiss. Pushing down on one of her levers, activated a huge central flame thrower but the monkeys seemingly withstood the heat as only their armor was damaged. The flurry of bats at the Bat Clan’s disposal doused the flames as the bats now enclosed the monkey samurai to take on the form of a giant Batman. Harley pushed down on the lever again, at the command of the Joker, as he told the Batman figure to feast on the fire of hell. The flames had no effect on Batman and with a single punch pushed straight through into the head, destroying the Joker's hub and freezing the machine. Batman opted to take Joker alone as each hero took on their villain to destroy the mech section by section. For Harley, this meant facing Catwoman who had in her opinion, chosen the wrong side to play with. In Catwoman’s mind, Harley needed a good ass-kicking after their previous encounter. 

As Harley intended to go and help Joker, Catwoman almost whipped her mallet straight out of her hands but Harley bashed it out of the way just in time with a little giggle. Catwoman declared it was time for some girl on girl action as the two began to fight. Harley laughed her way through the hits even jumping with intentions of smashing the cat to the floor. As she looked, Catwoman had disappeared but she smirked, throwing her mallet to her left and striking the feline. Trapping her in her grip, using the mallet to help, Harley told the pretty kitty to take her medicine and say goodnight, before licking the woman’s cheek. 

It all seemed to be going well but the monkey army had split, tackling the structure individually to slowly tear it apart piece by piece. As Harley held her grip on Catwoman a shudder throughout the building had caused her to slip, and Catwoman freed herself taking advantage by kicking the jester squarely in the face as she crashed into the wall. Resting her back against the wall Harley tried to catch her breath as she’d been winded by the motions as Catwoman tightly gripped her costume, pulling Harley up by her collar. Catwoman told Harley to keep her tongue to herself as she threw the Jester into the main system causing it to explode and completely crash which was where the Jester remained. Out cold, and hopefully not burnt.

After the fight, the Quake Engine was restored, presumably returning all of the Gotham residents to the present day. 

[vaderssidechick]

FIC SNIPPET: Dark Angel: Dathomir, Ch 2 (Chronicles of House Vader Series)

SUMMARY: The Worst Way to Meet An Enemy Head On...

Lylla came around the other side of the massive boulder. Taking one more look around and seeing only smaller boulders dotting the ground, she was ensured of her privacy. She adjusted her wrap back over her shoulders and undid her trousers, pushing them down and bending in half. She dropped her head and let out a long groan of relief as she emptied her aching bladder into the dirt behind her.  She glanced back up at a boulder about two meters in front of her--

And saw the boulder open its stark yellow eyes.

Lylla froze. And sucked a breath when the thing lifted what was obviously its head as it stared at her. The action caused a part of what looked like rock to slip, revealing a horn jutting from a bald scalp. She could make out the details of a face, broad-nosed and sharp-jawed, under carefully caked Dathomiri soil.  Made of animal skins, mud, and centuries-old expertise, Lylla never imagined a camouflage so realistic could ever exist.  

Only then did the Nightbrother’s aura bloom all around him, dropping what she surmised was his Force-shields. Another pang of panic coursed through her when she realized that any of the rocks they had passed these last few hours might have been Nightbrothers all along.

Her hand drew down her leg and gripped the handle of the vibroblade sheathed in her boot. The Zabrak grinned a mouthful of sharp, dark teeth. The illusion dissolved further when his painted hand moved toward his own weapon, welcoming what she knew would be an entirely one-sided fight.

Her breaths raced as fast as her thoughts. Crying for help would be the obvious choice, but she had no way of knowing how many more there were surrounding them-- an outburst could bring on an ambush. Swallowing hard, she made another choice as she pulled her hand away from her weapon.  /One scream, and my men kill you,/ she rasped in fluent Dathomiri.

The Nightbrother’s eyes bulged at her use of his language, but then instantly slit into murderous points. /You kill me, and my clan kills you all!/ he hissed.

/Then my Star Destroyer orbiting above will sterilize this continent and annihilate your race for good./ 

He sneered. /You lie./

Only a little.  /Try me./ Even as her heart pistoned in her chest, a cruel grin stretched her lips, and she cocked her head in SCAR’s direction.  /Delay me much longer and my men will come looking for me, find you, and set this all off. Or... you can let me finish what I was doing and we can talk./

Strained seconds passed before the Zabrak blew an angry breath through his teeth and nodded once.

Never taking her white eyes off the Nightbrother’s yellow ones, Lylla hastily ripped the pack of wipes open and, with as much dignity as she could muster, reached under and cleaned herself. She hoisted her pants back up and crouched to his level.  /I’ll make you a deal. Tell your Mother that I will insure your people’s safety if she will promise me the same. Allow us a camp, and a kill for our supper, and a night’s rest in peace. Tell her I will meet her in the Temple at dawn. She gives me this, and your people live. You have my word./

The Nightbrother sneered. /What do you want at the Temple?/

The truth was, she didn’t know. But he didn’t know that. /Are you Mother of the Night Clan?/

/No./

/My business is with the Mother, not you./  The Zabrak growled low in his throat, but Lylla stayed firm. /Tell her. NOW./ 

Hatred roiled in the Zabrak’s topaz eyes before he snorted and jerked away. He pressed a fist to his forehead. Despite her immediate danger, Lylla gaped at the Nightbrother. She had never met another Force user other than Vader. She watched him clench his eyes and jaw, his breathing deep yet jagged. He had to use such effort, whereas Vader utilized the Force with such ease as she used breathing. The men are Force-sensitive, but they’re raw, untrained, she noted.

The Nightbrother’s eyes sprang open. He snapped his head at Lylla. /Mutta says the word of an offworld whore is shit. She wants more./  He grinned, slowly, viciously. /We are surrounding you right now. The maggot-soldiers can’t see us, our mud repels their infrared. Mutta says it stays that way. If you tell them, we kill you all. And they’ll never see us coming./

Lylla ignored the bead of sweat running down her temple. /Did you tell her about my Star Destroyer?/

/I did. She’ll take that chance with a lying whore./ He shrugged. /But if you don’t tell them, she agrees to all, and your people live./ He tilted his head. /You come here with only seven maggots? And your army is still up in the sky? You’re either desperate or stupid, maybe both. Mutta knows you want something./ His smile grew crueler. /How badly do you want it?/

Lylla grasped fistfuls of earth to keep the Zabrak from seeing her hands shake. She was Darth Vader’s chosen. She was the Empress Apparent to the Galactic Empire. She was on the precipice of a greatness that held the promise of legend. 

She wanted it very badly.

The rumble of Vader’s voice resounded through her mind. This is not a test for reward or punishment, but of your mettle.

Her fisted hands began to vibrate-- not from fear, as a strange calm flowed through her, but from Dathomir’s dirt she still clutched. Slowly, she unclenched them and raised them to her eyes, ignoring the gloating Zabrak, spreading the dirt with her thumbs. Miniscule crystals burned neon green, alive with the spirit ichor itself.  That subterranean heart beat again from Dathmoir’s core, pulsing through her feet. As she stared, the crystals morphed and smoothed into droplets of water, glowing and swirling in her hands. Behind her eyes, the sound of water dripped from stone.

Water.  Her thoughts sped, trying to grasp the meaning. It’s echoing… like in a cave...the Temple. Talzin’s journal...The Waters of Life. That’s why he’s leading us to the Temple.  He wants me to find the Waters of Life.

The plan had been to lure the Night Clan from their village and take the Nightsisters by force. But that was not the Fanged God’s plan, not her angels’ plan. She would have her Dathomiri guard, oh yes, but not that way; She was here for another purpose. Her success didn’t lie in combat. Victory would be found in the sacred Waters of Life inside the Temple.

The ground tremored. Again. And again. The Zabrak broke his eyes away from hers as Lylla’s black-pelted Rancor lurched around the boulder. Lips peeled from its dripping snags, it halted beside her, crouching into an attack stance. And in its eyes, just like in Lylla’s hands, the spirit ichor glowed. 

Skourge’s bombast scattered at the sight of the beast. Lylla raised her eyes.  He watched her pupils spread across her white eyes, then over the whites themselves. Lylla turned her palms out, the luminous Waters of Life dripping off her fingers, and bared her own teeth in a smile. /We agree./

[maedarakat]

Markless - Chapter 3

28th Oct: Soulmates AU // “I don’t need this now.”

Summary: A Mark showing up is like a rite of passage for young Vikings of the entire Archipelago. When Tuff gets his, he tells nobody - afraid it means what his Elders have always suspected about him. Likewise, Dagur’s own Mark remains secretive, due to his fear of making him seem weak.

Too bad the Gods never sent down instruction manuals, since they were so keen to pair humans up this way.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

—————-

Three blue lines.

That was the Mark on Hiccup; Dagur had seen it himself on their last encounter.

Granted, not in the nicest way possible - more like tackling him outright onto the forest floor on one of their many encounters. Dagur had paused to stare at Hiccup’s shoulder for far too long -  enough for Toothless to swat him off his rider and nearly bite his face off in the process.

There had been three blue lines, just like Dagur had tattooed across his eye and arm. Not exactly the same angle or shade of blue, but who cared - it was close enough that it couldn’t just be a coincidence; Hiccup was meant to be his.

The initial plan had been to find the Skrill, tame it, and then ride it in battle against Hiccup and his Night Fury.

He figured the Greek chorus that rode around with him would be distracted defending all of Berk from his Armada, while he flew in and collected his soulmate.

Hiccup would probably thank him later; he was too good, far too clever for living some sad banal existence on Berk. Even his rider friends couldn’t possibly appreciate him as much as he deserved; Dagur had often felt deep pangs of sadness and loneliness whenever he looked at the Mark on his wrist.

Even knowing that, nothing could have prepared him for whatever he'd felt Hiccup experience just three nights ago.

Dagur had woken in a cold aching sweat, heart hammering in fear. His back and hips had been in unbearable pain, for no reason that he or the hastily summoned physician could determine.  

It only confirmed the Berserker’s worst suspicions: his soulmate was being severely mistreated.

For that? Berk was going to pay dearly - just as soon as he captured and trained that Skrill.

Or so had been the plan. There was now just one teeny, tiny annoying little snag.

The Outcasts had found the Skrill first.

Despite the fact Dagur and his clan had ancestral claim to the dragon, Alvin was not interested in handing the Skrill over. The only thing keeping Dagur from annihilating the entire island with his Armada was Alvin’s threat of outright killing the dragon if he tried attacking them.

Well. A dead Skrill was zero use to him.

Put out and without any alternative choice, Dagur grudgingly agreed to work with Alvin - putting his Armada on the table in the quest to attack Berk.

At least they had a common goal, but Dagur was still going to watch for any opportunity to change things around in his favor.

Currently, all Dagur's ships were docked at Outcast Island - which gave the local wild dragons pause in attacking the village. Alvin had moved his people to subterranean caves, which accounted for the pallor and obesity of most of his men; starved for sunlight and vegetables.

They were eating wild dragon meat, cave mushrooms, and the occasional potato - which was why Dagur agreed to Vorg’s suggestion to slaughter a few boar and sheep and share out better provisions. Better food definitely made these talks go smoother, and had raised the morale of the Outcasts greatly.

Huh. By comparison, they didn’t seem too happy with Alvin. That could prove useful later . . .

He nodded to Captain Vorg, who extracted himself from the group of mingling Berserkers and Outcasts, who were playing a game of dice and cups. The man joined him in stride, as together they walked toward the arena where the Skrill was kept.

Alvin didn’t care if he went near the cage, so long as it was under guard. Dagur wanted to take a good look at the Skrill to make sure the Chief hadn’t injured her, or caused her to be unable to fly, though he’d been warned not to get too close. The dragon was angry, and had already electrocuted the wits out of some old man who had made that error.

“Sir,” Vorg inquired, jarring Dagur out of his thoughts.

“What is it?” Dagur snapped, not looking at him.

“When we gain ownership of the Skrill from Alvin, how do you plan to keep it from flying away? Have you figured out yet how Hiccup subjugated his Night Fury?”

Dagur scowled. He hadn’t figured that part out, but how hard could it be? Dragons liked to fly, didn’t they? If the Skrill wanted to fly again, then she’d just have to realize he was the boss and therefore she would fly wherever he wanted her to. Otherwise? She would just have to sit in her cage and think about it.

“If the dragon won’t obey me, there’s always chains to keep her grounded. I have no idea how scrawny little Hiccup managed to chain down his Night Fury - probably had his little friends all helping him,” Dagur snorted.

He wouldn’t need anyone helping him, though. All that dragon hunting, sparring and training had paid off; Dagur was now much stronger and faster than he’d ever been.

It was too bad Oswald had abandoned him - the weak fool might have had a son to feel proud of, had he stuck around.

Oh well, all the more reason to let people believe he’d ended his father’s life. It was rather amusing, really - and it garnered him both respect and fear.

Vorg was talking now, going on pointlessly about some kind of repair work on one of the ships, and Dagur tuned him out, approaching the Outcast who was on guard duty.

Instead of the usual slouching idiot, this one was already standing to full attention and straightened further upon Dagur’s approach.

“Sir! Your man has already begun his preliminary inspection of the Skrill cage ahead of you. I hope you find his results satisfactory.”  

“My what has done what now?” Dagur asked after a confused pause. He didn’t bother to wait for an answer, stepping past the guard and storming into the arena.

There was a thin blond boy sitting on the ground before the Skrill cage.

He was cooing at the dragon within, who looked decidedly less grumpy. She trilled back at him, blinking her eyes like an overgrown house cat.

Dagur scowled and stomped towards them both, dead set on hauling this intruder out of here and tossing him into the nearest Whispering Death hole. The Skrill hissed at him, retreating further into her cage, but the boy jumped to his feet and grinned at Dagur, running to meet him.

“Chief Dagur!” the blond shouted joyfully, and then hugged him - of all things.

As the young man’s arms encircled him, Dagur made as if to grab his elbows and shove him away. Upon skin contact, he froze - a plethora of emotions nearly crumpling him.

Relief, joy, anxiety - all crashed against his brain, leaving his thoughts a confused and tangled mess. Dagur stood still and stared at the intruder mutely, unable to help but listen to his strange babbling.

“The Skrill is doing just fine - she’s a bit under the weather, but if you feed her roasted hagfish with some onions and garlic, it’ll probably do wonders for her. Also, there’s a few patches of broken scales that need attention - I have some salve that should help.  It’s got comfrey in it, which Mom says is great for healing wounds and skin irritations. It will help you bond with her if you put it on her yourself.”

Dagur shook his head, trying to clear it. “Who are you?” he demanded, trying to sound both scornful and imposing. It was not very effective, given that the boy was still holding onto him, and Dagur had yet to enforce some distance between them.

Captain Vorg stepped in, yanking the boy away and shoving him a couple of feet back. “Answer him! What is your name and why are you here?”

“Tuffnut,” the young man answered, not appearing bothered in the least. “I’m here to help Dagur train his dragon.”

“. . . Who sent you?”

“Uh, myself? Duh. I sent me.” Tuffnut shook his head, as though Vorg had asked a stupid question. To be fair, Vorg did that sometimes. “Chief Dagur, when’s the last time she got fed or pet?”

“Pet? He’s mad! She’ll have your arm off as a chew toy if you try to pet her!” Vorg scoffed to Dagur, shaking his head. He reached for his sword to chase Tuff off, but Dagur stopped him with a gesture.

“If you want to help me train my dragon, prove to me that you can.”

“Okay,” Tuff agreed, grinning. He walked over to the bars, and the Skrill perked up, sniffing at him as he put his hand in.

She licked her nose and stood up, stretching as best as she was able. It was a tiny cell, not nearly big enough for her to unfurl her wings.

“Aw, poor baby girl,” Tuffnut murmured soothingly as she got her head under his touch, moving around so his scratching fingers got all the best spots. “We’ll get you feeling better soon and out of this tiny little kennel, I promise.”

She purred loudly under his ministrations and eventually flopped onto her side so Tuff could get under her chin.

Dagur tilted his head, more than impressed. “Okay. So she won’t attack you - that’s a good start. How long until you can get her to let me ride her?”

“That depends on you,” Tuff grinned. “You have to bond with her even better than I do. Come here, give me your hand.” He reached out to Dagur, unflinchingly.

Dagur was unaccustomed to be reached out for; by now even his most trusted men had learned to keep a careful and respectful distance. Even Captain Vorg was wincing in anticipation that the boy was going to lose his hand after all - which honestly rankled Dagur. 

Vorg didn’t know him.

Drawing himself up, Dagur put his slightly larger hand in Tuffnut’s and allowed the scrawny Viking to direct it - palm outward - to the Skrill. The dragon regarded him with an odd purring growl, but she didn’t snap at him.

Tuff sweet talked her into drawing nearer to the bars, where she sniffed suspiciously at Dagur’s fingers. Eventually, she nuzzled the Berserker’s palm and Vorg let out a breathy exhale of relief. Dagur glared at him.

“What? Didn’t think I could do it?” he snapped, tone dangerous.

“No, of course not, Chief! It’s just, you know, dragons are dangerous and unpredictable -“ the man stammered.

“Eh. They can be, it’s true,” Tuff put in amiably. “Just like people.  That’s what makes them so awesome, though. Dragons aren’t meant to be broken in - you have to earn their loyalty and trust.”

Dagur made a noncommittal noise, watching the Skrill with open admiration. “So . . . how do I do that exactly?”

“Well, you could start by trying to see things from her point of view. Some big smelly men caught her in a gross fishing net and tossed her into this awful cell - with no food or water or enough room to lie down properly. I mean, what would you do?”

“Well . . .” The Berserker Chief paused, thinking about it. “I’d start zapping people too, honestly. Huh. Good point, uh . . . What was your name again? Buffnut?”

“Tuffnut. You can call me Tuff.”

Normally Dagur would snap that he could call Tuff whatever he felt like, but he didn't quite feel like himself.

“Nice. Tuff. I’ll remember that. What do I feed her?”

The boy smiled at him rewardingly, making something in Dagur’s chest feel warm and cozy. “How about it girl? Do you want fish? Mutton? Boar meat?” The Skrill perked up at the last food mention, charring and licking her chops. “Boar meat it is then.”

Dagur grinned, surprised the Skrill was so intelligent. He liked her, and he liked this weird boy too - even if he had come out of nowhere to help him. Maybe this would be easier than he thought. “There’s a banquet this way, and I know for a fact there’s some boar roast, because it came from my ship.”

He slung an arm across Tuff’s shoulders to lead him there, not noticing when the boy hitched in pain. 

Tuff kept pace with him nonetheless, offering a shaky grin. “A banquet? What’s the occasion?”

“Oh we’re just celebrating a new alliance. Us Berserkers and the Outcasts against that sorry pile of volcanic puke that calls itself Berk.”

The boy let out a scornful laugh. “Yeah, Berk. I’ve heard of Berk. West til you smell it, North til you step in it, am I right?”

Dagur laughed, surprised, and tightened the hold on Tuff’s shoulders. His pained whimper was too faint to be noticed.

“You should eat something too. You’re way too skinny and scrawny for someone who trains dragons. Try some mutton and barley cakes. They’re my Mom’s recipe.”

“. . . Okay,” the boy said eagerly, and if Dagur thought he looked hungry now, it proved to be an understatement once they reached the banquet itself.

Tuff tore into his plate of food like a starved pup, eating like it would be wrested away from him at any moment. Dagur watched him carefully as he ate his own meal, more than once having to admonish Tuff to slow down. If the men looked at him oddly for the unusual care he was showing a complete stranger, Dagur didn’t notice - mostly because none of them dared to question him out loud.

After his second full plate, Tuff finally slowed down, looking beyond exhausted. Some of the Outcasts had unfortunately decided to sing as entertainment, despite the fact they could neither carry a tune nor remember how the song went.

Dagur left Tuff’s side briefly to load a platter with chunks of boar roast and bone for the Skrill, preferring the relative quiet of the arena to this cacophony. When he turned around, it was to a raucous cheer, mad gibberish, and the sound of blows falling.

Fantastic. Some idiots had started a brawl.

He wouldn’t have cared if not for the long blond hair of his companion visible on the floor. Dagur gaped in shock for only a second, then roared and charged forward, shoving Outcasts twice his girth out of the way.

The scrawny old man that the Skrill had electrocuted was straddling Tuff, trying to choke him. Furious beyond measure, Dagur grabbed Mildew’s arms and bodily lifted him off Tuffnut, throwing his attacker at the table with enough force to send dishes and mugs flying in all directions. His sword’s edge pressed across Mildew’s throat, irises shrunk to pinpricks of rage.

“How DARE you lay so much as a finger on MY companion?! Give me one good reason I shouldn’t RIP YOUR LEGS OFF and throw them down a Whispering Death hole!” Dagur roared.

Mildew only whimpered and babbled nonsense, pointing to Tuff, who was groaning on the floor. The attack had caught the boy by surprise it seemed, and now Dagur noticed vivid bruises on his arms as he shakily tried to lift himself up. He gestured to Vorg, who stepped in to help Tuff right himself.

Alvin wasn’t present and it must have been the leader of the Outcasts that Mildew’s frantically rolling eyes were searching for, because when they came back to rest on Dagur’s infuriated face, the old man whimpered and fainted dead away.

Dagur snorted in disdain and let him fall limply across the table. “When your village idiot here wakes up, tell him how lucky he is to still have his legs,” he snapped at the gathered men. They laughed and cheered in amusement; clearly there wasn’t too much concern held for the old goat.

He stormed over to the table and picked up the boar meat, gesturing for Vorg and Tuffnut to walk back to the Skrill’s cage with him.

Tuff, he noticed, was shaking.

“Are you alright?” he asked immediately, not liking the way his own voice trembled or the confused look Vorg was giving him.

“I’m fine,” Tuff promised, giving Dagur a strained grin. They walked toward the arena in silence, Dagur’s brain sorting through possible reasons why anyone would have attacked the boy. He had gotten the message through that it wasn’t to happen again - but he still wanted to know why.

It wasn’t until after the Skrill greeted them with chirps and excited wriggles and tucked into her platter of boar meat that Dagur asked about the incident.

“What was that back there? Does the village idiot know you?”

“. . . Mildew? Yeah, we know each other. He, uh, really doesn’t like dragons,” Tuff supplied nervously.

“Oh.” Well, that explained it. “You like them, though. So I guess he just doesn’t like you.”

When Tuff nodded hesitantly, Dagur relaxed. “Well, he won’t bother you again. You’re with me now, and he knows that. In fact, nobody will ever hurt you again.”

Tuffnut looked at him with a sharp inhale and Dagur felt his face grow warm, not sure why he’d said that. Vorg wasn’t in earshot - talking to the Outcast guards that Tuff had past earlier.

“. . . you guys are planning to attack Berk, right?” Tuff asked, and Dagur was surprised to see his face was also a bit red. “Can I ask what you’re after? I mean, I’ve been there before, and I’m good at stealing - if there’s something you���re after, maybe I can help?”

The Berserker snorted dismissively. “I know Alvin wants vengeance. Some long ago exile or something, it doesn’t interest me really. What I want is . . .”

Dagur trailed off, confused. It had been so clear in his mind what he’d wanted - less than an hour ago.

Hiccup. He’d wanted to kill that Night Fury and whoever was hurting Hiccup, and take him to where he’d be safe. But now it didn’t seem as urgent as before. “You’ve been to Berk before, you say? Do you know anyone there?”

“Yeah, I know some people,” Tuff answered guardedly.

“There’s a boy. Reddish brown hair, pretty green eyes. Missing a leg. He’s the Chief’s son. He knows how to tame dragons too.”

“I can do it better. I promise, I really can,” Tuff interjected immediately.

Dagur looked at Tuff and saw hurt written all over his face. Oh no. He was messing everything up, wasn’t he?

“Oh - don’t worry. I know you can, and I want you to. Hiccup would never help me train a Skrill, or any dragon. He hates me too much.”

Tuffnut seemed to relax almost instantly. Dagur glanced at Vorg, who was watching the guards instead of them. He leaned closer to Tuff to whisper in his ear. “Does he . . . do you know if . . . if Hiccup’s been injured recently?”

Tuff’s expression changed from heart sickness to confusion. “If he’s been injured . . .?”

“Has anyone been hurting him? That you know about? His father?”

The boy looked bewildered for a moment but swiftly shook his head. “No, his father is kind. To him at least. The Chief would die to keep Hiccup from harm.”

That brought some peace to Dagur’s mind and he sighed in relief, turning back to watch the Skrill lick the now empty platter. She picked up a nearby rib bone and sat down to gnaw on it happily.

“You care about people a lot more than you let on, don’t you?”

The question caught him off guard, as did Tuff’s sudden adoring look.

Dagur huffed and shrugged, feeling his face heat up. “No. I mean, I guess. Nobody’s son deserves to be mistreated, is all. Because ... more fathers should care about their kids. There’s no point in having a son and just knocking them around all the time. Or abandoning them when things get hard,” he sneered, crossing his arms. “Would have been better to just not have had a kid if they didn’t even want one.”

Tuff stood a little nearer to him. “Yeah. That’s true. They didn’t want to treat us better, so they got exactly what they had coming to them,” he said quietly. The boy’s words were odd, but Dagur didn’t put any thought into why.

“Right.” It was a comfort that Tuff seemed to know what he was talking about. Anyone else would have probably given him some Odin-loving drivel about how one should always be a dutiful son.

Dagur offered him a grin and decided to change the subject. “Well, Tuff - the Skrill is fed and she looks happy. What do I do now?”

“She needs salve on her wounds. Here.” Tuff walked over to a bundle of cloth that turned out to conceal a bag made of burlap. He rummaged through it to produce a tin of greenish-looking slime. “I’m gonna have you do it. But first, let’s tell her what we’re doing.”

Dagur blinked and turned back to the dragon. “Uh. Hey. So we have this stuff - smells like medicine. Does it sting?” he asked Tuffnut. The other boy shook his head. “Okay, it doesn’t sting, and it’ll heal you, so just . . . “

He didn’t need to explain any further; the Skrill purred and got to her feet, turning in the small cell and lifting a wing until her flank was pressed against the bars. Dagur beckoned for Tuff to bring one of the torches closer so he could see better, internally marveling at how smart this dragon was.

She had framed the wounded area of her scales between the bars, allowing him easy access to spread the salve over the reddened sore areas. She even raised her scale plates a bit so he could coat in between them.

“Pretty girl, clever girl,” Dagur crooned, without really thinking about it. He didn’t care how silly he sounded; in the moment, nothing seemed to matter but tending to the comfort of this dragon.

The Skrill turned and circled until he got all her trouble spots, then tried to make herself comfortable with what room she had. Dagur pulled out the platter but left the bones to give her something to play with.

“We’ll be back in the morning with something tasty, I promise. You sleep well, okay?”

A purring trill was his answer and the Skrill licked his hand before curling up, tucking her nose into the curve of her tail.

It was ridiculously adorable and Dagur found himself unable to look away until Vorg coughed. He glanced over his shoulder to see the man tilt his head meaningfully to the Outcast guards, who were watching them closely.

Tuff touched his arm, bringing Dagur out of whatever spell the Skrill had him under. “It’s okay, we’ll come back to her in the morning, like you said. I can distract the guards again.”

Dagur regarded him for a long moment. “You know, wherever you’re from - I’m really glad you’ve showed up. I don’t know why. Usually I don’t care much for strangers. Do you have a place to sleep tonight?”

Vorg gave him a look, but Dagur glowered at him until the man sighed and let it go.

“N-No. I was hoping to find someplace to lie low until morning.”

“Well that sounds dangerous, considering you were already attacked once today. You can bunk with me.”  Putting an arm around Tuff’s shoulders pointedly, he started steering them toward the docks where the Armada was waiting. Tuffnut winced as though his touch hurt, but gave him another bright smile.

“Okay. You want me to take the floor?”

“The floor? Are you being bashful?” Dagur teased. He gave Tuff a friendly side-hug, leaving his heavy arm across his companion’s shoulders. Tuffnut swallowed, looking pained again, but he didn’t duck out from beneath Dagur’s arm. His paleness sent a spark of concern through Dagur.

“Did you eat enough? I can have more food sent to the cabin. You never got to  try the mutton stew or any of the bacon-fried bread - it’ll put some weight back on your bones. You still look way too skinny.”

Tuff glowed at the attention, pressing against him. It made Dagur’s heart flutter almost annoyingly. “I’m okay. Though I wouldn’t say no to mutton stew and bread - that sounds amazing.”

Why was this guy growing on him so fast? Dagur didn’t even consider himself a friendly person, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that Tuffnut was somehow meant to be here - now, and with him. And not just because he was useful and smart and interesting . . . there was just something special about him.

Despite the stress of having to work with Alvin, Dagur had to admit - he’d never felt so calm in his life. The moment Tuff had embraced him, everything had changed. It wasn’t as though the feelings of painful anger and despair were gone; no, they were still there, but there was a difference to them. They felt bearable now.

On top of it all, a Skrill liked him - a dragon actually liked him. He wondered if Hiccup might be proud of him for that, if maybe even Oswald would.

Tuff was going to have to show him all kinds of things - like how to fly on her at breakneck speeds and train her to do barrel rolls. Eventually he’d have to get himself a dragon too - probably a Nadder or maybe a Razorwhip. Or maybe he had one already.

“Do you have a dragon?” Dagur asked once they got to the door of his ship’s cabin. Tuff had gone a bit glassy eyed, but he looked up sharply at the question, like a deer caught in the hunting lanterns.

“Uh. What?”

“You know, a dragon. Surely someone who knows how to train a Skrill has his own dragon. I understand - it probably would have caused some alarm if you just flew in here on one, so you must have told the dragon to hide in a cave somewhere. Right?”

Tuff blinked and then shook his head.  “No, I rode a Gronckle here, but I told him he could take off. I figured I’d just meet another wild dragon and coax them to take me somewhere else - you know, if you’d told me to get lost.”

Dagur stared. “Well, I’m glad I didn’t tell you to get lost. But seriously - you can just go up to wild dragons and ask them for rides and they don’t bite your head off?” He looked Tuff over critically. “Are you a sorcerer?”

The boy snorted with laughter, apparently finding that hilarious.

“Okay, not a sorcerer, that’s fine. Still pretty cool. In you go. ” He opened the door to his cabin and put a hand on the middle of Tuff’s back, gently pushing the boy in ahead of him.

That wrung a sudden yelp out of Tuff and he jerked away. Dagur felt a surge of panicked loss, automatically reaching out to grab the other boy’s arms so he couldn’t retreat any further. “Sorry! Are you okay?”

Tuff blinked but instead of pulling away, he drew closer to him.

“Yeah, I’m okay,” he grinned, apologetically. “Old wounds acting up. You know, Viking wounds - it’s an occupational hazard, right?”

Wounds? Frowning, Dagur lit a lantern and pulled Tuff further into the light, looking him over carefully. If that Mildew jerk had injured Tuffnut after all, he swore he was going to use the old fool’s severed head as a tether ball.  

The dragon-rider swallowed nervously, but said nothing until Dagur touched his shoulders, tugging at the material of his tunic. “I can’t have you wounded and going untreated for it. Let me see?”

Tuff looked anxious for far too long a moment - making Dagur’s chest ache.

“It’s okay. You can say no. Nobody will hurt you, remember? That includes me. But if you’re hurt, I’d like to help.”

Gray eyes widened, then filled with tears. Dagur stared but didn’t mention them, even when they spilled over to fall freely down Tuffnut’s face, leaving him shivering and leaning in close.

Where had Tuff come from? Had his family abandoned him too? Dagur made his best attempt at soothing noises and tugged again at his tunic, until Tuff nodded reluctantly and assisted in removing it.

Dagur drew in a sharp hiss of air at the marks on his body; dark purple lines of bruised flesh and inflamed blood-crusted weals. He recognized infection when he saw it.

Tuff’s wounds had been washed and treated a few times, but clearly by himself more often than with any help. As a result, he’d missed several areas and now Dagur knew why he’d been carrying that tin of salve in the first place.

Where was the salve now? He had to help Tuff treat these first -  then he could maim whoever was responsible. He’d chop their hands off, he decided. So they could never hold a whip or anything like it again. Yeah, that was what he would do - but later.

“Sit on the bed,” he muttered and Tuff nodded, obeying him.

Dagur opened the cabin door, bellowing for Vorg. His captain showed up within moments, with his ever-present scowl. He opened his mouth to give an order and then shut it when he saw that Vorg was not alone.

The captain had in one hand, Tuff’s satchel. In the other hand was the scruff of the scraggly old man who had earlier attacked his companion. The old man was stubbornly clinging to something leathery.

“Thought your guest might want his things,” Vorg explained. “So I went back for them and found this guy going through his pack like a filthy Bog Burglar. He’s apparently found something he wants you to see.”

Mildew’s beady eyes were full of terror and malice as he thrust the object out in front of him as though it could ward Dagur off. The Berserker sneered at the man but glanced at the object.

“Okay. A saddle. Was it a worthy find, you goat? Now not only have you attacked my dragon trainer, you’ve gone through his personal belongings. If he’s not offended by that, I am.” Dagur made as if to draw his sword, but Vorg stopped him.

“Sir, you should know something first. Mildew here is from Berk. He’s a traitor who has told Alvin many secrets - from Hiccup’s dragon-taming techniques to details of Berk’s new defenses and where their guards will be during an attack. It’s likely he knows your companion better than you might.”

Dagur scowled. “Wherever my companion is from, I think it’s safe to say he doesn’t miss home all that much. I need that salve.”

Vorg handed the bag over, still frowning. “Whether or not you trust him, sir, if Alvin finds out Tuffnut is from Berk, he may demand you hand him over.”

“Too bad for him because I won’t. Alvin can huff and puff all he wants. Technically, I caught Tuff, so that makes him my prisoner,” Dagur said distractedly, feeling through the bag for the salve. He found the tin and set the bag down on the floor of the cabin. Then he yanked the saddle away from Mildew and whacked the old man over the head with it.

“Listen up, old coot! I'm going to give you some free advice. Right now, my companion is injured - injuries that you no doubt aggravated with your pointlessly stupid attack. When I find out the person responsible for him needing this in the first place -“ Dagur waved the tin under Mildew’s quivering nostrils - “I’m going to hunt them down and make them wish they had never been born.”

He gave Mildew one of his sharpest most devilish smiles. “So I advise you to think about that, before you say or do anything that might cause my friend further discomfort or pain. Think about the lengths that Dagur the Deranged might go, to protect what’s his. Nod if you understood all that, and I’ll permit you to leave my sight with every limb still attached.”

Mildew, eyes wide as saucers, nodded frantically. Vorg let him go and he scrabbled frantically off the ship and down to the docks, clearly terrified Dagur would change his mind.

Dagur took a breath, pulling himself together. He noticed Vorg staring at him oddly.

“What?!”

“Sorry sir, it’s just . . . Are you certain you don't have a Mark?”

Dagur blinked, too taken aback to fume. He had assumed everyone figured it was Hiccup, that Hiccup was who the Gods had given him.

But then - why would they? Dagur had never given anyone an explanation as to why he wanted to hunt Hiccup down. For all they knew it was a vendetta thing. The son of Chief Stoick had humiliated the entire clan by his treatment of Dagur, after all.

And yet here they were - all still following him.

Dagur swallowed a sudden lump in his throat, temporarily unable to meet Vorg’s gaze.

Maybe his people were hoping his Mark would come soon to calm him, like his mother had calmed his raging father? Oswald had been a madman in his day; Dagur had grown up knowing all the legends, but he’d never actually seen his father rage.

As annoying as it had seemed to have such a kind and understanding father . . . he sort of missed it. He even missed the stupid smacking noises when Oswald chewed.

Dagur frowned, shaking his head to clear his thoughts. “I . . . will go check,” he muttered distractedly. He went back into the cabin and shut the door behind him, leaving behind his very perplexed and concerned captain.

—

Tuff was on the far edge of the bed, his tunic wadded up in his hands and currently hiding his face. His body was curled over and trembling, and Dagur approached slowly, so as not to alarm him.

He wondered how much of all that Tuff had heard.

“Hey there,” he muttered awkwardly, sitting next to him. “Um. You alright?”

After a long moment, Tuff lowered the tunic to peer at him, looking only slightly calmer.

Dagur didn’t know what to say, but he knew he could at least do something. He opened the tin and coated his fingers in salve. “We found your medicine. Lay down so I can treat you. However comfortable you can make yourself.”

He tried to keep his tone calm, like his mother’s had always been. Tuff responded to his efforts like a kitten to cream. He crawled toward him immediately, draping himself across Dagur’s lap and burying his face in his arms. Oh … okay ….

Dagur felt his pulse kick up at the eagerness Tuff showed to be so close and vulnerable to him but kept his movements slow and purposeful, gently moving Tuff’s long hair so it hung away from his back. As gently as he could manage, he started to coat the welts curling over the tops of those thin shoulders. “Who did this to you?” he asked after a while. “And … when?”

“My Elders,” came the mumbled answer after a long silence. “About three days ago.”

A formal beating. And … three days ago? Dagur's heart did a funny skip in his chest and he paused, processing that for a moment. Shaking his head, he moved on to the next cruel laceration on Tuff’s back.

“Why did your Elders have you whipped?”

Under Dagur’s fingers, Tuff started trembling again.

“Oh. You don’t have to be ashamed,” Dagur assured him. “It’s me, the ‘evil’, deranged Berserker Prince, remember? Go on, try to impress me.”

Tuff either hiccoughed or snickered, Dagur couldn’t tell. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and looked up over his shoulder. “I - I released a dragon. I wasn’t supposed to. The Skrill.”

Dagur stared at him. He’d expected something like a carelessly broken wagon or shattered prized dishes, or maybe even a theft of sheep. But releasing a dragon . . .?

“Are you Berkian? Did Hiccup catch the Skrill first? Was he trying to train her himself?” Dagur blurted. Tuff made a thin noise of distress, starting to look panicked.

“Of course you’re from Berk. It explains how you know so much about dragons and why Mildew attacked you and also why I’ve never met you until now. Look, it’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you for not telling me. Because of you, I have my Skrill, so why would I want to?” Dagur reassured him, beginning to treat the lash marks further down his back. “Looks to me like you’ve been punished enough.”

Tuffnut swallowed and looked up plaintively, trying to gather his nerve.

“It’s more than that, actually. I . . . I was a dragon-rider - one of Hiccup’s.”

Dagur stared at him, trying to jog his memory. He'd never really looked close enough at Hiccup’s Greek chorus but he’d figured there were about four others. “I don’t remember you fighting me.”

“I … generally I was just air support,” Tuff said, flushing. “We never … we never fought up close. My sister and I rode the Zippleback.”

“Oh yeah, the green one. So what made you not want to be a dragon rider anymore? Leaving Berk I understand, but … your sister? Your dragon?”

Tuff looked sad, but nodded. “My sister will take care of Belch. I couldn’t stay on Berk anymore. Some people in my family … didn’t think I’d been punished enough.”

“What?” Dagur asked, fury swelling inside of him. “What does that mean?!”

“I’m okay,” Tuff said quickly, sounding scared. Dagur took a breath and tried to calm down.

“Sorry. You’re just … I think you were overly punished for letting some dragon out of a cage.”

“She wasn’t in a cage. ” He hesitated, but went on. “She was completely frozen in a block of ice. Hiccup knew Berserkers revered the Skrill and he was scared of you getting a hold of her. But I couldn’t leave her like that. I decided I wanted her to be free to find her own way, even if she was dangerous and even if it did mean you’d find her. Hiccup went off to talk to his father and I was left with my sister and Snotlout to guard her frozen body.”

“So you just - what? Chipped her out? Melted her out?” Dagur asked, entranced.

“Blasted her out,” Tuff admitted sheepishly. Dagur gave a delighted cackle. “And within minutes, she thawed out and was able to fly away, no problem.”

“Bet old Stoick and Hiccup had piglets! Oh boy, if I could have seen the looks on their faces! I bet they didn’t like that one bit!” Dagur laughed. Tuff shifted with a pained expression on his lap and that smacked the jubilance right out of him. “Oh, sorry. Right. Yeah, that probably wouldn’t have been so great for you.”

“It’s fine. It was worth it. Hiccup wasn’t going to train or even revive her, he was just going to keep her in the same big chunk of iceberg we found her in. He cared more about you never getting to fly than what became of her. Dragons aren’t problems to solve - they’re living, breathing, harboring era of destruction and chaos! Hiccup needs to realize and respect that! I thought … I really thought we were the good guys, but I guess I was wrong.”

Dagur blinked, made solemn by Tuff’s sorrow.

“Well, it sounds like you had a good reason to free her and then leave. Now you’re here and you get to help me. I can help you find a new dragon. Probably not another Zippleback though. Oh, ooh, awkward memory - that wouldn’t have been your dragon I almost killed for dragon blood ink, was it?”

Tuff regarded him with surprise and nodded, in a way that made Dagur flush self-consciously. Of course -  it had to have been his dragon that Dagur had nearly beheaded, all for the sake of exposing a theory that Berk was secretly raising a dragon army.

Well, he’d been right about that part, sort of.

“Really sorry about that. Wish I’d had a better introduction to the fact you Berkians all loved your dragons. I mean, the Skrill is just - she’s amazing. If I’d just known what they could be like  - I mean, I don’t think I ever would have lifted a finger to -“

He was cut off by arms wrapping around his waist in a tight hug. Dagur nearly dropped the salve. He stared down at Tuff, who had curled closer to bury his face in Dagur’s chest.

“I knew you wouldn’t,” Tuff hitched after a long moment, pulling back so he could talk. “I knew that and I tried to tell them that everything was because we lied to you. We made you think dragons were still the enemy because Hiccup wanted to protect them - he wants to keep it all a big secret! I told them that if they just had explained, and given you a chance, maybe you wouldn’t have been our enemy. Everyone told me that was treasonous to say - even the Chief -“

He was getting wound up again. Dagur hushed him and coaxed Tuff to lay back down across his knees. “It’s okay, you don’t have to explain. I get it. I’ve always been the troublesome kid, so it makes sense that nobody would trust me. I’m not mad at you about it though, so just try to relax, okay?” Looking shocked, the other boy obeyed, again resting his head on Dagur’s thigh.

Dagur’s mind was a maelstrom as he worked, reanalyzing the Mark on his wrist, and how it applied to Hiccup. How and why would the Gods give him someone who didn’t trust or even like him, when this boy - this complete stranger - saw enough worth in him to help him train a Skrill? Trusted him enough to let him clean and treat his wounds?

He couldn’t help but notice each time Tuff’s breath caught painfully whenever he touched a point that two lashes had intersected. He was so thin - almost as scrawny as Hiccup - how had this not killed him? Dagur ran a careful hand across Tuff’s sides, not liking how each rib felt defined through the skin. The way Tuffnut had bolted his food earlier made too much sense for his comfort.

Normally, Dagur loathed traitors, but there was no way on Midgard that Tuff had done any of this through malice. Rather, he had spoken up against injustice and had been punished like a criminal. Dagur couldn’t honestly claim he wouldn’t have switched sides had his own family treated him like this.

If anything … if anything, Berk had betrayed Tuff.

When all Tuff’s welts and lacerations had been cleaned and coated, Dagur’s fingers smoothed down across his ribs once more, then hesitated at the boy’s waist.

“Is there any more?” he asked awkwardly. He could see the beginnings of a red welt curving down across a hip to disappear beneath Tuff’s belt. “I mean, this is the only beating you got for all this, right?”

Nobody could have punished him more, surely. Nobody could be that cruel.

Wishful thinking … hadn’t Tuff said some of his family members didn’t think he’d been punished enough?

Tuff closed his eyes, hesitant to answer. “There’s . . . a little more. It’s okay, I’ve been treating it. I can get it myself.”

“It’s not okay,” Dagur snapped and cursed himself inwardly when Tuff flinched. “Sorry. I’m not mad at you,” he reminded, voice gentle this time. “All I want is to just take care of you. My mom was a healer - she taught me a lot. This salve has comfrey in it, which is a good move. Did you make it yourself?”

“Mom made it and sent it with Ruff. My sister. She helped me get off Berk the night it all happened, and treated my wounds.”

So his sister and mom were the good guys here - that was useful to know. “What about your dad? Did he help get you free?”

Tuff swallowed and went silent, not answering. He’d started shaking at the mention of his father though, which spoke volumes.

Gut dropping, Dagur carefully started to undo the boy’s belt, sliding it off him. When Tuffnut didn’t stop him, he eased down the waistband of his leggings to be greeted with yet more welts and bruises - and something far worse.

There was a horrible burn on his hip, and worst of all, it looked intentional, as though made with a branding iron.

Dagur’s blood ran cold. “Is . . . that a . . .?”

“I'm sorry.” Tuff muttered, hiding his face behind his hands, “I’m sorry, he thought it was a tattoo - and I couldn’t get away - I couldn’t stop him -“

What? Dagur looked closer and saw a shape beneath the branded circle. He realized instantly the horror of what had been done.

“Who did this - who dared brand your Mark? Was it your father? Did he leave all these welts too?” Dagur demanded, fury thick in his voice. He was going to kill the man slowly and enjoy it. There was no excuse whatsoever for anyone to treat their own son like this.

Tuff had started shaking hard, starting to cry. Dagur cursed again as he realized his anger was probably affecting Tuffnut.

“Hey, Hey, I’m sorry - “ The Berserker murmured, leaning over Tuff. He pressed a palm to Tuff’s cheek, stroking away the tears. “I’m mad at him and your Elders, not you, though me yelling about it is probably the last thing you need to deal with right now.”

Sobbing, Tuff nuzzled Dagur’s palm, clutching his wrist tightly. “It’s fine, it’s okay,” he managed. “H-He didn’t know it w-was a Mark and then he - I had to -“

“Shh, you’re safe now, just let me see.” He stroked Tuff’s hair trying to calm him, and looked again at the Mark, making himself focus on the shape of it rather than the scarred flesh beneath it.

A Skrill. Not just a Skrill, but fashioned after his own tribe’s symbol. His heart started to pound. There were a million questions he wanted to ask Tuff, but now wasn’t the time, not with Tuff’s current state.

Dagur banished all thoughts of vengeance from his mind and leaned down to kiss Tuff’s temple gently, stroking his hair again - the only area that didn’t look too painful to touch. Tuffnut hitched and started crying harder, but he sat up on his uninjured hip and wrapped his arms around Dagur’s neck, holding on to him tightly.

For the first time in a while, Dagur felt tears on his own face. He cupped the back of Tuff’s head and held him close until the storm passed. Eventually the rider relaxed in his arms, breathing steadily and only sniffling.

Gently, Dagur coaxed him out of the rest of his clothing, then got him to lay on his stomach. Tuff nestled across his lap again, hiding his face in the crook of Dagur’s arm, leaving the other free to tend to the rest of his injuries. Tuff’s arms moved to  Dagur’s waist, clinging to him as though he was a lifeline.

He trusted him, utterly, and maybe it was the Mark, and maybe Tuff was just a brave soul - brave and courageous in ways Dagur couldn’t understand.

It boggled his mind, honestly, why the Gods thought he, Dagur the Deranged, was worthy of this boy. He wasn’t even worthy enough for Hiccup.

And a chicken? Really? The idea Tuff could appear as a mere chicken on anybody was laughable. Well, one thing was certain, he should probably end his long-fought crusade against all poultry kind and leave the poor birds alone.

He put the thoughts away for now, closing the tin and putting it aside. He drew one of the fur blankets up over Tuff’s body to give him cover and laid his back against the wall, blowing out the lantern so Tuff could sleep.

In the dark, Tuff hitched his name, sounding terrified, uncertain.

“It’s going to be okay, Tuff,” Dagur murmured. “You’re safe now, with me. I’m not going to let anyone hurt you like this again.”

Tuff gave a few shuddering breaths, saying his name again. He shifted until he could rest his head on Dagur’s shoulder, nuzzling under his chin. “N-No-ones going to hurt you either. Not Hiccup, not Stoick - nobody.”

His bold promise was utterly charming, not that Dagur didn’t believe him. It was just … nobody had ever vowed to defend him.

Come to think of it, nobody had ever wanted to cuddle with him before either.

Dagur felt a surge of protectiveness and carded his fingers through Tuff’s hair, stroking his cheek with his thumb. He was not at all prepared for Tuff’s hand caressing his face, or pressing soft lips against his. The Berserker’s heart fluttered and started to pound.

“Are you mine?” he murmured in a daze, as soon as the spine-tingling kiss was broken.

Dagur could make out standing tears in the silvery gray eyes before him, and thought to himself ‘how pretty’ before Tuff’s mouth hungrily met his again in answer.

****

Tbc 

[hiphopguerrilla]

Pro Sasuke Uchiha : Constructive Criticism of Kishimoto’s Antagonist

Disclaimer: I am not a critic. To anyone that disagrees, my humble opinion doesn’t count for anything because I’m just some loser in his mom’s basement as far as you’re concerned. I’m little more than a disappointed fan. Thank you for reading if you’ve go this far. Hope you can read the rest with objective consideration and without bias. This will be a long rant, you’ve been forewarned.

So I’ve been on a spree of criticism of Kishi’s work. Cannot help being criticil of an Artist/Writer who has let me down just as many times as he/she has inspired me. So because he let me down he has inspired me to write about some of the things I’m very critical of because I have no closure from the series and I can’t help but feel “Next Generation”  wasn’t about love for writing the story anymore.

In the beginning of the series Sasuke isn’t yet the antagonist, but it’s clear Kishi intended the to of them to be rivals while building what was supposed to be, and in many ways, is a story of incredible bonds and friendship. It was clear he had a motivation behind what he wanted to do as far as the character developing into and I see, it seems anyway, that he deviated from that. 

By the early stages of the character development it is established through Sasuke’s monolgue to Sakura “I am an avenger” that he never stopped grieving the loss of his clan and family and that he wanted the same closure fans never got. He said to Kakashi “I will restore my clan” and while I’m certain this isn’t meant to be taken literally he wanted to do right by their memory. 

Understanding that he didn’t just lose his family, he was literally tortured at the age of 8(forced to endure something that had Kakashi bed ridden for a week), he lost connection to his heritage(remember Madara is one of the founding members of the village yet Sasuke had no clue who he was), he lost his idol in Itachi and was forced to deal with a damaged psyche that no one could really repair Itachi drilling in his head that he was some sort of coward. He has both an inferiority complex and a superiority complex because of the standard the Clan is held to. Rather than knowing what is and isn’t true with his parents to guide him through his mess of a life.

What’s disappointing is by the end of the series that wasn’t the main take away from his character. Why? Because the development of his character was stifled by Naruto. Yes, I’m talking about the main character of the story. It’s very relevant to know and understand that Kishi didn’t take time to develop many of the characters in the story. Tenten, Hinata, Lee to an extent, Ino, Choji, Kiba, and Shino among others I may even be forgetting because....yea its obvious.

So to the point. Naruto borders on being a gary stu because, seemingly, Kishi was more partial to him than anyone Sasuke included. That’s not to say Sasuke didn’t get charcter development, just he didn’t develop in a way that was understandable to the majority of fans.

As I was saying about the end of the story none of this is understood. Worst part being that Itachi overshadows Sasuke’s character in a way that is completely disrespectful to fans who had great insterest in the development of him as Sasuke’s antagonist. I do not in anyway disagree with the choice to make Itachi remain his loving brother, who made a difficult choice for the good of the village and the one he cared for the most, but to be honest the logic that comes out of Itachi’s choice and reasoning by fans loving him so yet having great disdain for Sasuke as describe: Whiny, emo, ungrateful, selfish, among other things is a fallacy. Most of those things are inaccurate as well hypocritical to praise Itachi at the same time. 

Firstly lest start with him being ungrateful or selfish. It was immediately after the death of his clan, that this clearly life altering even influenced him to decide without doubt that he would devote his life to seeing JUSTICE for what happened then. This is how the story STARTED, please understand that it wasn’t until part 2 that this turns into full blown revenge and blind hatred in a completely hypocritical manner that made fans who already disliked Sasuke absolutely loathe him. I’ll say again this is merely so Naruto could play hero and save his soul(see there I’m getting irritated thinking about this already).

If you have a goal like becoming Hokage, or President of the United States, or First Pick in the NFL draft, or becoming head Medic nin, whatever real life or fictional you know that you can’t just decide to give it up because people say it is Irrational. Sasuke’s ultimate goal was to avenge his family. That meant he had to become strong enough to defeat Itachi, which meant sacrifices must be made.

What did he sacrifice. A normal childhood, his friendships, and the closest thing he had to a family since his blood relatives died. Yet Sasuke is selfish? Sacrificing your frienships and chance at a normal life in favor of a decision you made at 8 years old because of the family you LOVED is probably the most selfless thing a person can do. I often see people compare him to both Kakashi, and Naurto in these cases to justify loathing his character and making silly memes to ridicule him.

Kakashi couldn’t get revenge on anyone, seeing as how his only family commit suicide, The White Fang was not murdered/slaughtered. As far as Rin and Obito, they died in the line of duty they weren’t killed simply because some evil bastard(as far as Sasuke knew) wanted to “Test my power.” 

Naruto, had no connection to his family until Jiraiya and also had no concept of vengence until Jiraiya died, and If we are really to give credit where its due, the only reason he chooses not to avenge him is 1. Because it would go agaisnt his Masters wishes 2. Because he see the weight Sasuke’s had to carry and wants to free his friend from that pain. He can’t do that if he chooses to walk a path that was not his. 

Another thing that Kishi made very clear was that was the point. Sasuke was at his best when he was written as a character that manifests his own reality, and walks his own path without regret. Let’s not forgot that Fugaku is nothing like Jiraiya. He didn’t raise Sasuke to aim for peace or anything like that, in fact, one of the Uchiha’s rules is that they don’t take prisoners. Yet another reason Sasuke took it upon himself to kill Itachi, it was his duty.

Then of course, yes I’m about to go there you’ve been wared, there’s the SasuSaku thing. Why? Just why? This relationship, was never called for from the get go. Another reason so many Americans are so messed up that they don’t understand the difference between true love and infatuation. Where does Sakura’s “love” begin, where does Sasuke’s more importantly? Was that established with any certainty?

In the beginning the bulk off their interaction consisted with Sasuke ignoring her and calling her annoying. The nicest thing he says to her the entire series is “Thank you.” seriously? Not “I’ll miss you.” not  “I care for you...deeply” but “Thank you.” Thats like something you say when someone passes the salt at the dinner table.

What is their connection? I refuse to bring up other pairs because is about Sasuke development as a character not SasuSaku. Sakura does nothing but follow Sasuke around like a love sick puppy and by the end of the series, it somehow pays off and while it may feel like a win for fans of that pair, to me as a fan of the overall series and writing that makes sense even in a fictional world where characters have superpowers. There should be some logic there at least. 

What we know at the start of part one is Sakura is a 12 year old girl with a crush on the most popular boy in school. Hilarious, that’s the foundation of this pairing, never in part one and hardly anything in the series at all does it explain where these “romantic” feelings developed. It least we know why Hinata admires Naruto (sorry nothing more on NaruHina,another time perhaps). 

And Sasuke never shows any affection to her what so ever besides “Thank you.” of course and gently lying her on the park bench. Don’t think I don’t notice the SasuSaku moments either. Like when he was about to break both of Zaku’s arms and Sakura hugs him. Probably as close ot romance as it gets and Sasuke is being hugged from behind. He doesn’t initiate the hug and he doesn’t hug her back, he stands there suprised at probably the first time he’s been hugged since his mother was murdered.

Understand this, if you take that as a sign Sasuke felt the same, fine. That is absolutely acceptable, even understandable. However, for me, that is a bit half assed. It’s really not much to go on over the course of 700 chapters to say they “fell in love”. Because to me love does not equate to trying to force someone to notice you for two years, having attempts at affection met with disdain and even physical assault, like when he slaps the apples she spent so much time carving out of her hands as she visited him and tried to feed him at the hospital. 

I’m sure I don’t have to mention the actual attempted murder at the summit to anybody so that’s all I’ll say about it for now. Now back to Sasuke’s overall story as I prepare to close. The summit was probably the biggest chance to turn Sasuke into an admirable character in fans eyes. 

Instead what Kishi does is comepletely wreck his character, so he can be the antagonist and be saved by Naruto. There’s even this little comparison by Karin where she see’s how evil and corrupt Sasuke is, another innocent he tried to kill, and then sees how pure Naruto’s soul is. It was ridiculous. I understand Naruto is the hero of the story, but that never meant Sasuke HAD to be the villain.

He even turns the entire situation with Danzo and his orders to have the Uchiha clan annihilated into a complete mess. Sasuke has gone batshit, and rather than being a person trying to do right by his clan and his brother’s memory, Kishi turns him into this absolute fiend who will murder even his own allies just to make some silly point based on a story told him by a guy who’s real faces he’s never seen even once. A guy who wasn’t even the real Madara Uchiha. As if Sasuke was never strong enough to separate himself from his emotions and what he believes is right. Itachi was already dying and he wanted Sasuke  to kill him as atonement. He killed the uchiha in favor of the leaf why would he want Sasuke to destroy the village.

If he were written properly Sasuke would’ve killed Danzo and walked his own path, facing Naruto one final time and either dying or leaving all of that mess behind. It would’ve been fine for him to return to the village if he there to sow seed and start a new with the Uchiha clan. Instead he's a glorified prize for Sakura and Sasusaku fans, as well as someone Naruto basically stalked for 2 years just to force him to not even be in the picture anyway.

As I said in the beginning, or someone in the middle maybe. Sasuke was at his best when he was written as an independent character walking his own path and sacrificing what mattered most to him in favor of doing right by his people, his family, his clan. I thank anyone who made it to the bottom of this post.

[garden-ghoul]

listen to and share my podcast where I talk about being a baby witch and having to learn to manipulate the fabric of society! it doesn’t get more autistic than this! 

transcript below the cut.

Before reading: THIS IS THE BEST TIFFANY ACHING BOOK! Because it’s about navigating new peer groups and feeling like an idiot and being weird even among the weirdos who should be your people! Tiffany is SO multiple and so relateable and I kind of want to have kids just so I can read them this book and tell them “See, if you feel this, you’re in good company.”

Also I should introduce Tiffany, since this is the second Tiffany book. In this one she’s 11 years old. She’s a witch who grew up on chalk instead of hard stone and sometimes people look down on her for that. She’s a little pretentious about how perceptive and thoughtful she is and how she knows a bunch of big words she can’t pronounce. I believe she whacked the queen of the fairies on the head with a frying pan, or something similar. And she briefly met Granny Weatherwax at the end of her first book, and Granny gave her the eponymous hat full of sky, which is a pointed witch hat that nobody can see. I’m not exactly clear on why. The point is she’s the perfect picture of a good half of all autistic children and she’s very dear to my heart.

SO the book starts by presenting a bodiless, frightened thing that has lost the brain it used to live in, drifting slowly over the hills. And then Tiffany does a spell that allows her to step out of her body and look at it from outside and it notices her. Perfect! A strong mind! Filled with lots of little nested minds! There’s the setup of the plot, this creature called a Hiver. Now to the action.

Tiffany is going to the mountains, and on the way we get a flashback about that time Tiffany was briefly the ruler of a colony of pictsies—the Nac Mac Feegle. I mention this because there’s a bit with the new ruler, the new kelda she’s called, who gives Tiffany a get out of here this is my turf now look—and this territoriality theme was a very strong in the last book. We also get a lovely bit of editorial from the author on the new kelda, Jeannie: he says that because she’s new, because she’s moved here from far away and is frightened and unsure and alone, she makes a mistake. And that mistake is telling her clan not to protect Tiffany from the Hiver that is following her.

I want to read some excerpts from the later part where we see Jeannie’s husband, Rob Anybody, having some existential dread about it. Because it’s some great comedy and some great pathos, all in one. Jeannie comes out to try and stop him brooding about how he’s not allowed to keep Tiffany safe—offers him a drink of extra strong liquor that may or may not be made from turpentine and when he refuses it she starts yelling that he’s died. A couple of his brothers come out and start crying, it’s a great bit. But then Jeannie, as his wife, asks him not to go save Tiffany. Heavy-hearted, Rob agrees… and the next moment, as his kelda, she tells him he does have to save Tiffany, because Tiffany is the hag of the hills and she tells the land what it is. But be careful, won’t you?

“You've got something to come back safe to me for, Rob Anybody,” said Jeannie. “An' I beg ye to use your heid for somethin' other than nuttin' folk.”

“I thank ye, Kelda,” said Rob Anybody. “I'll do as ye bid. I'll tak' some lads and find the big wee hag, for the good o' the hills. It cannae be a good life for the puir wee big wee thing, all alone and far fra' home, among strangers.”

“Aye,” said Jeannie, turning her face away. “I ken that, too.”

I just love this growing sympathy between Tiffany and Jeannie, as women who have to make their own way to power and self-confidence.

There’s a bit of intrigue for Tiffany on the way to the mountains, with her escort making these divination devices cum curse nets called shambles and having them explode with some kind of oppressive power, but she does make it. We meet her new mentor Miss Level, who has two bodies and used to work in a circus because it seemed like she was reading her own mind. She’s desperate for a bit of company because the last three girls who came to apprentice with her found her too unsettling and left.

She takes Tiffany out to the nearby villages that are on Miss Level’s beat, as it were, collecting gossip and free food and tending to the sick. The witch’s life is presented as this sort of a web of implication and subtlety, manipulating the social fabric so as to do good and get paid without causing any resentment. Although Miss Level says it’s VERY important that a witch never expects to get paid.

“Pretty soon people will be killing their pigs for the winter,” said Miss Level, “and I'll get more brawn, ham, bacon and sausages turning up than a family could eat in a year.”

“You do? What do you do with all that food?”

“Store it,” said Miss Level. 

“But you-“

“I store it in other people. It's amazing what you can store in other people.” Miss Level laughed at Tiffany's expression. “I mean, I take what I don't need round to those who don't have a pig, or who're going through a bad patch, or who don't have anyone to remember them.”

Witches are agents of communism! From each according to ability, to each according to need. I think it’s cool that they’re here to sort of smooth out economic inequality.

Miss Level also asks Tiffany about her Granny Aching, and the way she used her influence. I really like this bit.

“Did she help people?” Miss Level asked.

“She made them help one another,” Tiffany said. “She made them help themselves.”

Miss Level sighed. “Not many of us are that good.”

So a witch’s job is to subtly manipulate everyone around her into being a better person.

So Tiffany is doing a lot of boring taking care of people. She doesn’t like it, it’s not very glamorous. Another apprentice witch named Petulia Gristle, who has an inconvenient amount of occult jewelry, stops by to invite her to the ‘sabbat’ the other apprentices have. But Petulia keeps asking Tiffany whether she doesn’t want to dress to fit in, and using strange jargon. Petulia is VERY good at fitting in, in the kind of quickly-back-up-your-opinions-and-turn-them-in-a-different-direction kind of way. We’re also introduced to Annagramma, who is the leader of the apprentices in the same way Granny Weatherwax is leader of the witches: which is to say, everyone cares a lot about her opinion but of course witches don’t have leaders. Annagramma says.

Annagramma is the type of insufferable teen who insists on being the only clever person in the room. This is a tall order because most witches are a bit like that, and Tiffany certainly is. But Tiffany is younger and doesn’t have as much experience manipulating the social fabric, and Annagramma uses her inexperience to humiliate her. Oh sure of course you kicked the fairy queen out of your village. Uh huh. And Tiffany does a little analysis of how Annagramma manages her underlings: she’s like a dog worrying the sheep so much that they don’t have time to do what she says, so nothing gets done. She’s getting in her own way because she, too, is a teen and doesn’t know anything. Aww. I almost like her. I have a soft spot for teens.

Tiffany tells the other apprentices that she’s met Granny Weatherwax (to general disbelief) and that Granny gave her this hat. Everyone asks, What hat? And what follows is maybe my favorite scene from the book.

Long afterwards, and long after all sorts of things had happened, she'd go 'la la la!' to blot out the memory whenever something reminded her of that evening. Miss Level tried to talk to her as she ran upstairs, but she bolted her door, kicked off her boots and lay down on the bed with the pillow over her head to drown out the laughter echoing inside…

Tiffany's First Thoughts were running around in circles. Her Second Thoughts were caught up in the storm. Only her Third Thoughts, which were very weak, came up with: Even though your world is completely and utterly ruined and can never be made better, no matter what, and you 're completely inconsolable, it would be nice if you heard someone bringing some soup upstairs . . . The Third Thoughts got Tiffany off the bed and over to the door, where they guided her hand to slide the bolt back. Then they let her fling herself on the bed again. A few minutes later there was a creak of footsteps on the landing. It's nice to be right. Miss Level knocked, then came in after a decent pause. Tiffany heard the tray go down on the table, then felt the bed move as a body sat down on it.

Just this very sweet and relateable baby teen moment where Miss Level tries to comfort her. The other thing I really love about it is the Third Thoughts being the part of you that makes sure that even when you’re low you still take care of yourself. Because I’ve named that part of myself too and it makes me feel close to Tiffany.

Tiffany is feeling so miserable and insecure and homesick that she really just wants to see the invisible hat. So she uses her “See Me” spell to step outside herself and sees the hat right there on her head… but when she tries to reverse it the Tiffany she’s looking at says, “We see you. Now we are you.” Then: Lightning struck somewhere nearby. The window blew in. The candle flame flew out in a streamer of fire, and died. And then there was only darkness, and the hiss of the rain. Damn, that’s a good end for a chapter.

The next morning Tiffany seems to be back in her body, and feeling just great. But discontented with boring nonmagical chores. She wants to climb mountains! BUT she’s losing tiny bits of time, during which she seems to be trying to leave messages, asking for help. Once again, a multiple witch is able to resist not just mind control, but total annihilation of the mind. It seems like her Third Thoughts are somewhat able to curb the nasty temper of the new Tiffany because they’re already used to regulating her. Which is how it is, right, when you’re going through puberty? But she’s seeing things that were seen by minds the Hiver already consumed, and speaking in their voices. She can read minds and she’s telekinetic. She just wants to ACTUALLY USE SOME MAGIC. She leaves the cottage, and Rob, who’s been worriedly tracking her, talks to Miss Level about her.

Miss Level is bewildered at the idea of Tiffany being a powerful witch because she can’t do everyday magic on command—Rob says no, it’s a deep magic tied to the land, not to be used for party tricks. It kind of reminds me of a recent discussion on ADHD, and how it makes ‘simple’ tasks like doing the laundry or making lunch very difficult, but complex tasks like spontaneously producing a podcast much easier. Tiffany is very much in the mold of a hyperlexic child who doesn’t fit in anywhere and is bad at what people expect her to be good at, while being good at things no-one expects her to be able to do at all. Makes me wonder some things about Sir Terry.

So she goes to Annagramma’s to threaten her and try to recruit her as a crony, because the Hiver likes to amass power. Wherever she goes, shambles and curse nets disintegrate, presumably because her very existence is a curse—the type of magic she uses doesn’t play nice with anything else. She goes to a magical paraphernalia shop and turns someone into a frog to get a good discount. Comes home and kills Miss Level. In the ensuing struggle within Tiffany’s mind, she passes out and the Feegles have to go inside her mind.

Inside the part of Tiffany’s mind where Tiffany still is, it looks like the Chalk, and there are the hills and Granny Aching’s shepherd hut. On the door in chalk is written a list of smells that belong to the hut, and if the Hiver smells them it will be brought there—this is important because as long as Tiffany is on her own turf she’s pretty well unstoppable since her power comes from the land. So Rob sends a raiding party to steal the smells, and meanwhile he’s got to fight a bunch of trees that are trying to steal the sunlight from the hills. When the Hiver appears on Tiffany’s turf the Feegles all start fighting it, because of course they do! The earth shakes; the trees start to fall over; and the hills grow taller and start to move, because they’re the shape of a sleeping girl. Yes! That’s right! Tiffany IS the land, and she is SO much bigger than the Hiver, which she picks up between her two fingers. The Feegle bard begins to weep because he’s not good enough to write a song that will do justice to their hag of the land.

And Tiffany wakes up under a green quilt that looks like the chalk hills. She’s really dissociated but someone tells her to milk the goats, so she does. When she comes back to herself Granny Weatherwax is there and explains that one of the previous hosts, a wizard who studied Hivers, explained everything in Tiffany’s sleep. Hivers collect people, and Tiffany now has a head full of ghosts. That’s right she’s DOUBLE MULTIPLE.

We also have a very good bit with Miss Level, who you will recall lost one of her bodies in a Hiver accident, still going about her business as if she still had four hands without realizing it. And because she’s a witch, she can just do that! To me it reads as a parallel for the hat full of sky Granny gave Tiffany, something you can’t see but that nevertheless exists and does its job. I mean, I’m also a sucker for magical workarounds for disabilities, especially if the disability is something strange like ‘only having one body.’ Granny does a little speech on how magic is the easy part of witching, and dealing with people is both the hard part and the more important part.

Now this is something very important to me! Pratchett’s witches, the good ones, are ALL about tikkun olam. They don’t ask ‘who will repair the world?’ They say, ‘I will do it.’ When I was young this made a huge impression on me, that Pratchett presented these witches as the people to admire. I still find it very comforting, this permission to be able to be nasty and self-confident and know I can’t expect thanks for my good work. This is not necessarily to say that I approve of anyone telling children that selflessness is The Right Way To Be—just that for many reasons I have chosen to try to be generous and hardworking, and Pratchett tells us this is difficult and irritating and uncool. I love him.  I’m probably going to witter about this during every single witch book but whatever, Granny Weatherwax is my own mean grandmother who raised me.

So now Tiffany has to repair the world. She’s got to do the medicine for everyone and she’s got to visit old Mr Weavall whose money she stole while she was possessed. But when she checks in the box, lo and behold, it’s filled with gold from the barrow where the Feegles live! Mr Weavall is delighted, gives Tiffany a gold coin, and decides on the spur of the moment to get married.

Which is a very cute way to show that sometimes you’ll get rewarded when you don’t think you deserve a reward, but you’ve got to be humble about it even so. “It’s an unfair world,” Granny tells Tiffany. “Be glad you have friends.” And that’s it, isn’t it?

Granny and Tiffany spend the night up in the mountains stalking the Hiver (unsuccessfully) and then go down the Witch Trials, which is a bit like a fair where all the witches show a cool thing they can do. The Hiver finally starts to move in.

Tiffany builds a shamble, an inconsequential piece of witchery she hasn’t been able to do for the whole book. She can do it now because the stakes are high enough. Yep! That old familiar ADHD feeling, where you can’t make anything happen unless you’re panicking and half mad with guilt! Like us, her power comes from being stressed the fuck out, and it’s correspondingly huge: when she creates her shamble, a curse net to catch the Hiver, the carved horse on the hillside down in the Chalk gets up and leaps away toward the mountains. I’m sorry I haven’t communicated all the great imagery that Pratchett brings back for the climax; he’s excellent at weaving together the details of place in a way that make them important and real. Any book about Tiffany Aching is also a book about her whole country, because in many ways she is the avatar of the Chalk.

And she talks to the Hiver. It’s afraid of endlessly continuing to experience the world, which is a real mood. It wants Tiffany to teach it to die, but it feels that because it isn’t a single person it can’t possibly die. Tiffany tells it a lovely story:

'I'm made up of the memories of my parents and grandparents, all my ancestors. They're in the way I look, in the colour of my hair. And I'm made up of everyone I've ever met who's changed the way I think. So who is “me”?'

She tells the Hiver it might as well just construct an identity and inhabit it, in the same way humans do. And now that your name is Arthur (she names it) you just have to cross this endless desert behind this creepy door that I’ve just invented. So the Hiver goes off to learn how to die! But Tiffany is trapped here forever because her door has vanished. She has a few minutes to sink into despair before Granny Weatherwax opens the door from the other side and goes “Come on now, I’m an experienced psychopomp and so will you be, but we haven’t got all day.” And, importantly, Granny says witches never talk about the psychopomp thing. One of those open secrets.

Tiffany wakes up surrounded by the other apprentice witches. She tries to tell them what she’s seen but Annagramma is pretty set on making it seem like Tiffany must have been imagining things. But she takes off her boots and they’re full of black sand that moves weird, and Petulia has heard the rumors about the dark desert, and they believe her.

“Petulia, we're not supposed to talk about this,” said Harrieta, gently. 

“No!” said Petulia, her face red. “It is a time to talk about it, just here, just us!”

This feels very important to me, that there’s a space for girls to have secrets and to explore taboo topics together. The camera cuts away for the actual conversation, but I’m glad they got to have it.

Gossip travels fast among the witches. All of them want to see Tiffany and Granny Weatherwax pitted against each other in the Trials—everyone seems to want one or the other taken down a peg. But neither of them enters. They just stare at each other through all the performances, and Tiffany feels that she’s already won because Granny, the only witch who matters, gave her approval already. It seems a bit shortsighted when I put it like that, but it’s such an important an buoyant feeling to have a mentor figure you admire and trust  tell you that you’ve done well. Tiffany doesn’t care what Annagramma thinks any more, and in Pratchett’s universe this takes away her sway over everyone. Not quite how it works, but certainly how it feels in your heart.

Later she goes to visit Granny and gets another lecture on how the trappings of station aren’t as important as what you do with them, and she thinks about how Granny feels a lot of pressure to keep being The Best and would secretly like someone clever to beat her at her own game. It’s a very sweet moment. The books ends with Tiffany going home for a couple weeks to help with the lambing down in the Chalk, and throwing away her fancy witch hat with the stars on it. She replaces it with the hat made out of the sky, which, as night falls, fills up with stars.

 It’s a special kind of fun to dissect young adult novels because by reading them we can understand what the author wants children, here especially young girls, to know and believe. In this one we have:

People can’t make you feel small and stupid if you don’t play along with them

Understanding people is more important than any technical skill, and more difficult to learn too

It’s extremely embarrassing to be a weird mentally ill kid but you can do great things if you see your strangeness as an asset instead of trying to destroy it

Regulating your own worst thoughts and impulses is a power that takes careful honing but can become a superpower

Capable friends are the best thing in the world to have.

This, and the very last bit where Tiffany turns up for Jeannie’s first kids to be born, also lead us to an important message: that women should support each other even when circumstances or other people seek to pit them against each other. We see this too during the Trials when the other witches want to see Granny and Tiffany compete. Allying yourself with other women is better all around, and additionally it might surprise other people in a very satisfying way. I’m not a woman and I don’t believe I’ve ever thought I was, but I’m VERY interested in women learning to love themselves and each other. And of course, witches have also got to love themselves and each other, and I am a witch.

 Thanks, A’tune in next week, theme song by et c et c.

[manikas-whims]

A Chance at Redemption [13]

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A/N: Hey guys!

Um..eh hem..please just don't kill me. You can all gang up and beat the shit out of me but do realise that I am human too. Since the past 3 years my life has been a mess and let's just say some personal things are making it really hard for me to write.

I’d like to thank you lovely readers *blows a kiss* I started this fic on a whim and its really a surprise treat to find out that people are actually giving it positive responses. I mean I can just never thank you people enough..

An important thing before you proceed onto the chapter: I may be gone for long but I'll never leave my fics unfinished. I know the pain one feels when coming across a plot of their liking only to realise that it has been left unfinished for xyz years. I'll complete all my fanfics. It's a pinky-swear with you loves. ♥

And as I say, "In the world of writers, those who go on hiatuses are trash but those who abandon their books are worse than trash." XD

Alright! Um..let's have a short recap of everything that has happened so far in this tale:-

The fourth shinobi war's victors were Uchihas who now rule the whole shinobi world with Madara as the self-claimed Hokage. Naruto is no more and Kakashi is in a coma. Sai and Sakura are the only members of Team 7 and they work together along with a few other rebels under the name of FoK. Sai also happens to work in the anbu directly under the Uchihas, thus, acting as a double agent. In order to stop the annihilation of the Hyuga Clan which was planned by the Uchihas, Sakura decides to make a deal with Sasuke. She offers herself to him in a bond of marriage in exchange for the lives of many innocent Hyugas. When her marriage is revealed to the whole world, she is treated as a traitor amongst the rebels. Later on, she finds out that the head of the Hyuga Clan, Hiashi has been assassinated and begins to doubt Sasuke's promise to her. Caught up in his anger Neji reveals about his knowledge of the planned annihilation and just as the Uchihas are about to interrogate him, Sai comes in and takes him to the funeral held for Hiashi in excuse to actually save his neck. Sasuke recalls and is confused about how Sakura and Neji came to know of this annihilation and questions her directly. He then realises how Sai may have been the one who told those two but the question is 'why'. He leaves Sakura for the time being and heads to the burial grounds with the thought of interrogating both Neji and Sai.

If this summary didn't help out much, feel free to read the previous chapters :3

Now back to the chapter..

Chapter 13: Moving Forward

"My hands are drenched in sin..

..but that doesn't mean I'm heartless."

-Suigetsu Hozuki

The two have been sitting silently in his small apartment for an hour now, both lost in deep thought about the next step that they must take. Or rather, the necessary step that they must take now that Neji has literally jeopardized their cover by lashing out in front of the Uchihas. And in doing so, he has also threatened Sai and Sakura's neck along with the whole secret about the FoK.

Sai watched the Hyuga Prodigy meditate with barely concealed interest. He can't help himself from wondering about what would've happened to this man had he not shown up at the Hokage's room when he did. Who knows? Maybe Neji would've earned himself a death sentence? Or worst! Maybe he would've been tortured to the point where he would've been left with no choice but to spill-out everything about their small group of rebels?! The thought in itself is terrorising. The ex-root nin shook his head and decided to distract himself with something less scary. And weirdly, his distraction came in the form of Neji's periodic inhale and exhale of the surrounding air.

Sai gazed at the continuously inflating and deflating chest of the Hyuga. With eyes closed, Neji tried focusing more on controlling his chakra. Sai felt fascinated by him and pondered on whether he must capture this moment on one of his canvases. It'll be a lovely addition to his growing collection of paintings. But not just Neji, Sai is fascinated by all the different people around him. They can teach him important things about life just as much as his team-mates do. Well..talking about teammates, none are currently available to help Sai with his emotional problems. Now that Sakura is betrothed to the infamous second grandson of Madara Uchiha, he is left with no other choice but to resort back to his guide books. How he wishes to discuss about all such things with her.

"Can you stop staring?" muttered the Hyuga, eyes still closed in concentration.

The artist tried an apologetic smile in a similar manner that he has read about in a book but the Hyuga only frowned. It's a mystery how he can understand the ex-root nin's fake expression even with his eyes shut like that. Nonetheless, Sai spoke, "I'm sorry. I'm just trying to formulate a plan about what I can do with you now that you've landed the three of us in such a conundrum."

"Three?" Neji asked, inhaling yet again.

"Yes", Sai picked up a sketch-pad and a brush as he began with a rough sketch of the long-haired prodigy, "You, me and Sakura. The Uchihas may let the matter go but Sasuke won't sit still until he reaches the very bottom of this whole thing."

A long sigh left the prodigy's lips and he stood-up, breaking the calm atmosphere that he had created with his meditation. "You're right. Besides, we only have an hour until the funeral ceremony gets over."

"Yes and I bet that Sasuke will come at you the instant that funeral ends. And he will not let this go until he uncovers every last speck of detail about us." Sai added gravely.

"Well, he'll probably torture me to the point I can take it no more and then make me talk. So I came up with this idea while I was meditating." He said and Sai urged him to go on, "What if he never finds me? Like Sakura did with that disguise of hers'."

Sai shook his head in negation, "Before we can delve any further into this thought I'd like to remind you that Ugly is a pro at chakra control unlike you or myself. So we need to do something else about hiding your identity. Just a simple henge won't work in your case."

Neji nodded in understanding. He knew that Sai would mention this and so, he moved on to his next suggestion "In that case..how about this?"

With the arrival of the Hokage and his minions at the Sacred Hyuga Burial Grounds, an elderly Hyuga member began the Funeral Ceremony by a long prayer in respect of the departed one. And as everyone closed their eyes in prayer, Sasuke Uchiha scanned the whole place, his obsidians looking around in pursuit of a certain Ex-Root assassin and a Prodigy from the Hyuga Clan. But even under the effects of his eternal mangekyou sharingan, he was unable to locate any matching suspects. From what he can recall, it was Sai who had practically dragged a frightened-looking Neji Hyuga out of the Hokage's office, right when Neji spilled-out his knowledge about the annihilation of the Hyuga Clan. There's no need to have any great deduction skills to figure out that the two are hiding- no- conspiring something! And whatever it is that they are plotting to accomplish, is also known to Sakura. It's ridiculous how he completely ignored the fact that she proposed a deal of marriage with him in exchange for the lives of the Hyugas. He must've been more focused and paid attention to how she came to know about that annihilation. But oh well..thanks to his distracting ex-teammate, he let his guard down and failed in noticing how suspicious her and Neji's involvement in this whole matter is.

Taking another glance around the place, he grit his teeth. There were literally no traces of any of the two suspects he's been searching for. Where did they disappear off to? Or what exactly are they doing as of right now? Are they initiating their plans already? Has the first step already been put in action? More importantly, he doesn't even know what they are working on!

Dammit!

He took a long breath to calm his flaring nerves and decided to do one last scan of the area. The first person that his eyes fell upon was Hinata Hyuga. He frowned as he watched the young Hyuga Princess' eyes closed in respect for her father. Its not like she can ever replace her father. There's only one person worthy enough of this position and that is Neji Hyuga from the branch family but even Sasuke knows that the main family will never allow something like this. The Hyugas aren't any less than the Uchihas when it comes to biasing.

He turned his head slightly back and found a former comrade, Shikamaru Nara standing directly behind him with his parents and a blonde, pigtailed woman. He recognises her because he had faced her once when he was still a willing shinobi of the Leaf. He is well-aware about her presence in this village. Well, it's not like she is the only one as after the war ended in their victory, the whole world of shinobi turned into a big mess of panicky civilians and ninja alike. Due to this haphazardness, a lot of the people were unable to return to their respective homelands. And since then, the village gates have been under constant surveillance because of which nobody is allowed to enter or leave at their free will. If there's any need to depart, the individual will first have to consult the nasty Hokage himself.

"What is it Uchiha?" an edgy, feminine tone asked him and it took him a moment to realize that it was the same blonde woman. At her side, Shikamaru scratched his jaw uneasily.

Such firm was her gaze that Sasuke felt himself unable to utter even a word to her.

She smirked teasingly, "Stop staring at me. You're a married man now."

The remark was spewed at him out of spite and disgust she feels towards him for chaining her pink-haired friend in a bond of marriage. And it was more than enough to spur his emotions. He narrowed his eyebrows and glared at her in what he thinks is his most menacing look but it didn't even make her budge. If anything, her lips only curved further upwards. It's almost like she's trying to spite him into some sort of outburst. Anyways, why the hell is she even gazing at him so smugly when her eyes are supposed to be closed in prayer like everyone else's?

"What?" she gestured with a nudge of her head, "Don't have a comeback?"

Comeback? How dare she? Who does she think she is, trying a childish banter with him? Him? He can kill her right here if he wants to but since he has always been surrounded by idiots like her, he knows how to keep his anger in check. His eyes shifted slightly from her face when he noticed some movement. It was the young Nara's palm that sneakily encircled her wrist, signalling her to stop. She turned her head towards Shikamaru and stared at him questioningly.

The young Nara ignored her look and instead bowed his head to Sasuke, "I'm sorry. The edginess is just a part of her personality. She doesn't mean to taunt you."

Sasuke watched her expression change as she heard those words. A big smile settled upon her lips. A big mocking smile and she herself apologised to him, ofcourse in a manner that ridiculed him even further. His fingers were itching to just strangle that little neck of hers but just as he motioned his hands, all eyes flew open.

The ceremony was over and a couple of eyes glanced confusedly between him, Shikamaru and the blonde girl, wondering exactly what was going on. With a heavy sigh, Sasuke managed to alleviate some of his anger and left the burial grounds in search of Neji Hyuga instead.

Behind him, Shikamaru released a breath in relief.

When she woke up, the whole apartment shook by the intensity of her horrified scream. Her shoulders shook with fear as she could still feel those crimson orbs boring holes into her frightful emeralds. And here she thought that those nightmares were finally gone...Surprise! Surprise! They had never really left..They were just lurking in the depths of her dark thoughts laced in fear, anticipating the right time to launch an attack. She can still remember that dream along with all of the vivid details. The dense chakra that was surrounding the aura of that avenger- Sasuke! He charged his left hand with a chidori and struck it right into the heart of her innocent, blond teammate, ending his life then and there. And as Sasuke did so, the blood went splashing all around him, drenching every inch of his skin in that Hokage-wannabe's blood. She can still remember herself sitting there, kneeling right before the whole scenario, tears streaming down her cheeks endlessly. Every time in her vision, he would turn around at this very moment and his piercing crimsons would clash with her scared emeralds. And he would inch closer towards her, pressing his lips against hers, smearing them with that very same blood of her dead teammate...

Just the shear memory made her scream again and that too, louder this time...Immediately, the door to her room burst open and in stepped the two sycophants that Sasuke has left to keep watch on her at all times. She lifted her eyelids slightly and flashed them a menacing glare.

"What do you want?" She whispered hoarsely in an irate tone.

The minute her scream reached their ears, Suigetsu and Juugo slammed the door open and ran in to check-up on the situation, completely prepared for whatever it was awaiting their entrance behind her door. Shockingly, they only found her gnawing at the skin of her innocently beautiful face. A second passed with her glaring at them, her fingernails digging painfully into her cheeks and them confusedly staring back at her.

"What do you want?" She whispered in a tight tone.

"We heard you scream. Are you alright?" Juugo asked with genuine concern swirling in his scarlet-red irises.

"You can tell Sasuke that I'm dealing well with all his confinements." She answered in a sarcastic tone.

"For your kind info, Sasuke never asked us to do this." Suigetsu spoke, his hand gripping the hilt of his huge blade a bit too hard.

No doubt they have been sent here by Sasuke to make sure that she is safe. Why? Well..because now that she is an Uchiha, as entitled by Madara himself, there are people who will try and grasp every chance they can to kill the young bride of his grandson. They have been sent here for the sole purpose of her protection at all costs but they aren't supposed to tell her about this. Heh! "She will understand..."- those were the exact words spoken by their young boss. Sasuke doesn't want them to tell her. She will understand?! How?! Last time that Suigetsu checked, she wasn't a psychic and she isn't one now! So the chances of her understanding Sasuke's motives without them having to explain it to her are very slim.

"Yeah..Yeah..Just like he never asked you to keep me locked-up at my apartment." She uttered with excruciating emphasis on every word.

"Huh..." Suigetsu exhaled audibly and closed his eyes, "Now listen-"

"I'm an Uchiha right?! Then..why was I restricted to attend Hiashi Hyuga's funeral?!" She yelled, tears clouding her mesmerizing irises.

He wants to tell her so badly about Sasuke's intentions but he simply cannot go against his master's orders. Frustrated at the fact and at himself, he closed his eyes and heaved a long sigh. When he re-opened them, he found the young medic already out of her bed, standing in her black, knee-high boots. And that sight alone, made him release another long sigh. Seriously? Does she ever stay at home and sleep like a normal girl must? No? Well..Karin did..

Karin.. He sighed. That redhead was kinda bitchy but Suigetsu has to admit that he misses her.

The swordsman rubbed his eyes to keep himself from overreacting and asked the pinkette, "Where are you going?"

She bade him no response, which is not even surprising anymore. He has gotten pretty used to her weird antics. And so, as she made her way out of her bedroom and left her apartment, him and Juugo were left with no other choice but to follow her. A sense of déjà vu passed his thoughts as Juugo closed the main door of her apartment.

Blood had started to ooze out from the places she had been gnawing at on her cheeks. Why isn't she healing herself? He thought but then immediately felt like smacking himself. Ofcourse it has to do with that stupid bracelet that Kabuto has put on her. Healing is an intricate procedure and requires a lot of chakra and focus.

"Do you enjoy this?" Suigetsu asked, sweat trickling down his brow.

"Enjoy what?" she asked as she continued marching in the direction of only god knows what place.

"Getting us all worked-up!" the swordsman yelled, finally losing his cool. Her lack of concern for her own skin irked him even more. Karin would've never let even a single scar stay on her cheek. Karin would've tried everything in her might to look pretty every single fucking day. Karin would..Karin isn't here anymore..

He sighed in frustration and tried to focus on Sakura again."You know Sasuke won't be pleased when he finds out-"

"Does it look like I care?" she drawled out.

"Well..you must. Because when he finds out, he's gonna kill us all." Suigetsu tried his best to emphasize the 'kill' part but the young medic continued walking. And yet again, he moved his lips to shout some sense into her head but a large hand on his shoulder stopped him from doing so. He glanced at the shaky palm and then at it's equally fidgety owner- Juugo. The expression on his face was enough to convey that he was controlling his anger the best he could and so, Suigetsu decided to let the matter go. For the time being atleast. Afterall, it's fine as long as Sasuke is the one who kills them. He will grant a quick, merciful death. An enraged Juugo on the other hand, will tear him and Sakura to shreds but only after making sure to beat them to a pulp. Suigetsu doesn't want such a death. And he's damn sure Sakura shares the same thoughts.

The déjà vu hit Suigetsu yet again as they entered the rusty, old building of the Konoha Hospital. If they are here, then ofcourse the pinkette wants to see none other than her half-dead mentor. Crossing the dirty halls that led towards the secluded ward, Suigetsu and Juugo watched in silence as the small key was inserted into the hole and the knob was turned. Sakura walked in with a heaviness in her heart and before the minds of the former S-class nins could comprehend what was happening, she threw herself over the unmoving body of the infamous copy-nin. Unexpectedly loud sobs reached the men's ears and they watched in shock the continuous shaking of the young medic's shoulders as she shed tears.

What Suigetsu had heard from his buddy Sai was the fact that team 7 is not just a team but a family. It was hard to believe those words when he had first heard them but it is far-easier to understand their depth now that he is experiencing them with his very own eyes. His eyes remained fixated on Sakura as she wept over the silver-haired man's form as if he was actually her father. Okay, maybe not. But in his own way, Kakashi is like a father to team 7.

"You.." they heard her sob out in a soft yet shrill tone, her tears mixing with the dried blood on her cheeks, "You said that you won't let me shoulder the burden on my own. You promised..."

The whole room went quiet again, followed by the hysterical sobbing of the pink-haired kunoichi. With her face burrowed into the chest of her former teacher, her hands clutched at the fabric of his shirt and she cried. She cried and cried and cried..and they watched. Both Suigetsu and Juugo were unable to look away from the pitiful sight before their eyes. It made them contemplate and question their own acts. Are they on the right side? Ofcourse not. Can they help her out of this? Maybe? Maybe not. Who knows? At this point, the only thing that is clear to them is that she doesn't belong anywhere near that Uchiha den.

"You know why I married him.." she lifted her head and whispered to the sleeping man, "You know exactly why.. So pleaassse..wake up, Sensei. Wake up and take away some of my burden..." She gazed hopefully at the man lying on the stretcher but her words proved to be futile. The man didn't even budge. Juugo honestly felt an ache in his heart. He maybe on the wrong side but he isn't a bad person. He wants to help Sakura. He genuinely does. He just has no idea where or how to begin..

Three hours passed in that hospital ward with Sakura talking to her comatose sensei and Suigetsu discussing with Juugo about how to actually handle being guards to such a fragile girl. One misstep and she'll break.

Sakura wiped her teary face with the back of her sweaty palms and turned around to find Sasu- her husband's faithful sycophants waiting for her. Bidding them no signal, she walked right past them out of the room, knowing they'll undoubtedly follow.

Now that she has freely let out her emotional pain to someone, she is ready to sacrifice herself and stand next to the Uchihas. All her friends think of her as a traitor and it's better this way. Atleast her false betrayal will act as a positive motivator. It'll rile their sentimental connections to her and help them realise their goal much easily. The rebels will work far-better in her absence.

Upon reaching her small apartment, she felt an intense gaze pierce through her carefully constructed mask of apathy. She knew exactly whom those eyes belonged to and without even an ounce of fear in her form, she tilted her face, her emeralds meeting the onyxes. By the deep frown marring his face, it was obvious that he wasn't pleased about something and clearly that "something" is linked with her. Still, she climbed the three short steps up the porch and stood directly in front of him, awaiting his angry tirade.

"Where were you?" he gritted out.

"Not a matter of your concern." came her curt response.

He exhaled a breath through his nose and she watched his nostrils flare in unbridled anger.Such a Sasuke-thing to do. She scoffed inwardly and watched the riled up Uchiha inch closer towards her. She kept her gaze. She wasn't intimidated by him in the least. He has already tried to kill her twice so she isn't much scared of dying by his hands. Much to her surprise though, a heavy, shiny object swished in between her and him, breaking the tense atmosphere in an instant-Suigetsu's huge sword. Taking a long breath, Sasuke turned to the side to face the intrusive person and his eyes changed to red, the black tomoes spinning wildly as he seethed at the man. Sakura's eyes on the other hand widened in actual shock when she found that it was Suigetsu who had intervened between them. Why did he?

The white-haired rogue-nin simply stared at his master, his lips a thin line that expressed no emotion whatsoever. When he had decided to serve Sasuke, he had planned to stay out of his boss's way..he had planned to stay out of trouble. But things have changed. He has changed. Watching this pink-haired medic weep in front of her unresponsive sensei stirred something in him. And if this is the last bit of good that he has within him, then he surely wants to utilise it to his best. His inner conflict has finally ended and he has reached a conclusion. He maybe working under the Uchihas but he'll properly safeguard Sakura Haruno. It's better to die the death of a kind bodyguard than an S-class shinobi who used to kill for fun.

"I'm-We're sorry, Sasuke-sama." Juugo was the one who spoke-up for his lean partner, nodding his head at the swordsman in agreement. If Suigetsu is ready then he is too. Afterall, he had never wanted to be the bad guy. It's just life offered him limited options and he had to choose the least bad from amongst them. But now as he glanced between his master and his newfound bride, who also happens to be a kind woman, he has changed his mind from just 'spending the days and dying' to doing something good for the sake of redemption..to achieve true piece at the time of his demise.

"We can't let your hostile nature hurt Sakura-san because this is exactly what you had ordered us to do." He explained honestly.

If anything one of Sasuke's eyebrows arched high up in question of such insolence. He had expected eventual discord and disrespect from Suigetsu. He has never been able to trust the mist-nin but he had always expected Juugo to be a faithful one. So what exactly did Sakura do to win over his dogs? Moments of him glaring ferociously at them did nothing to melt their determination to protect the young kunoichi. They stood before her like a shield and the pinkette watched in silent amazement. It's almost as if she hadn't expected them to protect her.

With his sharingan now faded back to reveal his beautiful greyish-onyx orbs, he sighed raggedly and asked her again in a much calmer tone, "Where were you?"

She scoffed, only this time not inwardly. She shook her head at him and countered his query with a question of her own, "Why do you even care?"

Sasuke's left hand moved and he grabbed tightly onto the hilt of his kusanagi. Sakura's eyes followed, noticing the subtle action of the man she had fallen for. And with a piercing gaze, he gritted out, "Because Neji Hyuga was found dead an hour ago and I don't want to find out that my wife was behind his murder."

Sakura gulped calmly in the eerie silence that followed his words. And then, she shrieked, "WHAT!?"

Alright, so this marks the end of the chapter. I know its not the best one but I still hope you guys liked it..:)

What do you think about Neji's death?

Or Suigetsu and Juugo's newfound fealty towards Sakura?

More angst in the coming chapters.

And once again, thanks for being such patient readers. I really love you guys..♡

AND IF YOU CAN THEN PLEASE SUPPORT ME ON KOFI

My family is facing some issues and it’d be of great help..

Don't forget to share your thoughts about this chapter cuz believe me or not, I read all your comments. They are fun to read and always keep me motivated! :D

And do let me know if you find any errors.

Hopefully I'll make another update soon..:3

Until Next Time...

~Manika

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[belit0]

Make sure he never comes back.

Rated: T

Pairings: I’m not spoiling that in this first edition, so if anyone is interested in more from this story, I’ll give that away ;)

I got inspired from a writting prompt, and this was born:

The Land of the Uchihas imposed itself disgustingly throughout the entire Fire Nation, dominating and conquering with force and terror. Small kingdoms and peoples who tried to rise up against their power were subdued, humiliated, stripped of everything they ever possessed. Those who accepted the inevitable with peace and without a fight, found a more relaxed destiny, without being treated like animals for the rest of their lives.

At the beginning of their reign, the Uchihas had been a stable clan, which showed no interest in expanding beyond the lands they owned. Owners of great luxury, they lived in harmony with their exuberant wealth. Reserved, secretive and stoic, no one knew that mysteries were unveiled within the great gates of their village. They did not admit foreigners or people from outside their clan, but neither did they attack anyone who dared to approach them. They were peaceful.

Everything had changed when another clan of the Fire country, the Senju, decided to dominate all the lands around them. Ruthlessly, they murdered all their opponents without a hitch until they encountered an imposing and unexpected enemy, the Uchihas. They would not allow their legacy to fall so easily into the cruel hands of those barbarians. These two groups shared more pain, agony and history than just the dispute over ground; they were related.

With passion and vigour, both families fought their way through a heated struggle that lasted three sunsets and four moon deaths. By the end of the war, the leader of the Uchiha, Indra, all powerful and praised by his followers, had fallen to the sword of his brother, Ashura, leader of the enemy clan. Before receiving reprisals from the surviving Uchihas, he himself fled, ordering a hasty retreat, rejoicing in the victory he was taking from the encounter. The death of his older brother, his only brother, meant nothing to him, and pleasure ran through his veins in the knowledge that he had fallen before the grace of his weapon.

However, Indra’s son, Uchiha Madara, heir to the leadership that his father’s death brought, had seen his progenitor’s death from the front line, and had been unable to act to save him. At only sixteen, the dark-haired teenager had been paralysed by the terror of the scene. His uncle, cold and disheartened, pierced his father with his sword, from his chest to the other end.

When the Senju retreated, panic crept into his system, and Madara ran to the dejected body of his only direct family. He knew he had a younger brother, but he never knew what had become of him. He had not had the pleasure of meeting him, but he had always fantasized about the situation. For some reason, the clan was forbidden to talk about it, and the information was not accessible. He withdrew the blade from the man’s chest, and tried to cover the bleeding wound. It was a clean, side-to-side incision. The amber liquid ran down the torso, soaking the hands of the young man, who was frantically trying to save his father from eternal darkness.

“Son, cease your action. My departure is inevitable.”

Squinting, Indra watched his eager offspring, who struggled to keep him alive. His time was not long, but he was proud to have instilled such passion in the child he had raised. If only he could have saved his other son…

“Father! Don’t abandon me! I beg you…”

“…Child, perpetuate your walk on the path of compassion…justice…evoke the love that I profess to you when the road becomes difficult…do not follow in the footsteps of Ashura…and find him…find your brother…Izuna…”

His last breath left his lungs, as his eyes closed for the last time.

“FATHER! NO!”

After Madara took power, darkness rained down on Uchiha’s land. No one understood what had changed inside the boy, who was once a sweet and gentle kid with the entire clan. Now, he showed himself to be an archaic person and refused to receive contact with anyone. He had inaugurated his first act as a leader by commanding a fierce invasion of the Senju Lands. Not only had they been victorious, but he had cut off Ashura’s head himself and impaled it on the doors of their village as a warning.

Whoever messed with Madara would meet the same fate.

For years, this leader’s empire just grew and grew. His tyranny soon flooded every corner of the nation, forcing, coercing and subduing anyone who crossed his path. The characteristic symbol of this bloodthirsty family, the malevolent red and white fan, spread out gloriously and infamously in the form of flags, plaguing every place where a town or village once resided.

At the age of 23, Madara was staying in the capital of his kingdom, coordinating from the comfort of the main palace the few remaining invasions to completely dominate the entire region. But his mind found little interest in conquest. In fact, establishing himself as the supreme king of the area had never mattered to him. Since his inevitable assumption of power, his only goal had fallen on his father’s last words.

‘Izuna…’ was the only word that resonated in the back of his mind. That name, that beautiful name, meant hope.

“Lord… Are you here with us?” One of his advisors brought him out of his absence, and forced him back into reality. He was meeting with the honorable members of his personal council. Also present was the captain of the military troops belonging to the capital, who directed orders to the barracks located throughout the country in the smaller Uchiha villages that had been founded after each conquest.

Madara observed other unknown faces, but he played down their importance. The last time he had been able to recognize all the members of his clan was when his father was still the leader. Walking the length of the long table where the meeting was taking place, all eyes were on him, waiting for an answer that he was unaware of. He had been fantasizing throughout the discussion. With his arms folded over his chest, one leg crossed over the other, his head held high in front of him, he responded monosyllabically, a sound that always saved him when he was caught off guard.

“Hm.” Nervous glances met each other over their teacups as the murmur echoed again from the meeting room. Easily, he was absent again in the freedom of his imagination, fascinated by the ease with which he could enter that world of fantasy. A world that usually belongs only to children. But his childhood had been corrupted by a lost brother… Izuna.

When the session was over, Madara was motionless in his seat. Imitating his action, the captain of the military forces, remained unmoving in his position, accustomed to that routine. Both waited for the room to empty before speaking.

"My lord, I am afraid to announce the lack of progress in the mission you have given me. My fittest men and I have ridden without ceasing for weeks and…”

“Are you telling me there’s no sign of him?”

“My lord… my convictions… I dare to declare that your brother must have died by now…”

He could not finish speaking, for from where Madara sat, a knife flew without warning, and was mercilessly thrust into the man’s eye. He was an expert in cutting weapons, and never missed a chance to practice on live targets. No one could talk about his brother in that way. Ever since he became a leader, Izuna’s quest was an ever-present mission. The entire Fire Nation had been scoured, searched for in every corner by that young Uchiha that no one knew about and had never been seen.

But Madara was no fool. He knew what his clan thought. He knew that they thought him insane for searching so hard for a person who resembled a ghost. The resources devoted to tracking down his brother were incalculable, to the extent that the Uchiha were at a financial low, never before reached by his predecessors, thanks to him.

He could hear the servants rumouring about how he had lost his mind. He could hear his men doubting his ability to carry them through. His family, the legacy his father had given him at the cost of his blood, was now beginning to turn its back on him. All they wanted was the total conquest of the region. To receive the unpleasant title of supreme leader. None of that mattered in his life, for what he wanted most was to regain what he had never been able to have.

Despite the differences he had with the people he was leading, as he no longer considered it right to call them relatives, he was aware that he needed his position as a ruler to get the help of the clan, and thus find the whereabouts of Izuna. His brother’s story was still a mystery. No one knew what had become of him after his birth, no one had seen him, no one could describe his appearance. A needle in a haystack. And although in the back of his mind the word ‘dead’ flickered with dazzling lights, he refused to pay attention to it. He would spend his whole life searching for him if necessary.

—————————————-

Facing a new dawn, Madara’s horse rode bravely before his commands, guiding the military formation that followed behind him. The Uchiha travelled at great speed from the capital to one of the newly opened villages, located almost on the border of the land of fire and wind. Carrying swords, bows and arrows, shields with the clan’s emblem, they hurried through the rising heat, wearing gleaming black armor. They covered the entire torso, shoulders, and the front and back of the legs. Combat sandals, suitable for the need for skill, could be seen on the warriors’ feet.

The leader of the troop, distinguishing himself from the others, wore a long black cape attached to the shoulders of his armor, identifying him as the head of the squadron. After coldly annihilating the former commander in the meeting room, Madara had decided to personally take charge of the military section. His long dark hair cascaded down his back, dancing uncontrollably in the face of the horse’s revolutions and the wind. The urgent hurry was due to the announcement of a runway that had arrived in the capital that morning, carried by a messenger hawk. The leader of the location to which they were travelling, reported having found conclusive information about the famous “Izuna” and demanded the immediate presence of Madara to verify the veracity of the facts.

When they woke him up and he personally read the message that the pale and breathless maid had brought him, his heart beat as fast as when he saw his father die in front of his eyes. Putting together a team and having them travel that distance from one moment to the next was risky and extremely rushed, but the expectation consumed him and the urge to find out what that clue was was too much to hope for.

When he was forced to rest because the night was falling on them, anger took hold of him in such a pure way that he had to get away from the whole group so as not to kill them on the forest floor. He made up his personal sleeping space at a great distance from his men, knowing that it was unlikely that he would encounter any thieves or outsiders in the area as it was under his power. He stripped off his armor and did not even bother to set up a proper shelter for the early morning hours. Wearing the black clothes, he always wore under his war protection, he placed the shield of his torso on the grass and laid his head on it, using it as a pillow.

He relaxed by looking at the green leaves on the trees, feeling the breeze playing with his loose hair. Before he knew it, he was fantasizing. He thought of arriving in that village and meeting a young Uchiha, his brother. His only remaining relative, who would accompany him for the rest of his life. He would not have to be alone anymore. Eventually, amidst emotions, happiness and dreams, darkness lulled him to the land of rest, and he managed to sleep.

But he had made a mistake in thinking that he was alone.

———————————–

When he woke up, he felt happily renewed, ready to reach that blissful place and discover that mystery. But unfortunately, he was not in the forest. The sounds of nature did not reach his ears, the morning breeze did not blow on his senses. Something was wrong. Reluctantly, he wanted to open his eyes, only to realize that, even if he tried, the world was still dark around him.

He did not allow despair to grow inside him, years of war, fighting and training had shaped him into a warrior fit to face any scenario. He tried to move his hands, to bring them to his face to confirm that his eyesight was covered by something, but discovered that he was chained. Handcuffs were tight and constricting, hugging his wrists. He tested the range of motion, and noticed that he could move his arms at least a little forward. He was not totally restricted.

He lifted one leg, confirming the theory that he also had shackles on his ankles. Again, a small range of motion was granted to him. He was sitting against a cold, solid wall with all his limbs tied off and deprived of his sight.

He could only hear, smell at the very least. The rage of being held against his will one step away from finding information about the man he had sought for so many years consumed him in an inexplicable way, but he could not afford to act recklessly and ruin his chances of escape because of his impulses.

He waited, waited and waited, still in the cold, secret place, unanswered and boiling inside. He had no idea how much time had passed, what time of day it was, what had become of his troop. The unknowns overwhelmed his head when a sound took him out of his anxiety. Without conveying any emotion to the outside world and determined to be indecipherable to his captors, he heard footsteps coming down a long staircase. Then the person walked down what he thought was a corridor, until it got closer and closer to him. The footsteps stopped, and the rumble of a heavy titanium door being opened was heard throughout the room where he was being held.

“I apologize, my King, for the lack of decorum on the occasion… unbecoming of our usual action. But… before one such as you, Lord Uchiha, we cannot take risks, I hope you understand.”

A female voice spoke from somewhere in the room. He could tell that the woman was standing in front of him by the direction of the sound, and from the information provided, she was some kind of thief; probably, a group of them. He would remain silent, and would not offer compromising information to his enemy. Not because he cared about his clan, but because of the custom of wartime. Once again, he felt like a teenager, where he was targeted because he was the leader’s son. Today, however, he was the leader.

“Did the cat eat your tongue, My Lord?”

Internally he found it amusing to think that this should be taken as an insult. The woman he was dealing with seemed to have no desire to mistreat or torture.

“…Man of few words… Blessed. The payment for your ransom should be coming any minute, Lord Uchiha. You will be free then.”

With that said, the woman’s footsteps were heard again, moving away from him calmly. The door resounded thunderously after a few seconds, and as it closed, the footsteps continued down the corridor that he sensed following. The footsteps disappeared behind the many steps a moment later.

Abduction for profit’ had been delayed by something as banal as materials. He felt insulted, anger threatened to show itself, to glow through his strength and to tear off the chains that kept him confined to that place. But that, he had to admit, as incredibly tempting as it was, was also incredibly stupid. When the Uchiha paid the ransom, he would be released peacefully and could finish the journey to the village quietly, assuming that the group holding him was large enough to rule over that area.

He.Just.Had.To.Wait.

And so, it was. He ate the ration of food that was given to him some time later, and felt the hours go by inside him, until eventually sleep overcame him. He was startled when he was awakened by a slight kick in his calf. His body was asleep and cramped, thanks to the lack of movement due to the restriction of the chains. He needed to move, his energy and his mood were deep within him.

Reluctantly, he came back to life when he heard the voice of the same woman speaking to him again. Without warning, he felt a delicate touch over his eyes, and the blindfold that deprived him of his sight was removed. By reflection, he held his eyelids tight to the sudden invasion of light. It was not very strong, for the room where he was imprisoned was dreary and poorly lit, but after being in the darkness for an indefinite time, even the smallest illumination felt enormous.

When he managed to focus his eyes again, he could appreciate the woman in front of him. She was short, with long, long pink hair, reaching down to her lower back. Emerald eyes looked at him intently, and a purple jewel in the shape of a rhombus adorned her forehead. A long black cape with strange red details covered her body, but it opened at the front of her figure to reveal the tight black shirt and dark trousers she wore underneath. The sleeves were so long that Madara could not see her hands, which made him uneasy as he could not see if she was carrying weapons.

“…O my King… My Lord… I have news…”

Slowly, the pink-haired woman moved one of her arms. Alerted, the Uchiha looked intently at her hand, anticipating an attack or an assassination attempt. To his surprise, when the sleek limb was revealed under the long sleeve of her cloak, the only thing that appeared was an envelope. Specifically, marked with the symbol of the Uchiha clan.

Confused and amazed, Madara held the object in the hand where the woman had placed it, as he could not deliberately move them. It was a letter, and it was open.

“I suppose it is a pity for you… My Lord… but we, on the other hand, are wonderfully rich.”

On the paper, it read as follows:

“To whomever this statute has the pleasure of addressing

We cannot ignore the assistance given by you in the removal of Lord Madara

As a token of our gratitude, we sent twice the amount you requested, in exchange for one last favor

Please

Make sure he never comes back to us.

                                                                       -The Honorable Uchiha Council”

The words his eyes saw broke the last barrier of self-control he had left, and he couldn’t help but explode at that very moment. His family had taken the opportunity of his abduction to get rid of him. They were using this group of thugs to see that his presence was eradicated. It was an insult to his father, to him. To his brother.

The chains on his wrists came off the wall when, with a battle cry, the Uchiha used all his strength to free himself. Finally, being able to move his arms, he allowed his anger and contained ferocity to run through his veins, without any restrictions. Outside of himself, he lunged at the woman in front of him, and straddling her, he placed his hands around her neck. The force he exerted was too much, and the pink-haired woman soon began to lose the color in her skin and the air in her airways.

“I JUST WANT MY BROTHER!”