#the way how she keep insulting uchiha fans | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

se-ono-waise-ilia · 4 years ago

Text

Hinata’s New Toy Chapter 2

Summary: Kiba has some new thoughts about his beloved kunoichi after her breakup with Naruto. Hinata has new thoughts about Kiba too. Mature & smutty content, NSFW.

Read chapter 1 here on fanfiction.net

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

----

Incessant knocking sounds startled Hinata as she lifted her head from her pillow. The need to squint her eyes indicated it was a sunny day, and the pounding of her head indicated she was extremely hung over. Reaching for her clock, she noticed it was 7am, Who on earth could that be?

Lifting her fingers to perform byukugan, she felt a wave of pain that went straight to her forehead, I suppose this is what peep holes are for.

Bracing her hands on the bed to push herself up, she noticed her beloved new toy was still there. Unwashed. The almost always appropriate heiress crinkled her nose in shame at the white crusty bits clinging to the silicone.

The awful sound of her door being beaten continued. The person behind it did not demonstrate the common courtesy of announcing oneself. Thinking it best to not clearly indicate she was home, she silenced the groans of discomfort she yearned to make, and tip toed to the door.

"Open the door, Hyuga. I'm here on behalf of Naruto."

It was Uchiha Sasuke.

Hinata thought ill of very few people, but the one person she could say that she truly wanted to call crude and inappropriate names was Uchiha Sasuke. She never liked the way he looked down at others as a child, and envied how easy most skills came to him. After he joined Team 7, she was concerned about the way he treated Naruto, and jealous that he soaked up all her crush's attention.

Now she understood that the intense relationship between them was just a precursor to, well, their current relationship.

Then of course he betrayed the village, joined a terrorist organization, then reconnected with Naruto and was announced "good" again, but went traveling, and then came back to steal her boyfriend.

Ex-boyfriend, she was still correcting herself.

"Hinata," was the only explanation she got through the door.

Fortunately, there was a mirror by the door that told Hinata to re-do her bun, which she quickly did as the admittedly afraid kunoichi opened the door to the ex-terrorist/ boyfriend thief, "Uchiha-s-s-san."

Oh, how she hated how meek her voice was when she felt insecure.

The blast of cold wintery air was warmer than his presence. He look extremely inconvenienced, "Naruto said I need to apologize to you."

Hinata couldn't decipher if it was the pounding hangover headache or the audacity of this entitled man that had her internally fuming, Apologize?! For telling me to "get out" so rudely when I arrived to see Naruto. Or stealing him from me. Although, it's not like Naruto was completely innocent. He LET you act that way and it only took him over a week to decide something should be done about it. Where's Naruto then?! He's the one who was complicit in your rudeness and didn't respond to my break-up note in any way, shape or form. As if us breaking up was nothing worth discussing. Why isn't he here now, apologizing alongside you. The fucking nerve!

Alas, Hinata didn't say any of these rational thoughts. All she could muster was a simple, "Oh."

The 25-year-old wasn't one to say what she really thought regarding uncomfortable and negative situations. Avoiding personal confrontations was a key part of her social strategies (work related confrontations were another matter, the structure of the ninja work culture made her feel more comfortable voicing her opinions). And when involved in a social confrontation of the harsh sort, her strategy was to say or do anything to deescalate the problem at hand to make the entire confrontation go away as quickly as possible, even at her own expense.

So no, she regrettably did not demand answers regarding Naruto's absence in this matter, nor did she call Uchiha Sasuke the asshole that he was, is, and will forever be.

He seemed irritated at the awkward silence that he likely thought was her fault. Hinata tried to inhale the heavy lavender scent that always permeated her apartment, but was startled to find her apartment had many other contrasting smells to it that weren't entirely calming.

Memories of last night flooded her hurting head. Feelings of embarrassment, shame, and anxiety went straight to her nervous system.

Sasuke must have notice her nose twitch amongst her other symptoms of freaking out. He sniffed, and looked repulsed, "Your apartment smells like lavender, female genitals, and dog."

The blushing nin couldn't help but nod her head in a shocked, mortified daze. She wanted to breathe heavily (three count inhale, six count exhale), but Uchiha was right. Her usually spa-like apartment did smell like ... those things. The lavender and dog notes actually weren't new. But the middle part, how embarrassing!

Scrambling her known social strategies for a way to deescalate, she chose to change the conversation to focus on someone else, "N-naruto's place smells like stale ramen and sweaty men's clothing."

It wasn't intended to be a dig, but Hinata found herself proud that it came out with that tone.

For her efforts, she was gifted the response of an agreeable scoff.

To keep this remarkably successful change in conversation going, "It's worse when he makes clones. That one time he did sexy no jutsu in the apartment, it was overwhelming."

It came out so fast she didn't even stutter. It also came out so fast, it took her a moment to realize what she had implied. With significant terror, she looked into Sasuke's eyes to see accusatory confusion, "Explain," he demanded.

Vigorously shaking her poor hungover head, "I-I-I should air out the ap-p-partment and put on proper c-c-clothes."

Suddenly, one specific memory from last night came to the forefront of her mind. She squeaked with an even higher level of mortification as she patted her shorts, No underwear, oh no, "Kiba!" she squeaked and started to fan herself as a hot flush of embarrassment took over.

She was sure Sasuke was still looking at her with unnecessary critique, but no longer cared. The fact that she gave Kiba not just her panties, but her worn post-vibrator panties, with the implicit specific purpose of him smelling them while he...

Hinata leaned against the doorframe as she started rubbing the spot in her hand that was an anxiety reducing pressure point.

"If I get Inuzuka, will you convey to Naruto I apologized... and will you explain the sexy no jutsu incident?"

She found herself staring into his mismatched eyes, blinking in confusion. He nodded, then teleported away.

What just happened? Did he leave? Or is he going to get ... oh no!

Slamming the door in a panic, she used chakra enhanced speed to open all the windows in her apartment, put all used laundry into a basket with a blanket covered over it as at least some form of scent containment, sprayed an obscene amount of perfume on it (peony scented), put the still unwashed vibrator and lube into her nightstand drawer, and rushed into a shockingly cold shower with her toothbrush. Not knowing if she'd have enough time to wash her hair, she left it up as she hastily brushed her teeth sans paste, and scrubbed herself raw with lavender & vanilla scented soap.

The aggressive knocking at her door minutes later startled her, resulting in her hair getting an unplanned rinse, Maybe it's just Sasuke. He'll have to wait at the door.

"Hinata!" shouted a voice that was absolutely not Sasuke's, "Are you OK?! This asshole pulled me out of bed and said you needed me. I'm coming in!"

Informing Kiba of of the location of the emergency key was now a deeply regrettable decision.

Hinata managed to hastily throw on her luckily modest bathrobe before Kiba burst through the door. Then the bathroom door. Only garbed in pants.

He sniffed her, gave her a quick body scan, turned off the shower, then grabbed her cheeks with his warm hands to aim her face up towards his, "Are you OK?"

Even though her cheeks were already flushed with the exertion of prepping her apartment and the cold from both the open windows and the freezing shower, Hinata knew she was likely turning a strange mix of blue and beet red, Kiba cares about me and he's so handsome.

These observations weren't new to Hinata. Kiba has always cared for her safety, and he was objectively a ruggedly handsome man with an intentional curation of impressive muscles. But since last night, Hinata all of a sudden felt attraction to these qualities.

"Hinata-chan?" Kiba asked again, rubbing her loose wet tresses out of her face with his gentle fingers.

Gulping, she managed to nod. Her shirtless friend let out a sigh of relief as he wrapped his arms around her and held her close, He was actually worried something had happened to me. It was just a misunderstanding. I'm sorry you felt scared on my behalf, Kiba.

She felt herself sink into his warm and dry body, feeling the dusting of chest hair tickle her cheek.

"Our deal?" Sasuke interrupted their moment. Hinata truly hated that man. As much as she loved that this weird situation brought Kiba to hold her, the poor nin had to run through the cold without shoes nor a top in fear that something was wrong.

I never agreed to any deal with you, you presumptuous rude man. You never even actually apologized. And I have no desire to discuss your sex life now or ever. I hope Naruto spills boiling hot ramen on you. A whole bowl, she mentally insulted him with all her might.

Alas, she kept it all inside. A growl vibrated from Kiba's chest as he tightened his grip on Hinata. Honestly, the flushed girl was more than happy to allow Kiba to demonstrate anger and resentment on her behalf, as he often did, "What the actual fuck, Uchiha?"

Hinata also appreciated that while she had extensive internal private thoughts describing her more negative expressions, Kiba was able to edit it down into concise and direct phrases.

"Tch," the awful man emoted, "Naruto sent me here to apologize-"

"And did you?!"

Sasuke paused, then directed his eyes to Hinata, "I apologize."

Kiba rolled his eyes, "Asshole."

Hinata couldn't help but nod in agreement against Kiba's delightfully firm pecs.

"Hinata, please explain the other part now."

"What's this fucking deal?" Kiba barked at him, tightening his hold on her. Possibly in a protective manner, or affectionate. Or both. Either way, Hinata was in heaven being held by a shirtless Kiba who was also talking back to the scariest ninja in the world without a hint of fear.

Sasuke narrowed his mismatched eyes, "She accepts my apology and gives me information, in return she indicated a need for you."

"Me?" was the detail he prioritized. Burying her head into his chest seemed like the best response. Her hands may or may not have found a comfortable resting position on his obliques.

"I have places to be, Hyuga," it sounded like Sasuke was gritting his teeth in annoyance. In Kiba's arms, she felt safe ignoring him.

Kiba growled during most conversations, but he was particularly consistent in this one, "No, she does not accept your apology. Not like yours matters to her anyway. Naruto's the negligent ex-boyfriend who didn't appreciate her, and let his new boyfriend toss her to the curb on his behalf. Fuck you, Uchiha. Go deep throat Hinata's ex."

Kami, did Hinata want to drag Kiba's face down to her face and give him the hottest kiss of her life, like the ones she reads about in romance novels. And her robe would just happen to fall off during this steamy kiss.

The aroused girl wanted to keep this fantasy going, but she knew if her body reacted, Kiba would definitely smell it. So she finally looked to Sasuke, and felt all sexy vibes disappear.

Sasuke didn't seem affected by Kiba's excellent speech, nor did he leave. He was doing that thing where he glares at people while thinking through his next move. Always intimidating, even when he's simply thinking.

Kiba had no time for that, "Kami Uchiha, what will it take for you to not be a prick to Hinata and leave?"

Folding his arms, "For the information I seek from Hinata, I will use more courtesy in the future."

Then he scanned Kiba's body with a look of ... appreciation?

"Is there any practical application of exercising your body to feature that many abdominal muscles?"

Kiba must have been surprised, as Hinata had to restrain a whimper of loss when he separated his sinewy body from hers to look at his own stomach. Not growling for the first time in this conversation, "Ninjas don't really benefit that much more from them, I just do the extra exercises and diet to make them look this way," he eyed Sasuke mischievously, "You checkin me out, Uchiha? What will Naruto think of that?"

Sasuke blushed, and it was Hinata's absolute favorite face he had ever made. And then he pouted, pouted, as if his pride withheld him from saying what he really wanted to say.

"Full offense to your pride intended, I'll teach you the exercises some other time if you leave," Kiba grinned as if he was absolutely confident in his ability to win this confrontation.

With extreme reluctance and minimal eye contact, Sasuke nodded.

Kiba made a shooing motion, but not before Sasuke looked to her with expectance.

Covering her face with her hand, "Just have him do the jutsu, but stay in his male form."

Sasuke only blinked with a "Hmm," before teleporting away.

"He's the actual worst," Kiba sighed, "but having him check me out was the weirdest ego booster. Is it OK if I hate him slightly less for it?" He looked to Hinata for approval.

She embraced the chance to blatantly check out Kiba's body herself.

Kami, he is ripped. In her line of work, she's exposed to fit men all the time. But Kiba...he did the most creative sorts of crunches to sculpt his body.

She felt her mouth salivating as her eyes drifted further down to where a V shape made an arrow to his manhood. The trail of hair helped guide the way, but that V...

She noticed he shivered, and realized all her windows were open and wintery air was coursing through her apartment. Shaking herself out of her inappropriate staring, "C-c-ccould you c-c-close the w-w-w-windows while I-I-I get-t-t dressed?"

Her stuttering was doubled by the clattering of her teeth as she felt ice-like hair penetrate her skin and frigid air wrap around her exposed skin.

He shook his head in a dog-like manner, and left to do her bidding.

The freezing girl shuffled and shivered to her bedroom and closed the door. The need to be warm overcame her sexual cravings that had dominated this past week. Ripping through her dresser, she donned her warmest shirt (dark purple), leggings (light purple), and socks (sparkly dark purple). The long-sleeved shirt clung to her curves in a flattering manner, so she resisted to the urge to cover herself with a heavy sweater for the possibility of ... does Kiba like my body? I don't quite know if he covered his eyes last night, oh Kami, why did I do that?

Her hair was an inconsistent mess of wet and dry, so she restyled it into the thousandth messy bun of this week.

Worried for the comfort of her half-naked teammate, she went to the travel section of her closet to pull out an extra change of clothes for Kiba. He used to have this endearing habit of forgetting climate changes when they traveled as genin, and Hinata brought backups for such occasions.

But that was when they were still teenagers. Before Kiba filled out. With broad shoulders and a trim waist. Unsure if the old black sweater and socks would fit, she hesitantly exited the safety of her bedroom in her warm monochromatic clothes.

All her windows were secure, and Kiba was in her kitchen with the kettle on the stove and his face buried in her tea box.

"I don't know if this still fits, but..."

He smiled smugly at the sweater, "You can have that, Hinata-chan," as he took the socks.

Her half-naked friend seemed to be avoiding eye contact with her and her body. Feeling slightly rejected, she chose to use a tactic she often read in her favorite steamy novels: putting on the male's clothes. She tugged the black sweater from Kiba's younger years over her head, and found it snug around the chest.

Alas, her tactic seemed to fail as he swiftly turned back to the kitchen without a second look, and brought his face unnecessarily close to the tea box. Why was he taking so long to pick his tea? Hinata then felt shame at her previous thoughts, Oh no, I'm so desperate for him to give me the savoring look I gave him earlier. Does he feel awkward about last night? We did drink a lot, and I said a lot, and I seduced him maybe a little, took off my pants and panties...

Holding her groans of embarrassment within, she used her social strategy of picking a neutral topic of conversation, "Where's Akamaru?"

Holding a bag of chamomile tea extremely close to his face, he continued to avoid eye contact, "He'll be along soon enough. I yelled to him to bring my travel bag to your place while he was growling at Uchiha," he scrunched his eyes closed and ran his non-tea-bag hand though his gorgeous bedhead, "Kami Hinata, when he showed up, I thought the worst. Uchiha is an asshat, but the missions he deals with are serious shit. More horrifying than ANBU shit. Seeing him and hearing your name..."

Hinata went to him and wrapped her arms around his waist from behind. Forgetting her attraction to this man, she simply held her teammate of near thirteen years in the most soothing manner she could think of, "I'm OK, Kiba. It was a misunderstanding. A very strange misunderstanding. I'm so sorry."

He covered her arms wrapped around his middle with one of his. Speaking with almost a whisper, "You're important to me. So important," and he gently squeezed her wrist.

Tears lined her eyes. She felt touched he cared this much about her. Hinata returned Kiba's squeeze around his middle, "You're important to me too."

The moment was sustained until the tea kettle whistled, as did Hinata's anxiety that always found ways to interfere with beautiful moments.

Her anxiety brutally made her realize she should be ashamed for desperately throwing her body at one of her dearest friends last night and earlier in her bathroom.

Kami, last night she treated him as a ticket to her next orgasm. Not the kind and caring teammate she held in her arms.

Letting go of her friend, she moved to the couch to smother her face with one of her less embroidered pillows, I did that awful thing I read about in books when the self-serving girl treats the man who's crazy about her as a dick to ride rather than a person. How shameful.

And where her anxiety failed to punish her, the miserable hangover picked up the work. In addition to the pressing headache, her stomach growled with an uncomfortable hunger for greasy and spicy food.

Fortunately, Kiba was one of the few people who was familiar with hungover Hinata. She heard a mug being set on her coaster on the coffee table, followed by the clamoring of pans and cabinets. How on earth was Kiba the better host out of the two of them? Not only has he spent years adding decor to her apartment with gifts, he also cleaned her kitchen last night for Kami's sake.

Not feeling quite closed in on by all her mental, emotional, and physical feelings, Hinata dragged her weighted blanket on top of herself and curled up into a ball.

----

The next thing she knew, she felt a tentative hand rubbing her back through the heavy blanket, the smell of spicy fried rice filling her nose. Rubbing her eyes, she sat up, Did I fall asleep? Was it a dream?

Upon clearing her eyes, she was treated to the site of a shirtless Inuzuka making the table with two bowls of steaming fried rice with lots of red chili flakes decorating the surface, "Kiba?"

"You fell asleep. Itadakimasu," he chuckled at her before shoveling rice into his large, oh so large mouth.

Might as well be a dream, she mused, forcing herself to have a sip of tea and sit properly for a meal, "Itadakimasu."

The scrumptious mix of fried rice and egg with spicy seasonings allowed Hinata a period of peace she hadn't known in the longest time. Meals from these past few months have been overcome with unresolved tension, the pain of denied and buried emotions, or the misery of loneliness.

But not with Kiba. Although he didn't have the most sophisticated culinary skills, he made the basics with that laid back feeling that all too often eluded Hinata. He balanced her so remarkably well.

With that thought, about halfway through her bowl, Hinata actually did succumb to her emotions. Dropping her bowl on the table, she attempted to cover her face as hot tears poured down her cheeks and her body shook with the waves of loud sobs.

A pressure dropped the couch cushion under her as warm and safe arms enveloped her.

She didn't know if the break up had finally sunk in, that the man of her dreams was an underwhelming disappointment as a boyfriend. Or, if it occurred to her that the artificially inspired orgasms this past week via her vibrator and unrealistic romance novels had been empowering and delightful, but also a fantasy unlikely to come true.

Or, the terrifying realization that Kiba meant everything to her.

And she didn't want to treat him as eye candy, her next orgasm, her rebound, or anything of the things that she had been treating him like since last night.

She wanted him to officially be her everything. But she already fucked that up with her impulsive, drunk, and lust clouded actions.

Needing to atone, she turned her body around and wrapped her arms around his neck with a possibly suffocating hold, "Kiba!" she cried. Sorry wasn't a word worthy of his heartfelt ears regarding the way she had treated him. So she cried his name over and over again into his hair as he held her with a proportionally tight grip, his face also buried in hair. She might have considered loosening her strong grip if it weren't for the encouraging way he cupped the nape of her neck, as if telling her to stay as long as she needed.

So she stayed, and cried until her sobs regressed into deep breaths, until her tears had stained her cheeks and she found herself blinking away the few remaining, until she realized Kiba had been rubbing her back with soothing circles, until she realized his other hand was squeezing the back of her neck in an effort to ease tension, until she was able to focus on Kiba's heartbeat as a calming beacon.

She felt herself melt into his arms as the last of her tears fell. And that's how they stayed for an unmeasurable amount of time.

When she felt stiff from the way she had been clinging to him, Hinata slowly released her arms and sat back on her haunches to fix his tear stained hair. She met his eyes and was surprised to find they were lined with silver, as if he too had needed an emotional release of his own.

Hinata brushed a lone tear from his eye with her thumb, and he leaned into her touch. She felt herself breathe shakily at the intimacy of his reaction.

Kami, she wanted to kiss him. But...

Wiping her cheeks and nose with the sleeve on her other arm, "Kiba, last night was ... I don't want you to think," he looked into her eyes with the wary search for something she couldn't identify. Hinata needed to finish a sentence, so she chose the one thought that truly counted. Not an apology, a truth: "You mean everything to me."

If felt good to finally voice a vulnerable thought. Kiba had always been a safe place for those.

Kiba's animalistic eyes pierced hers, as he remained as still as she had ever seen him. And Hinata wasn't afraid to stare right back.

She felt a shiver pass through him, not unlike the one from this morning, "You are everything to me, Hinata, and I can't believe I didn't realize it sooner."

Her heart soared out of her chest.

As if he realized what he had said and implied, he retreated his hands and began to shift away from her, nervousness painting his face.

Hinata had never kissed with such urgent instinct before.

It wasn't until she felt Kiba's lips moving against hers that she came to and realized what she had done.

Retreating with an embarrassed squeak, she felt heat rush up to her ears as unfiltered thoughts poured out of her, "Kiba you mean everything to me and I don't want you to feel like a rebound because you are so much more than that and I know you caught me staring at you so many times because you have such a beautiful body and you are so handsome but that's not all you are, you cooked such a lovely breakfast and you take care of me by buying me treats for my anxiety you are the sweetest man I've ever met and I hope I didn't ruin anything by my actions last night, I can't believe I gave you my panties but I wanted you to think of me the way I began thinking of you and I would never do such a thing for anyone but you and that's because I see every part of you and adore every part of you and want to please your nose as much as I want to please the rest of you and-"

Her rant was cut off by his mouth. He kissed her as she only thought people in books could be kissed: with passion and hunger and desire. She returned in kind as she held his face with her hands.

As Hinata wondered where his hands could be, for they weren't on her, Kiba broke the kiss with heavy breathing and his own unfiltered rant, "Fuck. Wait, no, I don't mean it like that. Hinata, I'm wild about you. You mean so much to me and I don't want to fuck this up by going too fast. You're too damn good for that. I feel like I need to court you and romance you like they do in all those slow burn erotic books I privately read too. I want you, Hinata. I need you."

Hinata found her face dangerously close to his again. She finally noticed his hands were destroying two of her lovely embroidered pillows with his claws. Then her eyes followed the trail of devastatingly tendons and veins bulging from his strained forearms, to his chiseled shoulders, and sculpted chest, "Fuck, Hinata, when you look at me like that, it makes me want to touch you. I know I shouldn't say this, but...I want to..." he bit his tongue to hold back.

Nothing in the world existed but Kiba and his evident desire for her, and she hadn't even looked down yet.

Taking it slow sounded like a practical idea. In theory.

In reality, she desperately needed to know what he wanted. Leaning forward and again cupping his face in her hands, she simply kissed him, lips against lips, no movement, inhaling via the nose, heavenly. Parting with barely any space between their lips, "Tell me," she ordered.

His eyes roamed to her mouth, to her neck, her her chest, to the place between her legs. Her sitting position on her heels kept her legs closed, keeping the scents on her arousal safely trapped. For now.

He seemed to only be capable of vocalizing a defeated whine.

Hinata knew this was a moment to prove she could take it slow, to make Kiba feel like he meant more to her than a spontaneous fuck. If Kiba and her were serious about this, which she knew in her heart they were, she could take it slow. She would.

As she placed one foot on the floor, opening her legs. She heard the fabric of her long gone decorative pillows rip even further as Kiba's pupils dilated and he snarled. Snarled.

Daring a look down at his pants, she saw the physical evidence of his desire. And she wanted to snarl back.

She didn't know if she launched herself to straddle his lap or if he finally released the pillows to pull her onto him and tightly grip her backside, but the reality was that they were now breathing each other's air as their bodies ground together. The barrier of clothes didn't stop the wondrous pleasure and excitement that coursed through them.

This rubbing was so intense it had Hinata's jaw loose and fingers weak as she rode her man. Kiba's strong and controlling grip had her moving up and down his length at just the right pace. His teeth were bared as his forehead almost touched hers, and Kami did it turn her on.

"Kiss me," she moaned. She felt his mouth capture hers, hot and claiming. It slid to her jaw, her neck. Then she felt claws pierce the fabric of her leggings with an erotic pressure against her skin.

Then she felt it. That crawling sensation through her body starting from her core that indicated she was on the edge, "Inuzuka," she whimpered. His face arrived in her line of sight, and his eyes were full of lust and adoration as she came undone.

Everything stilled except the hands that continued her movements against him, as she felt her brain connect to her center in a burst of pleasure that had her gasping.

Draping her arms over his shoulders as the glorious sensations lessened, the instinct to please him took over and she leaned in to bite his earlobe and whisper, "Inuzuka, cum."

She found herself on her back with his arms wrapped tight around her. He thrusted into her, hard. He tilted his head to gaze at her, eyes half-lidded, and she watched him experience his own mind blowing orgasm.

When his body ceased its jerking motions, he shifted his weight to the side to rest his head on her breast as they both just breathed. She lazily played with his hair. He slowly rubbed her hip bone.

Then there was scratching at the door with a recognizable bark.

Neither of them made a motion to move.

Another bark. Kiba half heartedly shouted, "Give me a minute."

He propped himself up on his elbow and looked at her, a goofy smile plastering his face. She giggled back at him, and leaned up to meet his lips with an appreciative and happy kiss. She felt him grinning as he nearly collapsed his body on hers, if it weren't for the third bark. Kiba ignored it as he peppered her jaw with kisses.

Feeling exceptionally happy yet also concerned for her dearest canine friend, "Kiba, Akamaru might be getting cold!" She chided while her fingers betrayed her, weaving their way through his messy hair. His mouth found one spot at the juncture of her jawbone that made her want to squirm.

"The Hokage wants to see us," A flat-toned Shino said through the door, immediately quelling their affectionate activities. She motioned for them to get up, and he pouted.

Slithering off the couch, she made her way to the door as he covered his stained pants with her blanket.

The mirror informed her that her already messy hair was officially a disaster, especially the back part that had rubbed against her couch cushion. But it was just Shino, so she took the hairband out as she answered the door to let her two teammates in.

"There's been a change in our mission squad, and we are to report to Hokage-sama," Shino greeted them in his usual business-first, mannerisms-second style, "Good morning. Did Kiba sleep over?"

Hinata was attempting to fix her hair by brushing and braiding it, "No, he arrived early this morning for unexpected reasons."

Kiba held the travel pack Akamaru gave him strategically over his front as he made his way to the bathroom, "I thought Hinata was in trouble. False alarm. Uchiha Sasuke's an asshole."

"Kiba stayed to make me breakfast, and then..." She felt herself blushing. Should Kiba and her remain discrete? But Shino is their teammate, and deserves to know about the change in their relationship for a variety of reasons. Yet, the idea of announcing their confessions and activities so casually didn't seem quite right.

Fortunately, Shino's blunt perceptions saved her the hardship of handling the situation, "I see. You two are good for each other."

Smiling shyly, she put on her ninja sandals as Kiba came out with his usual ninja garb. They made eye contact, and the tension between them brought her to him. She felt her face smile widely without her consent as he leaned down to nuzzle their cheeks together and he whispered in her ear, "We'll talk later," she felt his nose twitch, "As much as I adore this scent, I won't be able to focus around the Rokudaime."

"Oh, of course!" she squeaked as she took off her sandals and dashed into the bedroom for fresh panties and pants. Speaking of which, she was reminded that these leggings now had claw marks in a quite noticeable place. Biting her lip, she put them and her panties to the side to give to Kiba later.

----

Fuck, was it hard to focus on the Hokage when Hinata was fiddling with her braid oh so cutely.

The memories of last night at her place, last night when he was in his room, and this morning on the couch flooded his brain. Most significantly, the confession of how much they meant to each other.

But that's the part he's trying to comprehend with as much maturity as possible: she cares about him on an emotional level, but her body is pretty much in heat.

Kiba knows what he wants with absolute certainty: Hinata.

But he doesn't want a fling, or a short term relationship. He wants her for the long run, and he wants it to be romantic as fuck.

Here's the problem: although she doesn't want to treat him like a rebound, her body is showing all the signs of a person who's craving some fantastic fucking.

Could Kiba do that? Yes, but it would ruin his long game strategy of the cliche slow burn plan. He wants his relationship with Hinata to be like one in his romance books. Which he realized he admitted he reads to Hinata during his rant this morning.

Yes, he reads romantic and erotic novels. They are very entertaining and educational. As a teen, is mom and sister not only gave him the talk about safe sex, but also a talk about how to have good sex. And reading about it via these books was his favorite way to up his game.

Admittedly, their dry humping this morning threw off his plan. But damn, it felt amazing. He also owed Hinata some new embroidered pillows.

"Hinata is to be removed from your upcoming mission. We will place another sensory nin on your team to compensate," The Rokudaime's words shocked Kiba into focus.

"Why the sudden change? We leave tomorrow," Shino questioned.

Kakashi sighed, "Apparently, the Hyuga clan have been invited to the Winning-of-the-War anniversary event in the Cloud a month early. As a gesture to make amends for past conflicts, among other agendas," he stared as the ceiling, avoiding eye contact with his subordinates.

Kiba looked to Hinata, who was staring back at him. Her face indicated she had no idea about this invitation. She blinked her eyes at him with a hint of disappointment.

She was going to miss him.

Then her eyes drifted further down his form, and she let out a wistful sigh.

...And his body. Kiba never thought there would be a day when he wanted to shake Hinata out of her sex-crazed state. But here he was. Simultaneously turned on and resentfully objectified. Is this how girls feel when he hits on them with hookup intentions? Now he gets it.

----

The day progressed with Shino and Kiba working with their replacement team member, Yamanaka Ikuyo, while Hinata went to her father discuss her family vacation to Kumo.

Kiba hoped she started the conversation with, "What the fuck?"

He chuckled and continued his day dream while Shino went over their usual team formations and adjusted them to the Yamanaka's sensory style. Ikuyo seemed to be a seasoned pro, and was excited to have a detective style mission, so her motivation made her easy include on their plans.

The sun was setting after a long day of planning, so Ikuyo parted from them to independently study the mission scrolls and her new teammates strengths. Kiba didn't understand such a level of discipline, but appreciated it as it gave him an excuse to invite himself over to Shino's for dinner. Bug boy didn't mind.

Even though they all had clan households they could reside in, modern Konoha culture had this new trend of adult ninja taking a few years to live on their own before settling back into clan households for good. Kiba was the first on Team 8 to get his own place, Hinata followed suit with tremendous encouragement. But Shino didn't lean into the trend. He hated feeling left out of social things with his friends, and the possibility of being left out of family events made him even more depressed. So he happily resided in the Aburame household.

Which was the safest place for Kiba to go. Hinata and Kiba would only be in the same village for one more night before her trip. Such a one-night-only situation was the ideal vibe for a steamy and desperate sex-fest. Which sounded spectacular and like the night of his dreams.

Unfortunately, it would not only ruin his long game of romancing Hinata properly, but it may also ruin their romantic potential entirely. And that idea scared the shit out of Kiba.

What if after a glorious night, Hinata felt like she got-it-out-of-her-system? What if they didn't talk afterwards, and she went to Kumo thinking they are now just casual fuck buddies? What if it enabled her to see him as only a sexual object, and not a viable romantic partner? Or what if she did what she said what she wouldn't do: treat him as a rebound, and then after a month apart, she just wouldn't be interested in him?

These insecure thoughts plagued him every time he drifted into a day dream of all the ways he wanted to touch her, and all the ways he fantasized about her touching him. Instead of playing attention to Ikuyo's explanation of her skills (he would figure it out in real-time), his thoughts alternated between sexy images, the consequences of them sleeping together too soon, and then the best part: what if he stuck to his plan and he truly had everything.

Visions of endless handholding in the village, cuddling in her spa-like apartment, walking Akamaru together at sunset, buying her fresh flowers, moving in together and taking care of her, cooking for her his greasy friend rice whenever she wanted, saving money to buy her a very special and very dainty piece of jewelry...

Those were the fantasies that made Kiba feel invigorated, motivated, and most seldom seen: disciplined. He would stay with Shino tonight as an extra measure, maybe write Hinata a romantic note, and dream about her for a month until he could truly have his shot with her.

Maybe this month apart would be a good thing. She'd have a respectable amount of time to get over the break-up with Naruto, simmer down her rebound seeking sex drive, and then he could commence with his ultra-romantic slow burn plan. Just like in the books.

Just as Kiba was feeling confident in his fantasies and plans while drinking tea with Shino on his porch, all was foiled when Hinata landed in front of them.

"Tea?" Shino offered without a second thought. Kiba was clenching the edge of the porch, trying not to mouth breathe as he stared at the woman of his dreams, who was wearing a lovely yukata reserved for clan meetings. A yukata that had fallen off one shoulder with the abruptness of her landing.

"Yes, please," she replied in a frustrated manner. Not frustrated at them, but by the the undoubtably disagreeable meeting she had with her family. She took her graceful body to lean against a nearby pillar, and stare at the night sky.

The silvery light of the moon bounced off her milky skin, and Kiba wanted to confess all his desires to her in that moment.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Shino helpfully offered as Kiba unhelpfully gazed at his angelic beauty.

Said angel shook her head, "I'd rather not,"

Her eyes then met Kiba's, and the tension from this morning snapped into place. It felt like slow motion when she stood up straight, walked to him, and offered temptation, "Walk me home?"

Yes, of course. He'd do anything she asked. He'd walk her home, kiss her forehead goodnight at her door. Kiss her neck goodnight her living room. Kiss her lips goodnight as he languidly made love to her under the moonlight streaming through her bedroom window.

He found himself falling into these fantasies as he stood in front of her, staring into her twin moon-lit eyes, showing how much she yearned for this as much as he did.

"Kiba requested to stay here tonight," Shino interrupted. The emotional nin wanted to simultaneously throttle him and shower him with thanks.

Hinata's eyes drifted to Shino, then back to Kiba's in confusion.

Shino, never failing to bluntly insert his perceptions into awkward moments, "I don't think he wants to be your rebound hookup before you leave for a month. That would hurt his feelings."

Even though every word out of his friend's mouth was the truth, it made Kiba lower is eyes in shame that he couldn't find those words for himself. Hell, if it weren't for Shino, he might go home with her to avoid telling her how he really feels.

"Oh..."

Then an unexpected pain hit Kiba's chest. She didn't deny any of Shino's words. No matter how much they meant to each other, the reality was that the timing of their feelings of affection overlapped with Hinata's desires of needing a validating night of sex.

Kiba went to Akamaru, who was lounging against the house. He sat cross legged next to his beloved partner, and pet him in a self-soothing manner.

Shino didn't stop being blunt, "Hinata, although you and Kiba are good for each other, perhaps now is not the time to kindle such a serious relationship, considering you and Naruto only broke up a week ago."

He could feel her grow uncomfortable with the unwanted observations and advice. Kiba wanted to pummel Shino for saying such cutting truths, "Shino, enough," he growled under his breath.

But Kiba couldn't face this anymore. Now was the time to wish Hinata well, give her a platonically affectionate wave, and leave to the guest quarters.

Standing up and forcing his face into his classic arrogant look, "We have a mission first thing, Hinata-chan. Shino and I are a bit caught off guard not having you with us. We'll miss you."

Whistling to Akamaru, "We'll say goodnight, and see you in a month after you show those Cloud nin how badass the Hyuga clan are," he forced out a wink and a toothy grin.

But then he noticed her eyes were welling with tears, and he felt his own eyes begin to water as well. They would figure it out after her mission. Dropping the inauthentic arrogance, he allowed himself to use a more affectionate tone, "See you later then."

Oh, how he wanted to hold her. But he knew if he did, he wouldn't let go without revealing his most vulnerable thoughts. So, he turned away from her with a wave.

"Kiba!" she cried before her scent surrounded him just before her arms did.

His hands instinctively covered hers as she held him from behind as she did this morning. After telling her she means everything to him. He interlaced their fingers together and squeezed. He felt tears through the back of his shirt, "Kiba, I-I-I didn't mean to treat you like that. P-P-Please forgive me."

He didn't know how much more his heart could take today, "It's OK, Hinata. I understand," he found one of her anti-anxiety stress points on the inside of her arm, and rubbed it gently.

She pressed harder against his back, and he wasn't going to let go of her arms until he knew she had recovered.

"Kiba, maybe when I've returned, you and I could..."

Before he knew what he was doing, he used one of her arms to bring her to his front, one hand cupping her cheek, the other holding her hand against his heart, "No way am I gonna let you say that now. When I get to Cloud for the celebration, you and I are gonna party our asses off and drink all their good sake," He saw a hint of smile on her face, "And when we get back to the Leaf, I'm gonna ask you out on a proper date. It's gonna be romantic as fuck."

She leaned her cheek into his hand and gifted him with a lovely smile. For the second time today, he brushed residual tears from her cheeks with his thumb. He wanted to end it there, but he sudden'y realized that there was one important thing that she should know, "And while you are in Cloud," he took a shaky breath and stepped away from her. He couldn't hold her for this next part, "You recover from ... that guy... however it makes sense to you. It's OK."

In other words, he was encouraging her to find a rebound there. The details of what that would mean made him sick to his stomach. But it would be OK, because he would ask her out in a month and they would have their chance then.

That's at least what he told himself.

Her eyes did that thing where she looked concerned with eyebrows scrunched together and up, eyes big and blinking, lower lip jutted out in protest. Yet she managed to nod in understanding.

He wanted to run away and destroy something. But he couldn't let that be their last interaction. Grounding himself with the thought of their first date to come, "What kind of flowers would you like?"

Oh, the things those fluttering lashes did to him. His angel smiled up at him, "Peonies."

Not trusting himself to say anything else, he nodded and returned her smile.

"I'll walk you home, Hinata," Shino's timing was often too on the nose, and Kiba was grateful.

She nodded to him, then looked back to Kiba. After a moment of thought, she grew on her tip toes to lean into him. He didn't dare move as she gave him a tender and warm kiss on the cheek. And then, the new light of his life was off with Shino.

He didn't know how much time had passed between when he was standing and when he was on his knees. At some point, Akamaru sat in front of him and pressed his head against Kiba's.

It was probably only 24 hours since she gave him those perfumed panties. And somehow a day later, he felt like he had given her his heart. Kiba shrugged against Akamaru's fur, "Not quite the romance in the books seen in books, but we'll get there."

Akamaru gave a bark of agreement.

----

A/N What a day in the life of Kiba and Hinata!

So, this story might be longer than the originally intended three chapters. Oops. I have the next chapter half written. The smut tho... yeah.

Also, the way Sasuke checked Kiba out?! The thought of them being work out buddies brings me so much joy. It's like a bro-style crackship.

Reviews please!

#kibahina #naruto fanfiction #kiba inuzuka #hinata hyuuga #hinata hyuga #hinata kiba #sns #Sasuke Uchiha #sasuke #naruto shippuden fanfic

9 notes · View notes

pain-somnia · 4 years ago

Text

Title: What Once Was Rating: T Characters: Madara, Sasuke; background minor SasuSaku, implied GaaNaru, mentions of implied past HashiMadaMito Disclaimer Day’s Notes: hello! This was a fic I wrote for @a-year-of-naruto and I thought I had posted it but I guess I haven’t because I can’t find it. I wrote for the season of spring and this is a reincarnation AU that focuses on Madara and a bit of Sasuke. It’s still a goal of mine to do a Sasuke PoV companion piece. Warning: few mentions of violence and a corpse’s description

What Once Was

The light breeze blows in through the bars of the window, bringing the leftover chill from winter with it. The cold had been stubborn this season, lingering even as March was now reaching its end.

Yet it had never bothered Madara and he wonders to himself if it was a trait that carried on across lifetimes. Fire coursed through his blood long ago and now in a different time, his body keeps warm━scorching like fanned flames━a whisper of what once was.

The wind chime hanging off the roof sways with the breeze, singing a soft tinkle over the bustle of people walking the path from the suburbs to the city. Every day the residents would pass by his shop on their way to work or school. Sometimes they entered, sometimes they didn't, using it instead as a meeting point before moving on to their true destination.

“It’s freezing,” a middle school girl complains as she searches for something warm to drink. Tucking a strand of rose gold hair behind her ear, she gets to work on preparing a cup of hot cocoa at the dispenser near the front counter.

“It’s not that bad.”

The deeper voice has Madara shifting his gaze to the new patron entering the shop. The familiar, unruly spikes catches his attention. He has seen this boy before, not just around the neighborhood, but somewhere in a distant past.

With a slight inclination of his chin, the teenage boy bows to him as he passes the counter. He is always overly polite to his elders, he’s noticed. Perhaps raised by a traditional and strict family.

“You never get cold, Sasuke-kun,” the girl grumbles, capping a lid on her drink.

Sasuke. An uncommon name, too old fashioned for a child of his generation, but that too breached across to this lifetime━perhaps fate had his parents naming him so.

It was a different name than the one Madara had assigned to him in his mind, but a name he came to terms with years back when the boy first entered his shop in his gakuran uniform with a loud blond boy and a much quieter and sleepy looking red haired kid.

“Should I get one for Naruto?” Another uncommon name, also familiar.

“Don’t spoil him, Sakura. He’s running late, he doesn’t get a drink.”

“Not running late,” Sakura corrects him in a singsong, “he’s waiting for Gaara.”

Sasuke rolls his eyes and digs out his wallet for change, paying for her share. It’s a simple exchange, nothing out of the ordinary, but as the boy places the money in his hand, Madara is hit with the scent of smoke and the coppery odor of blood. Angry charcoal eyes flash across his vision.

“Thank you. Have a good day!” The girl━Sakura━waves goodbye cheerily, dragging Sasuke along.

And off they go, away from his old corner store. They will make their way around the bend of the street, past the small shops to their bus stop that will take them to the crowded and noisy city.

A city he escaped to get away from the ghosts of his past, only to run into another one.

Madara doesn’t see him again the following week.

He sees the sunny boy—Naruto, he reminds himself—with their red haired friend. They’re in casual clothes now that they’re on holiday. The two of them are often together as they enjoy their Spring Break.

During the school year it wasn’t a strange sight, seeing them alone. Sasuke would be traveling home either alone—carrying a sports bag and a kendo shinai—or with the girl with the rose gold hair, carrying books that could have been his but usually were not.

It’s not until near the end of March that he sees him again. It’s as Madara steps outside his shop, acrid cigarette smoke mixing with floral notes and disappearing into the white sky of the cloudy day, that he spots him in neat casual attire walking hand in hand with the same rose haired girl dressed in a pretty sundress and cardigan.

Ah. A new development, he thinks, watching them hold hands for the first time on their way home.

If he squints his eyes and forgets his name, Madara can almost picture him as a different boy, a boy raised in war. It’s easy to fall into the trap of replacing this Sasuke with his brother. Easy to imagine it’s Izuna enjoying the brisk Spring afternoon.

He subtracts Sasuke and adds Izuna into every scenario. It’s Izuna goofing off with friends. It’s Izuna falling slowly but surely in love. It’s Izuna that practices kendo and goes to cram school.

It’s Izuna living a life so carefree, free of the burdens of war. Izuna being allowed to be a child the way that Madara now knows how to be, even with his past life bridging to his current in the form of dreams and memories.

Of all his kin, why this boy? This boy━that shouldn’t even exist as long as he’s breathing━gets a new chance at a different life.

He can’t help that he’s glaring when the boy looks up and they catch each other’s eyes. The boy glares right back and, holding on tightly to his girlfriend’s hand, he picks up his pace, getting as far away as possible from his shop.

I don’t care about your hāfu girlfriend.

He remembers the Uchiha, almost as homogeneous as the society he lives in. Maybe his past self would have found it traitorous but his current self can’t summon an ounce of care to discriminate against a child born of a Chinese parent.

The memories and emotions simmer under the surface but some still feel as though they belong to someone else. And then there are some that settle as absolute truths.

Sometimes the way the smoke of his cigarette burns in his chest and up his throat feels like a katon ready to unleash. It’s as he’s sweeping the carpet of pink petals blocking his shop that Madara wishes he could still summon flames to speed up the task of clearing the sakura blossoms that cover the roof tops, the streets, and every nook and cranny they settle in after the wind scatters them.

Grunting to himself, he piles the petals in a heap before moving on to his neighbor’s little shop. She sells ceramic wares, pottery spun by her wrinkled hands, and yet cats make the shop their home. The obaasan that owns it leaves food and water out and the cats never knock over any of the clay pots or bowls. They simply laze about, only rising from their spot when a guest arrives, eager to fetch the granny like dutiful little employees.

His neighbor has watched over him ever since he took over the corner store four years ago. The old woman never asked him why a city boy would move out but still remain as close as possible, settling in between the loud city and the sleepy suburb of which families had made their home. She doesn’t care to know his story, only brings him something to eat and has him fix her up a cup of tea.

Madara knows that if she asked he would never tell her about meetings at an izakaya after work. Would never talk about the woman with porcelain skin and auburn hair or the man with chocolate brown eyes and a mouth with the ever present upturn at the corners. Would never talk about the rings on both of their left hands and how even in this life they left him behind.

His hair had been shorter then. Thick and spiked but cropped close to his head━perfect for an office worker. Crunching numbers during the day and dreaming of the screams of his enemies at night. Madara ignored the memories of his past in favor of clinging to what his life could be.

The dreams were just dreams, he told himself. They meant nothing, even in the mornings when he could still smell sulfur and feel the weight of long hair against his shoulder blades despite the absence of it when he looked at his reflection in the mirror.

But that was four years ago and gone are the days of sitting behind monitors and filing paper. It took four years and now his hair, although tied loosely, settles against his back, creeping down to his waist.

The second week of April brings gentle rains. The drops drum against the shingles on the roof above his flat. The temperature had been rising and the mellow showers are just a precursor to the ones that will fall in a couple of months.

Taking the kettle off the stove in his kitchenette, Madara is glad he got back from the bathhouse before the rain came down. He settles on the tatami, just under the window, and listens to the pitter patter melting into the babbling of a brook.

He can feel the warmth of a sunny day on his cheeks and the roaring of laughter against his ears. Madara opens his eyes and he’s in the middle of the woods, hakama pants getting heavy from retaining water. In a voice not quite his own he shouts insults at the young man with the unfortunate haircut that had pushed him in.

Madara grabs Hashirama’s ankles and drags him down in the water with him. Laughing through his nose, he prepares himself for a retaliation that never comes. Dropping his stance Madara glances around in confusion, not understanding where his friend could have gone.

“Niisan…” a voice croaks below him.

At his feet, floats the eyeless corpse of his younger brother.

Madara doesn’t scream as he wakes up. The dream is old and although his heart is palpitating at an alarming rate, it no longer brings him the same terror it had when the memories were still fresh.

Grabbing his phone to check the time, Madara doesn’t register the hour as he’s distracted by the notifications on his screen.

His dreams had summoned the caller and looking at the number of missed calls Madara swipes his thumb on his screen to clear his notifications.

Of course that fool would call seven times.

Owning a corner store gets to be tedious. Tracking inventory and restocking use the most basic of his accounting skills. Manning the counter is a lazy task and Madara finds himself constantly leaving his shop to watch people as they pass by to keep from dozing off.

He keeps his mouth busy with cigarettes he purchases from the vending machine right outside his shop. Chain-smoking wasn��t a habit he expected to pick up but had anyway when the company he worked for merged with another.

It was the merger that changed everything.

“You can call me Hashi,” his new coworker introduced himself. The new staff had entered in the Spring, only a few months after the merger was announced, and it was the first time Madara had spoken directly to any of them.

The exchange was sparked by a request for a lighter and from then on the man had initiated a one sided friendship that quickly became mutual.

Conversations in the designated smoking room soon moved on to shared lunch breaks and drinks after work. There had been moments━Madara is sure there had been moments━and despite the awkwardness of dealing with memories in which in a past life the two of them stood on opposing sides in battle, it was the most alive Madara had felt in the longest time.

And then came the arrival of Hashi’s “Mi-chan.”

She had also called the night before. Mito had messaged him on LINE but unlike Hashirama, she hadn’t called repeatedly. She wasn’t one to do any chasing. But the message was a blunt lecture about absences and leaving people hanging.

Madara watches the sky break out in hues of pink and orange, melting into purple and navy. It’s time for the students that do not have after school activities to arrive on the bus.

And sure enough there’s a blond knucklehead gesticulating to a red haired kid holding a small potted cactus rounding the corner. They’re no longer wearing gakuran but blazers and tartan slacks, the uniform of the local public high school.

Well it is Spring, Madara thinks to himself as he takes a long drag of his cigarette. The brats couldn’t stay middle schoolers forever.

But there is one missing in the usual trio of boys. Standing taller than the other two, and usually bickering with the blond kid, Sasuke wasn’t with them.

It had been a few weeks since the new school year had started and Sasuke never seemed like the kind of person to stop going to school when it was no longer compulsory.

The granny’s cats usually are quiet as they lurk about the alley between his shop and hers. Madara will come across them when he’s making sure that the combustible trash has been sorted properly.

The brat standing in his alley is definitely not a cat.

Charcoal colored eyes glared back at him defiantly as if Madara’s fist isn’t balled up in his blazer. The neat black blazer with red trimming has the crest of a school Madara knows very well. It belongs to a school that he had sat an exam for and failed. It was a high school he had aspired to go to as a teenager for its exclusiveness. It was a rigorously structured school that boasted the best performance academically and only accepted those that were able to pass the intensely difficult entrance exam.

For a moment Madara is proud. If anyone were to get into such a school it would be his kin. Sasuke is an Uchiha through and through. A different lifetime didn’t change that fact.

That pride crumbles with the glittering of silver on Sasuke’s ears and the exhale of smoke coming out of his mouth. His descendant reborn is a delinquent.

“You’re fifteen,” Madara hisses, pushing Sasuke back against the wall of his shop.

“You don’t know how old I am.”

“Boy,” Madara grips his collar lapel and yanks Sasuke up so they’re nose to nose, “don’t try acting smart when you’re clearly wearing a high school uniform.”

Sasuke looks older than a first year, face more mature than children his age but it doesn’t change the fact that he’s a child.

“Where did you get a Taspo from?”

Sasuke shrugs which has Madara shaking him. He obviously stole the smart card for the vending machine, possibly from a relative. Or maybe he was sent by his father to pick up a carton and took the opportunity to buy one for himself.

“Come on brat, we’re going to talk to your parents.”

Sasuke pulls back, making himself heavy and refusing to budge. Madara has half a mind to tug on one of his earrings and force him to move.

“Hand it over.”

“Hand what over?” Sasuke cocks an eyebrow and feigns innocence poorly. If the odor didn’t give him away, the look of complete indifference did.

“The box of cigarettes! Don’t act stupid with me now, brat.”

Sasuke makes no move to do as he is demanded. He looks directly into Madara’s eyes unwavering and it is here that it’s even more clear to him that this boy could never be his younger brother. Their noses are different. Izuna’s cheekbones were higher and sharper. This boy’s lower lash line is slightly longer than the upper.

How did he ever mistake him for Izuna?

“There’s a woman with your face,” Madara speaks up after a beat. “I’ve seen you with her before. She goes to the city, but when she passes my shop she always stops for a chat with the granny next door.”

Sasuke narrows his eyes at the threat hidden in Madara’s words. Four years of watching all of the people. Four Springs passing by him, of course he knows at least that much about the boy from his past.

Reaching into his back pocket, Sasuke takes out a box and tosses it to the ground. He never made anything easy━not in their old life and not now. He shoves him away with a force that has Madara fumbling backwards and having to catch himself before he knocks over the bins. Without another glance Sasuke leaves the alley and if not for the carton of cigarettes on the ground it would have been as if he had never been there to begin with.

Not one to leave perfectly good cigarettes go to waste, Madara picks up the box from the ground and opens it up. The carton is half full and he pulls one out and lights it up.

Huh. Menthols.

That night isn’t the last of his run ins with Sasuke. Madara uses the evenings to stand outside and enjoy the chill of the night as the temperature drops with the sun.

He aligns his outings with the time the stragglers would be coming home from work or after school clubs. He sparks up a cigarette and watches as the teenager scowls at him before turning down the road in the opposite direction of what he knows is the path he usually takes to get home.

Some nights, Sasuke drops into the store and picks up a Pocari Sweat and mints. He has his gym bag and shinai on those nights. Some nights he’s home earlier than expected and he loiters the corner store, usually playing with a visiting cat before he makes a purchase of another sports drink and tin of mints.

“Are they helping to curb the craving?” Madara asks him one night as he rings him up.

“Gotta do something considering you’re a persistent jiji, always guarding the machine.”

“Jiji!?” Madara’s right eye twitches at the rude name he’s called. “How old do you think I am exactly, boy?”

“Forty-seven?”

“I’m thirty-six,” Madara hisses. Being called ossan would have been better. Still rude, but better than jiji.

Sasuke doesn’t apologize for his answer. He simply counts his change before handing it over. Madara eyes him before slipping the change in the till.

“Women tend to prefer non-smokers anyway,” he advises. The ghost of Mito’s voice flits around his ears, nagging him and Hashirama for their habits.

Sasuke gives him an unimpressed look. The aura of superiority around the kid grates on his nerves. He was a boy of merely fifteen and yet he had such an abrasive attitude with his elders.

What happened to the boy from a few weeks ago that would bow his head when entering his store? What changed?

“I only do things because I want to. Not for other people.”

And why would you want to smoke or pierce your ears? What’s the benefit?

Madara doesn’t voice his questions. He just does what he always does and watches him leave, his eyes following him down the street and turning in the wrong direction from the bars of his window.

The following night is one of the nights where Sasuke comes home early. Instead of picking up a sports drink like he always does he helps Madara unpack boxes of goods and shelves them in their appropriate places. Madara observes as he unflinchingly lines up sanitary napkins and tampons on the shelf and then moves on to small packages of toilet paper.

The Naruto kid had been in the store earlier and kicked out two minutes after entering for making a racket when he only saw the boxes.

“Your friend was here today.”

“What friend?” Sasuke continues stacking and if Madara wasn’t looking at him he would have believed he had imagined that Sasuke spoke at all.

“He’s loud. And obnoxious.”

Sasuke ignores him and moves over to the aisle on the other side of the shelves. He continues stacking with an unnerving focus. Madara is tempted to chuck something at him to see if he would even react to it. The kid stares into space often enough to worry Madara about his state of mind. Schools like the one Sasuke attended focused heavily on exams and it usually took a toll on the students. It was still early in the year but the shift from public school to private may have been difficult on the boy.

Especially considering that he keeps skipping cram school.

It is a few nights later that he receives an old visitor. The rose gold hair is familiar but it’s the look in her eyes that has Madara remembering a different set of determined green eyes that faced him down as he stood among the rubble and overturned earth of a battlefield.

He had stabbed this girl before.

She slides a pack of lead for her pencils across his counter and a tin of mints. The brand is the exact same one Sasuke picks up and it’s then that Madara notices she is wearing the same blazer that Sasuke wears as part of his uniform.

“Ojisan? Have you seen a boy about this tall,” the girl waves her hand several centimeters above her head, “with spiky black hair and bangs that fall across the left side of his face? I usually come in with him in the morning.”

Madara shakes his head and tells her the total of her purchase. With a sigh of defeat she thanks him and pays for her items.

He has in fact seen Sasuke. It was about an hour earlier than she had arrived from the city, most likely coming home from cram school. He usually sees her walking home alone in the evenings.

Sometimes, Naruto and their red haired friend pick her up from the bus stop and escort her while Naruto cheerfully tells her about something going on at his school. As the trio walks there’s a mindful gap, as if they are subconsciously aware of their missing friend as they head in the direction of their homes.

“Where do you go when you come home from school?” Madara asks him on a rainy afternoon. Sasuke looks around the store and back at Madara as if the answer was obvious. “Besides here, brat.”

Sasuke doesn’t respond, not that Madara actually expected him to. Talking, it seems, is another one of those things Sasuke doesn’t do unless he wants to.

He moves around the shelves slowly, taking things down that were put back in the wrong place by customers and putting them in the correct shelf. Madara told Sasuke that he wouldn’t pay him for the work, that he wasn’t hiring any part timers, but the boy continued to come back and assist him in the shop.

“My school doesn’t allow its students to have jobs,” he explained. Madara finds it curious that Sasuke obeys that rule even though he clearly doesn’t care about the restrictions on body modifications. Even the hair that falls in his face that he constantly flattens and brushes to the side is too long according to his school’s rules.

Madara watches as Sasuke continues to grab things with his right hand, never reaching with his left despite it being free and closer to items. There is a slight stutter in Sasuke’s movements when he bumps the shelves with the left side of his body as he attempts to go around a corner. He looks down at his left arm in confusion before shaking his head.

Sasuke flexes the fingers on his left hand and unnecessarily drums them along the shelves as he turns. Madara hears him muttering to himself, “It’s still here…” and wonders if he should be concerned by the strange behavior.

His reincarnated descendant is a strange one and getting stranger by the day.

“You’re avoiding something,” Madara calls after him as Sasuke moves behind shelves of snacks and out of his line of sight. “Or someone.”

“You’re one to talk about avoiding something,” Sasuke’s voice carries as he walks throughout the store. “When are you going to finally answer that phone? It only rings like five times within an hour.”

As if on cue, Madara’s cell phone rings, rattling against the old register it sits on top of. He doesn’t even need to look to know who is calling. It is around the time Madara used to call it a day and shut off his computer.

“Going to answer that any time soon, old man?”

“Out.” Madara seethes, tired of his attitude. No one talks to him in that tone, especially not fifteen year olds. “Out of my store.”

“More like your bubble,” Sasuke retorts, finally coming around from the back row of shelves. “You never leave this place. You even live right above it.”

Sasuke snatches his messenger bag from off the floor and Madara is tempted to reach over the counter and snatch him by his sweater vest. For a moment he forgets that in this lifetime he is simply a middle aged former salaryman and not the fighter he once was in a distant life.

Sasuke narrows his eyes at him and Madara expects them to bleed into the scarlet coloring he has witnessed in his dreams and almost moves himself to brace for an attack. Instead, he stops in his tracks and examines the young face of this teenage boy. The skin underneath his eyes is dark and puffy, a clear sign that Sasuke hasn’t been sleeping properly.

“Go home,” Madara mutters. He’s not what he used to be. Fighting doesn’t bring him the same joy it brought his past self.

Sasuke pulls back and brings himself to his full height. He tightens his grip on his messenger bag strap and just when Madara thinks he’s about to do as he’s told for once, Sasuke decides to have the last word.

“I would tell you to do the same but, clearly, you’ve decided that you’re already there.”

Madara throws a roll of receipt paper that Sasuke deftly avoids, side stepping and rushing to the door.

“I won’t be like you, I refuse!” He shouts behind him as he makes his exit, confusing Madara with his words.

Was there ever a chance you would be?

Madara expects him to come back after a few nights but by the end of Golden Week, Sasuke still hasn’t shown his face. Madara almost gives up on looking for him when he spots him by the corner where the bus should stop.

Sasuke doesn’t move even as it starts to shower. He opens his umbrella and continues to wait.

Madara grows tired of watching him and puts out his cigarette and heads back inside his shop. He’s sitting behind his counter and flipping open a book when he hears a familiar shout of joy before there’s a much more familiar angry retort. It’s quiet again with only the drops of rain harmonizing with the soft jingle of the wind chime.

The sound of students chatting as they walk by his shop isn’t a new occurrence so he continues reading his historical fiction, only pausing when he hears a slight knocking against the wooden bars of his window.

“Are you trying to prank the corner store jiji?” A bright voice trills. At that Madara is standing up, ready to throw anything, even his flip flop, at the brat attempting to vandalize his shop.

Madara is poised and ready when he spots the spiky dark head of Sasuke, walking underneath an umbrella with the green eyed girl, Sakura. Naruto ditches the shelter of the umbrella he shares with the red haired boy and jumps on Sasuke’s back, hounding him for answers.

“What was that about? Come on, tell me!”

“Knock it off, idiot!” Sasuke shoves him off and Naruto stumbles backward, falling into a puddle.

The two of them bicker back and forth with occasional interjections from Sakura. Despite the ongoing argument, the tension in Sasuke’s shoulders is gone and there’s a softness to his demeanor that had been missing weeks ago.

Madara watches as they round the corner and head down the street in the direction of home. Sasuke elbows Naruto the whole way as the latter continues to try and squeeze under the same umbrella as the couple and cling to the both of them.

Madara takes a deep inhale and holds it for a count of four seconds before exhaling. He’ll see what Sasuke did to his window and find him later. There was only one path to get to the bus stop and Madara can stand watch forever for the brat.

Inspecting his window, Madara finds a white handle sticking out from between the bars. Pulling on it reveals the flat, red side of an uchiwa. It was an unusual design for a fan but the message Sasuke is trying to convey is clear.

Huh. So that’s how it is. Madara shakes his head and exhales a laugh through his nose. Well, I’m not going to be shown up by a kid.

Sitting at his counter, Madara drums his fingers against the table top and eyes his cell phone. He wills it to ring but it just lays there on top of his register. He runs his hands down his face, smoothing his palms against the stubble on his jawline.

“Alright,” he mutters, swiping his phone from its designated spot. He searches his call log for a number he still knew by memory, stalling the call by as many seconds as possible. It seems like minutes have gone by before the dial tone stops and the call is picked up.

“Hello? Ma-kun?” Madara takes in a sharp intake of air at the sound of her voice, so clear even through the phone’s speaker. “This better not be a butt dial, Madara.”

Letting out a breathy chuckle, Madara greets her and in one breath Mito releases a few years worth of complaints, sprinkling in a few questions in between.

“I can tell you about the shop later,” Madara cuts in when he is given the opportunity. “You can tell Hashi that I’ll be at the old pub.”

#madara uchiha #uchiha madara #sasuke uchiha #sasusaku #day!fics

14 notes · View notes

queentargary3n · 5 years ago

Text

unfaithful

Sasusaku Fan-fiction AU Lawers Rated M

FF.net Link to Chapter 1

Chapter 5

Naruto walked out to his porch, to find Sakura and Sasuke having an amicably conversation, which made him glad, not only because he didn’t want to lose any of them in the firm, just imagining how difficult the office would become if these two didn’t make up made his head spin, but also because he was concerned for Sakura, Sasuke could be a complete asshole sometimes, but Naruto knew his heart was in the right place, he usually didn’t mean the insults he threw around.

“There you are Sakura-chan, come back in, Hinata wanted to show you some baby pictures” Naruto said to the pinkette.

“Yeah, coming” Sakura responded to the blond, then turn over to look at Sasuke one more time before going back inside. “You need to ice that, bring down the swelling”

“So…? Everything Ok now?” he asked his brooding friend after Sakura was gone.

“Sure. I think” Sasuke replied. Although he wasn’t, really. There were many things going on in his life right then, things he needed to figure out, starting with what he had found in Karin’s bed, and the fact that instead, all he could think of was Sakura’s delicate hand touching him, it was very concerning for him. I’m messed up. He thought

“You think? You did tell her you are sorry, right?” Naruto asked, crossing his arms around his chest and closing his eyes, trying to figure out this whole drama.

“Yeah… were on friendly terms I’d say”

“Friendly huh? That’s unlike you” his blond friend mentioned.

“And what makes you say that?” Sasuke questioned.

“You’re a bit of a…” dick he wanted to say but decided against that. “Loner… I remember when we hired Shino it took you a whole year to learn his name, and even then, you barely even acknowledge him, it’s like you didn’t even noticed he was there”

“That’s because I didn’t notice he was there, he’s too quiet!…” Sasuke defended and continued. “but… I should tell you something, I guess…” Sasuke began, trying to find the best words to describe his past relationship to Sakura. “Sakura and I know each other… from before”

“You do? From…?” Naruto asked, confused and scratching the side of his cheek.

Sasuke took a deep breath, formulating the best response he thought necessary to give Naruto. The two men didn’t have any secrets from each other, at least not intentionally, Naruto had definitely earned Sasuke’s trust, he had saved him from a life of criminal activity Sasuke didn’t know how to disentangle from. But this, his past with Sakura felt too personal, too intimate to share. Even so, this was Naruto, and Naruto always managed to get the truth out of him, one way or the other, so Sasuke choose the path of least resistance.

“Sakura and I used to be together” The Uchiha said quietly.

“Huh? Together like together? when?” why Sasuke always felt the need to give Naruto incomplete information, he never knew.

“We were together back in high school, before I left, I hadn’t seen her since” he offered in explanation.

“No Freaking Way!” the metaphorical gears started to turn inside Naruto, he started to remember his last own love confession to Sakura, during their Junior year in college.

It had never been a secret that Naruto was in love with Sakura, they spent every free moment they had together, and during the third year in college, during a drunken bender, he began to question her about her feelings.

“I just… love you so much Sakura… why don’t you want me…?” He couldn’t bring himself to care what he sounded like under the influence of copious amounts of alcohol.

“I do love you Naruto…” Sakura said as she hugged him gently. “It’s just… not the way you do… or deserve… I’m broken Naruto”

“You’re not broken Sakura-chan… you are … you are perfect” He drunkenly offered.

“Naruto… I used to be in love with someone else… he left… he abandoned me, he left me in the middle of the road, all alone, to go do…doesn’t matter, the thing is I haven’t gotten over that. And you can’t wait for me to do… not when there is someone wonderful waiting for you and you’re too stupid to notice. Please just… notice her” She seemed to sober up by explaining.

“Wait! Are you the asshole who abandoned her in the middle of the road? How the fuck?” Naruto marbled at the improbability of the whole affair.

“She told you…” it wasn’t a question; it was a statement mostly to himself.

“Yeah mentioned it back in the day, ya know? Who would’ve thought were the prickhole? that’s what we used to call you back in college by the way”

“Did she say why?” Sasuke asked, wondering how much Naruto already knew about his past.

“No, but I can imagine” Naruto said, remembering first the time he met Sasuke, handcuffed to his hospital bed, police officer standing watch at the door, bloody bandages covering the remnant stump where his left arm had been.

Sasuke was the very first pro bono case, Naruto’s godfather made him take right after graduating law school. According to Jiraiya, he was just a kid, and he showed a lot of promise. apparently, he was some kind of genius who had just made all the wrong decisions in his life.

“He reminds me of you” His godfather had said. “A kid without a family, he’s got the same look on his face you had when I got you. Makes me think what would’ve happened if you’d stayed all by yourself”

Naruto made a commitment to his godfather, and to himself then, to help get this guy out of whatever mess he’d gotten himself into. Starting with the law, Sasuke was wanted for being associated with a motorcycle gang suspected of dealing guns in the black market, between other more gruesome things speculated. He was caught fleeing the scene of suspected arson, a police cruiser had rear-ended him on the road, casing the motorcycle Sasuke was riding to slid under an 18-wheeler. He was extremely lucky to be alive; he was told by the doctors.

“You need to tell me everything so that I can help you, ya know” Naruto had said, taking a seat next to the black-haired guy’s hospital bed.

“I don’t need some kid attorney to represent me” Sasuke responded with disdain.

“grrrr…. You really do get on my nerves ya know? And we’re the same age asshole” Naruto responded; he’d memorized Sasuke’s file a soon as he got it. But he was going to need more than his background to help him. “I think we can get you out of this easily, no matter what you did, that police officer shouldn’t have rear-ended you like that, we can get all of this thrown away claiming police brutality, I mean you lost your damned arm…”

“I don’t want your goddamned help!” Sasuke lashed out at him.

“It doesn’t matter if you do, you have it, deal with it” Naruto said, standing up from where he was seated and taking one last look at the 22-year-old man in bed, before leaving him.

There was something about him that made Naruto not want to give up on him. His godfather had been right, he reminded him of himself, but a different version, a version of himself who had just given up hope things will get better. He couldn’t handle that.

He was there throughout Sasuke’s entire recovery. Everyday seated by his bed, talking about anything, where Sasuke mostly stayed quiet, but more present than any attorney would have ever been for a client. He paid all of his medical bills and years forward of rehabilitation therapy. And when Sasuke questioned him about it, finally deigning himself to offer a word to the blond attorney, he simply said “Have a lot of money, inheritance ya know? Don’t know what to do with it” and shrug him off.

It sounded supercilious, as if bragging about how much money he had, but Sasuke understood the meaning behind the words, inheritance… He was alone too. He later learned that Naruto had lost his parents at a young age. Going up and down the foster care system until his godparent was able to get custody. Even then he was nothing but trouble, until he reformed himself. Stipulations left by his late parents mentioned he needed a college degree to be able to get access to his inheritance.

“At first it was all for the money, ya know?” Naruto told him sadly. “But then I started to make friends, real friends who were smart and made me want to be better for them too”

“I don’t have any friends” Sasuke answered. He had people he used for his means. And while Orochimaru claimed, everyone who entered the Brotherhood, as he called the gang, was like family, he never gave a damn about any of them. He didn’t have anyone he wanted to be better for, not anymore.

“Well you do now.” The blond one gave him a smile that for some strange reason made him want to smile too. “Now how about you tell your friend why you joined a gang?”

“Asshole” Sasuke exhaled, irritated at how stupid that line was. He fisted he bedspread of the cheap motel he was currently living in with his sole remaining hand and began “I was 8 when my parents passed away, leaving my brother to raise me, he was only a few years older, but we did good for some time, then he left me too, just out and left, didn’t even get a reason or goodbye, just one day… he was gone, I had to keep that a secret if I didn’t want to be put in the system and keep my parents home. After I graduated from high school, I found that he died. Orochimaru came to me then, said that Itachi had joined the Brotherhood and was killed by a rival gang. He offered me a chance to get revenge. I took it. My brother was a good man, he didn’t deserve to die, I didn’t understand why he’d even joined the Brotherhood in the first place, I guess I joined too to figure that one out”

“Is that what you want, to get revenge? No matter what happens to you?” Naruto asked him.

“I don’t even know what I want, I don’t have anything else to do” Sasuke responded.

“I can help you figure out what happened to your brother Sasuke, and get justice, not revenge but justice, you don’t have to throw your life away for that” He offered.

“Does Karin know that?” Naruto wondered about Sasuke’s wife, with both girls working at the office, and how dramatic Karin tended to be, drama was bound to ensue.

Sasuke shook his head no. “I hadn’t seen Sakura until you brought her to interview, and I never told Karin”

“Should we keep it that way?”

“I don’t know, it doesn’t matter either way” Leaving a crying Sakura in the middle of a dark empty road had been one of the biggest regrets of his life. It was a terrible thing to do to a girl, but he needed to be terrible, otherwise she wouldn’t have let go. And with Karin, he didn’t currently feel like opening up about his past to her, besides she was keeping secrets of her own.

“Well she works with us now; we don’t need that kind of drama around the office” Naruto said. “Just… try to be nice to Sakura, or at least your normally aloof self, she’s a good person, and a good asset for the company, she doesn’t need you mistreating her like that, I care about her”

“I’m a professional, if you’re suggesting I can’t keep it that way…”

Naruto interrupted him. “You know very damned well what I mean asshole”

And he did, he didn’t exactly keep it professional when he called her a whore. He still had the feeling he needed to make amends for that. He didn’t know how or why, but he would try, it was the least Sakura deserved of him, and he knew, but he simply told his friend “Yeah” and went back inside.

Thank you so much if you are still reading this. Please leave a comment so I know you’re still interested! constructive criticism is always appreciated. Is this were you thought the story was going? What do you think should happen next?

#sasusaku #sasusaku fanfic #sasusaku fic #sasusaku fanfiction #sakura haruno #sasusaku au #sakura uchiha #ssfanfic #ss smut #sasusaku smut

56 notes · View notes

sinemoras09 · 5 years ago

Text

Crash pad excerpt

How Obito becomes Hokage. (Background: everyone was accidentally resurrected after the war and Obito and Madara were put under surveillance.) I combined several ficlets here. @innovativestruggles

Note: this is a sequel to the fan comic birdsong, where Hashirama is a woman. In this fic she and Madara had gotten married and had kids. Also, Rin isn’t resurrected yet. Obito is living by himself.

-----

"Apparently I'm cursed to be surrounded by idiots," Madara says, when he sees that once again he's being chaperoned by Gai and Naruto.

"Yo!" Naruto says, and Gai gives him a hearty salute. Madara sighs heavily.

They walk down the forest path, Gai spouting ridiculous platitudes while the Uzumaki brat laughs and nods excitedly. It makes sense that he's paired up with them: Might Gai was the only shinobi who managed to injure him, and the Naruto kid's strength rivaled that of the current generations' kage - which doesn't say much, but the fact remains.

"Oh, look! It's Kakashi-sensei! And look, there's my dad!" Naruto says, and Madara looks up and sees Obito being similarly chaperoned, flanked by Kakashi and Minato as they walk toward them.

"Yo," Kakashi says, as they pass. Minato's eyes close into pleasant half-moons as he smiles at Naruto. Obito keeps staring straight ahead of them.

Madara sighs. Somehow it's even more depressing seeing his protégé similarly neutered.

"Yo, Bushy-Eyebrows-sensei! We should do push-ups after the mission, dattebayo!"

Madara glances up at Obito. Obito shrugs.

*****

Uchiha Obito wakes before his alarm.

He shuts off the clock radio, then pads barefoot toward the bathroom. The sun hasn't risen yet, and everything is shaded in a blue-gray hue outside. Silently Obito opens the medicine cabinet and methodically shakes open his medications - an antidepressant, a migraine prophylactic, and a pain pill for the lingering neuropathy he has in his face, arm, and leg. Closing the medicine cabinet, he looks briefly at his face in the mirror before dry-swallowing the pills, grimacing a bit before turning on the tap of running water.

"Yo," Kakashi says. He's waiting for Obito outside the apartment steps. Obito walks down the metal grated stairs, wearing the standard shinobi flak jacket in Konoha's colors. He doesn't wear the forehead protector, though - it feels dishonest and it makes him slightly uncomfortable.

"What's today's mission?" Obito says.

"VIP escort to the Fire Kingdom's periphery. Easy enough. Sensei is going to meet us at the gate."

They hitch their packs and walk.

The sun is starting to rise, its pale rays starting to peek over the lingering shadows. Minato is there, and he gives them a cheerful wave as they join him.

They called it a second life. Second chance, new beginnings. A way to redeem themselves; a miracle. Whatever it is, Obito has adjusted to his new life in the village. Even if his crimes were forgiven, he still has a need for atonement.

*****

His throat tightened the first time he spoke to Sensei in the village.

"Sensei, forgive me," Obito said, and his voice cracked. "I can never forgive myself for what I did, for hurting your wife and child. I understand if hate me. I can't help but hate myself."

Kakashi watched. Minato stood, the slight spring breeze catching his hair. He smiled and patted Obito on the shoulder.

"Water under the bridge," Minato said. Obito lifted his eyes.

"Sensei?"

Minato's eyes closed into two happy crescents: "I know Kushina would be the first to offer forgiveness, and my child is already grown, and quite fond of you."

Obito's eyes grew shiny with tears. "Sensei--"

Kakashi clapped Obito's back. "You always were a stupid crybaby."

And Obito laughed, wiping his eyes.

Now the three of them are a team - a formal team of equals, no longer tasked with watching him. He's accepted as a part of the village - people smile when they greet him and no one is afraid of him. "This doesn't feel right," Obito had said to Kakashi, in a low voice. "By all rights, the villagers should shun me after what I did."

Kakashi sighed. "I think you need to go up on that antidepressant," Kakashi said.

*****

They call themselves Team Minato, just like they did during their genin days.

They work their jutsus in tandem, Kakashi flanking their target on one side while Obito runs toward the other. One blink, and Obito's kamui swirls, Minato flash-stepping beside them and neutralizing the threat.

Afterwards, they sit at the base of a tree, eating a few rice balls and sharing a canteen of water. Obito is screwing back on the cap when a thought suddenly occurs to him. "Sensei?"

Minato looks up. "Yeah?"

"I just realized, Sensei. Physically we're all the same age."

"You just now figured that out?" Kakashi says, and Minato laughs. Obito glares and blushes.

"It was just an observation," Obito says. He tosses a stick on the ground and puts away his canteen.

They're coming back from the mission, Kakashi and Minato and Obito, and as they trudge heavily through the forest path toward Konoha, they see the shape of another three-person team walking toward them: Naruto and Hashi and Uchiha Madara.

"Look, it's my dad!" Naruto says, and Minato waves at them.

"Hello," Hashi says to Kakashi. Kakashi nods.

"Yo."

Obito's eyes track toward Madara's. Madara looks back at him stonily.

"Yeesh, that guy is really intense, isn't he?" Kakashi says, after they pass.

"Who?" Minato says.

"Uchiha Madara. Who else?"

Obito tosses a rock, walking a little ahead of them.

"You okay, Obito?" Kakashi asks. Minato looks at him, worried.

"I'm fine," Obito says. He keeps walking. "C'mon. We're almost home."

******

Iruka sits behind his desk, folding his hands in front of him.

"So, as you know, your daughter has finished her first month of kindergarten, and," Iruka takes a moment, keeps his voice calm and measured, "there are some things we need to discuss."

"What is it?" Hashi says. She is sitting in the chair provided in front of Iruka's desk, but Madara has opted to keep standing, his arms crossed and a pinched look on his face. Iruka's eyes dart quickly toward him before turning back to Hashirama.

"Well," Iruka says. "Your daughter is...very advanced."

"Splendid. What is the problem?" Madara says.

"Ah, Madara-san, perhaps...perhaps if you just sit down...?"

Madara's eyes narrow. "I prefer to stand."

"Okay." Iruka rubs his neck nervously. "Well. The young lady is, ah. Is rather intimidating for a five-year-old her age...."

"Intimidating, how?" Hashi says. Iruka takes a breath.

"Well...she used her Sharingan against the faculty a number of times; she used her Rinnegan against a group of upper level students who were learning bunshin jutsus, and apparently she has beat up two genin who were preparing to take their chuunin exams."

"Splendid!" Madara says, while Hashi starts, "What?" Iruka clears his throat.

"As I said, your little girl is very advanced," Iruka says.

"Excellent. So we pull her out of this class and let her take the chuunin exams. I agree with this assessment," Madara says.

"Now hold on, she is still only five years old, mentally and emotionally, she's a kindergartner, so--"

"It is my understanding you people had children as young as four years old fight in the Third Shinobi War, unless I am mistaken," Madara says.

Iruka hesitates, "Well, Uchiha Itachi, like your daughter, was a special case, so--"

"So what is the problem?"

"Anata." Hashi turns around in her chair. "Just come sit down."

Madara glowers. He pulls out the chair and sits heavily, glaring at Iruka. If looks could kill - and on a normal day, Madara's can and does - Iruka would be completely annihilated right now. But because his wife is urging restraint, Madara keeps himself in check. He sits back in the chair and crosses his arms.

"So we have a choice," Iruka says. "We can either pull her out of the classroom now and assign her to a genin team, or we keep her where she is, so she can continue to develop socially."

"Pull her out," Madara says, while Hashi says, "Keep her where she is." They glance at each other. Iruka laughs nervously.

"Well, you two take some time to talk about it. No one needs to come to a decision, now."

*****

"I'm just worried," Hashi says. It's nighttime now, and they're walking down the street, heading back to the house. "The whole point of starting the village was to protect our children from unnecessary harm. Genin go out on real missions, there won't be anyone to protect her if she's in danger."

"She won't be in danger, genin do not do anything," Madara says. "The most she'll do is rescue pets or help frail civilians cross the street. She won't even leave the village."

"Aren't most genin around twelve years old, though? She's five. Those kids are going through puberty. What if they exclude her?"

"Then they will learn to fear and respect her."

"I don't think that's a good plan," Hashi says. They get to the house and open the door.

"Nii-san!"

Madara starts, "Izuna?!"

Their daughter is laughing, pinning Izuna to the wall with her ocular powers, her little brothers giggling by her feet. She looks up and sees them. Her face brightens.

"Mommy! Daddy!" She jumps up and runs toward them. Izuna drops to the ground.

Madara leans toward Hashi. "Hashirama, are you still concerned about those kids going through puberty?" Hashi shakes her head.

"I guess not."

*****

Madara and his daughter are hiding in the bushes, watching a merchant rearranging apples on his fruit stand. Madara points.

"Look well, daughter. You see that man over there?"

"Yes, Daddy?"

"He insulted your father gravely. Let us practice your katons to show him."

"Okay, Daddy!"

She starts weaving her hand seals.

"You set fire to his fruit stand?!" Hashi says, while their daughter laughs and Madara stands, arms crossed, aloof and disaffected.

"Do not worry, Hashirama. She only set the sign on fire."

****

"Why were you throwing rocks at our child?!" Hashi says.

Madara holds up his hands. "I was teaching her to dodge, so that she is not so dependent on the Sharingan."

"By throwing rocks at her?! Knives? Shuriken?!"

"Calm yourself, Hashirama, I would not use weapons against her if I weren't confident she'd survive."

Hashi crosses her arms. "I don't think you should be talking about our daughter 'surviving' your training," Hashi says. Madara frowns.

"Need I remind you, Hashirama, there are jounin not even half her skill level being thrown into mortal peril at all times. I fail to see how she's in any danger from a few loose rocks."

"Can't you just skip stones by the river with her? Practice her katons against wooden targets instead of people?"

"I fail to see the utility in that."

"Ugh."

"More to the point, Hashirama, I'm concerned you're growing soft. We lived in an era of constant war. You are coddling our children."

Hashi looks around. "Wait a minute, where are the babies?" she says.

Madara cocks his head to the side, where she sees the baby and the toddler playing with their toys inside his Susanoo. "I would have left them with weapons, but you told me not to," Madara says.

*****

At the base of the river, an Uchiha child toddles forward. There is something shiny in the riverbank, and the child is curious. He reaches his chubby hands into the water.

Something yanks him backward, and the baby's little legs stumble. He lands squarely on his butt. The baby looks around, confused, then looks up. His face brightens. He reaches his little arms upward.

"What the hell am I looking at?" Obito says, as Madara picks up the toddler from across the river.

Obito is sitting next to Kakashi across the other side of the river, watching with growing disbelief as Uchiha Madara herds his children; one is strapped to his chest while the other one toddles around with a baby leash. Occasionally, he will toddle a little too far, and Madara will yank him backward.

"Have you seen his daughter?" Kakashi asks, and as if on cue, the little girl comes barreling down the trail, shrieking and laughing. There is smoke coming from behind the bushes and they both realize she has set something on fire. "He's practically a house husband," Kakashi says. He stretches, then leans against the tree comfortably. "Tsunade won't let him go on any missions."

"Why?" Obito says. Kakashi shrugs.

"Not trustworthy. And besides, Hashi-san herself is worth the strength of an entire platoon of nin. If something of that magnitude needs to be done, they'd rather just send her in."

"That doesn't anger him?" Obito watches as Madara shepherds his children away from the river. The toddler starts throwing a tantrum: Obito and Kakashi watch as Madara simply genjutsus him.

"I don't think so," Kakashi says, as Madara picks up the toddler the way he would a sack of flour, carrying both babies while his daughter follows him. "I think he actually enjoys it."

"Actually enjoys terrorizing the civilians in the village," Obito says. "I heard he set a local fruit stand on fire."

*****

"She's too powerful. I don't think she should be training with the other genin." The genin team leader, a Nara jounin, is sitting in front of Iruka and Tsunade. A sweat drop forms on the Nara jounin's forehead.

"Powerful, how?" Tsunade says. The Nara jounin swallows.

"Well. The span of her katon is easily the the same width and breadth of an entire fleet of nin. She's so proficient in taijutsu, she's inadvertently nearly killed the other genin. She's turned playground equipment into weapons and when I tried subduing her with my shadow technique, she overwhelmed it with chakra and broke free. And this is without her even using her Sharingan."

"Oh," Tsunade says. "I see." She and Iruka glance at each other.

It had been a compromise: three days a week, Madara's daughter would stay with her kindergarten class, while on the other days she would go train with a genin team. The team was a typical one, three rookie genin and a jounin instructor, and Madara's daughter was allowed to tag along with them on missions.

"What should we do?" Iruka says. He and Tsunade go over potential other jounin instructors, people with ocular powers who could easily subdue her. "The Hyuuga can't seem to handle her, and all the genin are afraid of her."

Tsunade crosses her arms, leaning back in her chair. "I think I know what to do," Tsunade says.

*****

Kakashi, Obito, and Minato stare at the little girl waving in front of them. "Hello!" she says. "My Sensei says I can come and train with you!"

Kakashi and Minato don't skip a beat. "Hello, ojou-chan. How old are you?"

She holds up five fingers. "Five!" she says. She holds up her dolly. "This is my dolly! She has a pink dress! Can she come train too?"

"You have got to be kidding," Obito says. Kakashi elbows him in the ribs.

*****

"YOOOOOOOOOSH! Get ready for the ultimate team! Me and Fuzzy Eyebrows Sensei and Old Man Madara, dattebayo!"

"Once again, in the springtime of youth!" Gai says, and he and Naruto chest bump each other.

Madara stares at them. "I am in hell," Madara says.

*****

Of all the indignities he must suffer, this by far is the worst. It also confirms Madara's suspicions that Obito was a consummate idiot, letting himself, a thirty-year-old man, be talked down by a sixteen-year-old with next to no life experience. That Uchiha Madara, the strongest shinobi alive, second only to Senju Hashirama, is being forced to be chaperoned by said sixteen-year-old is an affront to his senses.

"Sensei!" Lee's face is a waterfall of tears and snot, his lower lip trembling and his buggy eyes streaming. "Why can't I be on your team, Sensei?!"

"Worry not, my adorable pupil!" Gai throws an arm around Lee. "After this mission, we will continue to train!"

"Alright! I got the snacks, dattebayo! And the map, and the mission objectives, and--" Naruto pats his pockets. "Oh crap! Where are the mission objectives?!"

Madara gives them a withering look and holds up the pamphlet. Gai grabs it from him. "Ha ha! Looks like our resident grumpy grump is contributing!"

"Touch me and you will lose that hand," Madara says, just as Gai is about to clap him on the back. Gai and Naruto look at each other.

*****

"Madara-ojiichan. How come you're always in a bad mood, dattebayo?"

Naruto is walking with his hands behind his head, while Gai is running around in circles around them, counting reps and punching the air. Madara gives Naruto a pointed look. "You really need me to answer that question?"

"Is it 'cuz you miss your kids? 'Cuz I heard from Kakashi-sensei that you're pretty much a house husband, and--"

"Do the both of you wish to die? Because I can make that a reality," Madara says.

Gai starts shadow boxing. Madara glares.

*****

There is a meeting discussing who will succeed Tsunade as the Sixth Hokage. A few names float around: Might Gai. Hatake Kakashi. A scribe writes their names on a white board while the council discusses the formal nominations.

"What about Uchiha Obito."

They turn. Madara is leaning against a wall at the entrance of the conference room, arms crossed and covered in shadow.

"Madara." The elders look at each other. "You were not invited to this council."

"I had a hand in the founding of this village. Well. You invited neither myself nor Hashirama, so I suppose I can't be too insulted."

The elders frown at each other. "Uchiha Obito has committed many atrocities. He was an S-class nin and kage-level threat. He was the one who put in motion the Fourth Shinobi War."

"And it was my understanding he sacrificed himself to end it," Madara says. "Well. I am not surprised. Council idiots would never put an Uchiha to power."

"Madara-sama, a moment--"

But Uchiha Madara is already gone.

*****

Obito is coming back from a mission. It's dark now, and he slowly walks up the metal grate steps to his apartment. He's tired and his body hurts, and all he wants to do is go to sleep after a long, hot shower.

"Obito," Tsunade says, and Obito stops, surprised.

"Tsunade-sama?"

Tsunade smiles. She hands him some papers.

"I have need to speak with you."

*****

"Hokage?" Kakashi turns sharply. Obito is hunched over the bar, a drink in his hand and staring at his glass. "They've nominated you for Hokage?" Obito nods. "Obito...congratulations."

Obito lifts his eyes. Kakashi is beaming beneath his mask. Obito looks back down at his drink.

"I think I'm going to refuse it."

"Why?" Kakashi says, and Obito swirls his drink. He watches the amber liquid swirl, his reflection distorted in the glass.

"Whoever is Fire Shadow is sworn to protect the people of this village." Obito sets down his drink. "I was the one who set the Kyuubi loose. I was the one who nearly destroyed it."

Kakashi falls silent for a moment. And then, "Have you told Sensei?"

"I am too ashamed. I don't want him to know about it." Obito's voice is soft. He doesn't look at him.

Kakashi frowns. "I think you should talk to Sensei," Kakashi says. Obito hunches over the bar, not saying anything. Kakashi shifts forward.

"How long did they give you to make a decision?"

"Until the end of the month," Obito says. His eyes flick upward. "I was told if I refused, the title of Sixth Hokage would go to you."

Kakashi blinks. Obito pours himself another drink. "So," Obito says. He sets down his bottle. "Do you still think I should take it?"

There is the clinking of glass in the background, the sound of a wooden fan turning above them. Kakashi considers.

"Yes," Kakashi says, and his eyes meet Obito's.

"I really think you should."

*****

There aren't any other missions scheduled, but Obito doesn't enjoy his days off. While Kakashi is buying erotic fiction and Minato is hanging out with his kid, Obito has nowhere to go other than the training grounds, honing his techniques and thinking of ways to teach their little teammate more about the Sharingan.

"You mean Madara isn't training her?" Kakashi is sitting on a fence, watching as Obito tries to come up with ways to use Mangekyou without hurting her. Obito kicks a post, a simple side kick, but keeps his leg mid-air, holding the kata in perfect formation.

"Apparently he told her not to use her Sharingan because she has a tendency to overuse it." He slowly lowers his leg, then straightens. "I believe she goes straight to the Mangekyou and the Rinnegan because she doesn't have as firm a grasp on the basics."

"You mean genjutsu and enhanced perception?"

"Correct." Obito twists his body in another slow sideways kick. He punches. "I suspect she's had the Sharingan so long, she has taken for granted its own set of powers. And Madara is too used to using his Mangekyou and his Rinnegan, it is probably difficult for him to dumb it down."

"Hmm." Kakashi leans back, crossing his arms. "You really do make a good teacher. If you never got crushed by that rock, maybe you would have gotten a teaching job like Iruka."

Obito spins and kicks the post again. Kakashi hops off the fence.

"So," Kakashi says. "Have you decided what you're going to do about the Hokage thing, yet?"

Another kick. "I told you. I'm probably going to refuse it."

Kakashi sighs, loudly. "If you're worried you're interfering with some long-seated dream of mine, let me assure you, you're not. I'd only accept the position of Hokage out of an ingrained sense of duty."

A kick. "I doubt the villagers would accept me."

"The villagers don't know what's going on half the time. You'd have to worry about the other shinobi."

Kick. "Thank you for reminding me."

Kakshi tilts his head. "You know, Obito, I used to call you a crybaby elite and make fun of you, but even before you woke the Sharingan, you weren't bad. I was even jealous of your katons."

"What is this? Rare praise from Hatake Kakashi?" Kick. "Of course I wasn't bad. I was just a part of a clan of geniuses, teamed up with the top genin of our class. Anyone would look bad in comparison."

Spin, spin, kick. The post bends. Obito turns. "That took me the better part of twenty years to realize that. A shame I nearly had to end the world in order to do that." He looks at Kakashi's bag. "Another ero novel?"

"Oh yes." Kakashi holds up the book. "This one's called 'Kisses for my Lover.' I hear the plot's derivative but the smut scenes are phenomenal."

"You know most men would rather just watch porn instead of reading it."

"I prefer to use my imagination."

"Hm."

*****

The sun is starting to set, and the village is bathed in a deep, rich orange.

Obito goes to the drugstore to refill his medications. Antidepressant. Pain pill. Migraine prophylaxis. Recently he's been having panic attacks, so his doctor started prescribing Xanax. "It's likely PTSD from the rock falling in that cave," the civilian psychiatrist said. She wrote Obito the prescription. "If you take it, avoid operating heavy machinery. Don't take it with alcohol or mix it with other medications."

Obito walks out of the drug store, clutching his bags.

*****

Nighttime. Obito sits over the table and quickly eats a store-bought bento, sitting in the dark and watching the small television in the corner. It's a movie, some romantic comedy where the plucky heroine goes off to find herself in a small town. Invariably she's engaged to some jerk businessman, but she finds true love in the neighborhood lumberjack she meets after leaving the city.

This annoys him. This isn't love, it's infatuation, and what about her poor fiancé sitting in the city? Why do the writers have to bend over backwards to make him a jerk? Obito frowns at his bento box, then takes a swig of beer.

There is something lurking in the shadows outside.

Obito's eyes narrow. Slowly, he stands up, lowering the volume of the television. There is the sound of something clattering, and Obito strides quickly to his bedroom.

In the dark, the window is open. The light curtains move ominously in the breeze.

There is a weapons rack across the bed, and silently Obito backs up and palms a kunai in his hand. Gripping the handle, Obito carefully edges back out into the hallway.

A black shape darts out, and Obito whirls around.

Obito lunges toward him and attacks, an explosion of power. The man blocks, once, twice, then whacks Obito across the face. There is a sickening crack as the man's fist makes contact, but Obito jerks forward, dodging the next blow and spinning into a kick.

Punch, punch, kick. The man flips Obito over but Obito catches himself, springing back upward and vaulting into a flying kick through the air.

Contact. The man staggers. Obito whirls around and punches hard, once, twice, the third time he misses, the man dodging and hitting him square in the jaw. They stagger into the kitchen, where it's too dark to see. Obito's Sharingan flares. He dodges, lunges forward. The thin light from the movie pulses in the background.

Slam! He shoves a kunai against the assailant's neck, slamming him against the wall.

Obito's heart is thudding fast. Who was this? Was someone trying to assassinate him? He feels his throat constrict, the weight of a thousand boulders strangling him.

He's on the verge of another panic attack.

Obito's jaw tightens. He struggles to keep control, forces himself to slow his breathing. He grips the kunai harder.

And then, his assailant slowly starts to laugh.

"Splendid! Splendid! I should expect nothing less from the man who lived as Uchiha Madara!"

Obito pulls back, shocked. In the dark he hadn't recognized him. Madara's face splits into a slow grin.

"However," a black rod slowly worms out from Madara's arm, then presses menacingly against Obito's stomach, "once again, you have left yourself undefended."

Madara gives him a small poke, then retracts, raising his hands to show him. "Don't get too full of yourself," Madara says. "If I wanted to kill you, I already would have."

Obito lowers his kunai and the two men straighten. Obito's eyes narrow. "What do you want?"

"You are my daughter's teacher," Madara says. "It is only natural that I would want to see you."

On the TV, the heroine coos. "Oh! I never knew what love is until I met you!"

"I heard you were the one behind the Hokage nomination." Obito switches off the TV, flipping on the light. He turns back to Madara. "Why?" Obito says. Madara shrugs.

"I have children in this village," Madara says. "You could say I have a vested interest." Madara looks around. "A bento for one? How pathetic. If I had known you'd have such difficulties finding a partner, I wouldn't have worked so hard to kill your precious Rin."

Obito grabs Madara by the collar and slams him against the wall. "Why?" Obito says. "Why me? Why Hokage? What is it you're trying to do?"

Madara smirks. "It is a shame you have to ask."

"You're trying to find a way to manipulate them."

"Hm."

"What did you do?" Obito says. "Genjutsu them? Use mind-control to manipulate them?"

"I did nothing of the sort," Madara says. He pushes off Obito's arm and dusts off his shirt. "I merely gave them your name. Those simpletons at the council came to the same conclusion." Madara looks around. "This is your apartment?" Obito's eyes narrow.

"What's it to you?"

"It is a bit small, is it not?"

Obito glares.

"I mean no offense. I just remember you not being overly fond of too-small spaces."

"Just tell me what you want," Obito says. Madara turns.

"You've grown strong," Madara says. He looks Obito over. "I'd like to think I had a hand in it." Madara's eyes track over to the grocery bag of medications sitting on the desk.

Obito knows, without Madara having to say anything, that Madara is using his Sharingan to read the medications. Obito stalks over to the desk and grabs the bag.

"Let me spare you the trouble," Obito says, and he dumps the contents of the bag onto the table. "This is an antidepressant. This one is an anxiolytic. This one is for migraines and this one is for the shooting pains I still get in my face and limbs."

"Is that all?" Madara says. "And here I thought you were overly medicated."

"You manipulated me and tried to kill me. I was just a child. And you were a fucking psychotic old man--"

"You make it sound as if I somehow violated you. All I did was give you one small push - I did not inspire anything that wasn't already there."

"Killing Rin was not 'one small push'," Obito says. Madara spreads his hands.

"Agree to disagree, then," Madara says. "Believe it or not, Obito, I believed her death could be negated, so long as we stuck to the plan." Madara turns. His eyes flick upward.

"The world was imperfect," Madara says. "We both wanted the same thing. And if it meant eternal peace, it was a burden we both were willing to bear."

"So even now, you don't regret it?" Obito says. Madara sighs.

"I regret that it was what neither you nor I had wanted," Madara says. He picks up a bottle of medication, glancing at the label, before setting it down again. "I do not regret the original plan."

Obito scoffs. "That's not what I hear you told Hashirama."

"I tell Hashirama a lot of things. It is her own fault if she chooses to believe them." Madara looks around. "Do you have sake in this sorry place, or should we procure it elsewhere?"

Obito scowls. He moves swiftly to the other side of the kitchen and brings out a bottle.

"Ah," Madara says. "Good." He pours himself and Obito a drink."You asked me why I had them nominate you. The answer is quite simple. The Hokage is supposed to be the strongest shinobi in the village. You are my protégé and one of the few Uchiha left. If it is a matter of strength, then the answer is clear."

Madara sets down the bottle, pushing the glass toward Obito. "But you're right to question if I have an ulterior motive, and I do. I'm doing this for my children," Madara says. Obito knits his brow.

"Your children?" Obito says.

"My children are Uchiha in a village that shuns them," Madara says. He crosses his arms. "Don't you know what happened to my daughter?"

Obito sits back, listening. Madara leans forward.

"She was pulled out of her kindergarten class because those idiot teachers at the Academy claim she was bullying the other children. But I spoke to her, and do you know what she told me? She told me they were making fun of her. That her eyes were that of demons and that as an Uchiha she should have died. Those children made my daughter cry," Madara says, and his face darkens. "I would have killed them myself if not for Hashirama."

Obito's brow furrows. "You are telling me to become Hokage...because your daughter was bullied by other school children?"

"I am telling you to become Hokage because this village does not protect the Uchiha, it treats us like second-class citizens.

"I have children, Obito. I have a little girl who loves her school but wonders why the others won't be friends with her. I have two sons who will grow up in a world that will look at them with suspicion and contempt. If there is an Uchiha Hokage, my hope is that it can mitigate that."

Obito watches as Madara plays with the glass in front of him, and realizes Madara is telling the truth. "I want to talk to my Sensei, first," Obito says. Madara scoffs.

"Oh? You mean that yellow-haired weakling you tried to kill when you first attacked this village? Fine. Go talk to your Sensei. But know if you don't accept this position, your true Sensei will be very disappointed."

"Fuck you," Obito says. Madara rises. He starts to leave, but stops by the door.

"For what it is worth," Madara says, and Obito looks up, Madara's back facing toward him, "I do regret everything that happened. We betrayed each other for no good reason."

"I want you to leave," Obito says. Madara turns the door handle.

"I will see you again when I pick up my daughter," he says, and he walks out the door.

*****

Minato is spending the day with Naruto, but he can meet with Obito in the evening. "He's going to get ramen with Iruka. Maybe we can meet for dinner?" Minato says.

The sun is starting to set. Above them, the sound of crows echoes through the otherwise empty street, and the setting light is red and orange. Obito stands at the top of the hill and sees his Sensei walking up toward him. Their eyes meet and his Sensei smiles and waves at him.

They go to a barbecue restaurant on the other side of town. Meat sizzles on the grill, and Minato turns it over with a pair of chopsticks, grilling the other side.

"So," Minato says. He adds more meat onto the grill. "What is it that you wanted to talk to me about?" Obito hesitates.

"Sensei," Obito says.

"Hm?"

"They..." the meat sizzles. "They asked me to become Hokage."

Minato's face brightens. "That's great!" Minato says, but Obito lowers his eyes. Minato asks gently, "Why are you not happy?"

"I am happy. I'm flattered I'm being acknowledged, but..." Obito's hands tighten into fists. "But I don't know that I deserve it."

Minato smiles. "You of all people deserve it," Minato says. "You've always worked so hard to be your best, and you always helped other people."

"Sensei I tried to kill your wife and child--"

"I know," Minato says. "But I believe you've worked to atone for it. I know you'd be a great Hokage," Minato says.

The door to the restaurant opens, Naruto and Kakashi walking inside. Naruto sees them and his face brightens.

"Look Kakashi-sensei! It's Obito and my dad! Let's go sit with them, dattebayo!"

Minato turns and Obito quickly wipes his eyes, which are red and swollen. Naruto and Kakashi come over.

"I take it you talked to him?" Kakashi says to Obito. Obito smiles ruefully and nods. Naruto tilts his head quizzically.

Minato beams, proudly. "Naruto. Obito just found out he was chosen to be Hokage." Naruto's eyes widen.

"Eh?! Obito-san is going to be Hokage?!" Naruto's face splits into a grin. He pumps his fist. "That's so cool, dattebayo! Obito-san is gonna be a great Hokage--wait, Obito-san?! You're crying?!"

And Obito laughs, his eyes creasing into two crescent-shaped moons, smiling and wiping his eyes.

*****

10.

It's the day of the Naming Ceremony, and Madara's daughter is excited. "They're gonna pick a new Fire Shadow!" his daughter says, and she spins around the house yelling at topmost volume, "Fire Shadow! Fire Shadow! Fire Shadow!" She runs up and down the hallway excitedly.

Hashi is supposed to take her to the ceremony, but his daughter insists Madara come with them. "My Sensei is going to be the Fire Shadow, Daddy! I want you to come see him!"

"Your Sensei is an idiot. Why must your father see him?"

"Because it's my Sensei, Daddy!"

Madara cannot think of a good argument not to come, so he loads the other two children up in a wheelbarrow and pushes them through town. His daughter cranes her neck, trying her best to look out through the crowd of gawking civilians who have gathered. Madara sighs loudly, then picks her up, putting her on his shoulders.

"Look, look Daddy!" his daughter bounces on his shoulders. "There's my Sensei! See him?"

"I do," Madara says, and his daughter laughs and kicks her feet excitedly, hitting him in the chest. Hashi bites back a laugh.

"Anata. That was a good thing you did for Obito." It's nighttime now, and Hashi turns and snuggles Madara in bed. "Everyone thinks you're so terrible but you actually have your soft spots."

"Hmph." Madara sniffs. "I had my reasons."

Hashi hugs him. "Because even after all that's happened, you're still fond of him."

"No." Madara starts to laugh. "Because I can tell that over-emotional idiot to take me off that stupid team with the Uzumaki brat and the Taijutsu idiot!"

"Eh?"

Madara's eyes glitter. "Tsunade has long refused to remove me from my keepers. Anyone she would have picked would inevitably do the same. Now that Obito is in power, he can remove me from that team and let me work alone and in peace, the way it should be!"

Hashi frowns. "So, this whole thing you did - the heart-to-heart, the grudging apology, the acknowledgement of each other's strengths and weaknesses - that was just so you wouldn't be watched by Naruto and Gai?"

"YES!" Madara laughs psychotically. "And it worked! It worked all according to plan! Everything fell into place exactly as I wanted! Uchiha Madara will no longer bear the shackles of mediocre idiots! With this I have finally exacted revenge!"

Hashi frowns at him. "You are such an idiot," Hashi says.

#solatium #crash pad #birdsong #my crappy fic #doing the five things thing #uchiha obito #uchiha madara #obirin

19 notes · View notes

raendown · 5 years ago

Link

Pairing: MadaraTobirama Word count: 3648 Chapter: 35/42 Summary: Not all wars are fought on the battlefield. Some are fought at the conference table, with whispers in the shadows, or even in the bedroom.

In a world where the Senju and Uchiha traditional lands were too far apart to have ever made them enemies, Butsuma and Tajima are the ones who come together and sign a treaty of peace. Madara isn’t happy to have his life signed away for him in a political marriage to strengthen the bond between their clans. He is even less happy to have Tobirama make assumptions of him from their very first night together. What follows from there is a journey of healing, of learning, and finding the places to belong in the places least expected.

Follow the link or read it under the cut!

KO-FI and commission info in the header!

Chapter 35

For as many times as he had yelled at his brother for spouting similar flowery nonsense it was possible he owed Hashirama an apology or two and yet even that thought wasn’t enough to stop him from noticing just how bright the sunlight was today, how crisp the shapes of first frost on every windowpane. Every smile he passed only increased his cheer and if it wouldn’t be so out of character he might have stopped to laugh with some of the happy citizens walking by. Not even the much more reserved atmosphere of the Senju district was enough to dampen his spirits, a spring in his step all the way to his brother’s house where he let himself in without knocking as was his habit. Mito took one look at him and turned her head away to smother a laugh.

“Good morning, ane,” he called, too cheerful to find any annoyance in her reaction to what was surely a foolish look on his own face. She waved him further in to the home without a word. With a low chuckle he followed the direction she had waved in and found Hashirama watering a few plants in a small side room they frequently claimed was meant for an eventual child. Judging by the sheer amount of flora contained within these four small walls Tobirama sometimes wondered if they weren’t a little more nervous than they let on about the idea of procreating.

“Hi Tobi! Good morning!” His brother offered a blinding smile, trying to wave and water a small potted tree at the same time only to shake water all over the floor.

“It certainly is a good morning. I trust you fared well while we were away?”

As soon as the words were out of his mouth Hashirama dropped the watering can and hurried over to feel his forehead. “Tobi are you okay? Did you get sick on your trip?”

“Begging your pardon?”

“Oh dear! It’s worse than I thought!”

To his utter bafflement Hashirama pulled him back out to the living room and pressed him down in to the closest chair, babbling to Mito the moment they entered her view. “Darling, my dearest, something is wrong. Could you fetch me the blanket from the couch there? He’s not acting himself!”

“I am perfectly fine, anija.” Tobirama chuckled and then chuckled harder when the sound elicited a small fit from his sibling.

“You asked if we were okay while you were gone! You never ask that! And you’re being all polite and kind and – oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear. I hope Madara isn’t sick too!” he turned to his wife with an indecisive frown. “Should we check on him or do you think it would make him angry?”

“For goodness sake, man, I said that I’m fine! Control your husband ane!”

“Ane!?”

To his great amusement Hashirama's eyes rolled back in his head and he sank down on the couch next to his wife, fanning himself with one hand like a gentlelady experiencing the vapors. On any other day Tobirama knew he would have been fuming with temper at so many insults against his character – to be so worried about him simply for a little politeness! – but his mood was too good and today nothing felt wrong with the world. Today he had enough patience to simply recline in his chair and watch with a mild expression as Mito lost the battle with her own self-control and let slip one single string of giggles.

“Peace, husband, he’s perfectly fine,” she told him.

“Now you too!?” he cried. “What is going on with you two?”

Reaching over to pat him on the knee, Mito took a few deep breaths to calm herself. “He had sex, darling, he’s just in a very good mood.”

Like the brave woman she was she made it all the way through her entire sentence before breaking down and exploding in to a full on giggling fit. Tobirama cocked his head to watch her, wishing for a moment that he could record her like the Sharingan could. What excellent blackmail this would have made.

A very small piece of his mood was soured when Hashirama shot up on the couch with a ramrod straight back and a smile bright enough to light the entire village at the witching hour. “Oh! Excellent! Finally! I really was beginning to worry about the two of you again. Madara explained his clan’s customs to me – and I respect them! – it just doesn’t seem very healthy to me for a married couple to ignore that part of their relationship.”

“What if one person in the couple doesn’t like sex?” Tobirama asked, more in the mood for gentle teasing than to allow Hashirama of all people to offer opinions on something he thought had been going fairly well for a while now. Also it was fun to watch the man flail as though terrified he might have offended someone.

“Of course! It’s their choice! I just meant–”

“Did you ever ask Madara if he was even interested in that? How do you know I didn’t just tie him to the bed and have my way?”

Hashirama clapped both hands to the sides of his face, horrified. “Tobi! You wouldn’t!”

“But how do you know I didn’t?” He was so glad he’d come here first before visiting Touka. This was much more entertaining than her easy acceptance would have been.

“Please tell me you didn’t? Oh Tobirama, I’m so disappointed, you two have been getting along so much better lately. He’s going to be so angry. Do you think I should go see him? Maybe I can settle him down, talk to him and keep him calm. You should apologize!” On and on he went, completely unaware of Mito rolling her eyes beside him, until finally Tobirama cut him off with a loud huff.

“I am, quite frankly, very insulted you’re taking this so seriously. Do you honestly think I would ever force anyone in such a manner? I know I was just joking about it but it’s not actually a joking matter.” Tobirama frowned reprovingly. “Honestly, what must you think of me?”

He was pleased to see that brought Hashirama up short. The man fell utterly still and one could almost physically watch the wheels turning in his mind and he processed the fact that he’d been had. It seemed to take even longer for him to figure out what to do with that information but eventually he sagged back next to his wife and drew one hand down his face as though exhausted by so much difficult thought all at once. When he met Tobirama’s eyes again he was grinning in relief.

“You really had me going there!” he said and Tobirama only shook his head.

“Only because you make it too easy for me to do so. Truly if I weren’t in such a good mood I would be very upset with you right now.”

Hashirama laughed nervously and offered a dozen or so apologies before Tobirama let the subject drop, turning to strike up a conversation with Mito instead. The visit ended up being quite a pleasant one despite the insult he suffered at Hashirama's assumption. After all the personal gossip had been traded and Tobirama had made enough hints at the events of his rather delightful night without actually giving them any details their chat finally turned back towards the purpose of his visit.

Where most might have spoken with their coworkers or others in their department to catch up on what had happened in the village during an absence Tobirama knew better. The best method was to hope Mito was available and in a proper mood to spill a few secrets. Butsuma may not consider her part of the official spy network but the size of her web of connections was rivalled by very few and Tobirama knew no better hub of information than his dear sister in law. All it took was a few questions worded just right and he was perfectly caught up not only on the official things he had missed but also a few unofficial ones as well, gossip that didn’t really pertain to him but could be useful if he encountered the right circumstances.

The one little tidbit which caught his attention the most was from a team who had travelled in the opposite direction of the capitol and came back reporting strange chakra activity in the area. Without a sensor in their group they hadn’t been able to say anything more specific than that but it was just odd enough of a warning to make Tobirama curious about what anyone else travelling through the area might have to say. For a non-sensor type to feel strange chakra activity there had to be quite a large amount of it. If he were a less responsible man he might have skipped out of the village to go look in to things himself.

Once Mito finally ran out of gossip she was willing to share he stuck around for a little while longer, bearing his brother’s teasing about how often he smiled in the few short hours of his visit and quite proud of himself for resisting the urge to retaliate even once. At least his sister in law wasn’t quite so loud and brash about her own ribbing. When he left he made his way through the backyard to pop in on Touka where he suffered through more than twice as much teasing as he’d gotten from the other two, though once again he managed to let it all flow off his back with the help of his unnaturally good mood. It was, he told himself, nice to see his beloved family so happy even if it was at his own expense.

Leaving Touka’s he was still in high enough spirits he had to concentrate in order to keep his face from breaking out in to a ridiculous smile as he walked back home. The office could wait for tomorrow. Whatever paperwork had piled up in his absence would still be there when he was actually on the clock; maybe if he was lucky then the people who were supposed to have been covering his duties while he was away might be inspired to actually do the work before he got there. Probably not but he could hope.

A very small bit of his good mood dissipated, however, when he reached for the front door of his home and caught a minute flare of chakra from inside. Evidently Izuna had come to visit while he was gone. Tobirama hovered with his fingers wrapped around the door handle, waffling with indecision, hoping neither of the men inside were paying enough attention to feel him there. On the one hand he wanted nothing more than to step inside and spend the rest of his day cozied up next to Madara watching his husband shiver at every touch, hyper aware of him after last night. On the other he knew that Madara had as much right as he did to catch up with family and Izuna had proven time and time again that he just couldn’t be comfortable with Tobirama in the house. Should he leave? It would be the decent thing to do.

But when had he ever professed to be a decent person?

In the end Tobirama turned away from the door with a sigh only to creep his way around the outside of his own home and slip in through the window like some common burglar. As long as he stayed quiet and kept his chakra low he could at least be productive here in his home office without disturbing Izuna’s visit. The man couldn’t stay forever, after all, and it wouldn’t hurt him to let his husband have at least one decent visit without the two of them ruining everything with their pointless feud. All the white flags in the world wouldn’t matter for shit if Izuna refused to accept the ceasefire he had offered. Stubborn pride would be the death of them both.

The first thing he did was wrinkle his nose and find a rag to wipe off the desk with. After so many hours in their offices at the tower this room didn’t see quite as much use as it probably should. On the all too frequent occasion either of them brought something home to finish they prefered to work in the living room where there would still be a warm body to cuddle up with in reward for being responsible. With his work space a little easier to look at Tobirama was able to comfortably settle himself in the chair he sort of wanted to steal for his own office, pulling out enough parchment to keep himself occupied for a good long while, and settled in to lose himself among the ink. A very small part of his consciousness remained focused on the other side of the house where both Izuna and Madara remained pleasantly calm; it was nice to know they weren’t fighting for once. But for the most part he pulled his chakra inwards and kept his own presence as unobtrusive as possible.

Given a chance to guess he would probably have said he expected to stay in the office for at least a couple more hours if not several. With how volatile things had been between the Uchiha siblings and Izuna stubbornly instigating fights when they were entirely unnecessary he fully understood them taking their time to enjoy a good bonding session. It was therefore quite a surprise to have the door open and both men step in to the room after barely more than a full hour had passed. They stopped as soon as they spotted him there, of course, and Tobirama was so startled all he could do was blink back at them with his own stunned expression.

“When did you get home?” Madara demanded.

“An hour ago.”

“I didn’t even hear you come in.”

With as straight a face as possible he admitted, “I came in through the window after I sensed Izuna’s presence.” His brother in law squinted and he hurried to add to his statement. “There didn’t seem sense in disturbing you.”

As he’d thought, the man couldn’t seem to find anything wrong with that. Madara, on the other hand, was wearing a pinched face caught halfway between gratitude and annoyance. He could easily guess what thoughts were going through that beloved head, wished he had a better solution than crawling through windows in his own home.

“Suppose I was gonna get going anyway,” Izuna murmured eventually, cutting through the awkwardness. Tobirama waved one hand.

“Do not leave on my account if you’re enjoying your visit. I had planned to stay in here.”

“No I really was leaving anyway. Mads was just grabbing a book that I wanted to borrow.” He looked almost irritated that he didn’t actually have anything to be irritated about.

Rather than fight him on that – he was hardly going to complain about getting what he wanted after all – Tobirama remained silent as Madara rifled through the shelves and kept his eyes on his work in an effort to ignore the tense atmosphere in the room. It was a relief when the book was finally located and Madara shooed his brother towards the front door so they could say goodbye to each other in peace. With the door left open he could have heard what they were murmuring to each other but he chose not to invade their privacy in such a manner, not after going to so much effort just to give them privacy before.

He had bent his head back to the papers before him by the time Madara came back in to the room but dared to peek up in the hopes that he would not find irritation there, thrilled to see his luck holding out still. His husband was leaning against the door jamb with his arms folded and a particular tightness around his mouth that said he was holding back a smile. Tobirama liked to think that smile would have been at least half as soppy as the ones he had been fighting off all morning.

“You’re home a little earlier than I expected you to be. Thought you’d be trapped at Hashirama's forever before you made it over to your cousin’s.”

“Ah.” Tobirama gestured with one hand for his partner to come closer. “They did both have quite a bit to say.”

“Izu says it’s super obvious that we had sex last night!” Madara immediately clapped both hands over his mouth, clearly not having meant to blurt that out. He glared when Tobirama laughed but still allowed himself to be coaxed across the room.

“My family told me the same thing – well, Mito did, it took Hashirama a while to figure out the context for my good mood.” As soon as the man was near enough Tobirama hooked his waist with one arm and tugged, pulling Madara in to his lap where he could bury his face against the neck he had so liberally covered in love bites. All under the massive volume of hair, of course, and with the way his husband usually wore it he was fairly sure they had so far gone entirely unnoticed. He wasn’t cruel enough to embarrass either of them like that.

After squirming a little at first Madara eventually melted in to his touches with a low purr. “He said I looked really stupid.”

“Not the word I would choose to describe you. Well, not today anyway.”

“Hey!”

Tobirama laughed and distracted the man with a few more kisses to some choice locations.

Despite having spent most of their visit sitting around the kitchen table gabbing like old men with nothing better to do apparently Madara never bothered to actually get up and make food for him and his brother, though he decided to rectify that the moment he heard Tobirama’s stomach growling. It took a bit of play fighting but eventually Tobirama relented and allowed him to get up so they could move back to the kitchen together. He did offer to help cook but Madara shooed him in to a chair with one stern finger and that was just cute enough to convince him to listen.

While he cooked for the most part he nattered on in a way reminiscent of his best friend, though Tobirama was smart enough not to make any such comparisons out loud, and the large majority of what he talked about had to do with Izuna. He spoke on what his brother had been doing with the ANBU since being given control of the project or what he had been up to in general and all the while didn’t really seem to remember why he usually wouldn’t talk about his brother in front of his husband. Tobirama soaked up every word with a beatific smile. He might not be terribly interested in the subject matter but married couples were supposed to be able to speak to each other about anything at all; seeing Madara so free did wonders on his heart.

As he listened Tobirama played with one of the empty mugs still sitting on the table and tuned out a little, falling in to his own thoughts. The issue of Izuna was one he could not solve himself, clearly, making peace required the cooperation of both parties. But should he really give up so soon after only a single gesture? Did a lifetime of training how to schmooze and ingratiate himself with potential allies mean nothing? If he were completely honest with himself there were many actions he could take from here and he’d known that all along, he just hadn’t wanted to admit it. Hadn’t wanted to be the one to back down and show himself as the weaker party. Really his own stubborn pride had been getting in the way almost as much as Izuna’s had and that meant he probably had almost as much of the blame on his shoulders for the ongoing state of this ridiculous feud.

He didn’t realize just how badly he had slipped away in to his own head until Madara set a plate down in front of him with a playful scowl that said he knew he’d been ignored. Tobirama apologized by tugging him down far enough to kiss the pout from those lips. When he looked down at his lunch, however, it stirred an idea that he wanted immediately to reject off hand yet forced himself to stop and reconsider. A feud with such deep emotions required a deep gesture. His problem up until now had been that he was thinking too small.

“I don’t know if I like the smile on your face right now,” Madara said cautiously as he sank down in to the opposite chair.

“What do you mean?”

“You look like you’re up to something. That is an evil smile if I have ever seen one. And I lived with Izuna for most of my life, I’ve seen more than my fair share of evil smiles.”

Tobirama resisted the urge to snicker at the irony that Madara should still be so focused on his younger brother even without knowing what thoughts had led to the expression that so worried him. Instead he reached for his fork and filled his mouth with rice to excuse himself from offering any sort of reply. His husband scowled but that was fine. He could fix that again with more kisses after they had eaten. Until then he simply continued to eat and kept his plans to himself, somehow just a little more hopeful for a happy future than he had been even just this morning.

#rae writes #madatobi #madara #tobirama #hashirama #mito #touka #fanfiction #i don't think i've ever written tobi having the morning after happies #it was fun lol

13 notes · View notes

365daysofsasuhina · 5 years ago

Text

[ 365 Days of SasuHina || Day Two Hundred Sixty-Seven: For the Time Being ] [ Uchiha Sasuke, Hyūga Hinata, Uchiha Itachi ] [ SasuHina ] [ Verse: A Light Amongst Shadows ] [ AO3 Link ]

They knew there would be risks. They all did. After all, there’s little aligning yourself with someone once so hated and getting away scot-free. Both Uchiha brothers have known that their pasts are not something so easily escaped...and those who refuse to forgive or forget will dog their every steps, forever convinced of their guilt, pardons or not.

It’s what made Sasuke so leery of allowing himself so close to someone like Hinata. She, so free of association from himself, his actions, and their consequences. Their slowly budding friendship after the end of the war was one thing. They just...happened to keep running into each other. Between being fellow third wheels to the rest of team seven, other mutual friendships, and the new alliance between the Hyūga and their struggling Uchiha cousins, there’s been little avoiding her, really.

And that had been fine. That early on, actions and words against the Uchiha were still in their infancy. And he’d been on similar levels with others of their age group. But as time passed, it began to become clear that there was more between them than with anyone else...especially from Sasuke’s side.

As soon as he’d realized it...he’d panicked. He’d long since given up on companionship, for a multitude of reasons...the danger only being chief among many. He had no idea what to do in a relationship, having spent most of his developmental years alone, angry, and resolute for far different purposes. He didn’t want to hurt her reputation. He didn’t want to hurt her. But he also realized that finding someone he could feel that way about, after all he’d been through and lost, was something he wasn’t sure to find again. Torn between temptation, fear, uncertainty, and worry...it had taken prompting from more than one person to finally follow through.

And Hinata, once made aware of his feelings, wasn’t one to back down. She’d nearly lost her life for a love she’d never had. Doing so again for someone she’d grown to love, and be loved by in return, was worth dying for in her eyes.

He had to both admire and admonish her stubborn nature. Not that he could really do so without hypocrisy. It took convincing, and even then he was still wary, but...eventually, he gave in to emotion over logic, and agreed to call her his.

It took a little time for people to notice. But once they did, it wasn’t long before the insults started. The harsh whispers, the glares, the small acts of aggression. She asked him, at first, not to interfere. To react harshly would only cement their opinions of him all the harder. She could take name calling and defamatory words.

She’d suffered them at home long enough for them to lose their sting.

But once things became physical - once someone laid their hands on her - he had enough, and bit back.

...to little avail.

It seemed that no matter what anyone did - the Uchiha themselves, their Hyūga allies, or even other friends - the overall tone never changed.

If anything...it only got worse.

Though not entirely traditional, Hinata moves in with Sasuke several months into their time dating. The Hyūga compound is...stifling, in her opinion. And though there hasn’t been any sort of proposal, both silently know there isn’t much stopping them, now.

The Uchiha district - having been empty during Pein’s invasion - was never rebuilt afterward. Instead, it has only come to host three houses: Sasuke’s, Itachi’s, and Shisui’s...though most days are spent in the main manor, anyway. The lingering paranoia, and over-protective bond the three now have for each other and their families means being hesitant to remain apart. The rest is left mostly as open field, having been slowly regrowing grass. It’s an oddly peaceful place, despite a lingering tone of somber loss and remembrance.

It’s that same atmosphere - and perhaps a fear of hauntings - that keeps most people away regardless. Even most antagonizers won’t make the trek into clan lands, too superstitious about being cursed by such a hateful clan.

...but it doesn’t work on everyone.

Which is why, one morning, Sasuke finds himself awoken by his brother, gesturing for silence and cooperation. Nodding, he abandons his bed and leaves Hinata sleeping with a guarding kage bunshin, following Itachi outside where they can speak freely.

“We have a situation.”

“So I guessed, given your visit. What’s going on?”

Face grave, Itachi merely gestures to the manor entrance.

What Sasuke sees brings a leaden weight to his gut.

Horrible graffiti, damage, and other desecrations mar the front doors to the house, threats both painted and carved. But while the imagery is daunting, it’s the surrounding implications that panic him. “No one heard this? Sensed it?”

“No...it happened sometime in the night. None of us noticed. Thankfully I was the first awake, noticed it, and had my family sent with Shisui to the Hokage’s office. I recommend you do the same with Hinata. Things had just gotten far more serious. It’s one thing to make and display threads. It’s another to do so completely unnoticed by everyone here. Hinata’s Byakugan, my wife’s sensory skills, our own high levels of perception...and none of us realized a thing. Whoever did this is of a frightening level of skill. Which, I imagine, is meant to be masked by the brazen methods they used to mark the door.”

“Too bad we’re too smart for that,” Sasuke mutters. “So...what now?”

“I’ve sent word to my officers, a few squadrons should be here soon to begin investigating. We need to find who did this...and who they’re working for.”

“You don’t think they’re the ones behind it?”

“This just seems...odd. If someone was skilled enough to pull a stunt like this, why not try to be more direct? Why use such skillful infiltration...and then reveal their presence so obviously?”

“...you think it’s a distraction.”

“...I’m not sure what I think quite yet. But this just feels...off.” Itachi gives his younger brother a careful glance. “...we made need to consider some...adjustments.”

“...meaning?”

“It may be wise to...relocate some of us. For the time being. I know that Hinata is a capable kunoichi. And I know you will do all you can to protect her, just as I would do for my family, and Shisui as well. But...we all know these risks. And we all know our weak points...and so do our enemies. Perhaps, for a time...all but the three of us could head someplace more...remote. Less easily accessible. Where they can be less exposed while we look into this.”

Understanding alights Sasuke’s face. “...you want to send them to her home village? You know they’ll object. They all will. Hinata especially.”

“...I do. But sometimes, what is necessary is not also what is preferred. Their safety, we can all agree, is our top priority. Correct?”

“Of course.”

“Then we may have to incur a little wifely wrath for the greater good,” Itachi muses with a wry grin. “They’ll be angry, certainly...but we need to prioritize. Up in the mountains, where it’s remote and difficult to access, and under the watchful eyes of one of the animal sages. I doubt there’s any safer place for them at present. Just for a little while, as we look into this. Once things seem to calm down, they can come home. But this is a precaution we would be foolish not to take.”

Sasuke sighs, dragging a hand down his face. “...all right. But we need to talk this over. All of us.”

“Shisui and my family are with Kakashi. I suggest you take Hinata there, and wait for me. Once I have a chance to speak with my ANBU, I’ll join you.” There’s a grim look in Itachi’s eyes. “...I know Kakashi has avoided taking sides in this issue, but...he may no longer have a choice with such direct evidence.”

“We’re just as much a part of Konoha as everyone else,” Sasuke can’t help but growl. “The fact he’s being so hesitant with this pisses me off.”

“You forget his position is rather delicate, Sasuke. Konoha is in a state of flux, in many regards. Fanning the flames between us and our enemies may only make the rest harder.”

“Konoha’s administration already failed us once,” is the younger brother’s scathing reply, earning a small grimace from Itachi as his Sharingan unconsciously flare with emotion. “That nearly cost us everything. I’m not going to let them do it again.” With that, he turns to fetch Hinata, fists curled and pace unwavering.

Behind him, Itachi sighs gustily. “...I know, Sasuke...I know.”

.oOo.

OKAY so I'm still a day behind (I have another drabble to post RIGHT after this), but at least I was only two days behind for a day :'D Lemme tell ya, life is kicking me in the pants the last few days, and I was just...too exhausted last night to write. BUT! I got both the 24 and the 25's entries done. Still a day behind, but all things considered...that's not too bad, haha~ Anyway, about the oneshot! We're revisiting the ALAS verse again. I...think I've written about this event before, but again, it's getting a bit hazy remembering what I've covered over the past 8+ months ^^; But I think I only covered part of this event...the uncovered part being the tentative plans to split the clan up, and remove part of it from Konoha for their safety. Hinata is...SO not going to be happy, but Itachi is right: you gotta make hard choices to keep the people you love safe. Even if they'd argue they can handle themselves. This emerging enemy is unknown, but clearly at least partially skilled. And Sasuke doesn't want to put her at risk, no matter how capable she is. Anyway...I'd ramble more, but it's late and I still need to post the second drabble for tonight! Maybe before September is up I'll catch up again...in fact I'd like to, as I have another challenge to do for October :'D So here's hoping! But for now, thanks for reading!

#sasuhina #uchiha sasuke #hyūga hinata #uchiha itachi #a light amongst shadows [ canon verse ]#365daysofsasuhina

15 notes · View notes

taliaquinn · 5 years ago

Text

Why Me!? Chapter 14

Marinette was bundled up in her blankets on her very expansive bed and was focused on the screen in front of her. An irritated Chloe Bourgeois, an impatient Aurore, and a glaring Kagami, who was sharpening her saber, were staring back at her. Marinette made a quick mental note to ask her how many sabers she has. Juleka had confiscated her saber, unfortunately, it seemed like Kagami had spares.

“-then Alya had the nerve to ask the committee to reinstate your plans, of course since I’m on the committee I immediately shot down that idea, She of course immediately threw a tantrum and was almost kicked out, later she had a live stream ranting about how being class president is so difficult” Chloe said making air quotes.

“Of course at this point, she had only 30 viewers, most of them from Bustiers” Kagami added putting away her saber.

“How is it that Alya only had the job for LESS THAN A WEEK and is already stressed, meanwhile we both had the job for over a year and yet we never cracked” Chloe ranted.

“Some people are just unappreciative,” piped Aurore. Chloe snorted, that was the understatement of the year.

“Anyways talking about her leaves a bad taste in my mouth, Marinette when are you returning to us?” Aurore asked she missed the bluenette.

“Probably in a year,I’m getting enrolled in some school in Gotham”

“Are your aunt and uncle okay with you staying for the rest of the year?”

Oh right Marinette forgot that was her cover story. She hated lying to her friends even more. But She was scared of how the others would treat her if they found out her parentage and if she would be able to tell the difference between the honest people and the fake gold-diggers, the Alya’s, Alix’s and Nino’s so to speak.

Now It was getting harder to be able to video call her friends in a spot that would get her privacy and doesn’t look too extravagant.

Her new room was far bigger than her room in Paris, which took Marinette some getting used to. Of course, Mr.Wayne made sure to give her money to fill her room up. Although a spool of thread does not cost triple digits, at least the thread that she uses. She already has an area dedicated to her sewing business.

Tim has been gracious enough to be hmannequin until hers come. Marinette finds it unfair that someone like Tim can be sleep-deprived and coffee-addicted and still look like that. Unfair.

Marinette already finished Ms.Kyles' dress and she’s going to give that to her next time she comes to the Manor.

“Yeah, they’ve been very uh accommodating, and great actually!!”

“It shows, you look way less stressed and more relaxed” Kagami noted

“The wonders of having a decent sleep schedule” Marinette quipped. Seriously she didn’t have school yet and didn’t have to worry about class duties anymore. It was awesome.

“Oh and great news, We’re going to Europe in a few weeks,” Marinette added excitedly

“WAIT!!!! Exactly when” Aurore asked.

“Two or three”

“EXCELLENT” Aurore blurted out, “That means that you’ll be able to attend the school dance”

Suddenly all lightbulbs seemed to click on in all the girls.

“That was exactly the final piece we needed” Kagami nodded

“ Yeppers, now all we need is Ladybug and then we’re good” Chloe added.

“Waitwaitwait Final Piece to what?” Marinette asked

“Revenge” All three girls responded in unison.

“Oh boy, you guys wanna clue me in on it? Or is it that type of situation where I want as much Plausible deniability as possible?” With those three you never know.

“Probably best for you to not know anything yet” Chloe chimed sweetly.

Thank god That Marinette can now afford bail

Suddenly she started getting a video call from Dick

“Sorry guys I got my er-cousin calling me, I'll talk with you guys tomorrow,” Marinette said, Receiving a chorus of goodbyes and one whine in response. Marinette hung up and quickly answered Dick.

“Hiya Maribug, sorry I wasn’t able to call you yesterday things are pretty busy around here” Dick greeted. Marinette noticed that the poor guy seemed exhausted, he had dark bags under his eyes and kept on yawning.

“It’s fine Dick, What’s going on?” Marinette asked concerned.

Dick sighed. “It seems that Penguin and Black Mask have set up base here in Bludhaven, unfortunately, the two aren’t playing nice, so now we seem to be on the brink of a gang war,” Dick said tiredly. Both Officer Grayson and Nightwing were busy trying to stop the city from falling into a gang war, of course, that was exhausting.

Gang War? AND HER BROTHER WAS RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF IT!? Having a cop brother is stressful enough but having a cop brother in Bludhaven is something else,

Seriously Bludhaven makes Gotham look like a resort destination and that’s after Nightwing has made his debut. Mr.Wayne told her that Dick was regarded as a good cop who’s been helping root out corruption in the BPD. Which of course puts the idiot in EVEN MORE DANGER. Jesus Christ. Now she can understand why Everyone always seems to mother hen the boy. She’s joining the crusade soon.

“But you’re not going to be too involved are you Dick?”

“Sorry Maribug, right now I’m involved, but don’t worry your brother can take care of himself” Dick quickly added with a wink.

“Uh Huh Sure, those eyebags say differently, Go Sleep” Marinette ordered.

Dick Barked out a laugh. “Oh alright Maribug, Night Night”

“Nighty night” Marinette responded and hung up. She turned over and shifted in a comfortable position and let the darkness overtake her.

Batcave, Wayne Manor Gotham City, USA 8:50 pm

“Damian Marinette is going to start school at Gotham Academy in a few days, I need you to keep an eye on her and help her” Bruce informed Damian

“-tt- of course, father, But I am afraid we’re going to have to come up with a believable cover story”

“No cover story, people are bound to find out soon anyways, but she’s going to be enrolled as Marinette Dupain Cheng so people won't probably make the connection”

“Yeah demon-spawn and if people do get curious as to why you’re being decent, just say she's your cousin or something” Jason added oh ever so helpful

“-tt- Very well”

“We’re going to introduce Marinette in a few weeks anyways, we have a business trip to London so she’s going to make a pitstop in Paris and get her stuff in order before we announce her to the world” Tim piped up upon entering the Batcave.

“Jesus being the Child of Bruce Wayne is going to be stressful enough, imagine how wack it's going to be when she finds she’s the daughter of Batman as well” Jason noted

“Speaking of which Bruce are you sure we shouldn’t tell Marinette about our little side job, I mean shes noticed that we aren’t exactly normal,” Tim said, while typing away on the batcomputer, right now he was busy trying to track down a few escaped convicts from Arkham and figure out any last known locations of Black Mask and Penguin.

“Yes father she is not an imbecile unlike you Drake”

“Why you little br-”

“We can’t do that” Jason cut in before insults started flying. “She’s a normal kid, She isn’t a secret superhero or nothing, she’s the embodiment of sunshine and happiness, which reminds me Bruce are we sure she’s your kid?” Jason asked

“Yes, I’m sure” Seriously what was it with people questioning it. He wasn’t that gloomy, was he? “She has her own business that has already gained attention and recognition, plus she was a class president in her old school, she had to get that from me” Bruce retorted.

“OH COME ON, we can’t loop her in, She was fucking president of her class, that’s as normal as you can get, Plus right now her sunshine counterpart dickface isn’t here to balance things out anymore” Jason finished. At that reminder, Bruce slightly grimaced. Dick had to go back to Bludhaven for his job. As a Cop. It doesn’t matter how many years it’s been Bruce still worries about his oldest and his choice of career.

“Fine we don’t tell her, what’s going to happen if she’s ever in danger she doesn’t exactly have a panic button that we could give her without arousing suspicions” Tim added.

“Dupain-Cheng isn’t an idiot, she shares fathers blood she’s going to figure it out eventually”

Finally, Bruce made up his mind.

“We can’t risk her life, much less your sister’s life, by revealing our secret for no reason. We aren’t going to tell her-, For now” Bruce quickly added before Jason could make his protests. Taking a quick look at his son's faces it seemed that it was the decision that everyone could agree on, thankfully.

“This is going to totally gonna go wrong isn’t it?” Tim muttered.

It probably will.

Authors Note: I hope that you guys liked my Infinity War Au. I am definitely going to continue that story line, however I have other one-shots saved to my drafts so yeah keep an eye out for those :). I will be making a taglist for those so just ask. Stay safe and Healthy <3

Hope you guys enjoy today's chapter.

Taglist:

@maribat-is-lifeblood @kass-is-weird @another-fan-of-anotherplan @damianette-is-life @amayakans @parallelparabox @miukiiu @valeks-princess @toodaloo-kangaroo @vixen-uchiha @thezestywalru @dreamykitty25 @pirats-pizzacanninibles @mochinek0 @shamefullove @mochegato @souleateralicestein @thestressmademedoit @throneoffirebreathingbitchqueen @aestheticnpoetic

#miraculous ladybug #mlb au #maribat #batfam #Marinette deserves better #Damian Wayne #dick grayson #Tim Drake #Jason Todd #bruce wayne #class salt

252 notes · View notes

avenger-hawk · 6 years ago

Note

Hello, it's me again. Thank you for answering my last question, I really apprecite how you give an elaborated answer, thoroughly explaining your point of view. My next question for you: is there any other character (or characters) that you would have like to see Sasuke interacting with, but in cannon he had very little contact or no contact at all? Why?

Hello again, and thanks for coming by~

This is a cool question, there isn’t just one character I’d have liked to see Sasuke interacting with more, mostly because I really love Sasuke’s interactions with almost anyone, some superficial fans see him as smug and arrogant or always brooding and ‘emo’ but to me he’s neither. He’s just aloof and usually lost in his own thoughts, and uninterested to most things with no problem in saying it, but when he is interested in something or someone he has his own cute way of showing it. But let me start with the list of characters.

Shikamaru

Both are very smart but in different ways. Both are observant and strategic. Both are usually lost in their own thoughts, one in contemplation of clouds and stuff, the other lost in memories and plans and considerations. Both are familiar with revenge, although one has been condemned and the other not at all. At his best Shikamaru is open-minded, as shown in the way he never had prejudices against N*ruto as a kid. I think in a post-ending setting he might be one of the first to actually talk to him because he knows how it feels to want revenge above everything, among all things, so he shouldn’t be one of those who judge him. At his worst, Shikamaru’s individuality has been brainwashed by Konoha like everyone else, so he might keep an eye on him cause he doesn’t trust him. Which means darker interactions and possibilities. Also his shadow jutsu is an interesting one in this setting.

Kiba

Sasuke loves animals. Kiba has a dog, actually Kiba is a sort of dog as well lol. He’s similar to N*ruto because of his assertive, loud, enthusiastic attitude but he’s less flashed out ofc, and he lacks N*ruto’s possessive, imposing and generally negative traits. Like I said here Akamaru would sense Sasuke’s kind soul and Kiba would follow his best friend’s ‘advice’. Sasuke would get along with Akamaru and Kiba would talk to him, Sasuke would not be talkative at all but he’d pet Akamaru a lot. Their interactions would be kinda like NS but healthier? But lol the word itself sounds so boring. Cuter sounds better. Also, Kiba being ‘beastlike’ in certain ways, and Sasuke being passive means possibility for dark imagery.

Sai

I’m really disappointed that except for fighting in the beginning they didn’t really interact in canon because Sai is his replacement…and tbh Team Yamato was much better, as a team, than Team7. Anyway. Sai and Sasuke have something in common: they both were loved and protected by their big brothers, who died, sacrificing themselves for them, in a way or another. It’s a lot in common, actually. I wrote a scene about this in my fic In Power We Entrust The Love Advocated. Both are blunt, but in a different way. Sasuke knows what he’s saying and why, if he steps over social norms it’s because he doesn’t care. Sai ignores social norms, he’s without filter and awkward, and he tries to learn with sometimes terrible results. Their interactions would be awkward and weird at first. Sai was Danzo’s subordinate, this would make Sasuke wary of him; but also, Sai was Danzo’s slave, he had no choice in this. Almost like Itachi. Sasuke would understand this very well. Also, my personal headcanon is that since Danzo formed Root after the massacre, he told Itachi’s story to those shinobi, both to teach them that shinobi must carry on every mission assigned no matter what, and to teach them that emotions are a bad thing. Sai would more or less know about Itachi and he would tell Sasuke, in a way that didn’t judge, but that instead admired him. And Sasuke would appreciate. Their interactions would be more relaxed then, but still there would be weird comments on Sai’s side.

Ino

I don’t ship them and I don’t care much about her but her desperate cry when he was sentenced to death impressed me very much. It doesn’t just show a girl’s crush, it shows real empathy and compassion for the destiny of a person she once had a crush on. Cause she did move on when she first got interested in Sai imo, like normal people do btw. So it would be cute to see a girl interact with him for real, with no secret agenda or smth.

Gaara

What a wasted potential their relationship was…in pt1 creepy monster Gaara was interested in him, before N*ruto took over. In pt2 Gaara acts like the Kazekage with a desperate broken Sasuke attacking their meeting, but he also sheds a tear for him. Gaara was really saved cause he was a monster. Sasuke isn’t and was never one, and he didn’t need to be saved but the narration pushes that direction. Gaara was interested in Sasuke’s fate in ep479, I think he would not judge him (his official Kazekage position aside) and he would like to bond with him somehow. Sasuke admires strength and Gaara is very strong, so he would not ignore him. And Sasuke talks about politics as well. Gaara would listen and talk as well. And he would stare at him a lot. But I wrote about this already. Besides there’s a lot of dark potential as well. Because imo it’s interesting to think that there’s still some darkness in his heart and somehow he’d let it out with a passive masochistic Sasuke who feels like he needs to atone for his sins.

Kisame

He was Itachi’s partner, he knows a lot about Itachi because he’s observant, and Sasuke is the one who killed his partner. He was snarky about it with Obito and Sasuke himself but I (like to) think that he was feeling something, like resentment, towards Sasuke for killing Itachi. After all, no matter his reasons, he sure preferred Itachi. I also like to think that during the time Sasuke and Team Taka stayed in Obito’s hideout as Akatsuki members, he made no mystery of the truth about Itachi, and I like to think that he asked Kisame about his brother. (which kinda opens to the dark stuff cause Kisame being angry at him because he killed Itachi…you got it)

Tobirama

I find him very interesting despite disagreeing with his politics, and I really liked his interactions with Sasuke, especially the way he first insulted his clan and rudely talked to him, but then he tried to protect him against Madara. And I liked how Sasuke humbly, pragmatically and with an open mind he listened to him without letting his feelings get in the way, without getting offended. I would have liked to fight together more, and to see him protecting him more actively, not being blocked by those black sticks. And I would have liked him to openly praise Sasuke and his abilities like he did in his mind.

Madara

I’ll forever be salty at how their interactions were little and not emotionally charged at all. I mean Sasuke is the last Uchiha alive and Madara was another founder, the former head of the clan…I get that he was fighting a war and I know he did show interest in Sasuke’s eyes (and he acknowledged the pain he felt to obtain them) and he did try to get him on his side, and I get that Sasuke was all hyped up to protect the village because Itachi, but still. Like, Madara’s plan was to create a new world, he could have told Sasuke, he could have told him that Itachi would have been there, since his allies Obito and Kabuto were defeated or being defeated. Ugh.

my madasasu tag. my madasasu edits and meta.

Orochimaru (&Kabuto)

I like all part2 interactions between them, and I really like the way they became after Orochimaru was brought back, but I’m also interested in their interactions in Otogakure, the way he trained Sasuke, the forbidden substances he got him to take, the forbidden jutsu he taught him and the forbidden things they required to be done (think whatever here lol). The way he trained Sasuke to take poisons and not be affected, I’m sure they were all painful and hard things to bear, and I’m sure than in part of them he was strapped to a table, and others he was really really exhausted and badly injured, after. Not to mention the way Orochimaru talked to him, how he manipulated him using Itachi and his weakness compared to him, how he was ‘kind’ to him in his creepy way. All the things Sasuke had to witness beside him and how he decided to free the prisoners, and Team Taka ofc. Speaking of which.

Team Taka

They did have a lot of interactions but I wanted more both pre ending and post ending. How Sasuke first met them, how he decided they were the ones he needed. Their travels, their conversations, their nightmares, their bonding moments.

Sasuke and Karin’s conversations. Both suffered great trauma, both lost their families.

Juugo being protective and loyal over Sasuke but also! his dark side coming out against him and Sasuke welcoming it and becoming his cage, but kinda getting hurt in the process.

Suigetsu admiring Sasuke and wanting to be noticed by him but being obnoxious and mischievous. And kinda sadistic. And Sasuke being ok with it cause he’s passive.

Special mentions, in and out of canon:

Deidara

I really loved their fight, the strategy, the contrast between their personalities. I like that both have an inferiority complex, especially towards Itachi, and they both worked hard to get stronger, but they act differently. Deidara is loud and apparently messy and he loudly brags his art and abilities, Sasuke is silent and calm and uninterested but he is proud of his achievements, as shown when he explains Deidara what he did and he points out that it’s chidori, not raikiri. His version of the jutsu. Other things in common? They’re both reckless with their bodies when it comes to achieve their goal. I’d love an AU where they interact, like my Akatsuki AU. It’s kinda like NS in a way. also.

Obito

They spent a lot of time together in canon but it’s not shown. It’s some of my canon behind the screen thingies, and I’d love to see any interactions between them. Obito knows the truth about Itachi, he knows Itachi while Sasuke doesn’t. He wants to know anything about his brother and I’m sure he asked him a lot. Obito told him stuff also because he needed to manipulate Sasuke against the village, but also because he feels some little attachment between the other Uchiha, just like he felt some for Itachi. There’s a scene that is always overlooked and that I liked a lot, in ep375 when Obito is about to be ‘killed’ by Kakashi and before he’s taken over by Madara, Sasuke is there and Obito refers to him as ‘fellow traitor’. I like that he kinda aknowledged Sasuke’s presence in that moment ok. To do such thing while Kakashi and Madara are clearly the strongest presences for him, I like to think that Sasuke left an impression on him.

(my obisasu tag and meta)

Shisui

I mean, in the filler non massacre arc. He did train Sasuke after all. I’d have liked to see more. But it’s no mystery, that arc inspired me greatly and if now I ship Shisasu even in other contexts it’s because of it.

my shisasu tag. my shisasu edits and meta.

Hiruzen

Only because I’d like Sasuke to tell him that he’s just as guilty as his buddy Danzo. That old a**hole.

#sasuke #shikasasu #kibasasu #deisasu #obisasu #madasasu #tobisasu #team taka #too many #vivalarevolution #vivalarevolution: bonds #vivalarevolution: visions #hostilecherry #long post

122 notes · View notes

love-sapphirerose · 6 years ago

Text

Naruto: 25 Things That Don't Make Sense About Sasuke and Sakura's Relationship

Naruto is well-known for its action, drama, and intense storylines following the rising ninja Naruto Uzamaki and his friends, Sasuke and Sakura. It is one of the most beloved ninja animes ever to exist.

However, many fans also care a great deal about the relationships- aspect of the anime. After all, by the start of Boruto, most all of the main ninja are paired off and have children.

Fans have debated couplings for years, speculating who fits best together. One of the most notable, and most talked about, is the marriage of Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha.

Sakura spent most of the series infatuated with the Uchiha heir, but he seemed to have little interest in her.

By the end, though, he seems to have changed his tune and become much softer towards her. Eventually, by Boruto, they have married and have a daughter, Sarada Uchiha.

However, fans talk a lot about this coupling for more reasons than rooting for them. Many also question the logic of their pairing. After all, they have a lot of history, and not all of it is good. Some were even surprised to see them marry at all.

Sasuke was a fan favorite anti-hero/rootable villain with little time to worry about romance. Yet here he is, married to the girl who loved him far longer than he deserved. The idea of it sounds kind of romantic, so why do fans remain skeptical?

25. SAKURA DUMPED HER FIRST BEST FRIEND FOR HIM

Sakura grew up bullied and alone. Her first best friend was Ino, someone who defended her and encouraged her to be stronger.

The two cherished their friendship. However, as they aged, boys started to interest them.

When Sakura discovered that Ino liked the same boy as her, Sasuke, she discarded their friendship and declared them rivals.

This broke both girls' hearts and was an overreaction to the situation.

They didn't need to lose their friendship over a boy. It never made any sense for Sakura to chose Sasuke, who she barely knew, over her best friend.

24. SAKURA ASKED TO JOIN HIM WHEN HE WAS EVIL

Despite her adoration for Sasuke, Sakura dedicates herself to becoming a great ninja.

However, during the Five Kage Summit Arc, she asks to join him. At this point, he's ended lives and done terrible things.

Her love for him eclipses her morals and beliefs. Sakura wants to do good and help others, yet she was willing to forgo that for him.

That kind of devotion is unhealthy and shows how senseless her feelings for him were. She was willing to give up who she was to be with him.

It's hard to think any relationship can recover from that level of twisted.

23 THEY ONLY HAVE ONE CHILD

While it's said Sasuke and Sakura married for love, there was another big reason for him to marry: children.

By the end of Naruto, Sasuke is the last surviving Uchiha clan member. If he wants his family to live on, he has to produce children.

Regardless of their marital issues, if this was important to Sasuke, they should have had many children, but they didn't.

It'll be hard for a whole clan to regrow from the shoulders of one daughter - especially if she takes her future husband's name.

It's illogical for the couple to have stopped at one child if they wanted to give the Uchiha clan its best chance at revival.

22. SASUKE SHOWED NO ROMANTIC INTEREST FOR YEARS

Sakura shows affection for the young Uchiha heir from the second she meets him. Sasuke, though, shows little to no interest in her.

His first serious interactions with her, when they first became Team 7, involve him calling her annoying.

For years, their relationship stays friendly at its best and antagonistic at its worst.

His focus becomes his revenge and his quest for power. Sakura is irrelevant to all of that.

It isn't until after the Fourth Shinobi War that Sasuke shows any interest, and even then, it's minimal. It makes little sense for that to be enough to constitute a marriage.

21. ALMOST THEIR ENTIRE RELATIONSHIP HAS BEEN LONG-DISTANCE

Even though Sasuke and Sakura do marry, they spend little time together. The longest time they are in the same place as a couple is when Sakura follows him on his atonement.

During this, they supposedly fall in love, have Sarada, and get married.

After Sarada's birth, Sakura goes back to the village to raise her safely. Other than than period, approximately a little less than a year, the couple is almost always apart.

It's understandable for Sasuke to be gone on important missions, but it seems ludicrous for him to barely take the time to come home.

It's a detriment to his relationships with his wife and his daughter.

20. SAKURA'S DESPERATION FOR SASUKE'S APPROVAL

Strong-willed and determined as she is, Sakura bends a lot of her opinions and goals to fit Sasuke's approval.

She only ever started to be kind to Naruto because he disliked her talking badly about him. She also only ever tried to work on her abilities to show him that she was strong.

Her beliefs in becoming a good ninja were powerful, but they all warped to include Sasuke.

What makes least sense of all is that Sasuke was a terrible, selfish shinobi. She never should have placed her worth on his approval. Also, she only had long-haired because she thought he'd like it. Yikes.

19. THEIR RELATIONSHIP WAS RUSHED

After the Fourth Shinobi War, Sasuke finally concedes to Naruto's pleas to come home. This is the first and only time he shows any deeper affection towards Sakura.

Though their reconciliation is tender, them becoming a couple was terribly rushed.

There were a lot of terrible things and painful feelings between them, even if love was there, too. They never got time to deal with these feelings.

Sakura just forgave him, and Sasuke just suddenly loved her.

Then they were married, had a kid, and that was that. It barely made any sense.

18. SASUKE MADE DECISIONS FOR SAKURA WITHOUT ASKING HER

Once Sakura marries Sasuke, a lot of her life is decided for her. Her husband often makes decisions that will harshly effect her without telling her.

For example, he keeps taking very long missions away from home without her input.

Also, he leaves her alone with their daughter, Sarada, but expects her to be happy with being a sole caretaker. He refuses to let her come anywhere with him for a very long time.

Even if these decisions are meant to protect her, Sasuke stifles his wife's individuality by making them. This behavior hardly makes sense in a marriage.

17. THEIR DAUGHTER QUESTIONS HER PARENTAGE

Sasuke is away so often and for so long that Sarada often questions if her parents are really her parents.

First, she questions if Sasuke is her father because of his absence. Later, she questions if Sakura is her mother because of the lack of affection between her and her father.

Eventually, she's convinced of her parentage, but it's still a startling issue. Even in unique couplings, children don't often question their parents so whole-heartedly.

It becomes a serious point of contention for Sarada. They try so little in their relationship that their own daughter is unsure about it.

16. SASUKE ATTRACTS ADMIRERS DESPITE HIS CRUEL INDIFFERENCE

More women than just Sakura loved the Uchiha heir. The most important rivals were Ino and Karin.

Despite their devotion, Sasuke gave all three women the same treatment: cruel indifference.

He's known to insult them, ignore them, and rebuff their advances. This becomes more extreme, though, when noted that Sasuke has violently attacked both Karin and Sakura. Yet both women still loved him.

Their level of devotion is absurd, particularly when it isn't just one women so attached to him.

It's several. It's insane that they still adore him despite such terrible treatment.

15. SAKURA FORGETTING WHAT SASUKE LOOKS LIKE

When Sasuke is away, Sakura does struggle with missing him. Unfortunately for her, he's away far more often than he's not.

This becomes even more heartbreaking when she reveals that she hangs up pictures of him not just because of her love. It's so she doesn't forget what he looks like.

While depressing, it becomes a new level of sadness when realizing that she spent years obsessing about his looks. His appearance was a huge part of why she first became interested in him.

For her not to remember that only clues fans in on how ridiculously long Sasuke stays away from home.

14. THEY AREN'T ON THE SAME PAGE AS PARENTS

Sakura is quite devoted to parenthood, while Sasuke isn't. This comes to the extreme that when running into his 12-year-old daughter, he doesn't recognize her.

Sakura tries to spend time sharing information about her father without revealing the grueling, traumatic parts of his past to the young Sarada.

Sasuke simply says nothing to her about it. Also, the few times Sasuke does train Sarada, Sakura has no clue and just gets surprised by her daughter's new abilities in action.

While 12 years apart takes a toll, Sakura and Sasuke should be nowhere near this disjointed as parents. They could at least trade pictures and give each other updates.

13. THE EMOTIONAL WEIGHT OF THE HEAD-POKE GESTURE

The Uchiha head-poke gesture is an important part of Sasuke's life. After all, it was something dear to him from before he lost his family.

However, his use of the gesture with his own family is overstated. The head-poke has become his only go-to sign of affection.

While well-meant and meaningful, it hardly makes up for his negligence and resistance towards being a present husband and parent.

It's framed as such a monumental, sweet thing for him to do, but it is just a small way to say he cares. A cute head-poke doesn't replace the years he chose to not be with his family.

12. SASUKE'S COOL REACTIONS TO SAKURA'S CONFESSIONS

Sakura confesses her feelings to Sasuke twice. Once, when he first tries to leave and join Orochimaru. The second is during the Fourth Shinobi War, to encourage him to stay.

Her confessions are always said in desperation, trying to protect him or get him to stay. Sakura pours out her heart to him.

Sasuke, however, often reacts to them coolly or with malice. The first one he reacted by calling her annoying. The second time, he calls her annoying again and then literally crushes her heart with his hand.

Later, the show tries to tell fans that Sasuke does love her, but after these terrible displays, it's hard to believe.

11. THEIR RELATIONSHIP'S LACK OF ROMANTIC CONTACT

Though Sakura and Sasuke are married, their displays of affections are stunted at head pokes and side-hugs. This behavior makes sense with his personality, but hardly hers.

Nontraditional methods of affections make sense for them, but there is a level of nontraditional that nears on platonic.

To be believable, the couple needs a few more ways of sharing their love and feelings, even if they are unique. Otherwise, they seem instead like friends with marriage and a kid.

This hardly matches up with the deep levels of affection Sakura feels for Sasuke.

10. SAKURA TREATING NARUTO AS A REPLACEMENT BOYFRIEND

At the beginning of Naruto Shippuden, Team 7 has disbanded to train on their own terms, each with a different Sannin member.

Sasuke remains with Orochimaru, but Sakura and Naruto reunite after two years apart. The two rekindle their friendship and recreate Team 7 with Sai.

Without Sasuke, Sakura spends most of her time with Naruto. She uses him to fill the void in her life, to the point she goes on dates with him.

She knows his feelings for her, and knows she doesn't reciprocate them, but does it anyway.

With Sakura's devotion to loving Sasuke and Naruto's friendship, she shouldn't have done such a mixed singalled, cruel thing to her best friend.

9. SASUKE NEVER WRITES HOME WHILE AWAY ON MISSIONS

Sasuke leaves his family for 12 years to go on missions. While he's protecting their village, he is neglecting his wife and daughter.

The least he could do is write, send pictures back and forth, maybe know what his daughter looks like nowadays.

However, Sasuke doesn't even do that. Messages might be hard to send and at some times could jeopardize missions, but there had to be times that communication was possible.

After all, he must being sending word back to Naruto about missions.

It makes no sense that Sasuke couldn't have sent his family sparse letters to show them his love and affection.

8. SASUKE'S POOR COMMUNICATION SKILLS

Though they love one another, Sasuke and Sakura have a severe communication issue. Between parenting, going on missions, expressing feelings, all of it, Sasuke doesn't often say the things he should.

This communication issue comes to a head during a moment in Sakura's Hidden Novel. There are rumors circulating that Sasuke could be evil again.

She wants to defend him, but she has to be honest that she doesn't know. She hasn't heard enough of him to answer the question honestly.

Sakura's inability to know if the man she loves is evil again reveals a glaring flaw in their relationship, one that doesn't make much sense.

7. SAKURA'S INITIAL OBSESSION WITH HIM

Sakura started loving Sasuke when she was a little girl. The crush sprang from his looks and his abilities. She saw how he was in class and became infatuated.

The crush became nonsensical, though, when she chose to reject her best friend over him.

When she obsessed about being on his team, his opinion, his growth and strengths as a ninja, and her thoughts always lingered to him.

Young Sakura even keeps her appearance how she think he might like it, not how she;d prefer.

Her crush grew into a deeper, more balanced love, where Sakura starts to think more on her own. But her love for him did begin as obsessive, possessive, and nonsensical.

6. THEIR FIRST DATE ONLY LASTED 2.5 MINUTES

In Boruto, Sakura and Ino go to hang out at an overlook by the ocean. Her frienc mentions that she knows this is where the Uchiha couple had their first date.

Embarrassed, Sakura says it was only two and a half minutes. However, she admits the place brings back fond memories of him.

The place clearly means a lot to her, just because she was there with Sasuke. Yet, their first date barely lasted a few bits of dialogue.

After war and the world nearly ending, fans would think Sasuke might want to enjoy the company of his new love.

Sasuke never seems to grow a romantic side, though, and remains distant as ever.

5. SAKURA'S DETRIMENTAL INSECURITIES IN THEIR RELATIONSHIP

Sakura has a hard time, raising their daughter alone while he's far away. Though she insists their love is strong and they show their intimacy differently, she clearly struggles with several insecurities.

At the mere suggestion that she's not his wife, Sakura breaks down her own house with a punch to the ground.

The question isn't even from some rival or enemy - it's from her frustrated and confused daughter.

If their love is as strong as she insists, Sakura shouldn't be so easily sensitive about their relationship.

However, she clearly is, and it shows how fragile her connection sometimes is with Sasuke.

4. SASUKE NEVER PUTS SAKURA FIRST

Throughout Naruto, Sakura put Sasuke before everything. Before her friendships, such as Ino and Naruto and ahead of her safety, trying to bring him back home and, later, to end his madness.

She put him in front of her future, even, as she sacrificed her shinobi lifestyle to become a good mother to his child.

On the opposite end, Sasuke never puts Sakura first. He may love her, but his priorities lie first and foremost with protecting the village and succeeding in his missions.

Their love and marriage are painfully uneven, and it doesn't make sense for a lasting union to be that way. Though, it seems to be the way they have decided to do things.

3. SAKURA GAVE UP HER KONOHA LIFE TO FOLLOW HIM

After the Fourth Shinobi War, Sasuke leaves town to atone for his sins. The first time, he tells Sakura thank you and says he will come back home.

Off-screen, he comes back to visit and this time Sakura joins his journeys.

Though, to follow Sasuke, Sakura had to abandon her life as a Konohakagure shinobi and follow whatever missions he might decide to be on.

She spent years training for her work and position, only to drop it all to be by his side. As dedicated as she was, it makes no sense for her to give up her life to follow him. Especially when, later, he only leaves her all over again.

2. SAKURA CONTINUED TO LOVE HIM WHEN HE WAS EVIL

At one point, Sasuke was an international criminal being hunted by most all shinobi. He had committed heinous crimes against others, including attacks, theft, deception, and taking lives.

Despite this, though, Sakura loves him. She says it's because she sees the real him underneath it all, and hopes the person he was will return.

Even though it comes true, that belief is senseless. Sasuke cruelly attacked, insulted, and undermined her as a ninja and as a person.

Sakura loving the old Sasuke makes sense, but the new one should have destroyed her romantic interest in him.

1. SASUKE TRIED TO END HER LIFE

The most alarming and troubling facts about their relationship is that Sasuke tried to destroy her.

When he was knee-deep in his quest for power, no one mattered but him and his brother. Neither of his two closest friends, Naruto or Sakura, would be allowed to get in his way.

When Sakura begs for a second time to come back, that they could be happy together, he quite literally tries to crush her heart.

If her love for him hadn't shattered before, that moment should have done it. However, the couple married regardless. True love conquers even purposefully endangering a partner's life, it seems.

---

Can you think of any other things that didn't make sense about Sasuke and Sakura's relationship in Naruto that we might have missed? Let us know in the comments!

#sasuke uchiha #anti sasusaku #anti ss #anti sakura #anti narusaku #naruto #Naruto Shippuden #boruto the movie #boruto the next generation #anime #manga #sarada #karin uzumaki #karin uchiha #screen rant

16 notes · View notes

the-formerone · 7 years ago

Text

hang me a flower crown

Pairing: TobiSaku

Word Count: 1,714

For MultiSaku Month Day 15

Summary: There's a very specific way that the Senju propose. Mito and Izuna found it charming; Madara thought it was stupid, but was secretly delighted. Tobirama is mostly annoyed by it.

There are sprawling gardens on the Senju compound. Rows and rows of bushes and trees, a small orchard that bore fruit in every season, and cousins to tend it. It was a lovely place to be, with benches and ponds. It's the traditional site for proposals and for meditation. It's also where young Mokuton users first learn how to control their kekkei genkai, the garden's wealth of natural flora and fauna encouraging the chakra in the user to mold the nature transformation.

It makes Tobirama sneeze.

The gardens were Hashirama's idea after the war had ended. The gardens in the Senju camp during the war had been maintained solely by Mokuton users, and even then, they only cultivated medicinal plants. Wildflowers were common, were used for proposals rather than the lush red and blue and yellow flowers that sprawl across the garden now.

Still. It's tradition. Tobirama is a man of innovation, a man who looks into the future with squinted eyes and a hand on his chin, already examining how he could mould it in his hands before it came to pass. And now he's sitting in the bowels of the fragrant garden, fiddling with the stems of a yellow camellia.

He sneezes again, and wipes his nose with the back of his hand. There's a basket beside him, weighed down with flowers he had carefully picked that morning before he settled down in an isolated cove so he could work in peace.

Tobirama isn't sure where the tradition started. His father had proposed to his mother with a flower crown, though it had been spartan compared to the one Hashirama had made for Mito, and the ones the two of them made for Madara. Before the fighting was at its worst, the flower crowns had been more like they are now.

Tobirama would prefer not to make one. Not because he wants to spurn the old ways, but because he's a private person. He doesn't like the idea of exposing the object of his affections for his clan to pounce on. Madara will be even more insufferable than usual if (read: when) he finds out that Tobirama is planning on a proposal. But considering the garish crown Touka made for Izuna when they were courting, he doesn't really have a choice.

The crowns are a sign of prosperity now, of peace time. They weren't as private as they used to be. Now, they were proof that the Senju had been able to see Hashirama's (and Madara's) dream to fruition. Tobirama couldn't not make one. He was the Shodaime Hokage Senju Hashirama's younger brother. If he didn't make one, it'd be as much an insult to the woman he was hoping to marry as it would be to his clan, to his brother.

But if he has to scrap another camellia because he breaks the stem, he's going to abandon the whole pursuit.

"You know flowers can't fight back," says Mito over his shoulder, sly as she ever is.

Tobirama is not even remotely surprised that she's here to annoy him; it's one of the hobbies she bonded with her second husband over. Besides, he felt her coming. He feels Madara and his brother not too far behind, and hopes they're just on a walk and will leave him to his misery.

"I'm fairly sure you're committing a war crime."

Mito sits down beside him, all fanning white fabric and flowing red hair. She looks more relaxed than usual, her hair in a braid that she wears over her shoulder. There must not be many visitors to the compound today, for her to be dressed to casually.

"Anemones?" she asks, peering down into the basket beside his feet. She covers her mouth to hide a snicker, and Tobirama knows she's seen the discarded flowers beside it.

"Took you long enough," she continues, crossing her arms. "I was beginning to think you'd never get up the courage to ask her."

Tobirama does not roll his eyes. He carefully winds the stem of the white camellia around the daffodil. He likes the way the soft yellow looks beside the more vibrant one. He'll put the carnations nearby for a sharp bit of color.

"Yes, well," he snipes, "we don't all have the bandwidth to get married to one man, and then another in the same month."

Mito huffs, and picks up a fallen carnation, rubbing her fingers over the petals.

"It was more like three months," she replies. "You Fire Country people are prudish compared to us in the Water Lands. My grandmother had two wives and three husbands."

"An even set," Hashirama says, intruding with Madara, like their wife before them.

Tobirama makes his hands as still as possible. He's finally getting somewhere with the crown, and he doesn't want to let the latent irritation that comes with seeing Madara ruin it.

Hashirama comes to his wife, dipping his head low to put a kiss on her cheek. Madara sits down beside her, taking her hand in his and folding their fingers together. They're all wearing matching braids, which is horribly domestic, which means that Tsunade had gotten to them once her lessons had ended.

"You're going to break the stems," Madara says, lifting an eyebrow at the arrangement in Tobirama's basket. He snorts at it, but says nothing, instead leaning back as he holds Mito's hand.

"Mito and Hashirama gathered red spider lilies from old Uchiha territory for my crown," he boasts, haughty and annoying as if Tobirama wasn't the one who had to listen to Hashirama bawl because he couldn't grow them himself with his Mokuton, and Mito browbeat him into making the journey.

"Hm," Tobirama murmurs. "They gave you a flower that says 'abandonment' and 'lost to memory' to propose to you. An auspicious start to your marriage."

Mito pinches him.

"Don't be that way, brother," Hashirama admonishes. "You know what red spider lilies mean to the Uchiha."

Yes, Tobirama is well aware. He also had to listen to Touka when she ran into Hashirama's room, demanding directions to old Uchiha territory so she could harvest some of the flowers for proposal to Izuna.

"You aren't even going to put her namesake in the crown?" Madara asks, lifting an eyebrow as he looks at Tobirama.

"It seemed redundant," Tobirama replies. "Trite. Boring. She knows she's named after cherry blossoms. Her hair is pink. It's not like she needs a reminder."

Tobirama has sprigs of cherry blossoms hidden just underneath the bench. He was planning on adding them last, gently sticking the small sprigs into the finished woven crown. The pink would bridge the gap between the yellow and the red, and would complement the anemones.

"Really?" Madara drawls. "I'd have thought they'd be perfect. There's the myth of Konohasakuya-hime, and the strange way Sakura just appeared out of nowhere during the war, punched a volcano - ,"

"She didn't actually punch a volcano," Mito interrupts. "She kicked it."

"I don't see how this is relevant," Tobirama drawls, braiding the stem of a carnation into the crown.

There's a disruption of space that suddenly resolves itself just in front of Tobirama. Touka is there, her arm around Izuna's waist, smirking like she's a cat that's just been handed an entire liter of cream.

The cove is getting terribly crowded.

"Does everyone need to watch me do this?" he asks.

"Where are the cherry blossoms?" Izuna asks, diving for Tobirama's basket and rifling through it as he does.

Tobirama lifts his foot and presses it to Izuna's cheek, and kicks his cousin-in-law away from the basket. He doesn't want to see the satisfaction on Madara's face when he finds out that Tobirama was actually planning on including cherry blossoms in the crown.

"Nowhere," he snipes.

Touka sits down beside where Izuna has righted himself, rubbing at his face where Tobirama left a footprint.

"What about the cosmos flowers?' she asks, looking at the crown slowly being made in Tobirama's hands.

Tobirama stills.

"Cosmos flowers?" he asks, looking dubiously at her. "Why would I need those?"

The five of them let out a collective groan.

"You've been dating her for three years and you don't know what her favorite flower is?" Izuna asks, incredulous.

Madara looks positively gleeful at the admission. Mito sniffs at him.

"We don't -,"

He feels suddenly and incredibly off balance. Of all the conversations he's had with Sakura (about her life before she came here, about the future she was desperate to keep from happening, about the people she loved, what she had lost, and how exactly she could demolish a volcano without breaking a sweat) he hadn't ever asked her about her favorite flower of all things. He knew her favorite foods, her favorite places in the village, how she behaved when she was stressed, and what to do when she needed help calming down because she couldn't do it on her own.

And it's been three years. Six months of not trusting her, three months of getting her to trust him, five months of ending the war, six months of making sure the village wouldn't fold on itself as soon as they tried to set it up, four months of making sure the rest of the world wouldn't fold on itself as soon as they tried to set it up. Then two months of dancing around attraction, and finally, finally a week to actually start dating.

Then three years. And somehow in between it all, Tobirama (who was from a clan where making flower crowns was literally the way you proposed to someone) had never asked Sakura (who was named after a flower) what her favorite was.

"They mean cleanliness," he sputters, trying to save face.

"And love," Touka quips.

"And a maiden's heart," Hashirama adds. "Though you aren't a maiden, and neither is Sakura-san."

Tobirama sets the crown down in his lap and rolls his lips between his teeth.

"I - I will be right back."

He stands, picks up his basket, and walks very briskly out of the cove where his family had come to mock him.

Even after Sakura says yes to the proposal, he will not thank them for providing the little bit of wisdom. He won't have to. They'll all already know.

#multisakumonth2018 #multisakumonthD15 #tobisaku #senju tobirama #haruno sakura #naruto #fic

90 notes · View notes

ikari-cat · 7 years ago

Note

In the new anime? Sakura and her friend talk about how she hasn’t even seen Sasuke in forever and her friend wonders why Sakura hasn’t left him because Sakura says he doesn’t care about her.

Ah yes, episode 17 of Boredo (which kicks off the gaiden arc)

At least this is what you’re referring to, I remember seeing that post around and honestly just say you don’t like the characters/series ya know?

I will just start and say that it’s up for you to make your own view on something by actually digging into it, by this ask only it seems you haven’t tackled on the series and just speculated what has been spreaded around (thanks sp) but then again if you’re just curious what is up then by all means continue reading this lol

But if you don’t care for a full view, then I guess the shortest I can put it is this: Sasuke will be deemed a ‘deadbeat father/husband’ due to the fact he’s on a mission, Sakura will be deemed many things but in the case of what you’re asking it’d be a ‘doormat wife who is a single mom at this point’ yet is just being a supportive partner and continues being a doctor while raising their daughter - by themselves alone they are just hated lol

Your ask just reeks the fandom the general, and again I blame the one sided ‘b/w’ thinking people have - which isn’t good for a series like this

I’m going to have to do a read more since it’s a lot to begin with, just 2 episodes and it counters what the manga had (and this scene you’re referring to is all their doing at this point - I literally read the manga first before getting into a anime because of this studio)

So let the headache begin :)

So episode 17 of Boredo has Sakura leaving on a trip and Ino is to accompany her (or at least see her off) thus this scene happens:

Now in the case of both the anime and manga this is something that is kept right: Sasuke has maintain keeping no contact to his family. Now keep in mind these are my views and consider why with Gaiden I don’t have issues with it like what other ss supporters do: then again I got back into the series near the end too.

Sasuke is sacrificing his life to keep everyone protected, and really this is a lot already for a guy who was deemed a criminal for the series. As the name ‘the Shadow Hokage’ has been placed on him, he’s basically out there in search to stop this ‘threat’ he knows is dangerous. He keeps the hokage informed of anything needed to say - but why can’t he tell his family something.

In my view, he knows his family is safe, he is out there doing what is needed to keep them safe, so when his daughter (who they haven’t seen each other in years) confronts him about this whole fiasco:

‘What is going on at home’ ah yes Sasuke, your daughter wasn’t going to wonder what’s happening with her dad away (but again, from his view he sees his family being okay) I added this much earlier already but it’s enough to get you thinking.

(Also as someone who loves kishi’s style they honest to god can’t animate his style, they don’t even know how to draw breasts at this point unless they really want to get their ‘flatchested’ mom agenda still)

(Ah yes if only Sakura knew what was going on, it’s not like he just left on this mission with no discussions with his partner :))))

(Ah yes, if only she knew, like in the manga, what is at stake :))

And then Ino is like ‘oh okay hey remember how you guys had a date here!’ which cause to Sakura just ‘??? I guess? It was like 2 min girl’ and she just left her there on the bench to remember the date lmao (more gloating on the poor wife!?1 how can we make this more sad?11! :)))))))

Ah yes, Sasuke sure is one to forget things, sure he is - that boy Sasuke :)

This shouldn’t be included to what you’re asking but it’s clear to me at this point that the writers just don’t get them, it’s like they looked at part 1 of the series (not even part 1 like the first couple chapters for sakura and then sasuke going revenge like is who he is lmao) and just ‘yeah that’s them the whole rest of the series’

So we have:

1) Sakura being left in the loop of things and just doing what she wants to believe (*insert bandwagon insult*)

2) Sasuke is a cold hearted asshole as usual (cause that was who he was the whole series am I right)

3) They decided to add this date for????????? Oh right they’re a couple, totally gotta add something that’s them :0

But see how this, one scene, is enough to invoke people to claim these things? There’s so much more, but this just hits home since gaiden kicks off after; and boy does it counter it badly.

Boredo is very clear not Kishi’s work, if you already having to rework a timeline to fit into your anime timeline then really who am I gonna believe?

The ‘no contact’ thing was a issue with both works yes, but the manga made it clear on why Sasuke is on this mission and who knows about it; yet here we are.

So let’s go off: Why is Sasuke away exactly? Why isn’t he contacting his family? Why does it matter, why are we having fans showing the manga to the studio writers and telling them what happen - and why are the writers being entitled to say that that’s kishimoto’s point of view of his own damn series.

Here we have Sasuke presenting to the kages (along with Sakura) a possible threat that could be even more dangerous than Kaguya - and that is scary.

So judging by this possibility, it’s clear Sasuke is the only one who can do it, and seeing how he’s made amends with everyone at this point it’s clear he’s now in a stable lifestyle in Kohona. But the possiblity of a threat to go against this - your family, your home, ‘a bright future’ - you are not going to push this threat away. Especially if you’re the only one to do be able to do this.

Now here’s the thing: this is, at the time, a mere hypothesis; it was up to him to reject it or not. As he suggested, keeping the mission in secret, was the best choice. The mere thought of it would cause the public to be anxious, and the ‘peace’ they have now built will be broken - the public will want answers and with a hypothesis like this there was no way it was going to be given.

Add the fact, what if this wasn’t as serious as he thought, which leads to believe there was no estimated time to say how long he’d be gone. Leaving it a private case would cause no havoc in the end since it wasn’t as serious as he assumed: but of course it was and in the end it’s estimated he left when Sarada was at least 4 years old (the whole one night stand/doesn’t love her bullshit is just like That is not Sasuke nor Sakura - and a whole new post in general)

Now Sakura being present pretty much settles everything, she knows why he’s out there, she knows what’s at stake, and as her reaction shows, she’s shocked to imagine a threat like this is possibly out there; she was there after all.

To come home to see their young daughter, the ‘bright’ future of the Uchiha Clan, that is at stake. Considering how Sasuke is the head now, there will come a day were he will have to tell Sarada the whole history of the Clan; his past is already too much to begin with. But let’s see what the anime did with this meeting :) The reason Naruto feels at fault after all for this case as well.

‘We will have another episode containing the kages and Sak-’ But for what reason? They have this meeting to discuss all together what Sasuke believes is out there - you can’t counter the series for the anime timeline like jesus

So you mean to tell me Sasuke still feels after around a decade that he stills need to travel to see ‘a new light’? The kages being not there just wants to shove this idea down more because yes I get that he won’t be accepted by everyone - but like they already agree with him on taking this mission already so really - Sasuke still needs to go off and find himself? Really. R E A L L Y

Sure wish we saw them :)

Obviously not screenshoted but yes they decided to add Naruto telling him to stop by his house before going but he refuses; which bascially proves they left out Sakura so she’d have no clue why he left for this mission and thus have her ‘believe’ what is going on - god they really need to see why fans would be furious.

And it j u s t s

Secrets indeed.

Like yes it’s wrong to assume on my part that the couple dicussed what could be said or not to their daugther - but it’s just logical to assume. And as I mentioned way before, Sasuke will be the one to tell Sarada the clan’s history; his past is a lot to handle already. Let’s add m o re:

They know what they thought was best at the time was not going to work 100% through, but they like - all parents - aren’t perfect.

And really just the pair themselves face enough already, but it’s mainly due to the fact people have such a ‘b/w’ ideology to a ninja series and like this studio - can’t even realize that these two did grow up and change as characters do.

I’ma have to stop now since you get what I’m going at as well as it’s starting glitch up now but final thoughts:

I can easily say Kishimoto shouldn’t had made Sasuke be on this mission, I could be like the studio and claim what’s right etc. At the end of the day however I’m just bitter at the fact people look at these two and claim things about them that the manga goes against it; the studio has made it clear they have no interest in these two and will somehow find a way to ‘drag’ them for who they really are.

But again, it’s your view, if you find me liking these two is a wtf complex in general you can just unfollow me; it’s clear these two are my faves in the series. By all means I hope I didn’t mean to offend you in any way, it’s just you can tell I’m just tired of this fandom my dude.

I honestly don’t think I fully explained things for you, but i could of easily said ‘nah it ain’t true’ and ended it there too so here we are lol

In a nutshell: don’t believe everything ya hear without checking it out ya self, ya gotta form your own views my dude :^)

#Cat's random rambles #anon #ask away #sasusaku #anti studio pierrot #what the hey yall can add your views too #this was too long my dude #itsa mess too #but just dms me if you want more input #unless you want a trilogy lol #this is why i can't do my views

56 notes · View notes

i-am-made-of-memoriies · 7 years ago

Text

Portals, Clones, and Time Travel. Oh My!

A/N: This is a Boruto time travel fic that I spontaneously wrote at like 3:00 in the morning. I was inspired by KuriQuinn’s Inch of Gold.

Summary: Team Konohamaru and Team 7 both get trapped in a time-neutral dimension. Follow the six genin through battles with evil masterminds, slight family drama, and Mitsuki being the weird-ass kid we all thought he was.

Sarada reached for her katana and activated her sharingan. The mission was supposed to be a simple C rank escort, but nothing ever goes right with her team now does it. They had recently found themselves in the middle of an interdimensional, possibly time warping incident that required her father Sasuke Uchiha to use the extent of his rinnegan just to keep them from zipping off into some random dimension. Oh, right, there were also enemy ninjas from the original escort mission and Sarada was in charge of getting rid of all of them and watching out for dimensional holes with her sharingan.

“Boruto, Mitsuki!” She exclaimed, jabbing her sword behind her and impaling the incoming enemy, “Avoid the area 30 feet to your left. I’m not sure, but I think it’s a portal!”

Boruto and Mitsuki nodded and ran back over to Sasuke, lending him more chakra. Sarada’s attacks were slowing after the myriad of enemies she had taken down. They honestly seemed endless. Sarada wasn’t the only one tiring out. Sasuke was having difficulties keeping the seemingly infinite amount of portals from opening and sucking them all into abysmal nothingness. Or maybe a warzone, or some time in the future. The point was, they were seriously fucked and they were running out of ways to fix it.

🝯🝯

Life was a crap ton calmer on Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke’s side. No dimensional holes and portals opening at random, no endless army of enemy ninja, just one knucklehead and a subtle portal that not even Kakashi of the sharingan noticed.

“Hurry up usuratonkachi.” Sasuke said, scanning the area with his sharingan, “Let’s finish this stupid mission and be done with it. All we need is a few of these chakra-replenishing plants and we’re done. Don’t screw this up.”

“Yeah Naruto!” Sakura announced, dealing him a knock on the back of his head.

“I’m coming ya know!” Naruto whined, rubbing the spot where Sakura hit him.

“Wait.” Sasuke said abruptly, “Something’s off.”

“I agree.” Kakashi replied, “Be on the lookout, I don’t know how to describe it, but there’s just-something.”

“I-is it a genjutsu?” Sakura asked worriedly, preparing to dispel it, “Kai!”

Nothing happened.

“I don’t know what it is but keep your guard up.” Kakashi warned.

Right as he was finished speaking, Naruto came bounding toward Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sakura. He overshot, being the klutz he was known to be, and fell face first into… a crack in the air?!

“Naruto you idiot!” Sakura screeched, “What did you do?!”

A blinding light consumed the team of genin as Sakura screamed insults at Naruto.

🝯🝯

Sasuke’s chakra was depleting rapidly, forcing him to leave a few portals open. Unfortunately, the second group of unsuspecting genin walked straight into an open one.

“Papa!” Sarada screamed as the bright light consumed her and her teammates.

Sarada squeezed her onyx eyes closed, secretly hoping this was all a nightmare. When she opened her eyes, she was laying on the forest ground. It seemed to be night in this dimension, yet it was pleasantly warm. She blinked several times, and looked around. There were her teammates, sprawled on the grassy ground, unconscious. And three other kids. One of the kids, sat up groggily, eyes half closed.

“What the fuck just happened.” The raven haired child asked quietly.

Sarada gasped upon realizing that this foul-mouthed, duckbutt-haired kid was her father. As a child of course.

“P-What are you doing here?!” She exclaimed, careful not to reveal her identity.

“Who are you?” Young Sasuke asked, taking a defensive stance, “You seem to be a Konoha ninja yet I’ve never seen you in the village.”

“I could say the same about you.” Sarada replied, wanting to confirm that this ninja was really her father, “You wear the Uchiha crest. Do you possess the sharingan?”

“Hn.” Sasuke replied, demonstrating his dojutsu, “How am I supposed to prove that you are not an enemy?”

Sarada assessed her situation. There was no way in hell it was safe to reveal her identity now so that was out of the question. But the Hokage seemed like decent proof.

“The Hokage of Konoha right now is Tsunade Senju.” Sarada replied.

“Anyone could find that out. Tell me something less obvious.”

“Her pig’s name is Tonton.” Sarada was suddenly insanely grateful for all the uncomfortable time she spent with Grandma Tsunade and all of her mom’s endless rants about her brutal training.

Sasuke raised one eyebrow and let his guard down, “I’ll trust you for now but if you do anything suspicious, I will not be afraid to end you.”

“Okay then, no need to be so intense shannaro!”

Sasuke’s eyes widened, “Only Sakura says that. What are you hiding?!”

“Fine!” Sarada exclaimed, “I’m a huge Sakura fan and actually adopted her catchphrase while learning about her. It’s really embarrassing!” Sarada almost enjoyed lying to her father, especially since he seemed to believe it wholeheartedly.

Sasuke muttered something under his breath along the lines of ‘girls tend to be like that’ and responded with a bitter ‘fine’.

Sarada sighed and went to go wake her teammates up. She was about to turn around when she realized she had the Uchiha symbol emblazoned on her back. She walked backwards slowly, grabbed Boruto’s jacket from his unconscious body, draped it over her, and proceeded to wake him up.

“Boruto!” She whispered, “Wake up but don’t you dare say a thing. And whatever you do, don’t say dattebane, got it?”

Boruto’s eyes fluttered open as he nodded confusedly.

“Whatever you say Sarada.” He muttered, “Hey where’s my jacket-why are you wearing it?!”

“Look around closely and you’ll understand.”

Boruto scanned the area, gasped, and nodded quickly. “Yeah. I get it.”

Sarada sighed and went to go wake Mitsuki up.

“Wake up.” She said, pulling him to his feet, “Knowing you, you already know what’s going on so I trust you not to say anything stupid.”

Mitsuki nodded in understanding.

“Hello Sasuke Uchiha!” He said pleasantly.

Sasuke turned around abruptly, “How do you know my name?”

“Why everyone knows about the Uchiha prodigy now don’t they?” Mitsuki responded, still smiling brightly.

“Sasuke?” A sweet, quiet voice asked, “What happened?”

The young girl stood up slowly. “Who are you guys?” She asked, eyeing Sarada, Boruto, and Mitsuki.

“I’m Sarada.” Sarada stated, “That’s Boruto, and that’s Mitsuki.”

The pinkette nodded in acknowledgment and walked over to Naruto who she proceeded to beat up.

“Naruto you idiot!” She yelled, “This is all your stupid fault! Kakashi-sensei specifically said to be careful but no you rush off and pull us into this stupid mess!”

“Owww!” Naruto whined, “Sakura-chan, that hurt! Wait, where are we?”

“Probably in another dimension.” Boruto replied, “Unc-Sensei was umm talking about weird portals showing up around where we were so it only makes sense.”

“Whoah. So is this like the ghost dimension or something?” Naruto asked, a clueless smile spreading across his face.

“Of course not dummy!” Sakura replied, punching him in the arm.

“Why are you always hurting me Sakura?”

“Yeah, why are you always hurting him ma-Sakura?” Sarada asked, butting in.

“You don’t know anything about him.” Sakura shot back, flipping her long pink hair, “Trust me, if you knew what he was like, you’d be punching him too.”

Sarada smirked, “Fine then. I’ll take your word for it.”

“All this small talk is great and all,” Boruto started, “But why don’t we address the elephant in the room. How the hell did we get here?”

“Well there was this light and-” Naruto started, but was interrupted by Mitsuki.

“Sorry to interrupt, but it’s obvious that someone is manipulating these portals. And not to reveal too much, I assure you, we’re from different timelines.” He stated, still smiling, “I presume some mastermind wants to find a time-neutral zone and take all the enemies from the past and future and pitch them against each other, causing a devastating war.”

The genin looked frankly taken aback.

“How on earth did you find all this information?!” Boruto exclaimed, “And if you knew before all this, why the fuck didn’t you tell us?!”

“Because it wasn’t pertinent.” He replied.

“How is an all out, annihilating potential war not pertinent?” Sarada asked, looking extremely confused.

“Well I didn’t think it would actually happen. See, my parent was talking about how he had overheard some plans for this years ago. Since it hadn’t happened since then, I really couldn’t assume it would happen now.”

“The ton of spontaneously opening portals wasn’t proof enough?!” Boruto spat, always questioning his teammates antics.

“Shut up you three.” Sasuke commanded, “Someone’s here.”

(For chapter 2, click here)

23 notes · View notes