#there was one where ino got stuck with naruto for a project and she was like eEEW NU ASUMA SENSEI WHY R U PUNISHING ME;

[captnjacksparrow]

Do you think in the Naruto world Sakura is considered ugly because I think she is. Many people said that she is ugly etc. even Naruto didn’t defend her when someone called her ugly and he called her that. Also what female and male characters are considered attracitve in Naruto world? I was sad that Naruto is not considered handsome because I think he is and in the real world he would be really handsome with his blonde hair, blue eyes and tanned skin and Sasuke wouldn’t.

Let’s see.... So, we all know that Naruto (the character) is Kishimoto’s projection, right???? Having said that...

I think in Naruto’s world, 

Sasuke is the Chick-Magnet.... Sakura, Karin literally wanted to get inside his pants so badly just because of his Cool appearance, Ino likes him, Mei, Temari, TenTen remarked his appearance as Handsome and Cute.... 

I know some of our fans think he attracts men too... namely Naruto, Suigetsu, Jugo.... I think Naruto indeed likes his looks but that’s not the primary factor he was attracted to him... Suigetsu just stood behind and hit Sasuke in one scene... I can’t consider any of these instances as Sasuke attracting Men with his beauty.  

Naruto is not appealing to Women... 

In Chapter 96, After Naruto got knocked out by the intensive Training after Summoning Gamabunta Frog for the first time, Shikamaru visits him... He casually remarked here that, “You two (Naruto and Chouji) aren’t the type to have girls come visit you...”

Again, this was referenced in Chapter 280

“Don’t feel bad.... Women are always weak at the knees for the elite, Cool types...”

So, Gaara is also Attractive to girls, to an extent... Whereas Naruto is not. 

But Naruto gets the heart & trust of many men in Narutoverse.... Namely Sasuke, Gaara, Neji, Shikamaru, Sai..... Not in a romantic way though... (that’s not the case for Sasuke and Gaara).... 

I seriously wonder.... Why did Kishi made his self-projected character to not be appealing to Women??? 

Weird!!!! Whatever.....

Now for Sakura..

Am going to add panels in Reverse Chronological Order...  

In Chapter 312, Sai called Sakura as Ugly-Dog....

To which, Naruto said...

“Sai!! That’s way overdoing it!!!”.....

Which means Naruto didn’t deny the fact that Sakura looks Ugly...... LOL....

In Chapter 297.... 

When Naruto got his consciousness back after Yamato suppressed Kyuubi’s Chakra... He got up and saw Sakura’s eyes were teared up... to which 

Naruto assumed that Sai mocked her appearance and unintentionally started to project himself by adding extra words like “Butt - Ugly freak of Nature”.... LOL......

In Chapter 284,

When Team 7 was introduced to a new member, Sai..... He just mocked Sakura’s appearance as “I like nice... Ugly women like you”

To which Naruto was just silent.... 

Man!!!! Atleast Sakura condemned Sai’s attitude for calling Naruto “a little prick with no balls”.... But Naruto was just Unresponsive when Sai insulted Sakura..... LOLOLOL...

In Chapter 34,

Konohamaru was really calling Sakura as “Ugly Huge Forehead”...... To which Naruto was also seen hilariously silent.... Oooff!!!!! 

In Chapter 21,

Naruto finds Haku, a Boy who dressed up like a girl, to be more cuter than Sakura.... Interesting....

In Chapter 17, 

During Tree Climbing Training, Kakashi asked Sakura to take a theory class about Chakra..... In where Kakashi compliments her like, “Beautiful Young girl, Sakura’s lesson on Chakra”....... 

Hilariously,

Naruto, instead of concentrating on Sakura’s explanation, he was stuck on Kakashi’s compliment about Sakura’s looks and was wondering whether she is really Beautiful.....   [[Okay I don’t know whether Kakashi says it or Sakura says she is Beautiful.... Either way, it’s hilarious.... Because if Sakura herself claims herself to be Beautiful then that shows how idiotic she is]]

Man!!!!!! I just noticed this few days ago and I can’t stop laughing.... 

Seriously??? Kishi????

And then in Chapter 3,

LOL.... Sakura knew her forehead was ugly.... Konohamaru knew it.... Naruto even silently agreed to it... And yet here Naruto, instead of trying to call her Beautiful or Cute, he was trying to impress her using a fake compliment.... “Charming forehead”..... 

And Finally.... According the Kishimoto’s own words.... In his Character Design Commentary about Sakura.....

Kishi explicitly says, “She’s not Cute!!”... “ A Girl that’s not cute!!”

LOL.... Like I said before, Naruto is the projection of Kishimoto and the creator himself says Sakura is not Cute..... And in all the above panels, Naruto also feels the same way (implicitly)..... 

So, to tie this thread by piecing all the panels together.......

In Chapter 245, 

When Sakura asked about her appearance.... Naruto told, “You haven’t changed at all!!”

So, What gives???

Sakura looks the same from Part 1... That is, Sakura looks somewhat Ugly or Not Cute according to Naruto’s eyes. He is not attracted or appreciative of her beauty.... in both Part 1 and Part 2.

And it seems Naruto only called her Cute only Once.... But there is a Translation Error in it... I will attach both....

In Chapter 3, 

Naruto monologues to himself that, “A Very cute girl that I like a Lot”..... But the raw translation shows me, “A Cute Girl who cares about me”.....

Oh!!! The word Naruto used here is “気になる” which means Ki Ni Naru..... Meaning, Care about, Worry about, Concern about, anxious about.... The very same word Sasuke used in his Confession in 698 where he said, “I started to worry about you”..... 

Did she really cared about him???? What made Naruto think that she cared about him??? She was literally an asshole to badmouth about his Orphan Status in the very next scene... Probably poor Naruto thought that whenever Sakura angrily hits him, he thought she was giving him the Attention while totally being oblivious to the fact that she hates him for coming in between her and Sasuke. 

Anyways.... 

I think after this moment Naruto never remarked Sakura being Cute or Beautiful...

If this were to occur 1 or 2 times, we can take this as a joke.... But Naruto commenting about Sakura’s appearance (directly or indirectly) has been going on for 9 times in all the 700 chapters combined. And in all those 9 times, Naruto never hinted at Sakura being Beautiful or Cute for about 8 times... It can’t be a Joke, you see, if it is on your face.

I was sad that Naruto is not considered handsome because I think he is and in the real world he would be really handsome with his blonde hair, blue eyes and tanned skin and Sasuke wouldn’t.

I think it’s not entirely about Handsomeness, you know.... Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder... It’s all about how the character conducts itself, Anon. 

Tell me, how many girls in their Teens/Early Twenties wish for their man to be Outgoing, Goofy, Funny, Ever smiling, Makes them Happy, Comfortable and Warm???? I am not pointing every girls.... Am just asking about the majority..... I mean, think back to your High School Years... and find who was the Popular Boy... That Popular Boy must be that Rich, Arrogant, Cool looking brat who never gave his time of his Day to any girls.... Or that one boy who is very good at Sports.... 

Sasuke is popular because he is good at Sports (Jutsu), Rich (Prestigious Clan), Arrogant (he is not.... but he gives off that vibe), Cool looking (that’s obvious... His gaze is sharp and piercing for most girls), who never gives his time of his Day to any girls....  So, Sasuke checks all the box to be Popular, Handsome and Hot. 

These kind of characters gives those girls a sense of irresistibility and makes them vie for his attention because he is Unreachable... And if he ended up giving a girl his attention, then that girl can brag to her peers that “Yaay.... Look at me, I’m the Girl he sought out”..... A sense of being special and unique... [[Surprisingly this is the mentality of Sakura and her wankers who supports SS... “Look at us!!! We got Sasuke”....]]

Whereas Naruto kind of Boys will never be preferred by most Girls because he is accessible and approachable... You can easily talk to him, converse with him casually about anything but he won’t give you the sense of being Special. And hence, even if Naruto looks Handsome, Girls won’t consider him to be as such. 

And that’s why Sakura lost her interest on Charasuke even though he looks really Handsome....

Because he won’t make her feel Special.

Whereas with Menma, he gives off this serious, mysterious, cold gaze.. unlike Naruto. 

Which makes those Girls flocking towards him!!! 

The more he pushes away, the more she feels irresistible..... Again, not everyone. Naruto never pushes anyone and hence he is not considered Handsome among Girls in Narutoverse.

[lotusfartstwice]

“You did all of this for me?” Sakura & Lee? 🌸

[from these prompts]

“You did all of this for me?”

--

Rock Lee had all but forgotten about his dojo and his dream of fighting rival fighters.

Pain’s attack had decimated the village and along with it his beloved dojo. Soon after, talk of war came about so rebuilding wasn’t even a blip on his radar. Once that had passed he had considered rebuilding but ultimately all his efforts were a shaky skeleton of a building. He had become quite busy after becoming jonin so he simply had no time to pursue any passion projects. A fact he often lamented to his fellow shinobi when goals were brought up in conversation.

“I think, if I ever got a chance to just work on the dojo again I would make it more appealing.”

“Appealing?” Tenten asked, brow quirked.

“The exterior! I would add a garden or a fountain! Maybe even a koi pond! That would be pleasant, would it not?”

“That is if you ever had the time,” Neji said with a sigh. The two had just returned from a mission so the Hyugga was really feeling the fatigue start to set in.

“No kidding. I’m still looking for a place to set up a weapon’s shop,” Tenten said before patting Lee on the back. “No worries! One of these days we’ll be all set.”

The three rejoined the rest of their friends.

--

Sakura had been busy training medical ninjas but once that had been taken care of she found herself with plenty of free time.

What was a kunoichi to do?

She decided to foster her bonds.

Her and her fellow shinobi had gone through many trials and tribulations together. They now lived in a tentative peace but it was peace nonetheless. She had learned many things from Tsunade but one thing that always stuck out to her was her teacher’s occasional regrets in life. The distance between friends had not done the former hokage any favors.

Sakura found herself having lunch with Ino or Hinata when she could. Then one could find her sparring with Tenten or Kiba. Naruto and Shino were helping in the academy so when she could she would offer advice on reading material they could use (and maybe scam some dango afterwards). Choji and Shikamaru were busy working as representatives to visiting shinobi from other villages. She'd join either or in giving tours around Konoha which always ended in a satisfying meal.

Sai, Neji and Lee were the only ones she didn't have much chance to spend time with one-on-one. The three men were often sent away on missions before they could get a chance to breathe. So oftentimes when she ever had a chance to interact with any of them was when she and the rest of their friends invited them out.

She would take what she could get, sneak in some conversations when she could.

Sakura had just gotten done catching up with Sai when she moved to join Team Gai, only to pause when she heard their conversation.

“I think, if I ever got a chance to just work on the dojo again I would make it more appealing.”

She blinked as memories of spending time in the secluded building as genin sprang forward. Lee had been so proud of it. She was impressed he had finished building it while recovering from injuries. It really had been years.

“That is if you ever had the time,” Neji said with a sigh.

Time?

Well, Sakura had plenty of that to spare at least more so than Lee did.

--

It was a lovely spring day and Rock Lee was happy to have it off.

“Sakura where are you taking me?” Lee couldn’t help but ask as his friend guided him through the village.

“It’s a surprise, Lee!” She stopped for a moment. “We’re getting close so you’re going to have to wear a blindfold.”

“A blindfold?”

Sakura snorted. “Concept of surprise is really eluding you today.”

Lee blushed but complied as he tied the blindfold. He heard the waving of Sakura’s hand in front of his face, for fun’s sake he quickly grabbed her wrist like a snake. “I might not be able to see but my senses are still keen.”

“Yeah, yeah you just wanted an excuse to hold me.”

Lee felt the tips of his ears heat up and he quickly let go of her.

“No good I need to hold your hand, remember?” He could hear the mirth in her tone which just made heat creep up his neck. She was so insufferable in her teasing sometimes.

--

Sakura rolled her eyes whenever Lee was able to name a street or a shop nearby despite a blindfold. He was such a show off.

“I guess they promoted you to jonin for a reason.”

Lee laughed. “Ah yes, my skill of memorizing my village. A very important qualification.” He paused as she led them outside the village and into the woods. “Interesting...what could be out here, I wonder?”

“I’m not gonna keep repeating that it’s a surprise.”

“You just did.”

She squeezed his hand with some force. “So I did.”

���Mm.” He squeezed back with equal force.

--

Something was familiar about this but Lee couldn’t put his finger on it. Wherever they were he had been there before. They had finally stopped and he could practically feel Sakura buzz with excitement.

“We’re here!” she let go of his hand. “Go ahead and take the blindfold off!”

He smiled at the tone of her voice before doing as asked.

“Wha-” the words got stuck in his throat at the sight before him.

He took a few steps forward.

His dojo stood proudly before him. It was still quite simple and no doubt worked off of the bare skeleton he had built beforehand. It didn’t look like a patchwork mess like when he was genin. It looked structurally sound. He peeked his head inside and grinned. There was plenty of space to work.

There was a new addition of flowers outside the building and was that a koi pond? He walked closer to investigate and sure enough. There were two koi fish lazily swimming about in the water. Two lotus flowers floating on the surface made him pause. “This is…”

He took a step back, swallowing hard as his eyes took in the rest.

“Do you like it?”

Lee looked back at Sakura. She was smiling but she looked nervous? What was she nervous about? This was wonderful!

“You did all of this for me?” He managed to whisper, his voice somewhat tight.

Sakura rejoined his side. “Of course!” She then pouted slightly. “Rock Lee, are you saying I’m not capable of doing nice things?”

His eyes widened. “N-no! Of course not!” He felt an uneasy laugh escape him before he looked back at the dojo. “I just...I cannot believe anyone would go through so much effort for me.” He could see Gai-sensei with maybe the reluctant help of his teammates sure but Sakura? Or anyone else for that matter? “This must have taken so long and I had no idea.”

He swallowed again but despite his efforts he couldn’t keep the tears at bay.

“I had some help,” Sakura said. “Naruto and I tried rebuilding everything from scratch but wound up knocking the frame you had up over.” She sighed remembering the failure. “Luckily Captain Yamato was happy to help us.” She moved to hold her friend’s hand. “We told him to keep things simple because that’s your style. He really wanted to make a two-floor dojo.” She giggled at the recollection of his disappointed face when they told him the details.

Lee chuckled, wiping his tears with his free hand.

“Then Choji and Kiba helped me make the pond.” Sakura laughed. “Akamaru was swimming in it a couple times before Shikamaru was able to bring in the koi fish.”

“Then Ino provided the flowers and everyone who could help came and we planted them everywhere.”

Lee imagined all their friends working together, laughing as flowers were arranged.

Sakura let go of his hand and he watched as she entered the building only to reappear with a blank piece of wood. “All that’s left is for you to make the sign.”

He took hold of it. He was sure it was the same size as it was when he was genin. Back then it had seemed so large and imposing. Now his hands were so big as he held it.

“You’re lucky I managed to keep that away from Sai! He was really insistent he make it but we compromised. He got to decorate your walls with some paintings.”

He laughed. “I did not even notice! I will admire them later.” He clutched the blank sign. “I do not know how to thank all of you.”

Sakura smiled. “Well, let us help you make it a proper dojo.”

“Oh?”

She nodded. “We’ve got a couple civilians who are interested in learning taijutsu so once you have the time…”

“Absolutely!” He grinned. “I will take anyone in as a student! We will all be splendid together!”

“Excellent.” She gave him the nice guy pose before giggling.

“Sakura.”

“Hm?”

“Thank you.”

“Well, it wasn’t just me-”

Lee shook his head. “I am aware that you had help but you organized it and made it happen.” He set his sign down to wipe freely at his eyes. “I am so very overwhelmed with all of this. It is so wonderful. Thank you.”

“Well, maybe the two of us can take everyone out for a meal.” Sakura suggested. “Does that sound good?”

“That sounds excellent!” He grinned. He couldn’t wait to thank the others.

“Excellent.” He blinked when he felt Sakura lean her head against him. Shyly, he moved to put an arm around her.

“Y’know you never did answer my question: do you like it?”

Lee blinked. “I thought it was obvious.”

Sakura just hummed.

“I love it! I love it all!”

His friend cheered and pumped an arm. “There we go!”

“I think later on I would like to add a tree, close by.” He says after a beat.

“Oh?”

“Yes, I think it would be lovely.”

“What kind of tree? Maple or something?”

Lee blushed, pointedly focusing on anything but her. “I was thinking maybe a sakura tree.”

Sakura blinked before chuckling. “Yeah, maybe a sakura tree would be nice.” She sighed but made no move to untangle from Lee. “The blossoms will be a pain to keep out of the pond.”

Lee shook his head. “Not at all! I will think of it as training! All of it will be worth it.” He finally glanced at her, smiling now. “It will be a place to rest against. It will be lovely, I promise!”

“If you say so.” She poked his side, eliciting a laugh from him. “Ready to work on that sign?”

“Ah! Yes!” The two headed into the building where a brush and paint waited. 

[anoceaninthesun]

Needs Improvement

Thanks largely to a brilliant suggestion by @shineejeya the Home Improvement AU continues with this ficlet (mini-series ??). This time the renovating teams tackle their toughest assignment yet. If only it was all about the house and not the feisty, beautiful client.

Summary: When Yamanaka Ino meddles in her best friend’s love life quest to DIY renovate her new fixer-upper, Haruno Sakura finds herself caught up in a home improvement competition between four handsome, creative questionably qualified renovators.  

(Home Improvement AU, Modern AU, Slice-of-Life AU)

Pairings: FoundersxSaku (IzuSaku, TobiSaku, MadaSaku, HashiSaku), ShikaIno, other background pairs

Rating: T

Genre(s): Romance, Comedy, General

Warnings: none really—except maybe swearing, atrocious flirting skills and the Founders being renovating crackheads (not literally, but almost)

Pt. 1, Pt.2 

Sakura had her doubts about Ino’s intentions from the moment she showed up dressed so...expensively. The season’s latest denim cut off jacket, glittering top, a perfectly pleated skirt she’d seen in an upscale boutique they went to together, and boots easily worth someone’s paycheck. Granted, her friend had been a fashionista and trendsetter since they were kids.

 But, when Ino called the night before claiming it had been too long since they’d hung out and she wanted to do a quiet, girl’s-day-in, she’d agreed. So maybe the pinkette had brought whatever was coming onto herself. She hadn’t thought much of it when the blonde said she’d swing by.

 It wasn’t really done, boxes barely unpacked and some rooms still without fresh coats of paint, but it was slowly coming along. Buying her first home at only twenty-two was a big deal, all the years of frugal spending and careful saving, of building credit and working hard culminating in such a huge achievement. 

She was so proud of herself, and determined to turn the house into the home of her dreams, one weekend at a time. “Do you want a soda or water?” she called from the kitchen. 

She could see Ino on her couch with her thumbs flying over her phone screen, not paying any attention to the movie playing. “Smoothie.” she responded, absently. 

“That’s not even one of the choices I just offered!” Sakura huffed. 

“Don’t be an ungracious hostess, Sakura.” Ino laughed.

The doorbell chimed, and Sakura went to the fridge and fished out two bottles of water. She raised a suspicious brow when Ino ran to get it before she could so much as ask. Sakura knew she wasn’t expecting anyone else over, but her friends sometimes popped up when they knew she was free (which was sadly less than ever as of late). 

Taking the water and setting the two bottles down on the coffee table, Sakura wandered into the mudroom, peering out the window. She took a startled step back, blinking at the cars parked in her driveway and on the other side of the street. Was that...a camera crew? “What the hell?” she whispered. “Ino!” She stomped to the front door, only to find her friend bouncing around, happy sounds leaving her mouth as four incredibly attractive men stepped into her home. And yes, a flood of people with cameras coming in too. 

“Hi!” Ino waved with both hands. “Thank you so much for choosing this house! I can’t believe you’re here,” she tucked a loose lock of hair behind one ear and then moved forward to shake the first man’s hand. 

Sakura caught herself doing a double take. He looked so much like her childhood friend Sasuke it wasn’t even funny. More like Sasuke than his own older brother did, and she had always thought that their resemblance was pretty strong.

 The only real noticeable differences she could spot was his longer hair (hair which stuck up messily the same way Sasuke’s tended to) hanging down his back when he turned.

 His lips also looked fuller, and she and Naruto had always reluctantly agreed Sasuke had lips to die for. Their eyes met from over Ino’s shoulder and Sakura felt her heart seize up for half a beat, averting her eyes. He smiled politely, stepping back from Ino so she could continue conversing with the strange group of people. 

“So this is the house?” A white-haired man rumbled, his sharp, red eyes drinking in every detail. His unyielding facial expression made it hard to determine whatever thoughts were running to his head. Until his head bobbed once, evidently satisfied. “It’s got good bones.” 

Good bones. Sakura had thought the same thing when she’d seen it, and that’s what had prompted her to put a considerable amount of her savings into buying it. That, and maybe a tiny splash of idealism. The location, the rooms, the cute (if not somewhat overgrown) backyard...

“You’re Yamanaka Ino, right? The friend who wrote in?” The next man who spoke brought her right out of her idyllic visions. He was huge, with a beautifully bronzed skin tone, a voice that exuded warmth, and a flannel shirt stretched over a broad chest. He shook Ino’s hand, her whole arm bouncing with his strength, “Is the home owner around?” 

“Sure is! She’s right,” Ino half turned and her eyes immediately found Sakura, who had been frozen there the entire time. “Right there!”

Just like that, any illusion of invisibility she had was ripped away, and Sakura stood exposed. The cameras were zooming in, taking in her wide eyes, ghostly pallor and everyday clothes. 

“Haruno Sakura?” The man approaching her had a voice that felt like it punched the wind from her lungs, knocking her sideways. He shifted some of his long hair aside and smirked slightly, catching her reaction. She took the hand he offered and shook it, because she wasn’t really sure what else she could do. “I assume you know why we’re here?”

“Bad assumption,” she croaked. “This wasn’t what...I don’t know why...have I seen you somewhere before?” 

The role reversal was abrupt. His cocky grin melted into a thin line as his brow arched and he retracted his hand. “You...You haven’t seen the show?”

“No.” Sakura responded, almost challengingly.

The Sasuke-Look-Alike approached with a softer expression, but it did nothing for her nerves. He was just as overwhelming up close as the man she shook hands with.

“We were contacted to renovate a home, your home. As part of a new episode of our show, From House to Home. I’m Uchiha Izuna, and that’s my charming brother—”

“Madara.” Madara introduced himself with pride, as if he had the title of royalty attached to his name. They really were Sasuke’s relatives! Ones she’d never met, and she thought she had met a good deal of his extended family.

Apparently not wanting to be left out, the man with the large presence and abundance of energy came over, his eyes merry even before the genuine grin pulled his mouth up. “I’m Senju Hashirama, and I’m excited to work with you. We’ll get your dream home complete in no time.” Tugging the solemn man to his side and placing an arm around his shoulders, he waited.

“Senju Tobirama.” he said, his tone no more ‘excited’ than his face.

Sakura blinked once, wondering why a brain that could memorize the names for all the bones in a human body with ease had so much difficulty processing this. “Nice to meet you all.” she said slowly. Her eyes darted back to the camera crew still filming. She worried her face was going to look clammy on film. Would they edit out the awkward parts at least?

“So, Ino-san’s told us a little bit, but it’d be great if we could go over what you’re looking for.” Izuna urged.

Figuring it was too late to turn back (although she owed Ino one hell of a scolding for blindsiding her), Sakura nodded. “I’ll show you around.”

______________________________________________________________

Ino flitted around like a dragonfly that couldn’t decide where to land. Sakura did her best not to break into a sweat over the pack of handsome men following her around from room to room. She had plenty of male friends.

Attractive male friends, even. But there was a hot flame at the back of her neck from the gazes tracking her that just wasn’t there when she was around her boys. The crush she’d once had on Sasuke for that awkward period when they were younger, notwithstanding.

“A more open kitchen?” Hashirama repeated. He pulled out a tablet and began fumbling with it, biting his lip briefly. Sighing loudly, Tobirama yanked it from his hand, pointedly turning it so it was no longer upside down, and began tapping.

Sakura smiled slightly. Though they were apparently something like celebrities in the world of home improvement, they gave off a very difference impression in real life. On the other hand, exactly how competent were these men?

“It’d be nice if she could have a bigger island bar. You know, for get togethers with our friends.” Ino put in, standing at one corner of the room.

For all the helpful advice she had, the renovators probably thought Ino lived with her.

“We’ve definitely done some very fun island bars before.” The older Senju said. “Remember the project with the tropical fish tank built in?” He nudged at his brother, who grimaced.

“Your ideas are somehow always even bigger than the clients.” Tobirama grumbled.

Madara wondered over to her humble stove area, examining it. Then her second-hand fridge and microwave. “These appliances are outdated. Anything new we put in would clash.” Sakura took offense to his disdainful expression. It wasn’t easy to afford a house on her budget and spring for brand new kitchenware and appliances.

“It works fine.” Sakura explained, teeth grinding. Who did this man, who probably drove around in a car the same price as the down payment on her house, think he was? To demonstrate, she brushed by his taller frame and turned on one of the eyelets of the stove. A flame sputtered to life. “Plus,” she added, putting on her syrupiest voice, “I know seasoned renovators like yourselves can work around any minor inconveniences the house has.” Madara stared at it, then her, saying nothing else.

Sakura happened to catch the shrewd carmine eyes of Tobirama, noticing how they were lit with mild amusement.

“Without a doubt!” Hashirama agreed, “So Madara, you’ll take responsibility for the kitchen area?”

Crossing his arms, the older Uchiha made a noise reminiscent of reluctant agreeance. Sakura had been friends with Sasuke for a long enough period to decode most vague noises and gestures in an Uchiha’s standard repertoire.

That was without a doubt, “challenge accepted.” ______________________________________________________________

So far, the job ahead didn’t make him feel as miserable as Tobirama had been expecting. Despite the strange newness of the situation, Haruno Sakura didn’t seem like an unreasonable client. They were currently surveying her unfenced backyard, no one more eager to talk about plans for it than Hashirama. “The great thing about how unstructured this space is right now, is that you could do almost anything with it and not worry about taking anything out first. A fence is a definite, but how do you feel about a greenstone garden?”

Sakura contemplated, a slow smile curling her lips as her best friend barely contained a squeal. “Well, I did say whenever I got my own place I’d try my hand at something like that.” 

Happy that she was on board, she and Hashirama began to talk shop, with Ino interjecting, apparently a gardening fanatic herself. Tobirama let them chat, busy watching Madara scope out the yard, presumably to see how he’d implement his own project. When he wasn’t doing that, he was boring holes into the side of the client’s head. She had to feel it. 

It was starting to agitate him a little, and he wasn’t even the focus of the man’s gaze. Ever since the little display of sass in the kitchen – something Tobirama thoroughly appreciated since quite a few clients were too busy fawning to put Madara in his place–it was hard to tell if the older of the Uchiha brothers wanted to one up them or impress Sakura. More than likely both.

“I don’t think I’d want to splurge on anything like a pool,” Sakura was shaking her head. “But it’d be nice to have something entertaining...”

“A firepit.” Izuna said instantly. “We can do one right off the patio if you want.” He took out his own tablet and showed her a three dimensional construct of what it would look like. 

Sakura leaned in, her face approving. “Oh!” Without even seeming to realize it, she gently tugged it from his hands and tapped. “Are these the different designs? I really like this one.” 

The camera shifted to show what her choice had been. Though Tobirama found the Uchiha’s penchant for firepits entirely unoriginal from a design perspective, the one Sakura liked would unfortunately be very nice surrounded by Hashirama’s horticultural touches.

 Izuna was certainly proud of himself for suggesting it, much less openly smug than his brother. But...too pleased nonetheless. In fact, he had been stealing interested looks at Sakura nearly as often as Madara. 

As they moved back into the house, Hashirama and the women in front, the younger Senju traded a very loaded look with the dark-haired brothers.That probably wasn’t going to make the final cut. The show liked to capitalize on a “friendly” if not overly-competitive rivalry, but the venomous sneers they gifted each other were far past it. 

They were all supposed to be alright with a collaboration for the sake of Sakura’s dream reno. He just had the niggling suspicion that wasn’t the only thing on their minds. Deny all they wanted, the Uchiha Team tended to shine best when the client was young, female and single. Sakura was at least two out of three things thus far. 

At the very least, she wasn’t acting besotted. That was a welcome change. She also seemed financially conscious, which was something else Tobirama appreciated after so long doing budgeting on these projects. A lot of clients didn’t truly understand how that portion of project management worked.

 Though, with how surprised she was by the whole affair, he wondered if she even knew an anonymous source had put up a very generous amount to cover the renovation.

 Sakura could have two identical houses and triple the square footage if she really wanted it. And it wasn’t beneath Madara to use that knowledge and some sex appeal to coerce someone in the pinkette’s position to let him take control of a project like this one.   

Tobirama wasn’t about to let the opposing team break ahead. The time would come shortly for him to speak with Sakura, and when they had that meeting of the minds, he would convince her that an economical reno was the way to go.  

______________________________________________________________

It took a lot longer than anticipated but here’s part two. The beginning of the SakuraxFounders interactions! I usually do slow burn, but at the same time this isn’t going to be super long, so romance may happen quicker than usual. I think this is looking more and more like it may become a mini-series (a handful of these little chapters probably), which I have never done on tumblr. Fingers crossed I figure it out. If you’re looking for more FounderxSakura fun from me, and there’s a chance you haven’t seen my oversaturated advertisement for it, you can check out: A Stitch in Time.

[might-guys-acorn]

do u have any hc's for weird facts about the konoha 11 (+sasuke)?

Yes! These babies are full of weird lil quirks. -🦎

===============================

Naruto

Will have mini existential crisis' over dumb things. "Why do we blend things if theyre just gonna get all mushed up in our stomachs anyway? Are blenders just mechanical teeth???"

Has awful impulse control. Not just in battle, but little things too. Unties every shoelace in reach. What sound will this make if I drop it? Pocket? Let me put my hand in it

Has to jump up to touch the doorframe before he can exit any room. He's that kid, and we all know it.

Sasuke

Mumbles things under his breath, esp if hes annoyed. "Shut up and pay for your groceries, Joyce, the cashier doesnt care about your dog's surgeries."

Takes forever to order when eating out. Nothing sounds good, but maybe if I reread the menu 4 more times something will?

Accidentally activates his sharigan when hes surprised. Wouldnt be a big deal, but when hes stuck in the market and dodging everyone dramatically for 20 minutes, it gets a little annoying.

Sakura

Squeals at all cute things. Could see a particularly tiny ladle for a dollhouse and break everyones eardrums from excitement

Looks off into pretend sitcom cameras when someone has said something particularly dumb to her. Sometimes even makes up a laughtrack in her head, just to recover from other's stupidity.

Uses every single dish in the kitchen when she cooks. Theres no way for her to make a meal without simultaneously making a huge mess

Ino

Stops to smell every flower she sees. Its in her genes and shes done it for as long as she can remember

Goes to stores just to put on formal dresses and look at herself. Then always goes home and cries because she'll never have anything to wear them to.

Sings in the shower. At the top of her lungs. Or has imaginary conversations with people, and gets internally annoyed when they dont stick to her script in real life.

Shikamaru

Cant eat at a restaurant without being able to see the door. Will literally wait an extra 20 min for the booth closest to the exit.

Makes shadow puppets in his room when he cant sleep. Would die if anyone found out, but he gets bored, okay?

Has the same glow in the dark stars on his ceiling from when he was 5. Hes too lazy to take them down, and Choji makes fun of him for it everytime he sees them

Choji

Can't clean unless there's music on. Doing laundry is impossible unless he's dancing along to whatever is on the radio

Takes 30 seconds to pick out an outfit but will stand with the fridge open for hours trying to figure out the best snack

Hates wearing socks by themselves. Theyre all the restriction of shoes with none of the protection. Either put shoes on, or dont, but dont get halfway there and give up.

Kiba

Doesnt know how to feel about foxes. He loves dogs, but hates cats and a fox is almost both??? So what do I do with this information? It literally keeps him up at night.

Trips people for fun. Wont actually try to make you fall, but cant help but stick his foot out if you walk past him

Uses Akamaru as a wingman. Nothing gets ladies more than a cute guy with a cute dog, so he might as well use that to his advantage

Hinata

Says "Ow" everytime she hears a loud noise. Wont even be hurt, just cant stop herself.

Goes through times where she has to completely rearrange her room. Feels like shes turned her life around by the time shes done, swears nothing will be messy again, and gives up on cleaning after 2 weeks.

Loves astrology, and has mini conversations about it in her head. "Sasuke has been super weird lately" "Well mercury is retrograde, sooo"

Shino

Owns 30 pairs of sunglasses but only wears 1. The others just sit in his dresser collecting dust because he convinced himself he'd start wearing them but never will

Yells at his bugs like theyre children. "Pincer if you dont stop throwing a temper tantrum right now, Ill got home"

Will never take the last of anything, but wont get rid of the container until its empty. Always has a mostly empty milk carton sitting in his fridge next to a full one, because theres still milk in there!!! I cant waste it!!!!

Lee

Literally hates sleeping. Its such a waste of perfectly good time. Just because its dark does not mean I cannot enjoy my youth!!

Discovers and drops hobbies in the blink of an eye. Has so many unfinished projects lying around, from half-finished novels to a sweater he tried knitting but gave up after one sleeve

Unironically gives people finger guns all the time. He tells a semi-decent joke? Finger guns. Sees someone training? Finger guns. Confesses his love? You guessed it. Finger. Guns.

Tenten

Puts a gold star on her bedroom mirror when she does a good job on a mission. Its like a visual reminder that shes important to her team.

Has to run her fingers along every fence she walks by. Its a subconscious thing she does, and she doesnt even know why.

Sleeps with a knife under her pillow. Not for protection, but just because shes emotionally attached to it. Its her pillow knife, and she loves it.

Neji

Pretends like he knows everything. Even if he doesn't. "Did you hear about what they said in the news?" "Of course I did." *runs away to check the paper*

Falls asleep in strange positions. Once he woke up with his legs straight up against the wall and couldn't walk for 10 minutes from the lack of bloodflow

Secretly loves gossip. Will eavesdrop on strangers conversations just for the tea *cue 'oh my god, they were roommates' vine*

[saikagerights]

A New Possession- Entry #3

Here’s Number 3. Today’s been a long day, so I’m posting this super late where I am. This chapter has a lot to do with topics that I don’t think too much about, which is cool and interesting, but also time consuming. This is also the longest entry I’ve written so far, clocking in at a little more than 1000 words. 

Also on AO3

December 1st

I apologize. I was planning on going into more detail about my other bonds, but I got distracted through a small chat with Ino that led to a much larger discussion of her current project with Sakura to open up a Children’s Mental Clinic in Konoha. I found it difficult to pull away as it was a cause I related and the intrigue I found in the passion that radiated from her words. I believe that to be my first proper interaction with her since the mission. For some odd reason, I noticed her demeanor had changed from when I had seen her in group settings. Her once clear and rather bold talk turned into a slight stutter when broaching certain topics. I wonder if it is due to her personal life. I am aware that she is still grieving the loss of her father, as she had brought up how she missed him. 

Unfortunately, I have no connection to any blood relatives. My only family had consisted of Shin, and even then he wasn’t truly related to me. The concept of fatherhood is not one I would say I’m very knowledgeable in, either. However, I’ve heard things here and there from Naruto about the subject. What I’ve grasped is that father figures are people that are meant to guide you while supporting you along the way. There are few people in my life since my freedom from ROOT that can be considered father figures. 

Captain Yamato was the first to provide me a place to speak my mind after Danzo-sama’s death, when my tongue had been freed from his clutches and my faith in his words had truly begun to fade. We mainly spoke about our individual experiences in ROOT’s regime. Yamato however, allowed me access to some of his more darker secrets; some I swore to never repeat. Yamato was someone I could truly relate to as a shinobi. As a former ROOT operative, there are not many who have shared similar experiences to me. After the disbandment of the organization, many shinobi fled the village with scrolls, tools, and weapons in hand. Others ended their own lives at the unavoidable fact that their life’s mission had ended. The more fortunate ones were held in Konoha cells until the village could find a way to reintroduce them into the society of the village. I was lucky enough to have already received a foundation for my rehabilitation to begin. Yamato had also been lucky in being transferred to the job of the Sandaime’s protection at the request of Kakashi-sensei, now known as the Rokudaime. 

For the longest time,I had known Kakashi Hatake of the Sharingan for his extraordinary feats as an ANBU shinobi. His name as the legendary “Copy Ninja” had passed through the barracks of ROOT so many times he sounded more like a mythological figure than a man. To any respectable shinobi, working under him would be an absolute honor for his famous track record alone. I’ll admit that the thought of meeting him could be described as intimidating. 

Suffice to say I was fairly disappointed at first…

I met Kakashi-sensei in a hospital room after over-exerting himself during a mission to rescue the Kazekage from the clutches of the Akatsuki. To me, he looked decrepit and delicate, as if every decision he made weighed on him and any slight movement he made would break him. On paper, he had served a life-span of three shinobi alone, so this shouldn’t have been much of a surprise to me. The surprises didn’t stop with Kakashi-sensei, as his laid back attitude and taste in literature were also unbecoming of a shinobi. 

This was remedied by the way he treated his students as the Jonin leader of Team 7. 

Although mostly standoffish, his bond with his students seemed incredibly close. Although both Naruto and Sakura have learned from more reputable Sannin Shinobi Jiraiya and the Godaime, Tsunade, they attribute the foundation of their values as shinobi to Kakashi. His value of camaraderie between shinobi had in turn been passed down to me from Naruto, finally opening my eyes to what I had once been denied under Danzo-sama. 

I understand that being in my position during Danzo-sama’s short tenure as Hokage meant that I was bound to be a suspect in carrying out his will. I myself had begun to truly question my own beliefs, as little as they were. But that was never questioned by Kakashi-sensei. He instead instilled belief in me to walk down the right path and choose to value the lives and safety of my comrades. It is a time that has since stuck to my being due to the feeling it gave me. To feel trusted and encouraged. I still cannot fully describe it, but to me it was the warmth and comfort that I would now account as:

Acceptance…

From Kakashi-sensei, this same acceptance continued even after the war, when he and the Godaime concluded the concealment of the identities of ROOT operatives to protect us from scorn and prejudice for actions that were out of our control. My ability to live in peace and continue to move forward in my rehabilitation has mainly been due to this decision.

I now work under Kakashi-sensei as his personal operative as Hokage despite my departure from the ANBU after the war. This at my personal request for time away from the same structured authority that I had been a part of since childhood. It was also at the suggestion of the Rokudaime, as he had suspicion of corruption in the inner workings of the ANBU. Another one of his famous hunches that was only proven with further investigation. It is now an operation between us that we are to weed this out of the ANBU in hopes of establishing a new foundation of values in Konoha’s underground. All for the sake of protecting the village and the Shinobi that work tirelessly for the sake of it. 

This is part of what I consider to be my own will. 

I have concluded that the Rokudaime cares for me as if I were one of his students, despite my history with ROOT. Not only through his support as a Jonin or Hokage, but also smaller acts of kindness. He has supplemented me with a good amount of research material over the years, some more questionable than others. 

I may be new to social nuances, but even I know what Icha Icha is all about. 

Alright so there’s that. Next entry will be the lead up to the first of the major events in this timeline, which is the Last Movie. I’m not too sure how many entries it will cover, but I do have an idea about what I want Sai to talk about during these chapters, so at least I have a good idea. 

See you later,

-Saikage

[a-damson-in-distress]

Havoc - Chapter 2

Pairing: SasuSaku

Plot:  Sasuke knew people were still afraid of the club and especially of its Sergeant at Arms – and he wouldn’t have it any other way. He had been untouchable then and still was now. Indeed, there was nothing and no one in this world that Sasuke Uchiha feared. Except Sakura fucking Haruno. Biker AU.

Note: So hi everybody, I’m also continuing my SasuSaku fanfic after it’s been pronounced dead by my year-long absence *coughs awkwardly* sorry about that. Anyway, I really hope you like the new chapter. I’ve got a few great ideas for this story and depending on your responses, I might just try and finish it. So please let me know if you liked it and if you want me to continue it. My main story is still going to be From Dusk Till Dawn (MadaSaku, check it out if you’re into that pairing too), so Havoc will remain a side project for now, unless you convince me otherwise ;) Enjoy!

PS: If you want to read the first chapter, or maybe read it again, because it’s been ages since this story has been posted and you probably forgot what’s going on, you’re going to have to scroll through my blog to get to it. Unfortunately, I can’t post a link to it here, because this way this chapter doesn’t show up under any of the tags. So I had to take out the link to even make this post visible to you guys. Really sorry about that, if anybody knows how to bypass this shit (because it happened to my FDTD chapter, too), I’d be happy if you could help me. :)

Sasuke watched her deliciously bend over the pool table, left hand steadying the cue and right arm drawn back to aim for the white ball. He had to supress a groan threatening to escape his throat at the sight of her tight black jeans stretching over her ass.

God have mercy on him, that woman was still a fine piece of machinery.

He knew he wasn’t the only bastard here ogling the President’s daughter, but at least he had the decency to be subtle about it. Letting his gaze roam around the dimly-lit and packed room of his favourite biker bar, he noticed with a growing rage the many dirty looks and even dirtier gestures thrown her way. Moose’s was not only frequented by the Havoc, but by bikers from other MCs from the region as well. Bikers, who didn’t know about the Havoc’s well-guarded secret in the form of a very enticing, very off-limits pink-haired bombshell. Bikers, who weren’t familiar with the feeling of Sasuke’s foot up their asses – something he was gleefully looking forward to doing should those fuckers not stop drooling like some teenage boys who discovered their dicks for the first time.

Taking a sip of his beer in a feeble attempt to calm his nerves, he watched Sakura throw her head back in laughter at something funny Ino said. As she was rising from her bent-over position, her tiny tank top rose as well, exposing her taut bare midriff. She had borrowed one of her friend’s Black Sabbath tops, because she didn’t want to stick out with her fancy white cashmere turtleneck sweater in a run-down biker bar where one half is clad in dark leather and the other half is basically not clad at all. He would have laughed at the image she was presenting – a delicate, graceful princess in a Black Sabbath shirt – were it not for the fact that he knew Sakura was a die-hard Rock fan.

And by God, she was every bit his dream girl now as she was at seventeen.

Right after she rained down on her dad and him to properly tear the both of them a new one a few hours ago, they convened an emergency church to deal with the clusterfuck one of their latest prospects had dug the club into. As it turned out, the little fucker thought it would be a sneaky idea to hide the small bags of drugs between book pages in Konoha’s smallest, most inconspicuous book shop, tell his customers which books to look out for, and earn some cash on the side that way that nobody would ever have found out about. Were it not for the fact that that tiny little book shop belonged to the President’s daughter, who immediately went and re-introduced the Havoc’s Sergeant at Arms to the soft feeling of her hand slapping the everloving shit out of him.

Despite the fact that the boss tried his best to calm her down and reassure her the club would take care of everything, Sakura stuck around. She made it more than clear that she didn’t trust Sasuke with this matter, especially since she was personally involved. She wanted to make sure there were consequences. So Kakashi invited her to stay for the night and catch up with some old friends before dealing with the poor bastard.

Fast forward a few hours and you had a royally pissed off Sasuke sitting at Moose’s staring daggers into the bikers ogling Sakura’s fine ass. “Bro, you grip that beer bottle any tighter and it’ll burst into a hundred pieces. Pretty sure you don’t want an injured hand for the things you’re gonna do tonight.” Sasuke noticed a shock of blonde hair enter his field of vision and his annoyance immediately went up a notch. “Please, I could beat the crap out of that lil cockroach even when I’m drunk off my ass and with my hands tied behind my back.”

“Probably. But you should still loosen that death grip. Might make some people wonder what makes you so angry,” Naruto cautioned while shooting him a pointed look.

“Drop it,” Sasuke growled threateningly.

Naruto sighed in frustration and leaned back. “Look, man, I know you’ve got history with her and everything, but you gotta stop acting like some brooding love-sick puppy who’s still hung up on his ex-girlfriend if you –“

“She was never my girlfriend.”

“Whatever, dude. My point is, if you really wanna make it up to her, then you’ve gotta stop sulking in the shadows, wondering from afar what could have been. This is your chance, man! She always stays away from the club, but now she’s here, and you have the chance to talk to her and sort that shit out between you two.”

Naruto watched his best friend drop his gaze from the woman in question to the beer bottle in his hand.  This had always been Sasuke’s reaction to all things Sakura: silence. Ever since shit had hit the fan between the two seven years ago, the raven-haired biker refused to talk about the brief time he spent with her. The few times they had seen each other in between, there was nothing but reserved silence and awkward glances.

Naruto sometimes couldn’t believe how utterly dumb his best friend was. Sasuke was incredibly fearless and one of the meanest motherfuckers he had ever met. But when it came to Sakura, his guilty conscience left him a pathetic heap of surly misery. It was sad to watch, really.

“Look, Sasuke… I have no fucking clue what exactly went down between you two, but it’s been eating at you for seven fucking years. Whenever you see her, you become this… this sad little… blob of… I don’t know man, sadness I guess and –“

“You sure have a way with words.”

“It’s just so pathetic, bro. I mean, I can clearly see your eyes tearing up, your nose is getting all red and snotty and –“

“Is that supposed to cheer me up now?”

“Ugh, it’s nasty. And when you start crying, you make all these miserable little noises and –“

“Naruto.”

“You know, snot everywhere.“

“That’s enough.”

“Just… disgusting, really.”

Naruto mentally patted himself on the shoulder when he saw the tiniest hint of a smirk on Sasuke’s otherwise sullen face. Pleased with his execution of a manly encouragement that consisted of straight-up insulting his best friend in order to cheer him up, he leaned forward again, so only Sasuke could hear him.

“Jokes aside, man, I know this shit between you two has been weighin’ on ya. And you think you’re doing the both of you a favour by staying away from her, but you’re not, because it’s obvious that she’s got as much unfinished business with you as you’ve got with her. Otherwise she wouldn’t hold a grudge. You gotta clear the air at some point, because she’s fucking family and you don’t ignore family. So you might as well do it now.”

Naruto took a hold of his beer bottle and moved out of the booth. Before turning to the bar, he slapped his right hand on his best friend’s left shoulder. “But you know, that’s just my two cents. What do I know about love and relationships? I’ve only been happily married for five years now.”

Sasuke just grunted in response and lifted his bottle to his lips to take another sip. He let his eyes find Sakura again and mulled over what Naruto said. He might have been right about a few things. He was definitely right about them finally needing to stop dancing around each other and sit down and have a proper heart-to-heart.

But there was one thing Naruto was without a doubt wrong about: there was absolutely nothing about his clusterfuck of a relationship with Sakura that had anything to do with love.

Instead, it had everything to do with the fact that he had smashed her heart to smithereens on the night of her eighteenth birthday and effectively shut the door on any romance they might have had a shot at, sealing it with a hundred padlocks and nailing it down with wooden boards for good measure.

“He’s been staring at you all night.”

Sakura couldn’t help but roll her eyes at the blonde. She moved around the pool table to determine the angle of her next shot, when she heard Ino’s voice right next to her ear.

“Come on, you know he still has the hots for you, right?”

“Bullshit he still has the hots for me!”

“Aha!” Sakura found herself at the other end of Ino’s accusing finger pointed directly at her face. “I knew that would get your attention. You like thinking Sasuke’s still into you, don’t you?” Sakura resisted the urge to swipe off Ino’s perfectly made eyebrows that were wiggling so hard they were threatening to shoot out of her face.

“Don’t be ridiculous, that has got nothing to do with it. I just find it absurd that the big, bad, cold-hearted Sasuke Uchiha would still think about something that happened seven fucking years ago.”

Ino cocked her head to the side and looked at Sakura with a knowing smile. “But you still think about it.”

Sakura’s shoulders slumped as she exhaled in annoyance. “I’m not talking about it, alright?”

“Look, forehead, I know what he did was terrible, but I also know Sasuke and I know that he’s actually a pretty good guy beneath all that brooding Batman bullshit. I genuinely think that he regrets what he did back then. I mean, he did try to confront you about it several times, but you were the one who shut him down. Why don’t you just let him say what he has to say, let him apologise, and then move on. You might pretend like you’re over that whole thing, but I know what you really want is some closure.”

Sakura sighed in frustration and blew a hair out of her face. She was just about to throw some witty remark back at Ino, when she noticed several bikers move through the crowd at Moose’s. The Havocs were leaving, which was her cue to do the same.

She felt Ino’s hands grab her shoulders and turn Sakura towards her. “Just think about it, alright? You’ll be here for the whole weekend, so this would be the perfect opportunity to finally get this shit over with, which I know is what you actually wanna do instead of ogle his rock-hard abs when you think I’m not looking. Yeah, don’t roll your eyes at me, missy, don’t think I don’t notice these things. Now you go and have fun tonight. But don’t rough him up too bad.”

With a secretive wink, Ino headed for the bar, leaving Sakura alone at the pool table. Just as she was about to turn around and head for the exit herself, she was met with the sight of a seriously pissed off Sasuke who fixed his determined gaze on her.

She watched the muscles in his upper arm flex enticingly as he raised his right hand to his lips to take the cigarette out of his mouth. The smoke was floating out of his inviting lips as they moved to form words that barely reached her sex-starved brain. All Sakura heard was his rumbling growl.

“It’s time.”

The cold air outside of Moose’s did little to clear Sasuke’s head. He was still on the fence about if and how he should approach Sakura. But he’d have to postpone wracking his brain, because the Havocs were gearing up to take care of that lil dipshit who dared to cross the President’s daughter.

“Where’s daddy?”

He whipped his head around to see Sakura trailing right behind him, zipping up that tiny little leather jacket he couldn’t believe still fit her curves.

“Waiting for us at the warehouse.”

The rumbling of his brothers’ Harleys enveloped them as Sasuke watched some of them leave Moose’s lot. He headed for his V-Rod Muscle and grabbed his jet-black helmet with the name of his bike – War Hog – spray painted on the back in silver and scarlet letters. He was just about to put it on when he felt a presence behind him and turned around, only to be met with the sight of a very annoyed Sakura looking up at him expectantly.

“You ridin’ with me?”

His eyes noted the rise of her perfectly sculpted eyebrow before she spoke, “You got a problem with that?”

There it was again, that feeling of unease that spread in his stomach whenever she pinned him with that scrutinising gaze of hers. “No, just figured you’d rather ride with Naruto. Or anybody else, for that matter.”

“Well the others are already gone, and Naruto said he needed the extra space to secure his bag of torture instruments or whatever.”

Sasuke immediately knew that was bullshit, there was no bag on the back of Naruto’s bike. The Havocs weren’t going to torture the poor bastard. It was just going to be a little slap on the wrist, really.

“Alright, you’re riding with me. Here, put this on,” he grumbled while handing her his helmet and reaching for his spare one.

Sakura looked at the round object in her hands as if it just sprouted a head and started talking to her. At the sight of her disgusted look, Sasuke let out an exasperated sigh. “What, woman?”

“You’re giving me the helmet that has the word hog spray painted on it in big fat letters? Real tactful, Sasuke.”

He couldn’t supress the smirk that was dangling on the edge of his lips. “I can recall a few even naughtier words I used to call you.” His smirk widened when he saw a faint blush taint her cheeks. Sakura scoffed and rolled her eyes in an overly dramatic fashion. “Oh yeah, now that I think about it, I remember you doing that eye rolling thing a lot, too. Only they usually rolled into the back of your head whenever I –“

“Okay, thank you, that’s enough. I’m putting on the helmet now, I can’t hear you.”

A triumphant grin graced his features at the sight of his dream girl wearing his helmet.

“Good girl.”

Sasuke ignored the look Sakura was shooting him, put on his spare helmet while straddling his bike and waited for Sakura to do the same. When he felt her soft curves press against his back and her arms circle around his waist, he let War Hog roar to life.

He turned his head slightly, so she could hear him better over the rumbling of his engine and asked, “You ready?”

She nodded in confirmation. “Hit the road, Sergeant.”

Sasuke took her left hand into his own, pulled her arm tighter around his torso, and gave her a little squeeze. “You hold on tight, sweetheart.”

He could still hear her scoff behind him. “I was practically raised on a bike, I’ll be fine. This is no big deal.”

Lowering the visor on both their helmets, Sasuke took off and left Moose’s parking lot. The cool breeze around him and the low rumbling beneath him he felt whenever he rode his bike always had a calming influence on his often raging mind. This time, it was different though. This time, he had Sakura pressed against his back again for the first time in seven years.

And even though she might have claimed riding with him was no big deal, her tight grip on his waist and the way she leaned her head against his shoulders told him a different story.

[newrageinc]

Day 5: Kleptomaniac

Part II of high school AU continuing on from Day 4. Not much on actual kleptomania but it’ll crop up again tomorrow for Library.

“I heard you had an interesting day at the office the other day, Hinata.”

Hinata bit back a groan and sank lower onto her desk. Ino leaned towards her, blond hair falling over her shoulder and pooling at her lap. Her smirk apparent from the song on her voice, though Hinata didn’t dare turn her way in fear of giving away her embarrassment by the blush that was surely sprouting across her face.

She had done her best at avoiding the topic of last weeks’ career day. She had turned her report in quietly and averted her eyes when Iruka had asked for volunteers to share their experiences.

Neji had delivered a gentle scoldings all the way to her father’s office where he’d let the older man take over. Hiashia Hyuuga had never been one for many words. Conversations with her father had always been short and to the point. This conversation was just the same as the others.

“I expect better from you in front of our clients, Hinata.”

The simple reprimand had almost been enough to break her completely, though she failed at keeping her tears at bay, she had been stifling her sobs and sniffling. She would have sobbed freely then if she weren’t so determined to avoid a second lecture on keeping her emotions in control. She knew with her tears alone she was walking a thin line on receiving that. She had merely nodded numbly and done her best at maintaining what was left of her composure until she was able to escape to her room.

She had thought Sasuke wasn’t the type to gossip and had been fairly certain she’d be free of the topic coming up again until Ino had brought it up.

“I didn’t think it was worth mentioning,” she grumbled into her notebook, doodling a flower in the margin.

“Don’t be like that Hinata! Spending the whole day with the school’s hottest boy-“ Ino stopped short and a strangled noise escaped her mouth. Hinata scrunched her face, wrinkling her nose as she glanced up at the door already knowing who she’d see.

Naruto came through the threshold with Sasuke at his shoulder. They appeared to be in a heated discussion, not an uncommon sight, especially with Sakura bringing up the rear mid eye roll. The two had been thick as thieves since middle school and Hinata stomped down the wave of jealously that threatened to boil over as they made their way to the desks in front of her and Ino. Naruto took his usual place right in front of Hinata, swiveling around as soon as his butt touched the seat to lean an elbow on her desk.

Even after she’d made a fool of herself last May he still made it a point to be friendly to her.

“Hey, Hinata, why didn’t either of you tell us you’d be doing career day together with Sasuke? I would’ve wanted to go too!” Sasuke heaved a sigh but didn’t bother turning around from his place in front of Sakura. He leaned his elbow on his desk and perched his head on his palm.

“I already told you, stupid, we didn’t plan it.”

Sakura rolled her eyes again and jabbed her pen into Sasuke’s shoulder. “Okay, we got that,” she pointed her pen at Naruto as he was about to interrupt, effectively stopping him before he could speak. “What I’m getting it is why didn’t either of you bring it up after? It’s been over a week.” She raised her eyebrows expectantly at the pair, turning her head back and forth, alternating her look between Hinata and the back of Sasuke’s head. Hinata slid herself further down her desk, continuing her idle doodling.

When they both didn’t respond, Sakura hummed thoughtfully. She shifted her body around to sit correctly when Shizune started calling the class to attention. Ino shifted as well, snickering into her hand as she went. “The way you two are acting,” she said in a stage whisper, “it’s almost like you’re hiding something. What’d you guys do? Make out in the break room?”

There was a resonating snap as Sasuke broke the pencil in his hand and Hinata flailed in her seat. She felt like her face was on fire as she rounded on Ino.

“Ino, please!”

“It’s none of your business.”

The room had gone silent.

Sasuke had jumped up from his seat and was glaring at Ino, broken pencil still gripped in his fist. Hinata pressed her lips together.

“Are you three done? Is it okay for me to start the class? Or should I ask the head master their opinion?”

The group muttered an apology and settled in for class. Hinata didn’t miss the knowing look Sakura shot over her shoulder at Ino before dutifully flipping through her notes.

What the two girls thought they knew, Hinata couldn’t say.

When people had first started asking her how her day with Sasuke had been she was quick to think he must have shared this information freely and it started going around. She should have figured that wouldn’t have actually been the case. Sasuke hardly exchanged words with anyone aside from Naruto and Sakura. The three of them had a rare connection and were very tight knit so if he’d shared anything with them it would’ve stayed in their group. Based off of Sakura’s statement, it did seem as though they hadn’t learned about their adventure through him and he’d kept it to himself.

So… How did everyone find out?

And why hadn’t he told his two closest friends? If nothing else it made for an interesting story…

Hinata knew why she had kept the secret. She hated getting into trouble and the less she had to relive that moment in her life the better. Not only that, but she had also said some nasty things to Sasuke and she’d spent a lot of time in the last week dissecting their interactions and coming up with better ways to handle the situation.

“So it’s that time again.” The class’s collective groan drew Hinata from her thoughts. She lifted her face from where she had cradled it on her arm.

Shizune stood at the front of the class with two boxes in her hands that appeared to be filled with slips of paper. She grinned as she shook the boxes, paper rattling in the quiet of the class. “It’s midterm project time. I’m tired of logical partnerships.” The class perked up at that, hopeful that she’d allow them the freedom of choosing their own partners. Shizune’s grin turned wicked. “So I’ve decided to make it interesting. In my left hand is a box of everyone’s names. I’ll pick the first name and that person will draw for their partner. Then you’ll pull from the box in my right hand, which has project topics.”

She stepped up to the first row and placed the topic box on Kiba’s desk. She gave the name box a good shake before reaching in and digging out the first name. Her face lit up as she read the name aloud.

“Well, well, well Uchiha, looks like it’s your lucky day. You get first pick of partners and topics.”

Hinata watched as Sasuke’s shoulders rose and fell in an inaudible sigh. Shizune come over and presented him with the name box, shaking it as she went. He kept his chin perched on the palm of his hand and used his free hand to reach for a name.

Hinata felt the whole class hold their breath. Sasuke was known for being grouchy on most days and aloof on better ones. He was hard to work with in group projects unless Naruto and Sakura were around to keep him in check (this she knew only from second hand accounts).

“Hyuuga,” Hinata cringed at the gruff way Sasuke spoke her name.

“Excellent! A true power couple.” Shizune’s grin never faltered despite Sasuke’s impassive face and Hinata’s lack of reaction. “In the name of fairness and equality, care to draw the topic, Hinata?” Hinata took a shaky breath before nodding and standing from her seat. She pulled a paper from the box.

“Kleptomania,” she read out loud, voice tentative as she wasn’t sure if this was what she should have done. She shuffled back into her seat and covered her face with her hands.

‘It would just be my luck’

The room busied themselves, desks scraping against the tiled floor as everyone rearranged themselves to sit with their partners to brainstorm ideas.

Hinata had made it a point of keeping herself as far as she could from Sasuke despite the proximity of their desks. She had kept her gaze on the outline and grading rubric Shizune had passed out and Sasuke felt his palms begin to sweat at his discomfort.

He still hadn’t been able to get the image of her crying out of his mind. He’d spent most of last week thinking about Hinata. About all the things he knew about her.

And all the things he didn’t.

They’d been going to the same schools and sharing the same classes since they were toddlers. He’d watched her present school projects. Seen her during lunch breaks. Shared general space with her when commuting from class to class. They had even attended some of the same parties.

But to sit down and try to tell someone that he knew Hinata Hyuuga would have made him a bold faced liar.

The fact that he did not know Hinata had never bothered him. He had always been fine with assigning her the role of background character to his life. He had been fine with putting her in the category of stuck up and snobbish and also sort of a suck up if she ever did cross his thoughts.

She had confused him that day.

Career day had been the most he’d ever interacted with her and she had confused him with her responses and quips.

With her tears…

They forced Sasuke to realize that no, he did not know Hinata and yes, this did actually bother him.

What was further confusing was her distance. She’d obviously been put off by him and their impromptu misadventure to the roof as she’d continued on as business as usual when they went back to school on Wednesday. She avoided all eye contact with him and did not volunteer to talk about her day shadowing her cousin, though last year she been one of the first to volunteer.

Judging from the way she was keeping her distance from him he was pretty sure Hinata wanted to be anywhere but sitting next to him at this moment. This thought upset him more than he was willing to admit.

“Did you want to do the presentation or write the paper?” She asked, body shaking slightly from the effort of holding herself as far as she could from him in her seat without falling out of it. She was only just audible above the cacophony of their peers around them.

“No preference.” She hummed and shifted in her seat, hair falling from where she’d previously twisted it on to her shoulder and down her back in shimmering waves. He knew she’d only grown it longer after they’d gone to middle school. That decision probably had to do with the blond whose head was currently bent close to his own partner just behind them, he and Sakura somehow miraculously getting paired up. Why she kept it this way after what had happened last May he couldn’t begin to guess.

“W-would it be okay if we did the paper then?” She was pulling at the sleeves of her hoodie. She fidgeted a lot, he was coming to find. She continued to squirm in her seat, a rosy blush crawling across her features as she chewed on her bottom lip. “Ah, is there… something on my face?”

Sasuke blinked, realizing only then that he’d been staring. Hinata had put her sleeve covered hand up to her mouth and was watching him out of the corner of her eye.

“No. Sorry. I was just thinking.” He took the assignment from in front of her and read over the paper’s requirements. Hinata usually avoided presentations so he wasn’t surprised she’d take that option despite the paper being more work. “The paper is fine.”

A silence settled over them. Uncomfortable as the murmurs of the class continued around them. Hinata toyed with the corner of some notebook paper. He sighed. “Listen, about last week…” Her body visibly stiffened. Her reaction threw him off guard but he continued, voice remaining low to avoid eavesdroppers. “I’m sorry people found out about it.  I think one of Iruka’s aids had let it slip since they graded our papers. I know it didn’t seem like you wanted anyone to know we were together.”

Hinata finally turned her face to look at him, blush subsiding slightly. He’d never noticed how pretty her eyes could look, dark lashes contrasting sharply against the paleness not only of her irises but of her skin. He cleared his throat as she continued to watch him.

“It’s not that I don’t want people to know we were there together,” she spoke quietly, voice a gentle caress. She licked her lips. “I just… I really don’t like getting in trouble and I’d really rather forget it happened at all…” She ducked her head, cutting her eyes back to the notes in front of her. “I also said some things that I-I may have regretted… after the fact.”

He felt his brows raise. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting but some type of half apology was not one of them. Hinata seemed to be full of surprises.

“Well I wasn’t the nicest.” She snorted, a soft sound that came from the back of her throat.

“It was… a day. I’d just really rather not talk about it.” He hummed and watched as she started flipping through her notes, likely looking for the section where they’d covered impulse control disorders.

“I did want to say, before we move on from it, that I am sorry. I didn’t think you’d get in trouble… like that.” Her face fell slightly, hands stilling before coming down to rest on her lap. Her fingers dug into the rough fabric of her jeans for a second before she spoke.

“I appreciate that… Sasuke. But please…” He grunted, pulling out his own notes so that they could start on their outline and create an action plan.

Both of them were unaware of the curious looks they got from the groups behind them.

[sinkingintoomanyfandoms]

Dear whoever cares chapter three

Shikamaru's pov

   My hands shook as I grasped the note reading the first few paragraphs or so that was addressed to everyone. How had he lived through all of this without any of us noticing what a strain it was putting on the blond? How had he kept up the smiles how had he been so selfless that he hid his pain to not bother us? Why hadn't he come to me? Goddammit, why Naruto I could've helped this whole thing could've been avoided...you should be beside me while I'm complaining about how troublesome a mission is. But you're not and to be honest, I'm not so sure anyone would have noticed anything was wrong if you hadn't of done this. That's right your just so good at that...that stupid facade and because of it no one really saw you. We saw a projected piece of yourself that you wanted us all to see and it worked.

Dear whoever cares,

I'm fine

has always been my cry of 'help me' because I'm not fine nor have I ever been fine.

I'm fine has always been someone help me please,

I'm fine has always been I'm hurting but I won't tell you because I rather not ruin your evening,

I'm fine has always been save me from myself, from the villagers, from my resolve, ...from everything

   I see it now ''I'm fine'' had always been your way of asking for help because you were too scared to ask for help. So many bad experiences do that to a person you were afraid to trust so you hid how you were really feeling. And somehow despite yourself, you were still hoping someone would hold you and tell you they knew you weren't really fine. But that person never came and you lost hope of ever finding them and yet now that I'm reading your outlook on yourself and everyone, in general, I can't help but wish I could've been that person for you. I wasn't but I will if you just wake up for me.

But no one ever knew that, did they? Course not because I'm nothing but the damned Kyuubi to everyone.

Face it, I know that's right I know that I wasn't important to any of you but what did I expect? My existence, my entire being was nothing but a mistake and I'm so sorry for those of you have suffered from me, after all, I am nothing but a monster. And I know hell everyone knows that I'm just a disposable piece of trash that would've been thrown away after you all were done with me.

You're right we may not have known but you're wrong no one see's you as the Kyuubi except the idiotic villagers to blinded by their own hate to see the kind hearted boy right in front of them. You're so important to us I can't even imagine a life without you because there is none you are my world. Your not a mistake and you never made anyone suffer but I'm telling you this right now people are suffering and will continue to do so if you don't wake up. The only monsters are the villagers who treat you like this not you, never you. Priceless is what you are meant to be prized and never disposed of.

The next line made me blanch.

Monsters aren't meant to live after all am I right? Well here let me do you a favor let me just stop-.....-just stop living because it will be better this way everyone will be happy.

When will you see yourself the way we do the way I do? It's obvious you don't like yourself but there's enough of my love for you to share. And you will love yourself the way everyone else does.

I was despised absolutely hated by even the kindest of people until I defeated Pein.

...I hadn't known that.

In fact, I remember on my 14th birthday I...god this is hard to write...

It's hard for me to read.

anyways ..I had to go out and buy some groceries because if I didn't do it then the only women who even allowed me to step foot much less buy food in a store wouldn't be working much longer.

...They went that far to show their distaste for such a small boy who had only been 14 at the time!? It's not his fault! He-...he didn't ask to have such a burden to hold on his shoulders. He didn't ask to be parentless he didn't ask to be lonely he didn't ask to be hated just for being alive. He didn't ask for any of it!

So against my better judgment, I walked out of my barricaded apartment meant to protect me from the villager's wrath.

You shouldn't have had to protect yourself from the very village you protect.

I tried to stay out of sight, stayed hidden in dark alleyways and made sure I wasn't attracting any unwanted attention. Just as the grocery store finally came into view I thought I actually thought that I would be able to get necessities without getting a beating. 

They beat you?! I let a growl out surprising everyone else in the room who were waiting to read the note as well. I knew it had been bad but to beat a child made me sick. What an idiot I was right because at that moment I heard someone that hated me and knew I was screwed.

''Oi Dobe?!''  I had turned on my heel looking at a smug looking Sasuke.  ...Let's just say things hadn't ended in the least bit pleasant as I had ticked him off and ended up with a bruised cheek. I glared at Sasuke who remained silent although he looked slightly confused.Nothing new though Sasuke hated me. Once he stalked off I realized the women was no longer working and I would have to go without food for the next week.  

 Is that why you're so skinny is because your deprived of food? I know how skinny you are Naruto and I know how much you've tried to hide it behind that oversized orange jumpsuit. But I've seen how utterly frail you are your wrist is so small and your cheekbones are so prominent they practically jut out. I-I had never thought...never wanted to think that you were being starved so I guess it slipped my mind.

That in mind I continued the way back to my apartment but halfway there I was stopped by a drunken villager. Said by just being alive I had ruined his whole life I tried apologizing but what exactly should I have said when It was clearly my fault?

Don't apologize that villager had no right I wish I could give them a piece of my mind.

Yeah, he wasn't taking it and that's when the beating started. A bottle had been crashed upon my head, kicks, punches, insults, and at one point he had drawn out a knife and plunged it into my chest. I let it happen though because I deserved it and apparently someone else thought so too,

Isn't that right Sakura you watched the whole time did you enjoy it? Did you enjoy watching as pain was inflicted upon me? Sure looked like it.

   Sakura had just watched? She just watched...as he was beaten to a bloody pulp! It all made sense now why she hadn't visited. She doesn't deserve to have a friend like Naruto anyways and she would pay I'm sure everyone else would gladly oblige to the idea.

'' Well I found out why Sakura isn't here and It's quite disturbing she deserves to pay.''I gritted out waiting for a response surprising Ino was the first to speak up.

'' Hey! Whatever she did it can't be that ba-..''I cut her angrily.

'' It was his birthday! His bloody birthday all he wanted was some food but some idiotic deranged villager beat him to a bloody pulp and where was Sakura in all of this you may ask. Oh right she was standing right there just watching, enjoying Naruto's pain so don't you dare tell me that useless pink banshee doesn't deserve what's coming her way!'' I yelled out angrily as everyone's eyes widened before angry expressions set on their faces.

'  ' Your right.'' Kiba agreed as everyone else nodded before I went back to the note as I read the last two sentences I decided to skip down to the part addressed to me deciding it would be rude of me to invade on anyone else's considering they were personally for them.

Shikamaru-

It's funny as I'm writing this you're blowing up my phone with texts and calls. Makes me think you might actually care...I'm getting off topic here. I might as well tell you this I just wish I could've done so sooner but I love you I don't know when this feeling surfaced or how. Go ahead and laugh or mock me I can't really find it in myself to care especially since I'll be dead by the time you read this. When we were just kids...before Iruka got over his hate towards me you were always there.

You didn't let others opinions or hate affect your view of me. You're just so different from everyone else and it always shocked me the fact that you let yourself associate with a demon like me despite all the risks shocked me. You risked your father's approval he didn't want you' to interact with me in the slightest. Yet you did, you went against everyone's preconceived notions and showed me that I wasn't just a withholder of a demon. You got to know me for me and I can't tell you how thankful I am for that. Do you remember when we were younger I had felt the need to put myself in danger just to get people to 'like me.' I was told that if I brought something back from the forest then I would be accepted. I'd have friends it occurred to me that they were just using me but I was desperate I didn't care. So I went in the forest and I recklessly put my life on the line doing so, but I hadn't thought that my absence would be noticed. Iruka told me while he was cleaning up my injuries that you had told him of my whereabouts. You must've been eavesdropping on the conversation not that I really mind. Something really stuck with me though It was something Iruka had said something along the lines of you being extremely worried and blowing up on the kids. I knew but never had the courage to ask why I mean where you just nice to me because it was too tiring to treat me otherwise, or did you truly care? Well...I don't have much else to say but I need to do this quick the tears won't stop and I know if I don't do this now I'll back out.

So...I love you Shikamaru, goodbye as you would say 'sorry for being so troublesome.'

I love you all dearly and I'm so glad you were a part of my life I may not be missed but I will miss you all. Sorry, it had to be this way I just couldn't take it anymore.

Goodbye sincerely,

Naruto Uzumaki.

  N-Naruto loves me? I had always thought my feelings were one-sided. Oh if I had only told him sooner maybe he wouldn't have felt so unloved. He wouldn't have done this if he knew someone truly loved him.  I'm so stupid! I could've saved him, I could've stopped him, I should've been there in time.  And if he never woke up or if he dies the last thing he'll remember is me texting him about how troublesome he is. If he doesn't make it he will never know that I love him. If he doesn't make it he will have gone through his life truly believing no one needed him, that he was replaceable, a burden, and worthless. I can't let that happen but I need you to wake up Naruto if not for yourself then for me, for your friends, because we're your family just as you are ours.

And without you, life just isn't worth living.

[lloydaesthetic]

ofglitterandstars

There might be some untagged or on ao3? :oo

but i don’t wanna read someone’s else’s ShikaNaru fic I wanna read my own

[shinaina]

Your Troubles Match My Luxuries Part 2 | NaruHina

Today’s prompt is “Accidentally knocked you out when you got caught in the middle of a fist fight between me and this other kid during school. So I sat with you in the nurse’s office. Shut up! Punks like me have consciousnesses you know!”

I had too much fun with this one honestly.

Part of the reason I wrote this so quickly too is due to the drama that accumulated due to the interview and honestly the ships are kinda getting ruined with it all and I needed some fluff. Also take note that while there are at least two ship bashes in here I’m not bashing any ships, that’s just a little something I want to go into and will touch on a later date in this story. I am a fan of and love all the cannon ships. 

Previous Chapter | Here

Next Chapter | Here

Couple | NaruHina 

Rating | M for language and other mature themes. 

Naruto leaned against the locker doors a couple of feet away from Shikamaru’s locker as his other three friends surrounded the two while Shikamaru explained how history this year was, as he put it, such a drag and that all the homework was simply troublesome. Kiba seemed to jump in going on and on about how there was this annoying cat lover in one of his classes, though annoyance was evident in his voice he quickly mentioned that she was pretty cute. Choji only seemed interested in planning for lunch already, asking if they should go out for lunch or go to the little stand that had opened up across the street from the school stating there was some good food there. Shino like always stood there quietly without making much of a noise and it was too easy to forget he was there.

Though Naruto’s voice was usually the loudest of the five, he hadn’t said anything at all this morning, only looking intently down the hall every couple of minutes. He was trying to find a certain brunette head of hair, he had already seen a couple of the kids that were a part of her pretentious group. Sai who was followed by Ino intently, from what he caught from their conversation the pale boy was looking for someone to model for him for a personal project to which Ino not so subtly hinted that she would be that model but he seemed to ignore her request making a rather insensitive comment about her looks. He wondered why Ino trailed after such a jackass like Sai, he was practically a prodigy when it came to art and everyone was calling him the next Da Vinci but damn did he not care about anyone’s feelings.

The next set of popular nerds he caught sight of was Sakura following around Sasuke like a lovesick puppy. The short haired girl making an attempt to tell him about how her and her family went out to some five star restaurant but only kept getting “hnn” noises in response. Now Saskue pissed Naruto off, at least Sai had the decency to be brutally honest. He had known the two since elementary school. Sakura was a sweet and smart girl and well Saskue was always an asshole who didn’t care about anyone but himself. Maybe it was because he came from such an ancient and high class family line but still he didn’t need to act like there was a stick shoved up his ass all the time.

While the four met up at the end of the hall and began to talk among each other Naruto took note that the Hyuga’s had yet to arrive to school. The blonde vaguely wondered if Neji was the one to drive Hinata to school, reasoning they always showed up together and never apart, probably if he was so damn protective of her. He wondered what caused that and decided to ask Hinata later.

As time began to pass the list of questions to ask Hinata only became longer and longer, he wanted to learn so much more about the dark haired girl. Naruto wanted to know her inside and out, he wanted to know her in the way that if someone asked her a question about herself he would be able to answer for her. Not that she would mind he learned rather quickly that she didn’t like to talk about herself (he didn’t know why she was so damn interesting) so she would probably be grateful for someone to answer trivial questions for her when she was asked.

It was then that he heard the voice of another, namely a pair of guys. Honestly they probably wouldn’t have caught his attention if it wasn’t for a certain comment.

“Hottie Hyuga coming down the hallway right now.”

Naruto swore that he felt his ears twitch ever so slightly at that comment. Sure Hinata was pretty stunning and he was a bit ashamed to admit he probably would have described her as a hottie before yesterday, but yesterday just opened his eyes. There was so much about her that made her more than just a gorgeous girl. The list of her good qualities just went on and on and though Naruto acknowledged she had faults, to him those faults were only factors to make her seem more real and add to her adoring personality.

Shaking his head ever so slightly to forget his sudden doting on Hinata, the blonde angled his head to get a better listen of the conversation from the other boys.

“Damn look at those legs.”

“I know, man the things I would do to her.”

“Like what?”

“Honestly I’m just imagining her pressed against a wall right now. I bet she wouldn’t even say anything she’d just let you do whatever you want to her.”

Despite Naruto’s longing to look up just to see Hinata now that he knew she was here. he couldn’t stop the rage that began to accumulate inside of him. Turning to look at the two, one who was tall and lanky with dark hair and another who had a better built body with brown hair and a beanie. The blonde moved his body forward from its rest against the locker and stuck his hands in his pockets as he lazily approached the two.

Stopping before the two who were still gawking at the girl he cleared his throat before they could say anything else. “Hey guys listen, I can admire a nice body but you don’t have to go saying that sort of shit. Have some respect.” The tone of his voice got the attention of Kiba who nudged the others as they came to stand by Naruto. The two guys huffed while the one with brown hair had a mischievous smile on his face. “Listen, it’s just locker room talk don’t get your panties in a bunch.” That statement made Naruto’s fists loosely clench in his pockets.

“If it’s outside the locker room it’s not locker room talk, it’s you. Also who says that sort of shit inside a locker room? She won’t say anything? So what you’d just force yourself on her?” The look on the brunette’s face disgusted him, it was a bit of an embarrassed smile with a light blush. He placed a hand on Naruto’s shoulder which he had to force himself not to smack away as they leaned into him to say something quietly.

“Don’t tell me you haven’t thought about it. I mean the way she walks around, like she doesn’t realize those jugs on her. She’s probably a whore who’d let anyone grab them.”

At that exact moment Naruto was glad that other guy had placed a hand on his shoulder and leaned in, he had left himself wide open. In an instant Naruto’s left hand came up to grab the guy’s collar as his free arm reeled itself back at the same time and came forward in a hard right hook connecting perfectly with the guy’s jaw. The surprise of the sudden outburst was voiced in a couple of gasps from the students around as Naruto heard Kiba make an ‘ooo!’ sound.

The attention directed to it became prominent as a crowd started to form around them. “You want to say that again punk?” Naruto asked as he stood a few inches from the guy who held the side of his jaw and had stumbled back into the locker. The bang of him hitting it probably what alerted the other students of what was happening. “She’s. Probably. A whore.”

Oh that’s it you’re going down.

Moving forward with tense muscles the blonde slammed the other back into the locker and this time used his right arm to hold them against it as his left arm came back. “Let me tell you I’ve got a pretty badass right hook but I have a hell of a left hook!” Before his hand could even make contact with that bastard’s jaw they blocked it with their arm as they shoved him back and made him stumble, actually landing a punch on him in the process. Naruto rubbed his cheek where the blow had landed before finding his ground again and swinging, hitting the guy in his chest instead of the nose he aimed for when they backed up.

The only good thing about his missed hit was that it seriously knocked the air out of the other. Good now I can break his fucking nose without him putting up much of a fight!

Getting ready to take another swing arms came up from behind Naruto to hook his shoulders. “Naruto what the hell!? Cut it out!” Kiba’s voice rang in his ears as Naruto struggled to get out of his grip and kicked out. “Stay the fuck out of this Kiba! Let me teach this son of a bitch a lesson!” Aiming one of his kicks backwards this time he was satisfied when he heard a grunt from his friend which immediately caused them to let go as they fell to the ground to hold their injured shin.

As the brunette piece of shit leaned against the lockers trying to catch his breath, Naruto brought his left arm back about to throw another punch, in the distance he heard “Naruto stop it!” though didn’t care to listen, it was probably Shikamaru knowing him. Though the softness and gentleness of it made him hesitate before he shook his head and brought his first forward.

He hadn’t bet on anyone getting in the way, especially her. Though the moment she jumped in between them and his eyes widened in recognition, but it was too late. He couldn’t stop himself as his fist connected into the left side of her face and he watched in horror as her eyes which were so warm and filled with concern for him rolled to the back of her head.

He was so going to burn in hell for that one, there was a special flame getting hot right about now just for that and he honestly deserved it.

Grabbing out for her instantly to try and lighten the fall he fall with her trying to follow the girl to catch her but the thud against the ground told him he was too late as he fell to his knees. “Fuck Hinata! I’m so so sorry, Hinata for the love of all that’s holy say something!” Scooting closer to her he picked up her head to rest it on his laps as she laid there unconscious. He looked her over and quickly realized her skirt had gone up, not enough to show her undergarments but just enough to not leave much to the imagination. Moving his hand in a swift movement to quickly fix it knowing how embarrassed she would have been awake. His hands moved back to cup her face as his thumbs idly rubbed her cheeks softly. “Hinata… come on Miss Perfect just let your eyes flutter a little.”

“What’s going on here!?”

The breathe everyone around them was holding was suddenly released when Mr. Hatake spoke. For the first time in his life Naruto was more than happy to have a teacher interrupt his fight. “That piece of shit against the locker was saying some pretty disgusting bullshit that he called 'locker room talk’ and I couldn’t let that slide so I…. She got in the way and now she’s not waking up!” The blonde sounded desperate as he looked up at Mr. Hatake, the silver haired man looked just a bit sympathetic as his gaze looked to the brunette and then the girl as he kneeled down and took her from Naruto’s arms before balancing her correctly and stood up.

“What are you doing?” The blue eyed blonde was still kneeling on the floor. “This isn’t the first time you’ve knocked someone out Naruto,” yeah but this is the first time I felt like shit for it, “I’m taking her to the nurse’s office.” The boy stayed there in a defeated manner as he looked at the tiled floor where Hinata had been lying not 5 seconds ago. The voice of another teacher sounded which Naruto recognized as Mr. Sarutobi. “Oh, Asuma, do me a favor and take Naruto and the poor kid leaning against the lockers to Tsunade. Fight.” Mr. Hatake stated before walking off with Hinata towards the nurse’s office as her left arm dangled limply in the air.

Naruto didn’t even protest when he felt Asuma grab him from under his left shoulder and roughly pull him up as he lead them to the other boy and he gently guided the other one with a hand. Naruto’s head craned around to watch the figure of Kakashi and Hinata grow smaller and smaller until Asuma dragged them around a corner.

“This is what? You’re first time this month? And we were doing so good Naruto.” Tsunade stated as she sat down at her desk while the other boy sitting with them was still trying to catch his breathe. “Left hook?” Tsunade asked curiously which only received a nod from the blonde. His eyes were shooting daggers at the brunette sitting across from him and the blonde woman vaguely wondered how bad he would have beat the other kid if no one interrupted it.

Hell it probably would have ended with them in the hospital, but what did they do to piss off Naruto this bad? Usually he would have already been over it and giving her a cheeky smile while the other kid was the one shooting daggers with a napkin to their nose; that was if they were conscious.

“So what happened.” It was then Naruto smiled but this smile wasn’t like his usual one, he smiled at the brunette as if he contemplating ways to kill him then and there before he looked to Tsunade. “Oh you’re gonna love this one granny.”

He was right, Granny Tsunade was more than thrilled to listen to the story. So thrilled actually that she let him off with a warning and told him to go to class while she personally dealt with that pervert.

Though in all honesty Naruto passed the class he was supposed to be in a good fifteen feet ago. His feet were leading him to a different place as he saw the post that had “Nurse’s Office.” Written on it as it hung above the door ahead of him and stopped at it while his shoulders slumped. Hesitating as he stood at the door he eventually brought up his hand to knock. “Come in.”

Naruto entered the room to see the darked haired nurse. “What can I do for you Naruto?” They said it in a sort of tone as if they already knew what he wanted but were waiting for him to say it. “Well… I’m kind of the one that knocked out Hinata Hyuga and I just wanted to know if she was okay.” His tone was soft and begging which caused Shizune to sigh. “She’s still out cold, Naruto. Honestly if I had to bet I’d say she’s gonna end up with a black eye.” That made him flinch as he walked further into the room. “Listen, I know that this is all my fault but can I maybe, just stay here with her until she wakes up?”

He honestly sounded so desperate at the moment that Shizune was torn, but more so torn in one direction. “She’s in the last bed, Neji requested for no one to be able to see her but…” As she trailed off Naruto didn’t even wait to see if she was going to finish as he made his way into the infirmary and went to the last bed. She was lying there so peacefully he would have thought she was asleep.

Sitting on the metal chair across from her he didn’t even care how uncomfortable it was as he moved it as close to the bed as it could get while sitting down and taking Hinata’s right hand in both of his. He honestly felt so terrible, for some reason that made him bring her hand up to his face to kiss the back of it.

When her face begin to swell quite badly, the sight of it left him frozen for a bit as he felt his chest tighten in pain, Naruto had reluctantly gotten up to look for Shizune. She looked up when he walked back into her office “Hey Shizune, Hinata’s face is swelling really bad, do you have an ice pack.” The woman huffed loudly. “I doubt she’ll be able to hold it there.” Naruto was almost shocked at her statement as he quickly replied. “I was going to hold it there for her.” Now it was Shizune’s turn to be shocked. Naruto was the type of guy to send someone to the nurse’s office, not prance in and help them recover. Reaching under her desk to the refrigerator there she pulled out an ice pack and wrapped it in one of the hand towels she kept folded on the fridge before handing it to Naruto who gave a content huff at it before going back to Hinata.

He stayed there simply keeping her hand warm between his once the swelling subdued a bit as he watched her like some sort of guard dog. His head jerking up whenever he heard a noise as if something was coming to hurt her even more, forgetting he was the one that initially hurt her for only a second before he remembered what he had down and clenched her hand a little tighter as if in an apology.

Class periods turned into hours and yet Naruto still didn’t move from his watch. He became even more determined to keep watch on her as her right eye began to bruise and he only felt like more of an asshole.

Even when the lunch bell rang and Shizune asked him to go get lunch he simply stated he wasn’t hungry. As Shizune pushed he finally got up to go get a plate, not for him though, he figured that if Hinata woke up she would be hungry and he wanted to make sure she had something to eat.

He avoided the gazes that landed on him and purposely took the long way around the building to go get a plate, he was lucky neither his friends or the friends of Hinata saw him as he got the plate and made his way back to the nurse’s office and placed the food on the chair as he brought another one from the other infirmary bed and sat on that one on the other side of where he had originally been. Grabbing her left hand this time he couldn’t help but enjoy the difference in their temperatures. Hinata had a naturally cold temperature while Naruto’s body was more than often warm. Their temperatures mixed just the right way in which didn’t cause their hands to sweat while he held hers. He learned that after hours of holding her left hand.

At that discovery he had been so excited he couldn’t wait for her to wake up so he could tell her about it but the realization of the fact that it would have been more than odd to tell her that hit him rather hard. He had an argument with himself when that happened. Why would it be weird to tell her that? Isn’t it a little creepy that you’re stealing moments of holding her hand? No, he was just concerned about her. Being concerned doesn’t call for kissing the back of her hand, plus you barely really met this girl yesterday. God why was thinking so hard? Why was it weird that he cared about her? She was her, Hinata who was so sweet and kind and selfless. Everything about her was so gentle too. Moving a hand, he reached for the ice pack again as the red on her face became prominent again. Only this time he realized it reached across to the other side of her face.

It shocked him but then again it comforted him to know that she was becoming lucid enough to dream, he was starting to really worry about her. He vaguely wondered what sort of dream could make her blush like that. For a moment he became jealous, having made her blush so much yesterday he almost believed that he was the only one who should have been able to. Yet here she was, blushing at some dream she was having. It almost made him laugh, that he was jealous of a dream as he stared at her with softened eyes.

Her dream wasn’t a dream so much as it was a stream of memories, she had gone to a private school as a child. Incidentally it was a different one from her cousin and despite her high class profile that only seemed to make the kids target her, specifically her eyes. When she was a child she had wide eyes that looked like pearls in their shade, at least that’s what the nanny said but the nanny was practically paid to be nice; literally paid to be maternal. The other kids took the liberty of deeming her eyes disproportionate on her face, which they were, and constantly called her “Alien.” Their teasing lead to hair pulling and their hair pulling lead to pushing her. It was one day specifically that they had cornered her outside of school, a couple of boys who kept calling her “Alien” and “Monster” saying that she was going to destroy the world by killing people with her ugliness.

As she began to cry she heard someone yell and turned to see a young blonde boy with blue eyes challenge them. Telling the others to stop. When they refused he shoved the one in the middle and ended up fighting them. He lost of course, he was outnumbered three to one and he was smaller than all three of them to boot. Though he had distracted them from her and by the time they were done with him they left, having already been bored.

The young Hinata knelt down to comfort the boy who now had a bloody nose. She used her sleeve to wipe away the blood and stared at his unconscious figure. He came to rather quickly but with a hand to his head. “Are you alright?” The girl asked the boy as his eyes fluttered a bit before they stayed open. The girl couldn’t help but be consumed by them, they were so blue, it was beautiful. “Yeah, I’m used to getting beat up.” He sat up before pushing himself to his feet and bidding the girl farewell. Before he got more than five feet away though he stopped. “Also just for the record, I think your eyes are really pretty.”

She sat there in awe long after the boy left until her nanny came for her, far too captured in the memory of his blue eyes.

It wasn’t until Hinata begged to go to public school that she was allowed to go to middle school on the condition she went to the same school as Neji. She had agreed to be constantly under surveillance, but it was then she realized going to public school was the best decision of her life because she met the boy again. Of course he was older now but age did him well, he was only more attractive, with tan sun kissed skin that didn’t look obnoxious like some tans but also wasn’t something that went overlooked; it was as if the sun had reached out and given him the lightest touch. His hair was a bright bleached blonde color though she knew it was natural, it was so perfectly combined with his skin tone, because his hair reminded her of the sun with how vibrant it was. It was his eyes that made her melt, they were the sort of blue that would put the sky on a completely cloudless day to shame and put the ocean in all its glory to shame. It was the type of blue that was rivaled by no other shade. He was simply breathtaking to her. She never got the courage to talk to him though, partly because she was shy and partly because the differences in their group of friends wouldn’t allow it.

He was constantly getting into trouble but she watched from afar. She was what people would have deemed “too good” for him. She never thought so though, from what she thought he was the one that was too good for her. He was so sure of himself and so outgoing, she could only wish to be that vibrant but she was a wallflower compared to the sunflower he was. While he was the sun itself, she was the moon, too small and inconvenient to catch his attention.

It went on like this for a long time. Him feeling like the sun and her feeling like the moon, she thought they were only more similar to the sun and moon by the fact they would never meet each other. Never destined to meet.

Hinata had obviously never heard of an eclipse though.

They did meet, and he did take notice of her, and not only that but he wanted to spend time with her and get to know her with their short time together. He had bought her cinnamon rolls and she had hung onto his arm, terrified that if she let go he would immediately vanish and never come back to her. Those few hours of their stroll in the park was heaven to her. They were the best moments in her life and it was then she realized how much she adored him.

Hinata had been scared at first, terrified he would be too vibrant and too overwhelming for her. He wasn’t though. No Naruto was gentle and thoughtful and compassionate. He had a side to him she had never seen and she silently hoped she was the only one who had ever seen it. It was selfish but whenever it came to him she was inherently selfish. Hell she was even glad that other girls overlooked him and she was the only one with eyes for him. The thought comforted her in the way that maybe he was pure in the same way she was, the way that came with having never been with anyone.

It was when she heard his voice that she began to stir from her memories.

“Hinata…”

It was so gentle and soft, she wondered how someone like him could sound that way.

“It’s almost the end of the day, I’m starting to worry about you.”

This time it was laced with concern and it made her a little upset. It made her upset that someone or something made him that upset.

“Please, wake up.”

This time it was desperate, like a child calling out for their mother when they found themselves lost. Her eyes fluttered open at that, not taking note that her right eye in particular didn’t completely open, he was leaning over her with his eyes closed and when she looked down she saw that he was holding her hand with both of his. His hand was so warm and secure, she almost wanted to stay still just to feel him holding her hand longer.

She couldn’t listen to him in pain anymore though.

Moving her free hand to cup his cheek she smiled as his eyes widened in shock. “I’m awake.” She stated softly as he returned her smile, though while hers was gentle and soothing his was vibrant and childish and it made her laugh. “I’m so so so sorry Hinata, I just, he was saying such bad things and it was horrible. I just thought he should have been taught a lesson, I never wanted you to get in the middle of it.” She was confused at his words for a moment before the pain in the right side of her face made her remember exactly why she was out.

When she winced at it the pain in his eyes only became ever the more obvious which caused her to squeeze his cheek a little before she began rubbing her thumb against his cheek. She choose to ignore how vague his explanation had been, as if he was hiding something from her. She didn’t care though, maybe Naruto would be completely honest about why he decided to just up and attack that boy but pushing him on the subject didn’t matter right now. What mattered was that he didn’t blame himself.

“Shh shh, Naruto-kun it’s okay I promise. I shouldn’t have jumped in the way, it was stupid. I just didn’t want people to think badly about you and I thought…. I honestly don’t know what I thought. I just didn’t want to see you get hurt.” Tears began to gather in her eyes as she thought about Naruto getting hurt, what if it had been him laying here? “I would have been so scared if you got hurt!” She was sobbing now and Naruto had moved his hands from her hand to cup her small face in them as he gently wiped her tears away, making sure to be careful with her right cheek as his hand more so hovered against it. “Hinata! I’m fine don’t cry I promise I’m okay I just want to know if you’re okay?” At the tone of his voice she sniffled in an attempt to stop herself from crying as she nodded.

Naruto smiled at that but he gulped as he looked at her. “Hinata, if I tell you something you promise not to be mad?” Sniffling just a little more she tilted her head in confusion. “Why would I be mad Naruto-kun?” He moved away from her at that as his eyes filled with remorse. “Well you kind of have a black eye.” At that she raised her hand to her right eye and gently touched it but immediately winced at the pain, so that was why her vision felt off. Oh… how terrible do I look to him.

The blonde sat there idly shuffling his hands before he spoke. “Honestly though, I’ve never seen someone who made a black eye look so pretty… what I’m trying to say is that you’re still really pretty.” Naruto allowed the words to escape his mouth shyly as he scratched the back of his head with a embarrassed smile and blush adorning his cheeks.

Oh Naruto.

“Thank you, I’m glad you think so.”

He laughed at that.

The dark haired girl sat in the passenger seat lightly holding an ice pack to her face. Neji drove with a certain idleness to him. “Your father is going to be furious.” He stated in a matter of fact tone. “Damn the lawsuits he is going to-” Hinata fist her hands into her skirt before she interrupted him.“Does he know already?” It was an odd question but he answered it nonetheless. “No when I called he was busy all day, I thought it would be better to tell him personally than leave a message.”

“Neji-niisan, can you do me a favor?”

The brunette paused at that before nodding. “Of course, anything for you.”

“Don’t tell my father exactly how this happened.”

Neji’s car jerked to a stop and Hinata panicked for a moment before she realized they were at a stop sign. Neji looked to see if there were any cars behind him, glad that there weren’t as he turned to look to Hinata. “Are you out of your mind? What am I supposed to tell Hiashi? 'Listen I know your beautiful daughter has a slightly swollen face and black eye, I can explain though, she walked into a wall smack dab while we were turning the corner to the student parking lot.’ Do you have any idea how idiotic that sounds?” Hinata stayed quiet for a long time before stating. “It is believable though.”

Neji wanted to punch the steering wheel. “Yes Hinata it is but even you’re not that clumsy!” Hinata looked to her cousin. “I don’t care how you shift it around to make it seem like it happened but do it! Naruto-Kun isn’t going to pay for me being stupid!” The male tensed up.

So that was what this was about.

He stayed still for a long moment and ended their argument without words but when he looked left and right before driving forward. It was silent until they got to her house.

“I’ve been thinking and I’ll tell him that as we were walking to the parking lot I was trying to get my keys out of my bag and as we rounded the corner I walked into you roughly which made you trip and hit your face against the wall. The swelling and bruise will add up too since we were in the nurse’s office for about thirty minutes after school.” It was just wild enough to be believable and it was the best he could come up with in such a short amount of time. “Thank you. Neji-niisan.”

He slumped in his seat before rolling down his window to address the intercom. “Uh huh.”

While he stated who he was Neji couldn’t help but wonder about Hinata’s feeling for the blonde. She called him “Naruto-kun.” The say she willingly put herself in harm’s way bothered him too. How far she had gone to make him lie, that was the loudest she had ever raised her voice.

His memory drifted back to walking into the nurse’s office at the end of the day just to see them. How caring and gentle they were being with each other, it shocked him more than it made him mad and he politely asked the blonde to leave though he made sure the blonde knew he wasn’t really asking.

The pieces gradually began to fall together.

So that’s what this is about…