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youwerenevermeanttofeelalone · 4 years

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threesome — kinktober 2020

✦ pairing(s) — Sasuke Uchiha x Plus Size Reader, Naruto Uzumaki x Plus Size Reader

✦ word count — 2k

✦ warnings — nsfw, smut, breastplay, oral sex (female receiving), handjob, vaginal sex, doggy style, deepthroating, some praising, dick choking, light spanking, cum swallowing, Naruto and Sasuke are a good team, aftercare.

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Naruto pressed his lips against yours, holding your face with one hand as his tongue prodded your mouth open.

While you were granting his tongue access, you felt a warm hand on your stomach, dragging its way up to your chest. Sasuke rested his chin on your shoulder, shifting to kiss your neck.

Sasuke took your breasts in his hands, rubbing them gently. You panted on Naruto’s mouth, feeling him grin as he dragged his lips to your jaw to let you breathe.

“Your tits are really soft,” Sasuke grunted on your skin.

“Let me taste,” Naruto said, moving down to your chest. Sasuke withdrew a hand from one of your breasts, sucking a mark on the juncture of your neck and shoulder as his best friend swirled his tongue around your nipple.

You gasped, unconsciously rubbing your ass against Sasuke who chuckled rather darkly. While Naruto flicked his tongue across your nipple, Sasuke squeezed the other between his fingers.

Naruto sucked on your breast with more force, moving to do so then letting the top of your nipple pop out. “Let’s switch,” he told Sasuke who found the idea good enough to agree.

Sasuke used Naruto’s saliva to massage your breast, humming in pleasure when you let out a wanton sound.

Naruto’s teeth grazed your nipple as he popped your breast out of his mouth. He lifted his head, smiling upon finding your dilated eyes on him. He gave Sasuke a nod and Sasuke moved away from your back.

“Get comfortable,” Sasuke told you, gesturing at the bed.

You tilted your head upon reaching the edge of the mattress. “On my stomach or my back?”

The two of them shared a look before Naruto answered, “On your back. Easier access to eat you out.”

You felt your clit throb upon hearing that. Taking a pillow, you placed it in the middle of the bed and laid down, resting your hips on the pillow.

Both approached you, unabashedly checking you out like they had many times before. This was the first time they saw you completely naked, though, and damn if you weren’t driving them crazy.

“Wanna go first?” Sasuke offered.

Naruto nodded, grinning at both of you. “That’s okay, right?” he asked you.

“More than okay,” you assured him.

Naruto took your legs, draping them over his shoulders so your pussy would be up to his face.

Sasuke kneeled on the bed beside you, caressing your cheek as Naruto parted your labia with two fingers.

“Good to know we make you this wet,” Naruto commented with a hint of teasing. Dragging his fingers up and down your slit as he collected your slick, he tilted his head and then lifted his hand, showing his glistening fingers to Sasuke and you.

Naruto’s wet tongue flicked your clit, erupting a moan from within your chest.

Sasuke nipped at your throat, thumb rubbing your cheek rather soothingly, unexpectedly so. “Is he making you feel good, baby?”

You hummed, unable to form a coherent sentence as Naruto sped up the flicking of his tongue. Sasuke licked his way up your throat in a long swipe, nipping at your jaw before crashing his lips onto yours.

Sasuke swallowed your moans while Naruto’s tongue entered your pussy and his fingers slowly massaged your clit. Naruto picked up his pace too quickly, prompting you to bit down Sasuke’s bottom lip.

You felt hot, way too hot in fact, as if you were about to combust.

Naruto furiously tongued your pussy and you bucked your hips against his face — he chuckled, eating you out with even more passion.

Feeling as though you were about to come, you slid your fingers into Naruto’s hair and sucked on Sasuke’s tongue.

Sasuke pulled away from the kiss, roughly speaking into your ear. “You’re doing so well.” Seeing your eyes lid closed, he encouraged you, “Come all over Naruto’s face, angel, he’s rather thirsty.”

In that exact moment, Naruto slurped on your pussy, as though agreeing with Sasuke.

You came all over Naruto’s face, gripping his hair and squealing as the waves of pleasure continued crashing through you.

Naruto kissed your thighs, taking his time with each one as you regained your breath. Shifting, you faced Sasuke’s hard cock which made you groan.

You reached for Sasuke’s cock, rubbing his tip. He hissed, getting closer to you in order to sit beside you.

Naruto climbed over you, keeping himself from rubbing against you. He kissed your neck, playfully scrapping your skin with his teeth.

You pumped Sasuke’s cock in your fist, looking up at his flushed face. Naruto moved his hips against yours, rubbing the tip of his cock over your clit.

You were about to grind your hips up against his when Naruto left the bed. Squeezing Sasuke’s shaft with your fingers, you continued jerking him off.

Naruto tore a condom open and slid it down his cock before going back to bed. He rubbed against you more firmly now, pressing his tip on your slit.

“You want me to fuck you, gorgeous?”

You groaned, having expected Sasuke to be the teasing one. “Yes.”

“How badly?”

Whimpering, you looked down at your hand wrapped around Sasuke’s throbbing cock.

“Answer him,” Sasuke himself commanded. “How badly do you want him to fuck you?”

“Really badly,” you croaked.

“See? Wasn’t that difficult,” Naruto teased, hands coming up to brush hair off your face. Your eyes found his, glazed by lust. Your pussy quivered in anticipation.

As Naruto ground against your vulva, your whimper in reaction mingled with Sasuke’s panting.

You felt him enter you, gliding in without much trouble.

Groaning heavily above you in response to the tight grip of your walls around his cock, he slowly pushed forward.

His scrotum slapped against you as he started to thrust into you. He moaned, taking his time at first, waiting for you to show signs that you were comfortable and enjoying it.

Quickening his pace, Naruto made your hand slip out of the steady rhythm you had found pumping Sasuke’s cock. Both Sasuke and you whimpered.

Soon enough, Sasuke was coming all over your hand and Naruto was going as quickly as he could, filling the room with wet noises, his moans, your whimpers, and Sasuke’s grunts.

He fucked you incessantly, and when you thought it couldn’t get better, Sasuke reached over and pressed his fingers on your clit.

Dizzy, lost in desire and pleasure, you allowed yourself to get lost in the sensation as their sounds enhanced your senses while they played with your body.

You were ready to come again, and by the way Naruto’s cock throbbed inside you, you knew he was too.

Sasuke rubbed on your clit rapidly as Naruto pounded into you. Due to Sasuke’s help, you came first with loud cries as your legs trembled.

Naruto came into the condom, grunting in pleasure. Instinctively, he thrust into you a couple more times. He kissed your forehead, panting, “You were so good.”

Moving off the bed, Naruto took the condom out, tied it, and threw it onto the trash. He stood in the middle of the room, catching his breath.

Sasuke also left the bed, and the room. You were still too dizzy to ask, sight clouded by small spots of light.

Suddenly, Naruto sat beside you and slid his hand under your upper back. He pushed you up to a sitting position, careful not to move you too abruptly.

You didn’t realize Sasuke was back until he said, “Here.” He handed you a bottle of water, already uncapped.

You took a small sip of water, feeling Naruto wrap his arm around you as he drank water himself.

“You good?” Naruto asked.

“Yeah,” you assured him in a string of voice. Drinking more water, you tried again, “I’m more than good.”

“Do you want to continue?” Sasuke asked softly, taking the bottle from you when you offered it to him.

“I do.”

“Get on your knees, then,” Sasuke commanded.

Following his command, you looked at him for approval, then to Naruto. Both looked pleased, so pleased that they didn’t waste any time.

Naruto stood in front of you while Sasuke did at your back.

Spreading your labia, Sasuke hummed, dragging his fingers up and down. “Are you sore?”

“No. Not yet, I guess.”

Naruto grinned down at you, cupping your cheek and caressing it. “Such a smart girl.”

You licked your bottom lip, hips slanting forward. Sasuke snorted behind you. “So needy for our approval, aren’t you?”

Looking up at Naruto, you saw him wink at you. “It’s okay, you have it. He just needs to be inside your tight pussy.”

Sasuke’s fingers teased you as he made sure were wet and ready. You sighed in expectancy, almost pouting.

Naruto traced your face with his fingers, lightly pushing you to tilt your head as he massaged down your neck. He applied pressure for a moment. “You’re gonna let me fuck your pretty mouth?” he cooed.

You struggled to open your mouth, yet you even managed to stick your tongue out. Naruto chuckled, shaking his head as he shared a look with Sasuke. Grinning, he withdrew his hand from your neck and took his cock in his grasp.

Sasuke slid his cock inside you first. He started slow just like Naruto had earlier, Naruto who slapped the tip of his cock against your tongue before sticking it into your mouth.

Sasuke quickened his pace earlier than Naruto did before, and you found that his thrusts were quicker and deeper too. He held you by the waist, guiding your hips.

As Sasuke got tougher, your mouth slipped and swallowed more of Naruto’s cock.

Holding you steady with one hand, Sasuke gave your ass cheek a brutal spank with the other hand. You swirled your tongue around Naruto’s cock, moaning against it.

“Do it again,” Naruto told him, a little breathless. “She liked it.”

Sasuke proudly gritted, pounding into you, “Of course she did.” He smacked your ass again, harsher this time.

Your moans were muffled by Naruto’s cock, hammering its way down your throat. You gagged, prompting Naruto to hold your head — he moved quicker, with little care of your gag reflex.

You tried to grind against Sasuke behind you, desperate for even more pleasure. He thrust deep witching you, grunting as he held your waist with more force; again with two hands.

Both fucked you harder and harder, Naruto throwing his head back as you breathed onto his stomach and Sasuke rammed you against him.

Not able to announce it, you came all over Sasuke’s cock, choking on Naruto’s as you naturally cried out.

Sasuke continued thrusting hard into you, just like Naruto who announced he would come down your throat.

You swallowed his cum due to the natural position. Not that you minded, you had planned on doing it either way.

When you thought you would be able to breathe properly again, gasping for air, Sasuke slapped your ass and thrust hard and deep, slowly and harshly.

The overstimulation made you scream, and Sasuke’s cock swelled inside you. He didn’t stop pumping into you, not until he had filled the condom with cum and tears were streaming down your face.

You fell limp onto the bed, panting and gasping as you rested the side of your head on the mattress.

Sasuke massaged your ass, soothing the stings as he still panted. Naruto cleaned himself up with a towel, then with another one cleaned your face, kneeling on the floor as you laid there, letting them take care of you as pleasure and euphoria still flowed through you.

“You want a warm bath?” Naruto asked.

“Later,” you mumbled tiredly.

Naruto kissed your cheek, humming before standing up. Sasuke laid beside you, rubbing circles on your back. “You were amazing,” Sasuke praised you.

Agreeing, Naruto laid at your other side and pulled your head onto his chest as Sasuke laid his on your back. “We should do it more often.”

And how could you tell them no when you were still reeling from your orgasm?

#sasuke uchiha x reader #naruto uzumaki x reader #sasuke uchiha x plus size reader #naruto uzumaki x plus size reader #sasuke uchiha smut #naruto uzumaki smut #naruto shippuden #naruto

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ayyyeisa · 3 years

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Pairing: Eren Jaeger x Mikasa Ackerman

Word Count: 9.7k

Content: Modern! AU, fluff, angst, best-friends-to-lovers trope

Content Warnings: PTSD, alludes to alcohol

Summary: Childhood best friends Eren and Mikasa go through a series of ups and downs throughout their life, struggling to realize what exactly their relationship is

Notes: Thank you to everyone who helped edit this piece! I really appreciated all the feedback you gave me <3

Prologue

They’ve always been told that they’ve been friends since the moment they were born, and it was difficult to argue against it because it really did feel like it’s been a lifetime of friendship. There has never been a moment where one isn’t with the other. It had never been just Eren, and it had never been just Mikasa. No matter where they were and when it was, it was always (and always will be) Eren and Mikasa. The girl, Mikasa, even claimed to have known her friend Eren in her life before, and although he'd never admit it in front of anyone but Mikasa (in fear that his older brother would make fun of it), he did too. At 28, their friendship definitely had quite a few ups and downs, but if they learned one thing during their years of being best friends it was that they both wanted one thing more than anything in the world: to be with each other. That was it. It didn’t matter, when, where, with who, or for what reason. Just to be in the presence of one another was enough to make them happy.

27 Years Ago (4 months old)

Eren and Mikasa were born just barely two months apart, so it was no surprise that they wouldn’t even remember meeting as babies. As their parents were good friends, the couples jokingly tried to make their children be friends too, by making sure they saw each other frequently. Mikasa and Eren’s moms held their babies across from one another so they could see each other again. It was the first time they officially met, excluding the time the Ackerman family came to visit Carla when she gave birth to Eren. The moment baby Eren had set his big, forest green eyes onto Mikasa’s brown ones, he had tried to reach out to her, going as far as untangling himself from the red scarf (a gift given at his baby shower, though because of his size, could not be used as an actual scarf yet) that his mom used to swaddle him. Unfortunately, from his lack of motor skills, the little girl was awoken by Eren's hand. Mikasa shrieked, upset that she was pulled from her sleep. Zeke, Eren's senior by ten years, freaked, immediately apologizing to Mikasa's mom about Eren. "I'm so sorry Auntie! I'm sure Eren didn't mean it. Please don't be mad."

The woman just let out a light-hearted laugh. "It's alright Zeke. Look, Mikasa is fine now. Besides, her and Eren seem to be getting along pretty well," she said as she watched the two babies looking at each other, arms flailing like an octopus's legs in an attempt to reach each other. Mikasa had gotten a hold of an end of Eren’s swaddle scarf and was lightly tugging at it, while Eren continued to reach forward until his small hand lightly touched Mikasa’s forehead. They were giggling, almost as if they were keeping a secret.

23 Years Ago (5 years old)

It was their first day of first grade. They had been smart enough to go to school a year early. Yes, they. Mikasa refused to start school without Eren, and he refused to go without Mikasa. They were a team, never leaving each other’s side. The teachers were a bit surprised at first when they refused to sit with different people, but they soon got the message. Many actually found it quite cute. Eren had many girls crushing on him (yes, he was a very cute boy, and eventually grew up to be a handsome man). Although the girls didn’t completely understand their emotions at that age, they refused to believe that the cute boy prefered Mikasa over all of them. This of course was bad for Mikasa since it led her to having enemies from a young age. Even if she didn’t need total protection from them, she still had Eren to help. He was, however, useless when his own fangirls chased him around the playground. Though he always proudly claimed "As if I would even think of hitting a girl,” Mikasa was there to help him out when they chased him.

Not even a week in, Eren had met a boy named Armin-- a short and shy young blonde, who always seemed to be in the little library corner of the classroom. He was as smart as Misaka and Eren, if not smarter, therefore he also started a year early. The older boys were constantly making fun of Armin for his short stature, yet what caught Eren’s eyes the most was how no matter the power difference, Armin did not seem to back down. Even as the bullies picked and teased at him, he held his head high.

When Eren approached one day to ask why, Armin would simply state “I haven’t lost yet if I refuse to back down.” And it was that bravery, even in the most dire of situations, that had Eren grinning.

Hands on his hips, he announced, “my name is Eren, but you probably already knew that. And that girl over there,” Eren paused to point at Mikasa, who was watching from across the room to make sure Eren wasn’t getting himself into trouble, “is Mikasa. Let’s all be friends. Mikasa! C’mere! This is Armin and he’s super cool and smart.” After gesturing her over, he turns back to Armin with a grin on his face. “Mikasa is super cool too. She’s smart like you, and really strong. She’s my best friend, and I’ve known her my entire life. I just know we’ll all get along,” he said happily while readjusting his scarf.

And right he was, for that was the beginning of the trio’s epic friendship.

21 Years Ago (7 years old)

He took her hand, and led her to his horse. Just like how the leaves were swept away by the wind, so were they. If you watched, you’d see the horse getting smaller and smaller as they rode farther away. But maybe, if you listened, you would hear the princess’s and prince’s joyful laughter- a truly happy ever after ending for them.

“No, no, no, no!” That’s not what happened in my dream! If I remember correctly, we lived in a castle!” Eren exclaimed. He didn’t know where Mikasa got that dream before.

“Well, I’m just telling you what I saw in my dream. Maybe you’re the one with bad memory,” she snapped back, a frown on her face as she lightly tugged on the red scarf he always kept around his neck.

For the past couple months, they had been dreaming of being together in a number of lives. They often fought about them in front of Armin, constantly asking him which one of the two dreamt the right dream. Poor Armin. Luckily, the boy had a knack for reading any and every book he could find, and he decided to do something about it before the fight could escalate again.

“Maybe you two remembered different parts of your old life, and maybe even different lives. You never know, you could have been a prince or princess more than once,” he proposed.

Mikasa’s brows quirk in confusion. “You think so?” she asked.

Eren, on the other hand, fully trusted the other boy, knowing just how smart he was from all the reading he’s done. Grinning, he proudly stated,“Don’t doubt Armin, Mikasa. He’s super smart. I bet he’s right with just about everything.”

“Really?” the girl excitedly asked. “Wait, so Armin, do you know how babies are made?”

Omake:

Eren: “Of course he does! He read it in a book and told me. A stork plucks a baby from a pond and delivers it at night.”

19 Years Ago (9 years old)

“We were super cool ninjas with powers! Like Naruto!” Eren exclaimed, jumping, kicking, and punching the air as if he was fighting an imaginary person. His red scarf danced and swayed along with him as he energetically moved around. He briefly paused to glance at Mikasa, excited to see her reaction, when he saw her expression. It had his previously bright, green eyes dulling into a light grey color. Furrowing his eyebrows, he asked, “You okay Mikasa?”

She sat there, a worried look on her face. “Eren, will my mom be okay?” Even though she was young, she knew something went wrong when her mom had her. Her mom was always happy, yet sad when talking about Misaka's birth. She overheard one night from her parents that having Mikasa was very difficult for them, let alone having another child.

This question always broke his heart- no matter how many times he’s heard it. He stared at her for a moment before slowly walking to her, unwrapping his scarf off his neck. He stopped right in front of her-- her head right below his chin-- before taking his scarf in two hands and wrapping it around her neck instead. Finishing up the last loop, he messily placed the last few inches on top of her head before taking a seat next to her on the couch.

“I don’t know Mikasa. I don’t know. But you’re going to be okay, I promise.”

Eren had said “you’re” not “it’s,” and she couldn't be more thankful. The little boy could not promise that everything would be okay, but he could promise that she would. Why? Because she still had a home. Because he was there. And he always would be.

“I’m right here. And if you ever need more comfort, whenever and wherever we are, I’ll just wrap that scarf around you again,” he stated confidently. He hugged Mikasa, who in turn hugged him back before they laid down facing each other.

“You’ll really do it? You’ll wrap the scarf around me just like you did in the dream I told you I had last night? That one’s my favorite dream-- but I like all of our other dreams too. Promise me we’ll always talk about them. No matter how old we are, we’ll still tell them to each other, okay? Promise me,” Mikasa prompted as she rested her hand in between them.

It was no surprise when Eren gave her a small smile while stating “Promise,” before reaching out with his hand to interlock his fingers with Mikasa’s.

18 Years Ago (10 years old)

At ten years old, Eren was starting to believe what the other boys in his grade were saying about girls. At first, he tried to fight back and ignore their stupid antics, but he hated the fact that people thought Mikasa was stronger than him. He didn’t want her protection; he wanted to protect her.

“Why does she always speak for you, anyway?” one of them would ask.

“She’s a girl; shouldn’t you be stronger?” another would add.

“Don’t forget that girls have cooties.”

“She’s just plain scary too.”

Eren could feel his cheeks heat up at the comments, and if the boys were paying close attention, they would’ve seen his eyes turn a stormy grey. Whether it was from embarrassment of being below Mikasa, or anger of someone daring to badmouth her, he didn’t know.

“Don’t say that about Mikasa. Girls should be strong, and there’s nothing wrong with not being quiet and dainty,” he loudly proclaimed. But while his heart was burning to continue defending Mikasa, a part of him couldn’t help but hate the situation he was in. Why was Mikasa always the one to protect him, and why did it bother him so much?

Weeks had passed, and Mikasa noticed how Eren seemed to be avoiding her. Was it what everyone was saying about them? Or was it something else? The only other thing she could think of was when she gave him a nice punch (a well-deserved punch at that) for being an idiot and getting into trouble again. Because of him, they both had to stay in the classroom writing apology letters during recess-- it’s not like she was going to let him fight those bullies alone. But he couldn’t be THAT mad at her, could he? The jerk sort of deserved it. It broke her. But, Mikasa being Mikasa, she decided to confront him today.

“Eren, why are you ignoring me? Are you okay? Did something happen?” she asked.

“I’m not ignoring you, okay? Why can’t you just let me be and do my own thing. You’re not my mom, and I'm not your kid brother. I don’t need you around all the time, and I definitely don’t always need your help.” Eren spat, irritated.

Just as he was about to leave, Mikasa spoke again. “So you’re saying that I’m not important.”

Eren, caught off guard, froze. “No! I never--”

“You’re saying that those other boys, your other friends, are more important than me and that what they think matters more than me.” Mikasa clarified, tears starting to swell up in her eyes.

...1 second...

...2 seconds…

Gears were turning in Eren’s head, realizing what he’d almost done to their friendship-- what he’d almost done to Mikasa, his Mikasa, his best friend. He could feel his anger subside, and Mikasa saw his grey eyes slowly brighten to green. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it that way. Why don’t you come over today? We can play tag and hide and seek… Or I could even play with the dolls you made. You made one of me, right? Just the two of us. I promise this won’t happen again.”

“Good. I like Auntie Carla’s cooking. We’re walking home from school together, okay? Like old times,” she simply stated before walking away. She was not going to take any chances of Eren saying no. Of course, Mikasa expected his previous response. As much as Eren had been avoiding her, she truly trusted him to always come back. He always did. She could bet her life (and heart) on it.

17 Years Ago (11 years old)

Lunch was going well for the first day of 6th grade. It was an odd transition from eating with classmates in their grade level to being able to eat with just about anyone that attended their school. Eren, Mikasa, and Armin were finishing up their lunch when they heard a voice.

“Your long black hair is… really beautiful, by the way,” a boy with ash-brown hair shyly says to Mikasa. His blush was evident on his light skin and he could barely look at the girl. His name was Jean Kirstein, a new classmate of the trio’s; and he annoyed Eren to no end. Who did this guy think he was? It was their first year at South Paradis Junior High-- there were so many other elementary schools that fed into here that it was unlikely that they’d know all their classmates. And yet, this boy was already coming straight up to Mikasa and complimenting her hair. Mikasa was a rare beauty and Eren’s best friend; she deserved the best and only the very best. He wasn’t going to let some horse face of a boy take a chance with her.

Armin noticed Eren’s frown and how his eyes were a dark grey. He honestly considered teasing him: “Of course you’d be the petty, jealous type.” That’s all he had to say. It was fairly easy, and Armin was quite sure that voicing that thought would have Eren in a stuttering mess trying to deny it all. He’d probably be so busy denying it that he would’ve spent more time arguing with Armin than acting on his jealousy. Though against his better judgement, Armin kept his mouth shut, allowing Eren to speak up.

“Mikasa,” Eren said softly as he grabbed a piece of her hair, “aren’t you trying out for the martial arts team? You should cut your hair. You could get into an accident.” Eren didn’t even bother glancing at Jean; he opted for keeping his gaze on Mikasa as he waited for an answer.

“Yeah… you’re right. I should probably cut it,” she stated as she absentmindedly grabs the same strand Eren was holding, their fingers grazing one another in the process. Eren would never admit it, but his fingers burned right where his and Mikasa’s briefly touched. The physical contact didn’t last long, but he could still feel the warmth she emulated when he went to bed that night. He didn’t know why, though.

13 Years Ago (15 years old)

It wasn’t until sophomore year of high school that Eren realized just why he felt that way-- why he always had the urge to protect Mikasa to the point that her being stronger than him made him angry, why he was always hit with an overwhelming feeling of jealousy whenever Jean was anywhere near her, why his skin started burning at her slightest touch. It wasn’t until sophomore year of high school that Eren realized just why he started to look at his best friend a little differently, why she always lingered in his thoughts a bit longer and a bit more than everyone else.

He was, unfortunately, stupid enough to make homecoming plans without Mikasa. Last year, the two of them and Armin had all gone together, but Armin was finally going with Annie this year. It was of the utmost obviousness that those two had something going ever since she transferred to their school in 7th grade. Annie was a quiet girl who usually kept to herself, maybe occasionally speaking with Bertholdt and Reiner since they transferred from the same school. But otherwise, it seemed as if only Armin was able to break through her shell. It was honestly quite ironic how Eren and Mikasa often teased Armin for his incapability to express his feelings, when he could’ve easily pointed out theirs. The ache in his heart when Annie was away --the way he constantly missed her and wished she was around-- was no different from what Eren and Mikasa secretly told Armin when they were apart. How could Eren and Mikasa not know?

“Historia asked me to homecoming,” Eren had told Mikasa one night after they both respectively finished martial arts and baseball practice. He could see the small glare she gave him, as she stared at him for what felt like hours without saying a word.

“Okay, then just ask her out.” Mikasa didn’t even try to hide her annoyance.

“It’s not like that. I don’t-- There’s nothing-- We’re not like that. I think she’s just pretty bummed that Ymir moved and needs a friend. You know she doesn’t have that many ‘cause her dad’s been sheltering her. You can come with. I told her that I was planning on going with you,” Eren replied. It’s not like he wanted Mikasa to feel left out or unimportant. One of his friends needed his help, and he would never-- could never-- turn his back on a friend. They were the most important people in the world to him, almost on the same level as his parents, Armin, and Mikasa. Of course he would be there if one of them ever needed a hand.

And it was because Mikasa knew him so well that she tried to control herself. Mikasa wanted to argue-- wanted to tell Eren that there were plenty of other people Historia could’ve asked. She had Sasha, Connie, and Jean too. She could’ve even asked her. Why did it have to be specifically Eren? She was jealous, she acknowledged that, because all she ever wanted was to be near Eren. The thought of him belonging to some other girl hurt so badly. For him to have another home besides her, for her to not be able to call him her home-- she didn’t know if she wanted to even be alive if that were to happen. Eren was everything to her. But another part of her just wanted to let it be. If Eren was happy, and as his best friend, shouldn’t she be happy for him too? All she ever wanted was to be near him. Romantic relationship or not, she already had that. Eren cared about her and Armin more than anyone in the world; she has everything she’s asked for. Shouldn’t that be enough?

“No, it’s ok. You don’t need to explain. She needs a friend, and I think you should go. Jean and I were talking in class today. He actually offered for us to join their group because Sasha and Connie wanted to do a whole extravagant group meetup, with pictures and food and everything. I’ll just tag along with them,” her lips drew into a straight line in an attempt to smile. She knew Eren well enough to know that he knew --that she knew-- that he knew that it was most definitely not okay. But to her dismay, neither acknowledged the elephant in the room nor the growing tension between them.

Eren didn’t want to. He was too busy feeling the blood rushing through his ears at the mention of Jean asking Mikasa out. There was only one other time he remembered feeling this jealous-- it had been all that time ago, when they first met Jean back in 6th grade. The horse face had told Mikasa her long, black hair was beautiful, and while Eren agreed, it pissed him off to no end that someone other than him was looking at Mikasa. Of course, it was no surprise that many boys and girls were looking at her-- she was beautiful and strong and everything that a woman should be. But having random people look at her didn’t compare to the jealousy he felt when it came to Jean. Eren wanted Mikasa all to himself. But what right did he have to whine and complain when he was the one to bring up taking Historia to the dance? Jealousy was an ugly feeling, and he hated how accustomed he had gotten to feeling it. Stupid Jean, stupid world, stupid homecoming, stupid him. Oh how he hated himself more than ever for putting himself in that situation. All he ever wanted was to be with Mikasa, and here he was doing the opposite-- here he was starting a small rift between them. One stupid statement, and he already felt far, far away from home.

12 Years Ago (16 years old)

It was concerning, really, how months later, Eren and Mikasa still couldn’t address the divide between them. While the two often got into small arguments before, they were usually solved within a week, if not immediately. This was the first time that it ever lasted more than a few days, if this could even be considered an argument. They were talking, but something felt off-- both of them could feel it. Mikasa didn’t want to push boundaries. Eren was still her friend; he was safe and nearby, so could she really complain? As for Eren, he could feel the ache of Mikasa’s absence run deeper than his heart. It made him sick in a way he couldn’t completely describe— like he was homesick or something.

While he saw her everyday at school, she often paired up with Armin or Jean instead. While he ate lunch with her at the same table as their friend group, she usually spent her time listening to Sasha ramble on and on about meat and food and the so-called cute senior in her culinary class named Niccolo. Even when he was sitting right next to her in the driver’s seat as he dropped her home after practice, their conversations ran shallow. He missed their inside jokes and their talks about their dreams. For months, he’d been wanting to tell her his recurring dream of one of their past lives. How every night, his sleep would send him to the peaceful mountains of Switzerland, where he lived in a tiny cottage with her. They were alone-- isolated from society-- and they often needed to fish, hunt, and gather their own food, but they were together. They were together and they were happy, and God help him, that’s all he ever wanted.

He wondered that of the many other dreams she’s had of what they presumed to be their past lives, if she saw that same dream too. He hoped so. He hoped that when he was away, she felt that same ache too. He hoped that in the same way no one could ever replace her in his heart, no one would ever replace him in hers. Call him selfish, but he wanted Mikasa all to himself-- wanted to be the only person that would ever claim her heart. He didn’t want anyone-- not Jean, not even Armin-- to have Mikasa. So why was he letting her slip through his fingers?

It wasn’t until months later, near the end of summer, that the two finally resolved whatever issue was going on. With school out, Historia rarely saw anybody outside her friends, and even then, she was only really comfortable around Eren-- only he knew the pain of missing someone. Historia knew he was suffering. He never told her-- never really told anyone except Armin-- how he felt about Mikasa, but Historia could see the longing in his eyes whenever he gazed at Mikasa and the sadness they held whenever he talked about her. And it was for this reason that she refused to leave Eren alone. He needed a friend, and so did she. There was no way she’d abandon him-- no way she would abandon anyone in need.

Over summer, the two started volunteering at homeless shelters and orphanages. They’d occasionally invite the whole group over: Sasha, Connie, Jean, Mikasa, Armin… There were days that the seven of them would volunteer during the day and go out for dinner in the evening to catch up. But the amount of time that the group met up was nothing in comparison to the amount of time Historia and Eren spent together. It was evident in the way they talked at their group outings, and it didn’t help with the growing tension between Eren and Mikasa either.

Seeing them together, seeing them so happy-- seeing Eren so happy without her-- had Mikasa feeling things. Was she missing something-- a component or aspect that maybe was pushing Eren away from her? Or was she too overbearing? What did Historia have that she didn’t? There must be a reason why Eren seemed to be wanting to spend more time with the other girl as opposed to her. She missed seeing Eren’s smile and his happy, green eyes. She was both angry and hurt, and while she knew she had no right to speak, for she was Eren’s best friend, not his lover, she could only take so much before snapping.

She hadn’t meant to say it; at least, not out loud and most definitely not in front of Eren, but her jealousy got the better of her. Historia and Eren were once again telling the group about some project they went on the other week to help orphans in a different country. They were laughing and reminiscing about the troubles they went through during their time there when Mikasa spoke.

“We get it. You guys had a great time,” her voice dripping with disdain as she glared at Historia. It wasn’t until Mikasa noticed everyone staring at her that she realized the rudeness of what she had said. Hesitantly, she said “Sorry. I’ve, uhh, I’ve had a rough few… months. I’m just gonna go,” before hastily leaving the table.

“Wait!” Historia called after her.

“We haven’t even ordered anything yet, aren’t you hungry?” Jean added.

She ignored them both, though, and opted to continue walking out of the restaurant, even as the others tried to call out after her.

Armin used that distraction to nudge Eren’s side. “Eren,” he whispered sternly, grinding his teeth together. “It’s now or never. Don’t let it get worse. Are you really going to let her go?”

And it was because Armin knew both Mikasa AND Eren so well that he didn’t doubt that it was all he needed to say to get the guy moving. Not even a second later, Eren was scrambling off his chair and past his friends as he hurriedly followed Mikasa.

“Mikasa! Mikasa, wait. What was that? What’s wrong?” he asked. One of his hands was gripping her arm and holding her in place. He had tugged at it lightly so that Mikasa was slightly facing him, and his eyes desperately searched hers for an answer.

“Nothing,” she stated, trying (but failing) to keep her composure. It’s not like she could come out and say “Oh, I’m jealous of Historia. I hate how she spends a lot of time with you because I secretly love you, Eren.” She could barely admit that fact herself, let alone confess it to someone else.

Eren stared at her in wait, desperately wanting to know what they had and where they stood. Anyone watching could’ve easily seen it in his eyes. “Please,” he begged when she remained stubbornly quiet. “Please tell me what’s wrong. Don’t you miss the way things used to be? What’s happened between us?”

“Historia--”

“Historia and I are just friends! I already told you that, back during homecoming. Why did we drift apart just because of that? Why did it seem like you weren’t interested in talking to me anymore? Why did we stop hanging out everyday?” Eren urged Mikasa to answer. He was already fighting back tears, when one question that had been nagging at him the past few months made its way out his mouth. “Why did we stop talking about our dreams?! Didn’t we always promise to talk about them? Have you given up on a useless idiot like me?”

Seeing Eren cry stopped Mikasa in her tracks. She stopped trying to get her arm out of Eren’s grip and settled for looking at him straight in the eyes, near tears herself. “Eren,” she says with soft urgency. It was only then, when he felt her sad gaze on him and lack of resistance against his grip, did Eren completely let go of Mikasa. She grabbed both his shoulders, giving him the slightest shake. “Don’t say that about yourself. Please. You’re not a useless idiot. It’s just-- I… really missed you. I’m sorry. I know you told me that you and Historia were just friends, but I didn’t like how jealous I felt. I wanted you only by my side, because it’s always been Mikasa and Eren, and Eren and Mikasa, and seeing you with someone else-- I… I don’t know. I guess, I’m not used to having to be apart from you. More than anything in the world, all I want is to be near you. When you kept visiting Historia and spending the summer with her, it just felt like you didn’t need me around anymore, or that you maybe didn’t want me around,” Mikasa confessed, her blush evident.

If Eren heard her correctly, then maybe she was feeling the same ache that he’d been feeling. Maybe, just maybe, she did love him the way that he loved her-- not as a sibling nor a best friend, but something more. He raised both his hands to grab her face, never breaking eye contact.

She could see how his previously gray eyes had started shifting over to green. Mikasa lifted her hands to hold onto his wrists needing to stabilize herself, as she felt like she would faint at any moment with the way Eren was holding her. Since when did his touch start making her knees so weak? And since when did his gaze start making her self-conscious and nervous?

“Mikasa,” Eren whispered, closing his eyes. He didn’t think he’d have the courage to look at her when their faces were close-- so close that their foreheads were nearly touching and he could feel the warmth of her shaky breaths on his face. “I’ll always want you with me,” he whispered softly as he tried to lean in. He wanted to kiss her-- wanted to know what it’d feel like to have her lips on his-- but what if he was wrong about his assumptions? What if Mikasa didn’t feel the same ache in her heart as he did? What if he was just like family to her and nothing more? If he kissed her and he was wrong, it’d for sure ruin their friendship, and the rift between them that they were currently trying to heal would be damaged for good.

He was too busy worrying about all that to realize that Mikasa, too, wanted to kiss him. He didn’t even realize the slight tilt up of her head nor the way her fingers lightly squeezed his wrists before she stopped in realization that he wasn’t actually going to kiss her. Neither of them wanted to make the first move in fear of ruining what they had-- whatever it was. And so instead, Eren went limp and rested his forehead against hers, eyes still closed, and Mikasa did the same. They didn’t move until Mikasa’s stomach growled.

“I knew you were hungry. It’s 7 o’clock and you usually eat an early brunch,” Eren laughed.

“Eren, your eating habits are worse than mine. You’re probably hungrier than me. Let’s go back inside,” Mikasa snapped back with a smile.

Things felt normal again and both were the happiest they’ve been in months. Their friendship was okay. Romantic relationship or not, they were still Eren and Mikasa, and Mikasa and Eren-- they were still each other's best friend. They were together, and to them, that’s all that ever mattered in the world. They were home.

10 Years Ago (18 years old)

Many moments from the next few years were filled with awkward silence or slight tension, ones caused by the fight they had at 16. It was like the rift never fully healed, and that made it much easier to get into small fights. Maybe it was because much of the problem itself never went away. The arguments grew from insecurities and miscommunication; they were two teenagers stupidly in love, yet too scared to say anything. Regardless, it was Eren and Mikasa, and so the fights never lasted too long.

It was the last weeks of summer before the two had to go off to college, and unlike two summers ago, Eren made sure that they were making every last moment count. From getting ice cream to hiking at nearby state parks, Eren came up with plans to hangout every single day. He had to, especially because they’d be spending the next four years apart. Both were originally going to Purdue University, along with quite a few of their friends. Eren was going for aviation, Mikasa for elementary education, Armin for political science with a minor in oceanography, and Jean for business.

Unfortunately, times were cruel and news channels were filled with stories of a possible onslaught of World War III. It seemed surreal, but the growing tensions across many countries of the world had many people worrying if it was actually possible. Eren, in particular, found it interesting enough to change his mind about college. He still wanted to fly-- wanted to know the feeling of freedom-- but first and foremost, he felt a strong duty to protect his country because it’s where the people he loved lived. If the possibility of an oncoming World War III was true, Eren wanted to be prepared. He still hadn’t brought it up to Mikasa or Armin, his decision being so last minute.

He had spent countless nights contemplating on whether he should go or not. If he entered the military, he’d be signing his life away for four years. That’s four years of not being able to always see Mikasa, assuming he’d be able to hide it from her. He just had to keep his decision a secret long enough for Mikasa to not be able to follow him in. Eren knew that she wouldn’t hesitate to drop everything if it meant being able to be with and protect him, but if Eren cared about her the way he claims he does, shouldn’t he be protecting her too? They should be equals, not whatever this was. Just this once, he wanted to be the one protecting, even if it meant being apart from her.

And so, that’s how he came to the decision the night before Decision Day to enter the military as opposed to Purdue. It broke his heart and worried him to no end that for the next four years, he’d be far away from Mikasa-- far away from home. What if something happened while he was gone? Something bad, and he wasn’t there to help her through it? Sure, Jean and Armin would be there, and Mikasa would surely meet other people too. But would they be able to be there for her in the way she deserved? He knew Mikasa better than anyone else, even Armin, so could anyone really live up to his expectations of what he wanted for Mikasa? All these questions ran through his head as he drove Mikasa back home from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, another one of the trips he planned.

Mikasa, not one to not notice Eren’s changes in behavior, glanced over at the driver’s seat, wondering why Eren suddenly got quiet. “Eren?”

At the sound of her voice, Eren was immediately pulled out of his thoughts. But one look at her, and he was filled with sorrow again. Soon, he’d have to leave her and it’d be another four years or so before they would be able to return to the old days, if going back to the old days was even possible. For all he knew, this could be the very last time they’d talk to each other like this again. These last few days could be the very last time that Eren and Mikasa, and Mikasa and Eren are a thing. He wanted to make the most out of it-- whatever time he had left. “Mikasa,” he stated before pulling over to the side of the road. He wanted to be sure he could clearly see her face, without any distractions. “Let's get out of here,” he continued, looking her in the eye.

She stared at him, observed his movements, the color of his eyes. They were a mix of green and gray, much lighter than his usual forest green eyes that signaled his happiness, but not exactly the stormy grey eyes he had when he was angry or sad either. It confused her, because in the rare times that she didn’t know what he was feeling, his eye color usually gave it away. But this time, it’s like he was both happy and sad. “What do you mean?”

Eren was practically quivering in fear that she’d be angry or reject what he was about to offer. But he kept reminding himself that these last few days would be the last time he’d see her in a long while. They’d be apart for the first time since they were born, and he wasn’t sure how either of them would be able to handle it. He looked away to gather his nerves before turning back around and taking a deep breath.

“Don’t be mad with what I’m about to say. Please.” Eren waited for her nod before continuing. “The night before decision day, I actually decided I was going to be joining the military-- the army. And before you even think of telling me you’ll join too, don’t. You needed to decide by decision day, so there’s no point in joining now if we’re going to be in different regiments. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I just wanted to do this to protect everyone, while not influencing any of your decisions to pursue your dreams…” he paused again, waiting for Mikasa’s reaction.

The girl wanted to scold him for making such a hasty and dangerous decision. She didn’t know where to begin. The military was a four-year commitment, which meant that they’d be apart for four years. Would she be able to handle that? They had never been apart for anywhere near that long. And what if the military changes him? Even if he didn’t get deployed, he’d still have to go through basic training and the like. She had heard stories of how the military, even just camp, changed people. What if some part of him never comes back from that? Would he still be her Eren-- the same Eren?

“Mikasa, stop thinking about it. Let’s just… enjoy what time we have left of summer break, okay? I told you this because I was hoping you’d say yes to what I’m about to ask you. For the last few days of summer, let’s go to Switzerland, in Crans-Montana-- in between the mountains where we went on that band trip junior year. Remember how Armin and I climbed the balcony on the third story of the building, just so we could spend the night talking about the most random things? We stayed up till sunrise and nearly got caught staying together in the same bedroom,” he chuckled. “Let’s go there again. Just the two of us. Mikasa, come with me. It wouldn’t be home with you.”

Mikasa, who was shocked and deep in thought, could only manage to give him a small smile before taking the opportunity to reach over the console and grab one of Eren’s hands. “One condition: you wrap this scarf around me one last time, okay?”

6 Years Ago (22 years old)

“Hey Mikasa, have you heard from Eren? I don’t think I’ve received any letters from him in a while,” Armin said.

Their usual group was having a meet-up at their favorite restaurant, a celebration for finishing finals; they’d be graduating in less than a month’s time. And yet, there was a sort of sad or empty feeling to the group, as Eren wouldn’t be home for another 6 months or so. He had to finish his military contract, and there was no way for him to visit at the moment due to his most recent deployment.

“No, I haven’t; the last letter was from a few weeks ago. I think he’s busy. Last I heard, he was deployed somewhere in the Middle East,” Mikasa replied softly.

“Have you told him already?” asked Jean. He gently placed his arms across her shoulders from his seat next to her.

Even from across the table, Armin could see the ring glistening on his finger. He had read somewhere that only about 7% of men actually wore engagement rings; he wasn’t surprised that Jean was of that percentage. It matched the diamond on Mikasa’s hands that were resting on the table. Armin didn’t know how to feel about the entire thing. Mikasa did genuinely look happy, and she deserved every bit of it. So did Jean, especially after all that he’d done for Mikasa when Eren wasn’t able to be there for her. It wasn’t really in his place to judge— what did he know about love? It had taken him years to spend time with Annie, and even then, it took many more awkward conversations and longing glances for them to establish the bond between them. So maybe it did make sense for Mikasa to accept Jean’s proposal. While everyone felt Eren’s absence, he was sure that he and Mikasa felt it the most.

Jean was always there to comfort Mikasa, even when Armin couldn’t. He never overstepped his boundaries, knowing that it was improper to make a move on someone whose heart belonged to someone else, but as the time between Eren’s letters lengthened, the more Jean found himself attending events with Mikasa, or being left alone to study for classes together since Armin wanted surprise Annie, until one day she started smiling at him almost the same way as she did to Eren. A part of him initially wondered if Mikasa really did love him, or if she just appreciated his presence. But those doubts didn’t last long because it just wasn’t like Mikasa to do something like that.

Mikasa was glad that he did believe her when she said she loved him, because she did. Jean was kind and funny; he was hardworking, empathetic, and an amazing leader. She saw how he treated his peers and subordinates with respect and often put himself in their place to make sure they received the best treatment. He also smiled at her in this certain way. She couldn’t describe it, but it made her heart flutter. She loved having him around because he was one of the only people that filled the void of Eren’s absence. She loved when he would pull out a chair for her on lunch and dinner dates, when he brought her breakfast at her dorm in the mornings, and when he helped her put on her jacket even when she didn’t need help. She loved him-- Jean; she really did. But she also knew a part of her would never really let go of Eren, not completely.

“No, I haven’t,” Mikasa stated hesitantly. “I thought he should find out in person, especially since it’d be awkward for me to ask him to be my maid of honor when he’s not even a girl,” earning snickers from Sasha and Connie, who were also seated with them.

“Wait, so you guys have been engaged for months now, and Eren still doesn’t know?” Annie asked, her voice blunt.

Armin lightly kicked Annie’s foot under the table. “Annie,” he softly warned. The two stared at each other as Jean attempted to break the awkward atmosphere.

“No, it’s all good. We wrote to him saying that we started dating, but I guess we’re waiting to tell him about the engagement. He’s on Mikasa’s side after all. He deserves to hear it from her, whenever she’s ready.”

. . . . .

It wasn’t until Annie and Armin were on their way home from lunch did Annie dare to speak again. “Correct me if I’m wrong,” she started. “But Jean’s just in denial that Mikasa is prolonging the engagement because a part of her will never stop loving Eren,” she tells Armin

“I don’t think he’s in denial… Just that, a part of him-- well, a part of all of us-- know that Eren will always have a place in Mikasa’s heart. It doesn’t mean she won’t move on with her life. Though, I will admit that I think Jean deserves someone who will love him completely.” Armin said. And though Annie remained silent, he knew her well enough to see the slight hesitation in her actions, as if she was contemplating on whether or not she should say something. “Eren’s always been adventurous, wanting to explore the world rather than stay here; he’s always been a small distance from Mikasa and me, no matter how close we try to be to him. I think--” he paused, trying to process his thoughts into words. “I think that he just needs time to understand what she means to him. They both do.”

1 Year Ago (27 years old)

The wait for Eren’s return came by slowly, and the way he took the news of Mikasa and Jean’s engagement was quite anti-climactic. Everyone in their friend group expected more, but he was just blank and glaze-eyed for what seemed like months after he returned home. Even years later, not much of his behavior changed. The military had not been what he expected. He went in excited to serve his country-- determined to protect his people and loved ones, no matter the sacrifices he had to make. But the horrors that awaited him were beyond anything he could imagine.

Everytime he closed his eyes, he could hear bombs, screaming, and gunshots, along with the sights of blood and blurred vision. He’d somewhat grown accustomed to it, at least on the outside. He no longer jolted at the slightest touch or immediately stood alert at loud noises. Unfortunately, he still felt far, far away. There were times when he didn’t feel like he was safe or at home, but in fear of worrying Mikasa and the others, he opted for staring blankly at his surroundings.

He could practically hear his mom nagging in his ear “How many times did I tell you to NOT join? Did I not tell you that the army isn’t worth it?”

Eren almost agreed. Almost. Because while a selfish part of him wished he stayed with Mikasa, he couldn’t exactly regret leaving. Yes, more than anything in the world, he wanted to be with her; It had been his dream when he was younger, and still was his dream now. But how could he compare his happiness to the lives of millions, or more importantly, his friends?

He hoped his unhappiness didn’t show too much-- hoped that his friends wouldn’t see how his jaw clenched in anger at the thought of not being able to be with Mikasa the way he was in his dreams.

But they did, at least, Armin and Mikasa did. They noticed because this new Eren, so emotionless and easily irritated, wasn’t him. It broke their hearts to see him so different. It broke Mikasa’s heart to see the caring and determined boy she grew up with-- the one that would do anything for his family and friends-- was just… gone. Her heart ached because she had waited so long, waited 4 years to see him again, only for it to seem like he never even came back. She wanted nothing more than to be able to hug him, ask him what the matter was, and tell him everything was going to be okay because she was there-- the same way he always did when she was out of it. She wanted to tell him she lov--. No, she couldn’t do that, because it wouldn’t be fair to Jean. It wouldn’t be fair to Jean who always cared about her well-being when Eren was gone, who never overstepped when he sensed something going on between her and Eren. It just wasn’t right for her to be saying any of that last part to Eren.

Not that it would change anything. It was like he was always angry. And whenever someone asked, he’d just rudely brush them off. Which is how Eren and Mikasa got into this position: as if the past few years have not already been filled with awkward glances and underlying tension, Eren and Mikasa were, once again, fighting.

Eren could only bite his cheek while shaking his head, “That’s just the thing, Mikasa. You don’t understand. You would never be able to, and you’ve just really been pissing me off lately. God, I hate you.”

“No, no you don’t. I know you, Eren,” she insisted softly.

He hated how it didn’t phase Mikasa, as if she was expecting him to say that or that his opinion didn’t matter to her. But while this was so, he hated even more her unwillingness to give up on him. Why wouldn’t she just let go. He doesn’t deserve any type of kidness-- not after abandoning her for some stupid dream in the military, not after letting some other man claim her, not after all the awful things he had to do while he was in the Middle East. He didn’t deserve any kindness from Mikasa-- he didn’t deserve her.

And yet, he was angry that Jean was with her, because even after everything Eren had done, he still wanted Mikasa to be his. He wasn’t mad at her-- God no, he could never be mad at her-- but he was mad at the entire situation and all his conflicting emotions.

His anger got the better of him, of course, and he continued speaking. “Don’t you think your life is so pitiful? I might be fucked up in the head, but at least I’m not stuck in a long engagement, working a regular 9-5 schedule like some robot who’s following orders. I actually have some interesting things going on in my life,” Eren sneered. He internally cringed at the harshness of his words when he saw Miaksa recoil. He hit her where it hurt, he was sure. Good. Maybe if she hated him, it’d be easier for him to move on with his life without her beside him.

It took Mikasa a second to recollect herself. She honestly wanted to cry, but with the way Eren had just treated her, she did not want to give him the satisfaction of it. “Okay,” she tried to calmly say. “You clearly don’t want me around, so I’m just going to go,” she stood up from the table they sat at before walking away. Maybe Eren was too far gone-- too far changed after his military service-- too bitter at how life turned out for him. She deserved better, right? It was okay to walk away after what just happened. Slowly taking off her red scarf --the scarf he had given her so many years ago when they were just 9 years old-- she didn’t dare to look back. It was too bad she didn’t-- if she did, she might’ve caught Eren shedding a tear before quickly wiping it away.

Present Day (28 years old)

“Mikasa, we need to talk,” Jean stated firmly. It had been months since Eren and Mikasa’s big fight, and while everyone in their friend group knew something happened, no one was actually sure what exactly went down. Years of being Eren and Mikasa’s friends taught them to stay out of it. They’d solve it eventually-- they loved each other too much to stay apart forever. Which is the thought that solidified Jean’s decision to do what he was about to do. “I think we should break our engagement,” Jean announced slowly and quietly, as if it pained him to say it-- it probably did.

Mikasa reached out to grab his hand, “Jean--” she started before pausing.

Jean outstretched his hand in a gesture to let him continue.

“I’ve thought about it a lot. There is no doubt in my mind that you do love me. I know that. But I also know that you’ll never love me in the same way you love Eren. Even after everything, you still have his scarf. Mikasa, love like what you guys have-- it doesn’t happen often. Don’t let him go,” Jean’s voice cracked at his own advice.

Mikasa couldn’t deny it-- she could only stare at him sadly while apologizing. What for? She didn’t know. Maybe for leading him on? Or not loving him as much as Jean deserved?

“Hey, it’s okay. I love you. I want you to be happy, and if that means letting you go, then I will learn to live with it,” Jean gave her a small smile.

It made Mikasa want to cry. She probably hurt him a lot, with him always knowing he wouldn’t live up to Eren, and yet here he was, being understanding, a gentleman. He was letting her go. “Thank you,” she whispered before she gently kissed his cheek.

And before Jean knew it, she was gone. Just like that. Everything seemed to run by in a blur that he hadn’t even realized how much time had gone. One second, he was watching Miaksa leave, and the next, he was sandwiched between Connie and Sasha at a bar. He had a drink in his hand that he didn’t even remember buying. Had he been drinking?

“Yo, you seem out of it, man,” Connie stated while hooking his arm around Jean. It earned him a nudge from Sasha, who muttered something about letting Jean wallow in his despair a little longer. He had just let Mikasa go after all-- someone who he’d loved for over a decade. “Uhh what I meant to say was, I hope you know that you deserve someone who will love you with all their heart, and all of their mind, body, and soul. Someday, you will find someone who makes you happy, then you’ll forget just how much this hurts,” Connie says, him and Sasha rubbing Jean’s back in comfort.

. . . . .

Mikasa was never one to back down from confrontation, so even she found it surprising when a week later, she still hadn’t talked to Eren. It’s not that she didn’t want to, but rather, didn’t know how. Luckily, Eren was impulsive as ever, and so everything seemed to fall back into place when he showed up at her doorstep one day.

“Hey,” he says with a short breath, as if he was trying to hide his exhaustion from running or whatever extraneous activity he was doing beforehand.

“Hi,” Mikasa replies, looking at his disheveled hair and the sweat-stained neckline of his shirt. Did he rush over here?

“I heard from Jean… about umm… about what happened,” he pauses, seeming to take a moment to gather his thoughts. “I’m sorry for all the trouble I caused you-- what I’ve been causing you. But I just wanted to tell you this before I lose my courage: I’ve uhh I’ve been having this dream for a while, practically forever. Of all our dreams, our past lives-- presumably, at least-- this one is my favorite. We were together in Switzerland, in this small cabin. There were trees everywhere and mountains in sight. Nothing ever really happened, except… normal everyday things. We hunted, fished, gathered wood… it was simple, but I was really, really really happy. I was happy because I was home with you. Those nights and my memories of that dream kept me going, even during my hardest times.” He notices how she was slowly registering what he said, so he gives it one last push. “What I’m trying to say is--”

“I know, sorry it took me a second,” Mikasa lightly laughs. “Why did you come back?” she dares to ask. It was a little awkward, like they haven’t been friends for the past 28 years.

Eren could only smile before grabbing her hands in between them, slightly hesitating. He grips them a little more tightly as if to stabilize himself. “Because we’re Eren and Mikasa, and Mikasa and Eren. Because you’re my best friend. Because I love you. Because you are my home, and I’ll always find my way home back to you.”

#eremika #eremika fanfic #eremika fanfiction #eren yeager #mikasa ackerman #attack on titan #shingeki no kyojin #aot #snk #aot fanfiction #eren x mikasa

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t0wnspersonb · 4 years

Text

The Eagle and The Rabbit (Ushijima Wakatoshi x Reader)

Anonymous said:

hiiican i request wakatoshi having a small and shy manager s/o who got lost in one of their matches and someone was tryna hit on her so, that so happens to be a player from the team they are playing against

~~~

Word Count: 1,839

Summary: Your directional skills weren’t the best, but it never mattered as long as Ushijima was by your side. But what happens when he’s not?

~~~

I hope you guys enjoy some more Wakatoshi bullshit lol. I still have quite a bit of requests I’m still shuffling through so please be patient with me with uploading new content. I’ll probably be doing two more requests before I close it for now. I want to write a bit more stuff that isn’t related to Haikyuu. I hope ya’ll are Kuroko no basket fans and Naruto fans😂👀 because that’s probably going to be my next set of fics coming out!

I would also like to dedicate this to not only this wonderful anon who had such a cute idea but also to my @sunshinewitchz who is a fucking simp for Wakatoshi. but aren’t we all?

Anyway please enjoy!:)

~~~

“Wait.” Ushijima said, grabbing you by the collar of your team jacket, yanking you back to his side.

You looked up at him in confusion, the rest of the team heading towards the changing rooms.

“What is it Toshi?” you asked quietly.

He stared at your sweet face for a moment, appreciating the cuteness that you were displaying right now.

“Your sense of direction is terrible. I’m worried that you’re going to get lost.” He said simply.

You pouted at his words, while there was truth to it, he didn’t have to phrase it so bluntly.

“I’ll be fine. We’ve been here before.” You said softly, fidgeting at the ends of your hair, a habit that you always had.

You were Ushijima’s childhood friend turned girlfriend, as well as the manager of Shiratorizawa. A damn good one at that.

The only issue was that - well yes, you got lost easily. It had always been that way. Even as a child your sense of direction was extremely poor, and it didn’t improve as you got older. But to you it didn’t matter, Ushijima was always by your side, a constant protector in your life, so you never really thought about improving your directional skills.

As long as he was with you. You were always safe.

Ushijima frowned at your words. “You still get lost in places you’ve visited before.”

You sighed softly, gently straightening his jacket. “It’s fine Toshi, you need to change. The rest of the team is going to start wondering where you went. Besides I have to finish doing my manager duties before your game starts.”

He studied your face once more, his expression softening slightly. He rested his large hand on top of your head, gently ruffling the hair. “You work too hard. Don’t overdo it.”

“You guys work harder, I just want to make it a little bit easier for you all.” you said quietly, giving him a sweet smile.

Ushijima’s heart thumped hard in his chest, you were the sweetest thing he’s ever laid eyes on, and the fact that you were his… he had never been more content in his entire life.

He gently pressed his palm against your soft, plump cheek, feeling it warm under his touch. “I’ll see you in a bit. Pay attention to your surroundings.” he warned, before walking off.

You giggled quietly to yourself, watching his retreating figure. Sometimes he was too overprotective.

Not that you minded though.

You hummed quietly to yourself as you began filling up the water bottles, planning to make their drinks and finishing up the rest of your manager duties.

By the time you had finished your duties, you hadn’t realized that it was getting close to the meet time with the boys, right before the match.

But… where was that again?

“Oh no.” you said quietly, mentally slapping yourself at the fact that Ushijima was right. You hadn’t been paying attention when you went to make the drinks for the team, you couldn’t remember how to get back to where you were before, because at least you could find your way to the gym from that point.

You reached into your jacket pocket for your phone, only to come up empty handed. You slapped your forehead with your palm. Ushijima was holding onto it for you.

“I guess I’ll just start walking and see where I end up. Hopefully, the boys are looking for me now.” You mumbled to yourself and turned down one of the hallways.

But after making three wrong turns and still having now idea where you were, you started to get nervous.

Ushijima was definitely going to lecture you. A lot.

You were too wrapped up in your thoughts to even take notice of your surroundings. It wasn’t until you ran into something hard and warm that you realized you bumped into someone.

You looked up and saw a guy with black spiky hair, he was wearing a volleyball jersey that you weren’t familiar with, and he was big… very big.

You looked away from his face immediately, a red blush coating your cheeks in embarrassment as you bowed to him carefully. “I’m so s-sorry.”

Unbeknownst to you, the tall player was checking you out, a small smirk overcoming his features.

“No worries. Are you here to cheer on your boyfriend or something?” he asked.

“Um… n-no… actually I -” you stuttered out nervously. “Are you lost?” he interrupted, his eyes continuing their up and down movement on your small form.

You started to feel uneasy, your eyes darting around to see if there was anyone else. The halls were empty.

“Umm… kinda…” you said softly, trailing off.

His smirk widened, his hand resting on your shoulder forcefully. You winced in pain and fear from the sudden contact.

“I can help you find your way… or we can have a bit of fun before my next match starts.” He said slyly, leaning down closer to your face.

You flinched away, your heart racing like a hummingbird at this point, genuine fear prickled at your skin; stung at the backs of your eyes.

“N-N-No thanks. I sh-should be going now…” you whimpered out quietly, attempting to free yourself from his grasp that was now clutching at your elbow.

“What’s the hurry cutie?” he asked, backing you up against the wall, his hands now resting on either side of your head, preventing you from escaping.

Your lips trembled as you bit back tears. Your heart was thumping painfully in your chest at this point, your body shaking like a caught rabbit, and the guy that was cornering you was the snake, preparing himself for his next meal.

“It turns me on when you shake like that.” he whispered, eyes flashing dangerously as he leaned closer to your now tear stained face.

“Waka-” “What the hell are you doing?” just as you were about to call out for your savior, he was already there.

Your boyfriend’s large frame shook in anger, his glare was piercing as he stared down at your attacker.

Rage was rolling off him in waves, his demeanor resembling that of an angry eagle, ready to kill.

He was already in his uniform, his team jacket hanging off his broad shoulders, large hands clenched tightly into fists at his sides.

The tall male that cornered you froze in fear, sweat beading on his forehead at the immense amount of pressure he was now feeling from the Shiratorizawa ace.

“O-Oh, is this your manager?” the guy stuttered out, now noticing the similar jacket you wore.

“That’s my girlfriend.” Ushijima stated, his voice a deep and dark baritone. “Get away from her. Now.”

The male nodded rapidly, immediately stepping aside. “I’m s-sorry Ushijima-san. I didn’t know…”

The icy glare that overtook Ushijima’s face sharpened, if looks could kill… that guy would be six feet under by now. He quickly walked over to the trembling volleyball player, grabbing the front of his jersey, and yanking him up to eye level.

You had thought that the male that cornered you was huge, but compared to Ushijima, he was considerably small. A snake in the talons of a great white eagle.

“It doesn’t matter that you didn’t know.” Ushijima said. “You shouldn’t be putting your filthy hands on any girl. People like you make me sick.”

You had never seen anyone more scared before. But the same could be said about Ushijima as he glanced over at you. He had never seen you so fearful before. It made his blood boil as he took in your trembling figure and tear stained face, you had collapsed onto the floor at this point, your shaky legs no longer being able to hold you up.

He gritted his teeth in anger before setting his eyes back on the figure in front of him. “I better not see you again.” he all but tossed the said male to the side, watching as he whimpered and scampered away.

Before you knew it, Ushijima was at your side, his large and powerful body crouched down to your level. “Are you okay?” he murmured tenderly, hands already moving to cup your face.

His eyes searched your face and body, making sure that you weren’t hurt. He didn’t notice any visible injuries to his relief, but he couldn’t stand the sight of the tears falling down your face.

“Toshi.” you sobbed out, throwing yourself into the ace, not that the sudden movement moved his solid body. He pulled you tighter into his chest, his large hands rubbing against your back soothingly as you cried.

He didn’t say anything as you cried, but his gentle touch, and the way that he held you, the way that his body crowded your small one, made you feel protected and loved. The heat from his hands sent a gentle comfort into your distressed heart, the coldness slowly seeping out of your body.

Once your tears had turned into quiet hiccups, he gently moved you out of his chest so he could look at your face.

His expression was soft as he gently wiped the remaining tears from your cheeks.

“Feel better?” he asked, tenderly cupping the side of your neck, his large thumb gently rubbing along your delicate jaw.

You nodded wordlessly, sniffling slightly as you rubbed at your eyes. He leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to your forehead, gently trailing more delicate kisses down your face before capturing your lips in a heartfelt kiss.

A gentle claim that he was here, that you were safe, and that you were his.

All too soon he pulled away but pressed his forehead against yours. “Good. We need to go meet up with the others. Everyone was worried when you didn’t show up at the agreed time.”

“I’m sorry.” you whispered softly. “I got lost.”

“We figured, that’s why we all went to look for you. I’m glad I got to you in time.” he said frowning, anger once again bubbling up as he thought of the position he had found you in.

He stood up, gently grabbing your hands, and pulling you up to your feet with ease. He tangled your fingers together as he tugged you along to the gym their match was going to be held out.

“Toshi?” you said quietly, gently squeezing his hand.

“Yes?” he asked, glancing down at you.

You beamed up at him, the sweetest smile coating your lips, your eyes held nothing but love and adoration for the tall ace.

“I love you.”

He looked away from you as a soft blush covered his cheeks, his fingers squeezing you back. “I love you too.”

****

“How come that guy is deliberately avoiding you Wakatoshi?” Tendou asked, cocking his head to the side as he watched a guy with spiky hair flinching and running away from the ball whenever it was Ushijima’s turn.

“Because he knows I’m going to break his arms.” Ushijima said bluntly, causing the familiar male to bow and apologize, much to everyone’s confusion.

#haikyuu!!#haikyuu x reader #haikyuu x you #ushijima wakatoshi #ushijima wakatoshi x reader #reader insert #ushijima x reader #ushijima x you #ushijima fluff #haikyuu fluff #ushijima haikyuu #one shot #ushijima oneshot #request #ushiwaka #fluff #ushijima wakatoshi x you

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officerjennie · 4 years

Text

Commission for the ever so lovely @bouncyirwin - who spreads joy, happiness, and support as freely and easily as some people breathe (this fandom wouldn’t be the same without you 💜💜💜💜💜)

---

How anyone could so much as breathe without adoration hitching their efforts around her, Shisui really didn’t know.

This wasn’t even the first time this week he’d found himself staring in awe without a word able to escape him. Sakura had a way of making him dumb to the quick wit and playful flirting that usually came as natural as most any other social interaction to him - he’d always been the social butterfly of his clan, berated for it at times and having his hair fondly tousled at others. And yet here he sat, in the corner of the little restaurant Sakura and her team and her team’s families had all crowded into, unable to absorb any of the chatter or whatever joke had Kakashi snickering behind his book or even what had Naruto and the brat arguing this time.

Sakura seemed content enough to sit back and soak it all in as well, pride in the soft smile that graced her lips, a cup of tea cradled in her hand near her chest in lieu of the spirit that many of her companions had chosen to partake in this evening. And who could blame them? Rare was the day any shinobi party could come back unscathed along with their success, and given the tentative peace between Konoha and Kiri could have been destroyed at the smallest misstep their celebration came with relief felt by the entire village.

It warmed him to no end to see her so content and sure, so proud, none of the hesitance that used to haunt her expressions and tense her body anywhere to be found - the kunoichi that had chased and chased after her teammates had long since caught up and surpassed them in so many ways, and even without being privy to the intimate details of her internal battles Shisui could feel emotion trying to choke him.

Gods, but he had it bad, didn’t he? He forced some of his own tea down, looking away from the woman who had no idea she held his heart so tightly in her grip, scrubbing his face with his free hand in an attempt to clear his head. Admiration was one thing - very understandable in this case, given Sakura set the precedent for strong and capable shinobi who could punch a ravine into existence - but they could hardly even be called friends if he was honest with himself. So openly staring at her with his heart in his eyes could definitely count as creepy.

Maybe he needed more hobbies.

“Not really like you to hang out on the sidelines.”

It was a bit embarrassing to be snuck up on like that. He hoped his surprise wasn’t too obvious as he peeked through his hands, finding the woman who’d been occupying his thoughts all night now occupying the seat next to him. Up so close he could see her cheeks were dusted pink, though he couldn’t really tell if it was the chill from the night air or just some blush she’d painted on.

Either way. It didn’t really matter which one it was. All Shisui could really do with the information is filing it under “she’s the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever met” and keep the simple image of her tucking some pink hair behind her ear firmly in his mind’s eye for the rest of his days.

“Not a place I’d expect to find you either.” She blinked at his words as if confused, pursing her lips even, so despite how obvious it seemed to him Shisui clarified, “You more the frontline type, right?”

“Ah, yeah, I don’t really care for ‘supporting others’ to mean ‘being left behind.’ But today,” Sakura turned just enough to look over at her teammates, Shisui following her gaze to see Naruto gesturing wildly in horror at something that had Sasuke snickering unashamedly. “Today, I think I’m alright with not being in the middle of them. There are some conversations I’d rather they have without me.”

“What even has them going, anyway?”

“Relationships,” Sakura said, a little too quickly. But she didn’t let the awkwardness stay, her eyes flicking down to her tea which she held between her hands as if her fingers might be cold. Shisui wished he could warm them between his own. “Well, not exactly relationships. More like things people do in them. They seem to find it amusing to list all the people they’ve managed to kiss or make out with.”

With a snort, Shisui said, “I’m guessing they’re both at the top of each other’s lists then?”

He was very glad to see the tiny bit of tension relax right away from Sakura as she laughed, her eyes alight with mirth. “Somehow, they always seem to forget to mention that.”

“Bet you love to remind them.”

“Bet I do.” She flashed him a smile that had his ears heating up, and for the life of him Shisui could not say why it made him feel bold.

Despite how calm people saw him, despite his rather laid back nature, Shisui often found himself tongue tied where feelings were involved. But past his beating heart he somehow managed to not make a fool of himself, his nerves not overwhelming him - perhaps it was simply how welcomed he felt in her presence? How inviting and warm she was even as all she did was sip her tea, simply existing but existing there, next to him, when any number of seats were available next to those she was far closer to. And didn’t that make him feel lucky.

“Do you have a list?”

The gods only knew how he managed to make that sound casual. Even when Sakura’s eyes widened and blinked up at him (he swore his favorite color used to be blue but damn if that shade of green wasn’t going to change that) - and for a terrifying moment he remembered just how easily this woman could demolish any wall that stood in her way. With her fist.

Even if that wall was made with solid concrete, or was, say, a whole ass mountain. He was pretty sure he wasn’t anywhere near as solid as a mountain.

When she chose to not punch him, every single last bone in his body heaved a sigh of thankfully unbroken relief. “No, I...don’t have a list.”

No list? That was a little surprising. “A name, then?” Maybe not the best thing to ask someone, at least not before he was sure she would be comfortable with answering. Shisui was quick to add “Unless it’s a secret or something” - the last thing he needed was to drive her away by pushing into her own personal life.

Though, then again - and something in Shisui rose up in slight saddened panic at the thought - what would he do if she did have a name? A significant other? Itachi was out on another of his long missions, who exactly was he supposed to lean on and eat comfort chocolate with if it turned out his growing crush was, well...crushed, before anything could come of it?

“No. No name.”

It took physical effort to not sag with some sort of relief at her words, but it wasn’t a relief that Shisui had much time to process. Because as much as he wanted a chance with the woman of his dreams, as much as he had wanted to hear that...

“Eh? Really? You?” Shisui found it beyond the realms of possibility that Sakura, of all the people in Konoha, had yet to have her first kiss, and that shock was perhaps a bit too loud in his tone.

Definitely not good for his health and wellbeing. The nerve on Sakura’s forehead was suddenly twitching, and the sharp look she sent his way had him gulping.

“And what’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, no! No no, nothing- I didn’t mean like that!” He shook his head a little more than necessary, horror dawning on him as he realized his unintentional insinuation. “I just meant- you’re just, well, beautiful! Beautiful and an exceptional shinobi, a damn good medic, and from what Sasuke’s told me in confidence you make a mean blueberry tart. Not to mention you could punch through steel if it offended you.” By some grace of the gods he managed to bit off his rambling there, scratching nervously at the back of his head, almost mumbling as he ended his poor excuse of an explanation with, “I just expected, you know… You might have kissed at least one of the people who admired you.”

The moments of quiet after his words were probably the most terrifying seconds of his life, though by some mercy Sakura did not seem angry. Maybe his apology/explanation was acceptable after all and he wouldn’t have to-

Sakura said something under her breath, and Shisui blinked back out of his thoughts, frowning a little in confusion. “What?”

“It’s just that I…” Her bottom lip caught between her teeth for a moment, drawing Shisui’s eyes. “I’ve never really had an appealing offer. You know?”

Had she always been sitting that close to him? Their thighs were touching and Shisui couldn’t remember when that had happened, but his pulse picked up, the whole of him keenly aware of every inch of her.

And how bad would it be, really, to be buried in the ground by those deceptively slender fingers?

“Would I,” Shisui started, with a smooth tone that belied how his heart beat frantically in his chest, “qualify as an appealing offer?”

A breath. Two. Sakura’s gaze flickered down to his lips as hers parted the barest bit - and even before she nodded Shisui knew her answer - though he knew not how he'd been so lucky as to get a yes.

Her hair was soft under his fingers as he cupped the back of her head, her pupils wide as she tilted her chin to look up at him. Somewhere in the back of his mind he was aware that they were not alone, their friends and coworkers laughing and drinking and chattering away not even half a small restaurant away from them, but all of him preferred to focus on Sakura’s hand now coming to rest on his arm, the way she shifted forward as he leaned closer, how intimate it felt to brush their noses together, her breath tickling his lips.

And then their lips met, and the rest of the world fell away.

#shisaku #shisui #sakura #fanfiction #mywriting #commission #thank you!!#I'm sorry it took a while to write T^T #fluff #some humor #also on ao3 #link in the source!

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frogjutsu · 4 years

Text

How to Say “I Love You”

Pairing: Sasuke x Reader

Word Count: 1490

Warnings: mentions of car crash, very light angst, “suggestive themes”

Summary: Sasuke has never been good at saying, “I love you.” Truth be told, he’s never been good at hearing it either, but there are a million ways to show affection. Sasuke just hopes you understand.

///////

The night air nipped at your ears, the first chill of autumn finally settling in. You pulled your coat tighter around yourself and forced away the burning in the back of your throat. There was no point in crying. Not when you knew Sasuke was waiting for you with a warm blanket and a warmer smile.

The door to your apartment opened with a soft click, bathing you in the inviting light of your living room. Sasuke's name remained a dying ember in your chest as your eyes washed over his figure on the couch. You could hear his soft snores from where you stood in the doorway. Your heart broke and swelled in equal measure.

It was clear he tried to wait up for you. Two long forgotten mugs of cocoa sat on the coffee table along with a selection of DVDs Sasuke had pulled for your date night. The warmth in your chest grew as you turned to him. Sasuke looked perfect like this: face soft with sleep, hair fanned out behind him on the couch as his chest rose and fell. He was so peaceful.

You knew he'd be upset that you didn't wake him when you got home, but you couldn't bring yourself to disturb him. Instead, you gingerly grabbed the book resting in his lap and set it on the table, careful to mark his place. Then, you slipped the glasses from his nose and pressed a kiss to his temple. "Good night," you whispered. "I hope your dreams are as sweet as you."

Your eyes fluttered open in the light that streamed through your blinds, warm and heavy like molasses. The blanket fell from your shoulders as you stretched and reached for Sasuke, but your hand met only the empty sheets.

A muffled clang and string of curses coming from somewhere in the apartment drew your attention to the bedroom door. You threw the blanket back around your shoulders like a cocoon before padding out, still rubbing sleep from your eyes.

"'S'ske," you mumbled. The living room was as empty as the bed, and your feet carried you half asleep into the kitchen where Sasuke stood bathed in early morning light. He looked like a statue under museum lights, a work of art carved from flesh and bone and given life.

He hadn't noticed you yet and you were more than content to watch him, lithe and lean, as he swatted flour off his shirt. His voice was soft as he continued muttering curses at the offending flour before he finally turned and saw you grinning.

"It's not funny," he said, pouting.

"It's a little funny," you said, still smiling as you settled one hand on Sasuke's hip and ran a hand down his chest under the pretense of cleaning off the flour. Your grin widened as a wicked idea crossed your mind and before Sasuke could duck away, you were ruffling his hair, spreading flour through it.

"Tch," he said, swatting your hands away and pinning them to the counter behind you. He nuzzled his face into your neck, lips ghosting against your skin. "And to think I got up early to cook you breakfast."

"I'll make it up to you, princess," you teased, tilting your head to give him better access.

Sasuke nipped at your jawbone, then again at your earlobe. When he spoke, his voice was low enough to send warmth coursing through your body. "Don't make promises you can't keep."

It wasn't unusual to find Sasuke like this: hunched over the coffee table, pouring over his class work obsessively. It was more common around this time of year. The anniversary of his family's death.

He'd mentioned something about his brother and a car accident, but you didn't want to press on a wound that still caused him so much pain. Instead, you made a note of the date and saved up your time off from work to stay home.

You were curled up on the couch reading a book while Sasuke sat, back curved and curling into himself, pouring over homework. His sighs became more frequent as he got frustrated with himself. How many times had he read the same paragraph? How long had he studied and still couldn't get these practice questions right? He needed to get them right. Needed to be the best. Needed to make his parents proud, to make their death worth something.

"Damn it," he shouted as his eyes glazed over the words in front of him again. You jumped at the sudden noise, shutting your book and reaching out to Sasuke as he swiped his own books off the coffee table.

"Hey," you said, putting a hand against his shoulder and pulling him to lean back against the couch. "What's wrong?"

"Everything. I can't focus because I hate this class and it's pissing me off and which makes it harder to focus but I have to get this reading done so I'm ready for the test Friday and fuck." Sasuke buried his face in his hands.

Your heart broke as you watched him. You wanted to rub all the tension from his shoulders, to reach right into his soul and rip out the pain there with your teeth. "You could always drop out," you joked, tone lighter than the pressure you felt in your chest, lighter than the weight you knew Sasuke must feel on his shoulders. "I'm sure Naruto would love to give you a job as his personal assistant."

You could almost hear Sasuke roll his eyes. "Tch, I'd rather die."

"Mm," you hummed, reaching down to wrap your arms around Sasuke's chest. "Lucky for you that I've already hired a hitman to take you out when you least expect it."

"How romantic." Sasuke leaned his head back against your knee, eyes closed as you ran your fingers through his hair. He winced slightly as they snagged on a tangle.

"Don't move, 'kay?" You leaned forward to press a kiss to Sasuke's lips. He whined as you pulled away, refusing to let go of your hand. You pulled away weakly, but he tugged you back down on top of him before wrapping an arm around your waist to keep you in place.

His lips were soft against your neck as he kissed the skin there, careful to drag his teeth against the hollow of your throat, knowing it drove you crazy. You felt his grip on your waist tighten as you moaned, but you put a hand on his shoulder and pushed him back into the couch. "You're a brat, you know that?"

"Learned from the best," he said, pressing a kiss to the tip of your nose.

"I only give as good as I get," you said as you rocked your hips against Sasuke's, swallowing his moan. You tangled your fingers in his hair and tugged, exposing his neck to your hungry mouth. "Are you ready to be a good boy now?"

"Yes," he breathed, barely above a whisper.

"Good. Then stay." You planted another kiss on his waiting lips before standing, ignoring how he sighed at the loss of contact.

You did your best to be quick, filling a spray bottle with water and grabbing a brush from the bathroom before heading back out to the living room. Sasuke hadn't moved. His head was still back against the couch, hair spread on the cushion, as he stared at a spot on the ceiling. Or through it, if the distant look in his eyes was anything to go off.

"Lean forward," you said, tapping him on the shoulder. He obliged wordlessly, bending forward as you settled on the couch behind him, boxing him in with your legs.

Sasuke pressed a kiss to your knee as you spritzed his hair. "Hold still," you hissed as he moved away from you. "Just close your eyes and relax."

You heard Sasuke grumbled something under his breath but couldn't make out what it was. He settled back reluctantly and you pulled the brush through his hair, starting at the bottom to work out the tangles without tugging too hard.

The silence settled around you like the winter's first snow: glittering and beautiful and warm despite itself. You were at home here. Sasuke slipped a hand around your calf and stroked it as you continued combing his hair. You could feel the tension leaving his shoulders every time your fingernails scratched his scalp to search for knots.

"I could die like this," Sasuke said suddenly. Your hands stilled in his hair.

You responded quietly, as if speaking too loud would ruin the moment and scare him away. "You're such a sap."

"Fuck you," Sasuke said with no bite.

You laughed, carding your fingers through his hair. He was still smiling, and you knew, in that moment and a thousand moments before, that you would do anything to keep that smile on his face.

#server collab!#sasuke x reader #uchiha sasuke x reader #also i am OBSESSED with calling sasuke princess and i will NOT be apologizing thank you

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passerine-writes · 3 years

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Bokuto Koutarou x Fem!Reader

Title: Cuddles? Genre: Fluff Warnings: Sad Bokuto Word count: 796

POST TIME SKIP

Everyone who knew Bokuto knew that he had his 'emo' moments. What people didn't see was when he was actually sad. With how hard he has been training, the stress was building on him but he was set on being the best. He didn't want to slow down, not until his body made him, and that's exactly what happened.

The owl haired boy made his way out of our bathroom, finishing with his shower. His hair no longer spiked up in its typical fashion, but instead laying flat against his forehead. It was an odd but cute look for him that only a few people had the pleasure of seeing. His shoulders were slumped, the towel hanging loosely over them, his face was contorted in sadness and clear stress. His eyes red and puffy while he occasionally sniffled.

"Kou? Baby what's wrong?" I stood from my spot and quickly made my way over to him, the book previously in my hands long forgotten as I saw the distraught state of my fiancé. I lifted my hands, cupping his face delicately and rubbing my thumb against his cheekbones. He let a breath out through his nose as he leaned into my touch. "Darling what's wrong? You can talk to me, it's okay." His head plopped onto my shoulder, his arms wrapping around my body. My right hand came up and rubbed his back while my other hand ran through the undercut of his hair.

"I'm just tired and stressed and I'm, I’m not doing good enough. I'm not getting any better. What if I chose the wrong career path? I could've gone for a ton of different things but I love volleyball so much and just seeing everyone getting stronger while I'm stuck is putting a dent on me and I've been working myself sick. I just wanna take a break, everything is getting too much and so overwhelming." His arms pulled me closer, warm tears soaking through my shirt.

"Kou, look at me.." His head rose a bit, allowing my left hand to travel around to his cheek. "You're doing amazing. You've been phenomenal at volleyball since middle school, getting stuck on improving is normal. It sucks and eats at us, but you have to remind yourself it's normal. Remember how long Hinata and Kageyama stuck with their quick because they didn't find the right methods to help improve? Once you find what helps you, you'll keep going up and up. You are on a pro team and starting line up for a reason. Don't knock yourself down and don't work yourself sick, that'll only make things harder on you. My love, you are doing great. I just hope one day you can see that."

"Thank you, Y/N." I placed a short and sweet kiss on his lips.

"Do you wanna cuddle? Have me hold you for a little while."

"Cuddles?" I simply nodded my head.

"I'm gonna towel dry your hair first okay?" He nodded, the two of us heading over to our full size bed. He plopped down criss cross in front of me, the towel on his neck slipping off and into my palms. I rubbed his hair, slowly before doing random quick patterns with sound effects to make him laugh. He cracked a small smile and I knew he was feeling a bit better. His dual toned hair fluffed up a bit but still laid in place on his forehead. The towel now long gone. "Come here bub." I scooted backwards, opening up my arms. His head nuzzled into the nape of my neck as he wrapped his arms around my torso. My arms wrapping around his much larger form, his body tension releasing as he melted into my body. My hand coming up and playing with his hair as I occasionally placed a kiss on the top of his head

"I love you, my little baby owl." I whispered. His muscular arms squeezing my body tighter.

"I love you too, princess. Thank you."

"There's no need to thank me, my love. Do you want to watch anything or listen to something?" He nodded a bit. "You're regular series?"

"Please?"

"Of course." I grabbed the television remote and quickly flicked on Naruto. For some reason this anime was his comfort show, understandable however I still can't help but try and decipher his vocal tic even though I know it means nothing but it's till fun to try. We started at the chuunin exam arc, one of Kou's favorite parts and one of the most interesting in my opinion. Through out the show I whispered occasionally to him about how great he's doing and how much I love him.

#haikyuu #bokuto #koutarou #bokuto koutarou #sad bokuto makes me sad

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depressedkakashihatake-fics · 4 years

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Birthday Challenge

Hatake Kakashi/Maito Gai

5431 Words (It’s a long XD)

Kakagai Week Day 8: Gai’s Birthday

Edited by: @mireleth

Two days of non-stop preparation, help from every single member of Team Seven and Team Gai, and more work than he has ever put into anything else in his life, and here he is.

Standing in front of Gai, sweating buckets after asking him for a challenge for the first time in months.

“A challenge?” Gai looks unsure about the request, which only makes Kakashi worry more. “I would never turn down a challenge with you, Rival. Though, I must admit it is a bit odd. You are rarely ever the one to initiate a challenge.”

He had known that Gai might have concerns about the fact that he was actually asking for a challenge for once, but it was a risk that he had to take. His plans wouldn’t work otherwise.

Still, he had to play this cool or Gai would start to really worry about him.

“It’s your birthday,” he reminds his rival with a lazy shrug of his shoulders. “And I didn’t get to spend as much time with you yesterday as I usually do. I thought a challenge would make up for a bit of that time that we lost.”

Of course, it’s his own fault that he lost so much time with Gai yesterday, but he doesn’t need to tell Gai that. Tenzo had needed help with the finish line that he had planned out, and he needed to make sure some of their friends were available to hang around in some of the places they would be passing.

Not to mention the fact that he had to go over the set-up he had planned out with his team again, making sure that they know where to set up the markers for him and Gai to follow.

It’s been a lot of work to make sure everything is done in time. But when all was said and done, it’s perfect.

“A challenge to make up for lost time then.” A nod of his head and the usual blinding smile returns to Gai’s face. “In that case, what kind of challenge do you have in mind?”

“A race.” That had been the easiest part of the challenge to figure out. “Team Seven worked on their teamwork this morning to help me set up a trail for us to race down. There’s markers all over the village for us to follow, and a member of the team is waiting at certain checkpoints to make sure we don’t run off the path.”

“There’s a path?” He can see the gears working in Gai’s head. “You really thought this out, Rival.”

There’s more that Gai wants to say. He can see it written on his face, but the words are left unspoken for the moment. Something for him to ask later when they’re alone.

“I wanted a challenge worthy of your birthday.” A little sappy, but it’s true. “A race seemed appropriate, but I didn’t want it to be too quick or it would be a forgettable challenge.”

“I doubt that I could ever forget a challenge that you put this amount of effort into thinking up for us.” Kakashi’s eyes widen with surprise, a deep warm feeling blooming in his chest. How is it that Gai can make him feel so loved with just a few simple words? “Where is this race going to start?”

Reaching out, Kakashi takes hold of Gai’s hand. “I’ll show you.” He gives Gai a quick smile before turning on his heel and heading towards the starting point where Sai is waiting for them.

From the top of the jonin apartments Kakashi can see half of the trail marked out, and for the first time since planning started he’s actually regretting telling Naruto to use ‘whatever he can think of’ to make markers.

He really should have known that Naruto’s answer to the problem would be shadow clones. It’s always shadow clones.

“So the markers are…” Kakashi nods his head, unwilling to give any verbal confirmation to the fact that he’s now going to have to race around the village searching for Naruto. The complete opposite of what he does every other day of his life.

“You’ll know the first checkpoint when you see it.” Deep down Kakashi wonders if Asuma remembers the deal that they made. It isn’t necessary to the whole thing, but it’s a nice touch he wants to see, if only because it will make Gai smile. “Follow the markers until the finish point. I have Sakura waiting at the end for us.”

Actually, everyone will be there when they reach the end. Hopefully Team Gai will have already joined Sakura, and the others will join as soon as they can. Honestly, it’s probably going to feel a little crowded for his liking, but it’s how he wants it to go.

He can’t imagine doing this any other way.

“Are you two ready?” Sai looks almost bored when he asks them, his hands resting on his hips.

Taking one look at Gai, Kakashi smiles when he sees excitement burning in his eyes. Even after all these years and all of the challenges they have done together, he still looks like a happy puppy when he’s presented with a new one.

“I think we’re ready.” Getting into a ready position, Kakashi presses his hands into the ground and smiles as he thinks about what’s waiting for them at the finish line. “Start the count down when you want, Sai.”

“Three… two…” —Sai pulls a scroll out of his side pocket and flips it open, allowing the paper to spread out in front of him— “one.” A few quick hand signs and suddenly there’s a painted tiger bursting from the scroll.

Digging his foot into the ground, Kakashi uses the leverage that it gives him and launches himself forward. Beside him Gai follows suit, though he instantly takes a small lead over Kakashi.

An expected outcome, but not one that will set Kakashi back. The odds may not be in his favour when it comes to a speed-based challenge, but that will never mean that he will simply hand the win to Gai. If he does that he’ll never get better as a shinobi, and Gai will never let him live it down.

So he puts all of his effort into the race, and as their feet hit the main street he manages to close the gap between them. An accomplishment in his eyes. Now he just has to keep that gap as small as possible so he can see Gai’s reactions to the things that they will be passing.

First comes the dango shop.

The familiar sign stands out among all of the other shops around it, though Kakashi’s sure that part of the reason for that is the fact that he’s specifically looking for the dango shop. Though, seeing Asuma and Kurenai stepping outside just as they close in on the small shop does help.

As they pass by he can see Gai lifting a hand to wave to their friends, only to have Asuma throw a stick of dango his way. He catches it effortlessly, of course, but there’s a confused look on his face when he glances back at Kakashi. He continues forward anyways.

It’s not the best idea Kakashi has ever had, but a little treat to enjoy at the end of their race is something that he thinks will be a sweet touch. Plus, he hopes at the end of the race Gai will have seen enough on their path to remember some of their fonder moments together at the small shop.

If he doesn’t, at least Asuma has remembered to give Gai the dango. That’s a win in his books.

With the dango shop now behind them, Kakashi turns down an alleyway and smirks when he sees one of Naruto’s shadow clones waiting for them.

“Up!” Naruto smiles big and bright, pointing up towards the roof behind him. With the directions given, Kakashi decides to have a little fun. As he reaches the shadow clone’s side he jumps upwards, just enough to give himself a little momentum. Of course Gai hasn’t wasted his energy and has instead used all of his effort to jump onto the roof with one easy movement. As soon as he notices that Kakashi is no longer by his side he looks back down towards the ground in time to see Kakashi’s feet coming into contact with the shadow clone's hands.

With a boost from Naruto, Kakashi goes flying into the air past Gai. He’s pretty sure he can hear a soft “cheater” being called out to him, but he barely registers it as the wind blows through his hair.

The top of the building comes into view, and being Kakashi he decides to do the most show-off move that he can think of at the moment. A quick front flip, and a mid-air spin that has his hair slapping him in the face, and his feet land on the roof.

A terrible idea really, because as soon as he catches up Gai’s feet hit the wooden roof and he’s off, a burst of speed and laughter leaving Kakashi in the dust.

That’s what he gets for showing off though, and he knows for a fact that Gai wouldn’t have him any other way. The feeling is mutual, of course, and he quickly follows after Gai, determined to close the gap once again.

Jumping from roof to roof is a breath of fresh air. The streets down below are always so crowded, and if he hadn’t wanted them to pass by the dango shop he would have stayed on the rooftops the entire time. There’s a certain joy he gets from feeling the wind in his hair and seeing all of the people they’re passing on the streets.

Thankfully, neither of the last two checkpoints involve being at street level in the village so he won’t have to worry about dodging between civilians any longer.

Seeing yet another shadow clone up ahead, he smiles when he saw Gai look in the direction that they’re being guided towards. There’s an unmistakable glint in Gai’s eyes when he sees Hokage Rock. One that Kakashi knows is there even though he can’t see it due to his position directly behind Gai.

Maybe he’s already starting to figure out some of Kakashi’s plans, or maybe he just thinks it cute that Kakashi is leading him all the way up to the Rock. Either way, Kakashi is just happy that Gai seems to be enjoying himself. That’s the main goal.

Turning towards Hokage Rock, Kakashi smiles when Gai looks back at him.

“You’re falling behind, Rival. Have you been slacking on your training?” A taunt. Something that Gai picked up years ago from Kakashi when he had really started to take these challenges seriously. It’s a natural part of Kakashi’s personality to taunt Gai when he’s doing better than him, but for Gai it has been a process to become comfortable enough to return them without feeling like he’s insulting Kakashi somehow.

“Maybe I just like the view back here.” The jab works as intended, making Gai’s eyes go wide with embarrassment and causing him to trip over his own two feet. He recovers quickly, of course. Any good shinobi would. But that one second of misstep allows Kakashi to close the gap between them.

Gai still looks a little surprised, but it’s quickly replaced with determination as they both turn their attention to Hokage Rock and increase speed just a little.

The path Naruto has laid out for them leads them up the right side of the rock, directly beside Tsunade-sama’s carving. It’s a little hard to see what’s going on down below from where he is, but that’s a disadvantage he has to take to ensure that Gai is on the outer side of the path.

Perfectly placed to see the top of each of the Hokages’ carvings.

“Y-yamato?” Gai’s footing stumbles again, but this time Kakashi slows himself down to keep pace with him. It won’t be any fun if he can’t see Gai’s reactions to everything he has so carefully planned out. “Why is Yamato…”

Moving to Gai’s side, Kakashi looks over the edge and smiles at Tenzo relaxing on top of the fourth Hokage’s carving. The exact spot where Kakashi had first introduced Gai and Tenzo for the first time, shortly after getting Tenzo out of Root and away from Danzo.

It was the first time anyone had told him that they were proud of him since Minato-sensei’s death. The soft, kind look in Gai’s eyes are forever burned into his memory as the moment that he knew without a doubt that he was completely and utterly in love.

Of course he doesn’t expect Gai to remember right away. He was never good with faces and actually failed to remember who Tenzo was at all until he had gotten his hair cut and Gai had seen him hanging around Kakashi more regularly outside of their ANBU missions.

“Oh.” They’ve reached the end of Hokage Rock when he hears the soft exclamation escaping Gai’s lips, and he can feel a comfortable warmth in his chest when Gai’s eyes turn towards him. There it is again. Those soft kind eyes staring deep into his soul. “You really put thought into this, Rival.”

“It wouldn’t be worthy of being called a ‘Birthday Challenge’ if I hadn’t.” Part of him wonders if Gai will bring up the memory when they finish the race, or if he will be too overwhelmed with what waits at the finish line to even remember this moment. “Come on, Gai, focus or I’m going to get ahead of you.”

To prove his point Kakashi increases his speed just a fraction more. Barely enough to inch ahead of Gai. It doesn’t last long, of course. Seeing the threat to his win, Gai returns his attention to the race and goes barreling ahead of Kakashi.

A little too far ahead, in his opinion.

He really had hoped this race wouldn’t be too taxing on his stamina, but then he had gone and taunted Gai. This was his fault and no one else's.

Following the next shadow clone down another turn, Kakashi smiles when the edge of the village comes into view. The finish line is close, and his heart is starting to hammer in his chest. Though, that could also be because of the effort he’s exerting just to keep up with Gai.

Why did he do this to himself? Gai is faster than him. A race is always a bad idea.

“You’re falling behind, Rival!” Gai throws his taunt back at him with the biggest smile.

Some days he wonders why he’s fallen in love with Gai, and then he sees that smile again and he knows. There is no other option but to love the human personification of the sun. Only a fool would say no to such stunning beauty standing right in front of them.

Increasing his speed just a little, Kakashi smiles as he comes up to Gai’s side. “You know,” he gives the other man a playful look, “if I win this race you’re going to have to admit to your students that I’m better than you.”

There’s a frown on Gai’s face now. Not one of annoyance or anger, but rather deep contemplation. It’s sort of cute.

“And if you lose, you have to admit to your students that I am better than you!” Gai throws his taunt back at him as if it holds the same weight. “Either way, one of us will be embarrassed when our students find out who won.”

That’s actually sort of cute, the fact that Gai thinks Kakashi tells his students about their challenges at all. Though, admittedly they will see how this one plays out since they’re waiting for them at the finish line.

“My students aren’t going to be surprised at all,” he points out as they turn another corner, the finish line coming into view and Tenzo’s figure barely visible beside the giant house that he’s built for Kakashi in return for favours of his own promised sometime in the future. A wood clone. That’s the only explanation he can think of for how Tenzo has gotten here before them. “They know their sensei well enough to know you’ll win.”

When he doesn’t hear a protest from Gai, he glances back towards him. A look of confusion is cemented on his face as he takes in the sight before them.

“Almost there.” Reaching out he takes hold of Gai’s hand and gives it a quick squeeze. “You’re not going to give up now, are you?”

Confusion melts away, replaced quickly by a new burning desire.

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

Releasing his grip on Gai’s hand, Kakashi turns his attention back towards the finish line and focuses all of his energy on increasing speed.

Whether he takes a moment to close his eyes and focus, opening the first gate for one last boost of speed, well that’s between him and Gai.

“Whoo!!!”

Everyone throws their hands up in the air as the pair come barreling through the finish line. Kakashi’s not really sure what’s going on for a moment because suddenly everyone’s surrounding them in every direction. This had not been in the plans.

“Gai-sensei, you were amazing!” Lee jumps forward, throwing his arms around Gai’s neck for a hug. “Your race was full of energy and youth!”

“We only saw the end of it.” There’s a soft smile on Tenten’s face when she speaks. A fond look as she watches her sensei and teammate hug. “How can you know what happened in the whole race?”

“We saw both Kakashi-sensei and Gai-sensei opening the first gate to try and secure the win.” Kakashi’s not at all surprised that Gai had resorted to using the first gate after his little stunt. It only made sense after all to meet cheating with cheating. “That tells me that the whole race was amazing without a doubt.”

“Ever the optimist.” Neji sighs, his arms crossed over his chest as always but a soft smile on his face. “I doubt any challenge between Gai-sensei and Kakashi-sensei would be anything less than spectacular. As long as they’re not playing Janken, of course.”

The jab hurts a little, but he deserves it. He really only challenges Gai to Janken just to bug him because he knows it always annoys him.

“So?” Resting an arm on Sai’s shoulder, Naruto beams when everyone turns their attention towards him. “Who won, Captain Yamato? That’s what we really want to hear.”

Making his way over to the small group, Tenzo smiles when Kakashi and Gai turn their attention to him. Waiting patiently for his answer. “Well—”

“Wait!” There’s a part of him that feels bad for Tenzo. Watching his kohai being interrupted and then shoved to the ground by an enthusiastic Gai in favour of the building behind him. “When did this… Tenzo, did you build this?”

Dusting off his shirt, Tenzo gathers himself to his feet and glares at Gai. “I did,” he confirms. “And you show your thanks by throwing me to the ground. I’m going to avoid doing anything nice for you again.”

Not that it really was ‘for’ Gai.

With Gai’s attention focused on the house, Kakashi turns to look at Sakura and smiles when he sees her already holding out the decorative box he had left in her care. He had made the right choice trusting her with this task.

Taking the box from her carefully, he turns back to Gai, closes the distance between them, and holds his hands out with the box facing out towards Gai.

Now he just has to wait for his sun to turn towards him.

“It’s beautiful.” For a second it looks like Gai’s going to walk away to explore the house. A reaction that Kakashi had accounted for, and from the corner of his eye he can already see Tenten and Lee getting ready to intercept their sensei. Thankfully, that won’t be necessary. “Kakashi have you see—”

The question is cut off when Gai turns to look at him.

“What…” There’s a certain joy Kakashi gets out of being able to render Maito Gai speechless. It’s a rare thing that very few can accomplish, and he enjoys the fact that he is one of very few who have managed it so far.

Now he just has to hope that the proposal Kurenai helped him create is good enough.

Except, now that he’s here with Gai staring wide-eyed at him and both of their teams waiting anxiously to hear what he has to say, he can’t do it. The words refuse to come out.

All of that hard work he’s put into making everything absolutely perfect is ruined, and the only thing he can blame is his own damn inability to talk about his feelings and lay his heart on the line. All he can do is stand there as the panic settles in.

First comes the pain. The feeling of his ribs caving in him, like a crushing weight sitting on his chest.

When he feels his hands starting to tremble he knows he’s done for. It’s a surefire sign that he’s slipping into panic mode. That he needs to get out of here, as far away from people as poss—

Gai’s hands are warm as they cover his, pulling his thoughts away from the pain and panic and to that blinding, beautiful smile.

“Take a deep breath.” It hurts to breathe, but he does as he’s told and draws in a deep, slow breath. “I can wait.”

Perfect.

Gai is always so perfect. Calm, patient, sweet, understanding. He never pushes Kakashi. Never expects him to spill his guts and make big flowery speeches about his feelings, even when it’s what he wants to do.

What he wishes he could do.

“Marry me.” The words fall from his mouth with unfamiliar ease, and he can already tell that everyone around him is silently judging. Wishing they could smack him upside the head, or yell at him. But they don’t. They just stand there and watch the disaster that is his life.

Gai, for once in his life, looks genuinely confused. “I… what?”

“Marry me.” This time there’s more confidence in his voice, his hands stretching out to present Gai with the box still sitting firmly in his hold. “Stay by my side, forever, adore me unconditionally and let me love you in return. Marry me, so I can tell all of Konoha… all of the world, that I get to wake up beside Maito Gai every day and call him my husband.”

It’s cheesy. Nothing compared to the well thought out, romantic, beautiful speech that Kurenai had helped him create. He’s certain she knew this kind of thing would happen when she agreed to give him a hand, but he appreciates her effort to help him nonetheless.

He cringes as Gai removes his hands. For a second he thinks Gai’s going to open the box presented to him, which is kind of the point of why he’s holding it out. Instead, those gentle sweet hands come up to cup his cheeks.

“Yes.” There’s no sweeter sound in the world. With that one simple word, Kakashi can feel all of his anxieties and fears drain away, excitement taking their place within seconds.

“You—yes?” He’s almost afraid to ask for confirmation, but a simple nod of Gai’s head has his stomach twisting with excitement. “We…”

Gai’s hands move slowly, sliding back and carefully cradling his head in that strong, soft grip. He can’t help but close his eyes as Gai leans in and presses their foreheads together. Here, right now, with Gai, Tenzo, and both of their teams, there’s nowhere he’d rather be.

“I adore you.” He melts as Gai says the words. Three simple words he has been saying since they were young. Words that Gai uses to replace the one phrase that has terrified Kakashi for years. “And I can’t wait to be your husband, Hatake Kakashi.

“You know,” there’s a spike of annoyance when Sai speaks up, but he stamps it down as quickly as it rears its ugly head, “I believe you are supposed to accept Kakashi-taicho’s gift in order to accept the proposal.”

“The gift can wait.” Tenzo’s voice is full of amusement. “Let them enjoy the moment.”

“It’s cute.” He can hear a ‘but’ in Sakura’s voice. He just knows it’s coming. “But…”

“No buts.” Tenten’s enthusiastic voice cuts his student off, and he’s certain he can hear the moment Tenten slaps Sakura on the shoulder. “Let them be cute. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. You think Kakashi-sensei is ever going to show us this side of him again?”

“Good point.”

They were grounded, both of them. As soon as he could think straight and keep the smile off of his face for more than five seconds, he was grounding them both. It doesn’t matter that he isn’t their actual dad and Gai will just override him. He going to do it.

But for now, he’s going to focus on that warm feeling blooming in his chest as Gai leansed in and presses a kiss over his exposed eye. The happiness he feels as he thinks of the future he had thought he would never be allowed to have for years.

The future he he’s only just started to believe in.

His future, by Gai’s side. Forever and always.

“I love you, Turtle.” The words are soft and gentle. Barely audible, but enough that he can hear a happy sound leaving Gai’s throat. “Always will.”

“And I love you, Rival.” He can’t help but laugh. Most people probably think their idea of ‘pet names’ is pretty unimaginative, but he can’t imagine Gai calling him anything else. “The man who came up with a whole race built around some of our fondest memories.”

“So you did notice.” A small smile pulls at his lips.

“Of course I did.” There’s pride in Gai’s voice. “The dango shop, my favourite place to hang out with friends and a place you’ve turned down going to with me for years until just recently.”

It’s perhaps not the most romantic memory, but it’s important to them. To their relationship.

“The top of Minato-sensei’s carving on Hokage Rock, where you first introduced me to Yamato and I got hissed at for the first time in my life.” Kakashi can’t help but snort. It isn’t a lie, but he really hadn’t expected Gai to add that little piece of information when reliving the memory.

“It taught you not to hug people you didn’t know, didn’t it,” Tenzo grumbled off to the side. “And no, I won’t explain.”

“I’ll tell you the story later.” Judging by the way Gai’s looking around the area, he guesses that he’s talking to the kids. He can only imagine the various looks on their faces. It probably paints a very entertaining picture that he’d love to see any other day.

Now, though, his full attention is focused on Gai.

“And?” Stepping forward, he pushes the small box into Gai’s hands and presses a quick kiss to his lips, ignoring the groans of protest behind him because he hasn’t bothered to take off his mask. “What about here? Right where we’re standing now?”

“That one…” Gai’s eyes travel back to the house, taking in the view once again. “You really did that, huh?”

“I thought it was the perfect place.” Glancing over Gai’s shoulder, he can’t help but smile when he sees the house. It had taken him weeks to figure out what exactly he wanted, and more than a few tries on Tenzo’s part to get it right. “Tenzo put in most of the work of course, and I owe him lunch for three years because of it.”

“Damn right you do.” Tenzo tries to sound stern with his insistence, but there’s a fondness in his voice that Kakashi doesn’t miss.

“It’s perfect.” When Gai looks back at him, there are tears in his eyes. Not the usual over the top tears when something amazing happens, these are more like watery eyes with a few stray tears rolling down his face. Kakashi’s pretty sure he’s never seen Gai cry quite like this before. “I love it.”

“Well, good,” he laughs awkwardly. “It’s ours. We can move in whenever you want.”

There’s supposed to be a tradition. Things you have to do, a wedding to be held, and the paperwork to signify that they are officially moving. He doesn’t care though. The quicker he can be in his new home with Gai, the better.

“You never did say what was so special about this place, Senpai.” Tenzo steps up to his side, eyes locked on the house he’s built for them. “Why were you so determined to have the house here? It’s so far away from everything.”

Not that being far away from everyone else is really a downside for Kakashi. Maybe he’ll hear less ruckus on the streets at night, and he certainly won’t hear Kurenai and Asuma doing naughty things in Asuma’s apartment next door.

“It’s where Gai lived as a kid.” He smiles at the memories of the old house that he had visited so often when they were still young. Built by Dai to ensure they had a roof over their heads when he didn’t have enough money to buy them a place in the village. “I thought it was appropriate. Living in the same place as someone who loved him as much as I do.”

This time Gai has to cover his eyes with an arm to hide the tears, and all of their students can be heard giggling behind him.

Cheesy. He’s probably being cheesy. A rare occurrence for him, but one the kids seem to be enjoying the chance to experience.

“This is the best thing I have ever seen,” he can hear the smirk in Sakura’s voice, “Ino is going to be jealous she missed it.”

Usually he would care that Sakura is obviously going to be spilling secrets about him to her girlfriend, but he can’t find it in him to bother right now. Not with Gai standing in front of him slowly lowering his arm and giving him the most beautiful smile he has ever seen.

Is it possible to fall in love all over again? Right now it certainly feels like it.

“I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you, Rival.” If his mask wasn’t in place he’s sure everyone would be able to see the blush rising up into his cheeks. “Starting today, at dinner. We need to celebrate our engagement with our teams, don’t you think?”

He knows there’s no escape from what is going to be the loudest, most crowded dinner he has ever taken part in, and he can’t imagine ending his day any other way. Celebrating with his husband-to-be, his best friend, and the hatchlings and the pups.

It’s perfect.

“Hey, Bushy-brow-sensei, you haven’t even opened your gift yet.” Okay, almost perfect. There will always be Naruto and his special talent for ruining the moment. “We want to know what it is too. Kakashi-sensei refused to show us.”

The switch flips. As soon as Naruto shows too much interest in seeing Gai’s gift, Kakashi has to do everything in his power to make sure it won’t happen. Reaching out, he places a hand over the box as Gai moves to open it, and smiles playfully.

“I think it’s best if you open it later.” He can hear Naruto protesting behind him, but he ignores it. “When it’s just you and me.”

The look on Gai’s face says he knows exactly what Kakashi is doing, and usually he doesn’t entertain Kakashi’s trolling ways. Something about being ‘honest’ and ‘fair’ with their friends and students.

Today, however, seems to be different. With a playful smile of his own, Gai pulls the box close to his chest and turns his attention towards Naruto. “We should choose where we’re going for dinner.” No explanation. Perfect. “It has to be the best place for a celebration.”

Kakashi can already hear the answer leaving Naruto’s mouth, and for once he’s not going to complain. Ramen actually does seem like the perfect place for a celebration this time.

Anywhere is perfect really, as long as he has Gai by his side.

#Kakagai #Kakagai Week #Kakagaiweek #Kakagai Week 2020 #Hatake Kakashi #Maito Gai #It's a long one #Sorry XD

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yahboobeh · 4 years

Text

When the Clock Strikes Midnight

Happy New Year everyone! Here’s my NejiTen discord server Secret Santa fic for @giada-luna! FF.net | AO3

There were very few things to do at the hospital, and Neji could count them all on one hand. He thought he would have been used to it by now. He had spent most of the past two months in and out of the hospital between checkups and surgeries as his body slowly recovered from the multiple impalings that should have killed him.

He mostly slept, breaking apart the cycle of visits from nurses and loved ones with groggy drug-induced naps. However, four days post-op meant his pain medication was replaced with something less addictive, making even napping a difficult way to adequately pass the time. Hinata insisted that Neji packed a book, but he’d made short work of that the first day the nurse had removed his IV (and, by extension, his pain medication). The tv on the wall was only good for the white noise, and even meditating was starting to feel monotonous.

Luckily, tonight was his last night in the hospital, recovering from what was hopefully his final surgery. It was also New Year’s Eve.

As if on cue, Tenten was there, pushing the door to his room open, sporting a pink and white quiapo and smile on her lips.

“Oh good, you’re awake!”

He nodded and watched Tenten close the door and cross the room to the side of his bed.

“New dress?”

Her face reddened as if she hadn’t expected him to notice, much less comment on it.

“Yeah, new year, new me?” She chuckled awkwardly. “What do you think?”

“I like it.”

Her blush deepened, and she muttered out her thanks before shifting the conversation away from herself.

“Have you done your exercises today?”

Neji sighed before answering, yes. A nurse came by twice a day to ensure he was walking and practicing special breathing techniques to keep his lungs clear. Tenten knew this but continued to worry over his recovery consistently.

“You did the breathing exercises?”

“Yes.”

“And the coughing?”

“Tenten.”

“Ok, but when did you go for a walk last?”

“Last night when you insisted,” he teased.

Tenten crossed her arms and huffed at him.

“That’s not funny. Sakura said it’s important for you to move.”

“I know,” he said with a bit more exasperation than he’d intended, “I’ve been through this countless times over the last two and a half months, Tenten.”

“I’m sorry,” she huffed, “forgive me for being concerned.”

Neji sighed. They were both tired and stressed. Tenten came to visit him every day, and it didn’t matter if he was in the hospital or resting at home. She seemed to have made overseeing his recovery her primary job. Neji knew from Lee’s visits that Tenten was also fretting over Gai. He appreciated her concern and even felt guilty for being the source of her anxiety, but the constant worrying and nagging opened the door for more arguments. Neji enjoyed exchanging barbs, but Tenten was the last person he wanted to argue with.

“A walk sounds nice,” he relented. They walked every night, regardless of her questions and his answers. So, Neji began the slow process of sitting up. It didn’t hurt nearly as much as it did during his initial recovery, but his muscles still ached and protested from the exertion.

The nurses made him keep a walker next to his bed to brace himself on while he got out of bed, but Neji hated it. It reminded him that he was weak, mortal, and very lucky. Tenten knew he hated the walker; Neji didn’t even have to tell her. It was one of his favorite parts of their friendship. They knew each other so well that they communicated silently. Tenten stood in front of him, offering out her hands should he need them.

In front of anyone else, Neji would wave away assistance but not from Tenten. They gripped each other by the forearms, and Neji stood up. She smiled the whole time, and his heart fluttered.

“Where should we walk to tonight?” she asked as they stepped out of Neji’s room and started down the hall.

“Have you eaten anything?”

“Not yet.”

“Then how about the cafeteria?”

“Oh, are you offering to buy me dinner?” Tenten teased.

“Sure, just charge it to my room,” he joked.

But he’d seen the glint in Tenten’s eyes at the prospect of a meal. He knew she wasn’t eating well. She looked thinner and tired. The war had been particularly unkind to Team Gai, and while Tenten carried herself with a demeanor that said ‘I’m okay,’ Neji could see the truth. He hated it. Hated that she was spreading herself so thin between his and Gai’s recoveries, that she only had Lee to train with, that she had seen so much and cried so little.

“Let’s eat,” Neji confirmed.

The walk was slow. All of his walks were slow.

“How is Gai-sensei doing?” Neji asked. “Lee thought he was almost done in surgery when he was visiting.”

“Yes, he is doing well. He was in recovery when I went to see him today. I left when they moved him back to his regular room. Although I think Sakura gave him some extra medication to make sure he rests.”

“Ah, so I take it we won’t be seeing him tonight?”

Neji paused to rest, and Tenten leaned against the wall.

“Lee and I talked earlier. Gai-sensei will likely be in and out of consciousness all night. We decided it would be best if we split up this New Year’s celebration. He’s staying with Gai-sensei, and I’m with you.”

“So we finally get a quiet and uneventful new year?”

Tenten giggled.

“Just this once.”

They started walking again, quiet as they neared their destination. At the entrance to the cafeteria, Tenten continued the conversation.

“You know, this just means that next year Gai-sensei and Lee are going to go over the top to make up for this year.”

Neji rolled his eyes, trying to ignore the images of Gai and Lee’s potential outlandish plans.

Tenten, at Neji’s quiet insistence, filled a tray with food. He had eaten earlier, so he prepared a cup of tea and purchased Tenten’s meal.

“You didn’t have to do that,” she muttered while they scanned the room for a table.

“I wanted to,” he ensured. A wave of emotion hit him. He always wanted to do small things for Tenten, to repay her selflessness and kindness with his own.

He knew she felt the same way he did, and Neji had resolved to tell her as much. It wasn’t a matter of if he should tell her, but when and how.

Would she want a grand romantic gesture, or would she appreciate something more quiet and comfortable? He could easily imagine either scenario and felt overcome with indecisiveness and nerves.

Tenten elbowed his arm, and he was back in the cafeteria.

“Sakura and Sasuke are here!”

Neji gave a nod to indicate that joining them was fine and followed Tenten to the table.

“Hey, guys!” Sakura, who had been hunched over a cup of coffee, perked up when she saw them.

“Hey, Sakura! Do you mind if we join you?” Tenten asked.

“Oh sure, I’m just on a coffee break.”

Tenten set down her tray and glanced up at Neji. He shook his head, silently declining her offer for help.

He winced as he sat down and let out a sigh before sipping his tea.

Sasuke sat across from him, toying with his coffee.

It was strange to see him without an arm. It made Neji’s stomach turn, and he wondered if it was similar to how Tenten might have felt when she saw him half dead.

“How are you guys doing?” Tenten asked.

“We’re good,” Sakura replied, “tired, but good. Things are starting to slow down, and Tsunade-sama is feeling well enough to help out here and there.”

“That’s good,” said Tenten.

“And I was just checking up on Sasuke’s… uh… arm… before my break, and here we are.”

Sasuke polished off his drink and stood up.

“Gonna grab another coffee, want one?”

“No, thank you.”

Sakura then jerked her chin towards them, ever so slightly.

“How about you two? Need anything?”

“We’re all set, I think,” said Neji, “thanks.”

Sasuke walked off, and Tenten instantly leaned across the table, her meal half-forgotten.

“How are things going?”

“He wants to stay and keep me company tonight!”

“Really?”

“Yes! My shift runs late. Do you think he’s going to kiss me at midnight?”

“Maybe! If he does you have to tell me everything!”

Neji drifted in and out of their rushed conversation giving an appropriate nod or shrug whenever Sakura looked at him for reassurance or he felt Tenten’s expectant glances.

Sakura excused herself shortly after Sasuke’s return and the pair departed the cafeteria.

Tenten tried to push her half eaten bowl of fruit onto Neji, claiming she was full and he needed to eat more.

She cleared their dishes and they slowly made their way back to Neji’s room.

Neji sighed as he leaned back against the bed, the pillows and mattress taking over for his strained and sore core muscles. The bed was raised so he could sit up comfortably.

Tenten stretched her arms and yawned before sitting next to him on the bed.

She reached for the remote and turned on the tv.

“Only three and a half hours left of this shit year,” she said, flipping through channels. “Do you know which channel is the news?”

Neji shook his head.

“There might be a list in the drawer,” he suggested.

“Oh! I found it!” The local New Year’s Eve celebration show had started. Any other year they would be among the revelers in the center of the village enjoying the festival.

...the crowd is ecstatic tonight...eager to leave behind a year of death and destruction...hearbreak and loss....

“I heard from Hinata that they’re going to interview Naruto and Kakashi-sensei.”

“Sakura mentioned that earlier today,” said Neji.

“It’ll be weird to see them on TV.”

Neji glanced over to his teammate, catching her eye.

“I’m sorry you’re stuck here.”

Tenten giggled and leaned her arm against his.

“Don’t be silly. This is where I want to be.”

Neji raised a brow.

“In a hospital room?”

“With you.”

Neji felt his face flush and hoped she didn’t notice. Was this the right moment to speak up?

“Besides,” she continued, “we can see the fireworks from your window.”

Neji shrugged.

“I suppose it’s a fitting end to this year.”

Tenten smiled.

“Yes. The year that we never thought would end. It’s been awful from start to finish.”

“The entire year?”

“Pretty much. I mean, there were some good things. But it was all just preparation for the war and then…”

Tenten trailed off, picking idly at a loose thread on the blanket. She shook her head as if she was denying access to the dark place of her mind where those memories were tucked away. Neji knew that place well. He suspected everyone did.

“It doesn’t matter. The further we move away from this year the better.”

Neji chuckled.

“Do you think that once the clock strikes midnight everything will suddenly change?”

“Maybe, you never know.” She gave him another smile. “It doesn’t hurt to hope though.”

Their conversation died down for a moment, picking up the familiar pattern of silence between topics.

The television hummed with the activity of revelers and hosts entertaining the crowd as the last few hours of the year ticked away.

Twenty minutes before midnight Kakashi appeared on screen to help ring in the new year as Hokage.

...we’re ushering in the new year with an era of peace...

“I hope Gai-sensei is awake for this,” said Tenten.

Kakashi was a bit awkward and unprepared, but if Gai was watching, Neji knew that the new Hokage’s performance could be discussed as nothing less than perfect.

After a few minutes Naruto made his appearance. They listened for a bit before getting out of bed to look out the window.

“Oh, I almost forgot,” Tenten reached into her kunai pouch and pulled out a small bottle of sparkling sake, “can’t celebrate without a drink.”

“Don’t let Sakura see that.”

“It’s a mini bottle and you’re going home in the morning. I think you’ll be alright.”

She twisted off the cap and took a swig.

“Although I got a twist-off lid so no one hears a cork pop.”

She passed Neji the bottle and he took a drink. Fizzy bubbles rippled across his tongue, the sake dry and tart.

They finished the bottle as the countdown to midnight started.

...59...58...57...56…

The energy in the room shifted. Neji felt lightheaded with anticipation.

...41...40...39...38...

Neji remembered the question Sakura had eagerly posed to Tenten at dinner.

‘Do you think he’ll kiss me at midnight?’

And he knew that the moment was right.

....27...26...25...24…

Neji watched Tenten watch the television. She was smiling, and Neji didn’t need his byakugan to see that she had relaxed. If it was the sake or the prospect of a new start, Neji wasn’t sure, but her aura of calm was contagious.

...11...10...9...8…

He looked back up at the television, where Naruto was helping lead the countdown.

...5...4...3...2...1... Happy New Year!

Neji could hear cheering from the nurse’s station as the first few fireworks went off.

Tenten ignored the view of the fireworks show they had stood by the window for, turning from the tv directly to Neji, her smile wider.

“Happy New Year, Neji.”

His arm moved before he could register it, cupping her jaw. The smile on fell from her lips, and her brows furrowed with the confusion that played across her face.

That was when he kissed her, soft and gently. He heard the smallest gasp between the burst of fireworks outside their window. Tenten’s lips were soft and tasted sweet like sake. She kissed him back and pressed her hands to his chest. Neji put his hands on her waist and drew her in closer.

They were slow, sweet and unsure. His mind hummed, and his body buzzed. He wanted to pull her even closer and kiss her harder, but he was too nervous, and this was perfect.

Neji wasn’t sure how long they kissed for, but when they stopped it was nothing more than a brief pause, foreheads pressed together.

“Happy New Year, Tenten.”

#NejiTen #tenten #Neji Hyuuga #fanfic #booh writes

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raendown · 3 years

Link

Todays follower milestone gift fic is for @sparklemagpie with the prompt word importune. Can you tell I had fun writing this one?

Pairing: ShikamaruTemariTayuya Word count: 1966 Rated: T+ Summary: For the two women in his life Shikamaru will do whatever it takes. As long as they're happy he's happy. When they're not...well, when they're not you get situations like this one.

Follow the link or read it under the cut!

KO-FI and commission info in the header!

Just The Right Cherry On Top

Shikamaru would have told anyone who asked that it didn’t start off as begging. No one was really asking, though, and the shreds of pride still buried in the back of his mind somewhere told him that was a problem. If no one was asking questions that usually meant they thought they already had the answers. But they didn’t. They really didn’t. When it came to his two girls Shikamaru was smugly aware that he was usually the only one with answers.

Well, answers to questions like ‘are you sure they’re not trying to kill each other’ or usually ‘how can you stand to live between that’. The questions about what might be going on in either woman’s mind were ones he didn’t even try to guess at. He knew when to back away from a problem he would never figure out.

Right now he didn’t so much have a problem as he did have a disaster. He knew very well that relationships took work, that his work would be doubled when he agreed to marry both of the most important women in his life, and since he had not a day went by when he didn’t consider that work so very worth it. For the most part their days were happy. Blissful, even. Shikamaru was as flawed as any other human being but among his flaws pride wasn’t usually the one that tripped him up. Disaster only really happened when pride snuck up on the other two parts of his soul.

Tayuya, as usual, was the first to start throwing insults. And of course Temari, when faced with a hot temper, flared her own with the kind of heat usually accomplished only with the most deadly katon. Standing on the other side of the kitchen with a frying pan in one hand and his face in the other, Shikamaru briefly wondered if there were any missions available that would take him far away until these two crazy goddesses sorted their own shit out.

There weren’t. He checked. Discreetly, of course.

After the first couple days of cold silence it became obvious that this was one of those fights they needed him to bring them back from, when pride and stubbornness and sheer petty spite held both of their lips shut, eyes refusing to meet, tempers refusing to back down. These were the kind of fights that reminded Shikamaru why the three of them really worked as a full unit, one single whole, any weakness in one covered by another. Knowing that never made it any less annoying trying to be the cover to their weakness. They might need him but in those moments they sure didn’t want to need him.

“What’ll it take this time?” Shikamaru could hear the exhaustion in his own voice but that’s just what happened when he hadn’t gotten more than three consecutive hours of sleep for the past week.

“Nothing,” Temari snapped. “Maybe this is just it!”

Drawing a hand down his face spoke louder than words how little he believed that. If he looked really close he could see the lines of aching tiredness in Temari’s expression that told him she didn’t believe it either.

“Right,” he murmured. “I’ll just go talk to her then.

And so he did, though it would be hard to express just how unsurprised he was to get a very similar reaction from Tayuya.

“Fuck that bitch and her high horse!”

“You could if one of you would say sorry,” Shikamaru couldn’t help pointing out.

“Oh no fucking way! Not with a ten foot god damned pole!”

“What if I said please?”

So that was how it started. Or got to the middle, really. Much to the contrary of what other people seemed to think, Shikamaru was not so whipped as to just fall on his knees and beg any time he encountered the slightest of resistance in their relationship. He had some self respect. In the face of these two boneheads, however, self respect was a concept he was more than willing to throw out the window in favor of a full night’s rest, something he would not be getting until their home saw peace again.

One instance of saying please did nothing. Twice did little more than that. Somewhere around the fifteen ‘please’ he switched tactics and added a cherry on top. Tayuya rather harshly reminded him that she hated cherries and described in very colorful detail where he could stick his polite words. Clearly another tactic was needed.

As a smart man Shikamaru very carefully ignored all of Naruto’s well meaning suggestions like sending his wives flowers pretending they were from each other. Maybe that would have worked on someone like Hinata who was determined to look at the world and see the best in everyone but Shikamaru had married two people determined to look at the world through a cold lens of cynicism. Gods but he loved it. Loved the both of them. He just didn’t love the fights. Naruto meant well but the one and only time any of them had seen Hinata truly mad had been the middle of a battle against the reanimated body of a dead man handing Naruto his own ass. It was great for the two of them to finally find happiness. When he thought of their calm and sweet relationship Shikamaru sometimes just couldn’t help but wonder how they didn’t get bored with no one around to throw a plate or two.

Since being nice about it didn’t do much his next step was to try being firm. This time he went to Tayuya first because if he could crack her then honestly he was pretty sure he could crack the whole world. His efforts in this round were about as successful as the first.

“Go ahead and try to tell me what to do one more time, Nara.” Right up in his face Tayuya was all fire, in her hair and in her eyes and in every move of the arm currently jamming in to his chest. “I’ve had just about enough of being ordered around for one lifetime, you hear me?” Oh he did. He did hear her. He also heard the undertone of heat and it wasn’t until an hour after he left their home in the daze of post orgasmic bliss that he realized he’d been had. Maybe Choji was right and he did think with his dick a little too much.

Going to see Temari hadn’t exactly had better results - although he’d known better from the start than to consider either one of them ‘better’ than the other in certain departments. After making it very clear how much she both enjoyed and scorned his attempts to law down some kind of law Temari rode him against the nearest walls and sent him off afterwards with a few choice words about how she really didn’t mind wearing only his marks on her skin from now on. Since he hadn’t been the one to bring that up Shikamaru saw through it right away. They missed each other, a blind man could see that. Getting them to admit it was the hard part.

So that was a bust on trying to put his foot down but if he were honest Shikamaru hadn’t expected any different. The next thing he tried was bribery. After the harsh years both of his wives had experienced it was entirely understandable that they should enjoy being waited on hand and foot. Usually the offer was an irresistible one to them; hence why he didn’t make it very often, a special treat for special occasions when he needed to remind them just how precious they really were. When not just one but both of them turned him down this time Shikamaru had to take a nice long walk through the woods and feed the deer for a while, wondering if maybe the magic offer had lost its touch at last. Or if maybe he was the one that had lost his touch. It took a good long while and three different deer taking curious nibbles of his ponytail before he shook himself and stood up with a little more steel in his spine.

Clearly this problem was running out of control and that meant bringing in the biggest weapon he had at his disposal. One didn’t spend a lifetime best friends with the Yamanaka heir without picking up some tricks.

“Please?”

“No.”

“Please please?”

“I said no, fuck off Shika.”

“Uhhh, please and please and please?”

Tayuya actually stopped walking to round on him with furrowed brows. “You get hit upside the head or something? This is- you’re acting like a damn child!”

“Maybe.” Shikamaru clasped his hands together and lifted his eyes to the clouds above them. “How many times I gotta say please? Cause I will. Give me a number, I’ll do it.”

“For real?”

“Please, please, please, please, plea-”

Ignoring the baffled looks of anyone passing them by was a lot easier than ignoring the sharp voice that spoke from the doorway, rough at the edges under the heavy weight of defeat and sadness.

“He might not look like it, but he’s really just a child in a man’s body.” Temari studiously did not look at her wife when Tayuya whipped around to stare at her, missing the ripple of yearning that went through all those well honed muscles. “You probably shouldn’t test it. He really will just keep going.”

“Sounds annoying as hell,” Tayuya ventured.

Neither of them seemed to notice when Shikamaru fell silent, still, waiting with baited breath.

“It’d probably be less painful if we just give in. He already did that to me for two hours this morning and I don’t know if I can listen to it for much longer without violence that I’m pretty sure I would regret.” The proud set of Temari’s jaw was that of a queen making concessions. The dark warmth of her eyes when they finally canted sideways was that of a wife who missed the touch of her beloved.

“Good fucking god, two hours? Yeah, hell no. I ain’t listening to that. Let’s just get this over with or something then.”

“For the best.”

Despite that agreement it still took about five solid minutes of staring wordlessly in to each others’ eyes before either of them made any more toward the other. In the end they moved at the same time, reaching out with the same hand, laughing in a fondly awkward way as their fingers entwined. The moment would have been utterly beautiful if Shikamaru hadn’t breathed in very deeply just to let it all back out in one great rush.

“Finally,” he muttered. Both of his wives frowned at him.

“Wait.” Temari narrowed her eyes as though only now realizing what she’d done. “How did you do that?” She didn’t seem to appreciate the sheer exasperation filling him up in place of all the soft pleading he’d been wearing for days now.

“You don’t just hang around with Ino for this long without learning how to annoy someone in to giving up.”

Before either of his wives could say anything Shikamaru was spinning on one heel and marching out the door, grumbling under his breath while he rummaged around his flack vest for a pack of smokes. Troublesome women and their troublesome tempers. At times he really did wonder why he put up with it. Two sets of footsteps rushing after him was a good reminder, though he thought he would be well within his rights to make them do a little begging after all the trouble he’d gone through just to bridge the gap between their overinflated prides. Worth it, absolutely worth it, but damn if they weren’t trouble sometimes.

#rae writes #follower milestone #shikatematayu #shikamaru #temari #tayuya

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animebabe301 · 4 years

Text

I’ll Be Okay

Pairings: Reader x Naruto x Gaara

Warnings: None, not really anything to be warned of

Genre: Angst

Word Count: 2k+

Author’s note: I tried really hard to make it angsty, ya’ll, but I’m not really good with it. Hopefully I can improve from here on out :) But this is for @serendipitybaebee

Summary: You, Gaara, and Naruto had been friends for awhile, but little did you know that these two wonderful men were the ones you’d have to choose between for love.

As you made your way across the village, you came across Lee, Ten Ten, and Neji. They seemed to be immersed in their own small conversation, and you wanted to know what they were discussing. “Hey guys, what are you all chit-chatting about?” you asked curiously. “Oh, nothing,” Lee replied, “just that the kazekage is here to visit his best friend.” “Wait, what?! Gaara’s here?!” Nodding his head, Neji simply explained that they last saw Gaara at Ichiraku’s Ramen Shop. Running towards the shop, memories of the first time you’d met Gaara played in your mind. You remember back at the chuunin exams that Gaara had been feared of simply because he fought to kill. As a kunoichi of Konoha, you were taught to resolve any altercations by talking things out, but if the other shinobi were to result to violence, you would only defend-never kill unless necessary. Everyone feared Gaara-even you. There was only one person who didn’t-Naruto Uzumaki. Naruto was the weird kid, for sure, and a jinchuuriki like Gaara, but Naruto never had the bloodlust that Gaara did.

You didn’t understand why the villagers hated Naruto. He wasn’t the cause of what had happened to the village that night, he was only a small newborn baby, but rumors spread like wildfire from person to person, making everyone turn their backs on a small orphan child. You were an orphan like Naruto as well, but luckily, your grandma was willing to take you in. Your parents had died while fending off the Nine-tailed fox when Naruto was born. You couldn’t blame Naruto though. Your grandma explained to you all the details of the night it happened. You were only a few months old, your parents were shinobi who were protecting the village. They trusted your grandma to take care of you before they went to attempt to fend off the Nine-tailed fox. As a young child, you didn’t like Naruto either, mainly because you were scared of him and the stories and rumors people would spread about him being a demon or that the night would be back the moment he’d gotten mad. You didn’t understand why people were so mean to him as well. He was a child just like you and the others, yet the villagers treated him badly.

One day, you were walking through town with a few of your friends while they were making remarks about Naruto and that he was an orphan because of his selfish needs and that his parents had killed themselves because he was an unwanted child. You didn’t laugh with your so-called friends though, you actually felt bad that this young boy was being hated on. You saw the sadness in his eyes, the tears that were forming in his eyes, and the fist by his side. Your grandma happened to be walking by as well, and had called for you to go home with her. That was the first time you felt a sort of sadness for Naruto even though you didn’t know him. Later that night while making dinner with your grandma, you didn’t know what to say to her. Your grandma was quieter than usual that night. While seating yourself across the table from her, the quietness in the ear was deafening. “Grandma, are you okay?” you asked. Before her spoon reached her mouth, she brought the spoon back down to her bowl. She asked you a question, a simple one in fact, “why did you not stand up for that boy?” “Grandma…is it true that his parents didn’t want him? Why are people so scared of him?” was all you could ask your grandma before she told you about that night.

She began by telling you of how Naruto’s dad was hokage, and his mother was the jinchuuriki before he was. Then onto how your parents were killed because of their loyalty to protect and defend the village. Your grandma knew of the details and horrors because she was one of the skilled shinobi who had simply retired due to her old age. Although she was old, she was close with the Third Hokage who had visited with your grandma a few times before. You’d seen him around more as a child, but less and less the older you grew. With tears in her eyes, your grandma asked you, “If someone said that you were an orphan because your parents were dead, wouldn’t you be sad as well?” That was when you decided to befriend Naruto. You’d left your friend group and started to play with Naruto instead. Eventually, you and Naruto became the inseparable two. Although all eyes were on you throughout the village, you grew up with Naruto, building a friendship with him that would, in your eyes, last a lifetime.

Your friendship with Naruto then brought you both to Gaara. He’d become your friend after his fight with Naruto at the chuunin exams. Eventually, the three of you had become inseparable and were only separated by the distance between Konoha and the Sand village. Because the village of the Sand and Konoha were allies after the incident at the chuunin exams, Gaara and his siblings were the shinobi in charge of bringing messages or goods to Konoha. While they stayed for a week or so, you, Gaara, and Naruto would go around Konoha having fun and laughing at weird things all three of you found amusing. Everyone would always make faces and whisper amongst each other at the fact that you, a regular kunoichi was hanging around not one but two jinchuuriki, but you didn’t mind. As your grandma had taught you, “if you feel like it’s the right thing to do, then do it and don’t look back,” so looking back you never did.

After catching your breath, you peeked inside Ichiraku. Naruto had already beat you to meeting up with Gaara. You huffed as you saw them both laughing together at something Naruto had done. Hearing you behind them, they turned around to look at you. “Y/N, I was just about to look for you! Look who’s here—” was all Naruto could say before you pointed your finger at Gaara. Scared out of his wits, Gaara sat there silently. “Why didn’t you tell me you were going to be visiting?!” you yelled while Naruto simply sank into his seat. With a smile on his face, Gaara explained that it was a bit last minute, and being Kazekage had been a bit rough on him since he was only beginning and was still figuring things out. “That doesn’t give you an excuse!” you continued on. “Okay, okay, Y/N, lesson learned,” Naruto said while pulling out a chair for you to sit in between them both. Throughout the day, the three of you spent time walking around the village and reminisced every memory you all had of your younger days.

Eventually, you all ended up at a river, south of Konoha, at the request of Naruto. You all had invited the other classmates to join you as well since it was a popular spot during the summer. Swimming was fun, but exhausting, so you decided to rest with Temari while sunbathing for some time. “You know… my brother’s not usually talkative with other girls other than me.” “Does that make you jealous?” you teased her. “No…” she said before continuing, “I just think he might like you more than just a friend…” “What do you mean?” you asked curiously. “I think he LIKES you likes you, Y/N,” she said with her eyes shut underneath her sunglasses. Your chest suddenly tightened. You had thought about all the times Gaara had been so kind to you, but you were oblivious to his attempts. With a small o formed on your lips, Temari answered your own thoughts. “But don’t worry, I’m sure he’d make you a happy girl, he’s doing his best, Y/N-” What she didn’t know was that you weren’t in love with Gaara. You were in love with Naruto. You only saw Gaara as your friend, and you knew that Naruto was going to be the one guy who you’d forever be in love and inseparable with. You tried to keep it on the down low, and the only other person who knew your feelings was your grandma. Temari interrupted your thoughts with a simple, “—just don’t break my little brother’s heart.” That night, you tossed and turned while thinking of how to approach Gaara about what Temari had said. No matter how tired you were, you couldn’t sleep peacefully. Your grandma had heard you tossing and turning from her room, so she came in to check on you. Asking you what was wrong, you explained your situation to her. You cried as you told her that you didn’t want to choose. You wanted to stay friends with Gaara while loving Naruto, but you didn’t know that Gaara had feelings for you until now. Holding you until you fell asleep that night, your grandma couldn’t help but try to help you understand that you’d have to choose one day.

The next morning, you, Gaara, and Naruto were set off to your last adventure before the sand siblings were to return home. Lord Third needed to speak to Naruto about his last mission, so you and Gaara decided to meet with him later. Walking along the path towards the stone faces of Konoha, you were trying to make conversation with Gaara without being awkward and weirded out by the fact that he liked you. You both stopped at the top, overlooking Konoha. Before you could say anything, Gaara blurted out, “I like you, Y/N… I just wanted to let you know before I left back to my village.” You sat there quietly, while tears started forming in your eyes. One way or another, you couldn’t lead your friend on, making him believe that you had the same feelings even though you didn’t. “What’s wrong? Are you okay? I—” “I don’t like you,” you said, cutting Gaara’s question off, “I only see you as a friend, and I don’t think you should like me. You need to go find someone else to like, Gaara. I’ll always be your friend, and I’ll always be here to support you, but I like Naruto. I don’t like you the same way. Naruto is the guy I want to marry, not you…” While sitting in an awkward silence, Gaara sighed and said, “I know you like Naruto, I just thought I had a chance…” “I’m sorry, Gaara, but please give your heart to someone else who deserves it. I can’t give you the love you’ve given me. I’m sorry,” you explained to Gaara. When you looked up, Gaara wasn’t looking at you, instead looking over Konoha. Nodding his head in agreement with what you said, he simply said, “you’re right.” “I’m so so sorry, Gaara. I like Naruto, and I want to be your friend as well. I just don’t want this to sever this friendship we’ve built over the years.” Turning his head with his soft green eyes and a smile, Gaara held your hand and said, “It’s okay, I’ll be okay, Y/N.” That was a lie. You knew he was hurt, but Gaara was always the type of friend to put other’s needs before his own. He wasn’t selfish, but you only saw him as a friend.

Sending Gaara off was awkward, but you hugged him and told him to let you know if there was anything he needed, he just needed to contact the Third Hokage to send you and Naruto to the Sand village to help him with whatever he needed. “Yes!” Naruto said while pulling you and Gaara in for a hug, “We’ll be there for you no matter what!” With a smile and a nod of thanks, Gaara said his goodbye and turned to leave with Temari and Kankuro. With a small hint of a tear slipping from Gaara’s eyes, he turned around to wave one last goodbye. Your heart hurt from breaking Gaara’s, but you felt that it was the right thing to do. Gaara was only your friend, and you were sure that Naruto was the right person for you. Two great shinobis of the world, yet you could only have one.

#gaara x reader #gaaraangst #gaara imagines #naruto x reader #naruto imagines #narutoangst

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bakubabes-tatakae · 4 years

Note

Ok I always wanted to request this 😭❤ Can I have post-rescue sex headcanons where Kiba saves his crush during a mission and when they arrive at his home so she can warm up and calm down a little, things get really steamy and they have sex with each other? ✌🏻

Well without further adieu... here is it. 😊❤️

You Saved My Life || {NSFW} Kiba x Reader

Warnings: fluff, 18+ content, smut, unprotected sex, kiba’s heroic attributes

Word Count: 1.2k

Kiba’s heart was beating harshly against his chest as he watched the enemy coming toward you. The fear that he wouldn’t get there in time was all too real. He had watched you get hit once, now you were unconscious on the ground and the enemy was headed right toward you. He couldn’t let it happen. He couldn’t let this man hurt you.

Akamaru’s attempts to reach you were futile. Too many people were around him for him to be able to reach you before Kiba. Kiba couldn’t hold it back anymore as he hollered out. “Y/n!” He screamed toward the ninja coming from you, trying to distract him. “Don’t you dare lay a hand on her you scum!”

Just as the man’s kunai was about to hit you Kiba hollered to Akamaru. “Now Akamaru.” Akamaru barked in the distance. “Inuzuka Style. Man-Beast Transformation Combo.” A giant form of Akamaru with two heads now loomed over the area. The man stopped in his tracks and started backing up some. The last thing he had expected to see was this. “Fang over fang!” The man was sent soaring through the sky a second later and Kiba dropped down next to your lifeless body.

Naruto hollered over to him. “Is she okay Kiba?”

He reached for your neck, looking for your pulse point. “She’s got a pulse, it’s strong. I think she’ll be okay.”

The last of the enemies were taken down and Kiba scooped you up into his arms. Sakura approached and placed her hands on you, feeling for your chakra and healing anything that she could at the moment. “Let’s get her back to the village. She needs rest.”

Kiba nodded and held you tight to his chest. The fear that he might have lost you without ever getting to tell you how he felt was weighing on him. He had to tell you before something like this happened again.

* * * * * *

When you came to you were in an unfamiliar surrounding. You sat up quickly and winced in pain, clutching your ribs. Akamaru rose from the floor and stood next to you. He hadn’t left your side since the Inuzuka had brought you back to his apartment to keep an eye on you. Kiba was fast asleep in his chair when you finally looked over.

The sudden movement from Akamaru woke Kiba and his eyes grew wide when he saw you sitting up. “Y/n!” He stood from the recliner he was in and rushed to your side. “I’m so glad you’re alright.”

You placed a hand on your head and rubbed. “What happened Kiba?”

Kiba sighed and worry painted his face. “Are you feeling okay? You took a pretty hard hit out there. You’ve been unconscious for hours. I was so afraid you weren’t going to wake up.” He wrapped you into his arms and pulled you to him. His strength and chakra weren’t as strong as he thought and you both collapsed on top of him, your body pinning him to the couch. He tensed. “I’m sorry. I guess I used more-”

You didn’t allow him to finish. This man had saved your life. You owed him everything. If he hadn’t stepped in you wouldn’t be here right now. Your lips embraced his and his hands slowly laced into your hair. The passion behind the kiss almost surprised you. You hadn’t known that Kiba had harbored the feelings that were pouring out in the moments. You slowly sat up, straddling him on the couch and leaning back down. He cleared his throat, but you placed a finger to his lips before any sound could come out. “Just let me show you how much I appreciate what you did for me.”

As he felt your hands trail down his chest and rest upon the bulge in his pants his eyes bugged out of his head. Was this really about to happen? Something he had been wanting for what felt like years. You slowly undid his belt and pulled down his pants, his erect length coming free from its fabric prison. You ignored the pain that was burning in your side, you had to do something for him, this was the best option at the moment. Your feelings for Kiba had just grown stronger after this mission.

Kiba watched you with hunger in his eyes as you slowly straddled him again, pushing your shorts to the side and sliding yourself onto his length. He threw his head back into the throw pillow at the feeling of your spongy walls surrounding his cock. He could barely contain himself as he placed his hands on your hips. Your movements were slow, he could tell you were in pain, but you’d never admit it. He stopped you by holding your hips down. “Y/n, let me. You can barely hold yourself up.”

You gave into him as his strong arms wrapped around you, pulling your chest to his and holding you there as his hips began to roll into you. His lips met yours again with a desperate passion. As his name rolled off your tongue it was like music to his ears. His hand cupped your cheek, slowly rubbing his thumb down it as he slowly rutted his hips into you.

The pure passion behind his movement was unlike him. Kiba had never found himself being this gentle with someone before. All his one night stands had been nights of bliss where he was animal-like with them. Not caring whether or not they would make it to the finish as long as he did. Not caring whether they had wanted to pure ruthless thrusts as he buried himself inside them. Something about this was different. He wanted to cherish every moment of it. He wanted the experience to be something you both cherished forever.

The small pleasurable noises that were coming from you filled the room as he could feel your walls tightening around his cock. “You’re so tight, darling.” He placed a gentle kiss on your lips. “You’re so perfect for me.”

“I’m-I’m so close Kiba.” You placed a hand in his long hair and tugged on it some, the feeling of it nearly suffocating the man.

His lips met your cheek. “Come for me, baby. I wanna feel you cum against my cock.”

The seduction in his voice was almost angelic. You buried your face into his shoulder as you felt your cunt clamp down on his cock. He threw his head back some at the feeling. “I’m almost there darling.” His grip on your hips tightened as his nails dug into your soft skin that was exposed over the edge of your waistband.

With a loud grunt, Kiba emptied himself out inside you, clutching your body to him tightly. As you slowly sat up his face showed nothing by love and admiration. “I’ve wanted to tell you this for so long Y/n. But I’ve been so afraid to.” He took a deep breath. “I love you.”

Your eyes softened as you listened to him. You placed your finger to his lips against to stop his rambling. “Kiba.” He stared at you, clearly worried about what you were about to say. “I love you too.”

Naruto Content Taglist 💕 @chidori-mint @praisingkuroosbedhead @korianrdr @excitedlysuffering @kakashishan @kurobo @siesel @ari-hatake15 @uhhh-hatake @rubysroom @blackkacchan

Birthday Masterlist 🎉🎉

Wish Kiba A Happy Birthday With Me

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briefololtragedy · 4 years

Text

Wooden Blocks Ch 3

Chapter: Baby Steps

Pairing: MinaSaku

Rating G

Summary: Minato and Sakura meet outside of the clinic without Naruto. Word count 5500

Posted on AO3

Her feet hit the pavement hard. She could feel her muscles contract allowing the blood in her to pump faster. Her heart was beating out of her chest and she could tell her face was beet red. The music in her ears drowned out some of the noises around her as she ran down the streets. This was her weekend morning ritual. Wake up, put on her running gear, and run to her heart’s content. It was one of the few times she was able to shut off her brain. Well she tried to shut off her brain. She thought back to coffee with Ino a few weeks ago.

“Come on Forehead tell me how the art gallery was. Did you guys have fun afterwards?” Ino kept wiggling her eyebrows.

“The art was different. We walked around and then we got dinner. He took me home and then left. “ Sakura sipped her coffee. Allowing the aroma to fill her senses. She just couldn’t see Kakashi as more than just a friend. She couldn’t handle the fact that he was late. She understood the first time, but this time he was almost an hour late and no proper excuse. Then when she was around him it always felt off. When the highlight of the evening is talking to a patient’s father that’s a sign.

“Seriously! That’s all you're going to give me. I need more details.”

“There is not much in the way of details. He was late by almost an hour. Showed up with just an ``I'm sorry'' and then we went on our date.” Sakura made sure to do her best man voice impression with the ‘I’m sorry.’

“Seriously Sakura, you need to stop finding fault with every guy you date. Don’t just focus on one small flaw.” Sakura did not see how wanting a date to be on time was a bad thing. There interests didn’t seem to mesh well.

“Plus he brought you food that day. Wasn’t that so romantic?” Sakura rolled her eyes. Yeah romantic if you get judged for being hungry and not being ashamed to eat. She did thank Kakashi profusely for the kind gesture.

“Give it more than just a couple of dates.” Sakura huffed into her coffee.

She was trying to look past a few hiccups in her time with Kakashi. They seemed to do well talking over text, but when it came to being in person together the click just didn’t happen. She asked him to lunch yesterday and it just keeps falling flat with him. Sakura also didn’t care for his favorite reading material, Jiraiya was a class A pervert.

Sakura forced her legs to go faster. Her mind wasn’t supposed to be overthinking. Its only job was to help her function in her run. After running for a little while longer she looked at her watch. Five miles. She slowed to a stop. Her muscles twitched in rhythm with her music. She needed food and coffee. Sakura lived close to the downtown area and her runs usually had her circling the heart of the city. She looked around and noticed she was in one of the more hipster areas.

A smile found its way on her face when she saw the antiqued green door to a coffee shop. It had recently opened and she had been dying to try it out. Sakura had almost thought to ask Kakashi to come with her to the shop last week but he didn’t like coffee. He also didn’t like mornings, so meeting before she had to go to work was a no go.

The small bell on the top corner of the door chimed as she entered. The shop was decently packed for 9am on a Saturday. She easily made her way through the store to the counter. ‘Hmm all of this looks so good. I want to order everything.’ One of the reasons Sakura ran so much was because she enjoyed eating. Most days she ate so healthy a fitness nut would say to take a step back. However, those days were to balance out when all she wanted was carbs, sugar, candy, and chocolate. Yes, Sakura at times ate like the elf her patients thought she was.

“I’ll have a White Chocolate Mocha with a pump of raspberry sauce and an order of blueberry pancakes, please.” Sakura could feel her blood sugar start to spike with her order, but she didn’t care. She wanted her sugar and no one will stand in her way. Her usual black coffee just wouldn’t cut it today.

After paying she took her number and looked for a seat. She scanned the coffee shop looking for an open seat. She hoped to get one by the windows because the thought of drinking her sugar and people watching really appealed to her. However, she paused when she saw a familiar mess of blonde hair.

“Mr. Namikaze?”

_____________________________

Over the last few weeks Minato felt like he was going at turbo speed. They were finally going to submit the proposal for the bank tower and he really wanted to get it. His desire to beat everyone else is what brought him into work on a Saturday morning. Well Naruto waking up at 6am this morning and then not wanting to go back to sleep also played a role in the decision as well.

Minato dressed Naruto in a simple outfit with a baby Yoda top and light jacket. It was such a beautiful morning that Minato strapped Naruto in a baby carrier and walked to his office downtown. The streets were peaceful as he strolled down the streets. He passed a few runners, saw some people on their stoops getting their morning paper. Mornings were one of his favorite times of the day. He always enjoyed the stillness that came with mornings. How things didn’t have to be rushed. Kushina could never understand his love for mornings.

“Why can’t you just go back to sleep. There are more hours in the day that you could be awake. Be lazy with me.”

Minato loved their lazy mornings, but he didn’t want to waste a day when there was so much work to be done. He soon found himself walking into the lobby of the building his office was in.

“Morning Mr. Namikaze. You just can’t escape this place it seems.” The security officer gave him a warm greeting. Minato just smiled and held Naruto closer to him.

“Is that Naruto?” The security officer, Jin, had come over to take a peak. He would never forget all the conversations he had with Jin when he found out he was going to be a father. Jin had 3 older children and provided a lot of advice. However, it was one of his lowest mornings that Jin was there for him.

It had been a month since Naruto was born and Minato went into work on a Sunday morning. He just sat in his office. For the first time tears fell from his eyes.

“I don’t know how I am going to do this.” He just wanted to wallow in his misery. Minato wanted to be alone, but Jin was checking the floors on his daily rounds.

“Mr. Namikaze is everything alright?” Minato wanted to say that no nothing was alright. Everything was wrong. How the hell was he going to raise a child on his own. Kushina would be able to do it without batting an eye. Minato didn’t read all of the baby books. He didn’t look at preschools and daycares before Naruto came into the world. Minato could barely put a diaper on in the baby classes.

Jin seemed to read his thoughts and he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry about Kushina. She was a wonderful woman.” Jin paused. Minato found the tears falling faster.

“Mr. Namikaze I have 3 kids of my own. I know you can raise Naruto and give him a wonderful life. My late wife died 2 years after our last was born. I found myself the sole caretaker of 3 rambunctious and moody girls. There are a lot of twists and turns in the life of parenting. The pain of losing a spouse will lessen overtime, but you will see her whenever you look into the eyes of your boy. I still see my wife in everything my girls do.”

Minato knew what it was like to lose his parents. It crushed him that Naruto would never have his mother.

“Do you ever feel like you were never enough?”

“All the time. But let me tell you something. As long as you love him that is more than enough.”

“Yes. Decided he should start earning money early for all the diapers we go through.” Jin gave him a deep laugh. They talked briefly and after 10 minutes, 8 of which Jin held Naruto and almost didn’t let him go, Minato ventured to his office. The moment he stepped in he realized one important fact. He forgot something for Naruto to sit in. ‘Crap’ Why didn’t he think further ahead! Minato looked around his office. He really wanted to work, but didn’t want to keep the heavy baby carrier on him. He strolled over to his desk trying not to panic. As he sat down in his chair he looked around. He then realized he had a suit jacket on the back of his door. He can lay the jacket out on the floor and Naruto could lay on that! Plus Naruto was holding his fox toy so that should provide enough entertainment for Minato to get some work done.

Within a few short minutes Minato was going over the proposal for the millionth time. Apparently in the middle of working Naruto fell asleep. It wasn’t until a knock on his office door happened that Minato realized the time. It was now 830am and he had been working for the last hour. He looked up to see who was at work today.

“Rin? Obito? What are you two doing here?” The couple were dressed casually both in jeans and simple shirts. Minato laughed when he realized they were in matching shirts. He really wanted Obito to propose soon. The last time they talked he was planning on it in the next couple of months.

“No Minato the important question is why are you at work on a Saturday morning?” Rin was taping her foot and hands on her hips.

“This proposal…”

“The proposal is perfect and will be submitted first thing Monday morning.” It was Obito who cut him off. Minato wanted to protest.

“Don’t even start Minato. You need a break, so here is what is going to happen. Obito and I will take Naruto for the morning. You will go enjoy some time to yourself. Heaven knows that you have not taken a break since Naruto was born.” Minato tried to butt in, but Rin kept going.

“And we at least won’t get pizza sauce on Naruto.” Rin was now pulling him out of his chair. Obito had gathered Naruto from the floor, he somehow strapped the baby carrier to his chest already. Soon the foursome were in the elevator heading to the lobby.

“Have a good weekend guys.” Jin happily waved as they walked through the lobby.

“You too Jin and thanks for the text.” Obito waved enthusiastically.

“What text?” Minato didn’t like what he was thinking. “Did you have Jin keep tabs on me?”

Rin and Obito looked at each other and simultaneously answered. “We plead the 5th.”

Minato tried to follow them, but Rin wasn’t having it. “Go find a coffee shop or something to sit in.” When did Rin become so bossy?

So Minato ended up slowly strolling down the streets of downtown. He realized that he was needing another caffeine hit and could use some food as well. His attention was caught by a new coffee shop with an eclectic feel. ‘This will do.’ Once he saw the menu the fate was sealed. He ordered a simple plan late and a lavender vanilla scone. He soon found his place in one of the booths by the windows. It didn’t take too long before he pulled out his iPad and started to read, Ready Player One.

He tried to shut his worrying mind off. Soon Minato became engrossed in the novel; he didn’t see a certain pink haired doctor walk in, not until he heard her sing-song voice.

“Mr. Namikaze.” Minato looked up and all the air left his lungs. Standing before him was Dr. Haruno in running shorts and a sleeveless racer back exercise top.

“Dr. Haruno. How are you?” His heart was pounding so hard he thought it would pop out of his chest.

“Sakura.” He just stared at her.

“Excuse me.” Minato was confused.

“Please call me Sakura. We are outside of work and I feel weird when people call me a doctor outside of work. And I am doing good Mr. Namikaze. How are you?” Minato felt like an idiot. She was saying to call her by her first name. He really wanted to hit his head on the table.

“Minato. Please call me Minato then. I am doing well.” Sakura smiled at him. He then realized she was holding a number card and he also realized there were no seats available. Minato weighed the pros and cons of asking what he was about to. In the end he didn’t want Sakura to leave.

“Please join me. There are no other open seats and it looks like you have ordered.” He could tell she was hesitant. The moment she sat across from him he felt the small victory.

Sakura wasn’t sure what possessed her to sit down with Mr. Namikaze. Minato, she corrected in her head. Although as she thought about it, it was the logical choice. He had an empty seat and she needed to eat. He looked more relaxed so relaxed when he was reading she hated bothering him. As she looked around she realized someone was missing.

“Where’s Naruto?” Sakura found herself a little disappointed the other familiar mop of blonde hair wasn’t present. There was something about Naruto’s smile that tugged at her heart. He was sure to be a heartbreaker.

“Two of my friends took him for the morning. They wanted to give me a break.” Minato almost felt jealous of his own son. How many women would want to be in this position? As much as he was annoyed at not being the main focus it warmed him on the inside that Naruto’s pediatrician cared so much for him.

“That’s so sweet of them. They won’t eat pizza while holding him I hope.” Her smirk caused his stomach to summersault.

“No, they are much more responsible. I’m sure Rin wants it as practice for their future. Although Obito has to propose first.” Minato was surprised at the ease of carrying a conversation with her. Their conversation was interrupted when Sakura’s order arrived. He had never seen someone so happy to see food. He couldn’t help but chuckle at her kid in the candy store look on her face.

The smell of her coffee and pancakes filled her nostrils. She could smell the warm blueberries from the pancakes and a hint of lemon. Her coffee was strong, but the white chocolate and raspberry cut through some of the bitter notes as she took her fist sip. She wasted no time drizzling the pancakes with the blueberry syrup. She had to slow her actions remembering the last time she scarfed down food in front of Kakashi. All of Sakura’s self control went to stopping herself from devouring everything.

Minato could see the struggle in her eyes as she slowly ate her food. Looking at her attire she likely spent the morning working out and was likely to be starving.

“You don’t have to hold back eating your food in front of me. What were you doing this morning?” Sakura was touched by his words.

“I went for one of my runs, so I am very hungry.” She didn’t fully unleash all her enthusiasm onto her pancakes, but did pick up the pace. They were so flaky and melted in her mouth, worth every calorie. They sat in a comfortable silence as Sakura ate and Minato read. Sakura felt like the two names she heard were familiar, but didn’t know from where.

Halfway through her food her stomach was happy enough to slow down. She then took in the appearance of the man she was sitting with. The first time she met him she realized how drop dead gorgeous he was, he still is. It’s no wonder why all the nurses swoon for him.

Soon they were parting ways. Sakura could only make it through half of her coffee, but was able to get it in a to-go cup with some black coffee added to it.

“Thank you for letting me sit with you Mr...Minato. Tell Naruto I said hi.” Just like that he watched Sakura walk away.

Minato texted Rin to see where they were. His nerves were on end until she texted back. Relief rushed over him once she said they were back home. Rin had a spare set of keys to his home and wanted Naruto to be in a familiar environment.

It was a quick walk back home. The moment Minato walked into his home he took out his phone to take a picture. Obito was sprawled out on the couch, Rin nestled into him, and Naurto played on Obito’s chest. Rin heard the snap of his phone and looked up.

“Minato! You’re back. How was your break?” Rin easily navigated over Obito and Naruto to get up. Minato thought back to his time with Sakura.

“It was just what I needed. Thank you for strong arming me into it.” Naruto startled to babble as he heard his father’s voice. Minato wasted no time in picking him up. Obito yawned and stretched.

“We should better get going. I expect to be babysitting more often.” Rin gave Minato a quick hug and kicked Obito as they walked out the door.

Minato sat down on his couch, Naruto on his knee. He bounced him up and down. After being in the coffee shop he realized how quiet his home was.

“You will never guess who I ran into today.” Naruto just tilted his head to the side and smiled.

“Dr. Haruno says hi.”

__________________________

The energy in the office was chaotic. They had just submitted the proposal and knew time would move at a snail's pace until they heard. It could be today or in the next couple of weeks. Minato wanted to throw up. He couldn’t think about all the what ifs, so started to check on the progress of their other buildings.

Currently they were working on a couple of restaurants for the Akimichi family, the Uhiha’s were wanting a revamped police station, and the Nara’s wanted a second building for their accounting firm. He also had that strange job from Nagato from a group called Akatsuki. Minato still didn’t know what the group did. All he got from Nagato was that the group represented a variety of different interests in a variety of areas.

Lunch was eaten at his desk as he worked through the hour. He didn’t want to stop. If he stopped he would just worry about that stupid proposal for Sarutobi International Bank. Minato looked up and saw Kakashi and Obito fooling around. Those two were only a couple of years younger than him, but acted like toddlers. At least Rin had a decent head on her shoulders.

He was pulled out his thoughts when his secretary called him. It was the Sarutobi group. They were calling already. They must have looked at the building proposal, laughed, and then threw it in the garbage.

“This is Minato.” His hands started to sweat.

“Minato, my boy. This is Hiruzen Sarutobi. I just wanted to tell you we got a lot of different architecture firms submitting some top notch building proposals.” Yep here came the rejection.

“Your group’s proposal was such an easy standout we didn’t have to debate for long. This was one of the smoothest meetings we have had for our buildings. Typically we take at least a month to decide.” Minato’s jaw dropped. Did Hiruzen just say…

“Congratulations Minato. Your firm has been chosen to build our newest tower. My office will send over the details in the next couple of days.”

“Tha…” He had to cough to clear his voice. “Thank you sir. I look forward to working with you.” Minato sat back as he hung up the phone. His mind was still processing what just happened. When he looked up he saw his staff looking at him. He got up slowly from his desk and walked out to talk to them.

Kakashi and Obito stopped fooling around. Rin had gone back to her own job after visiting Obito for lunch. He took in the faces of his staff.

“I’m sure you all would like to know what that call was about. As you probably heard, that was Hiruzen Sarutobi who just called. He wanted to inform us…” Minato paused wanting to build the dramatic effect. “He wanted to tell us we got the job! We will be building their newest bank tower.” Cheers soon erupted. Obito looked like he was about to have a heart attack.

“We need to celebrate. What do you think boss, how about Friday?” Obito was bouncing up and down. Minato thought about the idea. His staff deserved to celebrate the news.

“That sounds good. I’ll see if one of Choza’s restaurants could cater for us. Obito, I expect Rin to be there. Kakashi try not to be too late.” Minato went to walk away when he heard Obito speak.

“Come on Kakashi you have to bring the woman you have been seeing. Rin and I are dying to meet her. “ Wait Kakashi was seeing someone! How did he not know about this? Minato turned around and Kakashi was sending texts to someone. As Minato walked around his staff letting them know about the party he soon heard Kakashi’s phone ring. Minato didn’t care to listen to the conversation, but wondered who this mystery woman could be.

___________________________

Sakura walked into the office Monday morning more refreshed than she had been in months. She felt so energized that she went for a run this morning. Usually she waited till evening to run, but with the endorphins released this morning she needed to switch to morning. Seeing that her schedule was fully booked didn’t even bother her. Bring on all of the antibiotics seeking parents for their child’s viral infection and teenage girls with abdominal pain.

It seemed like time flew because the next thing Sakura knew she was seeing her last patient. As she walked back to her office she saw she had messages from Kakashi. His last message said to give him a call when she could. She wondered what he wanted to talk about. Sakura prepared herself for ‘the talk’ as she called him.

“Hey Kakashi. It’s Sakura.” She was slightly surprised when she heard his voice having an excitement in it she never heard before.

“Sakura thanks for getting back to me. I was wanting to know what your plans are for Friday night.” That was not the question she was expecting.

“I don’t have any at the moment.” Before she could continue Kakashi cut in.

“How would you feel about coming to a work party with me on Friday. The firm I work with just got this big job and the boss wants to celebrate. I was wanting to bring you with me.” Sakura’s heart warmed at him wanting her to come with him.

“I would love to go with you. Let me know the time and if yo…”

“Great I will pick you up at 8.” Sakura could hear people celebrating in the background.

“I’ll see you then.” Sakura sighed as she hung up the phone. Mei happened to be walking by as she sighed.

“What’s with the heavy sigh?” Sakura looked at her coworker. She was drop dead gorgeous, long reddish brown hair and green eyes. Sakra couldn’t understand how she was still single.

“Oh I’m just debating how late my date will be picking me up Friday night.” Sakura thought she would play it safe and plan for him to be 30 minutes late.

“I would kill for a guy to be late, it would give me more time to get ready. I’m never ready in time. Do you want me to cover your call shift that night? I think it would be fair since you covered for me a month or so ago.” Sakura forgot she was supposed to be on call. She was thrilled that Mei offered to take the shift without being asked.

“That would be amazing.” Now all Sakura had to do was figure out what to wear. Mei bid her a good night as they both headed out.

___________________________

Sakura stared at herself in the mirror. It was currently 820 and Kakashi wasn’t here yet. She had just finished her hair and makeup. After talking with Ino she decided to do a side french braid in her hair and then gathered the rest into a ponytail. She kept her makeup in neutral tones, but used her shimmery eyeshadow palette, giving her a grey smokey eye. It was now time to put on her dress.

She had gone with Ino yesterday after work to pick out something. Sakura wasn’t fully sure about the dress code for this event, so wanted something that could be dressy or more casual if needed. They had found a deep red off the shoulder fit n flare dress. She was going to pair it with her silver wedges. She wasn’t going to wear a necklace, but decided on drop earrings that were silver tear drops. Just as Sakura was putting on her heels her doorbell rang.

“Ready to go?” Kakashi looked amazing in his simple black dress slacks and white dress shirt. At least her outfit went with his. Sakura didn’t even care to bring up the fact that he was late, again.

“Yep, all ready.”

Soon they were entering his office building and Sakura was blown away by the lobby. Arched ceilings with metal beams. There were skylights allowing for natural light to come in. They took the elevator up to the 15 floor. As they got closer Sakura could hear that the party was in full swing.

“My friends are looking forward to meeting you.” Kakashi had looped his arm through hers.

“I’m looking forward to meeting them as well.” Kakashi and Sakura entered the party. There were trays of food being walked around by some waiters. She could also see a buffet set up along the windows. Kakashi navigated her around the party. He was looking for two of his closest friends.

“Kakashi! You showed up and only 45 minutes late.” A man with black hair and eyes was talking, the first thing she noticed were his kind eyes and smile. He was about as tall as Kakashi.

“Oh is this Sakura?” Kakashi untwined their arms and placed his hand on her back.

“Yes, this is Sakura. Sakura this is Obito.” Sakura paused, that was the name Minato mentioned. It then clicked in her brain. The two who were watching Naruto were also Kakashi’s best friends. That’s why the names were so familiar.

“Nice to meet you.” Obito’s grin was from ear to ear. Soon another person joined them. She had medium brown hair in a long bob and hazel eyes. The woman gave Obito a peck on the cheek. Sakura found Obito’s blush endearing.

“You must be Rin. I’m Sakura. It’s nice to meet you.” Rin seemed shocked that Sakura knew her name, but was soon shaking her hand vigorously.

“Oh it’s so good to meet you.” Soon the four were making the rounds at the party. Sakura enjoyed talking with Rin. They found out they had a lot in common with Rin working as a psychologist and Sakura a pediatrician. It was watching Obito and Rin interact that made Sakura realize she saw Kakashi more as a friend than anything else.

“Hey Kakashi has the boss man meet Sakura yet?” The moment Kakashi shook his head no Obito was leading them to another area of the room. Sakura froze when she saw him. Kakashi’s boss was Naruto’s father.

“Hey Minato. Kakashi showed up and he brought a date.” Minato looked over to the group. The moment Sakura entered the party Minato saw her. She looked breathtaking in her dress. That familiar feeling in his stomach returned. He could feel his heart beat faster. However, it was like a bucket of cold water was thrown on him when he saw she was with Kakashi. He tried to ignore the two as they walked around the party. Sakura attracted the attention of many of the staff and other attendants. One reason was that she came with Kakashi. The other was everyone was taken by her looks. It was not everyday a person with candy hair and dazzling emeralds for eyes came into the office.

As those eyes focused on him everything else faded away. Sakura then opened her mouth. “Mr. Namikaze it's good to see you again.” Sakura was conflicted on how to address Minato. She thought the best course of action would be to take the professional approach.

“Wait, do you two know each other.” It was Kakashi who actually decided to speak. He looked perplexed.

“Dr. Haruno is Naruto’s pediatrician.” Rin looked giddy beside Obito.

“Congratulations on the new job.” Sakura wasn’t sure what to do. She could feel all eyes on her and it was making her have a slight freak out. Soon Rin was telling stories of babysitting Naruto, which Sakura smiled at. They were then going to the buffet table and sat down to talk. Obito was part of the Uchiha family and decided to go into design over the police force. Sakura then got into a story of how she knew Shisui from childhood. Minato was friends with Fugaku and Mikoto, who had recently given birth to her second son. Itachi was an adorable eight year old who she had only seen a couple of times.

Sakura found herself needing some fresh air, which meant she would have to go down to the lobby.

“Kakashi I need some fresh air. I’m going to head downstairs for a little bit and I’ll be back up.” As she went to stand up Kakashi stopped her.

“We have a balcony we use at times. Let me show it to you. That way we don’t have to go all the way downstairs.” They two excused themselves. The balcony had a stunning view of the city and the crisp air was like a welcoming hug after being in a room with so many people. Kakashi just stood beside her.

“Kakashi, I have been thinking about what we are and…” She had to pause. Sakura wasn’t sure if this was the best time to bring it up, but she feared she would lose her nerve later.

“I have enjoyed spending time with you, but I feel like we would work better as friends.” Sakura rushed the part after the but. She could feel herself internally wince, hating how cliche she just sounded. However, she was speaking the truth about being friends with him, especially after meeting Obito and Rin. He seemed to let out a sigh...of relief.

“I have enjoyed spending time with you as well, but am glad I am not the only one who thinks we would work better as friends.” Sakura couldn’t contain herself as she hugged Kakashi. His chuckle sounded deep from his chest. She felt him place a soft kiss on the crown of her head. They went back to the party both feeling lighter.

“By the way I have someone who I think you would really like. She is a coworker of mine.”

____________________

Minato watched as they walked away. The feeling of jealousy was nothing like how he felt when Sakura just paid attention to Naruto. Minato could understand that. This however. This was something different. He didn’t know much about Sakura, but enjoyed being around her. Aside from Obito, Rin, Kakashi, and Naruto she was a welcome relief to the darkness that surrounded him so often recently.

So Minato followed them, discreetly of course. He couldn’t hear their conversation, but saw their embrace. His heart felt heavy. Then he had to turn away when Kakashi kissed her head. Minato went back to the table to sit back down. He watched as Rin happily ate her dessert.

“Do you think your friend would still want to go for that date?” Minato had to move on, one baby step at a time.

#minasaku #minato x sakura #minato namikaze #Sakura Haruno #naruto #fanfic #multisaku

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redvoid-40 · 5 years

Text

Chapter 2:

Hey! Here’s the second chapter! Hope you guys enjoy it! :D @demeterrist I’m tagging you because you seemed interested in this. But let me know if you don’t want me to. :)

Fandom: Naruto

Fanfic title: ???

Chapter 2: Graduation Day

Genre: Friendship, Adventure, Hurt/Comfort

Word count: 1796

Warnings: none

Previous chapter / Next chapter

----

Today was the day. After two years of hard work, Shin was finally going to have the chance to prove herself and become a Shinobi from Konoha.

It hadn’t been easy. Before moving to the village, becoming a Ninja wasn’t something Shin had ever considered, so there was a lot of catching up she had to do to reach the level of her classmates. There were far too many sleepless nights studying Ninjutsu and Genjutsu, and even more long afternoons training her Taijutsu to make up for her lack of talent in the aforementioned two.

But it would be all worth it. She wanted to believe it would be.

Shin stared at herself in the mirror and took a deep breath. She was dressed in her Ninja attire: a gray heathered vest that she kept zipped halfway up, with deep pockets on the front and hidden pockets inside. She wore a orange tank top underneath her vest and matching wristbands, both a gift from Naruto. On her lower half she wore black pants tucked in traditional blue Shinobi sandals with a couple of kunai holders on her right thigh. Her light brown hair barely reached her shoulders, maintaining that length which was too short to tie in a ponytail and too long not to get in her eyes, so she pinned her bangs to the side with a couple of orange hair clips, while the rest of her hair reached the top of her shoulders in messy, thick curls.

She was ready. She had to be.

Mama, Papa, I’ll make you both proud today.

There was a loud knock at the door, followed by Naruto’s voice.

“Shin-chaaaan! Are you up? We need to get going, believe it!”

Shin nodded at herself in the mirror and left her apartment.

Once they arrived at the Academy, Shin and Naruto were told to wait in class for their names to be called one by one. Naruto was called first, and Shin watched him go with a smile and good luck wishes.

Left alone, Shin raised a hand to the nape of her neck and immediately started to loop her finger around one of the thickest curls in her hair. She always did that when she was particularly nervous.

As she waited for her turn, Ino suddenly flanked her side.

“Good morning, Shin.” The blonde said with a cat’s smile.

“Ah, Ino-chan, good morning! Ready for the exam?”

“Of course! I’ll ace it. What about you?”

“Well, I’m not 100% certain I’ll pass… but I’ll do my best!”

Ino’s smile softened slightly. “I’m sure you will. But there was something else I wanted to talk to you about.”

Shin’s smile didn’t falter. “Yes?”

“I noticed you’re letting your hair grow.”

“I am actually! Sometimes it can’t be a real bother though… These hair clips can barely hold my bangs. I tried wearing a headband for a day, but it felt really itchy.”

“Well, is there any specific reason you decided to grow out your hair?”

Suddenly Sakura appeared at her other side, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “Yes, Shin! Tell us, why did you start growing out your hair?”

Ino glared at Sakura over Shin’s head as the later lowered her gaze to the floor, feeling a blush creep up her cheeks. The pink-haired girl glared right back at the blonde.

“Ah… you see… It’s a bit embarrassing.” Shin began, successfully catching both girls’ attention and making them fix their glare on the back of her head.

“YES?”

“I-I noticed you were all were growing out your hair too… And you all look really pretty.” Shin began, face becoming redder by the second. “So I… I thought I’d try it out too.”

Sakura and Ino exchanged a look.

“It’s not because you like Sasuke-kun, then?” The first asked, quite directly.

“Uh?” Shin let out, appearing every bit as confused as she felt.

“Oh, Sakura! You really have no shame do you?” Ino exclaimed, wrapping both arms around Shin and pulling to girl to herself. “Embarrassing Shin like that just because you were jealous!”

Sakura rose a fist at Ino. “You were the one that started it!”

“Yes, because I was curious as a friend! By the way, I really like your new look, Shin!”

“T-Thanks? I’m sorry, I didn’t want to cause any trouble between you two...”

“It’s not your fault, Shin.” Sakura reassured, still glaring at Ino. “It’s that Ino Pig’s fault!”

Ino pushed Shin to the side and got face to face with Sakura. “Who are you calling a pig, Billboard Brow?”

Immediately the two fell into one of their arguments as the rest of the class watched in a mix of worry and annoyance. Shin wondered if she should try and stop them, though she knew by experience that they’d fight until they were both tired of it, regardless of what anyone else said.

The door to the classroom opened them. Iruka-sensei took a look at what was happening and sighed before calling the next name.

“Next up, Uchiha Sasuke!”

Now, that put a pause on things as the two girls - and almost every other girl in class - yelled out a “Good luck, Sasuke-kun!”

Shin didn’t really understand what the whole hype about Sasuke was. Despite having a similar backstory as the boy she honestly found it difficult to even make polite conversation with him. He was too intimidating.

Maybe one day I’ll be able to call him a friend as well.

---

After wishing a few more minutes of waiting Shin was led into a classroom with only Iruka-sensei and Mizuki-sensei. The first smiled at her kindly.

“In order to pass this test, you must create clones of yourself, Shin-kun.”

Shin gulped. Creating clones wasn’t her best technique but she thought she could manage at least a decent copy. Naruto on the other hand…

Naruto-chan, I hope you practiced.

“Whenever you’re ready, Shin-kun.” Mizuki-sensei spoke.

“Ah! Sorry!, Here I go! Bunshin no Jutsu!”

The teachers watched in slight confusion as Shin’s body flashed blue for a second before a clone appeared by her side. It was just one, but it stood tall and fully functional in front of them.

“Is that enough?” Shin asked as she dried the sweat off her brow. She really had a hard time with any kind of Ninjutsu. “I think I can do one more if you want.”

Please, say you don’t.

Iruka and Mizuki exchanged a glance and a shrug.

“Your chakra seemed to falter for a moment there, but I’ll let it pass. The clone is good and seems functional. Congratulations, Shin-chan!” Iruka said with a big smile as he offered her a Konoha forehead protector. “As your teacher, I’m very proud of you. I’m sure you’ll be a great Shinobi.”

Shin blushed and grabbed her prize.

“I’ll work hard, Iruka-sensei.”

---

Shin ran out of the Academy Building with her forehead protector in hand and a big grin on her face. Brown eyes darted from side to side, looking for a familiar head of blonde hair.

“Hey, isn’t that the kid who…”

“Yeah, that’s him. The only one who failed.”

“Serves him right.”

Shin knew that condescending tone, and even if she had never understood where it came from she knew exactly who it was directed at. Following the women’s line of sight, Shin found the person she was looking for, sitting on a swing with a sad look on his face.

Shin hid her forehead protector inside one of her pockets and took a step towards him.

“Narut-”

“Shin, we made it!”

Before she understood what had happened Shin had been pulled back by none other than Ino, who was grinning and jumping up and down in excitement with her hand clasped between both of hers.

“Ino-chan, congratulations!”

“Tell me, where are you going to tie your protector? I was thinking of wearing mine as a belt!”

Shin smiled. “That’s a good idea. I think I’ll wear mine around my left arm-”

“Ah! Sasuke-kun! Congratulations to you too!”

Faster than Ino had grabbed her hand, she let her it go to run to Sasuke, alongside the other girls in class. Shin sighed but couldn’t help the amused little curl of her lips as she watched them. She didn’t understand their crush on Sasuke, but she couldn’t deny it must be nice to care about someone like that.

Shin turned back to the swing where Naruto was. To her surprise though he wasn’t alone anymore; Mizuki-sensei was talking to him.

And just as she was about to walk towards them, they left.

That’s weird.

---

Shin had looked for Naruto everywhere. She went to Ichiraku, his apartment, her apartment, the Hokage Rock, and nothing. The sun was already setting and there was no sign of the blonde.

Until nightfall came and with it a desperate-looking Iruka knocking at her door, pulling her away from her lute-practice.

“Iruka-sensei, what time is it? Did something happen?”

“Shin-kun! Do you know where Naruto is?!”

The girl’s eyes widened as worry immediately gripped at her heart. “I haven’t talked to him since before the Exam. Did something happen to him? Is he alright?!”

“I can’t talk about it right now. I need to go!”

Just as Iruka was about to jump off Shin grabbed the back of his vest.

“Iruka-sensei, I saw Mizuki-sensei talking to Naruto-chan after the Exam. They ran off before I could talk to them.” Shin spoke, voice hiding nothing of her anxiety. “I don’t know if this is of any help but… I thought it strange. Mizuki-sensei never was one to talk to us after class like you usually do.”

Iruka frowned at her words. “I see. Thanks, Shin-kun. You go back inside and I’ll find Naruto, alright?”

Shin nodded. “Let me know when you find him. I’ll be awake.”

---

The sun was starting to rise in the horizon and Shin hadn’t slept at all. It wasn’t uncommon for her to suffer from insomnia, but it was the first time she had been propositaly depriving herself from sleep. She brewed green tea and coffee, paced around her apartment and practiced playing her father’s old lute.

Naruto-chan, Iruka-sensei, where are you two?

The girl sighed and put her kettle back on the stove, ready for her second pot of coffee, when there was a knock at her door.

She ran to it and pulled it open desperately, almost tearing the thing off its hinges. What met her eyes was a surprised Iruka-sensei and a sheepish-looking Naruto.

Naruto was wearing a Shinobi forehead protector.

“Sorry to worry you, Shin-chan. It took me a little longer, but I caught up to you. Believe it!”

Tears overflowing from her eyes, Shin smiled and pulled Naruto in a hug.

“I never doubted you would, Naruto-chan.”

#fanfic #chapter 2 #naruto #uzumaki naruto #Konoha #iruka #umino iruka #ino #yamanaka ino #sakura #haruno sakura #shin #osasu shin #oc #mizuki #genin #gaara x oc #friendship

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caitlinsnow-yayyy · 5 years

Text

Why Him? (a kwami swap story)

Very overdue story for my friend @nerdasaurus1200 - a King Monkey and Ryuko kwami swap story! You can probably imagine chaos will ensue from these two swapping... and maybe, a new friendship?

We shall see! I hope anyone reading this enjoys it :) And Nerd, my friend, I hope this was worth the wait! :D Sorry this took so long lol.

(story under the cut)

Oh, of all the people, why Kim?

Today, Adrien and Marinette had decided that the team wasn't working well enough together, and they decided to have a set apart Saturday for a mandatory team bonding exercise - kwami swapping. Chloe got Alix, Max got Nathaniel, Marc switched with Juleka, Ivan swapped with Rose, who then swapped with Mylene; Alya swapped with Nino, and her own boyfriend, Luka, got to swap with Sabrina. Marinette and Adrien swapped (of course).

Their only instructions were to not leave their partner for the day; they didn't even need to seek out an akuma. They could literally go shopping if they wanted to, so long as they stood together.

And she... had gotten Kim.

"You promise to bring that back in one piece, right?" Kim asked, pointing to his circlet.

Kagami gave him a dead stare. "I should ask you the same for my choker."

"Oh, it'll be fine!" Kim smirked. "This is Le Chien Kim ya got here! Not a klutz."

Kagami, again, deadpanned him. Were these words seriously coming out of his mouth right now? Honestly, of all the people she could've gotten, why KIM?! Kim with the Dragon Miraculous just sounded like an accident waiting to happen.

She just didn't feel like throwing a rubber banana today either.

As if examples of how the others days were going couldn't get shoved in her face any more than what her mind was already doing, Nathaniel, equipped with Voyage, Naruto-ran through two portals about two rooftops away from them. Max, equipped with the Fire Flame power, was chasing him with a crossbow that had a flaming arrow. Somehow they were laughing.

"Let's just get this over with," Kagami sighed. "You go first."

"Sweet!" Kim said. "Alright, LONGG - BRING THE STORM!"

She would be lying if she said the Dragon costume didn't fit well on Kim - his suit was a darker red than hers, and his hair that normally stuck up was now covered with a horn-like design for a mask. Honestly, it kinda looked like Dark Cupid. He had wings imprinted into the spandex on his back, and his sword fell into his hands.

Why was she so scared of this?

"Oh, this is so cool!" he exclaimed. "I shall be known as... Doragon Kaosu!"

"Chaos Dragon - fitting," Kagami nodded. "Alright... guess its my turn. XUPPU, SHOWTIME!"

Kagami had already decided her name was going to be Queen Monkey; she saw no need to be original with her name. After all, it wasn't like she was gonna be the Monkey wielder for long. She was just eager for 6 o'clock to roll around so this could be over with.

"Holy crap," Doragon said once her transformation was up, "you look badass!"

Kagami had to smile at that one - despite the fact that Kim was an idiot, he still had his moments, and was really just a fun-loving soul at heart. No one could deny that. "Thank you, Doragon. Now, wanna take your Miraculous for a test run?"

Suddenly, an akuma flew past - he was some sort of hang-gliding akuma, yelling at the top of his lungs about how hang-gliding school was real and not a joke.

"Oh, oh this is perfect!" Doragon laughed. "I've always wanted to do this..."

"Wait, what are you-"

"LIGHTNING DRAGON!"

Doragon suddenly turned into a lightning bolt, and struck the hang-gliding akuma man out of the sky. Queen Monkey screamed out bloody murder in horror, fearing for her sake and for her life that Kim hadn't even been Doragon Kaosu for two minutes and he had already killed someone!

"KIM!" yelled Queen Monkey. "WHAT THE HELL?!"

"Chill, he's fine!" said Doragon, manifesting back in front of her. "I made sure to check his pulse before I got back. He'll live."

"YEAH, FOR LIKE ANOTHER MINUTE!" Queen Monkey screamed. "OH MY GOD!"

"Chill out, Queenie!" Doragon said, genuinely becoming concerned for her. "Its gonna be fine!"

"Woah, what's going on here?"

Kagami and Kim looked up, and there was another kwami swap duo: Luka, now Blue Heeler, and Sabrina, now Hydra. "Gami? Kim? You two okay?" asked Heeler.

"I just struck somebody with lightning, and Queenie over here thinks it'll kill him," Doragon said, somehow completely nonchalant that he had just struck down someone with lightning.

"O..Oh... y-yeah, that'll do it," Heeler muttered, taking a deep breath.

"Should I use Second Chance?" asked Hydra.

"N-No... I think its probably best we leave you two to work this out," Heeler said.

"Wait!" Queen Monkey whispered to him. "P-Please... I-I don't know if I can handle this..."

"Hey, you're gonna do just fine," Heeler reassured her. "It'll probably take some getting used to, but-"

"I-Its not that," Queen Monkey said softly. "I-Its...w-well... he's an idiot."

"You don't know that," Heeler said gently. "Reckless? Probably. Chaotic? You bet! But give him a chance, okay? Please?"

Kagami looked up at Luka... damn those soft eyes. It always made her crack and she hated it! Well, okay, no, she didn't hate it. But she just wished... oh, never mind.

"Fine," she crumbled.

"Thank you so much, Gami," smiled Heeler. "Seriously. Thank you."

"M-hmm," Queen Monkey nodded, trying to appear as sincere as possible. Truth be told, she was still dreading the rest of the day. Hydra and Doragon then wrapped up whatever they were chatting about, and then Sabrina ran off with Luka to go continue their own kwami-swap adventure.

And thank the Lord, the paramedics arrived to take the hang-glider akuma guy away for proper treatment...

-0-

4:00

Oh, just one more hour... one more!

And then, she would have Longg back, and Kim would be back with Xuppu. Like it should be. She was excited to finally get back to normal...

"Hey, Kagami?"

"Hmm?"

The two were currently resting on a rooftop, having just caught another akuma in the trusty akuma-catching portable butterfly nets that they had been supplied with. How they worked was beyond them, but hey, they worked; hopefully Mister Bug didn't mind a surplus of akumas to purify.

"Do you... do you hate me?" Doragon asked.

"What? No no, no!" Queen Monkey said, sitting upright. "Of course not!"

"Are you sure?" he asked, seeming... genuinely troubled. "You sure do act like it."

"No no, God no! I don't hate you, Kim!" Queen Monkey said. "Its just... its..."

"Hmm?" Doragon asked, looking down.

"I'M JEALOUS! I'm jealous, okay?! That's it!" she blurted out. "Its just... you're able to be so reckless and chaotic all the time! And yet, somehow, you can... I don't know, control the chaos? I wish I could do that, for crying out loud! I've always had to be perfect, nothing could be off! Being Queen Monkey has given me a sweet release, and I've really enjoyed it, and you make an excellent Dragon wielder but my pride wouldn't let me admit it! There! Are you happy?"

Queen Monkey then took in deep breaths of air, never having vented like that before... it was new.

And honestly, it felt good to get that off of her chest.

Suddenly, Doragon put a hand on her shoulder, and smiled sadly.

"Wanna know something?" Doragon said. "I'm... I'm kinda jealous of you too."

"Huh?" Queen Monkey said in shock.

"You're able to create a plan on the fly, and you never have to just wing it," Doragon said. "Not only that, but you can be picture perfect when needed. I'm always this big mess of chaos, never really able to control anything but. Though I do wish, at times, that I could be a straight shooter; like you! So yeah, I'm kinda jealous of you too..."

Queen Monkey chuckled. "Well then... uhm..."

"Don't know what to say?" asked Doragon.

"Read my mind," nodded Queen Monkey. "Uh... so... I guess, uh, we're even? Of sorts?"

Doragon shrugged. "Guess so... but really, I'm glad you don't hate me."

"God, how could I hate you?" asked Queen Monkey. "Honestly, though at times, you are a moron - its hilarious. You're hilarious. I'm not only jealous of your ability to control chaos, but your sense of humor is so natural flowing and witty - I could never do that! That's a gift!"

"You kidding me? Of course you could!" Doragon laughed. "And your stoicism... the ability to keep a stone cold glare going for more than five seconds. I'm envious of that, because I know I couldn't do that for shite!"

"Oh come on, you could!" Queen Monkey exclaimed. "See, the trick is to..."

The two wouldn't count on it, but they'd spend the next hour chatting and talking like they were best friends. They'd talk similarities, their differences, what was going on in their romantic lives, how they thought of their powers on the norm, etc.

After the conversation, honestly, the two honestly weren't even ready to swap back when Mister Bug sent out the signal for them to come back.

-0-

"So, how was that day, guys?" asked Mister Bug to the currently present heroes. Lady Noire still had her arm hooked around his; those two were madly in love. It was almost sickeningly cute.

"SO MUCH FUN!" Tourterelle (turtle!Alya) exclaimed.

"Yeah, this was a sick day!" Red Vix (fox!Nino) added.

"AWESOME!" Sun Screamer (rooster!Max) yelled.

"I had so much fun!" Trotter (horse!Nath) exclaimed. "This may actually be the best team bonding exercise idea ever! Thanks you two!"

"Honestly, we didn't get much action," Mr. Stripes (tiger!Marc) chuckled.

"I mean, I guess I learned how to tap dance," Madame Hoofer (goat!Juleka) shrugged with a smile (she failed to notice Rose's sudden blush). "Just what happens when ya get bored, y'know?"

"Its difficult to be intimidating like this," Pink Boar (pig!Ivan) said sadly.

"Oh, you're always a sweetheart to me!" Bluebell (ox!Mylene) smiled up at her boyfriend.

"So cute!" Mouselia (mouse!Rose) said, holding her hands together.

"We had a lot of fun," Blue Heeler (dog!Luka) smiled.

"Yeah, it was actually pretty fun using Repetition as a power!" Hydra (snake!Sabrina) said, equally as happy.

"Psh... It was okay, I guess," Madame Cottontail (bunny!Chloe) shrugged.

"Oh come on, you loved it!" Hornet (bee!Alix) said, smirking smugly.

"Well, we're glad you all had fun!" Lady Noire smiled. "Uh... Kim? Kagami? How'd you all fare?"

There was tension - everyone could feel it. A commonly shared feeling of dread was shared at the start of the day when it was announced that Kim and Kagami would be swapping Miraculouses... but everyone was caught off guard by the two nodding and smirking at one another.

"When can we do it again?" the two asked.

"O-Oh!" Lady Noire gasped, not expecting that answer. "W-Well... uhm, we hadn't thought of doing this again!"

"But, m'lady, you do have to agree - this has been a very successful day," Mister Bug said.

"You're very right, my bug," smiled Lady Noire, nodding. "Well... how about not next Saturday, but the Saturday after? Same swaps? Everyone cool with that?"

A simultaneous nod went around the group, and Lady Noire and Mister Bug settled it - every other Saturday would henceforth be known as "Kwami Swap Day".

"Pound it?" asked Doragon, sticking out his fist.

Queen Monkey nodded, returning the bump. "Pound it."

It hadn't been expected, no, but it wasn't any less welcome because of that.

This friendship would be one for the ages, for sure...

#miraculous ladybug #ml fanfiction #kwami swap #mister bug #lady noire #miracuclass #le chien kim #kagami tsurugi #xuppu #longg #king monkey #ryuko

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