#who were more prominent in kakashi life?

[obikonans]

Fuck pierrot for not making kakashi and sarada interact

[pupkashi]

hype

kakashi doesn’t understand how genma can be so smitten with one person, until he meets said person

a/n: hi friends ! thank you sm for this request <3 im thinking of making this into a series if you guys would like that ? let me know what you all think :]

wordcount: 2,946

masterlist

“-and they changed their hair today! usually they wear it in this one certain style but today they-” kakashi zoned out again, Genma’s all too familiar musings become more and more similar everyday.

“genma do you even talk to them? seems like you just stalk them from afar” the silver haired jonin replies, genma stares at him in shock.

“pft! of course i do!” his chest is puffed out and he’s looking to the side with an angry pout, “i tell them good morning and goodbye” he mutters, kakashi shakes his head.

“i don’t see how one person that you barely even talk to can be so captivating” he mumbles, rolling his eyes as genma gasps, as if you’d insulted his entire bloodline.

“how dare you hatake! y/n is the most amazing person in this village! maybe even the world!” he’s defending you as if you were already married and a life together.

“it’s a silly crush genma! talk about them when you actually make a move” kakashi scoffs, leaving genma alone in the street as he turns to make his way to his apartment.

and so that’s how genma found himself in his current predicament, reciting the words in his brain he’d say to you when you flashed him that bright smile of yours. all he had to do was invite you to dinner! it’s not like it was a straightforward date, some of his other friends would be going. it was a good way to ease into this!

genma is staring much too hard at a tree when he hears your voice from behind him, “i think that one’s an oak tree if that’s why you’re so focused on it” you laugh, smiling when genma turns to face you.

“y/n!” he shrieks, eyes widening before clearing his throat, “good morning! i didn’t even hear you” he smiled nervously and you bump his shoulder.

“you should be glad i didn’t become a shinobi, I’d probably outrank you” your voice is teasing as you wink at him, causing genma to think he was gonna go into cardiac arrest anytime soon.

“pft, as if!” he smiled back, “hey, you busy this afternoon?” he asks, his palms sweating beyond belief as you ponder his question.

“what today friday?” your lips are in a small pout as you think before shaking your head ‘no.’

“do you wanna be?” there’s a glint in his eyes that makes you smile, “depends” you reply, his once faux cocky smirk falling off his face.

“on what?” his voice much weaker than he intended it to come out. genma can’t help but study your features, drinking in how breathtaking you look so early in the morning.

“will you be there?” the question catches him off guard, had you always been this coward with him? was he always too stupid to realize?

“I’ll be the one picking you up” he smiles, beyond ecstatic that you were actually gonna say yes.

“then I’d love to be busy tonight, what’s the occasion?” your eyes are sparkling with excitement when he looks at you, he can’t help but smile widely as he explains.

“we’re having a surprise dinner for Gai! we missed his birthday since he was out on a mission that ran long” he explained, you couldn’t help but smile warmly at genma.

“that’s really sweet of you guys” you reply, “never took you for such a sap genma” you tease, bumping you shoulder into him, smiling as he rolled his eyes, hating the fact that a prominent blush was already on his cheeks.

“yeah, yeah” he grumbled, watching the way your smile turned into a small frown, your brows furrowing.

“hey, what’s wrong?” you’re looking at him with wide worried eyes as you explain to him you have no clue what to get Gai. genma only smiles, shaking his head and reassuring you, “don’t worry, i got him something I’ll just say it’s from both of us.”

Genma can’t help but feel like a proud peacock that afternoon when he’s walking home with kakashi.

“guess who got y/n talking to them for almost an hour this morning” he’s boasting, kakashi ever as uninterested sighs.

“raido?” Genma smacks the silver head jonin upside the head before pointing at himself, the cockiest smile on his face as he shakes his head.

“this guy!” he cheers, practically running circles around his much calmer friend. “and guess who they’re coming to gai’s birthday dinner with?!” he doesn’t give kakashi the chance to speak before cheering once more, “this guy!”

“so I’ll finally meet this ever famous, impossibly perfect y/n?” kakashi asks, genma nodding.

“I’ll see you there! I’ve gotta make sure i look amazing so i can woo them tonight” already taking off in the direction of his apartment. leaving kakashi alone in peace and quiet.

so he was finally gonna get to meet you huh. after who knows how long (it’s only been a month) of genma gushing about your every little move and comment, he was finally gonna see what all the hype surrounding you was. kakashi would never admit he was looking forward to meeting you, especially after the countless times he’s told genma he didn’t care to ever meet you on their almost daily walks home together.

it’s 6:30 when you hear a knock on your door, you’re checking yourself out once more in the mirror before opening the door with a bright smile.

“hey! come in i just have to slip my shoes on real fast” you smile, motioning for genma to walk in.

“you uh- you look great y/n” his face is burning up, only getting hotter when you giggle, asking if you can hold onto his shoulder for support as you slip your shoe on.

“you clean up nicely yourself” you reply, grabbing your bag before turning the light off, genma offering you his arm as the two of you leave.

“I’m not too overdressed am i?” you ask, genma quickly shaking his head, “no of course not!” he assures you, trying his best to not outwardly freak out because you’re so close he can smell your perfume.

the two of you make small talk as you arrive at the restaurant, genma pulling a chair out for you, giving you a charming smile when you thank him.

it wasn’t long before the large table was filled up, only the birthday boy himself another seat left empty. as it turned out you and genma shared many mutual friends, smiling widely and hugging kurenai and asuma when they walked in and saw you. anko practically ran towards you, crushing you in a hug and smiling widely.

“i didn’t know you knew Gai!” she beamed, taking the seat next to you and you shook your head.

“i don’t! but i know genma and he invited me” you smile, “i hope I’m not intruding” you frown, kurenai and anko both replying with a firm ‘no!’

“oh Gai is gonna love you! he better not end up intruding on girls night!” anko frowned and you laughed, shaking your head.

“for all we know he could hate me” you reply, turning your head when you hear genma snicker.

“y/n i don’t think there’s anyone in the world who could hate you” he smiles, leaning a bit closer to you, your face heats up a bit at the proximity, laughing softly before taking a sip of water.

“where the fuck is hatake? surely he wouldn’t be late to the dinner he planned” asuma states, his brows furrowed as he looks around.

genma’s attitude changes as he replies, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms, “that man will be late to his own funeral” he snickers and you can’t help but smile a bit.

you’d seen the famous copy ninja around the village, but with such different lives you’d never actually spoken to him. it was a miracle you were even friends with the amount of shinobi that you were friends with, considering you were just a normal villager.

“I’ve never met him actually” you comment to genma, and he smiled at you reassuringly, “he seems mean but deep down he’s a real nice guy” he says, asuma quickly getting his attention as they talk about something they’d been discussing earlier.

it’s only a couple more minutes when a silver haired man walks in with Gai at his side, his sworn rival talking his ear off.

“surprise!” everyone cheers as Gai notices the group of people at the table, “happy late birthday Gai!” everyone taking their turns hugging the man and handing him a small gift.

“you guys! i cant believe this” he smiles, his eyes tearing up a bit, “this truly is was youth is all about” everyone laughs at his words, ordering food and making small talk.

kakashi notices you immediately, your smile just a soft and bright as genma had described, your hair falling perfectly and framing your face, his breath almost catches in your throat when you laugh and push a strand of hair behind your ear.

it’s the moment that genma introduces you to each other that he realizes he has a very big problem.

“this is y/n! y/n this is kakashi” he’s staring at kakashi with a shot eating grin, one that says ‘told you they were amazing’ and kakashi has to stop himself from smacking him then and there.

“it’s nice to meet you!” you hold out your hand, kakashi taking it and shaking it gently.

“likewise, I’ve heard a lot about you” he smiles, holding back his laughter when genma almost chokes on his own spit.

“all good things i hope!” you giggle, turning to genma with a soft smile, your face flushed.

“of- of course!” he smiles sheepishly, the two you turning back to your meals and continuing to converse with each other.

as everyone is leaving the restaurant kakashi is giving the group signals, one that you don’t understand and are looking to genma to explain.

“there’s a secret after party at gai’s place asuma and i planned” he whispers and you’re nodding along, a smile on your face, “you wanna come?” his cologne is wafting into your nose and you can’t help but nod.

“sure why not” you smile, blushing a bit when genma grabs your hand, pulling you alongside him to catch up with the group.

it didn’t take long for the party to start once you got to the apartment. you laughed as you watched asuma and kurenai sing a terrible duet, genma and raido both downing shots one after the other and anko trailing off for the fifth time about something she’d been wanting to tell you but couldn’t remember what it was.

you glance at the clock and realize how late it had gotten, eyes widening and apologizing to anko that you had to get home.

“oh but you only had a couple shots! you aren’t even buzzed” she slurred, frowning when you hugged her tightly.

“sorry sweets but i have work tomorrow!” you pout, smoothing her hair down before saying goodbye once again and going off to find your date.

you have to hold back laughter when you find genma almost passed out next to Gai and raido, shaking them all a bit to make sure they were still alive.

“genma? I’m gonna head home” you smile and he gets up, wobbling a bit before he throws his arms around you.

“oh don’t leave us y/n! you’re too perfect to leave” he whines, your face flushing at his words, “i can walk you home” he smiles, getting up from his chair and almost slipping, causing you to catch him and help him to the couch.

“i don’t even think you can walk right now” you laugh, bidding him goodbye and letting him know you’ll see him monday.

as you finish your last goodbye’s and wish a much too intoxicated Gai happy birthday once more, you’re heading out the door, a small smile on your face as you close it.

“genma not walking you home?” the deep voice startling you, causing you to shriek a bit, your heart pounding as your eyes land on kakashi.

“god you fucking scared me” you laugh, hand over your heart, “no he’s piss drunk right now” your head shaking.

“I’ll see you around kakashi, take care” you’re smiling at him brightly, waving goodbye. and before he can stop himself he pushes himself off the wall and catches up to you, walking at your pace.

“oh i don’t want to inconvenience you” looking at him with kind eyes, he’s shaking his head at your words.

“ ‘s not an inconvenience, just wanna make sure you get home safe is all” his words make your stomach flutter and you nod, a small ‘okay, thanks’ leaving your lips as you look away, hoping he doesn’t see the blush on your cheeks.

it’s a bit chilly as you continue walking, kakashi noticed the way you’re holding yourself tightly, and within seconds his jacket is resting atop your shoulders.

“oh I’m fine really!” already taking the jacket off, kakashi shakes his head, placing it back on you before speaking up.

“keep it on, i was getting a bit hot anyway” he smiles, you return him a brighter one, tugging his jacket tighter around you, letting yourself drown in his cologne.

“I think it was really nice that you planned the dinner for gai” you speak up after a couple seconds, fiddling with your fingers. kakashi shakes his head at your words.

“it was all of us really” he shrugs and you look at him, a smile on your face when he turns to face you, “what?” there’s a smile creeping onto his lips.

“asuma said you planned the whole thing, give yourself some credit” you nudge him softly, hoping to god it was alright and he wasn’t insanely uptight like how genma painted him out to be.

“or do you have some sort of appearance to uphold” you tease, laughing a bit when the jonin scoffs at you, looking in the opposite direction with his chin up.

“i don’t have any appearances” he denies, turning to face you when he no longer hears your footsteps next to his.

“oh please! the whole village has you painted as ‘the great copy ninja’ so mysterious and dark” your voice a bit lower, as you say his famous nickname, he’s rolling his eyes and chuckling a bit.

“maybe I’m just mysterious and dark” he shrugs, following you when you continue to walk to your apartment.

“are you?” your voice curious as you look at him, trying to read his features as best you could.

“maybe” he replies, watching the way you cross your arms and smile up at him. his hearts beating a bit faster, feeling insecure under the scrutiny of your eyes. why did he care so much?

“you aren’t” you reply, shrugging your shoulders as you both continue to walk. kakashi’s eyes go wide and his brows are furrowed, his mouth open at your statement.

“you don’t even know me! how would you know?” he’s a bit defensive as you brush his off easily, looking at him with a warm smile that has his stomach doing flips.

“please! you plan out birthday dinners for you best friend, you walk someone home you don’t know and give them your jacket, you have actual friends that care about you and love you” you list off, “and you’ve been talking to me this whole time, dark and mysterious people would just say something vague and look off into the moonlight” you giggle.

“you sure you’re not a shinobi?” the question makes you laugh, waving him off before turning into the street when your apartment is.

“thank you for walking me, i felt much safer with the dark and mysterious copy ninja as my personal guard” you smile, kakashi returns it gracefully, a deep chuckle leaving his mouth.

“it’s my job to protect this village” he says, his voice raspy as he looks up at the sky, searching for the moon.

“new moon tonight” you mumble, kakashi’s shoulders falling a bit, “guess you weren’t meant to be dark and mysterious” you laugh, kakashi laughing alongside you.

“I’ll uh- see you around?” he asks and you nod, starting to shrug his jacket off before he stops you, placing his hand on top of yours. he’s caught off guard by his own actions, clearing his throat and composing himself when he he looks into your eyes.

“you can hold onto it, don’t want you to get cold walking up the stairs” he winces a bit at his terrible choice of words but you don’t seem to care.

“ever the gentleman” you giggle, holding the jacket close to you, “goodnight kakashi” you smile, biting your lip as you turn around and head up the stairs, waving goodbye before you open the door to your apartment, letting out shrieks and giggles when you throw yourself on your bed.

he doesn’t leave until you’re closing the door behind you, a smile on his face as he walks back to gai’s apartment. he’s smiling widely and kicking a rock, a slight blush on his face as he replays the conversation the two of you had.

it’s not until he reaches the apartment and his eyes land on genma that his world is crumbling around him. he can’t like you, not when his friend had been pining after you for a month.

he tries his best to forget about you, he really does, but it seems fate had other plans when you quite literally run into him only two days later, his jacket hanging off your shoulders.

[gai-is-love-kakagai-is-life]

Kinda fucked how both Rock Lee and Neji were supposed to die in early Naruto and therefore had no prominent role in Shippuden and beyond.

Very fucked how they were both Gai's students.

Very fucked that Gai was willing to die with Lee if he died in the surgery, and if he died against Gaara or Kimimaru, who knows how Gai would've handled that.

Very fucked if Gai lost both Neji and Lee, two troubled boys he tried to love how they needed, in rapid succession. He would've felt like a failure. Beyond a failure, because turning one of them into a splendid shinobi was his new life goal.

Very fucked if Kakashi watched Gai handle this on his own, because he would absolutely try to handle it on his own. Whether or not he handles it well is to be seen.

Very fucked that Tenten would have to deal with all of the fallout by proxy. Evenmore so if it would've given her more screentime.

It's just very fucked how different Naruto would've been if they died. Very fucked indeed.

[nattyontherun]

actually i like this rather a lot so i'm reposting for Me purposes,,,,, plus some fun facts about hearthfire cos why nawt? :]

it was supposed to be literally a oneshot... every new chapter was supposed to be the last but it kept chugging along... sigh... it was supposed to be 15k max and now i don't even know how long the "heartfire-verse" as it were, will be before i decide everything is done though, to be very frank, the main storyline is complete!

i wrote it without an outline in essentially five weeks between a. graduating, b. moving to a new city across the country, and c. job-hunting

funnily enough, i edited and wrote some parts of "the two-body problem" WHILE waiting for an interview as well as the results of said interview (i passed btw! i am an employed girly!), namely the scene where kkss are walking through the streets of kiri!

the coda of HF was initially supposed to just comprise of the scene in the wildflower field. the scene with sasuke at the graveyard was supposed to be in ch3........ but the ending of kakashi's scene was SUCH a good conclusion to the fic i moved it over and i like it better that way

at least half the fic was written while cocomelon was played in the bg so if it's extra angsty, it's probably cos i was extra suffering lmfaooooo

sakura and naruto weren't supposed to play as prominent a role in HF--it was supposed to be way more pared down. i kinda don't regret it though, they make for such interesting outside perspectives into the plot--especially sakura.

more on that, my favorite scene of the first chapter of HF *is* the sakura-pov scene because it's so intrinsically selfish, it calls to that lil shit in me who LOVES the drama

there was supposed to be more itachi in HF but i just couldn't bring myself to write him more into the plot even if just in flashbacks--i cannot describe to yall how DONE i am with him sksjnssbs i tried to correct that with "like stars shine through the pyre" but ig in doing that, i basically confirmed for both the readers and myself that itachi, from this point of the future, is almost purely shisui's problem? ish. sasuke's moved on enough not to be thinking about him every damn day anyways, and i like that for his character. he deserves a life without the shadow of itachi looking over him

speaking of, more about like stars: it was supposed to be 3k (if that) and focus solely on why shisui decided to take sasuke's eyes......... then i wrote the first scene and decided past-me was a small minded idiot and rewrote my entire outline

part of the reason i wrote like stars is because i think HF-sasuke is very pure--which canonically, ik that's how kishi describes him and it's certainly how he approaches the world, but i generally subscribe to the notion that victims don't need to represent a certain level of sanctity to be worthy of affection, sorrow or empathy yk? so while i don't really put him on blast as i do itachi or even sakura to some extent,,, i wanted to paint him out to be more human, abrupt and awkward and just a little bit self centered

i was actually struggling to find the writing juice for ch3 of HF because i thought the interlude was so damn pretty how would i bridge over to normal segment??? yk. i almost scrapped the entire first scene which is basically the same as what you see just without the abscess analogy or the ending conversation with sakura--but then i found out via twitter that itachi put 12yo sasuke in a 2-month long coma and decided only god would keep me from writing and further lambasting him peripherally. nothing says hatred like obvious disdain without visible recognition

my lovely friend @sugarbunbie who looked over some of the scenes--half of ch2 and all the more intimate kkss scenes AND the entirety of the two-body problem--DOESN'T EVEN GO HERE. never watched naruto, barely knows the plot--she loves me vv much guys djshsjshshsbsbs i adore her, pls if u like mdzs, yoi or kinnporsche go read everything she ever wrote mwa mwa

and that's basically all of it for now mwahahahahahaha, i just needed a reason to repost and i remembered all the bullshit i was doing behind the scenes while writing HF and decided i might as well share,,,, aren't i so resourceful? lmaooooo

these two assholes in that one bathroom scene in hearthfire

[never-mess-with-the-uchihas]

Can you debunk this hater

Hey! I am really Sorry for the (really really) late answer. I really haven't checked my ask box in months. T - T

So, what's with this - "Listen Up Sakura fans!" - are we here for a gang fight or what ? 😂

1.

So, Who cares about WHAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED (which medic could have been where, if they could have been in this world instead of that, or if he was here, instead of there, and all those bullshits, we are not playing "what-ifs". What we care about is WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED in the series.

Because, If we go by his "what could have happened" logic, even I can say mega bullshits like - the Nine Tails could have been sealed inside Pakun, instead of Naruto, and the series could have been named as -

- because Naruto wasn't the only living being in the shinobi-world to seal Kyubi in, just like, Sakura wasn't the only medical ninja in Shinobi World, right?

And, People say that everyone would have died without Sakura, because she was a part of chain reaction in saving the world(just like Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi, Obito, etc.). No one is simping her, this is just a simple logic.

And the reanimated people, and Sage of Six paths are already dead, so why is he even saying that "they won't die", is beyond me.

2.

"And we mainly hate Sakura because of her attitude like she was so rude t naruto in part 1 even if *naruto didn't irritate her at that time*. Others saved Sakura more than the times she saved them smh."

Having flaws and correcting them as you grow up, that's how real life works. If this person only wants "perfect flawless main characters", then he is really missing out on great characters, from great books, by great authors.

And, Sakura did save Naruto and Sasuke multiple times, like they saved her multiple times too - cuz this is what friends do. How is that a reason to hate her?

As for 3,3, and 4,

Yes, Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi, did all that, and EVEN MORE, and I love them a lot too.

But, Is he seriously comparing -

Uzumaki Naruto - the main protagonist of the show - on which the show is named after, from the prominent uzumaki clan, the reincarnation of a god, jinchuriki of the nine tailed beast, the child of prophecy -

- and -

Uchiha Sasuke - last and the strongest member of Uchiha clan, reincarnation of another god, holder of Sharingan, Mangekyou Sharingan, Eternal Mangekyou Sharinagan, and Rinnegan -

- with -

Haruno Sakura - who came from no prominent clan - has no prominent blood running through her veins - whose parents were nothing but mere genins, and work as mere civilians - who didn't have any Kyubi sealed inside her - who wasn't reincarnation of any god - who wasn't handed over any Sharingan by her friend - who was gifted with nothing but her chakra control and her brain - who had worked her ass off though years, to reach where she is

- just to downplay her?

She is still one of the strongest Shinobis of the series, and as of now, the strongest Kunoichi of the series(source: Naruto databook), who is recognised and acknowledged throughout the Shinobi World, by great Shinobis (Ex- hokages, present-hokage, Akatsuki member, Kazekage, and even the ones who's skills this person has listed).

Just because Sakura's combat skills(not her medical skills) were lower than TWO REINCARNATIONS OF GODS, doesn't mean that she was any lesser of a Shinobi.

5.

"Sakura did basically nothing in part 1."

Yup, So, It was Pakun who gave Naruto and Sasuke, a sense of having a family, Right?

It was Pakun who stayed awake all night, and fought the sound nins to bones, to protect Naruto and Sasuke in the forest of death, Right?

It was Pakun, who saved Sasuke from his darkness in the forest of death, Right?

It was Pakun, who stood infront of a tailed beast, armed with nothing but a Kunai to save Sasuke, Right?

People need to understand that physical strength or powers, or who had more no. of fights in the series, do not define the importance of a character in a story, but the way the character develops, and the way he/she influences those around her, that defines that character's importance.

Ever wondered why Sakura became one of the most important person in the lives of Naruto and Sasuke, if she did nothing but "Tortured Naruto", "Annoyed Sasuke", or "cried a lot", in the part-1?

"Helped defeat Sasori, only because Chiyo's help."

Umm...

The same way Naruto needed Jiraiya's help to know about Pein's real body, which was the only way to defeat him?

The same way Sasuke needed the powers from the absorbed Orochimaru within him, to go against Itachi?

The same way Sasuke needed Manda's help to protect himself from Deidara's C4 blast?

The same way the the 5 kages needed eachother's help to go against Madara?

The same way Sasuke and Naruto needed eachother's help to fight against Madara, Obito, and Otsutsuki members?

The same way Sasuke and Naruto needed Kakashi, and Sakura's help to defeat Kaguya?

So, What's fucking wrong with taking help?

Also, could Chiyo have defeated Sasori, without Sakura's help?

"...only because Sasori wantedly didn't dodge in the end."

Umm... Is this person trying to say that if the opponent gives up, after being defeated, it cannot be counted as a win ?

So, will he say that Naruto didnt defeat Nagato, because ultimately he killed himself after reviving everyone he killed?

So, will he say that Sasuke didn't defeat Danzo because ultimately he comitted suicide by blasting himself?

The double standards that people show, when it comes to Haruno Sakura, is really funny 😂.

As for the rest of the bullshit in part 5, about "HOW SAKURA BASICALLY DID NOTHING IN THE ENTIRE SERIES, YADA YADA VADA VADA", I have already talked about all those bullshits in my older posts. Repeating all that would be too tiresome 😂.

I mean just read these lines -

"...used some useless dialogues like her life..."

"...punched Kaguya only because Kaguya couldn't do anything else..."

(umm?? that's exactly the point of attacking from blindspot of byakugan?? 😂)

- who is gonna counter these bullshits?

My boys Naruto and Sasuke, are gonna blow him up, before he can even get this chance. Lmao.😂

I don't know who this person is, but he really needs a character developement - in real life.

[kashi-prompts]

Rating: T

Pairing: Kakashi x Reader

Genre: Fluff. Teeth rotting fluff.

"It's stifling in here," the silver-haired Hokage managed, slipping a finger under his mask to let the air hit his face. He took a deep breath, trying to relax the gnawing feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Kakashi," Gai stood from the wooden chairs before the Hokage's desk, "relax, my friend. I've never seen you so tense."

"I'm not tense," Kakashi brushed off Gai's hard reassuring pat on the back.

"The crease between your eyes has never been so prominent," Gai poked his friend's forehead, stopping him. Kakashi sighed heavily, meeting Gai's gaze.

"I'm fine," he reassured his friend.

"Having second thoughts?" Gai nudged him.

Kakashi looked at his friend and pushed past him to walk to his desk, "no, never. Are my robes here yet?"

"Then what is it?" Guy followed him, watching him as he shuffled papers around on his desk, "We're so young; how could anything bother you on your wedding day?"

"I'm not bothered," Kakashi turned, looking at his oldest friend, giving him a reassuring promise. "Just a little nervous."

The silver-haired shinobi turned Hokage had never felt this way before. His chest swirled with tightness, and his mind raced from thought to thought. The whole village had its eyes on him and [y/n] today. Every gaze would be turned to their marriage, the Hokage and his new wife.

Gai slapped Kakashi on the back again, smiling broadly, "I'm happy for you, my old friend. You're a lucky one."

Kakashi laughed nervously, his fingers pushing the hair at the nape of his neck down. He still hadn't gotten used to the missing thicker locks that had been cut off earlier in the week. His mind traveled to his bride, dreamily manifesting the image of what she would look like walking towards him. He felt his chest tighten more, exhaling shakily.

"Your haori is ready," Yamato came through the office door, towing the Hokage's formal attire behind him carefully. Kakashi nodded, realizing the ceremony would be beginning shortly. He turned to the window behind his desk, looking down at the ceremony space designated for his wedding behind the Hokage's manor. Guests were trickling in one by one, all being greeted by Iruka, whom he had appointed.

"Perfect!" Gai exclaimed, grabbing the attire from Yamato's grasp, "let's get this party ROLLING!"

The sunlight was overbearing on his back as he made his way down the steps towards the ceremony space. His haori fit nicely, but the black, heavy material felt like two weights on his shoulders. He smiled at the guests, greeting the other Kage's respectively. Each congratulated him and encouraged him to not worry about hosting duties on his big day.

Kakashi looked around, taking in the surroundings for a moment as he adjusted his sleeves. Then, he thought of the day he asked y/n to marry him. Sitting quietly under a tree, her head had leaned against his shoulder, dozing off after their rather long walk to their favorite quiet spot on the outskirts of Konoha.

The wisteria blossoms had been in full bloom, dangling above them to create a sea of lavender-colored petals. He had taken her hand as she rested, silently and covertly slipping a ring on her finger with his shaking, cold hands. She hadn't budged at his movements, her breath shallow against the side of his neck.

"I love you," he had whispered against the shell of her ear, "and I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

Her eyes had fluttered open in surprise, dazed by his words. His fingers had grasped her hand gently and pulled them to his lips, kissing the tip of her ring finger with a tender, fervent gaze. When the realization had hit her, her arms had flown around him, pulling him close to her with a shower of kisses and affectionate affirmations following.

Looking back, the thought enveloped him in a warmth that wasn't from the sun casting down.

"Kakashi," Iruka called out, a smile stretched across his lips as he checked his watch, "all the guests have arrived."

"Good," Kakashi nodded, "I guess that means we're almost ready."

"Yes," Iruka smiled again eagerly. He hesitated for a moment and then leaned in, his voice just above a whisper. "It's time to go get your bride."

Kakashi looked over quickly at Iruka, his eyes glistening with excitement and nervousness. Iruka raised his eyebrows, urging the Hokage to go meet his future wife.

*****

You stood in your kimono, flattening the white fabric out nervously at your waist. Your hands felt clammy, and your heart thumped uncomfortably in your chest. Glancing at the clock, you couldn't help but think of the moments that ticked by that brought you closer to being Kakashi's wife.

Reaching up, you traced your eyelashes with the back of your finger, feeling the moisture from your eyes lying modestly between them. The emotions in your chest were overwhelming you, threatening to burst at any second. The joy consumed you as you inhaled heavily, feeling your lungs expand before letting out a shaky breath.

At one last glance, you looked at yourself in the mirror. Your eyes fluttered from the ornate flower in your hair, the rouge on your cheeks down to the bouquet you held at your waist. So this was really happening, you thought.

The sound of a gentle knock on the door caused your heart to skip into your throat. You turned, watching the handle turn quietly before opening a crack.

"[y/n]?" you heard Kakashi's hesitant yet soft voice from behind the opening.

"Yes?" you asked, unsure as to why. You had been waiting for him - for this moment when he would open the door and see you for the first time in your wedding dress. Your heart quivered in your ribcage.

"Can I come in?" he asked quietly, the smile evident in his voice.

"Yes," you replied, your voice exuding like a content sigh.

He didn't swing the door open like some men would, eager to see their bride and get down the aisle. Some men would never even think to knock, knowing full well that what was behind that door was theirs. But the Hokage was different, gentle in more ways than one, yet fiercely protective of what was his.

You hadn't realized you had been holding your breath as you watched him open the door. The sight of his slender fingers tenderly gripping the knob was all you could focus on for a moment, the overwhelming excitement and nervousness engrossing every cell in your body.

But when you finally looked up at him, your eyes catching his, everything felt peaceful. Nothing else mattered except for the gentle upturn of his eyebrows and the soft slope of his lips that curled into a smile. The recognition of his uncovered expression that you only saw intimately sent an electric shock through your body.

The distance between you both disappeared almost immediately. You felt the dance of his fingertips curve around your waist, pulling you close to him as you stifled a giggle of excitement that quickly turned into tears of delight. Tears brimmed at your eyes as you hugged him close, feeling his steady body against your chest and his fingertips spread between the skin of your shoulder blades. Nothing mattered at that moment.

"You look so beautiful," you felt his lips brush against your ear. You smiled against his jaw, feeling the soft prickle of his skin and the scent of his aftershave fill your senses.

"I wasn't expecting you to not wear your mask," you whisper into his neck as your hands hung lazily around his body. But, instead, you felt his hands gently grasp your shoulders, pulling you away to look at you. Your eyes scanned his face, the small mole on his chin resurrecting the smile you couldn't quite tame.

"I figured you'll be my wife shortly, so you should certainly get used to it," he lifted his finger and traced the curve of your own jaw, the feeling of his rough index finger traveling across your skin sent an electric shock through you. You felt heat erupt within you, and by the firm look he gave you, he had felt it too.

"Will you not be wearing it during the ceremony?" You asked hopefully.

He chuckled, pulling you back into his chest. You felt the echo of his laugh reverberate against you.

That was a no.

*****

The surreal environment you walked into with your fiance on your arm felt like you had been transported into a far-off dream you had had many months ago. The realization that all of your planning and praying for things to singularly come together to this moment overwhelmed your senses.

You looked down the aisle at Kakashi, his mask returned to cover his sharp features. Yet, a part of you didn't mind. It was the familiar face you had fallen in love with. You could see the shadow of a grin under the fabric of his face as you walked towards him. Sakura blossoms bobbed all around you, whispering in the breeze that swept his short hair to the side even more.

Once you reached him, you could see the outline of red around his eyes. The man who never showed his emotions in public unless absolutely necessary couldn't help but be overcome with passion at the sight of his bride. You reached for his hand, feeling the clamminess of his skin as you threaded your fingers through his. You smiled at him, and he leaned over to plant a soft kiss on your temple.

****

"You may kiss your bride," was all you heard as the ceremony ended. You looked up at him, delirious with joy as he smiled down at you, his wife. You narrowed your eyebrows when he didn't immediately press his lips to yours at the reader's consent. He waved your maid of honor over, pointing to your bouquet that she held for you.

"This?" your maid of honor asked, holding up the floral arrangement. He nodded, taking it from her as your attendees continued to cheer. You took it from her and looked back at him, puzzled by his strange request.

But when he pulled your wrist up to cover both of your faces with the bouquet, it all made sense. Shielding the two of you from the audience, you felt the pleasing satisfaction of his bare lips to yours, the sensation enough to send an electric shock through every cell in your body as he pulled your waist closer to his hips. Your whole body blushed at the thrill of kissing your husband without his mask in front of a hundred or so people.

Pulling away breathlessly, he looked down at you, relishing the look of awestruck satisfaction on your face as he pulled his mask back over his nose. Setting the bouquet back at your waist, you gave a dazed smile to the cheering attendees.

As you turned back to the ever louder cheering guests, you felt his lips touch the shell of your ear while you walked back down the aisle.

"Was that good enough for you?" He quipped, smiling behind his mask. You giggled at his remark, waving to your guests.

As you reached a private place behind the crowd, you let out a long sigh, waving your hand to fan yourself. You smiled, joy filling every nerve ending in your body.

Looking out at the crowd that dispersed to a cocktail hour, you felt the warm embrace of the Hokage's arms around your waist. You sighed again, inhaling his scent as he buried his lips in your neck. You felt his grip tighten on your hips.

"I love you," you murmured to him, caressing the hand on your hips. Quickly, he turned you around to face him, searching your face as if to emanate with his eyes how he was feeling.

"I don't think you understand," he whispered to you, his hand on your jaw. You reached up, your fingers brushing over his knuckles and the warm wedding band on his fingers.

"Understand what?" You giggled.

His face remained serious, his gaze overwhelming.

"Understand what?" You repeated quietly.

"You're the best thing that has ever happened to me."

[pinepickled-jujutsukaisen]

Congrats on your follower milestone!!! For the request writing ask, can you write Kakashi with a crush on Obito, asking advice from Minato on how to ask him out? They're both seventeen and graduating from ANBU, and Kakashi doesn't want to let Obito go but can't bring himself to just... ask him out. IDK what advice Minato will have for his student, perhaps he asks Kushina for help since she was the one who asked him out 😂 May I request some kind of happy ending, maybe even a kiss?

Ooh, sure Ana! This is a very juicy prompt~ sorry it took me so long, life has been hectic lately. I really hope you enjoy it!

If anyone would like to send another ask for a prompt, here is the original post

Just submit it to my ask box and I'll get to it asap!

Kakashi held the certificate in his hands, looking out on the village as the sun set. He'd been released from ANBU just an hour prior, everyone going their seperate ways to celebrate with friends and family. Obito had returned to the Uchiha section of the village, and Kakashi found himself fighting the twitch in his limbs that was telling him to go find him. He'd had half a mind, earlier, to go and tell Minato or Kushina, but he dropped the thought almost immediately.

He had no family to celebrate with.

So instead, he'd sat on the roof of the hokage's office and contemplated how to go and tell Obito to stay with him. It wasn't an elegant request, the plan was full of holes and Obito could always say no, but Kakashi knew he couldn't survive without his best friend by his side.

"So is there a reason you're out here, Kakashi?" Minato asked. Kakashi startled and nearly fell off the roof at the sudden appearance of his sensei and whirled around. Icy blue eyes met Kakashi's own gray, and the two nin stared at each other quietly. Minato raised his eyebrow.

"Sorry sensei, just thinking." He replied, settling back down on the roof. The yellow flash came to sit beside him, white cape fluttering behind him.

"About?" He prompted, taking the ANBU certificate from Kakashi. "When I graduated from ANBU, I went traveling. Is that what you want to do?"

Kakashi rapidly shook his head. He took off his headband and let his sharingan eye open, just slightly, before he closed it once again. Even just opening it for a second drained his chakra, but he didn't open it for the sharingan abilities. The same person that had given him the sharingan was the reason that Kakashi wouldn't travel.

"Obito is coming by later. I asked him what he wanted to do the other day, and he said he'd want to become a genin sensei. He'd practically be benched if that happened, and I can only imagine how often you two would be able to see each other after that."

Kakashi cursed his sly sensei. Minato was looking down at Kakashi's certificate with hooded eyes, and the Hatake noted the distinct drop in temperature in the air around him. Minato was teasing him, the damn sadist that he was.

"I don't want to leave him. I don't want him to leave me." Kakashi said eventually, snatching his certificate back. Kakashi couldn't imagine a life without Obito. Couldn't imagine not having his warm back at his own, snoring away. He couldn't imagine going out to eat Ramen and not having Obito there to crash his lunch and make him pay. He couldn't imagine going on a mission and having his twin sharingan working in tandem with him.

"What a coincidence, then. Obito had told me the same thing." Minato said airily. "Now Kakashi, I'll give you an ultimatum, because I know you would just torture yourself otherwise."

Kakashi looked curiously at his sensei, trying to study Minato's face- it was pointless. Minato Namikaze was impossible to read, especially when he was in such a mood as this.

"If you don't tell Obito your feelings before he enters my office..." Minato began, and Kakashi's breath came out in a puff. Minato must have been feeling especially sadistic, and dread build up in Kakashi's heart as he guessed to what Minato's condition would be.

"I'll take Obito for myself."

Minato's icy blues glowed in the setting sun, and Kakashi could see the hint of fang on his sensei's manic smile. He didn't need to be told twice.

He found Obito in less than a minute, walking up to the Hokage's office from the Uchiha section. Kakashi didn't give his friend any time to get a word in.

"Move in with me." He blurted, grabbing Obito by the shoulders. His friend's one visible eye flitted all over Kakashi's face, and then he laughed. Kakashi loved that laugh.

"Good one Kakashi. Come on, let's go tell Minato-sensei the news." Was all Obito said, trying to move past Kakashi. Obito meeting with Minato was the last thing that could happen. Kakashi knew that if he let Obito go now, he'd be Minato's little beauty before the sun set, and that couldn't happen.

"I'm serious!" He insisted. "There's an apartment near the academy that's really cheap and it has more than enough room for the both of us. I'll buy groceries, you cook, I'll clean on odd days you clean on evens. Just... just do it!"

Kakashi's voice nearly broke at the last sentence, and he was aware thay he sounded like a pouting child, but he could see in Obito's face how the Uchiha was slowly coming around to the idea.

"What, do you want to marry me or something?" Obito mocked. Kakashi's heart almost stopped beating.

Yes.

Yes.

"Yes."

Obito's eye blew wide. The two freshly graduated ANBU stared at each other like that, but then someone cleared their throat behind them.

"You were coming to see me, Obito?" Minato asked, ignoring Kakashi completely. The white haired ninja's heart was rabitting a mile a minute, and he waited with baited breath for Obito to respond.

"Oh yes, I have some good news." Obtio said, managing to recover his composure. He took Kakashi's hand in his own, and held them up for Minato to see.

"I have a boyfriend."

~

"That was a little mean of you, Minato." Kushina said, sitting in the windowsill of the Hokage office.

"Perhaps." Minato replied. "I thought you'd be more jealous than concerned for my treatment of our little genin."

Kushina only rolled her eyes. "They're not genin anymore. And why would I be jealous? That bite mark on your ass is from a kitsune, not a bake-neko."

Minato chuckled quietly. "Yes, I suppose I am marked. What a shame that this prominent bite mark on my posterior scares away potential suitors."

They both sat in silence for a moment before breaking out in giggles.

[depressedhatakekakashi]

Everytime Sasuke learns more and more tidbits about Naruto and Kakashi's life, and everytime he wakes up from a nightmare of Sakura's death, He would always replay how Naruto's breath hitched as he tried to give him a glare with a bloody grin on his face as Sasuke held him in his arms, and how he could only remember him saying his last words over and over again in his head. [He doesn't want to think about how Iruka's eyes forever became haunted after he received the news, Not once did the teacher ever look at Sasuke again without sorrow filled eyes] Sakura's regretful eyes as she mouths a silent apology to him to him as she chokes on her own blood, her body slowly losing it's warmth as his hand longer stays impaled through her- [Naruto would hate him- if he didn't already, he loved her-]

The villagers and other shinobi alike look at him coldly, rage brimming on their skin as they always have before but now it's even more prominent and less concealed. It made his blood boil, [how dare they- they were the ones that led and allowed his team to be sent to their demise in the first place- if it hadn't been for them then-] The only time he felt somber to the treatment was when one Yamanaka Ino approached him, the moment Sakura's body was returned to the village to be properly buried. He didn't want to deal with her or anyone, Sakura's blood was still sticking on his fingertips and it made him want to scream even more even though his throat already clogged and burned from overuse. The blond girl immediately punched him without saying a word, just screaming the entire time with tears dripping down his face and the incoherent but all too clear raspy words about her beloved Sakura.

He didn't stop her and he only vaguely registered their teachers pulling them apart from one another as Ino still attempted to kick him only to lay motionless in her teacher's hands, her face not visible through her hair but her trembling shoulders were words enough on it's own. Sasuke only laid there unable to even lift a finger, wrapped around Kakashi's tight embrace, something that happens more often throughout the few yet seemingly eternal months after his teammates deaths. They never said much but Kakashi never left his side, And Sasuke.. clung to it, he eventually sought out the only warmth and understanding he could get after so many months [years-] spent all alone. It was a cycle between them, Sasuke would spat and kick and scream at him and Kakashi would just stand there silently until Sasuke would break down and go down his knees and tire himself out enough to ask for help then Kakashi would give it to him [he always did] embracing him for hours in silence with his hand rubbing his back at patting his hair as the only comfortable repeated motions. Those times weren't pretty but they were the slightest sense of normalcy [of control] he could grasp on to and Kakashi knew this and gave into it readily.

Strangely enough that short time was most likely the closest they've ever been as teacher and student, the last two members of a miserable remnant of what was once a team. Keeping each other anchored on the very soil that his family died on and many more gave their lives for [but for what?] It was the time he learned more about his normally tight-lipped teacher's past life before them, he learned about Kannabi and the annoying but brave [like Dobe] Uchiha Obito, About the selfless Nohara Rin, and the bright and kind Minato Namikaze. Who all gave their lives for the good of Konoha, Sasuke hated it, he hated the similarities, hated that they all happened in the first place and if Kakashi noticed Sasuke holding onto him tighter than usual then he thankfully as always didn't comment on it.

He was the only anchor Sasuke had left, the only thing keeping him afloat in that wretched village soaked to the roots with blood and the anguish of it's people. But just like before it didn't last and with just the emotionless report of an unmarked Anbu mask visiting him at his very home, he was informed about 'Jounin Hatake Kakashi's death'. And that he was to prepare for the funeral being held tomorrow, It was the spottiest memories he had, the ones with the most blanks and lack of answers, And the most vivid one he could recall from it was pushing past the morgue and the several doctors inside to rush through his teacher's unmoving [lifeless, aha..aHAHAHAHA-] body. The only sound he could hear was his heart rapidly thudding in his ear and his head screeching and screaming itself apart at the sight of Hatake Kakashi's motionless and cold, cold cold body laying on the inspection table. Blood already wiped off of him and the countless wound ha had but Sasuke still fixated on the small string of dark liquid, just a shade darker than his sharingan- running down his teachers empty eyehole.

He never asked received an explanation of how it happened, The Sandaime remained tight-lipped and would only silently stand beside him and pat his shoulder then preach about 'The Will of Fire' and how Hatake's death was heroic and how he was at peace now alongside his family and loved ones. Sasuke thoughts slowed down to a halt, Ever since the day he walked in on his bro- on Itachi killing his parents and their entire clan the world had seemed duller, the only glimpses of color to be found were of his team's bright and insistent energy to keep him and drag him to their stupidity but slowly those colors all went away too, just like they did and now his world has become drenched in red, so he remained unflinching at the sight of the Hokage Tower being engulfed and brought down in dark coloured flames, countless screams coming from the occupants locked inside, He didn't care because by that time he was already long past the village gates, ready to fully head out and face the world truly alone.

Dobe would be mad, he thinks. All of them would be saddened, and Sasuke knew that to be true. But-

[T-teme, i'm giving you this chance 'kay? Protect Konoha for me and become an awesome ninja in my stead a-alright?]

[I-i'm..- s-so..rry]

[You're..not alone, I know how it feels but- just know.. i'll always be here for you]

It wouldn't be the end, Sasuke thinks with finality. Both of his eyes glowing a harsh red with a beautiful pattern lazily spinning in motion, I will come back, I will avenge you all and make Konoha the greatest village there is. Just like the one you idealize and love so much, Even if i have to burn it down to make it happen

(So this got long lol my apologies, XD i just think this Au would translate to even more sad boy Sasuke hours, with a sprinkle of insanity because damn he ain't dealing so good, this is what happens when you like writing but don't want to commit to actually posting a fic lol anyways i still hope you liked it<3<3 I like angsty Au's so i wanted to talk more about this one but got carried away XD also 1. I like to headcanon Danzo would steal Kakashi's eye at the soonest oppurtunity he could get so yeah XD, 2. They were kids so i think? Sasuke actually thought Naruto's feeling for Sakura were serious serious so he felt very guilty about that, 3. He developed mangekyou because i couldn't help myself but also i think on top of his entire clans murder and the loss of his team- Oh i believe he'd get the mangekyo at this point XD 4. Lol i forgot Sandaime died at like the chuunin arc so the timeline for this is probably very confusing, u can imagine him older if you want and Hiruzen just lived i guess but it's also possible for him to get close his team, lose them, then go rogue in the few months during team 7's meeting and before Hiruzen's demise i guess XD he went rogue a short while after the chuunin exams anyway so i don't have to shame myself too much into him defecting at that age being too farfetched XD)

I love every bit of this. It really tugs at the heart strings and I think really encapsulates just how deeply Sasuke felt and how much he risked losing. He had already lost so much when he became a part of team seven, and then to lose all of them.

To see Naruto and Sakura die in front of him and never find out what happened to Kakashi or why.

It would be a breaking point for him. The only string still holding him to Konoha was Kakashi and the third couldn’t even tell him how or why. Just that he was a hero

A good shinobi

Sasuke’s tired of ‘good shinobi’ dying for a village that doesn’t care about them. That simply bows their heads, says goodbye, and moves on as if they never mattered

If the good shinobi can die, so can the bad one’s. They can burn and suffer for all the world has lost protecting them

And when that fateful day comes that Sasuke faces Danzo. Where he finally has the opportunity to begin his revenge against the village for everything it has done, there’s one thing he does.

Kakashi’s eye.

That sharingan that didn’t belong to him but he protected with his life.

Sasuke rips it out while Danzo is still alive. Tears it away from the man who stole it.

He doesn’t keep it for himself.

This isn’t his eye to have. When everything is said and done and Danzo is a corpse laying on the ground, Sasuke returns to Konoha. He places that sharingan on Kakashi’s grave, an offering to the dead. And then he burns it. Sends it to the man it belongs to and then vanishes, still planning out his revenge

[feralcherry]

Naruto takes that might enrage you (girl addition)

Warning, some of these takes might enrage you- that’s fine.

Fillers don’t count as canon, don’t even bring them up if you talk about this post lol. Also it’s been a while since I’ve seen the whole series, so some of these might be disproven as I continue with my rewatch. The excuse that Shounen is for boys is also very weak and holds no weight, as tons of girls (and nonbinary folk) relate to the characters in this show, so that doesn’t excuse Kishimoto for his weak writing of women.

To preface, I love this show. Love it to pieces. It was part of my childhood and holds a very special place in my heart. But there are some things I personally don’t like or wish could have been done better. I love every character and will go blue in the face talking about how much I still love this show. That doesn’t free it from my criticism. I’m also only listing what I don’t like and what I would change, though I’d be more than happy making a post about what I loved.

Let’s start off with my girl Sakura Haruno. She is easily the most hated girl in the series, and all because of how ‘weak’ or ‘annoying’ she is. As if that’s not the fault of Kishimoto himself lol. She was shoved off to the side continuously and never given cool storylines, unlike the other members of her team.

What I took issue with about Sakura:

-What were this girls dreams?? The whole reason she became a ninja was never really talked about nor were they really developed as time went on. She was all about Sasuke, which would be fine if she grew out of it. But no. 

-Her crush on Sasuke was super stale. He was handsome and powerful, but what else was there to him? He was a jerk to her most of the time (there are some instances he’s somewhat kind to her, but if we go off canon, it’s not enough to make her deep love make sense). I think it would have been so much more interesting to see her grow out of her infatuation for him. If they had to have ended up together, watching them relearn each other and fall in love would have made them more compelling. She stayed loving a boy who thought very little of her. 

-She’s pitted against her best friend and doesn’t develop much of a relationship with other girls her age. It’s kind of sad, and I think they should have fought over something other than a boy. 

-We are told repeatedly that she’s super powerful by other characters, but she’s never given time to truly shine. She got like a single battle with Sasori and she deserved more cool moments like that!

-She was a healer, which makes perfect sense. But why is it mostly girls who are the healers? It’s a bit weird, when there’s also Neji with his perfect chakra control. She only has her healing abilities and her super strength; but even then someone like Kabuto has more offensive healing based techniques than her. Like his chakra scalpel. 

What I would fix:

-New dreams. Show her find a dream outside of her team and grow into it. Also give her more of a backstory. Sai has more of a backstory than she does and he’s way newer than she is.

-I would let her fuck up one of the Peins instead of Konohomaru- she’s a main character and passed over for that little brat?? She should have gotten to do more than scream out for Naruto and heal people :/ 

-She her intellect a bit more. She’s so smart, and yet we don’t really see it.

-She’s perfect for genjutsu, Kakashi himself said so. So why not give that to her? Or play more with ninjutsu. She has earth and water on her chart, so why not give her those abilities? Maybe even wood jutsu to even her out with her super OP teammates. Idk how, it could have happened, this is a show full of demons and god like abilities, it could have happened someway.

-She should have grown out of Sasuke and not married a man who doesn’t really appreciate her and isn’t there for her at all.

-I would totally have expanded on Inner Sakura more. Imagine if it made her mind impenetrable? Could have woven that in with her skills for genjutsu and made her unaffected by other’s illusions.

Next, let’s go with a more beloved character of the fandom. Hinata. Now personally I don’t care much for her- she could have been so cool but just like Sakura, they kind of messed her up.

What I didn’t like about Hinata:

-Her entire existence is revolves around Naruto. Naruto this, Naruto that- and yet she simply sat back and watched as his life was shit and did nothing despite her ‘love’ for him. And then fillers/movies are added to show that oh wait! she’s been there this entire time!! no lol. Build her up from the start as his love interest at the very least.

-She stayed super meek the entire time. Shy girls are okay, but I wanted to see her grow into herself more and not need as much reassurance. She’s a ninja and should stand on her own two feet more.

-She’s less skilled then Neji and I would have loved to see her outmatch him at some point, even once. Or gain abilities outside of her clan, or do something that made a name for herself outside of being the heiress of the Hyuga.

-She never fixed her clan which was one of her few spoken goals. That was a huge bummer.

-I think it would have been cool to see her mess up Pein a little more. She only stepped in because it was Naruto, which reinforces that she’s only about him. But at least let her land a hit if she’s as powerful as people say she is. 

-She makes the most sense to be a housewife or a healer with the way her attitude is but in Boruto, she’s kind of rewritten to be a ‘scary’ mother which just doesn’t fit her. Plus, she tells Boruto to go and take care of his dad?? Bro, that’s your child and your husband is the hokage. 

What I’d fix:

-Prove her dad wrong and show him that her compassion isn’t a weakness but a strength. 

-Fix the Hyuga clan bs.

-More character growth and showing more of her life away from Naruto. Her romance with him could also have been better. I hated her always watching him but never standing up for him, it kills me.

-Neij dying for her proved their clans hierarchy bs to be right and it just doesn’t make sense for him to die for her. It showed that he was right to feel caged and that he simply existed for the benefit of the Main family.

Now with the others, there’s much less I have to say about them because they aren’t main characters or the love interests.

Ino-

-Jealous of Sakura, no dreams of her own, stupidly loves Sasuke and for what? WHAT’S SO COOL ABOUT HIM?

-I like her growth for the most part, it was cool watching her fight in the War Arc with her team. 

-Why is she the medical ninja? I never got that.

-She got with Sai but they didn’t really show their development and how they fell in love with each other. It’s like she only likes him because he looks like Sasuke and called her pretty once.

Tenten-

-Should have gotten to train with Tsunade at some point, since she was the one who originally idolized her. 

-We know nothing about this girl at all. She doesn’t even have a last name.

-Her weapon usage was meant to be so cool and yet she missed so often- there’s a disconnect there. Her abilities could have been built up more. Imagine if no matter what she never ever missed. That would have been cool.

-Her weapon shop isn’t doing well. Just because it’s an era of peace doesn’t mean the need for weapons is totally over, not if there are still active ninja??

Karin-

-I actually like her, she’s kind of funny and I like that she’s mean even if she can get annoying.

-Again, another healer, though she’s also sensory which is more interesting. I’d like to see her with some jutsus though. That would have been neat.

-Her love for Sasuke makes sense since he saved her and smiled at her, making her think of him as her hero. And she’s the only one he apologizes to without Naruto strong arming him into it.

Temari-

-She’s pretty solid in my opinion. Though I would have loved to see her more without her brothers.

Konan-

-Her goals in life were to support Yahiko and Nagito’s dreams. It would irritate me so much if other girls in the series were more well rounded and din’t also have some sort of dream involving a boy.

-She was underused. I would have loved to see her fight more.

Tsunade-

-Only becomes hokage to support others dreams...All of them men. And then later passes the title onto Kakashi who doesn’t even want to be Hokage either. 

-No other justus used, she’s on par with Jiraya and Orochimaru and yet she’s only super strong and the best medic. She should theoretically be more well rounded than that, right? She also should be shown fighting more even if she’s a medic, she’s also s legendary sannin 

-Had to be saved by 12 year old Naruto. I know it’s a show about him, but she’s meant to be a literal badass but needs a kid to save her.

Kushina-

-Wanted to become the first woman hokage and then didn’t. Her husband did. and then she became a housewife?? What?? She should have become the first woman hokage with a badass husband or had another prominent role in the village like as a council member or something.

Kurenai-

-Always lost a fight? She’s some genjutsu using badass but always lost fights.

-No real personality, she’s just chilling there. Sexy as hell though. Has a kid and that’s about it.

-What I will give her is that I’m so glad she was allowed to age. So many anime mothers always look the same as their teenage self and she looks like she can be anybody's mama.

Over all, the girls could have been handled much better. I wouldn’t find issues with any of them being housewives or all about boys if that weren’t what seems to be the standard in the anime. I just wanted more of a variety and better character development, especially for Sakura and Hinata who are the mains 😩

Now to what might REALLY piss people off- ships! I’m not trying to start some war here, this is just my opinion and you can take it or leave it.

Sakura- Naruto, since they had the most development and showed more than two seconds of caring for each other. Even Sai in Shippuden has more of a connection to Sakura than Sasuke did.

Ino-Shikamaru, if she had to end up with a guy it makes sense it’d be him since they spend more time together than her and Sai did. (inosaku for the win tho)

Hinata-Shino or Kiba, again, because they spent more time with her. Naruto and her felt very rushed and I don’t quite understand the appeal.

The one that made the most sense and became canon was Shikatem, though their son’s design was lazy :D 

If I do a second part, it’ll be about the boys and the ships with them that made sense to me. For now, this is all I have. If you’ve made it this far, thank you lol

byeee

[justsasuke]

Here’s the thing about Kakashi. He’s quite possibly Konoha’s worst (yes, you read that right) worst Sensei. Mostly due to the fact that he’s so caught up in his guilt and past that he literally had nothing to give his students.

I’m not saying this to hate on Kakashi, he’s his own person with very valid struggles and I don’t want to slam him bc of his life experiences, but for the purpose of this here writing I’m going to ignore Kakashi’s right to be stuck in the past and talk about why he isn’t qualified to do the job the 3rd Hokage assigned him. Specifically in relation to Sasuke (bc let’s be real, after shippuden started was Kakashi really Naruto and Sakura’s sensei anymore? also this blog is about Sasuke so if you’re expecting any other type of content IDK how to help you)

Let me start by saying Kakashi had a lot of potential to help Sasuke out; they come from somewhat similar backgrounds - prominent families in the village that at some point were no longer favorable to the village, and then losing said families.  Both were child prodigies and (I assume) had a lot of external pressure to live up to and not enough time to work through their own feelings...

you’d think with everything they had in common Kakashi could have used his experiences to relate to Sasuke and then guide him down a much healthier path--but instead he only made things worse.

and here’s where we get into the main meat of this rant and my list of reasons why Kakashi was a horrible sensei (grab some popcorn bc I’m about to go off)

1) Kakashi identifies Sasuke’s issues early...and then does nothing. without a doubt, Kakashi knew who Sasuke was.  He knew what had happened to the Uchiha clan, and he could probably imagine what kind of pain Sasuke was going through and yet when Sasuke very openly admits that he doesn’t have any purpose for his future except to avenge his clan Kakashi simply makes a mental note that it was ‘just as he thought’

2) Kakashi doesn’t really say anything nice... your mileage may vary with this one, and of course it’s a matter of personal taste, but Kakashi doesn’t say anything nice about Sasuke.  Not to his face anyway.  and it’s not just that he isn’t nice, he taunts him too. To a regular person this may not cause much damage, but we have to look at the fact that Sasuke has grown up alone and un-nurtured for the last 5 years and that the last person who was important in his literally told him that he was worthless and unfit for anything (hello root cause of Sasuke’s insecurity) Kakashi’s words then become really destructive and damaging to any chance he had of creating a safe space for Sasuke to open up and feel looked after/get the help he needed

3) Kakashi didn’t get it This happens during the infamous treetop chat, where he literally ties Sasuke to the tree so he can say what he wants to say. (red flag right there bc honestly what is with this village and constantly trying to force Sasuke to do what they want him to do without actually taking the time to listen to him or address his problems directly.  Seriously.  Also why are you waiting until just now to reach out to him when you’ve known he’s been struggling since day one.  see #1 on this rant)

I hate this scene because it’s a really good moment outside of the context of, well, Sasuke and all that he is and has been through. It was meant to be a call to reality scene where Kakashi helps Sasuke see that he’s not alone in his suffering, that he has friends who care about him, that leaving the village isn’t going to help him, and his life situation isn’t actually all that bad. (can you spot the sarcasm?)

Spoiler alert: this scene is another example of people who thought they understood Sasuke and knew how to help, which is not the same as actually understanding him and knowing how to help. See also Naruto, Sakura, and Gaara to name the most prominent other ones.

4) “sure, but everyone I ever loved is already dead... :)” Ok listen.  I get where Kakashi is coming from, I really do. but this line.  I hate it. Again, it’s a great line out of context of everything Sasuke is dealing with. And yeah, I can see why Kakashi thought it might help. But just to recap, Sasuke’s entire clan, his immediate family, probably the bulk of his friends because Bigotry™, his extended family, everything he’s known and loved and held dear, his security, the family culture he grew up with, any promise of a bright future etc. was taken away from him by his older brother whom he loved more than anything in one night.  He literally lost everything that would help him gain any sort of bearing of identity and sense of worth, not to mention anyone to love him, in one night.  and it was taken by the person he loved most, someone he trusted and looked up to and believed in.  And then that person told him he was completely worthless. Kakashi on the other hand lost his best friend during a ninja mission (a devastating loss but common within the context of everyone being ninja and it being wartime), and lost his father and other friend/crush? to suicide. All very real pains, but different than Sasuke’s.  

Sasuke’s lash out of “what if I killed everyone you ever cared about” was a plea for someone to understand the kind of agony he was carrying everyday, and Kakashi--who honestly out of everyone else should have sensed a need to sit and listen--ignored it by taking the opportunity to invalidate Sasuke’s very specific pain.

5) Kakashi kind of ....gave up? At some point it seems like Kakashi just gave up trying to help Sasuke and decided that it was unavoidable and inevitable that Sasuke was going to “go bad” and leave the village. I mean, he noticed it on day one, right? (srry, I’m salty about that one if you couldn’t tell).

6) Except he didn’t At some point he decides that as Sasuke’s sensei he should be the one to take responsibility for Sasuke going “bad” and kill him. Forget talking to him, forget apologizing for not taking the time to talk to him earlier, he decided that he’s going to fight Sasuke and “take care of the problem once and for all”.

I could go on, but at this point I think I should stop and take a really, really long walk. In summary:  While you’d expect Kakashi to have seen and treated Sasuke differently he didn’t, and while he was set up to be the perfect mentor character to Sasuke (Naruto got Jiraiya so you’d think Kakashi would’ve stepped in to help Sasuke more) he really fell flat. Overall as a sensei I think he was too bogged down with his own pain and survivor’s guilt to really be present, and maybe he was too scared to help Sasuke grow because he thought if he fed the fire it would only get worse. In any case, other than teaching Sasuke chidori, Kakashi was really detached from Sasuke’s struggles except when he thought it had gone too far.  And by then it was too late to do any good. I think if he had stepped in a little more, listened a little more, helped Sasuke channel his feelings productively, maybe even helped Sasuke work through said feelings, things could’ve been great. He could’ve been the Iruka to Sasuke’s Naruto, you know?   but he wasn’t.

[pinkhairedlily]

[Open Your Mouth] Chapter 4 - R

See previous chapters here: AO3 | Tumblr

Summary: Or maybe it was just the first time she was treated like she had an agency. The gestures for permission, the unspoken questions of consent, the way he wouldn’t touch her first or grab her or mar her skin even when they were having sex. Most men would have their true natures revealed once shown the great pussy. But there he was, always cradling her like she was porcelain china. Not that she minded. It was a breath of fresh air to be held like that, in gentle caresses and soft whispers that beg to betray his true feelings at any given second. It was madness not to be consumed by it, but it was tragedy that she only knew of this reality just now.

-xxxxxxx-

April 20, 2021, 11:16 PM

“Still in questioning for two weeks,” Sasuke grits through his phone. “And they didn’t allow him to post bail?”

“Akugawa’s attorneys tried to appeal this week but it’s a no go. Doesn’t help that he’s brought to a different district so it’s completely out of our jurisdiction,” Neji replies. “Have you heard from Jugo?”

“Just a text message saying they lied to him and told him the directive was from Asuma.” Sasuke lets his fingers run through his hair, too frustrated to think straight this evening. “All they have against Akugawa are purely circumstantial. This is ridiculous.”

“Yeah, but the media ruckus is hungry for the gay serial killer angle. Well, I gotta go Uchiha.”

“Have fun. It’s your wedding anniversary tonight, isn’t it?”

“Shut up. Aren’t you with a woman yourself?” The call ends.

Rid of distractions, he is now at liberty to gaze freely at the rosette reading a book beside him. She gives him a smile and ditches the book to trace lazy circles on his chest. The lunch break meetings have become too short for the both of them thus the need for dinners and coffee. He didn’t plan on making a move, not when there is still an active case, but she’s enthralling in a sense. It’s her presence that pulls him into her orbit – or maybe it’s the pink hair and the emerald eyes that make it difficult to look away.

When he almost hailed her a cab for their fifth dinner, she grabbed his arm and slowly pulled it down to her side, intertwining her fingers with his. It was the first time he held her hand.

With a flushed face under the dim city lights, she asked him, “I would like it if you take me home with you.”

And even after arriving in his flat, he hesitated to kiss her. Only when she brought his fingers to her lips did he move, suddenly gripped with a drive to gently coax her into pleasure. She undressed for him in the dark, already wet and pulsating for his touch, his kisses, and he let the jasmine perfume perforate his senses. He was careful not to leave marks of his trail – after all, it might just be the last as it could be the first – and regrets were felt stronger when there were remainders.

The first time was followed by a second, and she posed a question. “Why are you so gentle with me?”

He looked at her face and tucked a stray strand behind her ear, the color of his dreams. “I’m afraid you’ll break.”

She took his hand and slapped it on her perky breasts. “Try and break me then.”

Where he wavered, she asserted – her nails leaving scratches on his back, bruising his lips, marking his neck, and pulling his hair – but she did it so beautifully that he basked in pain as she yelled his name in ecstatic throes.

He pulls away from reminiscing when the lazy circles start to draw lower. He softly takes her dainty wrist and places an open-mouthed kiss where her pulse is.

“I take it your team is still prohibited from pursuing other leads?” Sakura gasps.

Sasuke shakes his head. “Both chiefs had to save face, particularly when the district attorney got the call first, then the media, and we were the last to know. But it’s more of a pro-forma. My guts don’t tell me they’re still out there.”

“You don’t believe it’s him?”

“He perfectly fits Yamato’s profile. Had several sexual relations with married CEOs, naively accepted promises of secured futures, let down just as quickly as he has been picked up.”

Sakura climbs on top of him and starts to grind on his hardened member. “Too bad. Akugawa is a nice colleague. I was the one who encouraged him to enroll in those meditation classes.”

One arm wraps around her waist to keep her steady while the other tugs away the sheet that comes in between their moist flesh. He brings her breasts closer to his tongue, his words lapping against her skin. “Oh you must be good in yoga too.”

“I’m flexible like that, Detective.” She slips his cock insider her ready core, and the fitting sensation makes the both of them shiver.

“What other things are you good at, Dr, Haruno?”

She locks eyes with him and words are lost as they start to find rhythm in their thrusts.

-xxxxxxx-

April 25, 2021, 6:27 AM

“I take it they’re gonna name you as the director for the overseas expansion.” He asks as soon as they step out of her penthouse.

He didn’t expect to step foot in her domain; he knew it was how the elites operate, but maybe she waited for the sixth date to test him. He couldn’t deny how he was intimidated by her biometrics door, the large cctv panels on her foyer, and her voice-automated house system, but it fascinated him to see the bleak contrast of her plant-filled space against the extravagant automations and sharp marble floor.

“I’m not quite sure.” She angles her eyes on the retina scanner, and the security system beeps to life. The whole floor will be inaccessible even to the administration until she comes home. “Either way, it’s gonna be a success for the Senju-Haruno corporation and its shareholders.”

“Shouldn’t they give you bodyguards then?”

Her fingers ease in into his waiting hand. “I have a detective for a lover. I’ll be fine.”

He leaves soft kisses on her knuckles. “Can’t your lover be worried?”

“I don’t think they’ll come after me. I’m a woman, remember?”

6:41 AM

“Sorry to delay your trip to the office. I’ll just check the ravine again.” They hazard park on the side of the forest. “Stay put. I’ll be back in a jiffy.”

Sakura nods with a tight-lipped smile. “I’ll stretch my legs out for a bit, but I really wouldn’t want to wander. I don’t know the area quite well.”

He hops off the car, unaware that a nondescript black sedan stopped a few meters away from their spot. Sasuke traverses the wide trunks and mossy forest floor until he finds the exact dumping spot – a clump of thorny bristles and rue hedges. His eyes survey the surroundings and notices a disturbed, rather steep area above the ravine, a tricky slope which cannot be possible for someone like Akugawa. With his built, he would have skidded down when he dumped the body. It had to be someone petite.

Light footfalls behind him. Sasuke glances at the sound, his hand ready to pull out his gun.

“Sorry I followed you. I’m kinda jumpy.” Sakura waves at him from above the slope, her silhouette prominent against the morning backlight.

Then his eyes register another bigger, taller, heavier silhouette behind her.

“Sakura!”

Gunshots miss Sasuke by a breadth, but he doesn’t miss how the hooded figure clamps a hand over Sakura’s mouth and drag her away into the forest. He scrambles up and follows their trail, cursing his ineptness.

His breaths are louder than the wakening birds and traffic on the roadside, and his feet feel more like lead for every tree that leads him deeper into the forest. Then he hears two consecutive shots, and he feels all of his sensory motors go into overload.

Sasuke’s feet direct him to the sound. When the vines give way to a clearing, the first thing he sees is her disheveled rose hair, pulled apart from her high bun, tousled like an unkempt mane on her back.

And a dead man on the forest floor, a gunshot to the head, and another on his side.

She was trembling, eyes wide, clenched teeth, and closed fists. Giving her time to adjust to the events, he goes first to the perpetrator and lowers the hoodie. It’s one of the Mingwa private cronies, probably following him to make sure he isn’t doing independent investigations. But since they touched a Haruno-Senju heir, the corporate publicity will angle this as harassment and attempted assault while the private faction will absolve their hands of any involvement. He calls Kakashi and Asuma for help.

After which, he glances at her, and she finally blinks out of daze. She slumps against him as soon as he’s near, and the reverberations of her body immediately hit him.

“I’m sorry,” he says even though he has a lot of questions.

“He slipped and I went for the gun,” she whispers shakily against his shirt.

Yet he still wonders why there were two shots when one to the head could have sufficed, especially with unfamiliar hands. Or how she’s able to take down a man that size with her dainty wrists.

“I’ll call in sick today. Bring me home?”

He tightens his hug before he lets her go then he realizes he’s not familiar with the terrain.

She tugs on his coat and starts to walk. “If we cut across here, we’ll see the road in five minutes.”

-xxxxxxx-

May 5, 2021, 10:22 AM

“Did Dr. Haruno come back okay?” Kakashi sits down across Sasuke’s desk and fidgets with his unused pens. Even though the investigation was halted, his room remains littered with manila papers, bulletins, and notes on the white board. The necessity to preserve becomes apparent when they receive news of Akugawa posting bail this morning.

Sasuke nods in response. “She still went through with her trip to Belgium last April 28. I don’t know when she’ll be back, but I’m not privy to her internal emotions so it’s not my place to say she’s okay.”

“About time they gave her bodyguards.” The chief detective taps an unlit cigarette stick on his desk. “It’s great seeing you like this.”

“This what?”

“Happy?”

Sasuke clucks his tongue. “It’s not official. She just might be in it for the thrills.”

Kakashi smirks and lights up his stick. “Sex must be great then.”

“Get out, Hatake.”

A rap on the door catches both of their attention. Yamato comes in followed by Asuma, Tenten, Jugo, and Neji.

“There’s a fourth body in the same ravine. Body is now with the ME. Estimated time of death is enough for Akugawa to file for several cases. It’s gonna be a media bloodbath,” Asuma says.

As the lot file out of the office, Kakashi pulls Sasuke to fall behind a bit. “Trust no one, Uchiha.”

11:45 AM

There’s something off-putting about the smell.

This body does not follow the two-week gap; the ME estimated the date of his death on April 27. This slight change in MO presents the possibility of a copycat, but other than that, all injuries are the same – a stab in the carotid, teeth pulled out, arms and feet cut, genital missing – which means another thing, the killer slipped somehow and they’re on a rush. For what, they don’t know.

“Ando Suzuki, CEO of Suzuki Airlines for Japan,” Asuma states his name for confirmation. “Let’s do our usual. It’s time we ramp up our progress, Uchiha.”

Sasuke ignores the pointed insinuation and steps closer to the corpse. It didn’t rain last week despite the forecasts so the state of the body is more or less preserved. He brings his nose closer to the neck, right where the murder tool punctured the artery.

“Sasuke, what are you doing?” Tenten asks. “Forensics have close up shots for that.”

“It’s the smell.”

“Like decomposers and rotting flesh?” Jugo scoffs.

“Is it possible that they might have tried to remove him?” Sasuke asks the ME who quickly goes to him and helps him turn the corpse on its side.

They see fresh scar on the pricked wounds, like someone tried to drag them out of the ravine. As if they knew the position would give them away this time. The smell hits him strongly when the ME returns the corpse to a prone position, and Sasuke almost vomits when he recognizes it.

It can’t be. In controlled breaths, he steps away from the examining table and slumps against the wall. Kakashi notices but pretends not to. It’s Tenten who slithers beside him inconspicuously and taps on his arm. She raises a brow which he responds to with a cluck of his tongue.

“I’ve always wondered,” she starts. “Why can’t it be a woman?”

“If you can recreate a position of a woman stabbing the artery without defense wounds, let me know,” Yamato says with a cold smile. It’s meant to shut Tenten up; he doesn’t like his profiles being challenged. “And the smell you’re talking about Sasuke? It’s jasmine. The area probably has blooms.”

2:30 PM

“Something’s weird with Uchiha,” Neji pulls out his badge, ready to present it to the landfill. They’re revisiting dumping sites again for a second go-through. The killer is starting to leave breadcrumbs all over the place. “Did you see how pale his face went earlier?”

“Jasmine and rotting flesh don’t make good perfume,” Tenten figures. The guard sees their badges and gestures for them to come inside.

There’s a peculiar batch of scavengers in the area, people who aren’t part of junkshops or associations, just individual peddlers. A bald man in his 70s glances their way and starts to move towards their directions with only one foot and crutches for the other.

“Police?” He has a putrid gummy smile. “That lad didn’t come here again.”

Neji tugs Tenten away, but his wife stays rooted to the spot. “A lad?”

The old man opens his palm.

“He just wants money, dear,” Neji grumbles. “Let’s go now and talk to the real rational people.”

Tenten pulls out her wallet and sticks a wad of one dollar bills on the man’s hand. “A lad?” She repeats.

“Thought it was our fellow. We have young ones with us, you know, like your age but definitely shorter in height. He comes in dressed in a black raincoat and plastic boots, dragging bulky garbage bags like they’re not heavy at all.” His smile gets bigger by the count of the bills.

“Did you get a good look at this man?” Tenten asks, still unwilling to let go.

“Tenten,” Neji warns.

“This might be our lead. A concrete lead for once.”

“Wind knocked his garbage of a hood one time. Shiny bald head says hi.”

Neji is at the end of his wits. “Dear, you’re not even sure if he’s talking about our guy.”

Tenten sticks a 10-dollar bill on the old man’s almost torn shirt pocket. He proceeds with a guttural laugh, the phlegm oozing through each gasping breath. “He always dumps those bags on a full moon.”

4:30 PM

Sasuke sneaked in earlier to the administration office just before the receptionist’s desk came into view. With slight intimidation into play, he managed to get duplicate recordings of the cctv of the whole floor.

He taps Kakashi for help and another IT staff.

“Looks normal to me,” the silver-haired man remarks. “Why are you snooping on your girlfriend?”

“All of them were her patients at one point,” Sasuke replies. “And we don’t do labels.”

“But their visits were nowhere near their kill dates.”

“Their visits were logged as emergency procedures because Akugawa or their company doctor wasn’t available. So why?”

Kakashi smirks. “Are you insinuating they were there to get a glimpse of her? The recluse medical corporation heir. Nothings amiss in the recordings, right? No sexual body language?”

Sasuke hopes the same, but the lurch in his guts tells him otherwise. He swallows whatever saliva that hasn’t dried yet in his mouth in anticipation of the inevitable.

“The recordings are fine. She’s always accompanied by her assistant when she has clients,” the IT replies. “It’s the code that bothers me. You see, a malware is playing with it, looping the same frames while continuing the time ticks. Either someone knows their technology or this is a complete human error.”

-xxxxxxx-

May 7, 2021, 12:01 PM

“Oh, it’s you,” Laura says nonchalantly, never glancing up from her keyboard, and click-clacking away even though it’s already lunch break. “She’ll be out in a minute.”

“Do you know how to code?” He doesn’t spare her a glance either, his eyes trained on the door.

“Is this a side job? I can get Shin if you’d like. He fixes the systems here when he has time. He’s a computer geek before he settled for dentistry.” She stops typing and eyes her wristwatch. “She’s here.”

True enough, the door opens just as Laura tells him. She wears her rose hair loose today, falling like waves against her tucked in white long sleeve polo and denim jeans. She spots him after she gives her white coat to her waiting assistant.

Smile, wave, and unhurried walk to reach him. “A lunch break?”

“Wondering if you were still alive after your trip.” The jasmine in the air transports him to two different scenes, his memory being stretched out in two drastic dimensions, one where she’s writhing beneath him and one where he sees the corpse falling on top of him. The scents mix, and he fails to cover up his gag. Both women look at him with brows raised but he waves them off with his handkerchief.

“Days of absence and your heart grows fonder. That saying is true after all.” She places a hand on his cheek and softly taps it. “A sandwich?”

“I’m starving.”

“Two sandwiches then.”

8:19 PM

She invited him for dinner while they were munching on half-dozen random sandwiches from Subway. He didn’t talk about the case nor did he question her radio silence since her Belgium business trip. This was why she genuinely liked Detective Uchiha Sasuke.

Or maybe it was just the first time she was treated like she had an agency. The gestures for permission, the unspoken questions of consent, the way he wouldn’t touch her first or grab her or mar her skin even when they were having sex. Most men would have their true natures revealed once shown the great pussy. But there he was, always cradling her like she was porcelain china. Not that she minded. It was a breath of fresh air to be held like that, in gentle caresses and soft whispers that beg to betray his true feelings at any given second. It was madness not to be consumed by it, but it was tragedy that she only knew of this reality just now.

She knew he had an inkling. She messed up in the forest. If she had the luxury of time, she would have dismembered the man who grabbed her. A stab from a scalpel was a merciful way to go, and that man didn’t deserve it. Filthy hands.

The anger rushes to the surface, and she stabs the roasted meat rather too loudly.

“Is your meat still alive?” He emerges in her dining room and continues to look around. “Your wooden mansion is a far cry from your depersonalized penthouse.”

She laughs as she strains the cooked pasta. “I like having two personalities.” He must have triangulated by now that the location of this mansion is smacked in the center of the dump sites, a safe, close distance to the landfills, the forest, and even the meditation place. He must have seen the black pick-up truck on her garage, the one she uses for farming. She can see all the pieces fitting into a completed puzzle in his head, and she’s sad to let him go.

He opens the wine she placed on the counter, and he fills himself a glass. “You also have a crystal collection like Akugawa.”

“I gave him his first obsidian. Their healing properties are supposedly at maximum during full moon.” She places two plated bolognese pasta on the table and a wide platter of medium rare meat. “Dinner’s ready.”

“This looks good.” His tone is genuinely fascinated. “Didn’t know you could cook. We always dined in or ordered take out.”

“A change of pace, wouldn’t you think?” She also fills herself a glass of wine and watches in amusement as he takes a first bite of the meatballs she especially prepared for him.

“You should tell me where you source your meat. I’ll one up you in our next dinner.”

I’m too sad there won’t be a next one.

10:17 PM

Sakura changes position, and she’s on top of him, gyrating her hips in familiar pleasure. Sasuke wants to take it slow, to re-encounter her folds and curves after several days of not seeing her, despite his senses overriding in danger. He took her an hour ago, on her immaculate grainy wood counter, wine spilling on the sink as he thrusted into her unclothed core. She had gone commando, and this drove him insane. Maybe his lust is taking over him, clouding his judgment, muddling his perfect frame by frame memories, but he has to play this game. It’s only a matter of time.

He feels her insides throb in urgency, and he knows she’s near her orgasm. Her juices leak out, and he bucks against her wetness, releasing his load into her with eyes closed.

He waits for the scalpel to puncture his carotid, but nothing comes. “Sakura.”

She continues riding his limp member and rubbing her clit against his balls. A strategic distraction as they are coming down from a high. He expects her to trace lazy circles on his abdomen, a mannerism he picked up from their nights, but the dainty hands go to his neck instead.

He opens his eyes, and he sees a different Sakura. Her microexpressions are different, her eyes throwing daggers, soft pliant lips in hardened scowl, and hollowed cheeks.

“I don’t know what’s your issue with a scalpel, Sakura.” Her voice is different, the accent changed. “You must have fallen in love with him already. Such a frail human.”

“I wanted to prepare myself before I see him go. That is all.” Her face shifts and the emotions return to the Sakura he knows. He also notes the loosening grip on his neck, unaware that he is holding his breath.

Another shift and it’s back to the other Sakura. “She has such a saccharine charm effective in luring me to do things.” She smiles at him, but it’s not the smile he’s familiar with. “Don’t worry, you’re not gonna die yet.”

She chokes him with surprising strength. He places pressure on her wrists and elbows, but she doesn’t budge. His legs start to thrash out beneath him, and his sight starts to dim.

“Great work as always, sister. We’ve always wanted the truth about Madara, don’t we?”

[grimmjowkurosakidrake]

Losing

Summary: Part four of my Time travel fic: The end is were we begin

Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Sasuke, Uchiha Sasuke & Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Itachi & Uchiha Sasuke

Lenght: 2,118 Words

Warnings: Some angst, mentions of the curse of hatred as well as mentions of Sasuke not feeling good enough for Sakura.

Quick disclaimer: This chapter was commissioned by the always great @birkastan2018​  who actually helped me to fix my grammar and turning points on the fics!! on my commissions blog @witcheswritings​ !

Previous Itachi and Shisui are waiting for them at the gates of Konoha when they come back. Both are genuinely smiling as they prepare to greet Sasuke and his team.

Back in his timeline, Itachi only wore his Anbu uniform or simple training pants coupled with the customary high collared shirt most of their clan wore on a regular basis. Itachi was never carefree about anything and his clothes were no exception.

Sometimes, if he puts his mind to it, Sasuke can remember with vivid clarity how his older brother used to like sweets but didn’t eat them as much as he should; how he liked festivals but rarely attended any; how he enjoyed playing with the cats roaming around the compound but wasn’t able to spend time just wandering around their home.

Now Itachi has his own cat. A fat, old, female cat named Hime that never plays with him but always purrs when he strokes the sides of her face.

Now, Sasuke can always find his brother drinking tea and eating dango at his favorite shop when he’s not at the compound or the police precinct.

Now he wears colorful and comfortable yukatas almost everyday.

Today he’s wearing a silk, bright blue yukata embroidered with beautiful designs of delicately embroidered gold half moons and waves.

By his side, Shisui is wearing his Anbu uniform. But seeing their placid smiles and the way his cousin’s hand rests on Itachi’s shoulders without care, Sasuke can appreciate how happy and free they’ve become ever since they ended the ongoing feud between the Uchiha and the rest of Konoha.

Sasuke smiles at them, but otherwise tries not to overreact at the sight of his beloved brother (he still has his pride after all).  The days of following his brother around like a puppy are supposed to be behind him.

Naruto is not quite as prideful.

“Itachi-nii!” screams the blond, eagerly running in the direction of the older Uchiha.  He looks small next to the two imposing young adults, though not nearly as malnourished as he looked back in the day. His clothes fit him now and his once bony wrists aren’t as delicate. He’s healthy, not as raggedy looking as before.

A good family can do that to you.  And Naruto’s not the only one who is different. Itachi’s eye bags aren’t as prominent even if he still has wrinkles to show for the years of sleep deprivation he suffered in the past. Shisui’s smile is just as cocky as he remembers, even with the black eyepatch he wears now after Danzo stole his eye from him. 

Sometimes, even Sasuke can admit that his own smile is different than before.  His eyes are softer now; they’re not as sharp and full of hatred. The smiles he can offer now are more genuine than the smiles he could offer to his wife back in his timeline.

Thoughts like this never fail to consume him with guilt when he remembers the brother who put his happiness over his own health, the friend who obsessed over having him near even at the cost of the goals that helped him overcome his neglectful upbringing, and the girl that loved him even when he couldn’t love himself.

Even when he couldn’t return her love like she deserved.

This is why he can’t go back.  This is why he can’t ever regret what he did. 

This is for the best. This is how they will be happy.

“Naruto!” Shisui excitedly plants both of his hands firmly on the blond’s shoulder. “First mission, huh? Did you grow taller?” Naruto beams proudly at this, straightening his back to try and show off his full height.

Which is ridiculous, because he’s still shorter than even Sakura. His head still doesn’t reach Shisui’s collarbones, but Sasuke can see what his cousin means.

Waves represents a turning point in the life of the boy who will become Hokage one day. The moment he stopped being just a rambunctious orphan child running amok through the village that despised him and started to become an actual shinobi.

One who’s seen death, mourned the loss of a dear friend, and even if it was for just a moment - one who’s been made aware of his own weaknesses.

One who’s witnessed the horrors of the shinobi world firsthand and still decided to come back stronger and as eager as ever to become the leader of an entire shinobi village. 

The same could not have been said for Sasuke, back then. Waves for Sasuke was nothing but another point of proof that he was weak.  It just gave him another reason to train harder.

The thought of training has him considering their female teammate. Seeing Sakura now, she actually looks smaller. Perhaps she feels shy in the presence of the Uchiha clan heads, maybe uncomfortable at being the only one who doesn’t know Itachi or Shisui. As smart as she always is, he’s sure she’s noticed the familiarity between Naruto, Kakashi and his family.

Or, maybe she’s just ashamed of her lack of growth back in Waves. 

After all, she couldn’t do anything other than watch as her teammates risked their lives fighting an S-class missing-nin, standing in the sidelines with the man they were supposed to protect.

Sasuke then decides he can’t hold back when it comes to her growth. 

He loves her just as he did back in his timeline and he wants her to be happy.  He is planning to become a man worthy of being introduced to her parents as a loving boyfriend, and not the traitor who whisked her away from home one day.

Kizashi didn’t like him, Sakura’s mother didn’t either and Tsunade absolutely loathed him.

According to them, he was cold, cruel and not worth a loving bright girl who would do anything to see him happy. In fact, the only two people who ever supported their blooming relationship were Naruto and Sakura herself.

He’s working on loving her more openly now. But the psychotic, still cursed on love and hatred part of his soul, needs her to become stronger, less vulnerable.

Sasuke is an Uchiha, after all, and a part of his soul still carries the curse of hatred.  He knows he couldn’t take it if he lost her somehow.  

He wants her to reach her full potential. He needs her to become the woman able to break mountains, to receive a katana to the gut and just regenerate around it.  

 Her death would destroy him, just like Rin’s death destroyed Obito. He needs to make sure that doesn’t happen.

“Ah, Itachi-sama, Shisui-san” drawls Kakashi, referring to his former Anbu protégés with the formality their titles deserve.

Even when his voice doesn’t sound as respectful, and his eyes planted on his obvious porn book show everything but interest in the two men.

“Kakashi-senpai,” smiles Itachi pleasantly, “Please, just call me Itachi. I’m not the head of the Uchiha right now, just a brother interested in his younger sibling’s first mission.”

“Yeah!” hollers Shisui with enthusiasm. “But who would have thought that little Sasuke would end up on a genin team with his best friend, our former Anbu senpai and…” He stops, gaze falling right on Sakura.

There’s confusion in his eyes. Sasuke understands, as she doesn’t resemble any clan in their village. She could be a foreigner, but no Hokage would allow an outsider to be on a team with the heir of the Uchiha and the Kyuubi child.

So Sasuke makes the introduction.  “This is Sakura Haruno. The one who always beat me at written exams back at the academy.”

Itachi smirks knowingly at his words. 

Those were some dark days for him. When he thought his experience as a Shinobi back in his own timeline was enough to get him perfect grades and yet he was being bested time and time again by a little civilian girl.

He brooded quite a lot.

Shisui never paid much attention to his childish mood swings though, so he’s not aware of his little cousin’s Academy rival.  “Haruno? I’m not quite sure I recognize that clan…”

“It’s a civilian family,” she answers, her small hands holding onto the edges of her dress. “My parents run a bakery.  They opened it when dad couldn’t advance any further up the shinobi ranks.” 

Sakura blushes from her neck to her ears when the older man’s eyes don’t leave her even after that shameful disclosure. 

“The Haruno bakery? Just a few houses down from the Yamanaka flower shop?”

She silently nods.

“Oh!”  Shisui grins widely in recognition. “They have great curry bread there!” He sighs dreamily as if thinking of those savory buns, which eases Sakura’s nerves.

“You must be very skilled,” adds Itachi, “to be put on a team under Kakashi Hatake.”

“Not really,” sighs the pink haired girl dejectedly. “I’m just lucky.”

Naruto scoffs. “Don’t say that, Sakura-chan!” he cries, forcefully cradling Sakura’s face. His lack of respect for any kind of personal boundaries are well known to everyone. “Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei are lucky to have us! I mean, look at us, we fought one of the seven swordsmen and we won! We should be celebrating! Right?” He looks between the Uchiha men and his teacher.

“Of course!” agrees Shisui, easily excited and always hungry. “How about we go out to eat something? Our treat, to celebrate little Sasuke’s first mission.”

“I shouldn’t.” Sakura hesitates with uncertainty in her green eyes. “I should be training,” she says as an afterthought, as she peeks at Sasuke. “I couldn’t do anything to help on our mission.”

“That isn’t tru-” Naruto tries to object, but he’s swiftly interrupted.

“She’s right.” 

Naruto fumes at their teammate’s sharp response, but Sasuke holds firm with his own cold stare before turning to Sakura. “You need to train more. We may not be there the next time you face enemies as strong as Zabuza and Haku.” 

Sasuke knows he’s not planning to leave her. But what comes after the Uchiha massacre was stopped is uncertain terrain. 

The Akatsuki, Madara, Obito, even Orochimaru are more of a threat than they were before because now they’re unknown elements. Sasuke doesn’t know how his actions thus far have changed this timeline going forward, and he can’t leave Sakura’s life at fate’s hands.

“Foolish little brother,” sighs Itachi. “Training after a mission, tired and disheartened won’t do her any good.”  He moves near the girl to place a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Come on, Haruno-san. Even if you’ve lost, you’re still alive and that’s all that matters. You should eat; you could use the energy.”

“We didn’t lose, though” corrects Naruto, crossing his arms and closing his eyes in confusion.

“Sakura-chan did,” clarifies Shisui, his usually flirtatious expression now serious, “She couldn’t help her teammates, because she wasn’t strong enough,” he states bluntly. “Isn’t that right, Sakura-chan?”

He’s smiling, but it’s not a particularly nice nor friendly smile.

“I did,” she realizes. “I did lose.” But then, with greater resolve, she steels herself and bows to her team. “I’m sorry Naruto, Kakashi-sensei. Sasuke-kun! I won’t fail you next time!”

Naruto grins widely and Kakashi smiles through his mask, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck. Probably mourning the misfortune of being assigned such passionate young children as his first genin team.

They always crash and burn after all. Time and time again, both love and passion had only proven to be followed by tragedy.

Sasuke just hides his face behind his bangs, still not sure how to react when it comes to the brilliant, resilient girl he’s only now getting to know.

“But for now we eat,” interrupts Itachi, guiding Sakura and her teammates towards Konoha’s shopping district. “We eat, and afterwards we will assess our weaknesses and our strengths.” He smiles while walking towards a spot they’re all familiar with. “After that, we’ll sleep, make sure to get a good night’s rest, and then tomorrow we train.”

Naruto hoots enthusiastically when they arrive at Ichiraku and enters immediately with Shisui, followed by Itachi and Sakura.

But Kakashi and Sasuke linger outside the curtains of the ramen shop. “That was some wise advice from a former Anbu captain,” he muses, while placing a gentle but firm hand on his student’s shoulder. “We would be equally wise to take it.”

Sasuke considers this as they enter the now crowded shop.  He sees Naruto grinning happily as he’s served his first bowl of noodles. At his side, Sakura is smiling at his brother like she used to smile at Ino before their falling out.

Maybe, he thinks, sitting by Naruto’s other side and accepting the pair of chopsticks his best friend offers...

Maybe they’re right. 

---------------------------------------------------

I hope you liked the fic and speacilly hope @birkastan2018​ liked it <3 

[ladyxxdaydream]

tagged by @stillnotovermylordsixth -- thanks for the tag! I've been feeling really inactive with my writing lately so this was a good way to start paying attention to it again (◠‿◠)

Rules: List the first lines of your last 20 stories (if you have less than 20, just list them all!) See if there are any patterns. Choose your favorite opening lines.

Then tag ten authors!

Fic titles are underlined and linked to the fic on my ao3, just in case any of them grab ya and you want to read it! ;D

1) Akihiko Kaji had sworn off love.

Love was nothing more than a shiny lure; bait on the end of a hook. Swallow it, and you were reeled in, gutted, and devoured.

He should have known better. (metanoia || akigetsu & akiharu fanfic)

2) Light snow fluttered down around them as they entered the winter festival, the first flakes since the season began. Konoha didn’t see much snow, and even if it did, it usually didn’t stick.

“What’s this line for?” Kakashi asked curiously, peering around the throng of people filing in front of a wooden kiosk. The words Kissing Booth were stenciled in red paint across the top. “Or rather who is this line f—” He cut himself off when he saw the prominent scar.

(kissing booth || kakayamairu)

3) Kakashi never showed much interest in anything aside from Icha Icha, but even that was exaggerated and calculated. It served several purposes: one, it provided an escape, building a wall between himself and the rest of the world; two, he simply loved it; and three, it allowed people something to fixate on and gossip about that wasn’t his actual life. (thought you'd never ask || kakairu)

4) A new child was being added to the shelter today. Dalma was standing in the door of the hut, introducing him as Kakashi. Iruka had heard stories about people as pale as the moon, who’d been sent by some god Iruka did not know. (déjà vu || kakairu)

5) “I’ve had one hell of a day,” Gekko said, falling into an open chair. “Can I join you guys?”

“You’re already seated,” Asuma said gruffly, puffing on a cigarette. He blew the smoke towards the ceiling, before snaking an arm around the back of Kurenai’s chair. She poked him in the knee beneath the table, a silent way to say be nice. (love me as you are || kakairu)

6) Kakashi was trying to keep his distance, and Iruka… well, Iruka was not. (full-stop || kakairu)

7) Kakashi slid his hands over Iruka’s shoulders and down his chest, placing a kiss to the nape of his neck. Iruka’s skin smelled strongly like the sun, despite his hair being damp from a shower. (busy || kakairu)

8) Kakashi paced their apartment nervously, his bare feet soundless and swift against the floor.

“I should go there,” he announced.

“Bad idea,” Pakkun replied lazily from the floor, his head resting on top of his front paws. “Iruka specifically told you not to.”

(perks of promotion || kakairu)

9) Iruka drank nearly half the beer Kakashi had sent him in one long swig. He didn’t mind the obvious attention Kakashi was giving him—the man was attractive and powerful to boot—but he did wonder why; he wondered if it was the same reason everyone else in this damn bar decided to notice him tonight. (perks of promotion || kakairu)

10) Iruka was putting on his wetsuit, reaching around to pull the long zipper up to the base of his neck. No matter how many times he’d done this over the past three years, he still felt nervous excitement every time. He threw his hair up into a tight bun, slipped the thin sliver whistle over his head, and closed his locker door.

(night at the aquarium || kakairu)

putting the rest under a cut!

11) Iruka clacked his stack of note cards against the desk’s surface, straightening them into a neat pile. He knew he wouldn’t use them but he made them anyway—it was a comfort thing. (brand new sound || kakairu)

12) Kakashi dropped his head into the pillow, dragging his fingers down Iruka’s back beneath his shirt as his boyfriend sucked his neck in a way that he knew would leave a mark.

“Wha—why,” Kakashi panted, “why are you stopping?” he asked when Iruka’s lips left his neck, clunking his forehead against Kakashi’s collarbone with a huff. (tonight you'll let me be your hands || kakairu)

13) Itachi got into his car, the leather seat cool against his legs through his linen pants. He turned on the radio with no need to change the channel. It’d been set to the same one for years — a mellow station that played classical composers and smooth jazz.  When he pulled out of the driveway, he pushed on his bluetooth and spoke out loud:

“Hatake Kakashi.”

(tilt || itadei & kakairu)

14) Iruka buried his nose further into his scarf, his hands shoved deeply into his pockets as he walked briskly towards the bus stop. His car needed to be taken to the shop — something was wrong with the ignition. The engine whined hoarsely when he turned the key, but it never caught. He couldn’t bring himself to spend the money yet; money he definitely did not have. He knew he’d have to shell it out soon regardless, because winter was swiftly approaching.

(language gap || kakairu)

15) Iruka readjusted his messenger bag, positioning it so it no longer whacked against the back of his legs. Campus on a Saturday felt like a different universe. It was deserted, except for the few students who actually went to the library to study. He was usually one of them but that’s not where he was headed today. (i'll fall if you do || kakairu)

16) Iruka heard Kakashi come in, his footfalls uncharacteristically loud—the first indication that he was moping. Coming from Kakashi, that was the equivalent to dragging his feet. (pout || kakairu)

17) “I knew I recognized him,” Deidara squealed, tilting his phone towards Iruka to show him a photo. “It would totally make sense. The eye wrap must be concealing the scar. I’ve read they cover it with make-up for most of his movies.” (use your imagination || kakairu)

18) “Later!” Tomo screeched, making a beeline for the door.

“Tomo,”  Iruka called, his stern voice echoing around the bathroom. Although he’d been appointed Headmaster at the Academy almost three years ago, his teacher's voice had refused to die. It usually worked, but his daughter was at the age where sometimes she would purposely misbehave, just to see what he would do in response. Thankfully, this wasn’t one of those times.

(cake substitution no jutsu || kakairu)

19) “Satisfied?” Kakashi chuckled, gently patting Tomo on the back again, despite her letting out a burp a second ago. He rocked from foot to foot in front of the window, bouncing her slightly.

Iruka watched his husband from the kitchen, his heart brimming with affection as he sipped at his tea. It had taken Kakashi the better part of a month to become completely comfortable with holding Tomo. The stiffness was gone from his body now, and his expression had shifted from panicked to serene. He also stopped taking Tomo’s crying as a personal insult, much to Iruka’s relief. Kakashi used to hand her off every time, convinced it was his fault, and that their now five month old daughter simply didn’t like him. (teething || kakairu)

20) Jokes came easily to Kakashi, whether or not people laughed at them was another thing entirely. With Iruka it was usually hit or miss. Sometimes he looked as if he was going to bust a lung, and it left Kakashi feeling victorious. Other times Iruka gave him the side-eye, and continued on with whatever he was doing. His team never really found him funny to begin with, and Yamato, well, he usually only laughed to be polite. (a new chapter || kakairu)

[daddy-kakashi-sensei]

Life as a Shinobi

Story Notes: This story is a reader x character romance. It takes place during the Great Ninja War, however, the timeline of my novel is different. It is loosely following the anime storyline but here Kakashi’s generation are between 15 and 16 years old. Even though this is a reader point of view, I really didn’t want to use “Y/N” so I chose a name instead. The character’s name is Katsumi. I chose this name because in Japanese it means “victorious beauty” and I thought it was beautiful. Feel free to replace your name, though!

This is just part one of a multitude of parts. I’m excited to endure the adventure with you all!

SFW, Slight Gore.

6,629 words

My hair whipped my face as I ran, constantly blocking my view. I cursed under my breath for not putting it up in a ponytail when I had the opportunity. A cool trickle of blood trailed down from my bicep to where I held my kunai. My legs shook, desperately waiting for the numbing phase, as I jumped from tree branch to tree branch.

Where the hell is Obito?

I continued my search for about a good mile before witnessing a giant ball of fire engulfing a fraction of the forest.

I sprinted to the origin of the heat to see Obito panting on the ground, sweat dripping off the tip of his nose. Across from him was what remained of a shinobi of the Hidden Stone Village. The lifeless ninja’s skin was charcoaled, the raw smell of burnt flesh stinging my nose.

“Obito! Are you okay?” I panted, doubled over with my hands on my knees as I tried to catch my breath.

Obito looked up at me, his soft brown eyes gaining more of an orangish tint from his goggles.

“Yeah...” he smirked a bit, obviously proud of the accomplishment of his defensive attack.

His eyes trailed to my bleeding arm and his smirk vanished.

“Katsumi! Your arm! What happened?!” He rushed to stand and grabbed my arm to observe the lightly grazed flesh wound.

I shook him off.

“I’m fine. A shuriken just grazed my arm.” I straightened up and began to observe our surroundings. Obito was not pleased with my answer but he knew better than to test me.

“I took care of the two close to base, I see you got the one here... but shinobis always travel in parties of four. We’re missing one, don’t lose your guard.” I said, spinning the kunai in my hand and preparing it for the final enemy.

Obito nodded and turned to press his back up against mine while also readying a kunai.

It was eerily quiet. I closed my eyes to focus on my sense of hearing. The faint ruffle of leaves and the soft whistle of the breeze was all I heard.

Swiiiiiish

“Obito! Kunai! 4 o’ clock!” I yelled. We both looked in the direction and dodged out of the way.

The kunai struck the ground with a hard thud.

I was already sprinting towards the direction where it was thrown, making jutsu hand signs along the way.

Horse. Serpent. Tiger. Rat. Monkey.

My right hand glowed from the lightning that was infused with a sword made of ice. The sound of wood crackling from a fire expelled from the strong chakra in my hand. I dragged my hand down as I ran, leaving the grass sizzling behind me.

My speed picked up as I jumped into the air in order to lunge at the enemy. My war cry was nearly as loud as my special jutsu.

Fear overtook the man’s face as I plunged my electrified icy sword into his vital spot. Blood spouted from his mouth as his eyes became lifeless. His body hit the ground with a hard thud as I repelled my hand.

I caught my breath once more before turning around to see the same starstruck expression I always see on Obito’s face. He never fails to show me how much he admires my fighting skills.

“You know, it’s pretty unfair to lay claim to three of the four enemies. How about giving me the chance to go for it for once?” He says.

“Sorry Obito, but I heard where the direction of the kunai came from and was not about to risk our lives for you to just have an ego-boosting moment.” I tried to say it softly, but it came out harsher than intended.

“Tch. Just wait until my sharingan awakens. We won’t even have to wait for the enemy to attack as I’ll already see him and beat you to it!” Obito grinned largely and pushed his shoulder back into a prideful stance while aiming his thumb at his chest.

I smiled softly. “I don’t doubt it. C’mon, let’s head back to base. Minato-sensei and Kakashi should be on their way back from meeting with Choza-sensei’s team.”

—-

The sky was dark and the fire pit we extinguished the night before was glowing with life once again. Kakashi’s silver hair glistened in the soft light. His back was turned to us while he fed the fire. Obito and I just arrived back to base after a four mile trek.

“Obito’s tardiness is to be expected, but I’m surprised in you Kat.” Kakashi said expressionlessly. He didn’t even turn to look at us.

I walked around to grab a seat beside the fire. I exhaled as I took out my overly tight ponytail, my beachy blonde hair pooling around my face and down the length of my back. I ran my fingers through my scalp to ease the tension.

“Sorry, Kakashi. We got caught up in a good time with some of our Stone Village friends.” I said lazily. The heat of the fire pursuing my exhaustion.

Kakashi looked at me for a moment, then back to the fire. The tips of my ears burned slightly at his quick gaze.

Obito joined us at the fire, sitting directly between Kakashi and I. I was too entranced by the warmth of the flame to notice Kakashi’s annoyed expression.

“Yeah Kakashi, while you were playing messenger, Kat and I were kicking ass back here at base. Cut us some slack.” Obito relayed while side eyeing Kakashi.

Their feud will never end, I swear.

Kakashi scoffed. “I wasn’t just relaying a message; an important, lifesaving one not to mention; but Minato-sensei and I were also assisting team Choza in a battle against a fleet of Stone Village shinobi. And don’t ask me to cut you some slack. I’d be surprised if you even took down one enemy while Kat did the rest of the work!”

Obito was clearly getting worked up and was about to open his mouth to start defending himself.

“Where is Minato-sensei anyway?” I quickly asked before the feud could progress.

Kakashi looked over at me again, his dark gray eyes bore into mine. The butterflies I’ve always gotten around him since we were 4 years old returned to my stomach. My eyes shifted back to the fire.

“He wont be finishing the mission with us. He was called back by the hokage. I’m not sure what for, but he did leave me in charge as captain.”

Obito rolled his eyes. “Tch.” He muttered.

The silver-headed boy shifted his glare to Obito before finishing. “We will leave at first light to the Stone’s hideout. Our goal is to meet up with team Choza and rescue the three tailed jinchuriki and return promptly to the Hidden Leaf. We’ll work out our offenses tomorrow once we see the layout of the enemy territory. Let’s just get some rest for now. I’ll take first watch.”

At that, Kakashi stood up and walked over to the tallest tree to take post.

“Man, I hate when he gets all bossy. I know he hit jonin a long time ago and we may still be chunin, but c’mon. We’re the same age!” Obito said with frustration.

I looked over at him. I took in the sight I saw. His floppy brown hair that grazed over his forehand protector, his goggles hung around his neck granting me the view of the fire delicately flickering off his eyes, his full lips pulled into a frown. Puberty really blessed Obito. I smiled at him.

“C’mon Obito. Kakashi is a wonderful leader. He’s lead us through many successful missions. You respectfully accepted him as your captain years ago after learning about his father remember?”

We both sat in silence for a moment. Obito reflected on how his and Kakashi’s relationship changed that day. Kakashi softening up and realizing that the lives of his comrades are worth becoming rule breaking scum. Obito realizing that Kakashi has always cared for his team and always had the best intentions despite the trauma his father left him with. Even though they still bicker, their friendship became prominent that day when they both saved each other from death.

I reflected on how proud I was of them that day, but also how I decided from then on, I would not be useless. I would not be taken captive, I’d stay alert at all times, I’d defend myself and my team, and never be the damsel in distress. I’ve proven my worth since then. It was like a spark lit up inside of me. I developed my own new special jutsu by combining my natural ice kekkei genkai with the lightning nature. Kakashi lent me a hand there. I trained hard to the point that even Minato-sensei was impressed and used me more in the front lines. Unfortunately, he used me more than Obito as he is still awaiting the awakening of his sharingan... poor thing.

“Yeah, yeah. Just wait until I become hokage. Then we’ll see who’s throwing orders around!” Obito snickered.

I giggled. I always loved hearing Obito talking about his dreams of becoming hokage.

Obito blushed at my giggle. He looked at me with soft eyes. “Ya know, a hokage always needs someone by his side to help guide them in leadership.”

“I’d be honored to be your assistant, Obito.” I said with a playful bow.

Obito stuttered, “Well, I-I meant more as-“

“But you know, Kakashi would definitely make a better assistant with that incredible mind of his.” I unintentionally interrupted.

“Yeah haha..” Obito looked back at the fire.

“Alright, well I’m off to rest. I’ll take second watch, okay? G’night, Obito.” I stood up.

“Goodnight.” He kept his gaze on the fire.

I walked to my sleeping bag and tucked in tight, allowing sleep to overcome me the minute my head hit the makeshift pillow.

—

I opened my eyes and let out a yawn as I stretched my arms up. I looked at the fire pit that was now just glowing embers. It was definitely time to switch who was on look out.

I grabbed a water canteen and made my way to the branch where Kakashi was posted.

“Hey.” I said quietly. “Here, drink some water and head to bed, I’ll take over on watch.”

Kakashi looked over at me. His half-lidded eyes were soft. The butterflies returned yet again.

“Thanks.” He said and accepted the canteen. He didn’t drink from it in front of me, most likely because it would require him to remove his mask. I always wondered what he hid from the world under it. As curious as I was, I loved the mask. It made him appear even more enigmatic than his personality already let on.

I sat down beside him and stared out. It was silent between us for a few minutes before Kakashi was the one to break it.

“Tomorrow is going to be a very big day.”

“It sure seems like it. But we have each other’s backs. And our faith in you.” I said, turning my face away slightly to conceal a blush.

Kakashi looked down at the canteen in his hands. “You’ve always put so much faith in me. Even when I let you down.”

“We all make mistakes, Kashi. We wouldn’t be human if we didn’t. But I’ve always seen your potential and your intentions. I’d follow you ‘til the end.” I didn’t look up as I felt his gaze on me. My face turned a crimson shade as he continued staring.

With his silence to my response troubling me, I finally decided to look up and match his eye contact. The butterflies went silent as my heart decided to skip a few beats instead.

He looked at me with such soft eyes. His presence was so inviting. I just wanted to scooch closer to him and take in his scent.

My already crimson face turned into a deeper tomato red when I saw him break eye contact to look at my lips.

Does he want to kiss me? I won’t lie, I’ve harbored the thought of kissing Kakashi Hatake since the moment he saw a flower and put it in my hair, declaring me as the flower princess. Granted we were 4 years old playing around... but still.

Even with the mask on, I could see an outline of a grin as he finally looked away. “Thank you, Kat. Your kind and encouraging words always pushes me to be the best I can possibly be.”

I nodded, “Go get some rest. You’ll need your strength tomorrow.”

He shook his head in agreement and stood up to leave. Before jumping down, he gave my shoulder a thoughtful squeeze.

Life as a shinobi really prevents you from owning up to the feelings you have towards someone in fear of it being a distraction while on the battlefield. But then again, whether the feelings were spoken of or not, Kakashi will always be my distraction. Maybe one day I’ll tell him how I really feel.

—

A sliver of light brightened up the horizon as Kakashi, Obito, and I began our journey towards the Stone’s hideout. As we arrived, we were greeted by Team Choza. Might Guy ran up to Kakashi first.

“Kakashi! Good to see ya again. I thought about it all night and I believe another sushi eating contest would suffice as our next rivalry competition! So let’s take on our sides of youth and kick some Stone cold butts!” Guy’s eyes glistened from his speech.

I couldn’t help but giggle. Their rivalry was always so entertaining and I just absolutely adored Guy and everything he stands for. Even though Kakashi won’t admit it, he is grateful for his rival and his crazy antics.

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s talk about it after we survive today and complete our mission.” Kakashi dismissed with the wave of his hand.

“H-hi Obito...” a soft voice spoke.

Obito shifted his glance and put on an award-winning smile. “Hey Rin!”

I was the only one to notice Rin’s blush as she tucked a strand of her short brown hair behind her ear.

“Ah team Kakashi, right on time. We did a quick scan of the cave. There’s about 15 Stone shinobi on guard surrounding the outside. We estimate only to be about 7 on the inside.” Choza spoke.

Kakashi nodded and put his leadership skills to work. “Alright. Choza-sensei, you and Genma take the south and western side of the outside of the cave and Guy and Obito will take the north and eastern. Kat and I will make towards the entrance of the cave to retrieve the jinchuriki. Rin, since you’re the one with the medical ninjustu, keep a safe distance surveying the attacks. But remain close enough where you can assist if someone is injured. Everyone got it?”

The majority of us nodded our heads in approval.

“There’s more guys on the outside, Kakashi. Wouldn’t your skills prove to be more effective out here? I’ll go with Kat to retrieve the jinchuriki.” Obito announced.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes. Everyone else just silently stared as the tension began to build up.

“Obito-“ Rin began.

“I am your captain, Obito. This is the plan I see fit. I am more than confident that you and Guy can take out the enemy surrounding the north and eastern part of the cave. Don’t sell yourself short.”

Obito was shocked by Kakashi’s compliment. His jealousy subsided as he nodded along.

“Okay disperse!”

Everyone spread out to their commanded locations and began their fights. Kakashi and I crouched by the entrance of the cave.

“It’s too dark to analyze what we are dealing with, we’re going to have to just proceed with caution.” Kakashi said in a low voice.

I nodded. We slowly walked inside the cave, keeping our sounds to a near mute. I put my hand on Kakashi’s shoulder to allow him to guide me as I closed my eyes to listen to any sounds of the enemy.

The sound of rocks crumbling came from directly above us. I wielded my kunai tightly as I leapt off the ground to meet my foe halfway in the air. The enemy that kicked off the ceiling to attack us hit the ground lifeless as my kunai slid effortlessly through her throat.

I gracefully landed back by Kakashi as he gave me an approving nod. The entire cave suddenly lit up, our presence no longer being a surprise. Six figures stood before us, all with the same red forehead protector engraved with the Stone Village insignia.

My brows furrowed in confusion. Where was the jinchuriki? The cave didn’t stretch beyond what we saw. Kakashi surveyed the area and came up just as confused as I was.

There was no more time to think as our enemy lead the first attacks. Kakashi preformed flawless taijustu against three of the enemies. He took one out with the saber his father left behind. He backed up enough to provide himself a minuscule amount of time to weave hand signs and ignite his chidori. The mock sounds of birds chirping echoed throughout the cave.

Kakashi growled as he sprinted towards his target and plunged his chidori straight through the enemy’s vital spot. Blood pooled around the Stone shinobi has he dropped on the ground. Kakashi’s third target retreated to my location.

“Forget it! just do it now before it’s too late!” The enemy yelled.

The three I was against nodded. While battling them, I noticed they only fought defensively. Of course at the time I was naive to believe I had the upper hand, especially without having to exhaust through my chakra. But my thoughts alluded to a giant mental slap to the forehead as the Stone shinobis preformed their true intentions.

The fourth enemy that was originally against Kakashi swung a kunai at me, causing me to flip back to dodge. As I was flipping back, a different Stone Shinobi snuck up behind me and slapped my exposed forearm. A jutsu formula imprinted on my skin.

Kakashi quickly realizing what had happened screamed out. “No!!!”

I stood still, confused by the encounter. The jutsu formula began to glow and a pentagon of words formed at my feet. One of the enemies stepped in front of me with a sealed container in his hand. The man broke the seal and lifted the lid.

The entire cave lit up as if the sun was trapped within. Pain seared through the core of my stomach. It felt as though a savage animal were digging its claws and ripping through the flesh of my abdomen. A high pitch scream echoed throughout the cave, the source coming from my vocal chords.

The amount of pain coursing through my body left my mind hazed in unconsciousness. Once the cave returned to darkness, my body collapsed to the ground. The only glow left inside was the light emitting from Kakashi’s chidori as he assassinated the remaining enemies.

“Kat! Kat! Katsumi! Can you hear me?” Kakashi brushed his fingers along the side of my face, pushing the hair away. No response.

Kakashi knelt down and scooped me in his arms. He held me tight. His heart was beating rapidly in his chest.

He brought me into the bright light outside and was greeted by the two teams.

“Katsumi! Kakashi what the hell happened?! You’re supposed to protect her!” Obito screamed as he rushed towards me.

Kakashi dropped to his knees in defeat. “There was never a jinchuriki host. They planned to put it in one of us the entire time.”

Rin gasped and ran over to my body. She began preforming medical ninjutsu, but stopped quickly to realize I wasn’t injured.

‘C’mon, let’s regroup at our base.” Choza grunted.

—-

Growling. That’s what I was hearing right? Growling?

My skin was wet. Blood? No... water?

I open my eyes. Were they open? Everything was dark.

I sat up, water dripped down my face from my soaking hair.

I looked down at my hands. I was sitting in water.

The growling continued. I turned my head to see the direction it was coming from.

My eyes opened wide in fear. Was I in hell?

Staring back at me was the three-tailed beast. His one visible eye shooting menacing glares. His turtle-like physic stood in a defensive stance.

I was trying to understand what was happening. I remember last the scorching pain that shocked through my whole body. Then nothing.

I moved to stand, the water pooling at only my ankles now.

“H-hello...” I nervously let out.

The beast remained shrill.

“My- my name is Katsumi. I....I’m sorry you’re stuck here. Our original mission was to rescue you and the host you resided in. We had no idea this was the Stone’s plan.”

The beast scoffed at me. He didn’t believe me. Why would he. Whether if it were me he were stuck in, another host, or that sealed container, the beast was never free.

I always believed there were something more to the tailed beasts than let on. They are living beings as well. All we humans do is capture them and make them slaves to our military. No one ever understood how I thought.

I looked down at the water, guilt flooding through me.

“What is your desire?” I asked.

The beast froze for a moment, shocked by what I asked. Anger filled inside of him as he misunderstood the true intentions behind my question.

“I desire to eradicate humanity. All you foul monsters take pleasure in war and deception and have the audacity to call us beasts. It disgusts me.” He hissed.

I nodded my head in agreement. “You’re absolutely right. I’m so sorry for everything my species has done to yours. You all are living beings as well. You never deserved to be enslaved to our military.”

The beast studied me for a minute. No human has every expressed sympathy to him before. Was it all an act?

“Let me reword my question. If humanity wasn’t an issue, what would your desires be?” I asked again.

The beast sighed. Closing his one eye and envisioning everything he ever dreamed of.

“Peacefully swimming openly in the vast ocean. Exploring the endless bottom of the the salty water until I’ve seen everything I could.”

I smiled. I was right. These beasts- no - beings, have dreams. They have goals, emotions, and plenty of intelligence. Right from this moment, I knew that there was a new duty I must fulfill. I must fight for these creatures. Fight for their freedom, their feelings, their rights.

I slammed a fisted hand to my chest and made a vow to the creature. “I, Katsumi Saratobi, vow to you Mr. Three Tails, that I will do EVERYTHING in my power to fight for you and your species. I will fight for your freedom and rights.... for your dreams.”

Three Tails was utterly shocked. Of course he didn’t fully believe me, how could he after centuries of human torture. But he recognized the sincerity in my voice. No human has ever spoken to him in this manner before.

His face softened.

“Isobu.”

“Pardon?”

“You called me Mr. Three Tails; the name is Isobu.”

—-

Kakashi opened his eyes at the sound of me breathing a little heavier than I previously was. He stayed right by my side since the moment I became unconscious. His soft eyes looked at me in curiosity as a smile was plastered on my face.

His hand reached for mine. “Hey, I’m right here Kat. I will not leave your side under any circumstances.” He said softly.

Obito scowled at Kakashi from afar. Stupid Kakashi. You were the one that LET her get hurt. You shouldn’t be the one by her side. It should be me. I deserve to be her hero. Obito began to stand before an arm reached up and grabbed his, preventing him from moving.

He looked down to see Rin looking up at him with pleading eyes.

“Obito. It’s been a long day. Please don’t start anything with Kakashi right now.” She spoke with such sadness in her voice. She knew Obito loved you. He’s loved you since as long as she could remember. And as much as she wanted Obito to be extremely happy, she pitied herself for loving him.

Obito huffed and sat back down again. “It isn’t right, Rin. He let this happen to her. He’s only by her side now because he feels guilty as a leader. He doesn’t truly care about her.” His nose scrunched up in disgust every time he said “he.”

Rin looked over at the silver-haired teen. His eyes expressed so much sorrow as he stared down at me. He was hunched over, his hand over mine.

“I think you’re wrong, Obito.”

He looked at her with a puzzled expression.

“Look at the way he is looking at her. Look at his hand. Not only do I think Kakashi cares about Katsumi, but I think he loves her.” She knows the look all too well. She gives it to Obito every time he is injured. And Obito the same to me.

Obito scrunched his face in utter disgust. “Love, Rin? Really. I doubt Kakashi is even capable of such an emotion. And what would you know?!”

Ouch thought Rin. She was starting to get upset.

“What do I know? Please Obito, you make the same face at Kat.” Rin rolled her eyes.

“Wha-whaat?! No I don’t!” His face started turning a soft shade of red. “I mean yeah, I love her. But like a sister! We practically grew up together!”

Rin shook her head at Obito’s denial. “Well, Obito. I’d get your feelings and shit straight sooner rather than later. Because once you finally open your eyes to it, she’ll be out of your reach. And I have no doubt that Kakashi will be the reason.” She said harshly. She was pissed. Pissed at herself for trying to help the love of her life be with the love of his.

Before he could respond, she dismissed herself to search for more firewood.

Obito stared at the fire then looked up at Kakashi. Anger and jealousy flooded his chest. Kakashi capable of loving? Tch. Yeah right. He couldn’t stand the sight before him anymore and got up to trade look-out shifts with Genma.

—-

I slowly opened my eyes. Everything was bright and blurry at first. Kakashi leaning up against the tree right next to me was the first sight I saw. His head was tilted down and his arms crossed. His breathing was heavy and consistent, evident that he was still asleep.

I stared at him for an extra few seconds, enjoying how incredibly handsome he was. His hair looked so soft, I wanted to run my fingers through it. His toned arms revealed due to the sexy muscle tank he was wearing.

I finally sat up and looked away. I scanned the rest of the base to see Genma, Guy, and Choza also fast asleep. The sky was hardly awake itself.

My mouth felt extremely dry and my throat was scratchy. I stood up to go fetch some water. Before I had the chance to move, Kakashi’s hand wrapped around my wrist. Startled, I looked down to see him look at me with relief in his eyes. He then rose and pulled me into him. His embrace was strong, and his scent of pine cones, campfire, and a hint of aftershave filled my nostrils.

Home was all I could think. The butterflies returned yet again.

He pulled away from me to arms length, hands still on my shoulders.

“Kat.” He spoke softly. “I-I’m so sorry. I should have done more to protect you. You put your faith in my leadership and I failed you.”

I shook my head. “I don’t need protecting, Kakashi. You fought your own battle, I was clumsy and naive within my own. I will never doubt my faith in you.” My voice came out dry and raspy, causing me to end my spiel in a coughing fit.

Kakashi rushed to get me some water. After fixing my dehydration I looked over to him. “So... what is the plan now?”

“Well,” He scratched the back of his head. “Technically, our mission did not fail. We now have the jinchuriki of the three-tailed beast. Now we return home and report to the hokage.”

—-

Lord Third always carried a fierce, almost menacing glare. His eyes remained unwavering even after our report. The seven of us all stood in front of him, backs straight, legs together, and arms behind our backs. Kakashi, Choza-sensei, and I stood in the very front.

“Hmm.” He grunted. “Very well. The Stone Village must have a very specific plan of attack in mind if their intention was to seal the Three-Tailed Beast inside of one of our shinobi. Kat-“

“Isobu.” My mouth spoke without my permission.

The tension of the room built as everyone gasped at my sudden outburst. Kakashi even side-eyed me.

The Third raised a brow. “Pardon?”

“I apologize for my outburst, my Lord. However, you called him Three-Tailed Beast when his name is Isobu.”

I felt everyone stare at me as if I were spouting nonsense. Kakashi turned his head to fully look at me now, an inquisitive expression plastered on his face.

The Third didn’t question my correction. “Ah, I see. Well in that case, Katsumi; since you are harboring Isobu, you are most likely a target to the Stone Village. You’re assignment will be to remain in the village for now and to always be monitored. That being said, Kakashi Hatake, your assignment will be to monitor her.”

Kakashi nodded his head. Obito blew out air behind me.

“As for everyone else, thank you for completing your mission. Your orders are to take a two day rest. I will send an anbu to your location if needed otherwise.”

Everyone replied with a solid “Yes sir” and took their leave. As everyone walked out, I stayed behind.

“What is it Katsumi?” The Third asked in a disinterested tone, not taking his eyes off the paper he was looking at.

“Father..” The nerves in me began to grow. “There is something I need to discuss with you.”

He sighed. “Does this have to do with your outburst earlier?”

“Yes sir. I wanted to talk about Isobu and his species. There is so much more to these creatures that we haven’t even fathomed!” Excitement began to overtake my nerves. My passion for this topic runs deep beneath my veins. I’ve always had this hunch but my interaction with Isobu proved it all.

The Third put the paper in his hands down and pinched the bridge of his nose. Not this again, he thought.

“After Isobu was sealed inside me, I was awakened spiritually and got to interact with him! Father these creatures are not docile and it is wrong to enslave them to our military. These beings are intelligent, they harbor emotions, thoughts, dreams-“

“ENOUGH!” The Third slammed his palms onto his desk and stood up. He glared at me. “Enough, Katsumi. I’ve had enough of these crazy antics of yours. It is never ending. I don’t want to hear about this again. Ever. You are dismissed!”

He raised his pointer finger to the door. I stared back at him. My father would never understand. He never listens to me. Nor my brother. He has always taken more pride into the Legendary Sanin he so gracefully trained over his own children. If I am going to fight for these species, I will have to do it without him.

“Sir.” I mumbled and headed straight for the door.

Kakashi was leaning against the wall outside of the room, one leg kicked up against the wall and his arms crossed. He looked at me expressionless. I dismissed him and kept walking down the hall. Anger swelled inside of me.

“Kat.”

I continued walking, ignoring his calls.

“Kat, wait.”

Once I rounded the corner and entered an old study room I raised my leg and kicked a desk. It flew to the other side of the room, breaking in half after its impact against the wall. I stood there with my eyebrows knitted together and breath heavy.

Kakashi stood in the doorway with his arms crossed. “Finished?”

I took a few deep breaths and straightened up. “Yes.”

“Alright. Well, Obito, Rin, Guy, and Genma are down at the BBQ House waiting for us. We had an exhausting mission, we deserve a nice dinner out.”

I looked at him. If only it were just you and me going out for dinner.

“Yes, you are right. Let’s go.”

We were halfway through our twenty minute walk to the restaurant.

“So.” Kakashi began. His hands were tucked in his pockets and his eyes were trained downwards. “Do you want to talk about what went on between you and your father?”

“Knowing you, you’ll probably dismiss my thoughts as well.” I said thinking about the side-eye he gave me back in the office.

Kakashi was extremely offended by my honesty. He scoffed. “Try me.”

I thought about it for a second before I stopped walking and grabbed his wrist to guide him to sit down next to me on a bench. “During the time I was apparently unconscious I was actually awake spiritually. Internally where Isobu is sealed, I was there and interacting with him.”

Kakashi held his full attention to me. Neither of us realizing that my hand was still on his.

“I’ve always had a hunch that these “beasts” were much more than a weapon. They’re beings, just like us. And all we do is enslave and abuse them. My hunch became true once I talked with Isobu. At first he looked at me with such hatred. He talked about how he wanted to eradicate humanity. Why wouldn’t he after everything we put him through? But after digging deeper, he told me about his dreams. His dream to explore the vastness of the ocean. His dream of peace.” I smiled at the ground, Kakashi’s eyes still on me.

“I vowed to him, Kakashi. I vowed that I will do everything in my power to help him and his species.” I turned to him and grabbed both of his hands into mine and pulled them to my chest.

“We’ve always been at each other’s sides, Kashi. Will you stand by my side now and help me?” I looked deep into his dark gray eyes.

His eyes were soft. He heard the plea in my voice and saw the evidence in my eyes. He let out a breath and moved his right hand to tuck a tendril behind my ear. Then he cupped my cheek.

My heart was going into overdrive.

“Of course I’ll be by your side.” He spoke softly.

We continued looking into each other’s eyes. I didn’t want to look away. I wanted to pour my heart and soul into his eyes and hope that he would lay claim.

His left hand tightened around mine and I slowly leaned in. Could this actually be happening?!

“Ahem.” A light pitched voice called a few feet away from us.

I blinked and looked away, moving myself out of Kakashi’s grip. He stiffened and tried to maintain his grip on my hand even as I shrugged him off.

My face was blood red. Rin came to a halt in front of us. A huge smile was plastered on her face. “Hey guys! I thought I saw you walk by the restaurant so I wanted to be sure you knew to come join us! We just put our orders in, c’mon!”

“Right.” I said and stood up. Kakashi said nothing as he followed my lead.

Rin continued to smile brightly as she guided us to the restaurant. She witnessed everything that just happened. Seeing what nearly went down between Kakashi and I gave her high hopes that Obito would fall to her. She might have a chance.

—-

Lighthearted chatter filled the evening as we all enjoyed the savory BBQ meat. Kakashi barely spoke the whole night and I only spoke when addressed. All I could think about was what nearly occurred on the bench outside. He wouldn’t look at me, he only focused on his food, which he toyed with and didn’t eat.

No one noticed our awkwardness as they all drone on about our mission’s success. Rin would occasionally glance at the two of us and plaster on that smile she shone when she fetched us outside. Obito bragged about his successful fire ball, Guy ravaged on about his youth, and Genma talked about the new girl he was seeing.

At the end of the night we all paid our separate checks and said goodnight. Kakashi opted to walk me home as it was his mission to ensure my safety. Obito was displeased, but didn’t counter since Kakashi’s excuse was legitimate.

The walk to my house was silent. All I could think about was what we discussed on the bench. Was I hallucinating? Was Kakashi feeling what I was feeling? Even if he were, this was probably wrong. We shouldn’t progress past our friendship. We’ve been friends since we were little kids. I value that more than anything and wouldn’t want a broken heart to disrupt that. Who am I kidding. I am getting ahead of myself. Kakashi doesn’t feel that way. His duty as a shinobi is what he prioritizes most in his life. He wouldn’t allow anything or anyone to come in the way of that. It is decided. I will act as if nothing happened and value our friendship and his morals. Yes.

We walked up the stairs to the porch and stopped in front of the door. Kakashi’s eyes were downcast and his hands tucked into his pockets.

I took a deep breath then plastered on a smile. “Thanks for walking me home, Kashi. And thank you, so much, for what you said on the bench earlier. It means everything to me to have your support.” My voice came out a little higher pitched than usual.

I turned my head to look at him. He was already looking at me. His half-lidded eyes were soft.

Next thing I knew, Kakashi’s calloused right hand was pulling the back of my head towards his. His left hand pulled down his mask right before he crashed his lips into mine.

I was completely frozen.

So was Obito as he watched nearby.

End of Part 1, stay tuned!

[ddoals]

Kakashi confessing to his crush.

Request: Howdy! Good luck with your blog. :) I’m a suck for Kakashi so... how about headcanons of how he would court his crush, if at all?

Who isn't a sucker for Kakashi? I mean have you seen that guy. XD Also you were very vague with your request so I decided to write it like this. I hope you like it.

Kakashi’s story with you is interesting. He would be someone you had known since you were children. Good friends perhaps. You guys would have played together during your academy days and would have eaten lunch together. However, after going through all those traumatic events, he would try to push you away. He wouldn’t want you to get hurt and lose one of the only people close to him. To his dismay, you wouldn’t budge, and like Gai continue to make your presence in his life continuous. Your determination and loyalty to him are probably what would first spark feelings in him. It would take him a while to actually realize - and eventually accept - his feelings for you, but his post-realization behaviour towards you would be the same as it was before.

 Kakashi has walls, which were especially prominent during the ANBU era of his life. But around you, those high cemented walls would crumble like a freshly baked sugar cookie. Occasionally he would lean into you for emotional support. He would find solace in your presence and you would often find him lounging on top of your roof after one of his gruelling missions. Kakashi’s attraction would be intensified due to his inexplicable need for you. To him, you would be like a drug that helped him stay his ground. He wouldn’t ever plan on telling you how he felt. He would be afraid that his confession would sabotage the relationship both of you established. 

 I imagine at some point Kakashi would be accustomed to your physical touch, be it holding hands for some kind of reassurance or cuddling on his sofa while watching a movie. He would start laying his head in your lap while reading Icha Icha Paradise or lean his head on your shoulder while you made him his favourite dish. He would start accompanying and assisting you in your daily errands. Walking to the market together to buy groceries. Helping you pull out the weeds in your garden. You two would behave almost exactly like a couple. He would enjoy your company and be extremely thankful for your patience with him.

 I don’t think Kakashi would ever actually think about confessing to you until someone would push him too. That someone would be our resident taijutsu superstar Gai! Gai would have noticed the close (and all too obvious) proximity between Kakashi and you a long time ago, but he didn’t really say anything because he assumed you guys were dating. Ok, that’s a lie, he probably brought ‘the girlfriend’ thing up with Kakashi a bunch of times, but Kakashi would never correct him. That’s why when he does realize that you and Kakashi were not actually an item he would confront his rival and demand an explanation.

  After finding out about the truth, Gai would try to orchestrate a plan to bring you two together. He would probably loop Lee, Neji, and Tenten into his shenanigans and claim this was as important as any other mission they have ever done. Gai and Lee would book a nice place in a fancy restaurant where you, Gai and Kakashi were supposed to meet up for dinner. Gai would make up some lie about how he got some coupons for a free meal there and how he wanted some friends to join him. Five minutes in he would pull the old “I have an important chore/mission I forgot about” and skedaddle. He would then put on a disguise with Lee and try to make your evening more romantic. They might try to play music, pretend to be your waiter. Tenten and Neji would be seated on a table nearby eavesdropping into your and Kakashi’s conversation. Kakashi would have a very good idea of everything going on. The horrible disguises of Gai and Lee would be a dead giveaway. 

 Everything would be going well. You and Kakashi would patiently wait for your meal. Neji would make a comment about how impressive it is that nothing has screwed up so far. And that is precisely when everything would start to go downhill. Lee would be holding a big platter of fancy food meant to be served to your and Kakashi’s table. In the middle of his walk, he would lose his footing and accidentally drop the food on Gai. This would catch your attention and would lead to Gai and Lee dropping their disguises. Lee would hug Gai and cry out an apology. Gai would hug Lee back and cry appreciation for his student. In the midst of this racket, Kakashi would let out a deep sigh and call your name. Although nervous, he’d ask you nonchalantly if you’d want to ditch this fancy restaurant and go on a date with him to Ichiraku’s. AND obviously, you would say yes.

[ulittuq-writes]

a bullet point sakura au I will not write b/c I have enough projects going already

After the chunin exams, Sakura is desperate to be better and stronger and she’s tired of surviving off of luck and the whim of her enemies

Because she thought she learned after Wave, after she shook and shook and got her first taste of the blood and death that comes with a shinobi life and she still wanted it but she didn’t know how to get there (because she was the top of her Academy class, but she knows now that means very little, in the face of violence)

And she thought she learned again after the Forest of Death, when she cut the hair she spent years caring for because she wanted to be pretty and delicate but now she knows those are just kinder words for weak

Only she’s still just-Sakura, all soft hands and trembling legs

(She’s more than that, of course. She’s on a team of legends and gods-in-the-making and it takes a certain kind of resilience, a certain kind of strength, to withstand that. But she’s just thirteen and insecure and hateful.)

So she makes a plan, because she’s a paper ninja okay? She likes plans and lists and seeing a path written out neatly.

(She’s not the best at following through, sometimes, because she gets angry and impulsive in her anger, but she’s more stubborn than angry, most of the time, so it works out.)

There’s a brief moment, after the chunin exams and between Naruto leaving to bring back Tsunade and Sasuke being retraumatized by his brother and the fight on the hospital roof, when team seven still has training and Sakura learns to hate Kakashi, a little.

Before, she had been grateful that training didn’t amount to much, because it meant she had more time to try to talk to Sasuke and less time spent sweating.

But now she sits to the side while the boys spar and she remembers Kakashi saying “looks like the kunoichi has better chakra control then either of you” and it had felt like praise scrapping the wrong way, because he didn’t say it to her, because he used it to motivate the boys.

Because his eye never really settles on her and, sure, he’d give up his life for her, but he won’t train her

But then Sasuke leaves her on a bench in the dark

But then Naruto leaves and Kakashi in still in the village but she never sees him

So one day, Sakura is training and she stumbles on Anko being badass and

Look, Sakura looked the godaime hokage in the eye, in a different world, and demanded she train her

And that’s not this world, but she still has the courage to stare into the eyes of a woman who could kill her with the flick of a finger and demand to be taught

And Sakura is goddamn persistent. She spent years obsessed with the same boy and tried to shape herself into an image he could love. She is relentless.

Of course, when she asks Anko to train her, the answer in “no way in hell” but again, Sakura doesn’t take no for an answer

Eventually, Anko relents and says “okay, show me what you can do” and Sakura becomes a badass eventually but she’s not a badass now, so all she’s got in the barebones of techniques and her own stubbornness

(Anko’s heard about team seven, of course, so she knows that this kid was trained by Hatake, but it doesn’t fucking seem like it and the next time she sees Hatake she’s going to burn his porn)

It’s a situation of “ah fuck, someone’s gotta teach this kid so she doesn’t end up dead and goddamnit looks like that someone’s gonna be me”

So reluctant-teacher Anko who is not getting attached nope, she’s not! Sure, she gives the kid shit like premixed poisons and explosive seals and some goddamn sensible clothes, but she’s not getting attached!!

And Sakura is simultaneously having the time of her life and regretting all of the decisions that led to this

Because she’s finally learning and getting strong and she can be useful! But she wakes up and goes to bed sore and she’s got bandages on her hands because of the blisters and she doesn’t have the energy to look pretty (because old habits die hard) only there’s no one to look pretty for and she’s alone and she trains more to drown out that thought but training means Anko (either Anko herself, or using the supplies Anko helped her pick out and practicing the techniques Anko taught her) and Anko means she’s not alone

(Sakura has a little puppy crush on Anko for a hot minute because Anko is pretty and terrifying and apparently Sakura has a type but almost every ninja is pretty and terrifying and Sakura is a hopeless bisexual and suffering (on that note, her and Ino are something approaching friends again and Sakura is resolutely ignoring how pretty and smart Ino is because she is not going to loose Ino’s friendship again when she’s just got it back) (Ino, for her part, is finding harder to ignore her own feelings))

Sakura’s just big mess of emotions and puberty is only making it worse

Anko had no clue what to do with all these emotions, but like, she can’t deny she’s attached now, so she needs a Responsible Adult

Enter Genma

Who’s not like super emotionally healthy but he’s slightly better than most shinobi and he’s leagues ahead of Anko (fuck Orochimaru)

So Genma joins in on the training and Sakura now has two (two!!) adults who are invested in helping her

Genma is the one to bring up learning medical ninjutsu because Sakura has such good chakra control

At first, Sakura is reluctant, because she doesn’t want to be confined to being a medic. Medics usually stay behind the line and Sakura’s been training to fight, she wants to fight and not be regulated to the sidelines

But Anko says, “let them try stopping you from fighting” and Genma points out that “frontline medics are a thing. Our Hokage is one. Besides, you don’t have to specialize, just learn the basics.”

So Sakura learns the basics of healing (she learns enough to patch people up enough to get them back into the fight or keep them alive to possibly reach real medical attention) but mostly she focuses on becoming as terrifying and strong as Anko and as steady and lethal as Genma

When Naruto comes barreling back and says “we can save Sasuke” Sakura’s immediate reactions is “no” because she’s spent the past years with Anko and would gladly dismember Orochimaru and anyone who willingly abandoned the village for that snake doesn’t deserve saving

But she’s a little conflicted because team seven could have been something great and she caught glimpses of it during the forest of death and the invasion and how they worked together but

She’s not just a teenage girl full of dreams anymore, she’s a shinobi and she has ghosts that follow her and she once had her hands inside of someone’s gut trying to heal them (she had to let them die because the battle was still going and she needed every iota of chakra to get out alive herself) and team seven was only ever a dream

So this Sakura is more bitter and cynical and doesn’t keep childhood crushes alive and she can’t stave of death with a spark of chakra but she can weave illusions without the twitch of a finger and she keeps poisoned senbon in her hair and she’s gotten into the bad habit of putting them in her mouth (but that’s okay, Genma’s done it before too (and she used to make fun of him so much for it but then it happened to her and was like “FUCK”)) and she’s made herself a weird little ninja family

The thing is: Sakura has always had a soft heart and she still does because part of her will always be that little girl who wore her heart on her sleeve, but now Sakura is soft for only a select few and now she holds her heart in her mouth where she can let it smile and laugh and love, but most often hides it behind bared teeth

She still goes with Naruto to bring Sasuke back partly because she loved him once (even if maybe she only ever loved the idea of him, loved the idea of someone important and special loving her—whatever it was, she spent years with it and that has to count for something) and partly for what team seven could have been (they were like celestial bodies, pulled in by each other’s gravity only to slingshot away) but mostly because she was ordered to and there’s something poetic about the people Sasuke abandoned bringing him back

Of the people the boy-avenger deemed too weak to brother with breaking him down and dragging him home

And Sakura’s a little (okay, a lot) bitter and angry and maybe breaking Sasuke’s legs will make her feel better (which is not the healthiest approach, but shinobi aren’t known for their healthy coping mechanisms)

And if they run into Orochimaru well, that’s just a bonus (Sakura had crashed at Anko’s place enough times to know that all of her nightmares feature her former teacher)

Sakura recognized Tenzuo because she’s run a few missions with him in anbu (she doesn’t run anbu missions regularly, but Konoha’s still scrambling a bit from the crush and she has a very applicable skill set so she’s been pulled for a few missions)

She doesn’t recognize Sai, but she recognizes the emptiness in him, how he was scooped out a hollowed until there was nothing left but a weapon (there’s a certain mindset necessary to run anbu missions (a mindset Sakura is good at, because Inner isn’t prominent anymore, but she still remembers how to separate parts of herself and lock them away) and she works part-time at T&I—she’s seen empty people, she’s emptied people)

Sai calls Naruto dickless and Sakura ugly and Sakura just laughs

Because she doesn’t care about being pretty, not anymore, and she knows she has a big forehead and her limbs are gangly in the way only a teenagers can be, but she’s a good shinobi and she can protect the people she care about, the people she’s soft for—and that’s what matters