#yeah Wednesday is a shinobi so what

[condcond]

I also wanted you to jump in and add to @laylajeffany ‘s fur!ball Wednesday arc because scrolling through her comment section and the possibilities in future chapters inspired me!

some of the lineart is heavily inspired and/or traced by references I found online and the proper credit for the original posing and anatomy is under the cut

Also posible SPOILERS (but not really?) for what Wednesday might “look like” in future chapters of Karma In Glorious Splendor

Wednesday going from tiny wolf to indistinguishable dog-like fur balls 😭 (and a furby) (there’s always that one clone)

Inspiration from this comment and conversation under this post of great artwork by @whittershins

not exactly a dozen because I did grow tired but oh well! 😭 we can pretend

…..

first pic lineart used from @/suffthewolf / @/sufferot from this website

second and third pics I used refs from Pinterest and couldn’t find the original source

[martialartslover7]

Weird Wednesday Headcanon: Sarada & Mirai are time travellers in my AU (+ a little venting about Boruto).

This is basically me, yelling at the top of my lungs, and I am sure I am speaking on behalf of the good 90% of the fandom, who actually cares about the story:

BORUTO. FUCKING. SUCKS!

And I gotta say, out of all the newcomers in Boruto, the only two newcomer shinobi, who didn't make me want to kill myself, were Sarada Uchiha and Mirai Sarutobi. Ironically, these two are also the same characters that barely have any screen presence (I know that Sarada is part of the main cast, but for some reason, from what I have seen so far, at least, she is somehow even less useful than her mom, in correlation to the rest of her team), or any major feats of their own...

...I seem to be noticing a pattern here. Off-topic, but, I NEED to talk about this for a second. May it be Kishimoto or Ikemoto, any living being with boobs and a vagina, will always be treated as "second rate cheerleaders" under their pens, and they unironically believe, this is all done in favor of women, while relying on harmful and outdated stereotypes. Thanks. For nothing. And then they wonder, why no one likes the way they portray females in their IP.

You'd think that, by the time Boruto rolled around, they would have actually learned their lesson, and not dare repeating what made their story receive so much criticism in the first place? But nope. I guess, because "nostalgia sells well"? So, thanks for reminding me, how useless you two jesters are.

But back to the topic at hand: Essentially, Sarada and Mirai had their own timeline completely destroyed by the Otsutsuki clan...

...at least, this is what they learned about them, because, really, the Otsutsukis by themselves, aren't really a "clan" in the normal sense, it was more like, an orchestrated science experiment, if you will. To create the perfect, most flawless shinobi, with barely any weaknesses. And guess who unleashed these monsters. I tell you:

Orochimaru.

I mean, come on, all these years of research had to amount to something, and I REFUSE to believe, he was ever truly "redeemed", to the point where he would just stroll around Konoha, like he owns the place, like an NPC. To me, he will remain the shinobi equivalent to Frieza. Nuff' said. And I will never forgive Boruto era Naruto for being so stupid and spineless to let this snake-headed waste of space stay in the village. That HAD to come back to bite him in the ass, man.

Besides, just by itself, this decision was so full of shit.

Let me get this straight:

Orochimaru committed unethical human experimentation, kidnapping, bribery, war crimes and grave desecration, all for what? Attaining eternal life? ...He returns back to Konoha.

Sasuke went rogue, because of circumstances, all enforced by Konoha themselves, and the elders, meaning, he mostly fought to survive, wanting to pay his clan, and his brother, the respect they rightfully deserved (besides, his kill count is a joke compared to Orochimaru's)? NO! KEEP HIM OUT! THE UCHIHA ARE TRASH, THEY DON'T BELONG IN KONOHA!

...Why is anyone a fan of Boruto again? Shit like this, is just disrespecting everything we were conditioned to rightfully judge, because the system clearly enjoys playing dirty. And yet for some reason, Naruto knowingly chooses to be Hokage in the exact same system, that treated him, Sasuke, Gaara, Kakashi, Anko, Hinata, and every other jinchuriki, like dirty dishwater. He always spoke the loudest about bringing peace, yet he never dares to challenge the Konoha elders... who, not only are the biggest reason as to why 90% of all the conflicts in the story we had so far even happened in the first place, considering they endorsed what Danzo was doing the whole time, but also, by the way: ARE STILL FUCKING ALIVE, AND PART OF THE AUTHORITY! PUT THEM IN JAIL!

...

So, yeah. Sarada, Mirai, please, rewrite the freaking timeline, and fix this shit. Get it out of my face. Naruto and Kakashi playing the bootlickers for the elders is so freaking OOC for them, especially in regards to how much they claim to be behind Sasuke, and just letting someone like Orochimaru return, willy-nilly.

...And to further shit on all the tropes, you know how Future Sarada will make her grand entrance into the story here?

...Putting Kabuto, who dares to attack the Leaf village, with an army of White Zetsu clones, laced with "Otsutsuki" proxy DNA, in another Tsukuyomi Genjutsu, while just destroying all of the White Zetsus, without even breaking a single sweat. And her Tsukuyomi is nothing like Itachi's, it's more loving, gentle, almost angelic, how she puts Kabuto "to rest", in a field of cherry blossom petals...

...before slicing him to pieces with her dad's trusted blade.

I do need to bring up though, by the time Sarada and Mirai travel back to the Blank Period to prevent the birth of the Otsutsuki plague, the two are young adults, around the same age group as the Konoha 12, basically 19 / 20.

This is how they look (a visual basis):

Sarada:

Mirai:

Added details, to make the SasuSaku fans squeal with happiness:

Future Sarada inherits her dad's sword

She unlocked the Mangekyo Sharingan, after learning the truth about why Sasuke remained absent, for the majority of her lifespan (blame the Uchiha stigma, subtly enforced by the elders for this, wiping everything under the rug, and Naruto's and Kakashi's refusal to help her father)

She bears the Byakugo Seal from her mom

She also wears Kawaki's piercings

Boruto's / Sasuke's headband is hers, and she wears it like her mom does

And for Mirai fam, to respect some of the more wholesome aspects of her characters:

Future Mirai inherits her dad's chakra blades

She wears her mother's bandages, and is a Genjutsu master, much like her

Might Guy's weights, meaning, she is insanely fast, once she takes them off

Tenten's weapon arsenal is hers to bear, too

Rock Lee taught her the 8 Gates

And in general, I will leave it up to you to fill in the blanks on how mindblowingly wholesome, but also insanely heartwrenching Sarada's and Mirai's reunion with the past versions of their family and friends, would run down.

I am sure, Future Sarada will just fall apart, seeing her mom and dad again, after they got killed by Isshin Otsutsuki, even though, she wasn't even born yet around that time, and despite this version of her past having the Uchiha clan being pardoned and acknowledged, which is why Sasuke is a permanent resident this time, it would feel strange... ...but due to how deep Sasuke's and Sakura's love runs for each other, accepting Future Sarada comes almost naturally to them.

And well, poor Mirai, seeing both herself as a baby, and her still young mother again. That's gotta be so messed up, yet oddly comforting to be in the presence of a parent, who died protecting you, down to her last breath.

But on a lighter note, if these two were to interact with the Blank Period versions of their friends and comrades, just imagine how comically awkward it would be to realize: There are quite a number of deviations from what they were used to in their time. Examples being:

Neji is alive, and is dating Tenten

Kakashi and Anko are married, and Anko ain't overweight

Ino ended up with Choji, instead of Sai, and Karui ended up going for Kiba, instead of Choji

Sasuke is actually besties with Neji, Kiba and Shikamaru, and all four are drinking buddies

Tenten runs a full-on tech workshop (she will be the one to rebuild the time machine from scratch)

Shino is a granny chaser

The Konoha elders were chased out of the village

Naruto, Hinata and Rock Lee share an apartment together

Naruto has long hair, tied into a ponytail, in honor of his mother

On demand of Sasuke, Team Taka / Hebi are now Leaf ninja

Oh, also, because I am that petty, Sarada will warn Naruto and Hinata about their future kids being nothing short of menaces to society, especially Boruto himself. Demanding them to punish their kids more often, whenever they misbehave, especially Boruto. She knows all too well, how big of a pain in the ass he was.

But in all seriousness, she will express genuine sadness to them, as she felt like, she failed to save their son and daughter the most, especially since Momoshiki inhabited Boruto's body, leaving them with not that many options anymore. She hopes that she can be of assistance this time, and assure that their kids will be able to grow up, without any of this drama.

Basically, Sarada and Mirai go back in time, to fix the mess, that is the Boruto story. Can be understood in two different ways:

Fuck the Boruto continuity, reset it, please. Make Sarada and Mirai part of the main cast to oppose the elders and feudal lords, referring back to this thread of mine:

Taking notes from SoulCalibur 6's storyline with Cassandra, who meets an alternate version of herself from a destroyed timeline, inside Astral Chaos (SoulCalibur fam, you know, you know)

And with more material for you to sink your teeth into, without further ado, I say:

Peace.

[gerardwayissexah]

WIP Wednesday! :D

I'll be honest, posting excerpts for WIP Wednesday is a little bittersweet. On one hand, I'm excited to share bits of my ongoing projects. But on the other hand, then I think of the sheer volume of writing that I haven't posted, and refuse to post until it's completed and edited. Here's a little something different - this excerpt introduces one of my OCs, Neji and Tenten's son.

Enjoy!

~~~

Jiro Sato was 12 years old when he first activated the Byakugan, to his exhilaration and sheer terror. The bullies in the academy schoolyard had backed away immediately and run to alert the instructor chaperoning recess. Jiro sat on the pavement, his knees scraped from where the ringleader pushed him down and his golden brown eyes now back to normal. Shino Aburame ran out immediately only to find no activated Byakugan, and a boy close to tears.

“Is this some kind of cruel prank?” Shino snapped at the assembled bullies. “You’ve done enough to poor Jiro already. Please remain behind after classes for detention.”

None of them answered, and it wasn’t until the bullies filed back into the academy building that Jiro dared tell Shino the truth. The teacher knelt next to Jiro and one of his hands ran circles around his back. Jiro watched his hands so he didn’t need to stare at Shino’s wrap-around sunglasses, which he’d always found somewhat disconcerting.

“Actually, they weren’t lying,” he whispered. “I could see everything. Their chakra, the building behind me. I-I don’t know what happened.”

With help from Shino’s extended hand, Jiro stood again and began his walk back to the classroom with his head bowed.

“I’m not accusing you of dishonesty, Jiro. I-I just find that rather difficult to believe when neither your mother nor your father have any kekkai genkai in their family history.”

Heat gathered behind Jiro’s eyes at the thought of his parents’ faces – his mother’s eyes that so resembled his, and his father’s round eyes beneath bushy eyebrows. He so desperately wanted to sink into his mother’s arms and hear his father reassure him that he had the makings of a great shinobi. Though they came from civilian families, both served with distinction in the great war and continued to distinguish themselves as excellent chunin. If only Jiro could say the same about his prospects.

Shino escorted Jiro to the academy’s infirmary so the nurse on duty could bandage his scrapes. Though the injuries were minor, the nurse sighed and shook her head upon seeing Jiro yet again in her office. The boy was a frequent visitor, often injured during practice spars or by bullies in the schoolyard. Instead of leaving as he usually did, Shino stayed behind while the nurse swabbed Jiro’s wounds with alcohol and bandaged them. The bandages were green with shuriken and kunai printed across them. Jiro’s mother would have approved.

“Jiro, I’ve been pondering your apparent activation of the Byakugan for several minutes now, and it still utterly boggles me.”

“Yeah, I don’t know what’s happening to me either. I’m a freak. Kenji’s right.”

At least Kenji – and his circle of friends who enjoyed picking on the scrawny, weak boy – respected the Byakugan’s power even if they didn’t respect him. Tears dripped down his cheeks like snot ran from his nose into the furrow of his lip. Shino handed Jiro a wad of tissues from his pocket. Warmth didn’t come easily to Shino, but his face spoke of genuine concern for his friends’ son.

“Jiro, would you like to return home early? I can write you a pass, no questions asked. But I suggest you confer with your parents to discuss your...recent discovery.”

“Do I need to tell my parents?” Jiro whispered, latching onto Shino’s sleeve. “I don’t want them to kick me out because I’m a freak.”

“The academy does not have instructors on hand to provide any special training...assuming that your activation of the Byakugan is not a one-time fluke.”

Both Shino and the nurse watched him with tilted heads and wide eyes.

“Okay,” Jiro muttered. “Thank you, Shino-sensei. Thanks, Nurse Akira. I’m sure my mom’s still at the store and she’ll know something.”

The nurse spoke for the first time since his arrival.

“Yeah, kid. I’m sure your mom will know something. Maybe your ‘dad’ needs to know, too.”

“Oh, I guess.” Jiro didn’t know what she meant. His parents married just after the great war, and they’d been on the same genin team with Might Gai. When he thought of his parents, he could never picture his mother betraying his father like the nurse seemed to imply.

“If Rock Lee even is your real dad,” she continued.

[gaarasgirlfriend]

Can you do an imagine of Suigetsu and Sasuke liking/competing for the same love interest 🥺🥺 your writings are so good, I can’t wait till more people come across your blog !!

sasuke and suigetsu both liking the same person

thank you so much aww that means so much to me! hope you enjoy, ive never written for suigetsu so i hope this is okay!! also karin and hugo kinda,, don’t exist in this oops

“y/n-chan~ you look awfully nice today! is that a new shirt?” you heard suigetsu say.

you laugh, “no, it’s the same shirt i’ve always had.”

he pouted, “hm, is that so? guess i never paid attention to what you were wearing when all i look at is your cute face~” he said while smiling.

your face flushed as you heard those words, suigetsu never failed to make you blush. and it always brought a smile to his face whenever he saw your cute face blush because of him. he thought you were the cutest thing ever.

a pair of dark eyes watched the scene in front of him, sasuke was not amused at all. he knew that the white-haired boy harbored feelings for you, just as he did. and he had to say, he was jealous at how easy flirting came to suigetsu. sasuke was not a very open nor talkative man. however, he’d be dammed if shark-toothed bastard won you over.

“stop wasting time by flirting with y/n. we’re finally at the inn, rest up for the night so we can leave early in the morning tomorrow.” sasuke said before stepping inside the inn to talk to the lady at the front desk.

suigetsu rolled his eyes, of course sasuke would try to break you guys up, right when suigetsu was making progress with you. the snow-haired boy knew that sasuke also liked you, which only made things harder for him. but luckily, sasuke was a very reserved soul, which gave suigetsu the upper hand when it came to spending more time with you. if he perks of being annoying and loud, he supposed.

when sasuke came out and gave a small nod to the rest of his team members, they all went inside. the inn was surprisingly nice, nothing super special, but at least it was clean, unlike the last place they stayed at.

“y/n, here’s your key for your room.” sasuke handed you the key to your own room.

you smiled at him, “thanks sasuke! does this place have a hot spring by any chance?”

sasuke nodded in response and soon enough you went inside your own room. there was only one thought going through both of the boy’s minds currently: you in the hot springs.

“co-ed.” suigetsu heard sasuke mumble. oh, looks like he forgot to mention that to her.

suigetsu cleared his throat, “we should also check out the hot springs, you know to help us relax and stuff...”

sasuke stiffly nodded, “yeah.”

oh boy it was gonna be a long night.

meanwhile, you were currently shedding all of your ninja attire, only donning the fluffy white towel that was in your room. you were so excited! you haven’t been in a hot springs in months, you were definitely going to take advantage of this place.

you slid the door open as you made your way towards the back of the building. once you saw the big sliding doors, you opened them.

lo and behold, the beautiful steaming hot springs. a smile etched itself onto your face, it was empty as well! looks like everyone else was sleeping. you had the hot spring all to yourself.

you slowly made your way towards the body of water, hand still on towel, just in case. you dipped your feet in to measure the temperature, it was perfect.

your whole body was next in line to take a dip. sitting up, you leaned against the ledge behind you as you sighed in contentment.

‘this is heaven’ you thought. unfortunately, the sound of the sliding doors interrupted you from your peace. you looked up curiously to see suigetsu and sasuke clad in only a towel waist down making their way to you. your face erupted into a furry blush as you made eye contact with them.

they were both ridiculously well built, sasuke being a bit more muscular than suigetsu. you were used to seeing suigetsu shirtless from the many times he decided to turn his lower half into water. but this? seeing him covered with nothing but a towel? this was completely different.

you had always thought they were both very attractive, finding yourself admiring them while you guys traveled. but never have you ever seen them in this context. it was just too intimate!

“y/n-chan! having fun there?” suigetsu said, standing before you with a toothy grin.

“i-uh- is this co-ed?” you asked.

“yep!”

you sighed before leaning against the ledge of the onsen. just your luck. of course while you didn’t mind sharing the onsen with them, you were only wearing a towel! one slip and you would definitely lose your pride.

“don’t act weird, it’s just us~” he said before finally stepping into the water. he immediately became at peace when finally in the water. dipping his head under the water, he emerged back up, with his hair all wet. you watched the droplets of water run down his chest and the way he was brushing the hair out of his eyes. damn.

“oi, this isn’t a pool.” sasuke called out to the white haired boy before finally gettting inside of the onsen himself.

suigetsu rolled his eyes, “you’re putting me inside a body of water and expecting me not to swim? how criminal!” his eyes connected to yours, “isn’t that mean?”

you laughed, “sasuke does have a point.”

sasuke smirked at this.

“doesn’t matter! anyways y/n, you seem to be at peace right now! you sure do love hot springs, huh?” suigetsu said.

you gave a small smile, “yeah, they’re really relaxing.” you leaned back a bit, to stare up at the starry sky.

sasuke and suigetsu stayed quiet as they listened to you ramble on about you used to come to the hot springs with your friends. they didn’t really focus on your words, however. but more on the way your skin was steaming and glistening with droplets of water. they were both sitting across from you, so leaning back gave them a good view of your collarbones and neck.

sasuke’s face flushed as he turned away, mumbling to himself about how clueless and idiotic you were.

suigetsu was in the same boat. he felt this mouth getting dry as he shamelessly looked at you. your skin looked so soft, and the towel didn’t do a very good job at hiding your br-

sasuke cleared his throat which stopped you from talking. you straightened back up and blinked owlishly, “was i rambling? sorry about that!”

suigetsu grinned, “it’s okay! i think it’s cute whenever you’re rambling!”

you blushed as you lowered your face in the water, so only your eyes and nose were visible.

sasuke smiled a bit to himself, ‘cute.’

“stop teasing me suigetsu...” you whined as you got up from the water.

he only chuckled in response, proceeding to swim in the onsen.

“y/n.” you heard sasuke say.

you looked over at him and he continued, “are you still hurt from that enemy shinobi? is your wound doing better?”

you winced before nodding, “yeah, it’s pretty much healed by now. my thigh is still sore though.” you rubbed the spot on your thigh where you we’re stabbed. it really hurt like a bitch.

he nodded, “good.”

you smiled, sasuke did appear closed-off at times but he really did seem to care for you. it made your heart swell.

“also uh, good job with taking down that enemy earlier today. that was impressive.” he said a bit awkwardly, shuffling a bit as the compliment left his lips.

“thanks sasuke.” you said while smiling at him once more.

about half an hour passed as you guys conversed, the conversation filled with suigetsu teasing the two of you and sasuke just rolling his eyes in response. you suddenly remembered that you needed to go to your room and summon your animal. the contract that you had with the animal included you feeding the animal at least once a week. of course, having a gigantic bird was always advantageous so you always made sure to feed it. every wednesday at 9 pm sharp.

“oh shit! i have to go summon akihiro! he’s probably gonna be pissed at me, it’s already 11!” you exclaimed as you hurriedly got out of the onsen, not noticing the way sasuke and suigetsu’s faces erupted into a firey blush as they saw your towel-clad wet body.

when you left there was an awkward silence between the two boys. suigetsu was floating in the water as sasuke was left to his thoughts.

“i’m gonna win her over.” sasuke said quietly, but suigetsu heard.

“in your dreams uchiha boy.” suigetsu laughed as he continued floating.

[sup-hoes-its-me]

Pain (Kakashi x Reader)

A/N: finally, a kakashi one shot. I've been trying so hard to write one but his character is so difficult for me, so deep and mysterious and im just an idiot. Tell me if this story is shit, lol. Anyway, Soulmate AU, kinda fluffy, kinda sad idk what to say about it. 

word count: 5000~

Part One/Part Two

“Trust me,” the boy whispered to me. “It’s going to be okay.”

His arms wound around me, as I dozed in and out of consciousness. Lightning struck every couple minutes, illuminating the area just enough up so I could see the carnage around us. Dead bodies, left and right, blood splattered on trees and shinobi crying over the bodies of their teammates and loved ones.

This war would show no mercy, it had taken someone from every clan, every household. Mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, lovers, friends. No one was safe from the storm reigning over the nations.

The rain had left me drenched, and I kept coughing on the water running up my nose and into my mouth. I felt like i was drowning in my own body, lungs filled with water, heart filled with pain. 

I could feel the burden on this boy’s shoulders as he panicked over my limp, bloodied form. I didn’t know why he was saving me, or how he even noticed my body among the dozens of others left among those battling for their lives. 

I didn’t have the strength to ask him, words absent from my mind and my tongue.

“I need to keep fighting. Where are the medics, for fucks sake,” my rescuer grumbled under his breath. Fire shot above our heads, and a girl screamed in pain behind us. I felt like I was going to pass out from not only pain but sheer fear. We were sitting there asking to be killed.

Quickly, he lifted me in his arms and ran deeper into the forest, farther away from the man with the flames. 

I tried to speak, but blood caught in my throat and had me spitting it down my neck and onto my shirt. I was at the complete disposal of this stranger.

“Kakashi!”

My teammate. His voice was unmistakable. “Is that Y/N? What- Jesus, that looks bad,” my friend exclaimed as he approached my body. Suddenly my body was being handed off, and I gasped for air, more drops of blood coming up to taste on my tongue. 

“Gai, she needs to get to a medic; she’s your teammate right?” 

“Right away, Kakashi!” He turned on his heel and prepared to push off into a jump through the trees when he paused. “You don’t even know Y/N, what made you save her?”

“I don’t know. I just knew I couldn’t let her die,” the silver haired boy, whom I know knew as the famous Kakashi, trained by the fourth Hokage himself, paused, his eyes stuck on my face for a long minute. “She deserves to live, that’s all I know.” With those being the last words out of his mouth, the boy rushed into the trees, ready to fight another battle for our village. I knew who Kakashi was from the name, but I had never formally met him. He just saved me, and I didn't know whether to feel honored that he found me worth saving or ashamed that I was so weak I couldn't defend myself.

Gai carried me to the edge of the forest where a medic tent was set up. He rocked me softly in his arms as I choked on the mere air I was breathing in, and gasped when my chest felt too heavy to support itself. He was a friend, the best friend I’ve ever had, even if he was painfully unbearable at times. 

People even asked me, time and time again, is Might Gai your soulmate? No one can stand that kid, she must be his soulmate, poor girl. That’s what they would say. But no. We were friends. And Kakashi, was Gai’s sort-of-friend, but mostly he acted as an admirer.

He had mentioned Kakashi time and time again in secret. He would call him a hero, someone so talented and majestic, you would think he was talking about a seasoned shinobi like the Hokage. He felt challenged by his skill, but grateful for his help when he was being bullied. 

I guess, you could say Kakashi Hatake was my hero now too. Such a quiet guy, yet more noble than any one of us.

___________________________________

I don't normally show my soul mark, hidden away under my layers, resting on my shoulder blade. I show it to people when they ask, because it really doesn't matter if people see it or not. I know they aren't my soulmate.

I wasn’t surw who I was destined to be with. Over the years of being a shinobi, I encountered thousands of people, all of whom could have been the one, or not. I may have met them before and not known about it, but I highly doubt it. 

Kurenai told me when you meet your soulmate for the first time, it's such a distinct feeling that you can't miss it. You can't dismiss it as just a chill running through your body. As far as I can remember, I've never felt something like that: so significant that it would haunt me even today. I try not to dwell on the fact that I may never meet my soulmate, or that I've passed them by in another village or on a mission and will never see them again. 

I honestly try not to think about my soulmate at all. It's so hopeless and only brings people anxiety and paranoia. The people who go around asking to see every single person's mark are fools in my opinion.

Yes, I do think it would be nice to meet my soulmate and love them forever unconditionally, constantly having someone to hold and talk to. Yet...I can get so much shit done when I don't have to worry about some fate-forseen destiny. 

I laid in my bed, pillow over my face to drown out the sunlight and sounds of the birds chirping. I didn't have a mission today, and my team of Genin was out on a mission themselves for the next week. I had time to do absolutely nothing but sleep and relax. That is, if my fellow villagers would leave me alone for once.

But not today. I can't have one day off, can I?

"Rise and Shine, woman of the night! Half a day of youth has been wasted, my friend!" A loud bellowing voice called from outside my room. "If you don't wake up and open the door in 10 seconds, I will force the door down." Seriously…fuck Gai.

I rolled out of bed, threw on my robe lying on the floor and walked to the door. If it were anyone else, I could probably get away with staying in bed, but Gai doesn't lie when he makes threats, and I wasn't about to replace my door again.

The sun was so bright when I opened the door and peered out at my friend. eyes narrowed to avoid the sunlight. "Gai...why are you like this?" I put bluntly, stiff frown on my lips.

He frowned, shaking his head furiously. "Y/N, you are yet a single beautiful flower from the leaf village. You must not waste a single day of your youth, your prime time for action, adventure, and training," the man proclaimed, throwing his fist in the air dramatically. 

"Listen, I'm tired as all hell, but if you want me out of the house we can go get breakfast."

"Breakfast? It's past noon."

"Fine. Lunch, then." He nodded, begrudgingly. He was, as expected, disappointed that I didn't even know what time it was, and that I had skipped the most important meal of the day. I shut the door and changed into appropriate clothes, combed through my hair for a minute with my hair, and shoved some cash in my pocket for food.

We walked five blocks to sit down for ramen, and were greeted kindly by the owner and his daughter. 

"When is your next mission assigned?"

"Wednesday. Two days of peace."

"What about your team? Training?"

"On a c-rank. No kids, no responsibilities. What more could I ask for? I got 14 hours of sleep last night too."

His eyes widened, but what was he expecting? I wasn't exactly proactive when I didn't have to be, unlike his upbeat and always ready to fight lifestyle. Maybe he was right to always be prepared, since we can never know when someone will attack the village. We weren't prepared for when Orochimaru first attacked and our Hokage died, as well as hundreds of our shinobi. 

"Typical Y/N behavior. As long as you are safe from harm, I suppose it doesn't matter. Still, after this I'm running 100 laps around the village with Lee. You can join if you want."

"I'll pass this time. My calves are killing after my last mission." I sighed but felt a little calmer as my ramen was placed in front of me. I took one whiff of it and felt immensely better than before. I slouched in my seat a bit as I relaxed and practically inhaled some noodles. 

After I finished my ramen, I bid my farewell to Gai and headed back to my apartment. I guess today would be a good day to clean the mess that had been building up there for a few weeks. I went on missions so often, I just forgot to pick up in between them.

When I was walking up the stairs to my place, I noticed a particular silver haired shinobi leaning against my door, holding a small box in his hands.

“Kakashi!” I exclaimed, walking just a bit faster to get to him. He came to visit me sometimes, but it was quite rare. We usually met up in town or for a mission. “Back from your mission already?”

“Yep. Turned out to be a lot easier than we anticipated,” he replied, shifting on his feet, a movement noting nervousness. I stopped at my door, peering up at him brightly. It was always a pleasant surprise seeing him. After all, he was one of my favorite people.

I leaned on the opposite side of my door frame, my eyes shifting to the little box in his hand. “What’s that?”

“Oh, yeah. Uh, just something I found while on the mission. It’s really no big deal.”

“You were in the Land of Snow. Barely anyone goes there; of course your little trinket is a big deal!” I laughed. He also laughed, but it was painfully awkward and tense. He still seemed pretty on edge, which I just brushed off as the aftermath of a mission. “Who’s it for?”

“Yeah, about that…” he trailed off, eyes turning down to the box. “It’s actually for you.”

My whole face lit up in flames at the thought of Kakashi getting a special present for me. I watched with the internal excitement of a kid on Christmas morning, my hands shaking just a bit by my sides. My friend lifted the box, and inside was the most magnificent crystal on a metallic chain. It was white with shimmering bits of blue and silver swirling around inside. 

Carefully, I reached out and touched it with the pads of my fingertips. “Kakashi, I don’t know what to say...It’s so beautiful.” My eyes lifted to look at his single eye. It seemed I had caught him staring, and he blinked quickly to cover it up. My cheeks turned an even darker shade of pink. 

“The lady who sold it to me said that it holds a protective spirit inside. That’s probably just a cheap sales pitch, but I…” he mumbled, embarrassment creeping up his neck and ears, “Well, I thought you would like it.”

“Are you kidding? I love it. Kakashi, this is the nicest thing someone has ever bought for me. Must have cost you a fortune!” I protested as I further inspected the crystal. It was purely amazing. Truthfully, I didn’t think Kakashi had much taste either.

He shrugged. “Price doesn’t matter. What does matter is if you will wear it.”

“Of course.” Excitedly, I turned around and moved my hair out of the way of my neck. “Put it on for me, please.” I listened to him pick the chain and the clap of the box shutting and slipping into his pocket. His fingers slid against my neck, sending tiny shocks down my spine, and the cool crystal soon sat against my chest. His slim hands moved away from my skin, and I admittedly missed the feeling of his warmth on me.

As I turned, he hummed with approval. “Looks perfect on you, as I suspected.” 

“O-Oh. Well, thank you for getting it for me. Hopefully it actually works like the lady said.”

“Either way, you’ll always be safe.” He brushed off my comment coolly. “Trust me.”

I always did.

_________________________________

It was late into the night, but nerves kept me up once again. All this drama with Orochimaru, Sasuke, the Akatsuki. It was overwhelming. Tsunade was assigning me missions almost every day, my joints ached from running and fighting, and my chakra felt as if it was used up for the last time; I was so tired.

The streets were quiet except for a few restaurants still open to late night diners. My footsteps echoed on the ground as I walked along, dirt kicking up around my feet with every lazy step. 

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted him, perched on the top of a water tower. His hair still flew up despite the wind persistently pushing it down. Kakashi Hatake, my friend and comrade. As always he looked almost majestic, especially in this moonlight. For some reason, I felt the urge to jump up there and be with him, a push towards the shinobi.

Silently, I bounced between buildings to get to where he was, talking up to where he sat. His nin-kin turned to me and nodded in greeting. 

“Sup, Y/N,” Pakkun said in his strangely deep voice for such a tiny dog. Sitting down beside the man, my eyes trailed over to where he was looking out all this time. Pain shot through my body at the sight of the memorial stone, glimmering in the darkness. 

I think every shinobi had their fair share of memories associated with the stone, whether it be family or friends. I sighed, my gaze shifting to the moon above us. 

Some things were just too painful to dwell on.

“Y/N.”

“Hey, Kakashi,” I began, rubbing over my knuckles with my thumb. “I was just on a walk, and it looked like you could use some company.”

“Yeah, guess you’re right.” Pakkun rolled his eyes, but said nothing. After all, he knew his master could use all the human compassion he could find. “Been a tough night.”

I leaned forward a bit, swinging my legs off the edge of the water tower. It made me dizzy being this high up and looking down, but I enjoyed the rush it sent through my blood. My head tilted toward him, and I sighed. “Agreed. Too much to think about, huh?”

“Yep.”

“What’s on your mind then?”

“Currently?” His laugh was bitter as he said that word, shaking his head. His frustration rolled off his body in waves. “My student is a rogue ninja and my other students are going to get killed trying to find him.”

I nodded solemnly. My own squad was actually quite boring. They had talent, but not the same attachments or motivation as Kakashi’s students. His children fought with their all every single battle, always striving to be better than they were the day before. Hell, Sasuke went with a criminal to achieve his goals. I felt sorry for the guy. His kids weren’t normal.

“Naruto won’t give up, huh. Can’t see that happening, I gotta admit.”

“I was the one who taught them the importance of teamwork and bonds between them, but god dammit if I’m not worried about them,” he cursed. “I know they have the capability to defend themselves. Naruto and Sasuke are coming to the point where they could even surpass me, yet I feel obligated to protect him.”

Humming in agreement, I replied, “As you should. What kind of leader would you be if you just left them to be reckless?”

“I just...The thought of losing anyone else is…” His words trailed off, eyes trained on the memorial stone again. 

Tears pricked my eyes. My parents died in the war. I had been injured early on so I wasn’t there to see them die. I only heard about their deaths when the battle ended and their mutilated bodies were found among thousands of others. I didn’t know pain like this man, but I could understand death just like anyone else. Even the happiest people, like Gai, have struggled with loss more times than he would like to count.

Tentatively, my arm went to rest over his shoulders. He didn’t move away from my touch, leaning into my side just slightly. I almost didn’t notice the weight. This man needed touch and affection now more than ever. He was battling a war inside himself as another brewed around him every day. 

“I know, Kakashi.”

He kept silent. Pakkun sat in his lap calmly, his eyes shutting as he sunk deeper into thought. 

“Sometimes, I worry I’ll forget the faces of my parents who died during that battle. I-I can’t remember what color eyes my mom had, and sometimes I forget my dad had freckles or that one of his ears was just a little longer than the other. I know one day I won’t remember at all, and all my pictures burned in the wreckage…” I confided in the masked ninja, and he let out a long breath. “That’s the worst part for me.”

“I’m sorry, Y/N.”

“It’s okay. I always remind myself that while I forget their faces, I will never forget how they made me feel. How happy I was when my father applauded me at graduation, and how my mother made me the best meals I’ve ever had. In that way, they are always with me.”

His situation ran deeper, I knew that. He killed his friend Rin, and he was forced to watch as his other teammate died being crushed by a boulder. He harboured the boy’s eye every day, acting as a constant reminder that he could only take when he should have saved him. Survivor’s guilt is written on his heart.

As I squeezed his shoulder just a bit tighter to my body, I added, “You owe it to your friends and family to keep living life to the fullest. Just like my parents, your loved ones live through you now.”

He sat calmly for a second, pondering on what I said. I stared out at Konoha, a small smile on my face. The death would always haunt me, but there were always positives, always something to drag a person out of a dark time. With effort, his guilt would lessen. I doubt it would happen that way, Kakashi being too stubborn to forgive himself, but the least we could do is try.

“You’re a good friend, y’know.”

“I’ll always be here for you, Kakashi. Always.”

“Thank you, Y/N.”

______________________________________

The mission was turning out to be a big failure. Y/N had wasted away at her reserve of chakra, and Kakashi wasn’t fairing too much better. They would have been sent with more shinobi back up but Tsunade was running short on available ninja, not even a genin to help them. There was so much going on, and this fight was more chaotic than most.

A few hours before, Y/N and Kakashi noticed that enemy shinobi started following them, but from such a distance that it would be better to keep going for as long as they could to regain strength before engaging in combat. Only, they didn’t realize that there were enemies waiting for them as well. It seemed they walked right into a clever trap.

They weren’t prepared. Even the famous Kakashi was worn out from the strain of the mission earlier that day. Constantly, it seemed, they were being attacked. 

Regardless, they tried to put up the best fight they could. 

But it was futile.

After just 20 minutes of fighting, Y/N was at wits end. She had used up a big portion of her chakra an hour earlier to heal a villager. Her legs ached from running for hours, and her head spun with a migraine from head damage.  Before anyone could react, an already weakened kunoichi fell to the ground, half a dozen kunai sticking from her back from a sneak attack in the trees. Her shirt soaked up the blood oozing from her broken skin, and she barely had enough energy to cry out before her face hit the dirt hard. Just as Kakashi turned away from the enemy to see what had happened, one of the kunai, which was tagged, detonated.

Dust flew up in clouds around her as the flames went down. Her clothes were practically seared to the seams, and the awful smell of burnt flesh wafted into the forest around them. 

“Y/N!” Kakashi yelled at the sight of her body. “Shit, shit, shit.”

He pressed his hand to the ground and screamed for his summons to come and help him. Anyone that could protect Y/N while he finished this fight alone. His ninken appeared, and immediately they knew what to do. A few of them went to attack the person who was targeting Y/N, leaving the criminal merciless to their vicious nature, meanwhile the rest, including Pakkun ran over to her body, sizzling on the ground with smoke rising from the fabric of her shirt. 

With some  assistance now in place, Kakashi used the last bit of his chakra to take down the man in front of him, as well as the two to his right and left. Three shinobi down, as well as the one his ninken took down a few seconds ago. 

As he took a few breaths, trying to compose himself enough to think clearly, he caught sight of Y/N’s unmoving body, despite the efforts the dogs took to wake her up, to get her to simply twitch to show she was still alive. 

Nothing. 

His heart began to race with fear. This scene, it was all too familiar. His friends who had died before him, their broken and ruined bodies lying before him to only stare at. He felt helpless. Like years ago, she was near death and he desperately needed to keep her alive. The need inside of him was so strong he couldn’t think of anything else.

Kakashi fell to his knees next to her, quickly moving to yank the kunai from her back and toss them to the side. blood seeped into her blackened clothes and onto the grass below her. 

His hands hovered over her form anxiously, not knowing what to do next. He wasn’t a healer. She was the one with the medical ninjutsu up her sleeve. Pakkun noticed his frantic eyes, the way he held his breath as if time had stopped. 

“Not my Y/N. Not to her, please, Kami, please,” he begged.

“She’s breathing, Kakashi,” the dog assured, placing his paw onto his master’s arm. “The medcine, Kakashi, she needs the Hokage’s medicine.”

His brain took a moment to think, and soon after he rummaged through the remnants of Y/N’s side bag, searching for the salve Tsunade had given them as they left. “Fuck, why did this have to happen?” Harsh words cursed out under his breath as he cut through the fabric with a kunai to get a full look at the wounds on her back. Soot covered her skin, so he wiped them off the best he could.

One dark spot remained. Under her shoulder blade.

Maybe he should have moved faster, forgot about the black mark on her back, but he couldn’t help but rub away the rest of the dust and dirt to take a closer look. He’d never seen her soul mark. She’d never seen his. They were in places unseen by the casual eye. 

And after 20 years of not knowing, they matched. His soulmate. She was right in front of him this entire time. He always felt different toward the woman, in the kind of way they only talk about in romance novels. He never anticipated even meeting his soulmate, but knowing her for 20 years, loving her for this long...it felt surreal.

He pushed down his mask, touching the mark on his chin faintly. Pakkun eyed his master’s mark for a moment before turning to the girl’s. “Kakashi…”

“Shit, forget about that. Let’s just make sure she lives.”

He rubbed the salve onto her wounds, and her body started to shake. The wounds slowly closed, only leaving streaks of blood and dust on her skin. As he turned her body over, he noticed blood dripping from her forehead and wiped it away, pressing a piece of her shirt to the wound to keep pressure steady. 

“She won’t wake up for a while. It’s best to take her back to the village, Kakashi.”

He wordlessly nodded, lifting her into his arms and standing up, hugging her weak form to his chest. And so he started his walk back to the hidden leaf.

His whole body felt heavy, worry building up in his heart. They were meant to be together, souls intertwined by fate. He finally found the woman who would love him endlessly. He would be happy once again.

If only it was that easy…

____________________________________________

After being injured on the last mission, I was allowed to take a few weeks off to recover. Apparently, my wounds could have been fatal if not for the salve Tsunade gave us as it contained an antidote to their poisonous weapons. Kakashi did a good job, the nurses told me when I woke up in the crowded hospital room. They told me he saved my life.

“He was so worried about you, Y/N. He ran all the way here from the Land of Fire just to make sure you were okay.”

“Yeah, he was just about ready to cry when he handed you off to us,” the nurse told me, a small smile on her face. “He really cares about you, Miss Y/N.”

The nurses told me a lot of things while I was being healed. They loved to talk, and Kakashi was a man of much interest apparently. Even though I was in pain, they made it somewhat bearable to sit in the hospital for three days. 

Every week, I would go back for a follow up, just to make sure the poison hadn’t reemerged. My last appointment just happened to be with the Hokage herself, her expertise above all others. I worried something might be wrong, as my injuries seemed to be getting better, but needing the Hokage to perform an exam must mean something is wrong. Honestly, I was anxious. 

I settled onto the patient’s bench as the powerful woman walked into the room.

“Y/N. How are you feeling?”

“Pretty good. No pain anymore.”

“Alright, well, I’ll listen to your vitals, check your blood stream and chakra flow, and hopefully you’ll be out of here in no time,” she told me, doing as she said she would. I laid on the bench and let her medical chakra flow through me, searching for abnormalities. 

After that, I sat up for her to check on my back, which was just about finished healing and scaring. Every shinobi has scars, and thankfully these are hidden under my shirt at all times. Big red welts sat there for a week to the point where it hurt to even wear a shirt because the fabric rubbed against them.

She lifted my shirt, her cold finger running along the healing wounds. Suddenly, her fingers stopped, right under my shoulder. 

“Well, that’s quite...shocking.”

 “Something wrong?” I piped up, peeking at her from over my shoulder. Her eyes were trained onto my back, eyes widened.

“No, it’s not a problem,” she lowered my shirt, and patted her hands together. “Good news is that you’re completely fine, no complications.”

“Bad news?”

“More good news, I suppose,” the woman told me, her lips quirking into a half grin. “Your necklace is gorgeous. I haven’t been able to keep my eyes off it since you started wearing it, to be honest. Sakura told me Kakashi gave it to you.” She sighed, touching the crystal hanging close to my heart. 

With a smile, I nodded, eyeing the stone myself. “It’s one of my most prized possessions,” I gushed, heat returning to my cheeks as I thought about receiving the gift.

“Then I have some great news for you.” She let go of my necklace and stepped back a bit, crossing her arms under her breasts. “You and your beloved have the same soulmark. It seems Kakashi is your soulmate.”

My heart stopped beating in my chest for a second. Wide eyes met her neutral ones, and I opened my mouth to say something, but she beat me to it. “I’ve healed Kakashi time and time again, so I know his mark. It’s under his mask, so you would never get the chance to see it. Yet, it matches yours perfectly. Congratulations.”

“Lady Hokage, I-I...Thank you for telling me! This is all I’ve been wishing for for years. Meeting my soulmate, I’ve only ever thought about it in my dreams. I-I can’t believe it.”

“I’m happy for you, Y/N. You and Kakashi will have a mission in 2 days, I suggest you tell him sometime then, when you have time together,” she advised. I nodded gratefully.

She bid me a goodbye and shut the door as she left. My heart was still in overdrive as I processed what she had just told me.

I would just have to wait a few days and then I could tell him everything. It would be the best day of my life.

[thecorteztwins]

And now for this week’s installment of Alt-Marauders stuff! Tagging @sammysdewysensitiveeyes and @littlemeangreen since I know you guys like it. This week it’s: “Building Character” - Shinobi/Sebastian “Daddy’s Girl” -Manon/Sebastian “Flames” - Pyro/Alice “First Resort” - Sebastian/Haven “Human” -Haven/Madelyne

“BUILDING CHARACTER” (Warning: References to child abuse, and no apologies for it) It was evening at Blackstone, and its occupants were there for the first time in two weeks spent seafaring. “I had my reservations about giving you another chance,” Sebastian admitted, standing by the sitting room window, looking out over his domain, “But you’ve done well.” Shinobi hated himself for the pride and happiness that flooded through him at his father’s words. He was still so weak, so dependent on this man’s approval, the same man he hated so much, the man that MADE him like this. “We’ve done well,” he replied in apparent calm, “We’ve not attempted to kill each other, for instance.” His father turned his head and grinned at him, “Oh, I’m sure you have something up your sleeve for me sooner or later. And of course, I’m prepared for when you do.” “I thought about it,” Shinobi admitted matter-of-factually, “But what would it even matter now? You’d just come back. “I did before Krakoa. So did you. Twice, I believe,” Sebastian moved from the window and sat down in the chair across from his son now, “I used to think Shaws were just exceptionally hardy stock, but I’ve learned it seems to be a strange feature of mutants as a species.” “Yet you still worry I’ll off you?” Another smile from Sebastian, almost indulgent, “Oh, I’m not worried. I’m actually rather eager to see how you try to get around the resurrection issue. Trap me somewhere, perhaps, but ensure that I won’t starve or suffocate wherever I am? You were never a bright boy, Shinobi, and I’m sure your lifestyle choices haven’t helped with that---not that I’m judging you, we all have our wild oats to sow---but I’m hoping this new obstacle will start stimulating whatever brain cells you have left. Adversity builds character, didn’t I always tell you that?” “Yeah, mostly after you hit me.” In most families there would be an awkward silence after that. Shinobi was in fact hoping for it, hoping for any sign of shame in his father. Of course he didn’t get it. Sebastian reacted as if Shinobi had said ‘after you took me to a baseball game’ or anything else innocuous and normal in the life of an average father and son...whatever that was. Shinobi only had ideas from television. Although it seemed some stuff his dad did was normal, if Homer choking the life out of Bart on the regular was any indication of standard reality. “Exactly. You had to find some way to stop me from doing that, ideally by improving yourself so I would no longer have reason, though I’d have settled for almost anything else after a certain point so long as it worked,” said Sebastian. Then his tone turned regretful...but not for the reasons a normal person would, “You never did though. I’ve given up on very little in my life, Shinobi, but...” “But you gave up on pummeling me.” “I couldn’t shape you into something better. I realize that now. Only you can do that. And look? Now you are.” “Oh right you were beating me for MY SAKE,” said Shinobi, the bitter venom he felt inside finally beginning to seep out into his now-biting tone. “Yes, but also you just irritated me,” Sebastian said, and there was no bitterness in his, no venom, and no shame, “People seldom have a single motive, even a simple man such as I.” “Simple?” Shinobi did not expect his father to describe himself in such a word. “I never had grand ideals of Xavier and Erik, never wanted to herd an entire planet into my way of thinking. I was only ever concerned with what anyone should be---my own success. Which I achieved. Whereas their dreams are still unrealized, for all their efforts and claims.” “So why care about my success then?” Shinobi asked. And it was a good question, for it gave his father pause. A long pause. Shinobi knew that look on his father’s face---his father was thinking, and hard. And he wasn’t coming to an answer quickly either. “I can’t say it’s affection,” Sebastian finally answered, “You and I both know what a ridiculous notion that would be. Maybe the hope you’d be useful to me, but...” He trailed off, sounding doubtful. Shinobi wished it was that though, because being useful to his father would imply he had worth, his father needed him, the man he’d idolized---jeesus it made him choke even to think of that---would need him. Shinobi wanted that. “...but I doubt that, I’ve never relied on anyone, you know me,” Sebastian picked up again, “I’d rather have an ally I can cut ties with easily with need be, not someone so attached to me as a son. Grooming children as tools was always more Emma’s practice; I never had the patience for it, or the time. I suppose there is some kind of personal attachment--” Holy fuck holy fuck holy fuck did he dare hope no he must be lying he must be “---to the notion of legacy. Krakoa or not, I’m not going to live forever, and I’d like what I’ve accomplished to pass into hands related to my own, as illogical and sentimental as nepotism is. But I refuse for them to be unworthy of it.” Shinobi’s hopes sunk back down their proper place. Of course. Of course that was it. His money, his business, his power base---those were what he cared about. that was his child, his real child, and he was just looking for someone with his DNA to care for it after his death. Well, you know what? “I’m going to be,” Shinobi said. And it wasn’t a promise. It was a threat. And his father knew that. And it made him smile. *** “DADDY’S GIRL” (Warning: Casual use of mind control/memory manipulation and no one treating it as bad.) It was a bad situation. The spies sent to Krakoa, spies who were mutants but still owed their allegiances to the American, had been caught. And caught by the Marauders, no less. Negotiations were underway for their safe return, but unfortunately, the Council member they were speaking to was Sebastian Shaw. And he was not in a forgiving mood. ”They’ve already been telepathically wiped, of course,” he said over the phone to the negotiator, “So it’s no matter to us if we give them back to you or not. But, why should we? They are Krakoan citizens. Even if they committed to that citizenship with false intentions, they still are OUR people, and they have committed treason. And you know what the traditional punishment for that is...” ”Please, Mr. Shaw, see reason!” the negotiator pleaded on the other end of the phone in the White House office. “They are American citizens as well, and employees of the American government! Any action against them will be seen as an act of hostility!” ”And sending them into our midst was NOT an act of hostility?” Shaw returned very calmly, but very dangerously. It was a tone that made the negotiator think very, very carefully about what his next words would be. And then he felt a tug on his sleeve. He looked down to see one of the Marauders, who were overseeing the negotiations going on. After the spies had been caught on Krakoa, they’d come IMMEDIATELY to make sure that no reinforcements would be sent. It just went to show how ruthless mutants were, that they would send CHILDREN on a team like that. In this case, a little girl, with pigtails and Wednesday Addams dress. She’d have been adorable, if not for her ghostly albinistic coloring and strange eyes. “Put me on!”  she chirped, “He will listen to me, I’m his daughter!” The negotiator stared at her. Well, he was all out of ideas, so... “Okay, Mr. Shaw? Your daughter is here, she’d like to speak to you.” “My what?” “There’s a little girl here,” the negotiator explained, hoping the kid hadn’t just tricked him into losing several lives, “She says you’re her father.” There was a sigh from Shaw’s end, “Well, shes probably right. It’s hardly the time, but fine, put her on.” The negotiator passed the child the phone while her brother giggled in the background, and in Krakoan, she piped, “Hello Mr. Shaw! Manon to the rescue!” “Oh, it’s you,” he said flatly. “Who else did you think it would be?” “Well, when someone randomly claims to be my child, they usually ar---I mean, nevermind, what is it? This is important, you know.” ”I think you should let the spies go, Mr. Shaw.” ”You don’t understand what you’re talking about, and you’re in enough trouble for following the crew through the portal as it is. Put the man back on.” ”But Mr. Shaw, I have a plan!” The negotiator could not understand Krakoan, but he did understand tone, and he could hear the irritation in Shaw’s voice. He grabbed the phone away from her and apologized, ”I’m sorry, Mr. Shaw, she--” ”THAT’S MY PAPA!” Manon shrieked in English, and then yelled something in Krakoan, something Shaw could hear. ”Put MY DAUGHTER back on THIS INSTANT!” Shaw roared at the negotiator, who immediately complied. “Manon?” “I am running the show now, Mr. Shaw!” she said proudly. ”Excellent. Now, the first part of your idea is splendid. Here’s what I want you to do for the second...” They talked a little more, and it sounded much more pleasant to the negotiator, he even heard Mr. Shaw LAUGH, though there was something...devious...in the girl’s undertone he didn’t care for. When she said bye-bye and passed the phone back to him, she smiled...and so did he. Pocketing the phone, he turned back to the other two Marauders who were observing, Pyro and Shinobi. ”Well gentlemen, thank you so much for helping sort that out. I’ll take you to see who you need now.” Pyro and Shinobi looked at each other, and behind the negotiator’s back, Manon winked at them and put a finger to her white lips. ”Sure,” said Shinobi, unsure what was going on. ”Lead on, mate,” said Pyro, likewise baffled but playing along. The negotiator lead them to a room of other men, and after a few moments with Manon---in which she shook all their hands, with Maxime’s empathy POWERS overriding their natural suspicions at doing so--they all bid the Marauders farewell and told them to have a nice day and that it was so nice that Krakoan/American relationships were going so well. ”Alright,” said Pyro as they stepped out of the White House and headed for the nearest portal in DC, “What’d old Shaw make you do, you little witch?” ”Excusez-moi!” said Manon in mock-offense, “I made up half the idea! The first half at that!” ”Yeah but what WAS it?!” Shinobi urged. ”Well, I told Mr. Shaw, why don’t I just make the man on the phone FORGET that we captured the American spies, yes?” Manon explained, “And he said that was a SPLENDID idea, and he said that I should do it, and make him think that we were here about something else, and that he was supposed to take us to everyone else who knew the spies had been captured, and fix their memories too. And then when we get back, he will have me change the memories of the spies themselves, so they will go home with bad information!” ”Holy shit,” said Pyro. ”Damn,” said Shinobi, “Maybe you really ARE his kid!” The twins just giggled. *** “FLAMES”       “Hey, Mr. Allerdyce? Can I bother you?” Pyro looked up from his laptop to see Alice in the doorway. “Sure, love. What’s troubling you?” he said automatically, then regretted that choice of words. If Alice had trouble he’d push her towards Haven or Maddie, they’d be much better choices for her to talk to. “I uh...I wanted some advice,” she said, stepping shyly in. Oh no. “About?” “Writing” His ears perked up and his eyes got wide, “Well why didn’t you say so! Come on and sit down love, I’ll tell you everything you need to know.” Pyro sounded delighted, and he was. People seemed to forget that writing was his real passion, not being a super-criminal or a jerk who burned things. Those were fun but they weren’t his CALLING. Alice sat nervously, “You’re a professional so I thought you’d be best to ask. “Yeah, go ahead, anything,” Pyro urged her. He felt very important right now. “Can you help me not write a Mary Sue?” “...a what?” The wind went out of his sails suddenly. He had no idea what she was talking about. “You know. A Mary Sue.” “I uh, I don’t know, actually.” “A bad character.” “Ohhh.” Alright, this he could do.  “Okay, well first thing is first, gotta be three dimensional, you know? People are people, even the evil patriarch in the gloomy mansion with designs on our gorgeous heroine’s fortune and her body! Second thing is give ‘em a distinct voice when they talk, the wandering wastrel with a heart of gold shouldn’t talk the same way as the well-brought up but dull and dunderheaded fiancee, and---” He went on, listing each of his tricks of the trade out on his long spindly fingers, then more. “That help?” he asked brightly when he had, for the moment, finished. Oh but he could talk about this all day! “I uh...can you tell me more about writing a good female lead? I know not to make her too overpowered, or too beautiful, and not to give her a tragic past or too many love interests or too many coincidences, but--” “WHAT?!” Pyro roared, nearly jumping out of his seat, “Who told you THAT?!” “The internet,” she said meekly, drawing back. “Well it’s wrong, dead wrong! Blimey, you just described half my most popular female leads! The hell kind of advice is that, don’t make her too beautiful or powerful or too many love interests?! Fuck that shit, love, if I’d followed that garbage I’d never have published a penny’s worth.” “So...do do it?” St. John, shrugged, “Do what you want, Alice. I write Gothic romance because I love it. Heaving bosoms, dramatic sighs, improbable coincidences, and tragic pasts for everybody! And I know my readers love it. They tell me so. Got panned hard by the critics and “real” writers but who doesn’t, eh? You can’t satisfy them but you can sure make someody’s day with a good harlequin. But between you and me, I wasn’t even writing for my readers anyway, even though I love ‘em.” “You were writing for you?” Alice was Internet-savvy enough to know the term Mary sue, so she also knew the adage about writing for yourself. But hearing it from a REAL writer gave it more weight. “Damn right! I give my readers what they want but only when it’s what I want. And I want trashy drama and beautiful heroines with six different walking six-packs fighting for her her hand in marriage!” “And...nobody hates you for it?” Well, like I said, critics weren’t too kind, and there’s some real stinkers of reviews on Goodreads and Amazon for a few. But you should see my fan letters! Not everyone’ll like what you make, love, it’s impossible. Even the “classics” has people who can’t stand ‘em---including me, for some.” “Do they....flame you?” “Flaming things is more my specialty. “ “No, I mean...lemme show you.” she said, and pulled out her phone. Later, had to explain to everyone WHY he had torched Alice’s cell into a molten plastic and metal lump and blamed ‘shitheads on the Internet’. *** “FIRST RESORT” It was not the greenery of Krakoa that they walked through today, but the border of Danum Valley in Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia. For most of human history, no one had settled in this part of the country, nor deforested its paradisaical and ancient rainforest, home to orangutans, clouded leopards, Sumatran rhinoceros, and, Haven’s personal favorite, the humble mouse-deer. To actually go into it would be foolhardy, not simply because of the creatures (indeed, really the least of one’s worries, wild animals tended to avoid people) but for the abundance of insects, dangerous plants, and the fact their clothes simply weren’t cut out for the amount of water, mud, and foliage they would encounter. The reason for the lack of proper hiking gear was that they had not come to Sabah to look at its jungles, lovely as they were, but because they had a mission. For most of the Marauders, it was the usual, bringing mutants home should they wish to come; in this case, mutants among the thousands of victims trafficked through this area alone. For Shaw specifically, well...there was a portion of eastern Sabah had long been an area for smuggling into and from Indonesia and the Southern Philippines. He’d been asked by the Council to bring its own unique goods to the black market there. And for Haven, well, there was figuring out what to do with the rest of the trafficking survivors; she wasn’t about to just leave them after the mutants in their number had been pulled from the herd. With all that accomplished, everyone was now, as usual, taking part in essentially vacationing before heading back. Pyro and Shinobi were hitting the bars in Kota Kinabalu, Madelyne was off fighting poachers of pygmy elephants, and Claudine...well, who knew where she slipped off to? No one usually asked. And Sebastian Shaw, waiting for evening when he’d take the boat over to Kuala Lumpur for some fun of his own, was passing the day or at least this particular hour walking on the outskirts of the verdant conservation area, not close enough to be engulfed by the trees but still with quite a bit more plant life in the way than he’d like. Particularly when concentrating on a conversation, even an asinine one. “So you do consent that violence is necessary at times,” he said, feeling he had finally gotten SOMETHING sensible out of her. “I do,” Haven said, who did not feel she had lost anything by admitting this; she had never denied it, “It’s the debate of when. My opinion is not that it must never be used---if someone is about to shoot a room full of people and there is no telepath to put them to sleep, for instance, then sadly a sniper shot may be the best option for the least loss of life---but that it is often jumped to far too quickly. It should be a last resort and not a first, or a second for that matter.” “I disagree in that but I most certainly agree in its necessity---and effectiveness,” he replied, though he knew she of course knew that, “So we do have some common ground then, however small.” “Why, Mr. Shaw, I didn’t realize you cared about that.” “Wipe that look off your face, woman. I didn’t concede to you in the slightest. If anything, the reverse.” “That’s not what I was smiling about, Mr. Shaw,” she said, still smiling and stopping to crouch down. She was adjusting a flower back into an upright position; some animal must had stepped on it. Perhaps one of her precious mouse-deer. “I meant I appreciate that you would appreciate we have some common ground, however small.” Sebastian rolled his eyes, “There would be no point speaking to you otherwise. There is barely any point as it is.” “But you do it,” she said, and began to dig her hands in the dirt, around the flower, so that she could scoop it out without plucking it, without ending its little life, “And, I apologize, I don’t like to make assumptions, but...I doubt you’re the kind of person who does anything he does not see a point in, Mr. Shaw.” She stood back out and held her cupped hands out to him, displaying the bloom, “It’s a Dendrobium lohokii, a type of orchid. Do you think we should bring this back to Krakoa? I don’t know what the policy is on invasive species, but I believe it could thrive there. The climate seems right.” Sebastian reached out and touched her hands with his own...and forcibly made her curl hers into a fist around the delicate Dendrobium, crushing it. “You are correct, Ms. Dastoor, in that I do little without a point. But you also grievously underestimate my boredom with this crew. Including yourself. You are to me as violence is to you---a last resort.” He released her hands and strode on, “And Krakoa has all the flowers it needs.” *** “HUMAN” “You know what the worst thing is, though?” said Madelyne, her black-gloved hand tracing the mouth of the glass. She still dressed like herself---her old self, her first self---when out of costume, but when acting as a Marauder (not as an X-Men, a Marauder) she did put on the ol’ pleathers again, the ones she’d worn WHEN WORKING WITH ARKEA. “I’m shocked you can choose,” said Haven, and there was no humor in her tone. Madelyne sometimes coped with a wry wit and devil-may-care (no punt intended) tone, but Haven only ever spoke of their mutual traumas with solemn gravity. “The worst part,” Madelyne inhaled, “The worst part is...I wanted it, Haven. Just in a dream, yeah, but still. And I’m not sorry that I wanted it. And when I got it...I enjoyed it. And I know I was possessed, I know it wasn’t me---I’m the only one who knows that, it seems, and even I don’t even care most of the time---but the part of me that was still awake? That nasty little greedy bitter part Sym talked to? She liked it. I liked it. I got my revenge, and I deserved it. And I can’t let go of that. I should feel SO guilty for that, it goes against everything I am, that I really am, but...I can’t. I don’t. And I...I don’t think I want to.” Madelyne knew that Haven could never understand. It was a contradiction, really---Haven was the only one here who could really understand what she’d been through, because of the uncannily similar circumstances, and yet at the same time, because of who Haven was, she also was the one person on the ship that Madelyne knew could never relate to this. She’d seen this woman beg for the lives of Purifiers. She’d seen her look with pity on child traffickers. Fuck, could you be so compassionate it was a sin in itself? Because Madelyne felt like it sometimes, watching this woman. Madelyne was harder. And she wasn’t sorry. She’d burned the world once. Now, she focused on just lighting up the parts that really deserved it. “I enjoyed it too.” Madelyne dropped her glass just as she picked it up, her green eyes wide. Had she heard that right? Was she going nuts all over again? “I admit it wasn’t vengeance I took pleasure in,” said Haven, her always-slow voice even more slow, not languid but laborious, every confessing word clearly an effort to let leave her throat, “But that might be only because, unlike you, no one had wronged me. Most of the time...most of the time, what I did tortured me. I slept little, and when I did, it was tortured. I couldn’t even bring myself to do my proverbial “dirty work” most of the time, I left it to my...to my cult.” She swallowed, and Madelyne waited for the other shoe to drop. “But...I was glad, too, part of me. Because I wanted a better world, and I believed, really believed, I was bringing it about in a for-sure way. It wasn’t just helping one person and hoping for the best that small effort would make a difference. It was knowing--deeply and profoundly---that I was bringing peace and salvation closer. I had the divine word on it. And Madelyne, for all my pain...I was proud.” Madelyne stared. And then she...laughed. “Oh gosh. Oh my gosh, I’m sorry Haven, I just...” “It’s alright. Sometimes we laugh because we just don’t know what else to do. But Madelyne---I don’t think you or I are so evil for being human.” “Human?” Madelyne’s tone turned incredulous, “There was nothing human about this!” “Wasn’t there? You were hurt, hurt by those you loved most. It’s the most naturally human reaction in the world to enjoy hurting someone back.” “You don’t. You can’t tell me that, Haven. I used to think you were so full of restraint because you never struck back---but I think it’s not restraint. It’s just how you are. You couldn’t hit Sebastian when he needed it, remember?” He’d needed a charge, and fast, for all their sakes. He’d been screaming in Haven’s face for her to pummel him. Madelyne couldn’t get close enough to do it herself, but she had been close enough to see---Haven couldn’t do it. She’d been sure Sebastian was going to hit her himself to get her to strike him, but Pyro had lit him up and given him sufficient energy from that (it had turned out later he had NOT realized Sebastian was fireproof) but if he hadn’t...Madelyne was fairly sure Haven still wouldn’t have been able to do it. Maddie...she hit back when hit. And attacked when attacked. And Haven was telling her she didn’t think that wasn’t wrong---but how could she claim that, given she never did it? “No, I couldn’t. Not every single human has every single “human” flaw. Myself, I...it’s like there’s something wrong with me, Madelyne. Like there’s some part of me missing that others have that makes them able to do violence, any violence, to feel true hate or anger. But what I do have is the also-very-human trait to want to be a martyr. I think on some level, I wanted to suffer for something greater than myself. I’m a religious woman. You know this. I think the Adversary appealed to that perverse pride, that spiritual smugness in my own suffering for a good cause that no one else understood. It hurt so much, Madelyne, I hated it so much--but I got to consider myself a persecuted savior. I got to have a cross of my own at last, after a life of trying to make up for my privilege.” Madelyne stared more. And started chuckling again, “You know what? I do get that. Because god, if I have one thing I can hang on to, to make myself feel better, it’s that I was wronged, I was persecuted, I was misunderstood...and there’s a kind of weird comfort, a pride in that, isn’t there? Being able to feel you’re not the bad guy, not really, it’s everyone else who’s wrong. I feel sorry for myself, because no one else will.” “Oh Madelyne,” Haven reached over and put her hand on hers, “I will.” “Don’t,” Maddie smirked, and pulled her hand away, “My self-pity’s embarrassing enough for me.” “There’s self-pity,” said Haven gently, “And then there is self-forgiveness.” “Hey, I forgive myself,” she said, crossing her arms and legs and leaning back in her chair, “It’s everyone else that hasn’t. And I don’t need them to. I had my revenge, whether it was on my terms or not. And I have to live with that---the regret, and the satisfaction both.” “You know I’m not a vengeful person, Madelyne,” said Haven, picking up her own cup at last, a tea cup as opposed to Madelyne’s shot glass. “You’ve just said as much yourself. But I do believe very much in one old adage---the best revenge is living well. And for what it’s worth, I think you’re doing a very good job of that these days---and this time, it is on your own terms.”

[softlyspunsilver]

Snippet where shikako meet Todori-Kakashi

“This is beyond ridiculous” Shikako mutter looking out from the dirty alleyway into the streets.  The few people passing by at this time of night was taking clan traits to a new level.   And looking at one individual with snake hair, possibly clan traits time 100%

“Well there goes my hope of this being modern Japan.  Or at least modern Japan from my original world “ mused Shikako.  “Lets hope the internet is the same. And that libraries still exist.”

—

There a hokage.

There is a god damn hokage.

not the easiest to find but some digging into the world of hero and villains lead straight to the grey side of vigilantes.    This site.   This site while being criticised by every hero out there was run by a hokage.   “This could be more like kohona then I thought.”  Muttered shikako as she hit send.

To anyone it would be random letters and symbol.   To anyone not trailed in basic level Kohona messages.  Anyone chunnin and above needed a basic understanding of this level of code.  This was always the first one taught, and then they came out with a new version every so often but this version I sent to this person claiming the title of hokage. This is always the first level.

Even if they are simply someone trying to get noticed they are a start.   I have noticed.   Hopefully you can help me get home.

—-

Translated

To the honoured hokage

Leader of kohona

If you are loyal to Kohona and willing to assist its ninja let us meet.

Do you know a good place where the Will of Fire can be seen?

The Nara Clan offers its assistance in return.

—-

“Hey Shouto, we are planning to train a bit tomorrow at the UA pools! We are allow to use our quirks and everything! You in?” kiminari asked loudly before he could slip out the door.

“ Hmmm,” Todoroki eye smiled at the kiminari and the other males from the class that were excited for some quirk friendly competing “ I afraid I have plans this weekend. Next time. “ he turned and waved over his shoulder as he left.

“ehhhh what are you guys up to then? I thought you were coming along? “ Denki moaned to Shoji

“We have no plans. “ responded Shoji

“Well other than the training at the pool we already agreed on” Sato reminded hm.

“ Todoroki could have his own training planned guys or .. or family stuff you know?!?” Midoriya tried to distract “ Either way training at the pool seems like a perfect way to enhance our quirks and, “  The muttering of midoriya’s planned training for everyone was a workable distraction.

But there was no distractions when Todoroki didn’t respond to any texts and phone calls.

When the school week came around it became clear that last conversation was the last time anyone has seen or heard from him.

—-

“his sister”. 

“Had no plans with him, last spoke with him on Wednesday”

“ Brothers”

“No plans, last conversation was apparently at endeavours residence”

“And endeavour..” Almighty trailed off, That was one harsh glare “ of course you have already checked that.” All might force out a laugh

“I checked Endeavours whereabouts when todoroki went missing so Yes, Endeavours cleared.”

“clearly if any of our students knew anything they would have mentioned…” all might muttered

Aizawa narrowed his eyes at the symbol of peace as he completely ignored the Endeavour situation.

“ He had plans this weekend, that was it. The tracking of his phone have proven inconclusive so its either off or in a location with zero cell service. “ Aizawa rubbed his eyes, and looked back down to his phone “ Tech-heroes are trying to see if they can find where he went by security footage.  Hopefully it will turn up something soon.”

“ He wants to be a hero Eraser-Head!  He will be fine!” Claimed all might pulling up to his muscled form.

“ Yeah keep that up for the kids will you, they are already planing a search party tonight” Aziwa rolled him eyes and started for the door, it was time to start searching to street again for his problematic student.

All might coughed at that and shrunk back down to his smaller form “WHAT! Do they not understand that they do not have there licences yet!”

“oh they understand” Aizawa turn back to glare at All might “ They don’t care.  They are coming off Bokugo being kidnapped by the league of villains, That someone has decided to take Todoroki so soon after doesn’t leave then with much interpretation”

“To say its the league is too much at this time!” Said All might shaking his head.

“yeah, but that’s what happens when heroes are working off limited information. Its a good lesson for them.” 

“Lesson, Aizawa there friend is missing!”

“ And they are working on plan with missing information,” Aizawa was cut off as president mic rushed through the door 

“ The last few texts tech - heroes have managed to pull off was a meeting place and time early in the morning to an number with no contact information.” He passed the tablet with the copy of the texts to Aizawa.   “The number belongs to a student from a local middle school student who reported it missing after school.  Said student has never had any contact with todoroki or any online friends so the number shouldn’t have created any trust for him to go meet them.” President mic stared at the screen with the video image of Todoroki waiting infront of a war memorial.  The most famous one in the area, for all the world war’s victims over multiple wars on and off Japan’s soil.

“ Weird location for date.” Muttered all might as he glared at the screen.

“ Its not a date” Hissed Aizawa “shadows don’t move like that.”

And they watched as Todoroki got up and walked off screen

-

“So a nara”

“Yep”

“how come your charka works here? I got the whole quirk thing.” Asked todo-kakashi - oh this is going to be hard

“ I think its because my body is still from kohona even though I’m not in the right place its still going to keep producing charka to keep me alive.”

“handy”

“so your jealous is what your saying.” The nano, Kako glance over at his with an amused smile.  Like it was expected.  She was the same as she waited for him to clear each corner of the alleyways before they headed down.  She expects his style of paranoia as a fellow shinobi would.

“you’re not from my kohona,” to be honest kakashi didn’t even know why he was surprised.  Oh course she wasn’t.  There had been no one at any other point, for one to turn up now it makes sense that she’s from a completely different life. “ Well I hope that stays true for the next few years.  Make sure Danzo doesn’t take over, it turns out terrible for everyone.” He deserves to warn them of this at least, everything else he could say sounds crazy and paranoid but Danzo being a dick.  100% beleivable.  Unless she is root but then he’s screwed anyway.

“ Oh so Danzo fucked up your version of kohona.  Great all my nightmares coming true.  No problem.” She sighed “Only one universe where he’s a nice guy, and that was the freakiest one” She shuddered and wrapped her arm arround herself.  He could almost feel his one eye bulge out of his head.  Danzo…. Nice?  What weird world that would be.  Nicer, but still disturbing.

“Do you need help with anything before you help me? Its only fair after all.” Shikako was definitely a nara, all slouched over and looking at him with party shut eyes in the middle of a random dirty alley.  Body language screaming ‘ it will be so troublesome but I guess I have to ask…’

God he hadn’t released how much he’s missed the Nara clan.

“  There is a little issue with a gang I’m having a hard time with.”

“oh really” she grinned and repositioned herself at parade rest “What’s the mission Hokage-sama?”

-

Aizawa ran across the rooftops with president mic close behind him.  He was exhausted they all were but things just kept escalating.

In just four days things have gotten out of hand.

Torodoki missing and yet to be found

Investigation into the eight precepts of death set back by months by an explosion happy vigilante or rival gang

And now this.

The sky above Japan had split open. Only for a second.  But a quirk powerful enough to open up the sky for who know what purpose.  Well, that kind of quirk has to be looked at to make sure it isn’t in the hands of a villain.  It could be a start to a brand new plot after all.

Finding the centre would be impossible was it not for the concerned citizens calling about an earth quake.  An Earth quake effecting one block of housing.   The chances of the quirk originating from here was high.

Hence, Eraser-head was called off the hunt for his student and ordered to head straight here.

Evacuations had already begun on the buildings but the one that was most damaged held the pro heroes attention.  The abandoned building was surround by police and pro-heroes waiting for the clearance to engage.

One pro-hero, a sensor able to track heart beats, was making her way through the crowd “Eraser good your here,” she grinned flashing her fangs and love heart face paint “Could be a villain or just an out of control quirk at this point.  Only one heart beat in that building’s basement. Its not moving and pretty slow, so either they have a physical quirk to slow the heart rate down or they are unconscious”

Eraser quickly nodded and headed off to the building letting president mic kept slight behind him to take anyone out in combat quickly once Easer has cancelled their quirk.

The hallways were silent as they quickly made there way to the collapsed stairs and jumped straight to the bottom.  There were two sleeping bags tucked in the corner and some non-perishable food. Eraser made a notice to look out for any accomplices incase one had a way of disguising there heartbeat.  Rare but possible.   

But through the next door there wasn’t any enemies.

The room smelt heavily of blood.  Blood and paint.   There were symbols drawn on every surface of the floor and in the centre was Todoroki.

—-

“In the end the medical result wasn’t as bad as we thought” kakashi mused, “ surprised her blood plus mine was enough to get her home to be honest.”

“Todoroki, I’m afraid I don’t understand.” Officer Naomasa said, but the tightening of his hand on his notebook and Aizawa narrowed eyes showed how off put they are.

“She need some my blood to go home.  But you can only take so much before you pass out.”  He knows Office Naomasa quirk.  He need to keep this factly true.  Or at least true from a certain point of view, otherwise UA will not be an option any longer 

“And where is her home Torodoki?”

“Kohona.”  Aizawa pulled out his phone.  The search engine is generally helpful but he’s googled kohona time and time again.  There is nothing there to find

“Todoroki,” Aizawa makes sure he make eye contact despite, kakashi trying to avoid it. “kohona doesn’t exist.”

“It does.” He has to insist so the next question will be..

“how do you know it exists Todoroki?” Naomasa asks keep his tone level and patient

“Nara and I were trained in Kohona.” Naomasa breathed in sharply.  

“oh did you, I thought you Trained at UA”

“before UA”

“so she’s an old friend”

“mmmhmmmm”

“and now she’s back at kohona because you put both your blood into the paint, which almost resulted in you bleeding out?”

“ The symbols were important too but fundamentally yes.” Naomasa gave him a small strained smile 

“I’ll be talking with some of your teachers Todoroki, please stay in bed while you recover.” Officer Naomasa rose to his feet and held open the door for Aizawa and after a awkward eye contact that Todoroki doesn’t think he will even understand, Aizawa left.  Naomasa turned right before he went out himself “ No trips back to Kohona planned then Todoroki.” 

“ Ah no officer, I am afraid I got a bit lost on the road of life and have forgotten the way.”  He eye smiled hard at the officer as he wished him a nice afternoon and dropped it once he had left.

He got a Nara home and helped her rescue a little girl held captive by monsters.

“Its been a great weekend” Todo-kashi thought as he fell back asleep.

—-

[evanescentdawn]

Wip Wednesday

wip: civillian!sakura/shinobi!sasuke

“So are you finally acknowledging the disney princess you are?”

“Wha — how the hell did you get to that conclusion from what I said?! And aren’t you forgetting how much times I had to save your ass from — wait, where are you going, dumbass, that’s not the way to the Hokage office.”

“Yeah, I know that.”

When Naruto doesn’t elaborate beyond that so Sasuke asks, “What about the mission report?”

“Eh, it’ll be fine. Dad won’t mind.”

It’s this callous attitude of Naruto that Sasuke hates the most. “Being the Hokage’s son doesn’t give you free rein to —”

“I know, I know.” Naruto interrupts, exasperated and clearly familiar with this lecture. “Anyways, Kakashi-nii-chan is always late. I figure I can be late sometimes.”

Because Kakashi obviously is the perfect role model, Sasuke thinks, dryly.

“Plus! This is an emergency.”

“An emergency,” Sasuke repeats, flatly, but doesn’t bring much protest when Naruto grabs his arm and steers him.

“Yeah! I’m starving.”

“This isn’t the way to Ichiraku ramen.”

At that, Naruto grins up at him, which doesn’t forebode well. “Yeah, I’m taking you somewhere different today.”

“Somewhere different? As in you actually go out and eat in places that isn’t Ichiraku ramen?” While his tone was mostly sarcastic, Sasuke is also genuinely surprised; he had thought the idiot lived in Ichiraku, considering how much time he spent there. If he wasn’t at home, or at the training grounds, or an a mission, the next bet is that you’d always find Naruto in Ichiraku.

[thejpfdude-blog]

The Week in Anime (Week of 4/10/17)

Hello and welcome to a very late version of TWiA! Also the first (and only) "Wednesday” version of TWiA! Yep, quick side note, I’m moving the TWiA posts back to Monday because I like the timing of how it starts in the brand-new work week. So I’m just gonna plan better, and hopefully I can start actually posting on Mondays again!

Anyways, it’s been a while, and during that time a season has ended and a new one has sprung up. So I’m dividing this post into two parts: the Winter 2017 show version and the Spring 2017 Show version. So let’s start off with some rankings and get this show on the road:

FINAL Rankings (Winter 2017):

1 (0). Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon (8/10 FINAL) [12-13/13]

2 (0). Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo! 2 (8/10 FINAL)

3 (0). Kuzu no Honkai (7/10 FINAL) [12/12]

4 (0). Aggressive Retsuko (7/10) [50/?]

5 (+1). Nobunaga no Shinobi (6/10 FINAL) [26/26]

6 (+1). Demi-chan wa Kataritai (5/10 FINAL)

7 (-2). Gabriel DropOut (5/10 FINAL) [12/12]

8 (0). Sengoku Choujuu Giga: Otsu (5/10 FINAL) [12-13/13]

9 (0). Nyanbo (3/10 FINAL) [26/26]

Rankings (Spring 2017):

1 (0). Boku no Hero Academia 2nd Season (good/10) [1-2/25]

2 (0). Sakura Quest (good/10) [1/?]

3 (0). Aggressive Retsuko (7/10) [50-51/?]

4 (0). Hinako Note (decent/10) [1/12]

5 (0). Nobunaga no Shinobi S2 (decent/10) [1/?]

6 (0). Tsuki ga Kirei (decent/10) [1/?]

7 (0). Alice to Zouroku (decent/10) [1/12]

Awards (Winter 2017):

The Satisfying Ending Award: Kuzu no Honkai

If we’re talking pure emotion, this series’ last episode was a letdown. But I think even without all of that emotion involved, the show did a great job of ending the show. Sure, it wasn’t happy for all of the parties involved, but everybody learned something and at the end of the day, we avoided the nuclear ending similar to what happened with Kuma Miko. It was a nice satisfying end to a show that was a whole bunch of stuff from horrible characters (in a good way) doing horrible things in the name of love and pleasure. It wasn’t realistic like some said, but it was still an interesting take in a genre in anime that doesn’t really have too much going for it, AKA romance. Though I’m over the whole emotional swirl this show made me go through, I can still appreciate the journey that it took me, and realize that it isn’t just meaningless junk. Overall, a solid 7/10 for me: would recommend to those who want an interesting romance/drama.

The Stagnant Award: Gabriel DropOut

For the first few episodes, this show was pretty good with the gimmick that it had. The only problem was that once the gimmick got old, it stayed on course and eventually everything about the show got old. The same jokes were being played out, and the characters didn’t change at all from the first few episodes. Not saying that character development is required, but it would be interesting to see different sides of their personality or even other aspects of them different from what we saw in the first three episodes. Instead we have Gab being the same lazy bum, Vigne being the same nice girl, Raphi being the same sadistic weirdo, and Satania being the same annoying chuuni-like character. By the last episode, I was tired of the characters and their shenanigans, and just wanted the episode to be over. Hopeful at first, but at the end a 5/10 show: average CGDCT that I would only recommend to the hardcore lovers of CGDCT shows.

The “Oh My God It’s Over” Award: Nyanbo!

Hallelujah, there is a god after all! This show never got better, and by the final episode I was Rubik’s cube-ing my heart out instead of paying attention to our feline cardboard friends and their whatever toward space. I think this show along with all the other bad shorts out there taught me something, because from now on I’m not picking up a short just because it’s x minutes long, where x < 5. Lesson learned.

Best Finale Award/Best Episode of the Week: Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon

Oh my goodness, as if this show couldn’t get better. The finale featured life without Tohru, and it was a melancholy look which wasn’t hopeless but still pretty colorless. And then the whole scene with her father was pretty well done as well. A very nice ending to a very nice show. At the end of the day, though there are noticeable flaws (namely the fanservice), the comedy and heartwarming moments overshine them and make this into one of KyoAni’s better shows (which says something with the shows they’ve made). Every episode was at least good (most great), and I can’t say enough about all of the great things this show has from its animation to its characters to its art style. The obvious choice for AOTS for me, and a very solid 8/10, would recommend if you didn’t watch.

Awards (Spring 2017):

The “Best CG” Award: Alice to Zouroku

Hmm, that car looks... a bit off. But yeah, other than that abomination, this show has potential. Though which direction this show goes I don’t really know,

The “Shiniest Faces” Award: Tsuki ga Kirei

Wow, those are some shiny faces. In all seriousness though, this show looks to be interesting, though there were some cringeworthy moments when they didn’t talk to each other and hesitated, which I understand given they’re middle schoolers. I’m hopeful this doesn’t go the drama route and is just a nice wholesome romance. Don’t need no drama in my life.

The Hmmm... Award: Hinako Note

As the only CGDCT show of the season, I was obliged to watch this. And man were there some... interesting moments. Like the girl who ate paper. And the girl who was a scarecrow. Among others. BTW, I totally got the synopsis wrong: the show looks to be about a girl who was formally a scarecrow who moves to “Tokyo” (does not look like Tokyo at all, but okay), and wants to be in the high school’s theater club. Yeah idk either. Well, the first episode wasn’t horrible, and it’s a CGDCT, so I’ll keep sticking with this one for now. Hopefully it’s decently entertaining.

The “Red Flags” Dropped Show of the Week Award: Eromanga-sensei

Hmm... let’s compare this show with OreImo. Eromanga and OreImo have sibling love interests. Eromanga has step-siblings, OreImo has blood siblings. Eromanga has slightly less tsundere sister than OreImo (still tsundere though). After realizing this, I dropped this show midway through the episode. I wasn’t really about OreImo, and honestly this doesn’t look much better. Hey, maybe it might be better. But I don’t like the whole incest route. So pass.

Best Episode of the Week: Sakura Quest

Not necessarily the greatest first episode, but enough to keep my interest for the show. I got vibes of Shirobako through the character designs, and some Hanasaku Iroha for the shade being thrown at our main character Yoshino (if you’ll excuse my vernacular). So it’s a mixed bag, but I do like the potential the show has. Plus the last few minutes made it really interesting, so hey why not stick with it. If you’re not watching this show, maybe give it a shot?

And that’s all for this week! Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the next post which should be coming very soon!