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narutogwriting · 3 years ago

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Day 2-Dominating Gaara

Day 2

Anime: Naruto

Kink: Femdom

Character: Gaara of the Sand

Warnings: NSFW; femdom; bondage; slight praise; punishment

Gaara was so nervous your first time together; it had been his first time ever. You had been around the block a few times, had a couple different sexual partners that gave you just a tad more experience than Gaara had. And Gaara had no problems with this; he was completely secure in himself and where he’s been. You were his, and he wasn’t threatened by anyone in your past.

That didn’t change the fact that he was scared shitless to lose his virginity.

Was he eager? Obviously. But would he do it right? Could he make you feel good? So you had ended up taking the reigns, leading him through his first time, coxing him through it all.

Something about the nerves and anxiety and you leading him through had made some wires cross in his brain.

And that was how he’d ended up like this, hands handcuffed above his head to the frame of the bed, blindfolded as you ran an ice cube down his naked torso. Nothing turned him on more than when you were in control. And nothing made you wetter than watching him shake and tremble underneath you.

“Does it feel good, baby?” You murmured as you twirled an ice cube around his nipple before taking it in your mouth. While your hot tongue swirled around the cold bud, you ran the ice over the other. Soft mewls left Gaara’s mouth as he attempted to arch into your touch, but it was difficult given your weight sitting on his torso.

“You look so good like this, you know?” You hummed. “You’re so good for me, Gaara.”

You switched, giving similar treatment to the other nipple before you finally tossed the ice cube aside.

“Did that feel good?” You asked Gaara. He’d barely said a word since the two of you had started tonight; he often got like that--too caught up in pleasure to even speak in response. Which some days were well and good, but this was the third question you’d asked that he hadn’t responded to.

Your hands slid soft and slow up his torso and chest. So he wasn’t ready when your fingers tightened suddenly around his neck. “I asked you a question,” you hissed as he gasped out.

“Y-yes!” He croaked. “Y-yes, I’m sorry! It feels good!”

Tsking, you release your fingers from his neck before going to the handcuffs, unlocking them. He sits up, confused, knowing better than to pull the blindfold off his eyes, but you did it for him.

Shaking your head, you tsked again, running your hand over his cheeks gently before gripping his cheeks. “Too late now. If you’re not going to be good for me, guess I’ll have to punish you, won’t I?” A cruel smirk plays on your lips as a small panic sets in his eyes. He shakes his head quickly, desperately. He was so turned on already; you knew what nipple play did to him.

Your nails begin to dig into his cheeks.

“You don’t tell me know.”

You throw his head back, and he scrambles, knowing better than to argue any longer. Shuffling through the drawer in the night stand, he reluctantly pulls out the cockring. He gives you one last, pleading look, and when he receives a cold stare in response, he slides it over his hardened length, whimpering pathetically.

“Now lay back down…”

You have him back in handcuffs just as quickly. It was part of the torture, making him put the ring on himself.

This time, after handcuffing him, you don’t just blindfold him, you gag him too. He whines around the ball shoved in his mouth when he hears you in the same drawer, knowing what’s coming next.

The buzzing on the vibrator starts before you touch his with it, letting him know what’s coming. He does his best to stay still, knowing it’ll be worse if he moves, but he can’t help but shift just a little.

You run the vibrator up his length, making it well. He’s moaning around the gag in his mouth; it feels so good, quickly building him back up to where you’d left him off. He’s doing his best not to, but he’s bucking up into the toy. He knows what’ll happen. Not only is he making himself harder, but you’re going to punish him even worse, but he can’t stop.

An antagonizing laugh leaves you as you turn up the intensity. “You’re a gluten for punishment, aren’t you? My Gaara. You were being so good, and now you’re being so bad. You need to be put in your place, I think. Isn’t that what you want? You’re going to take your punishment like a good boy, aren’t you?” Tears are streaming down Gaara’s face now because the intensity, the sensation is too much and it’s quickly beginning to hurt. Still, he nods, hoping you’ll take it easy on him. Or hoping you won’t.

Finally pulling it back, you shove the vibrator into your weeping hole, moaning lewdly so Gaara knows exactly what’s going on. He knows what’s going to happen after. “Oh baby. I can’t wait for this to be you inside me…” You tell him with a whine that gets caught in your throat.

“But what should I do with this while I ride you senseless?”

It makes you want to cum right there, the sight of Gaara, bound, gagged, and puddy in your fingers.

You were going to ruin him.

You pull the vibrator from your cunt. You’re soaking, and it’s easy to slide Gaara’s hard, swollen cock into your heat. You both moan at the sensation, and Gaara’s bucking up into you before he even realizes what he’s doing.

“Oh, baby,” you sigh. “Fine, you want your punishment so bad? Take it.”

Lubed only by your own wetness, you slowly slide the vibrator into Gaara’s tight asshole. There’s no prep, and you don’t do it enough for him to be loose, so it burns going in. Gaara hisses, shifting uncomfortably.

Having a little bit of mercy, you wait for him to adjust before you turn it on, intensity at its highest.

He screams. Your walls gripping his dick, the immediate pulsing against his prostate, and the cock ring gripping him tight. It’s too much. He thinks he’s going to lose it.

“I forgot…” You flip a switch on the cockring and it begins to vibrate in turn with the dildo in his ass.

You’re moaning at the sensations, the vibrations from the ring transferring to you, Gaara bucking up senselessly and unconsciously into your cunt.

It’s fucking delicious.

“I’m gonna ride you like this all night,” you assure Gaara as you slowly lift your hips before slamming them back down on top of him. “If you want to misbehave, I can keep you like this all night. I’d love nothing more.”

As you drop down on him again, you lean forward, capturing his lips in a sweet kiss that Gaara struggles to return.

“But you don’t want that, do you baby? So do me a favor… Keep being good for me.”

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atossofthedice · 3 years ago

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Sasuke HCS (side note HE DID NOTHING WRONG)

-Flexes the fact that he’s taller than Naruto (He’s 5’6” >:D)

-He actually started liking Naruto when he saw what Naruto would do for him

-Hates the fact that Naruto actually is better at him in swimming

-Sasuke’s glad Sakura got over him

-When he was younger he didn’t like Sakura at all though

-Had a rocky relationship with his brother a few years ago

-Broke Obito’s arm once and he’ll do it again!!

-Speaking of his stupid cousin, Tobito pisses him off regularly

-Has ASPD(antisocial personality disorder) but is getting better after Naruto found him a therapist (aka his aunt)

-Naruto has called him “Sasugay” a lot and it just stuck. Kakashi calls him that too

-He retaliates with “Usuratonkachi” but it never hits the same as “Sasugay”

-Has been called “Sausage” by both Obito and Shisui. He’s fine with Shisui but not with Tobito

-Karin bothers him a lot so Sasuke usually shrugs her off when the Taka is over. They talk, but it’s in the friend way(when she's not being a weird fangirl)

-Suigetsu’s cool though. And Juugo

-He’s seen Suigetsu’s dick once 💀

-Very competitive. Like really-

-Probably because his parents(father) valued Itachi more than him 😭

-Plays basketball competitively and is super good at it lolol

-Dark humor. Enough said

-Has painted nails (purple, red, and black)

-Very emo. Used to be depressed too but therapy helps. (plus his bf)

-Suigetsu has smacked him with a wooden board twice.

-Pulls all nighters out of his ass on a daily basis

-Fractured his arm once

-He knows how to do a handstand

-Sasuke really hates children.

-Gets praised as a genius but really is dense with fEeLinGs

- Sasuke when he’s pissed: “You’re being just like Sakura now” (he don’t mean it 😭)

-HATES Gaara. Made the poor dude cry once

-Regularly gets into fistfights(“trains”) with Neji and they’re tied 45-45 right now

-Orochimaru is SUPER creepy around him. The snek came for a visit and this somehow led to Naruto violently punching Orochimaru??

-Never got over being defeated by Rock Lee 💀

-Thinks his uncle(Madara) is really weird

-Also constantly brands him as the ‘gay uncle’ so go figure-

-Manages to roast Sakura even though he doesn’t hate her anymore: (he’s more chill with her since she got over him but he roasts her a lot too[“Maybe you would be smarter if you used your big brain for once?”]— these three are when they were kids)

- “Sasuke-kun! Do you think I’m pretty or ugly?” “Both.” “Huh?” You’re pretty ugly.”

- “Sasuke-kun! I-” “Oi, Naruto, do you hear something?”

- “Sakura…” “Yes, Sasuke-k-” “Do you have a forehead or a fivehead?”

-He’s an ultra gay ;)

-*backflips from the table* “I’m gay.” *Naruto dying in the background*

#sasuke uchiha #sasuke headcanons

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dailysuna · 4 years ago

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Hello, yes, I heard requests are open!! I would like to know your thoughts on the economic repercussions of Suna losing the battle of the chunnin exams? I thought they were already in a depression before and I think I remember that things ere pretty dire to have them need to make Gaara, but the loss at the Leaf must have hit even harder. What do you think some likely strategies were, and by whom, to stave off complete economic ruin and widespread starvation among their citizens? Thank you!

Okay first off thank you so so so much for sending these in! I kid you not we were overjoyed at seeing them because they are just the type of content we like to see!!! We think about these types of things in depth so its great to see others thinking about them as well. Now let me separate these questions and answer them for you.

Question One

You are very right! Canonically Sunagakure never had great economic standing, but during Rasa’s reign as Kazekage it got worse. Now, this has nothing to do with Rasa’s way of ruling himself, but rather that the Wind Daimyo, ruler of their specific country, not Suna, started giving shinobi missions to Konohagakure instead of Suna. So, Rasa used his abilities to extract precious metals to sell so Suna didn’t collapse; however, their economy never really got back onto their feet because of many reasons I will not get into at this moment. The economy was already suffering under Rasa’s leadership, which was good even if he sucked as a father, so the sudden absence and loss of the battle during the exams would cause much chaos.

Rasa was killed meaning the country lost their best source of procuring income as well as their main leadership position (although the fact they have a council means they won’t be thrown into complete chaos without a kage good job Suna). His death alone would cause much turmoil and trouble. With the added loss of ninja, supplies (any war requires supplies and loss only means losing all that effort put in), and already strained relationships would not help. How can they even come back from this?

Well first, who is the one implementing the methods? The way we see Suna formatted almost seems to be based on a democracy where the kazekage is but one voice amongst that of the council, thus, the kazekage and the council would be the ones to brainstorm and make the changes necessary. We think that their main method in fact is to lower wages. When shinobi cash in on their missions, they take some of the profit and the government takes the other amount. They would need to start taking more from their already small amount of missions. (In fact in a discussion us mods had about similar situations one time I, mod K, have an oc family I have based in Suna that we figured would be the first to have wages cut.) In consequence I believe they would order local businesses to drop their prices. Suna has no fertile land in sight, their small plot of land in the Land of Fire they acquired years ago their only place where growing is possible, so they rely heavily on importing goods. The government would likely prioritize trying to keep the country running, while reforming relationships with Konoha. I could see them purchasing larger quantities of non-perishable food or ingredients to give out rations. They are also going through a change in power which most likely made the situation very difficult and required the council to do most of the work while Gaara listened and learned.

The important thing to remember is Suna shinobi are extremely patriotic and loyal, so here at dailysuna we think the village as a whole would do their best to cooperate and help one another should it mean the success of Sunagakure, aka a more stable economy.

Question Two

I briefly addressed some of these questions at the end of the last one, but yes we actually have planned a lot of this out in varying degrees of depth. As for the change in power, I already established Suna was facing ruin and shifting power creates another hard element in harsh times. Sometimes it is what you need but sometimes it doesn’t help in the slightest. In the case of Suna, the job of the kazekage isn’t one where someone can jump in after assassination and immediately change it all. The council is there to provide checks and balances for the kazekage as well as advice, its no coincidence we see council members mostly i their middle ages or later. This abrupt shift in power from the dead fourth kazekage to his 12-13 year old son is just a crazy change. Gaara is continuously not trusted by the council, in Shippuden they even discuss his death being beneficial in a meeting, so Gaara needs to not only learn the ropes in his young emo preteen years but to foster a better relationship with the council and the citizens as well. I don’t believe it is actually ever confirmed when Gaara officially took the seat of kazekage, so there could be a few months or even years in there where there was no official fifth kazekage. During this time, the council likely ran Suna, as they have the power to do so. Even a bit into Shippuden I believe the council was still pulling a majority of Sunagakure’s puppet strings as Gaara simply lacked the life experience for certain decisions. As far as for Gaara, we are told that he had a very rough time gaining everyone’s trust but had started doing so before being stolen away by sparky sparky boom boom man and Suna’s original angsty emo preteen, but they never really explain it? Either way, its clear based on everything I said so far that Gaara’s main focus in his transition was mostly on building those relationships others had decided to break out of fear. He is very successful and everyone loves Gaara now including us mods!

Baki. I love this man so so dearly. In an old rp discord server that no longer exists, may it rest in peace, I actually role played Baki so I workshopped an entire backstory for him based on our millions of Suna headcanons that us mods have all accepted as our canon (you’ll find we all share the same exact headcanons). As far as his ascent to council member, I thought long and hard to develop it. Everyone starts out as a basic ninja, and, without going into my headcanons for his childhood, Baki was the same. He slowly rose with his skill, as he is extremely skilled - his stamina is awful but I am convinced its because he is so good none of his battles last long and thus no need for it anyways - and became a trusted aide to Rasa. In our collective brain that contains headcanons we have also determined this is due to the personality we gave Baki, which is he is so dedicated to the village he doesn’t stop to take care of or think of himself. In other words, he can be a pushover when it comes to doing work because he only wants to be of use. This makes him the perfect target for paperwork which we believe is how he got closer to Rasa. Baki and Rasa are never explicitly said to be close or anything of the sort, but the fact that he is entrusting his precious children, one of which has a giant chaos beast inside of his little emo body, plays to the fact that he is familiar with Baki in some regard. Serving as the Kazekage’s aid, aka errand boy in this case, Baki would gain experience with paperwork, the jobs of the council and kazekage, form connections, and display his skill in all assets.

Now, there are some nasty little children needing to be taken care of. Who better to send than the man who you know will do anything for you, for the country? I am convinced very few ninja would willingly teach preteen Gaara, I mean, I don’t think I would even want to, so no one would be willing to have such an assignment and would do anything to get out of it. Even Baki was likely wary of it and for the longest time debated quitting, although, after some time, the siblings likely began to realize he cared about them (this is something I would love to talk about in more depth some other time) and weren’t as awful towards him. Hence a successful team. Did being the kazekage’s children’s sensei help Baki? Because he was their teacher? No. Because he was able to gain their trust and lead them? Most definitely. This experience likely helped him gain prestige and respect for his abilities which is how we mainly believe he got his position on the council, as that is what the council members seem to have as well as dedication to the village.

As far as being kazekage goes, we love Bakikage! This is what I mentioned earlier about a role play server. What happened is we had a plan for Rasa to be taken out of power in this AU but we didn’t wish for Gaara to suddenly be ripped from the rest of the role play by being stuck with kage duties. So, we sat down to think and realized Baki would actually be a great person to wear that fancy greenish hat. As stated earlier, he has the respect, the strength, the intelligence, the ability to prioritize things, as well as many other necessities for a good leader. The big thing that stood in his way was Gaara’s character development because the angsty emo preteen needed to turn soft boy cottage core obviously. But in all seriousness, I believe what stood between him and his theoretical throne - which he deserves - was honestly himself. Baki serves the village. Baki loves the village. Baki wants the best for the village. Baki is, as we call it, villagesexual. He only desires to be of use, not to gain power or prestige, they just happened to be given to him along the way. His own lack of drive, as well as care for Gaara, because of course if his adopted son wants those fruit snacks he will get them for him. Please Baki, you spoil them too much. So yes, Baki could be the kazekage, he has all the equipment for it, but Gaara’s own desire to be something no one expected and show them he wasn’t a monster was all Baki would have cared about. Even in our rp AU Baki was going to be reluctant about taking the power. Even if he did have that desire and drive, his care for Gaara would likely win out.

Honestly, it might be best he didn’t have that drive. You know, all the kazekages are assassinated and Baki is not an important enough of a character to Kishimoto to be brought back to life. I will gladly hold onto council member Baki if Bakikage means he dies. But its nice to think how Gaara would actually get to be a kid while Baki gets a hard earned role, huh?

I hope you enjoyed my very very long winded answers - believe it or not I tried to keep it short - and that they actually answered your questions. We all look forward to more submissions/asks from you as well as others! And we’re working on getting those lovely drawing requests planned out.

#dailysuna #suna #sunagakure #headcanons #asks #gaara #baki #rasa #mod k

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innocent-dumpling · 5 years ago

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I’m Not Done

Some of you have probably read this story I created for @shikatemaweek already due to my first post. I just wanted to try and get into the habit of also uploading my one-shot stories here too in order to be more Tumblr Friendly so I’m sharing it again. Rating: K+ / General Audiences Fandom: Naruto Relationship: ShikaTema If you enjoy this story please consider leaving a comment on this post or on AO3 or even reblogging. I appreciate feedback so much!

CLICK BELOW TO READ THE STORY ON AO3 https://archiveofourown.org/works/24992056

READ THE STORY ON TUMBLR BELOW.

She knew going into the relationship that nothing would be easy. Distance, work and family expectations all weighed down on the pair of them. But what Temari had not anticipated was the pressure that would befall her once they got married. To put it simply, children. The topic came up countless times over the course of their courtship by the meddling exterior forces, always seeking to gain control of their very existence. But until recently the topic has not been touched by herself or Shikamaru, for which she had been thankful. The concept of giving the man she loves a child was not a horrifying one. In fact, it was quite the opposite. Merely thinking about carrying their child filled her with so much warmth and happiness that she felt as if her heart might burst. Bringing a pure little soul into the world would be perhaps the highlight of her life to date. But it was the things that followed that caused her insurmountable levels of distress; giving birth and motherhood. Both fears stemming from deep-rooted trauma from her upbringing, or lack thereof.

Shikamaru raised the topic for the first time the day prior and Temari skilfully evaded it; but today he was intent on procuring an answer to his seemingly harmless question. “So how many kids should we have?” His question was kind, full of love and very smooth as he always was when tackling topics of a romantic nature. It hurt to answer him knowing what it was she had to say. Every fibre of her being screamed out in the hope that she would reconsider before shattering his dream. “I don’t want to be a mother,” Temari responds at last, causing her husband’s mischievous smile to disappear from his lips as the last syllable trailed from her own. For the hours that followed they bickered back and forth, never getting to the root of the issue, just going around and around in circles. He simply couldn’t understand, and she stubbornly refused to elaborate further. Their emotions were almost as high as the impenetrable wall she had built around her the instant his smile vanished. It was difficult to recall the last time she felt so distraught. It was clear what he needed in order to process her answer. The full truth. But it was the one thing she wanted to avoid discussing at all costs. Not due to any suspicious reason, although she assumed that he might be exploring that hideous avenue of thought. No, it was simply out of self-preservation from an emotional standpoint. The wounds of her childhood ran deep, as did the associated anxiety. Her parents were a topic she avoided with the greatest precision over the years they had been together. It was almost second nature at this point. That chapter of her life was over, and if she could keep that rattling door sealed shut, she would do so at all costs. It was not a path she sought to gain a deeper understanding of like Gaara. It hurt far too much and reaped far too little of a reward. Fists clench at Temari’s sides as she takes a deep breath. Her heart once filled with love was bursting with nothing but anxiety as she gazes up at her husband. As always, his annoyingly handsome face stared down at her from above, frustration marking his features as his brows pinched together. “For fuck’s sake, what aren’t you telling me?” Shikamaru whispers hoarsely, hands gripping her arms as he peered down at her. His dark eyes quivering as he stared down at his wife, her gaze averting. It hurt. What should’ve been such a simple conversation between them was now the source of what was without a doubt, the most painful argument that their relationship had endured thus far. Swallowing hard, Shikamaru loosens his grip on her arms, a sigh slipping from his lips as his brain goes into overdrive. Nothing about it made sense. “I don’t get it, why are you only telling me that you don’t want children now? You didn’t think this was worth telling me before we got married months ago?” he asks bluntly, voice straining as the words rolled off the tip of his tongue. I can’t believe I’m even having this conversation. She never mentioned this before. Not once! His mind cries out in frustration, heart palpitating so hard he could feel the pulse dance up in his throat as he looked upon Temari’s downcast visage. Her lips tremble and part for a moment, silence befalling the pair as she presses her cushioned tiers together once more. She didn’t owe him an explanation. Her decision was final. Why couldn’t he respect that and leave well enough alone? She exhales, eyes drifting up to his face once more, hot tears spilling down her cheeks as she took in his heartbroken expression. Only a few years back she’d made a silent vow to never cause him to make such an expression. In hindsight perhaps it was foolish to believe such a feat was possible given the turbulent nature of life. I’m sorry. I thought that maybe I could do this, she muses silently as she shook free from his touch; slowly walking away. “I’m done,” Temari whispers, her voice breaking as she stood silently a few steps from him. I don’t want this to end, her mind screams out, a hot sensation tugging at her heart as her eyes fluttered closed. He deserves better. He deserves everything. I can’t offer him that. That was it. He was pissed. “I’m not done! You don’t get to decide this on your own, Princess Temari!” He calls out in a patronising manner, pain dripping from his voice as dark eyes narrowed. His dominant hand reaches forward instinctively, only to pull back as he witnessed her flinch at the sound of his voice. What happened? Did something change? Did I do something? The thoughts rang through his mind chaotically as he stared longingly at the back of the woman he loved with all his heart. He was confident it was through no fault of his own, their current discourse aside. So why was the love of his life peeling open his chest and ripping out his heart? I want answers! Fuck it, I deserve answers! He’d gone there. Using the title that she loathed with everything she was; Princess. She was royalty in name alone, her upbringing was anything but reflective of the privilege it implied. Was he trying to lure her into an argument of a different nature through one of his well-thought-out countermeasures? A trap if you will, to coerce the deeper reason out of her? On any other day, her answer would be yes, without a doubt. But given his current tone, it seemed more likely that it was simply said with little to no thought on the matter. It simply came from a place of suffering and confusion. She couldn’t blame him. “I can though,” Temari replies simply, swallowing hard as she fought to keep her emotions in check; “If you keep wanting to discuss children like the elders of both our families, then it’s over. You can’t pressure me into anything let alone this. I won’t stand for it.” It hurt to even state such a thing, to cast her dreams aside out of fear of the final result of such an endeavour. Who am I to raise a child? I was raised with not an ounce of love for a majority of my life, her mind cries out, a hand reaching up to her head, rubbing her right temple gently as she attempted to subside her throbbing headache. Everything about the conversation was heart-wrenching, from the topic through to the ease of which she had said she was willing to leave him. “Calm down,” Shikamaru whispers as approaches her, arms wrapping around her torso from behind as his forehead presses up against the nape of her neck. It was plain as day that there was more to this, and the fact that she was unwilling to disclose it but would rather state such harsh things in its place was alarming. This isn’t you, he notes silently, gaze drifting to the floor as his shoulders relaxed; If you meant it, you would be trying to break away from me right now. Exhaling heavily, the strategist’s arms tighten under her bosom as he contemplated how to best proceed. He needed to reach her. “I’m not trying to pressure you. I don’t care if you want to have ten kids or no kids,” he explains, voice firm and unwavering despite the ache in his chest; “I just want you, and all the witty insults that come with loving you.” At this point, his love and heartfelt thoughts were all he could offer. This is playing dirty. Hearing that makes me want to break down, Temari’s mind cries out, cheeks flushing as she gazed down at his arms encircling her chest; I don’t deserve you. You are too understanding. Taking a deep breath, she slides her hands up and over his arms, heart-throbbing as she smiled tearfully. “No one in their right mind would have ten children,” she retorts as she attempts to calm the ache in her chest, relief washing over her. He was wearing down her defences slowly but surely; his weapon of choice, his love. “But tell me. Why don’t you want kids?” Shikamaru asks once more, eyes fluttering shut as he breathed a sigh of relief. Her playful counter to his statement, although unrelated to the comment he made overall, served to put him at ease when her gentle actions were also factored into the equation. While he knew that she loved him and had no intention of ending their relationship, it was a comfort for which he was grateful. “Because I don’t,” she fights back stubbornly, her teeth gritting as she fought to carefully select her words as she turned to face him. Determination printed across her tearstained cheeks like invisible warpaint. She could not let him crack her. Her pride was everything. His hands recoil as his lover turns to face him, her stormy eyes locking with his own fearlessly. “That’s not an explanation,” he states with a sigh as a hand brushes behind his neck, rubbing it absentmindedly. She was frustrating by default. “I don’t owe you one,” she replies stubbornly, lifting her chin a fraction as her chest tightened. He was determined to get an answer from her. She couldn’t blame him despite how irritating she found his persistence, after all, if the situation was reversed, she would likely do the same. Shikamaru frowns, his forehead creasing as he gazed back at her unsurely; “You know that you do. Don’t lie,” he retorts boldly, “I know you better than that.” Did he need to spell it out to her? It seemed so obvious where he was coming from, but perhaps that was all a matter of perspective. “I always pictured us having a family. Not because of those decrepit elders in Suna who nag us. Not because of the elders in my family who do the same. Just because I love you,” he explains, voice filled with exasperation. “I deserve to know the reason, because I’m prepared to forgo that future without hesitation,” he clarifies as he reaches forward, cupping both her face in the palms of both his hands. His words hit hard. The love he held for her was something she had always hoped she would receive. It was unlikely that anything she said would truly phase how he felt. It was that once in a lifetime love; pure and beyond all logic. “I know. I love you too. You know I do,” she responds gently, her wall crumbling down around her as she stood there silently; “I know I’m being selfish.” “Tem, I can tell you’re scared. Just talk to me,” he presses, hands slipping down the sides of her neck and across her shoulders, massaging them gently. How can I help you if you don’t let me in? Taking a deep breath, she relaxes her shoulders, I can’t refute anything he’s said. I owe it to him. Her tongue traces across her dry lips as her gaze softens. “I always wanted a family with you,” she admits, arms plaiting under her bosom as she swallowed hard; anxiety coursing through her every movement. “I’m just terrified, okay? I’m not as strong as you make me out to be,” she half yells out, her defensive nature taking the reins, her beautiful face quivering with pent up emotions that ached to be unleashed. “The idea of not surviving birth like my mother is crippling. That combined with my fear of being a traumatising parent like my father is just too much!” Temari admits at long last, heart pounding as she desperately tried to repress the wave of emotions that hit her all at once. Painful memories of a not so distant past that she would’ve preferred to not relive and anger, so much unresolved anger. “I’d never wish it on anyone let alone my own baby. They should only know what a home filled with love and safety feels like. Not what I experienced, that breaks you,” she cries out, her voice cracking as she spoke; I doubt he will understand. I’ll just come across as weak and idiotic. The handle had been turned, and the one part of her that she vowed to always keep out of his reach had been released. He had flung that door wide open, there was no going back. Shikamaru knew her well enough to know his wife didn’t want his sympathy; she wanted his honesty. That blunt honesty she had come to expect from him as her partner in life. “Look I get it, but you’re not your mother or your father,” he explains, hands rolling down to the sides of her arms and rubbing them thoughtfully in an attempt to calm her a little. A soft sympathetic smile slips across his lips as he tilts his head, “If you want my opinion, the fact that you worry so much about all these things for a baby that doesn’t even exist proves that you have the heart of an amazing mother.” “That’s the other thing. Our baby does exist,” she croaks, eyes welling with tears once more as calloused fingertips trace across her lower abdomen. “I don’t know how to do this. I don’t remember how it feels like to even have a mother let alone know how to be one,” she whispers, lips trembling as warmth trickles down the curves of her cheeks; her free hand stubbornly wiping away the tears as she tried to hold herself together. Would he regret knowing how she felt? Would he love her less? She wouldn’t blame him if he did. After all, who would want a woman with no sense of what it is to be a mother? I didn’t want to open that door, damn it! Her mind cries out as she falls to her knees, hands pressing down on the cold floorboards as she squeezes her eyes shut; I didn’t want you to ever see this side of me. This weak, pathetic shell of a woman who longs for her mother. I don’t want you to know me as a victim. Strong arms wrap around her shoulders, tugging her up to his chest. His body heat hits her like a tidal wave, engulfing her instantly as his head burrows into the nook of her neck. “Don’t say you’re done ever again. Not unless you mean it and even then, I refuse to accept it you troublesome woman,” he mutters, lips brushing against her skin as he struggles to calm his frazzled heart; I don’t think I could handle losing you, my painfully domineering wife. Cold hands trace across her hand hovering over her lower abdomen as he presses his forehead up against his wife’s; simply grateful. “We will work it out together, I promise,” Shikamaru mutters softly, lashes fluttering upwards as he drew his face back from Temari’s, her flushed and emotionally distressed expression softening as he smiled at her. A hand slips up to her face, cupping her cheek. His thumb tracing across the apple of her cheek, drifting through damp tear trails as he leant forward, pressing his lips up against hers tenderly. Shoulders relaxing, Temari sinks into his kiss. The depth of his love was endless. She instantly couldn’t help but feel like a complete and utter fool for even questioning his ability to handle that one part of her she ached to keep from him. But perhaps it was best for the events to unfold as they had. If not for any other reason, than to have experienced this moment of complete and utter bliss alone. “I love you, crybaby,” she teases as his lips draw back from her own, a single finger poking into his cheek playfully as she smiled earnestly for the first time that day. Neither of them were perfect. But one thing was for certain, the tiny baby growing within her was going to be as close to perfect as people come.

#shikatema #shikatemaweek2020 #shikamaru #temari #shikamaru nara #temari nara #innocentdumplingfanfics

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chemicalmagecraft · 4 years ago

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Foresight is 20/20 Chapter 10

I laid on my stomach and rested my head on my hands. That I was doing it on a surprisingly-comfortable invisible barrier made of pseudomagically solidified air and even moving forward was natural. Honestly, what do you guys expect at this point? And of course my parasol was floating in just the right position that my entire body was covered even with the odd positioning. Because why not? "So what're we doing today?" I asked Gaara.

"I don't know," he said, fidgeting slightly. "Why are you with me?"

"I literally have nothing else to do. Plus we're raccoon eye buddies."

"Raccoon eye buddies?"

I traced my eye markings. "Raccoon eye buddies. I heard you've had trouble making friends in the past, so I figured you might like some company." I shrugged. "But if you don't, I can fly away."

I caught a tiny smile on his lips. "Don't go. Having a friend would be... nice..."

"Stinks that I'm going to have to leave soon... Maybe we should find you a friend who isn't from another village?"

"How do you make friends?"

I opened my mouth to say something, then paused. "I don't actually know, to be honest. The only person I became friends with without random chance playing a part was Naruto-chan, and he... let's just say he would've become best friends with whoever was the first person to actually show him kindness, and that just so happened to be me. Everyone else, one could argue I was guided to them by fate..."

"What about me?" he asked.

I shrugged. "No offense, but I wouldn't be here now if it weren't for Shukaku." He frowned a bit. "That doesn't make our friendship meaningless, if that's what you're worried about." I saw a group of kids playing kickball or something and pointed to them. "Maybe we could ask to join them?" We walked (and floated) over to them. I honestly didn't really know what to say, so I just waved.

"Woah, are you floating?" one of the kids asked me.

"Yeah," I said. "Can we... join? I promise to not use my powers if you don't want me to." I lowered myself to the ground, landing gently on my feet.

"Hey, isn't that the Kazekage's son?" another of the kids said. Gaara tensed up, so I squeezed his hand.

"He's cool," I insisted.

"But my mom said he's a demon."

I scoffed. "He has a demon sealed inside him. Big difference." I shrugged. "Sure, he used to have some trouble keeping the thing down, but I fixed that right up for him. As I said, he's cool."

"Thank you, Kouki-san," Gaara muttered.

I gave him a small smile and said, "So are we going to play or what?"

I was picked first. I guess the team captain figured I'd be awesome at sportsball because I could fly or something. Joke's on him, though, because I'm horrible at all manners of sportsball. Even with my ninja training, I was horrendous. On the other hand, Gaara was somehow the other team's best player. It didn't even look like he was trying to hard, he just... drifted over to the ball and launched it over to the goal net thing. Yeah, everyone ended up liking Gaara a lot more than me.

Just as planned.

Okay well I genuinely am terrible at sports but I totally planned it. It wasn't an accident at all. I am a puppetmaster.

kukukuku~

I floated in the air above Suna, my senses extended as far as I could. I'd caught a faint whiff of... something while I was playing with Gaara and the others. I scanned the area, moving around a bit to get the best feel of whatever I was sensing. Whatever it was, it was vast, almost spread out, and felt a bit like Shukaku but without the malice. It was like the sands themselves were possessed, especially around Gaara.

Come to think of it, I could think of a likely suspect. I drifted to an out-of-the-way alley near the Kazekage's house, sending a beacon to the presence as I flew. It responded to my psychic touch sluggishly, like its mind was damaged or something. It felt like sand slipping through my fingers, but I reeled the presence in. As I leaned on the alley wall, the sand in front of me shifted and slowly rose up in front of me, roughly in the shape of an adult woman. "Yo," I said.

"W͡h̘̠̩̱̬̬̱ͦ̔ͯͮ́ͮ̚o̦̙ ̫͖͐͑a͛́̃̆͢r̓̀̂̿͐̒̊e ̝̮̳͓̯͙ỹ̏̈́ͫ͌͊ͨ͞o̙͚͛͌u͛̏̿ͣ͞?̵͕͈͐̐" the sand witch asked hollowly. "...W͕͇̗̱̠͊ͥ͋ͤͭ̄ͅḥ̶͚̞̞̮ͬ̆̋̓̐ō̼̘͆.͇̠̆ͥ..͏̺ ̪̙͈͒̂̈͘a̡̤͔m I͕̫͎̱̮̗?̲̘̺͓̺͙̲͛͒͒̂̄̾ͩ"

I winced. "You... aren't in the best shape, are you?"

She made a few confused noises that I took as a 'yes.'

I tightened my grasp on her mind a bit. "Right, I'm going to try to help you. Can you tell me your name?"

After a few seconds of thought and me poking around in her nonexistent brain, she said, "I̷̤ͦț̢̞͓̲̟ͅ'̻͕͖͇̣̣ͤ̊̓ͯͩ̅ͦͅs̲̦̹͔ͯ́͒̓.̱͞.͕̩̮̥̦̻̇͊̋ͮ̃ͣͪͅ.̲͖ ̍͑͑ͧ̓ͬ̾͏̙̹̮̜͚̩͍G̠̣̗̪͝ȁ̢͉̥̋r̛̠̘̺͖̬̒̔̓͐̍uda.̘̫̲̬̺͓̇̀ͦ̊̍̿.̡̯͍̯̯̤̳̓́̋̍̒ͧ.ͧ͐̉̎͊" I tilted my head a bit and poked a few bits into place. "N̛o͓͉͎͢,̵̫̫̱ͨ̎ͮ ́ͫ̐͜i͖̱t's̀̏̚ ̨̲̬̓̂Ḱ̬̘͋ar͏u͓̥̞͆̂ͣ͟r̙̃̀a," she corrected herself.

"That's good," I said in a soothing tone. "Now, can you please tell me something about yourself? Maybe any family or loved ones you have? I need you to keep focused on something, anything."

"Th͔r̛e̙͎̜͡eͥ̃̒ ̢c̝̹h̲̹̙̎̉͌͘i͍̦̺l̨d̘̐́ṟ̔e͞ǹ̪͙̞̈̿͡,͔͖̯ a̓̇͂́ ̫̖̳͒ͩ̏d̲̮̖͊̄̿au̴g͕͎̀h̪͉͆̚t̵̐͂̚e͆r̴͔̤ ̥a̟̩̎ͦn͕̱̎̆dͣ̍ͦ ͫ͗͆tw̬̫̲ợ̀ ̴͚̩ͦ̂şo͘nś͍͎ͣ.̸ͪ T̹̫̱e̟͈̟͒̊̒mar̔ͥ̈i̥, K̟̪̝̈́͊ͭañ͙͔̼ͮ̌k̲̋uͧ͆ro,̼̓ ä́̄̐n̦͙͈ͮͭͤd̊ͦ́ ͑̓G͙̞̽͊a̬̾ar̗̥ͦͦa," she said. "I ̏͋alͭ̈́̍so ̎ḧ́̒av̅̚e ͪ̓a ̓br̊̊oͨͨthͯͣ̏eṙ̈́,̐ͨ̐ ̽̓Ȳ̈as͋h́ͩá̅mͪͫaͩͤruͭͦ...̒͒̓"

"Good," I murmured. "Now, this might feel a bit weird, but I need to do this to stabilize you." I took out my newest demon gem, one that I'd made from leftovers from the bandits and some insects I'd managed to attract. Okay, it was only almost done, but it was good enough for what I needed it for. I rammed the gem into Karura's sandy "navel," using it to work some yin-yang magic on the unstable chakra that made her up. Her form evened out and red lines spread from the gem to her arms and legs. Then I averted my eyes. "Aw, ew!" I exclaimed. "Put some clothes on!"

"I have no clothes," she noted.

"Then make some out of sand!"

"I have no idea how to do that..."

"And yet you managed to almost do a jutsu I still haven't figured out yet!" I shouted.

"My mind is still hazy..."

I grumbled a bit and formed a rough "cloth" out of the surrounding sand. "You even made yourself a body out of sand..." I wrapped the cloth around her body. "Right, you have to figure out how to keep that up." I opened my eyes as I felt the chakra of her body taking over the wrapping. Now that she was stabilizing, she looked just about human, only with the red markings and eyes colored like, though not shaped like, Shukaku's. The sand cloth had turned into a sort of cloak that made her really look like a sand witch. "You want to meet your kids now? Just to warn you, though, you've been dead for years, so they aren't exactly expecting you."

"Oh..." She looked very concerned, which was probably a good sign that her mind was becoming less fuzzy. "Oh dear."

kukukuku~

"Heeeey~" I said from outside the Kazekage's window. "Guess what I found today?" Thankfully, his family was already there, so I didn't have to do that much work.

Rasa sighed. "What?"

I smiled a bit. "Actually, it's more of a 'who.' I believe you've met her before, though you probably aren't expecting her." The platform of sand I was standing on floated into the room, deposited me on the floor, then turned back into Karura next to me. "Introducing, for the first time in almost four years, your wife."

"Karura," he gasped.

"Rasa," she scowled.

"Oh right, you were responsible for her death," I said smugly. "Ouch."

"Mom?" Temari asked. "Is it really you?" Karura floated over to her and picked her up, holding her close.

"Temari. I'm so, so sorry I left."

"How did this happen?" Yashamaru asked.

"I don't remember," Karura said, "but I'm grateful it did."

"If I had to guess," I said, placing one hand on my chest, "and I'm sorry to butt in here, but I think I might be the only one here who knows what's going on. So if I'm right, you had Shukaku sealed in her when she was pregnant with Gaara to see how prenatal exposure to Shukaku would influence jinchurikihood, then transferred the raccoon to Gaara, either not caring that she'd die or assuming your medics could resuscitate her because she was only jinchuriki for less than a year. That about right?"

Rasa nodded grimly.

"Right, so obviously that didn't work out quite like you hoped. Don't worry, I can tell you think past you was an idiot. Karura, while dying, found that she loved Gaara so much that she wanted to protect him even after death, so she imbued the sand around her with her will and chakra, or however that worked. In this, her having had Shukaku sealed inside her actually helped, as some of Shukaku's power was left over in her, so it ended up a success despite the fact that she didn't have much knowledge on the subject of yin-yang release, which would have otherwise been vital for that jutsu. 'Course, it still ended up rough, causing her to be scattered and unable to properly gather herself. The existence that was once Karura was scattered to the winds, spread about a wide area of sands and expending so much effort to simply exist that she couldn't do anything, with one exception that I do believe is still in effect." I licked my lips and pointed at Gaara, shooting a demon gem at him fast enough that it'd hurt.

The sand blocked it.

"What was that for?" Rasa, Yashamaru, and Karura simultaneously demanded of me.

I shrugged. "Its trajectory was curved a bit. Looked like it'd hit him, enough for Gaara's still-active defense to catch it, but it would have missed if it wasn't caught. As you can see, a part of Karura was... anchored, I suppose, to Gaara, creating an automatic sand defense." I turned to the door. "Right, you guys probably wanna catch up, so I'mma go work on my seals or something now."

"Wait," Karura said. "There are still holes in my memory."

"Those'll hopefully clear up over time, though unfortunately some stuff is probably lost for good... Can't really do too much more for you. The best thing is probably to try to jog your memory, which I'm pretty sure your family and douchey ex can do better than me."

"Douchey ex?" Rasa asked.

"Until death did you part," I said with a grin. "That's the rules, right?"

Rasa blinked. "...Well you're not wrong. And Karura, I honestly wouldn't put it past you if you wanted to leave me."

"Yeah this is the part where I disappear and let you guys have a heartfelt reunion and however KaRasa's going to go." I grinned as I activated the Transparent Escape Jutsu. "And yes, that was a pun!"

kukukuku~

"Right, so maybe you should stay up on full moons," I told Gaara as I was checking the seal after his horrible, nightmare-filled sleep. "Default won't break at all under the light of the moon."

He rubbed his eyes a little more. "That was unpleasant..."

"Yeah, well at least it looks like it'll only be once every thirty days," I noted. "That should be manageable, right? Better than thirty times in thirty days."

He sighed. "I'm going to miss you when you leave..."

I gave him a small smile. "Don't worry, you can always find me..." I poked him in the chest. "...Riiiiiight here."

"But I would like to be able to talk to you more..."

"I know, I was talking about how you should theoretically be able to use Shukaku's power to telepathically contact me from anywhere in the world."

His eyes widened, and I could see a small twinkle in them. "How?"

"See, there's this thing called biju telepathy that biju have, and any two sources of the same type of biju chakra can be used as a sort of relay for it. You have Shukaku and I absorbed just enough of his power from the seals you guys sent me that I gained his power, which means that we're linked. Now, I should note that because of the seal I placed on you, any time I'm calling you, you'll get a notification from your seal and have to manually allow it. Now let's teach you a new psychic power!"

kukukuku~

"That was delicious~" I sighed in delight after finishing my dinner of the third day, this time some heavenly chicken tikka. "Thank you for the meal~. So how's my favorite chakra spirit ghost thing doing after a full day of life and activity?" I asked.

She poked at her food. "I still have no idea how I'm eating this..." she muttered.

"Magic?" I offered. "You holding up alright?"

"I don't feel as scattered as I did before. That's good, right?"

I shrugged. "I've literally never had to deal with a situation like this before, but that sounds about right." I stood up. "Now, I think it's you're bedtime, Gaara-chan. Let's see how the seal's doing today."

"But I want to stay up," Gaara protested.

Karura wagged her finger. "No 'buts,'" she said, then smiled. "Tell you what, I'll tell you a bedtime story. I've missed the opportunity to do that for too long."

Gaara smiled. "Okay, mother."

kukukuku~

"Goodbye!" I waved to my sendoff party as I mounted my lindwyrm. "I'll miss you all! I wish you the best!" I slumped back into Gai's chest. "And I'm pooped. G'night, Gai."

The journey home wasn't as eventful as the journey there. If there were any bandits, they were scared off by my giant monsters long before I even noticed them. I managed to make a new demon gem with all of the bugs that my gems attracted when we set up camp for the night, especially once we hit the forest. There were a lot of bugs in the forest. Never thought I'd say that positively...

"We're back," I said with a smile as I looked at the gates. "Suna was nice, but I was starting to miss home."

"Yes, Konoha is a nice place," Gai said. "Though I must admit that I'll miss being able to train in both hot and cold environments..."

"Pretty sure you're more than fine on the training front already, dude..."

#fanfiction #naruto fanfiction #naruto #Foresight is 20/20 #F20 CH10

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mexicancat-girl · 5 years ago

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Still Waters Run Deep

A birthday fic for @chadsuke / @ftcoye !

The last time I've written serious Naruto fanfiction was 2015, so I blame them for this.

I wanted to write something as a thank-you for them being one of the best writers for the Naruto fandom. Their fics always bring me joy. Their characterizations are amazing. Their wlw fics are galaxy brain.

AO3 Link (here)

...

Mei Terumi could feel a headache coming on.

It was not over the current war effort, thankfully. Mostly because said war effort had managed to defeat their opponents, ie: a snake-possessed necromancer, a thought-to-be-dead megalomaniac, an impossibly hard-to-kill plant man, a self-made Jinchuriki, and a literal rabbit Goddess.

Truth be told, anyone should be having a headache from such an insane repertoire of God-like beings managing to cripple five nations worth of forces. Or, well, any sane person—and Mei likes to think herself as rightfully sane, thank you very much.

She is, after all, the person who stopped a tyrannical Kage from furthering destroying her home nation from the inside out. And, you know, committing even more genocide. So, there was that.

Thankfully, she is the current Mizukage. The Fourth Shinobi World War is done and over with. They have won. They are alive.

But Mei hasn’t survived this long without being able to see the big picture or think a few steps ahead. She wouldn’t have been able to dismantle Yagura’s forces and managed to beat him down and kill him, otherwise.

Every nation has suffered great losses from this war. They’d nearly been fighting an unwinnable battle ten times over. All the current survivors were no doubt suffering from massive psychological if not physical damage, having had to watch their comrades fall before them in variously gruesome ways.

That’s without accounting for the people who watched as their dead comrades and family were raised from the dead to fight against them. Then with them. Then having their bodies crumble as the jutsu keeping them going burned out, the stolen minutes with loved ones lost making things either healing or unbearable, depending on the person.

Quite frankly, it was an exhausting debacle for all involved, in ways that most of them had not—could not—have accounted for. They were all pushed to their limits physically, mentally, and emotionally.

And while the threats were finally vanquished, it’s not over yet. Not by a long shot.

Because after this, they must bury the dead. Heal their wounded.

Then after that, they have to figure out where the hell to go from here. How to just…move on.

Sure, the shinobi nations all teamed up together against this major threat. But what comes after…?

How will they deal with war criminals like Orochimaru of the Sannin? Like Kabuto Yakushi? Like Sasuke Uchiha?

How will they go about making a peace treaty? Will there be a peace treaty? They’ve come together to fight in this war, yes, but that was out of necessity. So that the entire world did not fall into chaos. This rare show of unity can hardly erase decades of bloodshed and ill will and complicated history between the Elemental Nations.

It’s all a rather nerves-inducing line of questioning that, sadly, they must consider. Especially those in positions of power and authority. Since Mei is Mizukage, she’ll no doubt have to weather all of that.

For any and all possible talks of peace, the Kage will be involved, of course, because that’s a no-brainer. But who else will be pulled into the discussions? The war tacticians? The Nations’ daimyo? The very teenagers that felled a God and saved them all? Probably. Most likely.

Mei Terumi can barely stand talking to Water Country’s daimyo on a good day. Add in the daimyo of the other Nations—all ridiculously spoiled, ludicrously rich, greedy old men—will eat away at her will to live. No doubt they’ll bicker over who will cover the costs of reparations, and about how much aid should be granted to their shinobi villages, and blah blah blah.

Kill her now…

Mei likes to think that she is perfectly reasonable. That she can keep a level head, and bullshit with the best of them. That she is strong enough to get her point across without being callously cruel—and that just because she has compassion, it shouldn’t be considered a weakness.

Her nation has lived under tyranny and pain and tumultuously bloody waters for far too long. She does not want to rule with an iron fist, but still wants to be strong and cutthroat enough to protect her people and keep others in check. She’s sure she can lead her village—her country, her home—to a better tomorrow.

She’s sure that not everyone else thinks that. Many people see what they like to see, and they see a beautiful woman who acts coquettishly and dresses up. They see a woman who happens to have two powerful kekkei genkai. She must have gotten lucky, right? She must have seduced and swayed enough men to her side to do her bidding, for her to be Mizukage. She must have gotten in a good shot with her two bloodlines, to take out the previous Mizukage.

Mei is a perfectly reasonable person, and she is competent, and she is strong, and she happens to be quite a good leader thank you very much.

She’s also fairly certain that no matter how hard she tries, she will not be held in the same regard simply because she is a woman in a world of men.

Case in point: even if the daimyo don’t get involved with the peace treaties, there’s the other Kage to worry about. Mei would like to think that she’s got the patience to deal with them and the coy poker-face to back it up, but they’re all rather…hm. Eclectic is the most diplomatic word she can think of.

Onoki is an old coot who wouldn’t know innovation and progressiveness if it bit him on his fat red nose. Ā is, quite frankly, a bullheaded asshole who has negative tact and is constantly grandstanding to compensate for his probably small dick. Two patronizing, utterly misogynistic bastards that would rather butt heads and yell for an entire meeting than take any form of suggestions because they had sticks shoved that far up their own asses.

They were downright incorrigible.

There was also the third male of the group to worry about, though admittedly in a completely different sense.

Gaara speaks carefully and is perfectly polite, very willing to listen to others on top of that. He’s proven himself to be a good leader and oddly fantastic motivational speaker—kid could probably move an entire mountain range if he asked the ground nicely enough— strong in his own right. But there’s still the fact that he’s just a teenager.

He’s only been Kazekage for about, what, two years? Sure, that’s longer than Mei’s been Mizukage by double, but she’s been spearheading the Kiri Rebellion for a solid number of years before-hand. She’s led squadrons and held the lives of hundreds in her hands while Gaara was still stuck in school or private lessons. Suna scrambled in the time it took to train up a replacement after their Kage was assassinated by Orochimaru, lucky enough to find someone as strong as Gaara to take the mantel. But that doesn’t hide the fact that he’s the most inexperienced of them, made a Kage all at sixteen, barely seventeen now.

Despite everything he’s done to prove himself in the war—and having proven himself at least a good five times over, at that— Gaara’s age will always be an obstacle he has to overcome. Onoki and Ā certainly didn’t consider him a threat to their grandstanding and bullshit for just that reason, using seniority as to why they considered their own peon brains to be greater than Gaara’s.

Gaara is someone who’s willing to listen to reason, but Mei cannot count on him to be her main support. To act as a tiebreaker, possibly. But Onoki and Ā look down on him nearly the same amount as they look down on Mei herself. The fact that he is young puts him on the same level of Mei being a woman, in their misogynistic views.

The only person she can count on to have any Gods-forsaken sense is Tsunade Senju, and for good reason.

Tsunade is older than all of them but Onoki, and she certainly has the strength and experience to back herself up. She hasn’t been a Kage for as long as Onoki and Ā, but her strength is literally legendary and she’s well-travelled and intelligent, which is more than either man can claim. She’s one of the Sanin, and she revolutionized Medic Ninjutsu across the entirety of the Elemental Nations, for Gods’ sakes.

If not for Tsunade being temporarily incapacitated during her tenure, she’d have a spotless record.

As it is, she cuts through bullshit like a sharpened kunai through butter. Nothing cows her. No men will get her to back down, and certainly not men she could crush with her bare hands.

Tsunade is so competent and amazing, Mei’s possibly even a little in love. But that’s natural, isn’t it? It’s Tsunade Senju, after all. Mei’s sure everyone is a little starstruck when in the presence of such a force of nature.

In fact, Mei quickly finds that the first post-war meeting with Tsunade is probably the smoothest and most productive meeting between the Kage yet, no doubt since the founding of the Hidden Villages themselves!

And it’s all because Tsunade Senju takes no prisoners. When she sets out to do something, she gets it done.

Onoki and Ā are quick to start bickering about reparation costs and whining about treaties like the utterly braindead, paranoid bastards they are.

But, oh no. That doesn’t long very long with Tsunade around.

The blonde woman slams her palm on her desk with careful restraint, as the wood doesn’t shatter on impact. She leans over it, stares straight into Onoki and Ā’s eyes with an intensity that would make lesser men shit their pants.

And then, speaking in a tone that brooked no argument, “My grandfather, Hashirama Senju, God of Shinobi, could tame the Tailed Beasts. He first created the Ninja Villages for peace. He was literally re-animated to fight by our side, in the flesh. Alongside my student, one of the teenagers that helped kill a God because the world couldn’t shut the fuck up for two seconds and stop fighting. We. Are. Going. To. Have. Peace.”

Both men closed their mouths, in-synch, with audible clicks of their teeth.

For once, they are silent, and it’s utterly delightful.

“As someone who stopped a bloody civil war and the massacre of bloodlines, in order to bring peace to their own Village, I concur,” Mei agrees calmly, flashing a sweet smile with a hint more teeth than polite. Normally, she would have more constraint, but she is so damn giddy, she can’t help herself but jumping at the weakness like a shark smelling blood.

(She may be kinder than the past Mizukage by leagues, but she is still the leader of the Bloody Mist. She’ll find a way to reform her Village so it’s no longer known as the Bloody Mist, but they are still the most ruthless of the Ninja Villages by far.

That is to say: when Mei sees an obvious weak point, a chance to sink her teeth it, well. She’ll take it. She’s not all looks, after all. She’s as ruthless as the rest of them.)

Onoki and Ā narrow their eyes at Mei, their lips thinned as they frown disapprovingly and grumpily at her—no doubt for her daring to speak.

But before they can protest, Gaara comes in clutch, as the tiebreaker that Mei had been hoping for.

Hands clasped in front of himself and looking much older than his seventeen years, the Kazekage nods solemnly. “I agree.”

One meeting.

One meeting is all it takes to make the peace talks officially under way, and Mei cannot be more relieved.

She might just have to send Tsunade a complimentary fruit basket or something, as a thank-you. The Sanin has managed to nearly singlehandedly dismantle the bullshit of grandstanding and dick-measuring that the meetings would have devolved into, if not for her directness.

Besides, it was impossible for Onoki and Ā to ever compare, anyways.

After all, Tsunade very obviously had the biggest dick out of them all, just by proxy of how she conducted herself alone.

It’s also helpful to have someone that the saviors of the world so clearly respect and look up to. Sakura Haruno was literally Tsunade’s student. Naruto Uzumaki calls her ‘granny’. Sasuke Uchiha is wary around her and stands as far as possible from the woman that he can— without both appearing rude and leaving the side of his friends.

So yes, it was an absolute blessing to have Tsunade as the Hokage, if only because it made everything so much easier for Mei to handle as the Mizukage in political meetings.

Women have to stick together, after all, in a world of men.

But hopefully, they’ll help usher in a future where women are given the opportunities to be able to be equals with men. Being female Kage certainly helps start that.

The future is looking bright to Mei already.

...

#gift fic #mei terumi #tsunade senju #Sabaku No Gaara #onoki (naruto)#A (naruto)#naruto shippuden #post canon #naruto fic #chadsuke #ftcoye #implied femslash #wlw #femslash #sorry for the lateness of this #but im posting this and crashing #mexicat writes #me being dumb

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narutxuzumaki · 6 years ago

Note

for the prompt: naruhina + being office co-workers

TO DO LIST

Reschedule meeting with Granny

Write up the finance paper for tomorrow

Read all my emails

Respond to Gaara.

Get Hinata to do that cause she’s awesome

Pretend that I know what I’m talking about when I meet with Kakashi

DON’T

Don’t bend Hinata over your desk. You both have shit to do

Don’t waste 10 mins of your time thinking abt eating her out

Don’t actually eat her out

Don’t get nearly caught by granny again

Don’t say you love her in the office!!!! V stupid, not romantic at all. Dumb idea

He groans loudly and flops back in his chair, rubbing his tired eyes. So far, he’s done shit all except make this list. The disadvantages of working with your girlfriend: he’s barely ever productive. He snorts and pushes himself up. Who’s he kidding? Hinata’s was effective and timely, her work was always good quality and she always pushed him to work harder. She had been the one to suggest making lists to keep his day on track. Yeah, his girlfriend was awesome.

None of that stopped it from all being torturous. (Who would have thought that there was a reason why work relationships were so discouraged? Certainly not him).

Apparently getting boners when your girlfriend – was ruthlessly efficient and good or wore skirts that were short or skirts that were too long or smiled or squinted her eyes or breathed for that matter – was considered unprofessional. They could all colour him shocked at that fact.

Had been two years since Hinata had started working alongside him and nearly five months since they had started going out. It was all great, except for the fact that he could barely complete his work and that he fantasised about burying his head between her legs in all types of boring and impractical places and that no one else was allowed to know. Yay co-workers.

Which was why the list was created. He couldn’t exactly have his ways with her with all their colleagues milling about. Dragging each other into closets and the photocopier room was all good fun for the first couple of months, wasn’t so great when you very nearly get caught and threatened with HR for eating your girlfriend in the meeting room. The list was a way of keeping some of his sanity.

Sai always remind him that this is stupid and if Hinata has already figured it out that she will but Sai is also a massive dick that needs to stop mooching off him and move out so.

Except, it wasn’t working, nearly as well as it was meant to. Not now that Naruto was certain that he’s met-the-love-of-my-life-sign-me-up-for-the-first-Disney-wedding-please. It was becoming harder to avoid doing all the things on the list when Hinata’s smile is enough to make his heart swell up to double its size and now that he’s seen all sides of her. He’s seen her happy and sad and crying and insecure and angry and he falls more and more in love with her with each reveal.

“You doing another list?” Hinata asks, going over to him from his desk. He quickly covers the list with some papers that he needs to sort and give to Kakashi. She thankfully doesn’t mention his hasty cover-up of it. Instead, leaning against his desk. His hand twitches, he wants to hold her hand so badly but her hands are in her lap and it’d be too obvious if he reached out to hold one. No hand holding, he thinks vaguely, reminding himself to add to the list.

“Yeah,” he laughs sheepishly, his hand scratching the back of his neck. “I have so much to do still.”

“Don’t be so embarrassed,” Hinata says tsking, “You know what my planner is like.” And he actually laughs at that cause Hinata’s planner is immaculate.

He signs into his emails, set on getting through them all but freezes at the sight of her applying a ruby red lipstick. Hinata’s eyes glitter with intent, smile amused and cheeks are flushed. He gulps hard but Hinata only smiles at him and pushes herself off his desk.

“I’ll see you later Naruto. Good luck with the work.” He swallows hard as she leaves, pulling out his list to scribble one more thing onto it. He’d need all the luck he could get if this was how his day was going to go.

DON’T

Think about kissing Hinata’s lipstick away

Think about Hinata kissing other places

THIS IS NOT THE TIME FOR A BONER

TO DO

Pay attention to the meeting

Ask Hinata for her notes at the meeting. Her notes are better

DON’T

Stare at Hinata’s ass

Stare at Hinata’s lips

Get caught by Sakura for staring at Hinata

Think about fucking Hinata in the meeting room

Get a boner

Get threated with a sexual harassment case for getting a boner

To say that Naruto has no idea what this meeting about is a small statement. He hasn’t listened to what Kakashi has been saying for a good hour. Too busy mesmerised by Hinata being awesome. Does anyone understand how unbelievably hot it is to have your girlfriend take charge in a meeting and being good?

He won’t lie and say that her ass in that skirt is the best thing since fucking sliced bread. It really doesn’t help with keeping his mind on track.

He hasn’t been particularly good at avoiding any of the things on his list as of late. He chalks it up to last night. Hinata had stayed the night at his. He had woken up with her in his arms, soft and sleepy and beautiful. He couldn’t be blamed for his failure to compartmentalise, not entirely at least.

The meeting ends and everyone files out until its just him and Hinata. Being alone with her like this does something strange to him. Makes him feel all hot and twists up his all his insides. He’s not a horny rag-rat. He’s not but being so close to her, alone with her and yet not even being able to hold her hand or hug her or brush her hair out of his face messes with his head.

“I liked your ass in that.” Horror fills his stomach and Hinata’s face goes all bright red and no, this isn’t the time to be thinking about following that blush with his tongue. “I meant, I like what you said in there,” he says quickly, cursing all the while in his head. Hinata’s still blushing but the flush slowly recedes and she shifts towards him. So close to him that he could just touch her.

“I’m glad you enjoyed both,” She says slowly and there’s something heady and promising in her tone. It’s enough to make his mouth go dry and to lean towards her. They’re so close that if someone were to walk in, they wouldn’t be able to mistake what was happening. That no, this isn’t just two co-workers but something much more. His senses are full of Hinata and he can’t bring himself to care. Hinata is smarter though because she gently pushes him away, hands resting on his forearm for a moment too long and pulls away. Putting distance between the two. Disappointment fills the pit of his stomach but that soon transforms into heat at her next words.

“I’ll see you in the next meeting Mr Uzumaki.” And that was hot. He would have to add that moment to the Don’t list, he thinks to himself vaguely, watching her leave the room.

TO DO

Prepare for the court case tomorrow

Meet with client

Call Iruka to organise meal

DON’T

Ask Hinata to move in with you when she comes in

Shirk off your work so you can tell her that you love her

His sanity is hanging by a thread. Every time he sees Hinata at work, he can feel those three words dancing on the tip of his tongue. She had been eating her sandwich by his desk and all he could think to tell her that he loved her.

It was quickly becoming a problem.

Sai and to a lesser extent Sakura had both told him to man up and tell her. But once again, Sai was a dick. Sakura was a lot more sensible and steadier but he wasn’t just about to reveal his feelings to Hinata just because fucking Sai and Sakura said to.

“You’re distracted again,” Hinata’s voice pulls him out of his reverie and he sighs, pushing his hair back. She’s been helping him to prepare for this case for the last hour but they’ve gotten through only part of the research that she’s organised. He knows she’s confused and frustrated and he feels bad. He does but right now, he just needs space. He’s too scared of what he might blurt out if he’s in her presence for any longer. They had been dating for nearly six months now but everything was still fairly new. They were still co-workers. He would never be able to forgive himself if he fucked it up cause he couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

“Sorry, am gonna just hit the toilet,” he lies quickly. Hinata only sighs but he’s up and out before he can even wait for a response. He knows that he’s being stupid and unfair by acting like this. Knows that Hinata is probably in there worrying about him, mulling over his every word. He doesn’t want to ever make her feel sad, refuses to be anything like her dad. He just wants to make her happy but he’s been fucking even that as of late.

He’s never been one to run or hide. It’s always been his motto to face things on, to keep on going but with this stupid confession, he feels like some stupid kid again. Saying I love you to every single person that showed even the barest hint of kindness to every person except the ones that truly matter.

He fists are half clenched but he rolls his shoulder and breathes deeply. This is Hinata, good, kind, smart Hinata. There’s nothing to be scared about, he tries to tell himself but fear still settles in the pit of his stomach.

He walks back into the office but freezes at the sight before him. Hinata is behind his desk, holding the most recent list he had scribbled out. His brain short-circuits and falls into a frenzy and she’s the one blurting things out and stumbling over her words – “You love me?”

“Yes. What? Yes. Wait what?” No one knows this except Sai and Sakura and they had both just guessed. No ones ever asked before.

Hinata is looking up at him with eyes so big and bright, sparkling with happiness and tears and he moves towards her unbidden cause comforting Hinata when she’s upset is all muscle memory. Except she’s not upset. She’s blushing and there are tears even though she’s smiling as well and he just blurts out the truth because that’s the least confusing bit.

Hinata finally notices his panic, taking pity on him and explains.

“You’ve been acting strange all day. I thought you were stressed and wanted to help you sort some things on your list,” she explains this quickly, looking more and more guilty with each word. He tries his best to smile at her and shakes off her attempt to apologise.

“Don’t worry about it.” What he really means to say is – do you feel the same? He doesn’t cause he’s absolute chicken shit.

“Did you really mean what you said?” Hinata asks, her voice tiny and hopeful. He puffs out indignantly because of course, he does. Can’t imagine a time or moment where he doesn’t.

“Of course. I love you Hinata.” He says the words cause even if she doesn’t feel the same, she deserves to hear them said to her.

One moment Hinata is behind his desk and the next, she’s in his arms, kissing him, fingers twisted in his hair, nails scraping against his scalp and his hands are touching everywhere, as much as he can. Her waist, her face, hips, hair.

She pulls away and this is the moment where she’s going to push him away but his heart jumps at what she says: “I love you so much,” she says all this breathless. It’s him now pulling her closer, kissing her deeper, searching for purchase.

The kiss is heated and searing, she tastes of something sweet and his head is dizzy with want and Hinata and her confession is echoing in his head. Someone could walk in right now and he wouldn’t care. Not when she’s kissing him like this as if it’s the only thing that matters. Nope, Naruto isn’t stopping for anyone, he thinks to himself as he pushes her back against his desk.

#naruhina #naruto x hinata #naruto uzumaki #hinata hyuga #i hope you like this #was so much fun to write #my fic #luchijelly

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notquitejiraiya · 6 years ago

Text

Chess [24] - {ShikaTema AU}

A long time coming and 24 hours later than my late deadline for it, but here it is...

ENJOY!

[READ ON AO3]

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

As Gaara heard the latch of the door click when it shut, laughter echoed through the house, and he couldn’t help but smile at the sound. Rising above the murmuring of the television upstairs, his brother’s laughed bellowed out and, slightly quieter, his sister’s giggles fell well-received on Gaara’s ears. Kicking off his shoes, the young man stepped through into the main room to see the pair grinning. Kankuro clutched the arm of the sofa, and from the floor Temari smiled up at him, and the youngest sibling found himself clearing his throat to grab their attention.

The smile on his face not ceasing, Kankuro turned to his brother. “Have you seen this?” he asked, uncharacteristically excited.

It took seconds for Gaara to see the movie on the screen and register how awful it was. Slowly, he shook his head and reached for a towel from the kitchen side, rubbing it across his sopping wet hair.

Temari rolled her eyes. “You forget that Gaara doesn’t like bad horror movies.”

“But taking the piss out of them is hilarious!”

“They’re just terrible, Kankuro,” sighed Gaara, placing the now wet cloth on the nearest radiator. “But if you both want to keep watching I can grab dinner.”

“No need.” The excitement in Kankuro’s voice hadn’t wavered. “We’ve got fajitas!”

“Hopefully not cooked by you…”

“Very funny,” he chuckled. “No. Tem said she’d make whatever I fancied.”

He could see the way the blonde adjusted her position as he said her name, her shoulder’s tensing slightly before beaming at him almost lifelessly. She looked flushed. No, she looked flustered—but such feeling was clearly hidden behind her eyes and the falseness she seemed to carry herself with in this moment. It didn’t so much seem like she was lying about anything, to Gaara—he dealt with lies constantly. What lay in her eyes was something even more worrying to him; her face was laced with guilt.

And yet she laughed with a true sense of authenticity. Rarely had she liked the ridiculous movies that flew across the TV screen more than Gaara did, and yet her grin was undeniable; her gaze set rigidly on the middle child as though if his smile were to waver her world—her facade of whatever this was—would come crashing down.

“Will there be cheese?” he asked, leaning against the table casually as he strengthened his stare at Temari.

“If you’re willing to go up the shop and get it, sure,” she replied. “But I doubt you’re willing to brave the elements after you just got in, and I just had a shower so I’m definitely not going out there.”

Slowly, all eyes started to turn to Kankuro, but even he pulled a disgruntled expression as he let the cushions of the sofa swallow him up. As Temari rolled her eyes and hopped to her feet, her cheeks flushed with something Gaara was sure wasn’t simply warmth, and he tapped her on the shoulder as she strolled past him, stopping her.

“Hey,” he said softly, his voice deep. “Can I ask you something?”

He thought he saw her gulp. “Go ahead.”

The feeling of their brother’s eyes on them was unfathomably intense. Kankuro’s stare felt almost like it would burn through his shirt and brand Gaara a sneaky bugger for trying to reveal this serene family evening for what it truly was. But as his brother groaned, and in his peripheral vision propped himself up to better listen in, Gaara let out a massive sigh. He knew there was no way he could possibly talk to Temari and get her to be honest with him here, and if he did the young man would blow everything totally out of proportion; though he meant well, he always did.

Besides, Gaara had the biggest inkling that what was plaguing his sister was something to do with the man who currently sat atop Kankuro’s ‘hate list’ as he sometimes called it. But he had to ask—he’d think himself a bad brother if he let it slide and kept up the charade.

No, he had to get Kankuro to leave. And it really ought to have been easy enough, given he could annoy his brother to the ends of the Earth.

“Brother,” he began, “would you mind going and getting cheese?”

Kankuro stifled a laugh, raising his eyebrows at him. “I wish you’d stop saying that.”

“What?”

“Brother.”

“But you are my brother.”

“Yes. And yet it’s bloody creepy when you say it.”

“Please,” he added politely, “it’s only about her stuff. There’s this criminal psychology element of this module I’m doing and—”

“Okay, fine. I’m gone.” He hauled himself up and grabbed his coat from the wall. “But there better be hot food ready when I get back.” Both Gaara and Temari watched as he rummaged his pockets, checking for his wallet and forcing a smile. Reluctantly he gave them a thumbs up, swinging round the threshold towards the front door.

The minute he heard that door slam shut and steps grow softer upon their pathway, Gaara shot his attention straight back to his sister, who’s expression had transformed into the very image of relief.

“Right,” he sighed, “what have you done?”

Temari frowned, forcing a laugh as she backed away, opening the fridge when she reached it. “I’m sorry?”

Gaara’s eyes widened, his forehead wrinkling slightly. “You’re acting really suspiciously, Temari. Letting Kankuro watch his awful movies, cooking him what he wants for dinner…” He shook his head a little, smirking. “This is textbook guilty behaviour for you, so what have you done?”

As her eyes locked onto her brother’s eyes, Temari felt her gut twist. It upset her how wrong he wasn’t, and how easily he could read her after all these years. She hesitated as she reached into the fridge, blind, her fingertips quivering at the cold and the nerves that shot through her. Millions of times she had offloaded her problems onto Gaara, and more than a couple of times had she told him about the men she’d dated, been with, avoided, sometimes even in serious detail. He knew he understood, and he knew that he would almost never judge. ‘The cool brother’, he had said; but in reality wasn’t there a point that cool might become cold?

Why did telling him about today feel like that could be the point? Why did it feel like letting slip about Shikamaru, and how she clung to his every word—even clung to his body at one damn point—would completely alter his view on her; on him, too?

Unlike Kankuro, Gaara was at this point open-minded about Shikamaru. No, he’d actively assisted in setting up their date last night. She wanted at least one of them to like him, and she wanted Gaara, in particular, to not think ill of her for this. She knew she’d been hasty, but today had been a long time coming. Only when it had happened had she realised the truth in that fact, but it had.

But how right it seemed to her didn’t mean things would translate the same in his brain.

No, she couldn’t risk it.

“Nothing,” she choked out.

She ripped a packet of chicken from the fridge shelf and dropped it on the side, and every followed in quick succession. Every clatter of plastic or cardboard shot through her ears,, distracting her for a mere second before her lip would start twitching. As she shut the door she caught it between her teeth, and absentmindedly began to pick at her fingernails.

Reluctantly her eyes raised to see him once again, staring at her expectantly.

“Oh, okay. Fine,” she whined, leaning against the kitchen side. “You know I went out with him last night?” She waited for her brother to nod. “Yeah, it went really well. Like really well.”

Gaara sighed, sitting up on the kitchen side next to her. “You didn’t sleep with him?”

“No, I didn’t,” she shook her head, biting her lip. “But I saw him today and…” Uncomfortably, she cleared her throat. “Well…”

“You slept with him.”

Temari ducked her head in shame, pouting as she frowned. “Don’t make me feel guilty, Gaara.”

“I’m not. You’re doing that to yourself,” he sighed.

“You’re being blunt, and you’re obviously disappointed in me,” sighed Temari, avoiding her brother’s eyes. “May I remind you that you egged me on to sleep with him the other week?”

“I was joking. I thought that would be clear.”

She shifted her weight, turning and reaching for a knife before grabbing a pepper from one of the packets. “Gaara, can we get to the questions about psychology please?”

“Obviously there aren’t any.”

If she wasn’t drowning in guilt she wouldn’t rolled her eyes. “I seriously hate you sometimes.”

Gaara, however, held no such guilt, and rolled his as he hopped off the side and sat down at the table. “I’m not disappointed in you.”

She began to chop. “You look it.”

“No, I’m just worried about you.”

“Shikamaru is harmless,” she told him, her voice completely level.

Gaara screwed his nose up.

“Don’t do a Kankuro on me,” she whined. “Speaking of: don’t you dare mention this to him.”

“You have to at least tell him you aren’t treating Shikamaru anymore.”

“Why? It’s none of his business.”

Gaara hoisted his phone from his pocket and tapped the screen a couple of times. “Temari, I get bi-hourly updates about your boyfriend whenever he’s in the shop.”

“You’re kidding…”

“I’m not. Read them.” He carefully handed her the device and pursed his lips as she took it, tentative.

She frowned as her eyes adjusted, focussing on the bright screen.

(8:42) Kankuro: Why does he always look like that????

(8:53) Gaara: Who?

(8:54) Kankuro: Temari’s stalker

(8:54) Gaara: ?

(8:55) Kankuro: Spiky haired prick. He’s got a face like a busted boot

(8:59) Gaara: Class is starting. Grow up, brother.

Temari looked up at her youngest brother who, himself, looked bemused.

(12:32) Kankuro: G he’s a smoker. Seriously! Imagine what dad would say if he knew she was throwing her license for this idiot

(12:33) Gaara: I’m in class. I’m focussing. I suggest you do the same.

(12:33) Kankuro: Seriously! face is so punchable G

(12:39) Gaara: Turn away from the window and work.

(12:40) Gaara: And do not call me ‘G’.

(14:59) Kankuro: G if he touches Tem I will acc hit him

(15:02) Kankuro: *Gaara

(15:07) Kankuro: blonde girl in the shop is hot though.

“He’s going to start being problematic soon.”

Her head shot up again, her mouth gaping open. “Start?” A dumbfounded laugh spluttered out. “Gaara, he went into the shop and spoke to him solely about me yesterday. And this? How long has he been doing it?”

“Only since the start of the week.”

She rolled her eyes, genuinely unable to form a serious thought on the situation. “Only…”

With a loud buzz, the phone in her hand vibrated, and on the screen appeared another message from Kankuro. Through her body shot an intense feeling of fear that maybe in her amazement and with carelessness she had pressed voice record; that maybe he’d been listening to her. Nervously she took a proper look at what had appeared.

A photograph of two rivalling blocks of cheese in the palm of Kankuro’s huge hand.

Temari’s eyes flew to the back of her head as she passed it back to Gaara and turned her attention back to the chopping of peppers. “I can’t tell him I went out with Shikamaru, Gaara.”

“And why not?” he asked, rapidly tapping his screen. “I’m not asking you to admit you shagged him—”

“Gaara, please stop.”

“—just that you’ve stopped seeing him as a patient. And that you’ve seen him as an, um…non-patient.”

Forcing back a smile at her brother’s awkwardness, Temari pursed her lips. “I can’t do that.”

“Why not?”

“Because I want to keep seeing him…”

Gaara put his phone down, sitting back in the chair with a deep sigh. He ran a hand through his hair as he zoned in on the worry in her eyes. The opposition lurking at the back of his throat was silenced in one look and he smiled softly at her. “Nobody can’t stop you, but I think at the very least you need to prioritise his mental health.”

“I have been thoroughly schooled in prioritising such things, thank you,” she groaned.

“Then just do it.”

Forget worry; her impatience was taking centre stage now. “He’s not my patient anymore, Gaara!”

“Then make sure he’s someone’s patient,” he sighed. “As his girlfriend you owe that to him.”

“We’ve been on one date and…” She blushed. “Look, I’m not his girlfriend.”

“You want to be.” He paused as she stopped cutting vegetables and raised her eyebrows at him. “Don’t look at me like that, Temari. Don’t deny it.”

With a sigh she shook her head. “I do,” she said, “but you and Kankuro—”

“What about me and Kankuro?”

“You’ll try and stop me.”

“We wont,” insisted Gaara. “I just told you—”

“Okay then: he will.”

Gaara shook his head, smiling. “No, Temari; he won’t. Dad would’ve, and while Kankuro has his moments, they are different people.”

“But he isn’t wrong,” she sighed, rubbing her forehead with the back of her hand. “And Dad would’ve been so annoyed that I spent so long studying just to get my license revoked.”

“It won’t be.”

Her eyebrows raised. “How do you know that?”

The look in his eyes told her plainly that he didn’t, but his composed voice almost tricked her. “Just be rational for a minute, Temari.”

“Gaara…”

“Gaara, what?”

“His mental state,” she sighed. “I can’t be responsible for worsening it…”

Temari watched him closely as he ran his hands through his hair, elbows flush against the table. He stared at his lap, head hung low, as though he had no idea how to counter her, and why should he? For whatever reason her brother seemed conflicted; one side of him desperate for righteousness, the other yearning for his sister to simply be happy. She couldn’t exactly blame him. If the tables were turned then Temari knew she’d have no idea how to approach the situation, and she doubted she’d be able to stop herself focussing solely on the pros of the situation—Gaara deserved someone more than she did in her eyes, after all.

The mental back and forth that was obvious from the twiddling of his hair around his fingers terrified her. It terrified her because he was a logical man and he was a smart one. It terrified her because Gaara weighed up the cons before the pros, and he was a stickler for finding the problems; his little honourable brain couldn’t help but be right.

But as her nails tapped on the chopping board, Gaara’s muscles tightened, and he couldn’t help but squirm, totally unsure. He’d known what she wanted before the words slipped from her lips, he’d understood the predicament without her doing more than outlining the situation. And, what was by far the worst feeling: he knew exactly what he needed to tell her right now.

While he’d never met the man, he’d been in similar shoes. Not quite the same tread, and certainly not walked the same pathways that his had taken, but the fit was the same. Slightly suffocating, expectant and tiring; slow, arduous and anxiety riddling with every step. Gaara knew how it felt to be staring at the person in the plush chair, behind the desk, with their notepads and their false smiles, and empathy bubbled to the surface more and more the longer he pondered.

Regrettably, Temari had been right. Shikamaru needed help, just like she had always said from the beginning, and he knew if he was the one still strapped into the rollercoaster of therapy it would not have helped him to get off just for a lover.

Nervously the young man gulped, biting on his lip.

“Maybe you’re right,” said Gaara, reluctantly. “Maybe you should take a step back until he’d secure.”

As her eyes began to prickle, Temari nodded solemnly. How could she have expected any other answer from him? Of course he was right, and of course he was ethical about it. He just couldn’t be any other way when it came down to it. His pleasantries and his idealistic approach lasted only so long, and with a wipe of her eyes, Temari forced a smile at him as if to show him she understood that he meant only well. Age really did mean nothing, and the youngest was far and away the most mature—Gaara was ten times more competent in adult decision making than she was.

And yet, in the end—despite his words sounding hauntingly like the thoughts that ate away at her ever further from the back of her mind, too close to the front—it would make no difference. There was something about Shikamaru that tickled her impulses, and after years of saying no to everything, being inherently good and sensible, he made her senses tingle with that desire to do something: anything! His persona captivated her so much she hated it, and her body told her that no matter what she would be texting him in half an hour, she would be asking him if he still wanted to see her Saturday, and if he did she would definitely be running to see him.

Shikamaru brought out all the things in Temari she had spent her life tucking away, compartmentalising into little boxes she wanted to keep secret for the rest of her life and feelings she never even thought she’d access. He’d also, unwittingly, caused her to throw away, at some level, her regard for reasoning and she didn’t care.

For the first time, Temari’s heart—as much as she still somewhat queried if it was indeed that which did this—was holding the reins, and she was really quite okay with that.

Slowly she took a couple of steps closer to the table, blinking away the guilty tears she didn’t want to admit to having. With a smile, Gaara rose to his feet and sighed.

“I want you to know that I do want you to be happy. I really do,” he added. “Why else would I have called Shikamaru for you yesterday?”

Temari embraced him without a second thought, swaying side to side in a tight and much needed hug, when out of the corner of her eye appeared a dripping wet face; confused and struck with what seemed like rage, a block of cheddar held in a white knuckle grip.

“Gaara,” Kankuro forced out, his voice laced with a disagreeable laugh. “What did you just say?”

~~~

His clothes glued to his skin, Shikamaru shifted slightly in his chair, poking aimlessly at the food on his plate. It sat before him miserable and just cold enough he didn’t want another mouthful, which according to his mother was just what he got for being home late. His parents finishing off their dinner with mixed emotions ever-present in their eyes, and the atmosphere around the round table was nothing short of the usual, un-engaging dynamic he was used to.

As he forced down another mouthful of chicken a shiver made it’s way up his spine to his neck, the cold seeping into every pore. It was then the thought came to him as he stared at down: Why wasn’t I allowed to get changed?

“Why are you soaking wet, Shikamaru?”

“Rain, Mum,” he groaned. “Wet, it falls from the sky…ever heard of it?”

He swore he heard Shikaku splutter slightly, but the man wasn’t giving anything away.

“Why didn’t you get the bus?”

“I got a cab.”

“A cab?”

“Yes.” It was a strain not to roll his eyes, but he stopped himself. “A cab.”

“Then why are you wet?”

Shikamaru turned to his father, frowning desperately. “Dad…”

“Are you going to eat your broccoli?”

“Mum, I’m twenty three.”

“So you can definitely formulate a sentence to answer me. Are you going to eat your broccoli?”

He looked at Shikaku once again, who merely raised his eyebrows at the young man as if to tell him, ‘Just eat the damn broccoli.’ Slowly he shovelled a forkful of peas into his mouth, armed with the knowledge that he should certainly be afraid if he were to annoy his mother.

“Thank you,” said Yoshino, in that same sweet voice, dripping with relief, that she used whenever her son or husband gave into her requests. “Can you pass me the gravy, Shikaku?”

The older man caned his neck slightly, staring into the abyss of an empty jug. “There’s none left, love.”

Frowning, she reached for the jug and peered inside as if she didn’t believe him. “Well,” she grumbled, rolling her eyes, “that’s disappointing. You need to make more next time.”

“Make more?” chuckled Shikaku as he shook his head. “And encourage myself to drown my food further?”

Shikamaru smiled as he locked eyes with his father for a split second. It had been a long time since Shikaku had cooked dinner, and for once it wasn’t awful. That didn’t necessarily mean that he wanted to eat the shoddy excuse for food, dowsed in gravy until it seemed more like soup than a roast dinner, but he appreciated the sentiment. And his father cooking meant one thing—Yoshino didn’t hold it over their heads that she’d fed them that evening, so they had that tiny bit more power than normal, and they were certainly going to take advantage of it.

“Love, could you possibly go and grab that bottle I saw you put in the fridge?”

Yoshino frowned, and so did Shikamaru. His father didn’t usually like to drink with his food, and he liked even less to drink in front of his son given the knowledge he held. This was a ploy—Shikamaru could see that plain as day. His dad was going drop something on him, and he had to get ready for it.

“Please,” her husband sighed. “I just really fancy it.”

“And if you’re going, can you grab me some more water?” added Shikamaru, barely turning from staring at his father as he took another bite to merely prove a point.

Shaking her head, the woman lifted her empty plate and her husband’s with a sigh and stepped backwards out of the room. “You’re lazy, Shikamaru Nara!”

“He’s just efficient,” called back Shikaku when he was sure his wife was far enough away she wouldn’t hear anything softer typical chatter, smiling at his son as he chewed.

The young man widened his eyes and cocked his head to one side expectantly until his father rested his elbows on the table and leaned forward with an inquisitive look.

“So your date last night,” Shikaku whispered, “go well?”

Even with the mental preparation he’d tried to give himself, Shikamaru almost choked. “What the fuck?”

He chuckled, shaking his head at the predictability of his son. “That is why you’ve been sneaking about, isn’t it?”

“I haven’t been ‘sneaking about’, Dad…”

“Come on, boy. Tell me.”

Shikamaru frowned and closed his eyes. “Dad, stop.”

“Serious or just sex?”

“Oh Christ, Dad—stop.” He almost threw his knife and fork to his plate, doing all he could not to plug his ears with his finger tips. “I am begging you, old man: stop talking.”

“The top button of your shirt is broken,” observed Shikaku, a snide chuckle at the back of his throat, ready to unleash when his son’s fingertips flew to his collar at once. “And your hair is particularly messy.”

Shikamaru could feel his cheeks flush, burning hot, when he felt no button. “My hair is always messy thanks to your genes…”

“That’s why you were late wasn’t it?”

With one huge squeeze, he let his eyes finally pry open to see the expectant-looking man before him. “Dad,” he groaned out, desperate for an end to the awkward feeling that flew through his veins.

“Say ‘Dad’ as much as you want, kid. I’m not changing the subject.”

Shikamaru looked particularly embarrassed, and as his hand instinctively found the hairs on the back of his neck he sighed. There was no stopping this man. If there was one thing his father had always wanted from him it was honesty; and being open with the trials and tribulations of his everyday life, no matter how big or how small, fell into this category.

And, despite the searing flashes of mortification and sudden memories of awkward talks in years gone by that this moment, right now, brought him, Shikamaru could hardly blame his father’s intrusion into his life. After all, Shikaku had never seen his son date or have a girlfriend, and he’d barely ever—maybe even only once—talked to him about women in general, too. So, it was inevitable that this conversation would arise at some point given the observational skills that his father possessed. Shikamaru just wished that it had come at a different time; a time where he could answer at least one simple question. The one he was grinding his teeth waiting for.

“Is it her?”

He frowned. That wasn’t the question he was expecting. “Who?” he laughed, confused.

“The therapist,” his dad said, as if it was the most unexciting and normal thing in the world.

Shikamaru began to pull on his baby-hairs, barely able to mutter through his uncomfortable laughter, “Dad…”

“Yes, then.”

To the untrained eye, Shikaku Nara would’ve looked entirely uninterested at that moment— emotionless and plain—but Shikamaru had lived enough years inside paper-thin walls with him to know the man better than that. He knew his father far too well to zone in on the creases between his eyebrows resembling a weak frown and peg him as angry, and he knew so much better than to focus only on the little smile that twitched at the corner of his mouth when his son’s cheeks grew uncomfortably red. The consistent happiness in Shikaku’s eyes as he stared down the young man almost masked the evident worry he held, but Shikamaru understood.

He’d known—of course he’d known—and he also knew that it wasn’t exactly a good situation. And after, way back when, the weird lady who’d tried to jump him in the waiting room rather than ever helping him, he couldn’t entirely bash his father’s cynicism. After all, being raised by a cynic had rubbed off on him a little, as well.

But cynicism, he’d discovered in the time he knew Temari, fell short with your feelings. Sometimes, he’d learned, you had to just put your faith in something and run with it, despite every inch of your being and your personality frowning upon that. And last night he had truly started sprinting, and there was no way he was turning back.

That didn’t make it any easier to admit something which was undeniably frowned upon across the board, though.

“It’s not her fault,” Shikamaru whispered. “It’s mine.”

Surprisingly his father’s smile grew as he leaned a little closer. “Shikamaru, it isn’t anybody’s fault,” he sighed.

The young man, as relieved as he felt, couldn’t help but stare at him, his subtly worried expression unchanged.

“Love is just love, isn’t it?” Shikaku chuckled. “The first time I met your mother, she slapped me round the face—do you think I asked to fall in love with her?” He waited for a smile on his son’s face that never came, and with a gentle sigh sat back in his chair, shrugging. “I just happens, son. We can’t help it.”

Shikamaru ducked his head quickly and lifted his fork once more, just to push his uneaten broccoli around his plate.

“So it’s too soon to say love?”

“Of course it is,” almost spat Shikamaru through a laugh. “I’ve only known her a month, Dad—barely that!”

“Time doesn’t make it any less real.”

He truly never thought he’d have this conversation with his father. Whether it was that he’d never expected to come across anyone like Temari as he dragged his feet through life or whether he just didn’t think Shikaku would care, everything about this was so foreign it felt impossible—surreal, even. If the ground were to have swallowed him up then before he could form any word to respond, that would’ve been fine. If his mother had returned and intruded then that would’ve been so warmly welcomed (but she’d clearly misplaced the corkscrew again and was taking an age.) And worst of all, his father wasn’t easing up on his expectant look just yet.

Honesty, thought Shikamaru. I should just be honest. Tell him I don’t know how I feel yet.

But that wasn’t truly honest, and even if it was such things were so much harder to execute than to say.

“I’m not good with my feelings,” he groaned, dropping his fork. “I don’t have to tell you that.”

“That’s just cause you’ve never had them.”

Shikamaru fortunately registered the humour and shook his head with something that vaguely resembled a smile. “Cold, Dad. Cold.”

“Maybe you could talk to your therapist about it.”

“Aren’t you hilarious?” he said, deciding to keep quiet about the fact that, as it stood, he didn’t actually have one.

“Seriously, boy,” Shikaku chuckled and raised his eyebrows at him, “just be honest with yourself. Tell her how you—”

“Here you go!”

Shikamaru jumped as into the room flew Yoshino, placing before his father a bottle, and a half-empty glass in front of him. Nervously he smiled as his mother frowned.

“What? What did I miss?”

“Nothing,” the men said in unison, sharing a subtly knowing glance as one took a drink and the other lifted his fork slowly.

“Oh, Dad, before I forget,” Shikamaru began, piercing through another lump of broccoli to please his mother. “Can I borrow the car on Saturday?”

With a raised eyebrows, the older man hummed. “Why?”

He cocked his head to one side, lip between his teeth as he momentarily widened his eyes. “Just told Choji I’d—”

“Okay,” Shikaku shot back, understanding instantly. “Go for it. Just don’t crash it—oh, or stain anything in it!”

“Very funny.”

~~~

“Shikamaru?” Kankuro pounded the block of cheese in his hand onto the side before shedding his coat to the ground. “As in flower shop Shikamaru?”

With a gulp the young woman nodded. “Yes.”

“Gaara, why are you egging her on with this?”

“He’s not—”

“Why aren’t you?” intervened Gaara. “Pick your coat up.”

“Because she’s our sister, that’s why! I don’t like the idea of her fucking everything up, and fucking him while she—”

“Kankuro, she’s right bloody here!” he scoffed, shaking his head in disbelief. “Our sister is a human being capable, frankly, of far superior thought to us. You really think she hasn’t approached this entire situation with the necessary caution?”

“Obviously not if anything at all has happened!” Kankuro gaped and waggled his finger at her accusatively, lowering his tone suspiciously. ‘That’s where you went last night, isn’t it?”

Temari fumbled to speak, her throat closed with anxiety.

“Holy shit, it was!” he laughed. “And the night before—it was his you stayed at wasn’t it?”

“Kankuro,” she began weakly with tired eyes, never getting the chance to explain herself. “Please stop it…”

“Didn’t I tell you, Gaara?”

Sick of being the middle man, the youngest sibling sighed and turned away sheepishly.

“You bloody…you arsehole…” Amazed, Kankuro turned back to his sister and shook his head, arms spread wide. “He bloody knew? And you didn’t tell me a thing?”

She gaped, her nose screwing up more by the second. “Well, excuse me if I didn’t want you to physically attack a perfectly nice and innocent man, Kankuro.”

“Innocent?” he spat. “You don’t watch him every day like I do. You don’t see him and that hot blonde!”

Temari’s blood began to burn through her veins. “My God, you’re so full of shit.”

“And you don’t know him! He’s a bad influence on you—can’t you see that?”

“Spoken by the true angel that you are,” she scoffed. “The man doesn’t even drink! Yes, he smokes, but there’re far worse things he could be doing with his time!”

“I meant professionally, Tem, but if you want to go down that road, let’s go there. Shall we, yeah?” Kankuro crossed his arms, almost snarling. “That girl—the one in the shop he’s always with—you really think that him and her aren’t at it?”

“You’re disgusting…”

“No, Temari!” He shook his head. “I’m just not blind, unlike some. Men are arseholes—”

“You think I haven’t noticed that from living with you?”

Gaara spluttered with laughter, earning a glare from the pair of them, and sunk back into his chair. “Sorry,” he breathed out.

“Temari,” said Kankuro, his voice laden with a sickeningly familiar patronising tone, “just take a minute to be honest with yourself. You know that he is a bad idea, and you know that you can do so much better than this mess that you’ve willingly gotten yourself into!”

Never in her life, even in the first few sessions with Shikamaru, had she ever wanted to sent her fist flying into somebody’s cheekbone as much as she did right now. There were only a handful of times in her life that she’d truly unleashed her rage on her own brothers, and undeniably most of those were to Kankuro, and he was teetering her on the edge of repeating it. Temari could feel her whole body shaking, her fists tightened into white balls from the tension; fixed like concrete and ready to swing. Every square inch of her skin felt like it was flaming and she could sense the most horrible nervous feeling of needles all over her body.

It wasn’t like she was actively waiting to break her brother’s jaw, but if the opportunity presented itself—f she had to hit him at this point—she wouldn’t hesitate. “Three strikes,” she muttered under breath, so quietly the furious man before her barely noticed.

“Temari, you deserve some guy who can pull his own weight…”

Didn’t take long, she thought. Strike one.

“…that you don’t have to fucking baby…”

Strike two.

“…because his is so fucked that can barely hold it together for ten minutes without having to rely on fucking cigarettes and your stupid advice!”

Strike three.

But her hands couldn’t move. Instead, when she felt herself surge forward in her unfiltered glory, words just started to fly out.

“Have you sat down and listened to him talk about his life? About his mind? About how he tried to fucking kill himself, Kankuro?” screamed Temari, her face right up in his. “Do you ever stop to consider what it’s like in someone else’s mind and not in your pessimistic like shit hole you call a brain? God, you’re a prick!”

Kankuro, for a moment seemed speechless. For a split second as his eyes widened and the air in the room grew clammy, it almost felt like she’d hit the right nerve to stop him in his tracks. Because, in reality, how dare he? Where did he earn the right to spout such garbage at her—lies about a kind soul and comments on things he knew literally nothing about? If he was mute from this moment on it would surely be a blessing!

Slowly Temari stepped back, glaring as her voice simmered down to a softer, more scathing vein. “Now what the fuck have you got to say for yourself, huh?”

There was a beat, and Gaara shuffled anxiously at the table as Kankuro stepped up to his sister once more.

“You shouldn’t see him again, Temari; you’re going to get hurt.”

“Oh, shut your damn mouth. Nobody’s going to hurt me but you.” She squinted at him, disgusted by the flickers she could see of her father in his eyes. “Make your own fucking fajitas, asshole.”

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ariannjs · 6 years ago

Text

He & She | A SasuSaku FanFic (One Shot)

Here’s one of my first few fics since I returned to writing last September so characters might have been OOC, hehez. :D

For my other works, check out this page. Enjoy!

------

"Thanks, Sasuke. Your reliable updates are always helpful to the village, ‘ttebayo!" Naruto acknowledged before he began rambling to his best friend about the happenings in Konohagakure, thinking that it's just appropriate to let him know about the things he had missed since that time he left for his journey of redemption especially because he had just returned now.

Time flew by so fast that the soon-to-be Hokage was so hyped up to keep the wandering ninja up to date with the latest news.

Sasuke didn't seem to be mindful about Naruto's stories though. He was away for a good two years or so, and as much as he would want to check up on the status of everything and everyone, his mind was wandering somewhere else, or rather, his mind was pondering about someone else – the main reason that made him want to come home.

"N-naruto..." Sasuke suddenly uttered, cutting off his blond friend from babbling about how their Kakashi-sensei was the most relaxed Hokage ever.

Naruto gave him a puzzled look afterwards. He knew full well that Sasuke's not one who stutters when he speaks, but for some reason, there was suddenly no confidence on his childhood rival's voice now. "Yeah?"

"Uh, Naruto..." Sasuke avoided his gaze and looked at the vast forest ahead of them. "Is...is Sakura..."

That’s when Naruto remembered the only time that Sasuke became tongue tied in front of him. He could recall how stunned he was at the subtle but visible dust of red on his cheeks at the mention of their female teammate's name. Smirking, Naruto didn’t even let him finish. "Sakura-chan, huh."

Sasuke scowled at him when he realized what he was doing.

"Well, to answer your questio–-"

"I haven't even mentioned the question." Naruto received a glare from him but he just brushed him off.

"Sakura is fine. Sakura is working in a children's clinic that she and Ino had put up. And..." Dragging the sound of his last word, Naruto smirked once again at the guy whose attention, unlike earlier, was now fixed intently on him. "...Sakura is not dating anyone. Now tell me if I didn't get to answer your question."

Sasuke rolled his eyes at Naruto's smugness. Heaving a deep sigh, he contemplated on his best friend's words. It still bugged him to the core whenever he thought about Sakura, their past, and their future – if they would even have one.

He now fully understood and admitted that there was nothing noteworthy with how he treated their kunoichi teammate in the past despite all the manifestations of her kindness and affection towards him. Just thinking about that fact blocked his brain with any positive outlook on having a bright future with her. However, without her, he was sure he wouldn't even have a good future on his own.

"Oi, Teme! This uncertain boy in front of me is not the Uchiha man I know." Naruto chuckled. "What's holding you back?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him. "Holding me back?"

"Duh! From telling her your feelings!"

Sasuke froze at Naruto's remark. He wasn't even mentioning anything yet. Was he that obvious yet so denial to himself?

Another sigh escaped his lips as he turned to face his best friend who once had feelings for Sakura as well. There was no point hiding things, he could read him and share with his pain anyway. "I don't know how. And I don't know if...I could love her enough." He looked down at his left side, not forgetting the fact that the arm that used to be there was the same arm that almost hit the most important woman in his life with a vengeful Chidori. He flinched at the memory, until he received a sudden whack at the back of his head. "What the hell is your problem?!"

"Hey! That's my line!" Naruto stood up from the tree branch where they were both comfortably seated and wagged a finger at him. "Why would you say something like that? Isn't Sakura-chan worth fighting for?"

Sasuke clenched his fist for a moment and then unclenched it again. "That's the point. We both know that she deserves better. And even though I...love her, I can't help but think that I wouldn't be able to give her all the love that she deserves."

Sighing, Naruto sat beside his best friend again. He could see the pain through those onyx eyes that he used to hate. And for him, it was a very rare sight to see the Uchiha drop his walls like this. "You know what? You're stupid."

As much as Sasuke wanted to grimace at that statement, he could only agree that Naruto was speaking matter-of-factly.

"Remember that time we were fighting with Gaara and Shukaku during the Chunin Exams?" Naruto suddenly smiled at the memory as he continued to talk some sense to his best friend.

Sasuke turned to him with a confused expression.

"You were so willing to offer your life to stall Shukaku and Gaara in order for me to save Sakura-chan. That was the first time I've ever seen you admit your weakness that it could be your end of the game, and it was for Sakura-chan's sake." Naruto placed a reassuring hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "When you told me to carry her, run, and do everything to save her because you don't want anyone dear to you to die in front of your eyes again, that's when I knew that even though you're pretty much an ice cube back then, and a big block of ice now, you've had and you still have a space in your heart for Sakura-chan." He sighed, staring at Sasuke's pondering eyes. "You didn't want to lose her before. Would it actually be alright for you to lose her now?"

That last statement was like a splash of cold water to Sasuke – oh, right, scratch that – it was like a splash of boiling water to his freezing heart. Of course he already knew the answer to that.

During the many times he went out of his way to protect Sakura, his vengeful, stoic brain used to reason that it was just out of duty because she was his teammate. But at the back of his head, he knew, and Naruto apparently knew as well, that she's the last person he would ever want to see being hurt. And she's the last person he would ever want to lose.

Dang, it would be hell if he'd lose her! Just thinking about it automatically gives him a searing pang in his chest.

"But..." As much as it was already apparent on the scoreboard that Naruto had won this argument, there went the last straw of Sasuke's stubbornness. "I almost...killed her..." His voice trailed off as his eyes darted to the space where his left arm used to be again.

Once more, Naruto sighed. "Yes, you almost did. But you didn't want to, did you?" If there's one thing obvious that Naruto strongly believed in, it was the goodness in his best friend's heart. If he didn't believe in that, he wouldn't even dare to go through all those mess a few years ago just to bring him back to the village. "I, Sakura-chan, and Kakashi-sensei all knew that that Sasuke back then wasn't the real you. You were blinded by your willingness to avenge your clan alright, but we knew you and believed in you, teme! We still do. Plus, you've come a long way since then!" He gave a reassuring smile at Sasuke, and when Sasuke slowly smiled back at him with a now relaxed composure, he knew his best friend's worries were now swept away, unless he chooses to dwell on his guilt again.

With a smirk, he mentioned afterwards, "Seems like I've gained another point and won this one, don't you think?"

And then the expressionless Sasuke he knew was back. "Hn. Fine, I'll give you this one."

Naruto guffawed as he punched Sasuke's arm before turning his back to leave, but he paused when his best friend called him back.

"Dobe, thanks."

"Sure. I know you'll do the right thing, teme! Before it's too late!" And then he took off to send Sasuke's report to the Hokage's office.

The right thing, huh? Alright.

"Wha—? Hang on." Sakura was sure that she left her door locked. Realizing that she left all her shuriken and kunai inside her apartment, she courageously opened her front door while gathering chakra on her other fist, only to be left astounded with what she had seen...

"S-sasuke-kun?!" She blinked a few times in disbelief while staring at the guy seated on her couch.

"I'm home, Sakura."

"W-welcome...back." She's one who's able to discern if she was in a genjustu or not, but this one's quite surreal. Still trying to take in the sight in front of her, she mindlessly asked, "Is that really you?"

Sasuke released what seemed like a nervous chuckle before he nodded. "I don't have any idea on what time you usually go home. So I just decided to wait here."

Okay, so, Sasuke's back in the village, sure. But why is he in my apartment? "W-what are...wait, do you have any injuries that you want to be treated?" Yes. That was probably it. He wouldn't have the need to go to me if there's anything else other than that, right? "W-wait a sec." Distracted, the medical ninja darted across the living room thinking about getting her medical kit until a cold hand grabbed her arm to stop her midway.

Few seconds in the scenario and it already felt quite long for her. Slowly, she turned to him and met those obsidian eyes that she hasn't seen for far too long. "Why are you here, Sasuke-kun?" And then she just couldn't help it anymore. The prisoners in her eyes that she was trying to hide for so long started to fall down her cheeks.

Of course she missed him, but somehow, a mixture of surprise, joy, anguish, expectance, and frustration filled her chest. It’s been more than two years, after all. She's been wanting to see him again, but now that he's here, for some reason, it was too overwhelming for her to bear.

"Please...don't cry." Sasuke's hand cupped her cheek as his thumb wiped away her tears.

She realized there was nothing familiar with his touch as her gaze landed on his hand. She placed hers above it, and then brought his hand down, not wanting to be vulnerable under his touch. She didn't even want to be vulnerable at all after all this time of struggling to be strong while convincing herself that it's gonna be worth the wait, that he's gonna be worth the wait.

Seeing her tears crippled Sasuke on the inside that he had to look away. He had seen her cry many times before, and sadly, it was usually because of or for him. What he told Naruto was true, she deserves better. She really does. That's why if this courageous act on his part would end up with a negative result, he was already mentally preparing himself to accept and respect whatever her decision would be as long as she's happy.

Even if it would break him.

Sakura's eyes turned to his face, and for a moment, she was surprised with the soft expression of the man in front of her. She realized she barely knew the man he has become. "Tell me, why are you here?"

He was at a loss for words. He was never good with words anyway. But in the shortest and simplest way he could, he uttered, "I'm here because of you."

Walking past him, Sakura started heading back to the living room to be out of his sight again. She was a bit offended as she remembered her younger self for everyone seemed to see her as the same young, impulsive, and annoying fangirl that she used to be. And if Sasuke still saw her in the same way, it would certainly break her heart. "Please don't fool me, Sasuke-kun. I have no time for this. If you need anything, just say it and I would be willing to hel-"

"I'm in love with you, Sakura," Sasuke then blurted out, making her stop on her tracks. There was a gap of silence before he gently added, "I guess I've always been, but I never fully realized it until I left again."

Exasperated, Sakura took a seat on the sofa with her hands on her tear-filled face. She didn't want to have false hopes anymore. Maybe that's what waiting does, it tempts you to lose your faith but you know full well that you shouldn't.

"I admit, if this was the younger me I would've fallen for this immediately the moment you walked at my door. But..." Her breathing then escalated as she continued to speak in between her sobs. "S-sasuke, you...you don't know how much it pained me all the time thinking about all the possible what if's. What if you get hurt? What if you get lost? What if you realize it wasn't worth it protecting this village after all? What if that forehead poke and promise were nothing to you and you decide to not ever come back here...to me? And w-what if...what if you get...kil–"

"Ssshh." Sasuke rushed towards her and regardless of what she might say, his arm wrapped around her and he pulled her to his chest. "Believe me, I've had my fair share of what if's too. Just like how I know it would kill me if I came back and saw you with someone else."

For once, he admitted, he had been a coward after all. He didn't know how to face Konoha, to face her, to face the future, once he came back. That's why his return got delayed time and time again. If not because of Naruto, he wouldn't even think that confessing to her was the right thing to do, before it's too late.

"It's been so long, Sasuke-kun. It's been so long." It was true. But he will always be grateful that she continued to stay and hold on for far too long, even without the assurance of things coming her way.

"I'm sorry. I really am. I needed that time to be away, to start over, to grow. Because Sakura, I don't want to be a pain to you once again when I come back to you." He pulled her closer. "I told myself I don't want to be a burden anymore, but here I am, failing immediately and making you cry the first time we meet again." He sighed and searched for her eyes. "Forgive me, Sakura."

Sakura lifted her gaze and met his. "I've already forgiven you a while back, Sasuke-kun. B-but...I've been so worried about you. I didn't even know if you'll come back. I didn't...I didn't even know if you'll ever feel the same way."

I will never understand how this woman could care for someone like me, but I'm glad she still does, the thought made his heart skip a beat. "I'm sorry also that I made you worry about me." Sasuke genuinely smiled at the woman he loves, something he never thought he'd find so comfortable to do. "But now, everything seems to be falling into place. I'm safely back, I'm in love with you – so damn much, by the way – and...you're single...right?" He let out a chortle, earning a smack from her on his chest.

Sakura's lips formed a lopsided grin after that. She was still quite astounded with the Sasuke in front of her, no walls or whatsoever. It was him wearing his heart on his sleeve for the first time. And witnessing this rekindled the fire of her love for him.

For since the beginning, she was the fire that complemented the ice that he was.

When Sasuke realized that she's not going to utter anything, he lifted her chin so his mismatched eyes could connect with her emerald ones again. "Sakura, tell me, am I too late? Have you been tired of waiting?" He just had to make sure, but joy filled his entire system when she shook her head and smiled at him. "I know we've been through a lot. But, I love you, Sakura. And I'm hoping that we could start again. What do you say about that?" He stared at her expectantly.

"I'm not sure if I'll get used to this side of you." Sakura chuckled. "But I love it. And I love you, too. Still.” Her smile never left her face as she stared back at the man she's always loved and cared for. “So yes, it would be great if we start again."

For a while, she almost thought that this day would never come. But then, she realized that waiting is not entirely about the thing or the person that you're waiting for, it's about who you become in the process – the process that you have to embrace and endure no matter how long and painstaking it could be. If Sasuke didn't leave Konoha in the first place, she wouldn't have the urge to train even harder and eventually become the greatest medical ninja and one of the strongest kunoichis in the world. And if she didn't go through all those brokenness since that time she fell for him, she wouldn't be the woman that she has become today.

Sasuke couldn't help but pull her in a tight hug. He was stupid alright, and he never thought that someone with such a horrendous past like him could still have a hopeful future. While Sasuke was lost in a dark abyss, Sakura was the light that led him back home.

When he pulled away from their embrace, Sakura was yet again in tears, but this time, they were joyful tears because of him. All their previous apprehensions slowly went down the drain when Sasuke closed the gap between them before finally capturing Sakura's lips with his.

They've had their fair share of uncertainties, but at the end of the day, Sakura knew that all the waiting was not in vain. And Sasuke didn't regret going home and claiming what's his.

He'd probably even thank a certain whiskered guy again the next day.

———

Hey guys! Don't forget to comment your thoughts on this fic below. :) I'd love to know what you think about my stories featuring our faves Sasuke & Sakura. It could be about the plot, my way of writing, the emotions of the characters, the lines, etc. :D

This one-shot has a quite predictable flow but I intentionally did that while focusing on the inner Sasuke and inner Sakura. I kind of enjoy exploring their thoughts on most of my works, hehe.

Meanwhile, I'd like to share with you all that I have now launched my pages on Patreon & Ko-fi! I launched them to be a haven for me and the people who believe in me and my art - both Music & Literature. I also have a special gift for my first 50 patrons once I reach the goal of having that number in my support team! They'll get a *special digital (PDF) compilation of some of my works which includes:

• 3 SasuSaku FanFiction One Shots (Mornings, Clingy, Coffee Shop)

• 2 Original Short Stories (Scrapbook, Photoshoot)

• 1 Scanned handwritten lyrics & chords of one of my original songs (Embrace the Sun)

(* = subject to change if you want this set or another set with scanned handwritten lyrics & chords of three original songs, no fics included)

If you desire to support but only for a one-time giving, you could head on to my Ko-fi page and give any amount you could bless me with! It would surely be encouraging as I continue to create both Music and Fiction content!

Thanks & God bless!

– A

#sasusaku #ss fanfics #ss fics #sasusaku fanfiction #ariannjfics #patreon #support patreon #sasusaku one shot

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darquedeath4444 · 7 years ago

Text

The Deity of Spring

NARUTO

Pairing: Sakura x Multi

Summary:

Swearing revenge upon the world for the sins committed against her thousands of years ago, Kaguya rose from the ashes, bringing with her an army of Zetsus, and began a slow but sure march towards the Elemental Nations. Faced with a threat like never before, the people, in a desperate effort to make a stand, turn towards another legend, the Deity of Spring, for help. AU/SakuMulti.

Chapter ONE

"War is coming."

"War is already here. Even now, the humans are fighting."

"No, war is currently there. Here is currently safe. Here, there is no war."

"Currently?"

"Yes. War is coming. It is coming here. Humans are coming. They will bring it with them."

"Report!"

"The outer northern defense point just barely managed to hold off the assault. Countless of our men were lost and just as many were injured. I doubt they can hold off another attack."

Senju Tsunade of the Land of Fire snarled in annoyance and slammed a fist onto the table. Beside her, Sabaku no Gaara of the Land of Wind winced at the sound but he did not move to stop her as she proceeded to shatter the wood with her bare hands.

"We did not expect it would hold for long," Terumi Mei of the Land of Water said. "Do we rebuild it and send more men to try and strengthen it?"

"The point of the northern defense was to buy time for the defenses closer to home to fortify," Onoki of the Land of Earth said.

"Defenses that are nowhere near ready," Mei retorted, then added softly. "The northern fort was meant to last longer."

"But it did not," Gaara replied. "We cannot dwell on it any longer, and we must assume the worse. Another attack and the fort will fall. We must decide what we are to do before the enemy moves first."

Tsunade cursed under her breath again. She picked up the many maps and other pieces of paper that now littered the ground and dumped them all onto another table. "Gaara is correct," she said. "This was the worst outcome possible, but it was already considered as a possibility."

"Only the worst outcomes have become reality," A of the Land of Lightning said. "We are waging war against a God. Perhaps we are only delaying the inevitable."

If someone had told a drunk Tsunade five years ago that a sealed Goddess would one day appear to exterminate mankind for some onlygodknown reason, she would have laughed. If she had been sober, she would have punched them and demanded they get back to work. The Gods, after all, had vanished off the planes of the Earth countless generations ago. Some had returned to their realm completely, while those who had remained never again directly appeared before humans. Ever since, while reports of unexplainable occurrences did appear once in a while, no Deity had appeared to claim responsibility.

But then, it had happened. Four years ago, the world had changed. Kaguya was said to be the Goddess of Creation, the being that had created the world as it had first been, but when she had appeared before mankind millennia after the Gods had banished themselves from the plane, there had been no traces of love or even attachment a creator might have had towards their creation. There had been slightly less famous versions of the legend, where the Goddess had been sealed by other Deities for reasons unstated, but she was nothing like the Mother the more popular version of the legends had claimed her to be. An army of white blobs known as Zetsu crawled out of the grave behind her and she brought with her millennia of anger and vengeance and had sworn the world would pay for what it had done to her before she had vanished. Everyone was to suffer for sins committed thousands of generations ago.

It had started as rumors, starting with how the Goddess emerged from the ruined lands where the Otsutsuki clan, the first of the Gods that had forsaken godhood to live as humans, had once lived and had slowly begun her advance towards the Elemental Nations.

However, by then, Gods had been nothing but a legend; the Elemental Nations had been the ruling forces of the lands for as long as history had recorded, and they had believed themselves to be undefeatable. People escaped the path of the Goddess and her army, but those who hadn't seen did not take the rumors and stories seriously.

Soon, the armies of white Zetsu began to make appearances near the edges of the borders and the Nations all dealt with them in their own way. Perhaps the stories were true, they had thought, but back then, it had been nothing. They had all emerged victorious in several battles against the white armies and no one feared something they could defeat.

Then, as though done with playing around, Kaguya unleashed her terror upon the world. Suddenly, the Zetsus were no longer seemingly brain-dead white clones. They became stronger and fiercer, and people sent to exterminate then slowly began failing to return. Others were sent after them, only to witness the horrors as friends and family were consumed by the Zetsu and they became one themselves.

Suddenly, white Zetsu kill counts were no longer a bragging story among the leaders of the Nations during peace conferences, but a real threat.

The Elemental Nations had never really gotten along and border skirmishes had been as common as tea with neighbors, but as more and more news of fear began to spread, an alliance had been formed to confront this sudden, unknown danger.

They hadn't known, however, who this enemy really was.

Kaguya had been reduced to a mythological story, a figure said to have been the creator of the lands. However, it appeared as though years of imprisonment and pent-up anger had driven her mad. Their opponent was a Goddess, and to her, they probably weren't a threat.

For four years, closely approaching five, the Elemental Nations had put up a fight against the never-ending white Zetsu army. Forts and strongholds that had been built to be used against one another became standing points against the Goddess' forces. Her advances were slow, but they were sure, and many had begun to lose hope of winning.

"If we surrender, we die. If we fight and lose, we die," Tsunade said gravely. "There is nothing wrong with trying to reach the only outcome where we don't die."

A stared at her for a while, before he nodded. "I guess you're right."

"Let us consult Shikaku-san," Gaara suggested, and Tsunade nodded.

"I will have him called."

Nara Shikaku was the head of a clan of the Land of Fire, and his intellect was unrivaled. Even those of other lands had heard of his mental prowess and no one would be too opposed to admitting that he was probably the best strategist the alliance had.

The man arrived a few minutes later, arms stacked with scrolls. No one questioned him as he called out a greeting before he dumped his armload on top of the maps.

Gaara curiously picked at one and blinked. "...Myths and legends?"

Onoki looked up at Gaara's question and he too picked up a scroll. "Are these...children stories?"

Mei peeked over the man's shoulder and smiled. "Oh! I remember that one."

Tsunade eyed the man, knowing that he had a reason behind his action. "What are you thinking, Nara?" She asked.

Shikaku shrugged as he sat down on an open chair. "Our opponent is a legend, a story," he said. "Or, she was until one day she wasn't."

A narrowed his eyes a little and Tsunade noted the Nara head's apparent love of speaking in riddles. "We are at war here," she reminded him. "Against a Goddess."

"Get to it," A barked at the same time.

Shikaku sighed and raised his hands in mock surrender. "What I'm trying to say is, we're pushed to the edge. We all know this Goddess is much more powerful than what she is currently showing us. I'm willing to bet a lifetime of paperwork without a single word of complaint that she could kill us all off the moment she truly feels like it."

"And while this is cute," Mei picked up one of the scrolls, "How is this supposed to help us?"

"Our opponent is a legend," Gaara said slowly. "She was supposed to be a story." He glanced over at Shikaku, and the man nodded.

"The Gods vanished themselves from before mankind after a huge war that almost destroyed the lands," he said. "However, it's a known fact that some of them did not leave this plane, but have simply gone into hiding."

"He's lost it," A declared.

"If that is the case, why haven't they shown themselves already?" Mei prompted.

Shikaku lazily fished through his pile of stories. "And why would they?" He asked. "It's almost an established fact that Gods could not careless for humans. They are Gods, and we were mere mortals. If Kaguya's creation stories are true, she made us. An argument is that why shouldn't she destroy us at will? We are hers, after all."

"So, say Kaguya is not the only one still here, and that some of the others are still here in the plane," Onoki said. "What, do you suggest we go hunting them down and ask them to help us?"

Shikaku shrugged again. "Well, we are standing on the edge of a cliff, and Kaguya is slowly pushing us over. I certainly wouldn't mind grasping at another way out."

Tsunade closed her eyes and counted to twenty. They were getting desperate, but were they desperate enough to split their quickly declining resources and men towards hunting down the Gods, who had gone into hiding had remained unfound for thousands of years?

"Do you have any other suggestions?" Onoki asked. "Or is this the only thing you prepared?"

Shikaku fished through the scrolls and pulled out a folder. "Well, I also did calculate the manpower and resources we would need to have the northern fort fixed by tomorrow night, as well as a map of the most effective way to travel there."

Tsunade took the file from him and read through it.

"I say we vote," Gaara said. "Either way, we're slowly dying."

"Wait, we're actually considering the Deity hunt?" A asked.

"There isn't much we can do," Tsunade said slowly. "If we send the minimum to both the northern fort, we can spare a few to the hunt."

"I think it might be worth a shot," Mei said. "The Gods have always been a little distant; maybe they don't even know one of their kind is wrecking havoc on this plane."

"You're desperate," A said accusingly.

"No," Gaara said. "We're desperate. We are fighting a Goddess who holds a grudge from thousands of years ago. She is out to destroy the world and everything that exists on the lands. Thinking we had much of a fighting chance in the first place was an act of desperation."

"Still, we are sending out men that we could be using to fortify the defenses around our camp out on a mission to look for something that might not even be found," Onoki pointed out. "I understand where A is coming from."

Gaara crossed his arms and leaned back. "So we vote," he repeated.

Tsunade turned to Shikaku, who looked ready to fall asleep. "I take there's a reason you brought these in particular?" She pressed. "Out of everything else you could have found in the kiddie section of the library?"

Shikaku yawned and slowly sat up. "These are all a part of the Creation legend," he explained. "You know, the one where Kaguya is the creator of the world? I thought that if we really were going out grasping at straws of myths and legends, I thought they'd be slightly closer to the truth."

"Did any, in particular, stand out?"

Shikaku nodded and held up a single scroll. "Have you heard the story about the Deity of Spring?"

"What did she say?"

"She thinks the war there will be coming here."

"Did she say 'think'?"

"...No."

"So they will come here."

"I was hoping they wouldn't."

"That's humans to you; they can never keep their problems to themselves. They aren't satisfied until they drag everyone else into it too. They think their own problems are everyone else's. Did she say why they would be coming here?"

"No. She fell asleep soon after, and I didn't want to wake her up."

"Ah, well, knowing that would have been nice, but I guess it doesn't matter too much."

"If they come to kill her, we'll kill them. If they come to hurt her, we'll kill them. If they come to take her away, we'll kill them. If they come to use her, we'll kill them."

"I'm just wondering, is there an outcome where we don't kill them?"

"...If they're here to pledge themselves to be faithful servants and offer their hearts and their lives as tribute."

"How are they supposed to serve her if they give their lives? They'd be dead and useless then, 'ttebayo."

"...Hn."

Chapter TWO>

Chapter List

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cleacourgette · 7 years ago

Text

A lesson on marriage

I cannot get enough of my favorite ship in Naruto. You know that feeling of following our OTP for years than actually becoming canon?

I’ve been inspired by the new Boruto episodes, its so nice to see the new team suna, and see Kankuro, and see Temari training the new inoshikacho. Ahh, the feels to the chunin exams are strong.

As always, I hope you like this one shot.

The Nara residence had been lively that day, with the presence of the Kazekage himself, his right arm, Kankurou and his son Shinki. All because their older sister Temari insisted quite a lot, even when Gaara said she shouldn’t make such thing, that he didn’t want to trouble her, that eating together in a restaurant would have been less trouble and still could keep the whole family together. But he knew his dearest sister to be the most stubborn out of the three of them and, and with her insistence, he easily gave in.

So lively it was, and Temari couldn’t be happier through the whole dinner party, watching her family together, reminiscent of the old days when she was responsible for taking care of her sloppy brothers. Gaara was always stuck on his office, forgetting often to take care of himself, and Kakuro, well Kakuro was specially slob and careless ever since she could remember. But it was nice to bask in such memories.

The Nara family took note of how Shinki grew up to be. He was incredibly similar to Gaara, from his speech, to his quiet demeanor, his sense of priorities. Shikadai only remembered Shinki from a long time ago, when both of them were little kids, playing together in Suna, from the several vacations he spent with his uncles, all in order to learn about his Sunagakure heritage better, his mother often said. He knew and felt, Shinki was completely different now. His cousin had always been quiet, but now more than ever.

After the pleasant dinner, Temari invited them to stay over, after all the Nara residence was quite big, and having her brothers close was all she wanted. If only for a little longer. But to this, Gaara said no, and he insisted this time, he explained that he had already booked rooms for him, Kankuro and the kids, not to mention that having dinner was one thing, staying over would be a lot more trouble he wasn’t willing to let his sister carry. He considered to her, he would be wiling to spend a few days with her when work wasn’t as chaotic. It would be nice to have the family all together in Konoha. She gave in, feeling like they just negotiated time to spend as a family.

They left for the night, and Temari was a little saddened. Shikamaru noted that down on his brain, and when they were waving their goodbyes, his arm wrapped around her shoulders, pulling her close. Temari noted that down on her heart.

“Shikadai’s sleeping. I guess the first day of the chunin exams already took the best of him, huh?” Shikamaru entered the room, pocketed hands, slow pace and a gentle close of the door behind him, making sure no sounds would be made to not wake his son up.

His wife, sitting on the bed, back comfortably laying against the bunch of pillows, peeked up from the book she was reading. The dim light in the room, was just enough for her to make up the words in it. Another antique she found on the Nara library, often about Justus of the family, other times medical books, or just several diaries and notes from the several Nara heads on the family across the centuries. Her teal eyes looked up at him, her naked legs were curled up, close to her chest, and she gently stretched one, and then the other.

The book was finding now rest on top of the bed side table, and her lips stretched a smile up at him. “Your son, isn’t he?” She teased. “Already tired and it was only the first day. Do you know what he told me about the first test? It was easy.” She snorted, dipping her body further against the pillows, her legs dancing one on top of the other sensually, a show for his eyes only.

Shikamaru’s eyes shifted between her eyes and her legs. Quick peeks at her legs, and the dance they were in, and then her teal deep eyes. The tease. “Hah, right back at you. Only you would say something like easy in a chunin exam, after all. Isn’t that what you thought when you saw me as your opponent? This one’s gonna be easy.”

The man, scratched his beard, analyzing his situation before him. Everything was pointing to this being a trap. She was faking it right now, he could tell, he already knew the little hints she dropped when she was lying or hiding something. A little twitch of her smile, the sudden change of topic, a distraction with her legs. She was good, and has only gotten better over the years, but this was a strategy he knew well by now. His wife missed her brothers, and that much was obvious by their nice evening that day. And now she was trying to cover up the fact that she was sad that they left. As always trying to be tough when she didn’t have to.

He decided to approached the situation carefully, sitting on the edge of his bed, across from her, his back turned to her, working on stripping his clothes, making himself comfortable, leading her to believe he fell for her trap.

“Is my husband feeling nostalgic?” Temari wasn’t dumb, she knew he had something planned, she could tell by the way he was being so slow and careful about his approach. This though, was one of the best things about being married to Konoha’s genius. Every day was a nice challenge, it tickled her personality. She dragged her body across the bed, reaching for him from behind, a hand coming up to his shoulder, helping him off his clothes.

“Maybe. I did meet a very spunky little girl back then.” He arched his brow, reaching for her hand, stopping it gently, caressing it, each finger carefully.

But then she was fast to reply. “Oh did you? Spunky seems troublesome thought.” Her other hand was now on his other shoulder, and he turned his head to face her. Her lovely hair was falling down her face, framing her olive skin in a beautiful sight under the dim light.

“Yeah. It was. It’s been a really troublesome journey all the way, but, you know? It was worth it. Look at what I have now.” He slowly turned his body towards her, and gently entwined their fingers together.

What Temari needed right now, was understanding and love. Not lust. Lust was a distraction for her, to forget for a moment that she missed being the one taking care of her brothers. She missed her roots, her land. Even thought she grew well accustomed to Konoha, she was still a brawly woman from Suna, and she would never forget that.

In her voice this time, there was need, it was breathless almost desperate. “What is it? What do you have now? Tell me?”

The gentle side of her. That sweet little thing his father told him about. She stopped being the scariest suna kunoichi in the world for him, a long time ago. Again and again, she gave him this side of her no one else saw.

It was in her nature and she felt it. It felt so natural for her to be caring with him, to be kind, to be loving. It was natural when they became accustomed to each other’s company, how they cared for each other, how strong the bonds have become, how that friendship grew into something so beautiful, and It felt incredibly natural for her to say yes, when he proposed, to kiss and touch for the first time. It was meant to be. And the thought of love and passion filled her cheeks in a rosy color, painted her eyes with a twinkle and made her lean closer to him, tilting her head in search for a kiss, but still waiting for her answer.

“I have you, I have Shikadai, I have us, our family. You were worth all the trouble.” It didn’t take long for him to answer; it was like a verse from an ancient poem, so right and so simple to say. The words spilled from his lips so easily and so genuine.

They touched, for a moment lips brushed a little, and she fell. Her eyes were closed, and she breathed him. He swallowed back, opening her arms to accept her weight on him. His grip was secure, locked around her, and they kissed, deeply and passionately.

But Shikamaru didn’t let the kiss go any further into something more; he broke it, very gently so he wouldn’t startle her. He only pulled her close to rest their foreheads together. Eyes still closed, basking in the moment, sitting her on his lap.

“They’ll be here until the end of the chunin exams, you can take advantage of that and spend more time with them.”

She was caught. Check mate, he would say. He was probably proud of himself when she pulled herself back a little, opening her eyes. Reacting to his challenge.

“I know.” She said, already looking around herself for another plan. “I’ll do that.”

Smile grew on his face when she saw and felt her cornered against his words. So he was right about it. Years of marriage made him an expert on what is Temari Nara thinking about right now. He was truly proud. “But you wanted them to stay over, actually sleep here and be able to take care of them. I know. But they’re both big boys now, and the Kazekage didn’t want any special treatment just because his sister is here. “

Ah, that nasty, horrible man of hers. When did he get so good at knowing her? It truly pissed her off.

“Okay I get it already.” She admitted defeat, leaning against him, hiding her face on the crook of his neck. “But I’m not giving up like a certain someone.” She continued, biting down the flash on his neck, gently.

“Hey!” Accepting that bite as a challenge, Shikamaru pushed his troublesome, spunky wife against the bed. “Ah, you want a rematch from the chunin exams, do ya?” A sweet smile was covering his lips, and her hand sneaked up to him pulling his hair tie off, giggling to his lack of vision after that. She used her fingers to tangle against his hair gently, pulling it out of his eyes.

“I won’t lose this time, and I have a few new things to show you.” Her voice was quiet and deep, her eyes was defiant, and her lower lip curled under her teeth after her words came out like honey to his ears.

“Ahh…. You know I can’t lose against a woman…”

#shikatema #shikamaru #temari #shikadai #gaara #kakuro #shinki #naruto #boruto

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kalira · 7 years ago

Note

Word: "Him"

Hedging your bets pretty securely there Mousie. XD

(Okay I limited myself to WIPs I’ve actually opened to work on lately. Er. This is still . . . a lot. You have definitely fulfilled my request to distract me.)

Harlock/Yama

Harlock rarelyresisted him very hard - he enjoyed being coaxed, and even more so spendinglazy mornings tangled up in bed and half dozing with his lover . . . or fuckinginto him warm and slow.

also this one

Yama yawned and letHarlock’s sleepily insistent arms tug him back down.

and this

Harlock claspedYama’s shoulder and directed him down a slightly narrower corridor.

Sterek

“Oh, is kiddo upset I was there first?”Kate said, tsking at him.

Alucard/Trevor

Adrian’s eyes swept over him admiringly - he had yet to donhis clothes beyond breeches, particularly that godawful shapeless heap he called a cloak, leaving a rathernice view.

and this one, same line from M’s word

“Would it kill you not to leave your filthy articles ofclothing flung everywhere?” Alucard asked dryly, flicking a neatly-patchedshirt that was half-sodden in demon guts at Trevor and making him duck to getout of its path.

TaiBani

Kotetsu carefullydisengaged his faceplate, pulling it away, and a bit of tension seeped out ofhim along with a sigh when he saw Barnaby’s bright eyes were open.

Lee Hwon/Woon (The Moon Embracing the Sun)

Woon had grownquieter since the Crown Prince had chosen him to be companion and guard, everat the Prince’s side.

Okay there’s a lot so . . . Naruto, ATLA, and Voltron WIP lines are all beneath the cut.

KakaGai

Gai has touched damnnear every inch of him through one challenge or scrape or another and there’sno one Kakashi trusts more in the world.

more KakaGai

“Kaka- I- I wouldnever-” he stuttered out as Kakashi cocked his head, eyeing him.

and again

Kakashi identifiedthe presence immediately, of course - his sleeping brain had categorised theintruder as Gai and thus not a threat even before the bright shout had wokenhim.

oh look again >.>

Kakashi stared at himas he postured a little more.

and this one is part two to the one before

“Jan Ken Pon!”Kakashi said hurriedly, because Gai looked like hell, everyone in the villagewas still giving him half-confused, half-pitying looks, and . . . well, Kakashiwasn’t actually great at reacting in a hurry outside of battles.

Gaara/Lee

It was a warm, softvoice calling him, one he didn’t quite recognise, though there was a strange,barely-there edge of familiarity.

also this

Lee leapt out of bed,tangled in the blankets enough that he stumbled and it took him a moment tofree himself, though he managed to do it without crashing about.

KakaIru

Iruka unrolled thescroll and only long experience with pre-genin and jounin - and no tellingwhich group was worse than the other - prevented him from reacting.

and this one!

Iruka only pulled him in closer, tuggingthe blankets over him, ignoring the fact that he was still mostly dressed and,indeed, cold and wet.

MadaKaka (that’s a new one for me and IDK if I’ll write them again after this request is done or not. . .)

Madara bounded overthe fence without touching it, following the silvery streak of Kakashi’s hairthat was the most visible part of him as he fled into the shadows under theheavy canopy.

NejiHina

It will be all right she willed him to realise, assuring him with her eyesthat she knew what she was doing, as best she could without giving any hint orground to the Elders before her.

as is this one

“You shouldn’t be here.” she whispered, moving towards him, her kimono rustlingaround her.

SasuNaru

“I’m . . . sure he can be romantic if hetries!” Sakura said, trying to sound more certain than she actually felt,because she remembered Sasuke, andshe knew him now - or liked to think she did - and. . .

so’s this one

Beside him Kanamisnickered and stretched out her forelegs, then slid slowly onto her side, hermuzzle almost reaching his ankle.

and this

Hatred and confusion resonated through him,and he allowed his strength to seep through to his jinchuuriki.

ZabuHaku

Zabuza approached himand trailed his hands up over Haku’s arms.

Kataang

His strong armsturned and tugged gently at the ribbon binding him to the headboard, but hedidn’t fight too hard.

Zukka

Sokka doesn’t knowwhy this feels like a revelation; Zuko has alwayssmelled like fire, since the first time Sokka faced him, hot and angry in thesnow.

Zukka again

Zuko had made thechoice and gotten caught, Sokka had gone with it, abandoning it now wouldn’thelp and would only land him in acell too.

again

Zuko looked at him,and Sokka’s attention refocused.

you guessed it!

He grabbed Zuko’sshoulders to hold him closer, then cupped his jaw with one hand, tilting hisown head to mesh their kiss a little more comfortably.

yep still (I’ve been poking at a lot of my Zukka WIPs lately trying to get back to these boys)

It felt way too soon for him to be woken up.

still Zukka

Katara just stared athim, and Sokka fidgeted uncomfortably.

yes still

When Zuko might notbe able to get to him.

look there is a reason I’ve been trying to get back to Zukka and that reason is I need to finish some of my bajillion WIPs for them

“Is your prospective title really what you’re worried about,Sokka?” she asked, watching him even though he was making her slightly dizzy.

yes this one as well

He ducked his headpolitely and slid the cups in front of the two merchant ladies sitting primlyat one of the tables, murmuring a reminder to call for him if they neededanything else.

several of them are requests too! (although not this next one)

Although perhaps itwas best he hadn’t spouted that off at Suki, she had laughed at him enoughalready this summer - he had a tendency to put his foot in his mouth when shewas around.

whoops not done yet

He had spokenhonestly when he offered her respect, and when he said she was welcome, it wasstrange for him to be troubled now.

I don’t really like kid!fic that much why do I keep writing it? (well at least for Zukka there kind of needs to be offspring at some point for royal heir purposes)

“There there. . .” hecrooned, scooping Kiran up and cradling him close with a gentle pat.

this one is sort of Zukka but actually it’s labelled Sokka/Zuko/Mai

Sokka would haveknocked, but the royal guard waved him in through the doors without pausing -they were standing ajar, but . . .royal quarters?

Maiko (and the first one I ever started for them still not done)

He would learn, she knew, and she supposedshe didn’t really know how to please him,either.

That concludes the ATLA portion holy sheesh.

Sheith

“I am from Altea.”Allura told the child, bending down to come closer to eye-to-eye with him.

okay brace yourselves because here we go again

They all turned tolook at him.

yes there will be a lot

His throat tightenedwhen Keith patted him lightly and switched back, pushing him into flexing hisarm at a different angle - Shiro felt like he was dragging the weight of hismetal arm painfully, barely able to move - before beginning again.

even filtering out WIPs I haven’t worked on lately

Shiro ignored him,and Hunk sleepily shoving at him from his other side, probably in attempt toget him to be quiet.

I have . . . a lot of Sheith you guys

Kuro woke feelinglike his bones had been electrified until he shut down, and it took him a whileto realise he had other hurts as well.

I think it may be the only ship I have more of than Zukka in fact

Pidge shooed herbrother gently forwards onto the Castle, feeling bubbly and delighted tofinally have him here with her.

the series/AUs may have something to do with that

“He wouldn’t rest ifI left him alone. He kept crying.”

like that one and this next one are both from The Empress’ Elite

Allura would have himsubdued if necessary, but if he recognised Pidge enough to let her help,recognised Allura enough to let her touch, then he would be no hindrance, andAllura wouldn’t spare the time.

but mostly not actually

I could change it, Shiro thought, eyes wide as the possibility yawnedbefore him.

this one is connected to the last

He bumped into thefirm feeling of someone else’s skin and leaned up, then froze as more lightfiltered around him.

okay I think that’s it for Sheith with this one

Keith punches him in the face as hard as hecan.

Kureith

Her paw was curledinwards, offering him support and sheltering his body behind the metal of herleg.

Sheithro

“Fine, I won’t puthim in a prison pod, but he’ll be locked in his bunk.” Allura said sharply.

all of the ones for this ship are from the Unbalance series

“Keith?” Shiro looksconcerned, for him, and that’s-

I am actually still trying to work on that

“I knew that . . . sort of; she wasn’t alwaysvery . . . happy with him.”

a couple pieces are just so close to ready to post, too. . .

“Kuro,” Shiro began,the name feeling oddly comfortable on his lips, though he still twitched to seeKuro, to see an almost-me, turntowards him with a familiar movement, strange golden eyes gleaming, “I... May Ispeak with you?”

there’s also this one frigging Klance piece from 80s Voltron

Keith let the doorsslide closed behind him.

Holy cow how many sentences even was that oh lord I have so many WIPs *mad laughter* 56 holy fuck. So. That’s not even all the WIPs I’ve worked on lately there were a handful that didn’t have him in them. . . (Including some femmeslash. :P)

So hey! Send me a word and I’ll share a line from my WIPs!

#WIP guessing game #WIP meme #Kalira answers #ask Kalira #Mousie #him #oh my lord #Kalira writes #not tagging the ships this time because 56 lines holy cow Kalira finish some shit

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anerdinallherglory · 8 years ago

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Approaching Sun (8)

Author's Note: Decided to give up on homework for more important things…like Naruto (more specifically, SasuSaku). After that whole stunt that SP pulled in the last episode of Boruto, I feel like I need to defend Sasuke's character. For those of you who've read Sasuke Shinden, and especially Gaiden, Im assuming you probably feel the same way that I do. I mean, come on. Sasuke is not the type of person (post-redemption journey) to say "You’re too soft" about killing children! I mean he literally SAVED LIVES in Sasuke Shinden. He most certainly wouldn’t have tried to kill clone-Shin at this point in his life. Come on SP, you're contradicting yourselves. Anyone else worried about what might be done with Sasuke's character in the future Boruto series? *cringe*

On a more positive note, can I just get a hoop and a holler for that awesome family photo this week?!

Also, I'm doing my best to stick to character in this story, so in regards to Sakura, I personally think at this point, she would definitely be showing signs of frustration. Especially since she has been waiting for a longgggg time and Sasuke is being… well-Sasuke-y, as always. I want to portray her bubbly "all-about Sasuke" attitude but can we give this girl some credit? She's more than that and her character has come a long way! She has had to deal with his crap for far too long (and that's not getting them anywhere). Just be patient with me as I get the feel for her character.

P.S. About the "kun" honorific: I'm not that familiar with it. So I'll be excluding it. If it makes Sakura more like herself for her to use "kun," then by all means, imagine it.

Pairing: SasuSaku

Summary: After 2 years, Sasuke returns to the village where friends anxiously await him. Still troubled by the mysteries of Kaguya and his personal guilt, Sasuke is split between friends and his journey. One specific pink-haired individual has perhaps waited for him with far more dedication than anyone else. Troubled by rising casualties and international dependence on her abilities, Sakura is torn between her love for Sasuke and her duty to her village.

(Chapter 1) (Chapter 2) (Chapter 3) (Chapter 4) (Chapter 5) (Chapter 6) (Chapter 7)

Chapter 8: “Beginnings and Ends”

Sakura found herself staring at a scene she wasn’t quite ready for. She had surpassed Fumio in their flight after he told her the details of the situation. One of Sakura's newly admitted mental health patients, a young child named Emiko, whose parents had been recent victims of Chino's chakra human bombs, had just jumped off the top floor of the hospital wing.

When Sakura finally made it to the south side of the hospital, she immediately spotted a group of medical ninja huddled in the street before her, surrounding the child's body. At Sakura's sudden appearance, a tear-streaked Ino called out to her from the crowd.

"Sakura!" she cried frantically as Sakura approached them.

In Sakura's panic, she rushed forward and the group parted for her, revealing the gruesome reality before her. The small child lay sprawled on her back, a pale figure in the dark. Emiko's arm was twisted horrendously at her side, having taken the brunt of the child's fall. Shizune was kneeling beside the girl, fingers covered in blood as she held the child's head in her lap.

Never had Sakura witnessed something so horrifying as this: a child, younger than most in her clinic, who had felt that life was not worth living and so flung herself from the top story of the medical wing.

Sakura knelt next to the child and Shizune backed away.

"She's gone," Shizune whispered, looking away from Sakura's eyes. "I'm so sorry."

Looking down into Emiko's face, Sakura saw that the child stared blankly up at the sky. There was nothing in them. Blood pooled beneath Emiko's head and Sakura placed her hands on either side of the child's sticky wet temples. Instantly, green chakra pulsed from her palms into Emiko's head. Ever since Fumio had relayed the details to Sakura, she had already been planning the steps she would take to heal the girl but Sakura gasped as she realized the true state of the child's brain and tears instantly sprung forward to her eyes.

"What was she doing in the medical wing?!" the Kunoichi finally burst, lashing out at her staff. "She was supposed to have been in her room!" No one could look her in the eyes as she searched desperately for answers.

"Sensei," Kirai, her medical pupil spoke up. "It's my fault. I called the majority of the staff away from the mental health section to help assist with the hospital patients. It was in the middle of the night and I didn’t think-- Without you, we've been--"

Sakura looked away from her, tears pouring freely down her cheeks. Memories of the child plagued her conscience. With no family and no other relatives, Sakura had admitted Emiko fully into the mental health clinic. Due to the child's extreme condition, Sakura recommended her for 24-hour care. She was only 6 and Sakura believed that she would have a promising recovery with the help from the clinic. Unfortunately, due to the increase of patients and lack of staff, Sakura had been unable to be with her.

Damn it. Kirai was right. If only she had been here. If only she had been able to manage her patients better. If only she would have gone with her gut and came in yesterday, despite Kakashi's wishes. If only she hadn't been so distracted with Sasuke and her feelings for him. None of this would have happened. It was all her fault.

She concentrated her chakra more fiercely into the child's skull, willing the damage to be undone. Sakura's former strength still hadn’t quite fully returned and after a few minutes, her breath grew ragged and sweat began to bead on her forehead. To her expectations, the brain wasn’t responding, and as Sakura tried to hope, she knew it was too late. The damage was irreversible, even for her medical ninjutsu. The child had just been too small, and the fall too great. Sakura was merely trying to revive what was already dead.

Sakura's thoughts jumped to the woman who had used the One's Own Life Reincarnation Jutsu to revive Gaara, whom had died by the hands of the Akatsuki. They had taken the tailed-beast that had resided inside of him; the cost was Gaara's life. Chiyo had been able to bring him back with this jutsu.

Sakura wished desperately to be in mastery of that jutsu. If she were, would she be able to save this child? Could she be so selfless? Sakura wanted the answer to be yes.

Ino came up beside her, kneeling. "Sakura. There's nothing you can do."

"I'm sorry," Sakura whispered as she lifted the child to her, holding and rocking the little girl in her arms, whispering her name. "I'm sorry I wasn’t there for you. You'll get to see Mama and Papa soon."

After a while, all Sakura could feel was numbness. She couldn’t feel Ino prying her fingers off Emiko's clothing or her arms being untangled from the little girl's body. Sakura watched as Emiko's lifeless body was carried into the hospital. The circle of people was a blur around her and the kunoichi didn’t move when one of them reached out to grab her. Sakura could barely register the voices around her.

"We need to get her inside. She might be going into psychogenic shock."

"She's our top medical ninja. Something like this wouldn’t affect her that much; she's seen far worse."

"Her chakra reserves are low, you idiot!"

Despite the voices, Sakura sat on the ground, willing herself to move. To get up and face the situation like the strong kunoichi she knew that she could be. She was responsible for this, after all. Her fault. Her fault. Her fault.

But before she could rise, her arms were wrapped over the necks of two ninja and she let them help her inside.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Let's get this over with, Sasuke Uchiha thought as he approached the village gates at sunrise. Kakashi wasn't there, of course. He had specifically told him to meet him at the entrance "bright and early" today.

"Liar," he muttered under his breath, leaning against the gate's "あ" symbol in annoyance.

He had blatantly ignored the gate-keepers who seemed very tired after their long shift. Their interest had spiked when they saw the Uchiha, but after passing them in silence, the ninja resumed their laidback positions. Sasuke could empathize with their exhaustion. With last night's events, Sasuke had found it difficult to find sleep again.

After Sakura had left, he had immediately placed the key she had given him on the table. Like hell he would stay in her apartment for the remainder of his visit. What did she expect? For him to accept and they awkwardly bump into each other for a few more nights, struggling to make conversation, and ignore the fact that he was leaving?

Tossing throughout the remainder of the night, he had kept sneaking glances at the silver object on the table. In the morning, just before he left, he had grabbed the key from the table, unsure of what to do with it. What if was her only key? He couldn’t just leave it on the table. He had thought about leaving it under the mat on the porch--but there wasn’t one.

Now, as he pulled it from his pocket, the Uchiha couldn’t help but stare at it in frustration, as if it were an unwelcome burden. Why did Sakura want to do this to herself? She knew the truth, so why did she insist that he stay? He wouldn’t—couldn’t do that to her. Besides, what would that mean for them? If he crossed that boundary, how would she ever move on?

He rubbed the key’s surface absently, then hurriedly stashed it in his cloak's interior pocket when he sensed a familiar presence land beside him.

"Sorry I'm late," Kakashi greeted. "I'm afraid that I got--"

"Save it," the Uchiha interrupted him, his lip almost tilting at the corner. Sasuke had almost forgotten what it was like to wait around on this man. Even though it annoyed him to no end, a warm nostalgia came with his former sensei's excuses.

Kakashi sighed, "Just as impatient as you’ve always been." Sasuke noticed the smile that this man was failing to conceal behind his black mask. Sasuke supposed Kakashi was remembering a better time, too.

After a minute of silence, Kakashi finally said, "Our guests should be here anytime. I'm afraid our friend Yamato won’t be joining us. However, I believe you'll recognize their escort who agreed to meet up with him."

Sasuke looked over at the white-haired ninja beside him, unamused with this guessing game. The only ninja he had any desire to see pass through this gate was that annoying, spikey haired, idiot. Maybe if he would hurry, then Sasuke wouldn’t have to face this awkward situation he was currently finding himself in. Naruto was sure taking his time.

With the sunrise, a light pink-yellow hue began to illuminate the trees, outlining a group of people as they made their way to the entrance.

Sasuke sighed. Well, here we go.

As they got closer, Sasuke heard a loud voice at the head of the crowd.

"Forward! We are almost there! The village gates are just yards away!”

This loud figure soon came into view and Sasuke resisted the urge to sigh again when he recognized the thick-eyebrowed, tights-wearing ninja who happened to be jogging in place. Not only was Rock Lee doing squats every few feet, but he had several children wrapped around his arms and legs who were giggling and grinning as they bounced around with his movements. One child had two fists full of Lee's hair as he rode atop Lee's shoulders, and Sasuke could faintly hear the child repeating Lee's orders.

"Forward people" the child yelled, "To the gates."

After him, came the rest of the group. In sharp contrast to Lee's energy, the crowd that followed him practically sagged in exhaustion. Sasuke couldn’t help but smirk when he noticed the angry glares the ninja were giving Lee. Knowing Lee, he had probably turned the travel into a form of "Youth" building expedition.

Some of the angry countenances disappeared completely when the people noticed the gates. Lee seemed to spot the two of them waiting.

"Ah, Lord Hokage! As you can see, the mission has been successful, sir!" he shouted, forming a salute with his childbearing right arm. The dangling youngster giggled as the ninja snapped his hand to his forehead. The other child on his shoulders copied Lee's salute.

"Sasuke?!" Lee rose his thick eyebrows, lowering his hand again. "Is that really you? You were the last person I was expecting to see today."

As Sasuke raised his hand in a half-interested attempt at acknowledgement, he picked up the low murmuring in the crowd. He couldn’t help but pick out his name among the talk. Some of the children detached themselves from Lee and ran up to the Uchiha, yanking on his cloak and saying, "Sasuke! Sasuke!"

Suddenly, he realized that the faces in the crowd wore smiles. Almost everyone either waved or yelled out his name.

Kakashi suddenly elbowed him, grumbling, "You're outshining the Hokage."

"Get used to it," the Uchiha retorted, detaching a child from his leg and holding her away from him at a safe distance as she giggled manically.

"I’m sorry about that," a young woman said as she came up to him, removing the child from his hands. "The children have all heard the stories about how you saved us from the arena."

A burly ninja, a man Sasuke barely recognized from his fight with him in the arena, suddenly clapped him on the back, saying "Yes, The Great Sasuke Uchiha and his Sharingan! They've been dying to meet you."

"We are very grateful," another ninja said to him as they all began to circle him, offering their thanks and bows. Sasuke found this sudden attention both shocking and undeserved. Feeling a little suffocated, the Uchiha looked over at Kakashi, who was smiling like a dumb idiot at him, crossing his arms as he laughed. Lee was also grinning at him. Neither of them were trying to help him out.

One by one, the crowd broke away as their sights landed on the Hokage. Parents began to chastise their rambunctious children, telling them to act presentable in the presence of the Hokage. Sasuke couldn’t help but smile as one father grabbed his child by the shirt as he swung fists back at him, whispering "Straighten up! We don’t want the Hokage to know you're a little demon."

Kakashi laughed at this and offered the crowd a welcoming smile.

"Welcome to Konohagakure, everyone. I'm sure Lee has told you all about us and the village. And by the sudden frowns I see, I assume he has also run some of you into the grown." Lee looked proud despite everyone's glares of judgement towards him.

Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck again, awkwardly. "Sorry about that."

Looking closely at the ninja, Sasuke could see fatigue etched in the lines of their faces. It seemed that they hadn't quite caught a break since their release from their previous owners. Some of them still carried injuries in the form of sprained arms, bruises, and burns from their fight with Sasuke, to which he felt guilt knot up in his stomach. He wished now that there had been a better way to secure their freedom.

It seemed Kakashi realized this himself, for he spoke up, "Well, I suppose a village tour will have to wait. Let's get you guys some rest. For those of you who have injuries, I want you to come with me to Konoha's hospital. Lee, I want you to escort the rest to their lodgings, and please go easy on them."

"Yes sir!" Lee saluted once again, turning to march in the direction of their quarters. Sasuke watched the little boy from earlier clamber back onto Lee's shoulders and begin to yell, "Forward!"

After the group split, mostly men remained. Sasuke found it difficult to look them in the face even though they all looked on the Uchiha with admiration.

"Right then," Kakashi said, turning and walking through the gates. Swinging his cloak, Sasuke walked hurriedly to catch up to his former sensei in order to avoid conversation with these ninja.

Sasuke was trying to come up with an excuse to split. He didn’t quite care to go to the Hospital and face Sakura after their conversation last night. Also, he didn’t particularly want to see the look on her face when she found out that Sasuke had caused all of these injuries. For some reason, he didn’t want her to know it was him.

"Look, Kakashi. I better--" Sasuke began, but was cut short when a ninja landed in front of them. Sasuke recognized the spikey pony-tailed ninja and frowned when Shikamaru rushed up to Kakashi's other side, speaking to the Hokage in a low voice.

Sasuke was about to take advantage of the situation and just leave altogether, but found himself rooted to the spot when he heard Sakura's name in Shikamaru's hushed speech. Without realizing what he was doing, Sasuke strained to hear the conversation.

"Why haven't I been told about this sooner?" Kakashi asked him in annoyance.

"I couldn’t find you. This was the last place I looked. I only just learned about it myself," Shikamaru exclaimed.

"Where is she? Is she okay?" Kakashi asked, slowing his pace.

"Ino says she's keeping an eye on her," Shikamaru replied.

Kakashi reached up and grabbed the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. "Damn it."

Sasuke's frown deepened when Kakashi suddenly turned to the group that followed him, presenting them with a sudden excuse. "My apologies. It seems we won't be going to the Hospital, after all. If you guys don’t mind, Sasuke will escort you to the lodgings along with the rest of your group. I'll personally accompany a medical ninja to see to your injuries in your rooms."

In sharp contrast to Sasuke's current feelings, the group seemed relieved to be going straight to their shelter.

"What the hell, Kakashi," Sasuke hissed at the Hokage. "What is going on?"

"Sorry Sasuke," his sensei replied. "I need to see someone right now."

Sasuke wanted nothing more than to grab him by the cloak and demand answers. What the hell were he and Shikamaru talking about? Did it have to do with Sakura's sudden leave last night? Did something bad happen to her? Before he could get these answers, Kakashi and Shikamaru were gone and Sasuke was left with a group who stared at him expectantly.

#sasuke and sakura #approachingsun #Naruto Shippuden #naruto #naruto fanfiction #ssfanfiction #sasusaku #Sasuke Uchiha #Sakura Haruno #sakura uchiha #sakura hiden #sasuke shinden

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jouissezduprintemps · 7 years ago

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Something to Gain, Chapter Eight: How Fast Things Change

Rating: T Words: 3245 Fandom: Naruto Summary: Sequel to Something to Prove. Shikamaru and Temari navigate their relationship now that it’s in the public eye.

Something to Prove First Previous Next

Black gave way to blinding white as Temari blinked open her eyes. Her lids fluttered as she stirred, trying to take stock of her current situation. Her body felt heavy. The discomfort in the crook of her left elbow drew her attention to the needle taped to her skin, feeding her clear liquid from a suspended bag. On the other end of the hook hung a depleted bag, stained red. She couldn’t make out any of the characters except for the large ‘O’ demarking the blood type – her blood type.

Blissfully, she realized she wasn’t in pain. Whatever they were feeding her through the tube was high-quality stuff. That had to be why her brain wasn’t working like it should. She lay in silence until a nurse opened the door to her room.

The young, brown-haired girl beamed when she saw that Temari was responsive. “My Lady, thank goodness. We were starting to worry.”

“How long?” Temari asked, her throat dry.

“A day. You needed some transfusions, and the doctor thought it was best to keep you under until we could repair the damage and restore your levels.” The nurse turned a valve on the tube between her thumb and index finger, taking careful notes. “Your brothers and friends were sent home, but we’ll contact them shortly.”

“Gaara, sent home?”

“He wasn’t happy about it, believe me. None of them were. But, the doctor couldn’t work with them crammed into your room, and they were disturbing the other patients when we sent them to the waiting room.”

Temari rasped out a small laugh. “Water?”

“Ice, for now,” the nurse compromised. “I can’t change anything on your file until the doctor gets a look at you.”

She knew better than to argue with a nurse in a Suna hospital. Their word was law, superseding even the kazekage. “I’ll take what I can get.”

In a not entirely unwelcome gesture, the nurse placed her hand on Temari’s shoulder for a brief moment before exiting the room, with the promise to return.

Temari drew the thin blanket back over her lap and lifted the bottom of her hospital gown to examine the damage herself. The doctors had done a good job of closing the wound, but she couldn’t see the full extent of the damage because they had bandaged her abdomen. Her fingertips ghosted over the gauze, and she winced at the accidental pressure she placed on her injury. It was safe to assume that she wasn’t in danger; the nurse wouldn’t have been so calm, otherwise.

She wasn’t a medical nin, but from the location and pain she’d experienced, it seemed like the kunai missed puncturing her gastrointestinal system or any other major organs. If it had passed through her oblique muscle and fatty tissue, she wouldn’t be in the hospital longer than a few days and should recover well. That was a relief. Sure, she’d prefer not to have been stabbed, but, all things considered, it could have been much worse.

The nurse re-entered the room and handed Temari a cup of ice, which she took greedily. She wasted no time in crushing the ice between her teeth, thankful for the chance to get some moisture back into her body. To her dismay, the doctor entered just as she had her mouth full, and she smiled sheepishly as she tried to down the frozen water as quickly as possible. This doctor had treated Kankuro and Gaara on several occasions. Temari recognized her short, sand-colored hair and angular eyes. Doctor… Saito? Sakai? Something like that.

“It’s good to see you awake, Lady Temari. I’m your doctor, Ayame Sano.”

Well, at least she was close.

“You’re in good shape, considering your blood loss,” the doctor continued, flipping through her chart. “We were lucky to have your blood type on hand; you were almost a very difficult patient.” The small smile she made was enough to show that she was joking, if only a bit. “Your friend, the Konoha medical nin, she did an excellent job patching the injury. I wouldn’t say she saved your life, but she shortened your hospital stay considerably.” She paused as she read. “I’ll need to run a few tests to see if things have improved since last night.”

Temari nodded and made herself comfortable, letting the doctor do her work. Glowing hands hovered above her abdomen, probing with chakra. Temari turned her head to look at the nurse. “Could you have someone let my brothers know I’m awake? And my Konoha friends, if they run across them first.”

“Of course, My Lady.” The nurse ducked out of the room, careful not to interrupt the doctor.

The doctor’s hands stopped moving, hovering over a single spot for several moments without speaking. Temari felt her stomach twist. She studied the doctor’s face, looking for any sign that might tell her what was going on. From the way her brow furrowed, and her lips drew into a thin line, she assumed it wasn’t anything good. After a few tense seconds, the doctor’s shoulders relaxed, and she was comfortable enough to let out the breath she’d been holding. Temari watched her patiently, her heart rate settling back down at the reaction.

The doctor scribbled something on her chart before turning her attention to her patient, embarrassed by her lapse in professionalism. “Forgive me, My Lady. I wanted to see for myself before I gave you any misinformation. I wasn’t the one to run the tests last night, and I wanted to confirm what was written on your chart.”

“I understand.” Temari did her best to give her a kind look. The woman was clearly overworked.

“I’m glad that I did,” the doctor admitted. “I’ll be having words with Doctor Agake for his misdiagnosis, I assure you.”

“Misdiagnosis?”

“Doctor Agake was on call last night, and he recorded dangerously low levels of fetal chakra activity. At my assessment, the levels are still faint, but I disagree that you are in any danger of losing the pregnancy. It’s likely that your body is still responding to the shock, and your own chakra spikes are masking any subtler activity.”

After the previous night’s events, Temari thought it was best to come clean to her doctor about the situation. “No, don’t scold him on my part. There were some political concerns about an information leak, and Gaara decided that feigning my pregnancy would be the easiest and fastest way to draw it out. I’m sure he’ll be making a statement some time this afternoon, now that we’ve apprehended the culprits.” She gave the doctor a reassuring smile. She didn’t want to put Doctor Agake’s career in danger because of some gossip that they’d intentionally spread.

Doctor Sano arched an eyebrow at her patient, trying to process the revelation. “I see…” She looked down at the chart in her hand and flipped a couple pages, reading the information recorded during her visit. “If that’s the case, you wouldn’t mind if I ran the scan again, with this information?”

“Of course not,” Temari relented.

Once more, the doctor’s hands hovered over her abdomen. “Could you concentrate chakra into your extremities for me?”

Temari did as she was told, and her hands and feet began to emit a faint glow.

“Very good,” the doctor mused, continuing with her analysis. She took longer this time, careful not to make any mistakes. Operating under a false assumption could have been dangerous, but she didn’t scold her patient. Rather, she did her best to understand the circumstances.

“Alright, you can release.” The doctor picked up the chart once more and made some adjustments to the page. She drummed the cap of her pen against her bottom lip in thought before speaking. “My Lady, from what I can detect, it’s clear that you’re just shy of four weeks pregnant. It’s still very early, but, I assure you, my work in obstetrics makes me qualified to give the diagnosis. There are more formal tests we can run to confirm, but I’m sure they’ll just confirm what I’ve detected.”

Temari knew Doctor Sano well enough to know she never joked about medicine. There was no point in asking if she was serious or demanding more tests. She wouldn’t be a regular doctor of their family if she wasn’t one of the best. Temari let her head fall back against the pillow, looking up at the ceiling. She exhaled, drawing out her breath before declaring, “Well, fuck.”

“Is there anything I can do for you, My Lady?” Doctor Sano asked.

“Don’t tell my brothers. In fact, don’t tell anyone. I need some time to think this through.”

“Of course. As your doctor, I should inform you that there are other options available to you. If you’d like, I can have a nurse bring you some literature.”

“Not right now. I need a little while to wrap my head around this.”

“Yes, My Lady.”

A short set of knocks sounded against her door before it opened. Kankuro, clad in pajamas and without his hat or face paint, poked his head through the crack. “Sis, you up?”

“Yeah.” Temari shifted her body so that she was sitting further up against the slanted mattress.

“You look like hell,” Kankuro informed her as he stepped inside, a smile on his face.

“Fuck you, too,” she grumbled, thumping him in the chest with the back of her hand.

“Is that any way to talk to your favorite brother? Especially when he brought you these?” From behind his back, Kankuro produced a plastic bag of sweet chestnuts, tied shut with a ribbon. He’d been thoughtful enough to get them from her favorite shop.

Temari looked between him and the treat, crinkling her nose. “Fine,” she determined, taking the bag from his hand. She pulled the ribbon free and stuck her hand into the bag, pulling one out and popping it into her mouth. Good lord, they were amazing. In an instant, all was forgiven. “Where’s everyone else?”

“You know, I could just leave.”

Temari shot him a glare.

“Gaara’s tied up in his office, and Ino’s off with the intelligence division, getting information from our guys. She’s really good, you know. Like, scary good.” His eyes took on a faraway look, as though wondering what torture their prisoners were going through right now. It made his skin crawl. “I’m pretty sure Choji drugged Shikamaru to get him to sleep. He was bugging the shit out of everyone once they sent us home. He woke Ino up at three, digging through her stuff looking for the cigarettes she took from him. He drank all the coffee from the pot Gaara set to brew at five, and by the time I got up, he’d rearranged the living room.” He gave his sister a sideways glance. “You sure know how to pick ‘em, don’t’cha?”

She didn’t laugh. She didn’t even smile.

Kankuro narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “Tema, what’s going on?”

“Nothing,” she assured him. “I’m just tired. They weren’t playing around with the sedatives.”

“I’ve been dealing with you for eighteen years, Temari. I think I know the difference between you on sedatives and you preoccupied.” Both scenarios happened more often through their youth than either of them wanted to admit. Their genin years were nothing if not brutal.

“I’m pregnant.”

“Yeah, but you don’t have to keep that up anymore. We got the guys, so don’t worry about keeping your cover. Besides, it’s just us.”

“No, Kank. I’m pregnant.”

The silence between them was heavy. Finally, Kankuro spoke.

“Holy shit.”

“Yeah.”

“Is it Shikamaru’s?”

“No, Kankuro, it’s the Raikage’s,” she snapped sarcastically.

“Geez, just checking.” He paused. “What’re ‘ya gonna do?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “I think I need to talk to him, first.”

As her brother, Kankuro felt the need to play devil’s advocate and help his sister think through the worst-case scenario. “What if he doesn’t want it?”

“Then I won’t keep it.” There was no hesitation in her statement. Clearly, she thought this through. “If that’s what he decides, that’s it. I’m not going to do this on my own. If that’s the choice he makes, I refuse to be tied to him for the rest of my life like that.” Her voice wavered in a moment of weakness. That wasn’t an outcome she wanted to consider, but she had to be rational. She couldn’t afford to let emotion preside over logic.

“And if he does?”

“Then we need to talk and make some decisions.”

Kankuro reached out and took his sister’s hand in a rare gesture of physical affection. Their family had never been one for hugs or touching, but now felt like the appropriate time to do so. “You know I’ve got your back.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Now, move over. I haven’t seen this episode.” Kankuro gestured to the television, which was currently on mute, before forcing himself into Temari’s hospital bed.

“Kankuro!” Temari tried to force him off. She was laughing, which was clearly her brother’s goal. “Go away!”

“Shhhhhh,” he warned his sister. “I’m trying to watch.”

“It’s on mute, idiot.”

“Oh, yeah. Give me the remote.” He made a ‘gimme’ motion with his right hand, eyes fixed on the small screen.

Temari sighed and passed him the remote, which he used to increase the volume, and let her head rest on his shoulder. He moved a hand back and forth over the top of her head, messing up her unbound hair in a gesture of affection.

When the door to Temari’s hospital room creaked open a few hours later, Kankuro held a finger to his lips, telling the new arrival to be quiet. Temari had fallen back asleep shortly after Kankuro turned on the television, and he hadn’t dared to move. With the same, free hand, he gestured for Shikamaru to enter. Choji walked in behind him, shutting the door once they were inside.

“How is she?” Shikamaru asked in a whisper, quietly moving one of the chairs to her bedside, opposite Kankuro.

“Good, as far as I know. No one’s come to check on her in about two, three hours. I’ve been stuck here pretty much the entire time, so I haven’t had a chance to talk to anyone.”

Shikamaru glanced at the clock. The staff would probably be making their rounds before long. “I guess that’s good news. Better than if she was under constant watch.” He looked down at Temari, who seemed to be fast asleep. “And she’s resting.”

“Yeah, I don’t know if they gave her something, or if she’s just tired, but she’s sleeping like the dead. She’s drooling on me.” Kankuro grimaced at his blissfully unaware sister.

Shikamaru pushed himself out of his chair and grabbed her chart from the foot of the bed. He scanned the doctor’s notes, declaring, “Nothing they’ve given her seems too out of the ordinary. If anything, they’re playing it safe with the doses.”

“She’s probably just tired,” Choji chimed in. “Getting stabbed’ll do that to you.”

Kankuro snorted at the comment.

“Ino could read this better than me,” Shikamaru complained, narrowing his eyes at the abbreviated jargon on the pages. He was frustrated at his lack of expertise in the medical field.

“Just put it down, Shikamaru. We’ll wait for a nurse, and we can find out more, then.” Choji advised. It wouldn’t help his friend to pour over pages of information that he couldn’t understand.

With a frown, Shikamaru slid the clipboard back down on the foot of the bed. “Maybe I should go find one.”

“Quit worrying,” Kankuro scolded. “It’s Tema. She’s gonna get the best care this place can give. Just relax. Watch some tv.” He gestured at the screen, which had long since changed from his favorite show.

“I need a cigarette.”

“Dude, you’re in a hospital. Do I need to buzz somebody to get you an IV?” Kankuro arched an eyebrow, pleased when Shikamaru finally settled back down in his chair. “I mean, if you’re gonna give yourself an ulcer, here’s the place to do it, but I don’t think you wanna go there.”

Shikamaru leaned forward and took Temari’s hand in his. His thumb stroked the back of her hand, and she stirred. Her head lifted from her brother’s shoulder and she rubbed her face with her left hand, trying to bring herself back to the waking world.

“There she is,” Kankuro chuckled, finally able to move his right arm. It prickled with pins and needles as his blood flow began to come back.

“Hey, Tema.” Shikamaru squeezed her hand.

“Shika.” She turned her head to look at him, and her stomach dropped. Almost imperceptibly, Kankuro gave her a reassuring squeeze on her shoulder.

Kankuro shifted out of the hospital bed, giving Temari back her space. “Hey, Choji, how about you come check on the intelligence division with me? Ino doesn’t seem like the type to take a break unless you make her.”

“Yeah, you’re not wrong.” Choji stood and followed Kankuro out of the room with promises to be back later. The door clicked shut behind them, leaving Temari and Shikamaru alone in the hospital room.

Shikamaru brushed her bangs back from her face, admitting, “I’ve been worried about you.”

“I’d be pretty pissed if you weren’t,” Temari joked.

“What did the doctor say? Kankuro said they haven’t been by since he got here.”

“I’ll be fine. I got really lucky, actually; there’s no major damage. I think they plan on keeping me here for a little while, just to be sure, but I should be able to leave in a few days.”

Shikamaru looked her in the eyes and clicked his tongue. “You’re not telling me something.”

Temari looked away. Damn him. She heaved a sigh. “Yeah.” There was no use trying to hide it. He was too smart for that. Besides, Kankuro knew. She loved her brother, but it was only a matter of time before he let something slip. She chewed on the inside of her cheek as she looked for the right words. They were never ones for flowery language or lavish gestures; she wasn’t about to start now. “I’m pregnant.”

Shikamaru stared at her face, waiting for the smirk, the lift of her cheekbones to tell him she was joking. It didn’t come. “Oh.”

“Yeah.”

He sighed, removing his hand from hers to rub his face with both his hands. “You’re sure?”

“Positive.”

“How long?”

“Around a month.”

Yeah, that was just about right… He rubbed the back of his neck as he drew in a breath through clenched teeth. The irony didn’t escape him, although it was more like some twisted punishment from the universe than a joke. “Okay.”

“Okay?” Temari looked back at him. “I need a little more than that, Shikamaru.”

“Okay. I’m in. What’s our plan?”

“I haven’t gotten that far. Listen, I don’t want you committing to this because you think you have to. I have options. If you’re saying this because you think it’s the right thing to do, or you think you owe me something, tell me.”

“I’ve never bullshit you before.” Shikamaru frowned. “You know me better than that.”

“I know, I just… It’s real, now, you know?”

“Hey, we’ll figure this out. I’m not going anywhere.”

Temari exhaled. “Oh, god, I can’t believe this.”

“Tema, listen.” Shikamaru took her hand. “Everything will work out. I promise.”

Temari bit her lower lip and swallowed. “I believe you.”

#shikatema #naruto #naruto shippuden #naruto fanfiction #fanfiction #shikamaru nara #temari of the sand #kankuro of the sand

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