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anerdinallherglory · 4 years ago

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Approaching Sun (31)

Author’s Note: Surprise readers! I wanted to celebrate the start of Spring Break (a very much needed break) by posting an update sooner than I expected. Also, it’s double the length, too. It’s practically two chapters in one!

Thank you always to my loyal readers. If I do not get back to you, please know that I see every review, every comment, and every mention. I am grateful for all of you!

Also, I have had a few readers tell me of songs they associate with A.S. and I just think that is so cool, because I too, connect music to books and fanfics that I read. I’d like to make a list of all my readers’ songs that they think fit A.S. and share them on my next update as the “soundtrack” for this story. Please let me know yours in the comments or through message.

Pairing: SasuSaku

Previous Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30

Chapter 31: Not Enough

Sakura spun the sword, adjusting it on her left forearm as she pivoted on her heel to bring it around her in another protective arc. The blackness that hovered before her again instantly shielded her enemies from view which could be considered both advantageous and disadvantageous for her.

For the first, Mako and Hisa immediately rushed forward, using the ninjutsu as a cloak. They crisscrossed her, one taking a swipe at her from the front right and the other coming from the left. When Hisa’s blade came from the right, Sakura’s first instinct was to dodge and strike her foe in the side with her fists as she passed. But with her chakra currently restricted, Sakura ducked, pushed up on the handle of her assault weapon with her forearm, and brought her own blade naturally to Hisa’s right flank as she redirected the attack. Sakura hissed in disappointment because the cut was interrupted when she retreated and the result was shallow, not slicing deep enough to incapacitate her. When Hisa took a step back, clutching her flank, Mako suddenly appeared like a breaching shark from the deep only inches before Sakura’s face. He kicked her, quite hard, and Sakura fell into the sand, her weapon tossed aside from the blow. She scrambled for it as Mako grabbed hold of her ankle. She kicked free of his hold, but he was upon he, knees straddling her, and Sakura had no choice but to turn and face him.

He cuffed her hands above her head, saying quietly, “Don’t make this difficult! You will lose your life if you continue to resist. They’ll kill you. Stop struggling!”

Sakura cursed herself for drinking that damn tea, because if she had chakra, she would headbutt his face so far back into his skull that the impact would instantly kill him. Hisa’s face suddenly appeared above Mako’s rights shoulder.

“Killing her is the only option. We don’t have time to hold her hostage,” she chastised Mako with venom in her voice. “We have to get back to base quickly with the news of her death.”

“We could use her. She’s too important to kill immediately.” Came Mako’s response as he sat down hard against her bucking legs.

“We don’t have time for this! The drug effects won’t last on her all the way back to Tanigakure!”

Perfect, Sakura thought. The confirmation she had been looking for. They were in fact the same party of ninja who had attacked her and Sasuke on their journey to Suna. Sakura still wasn’t entirely sure just how many belonged to their group.

“Reach in my pocket for the second dose. We will knock her back out if we have to!” came Mako’s reply, but it was too late. Sakura had been calling, calling, calling her chakra to her wrists this entire time and used that small amount of sudden strength to overpower Mako’s hold, swinging her arms quickly back down to her sides which caused Mako’s own arms to follow. His head hit the ground to the left of her neck and Sakura immediately rolled him, bestriding him the same way he had just held her.

Hisa didn’t hesitate a second as her weapon came swiping horizontally across Sakura’s back. Sakura predicted this and used Mako’s struggling momentum to once again roll him back on top of her. The blade bit into the flesh of his back and he screamed. In the same moment, Sakura used the last of her strength to wedge her knees between herself and Mako’s chest, shoving him out and back toward a surprised Hisa. They both fell tangled back into the shadowy mist, hitting sand somewhere out of sight.

Within seconds, Sakura scrambled toward the lost weapon and the sword she had dropped was within Sakura’s reach. But when she fisted the pommel, a foot stepped down on the blade. The black mist cleared to reveal the eyeless depths of the shadow demon above her.

“Enough of this,” he hissed. Shadows leaked from his eyes, down his face, and crawled down his chest, legs, and over the length of the weapon, icing Sakura’s fingers when they touched the handle. Sakura immediately recoiled in pain as her fingers turned a sickening black. She screamed, backing away from his advancing figure, hand tucked protectively in the crook between her arm and side.

Rage more than fear boiled beneath Sakura’s skin. What sick ninjutsu was this? It reminded her of a combination between Zabuza’s Hidden Mist technique and Shikamaru’s Shadow Control. But the damage was entirely unexpectedt, as if the shadows inside his body were made of a poisonous substance that bleached out the life of whatever it touched. This phantom before her controlled darkness directly, thickening what already existed in the air around them, and then leaking black chakra directly from his body which destroyed whatever came in contact with it. Like the shadows of death itself, Sakura was certain it had stollen all life from her immovable hand.

Sakura cursed and bolted to the left, seeking out the jagged rocks that she had created earlier. She had to test a theory. Sakura slowed as she clutched her hand, listening, keeping an eye on her feet at all times in fear of creeping black, knowing the phantom would pursue.

When his steps came closer, Sakura turned and faced him. A chakra-manipulated path cleared the darkness between them, allowing the two ninja to see each other in the surrounding haze. This confirmed one thing for Sakura: no one, including the ninja user himself, could see through the darkness he created. That was good to know.

Just one more thing then. She waited and the shade sneered as he approached. When he came withing a few feet away, shadows reached for her like grasping fingers. Just as she had seen Temari do all those years ago during the Chunin exams, Sakura backed away until the shadows stopped and retreated back into the skull of the demon who had projected them. She drew a line in the sand, confirming the distance of ten feet between them.

Ha. She thought to herself. Just like Shikamaru’s justsu then. Similarly, it had a limited reach, although it was much shorter than Shikamaru’s range and didn’t seem to be able to use the shadows in the air around it to lengthen or widen. It explained the purpose of the shadows in the air though; the phantom ninja needed to be in close range where individuals couldn’t see the approaching black tentacles of death.

Sakura scoffed. Apparently, this ninja couldn’t measure up to Shikamaru’s intelligence either, considering the fact that she had just figured out how his ninjutsu worked.

There was only one problem, though. Sakura was a close-combat shinobi as well, and her number one battle technique was her chakra enhanced strength. She needed a plan that would allow her to take a different approach.

She ran and her attacker pursued her, thickening the air before her but leaving the trail behind her completely clear.

Suddenly, Mako’s words from earlier came back to her, which gave Sakura an idea. It was the only thing Sakura could think of. She doubled back to where Mako and Hisa had been disposed. She followed the blood in the sand to the precipice of a jagged chunk of earth. When she came upon Mako, Sakura noted that Hisa was already gone, having abandoned him immediately. Hisa was probably blindly searching for Sakura among the shadow-cloaked mountains of ground and sand.

Sakura didn’t have much time. She placed her hand over Mako’s mouth so he wouldn’t scream and give away their location; not that it would do much good. If the phantom had room for a brain somewhere next to that pit of darkness in his skull, he would follow the blood as she had, or trace her tracks in the sand.

Mako, laying on his bloody back in the sand, shot his eyes open when Sakura’s hand pressed down hard on his mouth with her black hand. It was barely more than a useless appendage at this point, but with the help of her good hand, Sakura shoved her fingers in his mouth to silence him. He tried biting them, tearing into her blackened flesh. But Sakura couldn’t feel them at all, the deadening so complete that Sakura was afraid she would never regain use of it again.

With her free hand, Sakura searched Mako’s person. Her hand fisted triumphantly in his back pocket around something long and cylindrical. She pulled it free, praying frantically that it was what she theorized it to be. Bless you for being thorough and for telling me you had it, she thought to Mako as she surveyed the capped yellow injection tube. Whether it was Ashuwa or a second dose of whatever he had put in her tea, Sakura didn’t know. But whatever it was, Mako had revealed its purpose to Hisa which was to incapacitate her again once the current drug in her system stopped working.

Mako squirmed beneath her and Sakura contemplated killing him right then and there. But she just didn’t have time. Lucky bastard. She sprinted from him, the phantom stepping over the boulder in the same moment she darted from the concealed spot.

Did he see what she grabbed? Sakura wasn’t confident but couldn’t stop to try to interpret the eye-less facial expression the ninja wore. Remaining hopeful, she kept running.

Spotting a smaller set of tracks in the sand leaving the location, Sakura followed them, tracing them all the way to their source. When Sakura came upon Hisa, she almost collided with her directly, the blackened air only revealing her in the last second. Hisa didn’t even have a chance to react before Sakura uncapped the needle and dispensed a third of the dose into her neck, enough for her weight. The woman dropped to the ground and Sakura thanked Mako again for designing the perfect drug. Sakura didn’t estimate that she would remain unconscious for long, though, not having the full dose.

Sakura moved quickly. There was only a matter of minutes before the phantom caught up to her once again. Sakura quickly removed the cloak from Hisa’s shoulders and wrapped Hisa’s face covering around her own. She picked up Hisa’s small rapier from the ground.

She turned and walked toward the approaching footsteps, using the black at her back to her advantage this time, thankful for once that it would conceal Hisa’s body completely.

When she came into his view, the ninja balked, taken aback at her familiar presence. “Hisa?” came the hissing whisper. Sakura kept her head down long enough. Long enough to come parallel with him and turn the blade to relieve him of his head.

He ducked as Sakura knew he would. Dropping the shortsword, she came back toward his face with the hidden syringe in the same hand. Like with Hisa, she caught him in the neck with the needle neck, and his black sockets widened as she fully pressed in the plunger.

Deathly black shot out of his eye sockets, gripping her remaining hand with blackness as it traveled up her arm. She cried out in both pain and fury as the medicine injected into the demon’s skin. He screamed and she pulled away as he dropped to his knees.

His consciousness remained momentarily, and Sakura turned, arms limp and useless from damage like Orochimaru’s had been. Turning, Sakura found the sword she had dropped. Bending down, she gripped it between her teeth, the taste of metal and sand coating her tongue. It tasted so, so sweet in that second.

Like another mist demon she remembered, Zabuza Momochi, Sakura wielded the blade between her teeth and pivoted to face this monster who was solely responsible for torturing Isao, spreading hatred and pain, and most of all, underestimating her.

Sakura would never be weak enough that anyone without substance, anyone who couldn’t consider themselves subpar to a legendary Sanin, could dispose of her easily. She didn’t need abilities. She didn’t even need chakra to make it out triumphant in these futile attempts on her life.

“You will regret your choices,” the phantom hissed disorientated. “The next generation won’t be able to handle what is coming.”

Sakura began to advance toward him, ready to mimic Zabuza’s killing blows with a fang-wielded blade. When she reached him, she glared down at him, bloodlust in her veins.

“War is a good thing. Anger is a tool to be used. Vengeance is necessary to strengthen.”

Sakura gripped onto her own blood-bent mind, talking to herself as she looked at this man…beast…whatever he was. And as she had done with Satou, Sakura now too, thought of Sasuke. A person so wrapped in darkness that the darkness presented itself in his very nature.

“You, like everyone else, deserve mercy,” Sakura announced after she dropped the sword from her mouth. Sakura had once blamed herself for being too weak to kill Sasuke, but in this moment, Sakura had an enlightening clarification. When someone so vile deserves death and you can find it in yourself to drop your too-ready hand of justice and offer them a second chance—that is real strength. It’s what Naruto would have done. It’s what Sakura chose to do now.

The man slumped forward, eyes level with the blade that stuck up from the sand. “You will see one day that I am right,” he hissed in finality.

“You have us confused with one another,” she announced to the fading darkness that began to disintegrate into light, the final sign signaling his unconsciousness. Sakura could just make out the sunrise in the east and it was beautiful, pale, and rosy. Sakura pretended it was her victory banner. She also believed it was a sign of hope.

………………………………….

The second chakra pill worked another miracle. Sasuke felt replenished as he practically flew across the sand path in Isao’s memory. He had only run this fast a few times in his life and most recently, it was because of this same scenario. Kido, too, had kidnapped Sakura, and when Sasuke had found out, he had run.

Sasuke cursed himself now for his stupidity. His pride. His mission. He had left in anger and confusion after their kiss, left her alone in Suna despite his promise to never let this sort of thing happen again. Each step he took into the sand was echoed in his mind with an apology. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. He lost count of how many times he said it.

Chakra coursed through his limbs and Sasuke mentally prepared himself for war. Bones enveloped his body, ribs caging around him as he activated an incomplete Susanoo. Purple chakra radiated from him, a threatening beacon to the kidnappers he knew would be nearby.

Sasuke instantly recognized the projections of broken ground that penetrated up from the sand like a golden crown. Unlike in Isao’s shadowy memories, the morning light illuminated each pillar, revealing the sheer length and size of every new peak that Sakura had brought forth with her inhuman strength. Sasuke didn’t even think of concealing his presence; he didn’t need to. He charged into the center of the fray, looking about him everywhere.

He looked behind a few of the crags, eyes finally landing on an individual. Bloody, but not unconscious, Mako lay with his face projected to the sky. His eyes shot open when Sasuke placed a heavy foot on his chest. He wanted to light him up with his Amaterasu and let the flames devour him alive until the ninja was nothing more than the sand beneath him.

Mako groaned and Sasuke unsheathed his katana, stabbing into this ninja’s shoulder. Although he didn’t need to pin him to the ground, it felt good to watch Mako clutch at the blade near his collar bone. The medic ninja was still alive despite his blood loss, but Sasuke relished in the thought that he wouldn’t be for long. Gaara might be mad at him for this later, but Sasuke didn’t care.

“Where is she?” The Uchiha hissed as he sent electricity down the length of his blade into Mako’s chest muscles. He began to spasm.

“Stop!” Mako screamed in pain.

“It will stop when you answer!” he yelled back, losing control of his own emotions. He twisted the metal for emphasis.

“Sasuke, stop!” came a familiar voice and Sasuke’s dropped the blade in shock as Sakura threw her shoulder into him.

“I don’t have enough chakra to spare to heal any more wounds,” she reprimanded him as if she were talking to a patient.

Sasuke blinked in chastisement at the pink-haired woman standing whole before him. He instantly pulled her into his Susanoo, crushing her to his side as he extended the ribcage of the Susanoo to include her. He looked around warily as if he couldn’t quite believe there was no current threat to Sakura’s person. He finally spoke, both relief and annoyance edging his words. “You’re okay?! Where are the others?!”

“I’m fine!” she announced, face suddenly red in embarrassment at their close proximity. Sasuke didn’t notice it at first as he held her back at arm’s length to check her current state. His stomach dropped when he saw her dangling arms, blackened, charred, and bruised. One of them currently had a small halo of green around it and its color paled in comparison to the other.

“Who did this to you?” he rumbled lowly, flashing a red and purple glare back down at Mako, who whimpered pathetically from his wounds. Sakura pulled from his hand and moved in front of the Uchiha, cutting off his direction of blame.

“Not him,” she excused, and her defense thoroughly pissed Sasuke off. Whatever Mako’s role was in this, Sasuke was certain that he was to blame for all of it.

Sasuke did his best to swallow his murdering thirst, eyes landing back on her like a lifeline to his sanity. “Tell me what happened,” he ordered. It was the only words that he could force past his teeth.

“I will explain everything to you, but I need your help first.” She made to step away from him, but Sasuke prevented it. Careful not to aggravate her injuries by touching her arm, Sasuke grabbed her shirt on reflex instead, pulling her back into the safety of the Susanoo.

“It’s okay. We are safe.” she breathed, smiling at him for the first time since he had left her, which brought Sasuke back some soothing clarity of mind. “They are all incapacitated.”

Sasuke’s eyebrow shot up into his bangs. “All of them?”

“It’s insulting that you are surprised,” she nudged him with her shoulder, turning her shoulders to face Mako. She bent to medically assess his new stab wound.

“I wasn’t expecting,” he admitted, but then fell into silence at her targeted look. “I mean, I thought that you were drugged!”

“I am,” she announced, narrowing her eyes further. “But I don’t know how you know that.”

Sasuke cursed at his slip. He couldn’t tell her just yet about how he practically forced Isao to spill all the information earlier. Instead, he said half-truthfully, “I ran into the kid.”

“Isao?” Sakura’s face lit up. “He’s okay? He made it back?” She slumped into the sand at Mako’s side. She practically deflated as her concern for the boy evaporated. “Bless that child.”

Sasuke had to agree. If it weren’t for him, Sasuke wouldn’t have been able to find his teammate this quickly. Even though Sakura hadn’t really needed his help after all. How strange that felt for Sasuke, to not be needed in the ways that he had once been. It was an unexpected jolt to his mindset toward Sakura. She had proved her strength repeatedly to him and he continued to see her as someone to protect.

Before he could even offer an apology, Sakura motioned toward Mako’s body. “My arms are a little preoccupied at the moment. Do you mind flipping him?”

Sasuke’s thoughts instantly darkened at the mention of both her arms and Mako. “What for?”

“I need to look at his back. See how deep the wound is.”

“He doesn’t deserve your help,” he replied instantly, wishing for the ninja to suffer in the same ways he had made his friend.

“I remember a time when you didn’t either,” Sakura replied with a smiling voice, “but I helped you back then, too. Now flip him.”

Sasuke scoffed at her statement, stooped, and flipped the ninja on his stomach. Mako let out a pained groan and Sakura “tsked” at his blatant carelessness. He kneeled beside her, ready to be her hands despite how much he hated the thought of her trying to help him.

“It’s not as deep as I thought. Hold his flesh together,” she ordered and Sasuke did so as she summoned a small stream of chakra to the gray fingertips of her semi-healed hand. The small amount did not last long, but it was enough. Just enough to stop the bleeding.

“Why are you helping me?” Mako asked faintly into the sand, and Sasuke immediately responded for her.

“You don’t need to know, so just shut your mouth so I don’t have to hear your voice.”

Sakura nudged him for his harsh words. “You sure have a lot to say today.” And Sasuke blinked at her again in surprise. She was right; he was talking a lot…for him. He responded with another scoff.

Sakura answered Mako’s question despite Sasuke’s threat. “You believe in war. I believe in peace. We are stronger united than when we are divided. This is how I create peace.”

Sasuke wasn’t following entirely, but he knew that Sakura was referencing words that had been exchanged between them, and Sasuke recognized them as the poison from a mindset consumed in darkness.

Standing again, Sakura said, “The hard part is going to be getting them all back to Sunagakure.”

“What do you mean?” Sasuke asked.

“They’re drugged. Not all of them are dead. They’ll wake soon,” she clarified for him.

Sasuke didn’t even think before saying, “I can remedy that.”

She ignored him, continuing, “We might have to make a couple trips. How many can you carry?”

Sasuke didn’t even respond to that ridiculous notion. Instead, he activated his Rinnegan once more, feeding it with the chakra from the chakra pill. A spiral appeared before them, revealing the central red-dune dimension. Sakura didn’t even have time to protest before Sasuke was throwing Mako’s limp body inside the hole.

“What are you doing?” Sakura asked, confused and stunned by his actions.

“They can remain in this dimension until we make it back to Suna. They can’t flee inside. They have nowhere to go.”

Sakura nodded in understanding. “Good idea!” she praised him, obviously relieved she wasn’t going to have to try to carry anyone with her arms practically useless.

“I’ll take you to the others.”

A female kunoichi Sakura called Hisa was the second to be transported to Kaguya’s center dimension. Then a different sort of being Sasuke considered warily. He didn’t look to be human. Sakura explained that he had been the most dangerous of them all. Sakura believed him to be the ringleader, though she wasn’t sure how many group members he truly led. It was still a confusing web of connections.

Sakura left out the fact that this ninja must be the one to have damaged her arms, but no good would come from Sasuke demanding that she confirm that for him. The Uchiha made a mental note of it as he tossed the unconscious ninja inside, already contemplating on ways to make him talk.

“Is that all?” he asked.

“One more,” she replied, and she led Sasuke toward a small adobe house that he hadn’t noticed before. It was alone in the desert, one wall completely destroyed, revealing the building’s stark clay interior.

Just before they reached the ruins, Sakura stopped when they approached the body of a large man. Sasuke was surprised to find this man not just unconscious; he was dead.

“He hurt Isao,” she defended automatically, ashamed that death had been necessary.

But Sasuke didn’t need an explanation from her. If she wouldn’t have, Saskue was pretty sure that he would have killed him. “Let the sand have him,” he declared, but Sakura shook her head.

“He belongs with them. They must be able to bury and grieve to find peace. We don’t want to give them cause for any further resentment.”

Sasuke wanted to say “you can’t be serious,” but he didn’t feel like arguing, because no matter what Sasuke could come up with to say next, Sakura would still be right in the end. She had a bigger vision in mind that Sasuke couldn’t quite connect sometimes. He just knew that he would always trust her to do the right thing, even if it wasn’t sensible, or in most cases, not what Sasuke would have done.

“Fine,” he declared, opening the portal once more. His breathing became labored as he pushed the effects of the chakra pill. Like with the others, Sasuke dragged the man’s body into the portal.

Sasuke also stepped through, leaving the gateway open between realms. He directed his attention to Mako, ice already coating his next words.

“If I were you, I wouldn’t wander too far from this spot. The dimension is endless and not of our world. You will only lose yourself and die in this place.”

Mako swallowed deeply in fear as he watched Sasuke’s form from his stomach.

“On second thought,” Sasuke sneered under his breath. “Feel free.” The portal closed behind the Uchiha as he exited. He would deal with all of them later, he thought. He needed to get Sakura back to Sunagakure first.

………………………………

Sakura couldn’t help but whimper when her left arm wasn’t responding as quickly to her healing chakra. Her right hand—the very same one she had shoved into Mako’s mouth to keep him from screaming—had almost fully recovered as the medicine suppressing her chakra began to wear off and her healing abilities returned to her. Her left hand, however, was at first very numb, which Sakura knew was a very bad sign. But the longer she worked at healing, the more the pain began to intensify. It was almost unbearable, but Sakura was ultimately relieved at the burning sensation that indicated life. Sakura considered the differences between the two hands and all she could conclude was that distance must have had something to do with it since her right hand had a grabbed the blackened sword at his feet and her left had been near his face when she plunged the needle in his neck.

Sasuke supported her as they walked back to the Sand Village, though he suddenly seemed to her like he was the one that needed supporting. He stumbled in the sand and Sakura removed her good arm from his shoulders.

“I’m good. But are you okay?” she asked, noticing his strenuous breathing for the first time.

“Yes,” he fibbed, and Sakura knew it was a lie the minute he clutched his head to support it.

Redirecting her chakra back to her healed hand, Sakura immediately sought out Sasuke’s brow with her fingertips. He moaned with relief as green chakra lighted over it, but he instantly pushed her hand away. “Heal yourself.”

“What happened?” she responded, ignoring his demand. She found his forehead again. “There’s nothing I can do if you don’t tell me what’s going on.”

“I took two chakra pills. I’ll be fine though. I just need rest.” He removed her hand again.

Sakura inhaled sharply at the confession. “Why did you do that?”

“I had already depleted my chakra reserves when I found out you weren’t in the village. I panicked.”

“Overdosing on chakra pills is one thing,” she scolded, “but using them recklessly to overexert your Rinnegan is another. No matter how much chakra you have, you have limits with the Rinnegan.”

“It was my only choice,” he defended sharply, obviously masking his embarrassment with annoyance.

Sakura placed her glowing palm over his eyes, now certain of the source of his discomfort. Sasuke made to move her hand away once more, but she fussed like a mother when he tried. “Let me have my way, or we’ll be here longer.”

Sasuke released a small laugh that sounded like another scoff. Only Team 7 could tell the difference between Sasuke’s derisiveness and his sense of humor. Sakura couldn’t believe he had the energy to laugh. But then something changed in the air around them and Sasuke grew very serious as he inhaled—the type of inhale someone made before having something important to say.

Sasuke finally managed to grab her fingers and he tugged them away after Sakura was satisfied with his treatment. But he didn’t let go. Instead, he held them for a moment that suggested tenderness. It was different from how their hands had brushed so many times before, like how they rested them against each other as they watched Suna’s desert sunset. This time, it was more like how Sasuke had held her hand between them in the medicine preparation room.

Finally working up the courage, Sasuke looked down at her feet and said, “I’m sorry.”

Sakura stared at the firm hold his fingers had on hers in wonder. And the truly amazing part was that he stillwasn’t letting go. “For what?” she whispered, not knowing what else to say for fear of him moving away.

“For leaving you behind in Suna. For leaving in anger. For not being there and letting this happen.”

Sakura didn’t let him continue. “Sasuke,” she began, catching his guilty eyes with her own. “You don’t have to worry about me anymore. I hope I have proved that to you, today. Please don’t burden yourself with worry for me. I can carry my own burdens and some. You already have the weight of the world on your shoulders.”

Sasuke searched her eyes with his. Sakura knew this was a rare occasion. Not many people would see the Uchiha open, unguarded, with care etched in every feature of his expression.

“I’ve been thinking,” he said suddenly, still holding her fingers tightly, and Sakura felt the whole world suddenly still around them. Even the desert wind seemed to stop. Was this the Sasuke she had always known was inside, no matter how roughly he displayed himself to the world?

“I’m sorry for what happened,” Sakura interrupted, afraid for another impending denial of her feelings. She knew what was coming and she didn’t want this small moment to end. “I won’t do that again.”

He paused and Sakura wondered if he was unsettled by the open acknowledgement of her stollen kiss.

He sighed and Sakura’s stomach dropped. She felt him hesitate, saw it in his face. But he resolved himself, declaring, “I came to a conclusion while I was away, and I have to say this while I have the nerve.”

Sakura nodded, ready for disappointment. She was more afraid of what he would say next than she had ever felt going toe-to-toe with her enemies just moments ago.

“Can it be enough for us to care for one another?” he asked, desperation cloaked with mock annoyance on his breath. “Can it just be enough for us to be friends as long as we are in each other’s lives sometimes? Can it be enough for us to be united in the same goal?”

Sakura’s heart sank and unhappiness hit her like the wave she was expecting. Tears threatened to brim her eyelids, but Sakura swallowed them down. Would he ever not be this thickheaded and stubborn? Would he ever let them be what they could be? Whether or not Sakura was simply high on victory or if she was genuinely losing her meekness in Sasuke’s presence, Sakura wasn’t sure.

She removed her hand from his. “Is it enough for you?” she finally asked, taking a step away from him. But he caught her fingers again, pulling her back gently to face him.

“Is that a no?” he asked emotionlessly, but Sakura saw the struggle in his eyes.

“When the answer becomes ‘yes’ for you, I will accept it as mine as well.” She pulled away, firmly this time. He couldn’t respond. Sakura knew why: he wanted to put this on her; he was always putting it back on her, afraid “because of her,” hesitant “because of her.” These were his excuses, but Sakura wouldn’t give him an out this time. It was his turn to choose.

They both knew that it was far too late for Sasuke to pretend he didn’t love her in the same way that Sakura loved him. But Sakura had learned that people love in many ways and not all people wanted to express that love romantically. Kissing Sasuke had been a mistake. She hated to call it that, but it was the truth of it. She didn’t want to steal from him what he wasn’t ready to give—what he wasn’t at peace with. It was his turn; he now knew where she stood.

………………………………..

When they finally made it back to the Hidden Sand Village, Kankuro was there to intercept them just as Sasuke had expected he would. The puppet-wielding ninja was beside himself with worry at seeing Sakura’s injuries, insisting that Sakura promptly return to the hospital. Sakura had insisted she tend to her own wounds back in their lodgings so she could rest. She immediately requested to see Isao, but Kankuro insisted she get some rest first.

It wasn’t until Sasuke insisted that he have an audience with him and Gaara, that he left Sakura to her own desires. As they parted, Sasuke tried to say something or grab her eyes with his, but she didn’t look at him. Not even once. And Sasuke ran his hand exhaustedly through his hair. He couldn’t think about them right now. A conference with the Kazekage would be the perfect distraction.

Gaara, miraculously, had returned before he and Sakura had, and Sasuke wondered just how fast news could travel. Sasuke privately joked with himself that the desert shared its secrets with the Kazekage. The wind and sand must speak to him if he found out things so quickly. It was a hypothesis that could explain a lot at least.

Sasuke shook his head as he followed Kankuro into the Kazekage’s office. He must be getting delirious from the effects of the chakra pills.

“Sasuke,” came Gaara’s raspy acknowledgement when the Uchiha stepped into the room. Gaara was surprisingly alone, which relieved Sasuke. He thought he would have to face Gaara with the “support” of his council. It would be easier to speak of recent events if only Gaara and Kankuro were present.

Sasuke nodded respectfully despite his feelings of resentment toward the two men at the moment for having let Sakura be kidnapped under their watch. As a ninja that was a part of this unpredictable shinobi world, Sasuke knew his anger was unjustified, but he wanted to be mad at anyone and everyone right now. 99% of his own anger was directed at himself, because Sasuke knew that he was more responsible for what happened than the Kazekage and his brother were. The Kazekage had been trying to be proactive and prevent something like this from happening. It just didn’t turn out that way.

The Kazekage seemed to share Sasuke concern for discreetness, because he cloaked the room in sand as he had done the first day of Sasuke arrival. It filled every crevice, thickening to soundproof the room.

Sasuke opened the portal into Kaguya’s central dimension without further delay. He walked into the vortex, not surprised the group remained exactly where he had left them. The only difference was that they were conscious, a fact that slightly irked the Uchiha.

One by one, he grabbed each ninja, tossing them forward into the Kazekage’s domain. Hisa clutched at her dead counterpart, holding onto the deceased brute. Sasuke found grim satisfaction in Mako’s subdued, yielding persona. Being present before the Kazekage was far more terrifying than being stuck in a desolate dimension.

But the individual that held both Sasuke and the Kazekage’s attention was the wraith-like individual that bled darkness from a small spot on his neck. It was his only injury.

Gaara carefully considered him, crossing his arms and surveying him emotionlessly as he did most enemies that he regarded.

Darkness suddenly began to ooze from the man’s eye sockets and Sasuke’s temper suddenly flared. He looked to Gaara, and the ninja nodded his permission.

“Only demons don’t seem to know when they’re in the presence of other demons. Shall I show you hell?”

Sasuke’s eye suddenly began to bleed as he formed the tiger seal for fire release. “Amaterasu!”

The black flames clung to the phantom, incinerating what Sasuke realized was dark masses of sinewing, vaporized flesh. The phantom hissed. Then screamed, then began to plead for mercy. Hisa began to cry and Mako turned his face away from their leader.

Gaara came up beside Sasuke to speak to the wraith as he writhed. Sasuke released the Amaterasu and the flames receded.

The Kazekage crouched, an arm on his knee. “From one demon to another, I urge you to leave your shadows behind in hell and step out into the light. Only demons desire war. And war breeds more demons.”

Sasuke clutched his eye in silent suffering, and Gaara dismissed him. “I’ll handle the rest. I’ll let you know what we find out.”

Sasuke nodded, not waiting for any further excuses to depart. He had delivered them into the Kazekage’s care. But what those ninja didn’t know was that Sakura’s mercy held Sasuke more confined than it did the Kazekage, a demon just as he had said, whose territory had been breached.

……………………

Sakura was finishing binding her tender left hand in medical bandaging, using up the last of her burn solvent that she had created at Suna’s hospital, when Sasuke walked in.

He opened the door, caught her eyes with his, and tried to hide the bloody track down his face from her with his hand. She was on her feet instantly, pulling him to the bed that he had staked his claim on.

She felt his forehead and it was hot, too hot. He had done it this time. She sighed, summoning the small reserve of chakra behind the diamond mark on her forehead.

She expected Sasuke to scold her for using what little she had left on him, but he didn’t seem to notice in his extreme exhaustion. “Thank you,” he whispered, and Sakura retreated to fetch water for him.

He gulped it greedily and Sakura helped him shrug out of his outer layer of clothing. Sand fell from his hair and clothes in the same way hers had earlier. “I’m better now,” he whispered, the first words spoken between them since their disagreement in the desert.

Sakura nodded, making to move away, but he grabbed her hand for the third time that day.

“Don’t be angry,” he begged, his exhaustion making him suddenly careless to conceal his true intentions with fake displeasure and irritation.

“Why do you think I am angry?” she asked emotionlessly.

“I just want what’s best for you. I don’t want to hurt you,” he whispered in defeat. This side of Sasuke startled Sakura. He was becoming more undefended, open with emotions in a way she had never seen him before. Was it because he didn’t have anything to hide anymore? Was he past his denials and his pretending?

“I know,” she squeezed his hand back. “But your concerns are groundless.”

“Tell me how,” he pleaded.

She sat beside him on his bed, and he tilted his ear to her, never removing his hand from hers. She took a breath and told him the truth. Told him everything he needed to know. “I do not love you sacrificially, Sasuke. I do not choose you knowing that my life or happiness could be forfeit by doing so. I choose you because I can keep up with you. Because something like your absence wouldn’t be enough to determine my permanent happiness. I will choose to go on, content with only the thought that I know you are out there somewhere loving me if that is all that I have in the moment.”

She took a breath and continued before he could respond. “I am strong enough to handle whatever comes my way as a result of loving you. And I have absolutely no doubts in my feelings, my happiness, and what I am willing to compromise to be with the person I love most.”

Sakura reached tenderly to turn his face to hers and their eyes met. She touched his forehead in the same way he had done to her many times before. “That person is you,” she reassured him, offering him a sincere smile as she removed her hand from his forehead.

Then Sasuke leaned forward. Very close to her, and Sakura bit her lip to keep from reaching for his with her own. “Is all of that true?” he requested again, suddenly breathless. And Sakura knew later that it was just to be sure before what came next.

“Yes,” she breathed. And she didn’t have to reach for him, because he was suddenly reaching for her. His hand found her chin and Sakura waited for his choice. She waited for him to move. And he did.

“Then my answer is no; it’s not enough for me either.” When his lips carefully parted her own, Sakura knew without a doubt that he had decided to find some way possible for them, a path where he could choose her, too.

#approaching sun #sasusaku #sasusakufanfiction #ssfanfiction #sakura hiden #sasuke shinden #naruto fanfiction #sasuke and sakura #Sakura Haruno #sakura uchiha #Sasuke Uchiha

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boom-fanfic-a-latta · 4 years ago

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@fishybehavior

Gaslighting

(AKA I randomly quoted Unhappy Refrain in the last line)

—

The fuzzy feeling the meds always gave him when he first took them was stronger than usual this time…and a dull feeling had settled over something inside of him, something he couldn't quite place...what had happened? He felt so unsettled for some reason...

"Are you feeling alright, Jay?" someone asked.

He was feeling very confused, but he managed to nod, steadily feeling calmer. Why had he been so worked up again? Oh right, he...he had...had…

What had happened?

“It’s okay, you just had a bad relapse. Worse than normal, but nothing too big.”

Yeah, that was it. The memori–no, delusions, they were all in his head--they had made him act out again.

But it seemed so real…It’d been bad today, really bad...he almost thought he had literally shocked one of the doctors, as little sense as that made...

No, don’t think about that, it was fake, it was all in his head, but it felt so real, why couldn’t he just push it all away? Why couldn’t he just forget?!

That kind of thinking, being unable to tell between those imaginings and reality, that’s what he was here to have fixed. But...he couldn’t stop second guessing all of this.

They had told him that would be normal, though—he had been like this for years, hadn’t he? That’s why he was here, to fix all of that. Even if it didn’t seem to be working.

Even if he kept feeling like this wasn’t right. Like these delusions weren’t delusions, but memories. That he really was a ninja, as ridiculous as it sounded.

Honestly, how could he be one? It made no sense now, looking at it from a realistic point of view. He had nothing special, no powers, all he was was just a normal boy. It was all just him projecting, mixed with this sick problem he had.

Even if he sometimes felt a strange electric hum he couldn’t explain.

Even if he seemed almost too agile, too strong, for someone his age.

He was just a normal boy.

He was sick, in a way, and he was here to get better.

“Your medication should start taking effect around now, just let one of us know if you need anything before we hook you up.”

Hook...him up? What did...that...that mean...

His head began to droop, his strength giving out as the drugs started to take full effect. This was a lot more than normal...He felt so numb, and tired, he could barely even think clearly anymore…think at all…

Vaguely, he was aware of something being slipped onto his head, over his ears...headphones? Is that what they meant?

“We’re going to be trying something new today, just as a test. Hopefully, it can help you forget everything that happened earlier, maybe even more.”

He frowned slightly. How would...how...it was so hard to think with the meds in his system…

“Just try to listen.”

A buzzing of static burst from the headphones for a second, before a click sounded, and there was silence.

And then, a...voice? If he’d been able to think more clearly, he would have recognized it as himself, snippets recorded from one of his earlier counseling sessions. Things they had had him repeat to himself to get more confidence in the fact that his delusions were, well...delusions.

But in his drugged-up state, all he could tell was that the voice was familiar, and—more importantly—trustworthy.

And so he listened.

“It’s all in my head…It’s not real...I’m not a ninja, just a normal boy…”

As the phrases played over and over, he found himself tuning in more and more.

“None of that actually happened...They’re not memories, just delusions...It’s best if I forget…”

And honestly, it was progressively easier to believe the more times he heard it, and the words soon became all he could focus on.

He was pretty lucky, with these 39 seconds played in his ears on a loop.

—

HOW THE HECK DID I WRITE THIS SO FAST

...Also, context: I was talking with @fishybehavior, and she mentioned this rewrite she had tried to do of the White Coats thing—she didn’t go through with it, but let me see the draft and try my own hand at it.

Basic gist is that Jay is being convinced that his time as a ninja wasn’t real, but just a delusion. And I immediately jumped to write this.

I HAVE NO IDEA WHY I QUOTED UNHAPPY REFRAIN (the whole “lucky with these 39 seconds on a loop” thing)

#ninjago #ninjago au #ninjago jay #tw drugging #tw gaslighting #mint writes stuff

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thebladeblaster · 4 years ago

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Pokémon: the Dark Circuit (aka Vanguard Descends season 2)

Chapter 8 Prelude To The Circuit Part 1 (cont.)

“I think we already did this.”, Kamui replied.

Aichi looked over to Olivier.

“Is that fine with you?”, Aichi asked and Olivier nodded.

“Yes, I came here to talk as well.”, Oliver replied.

“We must have been thinking something similar.”, Aichi replied.

“Do you mind following me. Your friends may come along if they wish.”, Olivier asked.

“You bet we will!”, Kamui replied.

“Yeah, that’s fine.”, Aichi replied.

Oliver, Aichi, Misaki and Kamui started walking.

“I…”, Aichi looked down as he trailed off.

“Why am I getting tongue tied now? I have been waiting for this moment.”, Aichi thought.

Olivier looked over to Aichi noticing his struggle.

“It must feel a bit awkward to be talking after all these years.”, Olivier said.

“Yeah...umm...so how has things been since I’ve been gone?”, Aichi asked awkwardly.

Before Olivier answered they stopped to see a burnt down manner. Aichi’s eyes widened in shock recognizing the building.

“...My father died and many others in our family in a fire.”, Olivier responded.

Kamui gasped in shock and Misaki looked to Aichi who became very quiet. Aichi looked down at a loss for words.

“Arthur’s dead?”, Aichi questioned, sounding as if he could hardly believe it.

He had wondered why Arthur hadn’t been by his father’s side. He usually always was like how him and Olivier had been.

“I-I...I am sorry to hear that…”, Aichi said quietly.

“It wasn’t a accident. It was a attack meant to kill your father.”, Olivier explained and Aichi was at a loss for words.

His bangs covered his eyes.

“I’m sorry...I haven’t been here for you like you were for me. But if you come back with me to Kakusa maybe we can make things right!”, Aichi said.

Olivier looked rather shocked at the invitation to Kakusa and knew the implication.

“I’m sorry 00...Aichi but I can’t betray Team Asteroid. While from your perspective what your father is doing may seem wrong but it truly is the best for the world.”, Olivier replied.

Aichi looked up heartbroken at his response.

“How do you know? Have you really seen the people of the outside world? How they’ve lived. When I was with Team Asteroid I didn’t know anything besides my father’s vision. It was drilled in my head since birth that it was my purpose to fulfill his vision. I never experienced other viewpoints or what a free life was like.”, Aichi replied, walking up to Olivier.

“That freedom leads to conflict and suffering. Only through the watchful guidance of Team Asteroid can the world reach peace. If there’s no differing ideas there’s no conflict and...no one else has to die in war.”, Olivier replied, looking over at the manner during the last part.

“Olivier...life without freedom is...hell. I know that more than anyone. I suffer the most whenever Team Asteroid tries to control me. Sure freedom can lead to bad things and horrible things. People can be very cruel with free reign to do what they want. But...people can also be very kind to and do things that help people. If people are controlled they can’t evolve or innovate. I may not be fighting Team Asteroid for Arceus, but I believe in the world it created. I believe in the people of this world. Even if they aren’t perfect I know everyone is capable of doing good.”, Aichi replied.

“The world Arceus created is broken. If life was truly created in its image. It is just as flawed as it’s creations. Living in a region like Kakusa has made you naive. The conflict in Kakusa was merely a childish scuffle compared to the conflict with the other regions.”, Olivier replied with a glare.

“Fuck you! You don’t know what we’ve been through! You weren’t there! How could you possibly know!”, Kamui loudly interjected and Misaki didn’t stop him glaring at Olivier herself.

“You’re not the only one who’s suffered.”, Misaki said angrily.

“Then let’s test how strong your will is Aichi! We’ll battle with one Pokémon of the same type.”, Olivier declared pointing at Aichi.

“Why would he impose a weird condition like that?”, Kamui wondered.

“It’s what we call an honor battle. The two trainers in one fight with a Pokémon of the same type, an even playing field. It’s usually to determine who’s way better at raising Pokémon.”, Kamui jumped as Neve walked in.

“Who’s way is better huh? It’s a battle of ideals.”, Misaki said.

“Exactly.”, Neve replied.

“Oh oh! A battle that should be entertaining!”, Rati said.

“What the?! Are you guys ninjas?!”, Kamui questioned.

“We’re trained soldiers or course we know basics like stealth.”, Raul said, causing Kamui to jump and growl at him.

“Which type?”, Aichi questioned.

“Dragon type.”, Olivier declared.

“Alright! I won’t back down! I’ll show you how serious I am! Go, Soul Saver!”, Aichi called out throwing out Soul Saver.

“Haxorus! Haxorus! Haxorus! Haxorus! Haxorus! Haxorus! (I won’t let you get away with making mama angry!)”, Soul Saver roared angrily after she came out feeling the same strong emotions as her trainer through the link.

“Go Prominence Core!”, Olivier called out.

“Garchomp! Garchomp! Garchomp! (I won’t lose to some pet dragon!)”, Prominence Core roared at Soul Saver challengingly.

“Get em bro!”, Kamui cheered.

“This is so childish.”, Misaki sighed.

“I can see they really care about each other but they're both too hard headed to concede to the other. They both think they’re right and know what’s best for each other.”, Misaki thought.

“Soul Saver, let’s go! Use scale shot!”, Aichi ordered.

Soul Saver shot scales at Prominence Core.

“Prominence Core use dragon rush!”, Olivier ordered.

Prominence Core charged at Soul Saver its fins cutting through the scales. Soul Saver narrowly dodged Prominence Core and glared.

“Soul Saver use iron tail!”, Aichi ordered.

Soul Saver dug it’s tusks deep into Prominence Core before it could evade. She slammed her tail hard onto Prominence Core’s rough scales. Prominence Core quickly collected itself slashing at Soul Saver’s tusks with its fin.

“Prominence Core use flamethrower!”, Olivier ordered.

“Soul Saver!”, Aichi called out as Soul Saver’s top half was engulfed with blue flames.

“Heh, is this fight already done. 003v really has become soft in the Kakusa region. After all a Haxorus isn’t even an optimal choice for a dragon type.”, Raul commented.

“Don’t…”, Aichi said as his voice became deeper.

“Haxorus!!! Haxorus!!! (Count me out yet!!!)”, Soul Saver roared.

Prominence Core staggered back as its flame started to be overwhelmed by another blue flame. Through the flame Soul Saver’s eyes glowed menacingly.

“Prominence Core don’t back down!”, Olivier ordered.

“What a miscalculation. His Garchomp really should evade.”, Raul said.

“It’s about his pride. He can’t run away.”, Neve replied.

Prominence Core stood its ground, its fire clashing with Soul Saver’s own. Soul Saver’s glowing eyes showed that she was now using outrage.

“Why can’t you see...”, Olivier thought.

“That you’re wrong!”, Aichi thought.

“I don’t want to be your enemy.”, they both thought.

The area around started to shake and parts of it started to melt from the heated clash. Good thing they were away from civilians here.

“Seems 003v’s Haxorus is very powerful Raul.”, Rati said.

“It’s due to its exposure to 003v’s power as an egg. It’s made his Haxorus unnaturally powerful compared to most of its species. It’s like the enhancement 002f and 004a use but permanent.”, Raul explained.

“That’s amazing can the other Psyqualia user’s do that as well?”, Neve asked.

“I won’t answer it here with enemies nearby.”, Raul replied and Neve nodded.

Rati casually held a box of donuts and munched on one.

“Want one?”, she asked Misaki who sweat dropped.

They weren’t sure how long they had sat there but considering the stubbornness of the two they knew it was long very long. The others had even come there worried something bad had happened. They also sweat dropped as Aichi continued to battle even with his stomach growling like an angry Salamence. The two Pokémon sweated as they were running out of energy. The two ended up collapsing making the battle a draw.

“Want a donut, 003v?”, Rati asked.

“Thank you!”, Aichi hastily thanked before devouring the donut in a few bites.

“You idiot you should have ate before. You should know how much your Psyqualia drains your energy.”, Olivier scolded Aichi, sounding like a worried parent.

Soul Saver smelled the donuts and buckets of drool leaked from her mouth. She jumped up ignoring her tiredness skipping over to Rati.

“Haxorus? (Can I have one too?)”, Soul Saver asked, with her tail wagging like a puppy.

“Aww! Your Haxorus is so cute! You can have one too.”, Rati said, holding out the donut like a dog treat and Soul Saver gulped down the donut in one go,

“Why are you guys taking food from them? It could be drugged or something?” , Honda questioned.

“Rati wouldn’t do that.”, Aichi replied almost instantly sounding strangely sure.

Olivier’s eyes widened looking over to Aichi.

“Does he?”, Olivier thought.

“Why are you so sure of that we met for the first time today?”, Rati asked.

“Really? That’s strange...I feel like we have.”, Aichi questioned, blinking a bit with a look of confusion.

“Now, that I think of it I only spent a few of my early years with Olivier yet I feel like I’ve known him for a lot longer.”, Aichi thought.

“Strange…”, Yugi trailed off as Anzu looked over to him.

“Why does the image of the five of them together feel so familiar?”, Yugi thought.

Suddenly he had a very strange flash. Aichi had the Quatre Knights by his side and a Haxorus. He wore a black general-like cloak. The attire seemed rather out of character for Aichi he knew especially the sinister smirk he had on his face.

“So you’re the other messiah of this era?”, 003v questioned.

To be continued…

Yeah I’m that evil to give you that cliffhanger. Sorry for the lack of updates I have had a hard time writing. Wow, this chapter felt a lot longer than it actually was to me.

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laisaxrem · 4 years ago

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Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Naruto Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Hatake Kakashi & Yamato | Tenzou, Haruno Sakura & Yamato | Tenzou, Haruno Sakura/Hatake Kakashi Characters: Yamato | Tenzou, Hatake Kakashi, Haruno Sakura, Senju Kaede (OC), Orochimaru (mentioned), Hatake Tomomi (OC) (mentioned), Hatake Momoko (OC) (mentioned), Tsunade (mentioned), Masumoto Yūki (OC) (mentioned), Hatake Kakashi's Ninken Additional Tags: child surprise, dad!Tenzo, Friendship, Poor Tenzō Summary:

Tenzō's day begins with an unexpected surprise: a woman, a civilian with whom he had an affair a few years earlier, knocks on his door, a child in her arms. The child, she says, is his son.

«He looks like your bonsai version», the kunoichi let out at one point, unable to hold back her wonder as she studied the sleeping face of the little one. «Sakura, please…»

Tenzō wandered around the Village like a zombie, the sleeping child wrapped in his arms.

How the fuck could this happened? What was he supposed to do? How… For a moment he felt the panic attack oppress his chest but he managed to dominate his body with the pure strength of his mind – the training of the Root finally did something good, at least.

But he needed to sort this out. He needed to speak to Kakashi and knew it was late but hoped to find him still in the office.

Eventually he managed to reach his destination, the Hokage palace, and entered the circular room through an open window.

Kakashi was there, sitting in the chair that had belonged to him until a few years ago, a pile of papers on the desk, a roll of a A-rank mission in his hands. On his arrival he did not turn around but raised an arm in greeting. It was evident that he expected him to speak. But Tenzō wasn't even sure he could think anymore. Finally, the former Hokage turned in his chair and when he saw the child held in his arms, he raised an eyebrow and abandoned the scroll.

«All out», he said, evidently to the ANBUs on guard. «What happened? Who is that child?» he asked after a few seconds, when he was sure that the two ninja teams were no longer within earshot.

«Kaede. He’s name is Kaede», Tenzō replied, swallowing hard as he tried to gather his thoughts.

«Sit down», Kakashi ordered, getting up and bringing the chair to him.

He widened his eyes at that offer.

«I can’t. That is –»

«It’s a chair and you need to sit down. So do it. Now».

Tenzō did. Because his senpai had used the tone of voice he used when he was the captain of the ANBU team and had to be obeyed quickly and without objection by his subordinates.

«And now tell me what happened», he ordered standing in front of him.

Tenzō had to think for a moment. How to explain what had happened? Where could he begin? His head was a mess and he had never felt this way in almost fifty years of life. Eventually he forced himself to open his mouth and the words began to come out spontaneously.

«This morning a woman showed up at my house, this child by the hand, saying she needed my help», Tenzō began, automatically obeying that tone of voice again. «I let her in because I recognized her face: she was a civilian with whom I had a relationship long ago. She told me this child is my son», he threw out, in one breath, ignoring the stunned expression on the ex Hokage’s face. «And she’s gone».

«Wait, she’s gone? Where? When will she come back?»

«Never», he replied, his tone flat.

«How…?»

«She drugged my tea», Tenzō explained, guessing Kakashi’s question. «When I woke up there was no trace of her. There was only a farewell letter for the child».

The other shinobi was silent for a moment and Tenzō knew he was gathering his thoughts, putting together the pieces of the puzzle. He hoped that at least he would succeed because personally the ANBU was groping in the dark.

«Forgive me a moment, Tenzō, but… you are a jōnin, and a tremendously skilled jōnin, too. How the hell did a civilian drug your tea without you noticing?»

«After her revelation I lost control and yelled at her for explanations», he explained, feeling vaguely embarrassed at the memory of his outburst. «The boy ran to the bathroom and I went to get him. Afterwards my state was too altered to recognize the presence of the sleeping drug».

«It’s not that I don’t understand, but what the fuck Tenzō».

«I know, senpai, I’m really sorry».

Kakashi shook his head and put a hand on his shoulder, giving him a reassuring smile.

«It’s okay, there's no need to apologize. Hand me the letter», he ordered as he placed his hand on the ground to summon Pakkun and make him smell the object, ordering him to follow suit. When the pug had disappeared out the window, a little hesitant, he added, pointing to the baby: «Can I see him?»

Tenzō nodded and with extreme delicacy turned the child to expose his face. And Kakashi held his breath, just like he had done a few hours before, because the resemblance was truly incredible, almost surreal. And it froze his veins, a fixed thought that was beating in his brain and that threatened to make him scream.

«So, you have a son», Kakashi said after a moment, the neutral and controlled expression of someone who has seen a lot and knows that with a wrong move he could trigger the injured animal.

At least that was how Tenzō felt, who shook his head decisively.

«It is not possible…»

«Look at him, he’s identical to you as a child. He has your eyes, your features…» Kakashi pointed out… as if he hadn’t already noticed it, as if he didn’t think he had a mirror of the past in front of him, when he was in front of the child.

But although logic and common sense dictated that this had to be his son, Tenzō knew he couldn’t be. No, he couldn’t.

«Senpai, it can’t be. I have always been careful…» he tried to say, in the hope that his old friend, his old companion, would understand and would not ask for more, that he should not be forced to relive that humiliation and pain of many years before.

But of course it was Kakashi, the one in front of him, and he trusted the man so much also for his intelligence and his stubbornness.

«Apparently not enough».

«He can’t be my son», he finally resolved to say, now resigned to reveal even that secret of himself that only one person in the world knew.

«Listen Tenzō, maybe you reproduced with spores like mushrooms, I don’t know what to tell you», Kakashi blurted out, irritation starting to infiltrate his voice.

But the ANBU was in no mood for jokes or reproaches, not now, not with those thoughts crowding his mind. Not even from his senpai.

«It’s not funny», he replied, fighting the irritation with anger. It was the only thing left to him at that moment.

«Neither is the fact that you deny the evidence».

«I’m not denying it, I… Tsunade-sama said I am sterile», he finally admitted, his eyes cast down. He didn’t want to see the Rokudaime’s reaction to that news.

«What?»

«Orochimaru’s experiments with Shodai-sama cells apparently made me sterile», he explained, trying to keep a flat tone, intending to convey to him that that wasn’t a big deal… and that that child couldn’t have been his son.

Silence. A few seconds of pure and awful silence followed his confession. And he didn’t look up.

«Ah. I see. I’m sorry, Tenzō».

He shook his head at Kakashi’s soft voice. He didn’t want pity from him; he wanted help, he wanted answers, he wanted someone to tell him what the fuck to do now.

«It’s not like I wanted to have children, so it was never a problem». “Liar”. «But now…»

«I see. We can do a DNA test, but I have to talk to Sakura or another doctor…»

«Sakura», he interrupted him and finally ventured to leave that very interesting point of the floor to look Kakashi in the face. He took no pity on it and this helped him maintain eye contact. And it was perhaps the hardest thing he had done in recent years. «But only her. Please».

«Don’t worry. No one else will know anything from me until you decide the opposite yourself. You know you can trust me », he added, putting a hand on his shoulder. Tenzō knew it.

***

Half an hour later they were both in the living room of the Hatake house, Sakura listening to her husband’s explanation as she continued to glance at the child curled up on her sofa next to Tenzō. He had woken up when they arrived and watched the three adults with wide, tearful eyes; then the twins came trotting around and, after observing the newcomer for a moment, they took him by the hand and dragged him away. After less than twenty minutes Momoko had arrived in the living room saying that the new baby had fallen asleep while they were playing and Tenzō had silently gone to retrieve him leaving the twins alone to play with Bisuke.

«He looks like your bonsai version», the kunoichi let out at one point, unable to hold back her wonder as she studied the sleeping face of the little one.

«Sakura, please…»

«Sorry», she said to Tenzō, who had a grim face. «So, are we going to do this DNA test?»

«Yes, please».

«Give me a second». And she left the three males to run to the kitchen where she grabbed a sterile swab that she knew had been left in the cutlery drawer since Aki had stopped using them to build towers, and a couple of plastic freezer bags, then went back to the living room and passed one to the ANBU, nodding. «I need some hair. With the root».

The latter nodded and carried out the order, dropping a lock of brown hair into the bag. Meanwhile, Sakura knelt in front of the child and gently let a little bit of chakra flow in a point of the jaw, making it open just enough to allow the kunoichi to slide the swab inside the baby’s cheek. When she was satisfied she threw the stick into the bag, sealing it carefully and gently closed the mouth of the probably-son of Tenzō.

Then he took both bags and wrote a few words on them as Kakashi called Shiba. She knelt beside the ninken and strapped the bag of samples to his back.

«Bring them to Yūki», she instructed him while scratching a spot behind his ears that made him melt every time. «Leave them to her, only her, understood? And tell her that they have absolute priority: I want the results as soon as possible».

Shiba nodded and took off like a rocket.

Sakura sat back down next to Kakashi and watched her old taichō.

«Tenzō, I would like to discuss with you how to behave if the paternity test is positive», she said quietly, carefully measuring her words because the man still seemed on the verge of a nervous breakdown. «I know what you’re thinking… that’s what I’m thinking too». And judging by the killing spark in Kakashi’s eyes, that was exactly what went through his head too.

«Really? I don’t think so», Tenzō replied in a lashing tone.

Sakura leaned forward and squeezed his hand slightly, ignoring the poison in his voice.

«Do you think that, being you sterile, the child… Kaede… is probably an experiment by Orochimaru. An unauthorized experiment», she began calmly, not letting go of his hand. «If so, we should step in and end Konoha’s collaboration with that sadistic bastard once and for all».

«Sakura…»

«You’ve known for years how I feel about him, Kakashi, so don’t make that face», she retorted, exasperated. She had nearly twenty-five years of grudge against that being, in her soul, and the fact that he had helped the Alliance during the war had not erased her memory of the fear and pain of the attack on Konoha during her first chūnin exam, as well as anger at what Sasuke had become in three years spent in Orochimaru’s hands. So no, Sakura couldn’t accept the Sannin as a companion and ally and Kakashi knew it well (he was present at his fight with Tsunade about the matter after all). «But before we jump to conclusions that would be devastating for everyone in the Village – and although I’m dying to smash that… man in the face – I’d like to ask your permission to undergo a couple of fertility tests», Sakura continued. ignoring her husband’s grunt at the restrained insult to Orochimaru. That was not the right time to deal with old grudges and disagreements with her lovely husband and her shishō: their friend needed help and at that moment he had priority over everything. «I imagine it has been several decades since Tsunade-sama visited you, and our medical skills have greatly improved in the meantime».

«Okay», Tenzō said immediately, his voice flat.

But the woman shook her head.

«Wait to accept. One of the tests, the most thorough, is also very invasive». And she began to explain the procedure, which among other things involved inserting a long needle into the patient’s urethra. At the end of the explanation both men were pale and nauseated.

«Okay, I agree», the ANBU captain finally repeated, his voice a little weaker than his first, fervent consent. «When do you want to start?»

«The DNA test will be ready in a couple of days but if you agree we could start with the first fertility tests as early as tomorrow. I would leave the procedure we talked about only as a last resort, in case the test is positive and the previous analyses inconclusive or negative».

Tenzō nodded. It was evident that he felt the need to act and, unable to speed up the paternity test, was forced to fall back on what he could check.

«Can we start this evening already?» he asked in fact, and with a look in his eyes that broke Sakura’s heart. All she wanted right now was to punch someone, and Orochimaru was the first name that came to her mind. But she had to hold back, for her friend.

«All right. If you’re sure…»

«I’m sure», Tenzō said, his voice as hard as the expression on his face.

«Okay, give me a minute». And she went back to the kitchen where, after a moment of searching, she found a couple of airtight plastic containers she had bought when Megumi started eating solid foods. In theory they should have been used to prepare baby food at home and store them correctly, but Sakura had never found the time or the desire to do so and had always bought ready-made baby food.

Back in the living room after having taken a look at her children who had collapsed on the mat with Bisuke on guard, she passed one to Tenzō who looked at it questioningly. Sakura, trying to remain as professional as possible, asked: «Have you had sex in the past three or four days?» Tenzō shook his head, the blush blooming on his cheeks. «Good. Then we can proceed. You need to fill up the container. Of sperm».

«Fill it up?!»

Had it not been such a delicate moment, Sakura would have laughed at the shocked expression on the face of her former taichō.

«A sample will do. But I need everything, from the first to the last drop», she specified with a reassuring smile.

«Ah. I understand», the man stammered a little, his cheeks even redder, his eyes avoiding those of the kunoichi… maybe she had to work better on her reassuring expression, after all. «Do I… do I have to do it now? Here?»

«Tenzō!» Kakashi roared indignantly, almost making the child crouched on the sofa wake up.

This time Sakura couldn’t hold back a chuckle.

«Our presence will not be necessary», she assured him, ignoring her husband’s menacing eyes. «You can use the bathroom. Or do you think you need… ah, video material to give you… a hand in the matter?»

«Sakura!»

«What? This is a question I ask all my patients. Masturbating in a cup is not at all easy».

«Kami-sama, I don't want to hear», Kakashi muttered, hiding his face in his hands.

«The bathroom will be fine», said the other shinobi and flew out of the living room.

For a moment there was silence between husband and wife, a silence that was broken by the Rokudaime.

«Thank you».

«For what?»

«For having a plan», he began, going to crouch on the tatami in front of Sakura and take her hand, the mask now lowered to show his wonderful features. «For acting as a doctor, for keeping me from rushing to Orochimaru and killing him with my own hands, for taking matters into your hands, for distracting my friend, for giving him something he can control».

«I wanted to do more, give him an answer immediately…»

Kakashi shook his head, grey eyes two pits of sadness.

«When he got to the office earlier… You should have seen him, Sakura, he was shocked. I didn’t see that expression on his face since we were just kids».

Sakura sighed. He had known Tenzō for more than twenty years now, and after the war the respect she had felt for the man had slowly turned into a strong friendship. Seeing him in that state, feeling his anxiety, seeing the fear in those dark eyes usually always calm, had broken her heart. And she dared not imagine how Kakashi, who had known the man for much longer, felt.

«You know, part of me would like an excuse to go to Orochimaru and tear him apart», Sakura confessed as she stroked Kakashi’s unruly hair.

«I know», he sighed and leaned forward, wedging between her knees so that he could put his arms around her waist and rest his head in her lap.

They remained like this for a while, Kakashi hugging her while Sakura played with his hair, a reassuring silence that enveloped them.

After perhaps fifteen minutes, light footsteps roused them from that semi-numbness.

«I’m done», Tenzō announced from the doorway, his cheeks still very red (from embarrassment or excitement Sakura didn’t know).

Kakashi sat back on the sofa, the mask miraculously returned to its place to cover his face, and Sakura stood up, stretching her sore shoulders a little.

«Okay, give it to me so we can get it over with», she asked, reaching out her hand.

But Tenzō hugged the container as if it were the most precious thing he had, the redness that spread from cheeks to ears.

«May I… I’d rather keep it myself», he muttered, taking a half step back.

«I have to take it to the hospital and get tested within an hour».

«I come with you».

Sakura raised an eyebrow, slightly irritated (and if the situation hadn’t been so delicate she probably would have flung herself to the man and stolen the container without too many ceremonies).

«You know that sooner or later I’ll have to take it anyway, right?»

«Better later than sooner», Tenzō muttered, his eyes fixed on the ground as if the tatami in the living room were the best piece of art ever created by human hands.

A grunt behind her told her that Kakashi was holding back laughter. Understandable.

«Okay than, let’s go», Sakura finally gave in and turn to give her husband a light kiss on the cheek and then walk towards the door. «Men», she muttered in exasperation as she slipped her sandals into the genkan, well aware that Tenzō could hear the insult.

He had the decency not to answer and followed her to the entrance, Kakashi at his heels.

Sakura raised an eyebrow in the direction of the man who shrugged with a simple «I’ll come with you», and called Bull and Urushi back, entrusting them with the three sleeping children.

***

Tenzō, in a corner of the lab with Kakashi, watched Sakura work on his sample. And yes, it was awfully embarrassing. The whole situation had been embarrassing but on the one hand he was grateful because for a while it had distracted his mind from the thought of Orochimaru.

The thought that Kaede was an experiment terrified him as few other things had done in his life. He hadn’t even stopped to think about what it meant for him to have a son, taken as he was in terror of the prospect that that son was yet another experiment with human guinea pigs. And he knew he had to think about it, he had to decide what to do with the child… well, Tenzō had no idea how to raise a child. He wasn’t a father, and he didn’t have someone around to help him… No, he didn’t want to think about it, he couldn’t think about it, not until he got the test results. He realized it was a stupid decision, that he was behaving like a coward, but now in his mind there was only Orochimaru and the memories of his early life in the laboratory, immersed in that cylinder of hot liquid. There was no room for anything else. The only thing that apparently managed to live with the terror was embarrassment, and that mix was making him nauseous.

Sakura finally stopped looking at the microscope and got up, the folder on which she had written in the last half hour clutched in her hand.

«Then?» Tenzō asked, his mouth dry, fear swelling in his chest like a balloon and making it more difficult for him to breathe.

«Macroscopic analysis is pretty good», Sakura began, her eyes rolling over the notes she had taken. «Viscosity, colour, smell, it’s all in the parameters. The pH is a bit low but nothing to worry about. And the volume of ejaculation is definitely above the norm».

Tenzō felt the redness go down from his cheeks to his neck. He had always thought he would die on a mission, or to protect the Hokage, and instead fate had decided to make him die of embarrassment in a laboratory in Konoha. Ironic.

«As for the microscopic analysis, however, the motility is actually a bit weak but you have more than sixty million spermatozoa per ml and the morphology is pretty good. So my diagnosis is asthenozoospermia».

Tenzō didn’t know if it was embarrassment or anxiety but he didn’t understand much of what Sakura was saying.

«Which translated for those who are not doctors means…?» Kakashi intervened.

«To give you a definitive answer, I would have to repeat the exam in three months», Sakura replied, her eyes still fixed on the test results, her brow furrowed a little, as if she were trying to grab something that was missing. Then she finally looked up and smiled at Tenzō. «But no, you are not sterile. You do not have a very high fertility but not too far from normal; indeed, considering your age it is rather good».

«How is it possible?» he asked, his voice a little trembling, relief and terror mixed together. «Tsunade…»

«How old where you when she took the test?»

Tenzō thought for a moment, trying to recall that day.

«Nineteen. And a half», he added thinking that it might be useful for Sakura to be as accurate as possible.

He earned another smile.

«Have you repeated it? About three months later?»

The man nodded.

«Strange. Very strange. Unless…» Sakura broke off, a different expression on her face, as if she had solved some riddle. «Let me guess, the other time you didn’t ejaculate completely in the container».

Tenzō nodded again, a part of his mind already busy deciding how to put an end to his sufferings because maybe not even in a million years would he be able to look Kakashi and Sakura in the face again after that day.

«A large part of the spermatozoa is emitted at the beginning of ejaculation and if that fraction is not collected, the results are staggered», explained the kunoichi, distracting him from his thoughts.

And finally the embarrassment gave way to understanding.

«So I’m not sterile?» Tenzō asked quietly.

«I would say no».

«And… isn’t he an experiment of Orochimaru?»

Sakura’s smile grew warmer and her green eyes took on a sweet note.

«I can’t say that, at least not yet. DNA analysis could help, though», she began, her voice reassuring. «The only thing I can say is that the odds that three years ago you were fertile are very high. So yes, Kaede could be your natural child».

Tenzō’s heart began to beat faster, almost deafening him, and that horrible weight that had oppressed his chest since that morning suddenly melted.

It was a hand resting on his shoulder that awakened him and a bubble of gratitude swelled in his throat.

«So there might be a lot of little Tenzōs out there», Kakashi said, the smile evident in his voice.

«Senpai!» Tenzō yelled, glancing at Sakura who was trying hard to hold back her laughter. The man felt his cheeks flush again: he didn’t think he could blush so much, he had to admit it, but that afternoon he had proved him wrong. «I… I… I have always been careful!»

«Not enough, evidently», the Rokudaime teased him, his hand, still resting on his shoulder, radiated serenity and Tenzō couldn’t really get angry with his old friend. «And yet I thought I gave you a good speech when we were kids».

Here, perhaps he had to re-evaluate his choices in terms of friendship.

«Senpai!»

Tenzō felt the embarrassment mount again but this time he welcomed it with open arms because it was no longer entwined with terror but with relief.

«Thank you», he whispered, and the grip on his shoulder tightened and Sakura smiled at him and even the last fraction of anxiety dissolved.

Now he had to figure out how to deal with Kaede, how to be a parent to that child who had just lost his mother. It was something that terrified him but in a completely different way than Orochimaru’s thought. And he was comforted by the idea of having Kakashi and Sakura and his other friends around. And for the first time since the doorbell had rang that morning, Tenzō smiled.

#yamato #tenzo #kakasaku #kakashi is a good friend

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ninja-go-to-therapy · 5 years ago

Text

The Ninja as Things My Friends and I Have Said

My friend keeps a quote-book and I thought y’all would enjoy this lol

Jay: say your last words to me, I’m about to be smited

Jay: I am so bright, I am star

Kai: Pickles and Dick Jay: Pickle my dick? Kai: PICKLE AND DICK! Lloyd: TICKLE MY DICK?

Kai: I want to play hot potato with a hand grenade

Lloyd: this chocolate milk mocks me

Kai: Can we all agree that when Jay walks he looks like a flamboyant gay drag-queen toddler

Lloyd, looking at a tampon: is that a cheese stick?

Kai: Where you at you little hoe?

Cole: Don’t do gay it’s not healthy

Jay: I live life as a pirate. Because a pirate is free

Jay: The sun's only up for half the year in Alaska Cole: We have that too. It's called nighttime

Morro: Lick his nuts, they have a sorta Mexican flavor

Kai: I need to be surrounded with seven beautiful naked women in order to sleep at night

Lloyd: You know how there's like a line between bravery and stupidity? Nya: Jay is that line

Jay: Disclaimer: I am an anxious bean

Wu: It’s not your fault but it is your problem

Cole: I can't keep a straight face anymore. It's gay now.

Lloyd: That was such a late reaction it could've been my dad coming back

Zane: DISCO PENIS

Kai: I wanna stand around and look GORGEOUS

Kai: I'm outrageously good-looking Zane: No you’re not

Lloyd: I admit when I'm wrong! Kai: Oh yeah. But I'm like never wrong!

All of the ninja, always: It would be so much fun to hurt a bad person

Zane: what state do I live in? Jay: depression

Kai: cool onesie... can I get inside it?

Lloyd: They call me Santa. I bring snow to the children.

Kai: Don't fucking giggle you little shit.

Nya: I will beat you with a meat stick

Cole: You moan more than the dumpster out back

Wu: Don't stick the plungers on your foreheads!

Garmadon: whY are you SMelLING the plungers?

Zane: How does one piss in a watermelon?

Lloyd: When I become 99 pounds I'm going to eat a pound of chicken nuggets so I can be 1% chicken nugget. It's indisputable.

Cole: It smells like SHIT. Like it smells kinda okay now, but it still smells like shit. So it's like. Perfumeshit

Jay: Your socks are untied

Lloyd: Morro can just molest himself

Jay: Can you please not get a fucking locker smaller than my self esteem

Zane: You be smellin your own shit soon Jay: I already do Zane: Get it? Cause your mom gay. Everyone: ...what?

Lloyd: My name's Lloyd and I wear shoes sometimes

Nya: Unlike Skylor, they actually like balls

Kai: Fuck fuck fucking fuck fucking fucktown

Jay. I’m about to go commit space heater in bathtub

Kai: Vaccines make you gay

Lloyd: It’s not because I’m Asian, its because I eat rice so much

Zane: Hi. I’m Zane. ... my dick fell off

Kai, to Lloyd: Your dad is my fuckbuddy. ... wait. Shit.

Lloyd: You didn’t miss. You hit me right in the fucking nipple.

Kai: Eat my dick

Nya. Bite off your own dick

Cole: Your face looks like you're trying to make your dick fall off

Lloyd: So we were sitting watching TV eating macaroni with a fruit roll-up soaking my feet in a trashcan

Jay: I’m gonna go commit visit Pompeii in time machine

Jay: How can spiders fall from the ceiling and just skrrrrt away

Kai: Because none of us can speak proper sentences

Kai: Hold on. I'm sending a meme. I can't fight.

Jay: Engulf your own dick

Jay: Please don’t have a Boston tea party in my back yard

Kai: Still it felt like I committed a minor crime in Iran with all the water in my nose

Jay: Sensei Wu, please throw scissors... I kinda wanna die

Kai: I got royally fucked

Jay: Get your meaty luscious legs

Jay: The fuck you mean take my pants off? They're always on! Cause no one wants me to take them off!

Lloyd, picking up a napkin and seeing food fall out: IT’S BIRTHING

Zane, threateningly: Give me your kidneys

The Overlord: Where is your technology stored?

Zane: I can balance my body on my boner and spin like a beyblade

Kai: My balls are not a muscle

Cole: So apparently I'm not the only one with asymmetrical balls. Lloyd: Wait actually? Cole: Well yesterday Kai gave us a very descriptive description of his balls

Zane, sarcastically: Gosh darn don’t you hate it when you're not allowed to bring your 5 dollar footlong subway to training

Lloyd: So he poked me in the back with a pencil and my third grade self was like, "BLASPHEMY"

Kai: You.... dickmuncher

Jay: We're playing infinity Life. It's like Life but the cars are infinity stones.

Kai: I could have divine gay sex and it would still be nohomo.

Cole, during some super serious training: Bake me into a pie daddy

Kai: a compliment sandwich, like this: I like your shoes, YOU SUCK, your eyes are pretty

Zane, to Lloyd: Don't KILL her! Too much paperwork!

Jay: Stop moving your butt. It's uncomfortable when you clench it

Cole: The STICK.. will be UP YOU! Kai: My ASS is your spot!

Jay, teaching Kai to roller skate: First, we master walking

Kai: I know I’m beautiful and perfect and amazing and huMBLE

Lloyd: I'm here for a good time, not a long time.

Cole: I'm allergic to emotions!

Zane: Yeet is not a valid Scrabble word

Kai: I love myself 3000. And you should, too. Love yourself, that is. Unless you wanna love me as well, cause that’s cool too.

Zane: Is doing drugs illegal

Lloyd: Post-traumatic stress? More like spicy memories

Jay: Be quiet so I can see

Cole: Why is my wallaber grinding its ass on the floor?

Kai: Whatever, my ass cheeks are balanced ... just as all things should be

Garmadon: IT WOULD BE SO MUCH FUN TO MAKE SOMEBODY THINK YOU WERE GONNA HIT THEM WITH YOUR CAR!

Sensei Garmadon: First of all, nobody says they're fine when they're good

Lloyd, getting himself a donut: A chocolate frosted donut for a chocolate frosted child

Nya, about Harumi: I just loathed her at first sight. Like your dad!

Morro, about Lloyd: He reminds me of a cucumber.

Cole, after becoming human again: I’m like Jesus... I thirst

Lloyd, sipping apple juice out of a shot glass: I'm just... done, ya know

Jay: Zane was eating my popcorn and I was like "hey that's my popcorn!" And he looks me dead in the eye and goes "surprise communism!"

Lloyd: I consumed a spatula

Jay: I almost burned down my house making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich

Zane, after Jay climbs on his back: Unmount me you heathen.

Kai: Yeah it's been such a dick-licking long time

Karlof: In Metalonia we do not have sister, we have brother with pussy

Zane: I want to delete my meatsack

Little Lloyd: At about 10 I was so hungry so I went to the med tent and pretended to be fainting so I got crackers

Garmadon: Before we leave I'm gonna sing a Disney song to attract all the females. Especially Misako

Jay, about to get sunburned: I know right, sunscreen is gross, you look like a glazed donut after you put it on

Cole: I like nuts but not that much. ... both kinds... I like my own nuts.

Zane: Hi I’m Zane and I’m the only one in this group with any form of common sense

Lloyd: Oh there's just someone throwing up over there! Kai: That’s hot

Cole, having a cashew thrown at him: I don’t want to swallow your nut ... I DON’T WANT YOUR NUT

Lloyd: My uncle is going to sacrifice my body

Kai: Okay. You ALL can eat MY ass

Lloyd: A picture will last longer than your family will

Garmadon: That last rep was like a hydroflask and this one was like a kleankanteen

Kai: I bet for a second he was like "oh my God they care about me"

Kai: Because no one would be ballsy enough, no pun intended, to whip his dick out and piss on a crowded bus

Jay: Fuck a duck Lloyd: Please just dont ..ff... a duck Jay: But the duck likes it. It goes quackquackquackQUACKAFLACK.

Lloyd: Digiorno? More like I'm fucking hungry

Lloyd: My socks are so wet tis but a small price to pay for salvation

Kai: No means no muchacho

Dareth after failing at spinjitzu: Now I'm just dizzy and my ass hurts

Zane: I said, Cole, don’t orgasm in public, it’s rude, and Cole started moaning as loud as humanly possible

Lloyd: Say cheese! Kai: Whiskey!

Jay: Who the fucking dammit

Jay: Spongebob square-nuts

Jay: Actual- ACTUALLY it WOULDN’T make me more of a smartass because my SMART has yet to be caught up with my ASS

Lloyd: I hate it when my foot becomes the itch

Kai: STDs are like pokemon, you gotta catch em all

Kai: Here y’all are like "I like them 'cause of how they hold themselves and whatnot" and I’m just like “GIRL PRETTY"

Cole: I hate it whenever my foot becomes the gay.

Kai: I’m shit at being a person, not a shit person.

Zane: Buses turn me on

Jay: No pissing in our VSCO hangout!

Lloyd: Are y’all on high?

Kai: Its gotta warm up to start lavaing, now it’s just lamping.

Kai, crying: When I was crawling through the sewer my hair got stuck in my knee pit and ripped out a chunk

Lloyd, deepthroating a plastic recorder: I’m blonde so naturally, I'm good at this

Kai: I’m depressed. I’m stressed. But at least I’m well-dressed.

Lloyd: Nom nom milk carton

Cole, playing Life: Give me children

Jay, on a Thursday: If Friday was a Tuesday, it would be today

Kai: We're eating lotion and calling it spicy butter ... it’s spiritually spicy

Kai: I don’t fucking know! I'm not a cheese wheel!

Zane: Beepbeep bitch what's that? My lie detector smells a lie

Lloyd: I aced two tests today! The PSAT and the rice purity test!

Pixal: I don't really get the phrase "dry as bones" because your bones are in fact, wet

Cole: Kai, Kai, we can draw you as one of those anime girls. With humungous eyes. Actually no, it doesn't matter what the size of your eyes are. But your boobs are HUGE.

Lloyd: Jay wants to become the Alpha hoe

Cole: STOP TOUCHING MY HEAD AND SAYING IT FEELS GOOD

Jay: Deli sandwich equals cold hamburger

Lloyd: How was your day? Cole: Good. I have pie dough in my water bottle

Jay: If we do that we can reach our minimum requirement which is our goal

Kai: You can taste the freedom in that nacho cheese

Lloyd: I lust for the crust

Garmadon: You dirty-minded fools!

Anyone, to Skylor: You sucked the fire

Lloyd: OHMYGOD WE GET TO COLOR WITH CRAYONS!

Nya: Not to be lesbian or anything... but DAMN

Jay: No means no in Spanish

Kai: Bro saxophone is literally the sexiest instrument alive

Wu: The only wrong answers are the ones I don’t agree with

Kai: Look, why do you need to be a bottom to suck someone else's cock?

Cole: Jay, you suck Jay: More so than you do? Kai: Wait... wait you mean like you suck at the game or you’re better at sucking than he is?

Kai: WE CAN WANT YOU SEXUALLY TOO

Cole: That's not kinky, that's just abusive

Lloyd: CAN WE STOP USING THE TERM “BLONDE BITCH”

Cole: That’s not how you do it! Straddle me HO!

Kai: I didn’t mean to kick you in the coochie! Jay, I’m the distance: Be genital with her!

Cole: Yeah, also Jay tackled me and then grabbed me in between his legs and Kai jumped on top and Jay smacked his ass and I tried to record so Kai tried to smack my phone out of my hand and missed and his finger went right in my eye so I rolled over screaming and they got up and threw pebbles at me

Cole: It sounds naked! Music!

Kai, to anyone after they say Wu seems chill: He looks like a big soft squishy man but he is not

Zane: On average, in order to feel happy, you need to be touched, (pokes Jay) 8 times a day Kai raises two fingers on each hand: I’m about to make you ALL happy" *every person at the table in unison scoots away*

Zane: You looked like lord farquad but in a cute way!

Jay, after getting a pizza shoved at him. The pepperoni sanitized my facehole

Kai: I am the WITNESS! VICTIM! And I will play ... the e x e c u t i o n e r .

#ninjago #incorrect ninjago quotes #incorrect quotes #lmao #s: my friends #the most these were edited were like #the names #and like #'band practice' to 'training' or something #yes I'm aware my friends and I are all crackheads #also peep the shameless self promo

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mamushroomoracorn · 5 years ago

Text

Heista (Dorm)

(This is my fan dorm of my old oc Luna this is for the challenge, I spend a long time on this, Please click for better, quality/Keep reading for the dorm leaders, Rooms, Information | I worked very hard on this Days , Please Reblog) This dorm is based on the stealth of Luna In order to become the dorm leader of Heista you must last longest in a massive game of hide and seek, In order to become vice you must catch the most people This dorm is based off of stealth skills, Parkor and staying hiddin

Meet Zersiro, Iri, and then Lavender, Zersiro is the vice dorm leader, Age 17, Year 2, Nick names, The trickster, Card Man,weeb and Tower Iri is a Year 1 student. is at the age 17, Nick names,Sweet tooth, bubble gum addict Lavender, Age 18, Year 3, Nick Names, Grape, Leader

Being the son of divorce parents, he already believes he was at fault as a kid he was shy and timid he is still is. Only having one close friend. He lived with his father when he was little. Lavender adored his father, often playing games like in the dark hide and seek, parkor and climbin Even though he was shy Lavender was very active. Later in his life, his father found someone else to love Lavender didn’t mind but very happy for his dad. He loved to look at his father book and art , and knows he needed someone because of the dark topic and often paintings of women The women was a recovering alcoholic, it started out nice for 1 year, but slowly she lost her grip His step-mother was a aggressive drunk who often, was emotional,Verbally, and sometimes physical abusive Used to hide for fun, hide in fear. Avoiding his house by staying at his friend house, adding a lock to his room. finding areas so the lady can’t reach or know about He practice magic when she is gone, and work hard to be far away from her wrath He was happy to be accepted into NCR far away from his home town - Favorite color is red , reminds him of his father - Hates hide and seek but gets a nostalgia for it - He doesn’t like getting touch or yelled at - Have a leaky eye from being hit in the eye - Have a fear of women - Avoids Leona and savanaclaw students - Atheist but will not judge other or say in other regions - Bad at uno

Zesiro grown up poor, he learned how to scam, gamble, and sell over the years. This boy is very sly and cunning. He made friends with lavender as a kid After askng tricking Lavender to play uno, still have a win ratio of 250 - 0 Zersiro have run under ground casino to get AP test answers, Money, and items He would scam , play, act and sometimes cheat. When he grew older he learned to make sells to go on field trips butt not smart in spending his money or investing he ask his mom who is a shop keeper Later in life he watched a lot of anime, ninja videos and japanese movies and videos. Zersiro joined rock climbing club, then later the ninja club/summer camp after selling girl scout cookies for money to afford He doesn’t want to become japanese, but love the entertainment - Doesn’t like shoes and socks - hoarder but clean - Very envious , Jealous of other people stuff he will ask to hold it/ look at it to have a taste of what you have - Is a weeb, - Listens mainly to Jrock and Kpop/rap, Groups/people he listens to, is DEAN, Jay park, LOONA, Miso - have similar grounds with ruggie and rook

Iri was raised by his older sister when his parents went to jail/rehab when they have been caught processing drugs and was high Iri worked at age 14, often after school he would buy sweets, cakes, candies He lives off sugar, “It calms me” He doesn’t really like talking, he does it rarely Loves to do parkour it makes him feel big and tall Teased often for his height, he grown to hate it a little, He works at monstro lounge, as cook He had many experiences cooking because of his older sister long work hours Helps with the money inside the dorm - Loves cooking/baking sweets - Iri is listener and don’t talk often - He likes to do stuff himself and hates others when they try to help him - Iri have once kick down a kid for giving him a yard stick - Learned sign language who lacked in hearing - Listen to vocaloid related music - Have a pet goldfish name orange chicken

This is dorm layout, It is underground, and travels through sides and lifts and one elevator It have three public restrooms(all rooms have bathrooms) 2 areas are, 3+ rooms, biggest area and closer to the enterance since having the most people. Many first years and half of the second years live here 3 areas, are 2 people rooms, the other half of the second years live there, They can travel up to top dorm in order to go on the elevator 1, 1 singular person room, is on the bottom and the biggest one is there, normally they are the size of the regular but, The dorm leader/vice is the 1st and 2nd biggest Jungle gym is one of the most popular area having outsiders paying to get in to often explore, hang out, have fun in this area, the room is really tall and have many areas to clime and zipline,Use gliders, fly or just rest The hangout is where you can relax and sit down and read often used by parents, guardians, can be used by students Also allow pets and many games of hide and seek in the dark is played often in this dorm, other dorms can join and request a challenge for a free week at the jungle gym

Enterance

Elevator 1

Rooms hallway

Hang out

Jungle Gym

Uniforms look like this, you can choose which style of poncho you want, but you always have to have a orangy-red bandana or a pale yellow, and poncho on with something underneath, colors can be alternated with theses only patterns only if you are heads you can change the poncho pattern, but you can chang the circle into square if you want. Luna often wore ponchos so in honor we will @dreamerwicked-sweet for the fun challenge it was fun to do)

#twisted wonderland #fan dorm #heista #twstdormcreations

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lilmistermaya · 4 years ago

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OPM fic: what about everything?

summery: saitama’s pregnant, genos is delighted, and sonic wants to help.

tags: fem!saitama, Fem!genos, speed of sound sonic, pregnancy, morning sickness.

(keep in mind this is a first draft.)

This day had started terribly. Saitama was queasy, and already someone had made a pregnancy joke at her after the first time she leaned into a sidewalk waste basket to throw up. Her breasts were sore, she was cranky and well, she had missed a period… or two.

As unlikely as it was… well…

“Saitama!” Welp, this day was getting worse. Her stomach roiled as she found the ninja almost preening in front of her.

“Hold up dude.” the last bit of her morning bagel came up and out.

“Are you okay?” he was next to her now. If he made one comment about pregnancy she was going to- “do you have a concussion?”

The strangest part was how honest that question was.

“Sonic.” she wiped her mouth, grimacing at the sour taste in her mouth. “Do I look different to you?”

“Huh?” he blinked. “Like what?”

“Like my boobs. Are they bigger?”

He blinked again, looking at her chest like this was the first time he ever noticed she had them. “I…”

“Oh fuck this.” she (gently) pushed him aside, going to the pharmacy across the street for a test.

The 100 yen ones were the best, and she took it to the little ladies room to use it. She could not be pregnant-

There was a shuffle on the other side of the stall door, and a bottle of lemon soda was pushed underneath.

“Drink it slow.” sonic said, plopping down on the floor. “It’ll help settle your stomach.”

It was a fancy brand too, nothing that saitama would spend money on. “Did you steal this?”

“I’m not a thief.” he huffed. “I paid for it.”

Free soda was free soda, and it got the taste of stomach acid out of her mouth. There was a rustle and a sleeve of cookies was offered from under the door.

“Digestive biscuits.” he explained, sounding like he had one in his mouth. They weren’t very sweet, almost crumbly and dry.

Her phone’s timer beeped and she looked at the test.

“Fuck!”

“What’s wrong?”

“There’s a plus sign on the test.” there was silence from the other side. “I’m pregnant.”

“Oh. okay….is this good or bad?”

“I don’t know.” she’d punch the wall, but she was pretty sure the owner wouldn;t appreciate a damaged bathroom. “I don’t know!”

“If you need a doctor, I know one. He’s expensive but clean.” he offered. “Gambling debts to the mob, not drugs. I could probably get you a discount, I think he has the hots for me.” this was delivered as if he was suggesting where to get dinner out.

“I have health insurance. I think.” The sleeve of cookies was offered again. They were awful, but they did do a good job of settling her stomach so she took another.

“Oh, okay.” he sounded like he forgot there was such a thing. “So what next?”

“I get a blood test to make sure. Then… arg. What am I going to do? I can barely take care of myself.” she muttered around the biscuit thing. “Wait, why did you follow me in here?”

“I… anyway, do you have family that can help out?”

“None that would care.” she groaned, holding her head. This was stupid. But she was also going to keep the kid. “Heck.”

“Okay.” he sounded thoughtful. “Will you be okay if I leave? Are You sure you don’t have a concussion?”

“Yes and it’s just morning sickness. Not a concussion.” okay, that was a little sweet of him. The soda and the not as bad as she first thought cookies were too.

“Morning sickness...okay. I’ll find you later.”

“What?” She opened the stall door, but he had already left.

He indeed found her later, letting himself into the apartment through the balcony door. It was hot and she was a bit queasy again.

“If you’re here to fight, I don’t feel like it.”

“No, I brought supplies.” he went into the kitchen like he owned the place, setting his shopping onto the counter. This was suspiciously nice. What was he up to? She followed him in to see what he got.

Out of one bag came a few books, pregnancy books. Oh, why didn't she think of that? That was a good idea. The other bag was full of small jars and baggies of plant material, scribbled instructions stapled to them.

“I found a traditional medicine pharmacy.” he sounded almost proud. The owner had been more than happy to show him what he needed and load him up. “These are for morning sickness, these to help build up blood, these are for the baby if they don’t have a good appetite… and if that doesn’t work for nausea, these work even better.” he tossed her a prescription pill bottle.

“Who is serena anderson?”

“No one you need to worry about. But apparently they work the best. I’ll make you tea.”

“Sonic, this is nice and all, but why are you doing this?” she shouldn’t ask, but she was curious.

He avoided looking at her, filling the kettle. “I need to make sure my rival is in good condition.” it sounded like a lie, but she let it go. It was better than him picking fights.

Fights…

Shit, genos.

She hadn’t told genos yet about the baby.

There was familiar steps running towards the door, then it flew off the hinges “Master! I sensed-”

“Genos the door!!” Sonic was in front of her, sword out, ready for a fight. “No fighting inside the apartment!! Genos, sonic is just visiting.”

“Visiting?” She took in the herbs on the counter, the baby books, sonic’s rather casual clothes. “What is this about?”

“Genos…” saitama sighed. “Let's make tea and sit down. I have something important to tell you.”

“You’re… you’re not taking him as your student-”

“Sit. tea.” she nodded to sonic, patting him on his hip before turning away and missing his blush.

Sonic’s tea was spicy, tasting a bit like a christmas cake. Even if it didn’t do much for the nausea, it tasted pretty good. He had even made genos a cup, and they all sat at the table, genos in her stiff seiza that would look more proper in a kimono, sonic hugging one leg to his chest. He was kinda cute, would be cuter if he and genos weren’t staring daggers at each other.

“Genos.” she snapped to attention. “Genos I’m pregnant.”

There was a strange squealing noise, her eyes going huge in excitement. “That’s amazing, master!”

“No it’s a huge pain in the ass! I need to check with the HA about pregnancy leave and insurance, I have to find a doctor, and baby stuff is expensive. We’ll have to up the couponing to stock up.”

“I’ll be happy to help in anyway you need.” genos declared adoringly. Sonic was strangely quiet, watching them with an unreadable expression. “What about the father? It’s not-” she stared at the ninja in horror.

“It’s no one either of you know. And he’d prolly not do much anyway. But sonic has offered to help.” for some reason. He was red again, staring at the ceiling like it was interesting. Did he have a crush on her?

“Huh.” the cyborg declared. “Is that why he brought all the witch doctor stuff over?”

“They are perfectly good medicine.” sonic huffed.

“And lastly, no fighting in the apartment. Or at all. It’s not good for the baby.” she lied.

“Oh, of course!” she agreed quickly.

“.... shit. We’re really doing this, aren't we?”

“Should I cook dinner?” sonic offered, as if it was the only response he could think of.

“/I/ will cook the master’s supper. You might poison it.”

“I would never poison food /I/ cooked.”

“Genos, you can cook supper, since sonic brought supplies over.” if she hadn’t lost all her hair, it’d be falling out now.

“I can go and let you two talk about it more.” he started to stand up, only stopped by saitama’s hand on his arm.

“No, we should at least feed you.” he looked like he could use a couple of meals anyway. His build was athletic but thin.

“Okay.” he sank back down.

“Do you have family?”

“No.” that may explain a lot.

#opm #one punch man #saitama #saisonic #pregnancy

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scaredofchange · 5 years ago

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For the Life of Me (Ben Hardy)

Pairing: Four (Ben Hardy) x Reader

Word count: 2048

Warnings: guns, near-death experience, death, and a little mention of “not wanting to fight for your life anymore” (I don’t know how to call that, so…)

A/N: Really just wrote this for fun, so if you want more, let me know!

Summary: Small town girl meets the threat of her life... and then the snacc of her life. *wink wink*

_______________________________________________________________

You had been living in this small town your whole life. Nothing exciting was ever happening in this shithole and all you had ever wanted was to get out of there, but responsibilities and, well, the lack of money, kept you from doing so.

The day a drug cartel moved next door, everything changed. People became scared, others blew a gasket and rioted and some got into some deep criminal shit. You kept going about your days, working in a small café, attending online college classes, business classes to be exact, and living in a crappy apartment, but the town’s vibe was different. Every time you heard the bell of the café’s door ring, your heart skipped a beat. Some days, you got a few cartel members, grabbing a bite for fun, others, the same guys would claim the money you were obliged to pay them for protection, just like the rest of the business in town.

You became aware of their grasp growing onto neighbors cities, but nobody was strong, or willing, enough to stop it. Local police was in on it, and there was absolutely no way that you could get a federal agency to get interested in your small insignificant lives.

On a certain morning, you woke up to the news of a collective murder: a little family that owned a farm and refused to pay the cartel. Dead because they didn’t believe in violence, what a sweet irony.

A few years later, the cartel had become the most influential group in half of the country, which meant you were even more powerless.

June was just starting off. On a Sunday afternoon, you baked a batch of muffins at the café when an unknown voice interrupted you.

“Hi, could I get a coffee, black.” Said the man, looking around him.

You nodded and plastered a fake smile on your face.

“Sure, name?”

He looked at you through his sunglasses, which he took off a second later. His brown irises were locked with your blue ones. With a dainty smile, but a serious tone and an even more intimidating look, he replied.

“One. Just put One.”

A little taken aback, you didn’t reply, but you still wrote the name on the cup. He slid a twenty across the counter.

“Keep the change…” he started, his eyes looking for something. “Y/N.”

You nervously played with your name tag as you agreed with a soft nod and a “thanks”.

You busied yourself with the stranger’s coffee, wondering why your hands were trembling that much. You knew he wasn't part of the cartel, or at least, you had never seen him before. You poured the hot liquid in the mug and topped it with a plastic lid. The man had sat down at a table, waiting for his order. You decided to bring it to him.

“Thank you, darling.”

It was his only answer before he brought his phone to his ear and started talking. You tried your best not to listen, but some words came around your ears, like a bunch of numbers, such as “two”, “four” and “three”.

The man stayed put for about an hour before stepping up. He came back to the counter.

“Listen, Y/N…” He started, a grave glint in his eyes. “If I were you, I’d go back home, right now.”

Startled by his words, your eyes widened.

“Excuse me?”

With a sigh, he put his hand on the counter, conveying much more than just intimidation at that point. You knew he was not joking.

“Some shit is about to go down, and you don’t want to be here for it, you understand?”

A long silence followed. The gears in your brain tried to piece things together. You slowly nodded, comprehending the meaning of his words. He put back his sunglasses on and left the café without another word.

You told your superior you weren’t feeling good and as usual, he just shrugged and let you go home. You quickly changed in the bathroom and wandered on the streets. A part of you really wanted to see what was about to happen, but another was scared shitless.

“Shit, my phone!” You cried out, realizing you had forgotten your precious at work.

Was it really worth it, though? You figured you had the time to get it back and run home after… you were oh-so wrong.

You turned the corner back to the café and automatically noticed three black SUVs in the middle of the street. You could see rifle assaults from where you stood. You completely froze, you knew exactly who they were: the cartel. What you didn’t know was that the owners of the café had refused to pay them last time they came around, and now it was time to set an example for the rest of the town.

“She works there!” Screamed someone from behind one of the cars. “Get her!”

It took a few seconds before you caught that they were talking about you. Without thinking about it twice, you turned around and started running. You tossed your backpack down on the side way, its weight definitely slowing you down.

God, you were glad, at that moment, that you had ditched your work shoes for your usual Adidas sneakers. You turned in an alley, knowing all the nooks and crannies of this shitty ass town. You didn’t think anymore, you were simply acting under the adrenaline.

From the corner of your eyes, you noticed a shadow jumped from a roof to another on top of you. Who the fuck was that? Did they hire ninjas nowadays?

But you didn’t have time for questions, you also saw a few men on your tail, closing in. Out of breath, you found yourself in front of a locked gate.

“Shit! Since when do they fucking lock it?” You found the time to say, your throat dry and your legs shaking.

You tried your best to climb it, but it was all in vain: you could not do it. You cursed the Gods or whoever was up there until you felt a near presence behind you.

“If you know what’s best for you, you’ll stop and come with us.” Said a deep, hoarse voice.

As you turned around, you counted three men, all much bigger and stronger than you, and they had guns. One was pointed right at your chest. You knew you had no other choice than following them back to the café. But what would they do to you then? Torture you in front of the owners to get their money? Or worse, kill you?

You started to wonder if your life was really worth all that trouble… What had you achieved in all these twenty-three years? Nothing. And you probably never would.

You closed your eyes, gathering your courage to run up that fence, or at least try, but before you could do it…

“That’s no way to talk to a lady.”

A voice came from above you. You and the three men looked up: a man was standing on the fire escape from the building next to you. He was pointing a gun directly at your enemies. He had a black hoodie, a few strands of blond hair falling out of it and, as much as you could see them, bright blue/green eyes.

“One versus three, boy.” Retorted the criminal to your, perhaps, savior, a disgusting look of satisfaction creeping on his face.

The blond smiled when a red dot appeared on the first man’s chest, it wasn’t coming from his gun. Somebody else was around.

“Try two.” Your savior replied. “And I don’t think you want to test how quick my friend is with a sniper.”

The three men looked at each other, clearly stroked with fear. You’d hoped they would’ve stood down, but instead they puffed their chests, like douchebags in a club trying to impress brainless thots.

“As you wish.” Said your savior with a thick British accent you hadn’t noticed until now.

A few seconds, barely a breath later, the blond shot one of the cartel man who was standing in the back as the front one fell to his knees, a bullet lodged into his heart. The last one started to lift his gun towards you, but it was too late, he fell to the ground a moment later, dead. You sensed the large sniper bullet pierced the air next to you, but you didn’t move.

“Nice shot, Seven!” Screamed the blue-eyed man excitedly.

He jumped down for the fire exit’s stairs and landed right in front of you. He was slightly taller than you. After landing on his feet and hands, he stood back up. You could feel your gaze examine every inch of him, but you rapidly took control back, or at least bit of control back.

“I’ll take care of her.” He said as you noticed the wireless communication device around his neck. “Go help the rest.”

You supposed he was talking to the sharpshooter, but your brain couldn’t comprehend much anymore. How to deal with stress was not one of your forte.

The man took a step closer, provoking you to take one back almost immediately. He stopped, suddenly aware of how scared you were. He lifted his hands in the air, his gun already back in his thigh holster.

“I’m not gonna hurt you. I swear.” He stated, his eyes locking with yours.

Somehow, you believed him. Perhaps it was because he had just risked his own life to save yours.

“What’s your name?” He inquired, taking another step forward, a small smirk appearing in his face when he noticed you hadn’t moved that time.

“Y/N” you replied, your voice trembling.

“All right, Y/N. I’m Four.” He admitted, putting his hands back down.

Confused, you shook your head.

“Four? You’re with the guy from the café right? Uh… O-One?”

He nodded.

“We’re not the bad guys here, Y/N. Now, I just want to put you back on your way home, okay? So you don’t get hurt.”

“But… th-they saw me! They know… know that I work there and that I saw… They’re going to… You don’t understand!” You exclaimed, panic washing over you.

Finally, he stepped even closer to you. He laid his hands on your shoulders and pressed softly.

“Once we’re done here, there won’t be anybody left to hurt you, Y/N.”

Coming to a realization, you felt your shoulders slumped down. You didn’t agree with violence, even more with unnecessary acts of violence, but this time… this time it was different. Everything was different. The man before you did not seem like a bad guy, on the contrary, for a brief moment, all you wanted was to fall in his arms.

“I’m not sure I can walk straight…” you admitted, blush hugging your livid cheeks.

With that said, the man started to think: you could see it by the way he frowned and looked around.

“Okay, Y/N. How about you wait in there?” He said, opening a side door to a little shop you knew well. “And I’ll come and get you when everything’s done?”

With hesitation, you looked between your savior and the ajar door. He clearly felt your uneasiness since he lifted his right hand in the air and offered you his pinky finger.

“I swear.”

You couldn’t help the giggle from coming out of your throat.

“Really? A pinky promise?” You chuckled, your eyes searching his.

Four smiled, a truly beautiful smile. A smile that could brighten anyone’s days.

“Like that, you know it’s the real shit.” He stated, lifting his eyebrows.

You sighed, but in the end, you lifted your own hand and took his pinky in yours. Even if only for a brief moment, you could almost feel the warmth of his skin making you feel slightly better.

He lingered a bit longer than necessary, you didn’t know if it was because he wanted to reassure you, or simply because him too was stuck in a state of both confusion and inner turmoil.

“Don’t worry Y/N, I’ll be back for you.”

Those were his last words before he closed the door in front of you. You heard a few steps from above and then… all there was left to do was hope.

#benhardy #ben hardy #6underground #bohrhap #four #xreader

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xxisxxisxxis · 5 years ago

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Gateway Drug | Part Forty

Table of Content or Part Thirty-Nine

Read here on wattpad

Word count: 3.1k

Warning(s): Explicit language, domestic abuse, violence, racial slurring

Tag List: @unknownoblivion @sinningsixx @edwardtriggerhandzz @lemmyjelly @haileynicoleseavey17 @cierrasixx19 @oskea93 @mgkobsessed @vamprlestat @sharon6713 @itsametaphorbriansblog @miriampraez @allie-mcginn @rebeccaphillips14 @nicholeh7 @fandomshit6000 @lilmou5ie @tamedhearts @divaanya @kingbouji3 @evrsncnewyork @6ixx6ixx @ratedrkohardychick91 @floregrohlssard @oldschoolimagineblog @thanks2pete @abaldboi @swoopygorl @justjodeye @liith-ium @caos18blog @ytwahsog @shamlessobsessions @scarecrowmax @toadspleen @random-internet-user-4471 @solohqrry @loveofmyloif @sparxx27 @kaitieskidmore1 @xpoisonousrosesx @cruecifymesixx @ijustwanttokiss70srogertaylor @emmaelizabeth2014 @meetthesixxter @sixxsixxsexx @sublimeprincesswasteland @arianareirg @girlnight-terror @mcnibberachi

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By January the band was gearing up for Europe, Tommy and Heather Locklear were working out a schedule their wedding planned for May, and everything else was...well...

The Cathouse is lively as always, Duff and Slash only adding to it's noise and liveliness as they throw back shot after shot.

"So," Slash starts to me, brushing his curly hair out of his face just enough to see me. "I've been thinking about Tans and Axl, right?"

"Okay." I nod, raising my brows a little.

"If they were to get together, not that it's gonna happen because he's a fuckin' pussy but if it does happen I have the perfect name for them." He tells me. "Xanax."

Duff and I furrow our brows a little and exchange looks.

"'An' as in Tansy, 'Ax' for Axl." He explains.

"What about the first 'X' at the beginning?" Duff asks, chuckling a little.

It's as if Duff has pissed all over Slash's dream.

"Oh, damnit." Slash realizes the blonde has a point. "Nevermind."

I give him a reassuring pat on the shoulder and Duff laughs.

"Speaking of Tansy, you guys wouldn't happen to know where she's been the past week, would you?" I ask them and they look at each other.

"She's been hanging around Stevie and Izzy a lot, lately." Duff tells me. "Because Steven has weed and Izzy has junk."

"Izzy's been hanging out at my house with Nikki, lately." I tell him.

"We know, he said he saw you naked." Slash blurts and Duff lightly hits his shoulder.

"Well, he's like a ninja. I didn't know he was in the livingroom, Nikki didn't mention we had company over, I got out the shower and had to get my laundry out of the basket I left by the couch and there's Izzy. Just chilling there." I explain. "And I panicked a little and hit the freaking ground like I was being shot at and hid behind the couch until he agreed not to look so I could get my clothes basket."

I swear, getting to see me naked was like an unspoken right of passage. If you hung around Mötley Crüe, you were bound to see me naked at least once.

In Mobile, Alabama, after eating special brownies that—I had no idea were special until Steven spoke the words, "she ate like five of them, we're so fucked, Nikki's going to kill us" to Duff—I over did it apparently and couldn't get my legs to stop shaking so decided I would frolic around the hotel to get the jitters out...naked...with GN'R following after me like an episode of Scoobie-Doo.

They saw every bit of me that day. But I've always thought it made us closer.

"Hey!" The sound of a drunk guy slurring my way interrupts our conversation and I raise my brows.

"Yes?" I reply.

"You up for some fun tonight?!" He asks.

"No, thanks, I'm married." I politely respond, motioning to my ring.

"I didn't ask if you were fucking married. I asked if you wanna have some fun tonight." He argues.

"Look, man, she said she's married." Slash repeats what I said.

"If I wanted the opinion of a ape I would've asked!" He barks at him.

It takes me a moment to register what he meant by it, then it hits me.

Apparently it hits Duff at the same time, because he's lunging at the guy.

The stranger doesn't have time to react before Duff's punching him in the face so hard he falls down, but that isn't the last of it.

He grabs him by his collar, a completely different persona taking over him as he keeps his knuckles in a ball and gives blow after blow to the bastard until I intervene by the fifth hit.

"Duff!" I exclaim, grabbing his arm that's rearing his hand into the air, after trying to get his attention for the past ten seconds.

He takes heavy breaths, his victim's face busted and bleeding, before stumbling back, dropping the guy.

I feel like the entire club's eyes are on us.

Duff and Slash feel it, too, and Duff's grabbing at my hand as the three of us quickly make our way to the nearest exit.

Duff is one of the most level headed people I've ever met. It takes a lot to set him off, but when he is set off, it takes a while to get him calmed back down.

"Motherfucker!" Duff shouts, slamming the door of their apartment after he and I step inside.

Slash went to meet up with Steven and Tansy, leaving Duff and I alone...which is kind of the last thing I want at the moment.

"Who the fuck does that prick think he is?!" He snaps, slamming his keys on the counter.

"Duff." I say calmly as he rubs his face, trying to get control of himself. "Hey." My hand gently grasps at the hand that isn't bruising, and he let's out a deep breath. "It's just stupid bull shit, alright? People like that aren't worth losing yourself over. They'll get what's coming to them, okay?" I remind him and he sighs, his thumb beginning to rub at my hand, causing me to think about the thing that has yet to be addressed.

I find myself pulling away after the shock wears out, jolting back as if to avoid electrocution, looking at Duff with wide eyes.

"I--why did you do that?" I ask him, slightly panicked as if Nikki knows already.

He doesn't reply, just as startled by his actions as I am.

I don't give him time to reply.

"Goodnight, Duff." I say calmly, getting out of there as fast as I can.

I dart to my room and lock the door behind me, my mind and heart racing one thousand miles per hour.

Did he kiss me because I was the only girl there with him? Or because he's drunk and isn't thinking? Has he been wanting to kiss me but didn't want to disrespect me or Nikki by actually trying to do it?

Ding ding ding, we had a winner.

I let out a breath and rub my forehead, trying to get it out of my head.

He tastes like cigarettes and vodka which is a disgusting mixture but it's so Duff. It's a comforting taste.

It was a comforting kiss that, despite being so sudden and surprising, gave me a subconcious sense of peace and comfort, because it came from someone that had only ever given me peace and comfort.

A noise sounds from the closet, interrupting my thoughts, and I open the door and see Nikki slumped over, syringes, smack, and coke residue scattered about.

I clear a path through the drugs and discarded clothes, grabbing at his ankles and pulling him with all my might, out of the closet to attempt to get him to the bed.

When I get to the realization that I can't, I give up, grab a blanket from the bed and curl up next to him.

My hand carefully squeezes at his for a second before I pull it away.

I'm not even sure he remembers kissing me, he hasn't acted like it.

"Didn't you have plans with Nikki tonight?" He asks and I snap out of my thoughts, glancing at the clock to see it's 11:00pm.

"Are you good now?"

"Yeah." He replies. "I'm about to go find Steven and Slash."

"I'm gonna head home, then." I tell him, grabbing my car keys from the couch. "I'll see you later." I assure him. "Stay out of trouble." I add, stepping to the door, skipping on the hug I usually give him before we say "bye."

"No promises." He scoffs and I roll my eyes sarcastically.

"Love you." I say, opening the door.

"Love you, too." He calls back.

Alcohol changes how you go about things, it doesn't plant new intentions. And the way he kissed me let me know he'd thought about doing it for a long time...but I never would've known that had he not done it.

I light the last candle, our house looking like the meeting area for a seance once I turn all the lights off.

A romantic seance.

Nikki's suppose to be home any moment now, if he sticks to his schedule he's had the past couple weeks: wake up at 4:00pm, snort some blow to get his mind going, shower, get ready, leave for the night, get back in around 3:00am mumbling incoherently, babbling nonsense from having so much shit in his system, then pass out. And repeat.

But tonight is different, because he's been cutting back on heroin the past few days.

He hasn't told me he's cut back, but I can tell he has. He's probably preparing to kick it completely for Europe...I just hope he can stick to it.

Not that me waiting to give him a blowjob and have my back broken at three in the morning is much motivation for him to completely quit his problem, but I'm hoping it's an encouraging pat on the back.

I slip my robe off when I hear his Harley pull in, rushing to comb my hair out with my fingers.

The keys are in the door in another moment, fumbling to unlock it.

My heart pounds as my nerves tense up when he comes in, stumbling slightly, slamming the door behind him.

"H-Hey, babe." I say cautiously, testing the water of his mood.

"The fuck is that smell?" He asks me, tossing his keys on to the counter, causing me to jump slightly from the loud noise it makes.

"Uhh, th-the candles." I tell him.

"I can't fucking see." He complains harshly, taking his jacket off, kicking my heels out of his way on the way to our room.

I pull my robe back on, accepting that I showered and shaved earlier for nothing, before turning the lights on and blowing out every scented candle I lit around the house.

Following Nikki to our room, he's digging around in his drawer, glancing at me when I come in.

"I was waiting for you to come home." I tell him, twiddling my fingers.

"Yeah, I saw." He replies, not even looking at me.

"Did you?" I ask, doubt laced in my tone. "Really?"

"Yep." He states, pulling two packed up syringes out, making me feel a little sick at the sight. "I'm about to head back out." He informs me.

"What? Baby, you just got home. I wanted to spend some time together." I try to tell him, walking right behind him as he steps to the door, grabbing his jacket and keys.

"Just fuck yourself, Viv. It's not my job to screw the life out of you anytime you fucking snap your fingers, alright?" He says before shutting the front door and I'm in shock from what he said.

I decide not to let him leave without getting an earful of it.

When I get outside, I'm stepping in front of Nikki's bike just before he starts to leave, and he groans out in frustration.

"I've been up since 8:00 in the morning, Nikki. I'm tired, too, you know? I don't necessarily feel like it either, but I shaved and showered and made myself look sexy and even burnt my nipple lighting all those freaking candles so I could surprise you and we could have a good time and what the hell do you do?! Come in with your pissy, asshole, unappreciative attitude. Do you know how many guys would kill to have their girlfriend or wife waiting naked for them when they get home, ready to do whatever the hell they want?" It's obvious my scolding has him feeling guilty, but he doesn't say a word. "But I guess that's not a big deal to you because you're use to naked girls throwing themselves at you all the time so..." I scoff out, shaking my head a little, keeping myself from crying. "I'll see you when you get back." I give up, waving my hand.

"It's one night, Viv. I don't know why you are so bent outta shape over it." He comments and I turn back around, glaring at him.

"It's not just one night. It's been two years of trying to do nice things for you and you can't even appreciate it because you're so taken over by the need to find your next fix as soon as you can." I explain to him.

"Like I don't do nice things for you?!" He gets defensive, getting off his bike, walking to me. "This fucking house you love so much?! That fucking car you drive?!"

"I never said you don't do nice things for me, I just--"

"What about the fucking ring on your finger?! You know how many girls would love to be married to Nikki Sixx and have the expensive house and luxury car?!"

I roll my jaw, raising a brow.

"I didn't ask for the fucking car, I didn't ask for the fucking house and I sure as hell never asked to be married to you!" I throw my ring somewhere in the driveway, storming back into the house to pack my shit up with him trailing behind me.

I start snatching my clothes out of the closet and onto the bed as he just stares at me.

"The fuck are you doing, Vivian?!" He barks.

"Leaving. You can get one of those other girls that would love to be married to Nikki Sixx--or at least think they fucking do--and they can have the expensive house and the luxury car." I snap, opening my top drawer, getting the clothes out of there, too.

He's suddenly grabbing my clothes and throwing them in the floor in an attempt to stop me, but it just pisses me off even more.

"Get the fuck out!" I demand, shaking, tears toppling over my lashes, my finger pointing at the door.

"No!" He argues. "You're not going anywhere and neither am I until you quit pitching your fucking fit!"

"God, I can't even leave without you ruining it, Nikki, you ruin every thing!" I scream out in aggravation.

"Then why the fuck are you still with me?!" He shouts back, coming closer to me. "If I'm so fucking bad then why the fuck aren't you gone?!"

"Because I love you" is what I want to say, and I can tell he wants me to say it, too.

But I don't.

"Because I don't have anywhere else to go and I don't have any money!" I lie to hurt him, and I can tell it makes a impact.

He looks like he could cry right now...but he gains what's left of his composure, reaching into his back pocket to pull out a wad of cash, throwing it across the room angrily, causing the bills to fly in different directions.

"Fetch." He orders, motioning to the money he threw, and I blackout for a few seconds, coming to after shooting pain rocks up my knuckles, my hand, and my arm, causing me to cry out.

Nikki's got blood coming from his nose, his eyes squeezing close, I'm assuming it's because he's trying to talk himself out of beating the shit out of me.

I broke my hand, and his nose.

Nikki and I sit in silence as Doc yells at us, pacing back and forth in our living room.

"You're grown adults, acting like fucking toddlers! When the hell is this gonna stop, huh?!" He throws his hands up, motioning to us.

"She fucking punched me!" Nikki outbursts, wincing as he holds his nose with an ice pack.

"Because you told me to 'fetch' like some cheap hooker!"

"I threw 4k at you, Vivian! I don't know if you can count but four-thousand dollars isn't fucking cheap!" He shouts at me.

"Neither were all those fucking candles I lit!"

"Alright, hey! Hey!" Doc claps loudly, screaming over us to break up our argument.

We both shut up, scowling straight ahead, refusing to admit either of us is wrong.

"I-I am at a loss at this point, guys." Doc goes on, sitting on the coffee table in front of us. "You're kids. You've been together five years. You're kids." He states lightly, raising his brows. "And you're fighting like you've been married for forty years and just want out. And I hate to say that because I know neither of you want out but you just don't know how to talk to each other when you get angry." He points out. "Nikki, you don't know how the fuck to treat her when you're on junk. Plain and simple. If you're on junk, you're a fucking asshole, especially to Vivian. I'm not saying get help, but you might wanna learn how to balance being fucked up but being respectful especially since you don't have a problem, right?" Doc sarcastically adds. "And, Vivian. Your first response to shit that rubs you the wrong way, is to just start swinging at people and blow things out of proportion and that's not right, either." He gets at me next, and my anger is immediately replaced with guilt. "I mean, look at each other." He tells us and we glance at each other, looking defeated by Doc's good points. "If the cops could see how you two treat each other sometimes, you'd both have cases of spousal abuse." He rubs his forehead. "Press is gonna talk, fans are gonna talk, we'll say it was a bike accident, you two ran into a fucking bush or something and that'll be that. But you two need some fucking help or something because I'm not going to Europe with you two acting like this, got it?"

"Yeah." I agree.

"Nikki?" Doc asks, looking at him pointedly.

"Got it." Nikki replies quietly.

"I mean I want you two to act like you did when you first got together because when I met you guys, you couldn't get enough of each other. Now she's having to babysit your sorry ass most of the time, and you're beating him like an ugly stepchild." Doc tells us.

We don't say a word.

"Now, let's get to the hospital so his nose doesn't heal like the fucking ugly duckling and your fingers don't look like busted carrots. His face is a quarter of our revenue, and your fingers need to be pretty so they can showcase that nice ring that needs to be sitting back on your finger as soon as possible."

Yes. Because God forbid Vivian and Nikki, or Tommy and Heather, or Vince and Sharise, or whoever the fuck, have an obviously imperfect marriage to the outside world.

Smile, pretend you're on your honeymoon and can't get enough of each other, and whatever you do: keep the wedding rings on.

Even at the times when you want to throw it in with the towel.

Don't fuck up an already fucked up thing because that's not what we do.

#nikki sixx #vince neil #tommy lee #mötley crüe #the dirt #the dirt movie #gateway drug

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anerdinallherglory · 5 years ago

Text

Approaching Sun (27)

Author’s Note: I am SO sorry about how long this chapter took to update. Taking on master’s classes on top of work has been a rough transition. The majority of this chapter had been planned and typed a long time ago, but it just took me ages to organize it, detail it, clean it up, and fluff it with a fork. For those of you who have contacted recently, (and I probably have yet to respond) this chapter is for you. Without your encouragement, who knows how much longer this chapter would have taken.

Forgive me. Hope you enjoy.

Pairing: SasuSaku

Previous Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26

Chapter 27: Confirmation

Sakura had fully intended on eavesdropping on Sasuke’s conversation with Satou; in fact, it was the only reason that Sakura had allowed the interaction to transpire between her patient and her teammate. After Sasuke had closed the door firmly behind her, Sakura had walked heavily down the hallway so her footsteps could be heard. Her next step was to take the stairs, walk silently up two floors, and listen in by opening the window directly above Satou’s. Sakura had noted that Satou’s patient room window had been cracked open. Surely her ninja skills would be well-adapted to a simple eavesdropping.

But that’s not what happened. Instead, as Sakura walked down the hall, she noted that her breathing was becoming short. Her chest was tightening considerably, a feeling that she dismissed at first to anxiety at the current situation. When she paused to consider it, Sakura tried to swallow past her itchy throat. A terrifying realization came over Sakura has she glanced down at her hands that held the freshly pulverized Ashuwa.

Shit.

Sakura covered the mortar, sprinted down the remainder of the hallway, and took a right. She held tightly to the Ashuwa despite the situation; she couldn’t afford to sacrifice what they had acquired in her state of panic. Sakura tried her best to remember the hospital’s layout; there was a drug storage room on every level, so thankfully Sakura wouldn’t have to take stairs in her compromised situation. Turning another corner, Sakura was relieved to finally stumble up to the door marked “薬” for medication. Placing the mortar of Ashuwa on the ground, Sakura managed to focus through her shortness of breath and perform the sign of the ram to channel her chakra to her palm. Placing it on the center of the door, Sakura nearly stumbled as the door received her chakra signature and swung open to grant her access to the room.

Sakura’s vision began to blur as she shuffled through the drawers and cabinets. She could barely read the itemized labels of the stored items. Don’t panic. Don’t panic. She felt lethargic and her throat was swelling quickly. She should have taken Mako’s warning more seriously. He had told her of the drug’s disuse in the medical environment due to many allergic reactions to it. This was what she had been testing earlier when she picked a generous pinch of Ashu from the ground and placing it in her mouth; however, her and Mako both had gotten distracted by the issue of Satou.

Sakura cursed at herself for being careless but felt confident in her approach. If only she could find the medicine. She narrowed her focus to the vials on the top shelf and coughed violently as she reached for one. Stumbling into the shelf resulted in several of them busting onto the ground. After locating the blue tagged bottle labeled “adrenaline,” Sakura threw open cabinet after cabinet until she found the drawer of packaged syringes. She was choking now, a fish out of water and she aimed the needle into the top of the bottle; her hands shook as she waisted even more time trying to draw the medicine into the plunger.

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

Sasuke was trying to outwalk Mako, who was smiling kindly and attempting to make small talk as they quickly made their way down the hall from Satou’s room. Sasuke thought if he could just stride quickly enough, Mako might take the hint and part ways with him.

Sasuke frowned at Mako’s prattling of, “I have to admit. I was concerned with the whole genjutsu approach, but I think that it might be pretty effective. That was brilliant!”

Sasuke stopped his break-neck pace and narrowed his eyes at the medic, scrutinizing him carefully. “What do you want?”

“What do you mean?” asked Mako innocently, crossing his arms behind him.

Sasuke debated Mako for a second. Here was a skilled shinobi of medicine, an assistant to his friend, and Sakura addressed him casually. This trip was the first occasion that Sasuke had ever met him, yet Mako recognized Sasuke’s attempt at genjutsu before he had even performed it. Perhaps he was knowledgeable of the sharingan; many people were. It was Sasuke’s past of constantly being targeted that had the Uchiha wary. Was this the reason Sasuke was inclined to distrust him, or was it the fact that Sakura was involved?

Sasuke clarified. “I want to know who you are and what you want.”

Mako laughed and smiled nicely. “Well, I am a medic ninja here at the Suna hospital. I have been appointed to assist Sakura-san during her stay with us. Kankuro was pretty adamant about it.”

“Hn.” Sasuke responded before walking forward again. Mako sped to catch up.

“Honestly,” he continued, “Sunagakure owes a lot to Sakura-san. You have probably heard this before, but we have advanced due to her and the Leaf’s medical supervision and instruction. We are something in her debt.”

Sasuke didn’t respond. Perhaps that was all there was to it. Sasuke supposed it made sense that Gaara and Kankuro would assign the most ambitious learner and fellow medicinal expert as Sakura’s assistant. Sunagakure wanted to take advantage of every lesson and tip available. Sakura’s discipline and dedication to the medical practice made her share a common interest with the professionals here. Not everyone always had some double meaning to their actions like most ninja in the shinobi world.

As Sasuke and Mako rounded the corner to the left, they paused as several people ran past them in the opposite direction, back toward the center of the third floor. One man who bumped into Mako’s shoulder turned to look at him in recognition, jogging backwards. “Code 10. Haruno-san.”

“Shit!” Mako cursed, chasing after the man who spoke. Sasuke didn’t know what “Code 10” meant, but to see a panicked response in connection to the name “Haruno” had Sasuke quickly following.

“What is it?” he demanded, matching Mako’s stride this time.

“Anaphylaxis” Mako said breathlessly as they rounded the final corner and nearly collided with several attendants outside a small room in the hallway. Someone was kneeling just outside the door and Sasuke couldn’t make out the questions they were asking before until he began to make his way through with Mako right on his heels.

When he came in line with the entrance, Sasuke froze. Sakura was on her back, broken glass surrounding her on a messy floor. A medic was kneeling down beside her and removing a syringe from her hand. “We need to get her into one of the rooms. Now.” Sasuke’s heart was racing as someone wheeled a gurney past him. Mako began pulling him away from the entrance to which Sasuke almost shrugged off.

Sakura’s pink head was closest to the door so Sasuke couldn’t get a good look at her face until they began lifting her onto the gurney and wheeled her past him. To Sasuke’s great relief, his medic friend was fully alert despite the hives across her face and swelling lips. When making eye contact with him, she raised her hand and waved awkwardly.

“Hey.” She said past swollen lips.

“Hey?!” Sasuke responded, irritation quickly replacing his concern. Was she serious?! Mako let out a surprised laugh at her casual greeting. Sasuke ignored him completely and began tailing the gurney as it rolled away with her.

“What the hell happened?” he asked her with pointed annoyance. After failing to mumble past her tomato mouth, Sasuke shook his head. “Nevermind.”

“I’ll explain,” Mako said from the other side of the swiveling table. Sasuke spent the next several minutes listening to Mako explain a basic understanding of anaphylaxis and staring disbelievingly at Sakura as they unloaded her onto a bed. They began to hook her up to an IV and other machinery that would monitor her pulse and blood pressure.

Mako continued his explanation, “Antihistamines are what comes next. Luckily, she responded to the epinephrine and doesn’t need intubation. We’ll have to monitor her for a few hours just to make sure she doesn’t have another episode.”

Sakura was nodding her blistered head in agreement at everything he said. Sasuke just glared at her.

“Why did you eat a plant you knew was toxic?” he asked crossly. She shrugged her shoulders, the only response she could really make at the moment.

“I should have stopped you, Haruno-san.” Mako bowed. “It is all my fault.”

Sakura began shaking her head to dismiss Mako’s apology. Then she began to gesture for Sasuke to come over to her bedside. When he was close enough, Sakura pointed toward his hand.

“What?” he asked, looking down at it. My hand? What about it? He sure wasn’t going to hold her hand if that was what she was implying. Especially not in front of anyone.

A word made it past her lips but Sasuke didn’t understand it. “Hn?”

“Rath,” she repeated, still pointing. “Da ya hath a rath?”

“Oh,” Mako exclaimed. “You were handling the Ashuwa earlier, Sasuke. Do you have a rash on your hand?”

Ah. Sasuke’s hand was partially gloved except for his fingertips, which were unmarred. It had been approximately 30-45 minutes since Sasuke had even touched the plant. Sakura had sampled the herb 10 minutes before that, so it was too early to tell if Sasuke would have a similar reaction. He didn’t have a rash on his fingertips though.

Another physician handed Mako a familiar mortar and removed his disposable gloves after touching it. Mako immediately pinched a piece out of it and offered it to the Uchiha.

Sasuke responded with a glare as Mako continued to hold it out. “You’re not suggesting I eat that?”

“We need to make sure that you don’t develop a similar reaction, especially if you plan on using the chakra pills that Sakura is making.”

Sakura was mutely nodding in agreement and Sasuke annoyingly spat out toward her, “Why? You want me to end up looking like you?” Her nodding turned to shaking.

She followed with, “He’th ight. Eat wow you ah here.” Sasuke scoffed and blinked in disbelief at her communication efforts. How was she even talking?!

This was an absolute lunatic idea. She wanted the BOTH of them in hospital beds in this village while Gaara was away handling potential psychos that were after them? It was already a concern that she was incapacitated; Sasuke sure as hell wasn’t going into anaphylaxis too by choice.

“I’ll wait until you’re better,” he answered, shooing Mako’s hand away from his face. As he did so, Sasuke pointed at the door, ordering Mako to just go and check on Satou’s kid. Mako blinked at him in confusion before taking the hint and exiting with that same excuse.

When the silence grew thick between them, Sasuke took a casual stance against the wall next to Sakura’s bedside.

“Ya are wathing time,” Sakura began, looking guilty despite her swollen mouth as she tucked her hands beneath the covers and looked around at nonexistent people in the room; anywhere but at him. She was right. He was wasting time, and Sasuke mentally shook himself as he realized his indifference to that. He was trying to remind himself of his goal but in that moment, Sasuke’s feelings were outweighing that purpose.

He turned his back and peered out the small window at the darkening sky. He glanced back at her briefly before turning back to the window. “Are you okay?”

There wasn’t a reply which had the Uchiha worried and he turned to see her wide-eyed expression at his question. The face Sakura was making looked as if Sasuke had grown two heads. “I mean,” he added quickly, “with a mouth like that, it looks difficult to breath.”

She immediately covered her mouth and frowned at him, obviously embarrassed at his words. “I ah fine!” she shouted in embarrassment into her fingers and turned her head. Sasuke resisted the urge to smirk.

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

After the administration of the antihistamine, Sakura didn’t wait long before she began removing her own IV. She felt bad for the time that had been wasted today when she was supposed to be making the food pills. Sakura was just relieved that the Ashu had been tested before she gave Sasuke a drug that could potentially kill him.

“What are you doing?” Sasuke asked as she removed the monitor and turned off the flatlining machine before anyone came in at the sound. “They said it would be best to stay the night.”

“I’m ah do-ter” she told him. Yes, Sakura would have advised the same thing to her patients, but she was out of danger now and she felt anxious despite her drowsiness. She was troubling Sasuke enough by accompanying him on his mission. She didn’t want to get in his way; she was supposed to be making things easier.

Sasuke scoffed at her dismissive, mumbled declaration as she stood from the bed. She blinked heavily and managed to stand upright. It would still take a little bit of time for her to completely pass out from the side effects, so Sakura figured the time she had left awake could be spent productively.

The medic immediately went over to the cabinets and pulled out disposable gloves and a mask from the drawer. The mask would serve two purposes: 1) protect her from inhaling the Ashuwa as she worked and 2) hide her ridiculous “tomato” mouth as Sasuke referred to it. Ugh. Sakura could die from embarrassment.

“What are you doing now?” Sasuke grumbled irritably, following her as she moved. She immediately headed over to the mortar on the cabinet and pinched some of the yellow herb, skin protected from the substance thanks to the gloves.

“Eat.” She stated plainly. They couldn’t proceed further if Sasuke was likely to have a similar allergic reaction. Sakura would have to scrap their entire progress by disposing of the food pill batch. She would be back to square one and they would have to start all over by finding a new foundational herb with the correct properties to achieve the correct results.

“Forget it,” the Uchiha deadpanned before making to head for the door. Sakura caught hold of his hand, stumbling in the process and taking a hard fall on her knee. She winced visibly. That would bruise later. Sasuke immediately turned and helped her up and Sakura thanked her mask for hiding her blushing cheeks as well.

With the same hand Sasuke had offered, Sakura turned his palm up and placed the Ashuwa in his cupped fingers. “No time.”

Sasuke glared at her for what seemed like several minutes before reluctantly dumping it down his throat. They both knew he had to for his own sake.

Sakura nodded before trashing her gloves and retrieving a new pair. She couldn’t risk leaving traces around the hospital and anyone else coming into contact with the pollen if it was responsible for anaphylaxis. Mako had said that it was such a common reaction that they had stopped using it altogether.

Sakura halted in her steps, considered her plan, and decided to grab the entire box of disposable gloves. She handed Sasuke the mortar.

Sasuke gave her an expression that radiated annoyance but somehow was miraculously completely blank. If she could speak clearly in this moment, Sakura would have asked him how he managed that.

“Fowwo” she murmured through her mask-covered lips, pairing the word with a beckoning wave. “We’ll tesh your weaction why we wait.” She was shuffling out the door before Sasuke had the chance to say anything more.

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

Sasuke trailed his teammate from the room, carrying the mortar of Ashuwa he had ground up earlier that day. This was one of the few times in his life that Sasuke somewhat regretted his decision to refuse the artificial limb that Tsunade had made for he and Naruto. Sakura was walking with one arm against the wall for support and Sasuke’s one and only hand was currently occupied.

It was well after dark now and many of the staff members were busy attending overnight patients, so they weren’t stopped by anyone as Sakura found her way back to the medicine room, which was now cleaned of broken glass and everything back in its space. She reached up and grabbed several bottles of adrenaline and then dug through the drawer for syringes.

“Sakura,” Sasuke began as she dropped some of the things she was holding onto the floor. “You need rest. We can finish this later.”

“We hafe to wait for weaction anyway. Might as well make the pills.”

“I feel fine.” Sasuke reassured her. It was true. Time had passed enough for his fingertips to develop a rash if there was going to be a topical reaction. He had yet to show signs from consumption.

Sakura strode past him again, this time walking backwards to face him. He could make out a smile beneath her mask which somewhat irked the Uchiha. She seemed awfully cheery despite nearly dying from anaphylaxis. Sasuke concluded that it had to be the medicine making her drowsy.

“Turn around before you fall,” he grumbled. She laughed as she began to walk slowly up the stairs. He hurried up behind her and offered her his elbow which she took thankfully despite his huffed “So annoying.” Her laugh was her only response.

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

Sakura was practically nodding off as she watched Sasuke mix and prepare the batch of ingredients for the food pills. She felt relieved at finally seeing headway as Sasuke rolled the batter into 1-inch circular doses according to her instructions and placed them in the hospital’s oven. Sakura had tried to do so herself, but Sasuke had insisted she sit down to avoid screwing them up and risking their progress. Sakura allowed him to take the reins, praying desperately that the food pills would turn out and serve their purpose after such a hassle.

“Sasuke,” she whispered, immediately touching her lips behind the mask as she noticed the decrease in swelling. The ice Sakura had retrieved from icebox was doing its job.

“Hm?” he answered, trashing the latex glove he used to protect his skin and replacing his own. He turned to her then in the dim light, but Sakura couldn’t make out his expression because the only light in the room was a lamp over the counter workspace behind him. There was a shadow concealing his features and Sakura was too tired to try to make them out.

A lot easier now that her lips were shrinking, Sakura asked, “How are you? Any shortness of breath?”

“I’m fine,” he stated simply.

“Good,” she replied, thanking that ridiculous Uchiha blood of his for not reacting to the Ashuwa like her’s had. How ironic, Sakura thought, that even Sasuke’s genetics seemed to be working for him even in this circumstance. How superior he must feel.

Reclined across the small seating bench in the corner, Sakura placed her chin on her chest and inhaled the gentle night breeze that was coming from the opened window. It seemed to be the first night that the sand wasn’t trying to shatter the glass; to be honest, Sakura was surprised that the hospital windows even opened. Perhaps they were high enough on the fourth story to avoid the sand barrage.

Sasuke came to stand before her and Sakura blinked sleepily up at him in an antihistamine induced haze.

“Sleep,” the Uchiha before her ordered. “I’ll wake you when they’re done.”

Sakura wanted to argue that she could manage to stay awake for another 20 minutes while the chakra pills roasted, but she wasn’t that confident in her ability to do so. At most, she could manage maybe 5 more minutes if she concentrated hard enough. She wanted to ask Sasuke about the conversation he had with Satou.

“Sit with me,” she said, but it sounded more like a question. There was a minute of silence as Sasuke observed her. The bench wasn’t roomy, but Sakura was too drowsy to be apprehensive about their proximity. Sasuke must have not been either, because he sat and exhaled when he did so. Perhaps he was tired too.

. . . . . . . . . . .

Sasuke tried not to lean away from her as she settled into his side. He cursed her medicated self for such confidence in a small, darkened space. He counted down the time in his head; he would only have to stay seated here for 17 more minutes. For some reason, that time seemed both entirely too long and entirely too short.

“Satou,” Sakura began, reaching up to take off the medical mask on her face. Sasuke tried not to smirk at the lips that were still puckered despite having minimized in size. He blinked past the image to focus on her words.

“Hn,” he responded sourly, thinking of the man whose name had just been dropped between them like a heavy, unwanted stone. Sasuke didn’t particularly feel like talking about that man. He had, had enough of Satou for one day.

“How did it go?” his teammate probed politely despite being nosey.

“Fine,” he replied shortly, not wanting Sakura to find out about too many details. How would she react if she knew he had used his Sharingan on him? Probably not well. Sakura would continue to dig for more specifics if Sasuke didn’t bring an end to the topic promptly. “His son needs to be sent to Konoha.”

Sakura nodded, not seeming too surprised at Sasuke assessment. Perhaps she had been thinking similarly. “Thank you for talking to him.”

It wasn’t much of a talk, but Sasuke wasn’t going to tell her that, so he just responded again with a finalizing “Hn.”

Sasuke couldn’t help but jump when Sakura’s fingers touched his right hand. “Sasuke,” she began, almost in sleepy inquiry as she brushed his palm with her thumb and index. There was hopefulness in her voice and Sasuke cursed her medication again for her damn self-assurance.

“I..” she began, but Sasuke cut her off before she continued. Sasuke was almost absolutely certain that he knew which words would come next.

“Shh,” he replied, leaning comfortably into her side as his answer to her unspoken confession. “Just sleep.”

After a few breaths, and when Sakura’s head nodded onto his shoulder, Sasuke scooped up her hand into his, finding the courage to splay her fingers with his own and fasten them into place. Even when he would let her go in 15 minutes, Sasuke would lock the moment into his heart to last him the rest of his life.

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

When he counted down to the last second in his mind, Sasuke counted a few extra seconds. And then a few more. He thought about letting the doses of chakra pills burn to a crisp in the oven, but he decided against it, reluctantly releasing Sakura’s hand and pulling away from her heavy head.

Making sure that Sakura wouldn’t wake, Sasuke silently rose, turned off the oven and retrieved the pills from inside. He placed them on the counter quietly and turned to lean against the counter. He watched Sakura’s sleeping form for a few minutes, considering if he should wake her as he promised or let her sleep longer. What was the possibility of sitting beside her and stealing a few moments more?

Sasuke knew he was playing a dangerous game. Tomorrow, the Uchiha would test the chakra pill nearby and he and Sakura both were aware of what would happen after that. With the issue of his chakra reserves addressed, he would return to the desert to attempt cross-connecting dimensions again. They both realized Sasuke couldn’t waste any more time.

And with that thought, Sasuke’s stern resolve slipped. He would distance himself later, he thought. He would put the space back between them tomorrow. Tonight, Sasuke wanted to be next to Sakura.

He sat back down beside her and softly took up her hand again. Just for a little while longer.

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

Sakura woke in the middle of the night from the pain in her arched neck. She blinked past sleep and realized that she was folded into Sasuke’s side with her knees tucked and Sasuke’s head leaning against hers. Not only that, but Sakura froze as she realized her hand was entwined with Sasuke’s between them. The moment was fragile, and Sakura almost cried of joy and then heartbreak as it shattered when Sasuke responded to her shifting.

The weight of his head on hers lifted and Sakura tried not to grab desperately at him to keep him from moving. Instead, Sakura pivoted her eyes to his as his sleep faded and realization appeared on his face.

Sasuke released her hand and stood hurriedly, saying nothing despite how Sakura’s heart wanted answers. She wanted to know if this moment was genuine or if she had been the one to hold onto him in her sleep. Sakura wanted to believe desperately that Sasuke had allowed himself to be transparent for just a moment and had secretly revealed his true feelings for her by holding her as she slept. Had that been the case? Was she being too optimistic? This wouldn’t be the first time their hands had touched. Had he been supporting her as a friend, or did he feel something more? She had to know.

“Sasuke,” she began, but he cut her off for the second time that night.

“Good. You’re awake. Let’s go.” He declared, hastily placing the finished chakra pills in an open travel container on the counter.

Sakura stood then, heart racing and adrenaline pumping as she worked up the courage to come up behind him as he worked. She wasn’t going to confess this time. She was going to ask Sasuke if he had been confessing to her while she slept?

“Do you… love me?”

Sakura was almost certain that he stopped breathing altogether as he paused his task. The Uchiha took a minute to compose himself before exhaling. “When are you going to stop that?”

The statement was meant to be cold, but the fact that it came out so desperately low gave Sakura a rare feeling of hope despite the words. “When are you?” she responded calmly in a whisper.

“What?” he asked incredulously, finally turning to her.

She gradually took the last few steps between them and stood carefully in front of him. “When are you going to stop pretending that you have no feelings for me?”

Sakura expected a scoff, a ridicule, but what she got in return was painful fear in Sasuke’s usually expression-less eyes.

It was true, she realized. Sasuke did have feelings for her. There had been so many signs, but Sakura had been unsure about all of them until this very moment. But what had just passed between them was confirmation. Sakura almost lost her breath at the realization.

“You’re mistaken,” finally came the blunt retort, but it was too late.

Sakura was already closing the inches between them. Her fingers were already brushing his cheeks as she brought his face to hers. She hesitated. Just for a second. Just long enough for him to pull away from her. But Sasuke barely took a breath before Sakura touched her lips to his.

#approaching sun #sasusaku #sasuke and sakura #sasukeshinden #sakura hiden #Sasuke Uchiha #Sakura Haruno #ssfanfiction #sasusakufanfiction #blank period #naruto #naruto fanfiction

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tessatechaitea · 4 years ago

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Cerebus #8 (1979)

This cover doesn't help me remember what this issue is about.

Having only ever read the first half of Cerebus via the collected stories in the Cerebus phonebooks, this is the first time I'm seeing most of the early covers of Cerebus. I probably started reading the monthly issues during "Flight" but had purchased the "Melmoth" back issues. So I'll be getting a lot of new material in the covers and the Aardvark Comments section all the way up through "Jaka's Story." In Note from the Publisher, Deni explains that Cerebus is currently selling 4,000 copies a month. That's four thousand dollars a month! Of course, Dave probably has to sell at half the cover price, so maybe that's more like two thousand. And then there's the expense of paying for your own printing and shipping. I have no idea what that might cost but let's pretend it's another thousand dollars. That leaves Dave and Deni with one thousand dollars per month before taxes and art equipment! And I know I'm being way too optimistic so let's say it's more like $750. In Canadian dollars! That's probably about five hundred American dollars! But then again, this was 1979 dollars and cars were about six thousand dollars back then. You could buy a house for twenty grand. So by Issue #8, Dave was either really starting to make a lot of money or heading toward financial ruin. I'm not sure why I even began this paragraph when I have no idea what I'm talking about. Although, four thousand copies of an independent comic book by the eighth issue? That's good fucking marketing. No wonder Dave Sim became the God of Self-Publishing. In his Swords of Cerebus essay, Dave Sim continues to explain how he was growing as a writer and artist. It's the kind of thing a fan of Sim's work enjoys reading but not the kind of thing that I can make entertaining in a brief synopsis. So fuck off to the next paragraph already. We're done here. At the end of the last issue, Cerebus escaped his battle with a gigantic Black Sun spider god. But he did not escape as unscathed as I maybe led everybody to believe. He was actually bitten and poisoned by the thing and now he's wandering the desert (unless it's the tundra (which is probably a definitive desert but what am I? A reader of The Farmer's Almanac?!), hallucinating and probably dying. Some Conniptin soldiers find Cerebus and take them back to their Commander's quarters. The Commander isn't the main leader of the army; the main leader is some cocaine snorting prince who thinks he's a god. He wants Cerebus made into a bath robe which would mean Cerebus would get the last laugh. Because remember how badly Cerebus' fur smells when it gets wet? Ha ha! That joke was so funny Dave used it five or six times in the Bran Mak Mufin issue. The Captain and the Commander make plans to oust the young Lord and take over the army themselves. But they need Cerebus by morning for their plan and Cerebus isn't healthy enough. So they take him to the army's doctor for a few Star Trek jokes that seem cheesy and overly done (but maybe not so much in 1979? Or is that the whole point of the running joke here? Because it's a tired format that Sim subverts at the end?) but which ends with a pretty fantastic punchline.

To really appreciate this joke, I think you have to remember what the world was like in 1979. If you weren't born or cognizant of the world at that time, I can't explain it to you. It's like trying to explain Ringo's obsession with the hole in his pocket to somebody who has never seen The Yellow Submarine and who also doesn't know who The Beatles are and has also never heard music or seen animation. Yeah, the 70s were that fucking cool.

The Captain and the Commander take Cerebus out later and point him in the direction of a campfire. They tell them the men around the fire drugged him and they should pay. Feverish and sick, Cerebus runs up to the small camp and begins slaughtering the four men around it. He hallucinates that three of them are Elrod and one of them is Sophia. So what the reader learns this issue is that Cerebus is ready to kill all of the other characters of his comic book at a moment's notice. How The Roach and Weisshaupt and Elrod and Rick and Astoria and Cirin last as long as they do is a miracle. Or it's just part of the contrived story. I guess if it were real, it would seem like a miracle. But since this is all written by Dave Sim, it's just the way it was meant to be. I'm not sure what their eventual plan is for Cerebus as this just seemed to be a test. I guess he's their Manchurian Candidate? The four mercenaries Cerebus killed were Hsifan. The Commander and Captain are Conniptin. I have no idea what these things mean. I think Hsifans make really good ninja assassins though so killing four of them is pretty damned impressive.

Like I said. Killing twenty-five Hsifans is pretty damned impressive.

This story highlights one of Cerebus' bigger life problems: he's constantly being pulled into other people's stories. If he's not trying to steal some treasure to get more gold crowns so he can drink more ale, he's slaughtering other mercenaries to get more gold to drink more ale. And when he's not doing either of those things, it's usually because he's gotten caught up in somebody else's story. I suppose that's what you need to expect when you're some kind of prophetic Messiah. Your story has already been told and you're just time's puppet. But — and I think this is the most important part — something about being an aardvark allows Cerebus to tell destiny and fate to fuck off. So quite often, Cerebus just walks away from the story he got sucked in without a care to its resolution. It has something to do with aardvarks being soulless and less with aardvarks being hermaphrodites. Because I think maybe that's just Cerebus. The Commander and Captain want to make Cerebus their new leader because they can't stand the selfish, greedy fops who rule. The Conniptin motto is "Might makes right! Fight, fight, fight!" Which you really can't argue with unless you're a talented fighter. So Cerebus is offered the job which he can refuse if he doesn't mind having his guts spilled on the floor.

Seems like Cerebus' future is pretty cut and dry. If you forget that he's an aardvark.

Cerebus decides he'd rather escape than be a puppet of the Commander. But after knocking out the guard and trudging some way across the snow, he thinks twice. He decides having a warm place to sleep and free food are a better deal than running for his life from vengeful Conniptins. He also likes the idea of leading an army. If you're not into Cerebus as a mercenary captain, don't worry. It won't last more than one issue!

Damn, I'd forgotten about this line. It used to be one of my favorites to quote whenever being offered some payment or reward of some kind. "What's better than X? Mayhap two Xes!"

Fred Hembeck writes in to Aardvark Comment this month as well as, if not as famous as, David R. Wooten. Pretty sure I've seen David's name in quite a few letters pages of DC comics. The Singles Page is a strip by John Barclay called "Small Potatoes!" It's twelve panels of a couple of guys singing "Dude Looks Like a Lady" on, I guess, a street corner. They sing, over and over again, "DooDuckGlackaLayda!" It's social commentary of some sort. I think. Maybe he's just making fun of the repetitive nature of the song, or any song you're forced to hear out in public by buskers and bucket drummers. Who can tell?! Humor was different in 1988 (the Singles Page is only from the Bi-Weekly! That's why the date is different from the comic). Cerebus #8 Rating: A. There's something happening here. What it is ain't a standard comic book. But it's not what a lot of people thought of as an underground comic book. For one, not once has Cerebus walked around with an erect penis. What was this nonsense not being published by DC or Marvel but also not being weird animal porn that is also personal confessional?! I wish I hadn't been so ashamed of purchasing adult material that my mom might raise an eyebrow at but then say nothing at all. One time she cleaned my bathroom where I had a playboy under the sink. Instead of saying anything, she just straightened it up and left it. I couldn't look at her for weeks. Although I was pretty relieved because at least a week before that, I had about twenty Playboys in there! I can't remember why I moved them but at least she didn't know the extent of my wanking! She probably thought, "Oh how cute. One magazine! And the centerfold is an African-American lady. My boy ain't no jerk off racist!" instead of thinking, "How many fucking porn mags does he need? Does he do anything but jerk off? Oh God! I'm not touching anything of his ever again! Plus isn't this copy of Penthouse the one with an underage Traci Lords?! I wonder how much that will be worth in thirty years?" Of course she thought that last thought not realizing that thirty years later, it would be considered child porn. No, I don't own it anymore, you pervs. I threw out all of those porn mags when I went to college because I didn't know where to hide them! Also I was underage when looking at the Traci Lords' Penthouse so it wasn't weird. She was older than me in those pictures!

#Dave Sim #Cerebus

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erintoknow · 5 years ago

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so unfamiliar now

Spiraling - A Fallen Hero: Rebirth Fan-fiction

Unless you want Ortega hounding you to the end of your days, you’re going to have to put on a show and convince her she doesn’t need to keep worrying about you. You’re fine. Everything’s fine. She’s fine. Wait – [Horseshoe Crab]

It’s my birthday today so have a second update this week!!!!!

[Read on AO3]

If you’re going to get Ortega to lay off of you, you need to start thinking about your appearance again. Dressing in hoodies to look inconspicuous doesn’t do you any good if it actually ends up drawing more attention to yourself. So… What do you dress like?

Once upon a time Ariadne fancied anything and everything from skirts and the femmest outfits she could get her hands on all the way to shrugging on a leather jacket and gloves as part of her roller derby get-up. What could possibly be a logical progression from that?

Don’t want to look too affluent. A waste of resources. But you don’t want to look destitute either. So… Clean, some color. Mostly greens, some purples and black for variety. Cloth and cotton, things you can layer. Mix in some new items with thrift store purchases to fill out the rest.

One day at the mall, you stumble across a cute pair of shoes with a 1” heel and add them to the pile. The old Ariadne would never have worn something like that, but fuck her. She’s dead.

Should you start doing make-up again? Stare yourself down in the mirror in the morning and make a face. Bad enough you have to see that wretched thing as much as you do already. The concealer work is enough. Leave the eyeshadow and lipstick in the past. Anyone misgenders you, you can just beat the shit out of them. It’s 2020 now, you’re totally allowed to do that, super villain or no.

God. Do you look human yet? You don’t feel it. What is Ariadne like? How do you play this? Do you play up the stutter or tamp it down? Does she find it cu– Fuck. Fucking hell. No. No you are not thinking about that. Jesus fucking christ.

You pull fabric around your shoulders, frowning in disapproval at the mirror. Once upon a time, Ortega’s mother gave you a serape like this for Christmas. That one was a rainbow of color. This shawl is a duller green, with a white geometric pattern along the edges. Still, it’s long enough, draping down to your waist. You could hide your arms completely underneath, maybe a few other things if there was a call for it. Kind of like the cape for your villain suit.

So is this you, now? Or at least, if not you; is it Ariadne? You’re allowed to change, right? Will she even buy it? You’re not sure that you do.

When you get the phone call from Ortega one evening you go along and let her make plans. You’ve got time to kill before your next big operation anyway. And you can field test your new wardrobe.

–––

“Ariadne! Hola!” Ortega raises her arm, a bright smile on her face. Looks like the last of the stitches are gone. Thank god. She’s got jeans on, another flannel shirt. No jacket today? If it wasn’t for the gave-away glint of metal embedded in her arms and hands she’d look like a textbook middle-age butch lesbian.

Did she always dress like that? Is it because she’s seeing Jane now? Swear she flirted a little more femme when she was with men. Not that you were paying attention at the time. Of course not.

Shut up.

You raise your hand back, “Hola yourself. Y–you look happy today.”

“I like the new look.”

You blink, glance down at yourself. Doubt creeping back into your head. “Uh. Well. It’s uh, it’s just stuff I had… laying around… you know.”

“Uh-huh. I’m sure.” She doesn’t believe you at all, damn her.

“D–don’t think it’s for your benefit!” You hiss back, you reach up and grab the edges of your shawl, pulling the green fabric closed over your body. “B–because it’s not!”

Her smile broadens. “I didn’t say anything, Ariadne.”

“F–fuck you.”

“I like the shawl, it’s cute.”

Oh god. You can’t look at her. Face warm. Ortega has a girlfriend, what the hell is she doing? “G–good for you. You um, you want to – to get on with w–whatever the fuck we’re doing today?”

“Alright, alright.” She laughs, turning and beckoning you to follow. “We’re already here actually.” Ortega gets about halfway to the front doors before she realizes (acknowledges?) that you aren’t following her. She turns her head, flaps her arms in a ‘what?’ gesture.

Pulling your shawl tight around you, there’s newfound gratitude for how your sunglasses help to mask your eyes.

You stare up at the front facade of the Los Diablos Children’s Hospital, white tiling and red brickwork and dozens of little panes of glass like too many eyes. “Ortega…” you try to keep the panic out of your voice. “I thought you said we were doing something fun.”

She walks back to you, tight frown on her face. “We used to do this all the time, remember?”

You stare at her, “Do what?”

“Visits? Readings? You know?”

Bite your lip, is that true? Ortega seems so sure of it, but… Thinking back to hospitals all your memory coughs up is a very different kind of picture. One that makes your stomach roil and your head dizzy. True or not there’s still one problem: “Ortega… I’m trying to keep a low profile, remember?”

Ortega sighs and pats you on the shoulder. “Look, there’s no PR crew, no cameras, I haven’t even told Chen. The only person who knows we’re coming is the lady in charge of managing volunteers, Sue, and as far she knows you’re just a friend I’m dragging along.” She steps beside you, hooking her arm in yours. “So, you’ve got nothing to worry about, okay?”

You tense up as Ortega half-walks, half-drags you to the doors. “If – if, um – ninjas descend from the ceiling and kidnap me, I want you to know…”

“Yeah?”

“I f–f–fucking hate you.”

Ortega laughs, “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Bright lights and white walls, men and women in scrubs, medical masks. You keep your shades on, damn politeness. Mercifully, hardly anyone spares you a thought, eyes sliding off. Fewer people than you'd believe recognize Ortega out of her Ranger’s outfit. At the same time, you do get the sense she’s a known quantity here, this isn’t her first rodeo. You’ll just have to trust her; there’s an uncomfortable thought.

You wish you had the Rat-King handy, you can wrap a song tight around your head but you could stand to have a little help filtering out the background noise. Maybe it’s your own baggage, but the chatter of hospital thoughts always has this tension to it – forced cheeriness.

Hang back and let Ortega talk to the front desk, a few minutes of waiting and the woman, she mentioned, Sue? –Susan?– comes out frowning behind the too-thick fireproof doors. Straight brown hair, dressed in white, stud earrings.

It makes an interesting contrast between her and Ortega. Ortega’s sporting her Ranger-branded sports jacket today. Ranger-blue indigo shirt underneath. Her bronzed skin a touch darker in shade than her conversation partner. It’s a good look for her – the outfit that is.

You guess.

Not that you’re an expert on Ortega’s style choices or anything.

What do you care what she looks like?

You don’t.

Shut up.

Sue and Ortega make small talk, and Ortega keeps glancing your way. Expecting you to join in? You’d rather hang back. Not talking to any doctors today, thanks.

You worry the sleeves of your shirt, pulled down to the wrists. Rub the fabric between your fingers, trace patterns over your thigh, anything to do that isn’t further chewing up the inside of your cheek.

It’s been weeks now and neither one of you have discussed the kiss in the Hospital. Maybe Ortega doesn’t even remember. Some drug-fueled fever dream.

Or…

Or maybe she hated it? Is politely letting you pretend it never happened. She’s with Jane, you have to remember. Ortega is a lot of things, but she’s not a cheater.

And now Ortega’s beckoning you over. Welp.

Take a breath, in – hold – out. You’re not scared. What are you scared of? You are Ghost, the mysterious plight of Los Diablos. They ought to be scared of you. Ortega taps the side of her head. No shades? You make a face and she gives you a serious look. You huff and pull them off, fold up and tuck them in your purse. White walls. White lights. Can feel your heart jump. Fuck. Ortega smiles at you, you fake a smile back.

You’ve got this. Everything’s under control.

Here we go.

Sue hands the two of you off to a nurse who in turn acts as your guide. You trail behind, not paying much attention to his and Ortega’s conversation. What you bother to pick up confirms that Ortega’s made a habit of these low-key visits apparently, to different hospitals across the city. Ever since returning to the Rangers.

Did Ortega used to drag you along to official Ranger PR events? You can almost remember. The memory of remembering. Try to think too hard about hospitals though, and you get panicky. Short breath. Little dizzy. A hospital is the last place you want to pass out at, thanks but go fuck yourself.

–––

A pair of tiny arms clings to your leg and a jolt of panic shoots through you. “Uh… H–h–hello?”

A girl with cropped brown hair stares back up at you. “HI LADY! I like your hair!!”

You glance at Ortega, she’s got her back to you, teaching a boy how to do some fancy handshake. You catch the eye of the nurse, hanging back by the doorway. He gives a small smile. No help there. Look back down at the kid, “T–th–thanks? Um– Don’t you want to talk to Charge over there?”

She remains undeterred. “What’s your name?”

“Ari?” You glance towards Ortega again. Help. She remains utterly unaware of your plight.

“Are you a boy or a girl?”

You choke. “W–w–what? I’m uh�� I’m a girl.” Fuck. What did she pick up on? You usually pass just fine these days. Could just die right now, that would be great, thanks.

“Oh. Okay!” There is absolutely no hint of embarrassment in this girl’s mind. “Are you Ms. Charge’s girlfriend?”

You hunch down and very gently try to pry her arms off your leg. “What um, what gives you that idea?”

She tilts her head, staring you down with full intensity. “‘cause you keep looking at Ms. Charge AND everyone knows the hero’s girlfriend ALWAYS has red hair!!”

You smile to hide the panic. “W–what uh, what makes you say that?”

She gives you a doubtful look, can’t believe an adult doesn’t know this. “‘cause it’s in all the movies!! Duh!!”

“Ari!’ Oh thank god. You breathe a sigh of relief as Ortega walks over, the other kids curiously watching behind her. “Making friends?”

“Hi Ms. Charge!!” The little girl fixes her full attention to Ortega.

“Hello!” She smiles widely, “Introduce me to your friend, Ari?”

“Uh–”

“My name is Casey!” The little terror cuts in. “SHE never asked!” Casey huffs. “Your girlfriend is RUDE Ms. Charge.”

“Girlfriend?” Ortega raises her eyebrows at you.

You shake your head wildly, suddenly way too warm. “S–s–she came up with that one herself!”

An hour and a half later of helping Ortega handle the meet and greet and you’re free again.

You slip your shades back on as the two of you exit the hospital. Run a hand through your purse to find the chocolate bar, peel off the wrapper at one end with shaking hands. “That was… that was something.”

Ortega claps you on the back and you stumble forward a step. “See? I told you you’d be fine.”

“Y–yeah, well…” You frown, “If you d–don’t hear from me in a week, you only have yourself to blame.” You break off a piece of chocolate, “Want any?”

“I’m good.” Ortega smiles, you shrug and pop the candy into your mouth “So…” Her smile fades as she glances towards you, “what did you think?” The two of you leave the parking lot, walk the sidewalk, you follow her lead through the streets.

“What d–did I think?”

“Want to come with me the next time I go?”

You give her a wry smile, “Y–You’re not gonna just, uh, just spring it on me again?”

She smirks back at you, “Me? Spring something on you? Never.”

“F–f–fucking smug-ass liar.” You punch her in the shoulder, and Ortega overplays it, comically swinging to the side. “W–why do I keep letting you do this to me?” You keep asking yourself that, and the answer hasn’t gotten any less terrifying.

“Do you remember the last time we did one of those visits?” Ortega glances at you as the two of you hurry across the street.

“When was that?”

“It must have been… well, right before–” She grimaces.

“Oh.” You chew your cheek, trying to think back. Can feel your stomach lurch as the world tilts under you. You have to stop and steady yourself. Cover it up by shaking your head. “I… kind of do? I–I–I haven’t thought about this in years, sorry.” You furrow your eyebrows, “I…”

“You were–” Ortega stops herself, “Oh, sorry, go ahead.”

“It’s okay.”

“No, finish your thought, it’s fine.”

Damn.

“I… think this might be… um, the first positive experience I’ve had with a hospital in… in years.” You grimace, keenly aware of the line you’re skirting. “Between uh… you in the hospital and…”

“And…?” Ortega slows down to match your pace.

Shake your head, “No, it’s – it’s nothing. Sorry. I don’t want to talk about it.” You try to smile even though it feels fake. “What were you going to say?”

“Oh, well–” Ortega rubs the back of her neck, “I was just going to say; I had to step outside to handle a phone call. And–” She laughs, “You were on the verge of panicking, all ‘Charge! Don’t leave me alone with these kids!”

You come to a stop, and groan, run a hand over your face. “Oh my god.”

“You remember now.”

You bite your lip, nod your head. “Uh-huh.”

“How did you get into teaching them about taxonomy? You never told me.”

You can feel the heat on your face now. “Okay. Look. It–it–it made sense at the time okay!? I thought it’d be easiest to keep them from going crazy if I r–r–read them a story?”

“Okay?” Ortega stops walking, leans her shoulder against a boutique storefront’s window, watching you with a smile. You cross your arms under your shawl to try and keep your hands from shaking.

“Okay. So. I just – just grabbed the first children’s book I saw. It–It–it was this animal book? I think? But it was all cutesy and inaccurate.” You bite your lip. “And when I pointed out a mistake, they all laughed so… I just… kept… doing… that…?”

She laughs at you.

You cover your face in your hands, heat going straight to your ears. “D–don’t laugh!”

Ortega covers her mouth, “Okay, okay. Sorry, you’re just so–”

You drop your hands to your sides, “I’m just so what?” You narrow your eyes at her.

She doesn’t miss a beat. “We’ll have to get you a book to read, the next time we go.”

Oh god.

“You’re going to – to kill me Ortega…”

Her smile falters, “I hope not.”

The two of you walk the next block in silence. Is it as awkward for her as it is for you?

Finally Ortega stretches her arms over her head and says, “I don’t do these hospital visits often enough these days.”

Watch her face from the corner of your eye, trying to get a read on her. “How come?”

Ortega sags, shoulders slumped forward. “Too easy to get caught up in work. Especially lately.”

Ah.

You have to keep your face blank, don’t let your heart race. “S–still obsessed with trying to figure out Ghost?”

She gives you a grim smile. “You know it.”

#fallen hero: rebirth #fallen hero fanfic #fanfiction #fhr/Ariadne

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