#naruto and sasuke are in love though regardless of the ending

[jupiterdolll]

@.@

[lilacqiqis]

A/N:Uwaaa first actual post on this blog!! I'm excited and hopefully you guys (3 people) will like it <3-Mod Lilac

Hair playing (ft. Naruto, Kakashi, Hinata, Itachi, Sasuke. GN!reader)

tw: none

More under the cut

🌙 It's no shock that Naruto loves being affectionate in every way possible, having his hair played with is one of his favorite activities!

🌙 Pat your lap and he'll get the signal instantly, rushing up to you and putting his chin on your thighs with that iconic smirk.

🌙 Give his scalp a few scratches, it's comforting to him. His hair is oddly soft despite him seeming like he has a shitty hair routine... Wonder what his hair care routine is? "Heheh, I don't really have a routine... I just dip my hair in the hot springs and call it a day!" Maybe the hot springs has some kind of magic imbued in it?

🌙 Sometimes, Naruto will play around with your hair. He's a goof, and ends up messing up your hairstyle or tugging too hard... He'll apologize with a crooked smile, so don't get too mad at him <3

🌻 Kakashi doesn't mind it when you play with his hair. It's nice, actually. Reading his book while you run your fingers through his gray locks... It's a peaceful moment he'll cherish.

🌻 He'd also like if he was pressed between your thighs while you played with his hair, so do the man a favor and indulge him a little. It's nothing inherently sexual... Kakashi just likes your thighs.

🌻 He loves falling asleep on your lap while you mess with his hair. Perhaps you can take his vulnerable sleeping state to pull down his mask... Nope. He'll catch your wrist and stop you before you get the chance to. Perhaps he has a special sixth sense for that...

🌻 Sometimes, Kakashi will tie your hair for you (if it is long enough to tie). It's a small act of affection, but it's sweet regardless. He isn't exactly one to play with your hair often, but sometimes he'll grab a strand while you're talking and twirl it between his fingers.

🦋 Hinata is such a sweet girl, letting you do what you want as long as it makes you happy. And if playing with her hair makes you happy, then she's more than willing to sit down and let you run your fingers through her hair.

🦋 She doesn't mind at all if you randomly play with her hair, she's glad you like her hair so much! Who wouldn't though? Her hair is silky and long, absolutely gorgeous. She takes extremely good care of it and her hair has a soft scent of lavender.

🦋 If you ever asked, she'd help you do your hair. Hinata enjoys brushing your hair, but if you prefer it messy she's fine with that too.

🦋 Tie her hair and do different hair dos! She'll love it, a pink hue on her cheeks as you braid or curl her hair. Even if you suck at it, Hinata will try to compliment you regardless on your skills.

🌹 You want to play with Itachi's hair? Go right ahead, darling. If it makes you happy... Itachi is happy too. He'll untie his hair and crouch down to lay his head on your lap, letting you do as you wish.

🌹 The look he gives you while you run your fingers through his strands is so... Soft. He enjoys your touch, being as touch starved as he is. He'll run circles on your thigh with his hand, giving you the sweetest smile.

🌹 Let him pamper you as well, he loves taking care of you and making you feel good. Itachi will return the favor with soft kisses as he motions for you to lay in his lap.

🌹 King of scalp massages, the way he runs his hands through your hair is comforting, he doesn't care if your hair is crunchy either the man persists. Please don't tell him no, he's just so eager to make you comfortable and happy, it makes him twice as joyful. But if you really don't like it he'll stop, not wanting to go against your wishes.

🌱 "What? No, don't touch my hair."

🌱 Proceeds to get mad when you say it's okay. Sasuke really expects you to pressure him so he can pretend he hates it 😭. If you do pressure him however he'll grumble and say "Fine. I'm only letting you do this because you'll just keep pestering me."

🌱 Acts uninterested as you play around with his hair, but he is ecstatic on the inside. He won't admit that ever, not even to himself, but this makes him feel extremely comfortable.

🌱 I don't see Sasuke as the type of person to play with your hair, and he's probably refuse if you asked him to. What a spoiled boy... Don't worry, he'll get more soft as time goes on.

[inside-lees-mind]

HII I saw your requests are open and you wanted um. Neji. Reqs. Hi. um.!! Could you write something of him with a reader thats not from a strong clan (They are well known but not for fighting or even field work) and doesn’t have a Kekkei Genkai or anything but is strong regardless,,, wields a sword and is great at fighting physically and all that. She teases him a lot and gets not his nerves but it’s all affectionate! She does get underestimated a lot though. I’ve had this idea sitting in my head ever since I watched naruto,, saw team guy and fell in love they are my roman empire

Neji With an S/O Who Isn’t From a Prominent Clan

Idk if i capitalize titles right tbh. I forget how it’s done honestly. I don’t remember if “With” gets capitalized.

Anyways, thank you so much for your request!

This is a little harsh in the beginning. So WARNING! For asshole genin Neji.

No gender specified, but “beautiful” is used

An uneven number of shinobi graduating from the academy was so oddly unheard of that at first, you ended up training alone with some jonin who took pity on you.

And at first, Neji had said something to his team about that just being the fate of people like you. Destined to be alone and a failure.

No need to give you some chance for a big break in life, this would happen any way you put it.

Neji didn’t ever figure he’d be willing to die for you one day. (Maybe he’s not the character to say this for…)

He dreaded when Gai Sensei introduced you as a new teammate of team 3.

Of course Gai would go through the trouble of taking pity on a wimp like you. He should have expected no less.

Tenten was excited that you wielded a weapon, however.

And Rock Lee was excited to have a new teammate! Not to mention, you were beautiful. He was just a little smitten…

Overtime, he watched you train. And as Tenten marveled over how well off you were in your skills with your ninjato! (A ninjato is a straight sword, if you don’t know. Sasuke uses one)

And in the same way he thinks Rock Lee or Naruto are destined to never make it anywhere, he thinks the same of you.

After the chunin exams and the Konoha crush, he begins to think differently of you. He thinks differently of himself, Rock Lee, and Naruto as well. Even Lady Hinata.

Overall, he becomes more pleasant to be around. And you both start to talk a bit more often.

Soon he fines Lee’s insistence on flirting with you so openly is annoying, and not just because he won’t shut up anymore, but now it’s that he’s jealous.

He’s jealous?

He’s jealous.

And when he watches you fight while on missions, he’s got a different way of looking at you.

Maybe somebody with no Kekkei Genkai and no prominent clan can really make it. Maybe you aren’t destined for failure. Maybe that challenge is just something you can overcome, become stronger.

And you have.

I think being with him would be a classic case of you fell first, he fell harder.

You didn’t fall immediately. You were very sweet, but anybody with a brain knew Neji was a total asshole. Even if you were rather nice to him, you didn’t have eyes for him beyond thinking he was pretty for a guy.

So once he starts to be nicer, you quickly realize he’s not just visually your type. You really like the guy.

It takes him a couple years to fully realize he fell for you.

And a bit longer to realize Lee, as much as he cares for him, is testing his patience asking you out. When will he give up?

So he realizes, if he keeps quiet, are you gonna give in and let Lee have a chance with your heart?

So he ends up asking you out on a date after pulling you off to the side. Making sure you were out of earshot from anybody, especially your team.

You both keep it silent from Tenten, Gai, and Lee. Anybody really. For a while.

He wonders how none of them notice the way you tease him more than the others. The way you’re just a bit too touchy with him. (Tenten noticed, but she keeps her mouth shut for a while)

The way you insist on braiding his hair or tying it up for him before training or something to get it out of his way.

Or just beg him to let you braid it for fun. No real reason.

Usually he rolls his eyes, groans, and says no. Firmly. But he’s not so firm with you.

He looks so pretty with his braided hair. Let’s just say that.

Until finally Neji snaps a little bit at Lee, “When will you realize, y/n has a boyfriend, Lee.”

Lee’s eyes go wide, and he’s visibly upset. But soon his brows just furrow a bit as he exclaims “WAIT, WHO??”

Neji realizes his mistake, but he’s not ashamed of you. So maybe it is time to say something. So he informs Lee, and the rest of the over enthusiastic team, that he is, in fact, your boyfriend.

He’s actually so proud of your skills.

He’s not the type to show you off by PDA, but he will smirk and look all smug when somebody compliments you or you do something awesome.

And when the clan’s branch system gets dismantled, eventually he starts figuring your name would sound real nice with Hyuga as a family name.

[x-emeraldsky-x]

Sasuke pressed his index finger to his lips, looking up at Sakura from where he sat. She continued to cut ingredients for dinner, noticing his gaze after a few minutes. He averted his eyes, cheeks dusted a light pink. He tried to play it off by resting his chin on his hand, but Sakura new this game all too well.

His indirect question was answered with a gentle kiss, the taste of cucumber and capsicum tingling off Sakura's lips. She's always had a habit of snacking on her cooking ingredients. He brought his hand to the back of her neck to deepen the kiss, subsequently stopping her weak attempt to pull away. Sakura obliged in his desire until her back strained from leaning. She nipped his lip, causing him to yelp, and made her escape during his distraction.

"How about after I cook dinner, hm?"

Sasuke pouted. He wanted her now, and his desire for her outweighed any desire to wait, but there was promise in her voice. Promise that after cooking, she'll take him to their bedroom and pin him down. And for that, Sasuke would wait a lifetime if he needed to.

He watched her closely, every small tense of her muscular arms made him want to be held, the short glances of her eyes made him want to be seen, and the gentle grip of her hands made him want to be touched. Every second he spent staring, the more he sat wanting.

Sakura finished chopping and turned to the stove, a pan already oiled and heated waiting for her. Sasuke shifted the chair to see better, marvelling at how unphased she was when the oil splashed on her arm when the ingredients went in.

Part of him felt silly for finding such small things so amazing, but the growing impatience pushed the thought to the back of his mind.

He watched her swirl the vegetables with a wooden spoon, taking note of her concentration and technique. Sasuke felt a pang of jealously in his chest, even though it was just a pan and spoon. He wanted her focus on him.

Sasuke stood from his chair and shuffled next to her, looking up at her and resuggesting his advance.

This time, however, Sakura didn't pull her gaze to him, she didn't lean in nor did she pause what she was doing. Sasuke pulled himself closer, placing himself in her periphery.

"Sakura," he started. His words turning into mumbers the more he spoke. "Please... please kiss me."

Sakura hummed, finally catching his presence. It took her a moment to process his words, and she laughed a little once she did.

"You're too cute," she said, tilting her head forward and chuckling. "Last one."

Sasuke connected their lips impatiently, gripping Sakura's qipao tightly in his hand to pull her closer. Sakura caved to his desires until the smell of burning zucchini broke their kiss.

She worked quickly to try and correct the error, hoping the slight char wouldn't affect the overall dish too badly. In the end, though, it was only for them. Sakura would eat anything put on the table, and Sasuke would eat anything Sakura prepared for him, so nothing would be wasted.

Sasuke slowly pulled away despite his desires, giving Sakura some room to move. He returned to his chair and went back to watching her, licking his lips to savour the taste of her lip balm. An off vanilla taste that mixed poorly with onion and pepper. He loved it regardless, mostly because it came from her.

As the clock ticked by and the pops of the oil slowed, Sakura's gentle humming came into ear. It was an unfamiliar tune, something from Naruto's interests he assumed, but it was soothing. She often hummed like this during her tasks, the house was rarely quiet because of it.

Sasuke didn't mind it either. Like this, everything was cozy and warm. Calm despite the nature of the Hidden Leaf and it's prized medical ninja. It had become home after all those years away, and in the end, Sasuke didn't mind waiting if it was like this.

His eyes slowly fluttered shut as he listened, almost slipping into sleep then and there. About fifteen minutes left until dinner was ready and he'd have her full attention. About fifteen minutes of hearing her hum.

They were fifteen minutes he didn't mind at all.

[sasuhinasno1fan]

The Queen and the Knight

So this is a gift for someone on the SasuHina Month discord and it's a continutation of this fic I did for SasuHina Month like 3 years ago. It's medival inspired and the only story out of 3 attemtps to work, as my Anne with an E/Anne of Green Gables one came to a screetching halt and my Regency with a sprinkle of Ghost Whisper suddenly became something I didn't like, so I hope they like this. It has Merlin elements with mentions of druids but they don't really appear until closer to the end of the story and they don't do very much. In terms of it being a connected fic, the only important things to note is Hinata had been exiled to rule the kingdom she's in now and she helped turn it around, becoming a loved queen. Sasuke was hired by Neji to look after her and they grew closer, him even bringing flowers for her to grow, as gardening is a big thing, the kingdom called Garden of Hope. This is set after Sasuke returns.

“I think you need to taste this for me.” 

Sasuke blinked at the custard, decorated with jam and a candy orange before looking back at the royal in front of him.

Queen Hinata Hyuuga, of the Garden of Hope, had been his charge since the moment he arrived. The kingdom had been near death before the former princess was sent in exile. She brought life back to the kingdom, mainly through growing flowers and medicinal herbs, hence the name. He wasn’t stupid, he knew with how close he’d gotten with her, that feelings had developed. He didn’t want to assume she felt the same, even though the flowers he’d brought her were scattered all across the castle’s main garden. The maids had even, on her orders, collected some to have in her room. He only knew that part as he had to collect her from there every morning from her personal maidservant.

“Um,” he said, a bit flustered. He didn’t like sweets normally, but he had a hard time saying no to her.

“What? You’d rather your queen be poisoned? This jam was a gift from the Kingdom of Sound, before we discovered they were looking for an easy way into my father’s kingdom.”

Of course he didn’t want that, but he also knew the kingdom wouldn’t risk poisoning jam. It would be too easy to figure out once a jar of preserved food was opened. Regardless, he let the queen feed him a spoonful and actually closed his eyes in satisfaction. He wasn’t lying, he hated sweets, but this was tart, but not overly so. There was, was that cinnamon? He didn’t even know they’d received that. It didn’t matter, it helped give it a taste that dulled any overpowering sweetness. “It’s, it’s fine, your majesty.”

“Oh.” She said, looking like she’d already known that. “Then perhaps the wine. Come, sit and try it for me.”

The wine that Naruto had sent over as a late celebratory gift for Hinata’s coronation? It had been aging since she didn’t drink much, but here he was, being handed a goblet and staring at the queen until he took a sip and watched her smile. He’d do anything to gain that smile, so of course it took him a while to realise, accepting the milder sweets from the queen’s fingers to realise, was she…courting him?

He dropped her off in the council room, warning the guards what would happen if anything happened to her as usual and left to start training the knights. As normal, he was stern and fierce, battling against the other knights and reminding them why a rouge knight was in charge of their queen’s safety, but his mind was a mess. What was that? Why was she doing that? When he’d returned with the flowers, she’d kissed him on the cheek but nothing happened. he knew how he felt, but her safety was more important.

_______________

“A tourney?”

Being inside the queen’s room was probably the worst thing he should be doing while she was bathing, but her personal maidservant was helping her and it was hard to converse through a wooden door. He was facing it as his queen updated him on the events of the council meeting. They were still building relations with other kingdoms, which he assumed most of the meeting had been about. Other than the Kingdom of Sound, no other kingdom had attempted to attack them. Her former kingdom hadn’t made any attempts at building bonds, but she didn’t seem bothered.

“What exactly would this be for? To celebrate the bonds we’ve created with kingdoms?”

“No,” Hinata sounded hesitant and he had to stop himself from turning to look at the screen blocking her. “They think it would be a good idea for me to use it as a way to choose a husband.”

“What?” he did turn, staring at the dark wood screen, lavender stalks etched into the frame; another gift from a member of the village. “They want you to what?”

“I told them I didn’t agree with the idea. I helped the Garden rise up by myself, with the only help given from the Yamanaka royal family of the Kingdom of Stars. I didn’t need a man then and I don’t want the kingdom thinking I need one now. They said they understood that and only wanted me to have support, but I have the kingdom for that. And you.”

Sasuke turned to the door again. “What else did they say?”

“They at least think I should have one to celebrate my arrival to the kingdom.”

“Not your coronation?”

Water seemed to hit the floor at that moment. Movement from behind the screen sounded like she’d gotten out of the bath. He tried not to focus on that. “According to the council, my arrival should have been celebrated and my willingness to help the kingdom even when I didn’t feel welcome, was proof of how much of a blessing I am. Though, those were their words.”

Not ones she’d believe. He didn’t know how she easily had the love of her whole kingdom and still couldn’t believe how much they saw her as a goddess.

A knock on the door had him calling for who it was, before telling the maid to enter. Expertly, she entered with…two plates?

“Why is there a second plate?” he asked.

“That is yours.” The queen answered, wrapped in a warm robe given to her from the Inu Kingdom and their obnoxious prince Kiba. The pale colour of her sleeping gown poked out as she walked to the head of her table. She looked at him, telling him silently to sit.

“Your majesty.” He tried saying.

“Sit.” She ordered.

He looked at the maid and maidservant, who only gave him looks and smiles like they knew what his answer would be. They did know. They knew he never said no to her unless necessary. He pulled his sword off his belt, leaving it leaning against the table within reach and watched his queen kindly thank the maid for the food and told both her and the maidservant to be back within an hour. He stared at her as she started her dinner and she didn’t look the slightest bit bothered he hadn’t started. Before he could ask what she was up to, she interrupted him.

“Are you going to compete?”

“Huh?”

“In the tourney?”

He raised a brow. “You’re agreeing to it? Even if the council wants you to pick a husband from the competitors?”

“I can’t have the people of the village take part. Even if I narrowed down the events, most are too deadly to risk doing. I might just convince them to focus on bouts, only until a person is knocked down for at least 10 seconds. Any bloodshed that risks a life is immediate disqualification and jailing, at least for a trail. I won’t let my kingdom be a place that expects deaths as entertainment.”

He could agree with that. He picked up his cutlery and started eating. The silence wasn’t stifling, it was similar to the silences they’d have where she was destressing in her garden and he’d follow her. It stayed for the rest of dinner and Hinata gave him her gentle smile as he was dismissed. He was still no closer to finding out what she was up to, but it was fine. for now.

__________

“Have you had any experience with druids?” she suddenly asked, sounding curious.

He chewed slowly as he thought. Somehow, he was being fed food again, this time as they walked through the village market. Queen Hinata was handed samples from food stalls and she’d feed him a piece of everything. Swallowing, he answered, “of sorts. Prince Naruto, the prince I know, his mother’s family is closely connected. I never got a straight answer of if that meant she is one but Naruto is either magic or incredibly lucky. I still think he’s an idiot but since he’s saved my life more than enough times, I supposed I can’t be too demanding of answers. Why?”

“There’s a druid clan near the kingdom and some of the villagers know of them. They used to go to them when illnesses were bad. Apparently, they think the clan wants to meet me. Do you think I should be worried?”

“Naruto swears unless you harm them, the clans avoid conflict. Magic needs a balance, to attack without reason would go against their beliefs. They probably want to know the person who’s been caring for the villagers. If you invite them to join in selling wares at the market, they might be willing to start integrating into the village. They’d still keep their home away from here, closer to the magic of the area.”

“Perhaps. Would I be wrong to ask them to come to the tourney? It seems like such a good place for everyone to interact.”

“They might even be willing to help the healers. You can’t go running in yourself.” He reminded.

“Your majesty!” a voice called. It was the baker’s wife. Their daughter had been one of Hinata’s first patients and as she recovered, the queen was gifted bread whenever she came into the village. She held something in a cloth. “Your majesty, my husband just finished a new dessert with the cinnamon we were given by the castle. It’s like a roll but rolled to hold the flavours of cinnamon and sugar. Please.”

Sasuke took it from the woman as he normally would with items given to the queen and opened the cloth to show the twisted roll. It even had a layer of icing. It was messy, leaving white and brown spots on the cloth, so he kept holding it and let the queen take a bite. Much like the dessert she fed him before, she moaned, loudly, much to the villagers delight and laughter.

“What does your husband call it?”

“Our daughter simply called it a 'cinnamon roll'.”

“Could your husband teach the castle cooks to make it? They’re making food for the welcoming banquet for the tourney and this would be the best dessert. It could even be served as breakfast when we send the leftovers down to the village. I will of course pay your family.”

“Might as well, we all know our queen will devour the rolls.” A merchant joked, laughing as Hinata went red.

“I will not!”

“Yes you will.” Sasuke decided to tease.

“Don’t encourage them!”

“But how can they know you love them?”

She pouted and snatched the roll away. “I’ll have the head cook come to the bakery.” She said, shooting a mild glare at Sasuke. “I’ll be heading back to the castle; I have studying to do and I think the knights need training.”

He knew a dismissal when he heard one. Guess he’d gone too far.

___________________

“The Garden of Hope. This kingdom bloomed back to life thanks to their queen, Queen Hinata and today is the anniversary of when she arrived in this kingdom. You hadn’t crowned her yet, but she was your queen and she has been the person who will lay down her life for you. We also know she will do the same for us, druids she only heard of and only met a day ago, just because we’d be in trouble. We will do the same for her. We hear, that on your coronation, your crown had been made of flowers, made by loving hands, like your crown today.” The druid leader said, his long white hair and severe beard and moustache making him look unapproachable, though his calm deep voice kept the whole kingdom calm.

As Hinata had come to be seated in the box, she’d been stopped by a crowd of the village children. The village seamstress' son had yelled at them for a moment when she started to kneel to be at their level, not wanting the pale purple and white to be dirtied, including the sleeve cap that trailed as long as her dress. They ignored him as they handed her the flower crown, made by all the children of the village with their own favourite flowers. It was messy and only the help from the older kids kept it from being lopsided but the queen’s smile and delight had been the biggest they’d seen.

“Our original plan had been to create you a crown with protective crystals, but from speaking with you last night at the feast, you would only worry over your subjects than yourself. You have your knight to look after your safety to keep you focused on your people and we can’t think of a more deserving crown than the one made with their loving hands.”

Sasuke, standing with the rest of the contestants for the tourney, still did his duty and went over to the box to take the crown Hinata handed down to him and brought it to the druid leader.

“I’d worry if you destroy it. it’ll either be the queen of the children. Honestly, the children are much scarier.”

The leader didn’t know if to believe him but he still handled the crown carefully. A crystal in hand, they all watched magic become visible as the flowers go from live items to become like crystal lined in gold.

“May the living embodiment of your people’s love be a reminder of who you protect.”

The cheers from the crowds grew in volume as Sasuke passed the crown back to Hinata’s maidservant, who carefully recrowned the Queen of the Garden of Hope.

As the fights had started, Sasuke stayed inside his tent, more focused with arming himself in his armour, as his squire Boruto – Naruto’s younger cousin who he sent to Sasuke when the young one wouldn’t stop begging him – watched the matches to observe and update him on the winners.

He hadn’t planed on participating, expecting to be in his normal place of at his queen’s side. The same day he’d teased her in front of the village members, she’d still been pouting about it and he asked what he could do to cheer her up. She got this look in her eyes and turned to him, telling him to participate and win if he wanted her forgiveness. And since he was incapable of saying no to her, here he was, buckling the vambrace on.

“Let me help.” He looked up to see the queen entering, her maidservant following. 

“What are you doing here? The matches are still happening aren’t they?”

“Master Sasuke!” Boruto yelled, skidding to a stop when he realised he was about to crash into the queen. “Um…”

“Finish your sentence.” He ordered the boy. It was clear to see the relation between him and Naruto sometimes.

“The last fight ended because one of the opponents was headbutted. Her majesty disqualified the one who did it and is waiting until hearing the injured opponent will be alright before continuing the matches. So, you’re match got pushed up.”

“Thank you Boruto. Perhaps you can also have a break? The druids have brought fruits from their orchards for the village to taste. Hotaru can take you.” Hinata said, nodding to her maidservant.

Any other woman he’d be worried about, but everyone knew there were multiple times the two were alone together and no one would dare accuse her of anything happening, not when his sword was close at hand. Besides, even with him with her majesty, he had no doubt the knights who were actually on duty were nearby.

“Can I?” she asked, lifting her hands, hovering over his arm.

He held it out, watching her easily buckle the vambrace into place and even passing her the other when she gestured to it.

“Can I ask why you wanted me to participate? Any of the knights easily could have done this. My main duty is to you.”

“I know.” he stared waiting for her to speak again, but she stayed silent.

“The past few weeks, you’ve…been doing things.”

“Have I?” she asked, clearly faking her questioning tone.

“Feeding me food, our outings feel different. When I came back from the Kingdom of Stars, you…things changed.”

“Are you upset with the changes?”

“No.” he answered. “I just…am a little lost on what they mean.”

She looked up at him, sliding her hand down until it slipped into his. “Is it difficult to understand?”

He was being an idiot, wasn’t he?

What she was saying had to be obvious, he just didn’t think it was possible or proper. When had she ever done anything proper as a royal? She interacted with her kingdom constantly, healed them and accepted their gifts. She earned their gifts and love to the point that they wanted to celebrate her arrival, even when they hadn’t appreciated her when she arrived. She got dirty in her garden, would chase the village children in their games and could run circles around the council before they realised she knew exactly what she was doing. He was hired by her cousin but he stayed for her. The flowers he brought back were always present in her room.

Gods, he was an idiot wasn’t he?

“Master Sasuke, look! It’s called a peach!” Boruto yelled, running into the tent again, barely skidding to a stop to not crash into the queen.

“Hotaru, the item?” the queen asked. She was handed something that made Boruto’s eyes widen. She turned back to him and placed a handkerchief in his hand.

If hadn’t realised before, he did now. It was the same purple she favoured in her gowns and had a ring of flowers sewn on one corner.

“I will keep this safe, your majesty. The prize tonight is to sit at your side for the feast; I hope to be the one.” he said, bowing his head.

“Always. Come Hotaru, we should see if the knight is alright and continue the tourney. Sir Sasuke has to win.” She said, with a smile over her shoulder. 

He stared as the door to the tent flopped shut, unable to help the smile growing on his face as he looked at the handkerchief.

“The queen…” Boruto struggled to come up with a sentence.

“Yes, the queen.” Sasuke said, pressing a kiss onto the token. “Eat that quickly, I’m going to wait by the arena.”

Visiting knights had been upset that the queen’s own personal guard earned the right to eat by her side, but every member of the Garden of Hope told them the same thing: The Queen and her knight would never stray far from each other. The Queen would always choose her knight and she’d continue to do so when he became King Consort, just like he would always protect her, whether sworn by duty or by marriage vows.

[theheirofthesharingan]

In defense of my pov and maybe I wasn't very clear in the ask... I do think the point of Itachi in the earlier arcs is that he is meant to come across as one dimensional (of course to writers and those who read a lot this actually should equal something potentially being incredibly fishy), so when we get the conspiracy reveal after his death I mean that I wasn't surprised there was more to it and I love how it threw every interpretation of his actions from beginning to end into a new light. (And I realize I forgot to fix a sentence and I love Itachi now, but when I first encountered naruto in my early teens, he honestly didn't scare me that much 😅, he comes into town, doesn't kill any of the main characters because that point in the story wouldn't have made sense for such a thing, and then he leaves, seemingly on a tactically considered whim which fits his characterization at that time)

I also think it's actually incredibly important that Orochimaru and Itachi are both meddling in Sasuke's lives at the same time, which is why I brought them up as a "comparison" even though their motives are never even remotely the same! Orochimaru is horrific as an individual and a villain, but from a narrative standpoint serves as an incredibly effective smokescreen. Orochimaru is an immediate threat from the moment he is introduced, he's a constant and threatening presence and Sasuke goes and exposes himself to that for years which leaves him very little time to introspect on the circumstances around his family's death.

Itachi on the other hand is more of a goal than a threat. He's dangerous, we see enough of him vs other cast members like Jiraiya and Kakashi for that, and he very badly wants Sasuke to pursue him (seen as early as the hotsprings town attack and later made abundantly clear to be because he wants Sasuke to spend his vengeance on him, although even that reasoning is multi layered). He's one of Sasuke's primary enemies, but he functions so differently from Orochimaru that the audience just sees him as a different kind of big bad is all.

(Sorry for the long explanation, I just don't want you to think I'm stupid 😅 but I also might be coming at my interpretations from a different place than you and that's fine too! I appreciate your first answer regardless and thank you for those panels! The manga is so long that I definitely forget things.)

For the purposes of my own work, I often think of how information is compartmentalized in the village... because other members of the konoha 11 also come to the conclusion Sasuke should be killed, but the tactical ones have different justifications than Sakura if I'm remembering correctly? I think they're mostly meant to parrot the village policies, esp since they're secondary characters at best, just cementing the way that villages sacrifice individual members for the sake of less war (which is different than real peace!), but it still makes for some interesting considerations of how much/what other characters know and where they get their information from.

Anyways, sorry again for the long ask but thank you for so much uchiha content!

Oh, of course. Initially, he is meant to be a one dimensional villain, and there are hints dropped to give him more nuance, which make sense after the truth reveal. When we move towards the chapters/episodes leading to his death, the story starts to explore his fragility while he's still a villain.

His reveal didn't surprise me. It devastated me. I've been one of those who had some gist of him not being evil, but the tragedy was entirely unexpected.

If you love Itachi too, then welcome to our hell because we suffer forever here, loving both the brothers.

Don't worry, I loved reading your interpretation of both Itachi and Orochimaru and their influence on Sasuke. Itachi is a big deal because even though Sasuke faces an actual threat from Orochimaru, he isn't scared of him. But whenever he sees Itachi, his reactions are always intense. And even after their battle, he was completely shaking, even if he knew Itachi would have exhausted his chakra too. The only person Sasuke was really scared of was probably Itachi. Other than Itachi being invincible, there were a lot of feelings. Itachi had been cruel to him. Not only physically or psychologically but also emotionally. The only one who could dismantle him was Itachi. And Sasuke had all the unanswered questions in his mind because from his POV, his beloved brother one day stopped loving him when he'd always been so supportive of him.

I think other Konoha Shinobi wanting to kill Sasuke is different from her wanting to kill Sasuke. They didn't love him, they didn't care about him, and that also includes Kakashi. She claimed to love him, and concluded that he needed to die for his own sake. I have no expectations from Konoha 11 and I don't care about their opinions on Sasuke either. But she married Sasuke and never bothered to know why he changed so suddenly and why he would want his brother back. Does she even know anything about the Uchiha clan and its history? And what happened with Itachi and all? Probably not.

Don't worry about the long ask. It's totally fine. Thank you. :)

[infinitebullshit]

[Kawaki's mental instability and Boruto's responsibility]

1- The line Kawaki crossed.

Something always comes up during Kawaki character-related discussions, which is the implication of Kawaki becoming "crazy" due to his attachment to Naruto.

It was first introduced by Amado, who claimed Kawaki's love for Naruto is veering on madness. In case he meant to describe Kawaki's unhealthily obsession in an over-exaggerated manner, it fits but not really.

Amado was wrong, mostly projecting his own craziness about his daughter on Kawaki. After all, someone who abandons his daughter's needed treatment because he could recreate her is not a sane person to begin with.

Let's take Kawaki back prior to Momoshiki's third takeover.

He was exactly in the same situation he is in now but worse: Code was out there vengeful same as now, Boruto was a real threat who'd turn into an Otsutsuki soon and on top of that nobody had any powers to stop either of them.

On a light note, Kawaki was clinically depressed, anxious to say the least. He suffered a mental setback as a result; nightmares, mode swings, compulsive self-deprecating.. Etc.

Yet, not once, not in a single fleeting panel, not even in his thoughts he considered the idea of Boruto dying for the purpose of getting ride of Momoshiki.

The opposite, he was afraid for him. He didn't want Boruto to die enough to suggest implanting Karma (the thing he hates most) on Code to save him (which also served as a way to protect Naruto but it was for Boruto's sake mostly).

When it came down to fighting Code, he couldn't take the risk. He believed Boruto would die and asked him to leave the battle-field asap even though Boruto dying to Code is one threat down.

Boruto was always a threat, Kawaki knew it. He fought Momoshiki before and cautioned Boruto about it to his face but he didn't and couldn't acknowledge the implication of what that means.

Boruto being a threat was a reality Kawaki didn't want to face, much like his need for Karma.

When Momoshiki took over at the end of Isshiki's arc, Kawaki couldn't accept Boruto was gone even when he actually was at that time.

He kept full high on denial unlike Sasuke and Naruto, he'd look at Momoshiki and see Boruto solely in there.

They were separate entities in his head until Code's battle forced him to accept the bitter truth.

Shikamaru made a point of Kawaki not hesitating to kill a comrade, which he saw as an issue born from his unhealthy obsession with Naruto, that it made him mentally unstable.

He is not completely wrong, Kawaki's fear of losing Naruto is so strong, it triggers panic attacks and emotional breakdowns. But that didn't drive him crazy, it drove him to be self-sacrificial.

Before the Code battle, Naruto basically showered him with affection and assurances but Kawaki's conclusion wasn't to get Karma back & kill Boruto/Code to keep Naruto safe.

His answer was to kill himself so they could all live.

The point I'm making; Kawaki's mental instability/madness wasn't born out of Kawaki's attachment to Naruto itself. He didn't go around promising death on anyone who might or will be a threat to Naruto regardless of how much he himself loves them.

What really drove him crazy was this:

狂ってなきゃできねえんだよ兄弟殺しなんてよ

Kuruttenakya dekinē nda yo kyōdai koroshi nante yo

Viz screwed up the line. It's whole meaning was lost.

Quick JP lesson:

Kurutte : Going/becoming crazy/mad.

nakya: Have to.

dekinē nda yo: Can't/unable to.

kyōdai koroshi: killing a brother.

nante: Something like/ such as.

The "yo" is just for emphasizes.

So the full line will be "[You/I] have to go crazy or [you/I] won't be able to do it. Something like killing [your/my] brother."

Why Japanese don't have pronounces?

Kawaki is a very self-aware person. He sat there and shamelessly admitted the most embarrassing things about how he sees himself and what Naruto is to him, but what he associated with craziness- what he had to force himself to go crazy for; wasn't Naruto.

It was killing his Brother.

Experts say there had been cases where patients ended up being clinically crazy or depressed because they forced themselves to pretend to be those things.

Under the dire circumstances, Kawaki was forced to instantly accept Boruto needs to die.

He didn't process this decision, unlike Naruto/Shikamaru, he wasn't on the sidelines.

He had a split second to decide, and another to act on it.

The hesitation Shikamaru searched for in Kawaki's demeanor when he killed Boruto wasn't there because he didn't process his emotions, he gave priority to understanding the stakes.

"It's a do or die now"

And the opposite of processing your emotions, is shutting them out.

If Kawaki didn't stomp on his emotions, he wouldn't have been able to do it.

He didn't have the luxury to in fact, as nobody else there would've taken the burden.

So he took this responsibility upon himself, willingly sacrificing his sanity to succeed.

In other words, killing Boruto was like crossing a line.

Boruto got to come back from it, mentally unscathed, Kawaki didn't.

2- The burden of being Boruto's brother, Kawaki's responsibility.

For all Boruto's gifts, emotional intelligence wasn't one of those.

From the very first arc of the manga up until his resolution in ch80, Boruto suffered a consistent flaw of misjudging people based on his personal impression of them. He doesn't strive to get a better understanding of someone.

If he forms an idea of somebody, he doesn't budge unti he's forced to.

Examples:

Believing Naruto was a useless good for nothing despite everybody's attempt to make him understand.

Painting Tento as an insufferable brat without realizing how much they had in common.

Assuming a stranger like Ao was a good man based on 1 conversation, little did he know..

Defined Kawaki's whole existence based on his first impression of him (more on this later).

What I get from this is Boruto loves to be certain and right. He hates being in the gray area where he doesn't know what he thinks of someone or what his thoughts are about something.

He hates doubt, unsureness.

It's a flaw that he isn't very self-aware of:

His first impression of Kawaki is based on an incident he wasn't present when it happened so he had little to no proof yet he was quick to point fingers and fill in the blanks about this new person he just met.

Ripped off a very long Kawaki analysis that never saw the light;

During the first few days the author depicted how estranged and alienated Kawaki was from everyone else on both social and emotional level. This was first shown in the famous vase scene when he broke it accidentally, creating a dispute between him and Boruto.

The narrative purpose of this sub plot is to parallel Kawaki, a self-estranged person, with Boruto who grew up normally and healthily which allowed him to learn and be capable of engaging emotionally with other people and his own feelings.

Contrasting Kawaki’s disengaged state, who knew what he did to Hima’s vase was a mistake as a matter-of-fact but didn’t really connect with Hima’s sadness or get why it was even important, making his apology come of as shallow and diminishing.

Boruto on the other hand didn’t catch on Kawaki’s detachment state and thought he was being intentionally uncaring.

Boruto adoration of Kawaki came as one of those moments where Boruto stands corrected. Except this time Boruto has messed up pretty bad, almost getting his sister killed if it wasn't for Kawaki.

This was the beginning of Boruto's growing dependence on Kawaki. It's not far-fetched to claim their relationship is mostly carried by guilt and reliance on Boruto's part.

Kawaki always came in a clutch for him, be it saving Himawari, saving Naruto & Sasuke, or saving Naruto later on. Boruto (& Momoshiki) would've killed or caused the death of plenty of people many times otherwise.

As a result he developed a sense of dependence and thought he could do anything so long Kawaki was by his side which Kawaki didn't reciprocate.

In Japanese he basically said "Hurry up and be independent, you mf"

There's always this wedge between them, because Boruto never knew true despair or what being unsafe feels like. All these incidents were mere "big missions" to him, it's how he navigates his path as a Shinobi.

But for Kawaki, it was about survival. For he knew what irreversible damage is, the things he can't take back, things that can't be repaired.

He doesn't feel safe and motived just because somebody he cares about is around. Be it Naruto or Boruto, not when they are as powerless as he is.

The only reason Kawaki felt safe enough to actually start mentally healing after Delta's fight, was because he thought Naruto could take care of Jigen.

Boruto doesn't understand that. What he views as a "big victory over Momoshiki", the dying part he didn't care about because he was "prepared", it broke Kawaki.

And he let him do it, asked him to, in fact. Then tried to paint it as a proof of their brotherhood, the highlight of their bond as it's so strong and special, he can even ask Kawaki to kill him, you see?

That, "he did it cuz we are bros".

Boruto couldn't be more wrong.

It wasn't about him. Kawaki would've killed anybody who threatens Naruto's life, that person being his brother merely drove him unhinged.

Boruto thought they were in this together, that part was correct at first. Kawaki kept his promise to him and took the burden of fulfilling it.

Sacrificing his sanity, his life in the village and his relationship with Naruto.

None of those consequences crossed Boruto's mind. He's comfortable knowing Kawaki or Sasuke would deal with Momoshiki if he came out, all he has to do is die which is not a big deal for him as he sees honor in Shinobi death.

Kawaki shouldn't have been "the only person he could ask him to do it" but the last one, if Boruto understood what being in Kawaki's place means.

3- The burden of being Kawaki's brother, Boruto's responsibility.

Of all the people Boruto misjudged, Kawaki remained the only one Boruto couldn't get a grasp of. Even when he comes so close to figuring him out, there is always something missing; Experience.

For instance, he understands Naruto means a lot to Kawaki but never why. Therefore he can't comprehend the actions Kawaki takes to keep him safe.

He doesn't know what it feels like living years of nothingness, then someone gives something to you.

Same goes for Kawaki's self-blaming, self-destructive behavior.

Regardless, Boruto spared no effort to help Kawaki.

It was him who compromised first to begin with, claiming him as a brother without expecting Kawaki to change himself, or have anything in return.

He made a promise to him to help him defeat his abuser.

He gave him his headband to make him feel included and one of them.

Having a loved one who suffers from mental disorders is a burden, you always have to put extra effort you put in dealing with a healthy person.

Boruto never gave up on him even when Kawaki stepped out of line during the training scene, or trying to sacrifice himself despite how Naruto would feel about it.

He stuck to his side and didn't budge.

But he was unable to see the world from Kawaki's perspective which created a disconnection between how they feel about that incident.

Boruto seemed to go about his life, naive enough to believe it changed nothing.

For Kawaki, his mental stability took a great hit- at some point he even forgot what he was supposed to do; protect Naruto and the village via his Otsutsuki acquired powers because they'd have an early death otherwise. Yet he imposed that fate on Sarada with his own hand.

A visualized proof of Shikamaru's warning to Sarada before she disobeyed him and left, that Kawaki was basically crazy at the moment.

He couldn't think straight, operating solely on what he deemed "facts" rather than how he felt.

His breakdown in front of Eida showcased a great deal of emotional blockage.

An emotional blockage is activated in certain situations to cushion the impact of a negative situation or event that can be very painful for us.

His thought process devolved from facts, to bargaining to an emotional blow.

Despite his resolve to protect Naruto at all costs - including killing Boruto - he never came in terms with Boruto's death up until after Omnipotence.

Boruto's responsibility:

From his point of view, he was the one who cornered Kawaki to cross all lines.

In a way, he was.

Boruto himself didn't commit any wrongdoings, he is not to blame for Momoshiki's rampages but he is the carrier, even though he didn't choose to be.

But realistically, if you were carrying a certain illness that potentially could destroy everyone around you but you adamantly chose to live, wouldn't you be responsible if somebody got hurt because of that?

Boruto reached two realizations in ch80.

1- He lost his brother who in turn lost himself as well, because he was too weak and dependant on him. He threw the burden of dealing with Momoshiki on Kawaki, allowing him to be a brother killer which drove Kawaki insane.

It was too much to ask, after all it's Kawaki who's going to have to kill/stop him again in the future which Boruto realized it was meant to happen if he didn't do something.

Despite Boruto's initial confidence of being in control, Momoshiki took over anyways and he almost lost to him completely if Sasuke didn't save him.

It was like a reality-check for him.

2- If he wants to live, he needs to deal with his own problem. Get stronger and rectify things himself for a change. Otherwise he could just die and end it all, or continue to burden Kawaki and the others which did nobody any good.

From the angle Boruto sees this whole situation, he lost nothing except Kawaki.

So the cheerful mindset that always naively over-simplified dire situations as big missions, refuses to see the current situation as anything but a setback.

Because he experienced loss this time, his brother, and he couldn't accept that.

[tamelee]

I had stopped being able to read the naruto manga way back near the beginning of shippuden (it was still coming out at the time) due to the store I had access to not bothering to carry the volumes anymore (man am I old 🤣) then different fandoms caught me and years go by so my mind has the sasuke naruto meeting with sasuke draping himself over naruto to threaten him and sakura being competent with healing kankuro and fighting sasori... so I was...confused when I recently fell back into the fandom why sakura would even be with sasuke...as I felt mature medic nine fighter girl would have understood that she'd had a crush and moved on.

Like, Naruto and Sasuke had so much stuff between them I get why they haven't let each other go.

So it seemed weird as hell that sakura would even still "like" sasuke... as her original feelings stemmed from childish "he's so cute and broody" which is okay in a 12 year old girl but less okay as an adult woman...

The naruhina I though, ah, he and hinata must have had many moments in all the parts I've missed, and bonded...oh...she just...endangers herself and confesses to which naruto doesn't react at all...and then their married...

As a shonen manga I figured we wouldn't get a blatant narusasu ending (even though they are the best) ...I'm even a cheery multishipper often for characters I like but...it was so sad. I'd of been happier to have it end with shion just randomly turning up to have naruto keep his baby making promise...

Anywho sorry for blathering on.

I adore your art as well, it's super pretty and I need all the naruto x sasuke content to heal my shipper soul...

Hi @roseunspindle ! Oh gosh!! You couldn’t read past the reunion scene??? I would’ve gone crazy 😭

Yeah, Sakura never matured in that department. Even in the sequel where she’s supposedly married to Sasuke, Ino derisively says she’ll forever stay a girl in love. Like the story had to spell it out for readers. There is this weird vibe between her and Sarada when it comes to Sasuke.. I don’t even know how to describe it but it’s creepy. Even when there is a kid involved somehow and they speak of marriage, Sasuke gives her no reason to love him romantically and it surprises her still that he showed no concern for her life whatsoever. Sasuke, who expresses through action in most cases, is still as indifferent as ever towards her. 

Sakura has moments where she shows some care for characters, mainly driven by her being a medic, but emotionally, it is bizarre how little she cares about Sasuke and yet, at the same time seems to only care about him... if it involves herself. She doesn’t even question why Sasuke does what he does or tries to understand how he feels. Even when she gets fed little snippets of his pain or the source of that, she doesn’t try to find an answer. In the very end she doesn’t even give a shit about his reason to travel or defend his words regarding "redemption". She felt entitled to an apology while she was the one going up to him with the intention to kill him. Even when he tries to explain why he wants to travel, she just cuts off his words because she wants to go with him regardless of his intentions or goals. I get why some people wanted a development for Sakura where she’d be able to let that crush for him go, but story-wise? That would take a lot from Kishimoto because there is also a lot of insecurity involved too.. And frankly, she's very much a red herring :')

Meh, nh... I have nothing to say. 

Well, SNS-fans often say their story is very tragic. But that’s not just how we feel, it IS a fact that Naruto and Sasuke went from receiving a semi-sweet/bitter-sweet (depends on how you look at it as we got a resolve but not a clear resolution yet) in ch 698/699 to a bitter ending in 700 where they suddenly not only didn’t have what they wanted, but certainly not what they needed either. To combat that in the sequel, they shoved all the problems of the world onto a bunch of aliens... distracting everyone from the hypocrisy of the system. Neither Naruto or Sasuke got to work on the thing they wanted and their internal desires were completely massacred for the sake of these kids. And both of them have shown that if they don’t have what they need, they will fail the thing they ultimately want. Meaning, the Shinobi world will forever stay the same while spitting on their dream for the future and the trauma they had to go through because of it. It’s not even about SNS or the story being Shonen... but the concept, which Sasuke talked about at the end that was supposed to be a vehicle for a better world is completely retconned. 

... but I’m happy that besides that, SNS is still widely and largely celebrated regardless. And that says a lot! I’m happy to hear you like my art 🥰💕 that really means a lot, thankyou so much!! (I’m trying to heal myself through them too ;-;!) 

[avengernomore]

So I’ve had this thought rattling around my brain for a couple of days now…

And, as a disclaimer, this is not based on anyone's portrayal of the character, this is just… an alternate interpretation of the character. So no offence to any muns who portray this character, this is about the character themselves.

… Has anyone else noticed how selfish Naruto is?

Even if we look at his goal, becoming Hokage… what is his motivation for it?

So everyone will acknowledge him. Which, sure, given his position, totally understandable… but his motivation is something that will only benefit him. Even as he grows up, he never mentions anything he plans on changing anything to make Konoha better.

And even going from there, more and more selfish things pop up. If we skip ahead to the Sasuke retrieval arc… his main motivation is that he doesn’t want to lose his friend. Again, understandable, but… he didn’t even pause to consider what Sasuke wants. He gets told multiple times that Sasuke came of his own free will, that this is what Sasuke wants… but he keeps saying that it’s not true. Like, sure, he was on a mission to bring Sasuke back, but his motivation was not the mission, it was what he wanted. He didn’t want to lose his friend, regardless of what Sasuke wanted. And then he insists again continuing to try. A lot of his goals, the things his does, are done with the goal of trying to bring Sasuke back, despite that very clearly not being what Sasuke wants.

Even when Sakura tries to claim she has feelings for Naruto and that he should stop chasing Sasuke, he insists upon continuing to do so. Naruto insists that he is still Sasuke's friend after it’s been nearly 3 years before they’ve really talked. And yes, Sakura trying to trick Naruto into stopping chasing Sasuke by feigning feelings for him? Feigning romantic love for him? Shitty. She was still right about not chasing Sasuke, though. Sasuke clearly did not want to return to Konoha. Nothing Naruto did changed that. Sasuke eventually came to the decision to protect Konoha after talking to Itachi, and then the Four Hokage. Naruto literally had nothing to do with that decision.

If he'd left Sasuke alone, respected Sasuke's decision to go to Orochimaru, trusted that he knew what he was doing… nothing would have changed. Sasuke would have foiled Orochimaru's attempts to take his body, fought against Itachi, joined the Akatsuki and attack Killer Bee, attack the Five Kage summit, kill Danzo, and so on and so on. He would have literally done everything that he did in the series, up to and including eventually rejoining Konoha and fighting against Madara and Kaguya.

Even after that, Naruto continues being selfish. Sasuke goes off to track down all the remnants of Zetsu and eliminate them, and Naruto tries to insist upon going with him. And it takes Sasuke telling him no, and that Naruto's place is with Konoha, for Naruto to back off.

And then it even continues into Boruto. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: If Naruto could make time to train some random kid while he was Hokage, he could make time to, y’know… SPEND TIME WITH HIS FAMILY. Boruto ends up pulling the same attention seeking stunts Naruto did because Naruto completely neglects his family after becoming Hokage. Like, that’s even if we ignore that Naruto could simply send Shadow Clones to do the Hokage work for him, and he'd just need to dispel them to know what they’d been doing.

Rather than being a present father for his family, he decides to simply selfishly take the job he wanted for entirely selfish reasons, despite the fact that he should know that the job isn’t what he thought it was. He should know what Boruto is going through, since he grew up without parents. Just, like…

I reiterate the point I made at the start, Naruto is an incredibly selfish character. A lot of his motivations are what HE wants, rather than what's right for others.

[cartoonrival]

like sasuke is clearly deeply unhappy in boruto which is fine, i honestly think its GOOD that he's not just like suddenly content with his life and himself after the finale of shippuden, its just also sort of insane that the post canon where he is no longer the focus is one where he's so potently miserable. he's clearly still reluctant to really face konoha. he still feels like an outcast or a bad apple, he still thinks he needs to atone for what he did as a teenager, despite the fact that he's been actively atoning for like a decade. but it'll never be enough. the only person he is not afraid to face and does not think he has failed is naruto, but even then he is still eager to isolate himself again, and i KNOW that its isolating and not just "being by himself" (sasuke has never been an outwardly emotional person (except under major duress), and while i believe a lot of this is repression its also just how he is, so no amount of healing would make him as open as, say, naruto, but i digress) because these are not the words of a happy man. "if she hates me its fine, because at least the future will be bright". "this is also a journey of atonement." naruto WANTS him to stay, believes its been long enough, the people of konoha don't hate him anymore (not sure how true this is but it's what naruto believes/wants to be true), but sasuke says they should stick to what they're meant to do, which means naruto as the hokage, because he is well loved and good with people, and sasuke in the shadows, because he is meant to be alone and unrecognized.

tbc i don't think that sasuke could be happy "settling down," i don't think he DOESNT like being on the move all the time, but the scene with naruto where he leaves konoha without saying goodbye to anybody is clearly not a scene where sasuke is content with his life in the way naruto is. he isn't doing this because he wants to, its because he thinks that he has to suffer in order to be good, and that the people of konoha wouldn't accept him any other way. it IS TRUE that sasuke has always been a big believer in sacrifice for the greater good and wouldn't consider his own happiness to be important compared to the missions he needed to go on, regardless of how deserving of happiness he considered himself to be, but i absolutely refuse to believe that, if he DID believe he deserved it, there has been NO TIME EVER that he could come home and just be regular. just for a little. there is absolutely something that is pushing him out of konoha, unrelated to "i have a mission to go on." there's still a disconnect.

WHICH. unfortunately. brings me to. end of shippuden. he receives a letter from naruto praising him for protecting the village even without being there, he thinks, "maybe it's time to come home." sometime before he comes home, he catches wind that naruto is getting married. he sends a letter with nothing on it other than "congratulations," and he does not come home. for like 4 more years. next time he's home for an extended period of time it's when sakura has already giving birth to sarada and he's helping raise her until she's juuuust old enough to start retaining memories before he fucks off again.

he doesn't want to be around sarada and sakura. he doesn't want them to worry about him or concern themselves with him. he doesn't want to be affectionate with sakura, who clearly DOES want to be affectionate with him. he considers the fact that he and sakura had a kid together to be the thing that most connects them, which is only significant in this case because anyone with eyes can tell that they are not really connected in basically any other way. it's like the ring he gives her in that dino arc. clearly since you wear a ring now to show we're married it means that we're married even though i'm not doing any of the other things a husband should do, but this ring makes up for that. clearly since we have a kid our hearts are connected and we really do love each other, even though i'm not doing any of the other things someone who really loves you would do. you could argue that his refusal to make any contact with sarada and sakura IS out of love, that he's afraid of hurting them and thinks he's protecting them by staying out of their lives (this is most likely what kishimoto intends), but this claim doesn't have any actual PRECEDENT outside of the fact that i'm being told that sasuke apparently loves her, the evidence for that being well they got married and had a kid. off screen.

i think he feels guilty that sarada even exists, because it's his fault she has no dad and it's his fault she inherited the uchiha's massive capacity for grief and love, it's his fault that sakura is raising her alone, and he's running from this because hopefully he can make up for it by doing good for the whole world since he cannot bring himself to make up for it by being there for his wife and daughter. "she has sakura, she'll be fine" because sakura is more her parent than he will ever/could ever be. he doesnt HATE sakura or sarada, to be very clear. he cares about them both as people, he fully respects sakura's strength, is proud when he sees sarada fighting well, he wants her to be happy and wants her to like him, he wishes he could be a better father and husband to her and sakura. just without having to be their father and husband.

boruto is not good unfortunately but due to the fact that naruto IS good and sasuke's characterization is very lovingly done in the original series it's critical to me (because i am not normal) that i figure out how to connect pieces that kishimoto could not be assed to properly connect. he seems to RECOGNIZE that he's betraying sasuke's characterization by making him have a kid w sakura due to the fact that everything sasuke does after that is p much exactly what i would expect him to do if, through some freak incident, he ended up having a kid with sakura. Anywho

[usagirln12003]

Obito Uchiha: Hogwarts AU

Obito Uchiha was a Pureblood wizard that was born on the 10th of February 1966 and started attending Hogwarts on the 1st of September 1977, being sorted into Gryffindor House.

He had a Spruce wand with a Dragon Heartstring core.

His Patronus was Non-Corporeal.

His favorite subject was Flying and his least favorite subject was History of Magic.

Because he grew up without knowing his parents, Obito's childhood was marked by dreams of being acknowledged. This motivated him to work for the Ministry in the future so that he could, in turn, become the Minister and have the entire wizarding population of Great Britain finally recognise him. When Rin acknowledged him regardless, Obito fell in love with her and aimed to earn her love in addition to the minister title. But Kakashi's presence, both in the classroom and later outside of the classroom, became a wall for Obito, because of Kakashi's prodigy and that he had, without trying, gained Rin's affections. Though generally kind and of unwavering loyalty to his friends and allies, Obito nevertheless formed a one-sided rivalry with Kakashi. When not in competition with Kakashi, Obito would famously perform random good deeds around Hogwarts and Hogsmead, especially for the elderly, which in turn made him notoriously late. This combination of factors and Obito's naturally just heart and optimism made him easy for Madara to exploit and ultimately corrupt.

After Rin's death, Obito's determination and idealism were shattered. He became more calm and focused, no longer caring about the ministry, his friends, or even his name, all of them being worthless parts of a miserable world that had forced Rin to die at the hands of a person she loved. His sole commitment was to Madara's Eye of the Moon Plan and the new peaceful world it would create; every crime was a necessary evil, every murder was a sacrifice for the greater good and a life that would be restored in the new world. He was willing to sacrifice himself for the plan and, more often, his allies, turning on them the instant they no longer had any further use to him. Like Madara before him, Obito would gain these allies by preying on the darkness in their hearts and manipulating them, either by subtly corrupting their own goals or by appearing to share their beliefs. This was best seen in the existence of Akatsuki, its wildly-differing members working together because they believed the organisation would further their own ends; in actuality, they were mere tools that Obito used to forward his own agenda. He even treated Madara, his saviour, mentor and inspirator, with similar disregard, intending to leave the elder Uchiha as dead while taking over the role of mastermind for the Eye of the Moon Plan for himself, despite his former gratitude of being saved by him.

Despite how different his adult personality seemed, it was at its basest level very much the same as the person he was as a child. Obito viewed his actions as a station beyond minister; where the minister does what is best for the country, Obito felt he did what was best for the world. Though Rin remained ever-present in his thoughts, Kakashi and Minato were also present in his dreams of a new world, and it was the hope of reuniting their friendship under happier circumstances that motivated him. Kakashi theorised that it was this conflict between his past and present selves that drove Obito the most, especially in the events leading up to and following the outbreak of the Fourth Wizarding War; he became increasingly hasty with his plans, first moving Akatsuki from a secretive organisation to a force that directly challenged the Ministry of Magic, and later by creating his own horcrux.

As Obito grappled with his thoughts, he at different times took a special interest in Sasuke and Naruto. With Sasuke, Obito began monitoring him after their first meeting, though he avoided further contact in honour of the agreement he made with Itachi. After Itachi's death, he approached Sasuke and brought him into his confidence, later remarking that the loss of five Akatsuki members was worth it to gain Sasuke's loyalty. Although Obito stated a number of times that he saw Sasuke as nothing more than a disposable pawn, he nevertheless kept an eye on him, intervening whenever Sasuke was at risk and always happy with signs of his ever-improving magic skills and his growing isolation from all other allies. In a way, he saw in Sasuke the kind of person he was trying to be. With Naruto, however, he saw the person he once was: dreams of being minister and dedication to his friends. Because of these similarities, Obito became fixated on Naruto, hoping to demonstrate the naivety of his beliefs and the terribleness of the world so that he would come around to Obito's point of view. When Naruto refused, Obito became increasingly angry and determined to eliminate Naruto and his dreams so that he can bury the last remains of the old Obito.

Through his inability to overpower Naruto's will, Obito came to understand that Naruto's way of thinking was right all along. Moreover, he realised the reason for his conflicting desires: he had been lying to himself about his dedication to the Eye of the Moon Plan by suppressing the former Obito deep down. The persona that projected him as someone without feelings or a heart was a mask Obito wore to escape the painful truths of reality. When Naruto and his allies defeated Obito, the lie was destroyed, causing his original personality to emerge. Obito felt guilty about his actions and declared himself unworthy of seeing Rin in the afterlife. He spent the remainder of his life opposing the Eye of the Moon Plan and Madara, wishing to keep the world as it was. Believing Naruto was vital to the world's preservation, Obito ultimately gave his life to protect Naruto and his friends. His new conviction even allowed him to briefly return from death not only to assure Naruto's victory, but also to make amends with Kakashi one final time before fully departing to the afterlife.

In order to further conceal himself and his actions as Madara from the public eye, Obito adopted the name, personality and mannerisms of the aforementioned Zetsu he befriended during his recovery; Which he played up the role of a happy-go-lucky idiot who annoyed most members of Akatsuki. Deidara, in particular, was easily provoked by his vanity and lack of respect, often retaliating against him with comical violence. Kisame, on the other hand, appreciated Tobi's ability to brighten up a gloomy organisation such as theirs. Tobi appeared to have a liking for dango, and continued to act like a fool even when nobody else was around. After first meeting Sasuke, Obito abandoned the Tobi persona – except for during a brief encounter with a few aurors from the ministry. Even without the Tobi persona, Obito had developed a morbid sense of humour, sometimes making jokes, if perverse ones.

[seiya-starsniper]

Shipper Tag Game

Tagged by the wonderful @4typercent 💖💖💖

What ship were you completely obsessed with as a teenager, but now you don't care about anymore?

Sasuke x Naruto lol. I absolutely LOVED this ship, wrote fic about, got into shipping wars, I was the absolutely worst kind of teenage obsessed with them ahahaha. I even met one of my longterm best friends though a Yahoo Groups ship forum for them aosidjaiod.

Now? I could care less lmaooooo. But I still hold fondness for the ship regardless.

Which ship would you consider your first one?

My first ship was definitely Mamoru x Usagi in Sailor Moon! I still love them to this day 💖

Your first fanfic was about which couple?

Yami x Yugi was the first ship I wrote for. I think. It may have also been Lena x Cloud from Zoids New Century, I am UNCLEAR on the details and my ff.net account is lost to time lmao.

The first one I ready was something Sailor Moon related I believe.

Do you remember the first couple you saw fan art of?

Usagi x Mamoru from Sailor Moon, definitely.

Have you ever gotten into ship discourse?

SO. DAMN. MUCH. AOSiasjdasidaiodasoidasdjiasdjs. I've almost never gone looking for it, it just found me. The last bout I ended up in I actually ended up actually went okay though! Way better of an experience than any other ship discourse I've gotten into by far.

Did you use to have any NOTP or have one currently?

I have plenty of NOTPs, none in my current fandom though! I just...there are some ships whose fandoms have ruined the ship for me, so I try very hard to avoid and/or block. Liberally.

Who were the last couple in the last fanfic you read?

Dreamling! My beloved pet ship that I've written over 100k words (200k+ across all my Sandman ships) for and counting! 💖

Currently, do you have any OTPs?

I mean...not really? I've always been a multi-shipper at heart, you are going to be hard pressed to find me a ship where that particular combination is the only one I'll accept. I love the idea of an OTP, I just don't have one lmao.

Is there any couple that, to this day, that you are extremely mad about not getting into?

Not really, no. There's some fandoms I WISH I could get into, but either I didn't like the source material (sorry good omens fans, I tried twice D:) or I didn't really like the quality of fic in the fandom just due to characterization differences. But nothing I'm like upset I didn't get into before lol.

Is there any ship you used to dislike but now you think they're kind of interesting?

Hmmmmm, can't think of one no.

Do you have any ship that, in the past, would have been considered normal but now you would be cancelled over?

Oh lord, yeah probably. Cannot think of any off the top of my head, but there were some weird ships back in the day.

What is your favourite crack ship?

Ooooooo! Great question. I'm currently trying to think of the most outlandish thing and all I can think of now is that Tony the Tiger x The Grinch fanfic! 🤣

What is the couple you read the most fanfics about?

Probably Dreamling right now! That's mostly due to sheer volume compared to other Sandman ships though.

What do most of your ships have in common?

Feral 4 Feral, and/or Soft Idiots in Love. Sometimes both!

What do you absolutely hate in a ship?

In a ship dynamic? When miscommunication is treated as something romantic, instead of something that needs to be worked on. Also when crossing clearly set boundaries is considered romantic.

In a ship fandom? There's too much to list, but I think the big one is when a ship fandom considers their ship "better" than the other ships in the fandom. Even the canon ship lmao. It just takes away the fun of shipping!

tagging: @softest-punk @bazzybelle @rriavian @aisalynn @five-and-dimes @kydrogendragon @athymelyreply @tj-dragonblade

[maoam]

What do you think about these posts and the comments on both of them?

https://www.tumblr.com/sneezemonster15/714194664535851008/so-shikamaru-gaara-and-naruto-self-love-is

https://www.tumblr.com/sneezemonster15/714413451634786304

I was very disappointed as this came from someone who presented themself as exclusively sns and against multiships. And there's the expectation that sns just have to be open to other ships as well even though they're completely one-sided at best and downright delusional at worst. Every fandom wants sns to be cool with their ship while simultaneously hating on sns, the shippers and/or whichever half of the ship they openly or secretly dislike.

I don't understand what's wrong with the first one, I mean she is pretty much agreeing that Naruto always considered Shikamaru and Gaara as just friends...

But generally, no I don't ship Naruto and Sasuke with other people, I just can't warm up to other options lol. Their dynamic also just hits all the right notes with me. That being said op isn't like other sns and she doesn't really ship narugaa, it's more complicated than that. She's also agreeing that Sasuke is #1 for Naruto regardless. And in the end it's her choice whether she ships it or not.

I also don't mind as long as people don't bash Sasuke or Naruto, or sns. My experience with naru/gaa is usually either the ones who ship it as their main ship who hate sns and Sasuke, or the ones who ship sns as their main and have Gaara as some kind of second guy to fuck Naruto, just so self inserters can feel they are desired by multiple guys through Naruto. Sigh. But I know it isn't the case here.

Also I wouldn't get this upset over something like those posts, this just seems like creating needless drama (you send this to at least one other person too). I understand you probably have bad experience with naru/gaa shippers, lord knows I do, but it's better to not get so agitated over op's post.

[shadow-bringer-ao3]

If, Perhaps, They Were Less Idiotic, Things Would Go Smoothly

Madara was, admittedly, too disoriented to have bothered checking the remains of whatever ritual the students decided to set off in the middle of breakfast. He’s tired, cranky, and near blind from the explosion. Not an actual explosion, thank the Sage, but a sudden relocation of all of the light, natural or otherwise, to one point. Jarring, to say the least. Anyway, rituals and sketched seals aren’t his area of expertise, fire is. That’s Mito’s area. And Tobirama, but that’s more of a hobby for the water elementalist than anything else.

So, instead of checking the ritual or for injuries, like Itama and Tsunade immediately went to do, he headed for the prime suspects. Namely, Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto and his squad of annoyances. They even drag the upper years into their messes, sometimes, but Kakashi generally has more impulse control and can hold all of his idiot friends back. Namely, Uchiha Obito. His own nephew, who gets himself in more trouble than Madara ever knows what to do with. Almost as bad as Minato and Kushina’s spawn.

He never gets all of the co-conspirators from the main suspects (Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, and Haruno Sakura, because it’s always those three, isn’t it) but that’s hardly surprising. The trio is admirably tight-lipped and loyal, Sasuke more out of general stubbornness than anything, but the end result remains the same. The three get detention (under Hidan, the sadistic bastard, because he and Kakuzu are pretty much the only teachers immune to Naruto’s natural charm) and Madara gets a drink. The next day everything is fine and the trio are suitably traumatized.

Well, except for one thing. Something is off with Tobirama.

At first, Madara doesn’t think anything of it. The Senju have always been a little odd and Tobirama is no exception to that rule. Hashirama is bipolar, Tsunade violent, Kawarama... weird, Itama downright terrifying, and Tobirama closed off, distant, with no rhyme or reason attached to his actions. That’s how it’s always been. This, though, is a different kind of weird. After he first notices (a flinch away from contact, not usually odd, but this time it was away from Kawarama and Tobirama has never been shy with contact when it involved his brothers, particularly the younger ones), he doesn’t stop. He can see Itama and Tsunade are clued in on something, their eyes tracking Tobirama whenever he’s in the same room as them but the albino astutely avoids the pair of healers. Mito too, if her narrow-eyed glances and heated, whispered arguments with the healers or Tobirama himself are anything to go off of.

An injury, he thinks, but that can’t be right. Nothing in his movements belay any sort of injury and Tobirama has never been shy about healing, regardless. It must be something else.

(He keeps going back to the idea of an injury time and time again as Tobirama seems to almost wane over the next several days, even if he’s cast it aside.

He realizes, with a start, that he’s doesn’t like the idea of Tobirama injured and not seeking help.

He buries the emotion as soon as it surfaces, resolutely ignoring it.)

Madara doesn’t hate paperwork. He really doesn’t. It’s tiring, but he doesn’t hate it. No, he hates how much he gets or, as in this situation, the absolutely horrid conditions he has to work it. The conditions being, of course, Tobirama’s presence. Normally, it wouldn’t be a problem. Then again, Tobirama isn’t quite acting normally, is he? No, no he’s not. So Madara is stuck doing paperwork with Tobirama, trying to simultaneously ignore the albino and scan him for any sign of injuries or curses or seals.

That also leads to lingers looks at pale skin or vibrantly red tattoos or soft snow-white hair that Madara would love to run his fingers through- he tears his eyes away, glaring down at the field trip form in his hands. It’s Uzumaki Karin’s, for Hashirama’s annual trip to the relatively nearby ruins, preserved and owned by the school. The Mountain Graveyard, they call it. It’s chalk full of magic and the resident Zetsu(s) hang out there. A dangerous place, if the students don’t follow the strictly enforced rules. Karin is less of a troublemaker than her year mates, so long as Hozuki Suigetsu doesn’t antagonize her into doing anything stupid. He signs off on the form and moves it aside. In a separate pile, since the field trip is coming up rather quickly and he doesn’t want to have to deal with Hashirama’s panicked searching like last year. His eyes move up to Tobirama again, unbidden. The man is frowning down at what looks to be their finances, his mouth moving to silent words. Madara watches for a beat too long and pulls his eyes determinedly back to his own work. A parent complaining, as always. Honestly, if parents don’t agree with their teaching methods then they should pull their kids out. No one is going to kick Hidan out for being a third-tier vampire despite the complaints against it and like hell would Minato put up with it anyway.

The blonde is almost annoyingly kind but that means nothing when you draw his ire. A true force to be reckoned with, that one. Especially with those annoying spells he and Tobirama are always working together on. And Orochimaru, when the mood strikes their resident snake expert (but seriously, that level of adoration for snakes is not natural). Tobirama meets his eyes when he looks up again. He grimaces, ignoring the way his face flushes, but doesn’t back down.

"You’ve been staring," Tobirama offers up, his (beautiful, vibrant red) eyes narrowing further. Madara leans forwards slightly, letting his head rest on his hand.

"If you offered a picture, perhaps I could stare at that instead," he returns, never one to let a chance slip him by. The albino disregards the comment without more than a slight bristling, like usual. Honestly, the Senju is very incredibly oblivious. It seems to run in the family. Kawarama hadn’t noticed Hikaku’s flirting for a week and Hashirama hadn’t noticed Mito’s for a year and a half. Hashirama still misses rather obvious hints and clues from Mito (who is now, somehow, his wife, he doesn’t understand why she would lower her standards so far).

"I’m afraid I have no such photos in my possession," Tobirama says dryly. "Nor do any of my brothers, I can assure you." ...Madara wonders just how many threatening words and actions it took for a Tobirama to get any and all pictures of himself from his family and destroy them. He’s tempted to say a lot but, beyond Itama, Tobirama has been voted as the most terrifying staff in employment by both parents and students. Hidan and Kakuzu may both be creepy and Tsunade may be terrifying in her own right but all three have a lot to learn.

"Well?" Tobirama prompts after a moment. Madara hums, shrugging.

"You seem... off," he says truthfully. You can’t lie to Tobirama, after all, and redirection is nigh impossible. The only ones able to do it are Itama and Touka, as far as he can tell, and that’s only through intense embarrassment. Mito, sometimes, through sheer stubbornness.

"Off?" Tobirama arches an elegant white brow, clearly unimpressed.

"Yeah. Ever since the idiot trio’s most recent back-firing experiment, actually." Oh and there Tobirama tenses. Something is wrong, then, it’s not just his imagination. Tobirama turns his attention back to his paperwork.

"Don’t be a fool, Uchiha, no matter what comes naturally to you. I am unharmed." Madara stares at Tobirama for a moment longer, wondering if he should take offense. He decides not to because it’s probably what Tobirama wants. A genius plan to- wait. Oh. Madara stifles a smirk, pushing himself fluidly to his feet. Tobirama twitches but doesn’t look up, working determinedly on whatever he’s decided is more important than his own welfare. Madara walks around the table, stopping next to Tobirama.

"Say, Senju," he purrs, putting a hand over the paper Tobirama is staring at. "I don’t believe I mentioned injuries or harm in any way." Which side has Tobirama been favoring?

"You implied it," Tobirama retorts coldly, turning to glare up at him. Madara moves so he can bracket the albino, rather than merely looming. Which side had Kawarama brushed against?

"I gave a timeline but I didn’t imply anything," he corrects. "You inferred it." Tobirama stands. His chair clatters to the ground, skidding out of Madara’s circled arms. He pays it no mind. Ah, yes. It had been Tobirama’s right.

"What do you want, Madara?" It comes out as a growl. Madara grins, stepping closer so that Tobirama’s back is touching the table and his front is pressed against Madara. We can’t be having the Senju escape after all, can we? He leans closer yet to whisper in Tobirama’s ear.

"I want you... to take care of yourself." And with that, Madara presses one hand into Tobirama’s right side. The albino hisses in pain, almost crumpling in Madara’s arms. Madara steps away from the table with a frown, taking Tobirama with him. There’s no way the man will let Madara take him to Tsunade or Itama and even in pain, Tobirama’s control over water is a bitch and a half to deal with.

"Bastard," Tobirama snarls. It would be scarier if the Senju wasn't half keeled over in Madara’s arms. Madara gives him an unimpressed look and carefully leads Tobirama over to the staff room couch. He pushes the Senju into it, kneeling in front of him. He lifts Tobirama’s shirt without a word, scanning the man’s right side. It’s not pretty- a patchwork of bruises and nasty black marks. He feels over it gently with his meager diagnostic magic, on hand on Tobirama’s other side to stop the man from instinctively flinching away. A broken rib too, it seems like.

"Why hasn’t Itama healed you?" He demands, glaring up at Tobirama.

"The magic that caused the injury rejects any interference. I simply have to let it heal on it’s own," Tobirama grumbles, apparently realizing that Madara isn’t just going to let the matter rest.

"Why are you working, then? Minato would give you payed off time, if it’s a problem with money." Tobirama stares at him like he’s an idiot. Madara glares back, because everything he just said makes sense. Rest is a necessary component of healing and, by the sage, if Tobirama refuses to take care of himself, Madara will force him.

"What do you expect? For me to just laze around doing nothing?"

"Yes? That’s generally what people do when they get a rib broken. You’re going to mess up the healing process! The fact that you haven’t done so already is luck, pure and simple,” Madara snaps. Tobirama rears back, like he’s surprised that Madara’s worried. He really hopes that’s just his overactive imagination and not an actual worry. He might be... grumpy, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t like Tobirama (just the opposite, in fact, and if the other man thinks Madara dislikes or, Sage, hates him, he’s not sure what he’ll do).

"I will not be useless-" Madara snarls, cutting Tobirama off harshly.

"For fuck’s sake, Senju! Being injured and not taking care of yourself properly will lead to you being a burden more than if you took a few weeks to fix yourself." They fall into an uncomfortable, tense silence when Madara finishes. There’s so much more he’d like to say (yell at Tobirama for thinking like that, demand the names of those that made him think he needed to be useful, assure Tobirama that he’s the most important person in this school and likely the only reason it runs in any sort of workable fashion), but now isn’t the time. Tobirama hardly trusts him and wouldn’t believe anything that comes out of his mouth that isn’t an insult in some way. He sighs, leaning back to sit on his haunches. This conversation would be more comfortable if he wasn’t on the floor in front of Tobirama but he’ll make do.

"Is there anything we can do to remove the magical infection?" He asks after a moment. Tobirama looks at him long and hard, trying to discern his purpose. Or so Madara would guess. Even after all this time, the Senju is a mystery. Probably part of the reason Madara is so enamored.

"A few," Tobirama finally says, his eyes never leaving Madara’s (and isn’t that odd, when the Uchiha are so well known for the magics they can channel and use through their eyes?). "Many are too dangerous to attempt or too..." He trails off, clearly searching for a word. "Intimate," Tobirama finishes with a helpless shrug. Madara arches a brow.

"Too intimate?" He prods. Tobirama’s lips twist into a grimace and he looks away with a hum.

"If I were to have my magic completely flushed, or switched out by another’s, the invading magic would be forced to dissipate due to losing anything to ground itself with. It would work but..."

"But it would result in a magical bond," Madara finished for him. He swipes a hands over his face, pinching the bridge of his nose. He should just force the Senju into bed rest to heal the normal way but with a magical infection like this, it’s possible that the injuries won’t ever heal. The most logical thing to do would be to flush out Tobirama’s system. That’s a level of intimacy far past anything the Senju has partook in, far past anything even Madara has done.

"Of course. The one lauded as unfeeling, regardless of evidence to the opposite, is the one stuck in this situation," Madara grumbles. "I don’t suppose you have anyone you wouldn’t mind being bonded to?" The question is rhetorical, verging on sarcastic, but Tobirama responds seriously anyway.

"I... do. But I am unsure if he feels the same way or whether he is simply like this around everyone and I have horribly misread him," Tobirama confesses, voice tight as he studiously avoids Madara’s eyes. Well, that was certainly unexpected. He wonders who it is. Madara resolutely pushes down the pang of hurt the echoes through his magic itself. Why should he care that Tobirama likes someone?

"Well, I suppose the first step would be asking them." Madara bites down on the near instinctive addition that he wouldn’t mind being bonded to Tobirama. In fact, he would love it. The Senju, though, clearly doesn’t feel the same way. Tobirama stares at Madara again, frowning. The he sighs and gets to his feet. Madara scrambles to his feet as well, steadying the Senju when it looks like he’ll stumble.

"And here it’s my family that is said to be oblivious," Tobirama says dryly. "Now move. We’ve wasted enough time and the paperwork certainly isn’t going to do itself." Madara doesn’t move and that earns him a glare but now it’s personal, damnit.

"What did you mean by that?" He challenges. Tobirama rolls his eyes and, with the speed he’s infamous for, drags Madara into a short, slightly awkward, but very much amazing kiss. Oh.

"Oh," he articulates dumbly. Tobirama hums again. "You like me?"

"Clearly." That was dry enough to give Suna a run for it’s money, dear lord.

"Then... you wouldn’t mind me helping with your, ah... infection?" Suffice to say, the answer is a resounding 'yes'.

(They get on stopping the magic infection right away because it's a very dangerous situation that shouldn't be allowed to continue any longer. It’s definitely not because they, realizing how stupid they’ve been, decided to emulate horny teenagers. The bonding and flushing and everything was definitely at the front of their minds. The entire time. It was the entire reason.

Fuck off Izuna, you’re just as bad!)

[sasuhinasno1fan]

Sunshine - SasuHina Month Day 11

A little late on my end but I didn't get a chance to work on this until later in the day. Anyway, I got inspired by the world of The Last Empress, the K-Drama, which is really good if you haven't seen it, though I'll admit, the way we say goodbye to one of the characters kills me, it's so badly done. but regardless, really good show. Also a little inspired by Morgan & Garcia's first meeting when he calls her 'babygirl'. I just had to.

“I love you” | “Te amo”

“Nicknames” | “Apodos”

 “Excuse me Hyata.” Sasuke furrowed his brow as the woman focused on what she was doing, not even turning around. “Hey sunshine!”

That caught her attention, as well as those around them. She turned, a slight smile on her face. “Sunshine?”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean, I was just-”

“I’ve had worse nicknames. What can I do for you?”

The Chief Imperial Guard and the Imperial Head Secretary. Both worked under the order of the emperor, King Uzumaki Naruto, keeping him safe and focused. But everyone within the castle knew that there was something brewing between the two.

“The Royal Bazaar will include the annual auction, and the family is asked to have items to sell during then. Princess Karin will arrive on Thursday before the event and will be picked up by security and guards that Chief Uchiha handpicked.”

“Is Suigetsu on the team?”

“He was the only one still standing when that attack happened. Had it not been for him, the Princess may have been killed. The Chief decided that mattered more than the Princess getting slightly insulted by his demeanour.” Hinata reminded.

“Fine by me, I was going to tell you to make sure he was on the team. What about Gaara and the others?”

“King Gaara and the royal family have confirmed they’ll arrive the morning of. Ambassador Nara will be the one to bring them over.”

“And the guest list?”

“Will be finalized by this afternoon when the deadline is up. I’ll have it to you after dinner.”

“Excellent. Is that everything?”

“Yes sir.” 

“Dismissed then.”

Hinata bowed her head and headed to the door, the guards on the other side opening it as she got close. She nodded to them as she headed down the hall, gaze focused on the phone in her hand, her iPad tucked under her arm. Her list was long and growing with each new issue they ran into. She was going to have to redivide the tasks to her assistants and the maids. She wondered if she’d be able to get a few of the guards to help with the heavy items. She didn’t notice someone staring at her through the sugi decorative window that sat in the middle of the wall. Not until they grabbed her arm and tugged her around the corner.

Any noise she made was eaten up by firm lips pressed against hers. They got hold of her hands before she could react, tugging them to pull her closer as her lips were nipped.

“N-not here!” she whispered, pulling away to see if anyone was coming, her eyes fluttering when the lips moved to her cheek and ear. “Sasuke!”

“Relax Sunshine. I’ve got the guards stationed in place for five minutes. We’ve both got to-do lists taller than either of us, so come on. Bet I can get you off in less.”

Flushing at the crude remark, Hinata was tempted to push the Imperial Guard away, but she knew both the schedules were going to be insane.

“You’ve got two minutes, but keep in mind I have a meeting with the kitchen staff. Do not make me kill you later for this.”

Sasuke smirked, kissing her again as he pushed her to the corner where they wouldn’t be seen. He was going to make this time count.

                                                 _______________

Sunshine. He called her that on her first day because of the sunflower pin she wore in her hair. She learned quick that hair accessories were better left for days off or when you knew you wouldn’t be attacked but it was also the air about her, she had. She’d been focused, working as contact point the first time, they met but she was so approachable and kind to those around her, even with the level of stress during the situation. Everyone gravitated to her, like she was the sun. it felt fitting, after learning her name, Hinata.

They got along well, worked off of each other and kept the staff together when the Emperor was too busy to check on everyone. They became the ones who made sure to keep him safe wherever he left the castle, be it physically or reputation wise. They were lucky, he didn’t do anything that got him into trouble and his own approachableness made the country love him, which usually left the two with time to themselves.

“I didn’t realise the Uchiha family was responsible for protecting the royal family.” Hinata said, the one time they took a break and had drink with the Emperor joining the cast and crew of a play he’d gone to see that evening.

“Not for a few years. We got blamed for an incident which wasn’t even our fault, so all Uchiha were removed from duty and sent out. I applied for the guard exam under a different name and was the last one standing. When people don’t pay attention to you because they think you can’t amount to anything, you get the chance to show them who you are. The last Chief was embezzling funds, among other things and – hey, keep your distance! I can kick your ass so he doesn’t have to!” he called to a rather handsy cast member who back off. “Point his royal annoyingness decided to take a chance and put me in charge. And I haven’t failed him yet. And I don’t plan to. What about you? why did you decide to take the secretary exam?”

“My family was under the impression that I would amount to nothing and in a fit of anger, I sent in my application. When I was told, I’d be allowed take the exam, I decided to just go for it. the worst that could happen was that I would fail, but at least I would have gotten farther than any other family member. I scored within the top 20. I was only one point off at 21.”

“And here you are a year later practically the Emperor’s right hand. Cheers, to proving people wrong.” He said, lifting his glass, smiling at Hinata as she touched his glass to his.

“Cheers to proving we’re better than they ever thought.”

When protecting their charge wasn’t the main priority, he was usually protecting her. The Emperor’s great aunt, Queen Dowager Kaguya was constantly trying to kill her nephew to assume control of the country. With people who would give up their lives for him, it usually resulted in her trying to take them out first. Since Sasuke and Hinata were able to figure her out, they were usually the main targets. It caused them to spend a lot of time together, more so under the King’s orders. Hinata didn’t worry as much, not seeing the danger, at least not until she was accused of causing the death of a well-loved handmaid – which the Emperor knew not to be true, even if it cause a down spike of supporters – and the maid’s son tried attacking her at a book reading. With a brick in hand, he managed to brake past the barriers as the royal family was leaving and head right for Hinata, who was behind them. Sasuke had been farther from her, but he managed to grab her, spinning her away from the son, taking the full brunt force of the brick. He was in the hospital for at least 2 weeks after.

“You can’t do that again.” She ordered once he woke up, passing the mental test. “We’re supposed to work together, so you can’t get hurt for me.”

“Sorry Sunshine, that part I won’t be able to follow. Care about you too much.”

“All the more reason! You think I like seeing you hurt? I care about you too. So don’t you dare leave me alone to deal with her.”

It became obvious to those who watched just how deep their relationship grew after that. If anything, they had the Dowager to thank for the final step. Who knew framing one person for murder would end up gaining that person a lover?

                                                __________________

“I thought the shoot was scheduled for later this week. You can’t tell me the photographer was booked solid. This is the Emperor and his kids, you know, the ones who aren’t even in the public eye as much since after the divorce?”

“The king didn’t divorce his wife, she left him.” Hinata reminded as she walked with Sasuke and the rest of the guards on staff for the Royal Bazaar. They were supposed to be escorting the Emperor to Bazaar with the rest of the royal family, including those who flew in, but Hinata just told them different. He was set up to do a photoshoot with his kids, Boruto and Himawari with a magazine photographer. It had been one that Hinata herself had scheduled but somehow the date and time was pushed up. Something was up and the Dowager’s sudden absence didn’t help calm them any.

“Call the guards with the Emperor. Tell them to get him back here in time for the auction. She can’t try something with this many witnesses and guards.” Hinata ordered, Sasuke switching to the different radio channel. Taking a deep breath, she put on a smile as she reached the green room that had been made for the royal family. “Greetings, members of the royal family. The Emperor has a small prior commitment but I’ll escort you to the auction room.”

“Of course, he has to make an entrance.” Princess Karin scoffed, getting up. “Let’s get this over with.”

The doors were opened by the guards, Sasuke on the other side, leading the rest of the group to bow. His usual men were joined by King Gaara’s and the few Princess Karin took around with her. As the royal family left the room, Hinata and Sasuke exchanged glances. Their guard had to be up.

The royal family were greeted by guests, mingling as time grew later.

“We’re going to have to start soon.” Sasuke whispered. “People are starting to get anxious.”

“Did they find anything?” she asked, watching the mix of guards slip back inside the room.

“Nothing. I still don’t trust this. I called the guards, there was confusion about the start time, the Emperor is only now leaving.”

Hinata eyes widened. “How? There’s no way that was mixed up, I left the schedule on his desk.” then it hit her. “Her handmaid has been oddly helpful during set up, hasn’t she?”

“They already have orders to get him down here now. He knows something’s up, sent the kids with their guards to stay at the mall the shoot is happening. With so many witnesses, she can’t risk hurting them there.”

“Get their guards to get them to agree to do a stream.”

“Already done Sunshine. Apparently, you’re not allowed to watch because it’s a present for you.”

With the stress of everything, the knowledge that the heirs of the kingdom followed her like ducklings always made her smile. She squeezed Sasuke’s fingers, sharing a look with him before she moved to stand on the stage.

“Welcome everyone to the annual Royal Bazaar. We welcome the guests to this event and of course the members of the royal family who have joined us today. They’ve very kindly added their own items to the lists, so if you could please take your seats, Ambassador Nara and I will lead the auction.”

                                       _____________________

“What do you mean she checked herself out?”

Tsunade, who by blood was practically his aunt - cousin? - was also his doctor since birth. If there was anyone the Great Imperial Emperor was scared of and didn’t bow to him, it was her. She’d been dealing with a lot at the moment, so the fact that she hadn’t tried ripping his head off for interrupting her while she was busy meant a lot.

When he finally arrived at the castle after being stuck in traffic, he arrived to chaos. There had been a bomb, in his item to more accurate. He’d donated an antique clock from the family line to the auction, once he was sure none of his family wanted it. He’d given it to the staff Hinata had sent in to collect it, then heard that it went missing during inspection but turned up in the hands of the Dowager’s handmaid. With Hinata and Shikamaru running the auction, the two took turns describing the items for sale and it was just her luck she’d gotten the clock. She put her hand on the item and it radiated heat from the wiring inside. If it wasn’t for Sasuke’s quick mind once he’d seen Hinata’s reaction and his reaction thereafter, she would have been dead from the blast. As far as he currently knew, she had bumps and bruises, though a rather nasty cut on her forehead but no concussion and mild hearing loss, though Tsunade seemed to think that would recover. Sasuke barely got away with any scratches at all. He wasn’t even insulted when he ran in to find Sasuke rushing out with Hinata in his arms, demanding he get out of the way.

“Said she didn’t want to stay where she was easily reached. You gonna do something about that aunt of yours? Her delicate sensibilities are pulling me from actual important work. Besides, your Chief Guard is with her.”

Naruto nodded to himself. That part wasn’t surprising. He could be pretty oblivious but when Sasuke arrived back to work after recovering from the blow to the head, he was able to tell from the looks on their faces the minute they were in the same room.

He turned to his own guards, announcing they were going to check on Hinata before dealing with the rest of everything else. His usual entourage followed, servents bowing as he passed them by until he got to the wing of the castle Hinata lived with other high-level staff. Hinata had won the room lottery and gotten her own suite, similar to the ones the royal families had. One of the servants opened the door and he quietly walked in. the room was dark, glittering lights from the star light Sasuke hung outside her window the main source of light. His eyes adjusted and he opened the door to the bedroom, only to stop at the sight of Sasuke getting up from his seat by the bed. He watched Hinata move, grabbing his fingers, whispering something. Sasuke dropped his trench coat he held on the ground before retaking his place in his seat. Naruto just saw Sasuke press his lips against her hand. He decided that he didn’t need to check on them. Sasuke would protect Hinata from anything that came through her doors. He wondered if Kaguya knew exactly who she was dealing with?

[theheirofthesharingan]

Hi I have an Itachi fic headcanon I want to run by you!! It takes place after Itachi's death, and after the fourth shinobi world war. Or should it be before 🤔 Sasuke is off on his "redemption arc" (though we all know Sasuke never did anything wrong ever) but during his travels he meets someone. They instantly form a connection, and as is in the naruto verse, they form a bond. Sasuke feels this unexplainable kin to him, that he can't explain. Eventually it is established that this person is Itachi, reincarnated. There is a moment between them where they come to this realization, and stunned, Sasuke watches him die, again. Essentially the plot establishes that Itachi is fated to die again, for the sins of his past, even if.. I'm still working through the logistics but basically he's fucked whether he is reincarnated and he's fucked in the afterlife. 

Thoughts? Is this writable? Would you write it? Can you help me through the details?

Ah, why do you hate my boy so much! He should suffer in the afterlife? And in every single time he's reincarnated? That's cruel.

Regardless, this is an interesting premise and I've thought about it too but with a happier ending. Because after suffering so much in canon both Itachi and Sasuke deserve peace, even if it's in the second life.

I don't think Itachi should suffer interminably for his 'sins' he was forced to commit or just committed because he was thrown into unfortunate circumstances with unfortunate consequences. I would never have him suffer for these.

However, if I have to go by your hc, I would make it about Itachi taking upon himself the threats and dangers that would have hurt Sasuke. If he suffers it's because he silently protects Sasuke. If he dies, it's because he's dying protecting Sasuke. Otherwise the story has no meaning, imo, because he doesn't deserve to suffer so much for the things that weren't in his control and he couldn't have a say in anything.

I could connect Itachi's tragic fate with Sasuke's inevitable sufferings with him being Indra's reincarnation too. Madara was one as well and didn't have a good end. Sasuke lived at least. If Sasuke's on his journey of redemption, Itachi would still be less than 2 or so years old if he's reborn right after his death. And in another lifetime Itachi would not want to make the mistakes he did in his previous lifetime.

Like there's a kind of "cursed fate" with Indra and Ashura, we could go the way where Itachi too is cursed, but with love. He's cursed with too much love where he's reborn again and again to return to Sasuke and ends up sacrificing himself in the circumstances where Sasuke's life is in danger. Sasuke knows this too and he doesn't know how to break this cursed pattern. It's like, their love transcends lives and all the known human conceptions where nothing makes sense to them.

Eventually, what can break this pattern, however, is that they should be reborn as siblings with Sasuke being the older brother, so Itachi wouldn't feel so obliged to protect him. And even if he does, Sasuke wouldn't let him sacrifice himself. That's how the cycle of their pain ends.

Does this make some sense? I've had ideas like these for a while. But I wasn't planning on writing a fic on this because I already have some more that I want to work on. And this one is just too cruel on them.