#ooc: out of chakra

[hyuuga-heiress]

A little more public skin exposure than she's used to, but she still looks cute.

[konohagakurekakashi]

Why does Kakashi wear a mask? HC allowed!

//I don't just have one particular headcannon where the mask is concerned, but a few. I know the larger part of fanon suggest that Kakashi hides his face behind a mask because he greatly resembles his father, and that bothered him after his father lost himself and commited seppūku. He might not have wanted to see his father everytime he looked in the mirrow after the fact, but it can't be the reason for the mask as a whole, since kid Kakashi was seen wearing a mask long before Sakumo was astrocised and buried. Also, if Hatake Sakumo was to blame, then surely Kakashi could have parted with the mask after the Pein attack as a sign of absolution on both parties; but that wasn't the case.

Now for the second Fanon opinion.

In the sporadic spinoff series, 'Rock Lee and his Ninja Pals', it was stated that Kakashi wears the mask to hide the 'nosebleeds' he gets from reading the Icha Icha series all day long - this was said in /jest/ of course, as Kakashi has been wearing the mask before the existence of the adult book series. I think there is some truth in the jest in that the mask serves to hide Kakashi's emotions, however. Though he has the majority of his face hidden, no one can deny that he is one of, if not the most expressive characters in the series.

Enter my opinion / headcanons:-

1. Though he excelled in almost every aspect of being a ninja from a very young age, he struggled with his facial expressions and keeping his true feelings and motives hidden. He thought this would be a hindrance on missions, since a good shinobi was not supposed to show so much emotion. They were supposed to be mysterious, calculating, deceptive and unassuming to the point where they were thought to be 'invisible'. So, Kakashi obscured his features in an attempt to blend in with the crowd, unobserved.

2. Inuzuka Clan members are specialists in tracking due to their hightened senses, more specifically their superior sense of smell. Yet Kakashi is said to have a "better sense of smell than Kiba." Whether this is due to him being a Hatake, or maybe due to his mysterious mother being an Inuzuka, is neither here nor there...what is important is that he has a hightened olfactory system. I therefore think it's believable enough to assume that it got to the point where he got overwhelmed with his surroundings as a child, so he wore a mask as it helped to filter out the worst of it. It would explain why he sometimes goes so far as to sleep with the mask as well, since it could contain a scent blocking seal stitched within the fabric.

[konohagakurekakashi]

|| Uhuh. Your discontent has been noted and filed with the Bureau of Admin.

Question have we now settled on the gate headcanon being included in this, or is that still in dispute?

@senjutsunade @minaa-munch

ooc;

I hate you two right about now... @konohagakurekakashi, @minaa-munch

My fingers hurt and my feelings hurt even more.

Whose dumb idea was the Survivors Guilt verse? >>

[lenin-it-to-win-it]

Artemis Fowl is what happens when you put all your stats into intelligence and have -800 left over for self-awareness

[shisui-uchiha-anon]

Hello new Tumblr. Now I need to learn how to use this hell site all over again. Thanks a lot :/

[utsugyo]

ANYWAYS, wrong blog but, as I was re-reading the manga, I noticed that s.asori didn't even use his 298 human puppets in the fight against c.hiyo and s.akura, he only used 100, that is taking only the manga into consideration where its noticeable that he still has 2 scrolls left to use attached to his back, and assuming each of the last 3 scrolls contain 100 puppets each /as the one he released was the one from where he summoned the 100 puppets he used in the fight/ (the last scroll would only be missing two puppets to complete the last hundred which would have been c.hiyo and s.akura probably) and this paired up with the fact that he could have avoided the final attack by the mother and father puppets makes me think that he really wasn't giving up his full potential (which is something that lit chiyo says) but it just makes me think that there's even more details to add to that reasoning;; now the reasons why he just basically let himself be k.illed can be argued, but one thing for sure is that he definitely had more tricks under his sleeve that he just willingly decided not to use (be it out of pride/underestimating his opponents, or something leaning on the very small bit of humanity left on him & the reason he is an 'incomplete' puppet in the poetical sense)

[hyuuga-heiress]

Just in case people forgot, @thefifthhokage is back.

"Shizune, get me the fuck out of here."

[thetoaddaddy]

the naruto Pilot one shot having glocks and one was pointed at Naruto is the funniest thing i coulda learned today.

[belit0]

hey uh so ik this would canonically be super ooc for him but do you wanna possibly maybe write a period comfort fic with indra since im currently lying on the floor in pain and ran out of midol 😃😃😃 please and thank you

I could never get the concept of Uchiha heat as a home remedy for menstrual cramps out of my mind.

The pain came in waves, deep and unrelenting, curling in her stomach like an iron fist squeezing too tight.

She exhaled slowly, curled on her side, pressing a hand to her lower abdomen as if she could will the discomfort away.

She barely heard the soft shift of fabric before a warm, solid presence settled beside her in bed.

Indra did not speak immediately.

He simply observed, his sharp eyes taking in the tension in her body, the crease between her brows, the way her breaths came slow and measured—controlled, despite the pain.

His fingers grazed her temple first, a light, testing touch. –How bad is it?–

She swallowed. –Bad enough.–

He exhaled through his nose, a quiet sound of disapproval—not directed at her, but at the pain itself, at the way it reduced her to stillness.

Then, without another word, his palm pressed against her lower abdomen.

Warmth.

Not just the heat of his skin, but something deeper, something alive—a quiet, steady pulse of chakra seeping into her, spreading like gentle embers beneath the surface, unwinding the tension, smoothing out the sharp edges of discomfort.

Her breath hitched.

His hand remained, fingers splayed, deliberate. –Better?–

She managed a slow nod. –Much.–

Indra was quiet for a long moment.

Then, with a slow, measured movement, he shifted closer—his other hand found the small of her back, his body settling against hers, firm and steady, surrounding her in heat.

She blinked, surprised. –You don’t have to—

–I know I don’t.

His tone was low, almost affronted at the suggestion.

As if the thought of not doing this had never even crossed his mind.

She sighed, letting her head rest against his chest. His chakra hummed where his palm still pressed against her stomach, steady and controlled, easing the worst of the pain.

Indra never showed this softness—not to the world, not to anyone else.

But for her, he would.

[the-badger-mole]

So your post having reminded me of that awful comic again I decided out of curiosity to delve into the Kataang side of the fandom to see if any of them ever talked about this comic and Aang’s behavior. Apparently the consensus over is that it’s OOC of Aang. To quote:

“I find his behavior to be very odd, too rude, self-centered and outright aggressive, especially the part when he exploded the volcano on Katara's face nearly hurting her, he was angry about Katara refusing to talk about the kiss then directed that anger into firebending which it isn't right for Aang as an Air Nomad to use the aggressive emotions to bend fire, then despite his apology which feels hollow he dismissed he was even worried about her getting burned again.

While Aang has flaws and outbursts sometimes this behavior strikes me to be unreasonable and OOC.”

Which is pretty funny to me because he literally said he’d be in the avatar state if he could over the play shipping Zuko and Katara. If he didn’t have his chakra blocked he absolutely would have gone into the avatar state and had a destructive tantrum. I wonder do they think those moments in the canon show are OOC of Aang too?

Your Ozai and Aang parallels are sadly spot on. The fandom is just too blind to see it because the narrative tells us rather than shows us he’s the hero. I really want to see into Bryke’s mind because they continue to baffle me 20 years later.

Yeah, Aang in the comics tracks with who he was in the main series. He was always self righteous, disrespectful and emotionally unregulated, but he was cute and cheerful, so a lot of people tend to overlook that. Remember how disrespectful of SWT culture he was in Bato of the Water Tribe? Yeah...that's never walked back. Of course he would make sure his only airbending child had no connection to his SWT roots. Aang is prone to tantrums, and his emotional outbursts include bending. Like you pointed out, as has been pointed out so many other times, Aang saying that he would have gone into the Avatar State over that play suggesting Katara was interested in someone other than him is a massive red flag. That whole scene on the balcony comes after the Lava Fissure incident. With that context, Katara saying she was confused instead of outright refusing Aang takes on a really dark meaning.

But people are entitled to their takes. A lot of Aang fans want to ignore the comics as canon. That's fine. I can totally relate. I ignore the comics and LoK as canon, too 😏

Zutara fans 🤝 Aang fans

ignoring canon

[mochiajclayne]

Hi there,

I hope you're doing well.

i read your post regarding SasuSaku and Sarada as a family and you stole the words right off my mouth.

I'd like to know your thoughts and opinions on Sasuke Retsiden because from what I can see, its only Jun Esaka (a mere light novel writer that writes non canon stuff) all over the internet being equally all over about her Sasuke Retsuden. I haven't seen any other light novel writer being more active about something non canon. Even kishimoto himself doesnt behave like this regarding his own work.

I'd like to also know about your opinions regarding Jun Esaka ATTEMPTING to remove or metaphorically kill Karin Uzumaki by making the main villain a Karin look alike and giving her sensory abilities to Sakura, which again, makes no sense. Does that woman hate Karin and SK so much? Is that woman so threatened by the very thought of SK as a couple that she had to incorporate a villain that looks like Karin Uzumaki down to a tee?

These are just my thoughts and speculations but I'm also really interested in knowing your side of the story.

Thanks for reading my long comment and i wish you a wonder day/afternoon/evening/night

Hi, @theuntamedangel! I appreciate the long comment! I hope you have a wonderful day/afternoon/evening/night, too!

Before I share my thoughts about Sasuke Retsuden, let me share that I did, unfortunately, have a sasusaku phase. I know. Shocker. The entire lore is here in case you're interested (promise it's relevant to my explanation).

I did hear about Sasuke Retsuden when I was still in college. Bits of information, specifically, about the chakra ring and from a perspective of someone who used to ship sasusaku casually, my initial reaction was okay good for them and I went on with my day. Note that I wasn't as heavily engaged in the Naruto fandom like I do now so for me to isn't active back then, hearing about Sasuke Retsuden, speaks volume on how it is over the internet that it even reached me.

I hate Sasuke Retsuden. It's badly written, it's OOC especially for OG Naruto characters, and the canon inaccuracies are more than enough to drive me into aneurysm.

Below this cut is my detailed thoughts about Sasuke Retsuden.

The villain looking like the male version of Karin caught me off guard. I don't know what the intentions behind the character design but I think they aimed for association as Jiji, one of the characters from this godforsaken novel, reminded me of Juugo.

I am not a sasukarin shipper but I do understand where the shippers are speaking from. I think they'll make a cool couple because Karin actually freaking cares about Sasuke when shit gets serious and outside of her "gag", she respects Sasuke's boundaries. Might be speaking out of the box but this novel in its existence was meant to be sasusaku-centric so the possibility of being threatened by all Sasuke-related ships, especially those making far more sense than SS, is high. I don't think Jun Esaka hates Karin. I would dare say that she picked a random character that could work as a direct contender to Sakura and unfortunately, she decided to scapegoat Karin. Moreover, the entire sensory ability shtick added to Sakura was uncalled for. I would go even further and say that Esaka's version of Sakura is what her stans hailed her to be--a superior version of [insert any Naruto's female character]. Even their pink haired kunoichi is incredibly OOC here and you expect me to take her seriously?

The funniest thing about Sasuke Retsuden is the way that they had to use SNS at first, specifically, Sasuke's mission is to find a cure for that chakra illness that Naruto alone suffers. Sure, this is SS centric but it all comes down to Sasuke and Sakura working together to find a cure for Naruto. Now, she could just write a novel about SS without using Naruto's "sickness" as some kind of a plot device, right? But no, she had to convince us somehow and an effective way to do that is literally Naruto and Sasuke.

The dinosaur. Don't even get me started. Even tailed beasts cannot fight against Sharingan to the point that canon graciously provided us evidence of both Madara and Obito controlling the Nine Tailed Beast. The very same Sharingan that made the higher ups of Konoha suspect the Uchiha clan as mastermind for that same incident. We're talking about the same dojutsu that manipulated the Fourth Mizukage. The canon inaccuracy throws me off the loop.

More inaccuracies. Suddenly Sasuke is an Earth and Ice Style user. Wow. Conveniently forgetting about Kakashi mentioning in Part 1 how Ice Style is a Kekkei Genkai that even Sharingan can't copy. As far as Naruto canon goes, Sasuke is a Fire and Lightning Style user. I don't consider Boruto as canon but even that animanga doesn't show any moment of Sasuke using Earth Style. It's insane that people claimed this as canon.

THIS DISTURBING INTERACTION. I did say that the OG Naruto characters are OOC in this shitshow novel and yes, unfortunately that includes Sakura. We've seen the way she react around Naruto's sexy ninjutsu antics. Unless objectification of women or the mere implication of it doesn't perturb her, then it says more about how Esaka portrayed her. I'd personally file a restraining order when a guy says he'd settle for my old, half smoked cigarette butts. I'm surprised that she didn't throw any snide remarks here.

WHO IS THIS SASUKE AND WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM. This panel made me laugh so hard because I feel like Esaka straight up ignored that Sasuke canonically spent years with his family before the Uchiha downfall happened. I don't think he'd be this clueless about how a married couple acts. Even in flashbacks, Sasuke was shown around his parents or Itachi, literally with his family. I think he knows well enough about married couples.

The ring part as well makes me cackle because Kurenai literally wears a ring in Shippuden. Trust me, Juugo-look-a-like, rings are used in Konoha by couples.

The Uchiha clan symbol takes me out because AREN'T YOU GOING UNDERCOVER IN THIS PRISON? WHY ARE YOU SHOWING THAT OFF?

The Chakra ring in question. Finding out the lore behind this further upset me and I am thankful that I no longer ship sasusaku. Show these panels out of context to someone with little to no exposure to canon and it would be romantic but if you know Narutoverse like the back of your hand, this novel served nothing. Seriously, the fact that Sasuke is incredibly OOC on this novel speak volumes. Imagine annihilating Sasuke's character to make SS work? Insanity.

Writing Edo Tensei with rose tinted glasses disgust me. That jutsu is straight up manipulating a dead body at your bidding. Tobirama shouldn't have invented that jutsu. Hinting that jutsu to be used to revive a loved one that passed away is vile and disgusting. The lack of attention to canon isn't a new thing for Esaka at this point.

Even this novel can't cover up the fact that Sakura doesn't know Sasuke well. If there's one thing that's consistent in the prequel, it was Naruto that gets into trouble. Sasuke doesn't use honorifics and he got away with it. His bluntness doesn't get him and everyone around him in trouble. Sasuke only began resorted to extremes when he was batshit blind and sinking into the unhinged depths of his hatred. Probably the only things that Sakura got correctly was Sasuke's kindness and his nonchalance about his looks but that's it. So the claim of knowing Sasuke inside and out is preposterous. The one who can say that is, guess who? Naruto.

Ending this long analysis with this panel because honestly, Ino is asking the questions for me. Unfortunately, despite being "married", their dynamic stayed the same. Sakura is still that same girl that has a crush on Sasuke, except she's in her 30s and Sasuke is still the same boy that rejected her date offers and the idea of being together with her, even reaching the point that he's away from her a lot.

I do apologize for going off to the point that I decided to pull a meta post about this. I do hope you're doing well and I appreciate the ask!

[hyuuga-heiress]

Okay now this is pretty fucking cool.

[konohagakurekakashi]

any fic recs?

//Full disclosure. I'm not really up to date with Naruto-verse fanfiction, and those I do read are Kakashi centric and a little silly (naturally). Here are some gems I've come across:-

1. Branches by To Mockingbird (https://m.fanfiction.net/s/10631615/1/ )

This feels like being on acid. Kakashi gets sucked into an alternative dimension in which he is still the Jōnin-sensei of Team 7, but Minato-sensei is alive and the Hokage. Jiraiya and Tsunade-sama are married and Uchiha Itachi is a girl. A wild ride, with a lovely ending.

2. A heap of details, uncatalogued, illogical by 100 demons (https://archiveofourown.org/works/1116142 )

This is part 2 of a two piece, but can be read as a standalone. A Genjutsu goes wrong, Kakashi wakes up with the memories of his 14 year old self, much to the confusion of Team 7. The Team 7 dynamic is just the /best/. I love them to bits.

3. My Mr Ukki by Applepie (https://m.fanfiction.net/s/7094767/1/My-Mr-Ukki ).

A funny little one shot. I think we can all agree that Mr Ukki is the most underrated Naruto character. "My Mr Ukki's sick!" Kakashi wailed in a room full of ninjas. So naturally, everyone heard him. Then began, a plethora of misunderstandings. Just who is this mysterious Mr Ukki and what is his relationship with Kakashi - A secret lover? Also Tsunade-sama is a killer wingman in this one.

4. Man's best friend by Applepie

( https://archiveofourown.org/works/3858064 ) The ninken wage war against Mr Ukki for Kakashi's affections. Anything with Pakkun in it, is a must read- obviously! And again, it has Mr Ukki.

5. Hokage Kakashi by Mirror and Image (https://m.fanfiction.net/s/8175136/1/Hokage-Kakashi. )

A funny one shot during Kakashi's tenure as Hokage. Kakashi is made Hokage during the Pein Arc in this one and his near death experience has made him a bit mental (lies, he was actually born that way).

6. Uneasy lies the Head by Hiiraeth (https://m.fanfiction.net/s/11199743/1/Uneasy-Lies-the-Head )

Kakashi and Team 7 centric. The lengthiest one on the list. Takes place two years after the Fourth Shinobi War, with Rokudaime Kakashi being a terrible troll, just as nature intended. Troll behaviour warrants an almost successful assassination attempt, resulting in Team 7 rolling out the Hokage protection bubble-wrap. A good read and I believe there is also a sequel out/ongoing.

7. A warm impression by Hiiraeth (https://m.fanfiction.net/s/12741017/1/A-Warm-Impression ) Minato-sensei meets Sakumo for the first time. I love the characterization. You can honestly read anything by Hiiraeth and won't be disappointed. Like at all.

That's it for now. I'll update the list as I go, but until then, these should do.

[c4l4mityv4in]

Pink In The Night

A NaruSasu/SasuNaru fanfic

https://archiveofourown.org/works/65708242/chapters/169213663

Words: 9352

Tags: Everyone Is Gay, Everyone Is Alive, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Soft Uchiha Sasuke, Blank Period (Naruto), a little ooc, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Kissing, Boys Kissing, Mpreg Male Pregnancy, Orphanage, Orphans, First Dates, Marriage Proposal, Marriage, Weddings, Children, hand holding, Supportive Boyfriend Naruto Uzumaki, AU, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence

Relationships: Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura/Hyuuga Hinata, Karin/Yamanaka Ino, Hyuuga Neji/Nara Shikamaru, Gaara/Rock Lee, Inuzuka Kiba/Kankurou, Jiraiya/Orochimaru (Naruto), Hoozuki Suigetsu/Juugo, Hoshigaki Kisame/ Uchiha Itachi

Characters: Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, Tsunade (Naruto), Hyuuga Hinata, Yamanaka Ino, Gaara (Naruto), Rock Lee, Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino, Nara Shikamaru, Uchiha Itachi, Hoshigaki Kisame, Hoozuki Suigetsu, Juugo (Naruto), Orochimaru (Naruto), Jiraiya (Naruto), Tenten (Naruto), Hyuuga Neji, Kawaki (Boruto), Uzumaki Boruto, Uchiha Sarada, Uzumaki Menma, Original Characters, Original Male Character(S), Original Female Characters)

Summary:

"And I know I've kissed you before but I didn't do it right, can I try again? try again? try again? try again and again"

................♡................

Set after the war, specifically in the blank period/The Last alternate timeline, Naruto promises Sasuke to redeem their first kisses, while also exploring their feelings with each other. This story also contains a few intermissions related to other characters and their relationships like InoKarin/KarIno, SakuHina, KanKiba and GaaLee. And also a wholesome father/son relationship between Zabuza and Haku. The Story also contains an Epilogue set in Boruto AND 17 family trees for all the AU canon ships with children

................♡................

Chapter 1: Try Again And Again And Again

(Chapter 2 in Reposts)

Start notes:

Happy Birthday To Me!

Consider this a formal apology for that Angst fic, even tho that is my most kudosed fic rn.

Important notes:

1) English is not my first language

2) Everyone is Rinne Tensei’d and well because I love these characters too much except for Jiraiya, you’ll find out later why (not saying I hate him, I love him)

3) Also this takes place from episode 479 onwards so basically blank period

Story:

There they layed, both with an arm chopped off  each and a concerned Sakura trying to heal them as best as she could with the little chakra she had left. When they united their hands to make the rat sign to release the infinite Tsukuyomi they looked longingly into each other's eyes. And that was the moment Sakura realized the tree she was barking up couldn't have been more wrong.

"If I'm not your maid of honor one of you's gonna die", she joked, Naruto was confused

"What do you mean?", he asked her, to which she lifted her head, looked him straight in the eye and went, "I know what you are!", Naruto did not know what he is and he'd rather not ask anymore questions.

Naruto and Sasuke were brought back to Konoha, straight to the hospital, they barely had time to talk but that night would be burnt in both of their eyelids forever

"You're back", Naruto said

"You already said that", Sasuke pointed out

"But you're finally back, you came back to Konoha...you came back to me", Naruto's voice got quiet, the moonlight shining on his face allowing Sasuke to notice Naruto was flustered

"Naruto...there's something I need you to know", said Sasuke hoping the moon wouldn't betray him too, he stood up and went to lay next to the blonde.

"You kissed me...twice. Now I wanna make it even", before Naruto could ask for an explanation, Sasuke's lips were already pressed on his, soft but just as demanding as Sasuke always was.

Sasuke broke the kiss abruptly, "You still taste like Miso", he recalls before going in for his second kiss, this time Naruto had time to actually kiss him back.

"So like...what does this mean", Naruto asked the dark haired boy once their lips parted

"I don't know...I've just wanted to kiss you back for the longest time...over and over", Sasuke admitted to the jinchuriki

"I don't really know how I feel about you but I really, really want to findoboit if we could be more than friends", Naruto paused, "I've been thinking about it a lot"

Sasuke admitted he had thought about it once or twice too and their coversation just ended with them looking away and blushing until Naruto finally said, "You still taste like onigiri"

................♡................

♡Intermission #1:♡

Hinata decided she would walk to the hospital and confess her feelings to Naruto that day, a bag of sweet treats in hand, yes nothing was going to stop her and- Oh Sakura and Ino are calling standing by the entrance.

"Hinata-chan! Come over here for a second!", Sakura called to her.

"Sakura-chan! Ino-chan! Doing better?", Hinata asked her two old classmates

"We're managing, you know a good therapist? I refuse to go to my cousins", Ino asked

"I can give you my aunt's number. I'd say she's good. Do you guys know where Naruto-kun's room is?", Hinata asked them to which the two of them looked at each other with a knowing look.

"Hinata-chan, I want to be honest with you. I think Naruto already has someone he likes and it was right under our noses the whole time", Hinata froze at Sakura's words but tried her best not to sound bitter, "Of course he would choose you, he's been in love with you ever since we were kids", a tear fell from her left eye bit Ino and Sakura burst into a laughter.

"That's not what I meant", she paused, "I think Naruto is head over heels for Sasuke"

Hinata froze again before Sakura finished her train of thought, "And I think Sasuke feels the same way too"

Sakura explained all the little things she gathered over the years and the final piece of the puzzle she had put together just yesterday. Hinata sat on one of the hospital's benches and took a breath, "How did I not see it before?", she asked herself out loud

"Love makes you blind, sweetie. Look at tge bright side at least you didn't marry the guy and have kids with him", Ino reassured her, breaking the fourth wall by staring the reader right in the eye, the other two girls didn't seem to notice, "Besides, you're only 16, there is plenty of time for you to find love!", Ino continued

"Thank you, Ino-chan, Sakura-chan", Hinata said

"You two want something sweet? Naruto won't need these heart shaped sweets anymore", Hinata opened the bag allowing Sakura and Ino to take as much as they wanted

"We should totally do a girls night, we all had our hearts broken it's the perfect night for eating ice cream all night and regretting it the next morning", Ino suggested, the other two girls were absolutely delighted by the idea and immediately started making plans.

................♡................

"Usuratonkachi? Wake up. I want to go eat breakfast", Sasuke desperately tried to wake Naruto up after he had fallen asleep on his chest the prior night.

"Sasukeeeee", Naruto said in a half dormant state, "stay with me until the end of time", the sudden request flustered Sasuke exponentially.

"I'm hungry, Naruto", Sasuke repeated

"Call someone and say you're too fatigued to walk", the blonde suggested

"But I'm in your bed right now, Naruto. They will be able to tell there's something going on between us and next thing you know, the whole village knows!", Sasuke finally managed to convince Naruto to let him go and kissed his cheek before quickly dashing out of the room, red as a tomato, and mumbled something about bringing Naruto breakfast.

And so, he did. As he walked back to their room with Naruto's breakfast in hand, he ran into Tsunade, "Good Morning, Hokage-sama", he greeted

"I'm retiring, no need for formalities anymore", Tsunade informed the ex-criminal, "so, why the change of heart? Naruto?", Tsunade hit the nail right on the head as Sasuke nodded in agreement, "You do understand you're going to prison, right?", she reminded him

"I deserve it", Sasuke admitted, Tsunade put a hand on the boy's shoulder

"You do. But I'm glad you came back home"

Tsunade followed him to their hospital room to pay Naruto a visit.

"Granny Tsunade! I'm so glad you're here I have questions", Naruto immediately boasted as soon as she came in.

"A hello would be nice", the woman complained, "But please go ahead"

"Your grandma, she was an Uzumaki too, right?", Naruto waited for Tsunade's answer

"So, you finally found out we're related", Tsunade's lips formed a smirk as she checked the state of her nails

"So I have to call you auntie or something like that?", he asked her

"I would certainly prefer it over you calling me Granny", she replied, she knew it was pointless to ask of that but it was worth at least a try. She explained to him and Sasuke how she wanted to create prosthetic arms for the two of them to which Sasuke interrupted her, "I won't be needing one."

Tsunade looked at him confused, "Why would you not want that?"

"Call it a way to atone for my sins", Sasuke explained. Tsunade rolled her eyes and went, "Whatever floats your boat, I guess", she said before explaining the rest of the process to Naruto.

................♡................

Sasuke was released quite early from prison and decided to go on a journey for, again, "atone for his sins", where Naruto stopped him just outside the village doors to give him his old headband back.

"So, when are you going to come back?", Naruto asked the older one

"I don't know, could be a few years", Sasuke replied

"Great, let me get a few things, I'll come with you", Naruto was stopped before he could fully turn around

"I'm going alone, Naruto", Sasuke watched Naruto bite his lip, clearly holding back a lot of complaints.

"I'll give you a compromise, one letter every week and I'll be back in exactly six month, the moment the clock strikes April first", Sasuke proposed

"You better not be making an elaborate April fools joke, I want you to take you out seriously, you know without us trying to kill each other", Naruto looked away, quite flustered. Sasuke kissed his right cheek and just left with a, "I can't wait to take you up on that offer"

................♡................

♡Intermission #2:♡

Once again, Rock Lee found a letter a rose and a small trail if sand outside of his front door. All the letters said the same thing, "Dear Rock Lee, I believe I have fallen head over heels for you but I also believe these feelings aren't reciprocated because you may or may not hate me, you're probably don't even feel any attraction towards men. But I want this rose to remind you that I will always cherish you in my heart. With love, Your Secret Admirer".

Lee had received one of these letters every day since his first Chuunin exams wrapped up, he kept each one inside of binders and took care of the roses as best as he could, he had been trying to find out who was his secret admirer ever since, tho his friends seem to find it obvious.

"Just tell me your theory already!", Lee demanded as he trained with Tenten and Neji on a sunny afternoon.

"It's obvious, Lee!", Neji complained

"Just give me a hint!", Lee was basically begging now.

Tenten snapped, "Alright, just because I'm so tired of you, he's my girlfriend's youngest brother"

She got a slightly nasty look from Neji and flustered Lee quite a lot.

"Gaara!? As in the Kazekage!? No! It can't be!", he  was in disbelief to say the least.

"Let's name our evidence then, one, the trail of sand you find every morning. Two, the letters started after the exams where he tried to kill you and exterminate the village, which would be enough for a normal person to hate him, but obviously you're not normal. And third, I've seen his handwriting before when Temari broke her dominant hand but still wanted to write me letters", Tenten pointed out as Neji nodded along.

"W-Well how should I go about confirming this theory?", Lee had turned into a flustered mess of a man

"You could pretend you want his help and see whether the letter content changes or not, he's staying at Hokage tower for a few days because of a Kage summit", Neji suggested

"O-Oh I don't know, what if I let something slip out of my mouth?", Lee's concern was justified based on the reaction he was displaying

"You'll be fine, don't be such a baby! Come on let's go!", Tenten basically dragged her teammate by his fuck ass bob while Neji held the legs, which was hard to do based on the fact that Lee had weights always wrapped around his ankles. The two of them dropped their friend in front of the room where the Kazekage was staying and even knocked for him before they quickly hid behind a corner.

Gaara opened the door, his red hair was slightly messy but his face was stoic as always, "Good Morning, Rock Lee"

That voice made Lee freeze, was the Kazekage really his secret admirer? Say something Lee! Anything!

"L-Lord Kazekage, I-uhm, I-", Lee's concern tried his best not to ruin this chance, ultimately failing, "I know you're the one who's been sending me love letters all this years!", he bowed, "Please marry me!".

Tenten and Neji both facepalmed, classic Lee always exaggerating but to their surprise, that was the first time Lee witnessed Gaara blush, "How about a date first? I'm free this evening if you'd like", Gaara suggested, to which Lee enthusiastically agreed.

................♡................

March 31st, 11:59 PM, Naruto had been staring at his front door the whole evening, yet there was still no trace of Sasuke, Naruto started thinking to himself that maybe he shouldn't have taken Sasuke's word so literally, especially after the clock struck midnight and there was still no knock at the door.

"Who are we waiting for?", he heard a familiar voice ask from behind him, a smile immediately formed on his face when he registered that the one sitting in his living room was indeed, Sasuke Uchiha.

"How did you get in?", the blonde asked him

"I got to train my Rinnegan a little, turns out I can open portals", Sasuke explained to him.

Naruto walked to him and pulled him into a hug, "You came back to me...again"

Sasuke hugged him back and leaned his head on the other boy's shoulder, "I promise I won't make the same mistake again, I will always come back to you no matter how long it takes", said the older boy.

"Are you taller than me? Never thought I'd ever see that", Sasuke joked noticing that his forehead only came up to Naruto's lips

"Perfect height for forehead kissed", the younger one let slip, getting flustered the second it came out his mouth but now it was way too late to take it back.

"I guess we still have to make up for how awkward our first two kissed were", Sasuke said hiding his face in Naruto's neck, now they were both flustered

"You're still not satisfied?", the younger nin asked

"No, not at all, in fact I need you to kiss me right n-", Sasuke's sentence was interrupted by Naruto's lips pressing on his own, awkward grins appeared on both their faces as they kissed.

Time stopped for a moment as they finally got a moment to breathe the same air again, in a pleasant way this time around.

"I have a feeling you're turning soft, Sasuke", the taller one teased which caused Sasuke to break the hug and push him away, "You ruined it, Usuratonkachi. Where do I sleep?"

"Well, you can either sleep on the couch or in the bed with me", Naruto smiled at him innocently

"No funny business if I sleep next to you, alright?", Sasuke warned as he was lead to the bedroom

"Don't worry about thar. Come, I'll get you something comfortable to sleep in"

The second Sasuke touched the mattress he fell asleep but Naruto stayed awake for a while, observing the other boy's facial features, especially his lips, before he fell asleep himself.

The morning was very similar, tho it was Sasuke this time who analyzed Naruto's facial features until he woke up.

"Your new hairstyle looks great, ya know?", Naruto said as he served breakfast. Sasuke's hair was now long and covered his left eye almost completely.

"Thank you. You look the same", the other boy pointed out

"Yeah, I really do, I've been thinking about getting a buzzcut", the blonde's statement made Sasuke turn his head, "Of course you would choose the worst haircut in the world, do yourself a favor and don't get a buzzcut, please"

Naruto laughed, "I'm not used to you saying please but I guess I'll have to comply if you ask so nicely"

Sasuke ate the eggs that Naruto prepared, and slightly burnt, for him. He tried his best not to entertain the taller one's staring, eventually failing, "Okay, why are you staring at me?"

"Oh it's nothing, I'm just happy you're here with me", Naruto's dorky smile made Sasuke's heart reluctantly skip a beat, "You're so cheesy, Usuratonkachi"

"I think you like it! In fact, I want to ask you something super cheesy!", Sasuke rolled his eyes but Naruto continued, "Do you wanna go out on a date with me? Like, without trying to kill each other this time?", Naruto's question made Sasuke spit out the coffee he just sipped on, his face blishing an inhumane amount of pink, which he would deny for all his life obviously.

"You want to do what now?", the dark haired beauty asked, perplexed

"Go out on a date with me! Or is that reaction a no?", Naruto repeated himself

Sasuke looked away before responding, "It's not a no, I just...didn't expect you to actually want to go out with me"

"Were the kisses not enough of a hint? I can give you some more if you need convincing",  Naruto may be ignoring it but his face was just as pink as Sasuke now

"I wouldn't mind a few kisses, for the sake of convincing me, that is", smooth Sasuke, smooth.

................♡................

♡Intermission #3:♡

"I heard Sasuke's back in the village", Shikamaru informed Ino later that day at her family's flower shop

"Oh I know, Naruto came by to get some flowers for him", Ino said as she prepared an arrangement of flowers

"So? Are you not going to be upset that a man stole your man?", Shikamaru awaited a reaction, mainly because he bet barbecue with Choji on it.

"I guess I haven't told you yet, I've been dating a bit and I've come to the conclusion that I'm not into guys at all, the only crush I'm crying over is Sakura. If I had realized my feelings earlier, maybe we would be together now, but I'm happy for her and Hinata-chan", After Ino's revelation, Shikamaru screamed internally knowing his wallet was completely fucked.

"I'm sorry about that and now I'm just rubbing salt in the wound by making you wrap my anniversary present", Shikamaru said as Ino handed him the flowers

"It's fine, really. You know I may be a gossip but I think you're just as much of a gossip as me, trying to milk me for information", Ino clocked the stoner

"I don't know what you're talking about, bye Ino", said stoner escaped

"Tell Neji I said Hi!", she chuckled to herself as her friend exited the flower shop.

(I need you to know before you start reading this, this was a filler ship cause I originally planned to make InoSakuHina the final Ino ship but it fucked with my plans for a future Boruto fic so I just decided to make this up as a whim and now I really like this pairing even tho they literally never met!...Oops? I guess?)

After Ino's shift end, she decided to go into her favorite cafe to get something to drink, to her surprise someone else was sitting at her usual table. "Excuse me, may I sit at this table with you? It's my usual seat", Ino asked the red head sipping at what looked like black coffee

"Of course, I'm almost done anyway. I'm Karin Uzumaki", the girl extended her hand

"Ino Yamanaka, an Uzumaki, huh? Related to Naruto?", the blonde asked

"Apparently, we're distant relatives, I didn't even know my last name until after the war honestly ", Karin explained

"I'd rather not think about the war, dark time for me", lno requested

"The only good thing that came out of that is, I learned I had a Kekkei Genkai this whole time, all to protect a boy that turned out to be gay", Karin rolled her eyes at the memory

"You were into a gay boy too? Let me guess-", Ino visibly paused so her and Karin could say it in unison, "Sasuke Uchiha", the two of them laughed at the coincidence. As Ino's usual finally arrived, she took a sip of her tea, "I have a feeling we're gonna be very good friends"

................♡................

"You like them?", Naruto asked as he presented a big bouquet of Camellias to the beautiful dark haired boy

"They smell nice", Sasuke's expression was stoic but his face was as pink as a cherry blossom

"Listen, I want to be honest with you, I don't know what I'm doing, Naruto. I've never had a relationship nor have I ever been on a date, for once I'm more clueless than you", Sasuke reluctantly admitted looking at the floor as he did so.

"I don't have that much experience in romance myself, I went on a few dates with Gaara but it wasn't anything special", the younger boy admitted, "Let's just go with the flow and go shopping or eat something together or just find a spot to relax together", Naruto's words made Sasuke's heart stop beating for a second but he still grabbed his arm and said, "Let's go then, I never got the chance to see the rebuilt village properly"

Naruto guided Sasuke through the village, bookstores, clothing shops, new districts and a finally a stop at Ichiraku for lunch to end their date, "No wonder you always taste like miso, you still have a ramen obsession", said the older boy as Naruto slurped the noodles

"I don't eat that much, I can stop whenever I want to", Naruto said as he finished his bowl

"Of course you can, that was only your fifth bowl after all", Sasuke chuckles, "Hey can you show me where Suigetsu and Juugo live?"

Naruto wiped his face with a napkin, stood up and offered Sasuke his arm, "Shall we?"

Sasuke had to hold back his laugh but he did really appreciate the gesture as he was guided to a neighborhood that was filled with ANBU and Jonin guarding every house, the place where pardoned criminals who still weren't trusted lived. As soon as Sasuke was out of sight, two figures came out of their bushes like muppets, holding their coffee mugs, "Gay!", they yelled in unison to startle the blonde on purpose. As predicted, Naruto turned to find  Orochimaru and Jiraiya holding back their laughs.

"Aren't you two married to each other?", he blurted out

"That's not the point here, the point, is that we called it", Orochimaru informed him

"There wasn't much to call, really it was more of an observation. You mentioned Sasuke every three to five minutes while we trained, I was ready to smash my face into a brick wall every time you started going on another tangent", Jiraiya added, purely to embarrass his student

"Oh that's nothing, Sasuke sleepwalks when he goes to bed hungry and everytime he started reciting every single thing he claimed to dislike about Naruto and he went really into detail in a way you don't talk about your enemies, trust me I'd know, I married you", it was clear to Naruto that he was no longer part of the conversation, he attempted a silent Irish exit and right as he thought he was safe, the two voices yelled in unison, "Don't forget protection!", and laughed hysterically like drunk witches.

Right before that, Sasuke had knocked on Suigetsu's door. The white haired boy opened the door with disheveled hair and a backwards shirt, one look and one could easily guess what he had been up to, "Disgusting whore", Sasuke greeted him

"At least I have a sex life, come in, bastard", Suigetsu greeted back, from an outsiders perspective, one would not be able to guess whether they hated each other or were best friend but really, what is a best friend if not someone you despise just enough for it to go back around and turn into love and companionship?

The two of them sat at the cramped dining table and drank tea, "So what's up?"  Suigetsu asked.

"Okay so, basically I had mu first date with Naruto just now-"

"Fucking finally", Suigetsu interrupted

"Oh come on it wasn't that obvious!", the older boy complained, to which Suigetsu responded, "You know you do this thing when you go to sleep hungry, where you sleepwalk and start listing things you hate about Naruto and the more you go on the more desperate you sound for Naruto to like you back"

Sasuke put his head in his hands, "I can't have done it that much, we traveled together for a few months, max"

"You did it enough for me and Juugo to memorize it", speak of the devil and he shall appear, Juugo entered the room almost immediately after Suigetsu mentioned him, he greeted Sasuke and sat at the table with them, after getting caught up.

"Anyway, I don't know what to do", Sasuke continued, "Naruto makes me smile, blush, makes my heart race, makes my IQ drop significantly-"

Suigetsu, once again, interrupted, "Somebody's in loooove!", he said in singy-song

"I don't know, love's a strong word", rebutted Sasuke

For the first time, Juugo spoke up, "I think it sounds like you're in love, it's the same thing that happens to me when I look at Suigetsu"

Suigetsu immediately planted a kiss on his partners cheek

"But you're right, and I hate admitting that, there's no rush. Take your time and explore your feelings", The white haired boy was actually sincere for once

"Wow, when did you grow a brain?", Sasuke joked

"Stole it from a grave", the other clapped back

................♡................

♡Intermission #4:♡

Fun fact: Jiraiya was actually Edo Tensei'd in this AU, instead of Rinne Tensei'd , so that he could be immortal alongside Orochimaru.

Now to the actual Intermission:

"Master! Let me help put on your face bandages for you", Haku said as he and Zabuza walked on the great Naruto bridge.

"I don't need face bandages anymore and stop calling me Master", Zabuza didn't turn around when he spoke

"Please Master Zabuza, I know I failed to protect you in our last battle but-", Haku was interrupted by the man, "Haku, you're a child, I'm supposed to protect you and I'm ashamed I didn't have the courage to do that openly on my first chance at life"

Haku opened his mouth to respond but was once again interrupted, "Haku, if you'd like me to, I'd like to legally adopt you once we move to the hidden leaf, I always struggled to admit it but you are like a son to me...", Zabuza paused, "if you need to give me a title, just call me dad"

Zabuza almost fell when Haku threw himself at him from behind, hugging him, "I would love for you to be my dad", Haku wasn't holding back his tears and neither was Zabuza, "Then let us hurry"

................♡................

Sasuke decided to stop by the market and buy groceries, wanting to prepare dinner to thank Naruto for his hospitality after a day of lower rank missions and their date. He was on his way back when all of a sudden, a boy ran into him, almost making him trip, "I'm sorry, Sir", the boy apologized

"It's alright, just be more careful next time", Sasuke turned around, ready to leave before he noticed something and turned back, "Where are your parents, kid? It's pretty late you should go back home"

The child looked at him with a blank expression on his face, "Mom and Dad are gone, I never knew them", he pointed at a big house behind them, "I live at the orphanage there, I was just running to get our ball back, have you seen it?"

Sasuke froze for a second, orphans...he forgot that other kids experienced similar pains than he did, he may have his brother back and his clan but it was too late to still consider them family, except for Itachi. "I haven't, I'm sorry", Sasuke responded before leaving with no goodbye. He ran home to Naruto's apartment, not sure about what he was running from exactly.

He got in and shut the door behind him, crawling to sit on the floor between the grocery bags, his breath feeling less accessible the more he tried to breathe.

"Sasuke? Are you home?", Naruto asked before he entered the living room, finding the long haired boy in that state of what could only described as a panic attack in the making.

Sasuke's mind was clouded, all those other orphans might have experienced greater pain than he had, they might want revenge, they might make the same mistakes he did, they might all become monsters like he did. All the what-ifs took over his body, tears streaming from his eyes, air not reaching his lungs like it should, his vision feeling completely blurry. And then a hand touched his, a soft , gentle hand with a familiar warmth.

"You're alright. You're with me. Nothing bad can happen now that we're together again", Naruto spoke softly, if there was concern in him, he tried his best to hide it

"Hold my hand, inhale, count to three, exhale, repeat", Naruto guided the crying boy

"It won't fix it completely but it'll clear your mind a bit"

Sasuke took a second but managed to follow the instructions given, he still felt somewhat like shit but at least he could think clearly now, he went silent and squeezed Naruto's hand tighter

"When and if you're ready to talk about it, I'm here", Naruto brought Sasuke's hand to his lips and kissed the pale skin of the boy he got back, "I will be there for you forever, so take your time, you're never getting rid of me", Sasuke remained silent, he pulled Naruto to him, rubbing his face on the other's neck before finally breaking,

"Thank you, Usuratonkachi"

Naruto grabbed a hair tie and put Sasuke's hair into a ponytail for him, revealing the Rinnegan he always kept hidden, "This look suits you", he pointed out.

"I don't like the way my Rinnegan looks, it scares people", Sasuke told him

"That sounds like a them problem, your eyes look beautiful and I want to look into them for the rest of my life", Naruto's confession made Sasuke glow pink once again, he quickly dismissed him and started preparing dinner.

He put on a green apron with a fish cake pattern and started chopping vegetables when he felt the taller boys arms going around his waist, hugging him from behind and nuzzling into his neck.

"I swear if I hurt myself because of your dumbass", Sasuke joked

"I'll just kiss it better, like this!", Naruto stole a kiss from Sasuke's lips

"That's cute and all but definitely the wrong thing to do if I were to cut my finger off. Do you know how long it took me to learn to cut vegetables with one arm?"

Naruto hugged him tighter, "I promise you will never get hurt again under my watch", he planted a few kisses on Sasuke's neck, they were both blushing now, with dumb smiles on their faces.

Eventually they sat down for dinner, where Sasuke finally got the courage to explain the situation and his concerns about the kids in the orphanage.

"If you're so worried then why don't you go and volunteer, make sure those children know that revenge won't fix shit?", the blonde suggested

"I don't know, would I be good at handling kids?", Sasuke's question was soon somewhat answered

"Well, in my head we're married 15 years with at least 4 children so I'm sure you'll be great", and that made him choke on his food, "Married with kids!? We're not even boyfriends yet, we went on one date!"

"Just wanted to make my intentions clear from the get go, I already have the names picked out", the smile on Naruto's head was enough to confuse the older boy for him not to understand whether this was a joke or not.

"...Are they all ramen ingredients?", the silence in response was all Sasuke needed to know.

That night, Sasuke couldn't sleep and Naruto noticed.

"Naruto...if we do have children, will they become psycho's like all the other Uchihas", the question caught the blonde off guard

"Not if you take my last name", the suggestion made both of them blush again but at least it got Sasuke distracted.

................♡................

"Have you seen your brother yet?", Kisame asked as he brought his fiancé a cup of tea.

"He's only been back for a day, plus I've been looking for a way to tell him I got engaged", Itachi responded without lifting his eyes from the book he was reading.

"Do you think he wouldn't like us getting married?", The shark man asked sitting down next to him

"It's not that. It's just that I sorta never said that we were a couple", Itachi admitted.

Kisame's eyes widened in surprise, "What do you mean he doesn't know!?"

"I just never got the chance! You know I died, then you died, then I was Edo Tensei'd in the war and that didn't seem like an appropriate time! And then we were Rinne Tensei'd and I kind of forgot to mention it", Itachi repositioned his reading glasses to keep them from falling, to which Kisame had only one reaction, "Okay if we're going to have a fight, I'd rather you take those glasses off cause I can't argue with you while you're turning me on!"

Itachi rolled his eyes and took off his glasses, "You're a weak man Kisame Hoshigaki"

"It'll be Kisame Uchiha in a few months", Kisame almost forgot they were arguing before going back to the previous topic, "Seriously, I'm offended you never told my brother we're a couple!"

"Well, not to be rude but you did try to kidnap and kill his best friend, whom he's 100% heterosexual about, multiple times", Itachi reminded

"Alright that is indeed a very good point I will not argue with", the shark man backed out.

Itachi put his glasses back on, "I'll talk to him tomorrow, I promise", he said then jumped back into his book

Sasuke found himself staring at the orphanage every time he walked by, still not convinced whether he should or shouldn't go help out.

"Where do I take you?", Naruto asked him as they walked by said orphanage hand in hand

"I'm meeting my brother at the Dango Shop", Sasuke replied as he came back to reality

"But you hate sweet stuff", the younger one remembered which Sasuke silently appreciated, "But Itachi loves them, I can survive a few Dango"

3pm on the dot and both Uchiha brothers arrived at the Dango shop at the same time, a moment of awkward silence was shared between them before Itachi tackled Sasuke into a hug.

"I missed you, little brother", he said

"I missed you two", the other responded as he hugged him back.

The two of them sat down in the shop and ordered, "So was the hand holding just a best friend thing or..?", Itachi teased

"We're...sorta dating? Well we went on one date but we kissed, like a lot and-", Itachi interrupted his flustered brother with a laugh

"Well just so you know he has my blessing to marry you once you get your shit together, he's the only one good enough for my little brother", Itachi teased him once again, Sasuke was a flustered mess, the dango's pink color paled in comparison.

"Listen, it's complicated, like I want him to be my boyfriend but it's been less than three days and I feel like he could slip a ring on my finger and I'd say yes", Sasuke's problem made his brother scoff, "You do remember you've been crushing on Naruto ever since you met him, right?"

Sasuke paused mid bite, "Nu-uh!"

"Yu-uh! You used to say he was holding you under a genjutsu that made your heart race and butterflies fly around in your stomach!", Itachi unlocked a memory for the younger one, enjoying seeing his brother just a tad humiliating.

"Anyway, I'm happy it's him, he's a good one", the older one took a sip of tea, "Well, I suppose we have to talk about my love life now, it's only fair"

"You have a love life?", Sasuke accidentally read his brother (read as in to make fun of)

"I do, I am engaged actually", Itachi expected a spit take, an angry or condescending comment, instead all he got was, "Is it the fish guy?"

"Was it that obvious?", the older one asked

"You have that man on a leash and he's enjoying it a little too much, I had a hunch", Sasuke explained to him

"Wait,", Itachi formed a thought, thinking about what his brother called his fiancé, "You do know his name is Kisame, right?"

"I do know that but I deliberately call him fish guy to spite him now, he should have asked for my blessing", Sasuke clarified

"I think we should change the topic before it escalated any further", Itachi suggested, "What are you doing now that you're back in the leaf?"

Sasuke took a sip of his tea, "Nothing at the moment...but I did want to help around at the orphanage", he paused, "I just don't know if I have the courage"

Itachi ate his last dango and put the stick back on his plate, "Why wouldn't you?"

Sasuke took a deep breath before responding, "I don't know, I'm scared that if I don't do anything, another kid is going to make the same mistakes as me but on the other hand, what if I end up being the catalyst?"

Itachi paused and took his brother's hand, "Listen to me, the chance that your presence in an orphan's life causes them to seek revenge upon the entire village is extremely low. And maybe you will be the reason they don't end up like you, no offense"

"None taken...and thank you", Sasuke said

................♡................

♡Intermission #5:♡

"The hidden sand? Why would you want to move there?", Naruto asked as he, Hinata and Shino helped him pack

"I'll have you know I'm moving in with my boyfriend in August", Kiba informed the blonde

"You are aware that it's April, right?", Shino pointed out

"I know that it's April, I just want to be prepared, it takes a long time to pack everything and bring it there and unpack everything again and-"

"You want to look good in front of his siblings, don't you?", Hinata interrupted him

"Well that's part of it...okay, a huge part. But both of them are absolutely TERRIFYING and if that wasn't enough, one of them's the fucking Kazekage! I'm basically moving in with royalty and I can't risk looking bad in front of anyone anymore!", Kiba was panicking just a tiny bit, Naruto put a hand on his shoulder and so did Hinata and Shino too.

Naruto spoke up, "Gaara's a great guy and so is Kankuro, you don't have to pretend to be someone else to impress them! And Temari...I actually know nothing about her"

Hinata jumped in, "Temari's protective, that's gor sure but once she sees how much you and Kankuro love each other, she'll warm up to you"

Kiba blushed and looked away, "We haven't really said the "L" word yet", he admitted

"She also loves dogs and always wanted one, so I don't think she'll mind having an Inuzuka around", said Shino, whose statement made the others' heads turn, "Why would you know that?", Kiba blurted out.

Shino's response? "We've been penpals since our first Chuunin exams"

................♡................

"Can we go there together?", Sasuke asked Naruto

"Where?", Naruto asked back

"The orphanage, I'm...scared to go alone", the older one admitted

"Yeah sure, I wouldn't mind", Naruto sipped a cup of morning coffee and kissed Sasuke on the forehead

"Great, let's go", Sasuke grabbed a bag and headed for the door

"Right now!? It's so early!", the younger complained

"It's almost noon", the other pointed out

Sasuke's heart was ready to pop out of his chest as he signed the papers, starting next week he would officially be allowed to volunteer at the orphanage. (The one week wait is based on my own experience volunteering somewhere else idk how it actually works in other places). He could have thrown up right then and there, the only thing holding him together was Naruto holding his hand.

"I really need a distraction right now", he announced as they exited the building

"Would a kiss be enough?", Naruto asked with his typical, dumb smirk

"A little, maybe", Sasuke answered. Naruto wasted no time kissing the dark haired beauty on the lips.

"Sasuke, I want to make one thing clear", he started, "I know we've only been dating for less than a week but...my feelings for you started way earlier, I don't want to wait to be your boyfriend and I wasn't joking when I said I wanted to marry you and have kids with you one day, tho that's obviously still far away"

Sasuke blushed, hard, he was somewhat alright with public displays of affection but this was on another level, "I...also really want to be your boyfriend officially...and I wouldn't mind marrying you one day but", he paused for a few seconds, "Isn't four kids a little much, aren't you thinking a little too far ahead?", neither of them could tell whether Sasuke was seriously asking that question but they both laughed, "I don't think so, no", Naruto answered the older one's question.

The week flew by as fast as a dragon fly, Sasuke had his hair tied up in a high ponytail and wore old-ish simple clothes he didn't mind getting dirty, he kissed his boyfriend at the door and headed out. His legs felt heavier each step he took, he had been having second thoughts all week, constantly conflicted whether he made the correct choice, so much so that he didn't watch where he was going and accidentally bumped into a familiar face, "Where are you headed with a face so concerned?", Sakura asked the boy she used to crush on

"Oh I'm just in my way to do some volunteering at the orphanage", Sasuke responded

"You too? Oh great I'll finally have someone my own age to talk to while I'm there", Sakura clasped her hands together, excited, as they started walking in the orphanage's direction

"You've been helping at the orphanage?", he asked, curios

"Yes, once a week ever since Naruto left to train with Jiraiya, I guess I felt bad for treating orphans like they were below me as a kid", she stared off in the distance for a minute, "What about you?"

Sasuke didn't feel the need to hide his reasoning from Sakura, he had wronged her quite a lot but she always remained loyal except for the time he joined a terrorist organization for a week, of course.

"You don't have to worry about that, I know how to knock someone unconscious this time around, if something like that happens again, I won't be a mere spectator anymore", Sakura flexed her bicep, Sasuke couldn't tell whether she was joking or not and he'd rather not know

"I'm glad you're finally showing other emotions other than anger", she said out of the blue, clearly not thinking before she spoke.

Nevertheless, tge boy agreed, "I am too, I guess I just forced myself to grow up so fast that I never made space for...humanity"

"Oh come on no need to exagge-"

"I'm not exaggerating and you know it", he interrupted, "You know me".

Sakura herself introduced Sasuke to kids, he was supposed to play with them and help set the table for meals. The moment he was introduced, the questions started coming, about his eye, his missing eye, stuff he liked and disliked, etcetera. There was only one girl who didn't interact with anyone and that activated Sasuke's radar.

"Hey there", he greeted the little girl, as she was drawing red circles on a blank piece of paper but no response came.

"Is everything alright?", again, no response.

He quickly went and asked Sakura, "That's Yume. Her father was abusive to her and her mother, one night he killed her mother and almost killed her too, he thought he had finished the job. Now that I think about it, I've never heard her voice before either"

"Poor thing...maybe I can get through to her", the boy suggested

"Giving it a try can't hurt, right?", she replied

"Hey Yume", he greeted the little girl, still drawing her circles, "You know, I understand your pain, my brother slaughtered my entire clan, of course they were revived after the war but...it's not the same"

The girl stopped the movement of her crayon and looked the tall boy in the eye, "How did you get over it?", her voice was quiet, dry with anger and somewhat shaky, she clearly hadn't talked in a long time.

Sasuke could only find one way to keep his response kid friendly, "I made mistakes...I got my revenge and I just felt worse. But there was this one bug always bothering me, buzzing in my ear, reminding me it was around the corner, hoping I'd turn around and join it flying in the wind", Sasuke paused and put a hand on the girl's shoulder, "What I'm saying is, getting over grief is easier when you let loved ones help you"

Yume's gazed darkened once again, "But I don't have any loved ones anymore"

Sasuke lowered his head, "I already love you tho and I'm sure whoever decides to adopt you will too"

The little girl hugged him carefully, tears in her eyes, "Do you want to play a board game with me?"

Sasuke brushed the girl's hair lightly, "I'd love to"

Yume and Sasuke played for hours, she even drew a picture of him, until Naruto came to pick his boyfriend up.

"Nii-chan, who's that dumb looking guy?", Yume pointed at Naruto walking into the orphanage's garden.

"That's the bug that kept trying to save me from insanity and ultimately succeeded I told you about, looks like he came to pick me up", the two of them said goodbye to each other and Sasuke practically threw himself into his boyfriend's arms and kissed him as soon as the children were out of sight, "How long were you watching?", he asked

"Long enough to muster up the courage to tell you that I love you", the blonde said as he unconsciously cradled his boyfriend in his arms

"I...really love you too", Sasuke blushed again and quickly changed the topic, "Do you like this picture Yume made of me?", he asked

"Looks almost as good as the original, we should frame it", the blonde suggested

Sasuke took a moment to look at the picture again, "Yes, we should".

................♡................

Slightly h*rny mini paragraph I’m scared will get me banned on here if I post it, just know it’s a 2 year time skip

♡

"Your cousin adopted Yume", Sasuke informed the blonde.

"That's great! Nagato?", he asked

"Yeah", the older confirmed.

"Naruto had planned his birthday on his own this time around, or at least that's what he told Sasuke.

"You know I thought we were done with blindfolds today", Sasuke half joked when Naruto put the piece of clothe over his eyes

"You can't know where I'm taking you", Naruto held Sasuke's hand and guided him outside, through the village.

"Why am I being blindfolded to go to your birthday party?", asked the older one after a couple minutes, quite confused

"You'll see why", Naruto said as they entered a building that felt familiar to Sasuke, through a hallway that felt just as familiar and when the blindfold was taken off, he found himself in front of a familiar classroom door.

"Wow, I haven't seen this place in years", Sasuke exclaimed, he could hear voices from behind the door. When Naruto opened the door, the scene looked familiar, although some of their old classmates were replaced by their friends.

Sasuke turned back to the blonde, "This is going to be embarrassing for me isn't it?"

Naruto was smiling, his typical dumb smile on his beautiful dumb face, "Go to your seat, Sasuke"

Sasuke did argue and sat on his old seat beside Sakura, putting his head on his heads like it was a reflex, everyone in that room was trying their best to pretend they were having a conversation when they were really just staring at Sasuke or Naruto. When Naruto jumped on Sasuke's desk, he finally understood what was going on, "Oh fuck yo-".

Sasuke's sentence was interrupted by Shikamaru pushing Naruto from behind to simulate a copy of their first kiss, this was the perfect kiss, the one Sasuke had been waiting for, a kiss so simple that he technically already had at least twice but would never be tired of feeling.

"Did I redeem myself?", Naruto asked

"I'd say you did", Sasuke responded

"Well, that's great then", Naruto pulled out a little  black box and opened it to reveal a silver ring with a lavender quartz in the shape of a crescent moon looking up (more or less that one pandora ring I really really want), "Sasuke Uchiha, would you make me the happiest man in the entire world and become my husband?", he asked, voice and hands shaking.

If one were to ask Sasuke, he would never reveal that his face was blushing an insane shade of pink and a few tears escaped his eyes at that moment, "Yes, I would!", he tried to contain his excitement, a beautiful smile on his blushing face.

................♡................

A little over a year later, the day of the wedding, disaster struck, it was early in the morning and Itachi held his brother's hair as he threw up in the toilet.

"Did you drink last night?", he asked his younger brother

"You know I hate Alcohol", Sasuke reminded him

"Well...have you been using protection?", Itachi didn't really want an answer but silence was all he needed

"Alright, you take a test, wash your teeth and get in your wedding", Itachi tried his best to problem solve

"How are you so calm right now?", Sasuke asked

"I'm your big brother, it's my job to freak out on the inside the day of my little brother's wedding", Itachi was not joking.

The test came out positive, so Itachi went to the pharmacy as quickly as possible to buy his brother something to alleviate the nausea, "What am I going to do?", Sasuke asked as Itachi and Shisui helped him fix his wedding kimono

"I'll tell you exactly what you'll do, before you get married you have to tell Naruto about it, I doubt he'll leave you because of it. Then you decide whether you want to keep it", Shisui said as he started fixing his hair

"You say that like it's easy", the younger one complained, then came a knock at the door, "You didn't!"

"We didn't ", Shisui paused and passed the baton to Itachi, "But we asked Suigetsu", he walked towards the door and only opened it slightly, "No peeking, both of you! It's bad luck", Itachi warned.

Sasuke wanted to scream, to run away, he was shaking and on the brink of tears, "Naruto,", he swallowed hard before continuing, "I-I'm pregnant"

Naruto beamed behind the door, "Really? That's amazing!", he paused and backtracked, "unless you don't want to keep it"

Sasuke sniffled, "You're not mad?", he asked.

"Why would I be?", the blonde asked back.

"Well, I don't have the fondest memories of my mother getting pregnant...dad forced her to get an abortion or he would have left her", he revealed

"Well, I love you. A pregnancy could never change that, whether you keep it or not", Naruto's words somewhat managed to calm Sasuke down, "See you soon, love", he said, Naruto did the same.

Sasuke's bridesmaids and groomsmen helped with his makeup, as promised, or threatened, his maid of honor was Sakura. Next thing he remembered was standing next to Naruto at the altar. Their kiss would have been perfect if Naruto hadn't slipped on the carpet when he turned around to face Sasuke. They did kiss, but at the same time they fell to the ground.

"You're going to have to redeem yourself all over again now", said Sasuke.

Naruto chuckled, stood up and helped his husband stand up as well, "I can't wait"

................♡................

Author's Note:

Thank you so much for reading!

This is the longest fic I'ce ever written! I struggled writing the pregnancy and wedding scene SO MUCH! I will admit that it's rushed, I will definitely some more in depth one shots or maybe make a multi chapter fic.

Come yap with me on socials!

https://linktr.ee/C4|4mityV4in

Thank you for reading,

XOXO Sasha <3

[thefifthhokage]

I appreciate that iconsbytina gave us one that is a close up of her tits.

[forevermore05]

Let's say you're one of the writer's way back when Atla was first starting. Bryke has stepped back and let the writers do their thing. What are some things you would keep or remove completely? What are things you would have done differently? What would you have liked to explore more of with the story and the characters?

OOOH good question

I would definitely be giving South Asia, Hinduism, and Buddhism their honour back but making Desi main characters not caricatures. I will pay my respects to those religions by using them properly and not discarding them when you don't truly understand their meaning. And better representation will all the cultures.

Likewise, I would make a 4th (or maybe more) book, so we can see the healing of the 4 nations and flesh out the Gaang and other characters properly. I feel like ending it on book 3 was too sudden, and I hate the comic, so I don't even recognize those, since it is so OOC.

I would make Zuatara canon through some slow burn. I would not pair Aang up with anyone, since he is too young but keep him having a crush on Katara for the Chakra arc (which stays true and respect to Hinduism) but to provide a lesson on heartbreak and moving on. Same with Toph, such a cute little baby.

I will REMOVE those nonconsenual kisses entirely. Basically out with Kataang.

I want to see more of the evil politics of the Fire Nation before Aang defeats Ozai and how Zuko deals with it. In contrast, to how Zuko handles politics being Fire Lord.

I WANT more Suki and her backstory. I also want to see her and Ty Lee fight side by side. It would be so cool.

I would actually have Zuko and Katara speak to Azula after the Agni Kai.

I would keep Sokka's sexism arc.

Not only that, but I would love to explore Yue even more and her take on the NWT

I also want to go in depth with Mai, I want to give her some depth.

Have Aang's character understand the Mahabharat scripture before making a choice. (Maybe kill Ozai)

I want to see a healing arc for Azula

I also want Uncle Iroh to face some repercussion of being an activity member of war. I love Uncle Iroh, and I want to write the consequences and him accepting humbly due to his development.

Book 4 and (leading to adulthood) head canons for the Gaang

Katara: Helps the SWT and NWT, then goes on to become ambassador for the SWT in the Fire Nation

Zuko: Fire lord

Aang: Helping all the Nations to heal

Toph: I think she would totally be the creator of the pro-bender, you cannot change my mind, I think she would also become a teacher

Suki: Girlbossing as a Kyoshi Warriors and being known as one of the best

Sokka: Become Chief of SWT and a skilled engineer

I want Katara and Zuko to find his mother together (so we can get good development)

I feel like I have more, but I will add more if I think of any.