#(every time i end up stopping in the great shinobi war shit. it's just So Much...)

[orcelito]

Oh Boy if the naruto brain grips me as hard as it did in 2018, I really just might end up doing a trigunxnaruto crossover. Specifically with trigun characters in naruto world

Listen. I am just utterly fascinated by Naruto's world building. And if I can find a way to fit Vash (and Nai) into the Naruto world's lore in a way that is both convincing and fitting. Then fuck YEAH I wanna do it

[lexpressobean]

I've been thinking about these 3 alot...

... and how much they seem to really respect Shino. I know it's a filler, but, like... Why does it seem like Shino has a knack for finding children who have wondered off away from school? Like, he's just taking a walk, making his way around the village or surrounding forest, and then there they are. Kids playing hooky or some shit. And Shino just takes it upon himself to approach them and steer them back to where they should be, while getting them attached to him somehow in the process??

But honestly. If this was just one of many times this had happened, I'd say Shino does this not out of his knack for teaching or having a way with kids. Rather, he developed a way with kids and easily applies that to his teaching because he has a strong desire to simply protect children. And it's not even from some paternal instinct as much as survival, because I think it stems from the developing trauma of losing Torune to Danzo. And I don't think it's all subconscious either.

Like I know the novel and anime frames his desicion to teach as a sort of a new goal in life as the war has ended for a couple years already and a noticable Peace has been achieved by the Blank Period and well... He's an Aburame.

Like, the Aburame are literal living, breathing, walking bioweapons. With no fight to utilize that, what else is there? Well, much like the Nara have the Nara forest and Pharmacology specifically, The Aburame most likely have a historical stake in the area of Konoha, perhaps it was simply in their Ancestral Home. Idk, but they're here to stay, they ain't budging. They're Clan Culture is very Martial and I'd argue Spartan in nature, but otherwise, they do other things too. I think they'd do well as major players in the conservation and research of native species of animals and plants, but definitely insects too. I bet they play a huge part in the general area's ecosystem, especially due to the fact that the Kamizuru clan attacked with a whole clan's worth of non-native Hymenoptera that could very well have become and still are an irritatingly and consistent problem as invasive species tend to be. And as a far as goods go, why not put some of them to use and handle an apiary? Honey is a great good to sell. All of this is great as a clan that no longer needs to fight. But, what about individual members in general, and so Shino?

Well Shino is the Heir of this clan. This Noble Clan. This "ready to throw hands at any moment" clan. It's future is in his hands, so to speak. So I doubt Shino would completely sever his connection to Shinobi life all together. And so, teaching at the Academy would be a great way to keep that connection. Teachers have to know their stuff, after all.

But what if in order to ensure teaching was his calling, Shino did his absolute best to make Jounin ASAP so he could take on a Genin Team. And. And by chance, it ended up being these three?? And they are absolutely STOKED!!! And they also pass Shino's genin test, which... would probably be a feat in it's own right. But they already know Shino, and Shino has bestowed upon them some wisdom they actually took to heart! Yeah, well, in reality they might be just a tad too old to be Shino's first official genin squad, but they were still his squad one point in a sense, right?

Kon Nohara, Tano Ikemoto, and Aoki Kobayashi

I even gave them names help Imagine these three are already chuunin at least and decide they want to pay Shino a visit and even volunteer to help Shino during class time on a collective day off because they admire him so much (T~T)

But even then if not these three kiddos, maybe these three li'l shits lol

Even in times of Peace, Shino's special set of skills seem too useful to waste, and being a Jounin teacher would definitely have been a way he could still go on missions, but also definitely commit to becoming a Sensei at the academy once he was 100% sure and got older. Kurenai became a Jounin/Genin Squad Leader in her late twenties, but in comparison I see Shino doing that more mid-20s. (He needs some time to travel and find his big bug friend and generally live a little?)

Kurenai was a Genjutsu Specialist who manned a Tracker/Sensing based team. This sounds like it was a highly beneficial combination, even if she ended up being somewhat sadistic lol. Asuma was bound to Team 10 by Tradition as InoShikaCho and Sarutobi have that Pact together. Kakashi's team was literally Cherry Picked for him specifically by the 3rd Hokage. And Gai, a Taijutsu Specialist, had a team that Specialized in Taijutsu and Physical Offense.

Of all four teams, Kurenai and Gai were very suited to their teams, Gai in a complimentary way and Kurenai in a Challenging way. In that same vein, I think Shino would imitate Gai. Shino as a Shinobi himself has a general set of skills, but the way he goes about them are very niche. But, he was always very stealthy, and could sneak up on nearly anyone. Gags aside, he could go unnoticed as long as he wanted too, and by the time he was noticed or was ready to attack, he has you quite literally surrounded. Honestly I can see why Search and Destroy would be an Aburame's forte, but when there's no need, a person with a personal skill of high quality stealth could probably man a team with an emphasis on Reconnaissance and/or Surveillance, even Bodyguarding. I feel like Shino would probably put an emphasis on Stealth and Tracking too, utilizing his insects as sort of assistants that keep tabs on his students (Stealth Test) as well as to encourage just enough fear during too much down time in his students to inspire quality training opportunities, so maybe Kurenai rubbed off on Shino more than they all realized haha

(Plus I'm sure his students would be be smart and thoughtful enough to eventually understand what Shino and his bugs are: a complete unit. They realize just how strong and dedicated Sensei really is to be the way he is, and they all learn more in depth about Kikaichu and it's like WOW SENSEI YOU REALLY ARE RISKING BEING EATEN ALIVE EVERY SINGLE DAY, AREN'T YOU? But he's still here, because THAT'S how strong he's become over the years and the confidence to manipulate the Kikaichu while having to think of current chakra level, the most efficient use at any given time, how many he actually needs, how long usage will last, ect. They are high maintenance, man!)

Shino would no doubt produce highly skilled Bodyguards and Masters of Stealth. Maybe the type that would end up being in high demand for the eventual Celebrities that start to pop up as times change, but still very much needed when it comes to Criminal Activity, like in Sora-Ku?

But as time passes and he decided to teach at the Academy, he'd feel very at ease to do so. He'd be happy to be put in charge of all these children, because he would be able to help teach them things they need to know to defend themselves and others in a world where adults like Danzo had and will continue to exist. Maybe while he's at it, he'd use his stance as a Noble Clan Heir and accomplished Shinobi to push for changes in government with Sai's help and with Naruto and Shikamaru's cooperation? Like, the truth does come out, everyone on the Council were actually horrible and had too much power. So HERE are some ideas and REASONS why these ideas should be implemented because Shino's not going to let his brother's life and death be in vain!? HELL no, we WILL make some changes around here. Shino sees his students and just wants a future where no kid ever has to live in fear of being completely taken advantage of by the very system that was supposed to keep them safe and they pledged allegiance to.

I cannot help but think of the quiet but absolute fear little Shino was harboring for the years to come after Torune was taken by that strange man and Father Shibi didn't even attempt to stop him. His own father didn't dare beat the shit out of this strange man who came looking for him, and the only solution for Shino to stay was for Torune to make himself look more desirable as an asset and be taken instead. I bet there was a lot of misplaced resentment there for a while, and talks that just didn't happen. Maybe a classmate doesn't show up to class one day and Shino is IMMEDIATELY stressed out and just... takes it upon himself to look for them after class. And he's relieved when he see they're simply at home with a fever. Shit like that just fucks with Shino, because theres people taking kids and no one is doing anything about it?? And then as Shino grew older he realized exactly what happened and how slimy the machine of Konoha really is and it was never completely Shibi's fault that Torune had to leave. He grows mentally at a faster rate than most of his classmates, and knows more than a kid really needs to know.

Shino doesn't want that for any other child. Shino is the kind of person who hears kids screaming outside of his house and he can't tell if they're playing or being murdered and it's stressful to the point he'll check through his window and he sees them for himself. He get stressed out seeing a kid in public unattended and WANTS to approach them to help if need be but also maybe he's overthinking it and the parents are there somewhere and he'd just end up looking suspicious. Like, that's what I kind of figure for Shino. He's so hyperaware of the power dynamic between kids and adults and seeing a kid so ready to fall victim to that makes Shino feel ill the more he thinks of what could happen. And he wonders if watching the kid in the market until they finally reunite with their parent so he could move on with the rest of his day causes him even a fraction of the the utterly disgusting flurry of nerves and fear that Shibi must have felt all those years ago. It goes along with his desire to spare every single little insect's life he can. It goes a long with the fact he only gets violent unless absolutely necessary. Like he wants to be strong but he doesn't want to go mad with power either, less he becomes the very thing that hurt him and his family in the first place.

Originally Shino wanted to become strong to be able to defend himself because at a very young age adults failed him and Torune. But then that changes to defend not only himself, but others as he grows on a team, and realizes trust is important. And then he figured if there must be adults out there that would hurt a child, it's only logical that he should become one that would only nurture and teach one to be strong as well.

Anyway, yeah. Had some feelings. Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

[depressedhatakekakashi]

What are you talking about? Your recent reblogged just said Kakashi is a powerful hokage. Lmao I agree he is a powerful ninja but he is the weakest hokage. How can they list new jutsu in his data book when all he ever did as the hokage is read icha icha? The ‘technological state’ you are talking about was because of Shikamaru. Kakashi is a messy Hokage like Tobirama. He is lazy and he escapes his duties like how he always does. Instead of visiting his dead friend’s grave he should have done something worthwhile as a hokage, not by letting Shikamaru fix all the papers for him or giving Shizune a hard time as his secretary.

Shizune having a hard time as Kakashi's secretary is 100% fanon, and Shikamaru doing all the work is complete bullshit. It's stated that the technological advencements of Konoha are Kakashi's doing.

That Kakashi made Konoha the most economically successful village out of the five shinobi villages and connected them through trade so that they relied on each other. Needed each other.

Those were Kakashi's successes, not Shikamaru's. the idea that Kakashi didn't do shit as Hokage is just blatantly wrong. Kakashi was the one who modernized the leaf village and created strong diplomatic relations with the other villages.

It was Kakashi who went to Gaara when he needed help with Naruto's wedding, showing that the villages could help each other in times of need great or small.

'All he ever does is read Icha Icha'

Fucking where? Does he read Icha Icha a lot? yes. It's a coping mechanism for him that he has had for years. An escape from reality. But Kakashi is shown in Cannon to be a dutify Hokage who gets his paper work done himself and take's care of everything as he should.

He IS a strong Hokage.

Kakashi is a Hokage who knows all of the releases, even after losing the sharingan. A feat accomplished by very few. This includes Yin and Yang release.

Kakashi isn't the strongest Hokage, and i never said he was. But to say he's a weak Hokage is blatently wrong. He's stronger than Tsunade and is up there alongside Hiruzen and Tobirama. Hashirama and Naruto also have god status because of the prophecy bullshit so we're simply not going to count them cuz they got an edge over every single other Hokage.

Kakashi litterally created new Jutsu with the loss of his Sharingan. the manga and Anime show him training all the time and that didn't stop with the war ending and him becoming Hokage. Onoki was stunned by Kakashi's sheer power in the Kakashi Hidan Novel, and by the time of Boruto Kakashi has his purple lighting. A jutsu that's stronger than his Chidori (which he can't use anymore because the sheer speed of it requires the sharingan)

Don't come onto my page and belittle Kakashi's achievements and try to pass them onto others. at no point in cannon are we led to belive that Shizune has to chase Kakashi around to make him do his work. We see him doing his work without problem (is he bored? yes. Does he still do the work? YES). Shizune struggled more with Tsunade, who outright didn't want to do the job but still did her paperwork easier than Naruto.

At no point is it even fucking suggested that shikamaru made the technological advancements of Konoha. Shikamaru is the tactical lead. His job is not to do Kakashi's paperwork or his meetings or approve all of the shit that Kakashi approved and set into motion. That was Kakashi. Kakashi put in the effort to grow Konoha. Kakashi made Konoha a larger village with trains and lap tops and cell phones.

KAKASHI IMPROVED KONOHA AND MADE A SUCCESSFUL VILLAGE FOR NARUTO TO TAKE OVER!

did he have help? Absolutly. but don't fucking hand over his achievements to others. you can fuck right off with that shit.

[roguishredaxion]

My BnHA AU List

Sorry for the length. Fics that are currently available to read have links. To those of you mentioned in this post, I wanted to make sure people knew where the ideas originally came from. (And you’re all awesome anyway!)

Can't See The Forest For The Trees - Genderbent Midoriya Izuku who became a vigilante known as the Forest in Musutafu. Has been operating for five years dealing mostly with information gathering and dispersal and some smaller situations that crop up on the streets. Todoroki Shouto is on patrol in the area and takes an interest in the unknown vigilante after she helps out with a situation where he got in over his head. AO3

A Piece of Patchwork (Improperly Placed) - AU where Izuku and Aizawa swap places in canon. Izuku fights the hero system to become the first quirkless hero, graduating alongside Present Mic. He gets called in to help in a situation where the villain has the ability to steal quirks, five years before the start of canon, providing part of the back-up team for All Might. Part 1 is the battle against All for One, part 2 is an alternate ending to the fight. Part 3 is Izuku learning to use One for All, which was forcefully given to him by All Might at the end of the battle. Part 4 is the other half of the role swap, where Aizawa grows up alongside Bakugou and is trying to get into UA. AO3

The Fallacy of Greatness (AKA Tenth, in my files) - AU where the whole first year class of UA in canon is born 4 years later than in canon. All Might encounters a 10 year old Izuku who asks if he can be a hero. Even after rescuing Bakugou and proving his heroic spirit, All Might elects not to give One for All to a child as young as Izuku. Izuku, desperate for someone to believe in his dreams, realizes that he has to be his first believer and decides to take matters into his own hands and prepare for a future in heroism on his own. AO3

The Capture Scarf Caper - Based on an idea from @terrible-my-hero-academia-aus Izuku finds Aizawa's capture scarf discarded in an alley and takes it home. He figures out how to use it and becomes so proficient that it accidentally gets mistaken for a quirk. Deciding to capitalize on the strange bias he's come up against, he uses the capture scarf to get into Class 1-A. Unfortunately, this means his teacher is the original owner of his scarf. Suddenly his deception is a lot more desperate and precarious. Meanwhile, Aizawa is trying to figure out why his instincts are telling him to pay such close attention to this anxious kid. AO3

The Better Part of Valor - Suspected Traitor Izuku AU a la @gentrychild. After Aizawa discovers one of Izuku's hero analysis notebooks, he drags Izuku to an interrogation room trying to get him to confess to being the traitor in UA. Izuku comes to realize that several of his classmates were also made aware of this theory and have been feeding information on his movements to their teacher for a while. Betrayed, he starts to pull away from class, falling back into some of the same habits from middle school to go unnoticed and fall off of people's awareness. At some point, his classmates realize that he's no longer staying in the dorms, they only ever see him in class, and All Might is the only person he will voluntarily interact with.

Civil Disobedience - All Might doesn't track Izuku down after the slime incident, but Bakugou's parting words cut far deeper after the day he's had. Realizing that everyone talks about how great of a hero Bakugou will be, Izuku comes to the conclusion that he wants to be the exact opposite of what Bakugou is. He elects to become a villain who goes after and exposes corrupt heroes. Adopting the username Wasureta for his villain work, he collects information on heroes who aren't performing their job as they should and releases it to the court of public opinion, taking away the support that has kept them from being exposed before this. As he digs deeper into the cesspool of rotten heroes, he manages to collect enough information to rake Endeavor over the coals and ends up with an interesting new follower. Dabi, meanwhile, is shocked by the ruthless but polite teenager he found when he tried to find Wasureta and he's not sure if he's impressed by what the kid has accomplished on his own, or horrified by the scope of what he controls.

Hunting Prometheus - There is another quirkless student attending Aldera Middle School, but she wasn't born that way unlike Izuku. When she was seven, her quirk was stolen from her by a man with a smooth voice and a forgettable face and she's been existing in a state of carefully cultivated rage since that day. Before, she never even considered becoming a hero. Now her only goal is to become a hero so she can find that man and punch him in the face. (OC fic, obviously)

Lost Stars in an Indifferent Universe - Leverage AU, five parts, origin for each member of the team. Izuku is told to be realistic and he tries to be following his disastrous encounter with All Might. But realistic means that he has already exceeded the life expectancy of quirkless individuals, acknowledging the fact that no amount of studying or work will let him join a remotely helpful career, and he is stuck living with his mother while he wastes away as a janitor at a nearby middle school following the completion of his high school education. When he returns to a tall building he hadn't managed to convince himself to jump off of yet, he finds that the abandoned space has been taken over by a black market of sorts and gets folded into a world of grey morals and an underground economy based on merit instead of quirk. When he becomes aware of an illegal quirk experimentation operation and tries to blow the whistle, several attempts are made on his life in order to shut him up. Instead of disappearing, he gets angry and decides to collect a team to strike back and prove the shady shit the lab is up to. (Izuku=Mastermind, Shinsou=Grifter, Hatsume=Hacker, Shoji=Hitter, Eri=Thief)

Love and Other Things Not Bound By the Laws of Time - Mr. Peabody and Sherman AU. Nezu adopts a young Midoriya Izuku whose mother died shortly after he was diagnosed as quirkless. Determined to show his new son that one's quirk or lack thereof means nothing in the grand scheme of things, UA's principal develops the WABAC machine to travel through time and prove just how capable people were before quirks manifested. He indulges Izuku's passion and curiosity, encouraging him to look into as much or as little as he wants on any subject. It becomes clear that, while not supernaturally intelligent, Izuku is a genius whose ability to make connections and strategize is by far his greatest asset, especially as he still holds onto the goal of becoming a hero.

The Quiet Revolution (collab w/ my sister) - The Todoroki siblings need therapy. Instead of getting that therapy, they decide to meet up for dinner every Saturday night, begin a tradition where they burn their father in effigy each week, accidentally start a highly successful Minecraft YouTube channel, and generally cause the downfall of the existing hero system through the power of networking.

You Can Tell What I Am By The Lines In My Skin - BnHA/Naruto AU. Naruto dies in his own universe and is reborn into the My Hero Academia Universe as Midoriya Izuku. He remembers who he was, but his chakra, which followed him into this life, is always out of reach. He trains as best he can to keep up his regular ninja skills but can't break through the barrier separating him from his chakra. He still meets and trains under All Might. When he receives One for All, however, the sensation that fills him is entirely familiar. It breaks through the barrier as though it isn't even there, and settles inside like it's always been there. Honestly, he had been missing the angry furball anyway, so he was glad Kurama managed to follow him to this world. With access to his chakra again, the world is about to discover just how effective one shinobi can be in a world of heroes.

War Games - (Inspired by RogueDruid's Hero Class Civil Warfare and others similarly inspired by it.) A year-wide hero class exercise is announced. Bakugou is announced as the Hero leader while the villain leader's identity is kept secret. Izuku knows it's him before the letter appears in his room. The students are allowed to pick whichever side they want, but most choose the hero side, which has won the exercise every time it has been run. This year is no different. Todoroki realizes that Izuku is the villain leader and signs up with him. Izuku goes and recruits Momo and Monoma to his side. Then, after consulting the rules, he folds in Shinsou and Hatsume as well. Monoma plays decoy villain leader and attempts to collect a few more people, but they've already signed up for the hero side. Izuku, without explicitly saying that he's signed up with the hero team, gets folded into the hero strategy sessions since no one expected him to make a different choice. He proceeds to get "taken out" in the first villain assault, and most people don't realize what's happening until it's far too late.

Life's A Game (And I'm Player One) - AU in which Izuku realizes that he does have a quirk but can't tell anyone about it because a) he can't prove it and b) it could be dangerous if he talks about what he can see. His quirk, which he privately calls Stat Check, freezes time just for him in order to open up what looks like a video game character bio that explains a person's quirk, as well as containing vital statistics. It only works in person or on unaltered photographs with a person's face or a distinctive enough feature to identify them. As he gets older, more tabs are added to the bio, and he starts to notice signs above certain people's heads telling him what level he needs to be to fight them (he stops seeing these after receiving OfA, until he sees AfO in Kamino Ward). In pictures, only the first tab is available unless he took the picture while time was frozen, in which case all the tabs are accessible. Because of this, he has accordion folders filled with photographs of people instead of analysis notebooks.

Of Unpainted Fences and Raw Ingredients - Smart Izuku AU. He has been writing essays about hero society, morality, and several other issues since before UA, but he doesn't realize how much people are paying attention to them until the essays start becoming required reading for certain classes. Meanwhile, the teachers are desperate to get in contact with him, not expecting that the essayist they have been gushing over is sitting near the back of the class, trying not to blush.

In A Mirror Darkly - Aizawa is out on patrol with Shinsou and Midoriya when they are attacked and the boys are apparently obliterated by an enemy quirk. The rest of the class attempts to help Aizawa, but he blames himself for their deaths. It doesn't help that he keeps seeing flashes of them in the mirror out of the corner of his eye and could swear he heard one or both of their voices in the middle of the night. Meanwhile, Shinsou and Midoriya are stuck out of sync with the rest of the universe and can't communicate with anyone except Aizawa, and only through mirrors. Izuku figured out that they have maybe two weeks before they waste away since they can't interact with anything being stuck in this in-between space. The only way they can get out is for Aizawa, who was there when they de-synced, to touch them and bring them back in sync with the rest of the world.

Guerilla Tactics - Vigilante Class 1-A AU. After the slime villain debacle, Izuku runs away from Bakugou and the heroes. He literally runs into Todoroki Shouto and they commiserate about how the heroes have failed them. Realizing a bit late exactly who Shouto's father is and why he's trying to run away, Izuku offers to come up with a plan to help him get away cleanly. (This is sort of the worst timeline, where most of the good teachers aren't employed at UA, Nezu is not the principal, and the HPSC is in charge of almost everything.) The plan they come up with involves Shouto failing the recommended exam, then disappearing the day results arrive home. Izuku, meanwhile, attends the regular exam and sees how the whole points system benefits those with flashier quirks and easily aimed egos. He gets to talking with a lot of hero hopefuls and sort of steals them out from under UA when their applications are rejected. They move into an abandoned sector of outer Tokyo and start working as vigilantes. Dadzawa makes an appearance, as if summoned by the horde of teenagers with no form of parental guidance to speak of.

No Rest for the Wicked (Or The Damned) - Person Of Interest AU. Instead of apologizing to Izuku when he asked if he could still be a hero without a quirk, Inko points out the other ways he can be a hero, by building the things they would need to fight crime. Figuring that one of the main problems with villains is that no one knows when they're going to attack, Izuku creates an intelligent program that can assess a high volume of data and extrapolate when and where a villain attack will take place, and who the villain will be. When his mom is killed and he's badly injured in an attack his AI predicted, Izuku realizes that no one is taking his information seriously because he's quirkless. He decides to take matters into his own hands and reaches out to an unlikely helper. Dabi doesn't know why this kid decided he was the best option to stop a lot of the more violent crime he somehow knows is going to happen, but he promised and then delivered Endeavor's fall from grace, so he's willing to see where this goes.

Binary Stars - Slight Megamind AU. Before their respective planets were destroyed, Izuku and Bakugou were placed in small space pods and sent towards Earth. Bakugou's people were warriors who looked enough like humans that they intermarried (unbeknownst to humans), thus bringing about the first quirks. Izuku's people, however, are survivors. Their planet was populated by predators so their greatest asset was their ability to camouflage themselves. As Bakugou's people often hunted Izuku's people, they gained a sort of sixth sense for them, which is why Izuku's very presence pisses Bakugou off. (All for One is from Bakugou's planet. He was exiled for stealing power. The last power he stole was what he gave his brother, and the brother always resented him for getting them both sent away.) Izuku still receives OfA, and is the first of his species to have a quirk/power like that.

The Wings of Icarus - Spy AU. Todoroki Shouto works for Yuuei, an espionage agency run by his father. He's been training practically since birth, no thanks to his father, and is second in the spy business only to a person known as Icarus. When something goes wrong on a mission, he is rescued by a short man with freckles and deep green eyes shortly before he passes out. He is found at one of the entrances to Yuuei with a note from Icarus to the tune of "I think you lost this", making Shouto the only person to have actually seen Icarus. Meanwhile, Nezu is running a small but successful info brokerage out of a bakery with three kids he picked up off the streets years before: Izuku, Shinsou, and Hatsume. Codenames: Icarus, Psyche, and Daedalus, respectively. Nezu is known as Zeus.

Dark is the Night (Momo is Batman: version 1) ​ - Based on an idea from @terrible-my-hero-academia-aus​ . Momo loses her parents in a villain attack when she's eight. She throws herself into her studies in earnest, determined to be a hero. In the meantime, however, she has a hard time ignoring all of the hardship she sees on the streets, all of the crimes that go unanswered.  However, to duck the vigilantism laws and disguise her identity, she wears a suit that covers every part of her body (think Cassandra Cain as Batgirl) because no one would assume that someone with a creation quirk that needed exposed skin to function was under it. She produces everything she needs at home. Aizawa notices that there's someone off about Yaomomo, something fake. It isn't until he runs into her on patrol that he figures something out.

Used to the Darkness (Momo is Batman: version 2) - Based on an idea from @terrible-my-hero-academia-aus​ . Bruce Wayne was reincarnated as Yaoyorozu Momo. She remembers everything about her previous life, but she has adapt all of the fighting training she knows to her new female body. The intelligence and detective skills are useful in this new world, especially since a good portion of logic and deduction has fallen by the wayside for the majority of those in law enforcement. The quirk is something else to get used to, but it's highly effective at producing materials of various things needed for vigilantism. She's interested to see how far she can take the limits of the superpower this universe had given her. At the very least, she's more than capable of recreating the gear she had. Even though her parents haven't died in this universe, she still ends up going out at night and trying to help in whatever way she can. Upon meeting and befriending Todoroki Shouto, she realizes the good she can be in this universe. She attacked the corruption in Gotham wherever she could. Why shouldn't she be able to do the same here? The night is still dark and the people who hide in it are the same cowards they've always been. It's about time someone reminded them that the dark hides more than just their actions.

A Rose By Any Other Name (AKA the Haruhi AU) - Based on a prompt found on @rayshippouuchiha‘s blog. Midoriya Izumi is having trouble staying in uniform after starting middle school because her bullies have decided to step up the abuse a little bit and keep burning them. She had three sets of uniforms, and all three are burned by the third day of classes. What's more, the nurse doesn't have any spare girls uniforms and her teacher insists that she needs to be in uniform and not in her gym outfit. Since the nurse does have a boys uniform that would fit her, Izumi elects to follow her teacher's instructions and shows up in a boys uniform as she doesn't care as much about the clothes she's wearing as she does about following what her teacher said. Cue a gender identity crisis. AO3

Nothing But The Truth - Izuku is hit by a truth quirk while out on patrol and Aizawa is made to babysit him until it wears off. Although he tries to avoid more sensitive lines of questioning, Aizawa asks about his analysis notebooks and ends up accidentally learning about One For All, Izuku's life prior to receiving it, and what his Problem Child's true goals regarding heroism are. (Might become a series with this as a oneshot, or a multi-chapter story as originally planned.)

Panacea - Izuku has a hidden quirk his whole life, one that people didn't even consider could be a quirk. He has a super-powered immune system, and it can and will treat damaging quirks as an infection to fight. His burns from Bakugou's quirk heal faster and faster, emitter quirks used on him start to be less effective after the first couple of times until they don't work at all. He has the ultimate cure in his blood and no way to share it. And then he receives One For All, a powerful stockpiling quirk with a secondary aspect that makes it capable of passing from person to person regardless of heritage. Izuku doesn't realize it, but his invisible quirk got a free pass to start changing the world, one touch at a time. (Possible Dad For One) (Just had the stupid thought that Izuku's quirk is basically Cure For All)

Prototype - While getting scolded after the Slime Villain incident, an underground hero known as Prototype shows up and forces the other pros on the scene to back off. They then walk Izuku home (accidentally forcing him to miss All Might's offer). During the walk, Izuku confesses that he is giving up on his dream of being a hero since everyone says it's impossible. Prototype points out that Izuku was the only one on the scene who was thinking about a solution from more than one angle, which is a useful skill for an underground hero to have. They offer to take him on as their apprentice in the underground, promising that if he still wants to be a hero, an apprenticeship would be more flexible and faster than trying to become a hero through one of the heroics schools. They advise Izuku to think about it and discuss it with his mom, since he would probably be spending a lot of time training out of the house and not every parent is willing to let their child basically move in with someone they barely know. Izuku, after talking things over with his mom, decides to go for it, embarking on a totally different journey to being a hero than he ever expected.

Yesterday's Sunshine (A Storm On The Rise) - Based on @hey-hamlet's End of An Era AU in which the mind of a 19 year old Izuku fighting a losing battle against Paranormal Liberation Front and the League of Villains is sent back to his 14 year old body, a mere month after he started training with All Might. He is traumatized and trying to hide the fact that he is shocked to see the people he knows died walking around again, untouched and whole. He's determined to make everything better this time, to keep his loved ones from dying or betraying him in the worst ways. He also needs to try and stay ahead of the people around him, who are trying to figure out why this child who shouldn't have encountered many villains in his life, is so terrifyingly good at putting them down hard. (I'm considering adding an aspect of DFO.)

Searching for Tododeku - Or Five Times Shouto Tricks Midoriya Into A Date and One Time Midoriya Asks Him Instead. Featuring semi oblivious Izuku, Shouto stealth-competing for the title of supreme memelord with Kaminari, and a cameo of Endeavor's crippling addiction to tabloid magazines.

Planar Shift - An All For One-Izuku body swap just weeks prior to a fight that would have left AFO and All Might both greviously injured. Izuku is quick to realize that the person he ended up in doesn't seem to be a nice person (and he tries not to think about what it would mean if the person is in his body around Kacchan) and has a lot more quirks than a person should have. His childhood doctor is there, as is a strange boy with delicate skin, a disintegration quirk, and a love of video games but little else. Then there's the purple mist person who reads as both alive and dead to one of Izuku's new quirks. When he figures out that All Might is trying to track this villain down (and will probably think it's a trick if Izuku tries to explain his situation), he decides that he should get himself, the kid, and the not-dead-but-not-alive person out of there. He doesn't know how long he's going to be in this body, but he wants to be the hero those two need, even if he's technically a villain.

Environmental Damage - Hitman Izuku AU. When Izuku's mother is killed when he's young, he manages to track down the killer but the police won't take him seriously because he's quirkless. Neither will any of the heroes he approached with it. So instead he goes back to the criminal underground where he found most of his information and talks to an assassin who had a soft spot for him. Izuku agreed to become the man's apprentice so he can take out the person who killed his mother himself. After that, he starts selling his services to people who can't get out of bad situations, offering a much reduced rate compared to other contract killers. Then a kid his age with red and white hair approaches him about killing the Number Two hero.

Summertime and Seaglass - Aizawa keeps running into this mute homeless kid on his patrols. He's not sure what to make of him, except that he needs someone to care for him, especially as the nights are getting colder. Treating the kid a bit like an abused and feral cat, he starts taking food with him to offer the kid when they meet up. It's more or less an accident when he learns the kid's name is Midoriya Izuku, a child thought to be dead and burned three years before when he and his mother were caught in a villain attack that was ended violently by Endeavor. Aizawa wants to give Midoriya and all of the other victims of Endeavor's carelessness the justice they deserve, and maybe by the time he's done the kid will let him bring him in from the cold.

The Importance of Being Batman - (Based on an idea from @terrible-my-hero-academia-aus​ .) Izuku spends a lot of time on forums for quirkless people, getting support and advice from other people like him who don't have a quirk. He gets the attention of an old Admin, Toshinori, and they talk about heroics, pre-quirk comic books, and the importance of representation and symbols in modern media and culture. After failing to get into heroics in the entrance exam, Izuku shifts his focus slightly. Batman didn't have any special powers in the comics, but he was one of the best heroes in his universe. Izuku decides that if he can build the skills, knowledge and (most importantly) money to become his own version of Batman, that would be almost like being a hero. It's time that society learns that 'useless' is a matter of choice, not birth, and even someone who doesn't have a quirk can do incredible things.

[lazylazyhowl]

A work in progress— (sasusaku oneshot)

—because the Sharingan may let him copy a lot of things, but skills of the heart are not amongst them.  [Sasuke. On, accepting himself. And her.]

AO3 Link

—

"Maybe next time."

His words are calculated.

Maybe, he's said, and given himself a way out. Given her a probability that, should the odds fall through later on, he can point at and absolve himself of responsibility. The same shit Itachi pulled when they were younger, really, except he won't apologize for it.

He sees the way her face lights up with hope and feels a mirroring force of optimism inside him that he has to clamp down to keep from bursting through the surface and muddying the reality of what he's doing.

His journey cannot involve her no matter what. He's not ready to be with her in any capacity of the words. Perhaps never. But he also doesn't want his last—but only for a while, he adamantly tells himself—memory of her to be a frown.

She's been burdened enough where he's involved. So he'll let her see him off with a smile, even if it's only self-gratification.

There is no guilt when he leaves her with his own smile and gratitude and goes on his way.

.

.

The day before his departure, she demanded a spar. He was bleary-eyed squinting at her, in her ninja gears, standing in the damp cold of early morning in front of his door, the flush of her cheeks of strange particular interest to him for a moment before he simply nodded.

She cited professional purposes ("I want to make sure you're in proper conditions for travel, Sasuke-kun.") even though he had already agreed. Even though her reason was crap and made no sense whatsoever.

He wondered if that was the only reason she thought he would accept, even if not believe; and if her request the only one she thought he was least likely to turn down.

He wondered if she was right.

Thanks to her he never had to find out. He only had to hurry and leave for the training ground with her, knowing Naruto would appear soon after, demanding the same of him. But not for the same reason. (Whatever that might have been.)

.

.

He helps people during his travel, but otherwise generally stays away from them. It's for both his and their good.

More for his.

People ask too many questions, and even the simplest ones dredge up far more than he's willing to deal with.

"Who are you?" they'd ask. "Just a shinobi," he'd answer.

But he's not just a shinobi. Avenger. Missing nin. Akatsuki. Terrorist. War criminal. The list goes on and he cannot in good conscience cross off any one of the items. Those personas, damned as they are, are still a part of him, and if he closes his eyes, he can recall them all in sickeningly vivid details.

"What's your name?" they'd ask. "Uchiha Sasuke," he'd tell them.

And then it's a coin toss on whether recognition and fear flit past their expressions. For the first few times, he's even considered using an alias, but that would have been such a meaningless thing to do in a journey of redemption.

And cowardly.

He's done with running away.

Or so he tells himself.

.

.

It's a calm, sunny day when he stops at a dango stand in a village near the border between Fire and Rain. The decorative flags caught his eyes, he supposes, but he still can't quite pinpoint what has possessed him to purchase a stick of dango for himself.

Itachi loved these (his chest tightens the way it does whenever he's reminded that he can only refer to his brother in past tense), and maybe that's it. But then what?

He isn't one to waste food (though it's debatable whether this is 'food') so he brings it to his mouth and slides the first ball of dango from the skewer.

And he flinches, not from the taste but from the smile that flashes through the front of his mind, innocent and genuine.

His throat runs dry. Too sweet. He makes it through the second ball of dango before leaving the rest behind on the table.

.

.

The night before his departure, Naruto finagled him into joining the rest of team 7 for ramen as his farewell party. There wasn't just team 7 at the party.

She was there, of course, with same the dark rings beneath her eyes that he'd noticed rather belatedly during their spar in the morning. Those hadn't kept her from giving him a few bruises and grazes, but he'd be a little less bothered by them if she hadn't also healed him up afterwards.

("But you don't like the hospital, Sasuke-kun.")

She was out like a candle before they even got to the main course.

Being enthusiastic neither for the people nor the ramen, he jumped at the opportunity and volunteered to take her home.

As he left the shop with her, Naruto called after him not to try anything funny and the table erupted into laughter and catcalls. He did not dignify any of that with a response.

She was completely malleable in his arms (Susanoo), her warm breaths seeping into the chest of his shirt, and he didn't dash through the air and over the roofs of civilian houses to get to the shinobi side of the residential district.

Abrupt movements could wake her, and she would fight to stay awake again.

Susanoo used enough chakra already and he needed to be conservative for tomorrow.

Reasoning ironed out, he took a leisure stroll to her apartment, occasionally glancing down to ensure her eyes remained peacefully closed.

.

He supposes he did attempt something funny that night. He called upon his Sharingan and committed to memory things that rightfully should be of no consequence to him.

.

.

He enjoys the long stretches of solitude in his travel, even if his voice will croak from disuse once he hits civilization again.

He likes forests best, especially after rain. The musk of earth and tree sap reminds him that clean air exists, and there is no curious gaze on his Rinnegan, no whispering except for the rivers and trees.

A heavy flapping of feathers reaches his ears, and he holds out his arm to receive the messenger falcon.

Letters from his team.

Naruto rambles, illegible at places, about everything and anything that has happened and then some more; and Kakashi includes some personal postscripts after a mission briefing.

He reads hers last, after feeding the bird and sending it away.

He's forgotten if he was the type to save the best or worst for last.

It's the first time she's written to him, and she's surprisingly succinct. Perhaps reserved. A greeting. Comment on the weather. Well-wishing. Her name. And that was all.

But against all logic, he felt her longing for him.

He isn't sure if it's the way the ink seems to tremble at certain strokes, or how the creases where the paper was folded adds a depth to the spaces she's left between the sentences, that seem to be filled with unspoken sentiments. Or if it's just his inflated ego.

He burns every letter he receives, as the information might get into the wrong hands, but can't bring himself to do the same for hers.

Fortunate, then, that she's written nothing that would be of interest to anyone.

(But him.)

.

.

The feeling of her eyes on him was calming, almost spiritual, like a brush of warm smoke at the back of his neck, downy feathers on his skin. He could have pretended sleep forever if she wasn't likely to figure him out the longer he kept up the charade.

.

.

It occurs to him one night, looking out the dirty window of an inn, that he has no idea who he is, if not war criminal, not terrorist or Akatsuki or missing nin; if not an avenger.

He's certainly no hero.

The more people he helps, the less he feels himself. There's a disconnect between what he's doing and what he knows himself to be. More often than not, he'd ask himself—what would Naruto do? What would Sakura do? What would Kakashi do? What would Itachi do—have done? (Damnitdamnitdamnit.)

And whatever he'd think they would do he'd do just that. It makes for surprisingly simple problem-solving.

But at his core he's not selfless like Itachi. Not faithful like Naruto. Not loyal like Kakashi. Not kind like Sakura.

At the end of the day, he still doesn't know what he would do.

He scarcely acknowledges it, but he keeps chasing after the back of these great people. He's running himself ragged trying to catch up, but he's so aggravatingly slow that it's a wonder he hasn't lost sight of them all.

He fears it's only a matter of time. And then he will once again be lost and directionless.

He's Uchiha Sasuke, and he no longer knows what that means.

.

.

"Oniichan, you suck." This statement is followed by chattering agreements of the other kids crowding around him on the dirt floor of the orphanage.

Children are vicious creatures, he's beginning to learn. He struggles to recall if he was ever this much trouble to Itachi as a kid. They are also incredibly unhygienic, and they incessantly tug at his clothes and hair, poke at the stub of his arm with such disregard that he almost misses the fangirl treatment from way back when in the village.

By the fifth time that they make him redo the voice for the rabbit-dog-cat-looking thing in the story, he's teeteringly close to setting Amaterasu-fire to the worn book in his lap.

His rescue comes in the form of the old matron appearing in the doorway announcing dinner. The children abandon him like one would a sinking ship.

"Thank you for playing with them, Uchiha-san."

He nods noncommittally as he receives his own bowl of food from one of the older kids. It was hardly his choice when the little ones ensnared him within their circle of skin and bones, threatening to cry if he didn't comply, so he thinks her gratitude is therefore unneeded.

None of these is needed. The feeding him, the lodging. He's only sticking around for at most a few more days to take care of the group of mountain bandits that has been harassing the orphanage. He would have been fine setting up camp nearby and not having to deal with the children growing attached (because he knows they will), but the matron insisted.

He's always had this inexplicable soft spot for the elderly, and he wonders if it's not in parts due to the fact that so few in his world get to be old and grey.

.

.

 "So Little Piggy went to ask Mommy Pig."

The matron's lilting voice floats to his ear as he perches atop the roof of the orphanage, miles and miles of moonlit forest spanning out before him.

 "'What is happiness, Mommy?'"

 "'It's your tail, sweetie,' said Mommy Pig, and Little Piggy looked at her wiggling tail."

For the longest time, he's had an idea of what happiness should be.

It was the firmness of Itachi's back. His mother's warm meals, and his father's approving grunts. It was a compound brimming with powerful chakras, and memories of children play-training in the clan's private training grounds; and red tomatoes getting snuck out of his mother's garden.

 "Little Piggy looked at her tail and began to chase it around in circles until she was out of breath. But no matter how hard she tried she couldn't catch it at all!"

Happiness was home, when home wasn't yet piles of bodies and dark corridors and slipping on cold blood.

He has no idea what happiness would look like now.

 "'Mommy, how can I ever catch happiness?" asked Little Piggy."

 "'Well, sweetie, your tail will always be there. Why don't you keep walking and let happiness follow you?'"

He closes his eyes and taps into the warm hum of collective chakra inside the orphanage, the tiny sparks flickering dimmer and dimmer as sleep slowly claims the children.

 "And so Little Piggy listened to her mother. She walked forward without worry, for she knew her happiness is always wiggling right behind her. The end."

"Goodnight, my dears."

Matron closes the book and gets up from her squeaky chair to stand by the window right beneath where he is, likely to stare out into the forest.

"Goodnight, Uchiha-san."

If he didn't have his shinobi hearing he never would have caught the whispered words.

He's turned the bandits in to the authorities and said all goodbyes in the afternoon. She doesn't know he's there, and he's all the more puzzled.

He stands guard for the rest of the night and silently slips away from the orphanage's grounds at the break of dawn.

.

.

The weather in Tea is shifting into spring when he arrives at its border. After a few days of travelling in silence, he stumbles upon a cherry blossom tree that has flowered early, its cloud-like plumage colourful in a sea of solemn green; low-hanging branches swaying in invitation.

He tells himself it's as good a resting spot as any, and feels a decided sense of betrayal that the spilling flowers don't smell the way he thinks they should.

.

.

A letter arrives suddenly, informing him of her kidnapping, and he doesn't remember another time that he's been more desperate. She's not someone who'd just let herself be taken, and he fears the worst.

Her letters that he's saved in his pocket weigh like a ball of lead near his heart. He's running as if his life's at stakes. Perhaps it is. For the first time since getting the Rinnegan, he wishes he knew how to control it better.

Then, watching her take down her captors, he learns these:

She's grown so much, has come so far from that little girl she once was and no longer needs to be rescued, least of all by him.

He's the very reason why she's been taken in the first place, her weakness, just that kind of toxic existence to her.

After making sure she will be safe, he leaves and doesn't look back.

.

.

Just as she has been born into this life to love him, he must have been born with the sole purpose of bringing her pain.

He only needs all of two weeks in Konoha to have her crying before him again. The weather is grey as if matching the storm in his heart. They're standing in front of that bench where he's left her once upon a time, and he can't say he doesn't notice how history is dangerously close to repeating itself.

Every muscle in his body is coiled for battle, ready to cite the 'maybe' in his promise and gain the slightest semblance of equal moral grounding with her.

She's chewing on her lip in an attempt to bite back her emotions (probably more for his sake than hers. She needs to stop making things easy for him). The tears haven't spilt yet, but they are there, glazing over jewel-like green eyes.

"I thought this time surely—" She cuts herself off when her voice cracks and chews on her lips some more, breaking eye-contact. "What went wrong, Sasuke-kun?"

.

 Before he could stop himself, he'd already slapped her hand away, shouting at her not to touch him.

She simply smiled, like a mother dealing with the tantrum of a child, and calmly finished changing his bandages while guilt still had him in its vice.

.

He went wrong, but what else was new? With her, he's both a madman and a smitten fool, angry and frustrated and thankful and disgusted and confused and elated and most of all scared. Terrified.

The way she hugs herself and seems to be on the brink of falling apart is nauseating to look at. He's getting worked up over what was supposed to be a simple goodbye. But that's the problem, isn't it? Nothing's ever simple when she's involved.

"You know that this is your home, right? You've never needed to earn any right to stay in it."

"…I know."

She raises a doubtful eyebrow. "Do you?"

.

It had taken him two years and countless good deeds to finally find the resolve to forgive himself and return to Konoha as someone he thought would be worthy of his friends.

Yet all it took was one smile from her to undo all the confidence that he'd built up like it was a house of cards. He realized immediately that no amount of atonement would ever redeem him enough to be worthy of her.

"Welcome home, Sasuke-kun."

 And the worst part was that he wanted to stay regardless.

.

"Don't be annoying, Sakura." And he can see her visibly shrink back like she's been hit. He might as well have. His fist curls at his side, itching to do something just to stop her from further torturing her steadily swelling lip.

Instead of leaving him alone as he expects her to (and how senseless it is to keep expecting something that will never happen), she steps forward and grabs gingerly onto his mantle.

"Are you…unsatisfied in Konoha? With m—with us?"

He doesn't respond, and she seems to take his silence as agreement and starts to cry in true. Big, fat droplets roll down her cheeks as she matches his gaze. The raw hurt in her eyes startles him.

"What will make you happy, Sasuke-kun?" She tightens her grip, pulling him infinitesimally closer, choking on her words. "Please, please tell me how I can make you happy."

"That's not your problem." That's apparently also a wrong thing to say. She looks resigned now, and the sight somehow claws at him even more. The wind picks up suddenly, nearly drowning out her next words.

"Do you even want to be happy?"

He thinks for a length and honestly cannot say for certain he does. He can hardly picture what his happiness would be now that the old one is so drenched in blood, and misery is a lot harder to take away from a person.

It's ironic, then – or perhaps apt – that he would chase after something he doesn't really want. Because he's full of greed and self-gratification.

She once again takes his silence into her own narrative and lets out a long sigh. Meeting his gaze again, her eyes are already dry, red-rimmed, beseeching. Her voice is but a whisper.

"Is there something you want, Sasuke-kun? Anything?"

If she puts it that way, he wants a lot of things, as a greedy man should. Full control over the Rinnegan. Restore his clan. A tomato garden. Her. To name a few.

But he looks at her, her red eyes and tear-stained cheeks and bruised lip, and sees that she is all wrong compared to everything he's etched into his memory; and blurts out the single thing that floats up to the forefront of his mind right then.

"I want you to be happy."

It takes her a second to react to his words, her large eyes becoming impossibly larger as her mouth opens only to close again. He's not sure why she's so surprised. Of course, he wishes her happiness, even if that will be independent of his own.

A million emotions seem to flicker past her expression in a second, of which he only identifies disbelief, suspicion, melancholy and finally exasperation before she inexplicably bursts into a short fit of giggles. She lets go of his mantle and, before he can miss the anchoring hold, reaches for his tight fist and brings it up between her palms, squeezing.

"I can do that."

She's smiling that smile that unravels him to his core again, her eyes glittering. And he can blame his carnal desires for overriding all of his faculty, but he finds himself ensorceled.

"How about we work on it together, Sasuke-kun?"

His chest is strangely free of heaviness as he uncurls his fingers, almost in a daze, and encases her callused yet delicate ones.

"Hn."

.

.

A few days before his departure, he asks if she would come with him and she agrees easily, if not a little exasperatedly that he'd waited so long to ask, and he's mystified as to why he's stayed up all night worrying that she wouldn't.

.

.

Three months into their journey together, a newly formed part of him is startlingly assured that she will always have his back, and nothing—nothing can ever change that.

.

It takes a while longer, but the day finally comes that he figures it out.

He's Uchiha Sasuke, and he means everything to Uchiha Sakura.

—

Notes: I do not own the children story.

[themoonthestarstheplanet]

Bring Me the Horizon

(Two ANBU OCs get thrown into the FF7 verse, basically. Enjoy!

@secret-engima @vice-virtue @wolfsrainrules)

WARNINGS; Death, murder, Canablisim. 

Hound has never been particularly interesting in any aspect, at least that was what she would tell you if anyone had ever thought to ask her but as it was what it is it was rare for one to ask her. Of course, that might have something to do with her barely ever speaking unless it was life-or-death.

 Selectively mute, the medics had whispered. Annoyance and Disgrace, her uncles and aunts had muttered amongst themselves when they thought she couldn’t hear. Even when a few of them had even known her hearing was sharper than normal, even when she was just a few feet away from them and could hear them clear as day. 

It had never bothered her. Their options and thoughts were their own and her’s were hers. But her body, of course, could not follow the same thought process as her mind. It was instincts and brain chemistry, she knew, that made her flinch away and freeze in the face of raised voices and quick movements. She hated it, hated the satisfaction it gave them when they saw. 

She hated a lot of things actually. She hated her relatives for their disgust and disregard they had when they had contact with her as if she was diseased and filthy. She hated that they had shunned her father—her wonderful, soft-spoken and so so very gentle father—so much that he took his own life right in front of her. She hated the feeling that would stir in her stomach at her thoughts, that swelled and swelled so much that her body couldn’t take it and burst from her in violent, angry gold-red sparks—almost crystals really. 

She had never actually remembered a time where she hadn’t had that small flame of anger underneath her skin, maybe it was when her father had been alive and had held her close and whispered tales of history and story mixed into one, maybe it was never. The point was that she had never felt anything but anger. (even if underneath all that anger is a lake full of self-hatred and loathing so deep she could drown in it without ever touching the bottom.)

In the end, she enters the Shinobi Academy at six, graduates at seven and after two years in the general shinobi ranks was quickly snatched up and shunted into the ANBU corps. She is one of the youngest to ever enter the ANBU corps and although they don’t like it, they can’t deny she’s good at what she does, nor that she was practically shanghaied into it.

She is given the name Hound and all but throws away her birth name. She all but drowns in her orders and hidden behind her mask no one knows her—no one knows her of the bastard Uchiha, the disgraced Uchiha. What they know of her, is that she is a great tracking, almost second to none bar Sakumo Hatake (Until the man’s suicide that is,) and a stealth specialist that has near enough no equal. Underneath her mask, hidden from sight and no one knowing her clan and sins—her sin of being born—she is a new person. Reborn into something new, something great. Almost like one of the legends that spoke of a bird capable of rebirth. It makes her feel alive, makes her feel something other than anger.

She meets Hyena, Her lifelong partner (Not that she knew it then,) in the middle of a mission gone wrong that he inserts himself into without any care of her thoughts of feelings, (then again, she had never vocalised her feelings before, if ever, and even in ANBU she wasn’t about to start then.)

She hates him at first like she does everything else at that point in her life. He is swift, smooth and charming but for all that she lacks social experience and skills, she has never been blind nor stupid. The man—for he is a man, for all his lanky frame and awkward limbs, he is a man for a shinobi is no child when they are first weapons and people second—is charming and smooth, like a politician there is no doubt. The man is no wallflower, nor a buttercup waiting to be picked at the slightest movement. No—the man is a wolf through and through. His mask—Hyena—fit him perfectly in more than one way. His movements are too smooth and his actions are collared behind a leash of barely concealed violence and glee, bloodthirsty in almost every single move he makes and hidden in his tone when he speaks.

If Hyena was a fool, then Hound loved her clan more than anything.

The mission finishes and they both go their separate ways and Hound hopes they don’t meet again. (Even if a small—very small—part of her cries out for even just a small bit of his joy and happiness. Just the smallest bit.)

It doesn’t work, unfortunately. They end up put in a team with three others, Spider, Goat and Bat. She hates it at first, even if Spider is sarcastic and makes her laugh silently. Even if Goat is careful of his strength around them and so so very gentle(—Father why did you leave—) with them. Even if Bat is a silent presence at her back when she needs it most. Even if Hyena is almost glued to her side that she’d have needed a crowbar to pry him free if he was any closer. They grow on her, of course, they do. They grow on her like a fungus that can’t—won’t—be scraped away.

It is, of course, the moment that she gets comfortable with them, the moment she wavers between speaking to them—speaking for the first time in years—that it all goes to hell. 

A mission gone straight to hell almost as soon as they passed Mist’s borders. It happens near enough instantly, Spider goes down with a knife to the nape and it cleaved in half vertically. Goat is next despite his attempts to dodge and back away. They get his fingers first then his hands, they chop him up bits by bits as he tries to get away from them and Hound can only look in horror and sick kind of fascination as the man dies and they don’t stop. Hyena is pressed against her back, clutching at her shoulders and his fingers are trembling and his breath hitching at every CHOP that fills the clearing. Hound can’t stop, she can’t seem to look away and the picture is BURNED into her brain and she knows if she survives this it will haunt her dreams and waking moments forever.  

Its a scramble, not even a battle, to get away from the monsters—and they are monsters, she thinks, watching numbly, frozen down to her core when one of them begins to EAT her teammate’s corpse and the others with them don’t seem to notice or care.

Bat goes mad, hysterically screaming as he throws himself at them and begins to just wail in grief at the one eating Spiders flesh. The grief is so chilling that it sends a shiver down her spine and it’s as Hyena is grabbing her by the back of her harness and hauling her away that she sees Bat’s mask go flying off and sees his red sharingan eyes that her breath catches in her throat and her heart seems to squeeze painfully tight in her chest. 

Even if she wanted to think about it. Think about the fact that one of her relative—one of the people who hated her—was one of the few people she cared for. She can’t. Hyena is practically screaming in her face to wise the fuck up and get her shit together or else they’re gonna end up dead. And she can’t, she can’t lose anyone else to those monsters, to this terrible war and to anybody. She won’t survive it, that she knows. She’ll break and shatter into a million pieces and fly away like dust on the wind.

 So she gathers her sanity, gathers all she has left and puts her back together as much as she can and it’s on. Its a race again both time and stamina. Bat’s—Uchiha—screams of grief quickly turning into ones of pain and agony. She thinks they get ganged on by some bandits somewhere along the way, she thinks they get ambushed as well at someone only she can’t remember. It’s a blur of motion and fire and ice in her veins and her heart in her throat then—

Hyena is in front of her—protecting her from something—she doesn’t know what from or why only that he’s gonna get hurt and she can’t—there’s screaming and it takes it a few minutes for it sink in that it’s her screaming herself hoarse for the first time in so long.

Something happens, something great and powerful, something terrible and sinister as something bursts from her in sparks—crystal-like—and swallow them both whole and then suddenly they aren’t in the same forest anymore but she doesn’t care about that. She throws herself at Hyena and grabs at his clothes and chokes and sobs into his shitty kevlar ANBU vest and clings to him. 

“Don’t leave me alone!” She sobs in a voice that hasn’t been used in years, but she can’t sign this—she can’t just look him in the eyes and hopes she is understood. He needs to understand, needs to know that if he leaves she will die in every way but actual death. “You can’t—!! Don’t go and leave me here by myself! Don’t go where I can’t follow you!”

She can’t remember much after that, only that there’s a lot of sobbing and hushing from Hyena and all the stress—all the emotional uphill and grief crashes over her and knocks her out.

      Hyena stills, his arms full of the bastard Uchiha in his arms. Her mask is gone, knocked off in one of their fights while running and he doesn’t think she’s noticed yet but what does trip him up is that she spoke. He also doesn’t think she’s noticed that they’ve somehow been aged down to tinies. 

She’s cute, not his type sure, but cute enough. Her hair, free of the hairnet and mask that held it in, is fire red and short, almost bob-like in that it ends at her chin and puffs out a bit. Her jaw is sharp and angular and her skin is pale. She would have looked like a classic Uchiha if it weren’t for her wild Uzumaki hair. 

He also can’t get over the fact that she spoke. After so long in silence if what her hoarse and cracking voice told him and to him. Right enough, they both just watched their teammates being horribly killed and then eaten right in front of them so he guessed she was right with the tears and the speaking and almost-breakdown. Almost like the breakdown Hyena is starving off by not thinking about it. 

They’re in foreign lands (even when it’s not necessarily land they actually landed on—more like a small pond of green water that stings and burns), somewhere that isn’t safe when he doesn’t know the surrounding and Hyena doesn’t know how they got there or how Hound did it but he really doesn’t have the mental strength to look the gift horse in the face right now, he’s exhausted and injured from the fighting and the running. 

Hyena hasn’t always been very smart. He’s not a genius, like his clan heir nor their elders with their experience. 

He’s the example of a union born of a Nara and Inuzuka, more instincts and impulse even when he can play it smart with the best of them and with how tired he is he doubts he has the mental capabilities to seduce someone into giving them shelter—never mind the fact that he’s ten instead of eighteen. 

It takes less than half a day for Hound to wake up and even less than that for him to realise that they’re not in their world anymore. The first sign, there is no Konoha, nor Land of Fire. it gets him strange looks right enough when he asks and no one has seen his forehead protector before. They coo at his looks and express his concern over his ‘friend’ that easily makes him both annoyed and irritated in equal measure. He also finds out that the small marble-like balls he picked up are called Materia and seem to be able to do what Jutsu’s normally do. He guesses he’s lucky he picked them up, even if he only did it to see if he could make some quick money with it as he quickly learns that 1) Chakra doesn’t exist wherever they are and 2) neither of them have Chakra anymore.

Which is great, absolutely fantastic.

There’s not much to do when they get into reading everything they get their hands-on about this new world of theirs. They practice both their ANBU training in their new and younger bodies and study and practice with Materia just as much—if not more with. 

They also learn about ShinRa which well not really the worse thing they’ve seen it isn’t really on their radar much but as a place that they could go and get a job when they’ve finally gotten this whole New-world New-Body thing figured out. 

Its also around this time that they meet the Turks and well—sign them up. It’s like being ANBU but much more open and without the masks. Which does admittedly confuse them for a while because What? If they're the Shadows everyone's scared off, why do they show their faces?? Right enough, it's not their world so—whatever goes, goes they both guess. 

They meet Veld after being introduced into the Turks. It’s normal of course, introduce the newbies to the boss and intimidate and awe them. At least that’s what Hyena thinks is gonna happen when they first step into the office in newly given suits that Hyena already hates, he misses his old ANBU uniform and the kevlar vest that Hound both hated and loved.

 The bossman looks them over and then without thinking, double-takes at Hound and just stares. It makes something in him bristle and his instincts fire off all at the same time and its only his ANBU control that allows him to keep his cool and not go ballistic at the man. 

It’s subtle and if he was any less experienced and not actually a green rookie they all think he is he might have missed it. Velds eyes shift from Hound’s face, taking in her features carefully and then slowly, almost as if he’s dreading what he’s gonna find, he looks at the small picture frame on his desk. 

 Its a picture of Veld, younger of course and another man besides him. He’s tall and lanky, dressed in the common Turk suit and silky black hair and red eyes. He has a sharp jawline and almond eyes that if Hyena didn’t know better he’d have thought they were Hounds but no—for one, Hound is a female not a male and two, she has red hair not black but—

 It’s there. The features in the unknown man’s face and the way he seems to stand, graceful and tall that seems to mirror his partner. 

Hmm, he thinks, staring at the frame then looking over at Hound. How interesting.

[dimancheetoile]

mud on our knees (we won’t wash it off)

Written for @shikasaku-week Day 2: mud on our knees

this is supposed to be a "what if". what if naruto isn't a great hokage. what is the clan system doesn't work. what if, instead of going to war with other shinobi nations, konoha turns against itself. what if there is a konoha civil war. you don't have to read this if you don't want to question your views of the naruto world. this world is six pages of being critical of the naruto world and i know it's not everyone's cup of tea. it's fine by me. read what makes you happy.

also there are a lot of real-life believes of mine in this, notably regarding raising children and my view of the nuclear family and the idea that in real life it's very common to have children from different relationships instead of one true love. again, you don't have to read. i'm a bit angry because i wanted to post this on time and it got out of hand and it's much longer and much more complicated than it should have been. so there's that. i hope you enjoy anyway, and the next one is almost finished so you should have it soon. tell me what you think!!

___________________

“GET DOWN!”

Sakura doesn't wait for an explanation, doesn't even stop to think as she crumbles to the ground, plastering her whole body against the sticky, wet earth. Cheek crushed against a puddle, the filthy water going in her nose and her eye, she frantically tries to look around her while moving as little as possible. The sight calms her down as much as it can ; all the other bodies, face down against the earth, all have red or pink hair, and the familiar pitch black body suit with the blood red arm patch, what should have been a white circle stained with dirt, blood, and shit.

Her own patch was ripped from her suit when she had lost her left arm, a week ago. Her cousin had sewn a new one on her left arm and sewn shut the sleeve of her left arm to protect her still tender stump. He didn't look at her with pity, or sadness. In his eyes was the same thing that still burns in hers, in the rest of their clan. Pure, unadulterated wrath, an unashamed blood rage and thirst for revenge. Her arm would be avenge, just like all the dead they had suffered. They're winning now. It's just a matter of time.

Once the last explosion is confirmed to be the last, Sakura gets up quickly, reuniting with the three other members of her squad. The four of them are the only shinobi of the Haruno Clan, so they had been named the de facto leaders with the approval of the Clan Head.

“What's our next move?” Hanako asks, brushing caked dirt from her hands. She's a chūnin, on a clear path to become a tokujo because of the dōjutsu she had developed, to the entire clan's surprise. It's nothing as strong as a sharingan or byakugan, but her iris-less, entirely grey eyes allow her short burst of speed that are so strong they look like teleportation.

“Kura and I are still working on the seal,” Nadamaru says, his arm curling around Sakura's waist. She presses without shame against her cousin, her head falling on his shoulder. Nadamaru and her are the two jōnin of their little squad, him having been in the Sabotage Unit since his promotion and her having joined the unit a few months before the beginning of the war.

“I'm taking Shikamaru with me and we're going to prepare the new set of traps. Did any of you finish the poisons we talked about?”

Both Sakura and Nadamaru nod, handing a leather bag to Mikata who takes it gratefully. He's the youngest of them all, having barely made chūnin when the war started. He's the best infiltrator of them all, his lithe body and small height ideal for stealth. Since the beginning of the conflict, he's been the one making sure the traps are all working, and scouting the enemy camps.

He's also incredibly smart, not that the three others aren't, but he's on par with the Nara, which makes him ideal to work with Shikamaru. They've been planning every move of the Haruno Clan, approved by the Clan Head and the other shinobi, but they're responsible for their most successful actions.

Sometimes, Sakura has to take a step back and remind herself why they're fighting. It's the bloodiest, most vicious conflict she's ever been on and she took on a goddess. She can't believe it's already been five years since they started fighting, and on the worst days, when she's seen too many people die on either side, she can't believe it's only been five years.

What had started as a new law passed by Naruto's Administration had turned into protests and countless strikes, which in turn had become an endless, single strike that went on for so many months Konoha had started to starve, and when winter had come, people were dying of cold, of injuries, because no one was working in the hospital anymore. It had been a grim time. So the government had passed a new law in a panic, stating that all the striking workers would be counted as traitors if they didn't come back to work.

That had been received as well as could be expected. Not only had the strikers not come back to work, but the civilians had decided to barricade the civilian district, building in one night a wall around it. Then they asked the civilian clans, the rich businessmen, the clans that had half-civilians and half-shinobi like the Haruno, for help. Not a single one of them refused. Suddenly, the civilian district was patrolled by hundred of shinobi, not a single civilian was outside of the wall, and they were self-sufficient since they accounted for all the workers in the village, from every single profession.

They had the land to grow food, the workshops to build whatever they needed, and all the healthcare personnel of the village to take car of them. So, in desperation, the Administration had ordered the shinobi force to march on the district. About a third of them refused to fight their brothers and sisters-in-arms and joined the civilian district to warn them of the incoming battle while feeding into their already respectable ranks.

What was left of the shinobi force was still deadly, and it accounted for some of the strongest and most respectable shinobi clans.

Konoha's first civil war was born.

In the last five years, the village had been turned into a battleground, each force having about half of the ground, buildings in the middle reduced to rubble with the dead piling up on each side. The civilian side had been trained intensely by the shinobi within them, each civilian clan taking on a specialisation of shinobi life.

The Haruno Clan is the Sabotage Unit, the small Hagoromo Clan had been trained as medics by Sakura and the hospital staff. The Tsuchigumo Clan is trained in Interrogation and Intel Gathering. The Yanagikage Clan, though the smallest of them all, is their Hostage Retrieval and Escort Unit. All small, or unknown clans, mostly composed of civilians who now have extensive knowledge in martial arts and shinobi training.

They were the healthiest side, because of the food and the medics and doctors, but the other side had the money to bring in food and medicine and even a few medics who kept leaving once they saw the horrors of the civil war and replaced by others.

And then there were the bigger clans. The most famous clans of the village, that everyone knew about, the Noble Clans who had been the pride of Konohagakure before this bloody civil war started. They didn't have a choice. They had to take sides.

Some never recovered from their choice.

Sakura hugs Mikata briefly, who is also a cousin of hers, and Hanako, technically her sister-in-law. When the war started, all three of her parents were killed in a raid that was meant as both a hit against her for her support of the civilian side, and against the Haruno, because as soon as the civil war spread to the entire village, the Hokage Tower had been swarmed by a suicide run from the civilian side and all records made public.

It was a good idea, because it allowed for clearer goals for their side and ammunition against the other. But it also meant that the Haruno kekkei-genkai, a State secret since Mito's marriage, was made public. The Uzumaki who were born with this particular gene were integrated within Konoha with the rest of the refugees from Uzushio, and to protect them from the backlash their kekkei-genkai would cause, they changed their name and became the Haruno Clan. And now their secret is out, and it caused assassin to come and kill her two mothers and her father, who were respectively the previous Clan Head, Clan Second and part of the Haruno Council.

In one night, she lost the three most important people in her life and the assassins' plan almost worked. She had been hit so hard by the three simultaneous losses that she had almost ended her own life in a fit of madness. Only Shikamaru's intervention had saved her life. Her aunt and uncle, twin siblings, had been named Clan Head and Clan Second in replacement, and herself became a Haruno councillor. As per Haruno tradition, she had been adopted by the first willing family, her great-cousin and his husband, and she became Nadamaru's sister, who was in turn married to Hanako.

She had always loved the sense of family her clan has, how you could just choose who you would live with, how children navigated homes like safe havens. The Haruno would either marry out of love and have children that they would keep, or they didn't feel it was the right time for them and have children anyway that would be raised by the community. And those who didn't marry young or didn't marry at all would be encouraged to have one night stands and have children for community raising as well.

That was how Sakura was born, from one of her aunts, though she didn't know which one, and didn't care. Her mother and father had a child who they gave to the community, and when they met her other mother years later, they decided they were ready to raise a child and adopted Sakura, who was seven at the time and completely happy to be cared for by the fifty parents of the Haruno Clan.

That's how it works, and she thinks it's brilliant and she doesn't understand how only the Haruno, what's left of the Uzumaki and the Hagomoro raise their children that way.

Thinking bitterly that those cultural differences were the reason the civil war even existed, she kisses Nadamaru's forehead before shunshining away towards the headquarters of the rebellion, where all the clans and families have a representative to coordinate their side's actions. She needs to get the pages newly translated from the records they stole from the Hokage Tower, hundreds of scrolls scavenged from Uzushio after its fall without ever warning the remaining Uzumaki of what is theirs by right.

They have a woman who specializes in studying dead and old languages, who is translating the scrolls painstakingly to give all the information on seals she can find to the two Haruno, who are crafting seal after seal in a hope to gain a clear advantage against the other side.

In the HQ, she finds a hive of activity, all clans mixed with one another in a constant buzz of intel and planning and headcounting. In the back of the room, there are desks aligned to face the organized chaos, where the representatives are sitting side by side, all working on different projects or talking between themselves.

Instead of going straight to the translator, Sakura makes a beeline for the desks, a smile already forming on her face. There are little signs in front of each desk, drawn by the children of the clans in adorable, wonky kanji and symbols. She doesn't even try to stop the swell of pride that she feels whenever she sees how many clans and families they gathered t their cause.

On the far left, the Hagamoro, then the Tsuchigomo, the chair empty since they managed to capture a Sarutobi and everyone from the clan is on deck to try and get as much out of him, as soon as possible. Next, the silk black hair and single white eye of Hyūga Neji. The Noble Clan had been a total surprise, one of the first to join the rebellion when it was only the Fuma Clan, Ichiraku family and Haruno Clan. He raises his head when he senses her coming, sending her a warm smile that she returns with pleasure.

Next to Neji, another empty chair because more often than not, he's in the training ground helping the weakest fighters, is Lee's desk. His clan is tiny, just him, an adopted Tenten, and the child Sakura and him had together after the Fourth War. They had a brief but incredibly loving relationship, that had healed them both in ways they hadn't expected, and a precious boy had been born from them. Takumi is seventeen now, a taijutsu master like his parents, ridiculously handsome with his long pink hair, always braided, and his lovely dark eyes.

After the empty chair, the Yanagikage elder, then Aburame Shibi. The tragedy of the Aburame Clan had been one of the great costs of the war. As one of the Noble Clan, and as of today, the last to defect the Administration side to join the rebellion, their choice had enraged fiercely all the remaining clans and family of the other side. When Shibi had announced his decision, the others had decided to prevent their defection. There had been a mass assassination, and only the few Aburame who had been on the other side of Konoha for negotiations had been spared. Shibi, Shino, Torune and their mother Kanbai are the only Aburame left.

The second tragedy, and arguably the worst, shows in the dark circles and empty eyes of Akimichi Okashi, Chōji's mother. When the Akimichi had tried to join the rebellion, the Yamanaka had stood against them, in a move that shocked both sides. Their battle had been bloody, ruthless, and tragic. Friends fighting friends, to the death. The Akimichi won. Barely. There are no Yamanaka left, and the Akimichi are half their original number. Chōji is a trainer, alongside Lee and others, and his mother leads the clan.

Next to Okashi, the Fuma Clan, the Ichiraku family, and finally, the Haruno Clan representative. Shikamaru is bent over a pile of paperwork, his pink hair falling over his eyes in an obviously annoying manner given the frustrated, repetitive movement of his fingers to try and put it behind his ear.

His black bodysuit clings to his broad shoulders in a way that makes Sakura's heart beat, the red Haruno patch proudly displayed on his arm. She ignores the ache of her own missing limb, and goes straight to her husband. Only after being a few metres from him does she notice the black strap around his torso, holding the sling that presses their youngest against his back. And playing under the desk, crafting a story of wooden toys and adventures, are their two other children.

She revels in the joy of seeing her family, safe and whole, despite the circumstances. With a flush on her cheeks and her grin matching the beat of her heart, she finally reaches the desk and leans against it.

“Hello, Haruno-sama,” she purrs, enjoying the adoring look Shikamaru gives her instantly, like nothing could make his day better than have her at his side.

“Hello, Haruno-sama,” he answers with unashamed fondness, his hand reaching for her. He brings her knuckles to his lips, kissing it twice in a way that still brings blood to her cheeks.

“I have important news for you. I haven't told anyone, because I made the call that you should hear it first.” Shikamaru is deadly serious, his eyes flashing white for a moment, the Haruno kekkei-genkai showing through his stoic facade.

She knows this game since childhood, so her hand squeezes his and she sends a burst of consciousness through their point of contact, her mind flashing in images through his to convey love and calm and what she talked about with her three clansmen. Her eyes shine a blinding white before turning back to green when the connection stops. Shikamaru nods once, before grabbing his file, ordering it without need in an obvious nervous gesture.

“Get it over with. If it's going to hurt me, I'll heal better with time and the soonest you tell me, the soonest I can deal with it. And if it's going to make me angry, well, delaying won't change that,” she chuckles, her attempt at humour falling flat when Shikamaru grimaces.

“Well, here goes.” He takes a deep breath. “In our last sabotage run, we planted bombs over the supply roads to cut their food chain. But what set off the bombs wasn't a food caravan, but a full escort and delegation for Suna. Apparently, after five years of trying to hide the war, they were getting desperate enough to ask for help. Which they won't get, since everyone is dead.”

“Anata,” Sakura says softly, the pet name rolling of her tongue more like a reproach. He nods again.

“Sasuke, Naruto and Kakashi were all in the delegation.”

Sakura freezes, her mind going numb. Suddenly, she can only hear white noise, the chaos of the headquarters thinning down to a bare hum. She sways on her feet, before the information slams into her like a battering ram. The noise comes back in a wave, crashing into her in a second strike.

“They're dead,” she whispers.

“They are. And when the sabotage team made a quick sweep of the scene for anything useful to scavenge and identify the bodies, they also found the prison's location. Five years, but it was so worth it.”

“Did they—?”

“Yes. Everyone. Sai was starved and probably tortured, he's in the Hagamono's care. And they got...” Shikamaru is chocked up suddenly, looking down at his desk. “They got my mom and seven Nara out.”

Sakura breathes deep, taking in everything, from the death of the people who ruined their life for so long and caused a civil war, to the retrieval of some of the most important people in Shikamaru's life. He's been a Haruno for five years now, having joined when they decided to adopt Yozora from the community raising. He did the ceremony, got the kekkei-genkai that turned his hair pink, like every Haruno child. He became Haruno Shikamaru of Clan Haruno, because he wanted to be a part of something and being a part of Sakura's clan made the most sense. At the time, he thought to be the only Nara left.

Sakura's heart feels full to bursting knowing he'll get some of his family back. Not that her and their children aren't his family, but she's so glad he'll get those eight Nara in his life again.

And she'll be able to see Sai again...

For the first time since hearing the news, a smile breaks out on her face, her eyes welling up with all the tears she didn't shed the last five years. Shikamaru is getting up from his desk, carefully avoiding Yozora and Sora next to his feet, before gathering her up in his arms.

“They're dead,” she whispers against his hair, heart wild and feeling like she can finally breathe.

“They are, love. They're dead.”

“Without them, the Uchiha and the Senju won't have any leaders, and they won't be able to rebuild the Hatake. We've basically won the war.”

“And don't forget that we can now tell our Uzumaki they can finally elect a proper Clan Head,” Shikamaru smiles, fierce and proud.

“They're going to be so happy,” she giggles.

Shikamaru's voice is soft. “Our cousins,” he states, like a fact of the universe that makes him unbearably happy.

“Kura? What's going on?”

They pull themselves apart, turning to look at the rest of Sakura's squad where they just entered the headquarters. Sakura grins wide, feeling like a God and a leader at the same time, her blood pumping through her veins like the sweetest confirmation of everything they stood for in the last five years.

“Sasuke, Naruto and Kakashi are dead,” she announces to her brother, sister-in-law and cousin, face illuminated with glee.

“You're kidding me,” Hanako whispers. “You're kidding me!”

“Yes!” Nadamaru grabs his wife by the shoulders and kisses her hard on the mouth, uncaring for her open, wide eyes. Mikata's shock is so sweet to see, and that's when Sakura and Shikamaru notice the people standing him one by one, getting closer to them.

The news is spreading like wildfire, all the people working in the headquarters passing the information along like water on a summer day, and more and more smiles and laughter and tears are appearing. The noise in the building reaches critical levels, and no one cares. They've practically won the war.

“We're going to be alright,” Shikamaru says, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind and putting his chin on her shoulder.

“Yes we are,” she says softly as her children wander next to them, curious and happy.

[jackass-insomniac]

I have a Naruto Fix-It(is that the term?) type thing I wanna work on, but I have no artistic talent, and I’m not super good at being articulate on the level that it is needed(even though I can write(like shit)). So, I’mma just put it here so I don’t eventually forget it like everything else. It’s quite long, so beware.

The premise is that there’s these two actual immortals that are brothers named Akiara and Akuma that have been around before Kaguya but after the beings that started the world. Akiara refers to Kaguya as a crazy woman that became obsessed with energy(chakra) and life, but decided energy was worth more.

Akiara and Akuma were tasked with basically documenting life forever and always by creatures that began the world. All Lands and main villages, unknowingly, set up where these creatures rule or lay dormant. Land of Fire has a creature that lives in Nara Forest and is a giant deer/tree creature, for example.

The brothers were also told to interfere with life as little as possible, but if things happened, they happened.

All was well before Akuma started to lose himself because everyone they knew, would die and they would just have to move on. He started to hate being immortal and went off, leaving Akiara to search for answers.

Akuma eventually came back after years(into the 100s) when he found out only an immortal can kill an immortal. His intent was to kill both him and his brother to ease their pain. Akiara was left with a scar on the left side of his face, neck and shoulder. And Akuma was trapped underground.

After their fight, Akiara kept away from the place he left his brother and continued to document the world, which included maps and the changes they had every 100 years or so.

Akiara saw the creation of the Tailed Beast. He treated them like they were pets and loved on them a lot. Especially Kurama(and he hasn’t forget the face squishing Akiara gave him). Though he’s devastated at how they were used, he just had to move on.

He saw all the wars. And the Fourth Great Ninja War, he spent napping in a cave because he assumed it would be handled and he really hates Kaguya. He actually woke up after the war had ended, Kakashi was Hokage, Naruto had his new arm and decided it was time to check on the Nara Creature . He then goes on an adventure around the world with the original nine genin and Sai on orders of Kakashi and agreements of Akiara.

Powers of Akiara and Akuma:

Both are basically made of chakra(energy), so when they are hurt, it heals almost instantly. A severed hand, will go back on. Blood will go back in.

They both can solidify chakra in their hands, or really anywhere. Akiara has a hilt of a sword that has a spike with holes in it so he can put it into his hand. The energy(chakra) from his body goes through the spike and he can form whatever weapon he wants, it’s usually just a sword with a small spike as a pommel.

Akuma doesn’t have to patience for the sword, so he lashes out with waves of either solidified chakra or the energy of it and messes up other people’s chakra.

Akiara has mastered energy(chakra) sensing, mainly as a way to keep track of Akuma, but also to find the Creatures around the world. He uses it sparingly though because when using it, it always grabs attention of strong ninja and they don’t like the amount of chakra he emits and attack. Both he and Akuma use the energy(chakra) they have to manipulate the elements, so they don’t have a limited Nature Transformation.

Akuma has become a very powerful genjutsu user. Akuma kills innocent people to ‘stop them from the pain of living and knowing’ and his genjutsu is powerful enough to erase the person’s existence. Even written documentation or photo evidence. He does this to protect the people he hasn’t killed(in his mind, saved) from knowing their friend or family has died.

Both of them are unaffected by genjutsus of any kind. Including Sharingan induced ones.

They both have this ability, Akuma stopped using it, but Akiara has scrolls and scrolls of maps of the world. He seals the scrolls with his blood(that’s mixed with chakra/energy) and it tracks what he sees and it’s created from the sight.

Not a power or ability, but Akiara sleeps for years at a time because of boredom or not wanting to be involved with things. Akuma will do the same if his insanity because too much for him.

The Creatures of the World:

The Creatures or Beings are the ones that created the world. The land, water, life, air, all of it. They reside in every country and usually a main village or near it. The reason people flock to those places is because of the subconsciousness of The Creatures pulling them close.

When Akiara seeks them out, he lets them see what has happened in the world. Anyone that has set foot on the land of that Creature, Akiara lets them see their entire life. Akiara(and Akuma) are the things that tie the Creatures to each other and humans, that’s the reason they need them.

While sharing the information and memories of everyone, a dome forms over a wide area around them. Anyone caught in the dome will also see the lives of everyone Akiara is sharing. But time flows weird in the dome and it’s not visible from the outside.

The time flow in the dome is, everything stops existing for a short time as the memories and information is shared. While everything outside continues, but extremely slowly, though it goes unnoticed. When the dome is down, time and life continues as it should.

Land of Fire’s Creature is a giant deer/tree like being that lives in the Nara Clan Forest. When Akiara is searching for them, they like messing with him by jumping through trees(not exactly physically, but they’ll move trees). Basically playing hide and seek with Akiara.

Land of Wind’s Creature is a giant sea turtle that swims through the sands. The Land of Winds started out with plenty of rain and water, but humans had caused it to dry up. The Creature couldn’t follow the water, so they now swim in the sands. They live in the Demon Desert primarily, but they’ll swim where they wants. They try to out swim Akiara when he comes looking for them. Basically playing tag.

Land of Lighting’s Creature is a giant albino tiger that jumps through the lighting storms that plague the country. Though he lazes about in the Valley of Clouds and Lighting at the tops of the mountains a lot. His stripes look similar to lighting strikes. When Akiara comes looking for him, he creates very harsh thunderstorms for Akiara to travel through for fun. It’s up to Akiara to figure out the pattern of the lighting strikes to get through. Basically a harsh game of hopscotch.

Land of Sound’s Creature is a giant glasswing butterfly that blends in with the paddy fields that is all over the land. The glasswings of the Creature looks like paddy fields, so it’s not that hard for them to blend in. Their wings when revealed glow with energy(chakra). While Orochimaru had their evil control of the land The Creature actually felt for them since Orochimaru was always changing who they were, as a butterfly does. And the Creature believed Orochimaru would eventually become beautiful(or good). Akiara works the paddy fields for the Creature to show itself. The Creature wants Akiara to feel normal for just a little while.

Land of Earth’s Creature is a giant gorilla/stone that lives in the rocky mountain range that borders the country. The Creature doesn’t mind being seen, though not many people can manage the mountains to find her. When Akiara comes to find her, she makes him fight her. They can’t do much damage to each other and she says it’s a test. But the Creature just misses people and wants the moment to last as long as possible.

Land of Iron’s Creature is actually a giant lion/ice being that wanders around the land. He’s pretty solitary, but when shinobi do enter the land, he’ll go move closer to the samurai’s to protect them. He doesn’t trust shinobi, the same as the samurai. The snow masks his presences even if he’s standing over the samurai. When Akiara comes looking for him, he’ll meet him close to the edge. Even though Akiara is necessary and apart(and made by) the Creature, he still doesn’t trust Akiara not to attack the samurai.

Land of Snow’s Creature is a giant polar bear that keeps life flowing through the land through it’s heat. It fire and heat in it’s core and it’s the reason people are still alive in the cold temperature. It lives in the mountains, close to Yukigakure, to make sure they stay warm enough and alive. It stays in the mountain cave when Akiara is looking for it because it wants to make sure the people will stay warm.

Land of Water’s Creature is a giant sea serpent that swims around the islands that make up the country. She becomes extreme agitated when there’s war going on in her land, which happens often in the Land of Water. She’s the only Creature to actively influence the people that live in the land. If her people were going to war, they will war. She caused the people to commit the purges of those with kekkei genkai. Her anger wasn’t aimed at them, but the people reacted to her anger that way. She makes Akiara through each island and help her people in anyway until she’ll appear before him.

Amegakure’s Creature is a giant three-eyed cat that lives at the bottom of the lake surrounding the village. They sleep often, as cats do, but their third eye is always open to keep watch. The wars that tore their country apart and the civil war is the reason they live at the bottom of the lake. The Creature’s people wouldn’t stop fighting, and neither would the people around them, so they hid. They had interest in Yahiko, Konan and Nagato until Yahiko’s death. They don’t like to see Akiara because he shares the knowledge of the world being terrible, but the small amount of good memories share is the reason they’ll go to Akiara when he’s nearby.

Takigakure’s Creature is a giant snake that lives in the branches of the tree that Takigakure is build around. The Creature accidentally involves itself with the people with it’s venom. Their venom is mixed into the tree, making the air of the village tainted, but nonlethal. Instead, the venom infects the people with immense power and chakra(energy), which causes the village to have very strong shinobi. The Creature is one of the hardest to get to for Akiara because of Takigakure’s volatile nature, so the Creature often reaches out as a branch to help Akiara to get to them.

Yugakure’s Creature is a giant poison dart frog that swims through the hot springs that is all around the country. They were actually the cause of the Chinoike Clan existence. The eyes and the ability to affect blood(actually iron) are from them. This Creature is also accidentally involved with their land. Causing Chinoike Clan directly because of The Valley of Hell(it’s poison) and the creation of Hidan’s immortality. The poison from the Creature caused random bouts of anger and instability of the people of Yugakure(again, Chinoike Clan) that led them to rituals, experiments and sacrifice when Yugakure was still military led. The Creature’s poison no longer affects the people after The Valley of Hell was forbidden, so the country is safe for tourist and villagers. Akiara gets to relax in the hot springs when looking for The Creature, much to the Creature’s enjoyment.

The Adventure and the Original Nine(&Sai):

Naruto, Sasuke, Kiba, Shikamaru, Sakura, Sai and Hinata all sense Akiara when he uses his energy(chakra) sense to find The Creature in Nara Clan Forest. They all go to him because of the extremely high levels of the chakra, led by Hinata who can see a trail that was somehow left behind.

They all get caught in the dome after Akiara explained as best he could at what’s happening. It helped he didn’t try to attack, even with being attacked. They all saw everyone’s lives, including secrets that they kept close to themselves.

After a few minutes of shouting and fighting between everyone except Akiara and The Creature, The Creature thanks Shikamaru and his family for protecting their forest and gives him a power as a even more of a thanks. It leaves a mark of antlers on Shikamaru’s forehead, that fades away. It’s up to Shikamaru to figure out what it is. The Creature tells them that Kakuzu was brought back to life and Hidan was put back together, because they had something to do.

But after this, they go see Kakashi to explain, or try to explain what’s happening. This is the first time this level of care has been given to Akiara while being questioned, so he just goes with it.

After a clearer explanation, Kakashi asks if it’s okay if he sends people with Akiara to watch over and also try to keep more secrets to the people themselves. After seeing the list of people Kakashi approves of going, Akiara wants to take them all, for them, and for the possibility that The Creature wouldn’t mind seeing more people. And possibly their human counterparts.

They meet Yamato along the way and he travels with them to see the Creatures.

The Creatures and the Human Counterparts(No explanation being told for now):

Land of Fire’s Creature and Shikamaru Nara. Land of Wind’s Creature and Choji Akimichi. Land of Lightning’s Creature and Naruto Uzumaki. Land of Sound’s Creature and Shino Aburame. Land of Earth’s Creature and Sakura Haruno. Land of Iron’s Creature and Sasuke Uchiha. Land of Snow’s Creature and Kiba Inuzuka. Land of Water’s Creature and Ino Yamanaka Amegakure’s Creature and Hinata Hyuga. Takigakure’s Creature and Sai. Yugakure’s Creature and Yamato.

[officerjennie]

Chapters: 11/? Fandom: Naruto Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Senju Tobirama/Uchiha Madara Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Supernatural Elements, Warring States Period (Naruto), Child Neglect, Child Abandonment, Tobirama doesn't die in this one, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I have other stories I should be working on, Why Did I Write This? Series: Part 3 of Tobirama in Mythology Summary:

Abandoned as a child and left to starve in the streets, Tobirama hadn't expected to live long. But he stubbornly clung to life anyway, and a passing shinobi collected him and named him his ward - and he became an honorary member of the Senju family.

Or: How Tobirama wound up with a family, and found his place in the human world.

Click the link or continue below the line to read!

Also, finally got a Ko-fi - link in header :)

Despite what a certain teenaged plant boy might say, Touka never planned her targets in advance. She preferred to let lady luck decide who would fall victim to her pranks, setting them up in the early hours before the other members of her clan started rousing from sleep. They weren’t always elaborate, of course, for even someone as creative as herself lacked constant inspiration.

Her latest setup was a perfect example of how a creative block could effect even her. Just a simple bucket of mud sitting on the tree branch with her, feet kicking as she waited for some poor sap to walk her way.

Simple, yes. Refined, no. But still one of her all-time favorite methods of causing mayhem.

It took a bit longer than usual for someone to walk into her trap, but that was likely due to the location more than anything else. The river had been calling to her as of late, what with summer getting into full swing, and the pine she’d climbed up had a view of her usual swimming spot - which she planned on taking over once her bucket was good and empty.

When she got a good look at the boy walking her way, his steps all but silent as he moved, she almost thought better of the whole thing.

She knew that boy. Hadn’t spoken to him, maybe, but that hardly mattered. Everyone knew Butsuma’s ward - knew of him, knew what he’d done. It was all anyone would talk about the past few weeks. She’d heard a few of the older folks talking some nonsense about omens, and even her mom had started questioning her clan head’s decision to keep him in the compound.

Apparently, the bodies he’d left behind had made several of the veteran shinobi weak at the knees. Not that Touka could judge them much, since she hadn’t seen them (not for lack of trying, mind. By the time she raced off to see them, there was nothing more than bloodstains on the grass and trees. A lot of bloodstains, but nothing else to cure her burning curiosity).

Her indecision on whether to wait for a new victim or not was short lived. His hair was just too white not to mess with, and it would be a great disservice to her own soul to let him go.

The splat of mud had her cackling from her perch, her victim frozen as globs of it ran slowly down his face. She had to mask a fall as purposeful from just the look alone, him all wide-eyed and tensed and covered in it all - really, it was just a shame her eyes were so wet now, since the scene was just too priceless.

After five minutes of her laughing and him not moving, it started to get less funny. Especially with the way he was just standing there, shoulders tensing inward, expression guarded and some odd emotion dulling his eyes.

Whatever it was, she didn’t like it. None of her other victims had acted like this - and they certainly hadn’t flinched away from her when she stepped towards them either. Touka pursed her lips, taking a moment to study him thoroughly. He wasn’t looking at her, not directly, but it was clear he was watching her right back. And the way he was just standing there was just wrong - like he was waiting for something else, but for the life of her she couldn’t figure out what.

Well, if Touka was anything, she was the master of her own world; if she didn’t like something, she’d just have to change it. Mind made up with a decisive nod, she marched right up to the pale boy, grabbed his arm, and started to drag him towards the river, only bothering to throw a demanding “Come on, then!” in explanation his way.

Shoving him into the river proved easy enough, and the clear horror on his face when she demanded for him to take off his shirt sent her straight into another fit - one she gracefully held back as she dunked his head right into the cool water, determined to get every last hint of mud out of his hair. It took some doing, and quite a bit of elbow grease (and more boy wrangling than she was used to. He was more squirrelly than the actual squirrels she hunted on occasion) but the water eventually ran clean enough for her liking.

“See? Mud always washes out.” She gave him a pat on the head before moving on to wring out his now-clean shirt. “No need to let it upset you or anything.”

He gave her a heavy look, one she didn’t understand. But she was hardly going to let that bother her, taking a moment to hang his shirt over a tree branch before turning back to him.

“What’s your name, anyway?”

He certainly took his sweet time responding to such a simple question. Just stood there with his arms crossed over his chest, though he seemed notably less hunched in on himself. Still, by the time he answered Touka was ready to throw in the towel (and potentially throw another bucket of mud, too).

“Tobirama. And you’re Touka.”

That wasn’t a question. She cocked her head with a wrinkle of her nose. “How’d you know that?”

“Hashirama’s mentioned you. As has Itama.”

Ah. That made sense. She rolled one shoulder, glancing around the river, already itching for something else to do. It was nearing the time most of the clan crawled out of their futons, so that expanded their options quite a bit. And she was getting a bit hungry. With a mischievous grin, she turned back to her newest potential accomplice, “Wanna go snatch some apple buns from elder Hiro?”

The question seemed to throw him off, but he at least recovered quicker than last time. “Are we allowed to do that?”

“Nope!” She tossed his shirt back to him, not willing to wait for it to dry before raiding the old man’s pantry. It’s not like he didn’t have enough to share, and he’d always been one of the Senju’s rudest elders.

She wasn’t sure why she was surprised he didn’t move to follow her. But when she realized he wasn’t, she marched right back to him, hands on her hips. “Well?”

“I’m not stealing from someone.”

Touka wanted to argue with him, but something stopped her. Something darkened his tone and face, and he wasn’t looking at her anymore.

Damn, this boy was confusing. She scratched at her neck, racking her brain for something to distract him from whatever had dulled his eyes again.

“Well, do you wanna, I dunno...” They could always train, but she wasn’t really in the mood to pummel the shit out of him.  And besides, she’d just got his hair clean. They were at the river, though, which meant she could just dunk him in afterwards.

Her eyes widened as she glanced downstream, grinning as she remembered what she’d found just last week. “Have you ever seen a kappa, kid?”

“Demons aren’t real.” He almost snapped at her, and it was the loudest he’d spoken so far.

“You so sure about that? Cause I found one.”

He huffed, and the look resembled Hashirama’s pouting way too much for her sanity. “Demons aren’t real. It’s probably something else, and you just mistook it for one.”

“Maybe.” The look he sent her said quite clearly he wasn’t going to change his mind, so she shrugged. “Why don’t we go see it and you can tell me what it is then.”

In the end, that’s exactly what he did. Turns out he’d read up on the legends of kappa and had even visited the giant salamander when he did so. Much to her disappointment, he didn’t let her poke at it - really, she could have anyway, but there was just something about those red eyes that made his sadness effect her way more than it should.

It only took an hour or two for her to decide Tobirama was one of her people. When they went their separate ways for breakfast, she made sure to keep an eye on him until he left her sight, fully intending on watching his back from now on. And the next evening, when some unfortunate idiot decided to whisper shit about the demonic bastard Butsuma brought into their clan in earshot of her, she whistled joyfully as she made him eat his own teeth.

[benasabrina]

NaruSaku Week 2018 Day 1

Prompt: Again

Here’s the link to ao3! Be sure to reblog, like, comment, and leave kudos! :D

A long while has passed since the end of the Fourth Great Ninja War. With all the peace going around the continent, many shinobi have taken the chance to relax and some even decided to start families.

Sakura on the other hand wasn't looking to start a family just yet. Oh no, she was at the top of her game after all. Head of the Hospital, head of a new project to help children deal with the aftermath of the war... Everything was going in her favor.

That is except for love.

With everything that happened, her feelings for a certain wandering shinobi have changed drastically. She still cares for Sasuke as a friend, but her love for him... it wasn't the same.

Her eyes have been opened. Sure it hurt for a while there, but she eventually got over it. Having Sasuke as a teammate and close friend was all that truly mattered.

She smiles at the thought of the team when Sasuke came back for a briefing during his trip for finding himself. They all went out for ramen during his little stay and Sakura glances between him, Naruto, Sai, Yamato, and even Kakashi. Sighing happily, she rests her chin on her hand and closes her eyes. This really is the best.

But, something popped into her head. Looking to Naruto and his extremely bright smile that could light up the world, she smiles again, but softer this time as her heart skipped a beat. She should ask him, but... it could wait til later. She could ask Kakashi since he's right next to her.

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi looks over with both eyes away from his beloved novel, "Mm?"

"Would you do all this again? I mean, training us the way you did?"

Humming softly, the older Jonin closes his green book and taps the binding gently against the table in front of him. "Now that is an interesting question. I'd have to say yes and no. I definitely wouldn't be as naïve as I was if I tried to do it again. And I'd definitely pay attention to each and every one of you. Rather than just one."

Sakura smirks at that. "Would you have gone out with Anko-sensei earlier on too?"

Kakashi sputters and blushes faintly and that was just what Sakura wanted to hear.

Turning her attention away from her sensei, Sakura asks everyone aside from Naruto. They pretty much gave the same answers, which doesn't surprise her.

After their dinner, they went their separate ways, but Sakura told Naruto to walk with her as they went towards her apartment.

"So, Naruto... I know you heard me asking everything questions..."

Naruto nods enthusiastically. "Uh, yeah duh! You didn't even ask me! That's not cool, Sakura-chan, ya know?"

Sakura laughs. "I wanted to ask you when we were by ourselves. Since the promise I asked you to keep was made just between the two of us..” She smiles faintly as she glances forward, not making any sort of eye contact. 

This causes Naruto to look at her with a curious glance. He blinks a few times then crosses his arms up and behind his head. “Well... aren’t you gonna ask me, Sakura-chan?”

She adjusts her side swept bangs then grasps her hands behind her, she takes an exaggerated step and walks backwards to look at him. The smile still on her flawless features. “Naruto, would you have gone through all of this, again, for me? To keep the promise you made to me all those years ago?”

Stopping in his tracks, Naruto looks to the ground. This causes Sakura to stop too as she stares, waiting for him to do something.... say something. Anything. Her heart nearly stops as she worries that all the stress of the promise he made was too much and he wouldn’t want to do it again. 

But then again, that’s just not in his nature. 

Next thing she knows, his lips is on hers. She stares at him wide eyed. However, the want to hit him or pull away doesn’t occur. Sakura’s eyes close as she leans forward slightly, but as it turns out, Naruto’s the one to pull away. She looks directly into his eyes. 

“Sakura-chan... I’d always do anything for you. If I had to do my promise over? I’ll always do it. Again and again. That’s my nindo, ya know? I never go back on my word.” Naruto gives her his signature toothy smile. 

Her eyes go wide as she brings a hand to her mouth to hide how happy that makes her to hear this. Naruto is definitely someone she can always count on. “Na-Naruto... Thank you.” 

Then they both heard a coughing noise and glance over to the left to see Kakashi with a shit-eating grin under his mask. 

“Well, looks like Tenzo owes me 500 ryo. Thank you, Naruto.”

With a look of exasperation, they both groaned at their sensei. 

“What? We both bet to see who would kiss who first. And I won. So, thank you, Naruto. Again.”

Sakura mumbles under her breath then crosses her arms, trying to look away and hide her blush. 

“You’re the worst, Kakashi-sensei...” Naruto mumbled out as he too tries to hide his blush. 

[manikas-whims]

A Chance at Redemption [13]

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A/N: Hey guys!

Um..eh hem..please just don't kill me. You can all gang up and beat the shit out of me but do realise that I am human too. Since the past 3 years my life has been a mess and let's just say some personal things are making it really hard for me to write.

I’d like to thank you lovely readers *blows a kiss* I started this fic on a whim and its really a surprise treat to find out that people are actually giving it positive responses. I mean I can just never thank you people enough..

An important thing before you proceed onto the chapter: I may be gone for long but I'll never leave my fics unfinished. I know the pain one feels when coming across a plot of their liking only to realise that it has been left unfinished for xyz years. I'll complete all my fanfics. It's a pinky-swear with you loves. ♥

And as I say, "In the world of writers, those who go on hiatuses are trash but those who abandon their books are worse than trash." XD

Alright! Um..let's have a short recap of everything that has happened so far in this tale:-

The fourth shinobi war's victors were Uchihas who now rule the whole shinobi world with Madara as the self-claimed Hokage. Naruto is no more and Kakashi is in a coma. Sai and Sakura are the only members of Team 7 and they work together along with a few other rebels under the name of FoK. Sai also happens to work in the anbu directly under the Uchihas, thus, acting as a double agent. In order to stop the annihilation of the Hyuga Clan which was planned by the Uchihas, Sakura decides to make a deal with Sasuke. She offers herself to him in a bond of marriage in exchange for the lives of many innocent Hyugas. When her marriage is revealed to the whole world, she is treated as a traitor amongst the rebels. Later on, she finds out that the head of the Hyuga Clan, Hiashi has been assassinated and begins to doubt Sasuke's promise to her. Caught up in his anger Neji reveals about his knowledge of the planned annihilation and just as the Uchihas are about to interrogate him, Sai comes in and takes him to the funeral held for Hiashi in excuse to actually save his neck. Sasuke recalls and is confused about how Sakura and Neji came to know of this annihilation and questions her directly. He then realises how Sai may have been the one who told those two but the question is 'why'. He leaves Sakura for the time being and heads to the burial grounds with the thought of interrogating both Neji and Sai.

If this summary didn't help out much, feel free to read the previous chapters :3

Now back to the chapter..

Chapter 13: Moving Forward

"My hands are drenched in sin..

..but that doesn't mean I'm heartless."

-Suigetsu Hozuki

The two have been sitting silently in his small apartment for an hour now, both lost in deep thought about the next step that they must take. Or rather, the necessary step that they must take now that Neji has literally jeopardized their cover by lashing out in front of the Uchihas. And in doing so, he has also threatened Sai and Sakura's neck along with the whole secret about the FoK.

Sai watched the Hyuga Prodigy meditate with barely concealed interest. He can't help himself from wondering about what would've happened to this man had he not shown up at the Hokage's room when he did. Who knows? Maybe Neji would've earned himself a death sentence? Or worst! Maybe he would've been tortured to the point where he would've been left with no choice but to spill-out everything about their small group of rebels?! The thought in itself is terrorising. The ex-root nin shook his head and decided to distract himself with something less scary. And weirdly, his distraction came in the form of Neji's periodic inhale and exhale of the surrounding air.

Sai gazed at the continuously inflating and deflating chest of the Hyuga. With eyes closed, Neji tried focusing more on controlling his chakra. Sai felt fascinated by him and pondered on whether he must capture this moment on one of his canvases. It'll be a lovely addition to his growing collection of paintings. But not just Neji, Sai is fascinated by all the different people around him. They can teach him important things about life just as much as his team-mates do. Well..talking about teammates, none are currently available to help Sai with his emotional problems. Now that Sakura is betrothed to the infamous second grandson of Madara Uchiha, he is left with no other choice but to resort back to his guide books. How he wishes to discuss about all such things with her.

"Can you stop staring?" muttered the Hyuga, eyes still closed in concentration.

The artist tried an apologetic smile in a similar manner that he has read about in a book but the Hyuga only frowned. It's a mystery how he can understand the ex-root nin's fake expression even with his eyes shut like that. Nonetheless, Sai spoke, "I'm sorry. I'm just trying to formulate a plan about what I can do with you now that you've landed the three of us in such a conundrum."

"Three?" Neji asked, inhaling yet again.

"Yes", Sai picked up a sketch-pad and a brush as he began with a rough sketch of the long-haired prodigy, "You, me and Sakura. The Uchihas may let the matter go but Sasuke won't sit still until he reaches the very bottom of this whole thing."

A long sigh left the prodigy's lips and he stood-up, breaking the calm atmosphere that he had created with his meditation. "You're right. Besides, we only have an hour until the funeral ceremony gets over."

"Yes and I bet that Sasuke will come at you the instant that funeral ends. And he will not let this go until he uncovers every last speck of detail about us." Sai added gravely.

"Well, he'll probably torture me to the point I can take it no more and then make me talk. So I came up with this idea while I was meditating." He said and Sai urged him to go on, "What if he never finds me? Like Sakura did with that disguise of hers'."

Sai shook his head in negation, "Before we can delve any further into this thought I'd like to remind you that Ugly is a pro at chakra control unlike you or myself. So we need to do something else about hiding your identity. Just a simple henge won't work in your case."

Neji nodded in understanding. He knew that Sai would mention this and so, he moved on to his next suggestion "In that case..how about this?"

With the arrival of the Hokage and his minions at the Sacred Hyuga Burial Grounds, an elderly Hyuga member began the Funeral Ceremony by a long prayer in respect of the departed one. And as everyone closed their eyes in prayer, Sasuke Uchiha scanned the whole place, his obsidians looking around in pursuit of a certain Ex-Root assassin and a Prodigy from the Hyuga Clan. But even under the effects of his eternal mangekyou sharingan, he was unable to locate any matching suspects. From what he can recall, it was Sai who had practically dragged a frightened-looking Neji Hyuga out of the Hokage's office, right when Neji spilled-out his knowledge about the annihilation of the Hyuga Clan. There's no need to have any great deduction skills to figure out that the two are hiding- no- conspiring something! And whatever it is that they are plotting to accomplish, is also known to Sakura. It's ridiculous how he completely ignored the fact that she proposed a deal of marriage with him in exchange for the lives of the Hyugas. He must've been more focused and paid attention to how she came to know about that annihilation. But oh well..thanks to his distracting ex-teammate, he let his guard down and failed in noticing how suspicious her and Neji's involvement in this whole matter is.

Taking another glance around the place, he grit his teeth. There were literally no traces of any of the two suspects he's been searching for. Where did they disappear off to? Or what exactly are they doing as of right now? Are they initiating their plans already? Has the first step already been put in action? More importantly, he doesn't even know what they are working on!

Dammit!

He took a long breath to calm his flaring nerves and decided to do one last scan of the area. The first person that his eyes fell upon was Hinata Hyuga. He frowned as he watched the young Hyuga Princess' eyes closed in respect for her father. Its not like she can ever replace her father. There's only one person worthy enough of this position and that is Neji Hyuga from the branch family but even Sasuke knows that the main family will never allow something like this. The Hyugas aren't any less than the Uchihas when it comes to biasing.

He turned his head slightly back and found a former comrade, Shikamaru Nara standing directly behind him with his parents and a blonde, pigtailed woman. He recognises her because he had faced her once when he was still a willing shinobi of the Leaf. He is well-aware about her presence in this village. Well, it's not like she is the only one as after the war ended in their victory, the whole world of shinobi turned into a big mess of panicky civilians and ninja alike. Due to this haphazardness, a lot of the people were unable to return to their respective homelands. And since then, the village gates have been under constant surveillance because of which nobody is allowed to enter or leave at their free will. If there's any need to depart, the individual will first have to consult the nasty Hokage himself.

"What is it Uchiha?" an edgy, feminine tone asked him and it took him a moment to realize that it was the same blonde woman. At her side, Shikamaru scratched his jaw uneasily.

Such firm was her gaze that Sasuke felt himself unable to utter even a word to her.

She smirked teasingly, "Stop staring at me. You're a married man now."

The remark was spewed at him out of spite and disgust she feels towards him for chaining her pink-haired friend in a bond of marriage. And it was more than enough to spur his emotions. He narrowed his eyebrows and glared at her in what he thinks is his most menacing look but it didn't even make her budge. If anything, her lips only curved further upwards. It's almost like she's trying to spite him into some sort of outburst. Anyways, why the hell is she even gazing at him so smugly when her eyes are supposed to be closed in prayer like everyone else's?

"What?" she gestured with a nudge of her head, "Don't have a comeback?"

Comeback? How dare she? Who does she think she is, trying a childish banter with him? Him? He can kill her right here if he wants to but since he has always been surrounded by idiots like her, he knows how to keep his anger in check. His eyes shifted slightly from her face when he noticed some movement. It was the young Nara's palm that sneakily encircled her wrist, signalling her to stop. She turned her head towards Shikamaru and stared at him questioningly.

The young Nara ignored her look and instead bowed his head to Sasuke, "I'm sorry. The edginess is just a part of her personality. She doesn't mean to taunt you."

Sasuke watched her expression change as she heard those words. A big smile settled upon her lips. A big mocking smile and she herself apologised to him, ofcourse in a manner that ridiculed him even further. His fingers were itching to just strangle that little neck of hers but just as he motioned his hands, all eyes flew open.

The ceremony was over and a couple of eyes glanced confusedly between him, Shikamaru and the blonde girl, wondering exactly what was going on. With a heavy sigh, Sasuke managed to alleviate some of his anger and left the burial grounds in search of Neji Hyuga instead.

Behind him, Shikamaru released a breath in relief.

When she woke up, the whole apartment shook by the intensity of her horrified scream. Her shoulders shook with fear as she could still feel those crimson orbs boring holes into her frightful emeralds. And here she thought that those nightmares were finally gone...Surprise! Surprise! They had never really left..They were just lurking in the depths of her dark thoughts laced in fear, anticipating the right time to launch an attack. She can still remember that dream along with all of the vivid details. The dense chakra that was surrounding the aura of that avenger- Sasuke! He charged his left hand with a chidori and struck it right into the heart of her innocent, blond teammate, ending his life then and there. And as Sasuke did so, the blood went splashing all around him, drenching every inch of his skin in that Hokage-wannabe's blood. She can still remember herself sitting there, kneeling right before the whole scenario, tears streaming down her cheeks endlessly. Every time in her vision, he would turn around at this very moment and his piercing crimsons would clash with her scared emeralds. And he would inch closer towards her, pressing his lips against hers, smearing them with that very same blood of her dead teammate...

Just the shear memory made her scream again and that too, louder this time...Immediately, the door to her room burst open and in stepped the two sycophants that Sasuke has left to keep watch on her at all times. She lifted her eyelids slightly and flashed them a menacing glare.

"What do you want?" She whispered hoarsely in an irate tone.

The minute her scream reached their ears, Suigetsu and Juugo slammed the door open and ran in to check-up on the situation, completely prepared for whatever it was awaiting their entrance behind her door. Shockingly, they only found her gnawing at the skin of her innocently beautiful face. A second passed with her glaring at them, her fingernails digging painfully into her cheeks and them confusedly staring back at her.

"What do you want?" She whispered in a tight tone.

"We heard you scream. Are you alright?" Juugo asked with genuine concern swirling in his scarlet-red irises.

"You can tell Sasuke that I'm dealing well with all his confinements." She answered in a sarcastic tone.

"For your kind info, Sasuke never asked us to do this." Suigetsu spoke, his hand gripping the hilt of his huge blade a bit too hard.

No doubt they have been sent here by Sasuke to make sure that she is safe. Why? Well..because now that she is an Uchiha, as entitled by Madara himself, there are people who will try and grasp every chance they can to kill the young bride of his grandson. They have been sent here for the sole purpose of her protection at all costs but they aren't supposed to tell her about this. Heh! "She will understand..."- those were the exact words spoken by their young boss. Sasuke doesn't want them to tell her. She will understand?! How?! Last time that Suigetsu checked, she wasn't a psychic and she isn't one now! So the chances of her understanding Sasuke's motives without them having to explain it to her are very slim.

"Yeah..Yeah..Just like he never asked you to keep me locked-up at my apartment." She uttered with excruciating emphasis on every word.

"Huh..." Suigetsu exhaled audibly and closed his eyes, "Now listen-"

"I'm an Uchiha right?! Then..why was I restricted to attend Hiashi Hyuga's funeral?!" She yelled, tears clouding her mesmerizing irises.

He wants to tell her so badly about Sasuke's intentions but he simply cannot go against his master's orders. Frustrated at the fact and at himself, he closed his eyes and heaved a long sigh. When he re-opened them, he found the young medic already out of her bed, standing in her black, knee-high boots. And that sight alone, made him release another long sigh. Seriously? Does she ever stay at home and sleep like a normal girl must? No? Well..Karin did..

Karin.. He sighed. That redhead was kinda bitchy but Suigetsu has to admit that he misses her.

The swordsman rubbed his eyes to keep himself from overreacting and asked the pinkette, "Where are you going?"

She bade him no response, which is not even surprising anymore. He has gotten pretty used to her weird antics. And so, as she made her way out of her bedroom and left her apartment, him and Juugo were left with no other choice but to follow her. A sense of déjà vu passed his thoughts as Juugo closed the main door of her apartment.

Blood had started to ooze out from the places she had been gnawing at on her cheeks. Why isn't she healing herself? He thought but then immediately felt like smacking himself. Ofcourse it has to do with that stupid bracelet that Kabuto has put on her. Healing is an intricate procedure and requires a lot of chakra and focus.

"Do you enjoy this?" Suigetsu asked, sweat trickling down his brow.

"Enjoy what?" she asked as she continued marching in the direction of only god knows what place.

"Getting us all worked-up!" the swordsman yelled, finally losing his cool. Her lack of concern for her own skin irked him even more. Karin would've never let even a single scar stay on her cheek. Karin would've tried everything in her might to look pretty every single fucking day. Karin would..Karin isn't here anymore..

He sighed in frustration and tried to focus on Sakura again."You know Sasuke won't be pleased when he finds out-"

"Does it look like I care?" she drawled out.

"Well..you must. Because when he finds out, he's gonna kill us all." Suigetsu tried his best to emphasize the 'kill' part but the young medic continued walking. And yet again, he moved his lips to shout some sense into her head but a large hand on his shoulder stopped him from doing so. He glanced at the shaky palm and then at it's equally fidgety owner- Juugo. The expression on his face was enough to convey that he was controlling his anger the best he could and so, Suigetsu decided to let the matter go. For the time being atleast. Afterall, it's fine as long as Sasuke is the one who kills them. He will grant a quick, merciful death. An enraged Juugo on the other hand, will tear him and Sakura to shreds but only after making sure to beat them to a pulp. Suigetsu doesn't want such a death. And he's damn sure Sakura shares the same thoughts.

The déjà vu hit Suigetsu yet again as they entered the rusty, old building of the Konoha Hospital. If they are here, then ofcourse the pinkette wants to see none other than her half-dead mentor. Crossing the dirty halls that led towards the secluded ward, Suigetsu and Juugo watched in silence as the small key was inserted into the hole and the knob was turned. Sakura walked in with a heaviness in her heart and before the minds of the former S-class nins could comprehend what was happening, she threw herself over the unmoving body of the infamous copy-nin. Unexpectedly loud sobs reached the men's ears and they watched in shock the continuous shaking of the young medic's shoulders as she shed tears.

What Suigetsu had heard from his buddy Sai was the fact that team 7 is not just a team but a family. It was hard to believe those words when he had first heard them but it is far-easier to understand their depth now that he is experiencing them with his very own eyes. His eyes remained fixated on Sakura as she wept over the silver-haired man's form as if he was actually her father. Okay, maybe not. But in his own way, Kakashi is like a father to team 7.

"You.." they heard her sob out in a soft yet shrill tone, her tears mixing with the dried blood on her cheeks, "You said that you won't let me shoulder the burden on my own. You promised..."

The whole room went quiet again, followed by the hysterical sobbing of the pink-haired kunoichi. With her face burrowed into the chest of her former teacher, her hands clutched at the fabric of his shirt and she cried. She cried and cried and cried..and they watched. Both Suigetsu and Juugo were unable to look away from the pitiful sight before their eyes. It made them contemplate and question their own acts. Are they on the right side? Ofcourse not. Can they help her out of this? Maybe? Maybe not. Who knows? At this point, the only thing that is clear to them is that she doesn't belong anywhere near that Uchiha den.

"You know why I married him.." she lifted her head and whispered to the sleeping man, "You know exactly why.. So pleaassse..wake up, Sensei. Wake up and take away some of my burden..." She gazed hopefully at the man lying on the stretcher but her words proved to be futile. The man didn't even budge. Juugo honestly felt an ache in his heart. He maybe on the wrong side but he isn't a bad person. He wants to help Sakura. He genuinely does. He just has no idea where or how to begin..

Three hours passed in that hospital ward with Sakura talking to her comatose sensei and Suigetsu discussing with Juugo about how to actually handle being guards to such a fragile girl. One misstep and she'll break.

Sakura wiped her teary face with the back of her sweaty palms and turned around to find Sasu- her husband's faithful sycophants waiting for her. Bidding them no signal, she walked right past them out of the room, knowing they'll undoubtedly follow.

Now that she has freely let out her emotional pain to someone, she is ready to sacrifice herself and stand next to the Uchihas. All her friends think of her as a traitor and it's better this way. Atleast her false betrayal will act as a positive motivator. It'll rile their sentimental connections to her and help them realise their goal much easily. The rebels will work far-better in her absence.

Upon reaching her small apartment, she felt an intense gaze pierce through her carefully constructed mask of apathy. She knew exactly whom those eyes belonged to and without even an ounce of fear in her form, she tilted her face, her emeralds meeting the onyxes. By the deep frown marring his face, it was obvious that he wasn't pleased about something and clearly that "something" is linked with her. Still, she climbed the three short steps up the porch and stood directly in front of him, awaiting his angry tirade.

"Where were you?" he gritted out.

"Not a matter of your concern." came her curt response.

He exhaled a breath through his nose and she watched his nostrils flare in unbridled anger.Such a Sasuke-thing to do. She scoffed inwardly and watched the riled up Uchiha inch closer towards her. She kept her gaze. She wasn't intimidated by him in the least. He has already tried to kill her twice so she isn't much scared of dying by his hands. Much to her surprise though, a heavy, shiny object swished in between her and him, breaking the tense atmosphere in an instant-Suigetsu's huge sword. Taking a long breath, Sasuke turned to the side to face the intrusive person and his eyes changed to red, the black tomoes spinning wildly as he seethed at the man. Sakura's eyes on the other hand widened in actual shock when she found that it was Suigetsu who had intervened between them. Why did he?

The white-haired rogue-nin simply stared at his master, his lips a thin line that expressed no emotion whatsoever. When he had decided to serve Sasuke, he had planned to stay out of his boss's way..he had planned to stay out of trouble. But things have changed. He has changed. Watching this pink-haired medic weep in front of her unresponsive sensei stirred something in him. And if this is the last bit of good that he has within him, then he surely wants to utilise it to his best. His inner conflict has finally ended and he has reached a conclusion. He maybe working under the Uchihas but he'll properly safeguard Sakura Haruno. It's better to die the death of a kind bodyguard than an S-class shinobi who used to kill for fun.

"I'm-We're sorry, Sasuke-sama." Juugo was the one who spoke-up for his lean partner, nodding his head at the swordsman in agreement. If Suigetsu is ready then he is too. Afterall, he had never wanted to be the bad guy. It's just life offered him limited options and he had to choose the least bad from amongst them. But now as he glanced between his master and his newfound bride, who also happens to be a kind woman, he has changed his mind from just 'spending the days and dying' to doing something good for the sake of redemption..to achieve true piece at the time of his demise.

"We can't let your hostile nature hurt Sakura-san because this is exactly what you had ordered us to do." He explained honestly.

If anything one of Sasuke's eyebrows arched high up in question of such insolence. He had expected eventual discord and disrespect from Suigetsu. He has never been able to trust the mist-nin but he had always expected Juugo to be a faithful one. So what exactly did Sakura do to win over his dogs? Moments of him glaring ferociously at them did nothing to melt their determination to protect the young kunoichi. They stood before her like a shield and the pinkette watched in silent amazement. It's almost as if she hadn't expected them to protect her.

With his sharingan now faded back to reveal his beautiful greyish-onyx orbs, he sighed raggedly and asked her again in a much calmer tone, "Where were you?"

She scoffed, only this time not inwardly. She shook her head at him and countered his query with a question of her own, "Why do you even care?"

Sasuke's left hand moved and he grabbed tightly onto the hilt of his kusanagi. Sakura's eyes followed, noticing the subtle action of the man she had fallen for. And with a piercing gaze, he gritted out, "Because Neji Hyuga was found dead an hour ago and I don't want to find out that my wife was behind his murder."

Sakura gulped calmly in the eerie silence that followed his words. And then, she shrieked, "WHAT!?"

Alright, so this marks the end of the chapter. I know its not the best one but I still hope you guys liked it..:)

What do you think about Neji's death?

Or Suigetsu and Juugo's newfound fealty towards Sakura?

More angst in the coming chapters.

And once again, thanks for being such patient readers. I really love you guys..♡

AND IF YOU CAN THEN PLEASE SUPPORT ME ON KOFI

My family is facing some issues and it’d be of great help..

Don't forget to share your thoughts about this chapter cuz believe me or not, I read all your comments. They are fun to read and always keep me motivated! :D

And do let me know if you find any errors.

Hopefully I'll make another update soon..:3

Until Next Time...

~Manika

|MASTERLIST|

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[snippets-n-excerpts]

Almost a Chapter One: Narutoverse, SI, I-do-what-I-want

“What,” is stated blandly right over me as I lay flat on my back, the sky a brilliant hue this time of the day, fading from a purpled midnight to true morning blue. I take a deep breath, gather the air that was knocked out, and cough once. Much better. At least the grass is thick and soft, if wet.

“Sorry, gramps,” I rasp. “I thought you would move.”

“And I,” comes the amused baritone, “thought you would stop.” I’m suddenly airborne, large hands pulling me up until I can look the white-silver haired man in the eye properly. With my (long, long, <I>long</I>) braid swinging like a pendulum behind me, I know I look like some spoiled princess. “Hime-“ there it is, the assumption, “-what are you doing out so early?”

Since this is a <I>ninja</I>, it only makes sense to <I>not lie</I>. “I’m going to the Market,” which, true. “Because mama asked me to,” and not true.

Let me rephrase: I try not to lie badly.

Still, he seems to be... okay with that answer. “Why don’t I accompany the little Hime?”

I look him over. Smell the sweat, the blood, the foul stench of a stomach and intestine having been cut open—it was only a deer one time when my baby brother had been trying to learn and the smell never left my memory. Remarkably? Deer and men smell just alike when eviscerated. So, I raise a brow. He cannot have forgotten he smelled like a cheap butcher. “How about you go wash up, <I>then</I> come to Market? I’ll be here for some time.”

He snorts after a moment of contemplation, sitting me on my feet and wiping my back off efficiently. “Alright, Hime. I’ll go get cleaned up and meet you at Market.”

I can’t stop my smile. He’s adorable. “Use soap!”

He actually laughs and I feel my little four year old heart flutter. Dammit. I hate how... unaltered and genuinely I like people at this age. It’s confusing. And manic. No wonder most children are little skitzo maniacs who would follow a stranger home. Turning away with a red face, I carefully do not stomp to the center of the village to the massive trades good center called simply Market.

I browse for a moment, frowning at the bits of rotten food that hasn’t been taken out of the haul on the outer stalls. Such terrible manners, these sellers. Still, these ones tend to have better prices for spices.

“Ah, Hime!” The old man two stalls down leans over, waving for me to come closer. “It has been a few days! Are you well?” The old guy with false teeth and enough wrinkles to make a Pug envious is Honda-san. He keeps me in sweets and citrus, having his own grove and living his life doing this more for the human interaction than need of money. His son is getting ready to inherit, his daughter married to a well off merchant in Tea, and from what he says, a small army of great-grandchildren. He’s a sweet guy, really. And literally.

“Yes, Honda-san?” I enquire with a small smile. Tugging my nearly ankle length braid over my shoulder, I look over his counter. I am... large for a four year old. Exceptionally tall, actually, but not as tall as I could be considering who my parents are. Still, I can pass for a tall six or short seven year old. It is disconcerting looking in a mirror. And not because of my size.

“Just the person I was looking for,” he states, avoiding all gender specific pronouns. He knows a lot, even my gender, but he is also kind of crazy and likes to mess with people’s heads. Winking like the mad man he is, he heaves to drag up a massive basket of fruit is haven’t seen since becoming aware of this life. Star fruit. “I know you said something about fruit the shape of a star once! I found an old man-“ ah ha, that’s hilarious coming from him, “-who grows it. He is willing to part with a few cuttings and Hime gets something Hime wants!”

I legitimately squeal, seizing the basket and staggering back when the full weight settles in my arms. I start to trip and fall when strong arms pluck me up. The hand is large, hot, and really familiar. “It’s not even been twenty minutes!” I yelp, kicking my feet. “Put me down, please!”

I’m set gently to my feet and that same large hand comes down on my head like I’m his kid. I look up and snort. His hair is still wet and dripping into his face, the profile achingly familiar and yet different. He’s legitimately beautiful, the kind that grabs at your lungs and holds tight for the first moment every time you look at them. This is also the first time I’ve even seen him properly in this life and I already miss his son who hasn’t even been born yet.

Why hasn’t he had a kid yet? He’s obviously old enough. “Are you married?”

There’s another startled laughed, the man looking down at me even as he takes the heavy basket from my hands. He doesn’t even shift with what has to be nearly thirty pounds of exotic fruit. That asshole. “Maa maa, Hime. That is a personal question.”

Okay, yes. And, honestly? I get it. We live in an almost modernized war-state, the threat of assassination to spouses and family and friends a high stakes game that nobody wanted to trust or loose to. So, no personal questions. After all, the villages were just formed and, hey, why not celebrate with a massive <I>war</I>?

Frowning mullishly at my thoughts, I grab the left hand of the tall man. Shinobi. “Come on, old man, I have a lot of shopping to do before breakfast.”

“Well,” begins the man as I lead him from stall to stall, watching me sweet talk and haggle prices. I am not good at it. At all. But I’m a baby-faced child and the shopkeeps are fond of me with my often return business so the prices are usually fair and even a few take pity to give me better prices or more produce. “I would say your mother should be doing this...” I glance at him as I finish at the tomato cart, daintily tucking green tomatoes into the star fruit basket along with all my other purchases. He seems to mull something over before waiting until I tug him into a small alley, looking up expectantly. As the short alley is a nice spot to rest out of the crowd, we garner no attention. “But she isn’t in the village is she?”

Drat and damnation. Of course he could parse that. I sigh, his eyes taking their time to look me over. He might be seeing a resemblance which, okay, I can handle, but why is he so suddenly invested in me? Hello? Kid who ran into you this morning? For the first time?

“And you don’t... seem to live with a father...?”

I snort. “If the man even knows I exist, I will make you breakfast for a month,” I bargain recklessly. “I’m a battlefield baby. I was conceived and born in bloodshed, old man. And, once mother was well enough to go back, she went.”

He shifts back, something like surprise flickering over his face. “Then. Who <I>are</I> you living with? Your father’s family? Your mother’s?”

I could say “personal”, but this is one of the mainstay people of my every wish (and nightmare) brought to life before me. I am fond of the idiot. Which, an idiot, really. Who talks about shopping with an unknown child covered in stale viscera?

“Both,” I not-lie because I do. Technically.

The look he gives me is pretty intense. I’m not lying, but I’m not saying the whole truth. How can he tell?! Does he smell it on me? Hand on my hip, I pout at him. “What?”

He crouches, settling the basket on the ground and setting his hands on my shoulders. “Hime-chan, please,” he says firmly, softly, as if I’m one of his teammates, someone important to him as he slips a familiar honorific in there, “tell me the truth.”

I take a slow breath, looking at this man that I know and do not and sigh it out. Patting his arm, I grab my basket and start to drag it out with me. His hands don’t leave me—in fact, he hauls me close to him and stalls me in a hold even experienced shinobi would have trouble getting out of. I groan, stomping me foot. “Dammit, old man!”

He sighs in return, pressing his face to my neck even as I stiffen for a moment. When he breathes deep, his chest expands like a barrel against my shoulders. “Okay,” he begins, voice a little rough. “Okay. I have a proposition for you, Hime-chan.”

I wiggle a little, biting at the hand in reach. “No,” I hiss like an angry cat. “I don’t want to! Because you will find out and they will have expectations I <I>cannot</I> live up to!”

“Is that any damned reason to be damn near malnourished?!” he growled back, my frame too thin for bones underneath. I kick back futilely before sagging. Fine. Whatever.

“What do you want from me, old man?” I huff, sagging like a sack of angled sticks in his arms. He has picked me up twice already, so of course he would notice.

He sighs, plopping down on the ground and probably in something disgusting because, hello, people are filthy animals, then tugs me into his lap. “I want you to stop lying and tell me why you are severely underweight for an Akimichi.”

I let my head thunk on his shoulder. Fuck. Fine. “I’m not a full Akimichi, old man. And, honestly, they don’t seem to want a halfbreed.” Which, ahem, about eighty percent true. The hand close to my face releases its hold to tap my nose. He legitimately growls when I stay quiet for several beats. I roll my eyes. “No. I told you well enough, now let go so I can buy a shit tone of food that won’t feed me properly.”

He stands, tucks me under his arm, and then the basket under the other. Shit. He’s going to take me to the Akimichi clan head. Fuck. No, no, no, no! That will end well for exactly no one. So I struggle. Hard and sharp, and finally sigh with the knowledge that I’m going to have to do something stupid. Maybe bite the hand that carries me. Or slide out of my clothes or, ah, bribe.

What the hell does a four year old have to bribe an adult?

“Put me down, put me down, putmedown!” I snarl quietly, not wanting to bring the whole of the street down on us. Yet. “Don’t do it, don’t do it, don’tdoit!”

Shit. Fuck. Dammit. Hell.

I flop over his arm, resigned because I can’t even wiggle enough to twist, much less loosen my layers. I can’t reach anything to bite. I don’t want the word getting back about me at all. So.

“I’ll bribe you. Let me bribe you,” I beg, voice low.

The man stops for a moment, turning his head down to look at me. That is real mirth in his eyes and I like it, but not nearly enough to put up with a clan head that does not want me. “What does a brat like you have to offer me, Hime?”

Ah. Back to that. Suffix removed. “Well, I can cook. Or bake. Or steam. Or fry. I make dog friendly treats? I would like to see the other side of ten?”

He seems mildly uncomfortable with my dispirited tone, as if he’s squirming on the inside. It does not, in any way, stop him from strutting his way to the Akimichi clan holdings and right up to the clan head’s house. The Head himself is out killing people for his military dictatorship, so it is his wife that is in charge. I try very hard to avoid her.

She does not, in any way, like me.

“Maa, Akimichi-sama,” Sakumo murmurs, putting my purchases down on the porch before stepping closer to the round faced woman. “I found one of yours.”

He presents me like a puppy, swinging me up and around, hands under my arms and held out. The woman sneers as if something gross has been presented. Yeah well, I think, you’re a different kind of bitch, lady. I curl a little into myself, eyes firmly on the tatami mats and wood grain. I do not try and make eye contact with my (distant) cousins because I know I will be ignored. I am not wanted here.

I eventually lowered, tucked into his chest with one arm as his disarming smile becomes a bit more forced. “Maaa, Akimichi-hime, the little one here seems to not be getting the right food. I know the kid shops by-“

He didn’t get further as the wife of the clan head started. “That thing is not an Akimichi. Not really.” This is stated calmly, voice soft and firm and irrefutable. “What do I care? Keep it. Feed it if you must. Drown it, maybe, to save us all the extra work.”

[sumigakure]

we’re getting the band (back) together

To: @modernart2012

From: @arrowsbane​

Title: we’re getting the band (back) together

Rating: T

Wordcount: 1486

Prompt: Pacific Rim AU. Preference for MadaTobi, but I’m open to any pairing, romantic or otherwise. Doesn’t have to follow the movie, can follow the comics.

Notes: I went very AU with this, but right now Idek bc I swapped prompts halfway through, and this is what my brain came up with.

Summary: “We’re getting the band back together!” Jiraiya crows exuberantly. Tsunade, of course, is just there to knock some heads together; and Orochimaru… Orochimaru hates them both. He’d rather being science-ing in his lab right about now.

After the shinobi villages formed, when the clans finally came together in order to stop the wars, the worst thing anybody really had to worry about was politics and conflicting missions…

And then… everything changed.

When the Zetsu first began attacking, it was the Samurai who came up with the concept for the Jaegar Project. It was a great idea, two people piloting a giant, fifty foot mechanical robot to combat the threat… until, of course, the Shinobi nations took one look at the machine and started to laugh.

The Project wasn’t scrapped – it couldn’t be scrapped, not with the panicked civilians’ screaming en masse at the politicians. Instead, it was made the public face of international defence.

Instead, the Parabatai Project was designed – which in turn spawned the Cerebus Program as the years passed; implants inserted directly into the spinal column and interfacing with the CNS and brainstem, wirelessly connected to partnered hubs.

The implants enabled the user to link-up with others, and essentially become one mind simultaneously piloting and co-ordinating multiple bodies. If used by an ordinary swordsman, it would be lethal… used by Ninja… well, that was just inspired.

And so began the evolution of the ninja villages – Senju Tobirama and Uchiha Madara paved the way, demonstrating the deadly efficiency of two compatible genii able to share a hive mind-set. The land of Fire was set ablaze in their attempt to wipe out the Zetsu, but even their combined might was not enough. 

Genin teams were put together for balance, but ninja were assessed again as Chunin, and often reassigned to different units in order to test flexibility and search out the best ‘fit’. Partners were usually set around the age of sixteen, once puberty had evened out – chakra helping to stabilise the mind and body ahead of civilian standards.

When Sarutobi’s Genin team were slotted together, nobody had really expected much of them – well, they had expected them to become brilliant ninja… separately… in their own right… but nobody had foreseen the titans that they would be in the field.

The implants stung at first, they always did – Jiraiya bitched, Orochimaru scowled… and Tsunade… Tsunade was smug, because the idiots had ignored the opportunity to learn the healing techniques she’d used on herself within five minutes of leaving the Cerebus Centre.

Sarutobi shook his head and sighed, directing them to training ground twenty-three, and settling in to watch the no-doubt hilarious show that would be the three of them (re)learning to navigate while sharing headspace with minds that weren’t their own.

“Ouch!”

“Out of the way!”

“Ow. Ow OW OW TSUNADE!”

“Mooorrrooon.”

Sarutobi found himself dropping the rice ball and hastily intervening as Orochimaru’s words began to slur together in the telling manner that threatened the destruction of the whole training ground… or the village being swamped in snakes. Again.

The Sannin weathered so many storms, so many encounters with the Zetsu over the years before the cracks begin to show.

Time isn’t kind, nor is life. Some grow close, some grow apart… and constant expectations of high success rates, expectations of perfection, of setting the bar, of succeeding in an impossible war…

Tsunade lost her brother and fiancée, Orochimaru’s humanity slipped further and further from his grip with every passing year, and Jiraiya buried years of pain and disappointment beneath a wide grin and creased-closed eyes.

And then the cracks met in the middle, and the team shattered at the seams.

The Sanin were no more.

Time ticks on, and the Zetsu keep coming.

New teams step up to the plate, nations rise and fall in the leaderboards for ‘have killed the most useless monsters’… and eventually the Hokage throws his hands in the air, sighs, and sends his ANBU out to drag Jiraya away from the Hot Springs and into his office – by the ear if necessary.

“Enough,” He tells the wayward brat – fifty years old or not, he’s a brat – ��Enough. This has gone on for long enough.”

Jiraiya, of course, scowls.

“I’m not the one who left,” He grumbles, crossing his arms and ducking his chin, the picture of an angry pre-teen. Sarutobi sighs and rubs the crease between his brows.

“No,” he replies, “you are not; but that doesn’t mean you can’t go after them.”

Jiraya, tellingly, doesn’t answer. He sits there in sullen silence for a long while, and then slinks out of the office. Sarutobi has a sinking feeling. This will not end well.

Tsunade is drinking in a bar when he finds her, flushed pink from the alcohol, and halfway to falling asleep on a bill she won’t ever pay.

“No,” she says before he can even open his mouth, before he’s even in her line of sight – like she knows what he’s there for – and she does, because she’s still got the implants, and he would never give his up.

“But–”

“No.”

Jiraiya sighs, and flops down into a seat next to her, raising an arm to the bartender who nods and sets down a bottle of Sake and a cup in front of him.

“Kampai,” he mutters in a subdued tone.

Fuck. Now he remembers why he never chased after them before now.

The next morning dawns bright and clear – the sun is shining, the birds are singing… the local castle is exploding in a cloud of dust and rubble.

The fuck?

Jiraiya bolts upright, and groans, supressing the urge to drop back down into bed as the force of his hangover – and Tsunade’s, shit, how did he forget about that perk of the bond? – hits him smack in the cap of the skull, and his eyes feel like they’ve been burnt out of his head.

Goddammit, what was that?

He squints out against the morning glare, wrenching the window open and pushing off of the sill with practised ease, zoning in on the source of the noise.

Boom usually equals bad in his books.

And he’s right. He’s not the only one there though – Tsunade and her apprentice (Shizue? Torune? Shizune?) follows them, carrying a pig of all things.

Not only that, but looming out of the dust and snarling with frustration is–

“Orochimaru?” Jiraiya yelps. He hadn’t sensed the snake nin nearby. How had he not sensed the man when he’s lit up like a fucking chakra beacon?

“What did you do?” Tsunade screeches angrily, staring at was once a piece of local cultural history and is now a mass of stone and dirt.

“It wasn’t me,” Their wayward teammate snarls back at her; and as one, they turn to see a writing white mass melting into nothingness. But of course, where there’s one Zetsu, there’s dozens more.

“We’ll talk about this later,” She orders, ignoring Jiraiya’s whine of pain, and smashing a chakra-coated fist through the head of a Zetsu that had been trying to sneak up on her.

“Sure, “Orochimaru snipes backwards, “Sometime after the two of you have drunk your weight in sake again I suppose?”

“Please,” Tsunade snorts, kicking another Zetsu into a group, and the lot of them go down like bowling pins. “I’d need a lot more than that to handle your crap.”

Jiraiya tunes them out, focusing on using their connection – something he hasn’t done in over ten years – to handle the situation, although the back of his brain feels the familiar to-and-fro of death threats and general snarking.

He’s missed this.

When it’s all over and done with, and they’re standing in the wreckage of the battlefield, Jiraiya lets his shoulders slump, and turns to his old friends with a grin on his face – a grin he’s not worn in a long time.

“That was fun,” Tsunade admits as they make their way down to the town. She’s going to need sake to get through the rest of they day.

“Yeah, it was.” Jiraiya agrees happily, and Orochimaru snorts. “Oh don’t act like you didn’t enjoy it.”

“I didn’t hate it…” Orochimaru acquiesces, stepping over a large chunk of stone and mortar.

“Aww, I love you too.” Jiraiya latches onto his teammate like a limpet on a rock.

“Get your hand off of me, Moron.” Orochimaru hisses, flipping his hair over his shoulder and trying to squirm out of Jiraiya’s grip.

“You’re both idiots.” Tsunade grumbles, shaking out her clothes.

“But we’re your idiots.” Jiraiya tells her cheerfully.

“You’re certainly something,” She grumbles, and then freezes as a thought passes through Jiraiya’s head.

“No,” She says.

“No.” Orochimaru agrees with her.

It’s too late though, they both know he’s not going to let them go again.

“Don’t say it,” Tsunade groans, rubbing her aching temples and Orochimaru groans.

“We’re getting the band back together!” Jiraiya crows exuberantly. Tsunade, of course, is just there to knock some heads together; and Orochimaru… Orochimaru hates them both. He’d rather being science-ing in his lab right about now.

If you enjoyed this piece, why not take a look at other pieces written by the same author on AO3.

[depressedhatakekakashi]

I posted 16,616 times in 2021

12181 posts created (73%)

4435 posts reblogged (27%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 0.4 posts.

I added 5,697 tags in 2021

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Longest Tag: 139 characters

#he worked with his students and recognized their strengths and weakness’ and brought out the best in them when he was allowed to shine as a

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

What are you talking about? Your recent reblogged just said Kakashi is a powerful hokage. Lmao I agree he is a powerful ninja but he is the weakest hokage. How can they list new jutsu in his data book when all he ever did as the hokage is read icha icha? The ‘technological state’ you are talking about was because of Shikamaru. Kakashi is a messy Hokage like Tobirama. He is lazy and he escapes his duties like how he always does. Instead of visiting his dead friend’s grave he should have done something worthwhile as a hokage, not by letting Shikamaru fix all the papers for him or giving Shizune a hard time as his secretary.

Shizune having a hard time as Kakashi's secretary is 100% fanon, and Shikamaru doing all the work is complete bullshit. It's stated that the technological advencements of Konoha are Kakashi's doing.

That Kakashi made Konoha the most economically successful village out of the five shinobi villages and connected them through trade so that they relied on each other. Needed each other.

Those were Kakashi's successes, not Shikamaru's. the idea that Kakashi didn't do shit as Hokage is just blatantly wrong. Kakashi was the one who modernized the leaf village and created strong diplomatic relations with the other villages.

It was Kakashi who went to Gaara when he needed help with Naruto's wedding, showing that the villages could help each other in times of need great or small.

'All he ever does is read Icha Icha'

Fucking where? Does he read Icha Icha a lot? yes. It's a coping mechanism for him that he has had for years. An escape from reality. But Kakashi is shown in Cannon to be a dutify Hokage who gets his paper work done himself and take's care of everything as he should.

He IS a strong Hokage.

Kakashi is a Hokage who knows all of the releases, even after losing the sharingan. A feat accomplished by very few. This includes Yin and Yang release.

Kakashi isn't the strongest Hokage, and i never said he was. But to say he's a weak Hokage is blatently wrong. He's stronger than Tsunade and is up there alongside Hiruzen and Tobirama. Hashirama and Naruto also have god status because of the prophecy bullshit so we're simply not going to count them cuz they got an edge over every single other Hokage.

Kakashi litterally created new Jutsu with the loss of his Sharingan. the manga and Anime show him training all the time and that didn't stop with the war ending and him becoming Hokage. Onoki was stunned by Kakashi's sheer power in the Kakashi Hidan Novel, and by the time of Boruto Kakashi has his purple lighting. A jutsu that's stronger than his Chidori (which he can't use anymore because the sheer speed of it requires the sharingan)

Don't come onto my page and belittle Kakashi's achievements and try to pass them onto others. at no point in cannon are we led to belive that Shizune has to chase Kakashi around to make him do his work. We see him doing his work without problem (is he bored? yes. Does he still do the work? YES). Shizune struggled more with Tsunade, who outright didn't want to do the job but still did her paperwork easier than Naruto.

At no point is it even fucking suggested that shikamaru made the technological advancements of Konoha. Shikamaru is the tactical lead. His job is not to do Kakashi's paperwork or his meetings or approve all of the shit that Kakashi approved and set into motion. That was Kakashi. Kakashi put in the effort to grow Konoha. Kakashi made Konoha a larger village with trains and lap tops and cell phones.

KAKASHI IMPROVED KONOHA AND MADE A SUCCESSFUL VILLAGE FOR NARUTO TO TAKE OVER!

did he have help? Absolutly. but don't fucking hand over his achievements to others. you can fuck right off with that shit.

193 notes • Posted 2021-05-27 21:18:52 GMT

#4

Team 7 going out for lunch with ‘Old Man Kakashi’ bc they want to take advantage of the free meals for Father’s Day lives in my mind rent free😂😂😂

Why did he let them convince him into these types of things? It was embarrassing.

“Come on, Sensei!” Naruto dragged him through the village, Sasuke and Sakura following close behind. “The sushi shop is having a Father’s Day special, and we have to get there before all the seats fill up.”

Father’s Day?

“You-I’m not a father,” he argued. Grunting when Naruto tugged him through the front door of the sushi shop. “Naruto, what are you… this won’t work.”

“Don’t be silly, Dad,” Sakura elbowed gum in the side, chuckling when he glared at her. “We already booked a table anyways. Naruto’s just excited.”

This was so embarrassing.

“I’m 26,” he grumbled under his breath. What had he done in his life to deserve this? “I can’t be your father.”

“Not with that attitude you can’t,” she smirked “it’s like you don’t want a free bowl of miso soup.”

Miso soup?

“Now I didn’t say that,” he protected. “Don’t make me ground you smart ass.”

With a free Miso soup on the line, the choice was obvious. He could act like a dad for a while, and it would be a great way to get back at the kids for being so embarrassing.

After all, what was more embarrassing than a dad?

“Mah, I guess I could go for some food,” stretching his arms over his head, he groaned. “I don’t know about this though. You’re not even wearing matching shirts. How am I supposed to tell you apart?”

“We look nothing alike.” Sasuke protested

“Mmm, I guess you’re right. It shouldn’t be that hard to remember who you are. Thank’s Naruto.”

The sound of Sasuke being held back by Sakura and Naruto from trying to attack him was damn satisfying.

And he had only begun his revenge.

194 notes • Posted 2021-07-04 08:02:41 GMT

#3

I had some thoughts XD

228 notes • Posted 2021-04-24 06:40:31 GMT

#2

Minato: Kakashi, Is there anyone you like?

Kakashi: No *trips and drops his locket*

265 notes • Posted 2021-02-21 18:08:11 GMT

#1

Kakashi Hatake Is So lazy. It's like he never trains.

He certainly doesn't do 200 push ups while there are two people sitting on his back

He isn't well known around the shinobi world, so much so that people take one look at him and know who tf he is and respect him.

See the full post

727 notes • Posted 2021-05-27 21:47:16 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[purple-possibilities]

@mreyes1994​ requested Genma for the Character Ask.  Here you go!

First impression Is that the coughing guy?  Didn’t the coughing guy die?  No it can’t be, because Ichigo* wasn’t voicing the coughing guy.  Ok, so different guy.  Seems very deep.  Kinda philosophical.  Would probably make a good mentor.  I like him. *i watched the dub, and the voice actor is the same one who voices Kurosaki Ichigo from Bleach.

Impression now Is it hot in here or is it just Genma?  Definitly a character I would have liked to see more of.  There are such subtle allusions to his shared past with other amazing characters; he was on Team Chouza with Gai and Ebisu (and why are they not shown being friends i thought people were tight with their genin teammates? PLUS GAI---HE WOULD NEVER STAND FOR THIS LACK OF FRIENDSHIP) and he was on the Yondaime’s Hokage Guard Platoon (he’s 3 years older than Kakashi, meaning he was 17 when Minato died, and therefore learned the Hiraishin as a 15/16 year old.  How is he only a Tokubestu Jounin?  Yes, he needs to be with Raido and Iwashi to do it but still that’s badass).  I feel like Kishi and SP just kind of threw Genma in there when they needed an adult somewhere, or else they wouldn’t have given him so many random qualifications.  Genma has been around, and no, I’m not talking about his sex life.

Favourite moment When Shikaku starts the mental connection with Genma to inform him that Madara was brought back to life with Edo Tensei, and Shikaku is like “I have something to tell you, and it’s super important that I convey it to you quickly, so don’t ask questions.” and Genma agrees, so Shikaku starts again, “Marada has been reanimated with Edo Tensei---” and then Genma just can’t help but interrupt.  Repeatedly.  And makes jokes.  I love it.

Idea for a story I’ve actually always wanted to write a story which gets deep into Genma’s character.  Not this playboy bs, background character nonsense.  It could have a pairing, idk, maybe with Shizune, or Ino, or maybe even an OC, idk.  Ok, it’s a romance now (I love love, ok, sue me pleasedon’tsueme).  But in the story, it’s not just about wooing or getting the pair together, it explores Genma’s past, and his relationship with the main cast, and fleshes out all these details of his life.  And we see so many other characters in it.  Raido and Iwashi feature in it a lot, of course.  I’ll make it Post Fourth War, too, and maybe Kakashi is Hokage (because I love him leave me alone).  We get to see Genma’s friendship with GAI (omg this makes me so happy to think about...look what you made me do) and also his relationship with Ebisu (you can’t tell me that Genma doesn’t tease Ebisu about being a closet pervert like, all the time. Even you must know it’s true).  We get to see them comforting Chouza after the loss of Shikaku and Inoichi (and why yes, the flashbacks to their time on team Chouza will be plentiful) and maybe even see Genma with Chouji, sharing stories about his dad and the antics they all used to get up to.

Unpopular opinion I don’t know where people got the idea that Genma is a perverted player.  The series never even shows him flirting.  So why does he have a reputation of chasing after every warm body on two legs?  Is it because he’s attractive?  Is it the senbon?  Is it the bandanna?  I don’t get it.  And I don’t see him that way.  

My initial impression of Genma was that he was a deep thinker, and I hold on to that.  Sure, he’s got the reputation of being kind of a jokester (although with words less than with actions---he’s not going around playing pranks, I can’t see that happening) but that just means he’s playful.  

Playfulness can be expressed in many different ways, and yes, flirting is one of them.  But there’s a difference between being a flirt and constantly trying to get into people’s pants.  I don’t see Genma as one of those dudes at the bar trying to get his dick wet.  I think it’s more the case of---in casual conversations---if Genma sees an opening to make a crack at someone, or flirt, or joke, then he just goes for it.  He has a smart mouth (and ass, too lol).  His personality in conjunction with his looks very well could attract all sorts of people, but I don’t think his intention for making those types of quips/flirting is to have sex with them, or even grab a date.  

That Genma has a reputation in fanon as having dated every available kunoichi and/or shinobi honesty just seems to me like an easy plot device that strips Genma of who he is.  Like, ‘I wasn’t sure what to write/I wanted to make [character] jealous, so here’s Genma conveniently popping up at a bar to hit on one half of the main love interest.’  Which would be a totally great plot device if Genma was actually interested in the character he was flirting with, and we got an actual love triangle (and all that drama) or even some OT3 action (I never say no to poly relationships lol).  That would be great.  But he’s usually just written flatly, and he becomes a device and not a person/character.  It doesn’t do him justice, and Genma deserves better.  Say it with me now:

Genma deserves better!

I also don’t understand why, although clearly receiving signalled or verbal disinterest, Genma is always feeling people up.  I sincerely doubt that Genma cannot respect boundaries.  And if he wanted to check someone out, Genma is a ninja, and a great one.  He could totally sneak a peek without the person (who was made uncomfortable by his looking) noticing.  He’s not a creep.  He does not commonly engage in sexual harassment---I actually think he would be super mindful of people’s boundaries.  I think he’s very intuitive, and maybe even highly empathetic.  Not necessarily sympathetic (although I do think he has the capacity for it), but definitely able to understand other people’s emotions, often just from body language.  

That’s not to say that I don’t think he could develop a rapport with certain people, involving constant flirting or blatantly checking the other out, featuring wolf-whistling and cheeky comments, and maybe even a touch or two (he’d be that friend who always puts his arm around your waist and gets a little close, with hands that drift a little too low).  But that’s only if he knew the other person well enough to know they’d be fine with it.  And it would be a specific type of relationship, not just his default reaction to everyone.  

The fanon reputation he has is a discredit to his character.  It makes him so one dimensional, and cheapens what would otherwise be a dynamic and interesting character.  He is connected to so many people in the shinobi world; he’s in the periphery of almost every character.  And sure, maybe Kishimoto just didn’t want to draw another jounin, so Genma, Raido, and Iwashi just pop up when convenient.  But by whatever reason, he has all these connections, and they would be so interesting to explore.  

Along with being connected to Minato (who needs his own post, or we’d be here forever) Genma’s also connected to Gai and Ebisu and Chouza, and he probably had to work with Shikaku because of being around the Hokage (and Shikaku is obviously familiar with him).

Then there’s the fact that Genma has guarded three Hokage before the end of the war, and then presumably two more after the war---the man has been with FIVE HOKAGE.  In charge of PROTECTING them.  That alone makes him so interesting, regardless of everything else.  The things he must have seen, the plots he must have listened in on, the jobs he’s probably had to do, as someone the Hokage (past and present) trust implicitly.  And he’s just a Tokubestu Jounin?  WITH THE HIRAISHIN???  I don’t believe it.  

There’s something up with Genma, and while I don’t know what it is, I want to know.  Why can’t stories focus on that side of Genma, instead of reducing him to a playboy?  

Favorite relationship This is difficult, because Genma is so sidelined that you don’t see him interact much with the other characters.  You really only see him with Raidou, and sometimes Iwashi, so they win by default.  But honestly, I’m super interested in all of Genma’s many hinted at relationships, most notably his relationship with Minato.  I wonder how he came into the position (and Raido and Iwashi, too---Iwashi being chuunin, of all things, this doesn’t make sense, why is a chuunin guarding the Hokage?).  I think that Genma is the sort of person who loves relationships.  He’s the guy who can’t be alone. He doesn’t care if you’re reading at the kitchen table while he makes dinner, so long as you hmm along every once in a while.  Although he’s also probably an amazing conversationalist.  I want to have philosophical discussions with Genma on life and love and what sorts of pumpkin dishes are basic and which are shinobi acceptable (the answer: they’re all exceptional shinobi dishes, sibi---stop eating my soup!).

Favorite headcanon I’m going to get a little inappropriate with this.  But, Genma has an oral fixation if you know what I mean, and he knows his way around more than just a senbon...

This got super long holy shit.  I have a lot to say about Genma!  If you missed it, this post inspired a fic!

Here is the ask.  Send me a character (canon or oc) or even a pairing.  Up next is Hidan, and then Adult!Obito, Rock Lee, and Ino.

Already completed: Madara, Kakashi, Shino, Tenzou, Gai

[vainillacat616]

Naruto alternare universe

So i like the way naruto went (well, some things better than other (screw you kaguya)) but i think that it could have went in a waaaay different route. So here i go (hope you won’t get bored): Everything goes the same until Naruto Shippuden, except in the Pain arc no one is revived, so i think the series might have done this:

Naruto becomes REALLY messed up, lots and lots of people he knew and love died BUT, sakura is alive, but if you remember she did nothing to stop Pain, she just sat there and cried for help (do you see where I’m going??) Naruto at first is glad that sakura is alive but because of all the emotional pain he just can’t stand that she did nothing but everyone else did every last friking bit to try stop the six paths, so sakura decides to grab tsunade and start to take care of her while training by herself (kinda like what happened allways buy now she actually improved).

Meanwhile naruto just enters in this emotional crisis but he makes a movement to rescue the survivors (before sakura leaves she helps at this) and start a new village; but almost everyone is dead so they just make a little group that will be dedicated only to the extermination of akatsuki. They select a powerful ninja to be a provisional “hokage” (maybe might guy or someone like that) and they have lots of arcs of just naruto and this group making everything to regrow the leaf village and avoid anyone of knowing; so they just close the fire continent or something like that until they get themselves back up.

Meanwhile sasuke kills itachi, blah blah. But remember that after all of that crisis now that the village has been reduced to nothing danzo and his root servants want to take over the fire land; so we have an arc of naruto in wich while he is doing everything the anbus try to take over and he discovers with sasuke all of the shit danzo made, so then in one arc naruto is trying to capture danzo while sasuke is trying to kill him. Naruto knows that he joined the akatsuki and so they have an epic battle over danzo.

In the end danzo gets the upper hand and is about to kill sasuke bit naruto kills him before, not for anykind of friendship but because he sees it as an opportunity to calm the raikage and show the strength that the leaf has been missing (as you can see naruto has learned a lot, in the arc before all of this he learned how the whole country worked because he needed to reconstruct it, so he is no longer the empty head but he has already begun to be a respected shinobi).

In the end obito rescues sasuke and gives him the eyes of his brother. Naruto had summoned the kages to show the custody of sasuke and explain how the whole village was moving to show that they still had the power to be at the same level of the lands, but then obito appears and rescues sasuke. He needs to make the war so we get an awesome little battle of obito straight up kamuing all of the kages (may be he makes naruto unstable so the kages need to fight naruto and obito) at the end when the kages are taking a bit of the upper hand obito just knocks out naruto with one hit ore something like that and says -I didn’t wanted to just tell you that I’m madara uchiha, i wanted to show off- then he explains his plan and declares the war; he tries to take naruto but we get a clever move of the kages that stop him (maybe naruto regains consciousness and gives the final blow).

After that they make the shinobi alliance but they lower the rank of naruto because he just proved that he can’t control the kyubi and that he means a lot; then sakura comes back with tsunade who becomes hokage again.

They send naruto to the turtle island with bee, but naruto now actually knows what’s the whole war (he isn’t just a kid saying LETS KICK ASS NOW) so he just wanders in the island and bee teaches him to control the kyubi. But now is a whole lot more emotional because he has been only concentrated in recovering the leaf village, and he didn’t had the time to cry and talk to someone. So meeting kushina and just talking with her allows him to forgive sasuke, sakura and try to make a plan to win the war.

Meanwhile sauske makes his sasuke things, only now he is upset because of how naruto treated him, but he can’t admit that even though he was a dick he always looked at naruto and was glad that someone actually cared for him, not because his eyes, body, actions, but because it was an actual concern of a friend for a friend. So he confused leaves obito and goes in the search for naruto.

The whole war changes a lot, because they don’t have the people that died in the village every shinobi that we have known and seen how the have become a whole lot powerful and mature the few soldiers of the leaf become super valious for the war because everyone had to be at least chunin in the whole recovering the leaf arc. We could see children like konohamaru fighting, even though they are young they are really powerful, giving the war a lot of topics and curious new battles.

Naruto gets to controll the kyubi and makes the whole clony thingy, sasuke in his search of naruto encounters itachi, they both go to kabuto and have the epic battle, but instead of having a boring and confusing guide of izanami itachi just says all the things that he wanted to say to sasuke, and sasuke tells him how in all of his vengance he always found confort in the thought that he had someone waiting for him, and all of that juicy feeling stuff. Itachi teaches him that he can still have that someone, but he had to apologize and stop being a bitch, so sasuke goes to naruto.

Naruto and sasuke meet, they fight while arguing until they just leave everything and accept that they are friends, and both want to save the leaf, so they go but first they get sakura (because of her training they both ACTUALLY recognize her power and want her in the team) we could get a little orochimaru redemption arc in wich he revives kakashi and the four hokages. And all of them go to the front line.

In the front line madara was revived, and they are having all of that battle with the statue and everything, they revive the ten tails and all of that.

Now we have a battle of the team 7 with kakashi, we see awesome stuff because they all have become great shinobi and we see how they learn to fight together and kakashi is just amazed and leaved a bit behind.

Óbito fights kakashi but kakashi convinces him to join them giving a whole speech of how naruto and sasuke went on a worse path than them but they were able to become friends again (bit we NEEED that to happen after the awesome battle they had in the original series just because is Awesooomeee)

Obito joins naruto and them, but madara uses black zetzu to control him so he can revive, all of that good stuff. Madara becomes the ten tails jinchuriki and the battle begins and everything goes as it went. We get a bit of explanation about the six paths sage life and mother, but instead of making her alien, she is a force of nature, and madara now has become said force and wants to be whole again (in his thoughts this is the way of making perfect peace, by making everyone the same thing).

They seal madara (they made him a lot less op, and also all of the characters have been buffed a lot, so even though the battle is SUPER difficult they survive and win because of everything that they have learnt).

And now…. Naruto and Sasuke go to the final valley, sasuke says he enjoys to be the friend of naruto but he believes that he will make the village the way danzo made it to be, or some thingy there. The point is that their points clash and they fight to be the next hokage. Again epic battle and in the end they both lose their arms and try to be nice and cool with each other and rule the village together.

The end

How was it? It’s my first post so I’m worried that is súper big, anyway, if you enjoyed and want more just tell me a book, anime, manga, story and i will make an alternate universe or something like this : D Goodnight