#I mean I suppose Clone Sakura wasn’t using it

[completeoveranalysis]

[2]

OH! OK I didn’t see that coming! So when Mokona says that the big and little Sakuras have MERGED TOGETHER, she means that the Original Child “Sakura” that has been frozen in time since the moment she was cursed has now fused with the empty soulless body of her clone, the Sakura copy we’ve been following since Chapter 1?

So, “Not Sakura” and “Empty Body” Sakura are now one person?

WILD. 

I want to ask “But what does that mean?” but Kurogane has already beaten me to it and even Fai doesn’t know the answer.

YOU KNOW THE MAGIC IS COMPLETELY UNHINGED WHEN EVEN FAI DOESN’T KNOW WHAT’S HAPPENING. 

[sun-summoning]

part ii | part iii | part iv

after speaking to kido, sakura rushes home. when she calms down from the rage that nearly had her crush his throat, sakura can admit that she doesn’t really think this is him. he knew a lot about her for someone that was supposed to have been locked up all this time, but he seemed genuinely surprised to hear that sarada had been taken, if not disappointed. he fit the profile of what shikamaru and kakashi thought -- that someone wanted sarada for her eyes -- but sakura can’t stop the nagging feeling that somehow this runs deeper.

back in her apartment, megumi’s body is right where she left it, and sakura feels awful for having moved so mechanically. megumi was an orphan, but she was still someone’s little girl. ashamed, sakura lays a sheet over her and swears she’ll do more later.

she heads to her bedroom and begins her work. alone, she summons one of the cats she’d made a contract with shortly after her marriage. the black cat is sleek and holds himself confidently. he’s always been an efficient one, quick to do as she needs and be competent about it. he regards sakura with a cock of his head.

“sarada’s been taken.”

“your daughter.”

“yes.” 

the cat nods. “i shall inform the clowder. if anyone spots her, i will let you know.”

“thank you.” sakura pauses, self-conscious for needing to rely on everybody else for this part. “if you...if any of you are able to come into contact with sasuke-kun, can you pease let him know too?”

“of course.”

“thank you.” sakura promises to provide the usual exchange at a later time and the cat disappears with a puff of smoke. she heads to her bedroom and she begins to pack in silence. 

her movements are as meticulous as they are automatic, done just so she’s ready to leave the moment she knows where she needs to go. her medkit is stocked. her bag has scrolls, weapons, supplies, and sarada’s favourite toy. she changes out of her days clothes and into the leggings and turtleneck of a uniform she hasn’t worn in years. her cloak is in the front closet. she needs to change her boots. she’ll put on the boots now. she leaves the armour on her bed to don later. right now, they only hinder her movements. she goes to the drawer where her mask hides in plain sight among other trinkets and knick knacks, and on the dresser she notices a flower.

sakura stills as she takes in the detail she must have missed in her earlier haste. she considers the simple glass vase and the single red flower sitting in it. its petals curl at the ends and some are even missing. 

this flower has travelled and as sakura considers what it is, she knows it’s travelled far. 

-

konoha became unbearable by the time she tuned twenty. it's so petty and selfish and she'd never say it aloud, but she hated seeing everyone else so happy. she's happy too -- has so many reasons to be -- but she couldn’t help the nagging jealousy she feels when ino declined her invitations because she was going to see sai or when naruto prioritized her almost always only to head home to hinata.

she wanted to be someone's too. she wanted to be their focus and heart and home, but sakura already knew who her someone was and knew that on some level she was his too, so all she needs to do right now is wait.

most of the time, sakura wasn’t bitter. being apart from him wasn't unfamiliar, nor the steadfastness, nor the hope that one day this will pay off one day, nor the self reminders that what she felt was irrelevant as long as sasuke knew and was comforted by the fact that she would always love him.

to suppress her frustrations rather than confront them, sakura worked. she worked tirelessly and relentlessly and by nineteen, they'd named her the greatest medical ninja konoha has ever seen for her accomplishments, ideas, and innovations.

this took her to suna at twenty and to ame at twenty-one to help establish their own clinics.

“i have a gift for you,” ino told her before she left. 

sakura expected a ribbon or a piece of jewellery or that new book on poisons she mentioned she was interested in. instead, ino handed her a bag. its contents shift, imbalanced, and inside sakura finds a potted plant. 

“a flower?”

“not just any flower, you ungrateful bitch.” ino pointed at her accusingly and then at the plant. its petals are a bright red with darker flecks at their base. “i made it.”

“you made it?”

“yes. you know me, interrogating and mind-reading by day, splicing plants together and making my own by night.”

“that’s sad.”

“fuck you. you’re sad.”

sakura laughed and ino laughed too but it got a bit sad because ino probably definitely knew that sakura was sad. “anyway,” ino continued, “we’ll call it the sakuino flower--”

“how creative.”

“--and i expect you to keep it alive through all of your travels.”

sakura frowned at ino, wondering if ino understood that a potted plant had no place in her travels, but ino didn’t seem to care. moreover, this particular thing didn’t seem to have the ability to survive in the desert climate she was going to be living in for the next six months. 

when sakura expressed as much, ino waved the matter off. “deal with it,” she said, giving sakura one last hug. “you’re one of the brightest minds to come out of this village. you’ll figure something out.”

-

its common name is the fire poppy, having originated from the fire country but somehow managing to survive in the deserts of wind country as well. the flower is know for its vibrant red petals, eye-catching and jarring across the barren brown it’s normally found in. sakura had to play with the original plant’s physiology when she first moved to ensure it could survive the alternate climate. in her spare time, when she wasn’t working with the kids, she deigned to work with her plant, eventually working on cloning the original. at some point she’d given one to a nurse she worked with who much admired the first, and gaara asked if he could try planting them in his garden. from there, the spores began to spread.

“why the fire poppy?”

was this someone from suna?

sakura considers the obvious motivation of revenge, but who would even want that? there were people who didn’t appreciate her friendship with kankuro or any of his siblings. perhaps an apprentice of chiyo’s who blamed sakura for not saving her when she gave her life for gaara’s. worse, perhaps someone that once worked sasori who resented her for his demise. or maybe someone she, sadly, can’t even remember. a patient she lost during the war whose family hated her.

sakura truly cannot pinpoint a motivation for this, much less a person. 

especially a person that would understand the meaning of this flower for her. 

ino would never give her this flower. ino would have scoffed at it and created her own. sarada couldn’t have picked it today. and sasuke certainly couldn’t have left it for her.

someone was in her apartment. someone brought it here. 

was it here before?

sakura considers the poppy and forces herself to keep calm. stay logical, she demands. stay smart. was the poppy there before? no, she thinks at first. she would have seen it. she’s certain she would have seen it.

but, she can accept, it’s possible she might have missed it. sarada was taken. her babysitter was murdered. it wouldn’t be surprising if sakura missed it. but sakura doesn’t miss things. right?

“don’t gaslight yourself,” she orders. 

no, she knows. the flower was not there before, meaning in between her going to kakashi, going to the prison, and then running back home, whoever took her daughter came back.

or worse, there was a team involved and one was with her child and another came back for her. 

sakura curses, wishing she’d put on her black ops armour earlier, because whoever brought the flower here is now making their presence known. she senses two people before she sees them and is unsurprised to find sudden flares of strength.

the bedroom is small and they’re in a building. she needs to take this outside, but where? there’s too much risk for others getting hurt in the crossfire. that’s why this was supposed to stay quiet. that’s why this will stay quiet.

they step out of the shadows and sakura assesses them quickly. one male, one female, both fairly young based on stature and development, maybe early twenties at the oldest. they’ll have agility on her, but they won’t have her experience. 

the man holds a chokuto. good. an advantage. sakura is excellent at fighting against such a weapon. if they’re foolish enough to use her husband’s favourite sort of blade, perhaps they didn’t do enough research on her. perhaps they were hired? but if they were unprepared, then were they really here to kill her? 

are they here to distract her?

that thought fills sakura with dread. is someone trying to keep her busy so she can’t get to sarada on time?

the woman shifts, one leg sliding to the side as she raises her hands. she holds no weapons, therefore she is the weapon. sakura knows all about that. she’ll need to be careful with this one. but she still has a holster on her thigh. it’s thinner that the usual styles. maybe a couple kunai, but more likely a set of sebon. this one is smart then. she’ll know precisely where she needs to hit sakura to stop her.

“haruno sakura,” the man greets with a short nod.

so it is her fault.

if this was about sasuke, about the uchiha, they would know her married name. this is about her, and for that sakura feels worse. her baby was taken and why? just to hurt sakura before killing her? sarada was who knows where with surely no one that could be good and all just to hurt sakura?

sakura snarls, furious in a way only a mother could be, and she feels the chakra pulsing around her fists.

“where is my daughter?”

their masks hide any expressions. they remain at ease in the face of her rage, shockingly unafraid of this woman that can level mountains. 

good, sakura thinks. let them be brave. let them come at her like fools. 

she runs through the bedroom door to get to the living room where there’s at least more space to maneuver. the man leaps and brings his blade down upon her, but sakura manages to shift to the side. careful to not be forced into a corner, she spins out of his range and into the open middle until the woman runs past her partner and takes sakura on hand-to-hand.

she matches sakura’s punches and kicks blow for blow. she’s good, sakura thinks nervously. and she’s fast. she’s small, maybe half a head shorter than sakura, so she puts her weight behind every quick jab. sakura gives most of her attention to the woman, but keeps a wary on eye on the man who sheathes his chokuto.

what as he planning?

it takes that one moment for the woman to catch her unaware. 

sakura chokes on her breath as the woman thrusts a senbon into her shoulder. the shock from that slows her down enough so she can lodge in a second.

“shit,” sakura curses as she stumbles back. she rips the senbon out, but she feels her left arm begin to go numb from the struck pressure point. “what did you do--”

sakura’s eyes widen she she feels something foreign begin to course through her. she considers the senbon, dark with her blood and likely something else. there’s a metallic smell that isn’t from the weapon, and sakura knows she’s been poisoned.

however, her body doesn’t bother to fight it. 

sakura watches her opponents, trying to understand how she’s been poisoned with something she’s immune to and just what poison this might be. she’s immune to everything in konoha’s own collection, as well as the ones she shares with shizune.

which poison is this?

does that matter?

sakura scowls at the two people involved in her daughter’s kidnapping and reminds herself that she can take them on one-handed just fine. she pulls her right hand into a fist and charges. the man is closest, so she lunges at him with a chakra-laden punch that sends him barreling into the wall. 

she grabs the front of his shirt and as she pulls him forward, his mask falls away to reveal green eyes, cold and lifeless, and a black diamond under his left eye that makes her uneasy.

sakura stares at the man, confused, because she knows this face.

she knows him.

her fear and pain and worry makes it hard to focus, but knows him. 

focus.

finally, it clicks. 

“isao?”

she thinks she might have seen something like recognition in his eyes. that doesn’t long though. she left herself open, and his partner stabs her shoulder. sakura releases isao with a cry before the woman punches her in the back of the head and everything goes dark.

-

the sun is up when sakura begins to stir. she hears the birds chirping and people outside going about their days. but the buzz of the television is missing, as are the small thuds of sarada’s steps. where is sarada? sakura wonders hazily, lazily, not quite understanding yet.

where is sarada?

her eyes widen and she sits up so quickly her stomach rolls.

“careful.” tsunade comes into view, steadying sakura and checking her for any problems. “you’re still healing.”

she’s in her own bed. she’s not at the hospital. she got knocked out and the assassins got away. she should’ve done something to track them. dammit. was she so arrogant she didn’t have a failsafe in place for if she didn’t simply beat them? sakura punches the bed, earning a disapproving frown from shizune on her other side.

“there was poison in your system.” 

“it was one of ours,” sakura admits warily. 

“yes. there are very few people with access to those, much less this particular one.”

the one that the assassin used was meant to render a victim paralyzed but still able to feel. it was a dreadful thing, meant only for the worst of interrogations. or, more accurately, for torture. sakura concocted it in her darkest moments at fourteen under shizune’s watchful eye. since then, while they’ve both had small handfuls of keen students, they’ve probably shared poisons from their personal roster with only five people at most.

for this particular poison, sakura knows only two people they showed it to, and only one of those was a student of sakura’s.

“how did you find me?”

tsunade rolls her eyes. “shizune sent you off to a prison from kakashi’s office. i figured i’d have to check on you shortly after. and it’s a good thing i did, stupid girl.”

“thank you.”

“don’t thank me. i’m scolding on you.”

“did they find anything useful?”

“no one’s been able to contact your husband.”

“right.”

“and they’re still under the impression that this has to do with the uchiha blood.” 

“they would be,” sakura mutters, too tired and in too good company to be anything but blunt.

shizune sighs. “do you know who came after you last night?” the flower is still where she left it on the dresser. shizune follows her gaze to the fire poppy, and all knowing with plants as well, shizune determines its origins. “how did that get here?”

“i think it was to taunt me.” sakura grimaces. “you were right.”

“about?”

“i think this is my fault.”

shizune’s eyes widen and quickly soften with sympathy. “none of this your fault,” she reminds sakura. 

tsunade crosses her arms. “enemies of yours then?”

“no.” sakura looks sad. “people i once loved.”

-

tbc

[cobaltusami]

Tropical Vacation pt. 3

Hey hi hello! This part has been my favorite to write thus far, obviously because I am obsessed with Sakura 💙 lol.

I hope you like it!

Characters in this part: Switch!Sakura, Switch!Mondo, Ler!Hiro, technically Ler!Taka?, Leon, Hina

Word Count: 3,299

PT 1: [Click here.], PT 2: [Click here.], PT 3: [You are here.]

Later on In the day, the vibe was back to normal. The beach sounds were actually pretty calming...

Well, that’s what they would have liked to say. The sounds would have been calming, had It not been for the loud laughter and swearing drowning It out.

You see, Mondo thought he would try to lie in wait for Sakura, but the minute he touched her, she grabbed his hands and judo flipped him onto the floor, pinning him down and proceeding to wreck him with tickles.

“You don’t learn, do you?” she hummed, her fingers tickling every patch of unprotected skin she could reach. “Did you honestly think I was going to let you jump me?”

“Fuhuhuhuhuhuck! Ahahahahahahaha!” Mondo laughed. “Hohohohohow did you eheheheheven seehehe me!?”

“I am not an idiot. I knew you would be waiting for me, You don’t give up that easily.” She replied. “But to answer your question, I didn’t. Hina gave you away.”

Hina giggled deviously as Mondo glared as best he could at her. “Youhuhuhu’re so dehehehehad AsahinahahaAAAHAHAHA-- SHIHIHIHIT!”

He shrieked as Sakura managed to slip her fingers under his arms, which were pinned to his sides. “Don’t threaten Hina.” She chastised.

“SAHAHAHAHAKURAHAHAHA I AHAHAHAM SOHOHO GONNA WREHEHEHEHECK YOU FOHOHOHOR THIS! MAHAHAHARK MY WORDS!” He declared through his fit of hysterical laughter, squirming to no avail.

“Yeah sure you will.” She rolled her eyes fondly at her hot headed friend. “You’d need two of you to hold me down, And unfortunately for you that doesn’t appear to be likely… Unless you have some kind of cloning power I was unaware of--”

Mondo was going to make a smartass retort, but was unable to when Hina joined in, tickling his stomach and ribs. “FAHAHAHAHACK! STAHAHAHAHAHAHAP!” He cackled.

“Are you able to clone yourself? No? Well… That’s unfortunate for you.” She teased, speeding up.

“Guess you’ll just have to lay here and laugh instead!” Hina giggled.

Oh, they were so going to the top of Mondo’s list- Move over Leon you’re no longer public enemy number one as far as Mondo Is concerned.

“Did you seriously try to tickle Sakura again? How dense are you, Mondo?” Leon chided, unable to help himself from grinning at the sight before him.

Okay, Maybe Leon stays at the top of the list too…

“DOHOHOHON’T JUHUHUHUST STAND THEHEHERE!! HEHEHELP ME!” He shrieked.

“Are you nuts? Do I look like I have a death wish??” Leon laughed.

“IHIHIHIF YOU DON’T HEHEHELP ME YOU DOHOHOHO!”

Leon sighed. “Fine. Hey Hina, Wanna go get some donuts with me?”

Hina stopped tickling, perking up at the mention of donuts. “Donuts??” She looked up at Sakura with pleading eyes. Sakura chuckled.

“Yes, You can go.”

“Thank you!” She squealed, jumping up and running towards the kitchen, grabbing Leon’s arm and dragging him behind her.

Mondo managed to pull an arm free, he quickly latched on to the first part of her he could reach and wasn’t guarding or anticipating- her leg. He delivered a few squeezes to her leg just above her knee, this action made her flinch and a smile briefly cross her face.

She grabbed his hand and pried his off of her, pinning it down to the floor with a small indignant huff. “Was that your best attempt? I suppose I was expecting something better from you.”

Mondo narrowed his eyes as he caught his breath. “Yeah? How’s this?” He pulled his other arm free and shot his hand up under her shirt, attacking her side.

She yelped, her body jolting away from his touch, a few giggles slipping past her lips. “Mohondo-- I will rihip your hand off!”

“I thought you weren’t ticklish?” Mondo grinned, his fingers following her wherever she squirmed to. “You look pretty fuckin’ ticklish to me.”

Sakura giggled a bit more, deciding her best course of action now would be to get away from him before she broke out into full on giggles. Because as soon as she did that, She was toast.

Whenever Sakura has been tickled In the past, she would become completely helpless and immobilized by her laughter, like her body would lock up and just stop responding like some slow web browser.

Only two people knew about this weakness of hers, Kenshiro and Hina. The only two people brave enough to tickle her. She would prefer not to add Mondo to that list.

She flew off of Mondo, taking a moment to recompose herself. Though she could only take but a moment because Mondo swiftly followed, having since recovered from his laughing fit.

Sakura knew she couldn’t reach her room, she’d have to run right past Mondo who would undoubtedly be waiting and catch her in his arms. So she ran into the dining hall where Hina and Leon were eating donuts.

“Oh hey Sakura, How’s It going?” Leon asked casually.

Sakura ran around to the other side of the table as she heard Mondo burst into the room. She eyed him carefully, the table serving as a barrier between the two. “Where do you think you can run to that I won’t catchcha?” Mondo asked teasingly, approaching the table.

“Mondo… I will reverse anything you try.” Sakura tried to reason with the Biker as she backed up a bit so that she was out of his reach. “So It’s pointless to continue.”

He thought about It, she was probably right… She’s faster and as much as Mondo hated to admit it- stronger. Maybe he should--

“Nuh uh!” Hina interjected, her mouth full. “Sakura’s lying, She freezes up when you tickle--”

“HINA!”

Leon snorted with amusement.

Mondo raised an eyebrow. “Reeeaally? Well, I guess It is pointless to continue… Pointless for you.” He smirked. “Just accept your fate and maybe I won’t be as merciless… though, I wouldn’t count on it after that little stunt you and Hina pulled.”

Sakura sighed internally. Thanks a lot Hina… Now her worst fear is coming true, Mondo now knows about her weakness. Guess she has to use her speed now. Her eyes darted around for a way out, but before she could find a route, Mondo lunged across the table at her.

Though thinking fast as always, she dove under the table at the same time and bolted out the door, with Mondo swearing and chasing after her.

She was going to run back to her room, but saw her friends In the hall and didn’t want Mondo to accidentally run them over so she made for the stairs and dove into the rec room to hide.

She leaned back against the wall next to the door, gasping softly, catching her breath. The room was empty, though she wasn’t sure if that made her feel better or worse.

She stilled her breath as she heard footsteps coming up the stairs, they lingered outside the rec room for a moment before becoming silent. She wasn’t sure If he was looking in the room or just standing there.

After another moment of silence, she heard footsteps go running down the hall and she let out a breath of relief. She stayed there a bit longer before peaking out the window, There wasn’t anyone there.

She opened the door and went to run down the stairs but a strong arm hooked around her waist and pulled her back into the rec room with a startled yelp. “Where do ya think you’re going?” Mondo grinned as he kicked the door shut.

Sakura pulled out of his hold and backed up nervously. “M-Mondo… Think about this, I told you earlier that It would take two of you to hold me down.”

“Oh, I know what ya said.” He chuckled evilly, advancing towards the retreating Martial Artist. “But I also know what Hina said, Too. Ya lock up when ya get tickled.”

“If that were true, then how did I get away from you earlier?” She challenged.

“If It’s not true, why are you nervous?” He retorted, closing in on the white haired girl.

Sakura didn’t have a response to that, well, except for a small gasp when she bumped into the couch and almost lost her balance.

Mondo took this opening and coiled his arms around her, pulling her down to the couch next to him. She resisted as he suspected she would so he had to throw all of his weight into it.

Immediately his trained fingers were scribbling all over her sides. “Gotcha~” he grinned.

She let out a strangled whimper before bursting into breathy giggles, she tried to get away but the remaining strength she had wasn’t enough to get free once he sat on her legs. “Mohohondo! Stohohop It!” She complained, wrapping her arms around her midsection in a feeble attempt to block off other spots.

“I thought ya weren’t ticklish? What happened to that?” Mondo teased, running his fingers across her toned stomach experimentally. He wished he had enough time to ask Hina where she was most ticklish at, but figured it would be more fun to find out for himself.

She giggled a bit harder. “Okahahay, I’m tihihicklish! Are you hahahappy?”

“Yes.” Mondo smirked. “‘Cause that means I can get some revenge on ya!”

“Ihihi swear you’ll rehehehegret thi-- AAH! NOHOHOHO!”

Mondo immediately honed in on that spot upon drawing that reaction from the fighter. “What’s wrong? A lil ticklish on your hips?” he asked teasingly, squeezing at her hips relentlessly.

Sakura tried to contain her laughter but it was no use. “DOHOHOHOHON’T!” She grabbed uselessly at his hands, unable to pry them away.

“Don’t? Don’t what?”

“I AHAHAHAM GOING TO KIHIHIHICK YOUR ASS!” She threatened, blushing bright red. Well, Looks like she wasn’t gonna fall for the obvious trick like Taka would...

Mondo laughed, shaking one of her hands off. He reached up and fluttered his fingers against her neck. “Oh yeah? Tell me all about how you’re gonna do that. All I gotta do Is tickle you and you’ll crumble to the floor In a cute giggly blushy heap.” He teased.

She brought her shoulder up to try to block him. “SHUHUHUT UP!” She blushed more.

Ah, So that’s what her trigger is. The cutesy teasing approach. Mondo grinned evilly at the realization. “What? You don’t like being told you’re adorable?” He cooed.

He moved his hand away from her neck to tickle her newly exposed ribs thanks to her trying to block him from her neck.

“STAHAHAHAP!” She laughed harder, trying to turn on the side he was currently attacking to protect her apparently very sensitive ribs.

Mondo released her hip much to her relief but to her dismay his fingers were now mercilessly wiggling against the ribs on her other side. “Man, We should tickle you more often… You’re just so cute when you laugh! Maybe I’ll tell Hiro and the others about--”

“DOHOHOHON’T YOU DAHAHAHARE!” She laughed, her body trembling, not used to being tickled.

“Why not? I think you could use it. You’re so stoic all the time.” Mondo chuckled, tickling the spots between her ribs.

While that may be true, Sakura still would prefer no one else be brave enough to tickle her because she finds it completely embarrassing. When she was training with Kenshiro sometimes he’d cheat and make her submit by completely destroying her with tickles. It was totally unfair, He knew all of her worst spots thanks to them being friends for so long.

She would also prefer no one hear her squeal like she just did. She tried to wrack her brain to come up with a way to turn this around and get out of Mondo’s tickly grasp, but It was really hard to concentrate with him viciously tickling her.

“What? Don’t got a smartass response to that?” He smirked, speeding up the tickles to her ribs. “Ya givin’ up already, Sakura?”

C’mon… Think! Think think thi… oh god It tickles so bad!

“NOHOHOHO! I NEHEHEHEVER GIHIHIVE UP!” She retorted stubbornly, trying to will herself to throw him off. But alas just as previously mentioned, her body wouldn’t respond to her brain.

“Aight, Whatever works for you.” He shrugged, giving a lopsided grin. “I’m pretty content tickling you and listening to your cutesy laughter.” he teased, marveling at the way her face turned pink at the teasing.

Oh! That’s It! Maybe she can’t outpower him right now, but she can outwit him!

“YOUHUHU KNOW, FOR SOHOHOMEONE WHO GETS SOHO NEVEROUS THEHEHEY YELL WHEN FLIHIHIRTING, YOU’RE AHAHAHAWFULLY CAHAHALM RIGHT NOW.” She struggled to taunt him through her loud laughter.

Sakura managed to open an eye to observe his reaction, just as she hoped he would, he got flustered and turned pink himself. “U-Uh yeah, that’s ‘cus I’m not flirting with you.” He tried to dispute awkwardly.

“REHEHEALLY?? SOHOHO DOHOHO YOU CAHAHAHALL EVERYONE CUHUHUTE OR JUHUHUST ME AND CHIHIHIRO?”

“H-Hey! Don’t get it twisted!” Mondo stammered awkwardly, stopping his torment of her. “I’m not-- ACK!”

That was just the opening she needed, She grabbed him by the arms and flipped their positions, pinning his arms above his head as she caught her breath. “H-Heh….heheh…” She giggled still, her body still slightly trembling.

“Wh-Wha-- You fuckin’ tricked me!” Mondo growled.

“Of course… Just as you were… I used your weakness… against you…” She smirked tiredly. “I… Know you didn’t… mean It like that… But I also know… How awkward you are about that sort of thing…”

“That’s so not fair!” He complained, struggling in her iron grip.

“I don’t believe there were any ground rules laid out, were there?” She retorted. “You brought It on yourself when you started teasing me.”

Think quick, you’re in danger now Owada… Do to her what she did to you… Ooh, He can work with that.

“I brought it on myself when I started teasing you?” He repeated for confirmation, continuing after she nodded. “Soo… that mean you actually like being tickled, just not teased?” He grinned slyly.

She felt her face heat up. “Wh-What?!”

“Do you actually like being tickled?” He repeated.

“I heard what you said!” She snapped, flustered. “N-No! Of course I don’t! How girly do you think I am?!”

Ohh, Maybe he accidentally hit the nail on the head? Therapist Owada Is detecting some deep rooted issues she has about being perceived as weak or girly.

“Well, It’s just your wording Is kinda confusing… wouldn’t I have brought It on myself the moment I put my hands on you?” He grinned cheekily at her.

“Of course you did! I just meant that the teasing was the final straw!”

“So the tickling itself wasn’t bad enough?”

Sakura narrowed her eyes at the biker. “Do you think I don’t see what you’re doing? I know you’re purposely misconstruing my words to distract me so you can reverse our positions again.”

Before Mondo could argue, She used her free hand (bc of course she had a free hand) to mercilessly attack his belly and underarm. “I warned you that you would regret it.”

“BAHAHAHA! SAHAHAHAHAKURAHAHAHA STAHAHAP!” He barked through fits of laughter.

The door to the rec room swung open. “Bro?? I heard you scream! Are you--” Kiyotaka paused, taking in the unusual sight before him.

“Hello Taka.” Sakura greeted nonchalantly.

“FAHAHAHACK! TAHAHAHAHAKA HEHEHELP!” He cackled, trying to throw the Martial artist off.

Taka chuckled a bit after he got used to the scene in front of him. “Bro, What did you do to end up like this?” He asked amusedly, approaching the two.

“He thought I would let him get away with tickling me.” She answered.

Taka raised his eyebrows in surprise, Mondo actually managed to catch her? And he missed It? Damn. “Kyoudai, why would you do something so reckless?!”

Sakura chuckled.

“WHOHOHOSE SIHIHIDE ARE YOU OHOHOHON!?” Mondo shot back.

“R-Right, Sorry.” Taka smiled sheepishly. “U-Um, How am I supposed to help you?”

“You don’t.” Sakura replied, her tone warning as she glanced at the Moral Compass.

“JUHUHUHUHUST TIHIHICKLE HER! SHEHEHEHEHE FREEHEHEHEHEZES UP!”

“Taka,” She paused her torment of Mondo to look at Taka. “I feel I must offer you a fair warning, If you tickle me, I will hunt you down afterwards and make Mondo’s tickles look like child’s play.”

Taka squeaked nervously, his arms wrapping around his midsection subconsciously. “Y-Yes ma’am. U-Understood.”

“Fuck It, I’ll do It!” Hiro said, suddenly at the other end of the couch.

“Wh-Wha-- Hiro?? When did you get he--”

Hiro squeezed her sides, causing her to yelp and burst out laughing. She tried to get away by sliding to the floor, but Hiro followed, laughing along with her. “Man Sakura, I never would’ve guessed you’d be this ticklish!” He grinned.

“Stahahahap hehehehelping hihihim he stahahaharted it!” She complained childishly.

“I’m about to end It, too.” Mondo smiled evilly as he got down on the floor with them.

“Hey, Quit squirming will ya? It’s making It harder for me to--”

Hiro immediately stilled his fingers in surprise when Sakura shrieked. Mondo’s eyes shot to Hiro’s hands, they were resting on the back of her ribs. “Well well…”

“Hey are you okay, Sakura?” Hiro asked, concerned he had hurt her.

Before Sakura could recollect herself to get away, Mondo attacked. Wiggling his fingers incessantly against the back of her ribs.

She shrieked again, this time hysterical laughter following. “AAH! NAHAHAHAHA! MOHOHOHONDOHOHO DOHOHOHON’T!”

Hiro blinked In surprise. “Ohhh! I see, Your back Is ticklish!” He laughed as he realized, his fingers tracing delicately across her back. This made her squeal uncharacteristically as her body shook with laughter.

“Looks like Hiro found your ticklish spot.” He chuckled, tickling the spots between the back of her ribs without mercy.

“NAHAHAHAHAT THEHEHEHEHERE YOUHUHUHUHUHU JEHEHEHEHEHERKS!”

“Hey, Don’t be mean!” Hiro frowned, squeezing her waist. This drew another squeal followed by louder laughter from the fighter.

“Yeah, It’s not our fault you’re so fuckin’ ticklish~” Mondo teased, He glanced up at Taka who was watching with a bit of amusement. “Wanna help us?”

“W-What? But she said--”

“You think she’s In a position to be threatening my Kyoudai?” Mondo smirked, speeding up his tickles to emphasize his point.

Taka hesitated, It felt kind of mean to gang up on Sakura like this, but on the other hand… When does an opportunity like this present itself? And her laughter does sound lovely…

Sakura was hoping that Taka wouldn’t give in, but was sorely disappointed when she felt another set of hands on her, Nails gliding gently across her back. This paired with the harsher tickles to her ribs and the squeezes to her waist and hips made her laugh turn wheezy and borderline silent as she shook violently with laughter.

It wasn’t long though before they heard the familiar chime come across the monitor. Mondo and Hiro both groaned as they all ceased their tickling, much to Sakura’s appreciation.

“Ahem! This Is a school announcement!” Monokuma’s voice spoke. “All Students please report to the Gym for a special surprise!”

“What do you think It Is this time?” Mondo sighed to his classmates.

“I have no idea, but whatever It Is It can’t be good.” Hiro frowned, crossing his arms, Taka nodded In agreement.

“Sakura? Ya good?” Mondo chuckled at the still giggling heap on the floor.

“G-Give me ahaha… minute… hehehe…”

“You have a cute giggle.” Hiro complimented, much to her dismay.

“D-Don’t sahahahay that… wohohohord to mehehe…”

“What word?”

“Cute.” Mondo snickered at the weak glare she gave him. “C’mon giggles, Let’s get to the gym.” He said as he stood up, offering his hand to help her up.

She took it and he pulled her to her feet, once up she pulled him in closer to whisper to him. “This Isn’t over, Owada.” She declared threatening, letting go of him.

Mondo cleared his throat nervously, He knew that wasn’t just a threat… It was a promise.

[the-musical-cc]

Either Clow lied to Yuuko's face or Eriol lied to Sakura's face and the memories left behind for her were lies too.

Or maybe a bit of both?. Bear with me. Basically, the problem is there are conflicting versions regarding Clow's 'Death' and his motivations for it between CCS and Tsubasa/Holic:

I've said it in previous rants, but Yuuko states in the Holic Kei CD drama that his death came as a surprise to her ('Even though red wine was your favorite, I couldn't make you have some- by then you were already gone, all of a sudden') which- you'd think maybe if he and Yuuko are like the big masterminds behind everything that's going on along with Fei Wang, he'd like.... let her know what he's going to do??? Specially since he knows (Either because he decided or just foresaw it) WHEN he was going to 'Die'?? Like he let Yue and Kero know in advance and all??? He definitely knew WHEN he was going to 'Die' and just decided not to tell her. So that's one thing.

Then, when her time starts moving again and she's disappearing, she's expecting to reunite with him ('To death... to where you are...') which kind of makes sense within a simplistic vision of 'He died' that she's seemingly subject to... except, we know Clow is not as much 'Dead' as 'Nonexistant' by then. As per CCS canon shown to us through a vision Sakura has, at the time where he was supposed to die, he split into two separate, living beings: Eriol, who has all of his memories and magic (And yet is still a different person as per his own statement.), and Fujitaka, who is a common human being. In other words, he can't meet her ever again because he isn't anywhere. But she doesn't seem to know this.

(You could argue that he didn't as much lie to her as deliberately with-held information- an you'd have a point, but it's still a pretty shitty thing to do to the woman you're already leaving with a shit-ton of problems to solve in your stead, specially if she's under the impression that the two of you will eventually meet again when she's done playing her role cleaning after your mess.)

Not sure why Eriol didn't like- drop by and explain things to her but perhaps he didn't want to pain her further by letting her know Clow didn't exist anymore? And instead he left her with an empty promise. Charming. (To be fair, he's not Clow anymore, so technically this wasn't his business anymore, but like- he's just not gonna say anything because he's technically someone else? Bruh.)

Then there's the matter of Clow having spent some time (At least a good five years) as the king of Clow Country. By TRC's account, this would have happened after he told Yue and Kero that he was going to die- an here's where another contradiction enters because, as I've already stated, Sakura Kinomoto SAW the moment where he split into two happen. So we're left with- he either was lying to Sakura in her vision regarding WHEN his 'Death' happened (In reality it happened years into Yue and Kero being asleep and not on that same day.) OR he lied to Yuuko and was coming and going from Clow country for years, even as they were still making the Mokonas and later when they were sharing custody of them, making his final moment with Yue and Kero completely true.

(In the case Sakura summoned that vision by herself without his participation, this would make it the truth and mean he definitely lied to Yuuko.)

The only other options are: 1- Because time flows differently in each dimension, he managed to live a handful of years in Clow Country and then go back to his world to 'Die' within the same day. Or 2- Because logic was already collapsing, the timelines are not really meant to add up in any way that makes sense... which just sucks for the reader because everything else can more-or-less be explained in a satisfactory way, even if it's one that includes time paradoxes. This just feels lazy.

Now, timing aside, the contradictions between Sakura's account of his 'Death' and what Yuuko thinks it to be leave us with another matter: Either he, once more, lied to Sakura in that vision he left behind for her OR he lied to Yuuko, making her think he was going to come back to visit still when in reality he was going to 'Die' and THEN making her think he was dead and in the world of the dead when in reality Clow is completely gone and what's left of him is still among the living.

(Once more, Even in the case Sakura summoned that vision by herself without his participation, it'd only mean he definitely lied to Yuuko.)

Then, Eriol reveals that when Clow split himself in two, his wish was to 'Not be the most powerful magician in the world anymore', and the motivation behind this, he says, is that the knowledge of the future was too painful a burden for him. Meanwhile, Tsubasa establishes that the reason he begun to hate his power and his status as the world's most powerful magician was his accidental wish. So what is the truth?

Look, I know, OK? I know CCS predates Tsubasa and Holic and it's possible CLAMP hadn't really planned on explanding the Clow lore like that, but the matter still stands that these conflicting statements make Eriol look like a liar.

(UNLESS, an this is something I for whatever reason had stored in my memory as canon but I don't know WHERE I got it because it's nowhere in the manga and I don't think it's in the anime either, though it's been a good ten years since my last full rewatch... unless Eriol has lost all the memories of Clow's life and therefore completely forgotten about Yuuko. Which would make him an unreliable narrator more than a liar, but certainly adds insult to injury where Clow's treatment of her regards.)

Finally, there's the matter of Clear Card's current problem being that Sakura is growing too powerful to control her magic- which, Tomoyo HAD pointed out it sounded like it could happen when Eriol revealed he was wrecking shit up to help her become more powerful so that she could help him give half of his magic to Fujtaka at the end of CCS. What did the creepy little ferret say back then? 'Nah, we're good, she can handle it'. So, that was a lie. It's specially bad when you realize it's also stated that Touya is recovering his powers little by little- meaning their magic grows with time. Meaning there was no way Sakura's power wasn't going to grow enough to start being a problem eventually.

Again, Clear Card is a new work and CLAMP probably didn't plan on expanding CCS when they finished the original manga, but the fact that all of this happened despite Eriol straight out telling them it wouldn't makes him look like either an idiot or a liar, and one that threw Sakura under the bus to save himself. I have a feeling a lot of things in Clear Card are going to get reversed conveniently because the wand Sakura Kinomoto hands to her adult!clone self in Tsubasa is still the star one (which doesn't exist anymore in Clear Card), but right now as per April 2021, Eriol is not looking great.

Of course, it's always possible this is just CLAMP not quite fact-checking themselves as well as they could before referencing their other works in the newer ones or something like that but if I'm right... we just added another layer of fucked-up to Clow's character.

[fangirlandiknowit101]

12, 14 and 18☺️

Thanks for asking <333

12. Is there a trope you haven’t written yet but really want to?

There's lots to be honest, but something I still can't believe I haven't written is a horse riding au. Like, that's half a lie bc I have a few thousand words written for a Simon/Baz horse rider au that I might never finish, but I'd really like to write one for Naruto. But I always decide not to because I don't know all the words and I hate googling stuff while I write. But one day! Surely!

14. If you were stuck on a desert island with only two characters, which would you pick?

Honestly? Kirk and Spock. They'd find a way to get us out of there. And if not, it would at least be cool to meet them.

18. What is a line/scene you’re really proud of? Give us the DVD commentary for that scene.

You really had to pick such a difficult question... I can never decide on any particular line/scene. So I opened up The sun within me and looked at the chapters and thought I'd pick something that could be interesting to comment on. And in this case, it's a bit about how Naruto, Sasuke, and Charasuke have changed and their different relationships with each other. So! Here's a bit of commentary for a scene in chapter 40 (under the cut bc it's fairly long lol):

[For clarification, this is right after Naruto and Sasuke come back home from Sasuke's mission where he fought Menma and Menma then disappeared. I'm skipping ahead to the part where they arrive at the orphanage and Charasuke is waiting in their room (Naruto's POV). My comments will be written in bold text.]

The clone’s memories dropped into his head like a puff of smoke, and he groaned out loud, making a face. Sasuke gave him a concerned look, but Naruto sighed and shook his head.

“Let’s go,” he said, feeling very reluctant as he grabbed Sasuke’s arm.

He supposed he could have teleported them somewhere else, but Charasuke had seemed prepared to wait until they returned. Maybe Sasuke could deal with him while Naruto sort of… drifted away and hid in the kitchen.

Naruto is acting very childishly in this scene, mostly because he's still wary of Charasuke, and also because he's just spent two days in Sasuke's company but pretending to be Menma, which means no cuddles/kisses or anything. He's kind of clingy, isn't he? Haha. And also, he doesn't really want to admit to himself that Menma disappearing for Charasuke is the parallel to his worst fear, that Sasuke will disappear.

“Where is he?” Charasuke demanded the second they arrived in the bedroom.

“Ah, Sasuke, maybe you can explain?” he suggested, inching towards the door, but Sasuke nailed him to the floor with a single glare.

“He could be anywhere,” Sasuke said, continuing to glare until he was sure that Naruto wouldn’t escape. “I didn’t manage to get a good look through the portal.”

“The portal?” Charasuke seemed to waver, arms wrapped around himself as he looked between them. “Tell me what happened.”

You can tell that Sasuke has really started to care about Charasuke here. He's not entirely open with him yet, but he recognizes a lot of himself in Charasuke and he puts himself in Menma's position, thinking about when he left the village and Naruto was left behind. He doesn't want Charasuke to hurt the way he knows Naruto was hurting back then.

While Sasuke described the mission, including what he called ‘Naruto’s dumb interference’, Naruto dug through his closet for the shirt he would make Sasuke wear. He was absolutely sure that Sasuke would argue about it – especially since he’d sent a clone to Akatsuki and not himself – but if he talked fast enough and relented that it would be enough if Sasuke slept in it for one night…

“He really is gone, then,” Charasuke said, his voice toneless. “I’ll never see him again.”

“I’m sure you’ll see him again,” Naruto said, contemplating the pros and cons of a t-shirt versus long sleeves. “Whoever grabbed him and hauled him off probably just wanted to keep him out of Sasuke’s reach. He gets awfully strong when he’s irritated.”

Naruto is definitely acting a bit heartless here, again, because he doesn't want to think about his own feelings or feel forced to recognize that Charasuke is a person Sasuke cares about, that he should also care about. I think he can get a bit closed off when there's too much going on in his own life, and that makes it hard to focus on other people, especially since he still wants to leave the other dimension and doesn't want to think about Sasuke caring about his family here - meaning Sasuke might want to stay.

When he turned back from the closet, he found Sasuke giving him a disappointed look.

“What?”

“You’re taking this lightly,” he said, glancing at the shirt in Naruto’s hand and apparently deciding to ignore it.

“Well, unless we figure out how to dimension-hop after him, I don’t think there’s a lot we can do.”

Now that he was back to being himself, all Naruto really wanted was to curl up in bed with Sasuke and not think about the outside world at all. Charasuke, on the other hand, seemed on the verge of tears.

“And what would you have done if I was the one who disappeared?” Sasuke asked, an icy note to the question.

“How would I know? It hasn’t happened yet.”

A bit of foreshadowing lol. Except Sasuke is the one left reacting when Naruto leaves, but Naruto really is trying to keep a tight grip in his emotions here and absolutely not think about the fact that Sasuke could have disappeared with Menma, and he wouldn't have known what happened to him.

“You could have let me follow after him and we’d know where he went.”

Naruto straightened up, face hardening.

“No, you might have known where he went, but the rest of us wouldn’t. Besides, he was trying to kill you. I went through too much trouble to keep you alive to just let you jump into some unknown enemy territory.”

As you can see, putting a lot of emphasis on Naruto's fear of losing Sasuke again.

Silent tears now streaming down his cheeks, Charasuke sat down on the bed and clenched his fists over his lap. It was obvious that he didn’t like what they were saying, but Naruto pushed his feelings of sympathy aside. Sasuke was his top priority, and that hadn’t changed simply because there was another one of him now.

“I told him I never want to see him again,” Charasuke sniffled, and it was really disturbing to watch someone with Sasuke’s face – well, a version of Sasuke, really – crying out in heartache.

Meanwhile poor Charasuke is having a background breakdown. To Naruto, it's hard to see a version of Sasuke like this. Charasuke is coming face to face with the realization that he's A: definitely not over Menma, B: he really handled things badly and never even stopped to think about why Menma was doing things.

“If he survives, you can apologize,” Naruto told him, trying to sound comforting. “Hell knows Sasuke said a lot worse stuff to me.”

To his great surprise, Sasuke went over to sit beside Charasuke, frowning as his hand twitched to reach out to him.

“This isn’t about you and me, Naruto,” he said, settling for an awkward hand on Charasuke’s shoulder. “And it could be our fault, anyway.”

“You know, Sasuke,” Naruto said as the initial shock wore off, “that sounds scarily like you’ve started caring about other people.”

Naruto and Sasuke having a small fight about Charasuke... Naruto knew Sasuke cared about Charasuke, but this is when he realizes that Charasuke is becoming a person that Sasuke wants to protect. And for Sasuke it's a small step towards opening his heart for more people than just Naruto. Sasuke is honestly mad at Naruto for taking things so lightly, for treating this other dimension as something that doesn't affect them. Besides, I really wanted Charasuke to be comforted by Sasuke haha.

Charasuke kept crying, and the look Sasuke directed at him clearly said what he thought of Naruto right then.

“Moron. I care about other people, just not anyone in our own dimension.”

Naruto knew that to be a lie, but decided not to say anything. Having Sasuke admitting to something like having feelings was a huge enough step on its own. Instead he sighed, grabbed something to sleep in, and headed for the door.

“I’ll just sleep on a couch,” he mumbled.

Does Sasuke care about anyone back in their own dimension? Maybe, but you wouldn't really see him act like this with canon Sakura, not before they left for the RTN dimension at least. It's a big thing that Sasuke is starting to voice his feelings out loud, and acknowledge them more. Naruto is feeling jealous actually, because he wanted to finally have Sasuke to himself, and also he feels guilty for being jealous, and also he's hoping that if he pouts enough Sasuke will comfort him instead of Charasuke lol. Not always the most mature person, but who is?

Coward, Kurama accused as he headed towards the living room, but Naruto was too tired to argue with him. Something about Charasuke always rubbed him wrong, and maybe it had to do with how he displayed his emotions openly and so obviously thought of himself as weak. If Sasuke wanted to handle it, fine. Naruto didn’t have the patience for people who sat around crying, and a small part of him didn’t like that he had such problems with caring about Menma, either. Menma had everything, a loving family, a Sasuke who cared about him, but he was still feared and treated differently. Even in this world people treated the bijuu as something dangerous, and he wondered how much of the whole story of them losing consciousness and turning into beasts was true, and how much was justification to treat them badly.

It's a bit of 'my problems are worse than yours so you shouldn't be so upset'. In the movie, we really got to see how much it hurt Naruto to see this other world where he had everything he wanted, and then acknowledge that it wasn't real. Even if he can recognize that the bijuu were still treated badly here, he can't quite make peace with the way Charasuke and Menma can't appreciate what they have. It makes it really hard for him to sympathize with them.

Am I supposed to feel touched? Kurama snorted as Naruto rearranged pillows into an acceptable bed on one couch. You didn’t care much for us either before you figured out the truth.

No, but everything was supposed to be the opposite here, right? Well, this part isn’t the opposite, it’s the same.

Between one heartbeat and the next, Naruto blinked his eyes open in front of Kurama’s open cage. There was water sloshing around his ankles, and everything was clouded in some sort of yellowish haze.

“Oh, come on,” he complained, but Kurama tsk’ed at him with his head supported by one giant paw.

“I hate to admit it, but you might be onto something, kid.”

“Uh-huh, well I don’t know about you but I want to sleep.”

Kurama reached out and poked him in the stomach with a sharp claw, eyes narrowing to slits. Even if they were friends, Naruto didn’t feel like testing the limits of that friendship with those claws so close to him.

“Sometimes you say things in such a stupid voice that I miss how important it might be. Now shut up and listen,” Kurama growled, three of his tails swishing angrily behind him. “This world is supposed to be opposite, right?”

“I don’t know, but everything seems opposite.”

“Let’s pretend we know it’s true. So, everything and everybody is the opposite more or less. But, the prejudice against the bijuu is still there. And we were told that it was only recently that they became unable to control. So, where does that leave us?”

Naruto pouted, not bothering to answer. Obviously Kurama already knew what he wanted to say.

“I think it means that anything that is the same, is something that somebody has tampered with.”

I was going to do more with this, but it was also a bit of 'what sort of theories would they have for what was really going on?' and this one is accurate in a way, because Hagoromo did tamper with the bijuu which in turn made them become feared and badly treated. So it's definitely hinting at there being someone behind the scenes manipulating the bijuu.

“Huh?”

Kurama rolled his eyes, sighing so deeply that Naruto felt the wind from it tear at his clothes.

“Think, boy! If this is a mirror-world or whatever, people shouldn’t be afraid of me and my siblings. But they are, and it only started a while ago. Obviously someone made us go crazy. And Menma has me inside him, but a crazy version of me, so wouldn’t it be logical that whoever did something to the me inside Menma, could also do something to Menma?”

He thought about it, hard enough that his head started hurting. Sasuke would probably know, but he was busy with Charasuke.

“I guess,” he said eventually, huffing a little. “But even if you’re right, it doesn’t help us figuring out who’s behind it all.”

“Does it matter?” Kurama scoffed, and then his lips spread in a terribly evil grin. “We’re going to kill them anyway, aren’t we?”

“This is why you have such a bad reputation,” Naruto sighed.

Kurama only laughed.

I really love Kurama... His and Naruto's weird friendship gives me life. His solutions to problems are always very straightforward heh.

Well, that's that :3

[phantoms-lair]

Kakashi-sensei looked like he wanted to sigh if it wouldn't completely ruin his image, the rest of the team just looked DONE, while the kid they had just accidentally summoned looked both very confused and very willing to throw down.

(Note: This is pre Wave arc for Naruto and post Sports Festival arc for BNHA)

Thankfully the kid had no training against genjustsu and a simple sleep jutsu put him out like a light. Then had been an awkward report to the Sandaime that Naruto had tried the Kuchiyose jutsu without a contract and had managed to summon this random kid. 

An ANBU Kakashi knew was a Hyuga had looked the kid over and determined he certainly wasn’t a ninja, as his chakra coils were undeveloped even for a civilian, though there was some residue of Naruto’s chakra as a result of the summoning. It was at this point they woke the kid up for an apology.

Midoriya Izuku was not happy about being essentially kidnapped, which Kakashi supposed was fair. He was less happy that they had no idea how to get him home, which was also fair. But Kakashi thought it so typical of a teenage boy that what set him off was a girl insulting him.

“Only you, Naruto, could actually  manage to summon something and have it be some guy who couldn’t even fight.” Sakura claimed flippantly.

Naruto opened his mouth to retort, but Midoriya beat him to it. “I can fight just fine. Probably better than you.”

Sakura glared at him and pointed to her headband. “I am a proud Shinobi of the Leaf, you’re just a civilian.”

“Your headband doesn’t mean anything to me, but your arms and legs do. You have very little definition on them. Oh, you exercise, but not to build strength.”

“There’s more to a battle than brute force.” Sakura chided.

“You’re right, there’s also observation and gathering intel. Neither of which you did before coming to a conclusion.”

Sakura’s eyes darkened and she lashed out at him like she did Naruto, only to find her blow dodged.

Kakashi smiled. For all the mess this was, Midoriya had just provided him a wonderful opportunity for an object lesson. It was easy for Ninja, especially Genin, to come to the conclusion that chakra was the best indicator of ability. 

Chakra was an extremely useful and versatile tool, true, which was why anyone with the slightest hint of potential was trained in its use in a Hidden Village. But Midoriya wasn’t from a Hidden Village (he was apparently training to be a ‘Hero’, which Kakashi was guessing was like a more free-form Samurai). But in the end it was just a tool, and a clever opponent could wreak havoc without using it at all.

Hmm, in retrospect, maybe they needed to cover this with Jounin too. They had written Midoriya off as a non threat because he didn’t develop his chakra coils after all.

“Midoriya, would you care to give a demonstration?” Kakashi smiled. Midoriya looked over the three genin. “I’d rather not hurt anyone.” They didn’t take this well. Sakura looked like she was about to go off, Naruto was going off, shouting at Midoriya that he wasn’t weak, and even Sasuke’s eyes narrowed.

Kakashi smiled more. “I was thinking of Naruto’s clones.” “Fine by me!” Naruto immediately formed the Ram Seal and a second Naruto screamed and charged towards Midoriya.

Midoriya reacted with a surprised gut punch that caused the clone to vanish in a puff of smoke. It was hard to tell who was more surprised by this, Naruto or Midoriya. “You might try some tactics next time.” Kakashi advised.

Naruto nodded and created another clone. This one didn’t charge blindly,  and as a result Midoriya had a much harder time with it. But after he popped it the next one went down quicker. And then the one after that. Kakashi resisted the urge to whistle. Naruto prided himself on being unpredictable, but this kid was obviously learning patterns and adapting to them. He couldn’t really gauge the strength behind the blows - it didn’t take much to disrupt a clone- and the fighting style itself was one that Kakahi mentally referred to as ‘Advanced Brawler’. It was the type of movements seen when someone wasn’t trained, but fought enough to be able to be somewhat effective.

Unfortunately for their guest he had hit the limit of Naruto’s pride. He angrily slammed his hands into the Ram Seal and more than a dozen Narutos roared as they charged in.

There was a moment of pure panic in MIdoriya’s eyes before he leaped back to given himself more room. His body began crackling with a green energy that had Kakashi’s headband off his eye and his Sharingan active.

“TEXAS SMASH” Midoriya yelled, punching the air in front of him. A shockwave ran through it, dispersing all the clones at one.

Naruto’s jaw dropped. “How..How did…?”

“Was that wind chakra?” Sakura asked, breathlessly.

“No,” Kakashi said, covering his eye back up. The Sharingan was not as good at seeing chakra coils as the Byakugan, but it was enough for this. “Whatever it was, it used no chakra whatsoever.”

“How is that possible?” Sasuke asked, eyes narrowed.

“I don’t know,” Kakashi answered. “Yet.”

~

“A report already?” Sarutobi looked up. “It hasn’t even been twenty minutes?”

“We have severely underestimated the danger level of our guest.” Kakashi said bluntly. “In addition to being highly adaptable, he’s capable of throwing a punch that can generate a shockwave capable of disrupting a wide field of shadow clones. All without a drop of chakra.”

Sarutobi’s eyes narrowed and his posture straightened, shedding the grandfatherly mein for the one once known as the God of Shinobi. “And what do you suggest we do.”

“Use him.” Kakashi said plainly. “He’s powerful, but not hostile towards us.” Annoyed, but not hostile. “Until Jiraya gets here with the Toads, make use of his abilities. Room and board should be a given, as we did kidnap him and we don’t want to foster resentment. But I’m thinking of an exchange of use in training for actually learning a form. It could be one of the simple ones we teach civilians for self defense, or even the Academy Standard, but it will be more than he currently has. In return, he serves as a training dummy and humility checker.”

Sarutobi took a puff of his pipe. “Humility checker?”

Kakashi shrugged. “Every fresh graduate thinks getting to keep the headband means they’re a fully capable ninja until they get smacked by reality - usually in the form of an enemy ninja and the dead body of one or more comrades. Midoriya will let me drive that home without them being in life threatening danger. The fact that he doesn’t have the capacity for ninjitsu should knock them off their high horses a bit.”

“Very well.” But the Hokage fixed him with a glare. “But f you think one one second he’s a threat to them-”

“Midoriya Izuku will cease to exist.” Kakashi said easily. As if he would do anything else.

His orders given the shadow clone dispersed itself.

[amitds]

so I lurked through an old/inactive Tumblr Blog which was extremely critical of Naruto(both the character and manga) and only liked a select few characters,and funnily enough I agreed with most of their critiques about story being incoherent/inconsistent/incohesive and the supposed main bond of the story- naruto/sasuke - being poorly done,etc but they also said that team7/sannin parallels shown in the war arc were bs as the hype for sannin had not been kept consistent throughout the story in terms of feats(they were pro sakura but said her equalling sasuke and naruto was bullshit as they were too op), I know you have shown us through databooks and manga statements that she was indeed equal and she meant what she said but if we look at only manga feats and background(outside hype),can you justify her equivalence to SN duo, I mean kishimoto says in his interviews that he had planned to give her an arc but ditched it for god knows what reason...also can you explain her emotional plot relevance and do you think it's needed/positive,I mean there are many retconned things in this manga that elevate stagnant,minor and blank canvas(eg:rin) characters to plot importance(he also retconned Itachi so..) so I would like to know how sakura,a dynamic and major character effects the plot!! I know this ask was all over the place but I would really love to know your thoughts here,if you wish you could make a post on this or maybe ignore this altogether if you feel this is unneeded!!! Thank you!

“so I lurked through an old/inactive Tumblr Blog which was extremely critical of Naruto(both the character and manga) and only liked a select few characters,and funnily enough I agreed with most of their critiques about story being incoherent/inconsistent/incohesive and the supposed main bond of the story- naruto/sasuke - being poorly done,etc but they also said that team7/sannin parallels shown in the war arc were bs as the hype for sannin had not been kept consistent throughout the story in terms of feats(they were pro sakura but said her equalling sasuke and naruto was bullshit as they were too op),”

I don’t understand that sannin part. Are they saying the sannin’s hype hasn’t been consistent as in they were not portrayed as equals throughout the manga? Are they basing this strictly on feats? If so then they are mistaken and are, like so many, mixing loud Western fandumb talking points ( eg.OROCHIMARU IS THE STRONGEST SANNIN. TSUNADE CAN ONLY PUNCH AND HEAL) with the actual canon series where from what I read the sannin have always had consistent hype (outside of Itachi’s statement which can be due to him being secretly good and for the village). 

It’s always: 

It takes a sannin to beat a sannin

The power of a sannin

Each of the sannin have special powers

I’m one of the sannin (Orochimaru said this in the present Boruto timeline to hype himself)

He’s one of the sannin 

Like what’s not clicking for these people?

Tsunade had chakra reserves comparable to a tailed beast with her seal, regeneration like Hashirama and her super strength affected incomplete susanoo and was beyond the raikage’s when he was lightened by Onoki ,according to Madara himself. Are those feats not comparable in these fans’ minds to Jiraiya’s incomplete sage mode with his odama rasengan that couldn’t break through a susanoo rib cage when naruto used it vs Madara or Orochimaru’s featless 8 branches technique? 

DATABOOK SUPPORT:

The thing is, Sakura equaling them was not bullshit. First of all it is the author who makes the power scaling, not us. So this ‘rule’ wherein Sakura CANNOT equal EMS Sasuke and KCM Naruto in skill and power because fans view them as too OP is ridiculous. 

They were not AS overpowered as the fandom makes them out to be. The same people who say they were so overpowered etc. are the same ones who argued that Sasuke was still under Itachi even when he got EMS vs Itachi’s MS. Lol! The same people don’t want to admit that Edo Minato is stronger or a little weaker than KCM Naruto. So you’re telling me someone above the sannin and alive Minato cannot be on par with someone </= Itachi or >/= Edo Minato, especially when the author says it? 

Do they think EMS Sasuke and KCM Naruto were Hashirama leveled? No? Okay then what’s the issue with someone above the sannin, Hiruzen and Alive Minato being on their level? Why can’t someone above the sannin and alive Minato not be comparable to Edo Minato and KCM Naruto? 

It also doesn’t help their point when we remember that while EMS Sasuke and KCM Naruto were struggling along with Edo Minato, Tobirama and Hiruzen vs Obito, that Sakura was healing the army and giving it chakra. So we never got to see her fight at full power with the boys after she equaled them in skill and power (her taijutsu and medical prowess). This makes the claim that she couldn’t and didn’t equal them even more unfounded. 

They talk about lack of feats for her equaling them but actually there’s lack of feats for her not. I mean we didn’t ever see her at full power after this AND when we did see her with them again they were Gods facing off against Madara and she was low on chakra. 

“I know you have shown us through databooks and manga statements that she was indeed equal and she meant what she said but if we look at only manga feats and background(outside hype),can you justify her equivalence to SN duo, I mean kishimoto says in his interviews that he had planned to give her an arc but ditched it for god knows what reason..."

Well I don’t personally feel that we need to find feats to justify something that already has been stated and shown as fact i.e. if Sakura and Kishi say she’s on par with them, the fandumb doesn’t have to power to invalidate this by their stupid explosion watching, physics calculations or vs hypotheticals BUT since I actually do like to debunk people soundly I’ll bite. 

Sakura doesn’t have feats in a particular battle per se however, even if we totally ignore the databook entries about her equaling them:

Sakura’s strength is beyond Tsunade and Ei’s which they used on incomplete susanoo. EMS Sasuke uses an incomplete susanoo. That is a direct comparison between their abilities. Even if we want to argue that Sasuke’s incomplete susanoo was above the ones Tsunade/Ei broke and fought, Sakura’s strength is beyond theirs so where does that leave us? Her strength while not at its zenith was able to break Kaguya’s horn and injure here more severely (she had a swollen eye) than God leveled Naruto’s physical strength boosted by the 5 tails power to give ‘unparalleled strength). 

DATABOOK SUPPORT:

Sakura reacted to Kaguya’s chakra arms and evaded for a while, while low on chakra. Kaguya’s chakra arms were stated by God Naruto to be super fast and he warned God Sasuke about it, to which he agreed. This is Sasuke who could teleport and Naruto with Minato like speed or above, so... 

With Sakura’s seal she was able to heal and army and give it chakra 2 times (2nd time with Tsunade) and then she had enough chakra by the time she needed to help save Sasuke. She had more chakra while low and nearly depleted than one of God Naruto’s clones. She was able to fuel Obito completely on her own even though Naruto’s clone went with them to help give chakra and Sakura, as I said, was low on chakra. 

With the seal Sakura and Tsunade were able to access the byakugo no jutsu which, acc. to Madara and DB 4 is similar to Hashirama’s healing ability. In fact DB 4 explains in detail that Hashirama’s ability is due to his massive chakra reserves which Tsunade lacked. Therefore she needed the seal to access regeneration for a long time like him. Sakura boasted that she doesn’t use chakra from her seal 24/7 to keep her body young. This gives Sakura 2 abilties comparable to Hashirama i.e. chakra reserves and regeneration. 

It should be noted that Hashirama himself said that KCM Naruto had almost as much chakra as he did so Sakura’s seal granting her comparable chakra reserves to Hashirama also puts her reserves in this ball park in the original series. So this is another direct comparison to one of the boys. Along with Sasuke’s susanoo and her strength, we have Sakura and KCM Naruto’s chakra reserves being compared to Hashirama’s in the databook and manga, respectively. 

I think it’s funny that Sakura has 2 abilities/powers/characteristics that are comparable to Hashirama’s most notable ones (chakra reserves and regeneration) and which are beyond Tsunade’s versions of them, and people (not you) think it’s a gotcha question to ask what feats/powers she has that compares to EMS Sasuke and KCM Naruto (even though a lot of feat comparisons are SUBJECTIVE, even mine here). 

Keep in mind that these feats are not from her actually fighting and only supplement Kishi in the databooks and the manga and Sakura stating and showing that she was equal to Naruto and Sasuke when she got her seal. 

What I usually ask people when they come with the whole ‘she never caught up to them’ BS is:

How can you prove it?

What feats do you see that proves that she wasn’t on par with them?

What statements are there to prove this? 

Then you see people bend over backwards to pass off opinions about blaze release, odama rasenshuriken and ‘punching’. It’s hilarious. 

“also can you explain her emotional plot relevance and do you think it's needed/positive,I mean there are many retconned things in this manga that elevate stagnant,minor and blank canvas(eg:rin) characters to plot importance(he also retconned Itachi so..) so I would like to know how sakura,a dynamic and major character effects the plot!! I know this ask was all over the place but I would really love to know your thoughts here,if you wish you could make a post on this or maybe ignore this altogether if you feel this is unneeded!!! Thank you!”

I don’t really feel the need to go into detail with this. Simply put IMO.

Sakura deserved better.

She deserved a unique power along with her powers surpassing Tsunade (genjutsu + slug sage mode)

Sakura, and even Kakashi, IMO should have played a more important role in Sasuke’s redemption. 

Sakura should have gotten her own arc(s) like fucking Shikamaru a side character, did. 

Sakura IMO didn’t need to be like Rin, Itachi or Minato or any side to affect the plot. I am fine with her getting more fights and helping Naruto and Kakashi more along with having more of a role in bringing Sasuke back being what gave her plot importance. I don’t need a big back story for her. Just more missions and maybe some of what Kakashi got?

[shanastoryteller]

Trick or Treat Shana!!!! Could you maybe do something Naruto related? I love how you spin the show

Naruto insists that theywere the best of friends from the beginning, inseparable from the moment thathe knocked her over while running from an irate shop keeper at the age of five.

Sakura rolls her eyes andinsists that it was only once they started the academy at the age of seven thatthey became real friends.

It doesn’t make much ofdifference about which one of them is right. The end result is the same.

~

Sakura doesn’t really have a crush on Sasuke. For one,she’s used to loud and bright and cheerful, and his stoic angst just gives hera headache. For another, Sasuke thinks Naruto is an idiot, which he kind of is,but he’s her idiot, so. That being said, competing for his attention with Inois usually a lot of fun, and there’s a thrill of triumph at her shrill cry ofdespair at Sakura being put on Sasuke’s team instead of her. Unfortunately,it’s pretty much immediately overwhelmed with the knowledge that she’s been puton a team with her best friend and a silent, stubborn jerk.

She meets Naruto’s gazeacross the room, and he shrugs in ‘what can you do’ gesture. Sakura sighs,because in her ideal world she’d have been put on a team with Ino and Naruto –even Kiba would have been okay – but training with Sasuke is going to be such apain.

“Troublesome,” shemutters. Shikamaru (who is well aware of her true feelings and always has been)laughs.

~

On top of the roof,staring at their new sensei and trying not to snort at the bit of chalk duststill in his hair, Naruto looks at Sasuke out of the corner of his eye. Handsshoved in his pockets and shoulder’s hunched, he just looks kind of …. lonely. Naruto’s pressed up next to Sakura from shoulder to hip, but it’s kind of justoccurring to him that he’s never actually seen Sasuke touch anybody before,unless it was sparring.

He’s knocked out of histhought process by Sakura elbowing him in the ribs. “Hey!” he rubs his side,but doesn’t move away from her. “What was that for?”

“Sensei’s talking toyou,” she says, glaring, but he’s known her way too long not to notice thespark of amusement hidden in her eyes.

“Oh, right. What?” heblinks.

Kakashi’s eye is stillclosed and it looks like he’s grinning under the mask, but Naruto is verycertain he’s irritated. It’s what Naruto does best after all. “I said, you gofirst.”

“Go first for what?” he asks. Sakura coughs to hide a laugh. He knocks their shins together.

“Name, likes, dislikes,dreams …” Kakashi repeats.

Naruto thinks if helistened carefully he could hear the man gritting his teeth. “Oh. I’m NarutoUzumaki! I like Sakura, and training, and ramen, and Iruka-sensei! Idislike….uh,” he scratches his head, eyes squinting. He’s probably laying in ona little thick, but Sakura is nearly turning red to keep from laughing so it’sworth it. “I dislike the four minutes it takes ramen to cook, and the Councilbecause they give Jiji headaches. I’m going to be Hokage!” He ended thisdeclaration with throwing both hands up in victory signs.

Kakashi blinks. “…Right.Pinky, you next.”

“Okay!” Sakura chirps andflutters her eyes at him, and now it’s Naruto’s turn to keep from laughing.“I’m Sakura Haruno. I like Naruto, cooking, and reading.” Naruto shoots her awounded look, and she rolls her eyes. “Training is fun too, I guess. I dislikepeople who are mean to my friends. My dream is to be a top class kunoichi, andprove that ninjas from civilian backgrounds can be just as good!”

“Yatta!” Naruto andSakura high five.

Kakashi is blinkingprobably more than he needs to. If he’s thrown off by them now, Naruto isseriously looking forward to working with him, even if he’s late always. “Okay.Your turn,” he jerks his chin towards Sasuke. Both Naruto and Sakura turn tolook at the last Uchiha in interest, because as far as they’re aware Sasule’sonly hobbies are training and being a bastard.

The kid grunts andstraightens part way from his crouch, “Sasuke Uchiha. I like getting stronger.I dislike being weak. My dream is to rebuild my clan and avenge their deaths.”

Sakura slumps so most ofher weight is on Naruto. He pats her shoulder, and they don’t have to look ateach other to know they’re both having the same thought:

We’re doomed.

~

Kakashi is, if he’s beinghonest with himself, intrigued by this group of genin. They’d all hidden whenhe’s said the test was about to begin, but Sasuke’s off on his own while Narutoand Sakura have hidden themselves up the top of one of trees at the edgeof the clearing. With a little bit of chakra, it’s easy enough to pick up theirconversation.

“-Academy! This isinsane!” That’s Naruto, far too loud for someone supposedly hiding.

Sakura responds, tornbetween frustrated and whining, “I know! A genin against a jounin –“

“Oh not just any jounin.Copy-Nin Kakashi, he’s S-Ranked in the Bingo Book. He’s also Ex-Anbu.”

Kakashi blinks, becauseno one below Chunnin should have access to a Bingo Book, and anyways how the fuck does Naruto know he used to be anANBU?

“Naruto, how the hell do you know that?”

“Who used to babysit me?”Naruto returns. Kakashi isn’t even seeing the words in his book anymore,because Naruto wasn’t actually supposed to know he was being watched by Anbu.And if, as an organization, they’d been beat by a kid, he was turning in hisheadband.

“Huh,” Sakura says, “Anytips?”

“He smells like dogs and,unlike most of ANBU, almost never like blood,” Naruto offers, dry.

Sakura groans, whileKakashi mentally puts down training with the Inuzuka for Naruto whether theypass or not based on his sense of smell alone. “So he’s either really, reallyinsanely good, or watching you wasn’t healing time.”

“Watching me was alwayshealing time,” Naruto says immediately, and for being a supposed dead lastNaruto is proving himself to be an annoyingly perceptive little kid. “Why elsewould they waste Anbu on me? It was a mission, but a mission with like, zerorisk. And Kakashi-sensei is really,really insanely good, so there’s no way they’d waste him on me if he couldperform other missions. “

“Unless there’s apersonal tie between you,” Sakura says, and hoo boy, wow, what a smart littlekiunoichi in training she is. He’s going to destroy her.

“You know,” he sayscheerfully, shiriwaming to right next to them, “You two should be more quiet ifyou’re trying to hide your position.”

“AAAHHH!” Naruto screams,and then falls out of the tree. Sakura follows Naruto down, more controlledin her decent, but they both hit the ground softly, rolling to their feet andrunning across the field without breaking momentum. He throws a katon jutsoafter them, and the fireball goes wide, but Naruto still yelps and ducks.Kakashi leans against the branch, and hopes it will have the effect of drawingSasuke out as well.

Kakashi leaves a clonelazily reading Icha Icha in the tree, and goes to trail the genin. He findsthem in another clearing, this time with a low level notice-me-not jutsu aroundthem. Of course, it’s only effective if the person doesn’t know who they’relooking for, but it’s a nice try.

“We need a plan,” Sakurais saying, “We can’t just hide from him, we’ll never get the bells from himthis way.”

“We can’t get the bellsfrom him at all,” Naruto sighs, “He’s a jounin,”

“Theoretically, a fewgenin can take out a jounin.”

“Yeah, maybe, but certainly not alone. Andwe’re awesome Sakura, we’re great, but –“

“We’re no match forKakashi-sensei,” Sakura agrees, slumping.

Naruto huffs and thensquints, looking eerily close to where Kakashi is hiding. He crosses his arms,“I could just send a couple hundred shadow clones at him to wear him down?”Kakashi really hopes Naruto’s exaggerating, but he read Iruka Imuno’s report,so he knows he isn’t.

“You know, we could ask Sasuke for help,” Sakura says.

Kakashi blinks. This ispromising.

Naruto snorts, “Oh, yeah,like he’ll go for that. You heard him, he’s all avenging lone wolf.”

Sakura grumbles, “We’lljust beat him up until he agrees.”

“I don’t want to waste mychakra beating sense into Sasuke. That could exhaust even my reserves.”

“Naruto, you justsuggested making a few hundred shadow clones. I’ve literally seen you expelchakra from your hands for hoursbecause the shimmering was more amusing than Iruka-Sensei’s lecture. Yourchakra reserves are never a cause for concern. Your chakra control on the other hand –“

“Oh, shut up,” he shovesher, but they’re both smiling. A sudden scream of thwarted rage echoes acrossthe clearing, and Kakashi blinks as his clone is dispelled and he gets thememories of Sasuke leading him into a trap that he never would have fallen for, but his shadow clone apparently didso cheerfully and waved at Sasuke as he was expelled.

Both Naruto and Sakuraare looking towards the sound of the scream. “Well,” Naruto sighs, “at least we know where he is.” He stands, holding out a hand to pull Sakura to her feet.“If he tries to kill us on sight, I’m blaming you,” he says, already dartingaway.

“If he succeeds, I’mblaming you,” Sakura counters.

Kakashi silently followsthem. Even if Sasuke flat out rejects them, he still might pass them. Narutoand Sakura clearly understand the value of teamwork, and clearly not just witheach other. That’s valuable, especially in ninja so young.

[fatesdeepdive]

Entry 14: Groans of Increasing Discomfort

Heading back to the castle, it seems I’ve accumulated a ton of new buildings to buy. I can buy a statue of Mozu which probably costed more than her entire village, a ballista and shuriken launcher to use in castle battles, a bunch of puppets to give me nightmares (they fight for you in castle battles too I guess), a shop to buy new units (both generics and clones of the soldiers I already have), and a hot spring. Because fanservice. You can run into other units in there, everyone is in their underwear and blushing, half of the decisions that were made in this game’s development were solely for the sake of horniness, yada yada yada. I actually tried to leave and the game stopped me, because Sakura was showing up and it’s necessary to get that bath time with the teenage girl. The hot springs does have a use, admittedly, but it won’t become apparent for a few chapters.

Support: Lady Corrin/Reina

C: Corrin sees Reina talking to an old man and asks her about it. Reina explains that he reminds her of her parents, who cut her out of their life when she became a soldier. And also, apparently, don’t give a shit about her being the personal retainer to the goddamn Queen. Actually, wait, hold on. Where the hell was Reina when Mikoto got blown up? You know what? Her parents should be ashamed of her, she’s a terrible bodyguard.

B: Corrin tells Reina she should visit her parents. Which makes sense; Corrin points out that she’s an orphan and wishes for any relationship with a parent, no matter how strained. Reina tells Corrin that she became a soldier because she really, really, really likes killing people. Corrin volunteers to find out how Reina’s parents are doing.

A: Corrin tells Reina that her parents are doing fine. Reina retcons the last conversation by revealing that she became a soldier to protect her family’s peasants. Nowadays, though, it’s all about that murder.

Review: This one was fine. Corrin wanting to help Reina is a nice bit of characterization, but there isn’t much more to say about this one.

Now, you may be wondering why I referred to Corrin as Lady Corrin in the last bit. Reina actually has completely different supports depending on Corrin’s sex. Most characters have identical supports with Corrin, or if not that just minor dialogue changes (For example, Camilla and Laslow, off the top of my head). But characters like Reina, who can only support Corrin, get two conversations. I suppose it’s for the best, considering those characters would otherwise be incredibly out of focus as opposed to merely extremely out of focus.

Support: Lord Corrin/Reina

C: Corrin sees Reina carrying an apron, which weirds him out, because of the whole murder hobo thing.

B: Reina reveals her sheltered noblewoman housewife in training turned soldier backstory and says that the apron was a gift from her parents before they cut her out.

A: Reina says that her parents cried when she became a knight and that she keeps the apron out of gratitude for them.

S: Corrin, off screen, goes back to Hoshido to talk to Reina’s parents. Apparently they’re proud of her. And he asked to marry her, which she accepts, because she cannot imagine life without him. Apparently.

Review: So, these are kinda the same support? I mean, the actual words are different, but they cover the same information. It’s weird that they were split into two conversations. Whatever. The second one is better, because it gives this really fun characterization of Reina being a friendly team mom when she isn’t stabbing people so she can hear them gasp their last breaths. Also, it resolves the plotline. On the other hand, the S-Rank is really mediocre. Reina saying she relies on Corrin daily is ridiculous, given what we’ve seen. Overall, the problem with Reina is that she just has these two conversations. And one with Kanna, I guess, but that one is recycled from other characters. If Reina was a more fleshed out character that interacted with other characters, she might work as a character. But, as it stands, all she has is her recruitment and two mediocre supports.

Support: Hinata/Takumi

C: Hinata kicks down the door to Takumi’s room so he can tell him that he’s going to start a fighting tournament so he can beat people up.

B: Hinata beats people up.

A: Hinata reveals that he’s beating people up to cheer up Takumi, because Takumi looks happy when he cheers him on. I feel like he could have, I don’t know, asked Takumi how to cheer him up in advance instead of just assuming and doing something he said he didn’t want, but whatever. The two bond over Hinata beating people up.

Review: I think this one helped me hone in on why a lot of Fire Emblem supports don’t work. Supports are, by their very nature, just dialogue. So, when you get a support like this, that relies heavily on something happening, it ends up as telling not showing. That’s why the best supports rely on dialogue rather than explain something that happened off screen.

Support: Kagero/Saizo

C: Kagero and Saizo get into an argument over how to train royal guards, with Kagero pointing out that Saizo’s hard as nails “be ready to die for the monarchy” speech just stressed people out. Saizo blames the new recruits for being inexperienced.

B: Saizo endangers the life of his men to succeed on a mission and Kagero calls him out on it. Saizo points out that victory requires sacrifice and war is unforgiving. The two of them point out that they’ve had this exact argument again and again, and it’s the reason they broke up when they were dating.

A: Kagero and Saizo win a big battle together and admit that they work well together.

S: Saizo points out that their relationship failed because they kept trying to change each other and forgot that they loved each other. The two of them decide to give it another shot.

Review: This one has a much more solemn and reserved tone than most supports, which helps it stand out. It isn’t great, but it has a good tone and I actually don’t dislike Saizo and Kagero as a couple. Them being a flawed couple that broke up over their differences, then trying it again after maturing and becoming more rounded people is a lot more realistic than most relationships in this game.

Birthright Chapter 12: Dark Reunion

The gang arrives in Cyrkensia, a city in Nestra, a country that I forgot existed because this is the only part of the game where it is mentioned. Cyrkensia is a popular vacation spot with a big opera house that appeared in the intro.

A kitsune named Kaden goes up to the party and explains that he’s in town to repay a favor to someone. This introduction feels like when you introduce a new player halfway through a D&D campaign and they quickly explain their deal after walking up to the party.

Kaden introduces his friend Layla, who explains that she’s a singer at the opera house, but can’t perform tonight because her mother is dying. Also she’s singing for King Garon, the evil king who is on vacation a week after starting a brutal war. Azura volunteers to perform in Layla’s steed so the party can do some patricide. Now, you may be thinking, did the game do the stupid trope of having Azura and Layla look identical? Surprisingly, no, they didn’t. Everything else about this chapter is so cliche I assumed they would, but they actually remembered Zola has illusion magic that the party never uses. Also, because we helped the person Kaden has to help, he now owes us a favor, and will totally kill dozens of soldiers in a war he doesn’t give a shit about if we ask him to.

Kaden

Kaden is a Kitsune, this game’s equivalent of Laguz or Taguel from past games. He wields a special weapon called a Beast Stone that allows him to fight by turning into a big ass fox. His personal skill heals units who heal him. He’s a glass canon who does extra damage to cavalry, giving him an interesting niche. His human design is fine, but not remarkable. His fox design is cool, especially regarding the blue fire that floats around him; that said, the spikes on the legs are weird. Personality wise, he seems to be a go lucky idiot who stumbled into joining us.

When the party arrives at the opera house, Corrin notices Elise, who looks sad. Azura, who doesn’t look like Layla for the player, goes on stage. Azura sings the only song she knows, the magic one that breaks mind control, which makes Garon...groan in increasing discomfort, which makes me also feel discomforted. Also Azura does a bunch of crazy water magic, which is a bit extra.

Garon orders his troops to capture us, because Zola betrayed us. Gasp. Shocking. Zola does admittedly beg Garon to spare us. Garon kills him for even suggesting it, right in front of his young daughter, because Garon is a cartoon supervillain. Zola dies begging Corrin to forgive him and Garon calls Corrin weak for having sympathy. Takumi threatens to kill Garon, but Corrin points out that they need to leave if they want to live. Which is smart; Garon has ridiculously high stats.

This battle sees our units fighting on boats floating in the opera house, which is a cool setting for a battle. On turn three, some reinforcements arrive. Xander, who’s still pissed about the whole traitor thing. With him are Peri, a cavalier with cotton candy hair, and...is that Inigo? That’s Inigo, from Awakening. That’s fucking Inigo! What is Inigo doing here, and more importantly, why is he working for the very obviously evil bad guys?

There’s a Dragon Vein you can use to freeze all the water, which would make this level easier, if it wasn’t already a broken easy level. To beat this level, you need to get Corrin to a specific spot. Corrin can’t walk on water, so you need to fight through an onslaught of tough enemies. There’s just one problem: Hinoka or Subaki can carry Corrin directly to the end. I fought the enemies, because why not, but I didn’t have to.

I ignored Garon because he’s able to one shot literally every unit in my army, but I did decide to take on team Xander. Side note, I looked up Garon’s battle quote after the fact, and he says this to Corrin: “I may not be your father, but I will slap you down like a child.” I take back everything bad I ever said about Garon.

Peri, as it turns out, is a sadistic sociopath, because Nohr. Inigo...excuse me, Laslow, blushes when we stab him. And Xander steals Inigo’s famous crit quote from the Princess Bride.

Peri and Laslow went down easy, but Xander was almost as bad as Garon. Even with his bonus against cavalry, Kaden only did one point of damage per hit. I had to resort to the classic strategy of throwing disposable soldiers at him until he was weak enough for Corrin to Dragonstone.

This was a great map, with a creative setting, multiple ways to approach it, tough bosses, and an exploit that makes it completely skippable. Still, it’s the only Birthright chapter with a creative goal, so it deserves a little credit.

After escaping the opera house, Xander chases after us, despite being defeated ten seconds earlier. Elise gets in his way, telling him that if he’s going to fight someone, he should fight her. As Corrin runs, Xander warns that it is her destiny to fight him.

After escaping Xander again, Corrin finds Azura collapsed on the ground, exhausted. She’s going to die at the end of the game, isn’t she?

[agrosehamada]

Rose’s Stories

So below are some very rough ideas that I have for what Rose’s book series would be like--I hope to eventually write all of them but I thought it would be fun to share this with all of you! 

Family:

Tadashi and Fred Hamada: Dads

Daniel: Older brother

Hiro Hamada and Ezra Bridger-Hamada: Uncles

Hope and Dev: cousins, kids of Hiro and Ezra (Hope is younger than Daniel but older than Rose and Dev, Dev and Rose were in the same incubator at the same time so are cousins but also consider themselves to be sort of like twins)

Cass: Grandma on Tadashi’s side :) (Really great aunt but all the kids call her Grandma)

Stan: Grandpa on Fred’s side (as a superhero he saved Tadashi from the fire and is the reason Tadashi is still alive! Yes his name is Stan Lee as an homage to Stan Lee being the model for Fred’s dad in the movie BUT to clarify he has no connection to the real Stan Lee, may his memory be a blessing!)

Books:

Meet Rose: Story starts with her finishing up her last day of homeschooling, Rose is going to start regular school for junior high in the fall. Possibly just Fred homeschooled her and Danny to give them a good foundation, or possibly because she’s ASD and didn’t handle elementary school well when she tried they decided to homeschool her but she’s agreed to try again in Junior high (she’s a bit nervous but mostly excited.) She gets A’s in all classes but math she gets a B which she’s a bit sad about but she tried her best (math is hard for her, she does good but it’s not fun which kinda sucks since math comes naturally to everyone in her bio family except for Fred.) Theme of the book is Rose is a very helpful person but sees everyone in her family is doing big things to help the world (making Baymax, etc.) and she wants to do something meaningful with her summer, feels like she needs to accomplish something big before starting junior high (aw, sweet summer child thinking junior high is so grown up and important XD). She goes around asking everyone what she can do to help them and keeps doing little things that they ask her to help with but is worried she’s not really doing anything important. Story ends with Tadashi explaining that she doesn’t have to do a “big thing” and the “little things” are actually really important, but does take her to adopt a cat since she can make a big difference in the life of the kitty :) Random note: Tadashi and Fred always make sure to have family time on Friday nights and Tadashi, since he doesn’t have as much time with the kids as Fred working full time, has special time for one-on-one time with each of the kids at some point during the week to check in and see how they’re doing/spend time doing something that’s important to them :)

Rose Learns a Lesson: Rose going to school. Lots of stress: For one thing just struggling socially but especially because of how she and Danny were born some of the bullies decide to pick on her for being “a freak”, ask her if she was born in a test tube/is a clone, when she explains about the incubator they make a connection to chickens and start calling her “chicken girl” or “egg girl” and spread a rumor she was hatched from an egg or some shit. Also teachers expect her to be just like Danny (who loved math) and Hope (who wasn’t super into math but it was easy for her) and are frustrated that she struggles with math. Oh, and she was supposed to have the same schedule as Dev but the principal separated them for most of their classes, except maybe home ec where he kind of outshines her in baking/cooking so there’s drama there too. She does make a friend, Hermoine, who has two moms (one of her moms is trans so she was born that way) and they hit it off really well :) They bond over Harry Potter (Rose is a Hufflepuff with a Hufflepuff and a Gryffindor for dads while Hermione is a Ravenclaw with a Gryffindor and a Slytherin for moms) and other nerdy stuff :) Hermione is an avid fanfic writer and Rose loves reading, and Hermione loves Rose’s plushies so they work really well together!

Rose’s Surprise: Christmas story, Rose loves Christmas and is hard at work on making Christmas presents for family. Expected a small Christmas but Tadashi and Fred invited a lot of the adopted family to celebrate (BH 6 team and their family plus Ezra’s family) to celebrate with them and so there’s a LOT more people around than expected (social anxiety), Rose feels like she has to make present for everyone (PANIC), and she keeps getting pulled into doing holiday things which means she has even less time to finish making presents (MORE PANIC.) Resolution is everyone realizing she’s stressing out but she didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings by saying no to celebration things or by not making presents and everyone reassures her she doesn’t have to make presents for everyone but also gives her some down time to finish making the presents :)

Rose Saves the Day: The annual Sakura Festival is happening in San Fransokyo! Rose is super excited, it’s one of her favorite times of the year, and she always helps Aunt Cass with the extra customers she gets during the festival (they usually give it a special theme, this year it’s a cat maid/butler cafe!) But this year Tia Honey Lemon asks her to help with her fashion show as a model (Honey Lemon gives her sewing lessons in exchange for her helping model her clothes) and helping make outfits, and also the animal shelter where Rose got her kitty from needs support so Rose offers to make plushies for them to sell at the booth/offers to help run the booth and kind of over extends herself. Not a lot of story ideas built out on all of that yet but she’s doing lots of running around and she’s really tired and possibly gets a bad grade on a math quiz because of it and she kinda melts down and Tadashi has to help her figure out how to calm down and do what she can while also making thing manageable (including apologizing but telling people she can’t meet all of her commitments and everyone is very nice and understanding about it!)

Happy Birthday, Rose: I don’t have a lot worked out aside from Rose having a summer birthday, possibly she invites classmates but gets ditched (except for of course Hermione and her fam) for someone more popular running a party (maybe also Rose made it a costume party and people were like “You’re turning thirteen and THAT’S what you’re doing?) For sure the family goes to DisneyLand! Also possibly some angst because Danny has graduated high school now (he graduates at sixteen and is starting at SFIT next year) and overhears Hiro saying something about how when Tadashi started college he was never around and so she’s worried about losing Danny and he has to reassure her that he will always have time for her. Possible angst if Rose gets ditched for her party trying to convince her dads into homeschooling her for eighth grade and try again with high school, but she gets talked into trying again. 

Changes for Rose: It’s a new school year, Danny has started at SFIT and yeah, is not around as much and Rose is missing him and maybe he’s missing family night on Fridays and Tadashi and Fred are like, “Well he is in college, it is going to happen as he gets older” and Rose isn’t happy about it. Main plot point is Callaghan is being paroled from prison, it’s been about twenty years now and he’s in his sixties/seventies and is pretty broken down at this point. Abigail is living on the other side of the world now for work, and Callaghan has no one else to turn to but a desperate hope that Tadashi might help. Tadashi has been visiting him all this time on the down low (Hiro and most of the others don’t like it) and is like, “He’s still my dad figure, I can’t let him end up on the streets, he can come live with us.” (Callaghan was a friend of the Hamada parents and helped raise Tadashi after they died/got Tadashi interested in robotics, losing Abigail pushed him off the deep end but once he had time to think about what he’d done after it was all over he was horrified and is still incredibly guilty about almost being responsible for Tadashi’s death.) Fred is not terribly happy about it but is kinda understanding. Hiro is NOT happy at all (has never forgiven Callaghan.) and there is a lot of family drama going on. Rose is a bit nervous around this strange old man, she does know what happened but Tadashi always spoke highly of him and he seems lonely and sad just sitting quietly in the guest bedroom all day, maybe reading but often just staring out the window. And she’s feeling lonely with Danny being gone so much so she ends up making friends with him and kind of helps the others come around to him and is happy to have a new family member :) Random note: Maybe Callaghan helps her a lot with her math homework, he’s a really good teacher and helps her find ways to understand math that work with her learning style ^^ Other plot point: Rose might be realizing that she likes Hermione as more than a friend?

[lavenderchedder]

So...

I've re-read Naruto Gaiden and I can't for the life of me take this thang seriously. I mean this was so all over the place, I wonder what went through Kishimoto's mind to write this. Unless this was done with the intent of hating the SS pairing dynamics. Or to add some drama to wound up everyone living happily ever after (not). This me just critically looking at the manga for what it is.

You got Sarada Uchiha, supposedly the "Star of the Show," but how she was treated throughout this snippet demonstrated how fucked up her relationship between her suppssed parents. You're introduced Boruto and several other characters (which aren't of any relevance to the main story) and then you have ChouChou, who is supposed to be her "partner in crime" but honestly her presence was nonsensical in the quest for Sarada to find her father. Like, I'm pretty sure ChouChou's dad is Choji, but I could be wrong! *sarcasm*

Then you have Boruto being...a shit to Naruto. I'm guessing this is supposed to create some friction between father & son, but this didn't make Boruto or Naruto look good at all.

And then you're reintroduced to Sakura, Sarada's mother (or so we are led to believe). Being that Sarada is most close to her mother, the reader would probably assume that the questions asked of Sakura would probably be harmless to coming from a 12 year old, right? Except when it results in destroying your house and scaring your daughter to tears. I felt so bad for Sarada right here; Sakura is supposed to be her protector and someone to look up to, but if Sarada ask legitimate questions regarding who her father is and if they are married (which shows that she's very observant), Sakura should behave as an adult and be honest. You shouldn't lie or be dodgy to your child. And what made it so bad is the fact that Sarada had to find the only picture with Sakura and Sasuke, only to discover that Sakura's face is taped over Karin's in what apparently looks like and old picture of Sasuke with Team Taka. I mean what kind of foolishness is this? Like really? I don't blame Sarada's doubtfullness of Sakura being her real mother, as she is already making an ass out of herself already.

I can't even get into how tired Sakura looks in this. Poor thang looks so overworked from raising Sarada and working at the hospital. She got a husband, right? I wonder where her husband's at...

Which reintroduces us to Sauske, the dark father of the show. As we soon find out, he has been away on a very important mission to search for threats that are greater than even Kaguya, or so we are told. Throughout Gaiden, we find that he has been in contact with the Leaf during his time away through the Hokage, informing the council of important updates and whatnot. The problem with this is that he is very capable of contacting the Hokage, but not his family every once in while. Going back to Sarada being the "Star", if he tried to contact Sakura & Sarada, there would have been no need for snooping from Sarada. But where would be the drama?

Of course Sarada activates her sharingan for the first time after finding out that her father is back home in the village, according to the surrounding theory that the Sharingan is activated when the Uchiha in question becomes overwhelmed with deep emotion. She finally gets to meet Sasuke...or Sasuke almost killing her, of course. Talk about awkward. And then we have Sarada scolding Sasuke, apparently upset (rightfully) that he has not been in her life all these years, showing him the picture of team Taka and demanding answers of who her mother really is. To all he replied with a bleak "It doesn't concern you." Well...

And of course, the paternity test is no better. As done by Suigetsu. Sarada devastated with news of Karin being mother. I honestly feel for her because this is alot to take in. Her suspicions are coming to light. And Naruto trying to make light of the situation, using his bonds with Iruka and other adult figures to set an example that bonds don't have to be blood-related. I get the gist of his stance, but not in the case of when she's had an absentee father and a mother that wasn't entirely truthful with Sarada's origins. And it didn't make sense for Karin to all of a sudden say that Sakura is the mother and the Umbilical cord is not hers, in the end.

What kills me is how the ending completely ignores the dysfunction of the SS family. Sarada is conflited, but now all of a sudden she's good after Sakura and Sasuke made up (if you can call it that). After the battle with Shin and the clones, Sarada questions their feelings for each other, to which they both reply "because we have you." It may seem like love to some of you, but it's not a good reason to stay together in a marriage, especially if one hasn't shown any romantic interest in you (in the case of Sasuke). This doesn't resolve anything. It didn't make the SS pairing look good, either. Sakura is still stressed and depressed while Sasuke is living his best life...outside of Konoha. And of course it is never confirmed whether Sakura or Karin is the mother, but that was soon left by the wayside.

Well, here's another long one. If you want a detailed understanding of Gaiden, I highly recommend reading the manga for yourself.

[nejislavendereyes]

Think Things Through [prt. 1]

Hi, you may have seen this story before- maybe on another account, but I promise. T’was me- When I first wrote this, I didn’t have a Naruto Blog, I had a random one. But upon, making a Naruto Blog, I decided to reupload this story, after editing it a bit. So, please do report, or spam the other blog. I promise it’s the same person.

Also, this was really meant to be a one shot, but it turned into a slice of life with a developing plot soooooo- Anyway, Enjoy loves!

“Come on Naruto, you’ve gotta hit me once. At least one time.” Mei rolled her eyes. “This is so boring.”

“Don’t call me boring!” He snapped, hot headed as always.

“Don’t be boring then.” She taunted.

Naruto let out his usual battle cry and created several dozen clones of himself to surround her. She readied herself and closed her eyes. She pulled a kunai from her bag and drew her sign over it.

“Water style; Copy.” Mei leaped up as the Naruto’s tried to charge her.

Kunai of nearly a hundred pierced each and every Naruto to be seen. Except for the one behind her. He kicked her in the back, sending her back toward the ground, which she easily landed on. She dodged the other Naruto that came at her from behind and kicked him into the real Naruto just ahead of her. As they tumbled through the dirt Mei hurled all her shuriken at them, ripping through the clone and pinning Naruto to a tree.

As Naruto realized what had happened he started yelling and making a fuss as usual. Laughter erupted through the training grounds, only pissing Naruto off more. “At least you hit her once, you’re not a failure Naruto!” Kiba chuckled and Akamaru yipped.

“No, he failed still.” Shikamaru corrected. “Just not completely.”

“It’s not fair fighting you!” Naruto yelled struggling against his restraints. “It’s like fighting Neji!”

Neji scoffed, and crossed his arms. “Hardly.”

“One, you beat Neji, once. Remember? And two, Neji, I know you think you’re hot shit and all, but we’re almost the same level.” Mei defended herself.

“Again, hardly.” He narrowed his eyes at her, his arms crossed. “Just because you can pin Naruto to a tree means nothing. You and I are nowhere near each other in strength.”

“Neji.” TenTen tried to scold him.

“Fine. Care to test that theory?” She was suddenly behind him and went to punch him, but of course he caught her fist. He then threw her back to her original spot and restanced himself, appearing bored by her.

“Oh, come of mister ‘I-have-a-stick-up-my-ass-and-I-like-it-there’. If you can’t take me down, I’ll just assume you’re too weak to do so.” She taunted. “And I supposed that would make me better than you, right?”

Really, she’d never in a million years believe she was better than Neji, in any way. But to pass up an opportunity to tease him and possibly end up with him pressing her to something? That wasn’t about to happen.

There was something about his intensity that made her swoon with cliche heart eyes and all. It’s been that way since they were kids, and she’s given up on trying to build up the courage to confess as well as trying to get over him. She was content with being friends and pretending the feelings didn’t exist.

“Please spar with me Neji.” Mei groaned, irritated that she had to resort to begging.

After a moment, he finally stepped forwards and Mei jumped, cheering that she had won him over but then pouted slightly when he didn’t lose his stance. She rolled her eyes and quickly threw two water made kunai towards him making him jump and dodge. She kept throwing the ice at him until he finally spoke up.

“This is why we aren’t nearly equal. You attack head on, even when you know it won’t work.” Neji told her.

She threw more kunai at him and smirked. “And you always think I don’t plan ahead.”

She winked and dropped into the puddle below her, that’s when Neji realized she had backed him into a small puddle. He jumped away, but only a split second late as her hand already wrapped around his ankle and pulled him through. Suddenly, it appeared that they were standing in the same area  just, it seemed duller, the colours were a pastel version of the real world’s and there were no living creatures but themselves.

“You like it?” Mei asked, bringing his attention to herself. “It’s my favourite place to be. No one really knows how to get here.”

“Trapping me here doesn’t secure your victory in this.” Neji said.

“What makes you so sure, Neji?” She smirked. “Look around, there’s nothing but intense chakra here. It’ll be hard for you to tell the difference between mine and this place’s.”

He suddenly jumped out of the way of her water clones trying to pounce on him. And she was right, the place she brought him to was filled with her chakra, it was hard to differentiate anything.

He landed and threw his own shuriken towards her, which she evaded before charging him. She tried to punch him as he did her, but alas neither could land a good enough hit. That is, until Mei managed to duck and strike him in his chest. The blow knocked him off his guard enough for her to kick him to the side.

He rolled along the ground, but easily picked himself up. And found a puddle under his hand, yet he wasn’t falling through. He rolled out of the way of her leg coming down, aimed for his shoulder. “Sorry, not the right water portal. Plus you can’t leave by yourself, I have to pull you through. Without me, you’re stuck.”

He glared at her and swiped at her with his kunai, successfully slicing her thigh as she jumped away.  She landed and hissed and the slight burn from her cut, but nevertheless, she stood ready to attack again.

“Byakugan!”

The sudden use of his visual jutsu threw her off, making her stumble. Mei couldn’t help but stare, the veins bulging around his eyes always held her still. She even remembered telling Sakura it was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen. Whenever he looked at her with it, it rendered her completely useless.

She could see that he was running towards her, but she stuck. Caught like a stupid fly. She watched him grow closer and yet she didn’t move. He easily tackled her, and to her surprise, through the exit puddle. He must’ve found it with his Byakugan.

Their friends gasped as they flew up from seemingly nowhere, soaking wet. Neji quickly flipped them over and slammed Mei to the ground. She tried to punch him, but he hurriedly caught her wrists and pinned them over her head.

“You move too slow to win this battle Mei, give up.” He stopped using his Byakugan, but still held the stern expression.

“I almost had you there.” She grunted, struggled against his grip while some of their friends tried cheering her on. “So, no. I’m not quitting ‘til I get you pinned.”

He sighed. “Give up, or I will hold you here until you do.”

She really didn’t want to lose, this was the closest she’d ever been to beating him, but she couldn’t figure out a way to get out of his hold… So, she closed her eyes and did the first thing that came to mind, and quite possibly the stupidest. Silence took over the training ground as shock traveled every corner. It seemed the earth itself was surprised as the wind stopped as well.

In the center of the training grounds, still laid Mei and Neji, frozen. Hands pinned to the ground, hair full of dirt, both soaking wet… Lips locked together.

Three full minutes were they still, Mei counted. When he didn’t push her away or pull back, she tested the water and pressed her lips a bit harder to his, which he responded with his own added pressure. She tilted her head to deepen the kiss and slid her wrists from his grasp slowly as to not ruin what she had going.

She pressed her hands to his chest, as if to hold his closer, but in reality- “Water style; transfer.” In the blink of an eye their places were switched and Mei had her kunai pressed against his throat. It took everyone a moment to realize that she had Neji Hyuga pinned.

“I think I’ve won.”

He stared at her, surprised for a moment before an unreadable expression painted his face and just let her sit on his chest. In a bursting moment noise filled the world again, birds chirping, the wind rustling the trees, their friends cheering. Still, he stared at her, this time holding her hostage just with his white orbs only.

Thankfully, Naruto yanked her up and broke the suffocating gaze. Their friends surrounded her, congratulating her for beating Neji. Although, it didn’t cross anybody’s mind that the cheering seemed like a bit much. That is until they realized that Neji was retreating from the training area.

Two months. That’s how long it’s been since Neji and Mei spoke.

A month and four days. That’s how long it’s been since Mei hung out with the group, as she believed that Neji wouldn’t come around if she were there.

Four days. That’s how long it’s been since Sakura told her she’d been selected to run a mission… with Neji.

Three days. That’s how long it’s been since she left the village to go on said mission. For three days, they’ve been tracking a bandit group that’s been tormenting villages. In tense silence. At least silence between Neji and Mei.

Finally Sakura stopped. “I can’t take it anymore!” She turned and glared at Mei and then at Neji. “You two need to get over whatever this bullshit is!”

When neither spoke up, Kiba butted in. “Seriously, you can’t be that butthurt over the fact you lost, right?”

“Yeah, it’s not that big a deal.” Naruto tried.

“I don’t care that I lost!” Neji finally snapped, startling them all. “It’s how.”

“Really?” Mei called. “You’re pissy because I distracted you to win?” She angrily asked.

“No, you kissed me!” He yelled back.

“As a distraction!��� She tried.

“Exactly! You don’t kiss your opponent to win the fight!”

“It worked didn’t it!”

“Are you going to kiss each and every person you fight, now!”

“I just might, what would it matter to you!”

Their teammates watched the yelling match with wide eyes. Neji and Mei glared at each other, before turning away from each other, scowls etched on their lips. Now the tension was thicker than it had been before.

“Okay, guys, let’s keep goi-ah!” Sakura suddenly was ripped from the tree branch she was on.

“Sakura!” They all jumped down to where she landed. “You okay?” Mei picked up her friend and cut the string that pulled her down.

“Neji, where are they?” Naruto asked.

“I can’t see them… Wait. Watch out- behind us!” Neji warned.

They all dodged the sharp spears aimed for them. Maybe a dozen pierced the ground where they previously stood. "This is why we don't yell…" Sakura sighed.

"Really not my fault." Mei quickly defended herself as their attackers appeared.

"I don't see how it's not." Neji glared around the bandits.

Before Mei could respond another spear was launched at her. She jumped out of the way but as she landed, she found herself in between two enemies. She dodged the first jabs at her face and turned into water as the second tried to stab her, causing him to stab his comrade.

"Well, damn, did he steal your sandwich? That was just rude." She turned to face the other as she rematerialized. “Now don’t look at me like that. I don’t like ham!”

She ducked past the next stab and barely dodged another. He managed to back her up until she had her back braced against Kiba. They briefly looked over one another’s shoulders before locking onto their opponent again.

Mei quickly drew her sign and grabbed Kiba and they fell through the earth, allowing the enemies to stab each other. As soon as they fell through the puddle, Mei threw Kiba back out another.

“Peekaboo!” Mei reached through a puddle and yanked two through while pulling herself back to the real world. “Oh hello, Sakura. Fancy meeting you here.”

“I will drop kick you in the throat, now is not the time!” Sakura snapped, punching another enemy Mei threw her way.

“So snappy…” Mei grumbled taking her place next to Sakura to fight off enemies from seemingly every which way. “Ah, shit!” Mei yelped, taking a spear to the thigh.

Sakura narrowed her eyes. “Well, if you hadn’t kissed Neji and pissed him off, we’d probably have the upper hand here.”

“Wh-what? You’re saying we don’t have the upper hand?” Mei joked, pulling the spear out and stumbling over her injury.

The group eventually found themselves cutting down the enemies easily. They were beginning to thin out, and before anyone could stop him, Naruto commented on such. But, surprisingly the enemies seemed to stop coming.

Akamaru growled, warning them they still had a few around. “Neji, where are they hiding?” Mei asked. When he didn't answer Mei rolled her eyes. “Neji, come on, be mad at me all you want. But right now we need to work together!”

He sighed. “They keep moving. They are circling us.”

“Kiba.” Naruto called.

“Yeah.” In the blink of an eye they leaped into the trees to try and chase down the enemies, leaving Sakura Neji, and Mei in the clearing. Several smoke bombs flew at them, quickly covering the field and blinding them all. And once again the spears started flying again, much like bobbing for apples except with sharp objects and vital organs.

Uncomfortable with the lack of sight she had, Mei rushed through the smoke towards what she hoped wasn’t an enemy. She made it to the edge of the smoke and coughed turning back to the dark figures she assumed were her teammates.

“Water style; transfer.” Mei placed herself in Sakura’s and Neji’s places, with a clone and herself. Thankfully so, too. Spears tore through her clone and impaled her through her chest. Sakura cried out as Mei was sent flying back into the trees.

“Mei! Mei?” Neji was in front of her in seconds.

Mei wheezed in pain and gagged on her blood. "Don't talk, just breathe!" Sakura dropped to her knees in front of her friend. She tried to breathe through the pain, but breathing only seemed to make it worse. She gripped Neji’s hand and cried while Sakura tried to tell her to relax. The three almost didn’t notice the rest of the team join them.

Sakura tried to give medical aid, but at the moment Sakura couldn’t do much, worried about the enemies rounding them. “We need to get her out of here. How many are left Neji? Kiba?”

Neji looked around and Kiba sniffed the air. “Eight.” They responded quickly.

“Hey, hey! Eyes open, look at me.” Neji ordered Mei, who was slowly losing consciousness.

“Neji, take Mei and get away from here. Go find her some help, we’ll catch up.” Naruto told him.

Neji didn’t argue at all, as he normally would with Naruto’s orders. He simply maneuvered Mei onto his back, wincing when she whined in pain. He rushed off without a second thought, leaving the enemies to his comrades.

For a while it seemed none of them followed him, which yes he found odd, but didn’t waste time to dwell on it. He could feel blood soaking through his shirt at an extreme rate. "You can't die yet, I'm still mad at you, Mei."

She muttered a quite response he didn't catch. “I’ll only forgive you over a bowl of ramen, got it? So you can’t die yet.”

Mei panted and tried to respond, only to choke slightly and drool blood onto his shoulder. “Ramen? To make up for kissing you? Mmm, odd deal…”

“Stop talking, you need to rela-!” Suddenly a paper bomb blew them to the side. He should’ve seen that coming. But instead he was too focused on Mei's bleeding.

Neji pushed himself off a tree he nearly collided with to catch Mei before she hit the ground. Now he could see them, three men circling them. Another smoke bomb exploded in front of him and not a moment later did spears come at him from each direction. He struggled to evade with Mei in his arms but he managed. That is until he stepped into a paper bomb.

"Mei… Mei?"

Neji’s voice pulled her from her sleep, and she was acutely aware of the pain throughout her body. "Relax, I'm not dead yet… Dying yes, but dead. No."

Neji sighed. "Now isn't the time to be funny."

"I'm telling the truth aren't I?" She chuckled, before coughing and groaning.

"They seemed to not want you dead yet, either." Neji noted the wrapping under her shirt. It was a messy wrap but nonetheless, it managed to slow the bleeding.

"How do you feel?" He asked.

For the first time since she woke up, she looked up at him. He was bruised and bloody, no doubt a punching bag for their captors. "I feel like an idiot, Sakura and the boys are out there most likely losing their minds and we're here probably about to die."

"Hey, we're not gonna die. Okay? We'll be fine." Neji quickly hushed her. "They'll find us and we're gonna get out of here and you'll get me that bowl of ramen."

Mei hummed, dizzy. His voice was slowly becoming distant again, and she felt like a nap was definitely in need. But Neji had other ideas. "You shouldn't have taken our places, Mei."

"I panicked…" She understood the underlying problem he was trying to say. "I placed the clone first and then I took the last open space."

"You couldn't have put two clones?" Neji asked.

"I. Got. Scared." She mumbled. "Fuck off."

"You never think anything through, do you?" Neji sighed. "Only favouring water jutsu when fighting, making jokes at the worst times. Replacing people and enduring serious injuries... Kissing me during our spar."

"You always assume that, smarty pants." Mei looked up at her teammate. "I favour water jutsu because there's water everywhere. I make jokes because it distracts everyone even for just a second, you might need that second. I switched places with you guys, cause it was my fault-."

"I yelled too." Neji interrupted her.

"But because I made you upset." Mei added. "And during the sparring, I just wanted to I, uh, just wanted to… kiss you..."

“And you thought training would be the best time to do so?” He narrowed his eyes at her.

“Hey two birds, one stone. Kiss the guy I’ve been crushing on since I was seven and beat him in a match. Hell yeah!” Mei admitted, smiling cheekily before groaning.

The door opened and three men walked in silently. Two stepped next to Neji and Mei while one stood in front of the door. For several minutes they just stood and stared, not even at Mei or Neji, just into the air. Like they were waiting for orders.

“Well, hi, my name is Mei, I’ve been drinking since I was three, family tradition to put sake in the bottles-!” Mei’s joke was cut off as a fist violently introduced itself to her face.

“They don’t talk, and don’t seem to like it when you do.” Neji warned, and just as he said he got elbowed as well.

“Well, that’s boring.” Another punch to the mouth made her whine.

The one standing at the door looked at her. The stare actually made her uncomfortable and squirmed in her seat before she remembered she was tied to a chair. “Many of my men will not come home tonight due to you and your friends.”

Mei raised a brow. “I hope you don’t expect me to say sorry?”

Another blow landed on her cheek. “No, just suffer. But first.” He looked over at Neji and suddenly he was struck in the chest. “You’re friends. Where are they?”

Neji wheezed, but said nothing. He kept his thoughts to himself even as his babysitter continued to beat him senseless. This continued for a few minutes, until finally the one by the door stopped the assault.

“Again I ask. Where are you comrades?” Neji only spit the blood out of his mouth in response. “Fine. Until, he speaks.” He snapped his fingers at Mei and not a second later did an open palm cross her face.

The man left the room, intent on leaving the man to beat Mei for a while. Neji opened his mouth to say something but Mei gave him a hard glare, before her head snapped to the side from the fist bruising her cheek bone. He did his best to keep his mouth closed, and simply shut his eyes to avoid seeing her.

Yet a loud thud made them snap open, to find Mei had been knocked over onto the floor. The man started to kick her in her stomach, her cries of pain had become too much to ignore. The man kicked her onto her back and stomped on her chest, and it seemed like he enjoyed the gurgling sounds Mei made, as she choked on blood.

“I can’t see them!” Neji shouted, halting the abuse. “I can’t see them.”

The man eased off her chest and nodded to Neji’s abuser to go outside and a moment later the other man rejoined them. He looked over at the struggling girl and smirked before looking at Neji. “Well?”

“I can’t see through walls. I couldn’t tell you where they are unless I can see outside. Therefore.” Neji explained.

“You think I’ll just let you walk out there? You could give them a signal to attack.” The man scoffed.

“It’s a risk you’ll have to take if you want to expect their ambush.” Neji tried.

For several minutes, the room was silent, except for the pained wheezing from Mei. Finally the man motioned for Mei to be straightened up and for them both to be untied. “You get three minutes to find them, or she dies.”

They were both pulled from their chairs, Mei with a knife pressed to her throat and Neji’s hands bound. Mei gave him a look, appearing irritated that he was about to give up the team to save her, but Neji only looked at her freed hands. Then she understood.

The men began leading them through a hallway, no doubt towards an exit. The place seemed to be empty except for themselves, thankfully. As they neared a door, Mei made her move.

Mei drew a sign discreetly before she spoke up. “You know, human blood is nearly ninety-two percent water… just a fun fact before I pass out here.” With that she pressed her hands onto the man behind her and whispered her attack. “Water style; possession.”

Mei collapsed to the floor, appearing to have fainted, when really she was kneeling over herself. In the body of the man who was guiding her. She pretended to check her pulse, and looked up to the men ahead of her and shook her head. The leader rolled his eyes, motioned for her to leave the body and continue on.

“Now, you get three minutes or you die.” The man warned Neji who simply glared, yet didn’t try anything.

Not that he would’ve had to, Mei stabbed the man holding Neji and kicked the leader in the face. “Wow, is this what it feels like to be tall?” She gasped, jokingly.

She narrowly avoided a fist to her face by the man that previously held Neji captive. She grabbed his arm and swung him into his leader and yanked Neji away and cut his binds off quickly. He dodged a kunai aimed for his neck and threw two of his own back landing his into the eye of the one she stabbed and into the throat of the leader.

“Being tall isn’t fun anymore.” Mei breathed looking at Neji.

Neji only rolled his eyes and watched as she stabbed her vessel in the chest. She fell to the ground and moments later she gasped and jerked up in her own body again. “Hey, relax.” Neji was quick to grab her.

“I forgot how I felt.” She groaned, all the pain rushing through her at once.

“Come on, let’s get out of here.” Neji sighed.

“Sorry about what I said earlier.” She said as Neji helped her up.

“Oh you mean, telling me you have liked me since we met?” He teased gently.

“Yes, let’s not repeat it. I only said it because I thought we were going to die.” She groaned.

“So you never planned to tell me? Even after the kiss?” He looked down at her and they stepped through the exit. “Were you gonna let me be mad at you forever?”

“Yep. Well, I didn’t think about the forever part, but yeah.” She chuckled, before wincing in pain.

“You never think about things, do you?” He repeated, pulling her up further over his shoulder as she became limper. “What if I shared feelings for you as well? And never told you, because I wasn’t aware of how you felt?” He asked.

“If you never told me, I wouldn’t have guessed.” She mumbled, sleepily. “But, I think you’d tell someone if you liked them. You’re blunt like that mister straight edge.”

“How mistaken you are, Mei…”

In the middle of the training ground, Lee and Neji were sparring and of course Lee wasn’t doing too amazing. Naruto sat on the ground being his loud self trying to cheer Lee on while Kiba and TenTen were doing the opposite. Shikamaru was grumbling about them all being too loud.

Neji managed to knock Lee down for the third time and sighed. “Lee, you’re not beating me. Let’s call it a day.”

“No way! I’ll win!” Lee argued standing back up.

Suddenly a voice no one had heard for the better part of two weeks echoed through the air. “Try kissing him! It worked for me.”

They all turned to find Sakura and Mei standing, grinning. Fight completely forgotten, Neji walked over to her with determination. He stopped in front of her and just stared at her, as if she wasn’t real. But there she was, real as the grass they stood on.

“You just gonna stand there and stare or say someth-!” He cut her off pressing his lips to hers.

“You owe me a bowl of ramen.” He breathed pulling away slightly.

[drifting-mindspace]

Things we deserved to get from the Naruto manga and anime that we never got -

• JONIN NARUTO -

We followed him around as the lovable Genin knucklehead. Now it goes without saying that him being a Jonin is just a rank and honestly doesnt mean much. Rescuing Gaara, going after Kakuzo, Mount Miyaboku were all A & S-rank missions.

But I would liked to have seen him doing missions post war in a slightly more mature yet typically knuckleheaded manner instead of the passing phrase he made tonShikamaru about being too busy doing missions for the next 6 months.

We grew up with Naruto and now that he's older and stronger we dont get to see him in action.

• A Happily Married Kakashi & Shizune- 

Hatake Kakashi has led a deeply traumatic life. His mother died when he was very young, his father committed suicide when he was 6 causing him to distance himself from everyone around him. The first person he opened up to and formed a bond with died moments later protecting him, the girl he deeply cared for and probably harbored feelings for which he was too afraid to confront died at his hands as he desperately tried to protect her, a year later his sensei died protecting the village. When he became a sensei to Team 7 he felt he was on a path to finding inner peace by ensuring these children avoid his traumas but his prized pupil went rogue shattering that hope. After all this I’d hoped he would’ve finally found a happy ending.

Why Shizune? Well I considered him and Kurenai getting together and him helping raise Mirai but Shizune has always felt like the only Kunoichi in Konoha who has her shit together. She is perfectly at peace with where she is in life. She is incredibly mature and level headed as she helps run the village with Tsunade. Someone who is at peace with herself and her aspirations is the perfect anchor for a man with a whirpool of trauma brewing in him.

Alas it seems like the showrunners have no intention of a romantic arc for Kakashi and the Hatake name will die with Kakashi.

• The Uzumaki Clan

Within a span of 3 months Naruto meets 3 Uzumaki clan members. Nagato, Karin and his own mother. While speaking with Kushina he finds out about the dark fate of the Uzumaki clan. How they were blessed with unimaginably high chakra reserves and were gifted in Sealing Jutsus, longevity and how it led to them being targeted by those who feared them leading to their village being wiped out and scattered across the shinobi world.

Instead of turning the Naruto saga into the Uchiha Chronicles Id have preferred a deep dive into the Uzumaki clan. Maybe even have a Sasuke-like venegeful figure who wants Konoha to suffer because they failed to provide aid to the village they called their strong allies in their greatest hour of need.

Like Sasuke this villain would’ve witnessed his fellow clansmen cut down, unlike Sasuke however he wouldn’t have had the likes of Naruto, Itachi or Kakashi to anchor him in the light leaving room for redemption.

This could have been the one villain that was so far gone in his pain and hatred that no amount of 'talk no jutsu' could have changed his mind and would've pushed Naruto to the very brink until he finally had to choose between killing his clansman or protecting his village.

Naruto would make the ultimate sacrifice for Konoha and this would all the more set his resolve to pulling Sasuke back from the darkness or dying with him.

An Uzumaki villain gifted in Fuijutsu and the use of the Uzumaki Kekkei Genkai, the Adamantine Chains along with massive chakra reserves would be the perfect power scaled villain for Post Pain Arc Naruto.

Instead we got Uchiha chronicles where everyone did whatever the fuck they thought of doing and chakra limits were all but history. This one really disappointed me. Which brings me to my next disappointment.

• Naruto Killing a Villain

Now I know it seems like an odd hang up. Naruto? Kill? But he is so fixated on redemption. That is exactly why I wanted this to happen. The series has gone out of its way to make sure Naruto hasn’t killed a character. The worst of it was against Kakuzu. The kind of attack unleashed upon Kakuzu SHOULD by all means have killed him. Yet somehow he was left in a ‘dying state’ and Kakashi was the one who did the deed. 

Naruto being forced to kill a villain as a last resort and making a choice between saving someone dear to him or tainting his hands with blood was the ultimate moral conundrum for a shinobi whose biggest goal was rescuing his best friend from the dark. It would take him back to Itachi’s words where he asked Naruto what he would if Sasuke decided to destroy the village.

Instead we saw Rasen Shuriken and Rasengan getting scaled down to a point where they always injure and opponent but not kill him. For an S-rank jutsu, Rasen Shuriken happens to be quite lenient.

• Neji beoming the head of the Hyuuga Clan

This pisses me off the most. Neji was supposed to be to the Hyuuga was Naruto was to Konoha. I always expected Neji to overcome all the obstacles and get recognized by Hiashin who would then redeem himself and disband the branch system once and for all. Hiashin as a character was never redeemed. Here was a man who let his brother get executed to avoid punishment (albeit he was against it but it did happen), constantly abused his kind daughter and belittled her for being too soft and put her down to a point her personality was underdeveloped and she had deep seethed confidence issues.

Disbanding the branch system and making Neji the leader would redeem him in the eyes of the readers/ viewers and would clean up the Hyuuga clan.

Instead Neji was scrapped aside to give Naruto and Hinata a bonding moment. They had a bonding moment, it was when she almost died saving his life. Neji didn’t have to die for them to get together ffs. What a wasted potential.

• NaruSaku

Now I’m not a fanatic shipper. In fact when I read and watched the original series I absolutely HATED Sakura. My hatred for her reached it’s peak during the Zabuza arc when Naruto ran at the S-rank villain, got kicked away and got up to show he went in for his forehead protector. “What do you think you’re doing Naruto? Even Sasuke-kun wasn’t a match for him.” I just wanted Naruto to turn around and tell her to stfu in that moment. As the series approached the time skip I was well and truly content with NaruHina.

But Shippuden changed things. The hints towards Sakura’s changed feelings were sprinkled all over the series. One moment that stands out for me was the Clone Training arc where Sai tests her by abusing Naruto and she goes on a rage rant about how great he is. Let’s not forget that in her darkest hour, as she saw a ruined and destroyed village the only person she thought of and cried out to was Naruto. Not because she felt he could save the village (she was as shocked as Shikamaru as she found out he was facing pain alone) but because when things when bad for her the only person who she felt comfort around was indeed Naruto and that is indisputable.

She goes as far as ruining her friendship with Naruto, a bond she truly cherished as it was all she had left after Sasuke abandoned the village, and confessed her feelings to manipulate him. Yes manipulative, scheming and downright a bitch of a thing to do. But it was all she could think of to make Naruto stop chasing after Sasuke. She, more than anyone wanted to see Naruto become a Hokage and realize his dreams and dying while rescuing Sasuke was a risk she couldn’t take and she decided she’d have him hate her than die. Wrong yes. But oddly noble.

This combined with all the blatant attempts to establish her being like Kushina and Kushina saying she wants Naruto to find someone like her changed my mind from NaruHina. I still adore Hinata. She is a wonderful character. But organic plot progression is far more important to me than my ships being canon.

A Naruto-Sakura family would’ve been incredibly entertaining and the dynamics would be perfect. We’d see a Minato-Kushina couple on screen for the next series. Which brings me to my next disappointment.

•HinaShino

I don’t know if that’s the official name for the pairing but I always felt these 2 would make a great couple.They are both people of a few words and are both incredibly intuitive and understanding individuals. Shino would accept Hinata for who she was and vice versa. Being with someone who was happy with the person they were would go miles in helping them come out of their shells.

Altho this isn’t a massive disappointment for me. I’m happy that Hinata ended up with Naruto. But like I said organic plot progression matters to me and if Naruto ended up with Sakura I’d prefer Hinata to end up with Shino.

•Hiraishin No Jutsu

Sadly as the series progressed Naruto had become so OP that not letting him master his father’s improved version of Tobirama’s jutsu was a great decision. It would’ve just made him senselessly OP. 

However instead of giving him all those God Tier power ups which he just gains in single training sessions I’d have preferred him working hard to master the Hirashin. Instead of sending him off to an island and treating him like a fucking idiot and asking him to survey animals I’d have preferred if Tsunade gave him an impossible task.

“You can’t fight in the battle. But I will only allow it if you can master your father’s jutsu.”

It was a period of 6 months between Danzo’s death and the start of the shinobi war. Ample time to show him training hard to learn a jutsu that for once required him to study. Hiraishin deals not just in physical acts of speed but also mastering seals.  Seeing his friends go off to fight in the war as he was left behind would have only added to his frustration and motivated him more.

Showing Naruto training hard like they showed him training for Rasen Shuriken would’ve only made us cheer all the more harder when he’d make a badass entry on the battle field as Tobi came close to killing Kakashi and a three pronged Kunai swished between the two, an orange flash appeared and Naruto kicked Tobi away.

Sadly this was swapped for Pokemon evolutions where arc after arc Naruto levels up just like that. The show’s entire premise was based on hard work and guts.

Sasuke was the genius who gained his power through natural ability. Sure he trained hard but his strength came to him with ease. Naruto had to slog. He manged to make the Rasengan after nearly 15 episodes of training and even then he had to get stabbed to be able to use it. It wasn’t until another 10 episodes that he properly used it. His training for the Rasenshuriken took an entire season to yield results and even then he didn’t learn to throw it until he trained for another 3 seasons till the Pain arc.

Post pain all this is tossed aside. He sits at the waterfall twice and beats the darkness. He sits in the room once and tames Kurama. Later Kakashi and Guy are in trouble, he has an inner dialogue with Kurama and suddenly he mastered the two man team with no prior training. Rikkodu Sennin touches him once and suddenly he’s learnt how to grow eyes, stop death and fly just like that.

The series stopped being the Naruto series we grew up with post Danzo and it saddens me.

• Naruto Sensei - 

And finally my last and greatest disappointment of all. Not seeing Naruto as a sensei. We’ve seen glimpses of his nurturing side in his interactions with Konohamaru but I’d have loved to have seen 40-50 episodes of him leading his own squad of genins. A perfect combination of Kakashi and Guy as he’d wow them with his brilliance and equally embarrass them in day to day interactions with his goofy tomfoolery. His genins would be in awe of him. Naruto Sensei - the hero of the war. 

His students could have an arrogant son/daughter of a feudal lord who insisted he be trained by the war hero, Naruto and Kakashi had to cave in for diplomatic reasons. Naruto refuses to take anyone who doesn’t work hard to get where they are but after the bell test sees potential in the child. A child with no ninja background. His parents were farmers outside of Konoha who were very poor. His sole aim is to be a ninja so strong that he’s always assigned big missions that will help him ease his family’s financial burdens. A genin from the Inuzuka clan (or any other clan, maybe even Hanabi if the show wanted to push more Naruto-Hinata interactions) who thinks he’s better than the other 2 because of his family background but is taught humility by Naruto.

Sadly another development in Naruto’s life we were denied.

Well that’s my rant essay. I know a lot of people won’t agree with what I had to say but I wanted to get it off my best anyway. Why? 

Because I wanted to dattebayo!

[nanawritesstuff]

of war and peace | December 27th, MadaSakuWeekend

it’s here, y’all. MadaSakuWeekend, Day 1. Thank you, Captain @madasakuweek​, for organising and motivating the madasaku stans!!!! 

Prompt: soulmate au

Fandom: Naruto

Pairing: Haruno Sakura/ Uchiha Madara

Rating: Teen and up audiences

Word Count: 4051

Summary: For Sakura, soulmates have officially lost their charm and she’s never felt more disillusioned. But when the only chance to look deeper comes to her, she still takes it. | sequel to of love and war 

Warnings/Tags: angst, ooc sasuke cuz I like soft friend Sasuke, ooc madara cuz I need some fluff

a/n: I really wasn’t sure if I should write this, but this is the only way I wanted to write it lol

Sakura has always known what dead soulmarks mean. 

She thought she had accepted it-the bittersweet feeling of being surrounded by people meant for each other, knowing there was no such person for her, not anymore. She's been ready for the weddings, the children, and the anniversaries since she was twelve. She's crafted herself an armour of acceptance and resolution. 

She hadn't been ready for this. 

The first glimpse of the infamous Uchiha had shaken her to the core. Despite the distance between them, she knows that he had sensed her presence. Sasuke's hand had been firm in hers as she trembled, as her mind and body refused to cooperate. And then that wild hair vanished from sight, leaving behind an odd longing in her, which she has been trying to fight down ever since. They've retreated back to camp to for a brief respite, and she takes this time to come to terms with the current situation.

She hadn’t been ready for the part of her she’d thought long buried to awaken and unfurl in the deepest parts of her, for it to sense its other half and prod at her very being as if to say: hey, look, there they are!

Despite knowing there was no happy ending written for her, she had indulged in the occasional daydream of somehow meeting her soulmate. They usually involved tears and soft kisses, apologies and tight hugs. When she heard people were being resurrected, her mind had spun out of control for a moment. The hope had been nearly overwhelming, and the subsequent disappointment had crushed it. 

What she feels now is pure despair. There are no teary first meetings in the works for her, because the man fate has deemed fit for her is the worst enemy they have ever faced. And judging by the reports coming in from the fourth division, he is also an overpowered killer. The desperation and desolation merge as they rush through her, forming a leash around her heart. What does it say about her, if that is who is marked for her? Not every marked pair ends up together, but that’s still rare.

How is it that someone she has never even met has managed to break her heart? Or is it the absolute disillusionment that has her struggling to breathe?

Sasuke's arms are steady and warm around her as they stand in the empty tent. His brother stands guard outside, talking to his partner in low tones. The two make an odd pair, but there is a certain confidence in the way they move around each other that speaks of faith, and trust. Her eyes squeeze shut as the tears spill over and her fingers dig into Sasuke's skin as she buries her head in his shoulder. 

"I've got you. Okay? We don't have much time, but...I'm here with you. You're not alone," he murmurs, hugging her closer when she starts shaking. "I'm here." Sakura sobs harder at the warm words, cursing herself for crying over this, over him. She should be out there, shrugging it off, keeping her head held high. Instead, she's hiding away, crying like a child. 

"W-why him?" she blubbers, taking in shaky breaths as Sasuke wipes her cheeks dry. “What the hell did I ever do to deserve that?

"Well, it's definitely unfortunate. But...you could've done worse. You could've gotten Danzo." 

The complete disgust on her face makes him grin. 

"He's not much better." 

"Hey, come on now. I know he's our enemy, but your soulmate is one of the most feared shinobi in all the nations," Sasuke tells her, handing her a cup of water. "Right up there with the Shodaime." 

"Sasuke."

"I'm just saying...it could've been Danzo."

She can't help but laugh at that, pulling him into another hug. "Yes. And now I have to watch my soulmate die without ever getting a chance to speak to him." 

He shrugs, watching her as she nearly dunks her head in a bucket of water. "I mean, you'll get a chance to meet him. Even a monster wouldn't kill his own soulmate." 

Sakura isn't so sure of that, but she knows it doesn't matter either way. She won't get a chance to find out.

She gets her chance. 

Naruto turns to her when Madara leaves, declaring his intent to wait for the Shodaime. She knows she doesn't imagine the way his eyes flick in her direction before he turns away. She tells herself it was Naruto he was assessing, but her heart doesn't stop pounding. He's terrifying. He kills as naturally as he breathes, as if he was born to fight, to defeat. And yet, she had heard him call out to Hashirama. She had seen him nearly crash into the ground in his haste to get to the man, his eyes lit up with excitement at the mere prospect of getting to fight his old friend. 

She had nearly smiled at the way his face fell when Hashirama rebuffed him. 

It doesn't matter–she can berate herself all she wants, but she couldn't stop her eyes from finding him, from greedily taking in every move he makes. It's dangerous to be this distracted, and it takes her every ounce of the self-control she possesses to stay focused on healing Naruto, who is still trying to check on her.

The sound of heavy footsteps grows closer, and she looks up to see Hashirama smiling at her. There is chatter all around her as they all watch the four Hokage in action, getting ready to jump into the fray themselves, and one of the Shodaime's clones has come to her instead.

"I'm going to him. I know it's important to conserve chakra but...I'd say this is important too, in a way," he says softly, the way he looks pointedly at her neck leaving little doubt as to what he means. Of all the people in the world, he's probably the one person who is as familiar with the symbol as she is. She turns to look at Naruto and Sasuke, who look back at her with no trace of judgment in their eyes. She squares her shoulders and walks to them, her hands coming up to form a symbol she's rarely ever had to use, unlike her blond teammate. 

As Team 7 steps up to join the battle, her clone leaves with Hashirama's.

She's afraid–of being rejected, even though she tells herself she's not looking for acceptance. Of him being worse than she believes him to be, even though it can't, in all honestly, get much worse than mass-murdering psychopath aiming for world domination. She feels no small amount of guilt for going to meet the man who has taken so much from this world, from her friends. 

They slow to a stop just before they reach the spot, and Sakura looks at him questioningly when he just smiles sheepishly. His eyes indicate his unnatural state, but they’re still gentle in the way they settle on her.

"It's Sakura, right?" 

"Um, yes."

"Hm. You know, ever since I first saw it, I've been curious–just what kind of a person would give that brute such a pretty mark?" he muses, and she flushes under the weight of his gaze. "But it's subtle in its beauty. The one he's given you...well, it certainly doesn't leave any doubt, does it?" 

Sakura looks up at the rock where her supposed fated one waits. "Not anymore. This mark, it's given me a lot of grief. But it's never felt like a burden...until now." She turns back to him, her smile wobbly. "No matter who it belonged to, it was my soulmark. There was someone for me, even if they were out of reach."

"To find out that you're Madara's soulmate...he's definitely a handful," Hashirama guffaws as he pats her shoulder sympathetically. A part of her can't believe she's just standing around, chatting with the Shodaime Hokage as the war rages on around them, even if they're clones. But, despite her initial fears, he isn't disgusted. There's no sign of pity in his eyes. He seems to sense her uncertainty as she tries to find the right words. 

'Handful' seems to be the understatement of the world. The man is trying to cast a genjutsu over the entire world. 

"He's...not someone I expected. Ever." 

Hashirama nods, seeming to understand what she doesn't say. "I'll get to the point, then. It may be hard to believe, and I'm certain everyone else would disagree if they heard this...but then no one ever really knew Madara like I did, like I do." A finger under her chin tilts her head up when she can't meet his eyes. "He's an idiot. A severely misguided one. He has a terrible temper and his way of resolving things is to beat them." 

'Is he trying to tell me that I dodged a bullet?' Sakura thinks, wondering if the Shodaime thinks she's an idiot. 

"But Sakura...despite his utter idiocy and thick-head...he has good in his heart. I know this, and I believe this even now. He is not an evil man." She blinks at the unexpected words.

"Then why is he doing this? Trying to create some perfect world? What happened?" she asks quietly. Hashirama sighs, running a hand through his hair as he tries to put it in words. The sky has settled into a shadowy disposition, a precursor of the darker things to come and–she can’t tell if it’s afternoon or evening.

"The Uchiha, they...they love deeply, to a fault. To the point where it can destroy them. This trait was always especially apparent in Madara. He loved his family so much, that losing them broke him apart piece by piece until there was nothing left but anguish,” Hashirama’s eyes lose focus as his mind travels to a time when Konoha was just a dream. “Losing his brother was the final straw, although I didn't know it at the time. Izuna took a big piece of Madara with him, when he was killed by my own brother."

"But...you still founded the village after that?" 

"I was able to convince him. And I've always believed that even then, Madara had hope." 

"For Konoha?"

"Yes. And for finding you," Hashirama says, his soft smile edging with sorrow. His words take root in her heart, robbing her of breath and words. "He never admitted it, but I knew he wanted to meet you. Sakura-san, when we were kids, he used to go on and on about you. He was so sure you would be a kunoichi–beautiful, powerful yet kind were his exact words if I remember correctly.” His laugh is soft as he shares this piece of his past, of cherished memories. “A woman who could send shinobi flying with one punch. I'm sure he's very pleased to know he was right." 

She knows he's teasing, but she can't help the warmth that extends to her ears. “Oh...”

“Uchiha Madara’s soulmate, apprenticed to a Senju, my own granddaughter. I suppose the fates do have a peculiar sense of humour,” he mutters, appearing a bit smug.

Sakura, however, is stuck on his previous words.

"He really said all that?" The almighty Uchiha, fantasizing about his soulmate?

"He did. In his defence, we were children. His vocabulary was rather limited at the time. But, as I was saying...well, he never did find you. The situation became more hopeless, and...then it ended. Or so I believed." 

“And he betrayed you.”

“And he believed he was meant to walk a different path, yes.”

"Why are you telling me this?" she asks as they begin to walk towards their goal.  

"Because I know he won't. And as his best friend, I believe it to be my duty to tell you your soulmate isn't the monster everyone believes him to be." Hashirama's sincerity shines through in every word. "And, because the gods are cruel. If Madara had met you back then...I truly believe things would have been different." 

'But we never had a chance.' Her eyes well up once again, but Hashirama's look suspiciously shiny as well. It's in this moment that it really sinks in–the man people believe was Uchiha Madara's greatest enemy still calls himself his best friend. Perhaps he's too optimistic, to actually believe there's still some good left in the other man, but he would know better than most, wouldn't he? Better than everyone else.

It may be naive of her but Sakura chooses to believe him–because she wants to believe it. She wants to believe there's more to Madara than the homicidal demon he's known to be, even if she might not get the chance to see it for herself.

And now, as he waits for Hashirama, she finds him.

She doesn't see her mark on what little skin she can see, but that only makes sense. Most Shinobi don’t leave their mark visible for everyone to see, and this one has more reason than most to hide his. Her own mark seems to pulse in sync with the quickening beat of her heart. Her breath catches in her throat as he moves, as he slowly turns to face them, her muscles locking up when he tilts his head, the spiral pattern of his eyes dizzying in his otherworldly beauty.

She doesn't move as he refuses to fight Hashirama's clone, and then proceeds to destroy it. She waits for him to do the same to her, but he only goes back to his seat with casual indifference. Ino and Shikamaru's faces spring up in her head–the apprehension is cast aside in favour of anger.

And then, she pounces. 

He blocks every attack, never countering, only parrying and twisting gracefully. His expression doesn't shift in the slightest, but she can see the amused glint in his eyes and it sends anger burning like fire through her veins. As he turns slightly to step back, her fingers slide into his coarse hair, clenching tightly and yanking him to her. The surprised look on his face is almost comical, and she only gets a glimpse before she drives her fist into his cheek. The way he crashes through the rocks has vindictive satisfaction thrumming in her, even though she knows it was a lucky shot.

"That was dirty," he grumbles. His voice is deeper than she expected, and there is none of the rage she was expecting. Instead, as he sets his gunbai down,  he looks like he’s trying to fight a smirk. 

"That was for my friends," she replies firmly. 'Nothing in the world will ever make up for what you've done.'

"Friends, hmm?" He tilts his head curiously, brushing dirt off his armour. "The nine-tails is one of them, is he not?" 

The look she gives him is dangerous, and her only response. The little smirk that curls along his mouth is knowing. He has the striking features common in the Uchiha, but where Sasuke and Itachi are lean, lithe and delicate–Madara is broader, sturdy, and rugged, but still limber which is apparent in the way he moves.

"So you haven't come to join me, little soulmate?"

"And betray my people? Of course not," she says dismissively. 

“Your people? Shouldn’t your soulmate be included in that list?”

“Not if he’s trying to ruin the lives of every other person on it,” she snaps, her irritation rising when he only looks amused. Where is the temper the Shodaime mentioned? 

"Then why have you come?" 

His question gives her pause, makes her nervous. "Because of the Shodaime..."

"Did the meddling fool force you?" 

"No! I just...I was curious,” she admits, shrugging lightly despite the nervous feeling fluttering in her stomach. 

"Hm."

She watches him for another moment. He sits with his legs crossed, his chin resting in the palm of his hand. He looks as if he doesn't have a care in the world, but his eyes are intense in their focus, in the way they linger on her mark. His mark. She wonders what he thinks of her, with her soft hair and bright eyes. With the thick lines sweeping down her face to her body. 

In all her daydreams, she had never thought she’d look this roughed up when meeting her soulmate. There are no sundresses and bright nail polish; her skin is cleaner than her real body’s by virtue of being a clone and her flak jacket is snug around her torso. The image of a faceless man with a gentle smile has been torn to shreds, replaced by this man who she thinks is–in the deepest parts of her mind–of a wilder sort of beauty than she could’ve ever imagined. 

She thinks he’s beautiful, and she hates herself for it. 

"I came because even though you're clearly insane, this is the only chance I had to meet you," she says honestly. "So I took it."

"Insane?" he repeats, his eye twitching. "Bold, aren't you?" 

"I'd have to be, with this blasted mark on my neck!" 

"Listen here, girl, that's the Sharingan you're insulting! My Sharingan," he says, and she tries to ignore the possessiveness colouring his tone. 

"Well, your Sharingan has been an endless source of annoyance my entire life!"  

"And your mark..." he begins heatedly, only to trail off. Suddenly, she feels awkward. What is she doing, arguing with this man? 

"And my mark?" She watches him cautiously, watching for a hint, a sign that would indicate the location of her mark. She’s been curious about it all her life and Hashirama hadn’t given her any clues beyond ‘pretty.’

He doesn't respond, his head turning towards the direction of the battle. Her heart restarts it's panicked thumping as he moves to stand, his gaze focused on some distant point. He glances at her once before turning away to leave. 

"W-wait!" 

Madara stills, looking over his shoulder at her, and she ignores the voice in her head that calls her a sentimental fool. 

"M-my name...it’s Sakura," she stammers, her mouth dry, feeling like a complete idiot. At the same time, something in her is finally quenched. She doesn’t regret it. And then–the all too familiar scent of forests and smoke fills her senses, and her heart attempts to leap out of her mouth when those hypnotic eyes meet her own and he's too close too close. He leans over her, his expression unreadable, and she feels something warm on her neck before she discovers that it's his fingers. His skin is warm, and she's startled further when she realizes his glove is off. 

Madara strokes the bright mark on her skin, his touch gentler than she would’ve expected from a man like him, his gaze unwavering. "Sakura, huh?" She doesn't understand why her knees shake at the way he says her name, as if he's savouring sweet wine. They shake harder when his mouth curves up, even though it's tiny. It softens his harsh features and stills the pounding of her heart. "Of course it is. I'm...Madara." 

He’s close enough for her to feel the heat radiating off of his body; she could reach out and touch him, and she might be losing her mind because she thinks he would let her. She wants to explore, dig deep and see what parts of him he’s hiding, and how they would fit with hers.

“...It’s nice to finally meet you, I guess,” she whispers. She’s embarrassed to find that her eyes have grown wet again but before she can swipe at them his hand is there, brushing a tear off her lashline. 

“I should be the one saying that.” But he doesn’t sound annoyed. The air is warm and still between them as they both search the other's face. They both know where the other stands. There’s nothing more to say. She feels something tug at her as he steps back, slipping his glove back on. There's something on his wrist, but it's covered by the cloth before she can get a clearer look.

"Well, Sakura. I'll see you on the battlefield." 

She still doesn't quite know how, but things got worse.  

The battlefield is quiet around them, as everyone slumbers in their cocoons. In this moment though, her mind strays from her worry for her people. Her eyes, instead, remain glued to the form on the ground, the form Hashirama is now walking towards. Her mind flashes through the events that lead to this. Gai-sensei. Obito. Naruto and Sasuke, who have now disappeared along with Kakashi-sensei and the creature, the woman who had put an end to Uchiha Madara. The thought doesn't bring the triumph it should. Instead, they now have something much worse on their hands.

She feels numb, because of the unknown evil they now have to face. Because she had to watch her soulmate nearly explode and be turned inside out in a most horrific manner, and she knows it's going to give her nightmares for the rest of her life.

And, because...this is it. This is it for him, for the little bit of them.

Naruto realized it before she did, and pushed her to safety before they vanished. He made the decision for her because he knew she would have followed them. And he wanted her to have this. 

As she walks towards him, his form grows blurrier. The confusion lasts for but a moment before she realizes her body has reacted before her mind could, in the form of the tears that flow freely down her cheeks. He’s empty, drained of life and chakra, the bleached look gone and his hair back to its inky ferocity.

His words, spoken in low tones, reach her ears. "War buddies...huh? Well, I guess that's fine...by me..." he trails off as Hashirama turns to look up at her. "Ah, that's...right. One of my dreams...did come true." 

She sinks to her knees beside him, reaching for his hand. It's still warm, and she squeezes it tightly. He looks frail, all the rage in him finally hushed. He doesn't look at her, but she realizes quickly that he can't.

"I always told you, didn't I?" Hashirama teases, although his smile is more wistful than amused. "In this, at least–you were right."

"I...know..." His fingers twitch around hers as his mouth perks up slightly. "Sakura."

"Hmm?" She's unsure if she can manage to speak through quiver in her throat, through the emotions bubbling up and choking her. "I-I'm here." 

"My...wrist..."

She catches on quickly, reaching for the hand still shielded by a glove with trembling fingers. As she slips it off, her eyes stay trained on his wrist. On her mark. And her heart aches at the sight of it, at the unfairness of it all.

"Oh."

"Beautiful...isn't it?" he asks, almost serenely. She laughs quietly, running her fingers over the cherry blossoms inked on to his skin by fate itself. "Forgive me. I'll...be going...ahead first." 

"Again," she murmurs, sighing at the position they've found themselves in after all this time.

He seems to find it amusing, his mouth curling up further still despite his unfocused gaze. "Ah. I guess...this just wasn't...our time...huh?"

"Not this life," she agrees, leaning in to press her mouth to his forehead. He’s nearly gone, so she knows he probably doesn’t feel the tears that drip down her chin and onto his ashen skin. "Maybe in another, if we're lucky." 

"I'll...look...for you, then..." he agrees, his smile fading slightly as his hand goes in limp in her grip. She takes a moment to close her eyes, to let herself feel. The loss. The bitterness. The unravelling of that tense, bitter knot in her chest that had wound itself tight throughout the years. In the end, she got to be by his side, in a small way.

Hashirama's hand is steady on her back as she takes in deep breaths. There will be time to grieve–later. For now, she has teammates to find and people to save. Despite everything the world has thrown at them, they've survived. And she's going to keep it that way.

[chemicalmagecraft]

Foresight is 20/20 Chapter 15

Usagi

"I'm tellin' ya, boss, it was some kinda monster," the now one-armed bandit explained to his leader as another bandit bandaged his bleeding stump. "It did... something to Koji, and he turned into some sorta zombie."

"And did either of those monsters rip off your arm?" the red-haired woman asked impassively. Ah yes, she would do nicely. Her body was compatible enough with my power that I wouldn't have to worry about replacing it for a while and she appeared to be an awful human being, so I wouldn't have any guilt from ending her life. Despite her looks she was probably not an Uzumaki, so I had no reason to worry about that, either. I was currently in the process of extending a light telepathic touch into all the minds present, sorting through their memories to find a way to possess her, as well as stealing what procedural memories of theirs that I found useful.

He shook his head, a fearful look in his eye. Perhaps I was a bit too harsh on him... "No, Koji bit me. I ran, and..." He shuddered. "My arm... it went numb, and the same weird markings that appeared where the... thing... touched Koji started to appear on my arm. I... I didn't risk it."

"Wise," the bandit leader said. He smiled weakly at her.

An then buried one of her knives in his gut. "Don't take any risks," she murmured into his ear as he breathed his last. That poor, sweet fool. Well, not sweet. If there was any word that could describe her less, I had yet to find it from my delving into her or her subordinates' minds. My point, though, is that a zombie is much harder to kill than a normal man. The red markings sprouted from his good arm, and with inhuman speed the freshly-made monster sank its new claws into the man who was bandaging it just moments ago. The woman snarled as the markings spread across both zombies. She managed to decapitate the original, but my second zombie evaded her blade and shambled toward another bandit, which it bit.

Long story short, I let a few of the bandits survive but my small-scale zombie apocalypse led to the deaths of most of the scofflaws.

The leader of what was now considerably fewer bandits slammed her fist on the wall in rage as she surveyed the corpses left behind. "Damn," she growled as they dissolved into red dust. "At least they won't be coming back..."

"You do care, boss!" one of the survivors cheered.

"I don't care one bit about you idiots and if I hadn't just lost most of my men I'd have killed you for that moronic comment," she said coldly. She meant it, too. "We need to recruit, and that means we need more money. Secure the base, we can't leave anyone on guard." If I had a mouth, I'd have smiled. I needed the practice, after all. Their hideout was an abandoned mine, secluded and buried in a mountain. Not to mention the gold stored within, even if I would want to give some back to the villages they were stealing from. And they were leaving it for me. How thoughtful.

kukukuku~

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Neji asked me.

I shrugged and licked my lips. "Not gonna get any better at fighting by going easy," I said.

"Yeah, but you pretty much need your powers to take me down if I activate Furnace." Neji's pseudo-jinchuriki power. We started calling it Furnace because with how unique it was it pretty much deserved a unique name. Technically, his red chakra reserves were abysmal. However, we found out that whenever he exerted himself he could activate it to essentially let himself generate more, though he'd only keep it for so long when not exerting himself.

End result, his power steadily grew the longer he fought. He also gained power each time he hit or was hit. It had a few limitations and placed strain on his body the more he used it, but as far as I knew he could theoretically fight a biju if he built up enough, maybe even Kaguya. That'd probably kill him at the moment, though. And from what it seemed, it was hard for him to use it for more than just brute force. Though that might just have been from how he could only keep it active for small intervals at a time before it started eating away at his health prevented him from training his control over it much...

"And how else am I supposed to change that?" I asked. I got into my stance. "Let's do this before I change my mind."

His eyes turned red, with a white slit pupil because of his Byakugan. "Your funeral..."

A few moments later...

"Owwwww," I groaned. "My... pride..."

"I didn't even get warmed up at all," Neji smugly remarked from where he was sitting on my spine, pinning me. I didn't ask him to get up because I was sucking off the last dregs of his red chakra. For whatever reason I couldn't assimilate Furnace, but I could still steal Neji's red chakra to heal myself and stuff.

"You okay, dude?" I asked.

"As I said, I barely got warmed up. My body is fine." After he activated Furnace for the first time, he'd ended up bedridden for an hour because of the strain it put on his body. When he started to test it, he pretended he was fine even though he kept using it past his limits. He ended up too sick to stand for weeks. It was actually around that time that he managed to figure out natural energy manipulation, probably because he was stuck in bed and bored out of his mind for so long. "I probably should let myself cool down for a bit, but I'm assuming you'll want to fight me without Furnace anyways."

I snorted. "Jerk. And here I was worried about you."

He got up. He had an amused smile. "Let's go another round, then."

kukukuku~

"I'm sore," I complained as we walked through the halls.

"You hit me a few times," Neji dismissed.

"You hit me more..."

"And whose fault was that?" I rolled my eyes and lightly punched him on the shoulder. He sage-flicked me. I was about to retort, but I felt a familiar signature when I opened up my senses, so...

"Is that Ino?" I asked, jerking my head in the direction of the compound's main entrance. I knew this was going to happen for a while. I'd been keeping tabs on her in a totally not creepy way because if it. I was also keeping tabs on Sakura, but that was more to see what the effects of that strange power were on her body. She accidentally ripped a door off its hinges more than once, which would've been pretty hilarious if it weren't for the angst it was giving her...

"That feels like her. I wonder why she's here." He used his Byakugan for a moment. I pulled out a compact mirror I'd made to be compatible with my scrying jutsu and looked at her as well. "Does she have a flower?" She was walking up to the door with a flower in her hand, yes.

I sighed. "I'm not good with flowers, but I'm pretty sure that's a forget-me-not. Pretty sure she's here for me, I'll go deal with her."

Neji insisted on hiding in the background while I greeted Ino, because she wasn't exactly subtle about her childish crush. I really hoped I wouldn't lose her as a friend, though... Just in case, I used my power to try to find the best path forward. I really hoped my life wouldn't become some sort of anti-dating simulator...

I opened the door. "Ino. Why are you here and holding a flower that symbolizes true love?" I'd learned some hanakotoba from her and some other sources, but to be honest I just knew it from looking ahead in the script.

She smiled and held it out to me. "I came to confess my true love to you, Kouki."

I took a deep breath, trying very, very hard not to sigh. "Ino, no offense, I love you like a friend, but we are both four years old and you have no idea what true love is."

That confused her. "But... you saved me?"

Why do romance stories have to be so romanticized?

Don't... don't answer that...

"I'm your friend. Of course I saved you. But I don't love you like that and you don't love me like that because as I just said, we're both children."

She lowered the flower. This was a little harsh, but she needed to hear it. "Oh. Yeah. I guess I look stupid to you now, huh?"

I shrugged. "To be fair, you have a level of wisdom appropriate to our age. It just so happens that being wise as a four-year-old is an outlier."

"What?"

I poked her in the forehead. "You're a kid. You're allowed to be stupid, as long as you're not being too big of a jerk."

She thought about that for a moment. "So... you're not mad at me or anything?"

"You're my friend. Of course not." I smiled. It probably wasn't the best smile, but at least Ino didn't run in terror... "Hey, if you want, I can show you a really cool jutsu."

She nodded. "Sure!" As I walked past, I gave Neji a smug grin when I saw his jaw on the floor. I'm sure he was expecting some kind of awkwardness.

To be fair, so was I.

kukukuku~

Chikage

Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed as he returned to his room after a long day of paperwork. Even with a shadow clone, it was just so slow. Seriously, I was so bored, and I was just watching over his shoulder! I can't even imagine having to do paperwork... He closed the door, locking it. "You're here, aren't you, Kouki?" Half right. Eh, I'll give it to him.

His shadow moved to be in front of him. "How perceptive of you," my voice seemed to come from the shadow. I couldn't exactly speak when my body was literally flat against the wall, but I could very much trick people's brains into thinking I could. My arm peeled off of the floor, keeping its pitch coloration. I raised my other arm, then used them to "pull" myself off of the floor, still in the form of a shadowy Hokage. I did a few stretches. "Man, staying in one shadow for hours kills my back, apparently. I don't even know how that works, considering the fact that I don't even have a form as a shadow..." I changed back to my humanoid form and licked my lips.

"I know that Kouki is responsible in some way, but what are you?" he asked me.

"Rude," I said, faux-offended. "You don't hear me asking you humans what you are. Though to be fair I already know."

He frowned. "You're like Kouki, but not quite. Who are you, then?"

"Did I really never tell you about me?" I paused and thought for a moment. "Or would it be better to ask if we never told you about me... I'm still not sure how pronouns work with our unique situation..."

"What, exactly, is the answer to my question?"

I shrugged. "I'm Kouki and Kouki is me. We're two halves of the same whole, at the moment."

"What are you..." He frowned and closed his eyes. "Red chakra?" he said when he opened them.

I nodded. "I've been purified of almost all of my humanity, the same as how Kouki's removed most of the red chakra from her- himself for the moment. He's weaker, I'm stronger, and because we're two separate entities we have independent thoughts and can be in two places at once, as you can tell. Sorta like a weird shadow clone, I guess. And we can recombine at any time." I sat down in midair. "Call me Chikage."

"I suppose that that makes sense... That sounds like a useful jutsu. Though why are you a girl?"

I examined my clawlike black nails. "Why not?"

"And I suppose that's also why you're wearing a frilly dress?"

"It's called gothic lolita, and the best thing about being made of chakra is the fact that I can more or less freely shapeshift. Now, sit down." I gestured behind him, where I'd pulled up a chair without him noticing. I also made an illusion that made both his chair and the air I was sitting on look like identical, ornate seats. "We have business to attend to."

"The Uchiha massacre, I assume?" I nodded. A table with a deck of fancy-looking cards "appeared" in between us. I really love genjutsu.

"In one year today Itachi will be forced to kill his entire clan, with the exception of his brother." I picked up the top card from the deck and flipped it over. The Tower. "And obviously we would prefer this not to happen." I reversed the position of the Tower. "But of course, there is a problem." I flipped over the next card, Judgement.

He sighed. It seemed he got my message. "The public is being turned turned against the Uchiha, which is in turn turning the Uchiha against the public. Until we stop that all we can do is delay the massacre..." I revealed the third card, The Devil, with Danzo as its subject. "Yes. Even though we haven't tipped our hands yet and he hopefully doesn't suspect us, Danzo is still fighting us."

"There are two paths that you can take to deal with him." I reversed the position of the Devil, causing the illustration's face to soften. "First, you could make him see the light, show him how much he's tearing the village apart to 'protect' it. Maybe you can do it because you used to be friends or something, but to be honest I doubt it, which leaves the second option." A black flame sparked from my finger, setting the Devil card ablaze. It disappeared without a trace. "Either way, he needs to be neutralized. I take it he's good at covering his tracks, considering the fact that he's made an attempt on your life without retaliation?"

He nodded solemnly. "Of course. And I take it he'd use it as evidence of my 'senility' if I attempted to pin him on it without enough evidence?"

"My eyes don't show it, meaning there's no possibility of us attempting it. Probably, though." I cocked my head. "If I were to, I don't know, figure out a way to take other objects with me when I shadow travel and use that to steal all kinds of incriminating evidence, would that work?"

He nodded. "That would work. I'll proceed assuming you don't, with how that was a hypothetical, though."

I sighed. "Yeah, that's about right. If we fail, though, I have one last idea." I revealed The Hanged Man, reversed, with Uchiha Shisui modeling for mister four-legs. "If we stop Danzo's attack on Shisui, then he can use Kotoamatsukami on the Uchiha. It's not ideal, but hopefully it'll work."

"Yes, that sounds good. Unless there's anything else, you may leave."

I faded into the shadows, taking my illusions with me.

kukukuku~

Usagi

"Alright everyone!" one of the bandits shouted, waving a weapon. "You know the drill by now, your money is ours! Give it up easily and we won't kill you!" The townspeople were afraid, but they'd clearly been through this before.

"Will you really?" I asked, walking into the village. "You may find some trouble with that."

"Who are you?" the leader asked me.

"You would already know," I said as I strolled across the road to her, "had you not murdered my puppet."

"Ah, so you're the monster he talked about." She sneered at me and drew her daggers. "You killed my men."

"I did nothing of the sort," I retaliated. "I mutated them, controlled them. You were the ones who killed them."

"All the same, you'll die."

"To be honest I am not entirely sure I can die." I slowly removed my gloves from my hands and placed them in the bag under my cloak.

"I'll test it for you, then."

"You may be able to destroy this body, but my essence has already soaked your hideout. I believe I should be able to resurrect myself there, as it were."

The woman smiled a sadistic smile. "I'm fine killing you over and over again until it sticks." She lunged at me, daggers flashing. I yanked back my sleeve and used my bare arm to block. I wasn't going to be needing my arm much longer, but I wanted to preserve the cloak. Her daggers sank into the stone of my arm, as I had made it softer. I wanted the knives as well. I capitalized on the bandit leader's momentary confusion to take off my mask and jam it onto her face. The last thing she saw before her life ended was a glowing red pearl on the backside of the mask.

I retrieved my new knives from my old arm, then took my cloak for my new body. Luckily, my new body wasn't too much larger than my old one, so the cloak still fit well enough. Along with the cloak, I'd palmed the other blood pearl (the extra-compressed pearl-shaped demon gems I was using for my Usagi persona) from my old body, causing it to crumble back into dirt within moments of me putting the cloak back on. I took my bag from the dirt and shook it off.

"Boss?" one of the bandits asked. "You okay?"

I slowly reached up to my mask and grasped the bottom. It cracked at the mouth such that the entire bottom was smoothly removed. I stored the bottom back in my bag, though, just in case I should come to need it. With my new mouth and the bottom of my nose uncovered, I took a deep breath, as if my first in a century. "No, I do not believe she is," I said. "For one, her mind and soul have been wiped from this body."

"What the hell even are you!?" one of the bandits asked.

"To be perfectly honest I'm not quite sure. I do know one thing, though." With an organic body, I no longer had problems with agility. And in particular, this new body was trained for rapid movement. As such, the two bandits nearest me were bisected in a flash with red-glowing knives, as if a hot knife through butter. Their bodies dissolved into the same red dust that the other bandits' corpses had. "You are dead. Now, are the rest of you willing to fight, or will you run in terror?" They ran in terror. Wise.

"Who are you?" a villager cautiously asked me a few minutes after I sheathed my knives. The villagers were understandably quite afraid of me.

"My name is Usagi." With the bandits gone, I'd switched to a small, personable smile. "If you wait, I should be able to bring you the money those bandits took from you."

The villager bowed to me. "Thank you so much."

[xredxrainx]

Paradox

Summary: Naruto and Sasuke’s fight lead them both to the future, in which things have gone very, very wrong. Things need to be made right, for both Sakura and her daughter, Sarada, as well as their own futures. Heavily inspired by Twitch & Spaz’s ‘Fast Forward’ series (pretty well a remake with added elements).

02. Parentage

Prologue

1  

fanfiction.net (chapter 2)

twitch & spaz - original authors // Fast Forward

.

trigger warning: heavy topics in this chapter – ie. Sexual assault with some description. Has been lightened, but can still trigger people. Please be careful if you are not comfortable with this topic – it is not graphic in a sense, but can still cause offense. I will place a warning in bold.

.

Sakura was annoyed, beyond peeved. Her daughter was meant to be on a mission, but no - she decides today was the greatest day to be skipping. Now, she has to explain this situation to both her and the two boys. And how was she even meant to do that? She was sure that it would come out while they were looking for what they needed to get these two back, but… not now. She glared at her daughter heavily, but the girl as focusing on Sasuke. Sarada was a smart girl, of course she would piece it together - considering she would know who Naruto was. The kid wasn’t Boruto, after all.

Sarada, in seconds, had slammed Sasuke against the wall with her strength, as Sasuke’s own kekkei genkai rose to the surface, “You! How dare you come here in this form!” the girl pushed him closer against the wall, and Sakura heard a crack.

She ducked forward to stop her daughter from killing her father, “Sarada-chan, stop.”

The young girl slumped, letting Sasuke go, without giving him a final shove, “Mama - why are they here? What is going on? Is this some sort of twisted joke?”

“Sweetheart,” she said soothingly, “Please go and talk to Boruto for the moment, I need to sort out a couple of things,” Sarada opened her mouth to object, “No. You’re not staying. But I promise I’ll tell you everything over dinner, okay? I just need a moment with Naruto and… Sasuke.”

Sarada pouted her lips before deactivating her kekkei genkai, and Sasuke allowed his own to fade. ‘Have I and Sakura…?’ It… made sense, but why wouldn’t his older self be here and supporting them both. Instead, he was out and trying to take over the world it seemed. Still, he figured that she would have been the one that would bear his child.

The girl growled before making her way out of the house, slamming the door on her way out.

Silence fell over the three.

“Whoa… is that your kid?” Naruto broke the silence, almost stupidly.

Sakura nodded, “Yep. Sarada-chan. She’s… a good kid normally. I’m surprised she came home now. Unless they got dismissed easily… worst of all days to be doing this. I… would have said something,” this was more towards Sasuke, who she was still not looking in the eye, “but I didn’t want to overload you both with information.”

“Wow! Sasuke-teme of all people has a kid, a cute one too,” Naruto said, grinning. “Congrats, Sakura!”

Sasuke nearly slapped him upside the head for the comment.

So… the sharingan did get passed on too. And the girl was strong, his body could feel that. She could have crushed him if she wanted. However, the glasses? Bad eyesight? He wondered why. The Uchiha hardly ever had bad eyesight, but he supposed that they did normally keep their couplings in the clan originally to keep the sharingan as pure as possible.

Still, his eyes flickered to Sakura who was looking at her feet. Was this why she was ignoring him? Not talking to him as much? Was it because he had seemingly abandoned her and her child? That… wasn’t his way. Nor was it the Uchiha way. Something had seriously gone wrong with his future self, that was for sure. The Uchiha took a heavy breath and took his attention away from her for the moment.

“You also have a rather cute kid, Naruto,” Sakura chided, grinning happily at the information.

“Excuse me, what!?”

Sasuke huffed.

.

.

.

Sakura rested against the cabinet behind her. “Sasuke, I need to speak to you about something.”

‘It’s better that he knows… he needs to understand what he becomes… Maybe something can be changed in him. I hope.’

.

.

.

Sasuke blinked at her, she was finally focusing on him for real. Her eyes were… hurt. A lot of hurt. Pain. It was something he was very used to. It was all he had felt when his clan had been destroyed before him, and then watching it in his head? Agony. What had harmed her this much? He supposed it was him, considering her attention was on him. But that look had faded quickly, as her attention fell onto Naruto once more.

The Uchiha nodded his head to what she had said. He needed to figure out what was going on, particularly with her. It must have been something extremely bad.

.

.

.

“You liar!” Tsunade accused, pointing a manicured finger at the current Hokage who was sitting up and reading his usual orange book.

The masked shinobi grinned beneath his mask, “Hey, I said I was in a meeting. Technically, I wasn’t lying.”

Sure, sending his clone to a meeting probably wasn’t the greatest idea, but sometimes one needs a day off. Kakashi was feeling particularly lax today, and today was a hot and sticky day. He didn’t want to be in and out of meetings all day. Kakashi was just bored.

Tsunade huffed before pinching the bridge of her nose, “Well, you really need to know this one, Kakashi.”

It had been a while since Tsunade had looked this serious, even with what was going on around them. It had been a moment of peace, nothing had come into the Country of Fire, which means Sasuke and his goons weren’t around for the moment. Kakashi was allowed to relax every now and again, but definitely do not be mistaking his laxness for lack of attention. His eyes narrowed, and ‘Kakashi the Hokage’ not ‘Kakashi the pervert’ was in full effect.

“Explain.”

The blonde crossed her arms, “Well, Uzumaki Naruto is back from the dead…” she paused, “And Uchiha Sasuke has returned.”

Kakashi already had an idea of what he was going to do to Sasuke, but Naruto? Where had Naruto been all this time? When he had left at eighteen, he was due to become the next Hokage. He had wanted to bring Sasuke back, or to put him down for good. That was the last of his goals outside of being Hokage. Kakashi still remembers the happy grin that Naruto had given him, and the confident thumbs up.

Instead, he found his body where the boys had clearly fought. That was an image he would never get out of his head.

The Hokage had believed that his students would be back, and if Sasuke had to be put down… then so be it. It was better, at that point. But Kakashi now regrets highly of letting Naruto go. He should have told him to let it go, or have gone with him. Maybe, if Kakashi had gone, what’s happening now wouldn’t have happened. The silver-haired man sighed.

warning

(She was in tatters, clothing torn off her and shivering. She was bleeding from between her legs, with other liquid flowing from her... This wasn’t good. He quickly covered her with his cloak and pulled her close, her sticky blood and sweat attaching to him. She wailed in his arms, pink knotted hair tickling his chin.

“Sensei…” she wailed, “What did I do wrong?”

“Nothing, sweetheart,” he gently murmured, “You did nothing wrong, this wasn’t your fault…”

Kakashi made a mental note that he would kill him the next time he saw him. Sakura didn’t deserve this, she was the last person who deserved this…

His ex-student was a monster, he had left her like this… Cold and alone in the dark, clearly injured from his own rough wants.)

end of warning

Her cries back then had nearly kept him up at night for a long time. It was heartbreaking. The poor girl had suffered that night. Kakashi would kill him, that was for sure. He wouldn’t get any second chances, and Sakura wouldn’t even be able to stop him at this point. He felt his own sharingan burn at the thought, the mangekyou manifesting below the mask. He was pissed.

Even worse when the girl found she was pregnant a month and a half later… and the bastard wasn’t there. Not that he would have known or cared, he had lost himself to his own power… that was obvious. Insanity was etched into his features the last time Kakashi had seen him. He had even tried to kill Sakura. The Land of Iron was such a long time ago, but it was so clear to Kakashi. He should have ended Sasuke then.

He felt a warm hand on his shoulder, “Calm down, Kakashi. Breathe. I understand, but…”

‘No, you really don’t. You didn’t see her. All you know is that they had met up at some point, not that Sakura was fucking raped.’

She had been ashamed to even try and tell Tsunade, her own teacher. She didn’t even want Kakashi to know, but he was the only person that she trusted with this. Even Naruto at the time didn’t have a clue.

Still, Kakashi took a heavy breath – albeit shaky from his violent anger. He needed to think, and see what was going on.

“You see, this isn’t the Naruto and Sasuke that you would be expecting,” Tsunade started, “They’re not from this time.”

‘What? How?’

The blonde continue, “They’re twelve years old… We thought it could have been a genjutsu, but no… it’s something else entirely. It’s actually them. They’re at Sakura’s now.”

Frowning, Kakashi tightened his fists, “You left them alone with her? What are you thinking?”

Before vanishing, Kakashi caught the look of astonishment on the former Hokage’s face. While Kakashi did respect the woman, she didn’t always think these matters through. Although, he knew that deep down, that she didn’t know what had occurred between Sakura and the missing-nin that plagues the world now. However, his own anger kept him from saying anything to her – that and Sakura’s tearful cries to not tell anyone.

.

.

.

“Naruto,” Sakura said coolly, tapping her index nervously against the porcelain table, “Can you… leave for a moment…” she noticed Naruto’s look of dismay of being left out – ‘Trust me, Naruto… this isn’t something that you’ll want to hear.’ “I need to speak to Sasuke-kun about something. In private.”

The blond huffed irately, before marching his way up the stairs. He ducked his head down, “I won’t be gone long, okay!?”

Boisterous as always, he stomped upstairs before seemingly finding himself in one the rooms upstairs.

Her emerald eyes flickered over to the second last of the Uchiha. He seemed almost nervous, as if he felt the heavy burden of what he was about to be told. Sakura didn’t even know how to begin to tell Sasuke about Sarada’s conception – does she tell him in detail or just say it? She lived that time nearly every night currently, the nightmares were brutal and she was afraid that Sasuke – the Sasuke of her time – would come for her. He had promised that, but never seemed to keep it.

‘Sasuke keeps his promises.’

“What is it? You mentioned that you had something to tell me…” Sasuke trailed off, his dark eyes hyper focused on her green nails. They were slightly chipped, but were a brilliant colour.

She swallowed.

warning

(“Stay still!” he snarled, biting into her in an animalistic sense, “This is what you’ve always wanted, wasn’t it?”

Her cries filled her own years as she gasped out, “N—No! Not like this, Sasuke-kun—please!”

She continued struggling, but she couldn’t escape his strong grip or escape from the spinning mangekyou sharingan. He snarled, gripping into her violently.)

end of warning

“It’s… about how Sarada came to be,” she murmured, leaning heavily into her chair now, unable to keep his gaze (not that she had been able to – she was somewhat afraid of him, even though he wasn’t the Sasuke who had harmed her), “I… we, after what had transpired in the Land of Iron… after you killed Danzou… I was on my own…” she said, her voice shaky.

.

.

.

‘Where is she going with this?’ Sasuke mused to himself, anxiety filling his chest and making it hard to breathe – was this why she was different with him? Something had scarred her, that was for sure.

Sasuke swallowed his anxiety away, “We met?”

“… Yes.”

“What happened…?”

Sakura covered her eyes with her hand, hiding her expression from view. Sasuke found himself standing up to comfort her (odd), but he decidedly stayed put, just outside of his chair. Now was not the time…

“We…”

warning

(Her clothes were long gone, and she opened her mouth to scream a ‘No!’, but he covered her mouth harshly with his own, as he positioned himself. She struggled, unable to gather chakra into her hands – ‘Please no – Please no!’ – only for him to slam brutally into her.

Her screech echoed throughout the forest, heartbroken as he continued to defile her further.)

end of warning

“I found you… or you found me,” she said softly, “I… I don’t know… why you did what you did then, but…”

Sasuke’s eyes flickered to red as his emotions bubbled under the surface, thoughts running through his head. He was being bashed by his own thoughts, haunted. He knew, but how could he say it. This was why she was avoiding him, even if it was only slightly. He was always used to always having her attention, but this was wrong. Why would he do such a thing?

“I… don’t think you were in your right mind,” she murmured, ever so slightly, “It was… You tried to not, but I… I think your own desires stopped you from… stopping. And I…” a broken sob escaped her lips, “I couldn’t stop you.”

He raped her. The very girl that he had always tried to protect. But… he was the monster. Not anyone else, he couldn’t protect her from himself. He was too evil. That was for sure.

Sasuke barely had time to register his own thoughts, as nausea bubbled in his stomach, but he was – like before – pinned with a chokehold. Black and red met his own features. The mismatched eyes of Hatake Kakashi. The older man’s other hand roared with the Raikiri, but Sakura must have gotten the other man off of him before Kakashi could land the final blow.

.

.

.

“Sensei – please!”

“I found her like that! After you did that to her!” Kakashi roared, anger spilling out from years of guilt and heartache for his female student.

(He had always thought she was the most annoying out of the bunch, including Naruto. She was so weak… but he regretted never teaching her more or giving her more attention when she was younger – and even as she got older. It was always about Naruto or Sasuke. Never about Sakura.)

The copy-nin kept his distance for a moment, out of respect for Sakura – indeed – this boy was not the Sasuke that had left Sakura in the forest, pillaged and destroyed. No, but he would eventually become him. There was no way out of the Uchiha’s curse – his anger and hatred finally turned him into a monster who only cared about vengeance, for something that no longer existed, and went against his brother’s wishes. The very brother that Sasuke had wanted to once kill, who then became his ‘reason’ for wanting to take over everything and destroy the Leaf from the inside and out.

Kakashi hated the boy, regretted ever teaching him. He should have focused on Sakura or Naruto, but the boy reminded him so much of himself. His regrets were so long, that his own hatred for himself possibly outranked what he felt for Sasuke.

(“Kakashi-sensei,” she snivelled, wiping her eyes, “I’m pregnant.”

‘You just had to go further than this, Sasuke,’ the older man mused stormily.

He found his arms wrapped around the younger woman as she screamed silently. He would support her as well as he could, and they would sort something out.)

The sharingan morphed into his mangekyou, and Sasuke’s eyes widened in surprise, no doubt having not known of his abilities. The mangekyou was always taxing to use, but if it rid Sasuke of the world, then…

“Stop it!” Sakura growled, half-heartedly slapping her teacher, “This isn’t him.”

.

.

.

Sasuke found himself on the floor, the burden of what he has just found out weighing heavily on his mind. The nausea in his stomach was still there, and it took him everything to not violently puke onto her clean floor.

He tried to imagine in what situation he would –

(“Ne, Sasuke-kun, you did really well today, I think,” she hummed softly, giving him a vibrant grin.

He didn’t really say much, but he agreed. His fire jutsu was becoming stronger the more he used and experimented with different techniques. That and the chidori was a great new tool in his arsenal. He was very thankful to Kakashi for teaching him such an ability.

His dark eyes flickered onto her, who was quietly eating her ramen as Naruto was carrying on about his own achievements today.

This was… nice.)

‘No… never.’

Sasuke’s eyes flickered onto his old teacher. He had… aged. Wrinkles beneath his eyes, but everything else was hidden behind his mask. His hair was shorter, and his clothing was now ebony rather than the military greens he had been used to.

“Give me one reason to not kill him now, Sakura,” Kakashi snarled, focusing on his student, “Why do you continue to protect him, after everything?”

Sakura rubbed her eyes, glaring at her teacher defiantly, “Because without him I wouldn’t have my daughter! Don’t you dare take her from me, Kakashi!” she snapped.

.

(Kakashi was second to hold the little girl. He had not been happy throughout Sakura’s pregnancy, and her unwillingness just to abort. But as soon as his eye made contact with the little girl’s…

Well.

He was smitten. She was pure. She looked a lot like her mother, but had her father’s colourings – slightly tanner skin, and dark eyes with a shaggy patch of black hair.

She was beautiful.

He would protect her. The both of them.)

Kakashi exhaled.

He had forgotten about the little girl that he had practically helped Sakura raise. It was only for his own respect of the Uchiha clan that he had taught Sarada about her sharingan and all of the jutsu that were to be learned by the Uchiha traditionally. She… was different to her father. A lot like her mother. She had her moments, but Sarada was not evil.

She was a genius as well. She picked things up quickly.

But she cared for everyone around her. She wanted to become Hokage one day. And he would help her get to her goal as well as he could. He was her mentor, her trainer, her protector… He wanted to do right by this girl, and maybe one day he would forgive himself for his own short-comings.

Sarada deserved to live.

But Sasuke… Sasuke definitely didn’t.

.

.

.

When Kakashi finally seemed to relax, albeit still on guard, Sakura sighed. She wiped away her remaining tears. Kakashi just wanted to do right by her, that she knew. However, Sakura adored Sarada, even if her conception was not… what she had wanted. Sarada was, on the other hand, what she wanted – what she needed. Her little girl was so pure and good.

She cared about her teammates and would throw away her life without a heartbeat. She was a new start to the Uchiha.

“Sakura, I –“ Sasuke opened his mouth.

“No. Don’t say it,” Sakura said, “C… Can I speak to Kakashi-sensei, just for a moment?”

She watched as Sasuke nodded his head, his eyes wearily watching his once-teacher. He was intimidated by the current Hokage, that was for sure. Sakura couldn’t blame him.

.

.

.

Sasuke made his way up the stairs, feeling heavy and disgusting. He could just end his own life now and everything wouldn’t be so fucked, but he still had to kill his brother. He wasn’t sure if that was selfish or not, but Itachi needed to be put down for his crimes – but so should Sasuke? He didn’t know how to feel – how he should feel. It irked him, a lot.

“Sasuke-teme,” Naruto whined, opening the door when he heard approaching footsteps, “You guys took ages! And what was the racket with downstairs—“

The dark Uchiha leaned against the wall before sliding down, dragging up his knees and covering his head. Naruto seemed to be surprised, but offended that Sasuke didn’t answer him and kicked him softly against his foot. Sasuke didn’t really make any motions to answer at all. He needed to think about this – maybe take his frustrations out on a tree, or something.

Was it his right to even tell Naruto?

He took a heavy breath before looking up at the blond ninja, who seemed to now have a bit of a worried expression on his face. The younger boy knelt down to eye level.

“Hey, what’s up?” he asked softly, his usual obnoxious voice almost as quiet as a mouse, “Normally, you would have snarled something rude at me for kicking you – even gently.”

‘I… need to talk to someone about this… and Naruto probably is the only one here.’

His mouth felt dry, “I… I raped Sakura.”

It was the first time he had said it audibly, without it being spelled out or implied or just straight up said to him by Kakashi.

Naruto’s eyes went wide before he sputtered out, “N—No way! You wouldn’t do that to Sakura-chan!”

“But I did.”

He paused.

“… Are you sure? Did she tell you this?”

Sasuke nodded.

The Uzumaki let out a shaky breath, “I… You wouldn’t do that now?”

Giving him a look, Naruto nodded. The younger boy stood up straight and seemed to think to himself for a moment. Sasuke watched silently as Naruto’s face registered a few different expressions.

“I… Then stay that way, yeah? We need to change things… this can’t be how things work out, right?”

Sasuke let out, “I agree. We… need to do something about this.”

Naruto was most likely dead, and Sasuke had hurt Sakura in the worst way he possibly could. The Uchiha needed to change things, badly. He was sure that he would always hate himself deep down for having even gone so low. Had Sasuke killed Naruto for power? Why had he harmed Sakura in such a way…?

(“You didn’t seem like you were in the right mind…”)

Was that really an excuse though?

FF.net – 3700 approx.