#Kakashi would sacrifice anything - ANYTHING - for his kids

[team7-headquarter]

Now that I'm reading One Piece, let me say this: even when I think One Piece is better written, the comparison between both mangas in their pre timeskip period is often done poorly.

Naruto decides to be immediately a more explicit and visceral story in terms of cruelty, with a main cast of 12 year old children. While One Piece takes its time building the foundation for its characters and future arcs, Naruto jumps right into the issue at hand. The first chapter is practically spelling it out to you, the reason why Naruto could and even should be a villain, given the circumstances. He's a sad sight, the loneliness and general dark feelings coating Naruto as a story are strong from the very start. I'm not saying that One Piece doesn't have a lot of dark themes and feelings too, but Oda style is to use comedy and good humor to balance it first. One Piece is lighter at the beginning.

For example, compare the East Blue saga and the Land of the Waves arc. Unfair, I know, but I want to prove a certain point here.

Each arc of the East Blue has a bit of cruelty in it, the worst being Arlong Park. In the 3 first arcs, when Luffy meets his three first nakamas, we can say it is more comedy than tragedy. No one dies, there is cruelty and battles, but it's kept on the "safe side". The villains are shown to be more "evil" than anything else. Morgan, Buggy and Kuro are pirates after all. Then they reach the Baratie and things start to get serious. Sanji's backstory is heavy (everything Sanji and Zeff went through is dark, from the starvation to the amputation and the grey scale of their animosity turned bond). You have the first hint at Nami's complexity as a character, you get a taste of the Grand Line in the Mihawk and Zoro encounter where Zoro almost dies, there's explicit sacrifice...

Like I said, Arlong Park is the worst of it all. The story of the town, of Bell-Mere and her children, of what the fish-men did to Nami... It would be incorrect to say that comedy is out aside. First of all, because one of the most common purposes of comedy is to build the ground for drama. You will need a light mood to present the gravity of the situation at hand. The reader must be desperate to see the characters laughing and joking again, to recover the good times, to preserve the bonds and friendships. All the previous arcs needed to be so silly for Arlong Park to be impactful. Nami lived through hell. There's war and discrimination, abuse, manipulation, government corruption and betrayal. I'd never dare to say it's a light arc.

With Naruto, it's like they went straight to their own Arlong Park. It doesn't get clearer than the explanation Tazuna gave about what was going on with Kato and the bridge. They step out of the gates and there's an assassination attempt where Kakashi pretends to get explicitly murdered in front of the kids so he can figure out what they're dealing with. You have the story of how the local town hero was basically crucified to get his arms ripped by Kato's men. Hell, before all of these you have things like the Uchiha massacre and Sasuke saying his goal is to kill someone.

Then the top of the cake: Zabuza and Haku. They end up dead, both of them. Suddenly the enemy is not just "evil" or "ambitious" but also very very human. Kids killing kids or refusing to kill kids, it's a nightmare. Kakashi kills Haku with a chidori to the chest and the manga lingers on the blood of it all. There's a panel when Sasuke takes a hit meant for Naruto— the visual impact is insane. That one panel of Naruto awakening the kyubi's chakra and threatening to kill Haku? This is not a story about pirates and treasures and dreams. This is a story about survival and murder and duty, where a kid happens to want to dream above all the misery of his world.

Compare now the Arabasta saga and the Chuning Exams. Both are about politics, foul play to take a country/hidden village down, how normal people are nothing but pieces of a bigger game, how the world is baster and more dangerous than anyone could ever imagine.

The difference is that the straw hats choose to participate and choose how to do so. Every step is one they take conscious of the risk. They are teenagers still, sure, but they have their agency and they're powerful enough to not let anyone else push them around. They're at the heart of the conflict, they know what's going on behind the curtains. One Piece is about freedom, something that people in Naruto clearly lack. Even when there's death and sacrifices and a lot of cruelty, it's shown differently than in Naruto.

Team 7 gets thrown into the mess of Konoha's crush knowing nothing. The Chunning Exams are a shit show. The horror of Orochimaru and the cursed mark, the Hyuuga's plotline about family branches and slavery, arms exploding, Rock Lee's fight, Hiruzen's death, Gaara's backstory... Team 7 (at least the kids) move on such a different scale. It's terrifying. The Chunning Exams are war in a micro scale, designed to keep the power balance using their lower class soldiers, children included.

I can keep going, but well. I feel like I made my point clear with this post.

While Naruto's story pace is faster, the characters and the themes aren't rushed per se. It fits that in a world in constant conflict, things keep coming faster and the characters can't catch a break. The journey of the straw hats allows them more time to build the foundations of the crew, going from island to island. The way the stories are told are different too, so it'd be futile to compare them if you don't acknowledge that. What are the core values of the story? What is the general feeling? What is it trying to tell and how it corresponds to the way the story is told?

You either ask yourself those questions or you'll get a half-assed analysis, at most.

[cool-thymus]

can i get uhhh no3 and a no10 for the nart questions pls? (hi thymus!!)

Hiiii, Ard! thanks for being interested in my opinion xD I'll start with THE question hehe

10. OTP Who could that be...? 🤔😅 I'm going to use this opportunity to finally make a verbal statement about why i love my otp so much. I started watching Naruto as an experiment in 2022 (at the ripe age of 28) and the land of waves arc got to me: Haku's death (and the way Zabuza used him -yes, i have beef with that guy) got my empathy involved, and Kakashi-sensei charmed me by being incredibly cool AND mysterious. The mysterious part about the origin of his sharingan intrigued me the most: what do you mean "a friend gave it to him"??? who is this friend? where is he? are they still friends? All those questions needed answers. So i learned about Obito Uchiha (mostly through fanart). Then i cried my eyes out watching Kakashi Gaiden and stalled the war arc as long as i could because i knew what was going to happen, and by then i’d already fallen in love with them beyond reason.

Before anything else, this ship is so powerful because separately Kakashi and Obito are incredibly well-written characters. Yes, they complete each other and share their arc till the end, but nevertheless, each of them is autonomous, believable, complex, and deep. They are both the main dish. So the dynamic, the bond they establish between them feels true and natural. One has this sunshine personality, is kind, caring, tenderhearted, and fun; the other has too much to deal with for his age: being a genius will mess with your pride and sense of worth, but not with your tiny, pure, brave heart. Kid Obito and kid Kakashi are so precious, you wanna shield them from everything that is wrong with the world. And then tragedy №1 and tragedy №2 happen that push these two boys to realize they were supposed to be each other’s lifeline. Obito got a head start over Kakashi though. When Kakashi finally sees Obito for who he really is, the sacrifice is already made, leaving Kakashi attached to his lifeline that goes nowhere. 

Tragedy №3 crushes their souls one more time and marks the beginning of the horrendous paths they take: Kakashi drowning himself in guilt and the violence of ANBU missions; Obito being groomed, brainwashed and manipulated into a gruesome conspiracy that perverted his ideals. And despite everything that happens next, they still hold on to their lifeline (the shared sharingan serving as the visualization). They are loyal to each other in their own ways. Kakashi lets his memory of Obito guide him and help him live, while Obito never seeks vengeance or takes the eye back. He even goes beyond imaginable and saves Kakashi’s life one last time. 

They were written to be tragic, but they were also meant to be special. If only Kishimoto had more sympathy and allowed Obito another chance. Those two precious boys could start all over. And this time, post war, their respect, longing, sorrow, adoration, grief, regrets, hopes would be shared, and the love that had struggled to grow for so long would finally be in full blossom.

(and they’re both hot af)

3. Favorite villain

(No worries, sweet anon, i don’t consider Obito a villain xD) The key villains like Madara or Danzo remind me of middle-aged men who get hung up on conspiracy theories and start believing that they have the world figured out. So they are more annoying than scary to me. And a villain should be frightening, i think. In the ninja world this would be Orochimaru. He’s an egomaniac, a sensible madman, who is deceitful, merciless, and cruel. We were shown such atrocities, so much abuse, torture, and physical pain inflicted on innocent people. And for what? I’m not sure i fully understand his motives: was it out of fear of death? Or is this just him doing what he loves? He IS the worst, and yet, by the end of shippuden he turns into a comedy bit?! Seriously?! This is all kinds of wrong xD But the facts remain, he is a good villain, creepy and scary.

To lighten up the mood i'll attach this scene from Rock Lee and his Ninja Pals that shows the funniest wtf-ish way to defeat Orochimaru xD (now i wonder what else Kakashi can do with his water jutsu ..)

the nart questions

[depressedhatakekakashi]

I also see that it's common to say that he lost against Zabuza since he managed to trap Kakashi in the bubble and according to them he could only get out thanks to the help of some genin (the main characters of the manga but no one talks about that)

Hfjxjdjs so they’re ignoring the fact Kakashi got trapped cuz he was distracted trying to protect his kids, a weak point Zabuza willfully took advantage of

Head to head, no distractions, Kakashi whoops Xabuza.

But as a shinobi (and this is HUGE to Kakashi’s character arc as a kid) you have to focus on the fight. Any distraction, regardless of your skill level, can be detrimental.

We see this with other characters as well.

If Sasuke had allowed Karin to be a distraction/weak point, Danzo might have escaped. That was what Danzo was counting on. Sasuke attacking Danzo through Karin proved that he was not allowing ANYTHING, even his friends, to distract him from his goals.

If Kakashi had been his kid self, he woild not have been distracted by protecting his teammates. It actually would have been the last thing on his mind, since he was very much a ‘i will not put the mission on the line for you’ kinda kid due to his trauma

Adult Kakashi is not that character. It’s also why he got blinded against the seven deadly swordsman. He put Gai’s safety over his own and took the hit to protect Gai.

Zabuza trapping Kakashi is not proof that Zabuza is stronger

It’s proof Zabuza was more ruthless and willing to take advantage of a clear weakness of Kakashi’s. He does this again after Haku’s sacrifice when Kakashi realizes he’s willing to cut through Haku to get to him

Zabuza goes for the strike

Kakashi, who could have extracted his arm and hoped out of the way, thus allowing Zabuza to cut through just haku, did not do that. He grabbed Haku’s body close, protected it, and jumped back with it

Zabuza Vs Kakashi is very much a show of ‘humanity vs ruthlessness’ and i cannot believe people miss that.

Zabuza’s focus is the mission and the money he will get

Kakashi’s focus is trying to get his students out of this mission alive.

But when Kakashi is able to face Zabuza head on, without having to worry about protect anyone, he absolutely whoops butt

[charlie-and-brown]

There are reasons that Naruto puts Iruka and Sasuke above everyone. Like all the other fans have said, they sacrifice themselves for Naruto’s life when he was a nobody, an outcast no one wanted to get in touch with.

While reading the manga, I found the similarities between these two people’s sacrifices.

Naruto, the kid, was not someone who would expect people to treat him well. He was used to people neglecting him and him earning the attentions from them. There were not just some moments of underdogs getting someone attentions but also a little child’s deep earning was answered.

He had learnt not to expect in order not to get hurt by others.

There must have been some time that he got neglected or bullied and hoped people would have come and saved him, but there were no one.

Therefore, when Iruka and Sasuke came forward, to save him from difficulties and pain without him requesting, to value him more than their own lives, that’s his dream coming true. Someone did value him.

He mattered.

On the other hand, I would never watch the Last. How could anyone think Naruto would value people giving him attentions secretly and not doing things to improve his situation at all? That’s exactly why Kakashi and Sakura never rise to Iruka and Sasuke level in his heart. (Kakashi is closer to his heart of course.) Both of their attentions are earned, in his eyes. Even though Kakashi would protect him all the time, care about his well-being and education, and bring him vegetable, and Sakura would care for him in her own ways, they would never be closer to Iruka and Sasuke. (Sorry, Kakashi Sensei. I do love you very much. It’s just fact.)

Even bringing Naruto some cookies would be better than nothing. How could you claim to love someone and not do anything? Naruto literally do something for Gaara when he tried to kill for him for several times just because he understood his pain.

And Naruto was moved? Hn…

If you experienced someone’s love, you wouldn’t want anything less than it, especially after he knew how much Iruka, Sasuke, his own parents, and even Jilaiya loved him and sacrificed for him. He might be selfless but not stupid.

Haku incident was the reason of Naruto’s nindo. He didn’t want to use people as tools. He wanted to protect his previous people. He would do anything for people he loved and he understood the idea of sacrificing everything for loved ones.

Going to the same place with his loved one after death. Don’t know where our boy, Naruto, got this idea but maybe there was something…

And this was the panel when they visited their graves before leaving.

After knowing that shinobis were viewed as tools, he absolutely didn’t agree and decided to go on his own ways.

Does it sound like someone who would be moved by some little girl who liked him but said nothing or did nothing for him?

Well…

So many details when I read Japanese version. Maybe it’s because I literally need to read panels by panels. I am still not really fluent in Japanese.

[erimeows]

Under The Mask

Kakashi Hatake very rarely allows himself to care about people because of the cursed cycle he’s been put through since his childhood; he gets attached to someone who shows him kindness, they reassure him that they’ll be there for the long-run, and then, in a tragic turn of events, they go and die on him. Kakashi is sure that it’s some sort of karma that’s been delivered to him for being such a dickhead all his life, and at this point, he’s too afraid to test it to prove his theory correct or even question it anywhere outside of his own mind.

Unfortunately, just as he thinks he’s getting good at repressing the trauma from his father’s suicide (and Obito’s sacrifice, as well as his murdering of Rin, on top of Tenzou’s vanishing off the face of the earth, as well as Minato and Kushina’s untimely deaths), he makes the mistake of going and getting attached to yet another person who radiates sunshine and sparkles and all the other good shit in the world that Kakashi desperately tries to avoid in fear of losing it yet again. 

It’s Wednesday, and for as long as they’ve been doing this, Wednesday has been their day.

Ichiraku is dead empty aside from the two of them. Kakashi sits on the stool in the very right corner with Iruka sitting to the left of him. Iruka prefers the corner stool, but Kakashi is adamant about taking it from him every time because one, it’s the closest to the wall which eases his anxiety, and two, he’s able to protect Iruka a little easier if anything ever happens. 

Their dates- meetings- whatever they are, are unspoken. It’s been a couple years since it started; Kakashi noticed that Iruka would treat himself to Ichiraku every Wednesday and felt so drawn to the teacher that he “just so happened” to show up there on Wednesday’s as well. Iruka, the soft-hearted extrovert he is, immediately started sitting next to Kakashi and trying to talk to him. Kakashi rarely responds with much, let alone anything too personal about himself, but he does listen. He loves Iruka, and he loves everything Iruka has to say from his dumb stories about kids walking all over Mizuki to his deepest fears and regrets.

With how little Kakashi has openly invested into their relationship, he’s confused as to why Iruka keeps trying. He never questions it, though. He appreciates Iruka’s attention too much. At this point, he craves it so frequently that he finds himself doing whatever he can to see Iruka outside of their meetups at Ichiraku; trailing him home after he gets off work to make sure he gets there safely, showing up at the academy to watch him sit on that wooden swing outside the building after hours, dropping off groceries on his porch when he’s too broke to buy them for himself, “bumping into him” at his favorite book store. 

Now that it’s been a couple years, even Kakashi, dense as he can be, has realized what it is. It’s love. Albeit a bit obsessive and a bit creepy (especially considering the fact that he’s basically been stalking/bodyguarding Iruka since the start of their friendship), Kakashi knows that what he feels for Iruka is romantic love that has only grown since getting to know him better. The worst part is that he knows Iruka loves him back- or at least has a crush on him. It’s obvious in how Iruka so hurriedly insists to pay for Kakashi’s food despite making chump-change at his teaching job, and it’s obvious in how Iruka stares at him with a huge blush and his big brown eyes so sweetly when he thinks Kakashi isn’t paying attention.

But Kakashi will never confess- not because of a fear of rejection, but because he’s afraid of getting too attached only to lose someone again. He’s already in far too deep. He doesn’t want to know what it’s like to be even deeper. 

“Ah, that reminds me,” Iruka starts, having just finished telling Kakashi about some crazy mission that one of his students from last year went on. “I actually got assigned a B-rank mission. It’s supposed to happen next week during the kids’ final exams, which kind of sucks, but I guess Lord Third is really just that understaffed.”

“And what’s the mission?” Kakashi questions as his blood runs cold. He hasn’t seen or heard of Iruka going on a mission the entire time he’s known the Chunin. B-ranks aren’t especially terrible for him, but he’s concerned about Iruka having to go on one. The thought of this person- his person- that he’s fallen in love with going on a mission after years of not having done so and getting hurt or killed makes his heart drop to his stomach. “Hell, when’s the last time you’ve even been on a mission, anyway?”

“It’s just escorting this princess from here to Suna for her wedding. It’s nothing too crazy, but apparently there’s been rumors that there’s some A-rank rogues from her home town that want to kidnap her to make her father pay ransom… I haven’t actually been on a mission since I started teaching, but I’ve kept up with my training, so I should be fine? I’m more upset that Lord Third chose to do it right before finals and that he assigned it to me instead of to Mizuki.”

“Yeah, I’d be pretty pissed too. Then again, the wellbeing of this village’s children has always played second fiddle to the missions, so this shit doesn’t surprise me. He’s probably sending you because he knows you won’t fuck it up like Mizuki will.”

Iruka doesn’t respond to that, too nice to talk negatively about Mizuki even though the other Chunin is clearly a dickhead that has no idea what he’s doing most of the time.

“Well, I’m supposed to leave tomorrow night, so… Yeah. Wish me luck.”

To that, Kakashi doesn’t say anything.

The two of them finish their food in silence and play their usual game of racing to see who can pay first. This time, Kakashi wins, and with that, he leaves.

He’ll definitely have to stop by the Hokage’s office in the morning.

~

The following morning, Kakashi goes to Hiruzen’s office as soon as it opens at 6AM.

When he gets there and opens the door, Hiruzen does a double take and nearly spits out the hot tea he’s sipping on. It’s clear that he wasn’t expecting Kakashi at all, let alone expecting Kakashi to damn-near slam his door open so hard that it nearly breaks off of its hinges when it slams into the wall. 

“Kakashi, it’s early for you to even be awake,” Hiruzen stammers out with a cough before collecting himself. He sets his teacup down on a coaster and clasps his hands together on top of his desk as Kakashi fully enters the room and shuts the door behind him. “Is there an emergency? What’s wrong?”

“I heard that Iruka was assigned a B-rank mission…” Kakashi starts. It’s awkward and uncomfortable- he doesn’t want to have to admit that he doesn’t want Iruka to go, but he has to in order to be able to make this work. He stands slouched over in front of the Hokage’s desk and averts his gaze. “Do you think I could do it in his place?”

“What… Why?”

“The end of the year at the academy is coming up, final exams are soon. I’d hate for him to have to miss out on this vital instruction time with his students just because there’s a ninja shortage and you don’t have anyone else,” Admittedly, that’s not the true reason. Kakashi really doesn’t care about any of the shit that’s going on at the academy, even if he’s going to be forced to train a graduating group of Genin this year. What he really cares about is Iruka’s safety. He just doesn’t want that information getting back to Iruka. So, he lies. “Plus, he’s been teaching for a few years now… He’s probably rusty.”

“Well, excuse me,” Iruka’s soft, melodic voice rings through the room a little less than a second after Kakashi hears the door open. Kakashi quickly snaps around to face Iruka, his cheeks bright red and his eyes wide. He’s thankful that he’s wearing a mask over his face to hide his expression. “I didn’t know you were so concerned.”

“I-Iruka…”

“Well, to answer your question, Kakashi, I’m afraid that’s impossible,” Hiruzen says while drumming his fingers against the desk. Kakashi is thoroughly embarrassed, even more so by the fact that Iruka is smugly leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed and an uncharacteristic little smirk on his rosy lips. “I need you for an S-rank that’s set a week from today, there’s no way you’d be able to complete the B-rank in time since it’s an estimated two weeks to get to and from where the B-rank destination will be located. I appreciate your concern about the academy students, but Mizuki will take proper care of them until Iruka returns. If they need any help up there, I can have Anko fill in temporarily.”

“But I-” Kakashi starts to object, only to immediately get shot down.

“No buts. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some paperwork to do…” Hiruzen trails off and avoids Kakashi’s eyes (or, eye).

While Lord Third doesn’t command Kakashi to leave, it’s pretty apparent that’s what he’s hinting at. Kakashi, having faced enough embarrassment today, figures he should probably make a quick exit- lest it get any worse. 

“Ah, Lord Third, before you do that, could I talk to you about something?” Iruka starts.

“Sure, Iruka,” Hiruzen nods. Then, he turns to Kakashi and offers him a kind, knowing smile. “Kakashi, feel free to see yourself out now.”

Kakashi quickly turns and makes his way out of the room, his shoulder slamming into Iruka’s by accident on the way out.

Just how much of that conversation did Iruka hear…?

~~

That night, Kakashi lies on his hardwood living room floor. He stares up at the ceiling with no true focus. Part of him is incredibly wired from the anxiety he’s feeling about his talk with Lord Third earlier and the potential of Iruka leaving on a dangerous mission tonight. The other part of him is exhausted and ready to sleep due to not having slept the night prior- nightmares be damned. His Jonin vest is abandoned on the back of his couch along with his village headband, leaving him in his blue sweatpants, blue turtleneck, blue mask, and black socks.

To his utter terror and disappointment, he senses Iruka’s Chakra from a mile away. Kakashi becomes confused as to why the younger man hasn’t left the village yet. He isn’t sure whether he should be relieved that the mission may have been a bust or scared that something bad may have happened. The next twenty minutes are spent with him being a nervous wreck, standing from the floor to pace circles around his couch. All of his Ninken- Pakkun, Bull, Akino, Shiba, Bisuke, Urushi, Guruko, and Uhei- curiously follow him around. They’ve probably picked up on his contagious negative feelings and are waiting for some sort of reassurance or explanation. All Kakashi offers them is a shake of his head and a dismissive wave, so they scatter to different places in the apartment.

Eventually, there’s a knock on the door. Kakashi knows it’s Iruka before he even opens it. Regardless, he acts somewhat surprised when he cracks the door just far enough to peek out and see Iruka. The Chunin is dressed in a large green sweater and black, form-fitting sweatpants that are far from his usual work apparel. Kakashi’s confusion about whatever the hell happened to Iruka’s B-Rank mission assignment only increases. 

“Iruka, what are you doing here?” Kakashi questions.

He’s careful to hide behind the door and only have it far enough open that Iruka can’t see much else aside from his eyes. While he doesn’t care about things like home decor and organizational skills, he knows that Iruka does, and his apartment is a mess of unmatching furniture, dog beds, dog toys, food and water bowls, and clothes lazily strewn about. 

“Kakashi, I think we need to have a talk.”

Usually, when Kakashi gets to hear “we need to have a talk” from someone else, he either gets told that yet another person in his life has been killed or that he’s about to have to deal with some other stupid bullshit that he’d rather not have anything to do with. So, when he hears the words from Iruka, he winces and hides even further behind his door.

“I don’t believe we do,” Kakashi denies Iruka’s statement with a clear shake of his head.

“It’s not a bad talk. I’m not upset with you or anything,” Iruka reassures him, so Kakashi acquiesces.

“Fine,” Kakashi agrees and holds the door open a little more. He notices that Iruka is holding a food storage container with a pair of chopsticks clipped on top of it. “What do you want?”

“I just wanted to say thank you for trying to spare me from that mission. It was very sweet of you, even if I didn’t really need it,” Iruka explains. “Lord Third ended up being able to hire someone from Suna to cover for me after I expressed to him that Mizuki couldn’t handle the final exams by himself and that Anko wasn’t a suitable substitute.”

“Oh, well… You’re welcome,” Kakashi answers, somewhat relieved that’s all Iruka seems to want to talk about.

“In fact, I brought you this to say thank you. You know, as a teacher, I really don’t make enough to buy anyone in my life anything too nice, but um…” Iruka holds out the food, which forces Kakashi to open his door halfway to grab it from him. He steps out of the apartment to join Iruka on the porch while positioning his body to block the view of the inside of the living room. He doesn’t miss how Iruka tries to peek over his shoulder. In an attempt to block Iruka’s view, Kakashi straightens his posture. “I still wanted to do something kinda nice for you.”

“You really didn’t need to do that…” Kakashi responds and holds the food in his hands like it’s some sort of precious glass that he’s afraid to drop and break.

“Can I come in?”

Kakashi winces. He wants to say no. He also wants to just run inside, shut the door, and lock Iruka out. But, with Iruka’s big brown eyes practically begging him to say ‘yes’, he can’t muster up what it takes to deny the request.

“Uh, sure.”

With that, Kakashi fully opens the door and allows Iruka inside. He follows the Chunin inside, shutting and locking the door behind him, then cringing when Iruka is immediately bombarded by all eight of his dogs. Within seconds, Iruka is on the floor with three Ninken in his lap, two rubbing their heads against his hands, the the rest practically running over each other to lick his face.

“Oh, hi!” Iruka greets them while laughing, struggling to give them all attention.

Kakashi walks over to where they are and starts to peel the dogs off of Iruka one by one.

“Sorry about that, they’re not really used to company.”

“It’s no problem, I love dogs,” Iruka beams and stands up.

The Ninken follow them to the kitchen, where Kakashi sits at the table. While he opens and starts to eat the food that Iruka cooked for him, Iruka paces around his kitchen, looking through the cabinets and the fridge. Admittedly, it’s all pretty much empty, so he can understand the building concern that tears through Iruka’s expression- as much as he hates to admit it. All he has are a couple cans of miso soup stocked in the back of his cabinets as well as a single frozen meal in the freezer and energy drinks and bottled waters in the fridge. In the cupboards, he has a single pan, a single pot, one set of chopsticks, a soup spoon, a knife set, a plate, and a bowl. 

“Your kitchen is as barren as a wasteland,” Iruka promptly scolds him while shutting all of the cabinets and sitting on the counter. Kakashi suddenly notices that he’s only ever bothered to buy one chair for the kitchen table, and he feels guilty for it. Iruka looks incredibly uncomfortable where he’s perched on top of the marble surface. “I definitely did need to make you dinner. In fact, after seeing this, I may have to start doing it more often.”

“Please don’t,” Kakashi mumbles into the food, embarrassed. 

“What, do you think my cooking’s gross?” 

“Not at all- it’s better than mine, I just don’t want to bother you. Trust me, I’m fully capable of taking care of myself,” Kakashi tries to reassure Iruka to no avail. “But with the amount of missions I’m sent on, there’s no point in keeping perishable groceries here. I never have time to cook and I’m hardly ever here, so they’d just go bad anyway. It’d be a total waste of money.”

“Then what do you do when you are here?” Iruka questions with crossed arms.

Kakashi feels incredibly uncomfortable- so much so that he scarfs down the rest of his food and rushes to stand up so he can wash the container as he answers Iruka’s question.

“Usually, I eat out. With the money I make, it doesn’t cause too much of a financial strain… Not that I ever get anything super nice. It’s usually just Ichiraku or veggies and chicken with rice from the convenience store.”

This is too personal. Iruka is in his home, petting his dogs, sitting on his kitchen counter, talking to him as if they’re friends- and they are. It’s just that the deeply insecure, attachment-terrified Kakashi was hoping that he’d be able to enjoy the perks of their odd friendship without getting close enough to get burned. Then again, it may be too late for that, which is fine… He supposes he can maybe have a friend as long as he keeps Iruka at a good distance. Surely, as long as he doesn’t act on his romantic feelings to make their love for each other even deeper, things should be okay.

“I see. Well, assuming you don’t fail the Genin I send you yet again this year, your life is going to change. You’re going to have to be here a lot more often to support them, so you should really start taking care of yourself and getting good groceries. There’s plenty you can buy that won’t go bad super fast; rice, dried beans, dark chocolate, peanut butter, ramen, canned tuna, bouillon cubes for soup… I can even help you, if you want!”

The idea of Iruka taking him grocery shopping is the domestic sort of thing that Kakashi regularly fantasizes about before going to bed at night. However, the thought of it actually coming to fruition scares the shit out of him. It’s too domestic, too friendly, too intimate for them to be doing. Kakashi goes rigid and stares down at the inside of the sink as he dries his hands and speaks.

“Is that all you dropped by for, then?”

“Well, no. It was the main reason, but I just wanted to ask…” Iruka places his feet flat on the floor and stands up so he can place a hand on Kakashi’s shoulder. The contact has Kakashi jumping to turn and face Iruka, who stares at him with soft eyes. All of the Ninken seem to pick up on Kakashi’s panic, which causes most of them to flee to his bedroom. The only one who stays is Pakkun, who parks himself on the dog bed that’s in the corner of the kitchen and pretends to fall asleep. “Do you really think I’m rusty or incompetent or something?”

“What? Of course not… Don’t tell me you heard that entire conversation I had with Lord Third,” Kakashi says and shrugs Iruka’s hand off of his shoulder.

Iruka looks disappointed at the loss of touch and folds his hands together, almost as if he’s unsure of where he should put them if not on Kakashi. It takes everything in the Jonin not to grab Iruka’s hands and hold them for as long as he can. He has to shove his own hands in his pockets and ball them into tight fists to hold back from just reaching out and taking the affection that he’s craved for so long.

“I did.”

“Forget what you heard. I wasn’t being all that truthful with Lord Third. Most of what I was saying to him back there was shit I made up on the fly to try and get you out of it.”

“Why?” Iruka demands, much to Kakashi’s dismay. He never wanted Iruka to find out, let alone question his motives behind getting the mission canceled. Kakashi deeply regrets not leaving the issue alone since Iruka ended up advocating for himself and avoiding the mission in the end. Then again, hindsight bias is a bitch. “Were you worried about me?”

Kakashi wants to deny it, but he has a hard time lying to Iruka, so he hesitates.

“Don’t phrase it like that.”

“So it’s true,” Iruka practically beams, seemingly unaware of the anxiety that his prodding, interrogation-like commentary about what happened earlier is causing Kakashi.

Kakashi leans his lower back against the kitchen counter and grasps at the edges of the marble. His fingers turn white with the pressure exerted to squeeze the counter as he tries to keep his knees from shaking. Iruka is standing in front of him now, one hand resting on one of his wide hips and the other raised to point at Kakashi with a single accusatory finger. 

“No, it’s not,” Kakashi insists even though he knows damn well he’s lying through his teeth. “I wasn’t worried about you.”

“So you don’t care about me, then?”

Iruka sasses back with a pout. Kakashi briefly wanders what the fuck Iruka is getting at here, or what he’s even trying to do. What’s the point of this conversation? What is it that Iruka is hoping to get out of this? A confirmation of their sort-of-sort-of-not-kinda-maybe-sorta- friendship? A date? A love confession?

“It’s not like that either.”

“Then what is it like, Kakashi?” Iruka asks. His eyebrows are furrowed together, and for once, his expression is unreadable. Kakashi genuinely can’t tell whether Iruka is upset, amused, or some other emotion he doesn’t understand. “Because I’m not quite sure I understand the reason behind what you were trying to do this morning.”

And, the moment Iruka leans in to rest his hands on either side of Kakashi on the counter, Kakashi is trapped like a wild animal cornered by a skilled hunter. Iruka doesn’t relent and let it go like he normally would either- he just stands there, staring into Kakashi’s eyes, waiting for an explanation. Kakashi can’t look away no matter how much he wants to.

“You don’t need to understand- what you need to do is get your nose out of my business and get out of my apartment.”

“What if I don’t want to do that?” Iruka challenges.

Kakashi takes a deep breath to try to compose himself, only to find that it doesn’t work. He’s on the edge of hyperventilating, and his heart is beating against his chest. Avoiding Iruka’s line of questions didn’t work, nor did trying to push him away. 

Perhaps he’s let Iruka worm his way in a tad too much… And perhaps it’s too late to stop what’s bound to happen.

“I will pick your ass up and throw you out that door myself if I have to.”

Iruka scoffs. 

“You wouldn’t.”

Kakashi opens his mouth to object, only for nothing to come out. He allows his lips to fall shut again while he thinks of something- anything- to get out of this. Nothing comes to mind, so he lets out a sigh and throws his hands up in defeat.

“Okay, fine, I wouldn’t. What is it that I have to tell you to make you leave me alone?”

“I wanna know the truth,” Iruka slowly moves his hands and places them on Kakashi’s shoulder, cautious, almost as if he’s afraid to scare him off. Kakashi settles under the touch surprisingly fast and allows himself to meet Iruka’s eyes. “Look, Kakashi… I know we aren’t the best of friends, but I’ve considered you a good friend for a while now and I appreciate the time we spend together. I just… I don’t know what your intentions are. There are times where you completely ignore me when I talk to you and seem like you don’t care, and then there are other times where you make me feel like I’m on top of the world. I know you follow me home, I’ve seen you leaving groceries on my porch when I’m too broke to buy them, I’ve sensed you watching me sit on the swing after school hours, and I know damn well that you don’t like reading children’s education books and that you’ve never bought a damn thing from that store- but you show up every time anyway, and I know it’s because of me. All I want to know is why.”

Kakashi wilts under Iruka’s knowing gaze like a dying rose. It makes sense that Iruka would be able to tell, he’s never been good at hiding his feelings and their friends have made jokes about them needing to date already since the start. Kakashi should be relieved right now, knowing that Iruka seems to at least somewhat return his feelings, but all he feels is absolute panic. The collected, uncaring facade he hid behind for so long is crumbling before his and Iruka’s very eyes, and he’s failing to figure out how to put it back together.

“I can’t tell you that.”

“Why not?” Iruka frustratedly raises his voice. “I care about you, too, Kakashi-”

“I know you do. I see the way you look at me, Iruka, I can’t pretend I don’t,” Kakashi confesses and blinks away the tears that start to well up in his eyes. “But I don’t want to push this too far and see what happens when it inevitably breaks.”

Iruka doesn’t know- or, he shouldn’t know- the reason behind Kakashi’s fear of getting close to him. But, Iruka being Iruka, he somehow figures it out and reaches up to hold Kakashi’s masked face in his hands. Kakashi flinches because hell, the last time someone grabbed his head was to slam it into the ground during a mission and fuck, he’s not used to someone touching him without the intent of making it hurt.

“Are you that scared of losing me…?”

Something in Kakashi finally breaks. After years of pushing away everyone else to prevent losing yet another person in his life, Iruka has wormed his way in; into Kakashi’s life, into his apartment, and into his heart. No matter how hard he tries to get Iruka out, he won’t ever be able to. Whether or not they cross the line of friendship into romance, Kakashi is in love with him. God forbid something ever happens to Iruka, no matter what the label is on what they have, Kakashi will be ruined either way.

“...Yes,” He answers after a little too long and places his hands over where Iruka’s are on his face. “I am. I love you, Iruka. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you, I… I don’t think I’d be able to go on.”

“I love you, too. You’re not going to be losing me any time soon, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Kakashi, is it okay if I kiss you?”

Kakashi hesitates at first. No one alive in the village has seen his face and he’s not sure if Iruka would even like the way he looks. Still, he’s spent far too many nights fantasizing about what it would be like to have Iruka kissing him to squander it. He nods and positions Iruka’s fingers so they’re clutching the top of his mask.

“Please,” Kakashi nods and allows his eyes to flutter shut- partially because this excitement is all too much and it’s making him very overstimulated, and partially because he’s too terrified to watch the way Iruka’s expression will change upon seeing his face for the first time- because while Iruka is a gorgeous sunkissed ray of sunshine with big brown eyes, silky hair, and a beautiful smile, Kakashi is this awkward looking, gangly gremlin of a human with a face that he’s always found to be quite average. “It’s all I want.”

Iruka pulls his mask down. 

Kakashi flinches, expecting to hear a gasp or some sort of dramatic explanation about his appearance. No such thing happens. Instead, Iruka caresses Kakashi’s cheekbones with his thumbs and leans in for a sweet, soft kiss… Or at least that’s how it starts. Before Kakashi can fully process the taste of Iruka’s strawberry chapstick and the chamomile tea on his lips, they’re both deepening the kiss. Kakashi’s hands fly to Iruka’s hips to grab at them and pull the Chunin even closer at the same time that Iruka’s hands entangle themselves in Kakashi’s silver hair. Years of built up want and affection are finally allowed to seep out through their connected lips, which move against each other fervently until Iruka breaks away to talk. 

“Kakashi,” Iruka breathes against his neck, somewhat airy and completely sincere in the charming way that Iruka has always been. “I promise, I’ll never leave you, okay?”

And Kakashi cries. It’s not a pretty cry, either. He sobs, loud and ugly and broken as he wraps his arms around Iruka’s frame and buries his face in the crook between the younger man’s shoulder and neck. Somehow, in the midst of it, Iruka drags him to his bedroom, which is- thankfully- vacant of his Ninken, most of whom like to hit the town at this time of night. They end up on the floor with Iruka sitting and holding Kakashi in his lap. 

It’s weirdly comfortable despite the fact that Kakashi is currently getting his snot and tears all over Iruka’s nice sweater. Iruka seems to understand enough to just sit there and hold him. Iruka’s arms gently circle around Kakashi so he can rub the Jonin’s back through his shirt. Kakashi allows it, too, so starved for touch that he can’t so much as think about moving away from it.

“Thank you,” He manages to get out through the cries and the sniffles. 

When he looks up, he realizes that Iruka is crying, too. Tears coat his long eyelashes and stream down from his chocolate brown eyes.

“Of course, Kakashi. You deserve it.”

The reassurance only makes Kakashi cry even harder.

So, they sit there for a few more hours, crying together and holding hands on Kakashi’s bedroom floor before eventually tumbling into Kakashi’s bed with puffy eyes and bright red cheeks. 

When Kakashi wakes up in the morning, he’s disappointed to find the bed empty- that is until he rolls over and sees a note on the nightstand in what he recognizes as Iruka’s soft, slanted handwriting. 

‘Good morning, Kakashi. Hope you slept well. 

I had to go to work at the academy this morning, but I got you breakfast. It’s on the kitchen counter for whenever you get up and decide you want it. If you don’t eat in the mornings or something, though, you can put it in the fridge and save it for later.

Come by mine for dinner if you aren’t busy, around 5pm if that works for you.

Have a good day. I love you.

-Iruka’

Kakashi smiles and folds the note, tucking it into the top drawer of his nightstand. Then, he gets up and looks at the clock. It’s just past 10AM and he has nothing to do that day until his plans with Iruka, so…

Maybe he should bring Iruka lunch at work.

[innocentimouto]

Something about Kakashi telling a 12 yo genocide survivor things like "Let it go", "Calm down", "Forget about revenge" with a derogatory tone as if Sasuke is wrong to feel anger really ticks me off. Did he really think that 5 mins sad excuse of a heart-to-heart conversation going to dissuade him from the goal of his life?

Honestly I would be down for talking about how Kakashi's trauma and childhood and depression greatly affected him if people would start acknowledging he was not the best teacher.

And even if you were, it's still training children to kill and to sacrifice everything to serve the government. So it's kind of hard to be a good teacher anyway.

But yeah, I hate that scene. I hate it even more when they run into each other years later and he thinks how far Sasuke has fallen and I'm like---

you didn't even try. Naruto was a dumb kid who wanted attention and recognition, so we can kind of excuse how he didn't care at all about what Sasuke wanted back then and only focused on keeping Sasuke in the village so he can keep his rival.

But Kakashi knew Orichimaru wanted Sasuke. He knew Sasuke just went up against someone that defeated Kakashi himself. He knew Itachi killed the Uchiha clan.

Kakashi should have done more. The scene was like Sasuke was a grown adult and would only tolerate some words or that they've been trying to convince Sasuke for so long. They never tried. They didn't even know. Naruto spends more time with his talk-no-justsu to villains than trying to understand Sasuke.

But I get it. Shounen anime and Naruto needed a rival and a goal. Being Hokage was more of a statement than anything. Naruto never studied for it, never had moments of thinking he needs to see other lands to understand the role of a leader, never thought to learn about the previous hokagas

HAH

So it had to happen. And sometimes when things HAVE to happen they aren't written the best. But I will say this was pretty good. It's understandable why Sasuke left. It's understandable Kakashi barely tried at all.

I hate Kakashi's lack of effort, but I wouldn't say the writing was bad.

[panharmonium]

old bookends!au meta that i typed up in a frenzy one night during our last rewatch and then never posted because things disappear in my drafts, but i’m cleaning them out today

under the cut because it’s really only relevant to padmerrie 🙃

“I LOANED IT TO YOU THREE YEARS AGO!!!!!”

this whole sequence is reminding me of a recurring bookends thought i often have which is just that kakashi actually allowing himself to have fights with people who aren’t obito is kind of a big thing for him and a sign that’s he’s (still!) getting better all the time

like - i imagine that bookends!kakashi in the aftermath of obito disappearing goes through a long isolationist period because:

a) he can barely keep his head above water as is and he does not have the time or energy or brainspace for anything that isn’t keeping a child alive and semi-well-adjusted (always at kakashi’s own expense in those early years, because preventing sasuke from becoming “like him” and suffering “like that” is the reason he’s running up that hill, to the point where it’s just.  bad for his own personal and emotional well-being but simultaneously a necessary sacrifice that he doesn’t regret and that sasuke will someday recognize for the herculean lifesaving choice that it was) 

and b) he’s reeling from the fact that the person who rewired his worldview and taught him to love/trust people abandoned him and left him to drown, and at some point, you know, the lesson about not relying on anyone else sinks in, for a kid whose father killed himself right where little kakashi would find the body, for someone who then grew up in a system of state “care” and fled from it when his one possible way out (minato) was murdered for the entire country to see, who survived on his own and never had anybody to take care of him ever and then got burned by the one person who ever convinced him to give human connections a try again despite all of that - if that person could do him like this, then how is he supposed to trust anybody else to have his back? 

if kakashi can’t count on obito, he can’t count on anybody.  the stakes are too high here.  sasuke is too important.  kakashi can’t rely on anyone to Save the Child (read: to prevent the creation of another kid with kakashi’s own brand of trauma) except himself.  anyone else is too much of a risk, and he literally does not have the brainspace for "friends” just now.  

and then, a little later, when he’s starting to come out of his shell and reconnect with old friends (yamato gai etc) and make new friends for the first time in ages (iruka), he’s still not letting himself be totally free with them, either, because kakashi, as we know, internalizes everything and carries the weight of the past on his back even when the guilt isn’t his to claim, so there is this subconscious piece of him that remembers the last time he lost a friend and is still half-convinced that he was the one responsible for obito disappearing on him (no), and we know kakashi already has this underlying streak of thinking he’s intrinsically less worthy than everyone else, he’s hard to love, it’s hard to be his friend, he’s the trash and other people are the trash collectors cleaning him up and making him better.  so he doesn’t let himself be his full authentic self with his new connections either, because that would mean he’d have to have feelings and needs and maybe he would even get sad or upset or angry sometimes, and you can’t DO things like that when there’s no room for error in your life, when every little thing you do might torpedo the tiny bit of stability you’ve cobbled together for yourself, when every little mistake you make might destroy the relationships you’ve started building.  

he holds himself to an impossible, inhumane standard, because that’s what he’s always had to do to survive, and his relationships are stunted as a result, because it’s hard to be deep, true friends with a person who’s always wearing a mask, even if said person is doing it to (supposedly) make things easier for you.  and it’s hardly fair to the people currently around him, who would never begrudge him his bad days or condemn him for a less-than-proud moment, who would never reject him because he once expressed himself poorly or reacted to being hurt.  him withholding those parts of himself is a trust problem on his end, and even though it’s wholly understandable, it impairs his relationships for years.  (like - people like gai and yamato have known kakashi long enough to know when he’s doing this, and while gai possesses an impressive level of immunity to kakashi’s behavior, yamato is always second-guessing himself, because if someone is supposed to be your friend, and then they don’t actually trust you to, you know, be their friend, it’s like - “what am i doing wrong?”  it’s a constant reminder that you aren’t the intimate friend you want to be, that they won’t let you close that distance, and you have to wonder what is it about you that makes you not enough.)

so i love this image of kakashi, several years on, being for once SO delightfully unrestrained, so quick to speak up when something pisses him off, so ready to risk having the fight.  he’s spent so much time swallowing his own feelings and putting his own needs aside and never letting himself be visibly angry or upset about anything (because anger takes energy, anger distracts you from surviving, anger makes you a less effective caregiver [especially to a very angry kid], and if you let yourself be angry about one thing you might suddenly realize that you are angry about a LOT of things, and that will open up a can of worms you can’t repack), so him actually allowing himself to get mad and have a stupid fight with someone who isn’t obito (without expecting said person to bail on him like obito) is like when you see a little crocus nub clawing its way out of the snow and you’re like “oh!  that plant isn’t dead after all!  look at him go!  look at him grow!”

[silverstarlightwrites]

An alternate AU to this one that occurred to me just now

Team Seven take the mission to the Land of Waves. On the bridge, they fight Zabuza and Haku.

On the bridge, Naruto dies.

Something in Sasuke breaks, and he goes berserk. Haku and their ice mirrors scream as they flashboil in the black flames Sasuke summons forth, and it takes only a howl and a wild gesture to send Amaterasu blazing across the bridge to consume Zabuza and Tazuna as well. The stone melts underneath them, while Kakashi snatches up Sakura and flees, and it’s not until Sasuke feels the weight of wet clothes - crushing Naruto’s body to his chest, bloody and so absurdly hot - that he realises the bridge has disintegrated, and the water is burning.

It’s instinct and desperation that let Sasuke to douse the fires he’s conjured, and even then it aches and tastes like blood and acid, and he’s sinking when Kakashi whips across the surface to catch him, the moment the flames are gone.

Sasuke cries into Naruto’s chest, and refuses to let go. Sakura is cold and silent, and she neither speaks nor eats for the grim, slow trek back to Konoha. And it is slow, even further drawn out by the constant fluctuation of chakra from Naruto’s corpse, carried awkwardly and painfully by Sasuke alone.

It’s not Naruto’s chakra, of course. Kakashi dreads the inevitable questions, resolves not to lie when they come, and somehow their absence is even worse.

The moment they walk through the southern Konoha gate, there are Anbu all over them. They pry Naruto’s body from Sasuke’s arms, despite his shouting and kunai, despite the way Sasuke’s eyes ignite into blood red to fight-- But he doesn’t summon Amaterasu again, doesn’t expend the chakra he doesn’t have to try and kill their own. Sakura touches his shoulder, just two fingers, and her face is pale and hollow when she shakes her head, but it’s still more interaction than she’s allowed for the whole trip, and Sasuke obeys her. Blinks his eyes black, slumps in place, and then sags against Sakura.

She catches him, and he’s shaking, and she stares over his shoulder, unblinking, at the Anbu wrapping Naruto’s corpse in chakra-absorbing paper scrawled endlessly with Seals.

Kakashi isn’t sure what she sees, and he isn’t sure he wants to know.

One Anbu stays behind, and they instruct the gutted remains of Team Seven that the Hokage wants to see them. Kakashi can’t bring himself to intervene when Sasuke snarls and lunges, or when Sakura lets him. Doesn’t step in when Sasuke tells them to Fuck Off or when he punches them weakly in the chest - and the Anbu clearly thinks he’s simply not going to get involved, because when they try to catch Sasuke’s wrist they aren’t expecting Kakashi to move. Too fast to be safe, too fast for the chakra use not to burn.

Sasuke leans back into Kakashi as the Anbu trips, and Kakashi feels himself close his hands on Sasuke’s shoulders. “Don’t touch my kids,” he hears himself hiss, and if he doesn’t quite know when he accepted them as his then he doesn’t quite care either.

One of them is dead, and they won’t be permitted to mourn him properly because of the beast caged inside him without his knowledge.

The thought makes Kakashi sick. It all does, all of it. Konoha’s abuse of an innocent child, Kakashi’s complicitness in allowing it to happen. Hiruzen’s cruelty in allowing it also.

In allowing all of it.

Sasuke has lost enough.

The Anbu doesn’t need telling twice, and they leave Kakashi to cajole his kids into seeing Hiruzen. It takes more effort than he’d care to admit. Just physically, the three of them are a wreck - and it’s worse emotionally. Mentally.

“You let them take him.”

It’s the first thing Sakura has said since Naruto died - in a burst of blood and scarlet chakra - and Kakashi suddenly thinks he’s never felt anything so cold as her voice. When he meets her gaze, it’s like drowning.

“I had to. The Hokage will explain.” Because Kakashi is bound not to. By an oath that maybe he shouldn’t have taken, by a promise extracted by force. Why shouldn’t he tell them?

He doesn’t, of course. He scoops Sasuke up, and despises that Sasuke simply allows it, and offers Sakura a hand as they start walking. Sakura ignores it, striding ahead with her back too stiff and her hands clenched too tight. The walk to the Hokage Tower, while significantly shorter, is the same as the trip from Waves to Konoha.

Hiruzen ushers them into his office, tearful, and Sasuke struggles stiffly out of Kakashi’s grip. Red flickers and whorls through his eyes, and it’s impossible to know if he’s fighting to ignite his Sharingan or if he’s fighting not to.

“I’m sorry.” It’s low and mournful and wet. It’s insulting.

Sakura snaps. She flies into a rage, screaming obscenities. Her teammate is dead, and she’s never experienced loss like this before, and gods but she watched it happen, and no pitiful, pathetic ‘I’m sorry’ can ever undo that. That Hiruzen even tries sends her over the edge.

Nobody stops her. By the time she burns out, the office is torn apart, papers scattered everywhere and the desk overturned. Sakura has scratched her nails bloody against the woodwork. When she collapses to the floor and howls, Sasuke finally approaches her, sinks to her level, and wraps his arms around her.

Perhaps he understands, then. Perhaps a hug - so tight as Sakura clings back that it may be the only thing holding her together - is all he wanted after the horror of his clan’s slaughter.

Kakashi catches himself wondering if Sasuke ever got that hug, but he knows the answer.

Of course he didn’t.

Hiruzen explains to them what a Jinchuriki is. He explains the basic concept of a Bijuu, and gives them a short summary of the Nine-Tails. They take it blankly, too much to process over the top of their raw grief, but they look to Kakashi as if searching for confirmation and Kakashi nods. Tells them it’s true.

And then, because it’s not enough, it’s pathetic an explanation, he hears himself continue.

Because “He deserved better. We failed him.” Hears it spin, feels more than sees the way Sasuke and Sakura twitch and shrink, and then corrects himself. His own voice is like tar in his throat.

“You failed him.”

Sasuke and Sakura follow him out of Hiruzen’s office, and Hiruzen doesn’t try to stop them.

Kakashi sets the pack to watch them when they all end up at the war memorial. It wasn’t exactly a decision to go there, of course, but it never really is. All eight ninken are there already when they arrive, and they encourage Sakura and Sasuke to collapse and curl up with them, but Kakashi resists. He has something else to do.

And it’s dark by the time he comes back, his kids and his pack all bundled up in his far-too-tiny apartment, but he wakes them all the same. Demanding Naruto’s body back hadn’t been easy or clean, and the results of the chakra-draining done to preserve as much of the stray Nine-Tails chakra bleeding out of where it had torn free upon Naruto’s death is... messy.

Naruto’s body stays wrapped up the way Kakashi walked out of the Anbu Blue Vault with it. Only his head is visible, and his hair is knotted and matted with blood and oil, but it doesn’t stop Sakura from running her hands through it, or Sasuke from laying his head against Naruto’s chest.

Not enough people come to Naruto’s funeral. The whole fucking Village should mourn him, the child who protected them from the Nine-Tails for his entire, short life. His loss should have been overwhelming - it should have brought all of Konoha to a fucking stop.

But it doesn’t. Umino Iruka attends, and he’s quiet but he weeps ceaselessly the whole day. Sakura and Sasuke seem to welcome his presence, so Kakashi doesn’t nothing to discourage it.

Hiruzen shows up, perhaps halfway through. It takes all of Kakashi’s still-wan strength to hold Sakura back from trying to maul him, and Sasuke doesn’t fight one way or another when he lights up his Sharingan at the Hokage’s approach.

“Go. Away,” Sasuke snarls at him, and for just a moment it seems like Hiruzen might scold the boy, who’s been stripped of his family in half a dozen different ways, over and over again, as if he’s expressing his grief incorrectly, and that moment is all it takes for Kakashi to speak over all of them.

It’s the voice he used as the Hound. He hasn’t heard it for years. “You should go, Hokage-sama. You don’t want to make me choose a side here.”

Because Kakashi is loathe to fight Konoha at all, let alone its leader, but he knows without a doubt that he will. For Sasuke. For Sakura. If ever the decision must be made, Kakashi knows he will turn on Hiruzen in an instant if it would protect his kids from ending up like him.

Konoha would not make a broken blade out of Sasuke. It would not strip Sakura of her soul.

Orochimaru comes. He seeks out Sasuke, and the power he offers is too tempting for Sasuke to pass up - but he refuses to sneak away in the dead of night. Team Seven’s progress has halted in the aftermath of Naruto’s death; Hiruzen has tried several times to full the gap in their unit, but Sakura and Sasuke vehemently refuse to accept one, and Kakashi does not make them. He will not.

Naruto cannot be replaced. The gap can never be sufficiently filled.

And so comes the morning that Sasuke asks for their company in leaving. He’s been suffocating under Konoha’s weight for a long time, Kakashi realises that morning, and he’s finally reached his limit. Kakashi doesn’t try to talk him out of it; he won’t succeed. There’s no point. Revenge has been his motivation for so long that Sasuke will never quite learn how to give it up, and now he has so much more for which to seek vengeance.

It will only be Itachi first. After that, all of Konoha is culpable for Naruto’s death, and the endless suffering he endured before it. Kakashi is not fool enough to think he can change Sasuke’s mind.

Sakura agrees on the spot. She’s unrecognisable from the bubbly genin Kakashi took custody of from the Academy. She’s gaunt and messy and angry, and she’s forsaken her friends in order to follow Sasuke into the dark. She’s clinging to him, ferociously, in a different way than she’d tried to before.

She’s clinging to Sasuke the same way Kakashi had clung to Rin - how Rin had clung right back - after Obito’s death. Sasuke is her constant, her reassurance that Naruto’s absence won’t just be for nothing, that someone is going to pay for it. That she’s going to help make that happen.

You don’t want to make me choose a side, Kakashi had told Hiruzen, as if they were words of fucking prophecy. Because here are his kids, minds made up, choosing a side that Kakashi would rather flay himself than join - and yet, here he is too, and he knows already he’s going to go with them.

Choosing against Konoha tastes like ozone and fear and self-loathing, but choosing against Sasuke and Sakura is unconscionable. Even this, even this, Kakashi will do. Watching them die is a terror that keeps him up at night, a nightmare with its hands around Kakashi’s throat, a dread that’s getting ever colder. That this might lead to that outcome takes his breath away.

But the thought of not being there is even worse. Konoha forsook Sasuke when his family was wiped out, and Konoha forsook them both once again when they came home bloodied and shattered. Konoha has gone on the same as always, as if nothing even happened, and it always has when the whole world was supposed to shatter and didn’t - with Obito’s eye in Kakashi’s skull and Rin’s blood on Kakashi’s hands - and that truth does absolutely nothing to stay Sasuke’s hatred or Sakura’s wrath. They are young and angry and wounded, and there is no words Kakashi can say that will convince them to reject the power on offer, no matter how dangerous and untrustworthy the source may be.

And he refuses to let them do this alone. Everyone will want their heads, but Kakashi has fought and killed the best of them, and if - in the end - his only purpose is to protect his remaining kids, where he failed to protect the third, then perhaps the Hound yet serves a purpose still.

So Kakashi selects a kunai, and helps them score through their Konoha hitai-ite, and lets them lead him into hell.

[agoddamn]

Completely agree with your Sakura was done dirty posts, such wasted potential. Hope you don't mind me asking, but is there any other things you wish you could have seen with the other main girls? Either in story development or in a 'jiujitsu Sakura' way?

Springboarding off Sakura (because I have been thinking about this for nearly twenty years), I think that after her Ino fight in the chuunin exams she could have really used a Konohamaru-type kid apprentice to help her character continue growing.

With Sakura's self-consciousness, it seems pretty legit to me that she'd have a much easier time telling someone else "you don't have to hide yourself!" rather than telling herself "I don't have to hide myself!" It would also jive well with some of her other narrative issues by rounding out her miniature supporting cast and giving her compassion a way to be expressed other than the Sasuke obsession.

I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with making a female character a nurturing, kind person, but you need to actually do that and not just go "well she's in love with a man, which is what women are supposed to do." In Naruto as it is, it feels more like it was written as "she's kind in service to her role of loving Sasuke."

I'd also like Tenten to do fucking anything. In a fistfighting manga, being a weapon specialist actually nerfs you...

Hell, you could even kill two birds with one stone and have Tenten suffer some major personal upheaval and have her be the person Sakura counsels/bonds with. You lose the mentoring angle, but the cast stays trim and the whole younger-guiding-older inversion is cute. As much as I don't want to relegate her to being Sakura's pet project, "cool girl loses faith in herself and then gets her groove back" is a fine plot and most importantly it would actually give her something to do.

Hinata...ah, I've been in the Women in Refrigerators trenches from the beginning but she probably should have died. I've heard a rumor that she was planned to die and Kishimoto changed the casualty to Neji when he decided to make NaruHina endgame. Not sure how true it is, but the story does feel like it was setting up for that. Neji narratively and materially had more shit to do; Hinata's debut as "shy girl with a crush who gains self-confidence" was just a softer version of Sakura's arc in the first place.

Killing Hinata would also give you more potential angles with Team Kurenai; Gai already has a fair few character hooks with Kakashi's rivalry, his self-sacrifice complex, his bond with Lee, and his taijutsu/hard work focus. Kurenai is...Asuma's waifu and then Asuma's mourner/baby momma lol genjutsu is criminally underused in Naruto in the first place thanks to the Sharingan existing; Kurenai needs something to fucking do.

Killing Hinata seems harsh, but tearing Team 8 apart rather than Team Gai lets you put Kurenai in the coveted "everyone I love dies" angst spotlight. You could even shake things up and have her seek out a connection with Neji as she mourns Hinata; what did Kurenai think about the whole Hyuuga family thing, anyway? Would Neji feel like a cheap replacement? Or would he recognize an honest connection? (And he's not a girl, but Shino is probably the most ignored male Konoha genin. He'd benefit from more chances for characterization, too. Always liked him.)

Ino should have been the default InoShikaCho leader over Shikamaru. She just seems a lot better with people, you know? I also always wanted to see more about her family's involvement with the Torture & Interrogation department--how the hell does that get glazed over? Her mindwalk art has some insanely dark potential. Maybe her relationship with Sakura in Shippuden gains some tension back after they reconciled at the chuunin exams because Sakura starts seeing more darkness in her as she's trained to follow in her father's footsteps?

If anyone in the main cast is gonna buy into Danzo's authoritarian rule to any degree, it's gonna be the fucking Torture & Interrogation department. I don't know that she should fully side with him (though if Sasuke gets to declare war on the village and still get welcomed back the girls should also get to do war crimes a little, as a treat), but I feel like with a father in T&I she'd be most likely to agree with "the end justifies the means."

Also she should kiss Sakura.

[captnjacksparrow]

I loved your post about Naruto's deflecting and his internalized homophobia. I was thinking about that scene (I don't know if you already mentioned it in one of your posts) where Naruto is giving his pity to a dead former jinchuriki who looked like a kid, saying that he was so young he surely didn't even get to kiss a girl, and then Kurama mocks him about his kiss with Sasuke and Naruto acted disgusted. The antis like to point that scene to say that Naruto didn't feel anything for Sasuke, but the first time I saw that scene I thought Naruto's reaction was exagerated and out of place (even Kurama said he was over-reacting) and I think this scene is just another one to add to the list of the times he tried to deny his feelings for Sasuke. (Also he could have just mentioned it was an accident and that it didn't count)

Oh!! Since I focused only on Naruto and Sakura Bond.... I didn't focus on that scene.

Kurama mocks him about his kiss with Sasuke and Naruto acted disgusted. The antis like to point that scene to say that Naruto didn't feel anything for Sasuke, but the first time I saw that scene I thought Naruto's reaction was exaggerated and out of place

LOL.... Atleast you were weirded out by his reaction, Anon.... I got weirded out by the Topic itself.... 

I just paused that scene in this moment...

And I just questioned myself... “Why is he bringing the topic of Kiss from a Girl in the first place, when he himself has not got one??”

I got reminded of this scene from a Comedy movie named The 40 Year Old Virgin (2005)... [Link]

In that Scene, The Protagonist was playing poker game with his friends and every time someone loses they have to share their past sexual exploits.. Since our Hero is the filtered Virgin even at his age 40, instead of telling them the truth he started to exaggerate “everything” like he usually saw in his Porn.. LOL....

And his friends eventually found out that he is a Virgin because his words were all just some made up bull shit.... And the funny part is that before realizing that he was a Virgin, one of his friends will ask him, “Are you Gay?”....... ROFL....

Do watch the 3.5 minute short clip from the Youtube I’ve attached above....

So, What gives???

This is a Gay Trope..... 

A Man who voluntarily lies about having some wild experience with a women must have 2 reasons.... He must be a Gay or He must be a Virgin

Similarly Naruto voluntarily bringing up a Kiss from a Girl is because either 

He wanted to mask that he is Gay 

or 

He wanted to show off that he has a Kissing experience with a Girl.

But Luckily, Our Bubble hearted Kurama called out Naruto by mentioning both the above mentioned reasons... That he kissed a Boy and He has no kissing Experience with a Girl.

And I was so naive to not think about the possibility that Naruto might be Gay, on my first watch, even though I was able to connect this scene with that Movie Clip. 

Man!!!! His reaction was over exaggerated for such a simple topic that he himself brought on. 

Which brings me to this scene...

You know, when I watched this for the first time... I thought.... “Why Naruto is getting grossed out by Kakashi’s words??? There’s nothing wrong or creepy in his Words”

Tell me.... Until Naruto got grossed out... Did any any of us felt creeped out???

It’s only after Kakashi told this line, “I didn’t mean it like that...”, I understood that Naruto took it in ‘that way’..... 

But still my question is, Why Naruto took Kakashi’s words in ‘that way’?? It would have made sense, If Sakura got grossed out by Kakashi’s words... for obvious reasons. But why Naruto??? 

And there is another Gay Trope which is related to this...

Am not saying Naruto is openly Homophobic..... Otherwise, he wouldn’t have said this,

Here Naruto is not romanticizing them... but atleast he has enough emotional perception to understand that Haku (a boy) liked/loved Zabuza (a man) enough to sacrifice his own life.

But Naruto is in deep denial for sure.... And that makes him somewhat of a Closeted Jock.

Which leads me to this beautiful saying,

“The lady doth protest too much, methinks”

Meaning,  It’s a cynical, ironic, somewhat sarcastic comment about someone overdoing a denial, suggesting that they are, indeed, to some degree guilty.

The phrase is used in everyday speech to indicate doubt of someone's sincerity, especially regarding the truth of a strong denial.

And counting the above two incidents, there are two other times Naruto over reacted for small things related to having some ‘unusual’ incidents with Men. Namely, Sasuke on Sai Jutsu and Onsen Bath. 

One or Two times are fine.... But 4 times???

“Naruto doth protest too much, methinks”

[depressedhatakekakashi]

1 (looking at T*birama), 3, 8, 13, 16, 21, 22 & 23 for the asking game :3

(I also chose violence today)

the character everyone gets wrong

For Tobirama i just wish people would stop acting like he doesn’t have problems. It’s fine to like a character because you think they’re cool (a lot of people like Madara as well) but let’s not act all surprised when you realize that people hate that character for very valid reason’s (making lots of jutsu’s doesn’t make up for being a ninja racist/hateful jerkwad)

Also, everything people credit him with making in the village to ‘prove he’s the best hokage’ are things that were wrong with the system or other’s made better. Chunin exam (kids fighting kids. Wrong!), acadamy (good idea but kakashi and Iruka made it better by extending it to other’s so they could learn shinobi skills without expecting to become shinobi), Police force (making one entire clan the one’s in charge of a police force is NEVER a good idea. It does not show ‘trust’ it show’s that he thought they could only be useful to the village in one area)

screenshot or description of the worst take you've seen on tumblr

Ohhh there’s so many.

Right now i’m going to have to go with ‘Hinata didn’t care about her sister and was only on the mission because of Naruto’. Hinata love’s her sister and was trying to rescue her. She cared deeply about her sister and her being caught off guard by Naruto’s confession doesn’t wash that away. It means she was caught off guard

‘Oh but naruto said-‘

Yes, and Hinata’s not caught off guard by ‘we need to rescue hinabi’ because that’s why they’re there. She doesn’t need to be told why they’re there. She was on the moon and almost married a creep to try and get close to her sister and save her

Thinking about naruto in her dreams doesn’t damn her. We literally do not control our dreams and at this point she at least knows her sister is alive and she is actively trying to do something to save her

Stop shitting on my girl for her crush jfc

common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

Kakashi didn’t care about Sakura/Didn’t teach her anything

Tell me you didn’t read the manga without telling me you didn’t read the manga. Sakura is not the main character so if she’s not in the scene her development takes a back seat to Naruto’s, but Kishi constantly writes throughout the story about how much Kakashi cares about all of his students. He notices Sakura’s skill with chakra control, he teaches her the Qi release, he protects her throughout the war arc (which is an act of PLATONIC LOVE).

worst blorboficiation

You know what, Tobirama. Since we went over this

Love your man but stop acting like he isn’t a hateful douch canoe

you can't understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

Perfect good at everything Sakura. Hate it.

But ok i’ll choose another one. Bottom Kakashi. And i choose this specificlly because i’ve had people come at me for daring to not ship him exclusively as a bottom. 1) we have no idea of Kakashi’s canon sexual preference so it’s fair game all ways. I scroll past ‘pillow princess kakashi’ content you scroll past mine and leave me tf alone 2) it is ILLIGAL to talk about what a nice ass character’s like Obito and Gai have, and then not let Kakashi fuck them. That’s rude. 3) kakashi doesn’t ‘need to let lose and let someone else be in control’. That’s not even what being a bottom is. He can be the sub and still top his partner ffs

part of canon you think is overhyped

Pein arc. Honestly the only thing i would change is have Naruto actually use Kakashi’s number one lesson to him. Team work.

Also i’d have Iruka make the sacrifice to save Naruto, not Hinata. Hinata was beautiful and her reason’s were solid, but Iruka jumping in to protect Naruto would be beautiful. He’d still get his ass kicked but Naruto losing his cool would make so much more sense because we know how important Iruka is to him.

Also, that little part where Kakashi and Sasuke face off. I think i’d want the fight to be a wee bit longer, and for Kakashi to acknowledge danzo’s death and flat out tell Sasuke he does not care. Man did not give a shit about Danzo and he was not there at all because Sasuke ‘killed the hokage’. In fact, for Kakashi that was probably a gift because he clearly didn’t respect danzo since he fucked off out of the village when it was against the law to,

your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

Ohhh that’s hard to choose.

Maybe…. Kakashi turning away from Tsunade trying to give him a mission and walking away to go try and save Naruto and Sasuke.

A lot of people like to act like Kakashi only cared about Sasuke, but he clearly was willing to ignore the Hokage for both of his students and felt responsible for what happened even though it wasn’t his fault. Like the only thing he could have done was stayed behind so the sound four never got to Sasuke, but that would also involve ignoring hokage’s order’s and not going out on a mission

Oh, also him telling Jiraiya off for teaching Naruto the rasangan and telling him to talk to him about using it against friends. People constantly get on his case about chatting with Sasuke about trying to use Chidori on Naruto, but then conveniently forget he was trying to hold jiraiya responsible (it was jiraiya’s responsibility to talk to Naruto at that point. He’d told Kakashi to let him care for Naruto’s training so it was his job to ensure Naruto wasn’t using rasangan against friends)

Oh and JIRAIYA TELLING KAKASHI TO LET HIM TAKE CARE OF TRAINING NARUTO. People act like Kakashi just chose to focus on Sasuke cuz favoritism and ignore that he was being pulled two ways (between sasuke and naruto) until Jiraiya stepped in and told him to focus on Sasuke,

ship you've unwillingly come around to

Other than Yamato and gai (which i’m still meh on) i haven’t really ‘come around’ to any ship.

[dayseternal-blog]

Hi days! I know you're the best person to go to for some NH fic recommendations. Can you share with us really angsty NH fics? I've read White Lillies, that amount of angst is revitalizing I LOVE IT!!! big thanks!!!

HELLO

For how fluffy NaruHina is, there SURE ARE A LOT of shippers who LOVE NARUHINA ANGST.  I’ve been asked for angst recs far more than any other type????

I will now compile every angst fic rec I’ve ever made into one long list.  (folks can see if there’s anything I’ve missed 🤓)

NARUHINA ANGST

“A Place In The Sun” by ihaveastorminme - Rated M for smut and depictions of violence, Canon-Divergent, Multi-chapter, Incomplete.  Naruto realizes that he’s not enough to love her.  He’s not enough to save her, either.

“A Fate Worse than Death” by Caelestia - Rated M for smut, ABO Canon-Divergent, One-shot.  Naruto, improperly socialized and traumatized as a child, rejects his inner Alpha, which has devastating consequences on his family and marriage.  “A Risky Bet” is its fluffier follow-up.

“Girl No 10″ by meeiwen - Rated M, Modern AU, Multi-chapter, Complete. Naruto makes a mistake with a dancer one drunk night.  Years later when he meets her again, he begins realizing his perfect life is a lie, but he’s too late to fix it. Angst if you want to know what dying feels like warning.

“if this is love (why does it hurt?)” by ClairvoyantDreamer1011 - Rated M, Friends with benefits Canon-Divergent, Multi-chapter, Incomplete. Hinata knew many things about Naruto Uzumaki. She knew that his heated glances meant ‘I want you’; that lingering touches whispered 'please’, and that the sight of his back to her screamed 'leave’. But she couldn’t tell you what they were to each other for the life of her.

“If You Said You Loved Me” by destiny’s sweet melody - Rated T, Canon-Divergent, One-shot.  Naruto begins to realize he took her feelings for granted and now he’s too late.

“The Ring that Binds” by softwind - Rated M, Canon-Divergent, Multi-chapter, Incomplete.  Naruto and Hinata are married.  So why is Naruto calling “Sakura” in his sleep?

“Why would innocent little Hinata be out dressed like that?” (One-shot) and its follow-up “On Any Given Day” (Long One-Shot) by @utsus - Rated T, Canon-Divergent. Hinata tries to move on from Naruto, right when he realizes he wants to keep her.

“For the Future” by @utsus - Rated T, Canon-Divergent, Multi-chapter, Complete. Hinata understands this better than anyone else. Naruto is easy to love.  (I actually just hate the ending a lot.  That’s what puts this on the list).

“Gilded Butterflies” by Kid Crisis - Rated M for depictions of violence, Modern AU, Multi-chapter, Incomplete. Tenshi, beautiful prostitute of the Villa, realized from a very young age that people seem to do nothing but empty her, and not even Naruto seems capable of convincing her otherwise.

“Serenity Prayer” by @katarinahime - Rated M for smut, substance abuse, PTSD, and depictions of domestic violence and non-con, Modern AU, Multi-chapter, Incomplete. When their fairytale endings smash to ugly pieces, Hinata and Naruto help put each other back together.

“Common Side Effects” (Naruto’s POV) by @katarinahime & “Medicated” (Hinata’s POV) by @szajnie - Rated E for smut, substance abuse, mental illness, and depictions of violence, self-harm, and attempted suicide, Crime/Modern AU, Multi-chapter, Incomplete. Naruto and Hinata, in a struggling relationship, must confront the pain inside before they can love each other.

“In Another Life” by theGeneralissimo - Rated T, Canon-Divergent, Multi-chapter, Complete. In which Naruto listens to his mother’s advice and marries a girl like her. And lives to regret it.

“Mistake” by Cherry1315 - Rated T, Canon-Divergent, Multi-chapter, Incomplete. Naruto falls apart, and, unfortunately, Hinata has to pick up the pieces.

“Until the Day I Love” by BluBlooThalassophile - Rated M, Canon-Divergent, Multi-chapter, Incomplete. Everyone is recovering from the war.

“Hidden From Sunlight” by @bunny-hoodlum - Rated T, Canon-Divergent, Multi-chapter, Incomplete. How different could Naruto’s life be when the girl that seemed 'barely around’ is truly hardly around at all?

“Powerless” by @bunny-hoodlum - Rated M for depictions of violence and character death, Mystery/Crime High School/Modern AU, Multi-chapter, Incomplete. His family’s past can’t be taken at face-value, and it comes clawing back to hurt him in ways that are out of his control. DELETED FIC.

“21 Days” by @bunny-hoodlum - Rated E includes dub-con, Modern AU, Multi-chapter, Incomplete. Anonymous internet friends decide to meet up IRL and give each other their first times.

“April - Too Late/Missed Opportunities” from “Still Falling for You” by @chloelapomme - Rated T, College/Modern AU, One-shot. After her 3 years away for college, Naruto decides to confess.

“June - Honor/Sacrifice” from “Still Falling for You” by @chloelapomme - Rated T, Modern AU, Multi-chapter, Complete. Naruto marries Hinata, the girl of his dreams.  If only she loved him back.

“you totally almost killed me that one time (it’s okay I still love you)” by @itachiboutit - Rated G, High School AU, Multi-chapter, Complete.  Naruto, a promising baseball player, returns to Konoha Prep, and, without so much as even a “long time no see,” hits a ball into Hinata’s face. (This isn’t really angsty…but I get really upset in Ch. 4 and cry a lot every time.)

“Because I Love You” aka “Arranged Marriage AU Take 2″ (Same fic) by @magmawrites - Rated T, Canon-Divergent, One-shot. A canon divergent fic in which The Last never happened and Hinata Hyuga was promised to another.

“Asylum AU” from “Tales of Two Ninjas” by @magmawrites - Rated M, Modern AU, One-shot. What’s to say what’s real and what isn’t? The only thing that’s valid and true in all universes is their love for one another.

“Dreaming of AU” from “Tales of Two Ninjas” by @magmawrites - Rated M for implied suicide, Modern AU, One-shot. Naruto dreams of her. He grows to love her. Dreams are nice. Too bad reality is a nightmare. (Most likely a continuation of the Asylum AU.)

“Memory Loss AU” from “Tales of Two Ninjas” by @magmawrites - Rated M, Amnesia Canon-Divergent AU, One-shot. I LOVE YOU. Will I ever hear those words from your lips again?

“The Path We Walk” by @tenney-shoes - Rated T, Amnesia Canon-Divergent AU, Multi-chapter, Complete. With his memory of the past five years missing, Naruto never expected to be married to Hinata, and now he must navigate through the maze that is their life together with no memory of how he got there.

“Easier For Me” by @tenney-shoes - Rated T, Amnesia Canon-Divergent AU, Two-shot, Complete. How will Hinata handle waking up with no memory of how she got there?

“My Escape” by @marimare-writes - Rated T, Amnesia Canon-Divergent AU, Multi-chapter, Incomplete. Naruto wakes up from a coma with no recollection of life after graduating the Academy. Hinata, anxious and with a secret that will change both of their lives, struggles with what to do.

“Consolation Prize: Through Her Distorted Mirror” by mysterious intentions - Rated T, Canon-Divergent, Multi-chapter, Incomplete.  Her love is taken lightly, as if her heart could change so easily.

“Good Luck” By LovelyLori - Rated T, Flowers/Ballet AU, Two-Shot, Complete. A Japanese ballet company arrives in Naruto’s town.  Can love transcend language barriers? (I spent HOURS looking for this one, it totally breaks my heart.)

“On the outside looking in” by @char-lotteral - Rated E for smut, Modern AU, Multi-chapter, Incomplete. Naruto’s in love with his best friend’s girlfriend fiancee.  And he’s not moving on.

“Sincerely, Uzumaki Naruto” by @bkgsbby​ - Rated T, Modern AU, Multi-chapter, Ongoing. After his wife leaves him a week after giving birth to their son, Naruto moves back to Konoha. He adjusts to life as a single father, with the help of his friends and surprisingly, his old crush.

“Road to Redemption” by averagejane497 - Rated T, Canon-Divergent, Multi-chapter, Complete. Naruto’s made a lot of mistakes in his life, especially concerning the women he loves. Maybe this time he can get it right.

“You’re the One” by AnimeloverNUMBA100 - Rated T, Canon-Divergent, Multi-chapter, Complete. After 4 desperate years, Hinata finally asked Naruto out. He decides to give her a chance, but his feelings for Sakura has never faded. Hinata is slowly losing hope as time goes on…and she soon chooses to leave him.

Untitled by @randomprose - Rated G, Canon-Divergent, One-shot. Prompt: Hinata finds out that Naruto told Minato that Sakura is his girlfriend.

“Jitters” by ncfan - Rated T, Canon-Compliant, One-shot. He has her heart but he doesn’t even know it.

“The Red Umbrella” by ncfan - Rated G, Canon-Divergent, One-shot. As the rain hits her, Hinata thinks about what she doesn’t have, and what she’ll never have now.

“Duplicity” by GoldKing - Rated T, Canon-Divergent, Multi-chapter, Incomplete. Uzumaki Sakura wants to know why Hinata’s children are blond.

“My Favorite Night” by @peppercornpresses - Rated M, Canon-Divergent, Multi-chapter, Incomplete. Hinata harbors deeper feelings for Naruto after three years of being his roommate. When he starts dating Sakura, Hinata decides it’s in her heart’s best interest to turn the other way, and leaves Naruto for good with a heart-breaking secret in tow.

“The Loving Type” by @peppercornpresses - Rated M, Canon-Divergent, Multi-chapter, Ongoing. A few years have passed since the Fourth Shinobi War, in which…Rookie Nine steadily advances in rank. Naruto gets engaged. Hinata leaves Konoha. And Kakashi schemes for days.

“Blurred Lines” by @vegebulsoup - Rated E, Police / Cops and Robbers Modern AU, Multi-chapter, Complete. Detective Naruto Uzumaki is having a hard time staying focused at work due to an elusive, dark-haired beauty.  (Starts off fun and smutty, grows angsty).

“I want you to cry” and its sequel “Road of Tears” by Devahhole - Rated E for graphic murder, dub-con/non-con, and smut, High School AU, Multi-chapter, Ongoing. A sociopath blinded by revenge runs into his greatest opponent.

“Absolute” by @ssa25 - Rated M, Modern AU, Multi-chapter, Ongoing. She was his kind, shy and innocent friend. Until she wasn’t. He was her pure, beautiful and unrequited love. Until he wasn’t.

I’m very glad that you enjoyed my “White Lilies” fic!!  Here’s everything I could think of for you to cry or stress out over.

SAD READING 😢

[plinkcat-gif]

Prompt: Team Minato being the best battle trio maybe 👉👈 (ship or not idc)

so funny how i was like “yeah short prompt ideas thx!” and then wrote 3.7k words that are largely unedited <3

this also ended up being rin-centric on accident because i just wanted to develop her and succumbed to my one weakness: insane worldbuilding! so sorry i’ll draw and write soem more obkkrin to make up for it 😭😭

there’s implied ship in this but it’s not stated so that’s up for interpretation

Their teamwork wasn’t always impeccable.

Obviously, it couldn’t really have been considered teamwork before Kannabi and Rin’s near-death. They attempted improvements after Kannabi, but nearly fell apart after Rin’s sacrifice.

But, in the end, it all worked out. Should it have? Probably not. But it did, and they were all alive, and Minato never left them alone on missions anymore because they all saw the tremors that shook him after they returned from that plateau.

After that, they devoted all their time to working together. It wasn’t an easy process, because Kakashi was incredible at rejecting attempts at inclusion (he was the only constant at the two incidents, he said one night by the fire. Rin had thought that was it for their team until Obito had stared at Kakashi like he was stupid, causing him to finally look up. “So?” he said, scratching at his chin. “I don’t care.” Kakashi had tonelessly responded with, “You probably should,” and Obito had simply shrugged. “Prob’ly. Well I’ve never been that good at like.. caring for myself n’ stuff, so. There.” And if Obito was anything, it was brutally honest, and Kakashi knew as much. He didn’t reject their invitations as much after that, and Rin could only hope he was happier with them).

Obito was a social butterfly, so he had no problems making friends with either of them. His issues lied in regaining his coordination, with new body parts and Sharingan and all. So it was several months of not being able to come on missions while his teammates advanced ahead of him faster than he could keep up with. But Obito had always been determined right after brutally honest. He spent his down time on chakra control, growing his reserves, and studying chakra natures until he was back on his feet.

Rin’s issues for the longest time had been in feeling incredibly inferior. Once Obito had rejoined the team, practically a brand-new ninja, she had suffered a huge blow to her confidence. Kakashi worked so much better with Obito offensively, and she fell more to the sidelines.

It had taken her a while to accept that her strengths simply lied elsewhere. Where Obito was all explosive firepower and frightening brute strength, and Kakashi had a mind sharper than her most treasured kunai and the speed to match, she was their support. She could mend a six-inch gash in less than a minute, so long as they didn’t mind the scars. She could feed them chakra on the rare occasions they needed it, and off the battlefield, had listened to Obito’s venting more times than she could count. And she had learned to become content with this, because without her, they would fall apart.

Which is why she had no idea what to expect when facing her “true self” at the Waterfall of Truth.

Kushina had recounted facing the part of herself that resented the ninja world for destroying her home, nearly taking her husband’s team from him twice, and rejecting her as a kid simply for her hair color. The world was unfair, is what she’d said, and she had to accept that. It wasn’t easy, and of course she still struggled with it today, but she’d committed herself to making a change in the world to combat this.

Rin felt that she had a fairly true sense of herself, so she had no idea what to expect. Would it simply be her worst fear? It couldn’t be, because she’d know it was fake.

They stopped at the shore of the small pool, Obito and Kakashi each sending her a reassuring smile. She could do this, easy.

When she stepped into the spray of the water and settled on the small island, she didn’t expect the burst of chakra from ahead.

“You’re wasting your time.”

She gasped and looked up. Herself, but not.

“Kakashi and Obito are here to support you, but that’s not their role. They should be on the front lines. Konoha’s going to be destroyed by Kakuzu and Hidan should you stall here any longer.”

Kakuzu and Hidan, a strange pairing set on killing Minato and Kushina for their bounty. And Rin on some level, knew that Not-Rin was right. But all the same, “I’m not. I have to be here to learn how to work with Isobu so we can save Konoha.”

“You could just summon his powers to yourself,” not-her said, rolling her eyes. “Seriously. This is a waste of time.”

“It’s not. I can become stronger.”

“Stronger than the nine-tails? Who’s inevitably going to die because you all aren’t there?“

Less than a second later, Not-Her fist collided with her face and she was sent flying out into the water, Kakashi and Obito standing above her.

They fished her out while she groaned, cradling her nose and trying not to cry. “Sages,” she spat, scrubbing at her face once she was on steady feet.

“What happened?” Obito asked, a firm hand on her shoulder. She could feel his tension and anxiety, and wondered if maybe Not-Her was right. Maybe she should go back.

“I just…we need to go back,” she said, rubbing her eyes. “I mean, I can just like…draw on some of Isobu’s power. There’s no need for me to go through all this training, and by that time it’ll probably be too late and Konoha will be destroyed or something—“

A sharp pain shot up her foot and she yelped, turning and swinging at the culprit. Kakashi caught her fist of course, and looked her dead in the eye. “You’re not trusting yourself,” he said, releasing her hand and foot. “Or us. You need to do this, it’s probably the only way we can win.”

“But why when I can just draw on Isobu’s power?” she asked, jerking herself free from their grip. “It always works out fine that way!”

“Because we need a defensive player,” Kakashi explained calmly. “Kushina and the Kyuubi are offensive. So are all the jonin, and their defenses wouldn’t even stand a chance against Kakuzu.” Kakashi met her gaze evenly, as did Obito next to him, and said, “Trust me on this. Please.”

She studied them both warily, then shook herself and sighed. “Fine. I’ll try one more time,” she said, pushing past them.

“Trust yourself!” Obito called after her, and then they disappeared and she was met again with herself.

“Seriously?”

“Look, I’m not a genius strategist like Kakashi, so I don’t have any idea what he’s planning, but I’m going to put all my trust in him for this. And I’m going to trust myself to finish this process.”

“But—“

She held up a hand to silence her other self, frowning in disapproval. “Is this the scariest thing I’ve probably ever done? Yeah. I—I’m terrified of everybody dying because I took too long. But Kakashi seems to think that what I want to do won’t work, and he’s asking me to trust him, so I’m going to.” She sucked in a breath, hoping her other self could decipher the words out of the word vomit that had become the end of the sentence.

Her other self looked shocked, then shrank away. Sensing this was not a good outcome, Rin sucked in a breath and held out a hand. “I could…use some support with this, though. Together? As a whole?”

Her other self froze, then stepped forward. Hesitantly, she took her hand and said, “I’m sorry for punching you in the face.”

“It’s okay, I think I needed it,” she responded shakily, and the hand in hers disappeared and her teammates were in front of her again. They looked concerned, curious. That was quickly replaced with terror when she fell to her knees and hunched over the grass, a full-body shake wracking her body.

“I’m so fucking scared!” she whisper-yelled as soon as they were at her side, and sunk into Obito’s side where he was kneeled next to her. “I did it,” she reassured. “But I’m soooo terrified.“

“We all are,” Obito said, grabbing her hand. “But we’re determined, too. We’re gonna make it back in time.”

“Speaking of,” Kakashi said, picking anxiously at the metal plate on his glove. “Like, now.”

.:.

On the way back, Rin attempted contact with Isobu. To her surprise, it worked.

Little one, he rumbled.

I need your help, she thought back urgently as they leaped through the trees. My village is about to be destroyed.

And why should I help you humans?

Because we need it?

A strange feeling stirred in her gut, one that was familiar after recent events, and she laughed aloud.

Did you not see me just face the worst part of myself? I mean I know that whatever you’re feeling probably doesn’t compare to what I had going on, but still. I went through that for you. Is it fair to ask the same?

I’ve only been imprisoned and used by you humans. And I can’t help but be wary of that Uchiha boy.

Obito? Why?

I’m able to be controlled by Sharingan. Should things get dire, there’s a real possibility that you sacrifice yourself, he pulls me out, and I’m to do his bidding of dealing with whatever threat you’re dealing with.

Ouch, that bites. So Rin had nearly sacrificed herself once because of Isobu; that’s how he viewed her?

…fair enough.

Well chances are we won’t have to do that if you help us, she argued. Kakashi has a plan, and it involves me using your powers to defend everyone.

What would I gain from helping you?

They were nearing the village. I don’t have time to bargain.

Freedom. The want for freedom coursed through her veins and Rin shuddered, nearly losing her footing.

You want to be free? Silence. I’m not sure how much I can get you. But I’m willing to fight for you if you help me with this. And tell you what, Kushina probably is too.

Contemplating silence. Then, I will allow you some of my power so I may see what you plan to do with it.

I hope your judgement is well, Rin thought back, smoke and dust in view now.

.:.

They had wisely drawn Kakuzu away from the village and were now battling him out in a clearing of fallen trees. However Hidan was still a presence in the village, wreaking general havoc among the people.

Kakashi was quick to action, his tanto in hand as he dropped from the sky. An orange book fluttered into the air and Obito rolled his eyes as he teleported it to Kamui, turning both Sharingan to Rin.

“Are you ready?“

“I sure hope so,” she murmured, taking off after him. She worried for Kakashi, but trusted he could handle himself if he didn’t call them over.

Kakuzu had yet to take out any jonin, but they all stood exhausted and injured on the sidelines.

“Help them later,” Obito said, landing next to Asuma, who stood with his blades and a determined expression. “We’ve got it from here,” Obito said, and Asuma stepped back with a quiet, “Thank the Sages.”

Four creatures of swirling mass stood before Kakuzu, each with a mask painted a different color.

“Each one is one of his ‘hearts.’ They use a specific chakra nature according to their mask color; red is fire, purple is wind, yellow is lightning, and blue is water,” Asuma explained, patting Obito on the back. “Good luck.”

“Awesome,” Obito said, and ran forward. As a close range fighter, this should’ve been an easier battle for him. But the second he was in range, the hearts reared back and spit their respective natures at the ninja. He was first bathed in a blast of fire, expanded by the wind from the heart with the purple mask.

Without thinking, Rin slammed a hand to the ground, chakra sprinting towards Obito’s position. He crouched down, preparing a mud wall to block the fire, but stopped when the ground before him exploded and a wall of coral shielded him from the flames. The fire wrapped around the dome but didn’t touch Obito, and the coral was only let down when the fire ceased.

Isobu? Rin thought in awe, and sensed a nod from the beast inside.

Grinning, she stepped forward and analyzed the scene. Obito would be able to dodge any physical attacks with Kamui should it come to it, but sparing use of that would be best. Since Rin’s natural water affinity was now boosted by Isobu, she could probably take down the fire mask. At least.

“I’ll work on the wind mask,” Obito called to her, then attacked it head-on, forcing its focus away from Rin.

Rin faced the fire mask, which seemed to vibrate in place with energy. As soon as she shifted her stance, it readied a fireball, throwing its head back.

This is your chance! Isobu yelled at her, and sent the same coral-creating chakra down her pathways. When she slammed her hand to the ground, coral once again exploded into the air, but this time in the form of vines that wove their way around the form of the creature; not touching, however. As soon as it faced Rin to release the jutsu, the coral vines tightened to a crushing hold, one speeding from its neck to the mask and breaking it clean in two.

The form melted away with a withering screech, and the coral retreated.

Now she had Kakuzu’s attention. The man directed his other two natures at her and she froze, unused to direct conflict. How was she going to beat them? The lightning mask was far too fast for her coral to catch, and she wouldn’t be able to touch the water nature with the former still alive.

Don’t touch the water nature’s jutsu unless you want to get electrocuted, Isobu said to her as she dodged a spray of water. Then, she noticed one of the lightning nature’s hands on the side of the water’s. She grimaced; this was going to be an issue, if it was feeding the other chakra like Isobu had said.

So she needed to separate them, then. She could try that.

She formed a few quick signs, then clapped her hands together, releasing a gust of wind that blew both natures back a few feet. They were no longer touching, which meant she could take damage from them individually should she need to.

Behind the natures, she saw a mud wall go up, then a burst of wild flame. She could only hope that was Obito’s doing, because just that brief moment of distraction had lost her one too many important seconds.

The lightning bolt struck true, and she cried out in pain, collapsing to the ground. Isobu hurt inside of her as well, and for a moment, she felt the doubt of herself creep in.

She’d helped, but by how much? Would Konoha be able to make it out of this? Minato and Kushina?

Water! Isobu groaned inside of her. His thoughts pointed towards the water mask urgently.

Well, that didn’t make sense. What would water do to a water nature?

Still, she had no better ideas. So, she drew on some of Isobu’s gifted chakra, formed a single staggering hand sign to channel the chakra, then directed it at the water mask.

It was turned away, focused on Obito while Rin was immobilized, so it didn’t see the blast coming. It was hit, then suddenly it was being electrocuted as well, screeching out in pain as it writhed in place.

“Obito!” she yelled out, and her teammate appeared in the air above the nature, striking a kunai into the mask. The mask of the lightning nature broke simultaneously from the same treatment, a kunai dropped from somewhere in the sky, and she collapsed, still seizing and breathing hard.

But now Kakuzu was their enemy, and she couldn’t leave Obito to face him alone. She forced herself up, wincing at her muscles’ protest, before she was forced back down by a gentle hand.

“Heal yourself first,” Kakashi instructed. He ran over to Obito, some invisible message being . He was missing his flak jacket and headband, she noticed, but was otherwise uninjured.

She did as told, laying back and channeling her own chakra throughout herself to help her muscles recoup. As she did, she observed Kakuzu’s power; a strong earth affinity, and insane physical prowess. He was just as fast as Kakashi and could easily keep up and even overpower Obito’s brute strength. They were evenly matched as it stood.

Until Obito’s punch was caught not by Kakuzu’s hand, but by several thick wires that split from Kakuzu’s body. Obito tried to jerk his hand away but it was no use. The wires flung Obito away, into the trees surrounding the clearing. Kakashi cursed and dodged away, but the wires only kept following.

Now was her chance to intervene, Isobu urged. Right. She mentally reinforced her belief in herself before she body flickered in front of Kakashi, drawing on a new power which she questioned briefly to Obito.

You want to fight for your team, was all Isobu said. Rin raised her hands and the wires were deflected by the hardened shell that materialized on her arms.

“Yo, Rin,” Kakashi said, somewhat concerned and…awed?

She looked behind her, curious as to what he was talking about, only to find herself covered in a white cloak that split into three different “tails.”

“Oh,” she said, then grinned. “Sick. Thanks, Isobu. I’m gonna negotiate like hell for your freedom when we win this.”

Approval radiated from within her and she reached back to help Kakashi to his feet.

“I’m not sure how to defeat him now,” her teammate admitted, brushing his clothes off. “But he definitely controls them. We’d have to like…incinerate him, or something equivalent.”

Destroy him on a molecular level, Isobu said. I might have something that can help with that, but it can’t be used around so many people without hurting them too.

“We need to draw him away,” Rin said, just as Obito reappeared next to her, unharmed. “Or can we get the other jonin away?”

“On it,” Obito said, already flashing signs at Genma, who began directing people away.

While he worked on Kamui-ing people away, Rin and Kakashi defended them from Kakuzu’s constant onslaught of attacks. Their defense was certainly something, consisting of Kakashi body flickering the two of them from place to place while Rin blocked the wires with her new chakra.

“Clear!” Obito shouted from behind them. Isobu immediately began channeling chakra towards Rin’s fist, inwardly urging her to attack Kakuzu.

Punch him as hard as you can, he rumbled, and Rin grinned, deflecting one last blow before she removed herself from Kakashi and sprinted forward. The chakra materialized in the form of a massive clawed fist, in similar shape to Isobu’s. “Oh, sick,” she muttered before leaping into the air, tucking her legs to avoid the grip of wires, then angling herself to strike Kakuzu down.

He staggered, unbalanced, and chakra exploded from Rin’s core. She landed, letting it flow, watching as Kakuzu suddenly jerked and shouted. The wires seized and fell from their position, flopping uselessly to the ground.

Shockwaves, Isobu said. Or, some form of them. These are concentrated enough that it should hurt.

“Smart,” Rin murmured, turning away. Kakashi and Obito had disappeared, likely to Kamui, and she could see why. The dirt rippled and shook with the force of the power, and even the trees on the opposite side of the clearing creaked and groaned.

After a few minutes, Kakuzu fell. To be safe, Rin knelt down and checked his inner bodily functions to make sure they really had all stopped, relieved and a little disturbed to find that all the chakra pathways had been severed.

Obito and Kakashi reappeared next to her, Kakashi looking a little more worse for wear than before.

“What happened?” she asked, concerned and pressing green hands to his chest and head to check for irregularities.

“Some asshole was too slow to catch me before your jutsu went off,” Kakashi grumbled, hugging his middle. “I only got hit for a few seconds, though, so I’m fine. Just dizzy.”

Obito stiffened when Rin turned a harsh glare on him, raising his hands placatingly.

“Well I’m just glad you’re both okay,” Rin finally sighed, then turned to Kakashi. “How did you end up defeating Hidan?”

“Shikaku helped me with that,” Kakashi said. “He’s immortal, but can’t do much when he’s chopped into little bits.” He shrugged, and Rin huffed a small laugh.

“Right. Well, I have to negotiate a certain Tailed Beast’s freedom with Minato, and probably go help out in the hospital afterwards. I better see you there, Kakashi.”

“Maa…”

.:.

“I’m perfectly fine with Isobu being freed so long as he poses no danger to us,” Minato said, “but is there any way we can form some sort of alliance? It would be really helpful to have him around when needed.”

I wouldn’t mind that, Isobu said. But only in serious situations like today. I don’t want to be called on whenever I could/ be used.

“Oh, of course. Me and Minato will be the only ones able to call on you,” she explained. “You won’t have to worry about that. And you can still refuse, but uh…I’d rather it not come to that.”

“Then it sounds like we’ve come to an agreement?” Minato asked hopefully.

“I think so,” Rin agreed, smiling at the approval from Isobu. “I’ll release him so he can return to his dimension outside of the village. Thanks, Minato.”

The Hokage nodded in return and she walked out.

Out on the plateau where she’d first experienced Isobu’s power, she released him. He nodded his thanks before disappearing into his own dimension, leaving the plateau empty once more.

She didn’t see Kakashi in the hospital, unfortunately, but all that meant was she had to march over to his house after healing everybody else and help him there. Obito was already there, in the middle of replacing a warm towel for Kakashi’s head, the warm scent of his family’s cooking wafting through the house.

“I can’t believe you made me come all the way here,” she grumbled with no real malice, taking the towel from Obito so he could return to the kitchen.

“Maa, maybe I did it because I wanted you here,” Kakashi replied, throwing an arm over his eyes.

Rin huffed a laugh and began her search for what needed to be regulated. “Yuck, you really are wiped out, getting all mushy like that.”

.:.

some worldbuilding notes:

ninjas probably generate pure water when using jutsu, unless they’re using prexisting water. pure water does not conduct electricity. but i think that an experienced ninja with an earth and water affinity could create water w minerals and stuff so that it does conduct electricity.

kakuzu’s water heart probably collects and stores prexisting water for battles where it needs to team up with the lightning nature.

with isobu’s chakra, rin probably generates salt water over pure water, which is why she was able to electrocute the water nature.

ummmm yes i’ll be drawing rin in the cloak dw i love her she’s best

[innocentimouto]

Do you have any issues with how Itachi was written

Oh yes.

I don't make my own posts about Naruto too much. I love Avatar and stick with it more than other fandoms because they delivered in so many aspects.

Naruto I saw as a kid and thought it was good and now every time I try to rewatch it, I can't deal with so many things. (Though I'm going through a phase of avoiding watching any anime at the moment for some reason, so maybe one day I'll get around to it.)

So I don't like making my own posts about Naruto because all I will do is criticize and point out flaws, which isn't bad I guess, but I'd rather do that with a show I actually like.

Anyway. Itachi. He's hailed as this great, selfless brother who would sacrifice the world for Sasuke. He's considered a child genius and on Hokage level.

Yet everything he does is stupid. What even is his goal? To have Sasuke kill him to avenge the clan...

Itachi chose to kill the clan. He blamed the clan for pushing him to do it. Apparently he missed the racism the Uchiha faced and how every Hokage never favored them in any way despite being one of the founders of the village. Imagine being in the military, sacrificing your life and children for your country, and your whole life the people you're protecting believe you're a traitor.

Somehow Itachi missed all of this? And just blamed his clan?? Because every single person within his clan was arrogant and hateful??

None of that makes sense. And it's just an excuse to justify killing all of them.

Itachi relentlessly tortures Sasuke again and again. Sasuke saw his clan's dead bodies, and somehow Itachi thinks he needs to see it all happen over and over again?

I'm sorry I thought all Uchihas were arrogant and evil and suffered from "the curse of hatred". Wouldn't just seeing his parents have been enough for Sasuke? How did Itachi rationalize doing that much torture to Sasuke? Everyone was already dead. Sasuke would have plenty to hate him for.

Then Itachi tells him to hate hate hate. Which is the propaganda against the Uchiha. And also why people think they tried to revolt...

So isn't Itachi just recreating the original problem? Does he even understand what he's doing to Sasuke?

And then Itachi returns and finds Sasuke weak, so he tortures him again. What's worse for me is that this is just brushed aside. Itachi strictly comes for Naruto. He takes out Kakashi.

Sasuke could only wake up from the best medic in the world. And people wonder why Sasuke decides to leave Konoha? Itachi just proved all of Sasuke's training was for nothing. Itachi targeted people close to Sasuke.

Kakashi is one of the best ninjas in the world and he lost. Why would Sasuke stay in the village where he'd risk watching people around him die again? Why would he stick around for people who have never bothered to understand him?

Why not go to the only place he could get stronger? Orichimaru is a monster, but Sasuke literally has no other choice. He isn't safe in the village. Not even his own teacher would offer any help. The village just let Itachi return. It's like his whole clan dying was for nothing. No one was doing anything to stop Itachi and no one seemed in a hurry to.

I'm veering off topic, but Itachi is horribly written with the only consistency being he hates his own people and constantly tortures Sasuke when he doesn't need to and is completely loyal to a government that would erase an entire clan if it stood in their way.

[opinated-user]

Hey. Lily posted charts for Aliana and Rey, and if you don't mind I'd like to talk about it because it shows really good all the flaws of tsr and it's characters

Aliana Goals

- Vengeance on Luke and Ben for killing her (slaver) mom

- Eradicate of the jedi order

- To have a family and get good life

Ok first of all, the last goal absolutely contradicts the first two. If your main goal is to destroy a whole order of people around the galaxy who will always be born and trained by other Jedi who wasn't killed by Kylo, ​​then you can forget about a peaceful life with children. And what about Rey? After all, even in TSR she is something like a Jedi? Will Aliana kill her too, or is Rey just a lucky exception because she's her lover? Have we already talked about the fact that Rey is just a pet for her?

Second of all, her desire for revenge, and Lily's attitude to this topic. Lily does not understand the destructiveness of the romanticization of revenge. There was an episode in Naruto where Kakashi explained to Sasuke that revenge is always a selfish act for which a person can sacrifice too much, and even after you commit it, you will end up with nothing. There was another time when this topic was raised there - Shikamaru, but in his case, he himself was motivated by the desire to protect people dear to him and not to torture his enemy. Fucking naruto covered the theme of revenge and justice better than you, Lily.

And if you think this won't work in a Star Wars setting, look at Kotor 2, Visas Marr in particular. She wants to take revenge on her master, who destroyed her people and made her a slave, but in the course of the ls story she accepts what happened and comes to the conclusion that "What happens now must not be done out of hate or revenge, but for the sake of all life". Revenge is toxic it prevents you from forming healthy relationships with other people or just a normal lifestyle. And do not confuse revenge with justice. What Lily constantly describes in Aliana is not revenge, but rather actually a desire for justice, but Lily does not call it that way. Because as soon as you start thinking about who (unstable Sith Aliana), for whom (her slave trader mother), to whom and because of what desires justice, you will clearly understand that something in the plot is going wrong.

By the way, if you think about it, isn't eradication of the jedi order... Can factually be considered a genocide? This is the destruction people united by one philosophical movement and culture... Aliana is actually a genocidal maniac, why is THIS not written down as a flaw? It's literally Hitler mindset, to wipe out an entire group of people from the world because a couple of them offended you holy shit.

I'll do it in several asks there's too much to unpack here

my thoughts on the whole revenge motivation plot is that i understand what LO is going for, i just don't like the way she goes about it. the issue, from what i can gather, is that LO wants a story that is emotionally cathartic for herself. someone hurt her Alaina in some way so now she Alaina gets to have the person responsible just die without any aknowledgement, dignity and lamenting ever hurting her Alaina til his last breath. as a reward for being wronged before, she Alaina later gets to have all the things she ever wanted without any effort such as: control of the whole galaxy, a hot wife that will do anything for her without asking anything in return and a kid to perpetuate her legacy in the future. it's pure wish fulfillment. if LO stuck with the whole "self indulgent story" then all of this would be perfectly fine because it's main purpose, the satisfaction of LO (and maybe MO, doesn't matter), is achieved so the writing is just as effective and good as it need to be for that. viewed like that it's perfect already. the issue is that LO can't let it be just that. by constantly insisting her story is better or her character are superior on some way, we can't think it anymore on term of LO's happiness but actual quality and the quality just isn't there. many revenge power fantasy stories are nothing else but a way for the audience to feel that catharsis of seeing a character we see being wronged getting all their enemies to pay. if the characters who did the revenge later need therapy or are even capable of leading a normal life ever again doesn't matter because it already did what it set out to do: to make you feel sad and angry and later glad when it's over. the morality of revenge itself is irrelevant because the story is not about that. that's the formula for these kind of stories... and LO utterly failed at it too. she failed to make us feel true sympathy for Alaina, she failed to make us angry at the death of a slave trader of children, she failed at making us feel like any of her enemies truly deserved the ending they got and she failed at making us glad by the ending because she failed at making us feel that Alaina deserved any of it. that i feel is the biggest issue that LO. it's not that her idea of revenge is inherenty flawed but rather she doesn't have the skill to pull off the kind of narrative she wants to do. one where her character is cool and badass and a girlboss who everyone roots for... and instead we have this other story of a horrible person so selfish and stuck up that can't see anyone else as just as important as herself, so she sucks up everything until all we have left is a mechanic with long hair that smells like grease and doesn't shower until she's told to.

[obkkfkr]

Reasons why Obito "snapped" and didn't return to Konoha but rather worked towards achieving the Infinite Tsukuyomi And why he's a much deeper character than just "he did it for a girl lol";

1. Team Minato were just kids fighting in a war.

Kakashi, Obito and Rin were 12-year olds fighting against adult Jonin level shinobi during the Third War. They were only kids and even the enemies mocked them for being nothing more than cannon fodder.

2. Rin was kidnapped for intel

You may say anything goes in a war but Rin was a medical ninja of Team Minato. Their enemies didn't hesitate before using a Genjutsu on her and possibly planning torture to get anything out of her. She was just a kid.

3. Kakashi's fear of being ostracized like his father

Once Obito heard the story of Sakumo, he finally understood what Kakashi went through and where his fear of abandoning the mission to save a comrade came from. Lives meant nothing for the village high-ups, what mattered was that the mission was completed. To the point Konoha drove one of their strongest shinobi to suicide, calling it a mistake. Obito saw Kakashi wasn't a jerk, after his father's suicide Kakashi purposefully distanced himself and fought his own feelings.

4. There were high expectations of Obito from his clanmates.

The Uchiha were known for their Sharingan and Obito was constantly pressured to not only awaken his Sharingan quickly. He also had to perfect Katon Jutsu of a higher tier to earn the approval of the clan's head.

5. Minato came to their rescue too late.

Although Kakashi was appointed as the team captain during the Kannabi Bridge mission, they all still relied on Minato to come to help them. Kakashi, Rin and Obito were up against too many enemies to deal with. Minato was someone Obito looked up to, so when he didn't come to them on time, Obito was hurt, disappointed or even felt betrayed. He wanted to believe that Minato, as someone who wanted to become the Hokage, would look after his students, comrades and value their life.

6. They never went to retrieve Obito's body.

Obito spent a good half a year in the cave recovering and during this time not once did he get any info that someone from Konoha was searching for him. Sure, Zetsu might keep it a secret, but not getting any news like that hurt.

7. Madara told Obito he was naive.

This one is self-explanatory. But if Obito had any doubts by the time he met Madara, they were certainly fueled further. Obito wanted to stay optimistic but every day he was losing the reasons to hope. Agreeing with Madara later made sense.

8. Rin was kidnapped by Kiri.

Once again, the least dangerous of the Team Minato, the person who trained to heal her teammates, was taken to be used as a ticking bomb. The Sanbi was put inside of her just to sacrifice her later. No one had any regard for human life.

9. Kakashi was the one to go rescue Rin.

I'm not calling him incapable by any means. But once again, we have Kakashi, who isn't even 15 yet, leading a team and eventually going in solo to rescue his teammate. They weren't up against normal Jonin-ranked shinobi but Kiri ANBU.

10. Kiri ANBU fought two kids just trying to get home.

ANBU are professionals, trained to be killing machines. Rin and Kakashi were alone, just trying to get back to Konoha. They didn't infiltrate Kiri to steal anything. They didn't kill anyone on their way out.

It was the culmination of all of those events, that seeing Rin die was the last thing that completely crushed Obito's hope. The entire time he saw all these faults and tried to keep being positive but he had to realise it wouldn't change naturally. He had to change it by force.

It's partially the fault of the anime for focusing on Rin too much. If you compare how many times Obito thinks back to Rin in the manga, it's significantly less.

And to top it all off, let me remind you something Obito said himself but everyone just loves to overlook to keep their stupid narrative of "You let Rin die" being Obito's sole reason to do the things he did.

I'm sick and tired of people claiming Obito started a war and ruined lives because the girl he loved died. If you still think I'm wrong, then just go. Don't even bother responding. I love Obito BECAUSE he's such a deep character. He's the best villain in Naruto for me. Period.