#and their naruto stuff looks pretty great

[tamelee]

I WANT THESE CLOTHES FROM UR LAST ART 😭😭😭 I would buy and wear that in a heartbeat where do we get it?

Ahh I want to know too 🥹🤭!! I'd wear it also. Comfy oversized clothes are the best .. >.< I'm sure Uchiha hoodies exist but I haven't ever found one that was good quality... it's usually a shitty print or that one slippery thin fabric that makes me cringe 😩

[artsycooky13]

top 3 fave bbys in the burrito show (bonus SUPER LONG tags on how i feel bout the characters)

[sweet1delusi0ns]

Nicknames you call naruto boys ──☆*:・ﾟ

Characters: Naruto🦊,sasuke🗡️,kiba🐺, shikamaru🀄️,shino🪲,neji🎋,Lee🥋, choji🍥,gaara⏳, kankuro🪆

Bold is them~

Fem!reader

Naruto🦊-*

You mostly call him darling or handsome, but sometimes you call him foxy just to tease LOL. At first he was flustered by darling n stuff but soon got use to it, but he never expected the name “foxy” to appear farther along into your relationship

“Y/nnnn! How does my hair look?? I’m trying something new do you like?” “I think you look great foxy!” He stopped for a solid 10 seconds before responding “ah…. Heh… are you making fun of mee?” “No I’m callin you foxy cuz your a fox!” “Literally?” “No I’m calling you hot, foxy means attractive silly” Again he paused trying to understand what is happening. “SHE THINKS IM HOT!” He hopes he said that in his head

Sasuke🗡️-*

You call him literally any meaningful name he will either be like “whatever” or about to cry, just depends what you call him. You can call him babe/sweetie/honey or whatever and he wouldn’t react but he will break if you call him “baby boy” he has issues but you can fill that void for him.

“Sasuke, let’s go to bed” “I mustn’t y/n. I’m far too busy, I will be in bed in three hours. Promise” you grab his hand stopping him from walking out the door “baby boy please. I worry about you… let’s go to bed” you can feel his hand twitch in yours, he turns to meet your eyes. His face visibly softens almost to a sad expression. “Yes, darling. Ok…”

Kiba🐺-*

Love, baby, good boy and puppy. Puppy for obvious reasons, I’ve said it before when he gets tired he wants your attention 100%. he wants to cuddle and talk literally anything as long as he has your attention, and the cherry on top is when you call him puppy. Throughout the day you call him nicknames like “Kiba baby, can you hand me my bag” or “love your going to be latee!” but puppy is only for special moments

He was irritated over god knows what and all he wanted was to cuddle so that’s what he gets! “I’d be irritated too Kiba now come hereee” “thank god! I just need some private time with you..” instantly climbed into your lap to sprawl out “of course! We can cuddle all you need puppy” you can see the dumb smirk growing in his face as he giggles like an idiot while growing red

Shikamaru🀄️-*

You guys share the same nicknames with each other so you call him things like dear and sweetie. He’s very chill with nicknames but he does find them adorable especially when they come from you.

“Shika?….Shikamaru??? sweetie?… DEAR!!!?” “WHAAAAAAATTTT” “DONT SASS ME IM TRYING TO GET YOUR ATTENTION!” “SORRY….what?” “I love you~” “god your such a pain… love you too”

Shino🪲-*

Bug boy LOL. Yes bug boy but also sweetheart mostly! He barely reacts to things you do but every now and then you can catch a little smile on his cute face~

“Sweetheart~” “yes love bug?” “Have I ever told you how cute you are?” “Ah…uhm..no you haven’t, thank you” you giggle “I can see the smile!” he quickly tucks into his shirt once he realized he has been caught

Neji🎋-*

Let’s be honest. He’s pretty. So the name must  acknowledge his prettiness pretty boy! He always thought the name was silly “why not handsome boy?” “Because your pretty? I mean you are handsome but pretty boy is cuter!”

“Where you headin pretty boy?” “Out for a walk, care to join?…again with the silly name y/n?” “Sure I’ll join, and yes again with the silly name I’ll never stop until you love it!” He stopped responding just to talk to himself “little do you know I do…” he whispered

Lee🥋-*

He’s chooses the nicknames honestly. He’s just a ball of excitement when it come to your relationship. He’s on top of communication so nicknames were talked about at the beginning.

“Oooo can my nickname be honey bun!!! OH or maybe perfect, loving, amazing, handsome boyfriend!” “Well that’s to long for a pet name uhm.. how about just handsome, honey and love?” “AH PERFECT!” He reacts clapping his hands together

Choji🍥-*

You are very very special to him so you are the only one he lets call him big boy, because he knows that you NEVER mean it in a insulting way. In fact you mostly use it as a flirt~ along with sweetie or buds!

“God I could just eat you up big boy~” or “sweetie pie your lookin handsome today!” He is very anxious and insecure sometimes so you gotta make him feel like the hottest man in your eyes~ some times he just lays on your chest listening to all your praises and compliments

Gaara⏳-*

He doesn’t care what you call him he just appreciates you no matter what. But you decided rose would be perfect~ not just because his hair is red but you also find him as beautiful and perfect as a budding rose

“Rose can you hand me my water” “am…I rose?” You giggle “yes Gaara!” “Oh. Thank you y/n!” He flashes a smile “Aw I love you Gaara~” “I love you too..”

Kankuro🪆-*

He doesn’t care what you call him but he does find it a little hot if you call him a “bad boy” but that rarely ever happens, mostly it’s just darling, sexy or handsome (he likes compliments ok)

You can observe him applying his makeup so you can chime in “your a handsome one arent ya?” “I know right~” “ok bad boy, calm down with your cockiness-” “Mmmm call me that again~” “ok I’m leaving moment ruined.” He’s so annoying and cocky but we love him

[stu-dyingstudent]

Sakura Haruno fic recs: ANBU

AHHHH!!!! I love ANBU fics, especially when they involve Sakura. It was such a cool concept, which was unfortunately never fully expanded upon. However, our lack of knowledge regarding the shadow corps allows for some really cool fic ideas since authors can take creative liberty on the structure and workings of the division.

In my opinion, Sakura had the most potential out of team 7 to join ANBU (at least more than Naruto). It's all about being discreet and efficient and although she wasn't strong during og, she possessed abilities that would be valuable for this. Her clever mind, chakra control, and genjutsu potential would've made her a good fit. Naruto was too flamboyant and Sasuke was too reckless and cocky, but this is just my take. However, with her new skill set from her training with Tsunade, I don't think she would be able to go down that path anymore.

Started: 2024.08.06

Last Updated: 2024.08.29

note: feel free to check out my master list which has a bunch of Sakura Haruno fic recs (all organized)!

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Masks by mads999 || ao3 || kakasaku || E || canon divergent || complete

1. Sakura's Inner is far more diabolical than anyone ever expected 2. Crows prove to be cruel mentors 3. Sakura comes to learn exactly how much she hates Kakashi (as well as how alike they are, in the most terrible of ways)

Kakashi is a hateful turd and Sakura is spiteful! I hate this ship and I'm not a big fan of Kakashi here, but boy is this fic good. One of the best character developments I've read for Sakura and she certainly becomes of force to be reconned with. The ANBU lore in Masks is absolutely phenomenal and I love the whole system that is put into place as it adds for some drama (lol). Also, can we talk about how awesome crow summons are????

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Five Kingdoms for the Dead - Evil Is A Relative Term || ffn || M || canon divergence || complete

After the Forest of Death, Sakura comes to realize that being weak is no longer an option. However, she finds that change is sometimes painful and that truth doesn't always come easy. Luckily, she'll have some help along the way.

It's been a while since I've read Five Kingdoms for the Dead, but I just remember it being absolutely great! I'll be honest, I found a lot of the mind stuff pretty confusing at times, but it was still enjoyable. Also, some great characters are utilized in this fic such as Neji, Sai, and Itachi. Makes me really wish that we saw more of Sakura and Neji working together in Naruto since I think they compliment each other quite well.

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Trials of Change - Espoiretreves || ao3 || gen || time travel AU || complete

Haruno Sakura made a promise. Looking in the eyes of her Shisou and the reanimated Hokage, she took on the most important mission of her life. Go back in time and try to prevent the 4th Shinobi War. Now, Sakura is back to her 5-year-old body, with all the knowledge and haunting memories of the future. She vows to keep her precious people safe and stop certain events from happening, without altering the timeline too much. The trials her emotions and logic put her through have her questioning her very existence, but for the sake of peace, she has to push forward. No matter what.

Trials of Change is actually apart of a time travel series and I have to say that it is probably one of the best of the genre! Now, Sakura is not in ANBU here, but she works very closely with team Ro (Kakashi's ANBU team) and it's a huge part of the story, so I'm choosing to count it anyway. I really adore all of the worldbuilding and backstories going on here in addition to the fact that there are breaks. Yes, the story keeps moving, but there are other things going on, like playdates, and not just Sakura trying to save the world. Also, if you love Shisui then definitely check this out since he has a huge role and his and Sakura's friendship is just so precious.

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bite me and see, said the fly to the spider - MirrorImage003 || ao3 || itasaku || T || non-massacre AU || ongoing

In which Sakura is not initially a part of Team 7. In which she wears her failures like armor and brandishes her fears like her most trusted weapons. In which I do what hundreds of other authors have done before me, and rewrite Sakura's story. Non-massacre AU. Canon Divergent. Slow-burn.

After Sakura's first team, consisting of the graduating class's "expendables," dies, she joins team 7 and faces backlash along her shinobi journey. Sakura doesn't join ANBU until the later chapters so fair warning that there isn't too much content in that regards (unless it updates). Nonetheless, Sakura views ANBU as vital to her career as it offers her the highest clearance she can get. Gaining her opportunities for information her civilian-born status didn't allow her privy to.

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The Sixth Shadow - thinknicht || ao3 || kakasaku || M || canon divergent - eventual time travel AU || ongoing

No one seemed to find it odd when little Haruno Sakura threw herself smack dab in front of a Chidori and Rasengan. Not even Kakashi stopped to wonder.(He really should have.)

The story of how Sakura came to be the sixth hogake despite all of the challenges thrown her way. I especially love Sakura's drive in addition to the political aspects. However, be warned that Kakashi is an absolute HATER (in the beginning), but he gets better! The Sixth Shadow is extremely long and I only just recently got to Sakura's introduction to ANBU, so I can't say too much in that regard.

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Daughter of Fire - justjstuff || ao3 || kakasaku || E || canon divergence || incomplete (maybe ongoing)

Sakura got up and didn’t bother brushing the dirt from her dress. She had a feeling she was about to get even dirtier.She looked at the memorial stone one last time, memorizing the characters without even realizing she was doing it. It would serve from that moment on as a reminder of her determination. She wouldn’t let Naruto and Sasuke join the names carved on that stone.That was her nindo.

Sakura's growth throughout Daughter of Fire is great and realistic all while pointing out aspects from the original series which were flawed and dare I say misogynistic. I struggled a bit in the beginning to justify her abilities, but overall the story is really well done and the ANBU aspects are quite intriguing.

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cut the head off the snake - itsthechocopuff || ao3 || T || time travel AU || complete

when eighteen-year-old, post-war Sakura is thrown back into her tiny, pre-Academy body, she makes a decision. she'd had a childhood once already, and this time, she's more interested in Not Dying when the inevitable shit hits the proverbial fan. so she will work harder, care less, kill more, and smile when she's done.and hey, if she ends up reviving an extinct nature transformation to attract the most corrupt, power-hungry man from her timeline, all the better for her, right?

Such a unique take on a time travel AU and Cut the Head Off the Snake executes it perfectly. Sakura decides that her first order of business is to infiltrate ROOT and that's exactly what she does. Sai, Shin, and Shisui are all great characters and team Ro is present as well. Very good!

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Flowers - Idunmy || ao3 || E || kakasaku || canon divergence || ongoing

Flowers only bloom just before they wilt When Sakura loses her fight against Ino in her Chuunin exams, she questions her ability to ever become a kunoichi, too weak to protect herself, let alone her village One wrongful promotion later and Sakura gets a second chance in the shape of a mysterious new teacher who against all odds is willing to put her faith in a young girl with potential and a willingness to fight. Or- a fix-it inspired fic where Sakura grows to be the powerhouse she was destined to become.

Flowers is a newer series (which has recent updates) and I love it! Critiques are made towards the medical ninja training, which I believe needed to be discussed and it's refreshing to see. In most ANBU fics I've read, Sakura is immediately put onto the strongest team, but here it's a bit different. She begins on a demolition squad, which not only suits her skill set quite well, but is a realistic approach to how she would be introduced to the corps. Anyway, it's one of my favorite reads at the moment and I really like where the story is going.

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names. - waterpllar || ao3 || T || gen || canon divergence || complete

There are no names or faces in ANBU. Everything is designed to be strictly formal, efficient and professional. A recently orphaned Sakura, however, learns that some regulations aren't meant to be followed, and finds a place in Team Ro after being shunned from her former teammates. (fic prompt from anon on tumblr: orphaned sakura in anbu with yamato, genma, and team ro.)

AHHHH poor Sakura. After her parents' death Sakura seeks Tsunade's help out of desperation to become useful. Under recommendation, Sakura's new goal is to make it into ANBU.

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Equinox - FM_White || ao3 || itasaku || M || anbu AU || complete

ItaSaku (Post Uchiha Massacre) AU: Climbing through the ranks of Konoha, Sakura finds herself with the invitation to join ANBU and a chance to learn from one of the most renowned and legendary ninja in the world. Despite her efforts to grow stronger however, she finds the world isn't as black and white as it looks and that some truths are easier to hide than others.

I don't remember Equinox very well, but I love most works by this author sooo. Anyway, Itachi stays in Konoha and instead it's Sasuke that goes rougue. Sakura, Naruto, and Shikamaru are newly joined ANBU members and all placed on a team with Itachi and things go from there.

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stars in our eyes as we dream of the heavens (the gods walk among us, sweet child, do not forget) - snickiebear || ao3 || kakasaku || T || age-swap AU || oneshot complete

“Kakashi-sensei,” Naruto whispered, staring at his teacher, horror plain on his face. “You’re married?” Lazily, Kakashi looked down at his gloveless hand where his ring rested, “It would appear so.”

Sakura is born in the same generation as Kakashi and turns out as a badass ANBU married to him. This is super wholesome as it's a lot of the two of them bonding with Kakashi's genin team (Sai makes three) in an effort to help them out. It's a series so you can read more of the events taking place prior to the fic.

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Anachronistic Drift  - Elesrea  || ffn || gen || T || time travel AU || incomplete

Her plan was flawless. Save Shisui. Save the world. Time-travel, Sakura-centric AU

Sakura spends years training to be sent back in time and save the world from Sasuke. She isn't in ANBU, but rather poses as one in order to keep an anonymous status on her doings both in and out of the village.

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Sakura - lilac haze || ffn/ao3 || M || minasaku || time travel AU || complete

AU. Non-Canon. Time Travel. Please see inside for full warnings. Cross posted on Ao3. On his deathbed he was granted eternal peace and place to rest for all of time. Of course that was not appealing to him. Ever unpredictable to the end he had a counter offer. One that the Sage had to consider. In which Sakura's going to have a rough time. A really rough time.

Sakura is probably one of my all time favorite fics because the emotions are just spectacular. The story is pretty heavy on ANBU and ROOT aspects, which I always enjoy, but I wouldn't say it's a major focus. However, there is an emphasis on the unfair treatment towards kunoichi. Anyway, the characterizations and storytelling are beautifully done. Please share this author some love.

Check TWs before hand!!

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Hope y'all enjoy these recs, and please feel free to send me some if you have any!!!! I really appreciate when you do :)

[elledberry]

No, but like, WHY do people care so much about other people ship preferences?

I get it, I don't ship the obvious ones or the "right" or what was given to me by the author, but IS JUST A SHIP.

Look, don't get me wrong, I'm not angry at other preferences when it comes to this. What I get annoyed at is that when there is an illustration, an edit, a fucking fic, any kind of media, that shows that romantic dynamic between the characters they will be like

"siblings 🩷" "omg no how could ship that? They aren't like that." "Have you read the books ?" "Omg, people actually ship them?" "The author said..." "omg but this (name of other ship), it's so much better," and so on.

My beautiful person who comments in every edit of (some examples, but I'm sure that there's more) harmony, lunami, zutara, sasusaku .... do you really think that they/we don't know or care about this ? Do you know what you look like when u comment stuff like that? An idiot who can't let others have a different opinion on literally fiction character's romance life, like that one kid in kindergarten who saw another kid getting a toy and go's on about how that toy is lame compared to theirs, a spoiled brat.

You have so many things to be arguing about in the actual plot, but you can't cus you think that the idea of nami and luffy together is so wrong that you go around in every media of them "oda said..." But with other members of the crew, oda said absolutely nothing... not only that, but are we really discussing this ? Can we be talking about I don't know... how racist and hypocrites are some people in this famdon? Really give your disappointment and disgust to that(what is actually important).

Harry and Hermione are another great example of "I know they aren't like that but I like the idea of it" WE KNOW THEY AREN'T LIKE THAT but we think is cute it could HAVE BEING cute, sometimes people just grow up shipping and seeing they as a possible couple, like people who grow hating sakura and now simply can't have a actually good argument of why she should be hated on... that was an ironic comment by the way but also not, ( no, her not liking the main character the same way shouldn't be one, or the author not giving her screen time either much less cus of the fact the the anime did her dirty with so much disconnect things from the manga, like her relationship with sasuke <his perspective of it > or naruto himself for that matter, hate on a literally 12 years old for saying shit that every fucking person in the village grew up thinking, funny, why not hate on the thirdkage then? The person who could have actually stopped the hate on a little kid) [Sorry that got out of the main point]

Or zutara, my God, people get personal with just as harmony, relax, just cus I like them doesn't mean I hate kataang, surprise or not I do think they are indeed very cute, I'm pretty sure some other people who ship zutara too... we just see the potential, what could have happened, once again, enemies to friends to loves, the plot, you know ? There is no need to get offended by the IDEA of it. We love the drama and the fic, the illustrations, the edits are just a format that represents and shows it, share if people who likes it, you don't like it ? Oh well, let me tell you a secret, ignore it, you probably ignore so much more important things, why not a fucking edit of ship you don't even like ?, oh you can't ? You can't see other people "toy" and shut about your disappointment on it, is it that hard ?, oh well, have you actually not known that there's an amazing thing within social media, when you hold/press or simply click on the 3 dots on the top of the post, there's a option there, that's right, BLOCK IT the algorithm will understand if you continue blocking it, unlike some people.

I'm just rambling about this because I'm sick and tired of people being such a killjoy, I just want to enjoy "my ship" and see the comments of people who actually likes it to, not yours "siblings 🩷" in post which is definitely not about that, or "oda said..." when i didn't ask what he said, you know people have different things that brings them a scape from reality that brings them a funny giggle (no killing others people joy, when it's such a basic no harmful thing), wave of emotion for those who don't get to feel much in the day-to-day life or simple just cus.

It just petty of you, be better.

Ps.. There is no offense for those who ship other characters within these plots(or different ones), original, popular, or unpopular. Do your thing. Be happy. Just don't spoil others.

Ps2... NO I'm not defending incest that's no it at fucking all ( sorry if I didn't make it clear). I said "siblings" when it came to lunami and Harry x Hermione (cus people like to comment that on posts that aren't even about it < the platonic soul mates comment>), they AREN'T related or grown up at such. Point is you hating the idea of it and going on every post about the ship and hating there. hate all you want, but not on ,obviously, posts that are for the fans of the ship.

[marlowethelibrarian]

Writerly Questionaire tag!

@saturnine-saturneight, @the-golden-comet and @fortunatetragedy all tagged me for this questionaire! Also thanks to @davycoquette for the original meme!

About You

When did you start writing?

I remember writing a story for a first grade assignment when I was 4-5 and really enjoying it. They gave us little booklets that were just like construction paper cut into shapes with lined paper inside to write on. I didn't really start writing as a hobby until I was about 10, writing naruto fanfic.

Are the genres/themes you enjoy reading different from the ones you write?

I tend to write what I like to read! I like nonfiction on occasion which I definitely can write, I just don't do it very often.

Is there an author (or just a fellow writer!) you want to emulate, or one to whom you’re often compared?

No one has ever compared me to an author ever, lmfao, but there are some writers here on writeblr that I've got an eye on, with prose that fucking slaps. I haven't actually sat down and read their stuff yet for the most part, because my life has been crazy but from the excerpts I see on tumblr I'm like. Yes. That. That's great. How do they do that. shout out to @cowboybrunch, @fortunatetragedy and @davycoquette!

Can you tell me a little about your writing space(s)?

90% of the time I write in my messy ass bed my fitted sheet refuses to stay on. The other 10% I'm wandering to other places in the house.

What’s your most effective way to muster up some muse?

Write or die sometimes brute forces it out of me. Otherwise, brainstorming with a sounding board, answering some asks or tag games, or rereading my old stuff can all help me out here.

Did the place(s) you grew up in influence the people and places you write about?

I mean. Probably! I definitely do that thing where I'll picture the layout of a building as a building I'm familiar with. I've written a lot of apartments that look suspiciously like my grandparent's old house.

Are there any recurring themes in your writing, and if so, do they surprise you at all?

Yeah almost definitely lmfao. I keep noticing patterns after the fact. I have been circling the idea of dead worlds for one, and what it takes to survive there a couple times now. It's less obvious in project Cannibalism, but it's honestly still there.

Your Characters

Would you please tell me about your current favorite character? (Current WIP, past WIP, never used, etc.)

My current obsession is definitely Ravi, who is a dnd character, a larp character, and the main character of my Summer League OCT rounds. They started off as a gnome alchemist who is like just a back alley drug dealer when they got stuck in Barovia in a Curse of Strahd campaign. (Currently the only member of the original party still alive and aiming to keep it that way) I changed them to be a halfling when writing them for the OCT on a whim because it feels like a more grounded fantasy race to draw from without having to explain too much thanks to Lord of the Rings and its enduring cultural legacy. I've been greatly enjoying the process of writing, essentially, an incredibly traumatized character embark on a life or death venture among people who have no idea what the stakes are for them, exploring how badly adapted some of those defense mechanisms are for a regular ass place and how other people would view them, and how they would get there in the first place. I'd put them in my mouth and chew on them

Which of your characters would you be friends with in real life?

I can be a pretty sensitive person who prefers straightforward communication and positivity, so every single one of my horrible little prickly assholes is out. And that's a category I really enjoy writing so that's almost all of them lmfaoooo. I'd probably be friends with Wakma though. Wakma's cool.

Which characters would you dislike the most if you met them?

I wouldn't be able to stand Mala. She's consistently unpleasant and horrible to the people around her and I would not be able to let it roll off or just hit back like Rakani does.

Tell me about the process of coming up with your characters?

I like to develop characters in response to aspects I find interesting about the worldbuilding, or around a concept I want to explore. Sometimes they come about because there's a role in a story I need to fill. Wakma, for example, mostly came about because I knew Rakani absolutely needed a friend who didn't come from the Suyan hierarchy, and I already had this really cool idea about nomadic airship traders so I made him a diplomat from that culture, and then developed more of his character as I wrote him and decided what was important to the story.

Do you notice any reoccurring themes/traits in your characters?

Traumatized little goblins, people who aren't acceptable victims, who lash out and behave in unacceptable ways.

How do you picture your characters?

I do draw, so I do have pictures of what characters look like sometimes, but sometimes they're just blobs and I decide along the way what they look like. I do try to be deliberate about it though, because diversity in race and body types rarely just happens to me. It's something I work towards and am purposefully deliberate about.

Your Writing

What’s your reason for writing?

I wanna and no one's stopped me yet.

Is there a specific comment or type of comment you find particularly motivating coming from your readers?

i love it when someone points at something I did specifically about what about it they vibed with or excited them.

How do you want to be thought of by those who read your work?

Just don't look at me and expect my characters please.

What do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer?

Clarity.

What have you been frequently told your greatest writing strength is by others?

Well I think people have cried about my writing a lot, so it's quite emotional. I'm always very pleased when someone says I've hit on a level of some emotional realism.

How do you feel about your own writing?

I have great, creative ideas, but the execution could use a little work. I think my writing is pretty plain and worksmanlike, and that's like fine.

If you were the last person on earth and knew your writing would never be read by another human, would you still write?

This does absolutely open up a whole ass can of worms. jamie's right, how am i surviving here, if im subsidence farming I don't think I'd have the time and energy for writing. But like, I don't think I would if I knew I'd never have an audience. Even a small audience of one would be reason enough to write but if it's just me I might not.

When you write, are you influenced by what others might enjoy reading, or do you write purely what you enjoy?

I don't care what other people want when I'm writing. I only care when I'm editing lmfao.

i have not kept track of who has answered this or not so I'm just going to leave this open to anyone who wants this!!

[fictionfixations]

yuu central

you know those fics where you have people in your head with knowledge?

for example, in naruto fanfics ive seen pretty good ones with an older sakura who time traveled and basically became a voice that guided younger sakura as her 'inner sakura'

but for twst, ive seen stuff like the great seven in yuu's head

which very interesting

and then it kind of occurred to me. what if there are people in yuu's head. but. its the other yuus? ?? like. so. im starting to read the manga. and woah its weird to see differences here and there (i havent gotten too far yet cause i wanted to write this out first)

but so its different in that it wont be a total cheat code of 'i know exactly how this happens, this is what you do' (which could be countered with 'i dont remember that much')

yknow?? cause ive heard there's multiple different yuu's. (i remember reading something about a yuu theory but i cant remember what it was about? that they were all connected?) so theres just these yuu's who have memories of being friends with all these people. and yearning and missing them probably. but here they are now and they cant really change that

so they just kind of help and give guidance to yuu. the yuu of the game.

(also because my favorite part of these kinds of things is having knowledge of things we probably shouldn't know about. and being suspicious. i mean i understand that probably won't happen cause they'd likely want to keep it on the down low since 'haha i have voices in my head that i didnt have before of all these other people who have a similar name to me and have lived this life before??? in an alternate timeline..?' is so unbelievable. but.. hehe)

anyway off topic image

lookatthepretty

(sorry this part is so funny to me i just took a moment looking back and forth between them. ..it kind of reminds me of epel.)

[willowisapillow]

🐉 Next Time On South Park Z 🐉

The couple of all time 💝

Here it is, the true (super belated) Valentine’s Day picture. Yet another cringe crossover absolutely nobody asked for yet I deliver because I can. Apologies if I’ve been posting way too much South Park stuff, it’s yet another franchise that I’m currently unhealthily hyper-fixated on. Enjoy some more Randy and Sharon appreciation art from me, because these two dorks are just everything to me <3

This was also made as a small tribute to Akira Toriyama, the creator of Dragon Ball after I found out that he passed away earlier this month on March 1st. Even though I’m a casual fan of the series, still makes me sad that he’s no longer and that we lost another anime/manga legend.

This whole art became a thing based on a phone call between me and one of my older brothers. We were just talking about random dumb stuff and he jokingly asked me to draw Cartman as Naruto and Kyle as Saskue (which is an art project that y’all know damn well I’ll be drawing in the future so look out for that lmao). I just started laughing to myself, but then I thought to myself, “What other anime could I cross over with South Park?” then Dragon Ball popped up in my head all of a sudden, and that’s how this cringefest came to be.

I can kinda see some connections with it, tbh. Both Goku and Randy are dumbass but funny as hell dads (they also have black hair), and both Chichi and Sharon are no-nonsense moms who are often exasperated by their hubbies’ idiotic actions, but do love them deep down and have shared some wholesome cute moments together with them. Both series also feature a lot of fighting and deaths too lol

And since it is the year of the dragon, this pic is pretty fitting :>

I thought I would take forever with this picture because a. I’m total garbage at drawing realistic-ish, non-animal guy characters, and b. I don’t draw side-view faces that much, but surprisingly it wasn’t too hard. I did get kinda lazy with the lower half of Randy’s body and didn’t draw it, but besides that, the whole art was pretty easy. Minus drawing the hands. Because Jesus tap dancing Christ, the hands took me lightyears to get right 🙃

All in all, this might be one of my favorite 2024 pieces of art I’ve drawn so far. Again, these two are special to me, and I finally got the chance to cross over some of my favorite things, cartoons and anime. Maybe I might draw Stan and Wendy as Gohan and Videl in the future as a little follow-up ^^

Also, the mental image of Randy going Super Saiyan is just the funniest shit to me, istg someone needs to make fanart, an animation, or some other sort of meme of that 💀

That’s all that I have for now. Hope you guys have a great day or night, and make sure to stay safe out there.

Farewell, Toriyama. May your memory and legacy live on 😇

[xxkylarthelonerxx]

Do u have any favourite games or manga :?

this is going to be a long post... i don't even think anyone will care to read it, but whatever... i don't care.

games -

i've been getting into osu! recently again. maybe i'll post some of my scores here. i think i'm pretty good.

overwatch, fortnite, etc have been fun on and off, but i can never get that invested. i don't really like playing with people online anyway, it just reminds me how much everyone sucks in general.

i like rpgs and stuff because i can show off my achievements to my darling easily in those usually. final fantasy, persona, whatever. visual novels are fun too, but i've gotten more picky with those lately...

and i like to practice games that couples usually play, like minecraft and stardew valley, just so that i can impress my darling with my skills once they do come live with me!

also any h-game where u can customize the characters are great. for obvious reasons... who wouldn't want to get off to their darling instead of some randos?? i've had fun with ai shoujo and honeyselect, but even with how much customization there is in those two, it's not like the character ends up looking that much like them... but even a semblence of similarity is better than nothing, though!

i guess i would try any game once though. let me know if anyone has any suggestions of things to play.

manga -

listing all of my favorites would take a while. i've been into manga for a long time, it's basically all i read.

i mean, i've liked naruto since i was a kid, the characters are so cool. dattebayo!! i think i would be part of the uchiha clan if i isekai'd into that world.

death note is one of my favorites too! i tried making my own death note a while back but it didn't work (not sure why), so i just use it as a sketchbook now. maybe i'll try again later. what i wouldn't give for a real one though...

uhh... i love anything with male yanderes that i can relate to also, or at least stalkers/slashers. tonari no seki no hen na senpai is fun to space out to and imagine myself in the guy's place, just as long as i can imagine the protag as my love, of course. that could be us if we worked in an office together... though i don't really get why the protagonist was so scared of that guy? obviously that would be different in our case...

i'll also always pick up any random romance manga if it has a love interest or protag that looks like my darling. it's nice since i can just imagine myself as any black-haired anime protag. and then i can daydream about doing fun things with my love!!

kind of related too. my pfp is from killer in love, which i picked up just because i thought i could relate to this character after seeing him around, but for some reason he ended up being like an antagonist? that was a really random choice... i wish i could rewrite it to make him get with the protagonist, i really don't know why they made him out to be so weird... so i guess i don't recommend that one. but it's just an example.

... oh yeah, and tokyo ghoul is another long-term favorite of mine. so cool.

honestly i need to make a myanimelist account at some point so you all can see how much i've read/watched, cause i'm sure it's way more than most of you.

...but that's it for this post. bye.

[hotmonkeelove]

Do you know why in one databook of naruto Masashi Kishimoto said that the relationshio between orochimaru and anko was intense? And in what page of one of the databook he compares a tecnique like lovers suicide? For me, anko loves him since a long time and orochimaru too but when she grew up! ♡

Here's the link to the first source pace. The pages on Anko are 122-123, where her relationship with Orochimaru is described as intense/ very deep (depending on the translation, but it means the same thing). Page 206 is where the Twin Snakes Mutual Death/ Twin Snake Sacrifice jutsu is compared to a lover's suicide. Here's my post on that, where I cite Narutopedia as my source. I don't own it personally. I can only point to the online sources/ translations.

As to why Kishimoto said that, I can only give you an educated guess. So here goes, I can't see how Anko wouldn't have been in awe of him/ crushing on him big time when she was his student. He was a Sannin, he was still the favourite to succeed the 3rd Hokage at the time, he thought she had incredible potential- short of having a kekkei genkai (the Sharingan is the only reason he gives for Sasuke having more potential than her), the fact he accuses her of being jealous of Sasuke, his intelligence and how (though he held some stuff back) he taught her everything she knows, and how, despite everything, she still copies his behaivours. I mean, if she really hates him that much, you'd think she'd quit waving her tongue around like she idolises him. Not to mention, she still keeps the photo of the two of them together on her headboard. To have someone's photo be the first and last thing you look at each day, they have to be very dear to you. I think she feels a hell of a lot of guilt for the things he did, but he'll always be the only one who means the world to her. No one can take his place.

With Orochimaru, he must have seen her as his "pet." Recall when Sakon reveals his curse mark to Sasuke, he says, "Did you think you were Lord Orochimaru's only pet?" Pawns get experimented on like easily disposable lab rats. Curse marks are reserved for his most valuable pieces. And the Heaven's curse mark is the most powerful of them, which is why he risked it on Sasuke. I would also go further with the snake summoning contract. Orochimaru has (that we know of) initiated only three others into a pact with Ryuchi Cave. Those are Kabuto, his right-hand man; Sasuke, his ideal vessel; and Mitsuki, his child, whom he hopes will be the Moon who aides the Sun in saving the world during the next great conflict. That's a pretty exclusive group, and the snakes are not especially welcoming. He must've had a lot of faith in her and viewed her as a valued apprentice, not simply a student or subordinate. Also, in their team photo, it's just the two of them. She doesn't have teammates till the Chunin exams, when they're required. Jiraiya is not shown with only Minato, but two other students we never see or hear about again. It must've been the two of them for several years and she must've been very important to him. Otherwise, why would he bother?

I get the feeling that there was a Genji/ Murasaki element there (in The Tale of Genji, Murasaki is the young girl he abducts, educating her to be his ideal woman, and eventually marrying her. She remains devoted to him, despite his faithlessness, including a marriage to another woman. She tells him she wants to be nun, but he won't let her, and she dies soon after). Then there's the story that most likely influenced Anko's character and relationship with Orochimaru, The Tale of the Gallant Jiraiya, which the Sannin are based on. Orochimaru is the master of snake magic. He is betrothed to a princess, but she becomes frightened of him as his villainous behaivour worsens. Jiraiya and Tsunade end up rescuing her.

[tamelee]

Hi, do you think they'll make S and N straight in the live action movie? Like making S nicer to Sakura or not even keeping the kiss or enforcing the idea of S and N being "brothers",... Anyway, I expect nothing but still... it stings.

Hi~ Yeah I feel you.

Oh I have many expectations- 's just that not a single one is any good.

It’s highly possible they’re going to push contrasting narratives. Unfortunately. Though I don't see the point in forcing any of these ideas into a movie, because there's simply no time. It will have no meaning either way unless 'romance' is going to play a significant part in it... which also wouldn't make any sense.

It's a lose-lose for all of us no matter what you ship...

However, they’ve always done it with filler (everything aside the source material and... arguably Kishimoto's add-on's) as well as marketing material. Some is still subtle enough so people can argue about it, but argue they will. (Ah! Isn’t that so very clever?) It isn't for nothing they used to force Naruto on Sakura aggressively and love to make him look like an idiot in filler, or introduce random girl characters as part of a new movie-plot so he can not only be the Hero to save the day, no, he can be their personal Hero. Because, oh, isn’t he actually so handsome now that he saved me? It’s a lame way to check off the romantic elements they for some reason always need to add in and give to Naruto, disguising it under the excuse of “character-arc-stuff” because Naruto can't evolve even a single belief unless the girlies’ minds change about him first. Let alone narratively it destroys Naruto’s character, because a huge "problem" is that he’s people-pleasing his way to being liked and pretty much all filler I’ve come across only strengthens this flaw (I saw ‘flaw’ lovingly btw). Name a single thing that faithfully stayed true to the Manga and wasn’t made by Kishimoto:…

… right. 

Imo, best case scenario? They just leave out everything beneath the surface, pick a single Theme, focus on the Shinobi in a way that still allows for a bit of believable growth in these characters. Something that can still show the current while pushing for some realization and round it out somewhat satisfactory in the end. If they’re going to try anything beyond that, it’ll fail.

Kishimoto created art, but the sole decision for an adaptation means art is now ground through a giant meat-mill of great team-effort and commerce. Every medium functions differently and this decision alone comes with many problems. (Length ’s an important one. Structure too.) You can already see it in the interviews that are held about this project. Too many people are involved that have influential say about the outcome of the creative decisions. There’s also the lovely men in suits that have all the control and yet have zero creative-skill although they’d like to believe otherwise. Studio’s by itself have their own politics. This never bides well for adaptations. Very rarely is it acceptable. Very often it’s disappointing. Almost always it’s a high-budget fantasy. And yet they always know that fans are going to be critical and still not care. 

Stubborn as hell. 

(It’s different when it’s not really an adaptation, but more inspired by an existing story. HTTYD for example is very, very loosely based on a book-series— it has little connection, but there’s obviously still a story idea in there… )

[mothbart]

hi india, i hope you are having a great day<3 i would like to know which characters from the marauders era do you think they would watch anime, what would be their favourites, if they read the mangas, etc.

LEN HI you're killing me here because i have...Thoughts (and as someone who grew up as an anime FIEND let me TELL YOU)

barty crouch jr loves anime and he loves reading manga and i will not allow anyone to disagree with me (lovingly). i think the kind of manga that he would be down for is chainsaw man like THAT MF WOULD LOVE DENJI. i think that evan would kind of dabble in it despite his sister absolutely ADORING manga/anime, like i don't think he'd really be super interested but he'll read whatever barty and pandora sends him.

speaking of pandora i think that she would absolutely love like the cute, romantic ones or like the slice of life kind of stuff. like she enjoyed free! and daily lives of high school boys and really enjoyed kids on the slope. i think she'd love toradora and she loved ouran high school host club (she definitely made lily watch toradora with her but lily did not like anime at all but she did it for pandora). she tried watching my hero academia but stopped after a while because it just wasn't her thing anymore. OH she also really loved k-on!! too

regulus is a giant fan of death note and black butler. i think death note was the first anime that regulus ever watched and i don't think it like...got him into anime, but it was a good show and he liked it and he read the manga and still enjoyed it. as for black butler? i think that sebastian michaelis was his gay awakening and had to stop reading to pretty much sit in silence and be like "i can't believe i want to fuck a fictional, murderous butler"

i think that james potter grew up in an anime phase, like i think that he was a total fucking nerd about it and his favorite was definitely the big three (naruto, bleach, one piece). but i think if we had to really get down to details, he loved naruto and i think that he definitely looked up to him because he had the attitude that anything was possible kind of vibe. but once he got into high school and started playing more sports i think he stopped caring but would maybe watch an episode here and there to remind him how much he loved it.

oh my god sorry for the long response i just have so many thoughts and feelings i love anime sm and this question made me SO HAPPY

[kankuroplease]

Could you see Chiha being in relationship with deidara or sasori? Imo she’d make a great match with deidara personality wise and a nice match with sasori look wise

Chiha is a hard one to ship because her friend choices (mainly Shisui) and her general disinterest in dating atm/hookups

Deidara and Sasori would get an immediate Nope for arguing with each other the way they do ALL the time if she somehow met them. They should slice that sexual tension and just date each other.

Her romantic examples are:

Her parents who basically got married to the first people they fell in love with 🎻

Mikoto and Fugaku; whom are both pretty cool, but she’s almost certain that Fugaku baby trapped her 😬

Naruto, who can’t stop being a little ho even though his best option, Shika, is RIGHT there! 💀

Sasuke who got dumped for unknown reasons to her years ago, but still lives together with his ex who has moved on? She kinda feels bad for him 😵‍💫

Itachi, who is a very chill boss. He’s a good guy in her opinion, but his girl doesn’t claim him publicly and that’s a bit sad 😢

Uncle Kakashi who is in a polyam relationship and won’t answer the simple question if someone watches while the other two bang or if they double stuff poor Rin 🫤

Shisui, who had someone different cuddle up on his lap every other night until recently 🤡

Michi, who is married to her friend out of convenience, but is in love with someone else, and trying to play wingman for another friend to get with her husband 🥲

Godfather Jiraiya who writes erotica and coaches adult content creators 💀

[sneezemonster15]

Can we trust databooks and chapter's covers? Did Kishimoto write them?

Like some databooks claim that Sasuke and Karin were in romance, Sakura used to have crush on Sasuke, Sakura filled Sasuke's lonely existence with love. On cover of chapter 363 it is mentioned that Sasuke left or threw away love and ss think it means he left/threw away his love for Sakura.

Haiyya.

No. Databooks, novels, games etc are not canon. NONE of them. Dot. Period. Kishi didn't write them. One of those few pages, where Kishi wrote Sasuke saying that the kiss tasted like miso, that apparently was written by Kishi and that was the reason it was written in first person. But honestly, you can go ahead and disregard that as well if you want. It seriously doesn't matter.

What matters is the story and the story only. Kishi personally wrote parts one and two, Boruto movie, Gaiden and those few extra chapters, one as a pretext for Road to ninja movie and the one where Naruto misses his hokage ceremony. And the one as a pretext to The Last where Kiba and his dog are the MCs. And a couple of pages where Naruto takes Hinata on a date.

Databooks are compiled by the editors. Why else would it talk about things that blatantly go against the story and the actual characterisation? Only people in the fandom, who want to go five steps deeper, have the time and patience to read the databooks. They are just extra material provided by SJ for fans as fanservice. It boosts publicity and keeps the fans interested. That's how any media business works. Just like novels and games which are merchandise. They are NOT canon and they are not to be taken seriously. When you read Harry Potter, what's canon for you? The actual books or the games based on them or the fanfiction based on them? You think the creator has the time to put that kind of effort and time that he already has a shortage of in derivatives of the original work? Kishi sometimes draws the covers of the novels or poster art etc, because he is under the contract by SJ. The novels have his name and the name of the actual writer of the novels written on the cover. Kishi's because he is the original creator of the characters. He has no participation in the actual stories.

He supervises Boruto, and he also was the creative story supervisor of The Last, where he said in an interview that he didn't write the romance bits of it, because he felt embarrassed to make two of his characters, that he thought of as his own children, kiss. Lol. He sure didn't feel embarrassed when he drew a naked Sai and Sasuke performing full on sexual foreplay in fucking canon. Also, Hinata's and Sakura's characters in it are pretty much in character.

But people who understand Kishi's writing know why he does the things that he does and says the things that he says. ALL of it pans out logically. A lot of it because he wrote a gay love story in a limiting genre such as shounen, which itself was a brave and risky thing to do, so he has to be careful about what he says in the interviews. And a lot of times, he just runs his mouth, and why won't he? He wrote such a great story diligently for fifteen fucking years and he can't even talk about it freely because of the limitations of this genre. He wanted to write something different, something that hasn't been done in shounen before, so he wrote a gay love story, which reads like it comes from such a deep and personal and emotional place, but he had to sacrifice other things for it. For example, the ending.

He says other stuff too in his interviews, the snarky stuff, that he says about Sakura and Hinata, tongue in cheek, because he is petty and he enjoys it and he also looks down upon people who aren't able to see his true intentions. Because of their own projection. And I don't mind it honestly. His hands were tied. So if this is the way for him to take his frustrations out, so be it. It's partly the reason he wrote Gaiden. He could have written it so differently, it was a new angle, he wrote new elements in it, but he chose not to. He decimated SS in it. Because he wanted to. Because he couldn't care less for SS. And he has never shown anything but disdain for Sakura's character consistently.

You know how he would feel for the SS stans? The same thing he felt and said for Sakura's seiyuu who was just so excited for Sarada's character, the result and reason for SS. Heh.

Mockery. It's pretty consistent too.

You can go ahead and stamp it up on your mind, only the original manga is canon. Plus few other things mentioned above. What Kishi wrote. Nothing else matters. Absolutely nothing.

As for chapter 363, this.

Guys. Do you really think Sasuke said this for Sakura? What does your understanding indicate?

With all due respect, I need to say this. You guys are just way too gullible. SS are one of the craziest and most delusional fandoms in the history of fandoms, so much so that, its own creator mocks it relentlessly.

Do you really think Sasuke means Sakura when Kishi talks about his love?? For real?

Who is Sasuke's one and only.....friend? Who is the ONLY one Sasuke needs to 'cut off' to be truly alone? Who became Sasuke's 'closest friend' which Sasuke himself said was very significant for him? Who is his 'Usuratonkachi' which is his word in Kishi's most favourite panel, a conclusive, final panel that he had already thought of years before the manga ended? Who is the person Sasuke protects and cares for at the cost of his own goals and ambitions, no matter how small the threat, and even almost died for without a second thought? Whom does his body move for on its own? Who is the person he shed happy tears for? Who is the person he resonated with, who related his loneliness with, and who felt warm and fuzzy for, who reminded him of his bonds with his family, his core motivation?

Now who is the person he apathetically attempted several times to get rid of in part two? Who is the person he called annoying and was utterly unimpressed with, who got called annoying by him consistently? Who was the person he said he had no reason to love and that person has no reason to love him? Who was the person he couldn't care less for and left to die in lava dimension but rescued Naruto even when he didn't need to be rescued? Who is the person he cannot even respect as a fighter, who is the person he can't even bother to answer the queries of? Who is the person he can't even bother to thank or apologize to properly? Who is the person he clearly said in reunion that he had already cut off his bonds with? Who is the person he doesn't see for 12 years? Who is the person he is never happy to see, who doesn't even smile for?

Also, what do you understand by love? What does love mean? What do you feel when you love someone?

Someone with whom you resonate deeply with, with whom you share your loneliness, whom you would give your life for and whom you would protect tooth and nail at the expense of your own life in order to sustain their goals and dreams, to have them live at the expense of your own ambition, someone whom you smile and laugh with, someone who makes you feel like family, warm and cared for?

OR

Someone who you show at best some friendliness but then at their lack of understanding and empathy makes it easy for you to cut off your bonds with? Someone whom you can't respect? Someone whose intelligence and instincts you can't trust? Someone whom you can't even take seriously?

Do you really need me to answer these questions? For real?

Do you really cannot see something as crystal clear as this? Would you really let yourself be manipulated by silly ass SS who Kishi himself made the laughingstock of the fandom? Why do you give them so much credit? Honestly, if this was some experimental cinema that you needed explaining, I would have done it. I do explain the more indirect parts of it anyway. But you seriously gotta be smarter than that guys.

SS have NOTHING except for their crazy ass delusions. Trust your instincts. Trust Kishi's writing. He is the freaking creator. Who would you believe, him, the one who wrote this story or SS who come up with crazy ass garbage bin metas? Give yourself some credit.

I have like sixty repetitive asks just on the topic of SS said this, SS said that, and you guys ask this to every SNS analysis blog there is. And they all pretty much say the same thing. And why wouldn't they? Because that's what Kishi meant you to read. It's hardly rocket science. It's so goddamn clear for everyone to see. But you guys are still so goddamn insecure.

Even casual fans can see it's about SNS and both SS and NH are last minute shit for the sake of Boruto. How?

Common fucking sense.

SS have to be delusional to believe in their ship because they literally have NOTHING else. And they say shit like this and you believe it willy nilly.

Forget SS. Read the manga for yourself. Make your own conclusions. I don't mind explaining stuff but I draw a line at spoonfeeding shit that is already clear as crystal. What do you want me to do? Teach you the alphabet? English? Words? Sentences? You want me to be your kindergarten teacher?

Seriously. Stop. Doubting. Yourselves. Kishi's story might be a little indirect but it's not incomprehensive. Really, it's not difficult. For the most part, it's pretty straightforward. For the rest, I am here and I would do my best to help you understand. Which I already do.

But put some effort yourselves. And for heaven's sake, don't be so gullible. Don't be so fucking EASY.

YOU, SNS, have EVERYTHING THAT MATTERS. Fuck NH, SS. NrSk, SK. They have nothing. And you have one of the best written love stories in the entire world.

And you are still so damn insecure, it's seriously ridiculous. Kishi put so much damn work in this love story, you apparently are in the fandom because of it, but you still doubt it. At the end of the day, it pretty much negates what Kishi himself wrote with so much damn effort. All because of- SS SaiD tHiS, Ss saID thAt. 😭

This is a love story about Sasuke and Naruto.

I have said it a million times already. Trust your instincts. That's how stories work. That's how they are written. Follow the story for the story's sake. Not for shipping. You are not in competition with ANYONE. No one can compete with SNS, how can they? The whole story is a love story about THEM! Unless that's all you care about. Competing. In which case, go to someone else. I am here to talk story and characters. I don't give any credit to NH and SS and you are only enabling them when you obsess over every little stupid thing they say. Stop it.

[wasyago]

this is sakura x ino anon, and whoa! really?? that makes things even funnier. i havent been around tumblr myself the past few months so didnt notice it but thats pretty cool! and kinda freaky /pos

your kakadhi and obito drawings are so good as well! really nice colors and expressions as always! great to see your art again and hearing your thoughts on stuff!

also yes! sakura x ino for the win! they have taken over me again and i have just been constantly thinking of scenes and aus about them as i’ve been reading stories. i’m slowing down my reading because i dont want to run out of things to read (even when a lot of it is rereading stuff back then) i’ve even read 350 plus stories of them in over four days soooo yup, theyve definitely taken over

hope youre doing good yago during your time away as well besides from getting back into naruto! always take care!

350+??????? WOW

understandable tho, they're just that good 💅💅💅 if i might ask, would you be willing to recommend something from what you've read? like, the most favorite / memorable stories maybe? im looking for something to read but im not that invested in the ship unfortunately hdgsh, and seeing how you're the expert.... no worries if not tho, its all good 👍👍

and thank you so much aaah!! seeing how everything (mcyt related) is on a bit of a pause, the break has been nice and it didn't take away from anything important for me, its quite good. i didn't feel it initially, but it definitely helped me recharge and gain a couple new perspectives on things and catch up on stuff! breaks are good

hope your sakura x ino obsession stays strong 🫡🫡🫡

[erimeows]

Hush Hush

It’s a warm day in Konoha as Naruto Uzumaki runs up to his teammates, Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno. They’ve been waiting for him on the bridge- probably for a little too long- but he is not to blame nearly as much as his spoiled milk. When he approaches the two other Genin, he excitedly greets them with a smile. 

“Sakura, Sasuke!”

Naruto stands in front of his friends and waits for whatever it is they have to say in response to him, though he doesn’t really care. They have their normal D-rank missions today- stupid grunt work like walking dogs, picking weeds, catching cats, and babysitting noble children- but Naruto has something more important on his mind; Iruka-Sensei’s upcoming birthday.

“Naruto, you’re late!” Sakura scolds, then pauses to look at his face. “Oh, no. You look like you’re up to no good this morning.”

“Yeah, now that she mentions it, you have even more pep in your step than usual,” Sasuke points out as he crosses his arms and rolls his eyes.

“Iruka-Sensei’s birthday is in a couple months!” Naruto exclaims, though neither Sakura nor Sasuke look very impressed with the important information he’s just told them.

“And?” Sasuke questions with a raised eyebrow. “Why should I care?”

“Well, y’know, he’s like a dad to me,” Naruto answers, speaking a little quieter now. Sakura’s expression softens, but Sasuke’s remains unmoving; uncaring as always. Naruto can’t stand that about the Uchiha. “I want to do something for him! It took me a while to come up with something, but I think I have a good plan. The only problem is that I need both you guys’ help with it.”

“And why would I want to do that?”

“C’mon, Sasuke, Iruka-Sensei was a good teacher to all of us and you know it!” Sakura argues and places a hand on Sasuke’s shoulder. Unsurprisingly, Sasuke scoffs and pulls away. “The least we could do is do something nice for him!”

“Fine,” Sasuke sighs and looks at Naruto. “What’s your plan, then?”

“Now that’s where it gets tricky,” Naruto laughs nervously, then continues. He doesn’t meet either of his teammates’ eyes. “I was thinking, Iruka-Sensei works way too much. Like, it’s so bad that he spends all his time teaching, doing dumb teacher stuff that isn’t teaching, or training! He has no friends, it’s actually kinda sad, but what if we got him a girlfriend?”

“Your idea of a birthday gift is setting up this poor, traumatized, overworked man with a date?” 

“Sasuke, don’t be such a downer!” Sakura insists. “I think it’s a great idea- Iruka-Sensei could use a little love in his life! He does seem pretty lonely.”

“I don’t think that’s such a great idea… Hm,” Sasuke shrugs in what appears to be a reluctant agreement. “Fine. Since you two are so excited about it, I’ll help, but I refuse to take the blame if it backfires.”

Suddenly, the final member of their team shows up; Kakashi, who’s even later than Naruto. The Jonin flickers down to stand behind Naruto.

“Man, you guys are awful,” Kakashi laughs, looking terribly amused. “Your poor former Sensei is overworked and his birthday is coming up, so you think what he needs is a girlfriend? Like that won’t add more stress and commitment to his life?”

“K-Kakashi-Sensei!” Naruto jumps and whirls around to face Kakashi, whose chest he nearly slams his head into. “When did you get here!?”

“Before you did, Naruto, I was just hiding in the trees to listen to your little scheme,” Kakashi explains. “You know, you really shouldn’t make a habit of being so late to things.”

“Like you’re one to talk!? You’re even more late than I am!”

“Tsk tsk. Do as I say, not as I do, you’ll live much happier lives that way. That being said, shall we get started for the day?”

All three of them answer, Naruto’s birthday gift for Iruka forgotten for now.

“Yes, Kakashi-Sensei!”

~

Later that day, Sakura gathers her two teammates to revisit their plan for Iruka’s birthday. The gist of Naruto’s idea is to find someone in the village that would be a good fit for Iruka and set them up on a blind date around the day of Iruka’s birthday. It sounds sensible enough, but when Sakura finds herself dragged along with Sasuke to lurk in a tree just outside of the academy, she can’t help but be a tad confused about what’s going on.

“Okay, so I understand why you want to get Iruka-Sensei a girlfriend, but how are we going to do that by stalking him?” Sakura questions while furrowing her brow in confusion.

“Well, we have to make sure he doesn’t already have a super secret hidden relationship first!” Naruto answers oh-so-confidently, to which Sasuke pinches the bridge of his nose between his pointer finger and his thumb before responding with an exasperated-

“God, you’re a fucking idiot.”

“I dunno, I think it’s a fair point,” Sakura acquiesces to Naruto’s idea, even if she doesn’t want to admit that she agrees with the hardheaded blond more than she does with Sasuke. “It’d be pretty awkward if we tried to set him up on a date only to find out he’s already with someone.”

“Yup! Just as I said!” Naruto says in a terribly loud whisper, his bright blue eyes trained on Iruka as he walks out of the academy. Unfortunately, Iruka isn’t an idiot. He looks around, clearly on guard and aware of the fact that he’s not alone when he leaves work. Naruto is oblivious to it. “So we’re just gonna follow him for a few days, get a hang of his routine. Surely if he’s seeing someone we’d notice them, so if we don’t see anything, we can go ahead with the real plan!”

“Fine, if you say so…” Sakura trails off. “I have a bad feeling about this.”

~~

Sasuke Uchiha has a single goal in life; to kill his brother, Itachi Uchiha, and avenge his clan. So, he doesn’t like wasting time on trivial things like romance or D-Rank missions, preferring to spend his time training and doing more important things. That being said, since being assigned to squad seven, Sasuke has learned that he can make connections with people- whether he wants to or not. Sakura and Naruto are both very persistent and surprisingly endearing, so he can’t help but love them dearly, even if he will never admit it out loud to either of them.

Because of that love, he goes along with their foolish plan to set Iruka up on some sort of date. A couple of weeks have passed since Naruto mentioned his idea to them and they haven’t gotten any closer to bringing that idea to fruition. Iruka’s birthday draws closer and closer by the day.

Sasuke can’t understand why his teammates have such an interest in their former teacher’s love life, but if it’ll make them happy, he figures that helping with them won’t hurt. The only issue is that both of them are horrendous at hiding both their Chakra and their presence because they’re so noisy and unskilled. Sasuke, the more talented of the three, decides that to make any progress with getting an idea of Iruka’s routine while remaining unnoticed is staking Iruka out by himself.

So far, he’s been successful. They offered to go with him to track Iruka today, but he feigned a stomach bug and said he had to get home. The other two Genin, dejected, went to their own homes to do God knows what, leaving Sasuke to his own devices. He followed Iruka to the academy to watch him teach, to his lunch break, back to the academy, and finally to his humble apartment. Conveniently enough, Sasuke manages to hide just outside of Iruka’s large window. He concentrates his Chakra to his hands so he can hang on to the window sill without hurting his fingers or falling off. He activates his Sharingan and peers through the window.

Iruka hasn’t done much since he’s been home; graded some papers, cooked dinner. Sasuke has noticed, however, that Iruka set his kitchen table with two spots; directly across from each other, each with a plate, a cloth napkin, silverware, and a wine glass. In the middle of the table is a vase of red roses, and Iruka has an ungodly amount of scented candles lit across the apartment. 

Suddenly, Iruka perks up and rushes to the front door.

“Oh, he’s here!”

Sasuke watches. Much to his surprise, when Iruka opens the door, there’s none other than Kakashi standing on the other side. Sasuke’s lips gently part in shock as he listens to the words that come from Kakashi’s mouth.

“Iruka-Sensei, I missed you today.”

“I missed you too, Kakashi…” Iruka pulls Kakashi into the apartment in a way that’s overly familiar, shuts the door, and wraps his arms around the Jonin’s taller body. Kakashi hugs him back. Sasuke has never seen such affectionate or intimate displays from either man, and to be honest, he’s incredibly uncomfortable now that he has. He shouldn’t be here. He shouldn’t be seeing this. Damn Naruto and Sakura for dragging him into this stupid nonsense… “It’s good to see you. I’ve had a long day.”

“You’re telling me,” Kakashi breaks loose from Iruka’s hug and walks to the kitchen with the Chunin following him like a lost puppy. “I don’t know how you handled those three for so long on top of a dozen other children.”

“Are you ready for dinner?” Iruka asks as Kakashi sits at the dinner table.

“Yeah, I’m pretty hungry.”

“Great.”

Iruka grabs the pot full of spaghetti that he had been working on, serves them both a plateful, and sets it back on the stove. Then, he sits across from Kakashi. The two eat in comfortable, romantic silence. Sasuke doesn’t miss how they sneak the occasional glance at each other with such sickening affection in their eyes when they think the other isn’t looking.

“So… Are the kids still following you?” Kakashi questions.

Sasukei’s stomach drops. Iruka knew, he knew that much, but Kakashi, too? They’ve both known about their plan the whole time. How embarrassing…

“Yeah, pretty much any time they haven’t been with you today, they were outside of the academy stalking me or following me home. Pretty creepy, to be honest.”

“They’re ridiculous,” Kakashi laughs and shakes his head. Somehow, he has managed to hide his face from Sasuke while eating impeccably with the simple use of one hand. From the angle they’re at, though, Iruka must have seen Kakashi’s face… He must’ve seen it anyway. They’re dating, after all. It’s a weird thought; that Iruka knows so much more about Kakashi than any of the rest of them do. How did this even happen in the first place, though? Why are they hiding it? “I meant to tell you that I heard what they’re up to. It took me a bit to piece it together, but they think you’re single.”

“What does that have to do with this?” Iruka demands.

“You won’t believe me, but… They want to set you up on a date with a woman as some sort of weird birthday gift.”

“Seriously?” Iruka groans, then face-palms. “Bad at teamwork and bad at using their gaydars. Who would’ve guessed?”

“I could have, honestly, it’s not out of character for them to do this shit,” Kakashi sighs. Then, his gaze flickers to the window. “But before we continue this, Iruka, I don’t think we’re alone.”

“Shit…” Sasuke whispers under his breath, knowing that his confusion about the entire situation made him lose focus on controlling his Chakra.

“Sasuke, go home, will you?” Kakashi raises his voice to say while pulling his mask back up. “I’m trying to have a private conversation with my boyfriend.”

Saying nothing, Sasuke listens and scurries away as fast as possible. Who knows what sort of consequences this fiasco will have for them come morning…

~~~

A couple of days pass after Sasuke stalks their shared dinner at Iruka’s apartment. Kakashi doesn’t say anything to his Genin students about the incident or about the situation in general- mostly because it’s awkward, but also because watching them squirm in guilt about going behind Iruka’s back is hilarious. He doesn’t know if Sasuke has told his other squad members about what occurred at Iruka’s apartment, but he does know that the situation is making Iruka increasingly nervous.

So, they schedule a dinner at Ichiraku with Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura to clear the air.

The five sit at Ichiraku on the tiny red stools at the bar. While Kakashi sits on the very outer corner and Iruka sits on the inside, their three students sit between them with Naruto next to Iruka, Sasuke next to Kakashi, and Sakura in the middle. The silence is deafening minus the occasional noodle slurping- at least until Kakashi clears his throat and speaks up.

“So, Sasuke already knows, but we invited you here tonight to tell you something important.”

Naruto perks up at that, lightly elbowing Iruka, who looks back at him with a blush.

“What is it, Iruka-Sensei?”

“Kakashi overheard your plan to set me up on a date, and he told me all about it,” Iruka says with a nervous chuckle and scratches his chin. Kakashi simply watches with hearts in his eyes. He didn’t want their two year long relationship to come out like this, but he’s happy that they’re able to tell their students after hiding it for so long. It’ll be a weight lifted off of both of their shoulders- that and they can finally start inviting the kiddos to dinner after work without worrying about what they’ll say. “I’m happy to inform you that there’s no need to do that, as kind of a gesture as it is. I’m already dating someone and have been for over a year.”

“What? Who is she? Do I know her!?” Naruto excitedly asks question after question, which makes Kakashi struggle to hold back his laughter.

“Is it Anko?” Sakura inquires, and it’s a valid inquiry since Anko and Iruka are close friends and coworkers, but she doesn’t know just how wrong she is.

“No, it’s Kakashi,” Iruka clarifies.

Sasuke doesn’t appear even remotely surprised, as he had found out days earlier, though it’s apparent that he didn’t bother telling Sakura or Naruto. Sakura’s seafoam eyes are blown wide as she damn near chokes on her ramen, and Naruto looks like he’s barely able to keep from screaming the roof off of the establishment with the shock that takes over his expression.

“What?” Naruto shoots straight up and frantically looks between Kakashi and Iruka, who are now smiling at each other. “Why didn’t you tell me!?”

“Well, Naruto, it’s complicated. As much as we love each other, and as much as Iruka wants to be transparent with you all about things,” Kakashi explains and waits for all three of his students to be paying attention before he continues. “I have led a very dangerous life. I’ve fought in wars, been a squad captain of the Anbu, fought Orochimaru… I’ve come close to death a lot of times. Iruka leads a more peaceful life than I, and if everyone else were to know about our relationship, he could be a target for people looking to hurt me. We’ve only hidden it for this long to protect each other.”

“...Oh,” Naruto says quietly.

Thankfully, he seems to understand. Kakashi lets out a sigh of relief. He was half-expecting Naruto to release the ninetails and maul him to death for daring to touch his beloved teacher- now father figure. Naruto doesn’t overreact in an angry or sad manner, though. Sakura and Sasuke are clearly neutral about it as Sakura taps Sasuke’s shoulder and questions-

“Wait, Sasuke, how did you know?”

“I went off to trail Iruka’s nighttime routine on my own the other night and saw them having dinner together. They’ve known about us following them the whole time because you two can’t hide your Chakra,” Sasuke scoffs like he’s better than his two teammates, because why wouldn’t he? Kakashi opens his mouth to clarify that the Uchiha isn’t much better since he was spotted by Kakashi as well the other night, but before he can, Sasuke admits to it. “Kakashi caught me, though.”

“So we should keep this a secret too then, right?” Sakura asks.

“If you wouldn’t mind,” Kakashi nods as he finishes up his food and pays the tab before Iruka can stop him from doing so. “We still don’t want anyone else to know, we only told you three so you’d stop snooping.”

“Damn!” Naruto yells and holds his head in his hands. At first, Kakashi is slightly concerned. The following claim from the blond makes all of them laugh, though, and whatever concern was there quickly fades. “That means I’m going to have to save money to buy Iruka-Sensei an actual birthday gift instead of surprising him with my super awesome plan!”

“Seriously? You idiot!” Sakura raises her voice and crosses her arms as she yells at Naruto with pink cheeks. “I’d help you pay for it, ya know!”

“Me too, actually,” Sasuke quietly agrees, trying to seem like he doesn’t care when he clearly does.

Kakashi laughs once more. Meanwhile, Iruka objects. His chocolate brown eyes flicker between the three Genin.

“No, no,” The brunette insists and shakes his head ‘no’. “That’s not necessary. None of you need to get me a birthday gift. Just a birthday wish on the day will suffice. If you insist on getting me a gift, I don’t want you to waste your hard earned money on it. So make me a card or a cake or something of that nature, okay?”

“Yes, Iruka-Sensei,” The three agree, and with that, they’re all back to enjoying their meal and their drinks.

Just then, Kakashi realizes.

Iruka’s birthday is in a little under two months and he still hasn’t gotten Iruka a gift either…