#because if they were actually friends then sakuras continued love for sasuke would feel more grounded on a real bond

[sunnyferr]

"The characters from Naruto realizing they're in love."

Hello, this is my first headcanon! Please bear with me as I'm not very fluent in English, but I'll do my best <3

Characters: Naruto, Sasuke and Shikamaru

The first thoughts towards you were something like "She's too nice of a girl!" because you were kind and quite fun, to be honest! I spent most of my time with you. If we weren't training, we were eating ramen at Ichiraku, and if we weren't eating, we were bothering Tsunade or Sakura.

Spending time with you became a habit in our afternoons, mornings, and nights. There were times when you went on missions for almost a whole week. Strangely, I felt empty without you. After all, you were my teammate and best friend, right?

Well... not entirely. I loved you, but I just thought it was another teenage crush like the one with Sakura. But it wasn't really like that. I felt a connection for a long time. The fear of rejection was the real issue...

The day I accepted loving you was the day you almost lost your life facing some ninjas from the Sound Village. You came back badly wounded. Seeing that scene, I felt something break inside me. I didn't want to see you harmed, I wanted to protect you.

When you came out of the hospital, with your hands bandaged and a few scratches here and there, I was waiting for you at the door. Upon seeing me, you asked what I was doing there. I invited you to eat ramen, thinking it would ease any pain you were feeling at that moment. We walked slowly to Ichiraku, sat down, and ate almost until bursting. Both of us satisfied, you put money on the table, but I placed a sum higher than yours. You looked at me strangely, "I'll pay, y/n-chan..." You vehemently refused, trying to pay yourself. Ichiraku and its daughter watched amusedly, the argument was small, like when we argued as kids. After some back and forth, we split the bill evenly, and we left the food stall. I walked you home, we talked about everything, but little by little I felt our hands brushing more than usual. Suddenly, I stopped and stood in front of you, uttering the words that had been longing to come out of my mouth.

"These past few days have been the best since you've been with me. I would like to always be by your side... I ask you, please, to be my girl until the end of time. I promise I'll always protect you! Dattebayo!"

Quite challenging, honestly. He's like a stone, shows you NOTHING, I'd even believe a stone could show more affection than him. The first thought he had of you was a 'hmph...' and NOTHING ELSE.

But that changes when he sees you train. He sees you as a strong and powerful woman, trying to move forward and continue training with a fixed goal in mind. He adores that his partner has a fixed goal and strives to achieve it (as he does, actually).

He wants a partner who fights alongside him, not someone he has to rescue from every problem they encounter. And when he noticed how independent and resourceful you were, he fell for you like nobody else.

At first, it was hard for him to accept that he was utterly lost in your presence as the Alpha Female, given that his pride is bigger than his body. But he wanted you to be with him as his future wife and to restore the clan with you (😏).

He took you by surprise, seeing him at the window of your house, leaning on the frame. The moonlight illuminated the room, and the curtains danced in an infinite seeming dance. Sasuke had left the village a long time ago, but he visited you almost every day, and you never knew the exact reason, but you almost expected him every day. 'What are you doing here? I thought you had an important mission tonight!' you said, snapping out of the surprise that the dark-haired boy had given you. He stepped away from the window frame and approached you slowly, taking your hands delicately. His hands were very cold compared to yours, which radiated a warm embrace. He sighed and spat out the words that had been stuck in his chest:

"I need to be by your side. It makes me feel calm with myself. Right now, I'm giving you the opportunity to escape together and restore my clan... both of us, together."

(my baby❤️)

He is the true "mastermind" (Taylor reference). Since he realized his love for you, he began to play with your mind little by little so that you would fall into his love trap.

I know he seems like a lazy guy who doesn't care about anything (which he actually is), but when he felt the direct hit to his heart, he realized he couldn't let you slip away from him.

"How annoying you are, I guess I'll have to accompany you so you don't get lost, right?" It seems like you're forcing him to accompany you, right? NO, he indirectly offered to take you to Training Ground Number 5 (even though you knew perfectly well where it was).

He would make all the dominoes fall perfectly in his favor, and he knew that you also felt something strong for him (Ino, the gossip, never tell him about your loves again).

You arrived at the gates of the village; you had been away for a few days on an important mission, with an important scroll in your hands. At the entrance, the boy with eyes as dark as night was waiting for you. He greeted you as usual, teasing you about being too slow. He always made silly jokes because he knew it annoyed you a little, but it was funny to see you like that. He offered to carry the scroll together, and you accepted. You walked together to the Hokage's tower, and before entering Tsunade's office, a hand on your wrist stopped you.

"Lately... you've been more annoying than usual... you never leave my mind, and the clouds I see every day. I need to confess to you that I don't want you to be just annoying in my dreams, but also by my side. What do you say?"

[sueske]

Tbh I don’t get the view that sakura could’ve been fantastic. She could’ve been ok if kishi didn’t hate her but her potential isn’t amazing. Like what’s her arc? Becoming a strong ninja & not an asshole? That’s not rlly a strong story+motive next to arcs about war abuse genocide. Like why should I care if she‘s a stronger nicer soldier for the fascist state? At best she could’ve been good support cast, but as a main that’s still pretty embarrassing next to naruto+sasuke.

😂😭 well I think by fantastic they mean better than she is, as in on par with naruto and sasuke, which is a goal she set for herself, and an expectation as she is member of team 7.

she doesn't have the background that sns do, or even kakashi, she's not shaped by trauma, she's shaped for her love for sasuke, so growing out of that would've been step 1. coming to care for her friends because she wants to make them feel better, acknowledging the shinobi system she is a part of, because just cuz smth traumatic hasn't happened to her yet, doesn't mean it won't, and in a way she has experienced loss on a more personal nature (like Chiyo). Instead of being shaped by these events and making her goal to honestly help her friends, which would make her more likeable, and want to change the world around her, like naruto and sasuke do, which be step 2 of elevating her character. and then step 3 would be taking actions towards that. again, she wants to be on par with naruto and sasuke, the running theme for the show is surpassing those that came before them, and team 7 was primed to surpass the sanin who directly train them. however that never happened for sakura. we had sasuke develop new jutsu, and surpass orochimaru. orochimaru said that sasuke would surpass madara eventually, and like yeah. there's a solid basis for that statement. naruto created new jutsu, learned sage mode, and surpassed jiraiya. what did sakura do? she's an off-brand tsunade. she learned for her yes, and picked up on her abilities (like dealing with poisons, the healing seal, summoning katsuyu, healing in general) but... nothing more. she never surpasses tsunade, in fact during the war arc tsunade comes and heals shikamaru, sakura tries to hit madara in the same way tsunade did previously but nothing comes from that. hashirama said her strength may be greater than Tsunade's (again another character saying a member of team 7 surpassed the previous generation) but where's the basis for that? there isn't. tsunade proposed the idea of including a medic on missions, she came up with a procedure to help lee, even as a non-main character tsunade continues to grow and improve herself, but sakura? sakura takes no steps to develop something further, either medicine related or strength related. like I said, an off-brand copy. naruto and sasuke surpassed their sensei long ago, and while sakura relished that she finally 'caught up' to naruto and sasuke, the boys were already moving even further forwards. meanwhile sakura didn't even catch up to tsunade.

so, she may not have been fantastic as naruto and sasuke are, but growing out of her infatuation, realising what the world around her actually is, coming to care for her friends genuinely and seeing how they were shaped by the world and helping them (instead of trying to kill one of them, or laying the burden of rescuing everyone on the other), and actually putting all her supposed book smart theories to practice and doing something for a change, would've made her a much better character, one fitting of being one of the main character's of team 7. she had the potential to help with the greater narrative themes of the story and to be more relevant to naruto and sasuke's lives instead of just being a damsel in distress who constantly mocks/hits naruto yet relies on him, and whose infatuation for sasuke is downright disturbing. which is why fanon sakura is more preferred, why people say 'sakura had so much potential, Kishimoto just doesn't know how to write female characters.'

but of course she was never meant to go down this route to begin with. Kishimoto was consistent with the way he wrote her throughout the whole series. she serves her purpose. she'll forever be a girl in love who thinks so highly of herself but barely has anything to back that up, and whose shallow feelings also jarringly contrast sns' feelings.

[theunrealinsomniac]

If the Naruto and Sakura in your canon met 12-year-old Naruto and Sakura, what would the adult Naruto and Sakura say to their kid selves, and how would 12-year-old Naruto and Sakura react?

(I'm glad to know you appreciate my asks)

Oho ho ho ... this is a bigger haystack then I think you realise.

Now we've established that you mean my version of Canon, so we'll stick to that. But it does depend on which version of my Canon!AUs we're talking.

But that's a whole essay worth of wondering and we're not here for *every* single version of Canon!AU!NaruSaku ... we'd be here all week. I do have something of a multiverse after all lol.

So we'll go with the broadest strokes, the versions of NaruSaku that are the most common. Let's say they're in their late twenties, married and parents to at least Sachi and Ichika. Cool? Cool.

(Btw if you want more info on my NaruSaku kids, cos I don't use Shina etc, I am *more* than happy to wax lyrical about my four Uzumaki brats lol.)

So, for a start? Twelve year old Naruto and Sakura would be goddamn stunned. Naruto wouldn't be able to look away from adult Sakura of any age and Sakura would be struggling to pick her jaw up off the floor with how Naruto looks as an adult.

We are talking instant crushes on the adult versions of the other without even realising it for Sakura. Naruto's already there of course but seeing Sakura as a grown woman? Boy would fall so deep he'd never stand up again.

There would be incessant questions and a whole lot of fawning, to the point it might actually get a bit annoying. And when the younger versions of NaruSaku find out about how they got together, made PG-13 of course, and how they're married and have kids ... Naruto gets all starry eyed and tries to hide just how happy that makes him from Sakura.

Cos Sakura? Sakura's not taking it as well. She does ask the fateful 'what about Sasuke-kun?' question. And Adult!Sakura does see the wince in young Naruto's face and rest assured she apologises to Adult!Naruto later.

Even after marrying him and having children with him, she still feels a lot of guilt for how she treated him when they were kids. Not that Naruto was entitled to her love as he tells her, but we all know how guilty Sakura feels for her treatment of Naruto in the early days.

For his part? Adult!Naruto actually takes the time to hang out with his younger self, distracts him while the two Sakura's have a very long talk. About self-worth and not letting your feelings for someone overshadow their wrongdoing.

We must remember these versions of Naruto and Sakura are parents. They know how to talk to kids. If they're in their late 30s/early 40s? They know how to talk to teenagers.

It does however end in shouting lol. For Naruto.

The two Naruto's are getting boisterous in a fun way, especially when Naruto informs his younger self about how much stronger he's going to get and younger Naruto does start a sparring match that older Naruto plays along with for funsies.

The Sakuras, with an annoyed and fond look at the boys respectively, continue their conversation and Sakura has to restrain herself from flat out telling her younger self things that she desperately wishes she could tell her. Major things yes, but also about men not to waste her time on, friends to hold closer, little silly embarrassments to avoid at work for example.

But she doesn't. Because anything she could tell her younger self could change everything Adult!Sakura has. And she won't risk that for all the saved secondhand embarrassment and heartache in the world.

TL/DR? Adult Naruto and Sakura from my Canon!AUs would parent the shit out of their younger selves and the younger versions of themselves would have massive crushes on the older version of their teammate to the point of deep, deep cringe lol.

Hope this earned a chuckle lol. I certainly laughed.

Ta ra!

[mistninja]

I wish sakura and sasuke were, you know, friends :/

[panharmonium]

this is legitimately one of my top five favorite kakashi scenes.

i love seeing kakashi break the rules in the name of doing the right thing, and this scene especially is particularly satisfying to me, because his moment of defiance here is, to my mind, long overdue.  

one of my eternal frustrations in early naruto is how the leaf village administration gives kakashi the job of caring for a group of super high-needs children and then continually makes that job as difficult for him as possible.  they task him with being solely responsible for the development and well-being of three twelve year-olds - a group that includes naruto (a walking disaster with a god’s power trapped inside his body) and sasuke (a genocide survivor fixated on killing his own brother), BOTH of whom are being hunted by different groups of supercriminals - and then the village keeps getting in kakashi’s way or dropping the ball or actively ordering him to prioritize other things.  

so much of what goes wrong with the kids in this period is the result of other people interfering with kakashi’s work or being negligent or endangering the kids/putting kakashi in impossible positions.  team 7’s first big mission sets the tone for everything that comes after, with someone else’s lie putting kakashi in a situation where he has to single-handedly protect not just the client who deceived him, but the three children who were supposed to be the clients’ other protectors.  and after that, the list just multiplies:

ten anbu operatives can’t manage to protect sasuke’s hospital room from orochimaru’s minions, so kakashi has to do it himself and then whisk sasuke out of the village for a month, leaving naruto in the hands of a substitute and sakura with her parents

genma orders sasuke to chase after gaara when the chunin exams blow up, saying “you’re at chunin level already,” which forces kakashi to immediately dispatch more kids to bring him back, because “ffs NO i do NOT want him out there doing that why the fuck would you tell him to do that?!” 

aoba runs his mouth off about itachi when sasuke is standing RIGHT THERE, instantly undoing all the work kakashi just did to prevent itachi and sasuke from coming anywhere near each other (and thus sending sasuke to that disastrous first encounter, the outcome of which ultimately leads to sasuke’s defection)

jiraiya decides he should let sasuke try to fight itachi himself, “out of respect for the boy’s feelings,” leading to sasuke ending up in a tsukuyomi coma

tsunade orders kakashi to drop his teaching work and leave the village on a mission even though a) he’s just gotten out of his own torture-induced coma and b) sasuke is having a crisis that kakashi is trying to manage

and then when kakashi gets back from that mission and finds out that surprise, all of this meddling has led to a disaster, tsunade tries to order him away AGAIN

but this time - he just says no.

he walks right out of her office.  he turns his back on her.  and there is NOTHING i love more than seeing kakashi embody the philosophy that he’s chosen to adopt as his guiding light: those who break the rules are scum.  but those who abandon their friends are worse than scum.

it’s not that he doesn’t understand where tsunade is coming from here.  but he knows she’s wrong.  she’s making her decisions based solely on concerns about the Leaf Village being in a tight spot - feeling like they can’t turn down missions because they’ll appear weak and thus become vulnerable to attack when they’re already operating at half strength.  she sends a group of twelve year-olds to bring sasuke back because supposedly the village can’t spare anyone else, “even if it means letting the sharingan fall into orochimaru’s hands” - but like.  it’s not the sharingan.  it’s a child.  sasuke isn’t just a repository for his hereditary jutsu; he’s not a pair of eyes to be passed around from one wielder to the next.  he’s a human child.  

tsunade doesn’t know sasuke.  she’s new to the situation and doesn’t know enough about it to understand how serious it is.  i don’t even think she was still in the village when the uchiha massacre occurred; the timeline makes it sound like she left long before that.  she doesn’t really understand who sasuke is or how much trouble he’s in - she makes her decision because she feels like her first priority has to be the well-being of the Leaf as a whole, not the individual people who comprise it.  kakashi, though, who a) lives his life by a very different philosophy and b) does understand sasuke’s situation, would not have dealt with the issue like this, and if the village had let him do his job from the beginning, things wouldn’t have gotten to this point in the first place.

kakashi is horrified that tsunade sent a bunch of twelve year-olds out to fight orochimaru’s ninja, and i think he’s also probably angry and/or frustrated about having been ordered out of the village in the first place.  he was dealing with the situation before tsunade sent him away.  he interrupted the fight between sasuke and naruto even though he himself had literally just gotten out of the hospital, and then he continued addressing the issue with sasuke privately (unlike jiraiya’s non-attempt to address it with naruto, when he said he was going to give naruto a talking-to but actually flaked out).  kakashi knew sasuke was struggling, and he was doing all the things a teacher is supposed to do to address it, but then he was ordered away, and even though it was just for two days, it was enough time for everything to go to hell.

if people would just let him do his job - if the administration would let him focus on the task they themselves assigned to him - things would be different.  but everybody wants him to do everything.  they want him to be everywhere.  they want him to protect the nine-tails jinchuriki (who is also kakashi’s dead teacher’s son), and train the last surviving uchiha (which is a task only kakashi and his sharingan can perform), and give equal attention to a third kid, for good measure, and they want him to do it without stepping away from any of his other burdens, all while other people around him constantly frustrate the progress he makes.

so this time, when tsunade tries to send him away, he refuses.  he disobeys her orders and walks out of the room.  he doesn’t care about the rules or what he’s “legally” obligated to do.  he knows what the RIGHT thing to do is, and so he rejects his new mission in favor of rescuing the kids.

i love these moments.  i love when we’re shown so clearly the person kakashi has chosen to be - someone who does what’s right, not just what he’s told.  he made an active choice many years ago to adopt that philosophy, and he’s been living by those new rules ever since.  he's wiser now than he was when he was a child - sometimes you have to break ranks to do the right thing.  sometimes you have to buck the system, even if it means you might face severe personal consequences.

he had one of two choices: either save the mission or his comrades.  of course, according to the law of the village, you cannot abandon a mission.  but to save the life of his comrades, he put the mission on hold.

kakashi may have spent a good chunk of his childhood trying to reject everything the subject of that story stood for, but none of his attempts to harden his heart ever stuck.  he is, in the end, his father’s son.

[nejibaby]

Small Details

Pairings: Neji x Y/N

Summary: Neji was a man of few words, even more so with you, and when he sees you with Naruto in a compromising position, he has troubles expressing himself.

Word Count: 3.2k

A/N: And I finally managed to finish this! It took me so long! Today, I offer you a flustered Neji... 👀 I hope y’all enjoy it because I may or may not have melted after writing this 😚

✨Photo taken from this post by @yul-is-sparkling ✨

Naruto was finally back after two years of training with Jiraiya. Being one of his closest friends, you were excited to meet him and to see for yourself how much he’s grown.

Naturally, you challenged him to a duel the first time you saw him again. It was kind of your thing with Naruto — competing with each other on who’s faster, stronger, better in ninjutsu, anything really. Mainly because Sasuke, who he often referred to as his rival, would rarely indulge him with such things, and you did. You were both competitive like that.

In no time, you were both alone on the training grounds. You could already tell how drastic his improvements were within the start of the battle.

You were in awe at how the Legendary Sannins could bring out the best in their apprentices. But despite not being trained by them, that didn’t mean you were lagging behind.

In those two years when Sasuke seeked Orochimaru for power, Naruto trained under Jiraiya, and Sakura learned from Tsunade, you were the only one in Team 7 who remained under the supervision of Kakashi sensei.

Kakashi sensei may not be a Legendary Sannin, but he was a formidable shinobi — one of the best during his generation even. However, truthfully, he infuriated you at first, not because of how late he always was — you were pretty used to it to the point that you don’t question him anymore about his whereabouts and he stopped coming up with excuses as to why he was late — but because there were times when he was too laidback.

Sure, there were moments when he was hands-on: teaching you different jutsus, lecturing you about certain concepts, informing you on what you should always look out for, drilling your body past exhaustion, and the like. But more often than not he would be saying something like, “Find it out yourself” or “I can’t exactly tell you how” as he leisurely sits on a tree branch while reading the stupid Icha Icha books.

You were dumbfounded and furious at first but when your initial annoyance subsided and you had adjusted to his teaching style, you flourished.

That’s why you could take on Naruto even after his training with Jiraiya.

What started as a serious duel between you and Naruto was reduced to playful banter the longer the fight dragged on. At one point, both of you would just tease each other while throwing kicks and punches halfheartedly.

Both of you had your guards down. That was a mistake on your part, because just as Naruto aimed to kick your face and you bent over backwards to dodge it, you slipped. You lost your footing all because of a rock situated near your right foot.

It was a rookie mistake.

Naruto was quick to notice that you were falling so he immediately grabbed ahold of your hand. The problem was he failed to pull you back up. So you ended up falling down with him. And somehow, he ended up with his arms on the sides of your head so he wouldn’t crush you as you were underneath him.

You were both shocked. You were just blinking at each other. It took awhile for the two of you to gather your bearings. When you did, you both immediately laughed out loud. Naruto moved his body so he was lying next to you as you both continued laughing your hearts out.

“What the hell was that, Naruto?!” You feigned exasperation. “You wouldn’t be able to save a fly if you tried.”

“At least I wasn’t the one making rookie mistakes like that,” Naruto shot back. “Plus I tried to help, that’s what matters.”

You snorted. “Yeah, right. You could’ve at least focused your chakra on your soles so we didn’t fall!”

“And you could’ve paid attention to your surroundings, Y/N!”

You bickered with each other as you stood up and helped Naruto get up. What the two of you didn’t know was that your boyfriend Neji had watched the whole incident.

Neji wasn’t really the type to get jealous. He’s a very understanding boyfriend. He’s aware that you and Naruto have been best friends even before he met you. He even knew about Naruto’s feelings for Sakura. However, any sane person wouldn’t want to see his significant other beneath someone else, right? Granted, it was an accident, but still… It was such a compromising position to find you in.

He made his appearance as you playfully punched Naruto in the gut.

You instantly noticed him approaching. Your smile widened even more at the sight of your boyfriend. “Neji!” You called, skipping your way towards him. You would’ve tackled him in a hug if Naruto wasn’t around.

He maintained his stoic expression as he greeted, “Y/N. Naruto.”

“Oi Neji, it’s been a while,” Naruto waved.

Neji only gave a curt nod in response.

You asked, “What are you doing here, Neji?” but just as you ended your question, the answer immediately clicked on your mind. “Oh my god, I’m sorry I forgot!”

Over your excitement of Naruto’s arrival, you forgot that it was a Tuesday. Tuesdays were your lunch dates and sparring sessions with Neji.

“It’s okay.”

“Hold on.” you told him and then faced Naruto. “Gotta go, Naruto! Bye!” you said as you grabbed Neji’s hand out of habit.

Neji flushed, not exactly expecting your action, but you didn’t notice because it was something that you’re used to doing, although not in the presence of someone else.

“See you later!” Naruto waved.

When Naruto was out of sight, you dropped Neji’s hand unconsciously. “Sorry, I forgot about lunch. What time is it? Have you eaten?” You asked Neji.

He quickly responded and told you he hasn’t eaten anything yet.

“Well then, let’s go. I’m starving.”

Neji and you walked side by side out of the training grounds.

“So…” you started saying.

Neji stared at you. “Hm?”

“How was your day, baby?”

He cleared his throat and looked away almost instantly. Very rarely would one find Neji flustered, but calling him “baby” always worked. He wasn’t quite used to the endearment and every time you addressed him as such with tenderness laced in your voice, he would blush. You use it all the time just to see his cheeks tinted pink. It was a cute sight.

“What’s wrong?” You playfully asked while trying to get into his line of vision.

He refused to meet your gaze until he regained his composure. When he did, he told you — in an impassive manner — what he had done in the morning before he went out looking for you.

Despite his expressionless face and his rather hushed tone, you listened intently to the words he was saying, the smile on your lips never leaving your face. Neji was a man of few words even until now that you were together so you made sure you paid attention every time he spoke, not wanting his words to go to waste.

He wouldn’t admit it to you but he loved that about you. You would remember even the little details of his stories, which in itself was a big deal considering you tend to forget a lot of things. You treasured his words, sentences, thoughts, ideas and plans, and kept them enclosed in your memory.

Neji loved that you focused on him. You made him feel like he was important and worthy, and that he mattered, in a completely different way than the others’ view of him.

The others only saw him as important because he was an asset both to the Hyuga clan and to Konoha. He only mattered to them because he has the strength and ability to protect them.

But you didn’t see him that way. You saw him as his own person — a man with a brilliant mind, a great moral compass, and a heart of gold. This was further confirmed when you told him that if his circumstances were different — if he was not a Hyuga or even a shinobi — you’d still fall in love with him as long as his character remained the same.

He knew you love him, there was no doubt about that. It was known; it was an irrefutable truth, an indisputable fact. But why did seeing you with Naruto trigger his insecurities that you had previously put to rest?

His mind was reeling, but he tried his hardest to be in the moment with you.

The thing was, he might have misread you a little. Because the attention that you gave him wasn’t solely focused on his words. In actuality, it extended to his actions and mannerisms as well.

This was how you knew that there was something that was bothering Neji today.

Unwelcome thoughts swarmed his mind, leading him to absentmindedly reach out to you. He was walking beside you closer than usual, with his hand on your lower back. While there was no doubt that he was listening to you when it was your turn to tell him about your day with Naruto, he had a faraway, vacant look on his face.

You may have missed the presence of a rock a while ago, but you certainly wouldn’t miss these small details about Neji.

These might come across as something normal for other people, but for someone like you who dedicated a lot of time admiring and memorizing every little detail of the certain Hyuga boy, it was easy to tell that something was on his mind from the way he was taking up a portion of your personal space. Almost as if his own restrictions were non-existent.

Normally, it would’ve been easier to confront him about it, but you were a shinobi, and if there’s something you learned from Kakashi sensei, it was that you have to gather more intel before actually making a move.

But you could only think of one way to confirm if there was something bothering your partner, and it was through his hair.

On regular days, Neji wouldn’t allow anyone to touch his hair, including you. But when there was something that was bothering him, or if he had a particularly rough day, he wouldn’t mind it if you threaded your fingers through his hair. In fact, he wouldn’t admit it, but he preferred it if you did that. It was something that calmed him down.

So while you continued telling him how your day went, you subtly angled your body towards him. Then you tentatively reached for the tips of his hair with your hand that was closest to him. You managed to grab a few strands of his hair between your thumb and index finger. You twisted them between your fingers.

You looked up to him to check if he was bothered by it, but it seemed like he didn’t mind at all. This certainly meant that his mind was elsewhere, despite the fact that he was nodding in the right parts of your speech and even correcting you when you used the wrong word to describe something.

You retracted your hand after coming up with your conclusion. You even stopped talking as you were thinking of what could’ve happened for him to be this distracted. Neji didn’t even notice you stopped talking mid sentence.

Somehow this just felt different from the times he was frustrated or anxious before, and quite frankly, you were worried.

By the time you had both placed orders and seated in a random restaurant, you decided to confront your partner. “So, Neji, baby, are you going to tell me what’s bothering you?”

He choked on nothing after hearing your question. Was he really that easy to read? Or was it easy just because it was you reading him?

He cleared his throat and feigned ignorance, “What are y-you talking about?”

You opted to give him a pointed look instead of a verbal response.

He didn’t stare back, looking anywhere but you. Most times, Neji would face you head on until you conceded; with you, he was comfortable being stubborn and unyielding because it came without repercussions. But today, he wasn’t up for the challenge. And if you looked more closely, he was once again sporting a faint color on his cheeks.

You waited a moment for him to answer, or at least to look back, but it was to no avail. With a sigh, you said, with the softest tone you could muster partnered with a reassuring smile, “Would you let me know when you’re ready, at least?”

Surprisingly, Neji looked at you then. “It’s nothing… It’s just… something silly.”

You gently grabbed a hold of his hand. “Don’t tell me it’s silly, I know it isn’t if it bothers you, baby. You don’t have to tell me now if you aren’t comfortable yet, hmm? Just know I’ll be here to listen to you.” You gave him a genuine smile and a small squeeze to his hand before letting go.

Neji’s eyes hadn’t strayed from then onwards. He had to admit sometimes he would forget how incredibly kindhearted you were, even more so when it came to him. You always made sure he was comfortable. You never forced him into doing or saying things that he wasn’t ready to do or say. You allowed him to make his own decisions and respected them, something that rarely came from being a subordinate of Konoha and a member of the branch family of the Hyuga clan.

Life as a shinobi was sometimes constricting, but you were his breather from all that.

It was your turn to be bashful from his stare. You could feel your face warming up from the unexpected, scrutinizing gaze. “Neji, stop it.”

“What?”

“Stop looking at me like that.”

“Stop being beautiful, then.”

The words that came out of Neji’s lips startled you. It wasn’t everyday he would actually use words to tell you you’re beautiful. The way he expressed his appreciation to your beauty would come in the form of fluttering kisses or gentle brushes on your body parts — coincidentally, or not, on parts where you feel the most insecure about.

Fortunately for you, the food came at the right moment, since you weren’t exactly sure how to respond to his unexpected compliment. You both ate in silence then, occasionally peeking at each other  — almost like how it was when you first started dating each other.

When you were done with lunch, you expected to take the route towards the training grounds like you both usually did, but Neji’s hand has taken solace on your back once again and this time with intent to guide you to a different direction.

You were confused but you followed anyway. “Where are we going?”

“To my place.” A pause. “Is that fine with you?”

“Sure” was all you could say. Admittedly, you were quite tired from the duel you had with Naruto earlier and you didn’t really have enough energy to spar with Neji, considering he never went easy on you.

By the time you had entered his place, he graciously offered his couch to you, as if sensing your exhaustion. You immediately plopped down on his couch after setting aside your footwear by his front door.

“Tired?”

“Very,” you mumbled.

He handed you a glass of water, knowing you weren’t quite fond of tea. He sat down beside you just as you thanked him and sipped on your drink.

Setting aside the glass, you leaned back on the couch, only to be welcomed by Neji’s arms. A small smile automatically crept into your lips from the gesture. You snuggled into him as a reflex.

It was moments like this with Neji that you treasured most. While you enjoyed tagging around with him and the rest of Team Guy on missions, you preferred spending time with him peacefully like this, without the imminent threat of danger looming over your heads. It was rather a rare occurrence, after all, for two shinobis like you both were.

Neji was first to break the comfortable silence. “I saw you with Naruto a while ago.”

“You did? When?” You excitedly asked while trying to pull away from his embrace to look directly to his face. But for some reason, he kept you in place, your cheek pressed to his neck. “Did you see me kick his ass? Like literally.”

“Yes,” he answered flatly. It was a response that sounded so… dry. Usually when you both talked about Naruto, there would be a fondness from his tone. “But… I also saw something else…” he trailed off.

You raked your mind, trying to remember what had happened earlier. Then the memory of falling down flashed on your mind, and suddenly you felt embarrassed for Neji having to witness such a mistake. “Oh no!” You jumped out of his grasp, startling him in the process. “You saw me fall down! That’s so embarrassing!” You covered your face with your palms.

“Well, yes… but—”

You snapped your head at the tone he used. He didn’t sound like he was going to tease you for your mistake, in fact, it kind of sounded like he was worried.

“I’m fine though, if you’re worried,” you offered, assuming he thought you got hurt from the fall.

“I’m glad you are not hurt,” he said. Not long after you noticed him visibly gulping.

You could tell there was something else in his mind, and whatever it was, you had a feeling it might’ve been the thing that was bothering him a while ago. You tried to come up with guesses as to what it could’ve been. As you recalled how the conversation started and considered how he was acting, a plausible answer popped into your mind.

“Are you perhaps… jealous?” You hesitantly asked. He was the first one to initiate this conversation so you were assuming he was ready to talk about it. Despite that though, you didn’t want to force him to talk so you carefully and reluctantly asked him. He was always allowed to drop the topic if he wasn’t comfortable and he knew that.

Neji cleared his throat as soon as the words left your mouth all the while avoiding to meet your eyes once again. “Maybe,” he almost inaudibly said.

You were surprised by his answer. It wasn’t always that Neji got jealous. The only time he was was when a stranger was blatantly hitting on you in front of him while you were on a mission together.

“It did not sit right with me seeing you in an… inappropriate position with someone else.” He explained. The tone he used sounded like the one he used with the Hokage when he was taking responsibility for something that went horribly wrong on a mission.

“Don’t make it sound like it’s wrong,” you said softly as you cupped his face. “You don’t have to feel guilty about feeling jealous. Your feelings are valid.”

The gentleness and warmth in your voice made his heart flutter. If this was a conversation with someone else, he was sure he was going to get teased for feeling this way, but it was with you, and you had always been different.

“I love you, Neji,” you said before you kissed his lips.

It was amazing how the three words you used that preceded his name could easily wipe out the jealousy that had brewed inside him. This was another testament of how well you knew Neji — not only did you know the small details about him, but you also know the right words to ease his worries.

[never-mess-with-the-uchihas]

Sakura was just a pathetic bitch who broke her friendship with Ino, over an emo Boy, who didn't even know of her existence.

She fell for Sasuke, just because he was handsome.

I can understand Naruto being after Sasuke because he was an orphan too, but Sakura's obsession with Sasuke just doesn't make sense, She never went through trauma like Naruto and Sasuke did, How can she even claim that she loves him.

How can people stan her even after she did all that?

Yes, Breaking off her friendship with Ino was absolutely wrong, even though the reason was not actually an "emo boy". But I hope you know that, She did that even before joining Team 7. And she used to be an inconsiderate brat back then. Even though I love her, I never deny that.

But Her joining in Team 7 taught her the true meaning of friendship, loving someone, caring for them, the desire to protect them and being completely selfless for them. Team 7 changed her too, just the way it changed Sasuke and Naruto.

You hating her for something she did as a little kid, EVEN BEFORE the SERIES ACTUALLY STARTED and denying her character growth throughout the series, is just completely unfair.

I love Sasuke more than any other character in Naruto, but still I find it really funny that you are giving Sasuke a free pass for plunging a Chidori through his best friend's chest, just because he was growing more powerful than him, but at the same time, you find Sakura a "Pathetic Bitch" for breaking her friendship with Ino, and calling her a rival.

What is worse?

This ?

Or This?

I just did this, to show you your absolute hypocrisy whenever it comes to Sakura Haruno.

I love Sasuke, but I won't deny that the actions he committed when he was in darkness were completely wrong, even he himself calls them as sins.

And Honestly, neither Sakura, nor Sasuke were right when they did these things, but they have redeemed themselves over years. And have suffered for those things that they did wrong. You deliberately choosing to forgive just one of them doesn't make the other one less worthy of it.

Also, Are you dumb? Sakura didn't fall for Sasuke because he was handsome, she started "crushing" on him because of that.

How does it matter what is the reason for someone to START CRUSHING ON SOMEONE?

What really matters is WHAT WAS THE REASON TO FALL IN LOVE WITH HIM.

And SASUKE UCHIHA IS MUCH MORE THAN JUST A HANDSOME FACE. And if you feel that Sasuke and Sakura never shared a bond, and that Sasuke never gave Sakura a reason to love him,

Then you should just go back and watch the series again.

You think you would go through intense training, where you need to break your bones for someone you just find handsome?

You think you will get yourself stabbed and willing to die, to find the whereabouts of someone you find handsome?

You think you will continue to love a person, over years, even though you two have to be away from eachother for years, for someone who is just a handsome hunk to you?

Sakura has been proposed by many men over years, if She wanted, she could have found another handsome guy, when Sasuke was missing for years, if her love was actually that shallow, as you claim.

Lol, And are you seriously saying that only Naruto's obsession with Sasuke is justifiable because he is an orphan?

So, Can you please tell me, where did you find this rule that only Orphans can love other orphans and only they have the right to having feelings for them, bond with them or empathize with them?

Who says that you need to physically experience a pain to understand someone else's pain and only then you can love them?

Do you think that IN REAL LIFE, traumatized people are only loved by other traumatized people?

Do you think traumatized people don't have anyone close to them who never went through a trauma?

You think all Naruto and Sasuke fans, who love them and cry with them, are either orphans or suffering from PTSD?

Honestly, Your arguments don't even make sense. If you would just sit back and ACTUALLY THINK about how stupid your reasons for hating her are, you will understand why there are people who love her.

[madara-fate]

HOLY SHIT! Sakura tried to kiss Naruto when he was disguised as Sasuke he didn't want to make a move on her SHE DID. He wanted to know what she thought of him. Even Sasuke called out Sakura for what she said about orphans btw funny how she isn't exactly respectful of Sasuke's personal space either with how quick she was to try and kiss Sasuke or hug him when he's unconscious knowing he isn't interested. Sakura intended to use her "love" to make Naruto stop chasing Sasuke despite knowing full well he didn't even do it for her. Lying to anyone about loving them is humiliating to them but good thing she only takes herself into consideration and gets to act like she is a martyr while she's at it right? (gross). She drugged her friends who wanted to help to do it herself, only to fail so basically her whole "plan" accomplished nothing. So not only is she emotionally manipulative and egotistical but also dumb as fuck. What a freak

Oh my goodness this is so fucking stupid, it's no wonder you had to cower behind the anonymous function before sending me this.

HOLY SHIT! Sakura tried to kiss Naruto when he was disguised as Sasuke he didn't want to make a move on her SHE DID. He wanted to know what she thought of him.

Naruto was still going for that kiss Anon, it doesn't matter that Sakura was initiating it because Naruto was wholeheartedly reciprocating and leaning into it as well, despite knowing full well of her feelings towards Sasuke and that she thought Naruto was him. The only reason he was ultimately forced to stop was because his stomach didn't want to cooperate:

And as if that wasn't bad enough, Naruto then intended to go even further with his trickery, and make Sakura hate Sasuke by continuing with his disguise and acting like an asshole to her:

You're not going to make Naruto look better here, so stop trying. At the very least, with Sakura's fake confession, she was doing it for Naruto's sake by trying to get him to stop hurting himself by chasing after Sasuke. However, with Naruto disguising himself as Sasuke, he was doing that entirely for his own sake and to further his own agenda, at the expense of Sakura's relationship with Sasuke.

Neither of these are explicit examples of emotional manipulation, but if you had even the slightest clue of what the actual definition of that term is, you'd realise that Naruto's actions are a much closer fit to the definition due to the selfish nature of his intentions, and the negative ramifications they would have on someone else. So I'd advise you to stop trying to make Sakura look like the more emotionally manipulative one between the two of them, because again, it's not going to work, not with the stunt Naruto pulled.

Btw funny how she isn't exactly respectful of Sasuke's personal space either with how quick she was to try and kiss Sasuke or hug him when he's unconscious knowing he isn't interested.

Anon, can you really not see how utterly ridiculous you sound? You're berating Sakura for hugging someone while they were unconscious because she was worried for their wellbeing, and you're labelling that as a violation of personal space? Are you actually serious? So when Naruto was holding an unconscious Sasuke in his arms because he was distraught over his friend's condition, that was a violation of Sasuke's personal space according to you, right?

My fucking lord...

Sakura intended to use her "love" to make Naruto stop chasing Sasuke despite knowing full well he didn't even do it for her.

She knew full well that the promise wasn't the only reason, but wanted to try to convince him to stop anyway, because she knows how seriously Naruto takes his promises. He promised her that he'd bring Sasuke back, so of course she'd believe that the promise played a role in his relentless pursuit of Sasuke.

Lying to anyone about loving them is humiliating to them but good thing she only takes herself into consideration and gets to act like she is a martyr while she's at it right?

What has being a martyr got to do with anything? Again, stop using terms you don't know the meanings of, it's pathetic. I'd also like for you to tell me how she only took herself into consideration, when it was signified that she was prepared for Naruto to resent her for her actions, but she wanted to go through with it in order to make it up to him for the perceived burden that she had placed on him:

That's her taking Naruto into consideration; she considered the pain (she was told) she caused him, so I don't know how much clearer you need things to be.

She drugged her friends who wanted to help to do it herself, only to fail so basically her whole "plan" accomplished nothing. So not only is she emotionally manipulative and egotistical but also dumb as fuck. What a freak

I've already highlighted your misuse of the term "emotional manipulation" so I won't do that again here, but now you're throwing "egotistical" in there as well, despite Sakura's ego once again having nothing to do with anything. How ironic that you'd label Sakura "dumb as fuck" despite being one of the smartest characters in the show, while you send me this load of shit full of misused terms which you mindlessly threw in despite being inapplicable to the drivel you were spouting, which was already nonsense to begin with.

[love-sapphirerose]

Naruto: 10 Worst Things About Sasuke And Sakura's Relationship

By the time of Boruto, Sasuke and Sakura are a loving married couple, but their checkered history included some troubling low points.

BY HANNAH GRIMES

Sakura harbors a crush on Sasuke before the two of them even graduate from the Academy and end up on the same team. He's always at the forefront of her thoughts and actions, and the two of them do end up getting married and starting a family of their own in the end. On paper, their romance seems relatively dreamlike.

However, that's not the full story of the ups and downs of their relationship. Sasuke initially doesn't care enough to give Sakura the time of day, and there are even multiple instances where he seems indifferent to her life being in danger — or actively endangers it himself. Sakura's unhealthy obsession with Sasuke also stunts her growth in other ways.

10. Even After Starting A Family, Sasuke Is A Largely Absent Father Who Can't Connect With His Daughter

There's a long period of time between the original series and Shippuden where Sasuke is absent after he turned his back on the Leaf to instead seek revenge. He eventually does come back and start a life with Sakura, but even then he's absent most of the time.

While this is due to being sent out on missions and he doesn't have much of a choice, he fails to properly connect with his daughter Sarada when he does get to spend time with her. He's so bad on this front that he actually ends up getting scolded by his old squad leader, Kakashi.

9. Sakura Ignores Naruto And Treats Him Like Garbage Because Of Her Initial Infatuation

It's one thing to have a crush on someone and to value their opinion more than anyone else's. It's another thing when this infatuation causes someone to treat others around them poorly, especially when their crush doesn't even want to give them the time of day.

In the beginning, Naruto continually makes efforts to connect with Sakura and get to know her better. She not only brushes him off but straight-up calls him annoying and tells him to get lost, simply because he's not the object of her romantic affection, instead of making any attempt to bond with her teammate.

8. Sakura Appears Blind To Much Of Sasuke's Suffering, Instead Focusing On Her Own Feelings

Sakura values Sasuke above everything else in her life, and this remains true even after he defects from the Leaf. Despite this, though, it oftentimes feels as if she doesn't consider his feelings and struggles and is instead remains much more focused on her own.

In the beginning, she doesn't consider his feelings regarding his murdered family when talking down on Naruto, saying he's so undisciplined because he doesn't have parental guidance. She's also quick to say she'll help Sasuke with his path of revenge when he goes to leave the village despite this being an incredibly destructive and harmful path.

7. Sakura Throws Away Her Best Friend For Sasuke When He Doesn't Care At All About Her

Back when Sakura was much younger, she completely lacked self-confidence and was a consistent target of bullying from other girls. It's Ino who stepped in, got the bullies to back off, and showed Sakura that she shouldn't hide her insecurities and instead have more confidence in herself.

Sakura then decides to throw away their friendship simply because she hears that Ino also has a crush on Sasuke. She says it's for the sake of them becoming rivals, but they both would've been much stronger if they worked together rather than letting a guy split them apart, especially a guy who doesn't care for either of them.

6. For A Long Time, Sasuke Shows No Interest In Her While Both Naruto And Rock Lee Do

Sakura stays completely devoted to Sasuke even though he betrays no romantic interest in her whatsoever. This might make sense if there were no one else who cared for Sakura and wanted her to be happy, but both Naruto and Rock Lee care immensely for her.

Lee goes as far as to risk his own life for Sakura's sake in the Forest of Death, and the two of them bond when Sakura goes to Lee's hospital room nearly every day to spend time with him after the tournament. Naruto consistently offers to spend time with Sakura and gives her positive attention, and she instead chooses to yearn after Sasuke, who's totally caught up with his curse mark and revenge business.

5. Sakura States She Has No Interests Or Hobbies That Don't Involve Sasuke

During the initial introduction that Kakashi has everyone participate in, the members of the newly-formed Team 7 all go around stating a bit about themselves. Sasuke focuses on his future revenge, and though Naruto mostly talks about ramen, he at least also states his dream of becoming Hokage.

Sakura, on the other hand, states that all of her likes and hobbies have to do with Sasuke. Because of this, she also declares that the thing she hates is Naruto. This is incredibly immature, and it's not a good foundation for any relationship if one's entire world revolves around the person they like and they don't have anything else to bring them happiness.

4. They Don't Put Equal Effort Into Their Relationship After Getting Married

Sakura essentially gives up on her life as a shinobi in order to raise her and Sasuke's daughter while he's away. He's gone for so long on missions that Sakura admits that the main reason she keeps so many pictures of Sasuke is so she doesn't forget what he looks like, which is heartbreaking.

Sasuke, on the other hand, doesn't make any effort to stop by and see his family while he's away for years at a time. He could at least send letters to get updates on how their daughter is doing — something he should care deeply about — but he never does.

3. Sakura Plots To Steal A Kiss From Sasuke When He Has No Interest In Her

After graduation, on the day when the teams are made up, Sakura asks Sasuke if she can sit by him. He completely and utterly ignores her, but this doesn't stop her from sitting beside him regardless.

She states internally that she'll be "stealing his first kiss today," which comes off incredibly creepy when he hasn't expressed any interest in her or desire to kiss her. It doesn't make her look like someone who actually cares about him when she's willing to try to get a kiss from him without his consent.

2. Sakura's Self-Confidence Early On Is Completely Reliant On Sasuke

Before the Chunin Exams, Sakura asks Sasuke if he'd like to train with her. He coldly brushes her off and comments that, when it comes to trying to push her plans onto others who aren't interested, she's just as bad as Naruto.

This rejection completely crushes her self-confidence and she immediately agrees with him instead of standing up for herself. She stays in this funk until Sasuke later compliments her ability to see through genjutsu, after which her self-confidence is immediately restored. It's incredibly unhealthy for her sense of self to hinge on how Sasuke treats her.

1. Sasuke Almost Successfully Ended Sakura's Life

If there's one thing that should have made Sakura realize Sasuke didn't care about her the way she cared about him, above all else, it's the moment he tries to kill her.

Sakura goes after Sasuke declaring that she'll be the one to kill him herself after he becomes an international criminal, but she freezes in the moment. He then tries to kill her instead. He would have been successful in this endeavor, too, if Kakashi hadn't shown up just in time to deflect Sasuke's Chidori and save her. Her infatuation with him doesn't waver whatsoever after this, which feels incredibly off-putting after this vicious interaction.

[ohhipstaplease]

idk if you're still doing prompts but nh + fluff 15? I'm sorry about all the fluff pieces but I live for fluff 😅

I’m sorry if it isn’t as fluffy as usual but I HAD to write something Team 8 centric to soothe my soul today. I can see this turning into a full fanfic though...at some point (I promise)

Fluff #15: “She’s/he’s not my boyfriend!”

After Hinata confesses to Naruto—and her “I love you” goes right over his head—Kiba takes matters into his hands to (finally) get the two idiots together.

Post Pain-Arc | Canon Divergence | Jealous (!) Naruto | Ao3

“You look cute today,” Kiba said nonchalantly to his teammate as she walked towards him. 

The Hyuga beauty had uncharacteristically pulled her hair up onto the top of her head in a high ponytail, her delicate features now on display for the world to see.

Hinata, already used to Kiba’s compliments, didn’t bat an eye when he said it, she simply responded, “Thank you! I just wanted to try something a little different,” She patted Akamaru’s head in greeting, the gentle giant licking her palm as she giggled.

Kiba took the opportunity to sneak up behind her and pull on her ponytail slightly, wanting to fix the slight hairs that were sticking out. He adjusted the simple lavender tie she had placed upon the top of it for good measure as well. 

Had anyone happened upon the pair, they probably would have thought there was more between them than a simple friendship, but they were used to it. Hinata didn’t even try to push him off, she simply let him fix her hair and looked up at him with a thankful smile when he was finished.

They were meeting up to have lunch, a much needed distraction after all the chaos that had ensued in the village during Pain’s attack. Unfortunately Shino was unable to join the pair for a well-deserved day off, leaving them to their own devices.

Kiba nodded as he stepped back and appreciated his work, “I like it. I’m sure Naruto will too,” He smirked.

She exhaled, her cheeks red and splotchy, “We’re not going to let it go, are we?”

“Hinata, you confessed to him.”

“It was in the middle of battle...spur of the moment,” She tried, suddenly regretting admitting to Kiba and Shino that she had, in fact, told the love of her life, Naruto Uzumaki, her true feelings for him. She knew they’d never let it go, not until Naruto gave her an answer either way. 

She just wasn’t ready to hear what he had to say. Even if he was ready to face what she had said to him head-on, “Besides,” she mumbled, “he didn’t even acknowledge it...”

“You told him you loved him...you literally died for him. How could the idiot not see it?”

She shrugged pathetically, “It is what it is, don’t worry, Kiba.”

He sighed and stuffed his hands in his pockets when suddenly it hit him. An idea so genius, even Shino had to approve. Akamaru, sensing that Kiba was about to say something Shino would in fact not approve of, whined and hit his master gently on his leg with his paw. 

Kiba ignored him, knowing that what he had in mind was just too perfect not to share, “Hinata?”

“Yes?”

“What if...what if we made Naruto jealous? Just to make him see what he’s missing.”

“W-what?”

“It’s the oldest trick in the book, Hyuga,” He took her hand into his as if he had done it millions of times before, “We go on a fake date, act all cute and shit, and when he sees us together he’ll magically realize his feelings for you. You know, because someone else has what he thought was his and all that bullshit?”

“You’re insane.”

“I know what boys are like, Hinata.”

She looked down at their interlaced fingers and sighed, “You’re sure this will work?”

“If it doesn’t, I’ll pay for lunch.”

“And dessert?”

“As many cinnamon rolls as your heart desires.”

Hinata exhaled and nodded, “Alright. I mean, there’s nothing left to lose, right?”

“That’s the spirit!” 

Kiba led Hinata forward, Akamaru following close behind. He was sure his plan was going to work, after all, he barely had enough to cover his portion of lunch. That alone should have proved how confident Kiba was that he’d get Naruto and Hinata to finally acknowledge their feelings for each other. 

.

.

.

.

.

.

“Okay, just follow my lead,” Kiba said as he spotted Naruto at his usual stool at Ichiraku. 

“Naruto! How are you? Healing up okay?” Kiba asked as he sat down next to the blonde, his hand still in Hinata’s.

Naruto squinted at them, tilting his head, “I-I’m fine. Thanks for asking...”

“That’s good to hear, we all deserve some time off after that mess, right Hinata?”

Hinata didn’t dare meet Naruto’s gaze, simply nodded and pretended as if he wasn’t even there. 

“Two bowls of pork miso ramen, please!” Akamaru barked and Kiba smiled down at him, “Oh right, it’s a special occasion. Make that three bowls!”

“Special occasion?” Naruto asked.

“Nothing you have to worry about, just celebrating a certain someone saying yes to a question I asked,” He said, looking at Hinata.

Naruto’s cheeks grew redder by the second as he studied them, “W-what?”

“I asked Hinata to be my girlfriend,” Kiba said, holding up her hand in his, “And she said yes.” He roughly pulled her into his embrace and pressed his cheek to hers, “Isn’t it great?”

Akamaru groaned behind the three, trying to ignore what was happening before him. It was getting a little too painful to watch. Kiba had never been known for his tact after all.

“So you two...are...dating?”

Hinata tried to interject, feeling sick over everything that was unfolding, “N-no we-” 

Kiba quickly slapped a hand over Hinata’s mouth and laughed, “Yeah! I confessed to her right after we got back to the village. I mean, it just seemed to be the right time and all, considering everything that happened.”

Naruto let out a breath and instead of continuing the conversation further, he flagged down Teuchi, “Old man, how much do I owe you?”

Teuchi quickly put up a hand and waved Naruto off, “Oh, no, we could never charge the village hero. Not after everything. Consider it on the house.”

Naruto nodded solemnly, gave a glance Kiba and Hinata’s way, and quickly turned to leave.

“Kiba!” Hinata said in a panic, “That definitely couldn’t have been a part of your plan!”

Kiba huffed, “Yeah...I didn’t think he’d just walk away like that. Maybe we need to try a different-”

Hinata ignored Kiba and decided to take matters into her own hands, what she should have done in the first place, really.

She got up from her seat, a flustered mess, and chased after Naruto. She screamed out without thinking, “Naruto-Kun!”

His head turned immediately towards her, his brow furrowed in confusion, “Hinata?”

“Naruto-” She panted, attempting to catch her breath as she caught up to him. 

“What are you doing? Aren’t you on...” He took a breath as he stuffed his hands in his pockets, a pout playing upon his lips, “Aren’t you on a date with your boyfriend?”

“He’s not my boyfriend!” She yelled out, a little too passionately.

Naruto stifled a laugh at how ridiculously cute she looked. Her ponytail was slightly askew, her cheeks flushed and her lips ridiculously red from her biting her bottom lip. He had been biding his time since he had returned from the village, waiting to approach Hinata and talk about everything that had happened. About what she had said to him.

“Then why did he...”

Hinata sighed, so clearly embarrassed for going along with it. But...she quickly realized that Naruto was...jealous? She could see it in his eyes, the way he acted back at Ichiraku. He was clearly bothered by what had happened. Kiba was actually...right.

So she gathered her courage and firmly asked, “Why do you care?”

“Huh?”

“Whether or not Kiba and I are dating....why do you care?”

Naruto furrowed his brow, “I don’t, I-I just,” He groaned, “Hinata, it doesn’t matter.”

“It does matter!”

“Why!?”

“I told you I loved you!”

Naruto looked at her wide-eyed, clearly in shock. Of course he knew she had confessed her feelings, but...they were also in the middle of a battle. He thought that...that maybe it wasn’t true. It was an adrenaline-fueled confession that she would walk back the moment they got back. That maybe...maybe she meant she loved him like she loved her teammates. That he was her precious friend, just as Sakura and Sasuke were his. He never imagined in his wildest dreams that the girl he’d always taken notice of always wanted to protect had been watching him too. That he’d grow to want to take care of her, to ensure she was okay. He didn’t know what that meant then, but he did now.

He didn’t understand his feelings until that day, in the midst of battle, and it killed him to think it took them nearly dying for him to comprehend that what he felt for her was far greater than friendship. 

“I-I know...” He managed to mutter, “It was just such a crazy day, Hinata. I thought that maybe I misheard you, or that you didn’t mean it in the way you did. I didn’t want to embarrass you by bringing it up again. I mean...we haven’t even talked since we got back.”

“Then let’s talk,” She said, looking down and shyly placing a strand of hair behind her ear.

“I-I’d like that.”

“Yeah?”

Naruto grabbed the same hand Kiba had intertwined in his earlier, and claimed it as his, protectively interlacing his fingers in hers and squeezing her hand for good measure. 

It wasn’t like with Kiba at all, Hinata realized. Her heartbeat was out of time, her knees felt weak. Feeling Naruto under her touch was nearly too much for her to handle.

“Oh..um...” Naruto blushed as he met her gaze, “I really like your hair up, you know?”

“O-oh,” She smiled as she looked away, unable to look at him head on.

“It’s really cute.”

“T-thank you.”

He chuckled, “Yeah, of course. Um, why don’t we go get something sweet, yeah? We can talk at the tea shop?”

“Okay.”

The pair, hands still intertwined, walked toward the tea shop, a blush upon each of their faces.

Kiba, watching from outside Ichiraku, smiled to himself as he said to Akamaru, “See boy, it all went exactly as I said it would. Didn’t it? Next thing you know, we’ll be helping Hinata pick out a wedding dress.”

Akamaru rolled his eyes and continued eating from the offered bowl of ramen. It was better to let Kiba think he had won this round.

“Ah, first love,” Kiba sighed dreamily as he sat back down on his stool, “I can’t wait to see it all play out.”

[behindheremeraldeyes]

sasusaku month 2020 days 12 & 15 - gimme shelter // recovery

title: her dear friend

summary: Set after their mission at Redaku – Sasuke and Sakura are finally going back home after their latest discovery when they’re surprised by a storm. She’s worried about her best friend, and he knows he has to do something before she puts herself at risk.

a/n: So, if you’re tired of seeing Sasuke caring for Sakura, this story is definitely not for you. I had this idea a while ago and of course I used it as an excuse to re-read Sasuke Retsuden (everything can be an excuse for that XD). I had initially planned to post this for the SasuSaku Month, but life happened and... Well, enough of me, I hope you enjoy this one, and if you want, I would love to hear your opinion on it!

(also, this is un-beta’d. Please, go easy on me)

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Redaku continued to prove itself as a strange land even now that they were just a couple of miles away from the border with the Fire Country. Dark clouds had been announcing a storm ever since they left the Tataru Astronomy Research Institute— or at least what was left of it—  and even if there were still a couple of hours left of sun-light, the forest where they were had been enveloped by a shady atmosphere. Birds were coiled up inside their nests and squirrels hid in tree-trunks as an ominous wind swept the leaves beneath their feet. 

All the signs around them indicated that Mother nature was about to unleash her fury, and neither of them wanted to be out in the clear when that happened. Even if they were in a hurry to return home with the new info they had gathered regarding Naruto’s condition, they knew better than to defy the natural forces.

For the storm was due to any moment now, they decided that it would be better to deviate from their original route so they could seek shelter in a safe place. It sure took them a while, especially because they didn’t really know the area, but eventually, Sasuke managed to spot an empty cavern. It was damp, cold and filled with bats; but it would have to do for the time.

It was not like they had any better options.

As soon as they verified the cave to make sure it was safe, his wife was the one who used her fists to gather some dry wood, and by the time he had started the fire with his fire jutsu, the downpour began. It had been years since he had last seen a storm so destructive and powerful like that, and for the moment, he was just glad to have found a place where they could stay.

They had fire to keep them warm, enough food and water for the night, and—well— they also each other so they wouldn’t feel lonely. All they had to do now was wait.

However, for his wife, waiting seemed to be a lot harder than facing the storm.

Once they had settled inside the cave, the male Uchiha couldn’t help but notice how restless the pinkette was. While he was calmly sitting by the fire, she was standing up, pacing around and looking outside. Her arms were crossed across her chest, and he had already lost count of how many times she had already sighed or cursed the heavens for the rain outside.

Sakura was pissed, he could tell. Her shoulders looked tense and she had barely said a word ever since they were forced to stop. He knew she wanted to go home as fast as possible, and being stuck inside a cave had certainly not been part of their plans when setting the fastest route home earlier that day. More than anyone, he knows how much she hates the unforeseen, and at that moment, of all times, anything slightly different from their original plan was enough to give her a huge headache. 

They needed her back in Konoha. Naruto was slowly getting worse, and even if they hadn’t really found the cure in their mission, they had found new and relevant information that could lead to something— anything, really. Ever since the blond had fallen ill, she had been on the edge, reading countless medical books and ancient scrolls, looking for a cure or at least a way to slow down its progression. She might have found a thing or two during the many nights she has spent up, but it was still not enough.

Naruto was still sick at the end of each day, and the only difference now was the she wasn’t by his side. And even if she knew that what they had done in Redaku was also very important, he knew better than to believe she wasn’t bothered by the fact that she was miles away from Konoha.

In fact, the guilt of being away was slowly eating her alive, and if she continued to put herself under so much pressure, it would be just a matter of time before she had a mental breakdown.

He had to do something. Just like in the past, he would have to take care of her so she could take care of the others.

“Sakura.” He started, his voice soft as her name rolled out of his tongue. “It's no use. You know the storm won’t just stop because you’re glaring at it. Come sit by the fire.”

“Don’t even try. You and I know I don’t want to sit.”

“So are you just gonna stand there all night?”

“Maybe I will, so what?” She turned to him, her hands balling into annoyed fists as her voice came out an octave louder. She forcefully closed her eyes for a second, then, sighing exasperatedly before her stiffened expression melted into a worried one. ”I’m sorry, Sasuke-kun. I just…I just want to go home.”

He knew she didn’t mean to sound rude. It was just the stress getting the best of her, and even if he hated to see her like that, Sasuke knew there was nothing he could do to solve her problem at that moment. For he was still feeling a bit drained after what had happened at the Astronomy Institute, he knew he didn’t have enough power to use his Susano’o all the way back to the village, and anything other than that would be useless— irresponsible, even.

There was really no way out of that situation.

Still, it was not like their friend was facing an imminent threat at that moment. Even if he really was getting worse, all of his vital parameters were stable and the progression of the disease didn’t seem to be so fast that his condition would suddenly become life-threatening. A day or two wouldn’t make any difference, both Shizune and Shikamaru granted that in a letter they had sent on the previous day.

Naruto would still be okay by the time they got home. And however logical that sounded, it would never be enough to calm her poor heart.

“I know you do.” He said, his voice offering her some sort of comfort. “But we both know we can’t do anything right now. Not with this storm out there.”

“But…but don’t you think we should take the risk?” She spoke, her green eyes now looking at him with a serious expression. “We have experience in field missions, and if we are careful, we can escape the storm. It will save at least a day of journey.”

His eyes widened at her statement, and it worried him to listen to her talking like that. She was actually serious about that— serious about walking aimlessly in search of a new way back home in the middle of the pouring rain. It was possible to see that her thoughts were now clouded by her sense of guilt, as she was clearly considering putting herself at risk out there just so they could try to arrive a day earlier or two.

 Sakura was acting recklessly. And he had to stop her before she did something stupid. 

“We’re not going anywhere in the middle of the storm. It’s not worth the risk.”

“What? Why not?”

“What do you mean why not? Tch, you know very well how hard it is to move in such terrible conditions. It’s dark, we don’t know the area and the storm is too strong.”

“I-I know it’s dangerous, but this is an emergency, right?”

“It's not an emergency yet. They said his condition is stable and we still have time to get back to Konoha.”

“They don’t know for how long it will be stable, Sasuke-kun. It might get worse.”

“You don’t know that, Sakura. This is just speculation.”

“Of course it is. We don’t know anything about this stupid disease.” She started, her voice now growing irritated. “He might as well be better by the time we arrive, but he also might drop dead before we get the chance to use what we’ve discovered in Redaku.”

“Hn.” He nodded in acceptance, closing his eyes. “I guess we will just have to wait and see, then.”

“Wait and see?” She said, turning to face him. He watched as her green eyes were now glaring at him with vivid fire, and at that moment, he suddenly remembered how intimidating his wife could be. “Are you perhaps suggesting that we should just bet on his life? He is the Hokage.”

As he watched the pinkette growing angry at his words, Sasuke realized that, apart from his efforts, she had finally lost it. She was now using their official positions at the village as an excuse to her behavior, and though she has always respected the shinobi hierarchy, that was probably the first time he ever heard her calling Naruto 'Hokage' when they were just the two of them in the room. His words had been completely misunderstood by her, and at that moment, even if she wasn’t really using words to describe it, he knew exactly what was going through her head.

Sakura was angry. Truly and inexorably angry.

Guilt was taking over every fiber of her heart and even if she knew it wasn’t her fault that Naruto was sick, she was blaming herself for not being there by his side. It was not like she didn’t trust the people back in Konoha to take care of him, but she knew she was the only one really capable for a job that has always been hers. 

Whenever one of them needs her, she’s there. Whenever they’re sick, she finds the cure. That has been the ultimate rule of her life as a medical ninja, and even if they’re all grown ups now, it was still hard for her to let go of that motherly part of hers. 

She has always been overprotective towards them. She has always tried her best to make sure they were both safe, and after marrying the Uchiha— much to her husband’s surprise— she grew even more worried about the blond. Perhaps it was the fear of losing her bonds with him or even the fact that they were each other’s closest fraternal connection, but whenever Naruto ended up at the hospital, she wouldn’t sleep until he was feeling better.

They’re too close. They have always been, especially after all of the time that were just the two of them. They’ve shared memories, promises and dreams; and it would be impossible for her to just ignore all that and not worry about him. It was stronger than her, and fighting against that would be useless.

He couldn’t change that part of hers even if he tried to. All he could do was make sure it didn’t hurt her like it was hurting at that moment.

Sasuke stood up, then, his heart beating as calmly as before. He knew better than to be mad at her for letting her feelings rule her thoughts, especially when his own emotions almost made him destroy Konoha. Just like all the times when she has showed him compassion during his times of pure rage, he owed her the same kind of reciprocity. 

His wife deserved to be heard, and for she has always been more technical than him, he knew she would eventually give in to reasoning if he presented it to her in a way she could understand.

His feet slowly took him closer to her until his body was towering over hers. For she has never been the kind to be intimidated by anyone, Sakura kept glaring at him with the same intensity as before. He was holding a serious expression, and his voice didn’t change when he started his speech. “Stop pretending you care about the Hokage.”

His mismatched eyes watched as her expression changed. Her eyes widened, her lips parted, and slowly, she grew even angrier at him. “What did you say?” He could tell she was really mad at him, and if he didn’t choose his words correctly, chances were she would end up beating him to dust.

“I told you to stop pretending you care about the Hokage, Sakura. If you really want to go out there in the storm, at least be a little more honest about your reasons.”

“How dare you say something like that to my face? After everything I did and after leaving my daughter alone so I could help you gather new information, are you really saying I don’t care?”

“Aah.” He confirmed, his voice still as calm as before.

“Screw you, Sasuke.” She said, finally looking away from him. “I'm going. With or without you." At that moment, he realized he had driven her to the edge, and that was the right time to act on their problem.

That was the only way he could ever talk some sense into his wife. And even if he could end up with a broken rib or two, he figured it would be better than letting her get hurt. 

She was fast to take her backpack from the ground, and as she was making her way towards the exit of the cave, Sasuke took a deep breath before giving her a decent answer. “At least admit why you’re leaving.” At his words, she stopped in her tracks, turning one more time to glare at him. Sakura opened her mouth to talk, but before she had the chance, he continued. “At least admit that you’re doing this for your best friend. Admit that him being the Hokage has nothing to do with this.”

Her eyes widened once more, and he watched as she bit her lower lip before balling her hands into fists. “Stop with your silly games. You know it makes absolutely no difference right now.”

“Of course it does.”

“Oh, and do you care to explain how?” She crossed her arms across her chest, her legs now slightly parted as a sign that she was standing her ground.

“You wouldn’t be acting like that if Kakashi was the one sick.”

“Bullshit. You know I would–”

“You wouldn’t.” He said, firmly, and he realized she was taken aback because of his words. At that moment, he used that opportunity to get closer to her. “If the one sick wasn’t that idiot, we both know you would be a lot calmer right now. It has nothing to do with his position as the Hokage. It never had.”

“Tch, and so what, Sasuke-kun?! Am I that wrong for caring?” She started, her eyes now tearing up. At last, his wife was admitting the truth to herself and it was relieving to see the walls she had built around herself crumbling down. If he wanted to help her— and he certainly did— he needed to be able to reach her first. ”What if I really am worried about my best friend? He’s sick, okay!? He’s sick and I have no fucking idea of what’s happening with him! I’m scared that something bad might happen and I won’t even be there by his side. And though I know there are very capable people back home, I don’t know if any of them would go far enough to keep him alive like I would!”

Her arms were now embracing her own body, making her seem smaller than she really is. She was bitting her lower lip, and even if it hurt him to see his wife like that, unfortunately, it was the only way he knew to calm her down. Thanks to that depraved shinobi system they grew up in, it was only natural for her to keep it all to herself. According to that system, her fears, her thoughts and her emotions meant nothing in times of crises, and there was no reason to prioritize them over their mission or their Hokage. She’s a medical ninja, trained to heal and not alarm those around her, even if it meant she would be haunted by her own secrets for the rest of her life.

No wonder why the previous generations of shinobi suffered so much. More than anyone, he knew how destructive emotions can be when they’re kept inside for too long, and he was not going to let her go through that kind of suffering. 

Sakura had to let it all out. That was what Naruto would tell her if he was there. That was what he has always fought to protect.

And now that she did, it was time for her to pull herself together. He has seen her doing it before, and for she is this brave woman, he knew she could do it again. She just needed to be reminded of that.

“Sakura, look at me.”

“Leave me alone, Sasuke-kun.”

“I'm serious.” He said, placing his hand on her shoulder. “Look at me.”

Though she refused to do as he said at first, her worried eyes eventually gave in to her husband’s words. Her cheeks were puffed in anger, her eyes were turning red due to the unshed tears and he could see that her teeth had already left their mark on her rosy lips. His wife was sad, but it was inevitable for him to think about how beautiful she was, as her true colors oozed from her every pore.

“Let me go to him.” She said, her voice low, almost as if she was begging him.

“I can’t do this. I can’t let you risk yourself out there.”

“Why not?”

“Because you’re his only hope, Sakura.”

“What?” Her eyes widened in surprise, and her lips went agape. She was certainly not expecting those words, and he knew he had to take advantage of her state of bewilderment to tell her the one thing she needed to hear.

“Just think about it. You are the only one who can actually save Naruto. Shikamaru, Kakashi and I can search for things that are related to his condition, but you are the only one who can actually do something about it. You will put all the pieces together and you will find a cure, I’m sure of it.”

“What if you’re wrong? What if I can’t do anything and he dies before we get the chance to get to him?”

“I'm not wrong.” He said, his voice powerful and with no hint of doubt. “I know you can do it. We all know it, and that includes that idiot. He understands why you had to leave, and right now, he’s also doing his best to make sure you have all the time you need. He’s not going to die, Sakura.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“I’m not.” He said, his voice soft and delicate as he spoke to her. “But I trust him. He’s strong and he’s too stubborn to lose before using his best weapon.” His hand moved, then, slowly climbing up to her neck until he was cupping her left cheek. He brushed his thumb against her soft skin, and he offered her a tender smile before continuing. “And right now, his best weapon is you, Sakura.”

At his words, a delicate silence took over them as he simply watched as she made peace with her mind. Knowing his wife like he did, Sasuke knew she was probably thinking about a million ways to refute his arguments, but thankfully, she didn’t seem to be finding any. He felt as she allowed her head to rest against his palm, and she carefully placed her own hands over his as if to indicate she was welcoming the comfort he was offering her. She closed her eyes after that, letting go of all the tension that was taking over her shoulders, and he sighed in relief after that.

“You're right.” She nodded, slowly, as she opened her green eyes to face him. “He's strong and…he’s gonna make it.”

“I’m sure he will.”

“It’s gonna be hard, but I have to trust Naruto on this.” She giggled, finally moving her head away from his hand so she could wipe a tear that had dared to fall. “Shannarou, when did he become such a dependable adult?”

“Hn, he didn’t. Don’t forget that Kurama is the one doing it all for him.”

“Yeah, that’s the only possible explanation.” She blinked, tugging a strand of her hair behind her ear. “Thank you for helping me see things through.”

“No need to thank me. You already knew everything I said.“ He reassured her, their eyes still connected. "You were just a bit confused because of your maternal instincts towards that Dobe.”

A chuckled escaped her lips at his words, and slowly, a smile was decorating her face. It was good to see her like that again. "I guess you’re right. “ She said, scratching the back of her head. “I should probably start worrying more about my husband, don’t you think?”

“I wouldn’t mind that.” He started, turning away so he could walk back to where they had placed their belongings. The night was getting colder because of the storm, he was tired, and after all of that commotion, he just wanted to sit by the fire with his wife. “Now come. It’s been a long day and we need to rest for tomorrow."

“You’re right.” She agreed, instinctively following his steps. “Help me heat the water, then. I’ll make us some tea to keep us warm.”

“Aah.” 

And so, after the raging thunder in her heart dissipated, the Uchiha couple could finally settle down by the fire. The water she had collected from the rain was now boiling inside an old kettle with some herbs, and while they waited for their tea to be ready, both Sasuke and Sakura sat next to each other, finally sharing a moment of peace. Her back was pressed against his chest, her head lingered near his chin and he could feel the way her muscles were relaxed against him. The sound of the rain outside felt like a serene symphony, invading his ears and allowing his heart to beat slower.

In a couple of hours, he knew they would both be up and back on their way back home, and perhaps, they would have to face some challenges. The near future seemed to have a lot of uncertainties that they would have to deal with, but for the moment, he figured he could let himself rest while enjoying his wife company.

He really had missed her, after all.

With that in mind, Sasuke closed his eyes and took a deep, calming breath. Her sweet scent invaded his nostrils, and slowly, he could feel his thoughts disappearing one by one, until it was just them, the fire and the rain.

the end

[anerdinallherglory]

Approaching Sun (30)

Author’s Note: Happy late Valentine’s Day! Fun note: I actually started A.S. on this very same holiday a couple years back. And I did not expect the length or plot this story has taken at allll. Again, I am sorry this is so late. I am hoping to update a LOT more this summer (only one summer class this time!) Unless I get the new job that I am hoping for (fingers crossed). But if I get this job, my free time to write will really open up for me. So it’s a win-win for this story either way.

Also, I want to especially thank these readers: adarkunicorn, softshelldefence, seafoamsands, hatakeliz, harza4925, peachop, cheese-and-biscuits, epitomeofprocrastination, tamnobela, and andreeastroe. These readers really encouraged me to keep writing this story after I was ready trash and take it off all of its publishing sites. You can thank them this story continues.

To all my reviewers, I seriously love you ALL. I am hoping I will get to a point where I can take a break from student emails and respond to each and every one of your reviews in the future. That will be my new year’s resolution this year! I am going to be better. You are all amazing and bring me so much joy and encouragement.

Pairing: SasuSaku

Previous Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29

Chapter 30: A Very Dangerous Game

Sasuke hated Kaguya’s sand dimension even more than he disliked the desert that covered the vast majority of the Land of Wind. This dimension was forever hot despite that the dimension’s otherworldly moon hung low in the dark horizon, a massive orb of blinding white that mirrored the Earth’s moon in exact replica. Sasuke had always felt like the illusion was a reminder of the Otsusuki people, and that Kaguya had designed this dimension to display something that reminded her of home. To Sasuke, the dimension moons eerily reminded him of Kaguya’s pupil-less irises, always watching the spaces that existed between nothing.

Glaring at it in paranoid response, Sasuke, deprived of chakra now, walked toward it slowly and determinedly as a challenge. He would show her exactly how her dimensions were now his domains. The Uchiha decided he would walk freely here because he couldn’t do as he pleased his own world. He wanted to scream curses at that eye-like globe, demanding the Otsusuki show up and take him on now in his weakened state.

“Come on!” he screamed. “All of you! What are you waiting for? Let’s get this over with! I will find you all eventually!” He wanted it done. He wanted this over. He wanted to have a life despite his promise to be the worlds’ sacrifice for peace.

As if to taunt him, Sasuke’s shuffling feet snagged over something in the sand, and he glanced down at his feet in surprise. A ninja’s vest, half-burnt away from acid, displayed itself like a green bearing flag left behind by those who had explored a barren planet. Even though Sasuke had been the only human to ever walk here, Sakura’s old vest that Sasuke had used as a teleport connection between dimensions back when he had been trapped here, always served as a call to his more current jumps. In other words, every time Sasuke had come here over the past couple of years, no matter where he opened the portal, he would always land within a few feet of it.

In the past, he had thought of removing it because it was a painful reminder in many ways. But as he returned consistently to the same spot, Sasuke began to theorize that it had something to do with his ability to travel here. At first, Sasuke believed it was because during teleportation, his path crisscrossed into a connection that had already been created and used before—this was the most likely explanation; his chakra simply wasn’t strong enough to rip a new tear in the fabric of space and time. But as he looked at it now, Sasuke wondered if there was more to it than that. Did emotions tie him to this piece of fabric? And because Sasuke’s friends always existed somewhere in the back of his mind, did his chakra seek it out as something familiar to secure itself to before flinging him through the vacuum of nothingness?

Sasuke glared back at the moon in hatred, wondering too, if it could be just a sick part of Kaguya’s illusions, knowing that the vest had in the past and always, always would continue to stop the Uchiha in his tracks. A temptation reminding him of a different life, one that would cause him to ignore the Otsusuki. Kaguya would want that.

He sat down beside it despite how much he wanted to turn and walk away from it as he always had. This time, he let it be his beacon out of the void, drawing some sort of strength from it in his chakra-deprived state. The whole point of being this exhausted was to avoid thinking of her, but the tattered shinobi vest always pricked him with guilt, especially now when he had left her alone in Sunagakure despite his promises of partnership. It was as if the green material had a voice of its own, saying “See how far she would go for you?” And Sasuke, keeping his thoughts private from the ever-watching rock above, would think to himself “I am doing this for her, too. She will understand eventually. She will accept just how far I am willing to go for this peace we both envision. We have the same goal.”

As Sasuke thought these thoughts again, Sasuke accepted that if they couldn’t be united in love, then at the very least, they would be united in the same goal, the same vision of happiness. It comforted him ever so slightly.

He sighed as he fingered the chakra pills at his waist, guilt invading his chest and suffocating him. How could he tell her his true feelings and make her accept what he was willing to accept? How could he satisfy the both of them and do the least damage?

Sasuke exhaled and leaned back in the sand once more to sleep, sweat beading across his brow in the high temperature. He turned on his side and faced the vest in exhaustion, pretending it was her—pretending to be satisfied with this small piece of the woman he loved and would ever allow himself to dream this close to.

. . . . . . . . . . .

The blackness pervaded all of Sakura’s senses as soon as her feet hit the ground opposite the giant hole she had just created in the sand. She blinked hard, hearing the cursing and alarmed proclamations of those she had attacked. The darkness was like a leaden mist before her eyes and Sakura instinctively created the sign of “release” for genjutsu. And whether it was from her lack of chakra, or because this was a ninjutsu, Sakura’s attempts yielded zero results. The blackness remained and blinded her past several inches in front of her face. When she heard Isao’s shout for her, she had no choice but to dart forward blindly, determined to reach him before someone else did.

“Let go of me!” the child screamed, his pursuer unfortunately catching up with him. Sakura navigated through the pillars of sand-dripping earth that now projected themselves in the air around her. With hands outstretched, she cursed herself. The blow had meant to disorient her opponents and it had, but this damn thickening darkness made it difficult to move forward through the landscape of her own destruction. Thankfully, the waterfalling crumble of sand masked her rushed footfalls.

The kunoichi drew upon her chakra once more, but it came as slowly as before, the medicine still lingering in her system with its toxic chakra clotting effects. Sakura moved hurriedly ahead, hoping that she wasn’t the only one choked with darkness.

Isao’s curses came and Sakura finally rounded a huge boulder to find herself facing the back of the thug’s head. He had his massive hands around the child’s throat, weapon tossed aside in favor of a crueler death to the victim that had caused him so much trouble. Despite his struggle for his life, Isao made eye contact with her the moment they were close enough to see each other. His attacker saw recognition register in the boy’s eyes and spun to face her. But it was too late. Sakura’s kunai was slicing the gray flesh of his throat before he even had time to see her, a final blow that had been delayed from earlier, but determined by fate to be his cause of death. The brutish ninja dropped to the ground instantly and Sakura justified the blood that pooled freely at her feet by remembering his cruel actions to the child that struggled to catch his breath before her.

Sakura picked up the abandoned weapon, the weight unfamiliar in her hands. The sound of the man’s death had betrayed her position, and the footsteps of his companions crunched closer to her location. Terrified, Sakura clutched the child, pushing him behind the jagged column of rock behind her.

“Isao,” she pleaded in a whisper. “You have to make a run for it.”

“I won’t leave you,” he declared, determined to fight to his death for her.

“The only thing you can do for me now is to go get help,” she said honestly. It was a half-truth. There were only a few realities before them, and Isao making it back to the village and bringing help was not likely due to how much time it would take. But Sakura was desperate to remove the brave child from the scenario. She cared too much to let him sacrifice himself for her.

“Miss—” he protested, but Sakura propelled him forward in the blinding darkness, an enemy’s footsteps rounding the earth that cloaked him. It was too late to argue, and Sakura turned to face the phantom-man who stepped toward her in visibility, shadows curling around him as he cleared a path through the inky mist.

Sakura faced him squarely, taking a defensive stance and raising the wicked katana with her sharper green eyes, sending a stare to him along the metal’s surface. The shadow-wielding ninja smirked and the rest of his crew appeared beside him.

“Go!” she screamed in final command at the child whose feet took off into the black at her back.

Sakura brandished the sword in confident threat at her attackers, herself serving as the shield between herself and Isao; they wouldn’t move an inch in pursuit of his direction if she had anything to do with it. Sakura had never wielded a sword before, but in the absence of chakra, she would become a master at it in this moment. Sakura was a kunoichi, a medic, a chakra control master, the pupil of a legendary Sanin, a rising legend herself, and today, she would add something else to her list. Scratch that. She would two things tonight: she would eradicate this new movement of anti-peace revolutionaries, and she would do it at disadvantage with the weapon of her enemy.

. . . . . . . .

As Isao ran, he clutched his side in pain, a sharp stab in his waist. The man who Sakura had killed moments before must have broken one of his ribs as he crushed Isao to the ground. At first, the young ninja pitched forward in blackness, half-debating to turn back to help the pink-haired ninja. But Isao knew the truth. He had been foolish to pursue her and her kidnappers alone and he cursed himself for his rash decisions in his fear of losing sight of them; he should have told someone else even if he lost their trail. Any of them, anyone at allwould have been better help to Miss Haruno than he had been.

Isao’s bravery amounted to nothing and it was evident in every piercing word from the medic kunoichi: The only thing you can do for me now is to go get help … Isao let the command fuel him forward despite the pain, until the night faded into morning hours later and the mighty walls of the Sand Village came into view.

He didn’t know how much time had passed and he didn’t wait to scream for help. The Kazekage was not in the village—he had overheard that much. Neither was the teammate that traveled with Miss Haruno. He yelled the only name he could think of, the name his heart still cried out to despite how much he hated him. The roaring sand shrouded his cries, and the prison walls would buffer it completely, but Isao begged to the air, shouting over and over, “FATHER! HELP ME!”

. . . . . . . .

The taste of the chakra pill was bitter, smoky and acrid. The Uchiha almost gagged trying to swallow it down, and he silently confirmed that Sai had been right—although Sasuke hated to agree with anything his entitled replacement said. What had he called them? Mudballs? Despite the accurate term, Sasuke feared his kunoichi companion more than he hated the taste, so he would keep the complaint to himself.

The pill pooled in his stomach and Sasuke took a breath, focusing on the ignition starting in his core. The rush of power was exhilarating as it topped off his chakra supply, overflowing visibly in a blue-purple halo around him. It sizzled along his skin and Sasuke grinned wickedly as a spiraling vortex appeared before him, much larger than any he had been able to create on his own before.

This was it! It was working! He pushed beyond the core dimension easily, his ready supply of chakra speedily fueling the tunnel between the void, but it ate and ate away at his energy and the color disappeared from his skin. Running off his own meager supply now, Sasuke exhaled and grinded his teeth in concentration. Finally, the connection was made and Sasuke threw himself through it.

He landed roughly, skidding to a halt, and he was ironically thankful for once for the Land of Wind’s high volume of sand. Sasuke found himself smirking up at the lightening sky as he recovered, because this was his first victory in a long struggle of jumping dimensions. To the Uchiha, it was proof that he was doing exactly what he was meant to do: beat Kaguya and the Otsusuki clan at their own game in their own territory. Giddy in his success, Sasuke used the last of his dwindling energy to rise to his feet, his thoughts immediately turning to the woman who had helped make this all possible—he hadn’t achieved this on his own; Sakura deserved the credit. And it was the first time that Sasuke could admit that he needed someone else’s help in his goal.

The dark walls of Sunagakure cut the bright morning horizon in half and Sasuke’s gut twisted in a combination of emptiness and guilt at the thought of returning to Sunagakure to face his friend after their… kiss. Sasuke was torn between finding her immediately to tell her that their plan had worked, pretending the kiss never happened in typical Uchiha fashion. But the time he had stolen away from her “to think” brought him to only one conclusion: he needed to apologize—again—and at least explain why. He had made her a promise to be a partner that depended on each other, and here Sakura was continuing to keep that promise, while Sasuke stole moments of happiness and bailed when he had to face the consequences. Suddenly remembering their sunset conversation the last time he had returned after leaving, Sasuke felt a fresh stab to his consciousness as he recalled her statement: “a part of partnership is communication.”

Sasuke slowly made his way toward the village gates. When he passed through the canyon-like entrance, people greeted him with “good mornings” while others stared openly at him. Their gazes were a little different, warmer, and Sasuke wondered if his teammate’s influence in the hospital had something to do with his newreception in Sunagakure now.

Feeling even more ashamed, Sasuke resolved himself for his female companion’s wrath and made a straight line for the hospital.

When he entered the hospital’s double doors, Sasuke came upon a scene that made his stomach drop into his feet. Kankuro, who was haggard from exhaustion, and had apparently returned sometime in the night, was fisting the collar of a hospital staff member.

“What do you mean they’re not here?” he bristled. “If she’s not in her rooms, then she should be here. Where’s Mako? Where’s the kid?”

“I don’t know sir,” came the panicked response from the employee, terrified to be facing the Kazekage’s right-hand man. “I’m sure they’re in the village somewhere.”

Hearing those words had Sasuke acting before thinking and the Uchiha rushed forward to fist the shirt of the same medic. “Are you talking about Sakura?” His eyes darted between the both of them and Kankuro’s grip released from the startled staff’s shirt in the same moment he shoved Sasuke’s own hand away.

“Where the hell have you been?” Kankuro accused icily, and a fire Sasuke didn’t even know he had left in him, surged from his throat in anger.

“What the hell is happening?” he demanded, taking another step toward the puppet wielder.

Kankuro pinched his nose in frustration, then beheld him in shock. “You mean Sakura isn’t with you?”

Sasuke eyes widened in immediate response, an answer refusing to form on his lips. Instead, he shouted, “You don’t know where she is?!”

Kankuro frowned deeper at his sudden animosity. “She hasn’t been seen since yesterday morning,” he explained quickly. “The innkeeper said she never came back to the inn. Mako, another medic, and Sakura’s young patient are missing too.”

Sasuke didn’t wait for any further explanation before he began sprinting up the stairs to the second floor of the hospital, the filter for his behavior now completely removed. Let everyone think what they want! That bastard! When Sasuke got ahold of Mako, he wasn’t sure what he would do. Sasuke’s feet were unusually heavy and his breath labored as he continued climbing to the third floor toward the medicine preparation room they had occupied together only recently.

“Sakura?!” He kicked open the door and furiously searched the vacant room with his eyes. After seeing no one, Sasuke stared at the empty couch where they had sat so close to one another the night before last. As if his memory of her there could recall her, Sasuke gazed openly at it, breathing hard.

Having followed the Uchiha, Kankuro appeared in the door behind him. “We’ve already checked the hospital. She isn’t here. We need to check the rest of the village, quickly!”

She couldn’t be missing. Was she really with that assistant of hers or that child?  Were they off somewhere else doing something medical, or were they truly missing? Shit. Shit. Shit.

He turned on Kankuro in his unnerved rage. Sasuke wanted to demand where they had been, he and the Kazekage, but Sasuke remembered that Sakura had told him that they were investigating trouble near the border. He cursed himself again for being selfish and leaving her here alone.

As if reading his thoughts, Kankuro explained, “I was sent back by the Kazekage in the night. He is handling a situation regarding the ninja Sakura said ambushed you both in Tanigakure. The incidents were apparently related.”

“What do you mean?” Sasuke suddenly asked, a deep and cutting sensation coming over Sasuke that he hadn’t felt in a very, very long time: fear.

Kankuro looked down and away from him, debating on how much to reveal. “With some unmentionable methods, we were finally able to find out who their target was,” he finally informed with a sigh. His eyes rose to meet Sasuke’s and the Uchiha saw the same raw fear mirrored in Kankuro’s eyes. “It’s Sakura.”

At the very moment that Sasuke’s knees felt like collapsing beneath his weight, the same staff member that the two ninja had threatened seconds before, came running into the room, panting heavily from having hiked the floors.

“Come quickly,” he urged between breaths, turning immediately to run back down the steps. “Isao has returned.”  

Kankuro made eye contact with the Uchiha before they both bolted back down the stairs, taking two and three steps at time. Sasuke cursed his lack of chakra that kept him from just teleporting downstairs.

Sitting in a chair, the child clutched his side. Sasuke noticed that he kept trying to rise, but the staff held him down as they tried to bandage a wound on his arm. Deep purple finger marks circled around the child’s neck like a collar.

“Not me! Her! Go find her, please!” he shouted as he struggled against them.

“Calm down boy,” a woman medic urged. “We have to staunch the flow of blood from your arm.” The child looked at his wound as if he didn’t even know it had been there.

When Isao caught sight of Sasuke and Kankuro, he started to cry. “HELP! Please help!” he shouted, and they quickly moved to hover over the child. Kankuro suddenly kneeled before him, taking the gauze from the medic and wrapped the child’s arm himself as he questioned.

“Speak kid,” Kankuro urged, “What is going on?”

“Miss Haruno,” he choked between tears. “She’s still out there! Please, we have to go!”

Before Kankuro could ask the child why, Sasuke did something appalling, an act that Sakura would be disappointed in him for. His sharingan flashed bright, soaking up the last of his chakra like a sponge, and he caught the panicked child’s stare in his own crimson and purple one.

Just as he had to Isao’s father, Sasuke stepped into the child’s memories. Isao’s recollections were almost too overwhelming for Sasuke to handle at the moment, each image dripping with the fear in which young ones saw the ninja world. There was also bravery in them and familial concern for the pink-haired kunoichi. Sasuke skipped through the memories like speeding up a film, an act that made his head throb in pain. He didn’t care about his own state at the moment though, seeking the green-eyed face of the woman he had come to love.

There. Isao’s most recent memory Sakura was of her telling him “to go get help.” Sasuke didn’t have time to go back further and he let the memories play out from that point, mapping the child’s nighttime desert sprint, hours long, from the empty desert back to the gates of the village.

Not needing to explore the child’s mind further, he released Isao and they both gasped. Sasuke clutched his eye, ignoring the angry glare on Kankuro’s face. He didn’t care about Kankuro’s morals or even the child’s shocked state at that moment. There was only one thing he cared about. He would let the child explain the details to Kankuro; Sasuke didn’t have the time to explain things to Kankuro. Instead, the Uchiha did the unthinkable, playing the very dangerous game of popping another chakra pill into his mouth as he sprinted out the hospital doors.

.

.

[airashisakura]

Pregnancy Diaries

Chapter 6 - Sakura's Birthday

Written for

SakuraHarunoBPBirthday2021 @sasusakublankperiodweek

Prompts - Sakura gets sick on her birthday and Sasuke forgets her birthday

and

@harunosakuraweek Day 8 - Sakura's Birthday

Rating: General audience

Characters : Haruno Sakura, Sasuke Uchiha and Aoda

Summary : When Sakura gets sick and Sasuke forgets her birthday because the expectant parents were too busy panicking

FFN AO3

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5

Sasuke's eyes were sad as he fixed the blanket on Sakura's body. Though spring had arrived, it was still cold... Or, Sasuke thought, maybe it was because of where they were staying. Sasuke muttered a curse under his breath, because staying at one of Orochimaru's hideouts was equal parts hilarious and dangerous.

Had he been seriously out of his mind when he suggested the idea? He rubbed his temples, berating himself for his decision. The dark dungeons were the last place on the earth where he wanted to bring his ailing wife.

He slumped on the chair beside the bed where Sakura was resting. He covered his eyes with his lone arm, sighing with frustration. Every inch of his body felt tired after all they had been through. He needed sleep, but he couldn’t.

They had stopped abruptly when Sakura told him that she couldn’t continue the mission in her current state. While they had been heading for Konoha, they were delayed by frequent stops because of Sakura's sore feet and nausea. Sasuke made sure to take the safest path, which turned out to be the longest one.

Although his brain wanted to hurry as fast as he could in situations like that, he kept control over his pace. Every wince on Sakura’s face made him anxious, and even when he used Susanoo, he was extra careful.

It was when they were crossing Otogakure that Sasuke found that Sakura was too tired to walk even an inch, and his own chakra reserves were getting dangerously low. The best he could arrange was to find one of Orochimaru’s hideouts nearby and to rest before they could continue again.

Sasuke lifted off his arm and looked at Sakura with concern. He watched as she breathed slowly, but painfully. Her skin was paler than before — a tone he had never seen before on her. He couldn't blame her; Sakura had been vomiting after almost everything she ate.

His eyes fell onto the cause of her suffering — her heavily pregnant belly where the future of his clan rested. The side of his eyes crinkled as he rested his palm there, feeling his child's vibrant chakra. He couldn’t explain how he’d felt when Karin had mentioned that Sakura would be delivering the baby soon. He could relate to Sakura’s excitement to meet their newborn, how she had stuffed half of his satchel with the clothes for their unborn child.

However, his happiness was short-lived when he remembered he had something in his satchel that Sakura was unaware of. When he saw a messenger hawk from Konoha approaching him a few days ago, he had expected it to be some official letter. However, as he read through it, he realised the letters were for Sakura — birthday wishes for her. He had shoved them inside his satchel with a big lump of guilt because he had almost forgotten Sakura's birthday.

How could he? He had been asking the same question from the day he had received their friend’s letters. How could he be so inconsiderate to forget a simple thing for the woman who loved him without any hesitation? Uchiha Sasuke didn't know what infuriated more — his naive decision to let Sakura travel through her pregnancy, or his failure to remember such a small thing.

"Anata, is something bothering you?" Sakura opened her eyes weakly.

Sasuke didn't answer and looked at Sakura with an expression that told Sakura he was bothered about her.

Sakura shifted uncomfortably under the sheets before she propped herself up on her wobbly arms. Sasuke got off his seat hurriedly and placed his palm on her back, providing her leverage to sit up. She smiled meekly before flinching at the building ache in her body. The medic knew it was her body’s way of preparing to let the baby out, but she wondered how she could make her terrified husband understand that.

"You know, Anata, I'm fine. These…" Sakura flinched again as she fisted at the side of her belly, clutching her garment. "These symptoms are totally normal."

Sakura inhaled sharply, straightening her back in an attempt to dissipate the pain. She didn't want to admit that she was freaking out too, so she held herself calm. Sakura tried to stretch her legs to relieve her aching muscles and spoke again, "This is a little painful…"

While Sasuke was helping her, Sakura fell a mild contraction and she yelped.

"Ouch! That hurts. It feels like someone is stabbing kunais at my back." Sakura finally gave up her attempt to keep a brave face. "It feels like my bladder is leaking, and I smell like puke."

Although Sasuke knew he could have been punched considering her bizarre mood swings, he scoffed. Sakura didn't quite succeed in assuring him, but she lifted off his grim mood.

However Sasuke being amused didn’t help the expectant mother and she snarled, "Shannaroo! I'm freaking! Helping to deliver babies and actually delivering one myself are so different."

Throughout their travels, Sakura had never been the one to complain about anything. Sasuke rubbed her back sympathetically and he realised she had been holding back more than he imagined.

"It's just…" Sakura paused, letting the pain subside before she admitted, "It's just that I don't want to give birth here."

Sasuke frowned, his hand abruptly stopping. He knew what Sakura was talking about. He also didn’t want his child to be born in the same place where he had once sought power for revenge. Going back to Konoha would have been the best option, but he was helpless to change that now. All he could do was to trust his previous teammate from Team Taka.

"Karin," Sasuke stated, trying to make a point, but he wasn't sure how he was supposed to assure Sakura now.

As if reading Sasuke's thought, Sakura said before shaking her head sideways, “I trust Karin-san.”

It would have been easier for Sakura if she had been in Konoha, being helped by Shizune and others to bring her baby into the world. She’d been tense initially when she realized that it wouldn’t be possible for them to make it back to the village in time. She thought about the interaction she had with Karin earlier — the formation of a mutual bond — that had marked the beginning of their friendship.

“Actually she has been taking care of me more than I could ask from her,” Sakura said, smiling.

Sasuke's eyes softened. However he remained silent, because he could sense now that the reason for her hesitation was the same as his own.

Sakura’s eyes wandered through the dimly-lighted room as her eyes reflected worry, “This place gives me the creeps.”

Although Sasuke tried not to visibly flinch, she could tell by Sasuke’s expression that it bothered him too.

After a few moments of silence, Sakura spoke, "Sorry, I didn't want to trouble you."

She cupped Sasuke’s cheek, and Sasuke accepted the warmth of her loving touch. He wanted to see that smile on her face more and decided to deliver the birthday letters to Sakura in order to change the mood. He got off the bed, before saying, “I’ve something for you.”

As Sasuke dug inside his satchel to find the letters, he heard Sakura chirp, “What is it, Sasuke-kun?”

He felt a tinge of sadness as he held the papers in his hand, because he didn't even have a token to offer. Like always, he was incapable of giving her anything. It was Sakura who had given him her love, a home, and now a family.

“Sasuke-kun? Hurry up and come here,” Sakura pouted.

Sasuke smirked at his wife’s impatience. He handed the letters to her, as he sat opposite, facing her.

“Letters? For me?” She gasped as she hastily unfolded a letter. She squinted, recognising Naruto’s messy writing which read, Happy Birthday.

Sakura’s eyes widened in surprise when she realised she had forgotten her own birthday. She was about to say something, but she stopped. A wave of emotions hit her when she realized their baby would be born a few days after her birthday.

Sakura whispered, wiping the tears from the corner of her eyes, “You remembered, Sasuke-kun?”

Sasuke didn’t want to disappoint her, but he didn’t want to lie to Sakura either. He averted his gaze from her before saying, “No, I don’t even have something to give you.” He shut his eyes and with a heavy heart, he apologised, “I’m really sorry, Sakura.”

“You have already given me a gift,” Sakura said sincerely, her voice full of love.

Sasuke’s puzzled mismatched eyes met with Sakura’s green.

She blushed before interlacing his fingers with hers and placing them on her belly.“And that too, a precious one,” she cooed.

Sasuke was at loss of word, but he still smiled. The guilt that had been plaguing him since the letters had arrived was dissolved by his wife’s simple words.

“Now, if you could, please read these for me,” Sakura ordered Sasuke, keeping her voice authoritative. She waved the letters in front of his eyes and added, yawning, “because I am too tired.”

Sasuke smirked. Though he would ordinarily be annoyed with Naruto’s writing, he said, “O-tanjoubi omedetou, Sakura.”

[aliceinreverselondon]

You Really Got Me – pilot (Kakashi Hatake x Reader)

(Original title: Stay This Time Around. But this song made me change it.)

It was supposed to be a short, routine mission, perfect for the team to learn the basics. What he wasn’t expecting was seeing you there, hanging out with some guy. Dealing with those three was already enough for Kakashi, but now he couldn’t stop thinking about what he had seen. Was it a date? Were you now dating some weird, blue-haired punk? Talk about a downgrade…

Though he wasn’t proud of it, he asked Pakkun to follow the two of you and find out what it was all about. He had to know if it was a private or a professional meeting because he couldn’t recall officially breaking up with you. Well, okay, he couldn’t remember the last time you talked either. He hated it when things got confusing. He really did.

A few painfully slow hours later Pakkun finally returned, but the news he brought wasn’t what he had expected to hear. Despite being careful and sneaky, the mysterious guy eventually revealed he knew they were being followed and he didn’t like it at all. What’s even worse is that you knew Pakkun so you definitely knew he was behind this silly spying mission. This meant he now had to talk to you about what happened.

Finding you wasn’t hard, all he had to do was looking for the highest building in the town. For some strange reason, you had always loved heights and jumping off tall buildings. But when he laid his eyes on you for the first time in a while, Kakashi didn’t know what to do. He had just realized how much he missed you, but he couldn’t shake off the feeling that the mysterious blue-haired guy was your boyfriend after all. Was he also here with you?

“I didn’t know you turned into a stalker,” you suddenly noted loudly, making it clear you knew he was there. Letting out a sigh, he walked over to you with his hands in the pockets of his green leather jacket. “How long were you planning to hide there?”

“I wanted to make sure you were alone. I don’t feel like getting into a fight, to be honest,” Kakashi explained as he scratched the back of his neck.

At first, you looked at him with raised eyebrows, not sure why he said this. But then he could almost see the moment your brain finally put the pieces of the puzzle together. “Oh, so Pakkun already told you we had noticed him following us and that Grimmjow got pretty mad.”

Well, now that he had a name, he officially hated him. “Grimmjow, huh? Is he your new boyfriend?” he asked as cheerfully as he could, even faking a smile under the mask. Or was it too much? Was he way too obvious?

“Are you jealous?” you asked teasingly.

Okay, so it was obvious. Still… “No, only a little curious.”

“Answering your question, no, he’s not my boyfriend, only an arrancar friend I like to train with these days. You see, not long ago I met a wizard called Bruno in Reverse London,” you began to tell him as you sat on the concrete railing of the rooftop. “These two are so much alike that now I want to convince Grimmjow to visit him to see if they’re related.”

You were sitting too close to the edge. He knew you were perfectly safe and you wouldn’t get hurt even if you fell, but his instincts told him he should make sure it didn’t happen. Without thinking much about it, he stepped closer and put his hands on your hips. “I see,” he said quietly as he thought about what you told him.

Suddenly a wicked little smile appeared on your lips then you grabbed the front of his shirt to pull him even closer. “Also, if it was only up to me, I’d be dating this idiot in front of me. Too bad he told me to fuck off during a fight.”

Wow, you knew how to kill the mood. “That was harsh, I know. I’m really sorry, Y/N.” One second passed after another, each feeling longer than the previous one. You were still mad at him and this had to be the reason why you remained silent. “Hey, you know me, I would never intentionally hurt your feelings,” he pointed out.

“I can’t remember you calling to apologize, though.”

“I wanted to, I promise, but I kinda forgot.” And it wasn’t even a lie, he really had forgotten to do it.

“What, you got lost on the path of life again?” you asked surprisingly calmly. Kakashi loved to be this close to you again. So close that if he wasn’t wearing his mask, he would’ve kissed you already. But just when he actually began to consider doing it, you let go of his shirt. “Anyway, what are you doing in Karakura Town?”

With an annoyed grunt, Kakashi took a few steps back and stuffed his hands back into his pockets. A cold shower would probably help a lot more but a little distance would hopefully do the job for now. “We’re on a mission with my team of students. Pretty basic stuff,” he added with a shrug.

“Your students? You let some brats pass?” you asked in the company of an incredulous laugh. When he nodded, you suddenly fell silent then let out a quiet whistle. “Well, good luck to them. They’ll need it.”

There were many things he wanted to say but he didn’t know where to begin. A part of him was dying to ask you to stick around this time so you could fix your relationship because despite completely forgetting to apologize, he still cared a lot about you. In the end, he chose a more subtle approach. “Are you working on anything now?”

Your answer turned out to be a good start because you said, “Nah, I’m on an extended vacation.”

“Hey, shut up or they’ll hear us, idiot!”

You both turned toward the source of the sound but couldn’t see anything. But you certainly weren’t alone there and Kakashi recognized that voice right away. “And here they are,” he noted as he let out a sigh. “Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke, come out, we know you’re hiding over there!”

The three kids came forward and stopped in front of the two of you. Kakashi had been so focused on you that he didn’t even notice them before. While Sasuke looked completely unimpressed as if he had been dragged into this against his will, Sakura looked guilty, and Naruto acted like being busted wasn’t his fault. In a way it was true this time, after all it wasn’t his voice they heard.

“I told them not to do this but they didn’t listen!” Sakura quickly pointed out. Great, she was coming up with excuses to save herself.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw you roll your eyes at her. “And yet here you are,” you informed her with a mocking grin. “Anyway, it’s nice to meet you, guys, I’m Y/N. I’m gonna be honest: I never thought he would even let anyone pass that stupid bell test.” Oh, no, you weren’t mocking Sakura, you were mocking him.

“Did you only accept this mission to meet your girlfriend?!” Naruto demanded angrily as he pointed at the two of you. Shaking his head, Kakashi pinched the bridge of his nose. “This is so unfair!”

“We met by accident,” you pointed out before he could scold the boy himself. “But I can’t deal with kids when I’m hungry so–” You stopped right then and pulled out your phone to take a look at the screen. Whatever the message was, you weren’t too happy to read it. “Where was I? Oh, yeah, why don’t we go and eat something?”

As you jumped off the railing and began to walk toward them, Kakashi began to count down in his mind. It was only a matter of seconds until–

“YES! YES, YES, YES, let’s eat some ramen, I’m starving!” Naruto yelled enthusiastically with a wide grin on his face.

Laughing, you pulled out your phone and quickly typed and sent a text. It soon turned out it was for Kakashi as his phone beeped right away and you even gave him a meaningful look. “I like this kid. There’s a great place nearby, I texted you the address. See you all there in… I don’t know, maybe fifteen minutes? I have to take care of something first.”

After Naruto, Sakura, and even Sasuke agreed, Kakashi had no choice but to do the same. Then he noticed you were walking backward, your eyes fixed on the edge of the rooftop. He hated it when you did what you were planning to do. Such a show-off. “For real?” he asked quietly.

You winked at him in response then said, “See you guys later then!”

And with that, you began to sprint to the edge and eventually jumped off the building and disappeared in the form of black smoke. All three ran to the railing without hesitation and tried to figure out what had just happened.

“Don’t worry, she’s fine. I’ll explain on the way,” he told the kids before he began to walk toward the door. Because this was how normal people left places. Either this or at least teleporting without the stupid theatrics.

I’m not entirely sure about this one yet. But the reader is a pretty powerful and badass creature, a perfect match for the equally powerful and badass Kakashi. Yes, I mentioned Bruno and Grimmjow so if I continue they might show up later. I have a scene in my mind in which the reader takes Sakura to Hueco Mundo where she can train to get stronger.

Update: I continued this one.

[nejibaby]

Love Language

Pairings: Neji x Y/N

A/N: First time writing a fic for Neji. In fact, this is my first time writing a fanfic involving anime characters. But I’m so whipped for Neji I couldn’t stop myself from writing this. Please let me know your thoughts about this. 💜

When you opened your eyes from your sleep, you immediately knew you were having one of those days. “Those days” meaning the days where you feel a need for skinship. It was one of those days where you were feeling extremely clingy.

Oh but the skinship you crave doesn’t necessarily have to lead to sex or anything, you just wanted physical touch. It was something you find comforting. It was, after all, your love language.

So when you peeked to the other side of the bed — your boyfriend Neji’s side — you couldn’t help but want to press yourself closer to him. But knowing that he was a light sleeper was enough reason to stop yourself from doing what you want. He just came home from a mission last night and he deserved to rest as much as he can.

You watched his profile as he took deep, even breaths — a telltale sign that he was fast asleep. You slowly and gently touched the side of his face, pausing still as you checked if he woke up at your movement. When you deemed that he was still asleep, you lightly rubbed your thumb over his cheeks, just a featherlight touch but an act where you poured your love for him.

You slowly rose up from the bed and placed a soft kiss on his forehead, exactly where his curse mark lied. Afterwards, you whispered, “I love you, Neji.”

It was the first time you’ve said those three words out loud. You felt a little but guilty for not being able to say it when he’s awake, but it’s not just something you can say out of the blue. Besides, you have to build up courage to actually be able to say it. Right now though, right now you were still a coward.

He stirred a little in his sleep. You were alarmed, afraid that you had woken him up or worse, that he had heard your confession. But his movement stopped when you ran your fingers through his hair. When you are sure he has fallen back into slumber, you slip out of the bed.

The Hokage, Tsunade, assigned a mission to you today so you had to get up early if you wanted to cook breakfast for Neji.

_____________________________

At a young age your parents taught you the importance of learning other people's love languages in order to build a good relationship with them. That’s how you found yourself observing what makes your friends happy. You wouldn’t tell them this though. You were quite sure they’d end up teasing you for worrying over trivial things.

You were sure your love language was physical touch because you often find yourself happily linking arms with Sakura or passionately fist bumping with Naruto. Not to mention you would hug them goodbye instead of waving your hands. It probably meant nothing much to them, but to you, it made you feel loved and accepted. It warmed your heart.

From observation, you learned that Naruto was happiest when people acknowledge him and his hard work so you made it a point to cheer him on and to give him words of affirmation from time to time. With Sakura, she likes to spend as much time as possible with you when you both don’t have missions to do. You were guessing she was lonely because of Sasuke leaving but it could also be because she was an only child and wasn’t really fond of her parent’s shenanigans. Either way, she was always up for quality time.

You were the closest with these two so you made it a point to act according to their love language. And just like what your parent’s said, it worked on strengthening your bond with them.

It was with them that you confided with your little crush on Neji. At first they found it weird. Because how can someone so sweet like you take a liking to someone who was a little… cold? Detached?

You chastised them immediately after hearing what they’ve said, claiming that Neji was honorable, strong, smart, good looking, and just overall dreamy.

Sakura giggled at how you zoned out with hearts on your eyes as you uttered those words and that’s when she knew you were serious.

Naruto, on the other hand, was cringing. He knew how mean and condescending Neji could be. It was painted on his face how he didn’t like Neji for you. But at least your crush wasn’t Sasuke.

When you got your bearings together, you immediately turned to Naruto and told him to keep his mouth shut. You recalled saying, “Naruto, If you ever talk about my teeny tiny crush, I’m going to leave Konoha all together, just like Sasuke did!”

You were exaggerating, of course. You wouldn’t leave Konoha just because of that, but your speech worked on Naruto. You recalled that his eyes widened in surprise and then promised that he won’t tell a soul. You doubted if he could keep a secret but eventually, you just didn’t care anymore. It was just a crush anyway, it wasn’t a big deal and it wouldn’t matter if he knew. If anything, you both weren’t really that close to begin with, so there’s no friendship that could’ve been ruined. And besides, Neji has always been the all-business type of guy, you were sure a little crush was something insignificant to him.

________________________________

When Naruto left the village to train with Master Jiraiya, you eventually became closer with the other shinobis that were more or less closer to your age. This includes Tenten, Lee, Ino, Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba, Shino, Hinata, and surprisingly, Neji too.

It all started when Sakura had begun training with Lady Tsunade. You’ve been assigned to a lot of missions where you were teamed up with different shinobis, but what was weird was that Neji was almost always on your team.

You just wished Lady Tsunade was assigning both of you often in one team because you were always both free at the same time or that you worked well together or that you were both very skilled and had high success rates on missions. Any rational reasoning really, as long as it’s not because Sakura had pulled some strings.

At first you were really nervous about teaming up with Neji on missions, afraid that you were going to mess up in his presence. But when the initial nerves died down, you’ve masked whatever little feelings you’ve had for him quite well. Not that it was hard. In fact, it was easy for you because you prioritize the safety of the village before anything else.

But the missions truly did make both of you closer. What started as only speaking about the missions became casual talks about your friends. Nothing much, mostly small talk, but it was enough to ignite the small flame in your heart.

_______________________

When you arrived back from your missions, despite being tired, you would always gather your friends around to hang out before another mission was handed to you.

Being a jonin meant you were assigned to more higher rank missions, but sometimes, it just meant having much, much more missions than normal. It was tiring, only having a day or two to rest unless you were injured before another mission was handed over. So somehow it became a tradition of some sorts to gather around after you’ve finished a mission. After all, only you and Neji were jonins in the group.

Unbeknownst to you, your friends viewed you as someone who glued them together. You were the reason why they were much closer than before, now that Naruto wasn’t around. So when possible, they would make it a point to meet with you, knowing how lonely it could be now that you were alone after your parents died when Orochimaru attacked Konoha.

Sakura would often give you a look when Neji was around as all of you spend time with each other catching up. He rarely joined the gathering, preferring to rest instead of socializing. But every now and then he would come too. And when he did, somehow Sakura found a way to make him walk you home. Not that he wouldn’t do it without Sakura urging him to.

Ever since that one mission where you, Neji, and Shino were ambushed, Neji became much closer to you. Maybe it was because when one of the attackers somehow managed to stab him, you came to the rescue.

You were an exceptional kunoichi, your skills were one of the most regarded in the village so you were able to bring down most of the attackers, but not before they left a huge gash on your leg. When the fight was over, you rushed to Neji to heal him using medical ninjutsu that Sakura taught you. Luckily, Shino was only left with a few scratches.

“You know medical ninjutsu?” Neji asked, surprised.

“Yeah. A little. Sakura taught me every now and then when I’m not on a mission.”

“You should heal yourself first.”

“No, I’m fine. Your wound needs more attention than mine.”

It was true, his wound looks a lot worse than yours, but in the end you managed to heal it. However, it took too much chakra from you so with whatever minimal chakra you could use, you tried healing your wound as well. But that left you tired and weak which didn’t go unnoticed by Neji’s byakugan.

You were able to walk for a mile before your body couldn’t anymore. Neji has been looking out for you after you’ve healed him just in case this happened.

“We should probably rest a while,” Neji says.

“No, no. It’s just a few more miles to Konoha. We should keep going,” you say.

Neji looks at Shino, silently asking if they should continue or not.

Shino nods ahead, “It’s much safer if we reach the village as soon as possible. Why? Because you are both not in good shape from the ambush. If we stayed here longer, we might get attacked again. If we push through going back to the village, we’ll reach it before sunset.”

Neji looks at you and then nods his head. “I will carry you.”

Before you could resist, you were already on his back and he was already jumping through branches.

You wrapped your arms around him so as not to fall. He felt warm and you felt safe. A weak smile found its way to your face, grateful that you had comrades looking out for you.

You even allowed yourself to be giddy because of the fact that Neji was there, carrying you to safety.

“I’m sorry,” you say. Your body was shutting down from exhaustion but before you lost consciousness you said, “And th-thank you, Neji.”

Sakura had been waiting by the village gates knowing you were supposed to arrive that day. She perked up upon seeing Shino but then tensed when she saw you being carried by Neji. “What happened?”

“There was an ambush when we were on the way back after the mission. I was careless. I got stabbed. Y/N and Shino fought them off. She healed me but she lost a lot of chakra in the process.” He explains in one breath.

“Let’s get her to the hospital.”

Since that day, you became so much closer with Neji. Whenever he finds you walking alone, he’d offer to walk with you. When you were both assigned on missions, you noticed he started bringing food pills for you. When you were somehow at the training grounds at the same time, he’d hand you an extra bottle of water.

You figured it was his way of thanking you. Nevertheless, the gestures made your heart flutter.

You weren’t going to let him be the only one who’s being thoughtful, so when you trained together, you’d make sure you brought an extra towel for him to use to wipe off his sweat. Sometimes you’d even bring him food, claiming you miscalculated the amount of food you cooked. You weren’t sure if he caught on with your little crush, but you sure hoped he didn’t. The smile on his face as he thanked you for these little gestures was heartwarming to say the least. And it was enough to make your week better.

________________________________

You weren’t quite sure when Neji had started to take a liking to you but you remembered a time where your friends pointed it out to you.

It was a day after Neji completed a long mission. He seeked you out so he can train with you. You immediately agreed, knowing you didn’t have anything planned that day.

When you were both finished, drained from the intense training, you handed him a towel as he gave you a bottle of water. You were both trying to catch your breath when a voice came calling out your name. You both turned to the source of the sound.

Once you saw it was, you squealed and immediately came running towards him, engulfing him in a bear hug. “Lee!” You exclaimed.

He laughs and spins you around. “How has the prettiest flower in Konoha been?”

You snort. “I think you meant the strongest kunoichi next to the Hokage.”

“That works too.” He brings you down and notices Neji watching the interaction. You both walk towards Neji and Lee says, “I see you have been training with my rival.”

“Yes. Neji helps me train when he’s around. He just came back from a mission yesterday.”

“I see. What do you say, Neji, will you indulge me in a battle?” Lee says as he throws punches and kicks in the air.

Neji’s eye twitches, “Sorry, Lee. I’m tired.”

By the time Neji replied though, Lee was already counting push-ups. It was impossible to be able to talk to him when he’s in the zone so you and Neji just let him be and walk away.

When you were both away from Lee, Neji clears his throat and asks, “Have you always been that close to Lee?”

You were confused by the sudden question. “Hm. I guess so. We’re all friends, right? But we got a lot closer recently. When you were away on a mission, Lee kept bugging everyone to train with him since you and Guy sensei were away. But well, no one really wanted to train with him because they were busy with other stuff. And since my training buddy,” you nudged his elbow, “was away, I agreed. Honestly, his timing couldn’t have been better. Kakashi sensei just taught me a new water style jutsu and I was trying to see if I can weave the signs faster. Lee was the perfect partner for the job.”

“Oh.”

You frown, what does that mean? “Is there something wrong, Neji?”

“Nothing.”

You let it go, not wanting to make him uncomfortable. Just as you were about to round the corner going to your house, you halted, “Oh, I forgot I was supposed to meet Sakura today!”

“Okay. I will walk you there.”

“Thank you, Neji,” you said as you felt your cheeks blush.

When you found Sakura, you greeted her with a hug while whispering, “I need to talk to you about something.”

She gave you a look but nodded anyway. You turned back to Neji and thanked him for training and walking with you.

He nods and tells you that he’ll be heading out then.

“What happened?” Sakura asks.

Just as you were about to answer, Tenten came running towards the both of you, “Oh, there you are!”

“Tenten, what’s up?”

“What do you say we get together and do it up a little? At Yakiniku-Q.”

You and Sakura turn to each other. She just shrugs. “Sure.”

Tenten smiled brightly and dragged you two to find Ino and Hinata.

Tenten found Ino first. She was with Choji and Shikamaru. Tenten immediately went to Ino to talk about her plan. Meanwhile, Choji scoops you up in a hug. You laugh, “Well someone’s eager to see me.”

“I haven’t seen you in a while!” He exclaims as he puts you down.

You hang your arms around Choji and Shikamaru’s shoulders, “Yeah, I’ve been training nonstop. How are you guys?”

Shikamaru whispers under his breath, “How troublesome” but you ignore him.

“We’ve been on missions here and there.”

You were supposed to respond but Choji’s attention has shifted to Tenten and Ino when he heard “Yakiniku.”

“Yakiniku?! I’m in! I’m in!”

“You guys aren’t invited.” Tenten declared.

“Huh? Why?” Choji frowns.

“Because it’s time for just us girls to hang out. Right? Let’s have a girls-only get-together!”

“Sorry, Choji. I’ll treat you next time!” You console him.

“Alright! We just have to find Hinata then.” Tenten says.

When she was able to convince Hinata to join, you all went to Yakiniku-Q together. As you entered the store, you silently asked Sakura, “Why do you think Tenten invited us here?”

“I’m not sure. But I think everyone’s a little bit down from missing Naruto.”

“I miss him…” You say wistfully. And a little bit loudly. You only noticed it when you looked up and found that Ino, Hinata, and Tenten were all looking at you. And then you turned your head, you saw that your male friends were there too, by the other table, looking at you as well.

You flushed at the sudden attention and stepped behind Sakura in an attempt to hide yourself.

Kiba was the first to break the silence, “Oi! Who do you miss, huh?” He says teasingly, moving his eyebrows up and down.

You felt yourself becoming redder and redder as you found Neji looking at you and Kiba curiously, but with a slight downturn of his mouth.

“Is it—”

You lounged at him to cover his mouth before he was able to finish his sentence. “Don’t you dare, Kiba.”

He raises his hands in surrender. You reluctantly remove your hand from his mouth. Lucky for you, he remains quiet, but he has a smirk on.

Sakura pulls you away to lead you to the girls’ table. You kept eye contact with Kiba as you mouth, I’m watching you while glaring at the man.

“Why did you even react like that when you were just talking about Naruto?” She whispered.

“Have you seen Kiba? He kept subtly looking between Neji and me. I’m pretty sure he’d tell on me right then and there so I had to stop him.”

“Why didn’t you just say it was Naruto?”

“I could have but the undertone in his voice sounded like he was implying I have feelings with the person I miss.” You explained exasperated.

Sakura just sighed.

You dropped the conversation as the girls started talking about what to order and how great the deals were. You immediately relaxed and smiled, happy to be in the presence of your friends.

You took a peek at the other table to check if Kiba had said anything, only to be met with Neji’s eyes focused on you. You stilled, not expecting him to be looking at you. You gave him a small smile and a wave, he just nodded, face devoid of any emotion and then he turned away.

You frowned.

Tenten was cooking the meat while the rest of the girls had engaged in small talk. You joined in the conversation every now and then but your mind was occupied by how weird Neji was acting.

Your friends were quick to notice it. Tenten handed you a serving of the cooked meat, “What’s bothering you?” She asked softly.

“You don’t seem yourself, Y/N…” Hinata said.

You quickly shook your head, “I’m fine.”

“Didn’t you have something you want to talk about?” Sakura pipes up.

You groan, knowing full well you weren’t going to escape this conversation. “So there’s this guy,” you pause as you took a bite off of the cooked meat Tenten gave you.

“You mean Neji?” Ino asks.

You suddenly choked on your food at the sound of his name.

The girls laughed at your reaction. “Well that’s embarrassing,” you muttered as your cheeks flushed pink. You look at Hinata, you were suddenly shy that your dilemma involved her cousin.

She nodded and offered you a smile so warm you feel your shyness dissipate. “Wa-was I that o-obvious?” You stuttered.

“Not really.” Ino chimed in. “Sakura here was the one who’s obvious. She’d always look between the two of you when he’s hanging out with the group. Not to mention the amount of times she asked Neji to walk you home. I’m pretty sure everyone in our group of friends caught on it already.”

You narrowed your eyes on Sakura and she cringed. “I’m sorry!”

You deflated and then shrugged your shoulders, “Doesn’t matter. As long as he’s not aware. Wait! He’s not aware, right?” You look at Tenten and Hinata.

“I’m not sure, I don’t think he’s ever mentioned it.” Tenten said.

You turned to Hinata in question, “He’s not really the type to share about those things.”

“Right.” You said before taking another bite on your food.

“So are you gonna tell us what happened?”

“It’s probably nothing.” You casually replied.

“Out with it.” Sakura said, her patience wearing thin as you tried to skirt around the topic.

You sighed but told them anyway. You told them what happened earlier after you finished training with Neji and then the conversation you had after you saw Lee. You even told them about the small interaction that happened at the shop while you all ate.

“I never thought he was that type.” Ino broke the silence after you told them the story.

You looked at her with curiosity. “What type?”

“The jealous type.”

Ino might as well have grown two heads with how you looked at her then. “Huh?” was all you could ever think to say.

“It’s obvious he likes you.” Tenten teased.

“If it was obvious then I would have known. I’m pretty sure we’re just good friends.” You said matter-of-factly.

Everyone groaned at what you’ve said, even Hinata. “You’re so dense,” Ino muttered.

“If he only sees you as a friend then why does he keep on stealing glances at you every now and then?” Tenten asked.

“What are you talking about?”

She discreetly pointed her finger towards Neji’s direction. You whipped your head to see and, lo and behold, there was Neji staring at you, but he was quick to turn away. You blushed and your friends giggled at the interaction.

“I’m too sober for this conversation.” You declared as your friends continued to tease you. “Alright, let’s drink!” was the last thing you said before you pushed the thoughts of Neji aside.

________________________________

You smiled at the memory. If Neji’s jealousy hadn’t been pointed out by your friends, you would have never started acting on your feelings. And you wouldn’t even be here waking up early cooking breakfast for him. You wouldn’t be the receiver of his kisses or hugs although you only got them in the confines of your house.

You were naturally affectionate, Neji knew this and he would indulge you with affection privately. In all honesty, if it was up to you, you would be holding his hand in public for the world to see, maybe even peck him on the lips from time to time, and hug him as much as possible.

However, Neji was a private person so you assumed he didn’t like public displays of affection. You respected that. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t get a little bit jealous when he sees Lee lift you up and spin you around or when he sees you and Kiba playfully pretend to fight which somehow always ends up with you on Kiba’s back or when Choji wraps you in a hug. Shikamaru and Shino aren’t as affectionate as the others but sometimes he’d find you slinging your arms over their shoulders. It bothered him sometimes. But all his worries quickly vanish at the end of the day, knowing it was he who gets to hold you at night and he who gets to see you first in the morning.

Coincidentally, you had your own worries when it comes to not being able to be affectionate with Neji in public. Sometimes your insecurities got the best of you. You would hear unreasonable voices in your head. Maybe he’s not proud of me. Maybe he only sees me as a temporary lover. Maybe I’m not good enough.

But you know this isn’t true when you find him looking at you with his loving eyes. He’d always give you the softest look that warms you more than hugs do. It was a look reserved for you only and it satiates all your thirst for affection, more than physical intimacy can.

You know he feels your love just as much from the way you’d cook him food, heal his injuries and brush his hair. Neji was an independent man, but somehow you made yourself so important that he found himself depending on you more. This wasn’t a problem for you because if it’s for Neji, you’d gladly accept such responsibilities. Always. Just for him.

[saki-chan16]

Empty Bottles Ch. 2

First parts are here and here.

Let me know what ya think <3

Chapter 2

Kakashi Hatake takes pride in his intellect.

Being hailed a genius from a young age, he never felt the need to question his intelligence. His instincts are sharp, his awareness keen, and his deduction skills impeccable – those are musts when being a tracker and assassin. He trusts his instincts.

So when he meets his Genin team and feels an instant off-ness to one of them, his senses are on high alert.

The first two are predictable. His old sensei’s son has always wanted to become Hokage, and anyone who knows the boy (or can hear) knows how much he loves Iruka. And Sasuke, well, Kakashi working with his older brother gives him better insight into what the boy is and isn’t saying. Itachi and Shisui are aware of the torch he holds for them; they train with him when they can and, even if they won’t admit it, have a soft spot for the youngest Uchiha.

His last one though…Kakashi picks up on the other twos curiosity and wonders why they are looking at her as though they’ve never heard her speak before. Once he hears her speak – it sounds as though she doesn’t use her voice often. Her answers concern him too. As she answered, he sniffed at the air and had a hard time pinpointing what he was sensing.

When she got to her dream, he knew she lied. Her tells weren’t blatant – surprising, considering her age – but it was easier for him to nail it down when he finally understood what he was smelling: fear.

His little pink haired student was scared.

He wants to know why.

After they had introduced themselves, he told them to meet at a training ground the next day so they could come up with a training plan for them. He asked them to show up to training with an idea of their strengths and weaknesses, where they want to improve, and a few short term goals.

The bell test will have to wait. I need to figure out why she was so scared today.

Kakashi is on his way to the Jounin lounge – he knows just who to talk to.

It doesn’t take long to reach his destination. A quick walk through the door and down the hall, and he steps through the doors of the place he usually avoids.

“MY YOUTHFUL RIVAL, YOU’RE HERE!”

And there is the main reason he tends to avoid this place.

Kakashi looks over to his loud friend and sees he’s sitting with a small group of Jounin – one of which is the one he’s looking for. He walks towards them.

“Yo,” he greets, usual eye crinkle in place, “it’s nice to see you too, Guy.”

He stops at the table and takes the empty seat. He looks around and greets the others, “Asuma, Kurenai, Iruka, Genma – it’s nice to see you guys too.”

All of them nod at him, but they’re giving him a look. Kakashi can feel the eyes on him and sighs internally.

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised; I don’t usually come to them. They always seem to be chasing me around the village.

Guy, ever the best of friends and keen observer of all things Kakashi, breaks the silence.

“Kakashi,” he says in a normal tone, “what brings you here? It must be important for you to come and search us out.”

Kakashi could kiss the man.

He’s too good to me.

Kakashi looks at all of the people around the table and makes eye contact with each of them. He weighs what he wants to say before breaching the subject. What he’s asking could be nothing, or it could mean the start of a very ugly process; he doesn’t want to do this lightly.

Genma and Iruka share a look but wait to see what Kakashi wants. They’re silently hoping he brings up the topic of his female student – something he noticed or even a question to show that he saw something. If he did, then there’s a greater chance their thoughts aren’t unfounded.

“I have a…potential issue,” is what he settles on.

Iruka turns fully towards Kakashi and asks levelly, “A potential issue with what, Kakashi-san?”

An outward sigh leaves his lips before he answers, “The girl on my team, Haruno, Sakura, do you know anything about her?”

Kurenai, Asuma, and Guy look on the conversation with interest. They pick up on Iruka and Genma’s sudden interest and gather that they know something about the girl. Their interests piqued, they lean in slightly closer.

“I get the feeling you don’t mean academically, Kakashi,” Iruka responds. He can’t help the note of resignation in his voice. His fears being confirmed doesn’t feel pleasant, it means there might actually be something happening with the girl. And if he’s right, something that has been going on for way too long.

A slight narrowing of his eye, Kakashi looks to the academy teacher and says, “No, not academically speaking. I had the three of my students introduce themselves to me as an ice breaker – to feel them out. Sakura-chan…when we got to the roof her presence seemed odd.”

He pauses to think about how he wants to word the next part but decides bluntness might be best

“The boys went first; nothing surprising. When it was her turn, the first odd thing was that the boys were very curious to hear her answers. Not in the ‘she’s-cute-I-want-to-learn-more’ way, but in a ‘I’ve-never-heard-her-talk-before’ way.”

“Sakura-chan didn’t speak much during the academy,” Iruka confirms, “she preferred non-verbal forms of communication. The only person she ever spoke to was me.”

That’s a red flag.

Asuma speaks up, “She only spoke to you? That’s a little odd.”

Iruka nods and follows it up with, “She was always formal in her speech too – she always seemed tense. Most kids avoided her because of it and she never tried to reach out to anyone.”

Kurenai takes in these things and feels her gut start to drop. She doesn’t want to jump the gun, but her gut is screaming at her to say something.

“What about her other teachers?” she asks. “What did they have to say about her speaking?”

A wave of anger and irritation floods the table. Genma and Iruka can’t hold their emotions back, old wounds being ripped open after so long.

“Her other teachers,” Iruka hisses – hisses, “said that I was crazy. That they saw nothing wrong with her not speaking because her exams and homework were exemplary; they thought I was being paranoid for bringing it up.”

Genma adds, “They found her silence, and I quote, ‘endearing because it means she’s listening and making for a very obedient student’ as though she’s a dog.”

The wave of emotion intensified as the other Jounin listens to their colleagues' words. Varying degrees of rage and disbelief sweep the group at this revelation.

“Anyway,” Kakashi continues, “she introduced herself, but it felt off. I was trying to figure out the emotion she was oozing as she did so, and it didn’t click until I heard her blatantly lie about her dream.”

Kakashi looks down at his hands as he pauses.

“Sakura-chan was terrified,” he says softly. “I don’t know why, or of what, but as she was talking I could smell her fear increasing.”

The group of Jounin feels Kakashi’s confusion as they experience the same thing. What could the girl be so afraid of? Why doesn’t she like to talk? What could be going on? They know it’s serious too because Kakashi actually came to find them in a place he usually doesn’t frequent.

Said man looks up from his hands and meets Iruka’s eyes before asking, “What can I do to find out the reason?”

A heavy silence falls on the group. Each individual takes in the facts and knowledge at their disposal. Thinking through possible outcomes, possible courses of action to take. Delicate matters require delicate hands.

“I have an idea,” Kurenai pipes up, “I assume because you’ve told all of us about this, you’re okay with us helping, Kakashi-san?”

She asks to be polite. Inside, she’s already decided to help this little girl and get to the bottom of her situation. Her mother hen side is starting to poke through, but she couldn’t care less – a child needs help, she’ll get the child help. It doesn’t matter to her if she has to do it alone or not.

“Ah, you would be correct Kurenai-san.”

“Alright, so here’s what I’m thinking…”

. . & . .