#chapter 4: hatake kakashi!!

[everynart]

[asiriyep]

Meanwhile, somewhere.

As a genin during the Third War, Kakashi must have been doing some low-level missions like a messenger for example; however since it's a war context things can go very wrong.

In this AU, Minato has been his sensei since he left the academy.

Cap 1, Cap 2, Cap 3.

[keets-writing-corner]

Kakashi really saw a book titled "How a shinobi should die" and immediately decided he was the target audience didn't he?

[tsunadesupremacist]

sakura's already raring to square up with the newest traumatised orphan in her vicinity within just less than 5 minutes of meeting him

[everytobito]

[uh-oh-its-bird]

Fuck ok, gather 'round it's time for another fic idea spinning off of a crumb from my last post ab time traveling team Ro into founders era:

Summary:

Fact 1; Kakashi is now 3 weeks the last living Hatake.

Fact 2; Tobirama Senju, according to dusty old scrolls Kakashi finds in his father's study, was apparently half Hatake himself.

Lonley and hurting, Kakashi grabs on to this fact with both hands and squeezes it so tight to his aching heart that his hands bleed.

Or, still processing his father's suicide, Konoha's favorite baby genius finds out he's distantly related to history's favorite baby genius and immediatly starts projecting to cope.

Digging through old journals, history books, Kakashi begins to try his own hand at the man's favorite past time; creating jutsu's. It's the both the hardest thing he's ever done and the most satisfying to date.

Ft.

1) Weirdly chill scene with Danzo (fuck that guy but hear me out) where he kinda looks at Kakashi and sees the hint of the shadow of the man who taught him. Not quite there yet, not fully, but crumbs of it. Enough to make him nostalgic, and enough to hand over an old journal that used to belong to Tobirama.

A calculated risk, he tells himself.

An unspoken challenge, both Danzo and Kakashi understand.

He wants to see how far Kakashi can go, finds himself almost eager to see how close he can come to the shadow of the man he seems so determined to chase.

(and if this side project temporarily distracts him for long enough that Orochimaru slips through his fingers, well, it's not like he knows it was this event specifically that caused that plan to fall through)

2) The fact that, both due to time and the Hatake clan's less than stellar reputation during the warring states era, Tobirama's Hatake ancestry got buried. Kakashi finding him on a dusty old family tree has ✨️political implications✨️ for Kakashi specifically. Ones he isn't all too interested in — unless it means he might be able to access things he otherwise wouldn't've.

Also just general fun surprised Pikachu faces from some people as an added bonus.

3) Kakashi becoming even more terrifying than he rightfully should be at that age !! Danzo pretty much handed him a missile and went "lmao good luck" with that journal! He should not have that! He's learning things! He is experimenting! Someone take the missile away from the baby before he learns how to make his own— oh fuck it's too late hes somehow made a nuke instead

4) Orochimaru poking Kakashi with a stick and vice versa. They are making baby genius <--> baby genius eye contact it's mildly concerning, Minato is concerned. Obito is jealous, he wishes the Snake Sannin would poke HIM with a stick

5) Kakashi bites someone. That's it that's the bullet point I just think he should get to bite someone is all.

And more !!! Im ngl I think I like Tobirama just existing in the fic as as an ever present shadow, super influential in just every single chapter but never actually present. But I won't lie if I'm giggling over the thought of Kakashi finding Edo Tensei and going ".... ok but what better way to figure out this new jutsu / seal than to ask the source directly."

Orochimaru would so help he's having too much fun with this to bother experimenting on children for Danzo. Don't talk to him rn he's having fun with corpses!! No not the corpses you asked him to have fun with, the other ones!

[oh-no-its-bird]

Here Before and After Me, Chapter 4

Izuna wasn't exactly above killing a child. He wouldn't enjoy it, it would probably haunt him in his dreams for a good few months before he found some other horror to drown it in. But he would do it, if he had to. And if this child really was some secret, prodigal youngest Senju brother— or, God forbid, Tobirama's own spawn, (Sage help any woman with enough poor taste to lay with that brick of ice) then it really might be for the— "Hatake Kakashi, stand down." Ffffffffffuck never mind.

HERE BEFORE AND AFTER ME CHAPTER 4 IS HEREEEEEEEE LETS FUCKING GO I STRUGLED SO HARD WITH ACTUALLY PLUGGING IT INTO AO3

[fool-tarnished]

"Remember me" - Chapter 4 - Kakashi Hatake x F!Reader

Pairing : Kakashi Hatake x Female!Reader

If you want to read Yamato's version, you can find it here.

Warnings : Memory loss, mind control (mk ultra inspired), fluff

Inspiration : Where did she go - Saleka

Words : ~ 2500

A/N : Hello there ! Yes I posted this one faster than the previous ones, uhu. I mean, I wrote it already so why not ? I hope you will enjoy it. And sorry for the mistakes, I'm not a native english speaker. Thank you again for the likes, reblogs and comments ♡

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"Yo, [Y/N]."

Upon hearing that familiar voice, you turned around with a smile, placing your book on the bed where you were sitting.

"Kakashi? You always come in through the window, but you do know doors exist, right?"

He was crouched on the edge of the window frame in the room you were in. The words left your mouth without you feeling like you’d even spoken them, and it felt as though you were living this moment while also not living it at the same time. Something strange, yet not necessarily unpleasant.

"Hmm."

As you continued watching him, the ninja tilted his head slightly to one side.

"I heard you left the ANBU."

"Ah, that."

"Is it because of Naruto?"

A brief silence fell as your gaze landed on a photo sitting on the window ledge. It showed you, along with a blond boy who resembled the description Kakashi had given you during your conversations. Your eyes softened, tinged with a hint of sadness and worry.

"I want to try my best to look after him, you know. It’s... complicated." You sighed before continuing. "I’m not sure staying in the special forces is the right thing. He needs someone to be there for him, especially right now... You know, with the exam coming up."

The silver-haired ninja followed your gaze, letting his own linger on the photo of you and Naruto. Right next to it was another photo, this time of you standing beside Kakashi. His eyes hovered over the picture of the two of you for a few seconds before resting on you again.

"It wasn’t just Naruto who convinced me to make this decision."

Curious, he watched as you looked back at him. This time, the expression in your gaze was different.

"Hmm, who else?"

Smiling softly, you stood up and approached him.

"You can come inside if you want. That window doesn’t look very comfortable."

He smiled before stepping in and lowering himself slightly so that your faces were at the same level.

"Nice attempt to dodge, but I haven’t forgotten my question."

Sitting back down on your bed and patting the spot next to you for him to join, you crossed your legs and stared at him.

He closed the window and moved to sit at the edge of the bed.

"If you want your answer, Hatake, you’re going to have to come and get it."

His cheeks tinged with a light pink as he shuffled closer to you, sitting cross-legged as well. He cleared his throat, looking away toward other parts of the room.

"Hmm... So?"

"Don’t you know a certain grey-haired Sensei? I heard he’s pretty strict, too."

His cheeks turned from pink to a deeper red as he tilted his head to the side.

"What?"

The visible part of his face made it clear that he didn’t quite know what to say—that he was still processing what you’d just said, and it left him slightly flustered.

"You know, Naruto and you... You’re the people who mean the most to me. And what I’ve seen over the years in the special forces... I think it took me a long time to realize this, but if I’m going to risk my life, I’d rather do it closer to you two. With the ANBU, I was always so far away... And if something were to happen, I want to make the most of the time I have with you."

The Copy Ninja was left speechless, unable to say anything more. Laughing softly, you leaned toward him, gently pressing your finger to his cheek. He didn’t react, continuing to look at you.

"Oh, Kakashi?"

He finally moved after a few seconds, blinking once before catching the hand you’d poked him with, holding it gently in his own.

"I’d rather you not think about the worst, [Y/N]," he said more seriously, his cheeks fading from bright red to a soft pink.

"You’re too serious. Why can’t you just try to—"

"I don’t like it when you talk as if you’re not going to come back from a mission, you know that."

He turned his head to the side before reaching into one of his pockets with his other hand. Pulling out a closed fist, he gently opened your palm and placed something in it. Holding your hand between both of his, he locked eyes with you again.

"It’s for your kunai... It’s to protect you when you’re on missions. Promise me you’ll always come back safe and sound, okay?"

You remained silent, unable to find any words. Though you couldn’t see yourself, this time it was you who had turned as red as a tomato. Lowering your gaze slightly to your joined hands, you noticed a finely braided red cord with two small grey beads. His thumb softly traced circles on the back of your hand as he held it, and his other hand gently tilted your head back up.

"Always, hmm?"

Another voice broke the sweet dream you had been immersed in—a voice much more energetic and, above all, angry.

"When did she come back?! Why didn’t anyone tell me?!"

It seemed to grow clearer and closer.

"Kakashi-Sensei?!"

Finally opening your eyes, you found yourself face-to-face with Kakashi’s silver hair. You must have fallen asleep, and he had probably laid you down before dozing off himself. He was sitting on the chair right next to you, his head resting on one arm and his other hand still holding yours. You felt him start to stir as well when a blond-haired boy appeared at the foot of your bed.

The Copy Ninja sat up but didn’t seem to notice your hands, something Naruto did not miss.

"And what’s that?!" he questioned, pointing directly at your intertwined hands, eyes wide—a mixture of surprise and slight irritation.

"Naruto, that’s enough!" yelled a feminine voice before a sharp thud echoed, likely an attempt to calm him down.

"Sakura! What’s your problem?!" the boy grumbled, clutching the top of his head.

After exchanging a quick glance, you and Kakashi pulled your hands apart, and you sat up in bed. Kakashi, for his part, stood up and scratched the back of his head, his expression showing slight embarrassment.

"Hmm, Naruto, Sakura, what a surprise…"

"We’ve been waiting for over two hours, but it seems you’ve gotten ‘lost’ again," the pink-haired girl said with an expression difficult to decipher.

"When did you come back?!" Naruto shouted, this time pointing a finger directly at you, one hand still clutching his skull.

"Uh, I—"

"Naruto, can I speak to you for a moment?" the Copy Ninja interrupted, regaining his composure.

"[Y/N]? Why didn’t you come see me?!" Naruto growled again, but his Sensei grabbed his arm and tried to pull him out of the room.

"Sakura, come too. I need to talk to both of you."

Sakura gave you a questioning look before following her Sensei and her friend, leaving the room silent once the door closed.

Sighing, you dropped your head into your hands, rubbing your eyes. You couldn’t hear the conversation clearly from the hallway, but fragments of it reached your ears. Of course, you could only make out one voice.

"This is a joke, right?!" "You’ve been hiding it from me this whole time? Why do you get to see her and not me?!" "Why, Kakashi-Sensei?!"

The voices began to quiet down, and soon you couldn’t hear anything at all. Starting to get up to see what was happening, you were stopped when the door opened again. Sakura, who stood behind Naruto, looked a little sad as she gazed at the blond boy now standing before you. Staring at the floor, he looked desperate and said nothing.

Casting a quick glance at the silver-haired ninja, who gave you a subtle nod, you slowly approached Naruto. He didn’t move an inch, murmuring something you could only make out once you were closer.

"Why, huh? Did you forget everything, then?"

Choosing not to answer his question for the moment, you simply wrapped your arms around him and held him tightly, as if your life depended on it. You hadn’t even thought about it; it just felt perfectly natural. After everything Kakashi had told you about him and your connection, you hoped this action might comfort him, even just a little.

Naruto’s eyes widened when he felt you so close, and tears began streaming down his cheeks as he shakily brought his arms up to hold you in return. His head came to rest on one of your shoulders as he let himself cry for a while.

"I don’t remember everything, Naruto, only fragments. But I promise I’ll do everything I can to remember you… and I won’t leave again."

Still sobbing, his voice trembling, the blond boy raised his head slightly.

"Another promise, huh?"

You remained silent for a few seconds, thinking about how you could answer. Yes, another promise. But this time, you would do everything you could to keep it.

"I plan to remember this one."

He stayed quiet for a moment before pulling back slightly and wiping the tears from his cheeks.

"If Lady Tsunade agrees… I can already fulfill one of my promises."

He looked up, intrigued.

"Someone whispered to me that I should take you to a certain Ichiraku. Does that ring a bell?"

At those words, his eyes lit up, and you thought you saw a spark of hope within them. A smile spread across his face, followed by soft laughter.

________________________________________

Getting Tsunade’s approval for this outing hadn’t been an easy feat. In truth, she hadn’t expected things to move so quickly, and even though the Copy Ninja hadn’t gone into details about why he had stayed by your side that night, she figured that these surprise reunions were bound to happen. Her only concern was the idea of Naruto spending time alone with you after what she had witnessed, and the only condition that made her agree was that Kakashi would watch over you both from afar.

The day had passed rather quickly, and you could finally put faces and places to the elements the silver-haired ninja had described to you. Beyond that, you were starting to recognize certain locations from your dreams more clearly. The pieces were slowly beginning to come together, and while you didn’t have all the information you needed, you were now certain that your place was here.

Naruto had gradually relaxed throughout the day, his expression growing more cheerful as he relished the time spent with you. As for you, you savored every moment as though it were the first time. After enjoying a bowl of ramen with him, you both returned to the hospital. Following a few last exchanges, the young ninja went home. He had insisted on sleeping in the second bed in your room to stay near you, but the Hokage had firmly rejected this request.

After taking a well-deserved shower and settling onto your bed, you smiled as you thought back on everything you had learned, seen, and experienced since your return. Aside from the fight with Genma, you were still happy to discover that the dark void which had haunted you for so many months was merely a book whose pages you hadn’t yet turned—and that the story they contained was more beautiful than you had imagined. The only pages that seemed to stain the entire book were soaked with the voice, mask, and silhouette of the man who appeared in your nightmares.

Sighing, you pushed the thought aside and lay down, finally surrendering to the sleep that gently began to cradle you.

________________________________________

"So, Naruto knows about it?" The question finally came as Kakashi was savoring the sushi laid out on the table.

"Hmm, he barged in this morning. Naruto being Naruto…" Asuma let out a small laugh and smiled.

"I see." He grabbed the drink in front of him and took a sip. "And you? How are you handling all this?"

The silver-haired ninja suddenly stopped eating, setting his empty plate on the large pile that had accumulated to his right.

"I’m handling it," was all he replied, reaching for another plate.

"Kakashi." He paused briefly, noticing that the Copy Ninja was staring at the sushi instead of him. "No one’s fooled. You two were pretty close before—"

"Things have changed since then, Asuma. She doesn’t remember any of that."

"But you seem pretty determined to help her, am I wrong? After spending the night at her bedside."

Kakashi froze, now looking directly at Asuma without saying a word.

"I really hope you can manage. But after what happened during the test… Be careful."

He resumed eating his sushi, his gaze shifting again to the large pile of food in front of him. Asuma, on his end, took another sip of his drink.

"Anyway, since her return, you seem… different. In a good way, of course."

"Hmm."

Sighing, he set his drink back on the table.

"Deep down, she hasn’t changed. Even if it takes time, I want her to recover her memories. I don’t want to lose her again."

At these words, his friend remained silent, watching him eat as if he had just admitted something mundane.

"Even if she doesn’t see me the same way as before… I want to do everything I can to help her."

Asuma smirked.

"And what if she saw you the same way as before? Would you push her away this time?"

A faint pink flush crept onto the Copy Ninja’s cheeks, and he placed yet another empty plate on the pile.

"How’s Kurenai doing?" he asked, clearly looking for an escape route from the conversation.

Caught off guard, the dark-haired ninja turned red himself, stammering as he fumbled to answer his friend.

________________________________________

Lying still, you tried to look around and make out your surroundings as best you could. Everything was blurry, and once again, you noticed the silhouette of that masked man. He seemed to be sitting, holding a kunai in his hands, twirling it idly.

"Well, I think we’ve finished the bulk of the work. With the little gift I just gave you… we should be able to move on to the next part."

His voice was as dark as ever, though you were starting to grow accustomed to it, even if it still sent chills down your spine.

"Now… the signal."

Your body still refused to move, no words would come out of your mouth, and your eyes remained wide open, fixed on him.

"Everything we’ve prepared up until now will take effect starting from this exact moment."

He stopped playing with the weapon in his hand, stabbing it into the ground. Straightening up, the man leaned closer to bring his face— or rather, his mask— nearer to yours. All you could see was a massive spiral. It felt as though your head had begun to spin, and the black hole on the side of the mask was pulling you in.

"The last ………. where ……. abandon everything ……. "

Parts of the sentence seemed to disappear. Or had his voice simply turned into a whisper on certain words? He paused briefly, his laughter resurfacing, but this time, the sound reaching your ears seemed tortured, distorted.

"It is then …… left ..... "

The last words, too, failed to reach your ears. Or perhaps you just couldn’t make them out. The feeling of unease grew stronger as his mask seemed to shift, consuming your entire field of vision until everything went completely black.

♡ Tag List : @strflp @sayumiht

[animeomegas]

The Quest for a Second Life - Part 5 - 50 Shades of Audacity (1)

KAKASHI X ALPHA!READER

Summary: If suddenly waking up in an uncanny office had been bad, this time was worse, because you had a job interview, and the guy before you had just stormed out in tears. Why did you pick this world again? And why is your boss an asshole? And sexy? And with a nice voice? Fuck, this wasn't going to be good. GN!Dom!Alpha!Reader x Multiple

Word Count: 10.8k

Warnings: Alcohol consumption, sex while both parties are a little tipsy, workplace violations, questions about someone not eating lunch due to being a workaholic, and overuse of the world asshole as an adjective. All alphas have dicks, fyi.

A/N: Happy Holidays everyone! And a special happy holidays to those who guessed that our next omega was going to be Kakashi!!! December is well underway and I'm working hard to get all these chapters finished in time for the epilogue to be released on Christmas! The dynamic is different with this one, but I hope everyone enjoys nonetheless <333 I hope you enjoy the choice for the second character, @omeganronpa I'm honoured to call you my friend <333

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Epilogue

In the span of one blink, you went from standing in the library with James, to sitting on an uncomfortable chair in some kind of office waiting room. No matter how many times you jumped between realities, you swore you would never get used to the complete sensory change that happened in milliseconds. You had changed positions, clothes, company and scenery just like that.

Trying to gain your bearings, you tried to take in your new surroundings. Your first thought was that you had some serious déjà vu, as James’ uncanny valley of an office sprung to mind. Seriously, how many times were you going to suddenly gain consciousness in a soulless office?

At least this one was a lot less creepy, you admitted. It had doors and windows for starters, but the cavernous size of the room also helped diminish the claustrophobic feeling. Rather than beige, the room was decorated in a tasteful, modern, monochrome, boring but inoffensive, and better than too much beige in your opinion.

The copious amounts of soulless corporate art on every surface were the final touches that convinced you this was a real office and not set dressing for purgatory.

The waiting room was full of people though. You hadn’t seen this many people in one place since Itachi took you into town, and the general air of anxiety coming off them all was putting you on edge.

You fidgeted, uncomfortable at suddenly wearing formal business wear. The blue folder that was sitting on your lap shifted slightly, but you paid it no mind as you straightened everything out and readjusted yourself into a more comfortable position. To your left, what you could only describe as the combination of a modern water feature and grandfather clock chimed, signalling it as 09:00 AM.

‘James? Can you hear me?’

‘I can, human alpha.’

‘Great. Can you give me a run down of this pocket dimension please? It’s been like, two weeks since I read the blurb.’

‘Of course. ’50 Shades of Audacity’ follows MC, an alpha graduate student who lands the role of personal assistant to one of the most famous CEOs of the time, omega, Kakashi Hatake. MC discovers that Kakashi is hiding a submissive streak, and together, they explore their relationship while preparing for the yearly Autumn Company Party.’

You nodded idly as James explained it, vague memories coming back to you. The man next to you shot you a weird look, and you realised you were nodding at seemingly nothing. You cleared your throat and shifted awkwardly. Whoops.

Regardless, the blurb put your current situation into perspective. When you had chosen the book, you had expected to enter the world already working as a personal assistant, but you had a sneaking suspicion that this was the job interview and all the people sat with you were competition.

To confirm your suspicion, you opened the folder on your lap, and yep, it was filled with important documents, including your CV, degree certificate, and several references. Damn, for someone decently young, you seemed to be the perfect candidate. That did relieve some of the tension. The world was literally set up to push you into the role, and you were the perfect candidate, surely there was nothing to worry about. For now, you decided to try and relax. Job interviews were a pain in the ass, but this one hopefully wouldn’t be too bad. And you could always talk to James to pass the time.

‘James, I know you must be thinking something along the lines of, ‘what kind of human picks a life where they have a job, when they could choose to not have a job?’’

‘I have never had such a thought.’

‘But I’m playing the long game, James,’ you continued, ignoring her response. ‘This Hatake guy must be rolling in it, and so once we’re serious, there would be no reason for me to work anymore! And it’s not like we’d get divorced in an erotica novel, that wouldn’t make sense, so I just need this job to meet him, make him fall in love with me, and then, if I stay here, I’ll have a fancy CEO husband, and everything will work out great.’

‘I see. I believe humans term that strategy, ‘gold digging’.’

You were planning to argue back, but your outrage died on your lips when you realised that she was kind of right. You were only going to choose this omega if you actually loved him, of course, but you couldn’t deny that the main reason you had chosen this book in the first place was the money and possibility of a cushy life. And being able to retain access to the internet which was something you’d have to give up for a life with Itachi.

‘What backstory elements are set in stone here?’ you asked, realising that the amnesia trick wasn’t going to work a second time.

‘Primarily your qualifications and educational history. You also own both a flat and a car, although how you obtained those is up to you.’

Nice, that gave you a lot of freedom to work with. Also… was your flat nice? And what about your car? You hoped so, but even if they weren’t, you could get Hatake to pay for a nice upgrade.

A man with a clipboard walked out of the office door to your left and everyone in your vicinity snapped to attention. He had brown hair and intense, dark eyes that were a little unnerving. “The interviews for the personal assistant job have now begun. You will be called up one at a time. Ren Shimomura.”

The man who had given you a strange look earlier got up and walked into the office with a confident smile, his briefcase swinging gently by his side. When the door closed behind him, everyone relaxed a little and went back to their pointless busy tasks.

‘So, James, what can I expect from this job interview?’ you asked. You figured it wouldn’t hurt to be prepared, even if the universe was going to intervene for your success.

‘That question is more difficult to answer than you might think, human. Despite this pocket dimension being one of the most popular in the erotica category, no one has ever successfully passed the interview and obtained the personal assistant job.’

Your stomach dropped. What? That couldn’t be right, could it?

You laughed nervously, sure that you had misheard. ‘What? Surely the universe needs the person to get the job.’

‘Yes, it has been causing quite the issue. This world has been scheduled for removal for being too difficult to follow. You will be the last person from your realm to ever enter this one, whether you decide to stay or not.’

‘Thanks for warning me before I picked it,’ you ‘said’, your mental voice taking on a tinge of bitterness. So, you were pretty much doomed to failure here? Great.

‘I didn’t warn you, human.’

‘I know.’

Your mental conversation ended as the door to the office opened and the man, Ren, stormed out, looking like he was holding back angry tears. He exited the room swiftly, without so much of a glance back.

That certainly didn’t make you feel any better about your chances.

Neither did your name being called seconds later.

The man with the clipboard smiled at you as you stood, folder in hand. “Just in there, Mr. Hatake is waiting for you.”

You nodded and approached the door. Right, this was fine. You took a deep breath and reminded yourself of your situation. You didn’t need this job. You wouldn’t run out of money without it, you wouldn’t get blacklisted or arrested if something went wrong, you couldn’t die if something went very wrong. The very worst-case scenario was that you bungled this, spent the next two weeks enjoying some alone time in this world, and then returned to your beautiful witch.

So, really, what reason did you have to be nervous?

With that in mind, you took a fortifying breath and walked into the office with your head held high. This CEO couldn’t scare you.

The design of the office was much the same as the waiting room, with a monochrome colour scheme and minimal furniture. The entire back wall was glass, which bathed the office in natural light, but cast shadows around the impressive desk in the middle of the room. Behind the desk was an imposing desk chair that was currently faced away from you. The back of the chair was so high that you couldn’t technically tell if Hatake was sitting in it or not. In front of the desk was a much less impressive desk chair; presumably that chair was for you.

You walked towards your chair, marvelling at how cliché the whole ‘tall chair spin reveal’ thing was. What was he, a Bond villain? The main question though, was if he’d also be accidentally flashing his nipples at you. You stifled a laugh imagining a scary CEO turning around in his chair only for the buttons on his shirt to come flying off.

“Did I say that you could sit down?” The voice came from the highbacked chair, which was still facing away from you.

The CEO’s voice was hot, you couldn’t deny that, but his attitude was already ugly. What kind of high and mighty asshole spoke to people like that? Were you supposed to just stay standing until he offered the seat when he couldn’t even be bothered to face you? Fuck that.

Suddenly, what was remaining of your nervousness bled out of you, replaced by annoyance. Honestly, you had already accepted that you weren’t going to get this job or this omega as soon as James had explained the situation, but maybe you could still get something out of this. Like catharsis. You could berate Hatake on behalf of every shitty boss you couldn’t berate in the past and then this world would still be worth it.

“Unless you’re suffering from short term memory loss, there’s no need for me to answer that question.”

Finally, that seems to goad him into turning around. The chair swivelled, revealing Kakashi Hatake in all his glory. He was dressed in the exact kind of suit you expected for someone like him, expertly tailored, incredibly expensive, and in a tasteful blue colour. Just peeking out from his collar you noticed some clear scent patches, and you imagined you’d find the same ones on his wrists. He had grey-silver hair styled in a way that must have required a significant amount of hair wax, and equally grey eyes, one of which had a vertical scar running through it. He even had a frankly adorable beauty mark, what the fuck.

Fine. He was hot. That didn’t mean he wasn’t an asshole.

The look he was giving you was somehow both disparaging and uninterested, like he was looking at a badly painted wall.

“Why do you want this job?” he asked, voice bored and condescending. “You don’t seem like you’d be particularly good at it.”

You grit your teeth at his blatant disrespect, “Jobs provide the money which can be exchanged for goods and services required to facilitate survival, you see. Perhaps the silver spoon in your mouth prevented you from learning that dichotomy.” You missed your witch.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. He held out a hand, and you wordlessly passed him your folder of documents. You were honestly surprised that he hadn’t just kicked you out already. His motivations became clear however, when he picked out your CV, ripped it in half, and then tossed it in the bin.

This asshole! You were furious.

Hatake pressed a button on a raised box on his desk and began to speak into it, presumably to dismiss you and ask for the next person to be sent in.

You didn’t need this job, you couldn’t get into any meaningful trouble, and this man was royally pissing you off. Something in you just snapped.

“Tenzou, send—”

You grabbed him by his boring, blue tie and stood, pulling him partially over the desk and towards you. He gasped in surprise, letting go of the button as both hands flew up to grab your wrist. You expected him to immediately pull you off him, but he didn’t. He was still, staring at you with wide eyes. For the first time since you’d walked into his office, it felt like he was properly looking at you.

“I am the best fucking personal assistant out of any of those people out there, and I will not have some bratty CEO talk down to me, understood?”

“I’ll call security,” he said quietly, voice strangely hoarse.

“Don’t bother.” You let him go and he fell back heavily into his ridiculous chair.

“Senpai?” The clipboard man’s voice floated through the speaker on the black box. “Is everything okay? You cut out.”

The man didn’t reply to the message, he only stared at you. His face was blank, but you had the feeling that there was a lot going on inside his head.

‘Remember the story, human.’

For a moment, you thought James was encouraging you to play nice for the sake of the story, but then you realised that she meant. Fuck, that’s right, Kakashi Hatake was a secret submissive. He was probably very turned on and very confused right now. You sent him a cocky grin.

“The job starts Monday, yes?” He nodded, dumbly. “I’ll see you then, 08:00 sharp. All my documents are in the folder.” You walked to the door confidently, and just as you reached it, you turned. “Have a good day, sir.”

You opened the door just as the clipboard man tried to do the same on the other side. You paid neither him nor any of the other candidates any mind, you just strode towards the exit, adrenaline rushing through your veins.

The fresh air and sun hit you as you stepped outside into the office’s car park.

‘James, oh my god, I grabbed him by his tie.’

‘I saw, human, it was very unexpected. No other human has attempted such a method.’

‘I would so be blacklisted if this were real, James. Did… Did I do a good job? It felt like I did at the time, playing up to his submissive side, but now I just feel like I was crazy and there’s no way he’d give me the job.’

‘Only time will tell, human, I do not have the answers.’

‘Time… I can do that.’ You gazed out over the sea of cars, all shimmering in the sun. ‘Now, James, which car is mine?’

…

Once you had successfully found your nicer than expected car, you headed to your mysterious flat. It took longer than you thought, but at least you’d learnt some more about James; she was terrible at giving directions and did not know what a roundabout was.

Your flat, much like your car, was nicer than you expected for a recent graduate that worked as a personal assistant. It was stylish and cosy, with lots of wood tones and warm, textured fabrics. It could have fallen out of an interior design magazine, right down to the perfectly placed bowls of fruit. The flat even had a guest room and a home office.

You were going to put this one down to porn logic again and figure out some sort of explanation for why you had the money for this in your backstory.

After doing some snooping around the flat, you flopped down on your bed, feeling strangely exhausted. You pulled out your phone (and how strange it was to have modern technology back!) and checked the date. It was Friday lunch time, and you didn’t have to go to the job, presuming you even got it, until Monday. That meant you had an entire weekend to do what you wanted. That was the best news you’d heard all day.

‘James, is the entire world, I guess, loaded, for want of a better word? Like, theoretically, if I travelled across the world to a random village, would the people there be real? Does the world function outside of the story?’

‘Once you choose to remain in a world, it functions exactly like the one you came from, yes, complete with up to billions of people who each have their own lives. Not everything is ah, loaded, in this demo though. I would recommend staying firmly within this city for the time being.”

‘Amazing! That’s so exciting, James!’

‘If you say so.’

Alongside modern technology, staying in this world would also give you more chance to travel. With Itachi, you would be mostly going on foot, perhaps on a horse if you were lucky, but here you could be on the other side of the world in a day.

That was for future you to weigh up though, right now you needed to find a bank statement of some kind, because you wanted to spend this weekend pampering yourself and you needed to know your budget. You could think about Kakashi Hatake and this world later, once you had your thoughts in order.

The weekend passed in a blur of bubble baths, food delivery apps, and films. You’d even gone for a dip in your complex’s pool. It had been nice to recharge. You had enjoyed spending time with Itachi immensely, but you’d had almost no proper alone time for over half a month, and it was sorely needed.

The only other thing of note happened on Saturday, when you received an email from Hatake’s company, which contained your new company account and login details.

…

Walking into work on Monday was a surreal feeling that you couldn’t put into words. No one acted like anything strange had happened. You were treated like a normal new hire, which you suspected meant Hatake had kept the details of your interview to himself.

Speaking of Hatake, he was apparently in meetings all morning and so you wouldn’t see him for a few hours. You didn’t know if you were irritated or relieved that your likely awkward reunion would be postponed.

“So, here is Kakashi’s calendar, which kind of functions like the core of your job,” Iruka, the man who was training you, said. “You’ll be in charge of organising his appointments and commitments and reminding him to attend them.” The last part was added with a tone that suggested Hatake had not always been the best at either being on time or showing up at all.

“Got it. No double bookings, and smack Hatake with a ruler if he tries to escape.”

Iruka snorted, but quickly smothered the laugh with a hand. “Pretty much. For today, I’ve gone through your inbox and marked the emails that require appointments as urgent. You just need to schedule them and add them to his calendar. It’s pretty busy at the moment because of the Autumn Company Party at the end of the month, so don’t worry if everything’s a bit much. My desk is over there, so you can ask for help at any time, okay?”

“Thanks, you’re a lifesaver.” You grinned at him, and he smiled back.

“Good luck!” With that he was gone. That wasn’t the first time the Autumn Company Party had come up, but you still weren’t sure what that had to do with the plot of his pocket dimension. It certainly wasn’t as straight forward as ‘collect the potion ingredients’.

‘James, what’s the deal with this party? What’s going to happen at it?’

‘There are many, many ways the event can play out, human. Seeing that you are the first to make it past the interview, I cannot even tell you which outcomes are most likely.’

‘Damn. Well, thanks anyway.’

You ended up whizzing through your work. It was incredibly simple, which could have been because they were taking it easy on you for your first day, or because work in general was easier in porn universes. You finished before Hatake was freed from his morning meetings, so you decided to do a little googling on your new boss. As such a high-profile CEO, you were sure you could find some information on him.

You put his name into the search bar and scrolled through the top results.

There were mostly news articles and links to the company websites, but eventually his Wikipedia page popped up and you clicked on it, skimming down the paragraphs immediately. Your eyebrows kept rising up as you read. His father, the original founder of the company had committed suicide when Kakashi was four years old, leaving him an orphan. He had been immediately added to the company’s board of directors (at four years old?!), and when he’d turned eighteen and those overseeing the company didn’t seem keen to pass it back to him, Kakashi had staged a business coup and seized control by force.

Jeez, what a life story.

Closing the Wikipedia page, you opened a couple of articles instead. One was a gossip magazine speculating on his famous bachelorhood and why he hadn’t settled down yet. Another was talking about the large donations he had made to several dog and animal welfare charities. The third was just a listicle of pictures of him from various point throughout his life. Ha. He looked like he was such a cute, grumpy kid.

You had to admit that his character was perfectly set up to redeem him for being an asshole at your first meeting. Dead parents, a tragic backstory, betrayal from those supposed to look after him, an animal lover… You bet that he had been forced to supress his emotions to avoid being manipulated as a child, too. That was about as stereotypical as you could get. Were he a fictional character, his fans would easily excuse any rudeness and ruthlessly defend him online. And that was fine, but they weren’t the ones who had to be on the receiving end of his rudeness.

Ugh, you didn’t know what to do with him. On one hand, you were happy ignoring him for being mean to you in your interview, but on the other, you kind of wanted to get to know him to see what the story was about. Maybe you’d put in a bit of effort as a show of good faith, but if he insisted on rebuffing you, you’d give up and find some other way to enjoy yourself. Yeah, that sounded like a good plan.

Dog lovers were your weakness, so you couldn’t give up on him completely, not just yet.

You closed the tabs and, checking the time, you realised you still had some leeway before Hatake was free. You needed to come up with your backstory sharpish, because you didn’t have amnesia this time, and people would likely start asking questions about you once lunch hit. Best get your story straight first.

You grabbed a post-it note and jotted down your favourite acronym, MLHH (Money, Love, Health, Happiness), to keep you on target.  

Loving parents, you definitely wanted those. Were they the ones you wanted funding your lifestyle? Hmm, no, how about a rich, eccentric aunt that sent money all the time? Yes, you’d always wanted a fun, rich uncle or aunt to spoil you. Perhaps she had been the one to buy you the house and car. You jotted it all down. You also crafted yourself two best friends and a couple of hobbies, just to enrich your life. As per James’ instructions, you left the academic stuff alone.

“Am I paying you to write details about your own life on post it notes?” A sudden voice from behind made you jump, smacking your knees on the underside of the desk with a bang.

You laughed awkwardly as you came face to face with the man of the hour, Kakashi Hatake, who had chosen a charcoal grey suit for today, giving him an overall monochrome vibe that matched the office building. He was staring at your post it note, unimpressed.

You snatched the note and put it in your pocket. Quick, find some way to change the subject!

“I’ve updated your calendar with more meetings and commitments. This afternoon you only have a phone call with a representative from a company that sells… custom dog bandanas?” You decided not to question it. “The rest of the afternoon is business as usual.”

He watched you for a moment before he nodded, and turned to enter his office door, which was only a few feet from your desk.

“Just so you know,” he said, turning to look at you over his shoulder, “more work is periodically added to your task list, you just need to refresh the page.”

The door slammed shut behind him. You made a frustrated noise. He was so rude, with his annoyingly hot face and perfect voice. God, he got on your nerves like no one else. Ugh, you already regretted deciding to give him a chance.

You refreshed the task list and watched it fill up with new tasks.

Why did you pick a world where you had a job again? Oh yeah, you were playing the long game. The long game sucked.

You spent the rest of the workday completing tasks and flip flopping on whether it was worth trying to chase the plot and romance Hatake. Instinctually you led towards no, but when you remembered how he’d responded to you in the interview, you wavered. Ultimately, your curiosity was too much to resist, so you hatched a plan to spend some time with him.

…

“Did you have someone sneak you lunch through the window, or have you not eaten yet today?” you asked, waltzing into Hatake’s office at exactly 17:05, coat and bag ready to leave.

Hatake finished whatever he was writing before putting down the pen and giving you a flat look. “I don’t see how that’s any of your business, and I’m certain I told you to knock before coming in.”

“Firstly, the workday ended five minutes ago so you’re not the boss of me anymore. Secondly, that was the clearest no I’ve ever heard. You should make time to eat lunch, you know, it’s good for you.”

“If you don’t have anything of use to say, then leave.” Ugh, why were you dealing with this asshole again?

“Actually, I do.” He raised an eyebrow at you, like he was already dismissing your message. “Get dinner with me.”

That actually seemed to catch him off guard, if only for a moment. You had honestly been wondering if the side of him you glimpsed in your interview was some kind of hallucination, but there was a flicker of that same man now. Unfortunately, although you could see that, you could also see the moment he shut down the reaction and returned to his flat, impassive stare.

“I’m busy this evening—”

“I already moved your appointment to tomorrow morning.”

He narrowed his eyes at you. You didn’t know if it was irritation at your messing with his schedule or at interrupting him, but you did know that you were getting on his nerves. Good.

“And I suppose, if you’re inviting me, then you’re paying?” he challenged. “Fair warning, I have expensive taste.”

‘James, quick, what’s the best restaurant in the area?’

‘Kakashi Hatake often visits a restaurant about two miles from here, called La Liaison. It’s French, and incredibly pricy.’

Right, you tried to remember what you’d seen you your bank details. You could definitely afford one fancy meal; it was affording everything else after that that was the problem.

Hatake’s smug face at your hesitation spurred you on. You wracked your brain for some kind of solution.

‘James, if I decide that my rich aunt sends me large lump sums of money every month, will my bank account automatically replenish by the end of this demo?’

‘Technically, yes, although it will only happen if you choose this dimension permanently, as your rich aunt does not yet exist. You must also remember to speak or write any information you want to be true for it to take effect.’

Perfect. You could wipe that smug look off Hatake’s face, live a bit more frugally for the rest of the demo, and if for some unknown reason you chose to stay here, you’d have your money automatically replenished. You just had to remember to write the details down after dinner tonight.

“Of course, it’ll be my treat,” you smiled, tips tight. “Do you like French food? I heard La Liaison is lovely.”

Kakashi studied you for a moment, like he was trying to figure out what game you were playing. Just as you thought you’d won the little verbal exchange, Hatake sent you a mocking eye smile. “And how are you planning on gaining a reservation at such short notice? The next available evening bookings are for two months from now.”

You tensed up like you’d been dealt a physical blow. Fuck, you forgot about bookings. There was no way you could allow him to win just like that, though. You took a deep breath, porn logic, I believe in you, please help me out, I’m trying to woo him, just as you wanted. Kind of.

“I’m sure it will all work out!” You voice was artificially chipper, and you could tell that Hatake was picking up on your anxiety. “Come on, what’s the harm? Let’s go!”

He watched you evenly. That was one thing you’d noticed about Hatake; he always thought before he spoke, choosing each action and word carefully. It made sense once you considered his childhood and was equal parts sad and irritating.

Just when you thought he was about to refuse and dismiss you, Hatake chuckled and stood, closing his computer and grabbing his suit jacket from the back of his ridiculously dramatic desk chair.

“I’ll have my chauffeur drop us off,” he said, walking to the door. You followed, kind of stunned that he had agreed at all. He locked the office door behind him. “There’s no parking available at this time of day in the town centre.”

You walked through the office side by side, watching your coworkers pack up or work late.

Everyone noticed you two, armed with bags and coats that made it obvious you were leaving together. There were gasps, there was gossiping, there were whispers. The man with the clipboard, who had introduced himself to you as Yamato, looked like he had seen a ghost. Was it really that strange to see this CEO leave work on time, or was it because he was with you?

Hatake paid them no mind, and you tried to do the same.

It was strange that he agreed to join you, but you didn’t get your hopes up that this meant he suddenly liked you. It was more likely that he was coming in order to force your hand. If you were humiliated by there being no tables, or not being able to afford the food you said you could, it would likely stop you from bothering him outside of work again.

You just really, really hoped there would somehow be a table.

Once you arrived at the car park, there was a sleek, black car waiting for you. You weren’t sure if Hatake had somehow called ahead without you noticing, or if his car was already ready for him, but it was very convenient. If the chauffeur was surprised that Hatake had a guest, he didn’t mention it.

The car was so obviously expensive that you felt a little uncomfortable sitting in it. You had never been so conscious of your hand placement in your life. The brat of a CEO didn’t seem to have the same problem, relaxing easily against the leather, looking right at home. He gave the driver the name of the restaurant, and you were off.

You took a moment to beg the pocket dimension that somehow you would be able to get a seat. ‘Porn logic, I’ve always loved and respected you, please pull through for me, just this once! I won’t be able to handle Hatake’s smug grin without punching him in the face.’

‘My name is James, human, and I cannot control these pocket dimensions.’

You snorted, ‘I wasn’t speaking to you James, sorry.’

“What’s so funny?” Hatake asked, breaking the silence. Oh, you had laughed out loud; you had to stop doing that. Were you also doing it when you were with Itachi, but there were just fewer people around to comment on it? Itachi seemed like the sort who would take a lot of weirdness in stride.

“Your face.”

Hatake let out an amused breath, “Are you always so childish?”

“What can I say? You bring out the worst in me.”

“Approximately five minutes until arrival, sir,” the chauffeur said, speaking through a speaker that connected the front and back sections of the car.

“Just Kakashi is fine,” he sighed. “I’ve told you that a hundred times.”

“If you say so, sir.” Hatake rolled his eyes but dropped the issue.

The final five minutes passed it silence.

…

La Liaison was a small modern building nestled at the very end of the high street, decorated in pastel blue and covered in artificial ivy. The whole building exuded a timeless elegance that made you glad your work dress code was formal. Stepping through the doors, you were welcomed by warm lighting, live piano music, and an impeccably dressed host. This was the exact kind of place you could see Hatake fitting right in.

“Good afternoon, and welcome to La Liaison. Can I take the name on your reservation, please?”

You could practically feel the amusement radiating off the smug asshole behind you as you were faced with the exact situation he had predicted. You just had to go for it. You believed in the porn logic!

(And if it didn’t work you were going to return to your flat with your tail between your legs, make James pull you out of this dimension early, and then ask Itachi for a potion that could remove memories instead of bringing them back.)

“Ah, well, we don’t technically have a reservation, but an acquaintance of mine mentioned that they just had to cancel theirs, so we were hoping there’d be a free table.”

Please work, please work, please work.

The two seconds between your request and the host’s response felt like an agonising eternity. Failure wasn’t an option; you couldn’t lose to your awful boss.

The relief you felt when the host’s face melted into a smile almost knocked you to your knees.

“Is that so? Yes, I just got off the phone with them, you’re lucky no one else has claimed the table yet. If you’ll pass my college your coats, I’ll take you to your table.”

Yes, yes, yes!! You loved porn logic so much. It seemed like anything was fair game as long as it pushed you and Mr. Smug together. Speaking of Mr. Smug, you mouthed ‘I told you so’, as you walked to your table. He did not respond.

The table was, unsurprisingly, very romantic. It was secluded away in the corner, pressed up against a window and yet sectioned from the rest of the restaurant by a divider. The table sat two people, and its white tablecloth was covered in candles and rose petals. Of course, the cancelled reservation was for a romantic date. You weren’t going to complain though; a table was a table.

You both sat down. You briefly debated pulling out the chair for Hatake, but you decided against it at the last minute. You were both handed menus and informed of the soup of the day before the waiter left you in peace. The illusion of privacy helped you relax, despite the stuffy atmosphere.

“An acquaintance, huh?” Kakashi asked, unfolding his napkin and laying it over his lap. He obviously didn’t believe your lie.

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re incredibly annoying?” you said, instead of answering his question.

“Once or twice.”

“Well then,” you shot him a sarcastic smile, “I’m glad you have such honest people in your life.”

“As am I.” The eye smile he sent you this time seemed more genuine, and you had to hold back your laugh.

The conversation faded for a moment as the background chatter from the rest of the restaurant filled the space. It was weird to be here with him, and maybe you were still riding the high of getting a table, but you were already enjoying yourself.

“So… you come here often?” you asked, picking up the menu. You supressed a wince at the prices. “It seems like you’re right at home.”

“It makes for a convenient location to dazzle those who demand such treatment before they’ll sign anything.”

“Ugh, so this is where you take people to schmooze them? Gross.” You flipped over the menu to find the drinks section, only to belatedly realise that the drinks had their own menu already on the table. “I can’t imagine you doing that successfully; you’re so rude.”

“Maybe you just bring out the worst in me.”

The way he reused your words from earlier reluctantly brought a smile to your face. Okay fine. Fine! You’d admit that he was witty, and you had some good chemistry. And he was hot. But that was it! That didn’t mean you were going to fall in love with someone so annoying!

‘I believe you were also interested in his love for dogs, human alpha.’

‘James, I’m trying to live in denial here, and you’re ruining it.’

‘My apologies. Does that mean that I should also refrain from mentioning your obvious obsession with his beauty mark?’

Sometimes, you weren’t sure that James wasn’t an elaborate troll.

Scanning the menu, you decided the vegetarian pasta looked nice. And if it was also the cheapest thing on the menu, well that was just a coincidence. This better be one of the best meals of your life.

Kakashi left his menu completely untouched. Right, he’d been here countless of times to charm people into signing away their money. He was probably treating this dinner as something similar, but with you wanting something from him instead. You doubted he’d believe you if you said you were doing this out of curiosity. But the questioned remained, how could you make this feel different for him?

Suddenly, it hit you; he liked when other people took control. You had an idea.

‘James, can you tell me what Kakashi normally orders from here?’

‘He always orders one of the seafood dishes, accompanied by a white wine.’

Right. Perfect. What you were about to do would be so out of order in real life, but you had plot armour, and honestly you wanted to see what would happen.

When the waiter returned, he directed his, “Are you ready to order?”, towards Kakashi. He probably recognised him if he was a regular, and figured he was schmoozing another hapless soul.

That didn’t fit what you had in mind though.

“Yes, we are,” you said confidently, before Kakashi could speak. “We’ll have a bottle of the Chateau Sixtine Blanc and some still water for the table. For food, I’ll have the vegetarian pasta, and he’ll have the Coquilles Saint-Jacques.”

Kakashi’s stare was intense, but he didn’t intervene. The waiter seemed taken aback that you were ordering for the table, but when Kakashi made no move to dispute what you’d said, he nodded, collected your menus, and left. You expected to be admonished in some way, but Kakashi remained silent.

Drinks arrived quickly. The waiter poured you both a glass of the wine and some water before he was gone again. Kakashi picked up the wine glasses and swirled it dramatically before taking a sip.

When he spoke, you had expected a question about how you found out his usual order, or perhaps a comment on the wine, but no, instead, he was his usual blunt self.

“I wonder what it is you’re hoping to gain from this.”

“That’s fine, you can wonder all you like.”

He sent you a measured look, “Has anyone ever told you you’re incredibly annoying?”

You grinned, “Nope!”

“I see. Well, I hope you’ll be blessed with some honest people in your life soon, I’ve found having them around to be extraordinarily helpful.”

You snorted mid sip of wine, which probably didn’t look attractive. Coughing, you looked up, expecting a judgemental look for behaving such a way in a fancy restaurant, but Kakashi just looked amused.

“Can I ask you a question?” You dabbed your lips with your napkin to soak up any stray wine drops. “What was the deal with that interview? It didn’t seem like you even wanted any applicants there. Was it just some weird form of employment hazing?”

“Simple. I didn’t want an assistant; I work better alone.”

“Then why hold the interview at all?”

“The board of directors were very… persistent. I knew they’d only shut up if I scared off every personal assistant in the city.”

You sent him a searching look, “But you hired me.”

“I did.”

“Why?”

He shrugged, “You had comedy value.”

Comedy value!? This dick.

“Liar,” you shot back. “You just think I’m hot, admit it.”

You got another one of his infuriating eye smiles. “If you say so.” God, you wanted to punch him, and maybe kiss him. Fuck.

“Whatever, just know that it’s your turn to pay for dinner next time, an I’m ordering the most expensive thing I can find.”

“If we go out for dinner too often, people will talk.”

“As if they aren’t already,” you said, referencing the sate of the office you’d left behind. You’d bet that they’d all stayed late to swap theories. “Yamato looked at us like a child who’d just walked in on his parents having sex.”

Kakashi seemed amused, “He would not appreciate that description.”

“That doesn’t make it any less true.”

As the conversation flowed, so did the wine. You were surprised by how much fun you were having. Hatake was a great conversationalist and the rapid-fire banter had you laughing out loud more than once. The food was just as good as you’d hoped as well.

To your utter delight, Hatake’s face turned pink as he drank. So cute. You couldn’t stop yourself from reaching out to feel the warm skin. Kakashi leaned into the hand in an almost nuzzle. You did not expect him to reciprocate. Shocked, you froze, hand still on his cheek.

Hatake seemed surprised too because he suddenly wrenched himself away from you. You pulled your hand back like it’d been burnt.

You’d bet anything that he was touch starved.

“Sorry, Hatake, I don’t know why I—”

“Kakashi,” he muttered, “you can call me Kakashi. Everyone does.”

“Kakashi,” you repeated, sending him a small smile. Maybe he wasn’t so bad. You kind of wanted to lick his face.

Kakashi’s phone buzzed in his pocket, shattering the moment. Disappointingly, he immediately slipped it out of his pocket and checked the message.  You weren’t exactly surprised that he put checking his phone over your conversation, but it was still rude, whether you expected it or not.

Kakashi made an amused noise as he saw the expression on your face. “I only have audible notifications on for important people; I’m just checking to make sure nothing is wrong, there’s no need to look so offended.”

You sputtered, face heating up, “I’m not offended! I was just thinking it was rude to check your phone at dinner.”

“Ruder than ordering for someone else without their permission?”

“Whatever,” you mumbled, crossing your arms. “You liked it.”

Kakashi didn’t acknowledge you as he checked his messaged. You watched his eyes move from side to side as he read, before he eventually barked out a laugh and put the phone away.

“What’s funny?”

“One of my friends evidently found out that I was out to dinner. He has wished us luck on our youthful endeavours.”

You pulled a face at the weird phrasing. “He sounds… interesting.”

“You have no idea,” Kakashi said before emptying his wine glass.

“People seem so surprised about this. You don’t get out much then?”

Kakashi barked a laugh that sounded surprisingly bitter, and then didn’t elaborate. In true erotica love interest fashion, there was something brewing below the surface. Touch starved, orphaned, rich, but lonely, he was about as stereotypical as it got. You wondered if he’d also killed someone like Itachi? Hmm, probably not. This was a modern universe, and there were normally more severe consequences for things like that. It would have at least been mentioned on his wiki page.

By the time you had finished eating, the city outside the window had lit up in the darkness. The traffic had died down once rush hour ended, but the occasional car still passed by. You checked your phone and realised you’d been having dinner with Kakashi for almost two hours.

Your pride didn’t stop you from admitting that the time was flying because you were having fun.

Still, it was getting late, so you waved down a waiter and requested the bill. You were hoping that, seeing as you’d taken charge with ordering, that he would… yes! The waiter put the bill down in front of you instead of Kakashi.

You grinned at him smugly; you’d been assigned dom by wait staff.

He rolled his eyes at you, but you could see the smile on his face.

The bill wasn’t great, but it could have been worse. Clearly you hadn’t managed to keep your grimace supressed completely though because Kakashi noticed.

“Having second thoughts?” He was annoyingly observant.

You had never pulled out your card faster, grateful that you’d found your pin number written down in some old documents in your flat. Kakashi watched you pay, a strange glint in his eyes.

Did he assume you were going to dine and dash and make him pay or something? No… that wasn’t it. His ears had gone red too, and not from the alcohol.

He liked it, you realised gleefully. He liked that you ordered for him. He liked that you paid for him. He liked that you had decided on the place and time and dragged him along. It fit his reaction and it fit his character.

You were certain that most of his acquaintances either saw Kakashi as some kind of aloof, ‘didn’t believe in love’ character, or as a hard dom. And on the surface, sure, you could understand why they thought that, but how could anyone continue to think so once they spoke to him properly, when he was practically crying out for someone to take care of him?

Exhilaration ran through you. Maybe you were in this for more than just curiosity now.

“Come on,” you said, standing. “It’s getting late, and I still need to get my car—Shoot, I’m probably over the limit. I guess it’s a taxi for me then.”

“I can drop you home.” Kakashi stood as well, and you both walked to collect your coats. “It won’t be a problem.”

“Thanks,” you said relieved. You needed to at least try to budget after the amount you just spent on dinner.

Just as you were putting on your coats, Kakashi’s phone ran in his pocket. Remembering what he said about only having important people on vibrate, you remained silent as he took the call. You couldn’t quite make out the murmurs on the other side of the call, but Kakashi didn’t look pleased.

“Right… Okay… And there’s no alternate route? Of course… It can’t be helped, just meet me at the office.”

Did he have a last-minute work obligation perhaps?

“Yes, okay, I’ll see you soon.” He hung up the phone and slipped it into his pocket. “Bad news, there’s been a minor accident on the road and my driver can’t get to us. We can get through on the pedestrian pathways just fine, so we’ll have to go back to the office on foot.”

“Oh, that’s not a big deal, it’s only about twenty minutes, right?” You didn’t understand why he seemed so serious about a minor hold up. Did he think you were going to be mad at him or something? Kakashi relaxed imperceptibly as it became clear that you didn’t mind.

It only occurred to you later, once you were well into the walk, that Kakashi was used to schmoozing a bunch of hoity toity rich people at La Liaison who probably would throw a fit at such a minor inconvenience. Those kinds of people were the worst.

“Why did you ask me to dinner tonight?” Kakashi asked. He spoke casually, but in a way that suggested the casualness was being used to disguise a more serious question.

You knew that he wouldn’t stop until he got an answer that satisfied him, and you didn’t want your relationship to be stained by doubts as to your intentions, so you decided to give him an answer as close to the truth as possible. If you started talking about erotic fiction, he’d probably call some kind of doctor.

“Because you seemed miserable, and I was curious about you. Figured this would kill two birds with one stone. Also, you piss me off, I won’t lie.”

“You took me to dinner because I piss you off?” Kakashi asked, a ghost of a smile on his face. “Is that some kind of fetish or is it a psychological defect?”

You squawked indignantly and tried to hit him on the arm. He dodged it, laughing.

“You’re one to talk! You hired me after I grabbed you by the tie in a job interview. That’s got to be a fetish and a psychological defect!” You shoved him on the shoulder, and he immediately shoved you back, and before you knew it, you were having a children’s battle on the street.

A random woman from across the street gave you a dirty look, you stuck your tongue out at her. Kakashi giggled, like, actually giggled, and that sent you into hysterics.

Maybe you’d had more to drink than you thought.

“You know,” you said, throwing your arm over his shoulder, “next time I take you out, we’re going to McDonald’s. It’s cheaper, and I think it’ll be funny to watch you sit there in your suit. Wait, have you ever been to a McDonald’s before?”

“I’m wealthy, I’m not an alien.” He rolled his eyes at you. He seemed to do that a lot. You couldn’t imagine him sitting in a McDonald’s. “I go every other week because my dogs like the carrot sticks from there.”

“You feed your dogs carrot sticks from McDonald’s?”

“Yep.”

“Have you ever considered, I don’t know, buying a pack of carrots?”

“No, because they like the ones from McDonald’s.”

You shook your head in disbelief. Rich people were crazy. “How many dogs do you have anyway?”

“Eight.”

“EIGHT?!”

…

Car parks at night, familiar or not, were unnerving in the way that liminal spaces always were. At least you were almost at the office doors, where Kakashi’s chauffeur was going to pick you both up. You were glad to finally get there, because as fun as the walk had been, the Autumn night was surprisingly chilly, and it was taking genuine effort to remember all of Kakashi’s dogs’ names. You were honestly surprised that the porn logic didn’t add any strange occurrences on the walk.

Naturally, the second that thought formed in your head, something happened.

As you passed round the side of a tall fence, your shirt got caught on a stray piece of metal. What would have been a minor inconvenience, barely a rip, in your old reality, was a complete pornographic disaster in this one, as every button on your shirt somehow ripped off, leaving your shirt hanging open.

The cold air hit your skin and goosebumps erupted all over your chest. Yelping, you dragged the pieces of shirt back together and held them firmly closed. Obviously, you weren’t fast enough to stop Kakashi from getting a look. The way he was pointedly looking away from you, rosy cheeked, said it all.

“Stupid fence,” you grumbled, giving it a dirty look. This wasn’t exactly the first time, or even the coldest time, that porn logic had decided to spontaneously strip someone, but it always managed to catch you off guard. Did the people who lived in erotica worlds always carry spare changes of clothes just in case?

“Are you hurt?” Kakashi asked. He sounded a little awkward, but ultimately sincere. It was nice that he’d decided to go for genuine concern over sarcasm, and you decided to do the same.

“I’m fine, it just caught me by surprise. At least it’s dark so no one caught an eye full.”

Kakashi coughed. Okay, no one apart from him.

“I’ll send a message to maintenance in the morning, but for now, I have a spare shirt in my office that you’re welcome to borrow for the evening.”

Huh, what do you know, people did keep spare clothes around. You were about to decline, citing the late hour and the fact that you were wearing a coat that you could do up, when you realised what was happening. You’d bet anything that something sexy would happen if you followed him up to his office.

“That would be great, thanks.” You weren’t going to let this slide from your grip when he was so pretty. And honestly, he was starting to seem like less of an asshole in general. He was fun, traumatised, and had eight dogs, if that wasn’t your type, you didn’t know what was.

…

Flickering the lights on in his office, Kakashi went into one of the cupboards to look for the shirt while you snooped at the ornaments he had on his shelves. Notably, there were no pictures. You picked up a weird ceramic circle statue and turned it over to see if it did anything cool.

You had passed a security guard on the way up to Kakashi’s office, that looked very intrigued as to why you two were together so late, and why your shirt was ripped open, so you resigned yourself to the rumour mill only getting worse by tomorrow.

“Are you nosy by nature or just interested in my office in particular?”

“Shut up.” You put back the ornament and turned to face him. He was holding the spare shirt in his hand. “You want to fuck me so bad, don’t deny it.”

You expected another eye roll.

“Oh, you have no idea,” he growled, watching you intensely. Oh, that wasn’t an eye roll.

One moment you were staring at him, unsure of what to say, and the next, you were crashing together, lips, tongue, and teeth, in a horny and aggressive kiss. You didn’t know which one of you moved first, you didn’t really care, you only knew that Kakashi was hot and infuriating, and you wanted to kiss him until he couldn’t make that smug face anymore.

Kissing Kakashi was giving you whiplash. He was different to Itachi in every way you could think of. He was confident, aggressive, he fought with you, clashed with you, and he seemed to determined to kiss you twice as hard as you kissed him.

It was obvious that Kakashi’s submission wouldn’t be freely given like Itachi’s, no, you would have to earn it. The challenge scratched at your instincts, and suddenly you wanted to prove to this omega that he could trust you. A good orgasm should lay the groundwork for that.

Both coats were quickly discarded as you kissed, and your ruined shirt fell off moments later.

You had been consciously avoiding his hair in fear of the amount of wax you figured he used to keep that hair style, but one weak moment, as Kakashi’s hips jolted forwards towards yours, you forgot, and ran you fingers through it.

To your surprise, your fingers glided through the soft strands easily. You were so shocked that you broke the kiss. You furrowed your eyebrows as you examined his hair.

“What are you doing?” he panted, confused.

“How the fuck does your hair stay up like that without any hairspray or wax?”

“What?” He sounded baffled. “This is just what my hair looks like. Does it matter?”

“I guess not.”

The kiss resumed, somehow more desperate and aggressive than before. Kakashi grabbed your waist so hard that you could feel the pin pricks from his nails digging into your skin. In return, you made use of your new found knowledge and grabbed a handful of Kakashi’s hair.

You pushed him backwards, never once breaking the rhythm of your kiss, until his upper thighs made contact with the front of his desk. His pot of pens fell as the desk jolted, scattering the expensive pens all over the ground. Neither of you paid it any mind.

When you finally pulled away for air, Kakashi wasted no time, immediately latching onto your neck with reckless abandon. There was something feral about him that was making you hot. He didn’t hold back. You could tell that he was experienced, and he was using every drop of that experience to his advantage.

While he was distracted, you worked on undoing his buttons. It was harder than it looked to remain focused while Kakashi was doing his best impression of a vampire on your neck.

“You have way too many fucking buttons on this shirt.”

“It’s a normal number of buttons,” he murmured against your skin.

“There is literally nothing normal about you.”

“And you say I’m the rude one.”

“That’s because you fucking are.”

Eventually, you managed to undo the last button. Your noise of triumph morphed into a moan as Kakashi nipped around your collar bone. You used his hair to tug him back before loosening his tie and pushing the shirt off his shoulders.

The way his torso looked, bare but with a loose tie hanging over it, unlocked a kink you didn’t know you had. In fact, everything about him was hot. As you dragged the shirt down his arms, you could feel his muscles flexing. Kakashi was strong and broad, and he wore it so well.

You didn’t bother pulling the shirt off all the way, instead letting it bunch at his wrists, acting as a semi-restraint. He tugged at it experimentally, and when he found it restricting his movement, his pupils dilated.

You cooed as you ran your hands all over his naked torse. That’s right, he was a forceful person, certainly, but any shows of dominance were likely performative or learnt behaviours, because this man was a giant sub at heart.

You grabbed his bottom lip between your teeth and pulled it lightly. Kakashi growled at you, but you knew what he was doing; he wasn’t telling you to stop, he was challenging you. You growled back, stronger, louder, and just as you thought, his growling stopped, and his scent took on a delicious hint of submission.

“God, you really are annoyingly hot,” you growled, biting along his jaw. “Emphasis on annoying.”

“Takes one to know one,” he fired back, squeezing your waits.

“Mutual handjob?” you whispered against his skin, already undoing his trousers, before doing the same with yours.

“That the first intelligent thing you’ve said all night.”

“Fuck you.”

You grabbed Kakashi’s muscular thighs and lifted him slightly until he was perched on his desk. A stack of papers tipped over and fluttered to the ground, but that wasn’t a problem for present you, so you happily ignored the chaos in favour of the panting omega in front of you.

You took your dick out from your pants and did the same for Kakashi. They bumped up against each other, searingly hot and unflinchingly hard. You let out a whistle of appreciation at his cock. It was big, bigger than most alphas you’d met, and certainly bigger than any omega’s cock you’d ever seen. In fact, just eyeballing it, he was roughly the same size as you. His shaft was as pale as the rest of him, but the head was an angry red. It was girthy too, and it felt hot and solid in your palm.

Purposefully, you thrust your hips forward, guiding your cock against his with both of your hands. Kakashi moaned, thrusting up to meet you. He could only watch, his hands restrained as they were.

You kept your hands around the dicks, keeping them aligned as you both started to rut against each other. Beads of pre cum quickly made their appearance, which only made everything else feel that much better.

There was something deeply satisfying about what you were doing, especially because you were both still half-dressed. It made it feel desperate, like you couldn’t wait long enough to get your clothes off, too desperately attracted to each other, and had instead chosen to rub off on each other like horny teenagers.

You made out messily while you grinded against each other. Maintaining a consistent pace was a little difficult, especially as things got wetter and wetter, but you managed. There was something sexy about the chaos. The increased sensitivity from being in the erotica world didn’t hurt either.

Your moans and groans increased in frequency as you got closer. If felt like every nerve ending you had was on fire, and Kakashi looked much like you felt, covered in a thin sheen of sweat that was obvious under the hard corporate lighting.

Technically, with it being so bright inside and so dark outside, anyone who happened to glance up would have got a glimpse of you, but you were both too far gone to care.

“You love having someone take control of you, don’t you Kakashi,” you moaned, pressing your lips against his. “You’re tired of always being in control, aren’t you? The big CEO, everyone’s relying on you, but who do you get to rely on? Who looks after you? You want someone to do that, don’t you? You’re a walking, talking CEO stereotype.”

“Who says I’m going to give control to you?” he panted, licking his lips. “Aren’t you getting ahead of yourself?”

“Hmm, nope, I think I’m right on track,” you teased. Already picking up on his proclivity for biting, you gave a bite in return, just shy of where a mating mark might theoretically go. Kakashi gasped, his hands straining at the shirt that restrained them. “I’ll get you to submit to me properly, one day.”

“We’ll see.”

The alcohol and the increased sensitivity were mixing together to make this tryst shorter than expected, but Kakashi seemed to be in the same boat, so you couldn’t bring yourself to care. The banter ceased as the final stretch towards your orgasms started.

As your ending approached, you bent down and sealed your lips with Kakashi’s once more. Suddenly, everything crested, and pleasure flowed over you in waves. Your thrusts got sloppy, but neither of you cared. Kakashi came with a guttural moan. His stomach muscles flexing in a hypnotic dance.

The extra cum afforded by the porn logic soaked both your dicks and your hands, staining both pairs of trousers too. It dripped onto the carpet, and if the security guard didn’t spread a rumour about you and Kakashi hooking up, one of the cleaners probably would.

Some of Kakashi’s cum had even landed on the spare shirt, so you now had a choice between a torn shirt, or one covered in cum to match your stained trousers. Great. Why did horny you always make such bad decisions?

You and Kakashi remained leaning against each other for a while, just catching your breaths and marvelling at how fast your relationship had move. You wouldn’t have believed it if someone had told you during your interview that you’d end up grinding on that asshole’s desk a few days later.

‘I would have believed it.’

‘Thanks, James.’

Kakashi opened his mouth to speak, but the door to his office suddenly opened, cutting him off. You both stiffened, snapping up to face the intruder like a pair of deer in headlights.

There, standing in the doorway with the expression of a man who was entirely done with life, was Kakashi’s chauffeur. Instead of an apology of any kind, the man just sighed.

“The car is downstairs when you are ready. Please try and clean up before getting in, the leather won’t forget these kinds of smells easily.” With that, he left, shutting the door firmly behind him.

You and Kakashi looked at each other, then to the door, and then to each other, before you both burst out laughing.

What a way to end the night.

Next Chapter

[everynart]

[redskybluemoon]

A Good Hatake Kakashi-Centric Fanfictions

These are my absolute favorite fics of Baddass Kakashi Hatake / Kakashi - Centric, which I definitely will read and re-read every one of them in my free times.

This list will update frequently. :) Feel free to recommend me some Kakashi-centric fics. ♥

Oneshot or Drabble or Short Story: - Kit and Kin Series by Lolistar92. Rated T. Part 1 - the slate gray charm Part 2 - the antique silver wisdom Part 3 - lingering smoke clears Part 4 - the vermillon vanguard Part 5 - the amber orchestra Part 6 - the saffron reprieve Part 7 - the sage rampart Part 8 - the cobalt crossway - birth of a cell ; death of a star Series by thesaintraphael. Rated T Part 1 - an exercise in patience Part 2 - jigsaw falling into place

Chaptered Fics : - Nukenin by WhisperingDarkness. Rated T. (Status : Completed). - Life as a Nukenin by JKblue. Rated T. (Status : Completed). - Lichtenberg Figures by Asteroid_Duck. Rated M. (Status : Completed). - Out of the Dark by LittleBirdWrites (Pairing : Hatake Kakashi/OC). Rated M. (Status : Completed). - Daybreak Never Comes by Myst_Marshall. Rated T. (Status : On-Going). - Ear to the Wall by Vodkassassin. Rated T (Status : On-Going). - It Happened Once in a Dream by SunshineAndRainbows. Rated T (Status : On-Going). - They shrunk sensei?! by RandoLan. Rated T (Status : On-Going). - For Tomorrow Never Comes by SoaringPigeonShovel. Rated T (Status : On-Going). - The Executioner of the Mist by Veronero. Rated T (Status : On-Going).

- Scaring Crows Series by scrappybook. Part 1 - Year of the Ghost. Rated T. (Status : Completed). Part 2 - Beneath a Shared Sky. Rated T. (Status : On-Going).

Crossover Fics : - Unforeseen Mayhem by Aerugonian. Rated T. (Naruto, My Hero Academia). Oneshot. (Status : Completed). - CCG Public Enemy No 1 by euphoricimage. Rated T. (Naruto, Tokyo Ghoul). (Status : Completed). - Reddit, is my neighbor a kidnapper or just weird? by Asteroid_Duck. Rated T. (Naruto, My Hero Academia). (Status : Completed). - Edo Tensei by Asteroid_Duck (JustThatOneGirl1815). Rated T. (Naruto, My Hero Academia). (Status : On-Going). - Scarecrows Don’t Fly by Asteroid_Duck. Rated T. (Naruto, My Hero Academia). (Status : On-Going). - Wonderboy by Tsume_Yuki. Rated T. (Naruto, My Hero Academia). (Status : On-Going, possibly abandoned). So freaking good, I wish they will continue someday, :( - The Taste of Lightning on Your Tongue by PenguinEmperess. Rated T. (Naruto, Jujutsu Kaisen). (Status : On-Going, possibly abandoned). So much potential, I wish they will continue someday, :(

Kakashi/Sakura Fics. Check this link

[guidaozongshi]

On Sakura and SasuSaku's apparent popularity in the eastern fandom

One of the widely regurgitated talking points in favour of the Sasuke/Sakura relationship is that it is the most popular Naruto pairing in Japan and that Sakura is a very popular character but western fans apparently fail to understand the nuances of their relationship unlike their eastern counterparts. These claims range from half-truths to complete nonsense

Firstly, let's talk about Sakura's reception in Japan.

Kishimoto infamously said that girls would come up to him to complain about Sakura and that he really struggled to make her likeable. But you don't need his statements to arrive at the conclusion that she is not well received.

Take a look at the Naruto Character popularity polls by Shounen Jump taken during the run of the manga.

Character Poll 1 , as of Chapter 60

1. Kakashi Hatake – 22,692 votes

2. Naruto Uzumaki – 16,729 votes

3. Sasuke Uchiha – 13,674 votes

4. Iruka Umino – 7,128 votes

5. Sakura Haruno – 3,055 votes

Naruto had just started to take off , with Team 7 being the main focus, yet look at the difference in votes for the members. Iruka, a character that barely appears overtook Sakura. What's ironic is that this will be the highest position she would ever receive because her popularity gets worse.

Character Poll 2 , as of Chapter 107

1. Naruto Uzumaki – 2,788 votes

2. Kakashi Hatake – 2,635 votes

.

14. Sakura Haruno – 359 votes

14th Position! Despite the fact she is from a trio of characters that are the most focused on. Not only the other Konoha rookies rank above her but even Gambunta ( the frog ) overtakes her.

In Character poll 3 , 4 ( chapter 199 ), 5 ( chapter 245 ), 6 ( chapter 292 ) and 7 ( chapter 531 ) her ranking becomes 9 , 10 , 8 , 12 and 12 respectively , while the other Team 7 members never leave Top 4. Characters with less panels and appearances repeatedly overtake her.

It is not an exaggeration to say that she was widely disliked as a main character. She has been repeatedly bashed, on Japanese online forums as well as by the author. ( more on this later )

All this of course doesn't mean that she doesn't have a fanbase, oh she has! a very loyal one and a particular kind at that . Women who love Sakura tend to be fans of Shoujo/Josei , something you can notice if you have come across SasuSaku artworks.

When Naruto ended , the majority of their comments were congratulating Sakura on her long one sided crush being finally reciprocated and how happy they were for her. Sasuke fans couldn't care less about the relationship as her character has hardly any effect on his story ( that is, until Gaiden came along and angered many people)

There is a noticeable difference in how JP artists portray their relationship in comparison to their western counterpart. The former portrays it as a 'puppy love' like between an idol and a fan. The appeal of the relationship comes from Sasuke, who is the classical male ideal and Sakura who is deeply ' loyal' to him , who then gets rewarded for it. It is one of the reasons why it only shot up in popularity post-ending.

On the other hand, the latter seems to believe that Sakura is Sasuke's equal, that she challenges and influences Sasuke, despite the fact that she becomes a doormat in front of him and according to Sakura's own words she couldn't come close to Sasuke's heart.

I have discussed why some Japanese fans like Sasuke/Sakura as it may appeal to their taste but these fans don't make much of the fanbase.

Case in point, one of the most hyped SasuSaku material i.e Sasuke Retsuden only managed to sell about 17k copies for the weeks it charted, in Comparison Naruto J Novels 1-7 sold about 470K when it was in circulation back in 2008.

Even the manga adaptation piggybacking on the anime couldn't even sell 40K copies for the first volume.

There was a time when Sasuke's name alone would be enough for a manga to sell out but the truth is that not only the majority of Naruto fans have moved on since 2015, even the loyal fans aren't interested in this content.

After Gaiden came out, Both Sakura and her relationship received harsh criticism, the 2channel threads kept bashing her and Kishimoto of the poor handling of the relationship.

Some of the snippets

"..with the release of Gaiden, the author just had worsened what was already bad. I guess he lost his willpower to write.”

“I was expecting before Sasuke and Sakura’s feelings would be shown in Gaiden but was edited out...because back time I thought I saw some spoilers that Sasuke and Sakura had gotten closer.

But now there’s no way there was some edit, no, this whole thing is a fucking lie.”

"A natural progress of loving, to slowly get accustomed and come to love someone, yeah I can’t imagine this with Sasu/Saku. Such extremely weird couple, how are they supposed to get used with each other over time? This is the vibe I get.

This relationship feels weird in my head, maybe I’m asking for too much to find a reason behind this.

But Kishimoto’s Sasu/Saku bonds is completely empty, I guess it’s funny that there’s nothing to add in it.”

"Sakura’s feelings is over the top terrible. She’s able to be happy with this..”

The thread is VERY long but you get the gist of it.

Fun fact : In 2015 Sasuke/Sakura was 6th most voted couple that should Break-Up by Japnese readers

Accusing others of not understanding their relationship because they apparently don't get their supposedly "culturally contextual relationship" is quite stupid and laughable because it's also hated by many Japanese people. It's only popular with a specific set of audience.

Which brings me to the other argument.

"Sasuke/Sakura is the most popular Naruto couple in Japan"

While this might be true today, it has not always been the case. Sasuke/Sakura shot in popularity post-Naruto ending while the most popular pairing throughout the run of the series (Sasuke/Naruto) declined. ( If anybody has the pixiv stats from 2012/13 , please feel free to add)

Take a look at this Naruto couple ranking list in Japan from 2012 ( the rankings are based on Google Japan results if I am not wrong)

サスナル (SasuNaru) —- 166,000 res.

ナルサス (NaruSasu) —- 78,400 res.

サスサク (SasuSaku) —- 54,700 res.

There's quite a large gap.

Even in 2016, 2 years after Naruto ended and many Sasuke/Naruto artists deleted their artworks or moved on from the fandom , it still rivaled SasuSaku in popularity on pixiv

SasuNaruSasu サスナルサス 9.502 works

SasuSaku サスサク 8.150 works

For other East Asian countries, I wrote about how SasuNaruSasu is the largest pairing in China with no close second . I am unfortunately not familiar with the Korean fandom.

I will make a separate post for the Chinese Naruto fandom but they are very brutal against the Sasuke/Sakura relationship.

This is the general sentiment there :

Sasuke married Sakura to atone for his mistakes

10 K Likes

[roblerdraws]

Chapter 4 - Kakashi Hatake!!

In an attempt to get used to drawing digitally (which I've never really done, and never on an iPad or any other drawing screens), and to please my current Naruto hyperfixation, I'm redrawing 1 frame per chapter of the manga until I feel happy.

Rules:

Can't spend too long on each drawing, this is practice not perfect

Have to post every single drawing I do, even if I hate them

Can't read more than 5 chapters without doing the drawings

Yayyy I finally get to draw Kakashi. But also ugh the freaking vest, I know everyone hates it and I'm no exception.

Reference picture under the cut:

[kakashis-flea-and-tick-removal]

Naruto Chapter 4. Hatake Kakashi

[irukaka]

fourth chapter of the modern au kakairu fic is up!! featuring iruka discovering the concept of consequences for one’s actions, kakashi demonstrating Olympic-level talents at being annoying as fuck, and kakashi attempting the get past a rabid ten-year-old to flirt with a schoolteacher challenge (impossible). hope y’all enjoy!! :)

an involuntary exercise in hitting your target heart rate zone (13567 words) by flipthebits Chapters: 4/? Fandom: Naruto (Anime & Manga) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka Characters: Hatake Kakashi, Umino Iruka, Uzumaki Naruto, Mitarashi Anko, Sarutobi Asuma Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Mutual Pining, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Naruto is a disaster but at least his co-parents are also disasters, Mostly a romcom with an occasional sprinkle of hurt/comfort Summary:

Returning from summer break with a freshly scarred back and a sort-of-adopted student, Iruka resolves to deal with absolutely no nonsense this school year. For an entire morning, he manages to convince himself that it’s even a remotely realistic goal.

And then, of course, the strange, moderately off-putting, and more than a little infuriating new gym teacher has to barge into his life.

[fool-tarnished]

"Remember me" - Chapter 3 - Kakashi Hatake x F!Reader

Synopsis : Born in Konoha, [Y/N] wasn't necessarily known as the most impressive or powerful ninja, but rather for her kindness and compassion. She became like an older sister to Naruto and a loyal, faithful friend to many ninjas in Konoha. Without even realizing it, she had earned a special place in the heart of one particular ninja with grey hair. But everything changed the day the Third Hokage entrusted her with a mission from which she would not return unscathed. Pairing : Kakashi Hatake x Female!Reader

List : Chapter 1 // Chapter 2 // Chapter 4

If you want to read Yamato's version, you can find it here.

Warnings : Memory loss, mind control (mk ultra inspired), violence, fluff in the end (if i forgot anything, tell me !)

Inspiration : Where did she go - Saleka

Words : ~ 3000

A/N : Hello there ! Here's the third chapter. I already wrote like 4 other chapters so yeaaah long way to go, sorry. This will end soon, pinky promise. Anyway, I hope you will enjoy it. And sorry for the mistakes, I'm not a native english speaker. Thank you again for the likes, reblogs and comments ❤️

"Did you administer the treatment I entrusted to you?" The voice asking this question was deep, serious. It vaguely reminded you of the one from your first dream. You couldn’t pinpoint its exact origin, but the man speaking couldn’t have been far from you. The sounds and movements surrounding you were faint, almost imperceptible, and trying to make sense of them required immense effort.

Your head felt like it was about to explode, the pain excruciating, the dizziness relentless. You were lying down, your vision spinning wildly, with the sensation that everything around you was in constant motion.

Another voice then broke the silence: "As you instructed." That voice... Yubaba? "Good. Now, I’d like you to leave me alone with her." "She is-" "Leave."

The faint sound of retreating footsteps followed, leaving behind an oppressive silence. You realized the man had drawn closer. Despite your distorted vision, his towering silhouette was now unmistakable.

You tried to speak, to scream, but no sound came from your lips. Only your unsteady, labored breathing broke the silence. The man snapped his fingers several times. You couldn’t discern their exact position; the sense of instability all around you remained overwhelming.

"Good. I see the treatment is working." His voice sent shivers down your spine. A dark aura seemed to envelop him, and you felt vulnerable, utterly defenseless. "I believe we can begin."

With those words, and a soft, chilling laugh, he pressed his hand against your face, and everything went black.

________________________________________

Tsunade came to see you early that morning. You had been on your new treatment for over two weeks, and your headaches had nearly vanished. Iruka and Kurenai had stopped by to visit you. Although their stays were brief, their presence had brought you comfort. Kakashi, on the other hand, visited regularly to talk about Naruto. However, whenever you tried to bring up your shared past, he remained vague, quickly steering the conversation toward more general topics—either about you or himself.

You couldn’t hide the joy that filled you each time he showed up, sat by your side, and spent hours talking with you. Thanks to them, you had been able to piece together some fragments of your past, even though the memories themselves remained elusive. Occasionally, snippets would come back to you—sometimes clear, sometimes not. The photos they had brought helped you put a face to Naruto’s name: a blond ninja who sometimes appeared in your dreams. You now knew that his two close friends were Sakura and Sasuke.

“As you seem to have recovered physically and your headaches have subsided, we’ll have you take a test tonight,” Tsunade announced. Curious, you turned to her. “A test?” “Yes, a physical test. I’d like you to face someone. To see if your skills have vanished along with your memories.”

In truth, the Hokage intended to use this test to probe whether there was more to your memory loss. She sincerely believed your field abilities hadn’t diminished but wanted to confirm her suspicions.

“And who will I be facing?” you asked. “It will be Genma.” “Oh. Are you sure that… this is the right time?”

________________________________________

The test you were about to take seemed to be held in a closed room—an intimate and, most importantly, discreet setting. Tsunade didn’t want the news of this event to spread beyond the small, select group that had been invited. You had been led to the ground floor of the room, where you could make out ninjas observing from above. You spotted Kurenai, accompanied by someone who appeared to be Asuma. Kakashi was there too, standing next to Gai. Tsunade had sent Iruka to keep Naruto occupied, ensuring that he wouldn’t come looking for his teacher or for her.

A strange sensation stirred within you, accompanied by a strong sense of apprehension. You had no idea what you were capable of or what your opponent could do.

“Don’t worry, it’s just a friendly match. We only want to assess where you’re at. If anything goes wrong, we’ll stop immediately.” Reassured by her words, you nodded as the Hokage joined the other ninjas observing from above. Closing your eyes for a moment, you tried to calm yourself, focusing on steadying your breath. It was just a friendly sparring match, after all. If things didn’t go well, they could stop it right away—couldn’t they? It had to be that simple.

“Hey, [Y/N]. Ready?” Opening your eyes, you saw Genma already standing across from you.

He looked particularly composed, unbothered by the fight that was about to begin. You couldn’t help but wonder if he truly intended to fight with that senbon between his teeth.

Genma had been briefed about your return and your memory loss. Though the two of you had never been particularly close, you knew each other well enough from past missions and battles you’d fought together. He was familiar with your fighting style without being emotionally invested—a balance that Tsunade had likely deemed perfect.

You nodded, and that’s when the match began.

Taking a deep breath, you lunged at the ninja instinctively, without overthinking. He deflected your initial strikes with little effort, sensing both the automatic nature of your movements and a subtle undercurrent of hesitation. You fought the way you used to, but something was different. Genma noticed it immediately. It wasn’t alarming given your current situation, but it was a detail he filed away in the back of his mind.

As the exchanges continued, still mechanical in nature, Kakashi closely observed the scene, analyzing every move. He, too, noted the slight differences in your techniques compared to the past. However, what concerned him more was the hesitation. To him, it didn’t seem like the hesitation of someone afraid to miss a strike. Instead, it felt like the hesitation of someone afraid to hit harder than necessary—something you didn’t even appear to realize yourself.

The fight continued for a while longer, and Genma decided to raise the stakes to push you further. He sent you flying a short distance away, catching you off guard with the sudden change in his approach. The kunai in your uniform pocket slipped out during your fall, landing a few steps ahead of you.

“You’ll have to choose, or I’ll choose for you.”

A faint, shrill sound accompanied the sudden appearance of a voice in your head.

“Would you know how to make good use of a second chance if I gave it to you?”

You began to get up, one hand clutching your head, hoping the sharp pain and the noise would fade. Your other hand instinctively grabbed the kunai. Kakashi noticed the movement, one that might have seemed trivial at first glance. Meanwhile, the Hokage frowned, her expression tense. This was the moment she had been waiting for, and she was prepared to intervene, as were the other ninjas who had been briefed before your arrival.

Genma was surprised to see that you were now faster, more aggressive, and far less hesitant. He found it harder to predict your moves, though so far, the kunai hadn’t touched him. As the intensity of your strikes increased, he noticed a shift in your gaze. It was no longer the same as when the fight began. It was something entirely different.

For your part, you attacked without fully understanding how you were doing it. Your actions felt automatic, the hesitation gone, as if driven by the rhythmic noise in your head and the short phrases or single words spoken by that voice—the one that filled you with terror.

Before long, you had brought Genma to the ground—or had he let it happen? Either way, the kunai at his throat was not part of the deal. He grit his teeth, feeling the cold metal of the blade pressed dangerously close to his skin. Your gaze radiated anger, hatred, and pain—a storm of emotions that was anything but reassuring. The brunette struggled to hold your wrists back, trying to keep the weapon from piercing him.

Relief washed over him when he caught sight of Tsunade, Gai, and Asuma. The Hokage stood directly in front of you as the other two quickly grabbed your arms and pulled them away from Genma.

Freed from your grip, Genma scrambled to his feet, rubbing his neck where the blade had grazed him. The cut was shallow, not serious—but the look in your eyes was far more dangerous.

Suddenly, you dropped the kunai, yanking one arm free from Gai’s hold to clutch your head. The pain was still searing, though the voice in your head began to grow quieter. Your eyes closed tightly, and Tsunade motioned for Asuma to let go of you.

“There’s no point in trying to fight it.”

Both hands pressed against your head, you seemed to be trying to block out the noise. Tsunade crouched in front of you, gently placing her hands over yours.

“Bring me the Nine-Tails’ jinchūriki.”

“Please… I want it to stop. I want him to stop.” Your voice was barely above a whisper, but it was enough to draw a look of surprise from the Hokage. She wasted no time initiating a healing jutsu to ease the pain and calm the storm within you.

________________________________________

After the incident, Tsunade escorted you back to your room. She had instructed the other ninjas to return home, signaling that they would likely regroup later to discuss the situation. The only words you managed to say to her before she left were:

“I’m sorry about Genma. I—I’m truly sorry.”

She looked at you for a moment but said nothing, leaving you alone with your thoughts. You lay down in the darkness, unable to stop replaying what had just happened.

Meanwhile, the copy ninja was struggling to process what he had witnessed. Tsunade had warned him, but he hadn’t expected to see something like that so soon. He was deeply worried, though the Hokage had instructed him to observe without interfering. Questions raced through his mind, but above all, he wondered what state you must be in now.

What had driven you to attack Genma without holding back? What was causing these sudden headaches? What was happening to you? And who was the man whose voice haunted you relentlessly?

Tsunade closed the door to your room with a sigh, leaning against the wall. Kakashi was there, staring at the floor. In truth, he had followed the two of you ever since the test ended.

“That wasn’t really her fighting Genma. At least, not during the second part of the match.”

Kakashi’s words carried a heavy weight. It couldn’t have been you—it couldn’t have been your own will. Not you, not from what he knew of you, memory loss or not.

“That’s what I feared,” Tsunade replied. “She whispered, begging for ‘him’ to stop before I eased her pain.”

The silver-haired ninja turned his gaze toward the Hokage, his concern now plainly visible on his face.

“I don’t know what kind of enemy is behind this scheme, but we need to keep Naruto out of it for now.”

“He’ll find out eventually, Lady Hokage. We’re only delaying the inevitable.”

“I have a bad feeling about this. And Naruto… he’s unpredictable.”

“I think he’s capable of hearing the hard truth. It’ll be far worse if we keep it from him.”

As she began to walk down the long hospital corridor, Tsunade cast a final glance at the copy ninja.

“We’ll keep it a secret for now. I assume you’re planning to stay with her tonight?”

The remark took Kakashi by surprise, and his eyes widened.

“I’m only going to check on her, Lady Hokage.”

Once Tsunade had turned away, she let out a soft chuckle and murmured under her breath, “Be careful, Kakashi. Don’t get too close to the flames.”

________________________________________

The door creaked open softly, but you didn’t bother to turn around. You stayed lying on the bed, lost in a fog of confusion and reflection. Silence lingered until you felt the mattress shift slightly beneath you.

“Are you okay?”

Kakashi’s voice reached you, gentle but filled with concern. He was there, likely seated on the edge of the bed.

“No,” you replied flatly.

“Hmm. You know... Genma is fine, and what happened—it wasn’t your fault.”

“By my hand, but not my fault. Is that it?”

A brief silence followed your sharp retort.

“I didn’t want things to turn out this way. I—I didn’t want this,” you murmured, your voice cracking under the weight of your emotions.

“I know. That’s why I’m telling you—it wasn’t your fault.”

A few tears slipped down your cheeks. Kakashi, who had been sitting with his back to you, noticed your subtle, uneven movements. The moonlight spilling into the room illuminated your figure just enough for him to see that you were crying.

Instinctively, the silver-haired ninja placed a hand on your shoulder. His thumb began to trace slow, soothing circles, a small gesture to offer you comfort.

The touch stirred something indescribable within you, but you were in no state to resist or question it. Suddenly, you sat up, leaving Kakashi momentarily stunned, and before you could stop yourself, you wrapped your arms around his torso.

What was happening to you? Why were you acting like this around him?

Kakashi, caught off guard by the unexpected embrace from behind, didn’t move at first. He was torn—part of him wanted to push you away for your own good, while another part, the part his heart screamed at him to listen to, wanted nothing more than to hold you close.

When a few seconds passed with no reaction from him, you began to withdraw your arms from his chest.

“I—I’m sorry… I didn’t mean—”

You were cut off abruptly as Kakashi turned and pulled you into his arms, enveloping you completely. You couldn’t see his face, but his eyes were fixed on your trembling form, glistening with unshed tears.

His thoughts raced, swirling in chaos. Seeing you like this, so broken by what you were going through, left him feeling utterly powerless. He couldn’t stand it. He had faced countless hardships with you before—on missions, in moments connected to Naruto—but seeing you crushed by something so incomprehensible, unable to help you, was unbearable.

He rested his chin gently atop your head and closed his eyes. One of his hands moved to your hair, stroking it softly, trying to soothe you and bring you some semblance of peace.

It had been so long since he last held you in his arms that he could hardly believe it was real. So long, in fact, that he’d almost forgotten you didn’t even remember him anymore. So long that his emotions, long suppressed, now refused to be ordered into anything resembling calm.

Gradually calming down, you let yourself sink into the comforting warmth of Kakashi's embrace and closed your eyes, your hands clutching tightly at his green uniform. When he felt the tension leave your body and managed to steady his own racing heartbeat, the silver-haired ninja opened his eyes gently.

“Let me tell you about one of our missions,” he murmured softly in the stillness of the room. “It was before I started leading Team 7, the one I told you about. You were still in the Anbu back then.”

Keeping your eyes closed, you listened intently to his voice. You had been waiting for this moment since the first time he came to see you. Fearing he might stop if he thought you were awake, you remained perfectly still, feigning sleep.

“Your team joined us as reinforcements on an S-rank mission. Thanks to your intervention, the mission was a success... But that mission stands out in my memory for another reason.”

Kakashi shifted slightly, sitting up straighter while still holding you close. A faint chuckle escaped from beneath his mask.

“Even with your mask on, I could sense how worried you were when you saw our injuries. You fought, but… you weren’t really focused on the battle. I caught you staring at me for a long moment before you even engaged the enemy. The last time I saw you fight like that was during another mission, when I was injured.”

He paused briefly before continuing.

“You barely dodged several dangerous attacks during that fight. All because you were too preoccupied, worrying about me and thinking only of patching me up. The second the battle ended, you ran straight to me and started tending to my wounds. I kept telling you I was fine, but you were so stubborn that I eventually gave in.”

Closing his eyes for a moment, he let out a soft sigh.

“And when you took off your mask, I saw the look in your eyes. It scared me. I was terrified that you could have been hurt because you were so distracted by my condition. But what frightened me even more… was seeing how much you cared about me. You cared so deeply that you forgot your own survival, just because I was injured.”

You recalled how he had avoided giving a direct answer about the nature of your relationship, and now, you were starting to understand why. Faint glimpses of that event began to surface in your mind. They were blurry and fragmented, but undeniably there. And now, you were beginning to realize that perhaps he wasn’t just a friend.

“What happened earlier, with Genma… I know you would never have done that. That wasn’t you. And… I’m going to help you find your way back to who you’ve always been. I don’t know who’s hurting you like this, but… I’m here now, and I’m not letting you go again. Whatever it is, we’ll face it together.”

Someone asked me to tag them on updates, so here is the taglist. If you also want to be tagged, tell me ! :) @strflp