#cue every time sasuke is being held by naruto

[nwluxx]

Delicate...

is the way Naruto holds his Sasuke 🥺

[mixelation]

here i wrote more reborn au. this is the beginning of The Wave Arc Debacle as described previously. sakura POV

Sakura was shaking as the hunter-nin made off with Zabuza's body. She hoped no one could tell. 

There were a few moments of tension, all of them at attention as they watched the young man retreat. Then suddenly it was like Kakashi sagged over, his posture bending inward. That was everyone else’s cue it was alright: Naruto and Sasuke and even Tazuna immediately and visibly relaxed. 

“Okay,” Kakashi-sensei said, panting, limped-kneed and more exhausted than Sakura knew a Jounin could be. “I’m going to show you a secret technique. Only Naruto can learn this one.”

Naruto, despite all odds, perked up. Then Kakashi-sensei produced a three-pronged kunai and Naruto immediately deflated. 

“Oh, c’mon,” he mumbled. “My first C-rank, too…”

Sakura opened her mouth to ask what this technique was, but the Hokage was in front of them before she could get more than a word out. He seemed just as tense as they had been moments ago, eyes flicking around for danger, and Sakura snapped to attention. Behind her, Tazuna sounded as if he’d just choked on air. 

“What’s wrong?” Hokage-sama demanded. He aimed his command at Kakashi-sensei, but Sakura noted he was eyeing Naruto up and down out of the corners of his eyes. 

Of course, Sakura decided. Hokage-sama would obviously assume him being summoned meant his son was in danger. Most ninja couldn’t just summon Hokage-sama at whim if their missions went bad. But clearly Naruto would always get favoritism, even if Kakashi-sensei and Hokage-sama promised he wouldn’t, and even if Naruto himself got all bristly at the idea.

“The mission might have gone a teensy-weensy bit… wrong?” Kakashi provided. 

Tazuna shifted nervously. 

Kakashi-sensei’s report was short and succinct, skipping a lot of details to only hammer home the important parts. Hokage-sama tilted his head back, glancing over at Tazuna a few times. 

“I have every right to pull my shinobi out and detain you until you pay the price of an A-rank,” Hokage-sama told Tazuna finally. 

Tazuna held his gaze, consciously stopping his nervous shuffling. Sakura wondered if she could be that brave, if Hokage-sama told her off. 

“Oh, c’mon!” Naruto yelled, louder this time. “He couldn’t pay more because of this Gato asshole–”

Hokage-sama raised an eyebrow. 

“--this Gato jerk, and it’d be totally unfair if we didn’t help him just cuz he’s poor right now.” Naruto pointed determinedly at Tazuna. “I mean, he’s a jerk too, but at least he’s trying to help people.”

Hokage-sama studied naruto for a few moments, and Sakura wondered if Naruto was going to be told yet again that he needed to speak to his father like he was the Hokage when he was on the job. Instead, he sighed heavily, and a tiny smile tugged at his lips. 

“Kakashi,” he said, “you confirmed Zabuza’s death?”

Hokage-sama told them it was up to them if they wanted to continue or not. Naruto and Sasuke immediately said they wanted to. 

“Sakura?” Hokage-sama asked, and Sakura felt her cheeks go hot. She wondered if anyone would actually take her opinion into account if she said no. 

“Um, well…” That had been terrifying. But she did want to help Tazuna’s village; helping people wasn’t why she signed up to be a shinobi, but wanting to be a protector like Ino was certainly part of why she stayed. “Yes,” she said finally. “I want to stay too.”

After all, A-rank missing-nin were rare. What were the odds another one would show up?

“Alright,” Hokage-sama agreed. “I really can’t be teleporting around willy-nilly, though. I’ll send back up. Hold on…”

Hokage-sama patted himself down, eventually pulling a random piece of sealing paper out of a pocket. He handed it to Kakashi-sensei. 

 “Is that…” Kakashi started, eyeing it warily. 

“She’ll be here in a few minutes,” Hokage-sama answered cheerfully. Then he was gone. 

Kakashi stared down at the piece of paper, defeated. 

“What’s going on?” Sasuke asked. 

“This is from Tori,” Kakashi said flatly, like that explained anything. 

“Oh,” Sasuke replied. He didn’t sound thrilled. Even Naruto made a face. Sakura had never heard of anyone called Tori at all. 

Sakura concentrated very hard on not fidgeting. She hated when the team got like this: all three of them knowing something she didn’t. It made her feel like even more of an outsider. 

Tori turned out to be a teenaged girl. She appeared out of nowhere, much like Hokage-sama, although she teetered uncertainly at her landing, her arms windmilling. She was wearing a pink tank top with lacy straps that Sakura thought was a bit cute, tucked into a baggy pair of black standard-issue slacks. A belt with a handful of scrolls was at her waist, but she wore no weapons pouch. A convenience store bag swung from her hand. 

“Hey!” she greeted, once she was balanced again. “So what, uh– what are we doing?”

“He didn’t tell you?” Kakashi-sensei asked, voice stressed. 

“No?” Tori replied. “I was literally buying lunch.”

She held up the bag. 

“Ah, well,” Kakashi-sensei replied, swaying in place. “Unfortunately for you, I’m about to pass out.”

And then he did. 

“Oi, oi,” Tori yelled, diving forward to catch him. “What the fuck?”

Sakura winced at the language. It wasn’t that she was offended; it was that this was basically giving Naruto free reign to swear as much as he wanted. 

Tori laid Kakashi-sensei out in the grass, assuring them she was “technically” a medic, which was an oddly ominous way to word it. Naruto attempted to fill her in on their mission as she poked chakra into Kakashi. His story wheeled around in a disorganized fashion, the way all Naruto’s stories did. 

“No offense, kid,” Tori told him. “But you’re not really making any sense. Anyone else want to try?”

After only a moment of hesitation, Sakura stepped forward. She described their mission objective and then the series of events and decisions that led them to the current circumstances. Tori nodded along, eventually standing and pulling a packaged curry bread out of her bag. 

“Interesting,” she said, taking a bite of her bread. “So are we in Wave?”

“We’re close to the crossing,” Tazuna replied. “Do you… do you not know where you are?”

Tori blinked back innocently at him, shoving more bread into her mouth. 

Tori finished her bread, assured them Kakashi was just chakra-exhausted, and then pulled out an apple. Tazuna volunteered his home to them, and Tori directed Naruto and Sasuke to carry Kakashi between them. 

“If you mess it up,” she said, smiling at them, “he’ll feel it when he wakes up.”

She produced a can of some sort of sparkling juice drink from the convenience store bag. It fizzed over its side when she popped the top. 

Sakura assumed Naruto and Sasuke got put with Kakashi because they were boys. As it turned out, Tori wanted Sakura by her side so she could quiz her on details of their fights. She wanted to know everything the Demon Brothers and Zabuza had said, whether it seemed important or not, and what techniques they’d used and what strategies they seemed to be implementing. 

Being a ninja involves so much information, Sakura thought. She had a very good memory, luckily. She had a lot to say. 

“Zaubza had no pulse,” Sakura explained twice for Tori on how they knew he was dead. “Kakashi-sensei checked.”

Tori was squinting off into the distance, like she was doing a complex math problem in her head. Her hair was tied back in a loose braid, but over the course of their trip, several curls had escaped and now framed her face at strange angles. Sakura couldn’t decide if it was pretty or not. 

Striking, Sakura finally decided. Only one-third of shinobi graduates were girls, and the proportion of kunoichi got smaller and smaller as rank increased. There had to be something amazing about Tori if she was a Special Jounin at her age. If she wasn’t pretty, she had to be something.

“But the hunter-nin took the body? You’re sure of it?” Tori asked. Sakura nodded. “Did you see what part of the neck he hit? With the senbon?”

Sakura hadn’t really seen much of the specific attack, but she could narrow it down to a side and a general area. Tori’s lips thinned. 

“Does that mean something?” Sakura asked. 

“Maybe,” Tori allowed. 

Wave was… wet, and smelled like wet garbage. It looked like it might have been pretty once, but the buildings and roads had suffered years of disrepair. Whatever waste collection had once been in place was gone or inadequate now, and rubbish clogged the drains and caused gross, stinky puddles to form in the cracks of what was left of the pavement. People looked at them with distrustful eyes, even with Tazuna there. 

Tazuna’s house was the same. It was probably comfortable once, but lost roof tiles and cracked windows had not been replaced. Someone had been maintaining the yard, but the vegetable plot was pathetic in the number of plants it contained versus the size delineated by a low stone wall. The inside was roomy, but the rugs were threadbare and there was much less furniture than the size would allow. 

Tazuna’s daughter, Tsunami, apologized again and again that they only had one guest room. 

“Inari can sleep with me,” she offered, “so the young ladies–”

Tori held up a hand. “Aw, don’t kick the kid out of his room. We shinobi don’t care about gender like that.”

This was a lie– Sakura felt like the only time her being a girl didn’t matter was when people were telling her off for noticing it did matter– but it made Tsunami hesitate. Tori flashed her teeth reassuringly. 

“Besides, Kakashi and I are basically siblings,” she said. 

The statement made Naruto wrinkle his nose, and Sakura felt there was a joke there she didn’t quite get. 

They rolled Kakashi out onto one of the thin futons Tsunami left them, and Tori poked him with more chakra while Naruto very haphazardly tossed a blanket over him. Sakura did her best to chide him with her eyes while she fixed it. 

“I think he’ll be awake by morning,” Tori decided, sitting back on her heels. “Make sure he eats something when he wakes, even if it’s just broth.” She frowned. “Even if he insists he’s fine.”

Tori then sat back on her butt and started unrolling scrolls and pulling out little jars of ink. 

“What are you doing?” Sakura asked curiously. 

“I was interrupted during my lunch break for a lab shift, so I don’t have any weapons on me. I’m going to see what I have sealed away,” Tori replied. 

“Aren’t shinobi always supposed to have weapons on them?” Sasuke wondered. 

“Technically, yes,” Tori replied. Then she pointed accusingly at him. “Ask your brother what I can do without them, though.”

Tori explained that she kept weapons stored away “just in case,” and all she needed to do was remember which storage seal to draw. Sakura was… well, right up until this moment, she had been sure this was not how storage seals worked, because you couldn’t put a kunai in one scroll and expect to retrieve the same kunai from another scroll. But neither Naruto nor Sasuke blinked an eye, and a few minutes later, Tori had a pile of metal in front of her. 

“What are you going to do with all of those?” Sasuke asked. 

“What are we doing to help you?” Naurot asked, excitement in his eyes. 

“You three are going to watch over Tazuna and Kakashi,” Tori said calmly, picking up a bent kunai and turning it over with a tiny frown on her face. “Hokage-sama didn’t give me any specific instructions except to babysit you while Kakashi is down, but it seems to me…” 

She dropped the bent kunai and picked up another one and then another. 

“It seems to me the easiest way to solve this is to just assassinate Gato.”

[excitedlysuffering]

Green With Envy

It’s past 2am and my eyes hurt so it’s unedited for now sorry y’all😅

Original Request (from Wattpad account): What makes the boys jealous, if possible?

Guest stars: Sasori and Sai!

Masterlist     

Naruto~

Oh, this boy… he’s too oblivious sometimes he doesn’t even know to be jealous. He was at a hot spring with friends once and someone says, “(Y/N) is so hot…” Naruto just grinned and said, “Yeah, she really is.”

But that doesn’t mean he won’t protect your honor. If someone says something a little too… risque like ‘Yeah, I’d tap that’ for example, get ready for more Narutos than you can count all charging you with a Rasengan.

He will not stand other guys cozying up to you. He’s the one who should be blessed with your hugs and cuddles. Won’t hesitate to cause a scene and yell to the entire world that he loves you and won’t let any other guy make a pass at you.

“Naruto, you didn’t need to go that far! You blasted him through three walls!” He’s endearing, really.

Sasuke~

Is jealousy an Uchiha thing or just a Sasuke thing? One of life’s many mysteries. Anywho, unlike Naruto, the second your name is brought up in conversation, he goes on guard and he’s listening closely.

If anything is said that he deems inappropriate, whether it be disparaging or otherwise, Sasuke had better be held back or he just might punch you into next week.

“Sasuke, calm down! He just said I had good taste in clothes!”

Even though he can easily get jealous, he knows the importance of freedom and he trusts you. He won’t come guns blazing (or sword slashing rather) and drag you away unless you need it of course.

The last thing he wants is for you to feel like you’re dating your dad or something. He’s very blunt and if he becomes uneasy with the way another male is talking to you, he’ll let said male know. Maybe after scowling with his Sharingan activated, however.

Neji~

Neji doesn’t really get jealous per se, more like offended on your behalf. Because of his upbringing, which taught him manners and the utmost respect, he really can’t understand talking about girls like they’re objects? Will never refer to a woman as ‘hot’ or anything like that.

If someone even dares speak of you like that, (even if you’re not necessarily together yet) he will fight them, and they will experience the 64 palms technique.

He especially hates people in your personal space. He really does trust you, just not others. Is not afraid to embarrass someone on your behalf. Half the time his glare is enough to scare them off, but some people are just clueless. (They wake up in the hospital)

“Neji! You can’t just throw me over your shoulder and leave! And that guy looked like he had seen a ghost?!” Needless to say, even cool, calm, and collected Neji has his limits.

Shikamaru~

Shika is too laid back to get jealous over little things. Somewhat like Neji, he doesn’t get jealous. He might feel threatened on your behalf, but never jealous. He can trust you with his life why shouldn’t he trust you with your relationship?

However, if someone is clearly harassing you or just generally making you uncomfortable, he will not hesitate to step in and make them leave. He won’t resort to physical violence (too much work), but he will intimidate them or put his genius to use and play some kind of trick on them.

He honestly has endless patience and at the same time no patience? Patience with you if you’re having a pleasant conversation with someone, but will go from 0-100 (or 50, really, anything more is a lot of effort) real quick.

“Shika, that guy thought he was really paralyzed, thanks to your shadow possession!” Being jealous is a waste of time, but clever revenge is always a treat for Shika.

Kiba~

So. Jealous. So. Easily. Kiba is naturally animalistic (in the best way) and just like a dog, can be very possessive. If explicitly asked, he will try to tone down his jealous fits, but will still be protective. If he does have free reign, however, oh boy…

No chill at all, whatsoever. Whether it’s absolutely destroying the object of his rage or just simply making out with you right there. No matter how annoyed he may get, he respects you with every fiber of his being and would never tell you to change or try to control you. He wouldn’t ever embarrass you (unless Kiba and Akamaru pummeling a room full of guys is embarrassing).

Just let him FIND OUT someone is making you feel the slightest bit of unease. One second, they’re chatting you up and then BAM! There’s a flash of white and a huge dog ready to maul them.

“Kiba, what do you mean they all looked at me for too long?! We walked in the door, of course, they turned to look!”

Gaara~

Gaara is a bit of a conundrum, but in a way that makes sense? Like, he doesn’t feel the need to get jealous of guys because when you leave, he’s going to be kissing you goodnight, and he’s the one who gets to spoil you.

However, he will get jealous of little things. Oh, you’ve spent a good amount of time playing with an animal/pet? Be prepared to walk in on Gaara giving them a stern lecture on stealing you from them. Gaara knows he has any potential suitors beat, but tiny adorable animals and children? In his mind, he can never be too cautious.

He gets a little pouty but that can easily be cured with cuddles, sometimes with that evil little pet that stole your affections from him. He can never stay jealous for long, he views it as an unproductive waste of time. He could be actively trying to get your attention, but instead, he’s going to be sulking in a corner? Yeah, no.

“Gaara! Stop scolding my cat, that’s not doing anything!”

Sai~

On the rare occasion that this cinnamon roll gets jealous, he’s confused and shocked. Like just imagine the surprised Pikachu face and that’s him. He knows what jealousy is, he can identify it just fine, but he doesn’t know why he’s jealous.

You aren’t doing anything, all you did was laugh at someone else’s jokes, but still… do you find them funnier than him? Are you going to leave him because he’s not that funny?! Cue the slow onset into insanity… Poor Sai is losing his mind to paranoia and made-up scenarios.

Will most certainly drag you away (gently) from whoever is taking your attention and leave. He doesn’t even bother with a fake smile, they don’t deserve it. He’ll explain to you calmly even though he’s panicking on the inside. Once he is back to normal he’ll show you his nearest artwork.

“What the-! Sai, you can’t just draw caricatures on people’s car!” You don’t even want to know how he figures out which car is theirs...

Kakashi~

Too cocky to be jealous. He has the right to be though because one glance at him without his face mask can cause instant pregnancy. Anywho, he knows you love him and some guy trying to hit on you like some high school douche isn’t going to change that.

He does like to intervene, however, just to flex like ‘yeah, I’m the boyfriend, now get lost’.

He’s not big on PDA, so he won’t start kissing you to ward off strangers, but he will wrap on arm around you or hold your hand and ask who your ‘friend’ is.

When there’s that one stubborn person who won’t take a hint, Kakashi doesn’t mind rocking someone’s world or getting kicked out, he needed to perfect that one offense technique anyways. He’s pretty laid back though, so it has to be somewhat drastic for this though, plus he knows you can handle yourself.

“A thousand years of death?! Isn’t it weird to be poking old men in the butt?!

~Akatsuki~

Pein~

Pfft. Who does he have to be jealous of? He’s a god among mortals, after all. To him, you’re a goddess and as such you belong with someone like him, not the peasants around you.

But on the offhand chance that someone doesn’t heed his godly status, he will not hesitate to pull you into his side and yell ‘Almighty Push’ and totally obliterate that loser. (A/N: Holy crap I think that needs to be a one-shot cuz, wow, Pein being all protective is making me swoon?)

If it’s not a big deal, he’ll easily let you take care of it. If you’re strong enough to catch Pein’s attention, you’re more than strong enough to deal with some lowlife. That doesn’t mean, however, that they won’t feel his wrath too.

If you ever want to witness a true royal rumble, dare someone to mess with Pein’s S/O. It’d be an epic tag team match (slaughter, really) for the ages. One would d be surprised how quick he can lose his cool when it comes to you.

“Pein, that’s the fifth time this month! Kakuzu is going to murder me if I ask for money to fix this wall!”

Deidara~

Need I even say it? Jealous boy all the way. You’re his favorite masterpiece so why should let an uncultured swine who doesn’t even understand your worth touch you? Rhetorical question, he wouldn’t.

He is not above fighting or placing a bomb on someone who gives you one too many glances. He’d make sure they knew it wasn’t art, they weren’t good enough for that, before blowing the offender up.

No one and he means no one gets to talk bad about his S/O. If someone insults you in his presence they might as well as swallowed one of his explosives and trusted him not to blow them up.

Will one 100% hide you from view if you look too appealing. He thinks you look ravishing, but he’s the only one who should be able to think that, in his opinion. Don’t worry, no one’s ever gotten close enough to harass you with Dei around. His one-eyed scowl is a great deterrent.

“Deidara! You blew up my favorite restaurant! He didn’t even say anything to me!”

Sasori~

Would rather die before admitting he was jealous. As adamant about not being jealous as he is about art being eternal. That’s not to say that he won’t take action though. He will use chakra strings to make the perpetrator walk away, meanwhile making them bump into literally everything in the general vicinity.

The two of you don’t leave the base all that often so it’s unusual to see an envious Sasori action, but it’s a real treat when it happens. After he deals with whatever idiot crossed him, he’ll be a bit more affectionate that day/night.

Not huge things, but instead of working on puppets all night, he’d be more apt to hold you that night. Average people hitting on you make him insecure because he realizes he’s not that great at normal relationships but he still doesn’t want to lose you. That feeds into his jealousy and he figures the only way to get rid of it is to make sure those other guys can’t offer anything he doesn’t have.

“Sasori! If you wanted a hug, you could’ve said that instead of treating that guy like a ball inside of a pinball machine!”

[darkwhiteisacolor]

Hi, watched Luca for the first time last night and I just can’t stop thinking about a narusasu au in which Sasuke is a boy who’s kept at home by his family and he’s a curious little boy who just wants to explore the world but he’s so afraid of going out bc of the stories his family implemented on him about the Leaf Village (this takes place when the Village segregated the Uchihas but no massacre occurred) and Naruto is an orphan boy— because he lost his parents obvi, he’s still the kitsune holder— who is rebellious and rowdy, creating a ruckus with every step he takes and Sasuke is fascinated by this unruly blond, blue eyed boy who seems to have no care in the world and a bravery so unimaginable, Sasuke is in awe. Cue Naruto managing to sneak Sasuke off one day after school (after Sasuke told his parents he’d be tutoring) and they scurry off to the top of the Hokage Mountain— poor, goody two shoes, scared little Sasuke shaking off his sandals because he’s a good boy, he just doesn’t wander off outside of his part of the village, any lesser the top of the Hokage Mountain, but the sight to behold of the entire village awes him even further, and they swing their feet off the ledge and the freedom Sasuke feels is unimaginable. “Some day, this will all be mine, Sasuke,” Naruto tells him, “all of it. Even your part.” “Even mine?” Sasuke asks in disbelief. “Yep!” Naruto smiles at him and Sasuke feels warm, “you and your family won’t have to hide anymore! And then we’ll be able to hang out freely! You’ll be free, Sasuke!” And wow, if freedom doesn’t sound so sweet. And so every other day, he goes to meet Naruto at the top of the mountain, they talk and talk until it becomes every day at every hour, until one night he falls asleep and the sun rises him and he panics because, oh no! He fell asleep! and he runs home in a panic, only to be greeted by his worried mother and fuming father, and they scold him, tell him he’s no longer allowed to go from and to school without his older brother and Sasuke feels so angered, feels like the little freedom he has is being stripped away from him, and he runs away. Goes to the top of the mountain, where Naruto still is, and Sasuke is surprised as he is embarrassed that Naruto— brave, always happy Naruto— sees him angry and upset. Naruto obviously comforts him, talks to him about freedom and about things children talk about and they spend the next few days just scurrying about the village while Sasuke’s parents frantically search for their special boy— because yes, him and Naruto are more similar than Sasuke thinks, he too has a special ability like the whiskered boy— to no avail. Itachi knows his brother is with the wild blonde boy, but if he had a friend like that growing up— he would’ve done the same things too, so he lets his brother have that bit of freedom, doesn’t say anything to his parents when they walk right past a bush of yellow and black hair (bushes don’t have hair). It’s all fine until one day, there’s this lady— an old, abrasive lady, “she’s mean, doesn’t like me all too much,” Naruto had told Sasuke once— who spots them, makes a commotion about Naruto and oh shit, Sasuke spots his parents in the crowd. But what hits him hardest is when the lady points at Naruto and says, “it’s the monster fox! You, young boy, get away from him!” And Sasuke is so torn, because that’s his friend, he’s no monster, but at the same time, his parents are right there and if this lady can pull him out and give him an opening to run, then he can take it, can’t he? So he pulls away from Naruto, yells at him to “get away from me, you monster!” And the crestfallen look that rains on Naruto’s face absolutely breaks him, but he needs to get away, he’s scared too. Not of Naruto, never of him, but of losing his freedom, of losing him. And so with a broken heart, and Naruto’s tearful eyes, he turns his back on him and runs, Naruto doing the same, but before the blond can get far, ninjas catch him and Sasuke has to hear Naruto scream at them to let him go, and he knows Naruto will be held somewhere where his

Pt. 2

[catflorist]

Markings (ao3 / ffn) catflorist Summary: After the war, Sakura steals the hearts of Team Taka. Sasuke doesn’t know how to feel about this. All about healing and friendship for Sakura and Sasuke (and Team Taka/Team Seven). SasuSaku Month 2020, Day 14: Battle Scars @ssmonth 1 / 2 / 3 / 4

Markings Chapter 2

As the weeks passed, more shinobi recovered from their injuries and returned home. The community of the encampment grew quiet. After promising to spar Sasuke upon their next meeting, even Naruto left for Konoha to accept his hero’s welcome.

Sasuke thought about leaving himself. He would wander the land, atone for his misdoings, and clear his head. He decided to set out after the summer solstice.

In the meantime, as the population of the camp dwindled, Sasuke, Jugo, Suigetsu, and Karin seized deserted tents for themselves. They claimed a corner of the encampment as their own. In the space between their tents, they built a fire pit. With dreams of constructing a small gathering space, Karin asked Sakura's help in hauling lumber from a nearby copse of trees.

Suigetsu ducked as Sakura turned with a log in her arms, swinging its weight as if it were a twig.

“You’re fucking tough!” he praised.

She smiled. “Where should this one go?”

“Over here!” Karin said. “Sasuke’s going to build the table.”

Though he had not volunteered for the task, Sasuke found himself building a table.

Beside him, cursing over every splinter, Suigetsu fashioned the logs into low benches. Jugo and Sakura arranged them around the fire’s perimeter. Karin oversaw their affairs. They ate together that night.

Sakura became a familiar presence among the members of Taka. She joined them by the fire each night, and the five of them took turns cooking dinner.

There was no doubt Sakura had befriended his teammates.

Jugo gifted her treasures from the landscape each time Sakura healed broken wings and bruised paws.

Karin and Sakura discussed the intricacies of healing and chakra control. As Sakura’s duties shrank with the decreasing population of the camp, she began to train Karin in medical ninjutsu. Sasuke knew Karin to approach her own healing abilities with cynicism, but under Sakura’s wing Karin gained a new fervor for healing. They often lost themselves in their conversation unless Suigetsu interrupted them, pining for attention.

Suigetsu took it upon himself to recount stories about the group to Sakura.

“…so we put on the Akatsuki robes—” Suigetsu paused and held up a thoughtful palm. “Great design, by the way, love the clouds—then we took off to fight Killer Bee.”

As for Sasuke, he listened to the group’s conversations and scowled when appropriate.

“To put it briefly, Sasuke got his ass kicked. It was a real sorry sight,” Suigetsu laughed. Karin pursed her lips and nodded.

On cue, Sasuke scowled.

“The jinchuriki was strong,” Jugo confirmed with a solemn face.

Suigetsu winked at Sakura. “I bet you’ve had to save his ass before too, Sakura-chan, being his old teammate and all.”

Sakura smiled and rubbed the back of her neck.

“Don’t be nice to him, Sakura,” Karin advised.

Karin and the rest of Taka had become quite comfortable making jokes at Sasuke’s expense. Sasuke did not complain.

“Well, maybe a few times,” Sakura admitted, casting a glance at Sasuke. He allowed himself to roll his eyes.

The group broke out into laughter.

The solstice came and went.

.

.

Sakura sometimes crossed paths with Sasuke as she visited patients or left the infirmary. He had taken to roaming the encampment on long walks. If she had a moment, she joined him.

On one of these walks, he asked her, “Will you train me?”

His request caught Sakura off-guard. Sasuke’s condition had improved in the past month and he had restarted his training regimen. He had adjusted quickly to one-armed fighting. Around the fire in the evenings, he often asked Sakura to heal scrapes and bruises.

“What makes you interested in medical ninjutsu?” she asked.

He didn’t answer, and Sakura didn’t push him. Sasuke hated explaining himself.

As they walked, Sakura launched into her speech. “The techniques of medical ninjutsu require perfect chakra control. Too little chakra, and you will have no effect. Too much, and you’ll actually worsen the damage on the area you’re trying to heal.” Sakura bent and plucked a leaf from the ground. “It’s a delicate balance. You’ll need enough chakra to suspend the leaf in the air, like this.”

She demonstrated for him. The leaf twirled in lazy circles within her bubble of green chakra.

“Too much, and it will burn,” she warned. “Give it a try.”

Sasuke took the leaf and conjured violet chakra to his palm. The leaf instantly caught aflame.

He frowned, his mouth settling in a petulant curve. “It’s difficult,” he admitted.

When they gathered by the fire, the group asked after Sasuke’s progress.

“How are your leaves?” Suigetsu called out. Sasuke pulled a leaf out from under his cloak.

“How many do you keep in here?” Karin asked.

Sasuke sighed. “Just one, Karin.” He paused. “I burned the rest.” He did not intend to be funny, so the group roared in laughter.

After a few seconds of tossing around in his turbulent chakra, the final leaf disintegrated with a puff of smoke.

The next night, Sakura asked, “Any progress?” and Sasuke demonstrated how to burn a leaf.

A week passed. One night, the group held their breaths as Sasuke maintained perfect chakra control for Sakura’s full count of ten.

When his leaf burst into flame, Karin cried out in dismay, and Suigetsu snapped his fingers. “Damn.”

“Better,” Jugo said.

.

.

Karin and Sakura were preparing supplies for the next day’s work in the infirmary tent.

“You’re learning quickly, Karin,” Sakura said, wrapping up a roll of bandages.

“It’s nice to know I have an option beyond people chewing me.” Karin gestured to the bite marks on her arms.

Sakura laughed. They fell back into their work. After some time, she thought to say, “I haven’t seen Sasuke lately.”

Refilling their store of gauze, Karin smirked. “He’s busy burning leaves.” Then she mentioned, in the same tone of voice, “He used to say your name in his sleep. Back then.”

The bandage Sakura was rolling unraveled in her hands.

“Not that often, but it happened a few times.” Karin adjusted her glasses. “I just thought you should know.”

.

.

Each day Sasuke waited for Sakura’s shift to end, and they strolled the grounds together. Sakura recounted her day, and Sasuke sometimes surprised her with the occasional question. Otherwise, they fell into a comfortable silence.

Sakura had not had the extra time nor energy to consider what might happen now that the war was over. There had been too many wounds to heal, too many lives on the line. Walking through the increasingly quiet and scattered tents, it was hard to forget the temporary nature of this community.

To Sakura’s mystery, Sasuke had not left.

One warm evening, they passed Sakura’s tent in the medic’s quarter of the encampment. Her tent was small and set apart from the others. A piece of driftwood, Jugo’s largest and heaviest gift, guarded the entryway.

Sakura gripped the strap of her medical shoulder bag. “I’m going to drop these supplies off. Do you want to come in?”

Sasuke followed her, past the whirled driftwood, into her cool tent. Sakura dropped the heavy bag and rubbed her shoulder. “How’s practicing going?”

Sasuke grimaced in response. Sakura beckoned for him to take a seat. She sorted through the collection of Jugo’s gifts by her bedside.

“Try now.” She presented him with a gnarled acorn.

“But this is yours.”

“I know. It’s from Jugo, and I really like it,” Sakura said. “But I don’t think you’ll burn it this time.”

Sasuke took the acorn from her and lit his hand in purple chakra. It spun slowly in the air, a small planet above his palm.

After some time passed, Sasuke closed his fingers over the acorn, and he returned it to her. He waited for her verdict.

“Do it again,” Sakura pressed.

Sasuke sorted through her collection and selected a long black feather.

He did it again. Sakura could tell from Sasuke’s relaxed shoulders, the splay of his fingers, that he had mastered the exercise.

Sasuke had struggled with the technique. It had taken him much longer to grasp than Sakura’s average student. Seeing the pride on his face, Sakura resisted the urge to clap or laugh in joy.

 “Well done.” She couldn’t hold back a smile.

Sasuke ran a thumb along the fringed edge of the feather. “You make it look easy.”

“I was trained by the best.”

“That’s not it,” he insisted. “You have a gift.”

Sakura was aware of her own abilities, but Sasuke’s words of praise sent heat prickling to her cheeks.

Before she could think about this too much, Sakura launched into the next lesson. “Now that you’ve got your chakra control, you can practice directing chakra into a wound. The human body naturally wants to heal, and chakra only helps it along.”

Sasuke nodded. His eyes did not leave her as she talked.

She continued, “It’s about intention. The chakra will do what you ask. But it’s also instinct, something you need to feel. Lucky for you, I nicked myself with a kunai earlier.” She turned over her hand, revealing a shallow cut in the flesh between her thumb and forefinger. “Try for yourself.”

Sasuke hesitated, but Sakura didn’t pull her hand away. Frowning, he called chakra into his palm. Without any fanfare, Sasuke healed her cut.

“You did it.” Sakura beamed.

Sasuke exhaled. He had been holding his breath.

 “How did it feel?” she asked.

“It was like what you said. The cut already wanted to heal. I only had to ask. I felt it close,” he emphasized.

Sakura examined her palm. “I’m glad I skipped you ahead in training.”

After a sharp glance from Sasuke, Sakura explained, “After the leaf exercise, the next step is typically to practice on live plants.”

Sasuke’s eyes darkened. “I could have hurt you,” he snapped, and Sakura understood then the reason for his hesitation.

“I promise, you didn’t hurt me,” Sakura said. “I know you learn better when you’re faced with the real thing—when it matters. I was right.”

“It was a risk,” Sasuke insisted.

“A small risk, for a small cut,” Sakura said. She touched his knee. “I trusted you.”

Sasuke’s arms twitched as if to fold across his chest, but he had forgotten this body language was no longer an option for him. His shoulders stiffened instead. Enough time passed in silence that Sakura wondered if he was angry with her.

Finally, he spoke. “Thank you,” he said. “For your trust.”

“Sasuke-kun,” Sakura said, with no particular reason beyond wanting to feel the shape of his name on her tongue.

His eyes widened.

In this light, while he wore that expression, it hurt Sakura to look at him.

Sakura’s mouth snapped shut, then opened again. She scrambled to add on to what she said.

“You can only heal at a basic level now. So don’t get too confident,” she warned.

Sasuke smirked. “I won’t,” he promised.

When the group heard of Sasuke’s success, Jugo gifted him a black feather to match her own.

.

.

“Spar with me.”

Sakura narrowed her eyes. “I don’t think so.”

Sasuke asked the next day. Again, Sakura said no.

He asked once again the next night by the fire.

“I just spent two months and a lot of chakra healing you.”

“I’ve regained my strength.”

“Well, I’m too busy.”

Sasuke sulked.

“Naruto will be upset that you didn’t spar him first,” she insisted.

Jugo, Suigetsu, and Karin watched this exchange with amusement.

The truth was that Sakura’s muscles were itching for action and movement after weeks of fulfilling her duties as a medic-nin. Yet she rejected all of Sasuke’s invitations.

An image of Karin’s scar flashed in her mind. Then Sakura remembered Sasuke’s face as he healed her, his eyes soft, his brow furrowed, uneasy at the prospect of hurting her.

 “Fine,” Sakura decided. “Let’s spar.”

There was a time when he had made her afraid. But now that fear was gone. She trusted him.

Sasuke’s eyes glinted in satisfaction.

The encampment had its own makeshift training ground. The thought of using that space did not cross their minds. The next day, Sakura and Sasuke trekked out to the old battlefield.

They stood apart on the cracked, rocky earth. Sasuke closed his eyes. Sakura inhaled deep to settle her nerves.

They listened. They were musicians, lost in their own private music, waiting for their cue to play.

Sakura’s ears rang. All at once, they sprang at each other.

It was no surprise that Sasuke was a formidable sparring partner. With each punch, block, and kick, he tested the limits of Sakura’s abilities. He did not hold back, nor did he underestimate her.

It was also no surprise that Sakura held her own. She could not match his speed, but she met each of Sasuke’s attacks with her earth-shattering strength. When her hits landed, Sasuke struggled to maintain his ground, his feet sliding backwards on the earth.

Sasuke claimed the first match. Then Sakura. Then Sakura for a second time. They faced each other again and again. Sometimes their matches lasted seconds, other times they dragged on in a burning chase.

They were both reluctant to seize victory outright. They watched each other carefully. With one sigh, sharp breath, or look from their partner, the other yielded, and the match ended. It was not about conquest or success. It was an exchange of skills, a mutual agreement.

Sakura’s legs burned, and her arms throbbed, but she deflected Sasuke’s next blow. She dipped below a second punch and swung a leg at his ankles, fluid in the movement of her kata. He jumped, springing off the ground with his hand, and landed in a crouch. A growl of frustration escaped Sasuke. Then he stilled, searching Sakura’s face for a sign to stop.

Sakura pounded the ground, and sent the earth shaking beneath Sasuke’s feet.

Sasuke lunged at her again.

The spar became less like a spar, and more like a dance. They predicted each other’s next steps, their next breaths. Sakura charged her fist with chakra, but Sasuke was already moving to block. When Sasuke moved to slip behind her, Sakura was already whirling to keep him in sight.

Sasuke punched. Sakura caught his fist in both hands. Spinning, she swung his body away with all her strength. He stumbled. Sakura swept his legs out from under him. His back hit the dirt. Panting, Sakura darted forward to end the match.

Fingers snaked around her calf, and Sasuke flipped Sakura to the ground with a movement too fast to register. He climbed on top of her, pinning down her chest with his forearm, in the most forceful display of dominance that day.

Gleaming red eyes bored into hers.

Sakura’s skull ached, and she spat hair out of her mouth, but her heart leapt in triumph.

Sasuke’s heavy body restricted her breathing. She did not move. Nor did Sasuke move, even after blinking away his Sharingan. His eyes were as dark and vast as the nighttime sky. He was close enough that his breath caressed her face. Sakura fought the urge to glance at his lips, which hovered around the edge of her vision.

The weight of his body disappeared. Sakura sat up and caught her breath.

Sasuke extended his hand.

Their fingers laced together. He pulled Sakura to her feet.

“You won that round,” he conceded. “Not me.”

Sakura had only employed taijutsu and chakra-powered punches throughout their spar. Yet her attacks had so threatened Sasuke, that out of pure instinct, he had activated his Sharingan.

She had pushed him to the brink, without a bloodline trait to her name. He had only pinned her down.

During Sasuke’s absence, Sakura had dreamed about what it would be like when they saw each other again. She had imagined how his face might change over the years. She wondered how their skills would match up. She wondered if their friendship would still matter to him. Now she knew the answers to all these questions.

Their hands were still clasped together.

Sakura brushed a streak of dirt from his cheek.

Sasuke disarmed her with a smile.

 “You’ll have to make it up to me,” Sakura said.

.

.

.

.

Note: Thank you so much for reading! Up next: Stargazing. Sasuke makes it up to Sakura (wink).

[kheta]

The Lesbian One

SakuHina head canon where the dark haired, noble clan inheriting child she falls in love with is Hinata instead of Sasuke. 

Bullies were making fun of Sakura for her forehead and Hinata said, through bright red blushes that she thinks Sakura is the prettiest girl Hinata knows, other than her Mother.

This gives Sakura self-confidence of doom and she doesn’t care about her looks anymore because suck on that, kind, cool Hinata thinks she’s the prettiest girl around!

Sakura giving Hinata the support she deserves.

Hinata being grateful and always reminding Sakura how cool Sakura is.

Hinata still being shy, but working on her shyness because there’s no way Sakura doesn’t praise the very ground her crush walks on.

“HINATA-CHAN! YOU DID IT! YOU’RE SO AWESOME! Isn’t she awesome Ino????”

Academy Arc:

Hinata told Sakura she wanted to be a strong shinobi like her father, but kind like her mother and Sakura heard “I wanna be the strongest ninja out!” To make sure her crush succeeds in her goals, Sakura promised to be the best kunoichi ever, so her and Hinata could be equals.

She studies to be the top kunoichi of her year and trains with Hinata a lot, complementing Hinata for every hit she makes and drowns Hinata in support.

Sakura hates Naruto. With a passion, nothing to do with Naruto being Naruto and everything to do with Hinata crushing on him. This hate manifests in her declaring them rivals.

Sakura is 100% the type to wonder why her rivals an idiot and to feel frustrated that an idiot like Naruto makes Hinata blush or laugh. The angrier she is the more she demands to spar him in taijutsu, they both get dramatically good at it.

Sakura because if Naruto drags a fight to stamina he’d totally win, so she figures she needs to get stronger with her form, finish the fight sooner. Naruto because he’s always been a hands on person and kata’s don’t make any sense to him, but whatever Sakura-chan does works for her, so he doesn’t mind copying her. Plus, Sakura's scary strong when she wants to be and Naruto makes a point of not getting hit from her.

Naruto becomes the fastest ninja in their year...Whenever Sakura’s involved. Not even Sasuke can catch him when he’s running from Sakura and he’s tried, it’s good practice.

Hinata once made an off-handed remark when she was training that Naruto has some pretty large chakra coils and Sakura’s been trying to increase her chakra coils since. (Muttering, “Stupid Naruto can barely hold a kunai right without me having to smack him sideways but he’s the one Hinata compliments?”) Moral is Sakura makes him a very competent ninja, but only because she’s like “An idiot like you can’t even aim properly, look at me, I’m better! Shifting my weight properly, unlike you!” and Naruto just copies her because to prove people wrong is in his blood and if she can do it, then all he has to do is copy her to do it better.

Unfortunately she can’t do much for his chakra control in the academy.

Everyone at the academy except Ino and Shikamaru thinks Sakura likes Sasuke because once she during an argument with Ino she screamed that “DON’T BE STUPID I LIKE” Pointed at Hinata, who happened to be with Sasuke. She didn’t finish the sentence because she looked at Hinata when she pointed and Hinata smiled and she melted.

Sasuke figures out Sakura doesn’t like him when he notices she blushes around Hinata more than him and this one time Hinata dropped one of her salves, so he gave it back to her the next day in class and the glare she gave him was telling.

As long as you’re not Hinata, Sakura has no problem expressing her crush. When Hinata’s around she never says I like you Hinata, but her actions are telling.

Sakura and Ino are still best friends because only Ino wants Sasuke and they only fight when Ino says Sasuke is better than Hinata.

Ino gets way better at taijutsu as well, because if her best friends going to be the strongest kunoichi then hell no is Ino gonna get left behind.

It gets to a point where Inoichi’s like “Ino darling you don’t need to be so serious about taijutsu, you know how we Yamanaka fight” and Ino’s like “WHAT DO YOU MEAN? HELL NO IS SAKURA GONNA BE STRONGER THAN ME, I REFUSE TO BE PROTECTED BY HER!!!!”

Genin Arc:

Hinata is an oblivious eggplant and thinks Sakura is just a very supportive friend.

Kiba, “She asked you to live happily with her as the strongest kunoichi in the future,”

Hinata, eyes sparkling, “Yeah isn’t it cool, I’m so lucky to have such a supportive friend with me.”

Kiba ships Hinata and Happiness (it’s canon guys) so he’s Sakura’s biggest wingman but Hinata manages to turn every cute, romance-y moment they have into a friend thing.

Kiba could see Sakura’s crush from a mile away, it wasn’t until the Chunin exams that he realised they weren’t dating though. This is when he begins being Sakura’s wingman.

Scene:

Kiba looks over at Hinata, “You know...If we meet Sakura and them in this exam, I won’t let you hold back. We’ve worked too hard for your feelings to stop us and if she’s the enemy, we face her.”

Hinata smiles softly at Kiba and stammers out, “I’d never do that, Sakura-chan would hate it if I held back against her, as her friend I will fight her with my all!”

“I do not believe Kiba means your feelings as her friend? Why? Because it is clear he is speaking of the deeper connection you two share.”

“Ano– Ino-san is her best friend, though Sakura-chan and I are certainly good friends.”

Cue two more minutes of them tryna coax Hinata to admit her and Sakura have something before they realise Hinata doesn’t know about Sakura’s crush and looking at each other in amazement because like. Now that they’re genin, Sakura is way less subtle because she misses Hinata and wtf, how had Hinata not realised yet?

Also Sakura wins her fight with Ino bc Ino’s strong af but she doesn’t have any concrete goal in mind, she’s just getting strong to be Sakura’s equal and Sakura’s like ‘giiiirl I’m tryna be the strongest to protect my wife you hear!’

When Sakura meets Neji she understands what true hatred is and it’s only Kakashi’s warning her that Hinata would hurt more if she jumped in that stopped her from trying to fight him. She doesn’t speak to Kakashi for the whole month she trains, trying to justify if Hinata’s pride was worth her life.

She totally trains with Gai for that month because Kakashi is lazy and Gai was around and Sakura is hella strong, she just needs motivation like Gai!

Hinata still has a big fat crush on Naruto until shippuden and when she canon confesses and nearly dies, Sakura confesses to her and says shit like “You don’t have to love me/ I’ve accepted that you won’t, no matter how hard I try. But as your friend I want you to promise, you won’t ever do something so reckless. I don’t wnt to lose you Hinata. You’re my special person I can’t lose you.”

Hinata is 140% confused and then like. She just notices Sakura. How fucking cool and kind she is and she’s always appreciated Sakura and thought she was beautiful but. She’s never really looked at those arms and damn are they defined. And her smile just makes Hinata feel at ease?

There’s no big crisis for Hinata, she realises quite quickly she’s getting feels for her bff but like shes Hinata. Sakura confesses a crush she’s had for years on this girl with the self confidence of a potato chip and said potato chip pines bc shes an idiot potato

everyone is Big Mad, even fucking Naruto

hes like ‘girl i cant like u. its against the bro code, pls talk to my bff’ and hinata is thinking ‘i know u ass. i just cant tho. shes legit perfection and ive hyped her up my whole life even if we like eavh other it wont work and family and a motherfuckn war’

Gaiden Arc:

THEY LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER OKAY! STRONGEST KUNOICHI COUPLE EVER! 10/10 ADORED BY EVERYONE. HINATA ISN’T CLAN HEAD BUT SHE’S ONE OF THE BEST DIPLOMATS IN TOWN, SAKURA IS THE TOP HEALER AND THEY’RE BOTH BLACK OPS MEMBERS. HINATA TRAINS ANBU IN INFILTRATION AND SAKURA TAKES THEM IN MEDICAL STUDIES. THEY ARE HAPPY ASF

[pbwritedump-blog]

DESIRE WASN’T A COMPLETELY FOREIGN CONCEPT TO THE UCHIHA.

in fact ,  it’d been a driving force in his life.  however his desire wasn’t what most would lump into the prohibition of the shinobi.  but it was one in the same.  his desire for revenge  ,  revolution was as visceral as a lust for another’s body.  it ate away at him  &  he allowed it to indulge on his heart.  for many years did he feed this lust for revenge          for it was all he knew  ;  he didn’t know any other way to live.  that was the desire he knew well  &  wondered just what would tip him back into it’s cold hands.  now sasuke had another pair of hands all over him  ;  warm  &  inviting.

these hands belonged to naruto uzumaki  ,  the very same hands he used to beat the desire for total devastation out of him years ago.  those hands were never constant against him  ,  not in the way those colds ones were once were     .     no.  he never stayed long enough for them to be  &  didn’t require for them to touch him in such a way.  a man not keen on intimacy  (  touch at all ,  really )  didn’t long for physicality with his partner.  often times he didn’t hover around long enough for it anyways  ,  but when he did  &  he allowed a spark of need  ,  it felt otherworldly.  it was never simple though.  they always began with teeth  &  nail from competition long etched into their bones.  naruto would push  &  naruto would pull  ,  but sasuke would shove back harder. 

if there were teeth on his neck his nails would pry at sun-kissed hair  &  yank.  if he were pinned  ,  he’d kick his legs around  &  force a turn.  naruto would do the same.  sex was just a fight with less  clothes.  they’d never complain  (  except for afterwards when age  &  exhaustion kicked in ).  but sasuke wouldn’t want it any other way.  perhaps want wasn’t the word  ;  rather he couldn't imagine it.  pleasure wasn’t something he was used to  &  delicacy was even more foreign.  he wasn’t molded with soft edges or caring hands.  he was sharp  &  cradled by raw  ,  torn fingers.  what was great about their entire relationship is that naruto knew.  he’d seen into the crevices of sasuke uchiha long ago  &  never once looked away.  he stared into the abyss  &  continued to stare even as it looked back at him.

maybe that was the bottom of the ice-berg  &  the highest level of all intimacy between them.  they never longed to tear clothes off  ,  slot their bodies together at every chance they got.  no  ,  they were content with presence alone.  even if sasuke’s was never long winded : a day to a week max he’d stay before he’d venture back out into the world.  he recalls very few times where he’d sit under a tree  &  miss the jinchuriki with an emotion that rivaled his rage.  in those times he’d recall the warmth emitting off of him from a shared bed as he slept  &  sasuke lie awake.  the way his eyes sparked when he sauntered into his office or into his  their  place.  his heart would  ACHE in a vicious way until he found ways to distract himself or cave to read letters he’d sent before.  those times were rare  &  often painful to endure.  on the flip side  ,  even more rare  ,   would he think of damp skin against damp skin  ,  but when he did it was of the small things.  the raw devotion in his eyes when naruto was above him  ;  face flushed  &  eyes blown.  the tremors of his body when sasuke  refused  to touch him besides just the press of his hips.

he did that on purposely truly.  refused to touch.  sasuke was certain if they’d slow down  &  incorporate what others viewed as foreplay into their tournament  ,  he would be able to make him come with just his hands  &  mouth.  the uchiha knew when  &  where to touch the other  ,  how to strum him like an instrument.  calculated in every sense of the word  ,  he wanted him to feel strife alongside pleasure.  he knew his reaction to every minuscule touch.  the ghost of his lips against his shoulders made goosebumps blossom against golden skin.  a brush of his fingers against his hip made him jut backwards  ;  careen into the whisper against his skin.  he wanted him to shake as he rose higher  &  higher until a climax finally gave way. every part of it held a purpose. to make drive the fox wild in every way possible until they slumped against each other  ,  finally ending the eclipse of the sun  &  moon.

and sasuke didn’t dislike any of it  ,  that wasn’t a factor at all within their far from active sex life.  though he’d be a liar if he said  sometimes  it didn’t scare him.  it was more when he’d give up the battle  (  he hopes naruto never noticed  )  ,  allow naruto to take the reigns.  AND FUCK  was he a different being than sasuke.  naruto wouldn’t string him as tight as a cord until he snapped. no  ,  god no.  he would drown the uchiha with his presence.  his hands would score his body like he’d never touched him before  ;  seek out  every  curvature available.  nails would paint red lines against his middle while his tongue traced the bumps of his spine.  all the while he’d never stop moving his fucking hips.  it was the very same zeal he had in battle  ,  but soaked in a dangerous infatuation.  what scared him in this was how  easily  he could lose himself.  it wasn’t like he would cry out  ,  do a one-eighty with composure            he was still viciously quiet  ,  but his mind would go on the fritz  &  his body would concave.  it was maddening how much he’d entrusted himself to naruto.  

pleasure was foreign  &  experiencing it at naruto’s mercy was a torture.  the body that only knew strife would scream at burning touch  ,  hungry lips that left skin marred. the jinchuriki dulled his senses  &  drew out everything he possibly could.  as quick as he could.  towards the end when fire was dwindling down to embers  &  naruto himself would shake he’d only be able to breathe out  his name  as if it were a dangerous secret as he came undone.  naruto wasn’t any different though.

finally.

no matter their position  ,  who did what  &  who came first  ,  the end was always the same.  exhaustion  &  a sense of euphoria.  two men in their thirties breathless either against each other or close enough that they touched somewhere at least.  it was probably his favorite part if he were honest  &  when he’d finally cave to touch him himself.  his only hand would go to his cheek  &  his thumb would stroke the lines on the skin.  yet it never matched their words  :  even whilst they’re tired  ,  could pass out at any moment  ,  they pick at each other like they weren’t grown ass men.  “   you lost  ,  usuratonkachi.   ”   sometimes he’d hear what naruto would say in response  ,  other times he’d drift off almost on cue.  if he never heard a reply he got the last word in  ,  right  ?

[sasuke-diaries]

some SasuGaa blank period headcanons because why not:

- getting to know Sasuke was a pretty interesting experience for Gaara. everything Gaara knew about him came from what Naruto would say, so he was surprised to see how... different Sasuke seemed from Naruto's descriptions. Sasuke really wasn't anything like he expected.

- I think Sasuke will move to Suna before they officially consider themselves a “couple.” he doesn’t feel at “home” in Konoha, but his relationship with Gaara strengthens by the minute, since he never bothers to visit Konoha during his self-reflection journey yet he always made an effort to visit Gaara at least once a week. he practically lived in the Kazekage mansion and Gaara knew it, which is why he would be the one to propose Sasuke just move in with him.

- during the beginning of their relationship, both Gaara and Sasuke were met with criticism every which way. neither exactly cared when they were personally attacked but got very defensive when the other was, Sasuke especially. ("There are only a handful of people I care about and even a smaller amount that I love. None of you will ruin this for me.") Sasuke still has Suna council members that hold a grudge against him for the things he said, but neither of them are bothered by it anymore. the village accepts them, and their friends and family accept them, so that's all that matters.

- Sasuke's very combative with Suna's council, and Gaara's conflicted about it because on one hand "We have to be respectful, Sasuke" but on the other hand Sasuke almost always says what he's thinking anyway.

- surprisingly, Sasuke got along quite well with Kankuro and Temari. except they all bonded over their tendency to stop Gaara from overworking himself (Gaara would argue there should be quotes around “overworking” because he thinks it’s fine but none of them are having it). as long as Sasuke cares about Gaara, there’s really nothing for them to be upset about.

- when Sasuke first moved to Suna, Gaara took some time out of his evenings to show him around. it worked as both a date-like setting since they both love taking walks, and as a way to familiarize Sasuke with his surroundings. Gaara’s practical in everything he does even when it’s unintentional.

- I think Sasuke's status in Suna would work out similarly to the way it does in canon. Sasuke's situation has always been odd, because he's still technically a missing nin therefore he has no "rank," but he's so respected by Suna's government officials and influential enough that he can be considered some sort of "Shadow Kazekage" (except this time he isn't fucking around in random dimensions).

- that being said, Gaara is still much more of a public figure than Sasuke is. which makes sense but also sucks because that means he's the one stuck doing TV interviews. Sasuke's usually backstage clearly amused at Gaara's camera shyness (even though Sasuke himself is as stiff as a board on live television, but he'll never admit to it).

- late night talks (if they’re still awake, which Gaara almost always is) are everything for these two, whether it be in bed or outside somewhere in the village. they’re the type of people that are always thinking about something, and the quietness of the village at night helps them organize their personal thoughts and share them with each other. 

- Gaara once tilted his head at Kankuro calling him "Gaara Uchiha" because "We don't even use last names here." when asked if that meant he wasn't taking Sasuke's name, he honestly had no idea what to say. the whole "who is taking whose name" conversation has yet to come up.

- Sasuke will occasionally find himself waking up from nightmares at 3ish AM, internally glad for a moment that Gaara's awake for him to talk to, but then irritated at the fact that Gaara's still doing paperwork at this hour:

"Sasuke, what's wrong? Why are you awake?"

"Why are you?"

- Gaara had no idea how to react to the truth about the Uchiha Massacre, and still is struggling to figure out what exactly he should do about it, if anything at all. it's very clear to him that Sasuke wants the truth to be revealed even if he hasn't mentioned it to any Konoha officials, but Gaara isn't sure if he'd be overstepping his boundaries by butting into a conflict like that. either way, at every Kage Summit or meeting, there's always a brief moment when they both feel the urge to just spill right then and there, but they aren't sure when would be the appropriate time. Sasuke's not as tense as Gaara about it though, who when he first found out was even more awkward towards Kakashi than he was before.

- Sasuke is such a little spoon it's not even funny. he just loves being near Gaara. he's the one with his head on Gaara's lap, the one that silently demands cuddles & affection, etc etc. he knows Gaara has a meeting with the Mizukage, but it's 4 AM, he's tired, and he wants to sleep on his Gaara Pillow for as long as possible.

- that being said, they're definitely not big on PDA, although sometimes when they're in their own little world they unintentionally display affection anyway. Sasuke's fond of holding Gaara's hand under tables/playing with it when he's not really invested in whatever conversation is being held in front of them.

- the fact that Gaara found friends in Team Taka still kinda surprises him to this day. the first time they met, they had walked into Gaara's office unannounced. some shark looking dude and a girl with red hair (an Uzumaki?) were loudly arguing while Sasuke was lying on the couch and Gaara was working on his laptop. Sasuke was irritated, because he specifically told Suigetsu they were meeting on the 27th, not the 7th (cue Karin hitting Suigetsu on the head). still, he decided to take this as an opportunity to introduce the team. when Sasuke mentioned there being a fourth member who was absent for some reason (”Where’s Juugo?”), there was a knock on the door. apparently Juugo stayed outside because he thought it'd be rude to just barge in like that, which Gaara silently appreciated although he didn’t really have a problem with the other two. after that, they became regular visitors in the Kazekage mansion: Karin usually provided her input on how to improve Suna's mental health facilities and spread awareness, Juugo found an interest in helping Gaara tend to his cacti (and giving him a newfound appreciation for other species of wildlife), and while Suigetsu liked teasing Gaara, he was really an interesting person to talk to.

- also Juugo is probably the biggest SasuGaa shipper of them all, followed by Karin (who isn’t far behind in the slightest, trust me), and Suigetsu, who isn’t all that interested in other people’s relationships but happy for them nonetheless.

- speaking of Taka, sometimes Sasuke accompanies them on their travels for about a week or so. I think it's safe to say Gaara is kinda... sad while he's gone. they try to call each other as much as they can, but one of the reasons why Sasuke even lives in Suna is because Gaara's too busy to use his personal phone and reach out without putting his work on hold. because of this, Gaara feels a bit lonely, and he's definitely relieved once Sasuke comes back.

- Gaara is not a great kisser but neither is Sasuke so they don’t really notice. it’s not until Sasuke bites his tongue for the 28th time that they realize something needs to change. 

- sometime in the near future Sasuke is going to demand that they drop a lot of the load off the Kazekage's shoulders and onto newer divisions that would actually have the time to deal with that shit. ("Sasuke, are you sure about this?" "The guy assigning S Rank missions shouldn't also be in charge of Academy admissions, Gaara). it turns out to be a lot more efficient and gives Gaara more free time than he knows what to do with.

this was longer than expected and not as... romantic... but damnit let SasuGaa be great!!!!!!

[daily-dose-of-naruto]

what's a relationship with sasuke like? What do your think would be the ups and downs of it? Aside from the obvious coldness, his temper, ego, etc.

What is having a Relationship with Sasuke like? Best and Worst - Headcanons

God, I love this ask so much. It’s the perfect occasion to fangirl about Sasuke and by fangirl, I mean making a salty analysis. Also, you might be interested in similar asks like this one, and this one. I am aware the title sucks. I tried. ~Admin Night

Sasuke has a very convoluted personality. In canon, he has lived a series of traumatic events. We can start, even before the Uchiha Massacre, with his father conduct and the distress of living under his brother’s shadow. However, the murder of his family obviously scarred him, as well as the interactions he held with Akatsuki and the Village of Konoha after the death of his brother. Although the intentions of Fugaku were good, they created a deep necessity of competition associated with a feeling of ineptitude: Sasuke always wants to be the best, he wants to be praised, and at the same time, he believes himself to be inferior to the rest.

Also, the intentions of Itachi were good, but I think we can all agree he screwed up pretty badly. We start with straight up gaslighting: nothing of that caring brother is true, Itachi convinced Sasuke. Then, he inadvertently drives him away from any caring relationship he might form: when Itachi told him to kill his best friend for power, he assured Sasuke will view all relationships as a way to gain power. Also, for Sasuke, this means any type of love will just bring death and hatred. Why would he want to love, then?

In terms of a romantic relationship, this would mean:

• An extremely slow beginning. Before having a relationship, before giving you the power to destroy him, Sasuke has to trust you and himself, or at least, he will try to. Most of his apparent coldness will derive from this. If he feels attracted to you, he might make the first step out of jealousy. The fact is, once he has decided he loves you, Sasuke is going to do it forever.

• Jealousy. He doesn’t admit it, but Sasuke needs a lot of reassurance, he is always picking non-verbal cues, many times twisting them; any change in your everyday actions makes him suspect. Are you tired or upset, and forgot to kiss his cheek? He knows, he is scared you want to leave him. Did you talk too much with that person? He is going to intervene, as his glare doesn’t seem to be enough. Sasuke is constantly afraid someone will take you away from him; if he could hide you from the world, he would.

• Over-protection. He has lost so many loved ones, he is constantly terrified of losing you too. Many nights he had stayed awake just watching you sleep, monitoring your breathing as his chest aches at the mere possibility your lungs would stop working. Sasuke knows your schedule, and if you are just a minute late, he’ll start panicking. Even if you are a skilled ninja, he will never be at ease if you aren’t at his side. He has thought of taking you away from the world, keeping you protected in a place only he knows.

• A tendency to second-guess everything his S/O does -- that you can tie with jealousy. What do you want from him? Do you actually love him? More than once, Sasuke will try to drive you away before you can hurt him. In general, his confidence -- in you, in his perception, in the world -- is very weak. Reassurance must be constant. Tell him you love him. Show him: he is especially fond of everyday actions, they remind him of home. He loves when you bring him omusubi with okaka or tomatoes, when you accompany him in his long walks, when you tell the waiter to not to sweeten his drink.

• His emotional and interpersonal intelligence is pretty low. Many of the discussions in the relationship will sprout from a lack of understanding on his part. This will also derive from his jealousy and inclination to second-guess. Another thing that can trigger his misaimed anger are commentaries that hurt his ego. If he’s fighting with Naruto, support him; do not praise his opponent’s abilities.

• Most of these downsides are born from his psychological wounds. What Sasuke needs is a nurturing, safe and healing S/O. In a healthy relation, based significantly on trust, he is going to grow: augment his self-esteem, subside his ill perception of the world, learn to find comfort in others.

His weaknesses come with strengths; healing, learning, and growing make them much more visible than the disadvantages.

• Once you start going out together, your relationship will become very stable. Discussions, although they can be heated, are usually resolved quickly. If he is sure he loves you, you can be certain Sasuke will never stop doing it: even in the roughest of patches, he is there, accompanying and caring.

• Sasuke adores you. Uchiha’s love too much, and he is not the exception. But after healing himself, love stops being an abrasive feeling that burns everything it touches to become a warmth that makes you feel at home. Sasuke always ensures you feel secure around him. Even if he isn’t into PDA or romantic gestures, he is always relishing you with small gestures. When you are stressed, he holds your hand; he makes sure you are comfortable before going to bed and in cold winter nights, he wakes up at midnight to make sure you are warm.

• He knows you better than anyone else. After all the learning necessary for him to realize he loves you, Sasuke holds every single detail dear. Sasuke recognizes the way you grimace when you are scared and remembers your favorite foods. He distinguishes every tone of your voice; he knows when you are lying, sad, tired or happy.

• Can be a wonderful supporter. He is a very good listener and always tries to give solutions to your problems. This is rooted in his need of protection; instead of directing them to external sources, he’ll try to help you the happiest person imaginable. Sasuke is always watching you; he’d determine the best way of supporting you and will stick with it as stubbornly as possible until you reach your objective.

[discoabc]

Ch 20 Deleted Scene: Dog sitting

A/N: So sorry that requests have been taking a while! Revision has been weighing me down more than I thought it would OTL Anyway, this is another team 10 deleted encounter with Sakura! I didn’t use it because again I decided I preferred the idea I am going to use in the fic but this one was ridiculously fun to write :)

Sasuke being at the meeting point the next day was something of a relief to see as I approached the bridge. I took up the spot opposite him, leaning against the railing and hoping that I’d shown up late enough for the wait for Kakashi to be relatively short.

“Is your arm better now?”

I blinked, staring at Sasuke in honest surprise. I’d been expecting all progress we’d had into becoming people who could stand being around each other to have gone to hell after I’d been made to stay behind to talk to the Hokage and he’d been dismissed. It was admittedly slightly unnerving that it hadn’t. Although, since Iruka had told him the reason as to why Naruto had been asked to stay behind, he might’ve come to the conclusion my reason hadn’t been that nice either.

“Yeah, I got it healed by the hospital the day we came back,” I told him, moving my arm a little to punctuate my point. “Thanks, for asking,” I then added somewhat awkwardly.

Sasuke nodded in an equally awkward fashion, stuffing his hands into his pockets and glancing away. “At the very least it’s quieter without the idiot around,” he muttered after a minute or so.

“I’m thankful for every moment of silence I have because of him,” I murmured in agreement. His lips twitched into a small smirk.

“Ah yes, the bonding over an absent team member is heartwarming indeed.” We both looked upwards to see Kakashi perched on top of the bridge, wiggling his fingers in greeting.

“Your cat and dogs were sick again?” I asked as he hopped down, Sasuke shooting me a questioning look whilst Kakashi placed his hand over his heart.

“Of course not, that would be a blatant lie,” he informed me with an entirely straight face. “It was my pet owl.”

...Of course it was.

Sasuke looked equally unimpressed but didn’t say anything, having clearly picked up from all of Naruto’s one-sided shrieking matches with the man that arguing with him resulted in only in a headache for you and more amusement for him. “Anyway, since Naruto has gone and gotten himself suspended in record time and there aren’t many missions for only two genin,” Kakashi paused, presumably for dramatic effect, “you guys are going to join up with other teams.”

Sasuke looked even more unimpressed. “So, essentially, you’re shirking responsibility as our jōnin-sensei again.”

Kakashi hummed. “I prefer ‘allowing my students to independently strengthen bonds with fellow Konoha-nin’.”

“Meaning yes.”

Another look of mock offense directed at me. “Continuing on, you’ll be working with these teams for the next few weeks so play nice, children. Sasuke, the meeting spot for your team is outside the Konoha library and Sakura, Amaguriama.” I recognized the name as being one of the sweet shops on the Konoha tea avenue.

“Which teams have we been assigned to?” Sasuke asked sensibly.

Kakashi smiled “It’s a surprise. Oh, and by the way, you’re already an hour late, so you’d best start running. See you soon!” He disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Both Sasuke and I glared at the spot the jōnin had last been in.

Motherfucker.

I ran until I got to the tea avenue, slowing to a jog there and deciding for the billionth time that Kakashi, for all the begrudgingly admitted helpful talks he’d had with me, was a first rate asshole. It was a fact I’d somehow forgotten whilst going through the hell of the Wave mission and hadn’t been eager to recall either.

My only hope by this point was that the team I’d been assigned to was aware of Kakashi’s nature and had stuck by the shop despite how late I was. It was going to be intensely annoying and painful if they hadn’t because that meant going to the Hokage’s tower in an attempt to figure out which team I was meant to be with and deal with their subsequent irritation when I did meet them.

God damn it Kakashi.

Sidestepping another civilian, the sign for Amaguriama came into view and I slowed further, scanning my surroundings with more care. Hopefully, at least one member would be wearing the standard Konoha flak jacket since fashion meant spotting forehead protectors difficult (which I saw as a plus with mine on my arm as against an enemy-nin there would be potentially a few moments before they saw I was a Konoha-nin).

My eyes found a flak jacket immediately, the owner sat on the bench outside the shop. I also recognized them just as quickly, realization as to which team I’d been assigned to kicking in hard. The owner seemed to notice he was being stared at and turned, focusing on me straight away. He raised a hand in greeting, waving me over as he tapped his cigarette, ash dropping into the tray below.

“Hey, team seven’s Sakura, right?” Asuma greeted me with an easy going smile as a sudden feeling of ingrained dread dropped in my stomach. “I was beginning to wonder where you’d got to, but then remembered what Kakashi’s like.”

“Sakura?” A familiar feminine voice called out my name in a mixture of surprise and confusion, blonde hair swishing as Ino poked her head out around Asuma’s side. “Wait, so you mean the person we were waiting for this entire time was Sakura?!”

“You’re so loud.”

Ino made the noise of someone who had been criticized one too many times in a short period and there was a resounding thud as her victim hit the ground. I glanced down at Shikamaru, the boy seeming to be seriously considering whether it was honestly worth getting back onto the bench before he looked up and squinted a little at me. “Come on, let’s at least pretend we’re civilized in front of other people,” Asuma sighed and as if on cue I then looked round to see Chōji stuffing crisps into his mouth with all the grace and dignity of a starved hyena.

Ino glowered at Asuma, flicking her hair behind her shoulder. “I’m perfectly civilized, thank you very much,” she retorted. Shikamaru poorly disguised his snort at that from down on the ground and earned an even fiercer glare in response. Chōji had wisely opted to not involve himself in the situation, still chewing away.

“I’m Asuma, in case Kakashi managed to ‘forget’ to tell you,” the jōnin then informed me, opting to ignore what was going on in front of him. “I assume you remember these guys from the Academy?” I nodded. “And you guys remember Sakura?”

Three pairs of eyes focused on me and I suddenly got the urge to throw my hood up over my head. It was a reaction hammered into me by all those years of trying my best to limit any and all interaction with the trio. I didn’t really need to do that anymore, not when my cover of normalcy had been thoroughly shattered, but something inside me that had slowly been built up through those years of playing the part of the average girl cringed at the attention they were paying to me.

“Of course we know who she is,” Ino told Asuma rather snappily and I wasn’t surprised by the nod of agreement Chōji gave, assuming Shikamaru held the same knowledge of me. We’d been in the same class for years so it was natural they had some awareness of who I was. Ino especially had no reason to forget me - I’d been her designated sparring partner for years. Had I not been friends with her arch nemesis Ami, I got the feeling Ino might’ve tried to be more than merely amiable with me.

The sudden thought of the purple haired girl jolted me a little. I had no idea how or what she was doing. She’d been a bitch but she’d also been a constant presence for a good portion of my life and it felt strange to not know anything about what had happened to her.

“Well then, that makes things a lot easier,” Asuma declared, cleanly sweeping away those thoughts. He stood up and took one last drag before extinguishing his cigarette. “We might as well get it over and done with. You can reacquaint yourselves whilst we wait in the missions queue.”

Ino groaned at the idea, loudly, whilst Shikamaru finally heaved himself to his feet. “The life of a ninja is so hard, I know.” Asuma grinned, then glanced back at me. “And, since Kakashi doesn’t believe in queues, I imagine it’ll be a good experience for you too.”

I wondered briefly whether there was a level of enjoyment at others’ misery one had to surpass in order to become a jōnin. Then again, it was a widely accepted fact that most jōnin didn’t want to have to take on teams. It was a large step down from commanding a skilled squad of ninja to taking care of inexperienced kids. And when you’d reached that rank which was only surpassed by the title of Hokage, it was unusual to not look upon the newer generation with a vision jaded and hardened from what you’d been through.

Gently (or roughly in Kakashi’s case) taunting us was probably a sort of minor revenge for the situation they’d been put into.

Or they could all just be assholes, which was a perfectly good theory in of itself.

“Wonderful,” I muttered dryly instead, Asuma clearly taking well to my sarcasm and chuckling as he led the way.

Ino dropped in beside me as we walked, irritation replaced with a sort of cautious curiosity and innate friendliness. “So, how have you been, Sakura?” She asked in a lilting voice, testing the waters with keen eyes.

Oh, you know, had my cover busted by my asshole of a jōnin instructor, killed a couple of guys, had intense, debilitating panic attacks and watched numerous people die, some in horrific fashions. Same old, same old.

“...Good.”

She nodded with a sigh. “I bet it. You’ve got Sasuke on your team after all.” As she said his name, there was a dreamy look in her eyes. “How is he by the way?”

Out of the corner of my vision, I caught Shikamaru rolling his eyes, the boy seeming content to walk quietly beside Chōji whilst Ino attempted to snare me in some form of conversation. “Good too, I think.”

“Devilishly handsome as per usual then?”

I put the back of my hand to my mouth to cover up how I almost choked on air, willing my expression not to become what it had with Tenten and feeling I was losing the battle terribly. It wasn’t that I didn’t understand why people found Sasuke attractive, it was just that it was...Sasuke.

Ugh.

“If you say so,” was what I ended up replying. Ino, who had no doubt seen the myriad of emotions flickering across my face, most of which were ones of disgust, blinked and delicately arched an eyebrow. I got the impression that, had I been anyone else, she might’ve demanded what I meant by that, but she seemed to give me the benefit of the doubt.

Shikamaru and Chōji shot each other a look, the kind of thing only the closest of friends could do and could not be understood by anyone other than themselves, but said nothing as Ino switched to telling Asuma that he’d better help with their mission this time.

I bit back a sigh.

Well, we’re off to a fantastic start, aren’t we?

I had at one point gotten it into my head that team seven was just the epitome of unluckiness. We had a tricksy, infamous jōnin as a teacher, a bright orange trouble magnet, a self-proclaimed avenger and a bitter, sarcastic bitch. So, of course, our missions would end badly - there were just too many ingredients for disaster in one spot for it not to. As a result, I’d thought the other teams all had plain sailing through their own missions.

Boy, I could not be more wrong.

“Sit! Oh, come on you stupid animal, sit!”

Ino’s dog completely ignored her, continuing to walk on as though the blonde wasn’t tugging on their leash frantically. It was a large dog that looked almost like a bear and thus was aptly named such. It had also certainly not been Ino’s first choice when we’d turned up to collect the dogs for our dog walking mission, the leash having been shoved in her hand before she could pick another. No, her first choice was the small dog in Chōji’s arms that was biting ferociously at the crisp packet he was trying to keep out of reach and failing somewhat at doing so.

And then there was Shikamaru’s dog that wouldn’t stop barking for a goddamn second. He was just looking at it in faint despair, as though he’d resigned himself to this fate of eternal ‘woofs’ from an abnormally angry dog.

Had the noise not been getting to an unbearable level with Ino’s yelled commands, Chōji’s continued shouts of ‘NO THAT’S MINE’ and Shikamaru’s dog’s incessant barking, I might’ve assumed the same stance on the situation. Asuma’s chuckling from the sidelines and complete lack of desire to help with the increasingly worsening mess wasn’t exactly doing anything to ease my headache either, although my dog quite helpfully quietly sniffing away at a tree by my side.

For a brief moment of utter insanity, I wished I was with my own team instead. At least it was only Naruto shouting there.

I then immediately regretted the thought as a familiar chakra appeared and I snapped my glare onto Kakashi, who was watching the scene with blatant amusement.

“Bad dog! Let go of it!”

“Sit!”

The continuous barks from hell.

“This looks delightful,” Kakashi remarked, giving a nod of acknowledgment to Asuma before waggling his fingers at me. “Having fun are we?”

“Oh, buckets full of it,” I muttered venomously as Shikamaru’s dog’s barking somehow got louder at sight of the newcomer, head pounding with pain.

“That’s good, I was worried you’d be bored without your wonderful sensei. Sasuke’s having an equally fun time babysitting with those team eight fellows just so you know.” That only made the situation seem worse, getting not even minor vindication from the thought of Kiba being a pain in the ass to the Uchiha since that was certainly going to be a quiet team otherwise.

Ino’s sharp ears however caught onto the mention of my teammate’s name and her efforts to try and keep her dog from continuing to drag her forwards momentarily ceased so she could glance back at Kakashi. Her lapse in concentration on her task caused her dog to yank her forwards and she let out a high pitched yelp of surprise that turned out to be one more decibel than I was willing to take for the sake of my own sanity (of which was already skating on extremely thin ice).

“Sit!” I snapped loudly, letting my irritation flow freely into my tone of voice. Which ended up being the exact voice the dogs needed to listen.

Ino’s dog skidded to a halt and sat down so suddenly that the blonde went flying into a patch of mud that oh so happened to be in the worst spot imaginable. Chōji’s dog suddenly became a deadweight and the boy toppled over too, animal sat comfortably on his chest with crisp packet held delicately in its jaws. Shikamaru’s dog went dead silent. Mine, already perfectly well behaved, plunked itself down and stared expectantly up at me for the next command.

I blinked as everyone else turned to look at me too.

...I didn’t actually think that was going to work.

“Now, this wasn’t strictly my fault this time,” Kakashi then told Asuma and the man burst into poorly smothered laughter.

[offansandflames]

My favorite time of year. Employee reviews. My company, Konoha Corp, approaches the higher levels of management first and then goes downward. This is my round. I’ve been stuck in this stale room for 45 minutes.

“Sasuke, sometimes you can come off as…”

Kakashi trailed off. That only annoyed me.

“As what?”

“As challenging. Demanding.”

Of course I know how I come off. And it works.

“I get results, don’t I?”

It annoys me that he has the nerve to confront me about this. Every single product release under my management has gone off without complications. In terms of revenue and increasing market share, I’ve outperformed every single one of my contemporaries by a landslide. I’ve held this role for three years as of June and have moved mountains.

“Your results are stellar. Sasuke, you are a very brilliant scientist and a shrewd businessman. But you’re breeding a workplace culture that is afraid to fail. They’re afraid to show creativity.”

“Afraid to fail.”

That phrase just sticks between my ears and goads me, because right now I’m so clearly remembering Itachi yelling at me over huge stacks of messy papers when I showed him my plans for the AI components of one of our new virtual executive assistants December of last year.

“This has all been done before. It’s good work, but it’s by the books. Why are you so afraid to fail? You’ll never make a difference that way!”

He died three months ago. Whenever I remember him, I get upset. If I’m around people, that automatically manifests as me being pissed off.

“Can we afford to fail with our brand’s reputation and the market share at stake? Why are you complaining?”

I know I’m being difficult and missing the point. I continue regardless.

“Sasuke, people respect you, but they also fear you.”

“Yes. That’s a management style.”

Kakashi sighs, clearly frustrated. I couldn’t care less, because I’m frustrated too.

Steve Jobs pulled it off. So can I.

“You need to show them a softer, more caring side. These are brilliant people.”

Most of them are bright. I have my doubts about a few, one person in particular on my mind. But I didn’t hire him, so I consider myself absolved. Itachi must’ve been smoking crack.

“They need a supportive environment to innovate. We’re a consumer technology company, Sasuke. We need to be on the edge, or we’re obsolete by definition.”

At this point, I could go on about all of the successful product launches and ballooning profits. There’s just one inconvenient aspect of the situation: he’s right. And I know damned well that people are afraid to think outside of the box because they’re afraid of what I might do if they fail.

He’s asking me to do something I don’t know how to do, but I won’t admit to it. I’m silent, which he takes as a cue.

“It doesn’t have to be anything dramatic or unnatural. Just try to be more understanding if an employee makes a mistake. If they were using their best judgment and were being diligent, then it’s enough that they tried.”

What if they have their head in the clouds and spend all day wondering, “Wouldn’t it be cool if…?” What if they squander their potential by sitting on their ass and playing class clown with coworkers? Like a certain vapid blue-eyed employee I have. Eye color generally means nothing to me, but it’s difficult not to remember such a brilliant blue.

“I agree with you that as long as something was done responsibly and with due diligence, the employee shouldn’t be reproached. What I object to is anything less than diligence.”

Kakashi looks down at my desk, and he looks back up at me with his eyes half lidded. He looks tired.

“Look. Not everyone is going to have your work ethic, Sasuke. And sometimes people do get distracted. As their manager, you use the ruler first, not the sledgehammer.”

A pause.

“You have to show you care.”

Right. The only issue is that I don’t.

I frown. Inhale. Exhale. I remind myself of what Itachi said, which is almost entirely the reason why I speak my next sentence.

“Okay, I’ll try a softer hand.”

Kakashi smiles, because he knows how big of an accomplishment it was to get me to say that. I will let him believe it’s his victory. I don’t give a damn.

“But I’m warning you in advance that we may experience some hiccups.”

I issue that disclaimer because this means relinquishing some of my control in the interest of fostering innovation. I don’t know what will happen. My team might fail. I don’t want that to be interpreted as a failure on my part.

“We’ll consider them learning experiences.”

-   -   -

He code named it CMI. Caring Manager Initiative. Apparently, even this requires an acronym. It’s like a bad joke.

This is, without a doubt, my least favorite project that I have ever been on. Ever.

I will have to update Kakashi on my progress next quarter. He’d outlined three action items for me to fulfill by the next quarter:

1.       Conducting Employee Reviews

2.       Showing Interest in Employee Activities

3.       Acknowledging Employee Achievements

I will record everything and act diligently and rationally at every step. If there is a failure, it will not be because I failed.

 Phase I - Caring Manager Initiative Conducting Employee Reviews

I can’t even express how much I hate conducting employee reviews.

I go over every detail of the person’s value to the company. I fixate on their accomplishments for about 70% of the review. They plead their case. They almost always want more money, and I can only acquiesce about half of the time. I listen to their hackneyed excuses with a seemingly empathetic nod, which Itachi once told me was actually pretty convincing.

With practiced ease, like a surgeon, I speak about “opportunities to improve,” because no one wants to be criticized. And this go around, it seems like I have to put the kiddie gloves on. God forbid I hurt anyone’s feelings.

So it’s with mixed relief and dread that I view Naruto’s name on my calendar as my next appointment.

Naruto comes into my office with a big grin.

“Alright, Bossman. Let’s get this show on the road!”

I have told him to stop calling me Bossman so many times that I’ve lost count.

“Sit down.”

Now he has to obey me. He does so without complaint, not realizing that this was a power play on my part. With employees like Naruto, establishing boundaries is key.

As annoyed as I am with him, I know that for once today, I can be honest. I never hold back with Naruto. He takes everything I could ever dish out…and throws it back in my face.

I can’t believe I haven’t fired him yet.

“Okay, Naruto. You know that your designs have, in theory, been…interesting.”

Naruto puffs up like a toad at the compliment and stares at me like he’d just triumphed over me. It makes me regret saying it.

“But when it comes to creating the prototypes and testing them, everything falls to shit. You don’t see your ideas through. That’s fatal. If a product doesn’t work, it’s useless.”

“So you’re calling my work useless?” Naruto bristles.

It is true that he hasn’t gotten a single product off the ground. He’s a dreamer.

“I’m saying that the devil’s in the detail.”

At this point, if it were anyone else, I’d be reassuring them of how valuable they are to the company and how integral they are to the team. I’d smile and talk to them about promotions and ask them to fill out company templates with their goals for the next year. But that would sound forced, because that’s not how Naruto and I talk.

Naruto puffs out his cheeks and pouts, and I feel like I’m talking to a teenager. People have probably told him he needs to be more detail-orientated, because God knows it’s true.

“There’s that, and the fact that you keep checking your cell phone during working hours and socializing with coworkers too often.”

Naruto smiles and gives an impish laugh.

“This is not funny.”

“So… I guess I’m not getting a raise, huh?” he asks sheepishly, still trying to lighten the situation.

“Now that was funny.”

“Oh, you are such a prick,” Naruto answers, amused by my attitude. He should be used to it at this point.

“Is that really what you want to say to your boss?”

“I’m in trouble, aren’t I?”

I dislike the fact that I have to bring this issue to his attention for him to resolve it. It demonstrates a lack of proactivity. In fact, in all aspects of the guy’s life… He’s so laid back and easygoing. Everything is always fine and well with him, and who cares what reality actually is. Such disregard for life’s priorities. I don’t get him, nor do I want to.

“You’ve been warned,” I answer. “I’m documenting it. Fix it, and we’ll have no problems.”

Naruto sighs, and again I feel like a parent. Naruto looks down and bites his lip, and I start thinking that maybe he’s more frustrated with himself than he is with me.

“Okay.”

We continue the conversation. He didn’t call me Bossman again the entire meeting.

Stage II - Caring Manager Initiative Showing Interest in Employee Activities

Konoha Corp has a club for public speaking, held every Wednesday at lunch time. As both a scientist and a businessman, I realize that scientists are not known for mixing well with the business world. Itachi always told me never to let one of my scientists talk to one of my investors.

Our employees come here for that extra polish. The moderator, Shizune, explained that today’s workshop would all be impromptu, two-minute speeches. She put everyone’s names in a bowl, and she’d draw each speaker out until the bowl emptied. Each person would have their own topic. Meanwhile, she’d videotape them on their phone.

Public speaking is one of my strengths, not that I particularly enjoy talking. I practiced for years and fancy myself an actor now.

And of course, Naruto is here. Of all the faces in the room, his was the one I expected to see the most. He thrives off of being the center of attention. Shizune now pulls a slip out of the bowl, and everyone is sweating around me. Naruto’s name is the first she pulls.

I can’t imagine how pleased he must be by this as he walks toward the lectern.

“And the topic is…”

A pause. Naruto is standing behind the lectern now.

“Your favorite food.”

No one’s looking at me, so I roll my eyes.

Clearly, he’s doing this to show off. He’s a bubbling extrovert. He’s going to crack a few jokes. People will laugh, because he’s damn good at making people laugh. I have no interest whatsoever in watching him puff up and prattle on for whatever acknowledgement his secretly insecure soul craves.

But then he starts speaking. My mind goes blank. I’m taken off guard. Shocked.

Shocked by how horrible he is at this.

“I…”

He looks down at his feet, then paces a few steps.

“Um…”

He’s choking. I did not see this coming.

“Wow, uh…”

His body is very obviously shaking. I doubt anyone could miss it.

“Um… Give me a minute. I’m…” he stammers. “I’m off to some start, huh?”

The room gives a forced and sympathetic laugh that makes me want to cringe.

He’s a wreck.

But he’s trying. I have to say that for him. He’s earnest, and raw, and vulnerable, and… In a nutshell, everything that I’m not.

His face is bright red. I don’t know why, but my chest feels tight. This is painful to watch, yet I can’t take my eyes off of him. I find myself wishing that I could plant words on his tongue, which is ironic given that he generally never shuts the hell up.

“So, ramen…” he starts, gesturing with his arms. “It’s… It’s a hot food and… So, you know…”

Everyone is looking at him. I can’t explain it, but if anyone so much as snickers at his awkwardness, I would fire them on the spot.

If I were that shitty at public speaking, you couldn’t pay me to go up there and fumble, turn five different shades of red, and shake like a leaf. But he did, because he wants to improve. He took initiative. Still, it’s certainly not like I’m impressed by his pathetic attempt at a speech.

Well… Maybe just a little bit impressed.

He’s brave.

Braver than I gave him credit for.

I again remember Itachi telling me, “You’re afraid to fail.” It burns, and I swallow tight. It’s bad enough that he was right. Even worse that he’s dead, and now I’m thinking about it. I was not prepared to feel today. I clear my mind.

“You um… I like ramen because it’s easy to make and…”

“The time is up,” Shizune informed him with a smile.

He smiles, but his shoulders slump. I can’t blame him.

“And Mr. Uchiha, it’s so wonderful to have you join us today!”

Naruto looks at me, and his eyes widen to the size of golf balls. He is a stubborn thorn in my side, and I want to deck him every time he calls me “Bossman” in that same nauseatingly upbeat tone. Usually I’d jump at the chance to one up him, but this is very different. I hold eye contact with him for just an instant before addressing Shizune again.

“Yes, thank you, everyone. Nice work.”

Without a word, Naruto runs right out of the room, abandoning any attempt at composure and leaving his phone behind with Shizune. This isn’t like him. Was he going to… Unravel? Cry or something? Just because he now realizes I was watching?

I’ve been thinking about it for a while, trying to figure it out. This banter dialogue we’ve had going… He seems like he fixates on me. He’s…

Shit. I really hope this isn’t what I think it is.

All of this churns through my head as my face betrays nothing. I think that the power to pull an impeccable stone cold poker face in light of any situation runs in my family. Or maybe it’s learned. Whatever the case, it’s a valuable gift.

Meanwhile, people start murmuring and chatting about Naruto’s rushed exit.

“Shut up,” I say to everyone, firmly and just a little more loudly than I would in normal conversation.

In a heartbeat, the room goes so quiet you could hear a piece of paper hit the ground.

Refreshing.

The meeting continues with my go ahead. I begrudgingly sit there and pretend to be interested. I pretend like I don’t want to leave that meeting right now and find Naruto. If I found him, what would I do? I don’t know. So why bother?

I see the meeting through to its dazzling completion and have accomplished my mission as Caring Manager for the day, though I admit that telling everyone to shut up was counterproductive. I should have known better, but it was worth it.

Stage III Acknowledging Employee Achievements

I didn’t see Naruto again that day until the late hours of the evening. It’s ten, at which time the office is generally a ghost town. I could hear someone typing from the opposite side of the floor. We both had our respective deadlines to meet for the next morning, though me pulling all-nighters was nothing out of the norm.

I’m trying to eat my turkey sandwich and mark up my prototypes at the same time. I hear footsteps outside of my office and look to see Naruto trying to sneak past my door. He’s all too conspicuous in his attempts to avoid eye contact with me.

“Good job,” I say loudly enough for him to hear.

I thought he deserved it.

“Very funny, jackass.”

He knows what I’m referring to, naturally. He’s stopped outside of my office now.

“I’m not joking,” I answer.

He looks up at me, and there’s indecision in his eyes. He’s trying to read me, which he’s always been horrible at.

“Is that…an actual compliment?”

Naruto grins. It looks like gloating.

“It was pity.”

“What?”

I have no idea why I just said that; it was a knee jerk reaction. I feel like I kicked a puppy in the face.

“No… It wasn’t pity.”

I’m frustrated with myself, because I can’t seem to pull this off without ruining it somehow.

“Look… If you haven’t noticed, sincerely complimenting people is not my strong suit. I thought I’d take your example and try something I suck at today.”

That was downright painful.

“You’ve got guts, Uzumaki.”

Naruto lights up like the sun and smiles at me, and if I’m going to follow that analogy, I feel like the rays have warmed me.

“Well…” Naruto pauses and then looks into my eyes again. “Good job, Bossman.”

He continues to smile at me, and the atmosphere grows stale. There’s an adage: always leave them wanting more.

“Have a good one. See you tomorrow.”

I give him a nod, and he issues that dramatic, almost frantic wave that he’s known for with a beaming grin. As he leaves my office and approaches the exit, I hear him hum under his breath. Why am I sad to hear him go?

I sigh and resist the temptation to insult him. CMI will be difficult; there’s no denying that. And of all of CMI’s challenges, Naruto will likely be the greatest. At the very least, today Naruto gave me a crash course on how to fail. As sick as it makes me to admit this, I should be learning from him.

[amercurialbeing]

Lazy Sunday Mornings

Rating: T

Summary: “I know that you’re already awake, Sasu-” He breathed in her exposed neck then purred a content sigh. She blushed. She hated the fact that he knew her weakness too well. “We have to prepare! We have to get up now, you, you-!” She searched her dopamine-filled brain for the right word. “You-emo, feline-!”

a/n: Since school is starting again and I saw the OTP challenge I brought to myself and I had to release my SasuSaku fantasies and even though I have shitton of things to do, I wrote this fanfic. *sighs*

Btw, Day 1 & 2 of the self-inflicted challenge is A Blanche and Spark Fanfiction. Since I'm addicted to SasuSaku again-

Also posted on AliceInRealWorld. I do not own Naruto.

The sun began its ascend.

‘tick-tock, tick-tock…’

gaara: sasuke you are like me, you’ve been walking through this world’s darkness… That’s why a tiny way of light ought to reach your eyes. whether in the past or now…

Its blazing light slowly repelled the magic of the moon and its incantations.

sasuke: i shut my eyes a long time ago… the things i seek lie only in the darkness…

The gentle rays languidly filtered through the luscious trees of the thick forest.

‘tick-tock, tick-tock…’

gaara: it is not too late for you to return!

The dancing canopy kindly tapped on their slumbering consciousness.

Their train of thoughts began to prepare for another day of callous venturing.

sasuke: hmpf. if i were to return what is there for me?

‘tick-!’

. . . Lazy Sunday Mornings

(Day three of OTP challenge)

A Sasuke and Sakura Fanfiction

           Sakura arduously opened her eyes. It took her one long minute to adjust in reality. Her vision was bleary. Her mouth was dry. Her arms were painfully numb, how could they not be? They had been in the same position for seven straights hours.

           So she closed her eyes again to bargain with her lens for light adjustment. She gingerly pulled her arms down from her companion’s neck, wincing every second of it. She waited for the blood to flow back in her stiff, pale arms. She tried to roll on her back.

           However, she was halted by a strong arm which tightened its grip around her slender waist.

           Sasuke held on to that firm grip. He leaned down and took a deep breath in cherry blossom locks then purred a content sigh.

           She sharply exhaled, her morning breath fanning his neck. She silently hoped that that would do the trick on repelling him.

           Unfortunately, it did not.

           So she squirmed under his grip trying to find a more compromising position for her and him. Inch by inch, she struggled, she growled at his childish I’ll-tighten-my-grip-if-you-don’t-stop rebuttal. She managed on dragging her body low enough to relocate her head from its comfy place, his biceps, to the center of his chest.

           She listened intently. His chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm.

           Once she caught the sound of his slow and peaceful heartbeat, she closed her eyes.

           They both relaxed.

           “We have to get up, Sasuke.”

           The hand on her waist traveled to her cheek and gave it the softest caress. And then his thumb delicately brushed her plump, pink lips.

           She smiled as she propped herself on her elbow, her face curtained by her thick tress. And then she pushed his lengthy bangs from his eyes, finding them closed.

           “I know that you’re already awake, Sasu-”

           The hand on her cheek slid to her nape and gave it a feathery stroke.

           A guffaw escaped her lips as her shoulders flinched up on reflex. He repeated the frisky gesture, a triumphed smirk cracked on his lips. She began a chain of airy laughter, her guard was completely down. He took this opportunity to roll their bodies.

           And once again she found herself under his command.  

           With his eyes still closed (that cocky bastard) he plopped his body on hers, ignoring her protests.

           “You’re heavy!”

           He nuzzled her collar bone.

           “C’mon! You’re being completely out of character!”

           He breathed in her exposed neck then purred a content sigh.

           She blushed. She hated the fact that he knew her weakness too well. “We have to prepare! We have to get up now, you, you-!” She searched her dopamine-filled brain for the right word. “You-emo, feline-!”

           “Make me open my eyes if you want me to get up.”

           She paused at her poor strategy then. She waited for their breathing to return at its normal pace. ‘I wonder why he’s acting like this…’ (though, we all know that she’s enjoying every second of it.)

           The warmth of her body started to seep its way through his thin clothing and thick ego. It’s lulling his consciousness and melting the enthusiasm of his proclaimed challenge to his wife.

            Unfortunately, it didn’t wholly work.

           So she started to hum a random tune. Her voice was light and sweet. It whistled in his ears like the first spring breeze after a dreadful winter.

           Still, it didn’t utterly work.

           So she ghosted her fingers up and down his tensed back, massaging the spots that make him purr like a cat.

           His pursed lips, to his ego’s demise, cracked.

           Then she ran her slender fingers through his fluffy hair, encouraging him to croon.

           He buried his face between her breasts. Shyly, he hummed along her silly tune.

           As if on cue, his hand looped around her waist. She did the same but round his neck.

           They rolled back to their original position. She pushed his lengthy bangs from his eyes, still finding them shut.

if i were to return what is there for me?

.

.

.

Smiling softly—she etched on his lips, “Welcome home, Sasuke.”

Sasuke opened his mismatched eyes at last.

“I’m home, Sakura.”

a/n: Thanks for reading!