#doesn't even stay to help Sasuke open up

[baked-hylian]

Ah, I get it now

ninja society doesn't do the whole foster/adopt thing

[naruto-imagines-and-headcanons]

Naruto Love Languages (Konoha 12 + Sand Siblings)

Naruto Uzumaki - Words of Affirmation

This man is your #1 fan. Everything you do he is behind you cheering and hollering the whole way. It doesn't matter if it's something stupid like trying to do a bottle flip, Naruto is gonna hype you up. He just adores you so much and wants you to know that! He wants you to know that he believes in you fully. When he isn't being a hype man, Naruto is just genuinely complimenting you and showing his appreciation for all you do. Nothing you do will go unnoticed, you WILL feel this man's love

Sasuke Uchiha - Gift Giving

Sasuke is, uh... kinda rough when it comes to romance. He's gone through some shit and even after all these years doesn't quite know how to deal with it. He isn't good at words, is wary on physical contact, and isn't around often. But the one thing he succeeds in is giving you gifts. Everytime he leaves to go who knows where, he will always return with an incredibly thoughtful gift. Sasuke doesn't just grab whatever he see, he knows what you like and what you appreciate. Every gift he gives you has meaning and fits you perfectly

Sakura Haruno - Acts of Service

Sakura is a girl who heavily desires to be loved. Ever since she was a child she was a hopeless romantic, so when she finally got together with you she fell head over heels. She's quite open with her feelings for you both physically and vocally, but her favorite way to show she cares is by helping you around the house. She'll cook for you, help clean up, give you massages, and of course heal your wounds. As long as you are dating her you will never see another Medical-nin. Every injury you get will be treated by her with full seriousness (even if it's just a paper cut)

Sai - Gift Giving

You though SASUKE was bad with feelings? Dear lord you gotta have a lot of patience with Sai. Unlike Sasuke though, Sai tries his hardest, even if it's a bit rough. He tries to say nice things and touch you, but it's still incredibly foreign to him (not to mention he can get a bit brutally honest about some things). The only thing Sai is confident in is his gift giving skills. He loves to draw art for you, pretty much everything he sees inspires more art to give you. It's gotten to the point that you have a whole room filled with them (Sai keeps telling you it's okay to get rid of some, but you refuse! They are so pretty!). On special occassions, Sai loves to bring his drawings for you to life, enjoying the look of amazement on your face

Ino Yamanaka - Gift Giving

This girl is gonna treat you RIGHT, believe that! She's is incredibly open with her feelings, especially when it comes to flowers. You will be getting flowers for every occassion, sometimes just randomly. She'll buy you other gifts like jewelry and clothes and books, but her real love language is flowers. Her bouquets aren't just randomly put together either, Ino carefully hand picks each one and take in mind the meaning of each one. The longer you date you will soon learn the different meanings, which makes her so proud. Although she doesn't really expect anything back every time, make sure to get her a lil something for special occassions, she'll appreciate it~

Shikamaru Nara - Quality Time

We know Shikamaru is a lazy bitch, but that's what we love about him! He may seem distant and seemingly uncaring, but if you look closely you can clearly see how he shows affection. Sure he may not wash you with praises or get you expensive things, but he stays by your side. Always. Somehow he always is in the same room as you, even if you are doing two different things. You're always together in some sort. He'll definitely deny it, but you notice he doesn't leave still. It's kind of like a cat, ya know? Shikamaru gets especially clingy when you're in bed together. This man doesn't get up for hours, and you aren't getting up either. You will lay and sleep with him for 3 more hours, no discussion

Choji Akimichi - Acts of Service

Just... just so sweet. My boy is such a sweetie oh my god. Choji is quite nervous in your relationship, both due to low self-esteem and just anxiety in general. Just you surprising him with a hug is enough to fluster him for a solid minute. Since more direct ways get him anxious, Choji prefers to do things for you, and his favorite thing is to cook for you. This man can COOK like no one's business! You guys will go out to eat on the weekends (there is nothing like fresh barbecue), but through the week he is in the kitchen cooking your favorite meals full of love. Seeing your giant smile and hearing your satisifed eating makes his heart soar. Also, you are one of the only people who he'll always share his snacks with, no hesitation (the other is Shikamaru, obviously)

Kiba Inuzuka - Physical Touch

Kiba is a toucher, hands down. He LOVES to just touch you all over. He is always in contact with you no matter what, appropriate or otherwise. Hands on your waist, head on your shoulder, fingers in your hair, sometimes he will just randomly pick you up to get a reaction out of you. Let's be real, Kiba's a dog through and through, and dogs adore attention. Whenever he wants your attention or love, Kiba will poke you and bug you until you give in and cuddle with him. Spooning is his absolute favorite position. Give this man his head pats and belly rubs god dammit, and don't forget Akamaru!. Oh and uh, warning, this man is also perverted. Quite perverted. Your cuddle sessions will devolve into him dry humping you 50% of the time. You gonna get manhandled and groped quite a bit (every touch full of love <3)

Hinata Hyuga - Words of Affirmation

You thought Choji was shy? You haven't seen nothing yet. Hinata was already a sweating mess when you were just friends, the moment you asked her out she literally fainted and collapsed on the floor. Thankfully she is better now (and didn't get brain damage), but it's still nerve-wracking to be in a relationship with you. You're just so... perfect. And Hinata wants you to know that. Throughout the day she is normally very sweet and appreciative, but whenever you are on dates or cuddling in private, she lets all her feelings out. She shares her admiration for you, her appreciation for you, and just how happy she is to have you in her life. It always makes you cry, which makes Hinata feel bad, but you always assure her they are happy tears

Shino Aburame - Acts of Service

Shino is a man of little words, and you knew that going into a relationship, so you have no issues with that! It makes the times he does speak up mean even more. Since he's inexperienced with relationships and romantic gestures, Shino's main way to show he cares is by protecting you and keeping you safe. He always is ready to defend you in public, and whenever you go somewhere alone he gives you one of his bugs so he can know you're safe. Anyone who even tries to harass or injure you is getting shot down immedietely. Losing you or you getting hurt is one of his biggest fears, and he'll never let that happen. You'll never feel unsafe when Shino is around

Rock Lee - All of Them

You can call this a cop out, but let's be real, Lee is the embodiment of EVERY love language. He never stops gushing to you about your beauty and skills, and screams how much he loves you from the rooftops. Anything you ask him to do will be done in record time perfectly. He loves to give you extravagent gifts for your anniversaries and random occasions. Spending time with you is his favorite thing in the world, especially when you train together. And physical touch? He is always happy to hug and kiss you all over. Lee is just full of love for you!! He knows he can be a bit overwhelming at times and will calm down if you tell him. He just is so grateful to have you in his life, and wants you to know that every day for the rest of your life

Neji Hyuga - Words of Affirmation

It may come as a shock to most due to his sharp tongue, but the way Neji shows his love is by words. To most he is aggressive and stand-offish, and ocassionally is to you too. It's just how he is unfortunately. But unlike with others, he is noticabely incredibly soft with you and is much more open. Neji isn't afraid to compliment how you look or give praise when you succeed at something. Even when he gets annoyed he doesn't raise his voice or throw insults at you, he stays respectful. The fact that he calls everyone an idiot except you says a whoooole lot about how he feels about you. Wear that honor with pride

Tenten - Quality Time

Tenten is pretty easy going and prefers a partner who is the same. Of course some spice and excitement is greatly welcomed, but at the end of the day she just wants to sit back and relax with her partner. So spending time together means a lot to her. She loves going on dates where you guys try something new (just no long hikes, please) but if needed will default to the local weapon museum. By the way, everytime one of you has to go on a mission, Tenten will act cool but will secretly pout the whole time until you meet up again

Gaara - Physical Touch

As he's grown, Gaara has turned into a real sweetheart. With you he is incredibly gentle and cares for you deeply. You are his treasure, you deserve the world. He still is dealing with social anxiety, and can be a bit awkward sometimes. But Gaara is always comfortable touching and holding you. His touches are gentle and kind, and sensual when he wants. He likes to give gentle kisses all over you throughout the day, and whenever he leaves for work he gives you a loving kiss before he leaves. Gaara also really values cuddling together. This man is touch starved like no one else, everytime you hold eachother he feels like a part of him is healing. Please reciprocate, he deserves it

Temari - Words of Affirmation

Temari is fiery as hell, and you knew that the moment you met. And her words are just as sharp! She isn't afraid to tell off people who annoy you guys (especially when you are on dates, they are DEAD). With you she is still mildly aggressive and intense, but in a more lighthearted way. She just gets so worried about you, she can't help herself from scolding you for being an idiot. Every word she says (positive or negative) comes from the heart. When you manage to not be a fool Temari is vocalising her approval and pride. Oh, and she has a habit of openly bragging about how amazing you are to your peers (much to your embarrassment)

Kankuro - Quality Time

This man is a teeeeeease (in a good way or bad way, your decision). He is constantly joking and making fun of you, reveling in your cute annoyance. He even likes to annoy you physically like blowing on your neck or pinching your butt. Kankuro is quite playful pretty much 95% of the time, but the other 5% he's actually quite sweet. Spending time with you is his favorite thing in the world! Yeah it's fun messing with you, but he likes to just have genuine connections and going on more mature dates. His favorite thing is dancing surprisingly, and he honestly is quite good. Holding you close and swaying makes him content ... Until he sneaks in one of his puppets halfway through, scaring the shit out of you in the process (he slept on the couch but it was worth it)

----------

Konoha 12 + Sand Siblings | Shinobi & Founders | Akatsuki

[siren-sashimi]

Dating the Uchiha boys - the down sides Headcanon list [Uchiha Sasuke, Uchiha Itachi, Uchiha Obito, Uchiha Shisui x gn! reader]

Contents and warnings: quarrels in a relationship, egotistical behavior, toxic masculinity, emotional repression, arguments

Sasuke Uchiha Oh boy, where do I even begin?

A lot of his issues - most of them begin with him having a little brother inferiority complex.

He is a master through effort. While Sasuke can be and is rightfully proud if his achievements, his pride can easily fall apart when he doesn't receive recognition from his family.

Since he's so fixated on his family's approval, he tends to blend out any other significant relationship while working towards his goal.

In short: Proud but fragile ego. 

While he would never hurt you physically or aiming at hurt you emotionally or psychologically, when Sasuke is in a reckless mood or angry he lash out such harsh feelings on you by being abrasive, grumpy, or saying that your help is useless.

Sasuke has a hard time processing feelings, mostly he processes them via anger.

Sometimes looks for fights/arguments when he's in a foul mood. Another person making a joke on Sasuke's expenses. Expect that you need to drag Sasuke out of the room before things go out of hand.

Positive note: He is capable of arguing with you. Or let's say: Your argument can end in aggressive shouting matches where he can be an insensitive ass. Afterwards he will stew in his anger and a bit of selfrighteousness before he slowly considers that there might be truth to what you said...

Here's the issue: Sasuke does deeply care for you. He doesn't actually date you as much as he fell in love with you and got over himself to ask you to stay by his side. His kind of love is quiet, more expressed in action, due to the fact that he isn't good at expressing himself with words. So he does seem withdrawn, or it doesn't seem comprehensible why he keeps you around four outsiders. (Even for you by times.)

Homeboy can change and get better but the process demands time, clear boundaries, and patience...

Once figured out that he's really good at sex and for a while tries to use to distract you from arguments.

You have to be the mature one in this relationship.

Generally, it would be better if you had an established friendship where most qualms between the two of you are settled before you feel ready to take on all the complication with romantic problems...

Itachi Uchiha

Constantly under pressure from family as oldest son. By times the family and social expectations will interfere with your private life planning.

Itachi has a hard time fighting back, by times he doesn't even know that he should. Sometimes all the demands loaded on him take up too much of his energy and health to have the energy to fight back. Other times some things are too ingrained in him by his upbringing too properly reflect on how adequate they actually are...

When you try to explain to him that he should not take up everything or say no, he needs a long time realizing that this isn't a(nother) request for your happiness but that you see unhealthy patterns, dynamics, and demands put on him. He's barely used to people being concerned for him for his own sake.

Is unconscious of him guarding himself from his lover. He will act as everything was fine without opening up about things that worry him. It takes a long time to slowly remove the bricks from his walls.

Another family issue is his relationship with his younger brother: Sasuke is one of Itachi's top priorities, even when Sasuke messes up. Their dynamic is not always harmonic either because Sasuke feels so often inadequate, if not jealous when compared to his brother.

It's quiet asymetrical how much work you've to put into Itachi standing up for himself (and your relationship) against his family but he will immediately do a 180 flip for his little brother, no questions asked.

Can't take breaks. Tries not to let his composed façade crack, so even if he knows if he's overworked, struggles with health, he's too stressed out by all the things he wants to get done to stop for his own sake.

At risk to implode from external pressure. 

What the two of you need is private space where time belongs to you and into which his family can't just barge in as they please. 

It's disheartening how little he would actually open up to you, be vulnerable. It's about him feeling safe around you to be himself. Give him time don't push him but set boundaries how much you can bear to see him struggling with the weight on his shoulder.

Obito Uchiha

a lot of problems begin and end with Obito's deeply seated insecurity. Things like his work or making his idealized visions give a strong sense of control and mastering the situation so they became his compensatory tactics. Not that he can't learn and rethink small things but he can be so stubborn, some criticism may reach far deeper into is self-confidence than you or even he actually expected.

Since his childhood he spend so much time in isolation, he can also be emotionally immature and trying to fill the void from all the things he has been deprived of.

Emotionally immature when it comes to romance. In the beginning of your relationship his state of mind is basically the one of a hormonal teenager.

Being with someone in a romantic way fulfils multiple needs for Obito: Being finally shown affection he's so starved for, well um... "physical yearning", finally a stable constant in his life.

May not seem like it but only functions at work because there hardships of life can be solved with a clear goal. Tendencies to be a workaholic to bury emotions he doesn't know how to handle.

In the beginning you're basically an idol  for his emotional salvation. You having diverging expectations, or don't need or want all cliché romantic gestures but Obito being himself is something he needs to learn.

Needs basic sex ed. He knows a lot from having read Icha Icha during down time but oh boy. Some moments when you first had sex were baffling if not hilarious with some ideas Obito had.

So headstrong. When he's convinced of what he does is correct counterarguments are either ignored or escalate into heated fights. Takes counterarguments 

But also actually very insecure. Obito is so insecure about conflict, too self conscious of his looks, of past mistake that he tries to overcompensate with any other quality, only to then implode that he's not enough in any way.

Obito needs to learn that differing opinions don't mean immediate break up or the end of the world. You'll love him through the thick and the thin. 

He will need to learn that pushing you away because of self loathing is what causes the rift, not what he hates himself about him.

Shisui Uchiha Most stable of all of them.

but like all of them his family, more accurately their expectations for other family members, are a source of omnipresent pressure.

Since he's not part of the main family expectations are not as high but he too has to act the proper part.

Tries to keep you away from family affairs to the extent of him wanting to do with them as little as possible. 

Itachi's fine, Sasuke's around too but these two are the exception. Even they won't talk about family matters though.

So there's always a part of his life you feel excluded from, the part Shisui only shares with Itachi.

Easy going in relationships but kinda tends to overlook underlying problems. To Shisui being with you is a refuge from family drama where he's the happiest, and well... compared to what the Uchihas can be up to any problem can be minor.

But Shisui is understanding though. If you clearly speak your mind how you're unhappy with the way certain things are, he might be able to get around to better things.

But you also need to be an active part in your time together. Whereas Shisui's cousins have very personal flaws, Shisui himself is a very reasonable person. You can grow together.

A bit secretive. Nothing major that would burden your relationship still you wish he'd be able to talk about uncomfortable things a bit more...

Don't swallow up frustration but look out for the right time to confront Shisui with things that bother you. If he feels stressed with work and family matters he can get quiet aggressive in tone.

[sakuraharuno156]

Why Sakura Haruno is literally the best written character in Naruto - a rant.

She is the epitome of Narutos meaning.

So, main question is, what is Naruto about? On most surfaces level - about fox-boy having adventures, but that's not why most of us fell in love with the story. Below fox-boy, was fighting against your odds, learning, failing, getting back up, trying and becoming stronger, and most importantly about this quote:

"You dont have to be born a genius, you can become one".

This is what Naruto was about.

Arc with Haku and Zabuza? Find someone worth fighting for and become stronger for that person.

Chunnin exams? Naruto gives his all against Neji, to prove him, that you don't have to be born special, you can become special.

3rd Hokage vs Orochimaru - will of fire, that pushes you to protect your family, will keep the village alive.

Naruto vs Gaara - you can be hated and ignored all your life for your weakness, but if you keep trying people will notice you.

And so on and do forth.

But then we learned that Naruto was born to hokage and an Uzumaki. He got shit ton of chakra and a LITERAL beast in him to protect him. He was born great and to be great.

He failed his own narrative.

Menwhile Sakura was born a civilian, a noone, no magic eyes, no beast to help, no clan to learn from, nothing. She was an annoying girl with no aspiration. Thats it. Everything else she has is just her hard work and dedication. She become stronger than most of people "born great", just by trying to help people she cares about.

She is everything Naruto was set-up to be.

Is she a perfect person? No. And this is exactly what makes her a perfect character.

She's is flawed, she's sometimes emotional, she's not always confident and not always THE BEST BECAUSE PLOT.

SHE IS THE MOST HUMAN AND THE MOST INSPIRING.

And its annoying af when people dont understand her character, because that shows they didn't understand the story AT ALL.

She did her best and made mistakes but grown because of them.

Oh i was weak and couldn't protect my friends when they needed me? I'll do my best now, and try to be better next time.

She didn't give up and decided "well I'm weak so I'll stay that way". She trained under the strongest kunoichi of her time, who was beating her till she was unconscious and had many of her bones broken, because "Tsunade can heal her later".

Sakura from beginning would just give up, because 1) why bother when she can be pretty and 2) it hurts and takes time so it's easier to give up.

But she has grown.

AND THE WORST OF ALL IS that she gets shit for everything Naruto is praised for.

Naruto is understanding Sasuke and wants him to be back - great friend.

Sakura does the same (she understands him even more in first part- she is the only one who know that Sasuke is about to leave the village)- delusional SIMP (even when it was stated in manga that she didn't want him to herself, she wanted to safe him).

Naruto throws himself into fight he has no chance in to be a distraction - WOW SO SMART. HE IS GREAT.

Sakura does the same - weak. Delusional.

Naruto is always getting help during fights - he wins by himself.

Sakura gets bit of help from Chiyo (even when Chiyo stated herself that Sakura didn't need her) - WELL SHE DID NOTHING, IT WAS CHIYOS FIGHT.

Naruto is rude to everyone, BUT GROWS FROM IT- he was just a kid, that doesn't matter. He is a different person now.

Sakura was rude to someone, qpologies and grows from it - ITS UNFORGETTABLE. SHES A B*TCH.

What you all expected her to do?

- She is weak! - she became strong. BUT NOT AS STRONG AS THE STRONGEST, so its shit.

- She's rude to Naruto and made fun of a orphan - she was one of first people who cared about Naruto and opened a clinic for children's mental health - BUT WHEN SHE WAS 12 SHE SAID BAD THING SO STILL A B*TCH.

- She couldn't help Naruto and Sasuke in forests of death - she became a healer - BUT SHE DIDN'T HEAL EVERYONE EVERYTIME.

- She is useless - she isn't, she saved many people (including Naruto), and was especially useful during pain invasion - BUT WHEN NOONE COULD DO A THING AGAINST PAIN SHE COULDN'T ALSO SO SHES TRASH.

She gets trashed for things other people do and noone even bats an eye.

- But she punched Naruto! - so did Guy to Lee but you love them both and their relationship.

I've never seen someone call guy "abusive".

- But she was mean to Naruto! - so was everyone else, but I've never seen them risk their life to safe Naruto or his dream.

- But she only cares about Sasuke - no, no she doesn't, she cares for MANY PEOPLE like Naruto, Shikamaru ect. She even takes Naruto's side against Sasuke.

She also did many shitty things, don't get me wrong (like fight against Ino, I think she needed this to bloom, but it was indeed shit behavior), but so did everyone else.

Example - Naruto:

TALKING LIKE THAT TO A CHILD WHO LOST ALMOST EVERYTHING????? UNFORGETTABLE. RIGHT? Right?

About people like Sasuke, Gaara, Hinata, Neji, 3rd Hokage ect. I'm not going to talk because it will be material for whole different posts and it's already getting too long.

In summary:

You all are just Nejis from chunnin exams.

"Either you are born perfect or die a failure."

You all are just villagers form beginning of the series.

"WELL SOMEONE DID A BAD THINGS AT THE BEGINNING AND WAS WEAK SO I HATE THEM"

You all didn't understand Naruto as a story at all.

She is a perfect character form Naruto's definition - a noone who became important.

[animeomegas]

I have to ask for kind stranger angst like omgomg, since requests are open could you do a drabble or hc (which ever you wanna do!) About either them getting worse in the hospital(I want them to survive cause cmon you can't have them leave their family!) But I wanna see everyone's reaction to the doctor telling them they might not make it out, sorry for the long text bye! Thanks°

You're very welcome and I hope you enjoy <33

...

Everyone had frozen in the wake of the mednin's prognosis. Naruto was laying beside the alpha that had become a parent figure to him, resting his head on their slowly rising and falling chest. Kakashi was standing at the other side of the bed, one hand on Sakura's head and the other on Saskue's shoulder.

"I'm sorry," the mednin said after delivering the earth-shattering news. "We will do everything we can, but it doesn't look good."

Seeing that there wasn't likely to be any verbal response from the people in the room, the mednin excused herself and quietly left, leaving behind the oppressive gloom that permeated the air.

It was Naruto that broke the stupor, by breaking into heavy, choking sobs. He shoved his face into their chest and Kakashi didn't have the heart to tell him to be gentle.

"You promised," he sobbed, fisting their shirt. "You promised you wouldn't leave, you can't!"

That seemed to be enough to tip Sakura over the edge too, because her shoulders started shaking in little sobs as she nudged Kakashi's hand off her head and went to take vigil closer by their side. She kept her head down as she took one of their hands, but her sobs were audible.

Kakashi felt more than heard Sasuke take in a deep shaky breath, before he turned towards the door and swiftly walked out of the room, Kakashi's hand falling off his shoulder and falling limply to his side.

"Sasuke," Kakashi called out, but his voice was much too weak to even make Sasuke falter, let alone convince him to stay. They would have been able to get him to stay, to try and process his emotions in a healthy way. Kakashi couldn't do anything but close the door behind him.

"Sensei?" Naruto suddenly croaked, pulling his attention.

"Hm?"

"You... You can make them better, right?" Naruto asked, false hope and tears both gleaming in his eyes. "You can make them wake up? Or find someone who can?"

Kakashi's heart squeezed painfully in his chest. He didn't know what to do, what to say, without your guidance. He had been starting to think that maybe he wasn't that bad a teacher, but the second you weren't there to help him, everything crumbled, so clearly he'd thought wrong.

And kami, he wanted to help. He wanted to help so bad. But he couldn't. He didn't know how. This wasn't the first time in his life that he wished he was a medic and it probably wouldn't be the last. The weight of his failure to help felt like it was crushing him and he had to consciously suppress the urge to run like Sasuke.

"Naruto, I'm sorry," he said, turning away like the coward he was. "There's nothing I can do."

Kakashi heard rather than saw Naruto crumple, his sobbing starting up once more. The crying only made Kakashi feel worse. In a way, he was almost jealous. Maybe if he could mourn like them, weep like Sakura or sob like Naruto, then he would feel better. All he could do is suppress the burning pain into the back of his mind to fester alongside every other tragic event of his life.

How broken was he, to be jealous of his students' mourning?

Kakashi turned back around and looked at the kind stranger, not much of a stranger anymore, and swallowed harshly. They had to get better, to wake up, because he couldn't do it without them. They were the glue on this little family... without them, everything would fall apart.

[atqh16]

Sasunaru vampire au. Sasuke is finding it difficult to feed

“I really don’t want to do this”

"Is this your first time?"

"No Naruto, it is not my first time but it doesn't make it any less embarrassing!"

"Cause we're friends?"

"Cause we're parked five feet away from the festival grounds and anyone can see us!"

"Kurama isn't back yet! If we move the car he might not find us!"

"It's stupid that your cat can perform magic but will somehow get lost just because we move"

"He's a familiar. He helps with magic, he doesn't do it. Now are we going to do this or not?"

"I am not straddling you Naruto."

"I'm gonna go find a cup then," the blonde moved to open his door but was stopped by the Uchiha reaching out to clutch his shirt.

"Fine! Fine!", he exclaims, struggling to stretch his leg out to climb over the console and reach the other side of Naruto's thigh. Thanking the high heavens that both of them somehow had the foresight to buy a car with seats that could be adjusted in every way possible so his head wasn't bumping the ceiling when he was finally and properly seated on his best friend's lap.

Naruto leans back and turns his head to the side, "Go on then," he invites, trying to look nonchalant over the situation and being woefully betrayed by the flush of his cheeks. But his voice is still as comforting as it was all those weeks ago when Sasuke had fed on him for the first time.

It’s been almost 2 weeks since they’ve had to pack up and run after hunters managed to trace them to their apartment. Comfort was not a priority but even then they would usually do Sasuke's feeding sessions in the comfort of the motels they'd be staying in for the night. They'd be sitting side by side with their faces inches from each other and even then the whole affair still came with a delicate bubble of intimacy that neither of them were willing to examine any closer. But outright straddling his friend alluded to something else entirely. Unfortunately because of the festival, all the establishments in the small village had no vacancies so they were stuck with the car. To Naruto's credit, they had tried to do it with Sasuke standing outside his door but that just made it look even more suspicious to passers-bys. Especially since the whole thing would take at least 10 minutes. The back seat was currently full of their possessions and weapons and had just enough space for Kurama to sleep, stretch, and do whatever cat familiars do. At least this way most people who saw them would be too embarrassed to keep looking.

"Sasuke if you don't start I really am just going to get a cup"

"Fine! Fine! Just, lean back alright"

Naruto did so, turning his head to the right again, knowing that Sasuke preferred to go for the left side and the fact that Naruto even knew that made the hate Sasuke had for himself sting even more, like acid on bare skin, and he just couldn't move.

He expects Naruto to scold him again for taking too long but instead, he feels warm hands cup his cheeks and he opens his eyes to see blue, made dark from the lack of light, studying him with an understanding so familiar that it turns the painful burn into a soothing warmth that loosened his muscles and somehow made him feel like he was home, the way those familiar cerulean irises and whiskered cheeks always did.

"It's ok," Naruto whispers, " You have me and I have you remember?

Sasuke takes a deep calming breath and nods, left hand raised to Naruto's neck to slowly turn his head to the right for the third time. His other hand holds the back of his friend's neck so his thumb can trace the side of it, over the pale twin circular scars left over by his fangs from previous feedings. The rushing flow of blood from the artery beneath it calls to him but more than that he felt guided by its pulsing warmth. He lowers his right hand and halts it over his friend's heart, galloping beneath his palm in a furious race, but not out of fear.

Finally, he leans forward into the crook of it, lips resting deliberately on warm skin before opening them to cautiously sink through with his fangs. There is the usual sharp intake of air that Naruto insists every time was not from pain but it never made the Uchiha feel any less guilty after. But this time the left hand that had been palming the blonde's cheek raises to tenderly run its fingers through his hair. As if the air had been released out of him, Naruto deflated and sunk into the car seat content. Lips forming a smile that Sasuke can feel in the way the skin beneath his cheek pulls

And therein lies the problem.

Because it's not the blood that pulls Sasuka in. It is not the thirst that makes him seek it out. It is not the act that pulls him back.

It's the tanned skin and the heat from it under his pale fingers. It's the way the pounding heart would calmly soothe into a pleasant thrum. The intoxicating pheromones drowning his lungs. The feel of muscles uncoiling their knots and welcoming him in. It's Naruto loving caring for him so much to be willing to not only give, but to offer himself to Sasuke as if it was his all along and Naruto was simply giving it back. But it still felt wrong for him to so freely take.

So lost was he in the moment that it took him a second to realize they hadn't timed it. In alarm he pulls away, lips and teeth still stained red, to look for his phone. 12 minutes. He pulls out a wet wipe and smoothes it over his best friend's neck which was also stained red.

"Naruto?" he whispers, gently tapping his friend's cheeks as he wipes his lips, "Naruto? You OK?"

The blonde lets out a sound akin to what one would make after a long nap. He looks up at him with bleary eyes and a sleepy smile and raises a hand to the Uchiha’s cheeks to give it a hard but painless tap.

"You ok?" Naruto's words came out a bit slurred but Sasuke knew from previous experience that it was not a point of worry, so he sighed and lifted a hand to place over Naruto's that was still on his cheek. It would be so easy to pull it to his lips and rest them on its palm. So he pulls it down and replaces the loss of warmth by leaning forward to rest his head on Naruto's.

"I'm ok," he responds and the grin on Naruto's face widens just a bit.

"I'm gonna go to sleep"

"Ok"

"You're gonna be here when I wake up right?"

"Yes"

"Promise?"

Something in Sasuke's chest tightens in a strange melded knot of affection and grief. Unable to hold back, he raises his head to press his lips on his friend's forehead in a kiss.

"I promise"

[ahgasegotarmy116]

Betrayal's Bond | An Uchiha Brothers Series Chapter 1

Summary: You've been tasked with finding the team of jonin that went missing on their mission to the village hidden in the stars but what happens when you take one Uchiha brother to look for the other? Pairing: Tsundere Sasuke x female!reader x Itachi (love triangle) Word Count: 3k Warnings: Nothing crazy really, a paper bomb goes off but no one is injured a/n: alright here we go first chapter be sure to read the teaser as it has all the information about the mission (very important to the story) List of Terminology

Going though my checklist one last time I make sure I've packed everything I'll need for this mission and come up short on one thing, kunai knives. Sasuke will kill me if I ask him to make a stop for them so I just need to head down to the blacksmith and grab some before we meet up.

As I'm putting my shoes on I get a knock on my door and I jump at the sound. 'I've gotta stop being in my head all the time. It's making me way too jumpy these days' I think to myself before opening it.

"Oh, I thought we were gonna to meet at the front gates" I say, greeting an unimpressed Sasuke. "Figured it'd be easier if I came here so I wouldn't be waiting for you to catch up" he says looking down on me. "You ready?" he asks, cocking a brow.

'Always the charmer Sasuke' I think to myself before sighing out my response. "I need to go get some more kunai and then I'll be good to go" I cringe internally, knowing how annoyed he'll be. I turn my back to him and grab my pack before closing up and locking my door to avoid his glare.

"I have some more back at my place. You can just use those and pay me back later" he offers and starts walking off, leaving me to follow after him. "Are you sure you don't mind?" I question and he simply shrugs as an answer.

"The blacksmith doesn't open for a few more hours so there's no use waiting when we can just do this instead" he explains and keeps on walking. I slow down my pace a bit, shocked at his willingness to help.

'He didn't throw it in my face that I was unprepared or irresponsible or anything. He just offered to help without prompting. Why would he do that?' I question to myself, watching the Uchiha crest on his back as he walks ahead of me. "Come on keep up" he says without turning, sensing that we've gained some distance between us without even looking.

"Coming!" I respond, jogging a few paces to catch up with him.

~~~~

As we walk into the Uchiha clan's part of the village I realize that I've actually never been here before. "Close your mouth and eyes front. You look like a tourist" he grumbles, having seen my reaction in his peripheral.

"I'm sorry, it just looks so different compared to the rest of the village. Especially with the Uchiha crest everywhere. I can see how proud of your clan you all are" I respond, glancing around only occasionally as I follow him down the main road until we've made a few turns to get to his house.

"I'm home" he calls out while we both take off our shoes, "Oh Sasuke I thought you had gone out on a mission, did you forget something? Oh! Hello" his mother says as she walks down the hallway towards us until she comes around the corner into view and notices me.

"Mom this is y/n" Sasuke introduces me quickly before making moves to go grab the kunai. He doesn't really tell me to follow him or if I should stay here so I just opt to stay near the door with his mother.

"So you're Sasuke's teammate for this mission?" his mother asks, curious as to why he's brought me here. "Yes ma'am" I answer and she smiles warmly, making my heart almost ache at the sight of it.

"Y/n right? Sasuke's talked about you before, says you're a really formidable shinobi. I heard you even rivaled him for the top spot in your class at the academy" she praises, making me look down at the floor, shy at her words.

"Sasuke's a lot better than me I assure you" I reply, thankful but still bashful at the though of Sasuke not only talking about me but also telling her I'm a good shinobi.

"Sasuke doesn't talk about people often but when he does it's because they're either annoying or annoyingly good and I believe you're one of the latter" she jokes and we both laugh, quietting down once we hear Sasuke make his way back.

He looks at the both of us suspiciously but doesn't say a word other than a quick goodbye to his mom once again. "It was nice meeting you Mrs. Uchiha!" I say after I finish putting my shoes back on and give her a bow.

"You too dear! Now hurry up and come back soon" she says, smiling as she watches the both of us walk out of the house and down the street. I can't help but wonder if she means come back to the village or if I should come back to their house but I guess for now that'll remain a mystery.

"Do you know your way to The Land of Bears?" Sasuke asks me, breaking my train of thought and bringing my attention back to the mission. "I've seen it on the map and I've been on missions in that general vicinity so more or less yes" I respond and he hums in acknowledgment while we make our way out of the Uchiha clan neighborhood and onto the entrance of the village.

"Have you been there before?" I question, curious as to his answer as well. "No, but I've heard about the things that go on there and I'm interested to find out if they're true" he says, eyes facing forward and focused on leaving the village as soon as possible but going at an okay pace to save our energy for the time being.

"What things?" I question, not remembering anything noteworthy about it. "Have you heard about the so called star that they have in the hidden star village?" he asks, while we wave to the guards at the entrance of the village, having already been made aware of our mission and let us through without an issue. 

"By the sound of it you would think that they have a star but I haven't heard much about it" I answer truthfully, not bothering to make up any of my own guesses.

"They're big on keeping information away from outsiders so it makes sense you haven't heard much about it" he explains and I turn to look at him for a second but focus back on the road ahead of us so we can stay on course. "This so called star they have seems to be more of a meteor than a star and it's known to give the people who channel the energy from it a special form of chakra" he relays.

"Special form of chakra?" I echo and he nods his head before continuing. "No one really knows exactly what it does but it's known to have a purple hue and manifests in the shape of wings or feathers, depending on the jutsu that's cast" he explains further and I make sure it absorb everything so I can keep it in mind as we continue on out journey.

"Anyway we should pick up the pace since we don't know what kind of situation we'll be walking into" he says, referring to the group we're on our way to find and I nod my head, following his lead.

~~~~

After traveling for a few hours Sasuke suddenly stops, leaving me slowing down to do the same "What is it?" I whisper as I stop on the tree branch next to him but he puts a finger to his lips asking me to stay quiet so I oblige, listening for anything and everything that might clue me in until I hear the whoosh of a kunai headed straight towards us. 

"Get down!" he yells, tackling me to the ground and out of harms way before noticing seconds later there's a paper bomb attached to the end and pulling me further away as we hide behind a tree to avoid the blast. 

"What was that?" I ask but he puts his fingers to his lips again before peeking his head around the tree to find the perpetrator but he come up empty handed and turns his focus back to me. "Are you okay?" he asks, assessing my physical state before making eye contact again. 

"Yeah I'm fine" I say, getting up from the sitting position he had me in and opting to stand, leaning my back up against the tree, watching behind him while he continues to scope out the area we had been attacked from. 

"Alright come out" Sasuke orders, unamused with the situation we had been put in and out comes a young boy around our age. Walking aimlessly as though he doesn't have a care in the world until he lays his eyes on Sasuke. Both of the boys size each other up but before either one says another word I slip into the conversation. 

"You know there's a better way to try and get someone's attention besides throwing a paper bomb at them" I say, crossing my arms over my chest and the boy scoffs, acting as if I'm the one that wronged him. 

"What are two Leaf shinobi doing wandering through these parts?" he asks, mimicking my posture as a clear way to egg me on. "We're not wandering, we're passing through. There's a difference" I spit and as the boy makes a move to walk towards me Sasuke gets between us, taking control of the conversation.

"We don't want any trouble. We're just taking the fastest route to our destination" he says, keeping his words clear and concise, only giving the necessary information. 

"What's the purpose of your journey?" the boy presses and I jump in much to Sasuke's displeasure. "It's none of your concern so if you don't mind" I say, walking around Sasuke and past the boy, to continue on our way. 

"Where do you think you're going little lady" the boy says, grabbing onto my wrist and keeping me still. "I wouldn't do that if I were you" Sasuke warns and the boy clicks his tongue, "Or what?" he presses while tightening his hold on my wrist making me groan in pain, trying and failing to get out of his grasp. 

"Let's just say you don't wanna know" Sasuke say, closing his eyes before flashing his Sharingan at the boy making him loosen his grip enough for me to rip my wrist out of his grasp. "J-just steer clear of the woods on this side of the path" the boy says while taking a few steps back, clearly recognizing the visual prowess of the Uchiha clan. 

"Got it" Sasuke responds and narrows his eyes at the boy, making him run off to wherever he had come from. 

"You shouldn't have done that" I say, rubbing my wrist before administering medical ninjutsu right away, making sure to prevent it from slowing down our mission. "Would you have rather I let him break your wrist?" he says coldly, his eyes watching me curiously as the green glow envelops my arm. 

I stay silent at that and continue en route, Sasuke following behind me moments later, jogging a bit to catch up. An unspoken understanding to take it easy for a while as I treat my wrist. 

"I didn't know you knew medical ninjutsu" he says, glancing over at my arm again before fixing his eyes on the road ahead of us. "I started training a few months ago so it's relatively new" I respond, looking down at my wrist as well as glancing up every once in a while to make sure I don't trip. 

He nods his head and we continue on our journey. 

He takes notice of how cautious I'm being about walking and treating myself at the same time and decides to veer off to the right, sitting on a little stone bench on the side of the road we had been walking on. 

"What are you doing?" I question, watching as he slumps down on it and rests his head against the back, closing his eyes and trying to get as comfortable as he can given the circumstances. 

"Taking a break?" he says, not bothering to look at me and I roll my eyes before sitting down at the other end, resting my arm against my thigh as I take a few more minutes to finish treating it, the tender feeling soon fading away. 

"You done?" he asks, looking down and noticing that the green glow is gone and I was left rolling my wrist, stretching it out and making sure it's back to normal. "Did you stop just so I could finish treating it?" I question, not bothering to answer his question since the answer is obvious to at this point. 

"Figured it was better than you tripping or something from not paying attention" he says, getting up and putting his hands in his pockets, walks off without another word. 

~~~~

As we make our way into the first town we come across we decide to find a room for the night, the weather having gotten a lot colder as of late. The crips fall atmosphere exchanging places with the hash bite of winter nights. 

"I got us one room, hope that's okay" Sasuke says, walking up to where I had taken a seat on one of the benches in the small entryway. "That's fine, thanks" I say, grabbing the spare key. 'Why am I nervous all of a sudden? It's no big deal, he's a teammate. We would've been camping outside together anyways so this might as well be the same thing. 

He takes the lead and guides us to our room on the third floor and unlocks it, letting me in first which is...surprising. I had no idea he would care about simple gestures like that. It's probably because his mom raised him right, that's it. Maybe it's just a reflex. 

She does seem like the type of woman to make sure both of her boys and well versed in manners...even though Sasuke comes up short at times. 

I grab one of the futons and lay it closest to the window so I can watch the moon rise and take in the stars that some how seem a lot brighter here. Leaving Sasuke to place his on the opposite side of the room, maintaining a respectful distance. 

"Don't snore too loud alright? I'd like to at least get some sleep" he mumbles with his back turned to me. "I do not snore!" I raise my voice to defend myself but I hear him scoff. "That's not what your teammates say" he taunts and I curse the two guys that've been stuck with since our days at the academy. 

"Lee's the one who snores sound like an oncoming storm, plus Neji's a light sleeper and wakes up every five minutes no matter what" I say, standing up and taking my bag into the bathroom to get away from him. 

"I'm joking y/n" he taunts again and I roll my eyes, not amused with his efforts. "Didn't know you had a sense of humor" I scoff and the corner of his mouth turns up, amused with my reaction. 

"There's a lot you don't know about me" he says and I widen my eyes, surprised by the air of playfulness behind those words and close the door in response, having no clue what I would even say to that. 'Why is he acting so weird?' I think to myself as I get out of my clothes and rinse off before changing into something more comfortable that basically envelops my whole figure. 

As I make my way out of the bathroom I see that Sasuke isn't in the room but rather sitting on the balcony outside. 

"Bathroom's free" I say and he hums in response, looking up at the moon, no doubt lost in thought, what those thoughts might be I have no clue but I simply decide to take a few steps closer to keep him company.

"Took you long enough" he says, glancing over at me and I shake my head before bothering to respond. "Very funny" I answer dryly, looking up at the moon but drifting my eyes down to the town below, now just realizing that I hadn't even bothered take it all in. We both stand there, enjoying the low buzz of the people outside and breath in the cool night air, basking in the serenity of the moment. 

I turn to go inside and notice that he's seems as though he has no plans of coming in anytime soon. "You should get some rest. We'll be leaving right before dawn" I relay, reminding him that we still have a mission to complete and he nods in acknowledgment but stays just as he is. 

"Goodnight Sasuke" I say, sliding the door open and as I slowly close it behind me I hear him whisper a soft "Goodnight y/n" that has my heart fluttering. 

I don't know why I'm suddenly feeling like this but I guess there's just something about being alone with him that just feels different. If we were on a four man squad I can almost guarantee that we wouldn't have spoken a word to each other besides strategizing or communicating if a situation arises that needs to be dealt with.

I guess that's something that we should talk about if push comes to shove. It's only the two of us but we should still make sure we're on the same page if something were to happen. 

Shinobi should always be ready to act and adapt to situations especially in times of battle.

Both of us are strong in our own rite and can take care of ourselves but if we are to go through any challenges we might face successfully then we need to make sure we work together. Teamwork can make or break a mission so hopefully our skillsets will be compatible once combined together. 

It is essential to this mission's success. 

Teaser / next Series Masterlist

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[sasusakucoded]

Smol Announcement: From now on, sasusakucoded's Sunday is sasusaku au day. Yay!

Thanks to everyone who encouraged me to write more AUs and fanfics. 🙇‍♀️

---

Sakura can't believe how she ended up in this situation— marrying a stranger just because of family ties. In the village, her family is renowned. The Harunos lead the food and fashion industries and Sakura's father is considered as an influential person close to the Hokage.

Her soon-to-be-husband-in-a-few-hours is from the Uchiha clan. They are a humble clan that resides in the remote part of the village.

It's her first time seeing the guy. He looks handsome and quiet but the idea that she has to marry him because of a silly deal between her and his great great grandfathers irks her. Their great great grandfathers were comrades in the last shinobi war. They promised each other to marry off their children to merge their families. The problem is both of them had only one child and both are males. This repeated for several generations until a female was born in the Haruno side.

"You may now kiss the bride."

And just like that, Sakura and Sasuke are married.

---

As soon as they reach their new home, Sakura takes out a two-pager from her bag and gives it to Sasuke. "This is our contract."

Sasuke is confused. He thinks it is their marriage contract from the church. He starts reading it and realizes it's a totally different one.

"Let me get this straight. Only my grandfather wants us to get married. My father just agreed because of the stupid pact. As soon as Grandpa is gone, we'll get a divorce."

This shocks Sasuke. Even if he doesn't like the idea of marrying someone he just met, he has made up his mind that this woman is his wife and he has to take care of her.

Sakura is waiting for his reply. It seems that he can't process her plans. She reiterates, "so we just have to wait."

He nods and reads the contract again. The last line says, "do not fall in love with me."

"If you agree, please sign both pages and keep one as your copy."

He signs it immediately and gives the paper back to her.

"Great." She points at the door, "that will be our bedroom. We should still stay in one room in case they visit us. And oh, the contract is between the two of us only. Don't tell anyone."

"Got it," Sasuke says while following her to the room.

---

The following days are tiring. They have to attend family functions that Sakura's grandfather and Sasuke's parents have prepared.

Sasuke is shy around the Haruno's acquaintances. He stays in one corner and watches them from there. Sakura is quick to find him, reminding him that it's part of their duties as a couple to mingle with others. She takes his hand and introduces him to their friends. Slowly, Sasuke gets the hang of it and enjoys learning new things about Sakura through conversations.

In the Uchiha's abode, things are different. They have a more intimate event. All of Sasuke's favorites have been prepared. Sakura is hesitant to eat crabs and lobsters and Sasuke notices. Apparently, she doesn't know how to open them so Sasuke gladly takes a few and cracks them for her. This makes Sakura happy because she feels special and she appreciates the food more because he helps her.

---

Weeks have passed and Sasuke starts to get more fond of his wife. He learns that she likes designing clothes but her passion is to paint. He likes it when she tells him about the painting techniques she use. He's interested of whatever topic she wants to talk about.

Sakura, on the other hand, finds Sasuke nice and kind. She specially likes it when he prepapres food for her or when he does small things even if she doesn't ask him to do them. He's still too quiet for her though. He only talks when she asks him questions.

They call each other "love" to make their marriage more believable in the eyes of others.

Sakura taps Sasuke's shoulder and gives him a new phone. "Use that. Your current one's cracked screen is an eyesore."

"Thanks, but I can't accept—"

"Just take it," she turns her back and leaves. "I'll be at the gallery until later. Bye!"

---

Sakura is preparing for her art exhibit so she spends more time at her gallery. Sasuke decides to drop by and bring her dinner.

He goes in and sees Sakura talking to someone. It is her father.

"—but really? You're going to give me the most basic man and think that I won't file for a divorce sooner or later?! It's so stupid, Dad! I thought you'll agree with me on this!"

"Hey Sasuke, why are you here? Let's go inside!" says Ino, Sakura's bestfriend.

Sakura and her father look at the door simultaneously and see them.

"I– I just dropped by to bring you food." He puts it on the table while looking down. He greets his father-in-law and nods at Sakura before leaving.

"Hey, you're leaving already?" Ino asked.

He just nods and walks towards the train station.

When he thought they're getting closer, it hits him that everything is part of a ploy. They have a contract to follow and he must not misunderstand things.

"Go home now and say sorry to him," Kizashi says in his stern voice.

"Why would I? What I said.. That's the truth.."

Sakura's father leaves knowing that he can't do anything with her daughter's ego. Ino doesn't dare ask questions. She just tells her that she needs to go too.

Sakura continues her painting, constantly making errors here and there. "Did he hear everything? What does he think of me now? Is he hurt? He must be.. Most basic man.. Why did I even say that? Where did I get that term? He's definitely not basic. He's simple, sure, but far from basic. So why did I say that? Well.. Who cares. This marriage is just a phase.. We'll part ways soon enough.. I couldn't care less of what he feels."

She opens the food bag and sees the note.

Don't forget to eat, Picassokura!

She smiles at how silly it is. She also realizes that she hasn't eaten since afternoon. She opens the bento box and sees that it has some of her favorites. She wants to eat it so bad but her guilt is preventing her.

With no progress, she decides to get food from the vending machine instead. "This is what I deserve," she says while taking her first bite.

She enters the house and sees Sasuke in the kitchen. He greets her and immediately sees the food bag.

"Sakura, I'll take care of that," he says while taking the bag from her.

She's hesitant. The least thing she wants to happen is for him to think that she didn't like the food that he prepared. "No, it's fine!"

Too late. He has the bag and is aware that it's still full. He nods and goes back to the kitchen.

She goes to their bedroom and takes a shower. "You're so stupid, Sakura!! That will hurt him further!!"

She's waiting for him to come into their bedroom but he's still in the kitchen. It's been hours since Sakura arrived, so she goes there to talk to him.

"Hey.. I'm sorry," she starts. "I– I said those words because I was really pissed. I told Dad about the contract and hedidn't agree with me at first.. That's why.."

"It's okay.. What you said is true.. A basic man like me doesn't deserve someone like you.."

"No– I didn't mean–"

"It's okay. It's good that you were upfront."

"But I offended you.. I swear I didn't mean to say those words.."

"Maybe I was offended.. But it's no big deal. That's the truth, I can't do anything about it."

"I want to make it up to you. Tell me anything you want!"

"Paint me," he laughs.

His laughter makes her a little relieved. She agrees to paint him and both of them go to bed.

---

Because of that incident, Sasuke starts to distance himself from Sakura. After all, there's no reason for them to be closer with each other now.

Sakura's days are per usual— she goes to her gallery and paints the promised portrait. It's a surprise to her that she can actually paint him without a reference. She thinks of his face when they eat together, or when he sleeps, or when he's doing some chores.

She calls Ino to look at the painting. "It's done, finally!"

"Wow! Sasuke must be really pleased! Looks like he's from one of those period dramas.. What's the title?"

"I don't have a title yet, to be honest. Do you think he'll like it?"

"I'm sure he will!"

For some reason, Sakura keeps on looking at the door and checking her phone, as if anticipating someone's arrival or message. Ino has noticed this and asks her, "expecting someone?"

"No.. Why?"

"You keep on glancing at the door.. Also, I haven't seen Sasuke these days. Did you tell him not to go here?"

"No, I didn't." It occurs to her just now that Sasuke doesn't visit her anymore. Not even once since she started painting his portrait.

This thought remains in her mind for the rest of the day. Now, she can only think of the things he stopped doing ever since that incident at the gallery happened.

"What do you mean he stopped doing things?"

Aside from her dad, only Ino knows about their situation and plans. She's open with her and trusts her very much.

"He doesn't text me anymore. Before, he sends me multiple texts a day, asking if I've eaten. He doesn't eat dinner with me too. He still prepares the food but it's either he eats later than me or he doesn't eat at all. He also stopped calling me 'love' when we're alone. He only calls me that when we're outside."

"What's the problem? Isn't that what you want?"

"Yeah.. But abrupt change is confusing.."

"Your contract is rather confusing! You say you don't care about him and he shouldn't care about you.. But you keep on doing things for him."

"Ino–"

"You had his parents' distillery up and running. You bought new equipment for his football club. You paid for his clan's mortgage–"

"It's not like I paid much money for that–"

"That's not the point, Sakura. You're doing all these wifey things for him in secret and you're telling yourself that he deserves them because he's nice."

"But.. He's really nice–"

"Yeah! Your driver is also nice. Would you do the same thing?"

"Ino, that's different!"

"And now you're bothered because he stopped doing the little husband things he's been doing."

"I'm not bothered! I'm just.. Confused.."

"Sakura, it's not like your contract is something concrete. You can always terminate your self-made contract, you know. I don't know if you're aware but you talk about him almost 24/7."

"I don't! I just talk about him because he's my current subject!"

"Yeah right! 'Sasuke's football skills is top-tier! Sasuke's hair should be the standard for men's hairstyle! Sasuke did this, Sasuke did that!' Sakura, please. Don't kid yourself."

"But.."

"I haven't seen you paint so passionately before. So, there's really something different. Think about it."

Sakura overthinks about it indeed. She never cared about any guy before. This feeling is new to her, so she's not sure if she just misses his presence or if she's really in love with him. Regardless, she's excited to go home to tell him about the painting.

She's about to close the gallery when she sees a familiar car outside. It's her grandfather. It also seems that he's with her dad.

"Dad? Grandpa? What are you doing here?"

"I am sorry. You shouldn't be burdened by the pact, Sakura," her grandfather says as he enters the gallery.

"What do you mean?" she asks, looking back and forth between her grandfather and dad.

Her grandfather sees the painting. "For someone who doesn't care about someone, you sure did put effort on painting this.. Well, Sakura. You don't need to anymore. You don't need to pretend."

"Grandpa?"

"Sasuke paid a visit this afternoon. He told me everything. You can cancel that contract or whatever deal you have with him. You can file for a divorce freely."

"He went and told you?"

Her grandfather inspects the painting closer. "He said you don't deserve to be punished like this. He'll take the blame if people will ask. He said you shouldn't be trapped because of a deal that happened way before your birth. He's right. I'm sorry, it's my fault. I really just wanted to fulfill my grandfather's wish."

Sakura doesn't know how to react. She wants to say many things but words are not coming out of her mouth.

"Starting tonight, that contract is void. You can live in peace. I'll make sure of that."

"Grandpa.. So.. Does he hate me? He didn't say anything to me.." she asks, almost sobbing.

"No, not at all. He said he loves you, so he knows he has to let you go."

"He said he loves me? He never told me!"

"Because it's part of the contract right? It's funny because it seems that he has memorized every line of those rules–"

"Wait, is he at home?"

"Yes, he said he'll pack his things asap so it's easier for you–"

"I must go. Dad, please close the gallery for me!" She gives him the keys and runs towards her car.

"Hey, don't drive fast!!" Kizashi reminds her.

---

She's panting when she arrives. He's there, ready to leave. He's waiting for her to say goodbye properly.

"Sakura–"

"So, that's it? That's the reason you're not calling me 'love' anymore? That's the reason you stopped doing things you used to do for me? You want to rescind the contract–" She can't continue her statement and starts crying while holding onto him.

"Sakura.. This is what you've always wanted, right?"

"Is it true? You love me?"

"It doesn't matter.."

"Is it true?!" Sakura repeats her question louder.

"It's true! I love you! It hurts that you'll never love me back but it hurts me more to see you miserable with me! I'd rather let you go than see you hating your life because of that stupid pact."

"Who said I was miserable? Because of that one incident? Sasuke, you don't understand. I've never been this happy before.."

"You were happy.. with me?"

"I was in denial because it would hurt my ego. I made that contract.. I made the rules.. Then I'll be the one to break them? I kept on telling myself you're just nice.. You're kind and cool.. That's why I like you. But it's deeper than that, Sasuke. I love you. I know it took me so long to realize.. But I can't see myself living here or anywhere else without you by my side."

Sasuke can't believe what he's hearing. This can't be real. He can't process that the woman who despises the idea of getting married to him is now in love with him.

"Sakura. Are you sure? It's your chance to be free again."

"Did you know, I've finished your portrait today. I was so happy. I was pleased with the result.. Before I left the gallery, I put the title on it thinking I'll surprise and show you tomorrow." Sakura takes his hand. "You know what, come! Let's go there now."

Sakura calls her dad to go back and open the gallery for her. He complies and even her grandfather is intrigued.

When Sasuke and Sakura arrive, it's already open. It's obvious that Sakura cried on their way and her father can't help but worry.

"This.. This is beautiful, Sakura. Thank you.." Sasuke says while looking at its entirety.

"There's the title," Sakura points at a small card at the bottom of the painting.

"Love of the Artist's Life.. Sakura?"

"If that's still not enough for you to believe that I love you–"

Sasuke pulls her for a hug. "I'm sorry. I should've told you. You don't have to prove anything, Sakura. Just tell me I'm allowed to love you and I will. With all my heart."

Sakura takes the contract from her bag and torns it into pieces. "Null and void! Sasuke, please love me with all your heart and I promise you that my heart is yours and yours alone."

"I think we can leave now, Kizashi. So, nothing changes right? You guys are still married. Our ancestors are pleased with the fulfilled pact.. Everybody happy. Good." Sakura's grandfather laughs. "Sasuke, you take care of her. That's my only wish."

"I will, sir. That's a promise."

Kizashi leaves with his father. "Dad said everything I wanted to say. Take care, Sakura, Sasuke. We're leaving."

Sasuke is still staring at the painting. "It's really detailed, love.."

"You don't know how much I missed you calling me that."

Sasuke kisses her and says, "let's go home. I have to unpack and organize everything again."

They shared a laugh. "Don't worry, your wife is going to help you."

"You mean the love of my life."

"Hey, that's my title for you! Pick another one!"

[koorinokujira]

☾ Nightmares - SB Imagines ☽

(Kojūrō, Masamune, Yukimura, Sasuke, Motochika, Keiji, Magoichi)

After a particularly bad nightmare, you are left awake in the middle of the night. You sob, absolutely inconsolable as sadness and fear wreak havoc in your exhausted mind. Who will comfort you, and how?

☾ Kojūrō ☽

Kojūrō feels his shoulders tense when he hears the first few sobs. He's just been passing by your room, going about whatever business he had to put away for the night because of his lord's needs. And now all he hears are the alarm bells blaring in his mind. Without any hesitation, he slides open the door and rushes in, hastily checking if you are sick or injured in any way. After finding out it's not the case, his stern expression softens a bit.

He asks what's wrong- but only once, as you don't really respond to his question. He puts two and two together pretty quickly. After all, this is not the time he's dealt with this. Masamune was the same when younger. And so the Right Eye does what he does best; being someone you can rely on. He doesn't really say much before tightly wrapping you up in a blanket and holding you close. Hugs aren't his forte, but he has to ground you somehow, right? It used to work on Masamune, anyway.

And all the while, he doesn't force you to talk about your nightmare, instead choosing to remain in silence. He just holds you and waits patiently, with a strangely fatherly look on his face, until you either fall asleep in his arms or tell him what made you so scared. The tight, comforting embrace soon forces you to relax, and your breathing slows...

He is there to listen. And he will stay as long as you need him, just like he would for Masamune.

☾ Masamune ☽

Masamune is easily woken up by the muffled sound of you crying. He's always been a very light sleeper, and it saved his hide many times when out fighting. But this time is a bit different, as he isn't the one in potential danger. Without even thinking, he grabs his weapons and rushes to your side, his hand already on the hilt of one of his Claws.

After almost breaking down your door, he quickly realizes there's no enemy present and freezes for a moment. Leading men to battle and losing yourself in the passion of combat is one thing, but comforting someone who's this miserable... that seems like a daunting task for the One Eyed Dragon. But he doesn't let his doubts stop him. What kind of leader would he be if he did? He's no coward.

And so he decides to do one of the things that help him clear his head when he's not feeling good. He doesn't even ask what's wrong, having a few theories already. Despite small protests from you, he lifts you up into his arms, letting out a soft huff. After that, he swiftly carries you to the stables, and gets up into the saddle of his horse with you. Before you can even say anything, the horse is already in motion. It's clear Masamune is trying his best to balance speed and comfort as you ride. He holds you close so you don't fall off, and starts telling you all sorts of embarassing stories about him and Kojūrō, until the tears stop falling and you let out a small chuckle. When that happens, he gives you his signature smirk, looking incredibly proud of himself for calming you down.

Not even nightmares can escape the Dragon once he sets his eye on them. Not when he has someone so precious to protect.

☾ Yukimura ☽

Yukimura is startled awake by the quiet sobs, even though he probably wouldn't admit it. A thousand thoughts rush through his mind at once as he gets up and goes to check on you. He's worried, very worried. And when he sees you being a sobbing mess, his heart drops right into his stomach. He starts questioning you on what happened, but you are still too out of it to answer.

So, he awkwardly sits down next to you with a troubled look on his face. He thinks long and hard about what his revered Oyakata-sama would do in this situation, but nothing fitting seems to come to mind. After all, punching you so hard that you make a hole in the wall and giving you life advice during it is out of the question, even he recognizes that his lord's methods wouldn't really apply here. Sasuke would maybe know what to do, but he's out on a mission somewhere, so he's on his own.

He carefully reaches his hand out, placing it on your shoulder to let you know you're not alone. He's a bit surprised when you lean onto him for comfort, but he doesn't push you away. After a while, you feel comfortable enough to tell him about your nightmare, and he listens intently. Everything is quiet for a moment, until...

"I, SANADA YUKIMURA, SWEAR TO PROTECT YOU FROM THE NIGHTMARES!"

Yukimura yells it out so loudly that it probably woke everyone else up, too. He sounds even more determined and dramatic than usual, complete with wild hand motions and an intense but genuine look in his eyes. That promise is just so absurd, and... endearing, in true Yukimura fashion. And then he even has the gall to look surprised when you burst out laughing!

Never change, Yukimura, never change.

☾ Sasuke ☽

Sasuke notices that something is wrong just before he goes out on another mission. Maybe it's because he's a shinobi, or because he often has to drag Yukimura out of trouble, but he's developed a sixth sense of sorts already. And that sense, that gut feeling quickly leads him to your room. He doesn't walk in just yet, and you aren't even aware of his presence. Luckily for you, it doesn't take him too long to decide that the mission can wait for a while longer.

He gently opens the door and walks in. If he's worried, it's not showing, he looks as calm and laid back as ever. He sits down next to you and waits for a while to see if his presence is enough to calm you down. He knows better than to overwhelm you with questions at this moment. But the amount of tears lessens only a little. He sights softly. Perhaps there is one thing he could try...

He stands up, but you don't see what he's doing, your vision is all blurry from crying. Suddenly, you feel a pair of arms wrap around you. And another. And... another? You go quiet for a moment, blinking in surprise as you realize that he summoned two shadow clones to smother your sadness with a hug. And honestly... it's working. Who wouldn't want to be hugged by their favorite person three times at once? It doesn't take long for you to finally relax again and fall asleep. Sasuke simply makes the clones disappear and lays you back down, watching over you for a while. And then, he disappears into the shadows, as if nothing even happened.

Mission complete.

☾ Motochika ☽

It takes Motochika a while to get to you. The seas aren't exactly calm, and the sound of crashing waves and the crew yelling at each other on the deck drowns out... everything else, essentially. Still, you're lucky, as he managed to hear you while walking by the tiny cabin you tend to sleep in. He steps in, and he instinctively tilts himself to one side to balance out the ship suddenly getting rocked by another wave.

The captain looks pretty drowsy, and he's only half dressed. Not a very uncommon sight, since he has a ridiculous sleep schedule while the crew is out treasure hunting. He wakes up at random times and then goes back to sleep after checking if everything is under control on the deck. And this time, he chanced upon a different issue than he expected. Seeing you in distress, he finally seems to properly wake up.

He says nothing, simply taking you in his arms and wrapping them around you in a very comfortable bear hug. He doesn't like seeing any of his crew sad and scared, and that applies even more when it comes to you. The rocking of the ship suddenly doesn't seem as bad anymore, as he's stable on his feet. He's like a lighthouse in the midst of a terrible storm.

Motochika has many things on his mind that he could say. That it's fine, that whatever you saw in that nightmare wasn't real. But he knows you know, and that it probably wouldn't calm you down. And so he sings. It's only a low hum at first, which slowly changes into words. It's a shanty you and the crew often sing. Usually, it's very energetic, but his rough, slow singing makes it seem more like a lullaby this time. And it does help. Even the sea seems to grow calmer as you finally relax and close your eyes once more.

You're safe here. Aniki has your back.

☾ Keiji ☽

Keiji is awake even before you are. Since you're travelling together and often sleep out in the wilderness, with the trees acting as your only roof, you're always near each other. For safety reasons, of course. But before you even woke up from the nightmare, you were thrashing so wildly that you managed to kick the poor Maeda vagabond in the face.

Still, once you wake up and break down into tears, he seems to be way more concerned about you than the red mark on his face. He's panicking a bit, not really knowing how to calm you. Yumekichi looks at him judgementally for it, but this has never happened to you two, what is he supposed to do?! He at least pulls you in for an awkward, tight hug, trying to tell you that it's going to be okay while patting your head. It doesn't seem to be working much, however.

In the end, he decides to use his inner romantic to distract you. He carefully tilts your head up, and points to the stars above you. Keiji doesn't wait even for a second before he starts waxing poetic about the world around you both. He points out the stars, the moon, the chirping sound of crickets and the quiet whispers of the wind. And it's all so genuine, too. The happiness that he gets to travel with you and see everything in a different light. When you calm down enough after listening to him softly talk about what makes him happy, he starts asking you to tell him what you can see. And every single time you point to something, he tells you about a nice memory you two share that it reminds him of. The panic and awkwardness is gone, and it's just the Keiji you know and love now. You two talk and talk, until the sun rises once again, and you two simply rest each other, Yumekichi curled up on Keiji's shoulder.

You can't even remember what the nightmare was about now.

☾ Magoichi ☽

Magoichi is still awake when she hears you cry. With all the chaos in Japan right now, she spends day and night making sure everyone in the Faction is safe and prepared for anything. Though, hearing you in distress has given her a pause. At first, she just wants to keep walking. After all, she can't coddle the members of the proud Saika Faction as if they were children.

But then again.. crying is not exactly a common sound heard around here, so it's probably something that really got to you. And as much as she tries to be stern and heartless, she does care about her own. Dearly. So with a sigh, she opens the door and walks towards you. She gives you a quick once-over to make sure you're not wounded and trying to hide it, as a few would do.

Ah, so a nightmare.

She has her typical stern, determined expression on her face, but there also seems to be something softer in her eyes. She's not judging you. In fact... she gets it. She gets her own share of nightmares. Terrible ones, too. And she hates the idea that someone she's secretly so proud and fond of is a victim of their own mind. And so she starts speaking to you. Her voice is slightly softer than usual, but it still has enough authority to properly catch your attention.

She doesn't offer you typical words of comfort. She tells you that you're strong, and how she's seen that strength shine many times. How proud she is how far you've come, and how she is glad that you're fighting under her banner. And how she believes that you can overcome this, just like you usually do in battle. That you can kill this nightmare, this fear, with a carefully aimed metaphorical bullet to its head. She grips your shoulders while saying all this, so you know how serious she is. And she also doesn't forget to mention that you never, ever have to fight it alone. It's not really Magoichi's words or tone of voice that calms you in the end. It's the fact that she took her time to try to comfort you in the only way she knows. You know you're in good hands now.

No Sacred Crow will get lost from the flock on her watch.

---

Well, that's it for the first round of imagines! I am still kind of getting used to writing shorter scenes like this, as I usually write longer things, so the formatting or pacing may be a bit strange for a while. I also apologize for any possibble inaccuracies or grammar mistakes, I wrote basically all of these in the middle of the night, and I'm currently feeling pretty sick (￣▽￣*)ゞ Still, I hope you enjoyed them and I hope to write more soon! I am also oficially opening SB imagines and fic requests now, so if you guys wish to see something specific, now's the time to ask for it! Thank you for reading, and as always...

Have an amazing day!

[cartoonrival]

like sasuke is clearly deeply unhappy in boruto which is fine, i honestly think its GOOD that he's not just like suddenly content with his life and himself after the finale of shippuden, its just also sort of insane that the post canon where he is no longer the focus is one where he's so potently miserable. he's clearly still reluctant to really face konoha. he still feels like an outcast or a bad apple, he still thinks he needs to atone for what he did as a teenager, despite the fact that he's been actively atoning for like a decade. but it'll never be enough. the only person he is not afraid to face and does not think he has failed is naruto, but even then he is still eager to isolate himself again, and i KNOW that its isolating and not just "being by himself" (sasuke has never been an outwardly emotional person (except under major duress), and while i believe a lot of this is repression its also just how he is, so no amount of healing would make him as open as, say, naruto, but i digress) because these are not the words of a happy man. "if she hates me its fine, because at least the future will be bright". "this is also a journey of atonement." naruto WANTS him to stay, believes its been long enough, the people of konoha don't hate him anymore (not sure how true this is but it's what naruto believes/wants to be true), but sasuke says they should stick to what they're meant to do, which means naruto as the hokage, because he is well loved and good with people, and sasuke in the shadows, because he is meant to be alone and unrecognized.

tbc i don't think that sasuke could be happy "settling down," i don't think he DOESNT like being on the move all the time, but the scene with naruto where he leaves konoha without saying goodbye to anybody is clearly not a scene where sasuke is content with his life in the way naruto is. he isn't doing this because he wants to, its because he thinks that he has to suffer in order to be good, and that the people of konoha wouldn't accept him any other way. it IS TRUE that sasuke has always been a big believer in sacrifice for the greater good and wouldn't consider his own happiness to be important compared to the missions he needed to go on, regardless of how deserving of happiness he considered himself to be, but i absolutely refuse to believe that, if he DID believe he deserved it, there has been NO TIME EVER that he could come home and just be regular. just for a little. there is absolutely something that is pushing him out of konoha, unrelated to "i have a mission to go on." there's still a disconnect.

WHICH. unfortunately. brings me to. end of shippuden. he receives a letter from naruto praising him for protecting the village even without being there, he thinks, "maybe it's time to come home." sometime before he comes home, he catches wind that naruto is getting married. he sends a letter with nothing on it other than "congratulations," and he does not come home. for like 4 more years. next time he's home for an extended period of time it's when sakura has already giving birth to sarada and he's helping raise her until she's juuuust old enough to start retaining memories before he fucks off again.

he doesn't want to be around sarada and sakura. he doesn't want them to worry about him or concern themselves with him. he doesn't want to be affectionate with sakura, who clearly DOES want to be affectionate with him. he considers the fact that he and sakura had a kid together to be the thing that most connects them, which is only significant in this case because anyone with eyes can tell that they are not really connected in basically any other way. it's like the ring he gives her in that dino arc. clearly since you wear a ring now to show we're married it means that we're married even though i'm not doing any of the other things a husband should do, but this ring makes up for that. clearly since we have a kid our hearts are connected and we really do love each other, even though i'm not doing any of the other things someone who really loves you would do. you could argue that his refusal to make any contact with sarada and sakura IS out of love, that he's afraid of hurting them and thinks he's protecting them by staying out of their lives (this is most likely what kishimoto intends), but this claim doesn't have any actual PRECEDENT outside of the fact that i'm being told that sasuke apparently loves her, the evidence for that being well they got married and had a kid. off screen.

i think he feels guilty that sarada even exists, because it's his fault she has no dad and it's his fault she inherited the uchiha's massive capacity for grief and love, it's his fault that sakura is raising her alone, and he's running from this because hopefully he can make up for it by doing good for the whole world since he cannot bring himself to make up for it by being there for his wife and daughter. "she has sakura, she'll be fine" because sakura is more her parent than he will ever/could ever be. he doesnt HATE sakura or sarada, to be very clear. he cares about them both as people, he fully respects sakura's strength, is proud when he sees sarada fighting well, he wants her to be happy and wants her to like him, he wishes he could be a better father and husband to her and sakura. just without having to be their father and husband.

boruto is not good unfortunately but due to the fact that naruto IS good and sasuke's characterization is very lovingly done in the original series it's critical to me (because i am not normal) that i figure out how to connect pieces that kishimoto could not be assed to properly connect. he seems to RECOGNIZE that he's betraying sasuke's characterization by making him have a kid w sakura due to the fact that everything sasuke does after that is p much exactly what i would expect him to do if, through some freak incident, he ended up having a kid with sakura. Anywho

[harrietbarnesblog]

Love in the dark

Masterpost

Masterlist

Pairing: Itachi x reader

Warning: swearing, blood, murder, angst, no happy ending.

You rushed to the place where the Uchihas resided as soon as you heard the news. Blood. Dead bodies of the Uchiha clan laid on the side of the road.

He had done it. He had killed them all. Even his parents. Except for his little brother.

Sasuke was the one who rushed to you when he couldn't stop his brother from leaving. He called you thinking you might be able to help.

"Y/n, you have to come with me. We have to stop him." Sasuke said, dragging you along with him.

You both managed to catch up to Itachi. He came to halt feeling your presence.

"Don't say anything you are about to say, y/n. I won't change my mind no matter what." Itachi said. Not even bothering to turn and look at you. He started to walk again. Tears streamed down your cheeks.

"Stop." You shouted. "You promised me. You promised me a happy life. You promised you'd never watch me shed a single tear unless it is a tear of happiness. You broke that promise. My tears are spilling right now because of you and it is because of sadness. You broke your promise. you broke your promise." You kept repeating the last line.

He still didn't bother to look at you.

"STOP." He shouted. "I didn't break the promise. As I promised I didn't watch you shed tears. You'll have a happy life if I'm not in it. You'll get it as promised. I'm a man of my words. I don't break promises, darling."

"What makes you think I'll have a happy life if you aren't in it. You are my happiness. There's no happiness in my life without you." You didn't cry anymore. You were furious. "You'll stay here. I need you. Sasuke needs you."

"He hates me now. He doesn't need me. You'll start to hate me soon hopefully." He said, finally looking at you. His eyes didn't look the same as the ones you knew.

"Why don't you understand? I can never hate you, Itachi. I know you are in a dark place currently. I can help you out of it. We can work through this."

"Why can't you understand? Leave me the fuck alone, y/n. I'm not a person worth fighting for. I killed my own blood. My parents. What's the guarantee that I won't kill you?"

"If you really wanted to kill, you would've done it sooner."

"You are wrong. You have no idea. How much I want to kill you right now. I could easily do it if I wanted to."

"Then go ahead. Kill me." You said, trying to be brave. "KILL ME. ISN'T THAT WHAT YOU WANT? KILL ME, ITACHI."

He started to run towards it with a sword in his hands. You closed your eyes and accepted the fate that you were about to be killed by the man you love so much.

1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9 seconds passed. You opened your eyes. Itachi stood in front of you. The sword was only a few inches away. So close yet you felt like you were so far away from him.

You reached to touch his face. But he pushed it away with his sword.

"Don't touch me." He said.

"Did you ever love me at all?"

"No. You were just a pawn in my game. A game that I played for the time to pass.

Forget about me." He said, slicing your left cheeks the place where he liked to kiss all the time(or pretend to like). He gave it to you as a parting gift.you didn't even feel the pain. But you could feel blood oozing out.

You couldn't move. You were paralysed. That bastard had you under genjutsu paralysis.

With one last kiss on your non bloody cheeks. He left. He was nowhere to be seen. You broke down. You fell to your knees and cried your heart out.

Sasuke was watching the whole thing from far away. He approached you and wiped your tears off.

"I'm sorry I couldn't stop him."

"It's alright, y/n." He said.

"I'll get back at him one day." He muttered under his breath.

"We need to get you to the hospital." He said. He was so mature when compared to other seven years old.

"No. I'm fine. I'll just head back home."

Before he stopped you. You left little Sasuke there and rushed back home.

You couldn't even bring yourself to look at you anymore.

His words echoed in your mind.

"Did you ever love me at all?"

"No. You were just a pawn in my game. A game that I played for the time to pass."

You started to destroy everything around you. You threw the mirror against the wall. It shattered into pieces just like your heart.

You noticed a letter stuck on the wall where the mirror was. You took it in your hands and opened it. It was addressed to you obviously. It was Itachi's handwriting.

Dear y/n,

I'm sorry. It had come to this. I know you might come after me to stop me. And I might have said something hurtful. I apologise for that if that happened. I'm sure I didn't mean it.

You don't deserve the pain I have caused. I have no choice but to leave you and sasuke behind. Carry on with your life like this didn't happen.

I'm sure you can't love me the way I'm now. I'm not a good person. I love you, y/n.

Carry on with your life like this didn't happen? How can you pretend like this didn't happen? This whole thing has left a big scar in your heart.

You crushed the paper in your hands and fell asleep on the bathroom floor. You cried through the whole night.

[kakashi-posting]

This one is gonna talk about trauma (vaguely but still) so if that's not something you want, you've been warned. Largely it's more of a focus on the influence trauma has on Kakashi and how I think he'd learn to heal because I'd rather write happier thoughts than just angst.

I think there's some interesting stuff you could write about with Gai helping Kakashi handle his trauma. Kakashi has this shift in healing that I really think could be interpreted as learning to heal with Gai at his side.

I imagine Kakashi is avoidant of physical touch that gets better as he grows up. He actively doesn't want to hurt anyone so he's reluctant to even touch people on the shoulder, he shies away from hugs and startles when others try to touch him. Usually keeps himself a little further away from people in a group setting, just enough to feel like he's keeping them safe.

I also think it's Gai who helps him a lot with this. With all their competitions and Gai just generally communicating love through touch, I imagine it's just something Kakashi doesn't notice getting better until there's significant progress. There are still times where Kakashi struggles with touch but Gai finds a good balance with him of respecting his wishes and ensuring that his touch stays a familiar safe presence and keeps him from being touch starved. The times where Kakashi initiates things like fistbumps always results in such a sincere smile from Gai like he's given his friend the best present he could have asked for.

Being guarded and untrusting. There's probably multiple reasons why. He doesn't want to hurt others, he's afraid of himself, he refuses to lose more people - just naming a few. But this is a common enough response to trauma. Again I think it's Gai who really helps start the shift here.

Kakashi would still care deeply for people he lets in even if he comes across as distant. But I imagine Gai is just an unwavering support system for him. I'm talking like laying on the floor in his bedroom together talking about the latest flashback, just letting Kakashi blurt out everything on his mind with no judgement no commentary until he's done. And even when he is, just a reminder that he's there for him, always will be.

I'm talking like Gai being able to get Kakashi to open up to him even if he can't do that with anyone else. Regular check ins when Gai knows something's wrong from the small slips in facade when Kakashi relaxes enough around him.

And I'm talking Kakashi in return being there for Gai. Immediately able to recognise the attempt to hide a negative emotion and trying his best to meet Gai in the middle. A little hesitant to reach out and console him but not allowing himself to pull back, commited to try and help as he figures out what to say. Speaking softly and calmly with gentle movements to show Gai he's safe with him.

I also think that Kakashi knows how important it is to have Gai in his life. When he confronted Sasuke he claimed everyone he loved is already dead, not allowing anyone to understand the depths behind his friendship with Gai. Refusing to have a target placed on the person who never feared him being too much or too dangerous.

The whole silly rivalry they portray highlights some of their dynamic and brings out better traits in Kakashi that his distant act doesn't allow normally. But it also keeps them safer, keeps them able to be there for each other.

[almostglitterycreator]

Sasusaku blank period week 2023

So it's my first time writing a fic and it's really short but I really wanted to try it ,so I did. it wasn't that easy as I kept thinking but had a problem of finding right words and when I did , and wrote it down , it got discarded and wasn't saved ! I got so demotivated then . After that I tried again , finished it , turn to check the statement prompt to write but it happened again! Everything was discarded already but I didn't quit and write again. I know it's not one of the best as I am just a novice. I don't mind if you share your views and advise me about how I should improve my writing skills.

🌸Tears & trials🌸

statement prompt for day2 -“sakura,I told you to stay behind me! ”

Sasuke never thought that everything would turn out this way. He always thought that his heart was mostly stone cold , the things he had seen and countered were enough to make him as hard as a stone. But this , whatever was happening now felt like that very familiar fear he had countered when he was just a child and again when Itachi left him . And now the history was repeating itself, here he is again; reliving the fear of that time when he had lost his family ,all scared and terrifyingly lonely . He looked at the unconscious figure , mint eyes that were closed now . He held her hand and squeezed . He wished desperately for her to open her eyes ,look at him and scold him about how she doesn't need saving now or how she could handle herself. Besides he deserves it .

Sakura was injured now and it was his fault . They were at last on their journey ,they were seeing new places together and some old places as well while reminiscing about their younger days. Sasuke would show her how he saw those places when he was traveling alone. But he felt Sakura's company was making it better than before. They were closer than ever. They never stayed longer than a week at a place but still he felt at home . He felt at home with her. She was his home . He never would've realized this until now when he feels like he would become homeless again.

While traveling they've stopped at small village near the end of mountains. Seeing that sakura and Sasuke are shinobis , the villagers asked for their help . Apparently some weeks ago , a gang of bandits had raided this village and seeing that the villagers are not able to do anything about it had made them bold enough to come over in every four days and take away everything that took their fancy . Hearing this , sasuke and sakura decided to help them. When the bandits came , sakura and Sasuke drive them away easily but next day those bandits came prepared and armed . Their numbers were thirty to forty times larger than the lone sasuke and sakura.

One of the bandits scoffed ,“ what ? Y'all run away like rats because of what ? A pinkie girl and an one arm man ? Shame y'all!”

Another one laughed at sakura, “ hey little flower ~ whatcha doing here ? You should be at a flower shop, you'll be crushed here pink flower~”

Another one smirked, “ don't worry if ya beg us , we'll take ya to have fun with us ! ”

Hearing their stupid remarks made sasuke's blood boil , he wanted to cut those tongues responsible for spitting such insults at sakura , he was just about to act on his impulse when— “ oh really? Then this flower would like to have fun with y'all as well! ”

At this statement, sakura's feist came in contact with the ground and it cracked , shocking the bandits .

Sasuke smirked seeing this , “hn.” sakura is not someone that anyone can mess with .

Sakura and Sasuke fought as a single unit , joining each other's force. Sasuke was avoiding using his powerful techniques such as susanoo and amaterasu so as to not draw too much attention towards him. She took half of the herd and Sasuke took half. They were working as a team , since their genin days , they were always compatible as a team and even after growing up and staying apart, they were still compatible.

They were winning even after being only two of them alone. Sasuke put half of the bandits in a genjutsu and dropped them unconscious. While sakura fought hand to hand with them, her punches knocking them out . Sasuke saw one of the bandits coming behind sakura with a big knife in hand . Sasuke throwed his kunai and stopped him in his tracks . Sakura saw this and knocked that one out with her chakra punch. Sasuke came between sakura and the bandits ,“ Sakura,stay behind me . I'll deal with them with my genjutsu.”

Sakura was incredulous at sasuke's statement , it reminded her of that time when she was a powerless little girl who was always saved by Naruto and Sasuke in fights . She daringly stepped forward earning a “sakura I told you to stay behind me !” but to sasuke's surprise sheknocked two bandits at same time , after that she turned and boldly stated , “ I don't need to stay behind you . I can handle this myself! ” she couldn't keep her anger from seeping in her words.

Sasuke was surprised hearing her statement and realized he had wounded sakura's pride as a kunoichi , “No ,I didn't mean—

While they were having their own conversing issues in the middle of the fight , a bandit came running forward and stabbed sakura, blood spattered making Sakura and Sasuke both froze.

The sudden attack took sakura by surprise and her legs started to give out . Sasuke caught her in his arms , while shooting deathly look at that bandit .

“Amaterasu”. And that bandit started burning with black flames , he screamed and every bandit started to run for their lives after seeing those flames of hell . Before they could run sasuke put them in his genjutsu of nightmares. Every bandit dropped unconscious there .

The villager ran toward him to express their gratitude and joy but stopped after seeing him froze up with sakura in his embrace .

They offered to help him and took him to a doctor in the village. They even have already called for an officer to arrest those bandits. The bandits were arrested while being unconscious meanwhile Sakura was getting bandaged for her injury , it wasn't too deep but she still hasn't woke up which was terrifying sasuke. It was now night. The whole day has passed since the event but sakura's still unconscious. Each passing minute felt like hours for sasuke , he felt scared . He felt homeless again. He found home at last and now he felt like his home would slip away from his hands because of his own carelessness. Uchiha sasuke had lost a lot of things in his life so he stopped desiring them , to desire those things would only make him more miserable if he lost them again. The only lesson his guilty life had taught him is that not having something is better than having and losing them. He felt powerless and utterly useless then. Sometimes he feels like he's cursed . To never be happy again ,to always wander alone and to never be with his loved ones ; to only live in guilts and regrets through all his life .

Then he wished. He wished desperately to whoever is sitting there , if they are listening , to please not take away the only person who had given him unconditional love like his family , he begged to not take away his home .

“sakura”,he muttered softly,“ please just do me one last favor , just wake up ”

She had done a ton of favors for him his whole life. She did a favor by not giving up on him , by never stopped loving him , by never stopped caring for him , by putting up with his mistakes, by forgiving him when he couldn't even forgive himself, by putting faith in him , and a lot more than he would ever be able to voice them out. Sakura Haruno was always a ray of light in Sasuke Uchiha's dark life, spring breeze in his cold life . She had always provided him with warmth when he felt cold.

He knew that he did not deserve her and she deserves better than the likes of him but still he couldn't help himself when she mentioned about going together with him . He became selfish. The thought of some alone time with sakura made him greedy . He wanted to be with sakura without her worrying about her hospital shifts , he wanted to spend time with sakura without Naruto and everyone there to bicker with her. He wanted to go to places with her without worrying about comments on their relationship whenever anyone see him. He had left her one time when she asked to go with him in the middle of the night and it still makes him regret his actions till now. And so he got selfish and brought her with him which resulted in her getting badly injured and laying here unconscious currently.

Sometimes he feels like he's cursed; Cursed that anyone he would found warmth and familiar love in would be taken away from him . He was doomed to be alone and loveless his whole life. Maybe it's better if he stays away from everyone , to not bring unhappiness in the lives of those few people he considers close to his family. He shouldn't have been greedy. He shouldn't have brought her with him just because he wanted to feel her presence with him . He should have stayed away from her , she would've been happy there, safe from his cursed self. She would've found someone better than him who would've been deserving of her, someone who wouldn't make her cry , someone who's life isn't only filled with regrets but he couldn't. He just couldn't imagine her with someone else. He knows its better for both him and her but he just can't. He doesn't own sakura but still.... It doesn't feel right when he sees her with other men . It makes him feel emotions that are close to anger and sadness but not quite whole of it. His heart feels like it's burning when he thinks about sakura finding someone else.

He squeezed her hand tightly again and held it to his lips.

“Sakura, I.. I... It's my fault. It always have been my fault. I got selfish. I... I.. wanted to spend time with you like those old times when we were young. I forgot that we weren't kids anymore. Both you and I are changed in so many ways. Except for your smile... You... You never stopped smiling at me even if I made you only cry. ” words were failing him again . He never had a way with words , they were always stubborn in describing his feelings.

A tear slid down his cheek brushing her fingers. His emotions were now all over the place , that he didn't even notice sakura's other hand twitching slightly. He knew he was a mess and always have been.

“ I shouldn't have pulled you into my mess. You shouldn't have been here with me , you would've been safe back home . You don't deserve this . ”

“I... Always trouble you . I've yet again put you in danger. You are a beautiful flower and I know you'll wither in my cold dark life . I am sorry again sakura... ” he pleaded in a soft whisper.

She could hear him . At first she felt she was dreaming of sasuke. She could make out his voice... He was saying something very softly. Her consciousness started to ease up when she felt a wetness on her fingers. After that she realized her hand is being squeezed very tightly by another big hand . His voice, his words and his hand , she knew who it was.... Sasuke. She remembered that they were fighting bandits and she got injured and passed out because of too much bleeding. She remembered the face sasuke made when she passed out , he looked so... Scared . Terrifyingly scared.

Then she got the hang of his words . He was blaming himself for everything bad that had happened to her ?

She tried to open her eyes very slowly , her eyes were out of focus at first but slowly she could make out sasuke's face. He was holding her hand to his mouth. And his normal eye had an unshed tear!?

She tried to speak, “sa-suke kun , why are you—?”

But immediately she was shocked into silence when her head came in contact with his chest , his hand gentle on her hair. Sakura realized she was being hugged by sasuke but very carefully. He was being careful of her wound.

“sasuke kun ? ” she asked.

“sakura , thank you for waking up”, his voice was a bit shaky ,“ I ... Thank God... ” he sighed in relief.

Sakura got the hang of shakiness in his voice , trembling of his hand as well. She knew she scared him but she couldn't believe...that he was probably crying for her .

Sakura Haruno could not believe that sasuke Uchiha was shaken up by her getting stabbed and fainting during a fight. She knew sasuke is a very closed off person, he doesn't show his emotions out in the open. More so his scared or sentimental side . So it was hard to believe. Sasuke was still hugging her and showed no sign of leaving her . Having come to this realisation, she blushed a bit .

“ah sasuke kun , I am alright , are you... Okay? ” she unsurely asked.

“AA.”

“ so now I think you should–”,she tries to get up from his embrace but he still doesn't let her go .

“just..for a few moments...let's stay like this”, his voice was still shaky.

“sasuke kun are you...? ” she couldn't voice out the word crying but she knew he was . He did not wanted her to see him crying . Sakura respected his privacy , she knew he isn't one of those who shows emotions easily or express them verbally. Their situation now reminded her of their younger days , when sasuke woke up from injury and sakura hugged him . How the roles have been switched now . But considering their job as a shinobi , it's very normal to get injured between missions. She had faced these kind of injuries many times , sometimes during fights and missions and a lot of times healing the injured in war . As a medic, this was no injury that would scare her but the shock of it got her this time . But she knew sasuke isn't a medic , so he must have panicked when she fainted while fighting. If whatever she had heard now was right so He must be feeling anxious till now that it was all his fault. That because of him , she got hurt .

She wanted to soothe his worries ,so she embraced him as well , gently patting his back , “hey, sasuke kun I am alright, nothing too serious here and it's not your fault. I got distracted and got myself injured. Don't blame yourself.”

He tightened his hold , “No. It is my fault . Because of me you got distracted and I didn't mean that you couldn't handle yourself . You can. It's just i didn't want you... to get hurt . But because of me you did got hurt . I am sorry, sakura, again”.

“ I think you should go back to the village after you get well. I'll always hurt you like this . It would be better if you find... Someone better. I –” but he was cut off mid sentence.

“So you want me to go back ?” Sakura looked into his eyes now ,her face a mix of both hurt and anger. “ Just because of a stupid wound you will distance yourself again?” her voice trembled slightly with anger and emotion. “No . I am not going back and Stop blaming yourself. I said it's not your fault, it happens during fights.” she had started to cry now too .

Sasuke couldn't say anything , he was too surprised after seeing her tears . She was crying in her anger.

“And No . I am not finding someone else because if I have wanted to I wouldn't have come with you Sasuke kun ! I don't care if you think I am or am not safe here with you but one thing for sure is that I am not leaving you ! ”

She finished while slightly raising her voice at the end. Her eyes were still dripping tears down her face. Sasuke just couldn't say anything , he just looked in her teary beautiful mint eyes for a whole moment. There was always something in those eyes that captivated him from their younger days. He couldn't help but not look in them and get lost in them. And usually that is why he avoided eye contact with her , because whenever she looked into his eyes , she could made him reveal things about himself he never would've share with anyone. Her eyes get the best of him.

Then the tears got his attention. I have made you cry again... Her tears always make him feel terrible, they shake him up easily. But he couldn't help the surge of relief and joy that burst in his chest when she mentioned about not leaving him and not finding someone else. He took her into his embrace right then , this time with a firm resolve to not let her mesmerizing eyes moisten over him and to take care of her better.

Sasuke did not know what to say to make her understand his feelings when he himself can't grasp his heart. Just one thing he's certain of ; He feels deeply for her. He came back to the village only for her, he doesn't want her to be sad , he can't see her getting hurt for him. He wants sakura to be happy but he can't seem to see her with someone else, the thought of sakura moving on from him and finding someone else makes him all anxious and uneasy. He feels afraid of this thought. He doesn't know if he'll be able to make sakura Happy but he feels peace with sakura. He feels at home with her.

“sakura , I am sorry and thank you.. for everything”,he could only manage. Sakura returned his hug , making sure to let him know that she understands him. She knew that he was thanking her for loving him and he was sorry that she's crying for him. She knows that he does feel something for her but doesn't know how to express it in words. They don't need words to understand each other and they are both aware of it. For sakura , no one can take sasuke's place in her life, he will always be her first and last love. She was certain of it . She just wanted him to feel that he's not alone , she's always here for him . He doesn't need to voice out his concern for her as his actions reveal it very clearly. Their embrace reveals their importance for each other. Sasuke understood that she knows and she understands. She always does. He doesn't want her to leave and she knows it as well. Even if he does not deserve her , he still isn't able to let her go. Maybe it's fine like this . He doesn't mind and nor does she. Words aren't enough for both of them . There are a lot of things that sasuke Uchiha is unable to understand in terms of these things but one thing is for certain , sakura Haruno is an irreplaceable existence in sasuke's life. She always was and will always be.

They stayed like this for a long time. After that, they broke apart and nobody said anything. They didn't need to. They stayed in that village for a week and sasuke took care of sakura until she felt fine enough to heal herself. This incident had made them both sure of one thing ,they will stay together. The villagers were full of gratitude for both of them so they provided everything for them. Sasuke and sakura left that village after Sakura's recovery, after all they still had a long journey ahead of them ,Together.

~END~

Sasusaku week 2023 , day 2- statement prompt “ I told you to stay behind me, Sakura! ”

[al-hekima-madara-blog]

Speculation from the cavern Part II

Following my part I

I once wrote a realistic headcanon where I said Madara might have stay connected to the Gedo statute around his 40, his body prematurely exhausted by years of battle. But actually I realise now I was wrong. To connect yourself you need a Gedo statue and to summon a Gedo statue you need a pair of rinnegan...🙃 and he obtains them in the verge of death, in his 90 ish...

Oh man... that mistake open a new infernal door of speculations !🤯

Madara was free to move anywhere he wants for most of his life, especially after Tobirama's death who is known to be a great sensor. And thanks to white zetsu, he is pretty well aware of all the shinobi geopolitics of the time. He said to Obito that he built some of the underground.

Ok so underground builder might have been one of his hobbies. Sasuke later destroyed the main entrance when he awakened his EMS but the corridors still exist and we don't know how far they travel through the fire country.

And his character is showed many times as a man of action. He can't just stay still. He's constantly looking for or doing something new as shown by Hashirama's reaction below:

PKGORBM!!! everyone is traumatized by the apocalypse on its way but Hashirama seems to talk about a facetious kid acting bad. I'll talk an other time about both Hashi and Madara being insane in their own league.

So Madara just sitting in his cave and contemplating the coming of his potential Rinnegan seems out of character.

Do you remember when he made fun of Obito spending a life time chasing the 9 bijuu with the help of Akatsuki. But Madara... what is your excuse in 60 years?

If I remember well, when he talked to Hashirama in front of the Uchiha shrine he already knew Kaguya's story (thanks to Zetsu's editing) and already came up with the idea that he needs part of Hashirama's power to recreate the Rinnegan. and also that he needs all bijuus for starting the infinite Tsukuyomi. He captured first Kyuubi and used him to get Hashirama's cells... but then what next? Why didn't he chase the other weaker bijuus just with his Sharingan?

Even if the Rinnegan was delayed, he still was strong enough to chase all the bijuus in his 30s, 40's, 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's but he didn't. Even in his crippled 90's he was able to control a group of Kiri shinobis, Rin and sealed Sanbi into her.

Some of you could say : but what the point to collect all the bijuus if you can't summon the Gedo statue first? Ok, ok...back to the Rinnegan issue. If I'm correct to awake the Rinnegan not only you need to merge Uchiha and Senju cells but they need to both comes from Indra and Ashura reincarnations. So technically as soon as Hashirama died, his cells are useless. And Ashura won't reincarnate again if the previous Indra's reincarnation is still alive. Sasuke becomes Indra's next avatar only because Madara died just few years before. As if Ashura was waiting for Sasuke's birth to reincarnate few month later into Naruto and continue their never-ending conflict.

You want to know what I think about this mess? I think Kishimoto and his team don't care that much about ensuring consistency in Narutoverse, in the same manner they don't care about proper family tree or timeline. They just wanted an overpowered charismatic villain from a distant past, and didn't pay attention or didn't care that it's doesn't make any sense that someone so powerful and notoriously impatient will be invisible and idle for 60 years.

Part III

[soulsballad]

@fighterbound: mistletoe - sakura + sasuke ( i almost sent this saying sakura + sakura lmao)

she's finally finished her shift at work and making her way to her boyfriend's apartment to stay for the weekend, a much-needed mini vacation as she usually just vegetates when staying over at sasuke's. not unless he drags her out of bed and makes her clean up her own mess, but she can usually persuade him to at least help. which he does, but often complains while doing it. she even manages to convince him to shower with her, but that doesn't take too much convincing.

as she approaches the front door her brows furrow together as she sees what looks to be a christmas wreath on the door, which has her a little surprised. sasuke wasn't the type, so his mother must have paid a visit.

coming to a stop, a hand reaches out to knock on the door, waiting patiently for the uchiha to answer. when the door swings open she greets him with a simple 'hey' and moves to step inside, but he blocks her. pausing, pink brows furrow once again at the taller male. " what? come on, i'm tired! "

instead of answering her, she watches as the corners of his lips twitch into a smirk and sakura suddenly feels like she's missing out on something. huffing, the pinkette throws her head back, ready to throw a mini, tired-induced tantrum until jaded hues land on what hands above the door- above the wreath. blinking a few times, she analyses it briefly before she catches on.

mistletoe!

a quiet laugh escapes her as she moves to look back over at him, shaking her head in disbelief. " your mother definitely did this, there's just no way you hung up mistletoe yourself. " she says while reaching out for his face, bringing his head down slightly as she leans up on her feet to connect their lips for a few moments.

pulling away, sakura stifles a yawn and moves to wiggle by him, dropping her bag at her feet and kicking her shoes off. " nap time. " she's already creating a mess and she's not even been in the place five seconds.

[katastrophic-n3vulaa]

Torn Pages: Chapter 5: Shut Your Eyes, Lest They are Stolen in Your Wakefulness

By: n3vulaa_undercover (Ao3) & BlueCalibriFont (Ao3)

Book Summary: Inumaki tears through reality like it's made of paper, and he and his classmates find themselves in a world not their own. Violence, sleep-deprived Gojo's and shenanigans ensue.

Previous Chapter: Chapter 4: He, Shaker of Worlds (click!)

Next Chapter: Chapter 6: In progress

(Full character list on the Pinned post on my blog, or click here.)

Characters in this Chapter: Uchiha Sasuke, Itadori Yuuji, Inumaki Toge, Uzumaki Karin, Sukuna, (Mentioned: Gojo Satoru, Orochimaru, Otogakure shinobi)

Chapter 5 Word Count: 4876

Chapter Summary:

Inumaki and Itadori execute their escape.

Sasuke gets dragged along for the ride.

They meet a friend.

Chapter Notes:

Blue: Someone should really revoke my Sukuna privileges'. I have too much fun with him.

Kat: no Sukuna makes crack! but your Sukuna privileges will be revoked as soon as you give him a perspective. unless it really calls for it! (also, sorry guys for the amount of POV switches in this chapter. it starts with sasuke, then switches to yuuji, karin at the end, and in brackets, toge has some time to shine with his little, exhausted, annoyed and migraine-induced sarcastic thoughts!)

Chapter 5:

Orochimaru walks out of the cell, a contemplative look on his face that soon morphs into a poisonous scowl. The toxic green of the test tubes paint his face the same noxious hue as the room around him.

“Watch them.” The Sannin spits, before stalking out of the room.

Sasuke stares after the receding form of the snake-like Shinobi. Not much can make frustrate the experienced warrior, and he’s only seen Orochimaru this furious once before- after Kabuto had killed a test subject nearing success. He should probably stay out of his mentor’s way for the coming few days

Walking to the door beside the cell, he enters the room to the side of it, with a wall made of one-way chakra-suppressing glass. He sees the white-haired, unconscious one - hair a similar shade to Kakashi, just lighter, his traitorous brain whispers – curled against the wall and trembling minutely. He's covered in blood, the red liquid dribbling sluggishly from his mouth which have strange marks on either side of his lips, maybe a clan marking he doesn't recognize, and staining the yellow top that seems far too big for him.

The other one, with dull rose-pink hair, almost like Sakura's, no stop- bends over, away from the white one and starts retching. Well, it looks like he’s gagging, he can't really see from this angle. Sasuke activates his Sharingan, and crouches down to see what the pink one is doing. It looks like he’s talking- Sasuke hasn’t yet learned how to channel chakra to body parts to enhance his other senses, so unable to listen in on the seemingly one-sided conversation he settles for watching.

The pink one’s hands go up to his cheek, and they come away coated in bile and semi-digested food. Sasuke catches a brief glimpse of a mouth-like opening, but it smooths into normal skin too fast for him to get a good look at it.

There's a severed finger on the ground now- had Pink-Hair eaten it and then vomited it out? Frankly, he's used to gore and violence now, accepted it as part and parcel of being born into this world. But still, the bloody finger lying in the puddle of vomit is slightly disconcerting.

The pink one pauses for a second, before saying something. He looks upset, angry, and Sasuke has to wonder if he's unaware that there could be people watching him, or if he just wears his feelings on his sleeve like that idiot Naruto. (stop thinking about them, they're not here and they can't help you, they never could-)

Either way, he can't be a very good shinobi if he's that emotional. If he even is a shinobi in the first place.

Pink-Hair suddenly turns around sharply to look at his...teammate? Partner? at his fellow inmate, who Sasuke had previously assumed to be unconscious. The assumption is quickly proven to be false when the injured prisoner shifts and grimaces, seemingly in response to something the other said.

Pink-Hair frowns and opens his mouth again. The white one sighs irritably at whatever he'd been told, before coughing up a lungful of blood. Well, that’s why the front of the red, Sasuke thinks. Sasuke internally winces at the sheer amount of blood the prisoner is spewing- he must have some severe internal injuries. Hopefully he won't die of it, Orochimaru would not be pleased if he came back to find one of his new test subjects dead.

The coughing fit subsides, and Pink-Hair visibly relaxes. So, they're close then- most don't express that kind of blatant, genuine relief for a pawn, or an expendable teammate.

The white-haired one starts making gestures with his hands, and Sasuke briefly tenses, wondering if this is an attempt at a Jutsu, before realizing that it seems to be more a form of sign language. Oh- that makes sense, if he can't so much as exhale too intensely without coughing up his internal organs then the white-haired test subject would need an alternate way to communicate with his friend.

There's a pause, then the white one glares at the pink one, evidently exasperated with his teammate’s(?) inability to understand him. It's oddly reminiscent of how Sakura would look at Naruto when he did or said something particularly stupid. (He needs to stop thinking about them, they aren't important, and they never were. All that matters now is That Man.)

There is a longer pause, more awkward this time - if he’s reading the room correctly - and the white one’s gaze drifts to Sasuke, and he startles badly - how? He shouldn't be able to sense anything through the glass, even Karin can’t- but the white-haired test subject’s eyes soon pass him over to stare at the regurgitated finger.

Oh. He must've overreacted. There was no way the test subject had seen through the glass, he must've just happened to glance in Sasuke's general direction. Pink-Hair outwardly winces as he tracks his friend’s gaze. Sasuke isn't the best at lip-reading, but he can make out a few words presumably being said: "Oh... That... (I?) can explain..." Then, the white-haired teen leans over and picks up the severed finger. Sasuke blinks, taken aback as he watches the test subject methodically peel the flesh off of the now-visible bone. Pink-Hair screeches, loud and surprised, loud enough in fact Sasuke to hear through the partially soundproofed walls, “What the hell?!”

Sasuke has seen a lot of horrific things throughout his life. The gore and death typically associated with being a Shinobi, Orochimaru's twisted experiments- the dead, contorted bodies of his family, sprawled out unnaturally as his older brother stared at him with unblinking red eyes, face covered in even redder blood-.

And yet, there's something innately disturbing in the way that the white-haired teen- because that's what he and the other kid are really, teenagers barely, if even older than Sasuke - clinically scribbles incomprehensible kanji-looking symbols through the dried blood and other old bodily fluids on the floor with a determined, slightly manic glint in his eye. Sasuke can only decipher a few of the glyphs, not nearly enough to understand any cohesive sentences. He thinks they're questions though, even if they are in an unfamiliar dialect.

Pink-Hair has turned away now, looking vaguely nauseous at his companion’s actions. Sasuke doesn't sympathize, but the gory scene isn't pleasant to watch even from this side of the glass, so he does- on some level- understand Pink-Hair’s squeamishness. Sasuke blinks, surprised at the turn his thoughts are taking. He shouldn't be trying to understand test subjects, even if only to pass the time. Understanding will only make it harder to see their dissected corpses, or worse, their motionless bodies floating in eerie green liquid.

After a minute of uncomfortable silence on Sasuke's end, as he tries to ignore the whittling down of the finger-bone and the small, haphazard piles of flesh and blood so that he can focus on what is being written down, the white-haired test subject gets up with a wince and taps Pink-Hair on the shoulder, getting his attention. The other starts to read the kanji and Sasuke does his best to lipread the answers given.

“We... into... creepy lab... some snake... dragged... while we.. out.” “Snake...said...Orochimaru... think...to dissect...” “Don’t know what...cursed energy...weird… sparkly...don’t think...curse?” “...did follow us...didn’t end up...” “...don’t know… I don’t know… I don’t know.”

He should probably practice his lipreading. It would be a useful skill that'd come in handy when eavesdropping, especially if used in correlation with his Sharingan. As it is, he can barely make out the individual words of what Pink-Hair is saying, much less actually connect it all together into cohesive, understandable sentences. He thinks he has an idea of what the first two questions and corresponding answers were- Orochimaru's name was a pretty dead give-away. As for the rest of it, he has no clue. He has no idea what cursed energy is, nor why it's apparently sparkly.

Pink-Hair flops onto his back dramatically, drawing Sasuke's attention back to the two test subjects. “...need to break out." Sasuke thinks he says. The seemingly muttered words don’t make is already exhausted lip-reading skills any better. "...don’t want to be dissected...need to get back to school...-sensei freaks out...blows up another island.”

Blows up an island. Blows up another island? (Another, whole-ass, island, if Pink-Hair isn’t exaggerating- oh shit, he’s given them capitalised names, no longer just the pink-haired one, shit-)

He wants to pretend that he'd lipread wrong, that he'd misinterpreted somehow, but Sasuke has never been very good at denial. There's still a disconnect though, the inherent incredulity that comes with processing the sheer amount of power that must be required to blow up a whole island. He'd been unable to make out the name of the person this power supposedly belongs to, only their accompanying title of ‘sensei’.

They- no, the test subjects (don’t humanize them) are students apparently, ones with a teacher that they at least believe to be powerful enough to destroy an entire island. They'd also mentioned a school, which might be a concern. If they had connections, friends, someone might come after them. Someone like this 'sensei'. Sasuke doesn't much care for what happens to Orochimaru- The snake Sannin is annoyingly durable, more like a cockroach than a snake in Sasuke's private opinion. Yes, it would be inconvenient if Sasuke would have to search for a new mentor, one strong and willing enough to teach him, but frankly he's more concerned with becoming potential collateral damage in any ensuing rescue mission.

He growls in frustration. He has more questions than answers at this point, and most of the answers he does have make next to no sense. What he does know: - There's no way these people are shinobi. For one, they hadn't recognized Orochimaru at all. - They also don't have a visible hitai-ate, crossed out or otherwise. - Even their behaviour, the very way they move, talk and act is un-shinobi-like in a way that Sasuke can't quite pinpoint. (And yet, despite this, they're far to desensitized to gore to be mere civilian.) No civilian Sasuke knows would so easily touch a severed finger coated in vomit and blood, much less write with it. Hell, most experienced shinobi would be at least somewhat nauseated, or at the very least wouldn't default to that as a method of communication. So not civilians, not shinobi, not clearly allied to any nation and students, apparently students which implies that they're still only in training. - There's also the weird markings around the white-haired ones mouth, possibly indicative of an unknown, dangerous Kekkai-Genkai and all of this is without even thinking of the mouth on Pink-Hairs cheek that had thrown up a semi-digested finger-

Hell, Sasuke doesn't even know how they got into the lab in the first place. He hadn't been present during the break-in, and Orochimaru has been frustratingly sparse with details.

Well. The Sannin hadn't really actively chosen to withhold information, so much as he'd been ignoring Sasuke's existence- in favour of these strange intruders. Orochimaru's fixation likely means that Sasuke won't be learning anything useful for the next few days, at least.

Sasuke glares at the one-way glass, scowling at the annoyingly intriguing nuisances behind. He might just help them escape, if only to find who, what they are. It’s about time he got away from Orochimaru anyways, considering the body-transfer is meant to be ready soon.

He growls inaudibly and stalks out of the room. Screw Orochimaru's orders, none of this is going to help him kill Itachi. He slams the door behind him, the resulting bang echoing obnoxiously through the base, likely signalling to the snake that he's abandoned his position. Good, he thinks vindictively, distantly aware that he's reached his ‘quarters’. Let everyone in this miserable place know exactly what he thinks of being ordered around like a dog.

Booms echo through the base; startling Sasuke out of his semi-mediative state (filled with blood-red eyes and burgundy floors- no, don’t go there), as the sound of breaking timber and collapsing buildings follow. Since his- (the) conversation two and a half days ago, Sasuke had harassed Orochimaru into teaching him how to channel chakra to his ears to enhance his hearing. He practically throws chakra up to his ears and starts rapidly shunshin-ing towards the source of the commotion.

He gets there just in time to almost run into Pink-Hair carrying the other prisoner on his back, almost two hundred meters away from the gate. Pink-Hair startles at his appearance, before shifting his partner into a more comfortable position as he tenses, muscles bunching and flexing in preparation to resume running.

Sasuke can't help but balk at the disgusting, wrongwrongwrong chakra that permeates the air around these two. Even with the suppressing glass that had separated him from them previously, he wonders how he hadn't felt it before. He's not a sensor, but the air is so oppressive, so suffocating that he doesn't need to be.

Sasuke snaps back to reality just in time to see Pink-Hair make a break for it at impressively fast speeds (and there's no influx in that horrible, wrong chakra, at least none that he can detect, so how is Pink-Hair moving so fast, especially when encumbered by his friend-). Sasuke activates his Sharingan in a blink, eyes already burning at the chakra output.

As his eyes bleed red, he notices that Pink-Hair isn't trying to engage Sasuke in combat and is instead trying to run past him. A smart move, given that he's hampered by the teammate he's carrying. He's fast, Sasuke will give him that, but not fast enough to outrun Sasuke when he’s using (Shisui’s) the iconic shunshin. He shunshins in front of Pink-Hair, and forces more burning chakra into his eyes, sending out a mild genjutsu to incapacitate Pink-Hair. He has to decide whether or not he'll let these two escape. Right now, he's inclined to kill the both of them on the mere premise of their abominable, suffocating chakra(?), but he might just leave them to Orochimaru, even if only to find out why their auras are so wrong.

He's eying the white-haired boy warily when something tugs on his genjutsu. Sasuke doesn't have a chance to even brace when the curious pull becomes an inescapable black hole and he's unwillingly sent hurtling into Pink-Hair’s mindscape.

He's standing on a lake of blood. It's the first thing he notices, the rippling red liquid that seems too deep for him to be able to stand on. It's not staining his clothes either, not even his boots.

He looks up from the unsettling, impossibly firm red sea beneath him, and he catches a glimpse of four arms, six eyes alight with unholy glee, mouths, too many to count with whitebloodstainedserratedblunt teeth that gleam unnaturally in the darkness, all wrongwrongwrong, before the figure solidifies into something vaguely humanoid, white-robed and banded with ink-black tattoos.

They(no, it) resemble Pink-Hair superficially, same burnt-rose hair, same face, but even without the Sharingan Sasuke would know that this is not the escaped prisoner he'd snared in his genjutsu. This is something ancient, something dangerous. An apex predator, a natural disaster, a never-ending war all impossibly compounded into this unnatural, wrong Thing.

"Well," they rumble, echoing like the metallic screeching of an incorrectly unsheathed katana, the thundering of a volcano on the precipice of eruption, a snarling wolf- and Sasuke can't move, paralyzed by fear and horror and effortless killing intent, more than the Kyuubi and the profound sense of wrong that this being embodies, exudes with suffocating intensity.

"Aren't you just fascinating," they continue, all six of the blood-red eyes (so familiar) fixated on Sasuke. They lean forwards too-fluidly, bleached bull skulls beneath them creaking and cracking in protest. "Oh,” the Thing says (like he just walked into its trap-) “those eyes- are they a common thing in your world? They are just so interesting." The being smiles grotesquely, the shadowy afterimage that he sees from the corner of his Sharingan-enhanced eyes torn apart by the grins of three too wide, too many mouths- "I'd love to pluck them from your skull and study them closer."

Sasuke takes a deep, shuddering breath, and just like that he snaps out of his fear-frozen reverie, taking a step back from the satirically enshrined false deity, desperately trying to reel back his genjutsu, to flee the predator before him and something snaps, and the malevolent shrine fades from his sight as the beings final words reverberate through his entire body. "Until our next meeting then, little Chimanako no Tsukaite."

Sasuke takes a deep breath of fresh air, distantly noting the concerned glances of Pink-Hair (the real Pink-Hair, and not that mockery of a calamity) who looks distinctly unaffected by his genjutsu, and the suspicious squint of his white-haired companion. They are the last thing he sees before his Sharingan extinguishes, eyes rolling back into his skull, and he collapses into blissfully empty darkness.

---

Yuuji sprints from the broken door of the curse hideout that he'd kicked down with extreme prejudice. It’s so bright outside, so offensively dazzling that Yuuji has to squint to see where he's going. Inumaki-senpai is on his back, because Yuuji is being Cautious and Really Doesn’t Want his upperclassman to cough up more blood.

(See, Gojo-sensei, he can be cautious. In fact, he’s being so cautious that it’s capitalised!)

Inumaki-senpai taps his left shoulder twice to get his attention, and he spins to his left to see a really weird looking curse(person?) coming towards them. The curse isn’t very fast, but it looks annoyed. Can curses be annoyed? Well, Sukuna is permanently annoyed with him, but Sukuna is a unfortunate special case. On its forehead, it wears a headband with an unfamiliar symbol engraved on it. Maybe a sign of loyalty? Or something to do with its origin? It doesn't matter.

(Toge taps on his kohai’s shoulder again, a little annoyed that Itadori keeps drifting- but then again, with the oppressive, migraine-inducing, blinding energy, which is definitely not cursed energy, despite the fact that Itadori keeps calling it not-cursed-energy, which is better than calling it sparkly-cursed-energy. A little bit of progress is better than none, he guesses, so he resigns himself to be dealing with a semi-clueless kohai until he can get a pen and paper and write out some basic JSL.)

Yuuji ducks under the very old-fashioned ninja-knife and kicks the curse’s ribs in. The curse flies back, crashing into three other curses, all with the same headband, sending the lot of them sprawling into a wall. Yuuji winces as their weird, maybe-cursed energy flares. He spares a moment of sympathy for Inumaki-senpai, because his upperclassman is much more sensitive to both the maybe-cursed energy and cursed energy in general than Yuuji is. It's something he's rarely grateful for, but now, surrounded by headache-inducing, much too bright maybe-cursed energy that hurts to look at he is very, very happy with his choice of not bothering to learn how to sense cursed energy outside of his natural sensory range.

Yuuji puts on a burst of speed, taking care to not accidentally sprint headfirst into a wall. He'd also rather not run into (haha, Yuuji, funny joke) Orochimaru.

Finally escaping the building he'd been imprisoned within, Yuuji whips his head around, scanning for more attackers (that he really hopes are curses, because the idea of kicking a human’s ribs in makes him uneasy, even if it was self-defense either way) He doesn't see any threats at first, no sign of Orochimaru, the head-band wearing curses, or the diminutive silhouette that had lurked outside their cell. And then Inumaki-senpai tenses, and the air crackles with too-bright power as a figure appears from thin air.

They're young, don't look much older than Yuuji. But appearances can be deceiving, and Yuuji knows better than to underestimate someone based on age alone. His, because they look like a guy, face is bored, slightly irritated as if coming out to recapture Yuuji and Inumaki was beneath him. Yuuji readjusts Inumaki-senpai into a more comfortable position, before digging his shoes into the ground and launching himself at the nearby gate as fast as he can.

He feels the shiny maybe-cursed energy behind him recoil, and reappear in front of him, several times brighter and oddly coagulated around his opponent’s eyes, in a way almost reminiscent of Gojo-sensei's Six Eyes (And yet so fundamentally different that even comparing the two feels wrong). He can just barely make out the red glow emanating from the boy’s irritable glower when something pulls at him and Sukuna stirs. The King of Curses has been passively active since their jailbreak, watching their progress and being as irritatingly useless as always. At least he wasn't actively screwing with them, or talking. Until now, it seems.

His opponent’s eyes go wide, and then disturbingly vacant. Yuuji pauses, concerned despite himself. After an age of Sukuna's dysmorphic, active movement beneath Yuuji's skin the boy gasps, stumbling back, eyes wide and glazed over with fear and blood-red glow nowhere to be seen. He sways for a moment, before collapsing in a boneless heap. Yuuji half starts forward, before stopping, and his heart twist painfully when he looks at the unconscious figure.

Oh.

He looks almost like Junpei.

And maybe Yuuji is projecting, seeing things that don't exist, but that he desperately wants to, or maybe it's the way that the boy’s hair falls, covering one eye, but he looks so painfully like Yuuji's friend in that moment, face still twisted with the remnants of fear that Yuuji's heart aches for him.

What had the boy seen, when his too bright not-cursed energy had flared? Had he seen Sukuna? Had the curse hurt him somehow? He aims the question inwards, but Sukuna doesn't answer, unnatural, ever-present buzz fading deeper into Yuuji's body.

Yuuji can only close his eyes at the brief but intense wave of self-loathing that washes over him unexpectedly. When he opens them, he's made a choice. An impulsive, stupid one that Inumaki-senpai definitely won't agree with and that Fushiguro and Kugisaki would probably beat him over the head for if they were here, but a decision he will stand by, nonetheless.

Inumaki-senpai lets out a soft, surprised protest as he shifts his upperclassman into a more convenient position, and a louder one when he he shoulders the unconscious body of their opponent.

"Okaka!" He rasps, voice strong but still rough, once he realizes Yuuji's intentions. "I know," Yuuji murmurs, still not entirely sure of what he's doing himself, "but- but…" The kid feels like his responsibility, he might've gotten hurt because of Yuuji, because Yuuji was still alive, and he looked like someone Yuuji couldn't bear see die again-

"He's just a kid," Yuuji finishes lamely. "Besides, I don't know what Orochimaru wants with him, but whatever it is, it can't be good. Did you see those eyes?"

He can feel Inumaki-senpai's stare burning holes in his back, but after a moment his upperclassman relents. "Kaisou," he sighs bitterly, and Yuuji winces.

He takes a step towards the gate, towards freedom, the combined weight of Inumaki and the kid too much break into a run immediately when his stomach lurches abruptly and something-

c h a n g e s

Yuuji takes a deep breath and almost unconsciously his shoulders untense. Something feels right now- or at least better, because he's still surrounded by horribly bright maybe-cursed energy. Only now, it feels like he's been unknowingly walking uphill this entire time and the ground has finally levelled out into a flat surface. Inumaki-senpai too relaxes nigh-unnoticeably, breathing a soft sigh of relief. The kid (That he's... kidnapping? Maybe? He's still not sure) on the other hand tenses, and groans something indecipherable in his sleep.

"Tsunamayo?" Inumaki asks slowly. Yuuji assumes he's talking about the shift, so he nods. "Yeah, I felt it too. What do you thin-"

He's cut off by an ear-splitting shriek that comes from one of the buildings behind them, and he unconsciously goes to clutch his ears, only to remember that he can't because he's still carrying two people-

The scream cuts off, finally, and Yuuji turns back to face the buildings.

"It sounds like someone was in pain." Yuuji says indecipherably, staring in the vague direction of the screams source. "Kaisou, okaka." Inumaki replies incredulously, but flatly, as if he's already accepted Yuuji's tendency to recklessly throw himself after people potentially in danger. Yuuji smiles apologetically anyways, even though Inumaki-senpai can't see it.

"I'll get you guys outside of this... compound first. I'll circle back after I found the source of that scream, okay?" Inumaki digs his fingers into Yuuji's shoulder, and huffs. "Shake," he agrees reluctantly, and Yuuji grins, bright and cheerful. "I'll be back before you know it!" he reassures his upperclassman, sprinting out of the gates as fast as he can to find a suitable hiding place

Around what Yuuji estimates to be five-ish miles away from the base, he comes to a stop as a massive cliff is blocking his path. Well, it would be blocking his path if he needed to go further, but he doesn’t, so he walks to a boulder, and drops (gracefully), Inumaki-senpai and the boy.

Inumaki-senpai gets up immediately after, and scratches on the rock, with the finger-bone he still has for some reason, ‘I’ll get him tied up, because he was hostile.’

Yuuji sighs, but knows even if he disagrees, Inumaki-senpai knows more than him, so there isn’t any reason to waste what could be precious time having a semi-one-sided argument with his senpai.

He turns back to the compound and starts running.

----

Karin can hear the explosions of negative energy and chakra alike go off in the main building of Otogakure, the lab and the prison cells. The likelihood of the two t̴̶̵̻̤̯̰͙͚̤͔̼͊̀̍̄̈́͌̍̋͌ŗ̴̶̵̠̜̥̗̗̤͍͓̫̜͍̟̄̅̇̀̀̊̑̔ą̴̶̵̧̦̮̼̞̯̪̈́̐̈̒̄͋̊͠͝v̸̶̷̢̭̣͕̺̯̬̙͔̍͋͗̊͆̾̀́̍͆͋͜ȩ̵̶̵̛͇̹̬̹̓̔̋̑̂͛͌͌͌̐̋̚͝ͅͅl̴̶̴̯͈̙̤̙̄̑̈̂̒͘ḻ̸̶̵͕͍͓̹͙̠̞̣̖̰͍͓̄̄͗͐̿͊̔̆͆̚͝e̴̶̸̢̛̪̳̝̙̯͖͖̜̰͎͊͊̈̂̈́͛͑̈́̐̀́͂͘ŗ̸̶̴̨̡̧̯̲̙̱̤̪̟͈͍͇̈́̀̍͗̉̓̅̐͠s̸̶̵̟̱̖͚̭̖̭̳̪̿́̈́͌͝͝ attacking her was almost astronomically low, so she closes her eyes and opens her Mind's Eye to See the world in its full form.

As she activates the age-old sensory technique, she Sees the lives of a few Oto shinobi flash out of existence as one of the two t̴̶̵̻̤̯̰͙͚̤͔̼͊̀̍̄̈́͌̍̋͌ŗ̴̶̵̠̜̥̗̗̤͍͓̫̜͍̟̄̅̇̀̀̊̑̔ą̴̶̵̧̦̮̼̞̯̪̈́̐̈̒̄͋̊͠͝v̸̶̷̢̭̣͕̺̯̬̙͔̍͋͗̊͆̾̀́̍͆͋͜ȩ̵̶̵̛͇̹̬̹̓̔̋̑̂͛͌͌͌̐̋̚͝ͅͅl̴̶̴̯͈̙̤̙̄̑̈̂̒͘ḻ̸̶̵͕͍͓̹͙̠̞̣̖̰͍͓̄̄͗͐̿͊̔̆͆̚͝e̴̶̸̢̛̪̳̝̙̯͖͖̜̰͎͊͊̈̂̈́͛͑̈́̐̀́͂͘ŗ̸̶̴̨̡̧̯̲̙̱̤̪̟͈͍͇̈́̀̍͗̉̓̅̐͠s̸̶̵̟̱̖͚̭̖̭̳̪̿́̈́͌͝͝, the one with the Akuma no enerugī concentrated inside it, kicks a shinobi into the wall, along with three others.

She can see the other t̴̶̵̻̤̯̰͙͚̤͔̼͊̀̍̄̈́͌̍̋͌ŗ̴̶̵̠̜̥̗̗̤͍͓̫̜͍̟̄̅̇̀̀̊̑̔ą̴̶̵̧̦̮̼̞̯̪̈́̐̈̒̄͋̊͠͝v̸̶̷̢̭̣͕̺̯̬̙͔̍͋͗̊͆̾̀́̍͆͋͜ȩ̵̶̵̛͇̹̬̹̓̔̋̑̂͛͌͌͌̐̋̚͝ͅͅl̴̶̴̯͈̙̤̙̄̑̈̂̒͘ḻ̸̶̵͕͍͓̹͙̠̞̣̖̰͍͓̄̄͗͐̿͊̔̆͆̚͝e̴̶̸̢̛̪̳̝̙̯͖͖̜̰͎͊͊̈̂̈́͛͑̈́̐̀́͂͘ŗ̸̶̴̨̯̲̙̱̤̈́̀̍͗̉̓̅̐͠, the Ɔ̴̸̵̶̴̴̶̴̸̴̸̷̴̴̴̵̵̸̷̸̴̞̫̫̲̱̳̗̼̺̜̩̟͕̞͉̠̩͔̂̏̀̐̈́̇̾̉́͐͆̑̀̀͑̀̿͗̈́͋̑͜ͅͅơ̴̶̶̸̸̶̶̵̴̷̷̶̷̵̷̵̵̴̵̷̶̤̣͇̩̙̜̩̥̟̝̳̠̖̣͔͕͕͖͍̏͋̅̏́͒̌̌̽̀̉̀̽̈̎̓̃͐̚͜͜͠u̸̷̷̵̷̶̴̷̷̴̶̴̸̴̵̴̴̶̵̸̷̧̢̥̗̰͍̗̟̩̟̻͕̜̹̣̳̫̪̯̓͆̋̈͂̓͒̏̋̔͋͐̔̊̑̈́͐̚͜͝͠͝ͅp̸̵̴̶̷̴̸̸̷̴̴̶̴̶̵̷̶̷̸̴̷̡̨̛̛̠̫̤͕̰̪̫̯̘͎̩͇̥͙̪̰͖̬̂̀̈̅́̔̈́̋̈̅̀̃̄͆̽̋̉͜͝͝ņ̷̶̵̷̶̶̵̵̴̶̴̵̶̵̷̷̵̴̸̸̴̡̛͎͈͚̝̲͇̫͎̩̠̰̝̟̦͖̩̗̓́͂̊̃̑̃̍̽̈́̿̏̑̐̒̈́̀̿̿̍͜ͅᴉ̶̵̷̵̶̶̵̷̸̶̴̶̵̴̵̷̴̷̷̷̵̢̢̨̧̧̛̹̦̹̻̗͖̼͇͍̩͓͎̮͔̠̬̑͋̓̈́̈́͌̍̈̒̔̽͋̍͊̆̅͂̆̚͠ʇ̸̷̸̴̸̷̵̵̵̴̶̸̶̸̵̷̸̷̶̶̸̢̧̛̱̗̠̹͖͕̩͓͓̲͕̦͇̪̤̙̬̞̈́̍̃͋̄͒̑̒͒͛̇̿̑́̐́͘̚͜͝͠ ͇̰͈̝͔̘ on the pseudo-jinchuuriki’s back. She then sees a burst of ozone-ash-snake-wildfire-oppressed chakra, who she knows belongs to the Uchiha, shunshin towards the two t̴̶̵̻̤̯̰͙͚̤͔̼͊̀̍̄̈́͌̍̋͌ŗ̴̶̵̠̜̥̗̗̤͍͓̫̜͍̟̄̅̇̀̀̊̑̔ą̴̶̵̧̦̮̼̞̯̪̈́̐̈̒̄͋̊͠͝v̸̶̷̢̭̣͕̺̯̬̙͔̍͋͗̊͆̾̀́̍͆͋͜ȩ̵̶̵̛͇̹̬̹̓̔̋̑̂͛͌͌͌̐̋̚͝ͅͅl̴̶̴̯͈̙̤̙̄̑̈̂̒͘ḻ̸̶̵͕͍͓̹͙̠̞̣̖̰͍͓̄̄͗͐̿͊̔̆͆̚͝e̴̶̸̢̛̪̳̝̙̯͖͖̜̰͎͊͊̈̂̈́͛͑̈́̐̀́͂͘ŗ̸̶̴̨̡̧̯̲̙̱̤̪̟͈͍͇̈́̀̍͗̉̓̅̐͠s̸̶̵̟̱̖͚̭̖̭̳̪̿́̈́͌͝͝.

She tenses for a moment, knowing that although the pseudo-jinchuuriki is weighed down, Uchiha could be mortally injured in this fight. Then, she sees the negative energy of pseudo-jinchuuriki flare, but in sadness and grief. Oh. Recognition. The pseudo-jinchuuriki lost someone that looks like the Uchiha. Then, the Akuma no enerugī flares, and the genjutsu that Uchiha attempted to form on the t̴̶̵̻̤̯̰͙͚̤͔̼͊̀̍̄̈́͌̍̋͌ŗ̴̶̵̠̜̥̗̗̤͍͓̫̜͍̟̄̅̇̀̀̊̑̔ą̴̶̵̧̦̮̼̞̯̪̈́̐̈̒̄͋̊͠͝v̸̶̷̢̭̣͕̺̯̬̙͔̍͋͗̊͆̾̀́̍͆͋͜ȩ̵̶̵̛͇̹̬̹̓̔̋̑̂͛͌͌͌̐̋̚͝ͅͅl̴̶̴̯͈̙̤̙̄̑̈̂̒͘ḻ̸̶̵͕͍͓̹͙̠̞̣̖̰͍͓̄̄͗͐̿͊̔̆͆̚͝e̴̶̸̢̛̪̳̝̙̯͖͖̜̰͎͊͊̈̂̈́͛͑̈́̐̀́͂͘ŗ̸̶̴̨̡̧̯̲̙̱̤̪̟͈͍͇̈́̀̍͗̉̓̅̐͠s̸̶̵̟̱̖͚̭̖̭̳̪̿́̈́͌͝͝, is torn, and the Akuma worms it’s way into the Uchiha’s mind. She focuses on it, expanding her sensory field, opening it to the negative energy. The Akuma is talking, but it is muffled by the distance. Then, the Akuma pulls out of the Uchiha’s mind.

And her Eye burns as the Sky ʇ̵̶̴̴̷̶̶̸̷̴̷̢̪̦̫̳̞̤̘͔͓͌̇̈́̈̃̀͒͑̏͐ǝ̴̶̷̷̶̶̶̷̵̴̵̡͓͍͍͚̳̞̃̏́͗̆̾͐̄̌̚͜ͅͅɐ̷̸̵̵̸̶̸̴̸̵̸̪̱̖̻͇̖͍̮̬̱̓̑̒̊̃͊̔̍̑͝ɹ̷̴̸̶̵̶̵̴̵̸̷̨̡̮̱̯̙̥̪̩͔͂̐̏͌͗͊͊̊̚͠s̶̶̶̵̵̶̶̶̴̴̴̡̜̙͉̰̱̦̗͕̲͂̊̓̿́́́͊̚̕ in two, as the H̷̴̸̸̷̝̭̼͔̗̊͛̈̚͘ǫ̷̷̵̴̷̰̪͕̫́̏͊͋͘u̸̸̸̵̶͎̞̳͉̤͆̑̾̒̚ō̸̴̸̴̵̥̼̬̣̙̍͐́̚ņ̴̸̸̶̸͍̖̪̺̉̉̆̊̔ɹ̴̵̷̴̴̩̥̦͕̟̀̓͌̅̈ǝ̸̵̴̷̸̢̤͇̱̦͌̐̓̈́̐p̷̸̵̵̶̭͈̘̗̹͂͌̀̓̓ ̷̷̵̶̵̭͉̼̳͒͊̀̓͗͜ŏ̶̷̴̷̸̼̥͎̖͖̾̃̊͂ű̸̸̸̷̷̢̢̜̞͚͂̄͑̕ǝ̴̴̵̸̶͖̲̦͕́̈̒̑̚ͅ rips his way into the world, leaving no way to return without a Ɔ̴̸̵̶̴̴̶̴̸̴̸̷̴̴̴̵̵̸̷̸̴̞̫̫̲̱̳̗̼̺̜̩̟͕̞͉̠̩͔̂̏̀̐̈́̇̾̉́͐͆̑̀̀͑̀̿͗̈́͋̑͜ͅͅơ̴̶̶̸̸̶̶̵̴̷̷̶̷̵̷̵̵̴̵̷̶̤̣͇̩̙̜̩̥̟̝̳̠̖̣͔͕͕͖͍̏͋̅̏́͒̌̌̽̀̉̀̽̈̎̓̃͐̚͜͜͠u̸̷̷̵̷̶̴̷̷̴̶̴̸̴̵̴̴̶̵̸̷̧̢̥̗̰͍̗̟̩̟̻͕̜̹̣̳̫̪̯̓͆̋̈͂̓͒̏̋̔͋͐̔̊̑̈́͐̚͜͝͠͝ͅp̸̵̴̶̷̴̸̸̷̴̴̶̴̶̵̷̶̷̸̴̷̡̨̛̛̠̫̤͕̰̪̫̯̘͎̩͇̥͙̪̰͖̬̂̀̈̅́̔̈́̋̈̅̀̃̄͆̽̋̉͜͝͝ņ̷̶̵̷̶̶̵̵̴̶̴̵̶̵̷̷̵̴̸̸̴̡̛͎͈͚̝̲͇̫͎̩̠̰̝̟̦͖̩̗̓́͂̊̃̑̃̍̽̈́̿̏̑̐̒̈́̀̿̿̍͜ͅᴉ̶̵̷̵̶̶̵̷̸̶̴̶̵̴̵̷̴̷̷̷̵̢̢̨̧̧̛̹̦̹̻̗͖̼͇͍̩͓͎̮͔̠̬̑͋̓̈́̈́͌̍̈̒̔̽͋̍͊̆̅͂̆̚͠ʇ̸̷̸̴̸̷̵̵̵̴̶̸̶̸̵̷̸̷̶̶̸̢̧̛̱̗̠̹͖͕̩͓͓̲͕̦͇̪̤̙̬̞̈́̍̃͋̄͒̑̒͒͛̇̿̑́̐́͘̚͜͝͠ ͇̰͈̝͔̘

Distantly, she realises that she is screaming her throat hoarse, and her eyes start to bleed. Distantly, she can taste the fountain of blood coming from her nose drip into her mouth. Distantly, through her near-blinded eye, still glowing white, she can see the Ɔ̴̸̵̶̴̴̶̴̸̴̸̷̴̴̴̵̵̸̷̸̴̞̫̫̲̱̳̗̼̺̜̩̟͕̞͉̠̩͔̂̏̀̐̈́̇̾̉́͐͆̑̀̀͑̀̿͗̈́͋̑͜ͅͅơ̴̶̶̸̸̶̶̵̴̷̷̶̷̵̷̵̵̴̵̷̶̤̣͇̩̙̜̩̥̟̝̳̠̖̣͔͕͕͖͍̏͋̅̏́͒̌̌̽̀̉̀̽̈̎̓̃͐̚͜͜͠u̸̷̷̵̷̶̴̷̷̴̶̴̸̴̵̴̴̶̵̸̷̧̢̥̗̰͍̗̟̩̟̻͕̜̹̣̳̫̪̯̓͆̋̈͂̓͒̏̋̔͋͐̔̊̑̈́͐̚͜͝͠͝ͅp̸̵̴̶̷̴̸̸̷̴̴̶̴̶̵̷̶̷̸̴̷̡̨̛̛̠̫̤͕̰̪̫̯̘͎̩͇̥͙̪̰͖̬̂̀̈̅́̔̈́̋̈̅̀̃̄͆̽̋̉͜͝͝ņ̷̶̵̷̶̶̵̵̴̶̴̵̶̵̷̷̵̴̸̸̴̡̛͎͈͚̝̲͇̫͎̩̠̰̝̟̦͖̩̗̓́͂̊̃̑̃̍̽̈́̿̏̑̐̒̈́̀̿̿̍͜ͅᴉ̶̵̷̵̶̶̵̷̸̶̴̶̵̴̵̷̴̷̷̷̵̢̢̨̧̧̛̹̦̹̻̗͖̼͇͍̩͓͎̮͔̠̬̑͋̓̈́̈́͌̍̈̒̔̽͋̍͊̆̅͂̆̚͠ʇ̸̷̸̴̸̷̵̵̵̴̶̸̶̸̵̷̸̷̶̶̸̢̧̛̱̗̠̹͖͕̩͓͓̲͕̦͇̪̤̙̬̞̈́̍̃͋̄͒̑̒͒͛̇̿̑́̐́͘̚͜͝͠ ͇̰͈̝͔̘ and the t̴̶̵̻̤̯̰͙͚̤͔̼͊̀̍̄̈́͌̍̋͌ŗ̴̶̵̠̜̥̗̗̤͍͓̫̜͍̟̄̅̇̀̀̊̑̔ą̴̶̵̧̦̮̼̞̯̪̈́̐̈̒̄͋̊͠͝v̸̶̷̢̭̣͕̺̯̬̙͔̍͋͗̊͆̾̀́̍͆͋͜ȩ̵̶̵̛͇̹̬̹̓̔̋̑̂͛͌͌͌̐̋̚͝ͅͅl̴̶̴̯͈̙̤̙̄̑̈̂̒͘ḻ̸̶̵͕͍͓̹͙̠̞̣̖̰͍͓̄̄͗͐̿͊̔̆͆̚͝e̴̶̸̢̛̪̳̝̙̯͖͖̜̰͎͊͊̈̂̈́͛͑̈́̐̀́͂͘ŗ̸̶̴̨̯̲̙̱̈́̀̍͗̉̓̅̐͠’s negative energy spike and recede into the distance. Distantly, she can see theƎ̶̷̸̸̴̶̴̶̷̵̴̵̶̶̸̷̸̶̸̸̸̡̧̰̞̭̯̮̹̜̹̤̟͇̥̭̞̝͔́͗̐͒́̓̅͆̽͊̿̐̇̋̏̆̏̊̆̕͜͝ͅͅų̶̸̸̶̴̴̵̸̶̶̸̸̷̷̵̴̴̷̴̶̷̛͙͉̪͈̘̮̱̪͎͎̤͕̼͓̟̯̮̟͂̐̔̔͆̍͋́̏́́͋́͗̓̈́̋̽̒͝ͅͅɟ̸̸̵̸̵̵̴̷̴̸̷̷̴̴̸̵̸̷̶̶̵̢̡̡̧̪̺̣̯̜͈̠͈̼̤̝̟͖̮̱̭̊͑͊͌͋́̍͐̓̀͑̈̈̿̎̒́͒͂̕͘͜ǫ̸̸̷̵̶̶̴̸̴̸̴̸̵̷̶̶̵̶̶̶̴̡̛̠̙̟̹̪̲͖̝̜̬̱̘̰̲̠̘̫̐̃̌͊͂̐̾̀͆͆̔̏̓̀̅͆̀̊͘͘ͅͅɹ̶̴̴̴̸̶̷̶̷̶̵̴̷̷̴̷̸̷̴̷̸̡̡̛̛͈̬̹̘͓̬͖̝̩̞̯̩̖͓̫̲̩̤̝͑̀̐̍́́̓͒̈̐̆̒̐͌̐̚̕̕̚ɔ̵̶̶̷̴̷̸̸̷̴̵̷̶̷̸̴̶̵̴̷̵̧̢̹͕͍̼̰͖̘͔̮̭̙̩̞̥̼̗̣̩͚̄̓̒̓̎̒͛̄͂̄̓̾͋̒̈͗̀̉̆̚͝ǝ̸̸̸̷̴̵̸̸̴̵̴̵̸̸̸̴̴̵̷̶̵̨̧̧̛͉̖͙̦͎̳͈̩̞̘̠̩̩͚͉͈̙͕̏̿͑̀̎̇͒̀̈́̉̏̌̒̏̈̀͋͌̕̕ɹ̴̵̸̷̷̶̶̷̶̴̸̴̶̵̴̴̶̶̴̷̴̨̧̡̜̥̯̱͔͔͍̺̺͚͈̫̞̹̹̤̭͎̃̋͑͂̎͑͑̿̏̽̐̍́͂̑́̋̚̚͝͝ close the tear. Oh, so distant.

---

Yuuji enters the building where the scream came from warily. He turns left at the first hallway, because the right hallway is covered in burgundy, and it’s dry. He didn’t take long enough for blood to dry (he thinks) so that way is the second option.

He is almost immediately greeted with a girl lying on the floor with hair the same colour as the blood coming from her nose and eyes. He leans down to check her pulse- alive. Good. He sees a pair of glasses in her hand, and picks them up as he moves towards her head. There is an eye with a swirl in it, glowing white on her forehead. He goes to touch it, but flinches away when he does, because it’s almost boiling hot.

He is a little confused, because he cannot smell cooking flesh, so it mustn’t be hurting her. He shrugs and picks her up. Sukuna hisses like a cat in his head, Guide.

He decides to ignore Sukuna, because the curse likely wants a reaction.

He turns and walks outside, starting up a quick jog to get back to Inumaki-senpai and the Junpei look-alike.

(His sweet little kohai comes back with another person. פ̷̸̷̷̵̸̴̸̷̷̵̶̶̶̴̸̷̵̵̴̸̢̨̢̛̗̠̺̻̖̯̘̩͈̞̮͔̹̗͕̞̥̘̀̏̿̀̂̍̉̍͋̌̀̾̎̍͊͌̕͝͠͝ņ̵̶̵̷̶̸̶̸̵̴̷̴̷̴̵̷̷̸̷̴̶̢̛͈͔̙̜̬̘͙̖̜̞̺̣͔͇̼͙̠̜̿̂̈́͋̈́̅̿̈͌͂͒̅̿̔̆͌̚͘͜͝͠ᴉ̶̷̵̶̸̵̴̶̵̶̵̷̷̵̶̸̴̴̵̴̸̧̢̛̤̱̹̤͉̗͇͎͉̙̪̹̭͖̯̤͖̪̙͌̄̈́̓͌́̈̀̈́̐̏͂̀͗̈́̎̈́͛͝͠p̸̴̵̸̸̶̶̷̷̴̸̶̵̵̸̶̷̶̴̷̸̨̢͉̙͍̱̣͍͓͚̙̘̺͉̣̦͙̭͔̫̞̾͂͌̔̓̈̈́̔͛̌̐̿̍͛̈́͂̒͘͝͝ǝ̷̴̴̸̶̴̷̸̷̵̶̸̶̷̵̸̷̴̸̴̸̨̹͙̻̘̟͈̙̥̪̯͚̲͕̲̘͕̪̯̩͓̽̀͌̅̾̇̋̍͛̑͑́̓́̏͛̑̓͒͘͝ a forgotten part of his mind hisses. He doesn’t hear it.)

End Notes:

Itadori doesn't have the best understanding of how cursed techiques affect one's body: Inumaki actually wrote on the floor that his cursed technique doesn’t affect his lungs, but his throat and Itadori took that to mean that he can’t breathe correctly because in Itadori’s mind: to breathe equals air through mouth/nose, throat, lungs, and out is lungs, throat, mouth/nose.

(Glossary notes: Chimanako no tsukaite (血眼の使い手) User of blood (i tried to get google translate to say 'user of blood eyes', but it didn't work. just pretend it means that- please. also neither blue or i speak japanese, so PLEASE CORRECT ME))

Kat: sorry for the amount of time this took, i had a funeral to go to and it was far-ish, so i couldn't take my laptop and then i was emotional support for grandparents and cousins. soooo.................. E. Also, you may be asking: am I making Toge a semi-sensor? yes. You might understand later, who knows. (he's not on karin's canon level though, and not even near gojo's. however, for this, i am ramping up karin to a semi-BAMF level though. also don't worry, she's not nearly as annoying as in canon due to Reasons involving Very Important Lore that ends up being an Integral Part of the Plot. Sorry, i'm rambling)

Blue: I want y'all to appreciate how much work Kat put into this chapter. Like all the lore? All the hilarious thoughts in brackets? Courtesy of my fabulous cowriter.

Kat: THANK YOU BLUEEEEEEEEEEEE

Inumaki dictionary for this chapter (from what yuuji can understand, however yuuji isn't a professional inumaki-decoder, so some of these may be a little different): Okaka (bonito flakes): disagree/deny Kaisou (seaweed): reluctant acceptance: Idiot/fine Tsunamayo (tuna mayo): confusion/what was that? okaka, kaisou (bonito flakes, seaweed): stating his negative opinion with acceptance: no, you idiot/ fine, but i don't like it Shake (salmon): exasperated, in this case, like a parent: okay

Chapter 1: Bloodstained Ink (click!)

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