#gai as love sick jounin

[agnifira]

i like to think gai fall in love with a civillian, you know. a civillian, stuck in the hospital due their illness, with pretty face and even prettier laughter. gai's heart beat faster whenever he saw them.

other shinobis will think his 'youthful' attitude as annoyance, barely tolerable by most standards. but as civillian who spend their lives in hospital? it's a good change of view, bringing excitement in their lives.

perhaps it was love at first sight, teenagers who is closed off from the world and one who is shunned due his abnormality. gai was sold even more at the first giggle the civillian gave him.

he'd tell them stories about his journeys, the outside world from his own eyes. the other hidden villages, their people, cultures. what's the weather like, their flowers like. he even bought lots of souvenirs from his trips.

he'd tell with excitement about his new genins, each one of them is unique in their own ways, knowing the civillian will love them entirely.

he'd spill his tears in quiet whispers on their bedside, about the wars and lives that had lost. the horror of harsh reality of life. the civillian will hold him, because he'd break if he was allowed to.

just maito gai, jounin that others keep distance due his loud voice and attitude, making a sick civilian's life brighter with his self.

[sup-hoes-its-me]

Fine Line (Kakashi x Reader)

A/N: hey. Friends to lovers (the only trope i respect) You’re about to marry someone else, a prince from another village in an attempt to save relations with said village, only kakashi stands in the way of that, and everyone knows. 

Also, i know kakashi would never do this in reality, but gosh is it romantic to imagine

Word count: 5400

“Y/N, you really need to sleep,” Kakashi sighed, leaning on his fist which sat on the thin, flimsy armchair beside her bed.

She hadn’t slept properly for weeks now, day after day only falling asleep at random hours of the day, naps in the afternoon and a half hour of shut eye in the early morning. She ate sporadically, and her schedule had admittedly started to interfere with her friend’s. Kakashi found himself in her apartment, awake the majority of the nights trying to calm her down. 

But nothing was going to help this situation. Tsunade had decided already, after Y/N had hesistantly agreed. It wasn't as if this marriage was forced, but it certainly wasn’t ideal.

The woman never really imagined herself marrying at all, but if she had, she always dreamed it would be out of love for the other person, someone who would match her perfectly like a puzzle piece, essentially, someone who would complete her. 

Instead, she had been hastily shoved into an arranged marriage with a man she and Kakashi guarded on one of their missions. He was the wealthy crown prince in the Land of Frost. He was kind enough, and he respected her wishes when it came to the proposal, giving Y/N a month to decide whether she was ready to be wed to such a man.

He promised her the entire world. Jewels, clothes, children, a palace in which to live the rest of her days, anything she could possibly need he would have servants at her beck and call.

It hadn’t seemed like the worst idea at all, and Y/N shortly considered it. It wasn’t until Tsunade heard about it that things became serious. 

The relationship between the two lands was falling apart, and this was a last resort, she had said. It wouldn’t mean she could never see her friends again but meetings would be scarce, and she was positive he wouldn't let her train and go on the occasional, non-dangerous mission. It would be as if she were abandoning her entire life, she realized as the weeks passed after the engagement was set. 

And so the letter was sent back to the Land of Frost, and abruptly, Y/N L/N found herself engaged to be married in 3 months time. It seemed surreal, only having 90 days practically, to enjoy her normal life and prepare for an entirely new world. She hadn’t known anything else other than the way of shinobi, nor had she adjusted to other cultures. The Leaf was her home, and the thought of leaving it broke her heart.

For the first time in her life, it seemed she was petrified. Sure, there were times when she felt like everything was set up against her, that the enemy might win, but she hadn’t felt so hopeless and lost either. There always seemed to be a light at the end of the tunnel. 

Not this time. 

“Please, just finish your tea and rest. You’re wasting away,“ he told her again, whispering in a soft tone only the two of them could hear. She was in the medical ward for the night, low blood sugar bringing her in this time. The dangerous combo of not sleeping or eating had set her body into a panic. She was so weak.

As she sipped the tea she sighed, feeling that sting of warmth run down her throat and bring some feeling to her empty, weak stomach. She couldn’t look at the man sitting beside her, it would only bring her pain, she decided. How could she face him? She was leaving him after all this time. 

It had been decades since they were apart for longer than the standard mission time. He was always there right alongside her. They grew up on the same street in the same complex. They attended the academy together, fought in the war side by side, travelled the world as jounin just trying to make their way through the twists and turns of village politics. She felt like shit having to leave him behind. It wasn’t like her new husband was going to let her have weekly visits to her old friend, a man who was closer than anyone else she knew. It wasn’t plausible. 

Slowly, she had realized that one day would be the last day she could hug Kakashi, that she could look up to him and hear his calm tone telling her it would all be okay, that he would never leave her behind, that he would always be there to protect her as long as she did the same for him. It wasn’t going to be like that anymore, and it often brought tears to her eyes in the late of night in her apartment, tears saturating her pillows and face swelling from the suffocated sobs. One day would be the last time she saw him, and it just hurt so badly. At times she found herself gasping for air, so terrified she couldn't find breath..

So, no, Y/N couldn't bring herself to face Kakashi. Maybe if she distanced herself little by little as the few months went on, it would be easier leaving. Leaving everyone behind. Kakashi, Gai, Kurenai, all the students she had grown to care about over the years. To spend her last days avoiding the people she would miss so dearly seemed like a waste of time and irrational, but it was the only thing that seemed reasonable in her confused mind.

“I can’t,” she replied softly, setting her mug down on the table to the other side of her bed. “How do you expect me to sleep?”

He shook his head in disapproval, his arms crossed over his chest as he leant back in his chair. He replied, “I don’t know. Just close your eyes and it’s bound to happen. You could at least try.” His suggestion was pretty useless, and he knew that. Hell, the amount of times he stayed awake when she begged him to sleep, he should have known he wasn’t going to get anywhere.

“And if I don’t want to?” 

He sighed, his eyes rolling to the ceiling, as he muttered, “What is your prince going to say when he sees you with black eye bags and cheeks sunken in?” He felt disgusted, hearing those words leave his mouth. Not only was she to be married to someone she barely knew, but she had to impress him. She had to change herself to fit his narrative of a woman, stereotypically beautiful, effortless yet hard working at the same time. He felt sick to his stomach thinking about that prince, and the ploy Tsunade had put up in the way of arranging them together.

Absolutely sickened.

She peered over at him and frowned. “Between you and me, I don’t give a fuck what that guy thinks,” she whispered, her eyes resting on the doorway to make sure no late night nurses were walking through. “I wish he would take one look at me and break the engagement himself.”

“You don’t have to do this, Y/N.” His eyes now drawn on her, watching as she took another long sip of her tea, which he now suspected was spiked with something Gai had given her on his way out, something to numb the pain she was feeling. It burned her throat so good, and dulled her mind just enough to ease her. The Green Beast understood her desire to help the village, but he also sided with Kakashi in that she could change her mind at any point in time. 

Even Gai knew she wasn’t happy, everyone fucking knew.

“Oh, but I do, Kakashi. I don’t really have a choice at this point.”

“You do. Don’t let a spoiled prince take away your happiness,” he argued, his face turned just the slightest shade of red at his frustration. He wanted to wring this prince by the neck for what he had done, for the tough situation Y/N was put in. Either save the relationship between two nations or be selfish and do nothing. “Please, Y/N.”

A part of him liked to believe that his begging was simply to save his friend from a horrible fate, that he was just doing what a normal person would do and defend someone who seemed so helpless, only that wasn’t it. It was never that in the first place. He wouldn’t have been the one to fall apart in Tsunade’s office when she told him that the pair were engaged, screaming profanities at the Hokage who only looked up at him with pity in her eyes. And he certainly wouldn’t have run all the way across the village to her apartment and bang on the door until she opened. He wouldn’t have left her room that night with a tear about to fall from his eye, and vomit coming up in his throat. He wouldn’t have thrown up in the middle of the street that night. Not if he was simply protecting a friend.

He knew that the reason this hurt him so badly is because he loved her. He always knew there was something there, but there was never any reason to act on his feelings. They had all the time in the world it seemed, just the two of them soldiering on in this boring life. Telling her how he felt, how much he wanted her...that wouldn’t have changed a thing between them other than made things just that much more difficult.

Now, Kakashi found himself regretting everything. If only he had said something before, maybe she could have stayed here in the Leaf with him, and all her other friends who had become her family over these decades of struggling together. If only he had stepped up and been brave. He never faltered in the face of fear; why did it have to be the only time he did that screwed him over.

“Kakashi, I can’t go back on the engagement. It would cause us to lose one of our greatest allies,” she told him calmly, but her heart was once again beating too fast for comfort. She found herself falling into that downward spiral of hopelessness once again. She looked over at him with a quiver in her lip and tears bubbling up at her waterline, words softly leaving her mouth, so quiet he almost missed it. “I was fitted for a wedding gown two days ago. I-It was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. He asked me to pick what flowers I want at the ceremony.”

“Ah, I see.”

“All I wanted to say was wilted fucking roses, thorns and all. Weeds and empty branches.”

“Just run away if you have to, run for long enough that he forgets about you,” Kakashi suggested, a bit of plea in his voice for her to listen to anything, anything that would get her away from that man, this horrible fate. “You don’t need to do this. Tsunade can make it work.”

“Kakashi.” Y/N paused, biting her lip. Her head was beginning to buzz from the tea she was drinking, one in which Gai added more than a bit of sake to numb the pain. Something the nurses at this godforsaken hospital refused to give her. She gazed over at him with a glaze over her eyes, her cheeks draining of any last bit of color she had in them.

“Yes?”

“I don’t want to marry him,” she confessed, that much was obvious. “I wish I was marrying you instead.”

“Y/N-”

“I’ve never even looked at someone twice because of you. I’ve only ever wanted you, for fuck’s sake.” she bit out harshly, her voice raising with every word. Her eyes were trailed painfully on his own, glaring fire into him. "All these years, all these long, painful years, it's always been you, Hatake."

Just as he was about to say something in response, she had leaned over and pushed him away from her. He opened his mouth to get out a word, but nothing came out. Her angry shouts filled his ears, and he found himself falling. He stood from his chair and backed away from her bed.

“Just get out, Kakashi. It doesn’t matter how the fuck I feel anymore. I should have never said anything. At this point, I'm just tormenting myself. Just get out,” she hissed. “Get out, get out, get out.” Her shouts were painful to hear, but he understood. He wasn’t angry, unlike the girl with the overwhelming emotions bubbling out from the ears. His heart raced at her words, at the rushing emotions flowing through his veins.

He walked out the door without saying goodbye, just hearing her crying behind him while he pushed open the cracked door. As he shut the door behind him, he noticed a particular pink haired girl standing against the wall. She stared at him in shock, having heard the outbursts from the woman in the room who she was just about to check up on to make sure vitals were okay. She heard the confession, and she heard the subsequent backlash. She heard the parts about Y/N not wanting to marry the prince as well. 

It wasn’t exactly well known that she resented the engagement, but it was fairly obvious if you spent enough time with the kunoichi, which Sakura surely did being a medical nin.

“Sensei, are you okay?”

“Yes, Sakura, I’m fine,” he breathed, finding himself at a loss for words and lungs utterly useless.

Sakura grabbed onto his arm, peering up at him with just an ounce of determination in her eyes. “You need to convince Y/N-sensei to break the engagement.”

“I know.”

“Did you talk to Lady Tsunade.”

“She won’t listen to me.”

“Then I’ll try to talk to her too. She's not a cruel woman, but she is set on this engagement. She believes it will unite the two villages for hundreds of years. Y/N is one of our best and brightest after all.” Sakura told the man in the darkness of the hospital halls, her soft voice echoing on white walls. “I know it doesn’t seem like things will work out, and maybe Lady Tsunade won't listen. But you have to convince Y/N to stand up for herself."

He nodded, but it felt hopeless even pretending that things would change.

“You two were meant for each other. You can’t just give up on that now.”

And with that, he left down the hall, waving goodbye to his student. He didn’t know  how exactly he was going to do this, work out this mess in his favor, but it was worth a shot trying. If he didn’t, it would mean losing the love of his life. He couldn’t lose anyone else, not this time. 

Please, just not this time.

________________________

Despite being dressed in all white, Y/N felt anything but pure. She had been dolled up the entire morning by her friends and the young girls of the village. Ino, Hinata and her sister, and a handmaiden sent from the Land of the Frost to prepare her for her wedding that day. Her dress was embroidered with small snowflakes and wisps of silver and baby blue details. 

Already she felt as if she were being taken from her village and her heritage with all this decoration from the other land. Not to mention she would be married off somewhere foreign and cold, alone without the comfort of her family and friends here in the Leaf. The only people to be escorting her to the other village would be the handmaid, a couple guards from the Frost, and Kakashi.

Her final request was allowing him to come with her just for the wedding. And maybe it was cruel, to have him there as both their hopes for a happy ending dissolve, but she needed him. There was no way she would make it through the wedding without him standing to the side supporting her, even if the support was purely obligatory.

She never said anything to Tsunade, in fear of being rejected or patronized for changing her mind. Instead. She just waited for the fateful day.

Y/N stood at the gates,  arms crossed over her chest as she stared out into the woods, a white and silver carriage sitting before her with 3 horses standing tall ahead. This was the life waiting for her across the boundary, in the faraway land she would never recognize as home. It would be her last day in the village for a long time, at least until she was allowed to leave. Still, her life wouldn’t be the same ever again. She never dreamed of living in a world where she was forced to be a housewife, alone in a giant house without her companions, without the rush of the hunt on missions, without feeling the chakra flowing thickly through her veins.

She’d said her goodbyes. Cleared out her apartment, leaving the majority of her belongings behind with friends and family. She wouldn’t be needing it where she was going. 

“Kakashi?” she asked softly, peering over her shoulder at the man leaning against the gate, a book in his hand, the other tucked into his pocket. He wore nice clothing. Better than usual, at least. He wasn’t an honored guest, honestly, he wasn’t truly invited, she was just bringing him along upon her own stubbornness. He looked nice, dressed up like he cared today. 

He lifted his eyes and hummed in reply, obviously lost in his own thoughts as well.

“I feel like I should have stayed longer in the village, to say goodbye. Our friends...Gai and all our students, Iruka...I feel like I'm just abandoning them,” she told him. “I just don’t think I’m ready to say goodbye. I guess I just don’t know how to say goodbye, a real goodbye. I’ve never felt like this- like I need to put so much thought behind a farewell because honestly, I’ve never felt like it would be my last one.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I have never intentionally left someone knowing that I’ll never see them again. It fucking sucks that I’m standing here knowing I’ll never see you guys again after this. I can’t accept it like that though. I keep thinking that after this is all over life will be back to normal, but it won’t.”

“I know. We should have tried harder to get you out of this mess. I could have said something-”

“It’s not your fault. I-I shouldn’t have agreed in the first place. I only agreed because I didn’t think I had a chance with you, so what would it matter leaving to be with someone else,” she blurted out, her truths coming out in heavy waves, “It would make me less lonely, I thought, even though it’s clearly done the opposite. I’ve never felt more impending loneliness than I do now.”

He sighed, shutting his book and stuffing it into his jacket pocket. It was like him to bring his romance novellas on a trip like this. She wanted to smile at his hobby, but her heart felt too heavy in her chest to even lift her lips. “I’ll see you again, Y/N. One day, I’ll get the chance to go back there and see you, as long as you let me in.”

“I don’t want it to just be one day,” she cried, throwing her arms down at her sides. She felt gross in these dreary robes, too decorated for her tastes altogether. “I want to see you everyday. I never want to go another day without you by my side. Jesus, this whole situation is just sick.”

He placed a hand on her shoulder and furrowed his brow. “Keep quiet. You’re gonna make a scene, Y/N.”

“I just can’t be quiet about this. Don’t you understand how I’m feeling? Aren’t you going to miss me too?” The woman asked, feeling her hands begin to sweat as she clenched them over and over. She stared at him, right into his exposed eye, her breaths becoming shallower with every passing moment. Panic creeped up her neck so quickly, smothering her thoughts, rationale flying out the window.

“Of course I will, L/N. That’s a stupid question, and you know it. I’m just trying not to get caught fraternizing with a future queen, yeah?” he mumbled, his voice hushed. "Just calm down. You're getting pale." He wanted to reach down and run his hands along her arms, smooth over her shoulders for just a bit of comfort, but he refrained. He didn't want to touch her in front of wandering eyes, the eyes of any Frost people.

After scanning the area, she grabbed a hold of his wrist, her fingers firm with no intention of letting go. “We need to leave. You and me, we can get out of here.”

“What?” He could only ask, completely stunned at her suggestion. 

“Remember what you told me in the hospital. You told me to run away. We run away from here now, for as long as it takes for the prince to give up on me.” How scandalous, he thought. He couldn’t possibly just take the bride and run, could he? He hadn’t even pondered that route in his nightly daydreaming before bed, tossing and turning trying to think of a way to save his friend from the depths of whatever this prince had to offer. 

“Y/N, I meant just you. I-I can’t just go against Lady Tsunade like that-”

“Kakashi Hatake, you’re my best friend, but more importantly, I’m in love with you. If I’m not wrong, the feeling is mutual. If that doesn’t make you want to run away together then I call cowardice,” she said boldly, her eyes never once leaving his own. “Come on, we don’t have the time for this.”

This could ruin him, he knew that full well. But there was just something about this woman he couldn’t let slip from his grasp. His entire world fell into her hands. When he felt that inevitable tug on his arm, pulling him into the familiar woods before them, he found himself following without a single restraint. The only thing he felt was his heart racing in his chest, bursting with an adrenaline he hadn’t felt in a long time. 

They pushed through the forest for as long as she could run, tripping over branches and roots along the way, but never losing grip of each other. Her blood pulsed through her veins, and honestly, she had never felt more alive. Her entire life she found herself bowing down to those superior to her, listening to each word they say and meeting their every beck and call. She accepted a proposal she desperately wanted to decline solely to please the Hokage, one of the worst mistakes of all because she needed to obey. 

It felt so fucking good to break the rules, to be disobedient for once in her sorry life. 

Finally, after running for what seemed like miles, she finally slowed to a stop next to a particularly large tree. Her palms pressed against the rough bark, wood chips digging into her calloused hands. He slowed to a stop beside her and watched silently as she caught her breath, her chest rising and falling under the thick robes she wore. 

“These shoes sure as hell aren’t made for running,” she mumbled, looking down at the pathetic slippers they’d given her. “I think we are far enough away that we can sit and talk for a little bit.”

“Yeah, you wanna talk about how you committed treason.”

“You did, too. Don’t blame this all on me.”

“You were the one with all your “cowardice” and “love” crap. God, this entire thing feels like it’d come out of one of Master Jiraiya's novels.”

She took a seat on the ground, not caring if the dirt stained her robes. Why would she care? She was dead either way. If Tsunade ever laid eyes on her again, Y/N knew she’d be a goner. That woman would kill with no hesitation, she was convinced of it. Y/N’s eyes trailed back up to her the man, and she could only groan. “Listen I know there were definitely better ways of doing this, but I’m not the sharpest kunai in the box. I was just doing what my feral instincts were telling me to do. You were the one who just followed after me like a lost puppy.”

He rolled his eyes, huffing out, “What was I supposed to do? Think rationally? You’ve got my brain turned to mush half the damn time; what do you want from me?”

“Don’t worry, you’re literally Tsunade’s best ninja- She’ll let you back into the village.”

“You’re not that bad yourself-”

“Yeah, that’s why she tried to pawn me off to the Land of Frost to be a stay-at-home mom. Things aren’t lining up, Kakashi.”

He sighed, finally deciding to take a seat beside her against the tree trunk. He leant his head against the wood, his eyes peering up into the trees. Things had taken a wild turn, that’s for sure. He really did feel like he was in one of his romantic drama, the only thing missing was the R-rated content-Not that that was what he was thinking about, of course not…

 How the story would end, he didn’t really know. 

“Well, what’s done is done. Whether it was a bad decision or not.”

“I really didn’t think this through.”

“Nope.”

She turned to him, her eyebrows furrowed deeply, frustrated with this entire thing. “Kakashi, I did this because of you. Because of what we have going on between us. Did you want me to be married off to that pig of a prince?” she questioned.

“No.”

 She nodded at his answer and leaned back in her spot. Her arms worked their way to being crossed over her chest, and she couldn’t look him in the eyes at this point, her sight set on a particular mushroom a few yards away. Her words were curt, if not awkward, “Speaking of which, we need to discuss what we are or how we feel or whatever.”

“I thought that was obvious.”

“Not really. I mean, I’ve told you how I feel already, but um, you haven’t said a thing.”

“But you clearly know.”

She shook her head, a bit of heat rising up her cheeks and ears. “Doesn’t matter. I gotta hear you say it, for real.” 

Kakashi let his eyes wander over to the woman, who sat there like a child with her arms crossed and her eyes tucked away somewhere else. He almost wanted to laugh. She reminded him of a student at times with her bashfulness. It was definitely one of the many things he liked about her. “What? Do you want me to tell you I love you, or something?”

“Yes, that would be nice after all the trouble I’ve been through for you.”

He chuckled that time. Of course, all the trouble…”Y/N, I guess I love you. I guess I spent all these years ignoring my feelings, and it took this whole arranged marriage thing to make me realize I was missing out on a really good thing,” he confessed, voice softer than usual. “When you told me in the hospital, riding out your buzz from the spiked tea Gai gave you, that you wished you were marrying me instead, I just knew I had to have you. Truly though, I knew on our first meeting that I wanted you.”

“I was such a clumsy idiot back then. I think I’ve matured a lot since then, don’t you think?”

“Maybe, you’re still a clumsy idiot, just one with great ninjutsu.”

“Hey!”

"All I know is that I loved the feeling of falling in love with you. How good it made me feel. I was more worried about you than ever before, but every time you smiled and said hello, anything you did really, started to make my days better and better,” he continued, “This life has been cold and harsh to me, but you just swooped in and made it worth something.”

She felt her heart beat faster in her chest hearing that, a warmth growing in her stomach as she scooted closer to him, inch by inch. He clearly didn’t take notice or mind, so she pressed her side to his, shoulder to shoulder and thigh to thigh. She felt ridiculous in these heavy ginormous robes, too bulky to move properly. She dropped her head on his shoulder gently, and felt him relax into her touch.

“I love you so much it hurts. My hands are shaking because of all the love that’s overflowing,” she told him with a sheepish grin, holding up her hand so he could indeed see that her hand was vibrating. He clasped her hand in his own and lowered them to his lap. His thumb ran over her knuckles in soft strokes, and she melted into the gentle touch of the man she cared so deeply for. 

“I’m glad I ran away with you.”

“Me too.”

________________________________

It had been about 3 days before someone found them wandering in a nearby village. It was only a matter of time before they were found and brought back to the Leaf, anyway, so no surprise to them there. It was exciting having a few days without responsibilities, just living almost as if they were civilians in love. 

People in the village stared as the pair walked through the streets of the town, whispers being heard and looks shared. It was only a matter of time before everyone knew about the Copy-nin and his battered bride companion being escorted into Konoha.

Tsunade was in her office waiting for them to arrive. The door shut behind them, and Y/N wished someone was there to witness the Hokage murder them, only, the fatal blow never came. Instead, calm words reached their ears.

“I’d say I’m surprised, but I’m really not.”

“Lady Tsunade, let me explain what happened-” Y/N started to say, but she was quickly interrupted.

“I really don’t need to hear the details of your 3 day sex-capade,” she dismissed, a look of disgust crossing her face. Y/N’s face morphed into that of pure horror, the thought of the Hokage and everyone in the village that knew they ran away assuming that’s what they’d been doing. It was humiliating, to say the least. She didn’t have time to process the fact before the Hokage spoke again, “I’m mad because you two essentially committed treason, but thankfully, the prince didn’t have any complaints. He apparently saw a psychic the day of the wedding who told him that his marriage was cursed for eternity, and was ready to call off the entire thing. Superstitious bastard.”

“So, the Land of the Frost and the Leaf are still allies?” Kakashi asked.

“Yes, fortunately," the Hokage stated simply. She lifted her eyes to the younger woman, and the exasperation was obvious in her appearance as well as tone. The girl in question nervously rubbed her forearm, embarrassed beyond belief. It was one thing getting screamed at, but it was another to be scolded like a child. "Y/N, if you wanted to break the arrangement, you should have just told me. I could have worked it out somehow. There was no need for all this drama.”

She bit her lip, not knowing what to say. She really should have said something before, but she was foolish. “I know, but I didn’t want to disappoint you," the woman mumbled awkwardly.

“Well, you did.” Ouch, so blunt.

“I know.”

She nodded, clearly having said what needed to be said. Her eyes dipped back down to her paperwork. The air wasn't nearly as heavy as when the pair first walked in, and Y/N finally felt air fill her lungs once again. Her nerves had really been for nothing, thankfully. 

“Very well, you two are dismissed. Don't go around pulling shit like this again, or I’ll see to it that you actually receive punishment.”

The doors shut behind them, and Y/N let a smile grow on her cheeks. She turned to the man at her side, her smile only growing that much more at the sight of his handsome face. “Things sure worked out for me. I didn’t get in trouble for my crimes, and I have a boyfriend now,” she gleamed.

He smirked, rolling his eyes. “Don’t get too cocky. You still have to deal with Gai.”

“I’m not prepared for the amount of hugs I am about to receive.”

“Neither am I.”

And as they heard those oh-so familiar, loud footsteps rushing up the stairs of the Hokage Tower, they knew they were in for it. 

"Kakashi! Y/N! I heard the joyous news of your return!"

Oh, boy.

[justanotherfoolhere]

I managed to write something for the KakaIru Valentine’s Week 2021!

Me: I want to write something. Maybe a double drable or a ficlet. Shouldn’t take more than an hour.

Also me: spends the whole day writing a 3k words one-shot. Ooops.

Anyway:

Title: Soulmates (I know, very original)

Rating: T (could be gen)

Pairing: Kakashi/Iruka

Wordcount: 3283

Tags: Kakairu Valentines Week 2021, Fluff, Light Angst, Soulmates, First Dates, Friends to Lovers

You can read on ao3 too!

            Soulmarks appeared around six or seven years old.  But it was not as exciting as one could imagine: as much as the tropes of 'first words they say to you', 'a cool mark where they first touch you' or even 'matching marks' or 'their favorite thing tattooed on your skin' were popular in books and films, the reality was far less thrilling.

               Words appeared on your forearm, but not the first ones they would say to you. No. The words that appeared were the ones they would say the moment they realized they loved you. It didn't even have to be words they say to you. You could very well never get to hear the words yourself, if whoever your soulmate is realized it when by themselves.

               All in all, soulmarks weren't that important. They were not reliable and, even if they were, they just made sense when your soulmate already loved you. Not that helping at all. Sure, children loved seeing the words and tracing their little fingers over them, and teachers took advantage of that to teach them proper spelling, reading, writing and calligraphy. Nothing made a kid work harder at writing something right than copying the words on their forearms over and over again.

               Adults, on the other hand, mostly ignored them. Sure, some helpless romantics (cough, cough, Gai, cough) still clung to them like a lifeline, but most people just kept going about their lives and never seeking them out.  Let life that its course and everything.

               Kakashi avoided his like the plague.

               It hadn't always been like this. As a child, he liked to daydream about his soulmate as much as his peers. Things got different when his father died though. Grief settling in, chilling his bones and washing away his childlike hopes. Things only got worse when his team died, when he saw Obito be crushed and failed on his only promise, failed to keep Rin safe. Then their sensei died too and he was alone.

               He didn't deserve love. He didn't deserve a soulmate.

               And a bitter and irrational part of him reminded him that everyone who loved him died. He'd be doing his soulmate a favor if he never met them.

              *

               People thought Kakashi was being stubborn or proud when he refused to go to the hospital after a dire mission. He wasn't. Well, not totally.

               When he was a kid, the words on his forearm sounded odd yet funny.

               Of course he'd try to shrug off a stab wound, the idiot.

               Like, him? Getting stabbed then just walking away? Sure, little Kakashi knew first hand how a ninja's life could be rough, but the idea was so foreign and ridiculous. He'd never ignore something so drastic!

               Also, it sounded like a funny thing to say when you love someone. Didn't sound affectionate at all.

               He was glad for it when he grew up. Maybe his soulmate wouldn't be burdened with loving him (sure they would like Kakashi a bit, but maybe not love him). And maybe Kakashi wouldn't even be present to hear it, since the sentence wasn't adressing him.

               Still, he didn't want to take any chances. So, since Kakashi can remember, he stitches up his own stab wounds. Avoiding getting stabbed also helped, but it was near impossible in fights with shurikens, kunais and the ocasional sword.

               He figured whoever his soulmate was, they must work at a hospital or be a medical nin. So he avoided both. Seemed like the best course of action.

              *

               It was just another day. A common, boring day. Kakashi was waiting in line to hand in his mission form (he was still scribbling some things on it as he waited) and could barely wait to be done with it, so he could drop dead on bed. The last mission was a nasty one and he had barely washed the blood off his face before coming here.

               Sure, he could procrastinate it, as he ever did, but now he had five old mission reports still blank and an increasingly annoyed Iruka who chewed him out for it. So he decided to drop the habit and actually hand in this one as soon as possible.

               His whole tired body complained about this choice, though.

               "I can't accept it," Iruka said with a thinly-concealed scowl.

               "Why not?!"

               "Well, for starters, you're still writing it," Iruka gestured to Kakashi still scribbling on the form, using the desk for support, "go home and rest a bit, Kakashi. You can give me the report tomorrow," wow, Kakashi thought, he should look really deplorable if Iruka missed the opportunity to reprimand him.

               He didn't recall when Iruka went from calling him "jounin-san" to "Kakashi", maybe sometime between their quarrels about what an acceptable form was, but it always made his heart skip a beat. A silly little crush, but Kakashi allowed his heart this treat. It's not like he'd ever act on it anyway.

               "Yeah, maybe I should," Kakashi concedes, too worn out to complain. A shame really, he wanted to see Iruka smiling at him for handing in a report in time for once.

               He manages to walk away two steps before Iruka calls him again, scowl deepening and something too akin to concern on his voice.

               "Kakashi, you're bleeding."

               "Oh, that?" He look at the growing blood stain on his vest. It didn't seem too serious in the fight, and he could barely feel it over his generaly aching body, "yeah, I just came from the mission, I'll take a look at it at home," he smiled, trying to look reassuring despite the mask covering most of his face.

               "Fine," there was a finality to his tone. Kakashi thought it'd be the end of the conversation.

               Than Iruka called someone to cover for him and, in less than a minute, he was up and grabbing Kakashi by the hand.

               Kakashi made a mental note that Iruka was fast and could move pretty silently when he wanted to. The blush on his face hidden by the mask.

               "Uh, you don't have to—"

               "I do," Iruka cut him with his best non-nonsense voice, "since you clearly can't be trusted to prioritize you own well-being, and I'm sick of watching it after every mission of yours."

               He let Iruka half-guide half-drag him, not even bothering to keep track of where they were going until he sees himself being pulled inside Iruka's apartment.

              *

               "I know it's a mess," Iruka didn't sound apologetic in the slightest, "but it'll have to make do," he gestured for Kakashi to sit on the sofa, throwing some things on the floor to make space, and went to fetch a first-aid kit in the bathroom.

               Kakashi took a moment to took everything in. The papers and books thrown everywhere, a few take-out packages littering the floor, the clothes scattered around. It was not dirty, just messy, which made sense with how much work Iruka had between teaching kids and scolding jounins. He probably didn't spend that much time here. Enough to make a mess, but not enough to tidy it properly.

               Still, it felt homey. Warm and safe.

               "Shirt off," Iruka came back, a serious expression, and motioned to his blood-soaked vest.

               "Maa, sensei, at least pay me a dinner first," Kakashi joked, attempting to both lighten the mood and conceal his own nervousness. Iruka didn't seem impressed.

               "Fine, fine," he took his shirt off, it landed with a wet thump on the floor.

               Iruka's eyes widened for a sec before he recomposed himself.

               "I can't believe you decided to wait on a line to hand me a half-written form after you got stabbed," Iruka sighed, pouring antiseptic on the wound without a warning, "whoever let you graduate in Academia is a moron. You have no sense of self-preservation. Or common sense," he admonished.

               Kakashi winced at the sudden sting of antiseptic, but accepted the scolding. It was fair enough. Despite the harsh words, Iruka's hands were gentle when he started stitching him up.

               "It was not really stabbing, just a tiny hit. With a kunai," He said nonchalant. Maybe Iruka would give it less importance if he did too, "I've had worse."

               "I don't doubt it," Iruka didn't look at him, his eyes on the task, "And most people call 'a hit with a kunai' stabbing," he said wryly.

               Ouch.

               When Iruka was finished with the stitches, he put some ointment over the wound and dressed it. Kakashi insisted it was more fuss than it was worth.

               "Just lie down and get some rest," Iruka sighed, "I'll fetch you some pillows and a blanket. Don't you dare getting up,"

               "Really, you don't have to. I'm fine, I can go and sleep in my own house."

               "I want to," and there it was, the finality to his voice that made clear not even the Hokage could get Kakashi out of that couch, "now stop being stubborn for a second and sleep."

               Kakashi complied (what other choice did he have, really?) and Iruka made sure to get him comfortable, a pillow under his head, another one supporting his sore legs and a fluffy, warm blanked tucked snugly over him.

               Kakashi was drifting off to sleep when he heard Iruka muttering to himself.

               "Of course he'd try to shrug off a stab wound, the idiot."

               Kakashi heart raced a bit, the too familiar words sounded weird now that he actually heard it. He'd have fled if he wasn't so comfortable and on the brink of sleep.

               His last thought was that he was wrong about his soulmate not liking him that much. He'd never imagined someone could say "idiot" in such a fond, loving tone.

               *

               Kakashi's half-baked plan of avoiding Iruka didn't even have a chance to be properly formed. It'd be a nigh impossible task when he woke up on Iruka's sofa, covered in Iruka's blankets, inside Iruka's house and with a very nonchalant Iruka sat on the floor near him with a new take-out bag on his lap.

               "Oh, good, you're awake," he said, putting his food down, "Hungry? I bought some ramen."

               "I— Ah," he said eloquently, "no, you shouldn't have bothered. I'll— I should head home now. Finish all that late reports and everything," he all but stumbled while trying to get up.

               There was a faint, amused smile on Iruka's lips.

               "That's okay, Kakashi, calm down," he handed him a bowl of ramen, "you can run away and never look at me again after you eat," his voice was even. It didn't sound like a joke nor a reprimand.

               Kakashi accepted the chopsticks offered to him and they ate in silence. there was still a bundle of warm blankets on Kakashi's feet and the sofa was more inviting than it had a right to be.

               Iruka didn't look bothered at all for the silence. His face was unreadable, as if he already expected it.

               Wait—

               "You knew!" Kakashi accused, pointing a finger at him.

               "I knew what?" Iruka feigned inocence, then, when Kakashi grunted, added more serious, "yeah, I figured it out some time ago."

               Kakashi was stunned by how lightly he said it.

               "How long ago? Exactly?" He narrowed his eyes. Iruka put a hand on his neck, a nervous habit.

               "Well... I kind of knew since we became sort-of-friends? But I just confirmed it some months ago," he tried to laugh it off, then extended his forearm to Kakashi's field of sight.

               There, in neat letters, was written Maa, Iruka, I already said I'll finish the reports! No need for violence.

               Kakashi kind of remembered this talk. It was so similar to all the others they had that it was hard to place exactly when this one took place. Iruka had rolled up a magazine and smacked Kakashi's nape with it, saying he would 'beat some sense of responsibility into him if he had to'.

               "There are not a lot of people who never hand in their reports and are on a first-name basis with me," he explains, "the 'maa' narrowed it down a lot too."

               "...I see," Kakashi was at a loss of words. So his soulmate wasn't a medical-nin like he thought, but a sensei with years of practice in patching up kids and adults alike.

               "Yes. Well, I, uh," this was getting more awkward by the minute, "I'll go back to work now. you can take you time before you leave. Eat, take a shower... You can hand all your late reports to someone else later."

               Iruka was already getting up to leave when Kakashi hastily grabbed his wrist.

               "Wait! Are you leaving just like that? After telling me you knew I was your soulmate for months?"

               "Well, I figured you didn't want a soulmate," He smiled, and there was no judgement there, "I wouldn't have told you, either. But, since, you know now, I guess it's okay if you want to put some distance between us," he motioned vaguely to the pillows Kakashi had knocked on the ground in his hurried attempt to leave.

               Kakashi couldn't find a good enough answer, so he watched mutely as Iruka made his way to the door and closed it after him.

               *

               Days passed.

               Kakashi thought it'd be fine. Iruka have handled everything so well. They hadn't sought each other out and, when they bumped into each other, Iruka was polite but distant. 'Kakashi' went back to 'jounin-san' or even 'Hatake-san'. He didn't act weird or sad either.

               So why did it hurt so much?

               Kakashi felt like he was missing something. Which made no sense whatsoever, because he and Iruka never were a thing to start with.

               Iruka was right, he didn't want a soulmate. Never wanted one. The lingering thought that he would hurt whoever it was or that he didn't deserve any happiness present on his mind since he was a kid.

               Yet there he was, hurting and wanting to go after him.

               He's better off without me, Kakashi reminded himself once again.

               *

               It took Kakashi almost a month to put his finger in what exactly bothered him so much. He came to two conclusions.

               One: Iruka was a good liar.

               The scene of him leaving with a smile played again and again in Kakashi's mind, haunting his dreams and following him through the day. It hurt, like being rejected on repeat, nonstop. A cruel thing, really, like his mind enjoyed torturing itself.

               But then he payed attention to details, like he should have done since the beginning. Like any good jounin would have done. Iruka left with a smile, and it looked real, but he wouldn't meet Kakashi's eyes. And his tone was too cheerful, as if he was trying to compensate for something.

               Every time he bumped into Iruka (accidentally at first, deliberately later), he saw it. The hesitance, the too-happy smile, the eyes wandering around but never quite meeting his eyes. The lingering touches and the sad look on Iruka's face when he thought Kakashi wasn't looking.

               Iruka lied to him when he said he was okay with parting ways. Lied when he said he understood Kakashi's wish, when he made it so easy to ignore everything and leave.

               Two: Kakashi had grown up.

               This one should be pretty obvious, yet it took him weeks of introspection to realize it. He had just... Grown up. Made peace with everything that happened. It still hurt, and he still caught himself sobbing after nightmares or feeling guilty, but he knew, deep down, that it was not his fault. And no one would die just for loving him. It was a childish idea.

               He spent years pushing away the idea of a soulmate, but he couldn't picture Iruka dying because of him. He knew Iruka could stand his ground just fine and, even if he couldn't, Iruka was far better than him at reaching out for help.

               And Kakashi deserved some love too. He blushed at the thought, but he knew he had to tell it more to himself. He deserved it. Iruka deserved it too, if he still wanted Kakashi after the shitty way he dealed with the situation.

               Well, just one way to find out.

               *

               "Oh, hello, Kaka— Hatake-san," Iruka smiled at him, like he always did, that fake yet convincing one.

               "Kakashi is fine, Iruka," Kakashi felt bold. Or at least maybe he would if he faked well enough, "I, uh, wanted to talk to you. In private. Mind if I pick you up after you're done working?"

               "I—," was Kakashi delusional or was it a faint rosy blush on Iruka's cheeks? "Fine, you can pick me up here in two hours. Sound good?"

               "Sounds perfect!" He grinned and with the last of his bravery added, "it's a date then."

               Iruka made a choking sound and Kakashi left with the goofiest smile.

               *

               Kakashi's place was different from Iruka's. Tidier, nothing out of place, but with a thin layer of dust on the less used things and too much free space. It wasn't as homey. Kakashi found himself missing the messy couch and thrown around clothes and books.

               "So, let me set it straight," Iruka gave him a pointed look, "you decided you want a soulmate after trying to run away and pretending nothing happened for a month. And you want to take me on a date," He briefed.

               Kakashi nodded, it seemed like an accurate description. He could unwrap all the insecurities and emotional baggage later.

               "Fine," Iruka pressed the bridge of his nose, "took you long enough. I don't even know why I try to make sense of it."

               "That easy?" Kakashi was a bit surprised, "I had prepared a speech and everything. Scribbled a half-decent poem," he threw some crumpled papers on the table. Iruka chuckled a bit.

               Good. He wanted to see his genuine smile.

               "If I wasn't willing to, I wouldn't have bothered to patch you up in the first place," He explained, "idiot," he said as an afterthough, but in the same fond tone he used before.

               Kakashi found himself smiling too.

               "Well, what about dinner tomorrow then? Anywhere you want."

               "Oh, I have a better idea," the smile on Iruka's face was a bit devilish now, "just meet me at my place tomorrow. Let's say... At seven?"

               "Deal," Kakashi really shouldn't have ignored the chill on his spine at the evil grin.

               *

               "That's your idea of a nice first date?" He whined, his wrist hurting from writing too much.

               "That's your idea of good penmanship?" Iruka retorted, giving him yet another blank report to fill, "We are almost there! Just two more," he said a bit more encouragingly.

               "We? What exactly are you doing?" He handed another complete and pristine form to Iruka.

               "Moral support," he didn't miss the slight jest on Iruka's voice.

               Accepting his fate, Kakashi sighed and prepared himself for a night of writing down mission details he just vaguely recalled whilst Iruka criticizes his calligraphy.

               "Don't sulk like that. I have some ice cream in the fridge. We can have it after you're done," he used his slightly-less-stern teacher voice. The one he used to bribe the pests to finish their homework so they could play.

               "My hand is killing me," Kakashi said with a dramatic flair, "you'll have to feed me, sweetheart," he mocked, making Iruka laugh at both the exaggerate whining and the sappy nickname.

               "You're impossible," Iruka rolled his eyes, which, Kakashi noticed, was not a 'no', "Does it mean you'll go to the hospital now after being stabbed at least?"

              "Never," he replied with a grin, "that's what I have you for now, right?"

              The glare he received wasn't enough to spoil his sudden good mood.

*

*

*

It was fun to write! And can fit in three prompts! (soulmates, first date, friends to lovers). That bit was mostly accidental I swear! It just happened.

I don’t think i’ll try my hand on other prompts, but it was fun! That’s my first time in a writing challenge. Thanks for @kakairu-rocks for the funny prompts and for answering my questions!

Also, you can thank @kakairuincorrectquotes for single-handedly giving me the headcanon Kakashi will never, ever go to the hospital after being stabbed. You’ll have to pry it from my hands now!

Bye. ♥

[theshinobiway]

I Fix Team Gai’s Endings:

CAN I GET SOME LITERARY PAYOFF PLEASE?

Might Gai

How it Ended:

Gai fails to defeat Madara despite having the ‘best chance’ as a Taijutsu master. 

Gai narrowly escapes death and his leg is shattered, disabling him for life.

One of his precious students is dead. 

He’s forced to retire from the career he’s spent his whole life attempting to build. 

Well, be does get to spend his time with Kakashi (who is also in retirement), so he does have some silver lining.

What SHOULD have happened:

Gai defeats Madara, cementing his reputation as the legendary Taijutsu Master and gaining respect for Taijutsu users worldwide OR

Gai narrowly fails to defeat Madara, but Rock Lee avenges Gai by surpassing him (Possibly inventing a new level of Taijutsu that surpasses the 8 Gates).

Even if Gai is disabled, he gets the fame he deserves by being the most renowned Sensei in history. He becomes the model for all future Jounin instructors, and his training methods and philosophies (and by extension, Duy’s) become ingrained in Konoha’s teachings.

Might Duy receives the honor he deserves post-mortem because of Might Gai’s heroism.

People from all over come to battle Might Guy in his dojo, who still manages to defeat all of his challengers despite the lack of mobility in his leg. He accepts students who show particular grit, and it’s considered a badge of honor to receive tutelage from Gai.

Gai still spends retirement with Kakashi, going on trips and leaving his dojo to Lee and Tenten when he’s gone.

Rock Lee

How it Ended:

Rock Lee is an Average Dad

Despite being a romantic, his wife is nowhere in sight. He was never shown with a happy marriage with someone who loves him for who he is.

He has no particular fame or renown for his part in the war, and he has no major fights in the final war arc.

Lee doesn’t get a rematch with Neji OR Naruto.

We find out in the final war arc that Lee has a…CLAN? And then it’s never mentioned again.

What SHOULD have happened:

Lee needed way more screentime during the war. This would cement him as someone important and give us a chance to finally see Taijutsu at it's most advanced‐and I don't mean just the gates. I'm talking sheer technique and will of the human body that simply decimates.

Lee would either team up with Gai in the final fight (or attack) against Madara. If Gai gets defeated, it's Lee who steps up to the plate, delivering this badass monologue: "You all thought Taijutsu had its limits. You all thought I had my limits. Well, let me say this now: I, Rock Lee, have finally pushed Taijutsu beyond what you thought impossible. And how did I do it? Simple. You decide your limits from the beginning... and I reach them."

Lee, to the witness of the entire world, defeats Madara. No one is sure what to make of it at first, but it's clear: he's unlike any other Shinobi in history. He's created something they've never seen before and it's strong. And now, they believe in him like never before.

In the post-war, Naruto is approached with an offer about about a path to becoming Hokage. At the same time, he learns that the village is banishing Sasuke for the time being until they can sort out what to do. Naruto realizes political corruption exists so our precious war hero chooses going/being with Sasuke/his team. It's unintendedly a major political statement that has the elders clutching pearls and clamoring to pardon Sasuke. In his sendoff amid the uproar about him leaving, Naruto loudly nominates Lee in front of all the other Kage and drops the mic.

When finally confirmed after much drama, Lee makes for a FAR better Hokage. His arc goes from disadvantaged, talentless youth to the most impressive Ninja in existence by sheer hard work, the guiding theme of the series. No one worked as hard or stayed as humble as Lee, and Naruto recognized that.

Naruto can be his ‘War-Hero’ right hand when he returns. The "Hand of the Hokage." He still gets the “heroic” validation he REALLY wanted without the responsibility of governing.

Shikamaru is nervous about working with Lee since he's the opposite style in terms of, ahem, "actually working," but after a few early riffs and some honest communication, the two actually learn to balance each other out: Lee teaches Shikamaru be more diligent, Shikamaru teaches Lee to pace himself.

This also frees Naruto and Sakura up to actually accompany Sasuke on his redemption journey, be more present in the series, have relationships develop naturally, and explore the political repercussions of the war and everything that led up to it. It's a point of humility for Naruto to admit he wanted love and confidence over the real responsibility of governing, and let's just say the most effective ruler is always the one who never asked for the job. Naruto is better suited having his own squad as a jounin.

Shikamaru gets exasperated by the shenanigans Lee sometimes pulls in the office to train while doing paperwork. Lee often overworks himself too much and Shikamaru feels bad on his behalf, eventually encouraging him to delegate work. He has a much easier time guilting Lee into going home, though, because Lee would never choose to miss time with his family when it comes down to it.

Lee Clan? Don’t know her.

Lee surpasses Might Gai to become the most renowned taijutsu user in existence, paves the way for taijutsu specialists in shinobi culture.

Lee happily lives with his wife and Metal, who were definitely introduced either in a stand-alone novel or earlier in the series. They are the quirkiest, but most loving family in Konoha.

Their love story is meant to be cute and has the theme of “loving someone for exactly who they are.” I would love it if his wife was also disabled but excelled in her own field and Lee admired her for it. 

Lee invents a new style of Taijutsu techniques that he uses to defeat Madara. These techniques are on-par with some of the most legendary jutsu in existence.

Lee finally defeats Neji in a match, completing the arc we started in season 1. It’s a legendary fight that's still talked about to this day.

Lee’s condition is finally explained as being from a sickness he had as an infant that almost took his life. Gai had the same illness, but not as bad. 

He spends his adulthood looking for information on this sickness. He doesn’t want a cure for himself, but he has research done so it can save the lives of other children.

Lee does a training routine every morning. Academy students who idolize their Hokage eventually join in and try to keep up. It’s also endearing to the village that their Hokage makes time for the kids. 

Even if they can’t finish the routine (and none of them can) Lee congratulates them every morning on doing their personal best. 

Often, Lee teaches valuable life lessons at the end of his morning training sessions–just like Gai.

Tenten

How it Ended:

Tenten sets out to become a Legendary Kunoichi, but only manages to be legendary because she wields/owns all the Sage Weapons.

Tenten is never given a thorough backstory.

Tenten ISN’T the head of Konoha weapons research.

Tenten finally accepts that she isn’t like other girls and doesn’t want to have relationships or get married, her friends support her.

Tenten embraces her goofy side, becomes more like Gai and Lee and is heavily involved in their lives.

What SHOULD have happened:

Tenten originally sets out to be like Tsunade–the woman who could heal an entire army. She isn’t great at medical jutsu, but later discovers that her abilities mirror the Fourth Hokage.

Tenten vows to be legendary like the Fifth, powerful like the Fourth.

Tenten rediscovers and revives the Uzumaki’s sealing jutsu. This, coupled with her mastery of Minato’s jutsu, make her untouchable.

Tenten acquires all Sage weapons, gains fame for using them in battle to turn the tide of the war. Minato meets her and recognizes her as his successor. He gives her his blessing to revive the Uzumaki techniques as her own.

Tenten instead becomes the “Legendary One-Woman Army” In the war arc, she can teleport entire platoons of shinobi in an instant. She rains destruction down on the Zetsu army. 

Tsunade comments that her “strength of a hundred″ seal would have been wasted on Tenten; Tenten has the strength “of a thousand.”

Tenten’s mastery of seals lets her identify and rig the reincarnation seal; All deceased Shinobi that were forced to fight have their free will restored. Tenten has your army now.

Post-War, Tenten, at Hinata’s command, finds the way to remove the Caged Bird seal from the Hyuga clan.

Instead, a new seal is given to EVERY member (starting with Hinata) that functions to protect the Byakugan after death but has no other effect. It effectively halts all attempts by outside forces to steal the Byakugan.

Tenten keeps her weapons shop only because it suits her and her down-to-earth personality. She also likes the freedom to travel as she pleases, exploring the world and discovering more about the Uzumaki.

Tenten is famous for being Konoha’s #1 desirable single, but she will never settle down. It’s not what she wants.

Tenten deflects suitors with sharp objects as a gag. Everyone, though they may not understand, supports Tenten being exactly who she is, and they protect that. It remains a quietly apparent choice her character has made, and doesn't act as a challenge for the plot to fix.

She eventually becomes the sensei of Metal (and Neji’s child too, if he has one.) She pulls pranks on her team to both train them and remind them of who's in charge.

She still is involved in the lives of Gai, Lee, and Neji.

Neji Hyuga

How it Ended:

Sigh.

He begins his arc by cursing the fact that he’s going to die for the main branch and then…dies for the main branch. (And Naruto, I guess.)

Neji does not see his clan unified.

Hiashi’s throwaway comment during the war meant nothing. Neji and other branch members still had their seals. The Hyuga clan still went into the war with “head” and “branch” families. 

Neji does not get a rematch with Lee.

Neji doesn't speak to his father during the war.

What SHOULD have happened:

Hiashi dies for Neji, proving beyond a reasonable doubt that familial love comes before the hierarchy and reversing the old narrative.

Hiashi declares Hinata the new leader of the Hyuga with his dying breath, and tells her she knows what to do. He cryptically hints that Neji will lead the Hyuga to a brighter future. Hiashi knows the elders wouldn't accept Neji as head right off the bat, but he knows his daughter will stop at nothing to fight for her family.

This is also Hiashi’s redemption, finally repaying his brother’s sacrifice.

Neji gets to speak to his father during the war. It’s one of the most heart-wrenching scenes in the whole anime.

Post-War, Hinata stands before the elders and abolishes the status of head and branch families. She also has Tenten abolish the seal, as well as create an entirely new seal that goes on every member to completely protect the Byakugan from thieves but serves no other purpose.

Neji is the first to have his seal removed, Hinata is the first to have the new seal. 

Hinata then declares Neji the new head of the Hyuga while she finally gets the quiet, peaceful life she’s always wanted. If the opportunity did present itself, however, she may have her own squad with a similarly shy kunoichi. She comes to Neji often for advice on how to best train them.

Neji leads the Hyuga through major reform, abolishing harmful training methods and teaching the younger generation about the importance of family.

Neji is rightfully respected and hailed as the greatest Hyuga as he single-handedly creates new techniques that we see used in the next generation.

The Hyuga clan now selects their future leader from the most capable in the family. Hanabi is fine with this because she ‘knows she’ll be the best anyway.’ Neji teases her by saying he ‘isn’t so sure’, which pushes Hanabi to work harder.

The Hyuga are one of the most fiercely loyal and loving clans. Any affront against a single member will bring the wrath of the others. It's like one giant, close-knit family. Make fun of a Hyuga kid and now you’re getting drop-kicked by their third cousin.

Neji loses to Lee in a rematch, but warmly acknowledges his growth from when they were children. Neji is the first to officially support Lee becoming Hokage and is the one who gives him "the talk" that convinces him to accept Naruto's nomination of him to the council. Neji becomes Lee’s confidant and closest advisor.

Neji is an amazing uncle who is sometimes out of his element when it comes to dealing with his energetic niece and nephew. It’s all fluff.

When no one is looking, Himawari will stare intently (threateningly) at her uncle, who will slowly grimace and hand her a piece of candy from inside his sleeve, glancing around to make sure no one sees him complete the exchange. No one knows where Himawari gets her spontaneous candy and stash from. It's a mystery as to what he seems to be paying her off for, but it'd probably be a delicious secret to find out..

Neji’s relationship with his niece is heartwarming. He constantly threatens Naruto to be a good husband and father to his niece and nephew OR ELSE.

Neji trains Boruto and Himawari. He’s strict, but as kind as he is firm.

Neji teaches Boruto to have a closer relationship with Himawari, mirroring the relationship he had with Hinata. If he has children, they're the "cool older cousins" to the siblings and have their dad's clout for sure.

Neji might get married or have children. If he does, it’ll be the subject of a Gaiden novel. Perhaps also a quick throwaway scene in the epilogue post-war where he meets someone that catches his eye. His child(ren) will be on the same team as Metal, where they will also be rivals.

He might have twin boys if we really want to go hard with literary parallels, but it’s not necessary. He'd name his kids after his father first.

There, I fixed it.

[randomized-ice]

ROOT Reformed

Okay so you know how Yamato, Sai, and Shin were in ROOT? Well, what if Yamato had seen the two children, one so sick he was throwing up blood and the other so antisocial he kept getting bullied because of how he talked, and adopted them? The Dad!Yamato, and Child!Shin and Sai headcanons that nobody asked for coming right up :)

When Yamato first met Shin and Sai, Sai was hiding behind Shin because he accidentally insulted someone and got punched. Shin was trying to comfort the small boy and protect him.

Yamato then decided to adopt them both, he scared away the bullies and helped Sai cover his black eye, which looked worse than it was since Sai’s skin is so pale and markable.

When Yamato learned that Danzo was sending the two small children on B-Rank missions as PAWNS and they just barely survive all their missions, he personally whooped Danzo’s ass

Yamato was put in charge of Shin and Sai and the two children warmed up to him quickly

Yamato chasing Shin around the room trying to get him to eat vegetables

Yamato having to force veggies down two screeching kids throats

Shin and Sai doing target practice and Yamato tallying up the scores

Yamato training Sai and Shin on their jutsu

Yamato helping Shin reach his full potential with his ice powers

Yamato finding out how to make pieces of paper so Sai could draw all he wants

They have a huge garden in their backyard that they take care of.

Yamato growing different types of plants with his wood style jutsu and Shin and Sai reading books on how to take care of them

On Christmas, Yamato sneaked Shin and Sai out of Root so they could go to an actual party

Yamato introducing Shin and Sai to Kakashi

When Shin and Naruto first met, it was chaos at first sight

Sai following Yamato like a lost puppy and holding on to his pant leg until Yamato picks him up and put him on his shoulders

Yamato, Sai, and Shin cuddling by the fire like the smol beans they are

When Shin got really sick from his unnamed diease, they immediately went to see Tsunade, even though it took a week to track down the gambling lady

Tsunade getting full access to Root’s medical supplies so she can make sure Shin is okay

Shin surviving and being cured of his illness, NOT DYING BECAUSE HELL NO YAMATO WASN’T ABOUT TO HAVE HIS CHILD DIE, NOT TODAY SATAN

Sai and Shin keeping their memories and growing up with an actual parental influence

Yamato chasing a cackling child with a huge butchers knife around the house, both of them are yelling

Sai being the sassiest little shit in the world and everybody thinks he doesn’t know what he’s doing but Yamato’s just like “You sneaky lil’ shit-”

When Sai got to join Team Seven with Yamato, they brought Shin along as an ANBU “for the mission” when really, they didn’t want to leave him behind and come back to find the house destroyed

Yamato trying desperately to find where the hell Shin is getting all this cup ramen from and Sai is just not telling Yamato because he’s a lil’ shit

Shin third-wheeling with Kiba on all of Ino and Sai’s dates (Kiba third-wheels on everbody’s dates, its a fact)

KIBA x SHIN, KIBA x SHIN, KIBA x SHIN (I’m sorry I just need my dog boy-o to love somebody okay??)

Shin just randomly came home one day holding Kiba’s hand and Yamato immediately adopted him

IRUKA AND KAKASHI SHOW UP AND BAM (Yes, this is KakaYamaIru. Shhh-)

Naruto and Kiba calling each other “Brother” bc their father-figures are dating

Sai and Ino being quieter about their relationship than Shin and Kiba but they’re literally so damn cute oh my lord

Shin and Kiba going on dates that are mostly composed of running around the woods and chasing rabbits but they love it anyway

Yamato being a Proud Dad™

When Danzo died and the family got their curse marks removed and became real Leaf Village citizens they were overjoyed

Suddenly, the Leaf Village had about 100 more extremely talented teenage shinobi at their service

Yamato re-opening Root but this time, making it into a friendly place where everybody is supportive of one another

Sai and Shin helping people understand that they’re not alone anymore and it’s okay to have friends and be original because you’re one purpose in life is not to be a pawn for the Leaf Village anymore

Sai getting to decorate the ceilings of the Hatake Mansion with whatever designs he likes, making it not only beautiful but deadly

The Hatake Mansion having designs of tigers, birds, flowers, and symbols all over the roof

Murals of the person in their rooms (Naruto has a silly fox one, Kiba has a dog one, Kakashi has a lightning one, Yamato has a garden one, and so on.)

Yamato adopting Shino bc we need our bug boy to be noticed (COUGH COUGH NARUTO)

Shin running around the house, chasing a bee that stole his homework

Shin becoming a super energetic gym teacher at the Academy

Sai becoming an elite jounin and having a custom, crop-top uniform

Yamato becoming the nicest leader of an ANBU division there’s ever been

Shino and Sai being weird shitposting edgelords together

Sai and Ino baking cookies together only to find that Shin, Kiba, and Naruto ate them all

Iruka managing the chaotic household while being constantly cuddled by Kakashi and Yamato

Iruka teaching Sai about friendship and smiling

They have a huge ass garden

Yamato helping Ino and Sai at the Yamaka flower shop

When Sasuke returned, he was immediately adopted

The Hatake Household of Chaos

Sasuke, Shino, and Sai being weird shitposting edgelords

Anko as the weird aunt who came around only to fuck shit up and leave

Gai as a weird uncle and Lee as their favorite (and only) cousin

Kakashi making breakfast and dinner for about nine hungry people

Yamato making all the kids little lunches

When Orochimaru came back to the village, Shin and Sai both made sure that he was five feet away from Yamato at all times

They only began to trust Orochimaru when Sasuke told them that Orochimaru was his sensei/father-figure and the supporting father figure he never had

Orochimaru apologizing to Yamato for testing on him

Orochimaru becoming a father figure to Yamato and Sasuke

GRANDPA OROCHIMARU

Orochimaru and Shino talking about bugs and snakes

Shin, Naruto, and Kiba chasing a yelling Orochimaru around the house with a bunch of marigolds and ammonia (snakes hate those)

Iruka trying to make peace with the marigold and ammonia welding children and a terrified Orochimaru

Tsunade coming over to see her favorite little brat (Kakashi)

GRANDMA TSUNADE

Tsunade secretly supplying the children with marigolds and ammonia to get back at her old friend (Petty revenge is a bitch)

Orochimaru tricking Sai into calling Tsunade old

Tsunade never sending Jiraiya on that mission alone, she sent Kakashi with him and they managed to win the fight. Barely, they were in a coma for a few weeks, but they sure as hell won.

TSUNADE AND SAKURA BEING ABLE TO HEAL ITACHI AND THEN ITACHI WAS ADOPTED

HATAKE HOUSEHOLD OF PURE AND UNRESTRAINED CHAOS

[gaasaku-fanfests]

Broken Hearts (Empty Grave)

Title: Broken Hearts (Empty Grave) Author: ofhealinglove Rating: T Word Count: 2,940 words Summary: Haruno Sakura was killed in action fighting Akasuna no Sasori. While Konoha grieves the loss of a beloved shinobi and friend, Gaara is keeping her safe and secreted away until she falls in love with him. He's the one who saved her. He's the one who brought her back from the brink of death. Konoha couldn't keep her safe, so he will. Forever. Trope: Yandere.

.

Gaara attends the memorial for Haruno Sakura.

He, his siblings, and several council members who want to suck up to the grieving Hokage (they didn’t even know Sakura) travel the two days it takes to get to Konoha and stay for three days: one to rest and settle in, one for the memorial, and one for politicians to politick and Gaara to spend with Naruto, and then leave that evening.

The memorial is enormous; most of Konoha is in attendance. In her work at the hospital, Sakura had saved countless lives and it seems like there isn’t one family or friend her healing hadn’t affected in some way. The flowers come in all shapes and sizes; the mourners are genuine in their grief. ANBU, jounin, chuunin, genin—all of them have something to thank her for.

But it is the Konoha 11 that grieve the hardest. Some stoic, some with tears streaking down their faces, some still standing shell-shocked, like they can’t believe she’s really gone. These are the two blonds of the group, both with blue eyes: one is a Yamanaka kunoichi Sakura’s age, and the other is Naruto.

Gaara watches Naruto closely, a small part of his heart guilty for what’s happened. After all, it’s because of him that this memorial is taking place; if he had been strong enough to defend against the Akatsuki by himself, Sakura would never had fought Akasuna no Sasori—a criminal from his own village, at that—and been injured as she was.

There are other reasons why he feels guilty, but with a clan that has a mind-reading kekkei genkai in attendance, Gaara doesn’t dare to think of them.

The Godaime is one of the stoic ones, but there is more than that: she is furious. Gaara thinks, looking upon her face from his seat in the delegates box, that she has lost one person too many, and knows it when she announces all-out war against Sakura’s murderers.

Sakura’s death could have been prevented. Chiyo had been old and Sakura not ready to fight an Akatsuki with just a retired jounin at her side. They should have had back-up and they shouldn’t have been left alone, no matter what Chiyo said. When the old woman had crawled out of the wreckage of the fight, Sakura’s body lost to the cave-in and Sasori dead (by Sakura’s hand, Chiyo had solemnly emphasized with her head bowed, “I wouldn’t be alive without her,” and “She sacrificed herself for me”), Gaara heard that Hatake Kakashi, her team lead and jounin sensei, had just about killed her on the spot. It was only with the restraint of Maito Gai that Chiyo had been alive to revive Gaara, and Hatake still hasn’t recovered.

Naruto had told Gaara on the day of their arrival that “Kakashi-sensei” was on a two-month-long suspension and had mandated weekly appointments with a Yamanaka psychologist after he had attempted suicide, but Gaara had to keep it a secret.

(Gaara doesn’t feel guilt for that, not like he does for Naruto.)

After the memorial is over, everyone leaves except for the Suna shinobi and council, Konoha 11, and the Hokage and her assistant. They meet in a room in Hokage tower and drink and reminisce. Gaara doesn’t partake and doesn’t say anything. This isn’t a sad occasion for him, it’s a victory. While everyone else grieves over Haruno Sakura, Gaara doesn’t.

He knows she isn’t dead. She’s recovering in a secret room beneath the Kazekage manse, well enough that he was able to leave her alone for a few days.

Temari had said that Konoha deserved to know. Kankuro disapproved of what Gaara had done. But they’re both his brother and sister as well as shinobi of Sunagakure, loyal to him before all, and by the time they’d figured out what was going on, it would endanger the alliance to reveal the secret.

Now that the memorial is over and Haruno Sakura officially declared dead after weeks of excavating the rubble trying to find her body (long gone), there will be war if Sakura is ever discovered.

She won’t be, though. All the world needs to know is that she died a hero killing Akasuna no Sasori.

And Gaara is going to keep it that way if it kills him.

 When Gaara first noticed Haruno Sakura, she had been doing her best to defend Uchiha Sasuke and was going to pay for that with her life. She hadn’t been strong or particularly useful, either; just cannon fodder, likely as her council had intended. She squirmed and fought under his crushing sand but didn’t give up until she passed out from lack of air, but even in her unconsciousness, he had noticed that she still twitched against death like she was fighting to survive even when her mind was gone.

This had intrigued Shukaku and Gaara had hesitated, and then Naruto saved her life and changed his.

Shukaku had seen something in her, something he liked, and that was why Sakura had survived. Gaara had been fast enough even then to end her before Naruto arrived—it was Shukaku’s order to stop that had spared her.

Even moving forward on a different path to a different destiny, Shukaku kept going back to the pink-haired girl and Gaara found his interest piqued, as well. It started with wondering why Shukaku had hesitated, then soon enough, he was following the bijuu down the rabbit hole.

What led such a weak kunoichi to fight for her life like that? As soon as his sand was upon her, she had to know that it was over, and yet she struggled even near death. For a shinobi of some caliber, that was to be expected. To a pathetic little genin who hadn’t even made it past the preliminaries? It made no sense.

Naruto talked about her in his letters, and while Gaara did his best to be circumspect, he learned much about the kunoichi he’d grown so interested in. Shukaku praised every tidbit of information—except for the fact that she was in love with Uchiha Sasuke.

But he was kidnapped and she was killed in action.

After he was revived and Sasori defeated—they had found his body, or at least the splinters left of it—he thought he’d never see her again. Shukaku was gone but the obsession was not, and he had spent his time off during the rebuilding venting his fury deep in the desert.

That was how he found her.

 Sakura had not, in fact, been killed by Sasori’s poison.

When Gaara had found her, deep in the desert between Iwa and Suna going vaguely north, she had been grievously injured by the cave’s collapse, traces of poison flowing through her veins, fever, severe dehydration, and on death’s doorstep.

His first thought was that he was seeing a mirage but he went to her side anyways. Later, he found out she had kept herself alive through complex ninjutsu that she had subconsciously invented purely to survive just that much longer; her Will of Fire, but more importantly her will to live, had kept her going this long, delirious and confused and injured but alive.

She would have died within the day if he hadn’t found her.

Without hesitation, he hurried her back to Suna, but with hesitation, he didn’t take her to the hospital. He took her into the bunker beneath the Kazekage mansion and brought a traveling doctor in to care for her, supplying all his needs with the best money could buy. He hadn’t known what it was he was doing until the next morning when he woke up and realized that he should have immediately sent for Konoha to bring their med-nin to care for their kunoichi before bringing her back home, but…

She was alive—because he found her. She was going to recover—because of the money out of his own coffers. She had been found—because he grieved her.

Didn’t that make her his? And why should he send her back when it was her own team lead’s neglect of her that had gotten her declared KIA in the first place?

So he didn’t say anything, and killed the doctor (quietly, discreetly, no sand coffins or blood splatters) as soon as she was stable and Gaara knew how to care for her.

No witnesses.

 He remembers the moment she first opened her eyes. She still looked sickly and burnt from the sun, but they had opened with clarity and she had looked around quickly, assessing her situation even as her hands and feet flexed and twitched against the restraints holding her down.

She saw him and whispered in a croaky voice, “…Kazekage-sama…?”

He’d hurried help her sit up and drink a glass of water to wet her throat. She drank greedily but not too fast, not needing his advice to not make herself sick. A prodigious med-nin, to be sure.

Once he’d pulled the cup away, she’d blinked and asked in a clearer but still thready voice, “…Where am I? Why… why am I restrained?”

“Safety precautions, Haruno-san,” he’d told her. He would stay polite, even if he wanted to be able to speak the caress of her name on this lips and tongue. He would stay distant for now. He didn’t want to scare her.

“Where… am I…?” she asked again, eyes roving over the interior of the bunker’s main room.

“Safe,” he said.

She seemed wary of him but was too out of it to be outright suspicious, and once he let her drink a second glass over water, she fell back asleep. He laid her down carefully, determined for her to never feel any pain ever again.

It was Konoha’s fault she had almost died.

He didn’t want her to die.

She was better off safe down here in his bunker where he could protect her. He would never let any harm come to her.

Ever.

 It didn’t take her long after her first awakening to start asking questions. Her memory of recent events was spotty at first, but once she started remembering healing Kankuro, going to save him, bits and pieces of her fight with Sasori before her injury and ‘death,’ their relationship became strained.

He told her what he could, and most of it had to be lies. He truthfully told her that she had killed Sasori in the end and Chiyo had been a casualty of the fight. Gaara had had Shukaku taken from him, but he’d survived. She had been searched for, but only for a few days before her team headed back home. Naruto was going to try to come back for her body, but they all assumed she was dead and he heavily implied they didn’t care.

(Hatake didn’t, sending her in unprotected like that.)

Some of the lies she believed, some she didn’t. It took time and constant repetition to get it to sink in that Konoha hadn’t really cared about her. She fought against the lies about Naruto and Tsunade the hardest; she’d been suspicious of being restrained.

And then she found out she didn’t have chakra anymore because of Sasori’s poison, just enough to survive with civilian levels, and she’d just about broken.

He’d been sad to see it, but it was necessary. It was, in fact, a seal he’d discovered deep in the family’s library, used for subduing dangerous criminals for execution. Archaic and brutal, he’d gotten a sealmaster to bastardize it into being temporary. He was no Uzumaki, but he said the seal should hold. Gaara didn’t want Sakura in the bunker forever. Once he felt she could be trusted, she would ‘regain’ enough chakra to defend herself. Maybe one day, she’d ‘miraculously’ get all of it back.

But that would be after they were married, after they had children, once they were older and there was no chance of her defection. He had to keep her safe.

He made sure to repeat that to her. She was safe, he was always going to keep her safe. Konoha hadn’t kept her safe, and they didn’t care what happened once she wasn’t. She’d been left behind, by her team, by her village. No one was coming for her; no one cared enough.

That was apparently her worst fear and what started breaking down the fastest.

He brought her meals, took her to the bathroom, brought her knowledge and entertainment. He was her only source of social interaction, the only person she relied on for all her basic needs, by design. He needed her, so she had to need him.

It was basic conditioning. He was sad he had to use it on her, but there was no other way to make sure she’d willingly stay by his side. The first time he had touched her, she’d flinched. The day he’d left for the memorial, she had initiated a hug goodbye.

(He knew she would fall for him eventually, just like he’d fallen for her.)

Telling her about his three days away for her memorial service had been very, very difficult. Of course, she hadn’t known it was her memorial service, but she had still cried and pleaded for him to stay. She didn’t want to be without him, she said. What would she do, all alone? What if the food ran out? What if something happened to him?

It was hard to leave her, but he did.

 He’s eager to get back to her more than anything else, but he doesn’t show it. He worries that if he’s away for too long, some of her conditioning will start to wear off and she’ll regress. If she thinks too long, she might untangle some of his lies; after all, he knows she’s extremely intelligent and it’s only been a little under a month. There’s a large margin for error here, leaving so soon, but it would have been more suspicious if he hadn’t come. She’d killed one of his village’s own missing-nin in the conflict to save his life. If he’s not there, barring an emergency, it’s a blow to the alliance.

Gaara needs this alliance, but he might not always. If Sakura were to surface back from the dead in, say, five years or so, Konoha’s reaction might not matter.

(She won’t want to go back anyways. He’ll have made sure of it by then.)

When he comes back to the bunker, Sakura is pacing the room. It doesn’t look like she’s tried to escape and there’s no damage speaking of any fits of pique or defiant anxiety, which is somewhat surprising.

“Gaara-sama!” she calls with a smile once he’s sealed the door behind him.

“Sakura-san,” he replies, finally able to call her by her given name, a small smile quirking his lips. He doesn’t necessarily expect her to run up and hug him, but it’s nice anyways.

His sand doesn’t even try to keep her from him. He thinks it’s a sign.

(A sign that they’re meant to be. He’s doing the right thing, keeping her here.)

“Don’t leave me like that again, okay?” she demands. She’s still got a temper, which is something that is so integral to who she is that he’s glad it’s not completely conditioned out. Still, she hadn’t destroyed anything. It’s a sign of progress. And the desperation with which she’d run up to him…

Maybe he should leave her alone more often, but his heart says otherwise.

(He has to keep her safe. He loves her, he loves her, he loves her.)

“I’ll do my best,” he says. He’s always been a man of few words.

“Did you bring any food?” she asks. “I’m pretty hungry—I ran out this morning.”

No, Gaara had not brought food. He’d been too excited to come see her.

“I’ll go get some for you,” he tells her, and turns for the door. Sakura steps back to give him space—she always does—and he unseals the exit.

He doesn’t see her coming from behind him and his sand doesn’t react when she hugs him again; she doesn’t mean to harm him, if the sand isn’t reacting. “Don’t take too long, okay? I’ve missed you.”

“Stand back, Sakura-san,” he orders her quietly, warmed by the fact that she’s so desperate to touch him, feel him, hold him.

Sakura nods against his back. “Okay…”

In a move he hadn’t expected and therefore was unprepared for, Sakura’s hands snake up under him and grab his throat.

He chokes on her inhuman strength. She shouldn’t have chakra! What is going on?

“Next time you put a seal on someone, you should make sure you know it’ll hold,” she snarls, and her hands clench brutally.

 When Gaara wakes up, it’s three days later in the hospital. Sakura had crushed his windpipe, but Temari found him in time to get medical treatment and survive.

He grieves that Sakura got away, but he swears he’ll find her. She can’t have gotten back to Konoha yet and therefore he still has time to find her and bring her back. He’ll leave her in isolation for much longer this time, a punishment. He’d hoped to never have to do that to her, but Sakura has a strong will (Naruto had emphasized that so often and Gaara had seen it firsthand when she fought against his sand coffin) and it needs to be broken down more… thoroughly this time.

“I’ll find her soon enough,” he tells Temari.

And then Kankuro rushes in with a crumpled missive with the Hokage seal in his hand, announcing with worried eyes that Konoha has declared war.

[gekiuge]

Hmm, I can't think of any other fandoms rn so I guess I'll be sticking with Naruto, and well, Kakashi's my favorite so... *ahem* Anyway, there is a criminal lack of Kakashi hanging out with any of the other Jounin. Don't get me wrong, I'll never get sick of Gai and Tenzou, I just crave more, ya know? How about Kakashi and Asuma being bros? Or him and Ibiki if you want to get into more uncharted territory.

youre totally RIGHT anon i love it when these adults interact with each other so why dont we go to a karaoke party? the drinks are on asuma

[qobiin]

weekly fic rec hoard

here's what i've been enjoying reading (and re-reading) this past week for different fandoms across the board! this week features: atla, bnha, good omens, harry potter, marvel, naruto and stranger things  ♡ means: all-time fave, (m) means: 18+ themes 

avatar: the last airbender

♡ first rule of earth kingdom fight club... series by ohmygodwhy  zuko, his stubborn inability to die, and finding himself thru getting his ass kicked 

The Most Ragged Edges by twinfinite  In hindsight, Zuko really should have seen this conversation coming. He can almost hear Li and Lo chanting wickedly about the magic of Ember Island, about waves smoothing away rough edges… 

♡ ribs by ohmygodwhy  The first thing Zuko tells him during their first lesson after the whole Sun Warrior ruins ordeal, is “Fire comes from the breath.” a lesson in learning, and re-learning. 

♡ see your son rising at last by aloneintherain  When Zuko dashes into the sitting room, it is with the same wide-eyed panic that he ran from Azula’s smoking hands when he was a child. Iroh bites down on a smile. Zuko looks the same, even now, a decade later with a scar blossomed over one side of his face, green and brown robes replacing the solitary reds of his childhood. His hair is puffed up around his face. He looks like a very frightened, very windswept turtle-dove. Zuko dives behind Iroh just as Aang breezes to a stop in the doorway. Five times Zuko hid behind Iroh, plus one time Zuko stood proudly in front of him.

♡ the beginning of a new and brighter birth by aloneintherain  “I’m so proud of you, my nephew.” Uncle cups Zuko’s face in his lined hand. The gesture is so tender, his palm so warm, that Zuko has to take a fortifying breath against the sudden swell of emotion in his chest. “I want to be a good leader, Uncle,” Zuko says. “I want to look after my people.” “You will,” Uncle says. “You are, nephew.” In a new era of peace, Zuko works to be a very different Fire Lord than his forefathers.

boku no hero academia 

the stars are floating and we are flying by lunalou  Aizawa starts walking towards the exit, obviously expecting Shouto to follow him, but Shouto's feet are frozen in place. His eyes flicker from the distorted reflection of himself in the ice to where All Might is giving him a long look, eyes kinder than anything Todoroki has ever been deserving of, and he feels sick.  “Todoroki-kun,” Midoriya says gently, squeezing his arm in what Shouto presumes is meant to be a reassuring gesture. “It’s going to be okay.” He doesn’t think Midoriya is in any place to tell him what okay is, all things considered, but he chooses to keep quiet on the matter. 

♡ I’ll share this with you, so leave it behind by yabakuboi  For the sake of the story, All Might is never in need of a successor, and, when Izuku saves Katsuki from the sludge monster, encourages young Midoriya down a different path. Thus, Katsuki and Izuku part ways after junior high, as Katsuki enters U.A. and the Midoriyas move overseas. It’s later that Katsuki realizes that there’s something missing, that he drove that something away. Years after, Katsuki finds him in the last place he looks, in the cereal aisle at the local grocery store of their childhood neighborhood. 

Loose lips Sail ships by Yousayhun  Bakugou is at war with his own fucking mouth and everyone else just seems to be having the time of their lives. 

♡ flare guns go off in my head saying not to call you this late by youreanovelidea  Midoriya beams at him and Tokoyami is suddenly hit with the urge to look away. “So bright,” he mutters under his breath, low enough that Midoriya can’t hear him.  (or, Midoriya is a problem child who just really loves his friends) 

(m) The Devil Blues by iknewaman  The 78th precinct's police captain, Toshinori Yagi, has volunteerd his squad to help implement the mayor's wish of increasing the successful cooperation between the city police and active Pro-Heroes. Each detective is to be assigned a Pro-Hero who will shadow them for two weeks, and the operation has been dubbed the 'Station Cooperation Operation'. Although it is not well-received by those involved, Izuku Midoriya, current detective at the 78th precinct and loyal follower of captain Toshinori's ideals, believes that the operation will be a success. If his captain says it will succeed, there isn't a doubt in Izuku's mind that it will. That is until he meets his assigned Pro-Hero. 

♡ someone is wrong on the internet by rhenna  It’s been a long day. By all rights, Izuku should be falling into bed, half dead. But instead of sleeping, he’s hunched over his laptop at 2 in the morning writing a dissertation about why exactly Ground Zero’s pecs are the best pecs to ever pec, and how dare anyone insinuate that he should lose some of that muscle because don’t you even understand what kind of physique a quirk like that requires? Amateurs.  (Izuku has two jobs in this world: pro-hero and anonymous president of the Ground Zero fan club. What could possibly go wrong?) 

good omens

♡ Divine Intervention (aka God ships it) by TheLadyZepher  There’s a battle strategy devised by humans many millennia ago that's designed to overcome an adversary who is particularly well entrenched. Some walls are too tall and thick for a frontal assault, and must instead be bested through sheer dogged stubbornness. Crowley and Aziraphale didn’t know it, but they were about to be put under siege.  Fed up with an angel and a demon who are still avoiding any talk of Feelings, God starts to interfere. When it comes to the ineffable plan, sometimes things need a bit of a push. 

♡ Slow by write_away  It started like this: A boy with the ability to warp reality met an angel and a demon and he made assumptions.  You might say it started like this: An angel and a demon found a marriage contract hung on the wall of the angel's bookshop. They didn't question it. It also could have started like this: Once upon a time, the angel told the demon he went too fast. The demon took it to heart.  Aziraphale and Crowley find themselves somehow married. Crowley fears going too fast. Aziraphale forges ahead. Neither know how to ask questions of each other. 

♡ Eziraphael’s Gifts: A History of Queer Faith and Longing, by Natasha Marie Johnson (Beacon Press, 2019). by actualbat  "If Eziraphael has come to be known--in today's language--as the 'guardian angel of sad queers,' then it makes sense for him to have shown up more regularly in the past once that became a recognizable historical category." Natasha is really glad that she's given this talk enough times to be able to do it on autopilot, because those two funny-looking men in the back just made the most absurdly astonished faces. (Or: Not all historians ignore gay subtext, and not all immortal celestial beings have their shit together. Also, voodoo.) 

harry potter 

♡ Apple Slices and Cocoa by FeathersMcStrange  Harry Potter is an abused kid with not an adult in the world on his side when Molly Weasley meets him.  She decides right then and there that if nobody else is going to try and take care of this boy, then dammit, she's going to. 

hello goodbye (’twas nice to know you) by tamerofdarkstars  Draco Malfoy thinks he might know whose thoughts are scrawling themselves on his skin, but that's crazy. Impossible, even. It has to be a mistake.  -  Self-indulgent soulmate AU where the thoughts of your soulmate inscribe themselves on your skin in a shifting magic tattoo 

♡ (m) Men Who Love Dragons Too Much by fencer_x, IDoodleForNoodles  ‘Kill Albus Dumbledore’ is less a challenging task and more a suicide mission, so when Draco Malfoy is presented with the option to either dispatch his Headmaster or suffer an excruciating and most ignominious death of his own, along with his parents, he reaches deep into his black little Slytherin heart and manages to scrape together enough courage to go with option C instead: Spend Sixth Year secretly studying Animagecraft in the hopes he’ll turn into something sufficiently imposing even the Dark Lord himself won’t be able to keep Draco under his thumb. But just his luck, his Animagus form turns out to be a dragon, and a rather randy juvenile at that, intent on finding its mate: one Harry James Potter. 

marvel 

♡ Hard to Love by Gruoch  If someone had told May that Iron Man himself would one day occasionally show up uninvited to her quiet little apartment and intrude into her quiet little life, she would have laughed them out of the room. But then her life seems chock-full of unpleasant surprises these days.  Or, Tony Stark wants a bigger piece of the pie. May Parker learns to accept help. Peter just wants to keep the peace. 

♡ Mr. Parker Declined to Comment by apisdn  The events leading up to the embarrassing moments during the Doomed Field trip, and how Peter Parker accidentally ended up in charge of things. All the while the political machine moves on, the Avengers do not kiss and make up, and the future draws ever closer. 

Another No-Good Field Trip by Muimor  Peter Parker is not having a good day. AKA, Where Peter's decathlon team take a field trip to the Avengers Compound, Vision's a menace, and Peter really doesn't want to go.

naruto 

(m) Resonance by flailinginlove  After being hit by a missing-nin's jutsu, Kakashi's chakra is never the same again. 

♡ (m) What Otter Nonsense by DarkAuroran  “Is that an otter?” Iruka asks as large, sable eyes blink at him and a little whiskered nose twitches curiously. “That’s an otter. Why do you have an otter?”  “I can’t tell you,” Kakashi says with a great amount of dignity for a man cradling a baby otter in armoured gloves. “Classified Jounin mission business.”

♡ Learning Curve by ishiryoku  This is the life she chose: the path of the shinobi. It's either roll with the punches or be left behind by her team—and Sakura's not about to let them go off on their own. 

♡ Roots and Wings by ideaoforder  When Naruto is kidnapped from his orphanage at age three, Kakashi is so done with this shit. He gets Naruto back, tells the Hokage where to go (politely, because he isn't suicidal), and raises the boy himself. Or, you know, tries and is proud when there aren't too many explosions. Then everybody starts to copy him and it's a whole thing. 

stranger things

In Which Starcourt Is a Pun by asexual-fandom-queen (writeordietrying)  “Welcome to Scoops Ahoy. Do you know what you want?”  Nancy and Jonathan visit the Starcourt Mall and corner Steve at his place of work with their feelings, but in an awkward, this-is-still-the-1980s-so-we-can't-be-too-direct kind of way. 

♡ my father comes and he goes by mjolnirbreaker  So, for Max, he doesn’t punch Billy Fucking Hargrove. He just sits there in sweltering heat and listens to the C’s being announced, and when parents cheer for their kids he tries not to think about how his parents are currently in Colorado. 

♡ it’s a risk, it’s a gamble by nondz (pinkjook)  “I think we should pretend to date,” Robin says. "What?" Steve answers. 

one of those new wave boys by glorious_spoon  It probably should feel more awkward than it does. (Or: Steve and Robin go on a road-trip, drink, listen to music, and look after each other. And yeah, maybe there's some cuddling involved too.)

wanna rec me something? head over to my ask or submission boxes! message me even, i don't really mind (: 

and to all my fellow authors who may feel a little down about not getting onto rec lists, this is for you:

[fiercyy]

if you can't hold on, hold on [3/?]

Sakura always wished she could relate to her teammates better. She wishes she could take it back.

In which Sasuke acquires some unwanted roommates and a team becomes a family.

Chapter 1

.

.

With Naruto gone, the apartment has become quiet.

Sasuke feels awkward and unsettled; he doesn't know how he's supposed to act. The three of them have an established dynamic and routine. With Naruto gone, that balance has been upset. Naruto fills most of the silence, especially these days.

When he said something stupid, Sakura could always be relied upon to share a longsuffering look. Hers being generally more fond than his.

She's quieter these days, but not this quiet. With Naruto gone, there's one less major distraction. He thinks she must be dwelling. He keeps catching her looking out the window, or past the television set.

The best solution he has is to keep her on a schedule. It's what he did, after it happened. So Sasuke conscripts Sakura into his Don't Think About Your Feelings, Only Vengeance regimen.

He wakes up at 5am and kicks her door.

She stumbles into the kitchen, bleary eyed. The first day she'd whispered, "what's going on?" Now she knows to come to the table, dressed.

He hands her a protein bar, takes one for himself and they head out.

They train. They take a water break. Train some more. They spar. They go home.

It's a quiet existence. And it's unnerving because of how unnatural it feels.

Sakura likes to talk. She has so much to say. She should feel comfortable enough to talk. Sasuke isn't equipped for this. He doesn't have the language to console her or explain his issues even to himself.

He hasn't processed his own trauma, he doesn't know how he's supposed to help her with hers.

Even so, he feels closer to her than he ever has. And isn't that sick?

In the past, he's told her and Naruto that they could never understand him or his pain. They hadn't gone through what he had. Now Sakura was the closest anyone could come. And they cannot commiserate. He cannot manage to pass on anything to her. Because nothing makes it easier.

On the third day, as she pants in the dirt after their spar, he asks if she wants to go for ramen.

"Yes," she says, too quick.

Teuchi asks them where Naruto is, Sakura smiles brightly and genuinely at him, "He's off to find our next Hokage! It's a really important mission, but hopefully he'll be back soon." Teuchi responds with pride of course, he likes Naruto a lot. He takes their orders and retreats into the back.

Sasuke is jealous of Naruto. His and Sakura's situations are the same, but it's Naruto who is able to reach out to her and make her feel better. He's always able to tell what she needs; be it a distraction or a shoulder or a blanket fort.

He feels inept. He's never wanted to talk about feelings, but his teammate is hurting. And he has no way of fixing that.

It occurs to him that night, as intrusive thoughts sometimes do, that this whole thing is a distraction from his revenge. He's worrying about Sakura, and his team is living with him. He's concentrating on her pain instead of his. He needs to be single minded if he wants to accomplish his goals.

He physically bats those thoughts away and presses a hand to his forehead. He turns to look at the empty bed by the window and growls. He knows what the right thing to do is.

Tomorrow he'll try harder.

The next day he wakes her up and they train as always. They go home and prepare dinner together. Sasuke asks her some leading questions while frying up the vegetables.

For his efforts, he receives a sweet and wobbly smile.

After dinner they sit on the couch and watch tv, Sakura's woolen blanket spread out over their laps. They fall asleep like that, on opposite sides, feet tangled together in the middle.

.

.

Things never remain simple for long.

.

.

Sakura comes to life in her panic, grabbing Sasuke's hand and dragging him out the door in a way that he would never allow under normal circumstances.

They'd just got word that Kakashi was in the hospital.

In some ways, they always believed their teacher to be invincible. It was so easy to forget that he was anything but.

She needs to keep moving, or else she's going to sink into the earth. Sakura is barely keeping her head above water these days and if something happens to Kakashi… She doesn't know what she'll do.

The hand in hers is dry and warm. She glances back at Sasuke, who doesn't let the worry show quite like she does, but it's there. She squeezes his hand in assurance. He doesn't squeeze back but he nods at her and doesn't shake her off. That's enough.

At the hospital front desk, a paternal nurse with bushy eyebrows and grey streaks at his temples guides them to Kakashi's room in intensive care. It's already crowded. Asuma, Kurenai stand propped up against the wall by the window. Gai occupies a chair by his eternal rival's side.

Sakura gasps and her hands fly to her mouth, "What's wrong with him?"

He doesn't seem that injured, but he's unconscious.

Gai glances back at the other jounins before answering, "He keeps fading in and out. He was under the influence of a very powerful genjutsu. The aftereffects are…concerning."

Kurenai, being the genjutsu expert, averts her eyes as if fearing she'll be caught in one. "It's trying on the mind. None of the medics in the village are equipped to handle a case like this."

"Will he get better?"

Kurenai's heart goes out to the girl. Kakashi told her about Sakura's parents. He asked her for advice that she didn't have. The best she could do was treat a traumatized girl the way he would one of the boys. Having met Sasuke though, she wasn't sure he had the best grasp of that either.

"We're not sure."

"That means no Sakura," Sasuke's cutting interruption startled everyone.

"You don't know-"

"Yes I do," red eyes shifted between all the adults in the room. "Who did this?" If Sasuke knew one thing, it was vengeance.

Kurenai and Gai exchange a look, but Asuma stares at the boy impassively.

"TELL US!"

Sakura winces at the volume and anger in his voice. Gai's immediate instinct is to mitigate that. "Everything's going to be-"

"Don't lie to us!" Sakura surprises them all by siding with

At that very moment a nurse walks in, staring at his clipboard, concentrating deeply, "I'm sorry to say that we're not quite sure how to mitigate the effects of the Magekyou. We haven't had the opportunity to study it before-"

Like an anchor tied to his chest, dropped into the ocean. Sasuke can't breathe. He's being sucked downwards, spiralling into feelings he can't parse. Anger, shock, confusion.

"Why. WHY WAS HE HERE?!"

"Who?" Sakura whispered, worried.

"-I'm so sorry!" the nurse cries.

Asuma pushes off from the wall. At this point, he already knows too much. They'll have to find out this part eventually.

"Your brother is part of an organization called Akatsuki. They were after Naruto."

.

.

"Wait, STOP!" Sakura shouts, running after Sasuke. "You have to think about this!" She catches his arm and holds fast.

"There's no time to waste," he wrenches his arm from her grip. "I have to find my brother."

"But why? What's going on? And if he took out Kakashi-sensei, how are you going to beat him?"

"Shut up!" He doesn't want to hear logic. This is the first word he's heard of his brother in years.

"I will not! You're going to get yourself killed."

Bravery keeps her knees from quaking, determination stops the hyperventilating. She can't lose him. She can't lose him. She grabs his arm again, but this time he shoves her. By now they're a block away from the gate. He pushes her up against a telephone poll. She's taller than him still, so she manages to stay on her toes. Sakura winces, the rusted staples from old flyers dig into her back. There's a dangerous and unhinged look in his Sharingan eyes. "Stay out of my way."

Then he's gone. Too fast for her to ever hope she could catch up.

.

.

Sakura isn't done yet. She is a hurricane, blowing into Kakashi's hospital room. A storm of anger and accusations.

"Who have you sent?!" she demanded, "Who did you send to warn Naruto, to protect him?!"

As the adults around her exchange looks, abdicating responsibility, she wants to scream. They've failed him. More and more, Sakura is noticing the way adults seem to fail them all. She spoke to her social worker about it. Who looked after Naruto his whole life? He never had parents, did he always live alone? Who fed Sasuke after his family died?

Her social worker responded that they only had two allotted sessions left, is she sure she wants to spend them talking about her teammates?

This is fucked up. This is so fucked up.

"Who would we send?" Asuma asks.

"Anyone!"

"We don't know where they are," Kurenai adds, "Besides, Lord Jiraiya is with him and he's a legendary Sannin. There's literally no one better to protect him."

"If it's so hard, why has Sasuke gone off to find them just now?"

.

.

A knock at the door of his hotel room elicits a grown from Naruto.

"Got shut down already Pervy Sage? When are you gonna-" he swings the door open and comes face to face with a man in a black cloak, with red clouds. This would have left the bigger impression, were it not for unnervingly familiar, glaring, red eyes, pining him in place.

.

.

Next

(x)

a/n: Been slow on updating because I've been working on another fic at the same time. The other one had a clearer direction in my mind (and has a really fun dynamic to write) so I got a little sidetracked. I've found the thread of this one though! Reviews are always loved and cherished.

PS: You can find me on tumblr as fiercyy! I love getting asks and prompts for oneshots or just to say hey.

- Fi

[caninekitten]

This Strange Feeling

Part 3 of 3: Rock Bottom 

Part1 | Part 2

It was a small consolation for Sasuke that he had Sakura there to despair together with him. At first she was livid. She wanted to go straight over to Naruto and knock some sense into him, but Sasuke stopped her. It was no sense in forcing someone to feel something. He knew that all too well. 

"But I can't believe that he's telling the truth." 

"He seems to believe in it, so it is the truth to him." 

It was no use in telling someone they were wrong about their own feelings. How could he presume to know what Naruto was feeling anyway? 

"Just forget about it," Sasuke said. "It's his decision." 

Sakura looked saddened. "I hate to see you hurt," she said. 

It touched Sasuke more deeply than any of her love confessions. 

He grew closer to Sakura over the next month. She visited almost every day. If there hadn't been zero chemistry between them, he might have considered starting something else with her. He knew she still wanted it. He'd caught her giving him long, wistful looks at times. But she kept in line and he was thankful for it. She seemed to appreciate the fact that he wanted to stay friends. 

She seldom mentioned Naruto, but she talked about him at times when something big happened in his life. That’s how Sasuke knew that Naruto still was dating Hinata and that he'd just started his jounin training, but he knew little else. If he ran into Naruto at the market or elsewhere in town he turned his back on him and pretended he hadn't seen him. If Naruto noticed him then he made no effort to approach him. Sasuke told himself he was relieved, but mostly he was disappointed. 

So this was all he meant to Naruto? He apparently wasn't much else than a rag that could be thrown away when it had made its use. So much for that friendship. Sometimes, when the bitterness welled up in him and threatened to choke him, he wondered why Naruto had even bothered with making Sasuke come back to the village. Apparently it wasn't because he cared about Sasuke. If he'd done that, then surely he'd be more eager to keep the contact. 

In Sasuke's opinion, Naruto wanted him back only to prove that he could. A small voice inside him told him that Naruto wasn't the type to do that, but when he was really vindictive he refused to listen to it. He believed Naruto wanted to see him hurt. That he and Hinata laughed at him behind his back. On those nights, if he got his hands on some sake, he was insufferable. Sakura had told him many times. 

"You've got to stop doing this," she said. "You've got to stop torturing yourself." 

Like he had a choice in the matter. 

The sake burned down his throat. It was the cheapest type. It tasted like cat piss. Probably. Sasuke swayed. He stood in front of his mirror. He looked thin and frail. His skin was pale, bordering on translucent. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been outside. His eyes stung and his head hurt. Sakura was on a mission. She'd be gone for at least a week. Maybe longer. He shrugged off his shirt. Naruto would never hit that, he realized. Not even if he was one hundred percent gay. His collarbones were poking out like the knobby branches of a tree. When had he gotten this skinny? 

To be honest, he couldn't remember the last time he had a decent meal... he actually wasn't entirely sure if Sakura had been away for only a week either. Maybe it was two? What day did she leave? ... More importantly, what day was it today? He felt tired. So tired. The bottle had somehow become empty. There were more empty bottles strewn around him. 

 So... tired. He collapsed onto the nearest soft surface and fell asleep. 

Gentle, warm hands brushed the hair away from his brow. They lingered on his temple, caressed his cheekbone, then they were gone. Sasuke protested weakly. God, his head was aching. It felt like it was threatening to blow to smithereens. 

"Are you thirsty? Do you want some water?" 

Sasuke felt a hand on his cheek again, and then the edge of a cool glass was pressed against his lips. He turned away. 

"You need to drink," Naruto pleaded. 

... Naruto? What was he doing here? Was this a dream? The surprise made Sasuke open his mouth, and some water seeped in. He swallowed it. His throat felt parched and the water was soothing. He drank some more. 

"Do you have a headache?" Naruto said. "Do you want painkillers?" 

Sasuke groaned. He just felt sick. He realized he was gonna throw up. He sat up, but it was a bad idea. Pain shot up his neck and exploded in his head. He doubled over and retched onto the floor. Right in front of Naruto. Oh god... why? Why did Naruto have to visit today of all days? Why did he have to see him like this? 

"Go away," he mumbled. 

"I can't leave you like this." 

Naruto touched Sasuke's shoulder. Sasuke twisted out of his grip. 

"Leave!" 

"No!" 

There were a few moments of quiet. When Naruto touched him again, Sasuke allowed it. He let Naruto help him to his feet and lead him to the bathroom. He leant on the sink while Naruto started the shower. It was an old thing that took ages to heat up. Meanwhile, Sasuke vomited again, this time into the toilet. Naruto rubbed his back while he heaved. When he finally was empty and just sunk down next to the toilet, hugging the bowl, Naruto got a washcloth and wiped the sweat from his brow. 

"Please leave," Sasuke whispered. 

"No," Naruto repeated. "I'm not leaving you here to choke on your own vomit." 

"I'll manage." 

Naruto snorted. "Then get in the shower on your own." 

Sasuke tried to move his body, but his muscles protested and the room swam. 

"I'll just... sit here for a bit." 

Naruto grabbed him and hoisted him up to his feet. "Lean here." He placed Sasuke's hand on the edge of the sink. Then he reached around him and started unbuttoning his pants. 

"What are you doing?" Sasuke hissed. 

"Don't get modest on me," Naruto said, his voice tight. "It's nothing I haven't seen in the bathhouse." 

"The last time we were in a bathhouse together, we were twelve." 

Sasuke didn't really have the energy to argue. His pants and boxers were slipped off, and he shakily stepped out of them. Then he let Naruto lead him to the shower and sunk down on the floor. The hot water that beat down on his head felt like a small relief, but after a while he felt better. He sat there until the water turned lukewarm. 

There was a knock on the door. 

"Just checking that you're alive," Naruto said. "I don't know what you like to eat when you’re hung-over, but I made eggs and bacon since that always works for me..." 

Sasuke groaned. He felt sick just at the mention of food. 

"Naruto," he growled. "Get out." 

Naruto wolfed down the food while Sasuke sipped on a cup of green tea. He was starting to feel a bit better. 

"If I had known this was how you lived, I would have visited you sooner," Naruto said after he was done eating. 

"Why did you bother?" Sasuke said. 

Naruto ignored the sharp tone. "Since Sakura was going away for so long, I figured I'd drop by to keep you company." 

"How gracious if you." 

"Sasuke... Sakura never outright says it, but I sense that she's worried about you." 

Sasuke set his cup down on the table with a slam. 

"And why does it matter to you? Don't you have a girlfriend to waste your time on?" 

"... I broke up with Hinata." 

Sasuke felt only remotely placated. He was still mad. 

"I see," he said. "So that's why I'm suddenly good enough." 

Naruto stared down at his plate. "I'm sorry," he whispered. 

"Come again?" 

Naruto swallowed. “I’m sorry,” he said louder. “I treated you like shit,” he added. “And I’m sorry.” 

Sasuke just sipped his tea quietly. Naruto clenched his hands. 

“Sasuke…” he said. His voice was soft, but underneath it was strung tight with despair. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. The last thing I want to do is to hurt you. I… I lo…” 

Naruto opened and closed his mouth, but the words seemed stuck. He looked down at his hands that lay useless at the tabletop. Again the silence settled over them, thick and heavy. Sasuke set his cup down with a soft clink. 

“I like you a lot, Sasuke,” Naruto said. “A lot… The relationships I have with other people seems bleak in comparison. But I’m scared too.” 

He reached out across the table. Although he didn’t touch Sasuke, his hand hovered close to his like he wanted to. 

“Scared of what?” Sasuke’s voice was almost a whisper. 

His heart fluttered and he felt weak, like he often did when Naruto was so close to him. 

“I don’t know,” Naruto whispered. His gaze was directed inward. He looked pained. “I guess… I’m afraid of people knowing.” 

“… Knowing what?” 

Naruto drew back his hand. He closed his eyes briefly, as though hiding a bad memory. 

“Knowing that I’m like this. That I’m…” He trailed off. 

Sasuke had a feeling he knew what Naruto was trying to say. Personally, he’d never had a problem with his sexuality. He’d never questioned it, nor thought much about it. It had just always been there, a part of himself that he had gotten used to and come to find as natural as breathing. But he’d never spoken to anyone about it, so there had never been the issue of worrying about what others might think. He didn’t care much about what others thought. But Naruto did. To him it was important that others liked him. 

“I get it,” Sasuke said. “You don’t need to explain it.” 

Naruto looked grateful. He reached out again, and this time he touched Sasuke. The palm of his hand closed gently around Sasuke’s wrist. His hand lingered. Sasuke felt his gaze on him but for some reason he couldn’t meet his eyes. He felt Naruto come closer. Goosebumps broke out over his skin. He closed his eyes. He barely dared hoping… 

Naruto’s hand touched his chin tenderly, hesitantly, and Sasuke turned towards him and accepted the soft, moist kiss. He drew in a shivery breath. That night when they got so drunk he hadn’t really taken in how it felt to kiss Naruto. It had happened too fast. But now… Now it overwhelmed him. It took his breath away, despite the fact that the kiss was hesitant and uncertain. It lasted too shortly. Sasuke was left with parted lips and closed eyes as Naruto pulled away. He didn’t want him to stop. He leant closer, his eyes open a smidgen. Naruto willingly met him halfway. 

“You’re so… different…” Naruto murmured when they broke apart again. 

Sasuke frowned. “What do you mean?” 

“Just that… You’re just…” Naruto caressed Sasuke’s cheek. “I like it,” he murmured. “You’re not fighting me…” 

“You thought I would?” 

“I don’t know… I just… Yeah, I guess…” 

Sasuke stroked Naruto’s cheek with the back of his hand. 

“This is different,” he murmured. 

He pecked Naruto on the lips. It turned into a lingering kiss. Naruto held him close when Sasuke tried to pull away. 

“It’s definitely different,” he murmured against Sasuke’s lips. “Good different. Very good.” 

Sasuke let Naruto guide him into a series of lingering, deep kisses. He lost track of time. All he knew was that he didn’t want it to end. He could forget whom he was when he was with Naruto. Forget about all his troubles for a while. Just being with him made a different side of him come forth… a side of himself that he usually suppressed. A vulnerable, needy side. Somehow they ended up on the floor, with their heads on one of the pillows placed around the low table. Naruto caressed Sasuke’s face. He moved the tips of his fingers almost reverently from Sasuke’s right cheekbone to his brow and down along his nose to his lips. Sasuke just watched him and wondered if this was really happening, even as he was watching it happening. Naruto just smiled.

They fell asleep and woke up again at dusk. Naruto was wrapped around Sasuke like a very insistent blanket. Sasuke was so warm he thought he’d melt, but he didn’t move out of Naruto’s grip. He traced one finger along Naruto’s lax mouth. It seemed surreal and yet completely natural that he’d kissed him… for real, not just by accident or in a drunken haze. No, it had been for real. Naruto had wanted it. He was still here. 

But… He was still asleep. What if he changed his mind when he woke up, like the last time? It was an irrational fear, but it grew in Sasuke all the same till he was convinced that Naruto would leave the second he woke up. He waited with baited breath for his eyes to open and widen in shock when he remembered what they had done. One part of him wanted to get out of bed so that he didn’t have to watch that happen, but another part of him was terrified to move. 

He hated feeling like this. His affection for Naruto was starting to run his life. It was making him weak and indecisive. And still, he craved that feeling more than he craved life itself. Slowly, Naruto’s eyes opened. He blinked and rubbed his eyes, and then he yawned. 

“Is it evening already?” 

Sasuke lay completely still. He was still waiting for the realization. Naruto looked at him and smiled softly. That was when Sasuke knew. It hadn’t all been a dream. It was true. Naruto really wanted this. Wanted him. He leant closer and kissed Naruto. Naruto made a startled sound at first, but then he enveloped Sasuke in a tight hug and kissed him back. 

“Did you think I was gonna leave?” Naruto whispered when Sasuke broke the kiss. 

Sasuke didn’t say anything. He didn’t move away from Naruto’s chest either. Naruto ran his fingers through Sasuke’s hair. 

“Don’t worry,” he whispered. “I’ve got you.” 

Sasuke closed his eyes and allowed himself to relax. It was the first time since after he came back to Konoha that he finally felt something settle inside him. Something that had been wild and lonely and desperate. He buried his face against Naruto’s neck and breathed in. He realized how much he’d missed Naruto for this last year. 

“Why did you leave me?” he whispered. 

Naruto held him tighter. 

“I’m sorry.” His voice shook a little. “I… I was afraid too.” 

Sasuke pressed his cheek against Naruto’s chest. He listened to the steady beat of his heart till it felt like it beat in time with his own. He kissed his collarbone. 

“I just want to sleep. Will you stay with me?” 

Naruto nodded. 

They lay down in Sasuke’s bed. Naruto held Sasuke’s hand during the whole night, and the next morning he was still there. He was watching Sasuke when he opened his eyes. 

“Sleep well?” Sasuke yawned. 

He’d slept the whole night through. That was… unusual… Naruto reached out and, after a moment of hesitation, touched Sasuke’s cheek. 

“Sasuke,” he said. “I was wondering… Do you want to leave?” 

Sasuke frowned. “Leave?” 

Naruto nodded. “Get away from the town. With me?” 

For a second Sasuke wondered if Naruto was playing with him. 

“I can’t leave,” he bit out. 

“But if you could… Would you leave with me?” 

“What is this about, Naruto?” Sasuke sat up. “Do you want to leave Konoha?” 

Naruto sat up too. “Not without you,” he said. “I’ve been thinking… And I thought that maybe… Maybe it would be good for you to get out of town for a bit.” 

There was nothing Sasuke would have liked more than that. But the council was apparently afraid he’d go back to his old ways if he so much as set a foot outside of Konoha, so he had been restricted from leaving the town. 

“I talked to Kakashi,” Naruto said. “And he said he would be able to let you leave if I went with you.” 

Sasuke realized that Naruto really had thought a lot about this. He stared down at the space between them. He didn’t know how to accept this kindness. 

“So…” Naruto sounded hesitant now. “Do you want to? I mean… Is it okay, even if I have to come with you?” 

Sasuke shook his head with a snort. 

“Of course,” he said. He tried to hide how moved he was, but he knew he failed. “Of course I would like to leave with you.” 

Naruto’s smile slowly grew until the corners of his eyes were crinkling. 

“Then let’s leave, Sasuke. Let’s get away from this place.”

[heir-of-puns]

For example: Sakura and Ino clearly enjoy acting as each other's rivals when we know they're also best friends. Why did they decide to continue that after their face-off during the chunin exam? We got so close to some great development but never got a good answer. Do they just feel more comfortable acting like that? Is it more like a running joke at this point? What do they do when they spend time together just the two of them? Is their rivalry just a performance or does it continue when they're alone? (Are they actually secretly in love with each other but neither thinks the other would reciprocate?) Why Sasuke? What is it about him that Sakura loves so much? Does she see a different side of him like naruto does? Why did Ino feel compelled to have a crush on him too? Did she ever actually think of him as anything other than some unobtainable god? How has Sakura and Ino's friendship evolved? There's a huge difference between 13 and 16, what's changed and why? Or: Does Hinata ever get tired of crushing on Naruto? Has she ever wondered if it's worth it? Has she ever met someone else who made her feel similar to him? Or has she ever just gotten sick of it and decided to take a break from thinking about him so much? Even more interesting, her relationship with Neji has changed a huge amount. We know they've grown to love and respect one another. Is there anything hinata is decidedly better at than neji? Is there a technique she picked up that he had never figured out and she took a turn teaching neji? What do they do in their spare time? What are the pressures of being the heiress to a clan like the Hyugas, and how has she grown into or out of the role? We get glimpses of how neji's development has helped her development as well, what are the details? Will she have a chance to protect neji in the same way he protects her, kind of like River in Serenity ("my turn")? Or maybe she can save naruto's ass once in a while without almost dying immediately? What does naruto actually think of hinata anyway? Does he know how she feels? Or: How has living under the shadows of Lee, Gai, and Neji affected Tenten? Gai focuses almost exclusively on Lee and Neji doesn't really need a close teacher, but how has Tenten faired? Does she feel ignored and isolated? We got one great tenten episode in shippuden, i want to know more about her! She looked up to tsunade as she grew up but decided to forge her own path, but we never actually see her meeting tsunade in person. Has she told tsunade how she felt? I imagine tsunade would really respect her decision to move on from trying to emulate tsunade in everything she does, did she have any advice for tenten? Tenten discovered her weapons proficiency kind of by accident, how did she hone her skills? Is there another jounin who became her weapons instructor? Does she have one-on-one lessons with Gai? Has she decided she trains best on her own? What are her feelings towards Neji and Lee? She clearly both cares deeply about them and gets very annoyed by them, how has that affected their team work? How has that affected her life? (When did she realize she was a quintessential sword lesbian and how has that affected her?) What are her thoughts on the other girls? We get glimpses here and there that she really loves socializing with them. She suggests the girls night out, she really likes the baths, what does that say about her and why? I could keep going for ages here.