#going to bed <<<<< staying up until two thirty to draw your otp

[lotus-pear]

god i love skk sm i wish gay ppl were real :(

[bluebird722]

The Second Gift

Setting: AU!Teen Titans College

Pairing: Victor Stone + Rachel Roth/Cyrae

Rating: M

Author’s Note: Cyrae was my ultimate OTP back in the day, and I appreciate it as either romantic or platonic across fanfiction, the comics, and animated form. If you guys have more NSFW prompts, please let me know! I’d be happy to write more!

Victor leaned back on the couch and watched Rachel open her present. Her eyes widen when she pulled out the Lily Silk flannel pajamas. “Vic…” she whispered. They were navy, the same as her hair dye, with white piping. “H—How…How did you…”

The quarterback grinned and folded his hands. “Some of the other cheerleaders—not saying who”—he added— “saw you add that to your ‘favorites’ on your computer, and I thought that was a nice splurge.” Then he went still. “I hope you don’t mind, but I went up a size, since they say that’s usually more comfortable—”

Rachel shook her head. “No, no, this is perfect!” Her smile widen. “I’m going to wear these tonight!” She noticed Kori, her best friend, nudge Dick and motion with her head to the pajama wear, and bit her lip.

All of her other presents were wonderful, and Rachel made sure that her guests knew how much she appreciated the gift cards and a hardcover book on the history of Wicca. The party ended at one in the morning, after eight hours, and Vic, Kori, Dick, and Garfield stayed behind to help clean up. Then the head cheerleader, her boyfriend, and the campus prankster left, and Rachel locked the front door so no one would suspect that her secret boyfriend had his arms around her from behind, his face in her hair. “Did you have a good time?” he whispered into her neck.

Rachel leaned her head back and arched her backside against his crotch. “I did,” she murmured. She felt his hands’ desire to slide under her dress, fondle with the waistband of her lace bikini, and draw small circles over her sensitive skin. “Hold on—let me change, and we’ll get ready for bed.”

She kissed him over her shoulder and hurried into her room, coming out five minutes later in the silk pajamas. “I love these,” she said, rubbing her cheek against her shoulder.

Vic, already in sweatpants and a sweatshirt, walked over. “I’m glad,” he said, “but I also forgot—I got you another present.”

Rachel’s smile shifted from affectionate to lopsided. “Vic…”

He shook his head. “Nope. Come on. I’ll show you to your room.” He turned out the living room and hallway lights as he followed her into the bedroom. The purple satin sheets were his favorite. He sat behind her and took a deep breath. “You know, one of the things I love most about you is how devoted you are to abstinence until your thirties.”

Rachel nodded with a hum. Even though she tried not to care, she hated how people would make fun of her for not wanting to lose her virginity until marriage or at least her thirties. She was an unplanned baby between two unmarried people and was aware since childhood of the tension between her parents although they loved her unconditionally and never spoke negatively of each other. Fortunately, Vic understood and never questioned her boundaries.

“I’m glad,” she said timidly, though her heart beat faster. She didn’t mind Vic pushing her hair from her face.

“I do remember,” he continued, “when you asked me about sex and all, what it felt like, orgasms…” He reached to his back pocket. “So…I have a treat.” He handed her the small rectangular box with a red ribbon. She glanced nervously at him before she pushed off the ribbon and opened the box, and her eyes widen when she saw its content. “Oh God…” She looked up at him. “Vic…I—I don’t know…how to use it…”

Before Vic could comfort her, she swallowed. “Wait… Do you—Are you saying…now?”

“It’s your birthday,” he reminded her. “Do what you want.”

Rachel closed her eyes and took a shaky breath. “Hold on…” Vic watched her crawl to her nightstand and obviously gulp down a sedative, which she took every night before an exam or cheering competition. Then she slowly made her way back to him and sat up on her knees. “Yeah. I…I’ll try this.” She turned her head bashfully. “Will…Will you help me?”

Smiling, Vic kissed her cheek. “Of course.” He turned around to kiss her and lowered her onto the bed. She still tasted of spearmint and smelled of Opium. He planted kisses down her jaw to her throat and suprasternal notch. “Well, first, I think we have to take this off first.” He supported himself by his elbows and slowly unbuttoned her pajama top, kissing the sternum and skin he exposed.

Rachel arched her back and already missed the feeling of silk against her bare nipples and breasts. Her eyes closed, but even though Vic helped her arms out of the sleeves, he didn’t kiss or suck on her breasts or nipples—which he usually did when they made out. Instead, he kissed her, and she hazily watched him bare her bottom half.

Vic pulled out the vibrator and turned it on, first at the lowest setting. It was so calming and therapeutic. As he kissed her even slower, he traced the tool down her throat, around her left breast, and then circled her nipple, watching it slowly harden.

Rachel choked and arched her hips, but Vic didn’t stop. Instead, he increased the setting as he moved on to her other breast, her nipple already erect. “Feel good?” He knew he did; the more elongated her nipple became, the more he could feel it under his pants.

His partner swallowed, which he took as permission to move the vibrator down her abdominal line. Her fingers flew up to grab the fabric of her pillowcase in reaction, and the tip circled around and inside her navel. Her hips shifted, and her chest arched. “Oh…Oh God…”

He stroked her hair but left her side. “Relax,” he whispered. He trailed the vibrator up the bottom of her thigh to spread her legs. As much as he wanted to go down on her, which he was planning for winter break, he instead slid it up and down the junction between her crotch and leg, and on to the other side. Her forehead was already shiny, and he grinned. Then he slowly rubbed her clit in careful circles, holding her down by her stomach. She smelled wonderful. He wanted to taste it.

“I promise, we’ll go slow,” he reassured her.

“Just do it already,” she pleaded through clenched teeth.

Vic treated it as though he was penetrating her with himself. First, he guided in the tip, listening for any discomfort. When she didn’t give any, he moved in slow as she tried sucking it in. She gripped her thighs, and her hips rose from the bed. Her moaning increased even after he filled her. She wouldn’t stop whispering, “Oh”, “Oh God”, “Oh Vic”. He teased her for a few minutes and then twisted the vibrator to the left. Her teeth nearly pierced her lip, and her fingertips pushed into the tops of her thighs. When he fully turned it, he increased the setting, and she threw herself back, only to tighten up again.

“Harder,” she whined as she grinded her back teeth.

Vic knew what she wanted but didn’t have the heart to pretend that he didn’t hear her. With the vibrator at the highest setting, he pushed in and out. “Does this feel good?”

Rachel rocked her hips with him and grabbed his shoulders. “Yes…”

Vic carefully went faster. His arm ached, but he envisioned himself as the one in her and between her legs, using his own anatomy to go in and out of her, giving her pleasure while creating his own. He increased the setting to the third level of intensity. Her breasts rocked with each thrust, and her toes sank into the sheets. Her legs widened even more as the pleasure started to grow under her navel. She panted and squealed, and winced repeatedly, and her toes curled. She was on the edge, like she was standing tiptoe on the edge of a cliff. Vic went harder until she couldn’t even feel the liquid escaping her body and streaming down her backside.

Rachel didn’t scream, but she made a loud grunt and squeal at once, and she twitched between gasps and grips on her bedsheets. Flashes and sparks blinded her, as though she had entered a whole new realm of being.

Watching a woman have her first ever orgasm gave Vic satisfaction, but for some reason, watching Rachel’s own increased his sense of importance. As her eyelids fluttered and her chest heaved, he stroked her wet hair and lowered the setting to the first level without removing it from her. He waited for her to catch her breath and then pulled it out. She shivered, and her legs jumped.

“Oh God,” she whispered with closed eyes. “Oh Vic…”

Grinning, he supported himself on his elbow. “Well?”

Her glassy eyes slowly moved to his direction. “Do you…” She swallowed. “Do you want me to say, ‘best birthday ever’?”

Vic chuckled. “Well, that wasn’t what I was expecting, but I can go with that! I gave you, the gift…of pleasure.”

Rachel sheepishly smiled and reached for him. “I’ll say it anyway. At least I’m not celibate—not that there’s anything wrong with that.”

Vic kissed her forehead and hurried to the bathroom to clean the vibrator according to the directions, and came back to find her already under the covers, her arms encircled around her pillow. She was still naked. To be fair, he stripped down to his boxers and crawled into bed beside her. She turned and pulled him in for a kiss. “You know why I’m glad these sheets aren’t real silk?” he whispered.

“Why?”

Her voice, as silky smooth as her bare back and hip, led to him lying her on her back and kissing down her neck. She laughed until she heard a familiar hum but felt it against her leg before she heard it. Then it was against her labia and clit.

“Come on, Rachel,” he purred with his tongue lapping at her nipple and the vibrations feeling for her entrance at the same time. “All night long…”

[hwu-adventures-blog]

For The World- Thomas Hunt x MC fanfic:

Series: Red Carpet Diaries, Hollywood U, references to High School Story app.

Pairings: Thomas Hunt x HWU!MC, references to Matt x RCD!MC, references to Ethan Blake x Addison Sinclair (seriously I used to ship them so hard when I started playing Hollywood U so I though it would be fun to include them in there).

Description: Eight years after RCD and ten years after HWU, Thomas Hunt finally has got the life he wanted. (Because he deserves a happy ending even if he’s not your LI in RCD)

A/N: Just thought I’d clear some stuff up before the fic starts, this is following my personal headcannon that since I refused to romance Hunt in RCD (no matter how tempting it was, I still shipped him with HWU MC and they are my pixelberry OTP) the HWU MC and Thomas broke up before RCD and got back together after RCD 3. In my previous fic I played with the break up and the potential friendship between the two. But here’s what I’ve decided is still going on or is cannon in my headcannon of what happened (if you get my meaning) after just to clear up some confusion you may have about this fic and the previous fic:

Chris and HWU!MC did not get married or have a kid, this was confirmed by RCD 3 where we met Chris’ wife, however, HWU MC did have a fiancé when she and Hunt reconciled (all will be explained in this fic).

The reason for the break up did still happen because HWU!MC’s mum is a b*tch and couldn’t allow her daughter to be happy.

Her Fiancé referenced in the fic was one of Luke’s frat boy friends and it explains, why it didn’t end well and how she ended up with Hunt again when, well, just wait and see...

Anyway here it is and I hope you enjoy the fic!

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

For The World:

A five year old girl with dark hair and brown eyes sat in the living room with her brother, a boy of about three years, with brown hair and blue eyes looking over at a photo album their mother was showing them of her years in high school and university that they had both demanded to see as she was sorting out the office.

“Mommy, daddy isn’t in any of these pictures” the young girl said

“That’s because your dad isn’t fond of having his photo taken and we haven’t got to the ones he’s in yet l” her mum replied

“That being said, who’s that?” She pointed to a photo on the next page, a photo her friend Autumn had taken of the gang at the set of ‘Hamartia’, which gave her her first acting role (and a bit of a dip into directing) with Chris Winters and-

“daddy” the younger sibling exclaimed

“He’s not smiling” the elder one pointed out

“He wasn’t happy that a bunch of high school students wanted to take a photo” their mum laughed

“But you were there, wasn’t he happy about that?”

“No, your dad didn’t really know me at that point, to him I was just another annoying fifteen year old in the background of a film”

“You’ve got that wrong, I knew you were special even then, even if I didn’t quite know how special or in what way” a voice said from the doorway

“Daddy!” The girl immediately jumped down from her seat and ran towards her father and hugged him tightly

“Hello Isobel, how was kindergarten?” He asked returning the hug

“Great! I made lots of drawings!” She pulled away from her dad

“Really?”

“Yeah!”

“Why don’t you go and bring them to show daddy?” Her mother smiled and the five year old skipped off to find them as her mother smiled at her husband “hi Thomas, I thought you weren’t back until late tonight?”

“You know how unreliable filming can sometimes be, Maddie, and we were ahead of schedule, so I thought I’d spend an evening with my family, even if it is gone seven” Thomas smiled moving into the room they had been in and giving his wife a kiss hello.

“Daddy, you forgot me!” The three year old exclaimed interrupting his father and mother and reaching out for the director as if he wanted to be picked up

“I didn’t forget about you Teddy” Thomas smiled at his son scooping him up from the wheelchair he was sat in. Edward or Teddy, had been paralysed from the waist down from birth and that had proved a challenge for his parents, and whilst that was the case, It didn’t mean his parents and older sister didn’t love him any less

“Mummy’s showing pictures”

“what pictures?”

“Just my high school ones and University ones, don’t worry, nothing too bad”

“I wasn’t worried, you’re a good enough mom”

“Daddy! Look at what I drew!” Isobel or Izzy had returned holding a drawing out to her father he took it and looked at it fondly

“It’s of, me, Teddy, you, mommy, auntie Rachel, uncle Steve and Jonathan”

Johnathan was Rachel’s son, who was born two months after Isobel was and the pair were the best of friends, which Maddie found hilarious considering Thomas’ tendency to argue with his sister.

“That’s very good Isobel, I expect Jonathan would like to see it when we see them next week, so you would be best off keeping it safe in your room” Thomas said

“Speaking of rooms it’s time for bed” Maddie said looking at her watch which said seven thirty

“Aw, but mommy you said we could stay up”

“For half an hour more, half an hour ago, besides your brother is already asleep”

This was true, Thomas noticed that his son had fallen fast asleep in his arms in the two or three minutes he had been holding him.

“Daddy, can I-“

“No Isobel, your mom is right”

“But I wanna stay up and spend time with you daddy!”

“How about I make you a deal? You go to bed nicely and I’ll be up to read you a story” Thomas, trying to avoid a tantrum, spoke gently but sternly to the five year old who, considers the offer before nodding

“Night night mommy!”

“Night night Izzy, sweet dreams” her mum smiled kissing her forehead before doing the same to Teddy and taking Thomas’ hand, Izzy lead him up the stairs to the bedrooms, leaving Maddie behind to switch on the TV quietly and find a film for her and Thomas to watch.

Twenty five minutes later, the spot on the sofa next to Maddie dipped down and Thomas sank back into the furniture with a sigh of exhaustion, he wrapped his arm around his wife as she stretched out on the sofa and leaned into him.

“Tired?” She asked

“Who knew a five year old would be difficult at bed time?”

“You’re lucky the three year old was asleep, then it’s two verses one!”

“I do not envy you” he said before realising what was on tv “Prominence?”

“It’s just starting, figured you’d need to watch a film to relax, I was lucky it was one of your favourites” Maddie said “really takes you back doesn’t it?”

“it does, hopefully we won’t have anyone to interrupt us this time” he smiled

“Well except from a five year old and a three year old”

“I was thinking more of your arch rivals but those two would do to, Isobel is one handful, thankfully for a three year old, Teddy is not so much of one, well apart from, but that’s not his fault”

“No, like you told me when he was born, it’s not anyone’s fault , nobody could do anything about it. It’s just one of those things” Maddie agreed, Teddy’s birth had been long and hard, for Maddie and because of the resulting paralysis of her son, she had struggled with thinking she’d done something wrong and caused it, luckily Thomas had been there to comfort her and make her realise that it was not her fault, it was just the way things were and nobody was at fault “Izzy is definitely less of a handful when you’re around, she’s a daddy’s girl”

“No she isn’t”

“She is! If it was me making that deal with her she’d have refused and gone straight to tantrum, waking up Teddy who would have then joined in” Maddie laughed “she’s as stubborn as you are”

Isobel was definitely a daddy’s girl and everyone knew it! When she was born, she took a liking to Thomas, more than she did Maddie, as she would always be good when Thomas was looking after her, but when it was Maddie she’d just scream, it was quite comical actually, Maddie had developed a theory that the reason why she was like that was because Thomas had named her and he’d chosen to name her after Isobel Lennart, a famous screenwriter and playwright, famous for films such as ‘Love Me or Leave Me’, and ‘It Happened In Brooklyn’, and for writing the book for the musical ‘Funny Girl’ as Thomas had pointed out, was one of Maddie’s favourite old musicals. And it appears her theory was appearing to be correct.

“Well in that case Teddy is a mommy’s boy”

“Of course he’s a mummy’s boy, he’s the baby of the family”

Maddie was the one who named Teddy, Edward, after one of the characters in her favourite book, ‘Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows’, Teddy Lupin and after one of her favourite actors of all time, Eddie Redmayne, and another character in one of her favourite musicals, ‘Blood Brothers’, which Thomas was delighted about, but she was lucky he liked the name Edward so, it stuck. And that appeared to confirm Maddie’s theory, as Teddy became a mummy’s boy through and through, as it was the complete opposite to what happened with Isobel, he’d be good for Maddie but not for Thomas.

“So you were showing them photos today?” Thomas nodded to the album on the coffee table

“Yeah they wanted to, like I said earlier, it was just the ones from my teenage years, didn’t even get onto Hollywood U so you were barely in them”

“I wouldn’t have minded if I was in them, our children deserve to know our story, as long as there’s no inappropriate ones in there”

“Why would I put inappropriate pictures in a family album? No, your underwear modelling photos are safe away from children’s eyes, along with the other photos that could destroy their innocence all together” Maddie said teasingly as she noticed her husband going red “anyway, speaking of family, what did you mean when you said to Iz about seeing Rachel’s family next week?”

“I knew you’d catch onto that slip of the tongue”

“Nothing get’s past me anymore, it came with the mothers intuition”

Thomas shifted in his seat to make himself more comfortable “I may have invited Rachel, Alice, Chris, Addison and the others and their families to celebrate our anniversary next week”

Alice and Matt Rodriguez were the second of the group to have children, after Chris, then it had been Thomas’ sister, Rachel, who had lost the having kids part of the sibling race/competition between them to her brother by two months, so now they were currently equal in the race, and finally everyone was surprised (well, maybe not Maddie) when Addison had started dating Ethan and had a kid within a year of doing so. It was weird, all their friends had children, they had children, and yet they were pretty much all still in their twenties, well, with the exception of Thomas of course.

“Is that all?” Maddie raised an eyebrow at Thomas

“No, but I am not going to divulge you in what I am planning”

“Not even if I reward you for it?” She smiled coyly loosening Thomas tie, he cleared his throat and put his focus back to the film

“No, not going to work”

“Damn” Maddie cursed before looking at her wedding band on her finger Thomas noticed this, and turned his attention back to his wife

“What is it?”

“I can’t believe next week is our sugar wedding anniversary”

“It’s been six years and we’ve had two kids and yet I can still remember it as if it was yesterday” Thomas smiled at his wife

“Probably because I ruined it by making you cry because I told you I was pregnant with who would later be Izzy and completely destroyed your reputation as a heartless bastard”

“You didn’t ruin it, it made me the happiest man in the world twice over, and whilst I would be awful for someone to announce their pregnancy at another person’s wedding I think there are exceptions if you’re the bride and you’ve just found out you’re pregnant or you don’t announce it to everyone which you didn’t. And the Hollywood tabloids should have known I wasn’t heartless, just honest, by that point”

Thomas could remember that moment easily, it had just been just after the first dance, in which he’d surprised her by not telling her they were dancing to ‘Beauty and The Beast’ which had been her only dream wedding requirement as a child that had secretly stayed with her her entire life. She’d pulled him off to the side, telling him she had a surprise for him too, an extra wedding present, if you will, and handed him a small box with a positive pregnancy test in with a nervous smile. After opening it and realising what the hell it meant he had been so overjoyed that he’d completely forgotten about his reputation, pulled her into a tearful hug and spun her around happily, not caring if anyone saw them.

“That’s debatable, some would argue you’re just as heartless as the day you broke up with me” Maddie pulled him away from the memory teasingly

“That wasn’t my fault” he defended himself

“Relax, I know, if anything it was the ultimate bitch’s fault for the whole thing, and I’m glad that you knocked some sense into me to cut ties with her permanently especially after Teddy was born and besides, I like to think that without that three year blip in our relationship, we wouldn’t be where we are today”

“Well, I could argue we would be exactly where we are but go on” he said

“Where do you think we’d be now if you hadn’t crashed my wedding?”

“I did not crash your wedding! That would go completely against my character to....I merely delayed it a little, by strolling into the church a little late and expressed my opinion on the matter, you were the one who actually ended it and went with me”

Maddie raised an eyebrow at him again that was literally the definition of wedding crashing and objecting to one.

“Okay, fine, I did ‘crash’ it but I wouldn’t have without that letter from a certain someone”

“Touché”

“And to answer your question, exactly where we are now”

That took Maddie by surprise and she lifted her head to look at him

“Are you saying my marriage to Jason wouldn’t have worked out?”

“Jason was a misogynist, and a player, not to mention he spent most of the time down at a bar with his college friends, you said it yourself, you weren’t cut out for being, what was it that you said? ‘Being what Lizzie feared to be at the beginning of Shaun of The Dead’? I expect you’d have had it annulled and found your way back to me eventually”

“What makes you think I’d go back to you?”

“To quote your letter again you were ‘like Olivia Newton-John in Grease, you were hopelessly devoted’ to me and considering we were friends at that point it isn’t much of a stretch”

“Well, you are the Danny to my Sandy” Maddie smiled cheekily at him “or is it the other way round?”

Thomas chuckled at the joke before turning to the screen and pointing out a bit of the film

“this is a brilliant bit of Cinematography, North really captures the emotions the characters are feeling in a single shot”

“And there’s the man I married” Maddie smiled and turned to the screen snuggling into her husband and focused her attention to the film.

A while later the film had ended with surprisingly no interruptions by either of their children. Thomas switched off the tv, getting ready to go to bed, and looked down at his wife, her chest rising and falling at a steady pace, a peaceful look on her face, she had fallen fast asleep during the film. she must have had an exhausting day, looking after the children, which she had volunteered to do whilst he worked on his latest film. He smiled, as he tucked a stray bit of hair behind her ear, his fingers lightly tracing the soft skin of her face.

“I love you” he whispered “so much” before leaning over to kiss the top of her head, Maddie stirred at the movement and opened her eyes sleepily to look at her husband

“What did you say?” She asked barely awake

“Just how I feel about you, now come on, it’s nearly midnight, and I have to be up at half five”

Maddie shifted off Thomas, allowing him to get up and offer her a hand up, she took it and they walked hand in hand upstairs to the master bedroom, where in less than ten minutes they were in bed, face to face

“Thomas?”

“Yes?”

“Would you change anything? If you could”

“Are you asking I regret being with you? Because if you are, I swear-“

“No, it’s just a thought that popped into my head”

Thomas took Maddie’s hand under the covers tracing her fingers with his.

“Eight years together, almost six years of marriage and two wonderful children, I wouldn’t change a single thing”

Maddie smiled and pulled him into a kiss, deep, and fraught with emotion, Thomas pulled Maddie on top of him, fully intending on it going further, when-

“Mommy!” A cry from Teddy echoed down the hall “Mommy!”

Maddie sighed and rolled off Thomas, sitting up and swinging her legs over the bed and standing up

“Those kids sure do have great timing” she muttered as she left of the room earning a laugh from Thomas as he watched her, a smile playing at his lips.

And he knew he was right in what he said to his wife. he wouldn’t change a bit of what he had. Not even for the world.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

A/N: so thanks for reading, for anyone interested, I’m currently working on the entire story of how a fanfic on how they got back together on AO3, if anyone would be interested in reading (although chapters are slow on there), I might post it chapter by chapter on here, instead, but updates are probably going to be slow because I’ve also got university to look at, anyway, yeah, essentially Hunt crashed Maddie’s wedding....who knew he’d do such a thing 😂 but yeah, there’s a bit more to the story than that, which is why I am thinking of writing the whole story, but let me know if you want me to and I’ll tag you in it when I get round to posting on tumblr. I’ve also got a sad fanfic set in a AU, during HWU I’ve been debating on posting since the app is dead now, but if you want me to post it to read also let me know, Anyway thanks again for reading!

[dimancheetoile]

your crooked smile and counterfeit soul

Read it on AO3

somebody help me, I’ve got a new OTP. I need help. Also this whole thing comes from a gif and you’ll probably figure out which one by the end (cookies to you if you don’t because you must be one hell of a ninja to sneak past that monument of modern culture)

There is something to be said about coming back from the dead. Not that he actually died, but his heart did stop for about a minute before Sakura managed to bring him back, which does count for something. So let's say that there is something to be said about coming back from a one minute-long death. He can't seem to see the world the way he used to. For a Hyūga, it does make for a strange epiphany.

Neji would have never pegged himself to be the type to linger on rooftops at six in the morning, quietly enjoying a sunrise, or stopping at a dango stand to enjoy a sweet after each training session. And yet here he is, walking the streets of Konoha at night just to enjoy the festive atmosphere, the paper lanterns and the stars. He doesn't remember when he last looked at the stars other than to find the north.

The rebuilding is going along fine, better than he would have expected at first, given how many people they lost. But strangely, it brought a closeness to those left and made them work together in ways a lot more efficient than they would have been before the war. Neji hates to see it that way, but the war did bring some good things after all. When he sees the lingering looks on his friends' faces as they look at each others, relationships forming and parting with a lack of care typical from people who just realized how short life is.

He has seen some strange things since everything ended. People he never thought would get along ending in bed together, friendships forged in blood and grime turning into happy marriages— Shino and Tenten, who would have thought? And yet Neji had found himself nodding when Tenten asked him to be her bridesmaid, giggling along with her as he did her hair. He doesn't remember the last time he laughed either.

The war did change everything.

And so there he is, wandering around in the alleys where bars are open and shining warm lights into the dust of the streets. He's quietly enjoying the feeling of people moving, laughing, breathing, of the blood pumping through his veins and reminding him that he's alive.

Neji doesn't expect to hear a somewhat familiar voice coming from a nearby bar, and curiosity draws him to enter. He's never been there before, his team being used to another bar closer to the center. That one is of the traditional kind, where the only people you find are old shinobi missing limbs and ANBU coming back from months-long missions with a slaughterhouse in their hollow eyes. There is a counter in the center and about thirty small booths made to house two or three people at the time, not a single more. All of them have a view of the door and the back entrance, with a quick access to either in case of emergency. The lair of paranoia in its purest form.

And there she is, ordering another bottle of sake if the empty one she's bringing back is anything to go by. He hasn't seen her since the war, since she plunged her hands into his chest to heal his wounds from the inside, sealing the blood vessels as quickly as she could and leaving him gaping open but alive to go back to the fighting. She's very different now.

Her hair is as short as Kiba's, brushing her temples where it falls in small strands. Her red outfit is gone, replaced by a standard blue jonin uniform, the green jacket forgotten in favour of a white medical coat. There is a second seal on her forehead, and he can't resist. Neji activates the Byakugan and can't control a wince when the full force of the supernova hits him. It's bright like two suns and exhilarating, shortening his breath without his consent. He's quick to close his eyes and revert back to a normal vision.

She's going back to her booth, the bottle in a steady hand, but she slumps on the seat without a care in the world. He takes a step in her direction and she immediately raises her head, her posture straightening without missing a beat. Neji doesn't falter and keeps going, sitting next to her a second later. Sakura doesn't look at him and pours herself a cup of sake, offering him the bottle as she downs it with the other hand.

"Sup, Hyūga?"

Neji snorts. "Exactly how drunk are you?"

Sakura squints at her empty cup, a frown on her tired features, before looking back at him.

"I don't remember."

Then she bursts out laughing, like she just said the funniest thing in the world. The other patrons carefully don't pay attention to her, which tells two things to Neji. First, she's as terrifying as ever, and second, it's not the first time she drowns herself in sake in this bar.

"You should go home, Haruno."

"Nah, I'm good. Whatcha doin here?"

"I heard you, so I came inside."

She shakes her head. "I meant outside. At night. You know, walking alone in the dark."

"You make it sound creepier than it is."

Sakura snorts in laughter, the sound quickly turning into another fit of giggles, and this time she drinks directly from the bottle. She puts it down a little too strongly and wipes her mouth with her hand.

"What is going on with you, Haruno?"

She's smiling like a loon, eyes crinkling and cheeks pink with amusement, the picture of happiness and mirth. She's relaxed and confident, her green eyes sparkling in the orange light of the bar, and she looks like a queen-

"I'm dying."

She looks like a queen as she keeps on smiling, and repeats.

"I'm dying."

Then she takes a mouthful of sake, keeps it in her mouth for a second and swallows it.

Neji is trying to remember how to breath.

"It's actually pretty funny, when you think about it," she says with a tilt of the head, like she's actually considering the subject. "Naruto has a giant fox sealed in his stomach, Sasuke has murder eyes that should make him blind, and yet here I am."

She smiles again, her shoulders hunched and leaning towards him like she's about to tell a joke.

"I'm going to die at nineteen and those bastards will keep on flipping the bird to the shinigami until they're a century old and counting."

Sakura pours herself another glass and gives him the bottle.

"What a funny world we live in."

Neji lifts the bottle to his lips and empties it in one go.

He's never been in this position before. Granted, he didn't have many opportunities to be, but every time one of his teammates asked to cover for them, Neji had always carefully stayed clear of it. Now, he's carrying a secret so heavy he feels like it's choking him, and he didn't even think about it at the time. Though, to be fair, he might have drank two or sixteen cups of sake too many when he had agreed to keep her secret.

He doesn't see her much more than he did before, and yet he feels like she's everywhere. Every time he turns, she's breathing behind his shoulders and it's like they're drawn to each other by the sheer magnitude of what's happening.

Neji sees her going to train with the Uchiha, laughing at something he said and bumping her shoulder with his. He sees her bringing grocery bags to Naruto's apartment when he's busy at the Hokage Tower, helping the Rokudaime. He sees her posing for Sai whenever she's not working at the hospital, gifting him with a blinding smile and a kiss on the cheek. He sees her keep on living as whatever's killing her eats slowly at her insides.

Neji regrets not asking what she's suffering from. He's a bit afraid, too, because whatever is capable of taking down the best medic of all times is one fucking scary thing. He wonders how no one noticed the weight she's lost and the bluish tint her skin has taken where her complexion is too pale now to hide her veins. Then he sees Shikamaru hiding a sob at a party after hugging her and he understands. It's not about noticing her illness. It's about the warmth back in Sasuke's smile and the relaxed line of Naruto's shoulders and the sincere happiness on Sai's face, all of it because Team 7 is back together.

So Neji slips next to Shikamaru on the couch where he's pretending (and doing a good job at it) to be okay. He carefully presses his arm against the Nara's and admires the inner workings of the disaster squad that Team 7 is. He hears Shikamaru holding his breath and feels his eyes burn a hole in his cheek. So Neji gently pushes him with his shoulder and Shikamaru exhales, his head falling back on the couch.

"You know?"

"She told me, about a month ago," Neji whispers.

"I don't get it. Why is she doing this?"

Neji shrugs, staring at this incredible woman who had their lives into her hands and saved them all without a care for her own safety.

"And those morons, how come they don't see it? I can feel her ribs when I hug her!"

Neji briefly puts his hand on Shikamaru's knee. "I know, but we can't exactly force her to tell the truth."

Something dark unravel in the Nara's eyes and Neji holds his breath.

"But we don't have to force, do we?"

"What are you thinking?"

Shikamaru doesn't answer and gets up, sneaking past their friends scattered in small groups all around the house. He goes straight to Sakura and grabs her by the arm, nodding at Ino who looks at them with an amused smile. He then proceeds to drag the pink-haired woman straight to their couch and sits her next to Neji, before sitting as well on her other side.

"That was surprisingly energetic of you, Shikamaru. What is it?" she says, a smirk on her face.

"Don't bullshit me, woman. I know, and I know that Neji knows. So tell me, what's your reasoning? How did you come to the conclusion that shutting up was the best idea?"

Her face darkens suddenly and she clenches her jaw. Her eyes screen the room and then she's up, taking both of them by the hand and leading them to a bedroom. She doesn't slow when their friends start whistling and catcalling them and closes the door behind them. Sakura gestures to the bed and the two men sit down, looking at her with a frown. She crosses her arms and sighs, beginning to pace in front of the bed.

"You seriously need to keep quiet. I can't have the story running around, are we clear?"

Shikamaru snorts. "Please tell me you don't expect anyone else to not notice. Have you looked at yourself in a mirror lately?"

"Thanks," she grumbles. "I'm keeping this up for as long as I can, and you better back me up on this.

Neji scowls. "Only if you explain."

Sakura sighs again and slumps against the wall, sliding down until she's sitting with her knees against her chest, facing them.

"I have degenerative pathway disorder." At their puzzled face, she explains. "Apparently, it's particular to the Uzumaki genome, and I have enough blood relation to them to get it. You know how big their chakra reserves are? Well, they have to adapt their pathway to accommodate it, right?"

Neji nods. "I've seen it on Naruto, it's frightening when he's calling the Kyūbi on top of it."

"Yeah, well this means the pathways enlarge when you pull a stunt like, I don't know, unlocking the fucking Yin Seal in the middle of battle while summoning a small thousand of slugs. The disorder makes it so that they never revert back to their original size."

Neji can't help himself. He activates the Byakugan and ignores the supernova on her forehead, concentrating on her pathways. He's never done that before, always drawn to the burning pyre of chakra, and what he sees is horrifying.

"You're-"

"Yeah. My pathways are almost as large as my thumb, which means they're sucking up all my chakra faster than I can replenish it. I'm basically bleeding myself dry."

Shikamaru recoils like he's been hit. "That's how you managed to get a second seal in barely half a year."

She shrugs. "I have to do something with the excess chakra, you know? Otherwise I would have to go blow shit up in the training ground every day."

"I'm guessing there's nothing you can do."

"Nope," she says with an exaggerated pop. "I tried surgery on a pathway in my feet and I basically killed one of my toe. I can't feel it, I can't move it, it's all but gone. I'm not chancing it on my hands or heart."

"What does Tsunade-sama think about that?"

Sakura grimaces. "She's pissed. She's been trying to find a solution for the past year, but nothing yet. It's hurting her more than I expected.

"Of course it's hurting her," Neji says through gritted teeth. "She's your mentor. What do you think we feel?"

She levels him with a cold glare. "Well, I don't know about Shikamaru, but I don't expect anything from you. You've always made clear how stupid you thought I was to hang onto Sasuke as a kid, and me saving your life didn't even get a thank you out of your arrogant Hyūga ass."

"I-"

"She's kinda right, man," Shikamaru shrugs.

Neji looks down. "I'm sorry. Thank you, Sakura. None of us would be here without you."

"I wasn't fishing for compliments," she grumbles.

"You should, though," Shikamaru says. "We owe you a lot. And I'm not sure you realize how devastated your team will be. Gods, Ino, I don't want to think about Ino. She's never gonna forgive you."

Sakura snorts. "I trust you to handle the pig, lazyass."

They fall silent, quietly getting lost in their thoughts. Neji has a hard time wrapping his head around what he just learned. No one would know about the disorder, with the Uzumaki gone for more than two decades. They're going in blind, with apparently only Tsunade and Sakura working on the matter. There must be something they can do, she can't just... die.

"How about using the chakra in your seals to replenish your reserves?" he offers.

She shakes her head. "We've thought about it. I tried, and forty minutes later all of it was back in my forehead and I had a gigantic headache."

Shikamaru frowns, looking at Sakura before staring at Neji and going back and forth. The other two let him, knowing his formidable brain is on the matter now and might just come up with something.

"Sakura... how much do you rely on medical techniques when you fight?"

She thinks about it for a moment, muttering things under her breath. "I'd say about sixty percents of my fighting style is based on medic-related jutsus."

"So you could theoretically fight without it, right?"

"Yeah, I mean I would be a bit handicapped, but I could. I'd mainly use my dōton and strength."

Shikamaru nods, his hands locking in a familiar position that means he's deep in thoughts. Neji looks at Sakura and sees the careful hope settling over her sunken features, the paleness of her cheeks matching the while wall behind her. A few minutes pass as they stay quiet, letting the Nara think. Then Shikamaru sucks on a deep breath and looks at her with wide eyes.

"I can save you. Sakura, we can save you!"

She's shaking. "Tell me!"

"It's not a perfect solution, you'll be severely disabled for a few months, if not a year, and you'll have to adapt your entire fighting style and frankly, probably all of your life choices and career plans at the same time but-"

"Nara Shikamaru, you will tell me right now!"

A blinding grin slowly spreads on his face and a surprised laugh escapes his throat.

"The solution is standing right next to me."

"Neji?"

"What is the sixty-four palms all about? Come on, indulge me."

"Stopping the chakra flow by blocking-"

Shikamaru giggles. "By blocking the pathways!"

"You're kidding me."

Sakura stares at him with watery eyes, her breath quick and pained.

"You're kidding me. Shikamaru, you beautiful genius!"

She starts laughing, tears streaming down her face, and Shikamaru joins her. Neji looks at them, not even realizing his own tears until Sakura grabs his hands and puts them on her heart.

"You can save me," she whispers and he nods slowly, his mouth slightly gaping.

Like Shikamaru said, it does involve a lot of planning. The sixty-four palms isn't meant to stick, only to disable an opponent. Now, Neji needs to do it hard enough to permanently shrink down her pathways, with the risk of blocking them forever. It also means Sakura will be unable to move on her own for a least a week, until her system adapts and the chakra starts flowing back into her muscles.

His uncle is surprisingly open to discuss the jutsu with Tsunade, coming up with ways to do it in the safest way possible. It the end, they agree to perform it three times, instead of making it stronger. Hinata will start, then Neji, and Hiashi will deliver the final blow. Shikaku offers the Nara forest to do it, because it's going to be loud and flashy and Sakura is most likely going to scream. She's still hellbent on not telling anyone, which means she doesn't want her friends to hear her.

The day of the procedure, Neji can't stomach any food and he sees the same anxiety on his cousin's face. They could permanently disable Sakura, condemn her to a bed for the rest of her life if they don't do it right. No matter how confident Hiashi and Tsunade are, it's still one of their comrades, one of the Konoha 11 who helped end the war.

In the end, it goes better than expected. Oh, she screams, she screams so loud her voice breaks and she's left shaking on the ground, blood spilling from the corners of her mouth. They carry her inside the Nara Compound where a gathering of nurses is already waiting to put Sakura to bed. But instead of the expected week, Sakura takes three days to recover. She's walking to the bathroom by herself on the morning of the fourth day.

Tsunade warned her, though. Medical ninjutsu is over for her. She'll never have the chakra control to back it up now so she can forget about her hopes of research and surgery, her dream of overseeing the hospital. Her chakra reserves are through the roof, so large she can barely stick a leaf to her hand for the next eight months after the procedure. When she finally gets it under control, almost a year has passed.

Sakura never told anyone else about what happened. Kakashi covered for her and assigned her a long-term mission to study the Nara medical techniques (which is a load of bullshit because she already did that the first year after Tsunade accepted to teach her). It does mean no one asks question about her lack of field trips and suspiciously long stays in the Nara Compound.

She's still not cleared for leaving the village, her fighting style having shifted in a way she never had to adapt to before. She's a powerhouse, a tank of fists and mud barrelling through the training grounds with the force of a earthquake. She's absolutely useless in a real fight as it is, because her strength is so big she's likely kill her teammates as well as their enemies. Until she gets it under control, she trains every day and tries not to break the doorknobs every time she enters a place. It's a work in progress.

The secrecy does mean she spends a lot more time with Shikamaru and Neji than her actual teammates. Naruto, Sasuke and Sai are absolutely terrifying and completely useless for missions because they have the stealth of an elephant in a china shop paired with a complete inability to fight long range. Finding them missions is a nightmare and Kakashi is suffering.

It all comes to an end after a risky sparring session where Neji almost lost an arm to Sakura's sudden loss of control. Shikamaru is trying his best not to laugh, resting against a tree at the edge of the training ground. Then Sakura playfully pushes Neji when he tries to sneak up on her and she accidentally sends him straight through a nearby treetrunk. Shikamaru loses it completely and falls down laughing, small tears rolling down his reddening cheeks.

"Oh gods, Neji, I'm sorry!"

Sakura is running after the trail of shattered trees and Shikamaru is rolling on the floor, howling with laughter. She comes back with a battered Neji grumbling about unfair strength and backstabbing Nara boys. They sit down next to Shikamaru and wait for him to recover, finally joining their circle under the tree's shadow. Sakura is looking at them with a lazy smile, the relaxed line of her shoulders telling about the trust and happiness she's filled with at the moment.

Slowly, she extends her hands and patiently waits when they exchange an unsure look before each taking one in theirs.

"If it's not too much to ask-" she begins with a soothing voice, but Neji interrupts her by blurting out;

"Anything. Really."

And Shikamaru is laughing again as Neji blushes sharingan red and Sakura hides her mirth in the Hyūga's shoulder, her hands still in theirs.

"As I was saying, if it's not too much to ask, I'd love to fuck you."

Shikamaru immediately stops laughing, choking on his breath and becoming as red as Neji.

"Hum, who-"

"Which one-"

Sakura smiles playfully and tugs on their hands.

"Both. Both is good."