#in fact i think that would have made his dreams of hokage much more mature in the long run. but alas

[teamsasukes]

the naruto vs neji fight makes me laugh because:

naruto frames his win as a victory for "hard work" (as opposed to inborn talent) even though the only reason he turned the battle in his favour was due to his innate potent chakra reserves. neji may be a genius, but he also learned and mastered the hyuuga main house techniques through his own labour. neji is a closer representation of hard work than naruto will ever be (especially when it comes to this fight).

naruto goes "haven't you considered HINATA is suffering too" after hearing about how neji's dad died for the main house

realized how fucked up it was that neji refers to hinata with the suffix "sama." the only others who receive that level of deference are the kages and the sannin.

naruto seems more outraged at neji for reacting negatively to what’s been done to him and his father than hiashi or the hyuuga clan in general (because he, too, is an orphan boy and he alone gets to dictate how every other orphan in the series behaves, apparently)

naruto immediately shelves the issue of the hyuuga clan to be revised after he rises to the position of hokage.

naruto says to neji "you can change your destiny." myself and presumably all audience members assumed that meant neji would not die for a main house member exactly like his dad did.

and watching this fight for the first time i thought "great we'll get development on all these fronts for naruto and neji and the hyuuga plotline later on" and isn't that just hilarious

[nonawaaa]

hello hehehe

Limited Strings Attached 

Playing in the field of love, friendship and sex. Pure sex, with limited strings attached.

FFn// AO3 

cw bad words and bad doings 

Hinata knows that it’s wrong, they are young adults, responsible for their actions, they already know the difference between right and wrong but the idea of it being wrong just made it even more exciting. She never knew that she would say anything like this, that it’s exciting, for in fact in all her life she never desired for anything exciting, which is why when the kiss by the moon happened with Naruto it felt as if she were to burst with emotions. She knew Naruto likes excitement, the thrill of life, hell he is the most active and noisy in their circle, but she never thought that they would end up like this.

Sex. As a friend? Yes

Hinata’s admiration for Naruto is an open secret. Everybody is aware of her feelings since they were kids, but as time changed, they did too. Her admiration for him never really went away, it’s just this time she’s more mature, she knows her priorities and responsibilities, so she grew out of her fainting phase but she still blushes around him from time to time. Naruto was pretty dense right from the start, it was just when they had the mission to retrieve Hanabi when he realized his feelings for her.

They had the most romantic and dramatic kiss but the thing is, both of them are still young, both wanting to experience many things before they commit to something… to someone. That’s why when they went back the village, the kiss was never brought up, like a treasure ready to be buried and not be find until years later, both of them tried to keep it cool around each other, but as the time went on, even their friends can’t deny the sexual tension between them.

Then the faithful night happened, the sexual tension between them was far too great, much more when they were left alone, in Naruto’s apartment, he told her that they would just talk and eat ramen but then Hinata was the one who initiated another kiss, but Naruto was the one who pushed it further… and deeper. They both knew it was wrong, they’re friends, but they also wanted more and that pushes them to succumb to their desires.

After that, they had a long talk, if they were really ready for a serious relationship, both knowing that it was too early, but they’re also too impatient to get their hands off of each other. Naruto wanted to focus on his dream, building his image to become the next Hokage, he wanted to play the field more, unchained. Hinata on the other hand wanted to focus on changing her clan, she wanted to have fun with her friends and family, and she thinks being in a serious relationship means putting all her attention for the one she truly love, not that she don’t love him but still, she would have to give up a few responsibilities and she doesn’t want to leave them undone.

That’s when they decided to play. Play in a field they never been to before. Play in the field of love, friendship and sex. Pure sex, with limited strings attached. They both decided to go with the flow and let faith and destiny handle the steering wheels of life.

They needed to keep it a secret though, Naruto became famous, many girls flock around him all the time, many wants to be friends with him but many also wanted more, Hinata thinks she’s pretty lucky she get to be both, they have reputations to protect, Hinata being in the Hyuga clan and Naruto wanting to be Hokage someday, they also have the same friends, it would be weird if they knew that they’ve been sneaking just to touch and kiss each other.

Hinata fumble her fingers as she wait for Naruto in the outskirts of the Land of Fire, the village is pretty sketchy to be honest, full of bars and motels for shinobis around the country to chill and have fun, maybe too much fun. It’s not the first time that they met up here, but they make sure to not be in the same place two times in a row. They don’t meet up every day, they still have missions and other things to do, they usually just meet up every week or two, the longest was when Naruto was sent in a long mission for a month and needless to say that their night when he went home was… exciting… and hot, Hinata still blushes when she remembers that night, her taking the lead and being on top gave her the opportunity to watch Naruto squirm and pant beneath her, it was empowering.

“Yo! Hinata,” she hears somebody calls behind her, his voice already low and chilling, sending shivers to Hinata, she knows what that voice meant, already hungry for something. They haven’t seen each other for three weeks, a bit too long for them, as embarrassing as it sound, Hinata’s hand were itching to touch him, lips already missing his, his neck, his body.

She turned around and Naruto already held her hand, leading her to one of the hotels that is lined up in the busy street, they didn’t need any disguise or anything, as they said, blend in with the crowd, besides, it was already late at night, many shinobi already drunk or they went home, or just like them, having a bit of fun.

As they checked in the hotel, the receptionist didn’t even bother to look at them, thinking they’re just some random shinobi, little did they know that if somebody knew who them was it would be scandalous, a clan princess and a war hero checking-in in a very sketchy hotel, it would be in the front page of every newspaper in the whole world.

They already did this so many times before, but Hinata would be lying if she said that her nervousness was already gone, she still have feelings for him of course, but then again, he also have feelings for her, so she think Naruto must still be nervous too.

“I’m gonna take a shower first,” Hinata said as soon as they went in the room. Naruto nodded, understanding that she wants to clean the sweat and dirt first, it’s been a habit.

Hinata begins to strip, layer by layer, she knows this scenario all too well, she needs to prepare herself mentally, she still feels the guilt clinging to her bones every time she and Naruto meet up, but on the other side of guilt is excitement, she feels alive, so, so alive.

The warm water splashes on top of her head, down to her neck and up to her toes, washing her all over, her muscles relaxes, she feels tired after all the missions and reports she did all throughout the day, but deep down she can’t wait to unwind with Naruto, a different kind of unwind but it’s the best.

After a few minutes she felt strong arms wrap around her from the back, “N-Naruto-kun!”, she squeals under his touch, she was too caught up by the warm water against her skin that she didn’t realized that Naruto had join her in the shower.

“Shhh,” Naruto whispers against her hair, she knows it was intended to comfort her but it just send sparks all around her body, his voice already low, the warm and soothing voice he have whenever they are with friends gone, it’s a different side of Naruto, his side that just make Hinata weak in her knees, his side that she only knew.

“I missed you,” he continued to whisper, “Three weeks Hinata,” his hands begin to travel and touch, first her waist, then her stomach, “Three. Fucking. Weeks.” and to her already perked up nipples.

Hinata tries her best to stifle a moan, thinking it’s way too early to feed Naruto’s ego, but as she tries her best to stifle her moans, her body says otherwise, her back arching, breast flushed to his hands.

As the warm water washes over them, Naruto begins to play, flicking and pinching both of her nipples with his thumb and index finger, sometimes only one nipple but when he do it at the same time her knees weakens more, and Naruto knows she likes it, she like it so fucking much.

His hands continue to torture her more, and more, until she felt his soft lips against her ears, “Hinata look at me,” it registered late what he said to her, her mind full of the sensations she’s feeling in her chest. One of Naruto’s hands left her breast and went up to her chin, forcing her to look at her back and straight at him, “I said look at me,” his voice almost a growl, demanding.

His lips crashed with her, it was deep and hot, his one hand still up in her chin as the other still plays with her breast, the sensation is too strong for Hinata but still not enough as her legs rub against one another, looking for some friction. His tongue begins to dance with hers, sucking her, sometimes her sucking him, it was give and take, and it feels good, sloppy kisses under the shower, his fingers flicks her nipples once more and she can’t help it.

Her mouth leaves his as she moans, trying to steady her breath, and there it is, Naruto’s smirk, her moans are like food to his ego, he knows she’s feeling good and that’s the most important thing to him. He kissed her again, this time deeper, their tongue dance to their silent song that is desire, his hand that is previously on her chin gone, but the other still plays with her breast.

“Naruto-kun cold!” she screams as the water above them turned cold, unaware that he turned the switch on, it did her no good, her body stood up straight again, her senses goes back and forth the cold water and his hands on her.

“It was getting a little bit too warm,” he said against her lips. His hand continue to tease her breast but her senses was again divided as his other hand begins to travel south, to her stomach, hips and in between her legs.

“Naruto-kun~” she calls out his name as plea as he begins to play with her folds, teasing her, it was building her up, slowly much to her dislike, she was hungry for something more.

Her mouth shaped like a perfect ‘o’ as he enters one digit inside her, forget about stifling her moans, Hinata let them out, she feels Naruto’s smirk widen by her reaction, he feels way too confident as he insert another finger in her.

“Ahhh!” she can’t help it, his digits are long, way longer than hers, her fingers would never reach the depth his fingers can and it just makes her knees weaker and weaker, trembling even, his fingers starts to move, in and out, curling to hit the right spot that can illicit another moan form her.

Hinata doesn’t even know where to focus to anymore, sensations driving her crazy as hell, her lips still crashing with his, tongues still dancing, the cold water that is hitting her hot skin, his one hand that still assaults her nipples and his fingers that is going in and out of her, playing, teasing her, it was beginning to blow Hinata’s mind, too many sensations all at once, Naruto is way too good as this, knowing how to drive her crazy, building her up and up and just when she feels herself reaching heavens, Naruto pulled her to the ground once more, pulling away from her.

“What-“ Hinata almost fell to the bathroom floor as her knees feels like jelly, she looks back, almost tearing up from her fall from the sky, she was almost at her high, but then Naruto decided to be an asshole. Naruto smiled at her, not the warm smile he always wears but a carnal and sensual one, his eyes darker than usual, full of desire, his tongue trailing across his lips as he watched her whimper and rub her legs together by the lack of touch that he left her, he’s ready to devour her right there and then but he decided that it would be more fun like this.

He pulled her into a hug, Hinata is already panting, as their skins touched again, they can feel sparks sending shivers to both of their bodies, Naruto feels alive, excited, hungry. Their bodies are like magnets, attracted to each other, force too great to be pulled apart, Hinata felt her body finding support to his as she already feels light in her feet.

She feels his cock poking her by her hips, hot and standing tall and proud, the feeling of his shaft against hers just made her want to grind against him, finding friction, wanting release. And she did, slowly, on her own pace, making Naruto hiss by the contact.

“Hinata stop,” she didn’t, her desire taking over her, she wants to put it in her, she wants to feel him inside her, as her hands make their way to his cock, Naruto let out another straggled hiss, “Hinata I said stop,” Naruto voice was firm as he bit his lower lip, already panting, way more than he liked, he wants to prolong this, savor this night, he can’t cum, not yet, he wants Hinata pleading first.

His hands find their way to Hinata’s cheeks, making her look up to him, her eyes already half lidded, already breathing heavily. He kissed her first, long and deep, pulling away breathily as he whispers in her ears, “Why don’t you suck me?”

Hinata’s eyes widen, not because of shock, but excitement, his whisper was like a command Hinata would follow at any given time, she wants this, she wants him, she wants to taste him, the thought alone make her wet in her core.

She slowly kneeled down, just like a good girl who prays, but she prays to a different kind of God, amuse by her thought she smiled, her eyes still locked with Naruto, seeing her smile just made Naruto’s cock twitch, impatient. As she came face to face with her lovely midnight snack, she licks her lips, all doing this as she maintained eye contact with him, Naruto feels like he is given a show and a torture at the same time, not knowing if he would feel mad or grateful.

He was already too hard, wanting to feel her mouth suck him to death, the tip already screaming right in front of Hinata’s face. She licks him, starting by the very bottom and up to the tip, making him groan, her tongue hot. He watches as Hinata devour him, feeding to the sensation that is slowly building up, she is too fucking hot and too fucking good.

Naruto almost came when she begins to play with his balls while still sucking him in, so deep he reached the back of her throat. Hinata is getting too good at this, she knows by his reaction, his knees starting to buckle as one of his hands find support by the wall in front of him and the other on her hair, she would be lying if she said that giving Naruto a blow job is easy, hell he has been endowed by the heavens above with this big dick he have, she never get why Sai always made fun of him. Hinata almost teared up every time he would hit the back of her throat, but his groans compensates her, she feels so powerful as the man who helped save the world moans for her.

Naruto know that he is close, so close, he can feel it ripping from his stomach to his dick, and Hinata wouldn’t stop, she continues to lick and suck him as if it was the best food she ever had. He can’t help it as both of his hands are now on Hinata’s hair, holding on for dear life.

As he trust in her mouth, Hinata moaned at the sudden assault, the vibrations of her moan just made Naruto closer to loosing himself. He continued to trust in her mouth, her skillful and delicious mouth, Hinata felt some tears falling as she tried to hold on to his thighs as he continue to pound in her mouth. Naruto continued trusting, his movements became more frantic and random, until Hinata felt hot thick liquid flow down her throat, Naruto continued slow trusting as he let everything out in her mouth, only pulling himself out with a pop caused by Hinata’s sucking. He watched as she drinks everything that he let out, her eyes watery as she looks at him back.

“Shit Hinata you almost killed me,” Naruto said as he tried to catch his breath, his heart pounding in his chest as a result from his release. He reaches for Hinata’s hand, it was now time to serve the princess, but she just grabs his arms, her legs already shaky and can’t stand up.

Naruto slid one arm into her legs and the other to her back, carrying her like the princess that she is, he feels her body leaned against him for support, her lips trailing kisses in his neck. Naruto quickly turned the water off and went out of the bathroom, both of them still dripping wet from shower, her lips trail up and up until it crashes in his lips, her tongue already inside dancing with his as he let her in with no thinking, letting him taste his own release, he carried her to the bed as they continue to make out.

He sat down by the edge of the bed, their tongue still dancing to their little tango, he changed their position letting Hinata straddle him, him in between her legs, it was more to his advantage really, he can see and touch everything, her hair, head, back, legs, even her perfectly rounded ass, he squeezed them, earning him a little moan from Hinata, he can feel how dripping wet she is, perfect.

He pulled away, both of them gasping for air, their forehead touching, looking for some support, bodies flushed together, her arms still wrapped around his shoulders, hands playing with his hair from the back, while his hands continue to travel down, from her waist and to her legs.

Naruto laid down the bed, causing Hinata to sit atop of him, his hard cock poking her by her ass, making Hinata lean forward and let out a long breathy moan. His hands are still in the back of her legs, guiding her to go up more.

“What are you doing?” she asked him, confused as to why he would want her to go up when the thing she wants is already poking her. Her body feels like total jelly, she just wants to find release, she’s aching for it, though she still let Naruto bring her up.

“Sit on me,”

This made Hinata paused, her hands on his broad chest, feeling his heart pound, “What?”

“You heard me. Sit on me,” his eyes are serious, sensual, demanding. But Hinata is still confused, and embarrassed to say the least, though she knows that’s probably too late by now.

“Com’on I know you like being on top Hinata, I just want to get a little treat,” Naruto finished his sentence licking his lips, making Hinata blush, her core getting wetter by his actions.

She gladly and whole heartedly complied, still embarrassed that he knows she likes being on top, but this is new, she is literally on top. Naruto guided her as he positioned her very core in his mouth, his back laid perfectly in the bed as she straddle his face.

“Beautiful,” she feels his breath hot against her skin, she’s panting furiously, heart beating so loud she can almost hear it.

Hinata doesn’t know what to expect but she feels all the sensations rip through her as his tongue slowly plays her outer folds, making Hinata buckle and moan, not expecting that it would be this… hot. Her hands finds support on the bedpost, moaning and almost cumming just by that one lick.

“So fucking wet Hinata,” Naruto continued licking her, his one hand on her legs as the other slowly puts one finger in her as he continued licking every fold.

“Shit Naruto!” she was taken back by his digit entering her, it went in so smoothly, her other hand grabbed his hair as the other still held on the bedpost.

“Heh so you’re cursing now,” Naruto lightly blew on her clit, she can feel his hot breath hitting her, it was a torture, a blessing. Her moans echoing around the room, not holding back, Naruto continued to lick and taste her, his finger sliding in and out as he do so, Hinata’s legs are on the brink of giving up, her body hot and aching.

She felt Naruto smiled as she begins to ride on his face, grinding against his tongue, moaning nonstop, he let her do her thing, he continued to push his tongue deeper and deeper, making Hinata grind against him more. Sweaty bodies hot and grinding to one another, Naruto begins to feel his own ache as his shaft is once again hard and twitching below him, so ready and impatient to be inside her. Hinata’s movement itself is a plea, her legs begins to tire but she can’t stop as she feels herself building up, ready to break loose, almost.

Naruto begins to become impatient as he slightly pulled away her dripping wet core and very lightly blows on it, making Hinata fall on her edge, the sensation unbearable, mind blowing, his finger, tongue, breath, she can feel everything, it almost shattered her.

“Fuck!” she screams as she continue to ride his face, making Naruto drink up every drop of her fluid, she can still feel him sucking on her, not wasting a god damn drop, she held on to the bedpost, chills running down her spine making her shudder as she became more aware of the cold sweat running down on her back. Her mind completely hazy, breathless, it was amazing.

But Naruto didn’t even let her catch her breath as he pulled her down once again and changed their position, him on top this time. As Hinata tries to catch her breath, she can see Naruto wipe her sticky fluid on his chin, it was so sexy that Hinata eyes shut at the sight of it, still feeling the aftershock of her incredible release.

Naruto didn’t waste any time as he positioned himself right in her entrance, filling her in completely in the first trust, groaning right by her ear by the familiar sensation as her wet, hot core took him in completely, offering no resistance caused by their earlier ministrations. Hinata jerked up, her whole body screaming as he finally, after all the other things, entered her.

“Ahhhh- mmhppp…” Hinata covers her mouth with the back of her hand, trying her best to stifle her moans, her mind and body completely on overdrive as Naruto mercilessly pound inside her.

“S-Shit Hina-ta” Naruto bit his lower lip as the sensation washes over him, her soft, beautiful body right under his, her hair fanned out in the bed, her eyes closed shut as he continued pounding in her, one thing he doesn’t want is that he doesn’t hear her moans, he grabbed her hands with one hand as he pinned them up above her head and his other hand on the back of her one leg, opening her more, going in deeper.

“Haaaa- Naruto-kun!” her moans and pleas fill his ears, smiling as he watches her go crazy beneath him, but who is Naruto to talk as his pace grows faster each second, wanting release. Hinata is completely under his mercy, which for the love of god, he seems to don’t show any as the hand that was on her leg reached down on her clit, pressing and playing with it as he pound into her more.

Screams of pleasure, echoing and bouncing off of the room walls, it was heavenly. Naruto’s pace became more random, his legs jerking and buckling, a sign that he is close once again, but he held on, wanting Hinata to finish first, but as it feels like eternity, Hinata is already on the brink of falling, her head completely blank as her body focused on the gripping feeling in her stomach and groin.

“N-Naruto-kun pleeeeease~” her last plea did the last for Naruto as he went in deeper and played with her clit more, bringing Hinata to her high and to her fall, screaming his name, biting her lip as she do so, completely euphoric.

Though it didn’t stop there as Naruto runs after his own release, continuing to pound in her, beads of sweat run down his forehead and back, his legs jerking up and up. As Hinata wrapped her legs around his waist, leaving Naruto undone, his hips pushing more inside of her as he releases everything inside. Hinata’s body jerking up every time she feels Naruto spill everything in her, hot, thick fluid filling her in.

Naruto continued slow lazy trust until he was done filling her in, bodies tangled, hearts pounding in the same rhythm, breathless as they are. They both knew it was wrong, that this was bad, they are slowly becoming more addicted to each other but still very scared of commitments, but this feeling of being alive, utterly spent and being so intimate, this feeling made their secret rendezvous worth it, and they both knew, that whatever happens, how much guilt sip through their bones with all the lies they tell themselves and their friends, they will still comeback to this, to each other, and they can’t wait for the next one…

[rz-jocelyn]

Who do you ship in Naruto?

Hiya! :D

Thank you very much for the Ask! It really made me think about why I adore these ships, and I had a lot of fun writing this ♥

I will be basing my response on the "Live Spectacle NARUTO", which is the 2.5D stage franchise for NARUTO, rather than the source material because my love for my current NARUTO ships is heavily influenced by:

the chemistry, portrayal and dynamics of the stage actors.

the writing of the characters for the stage, which differs slightly from the source.

For more information about the "Live Spectacle NARUTO" and how to watch all the productions, please refer to this link: HERE

Also, beware of spoilers! 

Without further ado, please find the rest of my response under the cut xD

UZUMAKI NARUTO X UCHIHA SASUKE

Actors: Matsuoka Koudai (Uzumaki Naruto), Nakao Masaki (Uzumaki Naruto) and Sato Ryuji (Uchiha Sasuke)

The development of their relationship is the heart of the series. As friends, they were always prepared to lay down their lives for each other: their love for each other made them stronger. As rivals, they pushed each other to become more powerful: hating to lose to each other made them stronger.

Even as "enemies", their bond never wavered. With every new turning point in Naruto's life, Sasuke was always on Naruto's mind, the presence that spurred him on to grow and mature (even in Sasuke's physical absence) towards his goal of becoming someone everyone would acknowledge, towards his goal of becoming Hokage. Sasuke listened to no one, barreling forward to his goal, cutting through the world to reach it, but for Naruto, he stopped, and he listened.

Because, in the end, the thing that mattered more than Naruto's dream, the thing that mattered more than Sasuke's hate, was the bond they had with each other.

To each other, as friends, as rivals, as something more, they have always been:

The person that mattered more than life itself.

UCHIHA SASUKE X HATAKE KAKASHI

Actors: Sato Ryuji (Uchiha Sasuke) and Kimisawa Yuki (Hatake Kakashi)

A lot of their conflict stemmed from the fact that they understood each other a little too well and cared a little too much about each other without being able to communicate this to each other. 

But, this didn’t change how they trusted each other with themselves. 

Sasuke trusted Kakashi to put a seal on him. Kakashi trusted Sasuke with his only original technique, Chidori. And, these were only a few instances of many where they had demonstrated their willingness to give up control and a piece of themselves to each other, the willingness they had to risk themselves for each other.  

Even at their worst, Kakashi and Sasuke had not wanted to kill each other until they realised that they had had no other choice. Even as he had chosen to cut all ties with his former teammates, including his former teacher, Sasuke still trusted Kakashi with the pain that had given birth to his hatred. Even as Kakashi knew that Sasuke could only be stopped by death, he still pleaded for Sasuke to stop, shouldering the responsibility of Sasuke’s life, Sasuke’s death. 

Trust was something they both found hard to give, and more than that, trusting themselves to each other was something they found hard to do. 

Yet, despite all they had gone through, the trust they had in each other survived. 

Even as they continued to entrust themselves to each other. 

TEAM HEBI / TEAM TAKA

Actors: Sato Ryuji (Uchiha Sasuke), Hagio Keishi (Hozuki Suigetsu), Maeda Ryuutarou (Hozuki Suigetsu), Nanaki Kanon (Uzumaki Karin), Yamaguchi Tomoya (Juugo) and Emoto Kouki (Juugo)

Sasuke chose them, and they, in turn, chose him and each other. To everyone else, they are a group of dangerous criminals who are using each other. In reality, they give each other freedom in a world that only wanted them in cages and chains. With their unconditional support of each other, they have proven time and time again that they would risk their lives to protect each other. 

They’ve been living in a dog eat dog world where their survival depends on being the most powerful one in the room, and yet, in stark contrast, they are vulnerable around each other. They chose each other because they wanted the strength that they all brought to the group, but if one of them faltered, they could trust the rest to pick up their slack. 

They work so well together, as a team and in their personal relationships with each other, because they fully accepted each other in a world that didn’t accept them, they respected and acknowledged each other in a world that feared and rejected them. 

To the world, they were danger, but to each other, with each other, they were safe. 

P/S: In the "Live Spectacle NARUTO", Sasuke didn’t sacrifice Karin to get to Danzo. 

UCHIHA SASUKE X SABAKU NO GAARA

Actors: Sato Ryuji (Uchiha Sasuke), Suga Kenta (Sabaku no Gaara) and Naya Takeru (Sabaku no Gaara)

Their immense capacity to love was abused by the people around them, and a huge part of who they are have been shaped by the betrayal of loved ones dear to them. Although they had bonds, there was still a part of them that felt incredibly alone because the people who cared for them couldn't understand them, couldn't accept them for who they were, completely and unconditionally, especially the darkness in them that had defined them since their traumatic childhoods, a darkness that had been forced on them.

They are the same, and it’s for this reason that Gaara’s words cut Sasuke so deeply. They are the same, and it’s for this reason that Gaara still tried to save Sasuke, even when Sasuke’s own friends had begun to believe the worst of him. 

It’s for this reason that, even as he had chosen darkness, Sasuke still responded to Gaara. It’s for this reason that, even as the world wanted Naruto to give up on Sasuke, Gaara instead reminded Naruto that Sasuke was worth saving, in the same way that Naruto had saved Gaara, himself. 

Sasuke and Gaara were the same: they had chosen hate because they didn’t know how to stop their pain, how to stop feeling, how to stop caring. 

[ohayohimawari]

And Everyone Else Knew It

A drabble for Day 5 of @kakaobiweek Blue | Safe | Mutual Pining

Brief mature humor, romance, and fluff. I hope that you enjoy reading it!

And Everyone Else Knew It

Kakashi combed his cowlicks with his fingers and tried to steady his heart as he hurried to meet with Obito.

It was part of the latter’s conditional release to have regular meetings with a member of Konoha’s security force. As Hokage, Kakashi was not only the top of the law and order food chain in the village, he was also the only one with authority to pardon anyone for war crimes. As such, the Council of Elders decided that he would be the one assigned to supervise Obito’s rehabilitation and integration back into society. But there was a problem with this arrangement.

Obito was hot, and Kakashi had it bad for him.

His attraction to his old teammate and hero set in almost the exact moment they were reunited on the battlefield during the Fourth Great Shinobi War. The shock over the fact that Obito was most certainly not dead lasted for a fraction of a second, replaced by the shock over the handsome man he’d become. Kakashi barely had an opportunity to make sense of his conflicted feelings before they fought in their Kamui dimension, where he wished they were exchanging blows of an entirely different variety.

But that would be impossible, even after the impossible became possible.

Just because Obito was alive didn’t mean he could return Kakashi’s feelings. Any daydream in which the Rokudaime might indulge quickly ended with the cold, hard fact that a man who would start an international war over a female was probably, most likely, definitely not into dudes.

Even though he wore a watch these days, Kakashi checked the sun’s position in the sky to determine the time. He quickened his pace when he realized he was running late. Running late was Obito’s schtick, and now that he was back, it seemed silly to Kakashi to mimic the habit. At least, that’s what he told himself to explain why he would always hurry to their meetings, not because he was excited to see him or anything.

The funny thing was, was that Obito wasn’t arriving late to their meetings, either.

Kakashi attributed Obito’s punctuality to his desire to make a good impression on his parole officer instead of desiring his parole officer. But what a delicious fantasy that was; it was one that Kakashi turned to often in private and one that he shook clear from his mind as he opened the door to the restaurant where they agreed to meet. They had important things to discuss this time.

Obito said he'd undergone many changes recently, so Kakashi suggested they'd meet in a more casual atmosphere than his office. That way, it could be more like two friends having a conversation instead of abiding by the guidelines of Obito’s punishment.

However, when Kakashi spied Obito waving to him from where he was already seated in a booth, the Rokudaime wondered if he’d set himself up for additional hurt by arranging what could feel more like a date to him than a meeting.

Kakashi nodded a curt greeting at the three remaining members of Team Ten, who enjoyed their weekly dinner together in the booth next to Obito before joining his unrequited crush.

“I hope you don’t mind, but I’m starving, so I already ordered for us,” Obito said as soon as Kakashi sat down.

“That’s fine,” Kakashi was too nervous to have an appetite, anyway. “So, you mentioned that a lot has happened since the last time we met,” he folded his hands in front of him on the table, “you should be moved into your new apartment by now.”

“I am,” Obito nodded.

“How do you like it?”

“I mean, it’s an apartment,” Obito looked down at his lap. “It’s small, but it’s bigger than my prison cell and comfier than a cave.”

Kakashi hummed thoughtfully in response, quietly considering how Obito lived for so long in hiding and doing his best to ignore how his heart ached for the man.

“My neighbor is a kind woman,” Obito continued, briefly meeting Kakashi’s gaze. “She’s elderly; her eyesight isn’t great, and I don’t think she knows who I am,” he smirked sheepishly. “I help her carry her groceries up the stairs, and she brings a plate of whatever she bakes that day, which is really nice.”

This sent Kakashi’s aching heart into somersaults, and he figured he better say something while he still could talk. “Are you forming connections and friendships with others?”

“Yeah, y’know, Gai comes around with his student, Lee, and they invite me to train with them. They, uh,” Obito chuckled, “gave me a matching leotard, and I like sparring with them, but I don’t think green is my color,” he laughed. “It’s nice to feel included, though.”

“Gai is pretty great that way,” Kakashi agreed, thankful for his old friend and rival.

“Kurenai smiles and waves at me when I see her at the cemetery these days, so I hope that we’ll become closer over time.”

Kakashi nodded, shifting uncomfortably in his seat and ignoring how his stomach tightened.

“I dunno, there’s only one person that I talk to a lot since I’ve come back, and that’s, well,” Obito mirrored Kakashi’s discomfort across the table, “I mean, everything about my life is complicated, but that’s really complicated.”

“How so?”

“Well, they’re pretty great,” Obito’s sheepish smile returned. 

Kakashi noted that when it seemed that everything else about his old teammate had changed, that expression remained the same. Then he realized that he was lost in thought, not listening as Obito continued to talk.

“...And they make me feel safe. Which, after everything I’ve been through, that’s pretty important.”

Kakashi kicked himself for not paying attention to Obito because whatever he said made him blush.

“Anyway, that’s hopeless,” Obito muttered.

“Why?” Kakashi asked.

“Well, I was kind of a jerk to them when I was a kid, and… and then I went and messed everything up.”

Kakashi leaned over the table closer to Obito to emphasize his earnestness. “People are learning that you were taken advantage of, Obito. Yes, you did terrible things, but you were manipulated when you were vulnerable. Then, you fought alongside the Allied Shinobi Forces when we needed it, and most importantly, you aren’t running from the repercussions of your actions. That’s why I could pardon you, and it’s why people are able and willing to forgive you.”

“Do you forgive me?”

“Here’s your broiled saury,” a waitress interrupted, and Kakashi sat back in his seat so she could set his dinner down on the table in front of him.

Obito thanked her and assured her that they had everything they needed before leaving them alone at their table.

“This is my favorite,” Kakashi muttered.

“Yeah, I know,” Obito replied off-handed, reaching for his utensils.

As casual as it seemed to Obito, the gesture touched Kakashi. He swallowed down the dangerous beginnings of hope before it could take hold of his exhausted heart and sought to encourage Obito in all of his pursuits. “If I’ve learned anything from being Naruto’s teacher, it’s that nothing is ever truly hopeless.”

“There’s a first time for everything,” Obito spoke through a mouthful of food, and it amazed Kakashi that he could find even that attractive.

“They’re popular, like, really popular, internationally popular,” Obito’s eyes bulged as he stressed the point. “They could seriously have just about anyone they wanted, and I can’t exactly compete with that,” he finished, clearly crestfallen. “Anyway, let’s talk about something else.”

Kakashi was not a romantic man, and he knew it, and he also knew that he didn’t have a chance in hell with the man that sat across from him, no matter how much he yearned to reach out and reassure Obito that he was worth loving, and—

Kakashi chewed his dinner and choked on the word ‘love’ when it crossed his mind. He was in way deeper than he thought and decided that a change of subject was probably best. “You mentioned that you found a job,” he offered.

“Oh, yeah!” Obito perked up at the opportunity to share his good news. “I may not be a ninja anymore, but I’m still in pretty good shape.”

Really good shape, Kakashi thought.

“So, I was offered a modeling contract.”

Kakashi dropped his fork in his surprise, and it clattered on the table.

Obito laughed at him. “I know, it’s unexpected, but,” he chuckled again and awkwardly scratched the back of his head. “Looks like I’m going to be the next bad boy in Blue Boy.”

“Blue Boy?” Kakashi repeated, astonished. “The gay men’s lifestyle magazine?”

“You know it?” Obito asked, wide-eyed.

“Yeah, but I didn’t think you were into— I-I, I mean, I’ve bought a few editions,” Kakashi felt his mouth go dry, “for the articles.” And if Obito would be featured in its photo spreads, he’d be buying a subscription.

“Right,” Obito drawled sarcastically, and Kakashi felt seen. “Anyway, to be honest, I was amazed too,” he fiddled with the straw in his drink, “I don’t exactly consider myself to be fashion model material.”

“You’re hot!” Kakashi was juggling too many surprises, and as a result, dropped his filter. Then he did his best to pick it up and put it back on when Obito’s eyes snapped to his face. “I mean, that’s hot, I mean, good for you,” he wished for the earth to open up and swallow him, or for an assassin to show up intent on taking him out, or—

“You think I’m hot?” Obito asked quietly, tenderly, longingly.

Kakashi licked his lips and opened his mouth to speak but closed it when everyone heard Shikamaru’s groan from the table next to them.

“Mendokusē! Would you two just kiss already?”

Both men sat in silence, staring at each other. Kakashi felt as flushed as Obito looked.

“Shikamaru’s right,” Choji agreed. “You two are worse than a one-hundred-thousand-word slow burn fanfic.”

“Oh, I love those!” Ino gasped.

“A what?” Kakashi asked.

“Who cares,” Obito answered, his eyes beginning to smolder in a way that Kakashi had only dreamed. “Let’s pay the bill and—”

“My place or yours?” Kakashi flagged down their waitress.

“How about ours?” Obito asked, his Sharingan eye already spinning.

[secret-engima]

Snippet of Hiashi’s POV of Calling for Rain chap 6

(Long snip! Couldn’t resist tho. Here’s a look on that Hiashi POV I’m working on, I decided to show some of the LAST snip but from Hiashi’s POV rather than Hinata’s).

...

     “She’s a good student, not to mention a fellow classmate and friend,” Sasuke-kun agreed. That was not how Hiashi would describe his daughter, as much as he would wish otherwise, but Hiashi kept that thought to himself.

     His father, however, did not. He scoffed, “Hinata-sama does not have the talent or will for the ninja arts. She has always done poorly during training.”

     Sasuke-kun’s smile sharpened, and in his black eyes anger turned to fury, “Hinata-chan is a good listener and eager to please. She is open to corrections and very diligent in her training and I’ve never had a problem teaching her. Talent is a faulty crutch without hard work, and Hinata-chan has always worked hard during our lessons both inside Academy and out.”

     His father scoffed again, but Hiashi could hear the hidden accusation, and it made his hackles rise, “What are you implying?” That wasn’t really his question, his words were a chance for the boy to back down before his youth and inexperience got him in trouble with his elders and betters.

     The boy did not back down, if anything his smile grew fangs, and at Hiashi’s side, Hinata tensed like she was bracing for something, “In my clan there was always a saying, ‘if the student is diligent yet continues to struggle, then it is not the student’s fault, but the teacher’s’.”

     The insult to the clan was all but offered on a silver platter, so thinly veiled it might as well have not been at all. She isn’t a bad student, he was saying, all of you are just failures at teaching. Hiashi didn’t give the boy the satisfaction of a reaction. He was just a child, for all Hiashi was rapidly coming to the conclusion he was a lot more of a prodigy than Fugaku-san had ever given his youngest son credit for, but Hiroto’s fists clenched in fury, “You dare insult the Hyūga Clan-!”

     Sasuke-kun didn’t even blink. He was watching Hiashi expectantly, waiting for his reaction, “You are implying,” Hiashi asked in a flat voice, “that Hinata’s own clan is failing her?”

     The boy picked up the teacup and sipped it like the action might help hide the way his hands were all but shaking with rage —rage … for what? On behalf of … Hinata?— and when he set the cup down, he didn’t let go of it. The smile grew, full of teeth and a glitter of danger that made Hiashi’s instincts bristle more out of surprise than actual belief in the unspoken threat, “Hinata-chan overreaches with her strikes when flustered, like she instinctively expects her opponent to have a much longer reach and leg range than her and is trying to compensate, she pulls back her strikes at the last second because she expects them to fail and for her wrists to get trapped if she fully commits, she flinches from even light strikes like she expects to gain bruises and lacerations -which I’m sure has nothing to do with how often she wears long sleeves even in the middle of summer-, and she struggles with in-battle confidence because she has this wild idea that no matter how many hours she practices she is automatically a failure. But no, I would never dream of implying that her own family that she trains with far more often than myself or the other Academy students has anything to do with that.”

     Hiashi had no time to form his own reaction, because his father surged to his feet and loomed over the boy with a pulse of Intent that was just shy of actual Killing Intent. It wasn’t enough to count as a threat against a fellow Konohan, but it was definitely meant to force the boy into submission as Hiroto roared, “You rude, insolent little child! You should be thrown from the Compound-.”

     Instead of cringing like Hiashi’s daughter was doing, or crumbling into a crying mess like more than a few clan children had when disciplined with Intent —a practice Hiashi had never approved of, or used, considering how often it had been inflicted on him, but it was a traditional punishment of the clan dating back before Konoha’s Founding—,  Sasuke-kun turned his smile on Hiroto. Killing Intent spilled into the air, contained and definitely subconscious, but sharp enough that it made Hiashi itch for a kunai and something cold grip his throat. The Uchiha’s Killing Intent swatted aside Hiroto’s like it was nothing, and when Sasuke-kun spoke, there was no sign of an unsteady child, there was just the venom of contempt, “I am not a little child, nor am I insolent. I stopped being a child when our gracious and wise Lord Hokage decided that, as the head and last of my clan, I was to live in my compound on my own.”

     Hiroto stilled, both from the Killing Intent and the implications. No one had asked what had become of the Uchiha, he still lived in his compound and they had all assumed it was because he had insisted on staying in his family home. Hiashi had assumed Lord Hokage had chosen a caretaker to look after the boy outside of Academy, to look after the empty clan grounds, and yet he apparently had not. And yet Sasuke-kun had apparently been living completely on his own for months, and what was the Hokage thinking, leaving an Uchiha —a prodigy Uchiha, how anyone had missed the boy’s prodigal intelligence and maturity was a mystery— alone with his thoughts and ghosts —did the Hokage want the Village’s last Uchiha to go the way of his brother and snap into a bloody rampage?—.

     Sasuke-kun continued, unaware —or just not caring— of how his words had made Hiashi flinch, “I have come here as the Clan Head of the Uchiha, to speak facts with Hiashi-san, as a fellow Clan Head, about a fellow Konohan, a fellow classmate, and a future fellow shinobi. The only person to be rude in this room has been you, for insulting me, the head of the Uchia. The only person in this room who has been insolent has been you, for speaking out of turn without the permission of your Clan Head, Hiashi-san.”

     The Last Uchiha let that sit in the air between them, heavy as a stone and unyielding as steel, and Hiashi stopped thinking of him as a child or a boy. There was no childishness left in the person before him, no timidity or naivety. There was just hard steel, the likes of which he usually only saw in those who had survived their first A-rank. It should not have been something he could find in an Academy student.

     But it was, painfully and clearly, something he could find in the survivor of a massacre.

     The Uchiha’s smile dropped and he turned cold, furious eyes on Hiashi. The faint Killing Intent in the air turned expectant, demanding almost. He’s your clansman and you are his clan head, black eyes said, control him.

     Hiashi stared back and refused to give a reaction as he raised his hand toward his father, “Sit down, Hiroto.”

     “Hiashi-!”

     “Sit.” His tone brooked no argument, no nagging, or insolence. This was not the time for his father to act as the former Clan Head who could nitpick at his son’s choices. They were in conversation with another Clan Head. Hiashi would be obeyed in front of an outsider.

[bayern-moni]

On the scale of 0-10, how much do you want to kick Madara's ass, Mito?

Mito: It goes between 7/10 in normal circumstances to 1000/10 when he purposely behaves like a scassapalle ( = pain in the ass but not quite that exactly).

Sometimes, I do want to kick his ass because it seems to be the only thing able to stop him from being too unnecessarily contrarious just for the sake of it, in a self-(and others)destructive way. Because, sometimes, Madara isn't able to see his own bullshit if nobody points it out to him, but unfortunately the only way Madara'd let himself listen to others' reason is if that person is able to beat it into him.

So be it, I'm fine with it and he is too. We made this deal and that's the start of our friendship, did you know?

So, I don't really want to kick Madara's ass per se, most of the time, even though he IS aggravating more often than what it's healthy. And grumpy, and rude, jumpy, spiteful, unforgiving, paranoid old-born man. Although his discretion, sarcastic spite and no-bullshit attitude can even be useful and entertaining when directed to the right people (and when you know how to channel him into them to prevent him from spiraling into even more twisted dramatics than those you're trying to run from). The point I'm trying to make is: you learn to handle a fight-or-fight, cornered and blunt cat and you'll know how to deal with Madara. So, I managed to reach a mutually respectful relationship with him, in spite of everything, because when he's not being ... well, himself, he's a very intelligent man and I enjoy our conversations. Although I really did want to kick his ass when I had no choice but to seal the Kyuubi into myself to help Hashirama in the Valley of the End. Because, only because HE thought that bringing a fucking Bijou at the edge of the village in order to fight Hashirama was a good idea, it does not mean that it is one. It wasn't. Not in the least, it was unnecessary and dramatic, even by his standards. I made peace with the fact I'm the first jinchuriki in Konoha early, so it's less of a big deal than it could have been, but still.

Paradoxically, I have to admit that the moments when I find him most annoying are those when he isn't even there. I'm talking about my own husband's apparent obsession with him and the (too many, if you ask me) times he just can't seem to be able to shut up about him. He told me the river story so many times I'm sure I could recite it in my sleep. I'm starting to feel like I'll be better off asking for a divorce and leave Hashirama to him out of spite. I'm sure my sanity would thank me if I did, but unfortunately I love Hashirama very much so I won't. Madara'd send him back to me within a day when the urge to strangle him for his overbearing attitude becomes too much, anyway, so it wouldn't even be a problem. In fact complaining about Hashirama's obnoxious antics with Madara is always funny, when I hear of people thinking that Hashi is a cause of contention/dislike between us I think it's just plain stupid, it's not like that at all. I know that Hashirama loves me, like he loves his brother, even Madara in a sense as well as the village.

But sometimes I feel as if all the years he spent associating his idea of peace with the alliance with the Uchiha, consequently his unwavering conviction that the only way he could achieve both was to necessarily bind Madara, the Uchiha clanhead, back to their old bond whatever it took (because it wasn't broken it was still there no matter what anyone thought it still was a gift from the divine) made him come to unconsciously link in his mind the very village's hopes of stability with Madara's own very ill-balanced stability and good will towards it.

In Hashirama's world, if Madara is pacified and he doesn't disrupt the village's armony for any reason, then the village will be fine, but the opposite is also true. Village is peace, peace is the dream, the village is the(ir?) dream (transitive property is the key here), but there's a sour, dissonant note: that's a very dangerous, unstable line of thinking, for all of us, himself and Madara included.

Because, differently from what Hashirama thinks, in Madara's vision, himself and that dream no longer coincide since when their bond was severed and it awakened his Sharingan at the river as a consequence. Their very definitions of that dream differed at the root. The mechanism stopped working, the gears need to be rearranged, not to be seen as the same as before, in order to keep working together. He's not the same as when they were little anymore and it isn't even only about Izuna's death but Madara himself. In fact it started before that, Izuna's death is one of the aggravating factors, not the trigger. Hashirama deep down knows it but he vehemently insists on ignoring it with all his might and that's what is deepening the fracture between them.

Hashirama refuses to see Madara for what he is but he wants to see only the kid he met at the river, because that kid is the one who gave Hashirama the confidence that his dream was possible. He still, genuinely, stubbornly believes that that kid still exists somewhere, because he must exist, because if Madara still believes in their village and keeps on giving him that confidence (that is, if Madara still behaves with Hashirama like that kid would, even while slowly breaking beyond repair on the inside), then eventually all will be fine and everything will adjust itself given enough time and hope. But when he doesn't, Hashirama becomes nearly paranoid and desperately tries whatever he can think of in the hope of tying Madara to their dream of the village again, this time possibly forever and indefinitely: calling him his brother (as if for Madara their real brothers weren't the only real bond while theirs is a breaking thread next to a fine but now forever severed cloth); nudging him to see Konoha villagers as they were his new family now that he lost his own (well knowing what kind of visceral bond that'd be if it were completed given that Madara is involved); giving him hope that he could be Hokage, a hope Hashirama didn't know it'd be crushed and burned to the roots by such a public humiliation. The worst part is that Hashirama doesn't even seem to be aware of half of these psychological issues of his. However, that's the person Hashirama sees, not the real Madara, never his adult, despairing, fierce-but-borderline-suicidal version. And Madara knows it, he resents it and will keep to silently poison himself with that knowledge in total, stubborn solitude until it will inevitably make him rot to the bone and erase the rest of the world with him. All of this while seeing all the underlying not-yet-born-but-still-there faults in the village's very system and Hashirama's rule! But, instead of just saying it so we can try to limit the damage, he just keeps them for himself as the indisputable proof of how the whole system is doomed to failure. To be honest, I do know why he doesn't talk, though, and that's because nobody'd listen to what is only considered an unstable, belligerent madman's apocalyptic words, no matter how prophetic they'll reveal themselves to be in the years. These are still other big reasons why I want to kick his ass, though, and I suspect that he knows. Count another reason, then.

They are just... Ahrg. Just talk, guys, like the mature people you ARE supposed to be but will never be. You understand that I'm in the middle of that, don't you? It gives me a massive headache on a good day and lately more often than not they make it a shitty day. I'm tired of constantly having to listen to Hashirama complaining about Madara this, Madara that, just because they're not sincere enough to just TALK and settle their differences within the limits of what it's actually possible, and because they don't talk about it (and when they do it seems like they are threading through two or three different discourses at the same time that nothing have to do with the problem at hand) they will never understand each other like they clearly need to and then we have to solve all the problems their bullshit leaves behind.

I'm not saying that they could resolve those problems by just talking, because they are too big for only the two of them and they often involve how something like world peace should be achieved. So, you understand why they'll never see eye to eye on that. But talking could be a start.

Mine feels like a full-time, underpaid and overly frustrating, babysitting job. Sometimes, I just want to kick both of their asses for being purposely (Madara) and unconsciously (Hashirama) difficult.

Sorry for my ramblings, but as a woman, a kunoichi and a wife I needed to vent a bit and too few people ask for my opinion nowadays, our self-appointed author first and foremost.

P. S.: I do want to kick his ass when he steals my hairpins out of spite after I have beaten him and Tobirama at shogi. 8/10, then.

For @dinainwater

It definitely got out of hand in the end 🤣 Rambling has always been a problem for me and rarely I manage to actually restrain myself, but I promise eventual next answers won't be this long. So, I hope it hasn't bored you (?) 😅. But I felt like Mito needed to make her opinion matter, so it was worth!

(If the reasoning explained above seemed twisted and unnecessarily difficult, it's because those two have a deeply unhealthy relationship)

However, thank you for your ask like always and I hope you enjoyed it 😁 whatever other question is always welcomed, don't worry 😊

*

[drifting-mindspace]

Things we deserved to get from the Naruto manga and anime that we never got -

• JONIN NARUTO -

We followed him around as the lovable Genin knucklehead. Now it goes without saying that him being a Jonin is just a rank and honestly doesnt mean much. Rescuing Gaara, going after Kakuzo, Mount Miyaboku were all A & S-rank missions.

But I would liked to have seen him doing missions post war in a slightly more mature yet typically knuckleheaded manner instead of the passing phrase he made tonShikamaru about being too busy doing missions for the next 6 months.

We grew up with Naruto and now that he's older and stronger we dont get to see him in action.

• A Happily Married Kakashi & Shizune- 

Hatake Kakashi has led a deeply traumatic life. His mother died when he was very young, his father committed suicide when he was 6 causing him to distance himself from everyone around him. The first person he opened up to and formed a bond with died moments later protecting him, the girl he deeply cared for and probably harbored feelings for which he was too afraid to confront died at his hands as he desperately tried to protect her, a year later his sensei died protecting the village. When he became a sensei to Team 7 he felt he was on a path to finding inner peace by ensuring these children avoid his traumas but his prized pupil went rogue shattering that hope. After all this I’d hoped he would’ve finally found a happy ending.

Why Shizune? Well I considered him and Kurenai getting together and him helping raise Mirai but Shizune has always felt like the only Kunoichi in Konoha who has her shit together. She is perfectly at peace with where she is in life. She is incredibly mature and level headed as she helps run the village with Tsunade. Someone who is at peace with herself and her aspirations is the perfect anchor for a man with a whirpool of trauma brewing in him.

Alas it seems like the showrunners have no intention of a romantic arc for Kakashi and the Hatake name will die with Kakashi.

• The Uzumaki Clan

Within a span of 3 months Naruto meets 3 Uzumaki clan members. Nagato, Karin and his own mother. While speaking with Kushina he finds out about the dark fate of the Uzumaki clan. How they were blessed with unimaginably high chakra reserves and were gifted in Sealing Jutsus, longevity and how it led to them being targeted by those who feared them leading to their village being wiped out and scattered across the shinobi world.

Instead of turning the Naruto saga into the Uchiha Chronicles Id have preferred a deep dive into the Uzumaki clan. Maybe even have a Sasuke-like venegeful figure who wants Konoha to suffer because they failed to provide aid to the village they called their strong allies in their greatest hour of need.

Like Sasuke this villain would’ve witnessed his fellow clansmen cut down, unlike Sasuke however he wouldn’t have had the likes of Naruto, Itachi or Kakashi to anchor him in the light leaving room for redemption.

This could have been the one villain that was so far gone in his pain and hatred that no amount of 'talk no jutsu' could have changed his mind and would've pushed Naruto to the very brink until he finally had to choose between killing his clansman or protecting his village.

Naruto would make the ultimate sacrifice for Konoha and this would all the more set his resolve to pulling Sasuke back from the darkness or dying with him.

An Uzumaki villain gifted in Fuijutsu and the use of the Uzumaki Kekkei Genkai, the Adamantine Chains along with massive chakra reserves would be the perfect power scaled villain for Post Pain Arc Naruto.

Instead we got Uchiha chronicles where everyone did whatever the fuck they thought of doing and chakra limits were all but history. This one really disappointed me. Which brings me to my next disappointment.

• Naruto Killing a Villain

Now I know it seems like an odd hang up. Naruto? Kill? But he is so fixated on redemption. That is exactly why I wanted this to happen. The series has gone out of its way to make sure Naruto hasn’t killed a character. The worst of it was against Kakuzu. The kind of attack unleashed upon Kakuzu SHOULD by all means have killed him. Yet somehow he was left in a ‘dying state’ and Kakashi was the one who did the deed. 

Naruto being forced to kill a villain as a last resort and making a choice between saving someone dear to him or tainting his hands with blood was the ultimate moral conundrum for a shinobi whose biggest goal was rescuing his best friend from the dark. It would take him back to Itachi’s words where he asked Naruto what he would if Sasuke decided to destroy the village.

Instead we saw Rasen Shuriken and Rasengan getting scaled down to a point where they always injure and opponent but not kill him. For an S-rank jutsu, Rasen Shuriken happens to be quite lenient.

• Neji beoming the head of the Hyuuga Clan

This pisses me off the most. Neji was supposed to be to the Hyuuga was Naruto was to Konoha. I always expected Neji to overcome all the obstacles and get recognized by Hiashin who would then redeem himself and disband the branch system once and for all. Hiashin as a character was never redeemed. Here was a man who let his brother get executed to avoid punishment (albeit he was against it but it did happen), constantly abused his kind daughter and belittled her for being too soft and put her down to a point her personality was underdeveloped and she had deep seethed confidence issues.

Disbanding the branch system and making Neji the leader would redeem him in the eyes of the readers/ viewers and would clean up the Hyuuga clan.

Instead Neji was scrapped aside to give Naruto and Hinata a bonding moment. They had a bonding moment, it was when she almost died saving his life. Neji didn’t have to die for them to get together ffs. What a wasted potential.

• NaruSaku

Now I’m not a fanatic shipper. In fact when I read and watched the original series I absolutely HATED Sakura. My hatred for her reached it’s peak during the Zabuza arc when Naruto ran at the S-rank villain, got kicked away and got up to show he went in for his forehead protector. “What do you think you’re doing Naruto? Even Sasuke-kun wasn’t a match for him.” I just wanted Naruto to turn around and tell her to stfu in that moment. As the series approached the time skip I was well and truly content with NaruHina.

But Shippuden changed things. The hints towards Sakura’s changed feelings were sprinkled all over the series. One moment that stands out for me was the Clone Training arc where Sai tests her by abusing Naruto and she goes on a rage rant about how great he is. Let’s not forget that in her darkest hour, as she saw a ruined and destroyed village the only person she thought of and cried out to was Naruto. Not because she felt he could save the village (she was as shocked as Shikamaru as she found out he was facing pain alone) but because when things when bad for her the only person who she felt comfort around was indeed Naruto and that is indisputable.

She goes as far as ruining her friendship with Naruto, a bond she truly cherished as it was all she had left after Sasuke abandoned the village, and confessed her feelings to manipulate him. Yes manipulative, scheming and downright a bitch of a thing to do. But it was all she could think of to make Naruto stop chasing after Sasuke. She, more than anyone wanted to see Naruto become a Hokage and realize his dreams and dying while rescuing Sasuke was a risk she couldn’t take and she decided she’d have him hate her than die. Wrong yes. But oddly noble.

This combined with all the blatant attempts to establish her being like Kushina and Kushina saying she wants Naruto to find someone like her changed my mind from NaruHina. I still adore Hinata. She is a wonderful character. But organic plot progression is far more important to me than my ships being canon.

A Naruto-Sakura family would’ve been incredibly entertaining and the dynamics would be perfect. We’d see a Minato-Kushina couple on screen for the next series. Which brings me to my next disappointment.

•HinaShino

I don’t know if that’s the official name for the pairing but I always felt these 2 would make a great couple.They are both people of a few words and are both incredibly intuitive and understanding individuals. Shino would accept Hinata for who she was and vice versa. Being with someone who was happy with the person they were would go miles in helping them come out of their shells.

Altho this isn’t a massive disappointment for me. I’m happy that Hinata ended up with Naruto. But like I said organic plot progression matters to me and if Naruto ended up with Sakura I’d prefer Hinata to end up with Shino.

•Hiraishin No Jutsu

Sadly as the series progressed Naruto had become so OP that not letting him master his father’s improved version of Tobirama’s jutsu was a great decision. It would’ve just made him senselessly OP. 

However instead of giving him all those God Tier power ups which he just gains in single training sessions I’d have preferred him working hard to master the Hirashin. Instead of sending him off to an island and treating him like a fucking idiot and asking him to survey animals I’d have preferred if Tsunade gave him an impossible task.

“You can’t fight in the battle. But I will only allow it if you can master your father’s jutsu.”

It was a period of 6 months between Danzo’s death and the start of the shinobi war. Ample time to show him training hard to learn a jutsu that for once required him to study. Hiraishin deals not just in physical acts of speed but also mastering seals.  Seeing his friends go off to fight in the war as he was left behind would have only added to his frustration and motivated him more.

Showing Naruto training hard like they showed him training for Rasen Shuriken would’ve only made us cheer all the more harder when he’d make a badass entry on the battle field as Tobi came close to killing Kakashi and a three pronged Kunai swished between the two, an orange flash appeared and Naruto kicked Tobi away.

Sadly this was swapped for Pokemon evolutions where arc after arc Naruto levels up just like that. The show’s entire premise was based on hard work and guts.

Sasuke was the genius who gained his power through natural ability. Sure he trained hard but his strength came to him with ease. Naruto had to slog. He manged to make the Rasengan after nearly 15 episodes of training and even then he had to get stabbed to be able to use it. It wasn’t until another 10 episodes that he properly used it. His training for the Rasenshuriken took an entire season to yield results and even then he didn’t learn to throw it until he trained for another 3 seasons till the Pain arc.

Post pain all this is tossed aside. He sits at the waterfall twice and beats the darkness. He sits in the room once and tames Kurama. Later Kakashi and Guy are in trouble, he has an inner dialogue with Kurama and suddenly he mastered the two man team with no prior training. Rikkodu Sennin touches him once and suddenly he’s learnt how to grow eyes, stop death and fly just like that.

The series stopped being the Naruto series we grew up with post Danzo and it saddens me.

• Naruto Sensei - 

And finally my last and greatest disappointment of all. Not seeing Naruto as a sensei. We’ve seen glimpses of his nurturing side in his interactions with Konohamaru but I’d have loved to have seen 40-50 episodes of him leading his own squad of genins. A perfect combination of Kakashi and Guy as he’d wow them with his brilliance and equally embarrass them in day to day interactions with his goofy tomfoolery. His genins would be in awe of him. Naruto Sensei - the hero of the war. 

His students could have an arrogant son/daughter of a feudal lord who insisted he be trained by the war hero, Naruto and Kakashi had to cave in for diplomatic reasons. Naruto refuses to take anyone who doesn’t work hard to get where they are but after the bell test sees potential in the child. A child with no ninja background. His parents were farmers outside of Konoha who were very poor. His sole aim is to be a ninja so strong that he’s always assigned big missions that will help him ease his family’s financial burdens. A genin from the Inuzuka clan (or any other clan, maybe even Hanabi if the show wanted to push more Naruto-Hinata interactions) who thinks he’s better than the other 2 because of his family background but is taught humility by Naruto.

Sadly another development in Naruto’s life we were denied.

Well that’s my rant essay. I know a lot of people won’t agree with what I had to say but I wanted to get it off my best anyway. Why? 

Because I wanted to dattebayo!

[mastrechef]

Say What You Want

This is something I’ve been picking at for a while now. I posted it on AO3 and figured I’d post it here as well because why not.

Iruka frowned, brow wrinkling in concern. A few weeks ago he would have suspected a genjutsu at work, but then again genjutsu wasn’t exactly his area of expertise. The only reason the academy teacher even suspected genjutsu was due to his belief that the child in question didn’t have it in him to sit so still for more than five minutes at a time. Now, it could be the work of someone else; however, no one else had any reason to do such a thing and, while unusual, it would have come as no surprise to find out it was just a prank. A very quiet, non-exploding, non-disruptive, glitter free, and paint free prank, which somehow made it unnerving and planted a growing seed of paranoia in most eye witnesses. Describing the situation like that sounded really extreme and overblown, but the reality was that Naruto’s drastic change in behavior was more than a little jarring.

It was most noticeable at the academy. Outside of class, the loud exuberant knucklehead was still very much present, harrying the odd civilian and otherwise sowing discord and mayhem. On the other hand, the studious and reserved child that currently sat before Iruka was a complete stranger. Whilst he didn’t necessarily pay any more attention to the lessons than he had before all this, he didn’t waste class time by causing a ruckus or picking a fight with Sasuke, nor did he sleep the day away like some honorary Nara. And, miracle of all miracles, Naruto actually deigned to turn in homework assignments. It was honestly astounding. There was a level of maturity and self-awareness to him that had been severely lacking up until the past month.

Of whatever had happened to prompt this change, Naruto hadn’t spoken a word. Anytime Iruka brought it up, Naruto brushed off his concern and quickly distracted him with actual academic questions. As happy as he was for Naruto to be taking his education seriously, every deviation in previous behaviors only served to fuel his worry. Something had to have occurred to have made such a profound effect on his student. If only he knew what.

***

Naruto ignored the droning of the teacher’s voice and focused on the pen and paper in front of him, tongue poking out the side of his mouth and a look of intense concentration on his face. He didn’t have anything against Iruka-sensei, far from it in fact, since Iruka-sensei was one of the few who even tried to treat him like a normal kid. But this was loads more interesting than history lessons.

And just what was it that had so captured his attention? Seals. Or rather, in this case, one specific seal, drawn over and over again until he could draw it out consistently as well as flawlessly. For as basic as this particular seal was, seals as a whole were both intricate and delicate, hence the need for repeated practice. This was something that really needed to be done with a brush, but since Naruto was currently at the academy and, from his hazy memories of covering sealing scrolls and explosive tags, would likely get in trouble if caught messing with seals unsupervised, he had to make do. Bringing a brush to class would be much too suspicious. No way was he going to let anyone, not even Iruka-sensei, prevent him from learning something so cool.

He continued drawing while mentally reciting the function of each component. This was a simple timed trap seal, meant to freeze an opponent in place for a short period of time. Naruto grinned just thinking of the pranking potential. Or even better, if he was able to place it sneakily, he could use it to finally kick that bastard’s butt in a spar.

Honestly, why was no one teaching this at the academy? It actually made a lot of sense and Naruto seemed to have a knack for it. And wasn’t that a novel idea? That he was actually good at something? It wasn’t like he had any talent for genjutsu, and there was no one he could practice his taijutsu with. Ninjutsu wasn’t so bad, except the bunshin was basically impossible and it was one of those things that they were always tested on. Everything else they were taught involved a lot of reading, which he usually couldn’t make heads or tails of and it only gave him a headache to try, so he didn’t.

In the end, he supposed it didn’t really matter if the academy was teaching fuinjutsu or not, since he was learning it now, and nobody would expect it when he became a master out of nowhere. Because he was determined to master the art of sealing. He wanted it. He wanted it more than his admittedly childish dream of becoming Hokage. Besides, it wasn’t so much the hat that he wanted, but the recognition and respect that came with it. Not to mention the common decency that no one seemed willing to grant to the no-name orphaned demon brat. The treatment he so desperately wanted by becoming Hokage could just as easily be gained by becoming a master in an obscure shinobi art.

Naruto shook off his heavy thoughts and switched to drawing explosive seals. He had to get the basics down or else he’d never be able to move on to making custom seals.

As soon as class let out for the day, Naruto skittered out the door faster than a rabbit with a cat on its tail, entirely ignoring the two sets of contemplative eyes that trailed after him. He raced home bubbling with giddy excitement. In short order he was sprawled out on the floor of his apartment with paper, brushes, and ink. Over the course of the last month his brushwork had improved in leaps and bounds. Now he no longer left ink drips everywhere and his strokes were smooth and even. He smiled in accomplishment at his practice sketches. Maybe when Hinoe came by he could pester her into finally letting him try out the real deal.

“Naruto-kun, you’ve got ink smudges on your face.”

Speak of the devil…

Upon the sill of the window he had left open was an elegant woman dressed in a purple floral kimono, curls of smoke trailing from a thin pipe in her hand. Full lips were painted a blood red, matching eyes highlighted with purple shadow, although one was hidden behind her rich midnight blue hair.

“Hinoe!” Naruto cheered. He jumped to his feet and thrust his paper at her. “Look at this, look at this! I’ve been practicing all day and I think I’ve got it down so can I try activating them now? Please, please, please can I try?”

“So impatient, just like Kushina. You’re always in a hurry,” she chided, but the fond amusement was clear in her voice, so Naruto didn’t take it to heart. Hinoe brought the pipe to her lips, taking a drag, then exhaling a cloud of smoke. “Explain each of the components to me. Let’s make sure all the theory I drilled into your head actually stuck.”

Naruto’s cheeks puffed out in what was absolutely not a pout. “Come on, I can do that in my sleep by now.”

A paper fan appeared out of nowhere to thwack him lightly on the head. “Brat, there’s a reason I made you learn all of that first. This is a dangerous art. Mistakes can be fatal.”

"Fine," Naruto groaned, capitulating and doing as he was told. In all honesty he wasn't that put out. Hinoe was a good teacher and he was so thrilled to actually be learning something that he never complained much. Besides, it was because of her that he was doing so much better at the academy. One of her stipulations for teaching him sealing was that he put at least some effort into his normal schooling. And she was the one who stepped in to help when he struggled with reading.

She nodded in approval at his thorough breakdown of the seal and at last they headed out to forest to practice. They went to the outskirts of Konoha, on the edge of training ground 44. There it was less likely that they'd run into any other shinobi and Hinoe's presence would keep anything else from wandering too close. Naruto had never actually been inside Konoha's famous—or maybe infamous—Forest of Death, but instinct always had him sticking close to Hinoe, fenced off area or not. There was no need to tempt fate, not to mention that there were certain things that could not be stopped by physical barriers.

Naruto was a bit disappointed that Hinoe vetoed his suggestion of testing his exploding tags, however she had a valid point in that the noise could bring unwanted attention. It would have to wait until he learned some privacy seals. Instead, he used his trap seal to practice trapping small animals, rabbits, birds, and the like. Many of them were flighty and quick on their feet, so Naruto had to be careful to hide his presence, then swiftly activate the seal in order to catch them. Only after he had been at it awhile, with a number of failures and successes under his belt, did Hinoe show him how to adjust the seal into a passive trap.

The young ninja-in-training was only slightly miffed that he’d been made to do things the hard way first before being shown a more efficient method. Even he could see the benefit of learning to activate seals quickly on the unsuspecting. Plus, the prankster side of him would always appreciate the masterful use of stealth, surprise, and the delicate art of precision timing.

Armed with a stick and some new sealing knowledge, Naruto sat at the edge of the clearing he had claimed for his own, sketching a newly modified seal into the dirt. He muttered to himself as he went, devoting to memory the new components and their functions.

The chiming of bells coming from everywhere and nowhere at once had Naruto looking around in confusion while Hinoe just gave an exasperated huff. The clearing was just as empty as it had been from the start and there weren’t any people, human or otherwise, visible through the thick surrounding foliage.

“So this is what you’ve been up to. I’d heard that you’ve been coming to Konoha, but I wasn’t expecting this.”

Naruto looked up to see an enormous bull with a horse head descending from the sky. He—at least it seemed like a he, but Naruto didn’t want to assume because it was often hard to tell with yokai—was dressed in a pale lavender kimono with bells and gold rings dangling from his ears.

He had always been able to see them. Yokai. Ayakashi. Spirits. When he was younger and didn’t know better, he used to ask about the funny creatures he would sometimes see wandering into the village. The matrons at the orphanage, who already hated him, didn’t take too kindly to Naruto pointing at and talking to things that didn’t exist to their eyes. He learned quickly not to mention them. Which honestly wasn’t too difficult. They lurked in the shadows of the trees and the deeper parts of the Naka River, along unseen forest paths and in secret groves. Only the brave or the powerful ventured very far into the developed areas of Konoha. Hinoe said it was because even if they couldn’t see the yokai shinobi could still detect their presence to some extent. Despite the tasty meal shinobi made due to their power, those yokai who liked to eat people prefered to go for easier targets.

Naruto shivered at the thought of being eaten. So far, he had only run into a few yokai like that and only one encounter had been face to face. That had been an awful experience.

As a whole, the yokai weren’t so bad and they didn’t mind his presence too much. He had even befriended some that frequented the lesser used training grounds at the outskirts of the village. At least, after they had stopped running away any time they spotted him. But Naruto had kept coming back because he had sensed in them kindred spirits, filled with the same loneliness that he felt day in and day out. His efforts had eventually born fruit and he had gained his first friends.

So far, he had yet to be given a reason to regret that choice. Not even the incident a month and a half ago, even if it still gave him nightmares. But he had made more friends because of it, including Hinoe, so it still counted as a positive thing in his books.

The female ayakashi blew out a puff of smoke that danced and swirled in the light breeze. She asked, “Did you need something, Misuzu?”

Baring his teeth in an eerie grin, the bull yokai replied, “Is there something wrong with coming to visit an old friend?” Naruto wasn’t sure what to make of him just yet, but admittedly that smile was a bit disturbing.

"Uzumaki-sama!" A cheerful voice called out, breaking the faint air of tension that had unintentionally fallen over the clearing. The two chuukyuu popped up from behind some bushes. "We’ve come to visit you again." Wearing a dopey smile, the ox chuukyuu nodded his head in agreement.

The young boy in question stared at them incredulously. "It’s the middle of the day. Why are you already this drunk?"

"Evening is not far off. All the more reason to continue drinking through the night," said Chobihige as if it was the most normal thing in the world. He sat calmly next to Hinoe with sake in hand.

Naruto pointed at him, shouting, "Where did you come from?!" His question went unanswered as more and more yokai showed up to join the party.

"Hey! I'm supposed to be training!" an annoyed Naruto yelled at them.

Too lost in the revelry and the prospect of copious amounts of sake, most of the newcomers ignored the fuming boy. Hinoe, sending a regretful glance towards the others—or rather the sake, compromised by agreeing to help Naruto with his homework. So they sat just off to the side of the revelers and their merrymaking as Hinoe tried to drill some shinobi history into Naruto’s unwilling skull.

From the other side of the clearing, nearly forgotten, Misuzu continued to watch the boy with a curious, searching gaze.

[beans-shadow]

looking for the truth (pt 10)

Fandom: Naruto

Relationship: Kakasaku

Characters: Hatake Kakashi, Haruno Sakura

read on ao3: here

part one / two / three / four / five / six / seven / eight / nine / ten / eleven / twelve / thirteen

Kakashi and Sakura finally figure out about the Mountain Stream's plan.

---

When Kakashi woke, he felt a strange weight pressing down on his bare chest. He tried to remain calm, keep his eyes closed, and scan out for what his aggressor was trying to do.

But there was a distinct lack of movement around him, and no foreign chakra signatures. Still motionless, from habit Kakashi opened only his right eye. He stilled when he saw Sakura’s arm draped over his body, her face pointing towards his shoulder, causing little winds of breath to brush on him. Somehow, during the night, they had shifted. Kakashi was baffled, as he typically never moved when he slept.

First, he sleeps through the night; now, he moved around in bed?

He started to sweat slightly, worried his revelation last night was the cause of this behavior. He’d thought with admitting his feelings, he could get over his attraction to Sakura, but it seemed his body had different ideas. His mind as well; all night, he dreamt they led a calm life, simply caring for dogs and herbal medicines, without having to worry about the call of their Hokage. It was blissful, and Kakashi longed for that feeling again.

He supposed he could enjoy her arm around him as a momentary replacement.

Trying not to be too creepy, Kakashi gazed lazily and happily at the sleepy-headed ninja. A small smile on her face, she snored through some captivating dream of her own. All the worry of impressing Tsunade as a protégé, living up to Naruto’s heroics, and moving past Sasuke’s antics were gone from her face in her peaceful sleep. Kakashi could see passed her all walls now: and there she was, the strong, fearsome, amazing Sakura. A world-renowned medic-nin, intelligent beyond belief, and with a well of chakra reserve that Kakashi envied. Hard to those she first meets, always trying to prove herself, but soft and caring to those she trusted. Her insecurities from childhood had not left her, but now she adapted them to her own uses, and she only came out more confident because of them.

Her arm pushed on his chest, and she wriggled ever so slightly closer to him. In a state of vulnerability, Kakashi brought free hand up to his face. Slowly, he tugged a finger underneath his mask – he was back to wearing his black one for the night – and started to pull it down. The brush of air on his upper lip was refreshing, and he desperately found himself wanting to expose his face to this pink-haired woman.

Then she snorted, sending a gust of air in Kakashi’s face from the pure force of her nose muscles alone. She twitched in the motion of one waking up, and Kakashi hastily shoved his mask back up. In her half-sleep, Sakura removed her arm from his chest, instead using it to rub her face harshly.

“Grmmph,” she grumbled, removing the sleep from her eyes. While shaking out her hair like a dog’s, Kakashi laughed.

She jumped in the bed, clutching her chest. “Great Kami, Kakashi, don’t scare me like that!”

“Scare you?” He asked, amused. “We’ve been sleeping the same bed for a few days now. Why did I scare you?”

“Hmm... I don’t know,” she replied, confused now. “Guess I’ve just gotten too used to it.” She flipped around, which Kakashi was happy about because it meant she couldn’t see the crinkles by his eyes from his smile at her words.

“What time is it?”

“Dunno,” Kakashi said, folding his hands behind his head, staring at the ceiling.

“You don’t know?” Sakura turned back to him. “You, Kakashi, the man stuck up about being on time whenever we have missions, don’t know the time?”

“What do you mean, I was always late,” Kakashi said, scrunching his forehead. But when he looked at Sakura, he saw the jesting light in her eyes, and rolled his own. “Oh. I see what’s happening here.”

“Not that sharp this morning, are you?” She continued to tease him, punching him on the shoulder. Damn. Kakashi tried not to show how much it hurt when she did that. She really didn’t hold back her strength around other ninja. “What’s gotten into you?”

“Not sure,” Kakashi said, worried now she might go down a line of inquiry too dangerous to navigate. “Guess I figured it didn’t matter what we did, since we can’t do anything without Pakkun’s next report.”

Sakura could not voice her agreement, as with the mention of his name, with a poof the pug appeared at the foot of their bed.  

“Boss!” Pakkun shouted, his body taut with urgency, startling Kakashi. “I snuck in underground. The place is crawling with dirt, scientists, and laboratories. It’s not pretty. There was some shouting, like people were in pain or sorrow. I could smell fear and death down there too, but I had to leave before I was spotted.”

Kakashi let out a growl. “Darn. We won’t be able to infiltrate during any distracting celebration, if there are people in pain. We can’t sit around and wait. We’ll have to make a plan and execute as soon as possible, hopefully tonight. Let’s get ready for the day and start preparations.”

“We should pack up too,” Sakura added, already standing by her side of the bed. There was a dark, grim look on her face. “I have a feeling we won’t be staying the night.”

---

The next few hours went by in a blur. As Kakashi made the bed and packed their clothes, Sakura made shinobi food packets: small food pills with enormous amounts of calories that would last them days if they needed to flee quickly. Kakashi prayed it would not come to that; the pills always took a deep toll on his body after years of ANBU.

During their preparations, Pakkun returned to their inn room. In his mouth was a scroll with the Yamanaka seal.

Dropping it on the table where Kakashi was finishing up on the last backpack, Pakkun said “Found a Konoha messenger bird hiding outside. Assumed it was for you two.”

Sakura dropped her work in the kitchen to sprint over, ripping he scroll from Kakashi’s hand. Unfurling it, her eyes scanned quickly as she deciphered the basic ninja code.

“Well?” Kakashi prompted.

“They did a chemical analysis on the soil,” Sakura said, still reading. “The same as before, since they’ve always been thorough and checked each package upon initial import into the village. But this time, they’ve found traces of hallucinogens in the bacteria, but small levels.” She squinted. “Wait, she said they also reanalyzed after those samples came back, and found the density of the compounds was increasing significantly. After the third analysis, the chemical volume had doubled again.”

“Dammit!” Sakura snarled, throwing the scroll to the side. She crossed her arms. “Something has been activated in the soil being imported, I have no doubt about it.”

“Is that possible?” Kakashi asked, head cocked. “To do a remote biological activation?”

Sakura shook her head. “That’s not what I mean.” Gesturing in the air, she tried to explain. “It’s simply a matter of time. I’m sure this special bacteria Futoshi and the Daimyo can’t stop mentioning has a lifespan. At some point of maturity, bacteria can start releasing different chemicals. These ones probably happen to release some toxic chemical where our bodies respond to it as if it were a psychedelic or psychotic drug.”

Kakashi’s body went cold. “What exactly would it do to us, our village?”

Sakura shook her head again, eyes sorrowful. “We can’t know for sure, without seeing empirical evidence. There are so many compounds out there, with different signs, symptoms, as well as effect manifestation.”

“Empirical evidence?”

Now a look of desperation tossed Kakashi’s way. “As in, waiting to see it affect one of our citizens.”

Kakashi had had enough. “That’s it,” he announced. “We’re not waiting for nightfall. We leave now.”

---

As they ran through the shadows and rooftops, Kakashi’s mind grew darker and darker. From the beginning, this town had seemed almost harmless. Tsunade had mentioned chemical warfare, but Futoshi seemed to dull to think of anything sinister. The Daimyo, while a bad father figure, did not seem to have the capabilities of a direct attack on the most powerful village in the region.

Then Kakashi glanced at Sakura, headband back proudly on her forehead. Her eyes were slits as she concentrated.

She did not seem to have the capabilities of a great shinobi, and she’d proven him wrong.

Goodness knows how many devastating events have occurred due to Kakashi being wrong.

Readying to find something monstrous, Kakashi tightened his fists behind him. Anything was possible, and from what Pakkun described, it sounded awful.

The pug led them through winding pathways until they reached a specific manhole on the outskirts of town. Kakashi tossed the cover to the side, allowing Pakkun and Sakura to dive in before he covered up their disappearance.

The sewer system was pristine in terms of upkeep. There was no source of light, but the walls and pipes were in such good condition, Kakashi wondered where all the workers must be if they had to maintain this constantly.

Sakura was occupied with a different train of thought. “This reminds me of that hidden base of Orochimaru,” she said, rubbing her chin. “People only go to these lengths if they have something they really do not want discovered. Below ground also limits the exposure to sunlight, and keeps temperatures cool. Perfect experimentation climates.”

Kakashi nodded along with her insights. That all made sense, if the Land of Mountain Streams was indeed cooking up some evil bacteria.

“They obviously keep this place extraordinarily clean too,” she mentioned, touching the shining tile work that functioned as the sewer walls. “They must be disinfecting to prevent contamination, given the fact that if these waters were exposed, it would reach every nook and cranny of their village.”

Hmm, Kakashi thought. There was his answer.

Pakkun also agreed. “That’s also why it took me so long to find this place. I kept losing track of the scent. Everything being so hygienic or mixed with cleaning supply fragrances made me go in circles, or find those other vaults. But I finally found the way to what we are looking for.”

After around half an hour more of sewer wandering, Pakkun’s body grew stiff. “We’re close. Time to keep it down.” They become one with the shadows once more, drawing ever nearer to the gray wall Pakkun had described before. It was seamless with its surroundings; airtight, just as Pakkun had said. There was no doorknob visible, or an interface for admission.

The threesome found an indentation that covered their view as they waited for someone to pass through. They waited in absolute silence, barely even breathing, for fifteen more minutes. Then finally a man in a white cloak came down from above, dropping from a sewer ladder. He unsheathed a knife and a berry from his pocket, and stabbed the fruit. With the flick of his wrist, he sprayed the wall with the juice.

With a rumble, the wall started moving. It opened in the middle, mechanisms pulling each door into the walls of the sewer. The doors moved slowly, a mistake the Land of the Mountain streams would soon pay for, Kakashi hoped.

Once the scientist walked through the gate, Pakkun wagged his tail thrice – the signal to move in the count of three seconds.

One, two… Kakashi tapped on Sakura’s shoulder. Three. He ran after Pakkun, trusting Sakura to catch on.

All three swiftly made it to the other side, trusting that the rumbling of the door would cover up any noise they made.

Kakashi took a quick awareness of the room. It was cold and musty, with crawling tubes winding about glassware in some sinister-looking experiments.

On the walls, cabinets overflowed with files and notebooks full of observations. On the other side, tables of sample soils lined the wall, each with different color codes. In the center, clear boards with different chemical equations and mechanisms illustrated the goals of this facility. The scientist from before walked straight across the room into a separate chamber that required a card to be swiped.

Pakkun continued, turning into a separate room, not taking the chance that someone would turn around and find three newcomers. This one smelled of manure and compost, and even Kakashi gagged from under his mask. Barrels of dirt crawled with worms and other composting insects, producing fresh natural products.

At the end of this room, there was a door with a keypad. “This is as far as I got last time, but I know the how to get in.” Kakashi picked up Pakkun, allowing him to push in the code he’d seen someone else enter prior. With a hiss, the doors opened with a creak. Shouts and screams filled Kakashi’s ears..

In a series of clicks, lights above them turned on, making their way down the hallway. It lit up a passageway, blinding Kakashi as he eyes adjusted to the brightness.

Forcing his body to advance, Kakashi made his way forward to inspect the objects in the room.

There were humans trapped in these cages, which Kakashi presumed were one-way glass, as they did not even indicate they saw Kakashi, Sakura, and Pakkun watching them. In the middle were classical metal bars separating the two subjects. One woman was curled in the corner, crying to the other.

The other, man, had a dead look in their eyes, his face completely relaxed. But he groped through the bars, reaching for the other. He tried to rip off the bars, trying his hardest to break through, but nothing was working. It was not the attempt to reunite with his lover, friend, whatever they were. It was something dark and dangerous.

The small woman cried to him. “Please, stop! Snap out of it!” But the man seemed to not hear her at all, and just kept reaching for her.

Sakura tapped Kakashi on the shoulder, and he turned to look farther down the hallway. He stopped breathing.

For as long as he could see, these cells lined the walls. Some were empty, but most were occupied. The one next to the woman and man had three people – two fighting back against one who kept punching, kicking, and biting. They screamed in pain, pushing off the man, but he kept approaching them no matter how much damage he took.

Slam!

Kakashi flinched as someone rammed themselves against the glass in the adjacent cell. Blood remained where their head had made contact, but they did not seem to care. They kept running themselves into the walls, not reacting in the slightest.

Sakura and Kakashi kept walking down, Pakkun in toe, disgusted and repelled by every sight. In some cages, Kakashi also saw recently deceased collapsed on one another, their bodies still bleeding.

“Pakkun, it’s time for you to go,” Kakashi whispered. The pug nodded, and unsummoned himself.

It seemed that the Daimyo was having people fight each other, despite their previous relationships and affiliations. Although it did not appear to be by force, some unnatural aspect was at hand here.

It did not click until Kakashi saw someone sobbing over a mutilated body, asking for forgiveness.

“Why? Why did this happening?” The woman cried, caressing the face of another woman. “Dear sister, who did this to you?”

“The bacteria…” Kakashi said. Sakura’s head turned. “You said it was a hallucinogen?”

Sakura nodded. “Of a sort.”

“What if… it’s making people’s senses change? As in, affecting what they perceive as loved ones?”

Sakura watched the sister arch her back over her sister, whom she must have killed in self-defense. “That’s entirely possible. But horrific.”

The door opened on the other side of the sister’s cell, and she looked up in a panic, running to the wall with Sakura and Kakashi. She plastered herself against the glass, to no avail.

In walked the Daimyo himself, clapping. Three scientists clad in coats followed him, taking quick notes on their clipboards. “Well, you survived her attack. Thank you, this was our most successful experiments, and most informative.”

“What’s wrong with you?” The woman spat, breathing heavily. “Please, just let me go. I just want to go home.”

The Daimyo shook his head. “Well, that’s just unfortunate. Because you’ve been exposed as well.”

The woman shook her head. “No, I saw what you did to her! I never got injected!”

The Daimyo rubbed his head. “Oh, boy, am I really wrong?” He looked at his scientists innocently, who remained impassive in their stares back. “I, the Lord of the Mountain Streams, am wrong?”

He started walking towards the woman. The fear was evident in the her, as she cowered even more, visible tremors shaking her body. He brushed her hair to the side.

“You see, we’ve been treating you alright, haven’t we? Keeping you fed down here, giving you a nice place to sleep? In exchange of seeing your sister?”

Finding an ounce of courage, the woman slapped his hand away. “Just to pin her down and give her a dose of some weird shit, you animal!”

The Daimyo stared at his hand, and then tutted. “Well, I kept my word, didn’t I? You still got to see her.” He walked to the dead body, kicking it. “She reacted fast to the drug, but you… you’ve proven that all of our planning has worked. That our time is near, and my revenge will be coming soon.”

The woman clenched her fists. “Excuse me?”

The Daimyo snapped his fingers, and a scientist quickly scampered up to him and pointed to some data on his clipboard. “Well, from our calculations, you should be reacting to the same chemical in your food in just a few minutes.”

Kakashi’s blood went cold.

“See you,” the Daimyo fluttered his fingertips, and let the stunned woman come to terms with his words. He exited, the doors closing taking the last ounce of hope from the woman, who collapsed on the ground in tears.

Not being able to bear watching this any longer, Kakashi ran.

“Kakashi!” Sakura shouted after him. But he did not care. This man had to pay. Torture, human experiments, manipulation? It was disgusting. The cages all around him turned into blurs, mixing into one another. They conglomerated together into one massive pile of unrestrained, unintentional betrayal.

He slowed down until he finally reached the end of the massive hall, where a door waited Kakashi to tear down. As he was preparing his hand motions, he glanced to his side.

A knife in his hand, a man wept as he stood near the wall of his cell. Another man with countless scratches, cuts, and bruises picked himself up from the floor by the opposite wall. As before, the first man was pleading as he cried, to no avail. It was obvious this infection took away any self-control or awareness in the specimen. Pain receptors appeared to be blocked as well, as even as blood dripped around him, the man stood up with no problem and began lurching to the other in puppeteer motions.

“I’m sorry!” The man yelled, and in one quick thrust, stabbed the other man in the stomach with such force the knife protruded out of the man’s back. The lifeless figure fell limp on his arm, any sense of soul seeping away. They fell to the ground together, and the man clutched his cellmate in anguish.

With that, Kakashi’s mind went black.

The holding cells around him disappeared, fading into darkness. He was just a body, suspended in by some unknown force. Then his hand, by its own volition, brought itself in to the air. Shaking violently, sparks flashed around his palm, drifting into the abyss and eventually fading away. Light flickered around his fingertips, soon joined by the sharp chirping of birds. Eyes widening, Kakashi wondered how this jutsu could be summoned; he did not feel any expenditure of chakra.

In a flash, his hand disappeared as well. His arm was stuck in a black wall, sticky and wet all around. Every movement of his arm, elicited a groan of pain and despair, and Kakashi froze.

Fearing the worst, Kakashi bent his neck upward. Brown eyes full of desperation looked above at the darkened sky, filling with tears. Kakashi’s Sharingan pulsed as he came to terms with what just happened.

“Rin, no!” He fully extracted his arm from her chest, causing Rin to fall backwards with no grace. Crumbling to his knees, Kakashi clutched his face in his hands. “I didn’t mean to! I didn’t mean no! I’m so sorry! Rin!”

Shaking his head violently, Kakashi tried to remove the picture from his mind. But it persevered, and the more Kakashi fought it, the clearer it became. The Mist Ninja plot, the pain of losing Obito. It all came crashing down on Kakashi, magnified by his lingering guilt.

“I’m so sorry!” He cried. “Obito, Rin!”

“Kakashi!” A distant voice was yelling out for him, but Rin’s body still lay motionless in front of him, taunting his failure in keeping his promise to keep her safe. His body shook, the shock overtaking him. He couldn’t protect Obito, so and he couldn’t protect Rin when she’d needed him the most. Everyone close to him died eventually.

Minato, Obito, Jiraiya, Kushina, Asuma… the list went on and on. A legendary ninja, he wasn’t. He was a failure of a friend, a failure of a ninja, a failure of a person, a failure…

“Kakashi!”

Someone was shaking him, and relenting, Kakashi removed his hands from his eyes. A medic nin peered down at him, where he lay on the floor, curled up in a ball.

“Kakashi, what’s the matter with you? Who are Obito and Rin?” Hands attempted to uncurl him, but his muscles felt paralyzed and refused to move.

“Rin?” Kakashi asked. He reached out to the woman. “Is that you?”

“This isn’t good,” she muttered, looking around. Dragging Kakashi by the shirt behind her, she ripped open the door and stepped through the threshold. It was cold and damp in this room, and Kakashi leaned against the wall, still in anguish.

A soft, calming light glittered around his chest, his shoulders, his face. The person in front of him was still blurry, with the wall the only object in the room Kakashi could focus on. Under his breath, he kept whispering. “I’m sorry, I never meant to. I swear. I swear…”

Swearing to the side, the medic-nin turned off her healing chakra. Instead, she took his face in her hands, and tried to get him to look at her. His eyes felt heavy and lazy, jostling all around until he finally tied himself to her emerald beacons. Emerald. She wasn’t Rin. Rin didn’t have green eyes. These eyes were beautiful, some of the most beautiful eyes he’d ever seen. Only one person held these eyes.

“S…Sakura?”

Her eyes creased, tears clustering in the corners. “Kakashi,” she cried, and wrapped her arms around him. “I was so scared, I couldn’t find anything wrong with you, I thought you’d gotten infected too.”

Still semi-paralyzed against the wall, he simply nuzzled his nose into her shoulder. “No, no… I’m so sorry, that’s never happened to me before. I don’t even know what happened.”

She pulled away, and Kakashi missed her soft hair against his cheek. It was so calming.

“Kakashi, I think you just had a PTSD episode,” she said, turning on her medical-voice. “have you ever had one before?”

“PTSD?”

“Post-traumatic stress disorder. After a traumatic event, sometimes the body relives the memory after triggers, can also causes insomnia and nightmares. Has that ever happened to you?”

Silent, Kakashi moved his mouth. He did, but he figured it was just guilt plaguing him. “I–”

With a crash, a door on the opposite side of the room burst oopen. The Daimyo, full of glory and fury, stood there with his entourage.

A look of shock flashed on his face, but then he took in Kakashi’s Jonin uniform.

“Leaf ninja,” he spat.

Scrambling to her feet, Sakura placed herself in a fighting stance. Kakashi remained motionless on the ground, adrenaline from his episode draining away.

“Mr. Hate and Ms. Haru,” the Daimyo continued. “I should have known. There was always something off about you two.”

“Something off about us?” Sakura asked, dumbfounded. “We aren’t the ones conducting illegal experiments!”

The Daimyo smirked. “That you know about, poor girl. Every village has its secrets.”

Arm quaking in effort, Kakashi lifted himself up to a crouch. Grimacing, he shouted at the Daimyo. “What is the meaning of all of this? I thought your people were peaceful, simply caring for your land. You lied to us, lied to everyone.” He pointed all around him, his voice growing louder with each word.

“When did I lie?” The Daimyo shouted back. “Us Mountain Stream people are the caretakers of special bacteria that enhances the soil here. But we also developed a way to take that bacteria that cultivated the land and turn it sour, contaminating the food and disrupting people’s cognitive abilities, making them recognize their loved ones as enemies.” He laughed. “That’s how we really issued our ultimatum to make Fire and Earth leave us alone. They could either perish, or leave us be.”

“But what’s the point now?” Emotion broke through in Kakashi’s voice. “If you wanted to be let be, why all of this torture, this planning, this experimentation? It’s inhumane!”

The Daimyo stepped forward, pointing accusatory at Kakashi. “Inhumane? Inhumane? You want to talk about what’s inhumane?” His eyes were seeing red. “How about your own village! You leaf ninja murdered my wife in cold blood, without reason. There was no retribution, or apologies. You are all heathens, living without care for the rest of the world! You do not think about the impact of who else you affect outside of your own precious village.”

What? Kakashi traced his memories, and one faded, muddled in alcohol broke through. Sakura had found out as much after her arm wrestling session.

Kakashi shook his head. That incident, he remembered learning about it, a long time ago.

Sarutobi sensei had called it a tragic accident; the leaf ninja’s target had been some high-profile politician seeking asylum in this land. Mistaking the Daimyo’s wife as the target, they’d killed her. They’d been rebuked, but Sarutobi could not bring anyone back to life, and left the incident as just that – a mistake that meant nothing to the Leaf.

It was just like Nagato’s situation. A small mistake from the Leaf was about to cost them their entire home.

It was true; Leaf Village, as the Daimyo said, was not the straightest arrow. But right now, Kakashi’s home was in danger, and he would protect the village with his life, as was his duty.

Shaking his head, Kakashi focused on the evil man. “The moral of a story often depends on the temper of the man telling it. You do not have all of the facts,” he spat at the Daimyo.

“I have all the facts that I think are necessary!” The Daimyo yelled. “And now everything you love will perish, as mine did.”

Kakashi felt a tug on his arm. Sakura jutted her head to the exit. “There’s no point in staying here any longer,” Sakura said, teeth tight. “The longer we stay, the deeper the infestation gets back in the village. We have to go.”

Knowing she was correct, Kakashi let her pull him towards the door.

“Oh, no you don’t!” The Daimyo shouted. Gesturing at his scientists, he commanded, “get them!”

Utterly confused at what they could do, the scientists looked at each other, and back at the ninja.

Rolling his eyes, Kakashi stepped through the doorframe. Then something caught his eye. Boxes labeled ready for export lined the room from floor to ceiling. They were in a storage room.

While Kakashi knew they should leave, he could not leave without doing something. Recalling the proper jutsu, Kakashi made the hand signs for the Uchiha’s fireball, releasing it around him. The spoil ignited, the fertilizer exploding in horrid smells. The scientists behind him crawled back through their door, screaming, as they ran away in fright. As the bacteria perished around him, flames lighting up his face, the Lord shook his head as he backed away.

“Good effort, but the damage is already done. I will have my revenge, and—”

In a pink flash, Sakura ran up to the Daimyo and clipped him on the side with a high kick. He fell over, landing in a pile of burning fertilizer.

Kakashi, aghast, gaped at her.

Emerald eyes cold and serious, she beckoned Kakashi. “We have no more time left to lose. Come on.”

When Sakura became this serious, Kakashi knew there was nothing he could do but follow orders, or feel the wrath of the mini Tsunade. With a nod, he followed the pink-haired shinobi, and together the two of them vanished back into the sewers, and out of the village, into the forest.

[sns-tropes]

fic: my heart held in your hands - chapter 1

summary:   The war is over and Sasuke finally comes home. But Konoha wont let a missing-nin back into their midst without leashing him first. Naruto sticks by his side the whole time.

pairing: sasuke/naruto (ninja!verse) post-698

rating: Mature

word count: 3,778

warnings: angst, hurt/comfort, panic attacks, eventual explicit content in later chapters

It was easy for Naruto. For some reason he couldn't feel any pain where he’d lost an arm. There was a ghosted feeling where it should be, giving him the impression that it was truly detached from the rest of him. It wasn't his priority. He reached over, sitting up with effort he didn't know he had left in him. He took Sasuke’s hand in his. He was mirrored. Their arms. Gone. It felt so foolish now. He knew that their battle was inevitable. But this one was so much different. This one held a certain hopeful light at the end of the tunnel that this truly was the very last strain. He wasn’t going to cry. But he felt like he could, just from relief alone.

Sasuke wasn't going to pull his hand away from Naruto. He didn't flinch in the slightest. He just tightened his grip on Naruto’s hand with what little strength he had left.

“Does it hurt?” Naruto asked him, nodding towards his missing limb.

He squeezed Naruto's hand tighter. “Not so much.”

Sakura and Kakashi were coming up over the ruble that laid on the field  from their destructive ways.

She healed them the best that she could. Naruto's arm was blown to bits. Unrecoverable. She stopped the bleeding and sealed the wound with ease. Sasuke’s could be salvaged. But just when Sakura gave the impression that she would reattach it, he stopped her.

“I don't want it.”

She looked confused, maybe a little hurt. She didn't understand. Probably couldn't if she tried.  She opened her mouth yet no words came. She looked to Kakashi for any sign. To help her make sense of it.

“Leave it, Sakura.” He told her, knowingly.

She sighed with a bittersweet smile. Her eyes might have been watering, but it didn't matter. She had her friends back and they were alive. It was enough. Even though there was a indecipherable pang of alarm in her heart when her gaze fell on their intertwined hands. Still, it was enough.

It was going to be a long road to recovery. For them and everyone else who made it.

And Naruto hated hospitals.

The last time Naruto was in a hospital with Sasuke they ended up fighting on the roof. And not for sport. Sasuke had something to prove back then. He was just as determined as Naruto. When it came to showing what he was worth, he only seemed to take one person into account. Whether he realized it or not.

Shikamaru walked through the door and into the shared hospital room. It was Naruto’s request. Sasuke didn't protest. He probably didn't want to let him out of his sight again. Oddly he felt inclined to comply with Naruto's wishes, which was fairly new to him.

Shikamaru placed two cups of coffee on the side table. Sakura said they shouldn't have any while they're healing. But Naruto craved it just because she said he couldn't. Sasuke never cared much for it, but sipped it nonetheless.

He stood there in between their beds, nose twitching at the strong smell of linen and antiseptic.

“Hn. Haven't had this view in a while.”

Sasuke and Naruto couldn't help but turn their heads to look at each other.

“You guys are ridiculous.” He scoffed lightheartedly. He might have been laughing at them. No, he was definitely laughing at them. “Oh man, and you did it to yourselves too.”

They really have no room for a comment. He's not wrong. They did do this to each other. They fought, and screamed, and cried, and bled. They've handicapped each other. But Naruto wouldn't change any of it. Not a single moment of it.

He was about to leave and he stopped at the doorway. His expression hardened and he turned to Sasuke.

“It's good to see you, Sasuke.” He meant it. He really did. “But some advice; not everyone in the village  can say the same.”

A warning. Sasuke would be stupid to take it lightly.

Upon his leave, Naruto looked worried. “I hadn't thought about that.” He whispered to Sasuke as he fiddled with the sheets.

“It's not  your problem. Don't worry.” He stated simply.

“It is my problem. I am worried.” Naruto wasn't used to this. Neither of them were. The battle and the injuries and even the resolve had made them so open and raw. And they didn't really know what to do about that.

“Idiot. Nothing I can't handle.”

Naruto knew that. He knew Sasuke could handle it. He could handle anything. But that knowledge didn't reassure him like he wished it did.

They heal quick like always and they're out of the hospital fast and easy.

Sasuke insisted on living in the Uchiha  compound. He vowed to fix anything that needed to be tended to by hand and maintain it. Naruto thought it was a bad idea, because this was to start over not go backwards. Anything that caused pain was unnecessary.

Naruto could almost feel how heavy Sasuke’s heart was as he stood next to him behind the yellow tape and boarded up archway.

He watched Sasuke go, treading lightly behind him.

It's all dust and cobwebs and caked up dirt. Sasuke spends a lot of time in the yards, trying to will himself to enter his childhood home. It's been so long. He looked like he struggling, forcing himself to go in. Naruto steps in front of him.

“Don't force if it doesn't feel right.” Naruto told him carefully.

Sasuke regards him with a scoff, and then flees away from his gaze. He knows he means well but it's not enough to ease his impatience. He is forcing himself and he's fully aware of it.

He walks inside through the main doors. He wants to be fine but Naruto always sees right through his strains.

He doesn't go in his or Itachi's bedroom. It doesn't feel like he's supposed to. He's back here but he still wants to lock it all away.

He's walking through the home when suddenly it sneaks up on him. He can still see feint bloodstains on the hardwood flooring. This is where it happened, and he hasn't looked at it since.

He drops down to his knees, fingertips dragging across the stains. His chest is tight and he can't tell if it's the beginning of a cry.

Naruto crowds in behind him. His chin resting on his shoulder and his only arm draping around the other. An awkward hug to say the least.

“Do you forgive him?” Comes the sudden whisper in Sasuke’s ear.

Sasuke doesn't have to think about it. “I do.” He sighs shakily.

They sit like that for a moment touching those horrible stains before Naruto pulls him up.

They leave quietly. Sasuke goes agrees to live with Naruto in his apartment just like he said he wouldn't.

They both sat in the empty council room, waiting for their former teacher and newly appointed hokage.

He looked at the both of them sat side by side. One arm missing from each.

“You two look ridiculous.”

Everyone seemed to be saying that lately.

“Hey!” Naruto stood up suddenly. “They're battle scars! We look like hardened men of war.”

“Please stop.” Sasuke quipped. Naruto could almost feel Sasuke rolling his eyes.

Kakashi took a seat and he started to brief them on what to expect in the next few months. Most of it was boring. All business. War aftermaths.

“Sasuke,” Kakashi grabbed his attention. “The council expressed to me… Very aggressively, that they worry about your residence here in the village. Regardless of your helpful part in the war efforts.”

Sasuke didn't speak, he knew there was more that Kakashi had to say. He wasn't surprised by any of it.

Naruto found himself dejected as he wished they had their hands. Just so he could take Sasuke's in his.

“They've regarded my favoring of you, which I obviously do, as grounds of accusation for me dismissing any crimes that they might find you guilty of.”

If he had to endure any kind of imprisonment, he would surely leave before they could enforce it. Naruto knew that. Kakashi knew that. It was unspoken.

“So with that said, I've requested a pardon due to your assistance to the village. It was voted on. In your favor. By a landslide.”

Sasuke leaned back in his chair, suddenly feeling very old. “And the catch?” He questioned.  Because there was always a catch.

Kakashi smirked. “Supervision.”

“What the fuck does that entail?” He spouted out.

“What kind of supervision?” Naruto scoffed, squinting at Kakashi.

“STOP while you're ahead. Both of you.” He focuses on Naruto. “They've taken into account that you two will be living together in close quarters, and that has eased them. However, because of previous lapses in judgment on your part, they require a weekly inspection,” he held up air quotes on ‘inspection,’ which made Naruto's stomach suddenly  hurt.

“It's a check up. To make sure Sasuke stays in line.”

“Well they're wasting their damn time.” Sasuke told him nonchalantly. Sasuke knew he didn't need any babysitting. He didn't mind Naruto so much, that was fine. But weekly check ups? That just felt like pure ridicule. In fact he might be more stable now than he's ever been. He still had a lot to work on, but he was trying.

“This is excessive.” Naruto added. Normally Naruto wouldn't protest as long as he got his way. But he didn't want Sasuke to feel like the village miscreant. It's not exactly a good start.

Kakashi laughed at him, and both of their heads snapped up. “You're complaining? You're literally going to be with Sasuke twenty-four-seven. And it's council-ordered. This is like a wet dream for you, Naruto.”

For once, Naruto had nothing to say. It felt futile to protest, in fear that he might just mess this whole thing up. Sasuke noticed the flush on his face. Naruto's reaction was comforting to him  in a strange, unfamiliar way.

“And as for your arms, Tsunade is nearly finished with the prosthetics.”

For some reason, neither of them had much of a reaction to that information. Naruto didn't care about his arm. He would figure it out. Sasuke didn't care for his either. The prosthetics were insisted upon by Sakura and Tsunade.

“Is that all?” Sasuke asked.

“Yeah, that's all. You can go to your love-nest now. Expect a visit by noon tomorrow.” Kakashi cackled.

Naruto leaned over to mumble in Sasuke’s space. “He's enjoying this.”

“Of course he fucking is.”

"And Sasuke…” Kakashi started ominously, “this is a second chance. At everything. Don't mess it up.”

Sasuke liked Shikamaru’s advice better.

Sasuke thinks Naruto's apartment suits him perfectly. It’s organized but somehow cluttered at the same time. Like everything is its proper place, but so many of his belongings are just unnecessary.

Not that it mattered to Sasuke. He didn't have that many belongings so he didn't require much room. However he didn't take the apartments setup into account. It's a single room. Bed on one side, kitchen on the other. Door to the bathroom. Privacy was obviously going to be a foreign concept in here.

It was already dark out and Naruto was heating some water. Sasuke sat at the small table and watched as he poured it into two cups of ramen. It was difficult to do one handed, but like everything else, he manages.

“When do you sleep?” Naruto asked.

“Rarely.” Sasuke mumbled.

“You ass. I meant what time?”

Sasuke shrugs. Naruto decides not to press further. He twirls his noodles around with his chop sticks. He just looks so… depressed. And Naruto is not used  to that. Maybe cynical, sure. Angry, yeah. Rude? Cold shoulder? Insulting? Always.

But this look of sadness. That's not something he wants to see.

“Don't look at me like that.” Sasuke hissed.

Naruto was taken aback, dropping his chopsticks into the cup. “Look at you like what?”

“Like you feel sorry for me.”

“I don't.”

It wasn't that he felt sorry for Sasuke because he didn't. He felt pure regret. He wanted him to be okay. Because before he ever cared about his own happiness, he wanted it for Sasuke more. Maybe if he could have shown him that, things would have turned out differently. It's hard to make him understand that he knows what he's feeling. He's been to that dark place. Feeling rejected, cast out, and alone.

“I don't feel sorry for you. But you're always shouldering everything by yourself. Don't you get tired of it?” He rasped. This was Naruto's way of being subtle. And he was very, very bad at it. Beating around the bush never got either of them anywhere.

“You're the same. Should you really be asking me that?” He retorted.

And he was right.

“I want you to be okay.” He didn't think those words would be as difficult to say as they felt. It came out without much thought, but thankfully he didn’t regret saying it. He was sure of himself.

Sasuke let out the loudest sigh Naruto has ever heard. “I am okay.”

“Are you though? This is… All so fucking weird and I just feel like you're gonna snap at any given moment.”

Sasuke was prone to sudden outbursts and occasional maniacal laughter. But thankfully this time it was soft. Soft, reassuring laughter.

“I'm not gonna snap.” He's smiling. Naruto loved it when he smiled. It might be his favorite in the whole world. “I'm okay. More than I have been.”

“Well, good!” Naruto felt flustered now. “Now eat your damn food. I'll tie you up and force feed you. I'm so serious.”

“I believe you.” Sasuke rolled his eyes and forced himself to take several bites of his food.

Surprisingly, Sasuke didn't feel as awkward as he thought he would when he settled down into Naruto's bed.

He's never really slept through the night. Sometimes he doesn't sleep at all. Just rests his body while his mind stays awake. He was aware that things weren't heathy that way, but he had been so obsessive back then. His guard was always up.

He's trying. He's really trying to be normal again. Not that he was ever abnormal, maybe just a little erratic.

He's tired of dreaming of Itachi when he shuts his eyes and let's his mind drift once in a while. As he closes his eyes He tries to will himself to think of something else. Anything else. Because even though he got to see his brother one last time, albeit his withering corpse-like appearance, he still feels like there is something unfinished.

Even though he looked him in the eyes and told him how much he loves him, there is still a hollow cold space in his heart that he can never seem to be rid of. Sometimes, rarely, he finds himself wishing that Itachi would have taken his life as well. He dreams of his small child-like self  laid out across the smooth boards of their compound next to his parents, decorated with crimson, never to wake again. But these dreams, they don't feel like nightmares. When he wakes, it feels like maybe that's how things were supposed to be. Sometimes he still wants to die. He never really cared for what happens to him after all of his intentions came to fruition.

There's a rustle in the blankets, and a blond head of hair is turning over in the softness of the pillows. Sasuke can see the bright shining blue of his eyes as clear as ever in the gleam of the moons light. He feels like they're 8 years old again. Back then, on the planks of the dock, Naruto's eyes felt like the most comforting thing in the world. It seems that they still haven't lost that spark from all those years ago. It dispels his thoughts of Itachi and death.

“I can't sleep.” Naruto whispers. He doesn't know why he whispers, it's only them.

“Count sheep.” He whispers back.

"You can't sleep either.” He smiles. “Do you get nightmares and stuff?”

Sasuke is not going to answer that question at all. But he's sure the answer shows on his face.

“I get them too.” Naruto sighs, and his smile is gone. “About you.”

“What about me?” He can't help but ask.

“You're always dying.” He jostles the covers around a little. He might have just gotten a little closer. Sasuke can't be too sure. “You're always dying and I'm powerless. Every time… I wake up I don't  know if you’re okay, or if you…” His breath hitches. “We're hurt, or even alive.”

Sasuke feels guilt suddenly. Guilt that he's felt so rarely that it was easy for him to push it back down in the past. He’s hurt Naruto. Not on purpose, never on purpose. But through circumstance. Either he was trying to kill him or make him his very last priority. He's been horribly inconsistent with him and he's never regretted it more in this very moment. He doesn't want to hurt him anymore.

“When I started thinking about it too much… it was like  I couldn't breathe.” He scooted. Always closer. “I just can't believe that you're actually here with me…”

Sasuke was still silent. It was hard to talk back. Because he knew he would say something that he could never live down. It looked like Naruto was shaking. It looked like maybe it was happening now, given that Naruto's breathing seemed irregular.

“I'm sorry- I'm sorry I'll stop. Just- sorry.” And he's turning around and away from Sasuke.

Sasuke stops him. Pulls him closer. He was never one for words. Not really. He tugged at Naruto and pulled him to his chest. Naruto folded into him like it was the only thing he's ever really wanted from him.

Sasuke can't remember that last time he had a hug. A proper one. This felt like more than that. It pains him to think that he could have always had this. He's missed Naruto more than he ever though possible. Because No matter where he went, no matter the people he knew, no one would ever love him as much as Naruto. It was so unconditional, and even though it may have taken him forever, he's finally starting to understand why.

He feels a soft tremble and slight hitch of breath from Naruto.

“Are you crying?” He asks Naruto without ridicule.

“Yeah. Guess I am. A little.” Naruto laughs. He's never been more relieved in his life. Sasuke is here with him, alive and breathing and in his arms. He has his best friend back. He's never given up, but he never knew if his determination would reach a resolve. He didn't know if he would really be able to keep going, keep fighting, if Sasuke wasn't going to be  at the end of his road.

He is. He's here.

Sasuke holds him tight, pressing his chest against him, his only arm wrapped around him  completely. It feels nice to touch Naruto. For the first time in a long time he's touching him without hurting him. There's no intent to strike or burn or injure and it's so relieving that it's come to this.

“I'm not leaving.” Sasuke says in his ear. “Not this time.” There's a slight painful veer in in his soft tone. Naruto is dozing, but notices and huffs out a distressed breath.

He means it. Naruto almost doesn't believe what he hears. But the silence that follows is somehow reassuring. Sasuke's hand running softly though his hair, is all the convincing he needs.

It's still taking some getting used to. He doesn't know if he'll be able to touch him like this regularly without hesitation. But he feels like Naruto needs the comfort, and he has to start somewhere.

They fall asleep like that. Real sleep. The kind where they don't wake up with a cold sweat and a racing heart. The kind where in the morning, you don't want to get out of bed. The kind that Naruto hoped would come every night after this one.

As Naruto’s consciousness ebbs away he can't help but have his last thought be a troublesome one. The thought that Sasuke could disappear again is so real in his mind. But he saves it for later. Puts it off. He'll put a lot of things off if just to have this a little longer.

It's late. And while there's two scarred up and battle worn shinobi fast asleep under a blanket, Sakura is across the village knocking on the hokage’s office door.

She's antsy and impatient. The relief she thought she would feel when Sasuke returned home has slowly ebbed into anxious worry over the passing hours.

“Come in.” Comes a muffled voice from behind the door.

Sakura opens the door and strides over to Kakashi’s desk, taking a place in the chair in front of him.

He's trifling through paperwork, stacks and stacks of it. He lifts his gaze to regard her twisted expression.

"Stressed?" he asks her sarcastically.

She doesn't waste any time. “The tapes are broken at the Uchiha compound.” She says expectantly, waiting for him to answer.

"So they are.” He tufts. “You should've figured they would be.”

She makes a small humming sound.

"Don't worry.” He says, finally looking up at her properly. “He's with Naruto. He's living with him for now.”

It doesn't ease her thoughts.

“They'll kill each other.” She scoffs. “Sooner or later.” She doesn't like the way the words sound when they leave her mouth.

“Don't jinx it.” He says, like he isn't taking her seriously.

“How can you think this is a good idea?” She asks him incredulously, crossing her arms.

He puts his pen down and leans back in his seat.

“I'm the last person to baby anyone. You know that.”

She waits for him to continue, becoming more fidgety by the second. He has that tone like she's being excessive or ridiculous.

“He needs to heal. Make up for all the lost time. And most importantly find his purpose. He's in limbo right now. And We both know Naruto is more than capable of helping him get there.”

She sighs out frustrated. “I… Know. But it seems…”

“It seems like you're paranoid. And tired. So get some sleep and let me worry about the rest.”

She hates being cut off, but she could never argue with Kakashi. It's just not something she does. So she leaves his office trying to to convince herself that this is for the best.

It doesn't work.

[offansandflames]

Home

Sasuke has finally returned to Konoha. Amidst public ridicule, harassment, and disdain, can he still call this place his home? Canon compliant to chapter 698

He thought he remembered, momentarily, why he'd hated this village so damned much. Of course, other than the fact that certain decisions made here had resulted in the massacre of his entire family.

The strident sunshine offered the most cloying cacophony with his current mood, and he was glad to see the sun set. He felt a migraine coming his way, and the bright but waning sunlight was an affront to his vision. After all the abuse he'd put his eyes through in recent years, it was no wonder he was prone to headaches.

He'd just briefly checked in with a rather overtasked Kakashi, as he was scheduled to do this evening. He had only returned to Konoha six weeks ago, so he was kept on a short leash. He was required to report to a given superior daily. After all, they couldn't have him running off again.

In his spare time, he unrelentingly trained for the blessed day he'd finally be entrusted to missions again. He refused to lose his edge. His paid work over the next year was confined to administrative tasks that made him want to smash his head against a wall repeatedly.

He didn't know why he'd chosen to walk through downtown Konoha tonight to return to his house in the newly renovated but still quite vacant Uchiha district. It was the shortest way, but what was an extra fifteen minutes of walking for some solitude and peace? He did need to pick up some groceries, but he was now regretting not going to the smaller and quieter establishment closer to his home.

The area was bustling and well lit. A civilian couple was walking down the street, glaring at him blatantly as they passed. Sasuke kept his eyes in front of him, disregarding the pair completely and confidently. Everyone knew who he was: Uchiha Sasuke, the traitor.

He walked into a mildly crowded grocery store, and he could feel the atmosphere transition from casual and relaxed to tense and hostile. The wailing infant about three aisles over was doing wonders for his migraine, of course. A young girl, with a chubby face and a teddy bear in hand, pointed at him.

"Isn't he the one?" she whispered, just a little too loudly.

Her mother turned to face Sasuke, sneering at him for several seconds as Sasuke stared back at her expressionlessly.

"Yes, that's him," the mother whispered back. "Keep your voice down and don't look at him."

He sighed, rolling his eyes as he moved past the woman and her daughter, whose miniature features mimicked her mother's as she glowered up at Sasuke. It took a formidable supply of willpower not to glare back at the little brat. He grabbed some rice and headed towards the produce section.

And this is what it was like, every day. Every day, the same hushed voices and spewed insults, the same glares, the same hatred… He knew that fighting back would only make matters worse for him. It would engender the villain they so badly wanted to see. It was what they yearned for, putting his behavior under a microscope and scrutinizing for any evidence that he was a sham.

So he lifted his head, refusing to stare at the ground, walking proudly. He knew that this was what they despised most – peaceful dignity. They sought to reveal Sasuke as the criminal they believed him to be, and if they couldn't achieve that, they'd at least settle for humiliating him. His composed and unwavering demeanor rendered both endeavors futile. He had apologized to those who deserved it. He owed these simpletons nothing.

He recognized the cashier when he paid for his groceries: four tomatoes, one kilogram of rice, and a head of lettuce. A small woman, her well-kept grey hair and wrinkles set her apart. She used to smile at him and ask him how his training was going, and if a boy as handsome as he was had still succeeded in keeping away all those pesky girls.

More often than not, she'd have some food items for him that they were "just going to throw away anyhow." Sasuke was, of course, against taking advantage of people's pity, but she insisted upon it. He was getting too thin, she said, and he needed his strength for all of his training. He was such an impressive prodigy, she told him.

She grinned at the customer in front of Sasuke.

"That'll be 285 ryō, dear."

The woman paid and was on her way. Upon seeing Sasuke, that familiar face flattened instantaneously. She glanced at Sasuke, from top to bottom, and flatly announced the total. She grabbed Sasuke's money roughly, her lip rising venomously and perhaps subconsciously as she forced the change into his hand.

"Next," she blurted out, not bothering to give Sasuke his receipt.

It was times like these when Sasuke had to remind himself, yet again, of why he'd voluntarily chosen to return to Konoha. His brother had lived, suffered, and died for this village. He'd lost everything, because to protect this village, Itachi would do anything.

That is, anything but kill him.

The system was flawed, discrimination running rampant and unnecessary killing occurring daily. It was a cycle of bloodshed. Why were children sent to fight and die? Secrets and corruption were locked away. Those people who looked down on him… Had that civilian couple glaring at him earlier ever even seen someone die?

Of course, he couldn't breathe a word of this without someone insisting that he had no right to judge. He was, after all, the same man who betrayed this village to kill, and who would kill anyone who got in his way, including his own comrades. How could someone as blood thirsty as him rally for pacifism?

But he found himself every bit as qualified as anyone else to make such assertions, if not more so. He was a product of that flawed system, though that didn't keep him from accepting responsibility for the damage he’d caused. No one should ever have to go through what he went through. It would never happen again, not in his village, his country. He would see to that personally. And yes, the Fire Country was his country, and Konoha was his village. He wasn't exactly welcome here these days, but this was his home.

Reform was his goal now. Yet to achieve anything, he would need both his teammates' help and the villagers' trust. He knew he had hurt the ones who loved him. But even worse, he’d hurt him. Sometimes it was regret that kept him awake at night. Other times it was loneliness, and still other times it was both.

But the darkness that has consumed him brought light to a rather fortunate strength of his. If he had a goal, he would see it to completion. It didn't matter what anyone had to say about it or what was standing in the way. There was one other man he knew whose determination matched his own. Perhaps this was another reason they understood each other so well. As long as they were breathing, they would never stop pursuing whatever mattered to them.

If it meant achieving this goal, Sasuke would bear the villagers' disdain. It felt so foreign to see all the same faces that once illuminated in his presence glower and hide behind shut doors when he approached.

Sasuke had always been annoyed by the way people used to fawn over him. He was a prodigy, he was handsome, he was a sole survivor, he was "cool," he was strong and talented, he was… A caricature. An object to blindly obsess over rather than an actual person. As they worshipped him, they dehumanized him. He was everything and nothing to them all at once. He was misunderstood. This was still the case, but this time their myopic vision birthed pestilence rather than vacant idealization.

Suddenly, putrid garbage plummeted from a third story window, the considerable height giving Sasuke plenty of time to sidestep.

"Sorry, I thought I saw the trash coming, but it was just you!" some prepubescent boy yelled from the window. Sasuke didn't bother to look up for the culprit, rolling his eyes at the horrible punch line. Whom exactly did this brat think he was dealing with here, trying to clobber one of Konoha's strongest shinobi with such ludicrous aim and timing? Pathetic.

"Littering is a punishable offense," Sasuke called out nonchalantly.

"You're a punishable offense!" the other countered lamely.

Sasuke told himself he didn't care what anyone thought. He had taken the good indifferently, and so he would repeat the same approach with the bad. Both were built on a foundation of ignorance. Yet the same harassment repeated dozens, if not hundreds of times by so many different people was wearing him down.

No matter. He was strong and proud. He would have to be patient, yes. But even if it took years, decades, he would change the world and this rotten system. They would respect him, just like they used to. They would acknowledge him. Accept him.

"My dream is to surpass the hokage, and then have the people of this village acknowledge me!"

Sasuke felt that he now understood why Naruto had been so obnoxiously persistent. When Naruto said this, he had been a child. These past six weeks… Was this really what Naruto's entire childhood was like? It seemed unfathomable. Sasuke was an adult now with quite the sizable ego, and he was facing the consequences of his actions. Honestly, he couldn't blame people for being slow to trust him.

But what must it have been like to endure this hatred from birth, not even knowing why? To have even a morsel of self-esteem after maturing in this environment, Naruto must have been very strong. How could a child, with no guardian and such little guidance, grow up this way?

Even after his return to Konoha, Sasuke still couldn't say he truly understood the weight of Naruto's burden. The day that Naruto's thoughts had been transmitted to the entire shinobi alliance, Sasuke discovered that Naruto deeply regretted not reaching out to Sasuke when they were younger, sharing the same loneliness. Sasuke was experiencing the same regret currently. However, at the time, just like everyone else his age, he'd been clueless.

-    -    -    -

It was Sasuke's first day at academy. He played with several rubber kunai out in the grass during break, only to have some blond kid, about his age, take two of them that he wasn't currently using and run away. Sasuke chased after him, shouting, "Hey, those are mine!"

"Well, I'm Uzumaki Naruto, and I'm gonna be the next hokage!" the thief called back as he ran off. "I need these to train to become hokage, cuz I'm broke." Naruto panted, continuing to run. "But I'll give them back when I'm done!"

Sasuke stopped, figuring it wasn't worth the effort to get back the measly instruments. What a strange and obnoxious child Naruto was. Some hokage he'd make… Sasuke already decided that he didn't like him. That's when an older student approached him, tapping him on the shoulder.

"Hey, you shouldn't talk to that kid."

He was accompanied by a female and one other male student. They appeared to be at most two years above him.

"Why not?"

"Because he's a monster," the leader of the group told him knowingly.

"A monster?"

Sasuke tilted his head, his already wide eyes growing even larger as he quizzically regarded his fellow classmates. Naruto was annoying, yes. But a monster?

"The worst," the girl confirmed, crossing her arms and shaking her head.

"What did he do?"

The other three students glanced at each other for a while, mumbling quietly. The previously silent male spoke.

"We don't know, but whatever it was, it was really bad. Rika, tell him," he said, looking back at the female student.

"My parents told me not to talk to him. I asked my parents why once, and my mom started to cry! Then my dad said, 'It's too bad to even talk about. You're better off not knowing.'"

"That's right. Too bad to even talk about!" the leader told him. "And he's a loser anyway. I'd steer clear if I were you!"

Sasuke remembered this throughout the day. When he got home, his mother immediately started cutting up an orange for him as an afternoon snack. He waited patiently and silently, the only sound in the kitchen being the chopping of his mother's knife on the wooden cutting board. He stood just several feet from his mother's skirt, throwing up his dinosaur plushy and catching it again from time to time. Finally, Sasuke spoke.

"Mom, have you ever heard of a kid named Uzumaki Naruto?"

The knife was stilled.

"Yes. Why?"

"Did he ever do something…terrible?"

"Who told you that?" his mother said, turning around and watching him closely. Her tone changed so abruptly. Was it true that Naruto had done something so horrible?

"Some kids at the academy. They said I shouldn't talk to him because he's a monster."

Mikoto set her knife down and turned to Sasuke. She knelt down, placing one hand on each of Sasuke's shoulders and looking directly into Sasuke's eyes. Her hands were still moist from the fruit that she'd been cutting. Sasuke resisted the urge to gasp, alarmed by his mother's sudden change in demeanor.

"He never did anything like that. Don't pay any attention to what the kids at the academy say. Do you understand me?"

Sasuke bit his lip and looked down before looking back up at his mother again.

"But why…"

"Listen to me, Sasuke… Sometimes people hate what they don't understand. There's nothing wrong with Naruto. You have to trust me. Okay?"

"Hmm…" Sasuke stared towards the ground, appearing to mull the matter over in his mind as he pouted. What was his mother talking about? What about Naruto was there not to understand? And why would people call him a monster? He seemed like just an ordinary kid to him.

"Okay!" he finally answered with a bright smile.

-    -    -    -

He was glad he trusted his mother. He understood now. Yet he had always thought that Naruto had been the one who didn't understand what he'd endured. He remembered the day so clearly when he made that fateful decision to leave his home, to choose revenge over camaraderie.

He knew that nothing Naruto could have said would have made him come back home, but he wished with everything in him that he would have seen how horrible of a mistake he was making. He shouted at Naruto, "You had nothing in the first place! What the hell do you understand about me? Huh?! We suffer because of our bonds. You don't know how it feels to lose them!"

Naruto hadn't lost a family, hadn't been forced to watch them be murdered by the person he loved the most. He hadn't returned to a district full of the bloody corpses of his family and clan members at the fragile age of eight. But Sasuke was young and self-absorbed back then, as the past six weeks had demonstrated yet again. He hadn't understood Naruto either.

And whether Sasuke liked it or not, the treatment Sasuke was receiving currently was not unfounded. It was foolish to compare pasts and pick which one was worse; they were just different. Sasuke didn't believe he could ever understand what Naruto had lived through, just as Naruto couldn't understand what he'd suffered. Yet Sasuke couldn't fathom how Naruto could bring himself to love a village that had treated him so unjustly from the very start.

If Naruto could see past it, then so could he. He'd bear all their hatred until they trusted him, so he could do enough good to repair the damage he'd caused. It was a lofty ambition, but this is what he was fighting for. Righting the wrongs of his past and protecting his home, these same villagers who despised him, from the horrors he'd weathered meant everything to Sasuke. And he would never surrender.

Now Sasuke was walking past a barbecue restaurant, with a large outdoor seating area. The place went by the name of Misako's. The benches were long and wooden, with a roof overhanging them. From the shingled roof hung red and orange lanterns, which had just recently been turned on as the sky began to darken. The denizens were eating boisterously, and it was only then that he noticed a long table that was occupied by a group of his colleagues. Sakura, Sai, Shikamaru, Chouji, Ino, Rock Lee, Kiba, and of course…

"Hey! Hey, Sasuke!"

Naruto was at the closest edge of the bench, leaning back and wildly gesturing Sasuke to join them. He looked like a fool, but Sasuke couldn't deny that it was a pleasant change for someone to actually be glad to see him. Naruto was positively beaming.

Sasuke sauntered up to the table slowly. Sakura waved with a smile as the others continued to peruse their menus. It looked like they'd just arrived, though they'd already started with a few beers.

"Hey, why dontcha eat with us?" Naruto asked. "There's room for one more."

Sasuke had tolerated enough public exposure for the night. He just wanted to go home, dim the lights to soothe his head, cook himself a simple meal, and go to bed. Besides, he hadn't had the best luck at restaurants lately, so he'd resorted to eating all of his meals at home. Just last week, he made the foolish mistake of eating at a hamburger joint. While waiting for his food, he went to the restroom to wash his hands. He was feeling light-headed from a day of intense training and was looking forward to the sustenance.

When he returned to his table, he discovered that someone had spilled his water onto his uneaten burger and the newspaper he'd been reading. He heard several unrelated parties snicker and stifle laughter as he beheld the soggy mess that was once his meal. He didn't bother to ask who was responsible. Why would anyone tell him? And even if he discovered the perpetrator, what could he do about it? The entire restaurant would have sided against him. He paid for his meal and left hungry. He would not allow himself to show his humiliation to the staff and diners. If something like that were to happen in front of all of his colleagues… His pride couldn't allow it.

"I'm already covered," Sasuke answered, gesturing to his bag of groceries.

Not to be dissuaded, Naruto got up from his seat, grabbing Sasuke's bag and examining the contents.

"Excuse you," Sasuke said dryly.

"All you got is vegetables! You call that a dinner?! C'mon, eat with us!"

"Yeah," Kiba added, "Besides, I think we need another sane party to bear witness to the way these females have been flirting with Naruto. It makes you want to vomit."

"Well, Naruto deserves it!" Lee chipped in.

"Oh, Naruto, can I have your autograph?" Kiba mimed, twiddling his finger through an imaginary lock of breast-length hair. "I'm such a big fan!"

"Well, of course," Naruto answered, a full-fledged cheesy grin on his face. "I'm the hero!"

It was a strange role reversal, Sasuke thought. Naruto was Konoha's heartthrob these days, and Sasuke took Naruto's place as the reject. While Naruto was still just as obnoxious as he'd ever been, Sasuke was at least glad that Naruto had finally found the respect he'd so relentlessly fought for his entire life. Sasuke couldn't help but smile inconspicuously, despite his envy. Rock Lee was correct when he said that Naruto deserved it. Sasuke understood this well now.

"Pride comes before downfall, Naruto," Shikamaru noted with a sigh.

"Yeah, little do they know that the first time you beat me in battle, you could only pull it off by farting in my face," Kiba rebutted.

Other than Sasuke, Shikamaru, Naruto, and Sai, who was sitting there with that same eerie smile on his face, they all laughed, perhaps a little louder due to the slight buzz of alcohol.

"That's ancient history!" Naruto yelled, accompanied by some rather dramatic arm gestures. "Stop bringing that up, unless you want me to start calling you dog breath again."

"That was so foul that I'll never forget it for the rest of my life. And neither will you!"

"They also don't know about your microscopic penis," Sai stated, his smile never leaving his face.

It seemed that Naruto could count on his friends to keep his ego in check.

"Hey now, Sai… You've all seen me at the baths. Who do you think you're fooling?"

Kiba and Ino began to laugh, Shikamaru simply shaking his head.

"I'm surprised at both of you!" Lee remarked. "Well, maybe not Sai so much, but Naruto, we are in the presence of two lovely ladies!"

Lee gestured to Sakura and Ino, and if Sasuke didn't know any better, he thought he saw Sakura blush. Or maybe it was just the beer.

"Seriously, Sasuke. I wanted to talk to you about some new medical jutsu I've been looking into. It's really fascinating. I thought you'd be interested. I'm sure you have an hour or so to spare," Sakura added brightly.

Sasuke sighed. He knew what this was. They thought he was lonely, and honestly, they were right. Why else would they be so persistent? They knew what talk was spreading around the village. It was no secret that his return was, in general, poorly received.

He’d cut off everyone he’d ever known and love for years. He didn't need anyone's help. But he was at least grateful that the lot of them cared enough to offer it.

"Yeah! You have to eat with us! It's so much more fun when you have a lot of people!" Lee pursued.

He didn't need their sympathy. He could make do on his own, just like always. Still… They all seemed so happy and genuinely pleased to see him. He'd seen Naruto and Sakura quite a few times since returning, but never in a situation like this. He also hadn't gotten the chance to interact much with his colleagues outside of Team 7. Maybe the change in pace would improve his morale.

"Fine," Sasuke sighed, taking a seat at the very edge of the table, on Naruto's left side. He neatly set his groceries under his seat. Kiba was sitting on Naruto's right side, and Sakura was directly across from Sasuke now, also at the edge of the bench, with Sai by her left side. Rock Lee, Shikamaru, Chouji, and Ino were on the opposite end of the bench. Naruto wrapped his arm around Sasuke's shoulder and pat his back roughly.

"There ya go. See, was that so hard? I knew you had it in you."

Even that casual touch made him want to smile considering the hostility of his surroundings, but he subdued it.

"Don't make me regret it, knucklehead."

Naruto guffawed, perhaps a little past buzzed but certainly not drunk.

"You haven't changed a bit, ya know that?"

Nothing could be farther from the truth, actually, but he was still glad to hear Naruto say it.

"That's my line," he responded.

"Here's the menu," said Ino, who was looking particularly done up tonight. Her lips were glossed with a light pink, a slight curl to her hair. Sakura, Naruto, and Lee, however, looked just slightly unkempt and were dressed for training. Considering that this was a casual restaurant, they didn't stand out.

Ino handed the menu to Sasuke, who started flipping through the pages. He'd get something simple. Miso soup and a salad, perhaps. And just maybe, if the night went well enough, he'd order sake a little bit later on. He'd wait to gauge the situation more carefully before committing himself, as he felt the need to be on guard at all times.

They didn't take much longer to decide on their orders, since most had already partially decided by the time Sasuke sat down. A slender young woman, perhaps in her early twenties, with dark almond-shaped eyes, soft skin, and a white outfit walked over to take their order. She looked around at the table, taking a quick head count, and… She stopped cold at Sasuke.

"I'm sorry," she said curtly. "But I can't serve your friend."

"What?" Naruto asked, tilting his head in disbelief.

The rest of the table hushed. Of course. He'd been stupid to hope for anything else. He'd been dumb to hope for just a nice dinner with some old friends, bickering, and the familiar small talk. Something had to go wrong. The sooner he could get out of here, the better.

"I'd be glad to take all of your orders once he leaves," she stated, venom in her tone. "I want him out of this restaurant."

This had the potential to get ugly quickly, so Sasuke stood, reaching for his groceries.

"That works out for both of us, then," Sasuke told her snidely. "I wasn't hungry anyway."

Sasuke turned to step away, embarrassed but hiding it expertly.

"Later, guys," he said, leaving his friends as he flicked them half wave.

But Naruto's hand clutched onto his arm, jerking him back. No, not this. This was possibly his last chance to leave with his dignity intact. He prayed that Naruto wouldn't fire off and draw everyone's attention to the matter with one of his patented soliloquies.

"No," Naruto said, his voice severe and almost guttural. "This is wrong. You can't treat Sasuke like this. I won't allow it!"

No such luck, Sasuke assessed. Dammit, he didn't need Naruto to stick up for him. He tugged away from Naruto, who merely tightened his grip. Please, not another one of his speeches…

"Naruto, it's fine. Like I said, I'm not even hungry."

"It's not fine! Why won't you serve him?" Naruto asked, ignoring Sasuke's protests.

"People like him are not welcome at Misako's," she maintained.

"People like him?! You think you know him? You could never understand Sasuke!" Naruto was shouting now, enraged, causing the other diners and even numerous people walking down the street to stare.

"You're causing a scene, dumbass!" Sasuke hissed, only loudly enough for Naruto and perhaps Sakura and Kiba to hear. Despite himself, he was mortified, and he'd rather be just about anywhere but here. "Drop it already."

Naruto once again ignored him, as Sasuke had honestly expected him to do.

"You know nothing about him, and yet you choose to hate him?!"

Naruto's voice cracked as he spoke, and Sasuke understood now. Naruto was speaking so passionately because he knew exactly how Sasuke felt. The words could have just as easily been spoken of Naruto throughout his childhood. Perhaps, back then, he'd hoped someone would have stood up for him and said the same thing. He was avenging the wrong he'd received throughout his own lifetime by defending his friend from the same.

"I know enough. I know that he's a traitor."

Sasuke kept his head up, not averting his eyes from the waitress. He wouldn't give her the satisfaction of seeing him fluster, and he wouldn't let his friends see it either.

"You have no idea what Konoha put Sasuke through! I know he made some mistakes, but what's that got to do with him eating here? You can't just treat people like this!" Naruto's eyes were watering, his voice almost choking off as he continued to yell. Everyone was staring at Naruto now, some in shock. But their table… By the look on their faces, Sasuke could tell that Naruto's friends understood exactly why this upset Naruto so much. "It's wrong!"

Sasuke knew there was no stopping Naruto now. There was no telling him to "calm down." He stopped resisting. This was for Sasuke, yes. But it was also for Naruto. They called Sasuke a traitor just like they'd called Naruto a monster.

"I don't care what happened or what anyone has to say! Sasuke was my best friend before, and he's my best friend now!"

Naruto grasped his hand tightly, and Sasuke became so acutely aware of his own heartbeat and breathing. Time after time, Naruto shocked him by just how far he would go for him. It didn't matter if Sasuke laughed in his face, took advantage of him, or tried to kill the ones he loved most, including the pink-haired kunoichi sitting directly across from him.

According to Naruto, he was never anything but a friend. Sasuke always used to tell himself that, in general, he had been a very unlucky person. But he felt so fortunate to have someone like Naruto as a friend.

Naruto stood, his hand still clasped with Sasuke's.

"So if you won't serve him tonight, I'm never eating at your restaurant again!

Now it wasn't only their table that hushed. Several adjacent tables had silenced as well to watch the spectacle. Some people walking down the street had even stopped to stare. Even Sasuke was baffled at this point, the villain standing up hand in hand with the so-called "hero of Konoha."

He realized the dilemma this woman was in. If Naruto, such a well-respected and admired member of the community, boycotted the restaurant, it would be horrible for business. She stared vacantly, trying to plot her next move when Sasuke heard a menu slam against the tabletop.

"The same goes for me."

It was Sakura now, standing abruptly, her voice strong and confident.

"I have no interest in a restaurant that discriminates amongst its patrons."

Rock Lee was quick to follow.

"Not all of the barbecue ribs in the world are worth seeing a friend getting treated like this. Sasuke, you said that you want to change the system, just like Naruto, right? I believe in you!"

Four were standing. Sasuke couldn't believe it. Even coming from Naruto, he was shocked. But Sakura, and even Lee? Lee was always quick to assume the best of people, but still… Sasuke couldn't hide his shock when Lee said that he believed in him.

Ino was next.

"This is a no brainer. This place is so bad for my diet."

"This place is out of my way," Shikamaru added with a sigh as he leisurely stood. "It'd be a bother to come back anyway."

Ino and Shikamaru too? How could they stand up for him like this, after what he'd done to them? After all the trouble he'd caused?

"Well shit…" Kiba sighed. The waitress looked paralyzed, unable to speak. "Sasuke, you dick, you got practically all my friends to swear off this restaurant. I have no reason to come here anymore either."

"I don't like barbecue," Sai said with a voice far too chipper for the situation, standing with the rest.

Everyone at the entire table was standing now, save for one person: Chouji.

Chouji stared at his lap, his brows knit tightly, fiddling with his clothing. He appeared to be in deep thought. Sasuke recalled that Misako's served Chouji's favorite barbecue pork ribs. He said that no other place could compete. His father ate here. His mother ate here. His grandparents ate here. His entire clan! And when they ate at Misako's, they ate a lot. He probably wished that he could become invisible, but his size made him an especially poor candidate for this. Yet finally, he did stand.

"To deny a man food is the ultimate sin! I cannot tolerate it! I, too, will never eat at this restaurant again if you refuse to serve Uchiha Sasuke tonight. And I won't stop there! I will tell my mother. I'll tell my father. I will tell the entire Akimichi clan that Misako's is an establishment that discriminates wantonly when…"

If Naruto's defection was bad for business, what of the entire Akimichi clan? That could potentially put them out of business. Every last occupant of their table was now standing. An older man, wearing the same white garb as the waitress, quickly ran over to the table. Chouji's defiance seemed to be what caught his attention.

"Excuse me, I'm the manager. What's the problem here?"

"This woman here said Sasuke has to leave the restaurant!" Naruto answered, angrily pointing at the waitress.

The manager paused for a moment, glancing at every member of the table and then at his offending employee.

"On behalf of everyone at Misako's, I thoroughly apologize for this very unfortunate experience."

"But!" the waitress interrupted.

"Megumi, if you would like to continue your employment at Misako's, I strongly suggest that you hold your tongue," the manager replied sternly.

That appeared to be enough to get the waitress to relinquish her quest, storming off in a huff. Sasuke was uncertain where the manager's real feelings truly lay. Naruto's boycott would influence his many, many supporters to do the same, and the Akimicihi clan indubitably accounted for a large chunk of their business. The possibility of this place going belly up was becoming quite real. The manager's reaction was just good business sense. But Naruto always told Sasuke that he was far too cynical. Maybe the man really did just find the situation unfair. Sasuke was often given poor service, but rarely was he refused service at all.

"Again, I am so, so sorry for this experience. All of your meals are complimentary, and I personally will see that every dish served at this table is not tampered with in any way."

Naruto let out a barely satisfied "hmf", plopping back down into his seat. The others returned to their seats as well, though more gracefully. Sasuke's heart was hammering as he finally rested down on the bench, his palm sweaty. He could hardly believe what just happened. These weren't just his colleagues. These were his friends. Naruto wasn't the only one who would stick by him. Sasuke was determined not to let them down.

"So, what would you all like to order?" the manager asked with a smile.

He wrote all orders down in perfect detail, paling a little bit at Chouji's broad selection of menu items. Even for Chouji, it was a rather large order, but after all, it was free. Perhaps the manager was feeling a regretful of his decision to supply the entire table with free food. At last, he left to fill their orders.

"Nice going, Uchiha," Kiba said, his sharp canines showing as he smiled. "You scored us free eats! We should invite you more often!"

Sasuke smirked, the table quiet once again. He bowed his head slightly, speaking just loudly enough so that everyone at the table could hear.

"Thank you, everyone."

And with that rather awkward start began a night Sasuke would remember for years. There was enough sake, beer, and barbecue to feed Chouji's entire family. They laughed, reminisced, and bantered. Sasuke left with a stomach full of food and a smile on his face.

Instigating reform and acclimating to his old village would be difficult, yes.

But this was his home, and he knew quite well now that he was not alone.

[blue-analytic]

Do you think Naruto is a good friend of Sakura/really loves her? Sakura always cheers him up, even if she's in the same pain or bigger, worries about him, want to keep him safe no matter what, even tried to kill Sasuke etc. How do you see N.'s side?

Hello! :]Pardon for the late response!It’s a long post, that’s why I put it under “keep reading”. (3 pages)

Hello! :]

1) Do you think Naruto isa good friend of Sakura?

Being a good friend takesa lot of time and dedication. It’s about two people trying to maketheir friendship work without making it look like forced. It’s anatural process in which they like to spend their time with eachother and accept the other side despite the flaws or oddities theymight have. Whenever you are about to loose yourself or feel likeyour world is going down you can bet that they’re there for youwithout demanding anything from you because they genuinely care aboutyou and let you know it. In short, they can be your greatest ally andtake a positive part in your life. But sometimes, it might not easyto maintain such a bond as problems are preprogrammed the longer youknow the other person or when your friendship feels unbalanced andaffects you negatively. That being said, let us now take a look atNaruto and decide whether or not he’s a good friend of Sakura.Before I begin, though, I’d like to clarify that I’ll onlyaddress part 1 & 2 of the manga as I have yet to read the novelsto gain more insight of their interactions after the ending.Furthermore, I’ll include Sakura’s perspective because while we couldassume that Naruto might be a healthy constant in her life,it’s important to see if she thinks so too. After all, a truefriendship is about mutuality where we can’t just focus on one sidewhile ignoring the other one.Now, where to begin? Sometimes,it might be difficult to determine when exactly you arefriends with someone, and in some cases, it might not even matter atall. (Because is it really important to you that you were friends on,for example, Monday?) You just know that you are precious to eachother, and that might be enough to know for some people.

The same could be saidabout Naruto and Sakura. When we look at part 1, I think we cansafely assume that before they were put into the same group theyweren’t close to each other at all as she didn’t have a high opinionof him and thought of him as a nuisance, “He’s always getting inthe way of my love, and he enjoys seeing me struggle… Narutodoesn’t understand anything about me, he’s just annoying”.

However, the morethey spend time with each other in Team 7, the more she grows fond ofhim, for example when, instead of being disappointed that it wasn’tSasuke who saved her from Gaara, she lets out a fond smile, and thisis important to note because all she ever wanted was the Uchiha’sattention and respect, “All I want is for you to acknowledge me”.Another moment where we could assume the beginning of a camaraderieis when during the first chunin exam she was about to forfeit to notsee his dream of becoming hokage crushed, thus showing us shegenuinely cares about his emotional well-being.And in part 2, wehave Sai commenting on Sakura’s lack of a suffix when she addressesNaruto. Therefore indicating a close bond between these twocharacters. If they were a bit distant she would have addressed himas “Naruto-kun” as Sai did. Let us also not forget that when shecomplaints about the Uzumaki she no longer does it out of malice;it’s more a touch of affection and familiarity.  It’s important toexplain a bit this development so that readers have an easier time tounderstand how the two characters become friends or, at least,comrades and to allow me to answer your question moreefficiently.Now, as for Naruto’s side, we can say that he’s agood friend. In part 1, even though she often ignores him in favourof Sasuke, he always tries his best to make her feel comfortable andsafe without demanding anything from her, for example when, asalready mentioned above, he saved her life. He could have used it tomake himself look good or to gain her favour, but he didn’t, and thisspeaks volumes about his character; it’s a sign of maturity, which iseven more stressed by the promise of the lifetime. Here, he tries toreach out to her and empathize with her pain without telling herabout his own one when the girl of his dream just asked him to bringback the third member of their group, the one she loves, “I knowhow much pain you’re in because of Sasuke”.It’s even moreamazing when you think about the fact that not only is he saddened bythe circumstances that led to Sasuke’s absence (for he considers himas a dear friend), he also has to deal with the fact that she doesn’treturn Naruto’s feelings. And it’s by sacrificing his own happiness,it’s by not letting her know about his romantic attachments to lessena bit her burden and her pain that we know he genuinely cares abouther – as a person, as a friend instead of a love object. And thisis what I find very beautiful. The selfless nature of our sunshine inthis very moment.We could even take into consideration thoseinstances where he supports her happiness, where he cheers up whenshe’s sad, or where he defends her when Sasuke is being harsh/rude toher. It’s no wonder that, peu à peu, he became someone she can trustand rely on. To give an example, in part 2, when Pein attackedKonoha, when everything seemed to look very bad for them, the firstthing she thought of was Naruto. Although she didn’t know the resultsof his sage training she put all her faith in him and called hisname.So, to sum up: Whenever Sakura has a moment of weakness orinsecurity, Naruto is always there to offer moral support, becauseeven though his romantic feelings for her aren’t returned all hewants is to ensure her happiness and well-being without demandinganything from her or trying to gain any favour by making himself lookgood in her eyes. All of these are characteristics of a goodfriend.In retrospective, however, there is a huge flaw of Naruto.It’s that, for example, when he takes Sakura’s burden he doesn’t askher if that is what she really wants. By keeping certain things tohimself it will only make her more worry about him. A far healthierapproach would be if both of them were to learn to share theirburdens equally and support each other in that way. That also meansthat he (but also she) needs more moments where they confront eachother and talk about whatever goes trough their mind. This would leadto more trust and a more stable friendship in my eyes.2)Does Naruto really love her?Short answer: Yes, throughoutpart 1 & 2. It’s only in “The Last” where he falls in lovewith another girl.The long answer:a) It all started outwith a crush before he was in Team 7, and the day he, Sakura, andSasuke become team mates it’s the day where we learn the reason whyhe likes her. Disguised as Sasuke, he learns that what she wants isthe acknowledgement and respect of her crush on the Uchiha. And beingshunned by the village for a long time, it’s something he canunderstand and relate to, “I feel like I finally understand why Ilike her”.b) When Sasuke is in the hospital after the Itachiincident in part 1, Naruto looks pained at seeing evidence Sakuraloves the Uchiha and, respecting her feelings and knowing about herwish, he gives them a moment alone. Then, speaking through Tsunade,Kishimoto let us know this, “He’s more sensitive than he looks”.Thus indicating a development of Naruto’s romantic feelings forSakura.c) This in combination with the scene where he makes thepromise of the lifetime (of course, he’s not doing it only for her,to avoid any misunderstandings) shows us he’s willing to put herfeelings before his own one to ensure her happiness even though itmight break his heart.d) If I recall right, Sakura’s the onlyfemale he has sworn to protect in the manga, be it physically oremotionally. This is important to note because when said from a maleto a female person, the “I’ll protect you” cancarry some subtle romantic connotations depending on the context [Link 1 ]. I’m not saying that’s an actual proof of romantic love, butrather what I’m trying to emphasize is Naruto’s level of dedicationas seen in the promise of the lifetime. He genuinely cares abouther.e) For part 2, I’ll quote paptalas words because she explainsit far better than me:Sai’sflashback in chapter 457 is another straightforward issue thatshouldn’t even need explaining, but for some unfathomable reason,does.

Thisis the simplest and most neutral way I can break down Sai’sflashback:

Sai asks if Naruto loves Sakura.

Sai is obviously talking about romantic feelings because Naruto’s flustered shock in response to the question makes zero sense if Sai was asking if Naruto just liked/loved Sakura as a friend or sister.

Sai says that people smile at those they love and then makes the observationthat Naruto is always smiling at Sakura

Sai then asks if Naruto has told Sakura how he feels about her (again, obviously Sai means this in a romantic way, since obviously Sakura already knows that Naruto likes her as a friend)

Naruto replies, “How can I [tell her how I feel about her romantically]?  I can’t even keep my promises.”  (If his answer was “No, I don’t like her like that,” or even, “I used to like her but I’ve decided to move on,” then his response makes zero sense – “How can I [tell her I like her as a friend/tell her I’m moving on from her/tell her I don’t like her romantically]?” doesn’t fit at all.)

Allthe flashback shows is that sometime after the Sasuke and Sai Arc andbefore Naruto left for training at Myobokuzan, Naruto had seriousromantic feelings for Sakura that he felt he could not confess to herbecause he had yet to fulfill the promise he made to her.

Nothingimplies that he was letting go of his feelings for Sakura or movingon from her, unless you want to try and argue its symbolized in hiswatching her walk away from him.  That’s a pretty weakargument though, considering his initial reaction to her confessionand chapter 631, and the disconnect with what is actually being saidin the scene.

Also,there is no “misinterpretation” on Sai’s part here.  Saimade an objective observation (Naruto is always smiling at Sakura),made an inference from that observation based off of his books(People always smile at those they love) and thenhadNaruto confirm this inference himself whenhe ASKED HIM DIRECTLY if he had told Sakura how he feels forher.  Naruto’s answer indirectly, but clearly, told Saithat he did have romantic feelings for Sakura.  That is theonly conclusion to be drawn from his response to “Have you told herhow you feel” (because, again, if Naruto didn’t have romanticfeelings for her, he would have said something along the lines of,“Told her what?  She knows I like her as a friend.”)f)Another quote of paptala: Firstof all, the Japanese terms used is “kanojo” and, in the contextthat this terms was used in, ‘girlfriend/lover/significant other’is the only translation.  Ifyou see a hyphen in the translation, that’s because they couldn’tfit the word on one line.

Second,everything we know about Naruto and the situation points against thenotion that Naruto was joking when he said that Sakura was “more orless” his girlfriend.

The question was posed by Naruto’s father, who he loves and looks up to as a hero, and who is only back temporarily;  why on earth would Naruto want to mislead him?

Naruto made very clear in his reaction to Sakura’s confession that he doesn’t appreciate jokes concerning romantic feelings.  And for those that think that maybe Naruto was joking about his romantic feelings to get back at her for 469 – think about that for a moment.  Naruto is probably the last person in the entire manga to act in such a petty and vindictive manner, especially over actions that ultimately had his best interests at heart.

There is absolutely no reason for Naruto to say that Sakura is “more or less” his girlfriend if he doesn’t have romantic feelings for Sakura, and even less if he now has romantic feelings for Hinata; if that were the case, why wouldn’t he just say, “Nah, she’s just my close friend.  My girlfriend is that cute girl with dark long hair over there,” and point out Hinata to Minato?  Naruto isn’t exactly shy or subtle about his feelings.

Itmakes no difference that the scene was light hearted and had comicrelief – the only way for the scene to make sense and actuallycomport with Naruto’s character is for him to have romanticfeelings for Sakura.  To argue that Naruto was joking in631 warps Naruto into a petty, vindictive, hypocritical douchebag.

Thefact that Naruto wasn’t blushing when he said this might have beensignificant if his words weren’t so straightforwardly romantic byitself.  This is akin to arguing that Hinata didn’t meanher confession didn’t prove she has romantic feelings for Narutobecause she wasn’t blushing when she said it (which I’m sureeveryone would agree is a ridiculous argument).

- - -Hopethis answers your question! Have a wonderful day!blue-analytic

[isolavirtuosa]

Starting Over (For Real?) 9-10

[fanfiction] NaruSasu

Read the previous parts here.

- 9 -

  “Come on,” Naruto urged me, keeping his hand hooked under my knee as he pressed it towards my chest.

I stared at him.

“What…?”

I decided he didn’t need to know that I found anything even remotely sexual about our physical therapy.  “You suck at this,” I said instead.

“You’re just weak,” he said, putting on more pressure.

I tried to push back with all of my strength, but it was like pushing against a mountain.

“Good,” he said, easing up.

“What was good about it?” I grumbled.

“I could feel your strength,” he said, moving to the other side of me and picking up my left leg.  “Okay, ready?”

I glared at him.  No, I was not.

He pushed gently, easing my leg to my chest.

I pushed back, my whole leg shaking with the effort.

“A little more,” he urged, exerting more force.

“Fffuck,” I breathed out.  My body just wanted to give up.

“See, you did it,” he said.  He guided my leg back straight to the floor.

The sweat dripped off my face as I tried to catch my breath.

“You look like I put you through a real workout,” he said with a grin.

“Shut up and die.”

“No,” he said, pinching my side.

I scowled, flopping my arm around at him to get him to stop.

“Then take it back and say something nice,” Naruto said stubbornly.

“I’m not taking it back,” I growled, finally locking my grip on his wrist and putting chakra into my fingers.

He felt the heat, felt the threat, and decided to pinch me harder.

I pinched him back, flames dancing on my fingertips.

“Holy shit, bastard, that hurts!” Naruto snapped.

“It’s supposed to.”

We glared at and continued to hurt each other.  Then it was like a switch turned off and Naruto immediately let go.

I pinched him harder.

“That hurts,” he said in a calm voice.

Had I imagined this mature Naruto to torture myself?  “Clearly it doesn’t hurt enough,” I said, burning into his skin.

He twisted his wrist suddenly, breaking my hold and locking his fingers around my wrist.  “You have my complete, undivided attention, Sasuke.”

I felt like he was scolding me, like I was some kind of child acting out to get him to notice me... which I wasn’t…  “Who’d want that?” I muttered, looking away.

“Do we have to keep playing this game?”

“Stop talking like that.”

“Like what?  Like someone who isn’t an idiot?”

“…yes.”

“Well, sorry to disappoint, but I’m not actually a complete and total moron all of the time,” he said, letting go of my wrist.  “You know, you want to keep ragging on me about how I’m confusing my feelings for Dream Sasuke with my feelings for you.  But aren’t you the one who keeps comparing me to Your Naruto and finding me lacking?”

His demeanor, his vocabulary, his everything was just not My Naruto, and it filled me with a sudden feeling of complete loss.  It was stupid, though.  I’d lost that Naruto when I’d woken up in my second world.  There was no reason to regret his absence now.

“Hey,” Naruto said quietly.

“Fuck off,” I responded, not looking at him.

“Yeah,” he said, getting up and leaving.

I always felt so stupid and pathetic when we fought now.

“Coward!” I yelled into the empty room.  Then I put a hole through the floor, because that surely wouldn’t show how stupid and pathetic I was.

I needed to get out of here.  I needed to find a way to be able to live on my own.  If only I could speed up the physical therapy process.

“Are you done?”

I glanced towards the stairway, where Miharu was watching me warily from above.  “I will fix it and I will leave.”

“Honey, where ya gonna go?” she asked, shaking her head.

“That’s not your concern.”

“Kakashi put you in my care,” she said.  “I’m not gonna betray that trust.”

“…you can’t stop me.”

“Maybe not, but I certainly have a set of pipes on me, and I’m not above calling Mr. Uzumaki back here,” she said, her expression flat.

I wondered what her connection to Kakashi was, why she said his name so casually.  Maybe I could exploit that.  Anything to keep her from calling the idiot in.

“Can we talk about this in the morning?” she said, cutting off anything I might have said.  “I feel like you owe me that much.”

I didn’t usually respond well to people acting like I owed them something, but Miharu was simply stating a fact.  She didn’t have to take me into her home and feed me with her dwindling food supplies.  She didn’t have to take part in a conspiracy to hide my existence from the Konoha Council.  “All right,” I said.

She nodded at me.  “Good night then.  Get some sleep.”

“Good night,” I said, looking at the hole in the floor, shaped perfectly like my fist.

Naruto came back in the middle of the night.

I knew this because I was wide awake.

Naruto knew that I was awake, but he didn’t say anything, unfolding his futon and lying down.

“I’m leaving,” I finally said into the darkness.

“That was the plan, wasn’t it?” he said.  His voice sounded flat.

“By myself.”

“You’re an idiot.”

I blanched at being called an idiot by the idiot.

“We’ll leave in two days,” he continued, like his manner of addressing me was completely normal.

“You seem pretty used to giving me orders, Hokage-sama,” I said, letting the word drip with as much sarcasm as possible.

“I’m going to sleep,” he said, not rising to the bait.

It pissed me off.

He slept like a baby while I seethed.

The next morning I got to work fixing the hole in the floor.

Miharu didn’t comment and went about fixing breakfast.

Naruto came back in from wherever he’d disappeared to first thing in the morning, and he had plenty of comments.  “What the hell’d you do to Ms. Miharu’s floor?!”

I ignored him.

“Maybe you shouldn’t go runnin’ off every time you two have a quarrel,” Miharu commented from the kitchen.

Naruto squawked in protest.

I hid my grin and continued working.

We ate a quick breakfast, then Naruto started nagging me about doing my exercises.

“What’s the point?” I grumbled.  “Aren’t you just going to leave in the middle?”

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.  “I never thought I was going to have to take crap from you about leaving.  Can you roll up your pants?”

“I don’t know, can I?” I muttered, yanking each leg up to my knees.

“Why do you have to be so pissy?” Naruto complained, sitting next to me on the floor and running his hand up my leg.

I glared at him.

He looked away and started massaging my leg.  I could feel his apology in the pressure of his fingertips.

We did better with actions than words.

“I talked to Sakura,” he finally said as he moved on to my other leg.

I had let my eyes slide closed, but now they were open and focused.

“She said she can’t leave the village,” he said.

“Why would she?”

“Uh, for our mission,” Naruto said like it should be obvious.

“I wasn’t aware that we had one.”

“Uh, we talked about it.  Find food, investigate clan massacres.”

I had thought it would just be the two of us.

“I’m gonna try harder to convince her, but she seems to think that her soul belongs to Konoha Hospital,” he said with a sigh.  “I get it, though.  She’s not gonna leave before Baa-chan’s stable.”

I could see the sadness in his eyes, but he’d never talk about it.  Naruto talked about everything except for what was important.

“Lay back?” he requested.

I did so with a frown.

He picked up my left leg and started to get it moving.  “I talked to Sai, too.”

“I don’t know Sai,” I said flatly.

“Yeah, but I think you’d like him,” he said.  “He’s really mean to me, and you’re really mean to me, so you’ve got that in common.”

I could say any horrible thing to Naruto that I wanted, but if someone else said something…  “No.”

“Whaddya mean, no?  He’s a really good ninja!” he cried.

“If we’re taking a team, we’ll take my team,” I said, wincing as pain shot through my leg.

Naruto paused, rubbing my leg soothingly before continuing.  “Nobody knows where your team is.”  He didn’t seem happy about the suggestion, but was less venomous that I expected.  I knew he hated thinking of any team as my team that wasn’t Team Seven.

“I can find them.”

“Okay, but would they even care about the mission?”

“Karin’s an Uzumaki, you know.”

He paused in exercising my leg.  “…what?”

“Karin’s from the Uzumaki clan, so, Uzumaki Naruto, you two might have something to talk about.”

He put my leg down.  “You’re serious.”

“Yes.”

“Oh,” he said, rubbing at his eyes.  “Oh.  You know she… she has red hair like my mom…”

Of course I knew that, and I was going to tell him what an idiot he sounded like except he looked so sad that all I could do was reach out and rest my hand on top of his knee.

Blue eyes met mine, and then he was throwing himself at me in a hug.

I grunted as I took his weight.  “We are not huggers,” I informed him.

“We are now,” he said, hiding his face in my shoulder and keeping his arm locked around my neck.

“I didn’t agree to this,” I said.  I let him stay where he was.

We were both quiet.

“I’m getting overwhelmed,” he said quietly.

“What do you mean?” I asked, my hand subconsciously going to rest at the back of his neck.

“I…” he trailed off, his hand gripping tightly at the back of my shirt.  “Everything’s just… messed up…”

“We’ll go,” I said, massaging my fingers into his scalp.  “Just you and me.  Right now.  Let’s just go.”

He peered up at me.  “And what’s that going to solve?” he asked, smiling.

“You need to move forward,” I said.  “You need to take action.”

“Sometimes I feel like you’re looking inside of me,” he murmured.

I didn’t know why that made my face go red.  “It’s not like there’s much going on in there.”

“Jerk,” he said, laughing a puff of air into my neck.

I held off a shiver.

“I like when you’re nice to me,” he whispered, looking weirdly vulnerable.  “Can’t you be nice to me?”

“No,” I said, pushing him back an arm’s length.

“Yes, you can,” he said, pulling me back in.  “Try.”

I wanted to hurt him.

“Sasuke,” he pleaded.  He saw it flickering in my eyes.

“Finish the damn therapy,” I muttered.  “Before you get mad at me and run away again.”

He sighed, ducking his face back into my neck.  He started rubbing his nose against my skin, shifting until he was rubbing right under my jaw.

I breathed out heavily, keeping any other kind of noises buried deep inside.  “What are you doing?” I complained.

“I dunno, I think it’s a Kurama thing,” he mumbled, continuing to nose at me.

“…did you just… smell me…?”

“Mm.”

“…and you think that’s a normal thing to do…?”

“You smell good,” he said, his voice lower than usual.

I didn’t know how to react to all of this, so I just sat there letting Naruto snuffle at my neck.

He finally seemed to get a hold of himself, pulling away and having the decency to look embarrassed.  “I uh…”

“You uh what?” I scowled at him.

“I’m sorry, that wasn’t… appropriate,” he said, his eyes not meeting mine.

“Then why the hell did you do it?”

“Animal… instincts…?”

“Everything you do pisses me off,” I said.  I wanted to walk out on him, but I still didn’t have functioning legs.

“I know,” he said, looking pathetic and still thoroughly shamed.  “I’m gonna… go…”

It pissed me off even more when he walked out on me.

I finished my physical therapy spitefully, then just lay on the floor staring at the ceiling.

This was never going to work.  I needed to get out of here.

 - 10 -

  All Naruto ever had to do was give me one of his self-deprecating grins while he rubbed nervously at the back of his neck and I somehow forgot all the stupid things he had said and done previously.  Well, not so much forgot as made allowances for his nonsense.

“This whole you and me traveling thing is not going to work,” I tried to say.

“It’s the only possible thing that could ever work,” he responded, then went off on some strange tangent about how we had been chosen by destiny to protect the world from all outside forces, and that we needed to right the wrongs of the past.

“Stop talking,” I finally said.

He looked at me pathetically.

“We’ll leave tomorrow as planned.”

His grin lit up his face.

“I’m not going to be carried,” I added.

“Sakura said I can have a wheelchair from the hospital,” he offered.

“You’re not pushing me around in a goddamn wheelchair.”

“…I feel like you’re not actually ready to go out into the world if I can neither carry you nor push you in a wheelchair.”

I glared at him.

He touched my face and it took me a second to flinch away.  “You are the most frustrating person in the world,” he informed me, the corners of his eyes crinkling.

“Don’t be so modest,” I muttered.

“What, are you implying that I am the most frustrating person in the world?” he asked, touching his nose to mine.

I wondered if we were going to have another ‘Kurama’ incident.  “You’re a creep.”

“How am I creep?!” he demanded pulling away.

“Do I need to go into detail about the way you touch and or smell me without my permission?”

His face went completely red.  “I…”

I had rendered him speechless.  I couldn’t help but smile.

“You like when I touch you!” he finally snipped, staring at the ceiling like it was the most interesting thing he’d ever seen.  “…don’t you?”

“I don’t like to be touched.”

He breathed in sharply.  “Oh…”

I could see him mentally adding up the number of times he had touched me in just the last hour, stewing and regretting.  “Naruto.”

He looked at me, eyes full of self-doubt.

I hated that look on his face.

“Get the wheelchair.”

He forced a smile and nodded.

“Now,” I said, extending my arm to him.

He blinked.

I waited.

He finally got a clue and offered me his back.  “This is okay?” he asked hesitantly.

“Idiot,” I said with a sigh, locking my arm over his shoulder.

“I’m sorry I touch you all the time,” he said glumly as he bounced along the trees.

“It’s fine.”  Because it’s you.

“It doesn’t seem fine now that I think about it.”

“Is that what that burning smell is?”

He stopped, dropping to the ground, and turned to stare at me.

Our faces were very close, not that I noticed or cared.

“I think we need to talk again,” he said, setting me down.

“Us talking never accomplishes anything,” I pointed out.

“I made you cry tears of penance at the Valley of the End,” Naruto declared.

“…is that how you remember things?”

“Sasuke,” he whined.

“This is your conversation, I don’t know what you’re looking at me for.”

“Fine,” he said.  “If we’re really going to travel together, I need you to stop belittling me at every possible opportunity.”

“…then what would I have left to say to you?”

“Oh, hey, I don’t know, why don’t you tell me about your dream world where Dream Me and Dream You were getting it on?” he suggested, his eyes narrowed.

“We weren’t-” I tried to spit out, stuttering to a stop.

He knew.  He knew.

I couldn’t speak.

“Just be honest,” he said, his expression still hard.  “You don’t have to put up all these walls and pretenses with me.  I thought you trusted me.”

I looked at him.

His expression wavered, uncertainty creeping into his eyes.

“I want to trust you,” I finally offered.

“…but you don’t…?”

I didn’t answer him.

Naruto looked away, staring off into the forest.  “Is it ’cause of all the unwanted touching?  Or ’cause you think I’m spying on you for Kakashi-sensei, which I’m not?  Is it because I was gonna cheat on my wife with you?  Do you think I’m an adulterer?!”

“I want to trust you,” I repeated.

Naruto huffed out a frustrated-sounding noise.  “Talk to me, you bastard.”

“No,” I said.

“Sasuke!” he shrieked, sounding like he was 12-years-old again.  “How can y-”

“I don’t even know if this is real,” I cut him off before he could really get going.

He sighed, his head drooping.  “How do we move forward then?”

“The same way we always do?”

“By ignoring our problems and picking stupid fights with one another?”

“Or just running away and hiding from said fights?”

“Hey, you,” he said, cuffing me on the arm.  “Do you not get that I have to walk away?”

“No, actually, I don’t get it.”

“Oh,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck.  “Sorry, I just turn into a little kid in front of you and act so dumb.  It’s embarrassing.”

“You run away because it’s embarrassing?”

He gave me a pathetic look.

“Stop running,” I said firmly.

“Even if I call you names and sucker punch you?”

“Like you could sucker punch me.”

“Sasuke, I’m serious, I completely regress into my 12-year-old self,” he said, shaking his head.  “It’s not a good look.”

“I want all of you.”

Naruto went red and I looked away, trying to play it cool like I hadn’t just said something so ridiculous.

“I want all of you, too,” he finally said, reaching out to touch me and then suddenly pulling back.

“You can touch me,” I said.  “Within reason,” I added quickly.

“I have no rhyme or reason,” he said, giving me a rueful smile.  His hand continued to float between us, awkward and undecided.

“Touch me,” I ground out irritably.

“I never know…” he started, then dropped his hand on my shoulder.  “I never know… where to draw the line.”

“The shoulder is fine, Naruto.”

He slid his hand down my arm, cupping my elbow as his eyes met mine expectantly.

“Fine.”

He let his hand continue its travel, ending up with his fingers curled around mine.

“Gay,” I informed him.

“Okay, but we’re being gay together, so that’s a good thing, right?” he asked, genuinely looking for an answer.

“As long as you don’t make a habit of it.”

“Fine, I won’t make a habit of being gay with you and will only do it at prearranged times and dates.”

“You’re dumb,” I informed him.

“Stop hiding behind your insults,” he said, pinching my cheek with his thumb and pointer finger and stretching the skin as far as it would go.  “Say what you want to say.”

I smacked his hand away.  “I think I’ve already said enough.”

He looked at me.

“Let’s go,” I said.

He shook his head and offered his back to me.  As we started moving through the trees again, he raised his voice and asked, “Could you tell me about your second dream world?”

“Why?” I growled at him.

“Because I want us to be closer,” he answered easily.

I didn’t answer for a while, and we got closer to the hospital.

“We dispelled the Tsukuyomi, we were hospitalized, I left,” I explained succinctly.

“Why’d you leave?” he asked.

“Exiled.”

“Is that why you thought Kakashi-sensei was gonna exile you here, too?”

“Do you have any notion at all of the crimes I’ve committed?” I asked, feeling annoyed.  I didn’t understand how he could just live in such complete obvliousness.

“You were a child,” he said sharply.

I laughed.

He stopped and we plummeted towards the ground.  He landed on his feet hard, dirt exploding around us.

“What the fuck are you crying for?” I asked incredulously.

He put me down, keeping his back to me as his shoulder shook.  “You don’t even realize…” he managed to get out before getting lost in his sniffling again.

I was mystified.  “What am I supposed to be realizing?”

He took some deep breaths before turning around and sitting in front of me.  “The village abused you.”

I rolled my eyes.  “Perfectly aware of that, Mr. Obvious.”

“No, you’re not,” he said, shaking his head.  “From when you were a kid.”

“Naruto, did you miss my entire pre-pubescent avenger phase?  I know what the village did.”

“And what did the village do?” he asked.  He’d calmed down, but there was something off in his eyes.

“They decided on the genocide of my clan and manipulated my teenage brother into doing the dirty work for them.”

“And then they kept you.”

I looked at him.

“They kept you,” he repeated, looking like he was about to get weepy again.  “They kept you, and they used you, and they discarded you when you weren’t useful anymore…”

“Again, I know all this…”

“You don’t think that you’re a victim.”

I rolled my eyes.  “Of course not.”

He continued to look at me like I was breaking his heart.

“Can we go already?” I asked, looking away.

Naruto reached towards me, his hand wavering before finally settling on my shoulder.  “I think you’re a jerk, you know.  Stubborn, selfish.”

I could feel a returning insult bubbling up.

“But I don’t blame you.  I don’t… think of you as a criminal.  Because you’re not a criminal.  You’re not all those things that you think you are.”

“Don’t carry on like you know me better than I know myself,” I protested.

“I’m not saying that,” he complained.  “There’s just this part of you, when it comes to your family and stuff, that you can’t see clearly.”

“And you’re going to enlighten me on the subject?”

“Yeah, doofus, I am,” he said, flicking me in the forehead.

“And what about what the village did to you?” I challenged him.

“I haven’t forgotten,” he said quietly.  “Nice deflection,” he added.

I felt my face go red.

His hand moved from my shoulder to my cheek.

Why did he always have to touch my face?

His thumb stroked along my skin as he tried to get me to look him in the eye.

I wasn’t one to back down from a challenge.  “Enough,” I said, looking into his eyes evenly.

He took his hand away slowly, like he didn’t really want to.  “I… I just… I wish you didn’t think of yourself that way.”

I stared at him.

He sighed.  “Can we hug?”

“Why?”

“I need a hug.”

I breathed out of my nose heavily, then held my arm away from my body.

He took the gesture as an invitation, attaching himself to my waist and burying his face in my neck.

I didn’t return the hug.  “Let’s go,” I repeated, avoiding burying my own face in his hair.

“Hug me.”

“Is that an order?” I scoffed.

“Yeah, it’s a best friend order.”

“So it’s not a gay friends order?”

“No, it’s a platonic order.”

“So you’re not going to start snuffling at me sexually again?”

I felt him bite his lip, the briefest brush of his teeth against my skin before he quickly sat up, looking rightfully embarrassed.  “Sorry, I uh… sometimes I don’t control myself so well.  But see, I’m very in control now, giving you a very nice hug.”  His hand was still looped around my waist and he was basically straddling my lap.

I patted his back.  “This is awkward,” I informed him.

“How is a best friends hug awkward?!” he demanded, glaring at me.

“Well, first of all a hug usually requires two arms to complete it-”

“Oh my god, are you discriminating against me for only having one arm?!” he cried.

“Yes.”

“Oh my god!  You one-armed bitch!”

“…you did not just call me a one-armed bitch.”

“I did!  And I’ll do it again!”

“My second point was going to be about how you can’t really call something a ‘best friends hug’ when you keep telling said ‘best friend’ how much you want to be gay with him, but I feel like nothing I say gets through your ridiculously thick skull anyway, so why bother trying?”

He pouted, and fuck me if it wasn’t the cutest thing I’d ever seen in my life.  “Just ’cause we’re gonna be gay together doesn’t mean we can’t still be best friends.  Aren’t you supposed to be best friends with your spouse?”

“When the fuck are we getting married?!” I cried incredulously.

“I dunno, after a couple years of dating?”

“We’re not getting married, you idiot!”

“We’re not?”

“No.”

“Why not, I mean we’re best friends and soulmates, and we’re both totally gay for each other-”

“Stop talking, Uzumaki,” I growled, covering his mouth.

There was that pout again.

“Don’t throw your life away on me,” I muttered, taking my hand away.

“Do you not get that this self-loathing thing of yours is exactly the point I’ve been trying to make?”

I stared at him.

He stared back.

I opened my mouth.

He covered it with his hand.

I bit him.

He shrieked.

I smiled.

“Fucking sadist,” he complained, cradling his arm to his chest.  I’d barely drawn any blood.

“Then maybe we shouldn’t-” I started to say, and the look in his eyes stopped me.  It was inescapable.  We were going to leave the village the next day, no matter how impractical it was.  “Let’s go.”

He nodded, adjusting his crouch so I could get on his back.

I didn’t feel warm at the closeness.  It was demeaning and I just wanted to walk again.

Naruto stopped a little ways from the hospital, both of us frowning at the rooftops.  “They must be there to guard Baa-chan,” he said, linking his fingers with mine as we performed the henge.

“I didn’t think that enough ninjas had recovered to be acting as an ANBU squad,” I said, my feet dropping heavily to the ground.  It was definitely time to get the fuck out of Konoha, crippled governing body or not.

We went through the front door of the hospital this time, eyes following us in.

Naruto made a beeline for the morgue.  “I’ll take care of everything,” he said, helping me onto an empty slab.  The one next to me wasn’t so empty.  “Be right back.”  He flashed me a grin before taking off.

My skin was crawling.  The sight of those ANBU lurking on the roofs had set something off inside of me, some instinct that was screaming at me to get away.

Naruto was taking a long time.

I didn’t almost put a kunai through his neck when he came back with Shigeo, throwing the door open carelessly without any regard for his own safety.

“Hey, bastard, I brought the cavalry,” he said, his eyes catching the glint of the kunai as I slid it back into hiding.  “Uh… yeah…”

“Hello, Mysterious Man in the Morgue,” Shigeo said, approaching me with his clinical detachment that I admired to a degree.  “Have you seen any improvement?”

“He can kinda stand on his own,” Naruto put in.  “But-”

I silenced him with a look.

His lower lip came out.

“I feel like your partner here would give me more information than your stony silence,” Shigeo said, running his chakra over my leg before digging his fingers into the muscles.

It wasn’t quite as painful as the last time, but I still started to sweat.

“So Sakura actually went home and is sleeping like I told her to do a million times,” Naruto said, brushing my sticky bangs from my forehead.  “We should go see her in the morning.”

“…why?”

“To tell her our plan?”

I looked at him.

He looked at me.

Shigeo did something incredibly painful.

Naruto cradled my face, looking pained.

“Fuck off,” I muttered, pushing him away.  He really needed to stop acting like that in front of other people.

He sighed pulling his hand away.

I flexed my leg.  I could move it better than I expected.  The muscles weren’t strong enough to support my weight, but I might be able to use chakra to move short distances.  I gave Shigeo an approving look.

“Say ‘thank you’ like a normal person,” Naruto complained.

I ignored him, but I shook Shigeo’s hand when he offered it to me.

As we left the hospital, we were both on guard, feeling the distant signatures of the ANBU lurking around Konoha.

[kayeblackwolf-blog]

The Hokage’s Failure or why i used to love Naruto and then not...

 First of all, i have to mention that i followed Naruto, the anime and manga, since High school, i was one of the first fans who likes the pairing of Naruto and Sakura even when the most of the fans doesn’t believe in this ship, obviusly, i learned in the hard way that they have the reason all along.

Today, while i was talking with a former co worker , i was telling him that i used to love Naruto and then just to maximize my dramatic exclamation i use a emoticon of a crying face there. He write a short but efective response that remember me why i loved Naruto so deeply. He the just wrote: “Hey, i´m Naruto!” and then send me a foto of his, smiling, proving that, in fact, they have exactly same smile, of course he makes this obvius adding another coment,

The fact was, that i used to love Naruto ‘cause was full of good things. Naruto was a main character lazy, messy and sometimes even pitiful, but persistent as hell and loyal till death, victim of bullying for be something he doesn’t even ask for, rejected and humilliated for the people that he knew as his home, but never revengful, sometimes being a bratt but not harmful. Naruto was just a kid who needed love and comprehension, someone who have decided protect the same place that mistreated him so bad.

Myself identifies with this kid, rejected but loving, clumsy but persistent. A good man trying to achieve his destiny, make his dreams come true and smiling against adversity.

Naruto would had a couple of things very clear, one of them was that He’d be the Hokage, other was that he’d brougt back Sasuke at any cost and third thah he loved Sakura ,deeply and trudly. And was there when everything (at least to me), begins to break.

Sakura was a bratty girl with no self criteria, a girl just being a girl at the pre pubescent age afraid to be more rejected than she already was. In this point i believed that in was one of the things that marked this ship so powerfully. They identifies the other in themselfs more or less but the identification is there.

Even when the smilarities between  Sakura and Naruto we can also say that they’re extremely unalike.

Many of their development happened since the first chapter in the manga. Sakura, a girl who is egocentrical, fearly , with a world of insecurities beneath her skin; Naruto a boy rejected trying to step out from the others but that keeps being a bratty and childish guy.

All the develpment between them is exhaustively analized in Narusaku manifesto a well descrived article that was published  so many years ago in a forum called Heaven and Earth. I don’t know exactly if that place exist yet, but if it does, please, read that article  ‘cause there will be, at least partially, the answers and explanations about this couple that many can be  looking for.

Maybe my major anger with the pairing  “Naruhina” is the lack of development in that relationship. There were not a single intimate moment between Hinata and Naruto in the entire manga, ¡Not a single one!

Lets stop here before  you get mad and tell me about how Hinata almost sacrifices her life in exchange for Naruto’s in that battle with Pain, a heroic act that summarizes absolutely the love she feels for him, let me tell you that  there is not intimacy in it, it was a public declaration that, even tough, takes Naruto and Pain by surprise and then was put aside in the continuity of the storyline. The movie is something apart that i’ll discuss later.

In the real story, in the manga and even in the anime, the original development of the characters there is not intimacy between Naruto and Hinata. There were not recognition, not bonding moment, not sharing about who were really who. The brief moment before the fight with Kiba, the oath in the fight with Neji in revenge for whats has been done to Hinata, even the public declaration from her were the perfect examples of lost chances. When Naruto and Hinata could have connect, Kishimoto decides cut off the line and keep going in another completely different direction, even then, there were moments after that moments where the bnding between Naruto and Sakura seems to shine more. All the oportunities that the manga had to make the Naruhina the main ship with the adecuate support were lost in moments so little and irrelevant that  caugh my attention once all was over.

Why’d you let that your main couple have such lame construction process? Why give the searchlight to another couple that were meant to be just friends?

The intimacy between Naruto and Sakura were so many that analize them would be possible only trough their manifesto and all the manga that was not over when it was written. My only objetive is express my opinion, unintended to offend no one.

At this point i know that expressing my opinion won’t change anything and, for the most, probably , i’ll get angry responses for the fans that saw how Naruhina triumphed in this ships wars. But this feeling, that i’ve guarded inside of me  has been fighting to get aout and i simply can’t repress any longer, so here i’m.

Many would say that Sakura was selfish and had the worts of the attitudes with Naruto at the first part of the manga, but we need to see under  what kind of concept we are judging her. She was, in the beginning of the manga, a twelve-years old girl who was trying to  go with the flow. How can we  think that her attitud and her treat to him will be different to the others if she herself is being rejected by her physic. At the age of twelve, i doubt, sincerely that someone would had their own critteria formed totally about people, things or facts. At thah age we are more a combination between what we see in othersand what we learned in home and school and we’re beginning our own exploration of the world, a vision of racionalization and  we are not mature enough to go against what is proclaimed  as a law. In Naruto’s universe everybody surrounding him rejects him, they are scared of him and try to avoid his existence. Why Sakura would act differentely? Hinata does not reject Naruto but nor comforts him  or supports him in any way- And no, repeat his name behind a tree while having daydreams in silence is not support- Sakura, even in this stage of theri relationship that is at some point kind of uncomfortable, supports Naruto  in many more ways fighting against her will and her own interest to help him or at least try.

Her confession of love was not fake even when many could think otherwise. NaruSaku fans believed it too, and some of them pointed this moment like the worst NaruSaku moment in the history of this manga, but to me  it was all unlike.

The “I love you” pronounced by Sakura was one of the most sincere i’ve ever read/heard. She put him first, his dreams, his heart, his hopes, her fail neglect his decision, she was hopeless and act by instinct . She was determined to finish  that Sasuke and her was inflicting in Naruto all along. The last person seh was thinking was about her, she just didn’t care about what Naurto and other could think about her, she act, she wanted to save her best friend and in her try she was selflessly selfish but she did try hard give her all to Naruto and if that is not love i don’t know how to call it. Even the she was severely judged. And yes Hinata risk her life for Naruto but that was a way more selfish than Sakura in her action, she not risk just her security if not also Naruto’s and Village. She could perfectly Know that gets in the way  of Pain was useless, dangerous  and uncautious but even then she did it. Why? Maybe moved by an impulse  but maybe  also thinking in the way her heroic act would impact in the way Naruto saw her. If that wasn’t real, why she confesses in that moment? She could say anything, anything aside her feelings but she choses that preciselly moment to confess her love, and suffer the consequences and Kishimoto wasted another bonding moment.

On the other hand, Naruto is a boy that always have loved Sakura, i didn’t  understand at first why, ‘cause, to be sincere, Sakura, in the beginning made me feel a little off, i didn´t like her, and to me she was so unfriendly that i only saw her as a horrible character but then, she changed, she grew and made herself better and for the first time i saw a really good character development from this childish girl into a strong woman, her treat to Naruto was changing to better, her obsession for Sasuke was lessening and everything seemed just perfectly fine. Naruto makes very clear in the first chapter that he already knows why he likes Sakura so much realizing it maybe even before many of us.

Naruto never hesitates in his feelings for her, he didn’t doubt. He promised her happiness even when that would mean sacifice his own  heart, he encouraged her, he admired her, he loved her passionately, truthly, maddly and deeply, and suddenly in a twist all that dissapeared just like that!

Years and years of love and devotion gone just...because. Sakura  throw Naruto to Hinata´s arms  in a movie that pretends justify Naruhina but only makes more clear that Naruto look at Hinata just ‘cause she was there and thats all and Sakura at least at it was portrayed, felt like she saw feeling so undeserving  of Naruto’s love that she decided  simply let him go. The lack of a real confrontation with their deep feelings between them left me unsatisfied. One of the things that upsets me the most is the kind of example that this kind of shippings gives to everyone who sees this.

From Hinata it was: live for a man, as if twilight wasn’t enough, now Naruto comes and shows us this. You like a man? Hide yourself behind a tree hoping like a stalker and never, never make the effort to talk with him and know him really ‘cause he’ll come to you when he is donde with his true love and make him your totally life sense. Forgett who you are, and change your personality cause he wanted and needed something entirely different of what you are.

A man mistreated you, is unrespectful with you and doesn’t give a damn what happen to you? Love him! Love him undying and fiercely, let him treat you as he pleases and years later when your life makes no sense and your kids doubt about your maternity and ask why their father is never near, destroys your house victim of your own frustration of a lifetime.

You’re a good man who give it all for everyone? well you gonna need the help from a traitor moron that says is your friend and let the love of your life go from you and let her get married with a idiot that just treated her like she have any value. Get married whit whoever gets in the way and to get over your frustration be a workaholic and neglect your own family.

If you’re a revengful murderer with God complex, a traitor to all the people, a idiotic and malevolous being, a man without  any type of ethic nor moral, dont worry, you’ll get married with someone who just adores you without reason, your best friend let you keep his tru love for you, and forgave every single shitty thing you’ve done to him and will make you a hero just like him.

Many of you maybe would tell me that things ar far different as how i portrayed in this post , but like i said before this is just an opinion and its mine only, i have nothing against no one aand nothing here es personal.

To me, Naruto and Sakura were meant to be , but he gives up and she never forgives self  and their story get lost in a great development that failed in give us clausure of them. Their story ends and it was for me the real end for Naruto saga, the Naruto that i used to love and then just gets me dissapointed.

If someone out there is interested in read NaruSaku Manifesto i leave the link here to check out:

https://ship-manifesto.livejournal.com/156175.html