#it makes me scream because naruto is fighting with his hands tied behind his back at all times.

[mediumsizedpidegon]

I feel like naruto doesn't get into the fact that naruto had literally no one give a shit about him until like. iruka-sensei? And sure, he was in an orphanage but then we learn that he's had the APARTMENT HE LIVES ALONE IN AS A TWELVE YEAR OLD CHILD THAT THE ENTIRE VILLAGE DESPISES since he was 4 or 5 i think (i will not check this. the timeline of naruto is dumb and makes me cry). and even in orphanage it isn't like the staff there were treating him right. why else would be given his own apartment by the hokage when he's four? i know they let sasuke stay in the house of his dead family and let itty bitty kakashi live alone after his father died but they are The Last Loyal Uchiha and a prodigy respectively. the rules are different compared to naruto himself, i believe.

Like, yeah– Naruto is loud and brash because he wants attention– and never has it unless he provokes others– and almost certainly neurodivergent (I think he has ADHD and depression). He doesn't know any of the theory behind being a shinobi, doesn't even know what chakra is. But Naruto has been criminally neglected, socially isolated and if not physically abused by some people in the village then certainly threatened with it often at the least. I'm more on the side that says that the ANBU can't stop everything and that by ditching them all the time Naruto actually ends up in more Very Bad situations but that aside:

I genuinely believe that Naruto would not know how to read when canon started. I think he doesn't how to use a washing machine (he washes his clothes in the Naka river because no laudromats will accept him). I think he holds his chopsticks wrong. I think he has half-picked up ANBU handsigns and how to mimic other people's voices to an eerie degree but he doesn't know a single thing about nutrition besides what can be obviously observed and tested (ie, if I don't eat something green at least once a week my body will Not Like It). I think he doesn't know ANYTHING about medical care except "if it's popped out, shove it back in the socket," or "wrap it in cloth scraps."

He's can be so quiet and stealthy that the ANBU lose sight and sound of him but he doesn't think unconditional love exists. Or at least, not for him.

I desperately want to see more of a Naruto that is brash and loud and loving and hopeful, yes, but also, once you peel back some layers, extremely eerie. Naruto is an orphan that raised himself in a village that would leave him dead in a ditch at the first opportunity: he is a child that raised himself in enemy territory. He is a child seen as a beast to the ordinary and a weapon to the higher ups. and do you know what people do to beasts and weapons that are unruly and too smart or lazy and useless? they put them down.

there is no way that Naruto is unaware of this. he's a child, but children can be perceptive and Naruto has to be to survive. And it's not like the village is being subtle. so. I want to see a Naruto that is so so aware that the ANBU are both to protect him and destroy him, that the hokage might hesitate, but no one else will. So: here is Naruto, who is a child who is a monster who doesn't want to be put down. who has to be cheerful and stupid and harmless enough to not be a threat, and strong and naive enough to not be useless.

just. just. a Naruto that has had to learn everything on his own, through trial and error, people-watching and his own common sense (naruto's sense is NOT common). And he's good at it because he has to be. He's a mimic through and through– he learns much from the ANBU and the vendors in their market stalls and the conversations that families share with each other. But the problem with being the outsider looking in is that sometimes you fail to see the context. meaning that Naruto has a SHIT TON of just. objective incorrect ideas of why certain things are the way they are. and it's not his fault– his conclusions are completely logical with what he has on hand, but the point is that he doesn't have all the information and he never does, on the outside. meaning: Naruto is a walking talking version of using the wrong equation on your math test and getting the right answer. he has to reverse engineer all this shit! and especially when it comes to jutsu, what's behind the product isn't obvious.

and now we come to the reason i actually made this post. the ridiculous, funny misconceptions i have headcanoned that naruto has, not the heartbreaking rage enducing ones.

the raw meat shame tax. so naruto eats raw meat (because no one has told him that eating raw meat = becoming ill, but he has kurama to take care of that anyway) if he's hungry enough or can't be bothered to cook it. but one time someone came across him during raw meat mealtime and reacted in horror and disgust. then naruto notices that sushi is like. super expensive despite how easy it is to catch fish and that cooked fish is cheaper as well in restaurants. SO naruto comes to the conclusion that eating raw meat must be shameful and taboo and something that can only be done alone or with close family in private BUT people like playing with the taboo so you can have sushi (which has non-raw meat elements to make it less scandalous) at restaurants AS LONG AS you pay an 'eating raw meat in public' tax. this is my most ridiculous headcanon and i love it to bits. like. i believe that out of all of the funny misconceptions naruto has, THIS is the one that is so baffling that it makes sakura just. give up. she leaves the room and walks directly into the Naka river.

what??? is?? the??? difference?? between?? girl?? and?? boy??? look. naruto knows that people can have different equipment: he lives in a bad part of town and is constantly eavesdropping on people. he doesn't just know that people have different equipment, he knows what sex is by the time he's 6. but naruto thinks that it can't be based on that because it's too stupid. like, if it were based on that, why would people cover up that part of themselves and treat it like taboo in public? it would make it really hard to tell who's a girl and who's a boy. naruto keeps coming up with shit and then disproving it over the years and is still unsure. but he nows knows he CANNOT ask people whether they're a boy or a girl because they will get mad.

which leads into clothes/hair aren't gender-specific but they ARE clan or occupation specific. Naruto does show up to class wearing dresses on multiple occasions and doesn't understand why Ino is extra mad at him those times. However the first time he sees someone with a haircut similar to sasuke's he's like 'that's not allowed! he's not part of your clan!' and it takes two hours to for sasuke to find out what the fuck dobe was talking about–

doesn't know what a library due date is. the library doesn't know who stole all the various craft/cooking books that have illustrated steps but they're never getting them back.

unintentional poison eating. naruto's cooking is.... so poisonous. he has eaten everything that looks like it could be eaten in the forest and if it doesn't make him sick then he deems him safe. there are SO many things that naruto forages that would straight up kill anybody else. naruto tries to share his food with team 7 one time because that's love and care babyyy!! and then there's ten minutes of screaming where sasuke and sakura genuinely think this was a murder attempt.

if someone leaves stuff unattended in public for more than half an hour then it's up for grabs and no longer stealing. this is how he gets most of his plants. and his bags. and his winter jacket. also his shoes. this is also how he garners even more hate from the village.

anyone above the age of seven can budget, haggle and save money. Naruto has been living on his own since he was four and he's been in charge of his own budget since then. he is merciless with money because he has to be and thinks that it is a normal thing for children to be capable of since he's doing it just fine after some trial and error. Naruto grudgingly thinks kakashi is smart for trying to foist the bill for ramen off on him every time by disappearing (good way to save money– don't be there when the bill arrives) but ALL of that goodwill evaporates when they go on a mission and kakashi spends the whole budget in the first week. also the image of naruto talking about finances with his teammates in a 'you know how it is' manner in and getting blank fucking stares back is hysterical. however sasuke is in legitimate danger of naruto dragging him through budget boot camp if naruto finds out that sasuke, the fucking clan head-in-waiting of the uchiha, is filthy rich and doesn't know anything about money.

there are three sets of teeth and if you lose an adult tooth you grow it back. this is (unintentionally) kurama's fault actually. naruto ends up with three sets of teeth: useless little baby teeth that he have fully lost by 6, child teeth (which are actually human adult teeth) that are fully lost by 12 and then "adult teeth." "Adult teeth" are nightmarish and are somewhere in between fox and human teeth. and if he loses an adult tooth naruto will grow it back sometime between a week and a month after he lost it.

team seven has never been more confused.

[uchiha-uzumaki-family]

Part 2

Watching Sasuke leave caused more agonizing pain than before. Something that had finally come together broke again.

Until Sasuke returned in a flash, grabbed him by the jacket and took him with him to the surprise of Captain Yamato, Sakura-chan and Sai, who were caught off guard.

The flames disappeared revealing a dark room, possibly another hiding place, far away from the others.

"W-why?" He tried to ask, but he could feel the answer.

It was that feeling that pulled him towards Sasuke, as if the gravity that held him to the earth was now him.

A tingle on the back of his neck. A pain in his belly. A heat that made him dizzy. Naruto knelt on the ground, confused.

"This isn't supposed to happen again" Sasuke's voice sounded strained, resisting something inside him.

Naruto turned to look at him, everything spinning around himself.

"What? Happen what again?"

"You're a beta but that day in the forest you didn't smell like one" Naruto could hear Sasuke's teeth begin to grind from the force with which he clenched his jaw. "You came back as if nothing had happened and I thought maybe it had all been a nightmare"

Sasuke walked over to Naruto and pulled the Hitaiate away from him. Sasuke's red eyes Sharingan shone with intense feeling.

"And then my body moved on its own in the fight with Haku, because my head screamed that I had to protect you with my life"

"I don't need ties, that'll only make me weak that's why I was determined to get rid of you" Sasuke raised his hand and directed it to the zipper on Naruto's jacket, pulling it down. "I should've known that I couldn't kill you in the end"

Naruto didn't understand what was happening, but his body shuddered at Sasuke's closeness, something coming together again.

"No Alpha can harm an Omega important to him"

The world seemed to stop.

Omega? Who? Did Sasuke have an Omega important to him? Pain. Why? Why would Sasuke approach another Omega if he was h...? WHAT?

"I'm a Beta" Naruto whispered, his voice sounding foreign even to himself. "I'm a Beta"

"I thought so too..." Sasuke brought his hands to his cheeks and forced him up, pulling him closer, allowing him to smell the pheromones that should be impossible for Naruto to distinguish. "Until that day in the forest, where I found you and couldn't fight the smell"

Tingling behind the back of his neck. Heat in his belly. Tickles on his spine and a sweet smell that began to penetrate even the stones of the room.

"I know you can feel it; You can't get away from me. You DON'T WANT to get away from me. I feel it too... All this time I've felt like it's ripping out my insides"

Sasuke lowered the collar of his jacket to sniff then lick, sighing at the nostalgic taste of pheromones in his mouth.

"Sasuke... That day in the forest... What happened?" Naruto murmured, his body unable to move, torn between delight and fear. "What did you do to me, Sasuke?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and licked again. Watching as a mark slowly appeared on the skin of Naruto's nape. Red and tender as if it had been newly created.

But it wasn't. That mark had been created three years ago.

Three years ago, Sasuke has sealed his life... and Naruto's.

The mark that would make Naruto run after Sasuke eternally and Sasuke unable to kill him, ever.

The mark that an Alpha made to his Omega.

Naruto was born a Beta... but Kurama was not.

R.D.

[mavda]

Beast Tamers

Ch.1 |  Ch.2 | Ch.3 | Ch.4(1) | Ch.4(2) | Ch.5(1) | Ch.5(2) | Ch.5(3) | Ch.5(4) | Ch.6(1) | Ch.6(2) | Ch.6(3) | Ch.7(1) | Ch.7(2) | Ch.7(3) |

Ch.7: Of burdens and duties (4)

Naruto tries to look like he is not bored out of his mind. But they sure are testing his patience. To go see a lord he already forgot his name when he’s free, to consider sponsoring a new trade route Naruto had already discarded with the council, to lend his power to suppress an uprising someplace he didn’t care to remember. 

    His father’s hand touching his shoulder almost made him whine in relief. 

    “I’m afraid I need Lord Naruto for a while, if you’ll excuse me.” His father actually looks apologetic, and Naruto almost wants to congratulate him for being such a good actor. Do whatever you need to do, just get me out of here, he thinks.

    And although the lords and ladies surrounding Naruto complain and whine about his father taking him, Minato takes him away amids excuses and apologetic glances everyone else buys. 

    They are out of earshot when Naruto sighs and thanks his father for his timing, “I was dying of boredom.”

    His father snickers, “Thought it was time for you to get stressed out.”

    “Hinata?”

    “With Lord Gaara.”

    Naruto raises an eyebrow at him, but doesn’t press further. He’s going to her right now to make sure she’s all right anyway. 

    There are some people who look at him and make as if getting closer, but Naruto raises a hand in apology and keeps on walking. He has already spent a good amount of time with them, let him leave, jeez. 

    Temari is the first one to notice him, and she gives him a nod before moving her body to give him a clearer view. Sai is looking around, sitting right beside Hinata. She is sitting straight, all poise and elegance, and her attention is on Gaara, who’s talking and moving his fingers as if counting.

    He comes closer, keeping his eyes on her. Kankuro turns then, Sai glances over him and Gaara raises his head as he realizes his siblings’ attention is elsewhere. Then Hinata looks away from Gaara, follows his line of sight and looks at him. 

    Her shoulders drop in relief, her eyes widen and Naruto has to stop himself from gathering her up in his arms and crushing her against him. Sai stands up the moment he’s close enough and Naruto sits beside her. She stays unmoving and Naruto searches for her hands before bringing it to his thigh. Hinata gives him a small smile and as he rubs circles over her skin she squeezes back.

    Gaara resumes his talking when Hinata looks back at him. 

    “So,” he continues, “only in attendance today are the One-Tail, the Five-Tail, Six-Tail and the Nine-Tail.” His fingers come down as he remembers. “The Four-Tail is allegedly dying-”

    “Which him not coming today kind of fans the flames of that rumor,” Kankuro shrugs and Temari nods along. 

    “And reports have been coming in that the Two-Tail has been sealed already but they are giving time to their Beast Tamer to acclimate.” 

    Hinata frowns, “T-the others… w-where are the o-other B-beasts?”

    “In the wild,” chimes in Naruto, “being restrained by the clans who want a claim on them.”

    “W-who?”

    Naruto shrugs, “We can’t know unless someone comes forward and claims their stake, but so far no one has done so. We don’t know where they are either.” His tone is matter of fact and his stance tells Hinata he doesn’t mind the situation one bit. 

    She keeps her worries to herself. If it’s not enough to worry a Beast Tamer, then surely they were unfounded. But Naruto presses on her hand, grabbing her attention.

    “Anything else?”

    “Ah, w-well. Isn’t it d-d-angerous?” 

    “Oh, well, if the Beasts were roaming freely then sure, and we Beast Tamers would have to step up and contain it. But since they are out there doing nothing, it’s better for us not to waste resources on that. They are being taken care of, and eventually a new Beast Tamer will appear.”

    “H-have you h-had to?”

    Naruto cocks his head to the side in confusion.

    “T-take care of a w-wild B-beast.”

    “Oh, no,” he says, “not in our generation. That kind of thing happened like three generations prior, when we were starting to seal them in ourselves.”

    Hinata nods, as now everything starts to come together with the knowledge she had of Beast Tamers before becoming the wife of one. Before the Beasts were sealed in humans the clans either drew them off into the wild and far away from them or tried to seal them in places. A mountain, a cave, a forest. Only when they started sealing them within themselves to draw from their power did the Beast Tamers came into reality.

Hinata wonders, steals a glance at Naruto  who is starting a conversation with Lord Gaara. Would it be so bad to let the Nine-Tail out into the wild again? Tied to a forest far away from everyone? That way Naruto…

    He brings her out of her thoughts as he scoots closer to her and lays their intertwined hands over her thigh now, Hinata feels herself blushing and notices immediately the mischievous smirk on Naruto’s face. 

    He is enjoying this.

⁂⁂⁂

Hinata spends the rest of the day by Naruto's side. Like his father did before, when people don't accept Naruto's hand wave and leave, he walks to them, away from the group and comes back immediately after. 

Lord Gaara and his entourage left a while ago, as soon as the demonstrations started. Each Beast Tamer sits in a specified area around the arena, at the highest part of the structure, in order of the number of tails of their respective Beasts. Lord Naruto sits at one of the edges and Lord Gaara is right in front of his line of sight. 

Naruto relaxes the moment the show starts, and it's obvious why. The area the Beast Tamers sit at is off-limits to anyone but the people sanctioned by them, and a quick glance around tells Hinata that the Beast Tamers only keep their guards and a selected handful of other people. Many of the lords Naruto talked with before were not in here and new faces were presented before Hinata with a whole new attitude. 

These people he liked, she realized, and by the way they conducted themselves the feeling was mutual. 

Most of the lords and ladies that came to Naruto before sit under them, in the next level. Still substantially high up, but incapable of bothering the Beast Tamers. Not that they seem to mind, as they are now enthralled in the fights under them. With their hands intertwined and grabbing their clothes in suspense, Hinata sees some of them groaning in frustration while others clap in glee at the results. 

Naruto sits with his hand on her thigh, and he glances back at her every once in a while. Rubs his thumb over her clothes, offers drinks and food Hinata ends up refusing after a while. 

Sai sits right beside her, on her other side, and Sakura has come sit next to Naruto instead of Shino. They comment on the fights and some of the lords and ladies they met before and Sakura's laugh fills the room in intervals. 

Hinata snickers at some of their comments, harsh and way too honest, and whenever she sits there, confused since she's missing information, either Sakura or Naruto lean to her and add an explanation. 

There are few instances in which Hinata had the fortune of visiting a festival before. All of them under the eyes of the Hyuga. The places were beautiful and the people were happy and Hinata could only watch. Her stutter made her keep her mouth quiet and it meant she could never join in anything worth doing. 

Naruto presses his hand on her leg, inches closer to the edge of his seat as the fight reaches its climax. One of the fighters uses a flashy fire technique that engulfs half the arena and the people watching hold their breaths as they expect to see the opponent laying on the ground. But he's cocooned inside walls he raised from the ground, and he dashes forward immediately after. His enemy yields the moment he sees him running towards him. 

And Naruto laughs in joy. "Did you see that?" He asks, and Hinata can feel his eyes on her. She smiles and can't control the feeling that overcomes her as Naruto looks at her expecting a reaction. Whatever it may be. 

She takes her time, as usual, but she doesn't worry, because she knows he will wait. "Went all or n-nothing on that last one, d-didn't he?"

Naruto's energy is contagious, and Hinata can't remember a time in which she was so mesmerized in fighting before. He nods along and shrugs, "You always gotta keep your chakra supply in check."

"Like you've ever had to worry about that," jabs Sakura, and Naruto turns to her with mock hurt on his face. 

"I'll let you know I am very conscientious about my own chakra, thank you very much."

Lord Minato rarely comments and spends his time quiet and attentive behind his son, but this time he inches forward, right between Hinata and Naruto, and he says, "You are very welcome, son, thank you very much."

Naruto turns to him and looks as if he's been betrayed in the worst way possible. Sakura keeps on pestering him, now that Lord Minato has joined in, and Naruto waves them away frowning as if he's pissed, but he snickers the second after, and he can't help but laugh as he attempts to defend his position with weak arguments. 

Even Sai chimes in, and Hinata can feel herself relishing this ambience, this situation. She is enjoying herself. And she brings her hand to her mouth in an attempt to hide the laugh that threatens to spill forth. 

The tremor that rattles their room is enough for the conversation to die out immediately and for everyone to stand alert. Naruto grabs her arm and brings her closer to him. 

The sound comes to them from the farthest corner of the arena. The people standing in attention stare at the direction where the sound came from and Hinata can feel Naruto's hand trembling as they realize that it's-

"Gaara," Naruto whispers and he squints his eyes as if that's enough for him to be able to see between the people and the cloud of dirt that stands between them. 

"The structure gave away?" Ventures Sakura, and they all remain quiet, still ready for action, aware of their surroundings and everything around them. 

The screams are still far away, but it's enough for Naruto to grab Hinata and start walking away from the windows. His eyes still glued to the commotion, glancing around every now and then to make sure that whatever was there was not yet here. 

"An attack?" Lord Minato looks dumbfounded, and the lords and ladies inside the room whisper around them with the same tone. Nobody aside from Naruto and Sai have moved and it's clear nobody yet believes there is even a chance for an attack to be happening. 

"Everyone, gather your things, your guards and leave this place immediately." Naruto's voice resonates within the room, and he breaks the spell. Everyone begins to stand, looking more and more worried by the second. 

And then Gaara's One-Tail comes into view, and Naruto can feel a shiver run down his spine. "What the fuck…" 

The Beast roars to the sky. His weight is too much for the wood and metal structure under him, which is why every move he makes make the place collapse. The Beast's body is like a gigantic bear made out of sand, with purple linings running through its body like veins. His yellow eyes are surrounded by black and they lock on the people under him. 

Naruto has trouble breathing. He wishes to go and help, make Gaara regain control, but there are so many things yet he doesn't know. He can't put Hinata at risk due to his carelessness.

"I'm going to help," his father states and then runs towards the window. 

"Sakura!," Naruto shouts, trying to reign control of the situation and start giving the orders they desperately need. But Sakura is already on his father's heels.

Minato throws a kunai in front of him, breaking the glass before jumping out, with Sakura at his back. They disappear into the sea of people who have already started to leave the premises as fast as they can, making the dire situation even worse. Naruto follows his father’s back for a second before losing them completely. And then he turns around and brings Hinata to his side, his arm around her shoulders.

"We need to leave," he orders. Hinata trembles under him and his brain starts working with one goal in mind: getting her out of here.

"Shino, you guide us out of here. Sai, at my back." 

Shino's bugs are already buzzing and flying around them and he starts moving immediately after receiving the instruction. Naruto feels Sai glued to their backs and he allows himself a second of relief before moving. 

The people pile upon each other in a desperate attempt to escape, but it only makes it harder to do so. Naruto understands Shino's instructions without the need to voice it. He crouches, places his arm behind Hinata's legs and raises her into his arms.

She brings her arms around him as a reflex, her eyes wide and filled with worry.

"It's gonna be all right," he whispers against her head, "it's going to be all right. I got you."

They jump in between the people. Like many others lords and ladies are doing as well, being carried in the arms of the guards they brought. They keep away from each other, still too worried about the source of the attack. 

The One-Tail stops roaring and Naruto feels himself stand straighter. He knows this pattern. He looks at the monster and sees it breathing in.

"Take cover!!" He yells, hoping Shino and Sai hear him. He falls to the floor, covers Hinata with his body and raises his hand in front of him, letting the chakra of the Beast pour out. 

The One-Tail shoots out balls of pressured air to the people. In no order. The ground trembles, the arena starts falling apart wherever the attack touches and then it stops. 

Naruto lets his chakra die out and looks around. There are people splayed out in ways that no living being could withstand, and he brings Hinata closer to him. The arena still stands, but it's a matter of time before the One-Tail pounds it to the ground. 

"Shino! Sai!" 

Sai jumps next to him, with his scroll on his hand and a bleeding gash at the side of his head. Shino is nowhere to be found. "He'll find us," he tells Sai, who only nods before following again. Shino specializes in tracking, if anyone will be able to find them after being separated will be him… or so Naruto wants to believe. 

The screams and now wails of pain fill the air and Naruto feels his senses heightened due to the danger around them. Which is why he stops before the One-Tail even stops screaming. 

The Beast gives out an interrupted yell before disappearing under a flash of light. 

His father did it. 

He did it. 

Gaara is okay.

He doesn't realize he's trembling until Hinata brings her head out of his neck and he puts her on the ground, cups her cheek. His fingers can't stop spasming. "Are you hurt?"

Hinata shakes her head no and hugs him, rubbing her head against his chest. Naruto can't help the sigh of relief that leaves his body. 

He has to go check on Gaara. 

He reaches the ground with Hinata in his arms first. Whatever happened to Gaara can happen again and it's best for Hinata to get out of here. 

Sai will take her. Naruto looks around, hoping to see Shino or Sakura coming to him, but only the people jumping down from the stands are running around. The guards with their clients under their arms, looking around in search of danger while they move as fast as they can. There are whimpers and wails of agony around them, but the thunderous racket from before gave way to a sort of calm that only makes Naruto more nervous. 

His father must be with Gaara, tending to him. He will not come back until Gaara is fine, and he’s grateful for it. But that means that Sakura won’t leave his side either and if Shino doesn’t come back soon only Sai will be there to protect Hinata. And taking the current events into consideration, Naruto fails to feel comfortable without sending at least two guards with her. 

He takes too much time thinking. It’s the first thing that comes to mind as the tremors come back again and the noise escalates around them. It’s terrifying, the sight before him. Aside from Gaara’s, he has never seen another Beast on the loose. Wouldn’t even think he would ever do so in his lifetime. And yet…

The Five-Tails stands now before him, a horse-like Beast with white fur extending from its face to its five tails. The stands are already in shambles so the moment it appears, his hoofs start stomping in an attempt to stabilize itself. 

The wave of dust and air that moves to them leaves Naruto with no time at all, and his only reaction is to cocoon Hinata in his arms and throw himself to the ground, hoping no debris falls to them. 

The second the trembling settles they are running away. Naruto coughs as the particles latch to his lungs and he worries whether Hinata is having a hard time breathing as well, but he refuses to stop now. First they need to get out of here.

The dust makes everything harder to see and Sai tries his best to make a way for him to go through, moving people out of their way. They move faster than almost everyone on the ground and yet they are still inside when that distinct trembling happens again. 

Naruto knows what’s happening before he even turns around. Somehow, his senses catch onto his surroundings before his brain can have a chance. He puts Hinata on the ground, looks for her face.

There are tears going down her cheeks and he doesn’t know whether it’s because she’s scared or because the dirt around her is irritating her eyes. 

It doesn’t really matter.

He raises her head, cups her cheeks with his hands while his thumbs wipe her tears. She locks eyes with him, “Stay close to Sai.” 

Hinata frowns at him, confused, but  Naruto doesn’t have the time to explain, so he pushes her towards her guard, who is already right behind her.

Naruto smirks, he catches on quick. 

Sai, like never before, latches onto Hinata’s wrist and mid-section to keep her from moving, as she tries to reach for him. “My lord-” she calls, but Naruto walks backwards with growing intensity. 

He catches her struggling with Sai, who remains still as a statue. And as if on cue, the Six-Tails gurgles to the sky. Slimy and gooey, the slug-like Beast stands behind him too. Naruto can’t find any explanation for what’s happening. He just fears-

“Naruto!!” Hinata cries and Naruto can feel his heart squeezing. He forces himself to keep on walking. Not now. She has to leave and he has to put distance between them. 

Whatever is happening, it’s targeting Beast Tamers. And if there is any pattern to this.

-he fears he’s next.

[pinkhairedlily]

Chapter 1 - Student Council President Sakura

SCPS AO3 | PREVIOUS CHAPTER

Sasuke’s first year was rather uneventful. He wasn’t in the same class as Naruto and Sakura, and thank God he wasn’t because from what he heard in the hallway and in the classroom during breaks, they were described as having uncontrollable bursts of energy. The other likable, the other a menace to mankind. He kept to himself most of the time, never went to class late, recited perfectly, ranked first on all tests. When there were group works, he would submit a finished output before they could even hold a meeting. He didn’t bother with his classmates’ workarounds – hanging out in cafes just to discuss menial matters or having sleepovers as an excuse to make a move. He didn’t have the energy to bother. And so from orphan genius, he became the stuck-up genius. That was okay with him. He had been called worse names before.

He didn’t know when it exactly started, but the yard behind the library had turned into his refuge. No one really visited it because of the tall piles of recycled materials, but there was a small clearing hidden by thick vines and untended trees. There, Sasuke found small minutes of peace.

Past the shrubbery and the foliage and the fence, one can see the lake behind the school. It was deep and wide enough that dragonboat teams would practice in it during summer. Couples would frequent it after school hours and think no one can see the kisses, the hand-holding, the hugs. Beyond the lake was a museum he frequented when he was a child, and then the city center wherein all roads connected to the train station. One can get on it, travel for three stations, and disembark on the fourth. It usually took thirty minutes if one strictly walked on the streets, but Sasuke would cut across the mini-bamboo forest in that area, emerge behind the bakery, still have the time to buy his favorite cream puffs, walk past two houses, and arrive at their family house. It was closed since then, the sales proceedings wrapping up after months. It would take another three years for the trust fund to be entirely turned over to him. By that time, he would be safely out of the clutches of his memories.

His exclusive space and time for musings was suddenly cut off in the middle of the school year when Naruto accidentally stumbled upon him eating an egg sandwich for lunch. Sasuke heard distant screams from the usual troublemakers and saw the silent plea on Naruto’s face. It wasn’t hard to know who they were looking for. He angled his head towards the blonde who was sweaty, had cuts on his arms, and twigs on his hair. Naruto flashed him an apologetic grin and crawled to his side.

“They said my laughter was annoying.” Naruto fixed his almost tattered clothes and laid on the grass. “Quite an oasis you have here.”

Sasuke sighed, too defeated right now to muster a retort. He fished another sandwich from his pocket and gave it to Naruto. “Eat.”

“Grumpy! You are a lifesaver!” He grinned sheepishly and ravaged the food in big bites.

“Keep your voice down, will you?” Sasuke snapped. “By the loudness of it, one won’t need a tracker to find you.” He opened his water bottle for a drink but that too was stolen by a choking Naruto.

“Sorry about that. I’ll pay you when my stipend arrives.”

“Never mind that.”

Finally full, Naruto went back to lying on the grass and closed his eyes for a quick nap. Sasuke saw the bruises on his knuckles and smirked. This kid can fight.

So he is on scholarship too.

“Uchiha Sasuke. That’s your name, right?” Naruto still had his eyes closed, enjoying the light breeze, and the silence that ensued when the troublemakers left the area.

“What about it?” He was waiting for the patronizing statements or the pity looks.

“We’re the same,” Naruto muttered, kind of like a matter-of-fact. “You just had the better side of the coin. Wished I had the board scholarship, but I’m bad at studying.”

The board scholarship was inevitable. Albeit being public in a sense, it was awarded to him as some sort of posthumous act because his father was a member. It was an open secret among the school officials, but he wasn’t sure if the students caught up on it yet. He wondered what common denominator tied him to Naruto. “So what do you have then?”

Naruto opened one eye and smirk. “Are you interested in knowing me?”

The school bells rang. Time’s up for lunch break and Sasuke’s impulsive interrogation. Looking back, he felt some kind of humiliation because he was explicitly giving interest in someone else’s life, however minute it was.

------------------------------

His peaceful abode didn’t revert back to the way it was. Naruto had invaded it as his hiding place from the bullies. He would come sometimes with an onigiri or a sandwich but most of the time, empty-handed. Before Sasuke could pick up on their previous conversation, the blonde would fall asleep, or at least pretend to. Absent parents then, he thought, noting the absence of prepared lunch and frequent convenience store purchases. Like him. He confirmed this the following day when he heard the bullies attacking him on the hallway.

“You should die, orphan kid. No one would miss you anyway.” A bald student aimed to kick him on the stomach, but Naruto blocked this with his arms. There was a reserved glare in his eyes, but before he could return the attack, two other kids forced his arms to open and give access to the target point. Sasuke found his feet walking briskly towards the scene, his hands ready to grab Naruto’s collar to safety.

“Sakura!” Students yelled out in confusion. A pink flash in his periphery.

She kicked the attacking student on the back with such force that reeled him forward to the ground, definitely knocking a tooth out and him unconscious. She planted both of her feet on his prone body and glared at his backup. “Bullying has no space in this school. Let go of him or I’ll tell the faculty to raise your disciplinary actions to suspension.” She was assertive, her every step unwavering in front of crisis.

Sasuke briefly wondered if she wouldn’t get disciplinary action as well for kicking a student. Well, she could frame it as self-defense. As if on cue with his thoughts, several teachers came to the scene and took the bullies to the faculty room, including Sakura.

“It wasn’t her fault,” Naruto yelled. He was supported with muffled agreements from other witnesses.

“Don’t worry about me. What’s important is you’re safe,” she flashed him a wink and waved goodbye. Sasuke can only see Naruto’s back, but he guessed the blonde dude was smiling from ear to ear and probably blushing. He also saw that she limped. Quite devious of her to distract everyone with that smile and that cherry pink hair in a ponytail.

------------------------------

Naruto was whistling when he joined Sasuke behind the library the next day. He didn’t have a sandwich or onigiri with him, but he had a bento lunch box. He must have seen Sasuke’s slight quick eyebrow raise because he immediately boasted about it.

“Sakura gave this to me!” Naruto showed it around like it was a product advertisement. “She said she made it herself! I feel loved.” He then hugged it like a child would a prized teddy bear.

“Wow, that escalated quickly.” Sasuke was feeling snarky. He continued munching on his sandwich. For today, it was tuna and cheese flavor.

“I might have a crush on her! The way she kicked that bully to the ground was such a sight to see. I think all of us in our class already admire her.” Sasuke didn’t reply. She was the hot topic in his classroom, along the halls, and at the school gates. Everyone was gushing about her bravery and her contrasting personality from her feminine looks, as if strength and beauty was so sparingly exclusive.

“Maybe she felt sorry for you.”

“Would take her kind of pity any other day.” Naruto opened the bento lunch box, the aroma arresting the two boys’ senses. Rice seasoned with shiso, karaage chicken, a small piece of salmon, lettuce wrap, tamagoyaki, and potato salad. How she fit them all inside a small container was a mystery, but it was an amazing food presentation that even Sasuke’s mouth instinctively watered at the sight.

“She wasn’t overbearing at all. She just greeted me this morning while introducing herself, handed me a bento box and left in time for the school bell. As if I didn’t know her already.” Naruto brought the bento box closer to his nose and made a loud sniffing noise. “Maybe she likes me?”

Sasuke grimaced outwardly. “Get lost. She likes everyone.”

Naruto laughed. “That’s true. That’s true. She’s the kind of person that everyone wants and wants everyone. Since you’re letting me share your hideout, want to share this box?”

Sasuke fished out some tamagoyaki slices and karaage and directly placed them in his mouth. He stared at Naruto, expecting him to get angry but the blonde was happily devouring the dishes as well. They both nodded in approval of the taste. For a moment, they tasted again the joy of homemade cooking. Two orphans in a secluded area, hiding from the realities of the world, comforted by the works from the distant hands of a stranger.

That afternoon, Sasuke went back to that hideout, not wanting to go home with his classmate. His attention perked up when he heard some heavy footfalls near the area.

“Kakashi-sensei?” The voice was familiar. He heard it several times already, but he can’t connect a face. “You don’t have to do this really. It’s quite embarrassing.”

“Well, who was stupid enough to physically fight bullies in school and in plain sight? Look at your leg. You cannot even walk.”

It was her and Hatake Kakashi, the handsome Math teacher who loved reading on his free time, the teacher with sleek silver hair, the teacher all female students liked. Of course.

“It’s amazing how you noticed it, Sensei.”

“I’m your homeroom teacher, Sakura. Of course, I’ll notice the welfare of my students. You should have called in sick. Now, will you let me bring you to the school clinic?”

“Sorry about that, Kakashi-sensei.”

It wasn’t the voice of an inconvenienced student. It was the giddy voice of a girl with a budding crush. Their comfort stranger being comforted by another stranger.

------------------------------

The bullies went back to school after a month of suspension, just in time for the final exams before the winter vacation. Sasuke noticed that the bullies didn’t touch him even though he was an orphan himself. Acting with this knowledge, he started not to mind the greetings of Naruto whenever he would pass by his classroom. He would even sometimes walk with him in the hallways, earning weird looks from his schoolmates, because why would the stuck-up genius hang out with bully-magnet Naruto?

One caught on their weird connection. The two of them were walking towards the cafeteria when they passed by Sakura. Sasuke noticed she was no longer limping. She spent the whole month with a bandage around her ankle, and students would gush in concern over her. He found it comedic that they only showed this empathy when the bandage was visible and not immediately after that encounter when she was obviously in pain. It was brief but their gazes locked with each other, and she flashed him a smile. Naruto was too busy ranting on making up for extra classes so he didn’t notice her. Was the smile intended for him? Sasuke quickly shrugged this off, remembering Naruto’s comment about her being wanted by everyone, and also his incidental eavesdropping on her and Kakashi.

The annual cultural festival soon came around. This was one activity he was actually waiting for – he would skip and spend the whole week holed up in his apartment, but fate apparently wanted a different scenario. Naruto was their year’s head errand boy. Under him were other errand volunteers. When Sasuke saw the head coordinator for their batch, he understood the reason why. Haruno Sakura tied a red ribbon around her forehead and directed instructions to everyone.

He was too late when he realized this. “Uchiha Sasuke!” She knew his name, dammit.

She was dressed down to a white shirt two sizes too big for her with sleeves rolled up and jogging pants under her skirt. She handed him a hammer and pointed to the structure they were building. “Uchiha Sasuke, that’s your name, right? I’m pretty sure you heard me loud and clear.”

He grunted to himself and took the hammer from her hand. “I’m not deaf.”

“You just need to secure those two wood pillars on this scaffolding. More hands, the better, the faster.” He didn’t know if she was talking to him or to her companions. It didn’t actually bother her if there wasn’t any response. She continued pounding on the nail, pausing for a few seconds and looked at him. “You know how to use the hammer, right?”

You’re amazingly burdensome, Sasuke thought. He sighed, dejected at this sudden turn of events, and hammered his frustrations away. They continued to work in silence, well at least he was quiet. Every now and then, she would give instructions from her position, keeping everyone in check and in track of the year’s progress. It was in the middle of this particular moment that she missed and hammered her own finger. Sasuke waited for her to yell in pain, wince, or withdraw her hand from the task, but she continued as if nothing happened.

Sasuke pounded the last nail in its place, finishing his part before anyone else. He turned to Sakura’s side and saw that she was still working, rather slowly, and she was hiding the finger she hit. He pushed her away the second she paused for a break and ignored the hushed protests.

“That’s my part, Sasuke. Why are you working on it?”

He quickly finished attaching the remaining wood pillars, took both of their hammers, and returned them to the toolbox. He was eager to be rid of this task, but there was something tricky he needed to do.

“I guess I should thank you,” Sakura said, shyness somehow showing through her usual energetic demeanor.

He grabbed her hand and placed a few band-aids on her palm. Before she could say anything and demand more work from him, he quickly walked away.

“I’ll beat you in the exam ranking though!” She shouted after Sasuke, a statement which made him smile.

That was how he would describe his first year of high school and the start of his unintended relationships.

AO3 LINK | NEXT CHAPTER | CHAPTER 2

[grimmjowkurosakidrake]

Can’t stay the same

Summary: Part five of my Time travel fic: The end is were we begin

Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Sasuke, Uchiha Sasuke & Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Itachi & Uchiha Sasuke

Lenght: 2,024 Words

Quick disclaimer: This chapter was commissioned by the always great @birkastan2018​ who actually helped me with my grammar and spelling in the fic!

 @witcheswritings​ !

Feel free to DM Aquelarre if you want to commission a fic even if it’s not Naruto related

Previous

Sakura being trained by Itachi and Shisui feels wrong.

But Sasuke can’t deny that she’s getting stronger. Her stamina has increased under his cousin’s merciless training regime, and even her prior, almost inexistent tolerance to pain has developed in a way he could have only dreamed of under his (or even Kakashi’s) tutelage. 

Their sensei had always been far too soft on her; always hesitant to really push her because he was afraid that she’d get hurt.

Naruto and Sasuke always went along with the idea that they could protect their female teammate no matter what happened.

And they could, they were strong back then and Sasuke is sure they will become even stronger in the future.

But that was not the point then and it isn’t the point now.

Sakura is a shinobi, a kunoichi. If she at some point wanted to be the sort of person that needed to be saved or protected, she would’ve stayed a civilian. She wasn’t obligated in any way to continue her life as a Shinobi, Sakura didn’t have any ties to the shinobi world in the sense that she didn’t come from any clan.

She chose the life of a kunoichi.

It took years for him and Naruto to understand this, and allow her to bloom in her own right.

Kakashi is another story entirely. Sasuke could never understand the man, even as an adult the roots of his teacher’s trauma were always a mystery to him.

Maybe he just didn’t know how to train a girl. Or he probably didn’t even know how to train anyone if the rumours of him never taking on a team were true.

Maybe he simply wasn’t interested in training a young civilian girl with no foundation other than the academy’s sloppy teaching methods. Especially when he had the only survivor of the Uchiha massacre and the Kyuubi’s vessel to deal with.

Maybe she reminded him too much of Rin, his first teammate. A girl that was said to be bright and sunny; always happy and ready to help her team in whatever way she could.

A girl eternally in love with her cold teammate Kakashi, even though their loving and kind third teammate would have given her the sun and the stars if she so desired.

Whatever the reasons behind Kakashi’s negligence of Sakura, the truth was she could have never truly bloomed as a kunoichi under the care of their team.

It wasn’t until he left the village, Naruto followed Jiraiya to advance his own training, and Kakashi completely disappeared from her life until Naruto’s return, that she finally set out on her own path as a ninja.

Now she trains her stamina and speed with Shisui every other morning. She wakes up at dawn on the days she meets with his cousin to challenge her body to the brink. Shisui has her running endless laps and sparring with him, and even though she has no hope of pinning him in her current state - Sakura keeps going. Sasuke even found her carrying Naruto on her back as a way to build up her strength.

Or so, Shisui said with a smirk dancing on his mouth.

In addition to her training with Shisui, Sakura joins her team on small missions and sometimes works one-on-one with Kakashi, who has started to take a more serious approach to her development.

Maybe he is being possessive of his “cute little genin” as he likes to call them, or maybe he’s finally realized that he can’t just ignore one of his students.

Sasuke doesn’t really care about his reasons. The important thing is that his team is acquiring the tools they need to defend themselves, to survive, and to hopefully beat the odds they will face in the future.

Someday, he will take more time to consider Kakashi, the man who passed down his most powerful jutsu to him... just as his own father taught him their clan’s signature giant fireball.

But for now, with his brother safe and actually happy beside him everyday, Naruto and Sakura are his only worry. They are his most precious people; warm sources of light in his otherwise dark life.

Sakura also trains with Itachi when he has the time, but she doesn’t seem very keen on sharing what they work on.

“We’re trying to find her strengths,” shares his brother one night after Sakura leaves their house, refusing both his and Itachi’s offers to scort her home. “Something to make her stand out, like Naruto-kun’s Multiple Shadow Clone Technique or even our own Sharingan.”

Like her enhanced strength or her excellent chakra control.

“And have you found anything?” Asks the black haired boy, eager for results, “Her chakra control is excellent and I think she has an affinity for water.” he supplies, trying to sound nonchalant, but if his brother’s smirk is anything to go by, he’s not doing a great job of it.

Itachi shakes his head with a grimace. “Even thought her chakra control is better than average, her actual reserves are not nearly enough for her to sustain any form of actually damaging attack.”

Admittedly, Itachi was never really a teacher to begin with. He was a prodigy to his very core, and the only actual experience he ever had at teaching was with Sasuke (another prodigy) and Naruto, the host of the nine tailed beast.

“But there has to be something!” Sasuke recalls his wife’s monstrous strength, her unparalleled medical jutsu, her strength of a hundred seal... Sakura has so much potential.

“We are working on genjutsu at the moment,” concedes Itachi, black eyes looking at the koi pond their mother used to take care of before her banishment with the rest of the Uchiha traitors. Now, only Sasuke has time to spare for such things. “Not enough for her to be at an Uchiha’s, or even a Yuhi’s level. Just sufficient for her to break through one, or create a distraction for up to a minute tops.”

“That’s…” Mumbles Sasuke.

That’s not enough.

She’s stronger than she was at this point back in his original timeline, and she’ll probably be able to defend herself against the sound ninja better than she did last time. But her confidence is just as low as it was weeks ago. She still thinks she’s weak, and she still hesitates before every punch she throws at training.

She needs Tsunade, Sasuke finally realises.

There’s no way Itachi or Shisui can offer her the confidence or the tools that the slug princess passed onto Sakura as if she was her entire legacy.

Of course, for Sakura’s sake, Sasuke will make sure that the woman comes back.

But at the moment, there’s nothing he can do to force the sannin’s return to the village. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Today, Sasuke wakes up later than usual. He has a mission at noon, sharp. But he knows that Kakashi will take a four hours long detour to visit his dead teammates, so he’s not worried about it.

He arrives at their meeting point, a quarter after one in the afternoon where a restless Sakura and smug Naruto are waiting for him.

Sakura is leaning against a tree, looking at him with clear disappointment. But she’s not bold enough to voice her thoughts.

Naruto on the other hand, would never miss an opportunity to scold Sasuke “Sasuke!” He screams running from his place at Sakura’s feet to stop right in front Sasuke’s face. “You’re late!” Accuses the blond pointing a finger at him.

Of course, Sasuke is unfazed. “Is Kakashi here?” He asks in his usual bored tone, his dark eyes boring into Sakura.

She blushes at his stare and breaks eye contact before answering. “No,” she sighs, letting her body fall to a sitting position on the grass. She tucks her knees under her chin and hugs her shins with her delicate arms.

Watching the boys growl and snap at each other like a pair of two misbehaving little puppies, she probably wishes her teacher will arrive anytime soon.

When Kakashi finally arrives is not particularly relevant, they end up doing some chores for people around the village. Memorably, Sakura manages to lift an entire barrel of beer for the owner of a bar down the street from Naruto’s apartment.

And when all of their work is done, she carries Naruto on her back as he complains about their day, even though he was the one who asked Kakashi for harder missions.

Sasuke can’t say that he would like to be carried by a girl like this but he doesn’t like seeing Naruto taking advantage of Sakura’s kindness.

“This is because you pushed yourself too much,” complains Sakura as Naruto groans once again from the pain.

“You can’t even take care of yourself?” Snipes Sasuke, grumbling from behind the pair as Kakashi ruffles his hair affectionately.

Immediately, Naruto hops from Sakura’s back and tries to fight off Sasuke. The girl, of course, doesn’t allow it and hold the blond by his right arm.

“Do you have to do this every single time?” She struggles to pull Naruto back. “You’re supposed to be friends,” she snaps, clearly annoyed.

It’s true, Sasuke thinks. They are friends, and nothing can break their bond. But Naruto is still a child, and Sasuke is supposed to be one as well.

“Your teamwork seems to be suffering lately,” quips Kakashi.

“It’s Sasuke’s fault,” accuses Naruto, “always showing off and acting like he’s better than us,” he complains.

Sasuke smirks. “Become stronger than me, then,” he challenges the blond, “if you want to stop me from making you look bad.”

This time around, is Naruto’s turn to smile at him, clearly pleased with his words.

Kakashi sighs, finally looking up at them from his book. “Ok, that’s it for today,” he declares. “I have to fill out our reports, anyway.”

No one complains as their teacher leaves them. They’re already used to Kakashi disappearing on them to fill out reports or attend meetings with the Hokage or other Jounin.

“We should train some more,” offers Sasuke, already walking in the direction of their usual training grounds.

Naruto and Sakura are obviously unexcited about this. They’re already tired from their morning training and the missions they completed that afternoon. But neither of them have the heart to deny Sasuke.  They know he’s right.

“Yeah,” sighs Sakura hesitantly trailing after the black haired boy “more training will do us some good.”

Naruto, never one to deny an opportunity to train, follows them promptly. “Of course!” He smiles, “Sakura-chan and I should fight Sasuke!” Exclaims the blond planting his right hand of her shoulder in a friendly manner. “I’m sure we can take him.”

Sakura, for the first time in a long time, ever since he left his wife back in his timeline, smiles confidently. “That could be fun,” she smirks. “I’m sure Sasuke-kun is up for the challenge.”

“I’ll tell you what.” Sasuke smirks, stops in the middle of the street and looks squarely at his teammates. “Loser pays for lunch.”

Sakura and Naruto grin at each other, ready to fight him as soon as they reach their designated training area.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sadly, just like last time, they are distracted by the Hokage’s grandson and his little friends as the children try to rope them into one of their games.

Ninja playing ninja sounds ludicrous, but Sasuke knows this is exactly what they’re doing. Just a group of kids pretending to be adults.

As he senses the sand sibling’s chakra getting closer, with each signature more menacing and powerful than the one before - he realizes that they were never ready for this encounter. Up until this point, they were never anything more than children playing ninja.

They thought they’d already experienced the worst the shinobi world had to offer, but...

They couldn’t have been more wrong. They didn’t know it then, but even people like Gaara were nothing compared to the dangers that awaited them in the future.

As these Suna chakra signatures become stronger, Sasuke makes sure to stand protectively in front of his teammates when they finally come face to face with Temari and Kankuro.

Gaara’s bloodthirsty presence hides above them. I hope you like this chapter and I specially hope @birkastan2018 likes it!!!

[spooky-z]

Field Trip

Maribat is from @ozmav​

I want to make two things very clear:

Near the end there are homophobic and racist lines. So, please, be careful.

This is almost 9K.

That was D-Day. The day of the field trip at Wayne Enterprises.

Marinette knew she shouldn't be so excited, because please, she knew that place like her palm. But that didn't stop her from being excited to be able to introduce her friends to the employees there.

Every time she promised to take them to meet each other, but there was never a good enough opportunity for that to happen, since Adrien's father, Gabriel, was the biggest problem of the equation.

She was in the bathroom, finishing getting ready and had shared the hotel room with Alix, who from what she could hear, was jumping on the bed like crazy.

“Al, don't you get tired?” Marinette sighs as she leaves the bathroom.

The pink-haired girl - dressed in denim shorts, a black shirt with Batman logo, jacket tied at the waist and a black hat - stops jumping. Laughter ready to go out.

“It depends.” She replies. “Will you stop letting the rest of the class step on you because of that snake?”

"Al..." The warning tone clear in her voice.

Alix rolls her eyes and gets off the bed. She, like Kim, kept debating that Marinette should stop bowing her head to the class antics because of Lila. The girl had arrived in Dupont and destroyed the brunette's reputation just because of Adrien.

“Okay, I get it. I don't say anything else…” She says grumpy and Marinette smiles “For now.” And laughs at her best friend's frown.

“… I don't know why I still try. Really. You guys are a pain in the ass.” Marinette complains.

"It's love." Alix countered. "Let's go now. Those losers must be waiting in the lobby.”

Marinette picks up her bag from the bed, ready for the trip.

She was wearing black jeans, sneakers (they would walk a lot) and a big white long-sleeved sweater. Her hair was messed up on purpose.

Alix put on her old traditional all-star and opened the bedroom door for her friend.

When they were inside the elevator, Marinette turned to the girl. The high finger, like a mother lecturing her children.

“Remember: no trying to compete with Kim inside the building. If you don't behave, I will end you.” She warns. “And you know I can handle it.”

The pink-haired girl rolls her eyes but nods in agreement.

“I will behave myself. Promise."

"Great."

"Nice."

"Good."

"... You are unbearable." Alix says.

"I know." Marinette winks and they both burst out laughing.

They keep laughing until the elevator arrives in the lobby and bump into their friends, separated from the rest of the class, talking about something.

Alix pulls Marinette into the group, catching the attention of the rest of the class.

They ignore the scornful glances cast.

"Hey, losers." Alix nods when they get to them.

"Good morning, guys." Marinette smiles.

Adrien looked like he'd been kicked out of bed - his hair was messier than usual, a black sweatshirt with little cats, ripped jeans and the orange all-star he wouldn't let go of - his eyes barely opening to nod in acknowledgment, almost lying upright in Kim's arms.

Kim dressed similarly, except for the sweatshirt, which was several bats and the jeans were black, as were the sneakers. His hair was like Adrien's. Soft.

“Good morning!” He replies, holding Adrien with his right arm and waving his left hand.

"It's about time." Chloe complains. "I thought I would have to send Mr. Robot here to wake you up."

She was wearing light jeans, caramel UGG boots. The yellow jacket was open, giving a view of the white - which Marinette was sure was Alix's – shirt with Wonder Woman print underneath. Her blond hair was loose and her makeup minimal.

Max was wearing something Marinette never thought she'd see him wear before. A large hoodie - from Adrien, we should make clear - with Naruto print, black jeans and black vans too. He had the dreadlock — had grown since he was twelve — pinned to the top of his head.

"We took so long because Marinette was getting ready for her sweetheart." Alix teases.

Marinette feels her face burn.

"ALIX!"

Sabrina laughs. "Good morning, girls."

She wore a long green pleated skirt, white sneakers without a sock, a white shirt and an open button-down denim jacket. Her hair was tied in a braid on the side of her head and her makeup was minimal too.

Max looked like he was going to say something when Ms. Bustier appears, a man by her side.

“Class, let's go. The bus has arrived. This is the driver, Philip.” She points at him.

Marinette glanced quickly at the class and her eyes met Lila's. The smile the Italian sent her was freezing her blood.

“It looks like today is going to be interesting.” Adrien, who seemed much more awake, says.

The seven friends couldn't help but agree.

×××

The bus ride had been fun.

As they were many, someone would be left to sit with someone in the class and that was something that Alix did not allow to happen. Then she squeezed herself between Marinette and Sabrina, while Max sat next to Chloe and Adrien continued to use Kim as a pillow.

Marinette was wiping out her cell phone memory by taking pictures.

Proof, she says. Blackmail, replies Chloe, who was also taking pictures.

Alix and Sabrina were busy with the landscape, Max was studying about WE and Kim was playing something on his cell phone.

As the bus pulled up in front of the huge Wayne building cluster, Marinette felt anxiety bubbling in her stomach.

She had promised Dick she would not pretend to know anyone - Marinette didn't like to draw attention - so when she saw any of them, she would have to act like herself.

It had been a long and tiring conversation. The Wayne complaining that she never introduced them to her friends or that she always pretended not to know them.

Jason had even teased that she was ashamed of Damian and Damian retaliated by saying he was ashamed of his brothers. The two started fighting and it took Selina to intervene for them to stop.

Anyway. She had promised and Marinette Dupain-Cheng was not someone to break her promises.

She just wished her classmates were quiet and said nothing... graphic. Otherwise, she couldn't defend them from Wayne's fury.

Caline Bustier gets up from her seat and turns to the class, still sitting in their seats.

"We're here," she begins. “But before we get in, I want to make some things clear. IW has tough rules that should not be disregarded for anything.” Says “I know many should not have read the permission paper I gave their parents to sign, so I will warn them: they signed an NDA along with the permission. If you break this agreement, you can and will be sued. They don't care if you're seventeen.”

She looks each other in the eye, serious. Wanting them to understand the seriousness of the situation.

“Now I'll go over the rules.” She takes a piece of paper from her purse and starts reading it. “It's not allowed to take pictures, walk around the building without the guide or someone authorized, enter forbidden places and most importantly: do not disclose anything you saw inside. If a person breaks any of these rules, they will be banned from any Wayne buildings and prosecuted.” Caline lowers the paper. "Let's go now! We have a lot to learn.”

And get off the bus, followed by the excited class. The seven friends right behind, putting a certain distance.

"I'll finally meet the famous Timothy Drake." Max says, his face serious as if on a mission.

Marinette feels the warnings ring in her head. Max had built a rivalry since Tim figured out in a day how to solve a riddle that had left Max sleepless for months. That had been almost a year ago, but the flame of rivalry still burned in the boy's chest.

"Look, I don't know if the boys will be here." She says "I know Dick will be here, because he told me he would be the guide, but I don't know about the others."

Kim pouting, Adrien joins him and Alix too.

"But I thought I would meet Jason in person."

She shudders thinking about this meeting. No. Nope. That would not happen. Otherwise, she thinks Gotham wouldn't be whole.

"Neither Duke?" Sabrina question.

“I really think it's just Dick today, guys. I'm sorry."

The five sighs in dismay. Marinette sighs with relief.

"Let's go. They're leaving us behind.” Chloe says and points to the group ahead of them, already entering the building.”

"Shit."

And they run to catch up.

×××

As much as Marinette has spent much of the past two years walking these corridors, getting into the WI building was always breathtaking. The architecture was out of this world.

“… Thank you so much for getting this tour, Lila!” She hears Rose squeal excitedly.

Adrien snorts at her side, annoyed. He knew very well that the one who had made the trip had been Marinette. Lila was lying again and Ms. Bustier made no effort to dismiss the girl.

Marinette tightens the blonde's hand, trying to distract him from class.

“It was nothing!” Lila brags. “When I told Brucie that the class needed a trip as a graduation gift, he offered it to us. You know, he likes me a lot, since I'm his daughter-in-law.”

The class begins to praise her as a strange kind of cult and Marinette rolls her eyes at the familiar scene.

“What a nasty little girl we have here.” A voice purrs in Marinette's ear.

The girl jumps in surprise, a little scream escaping her lips. Everyone turns to look at her and she turns to find out who she was.

“SELINA!” She shouts excitedly.

The latin-looking woman smiles. Black hair in a pixie cut, plump lips and green eyes. She wore a black pencil skirt, a white blouse with lace at the shoulders and Louboutin high heels.

"Hello, kitten." Marinette hugs the woman.

They had not seen each other for a long time. Selina and Bruce were traveling a lot on their honeymoon, to make up for the times the marriage had been postponed.

“I missed you.” She pulls back, the firm smile on her face. “How was the honeymoon?”

“Wonderful.” Selina responds. “And how have you been?”

“Great.” She turns to her friends. “Guys, this is Selina Kyle.”

And then turns to Selina again.

“Selina, these are Adrien Agreste-” He smiles. “Chloe Bourgeois-” She waves. “Sabrina Raincomprix-” She says hello. “Max Kanté-” He waves. “And Lê Chiến Kim. My friends.” He winks charming.

The woman analyzes each one, nodding in approval in the end.

"They seem to be good people, kitten." She says. "I hope they can come to dinner with us tonight."

Marinette's smile gets impossibly bigger.

"Of-"

“Who is this, Marinette?” Lila's voice cuts the girl off. And the good mood of before changes to a sour one.

Selina looks away from the girl and looks at the rest of the class with Lila.

The girl had a despicable look on her face, a fake smile and sharp eyes. The class around her wasn't much better, since they didn't even pretend for politeness.

The woman observes the situation. At how once happy friends came together as if they were forming a barrier between Marinette and the other girl. How tempers became exalted.

Selina takes the lead, wanting to avoid a scene.

“Selina Kyle.” She replies. “And you? Who is it?” Question. The sharp tone leaves no gap for jokes.

Lila takes this as an opportunity to lie. Again.

“Lila Rossi. Damian Wayne's fiancée.” She extends her hand. “I’m the one who arranged the class trip.” Selina squeezes her hand.

"Damian's fiancée?" She hisses in displeasure. "Interesting."

Caline Bustier watches the commotion, unsure what to do.

She was sure the intrigue in the class would calm down over time, but it had only gotten worse. Worsened to the point that the Dupain-Cheng threatened to sue the school and report to the council, as no one seemed to see the toxic situation that became the classroom.

They were being dark days for Dupont. For Caline

All were under investigation. Mostly her, since she was the one that suffered the most accusations not only from Marinette's family, but also from Max, Kim and Sabrina as well. This trip had been an excuse for everyone - her - to get away from Paris and the rabbit hole they had gotten into.

A man dressed all in black - button-down shirt, slim-fit pants and oxfords - with styled hair appeared with the driver.

Caline guessed it was Richard Grayson, the guide they had informed her.

He smiled at her and held out his hand to greet.

"Good morning, I'm Richard Grayson." She squeezes the offered hand, feeling her cheeks heat up.

She could be a teacher, but she wasn't dead.

“Good morning, Richard. I'm Caline Bustier, the teacher.” She drops his hand, kind of disappointed to have to.

Ms. Bustier turns to the class and catches everyone's attention. She watches the Latina woman kiss Marinette's cheek and leave the building. The security guard waving respectfully at her.

“Guys, please.” And their attention turns to her.

Marinette's group still distracted by something the girl said.

"Good morning, Dupont." The man says. "My name is Richard and I will be your guide on this field trip."

The class cheers up again and Marinette turns her head so fast that Chloe is sure she heard the bone crack.

"DICK!"

The whole class chokes. Lila takes the opportunity to make a scene.

“Oh my god, Marinette! Have a little decency.” She whines shrilly. “Apologize to Richard right now or I will make arrangements.”

Dick raises an eyebrow at the Italian.

“Now there is no need-”

“There is a need, Mr. Grayson.” Lila cuts off the man. “She's being disrespectful to you and as I am the most influential person around, I must place order.

Alix and Sabrina snort, hands over their mouths trying to hide their laughter. Chloe doesn't care about hiding. Kim and Max were obviously filming. Adrien had such a big smile on his face that Dick knew it must be hurting.

Marinette was frozen. He knew that expression.

"... not necessary, Miss." He says again. Already losing patience with the girl. “Minette didn't disrespect me. She just called me by my nickname.”

Lila looks like she's just been slapped. Bewildered.

"The what?"

“Do you know Marinette?” Alya asks, her nose twitching with the scent of an exclusive.

Dick tilts his head, his arms crossed and a teasing smile on his mouth.

"Of course. She is my sister in law."

... What?

Adrien was right. That day would be interesting.

×××

"This is where Wayne Technologies starts." Dick says, pointing to the floor where the elevator stopped. “You'll see our specialists at work, so avoid distracting them.”

The class walked the floor marveling at the technology and the scientists at work.

Adrien was practically drooling next to Max.

"Dude, close your mouth." Alix jokes.

The boy's cheek burned in embarrassment and he closed his mouth in a loud snap. The hand rubbed his face just to make sure there was no drool.

Marinette laughed at her friend, but stopped abruptly as she watched the red tuft of hair in one of the tech rooms. That was when she remembered that she had promised Adrien to introduce him to one of the smartest people she had ever met. And a physics freak like him.

She takes the boy's wrist and drags him away from where Dick was leading them all.

“Come, Adrien. I want you to meet someone!”

“Wait-Don’t you need authorization-” He doesn't finish, as Marinette puts her palm on the hi-tech lock and the light flashes green before the door opens. "Oh."

The brunette pulls him into the room until she comes across a woman, not much older than 30, who was fiddling with a metal plate.

"Carmen." She calls and the woman looks at her, a lively smile appearing on her face.

“Mari! How long!” She gets up and gives the girl a quick hug.

“Yes, yes!” They laugh. “Remember I commented on a friend of mine who was a physics nerd?”

Adrien protests softly. He wasn't a nerd... just very passionate.

Carmen looks away at the boy and he nods shyly.

"I suppose this is the physics nerd?"

"Himself. Adrien Agreste.” Marinette replies. “Adrien, this is Carmen Leonhart, WI's head of technology research.”

As they begin to talk about numbers, statistics and many other things Marinette didn't care to know, she turns around, ready to leave the room.

Just to face the whole class, Ms. Bustier, her friends and Dick, standing in the doorway. Dick with the biggest fucking smile on his face.

"... what?" She asks. Confused with the audience.

Chloe gives a mocking smile.

"I didn't know you were allowed into these rooms, Dupain-Cheng."

Marinette realizes what she has just done and the embarrassment only gets worse.

She had been so excited to introduce Adrien and Carmen to each other that she had not thought about what she was doing in front of her classmates. Sure, she had promised not to hide her relationship with the Wayne family, but that didn't mean she liked to show off like this.

Lila doesn't seem to like the attention Marinette was getting at all. Her face in a sour frown and the fists clenched.

She sent Marinette a warning look before masking her dislike with a sweet expression.

“Oh, that's no big deal.” She says waving her hands in disdain. “I asked Brucie to authorize our class. He was generous enough to include Marinette on this list.” The scorn barely masked by the disinterested tone.

The class seems to take this as truth (as always) as Nino puts his hand on the girl's shoulder. A proud expression on his face.

“Thanks so much for all this, dude.” He says. “You didn't have to go that far for us.” And the class agrees. Raining compliments on the Italian.

Chloe doesn't disguise the grimace and Alix rolls her eyes so violently that for a moment, Max fears she was injured.

The class leaves the room, following Lila like sheep being herded, leaving the group of friends and Dick behind. Ms. Bustier didn't take long to leave either, which left them finally alone.

"Ok... Now where is my hug, Minette?" He turns to the girl and she runs to hug him. "Much better."

Marinette laughs, the hug lasting a few more seconds before they let go. Dick turns to the other five - Adrien and Carmen too distracted by whatever it was - and extended his hand in greeting one by one.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you in person."

"The same." Sabrina smiles.

“Now we have to go. There are a few more things to see and a surprise.” He winks at Marinette and the girl feels the danger in that expression.

One thing Marinette was sure of: There was no anxiety to know what this surprise was about.

Anyway, getting Adrien out of the room had been difficult because the blonde didn't want to leave. Carmen had to promise that she would give him a free pass so he could visit her while the trip to Gotham lasted.

The friends had no doubt that the blonde would live in the building and never leave the scientist alone.

Going on.

The rest of the tour had been less dramatic around Lila and her minions. Of course, she continued to lie about everything. How Bruce Wayne and his wife Selena loved her; the fact that Ricardo Wayne - the eldest son - had died in an attack on Wayne Mansion by the feared villain, Clown; that Jackson - the middle child - was an award-winning scientist; Thomas was unfortunately an addict, but Bruce tried with all his might to rehabilitate; and finally, that Damian was an angel in love with her, very sweet and romantic.

Marinette never thought she would have trouble controlling herself, but it was hard not to laugh at the Dick’s expressions and her friends laughing openly.

But apart from The Tales of Lila, the class left them alone.

As they passed the corridors of WI, Mari was being recognized by the staff and she made a point of introducing her group of friends excitedly. That didn't include the rest of the class and Lila, of course, could make some excuse for them.

Honestly, Marinette was surprised that no one showed distrust in the Italian. It was obvious she was lying.

But that didn't last long. Someday the lies would have to be revealed, and apparently that was the day.

They took a break to eat in the cafeteria.

Dick had gone out with Ms. Bustier to talk somewhere which, in Marinette's opinion, would not be a very good conversation. Or happy.

Adrien, Sabrina and Mari with a classic burger and fries; Max settled for a fettuccine; Kim, Chloe and Alix got pizza (not very healthy, but one day just wouldn't hurt). They were seated at a table separate from the rest of the class, but close enough to hear a word or two.

Marinette was chewing on her burger lazily while her friends talked when Jason Todd and Timothy Drake showed up. Both with expressions that said everything but good intentions.

"Oh my god." She whispered; the eyes wide. The cheeks full of food.

They scanned the cafeteria, probably looking for Marinette, and when they turned toward her, Mari used Adrien's height as a shield. Trying to keep them from seeing her. Which didn't work, since Adrien was shaking (laughing) and the conversation at the neighboring table (her class) had been cut short.

“Why are you hiding, Maribug?” Jason asks, his voice malicious.

Marinette sighs before surrendering to her destiny.

She stepped out from behind Adrien, face was red.

The girl swallowed the food.

“Hi Jay. Tim.” A smile appears on her face despite the embarrassment.

Tim raises an eyebrow at her, clearly amused. Jason doesn't disguise the shitty smile growing on his face.

"She hid, but at least she didn't pretend not to know us." Tim points out.

Marinette rolls her eyes, the shame already forgotten.

"I don't break my promises." She says.

She pushes Adrien aside to make room and points them both.

"Sit down and introduce yourself to those you didn't know yet."

They waste no time quickly pulling two chairs off an unoccupied table and placing them in the open place. As they sit down, Jason throws his arm around Marinette's shoulders in a hug.

“We miss you, Nette.” He says. “Demon spawn has been unbearably unbearable.”

She elbows his ribs for talking about Damian and he groans in pain.

"Even though you're a pain in the ass, I missed you too, Jay." Marinette laughs at the offended face he made, before squirming so she can look at Timothy. "And you too, Timmy."

Tim winks at her before turning to the rest of the table. The family (but Selina, since she spent more time traveling than at home) already knew Adrien, Kim and Chloe from past visits, but this was the first time they had met the other three: Sabrina, Max and Alix.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Timothy Drake, Damian's brother.” He reaches out first for Sabrina to shake, then Alix and lastly Max, who narrowed his eyes defiantly and squeezed his hand a little harder than usual.

Tim knew that the boy had a certain rivalry against him over the puzzle. Which was good, since he enjoyed a good and healthy competition.

Jason throws his idle hand on the table, startling the others.

“I'm Jason Todd. The best boy.” He says excitedly. “Nette's favorite!”

Chloe seems to be offended by the man's words.

"I doubt it." Sneers. "Everyone knows I'm her favorite."

Adrien chokes around a fry.

"Now, we know I'm the favorite." He chews loudly.

It was kind of gross, being honest.

"Oh, shut up, Agreste!" Alix throws a potato at the boy. “It is common knowledge that I am everyone's favorite.”

The boy looks scandalized at her, but doesn't take long to throw the fry back at her in revenge. Alix dodges and the food ends up hitting Kim in the forehead.

He narrows the eyes irritably, Tim and Jason laughing, Marinette wanting nothing more than to go back to her hotel bed and sleep 12 hours straight.

Damian chose that moment to appear with Titus and Dick. And as much as Marinette was happy to see him, this was the worst moment ever.

She knew her friends. Knew well enough to know that the cafeteria had become a war zone and that they would be bombed at any moment.

As soon as he opened his mouth to greet her, Kim got up ready to pounce, but before he could, Titus ran and jumped on Marinette. Almost making the girl bang her head against the table by his strength and weight.

There was a general panic at their class table, probably afraid of the dog, but she ignored everything in favor of giving all the attention and love Titus deserved. Because he was the best boy, not Jason, thank you very much.

"Who's the handsome boy, huh?!" She pampers the dog excitedly, which licks her face. "I missed you too." His tail looked like a whip.

Tim and Jason turn to the brothers.

"Yo, Dick." Jason nods lazily.

"Demon spawn." Tim says.

Damian frowns in annoyance, but doesn't respond to Timothy's provocation. The attention fully turned to Marinette with Titus. Dick waves back.

"What are you guys doing here?" He asks.

"We came with father and Cass." Tim replies.

Marinette jumps at the conversation.

“Are your father and sister here?” She shouts.

God! She was not prepared to handle all Wayne and the class at the same time.

"Duke too." Jason adds.

Marinette moans in pain and buries her face in Titus's soft fur. She would not come back alive to the hotel or Paris.

Damian approaches the girl, ignoring the prying eyes of her class. From what he managed to find out (both from Marinette's friends and what he investigated) if he had to interact with any of them, the no-kill rule would probably have to be broken.

"Angel." He calls, crouching in front of her and placing his hands on hers in Titus.

Marinette looks up to look at him.

"Hey, Dami."

She stretches over the dog (who was calm, almost asleep in her arms) and kisses Damian's lips tenderly.

"I missed you. Too much.” She whispers against his lips before pulling away.

"Me too." Damian answers and pecks her lips. "And-"

"Marinette, aren't you going to introduce us to your boyfriend?"

Alya's voice scares Marinette, who jumps away from Damian and Titus. Which makes both Wayne and the dog growl in irritation.

He gets up and Marinette follows him. Her friends comfortable in their seats, Dick standing (without Ms. Bustier) and the class waiting for an answer.

She sighs and turns to face the class. Damian was firm by her side and she also knew her friends would be supporting her.

Alya had her arms crossed. The rest of the class was not much different and Lila's expression soured, since everyone's attention was solely on Marinette.

"This is D-"

"Mari!!!" A shriek interrupts the girl.

They all turn to the source of the voice, only to find Bruce Wayne, a black man and an Asian girl running toward them. More specifically towards Marinette.

The little girl's hair was black, combed into familiar pigtails. She was wearing a red, black polka dot dress, with a black bow around her waist. On the feet were ballet shoes.

She jumped into Marinette's arms, which squeezes her into a warm hug, grinning.

"Hey, young lady." The little girl squeaks as Marinette kisses her cheek.

They watch the brunette put the girl down and start a... peculiar conversation. Where the child signed and Marinette responded verbally.

"You're so cool, Cass!" Kim compliments excitedly, apparently understanding what the girl was talking about. She smiles proudly at the compliment.

They (Marinette and co) continue to talk to the little girl while most of the class remain stunned by Bruce Wayne's presence.

Alya jumps excitedly and looks at Lila.

"Girl!" She practically screams "Did you get Bruce Wayne to meet us?!"

The Italian loses at least half the blood on her face. Increasingly pale with the situation. Her lips were almost sickly and her eyes wide. She swallows hard before letting out a clumsy laugh.

“Y-yea… very kind of him!” The voice comes out weak even to her ears. “B-but let's not disturb his conversation. You know how important he is.” Mumbles.

Lila's hands were shaking. She needed to get out of there, needed a plan urgently.

Alya's excitement diminished, taking Lila's words into consideration, but she kept staring at the men, holding back not to scream.

“Guys, I'm not feeling-”

“Papa, Duke!” Cass shouts again, the dog barking along and Bruce Wayne, with the other man, looks at her. “Mari!” She points at Marinette, jumping and twirling her dress.

Both Bruce and Duke(?) smiled before approaching them and Lila panics. Everything could go wrong at any time!

She turned to the class, making the most innocent expression and trying her best not to let despair overtake her body.

“Guys, please, I'll pretend I don't know him so as not to attract unwanted attention from the staff.” She whispers. “It's something we always do when we're around strangers, so don't be scared.” No one noticed Timothy's disgusted look toward them.

"Stay calm. We get it.” Nino soothes her, the class nodding in agreement.

She sighs with relief, having managed to avert a catastrophe.

"Good afternoon, Dupont." Bruce greets, the serious stance of a businessman. "I'm Bruce Wayne and this-" He points to the other man. "It's my protégé, Duke Thomas."

Duke nods in acknowledgment, then soon mutters something in Richard's ear, laughing at the other's disgusted expression. He made no attempt to approach the class to introduce himself.

Nathaniel felt that what has been said to the guide, was not something minimally pleasant. He felt that the class was the subject of comment and did not like it at all.

Rose, being the most outgoing, reaches out to greet Bruce Wayne.

“It's a pleasure, Mr. Wayne. It's a dream to be here!” She says. “We were very lucky to get this trip.” And tilts her head to wink at Lila, who smiles secretly.

He shakes her hand and waves seriously, pretending not to see the exchange between them. When they release their hands, Bruce turns to Marinette, a soft look on his face.

"Hello, Maribeetle." His tone softened before smiling.

"Hi, Dad." The obvious laugh on her face.

There are choking sounds, but neither pay attention.

She doesn't wait for him to say anything more before she comes closer and hugs him. He returns the hug, making the girl disappear into his arms and kisses her forehead.

"I see you had a welcome committee." He raised an eyebrow, looking his sons.

Dick is the only one who looks minimally embarrassed, while the other three (Jason, Tim and Damian) pretended the issue wasn't with them, looking around.

The class (without Ms. Bustier, who was missing) frozen in shock. Lila was about to pass out. She could hardly believe what was happening.

"Hey, Mr. B." Adrien nods.

"Bruce, what's up!" Kim says.

"Hello, Mr. Wayne." Sabrina greets.

“Wow, B! You look soft.” Alix teases.

"By my calculations, Alix is right, Mr. B." Max straightens his glasses. "You've lost some muscle."

“Congratulations on the adoption. Cassandra is a sweetie.” Chloe says.

Bruce snorts and releases Marinette, who bends down to take Cass in her arms again.

The boys not even trying to hide their laughter. He could see the tears in Jason's eyes, Tim was bent over Dick while they both laughed, Damian had the hand over his mouth hiding a smile and Cassandra imitated the two older ones.

Duke bit his lip trying to contain himself.

"It's good to see you again." Bruce says, hands firmly on Marinette's shoulders. "I remember the last time, Adrien and Jason got into a fight with the police and were almost arrested."

Adrien feels his cheeks heat up and Jason stops laughing, feeling attacked.

"I really thought it was a fantasy." The blonde mutters.

The class begins to whisper, clear confusion on their faces.

Alya was choking on surprise; Nino looking at Adrien as if the boy had grown two heads; Rose had retreated to Juleka's side, not liking the situation and Juleka was the same; Nathaniel bit his thumb uncomfortably; Mylene and Ivan looking lost; and Lila... Lila could see her world crumbling slowly and with frightening rapidity.

The dog barks once more, waking Alya from her mental confusion.

She swallows hard, her throat aching from the action.

“What's going on?” She asks, her voice breaking through the dryness in her throat.

Everyone stares at her. The confused Wayne family, Marinette and friends with the neutral face and Duke... Duke was fiddling with his cell phone.

“Why do you know Bruce Wayne? Why did Marinette call him ‘dad’? What's up with everyone greeting her and who is this boy she kissed?” She looks straight at the girl, her eyes accusing.

Damian frowns at her, his fist clenched, ready to say something that Marinette or his father probably wouldn't approve of, but Bruce stops him.

"What don't you understand yet, Ms. Cesárie?" The question was blunt. "I think if Marinette was kissing Damian, that means the two are together."

Alya gets annoyed with the answer.

"And why did she call you ‘Dad’?"

Chloe sneers in the background. Alix rolls her eyes, Adrien tilts her head, Kim swears under his breath, Max stares in disbelief and Sabrina was busy talking to Timothy.

"They can't be so dumb, can they?"

Jason's attempt to whisper didn't work, as everyone listened to what he said.

Alya's cheeks burn with humiliation.

“That's a fair question!” Nino goes to his girlfriend's defense and Damian rolls the eyes sarcasticallyy.

"Answering your question, Ms. Cesárie, Marinette calls me that because she's engaged to my son." Bruce says. "My son Damian." He adds as he notices the confusion.

Lila sucks air between her teeth. Panic rushing through her body.

“But…” Mylene looks at Lila. “Damian Wayne isn't dating Lila?” She asks.

The Italian freezes when everyone looks at her.

“Lila? What Lila?” Damian asks venomously. "I don't know anyone by that name."

Alya grit her teeth. The anger clear in his expression.

“How not? She grew up with you in the mansion. Bruce Wayne practically adopted her!” She shouts. "Explain it to me!"

“Wow! This is kind of impossible, since demon spawn came to live with us only after he turned ten.” Timothy says.

Alya feels a dizziness start in her muscles.

"But Lila said that..." She mumbles. “She said Selena Kim, Bruce's wife, was her aunt. That you were a family!” Exclaims exalted.

“Look, I'm sorry you and your friends were fooled, but that's the truth: We don't know her. Selina Kyle has no nieces, Jason is not an award-winning scientist, Timothy is not an addict, Damian is anything but a sweetie. And the main thing is, I didn't die and the Joker never attacked Wayne Mansion.” Dick ends a little breathlessly.

The class is at varying levels of shock. No one daring to say anything, Lila wondering how to get out of that mess and beside her, Alya looked like she'd been slapped.

Marinette wanted to feel sorry for her classmates, but failed. She had tried, so had her friends, but no one would listen.

"So, you mean everything was a lie?" Nino asks. A dangerous edge in his tone.

Lila shudders, moving away from the class and almost falling in the process. She was afraid she wouldn't lie about that, but the class had a murderous expression in her direction.

“N-no! Of course not!” Babbles. "Can't you see this is Marinette's plan to make me look bad?!" She points to the girl, who was playing with Cassandra and Titus, no longer paying attention to the drama.

The class seems to believe at least a little, as they turn to the girl, probably to fight.

Adrien, Alix, Kim and Damian form a human barrier to stop them. The look on Adrien's face was no less deadly than Damian's.

"Don't even try." Adrien says. “I'm sick of you. Mostly from you, Alya.” He looks at her. “You can be worse than Lila and her lies. I thought you were smart enough to figure it all out, but it seems I was wrong.”

The girl's eyes was wet with tears, but she kept her posture steady, noting that her friends were no better off.

“You only say that because Lila didn't want you!” She screams. "You who can be worse than Marinette, Agreste!"

Sabrina and Chloe chokes before bursting out laughing. Max and Kim not far behind.

"Oh my god!" Sabrina moans "Is that what she said?" She sighs trying to control herself but failed and laughed again.

"That's the most hilarious thing I've ever heard!" Chloe says, wiping her eyes.

Nino is offended on behalf of Alya.

"What?" He asks.

Adrien feels his cheeks burn because he didn't want everyone to know, but if it was to help Mari, he would do that.

"Mm..." He begins. "I've been dating someone since the first year."

Lila looks shocked. More than their classmates.

“What?!” She shouts, forgetting the situation she was in.

The blonde scratches his head uncomfortably.

"Did you finally surrender to Chloe?" Ivan asks.

Both Adrien and Chloe made a face of disgust.

"Ew, no!" Chloe protested. "I'm fine and happy with Kagami."

“So, who is it?” Lila demands. "Who are you dating, Adrien?"

"Me!" Someone says.

And everyone turned to look.

Was a tall, well-built young man. Hair was black and messy; the eyes were incredibly blue. He was wearing torn jeans, a red vans, black Star Wars shirt and prescription glasses.

He was behind Bruce, probably coming in during the mess.

“God damn it, this became an event and I didn't know?” Duke whispers to Bruce, but the man doesn't respond.

"What the fuck are you doing here Ken-"

“Jon!” Adrien cuts off Damian and runs to Jonathan, who picks him up.

They kiss passionately and Marinette puts her hands in Cassandra's eyes, trying to protect the little girl's innocence. The group of friends moan in disgust. The Wayne family too.

"OK! I think everyone already understands.” Marinette says. “Now let go. Cass is here too!”

"That was horrible." Max mumbles.

Adrien releases the boy, his face red. Redder than Ladybug's uniform. And the other boy smiled, not at all embarrassed.

“Are you gay?!” Lila asks, the accusative tone clear in her voice.

"What-"

"I can't believe I did this all because of a fa*got!" She snarls, venom dripping from her words. “You owe me three years of my life, Agreste!”

There is a shocked silence from everyone. Even from Marinette and friends. They didn't think Lila could be so rotten and ugly inside.

Marinette puts Cassandra on Damian's arms and walks slowly to the Italian. She seemed to be marching to war.

"What the hell did you say?" The voice came out dangerous.

"What? That he's a fag—” A slap popped on the girl's cheek before she could finish.

The force of the blow caused her to become unbalanced and fall to the floor.

They all walked away giving them both space.

"I dare you to repeat that."

She approaches once more, but Damian stops her. Cassandra in Dick's arms.

"Don't do anything you'll regret later, angel." He whispers and she sighs, moving away from the Italian on the floor. “Drake, do something useful as a CEO and call security. I want this person out of here as soon as possible.”

“You'll pay for it, Marinette Dupain-Cheng!” Lila growls, the hand gripping her bruised cheek. "If you think you're going to get rid of it, you're very wrong!"

Bruce, who remained quiet, bent down to pull the girl by the arm. Fed up with all the drama.

"Enough!" He says. “Ms. Rossi you will do nothing. Otherwise, I will be required to report you.”

Lila snorts offended and tries to release her arm from his grasp.

“Do you really think that just because you have money, will you get away with it?” She attacks, the eyes wide and crazy. “I have diplomatic immunity! You just became complicit with this disgusting muso giallo*!”

Marinette notices Bruce's knuckles go white from the grip and decides to separate the two.

“Dad, please let her go.” She grabs his arm, stepping between Lila and Bruce. "If you keep going, it might be worse later." But he doesn't even blink. Lila begins to moan in pain.

Five security guards enter the cafeteria, all huge and serious.

“Father, the security mans are here. You can let her go.” Damian puts his hand on the man's shoulder and only then does he move again, releasing the Italian's arm.

She drops to the floor, crying while holding her arm.

"I'm sorry, I blacked out for a second there." Bruce sighs, patting his head.

Marinette hugs the man, comforting him. She knew he had some problems after years of fighting crime, especially fighting the Joker. Sometimes he was a little more blunt and rude, unaware of it. It was sad for her to see him in this state.

But unfortunately, it was a side effect of having to save the world every time.

"Mr. Wayne, we were asked." One of the security guards says. "Who would be the person to be escorted?"

Timothy points to Lila who was still on the floor, but this time Alya was by her side, helping her.

"She." Answer. "The sausage hair."

The security guards do not hesitate to pull Lila away from Alya, dragging the Italian out when she strained and stood still.

"HEY! Let me go!” She leaves screaming. WI employees don't even look twice at the scene, seeming used to it.

"You can't do this to her!" Alya complains. "Where is Ms. Bustier?!"

“We can and are doing it. It amazes me that you're defending her after finding out that besides being a liar and a racist, she's homophobic.” Jason says, no humor in his tone. "And your teacher is already on a plane to Paris."

The whole class chokes on surprise. The whole class.

“What?!” Adrien shouts and Titus cries at the loud noise. He quickly caresses the dog, apologizing. "Sorry buddy." Jon smiles, in love with the blonde.

“She had to go back to Paris for an audience with the minister of education.” Tim replies. “She and Dupont's principal have been charged with negligence and cover-up. If they are found guilty, both will face the law “

"And they'll be fired." Damian adds. The morbid pleasure shining in his eyes.

"But why? She did nothing!” Rose complains. Her face was red from crying.

“Exactly, Tinker Bell. She did nothing.” Duke says. “She saw bullying, witnessed it and never did anything to help or try to stop. She just threw all the responsibility on one person thinking she was making the choice of the year.”

"And what does the principal have to do with it?" Nino asks. He was the only one who seemed to have understood the gravity of the situation, but was slow to believe.

“Dupont's principal has been a coward for a long time. He left a lot behind the scenes because he didn't want problems with people bigger than him and that was his mistake.” Bruce replies.

Everyone in the class is silent for a while. Each in their own thoughts, digesting everything that had happened. Meanwhile, Marinette and her friends were talking animatedly to Jonathan, who had his arms around Adrien like a koala.

“So… did Lila really lie to us all this time?” Mylene asks, her voice barely coming out.

"Unfortunately, Ms. Haprèle." Bruce says. The solemn face.

Nathaniel puts the hands to his mouth, the eyes wide with dread and everyone looks at him.

“I-I didn't send my portfolio to the university I wanted to get into because Lila had promised me an interview with a famous comic book author!”

And there is a mass reaction of the same kind.

Apparently, Lila had promised to help them in their careers, with their supposed connections in high places. Which now, they saw how fake it had been, since Lila had promised to introduce Nino to Steven Spielberg since Dupont's sophomore year, but it was years and she always made an excuse for not having happened yet.

Alya fell to her knees, devastated.

"T-that's why they turned me down." She says tearfully. “They said they couldn't accept someone who published gossip and lies, but I never understood what they meant. Until now. "

Marinette felt bad for them. She didn't think Lila had clenched her claws so deeply that it would damage their future. She knew Alya would have complications to be taken seriously, but she didn't think it would be to the point of refusing her university entrance.

"I-" Alya mumbles and looks up at Marinette. "Mari."

Marinette shakes her head.

“No.” She says. “I'm so sorry for you guys. Really. I hope you can follow your dream, but I don't want your apologies.”

“But-” Juleka protests.

“I spent years being trampled and scorned by you because someone you barely knew accused me of bullying and being a jealous bitch. I will not accept your apologies. I'm glad you finally opened your eyes, but that's all.”

“Are you going to throw years of friendship in the trash just to punish us?” Nino attacks.

“What friendship?” Marinette says. “All I remember about this supposed friendship, is to do everything for you and you not repaying even 1% of it.”

"You forgave Chloe after all she did, so why not us?" Nathaniel points out.

“Because she was honest with me. Because she sought help. Because she got better and was genuine for it.”

"And we're not?" Rose whimpers.

"No. You're apologizing because you saw your golden ticket was false.” Growls and everyone shuts up.

They shut up because she was right. They were not genuinely sorry for what they did. They didn't feel guilty about it because it was Lila's fault! Only hers. She deceived them, she who lied. Not them. So why feel guilty about something they didn't do?

But they were guilty. Lila only gave the wick, but they came with the lighter, set it on fire and sat down to watch the candle melt. She didn't force them. They did it willingly and with unprecedented excitement.

"I think we're done for today." Bruce Wayne interrupts the moment. "They'd better be taken back to the hotel." He was talking to Duke, who quickly put the phone to his ear and spoke to someone.

"Come on, I'll take you back to the bus." Dick says, helping Alya to her feet.

The class begins to move, following him out of the cafeteria, but they notice the absence of the others.

"Mr. Grayson, aren't Marinette and the others coming too?” Ivan asks.

Dick glances over his shoulder before looking forward again.

"No. They will stay with the family for the rest of the trip.”

Because Bruce Wayne was so protective of those he loved and Dick doubted he would let Lila Rossi get close to Marinette again. Not when he had the power and influence to prevent it.

But then he would have to face Damian in the witch hunt. Dick was sure the young man already had at least two plans underway. One fatal and one less fatal.

Because that was how their family was.

And Lila Rossi was nothing more than a gum stuck in the sole of their shoe.

EXTRA 1:

"Okay, whose idea was it to bring everyone to WI?" Marinette questions idly.

"Dick." Damian replies without bothering to toss his brother under the bus.

“DAMIAN!” The eldest complains.

"What? I'd rather you angry than Marinette.”

"Okay, fair." Dick sighs. “But the idea was not mine. I just passed it on.”

Marinette raises her eyebrow, demanding.

"And who did?"

"Tikki."

"WHAT?! I'LL KILL TIKKI!” Marinette shouts and everyone runs away from her fury.

×××

In Paris, more precisely in the box of the Miraculous, the kwami of creation stops playing with others to sneeze.

"Wow, I think I'm getting sick."

"Or maybe someone is talking about you." Mullo answers.

“But who-” She widens her eyes in panic.

Plagg begins to laugh wildly.

“Looks like we'll have kwami barbecue soon.”

“PLAGG!”

×××

They didn't have kwami barbecue, but it was pretty close.

EXTRA 2:

"Do you think she would have gone crazy right there if I said you're not my only boyfriend?" Adrien asks.

"... It would have been awesome!" Jonathan responds dreamily.

"Can you pay attention to me? I'm feeling left out." Luka complains.

"Sorry sweetie!" Jonathan smiles.

Adrien thinks he wouldn't trade it for anything in this world. Not even if his lady showed up asking him in marriage.

... Which would not be a bad image. The four together.

×××

Probably Damian would kill him if he accepted.

×××

But still a good image.

[glossary]

Muso giallo – literally "yellow muzzle". It is an offensive term used to refer to Chinese people, sometimes to Asian in general, with intent to point out their yellowish complexion as an indication of racial inferiority. The use of the word "muzzle" is in order not to consider them humans, but animals.

I searched for racial slurs, but I was so pissed off at what I found that I needed to scream at the pillow.

[tag list]

@spicybelladonna​ @mystery-5-5​ @captainmac6​  @theatreandcomicfreak  @politelyvicious  @thepeacetea  @violatiger8  @vixen-uchiha  @officiallyathiana  @beautym3  @slytherin-heartthrob  @bluerosette23   @g-arya  @sassdowflame  @sunkenshipsanddreams @magicalfirebird @miraculous786  @emjrabbitwolf 

[domesticsns]

You mentioned sasuke has a lot of enemies, did they ever try to use Naruto to get to sasuke?

(Story time. This happened only once tho.)  

It was Saturday and Naruto was playing video games when the door rank. It was daylight and he figured it were just some girl scouts selling cookies. He opened the door and sees this beautiful women and he thought  “damn” . Then what he thought was a women, talked and it was clearly a men. But Naruto wasn’t going to assume their gender. So he was avoiding the pronounce. 

“Good afternoon, My name is Haku Yuki.” Haku said, tucking his long black hair behind his ear. “I’m sorry, does a Sasuke Uchiha live here. I believe his full name is Sasuke Uchiha-Uzumaki now. I hope I am not at the wrong address.” 

“Yes he lives here. He is my husband.” Naruto says. 

“What a lucky man he is, you’re pretty handsome...And cute.” Haku says eyeing Naruto who blushed slightly. 

“He’s not home. He went grocery shopping, but he will be back. You can come inside if you want?” 

“It would be my pleasure,” Haku said kindly and entered the house. He took his shoes off immediately and walked inside. 

“So where do you my husband from?” Naruto asks as he indicated to the couch. He expected Haku to probably be family the two had some similarities. Only Haku was soft spoken and a lot kinder. 

“We went to highschool together.” Haku says with a smile. Naruto thought he kept a pretty good poker face the moment. He knew damn well that was not a good sign and he cursed his guest friendly nature. 

“Do you want something to drink? I will make us some tea and you can tell me all about highschool with Sasuke.” Naruto gets up to go to the kitchen, thinking if he climbed out of the window there he could jump to the rain pipe and climb down. Haku wouldn’t be any wiser. But he was wrong the moment he entered the kitchen and opened the window he felt a gun pressed against his back and a chill voice telling him not to scream. Haku told him to close the window and get back inside. And Naruto had choice. He was put down on a chair as Haku closed the curtains and tied Naruto up. 

Haku puts the gun away and sits down adjacent to Naruto. 

“Sasuke in high school. He was very talented. I had hard time catching up to him. It really bothered me that he ended up being number one and I was number two. He was good. He could twist the neck of a bunny without thinking twice. I never liked killing. He was a natural though. I think I have some pictures, which are not fabricated...” Haku sasy reaching for his bag. 

“Fabricated. I thought Fugaku fabricated the pictures himself.” Naruto said. 

“Oh no, the boarding school fabricated a lot of it. They probably send him already fabricated pictures.” Haku grabs a few pictures and show them.

“This is me,” he points at a picture where he was sitting on a wall, holding a knife behind the pictures were like 5 dead bodies. “This is Sasuke...But we called him number 13 back then. I was number 34 and This guy was like 55 or so.” He points at Sasuke in the picture who was not smiling. He wasn’t even looking. The other child seemed to be crying. 

Haku grabbed another picture, “This is us during hell week.” 

“Hell week?” Naruto asked. 

“oh where we survived on only one to three hours of sleep while going through intensive training. It was rough. Especially when they tortured us during to keep our mouths shut.” 

“That is terrible!” Naruto says. 

“I thought so too,” Haku said. 

He hears the door open and close and Haku presses his finger against his lips. Naruto was wondering what was going through Haku’s head. 

“SASUKE!” He screamed, there was no way he was not going to warn him...Only down luck....Naruto always screamed Sasuke for insignificant things. 

“Yes,yes..I am coming. I swear to god if it is that damn game again...” He entered the living room and sees Haku. Haku waves at him. Sasuke looks at Naruto. Naruto looks at Sasuke. 

“Hey Sasuke-” Haku didn’t even have time to finish. It was quickly die or fight and Naruto had to be honest he did not get to see Sasuke fighting someone who was as skilled as he was and seeing to two going at it was like watching an action movie. 

Sasuke had Haku pinned down ready to knock him out. Haku grabbed some needles from his sleeve and threw them at Naruto. 

Naruto saw Sasuke reach for the knife around his ankle and throw it towards the needles. Redirecting them towards the wall instead. Haku took his chance and use the needles in his other sleeve on Sasuke, but Sasuke kicked over the coffee table and the needles got suck on the wooden surface instead. He kicked the tabled over at Haku before grabbing, what seemed to be a kusanagi taped under that table and slice and hold it right at Haku’s throat. Haku put his hands up, laughing. 

“You’ve gotten weaker!”He points out. 

“Still capable of kicking your ass!” Sasuke says. 

“So it is like riding a bike,”  Haku says, getting up. “You’re not going to kill me.” 

“Try me.” Sasuke hisses. 

“I mean you no harm. You attacked me first.” Haku says. 

“You kidnapped my husband!” Sasuke hissed. 

“I was preventing him from getting hurt by climbing through the window.” Haku says. 

“I was trying to get away like you taught me,” Naruto says. 

“You did good babe, not your fault.” Sasuke says not breaking eye contact from Haku. 

“I am not here to hurt you or your husband. He way too cute to hurt.” Haku says. 

“Thanks....” Naruto says. 

“Fine...Tell me the truth...And watch it. I’ll know when you’re lying.” Sasuke says.

“You haven’t changed a bit. You were always better in weapons and combat not to mention you could always lie like no one else.” Haku lowers the sword, making sure not to hurt his fingers. He sat down on the dining table, looking at Naruto. 

“We were just chatting about you in highschool, were we not, Naruto dear?” Haku says. Sasuke walks over to his husband, cutting him loose. 

“I was just showing him some old pictures, you remember right?” Haku says grabbing the pictures he dropped and handing them to Sasuke. He turns back to Naruto, “We always got along. We had each others back a lot. Not the best strategy when you’re thrown in a cage together with two knives.”

“How did you get these?” Sasuke askes, sitting down himself. 

It was like the two did not try to kill each other a few seconds ago. 

“There were two classes I was better at than you. One was stealing thing.” Haku says, “I had stole all of these back in those days. These were the little memories I wanted to keep.” 

“I never thought I would ever see a picture with Itama in it...” Sasuke says looking at the third boy in the picture. His eyes softened. 

“It is too bad he didn’t make it out alive...” Haku sighed and turned his head to Naruto. 

“Oh god he is even more handsome up close.” Haku says, “How did a handsome man like you ever marry Sasuke.” 

“Don’t answer that,” Sasuke tells Naruto. 

“Hey,” Haku’s hand moved over Naruto’s arm. “There was still another class I was better at. I think you’ll will appreciate knowing that I am very good in the art of-” 

“Baby, why don’t you make us some tea. Please....” Sasuke says pushing Naruto towards the kitchen.

Haku looks from Naruto to Sasuke and he gave Sasuke a kind smile. 

“Always good keeping secrets...Your marriage must be suffering from it.” 

“not at all-” 

“A little...” Naruto interrupts Sasuke. 

“But you didn’t come here to just show me some pictures, did you?” Sasuke says going back to business. 

“I heard you are a detective. You could have made so much more money if you just-” 

“I don’t have children so I am fine with my income.” Sasuke interrupts Haku again. 

“I heard you work with Tobirama now. He was so dreamy back in boarding school. I swear if he had asked me to suck his dick, I would’ve. No question asks.” Haku looked dreamy for a moment. 

“He didn’t age well.” 

“Really?!” Haku looks as Sasuke see if he was lying or not, but he could not tell. 

“I always thought he had a thing for you. Everytime he would look over at us in the cafeteria. It is like he blocked out everyone and just look at you.” 

“Yeah I am pretty sure he was looking at Itama, him being his brother and all...” 

“Oh you’re ruining my romantic story,” Haku says, “He also looked at you after Itama died.” 

“Because...I carried his dead body from the forest to the gates.”  Sasuke arched an eyebrow.

“Okay but riddle me this...Why when Danzo tied you up to a moving wheel as punishment. Why did the best knife throwing in the school, miss all five shots? Unless...He was protecting you. Remember, as punishment for missing you were allowed to leave the wheel and he had to stand there instead and get knives thrown at him. Isn’t that how he got the scars on his cheeks. Or how the seniors has to torture the freshman. We had to keep holding on to information and they had to learn how to get it out of us. Wasn’t he the one who had to torture you. What did he do again? There were so many good options like drowning, he could have cut you open, remove finger nails, pull your teeth out, shock you, there were so many options. I was blindfolded and made to believe a truck was going to run over my head if I didn’t give them the codes. Good thing I had forgotten the code myself because I was close to cracking. The one who lost would get two days in solitary, terrible. What did he do to you? You were the only freshman that came out of there unharmed and the only one of the five freshman of Tobirama’s that did not crack. I heard he was horrible. He got two days in the hole for you. Isn’t that romantic and now you two work together after all these years. Wouldn’t that have been so nice if you two ended up together.” 

“Haku, if you’re into him...Go for it.” Sasuke says, “I am already married.” 

“Right,” Haku looks over his shoulder at Naruto, “So hot. Is he the same boy you fell in love with in middle school and then your father figured it out and send you to Danzo’s school where you got traumatised for four years.” 

“Yes.” 

“How romantic you two found your way back to each other,” Haku says, “And now your married with children.” 

“We don’t have children,” Sasuke says firmly. 

“Really....Why, you make a good dad. No...You make an okay-ish dad, but I am sure he makes a good dad.” Haku looks back at Naruto, “A good daddy for real.” 

“Haku....What do you want?” 

“Right!” Haku says, “Full immunity...And a green card. No...Full citizenship. ” 

Sasuke leans back in his chair, folding his legs. 

“What ya got for me,” Sasuke says. 

[i-am-made-of-memoriies]

The Will of Fire (Part two)

Summary: Sarada is the firstborn of the renewed Uchiha clan. Sure, she is different from the Uchiha who preceded her, but by how much? This story follows Sarada’s life and the trials and tribulations she goes through. (Two shot)

A/N: And here’s part two! Look, Uchiha eye hacks are weird so when you get to that part of the fic, bear with me. I tried my best.

Part 1

“Come on Kohei!” Sakura coaxed, holding the spoon to the three year old’s mouth, “You have to eat some of it!”

“Mama no!” Kohei insisted, shaking his head defiantly, “I want Sarda-neechan to feed me!”

“Kohei sweetie, it’s Sarada, and she’s out on a mission. Please eat. She’d want you to.”

----------------------------------

Sarada sneezed. Must be someone talking about me. She thought, adjusting her pack on her back. She was the captain of her first mission. Though she was still a chunin, Naruto-sama had entrusted her because of her recently fully-awakened sharingan.

“If worse comes to worse, you can always hypnotize them into doing the right thing.” Sarada remembered Naruto’s words before she left for the mission. Though he was right, Sarada was really hoping that she wouldn’t have to resort to those measures.

“Sarada-taicho,” the shortest of her subordinates started, “I can sense the Tsurigakure ninja approaching quickly. Shall we fight them?”

“According to the bingo books, they should be an easy fight.” She replied, reaching for her newly acquired katana, “Why don’t we indulge them?”

The the chunin assembled in a fighting position with Sarada in the front.

“Akoto,” she ordered, motioning to the chunin she had previously spoke to, “Stand in the back. As the healer on this team, we can’t afford having you hurt.”

“Yes Sarada-taicho.” Akoto replied, making her way to the back of the formation.

Sarada activated her sharingan and quickly scanned the area. She saw the Tsuri ninja and almost chuckled. Their chakra levels were ridiculously low and they were already arguing. Being a good shinobi, Sarada knew not to immediately judge ninja by their first appearance, but she was more than positive that they weren’t hiding their chakra.

The sub-par ninja came into the clearing, weapons brandished in the least intimidating way possible.

“You are Konoha ninja!” The supposed leader exclaimed, “We will take your precious information now and you will fail your mission while we will triumph!”

Sarada used the shunshin jutsu to appear right behind the trio.

“Didn’t you ever learn not to announce your plan before executing it?” She asked icily.

The Tsuri ninja turned their heads slowly, finally turning around and looking into Sarada’s spinning tomoe.

Akoto stifled a giggle as the trio of pathetic ninja fell like sandbags to the ground.

“I should have let you guys do a bit of the fighting.” Sarada apologized, “It’s just that they were so easy to take down, I would have been unnecessarily drawing out the fight by not taking action.”

“It’s okay taicho.” The tallest of the chunin, Yuji smiled, reassuring Sarada.

“We’re almost at Sunagakure, let’s get this scroll there and be done.” Sarada took out her long braid and coiled the wavy hair into a bun. That braid kept slapping me anyway. She thought.

--------------------------------------------

“Good job you four.” Naruto placed their mission report on his desk and smiled, “I knew you wouldn’t let me down Sarada.”

Sarada grinned. She realized that today was probably the best day to ask the question she’d wanted to ask since she joined the academy. The question she’d wanted to ask since Boruto selfishly took her father as his sishou, and stole him from her. She’d moved passed the feeling of jealousy and realized that having her father as a sishou probably wasn’t the greatest idea for her, since she wanted to follow a far different path.

Once the other chunin had left, Sarada took a deep breath and walked closer to Naruto. “Hokage-sama,” she started, trying to make her voice as solid and confident as possible, “I was wondering if you would take me on as your apprentice. I understand that you don’t have much time, but I promise to work hard and carry on the will of fire.”

Naruto looked rather surprised for a second before his lips curved into a smile. “With the rapid development I’ve seen from you and the deep care for your comrades and your village, I would be happy to teach you.”

Sarada tried her best not to scream. “Thank you so much Naruto-shishou!” She exclaimed, “I promise to never slack off!”

“I’ll hold you to that.” He glanced at his packed schedule and sighed, “Let’s meet on Sunday at noon. I’ll take you to Ichiraku’s afterwards.”

“I’ll see you then.” Sarada practically skipped out of the office. She ran back home, wanting to tell her parents and Kohei as soon as possible.

----------------------------------------

“Mama, Papa, Kohei!” She exclaimed happily as she burst through the door, “Guess what?”

Sakura looked up from her medical textbook and smiled at her daughter, “Well you seem mighty happy, it must be something good!”

“Yeah!” Kohei agreed, grinning with his little toddler smile, “Sarada-nee chan is awesome!”

“Thank you Kohei.” Sarada gave her little brother a hug, “Naruto-sama agreed to be my sishou!”

“That’s wonderful sweetie!” Sakura beamed, “First you fully awaken your sharingan, then you captain your first mission, then Naruto decides to be your sishou, this seems to be quite the amazing month! Let’s go eat something special as a family.”

“You’re just saying that so you don’t have to cook dinner.” Sasuke muttered, placing Kohei on his waist.

“I was going to go to that really fancy sushi restaurant, but if you want my sub-par cooking, it’s up to you.”

Sasuke looked away. “Hn.”

“Anyway, freshen up Sarada-chan. Put on something nice too.”

Sarada opened the door to her room, smiling at the uchiwa painted on her door. She really hoped that she made her ancestors proud.

Sarada pulled on her embroidered tunic and adjusted the back so the uchiwa was centered. Then she chose her favorite black pants and flats.

“I’m ready mama!” She called, standing in front of the door.

Sakura came bustling down the stairs, trying to put Kohei’s shoes on while he kicked and flailed.

“I’ve got it mama.” Sarada came to the rescue as she sat Kohei on her lap and slid the shoes on with ease. “Let’s go get something to eat, ‘kay?” She tickled her brother’s stomach and placed him on her shoulders.

-------------------------------------

“Now that you three are back from your respective training excursions,” Naruto started, smiling at Sarada, Boruto, and Mitsuki, “I want to send you on a mission. It’s A rank, but I believe that you will be able to handle it.”

“Mitsuki, you will be in charge of medical ninjutsu and healing, since Sakura’s your apprentice, and as for Sarada and Boruto, you guys will just beat up the bad guys.”

“Sounds good sishou.” Sarada replied, “I heard that there has been some previous interaction with the village we will be going to, Jomae no Sato right?”

“Yes, back when I was a genin, they sent a kunoichi to infiltrate, but she-ehm, was good friends with Kakashi and committed suicide instead of following her village.”

“Do they still feel hostile towards the leaf?” Sarada wasn’t necessarily worried since she fully trusted her teammates, but it would be a lot easier if everyone was friendly.

“They haven’t shown blatant outward hostility, but given the fact that we are stealing information from them, they’ll be angry if they ever find out.” Naruto rolled up the mission scroll and handed it to Sarada, “I will be trusting this with you. Remember, your job is to get into their information storage room, steal the scroll in question, now this is your part Sarada, I need you to make an exact replica with your sharingan. Once the replica is made, place it where you found the original and high-tail it out of there. Try not to involve in combat, but you have my permission to do whatever’s necessary.”

“Yes sir!” The three said in unison.

---------------------------------------

It was entirely her fault. Sarada looked at the blood soaked battlefield, where the unconscious bodies of her teammates lay prone to further damage. She wasn’t able to protect them, and her replica was faulty. If her teammates, the people that lay closest to her heart, were to die, she would have practically killed them. She would have killed her best friends. As she desperately held back tears, a sharp, debilitating pain blossomed behind her eyes, forcing her to scream in agony and fall to her knees. It felt as if someone was tugging at her eyes and dicing them into pieces. All Sarada could see was a searing white; at this point she wasn’t entirely sure if she was screaming anymore, for all she knew she could be dead in hell. All she could think of is her teammates blood on her hands, and the way her parents and shisou would look at her with disappointed eyes. Naruto had trusted her and she had failed. She didn’t deserve to follow her dream. She didn’t deserve to ever become Hokage!

Suddenly the pain subsided. Sarada opened her eyes, gasping when she realized that the world was clearer than it had even been with her sharingan. She didn’t linger on that thought long though because she soon saw the figures of her assailants. They were smirking at her teammates fallen bodies, making rage bubble and boil in Sarada’s body. She stepped closer to ninja, wiping blood off her face. Where that blood came from, and to whom it belonged, she didn’t know, nor did she care. All she cared about was killing those sons of bitches. She wanted them to feel the pain she did, all the guilt and terror she had been subjected to in the past hour, she wanted to unleash on them tenfold. Suddenly, she realized that she could. She looked into their eyes, instinctively pulling them into a genjutsu. She marveled at the plane, embracing the blood red sky and the amount of torture she’d be able to subject them to in this new world.

They were tied to stakes as Sarada repeatedly stabbed them, using any material she could imagine. In her rage, she didn’t notice how truly evil she was being. For once in her life, all she could think about was doing harm to people.

After what seemed like ages, she broke the genjutsu. She looked at her teammates, noticing that their blood had hardly spread, meaning that her genjutsu had lasted mere seconds, not hours.

Suddenly the implications of what she had done caught up to her. She was hit by a wave of severe nausea and proceeded to empty her stomach on the ground in front of her. Getting over her sudden sickness, she hoisted her teammates onto her shoulders and began to make her way back to the village. She ignored the searing pain that plagued every part of her body and forced herself forward.

Finally the gates were in view. She practically sobbed once she saw the beautiful village she called home, and used the last of her energy to walk into the village before collapsing.

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Everything hurt. Not as much as it did before she passed out, but it still hurt. Sarada forced her eyes open, just to quickly shut them again once she saw the bright, white lights.

“Sarada, you’re awake.” A familiar voice said from beside her bed.

Sarada opened her eyes again and turned her head to see the person who spoke. It was Naruto. Sarada fought back the strong urge to cry. “I failed, shishou.”

She whispered, her throat felt like sandpaper.

“You did your absolute best.” Naruto replied, patting Sarada’s hand, “Boruto and Mitsuki haven’t woken up yet, but would you like to tell me what happened? I already struck an alliance with Jomoe no Sato once they realized that the scroll you took originally belonged to the leaf village, so don’t worry.”

Sarada sighed in relief. She pushed herself up into a sitting position, trying not to visibly cringe in pain.

“The mission went well up until we took the scroll.” She started, taking a sip of water from the glass beside her bed. With a far less painful throat, she continued louder, “Somehow the guard knew we were in there despite completely cloaking our chakra. When we heard his footsteps, I made the replica really quickly, and messed up a bit. The guard noticed that and sent their top ninja to intercept us. We tried really hard to fight them, but there were three of us and ten of them, all jonin or tokubetsu jonin level. Mitsuki and Boruto got hurt first, then something weird happened. For some reason it’s kind of foggy, but my eyes started to really hurt. And I mean like really hurt. After that, I can’t really remember what happened. All I know it that I missed only about three seconds, but the enemy ninja were dead once I regained-well, vision.”

Sarada turned to look at Naruto’s expression. Instead of looking disappointed, he looked slightly frightened. “I’m going to get Sasuke.” He announced, “I suppose I don’t have to tell you to stay put.”

Sarada leaned back into the pillows and closed her eyes, drifting into blissful unconsciousness until she was awoken by someone lightly shaking her. She opened her eyes again, noting how it was substantially less painful.

“Papa.” She whispered, hugging her father as tightly as she could.

Sasuke looked affectionately at his daughter before switching to a more serious expression.

“Activate your sharingan.” He commanded, looking Sarada dead in the eye.

Sarada did as she was told, noting the clarity in her vision.

“Now try to do the same thing again.”

She looked at her father with a confused expression, but ultimately followed his instructions. Instead of having nothing happen as she expected, her vision became clearer, and some of the pain returned.

Sasuke handed Sarada a handheld mirror. “What you see in that mirror is the next stage of the sharingan, called the mangekyo sharingan. I had hoped you would never have to get to this stage, but I will take you to the Nakano Shrine once you are discharged.”

Sarada looked at her reflection, gasping when she saw that her eyes were not the three tomoe she was accustomed to, but instead a black cherry blossom in a red background. “What can I do with the mangekyo sharingan?” She asked, blinking several times to make sure she wasn’t dreaming.

“From your description, it seems like you can use the Tsukiyomi like your uncle Itachi.” Sasuke replied placing the mirror on the bedside table, “We will talk more about it once you have recovered, Sakura and Kohei want to see you.”

Right on cue, two pink haired, green eyed people came into the room, both rushing in for a hug.

“Sarada-neechan!” Kohei exclaimed, hugging his big sister, “You’re going to get better right?”

“Of course!” Sarada said with as much enthusiasm as she could muster, “I’ll better before you know it!”

“Well I can make that happen Sarada sweetie.” Sakura said, ruffling her daughter’s hair. “Now that you’re out of critical condition when I can’t operate on you because you’re family, that rule is crap anyway, I can fix you up so you’re good as new. Those doctors don’t know what they’re doing. Trust your mama!”

Sarada nodded, eager to feel at least a little less crappy.

Sakura leaned over her daughter and smiled, placing her calloused palms on Sarada’s abdomen. “I’m so proud of you sweetie.”

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Sarada was well aware of the rules of the mangekyo sharingan: don’t use it unless absolutely necessary and be careful to not lose control or you may harm those close to you, but she really wanted to stick Boruto into a Tsukiyomi of him tripping over a rock for all of eternity. It would be so very hilarious and not to mention, Sarada would be able to practice using the technique. The only way she was allowed to practice was using regular genjutsu and trying to replicate the terrain. It was far from the same though.

At the moment, she was in charge of training her favorite Shin clone named Kenji. More than anything, she wanted to help him with his mangekyo sharingan, but she was not allowed.

“The best use of your sharingan disguising it with transformation jutsu then getting your enemy to look into your eyes, effectively trapping them in genjutsu.” She instructed, demonstrating the transformation technique on her eyes, “Now I want you to try it on Boruto.”

“Wait!” Boruto exclaimed indignantly, “Why can’t Kenji try it on you?!”

“Because I’m a sharingan weilder baka-Boruto. I might accidentally reverse the genjutsu and hurt him.”

“Fine.” Boruto pouted, tensing his muscles in anticipation.

Kenji looked at Boruto, his eyes a natural brown. As soon as the two had made eye contact, Boruto crumpled to the ground like a drunk.

“Have I hurt him?” Kenji asked monotonously, “Kabuto told me to feel remorse if I have injured someone.”

“No, he’s fine.” Sarada assured, slapping the Uzumaki.

Boruto woke up with a jolt. “Damn you, Sarada-teme!” He exclaimed, “You only did that to humiliate me!”

“That wasn’t the only reason…” She teased, helping her teammate to his feet.

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Kenji was dead. His death didn’t come as a surprise, in fact, many Shin clones were dying because of some unknown illness that ran in their genes. Despite the forewarning, Sarada was still devastated. Kenji was the closest person Sarada had to an apprentice and he held a close place in her heart as a second brother, even if Kenji didn’t have the capacity to love her. His blunt personality reminded her of Mitsuki, and the fact that she could get along with a Shin clone meant that she was moving on from her childhood grievances.

“Sarada-san?” One of the workers at the orphanage called her name, “If Uchiha Sarada would report to Kabuto-sama’s office, he has something to tell her.”

Sarada stood up and made her way through the brightly painted hallways and towards Kabuto’s office.

“Ah, Sarada!” Kabuto exclaimed, motioning for her to come through the doorway, “As you’ve probably heard, our lovely Kenji has passed away.” His unnaturally pale face dropped in sadness, “Before he died though, he did something rather uncharacteristic for a Shin clone. He showed emotion and asked if he could give you his eyes as a gift.”

“H-he did?” Sarada asked incredulously, “He knew what that would imply, since we were practically siblings?”

“I believe that he did understand that if he gave you his eyes, you would achieve the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.” Kabuto replied knowingly. He swiveled around in his rolling chair and rummaged through his file cabinets. When he had turned back around, he was holding two vials filled with some kind of preserving serum and a sharingan eye suspended in the center. He looked at the vials with a melancholy expression.

“I hope they serve you well.” He said, handing the vials to Sarada.

“Thank you.” She replied, walking towards the cemetery.

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She knew she had spent at least an hour sitting in front of Kenji’s grave, thanking him profusely for the gift, shedding tears over the fact that she would never see him again, and reminiscing over his sadly brief life.

As she was about to stand up and leave, Shizune placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Sakura told me about what happened.” She wrapped the girl in a warm and loving embrace, “I know this isn’t what you want to be talking about right now, but we need to plan the implant surgery.”

Sarada nodded, wiping away tears. She took a shaky breath, “When’s the earliest date that we can do it? I just want to get it over with.”

“We can perform the surgery today if you would like.” Shizune replied, placing her hands on Sarada’s shoulders.

“I-I would like that.” Sarada combed her long black hair out of her face and straightened her glasses. “May I go home first and spend the day with my family?”

“Of course. Report to the hospital at seven o’clock tonight.”

Sarada nodded and began to walk to the Uchiha complex. She had just lost someone she considered family, and she wanted nothing but to be around the rest of her family, to make sure she didn’t lose them.

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“Kohei!” She called, running towards her little brother, “How was your day?”

“Mama said that she’d start training me soon since I’m gonna go to the academy next year!” He said enthusiastically, “Did ya know that I’m five now Sarada-neechan?” He held up five chubby fingers, “That’s a whole hand!”

“I heard!” She walked with him to the front door, “Once you start training and get really strong, you can spar with me.” Thoughts of the spars she had with Kenji flashed in her mind, causing her to frown.

“What’s wrong oneechan?” He looked at her worriedly with his big green eyes, “Are ya hungry? Mama’s making dinner.”

“That’s great. Dinner will make me feel all better.” She smiled brightly at her little brother, “You always know how to fix things, don’t you?”

“Yep!” Sarada couldn’t resist the urge to squeeze him tightly.

“I will always love you Kohei.” She whispered, her cheek right on top of his soft, pink hair.

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The mission was supposed to be very dangerous. That’s why Naruto had sent Sarada, Mitsuki, Boruto, and Mirai as they were the most promising ninja of their generation.

“Our job is simply to take out the enemies where they stand.” Mirai instructed, looking at the new team seven with her large red eyes, “There is absolutely no time to reason or speak with the enemies. This is purely an assassination mission.”

“If it’s an assassination mission, why aren’t ANBU members doing it?” Boruto crossed his arms indignantly, “Silent killing isn’t really my style.”

Sarada decided to mess with Boruto a bit. Using a simple shunshin jutsu, she appeared behind Boruto, “It is my style.” She whispered icily, flashing her sharingan.

“What the hell Sarada?! That was really scary!”

“Stop messing around.” Mirai said with a serious tone. “If you’re not going to take this mission seriously, we can turn back right now and Hokage-sama can hear all about how his prestigious student and his son were simply too immature to handle the mission they were assigned to. As for the reason no ANBU were assigned, they’re all out on their respective missions.”

“Sorry taicho.” Boruto and Sarada apologized in unison, glaring at each other.

“My teammates can be strange sometimes.” Mitsuki spoke on their behalf, “I don’t understand their behavior fully, but I believe that it is called rivalry. I am yet to find someone I would consider a rival.”

“That’s great Mitsuki. Let’s get back to the mission now.” Boruto patted his teammate on the back. “So can I come out and blow everything to bits with my flashy moves? Then the enemies will be so scared that they’ll let us kill them without any hesitation!”

“You sound just like your gennin self. You really haven’t changed at all.” Sarada looked at Boruto disapprovingly, “And no. Didn’t you hear taicho? This is a silent killing mission.”

“Fine, fine.” Boruto whined. “You seem like you’re in a particularly deadly mood, why don’t you do the assassination?”

“I think I will.” Sarada hissed, pulling on the black gloves her mother had given her.

All it took was one glance from Sarada and the enemies were trapped in her genjutsu. Without sparing them a minute, Mitsuki plunged his kunai into each of their hearts, killing them instantly.

“Good job you two.” Mirai commended, “Now Boruto and I will dispose of the bodies.”

“Does this mean I get to burn shit?” Boruto asked enthusiastically.

“Yes.” Mirai sighed, “Yes it does.”

The two leaned over the corpses, Mirai incinerating them with her signature Sarutobi jutsu and Boruto just threw whatever flame jutsus he had picked up at the bodies.

“Careful you idiot!” Sarada exclaimed, dodging an errant spark, “You’re supposed to incinerate the bodies not us.”

“Sorry Sarada-teme.” Boruto said with mock remorse.

Finally, a mission had gone without a hitch.

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“Great, so we finish an S class mission successfully, but return to a goddamn attack?” Boruto exclaimed incredulously, “Nothing can ever go right can it?”

“No it can’t.” Sarada agreed, making her way through the rubble that was the west side of the village. “Did the civilians evacuate?”

A jonin stepped towards Sarada, “I believe that most of them have exited the village, but there might be some people left behind.”

“I’ll find them and evacuate them.” Sarada replied, “I’m sure my parents would be happy to take out the enemy.”

“Sasuke and Sakura-sama are already on it.” The jonin replied. A look of horror passed over his face, “Sakura-sama was in the middle of a load of laundry when she was called to defend the village, so she’s-well….irritated.”

“And their son, Kohei?” Sarada asked worriedly, roundhouse kicking on of the enemy’s subordinates into a building.

“He evacuated safely with the rest of the Konoha Academy underclassmen.”

“Thank god. I’m going to scour the village. Boruto, you deal with these annoying pests.” She motioned towards the dozens of Tsurigakure ninja that had decided to attack the leaf village. “I think they’re bitter about that time my team took out their ‘best’ shinobi.”

Sarada hoped that this attack would be as easy to stop as the one all those years ago, but a nagging voice in the back of her head told her differently.

Running through the damage, Sarada spotted a congregation of people. Upon arriving, she noticed that the civilians were circling around someone. After she pushed her way to the center, she noticed the nanadaime.

“Sarada!” He exclaimed with relief, “I’m glad you, Boruto, Mitsuki, and Mirai made it home safely. As you can see, we’re in a bit of a tight-”

Naruto was interrupted by a falling boulder. In the split second before it hit, Sarada had to make a decision. Judging from the size and angle of the rock, it would hit mostly civilians, but still injure the nanadaime. Sarada knew her duty was to protect the hokage with her life, but she wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she was responsible for the deaths of a myriad of civilians. Confident enough that Naruto could protect himself, Sarada activated her cherry-blossom pink susanoo for the first time and shielded the civilians.

Just as she had hoped, Naruto flash-stepped out of the way just in time, leaving everyone unharmed.

“That was an impressive maneuver.” Naruto commended his student, “I’m glad you made the right choice.”

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After the Tsurigakure ninja had been dealt with and subsequently severely punished, Naruto called Sarada to his office.

“Since you have been my student, you have proven that you possess all of the traits necessary for the ideal Konoha shinobi. The will of fire seems to run very strongly in you and you never fail to protect a comrade. You wield your sharingan with grace and use your chakra enhanced strength expertly. I have no doubt you’ll represent the village spectacularly as the next Hokage.” Naruto gave Sarada a warm smile.

Sarada felt faint. Really, really faint. She was going to be the next Hokage. Oh god. The next Hokage. Like the. Next. Hokage. “Naruto-sama…” she began shakily, “I can’t believe-oh my lord, thank you! I promise to never let the village down and to protect it with my life! I mean it!”

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The rosy hues of morning filled Sarada’s bedroom, bathing her bed in a soft light. She opened her eyes and smiled with anticipation since today was the day she’d become Hokage.

Stepping off her bed, she put her red glasses on and moved towards her wardrobe, knowing exactly what she would wear.

You should look formal but not overdressed. Sarada remembered her mother’s words, picking out her burgundy tunic, soft, black pants, and of course, her Hokage robe.

“Sarada!” Sakura called from downstairs, “Breakfast’s ready. You don’t want to be late for your big day!

“Coming Mama!” She replied, walking out of her room and to the kitchen. A warm plate of eggs, toast, and fruit sat waiting for Sarada at the table.

“I can’t believe my girl has gotten so grown up.” Sakura sighed, squeezing her oldest child, “Eat up sweetie. You want to be well fed so that you can show everyone how great the Uchihas are!”

“Oh, okay mama!” Sarada exclaimed after a moment of thought, “I’m going to become the greatest Hokage!”

“I have no doubt darling.” Sakura fought back tears of joy as she saw her daughter walk out of the house, white robe fluttering behind her. The first Uchiha Hokage.

[fifi-uchiha]

Born to live (1/?)

„So, that’s your method? Threatening a woman to marry you?” He stood right before her, closing the last bit of her well built distance as he reached out to capture her chin between his cold fingers, forcing her to look him in the eye. „I always get what I want, Sakura…”

To protect Timea, Haruno Sakura builds a strong army who manages to win every war that threatens her homeland. But when the powerful hokage Uchiha Sasuke becomes interested in Timea, Sakura’s life starts falling apart as she has to accept a forced mirage with the cold hokage.

However, both shinobi find out that they share a shocking past they never could’ve begun to imagine...

————————————-————————————- Chapter 1 In the middle of a giant battlefield fought a powerful shinobi, fighting against the enemies which tried to invade his homeland. His armor was shining in the dim sunlight and was covered in deep red blood and no one could tell whose it was. All those loud screams of terror and pain felt like a horrible curse within the battle smoke, followed by loud clashes of kunais and swords which were aiming to kill mercilessly. Seeing became harder because of the thickening, gray fog surrounding the ninjas, feeling like a suffocating curtain that stole the breath out of everyone’s lung. Countless jutsus were spoken while the leader of the army kept on fighting to protect his people, no matter how exhausted he was. How many hours passed since this fight begun? The shinobi didn’t know, and he didn’t find the will to care. Despite his morals, he did good in turning off every human emotion within his heart, throwing away his guilt with every life he took during this war. Killing became a mechanical process which became even more monotone a few hours ago. No exhaustion, no guilt, no fear was clouding his mind for he knew that human emotion was nothing but pure luxury that he could not possess, much less afford. This was a battle and he had to do anything to protect his people and to keep his homeland safe, no matter what… “AAAAH!” The fighter stopped in his tracks when he heard the familiar voice, green eyes full with worry and when he saw it, her breathing  stopped immediately. His silver-haired sensei was lying on the ground with blood covering his entire body while his armored enemy was standing over him, his sword risen and ready to strike. Green eyes widened full of shock and barely a second later, the leader reacted. “KAKASHI-SENSEI!” As if devil was after him, the shinobi ran while making sure to counter every attack and dodge every weapon without turning his gaze from Hatake Kakashi. His heart was racing like crazy when the enemy swung his sword for the kill, making the ninja scream like he never did before in his life. “NOOOOOO!”

Metal clashed against metal and the leader blocked the sword with his kunai, stopping the deadly attack just in time. Green eyes narrowed in desperation for his opponent was more than strong, making the leader’s hand shake after a few seconds. “Careful! Behind you!” Kakashi’s voice was full of desperation, his coal eyes widened when he saw the second ninja leashing at his student from behind, hating the fact that he was no longer able to move! The leader -who just beat his opponent and wasn’t able to focus- turned his head, green eyes blank with shock when the attacker formed several hand seals. “AAAAAAAAAH!” The leaders body was suddenly tied up without being able to find a way to get free, no matter how hard he tried. No. No, dammit! “LET ME GO!” “I will after I kill you.”, the enemy promised, a devilish smirk touching his lips. He pulled out his kunai, aiming for the leader’s head who was now sure that his life would end right here and now… “RASENGAN!” -If it weren’t for the blond haired shinobi that ended the attack with his favorite jutsu. “Hey! Are you guys alright?!” Backs touching, both ninjas stood before their sensei, watching carefully at their surroundings and making sure that no one would sneak behind Kakashi. As one of the most powerful ninja from Timea, Hatake Kakashi had many enemies which was the reason why it was so hard for him to fight during a battle without being horribly injured. “Yeah… Thanks, Naruto.”, the silver haired shinobi panted. “Well, it looks like I made it in time, dattebayo!” “Yes. Yes, you did.” Two best friends narrowed their eyes, making their selves ready to end this war. They would win. No matter what happened, Timea was not to be destroyed and the leader and the jinchuriki would rather die than giving up their homeland… . . . ………………….………………………………….……. “Hey… Come on, you should rest, Sakura.” Tenten was worried about the pink haired kunoichi who stood right before the flickering flames of the campfire, looking with a passive look at the golden and red colors as if she was… dreaming. “Hm? Ah… no, we have to find something to eat first. I’m okay, really-” “No, I asked Kakashi Sensei and Rin Sensei to do it. Your leg’s still bleeding, you need to take care of yourself and rest.”, Tenten pleaded, he hazel eyes full of worry over Sakura’s health. “Alright… Thanks, Tenten.” Knees weak and shivering, the young Haruno managed to sit down and was more than relieved for no longer having to stand and just relax for a while. “Hey Sakura…”, a blond shinobi grinned at her who didn’t ask when he lowered himself right beside her, being careful with his hurting arm Ino took care of earlier. He was… happy. No, that was an understatement for Naruto was literally beaming with joy. Haruno Sakura was a 21 year old woman and the blond’s best friend. The young kunoichi owned long, fluffy hair which shined just as pink as cherry blossom trees during spring and eyes greener than emerald. Her slightly tanned skin and full lips made her appear like an exotic beauty and the shinobi almost laughed about that. Because who would think that this small woman would be the leader of a whole army? “Your leg…” Both ninja looked at the bloody fabric of her upper leg which covered the painful injury she tried to hide from her comrades, however, Naruto was not to be fooled that easily. “Oh… Right.” Sakura ripped the fabric of her pants and took a good look at her wound, swallowing when she saw the dark blood liquid coming out from the deep gash. It was almost impossible to keep on fighting with a cut like this but Sakura had to admit that she didn’t really feel the pain until the fight ended. “Oh, that’s… nothing, really. It barely hurts.”, she lied, knowing that Naruto saw right through her lie but didn’t say anything about it. Instead, he took the medicine he got from Tenten and Kiba and spilled the green, thick liquid right over her bleeding injury, making Sakura hiss from the sudden, burning pain. “I’m sorry, Sakura…” “It’s okay, really.”, she just brushed off. “I’m good now. Thanks, Naruto.” Feeling relieved, Sakura sighed deeply and looked to the dark sky covered by shining, small stars. “We won the fight, Naruto. Nothing but the end of the world could upset me now.” Even though the fight was gruesome and horrible, even though they had to kill too many ninja, they won. Every hour of hard training finally payed off in the shape of delicious victory, regardless if they wanted a war or not. Timea, their homeland was still free without being threatened by anyone. “Do you regret it?” Sakura blinked a few times and looked at the jinchuriki, who appeared to be more serious than she was used to. “Do you regret building the army?” His short but reasonably question caught her off guard but that didn’t stop her from giving him the one and only answer. “No.” That didn’t surprise the fox ninja. “Do you?” “Hell no, dattebayo!”, Naruto said enthusiastically. “After everything we did to come that far, I’m not gonna regret a thing! We kicked their asses and I’m damn happy about it!” . . . The story of the two best friends started with Haruno Sakura. Too many years ago, the young kunoichi lived with her funny father and her beautiful mother in a small village, being happy and loved. There was absolutely nothing Sakura missed, she was so incredibly happy that… it shouldn’t surprise anyone that it ended so horribly. Anyway, Timea had no hokage and no army. The land was politically empty, a place where only the strong survived and the weak died. Her parents, however, grounded the first army of Timea and took care of literally everything. The army wasn’t very big but shinobi from Timea were incredibly talented, strong willed and very skilled. The Haruno’s were the reason why Timea wasn’t invaded, they were the reason why many shinobi fought together to protect their homeland and for that, Sakura was so proud of her parents. However, they were killed nine years ago. Her parents came back from a hard fight and she didn’t need to be a kunoichi to see how exhausted they were. Sakura remembered how she fall asleep with her mother and father, sharing one last peaceful memory with them before the unthinkable happened. Enemies stormed into their cottage and attacked, knowing how tired and exhausted the Haruno’s were. Her mother hid her barely awake daughter, kissing her cheek, her forehead, her hair while whispering her last words into her ear. ‘I’m sorry, sweetheart. You have to be strong, Sakura, you will survive and you will find someone who will love you just as much as we love you…’ She became an orphan in the age of 12 and lived in the streets since. For two years, she was seen as scum, a lowlife with no future or worth. Sakura was pushed around by others, being too sad over her parents death to even think about fighting back… She actually wanted to die and reunite with them I the afterlife. There was nothing like mercy when she stole bread or water to survive. She didn’t care to count how many times someone punished her for stealing, even if it only was one slice of bread or water. One day, she decided that it was enough. The pinkette was tired to being pushed around by everyone, she was sick of being so weak and helpless. The time had come to stop feeling sorry for herself because her parents taught her how to defend herself, they wouldn’t want her to die like this. The problem was that Sakura possessed no chakra. She was not able to learn a single jutsu and even though she was interested in healing, she was only able to heal small injuries, not even her own. And that really annoyed her because self healing would’ve been so helpful that time… The Haruno didn’t know why nor had their parents, but she did not own chakra to practice jutsus at all, even though her parents were incredibly powerful ninja. That’s why she started to perform her own tai-jutsu so she could at least surprise her opponents which worked out quite well, to be honest. Not only that, Sakura learned that you don’t need a single jutsu to be strong enough to defend yourself against enemies… The pink haired leader remembered how she met Naruto. She remembered everything about that day because she knew that she would’ve died miserably without her blond best friend… . . . She was 14 year old back then and Sakura will never forget those dark hours, probably the darkest in her life without her parents. The young girl was walking through the dark streets, looking for something to eat, something to drink. She was facing death and she was too weak to be scared. Never in her life had Sakura been so close to death. Her entire body was hurting from hunger and thirst, especially the latter. For two days she wasn’t able to drink water and Sakura felt er intestines burn from horrible thirst. Dehydrated wasn’t even close to describe how she felt for Sakura felt literally empty. Walking was something that felt like the hardest challenge, almost as hard as breathing. She was hungry. No, even worse. She was thirsty. Sakura needed water more than air..! Praying that it would rain soon, Sakura wanted to cry which was impossible for her. She was too weak to cry, dammit, she would’ve drank her tears with a smile in her lips! She tried to wet her lips but her tongue was just as dry and did nothing to help. She staggered father, her will to survive still flaming in her dry body for she hoped for a miracle that would save her miserable life… “Hello, pretty girl.” Her staggering stopped and Sakuras lifeless eyes looked at a boy, who just had to walk through the same alley. The 14 year old blinked weakly, barely registering his appearance. He seemed to have dark hair, but that was all she could see in the darkness. “What does a pretty girl such as you do in a dark alley, hm? At night no less…” Sakura would’ve swallowed if she’d have enough spit to do so, but there was one thing for sure. This boy… was not a friend. That ninja was someone who’d want to hurt her, there was no mistake. His smirk spoke more than a thousand words and when he made the first step… Sakura knew that she had not the power to run away. . . . The way he was eyeing her, how he took in her small frame didn’t cover what he was trying to do to her. With her inexperienced age of 14, Sakura knew what terror was awaiting her.

The young girl tried to speak up, tried to say anything, but her throat felt like a dried lake, incapable of forming any words at all.

But when the male made his first steps to her direction, she felt panic rushing through her body which became even worse when she saw his grin turning into an evil smirk.

His eyes didn’t even tried to hide the way he looked at her thin body that was shaking in fear for Sakura knew that his person would be her downfall.

Whatever he would try to do to her…

She wouldn’t be able to stop him at all.

Not like this.

“I...I-I… have… t-to leave-”, she barely managed to croak out as she turned away, however, he didn’t let her go off that easy and stopped her by holding her tiny wrist. “Where are you going, beautiful? I could give you a few really good hours...” Her heart pounded against her rib cage and for a moment the pinkette thought she’d just throw up. If she had her chakra… She swore, she would’ve beaten his sorry ass for even looking at her. “N-No… Please, I-I… need t-to… leave-” She tried to free himself with no effort for his grip became even firmer, almost hurting her sensitive flesh. “I’m sorry, honey. But I’m afraid you’re too pretty for your own good.”

Suddenly, with no warning whatsoever, her back hit the wall and Sakura’s breath was knocked out of her dry lungs. Her body shook like leaved in the wind, her heart hammered in her chest when she felt absolute horror about what as to come. “No… No..!”

“HEY!”

Three heartbeats later, the stranger was thrown off her and Sakura’s eyes widened when she saw a blond male grabbing him by his collar before he smashed his body against the hard floor. The blond savior threw the dark haired boy a dirty look, being more than disgusted by the scene he had to witness only seconds ago. He didn’t even realize his eyes not being blue but blood red in color, his fury was so immense that he had no control over himself.

“You disgusting son of a bitch...”, he bit out menacingly. The actually blue eyed shinobi didn’t have to be a genius to know what he tried to do to that girl… “Who… who are you-”, the 16 year old boy groaned but when he realized the blond hair and demon eyes, he didn’t even need his answer. He knew the name of the 16 year old savior. “U-Uzumaki Naruto?!” “Indeed.”

Naruto was known for being the ninetails jinchuuriki and even if he hated the fact that people avoided him for just that, he was more than happy about him having the ability to scare people off. “This was the first and only time you try doing this, Hojo.” Naruto knew that rich bastard but still wasn’t afraid to threaten him. “Not only will I tell everyone about this, next time I won’t go easy on you.”, he threatened. “You’ll be dead before you can even lay a finger on a girl ever again. Understood?!” Hojo nodded hysterically, didn’t look as strong as he did minutes ago. There were only a few fools in this land who dared challenging the jinchuuriki and Hojo didn’t belong to those. “Y-Yes! I promise, I will never… do this again!”

Hearing this, the disgusted ninja harshly let go of him, watching him running for his life before he turned around to face the pink haired beauty he just saved. Really, being a jinchuuriki really was handy sometimes…

“Are you okay?” The tension left her body almost immediately when she heard his voice and before she could answer, her knees buckled and finally gave in. “Hey!” The foxninja caught the girl, checking her to see if she was hurt. “What happened to you? Do you hear me? Are you sick? Do you need something..?!” She wanted to swallow but her throat was still too dry.

“Wa...ter...-” Naruto’s eyes widened as he understood her critical condition before he tightened his grip and ran to a certain direction. “Don’t worry, you will be okay again. Just hang in there, dattebayo!” He carried her to a meadow over a hill only Naruto knew. Being forced to live on the streets, Naruto learned to fend for himself, having built his own, big tent with enough supplies to survive. He was a little older than her and being feared for being a monster, no one dared hitting or attacking him… Not anymore.

“There...” He placed her on the floor right before his tent and Sakura could hear how he was looking for something. She didn’t know exactly what, but to be honest… She was just about to pass out and she stopped caring about everything.

“Here. Come on, drink this.” Her dull eyes opened when she realized his demand and Sakura tried. She tried reaching out with her hand, tried taking the bottle but before she could even touch the object, her arm fell. Sakura had not energy left in her limb body. Her body almost looked lifeless to the blond ninja..! “No, no..! Come on, open your eyes, dattebayo!”

He hold her upper body up with his arm before he brought the bottle to her dry lips, making sure that the water would definitely enter her barely opened mouth. When Sakura realized the cold, long-awaited water inside her mouth, her eyes widened and she begun drinking. “There you go. Drink as much as you want, we have more than enough.”, the shinobi smiled while he witnessed the life returning to her body. Sakura drank faster, almost screaming of happiness when she felt the cold liquid feeling like molten gold in her throat.

Her body jerked and she begun coughing uncontrollably. Understanding that she had drunk too fast, he carefully slapped her back and was more than relieved that she seemed to be okay again. She calmed down again and turned to the blond ninja to thank him, but he put his hand on her shoulder and smiled kindly. “Wait a minute, I’ll be right back.” With those words, he left the now confused kunoichi who wondered why he went off so sudden.

.

.

.

Naruto returned a few minutes later and made sure to light a campfire. Sakura’s eyes widened in awe when he staked a few fishes to the ground, making sure the flames were near enough to perfectly grill them. He also took more water and a stick of bread from his tent before he finally sit down next to her.

“Well, that took me long enough.”, he joked lightly. “Sorry I couldn’t talk so much. I didn’t even tell you my name, right? Well, my name is Uzumaki Naruto.” He turned around the fishes before he continued. “What’s your name?” “I am Haruno Sakura.”, she answered, finally able to use her voice again. “Haruno you say? Does that mean you’re the daughter of-” “Yes.” Her parents were heroes who were known by practically everyone in Timea.

“And you are the ninetails jinchuuriki..?”, Sakura asked for she had recognized his name. Naruto nodded approvingly, however, he didn’t seem as happy as he did before. “It’s a real honor to meet you.” Naruto blinked several times, made it more than obvious that he wasn’t used to being treated like an actual human being. “You… You’re not afraid of me..?” “Are you kidding me? You just saved my life!”, she almost shouted at him. “Thank you. Without you… I’m sure I would’ve died tonight.” He just laughed as if helping her was no big deal. “Come on, I don’t want any gratitude for that.”, he brushed off. “But I’m kinda curious. Why are you alone? For a pretty girl like you it’s damn dangerous to walk around the streets, dattebayo.”

Her eyes saddened almost immediately because answering his question would mean that she’d have to remember that day.

“I’m alone, Naruto. My parents were killed four years ago. I was ten years old and since then...” She swallowed harshly, memories of her parents started burning her eyes. “You’re alone since then?!”

He was… shocked. Sakura looked like a fragile, little person, seemed to be soft and so easy to break. He actually didn’t belong to those kind of people who let their selves influenced by mere appearance but… no one would think of her as a powerful fighter.

“I am.” Her answer tasted bitter. For both of them.

“I’m sorry.”, he said sympathetically, however, Sakura brushed it of. “Don’t be. After all… You’re alone, too.” It was more than obvious to her, The tent, his food, the way he just… was- There was no doubt that he too was left behind. “That’s true. I was raised in an orphanage but left it years ago.” He told her everything about his life, how he was raised and pushed away by basically everyone. Sakura found out about how he had to fight to survive, how he had enough of those people hating him just because he was a jinchuuriki. Naruto was grateful that he finally met someone who didn’t see him as a monster.

“I knew that leaving the orphanage would be dangerous but I guess pride does that to you. I wasn’t gonna stay where I’m not welcome.” “I am really sorry, Naruto.” “It’s okay. I can take care of myself, dattebayo- Oh!” He almost forgot the food and took the stakes in his hands. Sakura blinked as Naruto put three fishes, bread and water right in front of her, smiling froem one ear to the other about her flabbergasted face. But she looked… careful, seemed to be hesitant. More so, the Haruno felt shame push against her chest. She wasn’t used to be treated like this, never had someone who’d help her.

Her parents were the only people she depended on.

“Hey, come on. Eat. You need to gain your strength back.”He understood that she was ashamed and grinned, before he took a bite. “OUCH! OH MY GOD, THAT’S HOT!” Sakura giggled about his funny expression and handed him the bottle, feeling even more comfortable immediately. She looked at the stake in front of her and swallowed, feeling hunger eat her from the inside out. And when she took the first bite… She almost cried. Yes, Sakura almost shed tears.

The last time she eat such wonderful food was too long ago, she barely remembered it. More so, the Haruno felt like a real princess, a goddess almost. After all, she had bread, fish and water for dinner and it took all of her self control to not stuff her mouth too much. She could feel her body gaining more and more energy, that horrible, disgusting weakness wasn’t as heavy anymore. Finally, after so many days of hunger and thirst, Haruno Sakura felt strong again. Just as strong as the kunoichi she actually was.

“Thank you.”, she then said, her eyes were greener than before, almost shining from the new energy she had. “If it weren’t for you… I would’ve died miserably-” “Don’t.”, the 16 year old interrupted her. “There’s no reason to thank me. I’m glad you’re okay now, dattebayo.” “You just saved me from that stranger.” The pinkette knew there weren’t many people in this land who would interfere in a fight, however, Naruto didn’t even think about hesitating. “Nah, that guy’s a bastard and should be happy he’s still alive.” Really, he almost regretted letting him go that easy. “But hey. Your chakra totally changed, yo know. Are you a shinobi or something?”

The young girl looked at the flames before her and struggled for a few seconds. Should she tell him? Everyone always laughed at her when she told them about her dream, so should she really- No, Naruto wasn’t like that. Sakura had the feeling that he would not see her as a foolish girl with ridiculous fantasies. “Yes, I am a kunoichi.”, she answered quietly. “I train every day to survive and created my own martial arts, Naruto. But unfortunately, I can’t practice nin-jutsu.” Eyebrows furrowed, the blond ninja looked more than confused about her admission. “What? You mean no one taught you how to use it or..?” He really didn’t understand. “No. I just can’t use my chakra like that what’s weird because I can definitely feel it inside me and use it to heal wounds. That’s why I focused on my tai-jutsu.”

She fox ninja nodded understandingly and folded his arms before his chest, though about logical reasons to explain her critical condition. He didn’t. “Well, that really is weird but hey, you don’t need nin-jutsu to be a ninja. Tai-jutsu is the most important ability and you should keep improving, dattebayo.” “Yeah… That’s what I’m trying. Because one day I want to-” She hesitated again, wasn’t sure if she should continue. “What?”, he pushed and saw how unsure she was. “Come on, spit it out. I’m curious now!”

“I want to build an army one day to protect Timea from more attacks.��, she blurted out. “I’m sick of seeing my village being attacked by others and getting smaller every day. I’m done seeing people live a miserable live or get killed. My parents started living their dream of freeing Timea and just because they were killed their dream shouldn’t be forgotten. I don’t want Timea to stay as miserable as it is. It shouldn’t be a happy coincidence that our land wasn’t occupied yet, Shannaro...”

Sakura swallowed and gave him a strong, determined look.

“I want to save Timea from it’s own downfall.” For a long time the ninja looked at her with raised brows, the surprise on his face barely hidden for he had not expected to hear those words from such a fragile looking girl. Her eyes almost spit fire, her words were more than determined and her words sure. She had that dream and would do everything to make it reality. Sakura wasn’t sure how the jinchuuriki would react because after all, she was a girl. A woman.

No army would voluntarily follow her, much less take her seriously.

No one would follow a woman who can’t even use nin-jutsu.

“That sounds awesome, dattebayo!”, he suddenly blurted out, surprising the girl. “Like… come on, Timea is a joke! We have no king, no kage, no politics, no rules- We have nothing! And I would love to help you building that army. It’s about time we start kicking asses and-” “You don’t think my dream is ridiculous?” Naruto eyebrows were raised when she asked him that. “Why should I?”, he replied while she looked at him as if the answer was obvious. “Naruto, I’m not only unable to use nin-jutsu, I’m a woman. No one’s gonna follow me, they will all laugh-”

“Sakura, come on. If you don’t respect yourself for all your strengths and weaknesses, no one will.”, Naruto said, sounding really wise for his age. “You have to accept yourself and stop worrying about others. Look at me. I’m being called a monster by everyone but I stopped giving a damn about them years ago because I stopped hating myself for being a jinchuuriki. So just relax and train, the rest is gonna be one hell of a nice surprise, dattebayo!” He sounded so honest, so optimistic that Sakura was almost forced to believe his beautiful sounding words. Naruto made her feel like her idea of Timea wasn’t just a silly dream, but her actual future that was just about to come true.

He was the first one who didn’t laugh at her and even convinced her to keep trying.

“And you really think people will join my army?”, she asked, eyes innocent and hoping. “Of course! Look at me, you just recruited your first soldier.” He pumped his elbow playfully against her arm, grinning from ear to eat. “I’m in, Sakura. From now on, I’m gonna help you turning Timea into a strong village, dattebayo!” His eyes were shining like a blue ocean, his voice full of sincerity which literally shocked the pink haired kunoichi. Never. Never before had she met a person who admired her for having this dream. Never had she met anyone who would want to join and help her making it true!

The blond ninja stretched out his arm then, holding his fist before her chest and made her laugh for Sakura had the feeling that this sign was his way of sealing a promise.

Sakura pumped her smaller fist against his and laughed for the first time since her parents died. She felt warm inside and had the feeling that meeting Uzumaki Naruto was… everything.

“Would you like to sleep in my tent? I uh… I won’t do anything, I swear. But it’s pretty cold and my tent is kinda big, so I just wanted to-” “Thank you. You have no idea how thankful I am, Naruto.” “Stop thanking me!”

Both shinobi then started their new life together and trained every single day while trying to find more and more volunteers to build their army. It was a slow, agonizing process but after they met Hatake Kakashi, the army grew almost immediately and Sakura and Naruto watched their small group developing into a huge, powerful army. So many strong ninjas lived in Timea and shared their idea of an ideal Timea and now, seven years later, they were not alone anymore. They built cottages together, marketplaces weren’t a rarity anymore and even crimes weren’t committed that often. Timea was finally strong enough to survive without being attacked by countless villages. And Sakura knew that meeting Uzumaki Naruto must have been her fate. They trusted each other without doubting the other for even a second.

They were best friends but even… Sakura couldn’t explain but starting her life with Uzumaki Naruto didn’t just feel wonderful, it almost felt… familiar.

It took an eternity but Sakura was proud that they made it that far. Timea finally was an independent land and they would never give up defending their home.

.

.

.

“Why should we regret coming this far? Sakura, Timea was saved thanks to you, dattebayo.” Sakura laughed, her cheeks touched by soft redness over his words. “What are you saying? I couldn’t have done anything by myself. You, the entire army made Timea strong again, not me.” “Yeah, but no one would’ve moved a finger without you.” Naruto and Sakura turned to the lazy voice and smiled when Kakashi Sensei, Ino and Kiba joined them and the pinkette was more than relieved that her female blonde friend managed to heal their wounds perfectly. “Tenten’s okay again, forehead. I gave her some of your drugs and she literally passed out-” “Stop calling my medicine ‘drugs’, shannaro!” Yamanaka Ino and Haruno Sakura loved each other but still had their friendly banters here and there which really amused their comrades.

“Oh yeah whatever, stop bitching and listen to my question, Sakura.”, Ino said, ending this topping quickly. “When will you finally expose yourself?” Hearing that hated question, Sakuras eyebrows twitched for she knew which conversation would follow. “Come on. Over three years passed since we built the army and no one but us knows that you are the leader. I think you should step out of the shadows and tell them.”

Her close friends were the only ones who knew about Sakura’s hidden identity of being the leader of Timea who was responsible for the immense changes in this land. Sakura indeed was proud of their accomplishments and wouldn’t reduce her efforts, however, the 22 year old was… scared. After all, she was a woman. A woman without any special abilities, a woman without the ability to use any jutsus. Everyone was happy with the image of a strong, powerful man leading their home, so how could she expose herself and shock them with the fact that it was a mere woman with pink hair and no nin-jutsu who turned out to be the leader.

Shame and fright stopped her from telling them the truth.

“Soon...” All three of them groaned over her answer and Sakura was glad Tenten was sleeping because she probably would’ve slapped her for that answer. “You said that last week.”, Kakashi reminded her and she didn’t need to take off his mask to see the disapproving expression on his face. “Yeah. Just like the week before. And the week before. And the week before. And the week-” “Thank you, Kiba, I get it, shannaro...” “But we are right.”, Ino said. “It’s about time. Stop shitting your pants and speak up.” “How? Ino, how am I supposed to do that? I’m a woman and I don’t want them to laugh at me or… or be mad! We can’t take any risks that would cause harms to Timea.”

“That’s ridiculous.”, the masked ninja commented, his eyes never leaving his beloved book. “You are strong and I don’t understand why you’re reducing yourself so much. The army will be grateful, no one’s gonna hate you, Sakura.” “I’m not reducing my abilities as a ninja, Kakashi Sensei. It’s their opinion about all this that makes me nervous...” A heavy sigh left her and Sakura pinched the brick of her nose because yes, she knew they were right. The pinkette never doubted that. “I will tell them, okay? Just… give me some time -shuit it, Kiba, not again!- and I’ll do it.”

Her comrades sighed but trusted her decision for they did understand her. Forcing her would be foolish because she had to be ready to take that step, so they would just support Sakura’s decisions. “Fine.”, Ino grumbled, leaning her head against Sakura’s shoulder. “But please, don’t wait too long. I don’t want them to find out about your secret from someone else, okay?” “Don’t worry, they won’t. Tenten, Rin Sensei and you guys are the only ones I trust.”

And Sakura knew that none of them would tell anyone about her secret.

The four comrades talked and ate together, trying to calm their selves after that horrible fight. Even though they were exhausted, the ninjas took their time to enjoy little moments like these for every day was dangerous and could be the last for them.

They would fight, no matter how dangerous life would get. After everything, they would fight for freedom and peace. For a life without fear and sorrows.

No matter what happens, Timea would never stop fighting.

.

.

.

However, there was one land that already kept an eye on Timea. A village that was ruled and leaded by a strong hokage and was feared for it’s immense power by every village. A leader, who never lost a single war.

Uchiha Sasuke.

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.

.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::.

Hello and welcome to my probably most difficult project ever :D

“Born to live” belongs to my second biggest fanfic which I already publishes a year ago.

It’s really weird to start over again, ya know. This fanfic is actually effing long (350,000 words) and I feel so nostalgic writing the first chaps again, it’s really crazy lol

Anyway, you guys should know that Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto are all kinda OOC because this is is AU fanfic. No Uchiha massacre, no Madara Uchiha- none of that.

In fact, I started this ff long before I started watching Naruto and just decided to use my idea for a Naruto fanfic hehe

And there is one more thing. Guys, I am a passionate writer and love spending hours writing a fanfic. However, my German writing abilities can be considered as good, but English is my third language. It kinda bothers me that the English version of “Born to Live” is never going to be as good as the original version, but I’ll try anyway. But please, go easy on me :,D

I’m really excited about your reations! My German readers love this fanfic and I can’t wait to find out how you all will react to it because, as I said, contains very OOC characters like… Ino. Oh my, I can’t wait to present my version of Ino ;D

Until next chap, guys!

Love

Fifi-Uchiha Next chapter:

https://fifi-uchiha.tumblr.com/post/182748502094/born-to-live-2

[sufferthesea]

Puppet (Page 4/4 and end ficlet)

Pairings: ShikaSaku Rating: Teen Warnings: Blood/gore, body horror, psychological abuse, verbal abuse, and disabilities discussed.  Notes: Read right to left, like a standard manga. For @dimancheetoile​ who deserved more than this. Thank you for waiting for so long. 

@fineillsignup @thetoxicstrawberry @raendown

This is what it’s like to lose, her mind screams, but it’s topped by the cold even tone of Sasori.

This is what it’s like to be weak. This is what would have happened to you if I hadn’t let you win. If I had wanted to, I would have made you my next weapon. Every sinew, every tendon, every fiber of muscle and cell of skin would have been mine to craft and cut and create. My perfect creation. And I would have used you and your strength against your teammates and turned you against all of Konoha. But look at you now. You may have a wooden arm that looks like mine, but you’re no good to me with that injury. A perfect weapon can’t be made out of an imperfect body. You’re useless.

The voice is somehow louder than Sakura’s sobs and she clutches at her ear with her hand, trying to shut it out. “Stop it!” she screams, tears and saliva dribbling into the sink. “Leave me alone!”

Worthless. What good is a ninja with only one arm? You can’t complete any jutsu. And while you may rely on your brute strength and short temper to finish jobs, your balance is so off-kilter because of that prosthetic. You’ll never be a real fighter ever again.

“N-Naruto and Sasuke o-only have one arm!” she shouts back, eyes screwed shut. She doesn’t even know who she’s talking to at this point. The voice is some strange mix of her own and Sasori’s, and a few others. They sound like her teammates, her friends, her mentor, her Hokage. They’re chiding, disappointed, mocking.

Naruto’s got his arm back and Sasuke, well Sasuke’s off doing his own thing, isn’t he? But the thing is, Sakura, they were far more powerful than you to begin with. Sasuke is an Uchiha and he has harnessed the power of the Sharingan. Naruto is from the famous Uzumaki clan. He is a jinchuuriki. Not only was he strong before, but he managed to funnel the kyuubi’s chakra for his own use. They were surpassing you in their sleep. You never stood a chance to be at their level, let alone beat them. They could lose all their limbs and still be powerful, respected ninja. You’ll never be that. You’re so weak, you’re useless with just losing one arm.

“I’m n-not useless!”

You are. What jutsu can you do? Who can you heal? What surgeon operates with one hand tied behind their back? What is the percentage of disabled ninja sent out into the field? You. Are. Useless. What can you do with one arm?

“I can do this!” Sakura screams, her throat raw and torn. She throws herself back, face slick with tears and spit, eyes puffy, body trembling. She pulls back her right arm, closes her hand, and shoves her fist through the mirror and into the wall. The glass shatters instantly into thousands of small pieces, exploding around the room. The bare wall behind it is left with a spiderweb of cracks that run along the ceiling and down into the tiled floor. She pants heavily and pulls away her arm, leaving a large hole in the cement wall. Dust swirls about the room and there is a commotion of everyone else in the apartment complex scrambling to figure out what on earth just happened. She can hear theories of earthquake, paper bombs, even a gas explosion from one of the units’ stoves.

Sakura limps out of the bathroom, glass and plaster coating her skin and weaving into her hair, and collapses onto her bed. Her face is burning hot and more tears find their way down her cheeks and into her sheets.

“I’m not useless,” she breathes. Grabbing the prosthetic off of the bed and throwing it across the room into the wall, she buries her face into her pillows. “I’m not a puppet. I’m not like him. I’m real. And I’m okay.”

The sounds of running footsteps thundering past her apartment door are nowhere as loud as the pounding of her heartbeat in her temples. She can faintly hear people chattering and then banging on her door as the landlord goes from room the room to ask if everyone is okay. She is too tired to get up and answer the door, even to let them know she’s alive and well.

Or at least that she’s alive. Even if it doesn’t feel like it. And she doesn’t want to have to put her prosthetic on just for a brief exchange between herself and the landlord so she stays in bed and takes up as much breath as she can to shout over the noises in her own head and says she’s fine, and she can’t come to the door because she’s showering. No she didn’t feel an earthquake, and yes her apartment is in one piece. The footsteps move on, the chatter dies off, and Sakura is alone again to stir in the fragments of the argument she’s having with herself.  

She resists the will to continue the fight with the amalgamation of voices still mocking her and squeezes her eyes shut, hoping her weariness will let her sleep before her thoughts turn darker.

A/N: Thank you Mako for your incredible patience and understanding. There actually was more ShikaSaku moments in the fic, but it fought me tooth and nail the whole time and it won. If I ever get around to finishing it, and making it less like what I’ve already written you, I promise to post it and tag you in it. You deserve to have the entire story. 

[oneyanderegirl]

Flower Crowns

Genre: One-shot, Fluff

Rated: K, E

Summary: Hinata just wanted to make a flower crown, too bad it doesn’t go her way. 

Sasuhina 2018 Themes:  Indigo Children (Day 27)

A/N: I feel like I’ve been writing a lot of angst, so I decided to try to write a fluff piece instead. I needed a short break because writing angst hurts TToTT I wasn’t sure how to fit Day 5′s theme on here, so I decided to just write whatever instead lol. Anyways, please excuse any mistakes. Hope you enjoy! 

All Hinata had wanted to do was to make a flower crown for herself.

The class had just finished going over the basics of shinobi training when the bell had rung, indicating that it was time for a break. As soon as the bell rang, all the five year olds bursted into happiness and quickly ran outside to play. While Hinata didn’t mind learning about the techniques and methods that made shinobi strong, she, like all five year olds, still preferred playtime.

Although she was shy and hadn’t made any friends yet, Hinata still found ways to entertain herself.

Today she had decided to make flower crowns for herself.

Everything had been going fine. She had just finished making one with the red and blue flowers she had picked. She was about to make a bracelet to go with it, when she felt something hit her causing her to face plant on the grass.

Startled and hurt, she slowly got up to see what had hit her. Laying on the ground next to her was a boy her age. He had black eyes and hair.

Sasuke Uchiha.

Normally, she wouldn’t have mind getting knocked over like that. After all, it was an accident and she wasn’t one to start a fight.

But when she saw her flower crown lying in the grass all crumpled and broken, a small flame flickered inside the little five year old’s body.

“ Y-you...y-you broke my flower crown.” she whispered in shock.

Sasuke groaned in pain.

He had been fighting with Naruto because of a stupid thing he said when Kiba and his dumb dog decided they wanted to join in as well for whatever reason. Sasuke may have been strong, but even the five year couldn’t fight against two people.

At least not for that long.

He had actually managed to win for the most part, thanks to his speed and smarts, but then the dumb dog decided to charge at him at full speed. Soon the other two decided to do the same thing.

And that was when they had knocked him all the way to her.

As soon as the two idiots had realized what they had done, they ran away in fear that they would get in trouble. This left Sasuke with the girl who now stood before him.

White eyes and dark blue hair.

Hinata Hyuga.

He had heard countless stories about the Hyuga from his father. They were their biggest rivals. His father never had anything good to say about them, which usually earned a punch from his mother. That didn’t matter though, he knew they were bad.

His father said so after all.

“ You should have watched where you were going.” He responded.

Now, Sasuke wasn’t the type to say sorry.  

Saying sorry meant you were at fault and he knew it wasn’t his. Father had taught him to never apologize unless it was actually his fault. There was only one exception though.

And that was to never apologize to a Hyuga.

So he did what any smart five year old would do.

He blamed it on her instead.

“ It was your fault.” He went on.

Hinata looked like she wanted to cry.

“ B-but you pushed me!” she squeaked.

He could already see the tears.

“ Why are you crying? It was your fault. You were in my way. I wouldn’t have knocked you if you weren’t standing there.” He glared at the girl.

“ I-it wasn’t my fault! Y-You say s-sorry!” She wasn’t going to back down from this. It was his fault after all!

“ No, it wasn’t!”

“ Yes, it was!”

They continued to blame each other through screams. Neither of them wanting to back down.

She knew she should have believed her father when he had said they were bad people.

“ You Uchihas are so stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!” She yelled as loud as she could.

“ You Hyugas suck! You suck! Your stupid flower crown looked ugly anyway!” He yelled back.

This made Hinata cry.

He hated crying girls.

“ I’m going. Bye loser!” He waved.

Bye loser.

Loser.

Loser.

Loser.

Hinata watched as the boy started to walk away. His mean words had made her cry even more. She didn’t like being called a loser. It reminded her of being called a failure by her clan.

She especially didn’t like being called a loser by a Uchiha.

Maybe it was due to her being a Hyuga, maybe it was because of names he had called her, Hinata didn’t know. But the blood in her little body boiled like fire watching him walk away after he had just knocked her over and blamed it on her.

And he broke her flower crown.

Mustering as much strength as she could, she started to charge at the unsuspecting boy.

She was not going to let him get away with it.

“ Give. Me. Back. My. Flower crown!”

----------

Sasuke came to school the next day with multiple bruises on his face and arms.

All the people in his class had tried to hold in their laughter. The boys especially found it funny and made fun of him for it. He had become the laughingstock overnight.

After all, he did get beat up by a girl.

A very strong girl, but still a girl.

He was honestly impressed by the strength she had mustered up. Sasuke was one of the best students in the class, yet she had managed to beat him.

Still, he had a reputation to keep up and a clan to represent.

So when Kiba and Naruto had come up to him to laugh at him, he proceeded to beat them up in front of the whole class.

That quickly shut everyone up.

---------

Hinata felt bad.

Guilt was what one of the elders had call it.

She was feeling guilt.

She hadn’t meant to punch Sasuke that hard. She was just angry that he didn’t say sorry for breaking her flower crown. She also didn’t like the mean things he had said about her and the clan.

It felt good though.

Realizing this, she furiously shook her head.

“ N-no Hinata! F-fighting is bad!” She said to herself.

Although her father seemed pleased when she told him about why she had gotten in trouble.

Still, she wanted to say sorry to him.

Her mother would have liked her to.

That was easier said than done though. While the other girls in her class called him cool, she preferred to use the word scary. So when breaktime came, she did what any logical five year old would do.

She ran to the furthest tree and hid.

She especially wanted to hide from her classmates. She didn’t like some of the things they had said about her. The girls were a bit angry with her, although she didn’t understand why. It was his fault. The boys, on the other hand, praised her for the strength she had done. She recalled a boy with a black, spiky ponytail named Shikamaru who was so impressed that he had woken up from his usual nap just to watch the fight take place.

The praise secretly made her happy.

Regardless though, Hinata didn’t like the unwanted attention.

She just wanted to be left alone.

So when the bell rang, she quickly ran to find herself a large tree away from the other kids. She decided to pick the furthest one because of the distance. There was even a flower field nearby!

It was the perfect place to make her flower crown.

Today she decided she wanted to have a purple and blue flower crown. Taking her time to carefully pick the perfect flowers, the little girl happily strung them together. When she finished, she looked at her piece of work with pride.

It was perfect.

Just as she was about to place it on her head, she suddenly heard a voice coming from behind.

“ Hey!” the boy shouted.

Hinata squeaked.

She hears a tear.

Once again her flower crown was crumpled and broken.

She was so startled by the sudden noise that she had somehow managed to rip her crown in half.

Hinata sighed and silently mourned for her hardwork before turning to the little boy.

It was Sasuke again.

“ W-what do y-you want?” She warily asked.

The little boy started fidgeting in place, avoiding her eyes. She could see his cheeks turn red, although she didn’t know why.

Was he still angry at her?

Was he going to beat her up for yesterday?

The thought sent panic into Hinata. She quickly jumped up to back away from him.

“ P-Please don’t h-hit me!” she cried.

The boy looked at her confused.

“ What? I’m not going to hit you.” he said.

“ T-then why are y-you here?” she asked.

After about a minute of avoiding her eyes, he finally sighed.

“ My..my mom told me I have to say sorry to you or else she’ll be mad. So I’m here to say sorry.” He pouted.

“ Oh..”

Embarrassed and unsure of what to do, the two five year olds looked away from each other in awkward silence.

“ W-would y-you...would you like to make a flower crown with me?” she finally asked.

Sasuke looked at her in disgust.

“ No. That’s girly.”

“ O-okay.”

Feeling a bit disappointed, she looked at the grass beneath her feet.

“ I’ll make a sword though.” he awkwardly replied.

This made her beam with joy.

“ O-okay! I can make a crown and you can make a sword!”

Hinata excitedly jumped up and down at the thought.

Her excitement infectiously spread to him as well. Soon, they both were jumping together. Sasuke grabbed some sticks and tied it with the flower ropes that she would string together, while she made a flower crown for herself.

“ I now declare you a princess!” He proudly stated.

“ Oh, then are you going to be a prince?!” She asked. “ Ewww. No way, princes are lame.” He answered.

She looked at him confused.

Hinata thought Sasuke would be happy to be declared a prince. All the girls called him one. Even some of the teachers would too.

“ If you don’t want to be a prince then what do you want to be?”  

In a dramatic fashion, as dramatic as a five year old could be, he jumped onto a small boulder and raised his fake sword into the air. He stood tall and proud, as proud as a little Uchiha could be and took a deep breath.

“ I’m going to be the strongest and coolest shinobi that uses a sword!” he proudly declared.

This made Hinata giggle.

“ Okay! Then I, princess H-hinata, crown you as the strongest shinobi in the world!”

She placed a flower necklace made of blue and purple flowers around his neck. And with that, they were officially princess and shinobi. Too filled with excitement and too engrossed in their pretend play, they continued to play for the rest of the time together until it was time for them to go. When the two of them came home that day, they both held the brightest smiles on their face.

Hinata’s father scolded her for playing with a “filthy Uchiha”, but she didn’t care.

Sasuke’s father tried to scold him for playing with a “dirty Hyuga”, but was met with flying fists from his mother who was very proud of him for being a good boy. 

All and all, they both had a lot of fun that day.

They didn’t even noticed the way they had called each other by first name.

[ombreecha]

Down Below

Series: Lifetimes Fandom: Naruto Pairing: SasuSaku Rated: T Prompt: Pirates and Mermaids

Waters down below and salt within the air. The rolling of the waves against the wood and the shift of the vessel beneath the worn and heavy boots weathered from the sea. Ghosts linger upon the crew’s tongues. Wild tall tales and masts that stand even taller all they know as they sail forward.

He’s done this a long time—long enough to have become crueler with every run in.

Sea serpents challenging within the storm. Kraken awakened and ready to drag them down below. Siren’s coaxing luring them away. Sea beasts employed when they had killed one too many of the Siren. Mermaids—they’re devilfish.

The grind of his teeth comes at such a thought, and yet here they are hunting one.

Guards of the fountain of youth. He doesn’t need more than their tears.

The call of one his crew has him turning and regarding them silently. He’s the captain of this vessel. They’re curious as to what has put them in search of something so dangerous.

This is one of selfish intent—it’s not of their business. They’re his crew. They’ll do as he says.

—Or they’ll find themselves overboard.

A wave of his hand is all he intends to give. He pays them all well enough in the spoils that have come a long the way. There’s a time limit to this journey upon the sea. They have to act quickly. They have no time to take in the feelings of such devilfish.

They’re far from home but it still feels close. His mother awaits back on shores too man miles to count. He’ll bring her the fountain of youth. He’ll help her over come her illnesses or fall into an ambiance of nothing left.

The night is dark but the stars make it easy to know where they’re heading. The city they search for is one that protects these devilfish when they deem it fit to masquerade as humans. Disgusting—they’re regarded as beauties that lure men into their arms only to drag them down below the waters surface. He’ll be damned if he falls for such trickery.

The creak beneath his books comes as he releases his hold upon the edge his ship and makes for his cabin. They’ve got more than enough nights before they’ll dock, and flood their city. Sleep is all that can be done here. The sea is calm and that means the majority of them can rest at ease.

He trusts his men to get them there safe. Under covers and under no light he settled. The map disregarded upon his desk. The shift of the boat beneath him barely felt, and that all too familiar sounds that come with living on waters. They’ve become calming over the years. He’s adjusted so much that sleeping and staying on shore feels off—oddly unsatisfying.

That won’t stop him from returning home.

His mother needs him and he’ll do whatever it takes to bring her the fountain of youth.

He can rid himself of concern once that’s done.

A wink or two is all he’s given before he’s brought about by the sound of thunder, and the light given off by lightning outside. His coat is the last thing as on his mind no less his hat as he shoves off the blankets and makes his way out upon the ship. His men are rushing and frantic to keep their ship from being over turned, and he’s right beside them pulling upon the ropes as they begin to slide back and forth.

Wet and soaked deep down to the bone. The waves come over the side of his ship spilling upon the wood. They’re being tossed so unforgiving, and the only thing they’ve got going for them is the lack of a sea monster. Their hands are tied up enough trying to keep themselves and the ship steady upon such violent waves.

Cracks of lightning don’t make it any less difficult.

One of his men is going over tripping and down below their scream a melody this late in the game. They’ll escape within the dawn—that’s the life they’ve lived.

No one can breath and it’s as the wave comes over that he’s rushing forward to stop another from falling over. He’s their captain and regardless of rumors there is honor among them. His hand’s grabbed a hold of their wrist and there’s the pull of his drenched shirt from behind—but no amount of honor or man power is stopping the wave that towards over them.

Eyes wide and a refusal to let go is what’s going to cost him dearly. His lungs are full and he feels the water rising above his head as he’s been thrown overboard. The crew member he had sought to keep from such fate can’t even be heard as he fights in vain to stay a float.

It’s like the breath before a dive—quick and gone just as fast had it had come.

That crushing sound from the sky above is the only thing he can take it as water comes within his nose. His men are seeking to retrieve them but that won’t be what happens.

There’s something twisting under his arms and around his torso—he’ll be dragged down below.

Fight or flight—he be damned before any of these creatures take him with them within the waters.

If only he could breath has he thrashes back against whatever holds him.

Fingers upon his eyes and that arm tightening around his torso. He’s whipped back and forth and his ship isn’t right before him any more it’s so much further away. It seems they won’t have to cause a ruckus within the city they had sought—a mermaids gone and come to him instead.

This is no time to see this as a victory. They have the upper hand.

He wants that quite silence from deep within his cabin. Yet, he’s twisting and pushing.

Washed away and submerged. That devilfish has lost her hold on him with such force. It’s not enough as the water over takes him and he finally finds some of that quite silence. Underneath such violent waves it’s so much calmer. All that energy, and all that strength is gone as he sinks further below. His hand reaches out as if he can just grab the surface.

Lids flutter down and an unforgivable acceptance comes over him He’s done this for such a long time—too long if he’s being honest.

This is his life though. This is the route he had taken. It’s a fitting end—but a sour one no less.

The fountain of youth wouldn’t come to his hands inside of a watery grave. There’s a terror when you go this far down. It’s dark and deep, and that light from the surface just continues to become dimmer as the body becomes heavier.

His eyes open wide and all it can take in is a bright blue. There’s something within his throat and it’s got him twisting as it constricts and expels the bitter sea water. The hack that comes has his body quaking. His limbs are exhausted and his mind fuzzy and the sea water continues to rise from his stomach.

“You wouldn’t have half of that in your system if you hadn’t fought with me so much.” a shadow follows the voice blowing the sun from him.

Fingers twist within the sand and come between his fingers. It sticks to his skin, and he’s oddly aware of his surroundings and how much him being on a shore doesn’t make sense. A look over his shoulder and all there is, is long pale rose and sea foam green. This woman—no she’s just masquerading before him.

She’ll never be a human. She’ll only be a disgusting imitation.

This creature breaths water, and air—no mere woman does that. They lure men deep into the water and drag them down below.

She will be no different.

Adrenalin has him before and dropping them to the floor. His fingers tight upon her throat, “What’s your game?”

There’s a pause from her—no, it—as if it’s contemplating the answer. They only know how to deceive and trick. Lids with lashes of pale pink dip down. It’s not even trying to fight back even as he sits atop of it aggressive and threatening.

“I’m playing at nothing, Captain.” her voice is tight with so much pressure upon it.

The flex of his fingers has him weary, and then those sea foam green emerge pointedly and unphased by this rough treatment.

“Why save me then?” he pushes down further as if to make a point before release some of the pressure upon her throat, “You obviously know who I am.”

“I’m not employed by the siren.” the response it gives makes him feel like it’s attempt casual conversation as he feels the way it’s throat moves as it swallows, “You’re but a man who had fallen overboard—title and reputation are nothing when you’re drowning.”

There’s a hiss and he’s reapplied the pressure—he would tolerate no such trickery, “Why did you save me?”

Those fingers wrap around his wrist before sliding up through the sand that covers his skin and clothes. He’s not allowing a response and there’s a mild curiosity of what kind of trickery it’ll attempt as it touches him. Those fingers press against his chest almost too comfortably making him release just a bit of the pressure upon her throat once more in wanting to know its response, “It’s better than you finding your end isn’t it?”

There’s a hesitance in what move to make next. This disgusting imitation could have dragged him deep into the water or left him as he slowly fell to the seas bottom—it didn’t.

There’s no explanation truly given with such a response. He knows there has to be some form of deception in this. It’s conjuring it up that has him hesitating. Slowly as if to make it apparent he won’t hesitate to grip her throat once more he releases her throat. Fingers float above it’s throat.

He can see why these creatures can lure men to their depths. Physically it’s ethereal and enticing with such a color palette—but it doesn’t lessen the disgust he feels for such a creature.

They’re dangerous. —but they also guard the fountain of youth.

Carefully he watches as it’s lips turn slowly, “I’m surprised you have so much energy to wrestle in the sand.”

He’s more than waterlogged, and as if because it’s spoken of the aches his muscles feel they make themselves prominent in their pulse. Knee shifting in the sand he’s rising above it. He needs away from it—the more he looks down upon it the more allure he’s finding.

He knows better.

Sitting up it raises it’s hands above their head stretching. The silence between them is thick on his end and almost airy on it’s. Eyes carefully watch as it makes it’s way to the shores edge, “There’s a town not to far from here.” it raises it’s hand within the general direction, “Be sure to be careful next time, Captain Sasuke Uchiha.”

The lowering if it’s lids comes as if to tease him, and then with a shift it’s facing the sea once more. He could stop this mermaid here and now but it would do him no good. There’s no way he could capture a tear in this scenario.

“Your name?” his voice his gruff and his throat burns at the use.

The spin upon it’s feet comes within the sand, “Sakura—safe travels.” a step within the water and then a turn back before it’s diving head first within the waters.

Irritation is bubbling within him at the antics of this mermaid. He’s lost his chance here, but there will be another mermaid after it. This is for the best. He knows what to expect with the next. It had saved him just the same, and so he wouldn’t bring further harm or threat to it.

For it’s own sake it had best never cross paths with him once again. Memaids. They’re truly devilfish.

[quirrrky]

insecure

secret lovers (tumblr thread | fanfiction.net)

Chronological One-Shots / Post-War / Pre-Last 

After the Fourth Shinobi War, Naruto’s huge crush on Hinata gradually surfaces and the whole village of Konoha knows it…Well, aside from him.

entry ten

Prompt: Now that the war was over, Naruto and Hinata must face another challenge in their lives, adolescence.

/insecure/

Naruto couldn't feel so delighted. He was glad that he was successful into talking Sasuke's case out of the council. Well, that's all thanks to Shikamaru, Hinata and Iruka-sensei's effort in guiding him. That damn, Rhetoric, sure had an importance, after all!

The teme just left the village for some atonement and Naruto felt the needed that his friend might need a reminder that Konoha's doors will always be open for him by returning his hitai-ate.

He sighed, but as he did, an eager Konohamaru and his team caught up with him.

"Niichan! I've told you about this kore."

"Uh, not now? I don't know, Konohamaru, but your project doesn't seem to fit me dattebayo."

"Well, you're the only one I can rely on, niichan!" The brunette kid muttered as Naruto surrendered,

"Fine! Fine! But just for an hour, okay?"

They walked along the village street as Naruto stopped at the sight of his teammate.

"Sakura-chan?"

She lifted up her head, blush evident on her face, "Naruto…"

"Ah! Hinata seemed to be blossoming lately, eh? Just in time for spring?" Kiba retorted, making his teammate blush with his compliment.

"Why? It is because…"

"Yeah! Yeah, Shino! It was all because of that stupid-looking Naruto, who is looking more stupid, whenever he sees our Hinata!"

"That's not what I'm about to say…"

"Kiba-kun! Tha-that's not it!"

The leaves were now evident on the branches of the trees, coloring Konoha with a brand new shade. Gone were the days when they have to wear extra article of clothing just to keep them warm. Springtime had come and its manifestation was just beginning.

Team 8's briefing with their current Hokage, Kakashi (who was still unsure about taking the position although his face was quite blatantly etched on the Hokage rock), just finished and they will be sent to search a missing person who belonged to a powerful clan for next week.

"Well, he said he'll be returning, right?"

"Yeah, Shino-kun. He'll just be dropping by to return Sasuke-kun's hitai-ate back before he leaves the village."

Kiba scoffed and prided, "I don't really think you must go back there, Hinata. My senses can smell he's just near, so… Ah! See! I told you, in speaking of the devil, he's just right there. How about we surprise him, huh? Don't ya' think, Hinata? I wonder if he'll scream like a girl."

"Kiba-kun!" Nonetheless, Hinata's complaint was remained unheard as she was dragged hiding in a corner. They couldn't see him, but they could eavesdrop and he was with Sakura.

"Wait! I think Ino's somewhere here too?" Kiba informed them with Hinata ready to leave the scene, until their words started to mince her.

"I know that you have loved me ever since. I just realized that maybe…maybe we could try?"

Sakura-chan?

"I-I couldn't be any happier."

Naruto-kun…

Drowning her teammates' voices in the background, she ran away. Just far away from them. Where there was air, though she could hardly breathe.

That was all she needed to hear.

She didn't even need to see them. Just the words they professed to each other were enough to wake her up from her petty little sweet dream. A dream, it was all a dream.

His eyes, his smile and his gravelly voice would only remain as a dream to her. How could she not, when it felt so surreal and good? Naruto always made her feel like that. Out of many people in the world, he was the first to believe in her. Never, ever in her life did someone make her feel strong, important and worthy. She thought he was the exception, not thinking that he was just like that to everybody else.

She loved him, she truly did. It was a pure kind of love. Something that didn't demand reciprocation Although people may mistook it as unhealthy obsession, little did they know that for her entire life she never felt special until he cheered on her amongst the crowd. Until he believed in her when no one else did. He showed her that she could still walk with purpose. He showed her that it was still possible to smile even if nobody cared.

He made her believe.

Sadly, it was because it was just him. Nothing more, nothing less.

Sasuke-kun left the village now and who knew what happened?

All this time, Sakura-chan loved the boy. But Naruto-kun was also easy to love, and Hinata knew that he would search all over the town just to be with Sakura.

Stupid, stupid, stupid Hinata!

In her mind, she pictured her pink-haired friend and her blonde dream.

They looked good together.

Tears fell from her eyes, trying to force a smile on her face.

It made sense. Sakura-chan was confident, beautiful and a strong kunoichi, whom everyone in their village admired. It just made sense that she would be perfect for the brilliant hero, who brightened up the whole of Konoha.

He deserved someone like her. Someone who was unafraid to fight for what she really feels. And she was not her.

But she had to be happy for them. They were her friends.

She had to accept that Sakura will be the one to hold his hands. She will be the one their friends would tease with him, saying he finally got the girl he's been chasing after.

Then, he would buy her flowers, her favorite food and would tell everyone stories of how beautiful and strong she was. He would show the whole world just how much he loved her, because she was his dream and there wouldn't be a single day that she would feel neglected, because he'll always make sure she's special.

When the day went by, she will be the one to kiss him goodnight. She will be the one to live her dreams. Hinata's dreams.

And then for Hinata, she will be drowned on the background amidst it all. Waiting for someone to love her just as much as she loved him.

Truly, purely and unconditionally.

Wondering how long will she wait as though no one could replace him.

"W-What's with you two?!" Ino angrily shouted as she went out from hiding at a corner, eavesdropping all throughout the whole ordeal.

Sakura, blush now dissipating, answered her with a sigh, "I-Ino? Well, I surrender. This knucklehead has been trying so hard already-"

Naruto turned, rubbing his hand at the back of his head, "Uh, yeah, yes. I guess I didn't' get that quite right. I know!"

Kiba, furious at the stupid blonde's comment, revealed himself with Shino, "Just, you, shut the hell up! I know I'm in no position to say this, but I'm keen enough to smell your own bullshit, you, pathetic idiot! ! For these past few months, I thought, I thought that you and… Forget it! You don't deserve that kind of love!"

The loud-mouthed brunette then suddenly noticed a few audience, namely Konohamaru and his team, "The hell?! I couldn't believe this! You even get your own documentation team to record this crap?!"

"Cut! What's wrong with you all? The scene is now going great and now you made it all appear scripted kore!"

"W-Wait, scripted?!" Kiba and Ino simultaneously erupted, shocked and confused at the young boy's complaint.

"Hey, niichan! I thought you hired these two. How come they aren't oriented? Too bad the scene they created is already effective!" Konohamaru demanded, annoyed.

"Ahhh, about that, errr…"

"I really think that won't fit our topic after all. We are supposed to show this at the orphanage. Seriously?" Moegi interjected.

Meanwhile, as realization hit Ino, she sighed and turned to Sakura,

"That explains everything. I thought you two were really going on about it. I didn't really mean to intrude with what's between you guys, but just earlier you were gushing about Sasuke-kun poking your wide as hell forehead like it was the most special thing in the world, then now I'm going to see you like that with Naruto. I just couldn't help it. Well, anyway. I couldn't believe I participated in this kind of weird thing."

Sakura, on the other hand, released a heavy breath and slumped her shoulders forward, "I just couldn’t not do it. I reluctantly accepted this idiot's bet that Sasuke-kun would not allow me to come with him. In exchange, I have to participate in this video thing for the children at the orphanage. I was about to knock him off but he guilt-tripped me with his nindou."

The blonde girl faced the younger ones with much pride and determination, "Well, if you want a better actress, you should've gotten me instead! This billboard-brow surely has no talent aside from punching people in their faces!"

"Hey! What's wrong with strength you Ino-pig…" The two girls fought in the background. On one hand, pissed, but fazed Kiba stood agape, still deciding what to do with the situation and just in time, it was Shino who voiced out his frustration.

"You see, we have a bit of a problem here. Why? It is because Hinata…"

Both girls stopped at bickering and Sakura immediately dropped Ino's collar-off with a grim expression starting to form on their faces, "Hinata!"

Actually, they both didn't hear Shino's words before that, but by just the mention of her name, the two kunoichi identified that a big misunderstanding had been created.

Both of them had been supporting their shy friend all along and even developed several plans behind her back in order to create a moment for Hinata and Naruto to be together.

Sakura was the one more passionate about it as she could reflect her sort-of unreciprocated love for Sasuke-kun to that of Hinata's genuine affection for the still childish and oblivious Naruto. She couldn't just stand that she'd be the reason to cause her friend's faith to waver or even hurt her in any way. She almost make a big damage before and she was not planning to cause anything like that anymore.

"Yeah, where's Hinata? I left to go find Sasuke after she tied my hitai-ate. I was looking for her until Konohamaru bothered me."

The said boy and his gang just watched the exchange with a freaked-out look on their faces, Shino just remained stoic, while Kiba, Ino and Sakura both turned their heads on the blonde's direction.

"Well, Mirai is asleep now. I can feel that she's not the real reason for your visit." Kurenai stated, placing cups of tea for her and her former student.

Silence laid flat between them. Hinata just stared blankly at her cup of tea.

"Kurenai-sensei," Hinata muttered as she called out to the person, whom she considered as a mother after all that happened around her life.

"Hmmm... By looking at you, I could tell this is about a certain blonde boy."

The young girl just gulped dryly, giving away the information to her sensei through the quietness.

"I understand, Hinata. I am right and it's all about that dreamy boy, isn't it? Ah, young love, fragile, fickle and difficult to understand. Intense and overwhelming emotions." Kurenai finished with a humble yet prim smile. Memories of the past appearing before her eyes.

"I remember back then, it was the same with Asuma. We were really close friends and I started to harbor a different kind of feeling for him. He didn't notice that at first. He was the Hokage's son and he had a lot of admirers surrounding him as well. I couldn't avoid but feel confused and frustrated. There was a lot of questions and the emotion got only stronger, because I was not able to fully express it and show it. Then the more we became closer, the more I wanted to hear him say the words I've been longing for… I thought it would be right, but it wasn't."

Kurenai took a sip from her cup of tea as she further relive the past with her deceased beloved husband.

"It wasn't, Hinata. There came a time when we were both so near each other. In his eyes, I could see sincerity and it was as if the world was pulling us close together. At that moment, I felt scared. I felt scared that he'll tell me he was feeling the same way, because…I wouldn't believe him. Not because he didn't show me, but because I realized that I wasn't ready for that and he wasn't yet either."

"Kurenai-sensei…" Hinata tilted her head up and serenely looked at her former teacher.

"I was relieved when he got flustered and laughed his embarrassment away. Love, Hinata, is not about finding someone who completes you, it's about having someone who complements you, someone who will fit who you are not with what he is."

Hinata tried to unravel the message beneath Kurenai-sensei's words. The older woman seemed to notice this leading her to guide Hinata's head above her shoulder. Right at the spot, her student gave in and cried her heart out, pouring all the stirring hurt inside.

"You and Naruto are both so young. You still have a lot more to discover about yourselves outside the war. I bet he was just as confused as you are."

She stayed at her teacher's arms, washing down all the thoughts running in her mind. Silent water runs deep and the same can be said to Hinata. Her calm and unassuming personality had won a thousand rejections and degradations form other people and especially her father.

But this.

This was something new to her. Although she wasn't really expecting him to return her feelings, she never thought it would be like this. And it wasn't because he finally found another nor was because Hinata thought Sakura-chan was better, it was something else. And that something else certainly was the essence behind Kurenai-sensei's message.

After regaining her composure, Hinata got conscious and took awareness of the time and started to make her way to farewell.

"Thank you, Kurenai-sensei. I know I took your time and-"

Her teacher waved off, "No, no, anytime, Hinata. Anytime, I'll be here for you."

The young girl gave a curt bow and proceeded to depart until her sensei stopped her.

"Naruto..." Hinata stopped at Kurenai's word, "He dropped by with Kiba and Shino a while ago. He was looking for you. Well that kid, he seemed to be angry, sad and nervous all at the same time."

"Oh," Hinata paused for a moment before she continued, "Thank you, Kurenai-sensei. I'll bring something for Mirai-chan next time I'll visit."

Hinata subconsciously avoided her usual path going to home. Her head was tilted down while she walked and missed the beautiful sun that was about to set, until she bumped her head. The scent was familiar and a loud bang of nervousness dropped against her chest.

"Hinata! Where have you bee-"

Though her eyes couldn't betray her, she forced a smile and turned to him, "Congratulations to you and Sakura-chan, Naruto-kun!"

Tears were now triggering to fall, but it was cut by the blonde's aggressive denial.

"No! No! It's not like that at all -ttebayo! Ah, err, it was actually for Konohamaru's project and he wanted to experiment with his new video cam thing. So! Be-between Sakura-chan and I... There was nothing! Nothing between us!"

Naruto had been vocal about his admiration for his teammate ever since he was younger, but there was something about Hinata's presence now that made him clarify things a bit desperately.

With the truth now vivid before her, Hinata gave into the weight of her knees and sat down on the grass. But before she wash herself with relief, she must ask him one thing. Although she wasn't known to be bold, she knew it was something necessary for her to ask.

"But you love Sakura-chan, right?"

Quite taken aback, he muttered back, "Yeah, but-"

"She loves Sasuke-kun." She said it calmly, but deep inside she was beginning to hurt.

"Mhmm," It was a tone in agreement and Hinata could see sadness in his expression through her peripheral vision. She took a brave inhale and started to stand up, but he sat beside her.

"When I was younger, Sakura-chan was the prettiest girl I knew. She liked Sasuke. Well, why the hell did everyone liked that teme? But among everyone, she was the most determined to be acknowledged by him that's why she stood out, that's why I felt we were the same and that's why I liked her."

Hinata just sat there frozen. It hurt. Everyone in her shoe would hurt to hear this. Self-torturous, yes. But perhaps, she needed to know this, she needed to hear the truth. Hinata may love Naruto deeply, but after all the desertion she had undergone with her family, she would not stand to be a substitute for someone else.

"A lot of things happened and the more I noticed their growing closeness to each other. Time passed and Sasuke left the village. It hurt me, but it hurt her the most and I just know I must bring him back. Years gone by and I trained with Pervy-sage and she's the only girl close to me. I convinced myself that I have to prove and make her see that I'm better than Sasuke. Then, the village started to acknowledge me and even her..."

Naruto looked at the horizon. The sun painting its ripples with orange and yellow hues.

"Then, she told me she loves me. I thought it was just a joke. I kept on asking why did I think it was just a joke. If I was younger, I would totally fall for that. But I saw right through it and I realized that something's changed."

The blonde must have realized that he'd been telling her a lot already and got agitated. "Ah! I-I'm so sorry, Hinata. I didn't mean to bother you, uh, it's just uh, I find it comfortable talking to you, being like this, and, uh,…Never mind! Never mind at all!" He looked at her searching, if everything's all right.

"It's okay, Naruto-kun," she needed to hear him out for her peace of mind anyway.

Naruto sighed and continued, "Actually, I was genuinely happy for the both them and that's the point! I should feel hurt, right? But there's nothing, none. Everytime Sakura-chan rejected me, there's just that. I grew out of that feeling and all's left was nothing…Nothing. That's why I know there's something missing."

Hinata noticed his crestfallen expression.

"If there's anything, that's…I'm insecure. I wish I could feel...Just how it feels like. I wish I know." He, then, turned sullenly dreamy, "Everything, you know. Even the bad feeling?" Naruto pouted. He was certainly being uncool in front of her.

The pale-eyed girl was left speechless. How odd was it that he wanted to feel what she just felt a while ago? Now, she remembered his troubled childhood. The lack of love, acceptance and acknowledgment.

This was what probably Kurenai-sensei's message was about.

Discovering other parts of ourselves.

"I see…" She muttered, not knowing what to feel.

Naruto chuckled nervously upon seeing her reaction, "Well, yeah, I still love Sakura-chan, but it was different! I just couldn't pass up with the opportunity to embarrass her sometimes and it's sort of became a habit."

Why was he explaining like this?

"But it was really different! Different from how I saw that look on kaa-chan and tou-chan whenever they remember each other. Although, I've met them for only a short period of time, what they had…was really different. Ah! Tch! I really wanted you to meet them. I'm sure they will like you -ttebayo!"

She blushed at his eagerness to meet his parents, no matter if it was no longer a possibility. There was also a part of her that felt relieved as she still got chance to, at least, let him know how she felt when she's finally ready.

All of a sudden, she remembered how pathetic she overthought, tapped her forehead repetitively and sighed. "Silly, I'm very silly."

"Yeah! That's right! I've been looking around Konoha for you dattebayo! I told you I'll be coming back, but you were gone in a zap when I returned." He complained and pouted, leaving out the part that he was subconsciously anxious that she might have misinterpreted that scene with Sakura-chan, which lead him to evaluate his current sentiments towards his teammate.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Naruto-kun I..."

"It's fine, it's fine. Shino already explained it to me, uh, by the way!" He said as he reached out to her a can of Oshiruko. "Sakura-chan told me that you might be having a moment. And I thought that moment thing isn't really nice. I saw this Oshiruko on the vending machine and remembered you liked it..."

Naruto rubbed the back of his head habitually, "I couldn't afford a zenzai, but it's similar so..."

She returned the can to him and stated, "You-you don't really have to, Naruto-kun."

"Ah, it's no good, huh?" Naruto's smile fell. He just wanted to cheer her up with all his best intentions. However, in its naive and simplest form, she unknowingly rejected him and he didn't feel great about it.

Hinata, as emphatic as ever, noticed his glumness and it was just in her nature to never let the people she considered as precious to feel neglected. "I-I think it would be nice if we would have a drink together."

Naruto instantly lit up and pulled out Gama-chan, unfortunately he didn't have enough as he already used his penny to buy instant ramen for dinner.

"Hi-Hinata I..."

She was giggling at him and stood up, approaching the nearest vending machine. "It's fine, Naruto-kun. I could buy one for myself."

And there, there's something about her statement that made her feel like she was getting close to what Kurenai-sensei was talking about.

In the end, Naruto's protest didn't reach her and they both ended up sitting and watching as the moon take over the sky. He told her how Sasuke blushed, when he thought no one was looking, before leaving Sakura-chan and how he convinced the reluctant Konohamaru to cast Lee instead. They shared a few innocent laughs. She shyly met his stare and he absent-mindedly snuck several side glances at her.

Hinata drew a heavy exhale. She never thought growing up would be this tumultuous. She never fully unraveled her sensei's message, but in time, just as Kurenai-sensei said, she will.

On the other hand, Naruto looked at the space on the grass where they were seated. He, then, looked at her—she was smiling peacefully at the sky. It was so serene that he was guilelessly moved into closing that sweet little distance between them—arms now touching each other.

He turned his focus into the sky, staring and admiring the moon as his head remembered her name.

Hinata.

"Y-yes?" She looked at him with tilted head, leaving Naruto flustered.

"O-oh! What! What?"

"Y-you called out for me."

I said that out loud?

[lilachaeyo]

Staying in the Shadows (A Naruto Fanfiction) Chapter 3 - Part II.

Part I Chapter 1 Chapter 2 

Jinko remembered the next day to be the worst survival training she had ever done and that's saying something.

Kakashi sensei instructed each of them to grab a bell which were hanging from his jacket. The problem was there were only three bells rather than four. Meaning one of them was going back to the Academy. All they had to do was to attack him with the intent to kill. Everyone hid themselves amongst the trees and the bushes. Everyone except of Naruto. "Okay you and me right here!" he charged at Kakashi. Jinko pinched the bridge of her nose annoyed. Baka!

Before Naruto did any harm, (not that he could have), Kakashi sensei got behind him and poked him in the butt. "Thousand years of death!" he yelled and Naruto was sent flying into the pond. Seeing this everyone got into action and attacked Kakashi. But Kakashi wasn't a layman, he was a Jonin. The four genins were not even in the same league as him even if combined. Each of them tried their best to catch hold of those bells but none succeeded. Although, Sasuke came quite close. Jinko saw from her hiding place in the bushes that he almost had it. His fingers graced them but Kakashi sensei was fast, he moved away quickly. Jinko thought it was now her chance to attack him as he would be caught off guard. She jumped out with her hands balled in a fist. "Hyaaa!" she yelled, but Kakashi quickly blocked her punches with his mere palms, while still focusing on Sasuke. "You're punches are pathetic," he chastised her. Jinko's mouth opened and a gasp left her lips. Jinko had given all her energy into that punch but he didn't even flinch. Jinko put her other hand in her sachet and pulled out a kunai. Her hand moved towards his arm which was holding her fist but Kakashi simply slapped her kunai away. "You expect such attacks to hurt me?" he sighed. He straightened up and let Jinko's hand go. Jinko fell on her butt with a thud. She looked around and found that Sasuke had taken this opportunity to run away. "I'm giving you one more chance," Jinko looked up at Kakashi. "Hide wherever you want. You take this seriously and attack me with all your strength. If you are going to just play around then don't waste your breath." Kakashi then disappeared leaving Jinko on the ground. Jinko couldn't believe he thought she was not taking this seriously. She really wanted to hurt him and take those bells. What did he mean 'stop playing around'? She wasn't. She came at him with the intention to kill, like he asked them to. Suddenly Sakura's scream was heard through the forest ground. Jinko stood up and ran in her direction. She saw Sakura lying on the ground and rushed forward, however Kakashi sensei jumped out of nowhere and aimed his fist at her. Jinko couldn't block his punch and fell to the ground.

This happened many times. Jinko tried to attack Kakashi and he didn't even need look up from his book to block her. She made a clone and attacked him but the clone was as good as her. She couldn't block the attacks of Kakashi either. She had been hit in the stomach twice and once in her upper arm. Kakashi had disappeared and Jinko was heaving. She didn't have anymore chakra left for another attack. She fell to the ground. The sun was above her head and Jinko could hear the faint ringing of the timer. She got up and started walking towards the stumps where they had began their training. It took all of Jinko's strength to not fall over. As she reached the stumps, Jinko saw Naruto tied to one of them. Sakura and Sasuke sitting on his each side of Naruto and Kakashi sensei was standing before them.

"There you are Jinko!" Naruto said as he saw her walking towards them. "I was wondering where you were. We've all been waiting for you." Suddenly, Naruto's stomach growled. "Uh oh, stomach's growling huh? That's too bad," Kakashi said. "Oh by the way, about this exercise, I've decided. I won't send any of you back to the academy."

Jinko couldn't believe her ears. He's not going to send us back, she thought. "I'm going to drop you from the programme. Permanently." Kakashi finished. Naruto and Sakura yelled in disbelief. Sasuke got up and attacked him with a kunai. Kakashi flung him to the ground and stepped on his body with his foot on Sasuke's head and his arm holding Sasuke's behind his back. "You can't step on Sasuke like he is some kind of bug!" Sakura yelled.

Jinko couldn't hear all the commotion around her. All her brain was capable to think currently was that she wasn't going to be a ninja ever in her life. Jinko wasn't surprised. She was pathetic today no wonder he is dropping her.

"You all think it's a game. Did you determine what's the point of this exercise? Why are all of you put in a team and not individually?" Kakashi explained calmly. Not individually? Because a team is supposed to act together. Otherwise they are no good. "Team work," Jinko said looking down at her feet.

"Yes. Team work. If you all had figured that out and worked together you might have taken the bells."

"Wait a minute!" Sakura yelled. "There were only three bells and four of us. If we had worked together only three of us would have the bells and that would lead to group conflict and fights!"

"Exactly. I pitted you against each other. I wanted to see if you could over come that and put your team ahead first. But it didn't even cross your mind," he explained. "Sakura! You were so obsessed with Sasuke when he was gone but you didn't help Naruto who was right in front of you."

He then addressed Naruto, "You, Naruto, do everything alone. Everything." Kakashi then angled his foot which was rested on Sasuke's head, pushing it more against the ground, "And you Sasuke, you think others are so far beneath you they were worthless. Arrogance." Kakashi hissed.

He then looked at Jinko and his eyebrow crease eased. "As for you Jinko," Jinko looked up. "For not having any Ninjutsu or Genjutsu I expected your Taijutsu to be strong. Unfortunately, it wasn't." "I have ninjutsu! I can produce a shadow clone!" Jinko defended herself. Kakashi was taken aback. "Oh. Well. You are too weak then." He scratched the back of his head. Jinko looked down. She remembered what she had said the other day on the rooftop. She wanted to be the best kunoichi. Guess she was just aiming too high.

Kakashi then demonstrated how during a mission the enemy can take someone hostage and one of them can get killed if they didn't follow team work. He also mentioned the heroes who were K.I.A. but Jinko wasn't listening. She was focused on not letting her tears slip from her eyes. She felt hopeless.

"Alright. I'll give you all one more chance," he looked at them. Jinko looked up, her eyes red. "I'll give you three hours to get those bells. Eat your lunch to build up strength but Naruto won't have any. It's your punishment." Kakashi then walked away leaving them with their lunch boxes.

Everyone sat down and opened their lunch. Jinko was staring at her nails. Naruto's stomach growls again. Jinko sighed. "Here. Take it," Jinko offered her lunch. "No. Jinko it's your food, I can't take it," he protested.

"Take it. I'm not hungry anyway." It was true. Jinko wasn't hungry. Her stomach was churning with her need to cry. She felt as if she had even a bite of food, it wouldn't pass through her throat. She held her dumpling towards his mouth. Naruto opened his mouth and took it in whole. Tears flowed down his face and he was being dramatic about how she cares about him and she is his only best friend. Sakura argued that she was going against Kakashi's instructions and might fail the test.

"Let him." Jinko said adamantly. A surge of anger and rebellion was flowing through her. She was angry at herself, her luck and maybe even Kakashi. Jinko didn't know why she was so angry even when it was true and Kakashi didn't mean her any harm. He was just doing his job.

"Jinko is right. We need to work as a team and for that Naruto needs his strength," Sasuke sided with Jinko. He offered his rice balls to Naruto. Seeing this Sakura gave her food too claiming she was on a diet. Naruto began sobbing earnestly about how wonderful friends they are and he was grateful to have them.

The atmosphere changed quickly. There were black clouds surrounding them. Thunder rumbling. Sakura tumbled back with fright. Naruto, Jinko and Sasuke stood still with their eyes wide. "You!" Kakashi jumped out of nowhere. His face to the closest proximity of Naruto's. "You all passed." He said with a closed eyed smile.

"What?" Naruto yelled.

"Yes, you all passed. You helped your team mate when he needed you," Kakashi replied.

"But you said not to feed him?" Sakura asked incredulously.

"Yes. In the shinobi world, you're required to follow your instructions and those who don't are considered scum. But those who leave their comrade behind are even worse than scum," Kakashi explained calmly.

And hence, Team 7 was formed.

Jinko's reminiscence was interrupted when the door to the office opened and the guard from earlier stepped out. "You can go in," he said, holding the door for them.

Mitsuki and Jinko walked in. The room looked quite modest. Almost nothing had changed since she last saw it. The office looked as bland as it did in the earlier days when she used to come with Team 7 for her missions. Two guards were standing near an office desk. Jinko eyed the masked man sitting on a chair in front of the desk, with his signature bored expression. Jinko felt nostalgic for her childhood days but then she remembered those years and how even breathing was painful and the hair on her neck stood up. Mitsuki had shrunken behind her, clutching the obi of her dress.

Jinko bowed her head. "My lord," she said. Jinko hoped she looked presentable. She wanted to make a good impression. Perhaps, to wipe out her first those many years ago. She slid her hand on the sides of her houmongi, hoping to straighten any crease.

Kakashi's eyes never left her. He looked at her from top to toe. The last time he saw her she was only thirteen. And now she stood, seventeen years later, a full grown woman. She turned out good, he thought. After all, the family was of a feudal lord. The yellow colour of her houmongi brought out her black eyes. Her black, silky hair was tied in a bun. His eyes fell on Mitsuki who was clutching her hand. Look at that, she is a mother now.

"Jinko Eguchi."

"Lord Hokage," Jinko bowed. Eguchi? Mitsuki wondered.

"What brings you here?"

"My lord, I wish to admit Mitsuki—," she placed a hand on Mitsuki's back and nudged him forward. "— into the Academy. They don't have ninja schools from where I come from and he has great potential, my lord. I wanted to place him into the guidance of a Leaf shinobi so that he could be great ninja someday."

Kakashi looked at Mitsuki. His pale skin and snake like eyes looked nothing like Jinko at all. "Is he your son?" Kakashi voiced his suspicion.

Jinko looked down, "No, my lord. I'm his guardian." Kakashi kept his stoic face.

"And is that all you want?"

Jinko shook her head. "There's one more thing, lord Hokage. We wish to settle here, me and Mitsuki. If Mitsuki gets admitted in the Academy, I wish to stay with him. It is the duty that I've been assigned and also for personal reasons," Kakashi looked at the floor. "I hope what we ask isn't too much." Jinko finished.

"I need to counsel this with the others. As you can see, you are outsiders. Though you were a Leaf shinobi Jinko, you aren't now seeing as you don't have your headband. Also, this is a matter of security. It's nothing personal. The elders will discuss it and we will inform you as soon as possible. Till then you could stay in the village as visitors," Kakashi laid back in his chair.

"I understand, my lord." Jinko bowed and turned back to leave. "Oh, and Jinko," Kakashi stopper her. "If the decision is a negative, then you'd have to leave the village the very day. I'd would escort you myself to the village gates."

"Yes." Jinko replied firmly and left the room.

It was clear that he didn't trust her. He would have an ANBU to tail me. I bet he already asked for a background check on us by now, she thought.

"Jinko where will we go now?" Mitsuki asked looking up at her as they walked out of the building.

"We will stay in a hotel till the decision comes," she replied.

"What if they don't allow us to stay?"

"We will cross that bridge when it comes. But for now let's go find Ichiraku ramen shop!" Jinko tugged at Mitsuki's hand and dragged him to the streets of Konoha.

[domesticsns]

How would Tobirama react to breaking in to Sasuke and Naruto's flat to find Sasuke babysitting Obiti and Tobi?

I gotta say, I really like this one. This is reasons why my inbox is open. 

Okay. So Madara dropped off his sons at Sasuke’s and the boys were playing a game at one of Naruto’s game stations while Naruto is at work because it is PTA night at his school so he was going to be home late. Which the kids were disappointed at because uncle Naruto is fun to play with and Sasuke felt a little awkward because he is not the ‘fun’ uncle. He is ‘buzzkiller’ telling the kids to sit on the couch instead of right in front of the TV and give the apples as afternoon snacks instead of bags o crisps and soda. 

When Tobi asked his uncle why they couldn’t have crisps. Sasuke said, “an apple a day keeps the doctor away.” and Tobi asked why they wanted to get away from uncle Itachi. They liked him, he gave them a small bag of crisps after school.  Sasuke, feeling a little agitated at this said, “Well your uncle Itachi didn’t want to bother with rude ass kids...” Then he felt a little sorry and said, “And we ran out crisps.” 

Obito being the good older brother took a slice of apple and sad, “Hmmm this is so good~ Too bad I am going to eat all them on my own!” causing his little brother to go, “NO UH!” And eat his apples. Sasuke ruffled up Obito’s hair mouthing a little, “thank you” to him. 

He was starting on dinner, making some curry with rice. He was cutting the vegetables while Obito and Tobi were playing some game. They turn their face when they hear a strange soft noise coming from the window and they could see a grown as mann wearing a blue winter coat with a fluffy white fur around the hood. He was wearing a scarf and gloves as he broke in through the fire escape into the apartment and both kids looked wide eyes at the stranger who climbed in and looked at them and proceeded press a finger against his lips for them to stay quiet. He slowly tiptoed to the kitchen.

Obito and Tobi watch him, speechless because this shit does not happen in the suburbs. They couldn’t process what was happening at first and something clicked in Obito’s brain and he screamed, “UNCLE!”

So Sasuke grabbed hold of his knife and swung it when he caught something moving in the corner of his eyes. But he was quickly pushed against the counter and there was a short rough fight in the kitchen where Sasuke fight or flight instinct kicked in and he tried to stab the stranger, but obviously on terms of skills Tobirama was equal if not having a small upper hand. He managed to pin Sasuke against the counter pin one hand behind his back while having the other on the counter, holding it far away from them. 

“It is me, chill.” Tobirama said, pissing Sasuke off more. 

“Fuck you!” He hissed. 

“Oh come on I was trying to get a hold of you all day.” Tobirama whispered in his ears. 

“You better hold tight because I will stab you if you let go.” Sasuke hissed. 

“LET GO OF MY UNCLE!” Tobirama got pulled back when Obito jumped on his back and Tobi grabbed Tobirama’s leg.  

“FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!” Obito kept shouting because Sasuke once told him ti would catch the attention of strangers if he was in trouble. 

Tobirama let go of Sasuke and turned around looking very proud of his nephews. Obito is pulling his white hair while Tobi bit down on his leg and Tobirama doesn’t know what he should do because getting in a small fight with Sasuke is fun but he was not going to hurt a bunch of kids. So given in he backed off fast and Sasuke had to tell them to stop. 

Obito looks at his uncle and then asks why he was breaking in. It was daylight robbery as his dad would put it. 

“That is not what daylight robbery means,” Sasuke said, grabbing Obito and putting him on the ground before saying, “I am very proud of you.” 

“I helped!” Tobi said and stopped biting Tobirama’s leg. 

“I am also very proud of you.” Sasuke said. 

“You know this men?” Obito asked, pointing at Tobirama who lowered his scarf and took his jacket off. 

“I work with him.” Tobirama said. 

“Then why would you sneak in through the window! Why don’t you use the door like normal people.” 

“Because your uncle is ignoring my phone calls and I wanted to push his face on the a hard surface for a while. I prefer it to be a chair, but I guess the counter will do.”  

“Wait...” Obito looks from Tobirama to Sasuke and then back at Tobirama, “Is this why uncle Naruto isn’t here? DID YOU TWO HAVE A DIVORCE LIKE MY PARENTS!” 

“No!” Sasuke said. “Never.” He spoke glaring over at Tobirama. 

“Now why don’t you two continue playing your game and uhm...I’ll make sure Naruto gets some ice cream on his way for dessert. You two deserve it.” 

“Yeah ice cream!” Tobi says with his hands up in the air as he runs back to the living room and Obito stays behind glaring at Tobirama. 

“I have my eyes on you.” Before walking backwards, but tripping and falling on his ass. 

“You should use those eyes to watch your steps, kid.” Tobirama said causing Obito to blush. The moment he let the kitchen Sasuke slaps Tobirama in the face. 

“You could have traumatized those kids!” He hisses. 

“I didn’t know your nephews were going to be here. At first I thought they were your children but they were not in your family tree. Then they called you uncle. I’m confused I thought you only had one brother and he has a daughter if I am not mistaken.” 

“They are my cousin’s kids.” 

“I had no idea you were so close to your cousin.” Tobirama rubs his cheek, “Really...A slap.” 

“I wanted to punch you in the face, but I figured the slap would humiliate you more.” 

“I am actually pretty into getting slapped in the face. Makes me feel alive.” Tobirama joked. He took his jacket off, scarf and gloves putting them on a chair of the dining table. 

“Really, make yourself at home...” Sasuke said sarcastically.

“I am surprised you didn’t recognise my jacket. Since you wrapped yourself around it a few weeks back.” 

“Shut up. What do you want?” 

“I am taking that your husband is the one that is more guest friendly,” Tobirama teased. “What are you making, is it spicy? I don’t like my food too spicy.” 

He stirred the pan, tasting the curly a little. 

“Hmm, this is good. I had no idea you made wonderful homemaker besides kicking criminals in prison.” 

He looks over at Sasuke grabbing a spicy pepper and throwing it in the pan, causing Tobirama to just look at him from the corner of his eyes before grin. 

“What brings you here?” Sasuke asked. 

“I tried texting you. But you were ignoring me.” Tobirama said, grabbing his phone and holding it up, for a moment Sasuke thought he was going to read his message out loud but then he saw the flash from the camera and Tobirama saying, “Cute apron, did your husband get you that.” 

“No, it was on sale.” 

“it is adorable.” 

“It was cheap.” 

“And sexy if you would wear nothing under neat it. I am guessing you bought it with another purpose but then figures it could have two purposes.”

“This is the third time I am going to ask. Why are you breaking in my house and scaring the shit out of my nephews.” 

“They are lovely kids.” 

“They are. Couldn’t have been more proud seeing them kick your ass.” 

“I wasn’t going to hurt a child. Even if they cause a headache and I swear the weird one wearing the mask bit my leg pretty hard. It might be bleeding.” 

“Boo hoo,” Sasuke commented. 

“I might need a rabies shot? Your brother is a doctor, should I go to the hospital.” 

“You should get out of my house.” 

“Yeah now that you ruined dinner, honey. I don’t think I can stay with you. I’m divorcing you.” He grabbed some files before handing them to Sasuke. 

“Oh no darling, is it because I ruined one meal in our long ass sexless marriage?” 

“You had one job. Also our kids are monsters. My mother was right when she said I couldn’t make a house wife from a ho.” 

“Yeah, I never liked your mother to begin with. Now in all seriousness. What is in this file?” Sasuke asked,  opening it. 

“A new lead in our case.”  Tobirama said. “Now do I get a goodbye kiss?” 

“No, fuck you.” 

“I thought you didn’t want to do that in front of the kids.”  Tobirama put his hands on Sasuke’s hips. Sasuke looks up and says: “Scram.” 

“This why our personas  are arguing the entire time.” Tobirama said, putting his coat and scarf back on before heading to the window. 

“Front door.” 

“Oh yeah right,” Tobirama head to the door and opens it right before Naruto was about to get inside. 

“Oh hey Sasuke’s husband. I wouldn’t eat the curry. Too spicy.” Tobirama left as Naruto looked down he hall at Sasuke and then back in the hall way where Tobirama is leaving and then back at his husband again. 

“Wait what?” 

“He was just mentally scaring the kids and  dropping a file.” Sasuke said. “How was your day?” 

“Let’s start with yours...” Naruto said, closing the door behind him. 

[roraewrites]

fourteen - falling

Glass Heart Rating: M And he was in the darkness, so darkness he became.

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With the ground beneath his feet and his eyes scanning for familiar faces, Sasuke was finally making his way towards the mountains. Even though he wasn't exactly sure where he was at, the crisp air was nostalgic, bringing his mind back to his genin days when he was still running around with Sakura and Naruto.

There was just something about the Land of Fire that would always annoy him to no extent.

"Oi!" The familiar voice echoed through the woods, and by the time Sasuke's eyes glanced to the left, he was met with a pair of familiar lavender eyes.

As he was perched on the tree, Suigetsu began to make his way towards the Uchiha, followed by Karin and Juugo.

"Well don't you look rough," Suigetsu sneered with a wide grin.

Sasuke felt a low growl rumble in his throat as he eyed the white haired man. The way his sharp teeth showed from behind thin lips, and the fiery look in his eyes made something within Sasuke's mind snap. He could rip this man in two, right here, right now, but instead of replying to his snarky remark, he dropped his gaze.

As crumby as he felt on the outside, he also felt absolutely miserable on the inside. His chest hurt, almost like it was weighed down by an intense anchor, yet he refused to admit why he felt this way. Even his mind wasn't right, everything felt fuzzy; his throat was tight, his eyes heavy but he'd only claim that he was tired.

"Where's Sakura?" It was Karin's turn to antagonize him, but when Sasuke's eyes found her own, he didn't feel angry anymore. He felt sick to his stomach, like he could curl up and vomit at any time.

It took the Uchiha awhile to register her words, along with registering exactly what had happened only hours ago. He could remember the anger that filled her eyes, and the shaky voice she spoke with. It hadn't made sense then, but now that he recalls, Sakura was absolutely hurt. He'd never seen her so broken down, incredibly vulnerable like everything she had ever had in her life was now gone.

"Sasuke?"

"Don't worry about it," he snapped.

Karin's amber eyes narrowed, but he could still see the lust that filled her eyes whenever she looked at him. Throughout their journey, all of them had encountered tough trials, and even standing there in the dense forest, located somewhere in the Land of Fire, Sasuke's body was just exhausted.

"You're not telling us something," Suigetsu began to pick, his eyes glazing over with a livid anger.

"I don't need to tell you everything."

"Then just tell us one thing!" Karin's shriek was loud and thunderous; her eyes now held fire. "Did she die?"

Sasuke's hesitation was a mistake, as he could see just how wide Karin's eyes had grown, but before she could continue her fit of shrieks and accusative screams, Sasuke shot her his own dirty look. "Sakura is fine, but she's no longer coming with us. If anyone else would like to question me, please, go for it."

His voice was dry as he began to make his way forward and through the trees again. Behind him, he could feel the uncomfortable tension begin to loom, but like puppies, they followed closely behind him.

Sasuke couldn't shake the hurt look from within Sakura's vivid green eyes, the way she spoke with a voice filled with hurt and insecurities, but yet he let her walk away. Even throughout the day, he continued to think of the kunoichi, remembering the feeling of her skin against his, and the way her lips felt when they kissed not just once, but multiple times. Goosebumps began to ascend throughout his body and although the blistering sun remained high in the sky, Sasuke's body had grown cold.

He wasn't in the mood to argue with anyone, nor face the emotions that remained in his heart. He cut all those ties before when he left the Leaf years ago, but when he saw Sakura, he couldn't just leave her to die in the hideout. Sasuke knew he was a selfish man; he took Sakura, made her stay by his side and wanted her to help him during his fight with Itachi, yet the longer she remained by his side, the softer he grew. He didn't want to have to force her to stay there, nor say mean things when he didn't exactly mean them; she was just a frustrating woman and as much as she annoyed him, he felt an empty hole begin to form in his chest with her presence no longer around.

How was is so easy to turn his feelings off all those years ago, but now he could hardly make it a minute without thoughts of Sakura flooding his mind? Sasuke soon felt frustrated with himself for the actions he made. He'd taken Sakura when she was vulnerable, took her for what she's worth and now he was the one left to feel broken inside while the world around him continued on. Even the whispers from Karin and Suigetsu didn't go unnoticed, yet he was too tired to care; too tired to say anything.

"I think something more serious happened," he could hear Suigetsu chime in.

"No shit, you idiot."

"I'm just saying, he's not himself..."

"Suigetsu, I will make it my own personal mission to kill you. Of course he's not-" the words eventually faded out as Sasuke inhaled deeply and continued on.

Obsidian eyes watched as they emerged from the trees, slowly making their way towards the mountains that had been formed hundreds of years ago. The shadows created were formed in all kinds of different shapes, and as they began to head towards the canyon created by them, Karin stopped suddenly.

"There's a lot of people through here. Almost like a town is located here."

"That's because there is," Sasuke answered quietly.

The rock formations had always been a great setup for enemies to hide, but the town located deeper within the confines of canyon was nothing more than a place stripped of their rights and forced to poverty. Although small, many runaways made their way towards this specific spot as they hid from greater villages.

As Sasuke made his way forward, it was like everything had gone quiet around them and evacuated the area. No one greeted them as they made their way through the old, rustic gates. Nor when the four of them followed in tow behind Sasuke, his eyes felt tired as he looked from one old, run down building to another.

Through the town they went, until stopping at what was a run down inn, and after Sasuke arranged for the four of them to get one, large room, he made his way down the hall in silence. The door creaked from beneath his palm and after wandering in, he immediately found one of the beds and flopped.

He didn't want to deal with anymore people, he didn't want to listen to Karin and Suigetsu's paining whispers. Sasuke craved sleep, he craved the need to be alone.

He yearned to see Sakura's green eyes and feel her intoxicating presence once more.

-

-

Waves of water washed up the shore, touching the tips of his toes as he sat at the lake. Rain had been pouring from the clouds above his head, soaking his raven locks - his hair stuck to his face when he glanced up towards the sky.

Everything was gray, there was no color in this world of Sasuke's. Finally, he let his body collapse to the sad and rocks, his fingers taking handfuls of whatever he could grab before he started throwing the earth into the water, watching it drown underneath the rough waves.

"Why!" He finally yelled, eyes growing wide at the waves that had yet to come. Everything was spiraling out of control, and before he could grasp another handful of rocks and sand, the waves came up and over him, soaking every part of his body before washing away and leaving him to curse on the land.

"Fuck this," he muttered out before falling to his back and looking up to the sky. Everything was gray, not even a shade of white could be seen, because his world was shattered and he was nothing more than broken glass; dangerous for himself and to those around him.

"Sasuke." A voice spoke, something that sounded all too familiar and uplifting, rinsing the anger straight from his body. He couldn't help but turn his head the moment he shot back up, and when he searched for the owner, he couldn't find her.

"Sakura," he called out in short breaths. He was now to his bare feet, his toes dipping into the sand and rocks as he began to walk away from the shore's edge. He dripped with water, his dark, dark eyes searching for that voice, trying to find any clue as to where she was.

The farther he walked, the darker it got. He was beginning to panic, his mind began to cave in on itself, his body becoming far too cold while his heart hammered against his ribcage. He was no longer walking, but running to get away from the cold tension that ran down his body. He refused to be taken by it, refused to quit fighting.

"Sakura." He huffed out once more, a cloud of white coming out as he breathed her name out, but this time, he couldn't hear himself. Everything around him had fallen to pitch black, he couldn't even see his own hands when he lifted them up.

Sasuke was freezing, his body started to shake while his fingers trembled and eyes ached from tears that had yet to fall. He was so cold, so alone, so afraid, tired, his fears running wild in his mind as he curled up and fought to hear her voice again.

"Sasuke!"

His eyes snapped open, finding a pair of ruby eyes staring back into his own dark orbs, her face entirely too close for comfort before he choked on his spit and began to cough. Sasuke's dark locks were drenched with sweat, his eyes burned from tears that pricked beneath the surface, and as he pushed away from Karin, it was clear that Juugo and Suigetsu were sitting just behind her.

All three of them had wide eyes and pale faces. Sasuke hated the looks on each of their face, but instead of questioning them, he coughed until his throat was clear and his mind wasn't as fogged. The last he remembered of his dream was falling into complete isolation, in a dark cavern where he was revealed and exposed. His body shivered at the thought, his hands still shaking as he brought them up to view them.

"You okay, man?" Suigetsu was the first to speak after they had woke Sasuke up. "You don't look too good."

The atmosphere was tense, something Sasuke came to realize as he ran his calloused fingers through his hair. He still felt the pain in his throat from coughing, but instead of verifying his state of well being, he stalked off towards the bathroom and slammed the door behind him.

When he glanced at the mirror before him, his eyes focused on the broken glass of the mirror. What reflected in what visible glass was left was him; broken and chipping away just like the mirror.

"Petty," he commented before turning the handle on the sink.

He splashed cool water up and over his head, relishing in the calm that washed over his body at last. The only thing that didn't feel okay was his heart. The Uchiha felt nauseous to his very core, his body still ached and his mind still felt foggy.

Sasuke swallowed hard before reaching for a supplied towel and running it over his face. Black soot smudged along the off-white fabric, and instead of continuously washing his face, he glanced back towards the mirror one last time before scowling at his reflection.

"You're nothing but a coward," he told himself, letting the insult of his own words engrave themselves in his mind as he continued to glare. "Nothing more, nothing less you fucking coward."

Thoughts of letting Sakura slip away from him in the early hours of the morning still trailed through his mind, her viridian eyes losing the last bit of hope that she had for him while he stood in his lost state of mind, watching her go as she walked away.

Before Sasuke could control his actions, his fist collided with the wall just behind the remaining pieces of the mirror. The leftover glass came shattering down all around him; pieces sliced through his knuckles, lodging into his skin as he smirked his approval and threw the now blood stained towel to the floor.

His hand threw the door open, his eyes scanning over the white faces of Karin, Juugo and Suigetsu before he grabbed his Kusanagi and vanished through the window.

He no longer felt numb; he felt pain because everything fucking hurt.

-

-

His fingers picked at the glass chunks in his arm and knuckles, trying his hardest to remove the dirty mirror shards as best as he could. The blood never stopped trickling from his skin, but it was a reminder of the pain he felt on the inside.

Night had already settled in the sky above him, and instead of returning to the inn that night, he sat perched in the grass that settled somewhere along the cavernous mountains. His fire that he had made flickered light around his dark surroundings, and instead of keeping his mind focused on what was going on around him, he continued to pick at the pieces in his skin.

The last time that he had smelled smoke from a fire and sat in grass that crunched under his weight was when he was with Sakura; stroking fingers through her hair and caressing her soft skin under the light of the moon. Everything was perfect, everything was clear and he could breathe and focus, but that damned demon inside him ripped her from his grasp and let her walk away.

Take responsibility for your own actions, the inner voice taunted him, but Sasuke brushed it off. Thoughts of pinks and greens, lively smiles and boundless skips kept annoying him while he let his heart drown in unforgiving thoughts.

No matter what, he always pushed away important people and let things get out of his grasp. He had a goal to kill Itachi, something he came close to when he was younger, but again, it slipped from his grasp because he wasn't strong enough and he didn't hate him enough.

The searing pain of scalding tears pricked at the backs of his eyes once more, and before he knew it, hot tears fell to his damaged and bleeding skin. He sniffed roughly, fighting back the hurtful thoughts and irritating memories. Everything he had ever done in his life was for Itachi; whether it be to gain his acknowledgement or kill the man, it was a never ending cycle.

"I fucking hate you," he gritted through clenched teeth, while his fingers removed another shard. "I'll never forgive you."