#its just naruto with the other ninjas every so often

[cowboysmp3]

watching naruto post ep 143 is soooo... whatever

[23raccoons]

let me bleed (you're losing me) Ao3

Fandom: Naruto (Anime & Manga) Rating: Explicit Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura/Nara Shikamaru, Haruno Sakura & Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura & Yamanaka Ino Characters: Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, Nara Shikamaru, Hatake Kakashi, Yamanaka Ino, Sai (Naruto), Karin (Naruto), Uchiha Madara Additional Tags: Dubious Consent, Blood and Violence, Unhealthy Relationships, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Dark Uchiha Sasuke, Dark Nara Shikamaru, Protective Hatake Kakashi, Rough Sex, Oral Sex, Vaginal Sex, Self-Harm, Akatsuki (Naruto), War, Konoha 11 (Naruto), Everyone is Problematic ok?, Heavy Angst, Domestic Violence, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fourth Shinobi War (Naruto), Memory Loss, PTSD, Manipulation, Bullying, Suicidal Thoughts, Degradation, Dacryphilia

Chapter 15 (chapter list)

Sasuke works to keep his temper even throughout Kabuto’s examination of Sakura. Shikamaru had warned him beforehand that she would not react well, perceiving the exam as an attack—taking both Shikamaru and Sasuke to convince her to agree to let Kabuto examine her. More than meeting those expectations, as Sasuke pulls the lightning shock that fills her mind and runs it straight into Kabuto. 

Sasuke escorts the man back to Konoha. There’s a pep in Kabuto’s step, despite having just been mildly electrocuted. Thinking he now has an advantage over Sasuke. Kabuto is unfortunately too useful to the war effort—with all the dead ninja he’s been bringing back to life to fight for their side. Sasuke will have to bide his time to deliver his retribution—another name to add to his shrinking list—but it will come. He has no doubts about that.

“Just how long have you been keeping a little pet, Sasuke?” Kabuto breaks the silence as they near the village. Smirking as he turns to look at Sasuke’s reaction, instead finding an already activated sharingan. 

“What pet?” Sasuke tilts his head as he grabs hold of the memory. Releasing the jutsu. Walking on like nothing ever happened. Inside Kabuto’s mind is a wicked place, full of his gross, based desires. Currently thinking far too much of all the testing and examinations he would enjoy performing on the still-ill Sakura. Memories stored like files in large open shelving units. Carefully tagged and color coded. Tightly packed together. Unlike Sakura's, whose mindspace seems to stretch on endlessly, Kabuto’s seems to be more like a very large plane, eventually meeting a boundary of capacity. 

Sasuke shelves the memory in his own mind, with all the other odd-shaped ones he’s collected thus far. An immense maze of a library, Sasuke navigates with ease. Darkness drips through cracks and leaks in through the seams, coating rows and rows of book-like memories in a thick, foul black venom. Tainting his past with its cursedness. Transmuting his mind with its sinister nature. 

Sasuke visits Sakura as often as he can at the Nara house without raising suspicion. Watching over her between missions if Shikamaru has need to venture into Konoha for a meeting with Madara. Pulling the buildup of static from her, popping them off away from her to avoid the sting of the shocks. Every day that passed has him more on edge. Waiting. Waiting. Waiting. He's so, so close to having her and there’s not anything he can do to protect her if he’s not directly touching her when her seal of the chidori finally fails. (If he is unable to control it when the dam does burst.)

Shikamaru himself has been working on the chakra cuffs restraining her. Both getting Kakashi’s pair off and a new, improved set for the two to use to recontain Sakura, to ensure she remains safe and protected in their care until Sasuke can take out the threat that is Kakashi. But they can’t get the cuffs off. Shikamaru was sure that the two of them working in tandem were going to be able to, but something’s not working correctly, leaving her stuck. Trapped.

Sasuke’s tracking a whole skulk of chakra foxes that have ventured onto the Nara land. At least six of them this time. He takes out a handful right off the back, less for him to deal with as he follows the others. They are quite a ways from the house and are causing the deer to behave strangely. More skittish and jumpy than usual. 

He feels the familiar vibration of Sakura thinking about ‘Kakashi-sensei’, slipping into the genjutsu, just enough to fling the shard of memory that she doesn’t like Kakashi up the string, catching it as it rebounds back through. Only to find that there’s a Sakura in Sakura’s mind. Right at the hard border of his space. Her glowing hands pressed against the barrier, trying to break it. He lets himself float through and land on the bottom, in her line of sight. 

“Sakura,” he calls. His Sakura. She stands up straight, pulling off the jutsu as he strides for her. Caught at its limits as she backs away from him. Her eyes widen as she takes in Sasuke at the hard glass-like structure filled to the brim with her memories. Bone chilling fear seeping into her mind. Still backing away, one foot after the other, until she reaches the cross-arm of the webbing. “Sakura, won’t you come to me?”

The strings act like tributaries, starting off small—in the far reaches of her mind—before combining into each other time and time again, growing thicker as they reach the focal point that feeds into the conscious side of her mind. Sasuke currently holds a lot of power over who and what she remembers because both his and Naruto’s main lines run through his genjutsu. People like Shikamaru and Ino have their own lines, out of his reach. Ino’s waves closer towards Sasukes at one point before sloping closer to Shikamaru again. She’s used this closeness to create a new thin string to bridge the gap and another to reach Naruto’s. Naruto’s to Kakashi’s. The more time Sasuke spends in his spot in her mind, the better he gets at recognizing what belongs to who. 

Thinner, more fragile strands connect branches crosswise. Connecting people to each other. A lot of the webbing is damaged, broken, and snapped in places. Sasuke’s line connects into Naruto’s just outside the jutsu. And together they have lines that feed into Kakashi’s. 

Sakura weaves her way across and back down. Around–until she is on the other side of Sasuke’s jutsu. Reaching the point where she has to start healing, repairing broken strands to connect them to one another, retrieving memories she’s been unable to recover thus far from the damage of the lightning storms in her brain. While simultaneously creating a bypass around Sasuke’s hold in her mind. 

Sasuke meets her at the point where Kakashi’s runs parallel to his and Naruto’s. Why is she ignoring him? Banging on the surface of the barrier with a fist. It sounds almost like ice cracking as it echoes through her mind. “Sakura!”

It startles her enough to get her to look at him again. Before scurrying on her way. Working her way back across to the memory she needs. The fear is morphing. Evolving. Alarm and horror and disgust. A storm building as she works. Sasuke pulls out of the genjutsu, abandoning his hunt to rush to Sakura. 

He can’t sense her, but that is not abnormal. Both the barely trickling flow of her chakra system and the masking the cuff provides conceal her well from a distance. Less so, the closer you grow to her. There’s no sense of her as he approaches the house. Blood tracked over the yard and porch, continuing on into the bedroom Sakura should be occupying. 

Bedding is scattered everywhere, blankets torn and solid with blood and the stench of rotting flesh. 

“Sakura.” Sasuke calls out, drawing his sword. Following the trail. Deja-vu of another blood-soaked house overlays itself on his surroundings. Mother and Father. He still cannot sense her, and he nearly gags. Stomach turning. He had been too weak to protect them then. She is still alive. He can feel her in his mind.

“Sakura.” He swallows down the rising bile as he clears the house. Tracing the blood outside to the shed. “Sakura!”

The shed door is open as Sasuke approaches, kicking the door clean off its hinges. There is blood and black goo smeared everywhere. Still no Sakura. When he exits, Shikamaru is entering on the far side of the yard. 

“Where is she?” Sasuke demands to know, striding across the yard. “She is gone. Where. Is. Sakura?”

Shikamaru eyes widen as he takes in the sight of the yard, the state of Sasuke. Brushing past Sasuke to enter the shed himself. Slamming its contents around. Racing toward the tree line when he emerges. “It’s not her blood, but we need to find her. Now.”

Sasuke keeps any smart comments to himself. Two searching for her are better odds than one. Luckily, whatever they are following has done little to hide its tracks. An easy path right to Sakura. They arrive, just in time to see Sakura grab onto the blade of a large scythe, fresh red blood dripping down. The chidori. Too late for Sauke to help, to control the flow out of her. But his perfect Sakura already knows how to handle his ill-tempered chakra nature. Streaming in straight into her attacker, knocking him back. Sending Sakura to her knees. 

“Sasuke.” She whispers as he catches her. She’s covered in blood. Warm and wet and sticky as Sasuke carries her back. Quickly falling into unconsciousness. She sleeps for days as she heals. Mending the damage from holding the chidori and exhausted from the wear and tear of the fight. 

Sasuke stays away for the most part. Keeping tabs on her through the genjutsu link. When he does stop by, Shikamaru is either working on the cuffs or annoyingly curled up with Sakura in the bed they share. Sasuke swallows the distaste that leaves in his mouth. Finding himself spending most of his time there scrubbing the bloodstains from the floor and the bedding Shikamaru had flung outside to replace with fresh, clean laundry. 

The cuffs are ready, right at the time that Sakura is healed enough of the damage to go back into them. Healthier than she’s been in months. She will have to continue to repair the damage in her mind with them on. Sasuke does not have to hold her down, kicking and screaming—fighting for her freedom. Because Sakura loves Sasuke. She’d do anything for him. Shikamaru sneaks his cuff on when she’s occupied with Sasuke—the lazy bastard. 

A mission near the lightning border calls Sasuke away for a few days. Sightings of old-leaf ninjas, rumors of a transport of civilians and much-needed supplies. Sasuke smirks as the group he’s pursuing splits. Two going ahead with one turning back to face him. To fight.

Rock Lee . 

Sasuke mentally prepares for the fight. Lee is a strong opponent, but Sasuke’s fueled by vengeance. Punishment delivered for daring to be complicit in Sakura’s mishandling. When they meet, however, Lee does not fight. Falling to his hands and knees instead. Wetness streaming off his face already. Weak.

“Stand and fight.” Sasuke tells him. Lee shakes his head back and forth, fingers digging in the dirt as his body shakes. 

“You will not fight?” Sasuke questions, drawing his sword. Lee was never the type to turn down the chance for a fight. 

“I do not deserve to live,” Lee says brokenly. “I was chosen, entrusted to protect Sakura, and I have failed her. I am no shinobi, I will accept my death.”

Sasuke moves to stand in front of Lee. At least some of them have realized the cost of their actions, even if Kakashi does not. “How did you fail her?”

“I didn’t stop Naruto when he was telling her what he would do to keep his promise to her, even as she was begging him to break it. I did not protect her from you. I did not understand the lengths she would go to to get there. I didn’t protect her from Kakashi and his cuffs. I thought I was helping to keep her safe.” It comes out broken by sobs, Lee tripping and stumbling over his words.

Sasuke can hardly keep the smirk off his face, keeping his expression as neutral as possible as he squats down. Tilting his head in mock confusion. “Why would Sakura ever need protection from me?”

It’s enough to break Lee’s incessant crying, as he looks up at Sasuke. Snotty and gross. Ew. “W-what?”

Resisting the urge to mock the sad excuse of a man, Sasuke repeats himself.

“I-I, but Kakashi said,” Lee tries to get out. How pathetic. 

“That I killed Sakura,” Sasuke fills in for him. Leaning in closer, like he’s sharing a secret. “That’s what he told everyone. Poor little Haruno Sakura slain by the hand of Uchiha Sasuke. And we both know that that’s not the truth now, is it? Because she’s not dead, now is she?”

Lee’s eyes widen as Sasuke’s implication settles over him. “But…you…”

“What reason would I have to harm Sakura, of all people?” Sasuke narrows his eyes. Lee will suit this purpose well. Already having doubts about Kakashi’s sanity over the situation. “But you are a different story entirely. You wish to die? No, you shall live. And you shall suffer for what you’ve done to her.”

Sasuke activates his sharingan, pulling Lee into a genjutsu—not even a strong one, Lee’s mental state needs to be well enough to be believed after all. Now that Sasuke has Sakura, he has the power to shift the trajectory of the war in his favor. To sow the seeds of distrust in Kakashi. He shows Lee an approximation of Sakura’s memory of being held down by those she loves so dearly. Restrained and cuffed. Confused. Betrayed. Heartbroken. 

Lee collapses to the ground when he comes out of it, panting hard. Nearly hyperventilating. 

“Why has Kakashi gone to such extensive lengths to be sure Sakura is contained? Who benefits the most from faking her death?” Sasuke rises as he speaks, leaving the fallen man to ruminate over his words. Lee’s time will come, Sasuke will not be so lenient with him when they cross again. “Tell Kakashi the clock is ticking. His penance is near.”

Sasuke returns straight to Konoha. To what remains of the boarded-up Uchiha district. Madara resides in the clan head's household—Sasuke’s childhood home. He doesn’t bother knocking, not wanting to wake the ghosts of his past that still reside here. Avoiding eye contact with the bloodstains that remain no matter how many times he scrubbed at them as a child. 

He finds Madara on the dock out by the pond. Meditating. Sasuke sits near him at the end of the pier. Losing himself in his thoughts as he gazes over the water. Waves lap at the posts of the structure, fish causing ripples where they break the surface.

“Something on your mind?” Madara asks, tone even and neutral. He always insists that Sasuke can come to him. To intrust the older Uchiha to help with his problems. 

“I used to practice my fireball jutsu out here for hours in the evening after the academy. Father would chastise me for not being as skilled as Itachi was at my age. Even if I was well outpacing the other Uchiha children my age. Mother kept burn cream handy in the kitchen to help with the chapped skin. Itachi too busy to train with me when I asked... and then they were just gone, all of them except for me.” Sasuke lets the numbness wash over him. Better than the pain. A night he’s relived countless times. In his memories. In his nightmares. In Itachi’s tsukuyomi. 

“My mother kept burn cream in the kitchen also. Ready to slather it on at any given moment, even as we grew into adults.” Madara comments. He rarely speaks of his own family, long dead now. The closest to understanding the pain that becomes overwhelming if Sasuke dwells on it too long.

“There has been a development I have come across.” Sasuke informs the older man as he looks over the calm surface of the water. Madara hums his encouragement to continue. “There is a girl living on the Nara lands. I have been monitoring the situation. I believe she could be useful in the outcome of the war.”

“You delayed telling me,” Madara clarifies. 

“My intentions were to ensure the correct course of action. To avoid any unnecessary retaliation against her from her exposure.” Sasuke carefully picks out truths, avoiding directly lying to Madara. “There were some underlying circumstances that needed sorting before things could progress. I believe Shikamaru used the word ‘broken’ to describe her.”

“You knew her.”

Sasuke lets a moment pass. “Yes, I know her. She was in my academy class.”

Madara hums. Sasuke thinks of Shikamaru’s emotional outburst, gauging how much emotion to portray without seeming to be overtly concerned for Sakura. What falls into the realm of an act believable of Sasuke, who kills everyone he finds in the Five Nation’s hideouts, age or ninja affiliation unmattering to him. Working to frame keeping her alive for the good of the war instead of Sasuke’s own drive to keep her his. 

“When I was small, I thought the idea of a police force inside Konoha to be almost silly. How could anyone who’s sworn to protect the village turn against another resident? Sheltered from the realities that the world is cruel. That even as small as four or five, there was already a discrepancy in power dynamics. Already a risk for those who were weaker, with less powerful connections.” Sasuke takes a deep breath and adjusts his posture before continuing. “The other children would have never dared to treat me the way they treated her. A handful of us held above the others. Me, the Hyuuga heiress. Ino-Shika-Cho. Clans big and powerful enough for their children to have had private tutorage before the academy, giving their own an edge over the others.”

“Clans often work to put their own in better positions. A show of power.” Madara agrees. 

“She did not have those advantages. Civilian parents. Less affluent than even middle-class clan kids. I didn’t even know that it was happening.” Sasuke pauses. “No. I knew they picked on her, just not to its fullest extent. That the other children were the reasons behind all her bruises and cuts and scrapes—not after-school training with a taijutsu master or kunai training with weapons specialists. They would call her awful things they should have been too young to know the meaning of. That the teachers let it slide because she wouldn’t raise a fuss. I thought if the clan kids were truly hurting her, an adult would step in and stop it. A true shinobi wouldn't stand for such a thing.”

“Did they?” It breaks Sasuke out of his rambling. A slight downturn to Madara’s lips when he turns to face him. Sasuke finds himself frowning too, lacing his fingers together. “Did the senseis step in?”

“No. No, they didn’t.” Shaking his head. “Not then. Not when someone decided it would be a good idea to shove her on a genin team with the last Uchiha and the jinchuriki they let run amok unattended in the village. Not when Kakashi locked her up and hid her here in Konoha to go and start a war in the name of a girl who never died.”

“She was your teammate?” sighs Madara. 

"She shouldn’t have been. She was never cut out to be a ninja. Too soft to be a shinobi. Certainly ill prepared for the real world. And when I found her, she was just so sick. So broken. I thought, ‘If everyone thinks her dead already, what harm will come from letting her die in comfort instead of in a harsh prison cell?’” Sasuke turns his attention back to the water. A small family of ducks gathered at the far side of the pond. 

“Did you ever intervene?” Madara asks quietly. “Or were you complicit in her treatment?”

“By the time I realized the true extent of her issues, my perspective was skewed. What’s a handful of harmful words in comparison to a tsukuyomi? What’s a few bruises to an entire clan slaughtered in the dead of night?” Sasuke shrugs. “I didn’t even see, until much more recently, how easy it would’ve been to do something about it. That by simply supporting her, I could’ve stopped it. That even five-year-old Sasuke, the second son of Fugaku, head of the Uchiha clan, could have told them to stop. And they would have listened to me. Instead, I waited for someone else to do the work for me.”

“On occasion, the best move to make is no move at all. Waiting and watching where your opponent is setting pieces. Observing. Letting plans grow to fruition, until they are ripe to be picked.” Madara says after a moment.

“I believe the jinchuriki is looking for her to confirm she is alive. Kakashi will not come for her so long as the nations continue to believe his lies. He will come when they lose control of the nine-tails. Naruto will take up the search himself, and when he finds her as broken as she is, we will have no need to deal with Kakashi ourselves.” Trying to keep Sakura as passive a piece in Madara’s plan as he can.

“You believe, by keeping her here, to be discovered by the nine-tails, that it will ensure the death of Hatake Kakashi?” 

“I believe Kakashi will go to great lengths to keep everyone under the impression that she’s dead. That I killed her.” Sasuke rises with this. 

“And the Nara boy?” Madara questions. “Where will his loyalties fall?”

“He will only support what he feels are the best options for her survival. His loyalty is sound and sure, but only to her. Only for her.”

"Remember, Sasuke, even a weak pawn can cross the board and become a mighty queen.” Madara calls out as Sasuke’s walking away. A true sentiment. But Sakura was never merely a pawn in Sasuke’s game. Losing Sakura would be losing the game. 

And Sasuke has every intention to win.

[riversimmone]

Three's A Crowd - Chapter 3

RiverOfTheSand

Summary:

SasuSaku. He didn't mean to kill that man. He had simply reacted to being attacked. And now Konoha is forced to hunt down the rogue members of Team 7, or risk open war. Eventual NaruHina.

End chapter notes:

Not the most exciting chapter, but it's here for a reason, so please be patient. :)

XXX

Read from the beginning. This is a work in progress story you can find on tumblr and AO3 and completed on FF.NET.

[All tumblr posts will be tagged ‘Three’s A Crowd’ with their corresponding chapter for quick and easy access.]

Enjoy. :)

Chapter Three. The Bounty.

The Hokage had retired, again. He'd come out of retirement the night Minato Namikaze had sealed the Kyuubi into his only son to save Konoha, not wanting to return to the task. Hiruzen Sarutobi wished he could do that night over again; this time, he would do the Shiki Fuujin himself. He was an old man, and Minato was still young; he shouldn't have left his son behind.

Hiruzen sighed, packing up the last of his things. He'd left them here accidentally, and his successor had found them only recently. It had been a full two months since Lady Tsunade had taken office. How the hell had the Fuuin Jutsu scroll he'd made up for his grandson found its way into a locked, chakra sealed cabinet? It was supposed to be in a hidden compartment in his old desk. It was lucky he supposed, that Tsunade had found it, though he figured she'd actually been looking for something to drink.

"You found it I see," Tsunade said, striding into her office, with Kakashi Hatake not far behind her.

Hiruzen nodded his head. "Did you get the bottle of sake I left you?"

She smiled at him. "And just in time to avoid Shizune's suspicions."

Kakashi chuckled. Tsunade's assistant didn't approve of her shishou's habits, let alone that the third Hokage encouraged them. It was a well established fact that a drunken (or even just slightly tipsy) Tsunade was less coherent but more predictable than a sober one. Some people, Hiruzen included (and mostly), liked to test that boundary often. After all, Tsunade Senju had agreed to become the fifth Hokage while trying to drink the old man "under the table" as the expression went. It had taken Hiruzen almost nineteen years to accomplish…

Hiruzen lifted the box that contained the scroll he'd been looking for, along with a few other knick knacks Tsunade had neglected to inform him about and moved to leave the room. He stopped suddenly however, remembering something he'd wanted to tell Tsunade. He pointed to a scroll on her desk.

"That communiqué came in for you from Team Guy. I think they've found something interesting in the land of rice paddies."

Tsunade narrowed her eyes at him. As a Hokage, even a retired one, he didn't need her permission to read a priority dispatch, let alone a routine communication from squads deployed outside of Konoha. But she had discussed the implications of just helping himself to her mail before and clearly, he needed a reminder.

Kakashi glanced at the old man. "Did it say what it was?"

"Kakashi!" Tsunade roused. Both men chuckled at her this time.

"Yes," Hiruzen said, having recovered first. "Something about a rogue group of Shinobi."

The fifth Hokage frowned at him. Rogue Shinobi in the land of rice paddies? That wasn't a surprise, so why did Guy take the time to write that in a communiqué? She quickly opened the scroll and read it, Kakashi watching her with barely contained interest. Every hint of missing-nin interested him, and had done so for the last six years. It was to be expected of course, considering the departure of Team Seven from Konoha.

So, despite the fact that he wasn't supposed to look at the scroll (rules and all), Tsunade handed it to the silver haired ninja to read as well. His single eye narrowed and the familiar lettering written by Guy satisfied his curiosity. The infamous Kitsúne had been in the area; they were an unknown group that were not listed in the bingo book because no nation had proof of their existence. Sure, the distinct calling card had been carved into the skin of their latest victim, but according to the laws of the great nations, that was not enough to put them in the bingo book.

Nobody who encountered them ever survived, so there was no proof they were actually ninja… apparently.

Disappointed, Kakashi handed the scroll back to the fifth Hokage. But his reaction had not gone unnoticed, and the third Hokage queried him.

"Do you miss your team?"

Kakashi didn't respond, other than to sigh. The truth was, Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto occasionally entered his mind, just like his Sensei and Obito and Rin, but he preferred not to be questioned about them. He felt like such a failure. Firstly, Sasuke had wanted to leave because he'd overheard the elders talk about using the fallout of the attack on Konoha during the Chunin exams as an excuse not to go after retribution. They had their hands full just trying to return their daily lives back to normal and didn't want to "waste our resources on a pointless pursuit".

Next, Sakura had refused to let the object of her desires leave without her. She had lost her parents and didn't seem to think there was any reason to stay in Konoha anymore. She wanted to go wherever Sasuke did, regardless of the consequences, which was hardly surprising. It was Naruto's decision to leave that actually surprised Kakashi. Didn't he want to become Hokage one day? He could never be trusted with that position now, having abandoned his village, along with his team mates. It made no sense and had only added fuel to the idea that Naruto had had some kind of hidden agenda: revenge had never been his thing after all.

"I'll take that as a yes," Hiruzen said, his gaze now drifting to the portraits of former Hokages, just as the copy ninja's had in his musing.

Tsunade watched them for a moment, and then sighed, letting her own eyes coast upward and at the wall. They were all thinking the same thing, but it was Kakashi who voiced it. He shook his head at the portrait of his former Sensei.

"I'm sorry Minato. I couldn't stop him from leaving."

X X X

It was called Hashirōn Town, this tiny speck of a waste of space in the land of hot water. Sakura Haruno was disgusted, looking around at the brothels, the gambling stalls, and the deplorable characters manning said booths. She just wanted to stock up on whatever necessities they needed this time and leave.

Naruto Uzumaki, the baka, had other ideas of course. His eyes roved over the brothels, but lingered on the gambling stalls; he loved money, and the prospect of entering a gambling house, knowing he was going to come out with more than he took in was very tempting to him. The childlike look on his face hinted to the first words out of his mouth.

"I wanna try the casinos first!"

"Hold on dobe," Sasuke said, his voice oddly calm for feeling so frustrated. "Remember why we're here."

Naruto nodded his head, but kept his eyes on the nearest entrance to one of the larger casinos.

"I know teme, but we need money and I'm feeling lucky today."

He had an uncanny knack for gambling. Even Sasuke couldn't voice a reason not to let him let loose every time they found a gambling house. But they never advertised themselves as ninja, and this town had a reputation for reacting strongly to the presence of Shinobi who were not from the nearby village hidden in hot water. The risk someone could out them was slim, but that was still too high for the Uchiha's taste. They needed to do their shopping then leave.

"Sasuke's right Naruto," Sakura said. "This place is too high risk to gamble here. Let's get going."

The blonde grumbled. "Fine, fine, but I want some ramen before we leave."

She grabbed him roughly, locking arms with him and pulling the blonde along with her; Sasuke followed silently.

"Of course you do," Sakura said happily.

She kept wondering what she could do, to keep her promise to herself last night. There was a high probability anything she did would draw the attention of ninja, so she kept her eyes peeled for an area away from the sort of tea and dango shops that Shinobi would normally frequent. Sakura loved dango, but wasn't so terribly in the mood right now. She wanted to play a prank, any prank on her boys.

Her eyes raked over the stalls as they exited the entertainment section of town and ambled toward the business end. Honestly, she'd expected more from a town so close to a hidden ninja village. The last time they'd been this close to Yugakure, Kitsúne had avoided being seen in public. It became prudent after some kids had seen them in the area of a recent kill they'd made. Visiting ninja from Shimogakure who had stolen a scroll from some high paid merchant for a mission had drawn Sasuke's attention.

The Uchiha knew what he was doing when looking for scrolls that would help them.

And unfortunately for the life expectancy of the previous owners of that particular scroll, they'd put up a fight and piercing through genjutsu turned out to be their specialty. So they had had to die.

But luckily for Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto, the kids hadn't been very successful in identifying them, so they were able to leave unnoticed.

As Sakura mulled over the childish pranks she could pull, Sasuke stopped them, his arm snaking around her waist and pulling her away from Naruto. She half expected (though doubted) him to pull her into a passionate, make out session. But Sasuke had other ideas. Wordlessly, he pointed to the window of a nearby shop and Naruto whined. There was a picture of some unruly looking rouge ninja and a monetary reward written next to the details of his persona.

He was a cold blooded assassin with ninja abilities who was going around and picking off teams that carried the insignia of either Konoha or Kumo. Naruto's eyes trailed finally, to the zeros on the offered reward, his eyes lighting up and his mouth agape.

"Forget gambling!" He half shouted. "Let's catch us a bounty!"

X X X

[dark-elf-writes]

Ik you didn’t ask, so I am sorry if this a bit presumptuous but

when I write fight scenes I like to think about how I want the fight to end (physical/emotional state included) first. Time loops are especially nice because those ends can include death, without it being a permanent fixture of the story. For example, I want this fight to end with Naruto choking on his blood and him feeling helpless/alone as he dies.

Then I go back and assess the surroundings where I want the fight to take place and the resources on hand. I also like to think of how well those resources can be used at a given point in time. For this example, Natuto would be in the forest of death and would have his combat skills (shaky at first), a few kunai (run out quickly), enough chakra control to tree climb (lends to agility in a forested arena), his kage bushin (easily dispelled;strength in numbers), stealth skills (mid), and any rocks/sticks he can find in the forest. I’ve found this helps prevent the obvious “why didn’t he just use ___” moment a lot of fiction falls into the trap of creating.

Next I build my main characters state of being/status before the fight begins. Are they hungry, tired, weak, shaky, nervous, etc? Is there anyone to help them? What does their state mean for the fight? For example, Naruto is separated from his team and feels frustrated at the distance. He’s also tense and feels like he’s being watched. It makes him faster to react when the other shoe drops, but more erratic in his movements.

Then there’s the opponents status and how they’ll lead to the first step (the end). This will include the opponents strengths, weaknesses, and moves that will lead to the decided outcome. For example, the opponent is the giant snake who would strike with its teeth to pierce Naruto’s stomach with its fangs to make him choke on his own blood. The snake is fast, agile, and has a dangerous head/mouth. However, it is also slowed down by having to maneuver between trees and forced to leave much of its body open to attack because of its sheer size.

Now the main characters plan! Doesn’t matter how unlikely it is, as long as it’s kinda cool people enjoy reading it. We’re reading fanfic about ninja not a “well, actually” video essay about anatomy. Every fight is like a two person improv exercise, adaptation in response to the other guy. For example, the snake strikes rapidly at Naruto several times in a row and he realizes the rest of the body coils subtly in preparation for it. Now he’s able to predict when it strikes (after coil, four strikes before reorienting) and where (him). He also notices that the force of the strike makes the top half of the snake uncoil while the rest of the body remains as it is because it’s so long. So, he uses these things to his advantage and tries to make the snake tie itself into a knot using shadow clones to induce the rapid strikes before reorientation.

Then the antagonists plan. No good opponent is dull enough to keep doing the same thing when it clearly doesn’t work. They’re going to react to the mc and adapt too. In this case, the snake would stop striking full force every time and realize the fit sloth of attic king at things that dissolve into mist. Instead, it would start using its tail end to lash out and disperse the clones and striking at what remains solid.

Repeat plan cycles as often as you want for added complexity and interest! Though individual time loops are typically best kept simple since they involve many versions of same fights.

Then the end! And you already planned this out so all that’s really left it to smooth out the steps by adding some internal dialogue/emotion with sensory details :). A lot of fight scenes may not even include all the steps since you can make it all adrenaline or a “red blur” if you want.

You, of course, don’t have to follow this at all, but I thought you might find it helpful :))

You are a blessing upon me and I do not deserve your kindness.

Will try this next time I write a fight scene. (Tbh I get to step one then just try to brute force my way backward and it doesn’t work so we’ll see if planning it better makes it easier.)

[soukokukills]

shit POSTINGGG because i only ever go on this platform to empty out my brain when it feels like i am thinking wayy too much about things that no one cares about. i started rewatching naruto today and i doubt ill continue it simply due to the mental space that 13 episodes has put me in. im too busy to write another 100k word story and i know thats where i'll end up. but. naruto just blows my mind in a way that is truly hard to explain to anyone else. the whole premise of the CHILDRENS show is that naruto, a dorky and scatter brained 12 year old, wants to be the hokage and refuses to let anyone tell him differently. its a pretty harmless storyline throughout the first part. there are hints here and there that something much bigger (and sinister) is going on behind the scenes; naruto being an orphan, sasuke being the last uchiha, kakashi making cryptic comments ever so often, the introduction to itachi (as a villain). but after the timeskip its as if the original storyline completely fractures and changes so much that naruto's becoming hokage seems like an afterthought. once he achieves it, its as if he doesnt even care about it anymore. all of the sudden our MC changes from a driven, hard working ninja to a completely obsessed, traumatized, and stricken teenager. his whole worldview changes to revolve around sasuke and the main plotline suddenly revolves around their push and pull. on top of this, the villains introduced in part one are exposed as pawns and victims themselves. almost every single original storyline (itachi being the villain and a psychopath, orochimaru's obsession with sasuke, the akatsuki's existence, the nine-tails) begin to crumble to reveal something much larger and much more sinister in the background. Obito being both Tobi and Madara and the brain behind Pain and the akatsuki and kakashi's childhood best friend is the perfect example of this. everything takes on this INSANE mythical and prophetic feel and at the middle of it all are sasuke and naruto bleeding for each other for 6 seasons straight. Shippuden is not a children's show and I stand by that. i just have so many thoughts.

[peachiekeeeen]

inazuma girls + university au hcs

sayu

sleeps through almost all lectures but still manages to make good grades

way shorter than average, has to strike a balance between sitting up front so she can see and sitting in the back so she can nap

has been doing martial arts since she was a kid

big fan of ninja stories; favorite anime is naruto

outside of class, she can usually be found up a tree, napping or studying

her favorite animal is badgers, she saw one on the quad one time and almost cried

brings a badger stuffed animal everywhere with her for comfort

the salad from the salad bar in the dining hall is the bane of her existence

she’s surprisingly strong for her height, which people discovered when a professor enlisted her to help move a filing cabinet

senses are easily overwhelmed, so she stays away from the dining hall and the common areas when she can

teases anyone and everyone good-naturedly

didn’t have a lot of friends growing up and struggles to keep up friendships even now

her academic advisor is absolutely devastated by her slacking

constantly munching on onigiri

tries to do yoga in the mornings, but she oversleeps and forgets a lot of the time

has this uncanny ability not to startle animals, which makes her a favorite with photographers on campus

got fired from her job at the university library for ditching

in case of a real crisis (such as when her dorm caught fire), she can often be seen running across campus as fast as her tiny legs can carry her

kamisato ayaka

majoring in politics and minoring in dance

collects ornate paper fans

loves floral foods, particularly sweets, and has a soft spot for mochi

works at the campus coffee shop

absolutely loves tea and will try any variety of it that she comes across

got a book on reading tea leaves to see her fortune when she was in high school, and she secretly applies its techniques when she drinks tea

comes from a rich old family

not very good at making friends

favorite colors are royal blue and gold

affectionately nicknamed “princess” by her classmates

uses the kitchens in her dorm late at night to make snacks when she can’t sleep, and offers it to other sleepless students if she sees them

had some of her poetry displayed in the student newspaper after winning a poetry contest

is considered a talented fencer, and is a member of the university’s fencing club

favorite animals are cranes, herons, and egrets, and can often be seen feeding them near the lake

practices calligraphy in her spare time

enjoys studying during thunderstorms

stops by the chess club for a game sometimes

gets embarrassed if someone catches her swimming in the pool or just coming out of the showers

enjoys going to kabuki dance performances, and has dabbled in it herself

grows camellias in her garden at home, and wears camellia perfume

kuki shinobu

was supposed to study religion, but it didn’t appeal to her and so she’s taking classes in everything but that (and is annoyingly good at everything she tries)

leaning towards studying law, but wants to try everything so she can be sure

diy-s omurice from the dining hall whenever possible

doesn’t talk to her parents much; most of her tuition comes from scholarships and money she earned on her own

widely known as the only normal one in her friend group

tends to wear a face mask off-campus to keep from getting sick

mistrustful of recognition technology, never allows fingerprint or face id on her phone and types her password in every time

spent a couple semesters abroad before returning to campus

certified as an emergency medical technician

once knocked out someone who tried to pick her pockets in the convenience store

can easily be hired to do small jobs on campus for a minor fee--just don’t ask her to go near the chapel

has never gotten less than an A on an exam

keeps a couple of potted plants with medicinal properties in her dorm room

has a dozen part-time jobs on and around campus, which makes people wonder how she manages to do that and keep up her grades at the same time (she’s prone to burnout)

her library checkout history has books on every topic imaginable

has abstract tattoos on her back

keeps a swiss army knife and a switchblade in her bag in case of emergencies

sangonomiya kokomi

majoring in military history, though she is expected to go into religion

gets egg sushi whenever she can

has a mermaid-like aesthetic

has a jellyfish stuffed animal and a dragon stuffed animal that she keeps on her bed

tends to suffer from burnout and keep the effects hidden from her friends and classmates

enjoys free diving in her spare time (which isn’t much)

has read sun tzu’s art of war many times, but also enjoys science fiction and fantasy novels

operates using the spoon theory to manage her energy and time

known to be over-prepared and turn her assignments in several days or weeks early

wears pearl earrings on special occasions

suspects she’s autistic but doesn’t want to bother with getting a diagnosis

not vegetarian, but avoids eating seafood

has a sizable fish tank with tropical fish in her dorm room

yoimiya

majoring in chemistry

likes to make dango in the dorm kitchen for herself and her friends

got permission from the university to set up fireworks displays over the lake for holidays and festivals

has adhd

covered in burn scars and bandages from her experiments in the lab and outside it

favorite animal is goldfish; she has a tattoo of one

sleeps in weird places on campus; people are liable to trip over her

spends much of her time in the lab or the workshop tinkering with just about everything

keeps shiny rocks and lost pieces of metal on her desk

carries around a bag of candy in her bag, which she’ll share with her friends and classmates

ambidextrous

doesn’t have much of a sense of modesty, and wears a bikini to swim in the lake or the pool

very good at doing impressions of people, though she has a hard time covering up her accent

reads lots of romance novels

lactose intolerant

almost never eats full meals, prefers to eat small things on the go

volunteers at the daycare near the campus when she can

organizes trips to the hot springs with her friends during vacations

sometimes holds eating competitions in the dining hall, with her friends cheering her on

already starting to lose her hearing, although it’s not particularly noticable

kujou sara

has no idea what she's going to major in yet

enjoys sweet egg rolls, which are the only sweet thing that she eats

was adopted as a child

some sort of neurodivergence, possibly ocd or autism, but she's not sure yet

secretly collects figurines and has a vast collection, but no one has been allowed to see it yet

carries a folding fan with her wherever she goes because she overheats easily

five is her lucky number

archery club

raiden shogun

also has no idea what she's going to major in

cannot cook without setting off the smoke alarm

became a shut-in after the death of her twin sister, and has only just started coming out into the world again

older than traditional college age

developed a neutral and emotionless persona as a coping mechanism

terrified of change and struggles with transitions

keeps in shape by working out, boxing, and practicing other martial arts

loves sweets

has never had a cavity in her life

kunikuzushi is makoto's son, who ei adopted after her death but was unable to take care of due to her depression

has a habit of feeding the birds on campus, carries birdseed with her

yae miko

majoring in literature, minoring in religion

her specialty is making the udon from the dining hall actually taste good

loves fried tofu

absolutely loves reading, always has a book in her hand

can be a bit obsessive about money

enjoys playing tricks and pranks on her friends

has a pink fox stuffed animal tucked into a corner on her bookcase

gets bored very easily, always looking for something to entertain her

pink is her favorite color

thinks puppets are creepy

was a gullible crybaby as a kid, but grew more cynical as she got older

childhood friend of ei and makoto

[sns-tropes]

sns fic: without you

chapter summary: No one's ever really asked Sasuke what he wants. Not like this.

pairing: sasuke/naruto (ninja!verse) post-698, part three one-shot to heart in your hands

rating: Teen (i guess), warnings: angst, hurt/comfort, anxiety, trust building (words: 3k+)

A/N: OH LOOK, sasuke and naruto in an actual relationship where they communicate. unreal. (also if you haven't read the first two parts, this might be brain rot but i guess you could read it alone for the feels) you can read part 1 here on ao3.

- jeni

Sasuke tries to be home often. It’s strange that there aren’t many other places to be but home, but it's hard sometimes. He knows he’s supposed to be reporting, doing his job, writing out his daily findings. He does find things. But Naruto does most of the work.

He thinks Naruto does most of it, not for any kind of merit, but just to have something to do. There really isn’t anything to do up here. Cook maybe. Sleep. Contemplate how cold it is in the snowy weather. 

When Sasuke gets home, he checks the calendar. One year to date. Halfway through their mission. Sasuke feels like he hasn’t taken full advantage of the time. He feels like he hasn’t grown like he thought he would. He feels like he hasn’t grown as much as Naruto has. He’s not sure if that makes the thought sting more. Naruto has changed so much for the better. Sasuke feels stagnant still. 

He feels cold up here on the mountains. Ichiro keeps him warm most nights. He wonders why it seems like him and Naruto are too busy for each other. He doesn’t ask. He won't. Can’t. It’s not in his programming.  

Naruto mentions that he misses spring and summer. Sasuke doesn’t know what to make of that comment. Something in the back of his mind is screaming, ‘he’s tired of you.’ Logically, that doesn’t corelate. But Sasuke has never really functioned off of pure logic anyway. 

Naruto doesn’t do anything to urge those kinds of negative thoughts. He’s patient and kind, and always welcoming him home. So why is Sasuke telling himself that none of it is sincere? 

It’s late now. Too late to ponder on such negative thoughts. He’s tried to train his mind away from it. These kinds of thoughts seem to occur more often at night. He lays his head down and he truly can’t believe that an entire year has passed him by. He reaches out to scratch Ichiro’s head, and he gets soft purrs in return. Slowly but surely, it will lull him off to sleep. He isn’t sure where Naruto is. He’s not here, that much is certain. He’s missing the familiar creak of the wood that gives way under Naruto’s careless steps. 

Sasuke wonders when he became this needy. He’s not quite sure when it happened. Maybe it’s not that Naruto is tired of him. Maybe it’s because he’s finally realized just how much Sasuke hurt him. Perhaps he’s figured out just how much damage Sasuke has done, just like Sakura realized it. No number of apologies and heart to hearts can cover up some of the awful things that he’s done. And even though they’ve spoken on it before, on more than one occasion, even Sasuke knows that some kinds of hurt never truly vanish. He doesn’t particularly favor her, but that doesn’t ease the guilt somehow.  

Maybe Naruto is starting realize that. For lack of a better phrase, maybe their honeymoon phase is over. Maybe they’re just- growing apart. His throat tightens at the very thought. Sasuke scoffs in the dark. It’s so ridiculous, what he’s come to. He tries again to get comfortable in the blankets, feeling like crawling out of his skin. 

He’s not sure is he even has room to be upset. His eyes fall on the ruck sack in the corner. It’s the one Naruto came up the mountain with his belongings when they first made the trek. It’s empty now, unmoving from its usual lazy spot on the floor. Naruto uses it to run errands into town every now and then.  

Naruto has always worried about Sasuke leaving him. It seems that Sasuke should have been the one worried. Because he's always had Naruto’s love, support, and loyalty. It’s been unwavering. There’s nothing that Sasuke could do that Naruto wouldn’t forgive. But Sasuke feels like it would be foolish to assume things will stay that way. 

He’s really not sure what his life would look like without him. It would be a lot less worth living for, he thinks. It's too sad to think of. He feels pretty pathetic, imaging it in self-pity. He’d never admit it. 

He tries not to stare intently as Naruto gently crosses the floor boards of their temporary home. It’s a relief to see him return from wherever he was, but Sasuke shows no signs of relief or even that he may be awake. He tries to suppress the shiver that catches up to him from the sheer cold of the night. It’s useless. He shivers almost violently, not being able to help it. And just when he thinks that there really isn't any hope left for them, Naruto stops dead in his tracks. He turns around. Not swiftly at all. But rather slowly, carefully, like his body itself is a worried question. 

“Sasuke?" 

Sasuke doesn’t really have a mind to acknowledge or deny him, he just sits in a strange state of neutrality where his heart and bones ache with something. He’s afraid. Always afraid. As many trials as they push through, he still cannot seem to clear the storm. The storm that keeps him indoors until Naruto takes his hand and yanks him outside the door into its depths. He’s starting to realize that maybe Naruto won't do that every time. Maybe he’ll have to step out himself once in a while. 

He shivers again, and it almost overtakes him. He thinks maybe it isn't the temperature that’s affecting him now, but his own fears. He breathes deep and shuts his eyes for a moment trying to calm down. 

Sasuke feels awful, like always as of late. Torn open, like always. He wishes he could locate the exact spot of these feelings and reach into his own chest to rip them out. He’s tried so many times, but this time feels different. It feels heavier, almost crushing.  

A warm hand touches his cheek and Naruto realizes right away that Sasuke isn’t cold at all. Not even a little. It must be some kind of anxiety tick. It’s really not uncommon for Sasuke to have them, but never to this extent. 

He continues to shiver, worrying Naruto to a new degree.  

“W-what?” Sasuke stammers under the gentle touch of Naruto’s hand.  

Naruto laughs low and knowing. It makes Sasuke tremble even more.  

“Not feeling well?” Naruto says far too gently. Sasuke reaches forward, completely unthinking. He grabs onto Naruto’s shoulders, trying to ground himself. He doesn’t understand what’s gotten into him.  

“Having a moment?”  

Naruto isn’t unfamiliar with these feelings, falling victim to many episodes himself. He wants Sasuke to know it’s okay to just ride the wave and lose his footing. He’ll catch him. 

“I feel fine.” Sasuke all but grits out. A clear lie. Naruto is calm though, like he knows exactly what’s ailing him. 

Naruto presses a soft kiss to his lips, and Sasuke wants to pull away from him, feeling undeserving of attention. But he doesn’t. He just can’t. His instincts won't allow it. There’s so much for him to feel here with Naruto. Even when it’s rare, he wants it so desperately. He clings helplessly to it like a priceless relic. 

“You’re shaking, you know.” Naruto tells him. “I can make tea?” 

“No, I’m not cold.” 

“Then should I stay here?” He asks softly. Sasuke tries to push him off with a scoff, but it’s so weak and without effort that Naruto only laughs. 

“I’m not making fun of you.” Naruto says seriously, a hand flying to Sasuke’s hair to pet through it gently. “I’ve missed you.” 

Sasuke’s breath hitches a bit. So, it was all in his head then. It was in his head like every other time he’s ever doubted that someone could possibly love him.  

“Seems like you’ve been avoiding me,” Sasuke bites out. That’s really not what he means to say. He’s still not very eloquent after everything. Naruto just hums thoughtfully in response, because he really hasn’t been at all. He knows better than to take the bait. He can't fight with Sasuke right now, not when he clearly needs his attention.  

Naruto has explained to Sasuke many times that he likes to give him space. They work better when Sasuke comes to him of his own volition. Sasuke knows this and has acknowledged it, so he’s not quite sure why he still acts this way despite that. 

Naruto is looking at him so sweetly as he continues to comb the hair out of Sasuke’s eyes patiently. 

“What?” Sasuke asks, noting the fond stare he’s receiving. 

“It’s sorta weird.” Naruto starts, “That we ended up here. It's really crazy that we aren't dead.” He chuckles lightly. 

Naruto has a lot to say about everything still, even after a year. He holds back for Sasuke. Because Sasuke is not very talkative, and he doesn’t want to bother him with his sentimental rambling. But Sasuke doesn’t stop him. Naruto knows deep down that Sasuke is just as sentimental as he is, if not more. He simply would rather die than show it. He just nuzzles further into Naruto’s hand, scooting closer for warmth. He isn’t telling Naruto to shutup, so He wants to hear whatever corny thought he has. 

Naruto snakes an arm around him, pulling the covers over them both now. 

“Did I ever tell you,” Naruto clears his throat, “About the dream I had, our first night at the med center?” 

Sasuke’s brow furrows. “No. Tell me.”  

He’d like to hear about it. Peering into Naruto’s dreams used to be one of his favorite pastimes. He doesn’t do it anymore. He figures if they’re trust building, that’s a good way to start. 

“I dreamt we were still out there. In the rubble.” He sighs breathily. “I dreamt that we never got up. We just bled out.” 

Sasuke just hums in response, trying not to show just how uneasy the thought of Naruto dead makes him. It’s disturbing to hear Naruto mention their deaths so casually now. They went years carelessly stating how willing they are to die. Sasuke can’t imagine justifying such a thing now.  

“I know it’s kinda morbid, my brain does weird stuff. But it wasn’t really that bad. It was almost... peaceful?” He pauses, thinks for a moment. “Like I was ready.” 

Naruto can hear Sasuke let out a shaky breath, but he’s finally stopped trembling.  

“Sorry, I’ll stop talking.” 

“No-” Sasuke stops him, finally calming down. “I mean- Keep talking.” It’s helping him come down off of his panic. 

“You want me to talk?” Naruto chuckles. “I thought my voice was annoying.” He throws Sasuke’s words back at him from earlier that morning. Sasuke had told him that his voice was very annoying as he sang an old folk tune that they hadn’t heard since they were eight years old.  

“I lied.” Sasuke quips, suddenly not feeling as shy as he usually is. “Tell me more.” 

“I guess I don’t really have much else to say about it. Just something I wanted to get off my chest.” He says tiredly.  

“Why didn’t you tell me before?”  

“I had just got you back.” He mentions quietly, quieter than he’s been thus far in the conversation. “For the first time in a while death was the very last thing on my mind.” 

Sasuke frowns, thinking his word choice is interesting.  Got him back . He wishes Naruto never had to feel like he lost him in the first place. He wonders how long regret can linger before someone would go insane from it. 

“Did you think of it often?” It’s times like these when Sasuke really tries to connect with what Naruto is saying. “Death, I mean?” 

“More than I should have.” He says, pulling Sasuke in closer. 

“About your own? Or others?” 

“Always others. But I thought that if I lost enough people, I might just die of sadness.” 

“That doesn’t sound like you.” He deadpans. 

“Yeah, I guess not.” He chuckles. “Intrusive thoughts.” 

Sasuke sighs deeply, leaving it at that for now as he rests his head on Naruto’s chest. He’s gotten used to this now. Physical contact. Touching just to touch. There is no goal is mind. Naruto runs his fingers back through Sasuke’s hair. It almost lulls him to sleep, but not quite. It just settles him down into something more pliable and reasonable. 

“I should go over our report for this week.” Naruto sighs and attempts to pry himself away from Sasuke and get up from the futon.  

Unthinkingly, Sasuke tugs him back. “Just-” He stops himself, flushes a bit, “We can do it in the morning.” He suggests. 

Naruto chuckles, slightly confused by the suggestion. He stays put nonetheless. 

He knows that this is peculiar behavior for Sasuke to display, but it’s not like he’s never seen it before. From time-to-time Sasuke will get nervous or anxious, or maybe just overall unsure of himself. There was a time when Naruto would have considered it extremely out of character for Sasuke to act this way. But ever since they’ve moved out here on the mountains, it’s been more frequent. He gets the opportunity now to know himself better. 

Naruto doesn’t think this is a bad thing. He gets insecure sometimes as well. But he also figures that despite Sasuke’s nervousness, he is someone that knows what he wants. If he didn’t want Naruto, he would have just left instead of extending his hand to invite him along.  

He thinks it’s a  good thing  that Sasuke gets like this sometimes. To Naruto it means that he’s getting more in touch with his emotion, which he supposes is never a bad thing. With how many years he pushed them down, Naruto wants to see him feel all kinds of things.  

Just when he thinks Sasuke is asleep he starts to pry himself away. But Sasuke isn’t asleep. No, not anything close to asleep. Naruto discovers he’s quite awake as he feels Sasuke press a soft kiss right to the pulse point of his neck. Naruto’s breath hitches a bit. He never knows what to expect sometimes. But it’s not unwelcomed.  

He thinks it will be left at that. Just one kiss. More follow shortly after the first. Soft, open mouths kisses that become breathier with every passing moment. He preferers when Sasuke initiates things like this. He never wants him to feel like it’s an essential part of the relationship that they have. Because really, it isn’t.  

The most important thing is that they’re together, and everything else comes second. Sasuke has expressed once or twice to him that it seems difficult to ask for these kinds of things. Because it’s difficult to ask for something he craves desperately but seems to feel guilty in wanting. Naruto wants him to know that he deserves all the things he wants. 

Naruto is trying to work on the consent thing with him. Problem is, he’s not really a talker. He tends to clam up during sex and try to keep every word and sound to himself. It brings Naruto back to the first time they had together. It was a little awkward. A little difficult. But somehow perfect.  

Nothing has changed at all. He still wants him in that very same way, one solid year later. 

Sasuke seems slightly annoyed at Naruto’s lack of reaction, and it almost sounds like he’s pouting. Naruto chuckles fondly at him, pulling back to get a good look at his expression. Now’s the perfect time to test out just how much he’ll say.  

“Hey...” He whispers to Sasuke, nudging at his nose with his own, teasing him with a kiss. “What are you up to?”  

Sasuke just makes a noise of distaste. That’s not enough for Naruto. “Tell me what you want.” He persists.  

Sasuke hates that it’s come to this. He hates asking for anything. He wishes Naruto would just take the reins. He seems to be good enough at it. Why can’t he do it more often? For once, he doesn’t want to think about anything. He just wants to turn his brain off for a bit and feel. 

He pulls away, feeling stupid for initiating it. 

“Hey, no,” Naruto says gently, snatching his wrist to try and draw him back. “Come on, talk to me.” 

Sasuke looks into blue eyes. They’re too honest to look at. 

“Nothing has changed.” Naruto says. 

The simple sentence holds so much weight. 

“Why do you always want me to  tell  you?” Sasuke asks frustrated.  

“Because- that’s just- I just want to make sure you’re comfortable with what we do.” 

“Of  course  I am.” He scoffs, pulling away again.  Which is terrible, because even in his annoyance, he only wants to be close. It’s ridiculous, considering what they’ve done in the past. He doesn’t really get Naruto’s point. 

“That doesn’t work for me. You have to tell me what you’re thinking.” 

“I don’t- I’m not fragile. You don’t have to ask every time.” 

“Oh, I shouldn’t?” Naruto says sarcastically, “So you’re just okay with anything I wanna do?” 

“ Yes .” He says bitingly.  

“So, I can tie you up, then? Slap you around? Call you names?” 

Sasuke flinches. 

“N-no.” 

“Great. That’s why I need you to talk to me.” 

Sasuke doesn’t say anything. He feels ashamed of himself when Naruto curls away from him. It’s difficult to say what he wants sometimes because he hardly knows himself. Right now, he’d just like to be held. He supposes he could ask for that at least, but he still feels so disappointed in himself.  

Naruto sighs tiredly, flipping to face him again. 

“Try again.” He says patiently. “What do you want right now?” 

“Just- Just stay close.” He stutters. 

Naruto seems semi-pleased with that answer, so Sasuke tries a bit more. 

“I feel better when you touch my hair.” He mumbles embarrassingly. “It calms me down.” 

“Okay,” Naruto says in that gentle voice again, that one that Sasuke craves. “Good. That’s good.” 

He blessedly pulls him close again, hand back to carding through his hair. He melts into it again feeling relief rush over him. There’s a lot of things he doesn’t understand still about why Naruto is so adamant about this. 

“Do I always have to ask?” he mumbles against his chest. 

“No. But you need to tell me when I ask you.” 

Sasuke grumbles in defeat. He would rather Naruto guess what he wants than have to say it every time. He supposes it’s a habit he’ll have to break if he wants this to work. 

“You should be more specific.” Sasuke tells him. 

“About what?” He replies in confusion. 

“Like- be specific about what you need to know I'm okay with.” 

“Sasuke- that doesn’t make sense.” He sighs. 

He’s trying to figure out how he can make him understand. 

“It’s easier for me to answer with yes or no.” He says, and hopes it’s not the wrong thing to say. 

Naruto hugs him a little tighter. Maybe he does understand. 

“Okay. I can do that. Like before?” 

Like before when everything was fresh and new and Naruto asked him about everything. That’s always when Sasuke felt the most cared for. He scoffed at him back then too. But he didn’t mean it. Every time Naruto asked him what was okay with him, his heart fluttered happily behind his scowl.  

Things are different now. They’ve had time to get to know themselves a little better here in isolation. Away from prying eyes. It’s left both of them more lost than they’d like to admit. Sasuke especially. There are no appearances to keep up with here. It leaves them questioning what they really need from each other. 

“Like before.” Sasuke confirms.  

“Okay, yeah.” Naruto sounds proud of him. It makes Sasuke’s heart swell with something new. “Can I kiss you?” 

Sasuke nods, but nothing happens.  

“Yes.” He says, brain slowing a bit. 

Naruto pulls back enough to look at him properly. He’s smiling at him proudly, and Sasuke feels a little high on it. He kisses him carefully, with a certain impatient edge.  

Sasuke loses track of time for a little while. Their lips are swollen by the time they pull away. 

“Was that so hard?” Naruto teases breathily. 

Sasuke for once, doesn’t scoff at him. He lays his head down on Naruto’s chest, wondering how he ever let himself slip so far into doubt.  

“You know, right?” Naruto asks him sleepily. Sasuke knows what he means to say. He reaches for a hand to hold, chest too tight for the beat of his heart. 

“I know.”  

[whoopsieintheuniverse]

Headcanon Time!

Yeeeeaaaaahhhhhh I’m writing for Naruto again!

Kisame Headcanons

NSFW under the cut so Imma need the minors to not go under there. Thnks. 

Very polite, mhm. 

This is kind of canonical, but I just wanna emphasize how polite Mr. Hoshigaki is. He will kick your ass in training and then tell you to have a good day and genuinely mean it. 

He’s also just not very judgmental, which is probably due to how he was raised. 

I headcanon that Kisame had a very country, almost hilly-billy like family. In canon, there are no Hoshigaki names on memorials in his village; they’ve been expunged. I don’t know why but that’s some Hatfield-McCoy type shit. The Hoshigakis were menaces to society for no particular reason, and Kisame just had to go with the family.

After seeing what he’s seen, yeah Kisame is not judging you at all. 

Talks to Samehada and knows its responses like the back of his hand.

I think the bond to Samehada and its user works similarly to Venom and Eddie Brock. 

That shit is a symbiote and you cannot change my mind. 

A FULLY SENTIENT SWORD?? THAT HAS FOOD TASTE PREFERENCES??? yeaaaaahhh your honor, that’s a symbiote. 

Sometimes, who Kisame trains with is dependent on what chakra Samehada has a taste for that day. Kisame definitely soils her. Talks to her like a dog when no one is looking. 

Itachi has seen it. He says nothing, but he think it’s cute. 

Because of the bond between him and Samehada, I think Kisame can kind of taste chakra, too. He’s been bonded to the sword so many times that he has some of its powers even when not formally bonded together.

Kisame can swim, but he can’t fish.

 It makes no sense, but Kisame is terrible at fishing. He isn’t all that patient, and sedentary activities like that don’t strike his fancy all that much. 

Itachi is convinced that sometimes Kisame scares the fish away on purpose. 

As for swimming, Kisame, of course, is a strong swimmer, but did you know that wasn’t always the case? 

Kisame couldn’t swim all that well until he hit the ninja academy. I definitely think his family just chucked him into the water, and poor baby was pretty sure he was drowning until he remembered his gills. 

I think the “fussy, nervous kid growing up into a laid-back adult” trope is just funny, and it fits Kisame in my mind. 

Instigatorrrrrrrr. 

Again, pretty canonical, but one of Kisame’s favorite hobbies is starting shit. 

The rest of the Akatsuki is sooooo used to hearing him pipe up,” You just gonna take that?” during an argument. 

Itachi tries to get him to stop with one of his patented “Uchiha glares” but pouring fuel on a fire is too good for Kisame sometimes. 

Besides, he doesn’t do it often. More of just messing around. The Akatsuki is really the first place Kisame has been more comfortable of being himself and not just a weapon or tool, so his personality really has a tendency to chime through when he finds something funny amongst the members. 

In addition to this, Kisame also is very physical in a big-brother way. Very much will give Deidara a noogie. Is also the king of the shoulder-bump thing guys do when they pass you. Kisame is your annoying frat-brother confirmed. 

To go with the above, Kisame has not had many friends.

He didn’t allow himself to have friends. Thought they were liabilities. 

As such, even though Kisame will consider you a friend in his mind, he will be very independent. 

This is because he still struggles with the “shinobi have no friends” mentality, and because he doesn’t want his friends to think he can’t handle himself. 

To Kisame, if he isn’t firing at 500%, he isn’t good enough and other people will think that as well. 

Pls tell him he’s good. 

***********************NSFW CONTENT BELOW!!***************

 NSFW Kisame Headcanons

Get into it, yuh

Firm believer in “attitude adjustments”. 

Like, if there’s something seriously wrong, of course he’s not gonna be one of those guys that just pop it out unprompted. However. 

You feeling bad, babe? Shooot, let your man fix it. Hidan pissed you off? Yeah, let him make it all better. That movie made you sad? Sit on his lap and tell him alllll about it.

Let. Him. Pin. You. Down.

Kisame has such a huge thing for immobilizing his partner. Not even in a bondage way, but definitely with his body. Gets him hot for sure. 

It also makes him feel all mushy that you trust him enough to let him have that control. Think about it. You trust him, a missing-nin, a mercenary, and whatever else people call him. Despite everything he’s done and everything he’s been through, you still trust him and love him. Makes Kisame love you more each time.

Adventurous in bed. 

The Kama Sutra is a checklist for Kisame. No, I will not accept criticism, and no, I will not take it back. 

Every time, it’s kind of interesting to see what positions Kisame will think of next. 

He can’t help it! He loves every part of you, so of course he wants to see and touch and taste everything. One minute, you’re face to face and the next minute, he’s slinging you into a different  position. Just how it is babes. 

He will look out to not stress or stretch your body in any ways you can’t take, especially if you’re not a shinobi. 

Kisame has a thing for being used by his partner.

Now let me explain. To put it lightly, sit on his face. Use him as a dildo every once in a while. Take what you want from him, pls. 

Kisame just wants you to be completely satisfied by him. Using his body to get off like that is just *static noises*. Please just top him once in a while, I promise he will love it. 

So sweet after.

Kisame is not stupid. He knows his stamina is crazy, and he knows he’s rough.

Gives the best massages! Let him work out those knots he’s put into your back.

Likes to cuddle. He’s touch-starved and the first time you curled up to him, it freaked him the hell out. After that though? If you don’t cuddle up to him post-coitus, he’s going to assume something’s wrong unless you tell him otherwise.  

He also likes little forehead kisses and kisses on his shoulders. Don’t tell the guys, he has a reputation to keep.

[al-hekima-madara-blog]

"Hashirama, when did I go wrong ?" 2/2 Breath your spirit into the mud

An other Madara's analysis :

Madara is a great shonen villain. The Greatest. But since he asks for a way of redemption and Hashirama is still busy, I gladly proposes my own reflexions.

In the Part 1 : "Hashirama when did I go wrong?" 1/2 Dominate your inner demon We delve into his first mistake, his inability to build trust with others. Inability as well to surrender himself to Fate, since it belongs to the realm of the Unknown. The very concept he can't control. But that's the point of human's experience, do your best with your limited power, and limited time you got and leave the rest to the Fate. I know, it sounds totally crazy considering his position and the shitty fate he got but it was the only sane way. Suspicion attracts more suspicious situations. In contrary hope attract unexpected new opportunities. It's the cheesiest explanation of law of attraction I ever gave, Hashirama will be proud of me. I can feel him sniffing with tears of joy.

This being said, Madara is a genius mind. Ahead of his time, pioneer and avant-garde : first Mangakyou Sharingan, first Eternal Mangakyou Sharingan, first to control a Bijuu, first to awake a Rinnegan on his own, insane fighting creativity, crazy long-term strategist, a longevity beyond the 30's something of his time. He both thinks fast and forward. And as in everything in life, it's within your biggest qualities that reside your own limits. His mind is boundless, free like the wind, driving and bold like fire but real world is very mokuton slow and steady like earth, fluid and clingy like water. Leading me to his second mistake : Madara's inability to have a vision rooted in reality. Let's go !

An idealist

Something rarely discuss about Madara aside is ninjustu's abilities is his smartness. I often headcanon him as a strong thinker and heavy reader of ancient philosophy, literature, and history. And I won't be surprise if he was into calligraphy and haiku since it was an ancient art practice by warrior class. We saw Hiruzen doing it in the beginning of Naruto which mean it was a practice he learned from the founders generation. An other clue is his attraction to elegance. He had way to much vocabulary comparing to his generation and too complex to grab for a simple children like Naruto or Obito. He often talks with poetic metaphor and this from early age. We have « I reach the other side », the famous « Do you want to dance ?», even his « I hate people behind my back» had many implied meanings. And he always have an unsolicited aesthetic opinion on everything and everyone.

Madara is the only ninja (maybe with Orochimaru) who was genuinely curious about ninjutsu's origin. It's not enough for him to master a power, he needs to know the whole concept behind its mechanism. In the second part of his life, When he denied this world, he let himself being obsessed by abstract dilemma . What is peace ? How to escape duality of this world ? How escaping suffering not for himself but for whole humanity ? His ideal was by nature purely metaphysic ( from the greek meta = beyond, physic = matter) and detach from the material world that he intentionally denied. He went so far into denial the matter than he even conceptualised his own self. How generous of him we can all be Madara if we obey him and follow his plan😅.

a quick thinker

His utopian sensibility is hold by a strong intuition. In stressful situation he demonstrate how he analyses every details and act quickly. It's a precious gift during a fight to death. But in daily life, it made him so nervous and impatient. His mind is calculating already 75269 possibilities with 58962 parameters with a timeline of 250 years ahead while the average joe only thinks about his next ramen. People are slow to him. And he can't just chill.

He make up his mind quickly and with his natural pessimist nature end up to gave up as well quickly. He gave up quickly Hashirama's friendship without putting a bit of faith in future. That's why I said learning to surrender to fate is important you never know what future can bring you to open a new door, when an other one stay closed. In my opinion as well I think he signed peace treaty with the Senjus to soon and pressured by context. We don't know what they talk about but for sure Uchiha clan's political position was not a subject and cost him the respect he deserved as founder. Realising his mistake, he gave up as well too quickly Konoha and his clan. Even if you had valid reasons, you cannot ask your clan to join their biggest enemies one day and one year later when they start to find a little bit of security ask them to leave and follow you out in the wild shinobi world. We don't know either how went the conversation with his clan but we know he is not the most talkative person. It went probably something like :

MADARA : We gotta go.

CLAN : but why ?

MADARA : In chapter 399 Konoha will commit genocide on us. I read the script.

CLAN : What script ? We're confused...one day we should be with senju, an other day not... and we already pay our children's fees in ninja academy and what about the mortgage to Konoha and...

* rambling for the next 20 minutes*

MADARA : ...

CLAN : Madara-sama ?

MADARA : ...

CLAN : Can you at least elaborate your thoughts ?

MADARA : ...

CLAN : ...

MADARA : Hn. Forget about it, I'm out.

He put zero effort to popularizing his thoughts. I'm not even sure Izuna ever knews what was his brother's real dream. His quick thinking was perceive unstable to normal citizens.

I can't find anymore this analysis I read on tumblr and if anyone remember please let me know and I will add the source. Someone said that the main difference between Madara and Hashirama's dream was one was looking for an inner Peace and the second was about Outer Peace. Hashirama is about structures, village, clans alliance. And his idea is reinforced by Tobirama who swear only by law enforcement and suppression of emotion altogether.

Madara wanted a way for people to live together despise hate and mistrust rooted in clans for generation. Hashirama rooted this concept in a village. On paper, the combinaison of both of them sounds amazing. But in the storyline, a lot of Madara's point of view stayed unheard : How to reach forvigeness when your very neighbough murder your brother ? Shall we forget and move on ? Shall we ask for justice while every ninja including himself had been too responsible for countless orphans ? Shall we accept to give up one's dream to serve someone else's dream ? How reconciliate owns personal grief with a need for greater good?

It's not enough to live in a village together with rules and hierarchy. In the end we still live with people's pain, ego, hope, dream, ambition. Konoha was built without taking the time to solve this issue between the Senju and Uchiha. As Hashirama admitted himself because they were in hurry to build peace. The will of Fire is in reality the will of the Senju inherited from Asura Otsusuki. But what about Uchiha's Will and Indra's legacy ? Did they take the time to merge both philosophies in order to create a unique Konoha's Will born from both ideologies ? I don't think so. This big problem leads inevitably to those unsolved negative emotions who flow down the village's foundations, and putrified them until later it was impossible to ignore the filths.

When Hashirama begged Madara to stay in the village he knew somehow that with only Tobirama at his side his Outer peace will be more crystallised than ever and more rigid. People are not machine their are both creativity and rationality. Ying and Yang, Light and shadow, you get the point.... With Madara's departure as a powerful Ying energy, and Hashirama's inability to convince him to stay, Konoha was doomed to failed. And it did.

Madara saw in Konoha a hollow shell. And to Hashirama, Madara's vision was like a breath of air. Divinely inspirated but hard to grasp even for the clan he swore to defend. After his departure, Hashirama's vision solidified until it got devoid of compassion. This mentality leads to three Shinobi wars, children still soldiers or worse tik-tok bombs Jinchurikis. Madara's vision left forever the shore of reality, denying human world, denying time passing, abolishing people's freedom of choice. His genius mind kept drifting far, far away into a never-ending genjutsu. He never "wake up to reality", he drown himself deeper and deeper unto Black Zetsu's illusion. His brilliant spirit was never incarnated into earth. Instead it was floating between life and death. Like an unborn ghost inside a barren vessel.

Gaara can be a good example for him to get inspired. Like Madara he is capricorn, quiet and stern personality, like him he suffered trauma, betrayals from his kin and end up with a frightening reputation. When he was Kazekage, people weren't immediately enjoyed by it. Many time some tried to get ride of him. But he did what every capricorn knows to do best : working harder, working for the people and slowly gaining their trust, time is always capricorn's ally. He gained back the support of his brother and sister. Keep strong diplomatic relationship with Konoha. Adopt and raise a son and passed down his wisdom to the next generation And finally people recognise his sacrifice for protecting his village.

And contrary to Gaara, Madara at the time of Konoha had a longer experience in leadership, he could have been easily a second Hokage if he wanted to seriously. By slowly surrounding himself with people out of his clan, even out of Konoha and the Fire land. Using Hashirama's ruling time to build his team, recruiting them specifically for the talents he lacks the most :

sweet diplomatic team to counter Hashirama's natural charm.

Smooth politicians with great skills in hypocrisy and seduction to deal with the feudal Lords courts

an aggressive legal team to defend Uchiha's rights, as a lioness defending her cubs.

an excellent Public Relation team because the word needs to know how sexy Madara actually is, to keep Uchiha's contribution to Konoha alive in memories.

Well I think I answered what was Madara's main mistakes in my point of view. I'm as well curious to hear your opinion.

And if you want to read more about my Madara's analysis follow me in my main page here

[huskymaine]

Unpopular opinion : kakairu ship is overrated

strongly agree | agree | neutral | disagree | strongly disagree

I am not actively ship it, but I can see the appeal of this ship. They got shy-shy in their conversation about Naruto, Kakashi’s ‘tough way’ and Iruka’s ‘soft way’ at handling Team 7’s Chuunin Exam, Iruka protected a kid and the Kakashi came and strongly grabbed the Pain’s hand from Iruka, those scenes are indeed very alluring and potentially create many romantic fluff and domestic scenarios. Because of that, I don’t think this ship is a crack ship despite the little amount of canon basis compared to other Kakashi ships like KakaObi, KakaGai, and even KakaYama. Also since KakaObi, KakaGai, and KakaYama are fully developed only on part 2 (KakaGai got some development on part 1 too and KakaObi was hinted) making KakaIru has the advantage of an early start. It’s really not weird or surprising that KakaIru has the most contents among Kakashi ships.

But I am admittedly very, veeerrryyyyy picky when it comes to consuming KakaIru contents like fics or fancomics. Why? Because I just love Kakashi’s canon story and characterization so much while in my opinion some KakaIru contents overrate the impact Iruka has on Kakashi and vice versa to the point that it massively deviated from their canon version.

Unfortunately, it’s hard to be a picky person in the sea of KakaIru contents and find one from the million KakaIru content that was ‘clicked’ for me haha. Very often I stopped reading KakaIru fics halfway because I just feel disagree downright annoyed with Kakashi’s (also Iruka’s) characterization as the story goes. So sometimes I filtered out KakaIru tag when I am in the mood to read fics or fancomics. Sorry.

I mean like, Iruka and Kakashi are acquaintance at best, stranger at worst. And truthfully, there’s nothing wrong with that. Romantic story between two acquaintances and even strangers are valid especially when they have common interest, in KakaIru’s case namely Naruto. But, sometimes its shippers try to push Iruka and Kakashi to be each other’s “one and only” too hard, and that resulted in a complete erasure of other people that was already in Kakashi and Iruka’s lives. For example, I read a fic that portrays Kakashi didn’t have any real friend before he met Iruka. That truly left a bad taste on my mouth because Gai is the realest friend you can ever get and there’s nothing fake in Kakashi’s friendship with Asuma and Kurenai. Or the description that “Iruka is the only one who can touch and melt Kakashi’s cold heart”. Uh, canonly Obito holds that role and then kinda bit Team 7. In canon when Kakashi and Iruka met and talk on the first time, Kakashi is already a quite warm person (see Kakashi’s conversation with Inari). Also those who portray Iruka as the only one who can surprise Kakashi, say hello to Kakashi’s beloved Most Unpredictable Number One Hyperactive Knucklehead Ninja (PLATONICALLY).

Then in Iruka’s case, I know that a filler episode made Kakashi to be the one who convince Iruka to accept Naruto, but on Chapter 1, it’s wholly Iruka’s effort to sacrifice his life for Naruto and acknowledge his existence. To give the credit to Kakashi for the sake of romantic story is quite bit....unsettling for me. Also about Iruka’s grief for his parents. You can hate Hiruzen all you want, but the one who told Iruka that he was not alone after his parents’ death is Hiruzen, not and never Kakashi. Lastly, indeed Iruka was dramatically saved by Kakashi from Pain and maybe also in other fillers episodes, but he was still a trained ninja. Him tearfully praying “Kakashi-san (or usually “Kashi”, when the fic is already at the point of calling nickname), please save me!” every time he encounters danger is a huge disservice for him, don’t you think?

Not to mention KakaIru contents that completely strayed from canon like secret ANBU Iruka or Popular Sex God Kakashi...

So yeah, while I understand the appeal of this ship and think there’s nothing wrong the fact that it was the most popular Kakashi ship, I was a bit saddened by the fact that majority of those huge number of shipper contents have a very little care of canon characterization to the point that it feel for me like I don’t read a story about Kakashi and Iruka, but a story about two strangers that were named Kakashi and Iruka. I know that it can’t be helped for them to go hard on headcanon land since KakaIru has a very little canon basis but still...

(Or someone can pretty please recommend me KakaIru fics and/or doujins that have Kakashi and Iruka in character?)

[sneezemonster15]

I am new to Naruto fandom. Even newer to SNS fandom. I observed the shipping wars, and frankly, participated in it a couple of times. Just to see what it's all about. And I have come to one conclusion.

It's bonkers how far one will go to convince oneself about one's shipping whether it makes sense or not. At the end of the day, it becomes not really about the content itself, but one's comprehension and understanding of content. Which helps me understand why SS, NH, or NS stans exist. Their projection (which it certainly is) almost seems delusional and definitely inconsistent with the content itself.

When I first started watching Naruto, I wasn't aware of Naruto fandom. I am a cinephile and I am used to analysing content involuntarily while I am watching it. I wasn't expecting much from Naruto, I definitely underestimated it and wasn't expecting any emotional impact given it was shonen and I am very hard to please (yes, I am a film elitist). But as I kept watching it, I had to grudgingly change my opinion. By the time I reached Shippuden, I could tell that I was almost fevered with excitement and looking forward to more emotional impact.

I didn't watch it with any romantic lens, I was mostly interested in the fighting sequences initially. Hell, that's all I was expecting from a shonen show about ninjas. But at the end of vote 1, I was like, hmmm. What?? This was so emotionally wracking. Are they really just rivals, or friends? Now, I am a fully fledged cinephile and have watched a lot (a. Lot.) of LGBTQ films, given my interest in shows about emotional and sexual repression. And throughout my first watch of the first part, I kept picking up on the subtle sns moments without actively thinking about them. I was really into the story and wanted to see what will happen next. But at the end of vote 1, I had to stop and think, wait what, are they in love with each other? They are definitely not just friends. Or rivals. The language of their interaction in vote 1 is so fraught with underlying currents of repressed emotions that it just made the cinephile in me ask, what am I watching exactly? Like isn't it shonen (I am also relatively new to anime/manga) where gay relationships are a strict nono? Like why does it have all the tropes of repressed homosexuality in men, just like all the films I had seen. The way Naruto and Sasuke constantly gravitate to each other, their interactions at times feel like a borderline attempt at just staying close to each other, their violent, strong feelings and devotion for each other (land of waves arc) and then denial of those feelings (after the land of waves arc), their contant physical fights for no apparent reason, Sasuke goading Naruto for no apparent reason especially when Sasuke is not the type to talk without reason which had been made abundantly clear. Sometimes, it literally felt like he was flirting with Naruto (during the chuunin exams) while rejecting Sakura. Sasuke constantly appears to be caring and attentive towards Naruto while treating Sakura like trash. This was even acknowledged by Naruto who asks Sasuke to be nicer to Sakura. But Sasuke doesn't even think about it. He instead flirts (?) with Naruto. It made me think, why did the writer choose to do that? Why make it clear that in hierarchy, Sasuke keeps Naruto much higher than Sakura, so early in the show (when there hasn't been so much development either, we were mostly shown how they keep fighting and arguing with each other)? If they are supposed to just be comrades or friends, why pinpoint this? Why use this trope at all if it's about friendship, especially in a show that can't include a gay relationship.

And this kept happening consistently. The writer made the interaction between Sasuke and Naruto to be major turning points in the plot. Vote 1 fight made it clear to me that there was something more going on, but I didn't want to be presumptuous, so I kept it on the side and kept watching.

After watching Shippuden, I was convinced that none of it, was accidental. The writer painstakingly wrote a gay love story and was even obvious about it in a very clever way. Like he fucking got away with writing a gay love story in shonen. I know Naruto is basically a kids' show meant for entertainment purposes, but it touched so many important, dark and adult themes. I knew that it would be difficult for the writer to actually give a proper conclusion to these themes because they really aren't that black and white or even appropriate for children. So I wasn't surprised that he couldn't actually show peace being achieved after the war arc or slavery abolished in Hyuuga clan.

But one thing I was sure of. He wanted to show a gay love story, maybe out of a twisted sense of humor, I don't know. But that's what he did. He could not have made it clearer. He flagrantly used all the related tropes, visuals, sound, dialogues, hell the story. The fucking story...

He was so shrewd about it too. He made it so that people can take away whatever they wanted to take away from it as long as there was some plausible deniability about things that weren't made clear in the show itself. That fucking minx! But he knew that anyone who watches shit carefully, will be able to see what he actually did. He knew that at least some of us will be able to connect the dots. He went out of his way to make sure we connect the dots. There is no other way to explain why Sasuke repeatedly kept asking Naruto why he cared for him so much. There's no other way to explain why he concluded everything with the dialogue where Naruto explains that he hurts when Sasuke does. There's no other way to explain why that affected Sasuke to such an extent. Kishimoto went out of his way, like seriously, to tell the audience that they are Not just 'friends'. He basically used this friend thing with so much saturation and intent in such a twisted way that he made it into something else entirely. In that sense, the concept of 'friend' changed its meaning. Like you can try, but you can't change my mind about it.

Whether I approve it or not, but my takeaway from content depends mostly on the content itself. I do believe that more often than not, the simplest explanation is the right one. And this applies to the phenomenon of Naruto as well. Of course, as a viewer, I can't ignore that my suspension of belief relies on my own understanding of the external world and how I perceive visual language. But that is something that happens anyway, in tandem with consuming the content, while I was pretty much consistently objective about it.

I believe I have a pretty good understanding of how cinematic language works, and I know every creative or narrative choice has a reason and meaning behind it. Absolutely None of it is random. Cinematic language may not be universal in terms of styles, but all the styles definitely have a common ground. And any creator worth his salt knows it, he knows how his content will be perceived and what it is exactly that he wants to show or say. Do not delude yourself that it was accidental or on a whim.

I know for a fact that Kishomoto wanted to show a gay love story. I know for a fact that he wanted to show that Sasuke has feelings for Naruto and he knows it. He also wanted to show that Sasuke not only had feelings for Naruto but also knew that he couldn't show them openly. He wanted to show that Naruto has feelings for Sasuke as well but is confused and naive, like he is about so many other things. He wanted to show us that Sasuke is not into Sakura, that he doesn't even respect her. Any enthusiast of visual/cinematic language and narrative can tell all the above things without going into headcanon or deluded explanations (like SS, NH stans), with just on the basis of content they consumed.

At the end of the day, I don't ship SNS because it's in my head. I was forced to see and believe SNS by the creator. Not forced literally but forced to notice and acknowledge the emphasis and meaning of the twisted/manipulative ways of the creator.

Kishimoto, hats off to you, you sly bastard. You succeeded in trolling people endlessly, you had a lot of fun pitting people against each other, didn't you? Hahahahaha. Well, I call your bluff/or non bluff in this case since you obviously knew what you were doing.

[thundrpilot]

Naruto Fic Rec 1/∞

Naruto Fic Recs: [1] [2] Fic Masterlist here for full list.

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** Kill Your Heroes by TheLightAtLastAndAlways

Word Count:  268,501 (68/?)

Summary:  It's time to stop waiting for other people to save you. A story about fear, resilience, and Sakura.

Comments:  Slow Burn BAMF!Sakura. Also, Kakashi working his way up to being a good teacher and good mentor to Sakura. Genjutsu-type!Sakura.

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** Bleed Out by HazelBeka

Word Count:  103,754 (16/16)

Summary:  After Iruka’s confrontation with Kakashi before the chuunin exams, he’s targeted by a serial killer who seems to be picking off disrespectful chuunin. Iruka survives, but it’s only a matter of time before the killer returns to finish the job. Finding his name on the suspects’ list, Kakashi bullies his way onto Tenzou’s investigation in an attempt to clear his name and protect Iruka from the real threat.

Comments:  Murder Mystery, ANBU, Seals Master!Iruka, basically all the best tropes all in one fic. This was the first Naruto fic I ever read, so I’m very attached and compare all KakaIru fics to this one.

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** The Bingo Book by flailinginlove

Word Count:  64,500 (10/10)

Summary:  Kakashi avoided relationships. He didn't want to put others in danger. So he couldn't understand why there was a face staring back at him, as a sub-entry to his own, in this Bingo Book. Umino Iruka (lover) the caption read. It didn't matter that it wasn't true. The Book was fact, and to Kakashi's enemies, Iruka had just become a weakness they could exploit.

Comments:  Sensor-type!Iruka, ANBU, awkward KakaIru, what else could you possibly want in a fic? I love it when Iruka surprises people with how good of a ninja he is, even though he's "just a chuunin teacher". One of my favorite tropes, along with his chakra-location (like echolocation) from that one episode. Also, flailinginlove is an amazing author and you should go check out more of their stories.

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How to File Form 39-B by thehoyden

Word Count: 10,426 (1/1)

Summary: The first time Iruka met Hatake Kakashi, he was still on some pretty god painkillers.

Comments: Kakashi/Iruka. This one is cute, very light-hearted read with a pinch of angst and a heaping of Iruka parenting Naruto.

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The Bijozakura Seal by megyal

Word Count: 38,055 (13/13)

Summary: Kakashi and Iruka are bonded together, entirely against their wishes. While Iruka begins to deal with it, Kakashi still has… doubts.

Comments: Mission!fic, the two start off not exactly friends, and this fic definitely leans into the angsty and kinda uncomfortable, not-as-often-considered side of having a psychic bond with someone you don't know that well or trust.

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Part of the Pack by SparrowStrike

Word Count: 125,303 (37/37)

Summary: Legend has it the Hatake Clan is an off shoot of the Inuzuka Clan. It's where they get their sharp teeth, affinity for ninken, and tendency to casually adopt every other person they meet.

When Kakashi realizes Naruto's assigned caretakers aren't even sort of doing their job, the young anbu decides to do a bit of long term babysitting (and possibly commit treason). What follows is the story of Uzumaki-Hatake Naruto and his unconventional family.

This is primarily a slice of life piece and heavy on both fluff and angst. It covers a lot of the canon events and has cannon typical violence and darker themes. It can be read as a stand alone, but is the first work of 3 planned in this AU.

Comments:  Dad!Kakashi raising Naruto, lots of politics, hella canon divergence. Part 1 of 3 in The Pack series.

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Roots and Wings by ideaoforder

Word Count:  84,985 (12/12)

Summary:  When Naruto is kidnapped from his orphanage at age three, Kakashi is so done with this shit. He gets Naruto back, tells the Hokage where to go (politely, because he isn't suicidal), and raises the boy himself. Or, you know, tries and is proud when there aren't too many explosions.

Then everybody starts to copy him and it's a whole thing.

Comments:  Found family plus Fix-It fic galore! Focus on Kakashi being a good dad to Naruto, but does have some pairings aren’t that central to the plot: Kakashi/Iruka, Naruto/Shikamaru. Bonus Iruka being a Fuuinjutsu BAMF.

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** by my blood by justdoityoufucker

Word Count:  30,892 (7/7))

Summary:  Kakashi finds love and family, all in one near-successful murder.

Comments:  KakaIru. Found family trope, Everyone Lives / Nobody Dies, Jiraiya is a Hatake, Iruka Whump. This is 100% one of my new favorite Naruto fics, its not what you are expecting and I love it.

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Thought and Feeling Interwound by tucuxi

Word Count: 36,122 (1/1)

Summary:  Tsunade walked around the desk and sat directly next to Iruka, turning both of their chairs with a casually powerful grasp. In the end they were facing each other, not the desk. He tried and failed to hold her gaze. She reached out and tipped his chin up, forcing him to look at her again. Another hit landed. This time it came from Iruka's left. It felt like it must have shattered bone, ribs grinding against each other in his chest, and Iruka bit his tongue almost until it bled to keep from crying out.

“Tell me, Iruka-sensei,” Tsunade said. “How long, exactly, have you been feeling Hatake Kakashi’s emotions?"

Comments:  Kakashi/Iruka. Accidental Soul Bond fic, also known as Jutsu Gone Wrong. Slowburn fic with lots of denial and angst and misunderstandings.

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Fic Masterlist here for full list

[an-ambivalent]

WARNING: This post contains yandere and violent themes (mentions of murder and brainwashing) and other toxic and creepy behaviours that can be triggering and uncomfortable to read. So read at your own risk. This work is purely fictional. I do not condone this toxic behaviour irl. 

Fandom: Naruto 

Pairings: Itachi x Reader | Shisui x Reader | Sasuke x Reader

Status: Headcanons and scenarios mixed hybrid, requested. 

Ask:  Scenario where Yandere!Itachi, Yandere!Shisui, Yandere!Sasuke and Yandere!Obito realizes that they all have feelings for you and since they're family, they decided that they are going to share.

A/N:   I’m didn’t add Obito to this scenario because I don’t see this dynamic working with him in the mix. Although Obito is an Uchiha, frankly speaking, Itachi didn’t ever trust him. Sasuke used him for his own means didn’t care about him other than that either way. As far as Shisui is concerned, he never really interacted with Obito. 

Itachi and Shisui are best friends, and Itachi and Sasuke are siblings (who do care for each other). Sasuke is stubborn about his own ideals but he can still be persuaded by Itachi, and given that Itachi and the Uchiha clan respected Shisui a lot, Sasuke would do too. So, a dynamic with these three choosing to co-operate is plausible. But with Obito.... not really. I just don’t see how he would fit in this scenario.  So, hopefully this explanation clarifies why Obito wasn’t added to the scenario.

No beta, we die like men. I wrote this at like 2 am so idgaf about grammar errors atm ^.< 

Your background: To be in a position where you can interact with all these three simultaneously, you would have to be part of the Uchiha clan yourself. The only other way might be that you’re Itachi’s classmate and progressed exactly like he did. But then, it just feels like copying and pasting Itachi’s character and that’s no fun.

No ‘duplicate version of another character’ in this household. So there’s two choices for your background that can nonetheless lead to the same scenario. Thus, you can choose whatever floats your boat: 1) you’re the first daughter of the main branch of another clan of your choice, and for some time now, your clan and the Uchiha clan have been planning to form an alliance together. What better way to do that than to arrange a marriage between the two first children of the main branch from both clans that “coincidentally” have to be the same age?

2) You’re an Uchiha child, born to parents who are from one of the side branches of the clan. There isn’t many other kids to interact with, and despite being a side branch member, your father is one of the most respected shinobi in the clan. So, your future as a ninja is given, and with his interactions and meetings  with Fugaku, he takes you along with him. As a result, your introduction with Itachi is inevitable. And so by extension, you will also meet Shisui and Sasuke. And given your father’s good relationship with Fugaku, mayhaps your parents went ahead and arranged your marriage with Itachi behind your back and not notifying you yet.

PSA: For the age balance, you are Itachi’s age in this scenario. Shisui is 2-4 years older than Itachi and Itachi is 4 years older than Sasuke. Having a maximum of 8 years age gap if you were Sasuke’s age, or Shisui’s age, would be a lot LOL. Besides, Itachi would be the mediator between Sasuke and Shisui, so you building a relationship with him first makes the most sense.

Introduction / Meeting

Itachi

You and Itachi are forced to spend time together as ‘playmates’ while your parents discuss ‘official business’ (the arrange marriage) with Fugaku and Mikoto. Itachi is overly polite but there’s an icy coldness underlining his polite greetings and one-word answers he gives to your questions when you try to start a conversation.

You aren’t dumb. You were raised with high expectations placed on your shoulders so although you’re not a prodigy at his level, you have more than enough intelligence to know that he’s patronizing you. And unlike him, you aren’t an immature coward who hides behind their passive-aggressive remarks. Whatever you have to say, you communicate it bluntly. So, you don’t hesitate to spew out what you really think of him (a coward who takes his frustrations out on others aka you, who is also in the same situation, instead of facing his problems), and leave his pretty boy face behind in shock.

You were five when this happened.

Sasuke: Overtime, your ‘playdates’ with Itachi became a norm. You were forced to visit him many times and spend time with him given that he is your future husband. (You don’t know that yet, but at this point, Itachi has his suspicions that something is up).

His baby brother is his entire life. Sasuke makes him smile in the way no one else does, so its no wonder you met him eventually.

You were first held Sasuke was he was about fourteen months old. He was a small, chubby, innocent little thing with his already haughty attitude. He had no problem crying in the arms of the people he didn’t like, which was almost everyone outside of his immediate family. But when you held him, despite Itachi’s warnings that “he doesn’t like everyone” but he instantly liked you (much to his displeasure), you instantly became attached to him. Then in the following years, you babysat him a lot. He was the cute little younger sibling you wanted but never had, so you spoiled him to bits. And with the attention and love you gave him, Sasuke loved you too. Not to mention, unlike everyone else in his family, who picked Itachi over him, you picked him over Itachi.

How can he not fall in love with you?

Shisui: More often than not these days, Shisui would silently watch and observe Itachi. For a six years old, it was terrifying for him how he was already adapting to the shinobi lifestyle is so easily; being an emotionless robot and extremely talented.

But, over the past few days, gone were the seemingly emotionless robot. Instead, he had changed into a boy who acted like how a six year old was supposed to act: whiny, pouty, and frustrated (to an extent), but happy at the same time. It was entertaining for him to watch Itachi’s expressions shift from one to another every moment as he grumbled about you underneath his breath. Shisui was ready to tease him about it, but you had beat him to it.

You had appeared out of nowhere and were hosting the two-years-old Sasuke on your shoulders for a piggy back ride. No one was given any time to react, before rude remarks were slipping out your lips that just humiliated his precious friend into a fumbling mess.

Itachi had tried to get back at you, he really did. But your mouth ran like a sailor and you had a witty remark prepared for everything. It was such a contrast to the “perfect princess” show you put on before your and his parents. And each time, your response was more embarrassing which eventually made him lose his cool. Seeing him flustered, despite how much he loved you, little Sasuke tried to  jump to his nii-san’s aid. Shisui was prepared to snicker and chuckle to himself, if he it wasn’t for the most beautiful sound he had ever heard: your laughter. It was so raw, pure, genuine and innocent, he was instantly immersed. Barely anyone from shinobi clans, and given how they were raised, acted so open. And you brought out a different side to Itachi -- it was intriguing for him to witness.

He wanted to get to know you more. He wanted to hear your life more. He wanted you to share your secrets with him on how to bully Itachi so easily. So immediately, he put out his hand and gave you a wide grin.

“I’m Shisui. What’s your name?”

Realising their feelings

Shisui: Shisui knew he loved you ever since your first laugh. It was love at first sound. However, with the respect to you belonging to his best friend, he would never make a move on you.

Maybe, there might be some lingering touches here and there that lasted a bit too long between ‘friends.’ Maybe sometimes he was harsher on you during your training spars so he would have an excuse to touch you and help you bandage up your injuries. Maybe sometimes, he ‘jokingly’ wrapped his arms around your waist and kissed your cheek to ‘get a rise out of Itachi’ and not because he wanted to touch you.

But he never made a move on you because he knew you were Itachi’s. And as long as you were still his friend and spent time with him, he didn’t care too much.

But he should’ve known better. Just as how he can understand Itachi and cares for him like he is his brother, Itachi is the same towards Shisui. He knew how Shisui felt about you, and although one part of him just wanted to you have all to himself, it didn’t feel right that Shisui had to hold himself back when he needed you too. If only, it wasn’t for your clan, and the Uchiha, and their damn village that believed in monogamous relationships, then he would happily share you with Shisui.

Itachi: There were many rules and obligations Itachi has to adhere to due to his clan. Although he did them, he didn’t want to. He hated it. His thoughts were different from his actions so he was constantly experiencing cognitive dissonance. But, you weren’t part of that. For some reason, when he was eleven and his suspicions were confirmed by his parents and the clan elders that you were set up to wed him when you both turn thirteen, that was one thing he didn’t hate or didn’t want to do. In fact, it was alarming for everyone in the meeting how easily he obliged.

Confirming how he felt towards you, it honestly did not surprise him. He had assumed this was the case for a while. Ever since you called him a coward due to his habit of upholding a facade, he tried to be more honest. Not in front of his clan, evidently, but to the people that mattered. Shisui, Sasuke, you, and himself.

The old Itachi, had he not met you and fell in love with someone, would have buried his feelings without a care. But for you.... it was a different story. He acknowledged his feelings and never tried to get rid off them. How could he? You were the perfect lover for him. You got along swimmingly with Shisui. You took good care of Sasuke, and his younger brother was so attached to you. You were an exceptional kunoichi, put up the perfect facade before your own parents and his, and weren’t afraid to challenge him and speak your mind.

And best of all? You were already promised to him. So, he saw no reason to bury his feelings for you.

Sasuke: Sasuke always knew he loved you.

Ever since he can remember, you had always been by his side no matter what.

His father didn’t pay attention to him. His mother did, but she scolded him too when he just wanted to spend time with Itachi.

Itachi spent time with him but lately, he has been ignoring him. It’s not the same. And him and Shisui always leave him behind to get things done that they say he’s “not mature enough to know.”

But Sasuke does know.

He knows what they talk about his and your back because thinks of those things too. It’s everywhere: princesses, their prince, their love story and happily ever after.

He wants to kiss you to show you how he loves you like the couples in fairy tales. He does. Despite his nerves that are causing fluttering butterflies in his tummy, he builds up the courage to have his first kiss with you.

But you’re faster than him. You just move your head so he kisses your cheek instead, and then laugh out loud before ruffling his hair and telling him, “you’re adorable. But you should save your first kiss for your true love.”

He likes being adorable for you, but why won’t you understand?! You are his first and only love.

There will be a day when you finally understand that.

Sharing You:

ok.... listen.... Uchiha clan massacre (and yours too for scenario A) but both Itachi and Shisui. And although its mission issued by the damn village, that’s not why they’re doing it. It just so happens that its the perfect solution to all their problems because they get rid off the obstacles in their way, and they will have to leave the village. They can take you away far, away from everything, so you only have them left.

Obviously, they will take Sasuke with them too. Except this time, there’s no also hurting and torturing him and enticing him to seek revenge. If anything, when Sasuke is horrified, Itachi tells him the truth. There’s lies as well, but, they would need to brainwash him to some extent so he willingly stays with them. Itachi tells him of how if the clan lived, then he would never get to be with you, or see you again because they were going to hurt you.

“Do you want that foolish little brother? You made big claims to make [Name] yours and protect her, so are you really going to mourn those who were going to take her away from you? She’s my bride, and because I care about you, I will share her. But for that to happen, you need to listen to me and Shisui and not be pathetic as to get in our way.”

Itachi had a way with his words, and it was terrifying how much they could influence Sasuke. And now that they had, and no one else was going to be in the way -- not any clans, the village -- nothing.

It is just going to be you and them for the rest of your life.

[gamer-logic]

Hetalia Platonic Ships Week Day 6: 1p-2p Drunk Headcanons!

Alfred: Thinks he's Captain America and uses a trash can lid as a shield. Knocks out Allen with it accidentally after trying to throw it.

Allen: Gets a Texan accent and will sing country songs horribly and annoyingly loud.

Mathew: Doesn't drink often, but does it for hockey. Immediately goes into hardcore mode and gets aggressive. Has succeeded in beating up both Russias before with his bare hands after losing a game. James is subtly scared of drunk Mathew.

James: Surprisingly is a lightweight but won't drink to keep Mathew in line when he does. Has tried to tie hockey sticks to his and Kuma's heads to make them look like moose and try to start fights. Kuma just inwardly polar bear sighs at his owner's antics and quickly knocks him out and carries him on his back. Kuma lets him and sometimes Mathew sleep on his back when they're passed out or having a hangover.

Arthur: Well, we all know how he is when drunk, but one should never give him a spellbook. The last time that happened, he made Alice in Wonderland real. Now that was a trip!

Oliver: Unsurprisingly, he's a complete lightweight and can't hold his own. Gets really bubbly and tries to bake everything while dancing. When I say everything I mean everything. The kitchen still stains on the ceiling after he chaotically baked every sweet known to man and then proceeded to initiate a one-person food fight.

Francis: Gets really silly and loses his fashion sense. Arthur has a video of him trying on curtains for a dress, toilet paper for a cape, and a lampshade for blackmail purposes.

Luiz: This is a man who has a tolerance level rivaling Thor. Has a preference for aged wine.

Yao: Actually lets loose and acts more like Xiao. Xiao takes full advantage and they immediately cause havoc. Yao may have a high tolerance due to his age, but Xiao's combos will affect him almost instantly, as will any other combo since he's only ever drunk Baiju and other old drinks straight.

Xiao: If you thought he was a chaotic force of nature before, he becomes the perfect storm when drunk and no one can stop him! Also, his combos will get anyone drunk within the first 10 minutes and he especially loves using it on Yao who he'll follow behind with a camera for blackmail. He and Gilbert are the two major sources for blackmail and will compete over who's got the best pics.

Ivan: Has a high tolerance, after all, he drinks vodka on an almost daily basis. If one can get him drunk though, he'll actually start getting sad and cry, pouring his heart out. Viktor will sit and be there for him while also making sure he never goes hard so he doesn't end up like he did.

Viktor: Literally never gets drunk and no one has ever been able to get him drunk. Some think it's because he has an astronomical high tolerance level and they're not far off the mark. He's drunk so much to cope with all the terrible stuff in his life that it's lost its effect and he literally can't get drunk anymore, no matter how much he wants to. Even hard liquor doesn't work and he keeps trying to fill the void.

Ludwig: Can't handle anything besides a good beer. He'll be the life of the party, completely contradicting his usual strict demeanor and everyone will collect blackmail for when they get in trouble at the next meeting. Gilbert has the most and will sell it for a good price. He's made a good sum of money and this keeps his video game funds filled.

Lutz: Will get so energized he'll be doing laps for a while until he eventually crashes once again. He's got to retain those muscles somehow! Also has a reasonable level of tolerance.

GIlbert: Likes going on rants about the old days as the Teutonic Knights. Ludwig and Klaus like hearing the stories he otherwise wouldn't share if sober. They've sworn a vow of secrecy.

Klaus: Loses his anxiety and depression for a while but believes he's still a knight. But this knight is more akin to a stereotypical knight and he'll try rescuing the dogs, Klaubird, and Gilbird from the vacuum.

Luciano: Also has a huge tolerance level but on the rare occasion he gets drunk enough, he'll start acting more like Feliciano and say Ve~ after every sentence. According to Flavio, this is how he use to act before Rome died and he had to become the boss. Also, Flavio has managed to get pics of him while wearing a homemade Wario costume courtesy of Flavio who's dressed up as Waluigi to compliment Feliciano and Lovino who're wearing Mario and Luigi costimes.

Feliciano: NEVER, EVER GET HIM DRUNK. If you thought he was hyper before, he goes ham like the Tasmanian devil when drunk. Though he's fine after drinking wine, if he gets anything stronger he'll become chaos.

Lovino: Will get affectionate, more happy-go-lucky, and cuddly, completely contrasts his regular tsundere attitude. Flavio takes advantage to have him try on his new clothes. Has been convinced to wear the Luigi costume by a sober Feliciano because he thought it was fun.

Flavio: Prefers drinking while designing. He gets a lot of inspiration while tipsy so he has a reasonable tolerance level.

Kiku: Otaku side comes out and gets extremely extroverted. Alred thinks drunk Japan is really fun to do stupid stuff with.

Kuro: If he gets drunk he won't show it. But Gilbert has somehow managed to acquire video of him pretending to be an actual ninja and trying/failing to stick to walls and naruto run. We suspect Kiku may have something to do with GIlbert getting the video. Never let him find out!

[kishillaa]

SSM21 Day 17: A Gentle Man

Sakura had to bite her lips when she sees an ebony boy lean against the hospital wall; his hands shoved deep in his pockets of his shinobi pants, one leg is bend for its to stay on the wall while the other one stand to hold his weight. He looks rather tired, especially with bandage wrapped neatly around his head where his forehead protector usually be. She sighs as she approached him. He's too good looking for his own good.

As if sensing her presence – or was it shinobi thing? Maybe Sasuke mentioned about it before? Chakra signature was it? — he turns his head to her. He push himself off the wall and face her as if to greet her coming his way.

"Hey." She said, smiling. "I heard you're here."

Sasuke shrugs, "Yeah, caught minor wound on our way back."

"Let me see." She's already reaching up to his wrapped head, putting light pressure where she saw small blood make itself known just above his ear.

"How did it happen?"

Sasuke scoff lightly, and Sakura knows he purposefully dif to avoid telling her it's not for her to know, "It's nothing serious. Come on, your shift ended half an hour ago. I'll walk you home."

Sakura fight back a grin as she nodded at him. He wasn't usually in the village, always busy with his confidential shinobi or ANBU mission, but when he is, he do every thing he missed out with her since they started this, whatever it is, few months ago.

"Have you eaten?" Sakura asked, as he leads her out of the lobby of the hospital, walking side by side.

Sasuke shakes his head, "And neither do you."

Sakura close her mouth with her hand as she laughs. He always knew, "That's true."

They walk together under the dark starless night, with Sakura looking up the sky and him ahead of their route, "So, was it a success again this time?" She asked, as she peaked at him.

"You could say that." He wears his ANBU gear, so it must be a bad stuff –as to what he said– so Sakura refrain herself asking for more.

"How was your shift?" He asked, didn't even try to hide the fact that he was blatantly staring at her.

Grinning, Sakura bounced herself so she's few step ahead of him before she turns around to face the pretty face Sasuke, while walking backwards with Sasuke following with his slow pace towards her.

"It was pretty good. Quite few new experiences. And I actually went through one surgery with a medic nin." She went on, "After all this time, I was still astonished what a ninja medic can do. There's only a handful things civilian doctor does."

"You're already great at your job, Sakura." He had said, "Though, I'm sure you'd be an okay ninja. I can't fully detect your chakra since you don't use it at all, but they are very warm, tame and quite stable. A medic nin will be a good choice if you decided to be a ninja."

Sakura hands clasped behind her back as she stop her pace and leans towards him, "If I chose to become a ninja years and years ago, do you think you and I will be in the same class in the academy together?"

Sasuke however raised an eyebrow at her question. "Probably." He said, playing along.

Satisfied that he did, Sakura's grin widen, "Do you think you'll like me when we're in the academy? Developing a crush maybe?"

Sasuke's face reveal a tiny amused smirk, "No,"

"And why is that?" Sakura tilted her head, frowning at his confident no.

Sasuke shrugs his shoulders, "I'm sure you're the one who will having a crush on me, join all those fangirls fawning over me, shamelessly ask for dates and for a seat next to me–"

Sakura makes an odd face as she cuts him off, "They did that?" She's quite impressed actually, if they went that extend for her good looking boyfriend (?)

"Still do." He replied nonchalantly, moving forward as he gently tug Sakura's arm to walk beside him.

"They do? Why didn't I know about this?" She asked as her feet fall beside him.

Sasuke rolls his eyes at her, "It doesn't matter."

"Because you like me, right? Right?" She was hopeful as she asked him. She didn't go to the same school Sasuke went, and she wasn't in the village for few years back either, so she doesn't really know people their age.

Sasuke Uchiha is always a tease when it comes to Sakura Haruno, so he smirked at her, "Maybe."

Sakura narrows her eyes at him before she turns her head away to the other direction, decided to dismiss his teasing manner and continue on to her game, "Do you think we will chosen to be in the same team, what do you call that? Genin was it?"

"Ahh." He responded.

"Genin team." She let out a short chuckle, "So cute, don't you think? What did you say your Jounin instructor was?"

"Hatake Kakashi."

Smiling ruefully, she asks, "Do you think he will like me? And your other teammate? I mean, we're going to become a team, I'm sure we will at least tolerate each other."

She doesn't realized it when her companion frown as he look down at her, "I think the dobe will have a crush on you. Kakashi will be neglecting you in training, but will be very fond of you, I'm sure."

"I thought you said your sensei doesn't like Ami." Sakura reminded.

"That's Ami. She's very aggravating, and a handful. You, in the other hand is brilliant, and Kakashi likes those who ask questions, and that's what you always do."

Sakura had to grin in content at Sasuke's subtle compliment of her, "He has many reasons to like me then. How about the other male teammate of yours. He's the blonde boy right, your best friend? Naruto?"

"Ahh." he said, and stop at Ichiraku, a ramen shop. "He liked ramen a little too much."

Sakura laughed, "Really, now? Is this where you often found him?"

"Hnn." He paused, "If I didn't know he has mission today, I'll be avoiding this place at all cost."

"Why bring me here, then?"

"It's the closest from the hospital."

"Alright, then."

Sasuke nodded at her as he pulls up the shop curtain for her to get in.

Smiling at his chivalrous manner, Sakura get in as he follows suit. They take a seat on the stool and order their food.

"This is actually good." She moans in satisfaction as she tasted the ramen. "Why haven't you bring me here before, Sasuke-kun?" She asked as Sasuke nod at the owner when he handed Sasuke's order.

"I've had a little too much of this. And plus, we hardly go out together for me to bring you anywhere."

"That's true." Sakura said, nodding her head as she feeds more of the ramen into her mouth. It didn't take long for her to finish her first bowl.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, "Do you want another one?"

Biting her lips, Sakura nodded shyly and so they order another bowl of ramen for her, "Naruto will be delighted knowing you like this."

"Ahh, we should bring him together next time then?" she suggested, "Maybe your sensei too? How about your brother and that charming cousin of yours? And your smoking friend?"

Sasuke rolls his eyes at her, "Yeah, bring the whole village here if you'd like."

Sakura burst out laughing at his sarcastic response, playfully smack his arm. They chatted a few more as Sakura finishes her second bowl. When Sasuke ask her if she wanted a third one, she shakes her head while patting her stomach, "I'm so full."

He pays for their food before they left, quickly shove the money to Teuchi before Sakura could retrieve hers.

"You don't have to pay mine." Her forehead scrunch in displease.

"I already did." Sasuke replied nonchalantly shrug his shoulder making Sakura rolls her eyes as they walk to the direction of her house. The walk to her house wasn't silence with Sakura constant chatter, which Sasuke has started to like. It's way better than Naruto's too loud and bright presence.

"Thank you for walking me home. And for the ramen. We absolutely need to go back there." She said, hands clasped at her back as she beams while she looks up at him.

Sasuke shoved his hands in his pants pockets while nodding, "If you like."

Sakura giggles at him before she rose on her toes to place a chaste kiss over his lips, "You're so cute."

He rolls his eyes, "Go up now, I'll wait."

"Such gentle man aren't you, Sasuke-kun. Good night." She chuckles as she turns around, raise her hand up for a good bye and walk up the stairs to her home.

True to his word, Sasuke wait until he heard a door closed, and her room light up for him to walk away, though he still look up at the window of her room while walking.

[sanjiaftersex]

Sending you lots of love, chérie 💖 Which Uchiha do you think would be the best for hokage, and which one would be the worst? And why, please, I love reading your thoughts.

CHÉRIE THAT'S SO CUTE OMFG 😭🥺

OK LET'S GO

My answer is Uchiha Sasuke.. He would make the best hokage among ALL naruto characters...He has all the Hard AND soft skills required to be in that position. Let's see the points :

Powerful : Sasuke is very powerful. very obvious.

Skillful : his powers are just right. isn't just wham bam brute strength like that of akimichi's or codependent like the yamanaka one

Agile : sasuke is super agile in his battles, and this just proves he has a sharp mind. on top of that he has fast reflexes my body moved on its own GAY

Sacrificial but not suicidal : Mr my body moved on its own but remember Sasuke didn't jump at every death situation willingly. he chose his battles and knew when to step back and when to dive in

Articulate : Sasuke knows his words. a hokage is a representative of the village so they have to be good with their words, be able to strike deals efficiently and win in the diplomacy mind games. ain't no shikamaru would be needed if Mr Uchiha sits on that chair

Cool headed : He keeps his cool,occasionally throws cunty remarks and approaches the enemy in a way a tiger approaches its prey. King was BORN to become a leader. he is not easy to rile up cz he knows his worth (unless you are naruto than u could idk say hi and Sasuke's heart will go BUDAM TUSS)

Poker Face : no matter how emotional he gets on the inside sasuke never shows it on his face.he has incredible control over his own reactions. This is a really important skill for any representative to have because this ain't keeping up with the Kardashians this is cutthroat real life

Knowledgeable : Sasuke was class topper at the academy. So he knew his way around the ninja bookish knowledge. it's important for someone in an important position like the hokage's to possess both theoretical and practical knowledge.

Emotional Intelligence : Sasuke forgave itachi even after all the brain damage he caused. this shows sasuke can see and go beyond him and look at the bigger picture. He will not let petty revenge or personal shit come in the path of the state's best interest.

Forgiveness : from the last point, he forgave itachi. which is not possible for most people bro someone laughed at bella hadid and i unfriended him cz fuck that. Being able to forgive and being the bigger person is something essential when you're in a leader position

Quick Decision Making skills : he takes super quick Decisions (agility in battles often comes from being able to calculate and come to a decision quickly) which is ADMIRABLE (now that i think abt it this one is the most important. as a Libra I can't make decisions for SHIT need me a sasuke)

Focused : he kept being focused and working on his revenge plan for a long time which proved he has perseverance, and laser sharp focus

Organization skills : He came up with a plan to achieve his results and then teamed up with different people to get there

Flexibility : even though he wanted to train and develop his skills, he tried many different paths for that. he was not fixated on just one path, say just stay with Orochimaru etc. but he went around, tried out new plans and teams and saw which one works the best

Priorities : even when he was super focused on one task (his revenge) he didn't neglect his other duties (getting good grades at the academy, going on missions, being gay, falling in love, BEING GAY, saving his teammates etc) which shows he doesn't have myopic vision for just one plan, he can juggle many tasks at once AND ACE ALL OF THEM.

So yeah Uchiha Sasuke is my answer

So it's understandable why he is so popular. Uchiha Sasuke is just the moment, the myth, the legend.