#like I fully believe this is what Obito did when he saved Kakashi from the boulder.

[itischeese]

yeah, your body moving automatically to save someone is good and all, but have you considered the inherent love required to see what’s about to happen, to know what will happen to you if you save them, and to do it anyway, because even though it might kill you, they’ll survive, and in the end that matters far more, because they’re worth it, in the end?

Yes, this post is about Kakaobi.

[raveneira]

hi, do you think when sarada awoken the mangeko (as much as i wish that trashy awakening wasn't real it unfortunately is) because of she cared for brto and was a die hard fan or was she just really upset that no one belived her and thought she was spouting nonsense? for me i low-key feel that it is the latter since sarada seems to have more concern for herself and the fact that she thinking that everyone denying her reality affected her so much to the point of awakening ms? it's still bad tho

Unfortunately if we're being realistic, nobody fkin knows what triggered it, there are two primary theories in the fandom and both are factually false

1 She was overwhelmed, everybody suddenly hunting/attacking Boruto, hearing Naruto was killed, her father not believing her, and finally her desperate plea for him to save Boruto is was caused her MS

2 her immense love for Boruto and fear of him being killed is what triggered it

Both of these are factually wrong, others may wanna live by Ikemoto's bs rules but Im not, Kishimoto didnt spend 15 yrs establishing this power up for us to just be like 'well none of that matters now cuz Ikemoto did different' stfu, the original creator >>> an incompetent assistant that constantly says fk what Kishimoto established in his own verse to make whatever bs plot/scenario he needs to work. In this case, he needed 'change Boruto's fate' and justify Sasuke leaving with Boruto for 3 years so he pulled that omnipotence bs and then made Sarada awaken her MS solely to convince Sasuke to believe her, there was literally no other purpose than that.

So for a memory refresher, why is her MS awakening factually wrong? because neither of the explanations people give are how the MS WORKS.

This is literally in part one where we're first introduced and explained to how the MS is obtained.

Itachi says you have to kill your closest friend to obtain the MS which isnt a lie, but its not the entire truth either, but the general idea is the same as I will show here where we get more detail.

Tobirama, like Itachi, are correct in their statements, but once again it is not the entire truth either because as we've seen several times the BASE Sharingan can evolve without feelings of hatred, but a strong desire to protect those dear to you, grief, and losing a dear loved one are all triggers for the Sharingans evolution, this is further proven by the fact that Kagami and Shisui never fell into the 'curse of hatred' and still had fully evolved Sharingan, Shisui even had MS despite wanting to follow a completely pacifistic path.

Now lets go over the actual difficulty in how it is obtained, lets look at the databook first, I took the liberty of highlighting the relevant parts for those who like to stay in denial whenever this topic comes up.

A cursed ocular ninjutsu only obtainable through great sacrifice.

Through the entire history of the Uchiha clan, it was rare for a member to be able to weild the Mangekyou Sharingan.

Here's the part I want you to keep in mind going forward because I WILL be coming back to it later.

Through the entire history of the Uchiha clan

Remember that for later, now moving on to the next point, ok so thats databook statements but what about in verse? the same thing.

It was rare to obtain the MS, the clan would literally slaughter eachother trying to gain it to no avail because its NOT a simple and easy thing to obtain, otherwise everyone in the Uchiha clan would've had MS if it was just as simple as killing your own kin or being overwhelmed etc [refer to the bs reasons ppl give for why Sarada gained hers] but it actually took SPECIFIC requirements to gain, and we were shown what those were several times.

I think you notice the common theme here, Obito got his MS from seeing his best friend kill Rin, his first love, Kakashi got his at the same time from the act of killing Rin by accident, Itachi got his from watching Shisui commit suicide, Sasuke got his after killing his brother and then learning the truth about Itachi and his clan.

The theme is clear, the requirements to awaken it are even more clear, there is literally no amount of gaslighting anyone can do to overrule whats literally been consistently shown in the canon danm manga by the original creator himself.

'Oh yall just wanted Sarada to be edgy like everyone else Im glad her MS was different' is the stupidest response to this, nobody said they wanted her to be edgy, they just want her danm MS to follow the rules that have been established for 15 years. Also Shisui wasnt edgy and he had MS, so I dont even know how anyone thinks thats a gotcha anyway, she could literally still be the loving Sarada she's always been and still get MS because hatred isnt the only way the Sharingan evolves. I dunno why someone actually thought that was a rebuttal, but it just goes to show how ignorant these ppl are about how the MS works and only care about things being 'different' instead of caring about the actual worldbuilding.

Now lets move onto Sarada, her base Sharingan, although lackluster, still evolved in a way that was consistent with what was set up in OG. She awakened her sharingan for the first time due to her years of pain and longing of missing her dad and then being overjoyed when she was finally about to meet him at last. This wasnt unusual because Sasuke awakened his third tomoe because of how overwhelmed he was that Naruto considered him a brother, his first bond, and his dear friend, despite Sasuke literally trying to kill him right now and cut ties with him, Naruto's sincere love for him made his final tomoe appear. This is why the base Sharingan evolving in this way is not unusual, as long as the emotions are strong enough and struck a cord with them, then the Sharingan will evolve.

This is not the same for MS though, it is a completely different eye with a completely different set of rules, this is why Sarada's awakening is complete ass and not only that but literally breaks the rules of the verse.

Keep this in mind, she hears Naruto, her idol, the man who she aspires to be like, who at one point she wished was her dad, is dead, but not only that, she hears Mitsuki say hes going to kill Boruto. Remember this for what Im about to say next.

This is several minutes after she was told Naruto was dead and that Mitsuki was going to kill Boruto, her eyes didnt budge when she heard Naruto was dead, nor did her eyes budge hearing literally EVERYONE is actively hunting Boruto now.

At the very least the news of Naruto's death was more in line with how the MS awakens, so if she heard that and got her MS from it then it wouldnt have been all that difficult to accept, but unfortunately thats not what happened, she just sat there and cried, no reaction to Naruto dying, and no reaction to hearing and seeing Mitsuki trying to kill Boruto.

So what did trigger it? her being overwhelmed? false because thats what she was in the panels I've shown, she had been sitting there for several minutes with all this chaos goin on around her and no MS, not even her dad not believing her is what triggered it, literally NOTHING anyone tries to say it was triggered it, your literally looking at the panels, her eyes didnt BUDGE.

So what did trigger it then? if none of that did it then what did?

I shit you not, I cannot make this shit up, what triggered her MS was literally because 'Why cant Boruto ever catch a break?'

When I tell you my blood boiled reading that line words cannot describe the rage I felt because the total and I mean TOTAL disregard of everything, EVERYTHING that has happened to her dad, her idol Naruto, and Kawaki was infuriating because she NEVER asked why they cant catch a break, but now all of a sudden because poor Boruto is going through it right now all of a sudden its too cruel.

Her father lost his eye and got fatally beaten up by both Borushiki and Isshiki, Naruto was nearly killed by Isshiki and Borushiki, Kawaki was hunted down by Delta, Code, Isshiki, and Momo, Amado put karma back on him without his permission or anyones knowledge, Kawaki was slowly being consumed by Isshiki through his karma the same as Boruto was with Momoshiki and she didnt give af about NONE of that.

NONE OF THAT

She didnt give af about ANY of it, know who she did tho? Boruto, in chapter 69 who is she telling Mitsuki she feels bad for being unable to protect? Boruto, who is she angry at herself for not being reliable for? Boruto, who does she want to get stronger for so she can help them more? Boruto. This is literally right after Naruto nearly died, Kawaki nearly died, and Boruto nearly died, but the only one she gave a danm about was Boruto.

So you want the real answer to what triggered her MS? Ima be real with you, its honestly anybodys guess because Ikemoto is so bad at properly building up and portraying things clearly compared to Kishimoto, you can see clearly what the MS triggers were for everyone I showed and it isnt up for debate, its clear as day, but Sarada? you literally have to friggin guess because it just pops up so randomly your caught off guard wondering where tf that even came from.

Im not even kidding I've reread this scene so many times and I can NOT pinpoint what the trigger actually was, the only thing I can say is that the turning point was Sumire telling Sarada the cause of everything thats going on, Sarada then falls apart more because 'This is too cruel, why cant Boruto ever catch a break' which again is complete bullshit but I digress...so then she pleads for her dad to believe her and help Boruto because he's innocent but Sasuke doesnt, this is supposedly where the shift happens because her eyes are hidden during these panels.

She basically tells her dad that even if none of this makes sense to him, just to please trust her and grant her this one selfish request, aka saving Boruto.

Im not even kidding but...this is just so danm bad for her...like if I were to be completely generous and unbiased here then I can only make one conclusion from whats been laid out here and that is that her MS awakened simply because she desperately wanted her dad to save Boruto, she wanted her dad to do her this favor no matter what, she wanted him to do it so badly that her MS awakened.

That is the only explanation that can be taken from this, and that is why this is rightfully seen as the WORST MS awakening we've ever seen and why its a complete and utter disappointment because look at this shit, LOOK AT IT, she's just standing there crying and beggin daddy to help when she's had the chance to do something her danm self.

Remember earlier when she heard Mitsuki say he was gonna go kill Boruto? if she was that concerned why she aint go try to stop him? she heard everyone else out to hunt him too and yet she didnt try to go protect him from them either, I mean she could jump infront of Boruto to protect him from KK, she could jump infront of Boruto to protect him from Kawaki, she can abandon her mission to come save Boruto from Shojoji, but FOR SOME REASON she cant stand up and protect Boruto from all the people hunting him right now? her childhood friend this fandom swears up and down shes madly inlove with? she cant stand up and protect him when he needs her the most!?

I aint sayin I wanted her to be the one to leave with Boruto hell no, but leaving with him and protecting him are two entirely different things, she could've easily saved him from Inoshikacho, Chocho would've definitely tried hearin Sarada out, Sasuke could've arrived and Sarada tries to appeal to all of them there, most likely Inojin and Shikadai wouldnt believe her, Chocho is her best friend so she'd know atleast something has to be wrong for Sarada to be so insistent, and Sasuke would be the most inclined to believe her because hes already witnessed something similar with the infinite Tsukiyomi, so is it really all that impossible that Ada, who literally has Otsutsuki dna, to mass brainwash ppl? Sasuke could've told Inoshikacho to leave and let him deal with Boruto and then thats when they discuss Sarada staying behind and Sasuke leaving with Boruto for the time being.

There was no NEED for MS to achieve that, all it would've taken is a little time and effort and CARE to make that ending WORK without having to throw in a forced af power up to justify it because you were too lazy to actually write something that made sense.

But if she MUST have gotten her MS before part one was over, I can show the best opportunities they could've made it happen at.

Kawaki was about to kill Boruto, she tried asking him calmly what is going on but Kawaki just tells her not to interfere if she doesnt wanna die which shocks Sarada because this isnt like Kawaki at all, they were all friends and teammates and not long ago Kawaki was on edge trying his hardest to protect Boruto and now hes suddenly trying to kill him. Boruto told her to run but she refused and chose to protect him anyway despite Kawaki being serious about killing her if she interfered, however when actually faced with that reality she froze which resulted in Boruto saving HER instead and losing his eye.

This was a good place for MS to awaken because someone she thought was a friend is now trying to kill her other friend, her friend shes known since childhood and she cant understand why. She thought she could protect him but failed to be able to follow through and that caused her friend SHE was supposed to be protecting to end up protecting HER and losing his eye because of it. She's feeling immense guilt, betrayal, frustration, helplessness, and now she knows for sure that Kawaki really will kill both of them without hesitation.

However for this to work the scene will have to be changed a bit, Kawaki would knock Sarada out of the way cuz she isnt who he really wants to kill and then proceed to seemingly kill Boruto right infront of her before she can react in time to stop it, I say seemingly because Momo has consistently saved Boruto from otherwise fatal/irreversible injuries. Anyway after Kawaki seemingly deals the fatal blow, Sarada's MS will awaken, right then is when everyone arrives to restrain Kawaki, things play out relatively the same but only even more hostile since he apparently killed Boruto, eventually after their back and forth Boruto wakes up but its Momoshiki in control now same as the manga and he helps Kawaki escape the same way too, only difference is everyones not just shocked Momos helping but that Boruto somehow even survived, this is just another flex of Momos healing capabilities however.

Anyway thats one way she could've gotten MS that is consistent with the established rules of how the MS works.

The other moment that would've worked is the Boro fight, when everyone was getting taken out one by one and seemingly all about to be killed and Sarada was helpless on the ground after being crushed, that was more than enough reason for her MS to awaken as Boruto, Kawaki, and Mitsuki were all out cold and as good as dead.

Unfortunately neither of those happened, and thus were given the weakest, stupidest, most lackluster MS awakening in Uchiha history. Speaking of Uchiha history, remember that like I told you to remember? this is why.

A cursed ocular ninjutsu only obtainable through great sacrifice.

What did Sarada sacrifice for her MS? nothing, she sat there and cried and then begged her dad for help.

Through the entire history of the Uchiha clan, it was rare for a member to be able to weild the Mangekyou Sharingan.

THROUGH THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF THE UCHIHA CLAN, it was RARE for a member to obtain the MS

Keywords, through the entire history of the Uchiha clan, so tell me Saradas MS is bullshit deniers, why was it SO RARE for Uchihas throughout their ENTIRE history to gain the MS if all it took was being a little overwhelmed and scared? this clan faught WARS, children DIED loved ones DIED Uchihas [and Senjus] lived in constant fear EVERY SINGLE DAY and they NEVER awakened it it from that, not even through killing their own kin willingly to gain the power up worked, so please tell me how Sarada can just change something THATS NEVER BEEN A THING in the ENTIRE history of the Uchiha clans existence, please tell me how you think Sarada can just completely change history just by crying and begging.

You cant, because its bullshit and you know it, the MS was rare for a reason, it took SACRIFICE, it took LOSS, you didnt gain it by just sitting on your ass crying and doing nothing, being scared wasnt enough to trigger it, being overwhelmed wasnt enough to trigger it, fearing for your loved ones life wasnt enough to trigger it, but you want me to believe suddenly NOW it is? do you have any idea how disrespectful that is to the entire Uchiha clan to say that none of them ever had to die, they just simply had to be in a chaotic situation [which they were] and cry about it and boom, every single Uchiha could've had their MS easy peasy.

Gtf outta here man and just be real, her MS is bullshit plan and simple and it breaks the established rules of the verse created by Kishimoto himself. IN NO WAY is simply desperately wanting your dad to save your friend enough to awaken your MS, maybe evolve your base Sharingan, but not MS.

So yea to answer your question, the most accurate conclusion to be had from this scene, although factually incorrect for the rules of the verse, In Ikemotos verse however, Sarada's MS awakened because of her desperation for her dad to save Boruto, she wanted that so bad her MS awakened as proof of just how desperate she was for her dad to grant her request, that is the truth of what triggered it.

Im not saying this happened out of some romantic love she has for Boruto, no, but thats still her dear friend shes known her entire life, I dunno why ppl treating her MS awakening in reference to him means she loves him romantically...like I literally saw a tiktok recently where Sarada says 'I awakened my MS for you' and when asked why/how she saids 'Because I like you' and I was just like 😑 yea no wonder people keep defending this garbage, they really do NOT understand how the MS works at all. Out of all the Uchiha's we've seen awaken MS, Obito was the only one who did out of romantic love, the rest was familiar or platonic love, so why her MS awakening is somehow proof of her romantic love for him that till this day is still unconfirmed is beyond me but whatever, these ppl will stay delusional no matter what the facts same so yea, I hope this was able to answer your question.

[kamuikissed]

What’s ur favorite thing about Kakashi and Obito’s dynamic?

thanks for enabling my mental illness anon

UHHHHHH OK SO I LOVE THE PURE RAW HEARTACHE OF IT ALL.... I just love tragedy and they're literally the most tragic duo in the whole thing, but I also love the potential for something beautiful despite everything. Sakumo's suicide changed kakashi's worldview in one direction, and obito's sacrifice changed it again in the opposite direction. I LOVE how kakashis loyalty and care for his comrades is rooted in obito, how his sacrifice overrode his father's suicide. Let's not forget kakashi was ready to abandon rin to her own devices, but.... He followed obito. And it was terrible, and kakashi truly believed he died, and that grief never abandoned him because he compulsively visited his grave. Like ? Insane. And kakashi hated himself so deeply for what happened, always going on suicide missions but never dying bc he wasn't going to throw away the sacrifice obito did for him meaninglessly.... Truly showstopping. and God his shock and pure horror in the war when he realised that was obito..... Wonderful. How do you even recover from the fact your long dead friend is now the master villain. The fact kakashi would've killed him had obito not been part zetsu is insane, kakashi thrust his hand through his chest to save the world but it was still the last thing he wanted to do.... Had obito died, he would've died a second time in his mind, and he would've been the second friend to kill through a raikiri to the chest..... Insane. Insane.

And the tragedy is mirrored from obito's side too. He fully gave his life for kakashi, the fact Madara saved him was not in his plans at all. He saved kakashi and he was happy to die for him, and when he realised he was alive some of his first thoughts were just to run back to kakashi and rin and be the best team with kakashi, like..... Previously they were the farthest thing from a team (which if you take the anime flashbacks as canon that just makes it more sad, because they're shown as having become friends way before the bridge mission), but after that? All he wanted was to be kakashi's most trusted partner lol...... Insane! And the grief of watching kakashi kill rin just destroyed him.... And that made him hate kakashi but. Not enough to kill him obviously LOL. and I fully believe that when he learnt Madara orchestrated the whole thing, kakashi's unnecessary trauma is what stuck with him BECAAAAUUUSEEEE obito always went on and on about how he's going to stop endless suffering with tsukinome, and in their very last confrontation, this is what he assured kakashi he was going to give him... Anything he wanted. No more pain. AND the fact obito just kept refusing to kill him even if 1. He obviously has no qualms about killing people and actually seems to enjoy it lol and 2. He could've. Obito could've killed kakashi in kamui. But didn't. THAT'S romance

All in all they're two people who destroyed and remade each other so intimately despite their lack of contact that even after everything, they'll always be two halves of a whole, they'll always care about the other even against their own will, and I love how their shared sharingan is the most pure symbol of that connection, to the point their mangekyo are two halves of the same jutsu (which is literally unseen in every other Uchiha, all other (manga) mangekyo users have unrelated powers or the same power in both eyes.... Yeah)

All in all despite their lack of screen time their importance to one another can't be understated... There's so much potential for what ifs in every single direction and I love that

All in all

[panharmonium]

the other thing that i keep thinking about, especially now that i’ve been knee-deep in conversation about kakashi’s father for the last couple days, is the amount of politically/socially-charged context kakashi must be constantly navigating as a leaf shinobi, even though we don’t get to see much of it.  

the transformation of the hidden leaf village is obviously still a work in progress, and society never changes overnight.  we’ve heard at various points in shippuden about the still-present divide between hardliners like danzo and the (somewhat) more moderate senju line, and it’s clear that there are still plenty of reactionary/conservative forces at work in the shinobi world, which means there are absolutely still segments of the population who would view the kind of challenge that kakashi and his students pose to traditional shinobi values as a threat.  and back when kakashi first chose to reaffirm his father’s principles, i’m sure it was much worse - the way minato tells it, the entire village and the land of fire turned on sakumo, and it’s not like all those people just disappeared when kakashi finally allowed himself to recognize that all of them were doing something wrong.  they were still there.  they were his neighbors.  they were his colleagues.  he had to live with them.  he had to work with them - he had to work FOR them, even.  to this day, he still does.

like.  i am FASCINATED by the complexities of this situation, even though we barely see any of it.  just...thinking about thirteen year-old kakashi being a member of the Jonin Assembly alongside all of these grown adults who persecuted his father until the “great man who everyone looked up to” couldn’t survive it any longer.  thinking about teenage kakashi lost and “waiting to die” in the anbu black ops, but still breaking every rule to rescue little tenzo from a hardline conservative who tried to have kakashi assassinated.  thinking about adult kakashi, still a member of that same Jonin Assembly, still working alongside people he can clearly remember harassing and attacking his father for saving their lives, being asked to serve as a clandestine hokage under danzo’s nose, because foreign nations trust kakashi where they don’t trust the actual nominee, and then being nominated for real when danzo turns up dead (and having his nomination approved, i might add, by the land of fire, whose government officially blamed kakashi’s father for the damage that resulted from that abandoned mission years before).

we only get hints about the lingering controversy surrounding kakashi and his family via danzo and, occasionally, the village elders, but like.  kakashi occupies such a complex place in the hidden leaf village, because he’s become incredibly respected and renowned by many (if not most) of its residents, but he also spends every day of his life moving within a community where many (if not most) of the older people around him participated in a campaign of vicious harassment against his father, one that ultimately led to his death.  some of them may have had changes of heart after sakumo’s suicide - that seems like the kind of thing that might have shocked some people into reevaluating their positions, particularly given how respected sakumo was prior to that time - and some of them probably died later in the war, but we know there’s still a conservative faction active in the hidden leaf village, and some of those people are always going to be who they are.  and even the people who aren’t - even the ones who regret how they acted - it’s still so complicated!  how do you continue to live and work in that environment?  how do you navigate a history of being harmed in that way, when you still have to collaborate with and/or serve the same people who did the harming, some of whom likely view you with the exact same disdain they had for your father?

kakashi manages it, somehow, though i’ll bet he has complicated feelings about it, even if he keeps them to himself.  and that’s yet another reason why (if i can just take these thoughts on a slight detour to the present) i think kakashi’s relationship with sasuke is so vitally important, especially moving forward.  sasuke’s family was wronged by the village too, in horrific, unforgivable ways - the shinobi system swallowed itachi whole and sacrificed the entire uchiha clan on the altar of a mission, in exactly the kind of evil, inhuman decision-making process that sakumo and obito and kakashi said could never be justified.  the uchiha were victims of the same shinobi system that drove kakashi’s father to his death - the one that said “everything is acceptable as long as the task at hand is accomplished.  people are disposable in service to a mission.”  both sasuke and kakashi’s families fell to a cultural context that refused to acknowledge that it is never okay to sacrifice your comrades for a mission, a cultural context that embraced this belief to the point where even literal genocide became excusable.

if sasuke is ever going to really and truly Come Home, he’s going to need to learn how to navigate this situation.  not to excuse the wrong that was done, and certainly not to give up on getting justice for himself and his clan, but also to figure out, in conjunction with these important tasks, how to continue existing in an environment where so much officially-sanctioned harm was done to his person, and where so many people around him have at least a little bit of history of being suspicious of or uncharitable towards the uchiha clan, even though they obviously didn’t know about the impending coup or danzo’s extermination order.  

it’s an incredibly complicated situation, and even if kakashi doesn’t have all the answers, he can at least understand what it feels like to be in that kind of position.  he’s been navigating something like this for many, many years.  he’s the precedent, someone who can help sasuke wrestle with the perhaps unanswerable questions of how am i supposed to dedicate myself to a place that wronged me like this?  why should i protect people who hurt me so badly?  is there even a way for me to move forward here, if i can’t forgive the ones who took my family away from me?  can this actually be my home again, when i know what it did to my people?

kakashi has obviously managed to come up with answers to these questions that enable him to stay integrated in his community and keep building a future he believes in, though I doubt any of his answers are simple, and i’m sure there are some things that he’s just had to accept will never be fully settled in his heart.  it’s like what he says to obito in an episode i watched recently: “i don’t know anything for sure, either...i’ve thought that this world is hell, too...but...”  it’s the but that matters.  even in the face of confusion and complexity, kakashi has found a way to keep moving.  he’s learned to co-exist with the uncertainty and discomfort surrounding him, and to make his own meaning out of this life, regardless of how complicated his internal relationship with the village might be.  he’s found a way to keep his eyes trained on the light, whatever that light might look like for him, and even if said light is only, as gaara says, “the faintest glimmer.”  he has so much to teach someone like sasuke, who up until recently was responding to that same plea of gaara’s with a fatalistic “i shut my eyes a long time ago.  the things i seek now lie only in the darkness.” 

anyway.  i am just having Many Thoughts currently about the intricacies of the political and social context that kakashi is always navigating, even though he never says a word about it.  and i’m curious whether this family history will ever come up again in the last fifth of this show.  if i were going on instinct alone, i’d suspect that we weren’t quite done with sakumo yet - i feel like we barely even started with him, to be honest (and also - whatever happened to kakashi’s mother???) - but i should know better at this point than to try and predict what this show is going to do, so i’ll just wait and see.

[beneathstarryskies]

Hello! May I request a oneshot (modern au or everybody lives au pls) where Obito falls in love with reader? With the whole falling out of love w/ rin angst as well pls (I like Obito so much and I am hella jealous of Rin >:( )

Word Count: 1,517

Warnings: Angst, fluff, fem!reader

A/N: I had a lot of fun with this, and I was so tempted to make it smutty but alas I practiced self control.

The village is bathed in orange light as the sun sets over Konoha. Obito sits alone on the rooftop, his eyes trained on the stone-carved face of his former sensei. His memories of being on Team Minato play in his head.

The journey to redemption had been long and difficult. Obito expected to die helping Naruto save the world, coming to fully accept his fate. Things didn’t happen that way, instead, he found himself having to face living. It was a scenario he’d not planned for at all. Kakashi had pulled every string possible to be able to give Obito a second chance.

“It’s what Rin would’ve wanted,” Kakashi had told him.

Rin.

Obito sighs as he tries to focus on his breathing in an attempt to clear his thoughts. His attention is pulled away from the air filling his lungs when he hears your feet hitting the rooftop. He turns to you slowly, his chest blossoms with warmth when his eyes fall on your shy smile.

You’ve been gone for a couple of weeks now on a mission, and Obito felt a tugging in his chest the entire time you were gone. It’d taken him a while to realize it was because he missed you. Truthfully, it was that realization which brought him here. Trying to come to terms with what it all means. Of everyone in Konoha, you were the first to truly accept his presence. You reached out to make friends with him despite his initial insistence on keeping you at arm’s length. Little by little he felt himself warming up to you, eventually coming to crave your presence when you’re away on missions or too busy with your other duties to hang around much.

“I thought I might find you here,” you say quietly. “What’s on your mind Obito?”

“Nothing really,” he shrugs. “Just trying to clear my mind a bit.”

“Hm, me too,” you hum.

Obito smiles weakly, “How did your mission go?”

You shrug, “Boring.”

You lay your head on his shoulder and let out a small sigh. A thought was bursting forth in your brain. The words linger on your tongue, but the way Obito tenses at the closeness you’ve presented causes them to stay trapped there. You bring your head back up to study the stern eyes of the past Hokage staring back at you.

“I missed you,” Obito says finally.

“You stole the words right out of my mouth,” you smile.

Obito feels his cheeks grow warm. He turns his face away from you to hide the pink dusting across his cheeks. Obito is certain by now you’ve noticed how flustered gets around you but is grateful that you don’t feel the need to point it out. There are so many things he’s grateful for where you’re concerned he lost count long ago.

You lean back on your hands, your hair falling behind your shoulders.

“Hey, maybe since I’m gonna be home for a while we should find something fun to do,” you suggest with a bright smile.

His heart pounds in his chest, “Oh yeah?”

“I could use a trip to the hot springs,” you suggest. “Or maybe we could find a carnival or something.”

“You choose,” Obito smiles.

I’d follow you anywhere, he thinks to himself as he looks at your sweet face. He wants to say it but keeps the sentiment to himself.

~

“I don’t deserve to love again,” Obito says in a hoarse whisper as he stares at Rin’s headstone.

His fingers trace over her name as light as a feather. Tears sting his eyes as he feels so consumed with guilt. He’d been willing to burn the world down for a chance to be with Rin again, but now he finds those feelings fading each day as you make a home in his heart.

Rin is always watching, he keeps telling himself. How would she feel to know he’s fallen in love with someone else? Is she watching it happen while being so helpless to stop it?

He turns these questions over in his mind until he gets the feeling he’s being watched. His hand pulls away from her gravestone to look around the grounds, finally spotting Kakashi leaning against the gate.

“I heard you were visiting the hot springs,” Kakashi says as he begins to walk toward Obito.

“We’re supposed to leave tomorrow.”

“Good,” Kakashi nods. “That’ll be good for you.”

Obito furrows his eyebrows at his friend, “Why?”

“Because you and y/n are close,” Kakashi shrugs. “Maybe this will give you a chance to bond.”

Obito’s chest feels heavy at Kakashi’s words. Was it so obvious? He shoves his hands in his pockets, pulling his eyes away from Kakashi back to Rin’s memorial.

“I think Rin would be very happy for you,” Kakashi’s voice has fallen to a soft whisper.

“Maybe,” Obito sighs.

“She would be,” Kakashi persists. “All Rin ever wanted was for you to be happy, Obito. If this makes you happy, then she would be fully supportive.”

“I don’t deserve this.”

“Love is not about deserving it.”

“What do you know about love?” Obito spits back, not even understanding why Kakashi’s words bothered him so much.

Kakashi just shrugs, as unbothered as ever. Obito groans because he knows Kakashi is right.

~

“I hope you don’t mind that I booked us just one room,” you say as Obito sets his things down. “It’s all they had on such short notice. Plus side though, we have a private onsen!”

Obito smiles, “It’s fine. We can take turns.”

You giggle, “We don’t have to do that. I trust you not to be a pervert.”

Obito’s cheeks turn bright pink. His heart pounds in his chest. Truthfully he doesn’t know if you should trust him so much. He’d never do anything to hurt you, but he’s not sure if he could stop himself from at least looking at you. Even in your usual loose-fitting clothes, he finds you absolutely gorgeous. Seeing your soft skin would be very difficult to resist.

But also, he’s scared of you seeing him. He’s still a bit insecure about the scars on his face. Your eyes never linger on the scars too much, in fact on more than one occasion you’re pressed a soft kiss to his cheek as though they weren’t even there. He’s worried this may change once you see the way they’re stretched over half his body.

You unpack your things in the room despite wanting to just strip off and jump into the hot water. Obito isn’t as neat as you. His clothes get shoved into the drawer, but he lingers awkwardly in the room once he realizes there’s no other way to get around the main purpose of this trip.

“I’m gonna get in now,” you say quickly. Obito realizes you’ve also been trying to get around it.

“Maybe you should get in first,” he suggests. “So I can’t see anything?”

“Hm, or we can just undress at the same time? That way we just won’t worry about it anymore.”

Obito swallows hard, “Are you sure?”

You laugh despite the blush on your cheeks, “We might as well. I don’t want us to spend the whole trip trying to avoid nudity. We’re at a hot spring after all.”

“I just,” Obito looks down at the floor. “You know these scars aren’t just on my face and neck.”

Your lips tighten into a frown as you step forward. Obito’s eyes slowly trail to your sad face. He’s not sure what he expected, but to feel your arms wrap around him was not it. Your lips brush against his cheek before you look up at him.

“Obito, you fool,” you say as you stare into his eyes. “I don’t care about that at all.”

Tears prick his eyes, and a knot begins forming in his throat. He opens his mouth as it becomes harder to breathe. Your eyes are so filled with adoration it’s overwhelming.

“You don’t?”

“Of course not. I was gonna wait until dinner but I guess I should just say it now,” you take a shaky breath. “Obito, I think you’re gorgeous.”

He bites back the sobs threatening to escape him, “Really?”

You lay your head on his chest to hide your flushed face, “Of course. I just didn’t know how to tell you. I-”

“I love you!” Obito blurts out as his arms tighten around you.

You look up at him with tears filling your eyes, “Obito, I love you too. I was so worried you wouldn’t feel the same way I just-”

He steals your words with a clumsy kiss. His heart feels like it’s going to burst when you eagerly kiss him back. Your hands move to tangle in his hair, and you raise on your tiptoes to deepen the kiss. Obito breathes you in, wanting your affection to wash over him and erase all his insecurity. By the time you pull away, both of you struggle to catch your breaths.

As your hands trace over his cheeks with a small smile, Obito can’t believe his luck.

[candyopala]

Stuck in his ways, Chapter 7

Chapter Summary:  Y/N and Obito have to get around the awkwardness of the events from that night, and what better to help with that then team seven in all its glory?

Words: 2.3k

AO3

Please like or reblog if you enjoy, check my rules for requests too! My dms are also open if you want to chat or anything else. 

After spending a whole day on the hospital, Obito heads home for some well-deserved sleep. It is only on the next day, on his way to the field, that he starts properly processing what happened that night with Y/N. Her bandaging him up with a weird look in her eyes, him crying in front of her… the warmth he felt when she held his hand. Why did he do that in front of her anyway? They barely know each other, she teases him to no end, but he can’t help to already feel close to her, even if he doesn’t want to admit it. 

The way she held him…. He hasn’t felt this way since long ago, he felt accepted in an intimate way, he felt genuine companionship with her. Obito feels bad when he remembers too the reason for that whole situation, he wanted to get rid of the girl; he wanted to make her go away without giving her a chance. 

I’ve been so blind, shutting her off like that…

Without knowing anything about his failures and only knowing that ugly side he shows to everyone, she still helped him through a tough time. He can’t help but feel his heart flutter with embarrassment, he didn’t even give her much of a chance. She might not be from Konoha, but there’s still good in her. He needs to take his mission with her more seriously.

He walks down the market streets, instinctively analyzing every single action that happens around him, seeing the faces of the people going up and down the roadway busy with their things. It’s not long before he spots four familiar figures walking down the street together: team seven. Naruto and Sakura discuss loudly about a matter Obito doesn’t bother try rearing, followed by Sasuke and Kakashi tagging along. Obito tries to say hi to Kakashi, only to be attacked by a running Naruto that throws himself onto him with all his force: 

“Big bro Obito!”

“Hey! Calm down now! It’s only seven a.m. for Kami’s sake!” He scolds while laughing aloud and hugging the thirteen-year-old back

“I’m learning something new, you have to come see it! Are you busy?”

“I’m going to the training grounds, I can’t Naruto, sorry”

“Come on! Train with us!”

“Hey Naruto, stop bothering Obito, all right? He’s busy” Kakashi tries to intervene in Obito’s sake

“Huh… actually…” 

Obito’s mind starts functioning, he does need to teach some new stuff to Sasuke and bringing Y/N along would be good for her training. He decides to join them, he actually feels deep down the need to introduce her to new people, to get her more settled into the village. 

“I guess I’ll come along. There’s someone I want you guys to meet”

“Oh, is it her?” Naruto says with a devilish sparkle in his eyes.

“Her? Are you dating?” Sakura jumps up, immediately invested into the conversation.

“Finally” Sasuke also joins to make it all worse.

“Guys, calm down…” Kakashi once again tries to save his friend from his hyperactive trio “He’s just training a new member of the village”

A collective “oh” is heard from the two in disappointment. Great, now even the kids are invested in his love life. Obito tells them a little bit more about her on the way to the field, and he notices that even Kakashi seems a little bit more enthusiastic than normal. 

When they reach the training grounds, he finds Y/N laying back on a tree, with a surprised look on her face when she sees the kids. Obito tries to introduce them, but they end up introducing themselves, with a hyperactive Naruto leading the presentations followed by his teammates and his teacher. 

“Nice to meet you guys! Are we training together today?”

“Yup” Obito tries to say in the middle of Naruto’s ramblings 

“How’s your arm?” She asks him back in the midst of it, a bit of what seems worry flashes her eyes, only to be quickly concealed with a look to the side.

“Oh, feeling like new. Some medical ninjutsu quickly solved it.” He states as he gets more embarrassed by the minute, once the memory of their shared companionship floods his mind. He needs to try to actually be nicer to her. 

Meanwhile, Sakura flies a sly meaning smile in Obito’s direction, to his utter desperation. Watching the whole scene develop, Kakashi once again intervenes, trying to get to the subject of training. 

“So, Y/N, dumbi- ahem, Obito told me you need some help with discovering your chakra nature. Coincidentally, that’s what I’m currently doing with the kids, so we could help you with that”

“That would be great, thanks guys! Out of curiosity, what horrible things did my mentor say about me?” 

“Only the most terrible embarrassing things I found on your file” Obito teases back in a flash, without doing much thinking, letting himself play around a little.

“Oh then I should tell you friend about your new nickna-“

“Let’s start training, shall we?” He interrupts her before she can say it, since letting Kakashi know about that would be the end of him.

Kakashi started trying to teach Y/N a couple of techniques, teaching her to concentrate her chakra and showing her the right hand signs. Obito also explained about the ideal state of mind each element requires, the type of energy each one of them consumes. 

Raiton was immediately out of question, and despite her special punch technique, doton seemed to drain too much of her energy, as well as suiton. She was able to produce a small amount of katon, only achieving smaller jutsu still due to the immense amount of chakra these require, so the fireball jutsu was out of question. 

Futton was their last attempt and the one they were more successful with. She could produce wind with her running speed, creating vacuum spots, using the element in a less concentrated way than the rasengan requires, since she is still inexperienced with chakra concentration at that level. 

Obito was actually pleased with today’s developments; he thinks that she can become even stronger by actually doing jutsu in battle. Naruto was also overjoyed to learn that his new village mate had the same main element as himself, showing her his still developing rasengan, proud of his own training and giving her some tips. 

Obito let the pair talking and went to oversee Kakashi and Sasuke, now training his chidori technique. His little cousin had also developed a lot, and was now opening up to be a wonderful kid thanks to Naruto and Sakura’s insistence on their friendship, and Itachi’s efforts to make him socialize more. 

He then also let them train and sat down together with Sakura, who was watching her colleagues train too, while she herself studied some medical ninjutsu books. The small girl looked at him with curiosity, noting the different expression on her sensei’s friend, who was usually much more uptight and serious. With that knowing look again, she simply stated: 

“Mr. Obito, your main element is katon, right?”

“Yes Sakura, why?”

“Ah nothing, I was just wondering… katon is compatible with futton, right?”

“Yes, both can be used together to create more powerful jutsu”

 “So… we could say that you and Y/N are compatible”

Obito’s eye goes wide with the way the girl says it. Both of them know she is not talking about just jutsu here. The implication of what she said makes him go as red as a pepper. 

“N-no Sakura, she is my colleague, we are just that.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about sir, excuse me.”

The girl gets up and runs into Naruto and Y/N’s direction, winking back at Obito on her way. 

 ~”~

 The team gathers up for lunch, Y/N sits beside Obito’s friend Kakashi, opposite to her mentor, who sat in front of her. She avoided his eye contact, still feeling a little inappropriate for her behavior that night. She fears that what happened was too intimate for her own comfort, that she should not try to get that close to him. She should be his teammate, nothing else. She must ignore that pull that she feels from him, that desperate need she feels to talk to him about why he was crying that night. 

She tries to strike up conversation with the ninja beside her, and he is very receptive, if not for his general lack of energy and relaxed demeanor. She sees a small little orange book protruding from his pocket, is that what she thinks it is? It is! The greatest book series of all time! 

“Hey, is that Icha Icha?”

“Yes it is! I just picked up the latest volume!” he immediately assumes a whole different behavior, now fully invested in the conversation.

“What chapter are you on? Did you reach chapter 37 yet?”

“No, and no spoilers, please! I dying to know what she will do when she finds out about that thing”

“Dude, trust me, it’s going to be awesome”

They both strike up conversation about it for a couple of minutes, Y/N talks excitedly about the romance’s structure and how she finds it poetic in a way. They both discuss the general plots, praising the author despite Naruto’s loud complaints about him being a total pervert. 

When she finally looks at Obito’s direction, she sees the jonin hunched forward, with an unimpressed look on his face, matching Sasuke’s that also seems to be bothered by the subject matter.

“Great, another one, they will talk about it forever” The young Uchiha comments.

“I don’t know what you guys see in this stupid book anyway” The oldest complements.

“He didn’t even give it a try; can you believe it, Y/N?” Kakashi teases in response.

“Sacrilegious! How could he say such things?” She retorts with fake shock.

“Shut up, you two perverts.” Obito says with a scorn forming on his lips, something he usually does that Y/N is starting to find extremely fun and… endearing? 

Y/N, Kakashi and the kids laugh at his little tantrum, and later even himself. He is acting different today, more open, with a more lighthearted attitude, a lot less uptight and grumpy. Y/N feels a little happy knowing that he is feeling better, but she quickly shuts off the realization. 

Concentrate on what’s important here. 

They quickly fall back into training, with Y/N sitting back due to her extreme exertion during the chakra nature tests. After he has finished with his portion of the training with Kakashi and Obito, Naruto joins her. They sit together observing Obito discussing the fireball jutsu with Sasuke, Y/N can’t help but notice the proud look on her teammate’s face when his little cousin does a perfect ball of fire, making her let out a small smile. He’s not so cynical after all.  

Naruto begins to talk about how he needs to be as strong as his father is, and Y/N learns that he is, in fact, son of the Hokage. He talks and explains a lot about the village and also talks about how his mom is always bothering him to make his bed in the morning. The kid is all over the place until he focuses on the subject of Obito. 

He begins to tell her about how he is like a big brother for him and how he taught him his most deadly jutsu, something about a sexy jutsu, and how he is cool even if he has no girlfriend. Y/N, being the innocent thing she is, prods him for more embarrassing details about her mentor. 

“One time he got stuck in the sexy woman form and Jiraya followed him around the village for a day! He had to hide from the pervert in the sewers! And once he choked with candy in the middle of a jonin reunion, Kakashi told me that”

Y/N cannot help but bust out in laughter at the image that forms in her mind, not being able to breathe while the kid continues to spill out embarrassing stories about the Uchiha. Naruto is suddenly stopped when Sakura lands a punch on top of his head, screaming in annoyance with her teammate’s attitude: 

“Stop ruining everything!”

What she meant with that remains a mystery to Y/N. The discussion has to be separated by a tired Kakashi, holding Sakura back with all his force. Y/N is caught off guard by Obito’s presence by her side. 

He helps her get up, giving his gloved hand in support. She accepts it, steading herself up. 

“So, that’s all for today, sewer boy?”

“He told you about that, huh?”

“Of course he did”

“Yup, that’s all for today. Let’s head home”

“Let’s? I didn’t know you had moved into my broom closet, Obito”

“You know I’m not letting you walk around exhausted like that, Y/N”

The change in his tone scares her. He sounds serious, almost protective, and he calling her name like that sends shivers down her spine, in a not so bad way. He also didn’t call her a dumbass, is that an improvement? 

She once again insists on walking by herself, but he insists on it so much that she eventually gives up and lets him accompany her. They discuss her new technique possibilities on most of the way, only for the subject to change as they reach her apartment. 

“So, what did you think about them?”

“They’re nice kids, all of them seem to look up to you, Naruto especially”

“He’s a good kid, they are all like family to me”

Y/N agrees with her head, thinking to herself about the word family. She once had one, but lost them very early on. Moreover, once she found another person she could call that, she lost them too. The memories flood her mind, making her face go serious and eyes to go foggy. 

“Take good care of them Obito, what you have here is… amazing”

“I will, I promised that long ago”

They reach her door, saying their goodbyes quickly. As Y/N closes her door, Obito calling her name again interrupts her.

“Oh! Y/N! I forgot; we have an important meeting with the Hokage tomorrow at ten in the morning. We will be heading out for our first mission, be ready”

[an-ambivalent]

Yandere! Obito & Shisui Uchiha

Warning: This post contains yandere themes and mentions of other toxic behaviours that can be triggering and uncomfortable to read. So, read at your own risk. This work is purely fiction. I do not condone this behaviour irl. Reuploading it because for some reason it wasn’t showing in the tags anymore. 

Obito Uchiha

Yandere type: Delusional and Possessive

~From the beginning of the developmental stage of his yandere tendencies towards you, Obito would begin as a delusional and obsessive yandere. While you may or may not have the looks that contribute to his infatuation, the driving factor for his obsession would be your kindness. In reference to plot of Naruto, Obito was a late bloomer in his skills; initially, he was ridiculed for his seemingly delusional ambitions he did not seem to be capable of achieving. Additionally, to some extent, he was ostracised for his lack of skills. If he becomes enthralled by you at this stage, it would only take as little as giving him some acknowledgment and respect for his hard work and any ounce of kindness. From that point on, Obito would begin to admire you, and it would not take him to start loving everything about you.

~With the dangerous love that would start to blossom, there will be the arrival of his fantasies. Amidst classes, missions, whatever the point of the plot timeline, he would start to daydream about you being a damsel in distress, and him as your knight in shining armour who would always end up saving you heroically. He would imagine all types of scenarios with you, starting from how your first kiss would be, all the way to married life situations where he pictured you lovingly cooking a delicious homemeal for him after he would return home from a busy day of being a Hokage. There were other fantasies too, in contrast to his innocent ones, where he imagined risque situations with the two of you in his Hokage office, with dangers of being caught by someone always lurking in the corner.

What started out as harmful fantasies eventually turned into determination to make these delusions a reality. No matter what you or anyone else had to say it would not matter because Obito would come to believe that you wanted this as much as he did. After all, if you didn’t, then why would you pay attention to him in the first place, right?

~After the whole being manipulated by Madara and Zetsu fiasco, and turning into a bad guy who then went on to making the Akatsuki, Obito would undeniably turn into a meaner, more possessive yandere. With his very own best friend, Kakashi Hatake, betraying his trust and killing their teammate, and Konohagakure being filled with other goons like Danzo that could hurt you, Obito would kidnap you. He would trust no one but himself, so you would be in contact  with no one except for him. He will be all you come to know. He will become your entire world just the way you had become his entire world. No one but him would ever see you, touch you, and love you.

Shisui Uchiha

Since Shisui is such a minor supporting character, it’s difficult to establish him as a yandere. Not to mention, throughout the series, he is so highly spoken for. But I think there are few aspects of him that can be used to somewhat predict what he might be like as a yandere.

~To start off with, one characteristic that Shisui is highly acknowledged for is his dedication. His dedication to the village and the Uchiha clan. Values like commitment, that are often at the core of one’s identity, are prevalent in most areas of their life. For that reason, it would be valid to assume that Shisui would be devoted to you. As long as you behave, obey him, and not act out, he would do whatever he can, give as much linency he feels comfortable with to make you happy.

~Generally, a yandere Shisui would be a soft yandere. I personally find it difficult to envision him as anything more because of how he has been portrayed. However, in saying so, he is not beyond having darker moments where he can be cruel. It is known that that Shisui has a ‘darker’ side he finds shameful in one instance when out of jealousy of the possibility that a team-mate was stronger than him, Shisui did not give medical attention to his team-mate inevitably resulting in the team-mate’s death. Building onto this so this analogy can be applied to this instance, Shisui may be susceptible to being harsher on you if he ever  felt that his position in your relationship was threatened, or felt jealous of someone else for whatever reason.

~Shisui’s situation was similar to Itachi, acting as a double-spy for his village and his clan. Since he was already so accustomed to the role of having to watch and keep an eye on others, it was only fair that he kept an eye on his beloved too. He wanted to know if you thought of him when he was not there as much as he thought of you and awaited for his return like the good lover you are supposed to be.

~If you proved to Shisui that you were wholly and honestly committed to him with your entire being, he would be one of those yandere who would let you get away with more than what is called for (respectful to a yandere’s standards). He would also let you have some sort of false belief of autonomy making it seem like you could manipulate him for some things like letting you have more freedom to have some time to yourself and not spend every single second being suffocated by his presence. Of course that’s not the case, but Shisui would entertain it because he loved you and he loved you seeing you happier. But he is very intelligent, and he is not labeled a prodigy without reason. As a result, you would not be able to get away with faking your affections for him.

~Speaking of which, Shisui would be very observant and eventually, would come to read you like an open book. This will only make him more cunning as a yandere as time progresses because understanding you as a person better than you may understand yourself, would make it easier for him to manipulate you if you aren’t fully loyal to him.

[kakashisavakening]

Chapter 1 - Across the Line

Shaking, unsure, fragile. She had to hold onto the door frame when she finally caught a glimpse of Kakashi. Or what remained of the once unabashed Jonin. He was not just mentally broken, but throughout. Sakura covered her mouth to mute the sobs wanting to escape her mouth. She gripped the frame so tightly, her fingertips turned white. The steady beeps of the machines in his room filled the air that was otherwise heavy with silence. Genma was sitting on a chair beside Kakashi's bed, eyes closed. On a table at the end of the bed, Tsunade's notes were scattered, an empty sake bottle tipped over on the right. 

Genma slowly opened his eyes and stared at Sakura with a blank expression. There were dark circles under his eyes. It was obvious that he had been by Kakashi from the beginning. 

"I thought I made myself clear." - Tsunade's voice filled the silence from behind Sakura. - "If all you do is cry, I have no use for you. Grow up or leave."

"B-but Tsunade-sama!" - Genma's eyes widened, his glance jumping from the Hokage to Sakura and then back. Sakura swallowed her tears, not once breaking her glance from her broken sensei. She wiped off whatever remained on her face and walked over to the lifeless body. Machines pumped the air into his lungs. He couldn't even properly breathe on his own. What a shame - Sakura thought - You have always been so strong, sensei. Always saved me, comforted me...  - The image of the sensei grabbing Sasuke and Naruto as they plunged towards each other with the Rasengan and the Chidori in hand flashed before Sakura's eyes. How he smiled at her after the incident was over. And even now, his face was hidden from her. That damn machine. 

"I do not need your lectures, Hokage-sama. I am here because you said I am needed. Because he needs me." - She said in a flat voice. Determination took over the shock, anger filled the cracks that the feeling of fragility had caused in her. In that moment, she didn't feel like she was helpless, or behind everybody else in team 7. She was herself. She was Sakura, the person who was needed by her sensei. Genma slowly leaned back into his chair. 

"Good." - Tsunade said, and put a new bottle of sake on the table. - "We need to discuss some things. This procedure might not work. You need to know that."

"What are the chances it will work?" - Sakura asked

"I really don't know. If I absolutely had to give you a number, I would say about 26%, not more." - She said and pulled a chair to the desk, looking at the sketches and notes once again. - "But if you agree to this, you might die if he doesn't wake up."

"He risked his life more than once for me... I guess the least I can do is do the same." - Sakura responded and reached for her sensei's hand. His skin was cold to the touch, lacking the familiar warmth she hoped she would find. - "What is my mission, Tsunade-sama? What do I have to do to get him back?"

"You will need to make him remember. Right now, he is stuck in the past. He can't see what happened in the past 20 years of his life. Going in circles, facing Orochimaru and drifting through anbu missions. He doesn't know you exist, or that he was ever a sensei. You need to find him and remind him of who he is now." - Gai was leaning against the wall of the room. He quietly listened to the Fifth as she spoke. Sakura has never seen him this quiet or worried. His eyes were also dark with sleeplessness. He hasn't looked this bad since Lee was facing the operation a couple of years ago. - "But when I send you in, I don't know what will happen to you. If you die there, or if sending you in would even mean he will hear you. It is possible that you would be just a ghost watching him fade away... the reason why I assume so is that I was like that, but since I was conducting the jutsu, I could pull myself out. I won't know when to pull you out and I can only send in one person."

"So why did you chose me for this mission?" - Sakura finally lifted her gaze from Kakashi - "What makes you think I can make him remember?"

"Because he didn't know you until very recently. His subconscious will remember you, and maybe that will pull him through... when or if he wakes up, you will drift back as well." - Tsunade took out a roll of red yarn. - "Do you accept?"

"It was never a question." - Sakura's voice never wavered, even though her inner self was still in pieces, crying on the floor. Tsunade waved at the door and they pushed in another bed. She ordered Sakura to lay down and tied the yarn on her pinky, then the other end was tied to Kakashi's. Sakura turned her head towards him. I will do my best, Kakashi-sensei. I will find you and bring you back, damnit. Don't you die on me. She said. The Fifth was doing a series of hand signs, but she didn't pay attention. Her focus was on the slowly rising and falling chest of Kakashi. How it moved so different from when he was himself. You hear me, Kakashi-sensei? Tsunade finished the hand signs, and Sakura's vision began to blur. Don't you dare, damnit. 

As her consciousness slowly drifted away, she reached her hand towards Kakashi's, interlocking their fingers. The three other people in the room quietly watched them for a moment before Tsunade stepped forward to check her vitals. Now, her life and her mind was bound to Kakashi. She won't wake up until he does. This jutsu was the fifth own invention from the Yamanaka body switching technique. It has not been fully tested, because there was nobody to test it on. 

It was all up to Sakura now. There was nothing they could do from out here.

"Tsunade-sama..." - Genma sighed - "You are pretty cruel... sacrificing your own student like that. For a mission she cannot win."

"She might.." - She wanted to sound confident, but her tone fell flaccid. It didn't even sound convincing to her, let alone the two Jonins.

"We both know you didn't chose her for the fact that Kakashi only met her in recent years." - Gai added. - "You know how he feels. Are you really going to punish him for finally caring again? After all these years.. he finally cares about someone, and on his death bed you send that person after him?"

"Call it whatever you want, but all I want is for my Copy Ninja to wake up and get better. This isn't the time when I can afford to lose such a valuable asset." - Tsunade checked Sakura's pulse. Despite her words, she was worried for her student. She loved Sakura like a daughter she never had and watching her in such a helpless felt like a tight grip on her heart. 

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

Sakura woke up not far from the memorial statue, that stood for the fallen shinobi who lost their lives during missions. Front of the statue a man stood, a cat shaped anbu mask covering his face. He might as well have been a statue for he stood so motionless as she observed him.

A mess of silver hair on top of his head, hips bit forward as he leaned a bit back as if leaning against a wall. Something about him was so familiar. Was that Kakashi? 

No, it cannot be him - she thought to herself. This boy was barely a couple years older than her, while Kakashi was at least 12 years her elder.

The boy looked up, and their eyes locked. He slowly reached for his mask and as he took it off, a face all too familiar became visible. IT WAS HIM. Well, a version of him. But those eyes weren't the ambitious, confident and caring ones she had remembered. These eyes were cold and empty. Sakura got to her feet and ran towards her sensei. She had called out to him, several times, but he didn't move a muscle. About an arm's length from the statue, she felt like she hit a wall. 

Sakura got back up on her feet, and slowly walked closer with her arms stretched out to feel how far she can go. Her fingers eventually touched what he had previously oh-so-gracefully face planted. It was like the membrane of a soap bubble. It gleamed with similar rainbow patterns as well. Sakura looked at Kakashi again, with her hand on this strange thing that separated them. For a second, he moved towards her, but then his hand stopped midair. He shook his head, put the mask back on and began to walk away.

"Kakashi sensei! Come back!"- Sakura shouted. But it was pointless. Despite the fact that Kakashi did see her, he didn't hear her. All he saw was a ghost at the memorial, with a face familiar enough to believe that it must have been a life he had snuffed out. Someone, who has lost her life because of him. Like Rin did... or like Obito. He just didn't want to know any of it. There was already more than enough guilt piled up in his chest. It took every ounce of strength he had to suppress the pain. 

Sakura gathered all the strength she could and punched the bubble-wall. She felt two of her knuckles crack. - "Please..." - She whispered. She knew that if Kakashi doesn't listen, and realise where they really are then he will die. And so will she.

After walking up and down by the wall, she came to the conclusion that this thing between them must be some kind of barrier to keep her out of Kakashi's mind... or to keep him out of hers. This was were he ended and she began. This line they couldn't.. or shouldn't cross.  Ever since the sensei was assigned to team 7, she admired him wholeheartedly. Now that she saw what the inside of his mind was like, she couldn't help but wonder how he managed to keep this all in... this world where he was all alone, in constant rain and fog. Was this really how he felt all these years? 

Sakura had always imagined that he would be a filthy pervert inside, considering all those porn - khm romance - books he read. She imagined that in his mind would be some twisted image of cute girls and something embarrassing, and that's why the sensei kept to himself so much. He never told them anything, so how was she to know that her sensei was in this depression?

She walked and walked until she reached the training grounds where he had put the team to the test for the first time. The middle column, where naruto was tied to was split in half by the barrier. A vision of the past began to play, as if it was cued. On her side, there was Naruto, struggling, trying to get out, while on the other side was a little boy she has never seen. On the ground, a small, silver haired kid sat with his legs crossed, reaching a bite of food for the one tied to the column. That is just like how it happened with us. She thought.

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

All he could hope was that whatever this girl would bring wouldn't be too terrible. 

She had walked up and down for a while, like a lioness in a cage, but then, with her finger tracing this anomaly she walked away. He couldn't help himself, and followed. He didn't want her to notice him, but was intrigued after he saw her punch something in the air. He saw her fist collide with something that sent ripples of light, dividing them with a vertical surface. 

The ghost had arrived at the training grounds where Minato-sensei had tested them. Where his team mates were both alive. As always, the memory began to play, and he felt his heart tearing itself to shreds. 

"What do you want from me?" - He said quietly. But the ghost just kept staring at Obito then a boy on her side. Their movements completely mirrored each other. 

One memory was in fact his. But was the other hers?

[553butterfly553]

Second Chance (An Itachi Uchiha Love Story) 5

Treatment

It's been about a week later now. Everything had gone mostly well. Hidan refuses to be in the same room as me and Kakuzu is always angry whenever he sees me. On a good note though, I was growing closer to Itachi and was getting to know the true him better as he got to know me. Kisame and I were still close as well, possibly even closer than we were before. It was nice spending my time with them. However, most importantly, Tsunade finally was set to arrive today. As soon as I woke up, I got dressed in my usual outfit and then headed out to the mansion with the criminals in it. I call them criminals, but most of them stopped being a criminal by the time they died, but whatever. Anyway, as soon as I entered the door, Kisame was there waiting for me. “What's up, Ki?” I questioned when I saw the worried look on his usually calm face. “Itachi got worse last night. He coughed up a lot of blood by this morning. There were many coughing fits.” Kisame responded simply as he began to walk to where Itachi was. I followed closely and was beginning to worry more than I'd been worrying before. What if Itachi got so sick we couldn't save him? However, my thoughts of doom were broken by hearing Itachi coughing. Kisame and I quickly rushed into the living room, which was where Itachi was now and made our way to his side. A few other Akatsuki were in there as well. They were Obito, Nagato, and Konan and they all looked very worried about Itachi. “Itachi...” I muttered as I put my hand on his back to try to heal him somewhat. I just wanted to try to take some of the pain away and relieve some of the strain on his body, and it seemed to work, as his coughing slowed down to nothing, faster than usual. “Itachi, just hold on, Tsunade will be here soon.” I looked at him with worried eyes and he just looked back up at me with pain in his eyes. “Tsunade is here now.” Came Sakura's voice from behind Kisame. I turned to see Sakura standing in the doorway, with Tsunade standing behind her. She still looked young, as expected and she had a look of disgust when she looked at me. I instantly stood up and took a step away from Itachi. I was now standing next to Kisame, who looked at me with confusion. I just shook my head and watched as Tsunade moved to Itachi. “Can you move to the infirmary?” Tsunade questioned as she reached Itachi. He nodded his head and got up, losing his balance for a moment before standing straight up. Tsunade turned to Sakura and spoke to her this time. “Take me to the infirmary.” Sakura just nodded her head and began to walk. I instantly followed them, but Tsunade turned to speak to me. “Stay here.” “No, Itachi is my patient and friend. I'm coming with you. I can be of help, I have medical training as well.” I responded strongly but still a little wary. I knew that Tsunade didn't like me one bit. Orochimaru never got her permission to use her DNA to make me. So I was the child she never wanted with the man who used to be her teammate. I was just a bad reminder of the past to her. “Very well. However, he has to stay here.” Tsunade spoke as she looked at Kisame. “As long as Itachi has proper medical attention, I won't interfere.” The large blue man retorted as he looked at the former Hokage. She nodded her head and began to follow Sakura. I walked right next to Itachi, keeping an eye on him. “Are you alright? Are you sure you can walk all the way there?” I asked him with worry clear in my voice. He simply turned to me and gave me a small smile. “Don't worry about me, Adryn. I'll be fine.” Itachi spoke as he kept the smile on his face. “You are dying, Itachi, you might not be fine.” “I trust that you all will find a way to cure me.” I was a little shocked at that. “You trust us?” “Of course. After all, you promised you wouldn't let me leave this world again due to my illness. I trust you most of all, Adryn.” To that, my face went completely red. “What's the deal with them?” Tsunade questioned Sakura as she eyed me and Itachi. “She loves him with all her heart. He is giving her a chance to see if he will fall in love with her. However, Sasuke and I are pretty sure they should just get together already and stop dancing around things.” Sakura simply responded with a smile on her face. “Hey! We can hear you!” I gasped out, still blushing completely red. “And we aren't dancing around anything, it's just...” I trailed off, not able to find what I was trying to say. “It's just complicated.” Itachi finished for me as he looked at the ground. “It wouldn't be so complicated if you'd just...” Sakura just sighed instead of finishing. “Anyway, we're here.” Sakura finally spoke up as she pushed open a door. We all went inside, with Itachi climbing onto the patient's bed without being told to. It seemed like he'd just known that was where he was supposed to go. So, that allowed Tsunade to just dive right into it. A bunch of tests and medical bullshit later, Tsunade, Sakura and I all concluded. They voted me to tell our conclusion to Itachi, who'd just been sitting there listening in on our conversation, not fully knowing what we were talking about. So, with as much calmness I could muster up, I turned to the man I loved. “Alright Itachi, we have reached a diagnosis.” I started as I kept up my calmness. He could see right through it though. “It's nothing good, is it?” Itachi questioned simply with a frown on his face. He was expecting the worst. So I smiled at him softly. “It's not as bad as you're thinking. However, Tsunade cannot heal you. Not completely at least. She thinks that she can heal you enough to reverse some of the effects, along with taking some medication once again. Even so, you will have to work up your chakra reserves and stamina by training again.” “So I'll have to be back on medication?” Itachi seemed to be conflicted over that and was now looking at the ground. I moved to be in his view and smiled up at him. “Now, now, 'tachi, you want to stay alive, right? Then, for now, that means being on medication, and maybe being healed in a particular way every so often. Tsunade will show me how to heal you so she doesn't always have to be here. If you ever start getting worse, we can just heal you again or give you stronger medication.” “Do you know what medication I will be on?” “Hmm. Not yet. Actually, we're going to make it. Specifically for you.” I stood back up straight again and turned to the other two women. “So, should we get started on that medication? I have a lot of various herbs in my garden, those might help.” “You have a garden?” Sakura questioned in surprise. I just chuckled at her. “I don't take care of it though, but it is at my home.” “Of course,” Sakura stated before turning away to address Tsunade. “Thank you for coming here, milady. We greatly appreciate your willingness to help a former criminal.” “A patient is a patient. Besides, I know the truth about him anyway.” Tsunade responded simply. “Seriously? Who told you?” “Kakashi did.” Sakura seemed to find that acceptable and just nodded her head. “So, how is your relationship going with Sasuke?” That seemed to blindside the pink-haired girl and she began to turn red and sputter nonsense. “I'd like to know that as well. How is your relationship with my brother going? He refuses to tell me anything about it.” It was Itachi, now looking at Sakura with hopeful eyes. “Well, it's going good. He's gone most of the time, atoning for all he'd done when he was... insane. However, I know he loves me and he tries to write to me or visit the village every now and then.” Sakura finally responded when she was calm once again. “I see.” Itachi couldn't help but smile at that. He seemed almost relieved at hearing the pink-haired girl's words. “Sasuke might not act like it, but he genuinely loves Sakura.” I decided to point out with a smile on my face. Itachi looked at me and gave me a small smile back. “I'm glad he was able to overcome his hatred and find someone to love.” “I'm glad and surprised that Sakura could forgive him for him being such an asshole to her for all those years.” “I love him, so I could forgive him easily. I know he was going through a lot, so he wasn't completely himself during those times. If anything, I'm surprised you never held too much of a grudge against him for him trying to kill you.” “Yeah, well, as you said, he wasn't himself. I couldn't hold it against him when he was going through such a tough time. I knew that I just needed to be there for him.” “You really do care about my little brother, don't you?” Itachi was now fully smiling at me. It caught me off guard and caused me to blush. “Yeah well, he means a lot to me. He's practically family to me.” “Alright, enough of this.” Tsunade suddenly spoke up interrupting my conversation with Itachi. “Adryn, take me and Sakura to your herb garden. To make Itachi's medication we need to start there.” “Alright.” I then turned my attention to Itachi. “I guess go find Kisame and let him know what's going on if you want to. At least go find him, you shouldn't be alone while you are so sick. Just in case.” “Very well. I will go find Kisame.” Itachi then hopped down and left the room. Once I knew he was far enough away, I turned to Tsunade. “Do you actually think we can save him? I don't want to get anyone's hopes up and then we not be able to save him.” “I believe we can save his life. I wouldn't give anyone any false hope.” Tsunade spoke as she looked me straight in the eyes. I just nodded my head and began to lead them to where my little garden was. It wasn't as small of a garden as I make it seem. It has most herbs in there that can be grown in this part of the world. Both Tsunade and Sakura were shocked when they saw it. However, their shock quickly wore off and we all began to hunt down what we needed. There were a few

herbs that we couldn't find that we needed, but there were enough of them that they would be alright. Along with that, we had to raid the main headquarters' infirmary to find the medicine that we needed to mix with the herbs. So, a few days and a lot of work later, we had the first doses of Itachi's medication. I was taught how to make it, so Tsunade could return to her life. All that was left to do was have Tsunade heal Itachi, well heal him as best as she could, which would help slightly and then teach me how to heal him. It was difficult to learn and it pushed my medical skills, but eventually, I figured out how to do it. “So now, take your medication, if you start to cough again, have Adryn heal you. That should keep the cough at bay. It isn't a perfect cure, but we will keep working at it.” Tsunade informed Itachi as we all sat in the living room together. “We all” meaning, me, Itachi, Tsunade, Sakura, Kisame, and Sasuke. It was now finally time for Tsunade to leave, so she was informing us of any last things that she could think of. “Also, I don't think I need to say this, but do not tire yourself out too much. Training is important for you now but in moderation. Do not overwork your body. You are still dying, just dying slower than you were.” “What if he reacts to the medication negatively?” Sasuke questioned after Tsunade was done with talking. She instantly replied to him. “He's already taken the medication for three days now, if he was going to have a negative reaction, he would have already or it would be starting now.” “Hmm.” Sasuke seemed to accept that started looking to his brother now. It was like he was silently asking if there was anything that was different about him or if there was any type of reaction now. “I feel better than I have in a while, and there have been no reactions negatively,” Itachi answered his brother's silent question. Sasuke nodded his head and kept silent. I had a question though, so I spoke up. “How long do you think this medication will last him? How long will it take for his body to become accustomed to it?” “I am not sure, but I know it will happen.” Tsunade's words were vague, but I just nodded my head. “Watch over him closely, Adryn.” “You don't need to tell me that, I already planned to.” She looked at me for a moment before turning to her student. The two of them began to say their goodbyes as I turned to Itachi. I had been sitting on the couch next to him with Kisame on my other side. “Is it alright that I plan to keep an eye on you?” “I'd be worried if you didn't.” I knew Itachi was meaning that since I was in love with him, it'd be weird if I didn't keep an eye on him. I just smiled at him and watched as he slightly smiled back to me. After a few minutes, Tsunade was gone. She had to return to her life of gambling and alcohol. While we were left to sit there in the living room, not really knowing what to do now. “So, how is Itachi supposed to train if we can't go outside the mansion?” Kisame suddenly questioned breaking the silence. “I'll ask Lady Mizukage if he and someone else can train together just outside the mansion,” I responded after a few moments of contemplation. “I would like to get a chance to train too. Being trapped in here is giving me anxiety.” Kisame flashed me a smile and I just looked at him and sighed. “I'll see what I can do.” With that, I stood up and headed out of the room. I made it to about the entrance hall when I walked right into someone. “Ouch,” I grumbled as I rubbed my nose. This all felt familiar, and I began to wonder if I've bumped into the same person as I did before. However, when I looked up I was met with purple-eyes. “Oh, Hidan, I'm sorry, I was in a rush.” Instead of responding to me, Hidan just continued walking. There was no “watch it bitch” like I was expecting. I wrote it off as him just acting weird. Maybe he was still trying to avoid me. Or maybe something was actually wrong. Either way, I needed to just go ask Lady Mizukage about the Itachi training situation. One thing at a time, I liked to tell myself. So with the Hidan issue out of my mind, I hurried off to the Kage. It didn't take long, but when I entered the room with the Kage in there, my Kage wasn't there. “Um, excuse me, where is Lady Mizukage?” Even Chojuro wasn't there. I was a little worried. “She wasn't feeling well, so the kid took her back to her room to rest.” Lord Tsuchikage responded in his usual annoyed sounding tone. “Oh...” I wasn't sure what to do now. “Was there something you needed, Adryn?” Lord Hokage questioned making me turn my head to him. “Well, Tsunade just informed us of Itachi's condition.” “She informed us as well. Was there something about it that you needed to talk about?” “No, well yes. Itachi needs to train, so I was hoping that you all would let him leave the mansion for short periods of time to do so. Sakura and I would be watching over him and whoever he trains with closely, so they wouldn't be able to escape.” “No.” Lord Tsuchikage said just as Lord Hokage spoke, “Alright.” “Lord Hokage, they are dangerous criminals. They shouldn't leave the mansion at all. Itachi should just be happy that we are giving him medical attention.” “Itachi needs to train or else in battle he might actually die due to his low chakra reserves and stamina.” I snapped at the older man. He looked at me with anger in his eyes at me snapping at him. “Now, now, Lord Tsuchikage, Adryn makes a great point. We were wanting to use the Akatsuki to fight for us anyway, if Itachi can't fight, then he might hold everyone else back.” Lord Hokage commented simply. “Adryn, have Itachi and one person leave the mansion for an hour a day. Watch over them closely. Do not let them escape.” “I don't think they want to escape anyway, but alright. I'll do my very best.” “Doing your best might not be enough. Make sure they don't escape!” Lord Raikage grumbled at me. “Yes, sir!” I responded officially before bowing to them all. Once I did that I left the room. However, as I left I heard Lord Kazekage speak. “You are too hard on her. She is one of the Mist's best ninja. You shouldn't treat her like that.” I couldn't help but smile and mentally thank Lord Kazekage for that. I didn't hear anything else, because I had already walked too far away, but that's probably for the best. So, with a smile on my face, I quickly made my way back to the mansion. Once I got in there and greeted the ANBU there, I informed them of Lord Hokage's ruling. Once they believed me, I hurried off to where Itachi was. I could sense him somewhere near the kitchen. Possibly in the living room that was just off the kitchen. On my way there, I came across Kakuzu just standing in the hallway. “Kuzu, is everything alright?” I questioned to no avail. He didn't respond to me or even acknowledge that I was there. Just like Hidan had done. So, I now knew that something odd was going on. However, I quickly made my way passed him and went into the kitchen. “Hey 'tachi, is it just me, or are Hidan and Kuzu acting weird?” The Uchiha man turned from the sink he was at and thought it over, before shaking his head. “I don't think they are acting weird. They are probably still angry with you.” Itachi finally responded, however, he then continued to speak. “However, there is something weird going on.” “What is it?” My anxiety instantly raised up to a level 8. “I just saw two people wandering around the mansion. They were just looking at the mansion but when they met my eyes, they fled into the forest.” You see, the mansion is surrounded by forest on all sides. Along with that, there were ANBU stationed all around the mansion. So if people were walking around it, they would know. “Seriously? Well, that's odd. The ANBU didn't tell me that any strange people were walking around when I entered and I didn't see anyone when I was out there, but if you say there were people, then there were.” “Thank you for believing me. That is exactly what Kisame had said to me.” I couldn't help but chuckle at that. “That man truly believes in you, doesn't he?” Itachi smiled softly at that. “I'm glad I have two people who trust me so much.” “Sasuke trusts you as well. He's just always been a bit difficult.” “Yes, that is true.” “Anyway, Itachi, I have news for you.” Finally getting onto the point I'd originally come to the mansion to tell, I informed Itachi of what I'd been told by Lord Hokage. He seemed happy as he continued to smile. “That is good to hear. When can I start training?” “Right now, if you want to. I already told the ANBU and they should be telling the others right about now. Go find Kisame and we'll go outside now.” “Very well.” Itachi then hurried, yes hurried, out of the room to go find his friend. I couldn't help but just smile at that. However, my smile faded when I heard a voice from the other doorway. “You love him an awful lot, don't you, kid?” I turned around to see Sasori and Deidara standing there. “Oh, hello, and yes, I do,” I responded with a smile on my face again. “How could you love a murderer like that, un?” Deidara demanded annoyed as usual when it came to an Uchiha. “I can't tell you. It's a secret.” I smirked at them and then quickly made my way out of the room. I could hear Sasori grumbling about me as I left and Deidara agreeing with him for once. I just shook my head and went to go and find Itachi and Kisame. I was eager to watch them train together and to see how well Itachi could do even though he was still sick. The only time I'd ever seen him fight, recently, was when he fought again Sasuke and then I wasn't able to just focus on his fighting, I was panicking too much. So, this time I planned to focus on his movements and maybe I could copy them if I tried hard enough. This would be a good training time for me as well.

[cyb-by-lang]

Shell Game (25/?)

Obito and Kakashi get in trouble.

Obito really didn’t mind burning a day by stalking a hero. The weather was nice, big screens everywhere were happily showing the Sports Festival wherever Ingenium stopped for a second, and snacks were easy to pick up at any corner store. Kei wasn’t here, but she was keeping up a cover identity. And while Obito wasn’t necessarily happy about it, he’d gotten used to not having Kei around for missions ever since February.

Off to Obito’s left, Kakashi bit down on a sneeze as the two of them hopped across a gap between two rooftops, still following the silver-armored hero on his patrols. The local air was still weird.

If he was being honest, Obito half-expected this method of finding Stain to be as much of a bust as the scent-tracking. The Turbo Hero Ingenium was the leader of Team Idaten agency, and therefore he was one of the better-connected heroes in Hosu. If something did happen, he had a radio where Obito and Kakashi didn’t, so he’d probably be on the scene of any crime as fast as he could. Therefore, Obito and Kakashi were saving themselves a tremendous amount of trouble stalking his various sidekicks by just following the big silver team coordinator around.

It helped that Ingenium’s helmet made it difficult for him to cover his own blind spot. Someone probably ought to let him know.

…Just not until this tactic of last resort was fully explored.

Unfortunately, though they’d tracked down another police investigation, the victim was carted off to the hospital before Kakashi or Obito could Sharingan any answers out of them. The police had already trampled all over the site, making it useless for Kakashi’s tracking technique. And to add salt to their collective wounded pride, Stain had apparently departed the scene via the sewer system. There was a lot Kakashi could do, both with his dogs and on his own, but all three of them had come to the sad conclusion that scent-tracking was just not going to work for this case.

Not that Kakashi would subject his dogs to city air if he could avoid it, but Obito understood. Some situations were a bit too complicated to have an easy solution. And even besides that, summoning techniques didn’t appear to work on this side of Kamui.

Thus, stalking.

Not that Ingenium made it easy. Per Kei’s explanation, this hero had engines built into his arms that helped him run faster or something. Obito didn’t think it compared to shinobi speed, especially since he and Kakashi were some of the fastest people Konoha could throw at the problem, but he definitely took corners way faster than a normal person, and while blowing smoke everywhere. Because roof-hopping required a bit of foresight and Ingenium didn’t seem to believe in slowing down except to make calls, Obito had been leading with his Sharingan ever since this mission started.

“Slow,” Kakashi said, his gloved hand brushing against Obito’s right shoulder. Sensation was a little dull in that side, but it was definitely a tap.

Obito shook the gleam of Ingenium’s armor out of his eye before he dug his heels in properly. Rooftop gravel crunched under his feet as he skidded a bit, then turned to face Kakashi.

Kakashi jerked his masked head back and then down. Without any further words, he marched back over to the gap they’d just leapt over and dropped down with no ceremony. They’d found their Hero Killer, then, and Obito moved to follow.

At that point, the clank of light metal and rushing air met Obito’s ears. Likewise, an armored shadow passed over him and, when Obito looked up, he spotted a silver figure careening overhead.

Ingenium landed in front of him, elbow pipe things jetting smoke. While his body was angled forward, as though expecting violence, his voice came out surprised. “You—you’re a vigilante? Or a villain?”

Obito shrugged. He raised his right hand to scratch the back of his neck, feeling his face heat up under his mask. To salvage the situation, Obito almost mimicked Ingenium’s voice right back at him just to make the awkward feeling fall on someone else for a change, but then steel met steel in the alleyway below.

Obito had already Kamui-warped from the roof to the ground before he even finished his master plan. Ingenium got a glimpse of a person spiraling away into a ribbony mirage, centered on the right eye of the mask, before Obito stepped out into a dingy alleyway.

“Wolf!” he barked, landing farthest from the street.

Kakashi didn’t respond except to nod.

And from the shadow of a dumpster, the Hero Killer rose.

Taller than either Kakashi or Obito, but hunched as though his head was set a bit too far forward. His arms were bare under bandages running up to his biceps, balancing combat gear resembling cobbled ANBU gear. Obito noted the shift of shapes under his clothes and on belts, his Sharingan alerting him to dozens upon dozens of hidden knives, folding blades, and spare sharp objects. Heavy soles on already-modified shoes indicated yet more blades, perhaps spring-loaded. He was built like someone who fought for a living, complete with a damaged katana and ragged scarf to accompany the tails of his mask. His face was even flattened due to a total lack of nose, probably on purpose.

Stain looked like a jackass, was the point. It was a flexible word. Obito had picked up a few things here and there from Kei’s vocabulary.

Between him and Kakashi, the Hero Killer was bracketed in by an ANBU agent and someone who had all the training and the power to sidestep attacks. Judging by the knife embedded in the brickwork, Kakashi had already deflected an attack or two with his kunai.

…If Stain had enough knives, this would be a very short fight.

Obito slid into a combat stance as Kakashi shifted his grip on his kunai. While both of them could have carried katana into this fight, Kakashi didn’t need one and Obito could grow his own. Besides, that would have implied that either of them wanted anything to do with a fair fight with this jerk. If it was going to be a two-on-one beatdown, Obito would count it as a good day.

For a second, it was a standoff. Kakashi on one side, kunai held defensively in his left hand. Obito on Stain’s other side, right hand flexing like he was going to go for—instead of grow—a weapon. Wood Release tendrils started to snake out from under his gauntlets, crawling down his leg and toward the nearest wall.

“More wannabe vigilantes trying to bring me to ‘justice,’ I see,” Stain spat, drawing no more reaction than a cocked head from Obito. Seriously, what was this guy’s deal? “Every time I kill you maggots, more just appear. You’re not even worth dirtying my blade.”

Across from Obito, Kakashi’s Sharingan flashed noticeably, despite how he was backlit by the street. His right hand and arm lit up with white chakra lightning, running along gloved fingers like static.

Lightning Release: Stunning Flash. Obito knew that technique like the back of his hand.

Just like Kakashi knew his Wood Release moves, even if he couldn’t copy them. Wood Release: Butterfly Net.

There were benefits to sending long-standing team members on serious missions together.

“The only thing worse than you are those fake heroes you keep dogging, like their fame will wear off on you,” Stain went on, seemingly oblivious to the slowly rising tide of violence.

Then Ingenium hopped down from the rooftop, and the situation got needlessly complicated.

Now, Ingenium wasn’t a bad guy as far as Obito knew. He rescued cats from trees, too, and he walked kids across the street sometimes. He organized people to do good. He seemed like a dependable hero. But he was also big, wore armor, and there was just not enough room in this alleyway for four combatants without getting in each other’s way.

“Your reign of terror ends here, Hero Killer!” Ingenium squared his stance and raised his fists.

“No…” And Stain’s flat face turned toward Ingenium. “It’s just getting started.”

Obito held out his free hand, snapped his fingers to get Stain’s attention, and made a gesture that left little to the imagination regarding his opinion of the Hero Killer’s self-satisfied ranting.

This did not meet with approval. While Kakashi clearly rolled his eyes based on how his Sharingan light blinked out for a second, Ingenium coughed. Then Stain hissed, “You’ll die first.”

Obito said, in Stain’s voice, “Come at me, bro.” And just to make the moment complete, he added a mocking “come here” motion with his left hand.

Stain lashed out at speeds nearly comparable to a tetchy chūnin, but Obito’s Mangekyō Sharingan slowed the entire world to a crawl. While Obito grinned under his mask, Kamui shifted along with the slash of Stain’s ragged-edged katana as it seemingly sliced him open from shoulder to opposite hip with no resistance.

“No—” Ingenium began as Obito flopped forward onto the ground, only just avoiding cracking his mask on impact.

Or so the two Tokyo-natives seemed to think.

Stain lifted his blade and then stopped dead. Just as he realized the broken steel was still clean, Stain tried a follow-up attack that stabbed downward through Obito’s head.

To exactly as little effect as before.

“Nice try, asshole,” Obito said, still in Stain’s voice. He stepped back, watching the man’s eyes widen. “You’re just too slow.”

Kakashi was too professional to sigh, but it was a close thing. Instead, Obito heard him say, “Ingenium, you’re in the way.”

“As useful as his Quirk is,” Ingenium noted, not taking his attention from Stain, “arrests are Hero work. I can’t let you two handle Stain on your own, no matter what.”

“Your call,” Obito chirped. Given the funny look everyone gave him, he imagined no one quite expected to hear a cute, piping voice coming from behind his eerie white mask. He stalked behind Stain, putting his hand up against the Wood Release web he’d already started. “But you should still back up, say, fifteen meters.”

Ingenium didn’t, probably because Stain went for him next. A knife flew and struck one of the places where his armor didn’t cover his undersuit, slicing through his tricep on its way to the street.

The hero staggered two steps back with a shout of pain—

Kakashi’s arm lit up until it was nearly blinding—

Stain leapt for Ingenium’s throat, katana curved in a lethal upward arc—

Obito slammed his chakra into his right arm just as a knife whipped out of nowhere and hit him square in the right shoulder. It bit into muscle, but couldn’t touch bone even if slammed home with Tsunade’s strength—his Zetsu arm didn’t have any bones to break. And the pain was only about as bad as a sharp slap. Getting Kamui up first was more important, and his Mangekyō ached again to let him know that was a great plan.

—Obito’s Wood Release vines snaked up from the ground and hardened to something akin to steel bars, blocking Stain from reaching Ingenium as though a door had just been slammed in his face—

—Stain’s tongue slipped through the bars and caught a drop of flying blood—

—Ingenium hit the ground with a thud—

—and Kakashi’s lightning arced out directly for the man carrying the most steel, engulfing the alleyway in white light. Bolts passed through Obito like nothing, making his fingertips tingle.

Obito was pretty sure, after the fact, that he saw his own retina from the flash. He would give Kakashi a thorough ribbing for that later. As he blinked the red out of his vision, he took in the scene.

Stain was upright only because Obito’s Wood Release had made a sort of Hashirama tree in the middle of the alley, and it was awful hard to pry anybody out of the wood without a much heavier weapon than Stain’s sword. They’d be chopping him out with an axe, and hopefully with a lot of heroes making sure he wouldn’t stab anybody again.

Speaking of, it’d probably be easier to be sure of that if Obito stole all his goddamn knives for the police to process. Still, Obito glanced around to be sure his two fellow fighters were all right.

Kakashi crouched over Ingenium, peeling back a layer of undersuit to check on the injury. He’d made a heavy bandage out of gauze and some medical tape, and folded it even as he kept his Sharingan trained on the wound. Then, “It’s not deep. Can you keep pressure on it?”

“I would if I could.” Ingenium’s voice was about half an octave higher than usual. “But I can’t—I can’t move. At all.”

“Huh,” said Kakashi, and then pressed the pad to the injury as he levered the hero’s arm up and above his heart. “Quirk?”

“Probably.” Ingenium groaned quietly, wincing noticeably even with his full-face helmet as Kakashi worked. “Are both of you all right?”

Kakashi nodded.

Obito idly pitched two combat knives over his shoulder. They clattered to the concrete. “Yep.”

“Good.” Kakashi helped Ingenium sit up, still clamping his hand over the wound. “My communicator is in my helmet. Any chance you could help me reach it?”

“The two of us are outta here the second your sidekicks show up,” Obito warned, kicking a multitool toward the dumpster. He jabbed a thumb at the still-unconscious Stain. “He’s going to jail on his own.”

Ingenium’s helmet canted to the left. “You think I’d try to get you arrested for vigilantism?”

“…Yes?” Obito replied, finally turning away from the Hero Killer. He’d get out of there when someone helped him, not before. “I mean, it’s in all the pamphlets.”

“If I’d tried taking him on alone, I’d probably have died,” Ingenium explained. He still couldn’t move, apparently, but Kakashi was being patient about the whole thing. “I don’t think the police would agree, but it’s a hero’s job to keep innocent people safe even if it costs us everything. Sometimes, that includes legal protection.”

“Oh.” Obito scratched the back of his head, and then remembered he was wearing a full head covering and it was than less effective. “Uh, that’s actually nice of you to say. Wolf, maybe if we make sure the paralysis wears off first…?”

Kakashi sighed. “Make your call, Ingenium. Stain isn’t any more arrested than he was a minute ago.”

Ingenium managed a pained laugh, now that his adrenaline rush was starting to wear off from lack of use. “All right, all right.”

Ingenium got his full movement back (or nearly) a little before his now-alerted sidekicks started converging for real. He was going to be mobbed by worried heroes and carted off to the hospital soon, apparently. Once they were all sure Stain’s Quirk had worn off and the guy still wouldn’t be going anywhere, Kakashi let Ingenium take over caring for his own injury before disappearing ahead of police sirens.

By that point, Obito had managed to wheedle a masked selfie out of the hapless hero—because of course he had to. Ingenium seemed more baffled than annoyed, probably by how quickly events had progressed, and obliged. With a cheery salute, Obito vanished up the wall like a spider caught in the light, leaving the police and pro heroes to deal with the serial killer. He could send photographic evidence to Kei about their successful mission, so she’d finally stop worrying.

He sent it immediately after he and Kakashi were both out of sight and away from any of the swarming heroes. So: ten blocks away.

It took until a couple minutes later, when he went to change into civilian clothes inside Kamui, that he remembered Stain’s knife was still sticking out of his shoulder.

Kakashi facepalmed hard enough to put Kei to shame.

[usratonkachi]

sasuke uchiha’s trajectory / a pro-sasuke meta.

Sasuke was more than just a rebel, spoiled and “whining emo kid” that wanted revenge, I can prove it.

Contains anti Konoha, shinobi system, Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura, Danzou, Hiruzen, Tobirama, SS/SNS arguments, so if you're not ready to handle criticism against your favourite character or ship, don't even read it.

This is for people to think more deeply about Sasuke and his actions, so you don't have to fully agree. But I'm not open for critics or similar. I'm exposing what I think, what I saw and how I interpreted Sasuke's trajectory. If you strongly do not agree with or get offended by anything under the cut,  that's not my problem so you can complain over there, don't @ me.

However, if you have any real doubts, other valid arguments to add, or you just want to talk about what you just read / discuss about anything you politely disagree with, you can contact me here or here, or chat me on tumblr itself. I'm not changing my mind though.

Also, a big thank you to my friend who translated from pt-br for me because I’m too lazy. Love you, Konan. ♡

1. WHEN SASUKE LEFT KONOHA:

Here's where Sasuke starts being hated by the Naruto fanbase because it's when he stops acting according to what Konoha believes he's supposed to. But, before hating him, there's a lot of things to acknowledge about.

Sasuke always believed to be an avenger ever since the Uchiha massacre. Even when he began to blend in well on Team 7's dynamic, as soon as Itachi landed feet in Konoha again and he failed to defeat him, he came back to believe in such fact. Thus, he wanted to grow stronger.

Not just for seeking to be stronger, Sasuke also feels like he doesn't belong to Konoha anymore. Sakura never understood the pain of having everything that matters the most taken away, Naruto never really had anything and Kakashi, the only one who could connect to him, only pushes him away.

1.2. KAKASHI:

Although what people think, Kakashi and Sasuke's relationship was deeper than it seemed. Kakashi was someone that made Sasuke feel safe and vehemently trained him for the Chuunin Exam. In a summary, Sasuke trusted Kakashi and had him as a mentor.

Instead of offering Sasuke the emotional support he needed, Kakashi basically fought him for using one of his jutsu against an ally even though Naruto had done it too and could just have killed him as well. Beyond that, he insults him multiple times and doesn't take his only goal seriously. He tied up the boy to a tree like he was some kind of animal, for God’s sake.

You can read more about Sasuke and Kakashi’s relationship in this awesome analysis.

This is only the beginning of Konoha trying to make Sasuke feel guilty for everything he did and wanted to do, when actually all his hate and thirst for revenge was perfectly comprehensive, since he lost everything to the system he lives in.

1.2. SAKURA:

Besides comparing her pain of losing him with his pain of having his whole family murdered by his own brother, Sakura still blackmails him emotionally because it's all about what SHE wants, about what SHE feels. It only shows she doesn't really understand him.

1.3. NARUTO:

Naruto, just like the rest, also doesn't get Sasuke's goals and motivations and tries to stop him from seeking power with Orochimaru, even if he has to "break his arms and legs".

In a summary, the approach of these three didn’t work. Naruto thought he could handle everything with his fists, Sakura thought making it about her own feelings was a good idea, but their lack of maturity is understadable. However, Kakashi understating Sasuke’s pain, like he wasn’t allowed to feel that way because Kakashi himself didn’t (it’s not even the same situation lmao), only made it all worse and was a decisive reason for him to leave.

2. WHEN SASUKE "ALLIED" HIMSELF TO OROCHIMARU.

Besides what everyone thinks, Sasuke doesn't really allied himself to Orochimaru or condoned with his ideology like Anko or Kabuto. He didn't intend for him to possess his body, not before killing Itachi. He wanted to train and get strong.

To this point, Sasuke literally didn't do anything questionable. During training, he never killed anyone or acted as cold as he wanted people to think he was. That's why he says "I'll be merciless in front of him (Itachi)," because that's something he has to force himself to become, not something he is.

One more proof Sasuke never shared Orochimaru's goals and, instead, used him as a way to obtain more power is his speech before "killing him", where he questions his goals and ways.

After Orochimaru's "death", Sasuke frees all his prisoners and victims of his experiment, including Suigetsu, Juugo and Karin. In Juugo's case, he offered himself to be his "prison", stopping him from hurting even more people.

In pursuit of Zabuza's sword, Sasuke prevents Suigetsu from killing just any person.

3. WHEN SASUKE LEARNT THE TRUTH ABOUT ITACHI.

This is a crucial point in Sasuke's history because it's where he finds out that the brother whom he always had the goal to kill in revenge actually did everything in order for him to stay alive and become a hero.

At this point, it's important to keep in mind that Sasuke accomplished his lifetime goal, the only thing he believed he was alive for. Many times he said he didn't care as to what happened with his life after that moment, so it is unimaginable the misery and emptiness that he felt. Pay close attention to the expression of his eyes.

Not even the sight of another Uchiha alive took this expression of pure misery from his eyes. That’s how broken he was at this point.

Obito took advantage of Sasuke's mental instability to pour over him all the truth about Itachi. At the minimal possibility of all the acknowledge about his brother and his entire life being a lie, he breaks down, literally blacks out.

At this moment, there is a giant lack of critical sense from the fandom. Sasuke finds out that Itachi was coerced to do a mission to save his life at the behest of the Konoha leaders. So it's OBVIOUS that he couldn't return to Konoha after knowing the truth.

Many think that, since he knew Itachi did everything for the Village (which wasn't exactly the truth because he'd feel doubtful before, but made his decision once Sasuke's life was threatened), Sasuke should, too. But instead, he hates who made Itachi suffer.

Not only because of his brother, Sasuke hates Konoha for the way it treated his clan, with mistrustfulness and discrimination over one of the families that helped founding the Village.

"Even in the middle of the most profound despair, his eyes reflect a single ray of hope"*. That summarises well how Sasuke felt without any perspective of life, but grabbed onto the first shadow of objective that was offered. Obito knew how to take advantage of Sasuke's misery.

*This is a sentence that is written on chapter’s 400 art cover but I couldn’t find it in English.

4. WHEN SASUKE INVADED THE KAGES' REUNION.

Recruited to Akatsuki and manipulated by Tobi, Sasuke made his first move directly against Konoha when he appeared at the Kages' reunion to face Danzou, one of the responsibles for his clan's genocide and Itachi's sacrifice.

Sasuke's plan was to find Danzou and destroy him like part of revenge against Konoha, but Zetsu alerts the Kages about his presence in the place, which causes everyone to fight against him.

From here on, Taka starts to question Sasuke's sanity multiple times because of the sudden change in his chakra. Gathering all the precious traumas, the guilt for Itachi's death and sacrifice and the hate over who made him go through it, he was on the edge of going mad.

At this point, Sasuke doesn't put anything above his goals. Danzou confirms that Itachi's sacrifice was true and nothing else matters to him, so he kills Danzou and sacrifices Taka. After that, he realises Sakura's intention to kill him and strikes back, trying to kill her as well.

Then Sakura tries to kill him once again, and once again he defends himself trying to kill her back. The same happens with Naruto and Kakashi. So psychologically unstable, he doesn't even care about his physical limitations and insists on keep on fighting blindly.

We all know Sakura hesitated but Sasuke didn’t. His sight was troubled and she came from behind. He was defending himself.

Tobi advising him to kill Karin:

As much as Sasuke was reluctant because he wanted to be definitely full hatred, vulnerable regarding physical strength, he voluntarily decides to hear what Naruto has to say.

Then Naruto starts the “because we’re friends” talk and Sasuke clearly feels kind of affected because he actually wants that bond so badly but he also wants justice for his brother and clan, about what he’s totally right.

In a summary, besides the declared intention to kill Karin after she was hit because of his shaken up sanity, Sasuke acted in self defense and in defense of his goals, what ended up not killing anyone.

5. WHEN SASUKE JOINED THE WAR.

Sasuke meets Itachi's edo tensei with still profound grudge over Konoha for what it did to his brother. He wanted answers from Itachi in order to confirm everything that was told by Tobi and Danzou.

The closer to Itachi he feels, the more Sasuke hates Konoha and wants to revenge his brother for being forced to sacrifice himself.

After confirming that Itachi's sacrifice for the village and himself was true, Sasuke falls into an internal conflict for not being certain of any concepts anymore; of a clan, a village, a shinobi, and even himself. To obtain answers, he resurrects Orochimaru to bring the Hokages back to life.

There is a lot of virtue and maturity in Sasuke's decision of understanding all the concepts through their stories. Patiently, he listens to Hashirama's version about everything to then come to a conclusion on what to do about his revenge and himself.

Hashirama talks about his and Madara's trajectory, inwardly connected to the Village's concept, which he had helped found. And allied to the concept of a ninja village, he defined sacrifice as one of the methods to protect it, which Madara stated would drag the Village into darkness, what was clearly a reference to Itachi and the Uchiha's sacrifice, culminating into Sasuke's personal hell. In the end, Hashirama ends up taking the responsibility for this method being considerated valid to protect the Village.

In front of all that, Sasuke, for now, decides to battle next to the Shinobi Alliance so that his brother's sacrifice wouldn't have been in vain. Next to Naruto and Sakura, he seals Kaguya and has an important part in the world's salvage. Without him, there would literally be no way to save it.

Besides all of that, he still recognised the mistake he made on Karin and asked for her forgiveness.

An addendum: SASUKE DID NOT TRY TO KILL SAKURA IN THIS MOMENT like a lot of people try to decontextualise. He put her in a GENJUTSU, the same way Itachi did to himself after the Uchiha's massacre. One more reenforcement to his attempt of cutting his ties with the previous Team 7.

6. WHEN SASUKE BATTLED NARUTO.

To this point, Sasuke comes to an obvious conclusion, but that requires extreme perspicacity from a 17 year old kid: Konoha's problem was its system. The failure that would allow sacrifices like Itachi's to happen was structural.

Even Orochimaru, when resurrected, acknowledges Sasuke's maturing.

With that in mind, Sasuke decides to become a Hokage and lead a revolution that would change the shinobi system and would nip the world's evil in the bud.

Sasuke's revolution consisted in following Itachi's steps, his great inspiration and influence, sacrificing himself to carry alone all the hate in the world. The intention of it was to unify the whole world and that only he would have to deal with the Villages' darkness.

This new goal of him destroys every argument against him that paints him as someone egocentric and selfish. Everything Sasuke wished for was to deal with the darkness by himself in a way that there wouldn't be any more sacrifices like Itachi's or of children like himself and Naruto.

Therefore, as noble as his objectives were and as mature as they sounded for his age, Sasuke sins on the chosen ways to start his revolution (even though I wouldn’t mind if he killed the kages whereas all their war crimes). Still, it's comprehensive since he started using Itachi's example as a guide of his actions.

Sasuke then apologised for all the suffering he caused his friends, even though it wasn't really his fault. He felt so responsible for the bad events that he left on a redemption trip to see the world with his own eyes, proving his maturity once again.

7. WHEN SASUKE LEFT ON A MISSION.

I want to start this section saying how much I despise for personal reasons (it’s explained at the end of this meta) canon adult Sasuke for what Kishimoto did to his character but I defend him anyway because he’s still hated for absolutely wrong reasons.

Apart from everything he went through previously, Sasuke was brainwashed accepted the position of shadow Hokage and started to protect Konoha even if the village never had redeemed itself for its crimes against his brother and clan.

He sacrificed almost an entire life next to his wife and daughter in favour of not only Konoha, but the world, since he was the only one who could track traces of Kaguya thanks to his Rinnegan. In the meantime, he saved the village again and again.

Sasuke is constantly judged for pointing out a sword in Sarada's direction on their first meeting, although there wasn't how he'd know that, out of all people, she would be there (thank you Naruto you’re so responsible, no wonder you’re such a good parent lmao) considering there were sharingan user clones walking around.

Anyhow, he saved his daughter when it was needed and searched for Sakura to guarantee her safety, even though he had defended that she would be fine since she was as strong as him and Naruto. Besides, he AGAIN helped saving everyone.

FINAL CONSIDERATIONS & PERSONAL ANALYSIS.

Sasuke was a child that had everything and lost it all in the most traumatising way possible to the person he loved the most, ordered by the Village he grew in. He saw his family BEING SLAUGHTERED thousands of times in Itachi's genjustu when he was just a kid.

He had his only goal ripped from him on his teen years when getting rid of the target of his revenge only to learn that he actually had sacrificed himself on HIS BEHALF, since his LIFE WAS THREATENED by the superiors responsible for Konoha.

Although being a completely traumatised child and psychologically shaken up, being manipulated by his brother first, then by many others who only wanted to take advantage of his abilities, Sasuke still became aware of the world enough to want to change it for the better.

The revolutionary ideals that conferred depth to the character and made him promising were devastated because antagonists are portrayed as "insane", "out of their minds", "dominated by hatred" so we'll think the revolution of systems is a crazy people thing.

Sasuke was a victim of the system that allows 13 year old children to kill their families in sacrifice of a "greater cause", like this kid and theret family weren't part of who deserved protection. If he had controversial actions, Konoha and its system are the ones to blame.

The real guilty ones are Tobirama, who SEGREGATED the Uchiha without a reason; Hiruzen, that didn't have any tact or pulse to deal with Danzou and the Uchiha; and Danzou, whose crimes I don't even have to mention because they're common sense. If you want to blame someone, these are the ones.

Even though the real guilty ones were previously mentioned, Sasuke was thrown in jail and still got scolded by the greatest Sixth Hokage, his said mentor, who told him to "try not to go mad again", like it was his fault for being traumatised thanks to the Village.

And that's why I hate the ending of my favourite character. It has nothing to do with some kind of ship like many may think (even though I’d much prefer him to end with someone who could really understand him), but because he was distorted to fit in a stupid and conformist narrative, when he had a marvellous potential as a character.

And as if it's not enough, he's hated and made fun of in the fanbase, even though he's the only one, among the kids, to really make sense, even with all the traumas he suffered. Even when he had proved not to be selfish, or dumb, nor egocentric or a terrible father or an abusive husband and etc.

Sasuke Uchiha did nothing wrong and I just proved it. If you, a possible anti who read it all the way here, still want to keep in the ignorance of hating the character based on his actions then that's on you. I've done my part. That's it. Now go love my baby cause he deserves it. ♡

I couldn’t get to all of these opinions without help, so I’m recommending some important pro-Sasuke posts (besides the ones I already did during the post).

Sasuke changing the shinobi system thread. About adult Sasuke. Sasuke’s “crimes”. Sasuke’s protectiveness 1 and 2. Anti SasuSaku fandom. Naruto’s feelings for Sasuke. The Fucking Will Of Fire™. Why pro-Sasuke people are pro-Sasuke anyway? Anti-SNS. Sasuke’s guilt trip.

pt-br twitter thread / pt-br tumblr trans

[kiiroiscnko-blog]

I love Minato so much but I cannot deny the fact that he had fucked up several times to the point of thinking; was he actually worth of becoming Hokage?

He knows he had messed up several times. He was aware that suggesting Kakashi to become a jounin was still quite a rushed movement, considering the fact that Kakashi, back then, couldn’t see anything beyond the completion of a mission. That means abandoning his comrades, or even worse than someone could image. Minato had acknowledged Kakashi’s stupendous potential of becoming a great shinobi, but he knew that something fundamental was lacking. Even so, he still considered Kakashi to become a jounin, albeit his concerns. If only he stood closer to Kakashi, as the mentor that he was, maybe this could have prevented a lot. Not to mention --- to help his team in regards of teamwork, since this was a necessary asset and all of his teammates lacked. I’m not saying that he didn’t do anything about it, but rather --- he could have done more, considering the fact how intelligent and capable he is.

Had he also arrived earlier in the Kannabi Bridge, he could have saved Obito, or at least --- attempted to. Of course, there was a war transpiring, thus he was left with minimal options to move on his own accord. Actions have consequences, and sadly --- it was his students that paid the heavy price; to witness his teammate dying and buried in front of them. ( or at least, that’s what it was assumed )

If only there was a way to prevent all of this, he would have done it without a second thought. Ironic, however. He is known to be the ‘ Yellow Flash ‘, the fastest shinobi around, and yet he always arrived late at the most crucial circumstances.

Moving forward, when the Nine Tails Fox’s attack happened, he had an option to save himself, in order to raise his son. He, however, chose a different route in order for Naruto to be able to control the Kyuubi’s power / chakra. But Naruto being an infant, the power was too much, hence he sealed half of it. Minato believed that Naruto was the ‘ Child of Prophecy ‘ rather than himself, as well as the Nine Tails’ power would be needed for the future. Thus, he made his son intoa jinchuuriki, fully knowing ( at least in my mind ) that this would impact Naruto’s childhood. He could have definitely listened to Kushina, but that would be too convenient and perhaps --- a possible mistake in the future. Obviously, after protecting Naruto in such a way, by being impaled like this, his death was unavoidable.

He believed that his son would be the one to save the world from calamity, however --- as mentioned above, actions come with consequences. While it is not entirely Minato’s fault that Naruto had experienced a horrible childhood, he still plays a significant role in this. And now, seeing how much his son has grown; seeing how great of a shinobi and a young man he is, he feels guilty. He alwlays felt this way, for being unable to stand by his son. But seeing that lieu of choosing a regrettable path, his son vowed to become a Hokage, and someone to be acknowledged.

I’m not saying what he did was entirely wrong; perhaps the result of the current naruto is what he wished for. But in no way he is the father of the year, and for him to reach the point of considering himself meritorious of fatherhood, is going to take a lot. And aside from being a parent, regardless of how great his skillset as a shinobi is, he was never ( and he would never consider himself ) as one of the greatest. He has fucked up several times, and possibl the worst ones imaginable.

[wazafam]

The now-classic, long-running manga and anime series Naruto is an international hit, to the point where every character in the show's enormous cast has their fans. Some of the show's biggest villains are not only some of the show's most interesting and powerful characters but potentially the hardest to love.

RELATED: Naruto Villains & Their MCU Counterparts

While some former villains, like Gaara and Itachi, have been fully redeemed in the eyes of fans by a better understanding of their backstories, others remain more or less bad to the bone. The evilest villains that this series has to offer often have lofty ideals that they wish to enact by any means necessary, whether they involve great violence or violation of the very laws of nature.

10 Nagato/Pain

The story of Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan's friendship through the horrors of war is one of the most tragic in the series. Taking on the name Pain, Nagato formed the second Akatsuki with Konan after Yahiko's death, seeking to bring about world peace by wielding fear.

Although Nagato was eventually reformed and convinced to return to his original, pacifistic ideals, he is still one of the most ruthless characters in the series. He attempted to kill Hinata and did kill many, including Jiraiya and several innocents who are associated with Hanzō, a ninja responsible for Yahiko's death, as a part of his personal and ideological quests for peace.

9 Kakuzu

The hot-headed Akatsuki member who collects human hearts, Kakuzu is notable for his near-immortality and his partnership with the also-immortal Hidan. Notably, Kakuzu killed several of his partners before being paired with Hidan, mostly as a precaution to avoid more death.

Although he was a big part of Akatsuki's attempt to find all of the tailed beasts, Kakuzu was often motivated by rage and money more than anything, collecting bounties on his many missions with Hidan. Although he was eventually defeated by Naruto, Kakuzu's cockiness and anger to the bitter end leave him with no redemption, reversing a trope many other Naruto villains follow.

8 Hidan

A more recent addition to the Akatsuki's roster during Naruto's run, Hidan was an arrogant and obnoxious ninja who was immortal and able to battle his opponents by using himself as a human voodoo doll. His partnership with Kakuzu is volatile, but they make good partners anyway due to their immortality.

RELATED: Attack On Titan Vs. Naruto: Which Show Is Better?

Hidan's signature jutsu allows him to sadistically inflict pain on his opponents, but he is also very cocky in battle, to the point where he makes rash decisions. He has been shown to love violence, killing Asuma with glee and delighting over the possibility of killing Shikamaru, who ultimately does Hidan in.

7 Danzō Shimura

After Pain attacked Konohagakure and left Tsunade in a coma, Danzō Shimura was named the temporary leader and candidate to be the Sixth Hokage. Although this ostensibly places him on the heroes' side, Danzō is more villain than hero, as evidenced by his selfishness and immorality.

Even before becoming a Hokage candidate, Danzō showed his true colors by sending Sai undercover to attempt to assassinate Sasuke. He preached loyalty to one's village over all else in order to enact his goal of world peace, but he himself was afraid to die, only finally facing death heroically against Sasuke and Obito at the Five Kage Summit.

6 Kabuto Yakushi

Kabuto was a minor antagonist in Part I who became major in Part II before being redeemed, meaning that his impact on the series is far-reaching and constant. At first, Kabuto was a spy working for Orochimaru, but he eventually staked out on his own and used his medical prowess to imbue himself with DNA from Orochimaru, the Sound Four, and Sasuke's allies in Taka.

In this way, Kabuto saw himself as being "perfect," a god complex that underlined his conniving plans to accumulate power and influence, culminating in him reincarnating Madara Uchiha and several other notable ninjas to fight alongside himself and Akatsuki leader Obito Uchiha. Although his ambitions have been reined in since then, this arrogance brought the world much pain.

5 Orochimaru

One of the legendary Sannin and the main antagonist of Part I, Orochimaru was a former Akatsuki member whose presence loomed large over the series. Marked by his desire for immortality, Orochimaru was unique in that he saw potential in Sasuke and actively disliked Akatsuki, whereas many other villains were allied with the organization.

Despite his redemption arc and subsequent appearances in Boruto, Orochimaru is plenty diabolical throughout the series, performing unethical experiments on others in Konohagakure and killing many without remorse on his quest for power and immortality. He had very little respect for human life and its fragility, and it showed in his evil schemes.

4 Obito Uchiha

The secret leader of the Akatsuki, lurking in the shadows and even pretending to be Madara Uchiha before finally revealing himself, Obito was something of a tragic character. Although he sacrificed his life in order to save the world, his actions did put the world in danger in the first place.

RELATED: 10 Little Known Facts About Naruto's Jutsu

From his youthful rivalry with Kakashi, Obito always seemed to crave power, and he later adopted his mentor Madara's idealistic view of world peace by means of mental imprisonment. In order to accomplish this plan, Obito killed many and also worked many Machiavellian schemes to avoid being seen as the true puppet-master of the Akatsuki organization.

3 Madara Uchiha

Madara Uchiha was one of the founders of Konoha and perhaps the most famous member of the Uchiha clan, known for his plan to use the Infinite Tsukuyomi technique to imprison the human race and create world peace. He saved Obito's life and entrusted him with this plan, but he also manipulated him into becoming evil by orchestrating the death of his friend Rin.

As a brilliant strategist and a bloodthirsty fighter, Madara's influence reaches over many characters in the series, even though he died before the series began. He attempted to use Obito and Black Zetsu to achieve his plans after death and was even able to continue his conniving ways later when he was resurrected by Kabuto.

2 Black Zetsu

The Akatsuki member known as Zetsu was a mystery for much of Naruto's run before it was revealed that he was really made up of two beings: White Zetsu and Black Zetsu, the latter of which was an agent of Kaguya Ōtsutsuki. Black Zetsu's manipulations of Madara and many other characters led to Kaguya's resurrection and the near-end of the world.

Mostly, Black Zetsu worked by manipulating others into killing and accumulating power so that it could get what it wanted, although it also killed others when necessary, as when it possessed Obito in order to kill the resurrected Madara. Black Zetsu had a hatred for most of humanity that it inherited from Kaguya, as well, making it an unfeeling strategist with no mercy.

1 Kaguya Ōtsutsuki

The final antagonist of the Naruto franchise was not revealed until very late in the anime and manga's runs, but her influence over the series was undeniable. Kaguya Ōtsutsuki was sealed in the Moon, but was unleashed as a part of Black Zetsu's plan when the Infinite Tsukuyomi was reflected off of the Moon in order to create world peace.

Above all, Kaguya craved power and, much like the series' other villains, believed that she and she alone could bring peace to the world by dominating all other life. Because of her ancient nature, Kaguya is very powerful, too, able to enact her wicked plots with even less possibility for resistance than the likes of Obito and Madara.

NEXT: Naruto: 10 Powers That Make Kaguya Otsutsuki An Absolute God

Naruto: 10 Evilest Naruto Villains, Ranked | ScreenRant from https://ift.tt/3sti4nk

[byakugcu]

In Defense of Haruno Sakura:

Refuting Anti-Sakura Arguments

Ok. So these anti-Sakura arguments literally make me laugh. Read the manga! Guys seriously, this character is literally so misunderstood due to the anime studio’s disgusting misinterpretation and bias against her. I will be refuting the following using canon source material (ie the manga, databooks and hiden novels. The anime, I do not care for, it is mostly filler containing ooc moments so no, I won’t even be discussing anime only content)

More under the cut!

Usefulness

I don’t understand why we’re still arguing this. It’s like the anti’s ignore all her feats because they know their fave can’t even compare. Well here are her feats

Gathered intel on Sasuke and Kabuto (Akatsuki spy)

Defeated Sasori with Chiyo

Healed your faves including, but not limited to Naruto, Sasuke, Hinata, Kankuro, Chiyo, everyone in the Shinobi Alliance

Not just healed, but kept Naruto alive long enough for him to get to Minato

Gathered intel on Obito’s Kamui, White Zetsu’s technique

Motivated the whole shinobi alliance

Summoned, Katsuyu, the slug summon, a feat only shown by her and Tsunade

Dimension hopped with Obito, using her byakugou chakra to get Sasuke back

Punched Kaguya, the rabbit goddess and progenitor of Chakra on Earth and broke the horn off her head, allowing Naruto and Sasuke to seal her

Opened a children’s mental health clinic, establishing the shinobi world mental health system

Also, Sakura is a medic-nin. Are we forgetting the amount of lives that she saved? Are we forgetting that medics had a guideline they were meant to follow issued by Tsunade?

First clause (第一項, Daiikkō): “No medic ninja shall ever stop medical treatment until the lives of their party members have come to an end.” (「医療忍者は決して隊員の命尽きるまで治療を諦めてはならない」, “Iryō ninja wa kesshite taiin no inochi tsukeru made chiryō o akiramete wa naranai.”)

Second clause (第二項, Dainikō): “No medic ninja shall ever stand on the front lines.” (「医療忍者は決して最前線に立ってはならない」, “Iryō ninja wa kesshite saizensen ni tatte wa naranai.”)

Third clause (第三項, Daisankō): “No medic ninja shall ever die until they are the last of their platoon.” (「医療忍者は決して小隊の中で最後まで死んではならない」, “Iryō ninja wa kesshite shōtai no naka de saigo made shinde wa naranai.”)

Fourth clause (第四項, Daiyonkō): “Only those medic ninja who have mastered the Strength of a Hundred Technique of the ninja art Creation Rebirth are permitted to discard the above-mentioned laws.” (「忍法創造再生の百豪の術を極めし医療忍者のみ 上記の掟を破棄できる」, “Ninpō Sōzō Saisei no Byakugō no Jutsu o kiwameshi iryō ninja nomi, jōki no okite o haki dekiru.”)

It’s literally stated in the second clause that medic ninja were not supposed to be on the frontlines in battle, they could only disregard the system if they mastered the Strength of a Hundred Technique. It wasn’t until the war that Sakura unlocked the yin seal.

Compared to the other kunoichi in the Naruto series, Sakura has achieved so much more than the kunoichi in her generation, surpassing her own master in her teens.

“Sakura hasn’t shown anything different from her master? Hinata developed her own jutsu.” Well, put it this way. Sakura is a 17 year old in the middle of war, is she really going to be spending time developing new techniques or will she use techniques her master taught her, that she knows she can master and will work in combat. Also, when has Hinata’s lion fist ever done any serious damage? She defeated one juubi fodder? So have all the rookies in her gen. Sakura’s fist may not be anything new but it does work (multiple juubi fodder and Kaguya’s horn say hi), and in combat you have to be able to utilise your skill-set fully rather than have techniques that cannot be optimised.

“Sakura doesn’t have a tragic backstory/She’s too plain to be in the main cast.” Not everyone in this series needs a tragic backstory. Her lack of tragic backstory was evened out by her lack of skill in the beginning of the series.

Sakura was meant to be the girl who didn’t have a tragic backstory, didn’t come from a highly revered clan, or have any special circumstances. Her character is meant to show that just because you are ordinary, does not mean you can’t become extraordinary. She defied the odds and rose up to become a significant kunoichi. Sakura’s character was always about development throughout the story, she was meant to be someone who you watched grow despite her disadvantages.

 “Sakura is selfish”

When has this ever been shown in the manga? Sakura’s motivations throughout the manga are never shown to be selfish. She has always been shown with good intentions.

“Sakura broke her friendship off with Ino for Sasuke” No. If you read the manga and have basic comprehension skills, Sakura broke off her friendship with Ino in order to step out of Ino’s shadow and become her own person. Ino literally degraded her own friend by calling her a bud after she revealed her insecurities. Sakura breaking off her friendship with Ino sparked a rivalry to become the better kunoichi which Ino agreed was a good idea. Sakura putting her forehead protector in the ribbon’s spot should tell you that.

 Her confession to Naruto? Her trying to kill Sasuke? Do not forget that the entire Rookie 9 guilt-tripped her. They straight up ganged up on her, Shikamaru told her that a war may start in Sasuke’s name. Add on top of that, Sai, told her, to her face that she was hurting Naruto with her promise. Her wanting to kill Sasuke herself was to prevent Kakashi from killing his own beloved student. So excuse her for trying to prevent conflict as quick as possible. Although her actions weren’t the greatest, her intention was to prevent Naruto from getting hurt, and to prevent the war from happening because of Sasuke.

Her hugging Naruto in front of Hinata even though she knew she loved him? Sakura doesn’t owe Hinata anything. Let’s keep in mind that the two have barely interacted and that Naruto and Sakura have been through thick and thin together at this point in Part II. Her close friend just saved the village whose inhabitants include their friends, her mentor, her parents, her colleagues so it’s easy to see why she was thankful. Also, she called him rash before she hugged him, meaning that he had worried her and she was relieved he was okay from his fight. Why should she feel sorry for a platonic hug she gave to her close friend in front of someone she barely even interacted with.

 “Sakura gets too emotional”

So we’re gonna hate on a character for expressing genuine human emotions. They may be strong 2D characters who can kick anyone in this world’s ass any day, these characters are meant to be representations of actual human beings. To me, Sakura being emotional makes her relatable. Her emotion in each situation is understandable. Let’s also not forget that throughout most of Part II, her and Naruto were under immense pain and stress from Sasuke’s defection and actions. Also, many other Naruto characters such as Naruto, Sasuke, Ino, Shikamaru and Hinata have cried on the battlefield. Are we hating on those characters too for crying?

 “Sakura is abusive”

What the heck. Seriously. Her punching Naruto? It only happened like what? Two times. Her punching him in the anime is part of filler, therefore non-canon. The times in the manga, he literally said something stupid. Most friends tend to playfully hit each other. And this is a manga series, anything that happens in real life, is exaggerated upon. Honestly though, have you ever considered that if Naruto felt as if he were being abused he would’ve said/done something about it ages ago? He literally has no problem calling her out. They’re friends. Let’s also not forget that Naruto has been punched by other females including his own mother.

 “Sakura is a fangirl”

Ok. But this was when she was twelve years old. Everyone in her class was a fangirl. One of them was even a stalker. So I don’t see how this argument is a valid one when literally every single girl introduced in the beginning of the series had fangirl tendencies.

 Also, Sakura grew out of her “fangirl phase” in the Chunin Exams/Forest of Death arc, where she was willing to allow her team to get eliminated so that Naruto could retake the exams because she believed in his dream of becoming hokage. She also called Sasuke out for being a coward for not doing anything while Naruto had risked his life.

 “Sakura guilt-tripped Sasuke into a relationship”

It’s been stated in the manga by Kakashi twice that Sakura’s love for Sasuke was pure and she didn’t even need him to reciprocate her feelings. She only wanted to save him from the darkness and for the real Sasuke to come back. Also, this is Sasuke we are talking about. It would be out of character for him to be guilt-tripped much less a relationship/marriage with someone he doesn’t love. Sasuke literally calls her his wife and states that Sarada is a child born out of their love.

 “Sakura is a bad parent”

Sakura was a single mother for majority of Sarada’s life. She was balancing being a mother while also working so she can financially support her daughter. Parenting skills are often reflected on the child, and so far Sarada has been shown to be kind, polite, ambitious and mature. Things that would have to be taught by the parent. Compared to majority of those in her generation, it is clear that Sarada has been well raised by her mother as the others have been shown to be bratty, lazy or rude. In flashbacks during Gaiden, we saw a loving and affectionate Sakura as a mother, nurturing Sarada and looking after her while sick, while keeping a joyful atmosphere in their home.

 “Sakura covered up Karin/Taka.” Given that Sasuke left for his mission early, they either did not get the chance to take a family photo at the time, or, they are all with Sasuke. Sakura obviously wanted to show her daughter her father and so she had to make do with the photo from the Bingo book. Sakura probably covered up Taka as seeing them may lead Sarada to questioning her about Sasuke’s past, something that should be told by Sasuke, not Sakura.

“Sakura is a doormat”

This, to me is hilarious. Where? Sakura has been known to not take anyone’s crap. Whether it be from Naruto, Sai or Sasuke. “Sasuke you say, when has she ever-”

As previously stated during the Chunin Exams arc, she literally called Sasuke a coward for freezing up, and refusing to fight, while Naruto had taken the enemy head on, risking his life. In Chapter 699, while healing the boys, Sakura gets Sasuke to be quiet so she can concentrate as well as, contrary to what anti’s believe, got him to specify his apology.

 “Sakura is flat-chested/ugly”

Now this, is ridiculous. Are we reading the same manga? Sakura is meant to embody feminine qualities as her namesake is the cherry blossom which in Chinese culture is meant to represent female dominance and power. As well as this, Sakura has been called beautiful by multiple male characters throughout the series.

 Also, first of all, Sakura is not flat-chested. She has repeatedly been shown to have curves in multiple drawings by Kishimoto, her being flat-chested is something the anime studio made up and cannot let go of.

 Second, what does a flat chest have anything to do with a character’s beauty? On the other side of the spectrum, for comparison’s sake, we have Hinata. She has a chest, but canonically she is not beautiful. Kishimoto has stated in the databooks that Hinata is meant to be “frumpy-looking” or plain in every sense. So obviously in the Naruto world, chest size does not correlate with beauty.

 Conclusion

So as you can see, many anti-Sakura arguments are heavily flawed and can be voided just by doing some research. Please guys, be like your faves who have good eyes or glasses (not too much though, don’t want you guys going to jail)

[purple-possibilities]

Sharin-games (Part II) [MadaKaka]

Also on FF and AO3!

not sure if I should be posting the whole chapters here anymore if they’re also over there. Opinions?

SUMMARY: Tatsumi talks a lot. Everyone else listens and nods along, until they start yelling. You will graduate with a degree in Uchiha Eye Bullshit by the end of this. Certificates will be delivered by Kamui, but only if we can figure out how to transverse universes.

AN: Here is the second part of Chapter 3!  It starts immediately after the previous chapter ends, so you might want to read that again to brush up on what’s going on.  This one is +8k words, so buckle up!  Every time I’ve gone back to edit it, another 300-500 words got added on.  So I’m just gonna stop and post this baby already.   Hopefully there aren’t too many mistakes!  Point them out and I’ll do my best to fix them. (I need a masterpost for this now, don’t I?)

When Tatsumi turned her attention back to Kakashi, she was cold and clinical.  The playful woman from before was washed away, and in her place was the level stare of an icy queen looking down on her servants.  It was a look most Uchiha wore constantly, albeit unintentionally; derision and superiority swirled into a face both gracefully beautiful and stomach churningly hideous.  Whatever comfort Kakashi had felt upon first meeting her—that part of him that compared her to Obito, thought she might even be a close ancestor of his—vanished under that callous gaze.  He wanted to leave—he needed to get out of there.  This was not a woman he could trust, this was not a woman he would let near his— 

“Relax, Kakashi,” Madara murmured, as wisps of his chakra slithered soothingly into Kakashi’s system.  Madara’s thumbs gently stroked Kakashi’s shoulders in a pacifying gesture, unconsciously.  “There is no one in this world Tatsumi loves more than her brother.  She will not go back on her word.”

“They took his eyes, you know,” she offered with faux nonchalance, as her hand drew closer to Kakashi’s face.  It was slow, reluctant, but the speed—or lack thereof, rather—made things all the more ominous.  While Kakashi was not one to scare easily, the idea of letting her hands touch him—touch Obito’s gift—opened a fear Kakashi had not felt since Rin’s death.  Still, he remained unaffected on the outside—as he had spent hours painstakingly training himself to do.  “They killed him right in front of me.  My twin—do you know what it’s like to have a twin, Senju?”

Kakashi did not reply, but it didn’t seem like Tatsumi was waiting for an answer. 

“We had never been apart, not for long.  We even unlocked our Sharingan on the same day.  I thought it was hard watching my brother marry—start a new family without me.  But nothing compared to that moment.”  Her hand reached his face, finally, fingers resting gently—ominously—on his brow.  Kakashi could not help but tense, but for some reason, having Madara at his back kept him in his place where he otherwise would have ran.

“There were too many of them.  It was just the two of us, against thirty of them.  Shinobi from Kaminari—those bastards are always after our eyes, them and the degenerates from Mizu.”  Madara’s grip tightened on Kakashi’s shoulders, whether in sympathy or anger was anyone’s guess.  Tatsumi’s fingers lit up with medical chakra, but Kakashi did not feel it enter his system.  “Most of them targeted Tatsuki, thinking he would have the better eyes.  Men are always like that, especially the thieves.  Their chauvinism blinds them.  But, it meant that they left me mostly alone.  I managed to kill five of them, before Tatsuki went down.  Stabbed in the back.  Cowards!” 

Tatsumi’s chakra entered Kakashi’s system with a jolt. 

It was nothing like the calm and security he felt with Madara.  While Madara’s chakra felt warm—like cozying up to the fire on a cold day—Tatsumi’s chakra scorched, fried along his nerves and left him on alert.  It felt like static, but more controlled, slower—almost molten.  While it didn’t hurt, it was decidedly uncomfortable.  Was it a symptom of her mood, or just the feel of her chakra in general?  Kakashi could not tell.

“When he fell, time seemed to freeze.  I could only see the sword in his back.  The sounds around me muted; I could no longer hear the clang of their katana against my kunai.  I could no long hear the echoing bark of triumph the Kaminari-nin cried out.  Of all the sounds that flooded the battlefield, I heard only the choking, garbled breath of my twin, as his lungs filled with blood.”  Tatsumi’s chakra seeped into his system, much slower than Madara’s had.  Was it her hesitance, or a necessity?  Again, Kakashi could not tell.  But he knew the feeling she spoke of.  Had felt it himself, had dreamt about it every night.

“Colour faded, until all that was left—” 

“—was red,” Kakashi finished.  Tatsumi’s eyes widened.  Kakashi continued.

“There was a pulse, as if the world echoed your heartbeat—”

“—and a moment of disbelief,” Madara murmured, “as though it was all just a cruel nightmare.”

“And then, the pain,” Tatsumi whispered, eyes scrunching shut, remembering the break in her heart as the other part of her soul was ripped away from her.

“The pain…” Kakashi and Madara echoed unintentionally.  Each stilled, the memory of gaining their Mangekyou flashing in their minds.  Kakashi felt Rin’s scorched blood on his hand, the terror in his heart amplified to unheard of proportions.  Madara saw his father fall—disbelief at seeing a man so powerful, so great succumb to the carnage of battle—as he and Izuna raced to save him, even though all was already lost. 

The trio sat in silence, lost in their own hell.  Tatsumi lowered her head, her goggles sliding down her forehead to once again rest on her nose.  To distract herself, she fiddled with the lenses, adjusting them so she could see into Obito’s eye.

“I was frozen,” she continued, as if the words would give her strength, “and I would have died—should have died.  But they could not touch me; that was the power of my Mangekyou.  A few had taken Tatsuki away, while the rest stayed to finish me off.  I don’t know how long I stood there, but the next thing I felt was burning pain.” 

“Susanoo,” Madara whispered, one of his hands leaving Kakashi’s shoulders to rest on Tatsumi’s head.  He stroked her hair soothingly, once, twice, before tucking an errant strand behind her ear, his palm resting against her left cheek.  Though her right hand remained on Kakashi’s face, the other rose to close lightly around Madara’s wrist.  Her chakra continued to flood Kakashi’s system, slowly seeping deeper into his brain than Madara had.  Kakashi could feel it oozing along foreign pathways—even towards his neck—felt it prodding at things he didn’t know existed.  

“I don’t remember killing them.  Just spectral, skeletal hands around me, crushing them.  Some tried to flee, but of course I could not let them get away.  Not when it was their fault Tatsuki was dead.”  The foreign chakra in Kakashi seemed to quiver, not unlike a livewire.  Still, it did not jump from where it was supposed to be. 

“When I awoke from the daze, I was surrounded by dead bodies, but Tatsuki wasn’t there.  So I followed the footsteps, the blood.”  She barked a sharp laugh.  It was cold, and warbled almost unnoticeably at the end.  “Fools,” she scoffed, in a tone Kakashi had heard Madara use time and time again.  A cruel smile lit her face, and Kakashi, in passing, thought that he was glad her eyes were covered.  It was not a look he wanted fully engraved in his brain.

“They thought that their comrades could handle me.  Perhaps they thought to gain four eyes that day, instead of two.  So they did not cover their tracks—didn’t even move that far.  I saw one of them bowed over Tatsuki’s body, a glass jar filled with fluid in one hand, an eye in the other.  The other two stood by—one was disgusted by the sight, the other, entranced.  Before I knew what was happening, they were consumed by black flames.”  Her hand moved from Madara’s wrist to fiddle with the lenses once more, before returning to its previous position.

“I can still hear them screaming”—from behind the lenses, Kakashi saw a flash of red—“and I revel in it.”

Kakashi gulped unconsciously. 

“That is what we do to eye thieves,” she finished, her chakra in his system feeling all the more heavy.

“But he is no thief, imouto,” Madara spoke softly, his thumb brushing so, so gently against her cheek.  “Though hard to believe, he was gifted the eye, after sacrificing one of his own to save an Uchiha.  When that Uchiha unfortunately died, he passed on the eye in thanks—” 

“It is not allowed!” she snarled, head titling up to glare at her clan head, her fingers on Madara’s wrist clenching to stop their trembling.  Kakashi watched a tear slide down her cheek from behind her goggles.

“It is forbidden,” Madara conceded, still speaking in that soft voice Kakashi had never heard before today, his thumb erasing the evidence of her sorrow, “but it is a fitting repayment to a life debt, is it not?” 

“But for an Uchiha to gift one of our eyes to a Senju—”

“I wasn’t a Senju, then,” Kakashi offered, feeling, for Obito’s sake, that this woman needed to know.  Her eyes shot back to him like a slingshot, scrutinizing his expression for any hint of dishonesty.  “I was born to a different clan—now extinct except for me—and adopted into the Senju for my own safety.  They rightfully believed that if an Uchiha were to find out about the Sharingan, I would be killed.  They took me under their protection.  Your clan-mate did not betray you.”

The information seemed to placate Tatsumi, somewhat.  Though on the outside, her demeanor would have seemed unchanged, the Sharingan picked up on the slight softening of her mouth, saw the tendons of her neck untense, her shoulders fold slightly inward in relaxation.  Her chakra inside of him seemed lighter, as if it wasn’t pressing against his nerves.  It was still uncomfortable, but the pressure he didn’t quite notice building up in his head suddenly vanished, present only in an abrupt rush of relief. 

“How long ago was the transplant?”  Tatsumi’s voice didn’t hold the warmth it had when the pair had first arrived, but it was no longer the cold, angry tone from before. 

“About ten years ago.” 

Tatsumi was surprised.  “You were young, then.”

Kakashi shrugged.  “We both were.” 

“Too young to know any better?”

Kakashi’s response was a self-depreciating smile behind his mask.  While others might have missed it, the Sharingan picked up the twist of his lips under the thin, stretchy fabric.

“Do you feel any pain?” she asked, letting go of Madara’s wrist to grab the penlight she had previously returned to her smock.  There was a click, and then Kakashi was temporarily blinded as Obito’s eye became illuminated.

“Not right now,” Kakashi hedged, causing Tatsumi to sigh.

“Don’t tell me he’s as bullheaded as you, nii-chan,” she huffed, shooting Madara a playful glare from behind her spectacles.  Madara smirked, shrugging one of his shoulders with faux nonchalance. 

“I’d say I’m more of a goat,” Madara teased, causing his cousin to snort out a laugh.  Her answering smirk, however, was a cause for concern.  Raising her spectacles back onto her forehead—as not to miss even a second of his reaction—Tatsumi struck.

“I see…so you’re admitting you’re horny?”

Madara’s face flushed red, from his chest to the roots of his hair and even the tips of his ears.  The hand on Kakashi’s shoulder tightened, while the one that had been on Tatsumi’s cheek balled into a fist and bopped her on the shoulder in a light reprimand.  Tatsumi started laughing raucously, tears streaming down her cheeks, though her chakra remained steady inside of Kakashi’s head.  He would have loved to turn around and see the expression on Madara’s face, but could not move so long as her chakra remained.

“You—Tatsumi—I—” Madara sputtered—yes, sputtered—as he searched for a retort.  It only seemed to make Tatsumi laugh harder.  When Kakashi began to chuckle lowly, Madara felt a lightning bolt zing down his spine.  So Madara did what he always did when he got uncomfortable; he began to yell.  “You’ve been spending too much time with those Inuzuka!”

Tatsumi only laughed louder.

“I told you to stop associating with those ruffians!” Madara scolded, trying to tame his blush and regain control over the situation.  He was only making things worse.  “They’re a bad influence, teaching you such language!”

Tatsumi only laughed harder.

“Maa… I like the Inuzuka,” Kakashi defended. “And besides, anything that can make a pretty lady laugh like that is worthwhile.”  His words were meant as empty flattery, but they made jealousy coil in Madara’s stomach.  He became eerily silent, and soon, Tatsumi’s laughter faded. 

“Nii-chan, don’t be like that!” Tatsumi whined, a smirk on her face as she dried her eyes with the back of her free hand, “you know I’ve been asked to help train their vets.  I can’t not spend time with them.  And your Senju is right; they’re great company.” 

It was Kakashi’s turn to blush, at being openly referred to as Madara’s.  It was strange; he didn’t know why it made his pulse skip, or his palms sweat.  Madara, on the other hand, seemed to settle down at the concession.

Tatsumi’s penlight was back in hand, and she was on topic once more.  “Alright, Senju—”

“Kakashi,” the man himself interjected.

“Okay then, Kakashi.  Do you feel pain when using this Sharingan?” she asked, pulling her spectacles back down and fiddling with the lenses, the penlight returning to his eye.  Kakashi did not miss her change of phrase; with Madara it had been ‘your Sharingan,’ but with Kakashi it was ‘this Sharingan.’  But despite the different wording, the atmosphere had returned to the lighthearted one from before.  It seemed that Tatsumi was easily distracted once the air was cleared.

“It does hurt when I use it,” Kakashi offered.

“And…?”  Tatsumi pressed, a wry smile on her lips.  Dragging out answers from stubborn patients was old hat for her.

“…And the longer I use it, the longer it hurts.” His mediocre answer just got him another stare down.  He sighed once more.  “It will throb even after I stop utilising it.”

“For how long do the effects last?” 

“Depends.  Hours to days, sometimes it doesn’t stop hurting for weeks.”

“And let me guess, you get blurred vision, see spots, and occasional bleeding from ruptured blood vessels?” she listed, fiddling with the spectacles’ lenses again.  “And don’t think of lying to me—I can see the effects on this Sharingan.”

Kakashi sighed.  “Why even ask the question if you know the answer?”

When she continued to give him a Look from behind her goggles, he sighed again.

“Yes, sometimes, not often,” he answered—in order—reluctantly.  It didn’t feel safe revealing his weaknesses to someone he had only just met—and had wanted to kill him only moments before.

Tatsumi nodded to herself, pulling a contraption from the chair’s handle into view.  It was an eye speculum—a two-pronged device used to hold the eye open—and she made quick work of attaching it to Kakashi’s top and bottom eyelids.  He hadn’t felt so exposed in a long time.  Had it not been for Madara standing at his back, Kakashi would certainly have been panicking by now.  Instead, he was just wary, watching closely—well, as closely as he could—though still confident that Madara would intervene with any foul play.

“This Sharingan has not been getting the required chakra.  However, it seems suddenly flooded.  I can see the atrophied charka capillaries adapting to the new influx of energy.” 

“I adjusted the central retinal chakra artery and vein just before coming here,” Madara interjected, causing Tatsumi to nod thoughtfully.

“That would help.  The surgeon was obviously not an Uchiha, or else the chakra pathways would have been handled better.  There are a few other chakra arterioles and venules that need adjusting, but that’s fairly simple,” she nudged those into their proper places with her chakra as she spoke.  Once more, Kakashi felt tingling in and around the Sharingan as the chakra flow flooded the area.  She continued, “The physical surgery itself, however, is almost flawless.”

“Almost?” Kakashi wondered, feeling a pang at remembering just who it was who implanted Obito’s eye. 

“Yes.  Was it a field operation?  There are small pieces of debris stuck in your eye.  Small rocks, or dust, I’d wager.  Why haven’t you had anyone look at this?” her sentence ended sharply, the voice all medics adopted when their patients weren’t taking proper care of themselves.  Both men were more than familiar with the tone. 

Kakashi ignored the slight rebuke. “Is it infected?” 

Tatsumi rolled her eyes at his avoidance.  No wonder Madara liked him—her cousin became obsessed with people who didn’t give him what he wanted, when he wanted it.  “No, the Sharingan’s chakra is… cushioning the debris, creating a protective barrier around them.  And they’re quite small, almost unnoticeable.  But they’re causing a strain on the eye nonetheless.  I can extract them now, but it will be painful.”

“Do it,” Madara instructed, eager to find a solution.

“Kakashi?” Tatsumi asked, ignoring her cousin.

“Is that the only problem you see?” Kakashi wondered, wanting to get all the information before he made a decision either way. 

“No, there is still more to investigate.  But you really need to get the debris out of this eye as soon as possible.” She explained, preparing herself for the minor operation even though Kakashi had not acquiesced yet.  “While any Sharingan user can strain their eyes from overuse, when your chakra level lowers, the debris lose part of their cushion, cutting at the eye.  I can see areas of thickened scar tissue where the debris lay, in addition to the typical buildup from general use.  Through repeated therapy, we can eliminate the scar tissue, which will also improve functioning of the eye.  You would have to come biweekly for that, at least at first. 

“Then there is also the issue of your misplaced and missing tenketsu, and from my precursory look, I can see that not all the chakra pathways associated with activating one’s Sharingan have developed deeper in your brain—your hindbrain, specifically.  Seeing as you yourself didn’t activate this Sharingan, your brain did not gain the pathways an Uchiha would have developed.  I can tell that you received this eye when it had only two tomoe, and that you developed a third and also the Mangekyou, by the charka pathways this Sharingan has gifted you.  But the ones that come with the initial activation, and the first and second tomoe, are not present.  We’ll need to build them manually, by splitting your existing pathways and connecting them to the proper locations.”

When Kakashi remained silent, Tatsumi sighed, getting ready to work.  “I want to start the procedure now.  It’s simple, and while it will hurt as the debris move through and around this eye and your eye socket, there is a very rare chance of complications.  Once I finish this, we can see about the more complex issues.”

Kakashi wanted to ask for reassurance, for promises that Obito’s eye would not be harmed.  But he could tell that questioning Tatsumi’s oath would only make her mad, and he wanted to keep this warmer atmosphere over the tense one from before.  When he bade his acquiescence, she got to work.��

Tatsumi’s chakra slithered back from deep within his brain towards the back of Obito’s eye.  It encapsulated one piece of debris, before slowly pulling.  She was not lying when she said it would hurt.  He could feel it carving through his eye, felt the strain on the Sharingan’s center pupil as it was held open so the debris could be safely pulled out.  After the first piece was removed from the eye, Tatsumi directed it over to a kidney dish attached to the chair’s left arm.  It fell into the metal dish with an almost silent ping—only audible due to his enhanced hearing—adding credence to her explanation. 

Tatsumi repeated the process several times; through it all, Kakashi didn’t once flinch.  Other pieces of debris were pulled out from under his eyelids, seeing as they were not in the eye, but around it.  Those somehow hurt more.  This was because they were pulled from deeper in his skull, and/or they brushed across the delicate nerves surrounding the eye. 

After about forty minutes of constant work, Tatsumi pulled away, cutting off her chakra and wiping the sweat from her forehead.  There was a small, but visible, pile of dirt in the kidney dish.  She had removed twenty-six pieces from various parts of the eye and the area surrounding it.  Kakashi’s Sharingan was sore—tender, even—and he could feel a headache coming on.  Having the Sharingan open for so long, especially when his chakra reserves weren’t fully recovered, was taxing.

Tatsumi detached the eye speculum, removed her goggles, and then went into the next room.  She returned with a small cold pack wrapped in gauze, and sat down once more.  Lightly brushing Kakashi’s hair from his forehead, Tatsumi applied the cold pack to the area just below his brow, but not directly on top of his eye.

“You can’t deactivate it, can you?” Tatsumi stated more than asked, brushing her thumb gently over his scarred lid so the eye would close.  Kakashi complied without complaint.  Though she had an idea as to what his answer would be, she had to ask anyways. 

“No,” he affirmed. “Keeping the eye closed helps, but it is constantly using my chakra.”

“Can you help with that?” Madara probed, eager to know.  When he thought of bringing Kakashi to his cousin, that was his aim.  However, as it always seemed to happen when he visited Tatsumi, he got a little more than he bargained for.

“Iiiiiiiiiiiiiit’s,” she drew out the vowel, knowing her answer wasn’t what Madara wanted to hear.  The man was always so impatient.  “It’s possible.  Probably.  Maybe.  Maybe probably.  But not an immediate priority.” 

Madara scowled.  “I’m telling you to make it a priority.”

Tatsumi gave him her signature Look™.  Kakashi wondered idly why her face wasn’t stuck like that yet, she used it so often.  “Other issues take precedence.  And besides, it won’t be possible for him to turn off the eye until the correct chakra pathways are in place.  Fixing the damage to the eye is my first priority, and then we can work on turning it off and on.” 

Madara continued to scowl despite her explanation.

“There is no point to a switch if the proper wiring isn’t in place, Madara.  And besides, I can’t construct tenketsu out of nothing.  Plus, moving his existing tenketsu into more efficient places won’t help, not without access to the lines which control the chakra input.  In fact, doing so would just run the risk of cutting off chakra flow to other vital places, resulting in necrosis, or even gangrene, which would in turn necessitate amputation.  It’s much more important to send chakra to essential areas, to begin reversing some of the atrophy that’s already occurred. 

“Once we’ve”—she raised her hand to list off with her fingers—“gotten rid of the scar tissue, improved chakra flow to the area, and reversed the atrophy, his pain will be drastically decreased, and his usage of the eye more efficient overall.  Then we can worry about him being able to control turning it off and on.” 

When Madara still didn’t show signs of backing down, Tatsumi exhaled a long—long—suffering sigh, and let her face fall into her open palm.  Her hand slid down her face, revealing an expression filled with condescension which she leveled on her stubborn cousin. 

“Okay Madara, we’ll just rush into things and start the surgery now,” she started, sarcasm and false cheer dripping from her tone.  She turned to Kakashi, and he immediately wished she would look back at Madara.  “It’s not safe, especially since your eye needs at least a day to recover from the stress I already put on it, but that’s what Madara wants.  By the way, the splitting of chakra channels is a super dangerous procedure, like, top level delicate surgery, especially since it’s in your brain.  The chances of you dying are about fifty-fifty on a good day, and right now, that number is raised to an eighty-four-percent risk of failure.  That’s supposing the eye itself doesn’t just explode because it’s already under stress and not as structurally sound as a fully healthy eye.  Which, by the way, would likely also kill you, or at the very least, cause some sort of irreparable brain damage.  But hey! Madara over there wants me to get it done now, so I guess we’ll just ignore the risks and barrel on with the surgery, alright?”

“Tatsumi—” Madara tried to interject exasperatedly, but Tatsumi was on a roll.  Kakashi surreptitiously sighed in relief, now that her attention was off him.  She could be a scary lady—it must have been another Uchiha thing. 

“Oh no, Madara, don’t interrupt me now, I’m still not done!  I haven’t been able to sleep for the past week, and the one time I might have been able to catch a few hours, you oh so kindly burst in, but I’m sure that won’t affect my ability to perform this super delicate and complex surgery.  I mean, he’s just a Senju, right?  Hell, he’s adopted.  No one will care!  Let’s just kill the bloody Senju you brought me, after making me swear on Tatsuki’s soul that I would do him no harm.  Okay?  Let’s just go ahead and do it because—”

“Tatsumi!”

“—the great, and powerful, Uchiha Madara, head of the illustrious Uchiha Clan—which apparently has given birth to only one genius, the aforementioned Uchiha Madara—doesn’t want to listen to the Clan’s youngest and brightest Sharingan specialist and Ophthalmologist because hey, apparently ‘Dara-sama over there is actually an ophthalmologist now, just because he knows enough anatomy to tinker around with the Clan’s doujutsu after that same ophthalmologist gave him a few lessons!  He’s aaaaalllll of a sudden surpassed her expertise, aaaaaalllll because he wa—”

“TATSUMI! That is enough!”  Madara’s face was red, his hands unintentionally clenching into Kakashi’s shoulders.

“Oh, I’m sorry, ‘Dara-niichan~” Tatsumi's smile dripped acid. 

“Don’t call me that!” 

 “—were you saying something?  I couldn’t hear you over the sound of your own hubris.” 

Madara glared as steam rose from his ears.

Now, Madara’s glare was a thing of legends.  In fact, even his ‘friendly’ look was renowned as terrifying.  But Tatsumi was desensitized to the look (all one had to do was stand behind him when he was… relieving himself—or, trying to at least—and the intimidation factor would be forever lost).  So it wasn’t surprising that she was just smiling sarcastically back, unflinching, and blinking innocently.

Kakashi would have been chuckling at the scene, if it weren’t for all the information he had gained from that… exchange.

“If the risk is that great,” Kakashi began, drawing the Uchiha duo’s attention, “I’m not going through with it.”

“Kakashi—” Madara started, only to be interrupted—between these two, his fearsome reputation was basically a joke. 

“I appreciate what you’ve tried to do, and what you’ve done for me already, Madara, Tatsumi-sensei.  But I’ve been getting along just fine as I am; I don’t need to be able to turn the Sharingan on and off, if the risk is my life, or damage to Ob—to the eye.”  Kakashi made to get up, but Madara’s hands on his shoulders pushed him back down.  Tatsumi cast him a strangely sympathetic smile.

“Kakashi, those were your odds were I to perform the surgery now.  Meaning, right this second, without preparation, and without you and that eye in an optimal state.  There are several procedures you would need done before we can even know with certainty if turning the eye on and off will work, let alone be worth the risk.  This isn’t a surgery that’s been done before—not to my knowledge, at least.  I will have to do a lot of research—and probably talk with the Nara to see if I can have access to their medical encyclopedia—before I know just how risky it will be,” Tatsumi explained.  Madara made a mental note that he would need to speak with the Nara Clan Head on Tatsumi’s behalf.  He would also need to come up with a better explanation than the truth of the matter.  If others found out about this experimentation, the Uchiha would be at an even higher risk of being attacked for their doujutsu. 

Tatsumi continued.  “But the procedures I wanted to do first—mainly clearing up the scar tissue and working on the atrophied areas of this Sharingan—are very minor procedures that I do quite regularly for many Uchiha.  Scarring occurs from overuse in general, and Madara’s been in here enough times before he and Izuna switched eyes to corroborate that.”  Kakashi looked up towards Madara, who gave an assenting nod.  

“It will take time, of course,” Tatsumi went on to explain, “because I’m going to be cutting off pieces of scar tissue and using iryou-ninjutsu to re-heal the abrasions—and that’s not something you want to do all in one day.  After a few weeks of that, we’ll work on teaching you how to channel your chakra into those newly accessible areas of the eye, if you don’t show signs of instinctively picking up on them.  Either way, I want to give you some chakra manipulation exercises, which Madara can continue to help you with.  You’ll have to come in biweekly for me to check on the Sharingan and make sure you’re not causing more damage to the eye, but there is very little risk to your life or the eye itself.  By training the eye with these exercises, you will lower the risk of damaging the Sharingan when using it full-tilt in battle.” 

Kakashi was silent for a moment as he absorbed the huge influx of information.  When he was sure he understood the extent of what Tatsumi had outlined, he asked the most obvious question: “Then, where does the risk come in?”

Tatsumi sighed, brushing her hand through her hair with her free hand—the other still holding the icepack above Obito’s eye.  Noticing this, Kakashi went to take the pack from her hand, but she brushed him away. 

“Well,” Tatsumi began with a sigh, preparing herself for another long speech, “splitting chakra channels is always risky, as is any form of surgery—brain surgery even more so.  However”—she smiled reassuringly, one finger in the air to punctuate her point—“it’s not a new procedure.  It’s usually used for shinobi who have had their limbs mangled in some way, or those who have undergone chakra-related accidents in which the pathways fused and need to be re-divided.  In rarer cases, typically due to birth defects—either mild, where a shinobi has trouble sending chakra to certain areas not immediately evident when beginning to learn chakra mastery, or in extreme cases, evident in the appearance of unnatural incidents of necrosis and gangrene in infants—there have been instances when the surgery was used to add chakra pathways to the typical locations.”

Kakashi was feeling really lucky that he was a genius at this point.

“In any of these cases,” she continued, lifting the icepack and putting it below Obito’s eye now, “the necessary tenketsu for the pathways are not created, but instead are moved.  The Sharingan cannot see tenketsu, as you probably know from experience, but tenketsu can be detected when directly infusing charka to a patient.  This would be the riskiest part of the procedure.” She paused to make sure Kakashi was following along.  When he nodded, Tatsumi continued.

“Placement is key, especially since we’re dealing with the brain, and as such, each area currently getting chakra is very important as well.  We would be mimicking the standard Uchiha tenketsu layout.  But, in order to put the tenketsu into the proper place, I would have to use my own chakra to nudge your existing tenketsu into position, or even attempt to split them. 

“I’m not sure which would be a safer option at this time,” Tatsumi confessed, a bit sheepish.  “Typically, moving the tenketsu would be best.  However, since we are dealing with the brain, I’d like to make sure that moving any of your existing tenketsu won’t cause a problem.  If there could be any damage from removing any of your tenketsu from their current area of occupation, then I would have to split them.  Since they’re essentially gated-channels, doing so is both complex and runs the risk of completely ruining the tenketsu.  Losing the tenketsu would then result in either too much or too little charka being fed to that area, both of which hold their own dangers.  As well, any spilt tenketsu would be half the size of the original tenketsu, which would mean you would have to be much more careful in channelling chakra to that area.  So if I can avoid doing that, it would be much better for you.  If not, while not ideal, I do think the benefits gained would outweigh the cost. 

“There’s also the matter of your heritage to take into consideration.  Due to the fact that you are not of Uchihan descent means that my knowledge of my clan’s physiology might not line up with your physiology one-hundred percent.  If I could get access to your clan’s health records—if there were any kept—that would be a big help.” 

Kakashi hummed thoughtfully.  “I see.  Then, what are the chances of successful surgery?”

Tatsumi sighed once more, resting her chin on her closed fist.  “I can’t give you those numbers right now,” she admitted, scratching lightly at her chin.  “I need to do some research, and plan out the procedure.  I have performed chakra pathway splitting in the brain before—on Uchiha who have overused their Sharingan and caused the chakra pathways to fuse, and on those with birth defects.  While not standard procedure, the risk involved is far less than an eye transplant—when the correct preparations are in place.  Most important for me would be getting your Clan’s medical records.  If they have any physiology charts, especially related to the eyes and the brain, those would be a big help.” 

“Maa… I don’t think I could get those for you.  But, I’m pretty sure we’re like any other clan without a kekkei genkai…” Kakashi admitted sheepishly, scratching at the back of his neck.  While the Hatake Clan was around at this time, Kakashi couldn’t exactly walk up to them and ask for such records. 

Madara, however, began planning how to extract the information from the existing Hatake Clan.  He had found them located towards the coast of Fire, in the direction of the Lands of Lightning and Water.  News from the area stated that they were planning on joining up with one of the Hidden Villages—likely Konoha, based on what Madara knew of Kakashi’s origins, although rumour had it that they were also considering Kumogakure.  It would be easy to sneak in and steal the records during the move, or to demand access to them as part of their entry to the village.  Scheme after scheme ran though his mind, proving why Madara was not a shinobi one wanted to trifle with.

Tatsumi was unpleased by that information.  “Absolutely sure would be better.”  She caught the look on Madara’s face, and knew what it meant; she would be getting those records, from whatever nook or cranny they tried to hide in, regardless of lock or safe or fortress.  Nothing was safe from a Madara with a Plan.  Tatsumi kept this information to herself, however.  Let the hedgehog figure things out for himself.  She suppressed a smile.  “In that case, I’d like to perform a series of tests on you, before we even think about splitting your chakra pathways.”

Kakashi was wary, but he managed to stay as aloof as always; Gai would be crying tears of dismay at his Hip and Too Cool Attitude™ by now.  That thought brought up a wave of melancholy that was promptly ignored.  “What sort of tests?”

“And how long would they take?” Madara butted in, as impatient as always when demanding information.  He could wait an ungodly amount of time for a trap to spring—well, as long as it was within his projected schedule.  Otherwise he got antsy and impatient.  Not counting the giddiness Madara hadn’t quite grown out of—probably never would, Tatsumi wagered—which overtook him at the penultimate moment before his plan was set to begin.  Tatsumi almost wanted to increase the anticipation by keeping quiet, but she didn’t want to be subjected to an irate—err…more irate—Madara when she really just wanted to go to sleep already.

“Well, some of them I would be able to perform while working on healing this Sharingan,” Tatsumi explained.  “I’d just be tracing your chakra pathways, monitoring chakra levels in different parts of your brain—all pretty standard stuff.  It’s part of the yearly Uchiha physical.  I don’t know what your clan does in terms of eye-care, but it’s very standard for us.  The Hyuuga probably do something similar, I’m sure, considering they’re even more obsessed with their eyes than we are with ours.”

Kakashi rose a single brow at the derision.  He should have known it was coming.  Could any Uchiha go more than a couple of hours without claiming their superiority to the Hyuuga Clan?  Kakashi did not yet know the answer, but he was suspecting it was in the negative.

“Hey, we’re not the ones with a crazy seal keeping our Sharingan from being stolen, and enslaving every member save the current Clan Head and his direct heirs!” Tatsumi defended, slamming her free fist onto her knee in emphasis, cheeks puffing up irately under her glare.  It was too adorable to be considered scary, although her red, spinning Sharingan eyes made the top half of her expression fearsome; it was a polarizing contrast.  ‘This woman is very expressive,’ Kakashi noted.  He was once again struck with the idea that she and Hashirama would get along smashingly.  They were similarly contradictory.  “We love our brethren more than our eyes, and you’re damn right I’m proud of that!”  Hashirama would be in joyful tears at this point.  So would Gai, as a matter of fact.  Kakashi suppressed that thought once more.

“Prissy barbarians,” Madara scoffed in agreement, nose up in the air. 

Kakashi rose two eyebrows at that. 

“Saa… ‘Dara-chan,” Kakashi began, innocently, looking up slightly with his heavy lidded eye, “I never thought I’d hear you calling someone else prissy…”

“HEY!”  Madara yelled, leaning over Kakashi’s shoulder to glare at him.  Tatsumi laughed.

“See?  If even nii-chan can tell they’re prissy, then they must be absolutely prim, puritanical, persnickety prudes!”

Tatsumi was met with four (well, three-and-a-half) sky-high eyebrows over deadpan expressions.

“Oh, you two can just shut up!” she huffed, nose up in the air and head twisted to the side, not unlike the pose Madara had just been affecting.  “Alliteration is a sign of intelligence, just as puns are the highest form of humour!”

Madara’s stoic façade broke first as a smirk overtook his lips.

“Who’s prim, puritanical, and persnickety now?” Madara teased.  Tatsumi turned to level him with her glare for the nth time that afternoon.

“Don’t forget prissy,” Kakashi interjected, causing Madara to nod along sagely, and redirecting her ire.  Changing tactics, as intimidation was obviously ineffective, it was Tatsumi’s turn to raise her eyebrows.

“Reeeeaaaally funny guys.  You’re just a couple of comedians, huh?”

“It was pretty funny,” Kakashi added unnecessarily, hand on his chin in a facsimile of thought.

“Yes, the highest form of humour, as you well know,” Madara just had to add.

Tatsumi did the only thing she had left; she pouted.  “I hate the both of you.”

“You could never hate me, imouto,” Madara rebutted, ruffling her hair.  She swatted at his hand—to no avail—pouting some more. 

“And I’m actually starting to think you like me,” Kakashi piped in, his eyes creasing into happy little crescents.

Tatsumi scoffed, “I’m purposely going to mess up your surgery now.”

“Ah, your pride in your reputation as the Uchiha Clan’s youngest and most—what word did you use…?” Madara trailed off.

“Brightest,” Kakashi helpfully interjected.

“Ah yes, thank you—youngest and brightest Sharingan Specialist and Ophthalmologist will not allow you to blotch such an easy procedure.  Especially if that meant losing the faith of your beloved brothers and sisters,” Madara condescended, the irritating smirk back on his face.  It was Kakashi’s turn to nod sagely, as if he had known her for years instead of merely a couple of hours. 

Tatsumi could see why Madara was interested in Kakashi.  They shared the same humour, and were both quick on their feet.  They made a great team, too.  She wondered over how that translated to the battlefield.  They would be unstoppable, especially if she could mend the gap between Kakashi’s physiology and the donated Sharingan. Tatsumi was beginning to understand just why Madara was insistent on her solving the issue, and was determined to put her all into the project.  It would be interesting getting to know Kakashi better over the next few weeks.  But for now… 

“Oh, just get out of my office already,” Tatsumi commanded, getting up from her stool and nudging it with her foot into its proper corner.  It rolled gently towards its place, stopping with a light thud as she directed her two human migraines towards the exit.  She even made a point of opening the examination room door and walking up to the store’s exit—pouting all the while.  She opened that door with a flourish, and a glare, but—as Madara had teased—her pride as the youngest and brightest Sharingan Specialist and Ophthalmologist didn’t let Kakashi leave on that note. 

“Before you go to bed, ice that Sharingan again—around the eye, not on the actual eye—and then come see me tomorrow for a more in-depth treatment plan.”  She forcibly grabbed one of Kakashi’s hands to place the still cool icepack in it.  “After five this time, if you would.  I need my beauty rest.” 

“That you do, imouto,” Madara teased on his way out the door. 

He really shouldn’t have said that.  As soon as Kakashi was beside him in the street, Tatsumi struck.

“Oh, just go and make-out with your boyfriend already and leave me alone!” she called with a wink, before firmly shutting the door in their stunned faces.  If either had bothered to look at the other, they would have noticed their cheeks had reached matching shades of red.  (Tatsumi, of course, had this image forever etched in her brain, and was cackling gleefully at being responsible for such an amusing outcome).  Neither was eager to show the other the effect of Tatsumi’s words, however, and they both kept their eyes forward—decisively away from the other.

“She—that’s—she’s just—” Madara stuttered.

“Joking—yes, of course—” Kakashi picked up, clearing his throat while rubbing at the back of his neck.  Madara was quick to agree.

“Yes, joking, joking—she’s horrid, that one.”

Kakashi nodded a little too exuberantly as they both turned in tandem to begin walking away from ‘Sharin-go, Sharin-gone!’ and towards nowhere in particular. “Hmm.  And she really shouldn’t be introduced to Hashirama.”

“Noooooo, no-no no, they cannot, under any circumstances, meet.  Ever.”  Madara could imagine the chaos now; Tatsumi with her too cute pout and Hashirama with his depressive aura, feeding off each other and making a fool out of Madara as he apologised just so the duo would cheer up… only to have them insult him some more.  He got enough of that from the two of them separately, he really didn’t want to see the result of their powers combined.  He just couldn’t help but fall into their verbal traps.  Kakashi was just as bad, actually… they shared a rare talent.

“Tobirama on the other hand…” Kakashi brought up, the safer topic brushing away his blush.  Madara, however, wasn’t so pleased.

“You’re not introducing my imouto to that baboon!” Madara yelled, his face getting uncomfortably close to Kakashi’s in his rage.  Kakashi remained aloof as he walked on, ignoring the way Madara’s warm breath had caressed the exposed skin of his cheek and temple.

“I don’t know,” Kakashi began thoughtfully, pulling out his last surviving copy of Icha Icha Paradise and tapping his chin with its spine, “he could be just what she needs to calm down—”

“Don’t you even think of it, Ha—Senju!” Madara had to correct himself at the last second; they were in public and he couldn’t call Kakashi by his actual last name where other people could hear.

“I really think he’d be good for her…”

“That’s not even funny Kakashi!”

“They could bond over science and jutsu theory,” Kakashi added, only to garner a hard stare.  He, of course, soldiered on, flipping his book open one-handedly.  “And just think of how excited he’ll be to learn all about how the Sharingan works…”

Madara’s eyes opened wide, both offended at the idea that his cousin would betray the clan, and that the bastard would get his hands on knowledge of their doujutsu.  His protest was emphatic.  “SHE—WOULD—NEVER!”

“It wouldn’t be forbidden, since he’d be an Uchiha by marriage…”

“ABSOLUETLY NOT!” Madara was now offended by the idea of the bastard joining his clan.  “And besides, that only holds true if he marries into the Clan!  He would have to forsake his name as a Senju, which that proud bastard would never do anyway—not that I’d let him into my clan!”

Kakashi casually flipped a page of his book, a smirk hidden under his mask but not from his voice.  “Just think of it—Uchiha Tobirama—”

Madara was red once more, but this time for an entirely different reason.  “Don’t disgrace my name by attaching it to that—that filth!”

“You’d be his Clan Head, though.  He’d have to listen to you…”

Madara actually paused to think it over for a moment.  But it was a moment short lived.  “Not worth it.”

Kakashi was not deterred.  A part of him just loved riling the other man up.  It was strangely even more fun than the general chaos Kakashi left in his wake.  He couldn’t quite understand why, but found no need to stop.  “Think of all the great things they could accomplish… I truly think it would be a great idea.  He’d probably love how angry it made you, too…”

“That’s ENOUGH, Kakashi!” Madara snarled, standing in front of Kakashi to block his path.  But oh, who would have guessed it?  When Madara reached out to grab Kakashi’s shoulders and shake the annoying man, there was a poof and a cloud of smoke, which revealed a log in his stead.  The actual Kakashi was already half-way down the block.

“Maa... ’Dara-chan gets mad at such silly things~” Kakashi called sing-song over his shoulder, with a playful, two fingered salute.  Madara—in a flagrant misuse of shunshin—caught up.

“I will destroy you if I have to have that—that—worthless Senju scum as a brother-in-law!  Absolutely not Kakashi!  I—will—end—you!” Madara fumed.

“But think of how pretty their kids will be~” Kakashi’s eye smile could be as cutting as any kunai.

“NO!  Don’t you dare!”  Madara’s exuberant denial did nothing to stop Kakashi from daring.

“Tobi’s pretty red eyes, Tatsumi’s pretty black hair… no one will even know when they have their Sharingan on!  It’s actually tactically in their favour…”

“Dammit Kakashi!”

“Think of your nieces and nephews, Madara!  It’d be an unparalleled advantage~”

“DON’T PUT THAT IMAGE IN MY HEAD!”  Madara had a dirty, dirty mind, and was now trying not to imagine Tobirama making love (not fucking, that would be too much) his sweet, delicate, imouto (he was going a little delusional in his rage, to think of Tatsumi—known within the Clan as the Dragon—as sweet and delicate).

“They could name their first ‘Tatsuma,’ isn’t that fearsome?  Uchiha Tatsuma, or maybe Senju Tatsuma… both sound great, but which do you prefer, Madara?”

“RIKUDOU SENNIN’S BEARD, KAKASHI! I SWEAR BY THE SIX PATHS, I WILL TEACH YOU THE MEANING OF PAIN!”

AN: Yeah, so I was bragging before that this baby would be up a week from the posting of chapter 3.  Well, you now know that Kakashi and I have the same policy on deadlines.  I got lost on the road of eye physiology.  This chapter just kept getting more and more technical, and there was an increasing amount of jargon, and then debates with myself on what was too much jargon and what was too little…so yeah.  It’s here now though, so lets all high-five each other for that.  If you want anything explained because it was too technical/complicated, or you just want to talk about Uchiha Eye Bullshit, drop me a line!  I have so many headcanons for those damn copy eye wheels that I could probably talk about them forever.  This is totally not where I thought I would be when I started writing MadaKaka.  Next chapter will probably have some more eye-bs, as Madara and Kakashi have a fun time getting Obito’s eye to work better.  Maybe, idfk yet.  So I reeeeaaaaaalllllllyyyy hope you guys are still interested in ophthalmology.  Because that’s what this story is about now.  I should make one of the relationship tags: Author/Sharingan